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Official death toll from Puerto Rico's Hurricane Maria was grossly underestimated; likely 70 times higher


RT
Tue, 29 May 2018 20:22 UTC
hurricane damage
© Alvin Baez / ReutersA scene from Utuado, Puerto Rico, in January.
The official death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria stands at 64, but researchers at Harvard University estimate the real figure is more than 4,600.

Around a third of those deaths are believed to derive from a lack of medical care arising from power outages and broken infrastructure, according to the new study.

The study, published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine, surveyed around 3,300 people randomly chosen from households across the Caribbean island. Respondents were asked about displacement, loss of infrastructure and causes of death. Mortality rates were then compared with the same period for the previous year. From the data, researchers estimate that there was a total of 4,645 more deaths than officially estimated. The US territory is home to more than 3 million people

"The mortality rate remained high through the end of December 2017, and one third of the deaths were attributed to delayed or interrupted health care. Hurricane-related migration was substantial," the report reads.
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Cross

Bishop encourages students to be politically incorrect and to do away with safe spaces


RT
Tue, 29 May 2018 19:49 UTC
Bishop Robert C. Morlino
© Diocese of Madison / FacebookBishop Robert C. Morlino
A controversial Catholic bishop has warned Thomas Aquinas College graduates that standing up for the teachings of the Catholic Church will require doing away with safe spaces and political correctness.

Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin, told the graduates of the California college during the commencement ceremony earlier this month that they should dare to be "politically incorrect" and the "voice of reason" amid "the darkness of our world". Morlino said that part of the problem with today's world was that people had been "taught to be offended" by everything.

"People live to be offended. That's why they need a 'safe space' and a 'cry closet,' and what they mean by that seems to be a space where they can be safe from hearing the voice of reason and truth," he told graduates. "If you speak the truth, you might not be safe," he added.

Morlino also told students that they should stand up for the Christian version of sex and marriage and recognize that artificial methods of birth control like contraceptives and sterilization are wrong in the eyes of the church, citing Humanae Vitae, the encyclical written by Pope Paul VI in 1968.
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Attention

Terrorizing the population: France will release 40 radicalized prisoners in the coming months


RT
Tue, 29 May 2018 19:35 UTC
Vendin-le-Vieil prison
© Eric Vidal / ReutersFrance's Vendin-le-Vieil prison is pictured on February 4, 2018.
France is gearing up to release 40 radicalized prisoners in the coming months, a move which the country's lead counter-terrorism prosecutor says is a "major risk," as they could have become more radicalized behind bars.

Speaking to French broadcaster BFM TV, Francois Molins confirmed that France will be releasing around 20 radicalized prisoners this year and a further 20 in 2019, while warning about the dangers of such a move.

"There is a major risk of seeing people who are not at all repentant at the end of their sentence come out of prison, who could even be more radical given their stay in prison," said Molins, who will soon leave his post after seven years as the head of France's counter-terrorism prosecution service.

"We need to do a lot more talking to ensure that they are properly monitored which requires thorough work between the prison administration, the intelligence services, the prefectures, those working in the judicial system and the prosecutor's office," Molins added.
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Arrow Up

Yale graduate credits conservative values, not a victim mentality, for his success

Toni Airaksinen
Campus Reform
Tue, 29 May 2018 19:20 UTC
Rob Henderson
Rob Henderson
A recent graduate of Yale University says his conservative values helped him to succeed in college, despite a childhood spent in broken homes and foster care.

In a New York Times op-ed titled "Why Being a Foster Care Child Made Me Conservative," Yale graduate Rob Henderson argues that time in foster care made him appreciate conservative values, such as two-parent families and personal responsibility.

"The most successful people I know from disadvantaged backgrounds share my belief that responsibility matters." Tweet This

Those values, Henderson says, enabled him to avoid adopting a "victim" mentality that he believes would have caused him to give up on himself.

Henderson's conservative "cover" was blown after a classmate suggested he was a victim, to which he recounts retorting that "if someone had told me I was a victim when I was a kid, I would never have made it to the Air Force, where I served for eight years, or to Yale. I would have given up."
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Target

Escobar's Iran diary: Bracing for all-out economic war

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Mon, 28 May 2018 11:23 UTC
Reza Shrine
© Pepe Escobar/Asia TimesDawn comes to Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad.
While the dogs of war bark, the Ancient - and New - Silk Road goes on forever and a civilization with a long and proud history gets on with life

The minute you set foot in the streets of Mashhad, the air smelling of saffron, a fine breeze oozing from the mountains, it hits you; you're in the heart of the Ancient Silk Road and the New Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

To the east, the Afghan border is only three hours away on an excellent highway. To the north, the Turkmenistan border is less than four hours away. To the northwest is the Caspian Sea. To the south is the Indian Ocean and the port of Chabahar, the entry point for the Indian version of the Silk Roads. The Tehran-Mashhad railway is being built by the Chinese.

A group of us - including American friends, whose visas were approved at the highest levels of the Iranian government - have gathered in Mashhad for the New Horizon Conference of independent thinkers. Right after a storm, I'm in a van on the way to the spectacular Imam Reza shrine with Alexander Dugin, which the usual suspects love to describe as "the world's most dangerous philosopher," or Putin's Rasputin.

Comment: Escobar gives a face and character to the Iranian people and offers us a superb glimpse into what is Iran.

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X

Protests against Macron's labor reform take place in 160 cities across France


RT
Sat, 26 May 2018 18:03 UTC
Macron Protest
© Gonzalo Fuentes/ReutersMacron Protest, one of 160 across France.
Thousands took to the streets across France on Saturday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron's public-sector reforms. Protesters decried Macron's plans for massive lay-offs of workers and tax breaks for the rich.

Protesters were carrying posters bearing slogans such as "Macron, you can't buy France!" "Stop Macron!" or "Make our planet great again: Austerity, bombing of Syria, eviction of farmers, destroying the public service, pesticides for everyone." Many accused the centrist president of serving the wealthy elites, while ignoring the plight of ordinary people.

Comment: See also:

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Handcuffs

City fines and arrests its citizens for cracked driveways, improperly stacked firewood - they're fighting back

Jack Burns
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 29 May 2018 00:00 UTC
Cracked drive and cop
© The Free Thought Project.com
A small town is being sued by its residents after they faced massive fines and were threatened with jail time for cracked driveways, improperly stack firewood, and overgrown vegetation.

A city has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit from residents who claim that they have received tickets and have even been threatened with arrest and sentenced to court-ordered probation for the crime of having a cracked driveway, chipped paint on their houses, and overgrown vegetation or improperly stacked firewood in their yards.

Hilda Brucker, a 25-year-resident of Doraville, said she was placed on criminal probation for "Rotted wood on house and chipping paint on fascia boards," "High weeds in backyard and ivy on tree and vines on house," and a "Driveway in a state of disrepair," according to the lawsuit against the city.

The town is being accused of setting up its own court with the city attorney acting as prosecutor and judge. Code enforcement officials, in conjunction with local law enforcement fine residents for such infractions. In essence, the town has transformed itself into a giant homeowners' association where the only major difference is that the town has the power to place code violators in jail.

Comment: See also:

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Heart - Black

Japanese whalers slaughter 122 pregnant minke whales for 'research'


news.com.au
Tue, 29 May 2018 18:24 UTC
A 2014 image of three dead minke whales on the deck of the Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru in the Southern Ocean.
© AP Photo/Tim Watters/Sea ShepherdA 2014 image of three dead minke whales on the deck of the Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru in the Southern Ocean.
Japanese whalers harpooned 122 pregnant whales in Antarctica this summer, a shocking new report reveals.

As Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk flew to Japan for a trade mission on Tuesday, a global conservation group called on her to lobby the Japanese government to end whaling.

A new International Whaling Commission (IWC) report reveals that 95 per cent of the female whales slaughtered by the Japanese were carrying calves.

The whalers killed 333 minke whales - plus 122 unborn calves - in the Southern Ocean last summer.
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Biohazard

Skripal doctors didn't think Russian father and daughter would survive Salisbury attack


RT
Tue, 29 May 2018 18:13 UTC
Yulia Skripal
© facebook.com/julia.skripalYulia Skripal at her 'press conference'
Doctors who took care of the Skripals after they were poisoned by a nerve agent in the southern English city of Salisbury said they did not expect them to survive.

Staff from Salisbury District Hospital told BBC Two's Newsnight program they had little hope that former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia would recover after being poisoned with Novichok nerve agent.

"All the evidence was there that they would not survive," said Stephen Jukes, who treated the Skripals a week after they were admitted to hospital.

Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at the hospital, said she had feared the incident would have much graver repercussions. "When the [policeman] was admitted with symptoms, there was a real concern as to how big could this get," she said, explaining that there were fears the incident would "become all-consuming and involve many casualties."

"We really didn't know at that point," she said.

Comment: Everything about this story smells, from top to bottom. Just a small sample of the craziness:

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Evil Rays

Russian electronic warfare firm will upgrade products after studying captured US Tomahawks downed in Syria


RT
Tue, 29 May 2018 17:58 UTC
tomahawk missile
© US NavyThe USS Laboon fires a Tomahawk land attack missile.
A Russian military contractor, specializing in electronic warfare, will use information gained from dissecting a US Tomahawk cruise missile, used during an attack on Syria, to boost the capabilities of its own equipment.

The missile, delivered to Russia after the tri-party night attack on Syrian government targets by the US, the UK and France in April, is of particular interest to KRET, a leading developer of electronic equipment for the Russian military, according to Vladimir Mikheev, an aide to the company's First Deputy Director Vladimir Zverev.

"Our new equipment needs to cover all spectra, optical and radio, which we found in the products of our counterparts," Mikheev told Radio Sputnik.

Comment:

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