Society's ChildS


Boat

Beware false promises: Israel proposes building goods port for Gaza in Cyprus

Cyprus port
© Mohammed Salem / Reuters
Tel Aviv has discussed the establishment of a seaport for the Gaza Strip in Cyprus, Israeli media reports. Israel's proposal, now being considered by Nicosia, comes after it has actually maintained a blockade of Gaza for years.

The alleged 'good will' initiative is, however, far from being without conditions. The establishment of a port would take place only if the Hamas militant group, which controls Gaza, releases Israeli civilians and returns the remains of IDF soldiers.

According to Israeli media, the proposal is indeed conditional on the release of the Israeli civilian captives held by Hamas since 2014 and 2015 as well as on the return of the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, killed in 2014 during Operation Protective Edge. "We will clearly and openly put the benefits package on the table [and say], 'This is possible, this is the price. Take it or leave it'," a senior Israeli defense source told the local Hadashot TV.

Comment: Given the duplicitous nature of Israel and its historic clampdown on Gaza, it seems likely that there is more behind this agreement than meets the eye. The people of Gaza should check for crossed fingers behind the backs of the Israeli authorities before they agree to anything.

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Palette

Second Spanish church falls prey to well-intentioned but amateur restorer

St. George effigy
© ArtUs Restauración PatrimonioThe St George effigy before and after restoration.

St George effigy painted in restoration compared to Ecce Homo Monkey Christ


For 500 years, the painted wooden effigy of St George that adorns a chapel in the Spanish town of Estella has been locked in a silent struggle against his old foe, the dragon.

Today, however, the saint faces a different battle thanks to a feat of restoration that has prompted comparisons with the infamous "Ecce Homo Monkey Christ" and exasperated the mayor.

Comment: Art restoration is obviously an art in and of itself and requires the careful work of professionals and experts. The fact that these restorations have been granted to amateurs is likely a reflection of the owner's valuation of the bottom line over the historic and artistic significance.

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Magnify

When it comes to protests in Iran, be very skeptical

CIA emblem
Every few weeks I switch from being accused by pro-establishment Democrats of writing propaganda for Putin and Assad to being accused by pro-Trump Republicans of writing propaganda for the Iranian government, all because I am opposed to US-led regime change intervention in both Syria or Iran. Whichever country the US war machine is roaring loudest at on a given day, that's the country I'm writing propaganda for, because somehow the social engineers have succeeded in turning regime change interventionism in Iran vs. regime change interventionism in Syria into a partisan wedge issue.

Couldn't possibly just be that I know the US intelligence community lies constantly about such things.


Today there are reports being triumphantly bandied about by neoconservative pundits everywhere (often hilariously using pictures of the MEK terror cult) that some Iranian protesters have been recorded chanting "Death to Palestine" and "Death to the dictator" and carrying signs which admonish the Iranian government to pull its troops out of Syria. All of which just so happen to play nicely into the pro-regime change narratives of America's defense and intelligence agencies.

Comment: See also:


Cow

Vegan compassion: Citing 'anti-meat' sentiment, French butchers seek police protection

French Butcher Boucherie
© Boucherie du Bac, Paris
French butchers say they've had enough. Not only must they confront media coverage of the "vegan way of life," now they say they are under assault.

After a series of small but unprecedented incidents, the butchers federation says its members need protection from militants who have broken windows, thrown fake blood and sprayed graffiti on their shops. In a letter to the French Interior Ministry, the butchers wrote that "physical, verbal, and moral violence" against them was "neither more nor less than a form of terrorism."

The letter may be a touch hyperbolic - and French vegan organizations are quick to defend their movement as nonviolent - but it has struck a chord with many French who dislike being told what they should eat.

Comment: The rise in extremist vegan violence seems to mirror the rise in SJW activism in general, as lefties are becoming more and more emboldened to take their cause to more extreme levels. They seem to be blind to the fact that their activism completely counters their stated objectives. It's unlikely that they're winning any converts, but the damage being done is certainly making society the opposite of a "safe space".

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Clock

Did the US Securities and Exchange Commission just try to kill internet legend and crypto currency advocate John Mcafee?

John Mcafee
John Mcafee
John Mcafee takes to Twitter after being hospitalised for 3 days, claiming his 'enemies managed to spike something [he] ingested'.

John Mcafee  tweet
After falling unusually silent on Twitter over the last 3 days, many crypto fans were beginning to wonder where the King of Crypto had gone. In the last hour however, the unthinkable has occurred which has shocked the crypto community. The cybersecurity magnate returned to Twitter tell his followers that an attempt had been made on his life this week, leaving him in a critical condition in the Vidant Medical Center in North Carolina since Wednesday.

According to his post, it appears that 'his' enemies had poisoned something he had consumed which left John Mcafee unconscious for 2 days while Doctors desperately tried to save his life.

Comment: Mcafee is certainly outspoken about a good number of things. Looks as though he's likely made more than a few enemies in 'high places':


Evil Rays

Pro-Trump conspiracy-spinner "QAnon" calls for readers to promote regime change in Iran

chess game
A QAnon meme posted on the 8chan forum.
Among the figures who have been promoted by QAnon as heroes resisting the "deep state" include Blackwater founder Erik Prince, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Mayor of New York City turned Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

As Henry Kissinger predicted soon after the 2016 election, Donald Trump's "transition from being a campaigner to being a national strategist" has been seamless. Much like the change Barack Obama underwent in 2008, where "anti-establishment" campaign rhetoric and promises became a thing of the past and a "status quo" neoliberal/neoconservative agenda was adopted in its place, Trump's transition has led to a resurgence of power and influence among Washington's most notorious neoconservatives and a continuation of many of the policies that he had once railed against.

Trump's decision to assume the mantle of George W. Bush should have angered his base, as his promises to "drain the swamp" of the nation's capital ring ever-hollow amid the ascension of the worst of Washington's cesspool to powerful positions in the Trump administration. However, such anger among Trump's base has failed to materialize en masse. Instead, the anger has largely been diverted and redirected, thanks to an internet phenomenon known simply as "QAnon."


Comment: While Trump sometimes takes steps that are decidedly consistent with Neocons and the Deep State, to say that he has assumed the mantle of George W. Bush is quite over the top.


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Pumpkin 2

Peter Fonda goes unhinged: Rants inciting comments about ICE agents, Trump gov - and gets declared a "domestic terrorist" by the Border Patrol Union

Peter Fonda
Either Peter Fonda only posts to Twitter when he is drunk or he is a complete imbecile. Or both.

After calling for criminal physical assaults against Barron Trump, Sarah Sanders, and DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, the kid brother of the most notorious traitor since the Rosenbergs incited, via Twitter, his fellow America-hating vermin to harass and "scare the shit out of" the children of Border Patrol agents, who were none too happy with Fonda's inciteful suggestion.

So, in response, the National Border Patrol Council, the Border Patrol's official labor union, has declared Peter Fonda a domestic terrorist and published the following blistering report....

Once again, we have a deranged liberal "star" born with a silver spoon in his mouth who thinks play-acting as a "tough guy" in a movie equates to being a tough guy in real life. This guy is the lowest of the low!

Comment: Fonda isn't the only denizen of Hollywood to rant something stupid in public recently...

Hollywood elite cheer as has-been actor Robert De Niro delivers sophisticated anti-Trump speech at some awards ceremony


Pistol

Trump staff urged to get a gun in wake of Maxine Waters incitement to harass them

The Red Hen
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was asked to leave a Lexington, Va., restaurant owned by a Trump critic
Facing a new wave of potentially dangerous threats, called for by a top Democratic lawmaker, legal and gun experts are calling on top Trump aides to get their concealed carry permit and back it up with a pistol.

"There are simply not enough police in D.C. or Virginia or Maryland to protect all Trump officials at their homes and when they go out to restaurants. Getting a concealed handgun permit would be helpful to protect themselves and their family," said John R. Lott Jr., president of the influential Crime Prevention Research Center.

"High level officials in the Trump administration, especially if their faces are likely to be recognized by many in the public as a result of appearances on TV, might want to consider applying for a license to carry a concealed weapon in the District of Columbia, and/or other states they frequent, in view of the call by Rep. Maxine Waters for the public to 'absolutely harass' these officials in public places, and other recent events indicating the increased danger they are in," added public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Black Cat

Low strangeness: Inside the bizarre world of the real life 'vampire king and queen' who have fangs, drink blood and are polyamorous

vampire couple
Sun Online was granted exclusive access into the Vampire Court of Austin, Texas - a group of "awakened vampires and otherkin"

THEY love drinking blood, hate sunshine - and are very kinky.

Meet the young married couple who by night transform into the "vampire king and queen of Austin, Texas", where they are the appointed leaders of a group of 60 self-professed vampires.

Every month the Vampire Court of Austin meets at their private members club - a fetish venue about 15 minutes from central Austin where they hold an official court meeting before relaxing with a drink or a little BDSM on their sex floor.

Married couple Logan and Daley South founded the court around six years ago to provide a "safe haven" for all the city's "awakened vampires" and "otherkin" which includes "werewolves, fairies and people who identify with animal spirits".

Comment: This editor doesn't know whether to laugh or cry, but it is reminiscent of this recent story:

The Torture Ship: Hundreds of S&M enthusiasts hold erotic party on German lake (VIDEO)


Alarm Clock

TED Talk organization under fire for bizarre 'pedophilia' lecture

tedx
Every year, thousands of independent TEDx Talks take place all over the world. And May 5th, at the University of Würzburg in Germany, was no different, except for one detail: med student Mirjam Heine spoke about her belief that pedophilia is a natural, unchangeable sexual orientation.

Heine believes that "...no one is responsible for their sexual orientation, for their feelings, but that everyone is responsible for acting upon this sexual orientation.