Society's ChildS

Sherlock

Italy ramps up search for mafia kingpin after arrests of his family members

Rosario Allegra arrest
© AFP Photo/ALESSANDRO FUCARINICosa Nostra kingpin Matteo Messina Denaro's brother-in-law, Rosario Allegra, was arrested Thursday.
Italian police arrested the closest aides of Cosa Nostra kingpin Matteo Messina Denaro on Thursday, clamping down on a tightknit, family-run clan which has kept the mobster safely hidden over a quarter of a century on the run.

Twenty-one people were arrested in towns near the Sicilian city of Trapani where Denaro's criminal empire is based, as part of the "Year Zero" police investigation that allowed authorities to uncover a system of paper notes, or "pizzini", that Denaro uses to give orders to his most faithful associates.

Those include brothers-in-law Gaspare Como and Rosario Allegra, both in custody, who allegedly manage their boss's most important affairs.

"The Trapani Mafia is (securely) in the hands of fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro and we can say that because its most important members are his own family," said Pasquale Angelosanto, head of the Italian carabinieri's ROS special investigative unit.

Pirates

Saudi strikes kill 20 civilians in Yemen

Yemen
© ููŠุตู„ ู…ุฏู‡ุด / YouTube
At least 20 people have been killed in Yemen, after the Saudi-led coalition reportedly struck a civilian vehicle in Taiz province on Friday.

"At least 20 civilians were killed and others were injured in US-backed Saudi-led aggression airstrikes on Taiz province," a security official told Saba news agency on Friday. Meanwhile, a military source in Sanaa told Sputnik that at least 18 people died after "coalition aircraft launched a series of raids."

While some sources said a warplane targeted a single car carrying civilians with several airstrikes, a local medical official told Xinhua, that "two vehicles were destroyed by the Saudi-led airstrikes."

WARNING! GRAPHIC VIDEO!


Attention

Opioids will kill over 100 Americans on National Weed Day, while the cannabis that could save them remains illegal

opioids cannabis
© thefreethoughtproject.com
Every day, more than 100 Americans die in the United States from opioid overdoses, and while this epidemic has become increasingly devastating in recent years, a natural plant that has been shown to combat opioid addiction is still deemed "illegal" by the federal government.

According to research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, as of March 2018, "more than 115 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids." These overdoses can be attributed to prescription pain medications, which are prescribed like candy with little warning about how dangerously addictive they are; heroin, which many addicts turn to when they lose access to prescription opioids; and fentanyl, which has become increasingly popular despite its deadly track record.

The rise of the opioid epidemic at home has coincided with the United States' control of poppy production worldwide. Before the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001, there were around 189,000 heroin users in the United States. By 2016, that number had increased dramatically to 4.5 million users. The longest war in the nation's history has resulted in the U.S. controlling 90 percent of the world's opium supply.

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Smoking

Bill banning smoking in cars fails in Tennessee Senate

Tenessee car smoking ban
© WKRN
A bill that would have barred adults in Tennessee from smoking in a vehicle with children appears dead for the year after lawmakers voiced concerns that it gave the government too much power over citizen freedoms.

The measure failed to clear the Senate Wednesday.

The bill was sponsored by Knoxville Republican Sen. Richard Briggs. It would have made it an offense to smoke in a vehicle with children under the age of 14, regardless of whether the windows in the car were rolled down.

Briggs cited the dangers of smoke to children in a confined space as small as a vehicle. But some lawmakers questioned whether it was too much of an overreach. Sparta Republican Sen. Paul Bailey said lawmakers couldn't legislate the morality of Tennesseans.

Water

China no longer accepting the world's trash

garbage dump site in Jinan, Shandong province, China
© Stringer Shanghai / ReutersA garbage collector looks for recyclable waste at a garbage dump site in Jinan, Shandong province, China.
China, the world's largest importer of waste, has extended the ban on imports of unsorted paper, some plastics, and dozens of other types of recyclable materials.

The blacklist, containing 24 varieties of solid waste, was introduced by the Chinese government in 2017. Beijing said at the time that it no longer wanted to take in other countries' garbage, so it could focus on its own pollution problems.

It's now adding 32 more types of waste to the blacklist, such as steel waste, used auto parts, and old ships.

"The new restrictions, just like the old restrictions, are poorly considered measures that will worsen the global environment and China's competitiveness," Adam Minter, author of Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion Dollar Trash Trade, told CNN Money.

Attention

Illegal immigrant Uber driver raped passenger then fled to native Ghana while out on bail

uber rapist
© Weymouth Police DepartmentFrederick Amdo, an Uber driver from Ghana, was arrested in connection with a rape in Weymouth, Mass. He was released on $10,00 bail and has since fled the county.
An Uber driver charged with raping a passenger earlier this month was able to walk free because officials failed to notify immigration agents about his arrest, authorities said.

Frederick Amfo, 30, an illegal immigrant from Ghana, was arrested after a female passenger said that on April 8 he forced her into the backseat of his car and raped her, police said. Hours after he was released from police custody, he fled to his native Ghana. He was supposed to surrender his passport but did not.

"A loss for words," Emily Murray, the victim who insisted on being identified by the press, told Boston 25. "I was angry, I'm still angry. I'm confused."

Comment: This is outrageous! It's no wonder the victim is livid. The logic behind sanctuary cities and defending illegal immigrant criminals is so skewed it makes one's head spin.

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Megaphone

UK: Teen found guilty of 'sending grossly offensive message by a public communication' for posting rap lyrics to her Instagram account

Chelsea Russell
© ReutersImage caption Russell's profile was updated with the lyrics in 2017
A teenager who posted rap lyrics which included racist language on Instagram has been found guilty of sending a grossly offensive message.

Chelsea Russell, 19, from Liverpool posted the lyric from Snap Dogg's 'I'm Trippin'' to pay tribute to a boy who died in a road crash, a court heard.

Russell argued it was not offensive, but was handed a community order.

Prosecutors said her sentence was increased from a fine to a community order "as it was a hate crime".

Comment: Give us a break! You're going to punish a teen for posting song lyrics on her social media? Is there no better use of the court's time? It is quite likely, given how common the use of the 'grossly offensive' word is in today's popular music, that the girl didn't even think about it as being a racist term (note that it doesn't seem to be considered racist when the rapper himself says it).

For those interested in reading the lyrics themselves, they can be found here (WARNING: Explicit). In all honesty, the gratuitous detailing of wanton violence is much more offensive in the lyrics than a couple of 'N-bombs'. Jordan Peterson was right: Hate speech will be policed by 'last people in the world you would want'. Because they're idiots.

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Bad Guys

Idiot, heartless Chinese tourists kill kangaroo in zoo by throwing bricks and concrete at it to make it hop

dead kangaroo China
© Sina.cnThe kangaroo lies injured after bricks and concrete were thrown at it
Tourists at a zoo in South China pelted a kangaroo with bricks in an attempt to see the animal hop, but the animal was fatally injured, The AFP reported Thursday, citing state television.

The marsupial died after a few days after suffering a ruptured kidney, the report said. A few weeks later, another kangaroo in the enclosure was slightly injured in a similar incident, the report said.

The report said that visitors at the Fuzhou Zoo in Fujian province are known to try and get kangaroos to hop. The zoo reportedly said it will install cameras and stuff the 12-year-old female.

The report showed the kangaroo, with a nearly severed foot, being treated for its injuries.

It is unclear if anyone was charged after the Feb. 28 incident.

NDTV reported that China has few regulations for its zoos and wildlife park, and pointed to a June incident where a donkey was dropped into a tiger pit due to unhappy business investors.

Comment: Previously, a man had been caught throwing rocks at the kangaroos - but notice that this seems to be a regular practice from visitors!




Propaganda

Syrian Army continues to liberate country in face of virulent Western propaganda campaign

Syrian army defense missile
© PressTV/File
After the Syrian army liberated Douma, the next Takfiri held areas near the capital Damascus fell in short order. The Jaish al-Islam militants in Dumayr, north-east of Damascus, gave up without a fight. As usual by now the Takfiris were transferred to the north-western Idleb governorate held by al-Qaeda and other Turkish supported forces. The town of Dumayr controls the Damascus Baghdad highway. Capitulation negotiations in the nearby Eastern Qalamoun are ongoing.

The former Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk is an upbuild suburb south of Damascus. One part is in the hands of al-Qaeda and another was controlled by an Islamic State group. Offers to evacuate the groups were made but rejected. Yesterday the Syrian army launched a massive artillery barrage and the Russian and Syrian air force dropped bombs onto the quarter. Today, just twenty-four hours later, the Takfiris gave up. The al-Qaeda aligned militants will be evacuated to Idleb, the Islamic State aligned group to the eastern Syrian desert.

With each elimination of a 'rebel' pockets Syrian army is gaining strength. Ten-thousands of soldiers who were needed to hold the Takfiri held areas around Damascus surrounded and under control are now free to attack elsewhere. Some of the militants who did not evacuate also joined the government forces.

Comment: Further reading: Syrian Crisis Shows US Empire Losing Hegemony as Western Mainstream Media Losing Grip Over Narrative


Brick Wall

Caravan of 1,500 refugees arrives at US-Mexico border - some asking for asylum

Caravan immigrants refugees US Mexico border
© VICTORIA RAZO / Contributor / Getty Images
Remember that caravan that the mainstream media - and Mexican officials - said was no longer heading to the U.S.-Mexico border?

Yeah, they arrived at the border.

The story of the marching caravan - 1,500 refugees strong - was all over the news for a week, with the MSM breathlessly covering the plight of the poor refugees who surely deserved free entry into the United States. But the story disappeared as outlets reported that the caravan was no longer heading to the border.

Comment: Previously: