Society's ChildS


Fire

Hong Kong: Protesters hurl petrol bombs at volunteers clearing roadblocks, shoot arrows at police

HongKong Protesters
© Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters/Stringer/Hong Kong Police Force/AFPHongKong Protesters
Demonstrators in Hong Kong attacked common citizens who attempted to free the roads from barricades amid a new round of clashes with police.

A fierce street battle erupted outside the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on Sunday, as protesters threw bricks at police, which responded with tear gas and water cannons. The officers were trying to remove the barricades erected by the demonstrators earlier this week, and urged them to stop placing metal spikes on the roads in hopes of piercing the police vehicles' tires.

Comment: See also:
Report: US NGOs and a local tycoon are funding Hong Kong protests and paying students to do it


Rocket

Baghdad 'Green Zone' hit by another rocket as Iraqis rise up against US-imposed regime

greenzone gate
© AP/Hadi Mizban.Iraqi forces on guard as vehicles move towards the gate to the Green Zone.
In recent weeks the Iraqi capital has been rocked by several rocket attacks, with one instance of projectiles targeting the US Embassy in the city's Green Zone and other missiles hitting the area near Taji Camp where US military personnel are stationed.

On Sunday, Baghdad's Green Zone, which is home to foreign embassies and government facilities, was targeted in a rocket attack, according to Reuters. Two police sources told the news agency the attack resulted in no serious damage or casualties. Other sources pointed out to Reuters that aerial bombardment sirens went off once the rockets hit the area.

A source in the Iraqi security forces said that at least three shells exploded near the green zone, adding that there was no information about casualties.

The green zone was recently targeted in an attack on 30 October, when two rockets struck a mere 50 meters from the US Embassy's gates. According to media reports, the attack resulted in the death of an Iraqi security officer. The zone, also known as the International Zone, has been the centre of diplomatic missions since the 2003 American invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Comment: See also:


Bandaid

Bloomberg apologizes for 'stop and frisk' police practice

former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
© AP Photo/John LocherIn this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks at a news conference at a gun control advocacy event in Las Vegas. Tennessee’s top election officials say Bloomberg has requested a petition that would require securing 2,500 signatures from registered voters in less than a month if he wants to qualify for the state’s Democratic presidential primary ballot. The secretary of state’s office confirmed Wednesday, Nov. 13, that Bloomberg requested the ballot petition earlier this week.
Michael Bloomberg on Sunday reversed his longstanding support of the controversial "stop-and-frisk" police strategy ahead of a potential Democratic presidential run, a policy he embraced as New York's mayor even though it disproportionately impacted people of color.

Addressing a black church in Brooklyn, Bloomberg said the practice often led to the disproportionate detaining of blacks and Latinos. He added that he "can't change history" but now realizes "I was wrong."

If anyone was wrongly stopped by police, "I apologize," he said.

Bloomberg's reversal is a notable recognition of the power and importance of black voters in the Democratic Party and the fact that his record on stop-and-frisk could be one of his biggest vulnerabilities should he launch a White House run.

Fire

Bolton dorm students 'ignored fire alarm because it goes off all the time'

Dorm fire university of Bolton
© ASPThe University of Bolton was on fire last night
'If it had gone up in the middle of the night everyone would have slept through the alarm. We have slept through them before'

Students have described how they ignored the fire alarm before a blaze which wrecked a Bolton tower block - because 'it goes off all the time'.

Not all the 211 students who lived in The Cube, near Bolton town centre, have yet been accounted for, fire chiefs say.

Dozens fled for their lives after fire ripped through The Cube student accommodation on Friday night.More than 200 firefighters were scrambled to the scene, rescuing one of the stricken students from an aerial platform.

That student and another were treated at the scene by paramedics. There are no reports that anyone suffered serious injuries.

Comment: Many were wondering if the cladding material, implicated in the fatal Grenville Towers fire, was part of the problem, although the fire brigade has stated it was a different material.
Some witnesses have claimed Grenfell-style cladding was responsible for the ferocity of the blaze.

The fire brigade has confirmed the building did have cladding but not the same type on the doomed tower block where 72 people died in 2017.

Mr Burnham told Sky News: "It does not have the ACM cladding which is now banned, but it does have a type of cladding which does cause concern.

"There will be many people living in buildings with this cladding today who will be very worried."

The Fire Brigades Union has now called for a complete overhaul of UK fire safety after the flames spread "extremely rapidly" through the building.

Cladding fears

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: "This terrible fire highlights the complete failure of the UK's fire safety system.

"It's deeply troubling to see fire spread rapidly up a building's exterior again - a shocking indictment of the government's shameful inaction after Grenfell. This is not how any building should react to a fire in the 21st century, let alone a building in which people live.

"We need to end the deregulation agenda and the disastrous cuts to our fire and rescue service. It's time for a complete overhaul of UK fire safety before it's too late."

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service firefighters are still working to extinguish the final pockets of the blaze but it is now under control.



Beaker

Two Arkansas chemistry professors arrested on charges of making meth

Dr. Terry Bateman
© Clark County Sheriffs Office via APDr. Terry Bateman is seen in an undated photo provided by the Clark County Sherrifs Office. Officials say two chemistry professors in Arkansas have been arrested on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine and using drug paraphernalia. The Clark County sheriff’s office says 45-year-old Terry David Bateman and 40-year-old Bradley Allen Rowland were arrested Friday, Nov. 15. 2019.
Two Arkansas college chemistry professors have been arrested on charges of making meth, in an apparent case of life imitating art.

The Clark County sheriff's office says Henderson State University professors Terry David Bateman and Bradley Allen Rowland were arrested Friday on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine and using drug paraphernalia.

Russian Flag

Putin's bikers invade Antarctica, occupy abandoned base... all just to unfurl a giant Russian flag

Russian flag
© "All worlds"
The Night Wolves bikers, known for their association with the Russian president, have joined with another patriotic group to bring a huge national flag to Antarctica - a mission that saw them sheltering at an abandoned polar base.

Photos show the massive Russian tricolor, measuring a whopping 1,423 square meters unfurled, amid the desolate Antarctic desert. The tiny human figurines seen in the shots are members of the notorious motorcycle club and the 'All Worlds' patriotic organization.

Russian media learned of the mission's success on Saturday from Yury Volkov, the head of All Worlds.

Blue Planet

Rise in flat-earthers is a symptom revealing the illnesses of science and modern-day society

fake earth
A merchandise stall at last year's Flat Earth International Conference in Denver, Colorado
Belief in a flat Earth is becoming fashionable. Scientists and other guardians of common sense are bemoaning this irrational development, yet we'd be better off seeing it as a very useful indication of deeper societal problems.

The Earth is flat. Okay, so the best available evidence indicates that it actually isn't, but the belief that our planet is a flat disc rather than an oblate spheroid has been steadily growing more popular in recent years. According to Google Trends data, searches for "flat Earth" as a topic have risen significantly since 2014. Meanwhile, a YouGov poll from 2018 suggested that only 66 percent and 76 percent of 18-24 and 25-34 year-olds "firmly believe" that the planet is round, indicating that this belief is becoming more common with younger American generations.

And to make matters seem even worse, Brazil hosted a flat Earth conference last Saturday in Sao Paulo. In fact, this wasn't even the first flat Earth conference to have taken place internationally, with last year's gatherings in Birmingham, UK, Denver, Colorado and Edmonton, Alberta suggesting that flat Earthism is becoming quite the cultural phenomenon.

Unsurprisingly, many figures in the world of science and journalism have despaired at this growth, with dozens of articles being published in recent months ridiculing the flat Earth belief system and mocking harebrained attempts to 'prove' its theories. However, while much of the commentary has focused on how shameful and dangerous it must be for humanity that flat Earthism is gaining traction, it needs to be said that it's emergence is actually a positive development for science, and for society more generally.

Really? Yes, because just as symptoms of an illness are useful for letting you know that you have an infection, so too is the rise of flat Earthism useful for indicating that both science and modern-day society are suffering from their own kinds of illnesses.

Comment: The real conspiracy: Flat earth is a psyop


X

SOTT Focus: Why The World Needs a Google Detox

no google
In this interview, Google whistleblower Zach Vorhies, who worked as a senior software engineer at Google and YouTube for over eight years, shares his inside knowledge of this global monopoly, revealing why Google is not a reliable source of information anymore.

Google's monopoly over search is matched by a continued reassurance that it is an unbiased search platform. Google is actively suppressing and censoring information, proving it is anything but unbiased.

While some of the information revealed is related to politics, you can read about my views about the two-party U.S. federal government here.


Comment: For the video, as well as links to the transcripts, visit Mercola.com here.


Comment: Excellent article. The things that Vorhies has exposed on what has quickly become the most evil corporation on the face of the planet (move over Monsanto) are truly earth-shattering.

See also:


Yellow Vest

Fizzled-out rebels or agents of change? France's year of Yellow Vests protests continues

yellow vest
© Alain JOCARD / AFP
As the 'Yellow Vests' protests in France come full circle, some vow to keep fighting for a more just society, while others believe the movement has gone too far. Though rattled, the system they rose up against is still in power.

Every Saturday for a year now, tens of thousands of people all over France have taken to the streets, fed up with not just the neoliberal and austerity policies of President Emmanuel Macron, but apparently the entire political system of the Fifth Republic.

The government has gone after them in force, pushing the police to their breaking point. The mainstream media has demonized them as anti-Semites, homophobes, far-right. Nevertheless, the 'Yellow Vests' (Gilets Jaunes) have persisted.

How it all began

Comment: RT reports on the most recent Yellow Vest protests:
Yellow Vest protesters were doused with water during clashes with police and rioting in downtown Paris, ahead of the first anniversary of their nationwide anti-government demonstrations.

The Place d'Italie circle in the city's 13th arrondissement descended into chaos as protesters erected makeshift barricades and threw stones at police officers, which responded with tear gas and water cannon.





The protesters overturned several parked cars and set vehicles on fire. A group of Yellow Vests attempted to block a fire truck from getting through to the barricades, which were also set ablaze.


At least in this video, that doesn't appear to be the case - the protesters move the barricades:



A shopping mall and several bus stops were vandalized when the protesters vented their anger over what they deem as government inaction towards their demands, made throughout a full year of weekly demonstrations.


The windows of a bank were smashed during the rioting. The protester groups on social media had earlier called on their colleagues to occupy and block several stores, including the Ikea and Apple stores.


Police were also called in to disperse protesters who were blocking traffic along the Boulevard Peripherique, the city's main ring 'beltway' road.

The authorities revoked their permit to stage a rally at the Place d'Italie, after the protests turned violent. Police had arrested 61 protesters by 3pm, Prefect of Paris Didier Lallement confirmed, adding that some officers were injured in the clashes.
More from RT:
Police fired tear gas as Yellow Vest protesters blocked a major road and erected barricades in Paris, marking one year since the nationwide demonstration movement began sweeping the country.



Clashes broke out at Place d'Italie downtown and near Porte de Champerret on the city's outskirts.


The protesters have also blocked traffic down the Boulevard Peripherique, the main ring road circling the capital. Riot police were deployed to disperse them.




A total of 41 people were arrested on the streets of Paris, police said.

More than 270 protest events were planned to take place across France over the weekend. Thousands are expected to rally in Paris alone, celebrating a full year since the inception of the Yellow Vest movement last November.

The protesters are determined to show that the movement is "far from being dead" and called for a "grand national mobilization," according to one group on social media.

Police, meanwhile, beefed up security in the capital. Local media reported that officers are on the lookout for hundreds of "yellow ultras and ultra-left militants."

The Yellow Vest protests started as a grassroots campaign against government plans to hike fuel taxes. The hikes were scrapped after several weeks of protests but the rallies continued. They grew to encompass other demands, such as better living standards, government accountability, the fight against corruption and for more direct-ballot initiatives. Demonstrators have also demanded the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron.


Some of the Yellow Vest rallies remained peaceful and maintained a cheerful atmosphere. Others have spiraled into fierce clashes with police, widespread riots and vandalism.



Pistol

5 people, including children, killed in San Diego domestic violence shooting

San Diego shooting
© Reuters/John Gastaldo (file photo)
A brutal case of domestic violence had fatal results in California on Saturday, with five family members shot dead and one more child fighting for his life in hospital after an apparent murder-suicide, San Diego police have said.

Police arrived at a home in Paradise Hills after several 911 calls. Local media report that the first call was likely made from inside the house, with no speech but the sounds of an argument heard in the background. Neighbors later reported sounds suggesting violence.

However, when the officers entered the house they were apparently too late, discovering several bodies, including those of children, covered in blood. Two adults, a 31-year-old man and a woman, 29, as well as a three-year-old child were pronounced dead at the scene. Three more children were taken to hospital, but two of them succumbed to their wounds there. The surviving 11-year-old boy has had to undergo surgery.