Society's Child

Mexico's president-elect, AMLO waives right for bodyguard protection - 'the citizens will take care of me'

Tom Phillips
The Guardian
Tue, 03 Jul 2018 22:09 UTC

Leftist Amlo has also refused to live in ornate presidential residence and pledged to cut his own salary

He has just been elected commander-in-chief of a nation mired in an intractable drug conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives in little more than a decade.

But on Tuesday, Mexico's incoming president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, claimed he would waive the right to close protection in a bid to stay close to the people.

"I don't want bodyguards, which means the citizens will take care of me and protect me," López Obrador, or Amlo, as he is best known, told reporters as he called on Mexico's incumbent president, Enrique Peña Nieto, to discuss the transition.

Amlo, a 64-year-old leftist who trounced opponents in Sunday's vote, was repeating an undertaking made on several occasions during his historic campaign - one of several promises designed to bolster his image as a man of the people who will rule for Mexico's 53 million poor.

"I don't want to go around surrounded by bodyguards. I want you to take care of me, I want the people to look after me," Amlo told a rally in Hidalgo state in May.

Comment: Who is López Obrador? Mexico's AMLO, Trump and the error of comparison

Charity established by Mother Teresa under investigation for black market baby trafficking in India

Jay Syrmopoulos
The Free Thought Projecy
Thu, 05 Jul 2018 00:00 UTC

child trafficking mother theresa charity

Police in India have arrested a woman working at Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity for allegedly selling a 14-day old baby, while two other employees at the charity have been detained and questioned regarding other potential cases of black market baby trafficking.

The BBC reported that a complaint registered with the Indian state of Jharkhand's Child Welfare Committee (CWC) led to the arrest and detainment of the charity's employees.

"We have found out that some other babies have also been illegally sold from the centre," a police official told the BBC. "We have obtained the names of the mothers of these babies and are further investigating."

Mother Theresa, who died in 1997, founded the Missionaries Charity in 1950 - which has more than 3,000 nuns worldwide - set up hospices, soup kitchens, schools, leper colonies and homes for abandoned children across the world.

While the Missionaries of Charity still run centers for unmarried pregnant women, they no longer arrange adoptions.

Comment: Black-market baby trade thrives in India after adoption law reform

In late 2015, India changed its adoption rules when the Ministry of Women and Child Development brought all prospective adoptive parents and children together in an online database run by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), a body that monitors and regulates adoptions both within India and for couples overseas wanting to adopt from there.
[..]
The system, which also makes it easier for single and divorced people to adopt, may look good on paper, but Arun Dohle, who runs Against Child Trafficking, an NGO that investigates adoption practices and gives assistance to victims, argues that no one is working on the root cause of the problem: corruption and illegal trafficking.

Dohle goes as far as to compare India's legal system of adoption with the black market.

In the black market, "You can buy a baby from a nursing home, you get a new birth certificate, put your name as the parent and everything is fine. You call it adoption so it's a good thing, right?" he said.

"The legal route is the same thing. The only difference is that the shortcut [the illegal way] takes a shorter period of time and is a bit more expensive. The system doesn't work.

DNA tests are in the works for separated migrant children and parents - aims to prevent traffickers from claiming children

Sonia Moghe, Nick Valencia and Holly Yan
CNN
Thu, 05 Jul 2018 16:02 UTC

Whether this practice is beneficial or unethical depends on who you ask.

DNA tests are being performed on children and parents in an attempt to reunite migrant families separated at the US border, said a federal official with knowledge of the reunifications.

The safety and security is paramount, and it is not uncommon for children to be trafficked or smuggled by those claiming to be parents," the official said.

"To our knowledge, this is a cheek swab and is being done to expedite parental verification and ensuring reunification with verified parents due to child welfare concerns."

The source could not discuss how long the practice has been taking place, if the testing requires consent or if the DNA is stored in a database.

Comment: It's a thorny ethical question, but given Trump's concern about eradicating child-trafficking, this may be one of the more effective ways of thwarting it.

9 dead following listeria outbreak - UK supermarkets recall potentially tainted frozen vegetables

Caitlin Morrison
Independent
Fri, 06 Jul 2018 16:29 UTC

The recall includes bags of frozen sweetcorn and frozen mixed vegetables

Six of the UK's most popular supermarkets have been forced to recall various frozen vegetable products due to concerns over possible listeria contamination.

Aldi, Lidl, Iceland, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose have all recalled frozen veg, including packets of sweetcorn and mixed vegetables, because they could contain Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause listeriosis.

Health organisations recently warned that an outbreak of the bacterial infection across Europe had been linked to frozen vegetables that were not cooked properly.

Comment: Bacterial and viral outbreaks appear to be on the increase:

Be sure to check out:

European Parliament votes down controversial copyright rules that could have banned memes - final decision only delayed

Andrew Griffin
The Independent
Thu, 05 Jul 2018 00:00 UTC

The European Parliament has voted against an incredibly controversial new set of copyright rules that campaigners claim could "ban memes".

The law will now be sent for a full reconsideration and debate inside the parliament, during which activists will try and remove the controversial Article 11 and 13.

Article 11 has been referred to by campaigners as instituting a "link tax", by forcing tech companies like Google and Facebook to pay to use snippets of content on their own sites. Article 13 adds rules that make tech companies responsible for ensuring any copyrighted material is not spread over their platforms.

Those rules could force technology companies to scan through everything their users post and check it doesn't include copyrighted material. If it is found, the post will be forced to be removed, which campaigners claim could destroy the kind of memes and remixes that spread across the internet.

Comment: Further reading:

UK study finds only two thirds of Generation Z identify as 'exclusively heterosexual'

Olivia Rudgard
The Telegraph, UK
Thu, 05 Jul 2018 21:00 UTC

© Ted Alibe/AFP
Researchers said the statistic showed that the youngest generation were "being affected by more open and fluid attitudes".

Homosexuality is no longer the taboo it once was. But figures suggest that young people are even more open to experimentation than previously thought.

Only two thirds of Generation Z identify as solely heterosexual, in stark contrast to previous generations, a study has found.

Research by Ipsos Mori found that 66 per cent of young people, aged between 16 and 22, are "exclusively heterosexual" - the lowest figure of any generation.

Among millennials, 71 per cent say they are exclusively heterosexual, as do 85 per cent of those in "Gen X", and 88 per cent of baby boomers.

The research group suggested that social media was playing a part, with young people more likely to be aware of different sexualities because of the availability of such information on the internet.

Senior lawmaker calls on colleagues to pay tribute to endangered Russian war memorials in foreign countries

RT
Fri, 06 Jul 2018 13:33 UTC

The issue of Soviet-era memorials is becoming increasingly politicized, State Duma's deputy speaker Irina Yarovaya has said as she urged other Russian politicians to pay tribute to such sites when visiting foreign nations.

"I think that this must become a common practice: during any working trip or official visit abroad we, as parliamentarians, must personally attend various memorials and lay flowers to them, confirming our common national interest in honoring the memory of the dead heroes who had monuments to them installed in foreign nations," MP Yarovaya (United Russia) said on Friday as she addressed the presidium of the Lawmakers Council.

Yarovaya noted that the problem of keeping the Soviet-era memorials in foreign countries is becoming increasingly politicized.

"This is connected not with the desire to erase the past, but with plans to build the future. Everything that is connected with desecration of graves, monuments and historical memory is done with only one purpose - to deprive the younger generation of the truthful knowledge of history and history's lessons."

Refugee who fled violence in Ethiopia mourns daughter slain by homeless attacker in Idaho

Rebecca Boone
Yahoo
Wed, 04 Jul 2018 15:42 UTC

Little Ruya Kadir had sparkling eyes, a few basic belongings and not much else when she arrived in Boise, Idaho more than two years ago.

But at just six months old, she had the most important thing: A mother who loved her so fiercely that she left behind her homeland, her husband and everything she knew so Ruya would grow up in a safe place.

Ruya was at her third birthday party - complete with a pink doll-shaped cake and a Disney princess banner - Saturday evening when a man armed with a large knife attacked. Ruya and five other children were badly injured, along with the three adults who tried to protect them.

Timmy Kinner, a 30-year-old homeless man who had briefly been a guest at the apartment complex where Ruya lived, has been charged with first-degree murder and several other felonies in connection with the attack.

Journalist rightly asks: If Sputnik is targeted over gov't funding, why isn't 'fake news' BBC?

Sputnik
Fri, 06 Jul 2018 15:50 UTC

In the wake of Sputnik Latvia Editor-In-Chief Valentins Rozencovs' report of a 12-hour detention many of his colleagues from around the world blasted the move, the media-related and generally anti-Russia Baltic policies; some, meanwhile, agreed that this signifies Sputnik's booming popularity abroad.

According to Socrates George Kazolias, a Paris-based American reporter, media consultant and university lecturer, law enforcement naturally has the right to "question a reporter, and a reporter has the right to refuse to answer until and if a judge orders him to do so, and then he is in contempt of court." However, he deems it as "unacceptable" to single out a media outlet for harassment "because you disagree with their editorial line."

"If Sputnik is singled out because it is a Russian outlet with government funding, then why isn't the BBC, which the Trump administration accuses of being fake news?" Kazolias questioned. He cited arrays of media with government funding including AFP and France Televisions, "which spin a narrative which often corresponds to that of the 'powers-that-be.'"

Comment:

Xenophobic ego trip: Stinky Russian men inferior to 'gallant' visiting fans, UK reporter says in cliche-ridden piece

RT
Fri, 06 Jul 2018 09:42 UTC

Russian women were desperate for freedom to explore their sexuality, but only had a chance to do so when thousands of gorgeous gentlemen visited for the World Cup, believes one UK reporter - because Russian men are pigs.

The British media are rightfully blamed for doing their best to misrepresent Russia, painting pictures of a hostile 'Soviet-esque' land inhabited by hooligans and KGB spies waiting to pounce on foreigners. Halfway through the FIFA World Cup, with all the evidence suggesting the contrary, more creativity is needed to maintain this attitude.

Enter the Independent's Moscow Correspondent Oliver Carroll, whose report managed to demean Russians, while seemingly rooting for them to become a better people. According to Carroll, Russian women generally desire to explore their sexuality, but really don't have any opportunities to do it, because they need all those foreign fans visiting Russia to become truly free. The foreigners are "beautiful men who are happy to have sex with condoms, who act gallantly without accusing them of being slutty," the newspaper quotes a Russian sex blog author as saying.

If you read the linked white house statement try not to puke.

sbc

Let's go, Brandon! Fucking asswipe, worthless, POS. Fraud! Argh! 😤

slbeaudry

I don't think this new requirement has undergone proper public review. There are procedures codified for this sort of thing. If some sort of...

Buffalo_Ken

First it will be 100 employees,then 50, then one. Masses are collectively powerful against the intolerant vocal minority and it is time to wipe...

Bezel Bub

I most certainly would not park my arse on a plane full of vaccinated people and have them infect me with their mutated virus. Whilst my...

Winternights3

Society's Child

Mexico's president-elect, AMLO waives right for bodyguard protection - 'the citizens will take care of me'

Charity established by Mother Teresa under investigation for black market baby trafficking in India

DNA tests are in the works for separated migrant children and parents - aims to prevent traffickers from claiming children

9 dead following listeria outbreak - UK supermarkets recall potentially tainted frozen vegetables

European Parliament votes down controversial copyright rules that could have banned memes - final decision only delayed

UK study finds only two thirds of Generation Z identify as 'exclusively heterosexual'

Senior lawmaker calls on colleagues to pay tribute to endangered Russian war memorials in foreign countries

Refugee who fled violence in Ethiopia mourns daughter slain by homeless attacker in Idaho

Journalist rightly asks: If Sputnik is targeted over gov't funding, why isn't 'fake news' BBC?

Xenophobic ego trip: Stinky Russian men inferior to 'gallant' visiting fans, UK reporter says in cliche-ridden piece

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