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IDF soldier killed, 11 injured, police mistakenly shoot foreign national in bus station attack

bus bombing israel
© Dudu Grunshpan / Reuters
Israeli security personals stand next to blood on the floor, at the Beersheba central bus station where a Palestinian gunman went on a stabbing and shooting rampage, October 18, 2015
An IDF soldier was killed and 11 others injured when an Arab attacker, armed with a gun and a knife, opened fire at a bus station in the city of Beersheba in the south of the country. Local media also said that an Eritrean man was mistaken for an assailant and attacked by police.

The perpetrator made his way into the station and started shooting and stabbing people inside, in what is one of the most violent attacks since the escalation began, the police said. An Israeli soldier was killed, four police officers were lightly injured and seven civilians received wounds of varying degrees in the attack.

Despite bringing a gun with him, the man also snatched the weapon from the soldier he gunned down, Yoram Halevy, a police commander in southern Israel, told journalists. The Arab attacker, whose identity was not immediately revealed, was shot and killed by the police, she added.

It was initially reported that the attacker had an accomplice, who was wounded and detained by the police. But it later turned out that the Israeli security forces shot a foreign national after mistaking him for the assailant.

Police responding to the attack entered the bus station from another area and saw a "foreign national," opening fire and wounding him, Halevy confirmed.

Comment: As it turns out, "an angry Israeli crowd" didn't just stand and chant "death to Arabs".

Video captured by bystanders and posted to social media shows a mob of onlookers, including Israeli soldiers and police, kicking Zarhum in the head, pinning him under a chair and throwing a bench at him as he writhes on the floor, clearly in pain and bleeding severely.




Stormtrooper

Crazy-making cops insist 75-year-old woman lying about wrecking own car, arrest her

75 year old
© CopBlock
A 75-year-old grandmother was handcuffed and arrested after Milwaukee cops insisted she was trying to cover up for a "mystery man" they said was driving when the woman's car was hit at an intersection.

Joy McFarlin was going to Potawatomi Casino for bingo and dinner with friends on Tuesday when, eastbound on Wisconsin Ave., she stopped at the traffic light at the intersection at N. 35th St.

When the light turned green, McFarlin says she began making her way through the intersection, but was hit by a car that ran the red light. The collision spun around her late husband's 20-year-old Dodge Dakota pickup, which ended up on the median.

Because of how the truck was situated, McFarlin was forced to exit through the passenger side. During her escape, a young man showed up to assist her.

McFarlin says the man, who's name she didn't catch, helped her across the street to a bus stop shelter where "he stayed with [her] and kept [her] talking because [she] was so shaky."

After paramedics showed up, McFarlin says the man left before two Milwaukee police officers - one male and one female - approached her in a hateful manner.

"[The woman officer] took an aggressive pose with her hands on her hips and told me that I better be telling the truth or I was going to jail," McFarlin said. "This was her first approach to me. I told her just what happened, and she said I was lying and I better not lie or I was going to jail."

As McFarlin was feeling faint and in pain, the paramedics drove her to Aurora Sinai Medical Center, where she says the same two officers followed and continued questioning her aggressively.


Comment: It's bad enough that this woman had just been in a traumatic car accident. Was it really necessary for the police to traumatize her even more by fixating on some bizarre "mystery man" scenario?


Headphones

What's happening to Ke$ha should have us all outraged

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© idolator
A lot of people have a tendency to see Kesha as this "trashy party girl" from her songs about copious amounts of drinking and having sex, and maybe it's because of this image that what's happening to her is not being taken seriously or being talked about by enough people.

Kesha has been legally battling her producer Lukasz Gottwald (Dr. Luke), who she's been signed with since she was 18 years old. Last September Kesha sued Dr. Luke for alleged "sexual, physical, verbal and emotional abuse," and also asked the court to break her contract with him. The lawsuit alleges that Dr. Luke repeatedly drugged her, raped her at least twice, and emotionally abused her to the point of causing her eating disorder, for which she checked into a rehab facility in Lemont, Illinois. Rolling Stone reports two specific claims: one claim includes Dr. Luke making her snort something before they boarded a plane and sexually assaulting her while she was incapacitated. The other claim was that she was given "sober pills," which she later found out were a date rape drug, and after taking them woke up the next morning in Luke's bed naked, sore and confused. Since Dr. Luke is an extremely successful producer, having been responsible for hits from pop stars like Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry, he's using his big, fancy lawyers to try and fight back. Luke filed a countersuit for defamation.

There's been so little news coverage on this horrible injustice, but could that be because a lot of people still see Kesha as the trashy party girl? If that's the case, then those people need to first realize that this kind of abuse is as serious for a "party girl" as it would be for anyone else, and second, listen to this little bit about Kesha that might make you think of her differently. Kesha scored a 1500 on her SAT, has an IQ of 140 (which technically makes her a genius), was named the Humane Society of the United States' first global ambassador for animal rights, is an ordained minister, was strong enough to go to rehab for her eating disorder and fight and overcome it, and is obviously an extremely talented singer and songwriter. Not to mention how strong she's been even through everything she is battling with this lawsuit and the years of alleged abuse at the hands of Dr. Luke. Surviving any kind of abusive relationship is extremely difficult, and Kesha's coming out the other side stronger than ever. In fact, to show off to the world just how strong she is, at New York Fashion Week she wore a dress with the words "You Will Never Own Me" on the front -- a brilliantly constructed jab at Dr. Luke.

Comment: Unfortunately, rapists are often protected by the legal system and victims are blamed for the acts of their abusers. Check out our Sott Focus on the topic: Rape Culture in America - How the system protects the rapists and fails the victims


War Whore

Florida sheriff really upset Obama took away his tank

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© AFP Photo/Scott Olson
Police attempt to control demonstrators protesting the killing of teenager Michael Brown on August 18, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri
Police in Florida are complaining that the Obama Administration is recalling military-style tanks that many have complained made American city streets look like foreign war zones during unrest in places like Ferguson, Missouri last year.

Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said losing an M113 — an armored personnel carrier — will result in some of his officers going on "suicide missions," the Orlando Sentinel reports.

"People will die because of this decision," Johnson told the paper.


Comment: Horse-hockey! This sheriff is clearly upset that his toy was taken away and now he's reacting much the same way a spoiled child would, by throwing a tantrum.


Volusia County still has another tank, an MRAP — Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle. But the difference is the M113 has tracks instead of wheels that allow it to travel in terrains wheels won't go.

"The idea that our president will take this stuff away from us, the M113 (armored personnel carrier), puts not only our deputies in harm's way but the citizens in harm's way," Johnson fumed to the News-Journal. "It's obvious from some of the decisions he's made that he really doesn't care a whole lot about law enforcement officers."

The federal government's program of selling excess military hardware to local police departments at deep discounts has faced growing criticism. Volusia County's M113, for example, was purchased 11 years ago for $1,500, the News-Journal reports. A total of 126 similar tanks have been recalled.

Comment: Thank the universe that some of these weapons have been recalled. It's clear that their purpose is not to protect anyone other than the armed enforcers of the ruling establishment. Clearly, child-like petty tyrants like this sheriff are not emotionally or mentally equipped to handle the responsibility that comes with advanced weaponry. More than likely, he'd use it to wage war on innocent civilians.

In case you were wondering, this is a M113:

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An M113 APC



Camera

Perilous times for photojournalism: Fox takes over National Geographic

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© 2011 Scott Schexnaydre
St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana: Julie Dermansky photographing a fish kill in Pearl River caused by a paper mill.
When the news broke that National Geographic was sold to Rupert Murdoch, fans of the magazine gasped.

A magazine known for its photo essays paired with reports often based on scientific research being under the control of an outspoken climate change denier worried them.

As a photojournalist, it is to difficult for me to imagine that the sale of National Geographic to Murdoch won't contribute to the decline of photojournalism, because it is one of the few publications left whose brand is connected to original, visually-oriented content.

Fire

A time bomb waiting to explode: U.S. collapse will be swift, unstoppable and devastating

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© Carlo Allegri / Reuters
The United States is in decline. While not all major shocks to the system will be devastating, when the right one comes along, the outcome may be dramatic.

Not all explosives are the same. We all know you have to be careful with dynamite. Best to handle it gently and not smoke while you're around it. Semtex is different. You can drop it. You can throw it. You can put it in the fire. Nothing will happen. Nothing until you put the right detonator in it, that is. To me, the US - and most of the supposedly free West - increasingly looks like a truck being systematically filled with Semtex.

But it's easy to counter cries of alarm with the fact that the truck is stable - because it's true: you can hurl more boxes into the back without any real danger. Absent the right detonator, it is no more dangerous than a truckload of mayonnaise. But add the right detonator and you're just one click away from complete devastation.

Comment: Some very interesting connections were made in this article.

Indeed, historical evidence suggests that some extremely virulent plague outbreaks happen right when society is in no position to cope with them.

New Light on the Black Death: The Cosmic Connection

New study suggests cometary activity preceded Justinian Plague, wiping out Roman civilization and Western Europe 1,500 years ago


Heart

Family torn apart by WW2 finally reunited

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© Peter Corns
Maria, Elzbieta, and their aunt Stanislawa
A family torn apart by the Second World War has been reunited after a saga that crossed four continents.

Retired council worker Maria Nawara had nearly given up hope of tracing Polish relatives after 13 years of spending her holidays trawling through records across Europe.

But then the Red Cross found her long-lost aunt Stanislawa, by now 92, in Toronto, Canada.

Attention

Sky Airlines plane engine falls apart during takeoff from Chilean airport

sky airlines plane engine destroyed
© YouTube
A Santiago to Copiapo plane with 137 passengers onboard had to turn back to the airport in the Chilean capital after one of its engines fell apart as it prepared to take-off. A passenger filmed the horrifying scene from a seat above the wing.

Parts of the plane, which was carrying 137 passengers, started to rip apart as the plane gained altitude, according to Chile's Tele 13, which also says the parts looked flimsy from the outset and the protective casing on the engine broke off very soon after take-off.

Comment: This year has seen numerous incidences of aircraft accidents and mishaps:


Heart

Rallies supporting Russia's operation in Syria held across Europe, Mideast

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© Reuters / Stringer
Rallies supporting Russia's operation in Syria have been held Sunday in European and Middle Eastern states, including Berlin, Lebanon, Hungary and Serbia.

Members of Germany's Syrian community gathered outside the Russian embassy in Berlin on Sunday to express their gratitude to the Russian people for Moscow's support in the Syrian war against terrorism.

"We gathered here today in front of the Russian embassy because Russia is part of a coalition, which is fighting for peace in Syria, against war and terrorism everywhere in the world... We want to thank all Russians and President Vladimir Putin for their participation in the fight against terrorism and fascism in the Middle East," Radi Skandav, one of the participants of Sunday's rally, told RIA Novosti.

Russia's Sukhoi Su-25, Su-24M and Su-34 attack aircraft, with the support of Su-30 jets, have been conducting precision airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria since September 30, following a request from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Cheeseburger

Are we witnessing the final days of McDonald's? 700 stores to close

McDonald's trash
© Heather Felson/FLICKR
Embattled fast food giant McDonald's is making headlines yet again. The company has just launched its much advertised all-day breakfast program, but as that campaign rolls out, franchise owners are voicing their concerns over what may be the company's dying days.

As we covered at Anti-Media in June, the McDonald's franchise has been shrinking for the first time in the company's over 40 year history:

"McDonald's announced in April that it would be closing 700 'underperforming' locations, but because of the company's sheer size — it has 14,300 locations in the United States alone — this was not necessarily a reduction in the size of the company, especially because it continues to open locations around the world. It still has more than double the locations of Burger King, its closest competitor."

Comment: Good riddance! McDonald's, with its horrific 'food' and slave-labor wages, will not be missed.