Why is the US still in Syria?

A week ago, US troops camped out in the small, dusty Syrian outpost of al-Tanf suddenly found themselves under a “deliberate and coordinated attack“, as multiple explosive-laden drones barreled toward their positions. According to US officials who spoke to the AP on background, Iran “resourced and encouraged” the latest drone attack targeting US forces. The five drones were also reportedly Iranian-manufactured, leading to speculation that Tehran is testing the Biden administration at a time when nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran remain in limbo.

Fortunately, US troops managed to defuse the drone attack without suffering any casualties. But the near-miss was still deeply troubling, for it again illustrated the extremely dangerous environment in which nearly 1,000 US forces in Syria are operating.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inSyria, USA

Just the Beginning: Ten Afghan Evacuees Detained as National Security Risks

The Biden administration is giving America gifts that will keep on giving for generations to come, and one of the foremost of these gifts is the newly-arrived group of Afghan evacuees: 70,000 are now in the U.S., and the total number is expected to exceed 124,000 before long. One of Biden’s handlers, unnamed in a Wednesday Wall Street Journal report, has admitted that ten of these evacuees have already been detained as risks to national security. Only ten out of 70,000 isn’t bad, right? Sure. But Biden’s handlers’ catastrophic mishandling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan makes it virtually certain that there will be many more.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", Afghanistan, Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West, USA

Canada’s grocery chains stocked with tomato products connected to Chinese forced labour

Canadian consumers who purchase popular tomato pastes, sauces and ketchups may actually be buying products harvested and manufactured by Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities under oppressive working conditions in China, according to a CBC Marketplace investigation.

Marketplace, in collaboration with the Investigative Reporting Project Italy — a non-profit media association — and The Guardian, found some of the world’s biggest grocers, including ones here in Canada, are stocked with tomato products that could be tied to forced labour in Xinjiang, a remote area of western China where Uyghurs are subjected to mass detention, surveillance and torture by the Chinese government, in what many countries have labelled a genocide.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Canada's China Class", "China - Communist Slave State", Canada

British Theatre Adds Trigger Warning to Shakespeare’s Macbeth

A London theatre has added a ‘trigger warning’ to its production of William Shakespeare’s 415-year-old play Macbeth, because it contains scenes of violence, suicide, fake blood, and smoking.

The Almeida Theatre in north London includes this “content warning”: “This production includes extreme scenes of violence, including violence against children, suicide, and the use of blood, firearms and knives. It also contains flashing lights, vaping and the smoking of real cigarettes.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inWTF?

William Watson: After reconciliation, reparations?

Is the government of Canada planning to give all the land back?

The Fraser Institute has a new study out, called “ Fiscal explosion ,” on the spike in federal spending on Indigenous matters since 2015. It’s by Tom Flanagan, emeritus professor of political science at the University of Calgary and former adviser, campaign manager, and chief of staff to Stephen Harper. Flanagan is maybe our best example of a noted academic who entered what Teddy Roosevelt called the arena. His little book on game theory, using real-word examples from Canadian politics, is one of the best introductions to the subject I know. There aren’t many like him. Jean-Yves Duclos, a top-flight economist who is now federal health minister, is one. Let’s hope Duclos brings serious economics to health policy — starting maybe by figuring out what Ottawa is doing in a provincial field.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inAboriginal Issues

“White People, You Are the Problem”

AT&T’s new racial reeducation program promotes the idea that “racism is a uniquely white trait.”

AT&T Corporation has created a racial reeducation program that promotes the idea that “American racism is a uniquely white trait” and boosts left-wing causes such as “reparations,” “defund police,” and “trans activism.”

I have obtained a cache of internal documents about the company’s initiative, called Listen Understand Act, which is based on the core principles of critical race theory, including “intersectionality,” “systemic racism,” “white privilege,” and “white fragility.” CEO John Stankey launched the program last year and, subsequently, has told employees that private corporations such as AT&T have an “obligation to engage on this issue of racial injustice” and push for “systemic reforms in police departments across the country.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Critical Race Theory" Crackpot Communism, Batshit Crazy Homicidal Progressives, Batshit Crazy Progressive Racists, WTF?

Truth Bomb: New Study Shows That Delta Variant is Actually Spreading *Faster* Among Vaccinated Than Unvaccinated

The truth about Covid vaccines not only failing to stop the spread, but actually being a major transmission vehicle for Covid-19, has finally come out in the mainstream press. On Thursday, Bloomberg News pointed to a new study published by the medical journal “The Lancet” that further establishes that vaccinated individuals spread the Delta variant just as much as unvaccinated people do – indeed, slightly faster.

h/t Marvin

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted in"China eats weird animals disease", "Disinformation", "Experts", vaccine controversy

‘Yeah, we’re spooked’: AI starting to have big real-world impact, says expert

A scientist who wrote a leading textbook on artificial intelligence has said experts are “spooked” by their own success in the field, comparing the advance of AI to the development of the atom bomb.

Prof Stuart Russell, the founder of the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Berkeley, said most experts believed that machines more intelligent than humans would be developed this century, and he called for international treaties to regulate the development of the technology.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inThe Future

Big Tech May Be Canceling More Than Just Your Voice

Americans are aware Big Tech has been censoring, shadow banning, and/or de-platforming people for years. These social media sites regularly suppress information they don’t like, and outright ban those with views that are antithetical to their ideology.

The argument from the political right and the left is basically that Congress should regulate these entities. Conservatives say more content should be allowed; Liberals say there should be much less.

Regardless of any potential congressional regulations, you know Big Tech is shutting down your voice, but what you may not know is that Big Tech may also be shutting down your vote.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inBig Tech, Election 2020, facebook, facebook is evil

Stiffest charge sticks for ex-officer who shot Daunte Wright

Former Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter has lost her bid to shed a first-degree manslaughter charge in the shooting death of Daunte Wright earlier this year.

Potter had previously been charged only with second-degree manslaughter for killing the 20-year-old Black man during a traffic stop on April 11, alleging she’d mistaken her weapon for a taser.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in#BlackLivesMatter

Mocking Meta: Facebook’s virtual reality name change prompts backlash

The announcement by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that the social media giant will change the name of its holding company to Meta in a virtual-reality rebrand has prompted dismay and bemusement.

On Thursday, Zuckerberg said Meta would encompass Facebook as well as apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp and the virtual reality brand Oculus.

“Announcing Meta — the Facebook company’s new name,” the tech giant said in a tweet. “Meta is helping to build the metaverse, a place where we’ll play and connect in 3D. Welcome to the next chapter of social connection.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted infacebook, facebook is evil