Society's ChildS


USA

Obama defends NFL Kaepernick's right to protest, boycott national anthem

Kaepernick
© Jake Roth/ReutersSan Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick
US President Barack Obama has weighed in on the debate over NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's controversial boycott of the national anthem. Noting the difficulties with the stand, he ultimately backed the footballer's constitutional right to protest.

Obama made the comments at a press conference following a meeting of world leaders at the G20 Summit in China. The outgoing president recognized Kaepernick's sincerity and said he would rather have young people engaged in the democratic process than not paying attention at all. "If nothing else, what he's done is he's generated more conversation around some topics that need to be talked about," the president said. "Sometimes it's messy, but it's the way democracy works."

Kaepernick sparked major controversy last month when he stayed sitting during the national anthem at a game between his team San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers. The football star later issued a statement saying the act was a protest over racial injustices and police brutality in the US. During another game last week, Kaepernick knelt instead of standing. His actions have divided opinions, with many political figures expressing their views on the 28-year-old football player's actions.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said the sports star should "find a country that works better for him." While Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine said although he would have gone about it differently, he respected people's "ability to act according to their conscience."


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Fire

Apocalypse scheduled for a 2017 'end of the world' as total solar eclipse path hits US and UK

eclipse in blue
© www.thesun.co.uk
A group of hardcore Christians has claimed a solar eclipse due to hit the UK and America next year, will bring about an apocalypse. The eclipse will plunge countries into darkness and spark the end of the world, doomsayers from Christian website Unsealed have alleged.
Eclipse path 2017
© www.kidneynotes.com
A total eclipse is expected to spread across America on August 21 2017, with western Europe experiencing a partial eclipse. It will be the first total eclipse to travel from one coast of America to the other, for almost a century.


Comment: Beware the 'twinkling of an eye' Apoca-eclipse! Be sure to mark your calendars.


Bomb

24 killed, more than 90 injured in 'double tap' blasts near Afghan Defense Ministry - UPDATE

Afghan policemen
© Mohammad Ismail / ReutersAfghan policemen stand guard at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan September 5, 2016.
Twenty-four people were killed and more than 90 injured in twin blasts that hit near the Afghan Defense Ministry in the capital Kabul, according to a Ministry of Public Health spokesman cited by Reuters.

The first explosion was reported to be small, and when people gathered to find out what was happening another blast went off, according to local media reports that cite eyewitnesses.

The attack happened in a crowded area of the city near government buildings as well as a market and a main intersection, Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanesh said, according to Reuters.

Comment: The number of dead is at least 36 by this time, including a police chief and a high-ranking Defense Ministry official. Just hours after this twin attack, a massive car bomb hit Kabul's upscale Shar-e-Naw neighborhood, followed by gunfire. Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said a suicide bomber detonated the car, but the actual target was unclear (early reports suggested Defense Ministry personnel were the targets). The gunfire was initiated by two additional attackers who entered a nearby building believed to be a guest house for visiting foreigners and diplomats (i.e., spies?), taking hostages. RFE/RL reports on the standoff with the (now three) gunfighters:
The Afghan Interior Ministry says security forces have killed the last gunman involved in an attack in an upscale neighborhood that is home to many government facilities and the headquarters of many foreign organizations.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said in a message posted on Twitter on September 6 that all three attackers who took hostages in a siege that lasted nearly 11 hours in the Shar-e Now (New City) neighborhood were now dead.

Earlier, Sediqqi said one civilian had been killed and six others wounded in the attack. The attack started with a suicide bombing around midnight on September 5. "Forty-two people including 10 foreigners have been rescued," Sediqqi said.

The charity Care International said that the armed group launched the attack on an Afghan government compound near to its Kabul office. It said all its staff members were evacuated, safe, and accounted for.

The three gunmen had reportedly barricaded themselves in close to an office of Care International.



Cult

Radical British cleric found guilty of supporting ISIS - UPDATE

Anjem Choudary
© Stephen Hird / ReutersAnjem Choudary, the leader of the dissolved militant group al-Muhajiroun
Britain's most high-profile radical preacher Anjem Choudary faces 10 years in prison after being found guilty of supporting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), it has emerged.

Choudary was convicted at the Old Bailey following years of speculation suggesting he was a supporter of the jihadist group, which has seized territory in Iraq and Syria and inspired terrorist attacks across Europe.

An associate, Mohammed Rahman, was also convicted in July. An embargo on the trial was lifted on Tuesday. The court heard the pair had told supporters to obey Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed 'caliph' of IS.

Comment: Update 9/6/2016:

Choudary has been sentenced. From RT:
Hate preacher Anjem Choudary has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years' imprisonment after being convicted of drumming up support for Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).... At sentencing at the Old Bailey, Choudary and his co-defendant Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, who received the same sentence, were found guilty of inviting support for IS between June 29, 2014 and March 6, 2015 and remanded into custody.

During the trial, Justice Holroyde said the pair failed to condemn the barbaric acts of IS.
"You did nothing to condemn any aspect of what ISIS was doing at the time. In that way you indirectly encouraged violent terrorist activity.

"You are both mature men and intelligent men who knew throughout exactly what you were doing. You are both fluent and persuasive speakers."
He described Choudary as "calculating," while Rahman was simply a "hothead," albeit equally dangerous and remorseless.



Arrow Up

Cop who kept job for over a year after killing unarmed teen fired after secret dashcam video released

cop murders zachary hammond
Up until Saturday, it seemed as though the cop who shot an unarmed teen on video was not going to receive one bit of justice for his disgraceful and cowardly murder of Zachary Hammond. More than a year after the killing, Seneca Police Lt. Mark Tiller remained on the force. However, on Saturday, suddenly and without reason, he was terminated by the chief.

On July 26, Tiller ran toward 19-year-old Zachary Hammond's car with his gun drawn as Hammond's date, Tori Morton, allegedly sold a few grams of marijuana to an undercover cop.

According to Seneca Police Chief John Covington, Hammond drove toward Lt. Tiller in an attempt to murder him. Fearing for his life, Tiller shot Hammond twice at point-blank range killing him. However, the dashcam footage, which was kept secret for months and only released as the department announced the murder was justified, showed that this was not true.

Tiller deliberately and cowardly shot into the side of the fleeing vehicle, ending this young man's life — over a plant.

Comment: Released dashcam video shows cop's murder of teen Zachary Hammond


Propaganda

Police and media propaganda isn't working- Kaepernick's jersey sales jump to no. 1

 Colin Kaepernick
Propaganda fueled by controversy can be a most effective weapon to control national dialogue on any issue, from elections to legislation, military operations to gun control — but sometimes, as in the ire over Colin Kaepernick's call to end police brutality, rhetoric and propaganda backfire. Miserably.

When San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick rode the bench during the national anthem just over a week ago to protest endemic racism and violent policing, mainstream media pundits and police unions lost their collective minds — fans even set his jersey ablaze in YouTube videos.

Comment: The media tries to spin their propaganda against Kaepernick as "unpatriotic" and draw attention away from the fact that the police are racist. People are not buying it.


Dollar

Pharma giant Bayer raises offer to acquire Monsanto

merger bayer monsanto
German pharmaceutical giant Bayer has raised its offer to buy the US agrochemical firm Monsanto. The higher bid puts the value of the American company, including its debt, at more than $65 billion.

Bayer, which has been negotiating the deal since May, said it has advanced in talks with the global genetically modified organism (GMO) leader. The German company is reportedly ready to pay $127.50 per share. That is two percent more than its previous bid of $125 a share, and 19 percent above Monsanto's last closing price.

Earlier this week German daily Rheinische Post reported that Bayer could raise the offer to $130 per share in order to clinch a deal with Monsanto "in a swift and friendly way."

Acquiring the world's leading GMO producer will enable Bayer to create a global corporation with a deep portfolio in pesticides.

Comment: Bayer Monsanto merger: A match made in hell


Attention

Mother paints warning sign on garage to prevent cops from killing her autistic son

autism sign garage
In America, if you are mentally challenged, you have a 1,600 percent higher chance of being killed by police. Because of this shocking truth, a Las Vegas mother has gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure cops don't kill her autistic son. She has spray painted her garage door with huge lettering that states, 'Autistic man lives here cops no excuse.'

Judy McKim made the choice to label her home in such a manner after she says police nearly killed her son a few weeks prior during an interaction.

Although Judy's son, Zachary is 28-years-old, he has the mentality of a toddler. If fact, her son still uses a pacifier and wears diapers.

"I wanted to make sure that they knew everything. That he is still in diapers, doesn't understand words, doesn't understand what a gun is," said mother Judy McKim.

When a friend called 9-1-1 to report Zachary essentially throwing a temper tantrum, police showed up and tried to restrain him.

"He's autistic, he doesn't know what is happening. He doesn't know what police is," McKim said. "He is in a diaper, along with the pacifier, and the cops are kneeling on my son and one of them reaches for his gun because Zach was fighting for his life."

Comment: Alerting the police to her son's illness is unlikely to make much difference as to how they react. It's just not safe to call the police for any reason - and particularly when someone mentally ill or disabled is involved, because predatory police and the justice system take advantage of them at every opportunity.


Mail

Ridiculous: 2-yo girl ticketed for littering after state agents found an envelope in alley with her name on it

2 year old littering citation
In a bizarre case of overzealous government run amok, Washington, D.C.'s Department of Public Works branded a two-year-old girl with the ominous title: VIOLATOR — and slapped her with a $75 ticket in the mail for littering.

"I opened up an envelope that listed Harper as having violated D.C.'s littering code," said the toddler's mother, Theresa, according to a local CBS affiliate. "And Harper goes, 'littering, that's not good.'"

In an alley directly behind Harper Westover's home, Public Works workers discovered two unopened envelopes — one bearing Theresa's name and the other addressed to the toddler from Bucky's Buddies, a club for young fans of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, as the Washington Post reported.

Appalled her daughter had received a citation for littering, Theresa — an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board — contacted the solid waste inspector listed on the ticket to clear up the obvious confusion.

But, to her astonishment, things didn't go as planned.

"The inspector's response was there was a piece of trash in the alley with Harper's name on it," Theresa told the Post in a phone interview. "I said, 'I understand that, but she's only 2 years old. Are you willing rescind the ticket?' She said, 'No.'

"They list Harper as a 'violator.' As a mom, it bothered me."

Attention

Two clown sightings reported in Winston-Salem, trying to lure kids into the woods with treats

street corner clown sighting
Location of reported clown sighting.
Winston-Salem police say someone in a clown costume tried to lure kids into the woods Sunday night.

The incident happened in the 1200 block of East 29th Street off Hwy. 52 about 8:30 p.m.

The "clown" was described as wearing white overalls, white gloves, red shoes with red bushy hair, a white face and a red nose.

The suspect allegedly tried to lure the kids with treats. The suspect was reportedly seen by two children and heard, but not seen, by one adult. The suspect fled the area when officers arrived.

A second clown sighting happened just after midnight in the 1600 block of Hope Lane, two miles from the first sighting. Officers attempted to locate the subject but were unsuccessful.

Both spots where clowns were reported are in very residential areas near parks/woods.

Similar incidents have occurred in South Carolina.

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