Society's ChildS


Laptop

Identical death threats and picture of severed head sent to 25 British MPs

Laptop keyboard
© Robert Galbraith / Reuters
At least 25 British MPs have been sent identical messages threatening to kill them and their families, alongside a picture of a severed head.

The death threats sent over the weekend come two months after the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, who was shot and stabbed in her Batley and Spen constituency in June.

The messages are understood to have been sent to MPs of all political parties.

"Warning I am going to kill you and all of your family," it reads.

Fire

Woman killed after house leveled as truck carrying ammonium nitrate based airbag propellant detonates in Texas

Takata truck explosion
© Christopher HillerDrone photo of the explosion
A woman was killed in her home and four other people were injured when a truck carrying Takata airbag parts and explosives crashed and detonated on a Texas road last week, the company and local authorities confirmed on Monday.

The immense blast — the victim's remains were not located for two days — highlighted the potency of the explosives used by Takata in its airbags as a propellent to activate its bags in a car crash. It also pointed to the risks associated with Takata's transport of the explosives across the country from a propellant factory in Washington State to Mexico.

Takata's airbags, and the explosive material used to make them, are at the center of the largest auto safety recall in history. Takata airbags installed in automobiles can explode violently when activated, and have been linked to the deaths of at least 14 drivers as well as to the injuries of over 100 people. Fourteen automakers have recalled more than 64 million inflaters over the defect.

The airbags use a propellant based on ammonium nitrate, which has come under scrutiny for its tendency to break down over time and combust violently when triggered.

In last week's accident, which occurred in the early hours of Aug. 22, the woman who died, Lucila Robles, 69, was apparently in her home in the town of Quemado, on the Mexico border, when the crash occurred on the road in front of her property before dawn.


Family

Gaza 2 years later: These children are gone forever and only empty spaces remain

Empty Spaces
Empty Spaces by London Visual Activist Collective #Gaza2YearsOn

The London Visual Activist Collective (LVAC) created "Empty Spaces", remembering all of the 500 children that were killed by Israel during the 2014 massacre. This is their press release of the event:


In the summer of 2014 Israel launched a vicious and brutal assault on the Gaza Strip killing over 2250 people.

Over 550 children were killed during the attack.

Today members from the London Visual Activist Collective (LVAC) met outside Downing Street to remember the children that are no longer with us. Children that, if it were not for Israel's blatant disregard for civilian life, would still be with us today.

Footprints

Federal judge ruled: Transgender can't force lifestyle on employer

Transgender
A federal judge has ruled that a man who wanted to dress as a woman while working as a funeral director cannot impose his lifestyle choice on his employer, because it would conflict with the religious standards the company advocates.
A federal judge has ruled that a man who wanted to dress as a woman while working as a funeral director cannot impose his lifestyle choice on his employer, because it would conflict with the religious standards the company advocates.

The claim had been brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Anthony Stephens, who informed his employer, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, that he would be known as Aimee Australia Stephens when he returned from his vacation.

Stephens also told Harris he would be dressing as a woman. Harris owner Thomas Rost replied that his services no longer were needed, noting the funeral home requires men to dress in suits and ties, and women to dress in skirts and coats.

Comment: See also: Feminist Camille Paglia: 'Transgender mania is a symptom of West's cultural collapse'


Life Preserver

Syria receives medical supplies shipped from Cuba

medical shipment from Cuba
© SANA news agencySyria receives medical shipment from Cuba at Damascus International Airport on August 29, 2016.
A two-tonne shipment of medicine, including vaccines, sent from Cuba has arrived in Syria, which has been gripped by foreign-sponsored militancy over the past five years.

The Cuban package arrived at Damascus International Airport on Monday. It was the first batch under a banking agreement between Havana and Damascus to settle Cuba's debts due to Syria.

Syria's Transport Minister Ali Hamoud said on Monday that his administration finished preparatory works such as customs clearance, packaging, and transportation to ensure the arrival of the shipment without delay and under the supervision of the country's Health Ministry.

He further thanked Cuba for supporting the Syrian people, who are suffering from violence perpetrated by Takfiri terrorists.

Bomb

Car bomb defused near mosque in Russia's Ingushetia

ingushetia
© Vladimir Mukagov/TASS
Bomb technicians have neutralized an explosive device found in a car near the mosque in the village of Ali-Yurt in the North Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia, a source in local law-enforcement agencies told TASS on Tuesday.

"It was retrieved, brought to a safe place and destroyed by explosion," the source said.

Unconfirmed reports say that unidentified persons were apparently preparing an attempt on the life of imam of the Ali-Yurt mosque Isa Tsechoyev, one of the most reputable clerics in Ingushetia.

As TASS reported earlier, local residents reported to the law-enforcement agencies last night about a suspicious car parked near the mosque. The area around the mosque was sealed off. People were evacuated from private houses located near the mosque.

The bomb's power is estimated at 30-50 kg of TNT, the source in the local law-enforcement agencies told TASS.

"The explosive device was disguised as a gas cylinder. According to preliminary data, its power ranged from 30 to 50 kg of TNT," the source said.

Comment: Update from RT:
The device - found overnight in a parking lot near the mosque of Ali-Yurt village - was armed and ready to be set off remotely, the head of the republic, Yunus-bek Yevkurov, told the media on Tuesday.

"Law enforcement will establish who drove that car and who was supposed to trigger the bomb," he said.



Syringe

Cop sentenced for running massive steroid ring - begging the question, is 'roid rage' behind the worst police abuses?

cops on steroids
There is no question that many police officers use performance enhancing drugs. In fact, the problem of police steroid use became so bad, in 2004, the DEA intervened to warn of the "possible psychological disturbances" of roid-raging cops.

The DEA said symptoms included:
  • Mood swings (including manic-like symptoms leading to violence)
  • Impaired judgment (stemming from feelings of invincibility)
  • Depression
  • Nervousness
  • Extreme irritability
  • Delusions
  • Hostility and aggression
Eventually, a few years later, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, made up of 16,000 members worldwide set a standard that "calls upon state and local law enforcement entities to establish a model policy prohibiting the use of illegally obtained steroids" by officers.

However, this policy never happened.

Not only do cops vehemently resist being drug tested by their departments, claiming it is a violation of their civil rights, they are also frequently caught selling steroids.

Sheriff

Cop caught on his own body cam stealing pot from police dept has been placed on paid vacation during ongoing investigation

Roshern McKinney
© Albuquerque Police DepartmentCaught by his own camera: Roshern McKinney, 33, was arrested Wednesday after allegedly leaving his lapel camera on while taking marijuana from his office and giving it to his girlfriend
As the Free Thought Project pointed out many times before, police departments in America can legally discriminate against hiring individuals if their IQ is too high. Couple this with the fact that thieves aren't always the sharpest tools in the toolbox, and you get the makings of a scenario like the one that unfolded in New Mexico last week. A Grants cop was caught on his own body cam stealing weed.

Grants Police Department Sgt. Roshern C. McKinney, 33, was arrested last week after an investigation found that he'd stolen both money and marijuana from the police department. McKinney has since been charged with marijuana distribution, conspiracy, and felony embezzlement.

State police also charged McKinney's 23-year-old girlfriend Tanicka Gallegos-Gonzales, for drug distribution and conspiracy. Both were arrested in Albuquerque and booked into the Sandoval County Detention Center, according to KOB.

Public Information Officer for the New Mexico State Police, Elizabeth Armijo said Grants police chief, Craig Vandiver alerted state police after the department found video from Mckinney's lapel camera that "exposed possible illicit activity by a Grants Police Department sergeant."

According to the NMSP statement:
State Police Agents began investigating the activity on July 11, 2016. The six week long investigation into this incident included approximately eighteen interviews, analysis of numerous documents and paperwork and the review of numerous lapel camera recordings.

Agents viewed the lapel camera recording in question and observed Grants Police Department Sergeant Roshern C. McKinney (33) on duty, in uniform, driving his marked patrol car to the Grants Police Department. He entered his private office, obtained a substance believed to be marijuana and placed the substance in his uniform pocket. Sergeant McKinney then left the department and drove to his girlfriend's residence located in Grants, NM. Upon arrival at the residence, Sergeant McKinney is recorded, on video, stating that he was giving the marijuana to his girlfriend, Tanicka Gallegos-Gonzalez, to give to her father, which she ultimately did.
Investigators also alleged that McKinney embezzled at least two items taken as evidence "including $785.00 in currency and an eight ounce brick of marijuana."

According to the report, "these items were never submitted to the department's evidence vault."

Bullseye

'I'm a little scared': Huff Post writer censored and fired for writing about Killary's health

censorship
Over the weekend we posted about how the media's coverage of Trump and Clinton's health had become "outright bizarre" (see "American Electorate Loses As Partisan Media Coverage Of Candidate Health Turns Outright Bizarre"). We also asked whether Google had taken measures to censor searches related to Hillary's health condition (see "Is Google Censoring Search Results To Protect Hillary?"). Turns out that the Huffington Post may have just joined in on the bizarre behavior by censoring a journalist with the audacity to question Hillary's health.

On Sunday night, an obviously shaken Huffington Post contributor, David Seaman, posted a video to YouTube after the HuffPo had taken measures to revoke his publishing access and delete two articles he had previously published on Hillary's health...a move that left him "a little scared" and "spooked out".

According to Seaman, he has a long standing relationship with the Huffington Post which has included "100's of successful articles" that have been published under the banner.

Arrow Down

Young and homeless in America: Utility workers find children living in sewers near Seattle

children living sewers seattle
Friday afternoon in Federal Way, Wash., a city to the south of Seattle, utility workers came across a manhole that refused to stay closed.

Meter readers with Lakehaven Utility District first noticed the sewer cover left ajar. They pushed it shut; to fall down an open manhole, after all, could mean injury or worse. It proved to be a stubborn grate. Later in the day — twice — workers found the manhole open again. The third time, the meter readers had enough, summoning the Lakehaven sewer crew, who decided to investigate how a 80-pound metal slab could behave like a screen door with a busted latch.

What the crew found was even stranger. At the bottom of the 14-foot descent was a cache of kids' items, miscellany that belonged in a treehouse or rec room: a pair of binoculars, snacks and toys, including a pistol for shooting foam darts. They discovered clothes, too, as well as a makeshift bed made out of plywood.

"This should not happen at all," as Ken Miller, a product engineering manager with Lakehaven Utility District, told KIRO 7 News. "This is where all our waste goes from our houses and our businesses."

And, finally, the crew noticed the two boys watching.

They appeared to be about 12 or 13. When approached, one said he had been living within the manhole. Miller was shocked. "I've been doing this kind of work for over 30 years, and I've never, never come across it before," he said. "No one should be down there ... this could have been life and death."