“They [students] make me feel safe” – Queer 6th grade teacher as she recounts coming out to her students pic.twitter.com/0ZyJaFIaLH
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 12, 2022
Author: Blazingcatfur
Ukraine fears western support will fade as media loses interest in the war
Ukraine’s war with Russia is heading towards its fifth month amid increasing local concern that dwindling media attention could lead to a gradual loss of western support just as Moscow is making slow but steady gains on the frontline.
The anxiety reflects a growing normalisation of the conflict in which large parts of the country feel distant from the war in eastern Donbas – as it becomes clear that casualties are mounting and economic costs soaring. “It’s a very real threat, that people get tired psychologically,” said Lesia Vasylenko, an opposition MP with the liberal Holos party.
International media coverage has dropped markedly in the past two months, she added, and “as that number goes down further, there’s a very high risk of the support from the west going down”.
Sabrina Maddeaux: Good luck outlawing election ‘disinformation’ without making it worse
What are facts? What is the truth? Questions that schoolchildren used to be able to answer now trip up journalists and prime ministers. We’ve tumbled from a world that generally agreed upon what is true and what is not, down a rabbit hole where the pursuit of power, money and clout twist and stretch reality until it’s sometimes barely recognizable.
Book Chronicling the Freedom Convoy Hits #1 in Canada, Mercilessly Mocks Cartoon Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has caused at least one thing to thrive in Canada: “a cottage industry of anti-Trudeau merchandise,” according to the National Post.
The popularity of Trudeau’s unpopularity shouldn’t come as a surprise after his crackdown on the Freedom Convoy protests and his draconian gun ban proposal. To conservative Americans, these appear to be the actions of a man bent on totalitarianism.
The ‘Disease’ Putin Brought Back
“I am not Russian!” This is the message on a new T-shirt that it is reportedly selling like hot cakes in Kazan, capital of the autonomous Republic of Tatarstan. A different version, bearing the slogan “I am not Russian, Love me!” is doing well in Ufa, capital of Bashkortostan, another autonomous republic within the Russian Federation.
Liberal MP admits achieving net-zero goal will be ‘painful’
For once, a Liberal who isn’t spinning fairy tales about the coming disruption his party’s “green” policies will cause ordinary Canadians.
Last Monday, during debate on this year’s federal budget, Whitby, Ont., Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull admitted, “Achieving net-zero is not going to be easy, that’s for sure … We are going to have to switch our lifestyles and that is going to be painful at times.”
The Lady of Heaven film: Morocco bans ‘blasphemous’ British film
Moroccan cinema authorities have banned the controversial British film Lady of Heaven, after it was condemned by the country’s religious council.
The film claims to tell the story of Lady Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad.
The Supreme Ulema Council said the movie was a “flagrant falsification of the established facts” of Islam.
How a Longtime Canadian ‘Friend of China’ Became an Outspoken Critic of Beijing’s Human Rights Record
When Margaret McCuaig-Johnston first began speaking out against the Chinese communist regime’s human rights abuses, the former senior government official had been “a friend of China for 40 years” and had “helped them develop their innovation capacity.” Today, she says “Canadians should speak truth to power every time they meet with Chinese officials.”
Not sure the ChiComs are gonna care one way or the other.
Indian officials step up arrests, demolish houses to stop rioting Mohammedans
Authorities in India’s Uttar Pradesh state have demolished the homes of several people accused of involvement in riots last week triggered by derogatory remarks made by ruling party figures about Islam’s Prophet Mohammad, officials said on Sunday.
In Indian Kashmir, police arrested a youth for posting a video threatening to behead the ruling party’s former spokeswoman who had made some of the remarks, officials said. The video, circulated on YouTube, has been withdrawn by authorities.
Muslim protesters brutally thrashed in a police station in Uttar Pradesh state, which is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP.
— Raqib Hameed Naik (@raqib_naik) June 11, 2022
#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: Demolition drive at the "illegally constructed" residence of Prayagraj violence accused Javed Ahmed continues in Prayagraj. pic.twitter.com/s4etc8Vz25
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) June 12, 2022
Suspended engineer claims Google’s AI has taken on life form, acts like ‘narcissistic’ 7 or 8-year-old
A Google engineer reportedly claims that the company’s artificial intelligence tool is capable of independent thoughts or feelings.
The engineer, Blake Lemoine, wrote on Medium about a week ago that Google has put him on paid administrative leave in the context of AI ethics concerns that he was raising internally in relation to alleged violations of Google’s confidentiality policies.
So it “acts like ‘narcissistic’ 7 or 8-year-old.” That makes it already smarter than Justin!
A judgment day is coming for Zelensky
“But if Zelensky and his advisers have to one day confront the realities of the war and actually approach a negotiation table once more and consider—or make—territorial concessions, that could leave Zelensky on the precipice of political turmoil, according to Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.”
More… Biden Throws Zelensky Under The Bus: Ukraine Leader ‘Brushed Off’ Invasion Warnings
Ukraine war: Former British soldier Jordan Gatley killed in fighting
A former British soldier has been killed fighting for the Ukrainian armed forces, his family has said.
Jordan Gatley, who left the British army in March and travelled to Ukraine, was described as “a hero” by his father Dean in a tribute on social media.
He died in the battle for the eastern city of Severodonetsk, which has seen intense fighting in recent days.
The Foreign Office has said it is “supporting the family of a British man who has died in Ukraine”.
How San Francisco Became A Failed City
… I’d gotten used to the crime, rarely violent but often brazen; to leaving the car empty and the doors unlocked so thieves would at least quit breaking my windows. A lot of people leave notes on the glass stating some variation of Nothing’s in the car. Don’t smash the windows. One time someone smashed our windows just to steal a scarf. Once, when I was walking and a guy tore my jacket off my back and sprinted away with it, I didn’t even shout for help. I was embarrassed—what was I, a tourist? Living in a failing city does weird things to you. The normal thing to do then was to yell, to try to get help—even, dare I say it, from a police officer—but this felt somehow lame and maybe racist.
Only a nuke can save San Francisco… If you’re wondering why there’s a homeless crisis wonder no more.
A couple of years ago, one of my friends saw a man staggering down the street, bleeding. She recognized him as someone who regularly slept outside in the neighborhood, and called 911. Paramedics and police arrived and began treating him, but members of a homeless advocacy group noticed and intervened. They told the man that he didn’t have to get into the ambulance, that he had the right to refuse treatment. So that’s what he did. The paramedics left; the activists left. The man sat on the sidewalk alone, still bleeding. A few months later, he died about a block away.
h/t CK
Bipartisan Gun Deal Announced: No ‘Assault Weapons‘ Ban, No Raised Minimum Rifle Age
A bipartisan group of senators announced a deal on gun control legislation Sunday in the wake of recent mass shootings — though the compromise excludes President Joe Biden’s “assault weapons” ban and a raised minimum age for rifle purchases.
Specialist gang ‘targeting’ Ukrainian treasures for removal to Russia
A specialist gang is smuggling valuable historic artefacts out of Ukraine and into Russia, according to an international team of academics and digital technology experts who are tracking thefts.
“There is now very strong evidence this is a purposive Russian move, with specific paintings and ornaments targeted and taken out to Russia,” said Brian Daniels, an anthropologist working with archaeologists, historians and digital imaging specialists.