Society's ChildS


Skull

SOTT Focus: 'The Hunger Games': Inside Israel's Death Traps for Starving Gazans

Ahmed Ahmed and Ibtisam Mahdi
+972 Magazine
Fri, 20 Jun 2025 17:15 UTC
gaza city palestine
© Yousef Zaanoun/ActivestillsA Palestinian man is seen wounded as hundreds more walk along Al-Rashid Street carrying bags of flour after aid trucks entered through the Zikim area in northern Gaza City, June 17, 2025. Several of those seeking aid were shot by Israeli forces.
Near-daily Israeli massacres at food distribution sites have killed over 400 Palestinians in the past month alone. Survivors describe stepping over corpses to get their hands on a bag of flour: 'What choice do we have?'
In the early hours of June 11, before sunrise, 19-year-old Hatem Shaldan and his brother Hamza, 23, went to wait for aid trucks near the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip. They hoped to return with a bag of white flour for their family of five. Instead, Hamza returned with his younger brother's body wrapped in a white burial shroud.

The Shaldan family had lived virtually without food for nearly two months due to Israel's blockade, crammed into a classroom-turned-shelter in eastern Gaza City. Their home, once nearby, was destroyed completely by an Israeli airstrike in January 2024.

At around 1:30 a.m., the two brothers joined dozens of starving Palestinians on Al-Rashid Street along the shore upon hearing that trucks carrying flour would enter the Strip. Two hours later, they heard shouts of "The trucks are coming!" followed immediately by the sound of Israeli artillery shelling.

Comment: The IDF can claim that it is 'working to ensure safe' food distribution but, as Haaretz reports, their own soldiers have confirmed that they are ordered to target starving civilians:
Israeli soldiers in Gaza told Haaretz that the army has deliberately fired at Palestinians near aid distribution sites over the past month.

Conversations with officers and soldiers reveal that commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds to drive them away or disperse them, even though it was clear they posed no threat.

One soldier described the situation as a total breakdown of the Israel Defense Forces' ethical codes in Gaza. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, 549 people have been killed near aid centers and in areas where residents were waiting for UN food trucks since May 27. Over 4,000 have been wounded, but the exact number of those killed or injured by IDF fire remains unclear.


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Dollar

Los Angeles is broke - City declares fiscal emergency

Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
Wed, 02 Jul 2025 05:20 UTC
LA Homeless
© Robyn Beck/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The city of Los Angeles declared a state of fiscal emergency amid a $1 billion deficit. The council approved of the emergency declaration unanimously in a 14-0 vote. This comes after Mayor Karen Bass approved a $14 billion budget for the fiscal year that began on July 1. The city is a prime example of what happens when socialist policies are allowed to run rampant at the expense of the people.

Government Spending
© Armstrong EconomicsDeficit Quote Reagan - Government Spending.
Bass approved of raising the budget from $12.9 billion in FY2024-25 to $14 billion in 2025-26 despite the looming $1 billion deficit. Unsurprisingly, overspending is the main culprit for the deficit, and yet, lawmakers have every intention of spending more. Over 600 public sector workers will be let go as a result of fiscal mismanagement, and although small government is usually applaudable, the city plans to fire 248 LAPD employees, 44 sanitation workers, and 41 firefighters. LA is experiencing a significant uptick in crime, but plans to defund the police to appease the mobs.

California Governor Gavin Newsom boasts of California's robust economy but fails to acknowledge that it's a state basically living "paycheck-to-paycheck," with the payee being the taxpayer. Read the state's plan to cover its budget deficits - endless taxes. Spending growth from 2025-26 to 2028-29 is 5.8%, above the average of 3.5%. Growth over the same period is just above 4%, "lower than its historical average, largely due to policy choices that end during the forecast window. Taken together, we view it as unlikely that revenue growth will be fast enough to catch up to ongoing spending." Even residents who choose or are forced to leave the state will incur taxes to cover government thievery. Los Angeles is one of countless examples of how the public sector will virtue signal to rob Peter, not to pay Paul, but to pay themselves, as they are not hiding the corruption.
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Star of David

1,500 Israeli soldiers will attend Jewish summer camps in North America this year — we must oppose this normalization of genocide

Aaron Kreuter
Mondoweiss
Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:07 UTC
Flag Israel
© Justin LabergeFlag of Israel
This summer, 1,500 Israeli soldiers will attend Jewish summer camps across North America. They will act as ambassadors for Israel as it carries out ethnic cleansing across Palestine. The Jewish community must reject this normalization of genocide.

It's June, which means a similar scene is playing out at tens of thousands of Jewish houses across the continent. Duffel bags dug up from basements. Toiletries laid out on carpeted floors, emergency trips to the drug store for one final item. Last-minute clothing decisions. Bags of carefully curated candy. Tearful midnight goodbyes to school friends. For so many of us Jewish North Americans, the summers of our younger years mean one thing: sleepover camp. Unfortunately, it's not just Jewish kids, teenagers, and twenty-somethings getting ready to go to one of the hundreds of Jewish camps in North America.

At a not insubstantial number of these camps, Israeli soldiers will also soon be in attendance, sleeping in cabins, giving guitar lessons, and telling their rapt, doe-eyed campers stories of heroic daring and the importance of maintaining Jewish power at all costs.

Comment: Decades of this indoctrination program infiltrating youth activities and unsuspecting minds has gained what for Israel? Generational normalcy bias.

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USA

How United is the United States of America?

R. Hove Monkton
The Postil Magazine
Tue, 01 Jul 2025 18:21 UTC
Beef Trust
© The Postil Magazine"United States Meat Trust." Udo Keppler (Puck, October 15, 1913).
How many "Americas" are there? It has become obvious over the decades, and particularly in Trumpian America, that ordinary people living in the United States are never represented by the people who find a way to acquire positions of political power — largely because said power is contingent upon the network of money. It isn't by accident that millionaires and billionaires always end up looking after Washington.

The reality of America is grim. It's a country riven by a deep economic divide, characterized by significant disparities in wealth and income that have persisted and grown over decades.

Wealth in the U.S. is extremely concentrated at the top. The richest 10 percent of families own about 69 percent of the nation's wealth, while the bottom 50 percent hold only around 6 percent, and just 3 percent if excluding future Social Security income.

Income inequality has risen steadily since 1980, with the top 1 percent seeing their incomes grow by over 500 percent in recent decades, while the bottom 20 percent have experienced only modest gains barely outpacing inflation. Factors driving this include technological change, globalization, decline of unions, stagnant minimum wage, and tax policies favoring the wealthy.

Rising inequality has led to diminished economic opportunity and mobility for lower-income Americans, sometimes described as "The Great Gatsby Curve," where inequality correlates with less upward mobility.

The divide also fuels political polarization and social fragmentation, with economic disparities reinforcing ideological divides and legislative gridlock.

Despite overall national wealth reaching record highs, these gains are unevenly distributed, often tied up in illiquid assets like homes and stocks that many lower-income families cannot readily access to meet daily expenses.

The U.S. has higher income and wealth inequality than most other developed countries, with a Gini coefficient comparable to some developing nations, highlighting the extremity of the divide.
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Arrow Down

How long shall we tolerate the crimes of our politicians?

Aristarch
The Postil Magazine
Tue, 01 Jul 2025 18:13 UTC
Palestine Flag
© The Postil Magazine
There is growing evidence that traditional narratives leveraging historical guilt — such as invoking the Holocaust and Jewish persecution and victimhood — are losing traction among Western publics, especially younger generations and those outside elite political circles.

The "Shoah guilt complex" (Holocaust-related guilt) has for decades underpinned much of Europe's and North America's diplomatic and public support for Israel, shielding it from criticism and reinforcing its victim narrative. However, the on-going genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, carried out by Israel, is widely condemned for its savagery and heartlessness. This has led to increasing public dissent and activism in the West, with many citizens calling for accountability, ceasefires, and justice for Palestinians.

Further, the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, is charged with carrying war crimes — but politicians continue to treat as if he is pure as the driven snow — all the while the ordinary people of these same politicians are frustrated and angry.

As noted, despite this shift in public sentiment, political support for Israel remains robust among Western governments and many mainstream political leaders. This is often attributed to a combination of historical guilt, strategic interests, and the fear of being labeled antisemitic. Politicians may feel compelled to maintain support for Israel due to entrenched alliances, lobbying, Islamophobia, and the perception of Israel as a key strategic partner in the Middle East.
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Bicycle

Berlin moves to ban autos from inside the city. Widespread chaos looms

P.Gosselin
NoTricksZone
Tue, 01 Jul 2025 17:08 UTC
Just 12 car trips person per year would be allowed!

The Berlin Constitutional Court has declared the "Berlin car-free" referendum admissible, paving the way for a possible drastic reduction in car traffic.

Hat-tip: Blackout News
Bicycles in Berlin
© Image generated by Grok 3 AICars may soon be banned in Berlin.
The court found that the aim of promoting health and climate protection is a legitimate legislative objective and that the draft does not violate fundamental rights.

There is no constitutional right to individual road use.

The initiative aims for a car-free Berlin center in which private car trips would be limited to just twelve per person per year. Exceptions would be for police, emergency services and people with mobility impairments. Delivery traffic and special cases such as services would be able to be approved digitally. The proponents argue that the aim is not to replace combustion engines with electric cars, but to reduce the total number of vehicles around the city center.

"We have won, right down the line: the future of Berlin belongs to safety, climate protection and the health of all Berliners - and not to unrestrained car traffic," said the Volksentscheid Berlin autofrei (Referendum Berlin car-free) in a statement.
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Eye 1

WaPo journalist Thomas Pham LeGro charged with possession of child pornography

Will Potter
Daily Mail
Fri, 27 Jun 2025 14:49 UTC
Washington Post journalist Thomas Pham LeGro child port
© FacebookAward-winning Washington Post journalist Thomas Pham LeGro was charged with possession of child pornography after federal agents raided his home in Washington DC
Award-winning journalist Thomas Pham LeGro has been charged with possession of child pornography after a raid of his Washington DC home.

LeGro, 48, a video journalist with the Washington Post, appeared in court Friday after agents allegedly found 11 videos 'depicting child sexual abuse material' on a laptop in his home.

According to the US Attorney's Office in DC, agents seized a number of devices from LeGro's home on Thursday, including a laptop.

It is alleged fractured pieces of a hard drive from another device were also found in the home.

Comment: At least the WaPo gathered the few shreds of dignity it has left and reported the story.

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Network

Rare earths should be a 'bond,' not a 'stumbling block,' in China-EU relations

Global Times editorial
Global Times
Mon, 30 Jun 2025 22:11 UTC
EU-China
© Xia Qing/GTIllustration
The issue of rare earths has recently drawn widespread attention in discussions about China-EU relations. The European side has complained that a decline in rare earth exports from China is affecting European businesses "very, very badly," and has indicated that the matter will be a key topic during the upcoming China-EU leaders' meeting. During the G7 Summit in Canada a few days ago, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen even brandished a rare earth magnet, accusing China of "weaponizing" rare earths and calling on "like-minded partners" to join forces to counter the so-called "China shock."

Comment:
The interests of the US with regard to China are not mentioned with one word, but some of the EU policies are probably also influenced by forces in the US and possibly Israel. Iran exports more than 30 % of its total export to China, while China imports 15 % of its oil from Iran. When the West supports Israeli war efforts in Iran, then it does not help China.

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Truck

Beijing launches first China-Europe freight train to cross Caspian Sea

Huaxia
Xinhua
Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:33 UTC
China-Europe freight train
© Xinhua/Zhang ChenlinA China-Europe freight train waits for departure at Beijing International Land Port in Fangshan District of Beijing, capital of China, June 30, 2025. A new China-Europe freight train route linking Beijing to Baku of Azerbaijan was launched Monday. Riding on the "rail-sea-rail" multimodal transport, the payload is scheduled to get across the Caspian Sea by ship, and arrive in Baku in 15 days.
BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A China-Europe freight train departed from Beijing on Monday, marking the launch of the capital's first cross-Caspian Sea multimodal freight service.

Comment: Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan, a country which borders Iran to the South and Armenia and Turkey to the west, Georgia to the northwest, Dagestan, republic of the Russian Federation to the north, and the Caspian sea to the East. Stability in this region is not a given, but probably enough make the operation of the line profitable.

The line appears to be related to the Belt and Road Initiative, but in one of the maps the train goes through Iran. The difficulties Iran has been facing from western pressure both politically, commercially, and militarily may be one reason for the choice to use a ferry over the Caspian See, rather than going though Iran by train.

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Attention

Hijackers target Gauteng in South Africa as demand for stolen vehicles rises sharply

Sifiso Mahlangu
The Star
Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00 UTC
According to figures from the South African Police Services (SAPS), an average of 66 cars are forcefully taken from drivers each day, marking a significant rise from levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.
© Gcina NdwalaneAccording to figures from the South African Police Services (SAPS), an average of 66 cars are forcefully taken from drivers each day, marking a significant rise from levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gauteng province has the highest number of hijackings, making this a serious concern across South Africa. The province accounts for nearly half of all reported cases. This was revealed in data showing a sharp increase in incidents involving popular car brands.

According to figures from the South African Police Services (SAPS), an average of 66 cars are forcefully taken from drivers each day, marking a significant rise from levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This alarming trend highlights the growing sophistication and boldness of criminal networks targeting motorists.

Comment:
South Africa has according to Worldpopulationreview.com one of the highest crime index numbers in the world: 75.4 out of 100 for 2024. This is considered high (60-80). Only Haiti, Papua New Guinea and Venezuela are above 80, while Afghanistan is slightly ahead of South Africa.

If daily 66 cars are hijacked then the the yearly number is around 24,000 which means that the remaining 16,000 of the yearly theft of 40,000+ cars are stolen in other ways.

South Africa also has one of the highest homicide rates in Africa, 36.4 homicides per 100,000, while Lesotho leads with 43.56, and Nigeria follows with 34,52. In a global perspective, South Africa is in the 8th place. El Salvador leads with 52.02.

However the difficulty with the per 100,000 estimates is that the there are more people in South African than officially accounted for, see Demographics of South Africa. Still if there are 62 million people officially, then the number of homicides for 62 million will be 620 hundred thousands multiplied by 36.4 homicides per hundred thousand which give 22,500 homicides per year. This number is similar in size to the number of hijacked cars and higher than the number of cars stolen in other ways.

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