Society's ChildS


Star of David

Professor disciplined by university for refusing to support student's trip to Israel, citing BDS movement

Caleb Parke
Fox News
Thu, 11 Oct 2018 14:55 UTC
University of Michigan
© University of Michigan
A tenured University of Michigan professor has been disciplined for refusing to write a letter of recommendation for a student who wanted to study in Israel.

John Cheney-Lippold won't get a merit increase for the next academic year and cannot go on his planned sabbatical in January or another one over the next two years, The Detroit News reported.

Last month, Cheney-Lippold refused to write a letter of recommendation for junior Abigail Ingber after he found out she wanted to study in Tel Aviv, citing his support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against the Jewish State.

"I am very sorry, but I only scanned your first email a couple weeks ago and missed out on a key detail," Cheney-Lippold wrote to Ingber. "As you may know, many university departments have pledged an academic boycott against Israel in support of Palestinians living in Palestine. This boycott includes writing letters of recommendation for students planning to study there."
Read More...
Recycle

Agence-France Presse faces backlash for report on green study advising people to have fewer children


RT
Thu, 11 Oct 2018 07:49 UTC
AFP backlash on having fewer kids
© Getty / Jeff Tzu-chao Lin
French news agency AFP has faced harsh criticism after publishing Swedish environmental research which says that having "one fewer child" could reduce emissions. Now netizens wonder what to do with their "extra one."

AFP tweeted an infographic, based on the one-year old study on the ways people can reduce their carbon footprint, on Monday. One of the recommendations, which the picture showed as the most efficient way to help ecology, was to have fewer children.


Despite the source of such figures being clearly visible on the image, enraged Twitter users ridiculed the agency's report. Some sarcastic responses wondered if they would be better having a "hybrid child" or if they should simply "recycle" some of their existing kids.
Read More...
Dollar Gold

California pension fund increases investments in Russian sovereign debt despite looming sanctions


Sputnik
Thu, 11 Oct 2018 14:24 UTC
CALPERS
A bipartisan group of US senators presented a bill targeting Russian sovereign debt in August 2018 over Moscow's alleged interference in the 2016 presidential elections. The bill is currently being reviewed in the US Congress and if it passes will threaten several major American investors.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), the biggest US pension fund has increased its investments in Russian sovereign debt by 8% over the last year up to $460 million, according to papers obtained by Bloomberg. This makes the fund the 10th biggest foreign investor in Russian government bonds among those who disclose such data.

The increase in investments is taking place amid growing tensions between Washington and Moscow and threats to sanction Russian sovereign debt. CalPERS' spokeswoman Megan White, cited by the media, said that the fund's investments "follow federal and state laws" and are made in compliance "with directives from the CalPERS board."

Comment: Investors obviously see stability and value in the Russian economy and aren't likely to let a political spat get in the way of a good return if they can find a way around restrictions.

Read More...
Quenelle

Breaking ranks: Facebook engineer quits over company's 'intolerant, political monoculture'


Sputnik
Thu, 11 Oct 2018 12:18 UTC
Facebook, libijski rat i migranti
US social media firms are often accused by conservatives of deliberately silencing and censoring non-liberal voices on their platforms.

The Facebook engineer who sparked a major controversy at the company with his criticism of what he called a "political monoculture" that is "intolerant" of conservatism, is leaving the company.

"We claim to welcome all perspectives, but are quick to attack - often in mobs - anyone who presents a view that appears to be in opposition to left-leaning ideology," Brian Amerige, an engineering manager for product usability wrote in an August 2018 internal memo to his colleagues.

He decried Facebook's policy of balancing offensive and hateful speech with free expression and its acceptance of government regulation.

"We've refused to defend ourselves in the press. Our policy strategy is pragmatism - not clear, implementable long-term principles - and our PR strategy is appeasement - not morally earned pride and self-defense," Amerige emphasized.

Comment:

Read More...
Handcuffs

Student charged for allegedly making fake anti-LGBT threats against herself

Zachary Petrizzo
Campus Reform
Wed, 10 Oct 2018 13:39 UTC
handcuffed
A member of student government at Ohio University has been charged with a misdemeanor after she allegedly made false statements to police about receiving threatening messages.

Anna Ayers, who is a member of the OU student senate, was arrested Monday and charged by the Ohio University Police Department with three separate counts of "making false alarms." It is alleged that Ayers falsely reported multiple threatening messages, including a "death threat," which she claims was because of her being a member of the LGBTQ community.

But an OU police department investigation revealed that Ayers' claims were false. The probe further uncovered that Ayers had "placed the messages herself, prior to reporting them," according to an OU police statement.
Campus reform 1
Read More...
Star of David

Israeli reporter for NYT praises AIPAC: 'You've got our backs, it's such a great feeling'

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Thu, 11 Oct 2018 11:25 UTC
Ronen Bergman
Ronen Bergman at the Fifth Avenue Barnes and Noble in February 2018. Photo from Instagram.
Ronen Bergman, a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, gave a talk to the Israel lobby group AIPAC in White Plains Monday night and lavished praise on AIPAC for its support of Israel.
"You know, I've been all over the U.S. with AIPAC and it's always a great pleasure, as an Israeli. I always tell AIPAC, you do so much in the U.S., and I know that Israel is not the spirit of where you work, but you need to do a little more to explain to Israelis how much they owe AIPAC. Israelis are not aware. I am aware... I know that you've got our backs. It's such a great feeling."
AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is famous for its work to prevent any "daylight" between the U.S. government and the Israeli government on policy and maintain support for Israel in the U.S. Congress. It has been the subject of numerous investigations- generally not in the US mainstream press, and certainly not the New York Times.

Comment: Also see: The biggest meddler in American democracy is not Russia, it is Israel via foreign agent AIPAC

Read More...
Better Earth

Russia's Crimea boasts record number of tourists in post-Soviet era


RT
Wed, 10 Oct 2018 13:05 UTC
Crimean Bridge
© Sputnik / Aleksandr PolegenkoThe Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait
Crimea has seen the biggest surge in tourism this year since the collapse of the Soviet Union, regional authorities say.

"By October 9, we have 6,164,000 tourists. This is 29 percent more than in the same period last year. To date, the number of tourists has reached record levels for the entire post-Soviet period," said an official for Crimea's tourism ministry Vadim Volchenko.

The official noted an increase in tourists from Ukraine after Crimea's reunification with Russia. "About one million of the total tourist flow arrived across the border from Ukraine, which is 17 percent more than in the whole 2017," he said.

The rise in the number of visitors to the Crimea comes despite Western sanctions targeting the peninsula. In July, Booking.com stopped working with Crimean hotels in compliance with US and European sanctions against the republic.

Comment: Meanwhile Ukraine is collapsing under the weight of its own corruption following the US-backed coup: See also:

Read More...
Sherlock

UK Army opens investigation into Tommy Robinson's photo op with troops


RT
Thu, 11 Oct 2018 11:15 UTC
Tommy Robinson
The British army is investigating after soldiers were filmed with far-right figure Tommy Robinson, chanting his name and posing for pictures with the self-styled journalist.

The English Defence League (EDL) founder shared images of himself with a group of young men in military fatigues. In the footage, posted on Facebook, the men cheer and chant Robinson's name. The post's caption reads: "A moment like this makes it all worthwhile. Today I met real British heroes."

An army spokesperson said that they were "investigating" after becoming aware of the footage. "Far-right ideology is completely at odds with the values and ethos of the armed forces. The armed forces have robust measures in place to ensure those exhibiting extremist views are neither tolerated nor permitted to serve," the spokesperson added.
Read More...
Handcuffs

Suspect detained in Germany over killing of Bulgarian journalist


RT
Thu, 11 Oct 2018 11:15 UTC
Viktoria Marinova
© AFP / Dimitar DilkoffA portrait of slain Bulgarian journalist Viktoria Marinova
A suspect linked to the slaying of Bulgarian investigative journalist Victoria Marinova has been arrested in Germany. Preliminary investigation shows that it was a "spontaneous" rape attack, according to Chief Prosecutor.

A man in his early 20s was arrested after DNA tests and other evidence linked him to the chilling crime, according to Bulgaria's Interior Minister Mladen Marinov.

He identified the man as Severin Krasimov, who lived not far from the crime scene. The suspect managed to flee to Germany before being captured there, according to local media.

Comment: Also see: Bulgarian TV host who reported misuse of EU funds raped, murdered, belongings stolen - Attack labeled 'spontaneous' by authorities

Read More...
Arrow Down

Brave New World of Gender Equality: Iceland schools teach boys to paint finger nails, massage each other

Matt Agorist
The Free thought project
Tue, 09 Oct 2018 00:00 UTC
Some schools are taking gender equality to the extreme and having boys practice female stereotypes while girls practice male stereotypes.
Gender education in School
© TheFreeThoughtProject.com
The notion that all people deserve equal rights under their governments is evolving into all people must be forced to be equal. In the name of forcing this equality-which is a dangerously slippery slope-some are going to extremes.

Boys and girls are different. One is not supreme to the other, but on a biological scale, they are not equal. To deny the basic differences like hormone production and the fact that females can get pregnant is to deny nature itself. However, this hasn't stopped people from trying to wipe these biological differences out with controversial programs.

Comment: See also:

Read More...