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American way: Flint's emergency manager prioritized cost savings over public safety

Jeremy Mohler
In the Public Interest
Fri, 29 Jan 2016 00:00 UTC
flint water
© xonecole.com
A little over a week ago, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder released hundreds of pages of e-mails related to Flint from 2014 and 2015. One of the attachments, an assessment of Flint's water system by a private water corporation, is very significant.

In February 2015, almost a full year before the news of widespread lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan, gained headlines, the world's largest private water corporation, Veolia, deemed Flint's water safe. They were hired by the city to assess the discolored water that many residents had been complaining about—a General Motors plant had even stopped using Flint's water because it was rusting car parts.

But while Veolia, a French transnational corporation, deemed Flint's water to be "in compliance with State and Federal regulations," they concluded that "aging cast-iron pipe" was creating "aesthetic issues including taste, odor, and discoloration."

Their report didn't mention lead, but they recommended spending $50,000 to add corrosion control chemicals to Flint's drinking water because iron was leaching from the city's pipes.

The city didn't heed Veolia's advice, but regardless, someone should have known that lead was likely leaching into Flint's water as well.

Comment: What is more disturbing is that moral bankruptcy has become so commonplace within the U.S.

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Bad Guys

'Endless' US aggression has turned Iraq into a dystopian nightmare

Stephen Lendman
Global Research
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 14:22 UTC
Iraq Ramadi
© AFP 2016/ AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Decades of US-led aggression raped and pillaged Iraq, killing millions of its people, creating dystopian conditions for survivors.

Humanitarian crisis conditions are deplorable, exacerbated by endless US aggression, using ISIS and other takfiri terrorists as imperial foot soldiers, along with low oil prices complicating things further.

Iraq needs over $1.5 billion in aid this year alone. Baghdad called for international community help, its migration and displacement minister Jassim Mohammed al-Jaff, saying:

Comment: Further reading:

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Post-It Note

Anonymous letter from Germany: 'People are shocked, people are scared'


Russia Insider
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 13:54 UTC
ZDF's Dietmar Schumann
ZDF's Dietmar Schumann. He paid a Russian bum $800 to lie in his Putin documentary. Outstanding!
We recently wrote one of our volunteers in Germany to ask what ever happened with that extraordinary story which broke in mid-December about the main German television station ZDF paying a young Russian man to lie about fighting in the Ukraine in a vicious hatchet job documentary film about Putin called "Machtmensch Putin".

Our headline at the time was "BUSTED: Fake Info in German Putin Film Could Explode into Major Scandal (Video)", and we really thought this might be the straw that breaks the camel's back, because Germans are already up in arms about their media's hard line against Russia.
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Hearts

Indiana elementary school principal dies after pushing students away from runaway school bus

Victor Skinner
EAG News
Wed, 27 Jan 2016 13:47 UTC
Susan Jordan
© The Sun UKSusan Jordan
Longtime Amy Beverland Elementary School Principal Susan Jordan always put students first. It's a commitment she literally gave her life for Tuesday afternoon.

The Beverland principal of 22 years pushed several students out of the path of a wayward bus in front of the school and sacrificed her own life to protect them. The bus struck Jordan and two 10-year-old students who are now in critical but stable condition at Riley Hospital for Children.

Jordan died at the school, the Indianapolis Star reports. "Quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about a legend," Lawrence Township Schools Superintendent Shawn A. Smith said at a press conference, according to the news site. "As superintendent of schools and a representative of the entire school community, we lost a great educator today," he said.

"Susan was an amazing educator," the school board said in a statement Tuesday. "She had a remarkable way of making everyone she came into contact with feel valued and important. She has a passion for children that is unmatched."

Police Sgt. Kendale Adams told NBC News the incident appeared to be a "freak accident." "The female bus driver told firefighters that she is not sure what caused the bus to accelerate and jump the curb but reported in the instant that the accident occurred she saw principal Jordan push several students out of the way before she was tragically killed," fire Capt. Rita Reith said, adding that the driver and 25 children aboard the bus were not injured.

The Star highlighted a video posted to YouTube in May filled with glowing testimonials from students, faculty and staff commending Jordan for her decades of service to the school.

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Stormtrooper

EU troops accused of sexually abusing African children


Sputnik
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 03:22 UTC
united nations
© Flickr/ United Nations
Soldiers from a United Nations peace-keeping force and a European mission have been accused of sexually assaulting minors as young as seven-years-old in the Central African Republic. Some children alleged their attackers exchanged food for sex.

A UN probe has revealed reports accusing UN peacekeepers, members of a European mission, and troops in France's Sangaris operation of sexually abusing children.

Although there is mounting evidence suggesting UN peace keepers have sexually assaulted minors, this latest probe unearthed allegations against European Union troops (EUFOR).

Two girls said they were raped by EUFOR troops while two others say they were paid to have sexual relations with EUFOR soldiers.

The four children were aged between 14 and 16 at the time of the alleged attacks. Three of them said they believed their attackers were from Georgia.

Unprecedented in such cases, the UN released the nationalities of the accused peace keepers. They hail from Bangladesh, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

UN investigators also interviewed two children who said they were sexually abused by soldiers in France's Sangaris unit.

"The girl said she had performed oral sex on French soldiers in exchange for a bottle of water and a sachet of cookies," the interviewees' statement read. "Both she and the nine-year-old boy said that other children were abused in a similar fashion in repeated incidents involving several French soldiers."

Comment: Psychopaths are always ready to take advantage of the most desperate and vulnerable.

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Fire

Over 80 killed, children burnt to death, 62 victims treated for burns in Boko Haram attack in Nigeria


RT
Sun, 31 Jan 2016 22:21 UTC
Boko Haram
© www.presstv.ir Boko Haram
Boko Haram militants killed 86 people, including children, in their recent attack on villages in northeastern Nigeria on Saturday. Horrifying details of the attacks emerged on Sunday.

The Saturday night assault on the outskirts of the Nigerian city of Maiduguri - the birthplace of Boko Haram - lasted for hours, targeting villages and camps housing some 25,000 refugees, AP has reported, citing survivors and soldiers at the scene. By Sunday afternoon, 86 bodies had collected, officials said, adding that another 62 victims were being treated for burns.

Comment: See also: African Muslims & Christians stand united - show Americans how not to let ISIS win

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Green Light

Nine ways to decline cooperating with the control system

Paul A. Philips
New Paradigm
Sun, 31 Jan 2016 21:52 UTC
gandhi quote
Done sneakily, or under the illusion of democracy, in recent times more oppressive laws have been made than ever before. Between us being subjected to more and more ordinances, rules, restrictions and outright laws then demonizing our dissension and opinion should we object... It's as if we can't do anything right.

How long will it take for the masses to wake up to these grossly restricting laws and realize how un-free they are? The masses' unchallenging complacency with these laws has been made that much easier through social conditioning engineered over the years by the ruling elite.

In this charade, the power-mad egomaniac manipulating controlling parasitical ruling elite impose themselves on almost everything for their ulterior motives: ownership, power, profit and political gain - and that's it. It's that straightforward. It's that pathetic.

Comment: Doing the above will give a person a certain degree of personal freedom and will be beneficial for their mental, physical and spiritual health. They are very worthy pursuits on their own but should we expect that engaging in such will change the world? Will the control system even notice or will it continue on unhindered as it has done throughout millennia despite those who decline to participate?

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Magnet

Russia debuts new and improved metal detecting device in Moscow airport


Sputnik
Sun, 31 Jan 2016 20:29 UTC
stop russian aggression
© Unknown
The Moscow Domodedovo Airport is testing metal-detecting gloves.


Security staff at Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport tested gloves with integrated metal detectors, Thursday. The new technology is believed to increase the efficiency of security control in public places.

Comment: Further reading: In 2015 Russia detained more than 770 terrorists, stopped 30 terror-linked crimes

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Water

Navajo Water Supply is 'More Horrific than Flint,'; Victimized by the US government because they're Native American

Justin Gardner
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 31 Jan 2016 19:14 UTC
Navajo water supply
The news out of Flint, Michigan brought the issue of contaminated drinking water into sharp focus, as it was revealed that officials at every level—local, state and federal—knew about lead-poisoned water for months but did nothing to address the problem.

Under state-run systems like utilities and roads, poorer communities are the last to receive attention from government plagued by inefficiencies and corrupt politicians. Perhaps no group knows this better than Native Americans, who have been victimized by government for centuries.

In the western U.S., water contamination has been a way of life for many tribes. As Brenda Norrell, a news reporter in Indian country, describes, the situation in Navajo nation is "more horrific than in Flint, Michigan."

Comment: See also:
  • New Mexico to sue federal government over toxic waste spill into Animas River

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Airplane

American Airlines flight makes 'emergency landing' in Brasilia: Second incident in two days following mid-flight mystery illness

Anton Nilsson and Lydia Willgress
Daily Mail (UK)
Fri, 29 Jan 2016 13:11 UTC
Flight AA904 route map
© Flightradar24Flight AA904 was travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Miami around 11pm Thursday when it diverted to Brasilia (shown on map above)
For the second time in two days, an American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing Friday after passengers and crew fell ill.

Flight 904, which left Rio de Janeiro at 10.16pm Thursday heading for Miami, was diverted to Brasilia after four people - including three members of staff - complained of lightheadedness, the airline confirmed in a statement to Daily Mail Online.

'The aircraft landed safely at Brasilia at 12.37am and was met by paramedics who evaluated the passenger and crew members. None requested further medical attention,' an American Airlines spokesperson said.

'Our maintenance team is currently inspecting the aircraft and performing a thorough maintenance check.'

The emergency landing happened the day after an American Airlines flight to Los Angeles was forced to return to London's Heathrow Airport after around 15 people on board fell ill.

Although the two grounded flights involved air planes of similar models, airline officials said they 'do not want to speculate on whether [the two incidents] are linked' until investigations have been completed.

One passenger on the Miami-bound flight told Daily Mail Online she saw people 'pass out' from the mystery illness before the plane landed.

'We are currently still in Brasilia where we made an emergency landing because crew members and passengers passed out and became unwell,' the woman wrote in an email.

'It sounds exactly like what happened on the other flight with us not being allowed off the plane for two hours.

Comment: According to a doctor who was a passenger on flight AA109 from London Heathrow to Los Angeles, two flight attendants reported 'a slight electrical or burning smell' on board.

Last year other incidents on aircraft such as, "burning electrical or smoke", "odor of fumes" in cabins and smoke filled cockpits, also forced emergency landings.

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