Society's Child
Huawei is a global leader in constructing equipment and infrastructure for ultra-high-speed 5G data networks. However, there are concerns, led by the US, that Huawei poses a security threat and should be excluded from critical network infrastructure.
Telefonica Deutschland, which operates under the O2 brand, is one of only a few European operators to use Huawei as a 5G supplier. The company called Nokia and Huawei "proven strategic partners" on 5G infrastructure.
The company said its cooperation with Huawei and Nokia on 5G is contingent on the technology and companies passing a security certification according to German law.
Japan is looking to re-launch domestic production of the F-35 5th-generation fighter jets, local media reported on Wednesday. Earlier, Tokyo opted to purchase the US-made aircraft, but now the F-35's local assembler - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries - has managed to shave the costs.
A single unit assembled in Japan is now expected to cost 9.37 billion yen ($86.3 million), compared with 9.42 billion yen ($86.7 million) to ship the plane from the US. The difference is not that big - and after all, there's nothing wrong with simply 'gifting' the modest sum of $400 thousand per unit to their main ally.
Still, Tokyo is opting for local assembly - presumably hoping that the famed Japanese quality will at least save the technical issues-ridden plane from assembly-line troubles.
Announcing the move in a blog post on Wednesday, YouTube said it was revamping its harassment rules in response to criticism, taking aim at "implied threats,""personal attacks" and "malicious insults" hurled on the platform, especially those based on "protected attributes" like race or gender.
Under the new rules, the company will also take a more aggressive approach to scrubbing comment sections, where it says it deleted some 16 million posts just last quarter. While YouTube maintains that it won't go after comments that are merely "negative or critical," detractors said the new guidelines are vague, providing neither clear "lines" nor "guidance."
Comment: See also:
- YouTube bans insults based on race, gender expression and sexual orientation
- Telling the truth about trans is not 'hate speech': YouTube bans interview with Posie Parker for saying trans women are men
- Double standards: YouTube's new ad policy brands keyword 'Christian' as unacceptable, but 'Muslim' is still approved
- The YouTube 'Adpocalypse' and the strategic censoring of opinion
The controversial work of art is not new. Photographer and artist Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin painted it in 2012 and tried to donate it to the Skara Cathedral just before the church was preparing to conduct the first same-sex wedding in its 1,000-year history.
The openly lesbian artist, who has a history of blending religious imagery with pro-minority activism, said at the time that she wanted to test if the Church of Sweden was as gay-friendly as it claimed to be when it embraced same-sex marriage in 2009. The Skara Cathedral politely declined the gift, saying it was about political activism and not faith.
But over seven years have passed, and now Wallin has got her way, even if it isn't in her home city. St. Paul's Church in Malmo accepted the painting called "Paradise" as its new altarpiece and unveiled it on Sunday, the first day of Advent. Helena Myrstener, the pastor, said that "history was written" in the hanging of the "LGBT altarpiece" as she tweeted a photo of the painting.
Comment:
UPDATE 12/12/2019: Peak inclusivity madness. St. Paul's Church in Malmo relocated part of the altarpiece, not because of the outrage of traditional parishioners, but because the snake was depicted as transgender, which they feared would be offensive.
After two weeks of deliberation, a church in Sweden decided that a newly-acquired LGBT-friendly painting was too problematic to serve as its altarpiece. Its depiction of Adam and Eve as two same-sex couples was not the issue.
The St. Paul's Church in the southern city of Malmo accepted the painting as its altarpiece on the first day of Advent two weeks ago. The artwork by Swedish photographer and artist Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin was meant to symbolize inclusivity. It predictably generated a lot of buzz, attracting both praise and controversy online.
The pastor, however, had an issue with the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve to try the forbidden fruit. In the painting, it was depicted as a transgender person. "The serpent traditionally symbolizes evil, and turning it into a transgender person can mean that a transgender person is evil or is the devil," Svensson explained.
"The Church of Sweden certainly cannot stand by that."
Furthermore, the painting contains apples, a Biblical symbol of knowledge, the pastor added. This invites a question about the kind of knowledge the painting portrays, along with "so many different interpretations" that make the imagery problematic, Svensson said.
The military lost contact with the plane, a C-130 Hercules transport craft, on Monday evening while it was traveling to the Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva air base in Antarctica. The whereabouts and condition of those on board - of which 17 were crew members and the rest of them passengers - is not known.
The Chilean Air Force said it had assembled a "multidisciplinary search and rescue team" to locate the missing craft that had departed from Chabunco Air Base in the city of Punta Arenas on a routine support and maintenance mission.
Comment: Comment: UPDATE 15:00 CET Aljazeera reports that the weather was fine:
In a statement, the air force said it was yet to find the plane, but concluded it must have crashed, given the number of hours it had been missing. Defence Minister Alberto Espina added that the chance of finding survivors was looking "difficult".US News cites Chilean authorities reporting that a ship was in 'the general area' where the plane disappeared:
"The chances are difficult but I think it would be profoundly wrong to lose heart at this moment when we are doing everything humanly possible and with all our energy and determination," Espina told reporters. "The air force has provided a thorough investigation to clarify the facts with complete transparency."
The C-130 Hercules took off at 4:55pm local time (19:55 GMT) from the city of Punta Arenas on Monday to the President Eduardo Frei Antarctic Base, it lost contact at 6:13pm (21:13 GMT), the air force said in a statement.
President Sebastian Pinera said in a tweet that he would fly to Punta Arenas along with Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel. Once there, they would meet Espina to monitor the search and rescue mission.
"My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the 38 crew members and passengers of the FACh [air force] C-130 plane," Pinera wrote on Twitter, where he said his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, had offered support. Argentina's government also said it had offered air and naval assistance for the search and rescue, Pinera said.
Drake's Passage, where the plane went missing, is known for severe weather conditions, including freezing temperatures and ferocious storms. But the air force said late on Monday that the weather was good when the plane began its flight, or the mission would not have been carried out.
Mosqueira said the aircraft would have been about halfway to the Antarctic base when it lost contact. No emergency signals had been activated, he said. He said the plane, whose pilot had extensive experience, had been scheduled to return on Monday night.
Those on board the plane were to perform logistical support tasks for the maintenance of Chilean facilities at the Antarctic base, the air force said.
Gen. Eduardo Mosqueira of the Fourth Air Brigade told local media that a search was underway and a ship was in the general area where the plane should have been when contact was lost. "Antarctica is different. It's hard to fly because of changing conditions," said Mosqueira, who added that he had personally flown to the continent with one of the missing pilots.RT reports that the Chilean military transport plane has formally been declared 'crashed':
On Tuesday crews encountered low visibility waves up to 6 meters (20 feet) high. Holding out hope of survivors, officials said the plane has four rafts that could carry up to 20 passengers each if it went down at sea.
Chile maintains a scientific base on Antarctica, conducting research on climate change and medicine. Military planes provide the only travel possibilities, frequently transporting civilians.
Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil said they were sending crews to assist in the search. Several airplanes scoured the area with infrared devices.
The aircraft is considered to have "crashed" because it would have run out of fuel by now and could not fly any longer, the Director of Operations of the Chilean Air Force, Brigadier General Francisco Torres told reporters. But there is "always a possibility" that it has managed to land somewhere, he said, adding that the plane did not send any distress calls.UPDATE 12 Dec 2019
RT is reporting that human remains and wreckage have been found:
Chile's defense minister has confirmed that wreckage recovered from the sea off Antarctica is from a Chilean Air Force plane which disappeared on Monday. Alberto Espina also said some human remains have been found.So the plane was not off course when it crashed, it was flying in normal weather conditions, it made no SOS signals, and it was flown by an experienced pilot.
An emergency search and rescue operation was launched by the Chilean Air Force, and some debris was recovered from the waters of the Drake Passage on Wednesday. Espina told the media on Thursday that the debris was from the missing Hercules plane, and said that human remains from some of the victims have been recovered.
Earlier on Thursday, a Chilean regional governor said that the families of those on board the missing plane have been informed of the findings.
What happened to it?
Texas Values used a Freedom of Information request to obtain text messages showing Roger Grape, a librarian at Blackshear Elementary School, was informed by drag queen David Richardson that he expected to fail a background check after a conviction for prostitution.
In the text message to Grape, Richardson predicted the "guidelines for submission automatically disqualify me" if his deferred adjudication for prostitution is considered a criminal conviction by the school district.
In an interview with Paris Match magazine published this week, Polanski said Weinstein had tried to brand him a "child rapist" in order to prevent him from winning an Oscar for his 2003 film, The Pianist.
He claimed Weinstein's press agent was the first person to call him that, in what he believes was an effort to ensure his own film, Chicago, was the big winner at the Oscars that year.
Polanski's comments come in light of new allegations which he has dismissed as "absurd," complaining that the media are "trying to make me into a monster" again. The film director fled the US in 1978 after admitting statutory rape of a 13-year-old.
Comment: That makes him a "child rapist", no? Maybe Weinstein did engage in a petty smear campaign - it sounds like something he'd do. But that doesn't imply Polanski is much if any better.
French photographer Valentine Monnier accused Polanski last month of raping her in an "extremely violent" way in 1975, which included beating her into submission.
"The clashes between followers of the Hezbollah [movement], the Amal Movement and police are taking place on the Ring Bridge near the Martyr's Square and the Riad Al Solh Square. Police are using tear gas to prevent aggressive groups from access to peaceful demonstrators. Followers of the Shia parties are throwing stones to police officers", the eyewitnesses said.
Comment: Elijah Magnier provides some background:
War was avoided when Hezbollah issued a directive instructing all its members and supporters to leave the streets, asking its members to stop and persuade any ally members to come off the streets and to avoid using motorcycles to harass protestors. The instructions were clear: "If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."So what's going on now, just a few days after the above was written? Did these alleged Hezbollah supporters not get the message?
Hezbollah understood what the corners of Beirut are hiding: an invitation to start a war, particularly when for over a month the Lebanese army refused to open the main roads, allowing not only legitimate protestors but also thugs to rule.
The ship was undergoing repairs while docked at the Barents Sea port of Murmansk when fuel caught fire.
The blaze was sparked by welding in the first power section on the ship's deck, after which the fire spread to a space of 600 square meters (6,460 square feet), according to emergency services sources.
The Northern Fleet's press office later clarified that there was "a release of smoke into one of the compartments during welding works," and the source of the smoke was "localized." It added that there were no munitions on board.
However, the likelihood is that 2020 will be worse, and bloodier.
Conditions that spawned global unrest on every continent in 2019 are unlikely to recede. Rather, they are likely to worsen in the face of a slowing global economy and little sign of causes of disaffection being addressed.
Washington as Disruptor















Comment: Actual dangers of 5G wireless aside, the EU is not buying into the US' scare tactics over Huawei technology. See also: