Society's ChildS


Heart - Black

Dutch court rules that migrants' right to food and shelter not unconditional

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© Reuters / Yannis BehrakisStranded Iranian migrant has his mouth sewed shut by a colleague during a protest at the Greek-Macedonian border near the Greek village of Idomeni November 26, 2015
A Dutch high court on Thursday upheld a government policy of withholding food and shelter to rejected asylum-seekers who refuse to be repatriated, giving legal backing to one of Europe's toughest immigration policies.

The Raad van State or Council of State, which reviews the legality of government decisions, found that the new policy of conservative Prime Minister Mark Rutte does not contravene the European Convention on Human Rights.

A rejected asylum seeker does not have the right to appeal to the European Social Charter, it said.

Comment: The European lockdown continues, step by step, and the persecution of refugees fleeing their war torn countries is continuing to escalate as the people of Europe and the USA gradually lose their own humanity. The entire situation is incredibly similar to the rise of Nazi Germany with its persecution of Jews, except this time it's Muslims worldwide. Mankind is descending into very dark times from which it might not recover.


Quenelle

People Power! The moment students turned their backs on Katie Hopkins' hate speech

Katie Hopkins
Katie Hopkins - Britain's answer to the vile Ann Coulter.
Video shows Brunel University students give controversial columnist a frosty reception at beginning of debate on welfare state

A video has emerged of students at Brunel University giving the rest of the world a masterclass in how to deal with the Daily Mail columnist Katie Hopkins: don't silence her, or threaten her - just turn your backs on her.

The former Apprentice contestant turned professional troll - who once called drowning Mediterranean migrants "cockroaches" for daring to try to find a place of safety - was booked as a panellist at the university's 50th anniversary debate on the future of the welfare state.

The university lecture hall was packed ahead of the rightwing columnist's appearance on Monday night. As she made her opening comments, however, students stood and turned their backs on her before filing out in protest.


The inclusion of Hopkins on the west London university's debate panel was met with widespread outcry from the student body. But the union did not want to undermine the principle of free speech by calling for her to be banned from the event. Instead, they came up with the ultimate show of peaceful disapproval: organised back-turning.

Comment: Exactly how to deal with pathologicals. Deny them attention, energy and cooperation.


Blue Planet

We should be thankful for breaking free from mass media and being part of an awakened humanity

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Anyone who is awakened to the worldwide horrors the US, ISIS and their allies are imposing on the rest of humanity knows that the thing that makes these horrors worse is the accompanying deceptive mainstream media 24/7 lies. There's nothing worse than seeing Western mainstream media continue to portray ISIS as if they are the "enemy" of the US, while the US military and Western-backed nations like Turkey, Israel, and Saudi Arabia continue to support ISIS. As a result, the ongoing bold lies and the obnoxious propaganda is further repelling awakened humanity from mainstream media and driving a permanent wedge between the freed human mind and the entire concept of Western propaganda. The whole thing is sickening and repulsive, and I believe freedom-loving humanity is responding to this worldwide.

The recent inundation of lies and over-the-top propaganda intended to lead us toward World War 3, is so obnoxious and mentally repelling that truth seekers can easily make a choice to separate themselves for an entire day (Thanksgiving day) to reminisce how fortunate we are to not be plagued by these ongoing lies. If you haven't thought of this, I want to invite all truth seekers to do just that on this Thanksgiving day. Let's turn off mainstream media and let's be thankful for the awareness we have about the world around us. Let's believe that there is a reason for the awareness. I believe humanity has a mechanism of self-preservation and we are the expression of that preservation. For that I am thankful today and so should you.

Stock Down

The U.S. dollar's recessionary effect on the world economy and how the Fed may be about to make things much worse

Yellen
The 7th largest economy on the entire planet, Brazil, has been gripped by a horrifying recession, as has much of the rest of South America. But it isn't just South America that is experiencing a very serious economic downturn. We have just learned that Japan (the third largest economy in the world) has lapsed into recession. So has Canada. So has Russia. The dominoes are starting to fall, and it looks like the global economic crisis that has already started is going to accelerate as we head into the end of the year. At this point, global trade is already down about 8.4 percent for the year, and last week the Baltic Dry Shipping Index plummeted to a brand new all-time record low. Unfortunately for all of us, the Federal Reserve is about to do something that will make this global economic slowdown even worse.

Throughout 2015, the U.S. dollar has been getting stronger. That sounds like good news, but the truth is that it is not. When the last financial crisis ended, emerging markets went on a debt binge unlike anything we have ever seen before. But much of that debt was denominated in U.S. dollars, and now this is creating a massive problem. As the U.S. dollar has risen, the prices that many of these emerging markets are getting for the commodities that they export have been declining. Meanwhile, it is taking much more of their own local currencies to pay back and service all of the debts that they have accumulated. Similar conditions contributed to the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s, the Asian currency crisis of the 1990s and the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.

Comment: If past Fed policies and actions are any clue - and we can certainly say that they are - we can probably expect a very nasty outcome if/when the Fed raises its interest rates. Hold on to your hats.


Sheriff

Utterly ridiculous! Florida cops bust weekly 'penny-ante' mahjong game played by elderly women

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© Greg Baker/AFP/Getty ImagesMahjong game
Police in Florida busted a game of mahjong in Florida at a condominium clubhouse. The group accused of the crime: four women between the ages of 87 and 95. Heritage Florida reports that police came to shut down the friendly game played by Lee Delnick, Bernice Diamond, Helen Greenspan and Zelda King.

King says word spread about their weekly gathering and that a "troublemaker" in the community called the police citing a law that prohibits playing the game for money. Police closed the clubhouse. The women were sent a formal notice from condominium management stating that there would be no more mahjong, bingo, or poker played in the location until further notice. Police reportedly stopped by several times later that week to make sure the games weren't being played.

"This is ridiculous," King said. "We haven't played in the clubhouse for weeks! We have to go to each other's homes to play and not everyone lives in Escondido. It is an international game and we are being crucified!" The 87-year-old said the game is good for the elderly and that even her doctor has told her that it can delay dementia. The women suggested they could "just play for fun" without money, but the property manager said they should "lay low," until things were resolved.

After a bit of investigating, officials came to the conclusion that there is no ordinance prohibiting mahjong gambling of the nature. Heritage Florida did find Statute 849.085, which states: "Certain penny-ante games are not crimes; 'Penny-ante game' means a game or series of games of poker, pinochle, bridge, rummy, canasta, hearts, dominoes, or mahjong in which the winnings of any player in a single round, hand, or game do not exceed $10 in value."

Comment: Thank goodness police didn't use SWAT or flash-bang grenades to break up this 'illegal' mahjong cartel!


Airplane

Four dead in Army helicopter crash at Fort Hood, Texas

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4 dead in U.S. Army helicopter crash at Fort Hood
Four crew members on an Army helicopter were killed when it crashed Monday evening at Ft. Hood in central Texas, officials said.

The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter went down sometime after 5:49 p.m. in the northeastern part of the massive Army post.

Emergency crews conducted "an extensive search" and reported that all four crew members were found dead.

A statement released early Tuesday said the crew had been assigned to Division West, First Army and were on a routine training mission. The names of the crew members will be released after their families have been notified, the statement said.

The cause of the crash remained unknown.


Ambulance

Mi-8 helicopter crash in East Siberia killed 15 people and put 10 others in intensive care

Mi-8 helicopter crash
© Reuters/Russia's Emergencies Ministry in Krasnoyarsk region/Handout
A view shows the site of a Mi-8 helicopter crash near the town of Igarka in Krasnoyarsk region, Russia, November 26, 2015.
According to the latest data, fifteen people have been killed and 10 others are in intensive care after the Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, in Eastern Siberia, a senior aide to the local transport prosecutor has said.

"At the moment, 15 people have been killed and 10 people are in intensive care, one is being retrieved from the destroyed fuselage of the helicopter," Oksana Gorbunova told TASS.

It was earlier reported that twelve people were believed to be dead after the crash.

The helicopter was carrying 25 people, including 22 passengers and three crew members. "The helicopter has fallen in the Yenisei [river] and is lying on the ice. People are being evacuated," local police told TASS.

The helicopter was en route from Igarka to an oil production facility in Krasny Selkub. The emergencies ministry said the helicopter made a hard landing in a difficult access area some 2 kilometers from the airport of Igarka and its fuselage was destroyed without catching fire.

Comment: The Moscow Times is also reporting:
An investigation has been opened into the cause of the crash and numerous explanations have been presented in the Russian media.

The helicopter was tested pre-flight and was not defective, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said. "All the helicopter mechanisms were in good condition. The weather conditions were also favorable, a ministry spokesman said, Interfax reported.



Stormtrooper

The myth of Thanksgiving

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A digitally blurred reproduction of a painting, titled The First Thanksgiving 1621, by artist J.L.G Ferris.
Thanksgiving is the favorite holiday of many US Americans; unlike the rather boring or divisive holidays that honor Columbus, Presidents, Martin Luther King, Jr., Independence, veterans and war, the birth of a religion, and a new year, Thanksgiving is centered on sharing food with family and friends. Individuals and families travel long distances at great expense to be with one another. It might be surprising to learn that the cherished tradition of Thanksgiving is, in fact, the most nationalist of all holidays because it narrates the national origin myth. The traditional meal, as we know, consists of the foods cultivated by Indigenous farmers - corn, squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and turkey.

The US origin story of a covenant with God goes back to the Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of the Plymouth Colony. It is named for the ship that carried the hundred or so passengers, half of them religious dissidents, to what is now Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in November 1620. This compact marked the beginning of settler democracy, which from its inception sought the elimination of the Indigenous. Behind the black clothed and solemn "Pilgrims," was a corporation of shareholders, the Virginia Company, accompanied by armed and seasoned mercenaries on a colonizing project ordered by the English King James. If any local Natives were present at a colonizers' celebratory meal, they were surely there as servants, and the foods were confiscated, not offered as a gift.

Light Saber

Syngenta seed company sued for millions in losses - Indiana farmers mislead about marketability of crops

farm
Nearly 3,000 Indiana corn farmers claim in a lawsuit that the Swiss company Syngenta prematurely released a genetically modified seed to market, costing them millions in losses from plummeting corn prices and a Chinese import ban.

According to Keith Orebaugh, lead plaintiff who is seeking class-action status in the lawsuit, the price of corn has plummeted over the last two years since Syngenta introduced a genetically modified corn seed called Agrisure Viptera. Farmers claim the company sold the seed to US farmers and corporations without gaining approval from China, a key importer of US corn. The problems began when China banned US corn after it detected shipments containing the unapproved GMO trait, MIR 162.


Comment: Apparently all Syngenta cared about was selling its product, even if they had to lie to do it. Corporate psychoapthy in action


Map

Russia bans tour operators from selling tours to Turkey

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RosTurizm [Russian Tourism agency] has banned the sale of tours to Turkey