Society's ChildS


Better Earth

'No Trump, no war': Thousands of South Koreans demanding peace ahead of US president's visit


RT
Sun, 05 Nov 2017 14:37 UTC
South Korea protest
© Ruptly
Thousands of South Koreans flocked to streets of Seoul to demand peace with North Korea and protest the upcoming visit by US President Donald Trump, on his first Asian tour.

"We oppose war!" around 5,000 protesters chanted in central Seoul, waving banners and balloons that read "Peace, not war" and "We want peace," Yonhap news agency reported Sunday.

Some held placards that said "No Trump! No war!" and "Trump, get out!" Donald Trump is "a misogynist, and he doesn't care about life and peace of the South Korean people," one person told Ruptly news agency.

Others slammed both the US leader and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-un for the rising tensions. "Trump and Kim... are using the current military standoff for their own political gain, while we South Koreans are trembling with fear of war!" one activist said on stage, as cited by AFP. The demonstration was peaceful, though it coincided with a separate protest by a right-wing group called Seoul Regional Forum, which welcomed Trump's scheduled visit to South Korea, Yonhap reports.

Comment: See also: China's message for Trump on the eve of his Asia tour: Leave Cold War thinking at the door

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Rainbow

The future is bright, the future is... multi-colored? By 2067, third of Italians forecast to be of foreign descent


Sputnik
Sun, 05 Nov 2017 12:29 UTC
migrants italy
© AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti
The Italian National Institute of Statistics warns in a report that by 2067, a third of the country's population will have foreign ancestry. In an interview with Sputnik Italy, Professor Maurizio Ambrosini of the University of Milan called for a pragmatic approach to the problem.

Ambrosini recalled that only 250,000 people are applying for asylum in Italy, which is less than 5 percent of 5.5 million migrants who currently reside in the country.

According to him, Italy has never succeeded in integrating migrants, who perceive it as a bridge to Europe.

"Before the 2007 crisis, Italy, like the rest of southern Europe, coped well with integration because the labor market was stable and there was a great demand for domestic helpers, nurses and nannies. We need to distance ourselves from politics and return to this pragmatism," Ambrosini said.

He added that although, in the past ten years, hostile attitudes towards migrants have increased, "it can hardly be called the cause of our crisis."

Comment: You reap what you sow:

Gaddafi to EU one year before they destroyed his country: 'Libya needs help preventing African migrants from flooding Europe'

Gaddafi's cousin: Everything Muammar predicted is coming to pass

Gaddafi prophesied Europe's refugee crisis: 'The Mediterranean will become a sea of chaos'

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V

Crowd says "Burn him!": Giant Weinstein effigy goes up in flames in Guy Fawkes celebrations (VIDEO)


RT
Sun, 05 Nov 2017 03:41 UTC
Weinstein effigy
© Ben Stansall / AFP
Thousands of revellers have flocked to the burning of an effigy of Harvey Weinstein after a sleepy Kent village found an unusual way to mark its annual Guy Fawkes Night celebrations.

Friends of the Hollywood producer have seen their impressions of him go up in smoke in recent weeks, after a wave of harassment allegations, including accusations of rape and other sexual misconduct against actresses and other women. Now, Edenbridge Bonfire Society have found a way to give that a more literal representation.

In a video of the event posted to the group's Facebook page, the master of ceremonies assures the crowd that the event was not designed to point fun at Weinstein's alleged crimes, but then goes on to ask what they wanted to do with his 36ft effigy. The crowd then respond with a shout, saying in unison: "Burn him!"

Comment: See also: Remember Remember... why we don't need them!

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People

Anti-fascist group holds protest rallies across US to remove Trump, Pence


RT
Sat, 04 Nov 2017 13:56 UTC
Anti-fascist group holds rallies across US
© Ruptly
Anti-fascist rallies, described by members of the far-right as the "Antifa Apocalypse," have been scheduled to take place in more than 20 US cities Saturday, calling for the end of the Trump administration.

New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, and St. Louis are among the locations for the mass demonstration, organized by Refuse Fascism. The group is calling for the removal of both US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence from power.

"Our actions will reflect the values of respect for all of humanity and the world we want - in stark contrast to the hate and bigotry of the Trump/Pence fascist regime," it said in a statement online.

Comment: The group should have planned for a long protest because this could take awhile.

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Arrow Down

Nutty professor doesn't want students to believe that hard work brings results 'because it's racist and perpetuates whiteness'

Toni Airaksinen
Campus Reform
Sun, 05 Nov 2017 13:39 UTC
studying, critical reasoning
© Flickr / CollegeDegrees360/ CC by-SA 2.0
Pennsylvania State University-Brandywine professor criticized her students' belief in "meritocracy" and "hard work" in an academic article published Thursday.

Angela Putman, who teaches public speaking at Penn State-Brandywine, designed a comprehensive three-day seminar on "white privilege" for her students, then interviewed 12 attendees on their belief in meritocracy and equal opportunity.

To her dismay, Putman discovered that these "whiteness ideologies" were widely endorsed by students, many of whom agreed that "if I work hard, I can be successful" and that "everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve success."

Comment: There's obviously no need to study or prepare for this professor's exams! She could follow in the steps of this professor and just let students choose their own grades!

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Alarm Clock

European integration: Every fourth prostitute in Europe is a citizen of Ukraine


Stalker Zone
Thu, 02 Nov 2017 10:48 UTC
Prostitution Saudi-Arabien
© Reuters/Sigit Pamungkas
The international organization for migration published official data, from which it follows that every fourth prostitute in Europe is a citizen of Ukraine. Don't be frightened, friends, at these figures - the Ukrainian reality is even more terrible.

Here is only one small example. At a school in the city of Nikolaev representatives of a public organization distributed brochures to girls [on the sly after the announced lecture about AIDS - ed] - a guide on how to live in the new "European reality". Specifically, the Ukrainian labor market is being formed and is growing. Even if there is no other work and none is expected, girls should know that Europe will take care of them. The younger generation of Ukrainian schoolgirls will find out how to apply themselves.

"If you are involved in the sex business, then this brochure is for you," it is said in the introduction. "You have chosen a very dangerous profession, but if you always follow these simple rules, then you will get a chance to live a long life".

Comment:
"If you are involved in the sex business, then this brochure is for you," it is said in the introduction. "You have chosen a very dangerous profession, but if you always follow these simple rules, then you will get a chance to live a long life".
"Chosen"? When a woman follows the "profession" of prostitution, it is because she has been forced by either the circumstances or people around her into doing so - not because it was her vocation in life.

Victoria Nuland must be proud. Is it any wonder that there is yet another Maidan in the making?

Memo for Mrs Nuland: Ukraine is being gripped by a new Maidan - but the western cameras and cookies are absent

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Bomb

US-backed terrorists detonate car-bomb that kills over 100 refugees in Deir ez-Zor, Syria


RT
Sun, 05 Nov 2017 10:01 UTC
Smoke billows over Deir ez-Zor
© AFPSmoke billows over Deir ez-Zor during an operation by Syrian forces against Islamic State (IS)
Dozens of refugees were killed and scores injured by a car bomb in the suburbs of the city of Deir ez-Zor on Saturday, Syria's SANA state news agency reported. Women and children appear to be among the victims.

The bombing targeted the largest refugee gathering in the region, Sana reported. The blast occurred in the outskirts of the city, in the area near Conoco and al-Jafra gas fields.

The agency said that "large numbers of children and women" fell victim to the explosion, citing its own correspondent at the scene.

Comment: See also: US-backed forces steal Syrian oilfields while Syrian Army liberates country from ISIS

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Display

The very high price of the hyperconvenient economy

Ralph Nader
Counterpunch
Fri, 03 Nov 2017 00:00 UTC
amazon and you're done
Apart from sensual appeals, the chief marketing wave in our country is selling convenience. It has reached a level of frenzy with companies like Amazon and Walmart racing your order to your doorstep (with Amazon now wanting the electronic key to your house).

Ever since the industrial revolution, when the division of labor between consumers and producers widened and deepened, the convenience of not having to grow your own food, weave your own clothes and build your own shelter have become a given of economic progress. Expert specialization has tended to make products better and more standardized as well.

But, in recent decades, adding tiers of conveniences touted by the vendors' television/radio/print advertisements has rarely mentioned the downsides.

Comment: What will people do should the grid should go down, or the economy fails, or there's a massive earthquake preventing the transport of all the items we are so used to getting, seemingly, at the click of a button? Western society has never been so dependent on the hyperconnected/hyperconvenient economy - or so vulnerable to its collapse - as it is right now.

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Attention

University professor decries 'toxic masculinity' in Beauty and the Beast film

Toni Airaksinen
Campus Reform
Sat, 04 Nov 2017 15:53 UTC
beauty and the beast
A professor at Florida International University recently argued that the Disney film Beauty and the Beast is rife with "toxic masculinity."

Bryant Sculos, who teaches politics at Florida International University, argues in an academic journal article that Gaston and the Beast, the two male protagonists of the story, are emblematic of "toxic masculinity" in both the 1991 animated version of the film and the 2017 live-action remake, albeit in different ways.

"The beauty of the 1991 Beauty and the Beast is that it taught young boys that sometimes the sensitive, intellectual guy could 'win' the heart of the beautiful woman," Sculos notes, later adding that "the portrayals of toxic masculinity in the original animated feature and the more recent live-action remake are quite similar-with one categorical exception: the role of others in the (re)production of that toxic masculinity."

Comment: A serious mental virus is spreading around US universities and frying professors' brains. See:

Sociology professor blows a gasket, claims 'white nuclear family is powerful force that supports white supremacy'
Deranged university professor wants to 'do away with masculinity completely'
Rabid feminist professors claim that citations in scholarly articles contribute to 'white heteromasculinity'
Do algebra and geometry promote "white privelege"? This prof thinks so

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Stock Down

GOP's hidden 46% bracket and the 'bubble tax'

Danny Vinik
The Agenda
Thu, 02 Nov 2017 06:07 UTC
Paul Ryan
© static.politico
House Republicans claim the tax plan they introduced Thursday keeps the top individual rate unchanged at 39.6 percent-the level at which it's been capped for much of the past quarter-century. But a little-noticed provision effectively creates a new band in which income is taxed at over 45 percent.

Thanks to a quirky proposed surcharge, Americans who earn more than $1 million in taxable income would trigger an extra 6 percent tax on the next $200,000 they earn-a complicated change that effectively creates a new, unannounced tax bracket of 45.6 percent.
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