Society's ChildS


Bulb

Petition calls for Obama to be tried for war crimes at The Hague

obama
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
A petition accusing Barack Obama of war crimes and demanding he be prosecuted has been published on the White House website. It has already gained about 4,000 signatures.

"We demand conviction of a war criminal Barack Obama and trial in the International Criminal Court in [The] Hague. He is guilty of crimes not only against the USA citizens, but against the whole world," the petition states.

The authors also note that "one of the most dreadful prisons in history - Guantanamo - continues to function."

The US added to the de-stabilization of the situation in the Middle East, too, the petition's authors state.

Comment: Everyone should sign and share this petition!


V

Assange: A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for endless, stupid war

clinton assange photo
© ReutersDemocratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (L) and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has spoken out against US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, calling her a "war hawk with bad judgment" who gets an "emotional rush out of killing people."

"A vote today for Hillary Clinton is a vote for endless, stupid war," Assange wrote via the @wikileaks Twitter account on Tuesday.

He added that he has "years of experience in dealing with Hillary Clinton and have read thousands of her cables. Hillary lacks judgment and will push the United States into endless wars which spread terrorism."

Assange also highlighted Clinton's "poor policy decisions," which he said have "directly contributed" to the rise of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Stating that Clinton went above the heads of Pentagon generals when it came to Libya, he wrote: "Libya has been destroyed. It became a haven for ISIS. The Libyan national armory was looted and hundreds of tons of weapons were transferred to jihadists in Syria."

Family

Political correctness gone insane: College prof declares words 'mom' and 'dad' not inclusive enough

no mom or dad
Word by word, the language is being picked apart by the politically correct police on the most ridiculous grounds possible. Pretty soon we aren't going to be able to use very many words anymore... not unless we want to (GASP!) offend someone.

In a world where governments are blowing up children with drones and calling them collateral damage in phony terror wars on a daily basis, social engineering has turned average people into walking arguments that the film Idiocracy was actually a documentary, busily wasting their time fretting over how offensive otherwise innocuous words are.

Human beings are mammals. A female mammal who has children has traditionally been called a "mother" or "mom," to separate this mammal linguistically from the male version, who has traditionally been called a "dad" or "father".

Comment: This PC madness has gone too far. Controlling language is a way to control thoughts. What is it that the elites want us to think about familial and intimate relations with others? Sterility, detachment and distance come to mind.

For more on the PC madness see the following article: Transabled? Really?


Sheriff

Movies highlight the disturbing evolution of SWAT teams in America

sheriff swat team
When most people try to make a point about how aggressive and militaristic our cops have become, they typically draw upon pop culture references, such as the Andy Griffith Show. They'll say "Whatever happened Mayberry? Whatever happened to that polite sheriff and his goofy deputy?" It's one of the most effective ways to express how creepy our police have become over the years, because it's so much easier for the average person to digest a pop culture analogy. And since movies and TV shows draw upon real life to give their stories some semblance of accuracy, these analogies can still inform us about what has transpired in the real world.

However, it isn't just beat cops and small town sheriffs that have changed over the years. Our SWAT teams have also seen an alarming evolution since they first started showing up in our major cities in the 60's and 70's. Arguably, the idea of a SWAT team was initially a good idea. It wasn't uncommon in metropolitan areas, for there to be crimes that required a heavily armed police response.

Passport

Nowhere to turn: North African states refuse to take back EU asylum seekers

african migrants
© AFP 2016 / Alfonso Di Vincenzo
North African states receive hundreds of millions of euro from Western countries for humanitarian aid, but refuse to take their nationals back, who left their countries amid poverty and violence.

According to German newspaper Bild, about 6,400 Moroccans, Algerians and Tunisians who actually should have been in their home countries a long time ago are still living in Germany as their countries refuse to take them back.

North African states turn a deaf ear when it comes to accepting their nationals and refuse to issue them documents despite the fact that they are obliged to do so. At the same time, these countries receive huge amounts of money as humanitarian aid from the West and Germany, in particular.

According to Bild, there were 900 illegal immigrants from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia living in Germany in January 2015. In December 2015, this number reached 26,000.

Attention

Banned: US corn and soybeans fail to meet Russian biological standards

corn
© Jim Young / Reuters
Starting February 15, corn and soybeans from the US will no longer be welcome in Russia, announced the country's food and safety watchdog Wednesday. Rosselkhoznadzor says American producers have failed to meet Russian biological standards.

"Since the products shipped from the United States pose a real threat to Russia, and the US guarantees are not valid, we reserve the right to introduce temporary restrictions on imports of US corn and soybeans," said Rosselkhoznadzor spokesman Aleksey Alekseenko.

The watchdog has found dry rot in corn and numerous weed seeds in soybeans, he added.

Comment: Once again, Russia proves that she is not willing to compromise the health and safety of the population. Western nations should take note!


Arrow Down

British government admits returning thousands of children to war-torn countries

refugee
© Darrin Zammit Lupi / Reuters
Britain has returned more than 2,700 young asylum seekers to war-torn countries in the Middle East over the past nine years - double the number originally claimed by the government.

Although most of the young people were sent back to Afghanistan, hundreds were returned to Iraq, Iran, Libya and Syria, Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said this week. The revised figures released by the Home Office reveal 60 teenagers have been deported to Iraq since 2014, the year Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) took control of large parts of the country.

The revelations come in response to questions from Labour MP Louise Haigh and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). Brokenshire was forced to issue a correction to figures released by the Home Office last fall that underestimated the scale of the deportations by 250 percent.

Comment: Sending children back to face the horrific conditions that have largely been created by the West is beyond heartless. With the astounding number of refugee children going missing, it is clear that nothing is being done to track their whereabouts, making them targets for those who prey on the innocent and vulnerable.


Nuke

The crisis in Flint is about more than water

Flint Water Plant
© ehrlif / Shutterstock The Flint Water Plant tower in Michigan.
What is in the mind of someone who knowingly poisons children and impairs their lives? Why did the politicians, regulators and bureaucrats who knew the water in Flint, Mich.,was toxic lie about the danger for months? What does it say about a society that is ruled by, and refuses to punish, those who willfully destroy the lives of children?

The crisis in Flint is far more ominous than lead-contaminated water. It is symptomatic of the collapse of our democracy. Corporate power is not held accountable for its crimes. Everything is up for sale, including children. Our regulatory agencies—including the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality—have been defunded, emasculated and handed over to corporate-friendly stooges. Our corrupt courts are part of a mirage of justice. The role of these government agencies and courts, and of the legislatures, is to sanction abuse rather than halt it.

The primacy of profit throughout the society takes precedence over life itself, including the life of the most vulnerable. This corporate system of power knows no limits. It has no internal restraints. It will sacrifice all of us, including our children, on the altar of corporate greed. In a functioning judicial system, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Flint's former emergency manager, Darnell Earley, along with all the regulatory officials who lied as a city was being sickened, would be in jail facing trial.

Stormtrooper

Austin police gun down naked black teen for 'disobeying' — and then refuse to say if he was armed

police officer
© Shutterstock
Police in Austin, Texas have declined to say whether a naked black teen who was fatally shot by officers on Monday had been armed at the time.

The Austin Police Department confirmed on Monday that an 18-year-old man who was not wearing clothes was shot by officers, and then later died in a local hospital, the Austin Statesman reported.

Austin police Chief of Staff Brian Manley told reporters at a press conference that the incident occurred when officers were responding to reports of a suspicious black man. Manley said that an officer opened fire after the man disobeyed commands and then charged at him.

According to the department, the shooting occurred out of the view of the police cruiser's dashboard camera. There was no evidence that officers deployed Tasers before shooting the suspect, the department confirmed.

Manley refused to say whether the suspect was carrying a weapon when he was shot. The department also has not named the suspect or the officers involved in the shooting. However, he said that the officer who pulled the trigger had been placed on administrative leave, which is department protocol after officer involved shootings.

Attention

Largest electric company in US fined $6.6m for massive spill of toxic coal ash waste

Duke Energy
© Chris Keane / ReutersThe Duke Energy coal-fired power plant is seen from the Dan River in Eden, North Carolina.
Environmental regulators in North Carolina have fined Duke Energy $6.6 million for its massive spill of toxic coal ash waste into the Dan River in February 2014. The incident was one of the largest coal ash spills in US history.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality announced Tuesday that the fine only applies to violations that Duke Energy pleaded guilty to in federal criminal court in May 2015, which resulted in $102 million in federal fines pursuant to nine criminal violations of the Clean Water Act. The state regulatory body said it "reserves the right" to levy additional fines for "other violations associated with the spill."

Comment: See also: America's multi-billion ton toxic legacy: Coal ash