Society's Child

UN warns Yemen could face famine in 2017

RT
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 19:59 UTC

© AFP Photo/MOHAMMED HUWAIS
At least 2 million people need emergency food assistance to survive in Yemen, according to the UN

Yemen could face famine this year unless immediate action is taken to stop the ongoing conflict that's led to the deaths of over 7,000 people and has left two-thirds of the nation in dire need of humanitarian aid, the UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien has warned.

"An astounding 10.3 million Yemenis ... require immediate assistance to save or sustain their lives [and] at least two million people need emergency food assistance to survive," O'Brien told the UN Security Council on Thursday. The ongoing conflict in Yemen is "the primary driver of the largest food security emergency in the world," he added.

"If there is no immediate action, famine is now a possible scenario for 2017,"he warned. O'Brien noted that more than two thirds of the country's population - a total of some 18.8 million Yemenis is in need of humanitarian and protection assistance.

O'Brien heads the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and says since the conflict ignited in March 2015, some 7,469 Yemenis have been killed and 40,483 injured, with the true number likely to be higher than these estimations.

Apart from the direct casualties of the armed conflict, there are the so-called 'silent deaths,' with people dying from severe food shortages and disease, the majority of them being children. These deaths are largely unrecorded, and their numbers could be much higher. O'Brien said some 2.2 million babies, young boys and girls are "acutely malnourished, and almost half a million children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition," which is a 63 percent increase since late 2015, according to UN data.

Egyptian scholar claims 'Virgin Mary will marry Prophet Mohammed in heaven'

RT
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 01:13 UTC

An Egyptian cleric has earned the ire of the country's Christian community by claiming that the Prophet Mohammed would marry Mary, the mother of Jesus, in heaven. Dr. Salem Abdel Galil, a scholar at the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, made the inflammatory remarks on his TV show, Muslims are asking.

"There were only four perfect women," he told viewers. "Maryam [Mary], with whom it began; and Asiya, the wife of the pharaoh; and Khadija bint Khuwaylid [the first wife of the Prophet]; and Fatima the daughter of the Prophet. Peace and prayers to her and our prophet."

"The Prophet himself pointed to the high position of Maryam. And can I belittle her position, saying it only refers to a specific time and place? No! She was chosen among the wives of both worlds. Four women were chosen with Maryam. And Maryam is the first among them! And she will be the wife of our favorite Mohammed in heaven, and she will be the first to enter heaven together with the greatest prophets. And not just with the prophets, but with the greatest prophets!"

Galil's comments drew anger from members of Egypt's Christian minority. Nader Soubhi, of the Christian Youth Movement for Orthodox Copts, demanded an apology.

Comment: So, who knows what goes on in heaven? Even so, this may be considered a long shot.

Czech court dismissed hijab discrimination lawsuit

RT
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 01:45 UTC

A court in Prague on Friday dismissed a discrimination lawsuit filed by a Somalian refugee, where the plaintiff claimed she had been barred from wearing her headscarf in a nursing school.

In her complaint, Ayan Jamaal Ahmed Nuur, who was granted asylum in the Czech Republic in 2011, claimed that on her first day at the Secondary Health School the headmaster told her to remove her hijab. Instead, Nuur left the school and filed her case, demanding an apology and compensation.

"The suit which the plaintiff lodged seeking an apology and 60,000 crowns ($2,350) in compensation was rejected," said Justice Daniela Cejkova, as quoted by AFP.

The legal case is said to be the first of its kind in the EU.

Comment: That awkward moment when you realize the organizer of the #WomensMarch is pro Sharia Law, the very opposite of women's rights. See article:DC Women's March organizer, Linda Sarsour, is pro sharia law, ties to Hamas

Bomb-shelter builder stays busy as customers prep for 'Trumpocalypse'

Gordon Dickson
Star-Telegram
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 18:27 UTC

Gary Lynch, general manager of Rising S Co. in Murchison, Texas

Inside his football field-size warehouse an hour's drive southeast of Dallas, Gary Lynch is busy trying to keep up with orders for his solid-steel bomb shelters.

He offers visitors a tour of a 600-square-foot model under construction for a Saudi customer.

Right now, it's just a steel shell, he said, but when the work is done it will be a luxurious underground bunker with a master bedroom, four bunk beds, a composting toilet, a living room with satellite television capability, filtered air and water, and a storage closet with room for months of food.

Lynch explains that orders for his most expensive shelters, which can cost as much as several million dollars, have increased since the November election.

"It definitely has picked up a little as Donald Trump emerged as president," said Lynch, general manager of Rising S Co. on the outskirts of the rural city of Murchison. Lynch said some customers even half-jokingly say they're trying to protect themselves from a "Trumpocalypse" or "Trumpnado."

Fourteen German academics pen open letter slamming Western interpretation of Syria crisis

Sputnik
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 17:27 UTC

In contrast to the West, which has been intent on destroying Syria and other Middle Eastern countries, Russia and Iran are playing a constructive role in preventing the overthrow of Assad and the formation of a fundamentalist Sunni government in the country, a group of German academics have written in an open letter.

A group of German university professors have penned a joint statement criticizing the mainstream media's portrayal of the roles of Russia and Iran in regulation of the Syrian conflict, Sputnik Deutschland reported.

Called "a statement on the Syrian war," the declaration was written by the scientific advisory board of the German branch of Attac, an international organization that campaigns for alternatives to globalization.

"Russia and Iran exhausted all the possibilities for a diplomatic and peaceful solution to the conflict; (although) such an attempt seemed to be futile at first, they have for the time being ended military attacks and the war in Aleppo. Therefore, we think the attacks on Russia in the mainstream media are absurd," they wrote.

The rise of the new social class "Precariat"

Wan Fayhsal
Katehon
Thu, 26 Jan 2017 00:00 UTC

"Precariat" - derived from the word precarious - is a newly emerging class in the workforce that experiences constant deprivation, anger, anxiety, and alienation in their work.

It was a nightmare for many liberals - both in the US and worldwide - to see a controversial figure like Donald Trump win the presidential election and put at the helm of the strongest country on earth¹. Despite the barrage of mudslinging exercises concocted by the mainstream media on the eve of the presidential race, President-elect Trump prevailed and caused a massive upset by clinching the crucial votes from the American public: the middle and working class of the Rustbelt states - the hub for which America was known to be a great industrial and manufacturing nation.²

Many pollsters and political analysts got it wrong, but the signs had already been on the horizon for years pointing to the potential social upheaval that led to Trump's winning. If we could profile the voters, how would we best describe them? Maybe the answer lies in the new social class called the "precariat".

Study: 40% of refugees in Austria put religion above law

RT
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 16:44 UTC

A new study from the Austrian Academy of Sciences shows that 40 percent of refugees in Austria believe religious commandments take precedence over the nation's laws, prompting the country's foreign minister to push for a rigorous new integration package.

The survey, which was conducted on behalf of the country's Department of Integration (Integrationsressort), found that 90 percent of officially recognized Austrian refugees believe democracy is an ideal form of government. The study also found that 80 percent believe in the equality of men and women, and 83 percent have no problem with other religions, Austrian Die Presse reported this week.

Yet, 40 percent of the same people questioned for the study said that religion is a more reliable guide for behavior than secular state law, with 80 percent supporting adherence to religious law in the public sphere. At the same time, only 61 percent admitted to being religious, while 45 percent don't believe all religions are equal.

"Do not build this wall!" Berlin mayor urges Trump not to build wall on Mexican border

RT
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 16:47 UTC

© Reuters
West Berlin citizens continue their vigil atop the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandeburg Gate in this November 10, 1989

Berlin Mayor Michael Müller has just sent President Donald Trump a message about his proposed Mexican border wall. As the mayor of the iconic German city that was divided by an imposing wall for almost three decades, Muller is in good position to offer advice.

"Berlin, the city of the division of Europe, the city of freedom of Europe, cannot look without comment when a country plans to build a new wall," Müller said in a statement Friday. "We Berliners know best how much suffering a division of an entire continent, cemented by barbed wire and wall, has caused. Millions of people have been seized by this division of life. In the end, we, the people, have overcome this division, and it is one of the 20th century's star-studded hours when, at the Brandenburger Tor, the most important symbol of the division, people conquered the Wall and then removed them piece by piece. The Brandenburg Gate stands for the spirit of freedom!"

Trump began moves to deliver on his campaign promise to build a wall at the Mexican border this week, signing an executive order for federal agencies to begin constructing the nearly 2,000-mile structure.

Critics slam porn 'tube' sites as threatening to children and actors

Laurence Thomann and Fiachra Goibbons
Yahoo News
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 16:31 UTC

© Joel Saget/Agence France
Documentary maker and former porn star Ovidie says the pirating of videos on to free-to-view websites means fewer films are made and fees have been slashed

A new documentary claims that pornography has got "uglier and nastier", with actors forced to shoot more hardcore films for less since the explosion of free-to-view internet sites like Youporn and Pornhub.

"Pornocracy", made by Ovidie, a former French porn star turned director, claims that far fewer films are now being made and fees have been slashed up to 10-fold.

She blames "tube" sites -- so-called because they resemble YouTube -- which have been accused of hosting thousands of videos pirated from traditional adult entertainment companies.

Critics say children are also getting their first exposure to sex through the sites.

And they worry about the effect porn culture is having on the way teenage boys treat girls.

Comment: Further reading:

Sick society: Three women sentenced in degrading sex attack on UK footballer

The Telegraph
Fri, 27 Jan 2017 16:06 UTC

A drunken gang of girls who took Snapchat photos and videos of a "ritualised humiliation" sex attack on an amateur footballer has been jailed.

Brogan Gillard, the 26-year-old ringleader of the group, was filmed dancing around the victim's naked body as she cut his hair, sliced onions over him and sexually assaulted him with a pair of scissors.

Paige Cunningham, 22, and Shannon Jones, 20, also posed for "trophy photographs" with the unconscious 19-year-old victim and a Snapchat post showed one girl holding the man's penis.

The video was shared on social media and was seen by their victim's girlfriend, Preston Crown Court heard. Gillard then joked about using carrots and onions in the sex assault on Facebook.

Judge Graham Knowles QC said he sentenced as if it had been three men on a female.

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Society's Child

UN warns Yemen could face famine in 2017

Egyptian scholar claims 'Virgin Mary will marry Prophet Mohammed in heaven'

Czech court dismissed hijab discrimination lawsuit

Bomb-shelter builder stays busy as customers prep for 'Trumpocalypse'

Fourteen German academics pen open letter slamming Western interpretation of Syria crisis

The rise of the new social class "Precariat"

Study: 40% of refugees in Austria put religion above law

"Do not build this wall!" Berlin mayor urges Trump not to build wall on Mexican border

Critics slam porn 'tube' sites as threatening to children and actors

Sick society: Three women sentenced in degrading sex attack on UK footballer

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