Society's ChildS


Sherlock

Ipsos Institute poll: We've got too many migrants

Migrants carry belongings
© Philippe Huguen/AFP via Getty ImagesMigrants carry belongings as they walk to board buses in Grande-Synthe, northern France
Many of those surveyed thought some refugees were terrorists.

Migration has grown at a worrying level, according to a global survey, with citizens of Turkey, Italy, Sweden and Germany the most concerned about rising levels.

Three-quarters of those who took part in the Ipsos Institute poll said the number of migrants in their country had grown too much over the past five years. That's a slight fall from the same survey in 2016, when the figure was 78 percent, and down from the 2015 figure of 82 percent, according to France's Le Figaro.

USA

Teacher placed on administrative leave for grabbing a student who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance

Stone Chaney
Stone Chaney
Many NFL players have expressed their beliefs by kneeling for the national anthem before games, but when a Farmington Hills student took a similar stand, he said his teacher crossed the line.

A teacher was put on leave and is under investigation after he allegedly got physical with a student who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

The student, Stone Chaney, is a sixth-grader at East Middle School in Farmington Hills.

Stone had just started his first week at East Middle School, but his family isn't sure if he'll go back. Stone said he felt his rights were violated when he didn't stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

"The teacher consultant comes up behind me and snatches me out of my chair violently," Stone said. "I was so confused. I didn't know what was going on."

Stone said the homeroom teacher tried to force him to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance.

Bizarro Earth

Apocalyptic aftermath: British Virgin Islanders attempt to rebuild after devastation from Hurricane Irma

In an apocalyptic landscape of blacked-out towns, shuttered petrol stations and endless destruction, British Virgin islanders are attempting to rebuild their lives
Hurricane Irma
© James BreedenDestruction of Road Town, Tortola
As night falls on the British ­Virgin Islands, thousands left homeless by deadly Hurricane Irma bed down for another night in the damp, dark and disarray.

Still being hit by deluge after deluge of rain, by 6.30pm they are forced to live by flickering candlelight as most are still without power.

The few who manage to sleep will be back in a living nightmare when they awake. In the sweltering daylight, they will again see the devastation Irma left during a 15-hour direct hit on this British territory on September 7.

Monkey Wrench

State built for gridlock: Florida's runaway growth makes evacuation before monster storms a nightmare

florida gridlock hurricane Irma
© Stephen M. Dowell - TNSTraffic rolls at a crawl on the northbound lanes of Florida’s Turnpike near the intersection of I-75 in Wildwood on Friday, September 8, 2017. Motorists fled the state ahead of Hurricane Irma.
Hurricane Irma mercifully weakened before it swept much of Florida with hurricane-force gusts. But the gridlocked madhouse caused by the largest evacuation in Florida's history shows just how vulnerable runaway development has made one of the nation's fastest-growing states, emergency planners say.

"We have to stop and take a deep breath and ask, 'What are we doing?' " said David Paulison, a former Miami-Dade County fire chief brought in to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency by President George W. Bush after the agency's response to Hurricane Katrina was harshly criticized. "The more people we put here, the worse it's going to be for evacuation."

Irma could have been Florida's worst nightmare: A massive Category 5 hurricane wide enough to hit both of the state's densely populated coasts, where growth has boomed despite the obvious risks of living on the water in an area regularly walloped by storms. The push for more development - one of Gov. Rick Scott's central policies in his successful effort to revive Florida's economy - is elevating the risks to both people and property, said Craig Fugate, FEMA chief under President Barack Obama and the state's emergency management director under Gov. Jeb Bush.

"We're trying to evacuate more people over the same infrastructure," Fugate said. "It's something Florida has to revisit."

Wolf

Hurricane Irma: abandoned pets' owners facing criminal charges in Palm Beach, Florida

Abandoned pet
© Army National Guard Spc. Thomas Hogan rescues a dog from a flooded suburb of Orlando in the wake of Hurricane Irma in Florida, U.S., September 11, 2017. Gregg Newton / ReutersArmy National Guard Spc. Thomas Hogan rescues a dog from a flooded suburb of Orlando in the wake of Hurricane Irma in Florida, U.S., September 11, 2017.
Pet owners who abandoned their animals during Hurricane Irma may face criminal charges in Florida. Palm Beach prosecutors said they intend to hold offenders accountable.

More than 50 animals were found abandoned, many tied to fences and trees in Palm Beach county when Irma made landfall last week. Some dogs were found inside homes, while others were enclosed in outdoor pens.

"Absolutely unacceptable. People need to be responsible pet owners in this community," State Attorney David Aronberg told WPTV. "There's no excuse for leaving your pet behind to die."

Comment: See also:


Brick Wall

Trump's base is furious about DACA deal coming ahead of The Wall - threaten to withdraw support

Trump irma naples
© Doug Mills/The New York TimesPresident Trump visited a mobile home park affected by the hurricane in Naples, Fla. Credit
Early Thursday morning President Trump confirmed a congressional deal on DACA is in the works and will come before the border wall.

"We're working on a plan - subject to getting massive border controls. We're working on a plan for DACA. People want to see that happen. You have 800,000 young people, brought here, no fault of their own. So we're working on a plan, we'll see how it works out. We're going to get massive border security as part of that. And I think something can happen, we'll see what happens, but something will happen," Trump said according to the pool report," he said. "The wall will come later, we're right now renovating large sections of wall, massive sections, making it brand new."

An overwhelming majority of the country, including many people who voted for Trump, believe a DACA deal should be reached. The President's hardcore base, however, is having none of it.

Comment: Scott Adams shares some interesting ideas about pacing and leading in Trump's handling of Daca outrage. It is very much analogous to a difficult business deal negotiation, something Trump is more than well-versed in.


Attention

Man shouting 'Allahu Akbar' attacks two women with hammer in Chalon-sur-Saone, France

Chalon sur Saone, France
© Jean-Pholoppe Ksiazek / AFP
A man shouting 'Allahu Akbar' attacked two women with a hammer in Chalon-sur-Saone, French authorities confirmed. The attacker escaped the scene, but police have launched a large-scale manhunt using a helicopter.

RT earlier reported that the attack took place in the city of Lyon, which was a mistake. The incident occurred in the town of Chalon-sur-Saone, some 113 km from Lyon.

"A man assaulted two women using a hammer, slightly injuring one of them in the back of the head; both victims are in shock. The events took place near the city centre," Saône and Loire Prefecture confirmed.

Stormtrooper

Cops go onto innocent man's property, beat him, charge him with a felony

Jack Morris
Police officers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were caught on video commending each other on their use of force in the arrest of a suspect-but the man they put in handcuffs was an innocent man they beat to a bloody pulp, after trespassing on his property. Now, he is the one facing criminal charges.

Jack Morris, a 53-year-old man from Tulsa, is charged with a felony count of assault and battery on a police officer, and misdemeanor complaints of assault on an officer, obstruction and resisting an officer.

When Morris was brought to jail on Aug. 16, his face was bloodied and swollen, his shirt was covered in blood, and he was eventually taken to an Emergency Room, where he received nine stitches and was treated for a broken arm. However, there are still questions as to how Morris became a police suspect in the first place.

Stormtrooper

American police are being trained by human rights abusers par excellence - Israeli security forces

Israel militarized
© Jack Guez/AFP/Getty ImagesIsraeli police forces hold stun-grenade launchers following Friday noon prayer outside Jerusalem’s old city on July 28, 2017.
It's not uncommon for residents of America's most heavily policed neighborhoods to describe their local cops as "an occupying force." Judging by where many U.S. police forces get their training, the description seems apt.

Thousands of American law enforcement officers frequently travel for training to one of the few countries where policing and militarism are even more deeply intertwined than they are here: Israel.

In the aftermath of 9/11, Israel seized on its decades-long experience as an occupying force to brand itself a world leader in counterterrorism. U.S. law enforcement agencies took the Jewish state up on its expertise by participating in exchange programs sponsored by an array of pro-Israel groups, like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, and the Anti-Defamation League. Over the past decade and a half, scores of top federal, state, and local police officers from dozens of departments from across the U.S. have gone to Israel to learn about its terrorism-focused policing.

Ambulance

Hospital staff fear for their lives during Sweden's 'bloody summer' of gang violence

swedish gang
© AP Photo/ David Keyton
Gone are the days when Sweden was considered one of the world's safest countries. The everyday situation in Sweden has become so dangerous that even personnel at Swedish hospitals have to fear for their lives.

Gang members barging in with guns, knife-fighting in the waiting rooms and shooting victims dumped near entrances have all become the harsh reality of the emergency department at Malmö Hospital, Swedish national broadcaster SVT reported.

"We have been attacked with knives and have seen people with guns. We put our lives at risk," an anonymous security attendant told SVT.

By the personnel's own admission, the emergency room in Malmö has become one of the city's most dangerous places, alongside the Central Station and the People's Park, with an abundance of threats and firearms and an overall atmosphere of hostility.