Society's ChildS


Stormtrooper

Report finds feds declined 96% of civil rights violation cases against police over 20-year period


RT
Tue, 15 Mar 2016 15:29 UTC
handcuffs
© Lucy Nicholson / Reuters
Federal prosecutors chose not to levy charges against US law enforcement officers alleged to have committed civil rights violations in 96 percent of relevant cases from 1995 to 2015, according to a new investigative report.

Based on analysis of nearly 3 million records from the US Department of Justice's National Caseload Data, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review found that the 94 US Attorney offices declined 12,703 referrals of potential civil rights violations made by the FBI and other agencies out of a total of 13,233 complaints.

This 96 percent rejection rate for potential civil rights violations against officers contrasts with a 23 percent rejection rate that prosecutors exercised for all other allegations of criminal activity in the same time period.

The most common reasons prosecutors cited in turning down civil rights complaints included weak or insufficient evidence, a lack of clear intent to infringe on another person's civil rights, and discouragement from the Justice Department.

Comment: So much for freedom in America. Police violate the people's civil rights as a matter of routine and there's nothing the average person can do anything about.

Read More...
Handcuffs

Cops caught on video destroying cameras and eating sweets after raiding marijuana dispensary will be charged


RT
Tue, 15 Mar 2016 15:24 UTC
santa ana police
© OCWeeklyVideos / YouTube
Police who were filmed passing around candy bars and joking about feeling "light headed" after raiding an Orange County medical marijuana dispensary are heading to court to face charges for theft and vandalism.

When the Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) shut down the Sky High Dispensary, they opened a can of worms. Police knocked down the doors and used crowbars to destroy all of the security cameras in the store - or so they thought. The remaining cameras caught police on their worst behavior. The cops were filmed passing around candy that was believed to be laced with weed.

The Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) has said that there was no evidence that the candy consumed was laced with weed and that the police were instead eating some snacks that had been for the staff. However, three officers are facing charges for the destruction of the security cameras as well petty theft for stealing the snacks.
Read More...
Extinguisher

Amtrak train with over 140 on board derails in Kansas, nearly 30 injured


RT
Tue, 15 Mar 2016 00:23 UTC
derailed amtrak train
© Daniel Szczerba ‏@MetaOracle / twitter.com
Five rail cars of Amtrak's Los Angeles-Chicago passenger train have derailed in Kansas. Approximately 142 passengers and crew were on board, 29 of whom sustained injuries and are being treated in local hospitals.

UPDATE: The engineer applied the emergency brakes after noticing a "significant bend in a rail," an unnamed official familiar with the investigation told AP Monday afternoon. Investigators are now checking if a vehicle may have damaged the track, the agency reported.

The incident occurred in Gray County, Kansas, some 3 miles (about 5km) outside Cimarron.

"Just after midnight CT, Amtrak Southwest Chief Train 4, operating from Los Angeles to Chicago, derailed some cars approximately 20 miles west of Dodge City, Kansas, on BNSF track," Amtrak said in a statement, adding there were approximately 128 passengers and 14 crew members on board.
Read More...
Sheriff

'I'm not a criminal': Transport police beat man with baton at London's St. Pancras Station


RT
Thu, 10 Mar 2016 15:18 UTC
Sho Abu
© Sho Abu/Facebook
Video footage appears to show a police officer striking a man with a baton at London's St. Pancras International station after he refuses to comply with instructions to get on the floor.

The footage, shot on Tuesday, shows a man shouting "I am not a criminal" while asking two British Transport Police officers why he was being asked to get on the ground.

"Because I told you," one of the officers can be heard shouting.

The man, who is 40 and from the Thamesmead neighborhood in London, says repeatedly "I am going with you," but fails to comply with their order to get down. One of the officers can then be seen hitting the man on the legs with a baton and pushing him through the station.


The officers subsequently arrested the man on suspicion of fare evasion and two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, a police spokesperson said in statement. The man has since been released on bail.

The video was uploaded to Facebook by Showan Abu on Tuesday evening. Abu wrote: "Today at St Pancras International. I don't know what the commuter actually did, but the police was trying to arrest him.
Facebook post
© Facebook
Read More...
Fire

Powerful blast reported at residential building in southeastern Moscow


RT
Thu, 10 Mar 2016 20:27 UTC
Moscow fire trucks
© Vladimir Astapkovich/Sputnik
A powerful blast followed by a fire reportedly ripped through a block of apartments in the Russian capital on Thursday evening. At least one person has been killed and 13 have been injured.

"According to the latest data, 13 people have been taken to the hospital, including three children. One person died from severe injuries at the hospital," a source told RIA Novosti.

Authorities say the blast was caused by improper handling of an open fire during construction work. A gas explosion had initially been suspected. The Investigative Committee is now telling TASS that some flammable liquid ignited.

Heavy smoke could be seen rising from the building in southeastern Moscow, photos posted on social media by witnesses show. Some reports on social media suggest that the blast blew a man through a window.

At least 15 people have been evacuated from the 14-story building in the Lefortovo neighborhood, sources told RIA Novosti.

Read More...
Ambulance

Israeli police kill two Palestinians they believed to be responsible for a gun attack on a public bus


Sputnik
Wed, 09 Mar 2016 20:06 UTC
Israeli emergency personnel
© REUTERS/ Ammar Awad
Jerusalem police have killed 2 Palestinians believed to be responsible for a gun attack on a public bus on Wednesday, local media reported.

Earlier in the day, individuals opened fire on a bus earlier before fleeing the scene, The Jerusalem Post reported. Later, the attackers were engaged in a shootout with police which saw an Arab-Israeli man seriously injured.

The incident comes a day after a Palestinian man was shot and killed after he allegedly stabbed 11 people in Tel Aviv. One of the victims, a US tourist, was later confirmed to have died in the attack.

The attack coincided with a visit by US Vice President Joseph Biden to Tel Aviv late on Tuesday. Biden was expected to arrive in the city at around the time Tuesday's stabbings began.

Some 30 Israelis and several foreigners have been killed in knife, gun or vehicle attacks, believed to be carried out mostly by Palestinian youths, since September 2015.
Read More...
Eiffel Tower

Are there any reasons to hope for France?

Cosimo A
The Saker
Tue, 08 Mar 2016 19:54 UTC
A few people asked me if there's any reason to hope for France to get better. This is my 2 cents worth.

I might shock you by commenting that as things stand, France is in a much better situation that the US.

Let's start with a nice fun slice of reality, a pleasant truth.

Here's a 1 minute Youtube of Dieudonné, the humorist, at the Zenith hall in Strasbourg on Feb. 13 where 17,000 people paid about $45 a seat. His tours are a major success and halls usually sell out all the seats. The French government and the Zionist pressure groups such as CRIF have tried to get rid of him for almost 13 years, banishing him from TV, banning shows under the dictatorial power of the Conseil d'État even after courts said it was okay, pursuing him in courts on bogus charges, etc. At his lowest, having been banned from TV in 2003 as an "antisemite", and with even his private shows cancelled, he was reduced to giving performances to 40 or 50 people at a time on a rented bus. Back then, Gilad Atzmon, an exIsraeli, helped defend Dieudonné against the bogus charge of "antisemite", and in the years since, he worked his way back up to become by far the most popular comedian in France. His success proves what Regis Debray once said, « Interdire, c'est répandre. » To forbid is to spread.

Read More...
USA

Exporting American values: US sailor arrested on suspicion of raping Japanese tourist in Okinawa


RT
Mon, 14 Mar 2016 22:15 UTC
Tokyo protest
© Kyodo/Reuters
Tokyo has launched an official protest with Washington after a US sailor was arrested on suspicion of raping a Japanese tourist in Okinawa. The incident is likely to complicate plans to build a controversial new US airbase on the island.

Justin Castellanos, who was based at the US Navy's Camp Schwab, is alleged to have raped a woman in her 40s at a hotel in Naha in the south of Okinawa.

"It was extremely regrettable that this case happened," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference, as cited by Kyodo news agency. The Japanese government has demanded that Washington "tighten discipline and prevent a recurrence of such incidents," Suga added.

Suga said that US officials are taking the allegations seriously, but also mentioned it would be "regrettable" if the 24-year-old US sailor was found guilty.

Local police in Naha arrested Castellanos on Sunday on suspicion of taking a Japanese woman into his hotel room and raping her. However, the US sailor denies the charges, saying he found the woman sleeping in the corridor and took her to his room.


Comment: That is a ridiculous story.


The governor of Owinawa, Takeshi Onaga, confirmed the incident had taken place. "It was a serious crime in violation of women's human rights and can never be tolerated,"Onaga said, according to Kyodo. "I feel strong resentment." He also added that the incident could have an effect on tourism to the region, which is "a major industry for the prefecture."
Read More...
War Whore

Azov battalion soldier writes "All the best for the children!" on howitzer shells


Fort Russ
Wed, 09 Mar 2016 19:59 UTC
Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ

"All the best for the children" - The inscription on the Ukrainian howitzer shells. The man who is sitting nearby, pointing to the shells, prepared for the killing of the children of Donbass, is a fighter from the "Azov" battalion. His name is Yuri.

Ukraine soldier
"All the best for the children"
After a while the Ukrainian howitzer will send the shells to our side, and who knows, maybe one of them was the cause of the appearance of another line of mourning on the granite in memory of the children, the victims of the Ukrainian aggressors.

How many other Yuri's like him have sent shells onto the heads of our children - no one can say. Simply - no one knows. There are no such records. Counting "the Alley of Angels", the memory of the dead children, those who died still really had not even begun to live...

Let's talk, however, about Yuri - an "azovet".

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Stormtrooper

How U.S. schools discipline students: Paddles, stun guns & chemical sprays

Eleanor J. Bader
Truthout
Mon, 14 Mar 2016 17:41 UTC
corporal punishment
© Lauren Walker
"Brian was a regular kid," longtime communications professional Kathy Parrent says, "a boy who liked to make everyone in our third grade classroom laugh. One day he said something smart-alecky, and our teacher grabbed him by the collar, lifted him up, opened up the coat closet, threw him in and locked the door. The rest of us sat in stunned horror, terrified. Brian immediately began banging and screaming, 'please, please, let me out,' but the teacher kept him in there for what felt like an eternity."

As Parrent speaks, her voice breaks and it is clear that Brian is still vivid in her mind's eye. "I remember that he was wearing a white shirt and when the teacher finally opened the door, he was covered in blood. My first thought was that he must have cut himself, but no. He'd had a nosebleed, something that happened to him all the time. It was awful. He might have deserved to be reprimanded; I don't know. What I do know is that more than 50 years later, I can still see the blood."
Read More...