Society's ChildS


Vader

The groundswell of American authoritarianism could make President Trump a reality

Kyle D Killian Ph.D., LMFT
Psychology Today
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 00:00 UTC
trump, authoritarian
Pundits have been discussing "typical profiles" of Trump supporters. Terms like blue collar, male, lower income, lower educated, and older have been offered up for our consideration. But statistical results tell a different story.

A recent article in Politico points to two traits that best predict whether you are a Trump supporter: Authoritarianism, and fear of terrorism. Matthew MacWilliams found that Trump's bump in the polls is connected to support from "Americans with authoritarian inclinations." But what is authoritarianism? Adorno et al. (1950) offered an explanation for how the masses of Germany blindly submitted themselves to the Nazi authoritarian regime. Adorno posited that authoritarianism manifests in a willingness to submit to social authority, as well as the need to subject "weaker" others to one's own authority. Correlates of authoritarianism include attributions of favorable characteristics to one's own person or group, and ascribing unfavorable characteristics to "weaker" others. In short, authoritarian personalities obey, follow strong leaders, and tend to respond very negatively, and aggressively, to outsiders, like immigrants, Muslims, and visible minorities. When they feel threatened, persons inclined to authoritarianism support any policy that they think will help keep them "safe". You know, build a wall, ban Muslims, establish a database to track Muslim American citizens, which is totally unconstitutional. That kind of stuff.

Comment:

Global Pathocracy, Authoritarian Followers and the Hope of the World:
What we have today is the Chaos produced by pathological individuals that induces Consent from the Authoritarian Followers. The really sad thing is that the authoritarian followers who 'believe in authority' could as easily follow an authority that has their best interests at heart and the example of such a person is that set by Vladimir Putin. As it is, the authoritarian sheep follow and support the very worst of humanity; pathological individuals who gain power by deception and manipulation.
See also:

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Pistol

5 killed, 2 injured at a First Nation elementary school shooting in Canada; suspect arrested


RT
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 21:32 UTC
La Loche Community School
© Canadian PressLa Loche Community School
Five people have been killed and another two critically injured in a shooting at a First Nation school in Saskatchewan, Canada, the country's prime minister confirmed. The suspect has been detained.

"We all grieve with and stand with the community of La Loche and the province of Saskatchewan on this terrible and tragic day," Trudeau said.

Initially, law enforcement did not described the incident as a shooting, but Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall confirmed "shootings" took place.

"The community usually pulls together really strong in times like this. Right now, La Loche is devastated," chief of the Clearwater River Dene Nation, Teddy Clark, told Saskatoon Star Phoenix newspaper.

The incident occurred at La Loche Community School, CBC News reported. Both it and the community elementary school are in lockdown.


According to the school's Facebook page, an "emergency" took place at the Dena Building, and the lockdown won't be lifted until the area is declared safe. The school is asking the public to stay away.

"Parents and community members are asked to not attend the Dene High School at this time due to the active, ongoing incident. Parents only are asked to attend the Ducharme Elementary School on Mission Street in La Loche," RCMP said in an emailed statement, according to BNO News. "We are in the preliminary stages of investigation. Further details will be provided as they become available."
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Handcuffs

The "war on terror" farce: US releases Yemeni citizen held for 13 years as case of "mistaken identity"


Sputnik
Sat, 23 Jan 2016 00:34 UTC
prison guards guantanamo bay gitmo
© AP Photo/ Suzette Laboy
The mistaken 13-year imprisonment of Yemeni National Mustafa al-Shamiri at the Guantanamo Bay detention center exposes the fairy tale that the remainder of detainees represent some of the world's most dangerous terrorist suspects, a US human rights group said on Friday.

On Thursday, a US prison parole board said Shamiri could be transferred to an Arabic-speaking country, but not back to Yemen.

"Shamiri isn't the first case of mistaken identity," the release stated. "This goes directly against the myth that all remaining Gitmo detainees are 'the worst of the worst.'"

Comment: So they illegally imprisoned him, without charges, for 13 years and at the end admitted that they were so incompetent that they couldn't figure out that they had the wrong guy the entire time. Then, to top it all off, they refuse to send him back to his own country. Could it be any more obvious that the entire war on terror is a fabricated sham? Truly shameful.

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Ice Cube

Jail or freezing to death: Woman vandalizes Virginia assembly to escape cold


Sputnik
Sat, 23 Jan 2016 01:29 UTC
homeless woman in snow
© Tanner Spendley
A Virginia woman was arrested on Thursday evening after purposely getting herself arrested to escape from the bitter cold.

The woman reportedly threw a slab of concrete through the window of the General Assembly Building during a legislative committee meeting.

Nobody was injured in the incident, and Captain Randy Howard of the Capitol Police stated that it seems as though it was a desperate act to be jailed so she could have a warm place to sleep during the freezing night.

Comment: How sad it is that in America, some are forced to choose between being arrested or freezing to death.

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Eye 1

Turkish journalists jailed for spying say arrests were warning to reporters to censor critical reporting of government


RT
Wed, 20 Jan 2016 21:55 UTC
Protesters in Turkey
© Adem Altan / AFPTurkish journalists hold banners and shout slogans during a demonstration in support of jailed journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul on January 10, 2016 in Ankara during the "Active Journalists'Day"
Two jailed Turkish journalists accused of spying and helping a terrorist group say their arrests were designed to send a warning to other reporters, and have accused Ankara of pushing for self-censorship. A government official has denied the allegation.

Can Dündar, editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper, and senior editor Erdem Gul were jailed on November 26 after publishing photos, videos, and a story in May which they claimed showed officials from Turkey's National Intelligence Agency (MIT) transporting arms to Syria in trucks, allegedly to opposition fighters.

The two were detained on charges of collecting and revealing secret documents for espionage and supporting an armed terrorist organization. They were reportedly held in solitary confinement for 40 days before being moved to the same prison ward.

In a faxed handwritten message to Reuters, the two journalists said the arrest was aimed at sending a message to other journalists.

"Our arrest is a clear message aimed at the press, saying: 'Don't write'.This is a direct drive at self-censorship," they wrote.

Comment: Erdogan is following in the footsteps of his masters in the US by silencing opposition and criticism of the government:

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Dollars

More eyes, more money: DEA hires TSA agents to search passenger's luggage for cash

Tim Cushing
techdirt
Thu, 21 Jan 2016 22:11 UTC
TSA agent
From the if-drug-trafficking-dips,-so-do-the-opportunities-to-grab-cash,-so... dept.
Here you are: written evidence that asset forfeiture leads to law enforcement activity, rather than the other way around. (h/t Brad Heath)

The DEA has already been blasted by the DOJ's Inspector General for its confidential informant program. The DEA's informants were paid when they weren't producing intel. They were paid and sheltered from prosecution when they committed criminal acts falling outside their purview as informants. And the entire program was adrift in a sea of corruption and chaos, subject to no real oversight. To top it all off, Inspector General Michael Horowitz had to battle the DEA for every document and piece of relevant information just to arrive at these conclusions.

It's not just common criminals being added to the DEA's payroll as confidential informants. It's also other government employees. The DEA isn't running a government employee-focused sting, however. It's just looking for money. More eyes mean more money. And the eyes that will see the most money in transit will be those located at commuter hubs.

Comment: As above so below. The DEA isn't the only agency scamming money from citizens. Police departments are in on the game too.

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Christmas Tree

Two men traveling with over 20 pounds of marijuana call cops on themselves in bout of marijuana-induced paranoia


RT
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 21:43 UTC
Leland Ayala-Doliente and Holland Sward mugshots
© East Idaho News / YouTube
Two men traveling from Nevada to Montana with over 20 pounds of marijuana got so incredibly stoned they handed themselves over to police in a bout of paranoia. The resulting recording obtained by East Idaho News had YouTubers in stitches.

The men - Leland Ayala-Doliente, 22, and Holland Sward, 23 - were driving across the Nevada-Idaho border almost exactly a year ago when fear struck so deep it completely paralyzed their ability to reason.

The following police call might be really bad publicity for marijuana, as things like this rarely happen outside of movies. The two decided they were being followed by undercover police after crossing over the border. They saw cars everywhere that they thought were being driven by cops just itching to bust them but were keeping their distance for some inexplicable reason.

And so, the two pulled over after exiting a highway in Rexburg. Parked at a gas station, they made a 911 call that will go down in history:

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Snakes in Suits

North Dakota approves huge crude oil pipeline despite environmental concerns


RT
Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:36 UTC
oil pump
© Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
North Dakota regulators have approved a proposal to build the largest capacity pipeline to date. The 1,130-mile long pipeline seeks to transport nearly 600,000 barrels of crude oil from the Bakken oil fields through 50 counties across four states.

On Tuesday, the North Dakota Public Service Commission approved permits for a pipeline that would transport crude oil through the Dakotas, Illinois, and Iowa. The all-Republican panel voted 2-0 in favor of the pipeline, with one member abstaining due to a conflict of interest.

Iowa is the only state yet to approve permits, however, The News and Observer reports that Energy Transfer Parts, the company behind the project, expects Iowa to approve by next month.

According to The News & Observer, the project is estimated to cost roughly $3.8 billion, with the North Dakota leg alone costing $1.4 billion. The Southern Illinoisan reported that Energy Transfer Partners, a Dallas-based company, claims to have easement agreements on 85 percent of the land the pipeline crosses.
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Camcorder

Video: Mondoweiss interviews 'children of the camp' in occupied West Bank

Sheren Khalel and Abed Al Qaisi
Mondoweiss
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 16:57 UTC
Children of the Camp
© YouTube/Mondoweiss
On Thursday, January 21 children from Bethlehem's Aida and Beit Jibrin refugee camps talked to Mondoweiss about their life in the camps. We wanted to know exactly how much the children understood about the military occupation going on around them, and how normal they believed their lives were. With their parents permission, we asked five children from the streets of the two camps what they thought. All of the answers were spontaneous and unrehearsed, and as it turned out, the kids understood — and have experienced — quite a lot.

Many of the children talked about tear gas, soldiers, and being scared of going outside. All of the children have seen family members killed, injured and detained by Israeli forces — as is the life in the occupied West Bank's many refugee camps. Still, the children have high hopes, telling Mondoweiss they want to be doctors, lawyers and engineers when they grow up.



Video: Sheren Khalel and Abed al Qaisi
Music: Bakr Khalifa
Interviews recorded: January 21, 2016
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Bullseye

Walmart violated labor law by firing on-strike workers, must offer to re-hire them - NLRB judge


RT
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 20:16 UTC
walmart labor laws
© Bret Hartman / ReutersStriking Walmart workers and supporters protest at a store on Black Friday in Paramount, California, November 23, 2012.
Walmart broke the law when it fired 16 employees for going on strike in 2013 and must now offer to re-hire them, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge has ruled. The retail giant has indicated it will appeal the decision.

The mega-retailer fired and disciplined workers at 29 stores for unexcused absences after they took part in a strike for better pay and working conditions in 2013.

But Administrative Law Judge Geoffrey Carter ruled on Thursday that Walmart violated labor law by "disciplining or discharging several associates because they were absent from work while on strike," adding that the strike was protected under the National Labor Relations Act.

Carter also ruled that the chain must give the employees back-pay for lost wages. Workers must be made "whole for any loss of earnings and other benefits suffered as a result of the discrimination against them," he said.

Comment: Kudos to Judge Geoffrey Carter. Pay up, corporate America.

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