Society's ChildS


Bomb

Deadly explosions at hotel hosting Egyptian election judges in Arish

Map of Egypt
© Google Maps
Two bombs have exploded near a hotel in Egypt's volatile Sinai region, where election judges were staying. At least three people have been killed, including a policeman, and 12 injured, security and medical sources said, as cited by Reuters.

The explosions in Arish come a day after the second round of a parliamentary election. The Army and police cordoned off the scene, while ambulances rushed there. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Reuters.

A suicide bomber detonated the bomb in front of the Swiss Inn hotel in the city, a security source told the Vetogate news portal. Reuters cited security sources who said the terrorist attempted to drive his bomb-laden vehicle into the hotel before security forces opened fire, causing the car to explode.

Whistle

New Jersey cop sues over getting fired for blowing whistle on fellow officer for targeting minorities, perjury

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© newsone.com
A New Jersey police officer who complained about his department's misconduct is now fighting for his job. He says he is being punished for accusing colleagues of lying to a judge, targeting minorities and strip-searching a minor.

Kyle Pirog, a 16-year veteran at the Bedminster Township Police Department, has filed a civil suit seeking unspecified damages, claiming that his department violated New Jersey's Conscientious Employee Protection Act by retaliating against him.

He was initially demoted after going to the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office with his concerns after his superiors failed to act on them, the Newark Star-Ledger reported on Monday. Now his attorney, Claudia A. Reis, says that Pirog's department has escalated its retaliation. He has been suspended indefinitely without pay since August, with termination pending an internal affairs investigation.

"Police and police departments are entrusted to protect the well-being and safety of the public and most of them do it admirably," Reis said. "But every once in a while you have someone who steps out of that role and targets people. When that happens, you need people to step forward and out of the blue code of silence to report those instances. To then target those very people for retaliation undermines what police and police departments are entrusted to do."

The suit was filed in Morris County instead of the neighboring Somerset County, because Pirog claims that his former coworker lied to the judge who serves the Somerset County Superior Court. The Bedminster Township Police Department, however, says that they are undergoing procedures to terminate Pirog because he committed five rules violations at the department, not in retaliation for whistleblowing. These include running his radar for long periods of time without making stops, falsifying his daily blotter and idling for long periods of time without performing police functions.

Comment: It is sickening that good policing is not rewarded these days.

See also:


USA

Terrorist threats causes US State Dept. to issue travel warning for Americans

Travelers
© Jonathan Alcorn / Reuters
The US Department of State issued a Worldwide Travel Alert on Monday, warning travelers of the potential risks of terrorism by the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and other unaffiliated individuals inspired by those groups.

The alert references past threats made against "large sporting events, theatres, open markets, and aviation services" and cites attacks in France, Nigeria, Denmark, Turkey, and Mali during the past year, as well as the downed Russian airliner over Egypt.

Sheriff

Innocent man struck over 50 times by San Antonio cops left paralyzed; officers receive no punishment

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© Courtesy of the Carols Family
A San Antonio man who was brutalized by three cops last year in a case of mistaken identity is now paralyzed from the chest down after complications during a surgery to repair his spine.

Roger Carlos, 43, has had to undergo multiple surgeries on his upper spine and his neck to relieve pain and pressure from herniated discs that resulted from his vicious beating by two SWAT officers and a drug task force officer in May 2014. The assault stemmed from the officers' pursuit of another man on drug and weapons charges. Instead of their suspect, they found Carlos, a father of three sons under the age of 10, instead.

Carlos, who has no criminal record, was simply outside using his phone to take pictures of his wife's medical practice, KENS5 reported. He has maintained that despite the mistaken identity, he had been complying with police when he was struck over 50 times.

Beyond his spinal and neck injuries, Carlos also had his tooth broken, a large gash cut above his eye and swelling of his skull. A CT scan also recently revealed a previously undiscovered brain aneurysm. "It's physically disabled him. It's mentally disabled him. He still hasn't since that day been able to get over this incident," his wife Ronnie Carlos told KENS5.

A police disciplinary board recommended a mere 15-day suspension for the trio of officers, but even that was later shortened to only five days. None of the officers ended up serving any suspension at all, however. At least the two SWAT officers, Carlos Chavez and Virgilo Gonzalez, remain employed with the SWAT team. The drug task force officer has never been publicly identified due to confidentiality issues with his position.

Comment: Only in a police state would there be no punishment for brutally assaulting an innocent person who was complying with police.

'Comply or die' in the American Police State


Quenelle

This Thanksgiving, we should be saying 'no thank you' to the tyranny of the American police state

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"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world."

—Daniel Webster
Thanksgiving is not what it once was.

Then again, America is not what she once was.

Americans have become so enthralled by the "bread and circuses" of our age—tables groaning under the weight of an abundance of rich foods, televisions tuned to sports and entertainments spectacles, stores competing for Black Friday shoppers, and a general devotion to excess and revelry—that we have lost sight of the true purpose of Thanksgiving.

Comment: Sadly, when the economy finally does irretrievably implode we can expect all of the fascistic forces mentioned here to go into overdrive. Prepare. Prepare. Prepare.


MIB

UN Human Rights Council leader Saudi Arabia sentences poet to death

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"... and when they complain about not being able to watch the films they want - 50 lashes in public!"
A Palestinian poet and leading member of Saudi Arabia's nascent contemporary art scene has been sentenced to death for renouncing Islam.

Fayadh, 35, a key member of the British-Saudi art organisation Edge of Arabia, was originally sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes by the general court in Abha, a city in the south-west of the ultraconservative kingdom, in May 2014.

But after his appeal was dismissed he was retried last month and a new panel of judges ruled that his repentance did not prevent his execution.

Fayadh's supporters believe he is being punished by hardliners for posting a video online showing the religious police (mutaween) in Abha lashing a man in public. "Some Saudis think this was revenge by the morality police," said Kareem.

The case highlights the tensions between hardline religious conservatives and the small but growing number of artists and activists who are tentatively pushing the boundaries of freedom of speech in Saudi Arabia, where cinema is banned and there are no art schools.

Comment: Saudi Arabia: Totalitarian iron-fisted dictatorship. Barbaric "religious" extremists. Terrorist supporters extraordinaire. Best buddies with the U.S. Gov't, oil industry and military-industrial-complex. Getting the picture?


Cloud Precipitation

All out war on self sufficiency: Several U.S. States criminalizing rainwater collection

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Collecting rainwater is classically seen as a safe and sustainable way of supplying your household with an off-the-grid water supply. Some people collect rainwater only for a backup reservoir, while others prefer to go all the way and maintain their household with pure off-the-grid rainwater collection. This method ensures water during emergencies, can help control floods, saves money and liberates us from company-dependence for our water.

Consequently, this freedom to collect our own rainwater is currently under attack. State laws have been set up in several U.S. States including Oregon, Utah, California, Florida, Colorado and Washington that prohibit the collection, or "diversion" of rainwater, including water that is falling on your own property and is to be used for your own private use or as an environmental conservation technique.

Attention

Russia shuts down Church of Scientology

Russian Church of Scientology
© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS Scientology church in Moscow.
The Moscow City Court on Monday ruled to shut down the local Church of Scientology at the Russian Justice Ministry's demand.

According to the ministry, the church regulations contradict the federal law on the freedom of religion.

The Moscow Church of Scientology registered in the capital in 1994 has been ordered to set up a commission to handle its liquidation within six months.

The organization's lawyers said the Justice Ministry gave no serious reasons which "could influence the liquidation."

"The organization violated no bans," lawyers said.

Comment: Another country banning the Church of Scientology.


Dollars

Should we pay for the Syrian refugees?

Syrian refugee child
© Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo
Last week the US House dealt a blow to President Obama's plan to resettle 10,000 Syrians fleeing their war-torn homeland. On a vote of 289-137, including 47 Democrats, the House voted to require the FBI to closely vet any applicant from Syria and to guarantee that none of them pose a threat to the US. Effectively this will shut down the program.

The House legislation was brought to the Floor after last week's attacks in Paris that left more than 120 people dead, and for which ISIS claimed responsibility. With the year-long US bombing campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, there is a good deal of concern that among those 10,000 to be settled here there might be some who wish to do us harm. Even though it looks as though the Paris attackers were all EU citizens, polling in the US shows record opposition to allowing Syrian refugees entry.

Star of David

Australian journalist detained by Israeli security for carrying details of Syrian fighters secretly treated in Israeli hospitals

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© Eva RinaldiSharri Markson, journalist at the Australian, was taken aside by Israeli security while visiting a hospital
Sharri Markson, a senior journalist at News Corp's the Australian, has said security forces in Israel were "heavy-handed" when they briefly detained her during a press tour after she collected personal details of wounded Syrian fighters being secretly treated in a hospital.

Sources said the chief executive of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, Vic Alhadeff, stepped in to defuse the tense situation when Markson was questioned about breaking the hospital's strict rules on protecting the identity of the 500 patients, some of whom are fighting in the Syrian war.

"The primary concern of the Israeli security personnel and hospital authorities was to protect the identities of the Syrian patients because disclosing their personal details would put them in danger," Alhadeff told Guardian Australia.

"There was an unfortunate misunderstanding but the situation was quickly defused and resolved."

Comment: Perhaps the Israelis were so interested in protecting the identities of the patients because the 'Syrian fighters" are really undercover Israeli agents or even paid mercenaries, and they can't have that knowledge being spread by the media. It wouldn't be surprising if she got a not-so-subtle message sent to her by the "heavy-handed" Israeli security.