Society's ChildS


Yoda

Bassem Tamimi explains 'Why Ahed slapped the soldier'


Mondoweiss
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 14:42 UTC
Ahed Tamimi slapping Israeli soldiers
© Unknown
This interview with Bassem Tamimi was recorded on May 4, 2018 in the occupied village of Nabi Saleh, by International Solidarity Movement activists.

His daughter Ahed Tamimi, 17, is serving an eight-month prison sentence for slapping an Israeli soldier on the family's property on December 15 of last year, after Israeli soldiers shot her cousin in the face.

Bassem reflects on his daughter's choice:
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People

The BBC closes the gender gap by introducing inclusive toilets


RT
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 14:34 UTC
inclusive restroom
© David Bro/Global Look Press
While it may still need to work on closing its gender pay gap, the BBC beats its rivals on inclusiveness when it comes to gender-neutral toilets, a new report from media regulator Ofcom has found.

According to The Times, Ofcom's investigation into diversity in the radio industry found that the state-run broadcaster has installed gender-neutral restrooms in all of its buildings where practically possible, as well as offering paid leave to those changing their gender in a bid to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for transgender employees.

Diversity statistics provided by the broadcaster on its 21,239 employees found that 417 of those identify as transgender. It also found that 786 are gay men, while there are 206 gay women and 365 people who identify as bisexual.

Gender-neutral cubicles offered to all are often preferred by transgender employees, uncomfortable with sex-segregated lavatories.

While the report praised the BBC for leading its biggest commercial rivals Global (Classic FM, LBC, Heart) and Bauer (Absolute, Magic, Kiss) on inclusion, it warned that ethnic minorities and disabled people are under-represented in the radio industry, including at the BBC.
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Cell Phone

Tourist couple in Portugal fall to their death while 'trying to take selfie'

Agence France-Presse
The Guardian
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 07:00 UTC
Ericeira in Portugal
© REDA&CO/UIG via Getty ImagesA couple have fallen to their death at the beach town of Ericeira in Portugal.


Authorities say couple may have dropped phone while taking picture on 40-metre-high wall near Ericeira

A couple believed to be from Britain and Australia have fallen to their death from a wall overlooking a popular tourist beach in Portugal, apparently losing their balance after taking a selfie.

Portugal's Correio da Manhã newspaper reported that the couple had died on the Praia dos Pescadores (Fishermen's Beach) near Ericeira, a picturesque seaside resort on the country's west coast.

Rui Pereira da Terra, the head of the rescue service in Cascais port near Lisbon, told the news agency Lusa that officials suspected the man and woman had been taking a selfie on a wall above the beach when they fell.

Comment: Something about taking selfies seems to make people completely unaware of their environment and the danger that they're facing. Maybe the narcissistic impulse takes over and all self awareness goes out the window.

See also:

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Mr. Potato

Alec Baldwin says he 'would absolutely win' against Trump in next presidential election


Fox News
Tue, 12 Jun 2018 14:30 UTC
Alec Baldwin
© ReutersSeptember 17, 2017: Alec Baldwin arrives to 69th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California.
Emmy-winning actor Alec Baldwin said Monday he would easily win against President Donald Trump if he'd run in the 2020 presidential election.

"If I ran, I would win," Baldwin told Howard Stern during a discussion on his Sirius XM radio show about the potential candidates in the next presidential election, the Daily Beast reported.

"I would absolutely win. One thousand percent," the actor added, though joking that his wife and being a host of a game show is stopping him from actually launching a bid to become the leader of the free world.

Comment: Baldwin is probably thinking that simply because he can imitate Trump he could also do his job. What a delusional Hollywood egomaniac.

See also:

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Heart - Black

Newly-built Doctors Without Borders facility in Yemen destroyed by Saudi-led coalition strikes


RT
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 14:33 UTC
yemen airstrike hospital
© ReutersPeople inspect damage at an MSF facility after it was hit by an airstrike
A newly built cholera care center, run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the town of Abs, has been hit by Saudi-led coalition planes in yet another airstrike on the medical charity's facilities in war-ravaged Yemen.

The attack has rendered the center "non-functional," MSF said in a statement, with photos from the scene showing that the building's roof and some of the walls were completely destroyed in the airstrike. Luckily, the bombing in the Hajjah governorate did not result in deaths or injuries, because the "facility had not yet received any cholera patients and was empty," the statement read.

Comment:

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Handcuffs

Texas-born cocaine kingpin sentenced to 50 years for drug trafficking


The Guardian
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 14:05 UTC
Edgar Valdez Villarreal
© Alexandre Meneghini/APEdgar Valdez Villarreal is arrested in Mexico City on 31 August 2010.
A Texas-born man who prosecutors say rose to the top ranks of a Mexican drug cartel using ruthless violence to defeat rivals and secure control of drug trafficking routes was sentenced Monday by a federal judge in Atlanta to serve nearly five decades in prison.

Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie" because of his light eyes and complexion, was sentenced to serve 49 years and one month and was also ordered to forfeit $192 million, which prosecutors say is a conservative estimate of the value of the cocaine Valdez was responsible for importing into the United States.

Valdez, 44, was accused of bringing trucks full of cocaine from Mexico to the eastern United States and shipping millions of dollars in cash back to Mexico.

He was arrested in Mexico in 2010 and was among 13 people extradited to the US from Mexico in September 2015 to face charges. He pleaded guilty in January 2016 to charges of conspiring to import and distribute cocaine, and conspiring to launder money.

Comment: The DOJ had this to say about Villareal's arrest:
Following his conviction, the US Department of Justice described Villareal as a man who had climbed the cartel ladder in Mexico "leaving in his wake countless lives destroyed by drugs and violence."

"Valdez-Villareal engaged in two decades of drug trafficking crimes and reigned with immeasurable acts of violence and intimidation," DEA agent Robert J Murphy said following the trial.

"His ruthless and violent drug trafficking crimes and activities posed a significant threat to the quality of life in our country and elsewhere. The lengthy sentence he received makes the US a safer place," he added.


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Megaphone

Real racism isn't to be found in Trump's Twitter feed, it's in America's elite universities

Ying Ma
Washington Examiner
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 13:23 UTC
Harvard
© Elise Amendola/APHarvard is being sued for discriminating against Asian American students, while the Justice Department is conducting an investigation into the school’s possible discriminatory practices.
There is real racism in America. It resides at elite institutions like Harvard, not President Trump's twitter feed.

It has become commonplace for the mainstream media and Trump haters to accuse the president of being racist. Just recently, they found more fodder when President Trump commented on the firing of ABC star Roseanne Barr without condemning Barr's racist tweet that started the controversy.

Instead, the president griped about ABC's biased media coverage against him. Trump haters wasted no time to work up their outrage, accusing the president of stooping to a new low, and normalizing racism.

Comment: The trending normalization of racism is really quite disturbing, and its rather odd that Asians, a clear minority in the US, are one of its victims. All of this is going nowhere good, and it's accelerating.

See also:

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Gear

Girls' track meet records being set by transgender biological boys who now claim to be "girls"

Ethan Huff
Natural News
Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:01 UTC
track runner loss
One by one, records in everything from the 100 meter dash to the long jump to the pole vault are being broken at female track meets all around the world. But in many cases, it isn't real females who are doing all of this "winning."

It's biological males pretending to be "females" who are actually stealing much of the athletic glory in women's sports these days, including in Connecticut recently where a high school boy claiming to be a "girl" broke two State Open records, one in the 100 meter dash and the other in the 200 meter dash.

Terry Miller was born with a penis, but he now claims to be a girl and self-identifies as a "transgender." This gave him politically correct access to the girls' track team, of course, where "she" now races alongside actual females who, because of their natural biology, aren't as muscular or athletically adept as "she" is.

Comment: It seems this is becoming more and more common and the issue isn't being addressed for what it is: people having an unfair advantage in athletic competition. It should be looked upon in the same light as some athletes taking performance enhancing drugs - it isn't fair to those who are honestly trying to compete.

See also:

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No Entry

Campaigners warn memes 'will be banned' under new EU copyright law


Sky News
Sat, 09 Jun 2018 19:38 UTC
EU directive mobile
A new EU law will 'ban memes', warn campaigners
A new copyright law from the European Union would lead to the banning of memes on the internet, campaigners are warning.

The EU Copyright Directive intends to protect the intellectual property rights of people who upload their material to the internet.

However, campaigners are warning the law will require "all content uploaded to the internet to be monitored and potentially deleted if a likeness to existing copyright is protected".

The campaign against a particular provision of the directive, Article 13, warns that online platforms would be economically damaged if they were forced to comply with its expensive obligations.

The law would "destroy the internet as we know it" warn the campaigners, who add it would "allow big companies to control what we see and do online".

Comment: More notably, there is a lot of truth in memes - something that those controlling the narrative would rather see just go away. But it's unlikely these copyright laws will do much to actually stop that as the majority of it should fall under "fair use". Perhaps what's more concerning: Copyright trolls censor internet content with false claims of infringement

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Briefcase

Laurier teaching assistant, Lindsay Shepherd, launches $3.6M lawsuit for university free speech abuses

Sam Pazzano
Toronto Sun
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 10:30 UTC
Lindsay Shepherd
© Dave Abel / Dave Abel/Toronto SunLindsay Shepherd speaks during a rally in support of freedom of expression at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo on Friday November 24, 2017.
A teaching assistant who endured a "vicious lambasting" and campaign of vitriol after daring to air a televised debate by cutting-edge professor and best-selling authour Jordan Peterson has filed a $3.6 million lawsuit against two professors, a bureaucrat and their employer Wilfrid Laurier University.

Lindsay Shepherd is seeking $1,000,000 in punitive damages and $500,000 apiece for harassment, intentional infliction of nervous shock, negligence, aggravated and general damages, plus $100,000 for constructive dismissal.
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