Society's ChildS


Pistol

Baltimore: 'Nobody kill anybody' ceasefire to continue despite two murders over the weekend


RT
Sun, 06 Aug 2017 18:10 UTC
baltimore ceasefire
© Sait Serkan Gurbuz / ReuterDevrone McKnight, who said he was shot on the way to work, attends the "Stop the Violence" rally at the intersection of Edmondson Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland, US August 4, 2017.
An inaugural event to curb murders in one of America's most violent cities was interrupted by the killings of two men on Saturday, though organisers insist that the 'Baltimore ceasefire' has not ended.

Community leaders had called for a 72-hour ceasefire in the crime ravaged Maryland city, hoping to stem the tide of murder for three days from Friday to Sunday. However, police confirmed on Saturday that three men had been shot, two of which died from their injuries.

The unnamed victims, 37 and 24, were both murdered on Saturday in separate incidents in a city which recorded a staggering 207 murders for the first seven months of 2017.

The ceasefire, also known as the 'Nobody kill anybody' weekend, is the brainchild of Erricka Bridgeford, a woman who witnessed her first murder on the streets of Baltimore when she was 12.


Comment: 'Nobody kill anybody': Baltimore activist calls for a ceasefire

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Cut

US-based t-shirt company rebrands swastika as 'symbol of love and peace'

Danielle Ziri
Jerusalem Post
Sun, 06 Aug 2017 09:01 UTC
Swastika symbol as love and peace
© KA Designs/screenshotUS T-shirt company sells swastika design as ‘symbol of love and peace.’.
The US-based clothing design website Teespring is selling T-shirts and sweatshirts branded with swastikas, aiming to make them a "symbol of love and peace".

The designs, created by KA Designs and sold on the site, all display large swastikas in the front. One shows the Nazi-associated symbol in rainbow colors with the word "Peace", another one with the word "Zen", one reading "Love" and a third design, in black, shows a spiral of swastikas. They range in price from $20 to $35.

"Here at KA we explore boundaries. We push them forward." the company wrote as a description for the products. "Let's make the swastika a symbol of Love and Peace. Together, we can succeed."

Before being used by Hitler's German Nazi regime, swastikas were commonly known as an ancient sign used by Hindus and Buddhists carrying positive associations such as auspiciousness and good fortune. KA Designs is attempting to relate the now negative sign to its origins.
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Pistol

Not-so-friendly fire: Iranian soldier kills 4 and injures 8 of his fellow servicemen


RT
Sun, 06 Aug 2017 17:19 UTC
iranian soldier
© Reuters
An Iranian soldier opened fire on his fellow servicemen at a military air base 10 kilometers to the south of Tehran, IRNA news agency reported. Four soldiers were killed and eight injured in the attack, it said.

The victims were sent to the hospital following the shooting in Kahrizak, according to local health officials, as cited by the IRNA news agency.

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Newspaper

Token gesture, or liberalization? Saudi Arabia will allow women to wear bikinis at new luxury resort

Waseem Abbasi
USA Today
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 16:51 UTC
woman on beach
The ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced the construction of a luxury resort on the Red Sea where women will be allowed to wear bikinis instead of having to fully cover their bodies.

Experts believe the ambitious move initiated by the new heir to the Saudi throne, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is another attempt to modernize the oil-dependent economy.

Women face extreme restrictions under Saudi laws, including not being able to drive or travel without the permission of a male relative. Women are also expected to cover their bodies in public, making bikinis traditionally unacceptable.

But the government said that the resort will be "governed by laws on par with international standards." The resort will cover 50 islands and is expected to attract tourists from across the globe amid relaxed visa restrictions.

"It goes without question that Prince Mohammed's Vision 2030 is to ... improve the relatively negative image of the kingdom in the world with regard to treating women," said Massoud Maalouf, a former diplomat and an advocate of women rights in the Middle East and North Africa region.
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Family

Children's commissioner urges parents to stop letting their kids binge on social media

Michael Savage
The Guardian
Sat, 05 Aug 2017 16:24 UTC
dragging kid from computer
The children's commissioner has warned parents that they must intervene to stop their children overusing social media and consuming time online "like junk food".

As web use reaches record highs among children, Anne Longfield has attacked the new methods social media giants are using to draw them into spending more time staring at tablets and smartphones. In an interview with the Observer, she said that parents should "step up" and be proactive in stopping their children from bingeing on the internet during the summer holidays.

Launching a campaign to help parents to regulate their children's internet use, she said time online should be balanced in the same way that parents regulate their children's diets. "It's something that every parent will talk about especially during school holidays - that children are in danger of seeing social media like sweeties, and their online time like junk food," she said.

"None of us as parents would want our children to eat junk food all the time - double cheeseburger, chips, every day, every meal. For those same reasons we shouldn't want our children to do the same with their online time.

"When phones, social media and games make us feel worried, stressed and out of control, it means we haven't got the balance right. With your diet, you know that, because you don't feel that good. It's the same with social media."

Comment: More reasons to ditch the social media:

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Pistol

'Terrorist attack' on military base in Venezuela foiled


RT
Sun, 06 Aug 2017 16:36 UTC
Venezuela soldier
© FILE PHOTO Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
Authorities in Venezuela have announced they thwarted a "terrorist attack" on a military base not far from the capital, Caracas. The statement comes after a group of men in military uniforms released a video announcing an uprising against President Nicolas Maduro.

Fort Paramacay, near the central city of Valencia, was attacked by "mercenary terrorist groups," Venezuelan official, Socialist Party deputy Diosdado Cabello tweeted on Sunday.

Gunshots were heard in the area during the night, Reuters reported, citing a witness in the area of the military base in the town of Naguanagua.

The official said the base was "fully under control" of the authorities.
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People

Government employees step up defiance of Trump

Devin Henry
The Hill
Sat, 05 Aug 2017 16:07 UTC
Donald Trump
Government employees are growing increasingly willing to criticize or defy the White House and President Trump's top appointees.

A handful of current and former career staffers in the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have openly shredded their superiors within the last several weeks, continuing a trend that has developed throughout the government over the course of Trump's tenure in the Oval Office.

The growing opposition in the executive branch comes as the White House's legislative agenda has stalled in Congress and Trump turns to his Cabinet agencies to change course in several policy areas. It also is emanating from career staffers or political holdovers whose resistance to Trump has, at times, been rooted in deep opposition to the president's agenda.

"From our point of view, it's kind of obvious," said Jeff Ruch, the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), when asked about staffers' growing pushback.

"You have Donald Trump, who ran and said he would drain the swamp, meaning them."
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Smoking

Britain investigates British American Tobacco on suspicion of corruption

Josie Cox
Independent, UK
Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:14 UTC
British American Tobacco
© Getty Images
The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into suspicions of corruption at British American Tobacco and its subsidiaries.

The maker of cigarette brands including Dunhill and Lucky Strike said in a statement that it intends to cooperate with the investigation. It did not provide any further details.

Last year, the tobacco giant said that it had appointed an external law firm to conduct a full investigation into historical allegations of misconduct in Africa. At the time it also said that it was liaising with the SFO.

Earlier this year, BAT announced that it had created a board sub-committee to monitor matters relating to that investigation. It also said it had started a project in 2016 to review and strengthen its compliance procedures.
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Camcorder

Woman hits and bites her dog on Toronto subway; passengers intervene

Jessica Finn
Daily Mail
Sat, 05 Aug 2017 16:02 UTC
woman bites dog
© Roxy Huang/YouTube
A woman in Toronto was caught on camera abusing her dog on a subway.

In the three minute long video posted by Roxy Huang to YouTube, the woman is seen repeatedly striking and even biting her dog. She says to the frightened pup 'stop it now you hear me' while she keeps hitting it.

The whimpering dog tries to escape her several times, but the woman keeps yanking it back by its leash.

The woman is also fidgety throughout the ordeal, the videographer suggests she may be on drugs.


Comment: She certainly appears to be under the influence of something. Nevertheless, abuse is abuse.


A fellow subway rider reprimands her, saying: 'You gotta stop hitting your dog.'
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Sheriff

To protect and serve: School cop arrested with thousand of images of graphic child porn

Jack Burns
Free Thought Project
Sun, 06 Aug 2017 15:09 UTC
Jeffrey Warren Clark
Jeffrey Warren Clark
Jeffrey Warren Clark, a Humble police officer, was working as a school resource officer for the Independent Schools District, but wanted to transfer to Harris County Precinct 4. So he applied for a job with Harris Co. and was given a pre-employment interview where it was discovered he might be a pedophile.

Effectively chasing down the lead they uncovered given during the interview, Harris County police got a search warrant for Clark's home and gathered evidence consisting of several electronic devices. Those devices were searched and revealed Clark to be in possession of "several thousand images of graphic child pornography and child exploitation" according to one source.

According to Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman:
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