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IT’S A DAY of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a comfy chair.
We’ve hand-picked the week’s best reads for you to savour.
1. The making and breaking of marines
Hazing for new recruits at Parris Island was incredibly intense – and it wasn’t until one person died that the brutality was revealed.
(New York Times Magazine, approx 54 mins reading time)
Over the next eight months, Raheel prepared for the rigors of boot camp, installing a pull-up bar in the basement, drinking protein shakes, lifting weights, learning to swim. He told his parents he would still try to follow Muslim dietary laws and stay away from anything haram. ‘‘It’s going to be good, Mom,’’ he told her, before saying goodbye on March 6. ‘‘Don’t worry. I’m ready.’’ That call was the last time she heard her son’s voice.
Claire Wineland has Cystic Fibrosis, and wants to share the message that your life doesn’t have to be defined or held back by a long-term terminal illness.
(CNN, approx 21 mins reading time)
She’s on a mission to normalize sickness, push back at those who pity her and have a meaningful life for however long it lasts. Although she certainly has her down days — “Who doesn’t?” she notes — this self-described “goofball” tackles life with humor and the sort of charisma that draws people to her.
A number of prominent male Silicon Valley men had to apologise after this article was published. It details the experiences of women in tech, and how they have been at the receiving end of sexism.
(New York Times, approx 12 mins reading time)
The disclosures came after the tech news site The Information reported that female entrepreneurs had been preyed upon by a venture capitalist, Justin Caldbeck of Binary Capital. The new accounts underscore how sexual harassment in the tech start-up ecosystem goes beyond one firm and is pervasive and ingrained. Now their speaking out suggests a cultural shift in Silicon Valley, where such predatory behavior had often been murmured about but rarely exposed.
4. Dangers of climate change scepticism
All of the Republican candidates for the US’s presidential nomination were in agreement when it came to climate change. The issue, says this article, “has become a red rag to the political right”.
(The Guardian, approx 28 reading time)
It is tempting for anyone on the scientific side of the divide to want to apportion all the blame to the “alt-facts” crowd, who see elite conspiracies everywhere. But there is more going on here than dumb politics versus smart science. The facts are not just the innocent victims of politics. The facts have long been put in the service of politics, which is what fuels the suspicions of those who wish to deny them. The politicisation can cut both ways.
You may have heard that there is a terrible opioid epidemic in the USA. As a result of it, there are many children who need to be moved into foster care. This article tells their stories.
(Mother Jones, approx 18mins reading time)
Then Kelly had neck surgery and got addicted to OxyContin. By 2015, she was spending her days napping, disappearing for hours at a time, or going to her neighbor’s house, where she would exchange cash for packets of heroin. She started yelling at the kids, letting the fridge go empty and the house lapse into a den of cigarette butts and dirty dishes. “It’s like her personality did a 180,” Brianna said. “I felt like I lost my mom to this pit that I couldn’t pull her out of.”
6. How not to kill Kim Jung Un
There have been a number of failed attempts on the lives of North Korean dictators – and they show one thing: you better not miss.
(Foreign Policy, approx 14 mins reading time)
Kim was protected during his guerrilla days by a band of bodyguards, which reportedly included his first wife, Kim Jong Suk, the mother of Kim Jong Il. North Korean histories of the period recount a battle in which Kim Jong Suk saved the future North Korean leader’s life in northeastern China, shielding Kim Il Sung from enemy soldiers taking aim at him from a nearby field of reeds and dropping the would-be assassins with her Mauser rifle. The tale has long been a propaganda parable about the need for absolute devotion to the Kims’ security, though there’s little independent evidence to back it up.
…AND A CLASSIC FROM THE ARCHIVES…
Cheryl Strayed writes about the love of her life – her mother – and how her death upended her life. She writes, too, of how the death contributed towards the end of her marriage.
(The Sun, approx 11 mins reading time)
The first time I cheated on my husband, my mother had been dead for exactly one week. I was in a cafe in Minneapolis watching a man. He watched me back. He was slightly pudgy, with jet-black hair and skin so white it looked as if he’d powdered it. He stood and walked to my table and sat down without asking. He wanted to know if I had a cat. I folded my hands on the table, steadying myself; I was shaking, nervous at what I would do. I was raw, fragile, vicious with grief. I would do anything.
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Fly to America if you really want to protest. Compare the response you get from American police versus UK police.
Sure London has a big ole American Embassy…
They should get a big auld tank and run them all over
Be kind of ironic
Perhaps they should attack them with a 10,000 spoons
Apu,shouldnt you be around at the ‘loyalist lives matter’ protest encampment on Twadell Ave?They just celebrated their 3rd year of sitting in the caravan with a slab of Dutch Gold.
Why 10,000 spoons? All they need is a knife.
No, all they they need is a knife
Too slow :(
Jesuisjeanfranc
Ed Byrne nails it:
Its like raaaaain…..
Hate group of radicalisation is all they are.
“Look-at-me” causes.
BLMers have access to the same resources and jobs everyone else has, in fact more because of affirmative action, positive discrimination, and quotas, people are killed trying to accommodate and be nice to them, is it enough? No.
Instead these BLMers expect things to be handed to them, and if not done so with a smile, throw a tantrum, using what they know well is a golden opportunity, the achilles heel of western society…emotional blackmail, guilt-tripping with the race card.
Whites Need Not Apply: BBC Advertises ‘Black, Asian, Or Minority’-Only Positions
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/05/07/whites-need-not-apply-bbc-advertises-black-asian-minority-positions/
The next bandwagon will be along shortly. Idiots of the highest order.
What will that be Asian lives matter, maybe Olive lives matter or even Redheads are real people too.
If you understood why BLM creates more problems than what it solves maybe you could have a valid point.
I see u have played knifey, spoony before so
referencing knifey-spooney is a bootable offence
What’s the point of protesting in London over things happening in America? The issues that Black Lives Matter exist for don’t exist in England so why protest there?
Remember the 2011 riots in England. A great bunch !!!
Senan, how do you know the same issues don’t exist? Are you Black and English?
Daisy I’m fairly confident it would be all over the news if it were the same situation in England.
Daisy only one person has been killed by the police in the UK this year and he was white. The only issue is a victimhood culture within the black community which blames white people for all their problems while taking no personal responsibility for themselves.
Pretty sure a unarmed black man is shot by UK police every week, Pt pat. Right, Daisy?
Funny, most protesters pictured are white
Correction: unemployable whites with absolutely nothing better to do than virtue signal.
Funny that Britain’s top cop agrees that there is institutional racism in the police https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/05/met-chief-admits-institutional-racism-claims-have-some-justification
It’s ok though, they’re punished for it….oh wait http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/20-british-police-officers-sacked-over-racism-since-2010-1481354
Well, they decided to live here. Do you mind?
Natives mind bigly.
The English police are so PC they would apologise for sneezing in the direction of a minority. Clint Eastwood is definitely right about a culture of pussies the guy pretty much rolled over at the first accusation of racism because they search proportionally more black people than white people. There is a very simple and logical explanation for that ; black people commit proportionally more crime.
Pt, those stats are only based on those that get caught. You won’t find the illegal item in the possession of the person you don’t search. If a race is more likely to get searched theyre going to get disproportionately caught for doing the same stuff
@EmmaQ Some did move back. It’s called Liberia. That turned out well.
@randy speak for yourself.
Yes but why. I think that’s the point she was making. The wasters and human debris of this world are slowly but surely making it intolerable for the rest of us, who carry them on our backs. Blocking the f*kcing road into Heathrow. They should have been baton charged out of the way. Never happen in the UK though.
Prouesse.. You are a shining example of an immigrant that is not needed nor wanted on these shores.
Ok let me put this in a different way so you can understand it. Let’s replace race with class and take where people live into consideration. A white working class person who lives in a part of a city with a high crime rate is much more likely to be searched than a middle class person who lives in the countryside with a very small crime rate. Is this classist, obviously not, it is an efficient use of police resources. The police are more likely to stop people where crime is more common and where there is a higher density of people. Now a large proportion of black people in the UK live in high density, high crime parts of the country and a large proportion of white people live in low density, low crime parts of the country. How about you think about these problems a bit before putting it down to racism.
Intelligent EmmaQ
@emmaqrap Oh that hurts!
That’s a bunch of people in need of a tazering.
Emma your points would be better received (and understood and appreciated) without personal insults, im not being harsh, its just a bit unnecessary..?
When to dealing with Prouesse. Let me be the judge that.
and then you can lecture ppl about not insulting other commenters.
So full of crap, Emmaqrap
There was once a time when I was courteous to you Prouesse but it was completely pointless, you are clearly obsessed by me and reply to every comment I make with a personal attack but fail to make any valid comments in return.
However, maybe you are right. It is beneath me to even respond.
emmaqrap
You, courteous? Not even in your wildest dreams…
I am not obsessed by you. You’re delusional and not that special. However you do post remarkably nasty comments here.
And you are right, it is not of your level to respond. The best you can do is to keep it shut.
What are they trying to achieve with this kind of protest. It certainly doesn’t make people sympathetic to their cause.
What do holidaymakers and people trying to get to work in London have to do with Blacks and Cops in the United States of America. Generation Snowflake obviously got bored protesting Brexit.
and the assertion that “this is a crisis”. More white people get shot by american police. If they’re looking for a crisis, there’s a million and one other things they could protest. Idiots
What is their cause anyways, a criminal with a gun got shot by the police 5 years ago get over it. They should protest the people who bring knives with them to water fights they are the ones causing problems in the community not the police.
Yeah, imagine a bunch of protesters disrupting traffic! Why, it’s unprecedented!
Disrupting traffic is a violent form of protest and should be met with force.
Yeah! Hit them hard to teach them how to keep it shut.
Black people need to move on from the way that they were treated by the whites in America ..And anyone worth their weight in salt knows that there is no legacy left behind from those times when they were slaves & when they were segregated ….Heck,sure -there is even a black guy as President …All is cool.
@Pt pat……….BLM are now controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood and under MB direction they are trying to get a hostile reaction so they can prepare for Jihad-with the Blacks as dupes.
I should also add that I was being sarcastic ..
Pat – invest in a new helmet lad ..
Hahahaha good old PJ and his drunken tirades, must be getting scarey now with 75% of the world being controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Patrick is right :o I’d look into nation of islam if I was in the american gov. Also scientology. Just in case :/
No, Francis, there is a direct link between nation of islam and racism.
The leader of nation of islam has been reading scientology books allegedly check it out theliptv on youtube, They got banned in russia recently I think.I can see how they would team up…
Francis, on Obama, moral licensing, that is all.
It’s like them two who went on Newstalk here a few weeks back, trying to suggest the Gardai where as bad as American cops for shooting people . . laughable waste of time.
Seriously? I need to hear this
please provide link….I wanna hear that.
Chris O’Donoghue was probably one of them the bleeding heart social justice warrior.
I heard it on “The right hook” George hook did a brilliant job of not pandering to their aspirations of victimhood, showed them up for the idiots that they are.
Unfortunately I don’t think any other broadcaster in Irish media would have the balls to do it.
Its possibly available on “the right hook” podcast.
Hook is an idiot, a monarchist and creationist, couldn’t be more backwards if he tried.
Here ya go lads, absolutely destroyed them ha
Yup, It is the second link that you provided, about 2/5ths of the way though it. Lucky and Farah, its a comedy show.
What a bunch of idiots.
Effing stupid. Talk about undermining public support for your own cause. A little more thinking, a little less knee-jerking.
Absolutely ridiculous, ordinary people going on holidays and getting to work blocked by these snowflakes.
There’s an irony in calling them snowflakes
Do they realise that Britain is not in America? The worst thing is that I expect no less from ultra liberal thugs
Maybe they should be protesting against black gangs in black neighbourhood’s of London…ah sure that would not fit their agenda to blame the white man for everything.
When will this organisation be banned for incitement to hatred?
Read through the manifesto of one of their splinter groups recently and you’d be surprised the sort of ridiculous demands this organisation has. They essentially want to create a Marxist nation within the US, bankrolled by the US government through reparations and responsible to nobody but itself:
Jason, maybe that’s why they’re a splinter group and not the main group? In saying that, this protest is stupid
Dave, did you watch the link? The introduction explains within the first 2 minutes that this manifesto was created by a group that represents 28 regional BLM chapters and is, at this point, the closest thing we have to an official BLM manifesto.
That makes this manifesto representative of the wishes of the vast majority of BLM chapters.
you don’t agree with Marxism, but why would you outlaw it? i dont think banning political movements is all that healthy for democracy
@Jason that’s the first time I see you getting worried about “incitement to hatred”! After all the hate speeches posted on this site! Lol
Jason, I’ll take my facts from a person with the conviction to use their real name thanks
Jester, I don’t want to ban them for seeking a Marxist sub-nation within and funded by a Capitalist nation. I merely ridicule them for the ridiculousness of this concept.
Prouesse, from my memory even the most hate-filled posts on the Journal have not resulted in the killing of people just trying to do their jobs. BLM, on the other hand, called for the deaths of police officers at multiple rallies and this resulted in two separate incidents where police were murdered.
No you won’t Dave! :P
I’m really not up for it today though; have a life.
They’re racist cop killers and have already deprived a black child of growing up without a father. All they want is money.
That’s exactly the source I would have used, Jason. He did an excellent analysis on why it’s lunacy.
@Jason
That’s exactly my point: you have double standards.
You just conveniently forgot the rise in racist attacks recently…
Hate is hate. And it fuels violence.
Oh hi Andy, welcome back. I believe that you believe what you say. Like I believe you think bombing ISIS in the middle east isn’t the same as bombing the middle east as you said yesterday
Jason, the head of police in Dallas said the shooting had nothing to do with BLM.
Most Black kids grow up without a father anyway !!!
Poor choice of words.
Haha nice attempt to put a veil over your racist views Jason.
Yes Liam, you’re a strong advocate of democracy. And Sharia Law. We know. Thanks.
What a rotten shower of sh:t. Disrupting people who have done nothing to them.
Agreed.
All Lives Matter
That’s racist apparently!!
@will Even if you’re black. That’s their point.
Not all lives matter. Some lives really don’t.
says emmaqrap lol
@emmaqrap
I see you putting a lot of efforts to be a nasty piece of sh!t. Don’t worry! All you have to do is to be yourself.
It seems to me you spend all of your time trying to insult people on here Prouesse , however you get very very upset when someone takes a stab at insulting you, typical professional victim mentality.
Suck it up.
@emmaqrap Are you for real when you to try blame me for something you keep on doing.
I see you get concerned by insults but not when they are thrown at a bunch of people because of their origins, religions, colour, etc.
In fact, you add venom to poison.
That’s the bile you can find in someone who is an apologist colonialism.
I don’t apologise for Colonialism.
Here is a summary because it is not nice to read that crap:
“ah! I miss the good old days when people in Yemen were under the British colonial empire!”
As I said. I don’t apologise for it. A lot of these third world kips where in a far better place back in the good ol days than they are now.
Nice of you to save my posts, it tells me that you are fascinated by me. Cause based on your input here you are about as boring and one dimensional as they come.
Do you come from one of these 3rd world kips that still use colonialism as an excuse for lack of progress?
Life is so much easier when you blame other people for your lack of progress.
emmaqrap
You are pathetically trying to change subject when you say I blame others for some lack of progress.
I notice you can’t help it: you have to insult foreigners or countries different from yours, calling them “kips” and all that vomite you enjoy producing here.
I am not ‘fascinated’ by you, i am revolted by your disgusting ideas: and yes you keep on typing that it was the good old days when there were colonies, which are just the alienation of a people by another people. Maybe you should share your views on this with your very Irish friends…
I see you enjoy playing religious and race police, questioning me about my religion and now my origins.
That’s someone filled with venom like you is expected to do.
No country or culture should be immune from criticism however I reserve the vast majority of criticism for the pathetic ideological cult that is Islam, if that upsets you. Well that is just unfortunate.
There are plenty of places in the world that you can go where it is illegal to do that if that’s what makes you comfortable.
Criticizing is not insulting.
And again, you are trying to change subject because the disgusting picture of you in your comment is sickening.
As I said, the best you can do is to keep it shut.
Would prouesse and EmmaQ please get a room and scratch their respective itches. It’s getting rather embarrassing watching the foreplay.
Arrest and prosecute them, the protest is pointless as it’s taking place thousands of miles away from a country where black people are being discrimated against..
They should be arrested for brandishing a flag with ISIS written on it.
Soros puppets lives matter.
If they tried to block me going on holiday i would get out of my car and drag them out of the way.
Just goes to show how detached these SJW types are from the average hardworking person of any colour. This will only serve to turn opinion against this ridiculous movement.
Ridiculous Attention seeking nonsense. The sad thing is that this stunt will probably cause a backlash against people that actually suffer.
You know,stuff like this probably shouldn’t be done in a country where the majority of deaths as a result of its police force can be listed in a short (though im air not entirely complete) wikipedia article.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_Kingdom
There is an epidemic of black on black killings in the UK, protest at that you idiots!
What did London do to black guys who got shot in America?
It’s sweet that you think this is about America and not the UK.
How and why is it about the UK? Examples please.
How did they all manage to get the day off work to protest at an airport? Oh wait, sorry my bad.
Black Lives Matter couldn’t give two shyts about blacks killing blacks.
How many black people are killed by british poleese?
ALL LIVES matter. Its ironic that the most infamous murders of recent years which spring to mind were committed by blacks on whites (the soldier hacked to death outside his barracks a couple of years ago and yesterday’s random murder of the elderly US tourist
Talk about band wagon jumping
Nice to see people claiming benefits ect fraudulently disrupting hard working people’s lives. They hate the hands that feed them! Take their names, stop their benefits and take away their council houses. Simples.
A-holes.
Should have kept the water cannon mr Mayor………
BLM is now controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood and this protest is just another attemt to tear doen law-and -order in a Western democracy. If Black lives really matter to Blacks why not protest the Govt. of Mauratania where 20% of the people, all Black people,are still enslaved by the Negro-hating Arab Muslim overlords. So get your ass in gear and head on over to the Mauritanian Embassy and do your Black kith and kin a big favour instead of stupidly allowing yourselves to be manipulated by The Muslim Brotherhood Arab Muslims who despise Black people.
The Embassy of Mauritania in London is the diplomatic mission of Mauritania in the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
Address: Carlyle House, 235-237 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 1EJ, 235-237 Cheyne Row, London SW1V 1EJ, United Kingdom
@patrick O’Rubbish
I think BLM is now controlled by the Jews with the help of Oussam Ben Laden, who lives in a tropical island protected by the CIA…
Wrong country! I suppose its cheaper than buying a ticket to the USA……daft!
Racists against racism!
Oh no now spud Murphy Ruth Coppenger and rest of the clowns will be blocking streets in Dublin
Just bandwagon jumpers, absolute dopes!
You’re as big a joke as the BLM People James. Cop on to yourself.
Facepalm. Maybe move their protest to the United States where the issue is.
How’s that manifesto coming on?
James, you’re a tool.
Just putting that out there.
I wonder when a certain minority here will get in on the hashtag livesmatter thing? They would have some serious blocking materials and methods. Anyone going to suggest the hashtag?
All got today off work no doubt.
An educational must see.
Anarchists, plain and simple !
They should take the Pokemon go off the road and move it to the job centre
The bitterness towards protesters is amazing.
Ireland in the 80s had far more solidarity and compassion for other people’s pain. That was before a generation of selfish sociopaths was raising during the Celtic Tiger.
How can you show solidarity with these half wits on this utterly pointless “protest”?
Spot on Tosser. It is quite unbelievable.
Darlene Horton’s life mattered
What an absolute gang of wa*k stains This has nothing to do Black lives matter. Tell ye the older I’m getting the more I am leaning towards dictatorship and away from political correctness
Whitesplaining… Like mansplaining, but for racial issues that don’t affect you.
Morgan Freeman: I don’t want a black history month. Black history is American history.
Interviewer: How are we going to get rid of racism?
Morgan Freeman: Stop talking about it.
I want a black history month :(
Interviewer: How are we going to get rid of racism?
Morgan Freeman: Stop talking about it.
Ah yes, sweeping thing under the carpet usually works. *facepalm*
Morgan Freesman: I don’t think of you as a Jewish man. So I don’t want you to think of me as a black man.
SJWs: You’re a f*cking white male!!
**Double faceplam**
No matter if you agree with the protesters or not, it does reveal a feeling of part of our population.
It might be repressed. Or it can be dealt with through the construction of a society based on trust.
These people want to be heard. Listen to them. If you ignore this all you do is feed in to the idea that they are being overlooked. Its remarkably simple. Meet, talk, listen.
Exactly right lads.
Good on them. End racism!
Petr, it never really existed. It’s a construct. One race = Human race. Move on.
What a load of old tosh. Spare me.
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