Society's ChildS


USA

Four years after the death of Eric Garner and the only person in prison is the man who filmed it

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 20:04 UTC
eric garner death
Four years have now elapsed since New York City Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo choked Eric Garner to death for the apparently egregious crime of selling loose cigarettes - but the only one related to the case who faced any punishment so far for what many believe to be a cold-blooded murder is the man who filmed it.

In October of 2016, Ramsey Orta - the man who filmed Pantaleo choke the life from Garner - was sentenced to four years in prison for drugs and gun charges that were conveniently brought against him after he became famous for taking the video that fateful day.

While Orta rots in prison, the officers responsible for the death of Garner remain free.

Finally, however, this all may be about to change. On Monday, the New York Police Department announced that they've become impatient with the Justice Department's slow pace at its investigation into the death of the father of six. The NYPD announced that it would soon start disciplinary proceedings against the officers involved in the killing of Eric Garner as federal action is absent.

As the NY Times reports, the Police Department, acting one day before the fourth anniversary of Mr. Garner's death on Staten Island, said it would no longer hold off on disciplinary proceedings if the Justice Department had not announced by Aug. 31 whether it will file criminal charges.
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Attention

Gun rights Republican candidate says he's a 'good guy with a gun', claims he shot his mother in self-defense

John Bowden
The Hill
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 19:40 UTC
Bobby Wilson candidate
© Facebook: Bobby Wilson
A Republican candidate running for Arizona's state Senate, who supports gun rights, has drawn renewed scrutiny over his story of how he killed his mother in self-defense decades ago.

Bobby Wilson, who is running to represent a southern district in the state, appeared before a crowd at a gun control forum earlier this month to speak about gun rights, according to the Arizona Republic. He told the crowd about his own experience of shooting and killing an attacker in self-defense, and how that reaffirmed his belief in the importance of a "good guy with a gun."

"You can pass all the laws you want to in this world, and when you've got somebody out there that wants to harm somebody, they're going to do it if you don't stop them," Wilson told the crowd, according to the Republic. The Tucson event was put on by Moms Demand Action, a movement against gun violence in the U.S.

Comment: What kind of person describes himself in platitudes such as a 'good guy with a gun' when talking the time he shot and killed his mother?! A US politician, that's who.

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Whistle

North Carolina groups create a spotter system to alert illegal aliens if ICE agents are nearby

Joshua Paladino
Liberty Headlines
Mon, 16 Jul 2018 19:53 UTC
ICE officer
Groups in Alamance County, North Carolina have begun to host training programs to help illegal immigrants avoid being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, WFMY-TV in Greensboro reported.

"These are our neighbors, and we should do everything we can to support our neighbors, and love our neighbors, and show them that we care them and want them to stay here in this community," said Amy Belfer, who attended the meetings of the unspecified groups.

The groups have organized a spotter system to warn illegal immigrants about ICE agents.

Members argue the presence of ICE agents prevents illegal immigrants from living normal lives.

"We want people to go out, work, go to school, and perform their daily activities without fear," said Laura Garduño Garcia, who organized the meeting.

The groups created a hotline for illegal and legal resident spotters to call when they believe an ICE agent is around.
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Bullseye

University of Texas student forced to reflect on 'masculinity' as punishment for 'harassment'

Toni Airaksinen
Campus Reform
Thu, 19 Jul 2018 19:32 UTC
campus reform
A University of Texas-Austin student was forced to reflect on a film about toxic masculinity after a Title IX investigation found him guilty of harassment based on a non-criminal standard of evidence.

According to an internal letter obtained by Campus Reform, following an appeal of his sanctions, the student received a note from UT president Gregory Fenves stating that "nothing you allege, even if true, would change the ultimate outcome of this matter."

The student-who requested anonymity-graduated in Spring with a JD. During his time in law school, a female student filed six Title IX complaints against him over two years: three for harassment, two for stalking, and one for violation of a no-contact order.

Upon investigation, the student was found guilty of of violating the school's harassment policy. The student, however, claims that the determination was made "on very questionable grounds" using the Obama-era "preponderance of the evidence standard," rather than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" threshold used in criminal cases.

Comment: See also: War against men: University of Texas rolls out 'MasculinUT' program branding all men as potential violent rapists

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Laptop

US' largest voting machine vendor reveals its software vulnerable to hacking

Breck Dumas
The Blaze
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 04:55 UTC
voterlist and Box
© Michael Williams/Getty ImagesVulnerable voter machine software?
The largest voting machine vendor in the nation has acknowledged using remote-access software on its election management systems in the past, calling into question the integrity of the elections for which the vulnerable systems were utilized.

What's that now?

Responding to a request from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Election Systems and Software admitted that the company "provided PCAnywhere remote connection software ... to a small number of customers between 2000 and 2006."

Wyden told Motherboard - which first reported on and obtained the letter - that using remote-access software on election equipment "is the worst decision for security short of leaving ballot boxes on a Moscow street corner."

Comment: Changing the vote is 'remotely' possible. Certainly US intel agencies and hacks-for-hire would have the means to utilize and manipulate this vulnerability. Trump said there was voter fraud. Let us count the ways.

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Briefcase

4 blue states sued Washington over GOP tax overhaul

David Klepper
WSAZ.com
Thu, 19 Jul 2018 11:00 UTC
Capitol/Money
© Pixabay/MGN
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland sued the federal government over the Republican-led tax overhaul Tuesday, alleging the new law championed by President Donald Trump unfairly singles out high-tax blue states.

The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, was dismissed as a long-shot political stunt by supporters of the new tax code, but New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said it is a practical act of self-defense against an adversarial federal government. The challenge alleges that lawmakers crafted the new tax code to target left-leaning states and interferes with their constitutionally granted taxing authority.

"This is their political attempt to hurt Democratic states," said Cuomo, a Democrat who is considered a possible White House contender in 2020. "It's totally repugnant."

The tax law passed by Congressional Republicans and signed into law last year by Trump caps a deduction for state and local taxes at $10,000. The deduction was especially popular in high-tax, Democratic states, where many homeowners will see big increases in their federal tax bill. New York estimates that taxpayers will pay $14 billion more in 2018.

Comment: The people will pay taxes no matter what. A lawsuit against the government will also be paid for by the people. It is unlikely Trump targeted blue states as such. He is looking at the numbers.

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Rainbow

Transgender activists and feminists clash over changes to the UK's Gender Recognition Act


RT
Thu, 19 Jul 2018 19:13 UTC
gender parade
© Neil Hall / Reuters
Proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) which would make transitioning from one gender to another easier have put feminist groups at odds with transgender rights organizations across Britain.

Current law requires a doctor's diagnosis of gender dysphoria and that the person has lived as their preferred gender for two years and has been assessed by a panel of medical experts. A person also has to pay around £140 before they can obtain a gender recognition certificate.

Trans rights campaigners want to make that process less difficult by introducing the concept of 'self-identification' which would essentially allow them to obtain the certificate just by self-identifying as one gender or another - without all the medical assessments and bureaucracy.


Comment: No diagnosis necessary: Theresa May vows to 'de-medicalize' process of gender reassignment


But some feminist groups are vehemently against the plan and say that a self-identification law could be abused and could even put women at risk if any person could enter a women-only space and claim to be a woman. They say they are interested in protecting women and girls, not denying rights to trans people. Some trans activists, however, say that the feminist groups are "transphobic" and perpetuating discriminatory rhetoric.
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Star of David

Former soldiers and critics of the Illegal Occupation speak out about Israeli gag law

Yumna Patel
Mondoweiss
Wed, 18 Jul 2018 16:58 UTC
Breaking the Silence speaks in school
© Breaking the SilenceBreaking the Silence gives a lecture in a school.
Israel can now ban critics of the occupation from giving presentations to school children, according to a law passed Monday night by Israel's parliament, the Knesset. Known as the "Breaking the Silence" law, the bill passed with a majority of 43 votes in favor and 24 against.

The bill was submitted by the right-wing Education Minister Naftali Bennett's party and states individuals and groups that seek to "inflict harm upon IDF soldiers" are barred from entering educational institutions "when this activity is of a nature that undermines state education goals, or is such that endeavors to inflict harm upon IDF soldiers who are a consensus in Israeli society."

The legislation specifically targets the the left-wing Israeli group Breaking the Silence (the organization's name was in the official working title of the bill) which collects and publishes testimony from former Israeli army soldiers about the military's human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Comment:

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Wedding Rings

Swedish government targets polygamists as migrant influx increases illegal practice


RT
Thu, 19 Jul 2018 16:45 UTC
police bus sweden
© TT News Agency / ReutersA police bus outside the entrance to Arlanda airport outside Stockholm
Sweden's Ministry of Justice has launched a probe into how to end polygamy in the country. Although prohibited by law, the government has struggled with how to deal with asylum seekers who arrive in Sweden with multiple wives.

The government investigation seeks to determine the legal implications surrounding the known cases of polygamy in Sweden. According to Helen Fritzon, Sweden's minister for migration and deputy minister for justice, the probe also aims at "preventing the continuation" of the practice. Several hundred polygamous marriages have been reportedly registered with the Swedish government.

Comment: Sweden and other countries must defend themselves against the slow chipping-away of their native cultures in the name of "tolerance".

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Eye 2

Landlord describes suspected Texas serial killer Jose Gilberto Rodriquez as 'ideal tenant'

Victoria Cheyne
Houston Chronicle
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 16:24 UTC
Jose Gilberto Rodriguez
© Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle
Suspected serial killer Jose Gilberto Rodriguez was the ideal tenant at a Fifth Ward transitional living complex, his landlord said, describing him as nice, neat and quiet and someone she would rent to again.

The parolee never missed a payment in the four months he was at Vincent Apartments Transitional Living, said Theresa Williams, who owns and manages the apartment complex in the 2400 block of Pannell Street.

"I think he did not do this, and I hope and am praying for that," Williams said Tuesday afternoon, hours after Rodriguez was arrested in the shooting deaths of three Houston area residents.

Williams said her last encounter with 46-year-old Rodriguez was sometime last week. She spotted Rodriguez as he was leaving the complex with two hampers. She said he told her he was off to do laundry, and she lovingly warned him not to get into trouble.
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