Society's ChildS


Info

Torture claims by Russian Jehovah's Witnesses prompts investigation


Radio Free Europe
Sat, 23 Feb 2019 18:17 UTC
Yevgeny Kayryak
Yevgeny Kayryak, one of the Jehovah's Witnesses who said he was tortured by Russian police.
An official of Russia's main criminal investigative body says the organization is looking into allegations that its officers tortured members of the banned Jehovah's Witnesses religious group.

In a February 19 statement, the religious group said seven of its adherents were "subjected to torture - electric shocks, suffocation, and cruel beatings" by Investigative Committee officers in the city of Surgut in northwestern Siberia.

The Investigative Committee initially denied the torture claim. But Interfax on February 22 cited regional committee official Oleg Menshikh as saying it had decided to investigate the claim because of "agitation that has arisen after publication of this information in the media."
Read More...
Newspaper

12 y.o. journalist stands her ground against cop trying to arrest her

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Sat, 23 Feb 2019 18:10 UTC
Hilde Kate Lysiak
If you have been to the Free Thought Project before, chances are you've seen one of the countless videos we've covered showing police officers threaten to arrest people for practicing their First Amendment right to film in public. However, the following video is like any we have ever seen, as the person flexing their rights is a 12-year-old girl, who runs her own news company out of Arizona.

Hilde Kate Lysiak is a reporter/publisher of the website Orange Street News - which she founded. Since she was in the single digits of age, this little journalist has been an inspiration to those who value dedication to the free press becoming world famous for being the first to report on a grisly murder in her town-at age 9.

Because Lysiak has been in the business for so long, even though she is only 12, she knows the ropes when it comes to filming in public. So, when she was approached and threatened with arrest for filming, she was undeterred.

On Monday, Lysiak was investigating a tip for a story in Patagonia when she was threatened with arrest.

We'll let Lysiak describe the rest:

The OSN was biking down Roadrunner Lane investigating the tip at about 1:30 pm on February 18th when the reporter was stopped by Patagonia Marshal Joseph Patterson and asked for identification.

The Orange Street News identified herself as a member of the media, including name and phone number.
Read More...
Light Saber

Max Blumenthal: 'People who hate Maduro often need humanitarian aid the least'


RT
Sat, 23 Feb 2019 17:44 UTC
venezuela blumenthal food shortages
© Youtube / Grayzone ProjectMax Blumenthal goes shopping in Venezuela
The narrative about dictator Maduro starving his own people aims to split a polarized Venezuela where the poor still support the government, while those backing the opposition are cashing in on the crisis, Max Blumenthal told RT.

Despite mainstream media painting a dire picture in which the entire Venezuelan society -of course, besides Maduro himself and his corrupt inner circle- are in desperate need of food and basic necessities, the independent journalist discovered a different situation while touring parts of the country.

"The problem here is with speculation," Blumenthal told RT from Caracas, explaining that, while many food products indeed suffered from the massive hyperinflation triggered by the falling oil price and US sanctions, local supply to the population sometimes costs them nothing at all.

Comment:

Read More...
Yoda

Caitlin Johnstone: Anyone buying this Venezuela bullsh*t is a complete moron

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Fri, 22 Feb 2019 17:26 UTC
richard Branson
#VenezuelaAidLive is trending on Twitter in the USA as I write this, forced to the forefront of public consciousness and into everyone's eyeballs by a concert staged by billionaire plutocrat Richard Branson. Branson's Virgin Group controls hundreds of companies and brings in some $21 billion annually, with Branson himself valued at around five billion dollars.

The concert is pure narrative control operation, designed to advance the proven lie that the Venezuelan government is shutting out all humanitarian aid from its people, and the proven lie that it has blockaded a bridge to prevent the aid from getting through, both of which are also currently being promoted by American mainstream media despite being thoroughly disproven. In reality, the Venezuelan government has been taking in humanitarian aid from all around the world to help its people, just not from America's regime change operation that is so blatant even NPR recognizes it, and the bridge Branson has been posing in front of for his "billionaire philanthropist" photo ops has never been open for travel.
Read More...
People 2

1 dead as police call off rescue at Crans-Montana, Switzerland avalanche


Deutsche Welle
Wed, 20 Feb 2019 17:19 UTC
avalanche switzerland crans-montana
© Picture Alliance/Associated Press/A. Anex
Swiss rescue teams have stopped a search for people after an avalanche killed one and injured three others. It was a rare avalanche onto a busy piste.

One person crushed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps has died, police said Wednesday, as rescue crews halted a search for more victims following an all-night operation.

Four people had been wounded in the avalanche on the busy Plaine-Morte ski track at the resort of Crans-Montana, Swiss police said Tuesday. One of the wounded, a 34-year-old French national, died overnight from injuries.
Read More...
Handcuffs

R. Kelly arrested in Chicago on sex abuse charged involving four victims

Sara Sidner
CNN
Fri, 22 Feb 2019 17:04 UTC
R Kelly
© Getty
Singer R. Kelly was placed in handcuffs as he entered a Chicago police station Friday night, hours after he was indicted on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse -- a class 2 felony -- involving four alleged victims.

His attorney, Steve Greenberg, said Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx succumbed to public pressure and that his client is an innocent man.

"I think all the women are lying," Greenberg said. Kelly didn't speak to the media.

"Mr. Kelly is strong, he's got a lot of support and he's going to be vindicated on all these charges -- one by one if it has to be," Greenberg said. Kelly is scheduled to appear in court Saturday for a bail hearing, Foxx said Friday while announcing the charges.

Arraignment is set for March 8.The charges handed up in an indictment from a grand jury span from 1998 to 2010, Foxx said. If convicted, Kelly faces three to seven years in prison for each count.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
NPC

'Empire' producers exile Jussie Smollett from show following faked hate crime


RT
Sat, 23 Feb 2019 12:30 UTC
Jussie Smollett
The producers of the TV drama Empire have decided to "remove" Jussie Smollett from the show after the actor was charged with felony disorderly conduct for faking a hate crime against himself.

With only two episodes left in its fifth season, the producers of the Fox network drama have released a joint statement announcing that Jussie's character will be cut "to avoid further disruption on set."

"The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us," they wrote, adding that "While these allegations are very disturbing" they are "placing [their] trust in the legal system as the process plays out."

Comment: Also see: The Jussie Smollett Hate-Crime Hoax is Nothing New in Trump's America

Read More...
Wall Street

Philadelphia alleges municipal bond collusion in lawsuit against seven big banks

Jonathan Stempel
Reuters
Sat, 23 Feb 2019 12:30 UTC
Bank of America
The city of Philadelphia has filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing seven major banks of conspiring to inflate interest rates for a type of bond used by cities, towns and other public entities, costing them potentially billions of dollars.

In a complaint filed on Wednesday night, Philadelphia accused Bank of America Corp, Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Royal Bank of Canada and Wells Fargo & Co of secretly manipulating rates for tax-exempt bonds known as VRDOs, or variable-rate demand obligations.

Philadelphia, which said it issued more than $1.6 billion of the bonds, said the banks colluded to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in fees they did not earn, reducing critical funding for public services such as hospitals, power and water supplies, schools and transportation.
Read More...
Piggy Bank

Big Banks caught laundering huge sums of money: UBS fined $4.2 billion, Danske closes in 4 countries

Kevin Helms
Bitcoin.com
Thu, 21 Feb 2019 00:00 UTC
money laundering
Money laundering scandals involving some of the world's largest banks have grown this week. Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, has been fined 3.7 billion euros (~$4.2 billion) for money laundering. Amid a $226 billion scandal, Estonian authorities have ordered Denmark's largest bank to terminate its operations in the country. Danske Bank is also shutting down in three other countries including Russia.

UBS Convicted in France

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that a "French court finds UBS criminally responsible of money laundering." The Associated Press elaborated:
The Paris court convicted Zurich-based UBS AG on Wednesday of aggravated money laundering of the proceeds of tax fraud and illegal bank soliciting, issuing what French media called a record fine.

Comment: More on the outrageous wholesale greed and crimes being perpetrated by these so-called reputable institutions:

Read More...
Cult

'Dozens of arrests yet to come' in sex-trafficking ring, Martin County sheriff says: report

Joe Mario Pedersen
Orlando Sentinel
Sat, 23 Feb 2019 00:11 UTC
sex trafficking
© Palm Beach County and Martin County sheriff's officesHua Zhang, 58 of Winter Garden, and Lei Wang, 39 of Hobe Sound, were arrested Tuesday by Palm Beach County and Martin County sheriff's offices for their suspected involvement in a large sex trafficking ring spread throughout the Sunshine State.
Florida law enforcement officials recently arrested multiple people in a large sex-trafficking ring stretching throughout Orange, Indian River and Martin counties with ties to New York and China, according to a report by Treasure Coast Newspapers.

A 16-page affidavit was released Wednesday detailing the arrests of Hua Zhang, 58 of Winter Garden, and Lei Wang, 39 of Hobe Sound, who have suspected involvement in the sex trafficking operations at Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Martin County, one of several businesses targeted in the investigation.

"This is a complex case that has been going on for months," said Sheriff William Snyder in Tuesday a press conference. "We have dozens and dozens of arrests yet to come."
Read More...