Society's ChildS


Jet5

16 family members killed in airstrike on Afghan home


RFE/RL
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 16:40 UTC
Afghan security officials
© Watan Yar / EPA-EFEAfghan security officials patrol in Helmand earlier this month.
Sixteen civilians from the same extended family have been killed in an air strike on a home in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan official says.

The air strike was carried out in the Sangin district during heavy fighting between Afghan forces and Taliban militants, Attaullah Afghan, head of the Helmand provincial council, said on January 24.

He said all of the victims belonged to the same family and eight children and three women were among the dead.

Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said an investigation had been launched.

It was not immediately clear whether the military strike was launched by Afghan forces or NATO, which often provides air support to Afghan ground troops.

Comment: Mission accomplished? See also:

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Bomb

Terrorism? Explosions rock residential high-rise in Changchun, China


RT
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 16:23 UTC
china explosion
© Ruptly
At least one person has been confirmed dead after two explosions rocked a high-rise residential complex in the city of Changchun in northeastern China. The police are investigating the incident as a "criminal case."

A car exploded at an underground garage at the Wanda Plaza Apartment Building on Hongqi Street on Friday, local authorities said. Several minutes later another blast happened on the 30th floor of the same building.

At least one person was found dead inside the building, officials confirmed. Several people were taken to a local hospital where they are being treated for injuries.

First responders, including firefighters and medics, are working at the scene. The building contains shops and offices, as well as apartments.

Videos shared on social media show people fleeing down a smoke-filled street near the building. One clip, filmed at the site, shows an explosion on one of the upper floors of the residential complex. Several people can be heard screaming.
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Doberman

'Climate-smart eating'? Swedish professor calls for 'vegetarian pets,' gets blasted online


RT
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 16:17 UTC
pets eating
© Reuters / Muhammad Hamed
Hyper-progressive Sweden is a bastion of environmentalism and veganism, but a Swedish professor is now drawing ridicule for suggesting that pet owners should feed their dogs a vegetarian diet, all in the name of saving the planet.

Reducing CO2 emissions and recycling packaging have long been understood as important steps towards curbing climate change. However, the environmental lobby has recently begun to target meat consumption too. A widely publicized report in October argued that beef consumption in Western countries needs to fall by 90 percent to avoid climate catastrophe. Another equally apocalyptic report from the EAT-Lancet commission, released last week, recommended that meat and dairy consumption be drastically reduced worldwide.

Comment: See also:

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Rainbow

Sounds about right! Trans people must surgically change sex before legal recognition - top Japanese court


RT
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 15:26 UTC
Pride Parade in Tokyo
© REUTERS / Kim Kyung-HoonFILE PHOTO. A Pride Parade in Tokyo.
The Supreme Court of Japan has rejected the case of a trans man who wanted to be legally recognized as such without undergoing sex reassignment surgery, which includes sterilization.

The current legislation regulating the path for legally changing a person's sex was adopted in 2003 and has strict requirements. To qualify, a person must be at least 20, unmarried, and have no underage children. He or she must also undergo surgery to reconstruct his or her genitals to match the preferred sex, which involves removing the original sex glands - effectively, sterilization.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court passed a ruling on the case of Takakito Usui, who wanted to be legally recognized as male without losing reproductive ability.

Comment: CNN's coverage of this development skews the line of force of the decision by highlighting that the reassignment surgery causes sterilization. The legal requirement for legal reassignment isn't that the trans people wanting to have their legal gender changed be sterilized. The requirement is that their physique match their desired legal sex. Yes, a consequence of making that transition is sterilization, but that is not the goal. The goal is, as justice Miura stated, to integrate these people into normal society to prevent social confusion. This is not an unreasonable goal and is not an unreasonable requirement. Those wanting to change their gender without the permanent consequences of surgery may disagree, but it's a surefire way to guarantee that those who seek to change their legal sex status both want and deserve it.

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Bad Guys

Is red the new white? Daft celebrities and media compare MAGA hat to KKK hood


RT
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 16:07 UTC
MAGA hat
© George Frey/Getty Images
As footage of the standoff between teenagers and a Native American once again polarized the US, several commentators and celebrities compared the Trump supporters' red hat to the KKK hood, and thus, to the roots of all evil.

"The red MAGA hat is the new white hood," tweeted actress Alyssa Milano in response to the video of a confrontation between a MAGA hat-wearing teenager and a Native American elder.

Milano was joined by commentator Angela Rye during a segment on Chris Cuomo's show. She called the 'Make America Great Again' hat as "maddening and frustrating and triggering" to look at "as a KKK hood."

Comment: The extreme left has gone off the rails and even being faced with reality doesn't change their course. The problem is the extreme has clearly entered the mainstream.

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Brick Wall

AP-NORC poll says 6 in 10 Americans blame Trump for government shutdown

Steve Peoples, Emily Swanson
Associated Press
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 04:54 UTC
Trump
© AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta
A strong majority of Americans blame President Donald Trump for the record-long government shutdown and reject his primary rationale for a border wall, according to a new poll that shows the turmoil in Washington is dragging his approval rating to its lowest level in more than a year.

Overall, 34 percent of Americans approve of Trump's job performance in a survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That's down from 42 percent a month earlier and nears the lowest mark of his two-year presidency. The president's approval among Republicans remains close to 80 percent, but his standing with independents is among its lowest points of his time in office.

"Trump is responsible for this," said poll respondent Lloyd Rabalais, a federal contractor from Slidell, Louisiana, who's not affiliated with either political party.
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Quenelle - Golden

'It's about our honor': Russian athletes file $4.5mn lawsuit against author of report on alleged 'Russian doping'


RT
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 14:35 UTC
Richard McLaren
© REUTERS / Peter Power
Members of the Russian national rowing team have filed a lawsuit against Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, the author of the WADA-sanctioned report on alleged Russian doping, seeking compensation for their "damaged reputation."

McLaren, who led an investigation initiated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), claimed that hundreds of Russian athletes across various sports had benefited from an alleged state-sponsored doping system which supposedly existed in the build-up to the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games.

McLaren's findings led to a massive crackdown on Russian sports bodies and athletes, with the most severe punishment being the country's ban from the Rio Olympics in 2016 and PyeongChang Games in 2018, with large numbers of national athletes missing out.

Comment: Good for them! Mclaren should face consequences for the horrendous lies that he spread and the damage that he did.

Also see:

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NPC

Orwellian Nightmare: Oregon could become first state to require in-home surveillance of newborn babies

Paula Bolyard
PJ Media
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 14:35 UTC
infant newborn baby
© Getty Images
If Oregon Governor Kate Brown has her way, the Beaver State will become the first to require universal home visits for newborn children in the care of their own parents.

Senate Bill 526, introduced this month in the Oregon Legislative Assembly as part of Brown's budget, orders the Oregon Health Authority to "study home visiting by licensed health care providers." Lawmakers went so far as to declare that SB 526 is an "emergency" measure - one that requires a resolution by the end of the year. The intro to the bill, the language of which has not yet been crafted, reads:
The Oregon Health Authority shall study home visiting by licensed health care providers in this state. The authority shall submit findings and recommendations for legislation to an interim committee of the Legislative Assembly related to health care not later than December 31, 2019.
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Wedding Rings

Council of Europe calls on UK to ensure Muslim couples wed under civil law to protect women from Sharia


RT
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 14:35 UTC
Islam Muslim wife wedding veil
© Reuters / Olivia HarrisA woman wears a Pakistani wedding veil ahead of her traditional Islamic wedding blessing, London
The UK should make it a legal requirement for Muslim couples to register their unions as civil marriages, before or during their Islamic ceremony, according to the body that oversees the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Council of Europe, an organisation made up of 47 nations, passed a resolution on Tuesday, warning about the role of sharia councils on family, inheritance and commercial law, stating that they "clearly discriminate against women in divorce and inheritance cases."

They named the UK, along with Albania, Azerbaijan and Turkey, in a resolution highlighting conflicts between sharia law and universal human rights. It called on the UK government to ensure the protection of those in vulnerable positions, and said it should run awareness campaigns to teach Muslim women about their rights.

Comment: Also see: Sharia law recognized in landmark British divorce ruling

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Star of David

Gideon Levy vs Benny Morris: The fight for the soul of the one-state solution

Jonathan Ofir
Mondoweiss
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 14:35 UTC
gideon levy
For nearly a week now, a fierce ideological fight has been taking place on the pages of the Israeli daily Haaretz, between Israeli historian Benny Morris and Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy.

It started with Morris giving a long interview to Ofer Aderet in which he issued dire predictions for the future of the state of Israel. This has become a back-and-forth (Morris-Levy-Morris-Levy) that is a fight for the soul of the one-state. Both essentially agree, that the two-state solution is no longer an actual possibility. Thus, the discussion becomes, "What kind of a state this is, and what it will become."

Let's look first at Morris' predictions in the first interview:
This place will decline like a Middle Eastern state with an Arab majority. The violence between the different populations, within the state, will increase. The Arabs will demand the return of the refugees. The Jews will remain a small minority within a large Arab sea of Palestinians, a persecuted or slaughtered minority, as they were when they lived in Arab countries. Those among the Jews who can, will flee to America and the West.
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