Society's Child

Trump demands NATO allies to spend more, meanwhile Pentagon buys $1.2K mugs, $10K toilet seats

RT
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 00:31 UTC

Toilet seat covers that cost $10,000? Coffee mugs for $1,200 apiece? No wonder NATO countries aren't too keen to follow US military spending benchmarks. Even the Pentagon is looking for better deals and 3D printing for savings.

While President Donald Trump browbeats NATO allies into increasing their military spending, the US Department of Defense is spending untold amounts of taxpayer money on common items it could buy off the shelf or even make in-house, were the military actually allowed to do so.

In one recently reported example, crews of the air tankers and cargo planes based at the Travis Air Force Base in southern California live in dread of dropping the special cups designed to reheat coffee or tea on long flights. The metal cup's fragile plastic handle is prone to breaking, and there are no replacements to be found, requiring the Air Force to spend up to $1,220 for an entirely new mug.

Comment: $10K for a replacement toilet seat lid is a crappy deal.

The world is running out of gold with no substitute, says experts

RT
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 09:42 UTC

People responsible for supplying the world with gold are sounding the alarm, saying discoveries of the precious metal are shrinking and there's no reasonable substitute.

Mining companies are no longer finding new deposits of gold to replace their aging mines. South Africa's 140-year-old gold industry - which was once the world's largest - is currently facing a major crisis. The country's mineral council says 75 percent of gold mines are unprofitable or barely making money.

"We were all talking about how production was going to increase every year. I think those days are probably gone," said Nick Holland, CEO of South Africa's largest gold producer Gold Fields.

He was echoed by Rudy Fronk, chairman and CEO of Seabridge Gold, who noted that "Peak gold is the new reality in the gold business with reserves now being mined much faster than they are being replaced."

According to Kevin Dushnisky, president of mining giant Barrick Gold, "Falling grades and production levels, a lack of new discoveries, and extended project development timelines are bullish for the medium and long-term gold price outlook."

Comment: 'Goldzinger!' Run out of nuggets and up goes gold's valuation and prices. Is it truly tapping out?

China cracks down after research papers investigation finds massive peer-review fraud

Dennis Normile
Science
Mon, 31 Jul 2017 02:30 UTC

A massive peer-review fraud has triggered a tough response from the Chinese government. Officials last week announced that more than 400 researchers listed as authors on some 100 now-retracted papers will face disciplinary action because their misconduct has seriously damaged China's scientific reputation.

Some institutions have barred the scientists linked to the fraud from pursuing their research - at least temporarily. And they have imposed other penalties, including canceling promotions, honors, and grants. Government ministries have also announced new "zero tolerance" policies aimed at stamping out research fraud. "We should eradicate the problem from its roots," said He Defang, director of the Ministry of Science and Technology's (MOST's) regulatory division in Beijing.

Although China has previously cracked down on scientific misconduct - a chronic problem - these penalties "are the harshest ever," says Chen Bikun, an information scientist at the Nanjing University of Science and Technology in China who tracks trends in scientific publishing.

With meat consumption soaring, small butcher shops in a 'renaissance' as people seek healthier meats sans antibiotics and hormones

Dylan Jackson
Miami Herald
Mon, 02 Jul 2018 19:25 UTC

© C.M. GUERRERO
Vinnie 'The Butcher' Covillo displays the fresh cut steaks from Laurenzo's Italian Market in North Miami Beach on Friday, June 22, 2018.

Even when it falls on a Wednesday, the Fourth of July is a cause for rejoicing. And in spite of the onslaught of plant-based cuisine, burgers, ribs, steaks and bratwurst are standards on nearly every grill.

In fact, meat consumption is soaring to record levels - even though 12 percent of Americans ages 18 to 49 are partially vegan or vegetarian, according to a 2016 Pew Research Poll. This year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is expecting each American to consume a record amount of red meat and poultry - an average of 222 pounds per person. That's 20 pounds more meat per person, per year, than in 2014.

Another change: where Americans are buying their meat. While many still drop into the nearest Publix or Walmart to snag their burgers and hotdogs, an increasing number of conscious eaters are going old school by shopping at carnicerias and specialty butcher shops.

Miami-Dade County is home to 34 butcher shops with a total of 279 employees, according to Census data for 2016. That's down from 45 in 2013 and 47 in 2010. (By comparison, there are 39 Publix markets in Miami-Dade alone.) Nationally, 10 percent of all butcher shops have closed since 2010.

Trump's Supreme Court Nominee and the 'War on Gay Rights'

Corey Schink
Sott.net
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 18:30 UTC

© Reuters
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds up a rainbow flag with “LGBTs for TRUMP” written on it at a campaign rally in Greeley, Colorado, U.S. October 30, 2016

For all the hullabaloo regarding Trump's nomination for the Supreme Court, one would be forgiven for thinking that Dems actually care about law and order

While Lisa Page dodges a House-issued subpoena to testify before Congress, US media is up in arms over Trump's -shock- Congressional Supreme Court nominee. If we're to believe CNN, Trump's pick for the Supreme Court will, if confirmed, upend life as we know it. As that failing fake news garbage reported, "Women's rights, gay rights, voting rights, the right to use contraceptives -- so much of modern life -- could be upended."

Hyperbole aside, they're right about one thing: much of what passes for 'values' and 'culture' in modern life - better termed postmodern life - is taking a good, wholesome beating. The appointment of yet one more conservative on the Supreme Court is just the latest punch in the culture wars.

Employee with concealed carry permit pulls gun on violent patron, ends situation immediately

Timothy Meads
Townhall
Sat, 07 Jul 2018 18:27 UTC

Another day another thug with a penchant for picking the wrong woman to mess with comes face-to-face with a loaded gun. This time it occurred in Wisconsin at a restaurant when an employee utilized her second amendment rights and deterred an attacker from continuing to hurt her co-worker.

In a video that is circulating across Twitter, a man can be seen venturing back into the kitchen of a George Webb restaurant. The woman at the grill is clearly confused, when all of a sudden the man punches the worker in the face.

That is when her co-worker whips out a gun and points it at the attacker. The man moves towards the armed woman, but she holds her ground. He then leaves. The employee has a concealed carry permit and is allowed to carry the gun at work, according to local media.

Amnesty International urges 'war crimes' probe into 'disappearances, torture' of Yemenis by UAE-backed forces

RT
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 20:10 UTC

Disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment of Yemeni detainees by UAE-backed Yemeni forces should be probed as war crimes, Amnesty International has urged. US detention-related abuses should also be probed, it said.

The Amnesty report, issued on Thursday, accuses the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemeni forces operating "outside the command of their own government," of multiple violations against detainees in the war-torn country.

"Scores" have been subjected to arrest and detention without charge, violent and humiliating torture, and enforced disappearances, the report says. Families are kept in the dark on the fate of their relatives, as "their requests are met with silence or intimidation," according to Tirana Hassan, Crisis Response Director at Amnesty International.

Stormy Daniels arrested at strip club for groping undercover police officers' breasts and buttocks

RT
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 17:43 UTC

In what her attorney has labelled a 'politically-motivated' sting Stormy Daniels has been arrested at an Ohio strip club for touching undercover officers' breasts and buttocks during a performance.

The former porn star, who is known for claiming she was paid hush money to keep quiet about an affair with President Donald Trump, was performing at the Sirens Gentlemen's Club in Columbus when she was arrested in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Daniel's crime was touching patrons during her performance, some of whom were undercover cops. Ohio has an unusual law aimed at sexually-oriented businesses which prohibits both patrons and performers from touching one another.

Debt collectors a world-wide scourge: Russian thugs threaten to infect borrowers' kids with AIDS

RT
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 17:28 UTC

A Russian mother of three has filed a report to the police, saying that debt collectors threatened to infect her children with AIDS over her husband's 30,000-ruble (US$480) debt.

Since early July, the collectors have been bombarding the account of the borrower's wife, Irina Mulykhina, on social media with warnings if the debt isn't settled fast, she claims.

But they clearly crossed the line with one of their messages.

Trump spiritual adviser raises eyebrows claiming illegal immigrant could not be the Messiah

RT
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 17:31 UTC

A US televangelist and spiritual adviser to the US president has defended the Trump administration's immigration clampdown, arguing that baby Jesus' stay in Egypt was legal, otherwise he wouldn't have been the savior of humanity.

Pastor Paula White, a Pentecostal evangelist who has been credited with converting President Trump to Christianity, made the eyebrow-raising argument in an interview with CBN News. When asked by the host, Erik Rosales, how the immigration controversy in the US corresponded to biblical teachings, Pastor Paula came up with this argument:

"I think so many people have taken biblical scriptures out of context on this, to say stuff like, 'Well, Jesus was a refugee'. Yes, He did live in Egypt for three-and-a-half years. But it was not illegal. If He had broken the law then He would have been sinful and He would not have been our Messiah."

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At least the WHO, stopped their concert immediately, when that tragedy happened in Cincinnati. This, on the other hand is reprehensible.

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Society's Child

Trump demands NATO allies to spend more, meanwhile Pentagon buys $1.2K mugs, $10K toilet seats

The world is running out of gold with no substitute, says experts

China cracks down after research papers investigation finds massive peer-review fraud

With meat consumption soaring, small butcher shops in a 'renaissance' as people seek healthier meats sans antibiotics and hormones

Trump's Supreme Court Nominee and the 'War on Gay Rights'

Employee with concealed carry permit pulls gun on violent patron, ends situation immediately

Amnesty International urges 'war crimes' probe into 'disappearances, torture' of Yemenis by UAE-backed forces

Stormy Daniels arrested at strip club for groping undercover police officers' breasts and buttocks

Debt collectors a world-wide scourge: Russian thugs threaten to infect borrowers' kids with AIDS

Trump spiritual adviser raises eyebrows claiming illegal immigrant could not be the Messiah

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