Society's Child

Award-winning Der Spiegel journalist revealed to have made up fake stories for years

Kate Connolly
The Guardian
Wed, 19 Dec 2018 18:31 UTC

The German news magazine Der Spiegel has been plunged into chaos after revealing that one of its top reporters had falsified stories over several years.

The media world was stunned by the revelations that the award-winning journalist Claas Relotius had, according to the weekly, "made up stories and invented protagonists" in at least 14 out of 60 articles that appeared in its print and online editions, warning that other outlets could also be affected.

Relotius, 33, resigned after admitting to the scam. He had written for the magazine for seven years and won numerous awards for his investigative journalism, including CNN Journalist of the Year in 2014.

Earlier this month, he won Germany's Reporterpreis (Reporter of the Year) for his story about a young Syrian boy, which the jurors praised for its "lightness, poetry and relevance". It has since emerged that all the sources for his reportage were at best hazy, and much of what he wrote was made up.

Colleges de-stress students for finals: therapy horses, coloring, massages, Fortnite tourneys

Matthew Pinna
The College Fix
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:16 UTC

Therapy dogs and miniature horses. Coloring books. Massages. Even Fortnite tournaments.

All this and more are ways in which universities across the nation are working to help students de-stress as finals unfold, hosting a plethora of interesting activities or all out "De-stress Fests."

One of the most common services provided come in the form of therapy dogs, specifically trained to be as calm and affectionate as possible. Campuses such as the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Michigan State are just two out of many that recently offered the friendly puppers to pet and relax with in between study sessions.

Duke University went one step further. On top of bringing in puppies, the school offered what it called a "Stampede of Love" - miniature horses. Students were invited on the Friday before Finals Week to partake in an event led by a Raleigh-based nonprofit, staffed by two of their tiny horses, named "Kiwi" and "Lola."

Comment: There will be no such amenities provided to these young adults when they hit the workforce, so are university administrators really doing them a favor by making their life as comfortable as possible? This seems more like the behavior of a company that wants to keep its customers happy than an institution of higher learning preparing its students for the real world.

Homeless deaths increase by 24% over last five years in UK

Patrick Greenfield
The Guardian
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:16 UTC

© Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
The average age of a rough sleeper at death was 44 years for men and 42 years for women. Men made up 84% of homeless deaths, ONS figures show.

Nearly 600 homeless people died on the streets or in temporary accommodation in England and Wales in 2017, up 24% in five years, according to the first government figures on the issue.

After a slight drop in 2013, deaths have risen every year since, from 475 in 2014 to 597 last year, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. The average age of a rough sleeper at death was 44 years for men and 42 years for women. Men made up 84% of homeless deaths.

London and the north-west had the highest mortality of homeless people in England and Wales. More than half of the deaths in 2017 were caused by drug poisoning, suicide or alcohol abuse. No figures were calculated for 2018.

Scathing report from Illinois AG finds more than 500 priests accused of sexual abuse not yet publicly identified by Catholic Church

Elvia Malagon
Chicago Tribune
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:45 UTC

A scathing report from Attorney General Lisa Madigan finds the number of Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse against children in Illinois is much higher than previously acknowledged.

The report said accusations have been leveled against 690 priests, while Catholic officials have publicly identified only 185 clergy with credible allegations against them.

The determination is part of a preliminary report made public Wednesday by Madigan's office, which has been investigating Catholic clergy sexual abuse of minors following revelations during the summer of widespread abuse and cover-ups by Catholic officials in Pennsylvania. The report was critical of the six Catholic dioceses that govern parishes across Illinois for their lack of transparency and flawed investigations.

Although the report says that "Clergy sexual abuse of minors in Illinois is significantly more extensive than the Illinois Dioceses previously reported," it does not estimate how many of the allegations against the 690 clergy should have been deemed credible. Some of the allegations go back decades.

Vet raises $5M in 3 days on GoFundMe for border wall

Ben Feuerherd
New York Post
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:58 UTC

A supporter of President Trump's border wall proposal has started a GoFundMe to help pay for the project - and the fund skyrocketed to more than $2 million Wednesday night after being live for just three days.

Brian Kolfage, a Trump voter and disabled Iraq War veteran with no connection to the administration, wrote that he set up the page because "President Trump's main campaign promise was to BUILD THE WALL. And as he's followed through on just about every promise so far, this wall project needs to be completed still."

Trump campaigned on building a "great wall" on the southern border during the 2016 presidential election.

Comment: At the time of this posting the campaign has raised over $5 million in three days. It's apparent many Americans are looking for stronger border security and elected Trump largely for this reason.

Psycho mom jailed after caning domestic worker in Singapore

Asia Times
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 15:40 UTC

40-year-old woman was jailed for 10 weeks for assault by a Singapore court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to two charges of causing hurt to her 30-year-old Indonesian domestic worker in 2016.

The court heard that the accused named Mow Li San punched and caned the victim worker, who was hired by the accused's husband in 2016. The assaults took place on October 7 and October 11 of the same year, Yahoo News Singapore reported.

The first incident occurred on October 7, 2016 when the worker failed to follow instructions to bring the couple's twin children along on an outing.

"Yellow Vests" and the downward mobility of the world's middle class

Charles Hugh Smith
charleshughsmith.blogspot
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 16:43 UTC

Capital garners the gains, and labor's share continues eroding. That's the story of the 21st century.

The middle class, virtually by definition, is not prepared for downward mobility. A systemic, semi-permanent decline in the standard of living isn't part of the implicit social contract that's been internalized by the middle class virtually everywhere:living standards are only supposed to rise. Any decline is temporary.

Downward mobility is the key context in the gilets jaunes "yellow vest" movement in France. Taxes and prices rise inexorably while wages/pensions stagnate. The only possible outcome of this structural asymmetry is a decline in the standard of living.

This structural decline in the standard of living of the middle class is complex.One of the definitive identifying characteristics of the middle class is that is supposed to be largely immune to the insecurity and precariousness that characterize much of the working class.

Comment:

Orange man bad, Empire good: Reactions To Trump's Syria withdrawal plan say more than the plan itself

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 16:41 UTC

President Trump has ordered the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, which is reportedly expected to take 60-100 days or 30 days depending on who you ask. According to Kurdish forces in eastern Syria the withdrawal of American as well as French troops is already underway, though France is saying it's staying. The number of troops to be withdrawn which keeps getting repeated in the news is 2,000, but there've been reports that the actual number of US ground troops in Syria is closer to 4,000. The US-led airstrike campaign against Islamic State will reportedly continue.

Trump says the withdrawal is because ISIS has been defeated in Syria, but others are pointing to the conspicuous timing of his recent chat with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdoğan, who has announced a coming military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria east of the Euphrates in the near future, as the more likely reason. An anonymous senior US official has told Reuters that the two leaders didn't discuss a US withdrawal from Syria, but the timing of the conversation as well as a recent $3.5 billion arms deal with Turkey indicates the the US withdrawal and Erdoğan's planned military assault could very well be related. The Kurds put all their eggs in the basket of US support out of a desire to create their own nation, and a US withdrawal means they'll be forced to either court an alliance with Damascus, as some analysts believe will happen, or risk being trapped between hostile Turkish forces and hostile Syrian coalition forces as the Assad government races to reclaim Syrian territory.

Angry New Yorkers demand answers from Amazon execs: "You're worth $1 trillion. Why do you need our $3 billion?"

Julia Conley
Common Dreams
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 16:12 UTC

© @GoMadeIn/Twitter
Demonstrators from local worker advocacy groups assembled outside New York's City Hall as the City Council held a hearing on Amazon's plan to extablish a new headquarters in Queens.

The online retail giant has said its new headquarters in New York will create 25,000 jobs for residents - a claim one protester derided as "smoke and mirrors"

After being kept in the dark about New York's $3 billion deal with Amazon, allowing the trillion-dollar corporation to build its new headquarters-complete with helicopter landing pad for CEO Jeff Bezos - in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City, concerned New York City Council members and scores of angry New Yorkers on Wednesday angrily confronted company representatives over the plan.

At the first City Council meeting on Amazon's so-called "HQ2," about 150 protesters joined the mostly-Democratic lawmakers in slamming the closed-door process through which the city and state finalized the deal and the effect the corporation's arrival will likely have on affordable housing and community development in Queens and the entire city, as New York pours much-needed funds into the new one million square foot campus.

Comment: Regular citizens are right to be furious. They have Seattle's example before them and know what's coming. New York's ruling elite has sold them out.

And most chilling:

US top universities don't support presumption of innocence

Katie Anderson
Campus Reform
Wed, 19 Dec 2018 15:16 UTC

A new study found that students' due process rights are in jeopardy at more than two-thirds of America's top colleges and universities.

Over 70 percent of the top 53 institutions in the United States, as rated by U.S. News and World Report, do not guarantee that students have the presumption of innocence when it comes to disciplinary hearings, according to a report published by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).

According to the report, over 70 percent of the top 53 institutions in the United States...do not guarantee that students have the presumption of innocence.

The study, which gathered data throughout 2018, graded each of these top universities in the U.S based on the policies instituted by the school. FIRE awarded each college a grade on a scale from zero to 20 points, where an "A" ranges from 17 to 20 points and an "F" is zero to four points.

Comment: Who needs out-dated ideas like 'presumption of innocence'? The inquisition and gulags worked out so well.

When is Space Weather Scary? & Top Science Updates | S0 News Nov.5.2021 [Link]

parzival

'Pfizer Shares Surge After Release Of 'Miracle' COVID Pill That Is 89% Effective At Preventing Hospitalization' [Link] * 'Take four red capsules....

parzival

.. .. RT, airplanes, 9/11 & Pelostine: [Link]

Jibrish

Let's go pfizzer! or, Rumor is these 'inexplicably timed, heavily publicized, odd' funds are an additional, off the books entitlement to them...

Jibrish

"Although there isn't a currently known asteroid that's on an impact course with the Earth,…..” They might just fix that next October.

L. Wood

Society's Child

Award-winning Der Spiegel journalist revealed to have made up fake stories for years

Colleges de-stress students for finals: therapy horses, coloring, massages, Fortnite tourneys

Homeless deaths increase by 24% over last five years in UK

Scathing report from Illinois AG finds more than 500 priests accused of sexual abuse not yet publicly identified by Catholic Church

Vet raises $5M in 3 days on GoFundMe for border wall

Psycho mom jailed after caning domestic worker in Singapore

"Yellow Vests" and the downward mobility of the world's middle class

Orange man bad, Empire good: Reactions To Trump's Syria withdrawal plan say more than the plan itself

Angry New Yorkers demand answers from Amazon execs: "You're worth $1 trillion. Why do you need our $3 billion?"

US top universities don't support presumption of innocence

Latest News

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

Recent Comments

Quantum Quirk

Contact Us