Society's ChildS


Bad Guys

Declassified report reveals Northern Ireland police told not to arrest terrorists working for MI5


RT
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 18:46 UTC
Graffiti in Belfast
© Paul McErlane/ReutersGraffiti in Belfast, Northern Ireland claiming the RUC colluded with Loyalist terrorist groups
After almost 40 years in the dark, a declassified report has revealed that Northern Irish police were told to put intelligence before arrests by British spies, who were seeking to keep their terrorist informants on the streets.

Commissioned in January 1980, the Walker Report details how the British security apparatus recommended that informers within republican and loyalist paramilitary groups evade arrest for crimes by Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers due to their value as intelligence gathering tools.

This policy allowed such informers to be deemed "protected species" by detectives working as part of the RUC's criminal investigation department (CID).

Compiled by Sir Patrick Walker - a senior MI5 operative who went on to head the domestic security agency from 1987 to 1992 - the report was drafted following a series of high-profile IRA killings the previous year: the assassination of Royal Family member Lord Mountbatten by blowing up his yacht in Co. Sligo, Ireland; and the killing of 18 British soldiers in an ambush at Warrenpoint, Co. Down the same day.
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Water

Venezuelan military takes over water distribution in midst of economic collapse

Patricia Laya and Fabiola Zerpa
Bloomberg
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 14:31 UTC
caracas water emergency
© Carlos Becerra/BloombergPeople wait to fill their bottles at a spring on the Waraira Repano mountain in Caracas last month
To arrive at the El Paraiso water-filling station in Caracas by sunrise, Rigoberto Sanchez wakes before 4 a.m. Hours later, his tanker is in a slow-moving line with a dozen others. Only two of the 10 pumps work and Sanchez will have time for a couple of deliveries if he's lucky. If he's luckier, the military won't intercept him.

"They hijack our trucks, just like that," said Sanchez, leaning on a rusty railing. "Once that happens, you're in their hands, you have to drive the truck wherever they want you to."'

Venezuela's military has come to oversee the desperate and lucrative water trade as reservoirs empty, broken pipes flood neighborhoods and overwhelmed personnel walk out. Seven major access points in the capital of 5.5 million people are now run by soldiers or police, who also took total control of all public and private water trucks. Unofficially, soldiers direct where drivers deliver - and make them give away the goods at favored addresses.

Comment: It's most likely true that that is happening in some places, and for some people, but not all. In addition, a lot of the chaos in Caracas and a few other cities as regards services is a direct result of walk outs by staff organized by anti-government groups. Yet they blame Maduro and the government.

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Info

India no longer has the largest number of people living in extreme poverty


The Times of India
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 18:51 UTC
india child niña
© desconocido
The good news is that India is steadily moving down the poverty index. Nigeria overtook India as the country with the largest number of extreme poor and at end of May 2018, Nigeria had about 87 million people living in extreme poverty, as compared with India's 73 million, according to a recent report Brookings.

EXTREME POVERTY IS DROPPING IN INDIA, BUT ON THE RISE ELSEWHERE
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Calculator

Why are thousands of Swedes inserting microchips into themselves?

Moa Petersén
National Post
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 18:50 UTC
chip implant
© Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty ImagesA man reacts as he gets a chip implant in his hand during a chip implant event in Epicenter, a technological hub in Stockholm on January 18, 2018.
Thousands of people in Sweden have inserted microchips, which can function as contactless credit cards, key cards and even rail cards, into their bodies. Once the chip is underneath your skin, there is no longer any need to worry about misplacing a card or carrying a heavy wallet. But for many people, the idea of carrying a microchip in their body feels more dystopian than practical.

Some have suggested that Sweden's strong welfare state may be the cause of this recent trend. But actually, the factors behind why roughly 3,500 Swedes have had microchips implanted in them are more complex than you might expect. This phenomenon reflects Sweden's unique biohacking scene. If you look underneath the surface, Sweden's love affair with all things digital goes much deeper than these microchips.

The term biohackers refers to those amateur biologists who conduct experiments in biomedicine, but do so outside of traditional institutions - such as universities, medical companies and other scientifically controlled environments. Just as computer hackers hack computers, biohackers hack anything biological.

Comment: See also:

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Rocket

Syrian state media reports 2 Israeli missiles strike near Damascus airport, scant details


RT
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 23:30 UTC
Israeli missile strike/flag
© American Journal Review
Two missiles have reportedly landed in the vicinity of Damascus International Airport, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency. It was not immediately clear if the missiles were intercepted or if they hit their intended target. There were also no immediate reports of any damage or casualties. Besides pinning the blame on Israel, Syrian state TV provided no further details on the alleged strike that took place on Monday night.

Damascus has repeatedly accused Israel of de-facto helping the terrorists and boosting their morale every time they lose ground to the Syrian government forces. Meanwhile, Israel, which rarely admits to its operations in Syria, maintains its right to intervene whenever it deems it necessary to thwart Iran's growing influence and prevent the potential transfer of weapons to Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Just on Sunday, the Israeli Defense Forces launched a US Patriot missile at a drone allegedly coming towards the Israeli border from Syria. A pro-Damascus commander, however, said the unmanned aerial vehicle that was engaged in operations in southern Syria never intended to cross into Israel and managed to retreat without being hit.
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Cult

Atlantic Council admits Ukraine's Nazi problem, but upset RT reported on it

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 13:36 UTC
Far right movements, Kiev
© Sergii Kharchenko/Global Look PressSupporters and members of far right nationalistic movements and parties, Kiev, Ukraine.
RT has accurately and consistently chronicled the rise of neo-Nazism in Ukraine. Now, rather belatedly, NATO's principal mouthpiece has finally joined in, throwing some bizarre shade at this network in the process.

For the uninitiated, the Atlantic Council is NATO's propaganda wing. And whenever its lobbyists, or guest writers, publish opinions which digress from the standard Washington foreign policy establishment position, it usually suggests a change in attitude is on the cards.

Last week, the "think tank" sent Ukraine a clear message: get your extremists & neo-Nazis under control promptly and start taking the threat they pose seriously.

In doing so, the Atlantic Council also finally acknowledged the problem exists. Something readers and viewers of RT have been aware of since the first Euromaidan protests back in 2013. However, for years, this reportage was dismissed by pro-NATO activists as "Kremlin propaganda."

So what has changed? Well, Ukraine's far right has become so emboldened that even the countries' biggest defenders are beginning to realize the threat they pose to the narrative established since the 2014 change of power in Kiev.

Comment: By removing a stable governing structure, a society goes into free fall. The West calls it 'democracy'. And Kiev media call Nazis 'far-right nationalists'.

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Car Black

Turkey election votes were rigged; police find car full of forged ballots

Carly Read
Express
Sun, 24 Jun 2018 15:58 UTC
Erdogan, flags
© NOWTHEENDBEGINS.comRigged?
Police in Turkey have arrested three people after sacks overflowing with sealed ballot papers were found in a car they were driving adding fuel to speculation today's election was rigged.

Officers resorted to firing their guns into the air to stop the threesome in the country's southeastern province of Urfa from delivering four sacks stuffed with fake voting cards to the Bilge Primary School, which was being used as a polling station.

When police tried to pull the car over, the driver put his foot on the gas while the remaining two others hurled the sacks and papers out of the window, prompting officers to use force to stop and detain them while the vehicle was searched.

Meanwhile, Turkey's official news agency reports that authorities have launched an investigation after three French, three German and four Italian citizens have been arrested for interfering with votes.

Comment: Fraud from the top down, manipulated from the bottom up, collusion in the middle...the best rigged system Turkey can offer. Voter participation guaranteed whether you show up or not.

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Stop

US Senate bans sale of F-35s to Turkey unless forfeiture of Russian S-400 systems

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 02:00 UTC
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
© UnknownF-35 Joint Strike Fighter
On June 19, the Senate passed a draft defense bill for FY 2019 that would halt the transfer of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft to Turkey, until the secretary of state certifies that Turkey will not accept deliveries of Russian S-400 Triumf air-defense systems. It paves the way for Ankara's expulsion from the program if it does not bow to this pressure. The support for the measure (85-10) is too strong to be overridden.

Turkey has been one of six major partner nations in the JSF project since 2002. It is responsible for the production of certain components and for providing maintenance services in Europe to other operators of the aircraft. About a dozen Turkish companies are involved in the manufacturing, in accordance with the deal that was reached 16 years ago (2002). Ankara has placed an order to buy more than 100 F-35A Lightning IIs. It has already paid $800 million, so any restrictions that are imposed now will be an illegal breach of obligations by the US.

On June 21, the Senate Appropriations Committee added an amendment to the foreign-aid bill that would put a stop to future deliveries, if Ankara does not cancel the S-400 deal already concluded with Moscow. One of the arguments for blocking the F-35 transfer is the fear that Russia would get access to the JSF, enabling Moscow to detect and exploit its vulnerabilities. It would learn how the S-400 could take out an F-35.

Comment: Mixing politics, foreign relations, military and business...in various levels of incompetence. What could go wrong with that?

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Footprints

Saudi-led coalition claims Hodeidah assault aims to force Houthis to negotiate


Sputnik
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 05:14 UTC
Houthi convoy
© AFP/Navil HassanHouthi convoy on way to Hodeidah.
Saudi-led coalition is continuing the operation to establish control over Yemeni port city of Al Hodeidah together with the troops on the side of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in order to force the rebels from the Houthi movement to sit down for negotiations, the coalition's spokesman Turki Maliki said Monday.
"Military operations in Al Hodeidah continue in order to put pressure on the Houthis and force them to sit down at the negotiating table. These military actions are part of the political process in Yemen and are in accordance with international law," Maliki said at a press conference broadcast by the Saudi channel Al Ekhbariya.
Maliki also accused the Houthis of disrupting all political efforts that could lead to a negotiated solution to the crisis.

Yemen is engulfed in an armed conflict between the government and the Houthi militia. The Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf nations has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at the Yemeni President's request since March 2015.

Military operations in Al Hodeidah began earlier in June when the Yemeni government forces, supported by the Saudi-led coalition, engaged in an offensive to capture the port from the Houthis. The battle continues despite warnings by the international community that the situation would aggravate the acute humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Comment: Bringing the Houthi movement to the negotiation table is an excuse. SA would rather draw them in and finish them off.
See also:

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Butterfly

Hermit forced to return to civilization after living alone on an island for 29 years

Jordan Barnes
Daily Mail
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 18:38 UTC
island hermit
Nagasaki, 82, proudly lived in the buff after a typhoon washed away his clothes.
Japanese authorities denied a man the chance his wish to die a castaway on an island he called home for three decades.

Masafumi Nagasaki was the only inhabitant of the kilometre-wide Sotobanari island but was forced to return to civilisation after being found unwell by police.

He lived in solitude since 1989 and became known as the 'naked hermit' after being discovered by a traveller who writes about castaways.

lvaro Cerezo told news.com.au Nagasaki was evicted after someone found him on the island looking 'weak'.
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