Society's Child

New regulations demand that UK universities give more top degrees to black students

Camilla Turner
The Telegraph
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 21:02 UTC

The Office for Students (OfS) has announced plans to overhaul its guidelines for boosting diversity in higher education.

Universities could be punished unless they give a higher proportion of top degrees to black students, under new proposals drawn up by the regulator.

The Office for Students (OfS) has announced plans to overhaul its guidelines for boosting diversity in higher education, in what it says is the "biggest shake up" since 2004.

If institutions fail to comply with the regulator's new "tougher" national targets for increasing the number of disadvantaged students, they could be penalised through a fine or even de-registered.

Chris Millward, the OfS director for fair access and participation, said that universities will no longer be able to "mark their own homework" on their plans to up their intake of 18-year-olds from poor backgrounds.

Instead, the new regulator, which came into force earlier this year, plans to set a series of national targets that all universities will be expected to meet.

Comment: The concept of merit is dying. Universities may as well give out degrees based on looks or popularity.

Unmaking affirmative action: Race-rigging college admissions is a zero-sum game

ACLU files lawsuit against Facebook over gender discrimination in job advertisements

RT
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 20:57 UTC

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, accusing the social media giant of gender discrimination in job advertisements on its platform.

The ACLU charges, filed with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Tuesday, alleges that Facebook allows employers to target job ads for positions in male-dominated fields exclusively to younger men. The complaint targets Facebook and ten employers who the ACLU says ran gender-discriminatory ads.

"Facebook is violating federal civil rights law. Period," the organization tweeted Tuesday. Under US law, companies are forbidden from discriminating in recruitment and from tailoring job ads to a specific gender or age range.

Projecting much? Sesame Street writer confirms that Bert and Ernie were a gay couple

RT
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 20:40 UTC

A writer for Sesame Street has confirmed the long-running theory that the kids show's beloved characters Bert and Ernie were actually a same-sex couple.

Sesame Street writer and songwriter Mark Saltzman says the famous roommates were inspired by his own relationship with his life partner, film editor Arnold 'Arnie' Glassman, who he was with for over two decades until Glassman's death in 2003.

Saltzman, who joined the show's writing team in 1984, said people would often refer to him and Glassman as Ernie and Bert, respectively, and he didn't have any other way to "contextualise" the characters.

"I remember one time that a pre-schooler [in San Francisco] turned to her mum and asked 'Are Bert and Ernie lovers?' and that, coming from a pre-schooler, was fun," Saltzman told Queerty.

Comment: Puppets can be gay?

Update: From RT:

Sesame Street has denied claims by a former writer that the kids show's beloved characters Bert and Ernie were in fact a same-sex couple.

The show issued a statement clarifying that Bert and Ernie were "best friends," and "do not have a sexual orientation," in response to comments made by Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman, suggesting the puppets were gay.

Saltzman told Queerty in an interview that when he was writing for the characters, he had always felt that they were gay. "I didn't have any other way to contextualize them," he said, adding that they were inspired by his own relationship with his life partner Arnie Glassman.

For many, his remarks appeared to confirm what they had long speculated about the TV roommates' sexualities. However, the affirmation was short lived as Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that produces Sesame Street, countered the claim, reiterating that the characters were puppets with no sexual preference.

Frank Oz, the man who created the grumpy puppet Bert, also took to Twitter to declare the characters were not gay. He said that there was more to a person than their sexuality and dismissed the question as irrelevant.

Both tweets resulted in a backlash from angered fans questioning why the creators felt the need to refute Saltzman's comments.

Meanwhile, other users pondered how in this day and age people were arguing over the sexuality of puppets.

Senate passes STOP Act intended to combat influx of synthetic opioids into US

RT
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 18:26 UTC

The Senate has passed a bill aimed at combating the influx of synthetic opioids into the US, as the nation grapples with soaring overdose rates.

The 'Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention' Act, or STOP Act, was passed with a 99-1 vote on Monday, almost one month after President Donald Trump demanded the flow, via the postal system, of synthetic opioids -such as the deadly painkiller Fentanyl- into the US be stopped. Trump has repeatedly called for action to combat America's opioid crisis, and has called foreign Fentanyl shipments from China "a form of warfare.

The bill requires that all packages entering the US include electronic data on what's inside, who shipped it, and from where. It also funds treatment programs, and changes certain laws to make addiction-fighting medicine more widely available.

The bill will now need to return to the House, so that representatives can approve changes made in the Senate. However, with each passing day, more Americans die of opioid overdoses.

Comment: The opioid crisis won't be easily solved; stemming one source of the supply won't go far without targeting the root causes and those who benefit from the drug trade.

73-year-old woman mauled to death by police K9 after she gives permission for officers to search her garden

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 19:55 UTC

Proving just how dangerous it can be to give police permission to search your property, a 73-year-old woman died after being mauled by a police K9. She had just given police permission to search her garden for an alleged drug dealer before the dog attacked her.

Irene Collins, who'd been battling lung cancer and emphysema, was attacked in her own home by the police officer's German shepherd as Cleveland police searched her property for a drug dealer.

During the course of the search at her home in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, officer Mark Baines let his dog loose and it went inside the home of Collins.

"On 16 July 2014, officers from Cleveland police received information regarding a male suspect involved in a drug transaction. It was believed the suspect may be in a garden at the rear of Penrith Road," assistant coroner Karen Welch said at the opening of the hearing this week, according to the Guardian.

"In the course of the search, a dog handler, PC [Mark] Baines, and his police dog Dano were brought in. Irene Collins gave permission for her garden to be searched and remained inside her home.

Doctors treating Pussy Riot activist Pyotr Verzilov say it was 'highly probable' he was poisoned by unknown substance

RT
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 18:56 UTC

© Reuters
Pyotr Verzilov arrives on a special medical transport plane at Schoenefeld airport in Berlin, Germany September 15, 2018

Doctors in Berlin who are treating controversial underground artist and Pussy Riot activist Pyotr Verzilov, say that he was probably poisoned by an unknown substance.

"The impression and the findings that we now have, as well as those provided by colleagues from Moscow, suggest that it was highly plausible that it was a case of poisoning," Kai-Uwe Eckardt, a leading doctor at Berlin's Charité Hospital said, as cited by AFP.

Verzilov's health "was improving from day to day" and he is "no longer in life-threatening danger,"according to the hospital's chairman Karl Max Einhaeupl. He ruled out the possibility that it was a case of self-inflicted substance abuse. "Such substances are extremely rare in drug circles and we have no indication that it was a drug problem," he said.

Comment: Previously: Man behind Pussy Riot seriously ill, family claims he may have been poisoned

Iraqi man held after fatal stabbing in Chemnitz, which sparked mayhem, walks free

RT
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 18:49 UTC

Prosecutors have confirmed that an Iraqi national, detained for three weeks after a stabbing incident in Chemnitz, Germany, which left one local man dead, has been released. Another suspect, a Syrian national, remains in custody.

The 22-year-old, identified only as Yousif A., was one of two men detained after a 35-year-old German man was fatally stabbed in a brawl with migrants late in August. Another suspect, a Syrian national, remains in custody. A third migrant, sought after the incident, has not been located.

While Yousif A. admitted he was at the scene of the deadly incident, he claimed he only observed the brawl. His account was supported by the testimonies of eyewitnesses, German broadcaster NDR reported last week.

The stabbing in Chemnitz triggered a wave of far-right and right-wing rallies, some of which escalated into skirmishes between riot police and protesters, resulting in multiple arrests and injuries. The right-wing rallies were also met with counter protests from the left, who opposed the "hatred" against the migrants. The rival protesters clashed with each other on several occasions.

US Border Patrol: Migrants illegally enter Arizona by the hundreds

Breitbart
Mon, 17 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC

Border Patrol agents in the Tucson Sector are witnessing significant increases in the number of migrants crossing illegally from Mexico. In roughly two weeks, four groups were apprehended-each consisting of more than 100 adults and children.

Ajo Station agents encountered a group of 121 migrants who crossed the border near the Senita Basin, north of the Lukeville port of entry. The group quickly turned themselves over to the custody of the agents, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. Agents said the group was composed of 111 adults and children from Guatemala and another 10 from El Salvador.

Four days earlier, agents encountered a group of 163 several miles west of the Lukeville port of entry. Another group of 103 was apprehended on August 28 and 128 more on August 20. The group of 128 was abandoned in the desert by their human smugglers, officials stated.

"This is where our law enforcement mission quickly turns from enforcing immigration laws to preserving life by ensuring the welfare and wellbeing of these migrant families," Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent Rodolfo Karisch said in a written statement. "Transnational criminal organizations are exploiting these immigrant families and demonstrating their blatant disregard for human life."

Clueless CIA tweets birthday greetings to itself, Twitter trolls roll into action: '71 yrs of spying & regime change'

RT
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 17:55 UTC

The CIA has tweeted a GIF marking its 71st birthday - and while some folks on Twitter took the opportunity to express their sincere thanks to the intelligence agency for the work it does, others were, let's just say, not so kind.

The simple self-congratulatory GIF showed confetti falling over the years '1947 - 2018' with the words "celebrating 71 years" written underneath and the CIA's logo in the middle. It wasn't long before the responses to the birthday tweet started rolling in.

Some Americans praised the "heroes" of the organization and the "sacrifices" made to 'keep the US safe'.

Comment: When will these Deep State-types learn to keep their heads down?

China demands apology from Sweden over treatment of 3 tourists

RT
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 16:47 UTC

What began as a dispute over check-in times between three Chinese tourists and a Swedish hotel has somehow escalated into an international incident, with Beijing demanding an apology for what it says was a human rights violation.

China has issued a safety warning for its nationals in Sweden after the three tourists were "brutally abused" by local police on September 2. On Monday, Beijing urged Stockholm to take their concerns seriously and respond to the complaint immediately

"We again urge Sweden to take China's concerns seriously, and to take practical measures to protect the security and legitimate interests of Chinese tourists,"said China's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.

The Chinese family arrived to the Stockholm hotel after midnight on the day in question - several hours before their scheduled arrival. After being told they could not check in yet, they asked if they could wait in the lobby. The hotel staff ordered them to leave when they allegedly started to make verbal threats, before calling the police to forcibly remove them.

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cracker

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Orwik

Jut for laffs here's George Carlin doing a spoof as the Architect in the Matrix: [Link] * BTW, this just came out today: Leonard Cohen - Puppets...

parzival

.. .. Is the Brits' Prince Pedo ok? [Link]

Jibrish

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Jibrish

Society's Child

New regulations demand that UK universities give more top degrees to black students

ACLU files lawsuit against Facebook over gender discrimination in job advertisements

Projecting much? Sesame Street writer confirms that Bert and Ernie were a gay couple

Senate passes STOP Act intended to combat influx of synthetic opioids into US

73-year-old woman mauled to death by police K9 after she gives permission for officers to search her garden

Doctors treating Pussy Riot activist Pyotr Verzilov say it was 'highly probable' he was poisoned by unknown substance

Iraqi man held after fatal stabbing in Chemnitz, which sparked mayhem, walks free

US Border Patrol: Migrants illegally enter Arizona by the hundreds

Clueless CIA tweets birthday greetings to itself, Twitter trolls roll into action: '71 yrs of spying & regime change'

China demands apology from Sweden over treatment of 3 tourists

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