Society's Child

UN calls for Julian Assange's release from UK high-security jail citing human rights violations

Damien Gayle
The Guardian
Thu, 09 May 2019 17:37 UTC

UN experts have called for Julian Assange to be released from prison and criticised the British government for breaching his human rights.

The WikiLeaks publisher was jailed for 50 weeks on Wednesday for breaking bail conditions imposed seven years earlier by seeking asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

The UN working group on arbitrary detention (WGAD) said it was deeply concerned by the "disproportionate sentence" imposed on Assange for violating the terms of his bail, which it described as a "minor violation".

The group has twice previously called for Assange to be freed, after it judged his confinement to the Ecuadorian embassy by the threat of arrest should he leave amounted to arbitrary detention.

Auschwitz urges online store to stop selling mini-skirts and tote bags showing images of the infamous Nazi death camp

Bill Bostock
Business Insider
Wed, 08 May 2019 16:51 UTC

The Auschwitz Memorial criticized an online marketplace for selling mini-skirts and tote bags covered with images of the Nazi death camp where 1.1 million people were murdered.

In messages posted on Twitter, staff who run the memorial highlighted items sold by Redbubble, a US online marketplace for independent designers.

Auschwitz listed the following items which feature photos of the death camp, the most notorious of the sites used by Nazi Germany for the mass murder of Jews and other minorities.

A $45 throw cushion with a photo of Auschwitz's train tracks - used to transport hundreds of thousands of victims to their deaths.
A $15 tote bag with an image of Auschwitz's electric fence, used to deter escapees, with the German for "Attention! High voltage! Risk of death!" on it.
A $40 mini-skirt depicting an image of the main Nazi guardhouse at Auschwitz.

Denver votes to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms

David Kelly
LA Times
Wed, 08 May 2019 16:53 UTC

In a last-minute surprise, it appears this city has lived up to its libertarian leanings and passed an ordinance decriminalizing hallucinogenic magic mushrooms, the first measure of its kind in the nation.

For much of the last two days, Initiative 301 appeared headed for defeat, but late Wednesday the city of Denver released what it called the "final unofficial results" showing the measure passing by a razor-thin vote margin of 50.56% to 49.44%. The results will be certified May 16.

"The last 24 hours have been a hell of a ride," said Kevin Matthews, who heads Decriminalize Denver, which spearheaded the ordinance. "Most of the votes are in, though there are still some outstanding absentee ballots. This is the unofficial, official victory."

And he said it sends a clear message to the rest of the country.

"That message is that the American people are ready for a broader conversation around psilocybin and that no person should ever be treated like a criminal for using a mushroom," he said.

Veteran Chicago cop charged with inappropriate physical contact with 3 women while on duty

Jeremy Gorner
Chicago Tribune
Thu, 09 May 2019 16:39 UTC

A veteran Chicago police officer has been arrested on charges he had inappropriate physical contact with three women on separate occasions while on-duty on the North Side, authorities said Wednesday.

Cook County prosecutors said Officer Corey Deanes, while on patrol in a marked police car in the Lincoln Park and Lakeview communities, pulled over or approached the women when each was alone late at night, commented on their looks and hugged or touched them inappropriately.

Prosecutors proposed that Deanes be released on his own recognizance, but Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr. set bond at $200,000, calling the officer's actions "extremely scary and troubling."

"We always forget the psychological effect this has on people," Lyke said. "You have the ability to stop somebody at night, and they're totally alone."

Immortal Regiment marches take place across the globe

Russia Beyond
Wed, 08 May 2019 14:17 UTC

Descendants of WWII soldiers take part in processions to commemorate the memory of their relatives.

It originally began in 2012 in the Siberian city of Tomsk, but this year, the Immortal Regiment is held in more than 110 countries and 500 cities all over the world. People join the processions holding the portraits of their relatives who fought in World War II, and every year the number of participating cities grows.

1. New York, U.S., May 4

Comment: Western elites don't see this as 'free of politics', which is why they neither participate in them, nor report on them.

Anything with the potential to improve perceptions of Russia must be either ignored or attacked.

It's a crying shame because WW2 commemoration is a great way to build cross-cultural bridges.

In the meantime, these serve as useful community-building exercises for the tens of millions of Russian/Eurasian emigrés around the world.

Hurrah! Highlights of the May 9th Victory Day Parade in Moscow

Sputnik
Thu, 09 May 2019 13:23 UTC

A military parade to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War was held on Moscow's Red Square on 9 May. The parade showcased sophisticated Russian military hardware, including tanks and missile systems.

Interestingly, Russian-made Aurus luxury cars were for the first time used during the parade to transport Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who inspected the event, and Oleg Salyukov, commander-in-chief of the Russian Ground Forces, who was in charge of the parade.

Aurus vehicles are part of the Kortezh project, which envisages the creation of luxury cars for top state officials. The cars, which are on a par with foreign analogues in terms of performance characteristics, are already used by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country's Federal Protective Service.

Comment: There is still nothing like it in the West, partly because Nazism was never an existential threat there, and partly because military parades are 'bad', or something...

Immortal Regiment marches were also held across Russia today. Between those and Victory Day parades, it's estimated that over half of Russia's population of 150 million people are participating.

Woman arrested for trespassing at CIA headquarters and asking for 'Agent Penis'

J.D. Simkins
Military Times
Wed, 08 May 2019 19:50 UTC

© Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
The Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia, was visited recently on four separate occasions by a woman requesting to speak with an "Agent Penis."

Jennifer G. Hernandez might be the world's most staunch supporter of the misguided notion that 50 noes and one yes ... means yes. Unfortunately for her, this concept has no application to the real world, especially when it comes to unauthorized CIA headquarters visits.

The 58-year-old woman allegedly trespassed on the grounds of the Langley, Virginia, headquarters on four separate occasions, the police complaint said, before finally requesting an audience with "Agent Penis," as one does.

Hernandez reportedly sauntered into the building April 22 - the first occasion - through the main vehicle entrance before she was stopped by a bewildered CIA police officer.

Once questioned, she reportedly informed the officer she was following up with a recruiter at the agency as part of her application for CIA employment.

Is the end of free speech a natural solution to the hatred shared online?

Alex Wilkins
Metro
Wed, 08 May 2019 12:13 UTC

In March 2019, a shooter entered a New Zealand mosque and murdered 51 people as they began afternoon prayers.

A month later, seven assailants bombed churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, resulting in the deaths of 257.

Though they happened for very different reasons, the attacks shared the common goal of spreading terror. Their ideologies may not have been born on the internet but they were amplified by it.

Comment: Behind the screeching from both the pro-censorship and freedom of speech camps, the issue is actually quite sticky and difficult to navigate. One thing that seems to be agreed upon, although for different reasons, is that the current approach the social media platforms are taking is not sufficient. Many complain of unfair bannings and uneven censorship, others complain the ban hammer isn't strong enough.

For a very in-depth discussion of many of these issues, see the Joe Rogan Experience podcast with Jack Dorsey, Vijaya Gadde of Twitter and independent media pundit Tim Pool.

Student demands to punish faculty are 'preening would-be totalitarianism'

The College Fix
Wed, 08 May 2019 07:14 UTC

Camille Paglia and Samuel Abrams have perhaps two things in common: They are professors, and students are trying to get them fired for offending them.

The University of the Arts and Sarah Lawrence College faculty are just the latest victims of the "therapeutic model of education, which prioritizes feelings and happiness over learning," according to Tom Nichols, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College and vocal critic of President Trump.

He writes in The Atlantic that a "more noxious version" of 1960s campus activism "is now in full swing, with students demanding a say in the hiring and firing of faculty whose views they merely happen not to like."

The student activists' agenda "could have come out of China during the Cultural Revolution-if Maoists had been as obsessed with race and sexuality as they were with class," Nichols writes.

Comment: See also:

Darwin Award: Couple dies of plague after eating raw marmot meat for 'good health'

Colleen Killingsworth
FOX5
Wed, 08 May 2019 10:50 UTC

A Mongolian couple reportedly died after contracting the bubonic plague from the consumption of raw marmot meat and kidney, causing a six-day quarantine in the western Bayan Olgii province of Mongolia that borders China and Russia, according to the BBC.

Several foreign tourists were among the more than 100 people who had to be isolated and treated with antibiotics during the quarantine that began on May 1 - a necessary precaution to prevent spread of the disease which is responsible for some of the world's most gruesome pandemics.

It is believed that the couple was seeking positive health benefits when they consumed the marmot. Ariuntuya Ochirpurev, a World Health Organization official based out of Mongolia's capital city, Ulaanbaatar, told BBC that some people believe eating marmot is a folk remedy capable of delivering good health.

Rodents and the fleas that infest them, however, are the main carriers and transmitters of the plague.

Human plague was reported to the World Health Organization in Mongolia for the first time in 1989, with 68 cases resulting in 22 deaths occurring in the country over the next eight years. According to the World Health Organization, most of those cases were also associated with hunting marmot.

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

UN calls for Julian Assange's release from UK high-security jail citing human rights violations

Auschwitz urges online store to stop selling mini-skirts and tote bags showing images of the infamous Nazi death camp

Denver votes to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms

Veteran Chicago cop charged with inappropriate physical contact with 3 women while on duty

Immortal Regiment marches take place across the globe

Hurrah! Highlights of the May 9th Victory Day Parade in Moscow

Woman arrested for trespassing at CIA headquarters and asking for 'Agent Penis'

Is the end of free speech a natural solution to the hatred shared online?

Student demands to punish faculty are 'preening would-be totalitarianism'

Darwin Award: Couple dies of plague after eating raw marmot meat for 'good health'

Latest News

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

Recent Comments

Quantum Quirk

Contact Us