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Seattle endorses creation of homeless shelter with safe injection sites for heroin addicts


RT
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 15:11 UTC
safe injection site vancouver

Injection room InSite in Vancouver, B.C. Participants at the clinic inject drugs under the supervision of trained staff and nurses.
As the nation battles an opioid epidemic, one city wants to try something radical. Seattle's Heroin Task Force has endorsed creating a safe heroin injection site and homeless shelter that would allow residents to use without costing them their housing.

Seattle is looking to kill two birds with one stone. The city's rate of homelessness has increasedby 19 percent since 2015, and in 2014, the city had the highest rate of deaths from heroin overdoses in 20 years.

This leaves Seattle's Heroin Task Force ready to try a completely new approach. Formed by Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine, the task force has endorsed opening housing for homeless that would not require abstinence and provides safe sites for injecting heroin to prevent overdoses.

Heroin addicts often find themselves shooting up in isolated, secret locations like public bathrooms or alleyways, which decreases the possibility of getting help in the case of an overdose. However, a majority of task-force members believe that opening a supervised facility that provides clean needles, naloxone in case of overdoses and connection to treatment opportunities could help reduce the risks heroin users face, accordingto the Seattle Times.

It could possibly even put some on the road to recovery.
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Sheeple

Mission accomplished? 15 years after 9/11, poll shows Americans feel more at risk from terrorism


RT
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 14:51 UTC
honor of the victims of the deadly attacks at a gay night club in Orlando
© Lisa Richwine / Reuters
Four in 10 Americans feel the country is less safe from terrorism now than it was before the September 11, 2001 attacks, a new poll shows. While concerns are bipartisan, Republicans are much warier of Islamic fundamentalism than Democrats.

On Monday, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs published the results of its annual survey, showing that 42 percent overall regarded America as less safe now than in 2001. This reflects the feelings of 53 percent of Republican and 34 percent of Democratic respondents, and is a dramatic increase from 27 percent overall in 2014.

Coming up on the 15th anniversary of 9/11, the survey showed something approaching a bipartisan consensus on the issue of combating international terrorism, with 70 percent of Democrats and 81 percent of Republicans in agreement.

Comment: The increase in terror attacks in the past two years seems to have affected American's fears. Be prepared to give up more rights in the name of fighting terrorism.

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Heart - Black

Russian Paralympic team banned from participating in Rio Games by CAS


RT
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 14:51 UTC
russia paralympic team
© Kirill Kallinikov / Sputnik
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected an appeal of a decision to bar all Russian athletes from the Rio Paralympic Games, set to take place September 7-18, which was filed by the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC).

The International Paralympic Committee "did not violate any procedural rule" when banning the Russian team two weeks ago, the CAS judges ruled.

The Russian appeal "did not file any evidence contradicting the facts on which the IPC decision was based," the CAS panel stated.

Russian Paralympic athletes have also been stripped of the right to file personal appeals with CAS, Russia's R-Sport news agency cites the IPC as saying.

International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Sir Philip Craven said "We are greatly encouraged that the CAS Panel has upheld the IPC Governing Board's unanimous decision to hold the Russian Paralympic Committee accountable for its membership responsibilities and obligations."

Comment: The Paralympic Games in Rio are now tainted. All participants should refuse to participate. They should agree with the Russian Public Chamber head's suggestion of holding a real Paralympic Games in Russia.

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Attention

Revolt of the masses? Trump has wide support among rural middle-class Americans

Selena Zito
New York Post
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 00:35 UTC
Trump Pennsylvania
© Getty
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.
If you drive anywhere in Pennsylvania, from the turnpike to the old US routes to the dirt roads connecting small towns like Hooversville with "bigger" small towns like Somerset, you might conclude that Donald Trump is ahead in this state by double digits.

Large signs, small signs, homemade signs, signs that wrap around barns, signs that go from one end of a fence to another dot the landscape with such frequency that, if you were playing the old-fashioned road-trip game of counting cows, you would hit 100 in just one small town like this one.

In Ruffsdale, I am pretty sure I saw more than 100 Trump signs.

It's as if people here have not turned on the television to hear pundits drone on and on about how badly Trump is losing in Pennsylvania.

It's not just visual: In interview after interview in all corners of the state, I've found that Trump's support across the ideological spectrum remains strong. Democrats, Republicans, independents, people who have not voted in presidential elections for years — they have not wavered in their support.

Two components of these voters' answers and profiles remain consistent: They are middle-class and they do not live in a big city. They are suburban to rural and are not poor — an element I found fascinating, until a Gallup survey last week confirmed that what I've gathered in interviews is more than just freakishly anecdotal.
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Heart - Black

Judge sentences high school athlete to probation after being convicted of sexually assaulting two unconscious classmaters

Sean Teehan
Mass Live
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:24 UTC
David Becker
© Screencap via YouTube
David Becker
A former East Longmeadow High School star athlete who was charged with sexually assaulting two unconscious classmates received two years probation in a decision out of Palmer District Court last week.

"He can now look forward to a productive life without being burdened with the stigma of having to register as a sex offender," said attorney Thomas Rooke, who defended David Becker, 18, in court. "The goal of this sentence was not to impede this individual from graduating high school and to go onto the next step of his life, which is a college experience."


Comment: And what about the victims? What about the effects this man's predatory behavior is going to have on their life going forward? Someone who sexually assaults two women is supposed to lose the privilege of being able to move forward in life unimpeded by consequences. Yet we have another case of a judge supporting the rapist and apparently refusing to give real justice to the victims of a very serious crime. Judges in this country put people in jail for years for possessing marijuana, a victimless crime, yet a man who assaulted two unconscious women gets probation. This is a travesty of justice.


On August 15, Palmer District Court Judge Thomas Estes ordered Becker's case continued without a finding for two years, during which time he must remain drug and alcohol-free, submit to an evaluation for sex offender treatment and stay away from the two 18-year old victims.

The sentence allows Becker to serve out the terms of probation in Ohio, where he stated on his Facebook page he had planned to attend college. He will not have to register as a sex offender, and no conviction will appear on his record, as long as he complies with the conditions of probation.
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Smoking

Charlottetown non-smoking rules 'not being enforced' - smokers light up

Dave Stewart
The Guardian
Sun, 21 Aug 2016 14:05 UTC
smoking ban

Charlottetown parks and recreation chairman Mitch Tweel wants enforcement of non-smoking rules.
Mitch Tweel says he sees people smoking in public places and that is against regulations

Charlottetown's parks and recreation committee chairman wants people to simply butt out.

Councillor Mitchell Tweel is talking about the city's tobacco free policy, saying people aren't abiding by the rules.

The city's tobacco free policy for indoor and outdoor recreation and sport facilities went into effect Jan. 1, 2009. It has been mainly through public awareness and education that the city has been attempting to get the message across.

Comment: Further reading:

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USA

Florida man angry after niece brings home waiver from school to be excused from reciting Pledge of Allegiance


Fox 8
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 14:18 UTC
pledge allegiance waiver
A Florida man is upset after his niece brought home a Pledge of Allegiance waiver that asked parents to sign and return the form if they'd like their child to "be excused from reciting" it.

It read:
"I understand my rights as a parent and I request that my child, noted above, be excused from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. This request includes standing and placing his/her right hand over his/her heart."
In frustration, Micah Brienen took to Facebook last Thursday. "My niece brought this home from school today...What is happening to our country?!?" he said in the post.

Brienen's sister-in-law returned the form with her daughter, writing the following in response: "This is the dumbest thing I have ever read and I am so ashamed of this."

The post has been shared more than 13,400 times.

Several days later, Brienen followed up his initial post with one asking his friends to contact the school's superintendent about the issue and letting them know that he is up for reelection.


Comment: Indeed, what is the country coming to? In a real democracy, you don't need a waiver to exercise freedom. The Pledge of Allegiance is a joke and a lie. No child should be forced to recite it.

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Attention

Evacuations ordered in San Diego neighborhood due to mysterious gas leak


RT
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 03:57 UTC
gas leak san diego
The San Diego Police Department has ordered evacuations in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, California, following a gas leak report at 6:50pm Monday, according to reports. The source of the leak remains unknown.

More than 200 people are evacuating the area of Bacon Street and Del Monte Avenue, according to officials, local NBC-affiliate KNSD reports.

A 70 percent gas reading was found near a sewer man hole by a San Diego Gas and Electric technician, KNSD reported, but because the source is unknown, the evacuation order is indefinite.
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Arrow Up

Virginia House unanimously decides industrial hemp will be legal ignoring federal prohibition

Erin Elizabeth
Health Nut News
Fri, 19 Aug 2016 02:14 UTC
Hemp

The Virginia state House of Delegates has passed a bill that will make industrial hemp completely legal throughout the state, overriding any federal interference.
Passed 98-0, every delegate jumped on board to seize their right, as a state, to lead their own destiny. Hemp is one of the most valuable commodities on the planet, functioning as food, fiber and, of course, one of the most amazing recreational drugs known to man.

Introduced by Del. Brenda Pogge (R-Norge), House Bill 699 (HB699) would change state law and remove a provision forcing hemp farmers to get federal approval before licensing their farm. It also requires the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to "adopt regulations as necessary to license persons to grow and process industrial hemp for any purpose."

If passed through the senate, Virginia would join a host of states that have already taken the reigns to grow industrial hemp. The states of Colorado, Oregon, South Carolina, Connecticut, Maine, North Dakota and Vermont have ignored federal prohibition and legalized the production and manufacturing of hemp.

Comment: See also: Industrial hemp sure to become NC's newest legal crop

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Bomb

Pipeline terrorist act thwarted, Georgia


Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC
oil pipeline
© oilprice.com
Georgian authorities say they have thwarted a "terrorist act" on a gas pipeline that supplies natural gas from Russia to Armenia.

Georgia's State Security Service said in a statement on August 22 that seven individuals had been detained two days earlier. Five of the suspects, all of whom are Georgian citizens, are facing charges of illegal purchase and storage of firearms, ammunition, and explosives "with the goal of carrying out a terrorist attack," the statement said.

According to the security service, the suspects allegedly planned to blow up a gas pipeline near the village of Saguramo, some 20 kilometers from the capital, Tbilisi.

A police officer, Levan Mamporia, was also detained and is suspected of abuse of power. A seventh suspect is accused of failing to "report a crime on the stage of its preparation."
      Read More...
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