Society's ChildS


Nuke

No end in sight: Radioactive water from the Fukushima disaster continues to be released into the Pacific

Dahr Jamail
Truthout
Wed, 27 Jan 2016 21:39 UTC
Nuclear Power Plant
© Ko Sasaki / The New York TimesThe Ikata Nuclear Power Plant, which was idled after the 2011 disaster in Fukushima, in the Ehime prefecture of Japan, January 23, 2014.
"Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind," Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, told Truthout shortly after a 9.0 earthquake in Japan caused a tsunami that destroyed the cooling system of Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) nuclear plant in Fukushima, Japan.

While this statement might sound overdramatic, Gundersen may be right.

Several nuclear reactor meltdowns in the plant, which at the time forced the mandatory evacuations of thousands of people living within a 15-mile radius of the damaged power plant, persist, and experts like Gundersen continue to warn that this problem is not going to go away.

Comment: The following article was published back in May 2014 - Japan begins purposely dumping 100s of tons of radioactive water from Fukushima into the Pacific.
According to the Japan Times, Tepco released 560 tons of radioactive water into the Pacific on Wednesday, and Tepco says that for the foreseeable future we should expect another 100 tons of radioactive water to be released into the ocean every single day...

Tepco is assuring us that the radioactive water that is being released is within "legal radiation safety limits".

But this is the same company that could not tell us why radiation levels in water near Fukushima reached a new all-time high just a few days ago...

So do you trust Tepco?

I certainly do not.

And this is not just a Japanese issue. Radioactive material from Fukushima has literally been found all over the planet. For example, a nuclear fuel fragment from Fukushima has been found as far away as Norway.

Once this radioactive material gets into the ocean and into our food chain, there is no telling where it may end up.


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Stock Down

Billionaire NFL owners receive tax subsidies, despite rampant homelessness and infrastructure decline in the US


RT
Sat, 30 Jan 2016 16:22 UTC
Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke (R) laughs with Inglewood mayor James T. Butts, Jr.
© Lucy Nicholson / Reuters"I'm rich. Why should I have to pay taxes? The poor should be paying me. Oh wait, they already are."
The recent announcement by the National Football League that the St Louis Rams would be relocating to Los Angeles created much excitement in NFL circles, but the news didn't meet with universal approval.

While revenues in the league continue to rise at a staggering rate - the Forbes 2015 list of the most valuable teams in the NFL showed the average team value is $1.97 billion, up 38 percent from the previous year - the question of taxpayer subsidies continues to cause much debate.

The Rams' valuation of $1.45 billion might suggest they don't need handouts, yet the stadium they leave behind will continue to cost St Louis and Missouri taxpayers $12 million per year until 2022.


Comment: Your tax dollars at work.


Comment: Bread and circuses in a dying empire.

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Bug

Could there be a link between the release of genetically modified mosquitoes and the Zika virus?

Claire Bernish
Anti Media
Thu, 28 Jan 2016 00:00 UTC
The location of the release of GM mosquitoes and suspected Zika-related cases of microcephaly
© theantimedia.orgThe location of the release of GM mosquitoes and suspected Zika-related cases of microcephaly

Comment: This story is still developing so it's not yet clear if there's a link, but the connection is interesting.


The World Health Organization announced it will convene an Emergency Committee under International Health Regulations on Monday, February 1, concerning the Zika virus 'explosive' spread throughout the Americas. The virus reportedly has the potential to reach pandemic proportions — possibly around the globe. But understanding why this outbreak happened is vital to curbing it. As the WHO statement said:

"A causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth malformations and neurological syndromes ... is strongly suspected. [These links] have rapidly changed the risk profile of Zika, from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions.

"WHO is deeply concerned about this rapidly evolving situation for 4 main reasons: the possible association of infection with birth malformations and neurological syndromes; the potential for further international spread given the wide geographical distribution of the mosquito vector; the lack of population immunity in newly affected areas; and the absence of vaccines, specific treatments, and rapid diagnostic tests [...]

"The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty."

Comment: It's not clear if there's a causal relationship between the release of the GM mosquitoes and this Zika outbreak, nor what the causal method of action would be, however at the very least, releasing these GM mosquitoes into the environment was extremely irresponsible.

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Heart - Black

First they came for the Muslims: Mob of masked men beat up refugee children at Stockholm station

Sara Malm and Gianluca Mezzofiore
Daily Mail, UK
Sat, 30 Jan 2016 19:06 UTC
Mob of black-clad masked men went on a rampage in and around Stockholm's main train station targeting refugee children
Mob of black-clad masked men went on a rampage in and around Stockholm's main train station targeting refugee children
A mob of black-clad masked men went on a rampage in and around Stockholm's main train station last night beating up refugees and anyone who did not look like they were ethnically Swedish.

Before the attack, the group of 200 people handed out xenophobic leaflets with the message 'Enough now'.

Swedish media reported that the thugs, allegedly linked to Sweden's football hooligan scene, were targeting unaccompanied minors with a 'foreign' background.

The mob, wearing all-black balaclavas and armbands, 'gathered with the purpose of attacking refugee children' Stockholm police spokesman Towe Hagg said.

'Police are now looking into the leaflets that were handed out by masked people before the attack'.

Authorities confirmed that at least 40-50 people went on a rampage at 9pm on Friday night attacking migrants.

Witnesses told Aftonbladet newspaper that they saw a gang of black-clad thugs attacking refugees at the station.

'I saw maybe three people who were beaten. That was no football brawl or something similar. They targeted migrants. I was quite scared and ran away,' a witness said.

The leaflet handed out before the attack refers to the alleged murder of Alexandra Mehzer, a 22-year-old aid worker knifed to death at the child centre where she worked in Molndal, Sweden.

A Somali-born 15-year-old migrant has been accused of killing her during a fight between two asylum-seekers.

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Attention

Little shop of horrors: Michigan couple arrested for black market body-selling ring


RT
Sat, 30 Jan 2016 03:45 UTC
black market body parts
© Ricardo Rojas / Reuters
Anything involving over 1,000 body parts is going to be gruesome. Arthur and Elizabeth Rathburn of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, were arrested over their alleged involvement in a black market body-selling ring that exposed others to diseased parts.

Arthur Rathburn, 62, was once a respected University of Michigan morgue attendant who held patents related to the preparation of cadavers and even gave lectures on anatomy, according to the Detroit Free Press. However, after losing his job at the University of Michigan for possibly selling body parts, he started a business called International Biological and opened up shop in a warehouse in Detroit.

Comment: See also: What you lose when you sign that donor card

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Heart - Black

Heartbreaking: Arizona mom pleads for someone to adopt medically kidnapped daughters

Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff
Medical Kidnap
Tue, 12 Jan 2016 10:09 UTC
Melissa Diegel with daughters medical kidnap
© Miracle for two sistersMelissa Diegel with daughters Kayla and Hannah before they were medically kidnapped.

Comment: Followed up from: Foster children in CPS custody are being enrolled in drug experiments without parental consent


An Arizona court has ruled that the Diegel sisters are now eligible for adoption, and have terminated all of Melissa Diegel's rights to her children. In a recently released video, this mother displays an incredible act of love for the children that CPS will no longer allow her to parent. She pleads for someone good to step up and adopt her children, so that, if they cannot be with their family, they will at least be with good people who will love and care for them. It is a plea that no loving parent should ever be forced to make.

Melissa received the shattering news from the courts that Judge Kristin Hoffman has ruled to sever all of her and her ex-husband's parental rights to Kayla and Hannah. It was the day before Christmas Eve. She was devastated, and could not bring herself to make the bitter announcement to her supporters until recently.

Comment: Having to ask for kind-hearted strangers on the internet to adopt one's children, in order to remove them from a terrible situation that they were forced into, is something that no parent should ever have to do. It's truly a heartbreaking situation and hopefully she'll be able to get her daughters back.

It also appears that the CPS has a history of doing things like this:

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Sheriff

Video shows Arizona sheriff and congressional candidate bragging about abusive discipline of special needs children

Andrew Emett
The Free Thought Project
Sat, 30 Jan 2016 15:46 UTC
Paul Babeu
© 12NewsPaul Babeu
After repeatedly denying knowledge of rampant child abuse, a video recently surfaced depicting the sheriff bragging about abusing and psychologically torturing children with special needs. Instead of confessing to his participation in the mistreatment of vulnerable children, the sheriff blames his sister for releasing the video and is currently running for Congress.

While serving as Headmaster and Executive Director at DeSisto Private Boarding School in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, from 1999 to 2001, Pinal County Sheriff and Congressional Candidate Paul Babeu attended a Christmas dinner with his family in 1999. In a video recorded that night, Babeu callously endorsed and bragged about using abusive methods and psychological torture to discipline his special needs students at DeSisto. Referring to his students as "absolutely bonkers," Babeu explained his reasons for placing the children in isolation for days at a time.

"Because they are hopeless," Babeu rationalized. "Because they're hopeless. They need to get through, this is why. They need to feel hopeless and feel depression and complete failure."

Comment: More eyebrow-raising information on Paul Babeu from a 2012 HuffPost article:
Disgraced Arizona congressional candidate and GOP sheriff Paul Babeu is facing yet another round of unseemly charges.

The Pinal County sheriff, who stepped down as Arizona's co-chair for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign amidst allegations he threatened a gay ex-lover with deportation, reportedly served as headmaster for the now-defunct DeSisto School in Stockbridge, Mass. from 1999 to 2001. When Babeu -- a retired major in the Army National Guard and an ex-police officer -- was in charge, the Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services launched an investigation into repeated claims of physical and sexual abuse from students at the private boarding school, ABC15 is reporting.

More questionable still: Babeu's older sister Lucy told the news station that she confronted her brother after finding a 17-year-old student from the school, which services troubled teens, living with him. She noted: "I said what is this student from Desisto doing here? He says, 'Lucy, he's my boyfriend. I love him.'"

Lucy claims her brother, once considered one of his state's rising Republican stars, was clearly having a relationship with the student, who has not been identified: "I said, 'Paul, get a hold of yourself here,'" said Lucy. "You were his teacher! You were his Executive Director! You can't do this."

At age 17, the student would have been the legal age of consent in Massachusetts.

Babeu, 43, has denied claims that he threatened former lover Jose Orozco with deportation back to Mexico, but has acknowledged that he is gay. "I'm here to say that all these allegations ... are absolutely completely false except for the issues that refer to me as being gay," he is quoted by the Associated Press is saying. "Because that's the truth."


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Whistle

'The king can do no wrong': Flint residents cannot sue over water contamination

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Sat, 30 Jan 2016 15:34 UTC
boy in window
"There's real danger that the injury is going to be permanent and lifelong in them," Dr. Philip Landrigan, Dean of Global Health at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said of the residents exposed to the water crisis in Flint.

"The problem here is, no level of lead is safe," Landrigan says. "Even low levels of lead — especially if exposure to low levels continues over many months — is going to cause some degree of brain damage to at least some of the children who have been exposed — that's a big deal. Exposed children are at risk for a number of problems, including lower IQ scores, developmental delays, and behavioral issues such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Even after lead exposure stops, the effects can last for years or even be permanent."

For the rest of their lives, the residents of Flint will watch their health deteriorate over time, and they will know exactly who is responsible — but will have no course of action to right their wrongs.

In any other instance in which an individual or group of individuals is harmed by another person or group, those individuals could seek damages. However, thanks to what is called the doctrine of sovereign immunity in the United States, the government cannot be sued unless it has waived its immunity or consented to the suit.
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Airplane

Air Canada flight plummets 25,000 feet - Second massive altitude drop for airline in a month


RT
Sat, 30 Jan 2016 03:40 UTC
Air Canada plane
© Michael Dalder / Reuters
A passenger on board an Air Canada flight from New Jersey to Vancouver captured the terrifying moment when the plane suddenly dropped in altitude and its oxygen masks were deployed. The emergency was prompted by a loss in pressure.

Graphs from online flight monitoring software showed AC549 plummeting from more than 35,000 feet (10,000 meters) to just above 10,000 feet (3,000 meters).


Business advisor and self-described frequent flyer Milun Tesovic did not lose his nerve, however, and snapped a photo of the scene, showing oxygen masks hanging all across the salon.

"#AC549 @aircanada that sucked. Lost pressure at 36k feet, rapid descend to 10k with masks on," Tesovic tweeted with a picture.

Comment: Last month an Air Canada flight encountered freak turbulence in the skies above Alaska, injuring over 20 people on the Shanghai - Toronto route. Although the cause of the turbulence remains unclear, one Canadian specialist theorized that breaking "gravity waves" were a likely culprit.

Meanwhile, last week an American Airlines plane had to divert to Canada from its Europe-bound flight after encountering severe turbulence over the Atlantic.

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Dollars

Bigpharma wins, more people die: CDC delays revision of painkiller prescription guidelines

Julie Fidler
Natural Society
Thu, 28 Jan 2016 00:00 UTC
pharma drug money
In an effort to cut prescription painkiller addiction and overdose deaths, the CDC created prescribing guidelines. But it looks like Big Pharma is delaying those guidelines, likely to protect drug sales.

Under the proposed guidelines, doctors would prescribe patients non-opioid painkillers first for chronic pain, and only prescribe opioids, like OxyContin, if the non-opioid drugs don't work. The agency also wants physicians to prescribe the smallest amount of the drugs possible, typically 3 days or less for acute pain. Doctors would only continue prescribing the drugs if patients show significant improvement. [1]

Those guidelines were set to go into effect this month, but last month, the agency abandoned its January release date amid harsh criticism from drug-makers, industry-funded organizations, and public health officials.

A federal panel - the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC) - has been one of the guidelines' most vocal opponents. The panel, consisting of federal scientists, outside academics, and patient representatives, has a lot to lose from the release of the directive.

Comment:

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