Welcome to Sott.net
Thu, 30 Sep 2021
The World for People who Think

Society's Child
Map

Megaphone

Cheerleader prevails at US Supreme Court in free speech case

Andrew Chung
Reuters
Wed, 23 Jun 2021 16:34 UTC
Brandi Levy
© Danna Singer/Handout via REUTERS
Brandi Levy, a former cheerleader at Mahanoy Area High School in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania and a key figure in a major U.S. case about free speech, poses in an undated photograph provided by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of a Pennsylvania teenager who sued after a profane social media post got her banished from her high school's cheerleading squad in a closely watched free speech case, but it declined to outright ban public schools from regulating off-campus speech.

The justices ruled 8-1 that the punishment that Mahanoy Area School District officials gave to the plaintiff, Brandi Levy, for her social media post - made at a local convenience store in Mahanoy City on a weekend - violated her free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. The decision was authored by liberal Justice Stephen Breyer.

The case involved the free speech rights of America's roughly 50 million public school students. Many schools and educators have argued that their ability to curb bullying, threats, cheating and harassment - all frequently occurring online - should not be limited to school grounds.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Yoda

Ga. audit lawyer Cheeley demands full investigation into Fulton County's ballot irregularities: 'Horrendous'

Daniel Payne
Just the News
Wed, 23 Jun 2021 18:58 UTC
georgia election fraud state farm arena
© CCTV State Farm Arena
CCTV footage election night in Fulton County's State Farm Arena
Attorney warns that county could be "undermining the will of the people."

A lawyer spearheading a major ballot audit inside Georgia's largest county is warning the irregularities apparent in that county's election management are "horrendous" and cut against "the basic principle of our democracy."

Atlanta-based attorney Bob Cheeley made those claims while talking to Just the News editor-in-chief John Solomon on Tuesday night's "Securing our Elections: Protecting Your Vote" [starts 21:30] special on Real America's Voice.

Cheeley is among the investigators approved by a Georgia court to audit the 2020 absentee ballots of Fulton County, Ga., a county critical to Joe Biden's historic 2020 win of Georgia that helped propel him to the White House.

Comment: If there wasn't a presidential election at stake, the cheating in Fulton County would be almost comical in its ineptness.

      Read More...
Pistol

Cop breaks down in tears after killing woman, 19, who shot at him at Michigan Juneteenth parade

Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
New York Post
Tue, 22 Jun 2021 17:47 UTC
Officer gun car
© Twitter
Officer points weapon at Brianna Sykes who fired on the cop.
A dramatic new video shows the moment a Michigan cop shoots and kills a 19-year-old woman at a Juneteenth parade — and then crumples to the ground in tears. Authorities said the woman, Briana Sykes, drove up to the cop, who was on traffic duty during the Flint parade on Saturday, and fired at the officer, Fox affiliate WJBK-TV reported.

The unnamed officer is seen on the footage yelling for Sykes to drop the weapon before he fires into the car.

Police tried to revive Sykes at the scene to no avail — and the sobbing officer is seen falling to the ground in anguish. Sykes was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead, authorities said. One eyewitness told the station:
"I kind of feel like him dropping, it was the devastation of the whole situation. I feel like the police was doing his job. He had a life to protect. Not only his, but we had a parade full of kids."

Comment: Images from the shooting in Flint, Michigan:

Officer in tears
© Twitter
The officer crumbles to the ground in tears following the shooting.
He had a life to protect not only his own but a parade full of kids.


      Read More...
Star of David

Vaccinated Israelis may need to quarantine because of Delta COVID-19 variant


CNA
Wed, 23 Jun 2021 06:07 UTC
COVID Variant sign
© Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images
Israel empowered health officials on Wednesday (Jun 23) to quarantine anyone deemed to have been exposed to an especially infectious variant of COVID-19, even if they were previously vaccinated or recovered from the disease with presumed immunity.

The decision followed a warning by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday over new outbreaks caused by the Delta variant, with daily infections rising after weeks of low plateau credited to Israel's record mass-vaccination drive.

Under the updated Health Ministry directives, vaccinated or formerly infected people can be ordered to self-isolate for up to 14 days if authorities believe they may have been in "close contact with a carrier of a dangerous virus variant".

Such proximity could include having been passengers on the same plane, the ministry said - a possible dampener on Israel's gradual opening of its borders to vaccinated summer tourists.

Addressing parliament, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said fines of "thousands of shekels" would also be levied against Israeli citizens or residents who travel to countries blacklisted as high COVID-19 risks.
      Read More...
Briefcase

SCOTUS refuses 'to print a new permission slip for entering the home without a warrant'

Damon Root
Reason
Wed, 23 Jun 2021 19:21 UTC
cops
© REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn
In California v. Lange (2019), the California Court of Appeal held that a police offer may always enter a suspect's home without a warrant if the officer is in "hot pursuit" of the suspect and has probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed a misdemeanor.

Today, in an important win for Fourth Amendment advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that ruling. "We are not eager — more the reverse — to print a new permission slip for entering the home without a warrant," declared Justice Elena Kagan in Lange v. California.

The case originated when Arthur Gregory Lange drew the attention of a California highway patrol officer for honking his horn and playing his car stereo at a loud volume, both of which are traffic infractions at worst. The officer followed Lange's car and ultimately switched on his overhead lights just a few seconds before Lange pulled into his own driveway.

Lange, who says he never saw the officer's lights in his rearview mirror, entered his driveway and pulled into his garage. The officer quickly parked, exited his vehicle, stuck his foot under the garage door to prevent it from closing, and performed a search without a warrant.
      Read More...
Sheriff

Hong Kong's Apple Daily closes days after police raid tabloid's office over allegations of 'collusion with a foreign country'


RT
Wed, 23 Jun 2021 19:12 UTC
Apple Daily
© Apple Daily/Handout via REUTERS
Police officers are seen at the headquarters of Apple Daily in Hong Kong, China June 17, 2021
Apple Daily, a Hong Kong-based newspaper, has announced that it is permanently closing days after hundreds of police officers raided its offices and froze its assets over allegations its breached China's national security law.

Announcing the decision to shut down the publication, Apple Daily's management said it will "cease operation immediately after midnight" over concerns about "staff members safety." The publication's Thursday edition will be the newspaper's final printed copy.

The statement from the management team was paired with a message posted by publisher Next Digital on the newspaper's website thanking readers for their support.
      Read More...
Red Flag

'Rome is burning': Netflix accused of going full 'FURRY' with bizarre animal makeup dating trailer


RT
Wed, 23 Jun 2021 19:02 UTC
'Sexy Beasts'

Still from 'Sexy Beasts'
Netflix's series 'Sexy Beasts' has debuted its first trailer, leaving users perplexed and hesitant about people dressing in elaborate animal costumes to go on dates.

The streaming giant has already shown they have faith in the concept by ordering two seasons worth of 'Sexy Beasts' episodes, the first of which debuts on July 21.

The concept of the series is that people will be put into professional-level makeup and prosthetics as mythical creatures or animals and then go on blind dates, the idea being that falling in love will be based entirely on personality and have nothing to do with people's physical appearances.

"Do you have health insurance?" one cast member can be heard saying in the trailer as they are masked by elaborate panda makeup.
      Read More...
Eye 1

Content-sharing platform Disclose.tv says Google and Apple temporarily 'censored' content on Telegram group chat


RT
Wed, 23 Jun 2021 18:04 UTC
disclose tv telegram google censorship
© Telegram / Disclose.tv.
Disclose.tv, a Reddit-like service for people who seek "true insight into what is actually happening in the world" has accused Google and Apple of censoring its group chat on Telegram messenger.

The service blamed "Big Tech oligarchs at Google and Apple" for the apparent glitch in the display of its Telegram chat on devices running Android and iOS operating systems. On Android, all comments were replaced with a notice stating that they "cannot be displayed on Telegram apps downloaded from the Google Play Store." The iOS version of the messenger simply refused to display the channel.
      Read More...
NPC

Snowflake CBC shuts down Facebook comments to protect "fragile" journalists' mental health and "protect free speech"

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Wed, 23 Jun 2021 17:28 UTC
CBC President Catherine Tait
© The Early Edition/CBC
CBC President Catherine Tait: "We are shutting down free speech at the CBC to defend free speech"
In a move that can only be described as the pinnacle of embracing snowflake culture, the CBC has said this week it is going to close comments on all of its news links and video posts to Facebook pages to protect the mental health of its journalists.

Journalists - who used to be rugged and used to deal with varying opinions as part of the job description - are "fragile" and "in need of attention", like many other Canadians post-pandemic, the CBC wrote last week. Increasingly, they are facing "vitriol and harassment" for doing their jobs, the report notes.

"For journalists, platforms like Twitter can be a great way to find sources and promote their work, but also a cesspool of hatred. Increasingly, reporters are also physically attacked," Andre Picard told CBC.

Comment: Maybe part of the problem is that people don't like being lied to:

      Read More...
Attention

What do they know? 153 Houston Methodist staff who refused to get COVID vaccine have been fired or resigned

Dan Diamond
Texas Tribune
Wed, 23 Jun 2021 17:08 UTC
workers houston methodist hospital fired vaccine
© Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Medical workers outside the Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, earlier this month.
More than 150 health-care workers who did not comply with a Houston-based hospital system's vaccine mandate have been fired or resigned, more than a week after a federal judge upheld the policy.

Houston Methodist — one of the first health systems to require the coronavirus shots — terminated or accepted the resignations of 153 workers Tuesday, spokeswoman Gale Smith said. Smith declined to specify how many were in each category.

The hospital system announced April 1 that staffers would need to be vaccinated to keep their jobs. While 24,947 workers did get vaccinated by earlier deadlines, Houston Methodist suspended 178 workers who had failed to do so on June 7, giving them an additional two weeks to prove they had been immunized. Twenty-five of those employees did get vaccinated, Smith said.
      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts