Society's ChildS


Cards

'Pizzagate' gunman facing 35 years gets plea deal


RT
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 09:13 UTC
Comet Ping Pong
© Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
A North Carolina man charged with firing an assault rifle inside Comet Ping Pong, a pizza restaurant in Washington, DC — targeted by so-called Pizzagate conspiracy theorists — is expected to plead guilty after reaching a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

At a status hearing in a District of Columbia court on Wednesday, lawyers for Edgar Maddison Welch said they reached a plea deal in principle, but the terms of the offer were not disclosed.

Prosecutors allege that Welch, 28, drove from Salisbury, North Carolina, to DC's Comet Ping Pong restaurant on December 4, in an attempt to investigate rumors that linked former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to a pedophile ring run out of the basement of the restaurant occasionally visited by John Podesta, her presidential campaign chairman.

The conspiracy has been dubbed "Pizzagate."

Court documents allege that Welch walked into the restaurant with an AR-15 and a .38 revolver in a holster on his hip, and fired multiple shots, but no one was injured.
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Chess

Poll shows more than 60% of Germans want to halt Turkey-EU accession talks


RT
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 10:37 UTC
Turkey Germany flags
© Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters
Almost two-thirds of German citizens want to halt negotiations on Turkey joining the European Union, as Berlin-Ankara relations hit a new low over the banning of Turkish rallies in Germany. Turkey compared the move with Nazi actions in the past, infuriating Berlin.

The poll, conducted by the INSA research institute for the Bild newspaper, revealed that 64.2 percent of respondents wants the accession talks to be suspended, while 11.9 percent favors keeping them alive.

The remainder of those who were interviewed abstained from voting. There's also a clear majority among immigrant responders (59 percent), who voted for halting the talks.

Comment: Further reading: The Bigger Picture: What's Behind the Souring Relationship Between Turkey and The Netherlands

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Eye 1

Fmr LA County sheriff guilty of corruption, faces 2 decades behind bars


RT
Wed, 15 Mar 2017 22:32 UTC
Fmr La County Sheriff
© Lucy Nicholson / ReutersFormer Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca
A federal jury has found former Los Angeles County sheriff Lee Baca guilty of corruption charges. He previously avoided conviction when a mistrial was declared. Now the prominent law enforcement leader could be behind bars for two decades.

After two full days of jury deliberations, a unanimous verdict was handed down against Baca on Wednesday, finding him guilty of assisting in the obstruction of a 2011 FBI investigation into LA County jail guards brutally beating inmates, taking bribes and lying to federal agents about it.

Baca, 74, himself was also determined to have been lying about his role in the obstruction, which prosecutors said was ordered from the top in the nation's largest sheriff's department.

During the trial, Assistant US Attorney Lizabeth Rhodes said, "when defendant Baca learned the FBI and a federal grand jury was investigating, he obstructed and when he learned the FBI has turned its focus on him, he lied," KABC reported.

Comment: See also: Sheriff Tries to Expose List of 300 Corrupt Cops, Courts & Union Promptly Block Him

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Monkey Wrench

Congress leads Trump down wrong path: Is job creation program being derailed by fight over Obamacare replacement?

Byron York
Washington Examiner
Wed, 15 Mar 2017 04:17 UTC
DTrump
© Politiscope
What is the most popular thing Donald Trump has done as president? It actually came before entering the White House when, last December, President-elect Trump announced he had persuaded the Carrier Corporation to keep in Indiana hundreds of jobs that had been slated to move to Mexico. A short time later, Politico ran a story headlined, "Trump's Carrier deal is wildly popular." Imagine a headline like that about anything else the president has done.

Compared to the big economic picture, the Carrier matter involved a tiny number of jobs. And there was quibbling about Carrier's intent. But Trump's involvement sent a clear message: I was elected to fix the economy, to bring more and better jobs to Americans, and that is going to be my first priority as president.

Now, however, in the middle of his first 100 days in office, Trump has gotten bogged down in a complex, time-consuming, and unpopular fight over another issue — repealing and replacing Obamacare — that, while a key Republican priority and a Trump campaign promise, is not at the very top of the public's concerns.
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Star of David

Cornel West: Israel's travel ban shows BDS is getting stronger

Taly Krupkin
Haaretz
Wed, 15 Mar 2017 23:45 UTC
Dr. Cornel West
© LUCAS JACKSON/REUTERSDr. Cornel West speaks at a demonstration in December 2016 against a planned Dakota Access pipeline.
The American philosopher and BDS supporter wonders if the occupation is 'devouring' Israel's democratic soul and calls it 'a sad moment when an Einstein would not be able' to enter the country. But he remains optimistic.

A new law denying entry to foreigners who call for a boycott of Israel or the settlements has sent shock waves through liberal Jewish communities in the United States for potentially closing Israel's borders to prominent public figures. A prominent voice for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in recent years has been philosopher Cornel West, one of America's leading intellectuals.

In a conversation with Haaretz in the aftermath of the measure's approval by the Knesset on Monday, West voices concern for the future of democracy in the country. The legislation, he suggests, is a betrayal of a tradition of Jewish philosophers committed to human rights, such as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Jewish theologian who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma.

Comment: Is the International Women's strike and the demonstrations against Trump really "bringing out the best of America"?

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Attention

'Beware of the Jews' road sign hoax causes outrage in North London


RT
Wed, 15 Mar 2017 23:19 UTC
© Shomrim
The artist behind a 'Beware of the Jews' road sign found in one of London's largest Orthodox Jewish communities has apologized for causing offence after it was reported as hate crime.

The sign, which features a silhouette of a traditional Orthodox Jewish man with curly hair and Fedora hat, was spotted on Wednesday morning near a synagogue in Stamford Hill, a major Jewish enclave in North London.

Photographer and artist Franck Allais said the controversial sign is part of an artistic project, which includes depictions of individuals crossing the streets in the areas where the signs were then hung.

"It was a project about crossing the road ... how everyone is different, everyone has an identity. There is not only one sign in the street," said Allais.
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Monkey Wrench

Amazon set to kill more American jobs than China did as its share of online purchases keeps climbing

Rex Nutting
MarketWatch
Wed, 15 Mar 2017 21:44 UTC
Amazon revenue growth, Amazon kills jobs
Amazon's revenue has been growing at more than 20% a year. What Amazon won’t tell us is that every job created at Amazon destroys one or two or three others.
Amazon.com has been crowing about its plans to create 100,000 American jobs in the next year, but as with other recent job-creation announcements, that figure is meaningless without context.

What Amazon AMZN, -0.11% won't tell us is that every job created at Amazon destroys one or two or three others. What Jeff Bezos doesn't want you to know is that Amazon is going to destroy more American jobs than China ever did.

Amazon has revolutionized the way Americans consume. Those who want to shop for everything from books to diapers increasingly go online instead of to the malls. And for about half of those online purchases, the transaction goes through Amazon.

For the consumer, Amazon has brought lower prices and unimaginable convenience. I can buy almost any consumer product I want just by clicking on my phone or computer — or even easier, by just saying: "Alexa: buy me one" — and it will be shipped to my door within days or even hours for free. I can buy books for my Kindle, or music for my phone instantly. I can watch movies or TV shows on demand.

But for retail workers, Amazon is a grave threat. Just ask the 10,100 workers who are losing their jobs at Macy's. M, -0.03% Or the 4,000 at The Limited. Or the thousands of workers at Sears SHLD, -0.45% and Kmart, which just announced 150 stores will be closing. Or the 125,000 retail workers who've been laid off over the past two years.

Comment: While Trump has been implementing a number of policies to reinvigorate the U.S. economy, the challenges he faces are monumental:

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Clock

Four in five Oklahoma City students can't read clocks

Lorne Fultonberg
KFOR4
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 22:05 UTC
Learning clock
© top10toysforkids.com
They may miss that hour of sleep, but as we turn our clocks ahead, chances are kids won't be changing their watches.

That's because the vast majority don't have a watch.

A new study shows that only 1-in-10 Oklahoma City kids ages 6-12 own a watch. And only 1-in-5 know how to read it.

"Yeah, I was super surprised," said Caitlin Carnes, who works for the Boys & Girls Club at Santa Fe South Elementary. "When I was growing up that was something that we learned. I don't know if that makes me old or not."

Instead Friday, Carnes worked to teach kids in the after-school program how to read analog clocks, something even the kids will admit they struggle with.

"I think the exposure to technology, everyone's so used to seeing digital," Carnes said. "They all have cell phones and tablets so they don't have to look at a clock very often that's analog."


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Fire

Woman suffers burns to face and hands after headphone batteries catch fire during plane flight

Martin Parry
Yahoo News
Wed, 15 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC
headphones catch fire, fire headphone batteries
© AFPAs I went to turn around I felt burning on my face," the woman said "I grabbed them off and threw them on the floor. They were sparking and had small amounts of fire.
A woman whose headphones caught fire on a plane suffered burns to her face and hands, Australian officials said Wednesday as they warned about the dangers of battery-operated devices in-flight.

The passenger was listening to music on her own battery-operated headphones as she dozed about two hours into the trip from Beijing to Melbourne on February 19 when there was a loud explosion.

"As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face," she told the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) which investigated the incident.

I just grabbed my face which caused the headphones to go around my neck. I continued to feel burning so I grabbed them off and threw them on the floor.

"They were sparking and had small amounts of fire."

Flight attendants rushed to help and poured a bucket of water on the headphones, but the battery and its cover had both melted and stuck to the floor.
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Attention

City of Dallas 911 system overwhelmed by 'ghost calls' from T-mobile phones, baby dies after babysitter unable to reach 911

Andrea Lucia
CBS DFW
Wed, 15 Mar 2017 21:16 UTC
Dallas 911 system ghost calls
The City of Dallas reported that T-Mobile phones were spontaneously dialing 911, a problem that has been reoccurring since November, tying up the call center for up to hours at a time. At one point on Saturday, the city reported that 422 calls were on hold.
Officials with the City of Dallas say T-Mobile crews arrived there well before the lunch hour today and are busy working to fix a major system issue that has left 911 operators overwhelmed with "ghost calls."

CBS 11 News spoke with Mayor Mike Rawlings about his frustration and the danger the situation poses for residents. The Mayor said anyone could run into trouble if there's a surge in calls, but the odds are worse for some cell phone customers. "If you've got a T-Mobile phone service be very, very careful because you may not be able to get into 911," he said.

Problems at the Dallas 911 center may have contributed to the death of a 6-month-old baby. The Dallas Police Department is investigating after the boy's caretaker dialed 911 on Saturday evening, but was unable to get through.

Comment: Update: T-Mobile blames victims for 9-1-1 failures in Dallas

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