Society's ChildS


Gavel

Canadian Supreme Court rules it was 'problematic' for lower court judge to refer to alleged victim as a 'woman'

Tristin Hopper
National Post
Wed, 13 Mar 2024 17:05 UTC
canadian supreme court
© CANADIAN PRESS/SHUTTERSTOCKJustice Sheilah Martin (bottom right) with other justices of the Supreme Court in Ottawa, Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in a recent sexual assault case that it was "problematic" for a lower court judge to refer to the alleged victim as a "woman," implying that the more appropriate term should have been "person with a vagina."

In a decision published Friday, Justice Sheilah Martin wrote that a trial judge's use of the word "a woman" may "have been unfortunate and engendered confusion."

Martin does not specify why the word "woman" is confusing, but the next passage in her decision refers to the complainant as a "person with a vagina." Notably, not one person in the entire case is identified as transgender, and the complainant is referred to throughout as a "she."

The case was R. v. Kruk, which involved a 2017 charge of sexual assault against then 34-year-old Maple Ridge, B.C., man Charles Kruk.

"Mr. Kruk found the complainant intoxicated, lost, and distressed one night in downtown Vancouver," reads the background to the case. "He decided to take her to his house, and connected with the complainant's parents by phone."
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Star of David

UN describes 'huge obstacles' to getting relief to Gaza as nearly 200 tons of food and supplies are finally allowed in


Fox News
Fri, 15 Mar 2024 20:35 UTC
gaza aid by sea
© (REUTERS/Yiannis KourtoglouMarch, 2024: Humanitarian aid for Gaza is loaded onto a cargo ship amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Israel's air and ground campaign has since killed more than 31,000 Palestinians

A ship towing a barge loaded with food arrived off Gaza on Friday, witnesses said, as a test run for a new aid route by sea from Cyprus into the devastated Palestinian enclave where famine looms after five months of Israel's military campaign.

The ship, arranged by the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity, is carrying nearly 200 tonnes of aid to be delivered via a jetty being prepared in Gaza, with a second ship expected to sail soon.

There are few details on how the aid delivery and distribution will work once it is ready to unload in Gaza, with U.N. relief agencies having described huge obstacles to getting relief supplies to those in need.

Comment:



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Cult

British teacher sacked for refusing to treat eight-year-old as 'a boy' after school ordered her to 'go along with pupil's wishes'

Ian Gallagher
Daily Mail
Sat, 16 Mar 2024 18:33 UTC
child river
© Paul Tonge
A teacher sacked for refusing to treat an eight-year-old girl as a boy will tell an employment tribunal this week of her serious concerns for the child's welfare.

She was ordered by the headteacher before the start of term to go along with the wishes of the pupil to 'socially transition' under the guidance of controversial LGBT charity Stonewall.

It meant calling her by a boy's name and using male pronouns, and also involved an ultimately futile attempt to keep her gender change a secret from classmates.

The child, backed by her parents, was allowed to wear a boy's uniform and to use the boys' lavatories and changing rooms. Troubled by the situation, the teacher, referred to as 'Hannah' for legal reasons, raised the matter as a safeguarding issue, believing it endangered the child and other pupils in the short and long-term.

'We hear a lot about protected characteristics - what about the right of a child to grow up?' Hannah told The Mail on Sunday. 'It is heartbreaking.'
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Boat

Indian Navy seizes ship from Somali pirates and rescues 17 crew


The Straits Times
Sun, 17 Mar 2024 02:59 UTC
Shipfolk
© ReutersPeople with weapons standing onboard the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo vessel Ruen, seized by Somali pirates and then intercepted by the Indian Navy, on March 16, 2024.
Indian naval forces including special commandos seized a cargo vessel that had been hijacked by Somali pirates, rescuing 17 crew members, a spokesperson for the navy said on March 16.

The navy said in a post on social media platform X that all 35 pirates aboard the ship, the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo vessel Ruen, had surrendered, and the ship had been checked for the presence of illegal arms, ammunition and contraband.

The Ruen had been hijacked in 2023 and the navy said it had intercepted the vessel on March 15. The vessel may have been used as the base for the takeover of a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Somalia earlier this week, the European Union naval force said.

The hijacking of the Ruen was the first successful takeover of a vessel involving Somali pirates since 2017, when a crackdown by international navies stopped a rash of seizures in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

Comment: Meanwhile, a half-globe away, China's Coast Guard is seen in Taiwan's 'prohibited waters':
Chinese Coast Guard vessels have entered what Taiwan calls "prohibited waters" near the Kinmen Islands, effectively controlled by Taiwan. Taiwan's media say it is the first time China Coast Guard ships, which fall under the command of the country's military, have entered the waters.

The Coast Guard reported on its website on Friday that it conducted patrols in waters near the islands based on Chinese law. It posted a photograph of the area with a red line indicating a shipping route. Local Taiwan media said four China Coast Guard vessels entered the prohibited waters for the first time. Earlier in February, a Chinese marine surveillance vessel was also spotted in the region.

China is demanding that Taiwan apologize and take responsibility for a mishap involving a Chinese fishing boat off the Kinmen Islands on February 14. Two Chinese fishers died after their boat capsized while being pursued by Taiwan's coast guard.

The China Coast Guard has announced that it will continue to strengthen its patrols for law enforcement, suggesting further Chinese navigation within the waters. China is mounting pressure on Taiwan's government led by the Democratic Progressive Party.


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Attention

The Elon Musk-Matt Taibbi ugly divorce

Jon Rappoport
Jon Rappoport / Substack
Sun, 17 Mar 2024 16:07 UTC
And oh yes, the Musk spy satellites; and, that time Musk accused Substack of theft.
Twitter
© CNN
Musk stands for free speech? Really?

Journalist Matt Taibbi worked for Musk on the Twitter Files project. This was Musk's purported effort to uncover Twitter-government collusion in censoring all sorts of Twitter posters.1

But Taibbi now says:2
I do believe that Elon proved to be very disappointing on the free speech issue. All of us who worked on the Twitter Files felt the same way. We went in feeling tremendously optimistic that he actually meant a lot of the things that he said about being in favor of all legal speech and, being a free speech absolutist and all these other things.

That proved not to be the case. He's currently disenfranchising thousands of Substack writers, including me. And no one seems to care in the press.
Taibbi published exchanges between Musk and himself.3
TAIBBI: Elon, am I being shadowbanned [on Twitter/X]?

MUSK: We went on lockdown after discovering that Substack had stolen a massive amount of our data to prepopulate their Twitter rip-off. Looks like there is still a blanket search ban. Should be fixed by tomorrow. Going forward, tweets with Substack will not appear in For You unless it is paid advertising...

TAIBBI: Elon, I've repeatedly declined to criticize you and have nothing to do with your beef with Substack. Is there a reason why I'm being put in the middle of things? This really seems crazy.

MUSK: You are dead to me. Please get off Twitter and just stay on Substack.
Does that conversation sound like Musk is a free speech champion, as he's claimed?
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Recycle

Best of the Web: Yet again! Boeing 737 flight departing San Francisco with 139 passengers loses external panel mid-air

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sat, 16 Mar 2024 15:32 UTC

Comment: At this point, one starts wondering whether sabotage is afoot...


Unitee Airlines
Literally, not a day goes by without Boeing suffering some major incident, whether it is doors and tires falling off, runway excursions, engine fires, hydraulic leaks, pilot seats flailing around the cockpit and slamming the yoke and, OH YEAH, a "suicided" whistleblower who told a close friend if anything happened to him, it most certainly wasn't suicide. Well, we can now add one more: a United Airlines flight - because it's never American or Delta... always United - that took off from San Francisco International Airport Friday morning landed in Oregon with a missing external panel, abc7 reported citing to officials.

As the NY Post notes, United Airlines Flight 433 departed from San Francisco around 10:20 a.m. local time and landed safely at its intended destination, Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, about 70 minutes later, according to airport officials and flight data.

Once the plane reached the gate, an external panel was found to be missing, halting operations at the airport while a runway safety check was conducted, airport director Amber Judd told The NY Post.

Amazingly, there was no indication of a problem and no emergency was ever declared during the flight, which had 139 passengers and 6 crew members on board, according to United.

Comment: Boeing might be forced to come out with a new PR campaign with words like "Trust the experts" and "safe and effective". As the article suggest, we might also see another whistleblower 'commit suicide'.

For more of the recent Boeing woes, see:

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Toys

Elon Musk cancels Don Lemon's X show after multiple demands - likens him to 'spoiled child'

Will Potter, Bethan Sexton and James Gordon
The Daily Mail
Sat, 16 Mar 2024 19:17 UTC
don lemon elon musk interview
© @donlemon/XElon Musk has compared the former CNN anchor Don Lemon to a spoiled child from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory after it was revealed the TV host had an alleged series of demands before his new show streamed on X
Elon Musk has compared the former CNN anchor Don Lemon to a spoiled child from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory after a report claiming the TV host made a series of contractual demands before his new show streamed on X.

Lemon is alleged to have requested a Tesla Cybertruck, an $8 million salary, an equity stake in X together with a $5 million upfront payment on top.

In a posting to X on Friday night, Musk simply wrote, Don 'Veruca Salt' Lemon, in reference to the character from the 1970 film, that sees the youngster making clear her wants as she belts out 'I want it now!'

Lemon is alleged to have demanded a flight on a private jet flight together with a suite for him and his fiancé, according to the New York Post.

In addition it is claimed Lemon asked for X to pay for a day of drinking and massages, The Post is reporting. Lemon's list of demands went on and are alleged to have included executive assistants plus a budget for marketing of up to $15 million.

Comment: You can take the man out of CNN, but you can't take CNN out of the man. Especially if there was nothing much else there to begin with.

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No Entry

McDonald's suffers GLOBAL IT 'system failure', stores from Canada to Australia forced to close

Aliss Higham
Le Monde
Fri, 15 Mar 2024 17:57 UTC
McDonalds
© Reuters / Yves Herman
McDonald's restaurants across the world have been forced to temporarily close, and other branches around the world have reported a widespread technological issue which means customers cannot pay for food.

Internal systems in Australian restaurants were offline since about 3:10 p.m. local time, according to a report by News.com.au.

IT issues have also been reported online in China including Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan and Germany.

Comment: The number of services failing for due to 'unspecified' issues is in the news a lot more often lately:

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Cut

Internet outage hits several African countries as multiple major undersea cables 'fail'


Le Monde
Sat, 16 Mar 2024 17:54 UTC
ship laying subsea cable
© SSEN/PAFILE: A ship laying subsea cable off the coast of Caithness in Scotland in July.
A dozen countries across Africa suffered a major internet outage on Thursday, March 14, as multiple undersea telecommunication cables reported failures, network operators and internet watch groups said. The cause of the failure was not immediately clear.

The MTN Group, one of Africa's largest network providers, said the ongoing disruptions were a result of failures in multiple major undersea cables. "Our operations are actively working to reroute traffic through alternative network paths," the South African company said in a statement.

Network disruptions caused by cable damage have occurred in Africa in recent years. However, "today's disruption points to something larger (and) this is amongst the most severe," said Isik Mater, director of research at NetBlocks, a group that documents internet disruptions around the world. NetBlocks said data transmission and measurement shows a major disruption to international transits, "likely at or near the subsea network cable landing points."

Comment: See also:

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Black Magic

Ex-Nickelodeon coach who sexually abused child star kept signed painting of serial killer Gacy at home

Liam Quinn
People
Sat, 16 Mar 2024 17:27 UTC
John Wayne Gacy
© Bureau of Prisons/Getty; Steve Eichner/WireImageJohn Wayne Gacy, left, and a self-portrait.
Brian Peck, the former dialogue coach who pleaded no contest to sexually abusing former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell, had a signed self-portrait painting of infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy that he flaunted in front of another child star.

The revelation surfaced in an upcoming ID docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, premiering March 17. The show uncovers the price many former child actors say they paid while working long hours in an emotionally manipulative and sometimes sexually charged environment.

In an exclusive clip shared with PEOPLE, former All That cast member Kyle Sullivan, then 14, talks about seeing the inside of Peck's home, which included a shrine to Planet of the Apes and — most notably — a painting of a clown holding balloons, which seemingly had nothing to do with the famous sci-fi franchise.

Comment: There's every reason to suppose that is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the criminals and perverts in the US media industry. Although, in recent years, more people than ever are now coming forward to expose just how Hollywood itself is riddled with, if not inextricably linked, to sexual predators: Music producer latest to accuse Sean 'Diddy' Combs of sexual misconduct in federal lawsuit

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