Society's ChildS


Eye 1

Your privacy doesn't matter: Downing drones now labeled 'criminal mischief'

drone
As hobby drones continue to proliferate across the United States and commercial applications rise, the rules about drone use remain murky, as do the penalties for downing them if you feel your privacy is being threatened.

So far we have seen a push by the FAA to impose mandatory drone registration that requires owners of any drone weighing more than 250 grams to ID their aircraft and provide personal contact information so that quick action can be taken in the case of violations. However, this is being done mainly to protect government institutions, federal airspace and of course to address the ubiquitous threat of terrorism.

Meanwhile, a range of penalties has been applied to the few individuals who have managed to bring down drones in both public and private space; from jail time in the case of a man who took down a drone with his T-shirt at a California beach, to a 65-year-old Pennsylvania woman who hit her neighbor's drone with a rock, destroying it - she was forced to pay $600 in damages, but was cleared of "criminal mischief." A Kentucky man who took more serious action and used a shotgun to blast his neighbor's drone out of the sky, was arrested, but also was eventually cleared of criminal mischief and first-degree endangerment.

Handcuffs

Former prison supervisor sued for repeatedly raping female inmates

prison
© Saul Loeb / AFP
Three women are suing the former supervisor at an all-female prison in Georgia for civil rights violations, saying he repeatedly raped them during their time as inmates. Now they are pleading for other victims to come forward.

Plaintiff Casey Mincey, 35, was serving three years for identity fraud when she was tasked with cleaning the mental health wing of the Emanuel Women's Facility. That's where Captain Edgar Daniel Johnson, the correctional supervisor of the medium-security women's prison, began interacting with her.

It started innocently, she told reporters Monday. Friendly chats soon moved to compliments, touches, kisses on the head and hugs. Then Johnson slipped his hands down her pants. Eventually ‒ and repeatedly ‒ he raped her, she said. And she is not the only inmate he sexually assaulted.

Comment: This seems to be par for the course in prisons where inmates are exploited and abused financially, through their labor and even physically. Hopefully, the victims will obtain justice.


Stormtrooper

Police brutality: Elderly woman tasered, her arm broken, for not removing her earrings fast enough

taser arm break
© n/a
When 60-year-old Nancy Mason was in the process of being booked into the Hamilton County, Tennessee, jail on theft charges she refused to remove her earrings quickly enough setting off a violent chain of events. For not complying fast enough, Sheriff's Sergeant Rodney Terrell tased her — sending the woman crashing to the ground, landing on and breaking her arm in the fall.

Before being booked, Mason is ordered to remove her jewelry but refuses to do so. "I will report you," she says to Terrell. Terrell, can be heard saying, "Report all you want, I will not keep telling you."

Then he fires his taser.

"You broke my arm," Mason says in video footage, clutching her wrist in disbelief, after recovering from the fall.

"I didn't break your arm, you broke it," the officer retorts.

Stormtrooper

Sickening: Cops attack peaceful 60-year-old man, break his arm for no reason

dash cam screen shot
© n/a
In February 2014, Steven S. Kahn, 60, was peacefully sitting in his car, had not harmed anyone and was not suspected of committing any crime. However, these facts would prove to be no defense against Burlington City police officers and their tendency that night to escalate a peaceful situation into a violent one.

The entire interaction was captured on police dashcam.

According to the Courier-Post, Michael J. McKenna, a Cherry Hill attorney representing Kahn, said the video "demonstrates a use of force by police against a 60-year-old man so excessive that it can only be called sickening."

Magic Wand

Unbelievable: Woman who live streamed drunk driving spree on Periscope won't spend any time in jail

drunk periscope
© Lkld Now / YouTube 13
A Florida woman who streamed her drunken drive home on the live video platform Periscope avoided jail time after making a plea deal with officials.

It all happened last October after a night out in the city of Lakeland, when Whitney Beall 'broadcast' her 40-minute attempt to drive home titled, "Driving home drunk. Entertainment please!!!".


"I am drunk on South Florida Avenue, because I'm a drunk person," the 23-year-old said in the video, while later stating, "I'm driving home drunk, let's see if I get a DUI."

At various points in the video, a disorientated Beall can also be heard saying she's "drunk... f*cking drunk" as well as stating she was unaware of where she was several times.

V

French farmers protest low prices of agricultural products due to sanctions against Russia

france farmer protests sanctions
© Twitter/@Yann_Plantier
A protest by French farmers has taken place in Paris. Large crowds gathered to decry the low prices of agricultural produce. Prices are being driven down by the sanctions exchange with Russia, which has caused domestic produce to flood the French market.

The protest started near the Gare de Lyon railway station, but then moved to the Porte de Vincennes - one of the city gates in Paris. There were police and fire brigades on the scene, ready to intervene, but it didn't run to that.

Hundreds of egg crates were fed into a wood cutter, which sprayed them towards a building. Over 100 demonstrators at the spot were waving flags. Protesters built make-shift barricades out of straw and covered the street with shreds of newspaper that they promised to set on fire.


Comment: The people of Europe clearly are showing their anger and displeasure at the Western sanctions against Russia, and every day another politician in the EU comes out and says the sanctions needs to end. Aside from US imperial ambitions, it doesn't appear that the sanctions benefit anyone. Time for the EU leaders to listen to their own people instead of the elites across the ocean.


V

Anonymous releases huge database belonging to Turkey's police force for "abuses and corruption" by Turkish government

Anonymous mask
© Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
Hacktivist collective Anonymous claims to have dumped online a huge database belonging to Turkey's General Directorate of Security (EGM) in response to "various abuses" by the Turkish government in recent months.

The person who uploaded the database Monday said he received it from a hacker who had "persistent access to various parts of the Turkish government infrastructure for the past two years."

The compressed file is expected to weigh in at some 2.8GB, and the uncompressed version at around 17.8GB.

The files were released "in light of various government abuses in the past few months" in Turkey, as the activist "decided to take action against corruption," the activists added.

Stormtrooper

US Marshals arrest man over $1,500 student loan from 1987...

US marshal
© AFP
Being behind on student loan payments in Texas could cost you more than your credit score. The US Marshals Service in Houston is arresting people who aren't paying their federal student debt. Paul Aker said that seven deputy US Marshals showed up at his Houston home in combat gear.

"I was wondering, why are you here. I am home, I haven't done anything," he told Fox 26, adding that he didn't receive any notice about a $1,500 student loan he received in 1987. He claims he was taken to federal court, where he signed a payment plan for the debt.

"It was totally mind-boggling," Aker said. This is far from an isolated incident, a source told the station. It isn't the first time Marshals have served someone for being behind on loans, and they are planning to serve between 1,200 and 1,500 other people who have student debt.

Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) told Fox 26 that it's worrisome that private debt collectors are able to use US Marshals as muscle to retrieve payments for loans.

"There's bound to be a better way to collect on a student loan debt that is so old," Green said.


Better Earth

Cast of new film about resistance in Nazi Germany sees parable for today's Europe

Cast of Alone in Berlin
The drama "Alone in Berlin," about a middle-aged German couple who risk their lives to oppose the Nazis, contains lessons for present-day Europe and its treatment of refugees, cast members said Monday.

Premiering at the Berlin Film Festival on Monday, the film is based on a 1947 book by German author Hans Fallada that became a surprise hit in the U.S. and Britain when it was first translated into English seven years ago.

Comment: Other films and novels hold a mirror up to the horrific times we live in. See also: Truth: The Enemy of the State


Flashlight

A journalist's visit to Aleppo shows the destruction and danger that lurks around every corner courtesy of the US Empire

aleppo
© Sputnik/ Michael AlaeddinView of Aleppo from the clock tower
A RIA Novosti correspondent visited the ancient streets of Aleppo and found out how dangerous it is to be close to the Aleppo citadel, the centerpiece of a UNESCO-recognized cultural heritage site.

Before entering the historic center the correspondent and his team were stopped by the police. The officer asked them if they were sure they wanted to go to the center and the market. He warned them that in some streets, the militants are only separated from the visitors by a metal shield or a building.

Aleppo
© SPUTNIK/ MICHAEL ALAEDDINClock Tower in the Old Town of Aleppo
There are enemy snipers hiding between the buildings. In order to see the ancient castle, one has to go with a guide who is familiar with the safe streets in order to avoid the militants.

Aleppo is the largest and most populous city in Syria. Various powers have fought to control the city for thousands of years. "The pearl of the city has always been the citadel — a massive fortress built on a hill in the heart of Aleppo," the correspondent noted.