Society's Child

UK politicians back renewing medieval treason law so terrorists can be punished more severely

RT
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 16:21 UTC

A 14th century treason law should be renewed to allow so that terrorists could face life behind bars, a report by a right-leaning think tank claims. It was backed by MPs and a former counter-terrorism chief.

The report by Policy Exchange was authored by cross-party MPs including Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat. It comes amid furore over the Home Secretary's refusal to seek 'assurances from the US that two ex-British citizens who are alleged to have fought with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) will not be executed if tried under their jurisdiction.

In a leaked letter, Home Secretary Sajid Javid told US Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the US "currently has additional charges for terrorism offences which are not available under UK criminal law, and those offences carry long sentences."

The report, however, argues UK law would be sufficient should the 1351 Treason Act be implemented, the centuries old legislation contains offence which "marked out treasonous acts" and allowed the courts to impose "justifiably severe punishment".

ISIS launches suicide bombings in SW Syria, kills 90+, in lead-up to final battle with Syrian Army

RT
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 16:16 UTC

More than 90 people were killed and 80 injured in a string of attacks, including suicide bombings, that hit southwestern Syria on Wednesday, a local health official told AP.

A suicide bomber blew himself up in the market area in the city of Sweida, Sana state news agency said. Law enforcement reportedly killed two more suicide attackers before they could blow themselves up. The villages of al-Matouneh, Douma, Tima, al-Shabaki, and Rami to the northeast of Sweida were struck by simultaneous attacks.

The bombings and subsequent fighting between pro-government forces and militants claimed the lives of over 90 people and injured 80 more, according to local health official Hassan Omar. It remains unclear whether the figures include casualties among the attackers.

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the carnage. Syrian army units allegedly confronted the fighters and killed a large number of terrorists, according to the state media.

Condemning the attack, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the terrorists "desperately resort to mass violence against civilians,"as they feel "the inevitability of their defeat."

Comment: The last ISIS pocket in southwestern Syria is no surrounded by the Syrian Army. With only the Israelis to their rear (who are unlikely to offer much support this late in the game), they know their fate. None will survive. And since there is no reconciliation offer on the table, they will go down fighting. But once they're all dead, the Syrian Army will move on to Idlib.

CNN publishes recording of Trump and lawyer allegedly discussing cover-up of affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal

RT
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 16:17 UTC

CNN has published a tape which it says captures President Donald Trump and his lawyer Michael Cohen discussing the cover-up of Trump's alleged affair with a former Playboy model a decade ago. He denies the affair took place.

According to CNN, the private conversation between Trump and Cohen was recorded in September 2016, two months before the presidential election, and was subsequently handed over via Cohen's attorney. Before playing the tape on live TV, CNN's Chris Cuomo warned the listeners that it is "not a great quality recording," since the sound is muddled, and the meaning of several phrases and the overall context of the whole conversation is not entirely clear.

Nevertheless, CNN suggested that the discussion captures Trump exploring the options to bury the story of his alleged extramarital affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal, which supposedly occurred more than ten years ago.

Steve Bannon creates NGO to support populist parties in EU and challenge influence of Soros' Open Society

RT
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 16:09 UTC

Steve Bannon's idea to set up a Soros-styled NGO to prop up Europe's right-wing parties has caused quite a stir among liberals and the left, who rushed to accuse the former Trump advisor of planning an "attack on democracy."

Bannon's new non-profit organization, blandly dubbed 'The Movement' is set to establish itself in Brussels and would bring together right-wing parties from across Europe. The former chief advisor of Donald Trump unveiled the plan last week, seeking to provide like-minded parties with the support of think tanks, the organization of polls and valuable insights on data-targeting.

Ultimately, The Movement would challenge the influence of the George Soros' liberal left Open Society Foundation. The NGO, established in 1984, has spent some $32 billion to support "liberal" causes. And now, Bannon seems to be adamant on giving broad support to Europe's right.

Number of Iraqis kidnapped by ISIS continues to rise despite 'victory' declared by West as state media stays silent

RT
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 16:05 UTC

Despite the Western Coalition declaring victory over Islamic State in Iraq last year, the militants' activity is surging. More Iraqis are kidnapped every month, as state media stays silent, a government security adviser told RT.

The Western Coalition declared Iraq "completely liberated" from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in December, but the militants' activities didn't cease - in fact, they are surging, with more Iraqis getting abducted and murdered by terrorists, Hisham al-Hashimi said.

The number of Iraqis kidnapped by IS doubled since May, but the state media is staying silent. Al-Hashimi explained to RT that by doing so, the government hopes to not "spread panic and hinder the rescue efforts."

Is Putin's Russia really an 'evil empire'?

Patrick J. Buchanan
buchanan.org
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 15:09 UTC

"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce," a saying attributed to Karl Marx, comes to mind in this time of Trump.

To those of us raised in the Truman era, when the Red Army was imposing its bloody Bolshevik rule on half of Europe, and NATO was needed to keep Stalin's armies from the Channel, the threat seemed infinitely more serious. And so it was.

There were real traitors in that time.

Alger Hiss, a top State Department aide, at FDR's side at Yalta, was exposed as a Stalinist spy by Congressman Richard Nixon. Harry Dexter White, No. 2 at Treasury, Laurence Duggan at State, and White House aide Lauchlin Currie were all exposed as spies. Then there was the Rosenberg spy ring that gave Stalin the secrets of the atom bomb.

Comment: One of the 'vital interest imperiled by Putin' is the neocon, radical liberal hold on the Western psyche. Putin presents and embodies a sane alternative of family values, mutual respect, and mutual cooperation between nations. The overwhelmingly normal populace instinctively responds to these ideas, thus threatening the elites' hold on power. Therefore Putin must be continually demonized, lest his example take hold.

Saudi-led coalition intercepts Red Cross plane over Yemen

RT
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 14:20 UTC

A Red Cross airplane flying over Yemen was forced to land in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-led coalition said, accusing the aircraft of altering its course to fly over an area of military operations.

Four passengers were on board the plane, which took off from Yemen's capital Sanaa on Tuesday and headed south to Djibouti, a small African nation across the Aden Gulf from Yemen. It was forced to fly north instead and land in the Saudi city of Jizan, following Saudi-led coalition interceptors. The Saudis intervened after the plane changed course and approached an area, where Saudi troops were operating, coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Maliki told reporters.

"Coalition forces communicated with the aircraft on the international distress frequency... but the crew did not respond," Al-Maliki said, according to AFP. "Commands were given to redirect the aircraft away from the operations zone but to no avail. The aircraft was forced to land in Jizan."

He accused the plane's crew of violating coalition airspace and endangering passengers.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said the plane had made "an unscheduled stop" in Jizan "due to technical issues."

US sees surge in reports of child abuse following high-profile tragedies

PressTV
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 13:32 UTC

Zymere Perkins (left) was bludgeoned to death on Sept. 26, 2016 and Jaden Jordan died on Dec. 4, 2016 after being in a coma and left with a fractured skull.

Reports of child abuse in the United States have increased following the tragic deaths of 6-year-old Zymere Perkins and 3-year-old Jaden Jordan in late 2016, a report says.

The Independent Budget Office (IBO) said Tuesday that reports of investigations of child abuse, and Family Court hearings have also gone up after the two widely-publicized abuse cases.

Perkins was bludgeoned to death with a broomstick allegedly by his mom's boyfriend on Sept. 26 and Jordan died on Dec. 4, 2016 from injuries he allegedly suffered at the hands of his mother's abusive boyfriend days after he had been beaten into a coma and left with a fractured skull.

The number of child abuse reports rose by 20 percent, from 19,980 in fiscal 2016 to 23,981 in fiscal 2017, although the number of cases increased by only 7 percent.

San Francisco commuters on edge after third Bay Area Rapid Transit murder in a week

Kalah Siegel
New York Post
Tue, 24 Jul 2018 12:12 UTC

San Francisco-area straphangers are on edge Tuesday following the third homicide on Bay Area Rapid Transit in less than a week.

"Maybe I should start driving to school, because I don't think I feel safe as a BART commuter anymore. But then again, I'm a woman of color. Am I safe anywhere? My car? On campus? At an event? Walking my dogs?" @keani_yafreak tweeted.

The most recent attack, on Sunday night, left 18-year-old Nia Wilson dead, and her sister, Latifa, seriously injured when a madman attacked them with a knife at the MacArthur Bay Area Rapid Transit station, according to BART officials.

"It was probably one of the most vicious attacks that I've seen," BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas said during a Monday press conference.

Tech's richest few and their plan for survival

Douglas Rushkoff
Medium
Thu, 05 Jul 2018 11:02 UTC

Last year, I got invited to a super-deluxe private resort to deliver a keynote speech to what I assumed would be a hundred or so investment bankers. It was by far the largest fee I had ever been offered for a talk - about half my annual professor's salary - all to deliver some insight on the subject of "the future of technology."

I've never liked talking about the future. The Q&A sessions always end up more like parlor games, where I'm asked to opine on the latest technology buzzwords as if they were ticker symbols for potential investments: blockchain, 3D printing, CRISPR. The audiences are rarely interested in learning about these technologies or their potential impacts beyond the binary choice of whether or not to invest in them. But money talks, so I took the gig.

After I arrived, I was ushered into what I thought was the green room. But instead of being wired with a microphone or taken to a stage, I just sat there at a plain round table as my audience was brought to me: five super-wealthy guys - yes, all men - from the upper echelon of the hedge fund world. After a bit of small talk, I realized they had no interest in the information I had prepared about the future of technology. They had come with questions of their own.

They started out innocuously enough. Ethereum or bitcoin? Is quantum computing a real thing? Slowly but surely, however, they edged into their real topics of concern.

Comment: See also:

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Society's Child

UK politicians back renewing medieval treason law so terrorists can be punished more severely

ISIS launches suicide bombings in SW Syria, kills 90+, in lead-up to final battle with Syrian Army

CNN publishes recording of Trump and lawyer allegedly discussing cover-up of affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal

Steve Bannon creates NGO to support populist parties in EU and challenge influence of Soros' Open Society

Number of Iraqis kidnapped by ISIS continues to rise despite 'victory' declared by West as state media stays silent

Is Putin's Russia really an 'evil empire'?

Saudi-led coalition intercepts Red Cross plane over Yemen

US sees surge in reports of child abuse following high-profile tragedies

San Francisco commuters on edge after third Bay Area Rapid Transit murder in a week

Tech's richest few and their plan for survival

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