Society's ChildS


Attention

Daesh militant had wounds treated, received social benefits in Austria

doctors
© CC0
The scandal over medical care provided to a person who helped a terrorist organisation responsible for numerous murders and atrocities broke out in 2019, after he was arrested in Syria - although Vienna had been harbouring suspicions since 2015.

Austrian citizen of Turkish decent Azad G. was treated for a gunshot wound and received a guaranteed minimum wage for 14 months after returning from Syria in 2014, where he had fought on the side of Daesh, Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported. Despite initially looking into Azad G.'s persona, Austrian investigators dropped the case and failed to notify authorities in Vienna about their suspicions, the newspaper added.

Although the Daesh militant was on an army black list, which prevented him from having the opportunity to receive advanced training (he received basic training in 2010), the Interior Ministry allowed him to travel back to Syria in 2015, where he again joined the caliphate. However, this was not before he received 12,400 euros in Austrian tax money in the form of social benefits during his stay after treatment in the country, Kronen Zeitung added.

A year later, in 2016, an international arrest warrant was issued on Azad G., although his location in Syria remained unknown. He was finally captured by the Kurdish militia in 2019. The militant reportedly expressed remorse at what he had done and asked to be allowed to return to Vienna. According to the Austrian newspaper, the country's Interior Ministry is not interested in bringing the militant back.

Blue Planet

SOTT Focus: China's Global Leadership List

China
The vast majority of Americans have absolutely no idea how advanced China has become. Perusing social media comments by Americans, it's clear that too many of them are burdened by misinformation and prejudice. "China is 100 years behind"... "All Chinese products are crap" ... "China can't innovate" ... "It's a communist, poor, polluted country" ... and, of course, the most popular: "China's economy is about to collapse." Furthermore, people reinforce their biases by gleefully sharing only anti-China articles. Anything remotely positive about China is attacked as "Chinese propaganda."

This is a potent mix of ignorance, hubris and xenophobia. No wonder that Trump supporters were so confident of a trade deal in which Xi Jinping would surrender unconditionally and quickly. While it's true that China as whole has a long way to go to in terms of GDP-per-capita, many big cities in China are essentially "developed economies." And China has surpassed the US in many areas and is closing in rapidly in other areas.

No Entry

Largest cocaine seizure in New York in a quarter century found in crates of fruit

Cocaine bust
The crates said dried fruit from Colombia. There was no indication that they were holding tens of millions of dollars' worth of cocaine but that is what federal agents said they discovered in the biggest coke bust in New York in a quarter century.

After what was described as a routine interdiction, the agents said they found 3,200 pounds of cocaine in a shipping container that arrived at the Port of New York and New Jersey on Feb. 28.

The drugs had an estimated street value of $77 million.

Heart - Black

USC student shot near campus: 'I miss my baby,' says his mom, an Oakland councilwoman

Victor McElhaney, right, is pictured with his father Clarence and mother, Councilmember Lynette McElhaney
© Lynette Gibson McElhaneyVictor McElhaney, right, is pictured with his father Clarence and mother, Councilmember Lynette McElhaney, in a photo released by his mother with a statement about his murder, March 10, 2019.
A 21-year-old student at the University of Southern California was shot dead near the Los Angeles campus this weekend, the university said, leaving his mother, an Oakland councilwoman, heartbroken.

Victor McElhaney was a senior at USC's Thornton School of Music "where he was pursuing his lifelong love of music with some of the greats," his mother, Oakland Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney, wrote in a statement Sunday.

Councilwoman McElhaney called her son's death a "senseless act of violence."

The Los Angeles Police Department said a 21-year-old man was shot during a robbery shortly after midnight Sunday. The gunman and two or three other suspects fled the scene, which was east of campus, by Adams Boulevard and Maple Avenue, police said.

The victim was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Police did not release the victim's name or confirm that he died.

Star

SOTT Focus: 'Leaving Neverland' Documentary is Damning, Yet Some Still Believe Michael Jackson Was Not a Pedophile

Jackson neverland
'Neverland ranch', Michael Jackson's 'special' home for 'special' boys
Leaving Neverland has been seen by his many wild-eyed defenders as a "j'accuse" aimed at the legacy of Michael Jackson. It is not. It is a detailed, four-hour study of the psychology of child sexual abuse, told through two ordinary families who were groomed for 20 years by a paedophile masquerading as a trusted friend. It's a mask that is often used by predators, whether a priest, a teacher, an uncle. This time the man behind the mask just happened to be Michael Jackson.

I had only a foggy idea about all this before starting work on the film. The complex, counter-intuitive and repugnant truths of child sexual abuse that Wade Robson, James Safechuck and their families have courageously unravelled on camera came as a shock to me.

In particular, the repellent but undeniable fact that a powerful attachment often forms between the predator and the child, who experiences the adult's sexual advances not as abuse, but quite the opposite: as love. Equally disturbing to any parent is the child's subsequent urge to shelter the abuser from parents or police. This misplaced loyalty often persists into adulthood, even though the adult knows by now that child sexual abuse is a crime. "I felt anointed," as Wade puts it.

And then there's the fear of consequences. "Michael told me we'd go to jail for the rest of our lives," said Wade, describing a conversation that he had at Neverland when he was seven, but was repeated many times. The combined weight of love, shame and fear can lead to a lifetime of silence. The psychological strain of keeping the secret corrodes the soul, resulting in depression, feelings of worthlessness, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts. And the victim doesn't connect these symptoms with the childhood sexual relationship. I am no psychotherapist but this all started to make a dreadful kind of sense to me. As James observed poignantly in a recent interview: "Your whole childhood is a lie."

Comment: .

Part 1


Part 2


What does this say for the media? And the justice system?

They basically covered up for him for decades.

That's also down to Jackson's predatory cunning. He literally walked around holding the hands of the boys he abused, in front of cameras, for years, keeping everyone under his spell.

Finally, that's also down to everyone for believing in the Peter Pan myth.

Wakey-wakey people...


Ambulance

Eye injuries epidemic at Yellow Vest protests: French ophthalmologists demand Macron ban rubber bullets

eye injury yellow vests rubber bullets
© Agence France-Presse/Sébastien BozonA Yellow Vest protester holds a 40mm rubber 'flash ball' projectile
France is experiencing an "epidemic" of eye injuries as police repeatedly deploy golf-ball-sized rubber bullets, France's top ophthalmologists say, urging President Macron to halt use of the projectiles.

As the Yellow Vest protests enter their 17th consecutive week, the debate around the government's alleged use of excessive force continues to gain momentum. On Saturday, the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche published a letter to President Macron written by the country's 35 leading ophthalmologists, in which they asserted that the police's use of rubber bullets has led to an "epidemic of serious eye injuries."

Many people risk losing their vision, doctors say, hinting that the current dismal developments are no coincidence as rubber balls fly with great force and are often directed inaccurately. The letter, which demands "a moratorium" on using rubber bullets, was actually written in early February but only made public a month later to make sure the recipient gets the message, according the newspaper.

Red Pill

I was America's first 'nonbinary' person. It was all a sham.

trans flag
© Jamie ShupeJamie Shupe holds a transgender flag.
Jamie Shupe is a retired Sergeant First Class from the United States Army. He previously identified as transgender and was the first American to obtain non-binary status under law.

Four years ago, I wrote about my decision to live as a woman in The New York Times, writing that I had wanted to live "authentically as the woman that I have always been," and had "effectively traded my white male privilege to become one of America's most hated minorities."

Three years ago, I decided that I was neither male nor female, but nonbinary - and made headlines after an Oregon judge agreed to let me identify as a third sex, not male or female.

Now, I want to live again as the man that I am.

I'm one of the lucky ones. Despite participating in medical transgenderism for six years, my body is still intact. Most people who desist from transgender identities after gender changes can't say the same.

But that's not to say I got off scot-free. My psyche is eternally scarred, and I've got a host of health issues from the grand medical experiment.

Here's how things began.

War Whore

Indian police threaten to arrest those caught playing online shooter game PUBG

Boys gaming
© Reuters/Adnan Abidi
While the mobile version of Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) has been a smash hit among gamers in India, it has attracted a backlash from parents and police, who now want the "addictive" and "harmful" game banned for good.

Just ahead of the first anniversary of its release, Indian law enforcers are accusing the popular game of inciting violence and distracting kids from their studies, even pushing for a large-scale prohibition of the "battle-royal" style shooter.

Following numerous complaints by parents, a temporary ban on the mobile app was first announced by police in metropolitan Rajkot, with some other cities multiplayer-game soon following suit. While the current ban only extends until March 30, the police and children's rights watchdog are petitioning New Delhi to ban the game altogether.

Rajkot Police Commissioner Manoj Agrawal's statement included instructions to turn in those caught defying the ban to the police for prosecution, which could result in gamers being slapped with fines or up to a month in jail.

Red Flag

Hate crime investigation: Transgender woman arrested in chemical spray attacks on white New Yorkers

transgender
© Twitter / @NYPDTips
A transgender woman has been arrested in connection to the random attacks of at least seven people who were sprayed with a chemical substance on Friday in New York in what is being investigated as a hate crime.

Thomas J. Heard, 37, was arrested after allegedly threatening someone with a sharp object in the Bronx, and the victim worked with police to track her down. Authorities believe that Heard also was responsible for dousing a man with a pepper spray-like substance at the 125th St. subway station of the A/C/B/D lines on Friday, then running out into the street and spraying five more people.

Soon after, she allegedly attacked another woman waiting for the No. 1 train at W. 96th St. and Broadway. Then, around 2 p.m., a woman appearing to be Heard can be seen on a surveillance video violently kicking a stranger, Denise Galloway, in the leg before spraying her and her boyfriend.

Comment: More from RT:
Police say a total of 11 white New Yorkers were attacked over the weekend but they have not definitively linked all of the incidents to Heard at the time of writing. Heard reportedly has up to 65 prior arrests, many for prostitution and assault.

NBC reports:
Tasha Heard was arrested Saturday evening in connection with at least two separate attacks, though police were reportedly questioning her about several other similar incidents.

In one alleged incident, Heard is accused of approaching a white couple in their 50s on Friday afternoon while they shopped in the Bronx. She reportedly told the couple she hated white people before assaulting them.

"They were approached by the defendant who kicked both victims and sprayed a substance in their face," an NYPD spokesperson stated in an email. "The victims suffered minor injuries."

The other alleged incident for which Heard has been charged is similar in nature and occurred Saturday in the Bronx.

"The defendant approached a 30-year-old male and a 24-year-old female, asked them if they were white and displayed a sharp object causing fear," the NYPD stated. "The female victim was sprayed in the face with an unknown substance causing redness, burning and discomfort."

Court documents did not list an attorney for Heard, who is referred to in official documents and police reports by her legal first name, Thomas.

Police told NBC New York that Heard pepper-sprayed six other white people in Manhattan - five at a subway stop in Harlem and one at a nearby subway stop on the Upper West Side.

Joshua Smith, one of those alleged victims, said the suspect never said a word when she pepper-sprayed him near subway stop on 125th Street in Harlem.

"She held the mace directly to my eye and sprayed it in my eye," Smith told NBC New York. "She just walked up to me, like literally walked up, maced me and kept walking."



Document

US among 60 countries that will need a visa to visit Europe starting in 2021

schengen area
In a world in which most western liberal democracies are slamming Trump for demanding a wall be built on the US southern border to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the US, Europe is about to erect a metaphorical wall targeting legal US travelers, because starting in 2021, U.S. citizens will need a visa to visit most European countries.

"Similar to other countries and regions in the world Europe has recently decided to improve their security level to avoid any further problems with illegal migration and terrorism," the EU said.

U.S. citizens traveling to Europe for less than 90 days currently only need a passport, but the European Union announced Friday that starting in 2021 they will need a visa to visit most European countries. The decision follows an EU announcement in June of 2018 that it was in favor of imposing visas on U.S. citizens in the five countries, and the creation of a European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, that will require "pre-travel screening for security and migration risks of travelers benefiting from visa-free access to the Schengen area", i.e. Americans. At the time, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship, indicated that the requirement was put in place for security reasons.
"The new ETIAS will ensure that we no longer have an information gap on visa-free travelers," he said in a statement. "Anyone who poses a migratory or security risk will be identified before they even travel to EU borders."