Society's ChildS


Biohazard

Chernobyl contaminating cow milk 30 years after catastrophic nuclear meltdown - study


RT
Sat, 09 Jun 2018 17:55 UTC
Chernobyl
© Getty ImagesCooling towers stand at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
More than 30 years after its catastrophic meltdown, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is being blamed for high radiation levels discovered in local cow's milk.

Sampling milk from private farms in the Ukraine's Rivne region, scientists from Exeter University and the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences made a startling find - radioactive material from more than three decades ago has leached into the livestock.

The lingering nuclear fallout from 1986 means farmers are unwittingly producing milk with radioactive caesium levels above the Ukraine safety standard of 100 becquerel per litre. The becquerel is a unit of radioactivity, with the new report documenting how some farms had milk with a radioactivity concentration of around 500 becquerel per litre.

One of the researchers, Dr Iryna Labunska, of the University of Exeter, believes the issue warrants government intervention. She said that while soil contamination in the Rivne region is not particularly high, the milk study shows how nuclear accidents have a long lasting legacy.
Read More...
Footprints

Liberals have ruined California: Democrat-led policies create endless mass exodus

Bob Shanahan
Investment Watch Blog
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 15:10 UTC
welcome to california
© @toby1942wow/Twitter
On Tuesday's primary election in California, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom moved closer to becoming governor of the most populous state in the country and the world's fifth largest economy. He will be going up against the hapless and uninspiring John Cox, a Republican, in the November general election.

Although current Governor Jerry Brown is quite an urban utopian socialist, he is at least leaving the state with a sizable surplus totaling $6.1 billion. But when Newsom takes over, that will be quickly dispensed with and the situation in California will get worse than it already is.

Newsom is calling for a universal health care system and a plan for building affordable housing, in addition to: "A master plan for aging with dignity. A middle-class workforce strategy. A cradle-to-college promise for the next generation. An all-hands approach to ending child poverty." His platform includes an unworkable array of big government proposal to save a an extremely populous and drastically diverse state. He wants a state bank to finance infrastructure and many other costly items on his endless liberal wish list that would balloon the state budget that Brown has done a respectable job at right-sizing.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Jet2

US Air Force grounds all B-1B 'Lancer' bomber fleet after ejection seat malfunction


RT
Sat, 09 Jun 2018 12:01 UTC
Air force
© Ian Hodgson / ReutersB-1 bombers
The US Air Force has grounded its entire B-1B 'Lancer' bomber fleet, due to safety concerns related to the aircraft's ejection seats not functioning properly.

The decision was taken as a direct result of an incident last month, where a Lancer had to make an emergency landing at Midland Airport in Texas.

The Air Force confirmed in a statement that a safety investigation uncovered an issue with ejection seat components that necessitated a stand-down of the full fleet until further investigations are complete. The aircraft will return to flight as issues are resolved.

Questions were raised at the time as to whether the ejection seat had failed after photos of the incident circulated on social media, showing that at least one of the four cockpit escape hatches had blown, but the ejection seat had not been deployed.
Read More...
Eye 2

Migrant suspected in rape & murder of 14- year-old captured in Iraq after fleeing Germany


RT
Sat, 09 Jun 2018 12:09 UTC
Migrant suspected in rape and murder
An Iraqi migrant suspected in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old German girl has been detained in his native country after attempting to flee Germany, the German government has said.

The 20-year-old man, identified as Ali B., was taken into custody by Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq on Friday morning, at the request of German federal police, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told reporters.

The suspect apparently left Germany several days ago, accompanied by his parents and five siblings. German authorities say they believe the Iraqi national arrived in Germany in October 2015 via Turkey and Greece, amid a wave of refugees that entered Europe.

German police say that Ali B. had recently been living in a refugee shelter located outside the girl's hometown of Mainz. Her body was found in a wooded area near the shelter on Wednesday.
Read More...
Attention

As official gatekeeper Snopes debunks Arizona child trafficking camp, 160 children rescued from traffickers in Georgia

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Sat, 09 Jun 2018 15:57 UTC
child trafficking snopes
A massive sting operation carried out by the FBI in metro Atlanta captured dozens of child traffickers and rescued 160 children who had been forced into sex slavery by their captors. This news comes as Snopes and the other ostensible arbiters of truth distort information claiming that similar trafficking is taking place in Arizona.

Illustrating the massive scope of the sting, called Operation Safe Summer, it was a collaborative effort between the FBI and 38 other law enforcement agencies from six metro counties.

"They are crimes of special concern to the FBI and to law enforcement generally," Special Agent in Charge Matt Alcoke told Channel 2. "Because the victims are so vulnerable as children and because the offenders could be from just about any walk of life, from a gang member all the way up to someone who is highly successful and wealthy."

"It's important for those of us who are responsible for the children, the parents, the guardians, the older siblings, to not let children fall away (from) those strongly centered circles of importance," Alcoke said.

This case illustrates how sinister and outright dangerous it is for the supposed arbiters of truth like Snopes, to immediately write off any allegations of child trafficking as "conspiracy theory" and fake news.

Comment: See also: Metro Atlanta sex-trafficking sting rescues nearly 160 children, authorities say

Read More...
Eye 1

Eye in the Sky: This is the week that the drone surveillance state became real

Dave Gershgorn
Quartz
Fri, 08 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
police drone survelliance
© Aerial eyes. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
Affordable consumer technology has made surveillance cheap and commoditized AI software has made it automatic.

Those two trends merged this week, when drone manufacturer DJI partnered June 5 with Axon, the company that makes Taser weapons and police body cameras, to sell drones to local police departments around the United States. Now, not only do local police have access to drones, but footage from those flying cameras will be automatically analyzed by AI systems not disclosed to the public.

Footage will be uploaded or streamed to Axon's digital cloud for police cameras, like the body cameras it currently sells, where it can be analyzed by Axon's AI and used for anything from crowd monitoring to search and rescue, the company writes on its website.

This sounds vague, but AI research published two days earlier by academics from India and the UK shows exactly how such a drone system could be used. The paper, titled "Eye in the Sky," details how drone footage could be used to detect "violent individuals" in real-time.

Comment: Sacramento residents disturbed by government drone flying overhead

Read More...
Smiley

Twitter chuckles about 'Russian interference' after historic Stanley Cup win of Ovechkin's Capitals


RT
Fri, 08 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
Alex Ovechkin with stanley cup
© Stephen R. Sylvanie -USA TODAY Sports / ReutersJun 7, 2018; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) kisses the Stanley Cup after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in game five of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena
Within minutes of the Washington Capitals' first Stanley Cup ever, their victory was chalked up to "Russian meddling." When the team, featuring Alex Ovechkin and two other Russians, claimed the Cup, Twitter just couldn't resist.

The Washington Capitals defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in game 5 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on Thursday. Alexander Ovechkin became the first Russia-born player to captain his team to the most coveted prize in hockey.

Of course, Twitter wouldn't be Twitter if it passed up the chance to make a few jabs.

The majority of the jokes, however, were light-hearted.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Family

Baby born to transgender man could become first child without a legal mother

Danielle Sheridan
The Telegragh
Sat, 09 Jun 2018 10:25 UTC
Baby and fatther
A baby could become the first person without a legal mother if a transgender man wins a historic court battle.

Lawyers representing the parent told a judge that he had been biologically able to get pregnant and give birth but had legally become a man when the child was born.

The man wants to be identified as the child's "father" or "parent" on a birth certificate, however a birth registrar told the man the law requires people who give birth to children to be registered as mothers.

The man has since taken legal action against the body set up to administer statutory provisions relating to the registration of births and deaths after complaining of discrimination.

Comment: Babies are only born of women.

Read More...
X

College student who falsely accused football players of rape will spend less than one year behind bars


Conservative Fighters
Sat, 09 Jun 2018 14:18 UTC
Nikki Yovino
A female college student who was facing six years in prison after admitting to falsely accusing two football players of raping her has gotten off relatively easy: As the result of a last-minute plea deal, former Sacred Heart University student Nikki Yovino will only spend one year behind bars, if that. Meanwhile, both of the falsely accused men have left the school after saying they were dismissed from the team and had their scholarships revoked, which the school has disputed.

Yovino was facing up to six years in prison after being charged with second-degree falsely reporting an incident and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. The charges stem from her false claim to police in October 2016 that two student athletes raped her in a bathroom during an off-campus party, a claim she admitted was false three months later after her story fell apart.

The Connecticut Post provides some more details on her false accusation (formatting adjusted):
On Oct. 15, 2016, police were dispatched to St. Vincent's Medical Center for a sexual assault complaint. Police said Yovino told them she had attended a Sacred Heart football club party the night before at a house at Lakeside Drive in Bridgeport.

Police said the woman claimed the two men pulled her into a bathroom in the basement of the house. "I don't want to be in here, I don't want to do anything. My friends are waiting for me outside, let me go outside," police said Yovino claimed she told the men. They said she continued that they held her down and each took a turn sexually assaulting her.

Both players admitted to having sex with Yovino in the restroom, but they insisted that it was consensual. A witness also testified to hearing Yovino tell them she wanted to have sex with the two athletes. Detectives additionally noted "inconsistencies in [Yovino's] original statement."

Comment: Unfortunately, the damage has already been done and she has left 2 lives in ruin. The stigma attached never goes away even after it being proven false while she essentially gets a slap on the wrist. See also:

Read More...
Russian Flag

We are all still waiting for evidence of a Russian hack

Ray McGovern
Consortium News
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 14:02 UTC
russian hackers
If you are wondering why so little is heard these days of accusations that Russia hacked into the U.S. election in 2016, it could be because those charges could not withstand close scrutiny. It could also be because special counsel Robert Mueller appears to have never bothered to investigate what was once the central alleged crime in Russia-gate as no one associated with WikiLeaks has ever been questioned by his team.

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity - including two "alumni" who were former National Security Agency technical directors - have long since concluded that Julian Assange did not acquire what he called the "emails related to Hillary Clinton" via a "hack" by the Russians or anyone else. They found, rather, that he got them from someone with physical access to Democratic National Committee computers who copied the material onto an external storage device - probably a thumb drive. In December 2016 VIPS explained this in some detail in an open Memorandum to President Barack Obama.

On January 18, 2017 President Obama admitted that the "conclusions" of U.S. intelligence regarding how the alleged Russian hacking got to WikiLeaks were "inconclusive." Even the vapid FBI/CIA/NSA "Intelligence Community Assessment of Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections" of January 6, 2017, which tried to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for election interference, contained no direct evidence of Russian involvement. That did not prevent the "handpicked" authors of that poor excuse for intelligence analysis from expressing "high confidence" that Russian intelligence "relayed material it acquired from the Democratic National Committee ... to WikiLeaks." Handpicked analysts, of course, say what they are handpicked to say.

Comment: See also:

Read More...