Society's ChildS


Bullseye

Venker: Feminism is the last thing in the world boys need

Suzanne Venker
Washington Examiner
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 11:37 UTC
woman hugging child
© iStock PhotoFeminism has contributed to boys not having fathers, which is the root of their problems, Suzanne Venker writes.
The sheer degree of havoc feminists cause never ceases to amaze me, nor does their arrogance and condescension. In a ridiculous piece in the The New York Times titled "What Feminists Can Do for Boys," feminist author Jessica Valenti claims that those who share her ideology can help boys become men.

I cannot think of a more preposterous argument. Feminism is a major cause of the predicament boys and men now face. In what world could it be the remedy?

Comment:

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Russian Flag

Stephen F. Cohen slams CNN commentator for calling him a 'Russia apologist' over Trump-Putin summit

Noor Al-Sibai
Raw Story
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 21:36 UTC
Max Boot and Stephen Cohen
© Image via screengrab.Conservative commentator Max Boot (left) and Russian studies professor emeritus Stephen Cohen (right).
During a heated panel discussion on CNN, a Moscow-born conservative commentator accused a Russian studies scholar of being an "apologist" for Vladimir Putin.

Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at NYU and Princeton, told CNN's Anderson Cooper that he doesn't find anything "unusual" about President Donald Trump and Putin's private meeting in Helsinki earlier in the month. He went on to claim that he believes Putin's assertion that he and his American counterpart discussed a resolution to Russia's annexation of Crimea.

"You have to take Putin's word this is what they talked about," Cohen said. "I don't want to shock you, but I believe Vladimir Putin on several things."

Comment: This is what happens when you pit a mere talking head, parroting the same old Russia-Trump narrative, against a professor who actually knows their subject deeply. What's amazing is that CNN was actually willing to have a competent, intelligent individual like Cohen on their program instead of the usual straw man.

More from Stephen F. Cohen:

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Airplane

Brazil plane crash caught on camera - pilot dead and six passengers injured


RT
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 11:32 UTC
Sao Paulo Brazil plane crash
© Ivan Baltikov / YouTube
A small plane crashed during landing in Sao Paulo, killing the pilot and injuring six people on board. The crash was filmed by a camera observing the runway.

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Bizarro Earth

James Howard Kunstler: On the beach

James Howard Kunstler
Clusterfuck Nation
Mon, 30 Jul 2018 21:45 UTC
head in the sand
Comes August now, the month of vacancy, idleness, the slap and hiss of waves on sand, furtive romance on the dunes, perhaps, sweet corn, country roads, and county fairs, and more furtive romance, perhaps, on a blanket in the high meadow under a blood moon - and respite from the hellish host of foolish ideas, dark trends, and bad faith driving life in this demolition derby of a nation.

If one word defines the preoccupying affairs of the USA these days it's tiresome. The entire population seems to be enacting the old myth of Sisyphus, every, man, woman, child, swamp-creature, and non-binary child-of-God in the land, legal and undocumented, pushing that boulder uphill to the tippy top, only to have it roll back down to the bottom... repeat ad infinitum.
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Megaphone

Fists fly, a megaphone is tossed, as refugee crisis inflames local politics in Toronto area

Joseph Brean
The National Post
Mon, 30 Jul 2018 19:26 UTC
Toronto immigration protest
© @VoteMinXie/TwitterA demonstration in Markham against illegal border crossings on July 28, 2018.
From the moment a protester grabbed a counter-protester's megaphone and hurled it into the fountain of the Markham Civic Centre, Saturday's demonstration against illegal border crossings and their effect on suburban Toronto degenerated quickly into violence and anger.

Police arrived to separate men who had thrown a few punches, and others who seemed about to, including one man who was pushing another as he held up a sign reading "Not In My Back Yard," according to video captured by Ming Pao Daily News.

It was a small rally of a few dozen mainly Chinese-Canadian protesters in Markham, a city northeast of Toronto, and hundreds of kilometres from any land border with the United States. Nevertheless, as the demonstration was met by a smaller group of pro-refugee protesters, it became a flashpoint in the North American refugee crisis, with Markham's mayor, Frank Scarpitti, as the unlikely main target.

Comment: It seems people are riled up all over in regards to the immigration debate, no matter how far away from an actual border they are. See also:

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Stop

Russian Defense Ministry: Jihadis in southwestern Syria surrender tanks and howitzers


Sputnik
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 10:39 UTC
syrian war tank
© AFP 2018 / Omar haj kadour
Illegal armed groups from the southwestern de-escalation zone in Syria have surrendered three tanks, two howitzers and five anti-aircraft installations over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry's Reconciliation Center in Syria said in a statement.

"As a result of negotiations with the leaders of settlements and illegal armed groups in the southwestern de-escalation zone, with assistance of the Russian Reconciliation center, three tanks, two howitzers, five anti-aircraft installations, one heavy machine gun and three pickup trucks as well as large amount of ammunition... were surrendered over the past 24 hours," the statement read.

Comment: Further reading: Syria and the major turn of events in the south

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Propaganda

Delusional NYT fantasizes about Trump losing 2020 election to Elizabeth "Pocahontas" Warren


RT
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 10:39 UTC
new york times building
© Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
It is the year 2020 and Donald Trump has just lost his bid for reelection for president of the United States - at least in the mind of one New York Times scribe, who has envisioned a Trumpless future in his latest column.

Columnist David Leonhardt has penned an article billed as a "sneak peek" at analysis from November 4, 2020 - the day the he imagines that Trump will fail to be reelected as president for a second term. Headlined "How Trump Lost Re-election in 2020," it begins with Leonhardt taking a look back at the "historically unpopular president" who presided over a period of "deep national anxiety" and lost to Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts).

The article comes in response to a similar piece written by Leonhart's colleague Bret Stephens last week, which imagines the morning after Trump defeats Warren and wins re-election - because apparently futuristic reporting is a thing now.

Comment: Further reading:

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Bad Guys

UN humanitarian chief in Yemen: Hodeidah "one airstrike away from unstoppable epidemic"


UN.org
Sun, 29 Jul 2018 12:00 UTC
Hodeidah
© OCHA/Giles ClarkeA man and his sons travel to collect water underneath the Hajjah Road Bridge, in Hodeidah, Yemen, which was damaged in an airstrike in mid-2016. (file) 29 July 2018
The crucial Yemeni port city of Hudaydah, which has been living under fire from pro-Government forces for weeks now, could be just "one airstrike away from an unstoppable epidemic", said the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in the country on Sunday.

Lise Grande said in a statement from the capital Sana'a, that "for weeks, we've been doing everything possible to help hundreds of thousands of people living in and near Hudaydah", however, "these airstrikes are putting innocent civilians at extreme risk."

The port is the primary gateway for food and humanitarian supplies into the war-stricken country, and together with the city overall, it has been in the hands of Houthi rebels since the end of 2014, who have been battling government forces aided by a Saudi-led coalition, which has been deploying war planes since fighting escalated in 2015.

Comment: Saudi Arabia's war crimes in Yemen are made possible with help from the US and UK:

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Stock Up

Americans are about to experience higher prices everywhere

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Mon, 30 Jul 2018 10:34 UTC
tariff timeline
A few weeks ago, SocGen asked what is arguably the most important question relating to the global trade wars: are tariffs inflationary or deflationary? While there were various nuances, its conclusion was simple: "Inflationary short term, disinflationary medium term."

It appears that the "short-term" part has now arrived, because after several rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs and retaliations between the US and China, American consumers are about to be hit with sharply higher prices as tariffs on industrial metals put pressure on U.S. manufacturers.

In May, President Trump imposed steel and aluminum tariffs on the EU, Canada, and Mexico to help preserve America's manufacturing base. The response: steel and aluminum prices have risen 33% and 11% respectively since the beginning of the year, as manufacturers began to price in the tariffs.

Moreover, tariffs on additional imported products from China have added even more costs for producers, which are now being aggressively passed through to the consumer.

Comment: The inevitable result of these tariffs is that they will all eventually be passed on to the consumer. See also: Trade War with China - Easy to Win?

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Binoculars

Opinion: Sacha Baron Cohen isn't funny - especially when he's mocking the powerless

James Delingpole
The Spectator
Sat, 28 Jul 2018 09:00 UTC
Dick Cheney Sacha Baron Cohen


His satire is often a perfect example of what impeccable progressives like Baron Cohen are forever accusing conservatives of doing: punching down

Sacha Baron Cohen's latest series Who Is America? isn't funny. But then, nor was his terrible 2016 movie The Brothers Grimsby. Nor was his rubbish 2012 film The Dictator. Nor, let's be honest, were his classic original characters Borat, Brüno or even Ali G.

Obviously, they had their moments: the 'mankini' - that bizarre, electric green, giant-thong-like swim wear worn by Borat; the classic late-Nineties catchphrase 'Is it because I is black?' And sure it must have taken some nerve - even in character - to explain to a clearly impatient and unimpressed Donald Trump his business plan for some anti-drip ice-cream gloves.

Comment: It's actually a good point. Some of Cohen's victims are certainly ripe for mocking, such as the American right politicians so ideologically possessed on gun rights they'll actually accept and promote 2 year olds being armed, or others unquestioned allegiance to Israel having them willingly jumping through the most ridiculous hoops to show they're part of the team. Yet when he aims at the common man, Cohen's humor comes across as more vindictive than actually witty or insightful. Picturing the average liberal, educated elitist sipping craft beers and having a good laugh at the mocking of honest working class Americans with their lowly, proletariat opinions, takes the air out of much of Cohen's 'comedy' bits.

See also:

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