Society's ChildS


Stock Up

As Russian economy strengthens more money floods in from foreign investors

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Fri, 06 Jan 2017 16:33 UTC
Moscow Exchange
© Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
Growing optimism about Russian economy leads to rising capital inflow, strengthening rouble, and award of Europe's Banker of 2016 to Central Bank Chair Nabiullina.

Britain's The Banker magazine has named Russian Central Bank Chair Elvira Nabiullina Europe's Central Banker of 2016.

The award is being linked to the Russian Central Bank's success in bringing inflation in Russia down from 12.7% in 2015 to a post-Soviet low of below 6% in 2016 (the actual final figure will probably be 5.5% or 5.6%).

It is a matter of public record that I think that Nabiullina's high interest rate policy has been unduly harsh, and that it has prolonged Russia's recession. I also think that the single-minded focus on bringing inflation down to an annualised rate of 4% by the end of 2017 is over-ambitious, and that damage is being done to the real economy in order to achieve it.

Having said this, The Banker's award does offer a rare recognition not just of the level of economic competence of Russian officials, but also of the fact that inflation reduction not GDP growth is their current priority.

On the question of GDP growth, early indications are that it might be higher this year than earlier forecasts had predicted, with evidence in the final quarter of 2016 that the economy was recovering more strongly than expected. Former Finance Minister Kudrin, a consistent pessimist about the Russian economy from within the government who is however also Nabiullina's strong ally, is now predicting GDP growth to rise to 3.5% by 2019, reaching the target rate of 4% by 2021.
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Handcuffs

Suspect beaten by officer has charges dropped after video released

Matt Agorist
Free Thought Project
Fri, 06 Jan 2017 16:50 UTC
Garrett Kimmell Joshua Brooks
Brooks accuses Kimmell of using excessive force as he is manacled to the bench
A disturbing video was released this week showing an altercation between a police officer and a 21-year-old man arrested on suspicion of heroin possession. The video shows an attack by the officer and subsequent defense by the 21-year-old.

While the incident happened in 2015, Todd Hollis, the attorney for the 21-year-old suspect, Joshua Brooks, waited to release the video and file the lawsuit until after the criminal charges against Brooks were resolved.

On April 17, 2015, Brooks was arrested on charges of suspicion of heroin possession. He was brought into the custody of the Elizabeth Borough police department and chained to a bench.

As the altercation begins, Brooks is seen standing up when officer Garrett Kimmell approaches and tries to grab Brooks' throat. Not wanting to be choked or have his trachea crushed, Brooks attempted to push Kimmell's hands away.

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Butterfly

Unconscious man rescued by slackliner after dangling off Arapahoe Basin chairlift

Chuck Hickey
Fox31
Fri, 06 Jan 2017 11:57 UTC
Unconscious man
© Facebook
A man who was unconscious while dangling from his neck on a chairlift at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area was saved by a professional slackliner in a daring rescue on Wednesday.

Mickey Wilson, a slackliner, posted photos to social media showing the harrowing rescue after he climbed a lift tower, went across the lift cable and cut down the man with a knife.

"Today I saved someone's life. I think some strange forces were at work," Wilson wrote on Facebook.

Wilson was skiing at friends when a member of the crew got his backpack strap stuck in the chairlift as he tried to unload. The lift dragged him back down the hill.

"We were on the chair lift behind so we unloaded and ran down the hill to help him when we realized the worst possible thing had happened," Wilson wrote. "The backpack had wrapped around his neck and he was unconscious, dangling 10 feet above the snow."

Wilson said he and his friends tried to build a human pyramid to get to him but they couldn't.

Panic was becoming terror as we realized we were about to watch our friend die in front of our helpless eyes," Wilson wrote.

Then, Wilson had what he called a "Eureka" moment.
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People 2

Contrary to what Western media says, Russia leads the world in women's rights

Paul Kindlon
The Duran
Fri, 06 Jan 2017 13:34 UTC
volgograd
The Motherland Calls in Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad
Contrary to popular Western belief, Russia is actually leading the world in women empowerment and does not suffer from homophobia.

When Russia's Elvira Nabiullina was named European central banker of 2016, while reading an article on this story and checking the comments section, I noticed several facetious compliments such as "Russia is finally catching up in the area of gender equality". Talk about inaccurate observations...

There is a persistent tendency in the West - and in particular, the US - to view Russia as being somehow "behind the times" when it comes to basic human rights. This mistaken view is mostly due to two factors: 1) A lack of understanding of Russian history and 2) A lack of understanding of Russian culture. Let's address these factors while examining two specific areas of concern.
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Bad Guys

Disturbing video shows cops hold down man as fellow cop smashes in his head

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project.com
Fri, 06 Jan 2017 11:15 UTC
Cops beat man
A disturbing video has sparked an internal investigation within the NYPD after it showed three cops hold down a man with his hands behind his back while one of them pummelled his face.

The video is taken from inside a bus across the street and starts out as the cop begins smashing in the man's face. "Why are you hitting him?" the person filming asks. "He hit him in his face!" she said. "His face is bleeding!"

After the officer punches the man in the face several times, he then proceeds to start slapping him. All the while, it appears that the man is not resisting at all. This is evidenced by the fact that the female officer and the other male officer (who aren't doing the punching) are calmly squatting down by the man.

While the audio of the police and the man is difficult to hear, we can hear one phrase that the man seems to be repeating. "What are you doing?" begs the man as two cops hold him down while the other digs his face into the asphalt.
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Ambulance

Media reports refugee facility on fire in Germany, dozens treated for smoke inhalation


RT
Fri, 06 Jan 2017 09:28 UTC
Firefighters
© Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters / Reuters
A building housing refugees in western Germany has caught fire, with over a hundred firefighters and police called in to battle the blaze, local media reports.

The fire erupted at a Staumuhle refugee compound located in North Rhine-Westphalia, Neue Westfalische reports. Some 110 firefighters and around 90 rescue workers from several departments have been called in to tackle the blaze.

A picture posted on the website of the news outlet showed a one-storey house with huge plumes of smoke coming out of it.

More than 50 people have been treated for smoke inhalation, the outlet adds citing officials.
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Snakes in Suits

Jury orders DuPont to pay $10.5 million in cancer lawsuit over poisoned Ohio River Valley water


RT
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 21:54 UTC
factory
© Mark Ralston / AFP
A jury in Ohio has ordered that chemical giant DuPont pay $10.5 million in damages after finding that the company had poisoned Ohio River Valley water with a known carcinogen since the 60's.

Three thousand similar lawsuits are pending against the multinational.

The federal jury announced Wednesday that $10.5 million in damages be awarded to Keith Vigneron after finding the conglomerate had for years acted with malice by contaminating the water supply and not informing residents. The company must also pay attorney fees.

"It's important to punish, to end this corrupt corporate mentality," the plaintiff's attorney Gary Douglas urged the jury in District Court in Columbus before their decision, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Without punitive action, DuPont and other companies will continue to "tread on us," he said. Douglas had argued that Vigneron's testicular cancer, which was diagnosed in 1997, was caused by drinking water contaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid, or C8, an ingredient used in manufacturing Teflon.
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People 2

Poll: 57% of Democratic voters want Trump to succeed as president


Rasmussen Reports
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 21:34 UTC
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump
© Jonathan Ernst / ReutersU.S. President-elect Donald Trump
Even most Democrats want Donald Trump to succeed as president, but voters are far less confident that things will play out that way.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 39% of Likely U.S. Voters think Trump's presidency is more likely to be a success. Thirty percent (30%) say it's more likely to be a failure instead, while 26% believe the Trump presidency will fall somewhere in between the two. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Republicans think Trump is likely to succeed, a view shared by only 17% of Democrats and 35% of voters not affiliated with either major party. Just over half (52%) of Democrats believe Trump is more likely to fail, but only seven percent (7%) of GOP voters and 28% of unaffiliateds agree.

But 57% of Democrats want Trump's presidency to be a success. Of course, that compares to 91% of Republicans and 73% of unaffiliated voters. Twenty-six percent (26%) of voters in Hillary Clinton's party want Trump to fail, while another 17% are undecided.

Among all voters, 73% want Trump's presidency to be a success; 14% want it to fail, and 12% are not sure.
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Handcuffs

Autistic teen, strip-searched, raided, & jailed for drawing a superhero in class


Free Thought Project
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 20:37 UTC
bad cops
For more than two years, a New Jersey high school has tried to fend off allegations that it overreacted to the doodle drawn by an autistic student days after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook.

A new ruling guarantees that federal litigation over the episode will continue into 2017.

The ordeal began, the Jones family says, at Cedar Creek High School in Egg Harbor City, N.J., on Dec. 14, 2012 - three days after America suffered the second deadliest shooting in modern history at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
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Wolf

Schoolchildren exposed to Scientology through London anti-drug programs


RT
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 20:31 UTC
Scientology window
© Francois Lenoir / Reuters
Tens of thousands of London schoolchildren are being exposed to Scientology through anti-drug presentations, it has emerged.

An Evening Standard investigation shows increasing numbers of pupils, some as young as 10, are being exposed to anti-drug lectures inspired by Scientology and its leader L. Ron Hubbard.

In the past year, 25,000 children have taken part in the Narconon program, which does not employ doctors and is funded and run by the Church of Scientology.

The program is "based on the research and writings of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Scientology religion." Its parent organization, The Association for Better Living and Education, was established by the Church of Scientology and staffed by members of Sea Org - Scientology's equivalent of monks.

Comment: More on this so called church:

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