Society's ChildS


Snakes in Suits

New set of rules could ban Muslims from becoming UK school governors to "promote British values"


RT
Fri, 20 Jun 2014 18:57 UTC
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© Reuters/Stefan WermuthMuslims attend Friday prayers in the courtyard of a housing estate next to the small BBC community centre and mosque in east London March 28, 2014.
A set of rules aimed at promoting "British values" in schools could ban conservative Muslims from becoming governors, a religious rights group says. The new regulations follow allegations of a "Trojan Horse" plot to Islamisize schools in the UK.

The Department of Education has introduced a new set of rules governing free schools and academies in Britain. The regulations dictate that school governors and trustees should demonstrate "fundamental British values" and give the state powers to close the schools if they do not toe the line.

"The Academy Trust must ensure that principles are promoted which support fundamental British values," say the rules. These include respect for democracy and the democratic process, support for gender equality and tolerance of different faiths and religions.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MBC) argues the new rules are discriminatory and allocate too much power to the Department of Education to define "British values."

Comment: So the British state claims to be an arbiter of "British values"? Considering their record of participating in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and beyond, one has to wonder why the Dept. of Education is so interested in promoting "British values"?

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Handcuffs

Illinois man put hot sauce in 3-year old's mouth, taped it shut - charges filed


CBS News - Chicago
Sun, 22 Jun 2014 18:34 UTC
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© WHDH
A man living in a Danvers hotel is accused of putting hot sauce in the mouth of his girlfriend's 3-year-old son and then taping it shut.

Christopher Delcid, 21, pleaded not guilty Wednesday at his arraignment to charges of assault and battery on a child and child abandonment, according to the Salem News.

He was ordered held on $250,000 bail.

The boy's mother, Katherine Rodriguez, is due in Salem District Court Thursday to face charges in the case.

According to a police report, the boy was found alone in an Extended Stay America hotel room in Danvers Tuesday afternoon after police received a call from a concerned relative.
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Bulb

Federal appeals court rules Los Angeles homeless can live in cars


RT
Fri, 20 Jun 2014 18:27 UTC
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© AFP Photo / Frederic J. Brown
A federal appeals court ruled that a Los Angeles ordinance preventing homeless people from living in cars is unconstitutionally vague and struck down the ban.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the law that banned people living in their cars or recreational vehicles on a public street or in a public parking lot (even overnight) is unconstitutionally vague and encourages arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement. The decision overturned the District Court of Appeals ruling in favor of the city.

The ban was enacted in 1983, but faced renewed enforcement in 2010, after Los Angeles officials held a September town hall to address complaints of homeless people living in vehicles on streets in the Venice area of the city. City officials repeatedly said at the meeting that the "concern was not homelessness generally, but the illegal dumping of trash and human waste on city streets that was endangering public health," the ruling said in the factual background.

The Los Angeles Police Department then created the Venice Homelessness Task Force, made of 21 officers to cite and arrest people living in cars, as well as distribute information about local shelters and social services. During their training, task force members were told that "an individual need not be sleeping or have slept in the vehicle to violate" the city ban, and that the LAPD officers should look for"possessions normally found in a home, such as food, bedding, clothing, medicine, and basic necessities." They were to offer a warning for the first violation, a citation for the second and make an arrest on the third.
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Colosseum

Pope Francis 'excommunicates' Italian mafia


RT
Sun, 22 Jun 2014 16:16 UTC
Pope Francis
© AFP Photo / Vincenzo PintoPope Francis waves to the crowd from the popemobile on June 21, 2014 as he arrives in Cassano allo Ionio in the southern Italian region of Calabria for a one day visit.
Calling the practices of Italian 'Ndrangheta crime group the "adoration of evil," Pope Francis said the Mafiosi "are excommunicated" from God and the Catholic Church, in his address to tens of thousands of people in Calabria, southern Italy.

"Those who in their lives follow this path of evil, as Mafiosi do, are not in communion with God. They are excommunicated," Pope Francis said as cited by Reuters.

"This evil must be fought against, it must be pushed aside. We must say no to it," Francis said, promising that the Vatican would apply all efforts to combat such activity.

Francis condemned 'Ndrangheta as the "adoration of evil and contempt of the common good."

"Repent! There is no time to avoid ending up in hell, which is what awaits you if you do not change course," the Pope stated after holding a vigil as he visited Castrovillari prison in Calabria, a region infested by organized crime, Il Sole 24 Ore reports.


Comment: In this truth-lie sandwich, the Pope offers a fairly accurate assessment of the mafia and the responsibility of humanity (not just Catholics) to fight against this (and related) evil. Unfortunately, it is sandwiched between the absurdity of hell and the blatant omission of the very real evils committed by the Catholic Church and its representatives.


Comment: No matter how many seemingly moral statements the Pope makes, it will be hard to take him seriously until he seriously addresses the elephant in the Vatican: the rampant pedophilia and cover-up of offending priests the world over. And he's got a long way to go before clearing out Catholicism of its rampant corruption. See also:

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Target

FBI raids home of so-called 'dangerous doomsday prepper' and only finds legal weapons and barrels of food

Mark Slavo
SHTFplan.com
Sun, 22 Jun 2014 16:49 UTC
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies blasted alerts all over the country earlier this week advising Americans to be on the lookout for 'Doomsday Prepper' Martin Winters, who police say was stockpiling over fifty "high powered" rifles, deadly booby traps and food in preparation for an "end times" event. Neighbors interviewed by mainstream news were terrified about the allegations, leaving some with the impression that Winters was "crazy" because he allegedly claimed that he would kill federal agents if necessary.

While SWAT officials indicated the likelihood that they would have to engage Winters in a firefight was high, friends and family suggested otherwise, saying that Winters may have had views different from most people but insisting that he is a "good guy" who wouldn't hurt others unless it was necessary to do so in self defense.
Martin Winters
© unknownMartin Winters with daughters

Comment: It appears as if this is yet another infamous FBI frame-up.

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Bomb

East Ukrainian refugees seek safety from shelling at Russian border


RT
Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:31 UTC
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© RIA Novosti/ Sergey PivovarovA family from southeastern Ukraine at a checkpoint in Donetsk, Rostov Region, June 20, 2014
As mortar shells spilled into Russian territory Friday, hundreds of Eastern Ukrainians at Russia's refugee camp near border had to be taken to centers further away. Currently the two shelled checkpoints are only working for refugees.

Two Russian checkpoints on the border with Ukraine in Rostov region - Novoshakhtinsk and Donetsk - were closed on Saturday following mortar shelling and shooting the day before.

The checkpoints are being inspected for undetonated explosives while Russian prosecutors are trying to find out the circumstances of the incidents.

"Donetsk and Novoshakhtinsk are admitting nobody into Russia except Ukrainian refugees," spokesman of the Border Service in the Rostov Region, Vasily Malayev, said.

Russia set up a refugee camp in Novoshakhtinsk near the border with Ukraine to house the increasing number of Eastern Ukrainians fleeing from Kiev's shelling their homes.
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V

Amid Spain King's coronation, thousands protest in Madrid calling for abolition of Spain's monarchy


RT
Fri, 20 Jun 2014 15:42 UTC
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Several people have been detained at an anti-monarchy protest near Madrid's heavily guarded central square following the coronation of Felipe VI as Spain's new king.

Despite the ban on republican protests by the Madrid authorities, up to 3,000 anti-monarchy activists flooded the area in central Madrid, EuropaPress reports. Waving the red, yellow and purple flags of Spain's second republic, protesters demanded the abolition of the monarchy.

The march which included members of more than 20 NGOs started from the Casa del Mar and concluded in front of the local government building, where writer and journalist Manuel Rivas read out a manifesto which rejected the "monarchical taxation." Liberty is a "treasure of humanity," said Rivas. "We say yes to the right to decide."
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Megaphone

Torture a 'mortal sin', should be abolished, says Pope Francis


AP
Sun, 22 Jun 2014 15:26 UTC
Pope Francis
© AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino
Pope Francis waves to faithful during the Angelus prayer he delivered from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s square at the Vatican, Sunday, June 22, 2014. Pope Francis is urging Christians to band together to work for the abolishment of every form of torture, condemning the practice as grave sin.
Pope Francis is urging Christians to work together to abolish every form of torture, condemning the practice as a grave sin.

Francis told the public in St. Peter's Square Sunday he wanted to reiterate his "firm condemnation of every kind of torture." He sought united efforts to work for torture's end and to support victims and their families.

Francis said it was a "mortal sin, a very grave sin, to torture people" and noted that Thursday marks the United Nation's day for torture victims.

Torture was a powerful tool of the military regime ruling his native Argentina from 1976 till 1983. The local church hierarchy then openly sided with the junta.

Francis has been credited with saving lives of political dissidents while a Jesuit priest in Argentina.
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Quenelle

Thousands march against austerity in London


RT
Sat, 21 Jun 2014 03:43 UTC
london austerity protest
© Twitter/@daisyayliffeNo more austerity!
Thousands of protesters hit streets in London in a "no more austerity" march, which demanded an alternative to the "greed and selfishness" of the Con-Dem coalition.

The rally, which also includes a festival, was called by The People's Assembly Against Austerity, an broad coalition of anti-government groups that embraces trade unions and other campaigners. RT's Sara Firth reported from the scene that thousands came to join.

"Living standards continue to drop, forcing millions into poverty, yet the politicians remain addicted to austerity," the rally's said.

Comment: The compete apathy of the British people seems to be lifting very slowly, as they realise just how badly they are being deceived by their corporate oligarchs. Will it be enough to make a difference? Britons living in poverty more than doubled in past 30 years, as wealth gap soared

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Phoenix

A deliberate sabotage or a message from the Universe? Ukraine gas pipeline blast unexplained


HazardEx
Thu, 19 Jun 2014 14:56 UTC
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An explosion ripped through a natural gas pipeline in the Poltava region of central Ukraine on June 17 sending a column of fire 200 metres into the air. Ukraine's state pipeline operator Ukrtransgaz said the fire from the explosion was extinguished in less than two hours. Supplies to Europe were not affected as the gas flow was temporarily shifted to a parallel pipeline.

The incident happened one day after Russia said it was cutting off gas supplies to Ukraine over a payment dispute. Ukraine is fighting an insurrection in its eastern and southern provinces that it says is being supported and encouraged by Moscow.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry said it was investigating a number of possible causes, including terrorism.

The pipeline, which was completed in 1983, has capacity for 32 billion cubic meters a year and is one of two major gas pipelines that run through Ukraine to Western Europe from Russia. At the site of the blast the pipeline was six metres underground.
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