Society's ChildS


Bad Guys

Tehran dismisses reports of suicide bomb threat to Iran's Ankara embassy


Sputnik
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 15:40 UTC
Ankara view
© Sputnik / Anton DenisovAnkara, Turkey
The statement of Iran's foreign ministry comes following reports by the Turkish newspaper Sözcü earlier in the day that a suicide attacker was inside the Iranian embassy in Ankara.

Iranian state broadcaster reported citing Iran's foreign ministry that the officials dismissed reports of a possible suicide bomb threat at the embassy in Ankara. In addition, the authorities clarified that the embassy was actually never evacuated.

Earlier in the day, the Turkish media reported that police had evacuated the Iranian embassy in Ankara and cordoned off the street where the embassy is located on Monday after receiving intel that a suicide bombing plot was unfolding.

According to the earlier reports, the ambassador has been escorted from the embassy and protective measures had been taken.
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Eye 1

Right-wing Patriot Prayer clashes with anti-fascist protesters in Portland, Oregon


RT
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 09:03 UTC
Protesters
© Reuters / Bob StrongCounter-protesters gather before a rally by the Patriot Prayer group in Portland, Oregon, U.S. August 4, 2018.
Right-wing Patriot Prayer group's rally for the ouster of the mayor of Portland has been marred by violence, including mass brawls, an activist getting pepper-sprayed, and protesters leaving with bloodied faces.

Dozens of Patriot Prayer activists joined by several members of the far-right Proud Boys group marched through downtown Portland on Saturday, waving American flags and chanting "USA."

The protesters unrolled a banner reading "Replace PDX Mayor!" referring to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler. He has been accused of hindering the police response to a street protest on October 6.

The rally saw Black Lives Matter and other left-leaning activists blocking traffic. An Antifa activist was also seen assaulting a driver with police seemingly standing by.

Comment: See also: Three arrested in Antifa and Proud Boys brawl in NYC; opinions differ on who attacked first

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Arrow Down

13 million at risk of starvation: Yemen facing worst famine in a century if Saudi-led war continues

Hannah Summers
The Guardian
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 12:19 UTC
UN warns that famine could overwhelm country in next three months, with 13 million people at risk of starvation

Malnourished boys in a malnutrition treatment centre in Sana’a Yemen
© Khaled Abdullah/ReutersMalnourished boys in a malnutrition treatment centre in Sana’a, Yemen
Yemen could be facing the worst famine in 100 years if airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition are not halted, the UN has warned.

If war continues, famine could engulf the country in the next three months, with 12 to 13 million civilians at risk of starvation, according to Lise Grande, the agency's humanitarian coordinator for Yemen.

She told the BBC: "I think many of us felt as we went into the 21st century that it was unthinkable that we could see a famine like we saw in Ethiopia, that we saw in Bengal, that we saw in parts of the Soviet Union - that was just unacceptable.

"Many of us had the confidence that would never happen again and yet the reality is that in Yemen that is precisely what we are looking at."

Comment: Prestitutes of the empire - the author attempts to soften the genocidal role of the Saudi-led coalition in the devastation of Yemen while laying blame on those attempting to defend their country against outside aggression. More balanced reporting:

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Pistol

Swedes mock police campaign asking criminals to 'stop shooting'


Sputnik
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 14:34 UTC
Swedish police
© AFP 2018 / JANERIK HENRIKSSON / TT NEWS AGENCY
In order to make criminals think twice before pulling the trigger, the Swedish Police Authority together with the City of Malmö and the Swedish Prison and Probation Service have presented a new project called "Stop Shooting," prompting the mockery of fellow Swedes.

The new Swedish police initiative, intended to put an end to shooting sprees, has become a laughing stock among local internet users. Wisecrackers have compared it to a previous campaign to stop sexual harassment, in which girls were handed out "don't paw me" bracelets, which also prompted widespread ridicule and doubt.

According to a police press release, the initiative is based on the Group Violence Intervention (GVI) strategy borrowed from the US, where, officials claim, it achieved positive results. It was partly credited with a drop in the murder rate among young people in Boston, which fell 63 percent. Now, the Swedish authorities hope it will help alleviate the situation in Malmö.
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Attention

Three arrested in Antifa and Proud Boys brawl in NYC; opinions differ on who attacked first


RT
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 14:04 UTC
proud boys antifia fight
© YouTube / Sandi BachomScreenshot from a YouTube video depicting the alleged attack by right-wing Young Boys group on a antifaschist protester
New York Police have arrested three people for attacking a member of the right-wing Proud Boys and stealing his backpack. Liberals demand the Proud Boys be cuffed too after a video appeared to show them attacking a protester.

Two different takes on the violent fracas that broke out following a Proud Boys event at the Metropolitan Republican Club's clubhouse on Saturday evening have been pushed on Twitter, with each side accusing the other of being the instigator.

The violence was preceded by a protest outside the NYC GOP headquarters that hosted the gathering. The meeting was headlined by the alt-right group's founder and vice co-founder Gavin McInnes, touted as the "Godfather of the Hipster Movement" who exposed "The Deep State Socialists."

Tensions flared up ahead of the event. Early Friday, the club's entrance was defaced by alleged Antifa vandals, who spray-painted anarchist graffiti on its doors, smashed a window with a brick, and glued the locks. The perpetrators left a note, accusing the Republican Party of "championing mass misery" and promising that the attack was "just the beginning."
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Megaphone

German protesters march against the far right ahead of upcoming elections


The Guardian
Sun, 14 Oct 2018 13:53 UTC
German protest
© John Macdougall/AFP/GettyDemonstrators gather in Berlin’s Tiergarten district.
Protesters from across Germany have marched through Berlin against racism, xenophobia and the far right in one of the country's biggest rallies of recent years.

Organisers put the turnout at 242,000 people. The demonstration on Saturday followed anti-immigration protests in several eastern cities over the summer and a rise in support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party before a state election in Bavaria on Sunday.

A police spokesman declined to estimate the size of the crowd at the march, which was organised by a broad alliance of associations, labour unions, parties and rights groups including Amnesty International.
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Bullseye

Moral pollution in place of reasoned critique

Pamela Paresky
Quillette
Sun, 14 Oct 2018 09:53 UTC
Dirty hands
I was chief researcher and in-house editor for The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. In the book, we outline three misguided principles ("Great Untruths") that form the foundation of the new moral culture we are seeing on some college campuses:
  • The Untruth of Fragility: What doesn't kill you makes you weaker.
  • The Untruth of Emotional Reasoning: Always trust your feelings.
  • The Untruth of Us Versus Them: Life is a battle between good people and evil people.
We also trace six explanatory threads-cultural trends and practices that explain why this new moral culture, which we call "safetyism," seemed to emerge so rapidly between 2013 and 2015:
  • Rising teen depression and anxiety.
  • The damaging effects of overprotection and social media.
  • The loss of play in childhood.
  • The polarization of the country.
  • New ideas about justice.
  • The bureaucratization of higher education.
While working on the book, I realized that much of the argumentation and rhetoric in this new moral culture relies on taboo and moral pollution. As we compiled story after story, we noticed that rather than making counterarguments to disfavored claims, students (and sometimes professors) seemed to focus on discrediting the speaker or writer instead. They offered many reasons why the person should not be trusted or liked, but failed to offer reasons why the person was wrong.

Comment: See also:

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Whistle

Watch as Polish police use tear gas on right-wing protesters during city's 1st gay rights march


RT
Sat, 13 Oct 2018 19:38 UTC
gay rights march poland
Polish police deployed tear gas, water cannon, and concussion grenades on right-wing demonstrators as a city in the country's east hosted its very first gay rights march.

More than 1,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights activists were interrupted by around 300 right-wing opponents in the city of Lublin on Saturday, according to AP.

The demonstrators threw stones at police, prompting officers to respond with tear gas and other measures. Small groups also tried to break through a police cordon that was protecting the march.

Footage posted online by Ruptly showed demonstrators in a standoff with riot police.

Comment: If what's happening in 'gay rights' movements in the West is anything to go by, those involved in these marches should ensure that they are being just as critical of their movement and its direction, as they are of those in opposition and in their government. Because the march was approved by the judiciary and protected by a police cordon so one can assume that those marching are receiving some support from their government.

See also:

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Eye 2

Ten corporate giants helping Israel massacre Gaza protesters

Joe Catron
Mint Press News
Fri, 12 Oct 2018 09:55 UTC
Palestinian Muhammed al-Sadiq
© Khalil Hamra | APRelatives of Palestinian Muhammed al-Sadiq, 21, mourn at the family home during his funeral in Gaza City, Sept. 25, 2018. Al-sadiq was killed and at least 10 others wounded by Israeli soldiers during a protest near in Gaza.
As Israeli soldiers gun down unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in the Great March of Return, their lethal operations depend on an array of contractors and suppliers, many of them companies based outside Israel.

"The Israeli military relies on a network of international companies, supplying everything from sniper rifles to tear gas, to carry out its massacres of protesters in Gaza," Tom Anderson, a researcher for Corporate Occupation, told MintPress News. "These companies are knowingly supporting war crimes, and are complicit in state-orchestrated murder."

Since the mobilization began on March 30, Israeli forces have killed 205 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory reported on October 4.

There have been 21,288 injured, including 5,345 from live ammunition, resulting in 11,180 hospitalizations. Thirty-eight of the dead and 4,250 of the wounded were children.

A press release accompanying a September 25 report by the World Bank warned, "The economy in Gaza is collapsing," adding that "the decade-long blockade is the core issue."

Comment: See also:

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Stock Down

Former US retail giant Sears files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Tracy Rucinski, Tom Hals
Reuters
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 10:29 UTC
Sears closing
© REUTERS/Shannon StapletonA store closing sale sign is posted next to a Sears logo in New Hyde Park, New York, U.S., October 10, 2018.
Sears Holdings Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday with a plan to close 142 more stores, throwing into doubt the future of the century-old retailer that once dominated U.S. malls but has withered in the age of internet shopping.

The Chapter 11 filing to reorganize debts of the parent of Sears, Roebuck and Co and Kmart Corp follows a decade of revenue declines, hundreds of store closures, and years of deals by billionaire Chief Executive Officer Eddie Lampert in an attempt to turn around the company he bought in 2004.

Lampert had pledged to restore Sears to its glory days, when it owned the tallest building in the world and companies that included a radio station and Allstate insurance.

But the company has not turned a profit since 2011, and critics say Lampert let the stores deteriorate over the years, even as he bought the company's stock and lent it money. It has sold off the legendary Craftsman brand and is considering an offer from Lampert for the Kenmore appliance name. For a graphic, click tmsnrt.rs/2A3giRQ

Comment: See also:

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