Society's Child

Twitter suspends rightwing group Proud Boys on eve of deadly Unite the Right rally anniversary

Julia Carrie Wong
The Guardian
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 13:23 UTC

Twitter suspended numerous accounts associated with the rightwing "western chauvinist" group the Proud Boys on Friday, the eve of the anniversary of the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.

Verified accounts belonging to the group and its founder, Gavin McInnes, were suspended for violating the platform's policy against "violent extremist groups", a company spokeswoman confirmed. A number of non-verified accounts for various Proud Boys chapters were also suspended.

The action by Twitter is notable for its timing, coming at the end of a week in which the company bucked a trend set by Apple, Facebook and YouTube to ban the accounts of the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Jones built a wide audience on social media while disseminating a toxic mix of conspiracy theories, misinformation and hyper-partisanship, but he was ultimately banned over his hateful speech toward minority groups.

The content moderation policies of all the major internet platforms have come under intense scrutiny by the media and public in recent years, as the companies have lurched from controversy to controversy over issues such as foreign interference in elections, rising political extremism and violence, fake news and misinformation, and targeted harassment campaigns.

Abuse: School officer handcuffs autistic 10yo, forces him to the ground

RT
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 19:19 UTC

Body cam footage has emerged showing the moment a school resource officer forced a 10-year-old boy with autism to the ground and handcuffed him. The child's mother says the entire incident amounts to "abuse."

The video begins by showing the young boy, Thomas, sitting in a cubby by himself in a classroom at Lee Elementary School in Denton, Texas in April. His teacher tries to encourage him to "hop out of the cubby" and eventually takes him by the wrist to help pull him down.

A Denton Police Department school resource officer, who had been called to the room, can then be heard saying "do you want help?" to which the teacher replies that she does.

Comment: The family should take legal action and this police officer should lose his job.

Pew Research: Two years on, most Trump voters still have 'very warm' feelings for him

Pew Research Center
Thu, 09 Aug 2018 19:47 UTC

In the wake of Donald Trump's 2016 election victory, an overwhelming majority of those who said they had voted for him had "warm" feelings for him.

By this spring, more than a year into Trump's presidency, the feelings of these same Trump voters had changed very little.

In March, 82% of those who reported voting for Trump - and whom researchers were able to verify through voting records as having voted in 2016 - said they felt "warmly" toward Trump, with 62% saying they had "very warm" feelings toward him. Their feelings were expressed on a 0-100 "feeling thermometer." A rating of 51 or higher is "warm," with 76 or higher indicating "very warm" feelings.

Norway to hand out free heroin to drug addicts

AFP
Fri, 10 Aug 2018 17:30 UTC

Norway, which has one of the highest deadly drug overdose rates in Europe, will test prescribing free heroin to the most serious addicts to improve their living conditions, the government said on Friday.

The Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs has been tasked with proposing an experimental project to identify patients likely to benefit from the programme, to examine the implementation method, and to calculate the costs.

"We hope that this will provide a solution that will give... a better quality of life to some addicts who are today out of our reach and whom current programmes do not help enough," Health Minister Bente Hoie wrote on Facebook.

Norway has one of the highest overdose mortality rates in Europe, with 81 deaths per million in 2015 after Estonia (132 deaths per million) and Sweden (88 deaths per million), according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Already adopted or tested in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark, medical heroin therapy is controversial, but supporters argue that in addition to improving the quality of life of addicts and lowering overdose mortality, it reduces crime and the costs associated with it.

The first treatments under the project will begin in 2020 at the earliest, the health ministry said in a statement.

The initiative could benefit up to 400 drug addicts, according to the daily Aftenposten.

Comment: Maybe a better tactic is to completely decriminalize drugs as they did in Portugal. See also: "Shooting galleries": UK police plan to fund free heroin to addicts

70,000 people protest plan to relocate US army base in Okinawa

RT
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 19:50 UTC

Around 70,000 people protested the Japanese government's plan to relocate a US air base within Okinawa island. Locals say the base will hurt the environment and claim they have sacrificed enough for Japan's security alliance.

The demonstrators gathered at a park in the prefectural capital of Naha on Saturday, in an attempt to urge the central government to abandon their plan to transfer the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from the crowded town of Ginowan to the less populated coastal region of Nago.

Suicide bomber's belt of explosives blew up before he got to Christian church celebration in Egypt

RT
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 17:21 UTC

© Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters
A nun cries as she stands at the scene inside Cairo's Coptic cathedral, following one of the 2016 bombing.

Egyptian security forces have thwarted a suicide bomber as he attempted to position himself among members of a church congregation wearing a belt of explosives, during a religious celebration at a heavily guarded Christian church.

The suicide bomber was attempting to enter the Church of the Virgin Mary in Mostorod, Shubra Al-Khaim, when tight security prevented him from getting close to the crowds of Coptic Christians. Abdel Maseeh Basset, pastor of the Church, told local media that the bomb went off before the would-be killer got to the church.

Conservative Twitter voices being hit with malicious 'abusive speech' complaints

RT
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 19:32 UTC

Several prominent journalists raised alarm at baseless complaints being sent to Twitter over stories on sensitive topics, such as the activities of British spy Christopher Steele, and links between Sen. Dianne Feinstein and China.

Conservative newspaper Washington Examiner's Byron York was reported for posting an apparently innocuous link to his own August 9 story, which exposed the lobbying work Steele, notorious for his Donald Trump dossier, performed for Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska.

York said that he was not found guilty of violating the social network's rules.

Comment:

One yr anniversary of Charlottesville clashes, Trump condemns racism, says he 'fights for' minorities

RT
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 18:53 UTC

The US President has spoken out against racism and violence ahead of a fresh Unite the Right rally on Sunday, and has trumpeted his own achievements that he says have benefitted African-Americans and Hispanics.

"The riots in Charlottesville a year ago resulted in senseless death and division. We must come together as a nation. I condemn all types of racism and acts of violence. Peace to ALL Americans!" Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday afternoon.

The statement Trump made one year ago, in which he blamed "hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides" in the aftermath of the clashes between white nationalists and counter-protesters, was one of the most controversial moments of his presidency. While he gathered some support from his base, who believed that Antifa helped ignite the combustible atmosphere, Trump was widely condemned even by members of his own party, who pointed to the death of Heather Heyer, who was killed when a Unite the Right demonstrator plowed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters.

Saturday's tweet took a more diplomatic, positive and inclusive tone but, notably, did not contradict anything the US president said a year ago, something ignored in most media outlets, which commended his conciliatory tone, but noted by his political opponents.

US: Dramatic shootout at routine traffic stop caught on police dashcam

RT
Fri, 10 Aug 2018 18:58 UTC

Police dashcam footage shows dramatic shootout at routine traffic stop

Newly released police dashcam footage shows a brutal, blockbuster-like shootout between a driver and two officers during a routine traffic stop in Pennsylvania that escalated very quickly.

Northampton County First Deputy District Attorney, Terence Houck, released the footage on Thursday to demonstrate the risk state troopers face in their line of duty. Houck said he received permission to release the footage from the family of Geneseo Corporal Seth Kelly, who nearly died in the incident.

The shocking dashboard footage shows trooper Ryan Seiple attempt to arrest Daniel Clary, 22, after he fails a field sobriety test on Route 33 in Plainfield Township, Northampton County, in November 2017.

Comment: From the article:

"Northampton County First Deputy District Attorney, Terence Houck, released the footage on Thursday to demonstrate the risk state troopers face in their line of duty. "

Fair enough, this is one instance, in the short section of video shown, that the cops probably acted as they are duty bound and what is sadly to be expected in their line of work, especially in the US. Although the US police force are better known for their abhorrent behavior in much less dramatic situations:

Israel destroys Gaza cultural center in 'a war against every part of Palestinian identity'

Ahmad Kabariti
Mondoweiss
Fri, 10 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC

© Mohammed Asad
Nidal Eissa, Deputy Director of the Said al-Mishal Foundation for Culture and Science standing on ruins of the cultural center.

Dozens of neighbors of the Said al-Mishal Foundation for Culture and Science were seen leaning out of their windows this morning to listen to music they believed would not be played again. The cultural center's building was completely destroyed by consecutive Israeli airstrikes, but Hazam Gusain, 18, led his twelve-man band on the center's ruins. The band which had lost their headquarters, equipment and uniforms in the attack, carried their guitars, drums and digital pianos after they all connected their instruments to a small diesel generator.

For 15 minutes, the al-Anqaa (the Phoenix) band sang and played three national songs. Some local residents who came down to the 'concert' to join in, while others watched from further away, clapping their hands to shake off the deep gloom of the preceding hours.

On Thursday evening, at 18:00 Gaza time, 12 successive explosions were heard as Israeli warplanes flew over Gaza City, hitting the popular cultural center, one of the very few cultural outlets left for Gaza's youth in the besieged enclave.

The five-story building held three theatres, offices for cultural associations, a library, and hosted an office for Gaza's Egyptian community.

© Mohammed Assad/KJN
Hazam Gusain performs with his band • Shocked witness minutes after the explosion • The Said al-Mishal Foundation for Culture and Science center ruins

Comment: "We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us." - Golda Meir, fourth prime minister of Israel

Israel doesn't on all counts.

Is this not a case of, The pot calling the kettle black.

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Society's Child

Twitter suspends rightwing group Proud Boys on eve of deadly Unite the Right rally anniversary

Abuse: School officer handcuffs autistic 10yo, forces him to the ground

Pew Research: Two years on, most Trump voters still have 'very warm' feelings for him

Norway to hand out free heroin to drug addicts

70,000 people protest plan to relocate US army base in Okinawa

Suicide bomber's belt of explosives blew up before he got to Christian church celebration in Egypt

Conservative Twitter voices being hit with malicious 'abusive speech' complaints

One yr anniversary of Charlottesville clashes, Trump condemns racism, says he 'fights for' minorities

US: Dramatic shootout at routine traffic stop caught on police dashcam

Israel destroys Gaza cultural center in 'a war against every part of Palestinian identity'

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