Attorney Kim Fox (L) Jussie Smollet (R)
Chicago police are furious over state's attorney Kim Foxx's decision to drop all charges against Jussie Smollett.
Society's Child
Attorney Kim Fox (L) Jussie Smollet (R)
Chicago police are furious over state's attorney Kim Foxx's decision to drop all charges against Jussie Smollett.
© Gage Skidmore/Jordan Peterson
Dr. Jordan Peterson
Dr. Jordan Peterson
It should be very clear that meaningless terms such as diversity and inclusiveness do very little to the content of actual intellectual conversation. Ideas are there to be debated, not accepted by high caste strictures. The modern academic environment suggests something quite opposite: a policing rationale, an insistence on thought control that is insidious and all too common in managed structures. When incorporated into the university structure, the bureaucrat takes precedence over the intellectual, the mindless cherry picker over the polymath. The more ideas you have, the more of a threat you will be, requiring regulation and the occasional ostracising. In broader public spaces, this may even require you losing a platform altogether.
Which leads us, then, to Jordan Peterson, agent provocateur and psychology professor at University of Toronto who was led to believe that he would be taking up residence for two months at the Faculty of Divinity in Cambridge University in Michaelmas Term. In a statement to the Cambridge student newspaper, Varsity, a University spokesperson confirmed "that Jordan Peterson requested a visiting fellowship, and an initial offer has been rescinded after a further review."
© Chris Williamson/Getty Images
A Canadian professor of psychology, Peterson has unfashionable views on gender, masculinity and political correctness. To the horror of his critics, he has drawn the kind of crowds normally associated with rock stars, not bearded academics discussing Genesis (the Bible book, not the band).
He came to fame in 2016 when he opposed an anti-discrimination law requiring him to use the preferred pronouns of his students and colleagues. Learning on the grapevine last week that he was no longer welcome, Peterson said he had fallen foul of the "diversity, equality and inclusivity mob", and rebuked Cambridge for its "cowardly" decision.
Comment: Well said. What these pathetically entitled students need is a serious wake-up call. If they expect to be insulated from opinions they don't like for their entire lives, they're in for a tremendously rude awakening. And it couldn't happen too soon.
See also:
- 'Inclusiveness' preaching Cambridge University rescinds Jordan Peterson invitation
- New Zealand bookstore chain bans Jordan Peterson's books 'because terrorism'
- Former UK lecturer blasts SJW students with 'smug little minds', says 'the Stasi would have loved you'
- Hard sciences targeted by SJW madness: Scientist faces backlash after 'highly offensive' talk on gender bias
- 'Lock 'em in and burn it down!' cries SJW at Queen's University/Peterson event in Ontario
© CNN
Mark Geragos
Mark Geragos
"Mr. Avenatti and Mr. Geragos, the alleged co-conspirator, met with lawyers for Nike in New York on March 19 and threatened to release damaging information unless the company agreed to pay the two lawyers millions of dollars and another $1.5 million to the client Avenatti claimed to represent," the claim filed in New York stated, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Avenatti was arrested Monday and charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and allegedly trying to extort $20 million from Nike, according to the Associated Press. Geragos' involvement in the alleged federal extortion case is unknown, and he hasn't been charged with any crime.
Comment: So CNN is fine having a contributor who defends murderers, pedophiles and brutal women-beaters, but if he's possible suspect in an extortion case, he's crossed the line. Hardly surprising.
See also: #CreepyPornLawyer Michael Avenatti's attempted Nike extortion
The settlement, for a case brought under the False Claims Act (FCA), is for $112.5 million, according to attorneys for the whistleblower who brought the case. The act allows for whistleblowers to receive substantial payouts. Under the terms of the settlement, Joseph Thomas, a former biologist who worked in the department where the data were faked, will receive 30% of the $112.5 million. The rest will be paid to the US government.
"I am glad that the legal system has helped to return research funding to the United States government and shine a light on the importance of research integrity," Thomas told Medscape Medical News. He said he is "hopeful that this case bodes well for the future of scientific research."
Comment: Is it any wonder trust in medical research is waning? Make no mistake, this is not an isolated incident. For every researcher or institution that gets caught, there are dozens, if not hundreds, that get away with fraud. When science is corrupted to this level, how long before the entire facade collapses and we're faced with the undeniable reality that we don't have a clue what's really going on?
See also:
- Duke University outed by whistleblower, admits to scientific fraud
- Scientific fraud: Harvard calls for retraction of dozens of studies by noted cardiac researcher
- China cracks down after research papers investigation finds massive peer-review fraud
- Corruption of science and data fraud: Stanford researchers uncover patterns in how scientists falsify research
- Science and fraud are the same thing with biotech giant Monsanto
- Scientific Fraud Prevalent Among Science-Based Medicines
- Science in Turmoil - Are We Funding Fraud?
- Corruption of Science: Fraud and Errors in Scientific Studies Skyrocket
© CC BY-SA 4.0 / B.alotaby
Of the 43 executed so far, 21 were beheaded for drug offenses, while the remainder were put to death for crimes including treason, renouncing Islam, adultery, murder, burglary, rape, espionage and terrorism, according to the Gulf Times.
Should the Riyadh maintain its present rate, experts have projected that a whopping 172 executions will have taken place by the end of 2019 - the highest total recorded in Saudi Arabia since human rights groups first began tracking the data in the early 2000s.
According to Business Insider, the 43 recorded executions in 2019 took place between January 1 and March 13, with the most recent beheading involving a Syrian man who was condemned to death for smuggling amphetamine pills.
Comment: Saudi Arabia is considered 'progressive' now?
- Executions have dramatically increased since change in Saudi leadership
- U.S. puppet state Saudi Arabia on track to beat annual record of executions
- Saudi Arabia advertises for executioners as beheading rates rise
© Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
Michael Avenatti speaks to the media after being arrested for allegedly trying to extort Nike for $15-$25 million on March 25, 2019 in New York City.
Michael Avenatti speaks to the media after being arrested for allegedly trying to extort Nike for $15-$25 million on March 25, 2019 in New York City.
Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti was arrested Monday in New York City on charges of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike by threatening to publicize claims that company employees authorized payments to the families of top high school basketball players.
Avenatti also was separately charged in a second federal case in Los Angeles with embezzling a client's money "in order to pay his own expenses and debts" and those of his law firm and coffee company, and of "defrauding a bank in Mississippi," prosecutors said.
Comment: ZeroHedge adds some juicy bits:
Avenatti's most famous client revealed in a statement published Monday afternoon that she was "saddened, not shocked" by news of Avenatti's indictment, adding that she fired him after discovering that he had dealt with her in an "extremely dishonest" way.
With Avenatti in cuffs, and the Russia collusion narrative finally, definitively debunked, Michael Avenatti's star turn as a CNN stalwart are fading into the distance...except for the CNN hosts who feted him at their Hamptons estates.
As one reporter pointed out, the funniest part of the NY Avenatti indictment is the seemingly obvious (for everyone but Avenatti) setup engineered by Nike's lawyers.
© Reuters / Joshua Roberts
The jet, which was on its way to California to be grounded, suffered an engine problem shortly after takeoff and returned to Orlando International Airport to land. The plane had only two on board; the pilot and co-pilot.
President Donald Trump ordered every 737 MAX 8 and 9 aircraft grounded earlier this month, after two fatal accidents. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 nosedived into a field shortly after takeoff two weeks ago, killing all 157 people on board. Indonesian Lion Air Flight 610 plunged into the sea last October, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
© Reuters/Thomas White
"The airline was proud to operate the plane dubbed 'Queen of the Skies' for the last 10 years to serve domestic commercial flights," the company's spokesman Danang Mandala Prihantoro said, as quoted by The Jakarta Post. "The Airbus 330-900NEO will arrive in Indonesia gradually, starting in May. This year, Lion Air will receive two of the airplanes," Mandala added.
Comment: More from RT: China, as well, has turned to Airbus signing a multibillion-dollar deal, another big blow to Boeing
China will buy a total of 300 passenger jets from European aircraft maker Airbus as its US rival Boeing struggles in the aftermath of two deadly crashes involving its 737 MAX.
The deal was signed during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to France. Beijing's order includes 290 aircraft from the A320 Family and 10 more from the A350 XWB line, Airbus said in a statement on Monday. The agreement reflects "strong demand" in all sections of the Chinese aviation market, according to the company.
Airbus did not reveal the total value of the deal. However, French officials told Reuters that it could be worth €30 billion (around $34 billion), roughly matching Airbus' list prices.
"The conclusion of a big [aviation] contract... is an important step forward and an excellent signal in the current context," French President Emmanuel Macron said in a joint address with Xi Jinping.
© Getty Images/iStockphoto
Many are understandably worried about how their private data will be used, and whether the ban will even accomplish what it purports to do - namely, protect underage children from exposure to X-rated content.
A 2015 study suggesting that one-tenth of children as young as 12 are fearful of becoming "addicted" to porn was the rationale for the block. But many issues have become evident regarding how the study was conducted, including the fact that the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children commissioned a "creative market research" group, as opposed to impartial scientists, to carry it out. A backlash ensued when the findings were published, along with an open letter, signed by more than 30 sex educators, academics and journalists, criticizing them.
Comment: Breitbart has dug up a George Soros-Kim Foxx connection: 'Whitewash of justice': Chicago prosecutors drop charges against Jussie Smollett - Mayor blasts decision