Society's ChildS


Red Flag

Study finds reading in US teens has dropped from 60% to 16% in last half-century


RT
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 16:53 UTC
teens on phone
© Global Look Press/ Jiri Hubatka
Researchers are sounding the alarm over US teenagers' mental health and abilities, as a new study finds they've almost completely dropped books for social media. In the 1970s, 60 percent read books and in 2016 - just 16 percent.

One in three US teens fell short of picking up a book or magazine of their own choice in 2016, while spending an average of six hours online, texting and on social media. Smartphones trump not only books, but TV or going to the movies, according to the research, published in the American Journal of Psychology.

The study collected data from the University of Michigan-run survey project 'Monitoring the Future', which has been surveying high school students' trends since 1975. The study also found a staggering increase in social media use among 12-year-olds. In 2008, 52 percent of them said they visited social media sites such as Facebook or Instagram "almost every day." In 2016, it increased to 82 percent.
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Handcuffs

US soldier sentenced to 25 years after pleading guilty to aiding ISIS


RT
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 16:47 UTC
syria terrorists
© Omar Sanadiki / ReutersRebel fighters at Harasta highway outside Jobar, in Damascus, Syria March 26, 2018
A Hawaii-based US Army soldier has pleaded guilty to aiding the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorist group. He was arrested last year after pledging allegiance to the group in a ceremony staged by the FBI.

Ikaika Erik Kang, 35, sergeant first class of the US Army, entered a guilty plea, admitting his guilt on four counts of attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Kang became the first person ever to be convicted of such a crime in Hawaii, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

Kang was arrested on July 19, 2017 shortly after he took an oath of loyalty to the IS mastermind, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a ceremony staged by an undercover FBI agent impersonating a senior IS member.

During the mock ceremony, Kang kissed the IS flag and voiced his desire to go downtown and celebrate by shooting people with his rifle.
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TV

CNN: The poster child for why conservatives don't trust mainstream media

David Harsanyi
The Federalist
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 16:01 UTC
apple
Trump's hyperbole has currency because the media often live up to conservatives' worst expectations.

On July 27, CNN reported that Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, would be willing to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that the president knew in advance of the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between his campaign and a Kremlin-linked lawyer who was allegedly selling dirt on Hillary Clinton. This revelation not only contradicted Trump's denials, but also Cohen's testimony to Congress. It was quite the exclusive-the closest we've come to ferreting out "collusion" since the last time CNN botched a big scoop.

The story, bylined by Carl Bernstein, Marshall Cohen, and former Obama administration political appointee Jim Sciutto, cited numerous "sources" with knowledge of the supposed bombshell. The Washington Post, chasing the same story, soon outed Cohen's lawyer, the preternaturally mendacious Lanny Davis, as the source of the contention.

But Davis was forced to walk back the claim, first conceding that he "should have been more clear" and that he "could not independently confirm what happened," and then he sort of apologized. (It's worth noting that anyone who trusts Davis as a primary source for any story is likely to be either consciously allowing themselves to be duped or irreparably incompetent.)

Comment:

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Bullseye

Roger Waters criticizes Facebook censorship and White Helmets in RT interview


RT
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 16:12 UTC
Roger Waters
© Mario Anzuoni / ReutersRoger Waters
Pink Floyd ex-frontman Roger Waters took aim at the controversial White Helmets group, and spoke about censorship on Facebook and other social media platforms during an interview with RT's Sophie Shevardnadze.

Waters told the host of SophieCo that he would offer his full support to the White Helmets if he saw that the organization was actually involved in helping victims of the Syrian conflict. But "all the evidence points to the fact that that is not the reality," he said. Commenting on the Oscar-winning documentary about the supposed humanitarian group, Waters quipped: "Have you ever seen anything so obviously scripted and carefully shot?"

The rock legend also touched upon tech giants cracking down on undesirable speech.

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Ambulance

Out-of-control van plows into pedestrians in China


RT
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 16:02 UTC
china bus crash
© Twitter/@RFA_Chinese (L)/Twitter/@WuYeah2 (R)
At least one person has been reported killed and several others seriously injured after an out-of-control van ploughed into pedestrians and motorcyclists in the southern Chinese city of Nanning before crashing into a pole.

CORRECTION: Initial headline suggested this crash occurred in London, UK.

The accident occurred on a road in front of the Taoyuan Road District Hospital just after 11.30am on Thursday morning, with eyewitnesses saying the van was transporting tableware at the time of the crash.

Images of the aftermath shared on social media show a devastating scene with bodies and debris scattered across the road. Hospital workers worked frantically to resuscitate victims, while a group of passersby helped to lift the van off people who were trapped underneath.
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Bad Guys

Top steel manager De Cooman falls to his death from iconic haunted Moscow building


RT
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 15:23 UTC
The House on the Embankment haunted
© Vladimir Sergeev / SputnikThe House on the Embankment in Moscow.
Mystery surrounds the death of the vice president of Russia's top steel producing company, who lost his life in a freak fall from the window of one of Moscow's most enigmatic and superstition-laden buildings.

Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) said it was shocked and saddened by the death of one of its top managers, Bruno Charles De Cooman, who fell from the window of the iconic House on the Embankment, overlooking the Kremlin in Moscow.

De Cooman's friend told Mash Telegram channel that the Belgian businessman told him he needed to briefly go up to his ninth-floor apartment, and asked to wait for him downstairs.

A few minutes later, he fell from the window onto the pavement and died before paramedics could arrive.
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Chart Bar

US consumer confidence highest in 18 years


AP
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 10:35 UTC
shopping us
Americans' consumer confidence rose in August to the highest level in nearly 18 years as their assessment of current conditions improved further and their expectations about the future rebounded.

The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 133.4 in August, up from a reading 127.9 in July. It was the highest reading since confidence stood at 135.8 in October 2000.

Consumers' confidence in their ability to get a job and the overall economy are seen as important indicators of how freely they will spend, especially on big-ticket items such as cars, in coming months. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

Comment: While Trump does appear to be doing a great deal for the American economy, the corruption wrought over many decades has taken its toll and much more drastic measures will need to be implemented to save the country: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Atlantic Trade War? How Trump Breaking Iran Deal Could Dismantle US Empire

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Coffee

Blimp of London mayor Sadiq Khan in yellow bikini to be flown over London in protest at 'Trump Baby'

John Stevens
Daily Mail
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 22:01 UTC
sadiq khan blimp
© Jamie WisemanYanny Bruere, 28, organiser of a 'Make London Safe Again' raised more than £58,000 online to pay for the bikini-clad blimp of Mayor Sadiq Khan following the furore over the 20ft balloon, dubbed 'Trump Baby'
He was accused of putting a dampener on Donald Trump's visit to London last month by allowing a giant balloon of him dressed in a nappy to fly over the capital.

But now Sadiq Khan is to face his own humiliation as protesters prepare to launch an inflatable showing the London mayor dressed in a bright-yellow bikini.

Organisers raised more than £58,000 online to pay for the blimp of Mr Khan following the furore over the 20ft balloon, dubbed 'Trump Baby', which was granted permission to rise above Parliament Square during the US President's visit last month.

The inflatable depicting a bikini-clad Mr Khan, which is slightly larger than its rival at 29ft, will be flown in the same Westminster location on Saturday morning.

Comment: Whatever happens with the blimp, does it really add much of value to the debate about free speech? One wonders whether the money raised couldn't have gone to a more constructive activity: Also check out SOTT radio's:

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Footprints

My recent visit to North Korea

Jay Tharappel
Honi Soit
Thu, 23 Aug 2018 07:23 UTC
north korea pool
© Jay Tharappel
On the 24th of July I arrived in Pyongyang in a travelling party with five others, including Dr Tim Anderson, lecturer in Political Economy at USyd. At the jet bridge we were greeted by Tammam Suleiman, who used to be the Syrian Ambassador to Australia, but who now serves as the Syrian Ambassador to DPR Korea.

What follows is not an academic account that takes into consideration every aspect of the country, but simply what I saw in a thousand words.

Most foreigners go through Koryo Tours and get shown the absolute best of the country, but because we went through the DPRK Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries they showed us a lot more of daily life, from humble farming households, to department stores, to the educational facilities on offer to Korean children.

Guiding us through these landmarks was our lead guide and translator Mr. Kim Jong-nam, who told us that he didn't "consider [us] as tourists but as a cultural exchange delegation." This probably had something to do with why we never felt like we were being controlled in any way. Our only limitation was that none of us knew Korean.

Comment: See also:

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Bulb

Human rights groups celebrate Israel's high court ruling that policy of denying Gaza patients access to medical treatment as leverage over Hamas is 'ineffective and illegal'

Yuma Patel
Mondoweiss
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC
Palestinian man
© Ashram Amra/ APA Photos)A Palestinian man gestures outside Rafah border crossing demanding to travel for treatment in the southern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2017.
Israel's High Court overturned on Sunday evening the security cabinet's previous decision to prevent five Palestinian women, mostly cancer patients, from Gaza from receiving life-saving treatment in occupied East Jerusalem on the basis that the women had relatives that were active in the Hamas movement.

According to a joint statement from rights groups Gisha, Al Mezan, Adalah, and Physicians for Human Rights Israel - who filed the petition earlier this month on behalf of the women - the court ruled that "the decision to deny Gaza patients access to medical treatment as means of leverage over Hamas was ineffective and illegal."

In its decision, the court also confirmed that the patients themselves "did not pose any threat to Israel's security," the statement said, adding that the women's lawyers argued that denying them passage through Israel to reach the hospitals in East Jerusalem "was illegal and effectively constituted a punitive death sentence for reasons entirely out of their control."
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