Society's ChildS


Bizarro Earth

Ukraine furious after UK adds its coat of arms to list of 'extremist' symbols in anti-terror guide


RT
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 16:02 UTC
ukraine right wing
© Reuters / Marko Djurica
Ukraine's embassy in the UK has demanded an official apology after the Trident — its national coat of arms — was included among a group of "right-wing signs & symbols" in a guide by Britain's national anti-terrorist authority.

The Trident — or Tryzub as it's known in Ukraine — was featured in an Extremism Guide for UK teachers and medical staff produced by the National Counter Terrorism Policing Network - a collaboration of law enforcement entities tasked with preventing and combating terrorism.

A tattoo of the Trident is shown in a section on right-wing "signs & symbols" and is described simply as "nationalist." It appears alongside well-known extremist symbols including the Nazi swastika, the 'SS Runes,' the iron eagle, the iron cross and various white pride emblems.

Comment: The fruits of the Western-backed coup in Ukraine are clear for all to see:

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Yellow Vest

Macron pulls back on France's pension reforms, unions vow to continue, majority say he's 'poorly managing' the crisis

Romina McGuinness
Express
Fri, 17 Jan 2020 18:32 UTC
France Strike
© Reuters / Charles PlatiauProtesters at the Thursday march shouted anti-government slogans, waved red flares and held banners saying "on strike until withdrawal."
But unions argue the changes will force people to work longer for less. A majority of French people think the showdown between President Emmanuel Macron and unions over pensions has been mishandled by the government, a poll published on Wednesday found. The poll, conducted by Elabe for the news channel BFMTV, showed that 67 percent of French people think the pension reform has been "poorly managed" by the Macron government, compared with 32 percent who think the opposite.

Fifty-six percent of respondents said they were "opposed" to the reform in its current form, while 43 percent said they backed the planned changes.

The poll also put public support for the strike action against the reform at 53 percent, compared with 46 percent against.

Comment: The Duran interviews Alexander Mercouris on the issue and he states that while France's pensions do need reforming, unlike Putin who recently pushed through reforms for Russia, Macron does not have the political capital to do so.

One example he provides, and that reflects Macron's time in power, was his recent New Year's speech which was basically an 18 minute long lecture 'in a way they don't like being lectured... and certainly not on New Year':


See also: 450,000 join France's ongoing strike action including nurses, teachers and lawyers

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Dollar

All the single ladies

Vincent Harinam and Rob Henderson
Quillette
Thu, 16 Jan 2020 00:01 UTC
woman dining alone texting phone
© Satria Eleazar/Unsplash
"Oh, he's kind of cute." My friend at Yale, swiping through Tinder, leaned over and showed me his profile.
"Wait, no." She moved her finger leftward.
"Why not? He seems alright," I reply.
He goes to a local, less highly-regarded university, she explained. In other words, not Yale.

Swipe Right for a Master's Degree

The dating market for women is getting tougher. In part, this is because fewer men are attending universities. Why would male enrollment in higher education matter for women? Because women, on average, prefer educated men. One source of evidence comes from women's personal responses to dating profiles posted by men. Researchers analyzed 120 personal dating ads posted by men on the West Coast and in the Midwest. They found that two of the strongest variables that predicted how many responses a man received from women were years of education and income. Similar results have been found in Poland. Researchers analyzed how many women responded to dating ads posted by 551 men. They found that men with higher levels of education and higher income received more responses. A more recent study in Australia of more than 40,000 online daters found that women were more likely to initiate contact with a man if he had more education than themselves.

Comment: It's hard to say whether the rise of video games and online porn has lead to more men being satisfied in uncoupled lifestyles, or that uncoupled men have turned to porn and video games as a coping mechanism, something the above authors seem not to have considered. The above could be an instance of 'blaming the victim', but more research is needed to tease this apart.

See also:

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Attention

3 men killed in London stabbing frenzy - Knife crime doubled since 2014

Damien Gayle and Kevin Rawlinson
The Guardian
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 15:25 UTC
Ilford
© Jonathan Brady/PAOfficers search through a bin in Seven Kings, Ilford, near where three people died after being stabbed.
Residents of a north-east London street where three men were stabbed and bled to death have described the horrific aftermath of the attack.

Two men, aged 29 and 39, were arrested on suspicion of murder on Monday after the trio were pronounced dead at the scene on Sunday night in Seven Kings, Ilford.

Det Ch Supt Stephen Clayman, commander of the Metropolitan police's east area basic command unit, initially said he believed the people involved were Sikhs. But a statement released later on Monday revealed that officers believed some of the men to be from the Hindu community as well.

Officers stressed they did not think the incident was "gang or race-related". Det Ch Insp Paul Considine said: "We now believe all those involved were known to each other and from the Sikh and Hindu community, however we are still in the process of identifying the men and working to inform their next of kin."

Comment: RT adds:
Fatal stabbings in London have surged in the last five years, with the number almost doubling from 55 in 2014 to a staggering 90 in 2019, according to Met figures.

The scourge of knife crime is not confined to the English capital; it affects the UK as a whole. Data published by the Ministry of Justice on Thursday shows that 26,364 knife crime offences were recorded in the year to September 2019, up 3 percent on the previous year, and the highest figure since 2009.
There's been a significant uptick in knife crime throughout Europe: French police shoot man wielding knife & yelling 'Allahu Akbar'- follows similar incident 2 days earlier

And more recent stories from the UK below:





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Attention

Leaked pictures show torture of Palestine prisoner in Israel prison


Middle East Monitor
Sat, 18 Jan 2020 17:30 UTC
Israeli prison
Israeli prison
A number of pictures leaked to mass media show the grave effects of the severe torture of Palestinian prisoner, Walid Hanatsha, inside an Israeli prison, Shehab News Agency reported on Friday.

The pictures demonstrated the effects of torture on different parts of the prisoner's body, including his neck, thighs and legs.

Bayan Hanatsha, the prisoner's wife, revealed that her husband was subjected to three rounds of torture - the first lasting for 12 days - during which he was interrogated for 23 hours a day.

According to Hanatsha's lawyer, the Israeli occupation inflicted five methods of torture during the interrogations.

Hanatsha was hung by his hands while they were tied behind his back, and was blindfolded. He remained hung until he fell unconscious.

Comment: See also:

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Cookie

Pakistan to import wheat to overcome shortage crisis


Newsweek Pakistan
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Government accuses Sindh government of failing to prevent hoarding; Opposition blames center for exporting crop
wheat
Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee on Monday approved a proposal to import 300,000 tons of wheat to overcome a nationwide shortage that had dramatically raised prices of the food staple and threatened the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led regime's claims of a 'prosperous and stable' 2020.

The first shipment of the imported wheat would reach Pakistan around Feb. 15, said authorities, with the federal government asking the Punjab government and the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) to release excess stocks in the interim to overcome the shortage, especially in Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The wheat imports are set to continue until March 31, when the next crop of wheat would be harvested.

The ECC has also approved a Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) waiver of Rs. 400 per bag to ensure supply of cheap fertilizer to farmers in a bid to further cut costs of wheat.
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Megaphone

Telling it like it is: Drag Queen destroys Drag Queen Story Hour and woke culture

Libby Emmons
The Post Millennial
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 10:48 UTC
Drag Queen Kitty Demure
Drag Queen Kitty Demure has taken to Twitter to speak out against the sexualization of children by woke people co-opting drag culture and rebranding it as an educational tool.

"I have absolutely no idea why you would want [drag queens] to influence your child. Would you want a stripper or porn star to influence your child?"


Comment: See also:

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Pistol

NBC News' Ben Collins slammed for calling gun-rights rally 'white nationalist rally in Virginia'

Gregg Re
Fox News
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 10:50 UTC
ben collins
Ahead of Monday's gun-rights rally in Virginia, NBC News reporter Ben Collins labeled the event a "white nationalist" gathering Sunday, even as he warned against spreading "made-up stuff" on Twitter -- prompting scores of critics to point out the apparent irony, and to condemn his network for sanctioning Collins' checkered reporting on the so-called "dystopia beat."

"Reporters covering tomorrow's white nationalist rally in Virginia, I'm absolutely begging you: Verify information before you send it out tomorrow, even if it's a very sensational rumor you heard from a cop," Collins wrote in his since-deleted tweet. "Don't become a hero in neo-Nazi propaganda circles with made-up stuff."

Defending his post from a torrent of criticism, Collins initially argued that federal law enforcement had arrested six suspected Neo-Nazis in advance of the rally in states including Georgia, Maryland and Delaware, with some of the suspects apparently intending to travel to the Richmond rally.

Comment: Update from CNN: Virginia gun-rights rally concludes peacefully despite earlier fears of extremist violence
The crowd, however, was peaceful, with no immediate reports of violence. One person was arrested with one felony count of wearing a mask in public. A 21-year-old woman was arrested and charged after having been warned two times not to wear a bandana over her face and then arrested when an officer saw her wearing it a third time, police said.
The media really should be embarrassed at pulling stunts like this. But they aren't and they'll continue to amplify fears and smears because that's what gets the clicks.

See also:

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Attention

The trial of former Catalan police chief Trapero risks further inflaming tensions over independence

Jonathan Arnott
RT
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 16:31 UTC
Former Catalan chief of police Josep Lluis Trapero
Former Catalan chief of police, Josep Lluis Trapero at the National Court in Madrid.
I'm far from convinced that jailing the former Catalan chief of police, Josep Lluis Trapero, would be a sensible way to calm down political tensions between Catalonia and the rest of Spain.

Spain's judiciary is, of course, independent - but the decisions by prosecutors leading up to this point seem to miss the reality of the situation. Catalonia's independence movement tried in many ways to force the issue onto the political agenda. They won election after election; they won the 2014 'self-determination' referendum, and they tried to hold an independence referendum in 2017. The Spanish government ruled that illegal, confiscating some of the ballot boxes. The Catalan Parliament symbolically declared independence, then immediately 'suspended' that declaration. It was a political stunt, not an attempted coup.

Top Catalan politicians are already languishing in jail over their role in the 'illegal' 2017 referendum. Years later, in 2020, the prosecutions are still continuing. This week, it's the former chief of the Catalan police who has been put on trial. Essentially, he was put in a position where he had to choose: did he take orders from Barcelona, or Madrid? As the chief of Catalan police, he listened to the Catalan authorities. For making that decision, he's being accused of sedition and prosecutors are asking for an 11-year jail sentence.

Comment: See also:

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Pistol

Shootings at Missouri and Texas clubs result in 4 dead, dozens injured


KSHB Kansas City
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 00:09 UTC
texas police
© KSAT via APIn this image made from video provided by KSAT, San Antonio police officers work the scene of a deadly shooting at the Ventura, a music venue in San Antonio, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020.
A witness told 41 Action News that several fights preceded a deadly shooting outside a Kansas City, Missouri, nightclub on Sunday night.

Two people died and at least 15 others were injured in the shooting that happened outside 9ine Ultra Lounge around 11:30 p.m.

Lilly Brooks told 41 Action News she was in the parking lot waiting to go inside when she saw a skirmish.

Brooks said a security guard fired warning shots to try to stop the fighting.

Brooks said she left the club at that point and did not witness the gunfire that erupted later.

Brooks described 9ine Ultra as a popular club that usually doesn't see many problems. She said she felt it was awful that a day of celebration in Kansas City ended with the mass shooting.

Comment: The same night, shooting erupted at a music club in San Antonio, resulting in dead and 5 injured:
Update 5:01 p.m. EST Jan. 20: San Antonio police said a suspect was arrested in connection with the shooting at a RiverWalk bar shooting that killed two people and injured five, the San Antonio Express-News reported. Police did not release the suspect's name, the newspaper reported.

Officials said the suspect faces charges of capital murder for the deaths of 20-year-old Robert Jay Martinez III and 25-year-old Alejandro Robles, the News-Express reported.

Update 11:24 a.m. EST Jan. 20: The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office on Monday identified the two men who were killed as 20-year-old Robert Jay Martinez III and 25-year-old Alejandro Robles, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

Robles was critically injured and taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, KENS-TV reported.

"Let's pray SAPD catches this evil coward that took away our family and left a 5-year-old son without a daddy," Christopher McQuade, Robles' uncle, told KENS.

Martinez died at the scene, police told the television station.

The shooting occurred around 8 p.m. during a concert around at Ventura, a live music venue and bar along the city's RiverWalk, Police Chief William McManus told reporters at a news conference.

According to McManus, an argument broke out inside of the club, and one person pulled out a gun and started shooting, KSAT reported.


Original report: According to The Associated Press, the shooting happened about 8 p.m. local time during an argument at the Ventura, a club along the city's River Walk. At least seven people were shot, including a 21-year-old man killed inside the venue and another person who died en route to the hospital, police told WOAI-TV.

Investigators have not yet released a description of the suspect, who was still on the run, the outlets reported.

Read more here or here.


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