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Society's Child
© opendemocracy.net
Up against the wall...
Up against the wall...
On many college campuses, groups of left-leaning students insist that free speech should be conditional on speakers adhering to explicit standards of diversity and avoiding the infliction of emotional harm on the members of marginalized groups through the spreading of "hate."
From the opposite ideological direction, President Trump believes that the government should "take a strong look" at libel laws to keep news organizations from subjecting his own administration to negative coverage.
Finally, from the center-left come calls to use anti-discrimination law to punish organizations that oppose the legitimacy of same-sex marriage and accommodations for transgender people. If that happens - either by passing new laws that explicitly add to existing anti-discrimination statutes or by courts treating the members of these groups as protected classes covered by existing law - the result will almost certainly be a significant constriction of speech, as those holding more conservative views will face sanction for expressing them in public.
Those are the trends - and each one looks, to the others, like the onset of democratic decline.
© Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
In America, the richest nation in the world when measured by raw GDP, children are getting sick from living by open pools of raw sewage. This was one of many shocking findings by the United Nations late last year, following a two-week investigation into extreme poverty in the US.
The UN report was issued last December by a team of investigators who visited California, Alabama, Georgia, Puerto Rico, West Virginia and Washington DC.
"The United States is one of the world's richest, most powerful and technologically innovative countries; but neither its wealth, nor its power, nor its technology is being harnessed to address the situation in which 40 million people continue to live in poverty," wrote Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
© Louis Nastro / Reuters
The 'Palestinian couscous salad' - which includes a mix of Maftoul and other couscous, along with tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, mint and lemon vinaigrette - sparked a backlash after passengers posted it on social media.
An image of the in-flight menu was posted on the Israel Advocacy Movement Facebook page by passenger David Garnelas, who said: "I thought this was an Israeli salad...obviously [airline founder Richard] Branson showing his true colours...Israelis must boycott Virgin and Israel must ask for an explanation. When I complained the stewardess tried to take back the menu from me."
© Mandel Ngan / AFP
Officers Daniel Hersl and Marcus Taylor, once members of Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force, were found guilty by a jury on Monday. They had pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering, extortion and using a firearm in a violent crime. In a number of alleged incidents, the officers are said to have sold guns and drugs on the streets, stole from drug dealers, and jailed innocent people.
The pair's defense was somewhat undermined by evidence supplied by six other officers, and former members of their alleged gang, who have pleaded guilty to similar charges.
"What is nauseating and deplorable is not that it was exposed in court, but that they did those things," federal prosecutor Leo Wise told the jury in his closing remarks, according to WBAL-TV, adding that members of the now-defunct Gun Trace Task Force had been caught playing "both cops and robbers."
© Oren Ziv/Activestills
Ahed Tamimi in the Ofer prison military court. December 20, 2017
Ahed Tamimi in the Ofer prison military court. December 20, 2017
Tamimi is set to appear before an Israeli military court on Tuesday, after being indicted on charges of assault and incitement, which could potentially land her in prison for several years. She has been in Israeli custody since her arrest.
Signatories of the letter, titled "Dream Defenders & Allies Stand with Ahed Tamimi and the Palestinian Freedom Struggle," include Angela Davis, Jesse Williams, Danny Glover, Alice Walker, Rosario Dawson, Cornel West, Talib Kweli, Marc Lamont Hill, Michelle Alexander, Robin D.G. Kelley, and Michael Bennett.
Comment: The two situations are hardly equivalent. Slave traders stole people and brought them to America as slaves. Jews invaded Palestine and stole their land and intimidated them into leaving their homes.
© Andreas Gebert / Getty Images
The 22-year-old Chechen, who fled to Austria as a child in 2005, along with two 19-year-olds, will stand trial on Wednesday, according to Austrian news agency APA, which reportedly saw a prosecutors' charge sheet.
The Chechen Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) member known as Abus Nuuh instructed one of the teens to shoot police officers in 2015, a court spokeswoman said. The plot was foiled by authorities after they discovered an internet chat about the planned attack between one of the suspects and a German man, who was also accused of plotting his own jihadist bomb attack with the help of another Austrian teen, Reuters reports.
© Jason Lee / Reuters
The petroyuan is seen as Beijing's challenge to the US dollar, the dominant global currency in oil contract settlements.
The contract could reportedly be launched on March 26 on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE). The exchange has recently received the approval from China's State Council.
Comment: The petrodollar is pretty much a paper tiger. However, it is so massive that no other country has been able to offer an alternative...until now. The release of China's petroyaun will be a significant marker for the decline of the US Empire's influence. We can expect to see a lot more propaganda from the US against China in the coming times. The only problem is they're losing their media influence just as they're losing their image as the 'global policeman'. Their position as the global economic hegemon is next.
© West Coast Surfer / Global Look Press
Raymond Bishop threatened to kill himself on Monday in a telephone call so four police officers were called to Hidden Grove apartments in Homestead, Florida, according to the Miami Herald.
An altercation ensued and Bishop was shot dead by police, Miami-Dade Police spokesman Detective Argemis Colome told local news outlets. The veteran was pronounced dead at the scene.
"These officers begged this gentleman to put the weapon down," said Florida Police Benevolent Association President John Rivera, as quoted by the Miami Herald. "They had no choice."
An investigation uncovered rats in the ceiling of operating theatres in the UK and revealed maggots dropped from a cancer clinic's ceiling at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
It found more than 4,000 call-outs were recorded in 2016-17 and 3.614 from April and December last year - totting up a bill of £3 million.
62 NHS trusts responded to Freedom of Information requests sent to 135 across England.
The investigation uncovered rats were found in operating theatres at Exmouth Hospital, and evidence of them was also found at University Hospital Coventry.
It revealed maggots dropped from a cancer clinic's ceiling at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Comment: The NHS has been stretched to the limit for years as continual budget cuts by both liberal and conservative governments have been encouraged by business leaders who stand to gain handsomely if a system fail results in privatization. Insect and rodent infestations are just the tip of the iceberg, with doctors describing the conditions as 'third world':
- NHS cuts and flu crisis push UK hospitals to the brink - Doctors describe 'third world conditions' and 'system fail'
- NHS health system in crisis as £225m goes to clinics in Africa
- Hospitals on the brink of collapse, warns NHS chief
- UK government cuts benefits for people with incurable diseases
- Flu crisis strikes the UK: Operations cancelled, no beds available, long waits
- British Red Cross warns of humanitarian crisis as severely overcrowded NHS hospitals unable to cope with demand
Comment: Free speech comes and goes? Status quo decides? The 'American default' is being faulted; surely we notice this distraction.