Society's ChildS


Sherlock

Court docs reveal Google's bias against employees with conservative political views

google logo
© Mike Blake / Reuters
Allegations aired by a former Google software engineer fired in 2017 for authoring a memo describing "political bias" within the company as silencing conservative discussion, have been fully revealed in court documents.

Ex-Google engineer James Damore filed a class action lawsuit against the web giant on Monday. The legal case is in response to Damore's sacking on August 7, 2017, after he shared a document entitled 'Google's Ideological Echo Chamber' with colleagues last year.

The divisive document proposed reasons for gender gap in the technology industry, including that "neuroticism" may contribute to "lower number of women in high stress jobs."

Damore highlighted diversity programs, designed for people with a certain gender or race, as an example of discriminatory practices within Google.

Red Flag

British Army slammed over recruitment video capitulating to PC culture, focusing on gender and racial identity politics

british army video still
© YouTube/British Army
The British Army has been slammed for bowing to "political correctness" after spending £1.6 million on a campaign engaging with gender and racial identity politics and encouraging troops to be more emotional.

Army representatives say they want to encourage diversity of religion, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity with their 'Army Belonging 2018' campaign, as well as telling recruits its okay for them to cry.

In promotional videos, voiced by serving soldiers, recruits ask: "Can I be gay in the Army?", "Do I have to be a superhero?", and "What if I get emotional in the Army?"

In another, a Muslim soldier explains how the Army has allowed him to practice Islam, but Christian soldiers are not given the same reassurance in the campaign.

Gold Seal

The Left's 'tolerance police' fail to see the irony in their own intolerant behavior

scared girl
© PeopleImages / Getty Images
On their mission to purge the world of thoughts and opinions that don't slot neatly into their moral agenda and worldview, the increasingly intolerant tolerance police have done some severe damage along the way.

We are frequently bombarded with headlines and hand-wringing over meaningless controversies ignited by people who, I'm convinced, wake up in the morning desperate to find the next focus for their endless capacity for moral outrage. For the most part, these so-called scandals are initiated by those who identify themselves as liberals - and the lines of battle are drawn around issues of race, gender, sexual orientation etc.

Our hyper-sensitive social media culture lends itself perfectly to these kinds of non-controversies, where something as simple as a badly worded tweet can, within minutes, direct a storm of abuse and online bullying toward an individual. The end result can range from a person being forced to issue a public apology for their opinion, to losing their job - or even taking their own life.

The examples are numerous, but one recent case stands out.

Sheriff

Officers arrest one of their own after he attacks innocent man

police assault
All too often, as the Free Thought Project has reported at length, police officers will stand by and do nothing as their fellow cops beat handcuffed women, manhandle children, and otherwise deprive non-violent and often entirely innocent individuals of their civil rights. The incident in this story, however, is not one of those times.

Body camera footage has just been released showing what police are supposed to do when they see a fellow officer creating a victim out of a non-violent person-step in and stop it. Now, North Haven Police Department Sgt. Michael Cirillo has been charged after good cops stepped in and prevented him from causing further harm to a man who posed no threat at all.

On New Year's Eve, the North Haven PD was investigating a burglary and harassment complaint late that morning. Cirillo was one of the responding officers.

As the body camera video shows, without provocation, Cirillo charged the suspect, who was identified as Vincent Terrone. He shoved him down and then put him in the headlock and was about to inflict even more pain just as the other officers forced him to get off Terrone.

Pistol

Mother of armed robber shot dead asks why he was shot five times by gun carrier

mother of armed robber
© Image source: KSAT-TV video screenshotThe mother of an armed robber, who was shot dead by dad protecting his children, is wondering why her son was shot five times instead of just once.
After an armed man entered a Popeye's restaurant in San Antonio last month and reportedly pointed a gun at a customer's children, that customer - a licensed concealed carrier - shot the gunman dead.

But now the mother of the deceased 19-year-old gunman is asking why the father who fatally shot her son chose to fire more than once.

While Cynthia Ruiz acknowledged her son, Andrew Herrera, deserved to be punished and that the dad who shot him was defending his family, she shared a lingering question with KSAT-TV: "Why shoot him four more times? Why did he shoot him five times?"

Ruiz added to the station that she wants to see surveillance video, but police last week wouldn't confirm to KSAT if a video exists.

Family

Muslim population projected to bypass Jews as second-largest US religious denomination by 2040

Muslims
© Stephanie Keith / Reuters
There were some 3.45 million Muslims living in the United States in 2017, according to research by Pew Research Center. That number is expected to jump significantly over the next couple of decades.

Using a variety of different measures, including its own survey and demographic research, Pew determined there were some 3.45 million Muslims of all ages living in the US, and that this religious denomination comprises about 1.1 percent of the US population. The US Census Bureau does not ask questions regarding religion affiliations in its surveys.

That put Muslims in third place in terms of numbers behind Christians and Jews, respectively. However, that number is expected to change rather rapidly by 2050.

According to Pew, "the US Muslim population will grow much faster than the country's Jewish population. By 2040, Muslims will replace Jews as the nation's second-largest religious group after Christians."

Comment: See also: Pew Research Center: Muslim population in Europe to rise from 4.9% to at least 7.4% by the year 2050


Chess

Fancy Bears leaks show McLaren was given 'political order' to file report resulting in Russia's expulsion from Olympics

Richard McLaren
© Peter Power / ReutersRichard McLaren
Hacker team Fancy Bears has released IOC correspondence appearing to indicate Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren was given a 'clear political order' to file a report that resulted in Russia's expulsion from Olympic competition.

A WADA-commissioned report into allegations of state-sponsored doping in Russia authored by McLaren led to a blanket ban on Russia's track and field team from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and also Russia's complete exclusion from the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games next month.

"The Fancy Bears' Hack Team obtained the International Olympic Committee officials' correspondence. These emails and documents point to the fact that the Europeans and the Anglo-Saxons are fighting for power and cash in the sports world," the leak, published Wednesday, begins.

Pistol

Forest ranger kills unarmed man traveling to a spiritual retreat; FBI investigating

Miller family
Community members are horrified and searching for answers after a beloved citizen of Hutchinson, Kansas, was shot and killed by a federal officer while traveling to a spiritual retreat.

Tyler Miller, 51, was driving on a curvy, mountain road in the Coconino National Forest in Arizona when he lost control of his pickup truck and hit a large rock, according to a report from KWCH News. However, the details regarding what happened between the time Miller crashed and the time a federal officer opened fire on him, are still largely unknown.

Attorney Matt Bretz confirmed that the Miller family is still awaiting more information from the FBI, which is currently investigating the shooting:
"He was on his way to a spiritual retreat north of Sedona. The road is a bit curvy. He lost control of the vehicle, went off the road and hit a large rock, and then it becomes rather vague as to what happened, and the FBI hasn't been able to tell us or hasn't told us yet. At some point after the collision, Mr. Miller exited his vehicle, and was shot by a forest ranger."

TV

Sputnik news agency's US news producer forced to register as foreign agent

Sputnik
© Vladimir Astapkovich / Sputnik
A US-based news producer, which provides content for Russian news agency Sputnik, is being forced to register as a foreign agent, as the US apparently continues to single-out Russian news outlets as a threat to America.

The company, called RIA Global LLC, has been notified that it must register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) or face repercussions, Sputnik reported Wednesday. RIA Global, which is staffed by American journalists, was targeted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) because it makes content for Sputnik.

People 2

Roseanne on why half her TV family will support Trump: "It's just realistic, working class Americans elected him"

roseanne show
Roseanne Barr says that when "Roseanne" returns to ABC, half her TV family, the Connors, will support President Trump - because it's realistic that they would.

She said her character, Roseanne, and her husband, Dan (John Goodman) will support Trump because she's always wanted the sitcom to be "a true reflection on the society we live in."

"So I feel like half the people voted for Trump and half didn't, so it's just realistic," she said at a Television Critics Association panel on Monday.

"I've always attempted to portray a realistic portrait of the American people and the working class people. And, in fact, it was working class people who elected Trump," Barr continued. "So I felt like, yeah, that was very real, and something that needed to be discussed."