Society's ChildS


Bad Guys

Banning of Christchurch shooter's manifesto sparks free-speech debate in New Zealand

Nick Perry
Associated Press
Sun, 24 Mar 2019 21:21 UTC
Christchurch vigil
© AP Photo/Vincent Yu, FileIn this March 18, 2019, file photo, a student lights candle during a vigil to commemorate victims of March 15 shooting, outside the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. New Zealanders are debating the limits of free speech after their chief censor banned a 74-page manifesto written by a man accused of massacring 50 people at two mosques.
New Zealanders are debating the limits of free speech after their chief censor banned the 74-page manifesto written and released by the man accused of slaughtering 50 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.

The ban, issued Saturday, means anybody caught with the document on their computer could face up to 10 years in prison, while anyone caught sending it could face 14 years. Some say the ban goes too far and risks lending both the document and the gunman mystique.

At the same time, many local media organizations are debating whether to even name the Australian man charged with murder in the March 15 attacks, 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant, after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed she would never mention him by name.
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Biohazard

Monsanto takeover 'a good idea' despite lawsuits says Bayer CEO


Industry Europe
Mon, 25 Mar 2019 10:45 UTC
Roundup
Monsanto's weedkiller Roundup has been at the centre of over 1,000 US court cases over alleged cancer link.
The corporation is facing 11,200 US legal cases over the weedkiller Roundup

The CEO of the German chemical giant Bayer has insisted that the $63-billion (€55.6-billion) takeover of the American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation Monsanto in 2018 was a "good idea" despite the huge legal costs that are building up over the firm's Roundup weedkiller.

When asked by a journalist from the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said that "the Monsanto acquisition was and is a good idea."

The multi-billion dollar takeover has turned out to be plagued with other massive expenses.

Two months after the acquisition was completed, Monsanto lost a court case in the US to Dewayne Johnson, a school groundskeeper suffering from terminal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, who has sued the chemical giant over the glyphosate-based weedkillers Roundup and Ranger Pro.

Comment: See also:

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Heart - Black

WikiLeaks probe: Supporters say Manning in 'solitary confinement'


Yahoo News
Sat, 23 Mar 2019 16:42 UTC
Chelsea Manning
© AFP Photo/Lars HagbergSupporters of Chelsea Manning say she is being held in 'solitary confinement' in an Alexandria, Virginia detention center.
Chelsea Manning, the anti-secrecy campaigner who was jailed for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks, has been held in solitary confinement for over two weeks, supporters said Saturday.

Since being sent to a detention center in Alexandria, Virginia earlier this month, "Chelsea has been placed in administrative segregation... a term designed to sound less cruel than 'solitary confinement,'" the Chelsea Resists group said.

"However, Chelsea has been kept in her cell for 22 hours a day.

"Chelsea can't be out of her cell while any other prisoners are out, so she cannot talk to other people, or visit the law library, and has no access to books or reading material. She has not been outside for 16 days," they added.

Comment: See also: Chelsea Manning sent back to jail for refusing to testify in secret proceedings against Wikileaks

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Fire

Twitter roasts both Koran-burning and hardline Islamist rally in Denmark


RT
Mon, 25 Mar 2019 14:08 UTC
Hizb-ut Tahrir Scandinavia supporters attend the Friday prayers at Christiansborg
© Ritzau Scanpix / Liselotte Sabroe via REUTERSHizb-ut Tahrir Scandinavia supporters attend the Friday prayers at Christiansborg Palace Square in Copenhagen, Denmark, March 22, 2019
A Danish anti-Islam political party has sparked heated reaction online after it burned copies of the Koran on the sidelines of a prayer rally hosted by a controversial Islamist group that has been banned in several countries.

Members from Stram Kurs (Strict Course) staged their counter-demonstration at Christiansborg Palace Square in Copenhagen on Friday, as members from Hizb-ut Tahrir Scandinavia gathered to pray for the Muslim victims of the recent Christchurch mosque massacres.

Footage of the counter-protest shows Stram Kurs leader Rasmus Paludan and other supporters of the fringe party gathered on the edge of the square, while the Islamist rally can be heard in the background.

A man then proceeds to light the book in a small grill, while some warm their hands as it goes up in flames. The party has previously called such actions "Bacon a la Koran."
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Vader

Young whistleblower who exposed medical abductions by Boston Children's Hospital sentenced to TEN YEARS in prison


RT
Mon, 25 Mar 2019 15:18 UTC
Martin Gottesfeld and wife Dana
Hacktivist Martin Gottesfeld was sentenced to 10 years in prison for exposing Boston Children's Hospital for a medical kidnapping. His wife joined RT to talk about how the US is protecting abusers while punishing whistleblowers.

After doctors at Harvard affiliated Boston Children's Hospital misdiagnosed 15-year-old Justina Pelletier's rare blood disorder as a mental condition, she was confined against her family's will, and forcibly separated from her parents. Denied medication and treatment, she lost the use of her legs and suffered incredible pain before Martin Gottesfeld exposed the situation by launching a cyber-attack against the hospital's network.


Comment: He briefly knocked their website offline while they were running their annual fundraiser. And he got 10 YEARS for it...


While Pelletier was reunited with her family as a result, Gottesfeld was arrested and prosecuted for the hack which saved her from horrific conditions. His wife Dana spoke with RT about the case.


Comment: #FreeMartyG

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Boat

Viking Sky cruise ship safely arrives at Norwegian port after engine disaster


RT
Mon, 25 Mar 2019 08:13 UTC
Viking Sky cruise ship
© AFP / NTB SCANPIX / Svein Ove EkornesvaagViking Sky cruise ship arrives at the port of Molde, Norway.
A luxury cruise ship that was left floating due to engine failure and nearly crashed into the rocks in rough waters has safely arrived in the port of Molde on the west coast of Norway, with over 900 people on board.

The Viking Sky was towed to safety by two tugboats, with one sailing in front of the vessel and the other behind it.

The luxury cruise ship, which set sail with almost 1,400 passengers and crew aboard, sent out an SOS signal on Saturday. It was drifting in rough waters near a rocky coast after all its engines stopped working.

At one point, it approached land at a distance of just 100 meters, with passengers posting dramatic photos. But the crew was eventually able to start one of the engines and avoided crashing.
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Beer

Russian bar patrons narrowly escape a 'chainsaw massacre' as man goes berserk


RT
Mon, 25 Mar 2019 15:49 UTC
chainsaw fight
© Instagram / dorozhnoe_bratstvo
An ordinary night out in Russia ended up like a scene from a horror movie - as a man attempted to cut people at a bar into pieces with a chainsaw.

The hair-raising incident occurred in the port city of Nakhodka on Russia's Pacific coast. The bar's clientele, however, managed to escape the rampage as people were quick to react, disarming the perpetrator, local media report.

A video that surfaced online shows people bravely surrounding the man as he brandishes a chainsaw. Screams of fright are heard in the background as people attempt to get the would-be horror movie villain to the ground.
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Bullseye

Yale rescinds student's admission as defendants charged in $25 million college entrance scam set to appear in Boston federal court

Bill Hutchinson and Brian Hartman
ABC News
Mon, 25 Mar 2019 14:17 UTC
Yale University
© Getty ImagesYale University
Yale University has rescinded the admission of a student that officials at the school say was involved in a nationwide college entrance scam that ensnared 50 people, including Hollywood actresses and chief executive officers, some of whom are set to appear Monday in a Boston federal courtroom.

The ousted student, who was not identified, is the second person from the Ivy League college caught up in the coast-to-coast scandal in which federal prosecutors allege dozens of wealthy parents lied and paid massive bribes to get their children into elite schools.

Rudolph "Rudy" Meredith, the former head women's soccer coach at Yale, was arrested in the federal probe dubbed "Varsity Blues" and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud. Prosecutors said Meredith, 51, was paid a $400,000 bribe by William "Rick" Singer, identified by authorities as the ringleader of the scam, to accept a student even though the applicant did not play soccer.

The Yale student's parents had allegedly paid Singer $1.2 million to get their daughter into the prestigious Connecticut school, prosecutors said.
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Cow

Fake News for sale: Guardian and Open Philanthropy Project ink deal to pen stories

Frank Mitloehner
GHGGuru Blog
Mon, 18 Mar 2019 00:01 UTC
Guardian fake news
It's a frightening prospect to think any person or entity with significant funds could buy editorial time or space to promote a specific ideology, but that's what's going on between the Guardian and the Open Philanthropy Project (OPP).

In 2017, the daily U.K.-based newspaper sought and received a grant from OPP to regularly print editorial content in support of OPP's well-established animal rights agenda. OPP is paying the Guardian $886,600 (USD) to publish a series titled "Animals farmed." It consists of a steady stream of articles that paint animal agriculture as inhumane, unhealthy and dangerous to the environment.

Before going any further, let me be clear about something. In this day and age, newspapers are under increasing pressure to find sources of revenue to replace subscriptions and lost advertising dollars, for example. The Guardian has been transparent in its solicitation and receipt of funds from OPP and even includes a statement of funding and the OPP logo on all stories that are written under the terms of the grant. I don't admire the Guardian's selling of its editorial space, but at least it's not keeping it a secret. Although honesty is the best policy, the Guardian's actions still fall short of my view of what journalism should be about. I'm sure others would agree.

Comment: "Editorial independence" our butts! The Guardian has become little more than a propaganda rag that's increasingly been pushing the global veganism agenda. This article clearly illustrates why that is - it's all about the money, folks! This is reminiscent of the recent Keto Crotch hubbub - this isn't news, it's paid copy designed to sway readers in a direction deemed beneficial for those footing the bill. From one perspective, it's advertising. From another, it's paid propaganda. But however you look at it, it ain't news.

See also:

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X

DoS attack forces New Zealand Police to shut down gun confiscation website

Luis Valdes
The Truth About Guns
Fri, 22 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC
New Zealand police firearms
And some folks say gun owners don't have a rebellious streak in them. With less than 24 hours, the NZ Police was forced to shut down their gun confiscation website due to massive amounts of online trolling.

firearm hand-ins

Comment: No doubt the recent massacre in New Zealand is being used for all manner of political agendas - including, as with this story, disarming citizens.

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