Society's ChildS

Arrow Down

'Total nightmare': Over half of Californians wish they could leave the state

Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco California
This just shows what can happen when you let crazy people run a state for several decades. In the 1960s and 1970s, the possibility of moving to the west coast was "the California dream" for millions of young Americans, but now "the California dream" has turned into "the California nightmare". According to a brand new survey, 53 percent of those living in California are considering leaving the state, and there are certainly lots of reasons to hit the road and never look back. The cities are massively overcrowded, California has the worst traffic in the western world, drug use and illegal immigration both fuel an astounding amount of crime, tax rates are horrendous and many of the state politicians appear to literally be insane. And on top of all that, let us not forget the earthquakes, wildfires and landslides that are constantly making headlines all over the world. Last year was the worst year for wildfires in California history, and these days it seems like the state is hit by some new crisis every few weeks.

But none of those factors are the primary reason why so many people are eager to leave.

According to a brand new survey by Edelman Intelligence, the main reason why so many are considering leaving the state is the high cost of living...

Comment: Also see: Rats, Public Defecation And Open Drug Use: West Coast Cities Becoming Uninhabitable Hellholes


Star of David

Israeli settlers rampage against Palestinians in Hebron following expulsion of human rights observers

Hebron IDF soldiers
© Badee DweikIsraeli forces deploy in the Old City of Hebron on Wednesday February 13, 2019
Dozens of Israeli settlers launched an attack on Palestinians in the Old City of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank on Tuesday night, yelling "death to Arabs!" in the street and hurling rocks at Palestinian homes.

According to locals, more than 100 settlers accompanied by over 70 armed Israeli forces began marching down Shuhada street at 9pm in the Old City, heading towards the Palestinian neighborhood of Tel Rumeida.

"They were chanting anti-Arab slogans, calling for the expulsion of all Palestinians from the area, saying this is the land of Israel, and saying we should all die," Badee Dweik, 46, Co-Founder of the Human Rights Defenders group in Hebron told Mondoweiss.

NPC

European Parliament passes controversial "meme ban" under cover of copyright law

NPC EU
NPC EU
Copyright Directive

The doomsday clock is ticking for European internet users.

Last night, the European Parliament approved the final text of a controversial online copyright law that would force internet platforms to filter everything users upload for copyright - including memes - and charge news aggregators to link to news publications.

The move comes after months of adjustments to the Parliament's proposed Copyright Directive. Parliament members will gather for a final vote later this year.

Most contentious of all are two Articles included in the proposed Copyright Directive:

Comment: While we still can...
Ghandi meme
rapper meme
orange man bad



No Entry

Russian trolls blamed for spreading anti-vaccination propaganda

measles
© Shutterstock
The same Russian social media trolls accused of meddling in the 2016 US election may be to blame for the deadly measles outbreak across Europe last year, according to a new report.


Comment: Oh dear lord...


Scientists believe the St. Petersburg troll farm also pumped out anti-vaccination propaganda, contributing to the outbreak that killed 72 people and infected more than 82,000, Radio Free Europe reported.

In a study published by the American Public Health Association in September, researchers examined the trolls' online messages from July 2014 through September 2017 and concluded that their posts were responsible for "eroding public consensus on vaccination."

Comment: At least someone quoted in the article is at least a little skeptical of this absolutely preposterous connection! The American people should be absolutely disgusted that the press think them so stupid and fickle as to fall for a troll farm campaign rather than do their own research and come to their own conclusions. How insulting can you be than to your readers than to say that they aren't intelligent enough to formulate their own opinions but will just swallow whatever the Kremlin is supposedly telling them to believe? That the only possible reason any American citizen could disagree with the MSM is that they're easily persuaded by a bunch of poorly created memes.

And yet they're not disgusted. In fact, they believe it.

See also:


Sheriff

Lawfare: SPLC and ACLU sue the Department of Homeland Security over "remain in Mexico" policy for migrants

customs border patrol logo
© Frederic J. Brown/Agence France-Presse/Getty
Immigration advocates are suing the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen - and other individuals and U.S. agencies - over the Trump administration's newly implemented "Migrant Protection Protocols" initiative, which forces some asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while they await immigration court dates. Many refer to the initiative as the "Remain in Mexico" policy.

The Southern Poverty Law Center and American Civil Liberties Union officially challenged the policy Thursday in a lawsuit dubbed Innovation Law Lab et al. v. Nielsen et al. The suit claims "Migrant Protection Protocols" violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Administrative Procedures Act and various international human rights laws.

The suit represents 11 asylum seekers and six organizations impacted by the policy. The 11 asylum seekers - 10 men and one woman - are from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala and from different families, said a person close to the suit.

Comment:


Airplane Paper

Best of the Web: Millions of Venezuelans sign Maduro's open letter to US with the message 'Hands Off Our Country'

letter us
Venezuelans queue to sign open letter to US government
The Grayzone breaks the media blockade inside Venezuela, amplifying the voices of people ignored by the corporate media. By Anya Parampil

Produced in partnership with MintPress News

The Grayzone reported from inside Venezuela, where millions of people waited in long lines to sign an open letter to the US public, strongly rejecting foreign intervention in their country.

Anya Parampil interviewed working-class Venezuelans in Simon Bolivar Square in the capital Caracas, on February 10, 2019.

Read the letter in full below.

Watch our report:


Comment: By February 8th, after just one day, two million Venezuelans had signed the letter, according to the Venezuelan government.


Bullseye

Writer's Twitter account temporarily suspended after questioning if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put her boyfriend on payroll

AOC and friends
Writer Luke Thompson was temporarily suspended by Twitter for calling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez out on giving her boyfriend a job in her Congressional office.

Thompson had discovered that Ocasio-Cortez's boyfriend, Riley Roberts, is now listed as staff in the House directory and tweeted "while you were having a nice Valentine's Day, @AOC decided to put her boyfriend on staff - drawing a salary on the taxpayer's dime. Nice to see her adapting to the swamp so quickly."

Twitter claimed that a screenshot of his House directory listing violated the rules against posting private information.

Bizarro Earth

Guatemala intel head says migrant caravans are 'well-planned,' not spontaneous

caravan 2019 honduras
© Fox News
Guatemalan head of intelligence Mario Duarte said during a visit to Washington Tuesday that the migrant caravans heading to the U.S. southern border are "well-planned" and "well-organized" by those wanting to "weaponize those in need."

"This was not a spontaneous event. It was well-planned. It was well-organized," Duarte, head of the Secretariat of Strategic Intelligence of Guatemala, said at an event hosted by the Center for a Free Secure Society at the National Press Club.

He said different intelligence, law enforcement, and military agencies found evidence that the October caravan from Honduras to the U.S. - which at one point contained about 40,000 migrants - was organized in advance.

There was a call on October 5 in Honduras for citizens to join a "massive migration walk to the United States," he said. "We detected logistical preparation throughout Guatemala and Mexico, to be able to bring all these people to the U.S. southern border."

Comment: More on the activities of Pueblos Sin Fronteras:


Sheriff

New Mexico Sheriffs refuse to enforce new gun control bills

New Mexico
New Mexico has a new governor, and she really doesn't like guns.

Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, was sworn into office on January 1, replacing pro-gun Republican Susana Martinez.

In early December, the National Rifle Association (NRA) warned the citizens of New Mexico to expect "unprecedented attacks" on their Constitutional rights.
While the New Mexico Legislature will not convene for its 60-day Regular Session until January 15, lawmakers can start prefiling bills on December 17. You will see unprecedented attacks on your Second Amendment rights from the word go. Your NRA-ILA will alert you to bill numbers and provide links to the content of legislation as it becomes available. But in the meantime, we want to share with you what we already know is coming.

Expect anti-gun politicians to introduce a slew of so-called "common-sense gun measures" - a misleading phrase that gun control activists use in hopes that the public and the media will avoid questioning the bills' enforceability, efficacy, intrusiveness or necessity. (source)
Unfortunately, the NRA's prediction was correct.

Sherlock

TV actor's hate crime attack story being investigated as a possible hoax

Jussie Smollett
© JM11/Joseph Marzullo/WENN/NewscomJussie Smollett
Chicago police confirmed Thursday that detectives are talking to two persons of interest in connection with the alleged attack on "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett.

Multiple sources have told ABC7 Eyewitness News that police are investigating whether Smollett and the two men staged the attack allegedly because Smollett was being written off of "Empire."

A source familiar with the investigation told the ABC7 I-Team that Smollett failed to appear for an interview with detectives earlier Thursday, but has since spoken with police.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson contacted ABC7 to say they are continuing to treat Smollett as a victim and the investigation remains ongoing.

Chicago police told ABC News, "Police are investigating whether the two individuals committed the attack - or whether the attack happened at all."

Comment: More details from RT:
Chicago police reportedly tracked down the suspects, a pair of brothers from Nigeria who returned to their home country the night after the attack. Officers were waiting at O'Hare Airport to apprehend them on their return and seized a variety of items in a search of their apartment, including a red hat, bleach, electronics, and sneakers.


After hours of questioning, they apparently spilled the beans, and reports from local CBS and ABC stations framed the entire event as a hoax that was staged because Smollett's character was being written off the series.

While a police spokesman says the ABC7 report is "unconfirmed by case detectives," details are gradually leaking out, and for many critical watchers the story never really added up.