Society's Child

Voodoo practitioners fear backlash after recent crimes against children involving rituals

Alanna Durkin Riche
Fox News
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 22:54 UTC

© Marc Vasconcellos
Sisters Rachel Hilaire and Peggy LaBossiere sit in Brockton District Court in Bridgewater, Mass., charged with tying down and burning a 5-year-old girl, permanently disfiguring her, in a voodoo ritual meant to rid her of a demon causing her to misbehave.

Two separate crimes against children in recent days have one haunting similarity: authorities have pointed to Voodoo rituals as a possible motive.

But practitioners of Haitian Vodou, which adherents spell differently to distinguish it from other variants, say the religion does not sanction violence and fear the crimes will spark a backlash against their community.

"We are being targeted," said Maude Evans, a Haitian native and Vodou priestess in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood. "I'm really concerned that that's how it's going to be from now on. They will do things and blame it on Vodou."

Two sisters in East Bridgewater were arrested last month after they tied down and burned a 5-year-old girl, permanently disfiguring her, in a "voodoo ritual" meant to rid her of a demon, authorities say. Peggy LaBossiere, who was arrested with her sister Rachel Hilaire, also is accused of threatening to cut off the head of the girl's 8-year-old brother with a machete.

Facebook is uncool and younger users are leaving

AFP
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 22:45 UTC

With mom, dad and grandma signing up in increasing numbers, Facebook is losing younger users in the United States at a faster pace than previously estimated, researchers said Monday.

A report by eMarketer said Snapchat is drawing youths away from Facebook at a quicker clip than Facebook-owned Instagram.

Facebook is still growing in the US market, according to research firm, mainly due to increases in usage by older age groups.

The report is the latest to highlight Facebook's problem with attracting and keeping young people, who have long been a core user base for the world's biggest social network.

The research firm said it expected the first-ever decline in the 18-24 age group in the US, a drop of 5.8 percent this year.

Big Pharma spent $10mn to promote 'opioid friendly' messaging

RT
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 21:33 UTC

Drug companies spent nearly $10 million promoting opioid drug use to patient advocacy groups and other nonprofit organisations between 2012 and 2017. More than 42,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2016.

Physicians affiliated with patient advocacy groups accepted more than $1.6 million in payments from five manufacturers between 2013 and 2018, according to a new report released Monday by a Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The report exposes financial connections between opioid manufacturers and advocacy groups, and points to close alignment between "medical culture and industry goals," regarding narcotic painkiller distribution.

"The fact that these same manufacturers provided millions of dollars to the groups described below suggests, at the very least, a direct link between corporate donations and the advancement of opioids-friendly messaging", the report states.

The report centres on the expenditure of five drug companies: Purdue Pharma L.P., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Mylan N.V., Depomed, Inc. and Insys Therapeutics, Inc., as well as 14 patient advocacy groups "working on chronic pain and other opioid-related issues."

Comment: Big Pharma under fire: NYC sues eight companies for deceptive marketing and flooding the market with opioids

Steve Hughes: The Liberal Mentality (VIDEO)

Sott.net
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 13:25 UTC

Steve Hughes is a stand-up comedian who has consistently had his finger on the pulse for years, especially when it comes to 'political correctness'. In the following video uploaded by Bull Brand, Hughes gives his take on the madness of the 'radical left':

Could America be having second thoughts about free speech?

Damon Linker
The Week
Tue, 06 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC

The free speech wars are getting worse, but it seems that none of the warring factions quite grasp the character of the dispute - or precisely what's at stake. At the figurative center of the clash is the norm of near-absolute freedom of speech and expression, which its defenders like to treat as the American default. A number of ideological challenges have arisen in recent years to overturn this norm.

On many college campuses, groups of left-leaning students insist that free speech should be conditional on speakers adhering to explicit standards of diversity and avoiding the infliction of emotional harm on the members of marginalized groups through the spreading of "hate."

From the opposite ideological direction, President Trump believes that the government should "take a strong look" at libel laws to keep news organizations from subjecting his own administration to negative coverage.

Finally, from the center-left come calls to use anti-discrimination law to punish organizations that oppose the legitimacy of same-sex marriage and accommodations for transgender people. If that happens - either by passing new laws that explicitly add to existing anti-discrimination statutes or by courts treating the members of these groups as protected classes covered by existing law - the result will almost certainly be a significant constriction of speech, as those holding more conservative views will face sanction for expressing them in public.

Those are the trends - and each one looks, to the others, like the onset of democratic decline.

Comment: Free speech comes and goes? Status quo decides? The 'American default' is being faulted; surely we notice this distraction.

Third world levels of poverty and disease in the richest country in the world reveals an America in decline

Rania Khalek
RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 20:23 UTC

As the wealthy continue sucking the country dry, the question now isn't if the US will cease to provide a decent standard of living for its people. Rather it is how many people will be sacrificed on the way down.

In America, the richest nation in the world when measured by raw GDP, children are getting sick from living by open pools of raw sewage. This was one of many shocking findings by the United Nations late last year, following a two-week investigation into extreme poverty in the US.

The UN report was issued last December by a team of investigators who visited California, Alabama, Georgia, Puerto Rico, West Virginia and Washington DC.

"The United States is one of the world's richest, most powerful and technologically innovative countries; but neither its wealth, nor its power, nor its technology is being harnessed to address the situation in which 40 million people continue to live in poverty," wrote Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

Virgin Atlantic bows to pressure from Israeli supporters, removes Palestinian salad name from in-flight menu

RT
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 20:19 UTC

Virgin Atlantic faces an ongoing backlash over a salad on its in-flight menu after the meal's 'Palestinian' name was shared on a pro-Israel Facebook page.

The 'Palestinian couscous salad' - which includes a mix of Maftoul and other couscous, along with tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, mint and lemon vinaigrette - sparked a backlash after passengers posted it on social media.

An image of the in-flight menu was posted on the ‎Israel Advocacy Movement Facebook page by passenger David Garnelas, who said: "I thought this was an Israeli salad...obviously [airline founder Richard] Branson showing his true colours...Israelis must boycott Virgin and Israel must ask for an explanation. When I complained the stewardess tried to take back the menu from me."

Baltimore cops convicted in Gun Task Force corruption scandal accused of 'playing cops and robbers'

RT
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 20:14 UTC

Two Baltimore, Maryland police detectives were convicted of racketeering and robbery after drug dealers testified they used seized weapons to steal narcotics. Prosecutors accused the officers of playing "both cops and robbers."

Officers Daniel Hersl and Marcus Taylor, once members of Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force, were found guilty by a jury on Monday. They had pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering, extortion and using a firearm in a violent crime. In a number of alleged incidents, the officers are said to have sold guns and drugs on the streets, stole from drug dealers, and jailed innocent people.

The pair's defense was somewhat undermined by evidence supplied by six other officers, and former members of their alleged gang, who have pleaded guilty to similar charges.

"What is nauseating and deplorable is not that it was exposed in court, but that they did those things," federal prosecutor Leo Wise told the jury in his closing remarks, according to WBAL-TV, adding that members of the now-defunct Gun Trace Task Force had been caught playing "both cops and robbers."

Celebrities call for release of Ahed Tamimi, 17yo Palestinian hero, from Israeli prison

972mag.com
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 18:56 UTC

Dozens of major American actors, athletes, musicians, scholars, and political figures signed a statement published Monday by American human rights group, Dream Defenders, calling for the release of Ahed Tamimi. Tamimi, a 17-year-old Palestinian who was arrested in December following the publication of a video showing her pushing and slapping armed Israeli soldiers on the porch of her family's home in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.

Tamimi is set to appear before an Israeli military court on Tuesday, after being indicted on charges of assault and incitement, which could potentially land her in prison for several years. She has been in Israeli custody since her arrest.

Signatories of the letter, titled "Dream Defenders & Allies Stand with Ahed Tamimi and the Palestinian Freedom Struggle," include Angela Davis, Jesse Williams, Danny Glover, Alice Walker, Rosario Dawson, Cornel West, Talib Kweli, Marc Lamont Hill, Michelle Alexander, Robin D.G. Kelley, and Michael Bennett.

Comment: The two situations are hardly equivalent. Slave traders stole people and brought them to America as slaves. Jews invaded Palestine and stole their land and intimidated them into leaving their homes.

Radicalized Austrian teens face trial over 'jihadist plot to kill police officers'

RT
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 18:48 UTC

Two Austrian teenagers and a young Chechen charged with plotting to kill as many police officers as possible in a jihadist attack are facing trial in Vienna.

The 22-year-old Chechen, who fled to Austria as a child in 2005, along with two 19-year-olds, will stand trial on Wednesday, according to Austrian news agency APA, which reportedly saw a prosecutors' charge sheet.

The Chechen Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) member known as Abus Nuuh instructed one of the teens to shoot police officers in 2015, a court spokeswoman said. The plot was foiled by authorities after they discovered an internet chat about the planned attack between one of the suspects and a German man, who was also accused of plotting his own jihadist bomb attack with the help of another Austrian teen, Reuters reports.

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Society's Child

Voodoo practitioners fear backlash after recent crimes against children involving rituals

Facebook is uncool and younger users are leaving

Big Pharma spent $10mn to promote 'opioid friendly' messaging

Steve Hughes: The Liberal Mentality (VIDEO)

Could America be having second thoughts about free speech?

Third world levels of poverty and disease in the richest country in the world reveals an America in decline

Virgin Atlantic bows to pressure from Israeli supporters, removes Palestinian salad name from in-flight menu

Baltimore cops convicted in Gun Task Force corruption scandal accused of 'playing cops and robbers'

Celebrities call for release of Ahed Tamimi, 17yo Palestinian hero, from Israeli prison

Radicalized Austrian teens face trial over 'jihadist plot to kill police officers'

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