Society's Child

Snowden takes issue with Tucker Carlson claiming intelligence agencies have misused their powers 'for the first time'

RT
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 20:14 UTC

Whistleblower Edward Snowden called out Fox News host Tucker Carlson for claiming Americans have grounds to believe intelligence agencies have misused their powers "for the first time."

Carlson tweeted Tuesday: "For the first time in generations Americans have reason to believe that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies gravely misuse the powers we have given them."

While the US government's inclination to spy on its citizens may have come as a surprise to Carlson, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden - who leaked documents showing the agency's mass surveillance of Americans in 2013 - begged to differ.

Tucker's 'revelation' was ignited by a declassified intelligence memo, released Friday which claims the FBI and DOJ secured a warrant to spy on Trump adviser Carter Page using the 'Steele dossier' paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign. The dossier played a key part in the order obtained by the FBI from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The DOJ and FBI objected to the release.

Comment: Snowden is right to point out that what the public is finding out is nothing new:

Vulnerable groups of people make up half of Taser deaths by police in US

RT
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 20:06 UTC

Vulnerable groups of people, including the elderly, pregnant women, and people with heart conditions, make up half of the Taser deaths caused by US police, according to a new investigation by Reuters.

People who could be classified as 'vulnerable' comprise more than half of the 1,028 cases identified by Reuters in which people died after being shocked by Tasers. Out of these, 245 people had a heart condition and 643 people were drunk or high on drugs.

Nearly a third of the US population can be considered a 'vulnerable' group and are at greater risk of death or injury from Taser shocks, the Reuters report found. Stun guns are used by police to immobilize targets by delivering a painful electric shock.

Axon Enterprise Inc, the Arizona-based company which produces Taser guns, warns against using them on "higher risk populations." These people should be targeted "only if the situation justifies an increased risk" of injury or death, the company said.

Senate agrees on two-year budget proposal thwarting possible government shutdown

RT
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 19:58 UTC

Leaders of both parties in the US Senate have agreed on a two-year budget proposal that would remove the threat of government shutdowns. The compromise removes spending caps on both military and domestic programs.

The deal eliminates the civilian and military sequester for two years, increasing the Pentagon funding by $80 billion and domestic spending by $63 billion for the fiscal year 2018, NPR reported citing congressional sources.

"This budget deal is a genuine breakthrough," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), adding that it consigns the "arbitrary... sequester caps to the ash heap of history."

"No one would suggest it's perfect but we worked hard to find common ground," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), introducing the deal on the floor. He added the bill will have an amendment process that's "fair to all sides."

Bassem Tamimi writes heartfelt letter to daughter Ahed Tamimi on her 17th birthday

samidoun.net
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 19:17 UTC

Bassem and Ahed Tamimi support the campaign to free Georges Abdallah at the September 2017 conference on Palestinian women and resistance.

Bassem Tamimi, the father of imprisoned Palestinian teen activist Ahed Tamimi (and the husband of Nariman Tamimi, imprisoned alongside their daughter) issued a powerful message on his Facebook account on 2 February, greeting his daughter as she turned 17 on 31 January.

Palestinians and solidarity organizers around the world held demonstrations, celebrations and gatherings demanding Ahed's freedom as well as that of her fellow Palestinian prisoners - and Palestine itself. Further events and actions are planned in the coming days.

Bassem Tamimi himself has spent years in prison - including as an Amnesty International recognized prisoner of conscience - for his role in the indigenous land defense movement in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, targeted for repression and land and water confiscation by occupation forces and settler colonial Zionism.

Mother stabs to death her two young sons in voodoo ritual

Joshua Rhett Miller
NY Post
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 19:07 UTC

A Massachusetts woman stabbed her 8-year-old son 50 times with a kitchen knife as part of a "voodoo" ritual before killing her 5-year-old son because she "failed" with the older boy, authorities said.

Prosecutors said Latarsha Sanders, 43, of Brockton, has admitted stabbing her 8-year-old son, Edson "Marlon" Brito, and Lason Brito, 5, whose bodies were found in beds in separate rooms in the family's third-floor apartment after the crazed mom asked a neighbor to call an ambulance, the Boston Herald reported.

"It came out 'wrong' with the first one and for that reason she had to move on to the second child," Assistant Plymouth District Attorney Jessica Kenny said, adding that Sanders has admitted attacking her older son in the kitchen. Sanders was unable to recall how many times she stabbed the younger boy, Kenny said.

"She said she stabbed him because she had 'failed' in the ritual with Marlon," Kenny said. "She responded to police that she felt bad about what she had done. She told police she mopped up the blood on the floor. She indicated she used a kitchen knife to stab both of them and left it in the sink. She also indicated she cleaned up both of the children and placed them in separate beds."

Two FISA tales for two Americas

Axios
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 17:26 UTC

On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow was literally laughing. Over on Fox News, Sean Hannity put up his dukes.

At 9 last night, you could just flip between the two and see an encapsulation of our two Americas - total dismissal of the memo's import, vs. the assertion that it's "only about 15 percent of what's coming."

So, Rachel, how was your day?

"This thing?! This was two weeks of: This memo is going to end everything. This memo, have you heard about the memo? Hashtag: Release the memo! This memo will make Donald Trump innocent. This memo will put Robert Mueller in jail. It will abolish the FBI. The Justice Department will have to rename itself the Donald J. Trump & Family Private Security Task Force."
"I mean, I can't believe this is it."
"I don't really believe in the whole Cable News Wars idea. I know people who work across the street at the Fox News Channel. I've got friends that work there. I think we're all doing our own thing in our own way best we can."
"But, oh my God, right? ... [T]his ... hyping and huffing and puffing and working their audience up into a frenzy for two solid weeks."
"And apparently, despite all of that, ... they either didn't know or they didn't notice that this thing they have been clamoring for and hyping for two solid weeks, ... it actually disproves their whole point."
"They release this memo to prove that the dossier started everything. The memo says the dossier didn't actually start anything."

Comment: This is only the latest example of the media war on Trump.

Police get in 45-minute standoff with tiger before realizing it was a stuffed animal

Tamar Lapin
NY Post
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 19:03 UTC

A Scottish farmer frantically called cops to report a tiger in his cow shed, sparking an armed police standoff - only to learn it just was a large, cuddly stuffed animal.

Bruce Grubb, 24, was throwing a housewarming party when he spotted the bizarre sight and called police, fearing his pregnant cows were about to be devoured.

Now "I feel a bit silly for calling the police, but I thought it was a real emergency," he told the Scottish Sun. "I had absolutely no doubt it was real. I got a hell of a scare."

Denmark plans legislation banning 'face veils' in public

RT
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 15:56 UTC

Denmark's government has announced it plans to fine people for covering their face in public, while the left-wing opposition wants a cap on 'non-Western foreigners' entering the country.

The center-right government announced on Tuesday that it plans to bring forth legislation making it illegal for people to cover their faces in public. The proposals include fines of up to 10,000 Danish kroner ($1,660) for repeat offenders, Reuters reports.

The move echoes other European nations, such as France, which restricts the wearing of Muslim garments like the burqa and the niqab. Opponents say the wearing of such clothing is oppressive to women and/or incompatible with so-called 'Western values.'

Comment: If Poulsen wants to have a leg to stand on with regard to the values of the Danish society, then the abhorrent normalization of pedophilia will have to be addressed first.

Lebanon's Higher Defense Council: Beirut threatens to 'confront' Israel over possible wall on 'Lebanese land'

RT
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 19:05 UTC

© Ali Hashisho / Reuters
A wall decorated with graffiti is seen at Kfar Kila village near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, November 7, 2017

Lebanon's Higher Defense Council said Wednesday it had issued a directive to resist Israeli plans to build a border wall on Lebanese land, as military tension between the two former foes continues to mount.

"This wall, if it is built, will be considered an assault on Lebanese land," the secretary general of Lebanon's Higher Defense Council said in a statement after meeting senior government and military officials, as cited by Reuters.

The statement also said that the Higher Defense Council "has given its instructions to confront this aggression to prevent Israel from building [the wall] on Lebanese territory." The council did not elaborate on how it intends to confront Israel.

Comment: See also: Israeli Defense Minister warns Syria and Lebanon: Don't test us

Feminist to open luxury island resort - for elitist women only

RT
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 16:49 UTC

A luxurious island resort exclusively for women is set to open off the coast of Finland, with a strict no-men policy in force.

The brainchild of entrepreneur Kristina Roth, 'SuperShe Island' aims to inspire women and allow them to focus on themselves without the distraction of the opposite sex. The island will open to guests in June, but those interested in taking a testosterone-free vacation must apply in advance for exclusive membership, according to the website.

The promotional video for the island showcases an idyllic resort offering relaxation and luxury, however simply being a woman will not be enough to make the cut - the finances required for basking in this all-female environment have yet to be revealed.

Comment: Both men and women have various social clubs where they each get together to spend time with members of the same sex. There's nothing detrimentally sexist about that. That said, in general, well adjusted men and women also enjoy each other's company. And here's the kicker - not everything in life is about gender or sex. And when interactions are about gender or sex - that's okay too! It's a pretty fundamental biological dynamic that continues the human species. This is where feminists go off the rails. They interpret perfectly normal interactions as harmful in one way, shape, or form, and make everything about sexual power dynamics. If Roth wants to build a 'woman only' resort, fine. If she wants to make it into a feminist island, okay, whatever. But while she is at it, maybe she could persuade all the world's feminists to take up residence and leave the rest of the human race alone.

I once wore a kilt to elementary school but that was because it was part of my homemade Braveheart costume. I had shorts on underneath but pranked...

Animanarchy

She hopefully also knocked out a complete chronology of her situation and made it available to the press. God speed lady! Fight that good fight -...

Rowan Cocoan

.. .. Never go to Happy Hour when it's nurses night.. or, Let's go phizzer [Link]

Jibrish

But we're going into a mini 'ice age'! HAARP has nothing to do with this...

tekdude

Ehret an idiot beyond belief

smertzasmert

Society's Child

Snowden takes issue with Tucker Carlson claiming intelligence agencies have misused their powers 'for the first time'

Vulnerable groups of people make up half of Taser deaths by police in US

Senate agrees on two-year budget proposal thwarting possible government shutdown

Bassem Tamimi writes heartfelt letter to daughter Ahed Tamimi on her 17th birthday

Mother stabs to death her two young sons in voodoo ritual

Two FISA tales for two Americas

Police get in 45-minute standoff with tiger before realizing it was a stuffed animal

Denmark plans legislation banning 'face veils' in public

Lebanon's Higher Defense Council: Beirut threatens to 'confront' Israel over possible wall on 'Lebanese land'

Feminist to open luxury island resort - for elitist women only

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