Society's ChildS


Red Flag

Hate crime investigation: Transgender woman arrested in chemical spray attacks on white New Yorkers

transgender
© Twitter / @NYPDTips
A transgender woman has been arrested in connection to the random attacks of at least seven people who were sprayed with a chemical substance on Friday in New York in what is being investigated as a hate crime.

Thomas J. Heard, 37, was arrested after allegedly threatening someone with a sharp object in the Bronx, and the victim worked with police to track her down. Authorities believe that Heard also was responsible for dousing a man with a pepper spray-like substance at the 125th St. subway station of the A/C/B/D lines on Friday, then running out into the street and spraying five more people.

Soon after, she allegedly attacked another woman waiting for the No. 1 train at W. 96th St. and Broadway. Then, around 2 p.m., a woman appearing to be Heard can be seen on a surveillance video violently kicking a stranger, Denise Galloway, in the leg before spraying her and her boyfriend.

Comment: More from RT:
Police say a total of 11 white New Yorkers were attacked over the weekend but they have not definitively linked all of the incidents to Heard at the time of writing. Heard reportedly has up to 65 prior arrests, many for prostitution and assault.

NBC reports:
Tasha Heard was arrested Saturday evening in connection with at least two separate attacks, though police were reportedly questioning her about several other similar incidents.

In one alleged incident, Heard is accused of approaching a white couple in their 50s on Friday afternoon while they shopped in the Bronx. She reportedly told the couple she hated white people before assaulting them.

"They were approached by the defendant who kicked both victims and sprayed a substance in their face," an NYPD spokesperson stated in an email. "The victims suffered minor injuries."

The other alleged incident for which Heard has been charged is similar in nature and occurred Saturday in the Bronx.

"The defendant approached a 30-year-old male and a 24-year-old female, asked them if they were white and displayed a sharp object causing fear," the NYPD stated. "The female victim was sprayed in the face with an unknown substance causing redness, burning and discomfort."

Court documents did not list an attorney for Heard, who is referred to in official documents and police reports by her legal first name, Thomas.

Police told NBC New York that Heard pepper-sprayed six other white people in Manhattan - five at a subway stop in Harlem and one at a nearby subway stop on the Upper West Side.

Joshua Smith, one of those alleged victims, said the suspect never said a word when she pepper-sprayed him near subway stop on 125th Street in Harlem.

"She held the mace directly to my eye and sprayed it in my eye," Smith told NBC New York. "She just walked up to me, like literally walked up, maced me and kept walking."



Document

US among 60 countries that will need a visa to visit Europe starting in 2021

schengen area
In a world in which most western liberal democracies are slamming Trump for demanding a wall be built on the US southern border to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the US, Europe is about to erect a metaphorical wall targeting legal US travelers, because starting in 2021, U.S. citizens will need a visa to visit most European countries.

"Similar to other countries and regions in the world Europe has recently decided to improve their security level to avoid any further problems with illegal migration and terrorism," the EU said.

U.S. citizens traveling to Europe for less than 90 days currently only need a passport, but the European Union announced Friday that starting in 2021 they will need a visa to visit most European countries. The decision follows an EU announcement in June of 2018 that it was in favor of imposing visas on U.S. citizens in the five countries, and the creation of a European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, that will require "pre-travel screening for security and migration risks of travelers benefiting from visa-free access to the Schengen area", i.e. Americans. At the time, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship, indicated that the requirement was put in place for security reasons.
"The new ETIAS will ensure that we no longer have an information gap on visa-free travelers," he said in a statement. "Anyone who poses a migratory or security risk will be identified before they even travel to EU borders."

Palette

Best of the Web: Progressivism and the West

Peter Paul Reben garden of eden
The biggest threat to Western civilization is posed not by other civilizations, but by our own pusillanimity - and by the historical ignorance that feeds it.

~Niall Ferguson
I was wrong.

For a long time, I considered the loose collection of ideas and assumptions I will call "progressivism" to be a regrettable but mostly tolerable side effect of affluence. This quasi-ideology-espoused by prominent progressives from the academy and Vox to Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren-holds that, inter alia: (1) All demographic groups are roughly equal on all socially valued traits; (2) racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry are ubiquitous; (3) almost all demographic disparities are caused by unfair discrimination; (4) diversity is an unalloyed good; and (5) there are many bigots who stand in the way of social progress, but eventually history will redeem the noble and we will inhabit a just society.

Wealth frees a person from immediate survival concerns and therefore increases the importance of symbolic identities. And this, coupled with youth's natural affinity for rebellion, almost inevitably leads to at least a passing phase of identity-based radicalism. So while others sounded the tocsin, proclaiming this a grave threat to social sanity, I remained skeptical. Of course, I agreed that social justice ideologies were often odious and possibly pernicious, especially inside the elite institutions where they most rapidly proliferated; but, I also thought that alarmism about the problem was equally unhelpful, diverting limited cognitive resources from more constructive activities.

However, I am no longer skeptical. I have come to believe that the hostility to the West embedded in this kind of thinking and activism is a serious and growing problem. It is therefore critical that we understand the motives that drive it and the conditions that enable it, and that we challenge its erroneous assumptions and persuade others of its corrosiveness, preferably without alienating those who find it appealing but are also willing to listen to reasonable objections.

Comment: See also:


People 2

Science denial won't end sexism

brain scans
Last week, Nature, one of the top scientific journals in the world, ran a review written by Lise Eliot of Gina Rippon's new book, The Gendered Brain: The New Neuroscience that Shatters the Myth of the Female Brain. Both Eliot and Rippon, neuroscientists affiliated with Rosalind Franklin University and Aston University, respectively, are vocal supporters of the view that gender, and the corresponding differences we see between men and women, are socially constructed.


Comment: The war on science is getting heated and, if the current trend continues, science will be a dead discipline within a decade, only being used to enforce and bolster ideology, not discover and interpret reality as it is.

See also:


Black Magic

The death of the Internet really began in 2014

Intended to be open, free, and decentralized, it's now dominated by a handful of companies that control what we see and what we can say.

zuckerberg
© Frederic Legrand – COMEO / Shutterstock.com
The internet was meant to be open, free, and decentralized, but today it is controlled by a few companies with grave consequences for society and the economy. The internet has become the opposite of what it was intended to be.

In the early 1960s, Paul Baran was an engineer at the RAND Corporation when he began thinking about the need for a communications network that could withstand a nuclear strike. RAND was contracted by the Pentagon to create a system that could continue operating even if parts of it were destroyed by an atomic blast. It was supposed to be the ultimate decentralized system.

Baran went on to publish a paper in 1964 titled "On Distributed Communications," which was influential in establishing the concepts behind the architecture of the internet.

Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn put these concepts into practice at the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency in the late 1960s, and created the communication methods that make the internet possible. The principles of freedom and openness were at the heart of the design-packet switching made the system robust in the face of nuclear attacks and Internet Protocol allowed for open interconnection.

Years later, Cerf said, "The beauty of the internet is that it's not controlled by any one group." In his view, "this model has not only made the internet very open-a testbed for innovation by anyone, anywhere-it's also prevented vested interests from taking control."

Comment: According to Levine, it was never intended to be 'free and decentralized' for the benefit of people. The idea that an outfit like DARPA would be freely sharing the web with the world is not as alturistic as they make it out to be. Neither is Google becoming a monopoly an accident when we look at their origins.See also:


Bad Guys

Cashless society: UK cash system on the "verge of collapse", millions in poverty are struggling to cope

In 2006, 62% of all payments in the UK were made using cash; in 2016 the proportion had fallen to 40%.
© Alamy Stock PhotoIn 2006, 62% of all payments in the UK were made using cash; in 2016 the proportion had fallen to 40%.
More than 8 million UK adults would struggle to cope in a cashless society, according to a major report which claims that the country's "cash infrastructure" is in danger of collapsing.

With Britons increasingly turning to digital payments, and bank branches and ATMs closing, the Access to Cash Review said companies and organisations providing "essential" services should be required to ensure that consumers can continue to pay by cash.

The review is funded by cash machine network Link, but is independent from it, and is chaired by the former head of the Financial Ombudsman Service Natalie Ceeney, with other members including Richard Lloyd, the former executive director of consumer group Which?.

Ceeney said that "17% of the UK population - over 8 million adults - would struggle to cope in a cashless society".


Comment: And the number of Brits falling below the poverty line is soaring.


Comment: There's no denying there are major benefits to an electronic payment system, however the removal of cash leaves everybody extremely vulnerable to the very corporations and government bodies that have time and again proven themselves untrustworthy: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Bitcoin, Gold and the Cashless Society


Bizarro Earth

Far-right protesting military corruption clash with police in Ukraine, 'You have 7 days!' - UPDATE

Police, Far-Right Protesters Clash In Kyiv
© RFE/RL
Police and far-right demonstrators have clashed outside the presidential administration building in the Ukrainian capital and in at least one other city.

The far-right activists had gathered in Kyiv on March 9 to call for arrests of figures linked to an alleged military corruption scandal.

A media investigation last week detailed purported embezzlement schemes in Ukraine's military industry, including the involvement of a factory controlled by President Petro Poroshenko.

Video showed demonstrators trying to break through police lines, shoving officers and setting off fireworks. Police used tear gas to turn them back.

Comment: This is quite a turn of events because the far-right, neo-Nazi's, media, police and the military in Ukraine are known to be working together. It also comes on the heels of reports that an army battalion murdered its commander who manipulated them into committing war crimes all for a disgraceful publicity stunt, And so it seems, let the infighting begin: UPDATE: 11th March 2019 at 11:30

RT provides more information on the protest and most tellingly those affiliated with the 2014 coup which brought him to power were demanding the removal of those involved in the scandal within the next 7 days. However the report hints that this may be unlikely due to the close relationship Poroshenko has with those involved. It appears the fliers with the demands on featured a pig:

ukraine protest
Ukrainian radicals clash with police outside Poroshenko's office, give ultimatum to president

ukraine far right
© SputnikClashes between radicals and police outside the president's office in Kiev.
Masked men tried to storm the Ukrainian president's office, prompting police to use tear gas against them. The radicals promised to sabotage Petro Poroshenko's re-election and ramp up street violence if their demands aren't met.

Extreme nationalists were the driving force in the 2014 coup that brought Poroshenko to power in Ukraine, but now - with three weeks remaining before the vote - they may become actors in his political demise.

Several thousand masked men, dressed in the paramilitary gear affiliated with neo-Nazi vigilantes Batallion Azov, marched from Maidan (meaning 'Independence') Square in central Kiev to the presidential administration on Saturday. When in situ, they tried breaking through the police cordon to get into the building. The radicals threw stones and flares at the law enforcers, who responded with tear gas and batons to push the attackers back.


Around 700 officers had been keeping order in the center of the Ukrainian capital on the day, according to the police. The organizers of the attempted action announced that some 4,000 people took part in the protest and the Ukrainian media reckons this estimate is about right.


The protesters came from groups loyal to nationalist leader and Ukrainian parliament member Andrey Biletsky, commander of the infamous neo-Nazi Azov battalion, which took part in the fighting in Eastern Ukraine on Kiev's side; he is also the head of the far-right National Corps party.

Before the clashes broke out, the radicals were gluing stickers with their demands on the riot shields and helmets of the police officers. What they want from Poroshenko is punishment for those involved in a massive fraud at UkrOboronProm, a state concern that manages the country's military-industrial complex.


A recent media report blamed the first deputy head of Ukraine's National Security Council, Oleg Gladkovsky, and his son, of using fake firms to sell spare parts to Ukrainian arms makers at up to three times the accepted prices.

"You have one week," the radicals chanted, meaning that in seven days the two must be put behind bars. If this doesn't happen, Biletsky has promised to target all of Poroshenko's campaign rallies in the run up to the election on March 31.


Poroshenko, who is running for a second term, faces a challenge given his low approval rating. A survey by pollster Sofia earlier this week revealed that he was supported by just over 13 percent of the population, trailing both of his main rivals - comedian Vladimir Zelensky (20.3 percent) and ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko (13.9 percent).

Poroshenko had already removed Gladkovsky from his position at the Security Council, but he's unlikely to take any further steps, due to the former deputy head reportedly being his closest ally and friend.


Poroshenko was not in Kiev during the assault on his office and had gone to Cherkasy, in central Ukraine, where he was to speak at a rally. There, a group of nationalists clashed with police after chanting anti-Poroshenko slogans during the event.

The president was evacuated from the rally in a car, according to witnesses. 15 officers protecting him were injured in the scuffles, the Interior Ministry said, in a statement.
RFE/RL reports that the protesters attempted to attack the Poroshenko's motorcade and that 22 police were injured. In the picture below you will see the fliers featured earlier. It looks like time is running out for Porky:
Ukrainian Police: 22 Officers Hospitalized After Clashes With Far-Right Activists
Clashes in Kyiv on March 9
Clashes in Kyiv on March 9
Police in Ukraine say that 22 officers were injured in clashes with far-right protesters who tried to attack a presidential motorcade ahead of this month's election.

Police said in a statement on March 10 that 19 officers were hospitalized the previous day in the city of Cherkasy, where supporters of the National Corps party tried to block President Petro Poroshenko's motorcade and called for arrests of figures linked to an alleged military corruption scandal.

The clashes in Cherkasy erupted after Poroshenko made a speech for the March 31 presidential polls.

Police said that two law enforcement officers were also injured in clashes with National Corps activists near the presidential offices in Kyiv, with one hospitalized.

Criminal investigations have been opened into the violence in both Kyiv and Cherkasy, about 150 kilometers southeast of the capital, police said.

After the report was broadcast on YouTube on February 25, Poroshenko announced that a probe has been launched into the allegations.



Airplane

No survivors after deadly Ethiopian Airlines plane crash

Ethiopian Airlines plane crash
None of the 157 people on board a new Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed on Sunday morning en route to Nairobi from Addis Ababa have survived, the airline said.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, took off at 08:38am (05:38 GMT) and lost contact with air traffic controllers six minutes later.

It crashed near Bishoftu, southeast of the Ethiopian capital, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members on board, Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement.

Comment: RT reports more complaints with this Boeing model:
The aircraft model has been plagued with problems. In October, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by Lion Air crashed minutes after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 189 passengers and crew.

After the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it would review Boeing's previous safety analyses of the aircraft.

Bloomberg reported in November that the plane is prone to making "abrupt dives" due to a faulty flight-monitoring system.

Two pilots unions have accused Boeing of failing to properly explain a safety feature on the 737 MAX 8 aircraft in their manuals, claiming that the oversight may be responsible for the Lion Air crash.

The company issued a safety update in November to pilots flying the 737 MAX 8, warning of a possible fault in a sensor that could send the aircraft into a violent nosedive.

Despite its flaws, the 737 MAX still remains a popular choice for airlines. An estimated 200 Boeing aircraft currently ferrying passengers around the world are at risk of experiencing similar deadly malfunctions, Elmar Giemulla, a leading German expert in air and traffic law, told RT in November.



Bad Guys

YouTube deletes Middle East Observer after almost 10 years online

YouTube account deleted
After almost 10 years online, over 250 videos, almost 13,000 subscribers, and about 8 million total video views, YouTube has terminated the Middle East Observer (MEO) channel on its platform.

Although perhaps MEO became best known for its video translations of regional political actors such as Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, its work was certainly not limited to that. Middle East Observer sought to provide its viewers with reliable English translations on politics, religion, and culture from the Middle East more broadly, with a particular focus on media from key states such as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The termination of MEO's channel came after several months of seemingly routine 'violation' emails sent to us by YouTube, the taking down of various videos of ours (most of which were uploaded several years ago) and the imposition of 'channel strikes' accompanied by emails about how we could better uphold its rather vague and in many ways hegemonic 'Community Guidelines'. We gradually realised that no matter what measures we took, it would not satisfy YouTube's 'Guidelines', as the platform's architecture and policies increasingly moved towards the censorship of alternative news and views.

Dollar

A case for capitalism

woman iphone tablet shopping
At dinner not long ago my daughter and I had a standoff. She refused to eat something-a calzone in this case-because it looked "gross." I failed to convince her what was actually in the calzone until finally I cut it in half and into a triangle so it looked just like pizza. Once she learned what was in it she loved it.

I recalled this calzone a few weeks later when I got into a heated discussion with a friend. He is convinced that capitalism is the source of all of America's problems. As the discussion progressed, it became clear to me that the source of our disagreement was definitional: we didn't have an agreed-upon understanding of what capitalism is-or, in other words, what's "in it."

Perhaps this kind of disagreement isn't surprising given that only 22 states require high school students to take a class in economics to graduate, less than 50 percent of high school students have any exposure to economics, and only three percent of colleges require an economics class (!). So I decided to compile my thoughts about what's really "in" capitalism. I came up with three tenets that break capitalism down into something more digestible and debatable, each of which I'll discuss further in what follows: