Society's ChildS


Dollar

Chinese millionaires outnumber Americans for first time - but overall global inequality may be decreasing

Michael Shields
Reuters
Mon, 21 Oct 2019 15:44 UTC
People rest at a park near Beijing's central business area
© Jason Lee / ReutersPeople rest at a park near Beijing's central business area.
The number of rich Chinese has surpassed the count of wealthy Americans for the first time as both countries keep churning out millionaires, a study by Credit Suisse showed.

The Swiss bank's annual wealth survey released on Monday found 100 million Chinese ranked in the global top 10% as of the middle of this year versus 99 million in the United States.

"Despite the trade tension between the United States and China over the past 12 months, both countries have fared strongly in wealth creation, contributing $3.8 trillion and $1.9 trillion respectively," said Nannette Hechler-Fayd'herbe, global head of economics and research at Credit Suisse CSGN.S.

The ranks of the world's millionaires have risen by 1.1 million to an estimated 46.8 million, collectively owning $158.3 trillion in net assets, 44% of the global total, the study found.

The United States added more than half of this number - 675,000 new millionaires - to its sizeable stock.

A decline in average wealth in Australia — largely due to exchange rates — resulted in 124,000 fewer millionaires there, while Britain lost 27,000 and Turkey 24,000.
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Yellow Vest

Australian media stages front-page 'blackout' to protest against govt clampdown on press freedom


RT
Mon, 21 Oct 2019 16:05 UTC
newspapers
© REUTERS / AAP Image / Lukas Coch
In a rare show of unity, all major news outlets in Australia have staged a mass protest against increasingly draconian secrecy laws passed by the government, which are infringing on press freedom and the public's right to know.

Rivals News Corp Australia and Nine, among others, printed front pages which showed blacked-out, 'redacted' text emblazoned with red stamps that read "secret."

The protest was organized by the Right to Know Coalition, with the support of numerous TV, radio, newspaper and digital outlets.

Collectively, the press are arguing against national security laws which are stifling the freedom of the press and, in doing so, creating a "culture of secrecy" in Australia wherein freedom of information requests relating to even the most trivial government affairs are being denied. Some 60 laws relating to secrecy have been passed in the past two decades.
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Dollar

Saudi Arabia's 100% hookah tax hike ignites social media fury


RT
Mon, 21 Oct 2019 16:55 UTC
Smoking a hookah
© AFP / Bilal QabalanA Saudi citizen smokes a hookah (traditional waterpipe) while watching TV at a cafe in Riyadh
A decision by Saudi Arabia's ministry of rural and municipal affairs to introduce a 100 percent tax on bills at restaurants that serve shisha has sparked criticism on kingdom's social media.

Shisha smoking (using a water-pipe, narghile or hookah) is a popular pastime in the country. The new tax will be applied even to non-smokers if they visit a restaurant that serves shisha.

Some restaurants have already stopped offering shisha, while others have lowered their prices.

The government's official gazette said this month that the tax will apply to all tobacco products. However, the ministry explained the ruling will apply "to the total invoice of the business serving tobacco products."
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Fire

Plane crash in Brazil leaves 3 dead after small aircraft smashes into residential street and bursts in flames

Debbie White
The Sun
Mon, 21 Oct 2019 13:15 UTC
Brazil plane crash
Three people were reported to have died in this morning's inferno in Brazil
A Brazil plane crash has left three dead after the aircraft smashed into a residential street and burst into flames.

The aircraft crashed this morning in Caicara just after taking off from the Carlos Prates Airport, northwest of Belo Horizonte, according to local media.

An official from the local fire department said that the plane smashed into vehicles at the intersection of Minerva and Belmiro Braga streets, reports Estado de Minas.

Paramedics rushed to the fiery scene, along with teams from the Military Police and the Municipal Guard.

Three people were reported to have been injured as a result of being trapped in the inferno, according to the fire department.
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Handcuffs

Afghan migrant arrested in Austria for stabbing asylum center worker and elderly farmer to death

Arthur Lyons
Voice of Europe
Sat, 19 Oct 2019 13:21 UTC
knife
A military-aged Afghan migrant has been arrested for murdering a 32-year-old asylum center social worker and 63-year-old farmer, Austrian police say.

The 33-year-old Afghan 'asylum seeker', whose name hasn't yet to be released by Austrian authorities, is currently under investigation on suspicion of two counts of murders, the Associated Press reports.

It's said that on Monday, the Afghan migrant attacked the social worker employed his asylum center with a knife over a dispute about a job at the migrant shelter in Wullowitz, close to the border with the Czech Republic. The social worker reportedly died after he sustained severe injuries from being stabbed multiple times.
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Arrow Down

'I can't think properly': Assange disoriented as court rejects delay for extradition proceedings


RT
Mon, 21 Oct 2019 14:01 UTC
Assange
© Ruptly
With his supporters rallying outside the court building, Julian Assange showed signs of fatigue in a bid to delay extradition proceedings scheduled for next year. The London court ruled against him.

Cleanly shaven and dressed in a navy suit, Assange appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday to seek the postponement of an extradition hearing scheduled for February.

His lawyer argued that the US government had attempted to kidnap and cause harm to his client, and that he would need more time to compile evidence for the case.
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NPC

Postmodern insanity: Seattle school district to to study how math is 'appropriated' by Western culture and used as system of power and oppression

Catherine Gewertz
Education Week
Tue, 15 Oct 2019 13:04 UTC
writing
© Getty
The Seattle school district is planning to infuse all K-12 math classes with ethnic-studies questions that encourage students to explore how math has been "appropriated" by Western culture and used in systems of power and oppression, a controversial move that puts the district at the forefront of a movement to "rehumanize" math.

The district's proposed framework outlines strands of discussion that teachers should incorporate into their classes. One leads students into exploring math's roots "in the ancient histories of people and empires of color." Another asks how math and science have been used to oppress and marginalize people of color, and who holds power in a math classroom.


Comment: How about they also study how math and science have been used to make humans' lives infinitely more enjoyable, less painful, and longer-lasting? Which effect seems to be more important?


Another theme focuses on resistance and liberation, encouraging students to recognize the mathematical practices and contributions of their own communities, and looking at how math has been used to free people from oppression.

Seattle's proposals land as schools all over the country are discussing the role ethnic studies should play in their curricula. In most places, if schools offer ethnic studies at all, it's usually in a stand-alone course in high school. But increasingly, schools and districts are starting to sprinkle ethnic studies across the K-12 spectrum. Seattle is taking a highly unusual approach by weaving the field's multicultural and political questions not just through all grade levels, but into all subjects.
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MIB

The war on truth: How Israel's social media trolls conquered Facebook

Ramzy Baroud
Middle East Monitor
Sun, 20 Oct 2019 15:57 UTC
facebook
On October 9, the social media platform, Facebook, deleted the page of the popular Palestinian news website, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC). This act, which was carried out without even contacting the page administrators, confirms that Facebook's war on pro-Palestine voices is continuing unabated.

PIC had nearly five million followers on Facebook, a testament to its popularity and credibility among a large cross section of Palestinians and their supporters internationally. For Israel's trolls on social media, PIC was simply too effective to be allowed to spread its message. As usual, Facebook obliged.

This oft-repeated scenario - where pro-Israeli social media trolls zoom in on a Palestinian media platform while working closely with Facebook management to censor content, bar individuals, or d elete whole pages - is now the norm. Palestinian views on Facebook are simply unwanted, and the margin of what is allowed is rapidly shrinking.

Comment: See also:

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Bomb

UN 'refugee resettlement' flights from Africa begin landing in Germany

Arthur Lyons
RFE/RL
Sun, 20 Oct 2019 10:25 UTC
migrant germany
The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) has announced the 'first-ever' charter flight that will transport African migrants directly into Germany, with additional flights already scheduled.

On Tuesday, IOM Ethiopia's twitter account gleefully posted a video clip showing 154 Somali 'refugees' arriving at Kassel airport in the federal state of Hesse.

The tweet's caption reads: "It happened! In FIRST EVER UN Migration international chartered flight from Ethiopia, 154 refugees departed from Addis Ababa to Kassel Germany under the German Resettlement program," "A second flight is scheduled to depart mid-November with another 220 refugees."

Comment: With the global economy teetering on the edge of another collapse, and austerity measures meaning countries can no longer support the citizens it already has, the surge in migrants to Europe will only hasten calamity: Also check out SOTT radio's: The Truth Perspective: Weapons of Mass Migration: Interview with Michael Springmann on Europe's Migrant Crisis

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Quenelle - Golden

People power! Lebanese continue protests, demand government fix economy


Al Jazeera
Sat, 19 Oct 2019 20:06 UTC
lebanese protest tax whatsapp
© AndalouTens of thousands have taken to the streets across Lebanon since Thursday to protest against tax increases and political corruption
Demonstrators are protesting for the fourth day against dire economic conditions in the heavily indebted country.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have gathered in Lebanon's streets on Sunday for a fourth day of anti-government protests that have led to the resignation of a Christian party from the government.

Demonstrators, who have been on the streets since Thursday, have pledged to continue marching despite the resignations late on Saturday of four government members from the key political party, Lebanese Forces.

Labour Minister Camille Abousleiman, one of the four to quit the government, told Al Jazeera shortly after the decision that they had "lost faith in the government's ability to effect change and address the problem".

Comment: Hezbollulah's Sayyed Nasrullah has expressed admiration for the home-grown nature of the protests and offered some advice and warnings:


The people haven't lost their spirit:






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