Society's ChildS


TV

Ancestry.com accused of whitewashing slavery in new ad

ancestry ad
© YouTube / Ancestry.com
Genealogy site Ancestry.com has apologized and removed an ad featuring a pre-Civil War interracial couple after critics slammed the spot, claiming it whitewashed the widespread sexual exploitation of slave women.

"We very much appreciate the feedback we have received and apologize for any offense that the ad may have caused," Ancestry.com spokeswoman Gina Spatafore wrote in an email, adding that the spot had been removed from YouTube and was in the process of being pulled from TV stations.

The offending commercial shows a lovestruck white man promising his black lady-love that "there's a place we can be together, across the border" (presumably Canada, since the web address given at the end of the ad is Ancestry.ca, not Ancestry.com). The woodenly-acted scene fades into a marriage certificate dated 1857, six years before slavery was abolished in the US. While the spot reportedly played without incident on Utah TV stations earlier this month, the backlash hit this week, when the clip went viral on social media.

Camcorder

Florida officials accused by defense attorneys of peddling alleged Kraft sex tape to the media

Kraft
Attorneys for the owner and manager of a Florida day spa, where New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and other men were allegedly caught on camera receiving sexual favors are claiming either prosecutors or police are trying to profit from the unauthorized sale of the footage "to the highest bidder," according to newly filed court documents.

"I am deeply disturbed that someone in the Palm Beach County attorney's office or Jupiter Police Department - who are the only ones with access to these video - would attempt to sell and profit from these videos and be in contempt of the courts orders," attorney Tama Beth Kudman told ABC News on Friday. "It's disgraceful."

Kudman, who represents Hua Zhang, the owner of Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida - charged with multiple counts of running a brothel - in an emergency motion for an order to show cause filed on Thursday evening. The motion seeks to hold officials in criminal contempt and "for violation of this Court's order prohibiting the release of the video surveillance in this case," according to filing.

"The motion is asking the court to get to the bottom of whoever attempted to sell these videos and hold whoever it is in contempt because they are violating the judge's order. It's disgraceful," Kudman told ABC News.

Comment: See also: Second billionaire charged in connection to prostitution ring, warrant for his arrest issued


Attention

Lawsuit alleges guards laughed as white supremacist stabbed handcuffed black inmates

prison attack
Surveillance footage shows a 2017 knife attack at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville.
An Ohio prison staff acted with callous indifference as a white supremacist attacked four black inmates handcuffed to a table, according to a federal lawsuit filed earlier this month in the Southern District of Ohio.

Two correctional officers, identified only by their surnames, Faye and Dalton, laughed as the four black inmates were brutally stabbed in June 2017, the suit says. The incident was captured on surveillance footage and viewed by millions.

The suit seeks $75,000 in damages on behalf of two of the victims, Shamieke Pugh and Maurice Lee. It claims the victims' civil rights were violated, including that they suffered cruel and unusual punishment because of the prison guards' inaction.

According to the lawsuit:

Pugh, Lee and two other black inmates were strip searched before they were allowed out of their cells for recreational time. They were then handcuffed to a table.

Comment:




Attention

Florida deputies filmed pepper-spraying, tackling and punching teens gathered to witness a fight

police brutality
The Broward County Sheriff's Office is investigating cellphone videos that show deputies pepper-spraying and tackling teenagers Thursday afternoon outside of a McDonald's in Tamarac.

A witness told NBC 6 that a large crowd of students from J.P. Taravella High School had formed outside of the restaurant before 3 p.m. after rumors that a fight was going to happen.

The fight never occurred, but the witness said deputies arrived and threatened to spray the crowd with pepper spray if they didn't disperse. It's unclear whether BSO units were called out to the scene or if they were already there, BSO said.

The witness said a student was grabbed and handcuffed by a deputy. Another student who was trying to defend the first student approached the deputies and got pepper-sprayed and thrown to the ground, the witness said.

Comment: Video footage:




Handcuffs

Two Florida girls arrested in school kidnapping and murder plot

school crossing
Two 14-year-old girls enrolled at Avon Park Middle School in Avon Park, Fla., were arrested for an alleged school shooting plot on Friday, April 19, 2019.
A pair of 14-year-old Florida middle school girls are facing felony charges for conspiracy to commit kidnapping and murder after being arrested this week in what authorities described as a plot to kidnap and kill 9 people.

Court records reviewed by ABC News Tampa affiliate WFTS indicate that a teacher told police she observed the girls acting "hysterical" while searching for a folder at school, and heard one say that "I'm just going to tell them it's a prank if they call me or if they find it."

ABC News is withholding the identity of the girls due to their age.

The teacher located the folder, which allegedly contained eight handwritten notes detailing the kidnapping and murder plot, and notified authorities, according to WFTS. The letters outlined plans to obtain guns and discussed the transportation and disposal of bodies. One contained plans about what the two youngsters would wear during the kidnappings and murders.

Arrow Up

'Smart activism requires a grasp of reality': Factual Feminist calls on students to embrace empirical data

Christina Hoff Sommers
Christina Hoff Sommers
Christina Hoff Sommers's recent appearance at Skidmore College was punctuated by a fiery question and answer session where she engaged in back-and-forth discussions with several students who challenged points she'd made concerning campus activism and sexual assault.

A crowd of roughly 60 students and faculty packed the auditorium to watch Sommers's 90-minute long appearance Monday, hosted by the College Republicans and Young America's Foundation chapters.

The talk proceeded without interruptions outside of some hissing and laughing from audience members. Several campus security officers were also present.

Sommers's speech focused largely on what she called "advocacy research," which she described as "empirical investigations carried out by someone who cares passionately about the subject of study."

Comment: See also: Is America waking up to the farce that is feminism?


Bizarro Earth

Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman pleads guilty in NXIVM New York sex cult case

Clare Bronfman
© REUTERS/Brendan McDermidFILE PHOTO: Clare Bronfman, an heiress of the Seagram's liquor empire, arrives at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse, for her trail regarding sex trafficking and racketeering related to the Nxivm cult in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., January 9, 2019.
Seagram liquor heiress Clare Bronfman pleaded guilty on Friday to harboring an illegal immigrant and enabling credit card fraud as part of an alleged sex cult based in upstate New York.

Bronfman, 40, entered her plea to the two criminal counts before U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. She is one of several people charged in connection with a secretive organization called Nxivm, which federal prosecutors have described as a racketeering organization.

Bronfman admitted that she knowingly harbored a woman brought to the United States on a fake work visa in order to obtain that woman's labor for herself and the organization. She also said she helped Nxivm's founder, Keith Raniere, use a deceased woman's credit card.

Comment: Perhaps unsurprisingly: NXIVM sex-cult prosecutors claim evidence for illegal Clinton campaign contributions seeking "political influence"

See also:


Bizarro Earth

'Don't touch Notre Dame': Fury at suggestion of 'reimagining' cathedral with modern twist

notre dame reimagined
Suggestions that Notre Dame Cathedral be reimagined following Monday's fire, complete with modern architecture and materials, have been met with outrage across France and around the world.

"Let's stop this madness: we need to have absolute respect for French heritage," Jordan Bardella, another member of the right-wing party, said to LCI channel.

"Modern art makes me nostalgic for the arts of the past."

Comment: While efforts to restore Notre Dame to its former glory are noble, they will likely never come close to the achievements of the original builders - but that doesn't mean they shouldn't try - as Heinrich Heine in Maxims and Descriptions writes:
While I was standing before the cathedral at Amiens, with a friend who with mingled fear and pity was regarding that monument,-built with the strength of Titans and decorated with the patience of dwarfs,-he turned to me at last and inquired, "How does it happen that we do not erect such edifices in our day?" And my answer was, "My dear Alphonse, the men of that day had convictions, while we moderns have only opinions; and something more than opinions are required to build a cathedral."
Obviously if the warped minds of Macron and his ilk get involved, like their 2018 interpretation of France's annual Fête de la Musique event, it could result in an abomination: And check out SOTT radio's:


Clipboard

Facebook brings in Daily Caller affiliate for fact-checking mission

Tucker Carlson
© Richard Drew/Associated PressTucker Carlson, co-founder of the Daily Caller
When Facebook said it was getting its shit together to do a better job of preventing the spread of false news after the 2016 election, this wasn't exactly what we had in mind.

Facebook has added CheckYourFact.com to the already-crumbling list of its independent Poynter-certified fact checkers that identify and debunk false news stories shared on the website, Axios reported on Wednesday. CheckYourFact.com is better known as the "fact-check department" of the right-wing website the Daily Caller, co-founded by Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Comment: Sounds like the author is less interested in whether 'Check Your Fact' is doing a credible job, than in being offended that a portions of the staff does not boast the political bona fides she finds acceptable. Perhaps she should offer her services to redress the perceived imbalance? And yes, the existence of a second Beetlejuice movie might be of interest to some people.




Eye 1

Turpin children speak out as parents are sentenced in torture case: 'I'm taking my life back'

David Turpin
© KABCDavid Turpin faces a judge for sentencing, April 19, 2019.
A son and daughter of David and Louise Turpin spoke out in court for the first time Friday as their parents were sentenced for torturing and imprisoning them for years.

"Now I'm taking my life back," a daughter -- one of the Turpins' 13 children -- said in court. "I'm a fighter. I'm strong and I'm shooting through life like a rocket."

"I'm in college now and living independently," she said. "I love hanging out with my friends and life is great. I believe everything happens for a reason. Life may have been bad, but it made me strong. I fought to become the person I am."

"I saw my dad change my mom," she said, visibly shaking and clutching tissues. "They almost changed me."