Society's ChildS


USA

How Trump's executive order blocking 'risky technology transactions' could affect Huawei

Arjun Kharpal
CNBC
Thu, 16 May 2019 03:26 UTC
Huawei 5G
Huawei claimed Thursday that attempts to restrict the Chinese tech giant from doing business stateside will cause the U.S. to fall behind in the development of next-generation mobile networks - and could raise "other serious legal issues."

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that gives the government authority to block transactions that involve information or communications technology that "poses an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States."

According to the executive order, the technology that could be blocked will be that which is "designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied, by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary."

Battle for 5G

While Huawei isn't named in the policy, the U.S. has long-accused the Chinese telecoms equipment maker of being closely-linked to China's ruling Communist Party. Washington has also alleged that Huawei's telecom equipment poses a national security risk because it could be used by Beijing for espionage. Huawei has denied these claims.

In a statement to CNBC on Thursday, Huawei said that further moves to block it from the U.S. market could have a damaging impact on America's 5G development.

Comment: The one silver lining may be the delay of 5G implementation in the US; experts are ringing alarm bells over its health consequences while the wireless industry continues to suppress any negative information. As for attempting to contain China by blocking access to US technology - while it may take time, ever industrious China will find (or create) replacement suppliers for needed components. US firms will be left out in the cold because Washington doesn't comprehend the concept of win-win negotiations.

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Bad Guys

French serial killer anesthesiologist accused of poisoning over 50 patients just to revive them and impress colleagues


RT
Thu, 16 May 2019 10:15 UTC
Dr. Frederic Pechier serial killer France
Pechier is already under “judicial supervision,” having been charged in May 2017 with poisoning seven other patients, two of whom died, between 2008 and 2017. All of the victims were otherwise healthy before they mysteriously suffered cardiac arrest, and investigators later found potassium levels five times the lethal dose in their blood.
A French doctor has been arrested on suspicion of poisoning over 50 patients in order to impress his colleagues by stepping in at the last moment to "save" them, according to prosecutors who likened him to a "pyromaniac fireman."

Anesthesiologist Frederic Pechier has been taken into custody in connection with 42 "serious adverse events," including 20 deaths that happened on his watch during the 17 years he worked at clinics and hospitals in Besancon, eastern France. He was already indicted in seven other cases, two of which involved fatalities, in 2017.

Prosecutors claim Pechier tampered with anesthesia pouches used by colleagues for otherwise routine operations. This caused patients to have cardiac arrests, giving the doctor a chance to swoop in at the last minute and rescue them, gaining him the respect of his fellow doctors and the admiration of his victims, it is alleged. If true, the scheme appears to have worked - his peers reportedly considered him a "brilliant" anesthesiologist.
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Snowflake

Snowflake logic: Ohio high school eliminates valedictorian and salutatorian honors to 'reduce competitive culture'


Fox News
Fri, 10 May 2019 19:10 UTC
Mason High School graduation
© Mason schools/WXIXThe change comes after a year-long study and focus groups with students, staff, and families.
Beginning with the Class of 2020, Mason High School students will no longer vie for valedictorian and salutatorian distinctions.

After a year-long study and focus groups with students, staff, and families, MHS officials made the announcement as part of an effort to improve students' mental wellness.

"We are moving to a recognition system eliminating valedictorian and salutatorian honors, and shifting to recognizing students who have achieved outstanding academic success through a multitude of pathways. The recognition system will reward our students for genuine academic success based on their academic accomplishments. This will help reduce the overall competitive culture at MHS to allow students to focus on exploring learning opportunities that are of interest to them," said Mason High School Principal Bobby Dodd.

Students graduating in the class of 2020 and beyond will continue to be recognized for their academic performance using the Latin honors system. Mason High School students with a GPA of 4.00 and above will be designated summa cum laude. MHS Students with a GPA between 3.75 and 3.99 will be designated magna cum laude. MHS students with a GPA between 3.51 to 3.74 will be designated cum laude.

Comment: Pandering to students by attempting to 'reduce the culture of competitiveness' may make their high school experience less stressful but fails to prepare them for the real world where they will be tested at every opportunity to prove their competence.

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Megaphone

Transfer of Venezuelan embassy in US to 'fake government' would be an 'act of war' - Max Blumenthal


RT
Wed, 15 May 2019 18:10 UTC
collectivos
© Reuters / Carlos Barria
The US risks setting the stage for war if peace activists are evicted from the Venezuelan embassy in Washington and representatives of US-backed Juan Guaido move in, investigative journalist Max Blumenthal told RT.

"It could be considered an act of war for them [US authorities] to allow the parallel government, which is unrecognized, which controls no institutions of government and is essentially a fake government" to take over the diplomatic premises, Blumenthal told RT after US authorities tried to raid and evict the so-called 'Embassy Civilian Protection Collective' on Monday, before allowing activists to stay.
If the US tracks on this embassy, which is sovereign Venezuelan territory under international law, it is an act of war that could potentially be reciprocated against.
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Attention

Russian journalist remains in Ukrainian jail under bogus treason charges - one year ongoing


RT
Wed, 15 May 2019 13:24 UTC
Kirill Vyshynsky rally
© Sputnik/Aleksey KudenkoRally in support of Kirill Vyshynsky in Moscow.
Exactly a year ago the head of RIA Novosti's Ukraine branch was snatched in Kiev and put in jail under a charge of high treason. Western champions of media rights have shown spectacular will to ignore the scandalous case.

Being a journalist in a nation where the government can put you in jail for unfavorable reporting is understandably risky, but at least one can hope to find international support after getting into trouble. Foreign governments and international organizations would cry foul and try to pressure the persecutors.

Well, Kirill Vyshinsky didn't get this response. On March 15, 2018 he was arrested by agents of the SBU, Ukraine's powerful national security agency, and charged with treason. Vyshinsky holds both Russian and Ukraine passports. His alleged crime was that he waged "information warfare" against Ukraine, or at least that's what the SBU said at the time. The accusation may result in a 15 year jail term.

Comment: See also:

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Handcuffs

38 arrested in Rotherham, UK, as police probe child sex abuse and exploitation on claims of 13 victims

Richard Spillett
Daily Mail
Wed, 08 May 2019 05:49 UTC
Yorkshire town
© Daily Mail/Bruce AdamsYorkshire town rocked by series of allegations of sex abuse by Asian gangs.
Detectives investigating child sexual exploitation in Rotherham have arrested 40 people over the past two months. The 38 men and two women were questioned following allegations made by 13 victims about sexual abuse against them between 1997 and 2015.

The National Crime Agency said the people arrested are aged between 29 and 53 and are from Sheffield, Rotherham, Leeds, Dewsbury, and Maidstone in Kent. All have been bailed or released under investigation pending further inquiries. The spokeswoman said the victims in the latest cases were aged between 11 and 26 at the time of the alleged offences.

The National Crime Agency, often called 'Britain's FBI', is conducting a huge investigation after a 2014 report found more than 1,000 young girls had been abused in the South Yorkshire town. Scandals have since engulfed other towns and cities, including Newcastle, Telford and most recently Huddersfield, with a series of similar gangs jailed.

Vulnerable young victims were typically given drugs and alcohol before being passed around between men of Pakistani heritage to be raped and sexually assaulted at will. Authorities did little to tackle the abusers or save their young victims from their terrible ordeals, often due to fears over being labelled racist.

The latest arrests are part of the ongoing Operation Stovewood investigation.

Towards the end of 2018, the NCA said it had 151 designated suspects, 275 other people under investigation and 296 female survivors of exploitation actively engaging with officers.
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Attention

Alabama's state senate passes bill banning nearly all abortions


NPR
Wed, 15 May 2019 03:04 UTC
Alabama senate abortion ban
The Alabama Senate has passed an abortion ban that would be one of the most restrictive in the United States. The bill would make it a crime for doctors to perform abortions at any stage of a pregnancy unless a woman's life is threatened or in case of lethal fetal anomaly.
The Alabama Senate passed a bill Tuesday evening to ban nearly all abortions. The state House had already overwhelmingly approved the legislation. It's part of a broader anti-abortion strategy to prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the right to abortion.

It would be one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the United States. The bill would make it a crime for doctors to perform abortions at any stage of a pregnancy, unless a woman's life is threatened or in case of a lethal fetal anomaly.

The vote was 25-6, with one abstention.

Doctors in the state would face felony jail time up to 99 years if convicted. But a woman would not be held criminally liable for having an abortion.

There are no exceptions in the bill for cases of rape or incest, and that was a sticking point when the Alabama Senate first tried to debate the measure last Thursday. The Republican-majority chamber adjourned in dramatic fashion when leaders tried to strip a committee amendment that would have added an exception for cases of rape or incest.

Comment:

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Eye 1

Police release footage of elderly man being shoved off city bus, passenger facing murder charge


KSNV News
Tue, 14 May 2019 18:00 UTC
Bishop Fournier
© Las Vegas Metropolitan Police DepartmentThe surveillance video shows Bishop allegedly push Fournier out of the door of the stopped bus.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has released video of a woman, identified by police as 25-year-old Cadesha Bishop, pushing an elderly man off a bus in Las Vegas.

Witnesses say the victim had been asking Bishop to be nicer to the passengers before being pushed out the doors and onto the ground.

The incident took place on March 21, 2019.

The victim, identified as 74-year-old Serge Fournier, was left hospitalized. He reportedly died from his injuries on April 23.
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Heart - Black

Malaysian teen commits suicide after followers encouraged her death in Instagram poll


Reuters
Wed, 15 May 2019 17:40 UTC
Instagram
© Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Malaysian police are investigating the case of a teenager believed to have jumped to her death after asking her social media followers to vote on whether she should kill herself.

The 16-year-old girl, who was not named, had run a poll on photo-sharing app Instagram with the question "Really Important, Help Me Choose D/L", hours before jumping off the roof of a building in Sarawak, on Malaysia's east, on Monday, district police chief Aidil Bolhassan told Reuters.

The 'D/L' meant 'Death/Life', and the poll had showed 69% of the girl's followers chose 'D', he said.
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Heart - Black

Ethiopian garment industry workers paid lowest wages in the world by company that owns Guess and Tommy Hilfiger brands


teleSUR
Tue, 14 May 2019 17:20 UTC
garment workers ethiopia
© ReutersWorkers sew clothes inside the Indochine Apparel PLC textile factory in Hawassa Industrial Park in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples region, Ethiopia November 17, 2017.
With a monthly salary of US$26, Ethiopia has the lowest wages for garment industry workers in the world, as the East African nation aims to become the next manufacturing hub for the fashion industry, according to a new study from New York University's Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

The report, "Made in Ethiopia: Challenges in the Garment Industry's New Frontier," reveals that the African country's bid has come at the expense of workers exploitation, something former Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, was aware of but described as a "generational sacrifice" in order to develop the national industry.

In the investigation, the authors focused on the Hawassa industrial park, about 225 km south of Addis Ababa, the country's capital. Established by the government in 2015, it currently employs about 25,000 workers producing clothes for international labels such as Levi's, Guess, Izod, Tommy Hilfiger, H&M, most of them belonging to the holding PVH.
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