Society's ChildS


Red Flag

Opioid crisis leads to huge jump in ER visits across Midwest and East Coast

Warner Todd Huston
Breitbart
Mon, 12 Mar 2018 17:17 UTC
heroin
© AP Photo/David Goldman
According to a new report, the opioid crisis in Illinois has driven up emergency room visits by 66 percent.

A report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that opioid-related emergency room visits rose an average of 35 percent across 16 states between July of 2016 to September of 2017. The highest rise was seen in and around metropolitan areas, according to the Pekin Times.

Increases grew more in large urban centers, such as Chicago, where dealers have taken to cutting heroin with the highly dangerous drug fentanyl, the report said. The report did note that the statistics might be skewed because the study only looked into the hospital visits in 16 states. Still, the numbers are shocking.
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Family

Women who wear makeup viewed as less qualified for leadership positions


Study Finds
Sat, 10 Mar 2018 17:09 UTC
woman makeup
Ladies looking to move up into a top-level position within their companies may want to give their cosmetic routine a makeover. A new study finds that women who wear too much makeup are viewed as less qualified to hold a position of leadership.

Researchers from Abertay University recruited 168 adults (48 men, 120 women) and had them view computer-altered images of two women. The women were shown with various degrees of makeup applied, from completely natural to done up for a "social night out" on the town.

The results showed a woman was viewed as being a better leader when wearing less makeup. In the study, participants were shown images of the same woman with and without cosmetics.
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Arrow Down

Series of mail bombings in Austin, Texas leaves 1 dead, 2 injured


RT
Tue, 13 Mar 2018 07:51 UTC
Austin Texas mail bombings
© Sergio Flores / ReutersAn FBI agent exits her car after arriving at the scene of an explosion near north Galindo street. Police investigators are at the home where a 17-year-old boy was killed and a woman injured in a package bomb explosion in Austin, Texas, U.S., March 12, 2018.
Austin police have linked Monday morning's mail bombing, that killed a teen boy and injured a woman, with another deadly explosion earlier this month. A third explosion left a 75-year-old woman with "life-threatening injuries."

Police Chief Brian Manley has warned Austin residents no[t] to open their mail, following dual mail bombings in the Texas city on Monday. The investigation is being coordinated with units from both the FBI and ATF.

"Similar to the other two incidents,the victim came outside and found a package, picked it up and the box detonated," Chief Brian Manley told a press conference. In reference to speculation that the bombings were a spate of hate crimes, Manley added that investigators haven't identified a "specific victimology or ideology based on current evidence... We are willing to investigate any avenue."

Comment: WGN has provided additional details:
The residents found the packages outside their houses, but none was delivered by the Postal Service or delivery services like UPS or FedEx, police said.

All residents of Austin should be careful about packages, Manley said. Investigators have not come up with a motive, and he did not say if anybody has claimed responsibility. It's not known if the victims knew each other or if they were targeted, he said.

SXSW began Friday in downtown Austin, bringing in thousands of people to the state capital. The explosions were not in the immediate vicinity of the festival and authorities say the bombings don't appear connected to the festival.

Manley said the packages are "average sized delivery boxes, not exceptionally large" that the residents found outside their houses.

"These are very powerful devices," he said, declining to be specific. "There's a certain level of skill required to move a device like this."
See also: FBI, police investigate deadly explosion in Austin, Texas - 2nd linked occurrence this month

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Sherlock

Vanessa Beeley chronicles the violent reality of Western propaganda construct White Helmets

Kit Klarenberg
Sputnik
Tue, 13 Mar 2018 16:02 UTC
white helmets
Despite the virtually impenetrable fog of war that has hung over Syria ever since 2011, Western media and politicians alike have have apparently been able to identify one group of 'good guys' in the conflict with unanimous precision.

Formed in 2013, the White Helmets are universally presented in the mainstream as a band of humanitarian volunteer rescue workers - including current and former teachers, engineers, doctors and firefighters - working primarily to rescue people from rubble created by bombing raids and offer medical help to injured civilians. They are alleged to have saved thousands of lives in the process, have been nominated twice for a Nobel peace prize, and in 2016 was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary.

This benevolent picture of the White Helmets is, however, not one independent researchers who've actually travelled to Syria - much less civilians in areas the group operates - remotely recognize.
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Gear

Steel tariffs breath new life into Illinois industrial town

Andrew Tangel
The Wall Street Journal
Tue, 13 Mar 2018 16:00 UTC
U.S. Steel office
© WHITNEY CURTIS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNALThe Tri-Cities Labor Temple and U.S. Steel’s office in Granite City, Ill., face each other on State Street.
Ever since the layoffs a few years ago, many residents here had wondered when the local steel plant would again fire up its furnaces-or close forever.

Not only were hundreds of steelworkers left jobless when United States Steel Corp. X -5.51% scaled down its operations in Granite City, Ill., in 2015, but lunch deliveries to the plant vanished for a local diner while a shoe store's work-boot sales plummeted. At least 26 businesses closed within a year, according to an area chamber of commerce.

"We were in a deep state of depression here, and not sure if it would ever open again," said Mayor Ed Hagnauer, who was first elected in 2005.
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Quenelle

Assange slams UK government: "Hypocritical motherf*ckers... remember how I exposed your secret deal with the Saudis"

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sat, 10 Mar 2018 15:53 UTC
assange
© Peter Nicholls / Reuters
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange lashed out at the UK government over Twitter on Friday after Britain's official UN account (UK Mission to the United Nations) tweeted "A free and independent media fulfils a vital role in holding the powerful to account and giving a voice to the powerless," with a link to a puff piece waxing eloquent over the UK's commitment to free speech.

Assange - apparently not included in the UK's definition of "free and independent media" (facing arrest and detention should he leave the Embassy), fired off a stunning reply - claiming that the UK's has spent roughly twice as much spying on him as it has on their entire international human rights program.

Comment: Kudos to Assange for hammering away on the truth.

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Laptop

Porn age-verification laws delayed by UK government amid row over enforcement


RT
Mon, 12 Mar 2018 15:51 UTC
young boy computer
© kati / Global Look Press
Here's some great news for teen boys and privacy campaigners everywhere: Plans to introduce age checks for pornography websites have been delayed by the UK government amid a row over how they would be enforced.

All pornography sites had been expected to introduce age-verification measures by April. Now, the policy will not be enforced until later in the year to allow more time to "get the implementation of the policy right." The delay will allow the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) regulator time to launch a public consultation on its draft guidance this month.

The BBFC was only formally designated as the age-verification regulator in February - even though the BBFC was invited to take on the role, and agreed to become the age-verification regulator in November 2016.
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Star of David

Ultra-Orthodox Jews clash with Israeli police over military draft (VIDEOS)


RT
Tue, 13 Mar 2018 15:39 UTC
ultra orthodox jews protest draft
© Ahmad Gharabli / Agence France-PresseBnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, March 12, 2018.
Hundreds of Ultra-Orthodox Jews have blocked roads and clashed with police in Israel, protesting military drafts. Footage shows protesters being dragged away by law enforcement.

The latest violent encounter between the members of Ultra-Orthodox community and law enforcement happened in the center of Bnei Brak city, several kilometers east of Tel Aviv, on Monday evening, Israeli media reported. Demonstrators blocked the city's main road and a nearby highway, leading to scuffles with police.

"We'd rather die and not enlist, we'll happily go to jail," the demonstrators were heard shouting. The banners held by young ultra-Orthodox said: "Stop the oppression of the religious minority in Israel." The rally followed a similar protest on Thursday when the demonstrators gathered against the arrest of a young man, a member of the radical Jerusalem Faction.
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Sheriff

Florida 'Officer of the Year' arrested after neglected toddler, arsenal, cocaine, and dog feces found in home

Rachel Blevins
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 13 Mar 2018 15:41 UTC
Deputy Nick Worthy
The same police officer who was awarded for his exceptional conduct on the job, was recently arrested on a number charges including child neglect and drug possession after neighbors reported hearing gunshots from his house.

Nicholas Worthy was named the top sheriff's deputy in Brevard County in 2015, and he was named "Law Enforcement Officer of the Year" by the Florida Sheriffs Association in 2016. He was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal with a V for valor in combat in 2010 after he served in Afghanistan as an Army Ranger.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Worthy's most recent accolades stemmed from incidents in 2015 when he was one of three deputies who saved the victim of an arson attempt, and when he was shot at by a suspect and managed to return fire after his gun malfunctioned.

"I could not be more proud of Deputy Nick Worthy for everything he does to protect our community and his heroic life-saving actions. He is a shining example of dedication to protecting our citizens with compassion, professionalism, and courage," Sheriff Wayne Ivey said at the time.
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Bullseye

Fmr MI5 agent Annie Michon dismisses May's claim that Kremlin was behind Skripal poisoning


RT
Tue, 13 Mar 2018 15:44 UTC
Annie Machon
Ex-MI5 agent Annie Machon
Ex-MI5 agent Annie Machon has dismissed the PM's claims that the origin of the nerve agent used to attack former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal is indicative of an attack from the Kremlin. She explained why to RT'S BIll Dodd.

The former MI5 intelligence officer ignored calls from politicians to boycott the TV network in the midst of the Skripal scandal, sitting down with RT to discuss the latest in the Salisbury case. While many pointed the finger at Moscow after it was alleged that the weapon was a military-grade agent developed in Russia, Machon raised a question that many seem to have forgotten to ask: Where's the motive?

"From the very start of this story... they need to work out what the motive was," she said. "Skripal was a guy who had been caught by the Russians. He'd been tried and convicted, sent to prison, and then released and pardoned by the Russians, and sent back to the UK.
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