Society's ChildS


Handcuffs

Chicago cop who killed Laquan McDonald sentenced to 81 months in prison

Suzannah Gonzales & Robert Chiarito
Reuters
Fri, 18 Jan 2019 15:45 UTC
Jason Van Dyke
© Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/ReutersFormer Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke and his attorney Daniel Herbert listen to proceedings during his sentencing hearing.
White former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was sentenced on Friday to nearly seven years in prison for shooting black teen Laquan McDonald to death in 2014 in a landmark case that highlighted racial tensions in America's third-biggest city.

After a jury convicted Van Dyke, 40, of second-degree murder last fall, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Vincent Gaughan sentenced him to 81 months in prison and said he would have to serve at least two years before he was eligible for parole.

Activists wanted a longer sentence. Van Dyke could have received up to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder and up to 30 years for each of 16 counts of aggravated battery - one count for each shot he fired at 17-year-old McDonald, who was carrying a knife.

During sentencing, Van Dyke sat expressionless, unshaven and wearing a yellow-orange jail uniform. In a statement he read before the sentence, Van Dyke, said he was scared of McDonald and called the shooting "the worst day of my life."
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NPC

White comedian rejected for show in Montreal after dreadlocks deemed 'cultural appropriation'

Ugo Giguere
National Post
Wed, 16 Jan 2019 17:36 UTC
Zach Poitras
© Postmedia NetworkZach Poitras has been denied a spot at the Snowflake Comedy Club due to sporting dreadlocks.
An aspiring Montreal comedian has been told he cannot take part in shows at a university bar because his dreadlocks are a form of cultural appropriation.

The Coop les Récoltes, a bar and solidarity co-operative at the Université du Quebec à Montréal, confirmed on Facebook its decision to exclude Zach Poitras, who is white, because of his hairstyle. Poitras, denied a spot at the Snowflake Comedy Club and another evening of "engaged humour," declined comment on the situation.

The bar is operated by the UQAM branch of the Public Interest Research Group, which focuses on environmental and social issues. In its Facebook statement, the co-operative says its mission is to be "a safe space, free of relationships of oppression." It describes cultural appropriation as a form of violence.

Comment: First of all, anyone who knows a little history knows dreadlocks are not exclusive to black Jamaican culture: the Indians had them, Minoans had them, Egyptians, certain Native American tribes had them... actually, if you check the Wikipedia page, there's a good dozen cultures listed that had dreadlocks. And, guess what? So did the Vikings and ancient Greeks! Whiteys! So a white person with dreadlocks isn't appropriating anything.

But even to make this argument is stooping to the SJW level because cultural appropriation isn't a thing. Cultures have always been free to adopt each other's traditions because that's how cultures expand and evolve. For now, people are allowed to dress and wear their hair however they choose. That's what it means to live in a free society.

See also:

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Easter Egg

Video game tournaments become army's recruiting ground as it struggles to reach Generation Z

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Fri, 18 Jan 2019 23:45 UTC
US army rercuiters
Army recruiters are having a challenging time convincing Americans born between 1995 and 2005 to sign up and serve. The situation is so dire that Army Recruiting Command has turned to e-Sports video game tournaments.
"It is incredible, the amount of coverage that you get and the amount of the Z Gens that are watching these games," Gen. Frank Muth, the head of Army Recruiting Command, told NPR.
Sponsoring video game tournaments is an effort to boost recruitment after the Army fell short of its 76,500 recruitment goal by 6,500 people last year.

"Calling the Z generation on the phone doesn't work anymore," Gen. Muth told NPR. "We're really giving the power back to our recruiters to go on Twitter, to go on Twitch, to go on Instagram, and use that as a venue to start a dialogue with the Z generation."

Comment: In the era of Darpa-steered remote-controlled killing, there are other reasons why the army would seek to recruit gamers: The military-entertainment complex: How the armed forces use violent video games to recruit and train soldiers

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Pistol

Man kills parents, lives with bodies for five days before killing himself

Sara Jean Green
The Seattle Times
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 23:51 UTC
Sammamish Police
© Dean Rutz / The Seattle TimesSammamish Police investigate the death of three people Tuesday. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified Lorraine Ficken, 68, and Robert Ficken, 72, as homicide victims Thursday. Detectives believe Matthew Ficken killed himself just as sheriff’s deputies were entering the family home on Tuesday to check on his parents, who he had killed five days earlier. (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)
Matthew Ficken shot and killed his parents in their Sammamish house and lived with their bodies for five days before killing himself as King County sheriff's deputies were entering the home on a welfare check, according to a sheriff's spokesman.

Detectives believe a possible motive was Ficken's anger over his mother's announcement that she was moving out of state and that Ficken would have to get his own place, Sgt. Ryan Abbott said in a news release.

"His mother gave Matthew more than enough money to pay for his first and last month deposit on an apartment and additional expenses," the release says. "The investigation to date tends to show Matthew killed his parents because he didn't want his Mom to move out of state and sell the family house out from under him."

The King County Medical Examiner's Office identified Lorraine Ficken, 68, and Robert Ficken, 72, as homicide victims Thursday. Lorraine and Robert Ficken died from shotgun wounds, according to the office. Both died Jan. 10.

Matthew Ficken, 34, died Tuesday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and his death was ruled a suicide, according to the medical examiner.
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Cow

Flashback Guess what, spiritual vegans? The Dalai Lama is a meat-eater

Rick Westhead
The Star
Sat, 16 Oct 2010 00:01 UTC
dalai lama
© Ashwini Bhatia / APTibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama greets devotees as he arrives to give a religious talk at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharmsala, India in September.
Little-known fact: His Holiness is a meat-eater.

A few hours before a scheduled audience with the Dalai Lama in this mist-cloaked Himalayan city of backpackers and Buddhist pilgrims, a member of his staff scheduled a briefing to go over plans for a rare interview in advance of his trip to Toronto this week and provide details about the Dalai Lama's work schedule, diet and interests.

Tenzin Takhla, who is also the Dalai Lama's nephew, explained that the world's most famous monk has a habit of providing long, detailed, even meandering answers - dangerous in an interview limited to an hour.

Comment: The Dalai Lama is an interesting character. While he seems to have his head screwed on right in some domains, in others he's woefully misinformed. It just goes to show the folly in deifying human beings - no one has the whole banana. But it's quite funny that this ultra-spiritual human is not vegan, or even vegetarian. The spritual veg-tards must be furious.

See also:

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Health

March of Return protest in Gaza continues - and so does Israel's violence against the media and paramedics


RT
Fri, 18 Jan 2019 18:07 UTC
tear gas fired by Israeli troop
© @ Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / ReutersA photographer reacts from tear gas fired by Israeli troop
At least 30 Palestinians have been wounded by live Israeli fire at the Great March of Return protest in Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reports, including two members of the media and three paramedics.

Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra reports Israeli forces were "targeting three ambulances (2 for the Red Crescent and 1 for medical relief)."


Comment: See also:

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Dig

Largest group of asylum seekers to ever cross border from Mexico used tunnels

Aris Folley
The Hill
Fri, 18 Jan 2019 08:31 UTC
migrant tunnel yuma arizonia
© U.S. Border PatrolU.S. Border Patrol officials in Yuma said 376 asylum-seeking migrants dug seven holes on Jan. 14 to tunnel under the existing border fence and turn themselves in to agents near San Luis, Arizona.
Customs and Border Protection say the largest single group of asylum seekers to ever cross the border at one time did so on Monday by tunneling under barriers near San Luis, Ariz., according to a report by ABC News.

Smugglers dug multiple holes that were several feet long underneath the steel border fence for the group to enter, according to ABC.

CBP said a record 376 people crossed the border, including 179 who were children. Thirty of those children were unaccompanied minors. Nearly the entire unit was from Guatemala, according to The Associated Press.
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Clipboard

Flashback Guess what, liberals? Harvard poll finds approx 80% of all voters say US needs secure borders - including 68% of Democrats

Jennifer Harper
The Washington Times
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
U.S. Border Patrol
© AP Photo/Gregory Bull, FileU.S. Border Patrol agent Jerry Conlin looks out over Tijuana, Mexico, behind, along the old border wall along the U.S. - Mexico border, where it ends at the base of a hill in San Diego, June 13, 2013.
A wide-reaching new poll conducted by Harvard University reveals that majorities of U.S. voters - including Democrats - appear to agree with many of President Trump's most basic beliefs about immigration.

The findings reveal, for example, that eight out of 10 of all U.S. voters - 79 percent - say the U.S. needs secure borders; 93 percent of Republicans, 80 percent of independents and 68 percent of Democrats agree with that.

Another 79 percent of voters overall say immigration priorities should be granted on a person's "ability to contribute to America"; 87 percent of Republicans, 79 percent of independents and 72 percent of Democrats agree.

Comment: The libs have little memory or anything to say when Obama took aggressive action at the US/Mexico border:
Despite media reports to the contrary, CBP officers and agents operating under the Trump Administration responded the same way they did during the Obama Administration when, in 2013, migrants rushed the same stretch of border, Breitbart News' Neil Munro reported.

Democrat congressional leaders and Hollywood activists teamed up to condemn the Trump Administration's use of force in defending the border but ignored President Obama's prior, identical response.

Pop star Rihanna accused the Trump Administration of "terrorism" for spraying tear gas at the border. Others called for the president's impeachment over the clash.


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Quenelle - Golden

Macron's 'revolution' is failing: The French are fed up


France24
Sat, 19 Jan 2019 06:45 UTC
Macron stupid
© Pool/Agence France-Presse/FilePresident Emmanuel Macron's bid to restore faith in politicians in France seems to have failed as the country faces another anti-elite revolt
Jean-Baptiste Moreau, a farmer who splits his time between parliament and his cow sheds, thought he would be part of the solution to France's political problems when he was elected.

The 41-year-old won a seat in parliament in June 2017 in what some commentators termed a "velvet revolution" led by President Emmanuel Macron, which saw grumpy voters turf out a whole generation of MPs from the country's main political parties.

Macron's victorious centrist movement filled half its parliamentary seats with people who had never held political office before, including Moreau, who posted a picture on Twitter of himself delivering a calf on Christmas Day.

But less than two years after the biggest turnover in political personnel in 60 years, France has faced another anti-elite revolt led by "yellow vest" protesters commanding widespread public support.

Comment: Macron is likely to go the way of his predecessor Louis XVI (if only figuratively) if he is not careful. Unfortunately for him, he is beholden to the PTB who placed him in his position as president. Macron answers to them, not to his citizens. There is no option for him to change course. The state crackdowns will continue and escalate in violence.

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Question

Best of the Web: What is Liminality? Understanding social hysteria in the West

Jasun Horsley
kunstler.com
Fri, 18 Jan 2019 21:20 UTC
liminality
Radical changes of identity, happening suddenly and in very brief intervals of time, have proved more deadly and destructive of human values than wars fought with hardware weapons.
-Marshall McLuhan, Laws of Media: The New Science
Probably most people reading this-especially if they spend a lot of time on the Internet-are aware of the growing phenomenon of "social justice warriors" with hair-trigger mouths and clicking mice, fiercely practicing intolerance in the name of tolerance.

Earlier this year, in the small (pop: 6000) Canadian town where I live, a group called Culture Guard were scheduled to speak at the local Royal Canadian Legion. The subject was a nationwide, multi-leveled educational program called SOGI (Sexual Orientation Gender Identification), ostensibly directed towards encouraging "tolerance." Culture Guard is a conservative organization whose mission is to uphold citizen-driven democracy and community values and expose what they call the "tyranny of politically correct idiotology."

The event was cancelled after the Legion received 900+ email complaints, including threats. Much to my surprise, the reaction on Facebook to this was mostly gushing gratitude that this diabolical hate group had been righteously silenced. Two fairly typical comments: "Hope we've run these poisonous haters out of town" and "No bible thumping flatlander would dare show their face because hate has a weak foundation."

Apparently, nothing is more immoral to the new moralists than old-style moralism, and if you aren't in a state of fear or loathing these days-possibly both-you probably aren't participating in "the debate." We have entered a liminal zone in which up can become down, right turn left, and virtue trades places with vice in the time it takes to say "What's your pronoun?"
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