Society's ChildS


Eiffel Tower

France is in free fall

Yellow vests Paris
© Veronique de Viguerie/Getty ImagesFrench President Emmanuel Macron seems to hope that weariness will lead the "yellow vests" protestors to give up, but there seems no sign of it yet. On the contrary, the "yellow vests" seem dedicated to bringing him down. Pictured: "Yellow vests" protesters on December 15, 2018 in Paris, France.
  • French officials evidently understand that the terrorists are engaged in a long war and that it will be difficult to stop them; so they seem to have given in. These officials are no doubt aware that young French Muslims are being radicalized in increasing numbers. The response, however, has been to strengthen Muslim institutions in France.
  • At the time President Macron was speaking, one of his emissaries was in Morocco to sign the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which defines immigration as "beneficial" for the host countries. Under it, signatory states pledge to "strengthen migrant-inclusive service delivery systems."
  • A group of retired generals published an open letter, saying that signing the Global Compact was a further step towards "the abandonment of national sovereignty" and noted that "80% of the French population think that immigration must be halted or regulated drastically".
  • The author Éric Zemmour described the "yellow vests" revolt as the result of the "despair of people who feel humiliated, forgotten, dispossessed of their own country by the decisions of a contemptuous caste".

Comment: What is clear at this point is how completely out of touch Macron is with the people he supposedly democratically governs. If he continues to outright ignore their demands, refusing to give any concessions, living in a bubble of his own hubris, it's likely the Yellow Vests will get their wish and he'll be hoisted on his own petard.

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Bad Guys

Americans rapidly accepting unrestricted facial recognition tech

facial recognition cameras
Americans are increasingly embracing Big Brother, according to a recent survey that found only one in four want restrictions on the use of facial recognition technology by governments - a marked change from two months ago.

Just one in four Americans want strict government limits on the use of biometric technology - with opposition shrinking further if such technology would help law enforcement, reduce shoplifting, or speed up security screenings at the airport, according to a national poll conducted last month by the Center for Data Innovation. Opposition to biometric surveillance decreases with age, and women are more accepting of the technology than men, the poll results show.

Bizarro Earth

University initiates disciplinary action against professor who exposed shoddy scholarship of 'grievance studies'

Portland State University
© Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via APIn this Sept. 21, 2017, photo, students settle into their dorm at Portland State University in Portland, Ore.
A scholar whose carefully crafted fiction helped expose the rot within some sectors of the modern academy is now under fire from his home, Portland State University, although prominent academics throughout the West have risen to his defense.

Peter Boghossian, an assistant professor of philosophy at Portland State University in Oregon, led a trio of scholars last year who submitted to leading publications what they called "intentionally broken" papers on gender, race and sexuality. Several of the absurd pieces were published.

Now, Portland State has initiated disciplinary action against Mr. Boghossian for what it calls a breach of the institution's ethical guidelines.

Among the renowned international scholars urging Portland State to forgo such action is University of Oxford professor emeritus Richard Dawkins, who compared PSU administrators to the duplicitous pigs in George Orwell's "Animal Farm."

Comment: Universities are now fighting in favor of corrupt scholarship. How much clearer can it get that US 'higher learning' institutions have become corrupt and dogmatic centers for the indoctrination of post-modern ideology?


Attention

University students appalled by Trump immigration quotes, except they're actually from Democrats

campus reform
This month, the federal government entered a partial shutdown after Congress was unable to reach a budget agreement, primarily on funding for President Donald Trump's proposed wall along the southern border.

The wall, a key talking point for Trump throughout the campaign, has been decried by leaders in the Democrat party as anti-American and immoral, among other things.

But their opposition to the wall and embrace of looser immigration laws seems to be a new development.

Comment: It's actually pretty amazing to see how in the short span of just a couple of years, perceptions of a given issue can be altered because 'orange man bad'.


Bad Guys

IDF captures Palestinian militant who reportedly killed two Israeli soldiers

IDF soldiers
© AP Photo / Majdi Mohammed
The Israeli Security Forces have captured a militant who murdered two IDF soldiers during the shooting near Givat Asaf crossing north of Jerusalem on 13 December, Israel Police National Spokesman to the foreign Media Micky Rosenfeld said on Tuesday.

"Yamam CT operations capture wanted terrorist Aatzam Barguti, behind the attack at Givat Asaf bus stop when 2 soldiers were murdered on 13.12", Rosenfeld wrote on Twitter.

Binoculars

Drone sighting halts departures at London Heathrow Airport

Heathrow
© ReutersLondon Heathrow Airport
Departures at Heathrow were temporarily stopped after a drone was reported to have been sighted. Flights from the west London airport resumed about an hour after police said a drone had been seen. A Heathrow spokeswoman had said it was a "precautionary measure" to "prevent any threat to operational safety".

It comes after last month's disruption at Gatwick Airport which saw thousands of people stranded when drones were sighted.

The spokeswoman said:
"We continue to work closely with the Met Police to respond to reports of drones at Heathrow. Based on standard operating procedures, working with Air Traffic Control and the Met Police, we have resumed departures out of Heathrow following a short suspension. We continue to monitor this situation and apologise to any passengers that were affected by this disruption."
The Metropolitan Police said they received reports of a drone sighting near Heathrow at about 17:05 GMT.

Comment: Nothing convinces the purchase of anti-drone equipment better than hovering drones over the airports and the liability issues for thousands of people at any given time.
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Ambulance

Beijing school maintenance man attacks primary students with hammer, injures 20

beijing hospital police
Twenty pupils at a Beijing primary school were wounded on Tuesday in a hammer attack that police said had left three seriously injured, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Police in the Xicheng district of the city said in a statement on Weibo that they had detained a 49-year-old male suspect surnamed Jia, who was a former repair worker at the school.

Jia was a migrant worker from Heilongjiang province whose contract had ended at the start of the year, and police suspect that the attack was motivated by anger at having his employment terminated.

Another former maintenance worker at the school surnamed Liang suggested that the suspect was angry because he had been let go at the end of his probation period.

The attack happened at Xuanwu Normal Experimental Affiliated Number One Primary School just after 11.15am.

Several of the pupils were taken to the intensive care unit of the nearby Xuanwu Hospital following the attack.

Attention

Russian Patriarch Kirill warns humans' enslavement by technology will facilitate their control by the 'Antichrist'

Patriarch Kirill
© Mikhail Dzhaparidze / TASS
The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has said that humans' dependence on modern technology will result in the coming of the Antichrist.

In an interview with Russian state media, Patriarch Kirill explained he does not entirely oppose gadgets, but warned against "falling into slavery" to smartphones.

Patriarch Kirill said that the collection of user data including "location, interests and fears" will make it possible for humans to be controlled by external forces.

"Control from a single point is a harbinger of the coming of the Antichrist," Kirill told the state-run Rossia-1 TV network on Orthodox Christmas Monday.

Comment: Even technology experts would tend to agree that such dependencies have literally hijacked our minds resulting in a devolution of our cognitive, ethical and spiritual functions:


Snowflake

BFMTV journalists cowering in their offices after being chased through streets of Rouen by Yellow Vests

gilets jaunes rouen, yellow vests rouen
© AFP / Charly TriballeuA Yellow Vest protester throws stones at a demonstration in Rouen
Journalists with French TV station BFMTV have opted to cover anti-government demonstrations from the office, after a camera crew was attacked at a rally. The protesters say BFMTV peddles 'fake news'.

On the eighth consecutive weekend of anti-government protests across France, three BFMTV journalists and their security detail were chased through the streets of Rouen, after some protesters took offense to their presence.

One of the attacked journalists told Le Parisien that the crowd turned on the team after a cameraman tried to film a protester's banner. "30 people turned against us," the reporter said. "Threw eggs at us and insulted us. Our security exfiltrated us with difficulty, because some demonstrators barred the road with garbage can

Video footage of the fleeing journalists quickly did the rounds on social media, and other journalists jumped to the embattled team's defense.

Comment: BFMTV has been accused of being a govt mouthpiece and disseminating fake news by Yellow Vest protesters - they can now simply make up their stories from the comfort of their offices with no pretense of 'on-the-scene-coverage': Parisian Yellow Vests take on 'fake news' TV channel for spreading disinfo


Broom

Belgium commercial court supports local taxi firms by banning Uber in Brussels

Belgium bans Uber Brussels
The ruling allows only drivers with a Brussels taxi license and a special lamp light on the roof to operate in the Belgian capital.
A Belgian commercial court has supported local taxi firms and said that world-famous Uber services are outlawed in Brussels, according to local media reports citing the court decision.

The court order was issued on December 18 by the Dutch-speaking tribunal of commerce, Belgian news outlets La Libre Belgique and La Derniere Heure said on Thursday. The ruling allows only drivers with a Brussels taxi license and a special lamp light on the roof to operate in the Belgian capital, which hosts headquarters of NATO and EU Commission as well as offices of many other key international organizations.

Each noncompliance may result in a €10,000 ($11,300) fine for the platform, local media said.

The move is aimed to clarify a decision originally made in 2015, which ordered the US-based company to close its low-cost service with unprofessional drivers, Uberpop, in Brussels while the more expensive UberX service remained unaffected. The December order apparently targets all Uber services, however, the French-speaking side is still considering the case.