Society's ChildS


Black Cat

Best of the Web: Don't get caught up by the fascinating spell cast by weasels

J. Edgar Hoover
Hoover: a hard to match weasel for the ages. In a prudish and arch-hypocritical society, his stock in trade was often political blackmail and innuendo over sexual peccadilloes.
"Ah, mon cher, for anyone who is alone, without God and without a master, the weight of days is dreadful. Hence one must choose a master, God being out of style."
- Albert Camus, The Fall

To be fascinated by another person who holds or symbolizes power is very common. It is often accompanied by a frisson of sexual excitement, whether repressed or acknowledged, explicitly or implicitly projected. Masters need slaves and slaves need their masters. The chief, the big man, the fascinating woman, the glamorous celebrity, the rich mogul, the powerful politician, while all standard vintage people without their accoutrements of prestigious (magical) power, magnetically attract many people wishing to surrender passively to the perceived superior power of what Carl Jung called the "mana-personality." However, such supernatural power or aura is in the eyes of the beholder, who wishes to be hypnotized and to fulfill his secret wish to be will-less. As Dostoevsky has written, "Man is tormented by no greater anxiety than to find someone quickly to whom he can hand over that great gift of freedom with which the ill-fated creature is born." A smile, a song, or the projection of unconflicted authority - often that is all it takes for the spell to be cast.

Think of weasels. They are very vicious and can be found all around the world. Their cute faces belie their treacherous nature. They have the ability to fascinate their victims - fascinate means to cast a spell upon or hypnotize (from the Latin, fascinare, to bewitch). They do this by a stupefying song and dance, a facility that paralyzes those they prey upon before they pounce upon them.

Most people have never seen weasels in the wild, for they are secretive creatures who go about their killing clandestinely. Whether they kill softly, I can't say. I've never heard their song, or the screaming of their victims.

Evil Rays

Amazon just joined the Big Tech assault on anti-vaccine information

not available at amazon
© bleeping computer
As major media and big tech continue freaking out over 159 measles cases in the U.S., anti-vaccine campaigners are increasingly being likened to terrorists as their ability to share information and earn money is being cut off.

The origin of this latest move against the free flow of information seems to have stemmed from a letter sent by Adam Schiff (D-CA) to the heads of Facebook and Google wherein he lamented the increased viewership of the vaccine debate:
"There is strong evidence to suggest that at least part of the source of this trend is the degree to which medically inaccurate information about vaccines surface on the websites where many Americans get their information," Schiff wrote in the letter. "The algorithms which power these services are not designed to distinguish quality information from misinformation or misleading information, and the consequences of that are particularly troubling for public health issues." (Source: Bloomberg)

Comment: See: Objective:Health - Vaccination Nation - Ramping Up The Hysteria


Dollars

If central banks are the only game in town, then we're all likely to lose

100 dollar bills
© Xaume Olleros/BloombergEasy money has become a big problem.
Just since December 2018, central banks have collectively injected as much as $500 billion of liquidity to stabilize economic conditions. The U.S. Federal Reserve has put interest rate increases on hold and is contemplating a halt to its balance-sheet reduction plan. Other central banks have taken similar actions, fueling a new phase of the "everything bubble" as markets careen from December's indiscriminate selling to January's indiscriminate buying.

The monetary onslaught appears a reaction to financial factors -- falling equity markets, rising credit spreads, increased volatility -- and a perceived weakening of economic activity, primarily in Europe and China. If they heeded Walter Bagehot's oft-cited rule, central banks would act only as lenders of last resort in times of financial crisis, lending without limit to solvent firms against good collateral at high rates. Instead, they've become lenders of first resort, expected to step in at any sign of problems. U.S. central bankers are currently debating whether quantitative-easing programs should be used purely in emergency situations or more routinely.

Video

'The Monastery': Short film depicts courage and sacrifice by the separatist fighters of Donbass

monastery near the Donetsk airport
This is very well made.

A monastery near the Donetsk airport was strategically important to hold for the fighter, so a bitter shooting battle erupted over it, taking many lives on both sides. The monastery was badly damaged in the process.

Bentley is an American socialist volunteering in the Donbass as a fighter. He has a good YouTube channel and website.


Comment: See also: Letter to the American people, from an American volunteer with the Donbass rebels


Hourglass

Fate of orcas & belugas from 'whale jail' should be decided today - Kremlin

Belugas and orcas
© Sputnik / Vitaly Ankov
Following an order by President Vladimir Putin that the "whale jail" case be resolved by March 1, the Kremlin spokesman has confirmed to media that "the work is in hand," but "the results are not there yet."

"We are awaiting the decision by the end of the day," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "We have stressed that today is already the 4th of March."

As many as 90 belugas, five baby walruses and 11 orcas are currently held in tiny enclosures on Russia's Pacific Coast awaiting rescue, after investigators learned about their inhumane conditions last November. The authorities launched an investigation into the operators of the "prison," the Center for the Adaptation of Marine Mammals, located in Primorsky Krai of the Russian Far East, close to the border with China. However, the animals are still in captivity, until their future is determined.

Bullseye

Roscosmos official to lose job after calling residents of low-quality buildings 'scumbags'

Run down apartment
© Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov
An ethics commission investigation has advised Russian space agency Roscosmos to fire an official over his comments bashing citizens living in low-cost blocks from the 1960s. Millions of Russians reside in such buildings.

Stanislav Zharkov, the head of a department in Roscosmos, lashed out at residents of low-cost five-storied apartment blocks, known as Khrushchyovkas. They were nicknamed after Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev who came up with the idea to provide individual apartments for millions of citizens. These apartment blocks were low-cost and prefabricated, meant as temporary housing, they had low ceilings, small kitchens and no elevators.

In a Facebook post discussing the state's program on demolishing old buildings and replacing them with modern houses Zharkov called the residents of such old buildings "scumbags" who "booze, take drugs, throw trash in the lobby and shout at night", saying they would "mess up" the new apartment blocks, if they are resettled there.

Fire

Underground fire at Arkansas dump raises health concerns

Dump on fire
© Ben Goff/The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP, FileIn this Jan. 17, 2019 file photo, staff from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality install a meteorological station to record wind speed and direction at the former stump dump site in Bella Vista, Ark. The underground fire at the illegal dumping site in northwest Arkansas has been smoldering for at least seven months, sending noxious smoke throughout the community, with costs to extinguish it estimated in the tens of millions. The fire, which started in July is beneath dozens of feet of waste and dirt in a former dump intended for tree limbs and stumps.
More than seven months after residents first noticed a fire at an illegal dumping site in northwest Arkansas, it's still smoldering, sending noxious smoke throughout the town and seeping into homes, with costs to extinguish the fire estimated at tens of millions of dollars.

Chris Nelson, 40, lives with his wife and 4-year-old son in a house that's a little more than 1000 feet (305 meters) from the shuttered dumping site. He said his family has experienced a persistent cough since the blaze started, his wife has been diagnosed with bronchitis and his son has been on multiple rounds of antibiotics.

"I'm a veteran and this is probably one of the worst, most stressful situations to live in," Nelson said. "It's been hell."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality have been monitoring the air around the site, and most of the readings have come back at "good" or "moderate" levels. But one EPA reading in December came back with an "unhealthy" level, prompting the Arkansas Department of Health to issue a health alert, warning residents to "avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors," including "running, playing or yardwork."

Heart

'Miracle' ending in Northern California as sisters Caroline and Leia Carrico, ages 5 and 8, found alive

Sisters
© Humboldt County Sheriff's OfficeA search is on in Humboldt County for 8-year-old Leia Carrico and her 5-year-old sister, Caroline Carrico, who went missing on March 1, 2019, after wandering away from their home in Benbow, Calif.
Two young sisters have been found alive and safe after wandering away from their Northern California home and spending 44 hours lost in a cold, rainy forest, according to their mother and the local sheriff.

The girls, 8-year-old Leia Carrico, and her 5-year-old sister, Caroline, were found by rescuers Sunday morning in rural Humboldt County, their mother, Misty Carrico, told ABC News.

The sisters went missing Friday afternoon.

"I am pleased to report that we all are witnessing a miracle today. Caroline and Leia have been found safe and sound in southern Humboldt," Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal said at a news conference, prompting wild applause from rescuers, who had been searching for the girls for three days.

Whistle

Outrage erupts after Newport Beach teens photographed making a swastika out of beer cups and saluting Hitler

swastika cups
© Twitter / @itsavarose_
Two Newport Beach high schools are making headlines after images appeared of an off-campus party during which students arranged red plastic cups into the shape of a swastika and saluted Hitler.

The group of white students from Newport Harbor High School and Costa Mesa High School posted pictures of themselves on Snapchat doing the 'heil Hitler' salute in front of the swastika made of cups. The images were captioned with phrases like "German engeneraing (sic)" and "German rage cage."

The incident prompted condemnation from school officials and outrage on social media. Newport-Mesa Unified School District President Charlene Metoyer told the media that the district had a crisis management meeting on Sunday.

"We have a concern both for the physical health of students who are underage drinking as well as the mental health of our students or their friends that thought this was an okay thing to do," Metoyer said.

Blue Planet

Why the Freemans moved To Russia

Russia
Hal Freeman is an American who relocated to Russia with his Russian-born wife, and their children - this, in part to take a Benedict Option of their own. He writes a blog about his experiences there. Recently, he wrote about a post I'd made here, about people who have decided to leave America to live abroad. In his response, Freeman talked about his experience, and about a new book by University of Chicago political theorist John Mearsheimer. Excerpts:
Others, not writing from a Christian perspective, have also noted major changes in American culture and the inability of much of "the public" to change those trends. In his recent book, "The Great Delusion," noted political scientist John Mearsheimer discusses how difficult, nay impossible, it is for people in a liberal culture to agree on what "the good life" is. Mearsheimer is not using the word "liberal" in the way we often do to describe someone who holds to a certain set of political perspectives, e.g., women rights, gay rights, pro-choice, etc. He is using "liberal" to refer to belief in the importance of the individual and individual rights as opposed to, say, a monarchy or some other system that devalues the place of the individual in the political and economic destiny of a nation.

Comment: Also check out this video interview with Hal Freeman:


And for more info on some of the topics touched upon in this interview, see: