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Book

Chicago high school spends $53K to replace yearbook with students flashing 'white supremacy' symbol

Ewan Palmer
Newsweek
Wed, 22 May 2019 14:27 UTC
Oak Park and River Forest High School
© Google MapsThe Oak Park and River Forest High School will spend nearly $54,000 replacing the yearbooks after students were found making the 'OK' hand gesture.
A school is Chicago will spend tens of thousands of dollars reprinting its 2018-19 yearbook after several photos contained students posing with a hand gesture which has links to white supremacy.

Administrators at the Oak Park and River Forest High School announced it will spend a total of $53,794 to replace the 1,750 copies of "Tabula" after staff found 18 photos of students making an upside down OK hand sign.

In a letter sent to the community, Superintendent Joylynn Pruitt-Adams said while the seemingly innocuous gesture could be interpreted as students of "various races, ethnicities, genders, and grades" playing what is known as the circle game, the upside down OK hand sign has also become associated with white nationalism and the far-right.

"I want to be clear that we are not making any presumptions about students' intent in using the gesture," Pruitt-Adams wrote. "Regardless of intent, however, there is a real and negative impact. Many students, not only our students of color, experience this gesture as a symbol of white supremacy. Potentially subjecting our students to this trauma is simply not acceptable.
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Biohazard

EU environmental group investigating Bayer, L'Oreal and Dow for use of harmful chemicals


RT
Wed, 22 May 2019 14:05 UTC
Bayer AG
© Reuters / Wolfgang Rattay
More than 650 companies are breaking European chemical safety laws, according to an investigation from German environmental group BUND. As a result, potentially harmful chemicals can be found in food, cosmetics, and toys.

"Chemical companies have been disregarding the law for years and getting away with it, selling substances that might cause hormonal cancers, brain disorders and other severe health problems," said BUND's chemical policy officer Manuel Fernandez. "EU and national authorities need to raise their game in a big way."

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) acknowledged that companies have been known to flout chemical safety laws last November, investigating 700 widely used chemicals and finding that two thirds of them broke REACH, the agency's key safety regulation.

The BUND report, published Tuesday, names some of the companies responsible, and identifies some of the potentially deadly substances.
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Bullseye

'Where are the headlines?' Roger Waters speaks to Syria gas attack 'stench' in wake of leaked report


RT
Tue, 21 May 2019 20:48 UTC
Roger Waters
© Reuters / Mario Anzuoni
Pink Floyd's Roger Waters has slammed the official narrative surrounding an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria last year, citing a report that states no such attack took place.

After the media came out in force to claim Syrian President Bashar Assad dropped canisters of chlorine gas on his own people in Douma, Syria last April, the West took action. Britain, France, and the US pounded government positions with air and missile strikes in response, killing six soldiers and three civilians.

"You didn't have to be a bloodhound to smell the rat," Waters wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.


Comment: There are precious few people in the public eye who not only see the wholesale lies being propagated to justify aggression - but who are willing to actually to say something about it. Bravo, Roger Waters - Bravo!!

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USA

Isn't that racist? 75 American colleges offer black-only graduations

Tim Ciccotta
Breitbart
Mon, 20 May 2019 13:42 UTC
graduation caps
© Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
A study by the National Association of Scholars revealed that at least 75 American colleges have black-only graduation ceremonies and 43 percent of surveyed colleges offer segregated residential halls. The organization refers to this as "neo-segregation."

According to a study by the National Association of Scholars, graduation ceremonies at American universities are becoming increasingly segregated.

The study revealed that as many as 75 total colleges segregated graduation ceremonies. And that's not all. 43 percent of the colleges included in the study offer segregated residential halls.
What we found was that neo-segregation is widespread if not pervasive. About 46 percent (80 colleges out of 173 surveyed) segregate student orientation programs; 43 percent (75 colleges out of the total) offer segregated residential arrangements; and 72 percent (125 colleges out of the total) segregate graduation ceremonies. Though these arrangements are ostensibly voluntary, students can't easily opt out. We tracked numerous indicators of neo-segregation, from "Diversity Fly-Ins," (68 percent of the total) where colleges offer minority students an expense-paid segregated preview of the experience that awaits them should they enroll, to segregated alumni groups.

Comment: Neo-segregation is just as racist as the old segregation. It's only accepted now because blacks are the beneficiaries.

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People

'I Was in One Mode: Protect Keith': NXIVM Member testifies about her time in the sex cult

EJ Dickson
Rolling Stone
Tue, 21 May 2019 13:00 UTC
Lauren Salzman
© Seth Wenig/AP/REX/ShutterstockLauren Salzman leaves Brooklyn federal court in New York.
In March 2018, Lauren Salzman, a high-ranking member in the self-empowerment organization NXIVM and a so-called "master" in the alleged sex cult DOS, was making a smoothie in the kitchen of a house outside Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, when her friend Loreta Garza, another NXIVM member, burst into the room. She told Salzman that cops had just arrived at the house to arrest Keith Raniere, the group's charismatic head, and Salzman's on-off lover of nearly 20 years.

Salzman flew into a panic. Raniere had fled to Mexico the year before, following a damning New York Times report that he was the grandmaster of DOS, a NXIVM offshoot and secret all-female sorority of "masters" and "slaves." Allegedly run by Raniere, the group reportedly had branded women, forced them to provide "collateral" in the form of explicit naked photos, and coerced them into having sex with him. Salzman and other DOS "masters," including Garza, Smallville actress Allison Mack, and Battlestar Galactica actress Nicki Clyne, had flown to Mexico to visit Raniere. Despite the negative media attention swarming around the group, the understanding among DOS members was that they would participate in a "recommitment ceremony," pledging their allegiance to Raniere - which, as Salzman later testified, was assumed to mean group sex.

Unfortunately for Raniere, however, the ceremony never happened, as authorities arrived at Raniere's home on March 25 to arrest him on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. When the police showed up, "I was in one mode: protect Keith," Salzman testified on Tuesday at the Brooklyn federal courthouse where Raniere is currently standing trial.

Comment: See also:

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Cow

Vegan activist manifesto: extreme group's 40-year 'roadmap to animal liberation'

Sarah Ison
The West Australian
Tue, 21 May 2019 20:00 UTC
Direct Action Everywhere
© Facebook / Direct Action EverywhereThe West Australian obtained a how-to guide drawn up by animal liberation group Direct Action Everywhere that tells members they should “openly enter farms” at night, “document the conditions” and “rescue animals”.
Vegan activists trespassing on WA farms and harassing Perth restaurant diners are being told they are following in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr and that "activism, not veganism" is the only way to give animals "autonomy over their own bodies".

The West Australian has obtained a how-to guide drawn up by animal liberation group Direct Action Everywhere that tells members they should "openly enter farms" at night, "document the conditions" and "rescue animals".

The global movement call the tactic "open rescue", but what they are describing is the illegal trespass on private property and theft of livestock.

Comment: These people are delusional, illustrated by the fact that they want animals to receive 'personhood' status. Animals aren't people, and while all should be appalled at subjecting any being to unnecessary suffering, and fighting to end such suffering is a worthy goal, granting our food the same rights as a person is simply crazy. The fact that a bunch of spoiled middle-class kids feel they have the right to interfere with the livelihood of the working class simply because it conflicts with their ideological view of the world is the height of privilege.

See also:

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Bizarro Earth

Sri Lanka attackers used 'Mother of Satan' bombs favored by ISIS, pointing to outside help


RT
Tue, 21 May 2019 16:50 UTC
sri lanka bomb
© Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo
A month after deadly terror attacks in Sri Lanka killed over 250 Christians celebrating Easter, investigators have revealed that the bombs used in the attack show the attackers had direct contact with Islamic State terrorists.

The backpack bombs detonated in three churches and three hotels across Sri Lanka on April 21 were constructed by local jihadists from the National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) group, but utilized the expertise of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists, investigators told AFP.

The link was established after the probe found triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, present at the attack sites. Due to its extreme volatility, IS militants call the explosive, which can be produced from readily available ingredients, the "Mother of Satan."

Comment: We can hazard a guess who the outside help was:

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Binoculars

Monsanto spied on friend and foe alike in several countries to steer opinion about GMO and herbicides


RT
Wed, 22 May 2019 12:55 UTC
monsanto spying
© Global Look Press / Helmut Meyer zur Capellen
The recently exposed illegal dossier US herbicide maker Monsanto, now owned by German pharmaceutical firm Bayer, apparently compiled to influence public opinion, included people from seven European states and maybe beyond.

Monsanto files listing prominent pro- and anti-herbicide public figures, initially revealed by French media, included "stakeholders in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as regarding stakeholders related to EU institutions," AFP reported citing Bayer's statement on Tuesday. The company added that it is currently trying to determine whether similar lists exist in other states and hired a law firm for this purpose.

Earlier in May, French media reported that around 200 journalists, politicians, and scientists were named in the filing, created by PR firm FleishmanHillard on behalf of Monsanto. The list, which covered the personalities' views on herbicides and GMO, whether they could be further influenced and reportedly included a lot of personal data, was initially thought to exist only in France, before Bayer admitted that people in other countries might also have been targeted.
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SOTT Logo

92 percent of sex-specific scholarships are reserved for women, study finds

Greg Piper
The College Fix
Tue, 21 May 2019 20:24 UTC
women graduating
University of Michigan-Flint economist Mark Perry has company in his one-man crusade to expose scholarships that exclude men from consideration in possible violation of the law.

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments, which advocates for the due process rights of accused students, has added fair treatment in scholarships to its earlier agenda of fair treatment in sexual misconduct proceedings for both men and women.

The group analyzed sex-specific scholarships at "115 of the nation's largest universities" and found fewer than 10 percent reserved for men. To be specific, fewer than 100 out of nearly 1,200. The rest were reserved for women.
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Light Sabers

The Financial Times' editorial board warns Washington's 'coercive steps' against Huawei are 'seriously misguided'

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 21 May 2019 18:44 UTC
huawei
© AFP
The FT's editorial board rarely agrees with the Trump administration, and when it comes to Washington's decision to blacklist Huawei, the paper's editors believe Trump is making a massive miscalculation.

FT reporters warned yesterday that Google's decision to cut Huawei off from most Android-related offerings represented a "hammer blow" to the telecoms giant's rapidly expanding smartphone business.

Analysts quoted by the South China Morning Post on Tuesday warned that "as far as overseas markets go, this move just turned Huawei's upcoming phones into paperweights."

Beijing, for its part, has sworn to cultivate whole supply chains and app-based ecosystems out of nothing to insulate Huawei from Washington's blacklisting. In this, the FT editors apparently believe the Chinese might succeed.
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