Society's ChildS


Attention

State Department issues Europe-wide travel alert for the next 90 days while U.S. cities ramp up security

cancelled flights
© Ralph Orlowski / Reuters
Citing risks of "near-term" terrorist attacks, the US has warned Americans against traveling anywhere in Europe and boosted security at home since twin blasts in Brussels left 31 dead and over 250 wounded, including several US citizens.

"Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants and transportation," the State Department said in a statement.

The Department has urged its citizens to be attentive and cautious when in crowded places or using public transportation, and to be especially vigilant while attending religious holidays, festivals, and similar events that attract large numbers of people.

"We work closely with our allies and will continue to share information with our European partners that will help identify and counter terrorist threats," the department said.

No Entry

99% of properties test positive for lead near California battery recycling plant

battery storage
© Rintesh Roy / YouTube
Properties near a battery recycling plant in Vernon, California - just south of downtown Los Angeles - are receiving city resources to clean up lead contamination, which tests showed affects nearly every home in the area surrounding the facility.

Of the 1,008 properties tested for lead by either the California Department of Toxic Substances or Los Angeles County, only five do not require cleanup - meaning over 99 percent of them have been contaminated with the toxic metal.

Authorities plan to eventually test and clean up more than 10,000 properties, which include homes, daycare centers and schools, in a 1.7 mile (2.7 km) radius around a now-closed Exide battery recycling plant in Vernon. The neighborhoods being tested are Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Bell, Commerce, Huntington Park and Maywood.

Heart

Refugee children in Greece show support for victims of Brussels bombings

Refugee boy with sign for Brussels
© Fedja Grulovic/ReutersA refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" as refugees and migrants take part in a protest against the closure of the border at the Greek-Macedonian border March 22, 2016, near the Greek village of Idomeni.
Photos have emerged of refugee children in a camp in Greece expressing sympathy for the victims of Tuesday's bomb attacks in Brussels.

Three bombs at the city's Zaventem International Airport and Maelbeek metro station have reportedly killed at least 34 people and injured more than 180.

Striking photos show refugee children express messages of sorrow for Brussels on paper, cardboard and their own bodies.


Many people have in turn offered their support to the refugee community in the face of hateful comments as the finger of blame is pointed at them from some Twitteratti.
Tweets
© Twitter

Sheriff

21st century lynchings? The epidemic of killing of unarmed black people by law enforcement

Black lynchings
© Cambridge University Press
The tragic shooting deaths of 17-year old Trayvon Martin in 2012 and 18-year old Michael Brown in 2014 reawakened the nation to the epidemic of killings of unarmed blacks by private citizens and law enforcement officers. Sadly, the shooting of unarmed blacks seemingly continues unabated despite the numerous nation wide street protests, town hall meetings, and pledges from politicians and law enforcement agencies to address this systemic problem. According to the Washington Post, "Although black men make up only 6 percent of the U.S. population, they account for 40 percent of the unarmed men shot to death by police in 2015. What is more, the Post's analysis documents that black men were seven times more likely than white men to die by police gunfire while unarmed. Whereas in 2012, Trayvon Martin was literally the poster child for unjustified killings of unarmed blacks, today there are a litany of black victims (Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice to name a few) that can fill that role.

Given the frequency and oftentimes callousness of these killings, black activists as well as black people have begun to refer to them as modern day lynchings. Framing police killings of unarmed blacks as lynchings is decidedly an attempt to draw attention to a phenomenon that might otherwise be overlooked in our soundbite/hashtag driven news cycle. Yet, more fundamentally, labeling police killings of unarmed blacks as lynchings is an effort to imbue them with significance as well as historicize contemporary violence against black Americans. With that being said, some Americans bristle at police being associated with racist lynchers and still some assert that it is disrespectful to the memories of lynch victims to equate what they suffered with contemporary police killings. So, the question becomes, are these commentators right? More broadly, what are the implications of embracing or rejecting police killings of unarmed blacks as lynchings? And why does this discussion matter?

To be sure, police killings of unarmed black men are not lynchings, at least not in a technical sense. Nonetheless, there are deeper truths at stake in referring to the killings of unarmed black men as lynchings. In what follows, I will identify those deeper truths and resonances that black activists and the public are channeling when they invoke the phase modern day lynching to describe police killings of unarmed black people.

During the late nineteenth and early/mid twentieth centuries, approximately 5,000 Americans were lynched. Of the 5,000 or so documented lynchings, 70 percent of lynch victims were black. And so while white Americans, Mexicans Americans, Native Americans, Chinese Americans were all victims of lynchings, black Americans, by far, were the primary targets of lynch mobs.

Comment: And it's not just black people who are being 'lynched':

Western warmongers killed 1.5 million Muslims in 'war on terror'; falsely accuse Russia of '30 civilian casualties' in airstrikes against ISIS


Megaphone

Hysterical society: Anti-Trump protesters "actin' a fool" during Tuscon rally

One off-duty police officer didn't want to believe what the media or others had told him about GOP presidential front-runner Donald J. Trump. and wanted to see for himself if Trump was "extreme" or "racist" like the media reports — what he found after attending a Trump rally may shock you.

The man said that anti-Trump protesters were "verbally violent at the door."

"People were directly yelling at me like I'm a criminal," the officer said, who was wearing plain clothes and was off-duty at the private event which was paid for by Donald Trump.
"These people are the most hateful, evil, people I have ever seen."
The man said overall he was "impressed" with Trump's speech., but said the protesters were 'actin' a fool.'

The man said most of the media's portrayal of Trump has been "disingenuous."

"I thought at some point it was going to be a full-fledged riot," the man said, pointing out just how "crazy" the agitators were.

"I thought I was going to have to punch a couple of people — in self defense," the man said.

The man also pointed out that the venue was rented out by Donald Trump, meaning it was a private event in which Trump could reserve the right to kick anybody out.

Comment: Though this man may have fallen under Trump's spell his observations of the zealous protesters and the violent responses to them is worth noting. From the looks of things, the American people are a powder keg, and Trump is a lit fuse.


Eye 2

Self-professed 'pedophile' teacher pleads guilty to sex with at least four students

Michelle Mellinger
A former McKeesport Area High School teaching assistant and self-professed pedophile faces a slew of criminal charges for allegedly having sex with at least four students.

Teaching assistant Michelle Mellinger, 48, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of statutory sexual assault, five counts of sex with students and one account of attempted sexual contact with a student and was immediately ordered to register as a sex offender.

Mellinger's 50-year-old ex-husband and a former custodian with the school district, William Mellinger, was arrested just a week ago on similar charges for allegedly molesting three young girls, the Tribune-Review reports.

Michelle Mellinger was a special education teaching assistant at McKeesport Area High School last year when she solicited several male students for sex through text messages. The teacher told police she sent the victims, who ranged in age from 15 to 17, text messages to arrange for sex sessions at her White Oak apartment, including missives in which she apparently admits to being a pedophile, WPXI reports.

Handcuffs

Sick society: UK cop given only 11 years for child rape and bestiality

Officer Derren Tomlinson
Officer Derren Tomlinson
Officer Derren Tomlinson, 44, with the West Mercia Police department was sentenced to 11 years in prison this week for unspeakable crimes against children and animals. The allegations against this well-respected police officer of nine years shocked the town.

This model public servant was convicted of raping a girl under 13-years-old, sexual assault on a child, and bestiality. His offensively short sentence is likely due to the fact that he was a law enforcement officer.

When sentencing Tomlinson, Judge Robin Onions said he was "utterly unsuited to being a (police officer)" — an understatement, to say the least.

Attention

Obnoxious neighbor: Okinawa residents outraged over yet another rape by US soldier, call for reduction of US military presence

protests japan US military
© Jiji Press / AFP
Residents of the Japanese island of Okinawa have taken to the streets to show their outrage against the alleged rape of a Japanese tourist by a US sailor. Thousands also aired their concerns about the island's controversial US military base not being a good neighbor.

The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly supported the population's anger, passing a resolution and releasing a statement that condemned the reported rape and demanded for the American military to enforce laws.

"We cannot help but say that the US military's efforts and instructions have not been effective, and we feel deep resentment," the assembly said, adding that it has called on the US military personnel numerous times before to ensure proper behavior.

Moreover, the assembly asked for Japan to review its Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the US. The agreement sets the legal status for the American military personnel in Japan. Local lawmakers also called for a reduction in US military bases on the island.

Comment: The Japanese have had more than enough of the U.S. military presence, and have been consistently protesting for years - it's little wonder.


Heart - Black

"Good for Israel": Opposition leader Herzog denounces some Israelis' 'morbid joy' at Brussels attacks

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog
© Yonatan Sindel/Flash90Isaac Herzog addresses the Knesset on February 10, 2016.

Netanyahu says no difference between attacks in Israel and Europe; minister slams EU for labeling settlement goods while terror brews


Opposition leader Isaac Herzog on Tuesday spoke out against Israelis who he said expressed "morbid joy" over Europe's pain in the wake of a series of deadly terror attacks in Brussels earlier in the day.

Speaking via video linkup to the AIPAC conference in Washington, DC, from Jerusalem, Netanyahu condemned the attack that was said to have claimed some 35 lives in airport and metro bombings in Brussels. "The chain of attacks from Paris to San Bernardino, from Istanbul to the Ivory Coast and now to Brussels, and the daily attacks on Israel — this is one continuous assault on all of us," he said.


Comment: Two months ago: "According to a statement issued by the PMO, Netanyahu protested the EU's formal positions on Israel, and accused Brussels of employing a "double standard" toward Israel."


Comment: In its despicable and cynical attempt to garner support for its slow-motion horror show of Palestinian ethnic cleansing Israel, once again, tries to conflate the resistance it receives with that of "ISIS" inflicted terror and carnage around the world. But there are even some in Israel who are waking up to the soul-less turpitude that has become the country's main voice over the last how many years. And many around the world seem not too far behind...
facebook
Translations provided by Israeli peace activist Ronnie Barkan



Handcuffs

Six year old child pulled from class, handcuffed under stairs at Chicago school

chicago child handcuffed
A woman is outraged after she says her daughter was handcuffed while at school.

Marlena Wordlaw said her 6-year-old daughter Madisyn Moore was pulled out of class at Fernwood Elementary for taking candy off of a teacher's desk. Wordlaw said her daughter was then handcuffed under some stairs at school to teach her a lesson.

Madisyn explained how the school security guard handcuffed her after lunch.

"They hurted," Moore said. "He snatched me out of my class. He made me get out in my handcuffs."

Comment: Violence and oppression are now common in U.S. schools, where children are suspended, handcuffed, arrested and even tasered for what used to be considered childlike behavior.