Society's ChildS


Briefcase

Europe should ignore 'siren call of treacherous promises' from Facebook's Libra currency - European Central Bank

Balazs Koranyi
Reuters
Mon, 02 Sep 2019 08:16 UTC
Facebook libra
© Reuters / Dado Ruvic / Illustration
Facebook's (FB.O) proposed Libra currency could undermine the European Central Bank's ability to set monetary policy and Europe should ignore its siren call of "treacherous promises" ECB board member Yves Mersch said on Monday.

Facebook announced Libra — a new digital coin backed by four official currencies and available to billions of social network users around the world — earlier this year, saying it hoped to launch next year.

"Depending on Libra's level of acceptance and on the referencing of the euro in its reserve basket, it could reduce the ECB's control over the euro, impair the monetary policy transmission mechanism by affecting the liquidity position of euro area banks, and undermine the single currency's international role," Mersch added.

Like regular currencies, Libra would be highly centralized, an "extremely concerning" setup since it is not backed by a lender of last resort and it is ultimately accountable to shareholders, who are not seen as repositories of public trust, Mersch added.

Comment: News of Facebook's cryptocurrency release has been met with consistent criticism. As Nadim Kobeissi comments, the currency could easily become 'weaponized':
Facebook already controls our information. Don't let it control our commerce

Another problem is that Libra could become weaponized in the campaign of ideological viewpoint discrimination that Big Tech has been waging openly in a recent years. In a world where Libra becomes indispensable, the repercussions for being found guilty of "problematic" statements on Facebook or other platforms would go beyond a ban on posting photos or political opinions: You may face problems paying your rent. While traditional currencies are vulnerable to concerted action by governments, Libra is vulnerable to virtual blockades and blackballing by Silicon Valley.[...]

Facebook isn't just a big social media company that became an enormous social media company. It has mutated into a de facto empire unto itself. Moreover, it is controlled by a single human being, Mark Zuckerberg, who possesses 53 percent of voting rights within the company.
More on Libra:

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War Whore

Police: Masked gunman killed in shootout with officers in Brooklyn, NY


ABC News
Mon, 02 Sep 2019 10:46 UTC
Gunman killed by police
A masked gunman was killed in a shootout with police who confronted him on a Brooklyn street and pursued him into a backyard early Monday, police said.

The shootout unleashed dozens of rounds in a yard in the Brownsville neighborhood, police Chief of Department Terence Monahan said. No officers were injured.

The New York Police Department hasn't released the identity of the man, who was shot numerous times in the body, Monahan told reporters at a news conference.

The encounter began when three uniformed officers on patrol in an unmarked car spotted a man in a mask around Howard and Dumont avenues around 2:30 a.m.
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Fire

30 people missing after boat catches fire near Santa Cruz Island, California

Elizabeth Thomas and Alexandra Svokos
ABC News
Mon, 02 Sep 2019 09:39 UTC
Boat on fire
Rescue operations are underway for more than 30 people on a 75-foot boat on fire near Santa Cruz Island, California, Monday morning.

Five people have been rescued and 30 people are currently missing, the Santa Barbara Fire Department confirmed to ABC News.

"The vessel was reported as being on fire. A group of crew members has been rescued (one with minor injuries) and efforts continue to evacuate the remaining passengers," the Los Angeles office of the U.S. Coast Guard tweeted.
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Fire

Forget the Amazon hype, fires globally have declined 25% since 2003 thanks to economic growth

Michael Shellenberger
Forbes
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:56 UTC
burned land graph
© NASAThe land area burned by fire has declined 25% from 2003-2019 thanks to economic growth.
The whole world is burning, The New York Times, CNN, and mainstream media outlets around the world have declared in recent days.

The Amazon could soon "self-destruct" reports The Times. It would be "a nightmare scenario that could see much of the world's largest rainforest erased from the earth," writes Max Fisher who notes, "some scientists who study the Amazon ecosystem call it imminent."

"If enough [Amazon] rain forest is lost and can't be restored, the area will become savanna, which doesn't store as much carbon, meaning a reduction in the planet's 'lung capacity,'" reports The New York Times.

Comment: See also:

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Ambulance

Knife crime epidemic on the rise, as London tube station shocked by double stabbing


RT
Mon, 02 Sep 2019 12:37 UTC
Elephant and Castle station
© Global Look Press / Gustavo Valiente
Two men are in hospital after being stabbed at London's Elephant and Castle tube station on Sunday night.

Police officers were called to the south London station around 11.30pm BST on Sunday after two males were found seriously injured in a street nearby.

A 24-year-old man is in a critical condition, while a 25-year-old male is in a serious condition, British Transport Police said. Two men have been arrested in relation to the incident.

Comment: London seems to be unable to get a grip on knife attacks:

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Pistol

At least 10 teenagers injured after gunfire erupts at high school football game in Alabama


RT
Sat, 31 Aug 2019 12:20 UTC
police tape line
© AFP / Brendan Smialowski
At least six teenagers received gunshot wounds after unidentified assailants opened fire at the end of a high school football game in Mobile, Alabama.

Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste told local media that two individuals were detained in connection with the attack. He said that 10 people were injured in total, but four of the injuries were not gunshot wounds. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 18 years old. Their conditions were not immediately clear.

Witnesses say there was a fight in the stands several minutes before the end of the game.

Footage taken after the shooting shows police cars swarming the stadium.
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Newspaper

New York Times' social media controversies take toll on staff

Joshua Caplan
Breitbart
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 00:01 UTC
New York Times Building
© Mario Tama/Getty Images
A string of recent high-profile social media controversies by New York Times journalists has reportedly left a slew of staffers at the embattled newspaper feeling aggravated and listless.

According to the Daily Beast:
[T]he barrage of recent incidents on social media have left many in the organization fatigued. Multiple staffers expressed ambivalence and frustration about the onslaught of outside interest in paper's internal affairs. When asked about the mood inside the newsroom following Stephens' recent blunder, one staffer quipped: "I'm so sick of talking about this shit."
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Handcuffs

A society is only as free as its most troublesome political dissident

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Mon, 02 Sep 2019 00:01 UTC
assange
You wouldn't know it from any western mass media reporting as of this writing, but musician Roger Waters is about to perform the iconic Pink Floyd song "Wish You Were Here" in front of the office of British Home Secretary Priti Patel in order to draw attention to the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Earlier this year, billionaire Richard Branson staged a "Live Aid"-stye concert in Colombia near the Venezuela border with the purported goal of helping the Venezuelan people. In reality the stunt was nothing other than a ploy to advance the entirely false narratives that President Maduro was blockading bridges and turning away all foreign aid, and the funds raised ended up being embezzled by the Trump-backed regime change opposition group led by US puppet Juan Guaido. The British mass media, however, went absolutely bananas over the story. Each word in this sentence is hyperlinked to a different story about the concert from mass media outlets in the UK alone. And that was a concert on the other side of the planet, while the Assange event is happening right in London, in front of the office of a prominent British official, featuring one of the greatest British rock musicians of all time.

Comment: It will be interesting to see if Waters' concert goes ahead as planned. The oppressors don't like loud public displays exposing their hypocrisy.

See also:

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People

Gaddafi supporters take to the streets to mark 50th anniversary of September revolution


RT
Mon, 02 Sep 2019 09:42 UTC
Libyan flag
Supporters of Muammar Gaddafi flooded the town of Bani Walid to mark half a century since the overthrow of the monarchy by army officers led by the late Libyan leader, who was brutally killed by pro-NATO rebels eight years ago.

Residents of Bani Walid, a small desert town which remained loyal to Gaddafi even after his gruesome execution as a result of the 2011 NATO-led intervention, swarmed the streets on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the 1969 revolution that brought down the court of King Idris, abolishing the Libyan monarchy.

Many who descended on Bani Walid waved green flags, Libya's national flag under Gaddafi, and carried posters with the images of Gaddafi and his second son, Saif al-Islam. Cars honked their horns in solidarity as they drove past the jubilant demonstrators, according to footage from RT's video agency, Ruptly.
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2 + 2 = 4

Harvard University has more wealth than half the world's countries... because someone has to prop up the status quo

Helen Buyniski
RT
Sat, 31 Aug 2019 20:38 UTC
Harvard wealthier than countries
© Reuters/Andrew Burton
Harvard University has more money in its endowment than 109 countries have wealth, a recent report said, and it's not the only school with more cash than most nations. For the rich, maintaining the status quo doesn't come cheap.

"America's public schooling system may be in trouble, but its top universities are anything but," said a story by Stacker, which compared the multi-billion endowments of 50 American colleges to the "total wealth" of world nations as estimated by Credit Suisse. The list saw five universities - including Princeton, Stanford, Yale, and the University of Texas System - beat over half of world's 195 economies. Topping the list with its massive $38.3 billion endowment came Harvard.

Perhaps more than even the other Ivy League colleges, Harvard sells more than just a degree. A Harvard education provides entrée into exclusive circles populated by the very wealthy and very influential, and the school puts a lot of effort into nurturing this reputation. The quality of a Harvard education has somewhat dipped over the past decade, now occupying the sixth spot according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings, but the same firm has invariably ranked the institution's reputation as pristine, scoring a perfect 100 on both research and teaching.
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