Society's ChildS


Cardboard Box

'Amazon Unbound' perfectly charts Bezos' journey from bookselling nerd to untamable egomaniac whose mission is to 'save mankind'

Damian Wilson
RT
Tue, 18 May 2021 23:24 UTC
Amazon Unbound book
© Reuters/ Joshua Roberts; (inset) 'Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire' by Brad Stone Simon & Schuster
A new book explains how the world's richest man is pursuing wild interplanetary plans funded by an army of Chinese online sellers, sponsored adverts and Hollywood movies. It'll make you want to cancel your Prime subscription.

When megabucks gazillionaire Jeff Bezos began including helicopter pads in the building plans for Amazon's ever-expanding property empire, it was a sure sign that the man who turned bookselling into the biggest business on the planet had broken free of his moorings.

Bug-eyed Bezos was smitten with the new woman in his life, TV host Lauren Sanchez, a newly-qualified helicopter pilot, so it meant plans for a second Amazon headquarters in Long Island City - a decision later reversed - and even the massive luxury yacht being built for the couple under close guard in Rotterdam just simply must have space to land a helicopter.

Of course the game was up instantly, as author Brad Stone notes in the freshly-published "Amazon Unbound", because while the business giant had untold reach across the internet, provided cloud services worth billions and produced hit Hollywood movies, there were no helicopters within his company. After all, what sort of frugal, down-to-earth, man-of-the-people uses a helicopter for that commute to work?

But Bezos was no longer that man, despite what the huge staff of Amazon's PR department might wish anyone to believe. And it's not the TV star girlfriend, the newly-pumped biceps or the wish to soar above the choking traffic of the poor people below that signalled Jeff Bezos had arrived on a different plane.
Read More...
Laptop

Social media platform Parler returns to Apple's app store

Ryan Lovelace
The Washington Times
Mon, 17 May 2021 23:41 UTC
Parler app
© Christophe Gateau/dpa via AP
The conservative social media platform Parler is again available for download in the App Store, several months after Apple booted the platform's app off its service.

Apple and Google removed Parler from their app stores in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, citing concerns about future violence. Amazon Web Services took Parler offline.

Parler has since returned to the web and returned to Apple's App Store on Monday.

Apple said in an April letter to Congress that it was preparing for the app's return but stood by its ban as the correct decision.

The app was popular with supporters of former President Donald Trump, who remains booted from more prominent platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Facebook's Oversight Board this month pushed the company to reassess its ban of Mr. Trump within six months.
Read More...
Display

Steven Crowder may win his fight with YouTube... but it won't be a turning point for censored conservatives

Micah Curtis
RT
Tue, 18 May 2021 23:14 UTC
Steven Crowder lawsuit
© louderwithcrowder.com
Conservative comedian Steven Crowder is suing YouTube for removing his videos. He may have a credible case, but until Section 230 protection is removed, the outcome is unlikely to help others on the right who've been targeted.

Over the course of the last decade, Steven Crowder has become one of the biggest names in conservative media. Hosting one of the few shows anywhere that could be considered a conservative alternative to late night TV, Crowder's main platform has been YouTube, as opposed to a major network. However, as time has passed, there have been more and more problems between Crowder and the platform.

Since making a big comeback this year after some health issues, Crowder has found himself with several strikes against his channel, based on the YouTube terms of service. Crowder himself is disputing YouTube's claims, and his cases do appear to have some merit.

The first dispute was in regards to a video he did on election fraud. During the course of it he pointed out several voting discrepancies, but his video was flagged as spreading misleading information about the 2020 presidential election. However, he did not state in the video that he felt the election result needed to be overturned. The purpose of the video simply seemed to be to point out how the American voting system could be manipulated, which has been a major worry of many conservatives.
Read More...
Handcuffs

Matt Gaetz associate pleads guilty to 6 federal crimes, including sex trafficking of a minor

Mychael Schnell
The Hill
Mon, 17 May 2021 22:48 UTC
Joel Greenberg
© Joe Burbank/TNS/ABACA via Reuters Connect
Joel Greenberg, an associate of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), pled guilty to six federal crimes on Monday, including sex trafficking of a minor, and has entered into a plea deal with prosecutors to cooperate in the Justice Department's investigation into Gaetz.

Greenberg, a former Seminole County, Fla., tax collector, is at the center of the legal investigation looking into Gaetz and allegations against him involving sex crimes.

Greenberg admitted, as part of his plea deal, that he recruited women for commercial sex acts and paid them more than $70,000 between 2016 and 2018, sometimes sending money through digital payment services like Venmo.

Prior to the plea agreement, Greenberg had been facing 33 federal criminal charges.

Greenberg also admitted to paying at least one underage girl to have sex with him and other men.

In the plea agreement, prosecutors also revealed that Greenberg introduced the underage girl to others who "engaged in commercial sex acts" with her as well. The document, however, does not identify the other individuals.
Read More...
Star of David

Best of the Web: Gaza death toll hits 200 - Biden continues blocking UN call for ceasefire - Palestinians call for general strike UPDATES


Mondoweiss
Mon, 17 May 2021 00:00 UTC
Palestine destruction
© Ashraf Amra/APA ImagesPalestinians inspect destroyed homes in Beit Hanoun in Northern Gaza Strip, May 14, 2021
The Latest:
  • Gaza death toll hits 212, including 61 children and over 1,400 injuries, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health; 17 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank.
  • 10 Israeli casualties, including one child.
  • According to UN OCHA on May 16, there are 38,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) seeking protection in 48 UNRWA schools across Gaza. Over 2,500 people have been made homeless due to the destruction of their homes.
  • The Biden Administration is reportedly blocking a UN Security Council statement calling for a ceasefire for the third time. This reflects a traditional pattern on the part of the U.S.: Israel "feels it needs" to destroy a certain amount of opposition in Gaza before the U.S. will join calls on it to cease fire, Barbara Plett Usher observed on BBC today.
  • Thirty Senators, almost all Democrats, have signed a statement calling for an immediate ceasefire "to prevent any further loss of civilian life and to prevent further escalation of conflict in Israel and the Palestinian Territories."
  • That letter and the news and political climate in the United States are "dangerous" signs to Israel about its operations, Chuck Freilich, a former national security aide in Israel, said today on i24 News. The letter equates Israel's actions and Hamas's, a sign of a "collapse" in sympathy for Israel on the Democratic side in the U.S. Today it is hard to find a young Democrat who supports Israel, and a similar trend is occurring inside the Jewish community, Freilich warned.
- updated 6:41 pm GMT

Palestinians call for massive general strike throughout historic Palestine on May 18:


Comment: And the carnage in Gaza continues unabated as Hamas fights back:

Update 16/5/2021 12:16 Israel stages new round of heavy airstrikes as Hamas continues to fire rockets from Gaza.
Israeli airstrike
© Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images.jpgGaza City after Israeli airstrike Monday, May 17, 2021
Sunday's airstrikes hit a busy downtown street of residential buildings and storefronts over the course of five minutes just after midnight. The Gaza Health Ministry said 16 women and 10 children were among those killed, with more than 50 people wounded. The main coastal road west of Gaza City, security compounds and open spaces were among the targets hit and damaged a line feeding electricity from the only power plant to large parts of southern Gaza City. It was was the deadliest single attack.


Update 17/5/2021 8:01 Israel downplays Palestinian response:
Israeli military claimed only 60 rockets had been fired at Israeli cities from Gaza a decrease from 120-200 the previous nights. Recent Israeli airstrikes destroyed 15 kilometres of militant tunnels and the homes of nine alleged Hamas commanders, though they were unlikely to be home at the time due to going underground when the fighting began.
Update 17/5/2021 10:08 Blinken claims he has yet to see evidence of Hamas operating from the media building struck down by Israel:
Blinken, while delivering remarks in Copenhagen, said he has asked Israel for evidence to bolster its claim that Hamas was operating in the building, according to the AP. He said that he personally has "not seen any information provided."

Netanyahu, in a Sunday interview, told host John Dickerson on CBS's Face the Nation that an intelligence office for Hamas, that plots and organizes the terror attacks against Israeli civilians, was housed in that building "so it is a perfectly legitimate target."
Update 17/5/2021 11:32 Israeli Air Force and Navy attack Hamas submarine off the coast of Gaza:
The IDF released footage showing the destruction of an "unmanned diver vessel" in the northern Gaza Strip, with the footage said to be filmed Monday.

Update 17/5/2021 11:56 Netanyahu vows no end to conflict as a a top Islamic Jihad commander is killed by Israeli airstrike:
Israel claims: It has neutralized more than 130 terrorists in the last week, while Palestinian militant groups had fired more than 3,150 missiles at Israel, killing 10. IDF said that Hussam Abu Harbeed, Islamic Jihad's northern division commander of 15 years, had been killed in an airstrike. The tweet was accompanied by a video of the attack on Abu Harbeed's compound:


Update 17/5/2021 14:11 Mixed message. US Secretary of State claims US is working behind the scenes to end violence while intending to sell $735M worth of bombs to Israel:
Blinken announced on Monday the Biden administration was working "intensely," in a "behind the scenes" effort to restore peace to the region. "We are ready to lend support if the parties... seek a ceasefire," as the Biden administration is pressing ahead with a massive arms sale to Israel.

The bulk of the shipment consists of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMS) kits. These kits bolt onto ordinary 'dumb' bombs, transforming them into precision-guided munitions. Lawmakers have 20 days to object. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin): "US aid should not be funding" Israel's military activities.
air strike gaza
© Reuters/Ibraheem Abu MustafaIsraeli air strike in Gaza City May 17, 2021
Update 17/5/2021 14:18 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeals to Pope Francis to help end the massacre as Tehran weighed in:
Erdogan told the Pope that:
"all of humanity should be united against" Israel and should punish it for its "savagery. Palestinians will continue to be subjected to a massacre unless the international community punishes Israel... with sanctions."
Pope Francis described the mounting death toll as:
"terrible and unacceptable." "In these days, violent armed clashes between the Gaza Strip and Israel have taken over, and risk degenerating into a spiral of death and destruction."
Tehran reiterated its support for Palestine:
"The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the new round of brutal aggression by the Zionist regime against the defenseless people of Palestine and the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the martyrdom of dozens of civilians, including women and children, and the destruction of many residential buildings."
Update 17/5/2021 14:34 Lavrov condemns the attacks pledging help with peace negotiations:
Lavrov and airstrike
© Said Khatib/AFP/Sputnik/Press Service of the Russian Foreign MinistryRussian FM Sergey Lavrov • Israeli airstrike on Rafah, Gaza Strip
"We condemn the strikes that are being launched from the Gaza Strip to residential areas [in Israel']. We also, of course, condemn the completely unacceptable strikes on civilian targets in the Palestinian territories.

"Now, everything depends on the negotiability of the parties and their goodwill. We will do everything to help them find agreements to calm down the present, extremely dangerous, hot phase of the conflict and to start direct negotiations as soon as possible."
Update 17/5/2021 17:44 Tel Aviv supposedly gave US 'smoking gun' evidence of Hamas presence in razed media tower according to The Jerusalem Post and anonymous sources, however this is not verified.
The owner of the building was left with rubble.
See also:
Israel has killed 58 Palestinian children in one week of airstrikes on Gaza UPDATES

Read More...
Key

US approves release of oldest Guantanamo prisoner

Ben Fox
Navy Times
Mon, 17 May 2021 00:00 UTC
Saifullah Paracha
© Counsel to Saifullah Paracha via APSaifullah Paracha is the oldest prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
A 73-year-old from Pakistan who is the oldest prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center was notified on Monday that he has been approved for release after more than 16 years in custody at the U.S. base in Cuba, his lawyer said.

Saifullah Paracha, who has been held on suspicion of ties to al-Qaida but never charged with a crime, was cleared by the prisoner review board along with two other men, said Shelby Sullivan-Bennis, who represented him at his hearing in November.

As is customary, the notification did not provide detailed reasoning for the decision and concluded only that Paracha is "not a continuing threat" to the U.S., Sullivan-Bennis said.

It does not mean his release is imminent. But it is a crucial step before the U.S. government negotiates a repatriation agreement with Pakistan for his return. President Joe Biden's administration has said it intends to resume efforts to close the detention center, a process that former President Donald Trump halted.

Paracha's attorney said she thinks he will be returned home in the next several months. "The Pakistanis want him back, and our understanding is that there are no impediments to his return," she said.

A Pentagon spokesman had no immediate comment.
Read More...
NPC

French federation says men can play women's rugby


RFI
Tue, 18 May 2021 18:42 UTC
rubgy
© AFP
The French rugby federation (FFR) announced on Monday it will allow transgender women to play women's rugby as of next season, despite guidelines to the contrary from rugby's world governing body. This comes as France and other countries around the world mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

World Rugby, the global governing body for the sport, said last year that after months of research, it had "concluded that safety and fairness cannot presently be assured for women competing against trans women in contact rugby".

It did, however, authorize national federations to implement their own grassroot policies.

The governing body for French rugby, the FFR, has stipulated nonetheless that transgender women "must certify that they have been on hormonal treatment for at least 12 months" and "must not exceed the testosterone threshold of 5 nanomole/litre".

Transgender women still transitioning will therefore be allowed to play women's rugby.

Unanimous decision

The board voted "unanimously" in favour of the authorisations, making the FFR the first of France's national sports federations to allow transgender women to take part in elite sport.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Joe Rogan: 'Straight white men' are being silenced by 'woke' culture

Hannah Sparks
New York Post
Tue, 18 May 2021 17:00 UTC
Joe Rogan
If the cancel culture crew keeps up its "woke" campaign, men like Joe Rogan are in danger of being silenced forever, Rogan claims.

In an interview with comedian Joe List on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, the host lamented at how oppressed the once irreverent comedy scene has become as of late.

"Can you make a good comedy movie anymore, or have they made it so dangerous in terms of being canceled, that comedy movies are no longer something you can do?" Rogan asked.

"You can never be woke enough, that's the problem," he proclaimed. "It keeps going. It keeps going further and further and further down the line, and if you get to the point where you capitulate, where you agree to all these demands, it'll eventually get to — straight white men are not allowed to talk. Because it's your privilege to express yourself when other people of color have been silenced throughout history."
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

BLM vs. black police chiefs

Keven Downey Jr.
Sott.net
Sun, 16 May 2021 16:09 UTC
black police
© J. Scott Applewhite
Systemic racism is doing a poor job of keeping black men and women out of law enforcement but Black Lives Matter (BLM) seems to be good at it. The police chiefs of Dallas, Seattle, and Rochester, N.Y., — all of whom were black and two of whom were women — resigned after troubles with BLM riots. The chiefs of Portland, Louisville, Ky., and Atlanta (all white) resigned as well and the "racist system" replaced them with black chiefs, with Louisville's new chief also being a woman. The bigoted, good-ole-boy system replaces black police chiefs as quickly as the woke BLM mob can take them down.

Five out of the 6 largest U.S. cities have black police chiefs or commissioners. This isn't good for people that make their living selling the myth of systemic racism, especially in law enforcement. How can cops be "hunting black men" when black people are in charge?
Read More...
Syringe

42% of Russians do not want to be vaccinated against Covid-19 'under ANY circumstances,' even to enable travel abroad, says survey

Jonny Tickle
RT
Mon, 17 May 2021 07:08 UTC
Sputnik V Vaccination
© Sputnik / Vladimir PesnyaA medic injects a man with a dose of Russian Gam-COVID-VAK (trademark 'Sputnik V') coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination point at a Globus hypermarket, in Moscow, Russia.
A Russian survey has revealed that more than two-fifths (42%) of citizens do not intend to be vaccinated against Covid-19 "under any circumstances," a result that may explain the country's poorly performing inoculation program.

Conducted by recruitment company Superjob's research center, the survey also revealed that one-in-five (20%) unvaccinated Russians would get jabbed if it meant they could travel abroad. The poll came after Greece's announcement that they would be willing to accept tourists vaccinated with Sputnik V.

The results found that 18% of Russians yet to be inoculated plan to get the shot even without any other incentive. Some 42% said they absolutely do not want to get vaccinated, even if it is the only option for a trip to another country, and 20% found it difficult to decide.

Comment: Vaccination against Covid-19 is not well accepted among the general population probably because many suspect that the real danger from the virus is far less than the potential danger from the new experimental vaccines. And some people simply don't like being told what to do. That's a virtue in times like this.

See also:

Read More...