Society's ChildS


Briefcase

Law schools were not meant to be combatants in culture wars

Bruce Pardy
The National Post
Tue, 03 Apr 2018 20:34 UTC
blind justice statute
© Mark van Manen/Vancouver Sun/Postmedia NewsA statue of Justice stands outside the law courts in Vancouver, B.C.
Any law professor can legitimately express his or her own views. Imposing those views on others and restricting their speech is quite another thing

When Windsor law school condemned the Canadian legal system as an instrument of oppression, I suggested in a Post column that legal education had lost its way. Some of my colleagues do not agree. Law schools should be political, say Queen's assistant professors Lisa Kelly and Lisa Kerr in a piece published in the Globe and Mail. "Law has helped to create much of the inequality that we see today, and we should be suspicious of those who don't want law schools to notice."

Kelly and Kerr say that law is political, and on that they are correct. Legal rules have historical and philosophical context and reflect ideas about how the world should work. How should we punish people who harm others? Should the same standards apply to everyone? Can the government tell you what to say? The law on these subjects reflects political beliefs. Good law teachers embrace that reality to examine and challenge received truths. Legal education should expose students to a diverse set of perspectives so that they can figure out what they think. That is quite a different thing from law schools advocating an ideology and telling students what to believe. Rather than teaching intelligent critical thinking about the politics of law, law schools have themselves become political torchbearers for social justice dogma. The result is as much indoctrination as education.
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People

Central American 'caravan' of migrants to end in Mexico City

Delphine Schrank
Reuters
Wed, 04 Apr 2018 18:10 UTC
Central American migrants immigrants immigration
© REUTERS/Henry RomeroCentral American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U.S. border, stand in line to register at a makeshift centre of Mexico's National Institute of Migration, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 4, 2018.
Matías Romero, Mexico - Central American migrants stranded on a journey through Mexico because of U.S. President Donald Trump's pressure on the Mexican government say they will struggle on toward the United States, even as their "caravan" said it would disband in Mexico City.

Fearful of the risks to children among the bedraggled and tired knot of travelers, the organizers of the annual caravan, U.S.-based advocacy group Pueblo Sin Fronteras, said it would end in the capital, not at the border as had been planned.

"It's not because of Donald Trump," said Irineo Mujica, director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, which has staged the caravan since 2010 to draw attention to migrants' rights and help them.

Mujica said the group did not want to put children on freight trains, which are traditionally used to cover part of the journey to the border. Nicknamed "la bestia" (the beast), the train is infamous for causing injury to migrants.

Trump has lashed out at the caravan, accusing Mexico of failing to stop illegal immigrants heading to the border.

The president took a hard line on illegal immigration during the 2016 election campaign and is frustrated by the failure of Congress to fund his long-promised border wall.

Comment: Trump displays outrage over Mexico migrant caravan

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Sherlock

The CDC's Ebola and Zika virus supervisor goes missing with no leads (Update)

John Vibes
The Free Thought Project
Sat, 24 Feb 2018 17:18 UTC
Timothy Cunningham
Timothy Cunningham
35-year-old Timothy Cunningham, a high ranking employee with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been missing for nearly two weeks. Cunningham went home from work claiming he was sick on February 12 and has not been seen or heard from since.

According to the CDC, Cunningham is a graduate of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a commander in the Public Health Service who was responsible for responding to and supervising emergency situations with the Ebola virus and the Zika virus.

Last week, the Atlanta Police Department issued a missing persons notice through their Facebook page, and since it has received nearly 2,000 shares, but still no leads.

Cunningham's family said that this is extremely unusual behavior for him, since he is usually very close with his family, and he would never leave without letting them know or making sure that his dog was taken care of. When his family went to look for him at his home they found his phone, wallet, car, and keys, along with his dog.

Comment: Update (April 5, 2018): The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Timothy Cunningham was found dead in the Chattahoochee River. Investigators said there was no signs of foul play, that he likely drowned.

See also: Missing CDC employee left work sick 10 days ago, hasn't been seen since

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Attention

A few things you'll want to know about so-called 'net neutrality'

Free Our Internet
Breitbart
Tue, 03 Apr 2018 11:13 UTC
Obama zuckerberg
© Associated Press
The following post is sponsored by Free Our Internet.

Three years ago, Google used its influence over the Obama administration to pass sweeping federal government regulations over our modern internet networks. So-called "net neutrality" was subsequently sold to the public through a massive disinformation campaign, asserting that the rules as devised by Obama's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) were necessary to ensure a "free and open internet." Unfortunately, that description couldn't be further from the truth.

So-called net neutrality rules instead gave a false illusion of neutrality online and a false sense of protection. If anything, those rules singlehandedly weakened the free flow of information by empowering the world's most powerful online companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter to censor speech, filter and manipulate information and abuse the collection of your personal data with absolutely no transparency or accountability. Here is how.

Fake Net Neutrality Doesn't Apply to Google and Facebook

Net neutrality rules only apply to internet service providers (ISPs) like Verizon and Comcast. They do not, nor have they ever, been applied to the largest internet companies in the world - Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon.

Net neutrality is the principle that all data on the internet should be treated the same. However, the fake net neutrality purposefully excluded Silicon Valley internet companies, rendering them free to block and discriminate against content.

Comment: See also: F**K You Very Much FCC: The Electrolyte Content of Net Neutrality

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Bulb

Russian F1 officials want to revive 'grid girls' tradition at Sochi Grand Prix


RT
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 19:10 UTC
grid girls
© Hoch Zwei / Global Look Press
Russian F1 officials could go against trend and revive the traditional 'grid girls' role for the 2018 Grand Prix in Sochi, where scantily-clad women accompany the sport's top drivers on the race track.

The position was controversially abolished earlier this year, with F1 bosses claiming it was at odds with modern "societal norms," replacing them with 'Grid Kids' for the 2018/19 season, an initiative whereby young racers would accompany the drivers.
However, Russian Grand Prix organizing committee head Dmitry Kozak rubbished that idea, and said the grid girls could return at the 2018 event, which is scheduled for September 30 at the Sochi Autodrom.

"Naturally it is not right to bring out children, who are afraid of the engineering, at the races. We need to be grown up here," Kozak said at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday, Interfax reported.

"Girls advertise automobiles in all motorsports - it looks attractive and fitting. If we manage to reach an agreement, then we will revive the tradition. And besides, our girls are the most beautiful," he added.

Comment: Previously:

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Pirates

US assisted Daesh in attempt to gain control of Syria's oil


Sputnik
Wed, 04 Apr 2018 11:43 UTC
Syrianoilfields
© AFP/Yousserf KarwashanSyrian Rmeilane oil fields, Hasakeh Province.
The US is trying to establish control over Syrian oil fields, Syrian Deputy Defense Minister Mahmoud al-Shawa said, speaking at the Moscow Conference on International Security.

Mahmoud al-Shawa he said that the United States had "decided to invent various pretexts to justify keeping the illegal presence of their bases and troops on Syrian soil in order to establish control and domination over the oil fields in order to separate Syria." The deputy minister stressed that Washington was also assisting the Daesh terrorist group for this purpose.

The US grossly violated humanitarian law during the conduct of military operations in Syria, Mahmoud al-Shawa said. He noted that after the forces of Russia and Iran "contributed to the end of the war of attrition," the United States stepped up its presence in the northern part of Syria. "This was accompanied by US-Israeli aggression, a gross violation of international humanitarian law in order to support terrorist groups," al-Shawa said at the conference.

The US-led coalition of more than 70 members is conducting military operations in Syria and Iraq. The coalition's strikes in Iraq are conducted in cooperation with Iraqi officials, but in Syria are not sanctioned by the Syrian government or the United Nations Security Council.

Russia has been supporting Syrian government forces in their fight against terrorism at the request of President Bashar Assad since 2015.

Comment: A reasonable assumption. Oil field greed is just one of many illegitimate reasons to remain in Syria.

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Star of David

Israel calls in Air Force to kill single Palestinian man at Gaza security fence


RT
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 17:59 UTC
palestine demonstrators
© Said Khatib / AFPPalestinian demonstrators clash with Israeli forces near the Israel-Gaza border
Israel has shown it is ready and willing to use the might of its air force, as it did in order to kill a single "armed terrorist" - a Palestinian man spotted at the border fence with Gaza.

"Overnight, an IAF aircraft targeted an armed terrorist adjacent to the security fence in northern Gaza," the Israeli Army said in a statement. It added that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operations against "terrorists" will not allow "any harm to the security of Israeli civilians."

It is unclear what kind of aircraft or how many were dispatched for the operation. The Palestinian who came under Israeli fire succumbed to his injuries in Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the Palestinian Health Ministry says.
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Stormtrooper

Trump sends National Guard to Mexican border as migrants vow to continue advance


RT
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 20:14 UTC
Immigrants arrive at the border, Mexico
© Carlos Barria / ReutersImmigrants arrive at the border, Mexico
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday night to send the National Guard to beef up security at the Mexican border and combat illegal immigration.

The deployment will be done in conjunction with border state governors and will begin immediately.

"The threat is real," Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said at a press conference. "We continue to see unacceptable levels of illegal drugs, dangerous gang activity, transnational criminal organizations, and illegal immigration flow across our border."

Precise details about the deployment will be worked out in the coming days, but according to NBC sources, the troops will have no actual physical contact with immigrants. Instead they will provide surveillance and a visible presence to assist border patrol and customs agents.
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Health

Mom given suspended sentence after almost starving her eight-month old baby to death while on raw diet (Update)


RT
Wed, 10 Aug 2016 18:43 UTC
baby in arms
© Reuters
A breastfeeding mother from Sydney has been sentenced to a suspended jail term after she almost starved her eight-month old baby to death while on a strict 'fully raw' diet.

The mother, 33, a maternity ward nurse, was handed a 14-month suspended jail sentence at Campbelltown Local Court on Wednesday after her eight-month old baby boy almost died, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The woman went on a raw food and water-only diet which was supposed to help treat her son's eczema. She reportedly followed the recommendations of Leppington naturopath Marilyn Bodnar, 60.

The boy was admitted to hospital in a near death condition, suffering from starvation and dehydration in May 2015.

Comment: Update: Perth Now reports that Marilyn Bodnar was sentenced to a maximum of 14 months in prison for her crime. She has 'vowed never to work with children again.' Hopefully, she'll have her nursing license revoked and won't be giving anyone advice on health.

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Light Sabers

Feminism, gender pronouns and the fight to change reality through language

Daphne Patai
Minding the Campus
Thu, 29 Mar 2018 17:36 UTC
gender pronouns
Last year, Jordan Peterson, a professor at the University of Toronto, made news when he refused to use the invented pronouns of the transgender movement as prescribed by Canadian law (see chart).

Pronouns these days are a new battleground, as recommendations admonish us all that the standard English pronouns, which traditionally distinguish she from he, him from her, are discriminatory and must now be reassigned or reinvented upon request.

Still, it's worth asking: By changing nouns and pronouns, is one changing one's sex? If I force you to refer to me as he when all anatomical and biological signs indicate I'm a she, have I thereby consolidated a new identity? Does saying it make it so? But then, if physical reality has no traction, why should a "woman" get outraged at the uninvited display of a "penis" in one setting (such as a late-night meeting in a hotel room), but not at precisely the same intrusion in another setting (say, a bathroom or shower room now accessible to all those who "identify as female")?
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