Society's ChildS


Propaganda

Flashback Bare facts about Gaza demonstrators may be correct, but the rest of the story is purposefully missing

Saree Makdisi
Los Angeles Times
Sat, 06 Apr 2019 04:10 UTC
PalestiniansTearGassed
© Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/ReutersPalestinians run for cover from Israeli fire and tear gas on Israel-Gaza border, May 14, 2018.
Media coverage of Israel's massacre of Palestinian protesters during the first weekend of multiweek demonstrations in Gaza offered textbook examples of how syntax and word choice shape, and even distort, representations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even if the facts are accurately stated, the ways in which sentences are constructed, and the extent to which details are contextualized, can subtly lead readers astray.

Consider for instance the enormous consequence of choosing passive rather than active language to convey what happened. "At least 15 Palestinians die as Israel responds to protest," wrote the Guardian in one early headline. "15 dead in Gaza demonstrations" read the front page of this newspaper, and the New York Times led with a similar formulation: "Confrontations at Gaza Fence Leave 15 Dead."

Such phrasing separates facts from the agency that makes them intelligible. After all, those Palestinians (the actual number varies according to reports) did not simply drop dead: They were shot, deliberately. Simply splitting subject from verb, however, obscures who did what to whom and under what circumstances. "Israeli troops kill 15 Palestinians at Gaza protest," for example, would tell a different story — and would cue a different response from readers.
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Clipboard

Global terrorist list of 3M names supplied to banks; targets Muslims for service denial without trial


RT
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 00:19 UTC
praying palestinians
© Reuters/Ammar AwadPalestinian men pray to mark the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha in Jerusalem's Old City.
A massive, ever-growing database used by the world's largest banks to track terrorism financing and other crimes has compiled millions of names from unverified sources - including scandal sheets and search engine results.

The World-Check database adds 25,000 names every month to its massive risk database, used by 49 of the world's 50 largest banks to monitor possible financial, regulatory and reputational liabilities. Over three million people are currently on the list - many not convicted of any crime, some not even aware they are suspected of one.

Getting on the list is easy - employees scour publicly available sources, from court records to search engine results, and apparently make little effort to verify what they find. An investigation by Al Jazeera found hundreds of thousands of Muslim names, some seemingly absurd.

Comment: See also:

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Bulb

UK lawmakers urge gov't to decriminalize drugs - 'It could save lives and money'


RT
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 18:54 UTC
syringe and spoon
© AFP / Dominick Reuter
A cross-party group of lawmakers have urged the UK government to consider decriminalizing drugs in Britain and treat it as a health and not a criminal issue, in order to curb the high rates of drugs-related deaths.

A report conducted by UK MPs on The Health and Social Care Committee has concluded that the government should carry out a consultation on decriminalization. They claim it would "save money" for the criminal justice system and allow more funds to be transferred into prevention and treatment that would help "save lives."

There would need to be sufficient funds provided to offer alternative approaches, such as supervised facilities where drug users could take drugs in a safe environment, the report said.
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Stock Down

McKinsey: Half of world's banks deemed too weak to survive a downturn


RT
Tue, 22 Oct 2019 09:09 UTC
Global money
© Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach
A new survey from consultancy McKinsey & Co has found that a majority of banks globally may not be economically viable because their returns on equity aren't keeping pace with costs.

The study looked at 1,000 banks in developed and emerging countries and found that just over a third had made a return on capital of just 1.6 percent over the past three years. This compares to returns of just over 17 percent for top banks over the same period.
"Nearly 35 percent of banks globally are both sub-scale and suffer from operating in unfavorable markets, as well as having flawed business models. To survive a downturn, merging with similar banks may be the only option, if a full reinvention is not feasible."
According to the report, banks are not as well-prepared for a downturn as they were when the global financial crisis erupted in 2007 in terms of profitability. According to the consulting firm:
"While the jury is still out on whether the current market uncertainty will result in an imminent recession or a prolonged period of slow growth, the fact is that growth has slowed.

"This is likely the last pit stop in this cycle for banks to rapidly reinvent business models and scale up via acquisitions. The time for bold and critical moves is now."
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Eye 1

World's biggest facial recognition scheme will debut in India next month


The Economic Times
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 17:58 UTC
facial recognition
The first casualty of the absence of regulatory framework for facial recognition technology is people's right to privacy.
With the tender submission date to procure the National Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) just 20 days away, India is closer to install worlds largest facial recognition system to track and nab criminals.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), under Home Ministry, asked for the bids on July 8 which will be closed on November 8. The winner to provide AFRS will be announced on November 8. "This is an effort in the direction of modernizing the police force, information gathering criminal identification, verification and its dissemination among various police organizations and units across the country," said NCRB in its 172-page document. The beneficiaries will be Ministry of Home Affairs, NCRB and state police forces.

The benefits will be "a robust system for identifying criminals, missing children /persons, unidentified dead bodies and unknown traced children/persons all over the country; a repository of photographs of criminals in the country; enhanced ability to detect crime patterns and modus operandi across the states and communicate to the state police departments for aiding in crime prevention". With the help of the software, the state police personnel can check the suspect with the hotlist of criminals.

Comment: The ultimate face control: Facial recognition technology could enslave mankind like never before

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Toys

Jordan Peterson and Joker

Andrew Sweeny
Medium
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 00:01 UTC
jordan peterson joker joaquin phoenix
I don't go to the movies much these days, partly because everything is on Netflix or can be procured elsewhere. But also because movie theaters have lost their appeal: they are like empty temples to a deity who has long departed.

And then there is a general sense of movie fatigue: of what has been called 'superhero fatigue', but also romantic comedy fatigue, and action movie fatigue, and fatigue of just about every genre that Hollywood produces. Hollywood movies don't have the communal appeal that they used to, and the creative spirit has moved to TV. Television today is more expansive, daring, darker, and has richer, broader narratives.

That is not to say that cinema is dead. It is just sleeping. Certainly there are some diamonds in the trash heap of modern movies. Like Joker.
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Megaphone

Syria, war, and Elizabeth Warren: More notes from the edge of the narrative matrix

Caitlin Johnstone
Medium
Sun, 20 Oct 2019 17:37 UTC
liz warren
Things have gotten very strange, and they're going to keep getting stranger. Patterns are dissolving faster and faster, and the little emperors who've built their empires on those patterns are having to work harder and harder to hold it all together. Buckle up.

It has been firmly established beyond any doubt that it is now literally impossible for an American political figure to vocally oppose US warmongering without being labeled a Russian agent.

All the faux humanitarian concerns we've heard from the political/media class about what's happening in Syria are completely invalidated by their total indifference to what's happening in Yemen.

It sure is interesting how you never, ever see bipartisan cries of humanitarian concerns across the entire US political/media class unless it benefits the globe-spanning forever war. How cool would it be if even one time the political/media class united across partisan lines to forcefully advocate for a humanitarian foreign policy involving charity, food, indigenous rights, or literally any other humanitarian agenda besides military mass murder? Whenever there's talk of withdrawing US troops from any region anywhere, the political/media class begins shrieking that this will (A) hurt humanitarian interests, and (B) hurt US hegemony. Their real concern is B, and B has nothing to do with A. But they're treated as one thing.
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USA

Massachusetts Democrat wants to make it illegal to call someone a 'bitch' in the commonwealth

Alex Griswold
The Washington Free Beacon
Tue, 22 Oct 2019 17:26 UTC
Massachusetts State House
© Massachusetts State House / TwitterMassachusetts State House
A Massachusetts Democrat is pushing a bill that would make it a crime to maliciously call someone a "bitch" within the commonwealth.

Foul-mouthed individuals who are found guilty under a bill introduced by Democratic representative Daniel J. Hunt would face a $150 maximum fine for the first offense, while repeat offenders would face up to six months' imprisonment, a $200 fine, or both. If enacted, "bitch" would be the only word in the English language to receive such special consideration in Massachusetts.

Hunt introduced "An Act regarding the use of offensive words" in May. The proposed law would specify that the use of the word "bitch" satisfied the "offensive and disorderly acts or language" requirement in existing disorderly conduct law.

"A person who uses the word 'bitch' directed at another person to accost, annoy, degrade or demean the other person shall be considered to be a disorderly person," the bill says. "A violation of this subsection may be reported by the person to whom the offensive language was directed at or by any witness to such incident."

Comment: Was the feminist lobby behind this bill?

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Heart

Protesters hug WEEPING soldiers during anti-government rallies in Lebanon


RT
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 17:32 UTC
lebanese
© Anwar Amro / AFP
Touching scenes played out amidst massive protest rallies in Lebanon as several protesters embraced dewy-eyed soldiers during the standoff. The public anger was earlier sparked by plans for tax hikes.

A video, posted on social media, shows two protesters comforting a soldier in full gear, who appears to be overwhelmed by emotion as he stands securing the perimeter. They gently pat the man on the cheek and shoulders.
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Eye 2

Ukraine's infamous ultra-nationalist group Azov says US lawmakers SLANDERED them by saying they inspire terrorism


RT
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 17:26 UTC
azov
© Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters
A state-sponsored Ukrainian ultra-nationalist paramilitary unit with neo-Nazi roots has accused a group of US lawmakers of slander after they suggested it should be listed as a terrorist organization.

The notorious Ukrainian paramilitary group Azov took offense after 40 US Democratic representatives called it just that in a letter to the State Department. Led by Max Rose (D-NY), the lawmakers asked why a "violent white supremacist" group "that openly welcomes neo-Nazis into its ranks" has still not been officially listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the US government.

They wrote that the shooter in Christchurch, New Zealand had ties with Azov and "routinely wore a neo-Nazi symbol associated with them." The massacre, which left 51 people dead, directly inspired the recent mass shootings in Poway, California and El Paso, Texas, the lawmakers said, accusing Azov of "radicalizing" American citizens.
The link between Azov and acts of terror in America is clear.
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