Society's ChildS


Wine n Glass

French tourism suffering in wake of multiple terror attacks


RT
Mon, 08 Aug 2016 15:11 UTC
tourism france
© Eric Gaillard / Reuters
Overnight stays in French hotels dropped 10 percent in July compared to last year with the wealthiest travelers from outside Europe turning their backs on the country, according to French Tourism Minister Matthias Fekl.

Luxury accommodation was the worst hit as high spending tourists from the US, Asia and the Gulf States in particular cancelled their travel plans, the minister said in an interview with Journal du Dimanche on Sunday.

Visitors from the three regions "strongly reacted to the attacks and with the plush hotels suffering more," Fekl stressed. France is usually visited by 3.2 million Americans annually.

Paris and the Ile-de-France region were the most affected by the absence of well-heeled travelers with tourist stays in other regions showing a two percent upturn in the January-June period, the minister said.
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Arrow Up

Revolt against Monsanto: Indian government promoting use of indigenous seed

Christina Sarish
Undergroundreporter.org
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC
Bt cotton, indian farmers, Monsanto cotton
Monsanto is losing millions on failed GM cotton. The company illegally pushed a form of Bt cotton into India and Africa more than a decade ago, but farmers are now pushing back by planting their own indigenous seed.

Monsanto is accused of writing laws and then breaking them to enter the market in India, but after more than 300,000 farmer deaths between 1995 and 2013, many of them attributed to Monsanto, the company is finally paying for their misdeeds. The corporation's greed is linked to farmer suicides throughout Maharashtra, considered the 'Cotton Belt' in India.

The Indian government is now actively promoting the use of indigenous seed, and has called Monsanto out for profiteering illegally on Bt cotton seed.

Monsanto has already lost nearly $75 million in royalties this year (5 billion rupees) due to the change in seed choice by farmers. Sales in India have fallen by 15 percent, and though this is a relatively small market share, it is still making a huge impact on the company's bottom line.

This could be the end of Monsanto, altogether, in India. Keshav Raj Kranthi, head of India's Central Institute for Cotton Research said:
"Just wait for the crucial three to four years to see a complete, natural turnaround. By then most farmers will give up Bt cotton and go for the indigenous variety."

Comment:
Dr. Vandana Shiva: Seeds of suicide

Patents on seeds are unjust. A patent or any intellectual property right is a monopoly granted by society in exchange for benefits. But society has no benefit in toxic, non-renewable seeds. We are losing biodiversity, we are losing nutrition, and quality of our food. Above all, we are losing our fundamental freedom to decide what seeds we will sow.

Seed as a common good has become a commodity of private companies. Unless protected and put back in the hands of our farmers, it is at risk of being lost forever.


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Snakes in Suits

Virginia Mayor resigns after methamphetamine arrest


Sputnik
Mon, 08 Aug 2016 17:06 UTC
Mayor of the City of Fairfax Richard 'Scott' Silverthorne
© Fairfax Country Police DepartmentMayor of the City of Fairfax Richard 'Scott' Silverthorne.
Fairfax City Mayor Richard "Scott" Silverthorne announced that he will resign from office following his arrest last week by Virginia police for felony distribution of methamphetamine.

Silverthorne announced that he will resign effective at noon on Monday, WTTG-TV (Fox 5) reported.

On Friday, Silverthorne was arrested and charged by local police for felony distribution of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

The mayor and two other suspects allegedly distributed the drugs through a sex website, according to Virginia's Fairfax County Police.

In 2016, Silverthorne was elected to his third term as mayor. He was also employed as a substitute teacher for the Fairfax County Public Schools.
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Sun

Culture insider: How ancient people escaped the summer heat


China Daily
Mon, 08 Aug 2016 16:48 UTC
Ancient Chinese people collect natural ice in winter.
Ancient people collect natural ice in winter.
According to the Chinese solar terms, it's Major Heat now, when most parts of China experience the hottest days of the year. During the scorching summer, we modern people can enjoy cold drinks in an air-conditioned room to escape the heat. But how did ancient people cool down without these modern-day technologies?

Icehouse and ice ticket

As early as Pre-Qin Dynasty (2100-221 BC), people used natural ice to keep food fresh and make cold drinks. According to the record in the Confucian classic Zhou Rites, the Zhou royal court had a specialized department called the "ice administration" which had 80 employees. The department collected natural ice blocks each December, and then transported them to the ice house for storage.

Some senior officials were awarded ice cubes by the Zhou royal court, which was a big honor during that time. The system of granting ice lasted until the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. During the Qing Dynasty, "ice tickets" were distributed to officials instead of sending the ice directly to them.
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Red Flag

Rigging an election: Professor proves electronic voting machines are ridiculously bereft of security

Claire Bernish
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 07 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC
andrew appel, electronic vote, vote hacking
Andrew Appel
A professor from Princeton University and a graduate student just proved electronic voting machines in the U.S. remain astonishingly vulnerable to hackers — and they did it in under eight minutes.

In fact, Professor Andrew Appel and grad student Alex Halderman took just seven minutes to break into the authentic Sequoia AVC Advantage electronic voting machine Appel purchased for $82 online — one of the oldest models, but still in use Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia, Politico reported.

After Halderman picked the hulking, 250-pound machine's lock in seven seconds flat, Appel wrested its four ROM chips from a circuit board — an easy feat, considering the chips weren't soldered in place.

Once freed, Appel could facilely replace the ROM chips with his own version "of modified firmware that could throw off the machine's results, subtly altering the tally of votes, never to betray a hint to the voter," Politico's Ben Wofford explained.

Appel and a team of other so-called cyber-academics have hacked into various models of electronic voting machines in order to prove to the public the equipment is ridiculously bereft of security. Together with Ed Felten, Appel and a group of Princeton students "relentlessly hacked one voting machine after another ... reprogramming one popular machine to play Pac-Man; infecting popular models with self-duplicating malware; [and] discovering keys to voting machine locks that could be ordered on eBay."

Comment:

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2 + 2 = 4

Garland Texas "Draw Mohammed" contest attackers were managed by FBI

Tony Cartalucci
Land Destroyer Report
Sun, 07 Aug 2016 16:21 UTC
garland texas
Two more FBI-created terrorists.
UPDATE: Readers should backtrack to CNN's 2015 coverage of the Garland, Texas shooting to see just how badly they are being deceived. As readers watch CNN's video coverage and read the article, they must keep in mind that the FBI had been in contact with the suspects for years, and encouraged them to carry out the attack.

To some the 2015 shooting in Garland Texas at a "Draw Mohammed" contest organized by state-sponsored agitators seemed all too convenient.

The protest was meant to prove Muslims were irrational and violent, and amid the protest two armed men did indeed attack, both killed by police who were already on the scene.

The event was meant to reinforce the narrative that Islam is an irrational and dangerous ideology, that Muslims pose a danger to America and the West in general, and that both Islam and Muslims should be actively resisted culturally, politically, and militarily.

It was the culmination of years of agitation through networks maintained by Washington politicians and policymakers, particularly those who have - ironically - not only engineered America's various and unending wars begun during the so-called "War on Terror," but who have also armed and funded some of the most dangerous terrorist organizations on Earth via America's Persian Gulf allies.

Now it is revealed that not only was the protest organized by politicians and organizations associated with Washington, but the shooting was as well.

Comment: Further reading: This should come as no surprise. The vast majority of so-called Islamic terrorists in the USA are radicalized and handled by FBI agents and informants. Without the FBI, the country would be a lot safer.

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Star of David

Israel criminalizes conscience: Task force set up to crush foreign BDS activists


RT
Mon, 08 Aug 2016 16:06 UTC
bds movement
© Revolutionary Communist Group / YouTube
Israel has formed a new joint ministerial task force to track down and deport Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement activists that, according to Jewish officials, delegitimize and destroy the country from within.


Comment: They've got a point. It's like of as if the apartheid South African government would have banned anti-apartheid activists. Such activities delegitimize apartheid regimes, and may eventually lead to their 'destruction'. The thing is, that's a good thing.


The BDS international activists work to end international support for what they believe is Israel's "oppression of Palestinians." BDS calls for boycotts, sanctions, and divestment from Israel. Tel Aviv, however, views the movement as a threat to its national security.


Comment: Israel as a Jewish-only apartheid regime can only be "secure" if it maintains its military occupation of Palestine and its apartheid worldview and policies.


The new task force announced Sunday by Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan and Interior Minister Arye Dery will effectively spy on hundreds of activists as well as organizations in the country. The data collected will then be used to identify foreign BDS activists and build a case against them, to deport and deny them future entry to Israel.

The task force "is a necessary step in light of the malicious intentions of delegitimizing activists who work to spread lies and twist the truth about the reality in our region," Erdan said.
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Attention

West looks away while fascism returns to Europe

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Sat, 06 Aug 2016 18:00 UTC
Nazi Europe
© The Duran

As some East European states refuse to confront their history the Western powers look the other way.

The German word Vergangenheitsbewältigung is a mouthful, but the reluctance of some nations to address and condemn their fascist past has the ability to leave one tongue-tired.

Vergangenheitsbewältigung is generally translated to English as 'overcoming the past'. Whilst the word originates in the former West Germany, both post-war German states educated their population so that they could learn from the past rather than ignore it, wish it away or worse yet, embrace it. Whilst the process in Germany has generally been highly effective, there are other countries in Europe that seem not only comfortable with their Nazi past but whose citizens openly glorify it.

Comment: A good question to ask would be, did fascism ever really leave?

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Red Flag

Rio 2016 Olympics: Wrong Chinese flag used in medal ceremonies

Kate Nelson
Independent
Mon, 08 Aug 2016 09:30 UTC
China flag
© AFP/GettyRio officials insist all flags were approved by national committees before the games.
Chinese viewers and media are incensed after the wrong national flag was repeatedly used during medal presentation ceremonies.

The Rio organizing committee is understood to be hastily sourcing the correct design for the notoriously patriotic country.

The mishap echoes a similar blunder by London 2012 officials when North Korea's women's football team refused to play after the flag of their bitter enemies South Korea was displayed next to their names during a match against Columbia. At the time, the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games called the mistake "an embarrassment".

Comment: Innocent mistake, or deliberate insult?

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Info

Krit McClean: A manic episode led me to strip naked in Times Square

Melkorka Licea
New York Post
Sat, 06 Aug 2016 15:25 UTC
Krit McClean
© J.C. Rice
Krit McClean made headlines in late June by stripping naked in Times Square and jumping from the top of the TKTS booth. Here, the 21-year-old fashion model and college student speaks publicly for the first time about his meltdown with The Post's Melkorka Licea.

It was a bright morning on June 30 when I stepped off the F train near Times Square. I had blisters all over my feet from walking barefoot and was overwhelmed with fear.

As I headed to my apartment in Hell's Kitchen, I was in the throes of paranoia. I thought evil people were out to get me.

As I stared at the towering ads of Times Square, they started to send me subliminal messages.
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