Society's Child

The Left Are The Useful Idiots Of The Political Elites

Duncan Whitmore
The Ludwig von Mises Centre
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC

The typical libertarian is unlikely to open his YouTube account or Twitter feed without encountering a cascade of material in which a) the left is drawing attention to itself in a loud and obnoxious manner; and b) libertarians, conservatives and their fellow travellers are castigating the left for whatever it is doing. Given all of this attention paid to the left one would have thought that they must have something important to say. Let us look at a few recent examples to see if this is true.

On August 11^th it was reported in the news that around a hundred or so protestors had appeared in the constituency of Conservative MP Andrew Griffiths to demand his resignation. No doubt the motivation of a small crowd of Mr Griffiths' constituents to give up their afternoon and don placards calling for his head owed itself to something extremely serious. After all, surely we would only bother to march through the streets to protest if the matter was as grave as an illegal war, right?

Actually, the flames of fury were ignited by something altogether less serious. Mr Griffiths, who is married, had been sending a considerable volume of lewd text messages to two barmaids, the contents of which were published by the Sunday Mirror. The high crime which had fuelled the protestors' rage was that Mr Griffiths is a "misogynist", the protest calling for nothing more than a rejection of his "behaviour and attitudes".

Woman who was held captive by the Taliban with her husband claims he physically and emotionally abused her during captivity

Ashifa Kassam
The Guardian
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 21:51 UTC

© AP
Caitlan Coleman speaks in a video while her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle holds their two children in a still from a video released by Taliban media in December 2016

The American woman who was kidnapped in Afghanistan and held hostage for five years - giving birth to three children while in captivity - has accused her husband of physically and emotionally abusing her while the family was being held by Taliban-linked militants.

The allegations levied by Caitlan Coleman against her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle are contained in newly unsealed court documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.

In the documents, filed earlier this year as part of a family court application aimed at allowing Coleman to leave Canada and return to the US with the couple's children, Coleman accused her husband of exacerbating the nightmarish ordeal.

"JB (Joshua Boyle) regularly threatened to kill me by setting me on fire," Coleman - who is expecting the couple's fourth child - said in an affidavit. Her husband, she claimed, "had uncontrolled rage, instituted corporal punishment of me, and struck me in a fit of rage".

Comment: Previously:

Argentines Protest Changes, Cuts to Health Ministry in Gov't Austerity Package

teleSUR
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 21:31 UTC

Argentina's Health Ministry was downgraded to a secretariat by the president. Medical staff and patients fear service will become worst.

Thousands of Argentines protested Wednesday against the decision announced by President Mauricio Macri to fuse the Ministries of Health and Social Development, transforming it into a secretariat. Thousands participated in a symbolic "embrace" of the building where the former ministry operated.

Doctors, medical associations and organizations, political groups, and users of Argentina's public health care system gathered for the Movement for the Right to Health by surrounding the building where the former Health Ministry operated to protest President Mauricio Macri's decision to downgrade the ministry to a secretariat and to warn of the dangers of the funding cut.

On Monday, Macri addressed the nation in a televised statement to explain the austerity measures to reduce the fiscal deficit. Eight ministries, including the Science and Technology Ministry and Culture Ministry, were either eliminated or fused with others.

World's top exporter of grain: Russia's wheat export increases 80%

RT
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 13:52 UTC

The world's top exporter of grain, Russia, has increased sales of its wheat abroad by 80.2 percent from January to July 2018 compared to the same period of 2017.

Statistics from the Federal Customs Service showed that in July the country shipped 3.8 million tons of wheat and meslin (a mixture of wheat and rye), up by almost 78 percent from the previous month. The value of exports rose by 74 percent.

According to the customs service, imports of wheat and meslin increased by 36.7 percent through July - worth $32.2 million. Overall, grain imports amounted to $227.8 million in the seven months of this year, down by 7.8 percent from 2017.

Russia has managed to capture more than half of the world wheat market in recent years, becoming the world's biggest exporter of grain, thanks to bumper harvests and attractive pricing. In 2016, the country became the world leader in wheat exports. Since the early 2000s, its share of the world wheat market has quadrupled.

Iraqi protesters break into Russian Lukoil-managed facility, briefly take employees hostage

RT
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 20:18 UTC

© Alaa al-Marjani/Reuters (file photo)
Iraqi protesters rally near the burnt building of the government office in Basra, Iraq September 7, 2018.

The protests that turned into riots in Iraq's Basra have spilled out into the nearby oilfield, in which Russian oil giant Lukoil is a major stakeholder. Protesters stormed it and took two hostages, later freeing them unharmed.

The crowd forced its way into a water treatment facility linked to the West Qurna-2 oilfield managed by Lukoil, a source within the Russian energy company and local police source told Reuters. The protesters took two local employees hostage. However, less than an hour later the agency reported that the protesters left the facility peacefully and set both employees free.

No Lukoil employees were injured in the incident, a source told Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

This comes as the Iraqi government has reportedly imposed a state of emergency in the Basra province in connection with the riots.

Comment: See also: Iraqi protesters set fire to Iranian consulate in Basra (VIDEO)

US no longer appeals to ex-pats as lack of health care and safety concerns drag "exceptional nation" down

Suzanne Woolley
Bloomberg
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 20:00 UTC

Bahrain

How the mighty have fallen. And fallen again.

The appeal of the U.S. as a destination for expatriates slid for the fifth consecutive year, to No. 47 out of 68 countries, dragged down by a steadily deteriorating reputation for safety and a perceived lack of affordable health care.

Just five years ago, the U.S. held the fifth slot in the annual Expat Insider survey by Munich-based InterNations, a network of 3.2 million expatriates. The annual survey of more than 18,000 expats representing 178 nationalities covers everything from the cost of education and child care to family life, career prospects and perceptions of safety and political stability.

Two-thirds of expats in the U.S. view job opportunities positively, but for the first time America placed among the 15 countries deemed the least safe and secure. Just 17 percent rated the personal safety of their children as "very good," compared with a global average of 44 percent. Expats are "afraid of gun violence," said Malte Zeeck, a founder and co-chief executive of InterNations.

US sanctions Syria - the criminal, silent killer

Eva Bartlett
In Gaza
Sat, 01 Sep 2018 00:06 UTC

In 2016, I visited the centre depicted in the linked RT news report on the effect of western sanctions on children with cancer. At the time, the director told me they were trying to help 240 children, were underfunded and in debt, the people working there were volunteers, and (at that time) were facing constant power outages, as was the norm in Aleppo due to terrorists outside of Aleppo controlling the power plant.

Formerly, cancer patients in the north of Syria had excellent treatment at the Kindi Hospital, a massive complex that was respected throughout the region. It was truck-bombed by terrorists in late 2013, completely destroyed. In November 2016, I met and interviewed the former director of Kindi, Dr. Ibrahim Hadid. He emphasized how he tried to get the attention of international organizations both when the hospital was initially occupied by terrorists, and later when it was destroyed. He was met with silence.

Tesla shares dip after Elon Musk smokes a joint on the Joe Rogan show

Rupert Neate and Julia Carrie Wong
The Guardian
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 19:19 UTC

Tesla shares crashed 8% on Friday as two of its senior executives quit, just hours after the electric carmaker's chief executive Elon Musk sparked concern by smoking marijuana on a live web show.

The company's head of accounting, Dave Morton, and head of human resources, Gaby Toledano, said they were leaving the company, which has been placed at the centre of a string of controversies by its maverick CEO.

Morton, who joined the company just one month ago, said he was leaving because "the level of public attention placed on the company, as well as the pace within the company, have exceeded my expectations".

"This caused me to reconsider my future. I want to be clear that I believe strongly in Tesla, its mission and its future prospects, and I have no disagreements with Tesla's leadership or its financial reporting."

Morton joined the company one day before Musk tweeted that he was considering taking the company private with "funding secured". The plan was abandoned 17 days later, but not after drawing a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission and a series of lawsuits alleging market manipulation.

Comment: Elon can't catch a break.

'Master manipulator': 14 tantric yoga students claim sexual assault by guru at Thai yoga retreat

Hannah Ellis-Petersen
The Guardian
Thu, 06 Sep 2018 18:58 UTC

In the beginning, Agama Yoga was paradise for most who walked through its gates; a haven on the Thai island of Koh Phangan that embraced ancient tantric teachings under the watchful eye of its charismatic leader, the guru Swami Vivekananda Saraswati.

But beneath the surface, it seems this was no ordinary yoga school. Sixteen former pupils and staff who have spoken to the Guardian have said they felt a "sex cult" was operating inside Agama.

The 14 women and two men claim that for 15 years the retreat facilitated sexual assault, rape and misogynistic teachings, allegedly "brainwashing" hundreds of women into having sex with the Swami - whose real name is Narcis Tarcau - in the name of helping them achieve enlightenment.

After 31 women submitted testimonials to Agama alleging abuse, the school first tried to deal with it internally, but have now launched an independent inquiry .

Tarcau is understood to have left Koh Phangan in July, when several women went public with the allegations of abuse at Agama, and is no longer in Thailand. He could not be reached directly for comment.

Sex Abuse Scandal in the Catholic Church: The Untold Story of Cover-Up

Ekaterina Blinova
Sputnik
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 19:04 UTC

The sex abuse scandal that has recently engulfed the Catholic Church is dramatically affecting Pope Francis' authority, Maurizio Blondet, a prominent Italian journalist and author, has told Sputnik, sharing his views on Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano's testimony and cases of cover-up of sexual misconduct among priests.

Pope Francis (Bergoglio) has found himself at the epicenter of the scandal over a letter by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former apostolic nuncio to the United States (2011-2016) and ex-secretary-general of the Governorate of Vatican City State (2006-2011).

In his testimony, released on August 30, 2018, Vigano accused the pope and other top-level prelates of the Catholic Church of covering up sexual abuse of priests and seminarians by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who resigned from the College of Cardinals on July 28, 2018 over sexual harassment allegations.

According to Vigano, he informed Pope Francis about McCarrick's sexual misconduct on June 23, 2013, but the pope did nothing to address the problem. The archbishop further presumed that Pope Francis could have known about "sanctions" imposed on McCarrick by his predecessor, Pope Benedict, over the case, but nevertheless made McCarrick "his trusted counselor."

New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer neighborhoods, safer communities, and our children are going to get a good...

parzival

Bill Gates is going to be the one with the uncertain future,,, * New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer...

parzival

The more we hear about adverse affects the more we will merely shrug. It's a catch 22. Is that an asteroid trail in the photo?

sass

Welcome to the new normal. The more sensory exposure we have about such things, the less it is an issue.

sass

more misbehaving phuqqin' jewzskies starring on the sott; speaks for itself

Jibrish

Society's Child

The Left Are The Useful Idiots Of The Political Elites

Woman who was held captive by the Taliban with her husband claims he physically and emotionally abused her during captivity

Argentines Protest Changes, Cuts to Health Ministry in Gov't Austerity Package

World's top exporter of grain: Russia's wheat export increases 80%

Iraqi protesters break into Russian Lukoil-managed facility, briefly take employees hostage

US no longer appeals to ex-pats as lack of health care and safety concerns drag "exceptional nation" down

US sanctions Syria - the criminal, silent killer

Tesla shares dip after Elon Musk smokes a joint on the Joe Rogan show

'Master manipulator': 14 tantric yoga students claim sexual assault by guru at Thai yoga retreat

Sex Abuse Scandal in the Catholic Church: The Untold Story of Cover-Up

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