Society's ChildS


Hourglass

Elon Musk touts building 'escape pod' to rescue stranded Thai footballers - 'Can be built in 8 hours'


RT
Sun, 08 Jul 2018 01:07 UTC
Elon Musk
© Joe Skipper / ReutersSpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk.
Elon Musk, the eccentric CEO of Tesla and Space X, has billed himself as a would-be savior of the Thai junior football squad that is trapped in a flooded cave. He is apparently building a tiny submarine out of space rocket parts.

With time being of the essence for 12 boys and their coach, who have been trapped inside a Thai cave for over two weeks, the US tech visionary has come forward with some ideas of his own.

Back on Thursday, a few days after the boys were discovered crammed on a ledge by divers, Musk floated the idea of building an "escape pod" and said his engineers were also busy working on "an inflatable tube with airlocks" to fetch the boys.

After receiving "great feedback" from Thailand, Musk has now apparently settled on "a tiny, kid-sized submarine" that would be based off a liquid oxygen transfer tube from his Falcon 9 space rocket. The device, Musk tweeted, will be "light enough to be carried by 2 divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps" and "extremely robust."

Comment: See also:
Former Navy Seal dies in Thai cave rescue operation; Elon Musk offers help
Children's football team missing for 9 days found trapped in flooded cave in Thailand

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Books

Literature and identity politics: Lionel Shriver vs. Penguin-Random House

Henry George
Merion West
Sun, 08 Jul 2018 00:17 UTC
Lionel Shriver
© Getty Images
"Writers should be judged first by the quality of the content of their prose, not their identity. If we forget this, then the world of literature will be much poorer, and with the loss of this source of consolation, so will we all."
Lionel Shriver is the author of books such as We Need to Talk About Kevin and others. Shriver is not afraid to write about difficult and often disturbing subjects. She is also not afraid to raise her head above the parapet on things that she does not agree with. Unfortunately, in these times of perpetual outrage and flaunting of hurt feelings, that is a recipe for trouble. Shriver has feared for some time that her outspoken opinions and her obstreperous attitude to cultural dogmas might land her in hot water; she specifically said in an interview with Ben Domenech that her writing in the Spectator magazine might be what brings the outrage mob down on her. And so it has proved.

Comment:

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Ambulance

Embattled GOP Congressman Jim Jordan's nephew, NCAA wrestler, killed when car runs off road


True Pundit
Sat, 07 Jul 2018 21:23 UTC
jim jordan nephew eli stickley
Eli Stickley
A 21-year-old wrestler for the University of Wisconsin died in a car crash Thursday night.

The wrestling team said their "hearts are heavy" after hearing about the loss of teammate Eli Stickley.

"Our hearts are heavy today. The entire Badger wrestling family extends its most heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Eli Stickley, our brother and teammate, who passed away last night," the team said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Eli's family and friends."

Stickley, of Urbana, Ohio, was an Academic All-American wrestler and an NCAA qualifier.

Comment: Condolences to the Stickley family on their tragic loss.

Still, it is a strange, unsettling coincidence given both the high-profile role his uncle Congressman Jim Jordan is playing on the House Intel Committee hearings and the potential sex-abuse scandal brewing at Jordan's old employer Ohio State University.

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Propaganda

Debunking the Skripal 2.0 nonsense: The assassins take the tourist route

Rob Slane
The Blogmire
Sat, 07 Jul 2018 11:24 UTC
Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury
Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury
Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury is a rather lovely park. Situated next to the river, and overlooking the Water Meadows, it is a wonderful place to take an early morning stroll, and then to walk along the town path, where you get a wonderful view of the towering 13th Century gothic cathedral from the very spot where Constable painted his famous Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows.

Yet, like the centre of the City, it is now apparently a place synonymous with poisoning. According to latest reports, it is apparently the place at which Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley became poisoned on Friday 29th June. This from The Mail:

Comment: If it seems unbelievable, that's because it probably is. For more on British intelligence's continued farcical attempts at smearing Russia, see:

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Red Flag

Young America's Foundation files First Amendment lawsuit against University of Minnesota for censoring Ben Shapiro

Spencer Brown
Young Americans Foundation
Tue, 03 Jul 2018 00:01 UTC
Ben Shapiro
Ben Shapiro
On Tuesday, Young America's Foundation filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the University of Minnesota, in federal court, after University officials engaged in viewpoint-based censorship of conservative students and their YAF-sponsored lecture featuring New York Times bestselling author Ben Shapiro.

School policy permits administrators to wield unbridled discretion to suppress student speech that administrators dislike. The University of Minnesota has a long history of welcoming leftist guest speakers to campus, but when conservative students invited Ben Shapiro to speak at a YAF-sponsored lecture, administrators put the school's Speech Suppression policy into action.

University administrators schemed to limit student exposure to Mr. Shapiro's conservative ideas. They banished Shapiro's lecture to the St. Paul campus, refusing to allow him to speak on the University's main campus in Minneapolis, and they arbitrarily limited student attendance to 500 attendees.

Comment: See also:

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Whistle

Woman who scaled the Statue of Liberty identified as immigrant activist

Larry Celona, Tina Moore and Chris Perez
New York Post
Wed, 04 Jul 2018 17:33 UTC
Therese Patricia Okoumou
© Gabriella BassTherese Patricia Okoumou
The woman who scaled the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday has been identified.

Cops say Therese Patricia Okoumou - a 44-year-old immigrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo - was the person responsible for the Fourth of July protest.

She lives in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island and is currently in federal custody, according to police sources.

Officers from the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit transported her to a federal detention center Wednesday night following her three-hour standoff with authorities. Her case is being handled by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.

Sources said Okoumou told investigators she climbed up to the feet of Lady Liberty to protest President Trump's "zero tolerance" policy on immigration and the separation of families at the border.
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Cowboy Hat

Sadiq Khan's Greater London Authority grants permission for obscene Trump inflatable to fly over Parliament during President's visit

Oliver JJ Lane
Breitbart
Thu, 05 Jul 2018 00:00 UTC
Trump blimp London
© Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty, Dan Kitwood/Getty
A group of self-declared "anti-fascist art activists" have been granted permission by Sadiq Khan's Greater London Authority to fly a grotesque 20-foot inflatable caricature of President Donald J. Trump when he visits the city next week.

The balloon will fly next to Britain's Houses of Parliament at Parliament Square Gardens during the U.S. President's visit, and has been funded with nearly £17,000 in crowdfunding donations. A spokesman for the baby Trump group behind the stunt said of the creation that it is an "obscene mutant clone of the president".

"The Mayor supports the right to peaceful protest and understands that this can take many different forms," a spokesman for Sadiq Khan told Sky News.

"His city operations team have met with the organisers and have given them permission to use Parliament Square Garden as a grounding point for the blimp."

Comment: The anti-Trump resistance continues to showcase its shallowness. London is not only plagued by violence but millions in the UK are homeless or barely surviving in poverty with the vicious austerity measures imposed by successive governments. Just think what that £17,000 in crowdfunding donations could have meant to charities attempting to actually do something useful to alleviate suffering.

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Stop

Russian MoD: A ceasefire agreement reached by leaders of armed groups, Deraa province


RT
Sat, 07 Jul 2018 07:22 UTC
Rebel weapons surrendered
© Omar Sanadiki/ReutersCollection of surrendered rebel weapons
A ceasefire agreement has been reached with leaders of armed groups in Syria's Deraa province, Russia's Defense Ministry has said. The leaders also agreed to surrender weaponry, according to the ministerial statement.
"Following negotiations mediated by the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria in the province of Deraa, agreements on [the] following issues have been reached: ceasefire, the start of heavy and medium weapons' handover in all the settlements controlled by the armed groups," the statement read.
The parties have also agreed on a number of other issues, including the settlement of the militants' status. In cases where militants do not wish to settle their status, procedures have been agreed for their evacuation to Idlib province along with their families.

It has also been agreed to resume the work of Syrian government bodies on the territories controlled by armed groups, and on the return of Syrian refugees to their homes from the Jordanian border.
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Dollar

Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak charged in multibillion-dollar 1MBD corruption scandal

Kate Lamb
The Guardian
Wed, 04 Jul 2018 03:54 UTC
Najib Razak
© Ahmad Yusni/EPAFormer Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak arrives at court in Kuala Lumpur.
The former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has appeared in court in Kuala Lumpur where he was charged with corruption-related offences over his alleged involvement in the multibillion-dollar 1MBD corruption scandal.

In a stunning fall from grace, the former prime minister was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of corruption, in a prosecution led by the attorney general, Tommy Thomas. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Najib said: "I claim trial" in a barely audible voice as he stood in the dock at the high court. Prosecutors demanded 4m ringgit (nearly $1m) bail, but the judge granted it at 1m ringgit in cash ($250,000) and ordered Najib to surrender his two diplomatic passports.

The court has also allowed an interim gag order sought by Najib's lawyers, which restricts media discussions around merits of the case, except for what is presented in court. The attorney general said his team opposed the order and they would file a formal response. It is unclear how the scope of the order might restrict reporting of events.

Najib faces allegations that, between August 2011 and March 2015, 42m Malaysian ringgit ($10m) was transferred from SRC International, a 1MDB subsidiary, to his personal bank accounts. Each count carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Whipping is also a penalty but Najib, 64, would be exempt because of his age. The charges also carry a possible fine, which would be no less than five times the value of the funds in question.
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Arrow Up

The Syrian government requests displaced citizens return to liberated areas


PressTV
Tue, 03 Jul 2018 05:27 UTC
Syrians bus
© AFPSyrian refugees board bus evacuating them from Lebanon.
The Syrian government has called on its citizens who have fled the conflicts in the country to return to their homes as the majority of areas have been liberated from terrorist groups.

An official source at the Syrian foreign ministry told SANA on Tuesday that the government will provide security and safety for its citizens in the recaptured areas.

The official also called on the international community and humanitarian organizations to facilitate the voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their country.

According to the UN human rights office and refugee agency UNHCR, 270,000 people have fled the recent fighting in the southwestern province of Dara'a.

Two weeks ago, Syria began the operation to recapture Dara'a, which together with the provinces of Quneitra and Suwaida, forms the Arab country's southern tip. During the push, the government first tried to clinch surrender deals with the terrorists before staging anti-terror operations.
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