Society's ChildS


Megaphone

Western media silent as UN calls for worldwide decriminalization of drug use

weed un
A little-noticed public statement issued by the United Nations last week contains a dramatic shift in thinking on the issue of "illicit" substance use. After recommitting to the failed idea of prohibition just last year, the UN is now calling for the worldwide decriminalization of drug use and possession.

The statement, put out by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the U.S. is in the midst of another political debate over health care, calls for "ending discrimination in health care settings." The WHO calls on states to end discrimination against "marginalized and stigmatized populations" in a variety of ways, and includes a blunt and rather shocking statement on the drug war.
"We, the signatory United Nations entities, call upon all stakeholders to join us in committing to taking targeted, coordinated, time-bound, multisectoral actions in the following areas. Supporting States to put in place guarantees against discrimination in law, policies, and regulations by... Reviewing and repealing punitive laws that have been proven to have negative health outcomes and that counter established public health evidence. These include laws that criminalize or otherwise prohibit...drug use or possession of drugs for personal use."
This is an admission that the problem of drug abuse is a public health issue, not a criminal justice issue. Locking people in cages for the victimless behavior of ingesting substances arbitrarily deemed illegal by the State does nothing to reduce drug use or supply, as evidenced by the utter failure of the War on Drugs.

Wedding Rings

Silicone squeeze: Japanese men choose life with sex dolls over real women

Japanese sex dolls
© Agency France Presse 2017/ Behrouz MEHRI
An increasing number of Japanese men are finding true love in silicone sex dolls. However, for these men the reasons for such an unusual companionship is sometimes more than just sex.

Masayuki Ozaki's marriage lost its spark some years ago and although he still lives in the same house with his wife and daughter, he also has a live-in girlfriend, a life-sized doll called Mayu.

Comment:


Red Flag

Report finds thousands of children in England have been rescued from slavery

stop
© Michaela Begsteiger / Global Look Press
Thousands of children in England have been rescued after being exploited for slave labor, suffering sexual or domestic abuse, a damning new report has found.

According to the study, more than 1,200 children have fallen victim to modern slavery. Anna Longfield, the children's commissioner for England who is behind the report, believes the true number is likely to be far higher as cases go unreported.

Longfield has called on politicians to act.
"Child slavery leaves deep scars on the lives of those children who suffer horrendous exploitation by adults - and this could well be only the tip of the iceberg," Longfield said, according to the Daily Mail. "These appalling crimes need to remain in the spotlight and be consigned to the past. I hope today's report highlighting the large number of children living vulnerable lives will be a spur for politicians to act."

USA

Gluttony and leisure: How 'Muricans are celebrating July 4th

american flag hotdogs
Americans will celebrate Independence Day on Tuesday with fireworks, acts of gluttony and escapes to the beach, even for people in New Jersey where legislators brokered a last-minute deal to reopen state parks.

In keeping with tradition, cities across the country will launch fireworks after dark, perhaps the most emblematic way to commemorate July 4, 1776, when the American colonies' Declaration of Independence from Britain was adopted.

The document enshrines the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which in many U.S. cities today involves competitions over how many hot dogs and hamburgers people can stuff down their throats in rapid succession.

In Washington, a hamburger restaurant challenges competitors to consume as many sandwiches as possible in 10 minutes, while in New York City, a seaside establishment stages a tournament that tests some of the world's most formidable consumers of frankfurters.

Americans are expected to flock to beaches, especially in the West where the weather is hot and dry, while the eastern part of the country may see scattered thunderstorms.

In New Jersey, a budget battle halted nonessential services, forcing state beaches and parks to close, but lawmakers on Monday night ended the three-day-old state government shutdown.

On Sunday, while state beaches were still closed, however, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie managed to visit Island Beach State Park, prompting outrage.

Red Flag

Group monitoring airstrikes in Syria reports civilian casualties during Raqqa offensive are higher than claimed

Ain Issa
© Goran Tomasevic / ReutersAin Issa, Syria June 14, 2017
UN warnings of the "staggering" number of civilian casualties in Raqqa, Syria that were denied by coalition commanders are no exaggeration, a monitoring group insists.

Airwars, a UK-based group that monitors airstrikes and civilian casualties in Iraq, Libya and Syria, reports it has tracked 119 alleged civilian casualty events at Raqqa, claiming up to 770 deaths, between June 6-29.

The coalition began its assault on the so-called capital of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) caliphate, Raqqa, on June 6. It has been accused of having no plan in place for civilian evacuations, and Airwars reports a number of civilians have been killed attempting to flee in boats.

The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights warned at least 173 civilians have been killed by air and ground strikes in Raqqa since June 1, saying this is "likely a conservative estimate and the real death toll may be much higher."

Heart - Black

RT Exclusive: Palestinian teen denied medical entry to Jerusalem after being critically injured by IDF soldiers

Khaled Gamri
A 17-year-old teen was refused entry to Jerusalem for medical care after he was critically injured by Israeli soldiers during a protest at the border between Israel and Gaza. The government rejected his request due to him being a "main inciter."
"I went to the border to protest against the siege and support the prisoners in Jerusalem," the boy recalled the protest occurring on May 23 in an interview with RT.
Khaled Ghamri suffered severe injuries, including one of his kidneys destroyed, a ruptured intestine, damaged liver and 12 severed arteries, as well as a fractured hand after he went to a demonstration near the Israeli border and got struck with live ammunition by the IDF.


USA

What freedom? The 4th of July is purely symbolic

police state america
Every year on July 4, Americans celebrate their "freedom" on Independence Day—the anniversary of the day the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and established the United States as an independent nation in 1776.

As Americans prepare to commemorate Independence Day in 2017—gathering together with friends and family to eat, drink and watch elaborate fireworks displays—they are blindly celebrating a false sense of freedom based on a list of liberties that are far from the current practices of the U.S. government.

Endless Taxes

When schoolchildren in the U.S. learn about the great American Revolution, they are taught about the important role taxes played in the decision to rebel against the British government. American colonists fought back against the unnecessary taxes and tariffs that seemed to increase by the year, and they took a stand against the heinous idea of "taxation without representation."

Comment: It's time to re-evaluate Independence Day


Handcuffs

19yo jihadist sentenced to life for London bomb plot, lawyers say MI5 entrapped him

Ali Syed
© British Metropolitan Police / Reuters
A 19-year-old has been sentenced to life in prison after previously pleading guilty to plotting terrorist acts in London last year.

Haroon Syed was arrested last year after he tried to purchase weapons online from an undercover agent with an intent to use them in an attack on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 atrocity. His target list, even though undecided, included a number of potentially busy gatherings in London, such as Oxford Circus, Buckingham Palace or an Elton John concert in Hyde Park.

Syed's defense team claimed the teenager was radicalized by members of the banned terrorist Salafi jihadist group Al-Muhajiroun (ALM).

His brother, Nadir Syed, 24, was handed a life sentence last year after being found guilty of plotting a beheading attack around Remembrance Sunday, in November 2014.

The teenager's lawyers further alleged that Syed had been "entrapped" by undercover MI5 agents, who lured the teenager to reveal his evil plot by posing as potential weapons suppliers.

Comment: Another gullible loser. Gullible enough to believe ISIS and MI5!


Info

Swedish police: 3000 violent extremists in Sweden, 2000 Islamists

swedish police
© TT News Agency / Reuters
Sweden is home to some 3,000 violent extremists, the head of the security police has announced. Two-thirds have Islamist motives, while the others belong to far-right and far-left movements.

The numbers were revealed by Säpo chief Anders Thornberg during Almedalen Week, an annual political festival which takes place on the island of Gotland.

Elaborating on the figures, Thornberg stressed that although "few extremists" have the "will and ability" to carry out attacks, they must be found and closely followed.

"It's important that everyone in Sweden takes responsibility to end this trend," he said, as quoted by the Local.

Thornberg's comments come less than three weeks after he announced that the number of militant Islamists in Sweden had grown from "hundreds to thousands."

Comment: More on the situation in Sweden:


USA

Rich Dad, Poor Dad author was offered the chance to run drugs for the CIA

Robert Kiyosaki CIA
Best-selling author Robert Kiyosaki, best known for his book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" recently revealed that he was offered to smuggle drugs for the US government while he was working for the military during the Vietnam war. Kiyosaki mentioned this fact during a recent conference in Bozeman, Montana, and then later clarified his statements in an interview with Millie Weaver.

In the years since the war ended, it has been thoroughly documented that large shipments of heroin were coming from the region in and around Vietnam, and that those shipments were either protected or smuggled directly by individuals working with the US military. During the Vietnam War, the area surrounding Vietnam and Laos was known as "The Golden Triangle," a hotbed for heroin production.

As The Free Thought Project has reported, drugs were transported on military aircraft and brought back to America, where they were eventually sold to the mafia and distributed on the streets. Now the Golden Triangle has taken a back seat to the "Golden Crescent," which refers to the area in and around Afghanistan, a region that the US military is currently occupying.