Society's ChildS


Star of David

Israelis choose a rightwing government - over rightwing-lite government

Jonathan Ofir
Mondoweiss
Tue, 03 Mar 2020 00:00 UTC
Netanyahu prays at the Western Wall
Netanyahu prays at the Western Wall on March 1 for today's election. "Praying at the Wall for great success tomorrow. One more Likud mandate and we have a government," he wrote on twitter.
With 90% of the votes counted in Israel's 3rd-election-in-a-year, the big surprise is Netanyahu's Likud lead over centrist rival Gantz's Blue White. The count is 36 for Likud and 32 for Blue White. For some months Likud was mostly lagging behind, and only in the past two weeks polls started showing a slight edge for Likud over Blue White. Absolutely no poll had predicted this level of victory before election day yesterday.

Still, the count appears to leave Likud's right wing bloc short by 2 seats - at 59 mandates — of reaching a right-wing governing coalition without Blue White, and without Lieberman's seven seats in the Yisrael Beitenu party. For Lieberman has long declared that a unity government without the religious parties, which won 17 seats and are a key part of Netanyahu's bloc, is the only option.

So although this is not yet a decisive victory for Likud and Netanyahu, it's still a major victory, symbolically at least. Netanyahu has already hailed the victory as "the biggest win of my life".

Comment: See also: Any way you look at it Israel's religious right is now in the driving seat of the upcoming election

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Yellow Vest

Best of the Web: Why I'm voting for Tulsi in Virginia

Daniel McCarthy
Spectator USA
Tue, 03 Mar 2020 22:29 UTC
tulsi gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard: what's not to like?
Four years ago I cast a vote for Bernie Sanders in the Virginia Democratic Primary. It was a triple protest: against a Republican party that I was certain would cheat Donald Trump out of the nomination; against Trump's own waffling on torture and foreign policy; and against Hillary Clinton, the hawkish liberal who at that time seemed the inevitable next president of the United States.

I am, obviously, a moderate swing voter. Since turning 18 my presidential votes have included a Republican nominee (Bob Dole), a third-party nominee (Pat Buchanan), a Democratic nominee (John Kerry), two write-ins (Ron Paul and Rand Paul), and another Republican nominee (Trump). Add my 2016 primary vote for Bernie, and you have an obvious pattern: I'm a NeverClinton, NeverBush voter. McCain and Romney were Bushes in everything but the blood; Obama was not enough of an anti-Clinton even in 2008. (Kerry was lousy, to be sure, but had the advantage of running directly against a Bush.) Bernie and Trump, by contrast, represent a break with the establishment politics of the past 30 years, or at least a serious attempt at one. Whatever their other faults, that is a great virtue.
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TV

MSNBC's Chris Matthews quits live on air as Twitter swirls with theories


RT
Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:53 UTC
chris matthews warren
© Reuters / Carlo Allegri
The sudden resignation of longtime MSNBC host Chris Matthews live on air resulted in a spate of theories, with some saying he was chased out by scorned Bernie Bros or Warren fans, while others hail this as another #MeToo victory.

"Tonight, I'm retiring. This is the last Hardball on MSNBC, and obviously this isn't for lack of interest in politics," Matthews said on his show on Monday, explaining that his past "compliments" to female colleagues were "never ok."


While Matthews' on-air mea culpa was enough to explain the decision for some viewers, many theorized there was more going on behind the scenes, suggesting the pundit became the latest target of the #MeToo movement.

Comment: Don't let the door hit you on the way out!

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Doberman

Body of woman who ran dog shelter in Egypt found partially eaten

Lee BrownMarch
New York Post
Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:30 UTC
Police fear British woman was mauled to death by stray dogs
Police fear British woman was mauled to death by stray dogs
A British woman who ran a shelter for stray dogs in Egypt has been found partially eaten by the pooches she cared for — dying just days after she admitted running out of food for them, according to reports.

Animal lover Janet Johnstone, 61, was found on Friday in her animal sanctuary in Wadi al-Qamar with bite wounds to her head, face, neck and legs, the Times of London said.

Police believe the dogs had been hungry and turned on her, the UK Times said, citing local media. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as shock due to blood loss, the paper said.

At least three of the hundreds of dogs she cared for had blood — which is now being tested — on their mouths, the paper said.
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Ambulance

Head of Iran's emergency medical services is latest official to catch the coronavirus


RT
Tue, 03 Mar 2020 18:36 UTC
iran disinfectant
© WANA via REUTERSA medical team sprays disinfectant in Mashhad, Iran
The chief of Iran's emergency medical services is being treated for coronavirus, state media reported, marking yet another senior Iranian official who has been infected with the deadly illness.

Pir Hossein Kolivand is being treated for the virus and is currently in good health, his office said in a statement, adding that there is "no need for concern."

Numerous high-level Iranian officials have fallen ill to the virus. Recently, 23 lawmakers have tested positive for the illness in the Islamic Republic. On Monday, Mohammad Mirmohammadi, a member of a council that advises the supreme leader, died after falling sick from the virus. His death follows those of two other high-profile Iranians - a former ambassador and a newly-elected member of Parliament - who succumbed to coronavirus.

Comment: England's chief medical officer is making headlines for stating that the worst case scenario for the UK could see 80% of the population infected. He clarified by stressing it's much more likely to be less than that, but bigger numbers get bigger headlines:
Whitty claimed that up to 530,000 British citizens could die from contracting the virus, but stressed the number "is likely to be lower than that and probably a lot lower than that."

The UK government's action plan says that if there is an escalating outbreak, up to a fifth of the British workforce could be forced to stay at home, schools may close and elderly people advised to not attend social gatherings.

The document warns that there could be an increase in deaths from coronavirus - particularly among vulnerable and elderly groups - and so local authorities will have to deal with that challenge, which suggests morgue capacity could become an issue in such an event.
Given that 20% of the passengers on board the quarantined Princess Diamond cruise ship got the virus, with any luck an outbreak in the population will infect a smaller percentage than that. Plus, it seems that around half of cases are asymptomatic, so even if it managed to infect 20% of the population, 10% would show symptoms. 1-2% of 10% is 0.1-0.2%, which is around the same number of people who typically die of the flu every year. But so far, there aren't signs it will come to that. Hopefully it stays that way.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates to shield the U.S. economy from the coronavirus fallout. RT's Book Bust spoke with Jefferey Tucker of the American Institute for Economic Research to see what's going on with the markets:

See also:

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No Entry

Austria won't take in migrants storming Turkish-Greek border - interior minister


RT
Tue, 03 Mar 2020 15:29 UTC
Migrants
© REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerA Turkish gendarmerie officer wearing a face mask is seen as migrants walk next to the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies
Trying to make it into Austria "makes no sense" as the country will not let any arrivals in, the interior minister warned, just as the Austrian chancellor accused Turkey of using migrants to "attack" the EU.

"There are people [encouraged by] false promises brought to the Turkey-Greece border, partly in an organized manner," Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told journalists Tuesday, in an explicit reference to the thousands of migrants allowed to leave Turkey by a surprise order from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Coming to Austria "makes no sense" as its borders will be kept shut to any illegal arrivals - just like the EU's external frontiers.

"We will not take them, and it makes no sense to set out. We will convey this message through various social media and in different languages."

Comment: See also:

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Russian Flag

Best of the Web: 'May God bless them': Putin says anti-government activists free to protest... so long as they obey laws

Bryan McDonald
RT
Tue, 03 Mar 2020 12:22 UTC

Comment: Putin's rolling series of interviews with TASS continues. In this episode (#7 of 20, to run until March 26), another masterclass in good governance...


Vladimir Putin
© TASS / Ruptly
There's only one thing able to unite Russia's notoriously divided 'non-systemic' opposition: hostility to Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin. Thus, they may take his faint praise for their activities with a pinch of salt.

Speaking to TASS news agency, Putin lauded the positive contribution the activists make to the life of the country. "May God bless them," the president said. "I feel that these people are essential. After all, you do understand this is not my first day on the job. So, I believe that they are needed very much. I can tell you that they do have an impact on daily life, locally in particular, on a municipal level in major cities, and so on."

He also noted that in any country, a certain part of society will always disagree with the government of the day. However, he advised Russian oppositionists to keep their activities within the confines of the law - otherwise, he warns, streets will burn and chaos will break out. Reiterating that "it is good that such people exist," he mentioned there are "certain rules for everybody to adhere to, even those who like the authorities and those who do not."

Putin also expressed his belief that history shows those who foment revolution, "as a rule, do not stay in power [for long]," with the Soviet Bolsheviks perhaps being a rare exception.


Comment: Interesting how quickly the West voices outrage at Russia's so-called victimization of protestors, yet the state endorsed police brutality Macron's administration has inflicted on the Gilet Jaunes barely registers in mainstream news.

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Eye 1

Crime-alert app Citizen redeploys controversial feature that critics say encourages irresponsible vigilantism


RT
Mon, 02 Mar 2020 22:21 UTC
Crime-alert app Citizen
© YouTube / CitizenCitizen has reactivated a feature that allows users to report crimes themselves.
Crime-alert app Citizen has tiptoed back toward enabling what critics say would be citizen Stasi and vigilantes, quietly reactivating a controversial feature allowing its users to "report incidents right when they happen."

Citizen, an app that sends users real-time reports of crimes in their vicinity based on a curated selection of 911 calls, has reactivated a feature that allows users to report crimes themselves, updating its website on Monday - with zero public fanfare - to add a section describing the "new feature" being tested.

Spotted by the Intercept, the new page describes "protests, lost pets, downed power lines, and other community FYIs" as incidents a user might report, and stresses that a moderator reviews everything before it goes live on the app. However, the revived feature was very publicly removed back in 2017 after public outcry - and none of the issues that led to its removal have been resolved.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

Greek coastguards caught on film beating dinghy full of migrants & opening fire into the water off coast of Turkey


RT
Mon, 02 Mar 2020 21:13 UTC
migrants Turkey
© AFP / Aris Messinis
Disturbing video has emerged of Greek coastguards beating a dinghy full of migrants and opening fire into the water off the coast of Bodrum after Turkey warned it would stop preventing migrants from crossing the Greek border.

In the footage, which was distributed by Turkish authorities, one of the guards can be seen pushing the migrant dinghy away with what looks like a metal rod.


Migrants can be heard shouting as the guard uses the rod to beat them back while another shoots into the air, before the coast guard vessel speeds away.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

Conservative advocacy group says Syracuse University admin blocked public from attending Sean Spicer lecture


RT
Tue, 03 Mar 2020 14:24 UTC
Sean Spicer
© Reuters / Kevin LamarqueFormer White House spokesman Sean Spicer.
Young Americans Foundation (YAF), a conservative college advocacy group, says that the administration at Syracuse University blocked the public from attending a guest lecture from former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Although the university is spending $23,000 to bring President Donald Trump's former spokesman and controversial Dancing with the Stars contender for the lecture that was supposed to be free and open to public, they apparently decided to limit admittance.

Syracuse "administrators refuse to allow other young people and members of the surrounding community to attend," YAF said in a press release on Monday.

The group claims it is an "apparently-subjective decision," noting that the private university has allowed public access to speeches by former officials from Democrat administrations, such as former Clinton staffer Matt Bennett.

Comment: Not the first time, Syracuse University has courted controversy:

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