Society's ChildS

Sheriff

NY police union head rails against legislators, media for 'vilifying' law enforcement

nypd
The New York Police Benevolent Association (PBA) railed Tuesday against state legislators and the press for "vilifying" law enforcement officers amid the nationwide demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.

The New York PBA's president, Mike O'Meara, said at a press conference that officers have 375 million interactions with individuals each year and that most of them are "overwhelmingly positive."

"But what we read in the papers all week is that in the black community, mothers are worried about their children getting home from school without being killed by a cop. What world are we living in? That doesn't happen," O'Meara said.

"Our legislators are failing us. Our press is vilifying us," he added. "Stop treating us like animals and thugs and start treating us with some respect. That's what we're here today to say. We've been vilified. It's disgusting."

Chess

Senate confirms Gen. Charles Brown Jr. as first black service chief in unanimous vote

General Charles Brown Jr.
© Kevin Dietsch- / Getty ImagesGeneral Charles Brown Jr.
The Senate on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Gen. Charles Brown Jr. as chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, making him the first black officer to lead one of the nation's military services.

Vice President Mike Pence took the unusual step of presiding over the vote, something he usually does to break ties. But Brown's confirmation, 98-0, was not close. Pence called the moment "historic."

The vote came as the Trump administration and the mostly white Senate Republican conference grapple with the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Protests have convulsed the nation alongside the coronavirus pandemic, with racial discrimination being the common thread between them. The vote in Washington overlapped with Floyd's funeral in Houston.

Brown most recently served as the commander of U.S. Pacific Air Forces. He is a fighter pilot, with more than 2,900 flying hours, including 130 in combat.

Comment: This appointment should fly in the face of claims from the political Left that Trump is a racist president. He did something that Obama never did - appoint a black man as chief of staff in the military.


Pirates

Iraqi PMF destroys ISIS stronghold allegedly used by group's leader

iraqi pmf
© AFP 2020 / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE
Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella grouping of Shia armed militias also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, in cooperation with the country's security service, have liquidated a large Daesh stronghold in the country's north allegedly used by the group's leader in Iraq, PMF spokesman Ali Hashem al-Husseini said on Tuesday.

"[The PMF and security forces destroyed] a large headquarters of ISIS, which contains rooms, supplies and equipment, as well as secret documents that cannot be disclosed in Al-Zarka sector, indicating that the headquarters belongs to the new ISIS leader in Iraq or a regional leader of the terrorist organization," Al-Husseini said, as quoted by the state Shafaq news agency.

Eastern areas of the Salah ad-Din province, as well as districts of the neighbouring province of Kirkuk, have almost been fully liberated from the Daesh formations, except for some Daesh separated groups moving between the country's regions in an attempt to escape from the state's security forces, the spokesman added.

Bizarro Earth

People found admitting to looting, selling stolen goods on Facebook

looting
Selling looted goods on Facebook - CBS 2 found it's happening right now, with several videos and photos sent our way.

We sent the evidence to Chicago Police, and on Monday night, CBS 2's Tara Molina looked into what will happen next - with the CPD and the FBI investigating.

There was a call for photos and videos of looting last week. The FBI asking anyone with information on unlawful activity to submit it - information the CPD is taking in too.

One woman posted a Facebook Live video publicly on Sunday, May 31, and it got about 6,600 views and 41 shares. It showed looting at a strip mall and a van filled to the brim.

NPC

Anarchists & 'Antifa' occupy Seattle police station abandoned by 'regime' forces, set up 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone'

seattle antifa
© REUTERS/Jason Redmond
After police in Seattle, Washington retreated from the Capitol Hill neighborhood, protesters took over the abandoned 'regime' precinct and erected barricades to mark an 'autonomous zone' for several blocks around it.

Six blocks of downtown Seattle have been declared the 'Free Capitol Hill Zone' or 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone' (CHAZ), according to area activists that have taken control of Seattle PD's East Precinct, on 12th Avenue and E. Pine Street.

Journalist Julio Rosas tweeted photos from the 'zone,' including flyers demanding that Seattle PD be defunded, and declaring that police "will always be racist because capitalism requires inequality."

Bullseye

TERF war: In one tweet, JK Rowling has exposed the militant intolerance of the trans lobby

jk rowling
J. K. Rowling
The Harry Potter author's assertion that people's biological sex couldn't be denied caused uproar. But the trans lobby's desire to shout down those who disagree with them shows their disregard for the human rights they champion.

Eons ago, Anita Loos once famously said, "Sex makes fools of us all." Now, in a completely different context, it continues to do so.

Social media is fulminating. The global disapproval of JK Rowling is almost comedic in its intensity. On Saturday, the British writer, beloved of the left, commented on an op-ed about healthcare inequality that used the phrase "people who menstruate."

The opinion piece could not have been more humane, more compassionate. Rowling chimed in on Twitter.

Comment:


Light Sabers

As looting and killing spree continues, Chicago aldermen spar with Mayor Lightfoot over refusal to deploy National Guard

Lori Lightfoot
© Kamil Krzaczynski/ReutersChicago mayor Lori Lightfoot
Members of the Chicago City Council slammed Mayor Lori Lightfoot during a private conference over her decision to limit deployment of the National Guard to the city's central business district over the weekend, saying that districts on the south and west side of the city were left unprotected over Chicago's deadliest weekend in 60 years.

A recording the Sunday call, obtained by local PBS affiliate WTTW, reveals that a number of aldermen told the mayor that their communities had been wrecked by the violence in the wake of national unrest following the death of George Floyd, and urged her to deploy the National Guard to protect businesses.

Two dozen people were killed and at least 61 injured by gun violence over the weekend, with Sunday seeing 18 murders โ€” the deadliest day in Chicago's 60 years of tracking data. The city's 911 center received 65,000 calls in a single 24-hour period Sunday โ€” 50,000 more than normal.


Comment: Chicago is coming apart at the seams.


Handcuffs

Austrian court convicts mystery former colonel of 'spying for Russia' - then sets him free

austrian flag
© REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
A year after the "Ibiza Affair" brought down a government in Vienna, Austria has sentenced an unnamed retired Army colonel to three years in prison on charges of being a spy for Russia.

Peter Egger, a spokesman for the court in Salzburg, confirmed the sentence to reporters on Tuesday, but did not disclose the officer's identity. The colonel was first arrested in 2018, with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz personally alleging that the accused had spied for Russia for at least 25 years, since 1992. Later Egger disclosed that the defendant was actually released on parole, after the 18 months served in pre-trial confinement counted towards his sentence.

This might change if the prosecutors appeal the sentence, Egger added. They have three days to do so.

Vienna initially said the case was brought to its attention by a "friendly" intelligence agency of another country, later revealed to be Britain.

Dominoes

Navy orders removal of Confederate flag; Army bases may be renamed

confederate flag burning
© Tasos Katopodis/UPI
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday announced Tuesday that he has directed staff to begin preparing an order that would prohibit the Confederate battle flag from all public spaces and work areas aboard Navy installations, ships, aircraft and submarines.

Also on Tuesday, Army leadership expressed an openness to renaming posts named in honor of the Confederacy.

"The order is meant to ensure unit cohesion, preserve good order and discipline, and uphold the Navy's core values of honor, courage and commitment," Gilday wrote on Twitter Tuesday.

On Monday an Army official told POLITICO that the service is "open" to renaming the service's 10 bases and facilities that are named after Confederate leaders, and Tuesday Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley endorsed efforts to "explore the issue" of renaming those 10 bases.

Chess

De Blasio: NYC will paint, rename streets to honor Black Lives Matter

black lives matter
The city will paint its roadways and rename streets in each borough to honor the Black Lives Matter movement, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.

"It's time to do something officially representing this city to recognize the power of the fundamental idea of Black Lives Matter, the idea that so much of American history has wrongly renounced, but now must be affirmed," de Blasio said during his daily City Hall press briefing as he was surrounded by a group of social justice activists.

The mayor said that the city proposal calls for the Big Apple to "name streets in each borough, and to paint the words on the streets of this city in each borough at a crucial location, one of which will be here near City Hall."

De Blasio said his administration will work with city leaders, advocates and the City Council to identify the four other locations in the Big Apple to support the movement.