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Thai protesters blasted with water cannon, as they gather for 3rd straight day to demand prime minister's resignation


RT
Tue, 17 Aug 2021 19:14 UTC
protesters, Bangkok, Thailand
© Sirachai Arunrugstichai/Getty Images
Protesters throw pink paint toward the police while being sprayed with water cannon in downtown to protest against violence from law enforcement toward anti-government protesters on August 17, 2021 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Thai police force deployed a water cannon on Tuesday to disperse anti-government protesters who'd gathered in central Bangkok to call out Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha over his handling of the Covid pandemic.

Clashes between protesters and police broke out near the national police headquarters and outside the Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's residence on Tuesday, as authorities sought to control a crowd of activists calling for the government to step down over a growing Covid outbreak.

Footage circulating on social media showed authorities spraying a crowd of protesters with a water cannon. Witnesses claimed that activists responded by initially standing their ground and throwing paint and water bottles before retreating through the streets.

Comment: See also:

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Take 2

Woke Hollywood is trying to boycott Johnny Depp, but he'll never be canceled in the court of public opinion

Charlie Stone
RT
Tue, 17 Aug 2021 18:20 UTC
johnny depp
© imdb
MGM is dithering over a US release for Johnny Depp's new film 'Minamata', a move he believes is driven by attempts to cancel him over his relationship with Amber Heard. But the wider movie-going public are more forgiving.

Listen, timid little Hollywood producers: we all know that you don't actually have a Scooby Doo what films will work and what'll flop, and that you basically hang on to your jobs by your manicured fingernails. Focus groups and test audiences with Hoboken housewives ain't gonna save you. Neither will cocaine or Prozac. It's a lottery, a gamble: place your bets and spin that wheel.

Short term is all there is. Big, established names are the safest bets. Attach a Brad Pitt or a Leonardo DiCaprio or a George Clooney, and you're laughing all the way to the executive vice president's chair. It almost doesn't matter what's in the script.

And Johnny Depp is one of the biggest cinema names there is. So, listen - absolutely 100% for sure - Depp will survive his dance with the cancel-culture mob. He just will. You execs at Hollywood studio MGM, grow some gonads. Show some wisdom. Face down the self-righteous woke mob, take a stand... and release Depp's new film in the US.

Depp says Hollywood is 'boycotting' him and MGM is stalling over a US release date for his latest film 'Minamata' due to "an unpleasant and messy situation" over his split from his ex-wife. The movie's director claims the studio is trying to bury it.

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Stop

Facebook bans Taliban-related content from its platforms

Vishwam Sankaran
Independent, UK
Tue, 17 Aug 2021 19:00 UTC
Taliban fighters
© AFP via Getty Images
Taliban fighters stand guard along a roadside near the Zanbaq Square in Kabul on August 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan’s 20-year war
Facebook says it has banned content supporting the Taliban on all of the company's platforms, including Instagram and Whatsapp, since it is a terrorist organisation under US law.

The tech giant's move came as the Taliban captured Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Sunday and declared the country an "Islamic Emirate" after president Ashraf Ghani abandoned the presidential palace and fled to Tajikistan.

The capital's takeover followed after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan last month at the order of President Joe Biden, after almost 20 years of the military starting George W Bush's War on Terror in response to 9/11.

With Taliban using social media platforms to spread its messages, companies like Facebook and Twitter are faced with the challenge of regulating their content.

While Facebook does not make decisions regarding the recognition of governments, it said it "respects the authority of the international community."
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Stop

Anti-woke Brits furious as council leaders approve plaque condemning 'national hero' Sir Francis Drake as a slaver


RT
Tue, 17 Aug 2021 18:29 UTC
Sir Francis Drake
© REUTERS/Paul Childs
A statue of Sir Francis Drake stands in Tavistock, Britain, (FILE PHOTO)
Woke-weary Brits have slammed a local council decision to rebrand a statue of national hero Sir Francis Drake, who defeated the invading Spanish Armada, to underline his involvement in "horrific slave trading expeditions."

Late on Monday, the Telegraph and the Daily Mail reported that West Devon borough council had decided to erect a new informational plaque next to a statue of Sir Francis Drake to highlight the 16th century explorer's connection to slavery.

Despite there being just one letter to support the proposal and 89 objections, the council agreed that a plaque detailing the less heroic aspects of Drake's past must be erected by the monument to the esteemed naval commander in his hometown of Tavistock.

The inscription, as reported by the Daily Mail, highlights the "contrasts" of Drake's life, first noting him as the first Englishman to circumvent the globe and as a defender of the country against the Spanish Armada.

However, it also notes that the Tudor explorer had a darker past. "He was also involved in several horrific slave trading expeditions. Furthermore, as a privateer he looted and plundered Spanish towns and ships in Europe and throughout their Empire in the Americas."

Comment: The disproportionate power of the minority, which negates the claims of oppression by the majority, strikes again.

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Laptop

British MoD vacancy posting blows the lid on 'irregular' hacker branch with links to 'unique and specialised military unit'


RT
Mon, 16 Aug 2021 17:26 UTC
hacker, hacking
© Getty Images / gorodenkoff
The UK Ministry of Defence disclosed the existence of its shadowy hacker outfit in a job ad that sought an "extraordinary talented electronics engineer" to deliver "prototype solutions" to a "unique and specialised military unit."

In the since-removed vacancy listing, posted on its recruitment site, the defense ministry (MoD) was looking to recruit an "intrepid problem solver" as a Computer Network Operations (CNO) Exploit engineer for MAB5 - an "irregular and unrecognisable" unit that is involved in "communications, electronics and technical surveillance."

Noting that solutions are "required in weeks," the advert states that the exploit engineer will need to have the "skills of a hacker" and an "inquisitive and probing mindset."

A "multi-faceted" skillset is apparently crucial as well since the ideal candidate is also expected to be a "consultant," "inventor," "designer," "fabricator," "report writer" and "analyst" (among other technical roles) all rolled into one.

According to the ad, around 80% of the workforce in MAB5's "un-military-like flat structure" are civil servants and the MoD's "most talented scientists and engineers." However, the unit is commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel rank officer - with the email address and phone number of a Lt. Col. Simon Perrett published as the point of contact for applicants.
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Airplane

Afghans reportedly plunge to their deaths after trying to cling to US military plane taking off from Kabul (unverified video)


RT
Mon, 16 Aug 2021 09:29 UTC
Iranian tweet
© Tehran Times79/Twitter
Several people have been killed after attempting to hold on to a plane ferrying evacuees out of Afghanistan's capital, reports say. It comes amid chaotic scenes of Afghans trying to escape Taliban-controlled Kabul.

Horrifying footage posted to social media purportedly shows at least two people falling to their deaths as a US military aircraft takes off from Kabul International Airport. In the video, at least two objects can be seen plunging to the ground as the jet gains altitude.

The Tehran Times claimed that two people were killed after they tried to "hold on" to the plane during takeoff. Other sources suggested that in fact 3 people plummeted to their deaths.
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Family

The great parent revolt

Katherine C. Gorka
RealClear Politics
Wed, 11 Aug 2021 00:00 UTC
Mom 2kids
© AP/Beaumont Enterprise/Guiseppe Barranco
As overreach in classrooms by progressive school administrators, nonprofits and the federal government has reached new heights, parents are stepping up to fight back.

Moms for Liberty, Informed Parents of California, EdFirstNC, NJ Parental Rights, No Left Turn in Education and Parents Against Critical Theory are just a few of the hundreds of new parent groups that have emerged across the country in recent months. Many parents have become education activists because of schools' failure to bring children back into the classroom or their continued imposition of mask mandates.

Others are engaging because of the content being taught. Whether it's age-inappropriate sex education, critical race theory, or anti-American history, parents are seeing more of what their children are learning — thanks to COVID's virtual learning — and they don't like it. As a result, parents are organizing, speaking out, and pushing back, and they are having a noticeable impact.
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Brick Wall

New Zealand to enter nationwide lockdown after single coronavirus case found


Fox News
Tue, 17 Aug 2021 12:04 UTC
jacinda arden
© Mark Mitchell/New Zealand Herald via AP
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the areas where the infected man lives and visited will enter a full lockdown for seven days while the rest of the country will lockdown for three days.
18% of New Zealand's population is full vaccinated.

New Zealand's government took drastic action Tuesday by putting the entire nation into a strict lockdown for at least three days after finding a single case of coronavirus infection in the community.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern invoked some of the stirring rhetoric she used early in the pandemic by urging the "team of 5 million" — New Zealand's population — to go hard and early in trying to eliminate the latest outbreak.

"We have seen what happens elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it," Ardern said. "We only get one chance."

Comment: The level of absurdity has truly reached epic proportions! A nation-wide lockdown over a single case! Surely the people of New Zealand won't stand for this (but don't hold your breath)!

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Airplane

Prototype of Russian transport plane Ilyushin Il-112V crashes during training flight killing all three people on board - reports

Jonny Tickle
RT
Tue, 17 Aug 2021 10:37 UTC
Ilyushin Il-112V crash
A prototype of a Russian military transport plane has crashed just outside Moscow, killing all three people on board, media reported on Tuesday. The Ilyushin Il-112V aircraft was undergoing a test flight to the Kubinka air base.

The incident has been reported by the plane's developer United Aircraft Corporation, which has not confirmed the fatalities so far.

According to a source for TASS, there were three people on board, including Honored Test pilot Nikolay Kuimov, who holds the status of Hero of Russia. Before the plane crashed, the aircraft's right engine went on fire, causing the Il-112V to tilt to the right side. The aircraft began to lose speed before flipping over and falling to the ground, the news agency reports.
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Burka

CNN reporter in Kabul mocked for clip saying Taliban fighters 'seem friendly' after some shout 'death to America!'


RT
Mon, 16 Aug 2021 07:54 UTC
CNN Screenshot
CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward was ridiculed on social media for reporting that members of the Taliban who were shouting "death to America!" behind her in Kabul seemed to be "friendly" nonetheless.

Reporting live on-air from outside of the United States' abandoned embassy in Kabul, CNN recorded a group of armed men in a truck with a Taliban flag, who chanted 'Allahu Akbar!' ('God is the greatest') while at least one of the group also appeared to be shouting "death to America!"

Ward - who could be seen wearing a full, black Islamic head covering after the Taliban took over the city - told viewers "they're just chanting 'death to America' but they seem friendly at the same time. It's utterly bizarre."

Comment: See also:

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