Society's ChildS


Fireball

Artificial meteor shower planned for the opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo


The Journal, Ireland
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 07:49 UTC
2020 Olympics Logo
© Eugene Hoshiko/AP/Press Association ImagesJapan won't host the Games for another four years but planning is well under way.
A man-made meteor shower as the center-piece of the opening ceremony is just one of the ways Tokyo is gearing up to produce the most high-tech Olympic Games to date in 2020.

According to the people at Futurism the budget for the Games is likely to come in at close to $18 billion with the event itself driving a host of new tech builds including automated taxis and that artificial meteor shower.

It will be provided by a Japanese astronomy start-up called Ale who plan to release a micro-satellite into space that will shoot out thousands of little spheres that will burn up and glow on on re-entry like a real meteorite shower.

Another innovation for 2020 is a plan by Panasonic to work on an instant translation device.

While there are 206 countries sending athletes to the Games, the device — which they hope can be worn around the next — will translate Japanese into 10 of the most widely spoken languages.

The same company is also planning an app that allows visitors to scan Japanese signs and translate them instantly.

It's not unusual for Japan to use the Olympics to showcase tech developments.

During the 1964 Games in Tokyo, they introduced the Shinkansen Bullet Trains. By 2020, the next-generation will have a top speed of 600 kph, just a bit faster than Usain Bolt.

Read the other innovations they have planned here.
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Stock Down

Americans spend more on taxes than food, clothing and housing - combined


Sputnik
Sat, 09 Apr 2016 03:24 UTC
taxes
The annual report from The Tax Foundation, an advocacy group, has found that Americans spend more on taxes than they do on their food, clothing and housing -- combined.

According to their findings, Americans will pay $3.3 trillion in federal taxes and $1.6 trillion in state and local taxes, totalling nearly $5.0 trillion, or approximately 31% of the nation's income.

"This year, Americans will work the longest to pay federal, state, and local individual income taxes (46 days). Payroll taxes will take 26 days to pay, followed by sales and excise taxes (15 days), corporate income taxes (nine days), and property taxes (11 days). The remaining seven days are spent paying estate and inheritance taxes, customs duties, and other taxes," the report stated.

Tax Freedom Day is when the nation has collectively earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year. This year, Tax Freedom Day falls on April 24th, or 114 days into the year (excluding Leap Day, which is earlier than last year). The Tax Foundation reports that this is due to slightly lower projected federal tax collections, expressed as a share of the U.S. economy.

Comment: Further reading: 'Taxation is theft' meme goes viral

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Camera

Russian photographer captured images and stories of people who decided to escape from social life and live alone in wild nature


Return to Now
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 18:53 UTC
hermit
A Russian photographer has captured the images and stories of people who find a life of isolation in the wilderness preferable to the madness of society. The story of his work is making its way around the internet again this month.
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Fire

Large fire breaks out at LyondellBasell refinery in southeast Houston, officials issue shelter in place order for area

Dale Lezon
Chron.com
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 20:16 UTC
chemical fire refinery Houston
© Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle Large chemical fire in the 1200 block of Lawndale Friday, April 8, 2016, in Houston.
A large fire broke out Friday morning at a LyondellBasell refinery in southeast Houston, sparking a shelter in place order for much of the area.

The blaze started at about 10 a.m. at Houston Refining in a coker unit that's part of the refining process, said LyondellBasell spokesman Scott Buchman. The facility is located at at 12000 Lawndale near N. Allen Genoa.

The fire was declared under control and tapped out at noon, according to the Houston Fire Department.

There were no known injuries, Buchman said. HFD officials said all employees were accounted for.

No toxins were detected in air safety tests, Buchman said.

Houston Fire Department officials said a cleaning fluid and heavy fuel were burning. It's is not known what sparked the blaze, but the company has begun an investigation into the cause.
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House

Home reduced to rubble after gas explosion in Birmingham, UK

Annie Gouk
The Guardian, UK
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 11:53 UTC
Ladywood house explosion
© West Midlands Fire Service/PA
A man has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries and three people have been left homeless after a gas explosion in a house in Birmingham.

The West Midlands fire service was called to the two-storey house in Wiggin Street, Ladywood, at about 12.20pm on Wednesday for what was initially reported as a house fire. When they arrived at the home it had been almost completely demolished, in what was later confirmed as a gas explosion.

Police on the scene reported that the roof of the house had been blown up and the rest of the house was "basically rubble". Neighbouring properties were also badly damaged in the blast.

Two casualties were confirmed by the West Midlands ambulance service. One man, who was believed to be in the property at the time of the explosion, made his own way to Birmingham City hospital, where he was treated for serious burn injuries.

The extent of his burns were so serious he was taken by ambulance to the major trauma centre at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Selly Oak, where he was being treated by specialists.

A woman who was also believed to be in the property when the incident occurred managed to escape from the wreckage and was attended at the scene by ambulance staff. She was discharged without serious injury.

Three houses were affected by the blast, and three people have been left homeless and in need of emergency accommodation.
Ladywood house explosion
© West Midlands Fire Service/PA
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Stormtrooper

Two lawsuits filed against US government for terror watchlist, citing "bigoted and misguided" process


RT
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 20:51 UTC
muslim praying
© Andrew Burton / Reuters
A seven-month-old baby is among 15 American Muslims named in two lawsuits being brought against the US government by the Council of American-Islamic Relations for placing the plaintiffs on the so-called terror watch list without due process.

"The terrorism watch lists are premised on the false notion that the government can somehow accurately predict whether an innocent American citizen will commit a crime in the future based on religious affiliation or First Amendment activities," said Lena Masri, legal director for the Council of American-Islamic Relations, Michigan, in a statement released on Tuesday.

"Our lawsuits challenge the wrongful designation of thousands upon thousands of American Muslims as known or suspected terrorists without due process," she added.

The complaint, filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, on behalf of 18 plaintiffs, argues that the secret federal watch list consolidated on the government's Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), includes the names of American citizens "based on mere guesses, hunches, and conjecture, and even simply based on matters of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion," and violates their constitutional rights.
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V

Protesters continue to demand UK PM David Cameron close tax loopholes or resign


RT
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 20:30 UTC
uk protests
© Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
With echoes of the movement that toppled Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, UK PM David Cameron must make tax avoidance impossible under British law or resign from office, activists are demanding.

A protest outside 10 Downing Street is scheduled for Saturday, along with a spate of smaller regional demonstrations across the country.

This comes after Cameron admitted on Thursday night to having held shares in his late-father's offshore investment fund, Blairmore Holdings, which avoided paying tax in the UK. He claims to have sold them for about £30,000 (US$42,000) before taking office in 2010.

Organizers say the Panama Papers leak has exposed the PM's hypocritical attitude to tax avoidance: promising to clamp down on offenders while simultaneously benefiting from their existence.

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Light Saber

Better than the lamestream media: Vote for RT in the Webby Awards


RT
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 20:07 UTC
Webby Awards
The RT Social Media Team has been nominated for the channel's first-ever Webby Award, where it will compete against the world's biggest media outlets in the News & Information category.

"These are the Oscars of the web media world, and we are competing in a very prestigious category," said RT's Head of Online Projects Kirill Karnovich-Valua.

"We want to thank every member of RT's social media community. We value your support and this nomination wouldn't have happened without our fans and followers. We share this nomination with all of you."

RT will go head-to-head against BBC News, the New York Times, NBC News & Nightly News, and ABC News, before the Webbys are handed out in New York on May 16, during what will be the 20th anniversary edition of the internet's most established awards ceremony.

Comment: To vote for RT, sign up here then go to 'Social News and Information' where RT is listed. Show the mainstream that people are more interested in media that provides an objective view of the world than media that just repeats what the government says.

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Sheriff

Baltimore school cop who slapped and kicked student dodges felony child abuse charges


RT
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 18:36 UTC
cop kicks student
© Hezakya Mixologist / YouTube
A Baltimore school police officer who was caught on a viral video slapping and kicking a teenager has avoided felony child abuse charges. The officer and his partner, who observed the abuse, now face lesser charges of assault and misconduct in office.

The Baltimore state's attorney's office dropped the second-degree child abuse charges against officer Anthony C. Spence, because they were not found to be "appropriate."

"After obtaining all the facts and analyzing them based on Maryland case law, Pope v. State, as well as the applicable criminal statute, we have determined the defendants in these cases did not have temporary care or custody of the victim, therefore the child abuse charges are not appropriate," spokeswoman Rochelle Ritchie said in a statement.

Spence, 44, has been under investigation since early March, when a video posted on Facebook showed him slapping a 16-year-old across the face three times before kicking him outside the REACH Partnership School in Clifton Park.

Spence's partner, Saverna Bias, 53, was seen standing nearby, reportedly encouraging Spence to "smack him because he has too much mouth."

Comment: Even if this student did spit on the officer, which is highly doubtful, that is no excuse for this officer to slap and kick the student who was clearly no threat to him. What a pathetic attempt to blame the victim for this blatant and vile abuse of power.

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Snakes in Suits

Oppositional defiant disorder: Non-conformity and anti-authoritarianism now considered a mental illness

Carolanne Wright
Wake Up World
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 18:22 UTC
empty suits
The Brave New World of "Mental Health Disorders"

If Albert Einstein was a youth today, there's a good chance he would be saddled with an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis, possibly even Opposition Defiant Disorder (ODD) as well. He ignored his teachers, failed college entrance examinations several times and was hard-pressed in holding down a job.

In 'Einstein: The Life and Times', biographer Ronald Clark argues that Einstein's problem wasn't attention deficits at all, but rather a hatred of authoritarian, Prussian influences in school. "The teachers in the elementary school appeared to me like sergeants and in the gymnasium the teachers were like lieutenants," Einstein once remarked. The fact that he read Kant's difficult Critique of Pure Reason for pleasure is quite revealing. He also refused to prepare for college admissions out of rebellion to his father's "unbearable" path of "practical profession." When he did gain entrance to college, one of his professors chided Einstein, "You have one fault; one can't tell you anything." The very characteristics that troubled authorities, were exactly the ones which helped him to excel.

Considering Einstein's life history, it makes one wonder about the rampant use of ADHD and ODD diagnosis that are plaguing our children and teenagers today. According to the statistical research by Russell Barkley, Ph.D., on average for every 30 children, 1-3 have ADHD. Of these children, 65% have issues with defiance, non-compliance and problems with authority figures, which can manifest as verbal hostility and temper tantrums. It's estimated that between 1-16% of all American children have ODD. The real question, however, is not how many diagnosis there have been, but rather should we be looking at ADHD and ODD as a mental illness in the first place?

Comment: The current state of Western society is such that we are being raised to be obedient, unquestioning wage slaves who do what we're told and don't talk back. Now psychiatrists are trained to label anyone who doesn't do that as having a mental disorder. But what seems obvious is that Western society has a mental disorder, and only a vast rearranging of the system as a whole is going to cure it.

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