Society's Child

Beirut's half-hearted concessions spark Lebanese unity, organizers proclaim 'it's what we've been dreaming of'

Sputnik
Tue, 22 Oct 2019 03:50 UTC

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Lebanon to protest corruption, economic instability and the ruling class's austerity measures, continuing to grow after half-hearted concessions from Beirut. For political organizers, the unity between sects, genders, and nationalities is "what we have been dreaming of."

The mass protests will go down in history as the first time the working class in Lebanon has come together in solidarity despite differences in sect and demographic, Jana Nakhal, an urban planner and Central Committee member of the Lebanese Communist Party, told Radio Sputnik's By Any Means Necessary Monday.

The unrest in Lebanon began five days ago in response to the government's attempt to impose taxes on tobacco and internet calls through messaging apps like WhatsApp. However, the protests have since evolved into a call for the resignation of government officials and the transfer of power to a council of judges until new elections can be held.

Comment: Is Lebanon showing signs of a color revolution? So far the uprising is aimed at the ineptitude of the government to rectify and resolve troubling financial and civil issues. However, the fine line separating these two agendas may quickly disappear as foreign intervention seizes its opportunity to foment a power play.

Sputnik: 22/10/2019: Lebanese Government approves 17-point economic plan

The Lebanese government has endorsed a 17-point economic reform plan, including measures to resolve the electricity crisis in the hope to address demands of mass protests that have been ravaging the country since last week, the presidential office said on Monday.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri unveiled a package of economic measures at the government's session in the Baabda presidential palace.

"The Council of Ministers has approved the reform plan and is now discussing the last item related to electricity," the Lebanese president's office wrote on Twitter. The office noted that "the atmosphere is calm, and the debate process is positive," with the reform plan comprising 17 points.

After discussing the reform plan, the council also approved a draft budget for 2020. The prime minister stressed that the next budget would have a 0.6-percent deficit and would not include any new taxes. The government will also boost support for the poorest families.

Bare facts about Gaza demonstrators may be correct, but the rest of the story is purposefully missing

Saree Makdisi
Los Angeles Times
Sat, 06 Apr 2019 04:10 UTC

© Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Palestinians run for cover from Israeli fire and tear gas on Israel-Gaza border, May 14, 2018.

Media coverage of Israel's massacre of Palestinian protesters during the first weekend of multiweek demonstrations in Gaza offered textbook examples of how syntax and word choice shape, and even distort, representations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even if the facts are accurately stated, the ways in which sentences are constructed, and the extent to which details are contextualized, can subtly lead readers astray.

Consider for instance the enormous consequence of choosing passive rather than active language to convey what happened. "At least 15 Palestinians die as Israel responds to protest," wrote the Guardian in one early headline. "15 dead in Gaza demonstrations" read the front page of this newspaper, and the New York Times led with a similar formulation: "Confrontations at Gaza Fence Leave 15 Dead."

Such phrasing separates facts from the agency that makes them intelligible. After all, those Palestinians (the actual number varies according to reports) did not simply drop dead: They were shot, deliberately. Simply splitting subject from verb, however, obscures who did what to whom and under what circumstances. "Israeli troops kill 15 Palestinians at Gaza protest," for example, would tell a different story — and would cue a different response from readers.

Global terrorist list of 3M names supplied to banks; targets Muslims for service denial without trial

RT
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 00:19 UTC

A massive, ever-growing database used by the world's largest banks to track terrorism financing and other crimes has compiled millions of names from unverified sources - including scandal sheets and search engine results.

The World-Check database adds 25,000 names every month to its massive risk database, used by 49 of the world's 50 largest banks to monitor possible financial, regulatory and reputational liabilities. Over three million people are currently on the list - many not convicted of any crime, some not even aware they are suspected of one.

Getting on the list is easy - employees scour publicly available sources, from court records to search engine results, and apparently make little effort to verify what they find. An investigation by Al Jazeera found hundreds of thousands of Muslim names, some seemingly absurd.

Comment: See also:

Global watchlist database of 2.2 million alleged criminals and terrorists leaked, could be published

UK lawmakers urge gov't to decriminalize drugs - 'It could save lives and money'

RT
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 18:54 UTC

A cross-party group of lawmakers have urged the UK government to consider decriminalizing drugs in Britain and treat it as a health and not a criminal issue, in order to curb the high rates of drugs-related deaths.

A report conducted by UK MPs on The Health and Social Care Committee has concluded that the government should carry out a consultation on decriminalization. They claim it would "save money" for the criminal justice system and allow more funds to be transferred into prevention and treatment that would help "save lives."

There would need to be sufficient funds provided to offer alternative approaches, such as supervised facilities where drug users could take drugs in a safe environment, the report said.

McKinsey: Half of world's banks deemed too weak to survive a downturn

RT
Tue, 22 Oct 2019 09:09 UTC

A new survey from consultancy McKinsey & Co has found that a majority of banks globally may not be economically viable because their returns on equity aren't keeping pace with costs.

The study looked at 1,000 banks in developed and emerging countries and found that just over a third had made a return on capital of just 1.6 percent over the past three years. This compares to returns of just over 17 percent for top banks over the same period.

"Nearly 35 percent of banks globally are both sub-scale and suffer from operating in unfavorable markets, as well as having flawed business models. To survive a downturn, merging with similar banks may be the only option, if a full reinvention is not feasible."

According to the report, banks are not as well-prepared for a downturn as they were when the global financial crisis erupted in 2007 in terms of profitability. According to the consulting firm:

"While the jury is still out on whether the current market uncertainty will result in an imminent recession or a prolonged period of slow growth, the fact is that growth has slowed.

"This is likely the last pit stop in this cycle for banks to rapidly reinvent business models and scale up via acquisitions. The time for bold and critical moves is now."

World's biggest facial recognition scheme will debut in India next month

The Economic Times
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 17:58 UTC

The first casualty of the absence of regulatory framework for facial recognition technology is people's right to privacy.

With the tender submission date to procure the National Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) just 20 days away, India is closer to install worlds largest facial recognition system to track and nab criminals.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), under Home Ministry, asked for the bids on July 8 which will be closed on November 8. The winner to provide AFRS will be announced on November 8. "This is an effort in the direction of modernizing the police force, information gathering criminal identification, verification and its dissemination among various police organizations and units across the country," said NCRB in its 172-page document. The beneficiaries will be Ministry of Home Affairs, NCRB and state police forces.

The benefits will be "a robust system for identifying criminals, missing children /persons, unidentified dead bodies and unknown traced children/persons all over the country; a repository of photographs of criminals in the country; enhanced ability to detect crime patterns and modus operandi across the states and communicate to the state police departments for aiding in crime prevention". With the help of the software, the state police personnel can check the suspect with the hotlist of criminals.

Comment: The ultimate face control: Facial recognition technology could enslave mankind like never before

Jordan Peterson and Joker

Andrew Sweeny
Medium
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 00:01 UTC

I don't go to the movies much these days, partly because everything is on Netflix or can be procured elsewhere. But also because movie theaters have lost their appeal: they are like empty temples to a deity who has long departed.

And then there is a general sense of movie fatigue: of what has been called 'superhero fatigue', but also romantic comedy fatigue, and action movie fatigue, and fatigue of just about every genre that Hollywood produces. Hollywood movies don't have the communal appeal that they used to, and the creative spirit has moved to TV. Television today is more expansive, daring, darker, and has richer, broader narratives.

That is not to say that cinema is dead. It is just sleeping. Certainly there are some diamonds in the trash heap of modern movies. Like Joker.

Syria, war, and Elizabeth Warren: More notes from the edge of the narrative matrix

Caitlin Johnstone
Medium
Sun, 20 Oct 2019 17:37 UTC

Things have gotten very strange, and they're going to keep getting stranger. Patterns are dissolving faster and faster, and the little emperors who've built their empires on those patterns are having to work harder and harder to hold it all together. Buckle up.

It has been firmly established beyond any doubt that it is now literally impossible for an American political figure to vocally oppose US warmongering without being labeled a Russian agent.

All the faux humanitarian concerns we've heard from the political/media class about what's happening in Syria are completely invalidated by their total indifference to what's happening in Yemen.

It sure is interesting how you never, ever see bipartisan cries of humanitarian concerns across the entire US political/media class unless it benefits the globe-spanning forever war. How cool would it be if even one time the political/media class united across partisan lines to forcefully advocate for a humanitarian foreign policy involving charity, food, indigenous rights, or literally any other humanitarian agenda besides military mass murder? Whenever there's talk of withdrawing US troops from any region anywhere, the political/media class begins shrieking that this will (A) hurt humanitarian interests, and (B) hurt US hegemony. Their real concern is B, and B has nothing to do with A. But they're treated as one thing.

Massachusetts Democrat wants to make it illegal to call someone a 'bitch' in the commonwealth

Alex Griswold
The Washington Free Beacon
Tue, 22 Oct 2019 17:26 UTC

A Massachusetts Democrat is pushing a bill that would make it a crime to maliciously call someone a "bitch" within the commonwealth.

Foul-mouthed individuals who are found guilty under a bill introduced by Democratic representative Daniel J. Hunt would face a $150 maximum fine for the first offense, while repeat offenders would face up to six months' imprisonment, a $200 fine, or both. If enacted, "bitch" would be the only word in the English language to receive such special consideration in Massachusetts.

Hunt introduced "An Act regarding the use of offensive words" in May. The proposed law would specify that the use of the word "bitch" satisfied the "offensive and disorderly acts or language" requirement in existing disorderly conduct law.

"A person who uses the word 'bitch' directed at another person to accost, annoy, degrade or demean the other person shall be considered to be a disorderly person," the bill says. "A violation of this subsection may be reported by the person to whom the offensive language was directed at or by any witness to such incident."

Comment: Was the feminist lobby behind this bill?

Protesters hug WEEPING soldiers during anti-government rallies in Lebanon

RT
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 17:32 UTC

Touching scenes played out amidst massive protest rallies in Lebanon as several protesters embraced dewy-eyed soldiers during the standoff. The public anger was earlier sparked by plans for tax hikes.

A video, posted on social media, shows two protesters comforting a soldier in full gear, who appears to be overwhelmed by emotion as he stands securing the perimeter. They gently pat the man on the cheek and shoulders.

Has everyone seen the documentary Century of the Self? It's about Bernays, PR BS, etc. and is REALLY well done. (I found it at an AA article.)...

Rowan Cocoan

Their were saints in Catholic history who most have heard about and others not so much. Now you have Saint Francis of Assisi, but you also have...

Buffalo_Ken

I have a different definition for the "global commons". It is in the definition of "the commons" definition in the link provided below. Here is a...

Buffalo_Ken

Biden the child-killer. Think of the children, vaxxers, think of the children.

hobnyeba

Thanks, all, for great comments and links. Lots to think about.

ReRan

Society's Child

Beirut's half-hearted concessions spark Lebanese unity, organizers proclaim 'it's what we've been dreaming of'

Bare facts about Gaza demonstrators may be correct, but the rest of the story is purposefully missing

Global terrorist list of 3M names supplied to banks; targets Muslims for service denial without trial

UK lawmakers urge gov't to decriminalize drugs - 'It could save lives and money'

McKinsey: Half of world's banks deemed too weak to survive a downturn

World's biggest facial recognition scheme will debut in India next month

Jordan Peterson and Joker

Syria, war, and Elizabeth Warren: More notes from the edge of the narrative matrix

Massachusetts Democrat wants to make it illegal to call someone a 'bitch' in the commonwealth

Protesters hug WEEPING soldiers during anti-government rallies in Lebanon

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