Society's ChildS


Fire

Symbolic reality: Fire breaks out at Watergate complex in Washington


RT
Thu, 12 Jan 2017 10:40 UTC
The Watergate complex
© wikipedia.orgThe Watergate complex
A fire has broken out at one of the condominiums in Washington, DC's iconic Watergate complex, made famous by the 1970s scandal that forced President Richard Nixon to resign from office.

The blaze was reported as Washington was captivated in the throes of another political scandal, as President-elect Donald Trump blasted BuzzFeed and CNN over a "fake news"report alleging he had engaged in sexual perversions while visiting Russia.


According to the DC Fire Department, the fire broke out inside a vacant apartment on the 13th floor.


Located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of the US capital, Watergate is made up of five distinct-looking buildings overlooking the Potomac River and Rock Creek.


In 1972 the Democratic National Committee had its offices on the 6th floor of the Watergate Hotel and Office Building. Operatives from Nixon's re-election campaign broke into the DNC offices, and Nixon attempted to cover it up. Information about the break-in and the cover-up was leaked to the press by the anonymous source known only as "Deep Throat."

Comment: As the above commenter noted, the universe has a sense of humor. Washington is currently going through a political crisis every bit as intense as the Watergate scandal, if not more so.

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Arrow Up

Blowback: Police homicides and public backlash making many cops reluctant to carry out their duties

Nina Agrawal
Los Angeles Times
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 19:26 UTC
Disarm police
© Huffington Post
Police officers in the U.S. think their job has gotten harder of late, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center.

The public outcry over high-profile police shootings of black Americans, coupled with a recent uptick in fatal shootings of police, has left the majority of officers feeling more concerned for their personal safety and more reluctant to carry out some of their duties, according to the report, titled "Behind the Badge."

"The fact that these incidents have brought so much attention to their job has actually made it harder to execute in certain circumstances," said Kim Parker, director of social trends research at Pew and a lead author on the report, which drew its conclusions from a survey of a nationally representative sample of 8,000 policemen and women.

Comment: If 'making their jobs' harder means police are being forced to consider the ramifications of their actions and show some restraint thus scaling back the cycle of violence, Americans will breath a collective sigh of relief.

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Bizarro Earth

Unhinged tweeters call for a 'purge' on Trump's inauguration day

Piper McGowin
The Daily Sheeple
Tue, 10 Jan 2017 14:16 UTC
the purge
© Universal Pictures
In case you haven't seen the film The Purge, here's a nice little summary of the plot via Wikipedia:
In 2014, the New Founding Fathers of America, a far right political party inspired by the Founding Fathers of the United States, are voted into office following an economic collapse and pass the 28th Amendment which sanctions an annual national civic tradition called "The Purge", the first of which takes place in 2017. The Purge occurs for 12 hours, from 7 p.m. March 21 to 7 a.m. March 22, during which all crime is legal and all police, fire, and medical emergency services remain unavailable. Restrictions prohibit government officials "ranking 10" from being disturbed, as well as the use of all weapons above Class 4 (explosive devices such as grenades, rocket launchers, and bazookas). Violation of Purge rules results in a summary execution by hanging. The Purge has resulted in unemployment rates plummeting to 1%, low crime, and a strong economy.
Considering the current state of our country under the likes of eight years of George W. Bush (see something say something, torture, war) and eight more years of Obama (economic collapse, more torture, more war, extrajudicial drone killings, and an orchestrated race war agenda), can you imagine what this kind of scenario would look like if it were to happen right here right now in real life?
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Red Flag

Universal basic income equals modern-day feudalism

Daisy Luther
daisyluther.com
Tue, 10 Jan 2017 13:56 UTC
feudalism
© brainpop
What does the future hold for average people?

Feudalism.

And they'll welcome it with open arms, convinced that they are embracing a smart, fair system that eliminates poverty. The greed, entitlement, and lack of ambition that seems inherent in many people today will have them slipping on the yoke of servitude willingly.

Here's what I mean.

Have you ever been around people who say things like,
"I can't afford it, but I deserve it..."

"Having [fill in the blank with a material object] is a basic right..."

"Losing that right is okay with me because it's for the greater good."
But the thing is, what we "deserve" is the right to pursue our dreams freely.
  • We deserve what we earn.
  • We deserve to be secure in our life, liberty, and property.
  • We deserve the freedom to go about our lives and decisions as long as we aren't harming the life, liberty, and property of others.
No one owes us anything other than that.
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War Whore

Supreme Court signals it wants fewer 'use of force' police suits

Noah Feldman
Bloomberg
Mon, 09 Jan 2017 19:09 UTC
police brutality
© Scott Olson/Getty Images
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Monday decided a police immunity case that sounds small but carries a larger significance. The narrow holding was that a police officer who arrived late at the scene of a confrontation and then shot and killed the suspect without having heard other officers issue a warning is protected from a lawsuit. What really mattered was the reasoning: The court said the officer couldn't be sued because there was no case on the books finding an officer liable under the exact same circumstances.

This decision makes it much harder to sue the police, because almost all confrontations have unique features that could be used to block lawsuits. In essence, the court is signaling that it wants fewer suits against officers in the lower courts, and is chiding the appellate courts for allowing such suits.
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Dominoes

Obama staffers scramble to find new jobs as Trump admin settles in

Ted Goodman
The Daily Caller
Sun, 08 Jan 2017 18:53 UTC
obama staffers
© Joshua Roberts/ReutersSenior Advisor Valerie Jarrett (at column) and White House staffers listen as U.S. President Barack Obama speaks after the election of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 9, 2016.
Outgoing White House staff and President Obama-appointees are struggling to find new work after Donald Trump and Republicans generally swept into office last November.

Thousands of Obama loyalists are struggling to find work in a city now dominated by the GOP, according to a report from Politico. "It feels like there are just thousands of us trying to find a job, and there are no jobs," Mira Patel, a longtime Clinton aide told Politico.

Democratic operatives and Obama staffers no longer have the more than 4,000 presidential appointed jobs to transition to after President-elect Trump takes office.

Politico describes how a generation of young operatives from the Hillary Clinton campaign and failed down-ballot races are still managing their "shock and grief" from Clinton's loss.

"Clients are all pivoting, and they're all frankly trying to figure it out just like we all are right now," Julian Ha, a partner at the executive search firm Heidrick and Struggles, told Politico.

Comment: Obama snowflakes are getting a dose of the reality that most Americans have been living with for the last two decades.

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People 2

Head of British Army: Millennials' narcissism making recruitment difficult


RT
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 18:54 UTC
Gen. Nick Carter
© Yuri Cortez / AFPGen. Nick Carter
Millennials are too self-interested to be easily recruited into the military and are mainly concerned with "what's in it for them," according to the head of the British Army.

At a speech to announce a new collaboration between big business and the military, General Nick Carter laid out some of the problems with recruiting for the reserves.

After a failed £3 million campaign to get more people to sign up to the part-time military, the army has now re-launched a campaign celebrating camaraderie in the forces.

Speaking at an event hosted by telecoms giant BT, Carter said: "We are now dealing with a different generation, Generation Y, born after 1985, and they have a slightly different expectation of life, which tends to be slightly self-interested, very committed."
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Attention

Pope speaks out on abortion, criticises world's beauty obsession


Rt
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:25 UTC
Pope
© Stefano Rellandini / ReutersPope Francis
Pope Francis has spoken out against the world's obsessions with power, success, and beauty, sharing an example of a woman who had an abortion to protect her looks.

The pontiff warned a public audience on Wednesday that "when values such as physical beauty, health become idols to which everything must be sacrificed, they create confusion in our spirit and in our hearts."

"Rather than promoting life, they drive us towards death," he said. He went on to state that "power, success, and vanity" give "illusions of eternity and omnipotence."

Comment: See also: No aid with maternity or abortions: Most state laws drive families with children to poverty - report
"When a woman who was denied abortion coverage cannot keep her job because her employer refuses to make reasonable accommodation for her pregnancy - no paid sick day for prenatal appointments or well-baby care - no paid family and medical leave to use after giving birth - the deck is truly stacked against her," said Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families in a released statement.

"The well-being and economic security of families depends, in many ways, on their freedom to plan if and when to have children and on the supports they can access during pregnancy and after children are born," said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, vice president, NPWF.


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Heart - Black

Who's the racist again? MTV writer calls Sessions a racist, then mocks his Asian granddaughter

Ryan Girdusky
Red Alert Politics
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 17:04 UTC
Sessions and granddaughter
© Twitter
Liberals love to think of themselves as stalwart defenders of tolerance and committed activists opposed to racism, unless of course, they're attacking a Republican. In that case, ignore Michele Obama's comment about going high when they go low, and just grab anything you can on the way down to the sewer.

MTV News culture writer Ira Madison III spent Tuesday morning slamming Donald Trump's nominee for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and called him a racist.

By 11 AM, his efforts must have gotten boring because he took aim at Session's biracial granddaughter who was sitting on the Alabama Senator's lap at the beginning of his confirmation hearing.

"Sessions, sir, kindly return this Asian baby to the Toys "R" Us you stole her from," Madison tweeted.
mtv twee sessions racists
© Ira Madison/Twitter

Comment: The snowflake social justice warriors have totally lost the plot. Do they realize how idiotic they are?

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Smoking

Retired Yard detective warns fake cigarettes in Scotland being used to fund organized crime worldwide


The Herald
Mon, 09 Jan 2017 17:00 UTC
Cigarettes
© heraldscotland.com
Fake cigarettes sold over counters in Scotland are being used to fuel organised crime across the globe, a former top detective has warned.

Illicit cigarettes currently make up around 13 per cent of the market in the UK, HMRC figures show - a six-year high.

And retired Scotland Yard DCI Will O'Reilly said there were "a number of consequences" to the illicit trade, which often operates secretly within otherwise legitimate businesses. As well as corner shops and sellers based in pubs, Facebook is being widely utilised to flog illegal tobacco shipped in from Poland and beyond.

Mr O'Reilly said the black market trade cost taxpayers billions in lost revenue, adding: "That shortfall has got to be made up somehow. And that costs every one of us."

HMRC estimates the illicit tobacco trade costs the taxpayer £2.4 billion every year. But lost cash isn't the only drawback, according to Mr O'Reilly.

Comment: This is such a joke. The ONLY reason there is an illegal trade in tobacco products worldwide is because Tobacco Control has managed to convince government around the world that they can make huge money by taxing the hell out of tobacco products, and justifying it in the name of good public health. People will not pay these exorbitant taxes, so the black market in cigarettes has boomed around the world. Want to stop it dead? Take off the exorbitant tobacco taxes and the problem will disappear overnight.

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