Society's ChildS


SOTT Logo

Poll shows Russian opinions split equally over school hijab ban


RT
Tue, 31 Jan 2017 15:27 UTC
Muslim headdress
© Taras Litvinenko / Sputnik
Almost half of the Russian public believes the ban on Muslim headdress in schools should be lifted, but an equal share says authorities should not allow kids to demonstrate their religious allegiances in schools.

According to the latest research by the state-run VTSIOM polling agency, 47 percent of Russians currently see nothing offensive in the practice of Muslim girls wearing hijabs in schools (compared to 35 percent in 2012). The proportion of those who said any external manifestations of belonging to any religion in schools must be restricted was also 47 percent (down from 53 percent in 2012). Six percent said they could not choose sides in this discussion in 2017, half the number who said so in 2012.

The share of those who opposed the hijab ban was predictably higher among Muslims , but also among younger people (18-24 years). The opposite opinion was shared by people over 45 years old and those who described themselves as atheists.
Read More...
Brick Wall

McCain calls cops on Iraqi war veterans waiting to speak with him about Tillerson

Larry Rubin
People's World
Wed, 25 Jan 2017 14:21 UTC
Iraqi war veterans
© Antonia JuhaszIraq war veterans wait to speak with Senator John McCain.
After being arrested for trying to speak with Senator John McCain R.-Ariz., members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) have put out an urgent call for help.

"We wanted to speak to Senator McCain vet-to-vet" about "[our] deep reservations about [Rex] Tillerson as a cabinet pick" for Secretary of State, explained Matt Howard, co-director of IVAW and a Marine Corps helicopter mechanic who was twice deployed to Iraq.

Thursday Howard and eight other Iraqi war veterans went to McCain's office and waited patiently to see him for several hours. McCain was just five doors down from where the veterans were waiting, Howard told the Business Insider.

But instead of spending a few minutes talking with the vets, McCain ordered his staff to call for the Capitol police to arrest them.

"Sen. McCain appreciates the professionalism of the U.S. Capitol police and all that they do to protect senators, staff and visitors to the U.S. Capitol," a McCain spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes, a newsletter for military personnel.

The staffer did not mention that the veterans posed no threat whatsoever. In fact, they stood in an at-ease military formation during most of their wait.
Read More...
Arrow Down

Safe spaces on campus: Top University leaders lambast Trump travel ban


RT
Tue, 31 Jan 2017 12:46 UTC
University
© Mark Makela / Reuters
Leaders of America's top universities from California to Ohio are offering protection and sanctuary to their international students in response to President Donald Trump's immigrant travel ban, while calling it "sweeping, indiscriminate and abrupt."

The 62 institutions comprising the Association of American Universities (AAU) released a statement on Saturday urging government officials to end the travel ban "as quickly as possible."

Trump's executive order, signed on Friday, places a 90-day ban on the entry of immigrants from seven nations with Muslim-majority populations: Syria, Iraq, Libya, Iran, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen. The order also puts a temporary hold on refugees entering the US for 120 days and an indefinite hold on the entry of Syrian refugees.

Comment: Protests and lawsuits aiming to stop "Muslim ban" bankrolled by Soros
Although it's being widely reported that the countries included in Trump's executive order are Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Iran, and Iraq, the only country that is actually specifically mentioned in the EO is Syria. That's because the Obama administration had already designated the other countries listed as being subject to restrictions limiting travel, preceding Trump's "Muslim ban" by a year. The Terrorist Travel Prevention Act was signed into law on December 18, 2015, as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of FY2016.
See also: Trump defends executive order, rejects 'Muslim ban' label: Says visa restrictions to be lifted after 90 days

Read More...
Airplane

Russian firefighters arrive in Chile to help combat unprecedented wildfires


RT
Tue, 31 Jan 2017 01:42 UTC
Russian firefighting plane
© RT
A Russian Emergencies Ministry team is in Chile to help battle the worst wildfires to strike the country in five decades.

The EMERCOM firefighting team was deployed to Santiago at the request of the Chilean government on Monday.

"The Il-76 aircraft arrived in Santiago on January 30, after a transcontinental flight from Moscow, and almost immediately departed to battle the blazes," the Russian Emergencies Ministry told RIA Novosti.

The plane was filled with water shortly after arrival and promptly departed to tackle the fires, RT's Roman Kosarev reported.


The first target for the Russian firefighters is a wooded area around the town of Portezuelo. The wildfires raging around the town endanger several thousands of people and the situation is critical.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Hourglass

"Unmingled" jihadis in Syria prepare to clash in Idlib


FARS News Agency
Mon, 30 Jan 2017 01:55 UTC
Unmingled jihadis
© FNA
Fighters of the newly-formed Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at, mainly from Al-Nusra Front (recently renamed to Fatah al-Sham Front), are getting ready to engage in a fresh round of clashes with Ahrar al-Sham in Northern Idlib, local sources disclosed.

The sources said that Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at that includes al-Nusra Front and several other terrorist groups is getting ready to clash with Ahrar al-Sham near Bab al-Hawa border crossing.

They added that the newly-formed coalition has dispatched a large number of its forces to al-Saheh region near Babl al-Hawa, while Ahrar al-Sham and two affiliated groups of Jeish al-Islam and Tajamo Fastaqem Kama Amrat have deployed a large number of fighters in Bab Saqa and Bab al-Hawa.

The sources went on to say that Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at is about to take control of Bab al-Hawa border crossing that is controlled by Ahrar al-Sham.

Reports said on Sunday that the al-Nusra Front and several militant groups declared that they have decided to form a new coalition named Tahrir Al-Sham Hay'at to narrow down widening rifts amongst their commanders and members.

The Al-Nusra Front, Nouralddeen al-Zinki Movement, Jeish al-Sonah, Jabhat Ansaraldeen and Liwa al-Haq announced that they will act under a united coalition named the Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at.
The five merged terrorist groups will act under the command of Abu Jaber Hashem al-Sheik. Hashem al-Sheikh was one of the commanders of Ahrar al-Sham. The new coalition led by al-Sheikh is now against Ahrar al-Sham.

Comment: See also: Astana talks did it: Jihadis in Syria have now "unmingled" themselves

Read More...
Attention

Yemen rebels hit Saudi naval warship with missile attack


Sputnik
Mon, 30 Jan 2017 23:41 UTC
Houthi militia group strike a Saudi Arabian warship
© Abbas Almutwkel/YouTube
The Houthi militia group has scored a major strike against a Saudi Arabian warship off the western coast of Yemen in the Red Sea.

Local media reports that a Saudi frigate patrolling the waters west of Hodeida was struck by Houthi weapons. The warship was struck by "three suicide boats belonging to the Houthi militias," news outlet SPA said.

The Saudi news agency noted that the missile killed two navy servicemembers, while injuring three others. The Yemen-based group has corroborated SPA's claims, noting that they hit the seacraft.

A man in the video shouted "Allahu Akbar, death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory for Islam."
Read More...
Newspaper

Charges dropped against RT America journalist for covering inauguration protests


RT
Mon, 30 Jan 2017 22:33 UTC
Alexander Rubinstein
© Alexander Rubinstein / Facebook
The US Attorney's Office for Washington DC has dropped charges of felony rioting against RT America's Alexander Rubinstein. He was among six journalists who were arrested while covering protests against the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

Rubinstein was wearing his press credentials and identified himself as a journalist when he was arrested. He was later charged with felony rioting, the highest level offense under the District of Columbia's public disturbances law. Although he and the five other reporters were released on January 21, the charges against him were not dropped until Monday.

Comment: Also see: International press outraged as journalists arrested while covering inauguration protests face up to 10 years in prison

Read More...
No Entry

Deja vu: Russian paralympians barred from 2018 Winter Games qualifiers


RT
Mon, 30 Jan 2017 18:44 UTC
Russian paralympian
© Real Russia Today
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has declined a bid from the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) to allow their athletes to compete in the qualifying rounds for the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games. The IPC Executive Committee discussed the issue at its meeting in the German city of Bonn on January 29, and decided to decline Russia's bid, the RPC said in a statement, citing a letter from the IPC.

Earlier, the RPC offered to provide "clear guarantees" to the IPC that all Russian athletes competing in the qualifiers would be clean. Following the IPC's refusal, the RPC said it would continue to "stand up for the legitimate rights of the Russian paralympians" within the framework of international law, while the athletes would continue to prepare for the competitions, including the 2018 Paralympian Games scheduled to be held in South Korea.

The RPC also stressed once again that there's never been a state-sponsored doping system in Russia and condemned doping in sport. It also vowed to continue to cooperate with the international anti-doping bodies.

Vladimir Lukin, the head of the RPC, told RT the IPC refused to allow Russian Paralympians to take part in the qualifiers without giving any reasons. "They just said that the IPC's answer [to RPC's proposal] is no," Lukin said. He added the IPC's refusal to grant the Russian team a right to compete in qualifiers "raises formidable obstacles" for Russia's participation in the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea.


Comment: This IS collective punishment. What is missing is the crime.

Read More...
Apple Red

Media reports: Apple removing Iranian applications from its App Store


RT
Mon, 30 Jan 2017 14:26 UTC
Apple store Tehran
© Atta Kenare / AFPStore selling Apple products near Tehran.
US tech giant Apple has started deleting applications supplied by Iranian startups and developers from its App Store, according to various media reports. The company removed application of the biggest Iranian e-commerce service, Digikala, which has millions of users, Iran's tech news site Techrasa reports.

Last September, Apple temporarily opened the App Store for businesses based in Iran, gradually lifting limitations previously imposed due to international sanctions. As there is no official App Store available in the Islamic Republic, most of the companies had to register their apps as being outside of the country.

Digikala service uses the Shaparak payment operator, which is completely isolated from international systems. That would allow the service not to contradict Apple's terms. Moreover, several Iranian banks have apps for the iOS platform which are often side-loaded onto phones.

Comment: Glitch? Or a governmental bite out of the Apple!

Read More...
SOTT Logo

We need to talk about the online radicalisation of young, white men

Abi Wilkinson
The Guardian
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 15:06 UTC
Milo Yiannopoulos
Milo Yiannopoulos, 'Alt.Right figurehead', apparently
For several years now, I've had a dark and fairly unusual hobby. When I'm alone and bored and the mood strikes me, I'll open up my laptop and head for a particularly unsavoury corner of the internet.

No, not the bit you're thinking of. Somewhere far worse. That loose network of blogs, forums, subreddits and alternative media publications colloquially known as the "manosphere". An online subculture centred around hatred, anger and resentment of feminism specifically, and women more broadly. It's grimly fascinating and now troubling relevant.

In modern parlance, this is part of the phenomenon known as the "alt-right". More sympathetic commentators portray it as "a backlash to PC culture" and critics call it out as neofascism. Over the past year, it has been strange to see the disturbing internet subculture I've followed for so long enter the mainstream. The executive chairman of one of its most popular media outlets, Breitbart, has just been appointed Donald Trump's chief of strategy, and their UK bureau chief was among the first Brits to have a meeting with the president-elect. Their figurehead - Milo Yiannopoulos - toured the country stumping for him during the campaign on his "Dangerous Faggot" tour. These people are now part of the political landscape.
Read More...