Society's Child

The Guardian starts a new column from inside Amazon: 'They treat us as disposable'

Anonymous
The Guardian
Wed, 21 Nov 2018 08:01 UTC

© Illustration: Sam Morris/Getty Images
The wealth we produce is being accumulated by our boss Jeff Bezos, while our wages barely keep us afloat’.

In The Amazon Diaries, our anonymous insider takes us behind the scenes at an Amazon fulfillment center where workers are 'an extension of the machine'

Welcome Amazonians. It is always Day 1. Are you ready to make a difference?

It was my first day as a seasonal Amazon worker, hired just prior to peak season. Our site operations manager was like many Amazon managers: an ex-military white male, in his late 40s and wearing straight-fit jeans and a T-shirt with "Amazon Military" emblazoned on the front. He drew a line alongside an inverted pyramid, writing "least important" on the bottom and "most important" higher up, with the word "customer" scrawled along the very top.

"Where do you think Jeff Bezos sees himself on this chart?"

Comment: See also:

Marks & Spencer accused of sexism over knickers display, 'won't change over feminist concern'

BBC
Wed, 21 Nov 2018 00:01 UTC

The juxtaposition has been described as "grossly, grossly offensive".

Marks & Spencer has said it won't change a display suggesting women must have "fancy little knickers", amid a feminist backlash.

The retailer was blasted for its "vomit-inducing" shopfront in Nottingham, which included a menswear showcase of "outfits to impress".

M&S said its festive windows were routinely updated and any changes would not be due to the backlash.

It also told the BBC it would not be altering its nationwide ad campaign.

Comment: Good on M&S for refusing to bow to unreasonable NPC pressure. The idea that selling women underwear is somehow sexist, simply because it's juxtaposed with selling men suits, requires a reading into the situation and twisting it to fit a narrative. It's a sign of ideological possession. In an age of giving in to any offense, and offering gratuitous apologies, the actions (or non-actions) of M&S should be considered heroic (as sad as that may be).

See also:

RT documentary crew finally able to return home from Nigeria after being threatened with espionage charges

RT
Wed, 21 Nov 2018 23:17 UTC

An RT environmental documentary crew, which went to Nigeria to film footage about international oil business and the toll it takes on the environment, was instead caught in red tape limbo and almost prosecuted as spies.

The two-person crew, filmmaker Natalya Karachkova and cameraman Dmitry Tararako, safely arrived back in Moscow via Turkey this week after a pretty nerve-wracking working trip to the African nation. Shortly after they started filming in Nigeria's southern Bayelsa State, a local immigration official seized their passports.

A grueling confrontation over the crew's legal status ensued, drawing in the Russian embassy and increasingly higher-ranking Nigerian officials. At one point RT journalists were threatened with charges of espionage and were told they were lucky they have not been jailed. After almost two weeks, they were allowed to leave the country in what seemed more like a forced deportation than a regular end of a visit, they said after returning to Russia.

Saudi war crimes: 85,000 children under the age of five have starved to death in Yemen

Bethan McKernan
The Guardian
Wed, 21 Nov 2018 23:17 UTC

An estimated 85,000 children under the age of five have starved to death over the last three years as a result of Yemen's civil war, a report from Save the Children has found, as the charity urged an immediate ceasefire to prevent more loss of life.

The figure is a conservative estimate based on UN data on severe acute malnutrition, which the international body says has afflicted more than 1.3 million children since the conflict between Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition that seeks to restore Yemen's exiled government began in 2015.

About 14 million people - half of Yemen's population - are currently at risk of famine, largely because of Saudi border blockades designed to weaken the Houthis, which have also strangled civilian access to food, fuel, aid and commercial goods.

While Facebook eliminates alternative media to 'promote online safety,' they permit a child to be sold in a post

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 21 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC

While Facebook was actively deleting countless pages for promoting peace and freedom, they allowed an auction to be held in which a child was for sale - for weeks.

Last month, Facebook and Twitter - without warning or justification - deleted the pages of Free Thought Project and Police the Police which had over 5 million followers. During this purge, they also removed hundreds of other pages including massive police accountability groups, antiwar activists, alternative media, and libertarian news outlets. Facebook claimed to remove these pages in the name of fighting disinformation online and creating a safer user experience. Illustrating just how big of an ostentatious sham this was, this month, a child was openly sold on this same platform that claims to promote online safety.

Last month, an auction was held on Facebook in which a child bride was put up for sale in a public post. People openly bid on Facebook for a 16-year-old girl's hand in marriage.

War School: The Battle for Britain's Children - New film reveals the darkest side of British militarism

Mohamed Elmaazi
The Canary
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC

A new film called War School: The Battle for Britain's Children challenges the stories we tell ourselves about the military and war. The film: "reveals how government policies are targeting ever younger children for future recruitment into the armed forces"

Mic Dixon's documentary is essential viewing for anyone interested in the increasing militarisation of British life. War School was released to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the armistice that officially ended the First World War.

It's not really remembrance

War School successfully weaves together different voices critical of militarism. It begins with a quote from former special forces member Ben Griffin, who says: "They call it the remembrance period. But there is actually no remembrance going on at all. It's the opposite of remembrance. It's concealment - concealment of the true nature of war and militarism."

Head of Russian military intelligence GRU dead 'after long and serious illness'

RT
Wed, 21 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC

The head of the Russian Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU), Colonel General Igor Korobov has died "after a long and serious illness," the Defense Ministry has confirmed.

The statement announcing Korobov's death was released around 2:00 am Moscow time (11:00 pm GMT) on Thursday morning.

Korobov took his post at the helm of the Directorate in 2016, and directed the GRU operations against terrorist forces in Syria. In 2017, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, the highest state honor.

Comment: What's up? Three top Russian intel chiefs all travel to Washington for talks with American counterparts - UPDATE

True Feminism in a Ponerised Society

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Mon, 19 Nov 2018 12:39 UTC

I am going to begin this essay with some nerd lore.

In JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth, elves are an immortal race of staggering beauty, deep wisdom, rich culture and advanced magical propensity. The elves often find themselves at odds with the orcs, a hideous race who live for violence and destruction. In Tolkien's The Silmarillion, it is revealed that orcs were actually the creation of an evil lord named Melkor, later known as Morgoth, who captured a group of elves and imprisoned them. The elves "by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves, of whom they were afterwards the bitterest foes."

I always think of this when I see trends in our society which began as healthy and good impulses, but which over time became twisted and warped by egotism and manipulation. Something springs up in human consciousness out of inspiration and natural compassion, quickly gains public support because truth is attractive, and then is eventually hijacked and perverted as power finds a way to twist that energy in a way it can use and exploit. It becomes "orc-ified".

Comment: The Health & Wellness Show: Toxic Feminism and the War on Men

German pensioner killed by Afghan refugee hired to take care of him

Voice of Europe
Mon, 19 Nov 2018 22:03 UTC

An 85-year-old German pensioner has been murdered by a 20-year-old refugee in the northern German town of Wittenburg.

Pensioner Dietrich P. met the Afghan after his daughter, a refugee worker, thought it was a good idea to hire the man to care for her father.

The elderly man had lost his wife in 2012 and last year the Afghan already took care of the man for a week. Last week the refugee was helping the victim with gardening and household work, but it ended in a tragedy around 2:00 am on the early Saturday morning.

Women's right-to-drive activists accuse Saudi authorities of torture

Josie Ensor
The Telegraph
Wed, 21 Nov 2018 21:10 UTC

Saudi Arabia has tortured and sexually harassed women's rights activists detained in prison, a new report alleges.

The activists, who have not been named for fear of reprisal, were arrested by Saudi authorities in May in a crackdown ahead of the kingdom's lifting of the decades-long women's driving ban.

Prisoners in the kingdom's Dhahban Prison have allegedly been interrogated by masked jailers, with one made to hang for long periods of time from the ceiling, sources told Human Rights Watch.

Several showed physical signs of torture, including difficulty walking, uncontrolled shaking of the hands, and red marks and scratches on their faces and necks.

At least one of the women attempted to commit suicide multiple times, according to testimonies.

It was interesting when the brothers (their family owns the dealerships/service center that were vandalized - something of like 130+ cars burned...

Scoot Over

I ain't going to watch any more than I didn't watch the OJ trial, which ended exactly as I predicted. The thing is that the state should have...

Rowan Cocoan

.. .. today's' atta bot' awards nominee: [Link]

Jibrish

The vaccine mandates are absurd, and they are going to cause enormous problems all over the country. Only a small minority of people understand...

dom38

.. .. Laughing, as Katz owns Court TV, replete no less than scripted, staged events, societal conditioning, always Johnny on the spot, no...

Jibrish

Society's Child

The Guardian starts a new column from inside Amazon: 'They treat us as disposable'

Marks & Spencer accused of sexism over knickers display, 'won't change over feminist concern'

RT documentary crew finally able to return home from Nigeria after being threatened with espionage charges

Saudi war crimes: 85,000 children under the age of five have starved to death in Yemen

While Facebook eliminates alternative media to 'promote online safety,' they permit a child to be sold in a post

War School: The Battle for Britain's Children - New film reveals the darkest side of British militarism

Head of Russian military intelligence GRU dead 'after long and serious illness'

True Feminism in a Ponerised Society

German pensioner killed by Afghan refugee hired to take care of him

Women's right-to-drive activists accuse Saudi authorities of torture

Latest News

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

Recent Comments

Quantum Quirk

Contact Us