Society's ChildS


Propaganda

The ketamine chorus: America's found a new anti-suicide drug and is beginning to sell it to death

Bruce E. Levine
Counterpunch
Fri, 14 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
Ketamine
© Psychonaught | CC BY 2.0
The drumbeat for ketamine as a way to halt the rising suicide rate is upon us, as the New York Times has now joined the chorus. This is encouraging news unless of course you recall a couple of things: how recent enthusiasm from the medical-industrial complex for increased opioid use for pain resulted in the current opioid epidemic; and how the NYT has joined other notorious choruses such as Ahmed Chalabi's one that sang about WMDs in Iraq.

On November 30, 2018, the NYT published a lengthy op-ed "Can We Stop Suicides?" in which Moises Velasquez-Manoff offers this solution: "an old anesthetic called ketamine that, at low doses, can halt suicidal thoughts almost immediately."

Similarly, in July 2017, Time magazine ("New Hope for Depression") announced: "The biggest development has been the rediscovery of a promising, yet fraught, drug called ketamine. It's best known as a psychedelic club drug that makes people hallucinate, but it may also have the ability to ease depression- and fast."

Drug companies are pushing for Food and Drug Administration approval of their ketamine-based products for depression. Ketamine, although not currently FDA approved for depression, can be prescribed "off-label" for it. Ketamine is most commonly classified as a "dissociative anesthetic," and its adverse effects include numbness, depression, amnesia, hallucinations, and potentially fatal respiratory problems. Termed "Special K" on the streets, at high doses, ketamine users experience an effect referred to as "K-Hole," an out-of-body experience. Since the ketamine user can find it difficult to move, it has been used as a date-rape drug.
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Attention

Former Catalan leader on hunger strike has been moved to prison hospital

Ginger Hervey
Politico
Sun, 16 Dec 2018 11:45 UTC
Catalan independence protest
© Susanna Saez/EFE via EPACatalan independence supporters hold portraits of politicians Dolors Bassa, Josep Rull and Jordi Turull in front of the Lledoners prison. Separatist leaders have been in pre-trial jail for over a year
One of four jailed former Catalan government ministers who have been on a hunger strike for the past two weeks has been moved to a prison hospital.

Jordi Turull, the former Catalan government spokesman, was moved to the infirmary on Friday. Citing sources in the prison service, El País reported that the move was due to his deteriorating health situation.

Turull and former Catalan National Assembly leader Jordi Sànchez announced the hunger strike on December 1. They claim the Spanish constitutional court should have resolved their appeals in less than 30 days, but has intentionally blocked them for over a year in order to stop their case from progressing to the European Court of Human Rights.
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Syringe

Hulk crash! 'Incredible Hulk' actor Lou Ferrigno hospitalized after pneumonia vaccination

John Bonifield
CNN
Sat, 15 Dec 2018 07:09 UTC
the hulk lou ferrigno
Nothing can stop Hulk!

Lou Ferrigno is out of the hospital after a vaccine shot for pneumonia left fluid in his bicep.

On Wednesday, the star of the late 1970s TV series "The Incredible Hulk" posted a photo on Twitter of himself wearing a green hospital gown with an IV in his arm.

"Went in for a pneumonia shot and landed up here with fluid in my bicep," Ferrigno tweeted. However, he said he'd be OK.

Comment: The fact that a vaccine can take down the Hulk, even temporarily, should give one pause!

See also:

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Eiffel Tower

Macron fortified Élysée Palace ahead of 'Act IV' of Yellow Vest protests, had helicopter on standby to escape

Chris Tomlinson
Breitbart
Fri, 14 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
Macron escape helicopter yellow vests
Macron fortified the Élysée Palace last Saturday with an unprecedented amount of security, including 500 republican guards, around a hundred police and gendarmes armed with water cannons, and other anti-riot measures.
French President Emmanuel Macron was not only present at the Élysée Palace during "Act IV" of the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) protests but had a helicopter on standby to escape in case protesters broke in, according to reports.

The French leader fortified the Élysée Palace last Saturday with an unprecedented amount of security, including 500 republican guards, around a hundred police and gendarmes armed with water cannons, and other anti-riot measures, Le Dauphine reports.

Should the protesters have managed to storm the Élysée and get past security, President Macron is also said to have had a helicopter on standby to evacuate him and others in what could have echoed the escape of former Romanian president Nicolae Ceaușescu, who fled a popular uprising by helicopter during the collapse of his Communist regime on December 22, 1989.

Comment: Although somewhat scaled back, the protests continue with no sign they will be ending anytime soon. In fact, in countries throughout Europe, people are taking a cue from the French:

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Star of David

Collective punishment is unlawful but Israel destroys Palestinian family home anyway ... for the third time


RT
Sat, 15 Dec 2018 20:21 UTC
israel demolishes house ramallah
© Reuters / Mohamad TorokmanSmoke rises as Israeli forces blow up the house in al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on December 15, 2018.
The Israeli army has razed the home of a Palestinian who has been jailed, charged with killing a soldier. It's the third time the family's home has been demolished and more of its members are in jail, on charges including murder.

Early on Saturday, a massive Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) detachment arrived at the El Amari refugee camp close to the Palestinian city of Ramallah. Troops secured the four-story house, belonging to the Abu Humaid family, evicting its residents and some activists, who tried to prevent the demolition.

Footage from the scene shows Israeli army bulldozers and military personnel at the camp. The house was destroyed in a controlled explosion after the site was secured.

Comment: What better way to illustrate that Israel considers the Palestinians untermensch, subhuman?

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Alarm Clock

SOTT Focus: Global Warming and Grizzly Bears: Canada's Neo-Liberal Hell

Cameron Pike
Sott.net
Sat, 15 Dec 2018 21:48 UTC
Trudeau
The accepting and good-nature of the people who populate north of the 49th parallel crosses the political spectrum. It's a characteristic that the Canadian people are proud of no matter their political allegiances. When interacting with my fellow Canadians, I'm often reminded of the sage wisdom of Plato; doing harm to others is doing harm to yourself; all humanity has creative potential for genius no matter the skin color or economic class. What is most striking today in the Canadian landscape, however, is the deafness to actual suffering imported from the New Left in the United States. And this is a new phenomenon, relatively speaking.
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X

UK advertising watchdog plans crack-down on 'sexist stereotypes', i.e. idealized beauty

Jim Waterson
The Guardian
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 17:29 UTC
beach body
© Catherine Wylie/PA
Adverts showing a woman struggling to park a car or a man refusing to do housework while his wife cooks dinner will be banned from next year as part of an industry-wide crackdown on sexist stereotypes.

Under the new rules, British companies will no longer be able to create promotions that depict men and women engaged in gender-stereotypical activities, amid fears that such depictions are contributing to pay inequality and causing psychological harm.

Adverts will no longer be able to show a person failing to achieve a task specifically because of their gender, such as a man unable to change a nappy or a woman unable to do DIY.

The rules will also ban adverts that suggest that transforming your body will make you romantically successful, while also clarifying rules on the sexualisation of young women.


Comment: At least the last recommendation has some merit, potentially.


The Advertising Standards Authority will enforce the new code from June 2019. Members of the public will be able to report adverts to the regulator if they feel they breach the code.

Comment: The feminist utopia is a police state.

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Megaphone

Best of the Web: 'Macron resign!' Yellow Vest protests enter 5th week - 33,000 people throughout France brave aggressive security forces


RT
Sat, 15 Dec 2018 16:09 UTC
yellow vest (gilet jaune)
© AFPA protester wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune) waves the French national flag during a demonstration in Paris
Paris looks 'less yellow' this Saturday as only several hundred people descended on the avenue amid a heavy police presence. This time a week ago the number of protesters was much higher and rallies resulted in heavy clashes.

At least 92 people have been detained and 53 taken into police custody in Paris, police said. By this time last Saturday the number of detentions had already reached 500.


As in previous weeks the Yellow Vests have started spreading across other French regions. In the city of Nimes in southern France demonstrators set barricades alight on a toll road.

Comment: More from RT's ongoing coverage of the protests:
Bare-breasted, silver-painted 'Mariannes' confront police in Paris

marianne bare breast yellow vest gilet jaune
© Reuters / Benoit TessierThe bare-breasted women joined a "yellow vest" protest in Paris on Saturday
The yellow colors of the raging French protests are mixing with red and silver as several half-naked women posing as Marianne - a French national symbol - have faced off with police in the heart of Paris.

Half-naked women in blood-red hoodies covered in silver paint evoked the French revolutionary icon on Champs-Elysees avenue on Saturday. Their appearance was in stark contrast to the black and blue uniforms of gendarmes and police officers, and the yellow vests of hundreds of protesters around them.

marianne bare breast yellow vest gilet jaune
© Reuters / Benoit Tessier
Marianne, the Goddess of Liberty, is a national symbol of the French Republic which stands opposed to the monarchy and champions freedom and democracy. She is depicted as an embodiment of liberty leading the people over the barricades in the iconic Eugene Delacroix's painting.


RT France reporter struck in face covering Yellow Vest protest

An RT France reporter has been hit in the face during Yellow Vest protests in Paris. She has been taken to a nearby hospital.

Nadège Abderrazak was hit near Place de l'Opéra in the French capital, resulting in a bloody cut on her face and a swollen mouth.

RT's editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan tweeted a photo of Abderrazak after the incident, confirming that the reporter has been taken to hospital.

"Our correspondent was injured in the face during the rally in Paris. She went to the hospital," wrote Simonyan.


About a dozen RT reporters have been injured by the police in Paris since the protests began: RT France reporter shot in the face during police crackdown on Yellow Vest protesters in Paris

While the protests in France seem to have scaled down this week, presumably in response to the (not so) coincidental attack in Strasbourg, there are no signs that they will be coming to a close anytime soon. The meager last-minute concessions offered by Macron drew scorn from the French and, meanwhile, similar movements appear to be spreading throughout Europe, and in some countries even further afield: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Révolution Jaune? France Revolts Against Macron

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Fire

Watch as dramatic backdraft engulfs firefighters in Queens, NY


Liz Robbins
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 12:00 UTC
queens backdraft
Footage of a so-called smoke explosion enveloping firefighters within seconds in Sunnyside, Queens, was additionally shocking because no one was killed.

Thick smoke from a still-young fire, which had billowed above an entire city block early Thursday morning in Sunnyside, Queens, suddenly, and ominously, was sucked back inside.

It was a telltale sign to firefighters of what was about to happen, and what they could not avoid.

A firefighter hastily put on his helmet, a half-second before the flash. The smoke then exploded into a fireball that catapulted across the street and simultaneously enveloped seven firefighters in a black curtain of dread.

Except, when the smoke cleared, they were all still standing. Alive.

Comment: See also: Towns burn after 'apocalyptic' explosions tear across Northern Massachusetts

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Handcuffs

Indian man gets 9 years in prison for sexually assaulting woman on flight

Ed White
Associated Press
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 10:10 UTC
Indian man
An Indian man living in the U.S. on a work visa was sentenced to nine years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting a sleeping woman during an overnight flight to Detroit.

Prabhu Ramamoorthy was in a middle seat between the victim and his wife on a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas last January. The 23-year-old victim said he unzipped her pants, unbuttoned her shirt and molested her with his hands.

Prosecutors asked for a sentence of nearly 11 years, but U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg settled on a nine-year term. He said he hoped it would be "grave enough" to deter others from committing similar crimes.

A jury convicted Ramamoorthy in August . He will be deported to India after serving his sentence.
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