Society's ChildS


Cross

Group plans exorcism on purported NSA spy building in New York

Nathan Tempey
Gothamist
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 15:30 UTC
The AT&T building
© Phil/FlickrThe AT&T building at 33 Thomas Street was built to withstand a nuclear blast—but can it survive an exorcism?
A group of artists and activists is planning a Saturday exorcism of the AT&T Building in Tribeca where, according to reporting by The Intercept, the National Security Agency likely controls several floors and surveils communications around the globe.

"In an ultimate act of hubris, the government has attempted to make an omniscient force, a false god—we must cast out this idol," organizers wrote in a communique section titled "Why Are We Exorcising?"

In 2016, The Intercept revealed documents showing that the former AT&T Long Lines Building, a brutalist skyscraper built in 1974, is probably home to a top-secret NSA surveillance operation called TITANPOINTE. The documents don't explicitly out the building at 33 Thomas Street, but in aggregate, they strongly point to the 29-story tower as the place where the wires are tapp-ed.

A 2011 travel guide for NSA employees shows that those visiting TITANPOINTE should first go to the FBI's New York field office, a little over a block away. Another guide from 2013 says that a "partner" called LITHIUM, code for AT&T, supervises the site. Employees are also instructed to ring a buzzer, sign in, and wait for someone to meet them. The Intercept wrote that 33 Thomas Street has a buzzer outside, a sign-in sheet in the lobby, and a 24-hour guard.

Comment: We hope that this group's efforts had some positive effect but, really, its going to take something a lot bigger and stronger to accomplish this task!

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Vader

Even his home country doesn't want him: Hungary moves to shut down George Soros owned university

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Sun, 16 Apr 2017 19:11 UTC
meme george soros darth sidious
The proposals by PM Viktor Orban's governing Fidesz party were approved by Hungary's President on Monday.

The Hungarian government has passed a law which threatens the continued operations of the George Soros founded and funded Central European University. The university was set up in Budapest in 1991 and has garnered controversy ever since, due to accusations of ideological based teachings and publications.

The university is seen as agenda driven, using its facilities to agitate for Soros' liberal/globalist views.

Comment: Perhaps every country will ban George Soros, and then he can live on Mars, by himself, and fund color revolutions between rocks and space dust:

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Light Saber

Small Town newspaper in Iowa wins Pulitzer Prize for challenging Big Agriculture

Amelia Kinney
True Activist
Fri, 14 Apr 2017 00:00 UTC
Storm Lake Times staff
© Dolores Cullen
Art Cullen's work exposes Midwest policy pitfalls and funding schemes between Big Ag and the government.

Art Cullen, 59, of the Storm Lake Times, has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize in the category of Editorial Writing. Cullen co-owns the twice-weekly newspaper with his older brother John, where it reaches a circulation of 3,300 in the little rural town of Storm Lake, Iowa.

Cullen's writing is celebrated by the Pulitzer committee "For editorials fueled by tenacious reporting, impressive expertise and engaging writing that successfully challenged powerful corporate agricultural interests in Iowa."

The Storm Lake Times employs about 10 people, and it's largely a family business. As a small town publication, they cover the usual range of topics: "We strive to have a baby, a dog, a fire and a crash on every front page, so, yes, we do pander," Cullen told the Washington Post.
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Magnify

Student loan service under investigation for discrimination - fed watchdog


RT
Sat, 15 Apr 2017 18:41 UTC
Students
© Marvin Gentry / Reuters
A federal watchdog is investing whether student-loan servicing companies engaged in discrimination against borrowers with outstanding debt based on their race, sex or gender, denying them affordable plans.

"We're looking at disparities in outcomes... and we believe there may be some," Patrice Alexander Ficklin, director of the office of fair lending at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said on a call with reporters Friday, according to the Washington Post.

Ficklin said they had identified a student loan company servicing an area with "substantial risk of credit discrimination" but did not disclose how they reached that conclusion or disclose the name of the servicing company.

CFPB has jurisdiction over the largest servicing companies, including Navient, Great Lakes and American Education Services.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

Remember the housing bubble? The car loan bubble is on its way

Shaun Bradley
The Anti Media
Thu, 13 Apr 2017 15:51 UTC
car loan application
After nearly a decade of being able to borrow money for next to nothing, interest rates are finally beginning to creep higher. Even the relatively small increases seen so far have caused problems in the previously booming automobile industry. The size of the auto loan market has ballooned to a historic 1.1 trillion dollars, and subprime lending has once again become the norm. Teaser offers that allow people to get cars with zero money down and 84-month financing have fueled a wave of irresponsible spending. Americans' tendency to associate success with having nice things has driven many people who can't afford to buy a house to get the next best thing — a brand new car.

The data released so far in 2017, however, has started to raise questions about how much longer these spending habits can last. There has been a significant drop in new car sales and a sharp increase in the delinquency rates of subprime borrowers. Inventories across the country have started to build up, and if things don't turn around soon, the excess cars sitting on lots will eventually force prices lower. According to analysts at Morgan Stanley, price declines will also impact the used car market, and some predictions are calling for up to a 50% decline by 2021.

Millions of borrowers who bought cars on credit could see the value of their vehicles plummet yet still have to pay off their full loan amount. It's similar to 2008 when the mortgage market collapsed and plunged home prices across the country dramatically lower. Property values fell so much that people suddenly owed more on their homes than they were worth. Those homeowners then had to make the decision of whether to wait it out and keep paying their inflated mortgage rates or cut their losses and sell. Cars, on the other hand, have never been an investment, and this kind of situation in the auto industry would likely trigger an avalanche of private sales as people try to get out from under their debts.
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Bomb

Over 100 killed, dozens injured as blast hits bus convoy near Aleppo - Update


RT
Sat, 15 Apr 2017 18:40 UTC
Still image shows bodies lying near burnt out buses in what is said to be Aleppo's outskirts, Syria April 15, 2017
© ReutersStill image shows bodies lying near burnt out buses in what is said to be Aleppo's outskirts, Syria April 15, 2017
A Syrian bus convoy transporting the residents of two villages being evacuated in a deal between warring parties has been hit by a blast on the outskirts of Aleppo, according to SANA news agency. Thirty nine people have been reportedly killed.

The blast was reportedly caused by a suicide attacker detonating a car bomb. Syrian state TV said an unknown number of people had been killed and wounded.

Pictures have emerged on social media purporting to show the aftermath of the blast.


Humanitarian workers were among the victims of the attack, according to Arabic Asharq Al-Awsat.

Comment: Tragedy has struck Syria as a suicide attack kills and injures civilians being evacuated from the embattled towns of Fua and Kefraya to Aleppo. The current death toll stands at 70 with 130 people injured. Among the dead, more than half are thought to be children. The number of casualties are expected to rise.
According to a witness,
"A suicide bomber blew himself up in car in Rashidin near a petrol station, where buses with the Fua and Kefraya residents stopped. There are dead and wounded".
...
Today's deadly attack on unarmed civilians is the most strident example of terrorists trying to thwart the attempts to evacuate civilians from Idlib.

Still image shows bodies lying near burnt out buses in what is said to be Aleppo's outskirts
Still image shows bodies lying near burnt out buses in what is said to be Aleppo's outskirts
Earlier in the day, a source told Sputnik that a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb in the Rashidin neighborhood of Aleppo near a convoy of buses carrying civilians evacuated from the Syrian Shiite towns of Fua and Kefraya. At least 70 people were reportedly killed, with many women and children among them.
"Terrorists are not letting people flee from the territory toward Aleppo and are preventing evacuation of Fua and Kefraya residents [from militants-held Rashidin neighborhood near Aleppo]," the source said.
Update: Video has emerged of the immediate aftermath of the suicide bombing:


Update 2: Death Toll From Syria Car Bomb Rises To Over 100
The death toll from a car-bomb attack on buses carrying Syrians evacuated from two government-held towns has risen to at least 112, according to a monitoring group.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 98 evacuees from two northern towns were killed when an explosives-laden vehicle hit their buses at a transit point west of Aleppo on April 15.

The remainder of the dead were aid workers and rebels tasked with guarding the buses, the Britain-based group said.

The group said the number of dead was expected to rise.
Update 3: According to rebel sources (i.e. SOHR), the death toll is 126, including 68 children and 13 women. Despite the massacre, the evacuation is planned to proceed.

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Bizarro Earth

Pope Francis' Easter speech shames world for growing 'accustomed to images of suffering'


RT
Sun, 16 Apr 2017 11:57 UTC
Pope Francis speaks during the Easter vigil mass in Saint Peter's basilica at the Vatican
© Max Rossi / ReutersPope Francis speaks during the Easter vigil mass in Saint Peter's basilica at the Vatican, April 15, 2017
Leading Roman Catholics into Easter, Pope Francis has highlighted the plight of immigrants, the poor, women and children, the sick and suffering, who bear the "grievous burden of injustice and brutality."

In his homily at the Easter Vigil mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday, Francis recalled the Biblical account of Mary and Mary Magdalene as they visited Jesus' tomb following his crucifixion. The women's anguish is often reflected in other people's faces these days, he said.

"We can see in the faces of those women in any number of other faces: the faces of mothers and grandmothers, of children and young people who bear the grievous burden of injustice and brutality. In their faces, we can see reflected all those who, walking the streets of our cities, feel the pain of dire poverty, the sorrow born of exploitation and human trafficking," the pontiff said, as cited by La Stampa.

Comment: Humans are capable of so many things; the world doesn't have to be like this.

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Attention

Hackers tell far-right group Britain First, 'Stop being racist to Muslims or die'


RT
Thu, 13 Apr 2017 15:11 UTC
Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen
© Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFPPaul Golding (R) and Jayda Fransen (L), leaders of the far-right organisation Britain First
The website and social media accounts of Britain First have been hacked and the group's far-right supporters warned that they had better "stop being racist to Muslims" or they will die.

Unnamed hackers took over Britain First leader Paul Golding's personal website and Twitter account, swapping his bio for the words "racist f****** chav." His personal details, including his home address, were also divulged online.

Jayda Fransen, Britain First deputy leader, also had her website altered to show a death threat to any of the group's members presumably planning to attend a march in Birmingham on June 3.
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Airplane

Hijack threat prompts high alert at three major international Indian airports


RT
Sun, 16 Apr 2017 10:23 UTC
India airport
© Shailesh Andrade / ReutersSecurity has been increased at the three airports.
Three major international airports in India are on high alert after police received an email warning of a threat to hijack aircrafts. Security at Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad airports has been increased as officials investigate the potential threat.

An email came from a woman in Mumbai who claimed to have overheard men discussing the potential hijacking, which would allegedly involve 23 people.
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Stormtrooper

WTH: NASA SWAT team raids 75yo grandma, forces her to defecate herself, to steal her moon rock

Matt Agorist
Free Thought Project
Sun, 16 Apr 2017 14:39 UTC
SWAT, grandma moon rock
Here at the Free Thought Project, we've seen some outright insanity when it comes to the actions of government and the police state. However, a grandma being raided by a NASA police force so they can steal her dead husband's moon rock, is definitely up there.

When Joann Davis was 75, she hit some hard financial times after finding herself raising grandchildren following her daughter's death and her son's illness. So, being the resourceful grandmother that she is, Davis began to think of ways to earn some extra cash.

Then it hit her.
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