Society's Child

Assange health and mental deterioration spur lawyers to ask Australian government for help

Rob Harris
The Sidney Morning Herald
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 07:45 UTC

Julian Assange's British legal team has requested Australian diplomatic help as fears grow for his health and mental state in a London prison. The WikiLeaks founder has been held in HM Prison Belmarsh since his April 11 arrest at the Ecuadorian embassy, where he had lived in asylum for almost seven years.

Australian officials told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday that diplomats had not heard back from Assange's lawyer since writing to her last week asking that she raise with him their offer of consular assistance.

The 48-year-old is fighting US attempts to extradite him to face 17 counts of spying and one of computer hacking in relation to WikiLeaks' release of thousands of classified Pentagon files regarding the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Barrister Greg Barns, an adviser to the Australian Assange campaign, told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald his UK lawyers on Friday requested consular assistance following a recent inquiry from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Mr Barns said:

"Julian's lawyers are asking for the Australian government's assistance in dealing with their client's inhumane conditions in Belmarsh prison which has led to, and is continuing to cause, serious damage to Julian's health."

Oslo City Council mulls boycotting products, services from illegal Israeli settlements

Sputnik
Tue, 29 Oct 2019 16:27 UTC

illegal settlement Givat Ze'ev west bank

© REUTERS / Ammar Awad
Houses are seen atop a hill in the Israeli settlement of Givat Ze'ev, in the occupied West Bank February 7, 2017

According to the Norwegian backers of the boycott, it will contribute to "lasting peace and the freedom of the Palestinians".

In a historic step, Oslo's newly installed "red-green" City Council led by the Socialist Left, Labour and the Greens, is contemplating a ban on the municipality's procurement of goods and services from Israeli settlements.

This is part of their cooperation platform for 2019-2023, the three left-of-centre parties intend to "investigate the extent of trade regulations that exist in order not to procure goods and services produced in an area occupied in violation of international law by companies operating under the permission of the occupying power".

Comment: Let's hope the city of Oslo grows a spine, and refuses to be intimidated by the Israeli Lobby in Europe.

Big-brain move: Sweden beckons more migrants to come and receive free benefits

RT
Tue, 29 Oct 2019 17:07 UTC

Sweden is beckoning even more migrants with a government website advertising its generous benefits system, while the former CEO of automaker Scania warns that a glut of foreigners is pushing the country toward civil war.

Sweden.se, a government-run website, entices migrants to make the journey north and details the benefits they can receive. Boasting the world's longest parental leave (though most new arrivals from the Middle East and Africa remain unemployed), Sweden also offers free health and dental care to immigrants, as well as sizable child allowances - which the website calculates for a family with six children.

The site, operated by the Swedish Institute (SI), is available in four languages - English, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. While the English version offers the usual tourism-industry listicles on "10 Swedish myths uncovered" and "20 things to know before moving to Sweden," the Arabic version prominently features sections on benefits, acquiring work permits, and the rights of the child (including the right to education in their mother tongue).

Per-Arne Wikström, SI's head of communications, defended Stockholm's creation. "I have no problem with showing off that Sweden is a welfare country. We have a system that arouses interest," he told TV4 on Monday as politicians eviscerated the site for enticing even more migrants - needy, yet internet-connected - into a country already overburdened with benefits-seekers.

Comment: The money for a welfare state doesn't grow on trees. It can only be sustained by industry and working taxpayers. The more people who come to Sweden for the benefits - and don't pay in by working and paying taxes - the more everyone else has to pay, or the less everyone else gets in terms of benefits. Whoever came up with Sweden's immigration policy is either stupid, or wants to destroy their economy.

Poll: Seven out of ten American millennials say they will likely vote socialist

Jennie Taer
SaraCarter.com
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 17:04 UTC

Seven out of ten Millennials say they will likely vote socialist, according to a new survey conducted by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. The report found that support for communism increased by 36 percent from 2018's numbers as capitalism continues to go out of style. It's likely due to a shift in higher education, where Marxist ideology is taught favorably.

"The historical amnesia about the dangers of communism and socialism is on full display in this year's report," said Marion Smith, Executive Director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

If you have two sets of news media, you may as well have no media

Matt Tiabbi
Rolling Stone
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 16:41 UTC

© Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/Shutterstock
President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, announcing that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the shadowy leader of the Islamic State group, is dead after being targeted by a U.S. military raid in Syria.

Two sets of headlines over the weekend described the suicide of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. From the Washington Post Sunday morning:

"Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State, dies at 48"

The Post has since rewritten that, though the description of an "austere religious scholar with wire-rimmed glasses" remains in the lead paragraph. Meanwhile, the headline on Foxnews.com:

"Al-Baghdadi kill: how the daring military operation went down"

The Post headline would fit a quiet academic who died in his sleep, not a genocidal jihadist leader. The Fox headline is less nuts, but still not quite right: al-Baghdadi wasn't killed but reportedly committed suicide, while pursued by American "military dogs."

Donald Trump was correct when he tweeted Saturday night that something "big" had happened, but from there, America received two almost completely different versions of the story of al-Baghdadi's pursuit and suicide. It was a vivid demonstration of how dysfunctional the modern news landscape has become.

Comment: RT highlights an example of liberal media's Trump Derangment Syndrome in the person of Max Boot. The public wasn't having it:

One of President Trump's loudest critics right of center, Boot has made a brand out of attacking the commander in chief at every opportunity. However, this week's column presented Boot with a unique challenge: how to spin the news of the jihadi mastermind's death into a jab at the president?

He found a way. Taking issue with President Trump's description of Baghdadi as a "coward," Boot shot back that the so-called Caliph's death by explosive suicide - killing three of his own children in the process - itself proved his bravery. Apparently confident in that take, Boot even pulled the line from his column to post as a standalone tweet, but it soon provoked a torrent of ridicule from commenters online.

Reacting to the backlash, Boot later decided to delete his ill-fated tweet and scrub the Baghdadi line from his column altogether, offering an explanatory tweet in their place suggesting his words were misinterpreted.

Iraqi police open fire on protesters - kill 13, injure 865

Sputnik
Tue, 29 Oct 2019 16:50 UTC

Mass rallies that began across the Middle Eastern country earlier this month have led to violent clashes between protesters and police, reportedly claiming the lives of around 250 Iraqis.

At least 13 people were killed and over 850 injured overnight after police opened fire at protesters in the city of Karbala, Reuters reported citing sources.

The city, which hosts the shrines of Imam Husayn and Abbas, sacred for Shia Muslims, witnessed another round of violent clashes between law enforcement and an angry crowd on Monday.

The news comes after people ignored a curfew, imposed by the military, and held meetings in the centre of the Iraqi capital over the last several days. The authorities have used tear gas to stop people from storming the Green Zone, an area with government offices, embassies, and foreign companies.

Comment: Lebanon, Hong Kong, Chile... The protests continue worldwide:

Judge allows Covington student Nick Sandmann's lawsuit against WaPo to go forward

Cameron Knight
Cincinnati Enquirer
Tue, 29 Oct 2019 16:34 UTC

© Survival Media Agency via AP
Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann faces Native American Nathan Phillips in Washington on Jan. 18, 2019.

A federal judge is allowing a portion of Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann's lawsuit against The Washington Post to continue after first dismissing the case.

After reviewing an amended complaint, Judge William Bertelsman ordered Monday that the case could enter the discovery phase and hence a portion of the lawsuit against the newspaper could continue.

Nick and his attorneys had alleged that the gist of a Washington Post article conveyed that Nick had assaulted or physically intimidated Nathan Phillips and engaged in racist conduct after the Right to Life March in Washington D.C. on Jan. 18.

A video shows Sandmann and Phillips, a Native American who was demonstrating that day, standing close to each other in a crowd, and Sandmann staring at Phillips as he plays a drum.

Comment: Sandmann's case is yet another example of how ready popular media is to sacrifice children at the alter of corrupted liberalism.

Role over: Crisis of masculinity leaves no place for men in a progressive society

Tomasz Pierscionek
RT
Tue, 29 Oct 2019 16:22 UTC

What does it take to be a man in modern Western society, where tolerance of all things liberal exists alongside antagonism to ideas deemed incompatible with the progressive order? What identity can men maintain in this world?

Being a gentleman and displaying chivalry - opening doors for women or giving up your seat on the underground - might find you accused of conforming to a traditional gender stereotype, while displaying boisterous behavior and telling politically incorrect jokes over a few drinks might find you denounced as part of the patriarchy. Being the stoical tough guy might result in a charge of toxic masculinity and being deemed out of touch with your emotions, while playing the sensitive nice guy who takes the sins of his gender (past and present) unto himself may not win the respect of females in the long run. Ultimately, would even the most ardent feminist want a man emasculated of all his traits, both good and bad?

As I have written previously, "While it is true that straight white men (as a group) have faced less obstacles than females, non-straight men or ethnic minorities, the majority of straight white men, past and present, also struggle to survive from paycheck to paycheck..."

Muslim man jailed after threatening to behead Denmark's royal family on Facebook

RT
Tue, 29 Oct 2019 16:01 UTC

A Muslim man living in Copenhagen has been locked up after sharing his desire to kill Denmark's royal family. The man was reported to police by his wife, who feared his heavy use of hashish had made him psychotic.

The 33-year-old was sentenced to 10 days in jail after a Danish court found him guilty of making death threats on the internet. According to Danish media, the man published a series of worrying messages on Facebook, including a post which discussed "cutting the head of Queen [Margrethe II] and the whole [Danish] royal family." He also made threats against Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf (the convicted man works in Sweden), as well as Danish politician Rasmus Paludan, who is the leader of an anti-immigrant party.

'Piece of propaganda sh*t': Gamers crash Call of Duty MW's rating over anti-Russian sentiments

Sputnik
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 16:03 UTC

After having already faced a scandal in Russia once due to a controversial level where civilians are mass-murdered in an unnamed Russian airport, the developers of the new Call of Duty game seem to have ended up in an even bigger scandal this time.

User ratings for the recently released installment in the popular videogame series Call of Duty Modern Warfare have dropped from around 7 points to 2.5 out of 10 on PC, based on reviews on the website Metacritic, while the verdicts of professional critics mostly float between 80 and 90 out of 100. The majority of the around 3,100 negative user reviews on all of three platforms are centered on an "issue" that has infuriated gamers - the depiction of Russians in the game.

The plot is mostly set in the fictional state of Urzikstan, which resembles Syria, that is occupied by Russian forces fighting against terrorist groups. The main characters are trying to hunt down a shipment of Russian chemical weapons, which was hijacked on its way to Urzikstan, and take down a Russian general named Barkov who commands the troops in the country.

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

Assange health and mental deterioration spur lawyers to ask Australian government for help

Oslo City Council mulls boycotting products, services from illegal Israeli settlements

Big-brain move: Sweden beckons more migrants to come and receive free benefits

Poll: Seven out of ten American millennials say they will likely vote socialist

If you have two sets of news media, you may as well have no media

Iraqi police open fire on protesters - kill 13, injure 865

Judge allows Covington student Nick Sandmann's lawsuit against WaPo to go forward

Role over: Crisis of masculinity leaves no place for men in a progressive society

Muslim man jailed after threatening to behead Denmark's royal family on Facebook

'Piece of propaganda sh*t': Gamers crash Call of Duty MW's rating over anti-Russian sentiments

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