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Russia's Patriarch Kirill: Collection and obsession with 'likes' a real disease


RT
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 18:38 UTC
Patriarch Krill of Moscow and all Russia
© Irina Kalashnikova/SputnikPatriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has criticized the collection and obsession with "likes" on social media networks as a "real disease", and warned that for some, it has become the only goal in life.

"These days, on social networks, there is a real disease, when mostly young people are ready to do anything, even something dreadful, life-threatening only to get someone to say that this or that photo depicting something is liked," Patriarch Kirill explained his concern.

"Those people don't see any other goal in life apart from collecting 'likes', and if they don't get any, it is considered as a personal tragedy," the Patriarch went on to say.

The Patriarch said that such reaction represents manifestations of vanity, a sin, which "inspires in a person incredible sensitivity to the way others see them." Thus, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church added, "the person's only aim in life becomes getting appraisal from others."


Comment: One recent example of such an obsession: Singapore teen jumps to his death in tragic Snapchat stunt gone wrong

See also: Deadly, global narcissism epidemic: Number of stupid selfie-related deaths higher than ever

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Sheriff

Audit finds Indiana police illegally used $400k in federal asset forfeiture funds to boost their pay and benefits


RT
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 18:38 UTC
police outside business
© Nathan Chute / Reuters
A federal audit of Indiana law enforcement found nearly $400,000 in federal asset forfeiture funds went to pay the salaries, overtime, and benefits for its officers, which the law does not allow.

The audit of the Henry County Sheriff's Office's "equitable sharing program" released last week was conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Audit Division.

In total, auditors examined $802,206 in expenditures made by the sheriff's office in 2014 and 2015, including $378,720 that was transferred to other law enforcement agencies as a part of the equitable sharing program, which allows police departments to prosecute asset forfeiture cases under federal instead of state law.

The nonprofit Institute for Justice estimates the program results in local police keeping around 80 percent of the property or assets seized from citizens.
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Stop

Judge who handcuffed female public defender in court banned for life from holding judicial office


RT
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 18:25 UTC
Conrad Hafen
© Ronda Churchill/Las Vegas Review-JournalLas Vegas Justice of the Peace Conrad Hafen is shown on the bench on Tuesday, April 12, 2016.
Former Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Conrad Hafen has agreed never to hold judicial office in Nevada again, accepting public censure from the disciplinary commission over - among other things - ordering a public defender to be handcuffed during a trial.

Hafen agreed to the decision by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, admitting he failed to "act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary;" uphold the law and "perform all duties of his judicial office fairly and impartially;" and was not "patient, dignified and courteous to litigants, jurors, witnesses, lawyers, court staff, court officials and others he dealt with in his official capacity."

The commission based their findings on four incidents involving Hafen handing down punishments for contempt of court. Three of the incidents involved Clark County Deputy Public Defender Zohra Bakhtary.

Comment: Previously: Judge orders bailiff to handcuff public defender in courtroom despite not breaking any law

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Attention

Google restores Natural News website to search results: Statement from the Health Ranger

Mike Adams
Natural News
Tue, 28 Feb 2017 00:00 UTC
Google
After six days of being blacklisted by Google, the NaturalNews.com website has been restored to Google's search results. The action by Google follows the largest and most vocal backlash against Google's de-listing of any website in the history of the company, and it has sparked many new discussions and debates about search engines, censorship and free speech.

All of us at Natural News — as well as our many millions of fans — are grateful for Google's decision to restore the NaturalNews.com website, but we are also deeply troubled by the unjustified blacklisting of Natural News and what it means for free speech across the 'net.

For the record, there was never any allegation or evidence that Natural News had intentionally violated Google's webmaster guidelines. While Google said we were being flagged for a so-called "sneaky mobile redirect" on a very small number of pages in a subdomain (blogs.naturalnews.com) which were created by outside bloggers, Google went to the extraordinary step of banning the entire NaturalNews.com root domain and all its subdomains — a step that would never have been applied to CNN, Huffington Post or other popular news websites. In fact, a Natural News investigation showed that violations identified involving websites like HuffPo, Forbes and CNN did not result in the same kind of blacklisting that was applied to Natural News.

Comment: See also:

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Lemon

Protest: Crowd bangs pots outside WH during Trump speech


RT
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 06:54 UTC
protester
© Ruptly
A noisy protest took place outside the US White House while President Donald Trump was delivering his first address to Congress, with dozens of activists banging pots and pans while chanting "No more Trump!' Footage shot by Ruptly news agency shows several hundred protesters rallying outside the White House in Washington, DC on Tuesday, expressing their discontent with the new president's policies and his team.

The demonstrators first gathered in Columbus Circle for what was dubbed a "Festival of Resistance," before marching to the White House. They banged pots and pans while chanting "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here," "No justice, no peace," and "This is what democracy looks like." Many also carried banners reading "We resist white nationalism," "God resist Trump's fascism," and "Impeach coward Trump," among others.

"The people running this government are bullies," one of the organizers said in her speech to the crowd. The rally was organized by Spark Impeachment, a public movement pushing for mobilization and action that could lead to Trump's impeachment.


Comment: Though there are congress members who are more than 'sympathetic' to this protest and lust over Trump being impeached, it is not likely to happen. As there are no grounds needed to call for impeachment, burden of proof would be on the Dems and they need to really face the fact that Trump isn't stupid. In that Republicans hold both houses of Congress means it would most likely be an exercise in futility and a self-served black eye for the Dems. Bang on!

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Black Cat

Two California teens charged in brutal beating death, stealing $1.14

Allie O'Brien
KRON4
Tue, 28 Feb 2017 06:58 UTC
Handcuffs
© KRON4
Two Oakland teenagers have been charged with murder for the brutal beating death of a 55-year-old man in a West Oakland park early Wednesday morning, said prosecutors.

Jabari Jones, 19 and Breshawn Clark, 18, were arraigned on Friday in connection with Piliip Fai Low's death and are scheduled to return to court on March 20 to enter pleas.

Witnesses saw Jones punch Low and stomp on him at Lowell Park in the 1000 block of 12th Street early Wednesday morning, Oakland Police Officer Jose Barocio wrote in a probable cause statement.

The two teenagers left the area but returned later to stomp on Low some more while Clark stole $1.14 from him, Barocio said,

The teenagers left for a third time but returned again while Low was still laying on the ground and not moving and Jones assaulted him once more, Barocio said. At one point Jones and Clark placed Low inside a shopping cart and threw him into water, Barocio said.

Eventually a 12-year-old child who was walking to school saw Low lying motionless in the park and called 911, according to Barocio.
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Attention

Indonesian man collapsed during a public flogging, revived & caned again


RT
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 22:53 UTC
Man flogged
© Chaideer Mahyuddin / AFPThe man collapsed as he was getting caned by a religious officer.
Herizal bin Yunus, 27, collapsed after being struck eight times in a public flogging. Once revived and checked by attending healthcare professionals he was subsequently caned a further 14 times.

Yunus hails from the province of Bandah Aceh on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the only province in the country that imposes strict Sharia law, reports AFP. He was one of eight people flogged on Monday for breach of Islamic law.
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Red Flag

Judge rules students at high school who identify as transgender can use bathrooms that corresponds to their gender identities


NBC News
Tue, 28 Feb 2017 17:10 UTC
inclusive restroom
© Elaine Thompson / AP
A federal judge on Monday ruled that three transgender students at a Pennsylvania high school, including the sister of a singer who performed at President Donald Trump's inauguration, can use bathrooms that correspond to their stated gender identities while their lawsuit challenging the school district's policy continues.

The judge said in issuing a preliminary injunction that the three — two students born anatomically male who now identify as female and one born anatomically female who identifies as male — were reasonably likely to win the case on equal protection grounds.

U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak said the Pine-Richland School District north of Pittsburgh has not demonstrated its policy advances an important governmental interest, nor is there evidence that personal privacy is being threatened.

"Other than perhaps one report received by the high school principal in October 2015 from a student that 'there was a boy' in the girls bathroom ... followed by a parent inquiry along the same lines in early 2016, there have been no reports of 'incidents' where the use of a common restroom by any one of the plaintiffs has caused any sort of alarm to any other student," the judge wrote.

Comment: It should be fairly simple. People should use the bathroom according to their anatomical situation, regardless of how they identify. If one has male genitals, they use the men's bathroom. If they have female genitals, they use the women's bathroom. Unless your plumbing has been correspondingly modified, those should be the standards that the states should follow and enforce.

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Red Flag

Mississippi lawmaker kills bill that would have allowed domestic abuse to be used as grounds for divorce


RT
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 16:55 UTC
Mary Merrill-Gutierrez
© Lucy Nicholson / ReutersMary Merrill-Gutierrez
Domestic abuse will not be the 13th ground for divorce in the state of Mississippi, after State House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Andy Gipson (R-Braxton) torpedoed Senate Bill 2703, urging the need for "policies that strengthen marriage."

Gipson said "if a person is abusive, they need to have a change in behavior and change of heart," and claimed that abuse was already grounds for divorce under "Habitual cruel and inhuman treatment if proved by credible testimony."

Many are concerned that this sends the wrong message to victims of domestic violence. And the requirement to have a witness to the abuse often forces children to take the stand to testify, Mississippi Today reported.
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Pirates

Terror-rat king Baghdadi reportedly admits defeat in Iraq while terrorist commanders flee Mosul


Sputnik
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 16:38 UTC
Al-Baghdadi
© AFP 2016
Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has acknowledged the terrorist group's defeat in Iraq, urging his supporters to take refuge in the country's mountainous regions, independent Iraqi news network Alsumaria reported.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the infamous terrorist group Daesh (ISIL/ISIS), gave a speech in which he admitted that his organization had suffered defeat in recent hostilities in Iraq, the independent Iraqi news network Alsumaria quoted a source in Nineveh province as saying on Wednesday.

Al-Baghdadi's speech came amid reports that Daesh commanders based in the western part of Iraq's Mosul are fleeing the city.

"Calling his speech a farewell address, al-Baghdadi circulated it among Daesh preachers and explained what was going on with the group. The preachers started talking about the defeats Daesh is suffering in Nineveh province and other parts of Iraq," the source said.
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