Society's ChildS


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Flashback Locked in: The costly criminalisation of the mentally ill


The Economist
Sat, 03 Aug 2013 17:12 UTC
Prisoner's hands in a cell
Since 1994 Tracey Aldridge has been arrested 100 times, jailed 27 times for more than 1,000 days and spent a total of eight years in prison. Most of her arrests have been for trivia: trespassing, prostitution, drugs, disorderly conduct, petty theft or drinking in public, all typical of the mentally ill. Ms Aldridge is so impaired that one jail needed special arm coverings for her, like full-length oven gloves, to prevent her from ripping her veins out with her teeth. More recently, in prison, Ms Aldridge ate her protective gauntlets.

Thomas Dart, the sheriff of Cook County jail, knows Ms Aldridge will end up back in his cells soon because there is nowhere else for her to go. She is sentenced, like so many seriously mentally ill people in America, to rotate in and out of correctional facilities until she dies. Prisons and jails are the main mental-health facilities in the country, something Sheriff Dart describes as an "abomination". He is also angry about how fiscally reckless it is. At only 42, Ms Aldridge has already cost taxpayers $719,436 for her arrests and incarcerations.
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Heart - Black

Documentary filmmaker facing 45 years in prison for reporting on Dakota Access pipeline protests

Nika Knight
Common Dreams
Sat, 15 Oct 2016 18:57 UTC
Deia Schlosberg
Deia Schlosberg
In an ominous sign for press freedom, documentary filmmaker and journalist Deia Schlosberg was arrested and charged with felonies carrying a whopping maximum sentence of up to 45 years in prison—simply for reporting on the ongoing Indigenous protests against fossil fuel infrastructure.

Schlosberg was arrested in Walhalla, North Dakota on Tuesday for filming activists shutting down a tar sands pipeline, part of a nationwide solidarity action organized on behalf of those battling the Dakota Access Pipeline.
"The actions of the North Dakota Police force are not just a violation of the climate, but a violation of the constitution."
—Josh Fox,Gasland filmmaker
The filmmaker was held without access to a lawyer for 48 hours, her colleague Josh Fox wrote in the Nation, and her footage was confiscated by the police.

Schlosberg was then charged Friday with three felonies, the Huffington Post reported: "conspiracy to theft of property, conspiracy to theft of services and conspiracy to tampering with or damaging a public service. Together, the charges carry 45 years in maximum prison sentences."
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Laptop

Women using social media more likely to use misogynist language than men


RT
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 18:47 UTC
woman's eyes
© Michael Dalder
Women in the UK and US are more likely to use misogynist language on social media than men, according to the results of a four-year study.

The research was carried out by the social media research firm Brandwatch and looked at 19 million tweets over a four-year period to assess the levels of anti-woman sentiment expressed online.

The study found that over that period there were 3 million posts which contained terms abusive to women - with women most likely to have posted them.

Brandwatch located the worst offenders in Bangor, Northern Ireland, and Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.
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Handcuffs

Man who shot at Trayvon Martin-killer George Zimmerman sentenced to 20 years in prison


RT
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 18:31 UTC
George Zimmerman
© Joe Burbank / ReutersGeorge Zimmerman
Matthew Apperson has received a 20-year prison sentence for attempted murder for shooting at George Zimmerman, who killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012. Apperson testified that he shot at Zimmerman in self-defense during a road-rage incident.

Last month, Apperson, 38, was convicted by a Seminole County, Florida, jury of attempted second-degree murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle and aggravated assault with a firearm. On Monday morning, Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson sentenced him to 20 years in prison, according to the Orlando Sentinel, which is the state minimum for shooting at another person.

On May 11, 2015, Apperson and Zimmerman were driving separate vehicles side-by-side on Lake Mary Boulevard in Sanford, Florida. Apperson says Zimmerman pointed a gun at him, an allegation Zimmerman has denied. Apperson then fired his own gun in what he has called self-defense.

The bullet went through the passenger's side window and was lodged in Zimmerman's car frame, just above the window. Zimmerman suffered minor injuries from glass or metal debris, the Sentinel reported.

"The crux here is Mr. Apperson's blatant disregard for my life, any life ... anybody driving up and down Lake Mary Boulevard," Zimmerman told Judge Nelson on Monday, alleging that Apperson had "joyfully bragged" about killing Zimmerman that day.

Comment: George Zimmerman really does seem to be followed by dangerous and illegal activity. If it was just one time it be labeled a coincidence or bad luck but after that it's a pattern and one has to look at the person as being the problem.

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USA

Presidential 'selection': Poll shows Americans are increasingly concerned about election rigging

Jake Sherman and Steven Shepard
Politico
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 06:45 UTC
trump
© APDonald Trump calls the process rigged, and has said the media is colluding with Hillary Clinton to throw the presidential race in her favor.
The American electorate has turned deeply skeptical about the integrity of the nation's election apparatus, with 41 percent of voters saying November's election could be "stolen" from Donald Trump due to widespread voter fraud.

The new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll -- conducted among 1,999 registered voters Oct. 13 through Oct. 15 -- shows that Trump's repeated warnings about a "rigged" election are having effect: 73 percent of Republicans think the election could be swiped from him. Just 17 percent of Democrats agree with the prospect of massive fraud at the ballot box.

The public sentiment is beginning to reflect Trump's campaign message. Over the last week, the GOP nominee has intensified his criticism of the U.S. electoral system, much to the chagrin of elected Republicans, who think it threatens the peaceful transfer of power. Trump calls the process rigged, and has said the media is colluding with Hillary Clinton to throw the presidential race in her favor.


Comment: WikiLeaks confirmed mainstream media works directly with Hillary, DNC


Comment: Blaming the Trump campaign for concerns about election fraud is missing the point, the fact is that there is substantial evidence pointing to election rigging in favor of Clinton:

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Footprints

Zero hour attack yet to be announced: ISIL's families reach terrorist-held region in Hasaka Province after leaving Mosul


Fars News Agency
Sun, 16 Oct 2016 23:07 UTC
fleeing mosul
Local sources in Nineveh disclosed that the families of the ISIL terrorists that have left Mosul in Iraq just arrived in the town of Merkedeh in Syria's Hasaka province.

"ISIL's families, including over 25 foreign families, escorted by military convoys reached the town of Merkedeh today," a local source said.

The source also said that the ISIL has evacuated the families of its militants from Mosul as the Zero hour for the final large-scale offensive on the city by Iraq's joint military forces is approaching.

Earlier on Sunday, local sources in Nineveh province disclosed that the ISIL terrorist group has brought to a halt all activities of its security offices in the city of Mosul.
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Bomb

Baghdad car bomb kills 10 in explosion targeting Shia soldiers


PressTV
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 16:11 UTC
bombing Baghdad October 16
© AFPIraqi security forces inspect the site of a bombing in Baghdad on October 16, 2016.
A bomb planted in a car has exploded in an area to the south of the Iraqi capital, killing at least ten people and injuring 25 others. The bombing occurred when a convoy of volunteer Shia fighters was passing by in the al-Yusefiyah district 15 kilometers south of Baghdad. The victims included the Shia fighters as well as police forces and civilians nearby.

In a separate development, a gas cylinder has exploded in a central district in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, injuring at least four people. The sound of the explosion, which occurred in the al-Salehiyah district of Baghdad, initially led to speculations that another terrorist attack had been carried out in the Iraqi capital, where such bombings have become a routine feature of daily life, particularly over the past weeks. Later reports, however, clarified that the explosion was merely from a gas cylinder.

The residents of Baghdad have seen such terrorist bombings almost since the US invaded their country in 2003. The loss of life and property damage have occurred almost daily. Just on Sunday, a massive explosion targeted a mourning procession in Baghdad, killing at least six people. A day earlier, a similar incident had claimed the lives of over 50 people in al-Sha'ab district of the Iraqi capital. The Takfiri Daesh terrorist group said it was behind that bombing.

Iraq has been the scene of a campaign of terror by Daesh. Last week, at least nine people lost their lives after a bomber set off his explosives in the east of the Iraqi capital. The Takfiri group unleashed its campaign of death and destruction against the country in 2014, seizing the northern city of Mosul and declaring it as its so-called headquarters. A large and multi-faceted operation is due to liberate the city.
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Heart - Black

13yo girl, brother killed in latest rebel shelling of W Aleppo (GRAPHIC)


RT
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:50 UTC
rebels shell aleppo
© RT
A series of deadly mortar attacks rocked the government-controlled areas of Aleppo on Sunday, killing at least three people and injuring 23 others. RT spoke with survivors as rescuers dug through rubble to recover the body of a 13-year-old girl.


It took a total of six hours to recover the body of the young girl, named Sarah, who died inside her apartment - despite staying home from school in an effort to remain safe.

"Her father told her and her brother not to go to school because there was heavy shelling going on. So they stayed home, and then the rocket hit [the apartment]," Sarah's neighbor and friend, Ahmad, told RT's Murad Gazdiev.

Sarah's 20-year-old brother died in the same room.

Overcome with grief, Sarah's father had to be restrained following the realization that both his children had been killed.
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Stop

UK Islamic boarding school for girls has been ordered to shut down 'after pupil exposed its extremist beliefs'


RT
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:46 UTC
Jamia al Hudaa Residential College in Nottingham
© The SunAccording to reports Jamia Al-Hudaa Residential College for Girls in Nottingham has been ordered to close down by the Department for Education
An Islamic boarding school for girls in the UK has been ordered to close its doors after a former student claimed pupils were being taught extremist beliefs there.

Aliyah Saleem blew the whistle on Jamia al Hudaa Residential College in Nottingham two years ago, claiming students were being taught strict sharia-style rules.

Speaking to RT, Saleem said she was told "homosexuality was diseased," gay men should be executed, music was the voice of the devil and men should be allowed to beat their wives.

She says she was expelled from the school in 2011 for owning a disposable camera.
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War-weary Libyans dealing with persistent chaos miss life under Kadhafi

Rim Taher
France 24
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:06 UTC
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi addresses African parliamentarians during a meeting in Tripoli
Five years after an uprising killed Libya's Moamer Kadhafi, residents in the chaos-wracked country's capital joke they have grown to miss the longtime dictator as the frustrations of daily life mount.

Those living in the capital say they are exhausted by power cuts, price hikes and a lack of cash flow as rival authorities and militias battle for control of the fragmented oil-rich country.

"I hate to say it but our life was better under the previous regime," says Fayza al-Naas, a 42-year-old pharmacist, referring to Kadhafi's more than four decades of rule.

Today, "we wait for hours outside banks to beg cashiers to give us some of our own money. Everything is three times more expensive."

Comment: NATO Slaughter: James and Joanne Moriarty expose the truth about what happened in Libya

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