Society's ChildS


Attention

Publications on Russian propaganda list consider suing anonymous 'experts'

Steven Nelson
US News
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 13:38 UTC
Washington Post fake news graphic
Several American news outlets are considering legal action against the anonymous person or group that last week published a widely distributed list of alleged Russian propaganda outlets and "bona-fide 'useful idiots'" of the Kremlin.

Online publications including the influential news-aggregating Drudge Report, the primary-source publisher WikiLeaks and news outlets of various leanings made "the list" hosted on the website PropOrNot.com.

The Washington Post leaned heavily on the anonymous group's claims last week in an article reporting that "two teams of independent researchers" - including the Foreign Policy Research Institute and PropOrNot - had found a "Russian propaganda effort helped spread 'fake news'" ahead of the recent presidential election.
Read More...
Megaphone

The Washington Post 'blacklist' story is shameful and disgusting

Matt Taibbi
Rolling Stone
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 03:00 UTC
Washington Post offices
© Raedle / Getty
Last week, a technology reporter for the Washington Post named Craig Timberg ran an incredible story. It has no analog that I can think of in modern times. Headlined "Russian propaganda effort helped spread 'fake news' during election, experts say," the piece promotes the work of a shadowy group that smears some 200 alternative news outlets as either knowing or unwitting agents of a foreign power, including popular sites like Truthdig and Naked Capitalism.
Read More...
People

Modi demonetizes 90% of the value of cash, Indians cheer

James Crabtree
Foreign Policy
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 00:00 UTC
Indians at ATM Machines
© CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP/Getty Images
Prime Minister Narendra Modi projects a stern, unbending public image. But the strain of leading the most dramatic and disruptive political change introduced in India for a generation seems to be getting even to him.

"I know that forces are up against me," he said, his voice cracking with emotion, in the aftermath of his sudden move on November 8th to junk India's two largest denomination rupee bills overnight, launching shock therapy for the country's cash-driven shadow economy. "They may not let me live, they may ruin me," he added darkly, "because their loot of 70 years is in trouble."

That sounds dramatic, but the scale of Modi's gamble invites hyperbole. The sudden scrapping of the Rs500 and Rs1000 notes — worth roughly $7 and $15 respectively, and accounting for nearly 90 percent of the value of cash in circulation — has plunged India's economy into chaos. For two weeks, newspaper front pages have pictured long lines snaking around banks, as rich and poor alike queue up to exchange old notes for new. 80 billion dollars has been deposited so far. The final total will be much higher.
Read More...
Cow

Much ado about animal fat: Vegetarians in uproar after Bank of England confirms bank notes contain tallow

Harley Tamplin
Metro
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 10:29 UTC
UK bank notes animal fat
© Rex/ShutterstockBad news, vegans and vegetarians.
The new £5 notes contain animal fat, the Bank of England has confirmed.

Vegans and vegetarians have been left disgusted by the revelations about the note, that has been in circulation for three months.

It contains tallow, a substance made from animal fat that is often used in the manufacturing of candles and soap.
Read More...
Rose

Miss Minnesota Contestant Wears Muslim Headpiece, Burkini

Cristina Silva
International Business Times
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 00:00 UTC
A -19-year-old Somali-American beauty queen became the first woman to wear a burkini and hijab during the Miss Minnesota pageant over the weekend. Halima Aden wore the burkini during the swimsuit portion of the event and the traditional Muslim headpiece during the entire competition.

Aden, a student at St. Cloud State University, was born in a Kenyan refugee camp, and moved to the U.S. when she was six years old. She said an uptick in Islamophobia across the U.S. in recent years has sparked concern in her community. "The people that are doing bad things, they don't represent an entire group," Aden said. "I feel like I'm here to bust those misconceptions and stereotypes of Muslim women."

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Георгиевская ленточка

Genetics researcher gifts Russia with cloned sniffer dogs

Will Stewart
The Mirror
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 01:35 UTC
cloned sniffer dogs
© BarcrotThree Belgian Malinois - each valued at £80,000 - have been gifted to Russia
They are the first cloned service dogs in Russia and will be assigned to police and the FSB secret service in the coldest inhabited region in the world

Special "designer dogs" which have been cloned for sniffing explosives and drugs are being used by police and security services in Russia.

The three Belgian Malinois - each valued at £80,000 - were cloned by a South Korean professor who also aims one day to restore extinct woolly mammoths to the vast and frigid Russian province of Siberia.

They are the first cloned service dogs in Russia and they will be assigned to police and the FSB secret service in Yakutia, the coldest inhabited region in the world.
Read More...
Smoking

Anti-smoking fascism: Driver receives hefty fine for failing to display no-smoking sticker in his own vehicle

Richard Hartley-Parkinson
Metro
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 12:17 UTC
van driver smoking fine
© SWNSTrevor Emery would have been fined a quarter of the cash if he’d actually been smoking.
A van driver has been fined £200 for failing to display a no smoking sticker in his own vehicle - despite not being a smoker.

Trevor, 70, was travelling to a job in Canterbury, Kent, when he was slapped with the penalty by a city council warden.

Trevor Emery and his son Lee, who also does not smoke, were fined four times more than if they had actually been caught smoking in the van, because it is used for Trevor's appliance repair business.

The washing machine repairer was left bewildered by the law, which makes it compulsory to display a no smoking sticker in a work van.

Trevor, 70, was travelling to a job in Canterbury, Kent, when he was slapped with the penalty by a city council warden.

Comment: Police departments have become quite cunning in devising ways to generate revenue by squeezing the hapless population.

Read More...
Sheriff

DAPL protestors injured by rubber bullets, tear gas canisters and water cannons file class-action lawsuit

Alleen Brown
The Intercept
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 07:26 UTC
water cannon standing rock DAPL
© Stephanie Keith / ReutersPolice use a water cannon on protesters during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S. November 20, 2016.
Pipeline demonstrators injured by rubber bullets, tear gas canisters, and water cannons during a wintry nighttime standoff with police last week filed a class-action lawsuit Monday against the sheriff of the North Dakota county involved. The suit describes in new detail the evening of November 20, when more than 200 people protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline were injured by "less-than-lethal" weapons.

The lawsuit alleges that sheriff's deputies and police officers used excessive force when they deployed impact munitions, like rubber bullets, as well as explosive tear gas grenades and water cannons against protesters. It argues that the tactics were retaliatory, punishing those involved for exercising free speech rights. It also argues that officers were inadequately trained to handle the situation, naming Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler, and Stutsman County Sheriff Chad Keiser as defendants.
Read More...
Book

German Salafist group 'We Love Muhammad' gives away bios of Muhammad


RT
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 01:12 UTC
germany salifists muhammad biography
© PierreVogel.de / Facebook
Salafist radicals have launched a campaign to distribute free biographies of the Prophet Muhammad in several German cities, but a similar group has already been banned by security services nationwide for encouraging Muslims to join Islamic State.

The distribution drive began last weekend in large Germany cities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, including Cologne, Munster and Iserlohn, Die Zeit reported on Tuesday.

Members of the Salafist radical group 'We Love Muhammad' were seen distributing free copies of the Islamic prophet's biography in pedestrian zones in those cities.

"A free gift for you," read the Islamists' posters, according to Die Zeit.

The German Interior Ministry has already banned the radical Islamist group 'Die wahre Religion' ('The True Religion') group from evangelizing Salafist ideology, subjecting it to a large-scale police investigation in 60 German cities on November 15, in which some 190 mosques, offices, and apartments associated with The True Religion were reportedly searched in 10 federal states.

Comment: Further reading:

Salafism vs. Wahhabism: Are they the same?

Read More...
Eye 2

Cop arrested and charged with sexual assault for raping, defecating on and forcing victim to drink his urine

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 22:53 UTC
robert retford
Former deputy Robert Retford, with the Johnson County Sheriff's Department was arrested Monday on charges of sexual assault. His alleged victim was apparently seeking help from the deputy when she said he beat her, raped her and defecated on her, and made her drink his urine.

On Tuesday, the now-former deputy was released on a $5,000 bond and was told to surrender his passport.

Police had enough evidence to bring the deputy into custody on Monday after his alleged victim came forward in September.

The local news company stated they do not give out the names of alleged victims. However, this case was different. According to 40/29 News, in this case, the woman asked to be identified and wants everyone to know what she says the deputy did to her.

In their report on the incident, 40/29 refers to the victim as Shanna. "This man raped me," Shanna said.
Read More...