Society's ChildS


Handcuffs

Best of the Web: Technically, he broke the law, but is Tommy Robinson really in prison because he drew attention to 'grooming gangs'?

The latest controversy is maddening for many reasons
tommy robinson
Tommy Robinson 'the journalist'. Well, activist. Citizen journalist?

Tommy Robinson is a British political activist and "citizen journalist" who came to prominence in Britain almost a decade ago when he founded the English Defence League. The EDL was a street-protest movement in Britain whose aims could probably best be summarized as "anti-Islamization." It emerged in the town of Luton after a group of local Islamists barracked the homecoming parade of a local regiment returning from service in Afghanistan.

From their earliest protests the EDL's members sought to highlight issues including sharia law, Islam's attitudes toward minorities, and the phenomenon that would become euphemistically known as "grooming gangs." In reality these protests often descended into hooliganism and low-level violence (naturally helped along by self-described "anti-fascists"). The authorities did everything they could to stop the EDL, and the media did everything possible to demonize them. In a foretaste of things to come, very few people made any effort to understand them. And nobody paid any price for (indeed many people benefited from) claiming that the EDL was simply a fascist organization and that anybody who even tried to understand them must be a fascist too. The usual prohibition against sweeping generalizations doesn't seem to apply if the generalization tilts in that direction.

2 + 2 = 4

SOTT Focus: Truth Vs Lies and Jordan Peterson

Munk debate Peterson
I observed an interesting dynamic at the recent Munk debate event at Toronto's Roy Thompson Hall between Jordan Peterson and Michael Dyson and Michelle Goldberg.The subject was "political correctness".

The usual outpouring of enthusiastic applause as Peterson walked on stage was conspicuously absent (there was just the polite regular amount, thank-you). Peterson is not a hometown hero, it would seem.

Card - VISA

Visa network crashes, sparks card payment chaos in Europe

Visa network crashes
© Alamy
The Visa payment system has crashed, leaving some people unable to buy things or complete transactions.

Even shoppers not using Visa have been unable to make purchases, because the network provides payment systems for a range of shops and financial institutions.

Customers have reported arriving at tills to have their cards declined. Retailers say they have been left unable to take payments in shops, bars and other outlets, forcing them to resort to only taking cash or not making sales at all.

The payments look to customers like they are being declined, in the same way as when a card has insufficient funds. But the issues are actually a consequence of the global network of payments run by Visa.

Alarm Clock

Cyclist filmed in terrifying knife attack on motorist in South London

Crazy knife attack in London
© Evening Standard
This is the terrifying moment a cyclist pulled an enormous 'zombie-killer' knife on a driver in broad daylight in south London.

The terrifying dashcam footage shows a blue Volkswagen drive out into London Road, Croydon, forcing a cyclist to swerve to avoid being hit.

With the car stuck in a line of traffic and unable to move, the enraged cyclist pulls a massive blade out and launches a frenzied attack. Brandishing the knife, he kicks the vehicle and slashes at the windows while the driver cowers inside.


Fireball

Fireball engulfs children watching science show in Russian shopping mall

Children fire
© Russia’s Investigative Committee
At least eight children have been burned, some severely, after a fireball from a science experiment enveloped spectators in a popular shopping mall in Irkutsk, eastern Russia.

The horrific incident, which occured in a small room filled with children inside the mall, was caught on video and published by a Russian investigative committee. People are seen fleeing the scene in panic, helping each other to the exits while the fire rages.

Some 60 people gathered in a room on the crowded third floor of the 'Komsomoll' in the Siberian city Friday. The show for kids featured some chemical experiments, including one with a "small hydrogen explosion."

During the performance some "gas-and-air substance" eventually caught fire, injuring at least eight of the young spectators.

Comment: See also: Investigation Reveals Kemerovo Shopping Mall Blaze Result of Gross Negligence - Putin: 'Those Responsible Will Face Justice'


Sheriff

Cops placed on administrative leave after video shows them pummeling a petty thief

police beating
City and police officials are on the defense this week after video surfaced showing two police officers pummel a man with their batons. The man was suspected of stealing a cellphone but may now be entitled to a lawsuit after police were seen hitting him even after he was knocked to the ground.

The incident happened on Thursday and was captured on video and uploaded to Twitter. In the video's description, the user, who goes by the handle 1, wrote that the man is known around the area to be mentally challenged.

"Police brutality in broad daylight on Hallandale Beach Blvd," the Twitter user wrote. "Police heavily beat this man up busted his head open led him to bleed heavily. The man is known around the area to be a mentally challenged individual."

As the video begins, the suspect, Daniel Dunkelberger, 27, is seen standing near the police cruiser. The officers are yelling at him to "get on the ground," and he does not immediately comply. So, they begin pummeling him.

The baton cracking off Dunkelberger's head is so loud, it echos on the video. After the heavy blow to his head, Dunkelberger goes down to the ground. Taser wires can be seen, indicating that police had already deployed the taser and as one officer moves them out of the way, he hits the motionless man again for good measure.

Pistol

Eyewitness report claims cops shot handcuffed man as he sat in the backseat of police car

police arrest
Spring Grove Police are being tight-lipped about a shooting that occurred Wednesday afternoon in which a man was shot while taking him into custody. According to a witness, who says she saw the entire arrest, police put him in the back of the cruiser and as he sat there, a cop pulled out his gun and shot him.

Amanda Cozio took photos during the arrest as well, which document her claims.

"He didn't even warn him," the 25-year-old woman said. "He pulled his gun out and shot ... No warning, nothing. The guy didn't do anything. He was sitting there ... For him to be handcuffed and sitting down, why?"

Police have admitted to shooting the unidentified 33-year-old local. However, when asked if he was in handcuffs at the time of the shooting, they chose to remain silent.

While Southwestern Regional Police were there, "an officer fired his service pistol and struck the subject." The man was then taken to York Hospital for treatment, state police said, according to the Evening Sun.

Smoking

Dutch health minister under fire for suggesting smoking ban on cafe terraces

Dutch smoking ban
© Anne Lakeman
Junior health minister Paul Blokhuis has come under fire both inside and outside parliament for saying he wants to ban smoking on cafe terraces.

Blokhuis said on Thursday that the Netherlands had a long way to go before it had caught up with the US, where smoking rules are much stricter. He is working together with social organisations, centres of expertise and the health sector to reduce smoking and says a ban on smoking on terraces should be part of a national agreement.

But MPs have now called for a debate with the minister and the hospitality industry lobby group Horeca Nederland said Blokhuis is 'taking the nanny state to extremes'.

'A ban on smoking on cafe terraces is going too far in our eyes,' Christian Democrat MP Anne Kuik said in a reaction. 'It is up to cafe owners themselves to decide whether or not to be smoke-free,' Kuik said.

Eiffel Tower

Elite Parisian neighborhood nervous about new migrant shelter: 'People aren't pleased'

migrant camp paris
© Benoit Tessier / ReutersA makeshift migrant camp is cleared away along a canal in Paris, France, May 30, 2018.
The residents of a luxurious area of Paris told RT that they're afraid troublemakers are among the newcomers after the authorities settled around 170 migrants in the area.

Earlier this week, hundreds of migrants were cleared from their makeshift camps along the canals in the French capital, and some of them were moved to a newly-built shelter in Bois de Boulogne park.

The green area is located along the western edge of the wealthy 16th arrondissement of Paris, which hosts the home of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, the Parc des Princes arena of PSG football club as well as the Roland Garros tennis stadium where the French Open is currently underway.

Comment:


Handcuffs

12 years in jail for shoplifting? How Walmart helps prosecutors hike up sentences

WalmartShoplifting
© WCYB
It was late afternoon on 26 December 2016 - the day after Christmas, a day when most stores are busy processing the returns for unwanted gifts - when Curtis Lawson entered a Walmart in Knoxville, Tennessee. He had a receipt for $39.57 in purchases made earlier that month. He needed cash. He walked through the store, picking up the same items he had purchased previously - dishwasher detergent, Oral-B refills, and a pair of girl's jeggings - and put them in a shopping bag. He brought them to the register, returned the items using his receipt, and received $39.57 in cash. Lawson had committed what is known as "return fraud" - pretending to return items that you didn't buy.

When Lawson walked into the Walmart empty-handed, Walmart loss prevention officer Robert McAuley decided he looked suspicious and watched him on the security cameras. He watched Lawson pick up the clothes and return them at the customer service desk. McAuley immediately detained Lawson, who admitted right away that he had stolen the items, and Lawson was eventually charged with shoplifting and criminal trespass. What came next was a startling encounter with a local criminal justice system heavily influenced by a big box retailer's desire to reduce shoplifting and a prosecutor's penchant for punishing those who are more unlucky than dangerous.

Lawson had at least three outstanding warrants, most of which were related to traffic violations, including a DUI. Lawson's attorneys admitted that Lawson had a drug addiction and sometimes shoplifted to support his habit, but noted that he had never been accused of being a threat to anyone's safety. Because of the outstanding warrants, his bail was set at $2,500 total, and he was immediately taken to jail. On 9 January, a warrant was issued for Lawson that escalated his shoplifting charge to a felony because, according to the arrest affidavit, Lawson was not allowed to be inside Walmart at all. Therefore his return fraud was a burglary - a felony punishable by up to 12 years of prison. His bail was jacked up to $5,000.

Comment: Rising theft is also a commentary on the degrading economic conditions supporting the needs of the middle and lower echelons of US society. What the government spends on incarceration and legal fees per year could go a long way to triage the loss of income to the poor.