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Baltimore on track for record homicides as city descends into chaos

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sun, 08 Sep 2019 17:55 UTC
police line
So here we go again, another depressing story from Baltimore City, a region that is imploding on itself and suffering from a murders crisis, opioid epidemic, a wide gap in wealth/health/education inequalities, and deindustrialization.

In this report, we're only going to focus on the murder crisis and gently touch on the opioid epidemic (because they go hand in hand), however, please search our archives for other stories on Baltimore, because the implosion there is what will be coming to many other inner cities across the country in the 2020s.

With that being said, Baltimore City could be on track to surpass last year's 309 homicides, and if current trends persist, there is a chance that homicides could hit a record high, which means the city could see 342, a level that was previously set in 2015 and 2017.
"Baltimore is on course to reach more than 300 homicides for the fifth year in a row, with 232 killings through Wednesday compared to 199 at the same time last year," The Baltimore Sun said.
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Eye 1

Philosopher Slavoj Zizek warns linking human brains to computers could lead to 'totalitarian mind control'

Paul Joseph Watson
Summit News
Mon, 09 Sep 2019 17:40 UTC
zizek
Linking human consciousness to a computer cloud with the capability of reading everyone's thoughts simultaneously could lead to "totalitarian mind control," warns philosopher Slavoj Zizek.

With fears growing that artificial intelligence will eventually dominate and maybe even exterminate humanity, Zizek, the senior researcher at the Institute for Sociology and Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana, is sounding the alarm.

Zizek pointed out that MIT has already developed a "helmet" that can read your thoughts and reproduce them in writing or an artificial voice.

While such technology appears harmless if it is voluntary, Zizek asks what would happen if it was deployed "without you knowing it?"
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Info

Suicide rates climbing and most pronounced in rural America

Misti Crane
The Ohio State University
Fri, 06 Sep 2019 17:28 UTC
Suicide Rates in US
© The Ohio State University
Suicide rates are climbing, and the burden is highest in rural America, according to a new analysis by Ohio State researchers.
Suicide is becoming more common in America, an increase most pronounced in rural areas, new research has found.

The study, which appears online today (Sept. 6, 2019) in the journal JAMA Network Open, also highlights a cluster of factors, including lack of insurance and the prevalence of gun shops, that are associated with high suicide rates.

Researchers at The Ohio State University evaluated national suicide data from 1999 to 2016, and provided a county-by-county national picture of the suicide toll among adults. Suicide rates jumped 41 percent, from a median of 15 per 100,000 county residents in the first part of the study to 21.2 per 100,000 in the last three years of the analysis. Suicide rates were highest in less-populous counties and in areas where people have lower incomes and fewer resources. From 2014 through 2016, suicide rates were 17.6 per 100,000 in large metropolitan counties compared with 22 per 100,000 in rural counties.

In urban areas, counties with more gun shops tended to have higher suicide rates. Counties with the highest suicide rates were mostly in Western states, including Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming; in Appalachian states including Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia; and in the Ozarks, including Arkansas and Missouri.
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Dollar

Hey, Zuck! Can you spare a buck? Facebook fails to pay $50 fine in Russia


RT
Mon, 09 Sep 2019 14:49 UTC
Mark Zuckerberg
© Reuters / Leah Millis
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Social media giant Facebook, with a market value of over $500 billion, failed to comply with a Russian court's order to pay a fine of 3,000 rubles ($46) over its non-compliance with national law.

A decision on a fine was issued by the Russian court on April 12; it came into force on June 25, and the company had 60 days to voluntarily pay the fine.

Russian privacy laws, which came into force in 2015, require foreign online service providers to store Russian users' personal data on servers located within the country's borders. Facebook has so far failed to comply.

"Now that the deadline has passed, the bailiffs will take charge. It's not clear yet how to get the money while the company has no assets in Russia, with the closest infrastructure located in Eastern Europe," sources familiar with the situation told Kommersant daily.
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Life Preserver

The end is nigh: Scottish cops blasted for panic-inducing 'preparedness bag' tweet


RT
Mon, 09 Sep 2019 09:27 UTC
Bug out Bag
© Twitter / Police Scotland
Police Scotland are under fire for a worrying tweet advising citizens to prepare a grab bag with emergency supplies for immediate use, sparking wild speculation, meme-making and understandable concern among the masses.

"September is preparedness month. Emergencies can happen at any time and it's recommended to have a #GrabBag ready containing essential items including medication, copies of important documents, food/water, torch, radio and other personal items," the police tweeted as part of their '30 days 30 ways' campaign.

The anxiety-inducing advice proposed packing a bag with food, water, and medication, as well as a pen and notepad, phone charger, whistle, and first aid kit. However, a Sunday morning may not have been the best time to urge people to prepare for some undisclosed disaster headed their way, judging by the reactions online, most of which centered around a single theme: "Do they know something we don't?"

"What emergencies do you envisage? Brexit? War? Civil disturbance? Flood? Pestilence? Nuclear accident? Martial Law?"wrote one user, while another offered a variety of betting odds on what the impending doom might be: "Asteroid 4/1 Tsunami 8/1 Nuclear war 14/1 Alien invasion 22/1 Zombie Apocalypse 33/1 No deal Brexit 1000/1."
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Attention

Are college and university professors tyrants? Just ask conservative students

Jennifer Kabbany
The College Fix
Mon, 09 Sep 2019 16:12 UTC
college students food
© Tulane Public Relations, CC BY-NC
Droves of open-minded students are often won over to the progressive narrative because they're browbeat with it for four consecutive years and never exposed to alternative arguments.

Now comes more bad news — the vast majority of students who might be willing to speak up to defend conservative, Constitutional and pro-free market principles don't dare lest their grades be docked.

One thousand current college students from across the nation who self-identify as Republican or Republican-leaning were recently asked: "Have you ever withheld your political views in class for fear that your grades would suffer?"

Nearly three-quarters of the students who took part in The College Fix/College Pulse online poll said yes — they've stayed silent. Specifically, 73 percent of students who identity as "strong Republican" reported they had, 71 percent of students who identify as "weak Republican" said yes, and even 70 percent of Republican-leaning independents reported they've kept quiet, too.

Comment: The problem starts early culminating in the manufacture of bogus 'educators':

Liberal madness and ideological indoctrination: Inside a public school social justice factory

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Dominoes

Opposition parties score big wins in closely-watched Moscow elections


RT
Mon, 09 Sep 2019 16:36 UTC
election
© RIA Novosti / Maxim Blinov
The ruling United Russia party suffered a blow from three opposition parties whose candidates claimed nearly half of Moscow City Council's seats during a contentious vote in the metropolis of 12 million people.

With all the votes counted, United Russia managed to retain a slim majority in the 45-member city council, but its share dropped to 25. The Communists, their longtime competitors, came second and won a remarkable 13 seats, up from just five in 2014.

Yabloko, Russia's oldest liberal party, took four seats while the center-left Fair Russia won three. United Russia, whose candidates were formally running as independents, lost nearly a third of districts to their opposition rivals. The voter turnout was slightly above 21 percent.

The Moscow vote follows opposition rallies which sprang up after election officials disqualified numerous liberal candidates, citing failure to collect enough signatures of genuine voters.Almost every weekend, since late July, tens of thousands joined authorized and unauthorized protests, some of which ended up in scuffles with police.
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Russian Flag

Russia boosts gas supplies to Europe while transit deal with Ukraine in limbo


RT
Mon, 09 Sep 2019 16:29 UTC
pipe
© Global Look Press / Patrick Pleul
Russian energy major Gazprom plans to pump twice as much gas into European storage than last year, while Moscow and Kiev have not still agreed on the terms of a new transit contract.

Gazprom is planning to supply more than 11 billion cubic meters to storage facilities in Europe, the head of the company, Alexey Miller, told Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting on Monday.

"This is twice as much as last year's level," Miller pointed out. "We see that our European partners are pumping gas at high speed, and our Ukrainian colleagues are trying to do the same."

The rush to stock up gas comes as the current 10-year transit contract is to expire on December 31, the head of Gazprom explained. Earlier this year, Moscow offered Kiev to extend the agreement for 12 months, but didn't receive any response form the Ukrainian side.
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Bullseye

British vegan activists 'set free' 16 rabbits on Spanish farm, killing 100 bunnies in the process - Angry farmers chase vandals off


RT
Mon, 09 Sep 2019 14:25 UTC
Bloodied cheek
A vegan activist claims she was involved in a high speed chase and shot at by farmers who were enraged that she had freed 16 rabbits, while accidentally killing 100 baby bunnies in the process.

The activist, self-styled as 'Mythical Mia', alleges the farmers were extremely aggressive and tried to strangle her fellow activists and hit them in the head with metal poles when they discovered them attempting to free the rabbits from captivity in Osono, Spain last week.

They soon fled the property at which point 'Mia' claims the activists were allegedly cornered by several vehicles down a back road where the irate farmers threatened them and hit their car for up to an hour before police arrived and diffused the situation.

The activist alleges that the police refused to provide her and her accomplice with an escort. Ten minutes later, one of the farmers' vehicles caught up with them and opened fire, shattering the glass and injuring the activist, she claimed online.

Comment: Note that the police turned a blind eye so the farmers could chase them off.

You reap what you sow.

See also: Nutty as a fruitcake vegans hurl bricks through the window of butcher's shop in France

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Pistol

Instant karma: Man 'accidentally shoots himself dead' on London street after bullet ricochets off car

Corazon Miller
Independent
Mon, 09 Sep 2019 10:38 UTC
man accidentally shoots himself london
© PA
Man died shortly after he was found with gunshot wounds in south-east London.


'You can see on the car window where the bullet bounced off it,' eyewitness says.

A man is thought to have died after he shot at a car on a southeast London street and the bullet ricocheted back, fatally wounding him.

The victim in his 20s died at the scene in Sydenham on Sunday afternoon, Scotland Yard said.

Witnesses in the area said it appeared the man had accidentally shot himself.
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