Society's ChildS


Heart - Black

Saddest people on Earth: After 18 years of war, Afghans are least optimistic about the future

Alan Macleod
MintPress News
Thu, 02 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Since the 2001 occupation of Afghanistan began, fighting has not stopped, destroying the country and leading to the U.S. spending an estimated $2 trillion on the war.
Afghan man repairing roof
© Altaf Qadri, APA man repairs the roof of a house on the hills surrounding Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 25, 2019.
American polling firm Gallup has found that Afghans are the saddest people on earth, finding that nearly nine in ten respondents are "suffering," in their own words, with zero percent claiming that they are currently "thriving." When asked to rate their life out of a score of ten, Afghans gave an average answer of 2.7, a record low for any country studied. Worse still, when asked to predict the quality of their life in five years, the average answer was even lower: 2.3.

As the study mentioned, "the unprecedented finding highlights Afghans' near-universal lack of optimism." In more than a decade of data collection around the world on the topic, this is the first time that any population predicted that their future lives would be worse than their current ones. This, to Gallup, was "all the more notable" due to Afghanistan's very young population; two-thirds of those interviewed were aged 35 or under. Less than half of the country said they experienced enjoyment or were treated with respect in the previous day, while 52 percent admitted to worrying for much of the day, up 10 percentage points from 2016.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
People

India: Thousands are protesting the new citizenship law, here are 4 things to know


The Washington Post
Thu, 02 Jan 2020 16:10 UTC
Anti-CAA protests in India
© Bikas Das/APUniversity students protest India's new citizenship law, in Kolkata, India, on Monday.
Some object to its Muslim exclusions, while others object to the broad welcome for other groups.University students protest India's new citizenship law, in Kolkata, India, on Monday. (AP) (Bikas Das/AP)By Aditi Malik, Shivaji Mukherjee and Ajay Verghese Dec. 31, 2019 at 6:00 a.m. EST

Citizens across India have turned out in recent weeks to protest a controversial piece of legislation known as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The CAA became law on Dec. 11, after the upper house of India's Parliament passed the measure and the country's president gave it his assent.

India's government — headed by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — holds that the CAA will make it easier for people from "persecuted minorities" in the country illegally to obtain Indian citizenship. It argues that the CAA is an important improvement to the Citizenship Act of 1955, which left people in the country illegally without any avenues to become citizens. Consequently, millions residing within India's borders have long been vulnerable to detention and deportation.

So why are people protesting? Here's what you need to know:

Comment: Protests and violence continue over Citizenship Amendment Act: Indian PM calls for calm

Read More...
Bulb

French Strike: Electricity workers light poor homes on Christmas, cut-off power to police and big business

Salvador Soler
Popular Resistance
Wed, 30 Dec 2020 00:00 UTC
Electric workers
There is no "Christmas truce" for the workers of the Electricity Company of France (EDF) who are on strike. Workers are reconnecting service to poor families and lowering the price of tariffs to popular sectors, while cutting off power to police stations, intendancies and large companies.

Since the beginning of the strike on December 5, electricians and energy workers maintain power outages against Macron's pension reform. A method of struggle that exposes the strength of the workers and the strategic place they occupy, with the possibility of paralyzing government buildings and large companies with power outages. While the strike has had a greater impact among workers of the SNCF (railway), the RATP (metropolitan transport company in Paris), the National Education or even health, energy workers are not far behind.

Among them are electricians and gas workers. Of the main companies in the sector there are 41.4% of striking workers in EDF (Electricity Company of France), 39% in Engie and more than 60% in Enedis. From Tuesday, December 10, the strikers voted in assemblies to generate localized power cuts. Michaële Guégan, director of human resources at Enedis, the most important electricity distribution network, notes that there have been selective cuts "in certain public buildings, a commercial area in Bordeaux, a university in Lyon and even a hospital center."

Workers announced that tens of thousands of poor households are being reconnected to have electricity and gas during the holidays. Thanks to the actions of the Electricity of France (EDF) workers, the poorest families will enjoy an illuminated dinner. This will reduce the power supply of the richest areas of cities, shopping centers, police stations and prefecture to leave them in total darkness.
Read More...
NPC

Hustler's Xmas card depicts Trump being ASSASSINATED, bringing conservative horror & liberal joy


RT
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 16:37 UTC
trump hustler toon
© Twitter / @RepMikeJohnson
Hustler magazine sent Christmas cards to members of the US Congress which depict President Donald Trump lying in a pool of blood as people cheer 'Merry Christmas!', sparking a mix of outrage and hilarity.

The cards depict an unnamed cartoon assassin aping comments Trump made on the 2016 campaign trail as it says, "I just shot Donald Trump on Fifth Avenue and no one arrested me," with a smoking gun in hand. Trump famously bragged that such was his support, he could literally get away with murder on the streets of NY and still be elected.

Republican Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson shared an image of the card he received and decried the extremism of the so-called "radical left" on display.

Even an erstwhile opponent of Trump, Mark Zaid, the attorney who represents the whistleblower in the Ukraine controversy at the heart of the impeachment hearings, expressed his disgust at the cartoon, saying it "absolutely crosses the line."
Read More...
NPC

NBC skewered for describing 'civic sparring' between Orthodox Jews & neighbors - but change to 'anti-Semitism' only made it worse

Helen Buyniski
RT
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 16:29 UTC
hasidic men
© Reuters / Eduardo Munoz
NBC has been excoriated for implying a recent spate of anti-Semitic violence arose from "civic sparring" between expanding Orthodox Jewish communities and their neighbors in New York. But the rage doesn't quite grasp the problem.

The network coined the euphemism "civic sparring" to describe the often-heated conflicts that take place in the suburbs of New York City when Hasidic Jewish communities - often insular, with large numbers of children, and wary of outsiders - begin expanding, sometimes at the expense of families already living in the area, who may lose control of local government and schools.

NBC didn't stop at coining the cringeworthy term, however. It suggested "some fear the recent violence" - a mass stabbing at a Hanukkah celebration inside a rabbi's home in Monsey, New York; a shooting that killed three in a Jersey City kosher market; a recent spate of street attacks in New York City - "may be an outgrowth of that conflict" in a since-deleted tweet on Thursday.
Read More...
Footprints

Tehran: Thousands march to mourn assassination of 'beloved' military commander Soleimani


RT
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 13:10 UTC
Crowd/picQS
© AFP/Atta KenareCrowd holds pictures of slain Iranian Revolutionary Guards Major General Qasem Soleimani
Protesters dressed in black have marched in Tehran and other cities, decrying the killing on Thursday night of the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, Major General Qassem Soleimani, which was ordered by Washington.

People flooded the streets of Tehran after Friday prayers in honor of Soleimani and other officials killed during a US airstrike in Iraq's capital.

The mostly black-clad protesters were chanting traditional anti-American slogans like "Down with the US!" while also praising Soleimani as a "hero" of the nation. Many were carrying photos of the killed Quds commander and banners suggesting that the victim was "beloved" by the army.

Some were displaying the words "Harsh revenge" on their banners, a reference to the promise of vengeance by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the army against those responsible for Soleimani's death. The government has declared a three-day period of mourning throughout Iran.


Comment: Iranians flood the streets in many cities in response:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran would take revenge on Washington over Soleimani's assassination.

In Iraq, influential Shiite politician and prominent cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has called on supporters to be ready to defend the country, while Popular Mobilisation Forces also urged followers to prepare for a response to Washington.



See also:

Read More...
Pocket Knife

Attacker kills 1, stabs multiple people near Paris before being shot dead by cops - local mayor


RT
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 13:44 UTC
Police
© Christophe Archambault / AFPPolice at the scene of Friday's stabbing in Villejuif
A man who stabbed three people at a park in a Paris suburb, killing one, has been 'neutralized' by police, according to the local mayor. The attacker reportedly lashed out at passersby at random.

BFMTV says the incident happened around 2pm in Hautes-Bruyeres Park, in Villejuif. Police confirmed that an operation was underway in the area, and asked people to avoid the area.

According to some reports, police checked if the man was carrying any explosives, but none was found at the scene.
Read More...
Calculator

Census numbers undercut 'ascendant America' theory

Michael Barone
Washington Examiner
Tue, 31 Dec 2019 12:00 UTC
US Cap Dome
© Bloomberg
From the first years of a century already one-fifth completed, we've been told that a new, ascendant America — more nonwhite, more culturally liberal, more feminist — was going to dominate our politics for years to come.

Those predictions have, partially, come true. Barack Obama was elected and reelected president in 2008 and 2012, and Democrats won majorities in House contests in 2006, 2008, and 2018.

But those are slimmer pickings than the emerging majorities were promised. And President Trump's victory in 2016 has made a mockery of the predictions. He wasn't ascendant America's choice. Like (but no more so than) other Republicans, he ran way behind among nonwhites. From millennials and Generation Z, he evokes, "OK, boomer." Feminists feel queasy at the mention of his name.

Demographics, it turns out, don't automatically turn into destiny.

Comment: The benefit of increasing new voters in population-declining states is a core political solution for the Democrats - their #1 reason to promote immigration. It's not about their party's bleeding heart for humanity.

Read More...
Dollar

Damage to historic Vietnam War-era helicopter hit by car exceeds $6M


ABC News
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 08:25 UTC
Damage to historic helicopter
A South Carolina aviation foundation is trying to raise money to repair a historic Vietnam War-era attack helicopter after the State Highway Patrol accused a man of crashing into it while driving drunk.

The man behind the wheel was arrested for driving under the influence, a Highway Patrol community relations officer confirmed on Twitter. The driver was near the Columbia Metropolitan Airport after midnight when he mistakenly took an access road and hit the 1967 AH-1F helicopter, which was parked outside of a building on a dead-end street, the officer said. The man told police he "consumed way too much alcohol" and was trying to get to the interstate, the Celebrate Freedom Foundation said in a statement.
Read More...
Eye 1

NYC education official charged in child sex crime case


ABC News
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 08:07 UTC
David Arnold Hay
Federal prosecutors in Wisconsin have charged a high-ranking New York City education official for allegedly using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, authorities said.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the U.S. Attorney's Office was expected to provide more information Friday, according to Neenah police in Wisconsin. The charges against David Arnold Hay were filed Thursday, police said.

At the time of his arrest Sunday, Hay, 39, served as deputy chief of staff for Richard Carranza, the schools chancellor at New York City's Department of Education. The New York City Department of Education fired Hay following his arrest.
Read More...