Society's ChildS


Snowflake

Is 'outrage culture' finally in its death throes?

Heather Wilhelm
National Review
Mon, 29 Jan 2018 20:03 UTC
protestor bullhorn
© Satori13/Dreamstime
Jordan Peterson's popularity as an author and commentator may indicate a coming backlash.

'Don't tell your problems to people," football legend Lou Holtz once declared. "Eighty percent don't care, and the other 20 percent are glad you have them." That's rather harsh, I suppose - I'm sure you'd love to hear about the rogue fire hydrant that leapt in front of my car as I blamelessly tried to park at the local Chuy's last month - but it's probably also not too far from the truth.

Don't tell that to the purveyors of today's simmering outrage culture, however. For a frightening amount of people, the art of being offended by everything - or, even better, loudly and publicly complaining about being offended by everything - is pursued with alarming dedication. For some, being offended is practically a credo and an all-encompassing way of life.
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Question

Farage and Trump are not feminists, but one of them has no idea what it means


RT
Mon, 29 Jan 2018 16:48 UTC
FarageTrump
© Jonathan Bachman/AFP"That? That is feminism?"
Nigel Farage followed his friend Donald Trump's lead on Monday when he claimed that not only is he not a feminist - he doesn't even know what it means. Brexit heavyweight Farage, who has been spotted alongside the US president, spoke hours after Trump declared it would be "going too far" to call himself a feminist.

British journalist Piers Morgan interviewed both men and asked them the same questions. Unsurprisingly, the pair - who appear to be on the same page on many issues - came up with the same answer to the question on feminism.

Trump replied that he "would not say" he was a feminist but added: "I'm for women. I'm for men. I'm for everyone. I think people have to go out ... and they have to win." Trump added: "And women are doing great, and I'm happy about that."

Farage, on the other hand, simply claimed cluelessness when he was interviewed by Morgan.

The pair got into an exchange about "what feminism is" on Good Morning Britain, with Farage insisting he does not understand the term.

Comment: Farage was under 'Piers pressure'.
See also: 'Breaking (broken) news' about Trump not being a 'feminist' triggers fierce public mockery

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Pills

Fentanyl, enough to kill millions, confiscated en route to US from Baja, Mexico

Ildefonso Ortiz, Brandon Darby
Breitbart
Sat, 27 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
Seized drugs
© Mexico's National Security Commission
A traffic stop led Mexican authorities to seize enough fentanyl to kill millions of people as well as almost 1,000 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and other drugs that were headed to the California border.

This week, Mexico's National Security Commission announced the seizure of 45.5 kilograms of fentanyl that were found as part of a synthetic drug shipment in the Mexican beach resort town of Ensenada, Baja California. The seizure also included more than 914 pounds of crystal meth, 87 pounds of cocaine and 18 pounds of heroin.

Unlike the other synthetic drugs, fentanyl is a medically used opioid that is considered to be 100 times more powerful than morphine and prone to lethal overdoses. According to the Oxford Treatment Center, the lethal dose for an individual taking fentanyl is 2 milligrams.

The 45.5 kilograms of fentanyl seized is enough to fuel millions of possible lethal doses.
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Attention

Concerns on the rise over Price's domestic terrorism bill

Dave Ress, Reema Amin
Daily Press
Sun, 28 Jan 2018 01:00 UTC
Marcia Price
© Aileen Devlin/Daily Press / Daily PressDemocrat Delegate of the 95th District Marcia Price, Virginia General Assembly
A proposed law to tackle domestic terrorism raises serious concerns about Virginians' rights of free speech and assembly, advocates for civil liberties say - including the state senator who chairs the committee that would have to approve the measure.

The bill, prepared by Del. Marcia "Cia" Price, D-Newport News, with guidance from Attorney General Mark Herring's office, would create a new criminal offense of domestic terrorism.

It would require the superintendent of Virginia State Police to identify active domestic terrorist organizations and make it illegal in some cases for more than three people associated with those groups to gather together.

"I understand this comes from the attorney general and I would hope there were at least a couple of attorneys there to consider the constitutional implications," said state Sen. Mark Obenshain, the chairman of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee who nearly defeated Herring in his 2013 run for attorney general.

"I'm sympathetic with what the the sponsor is trying to accomplish," said Obenshain, but the bill "raises very serious First Amendment questions."

Comment: This sounds like an interpretation nightmare, which will first consider a judgement of terrorism over the rights of citizens to protest.

See also: Georgia's new 'domestic terrorism' bill could criminalize Muslim and immigrant rights protestors

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Piggy Bank

Thousands of Kenyans participating in basic income experiment that could redefine social welfare

Chris Weller
Business Insider
Mon, 29 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
Kenya basic income
© Chris WellerMonica Atieno Aswan is a basic-income recipient, getting $22 a month to help support her family. "This money has really changed my life," she said.
In a Kenyan village, cows with visible ribs saunter in the fields, here and there bowing their heads to graze. The countryside is sprawling, dry, and, above all, poor.

Gathered at a community meeting in October 2016, villagers listened as a representative from the charity GiveDirectly announced its plans to give everyone a standard salary just for being alive. The payments were part of a system known as universal basic income, or UBI. GiveDirectly's was about to become the largest such experiment ever conducted.

Fourteen months since the study launched, GiveDirectly says it has anecdotal evidence that UBI is reducing poverty and that some of the biggest concerns about giving people free money are unfounded.

And while critics contend that basic income encourages people to form bad habits, people in GiveDirectly's village more often rebuild their roofs and pay for their kids' education than quit work and let their lives waste away.

A once radical idea, UBI is taking hold in nearly a dozen countries and cities worldwide.

Comment: Further reading:

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Robot

Machination: Erotic robot dancers debut in New York City

Eva Kris
Metro, NY
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 18:40 UTC
Robot dancers
Sexy robots seemed like a far-off dream when A.I. came out in 2001. But because we live in a society that knows how profitable men's pleasure is, progress on the erotic robotics front has progressed a lot faster than flying cars.

In fact, the world's first robotic exotic dancers are already here, and will make their New York debut at a Midtown gentleman's club this weekend.

The Robo Twins known as #R2DoubleD and #TripleCPU (and you thought The Last Jedi ruined your childhood) will be working the poles all Friday and Saturday night at Sapphire 39, located at 20 W. 39th St. A rep for the club tells Metro that the robots will be "set up on stage and electronically gyrate/dance around the pole, during which human entertainers will also be performing normally around them."
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Russian Flag

Russian fans banned from waving national flag at PyeongChang Paralympics following decision to keep suspension in force


RT
Mon, 29 Jan 2018 18:01 UTC
Paralympic games 2018 logo
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has banned Russian fans from waving the national tricolor at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Paralympics following the organization's decision to keep Russia's suspension in force.

The IPC made a final decision to maintain Russia's suspension on Monday, meaning only a handful of Russian paralympians would be allowed to compete under the title "Neutral Paralympic Athletes."

In accordance with IPC rules, flags of a "non-participating country" are forbidden from the stands at the Paralympic Games.

Comment: The IPC made its final decision to keep the suspension in force "because the reinstatement criteria have not been met" - which means that Russia and its athletes are hostage to the political whims of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA):
"Because the reinstatement criteria have not been met in full, the IPC Governing Board approved the IPC Taskforce's recommendation to maintain the suspension of the RPC," IPC President Andrew Parsons said at a news conference in Bonn, Germany.

However, Russia's Paralympic Committee has made "significant progress" and the country's anti-doping system "is no longer compromised or corrupted," according to Parsons. He also noted that Russian Paralympic athletes "are amongst the most scrutinized" in the world.

Russia has to meet two criteria for restoring IPC membership, according to the body's statement. They include addressing the findings made by the McLaren report, as well as full reinstatement of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
See also:

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Fire

Chinese military plane crashes during training exercise


RT
Mon, 29 Jan 2018 16:28 UTC
chinese military plane crash
© Ruptly
A Chinese military plane crashed in the southwest province of Guizhou during a training exercise on Monday. Footage from the scene shows the burning wreckage - however it's not clear if there were any casualties. The plane went down in Zhengchang Town, in the county of Suiyang, reported The Beijing News, citing a government office. The incident was confirmed by the People's Liberation Army Air Force on Chinese social media site Weibo, according to AP.

Dramatic footage shows the plane before it goes down. Emergency services were filmed at the scene after impact as flames and thick plumes of smoke rise from the debris. China's Air Force said that a rescue operation was underway. No details were given on the type of plane involved or any possible casualties.

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Monkey Wrench

H&M under fire again, recalls Lego-themed sock because design 'resembled' Arabic script for 'Allah'


RT
Mon, 29 Jan 2018 15:49 UTC
H&M legos sock allah
Swedish clothing giant H&M was forced to remove a range of children's socks from its stores after receiving complaints that part of a design featuring a Lego man with a jackhammer allegedly resembled Arabic script for "Allah."

A pair of socks caused a stir after several customers complained the print featuring a Lego figure resembled the Arabic word for "Allah," if viewed upside down, Swedish media reports.

Comment: See: Radical Leftist Ideologues: Finding Racism Where There is None

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Bullseye

Ruthless 'roo takedown: Cyclist body slammed by marauding marsupial (VIDEO)


RT
Mon, 29 Jan 2018 16:26 UTC
Kangaroo
© Darrin Zammit Lupi / Reuters
A woman was body slammed by a wild kangaroo while out for a leisurely cycle on Australia Day - which may just be the most Australian thing to ever happen.

The cyclist, identified only as Rebecca, was riding in the Boonah region of Queensland with friends on Friday, Australia's official national day, when she was smashed by a 'roo who appeared from the bush and stormed across the road.
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