Society's ChildS


Star of David

Israel: New rules - shoot protesters while they rest

Maureen Clare Murphy
The Electronic Intifada
Fri, 28 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
Israeli snipers
© Cpl. Eden Briand, IDF Spokesperson's UnitIsraeli snipers
Shooting "key instigators" during unarmed protests in Gaza when they're resting. Opening fire on teenagers attempting to make their way to pray in Jerusalem when they pose no danger. This is the routine, unjustified and criminal use of live fire against Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces.

An Israeli military document states that snipers are permitted to shoot Palestinians who it determines to be "key instigators" or "key rioters" during Great March of Return protests in Gaza. The military defines "key instigators" as individuals who "direct or order activities" during the protest, such as "tactical placement" and setting tires on fire. "Key rioters" are defined as those whose behavior "provide the conditions for which mass breach or infiltration" into Israel from Gaza may occur.

The Israeli military document claims that snipers are permitted to "shoot a key instigator" as he "temporarily moves away from the crowd or rests before continuing his activity." The document presents such actions as an example of "restraint" and suggests that such precautions reduce the risk of "hitting someone else."
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Bullseye

Flashback Australian court rules marine scientist's sacking by James Cook University over climate change research critique is 'unlawful'

Talissa Siganto and Tim Swanston
ABC News
Tue, 16 Apr 2019 18:38 UTC
Peter ridd james cook university climate change
© Peter Ridd/FacebookProfessor Peter Ridd was dismissed by JCU last year after receiving several warnings.
A marine scientist was unlawfully sacked by James Cook University (JCU) in north Queensland for criticising his colleagues' research on the impacts of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef, the Federal Circuit Court of Australia has ruled.

Peter Ridd was dismissed by James Cook University (JCU) last year after being issued with a number of warnings for comments he made about a lead coral researcher and for telling Sky TV that organisations like the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) could "no longer be trusted".

Court documents said Dr Ridd described his colleague in an email as "not having any clue about the weather", and that he "will give the normal doom science about the Great Barrier Reef".

Dr Ridd said in another email that JCU, along with other universities, were "Orwellian in nature".

Comment: From earlier reporting on Professor Ridd in 2018:
JCU argues the sacking of Peter Ridd had nothing to do with his questioning of the science of climate change or the decline of the Great Barrier Reef, but rather the manner in which he made his arguments.

"Peter has always been allowed to conduct himself in relation to what our expectations of academic freedom are, it's the fact that he has broken the code of conduct on many occasions," said Professor Gordon.

Peter Ridd received an official warning in 2016 for critical comments he made about a colleague in an email he sent to a journalist.

But he was charged with the sackable offence of "serious misconduct" last August, after he told Sky TV that "scientific organisations like the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the ARC Centre for Coral Reef Studies can no longer be trusted".

Peter Ridd still stands by his statement.

"There's no doubt that what I said was a robust thing, and it would have upset people - I don't dispute that - but the thing is, if you say something important it's likely to upset people," he told 7.30.


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House

Priorities: Swedish youths facing housing shortage - migrants given preference instead

Chris Tomlinson
Breitbart
Sat, 29 Jun 2019 17:44 UTC
swedish refugees
© David Ramos/Getty Images
A survey from the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building, and Planning has shown that while young people are struggling to find homes, half of the local governments give new migrants priority.

The survey, which saw data gathered from 290 Swedish municipalities, highlighted the fact that young Swedes are having an increasingly difficult time finding housing with 230 saying they had a shortage for young people, Nyheter Idag reports.

Fewer municipalities, 221, said they had a shortage of housing for new migrants, and 135 said they had given preference to new migrants for housing, compared to just 12 who said they had given young people priority for homes in their areas.

The National Board of Housing, Building, and Planning wrote that the figures were "alarmingly high, and they show a very strained situation for young people in the housing market".

One municipality defended the move to prioritise new migrants, saying, "It would be desirable for the newly arrived to get leases first, so that they don't have to move around" and claiming that it would also aid in integration.
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Airplane

Prosecutors expand Boeing probe to 787 Dreamliner amid concerns of shoddy workmanship and cost cutting throughout the company


RT
Sat, 29 Jun 2019 15:41 UTC
boeing dreamliner
Federal prosecutors are expanding their Boeing probe, investigating charges the 787 Dreamliner's manufacture was plagued with the same incompetence that dogged the doomed 737 MAX and resulted in hundreds of deaths.

The US Department of Justice has requested records related to 787 Dreamliner production at Boeing's South Carolina plant, where two sources who spoke to the Seattle Times said there have been allegations of "shoddy work." A third source confirmed individual employees at the Charleston plant had received subpoenas earlier this month from the "same group" of prosecutors conducting the ongoing probe into the 737 MAX.

Boeing is in the hot seat over alleged poor quality workmanship and cutting corners at the South Carolina plant. Prosecutors are likely concerned with whether "broad cultural problems" pervade the entire company, including pressure to OK shoddy work in order to deliver planes on time, one source told the Seattle Times. The South Carolina plant manufactured 45 percent of Boeing's 787s last year, but its supersize -10 model is built exclusively there.

Comment: See also:

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Candle

9/11 first responder Luis Alvarez dies from Ground Zero-related cancer


RT
Sat, 29 Jun 2019 16:21 UTC
9/11 responder Luis Alvarez
© Zach Gibson/Getty9/11 responder Luis Alvarez testifies during a House Judiciary Committee, June 11, 2019
Luis Alvarez, a former New York Police Department detective, has died of cancer caused by exposure to toxic air at Ground Zero. Alvarez campaigned to extend compensation for thousands suffering from 9/11 related health issues.

Alvarez had spoken at a congressional hearing to extend the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund (VCF) and its funding just weeks before he died. Many paid tribute to the 53-year-old former detective on social media, thanking him for his bravery and work to extend the fund, which covers medical costs of 9/11 first responders and volunteers.

Thousands of first responders and others who rushed to help save people in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks were exposed to a "witches brew" toxic dust of hazardous materials, including asbestos, lead, and concrete particles released from the falling buildings.

Emergency workers spent weeks sorting through the rubble and were told by New York and federal officials that it was safe. This was not the case and, as of March 2019, there have been 2,335 deaths attributed to 9/11 related illnesses, almost as many as the 2,996 people who died in the attacks.

The World Trade Center Health Program reports over 95,000 people suffering from health problems related to 9/11, with up to 900 new cases being identified each month, 18 years after the attacks took place.

Comment: See also: Jon Stewart lashes out at near-empty congress hearing on healthcare for 9/11 first responders: "You should be ashamed of yourselves" - UPDATE

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Heart - Black

Women beaten, shaved & paraded as 'punishment' for resisting rape gang in Indian village


RT
Sat, 29 Jun 2019 16:46 UTC
indian women beaten
© ANI
Two women were beaten and had their heads shaved as retribution for reportedly resisting an attempted rape by a government official and his friends in Bihar, India. They were then paraded through the village by their attackers.

Seven men barged into the house of a 48-year-old woman and her 19-year-old daughter in Bhagwanpur, in the Vaishali district of Bihar, and allegedly tried to rape the teenager, the Hindustan Times reports.

"Around 6.30 pm, half a dozen armed men forcibly entered my house and attempted to rape me. When my mother tried to save me, they started beating us," the young woman told police.
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Airplane

Boeing outsourced its 737 MAX software to $9-per-hour engineers to cut costs

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 28 Jun 2019 16:36 UTC
boeing
The software at the heart of the Boeing 737 MAX crisis was developed at a time when the company was laying off experienced engineers and replacing them with temporary workers making as little as $9 per hour,according to Bloomberg.

In an effort to cut costs, Boeing was relying on subcontractors making paltry wages to develop and test its software. Often times, these subcontractors would be from countries lacking a deep background in aerospace, like India.

Boeing had recent college graduates working for Indian software developer HCL Technologies Ltd. in a building across from Seattle's Boeing Field, in flight test groups supporting the MAX. The coders from HCL designed to specifications set by Boeing but, according to Mark Rabin, a former Boeing software engineer, "it was controversial because it was far less efficient than Boeing engineers just writing the code."

Rabin said: "...it took many rounds going back and forth because the code was not done correctly."
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Dominoes

Dubai's Princess Haya reportedly ditches billionaire ruler, flees with £31 million


PressTV
Sat, 29 Jun 2019 16:25 UTC
Princess Haya Al Hussein
© PressTVDubai's billionaire ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (L) and his wife Princess Haya Al Hussein
The wife of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has reportedly fled the Persian Gulf kingdom to London with £31 million (over $39 million) following the break-up of their marriage.

Princess Haya Al Hussein, who is the half-sister of Jordan's King Abdullah II, is said to be seeking a divorce after initially fleeing to Germany, where she sought political asylum, British tabloid newspaper the Daily Mail reported.

A German diplomat apparently helped the princess, 45, escape from Dubai. There are reports that she has also taken her son Zayed, 7, and daughter Al Jalila, 11, with her.

It is claimed that German authorities have refused a request from the wealthy ruler of Dubai, who is also the vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, to return his wife, sparking a diplomatic crisis between Germany and the UAE.
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X

No more crocs, bears or lions as pets in Russia


RT
Fri, 28 Jun 2019 15:22 UTC
Animals
© Reuters / Sergio Moraes / Carlos Jasso / Muhammad Hamed
Crocodiles, bears, lions, apes, cobras and scorpions, as well as other large predators and poisonous creatures, are now the subject of a ban from being kept as pets in Russia, to safeguard the health of both 'owner' and animal.

Such beasts pose dangers to people, while apartments or country houses differ greatly from the natural habitats of the animals, a difference that "may affect their health negatively, even causing death," a new act, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday, reads.

Large predators such as bears, wolves, lions, tigers, lynxes and others are among the species to benefit from the new protections. The ban also includes crocodiles and carnivore turtles, Komodo Dragons, bearded lizards and other reptiles. Also set to get a new lease on life are snakes such as cobras and pythons, as well as many poisonous arachnids, including scorpions and tarantulas.

Aquarium lovers should forget about putting sharks or manta rays in their household fish tanks from now on, with coral polyps also outlawed in the home. Penguins, pelicans, owls, falcons and some species of ostriches have been added to the list of birds banned from homesteads.
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Palette

Germany to return painting stolen by Nazis to Italy


ABC News
Sat, 29 Jun 2019 05:01 UTC
Painting
Germany says it will return to Italy a painting by Dutch artist Jan van Huysum that was stolen by Nazi troops during World War II.

The government said in a statement Saturday that Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and his Italian counterpart Enzo Moavero will travel to Florence soon to hand the still-life "Vase of Flowers" back to the Uffizi Gallery.
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