Society's ChildS


Blue Planet

Jan Oberg: Thoughts as we move into the new year - 2017

Jan Oberg
Life - Peace & PhotoGraphics
Sat, 07 Jan 2017 21:34 UTC
abstract building
– just look at the world and imagine it a little differently and the sky is blue…
The old years went - in as little a time as it takes to turn around and see who is tapping you on your shoulder. And it is the new, the next year.

I hope it will pass too - in as little time as it takes for me to turn my head and look forward again - because the face of 2017 doesn't look good or kind to me.

Neither do the next ten or so years.

Beyond that the world will become a better place. If, that is, if we survive and don't destroy it all.

It is actually already becoming a better place!

The thing that has too pass - or pass away - is the United States Empire.

In a few years it will go the way Rome and all the rest plus the Ottoman, British and Soviet empires did. No empire lasts forever.

Comment: Oberg's vision is what all normal people long for. Unfortunately the amount of suffering it will take to bring them to those realizations will be immense. In the end we can only work on ourselves, one by one, to make that world possible.

Read More...
Ambulance

Multi-vehicle pile up involving 20 cars occurs in Connecticut during severe winter storm


RT
Sat, 07 Jan 2017 21:33 UTC
connecticut vehicle pile up
© ‏@CT_STATE_POLICE / Twitter
Connecticut State Police have shared footage from the scene of a multi-vehicle pile up involving at least 20 cars, three tractor trailers and a tanker which occurred amidst severe winter weather conditions.

The smash which occurred in Middletown, Connecticut, Friday afternoon, has resulted in the closure of the Interstate 91 in both directions.
Connecticut State Police have shared photos and videos of a multi-vehicle smash resulting in the closure of Interstate 91 in both directions. No serious injuries have been reported, according to police.

Troopers are dealing with reports of several crashes in the region as severe weather hampers driving conditions.

A winter storm warning is in place for Middletown, Connecticut and drivers are being advised to take extra caution on the roads with 12 inch snowfalls being forecast.
Read More...
Dollars

Philadelphia pays $4.4 million settlement to man mistakenly shot 14 times by plainclothes cops who never identified themselves


RT
Sat, 07 Jan 2017 21:27 UTC
police line
© Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
The city of Philadelphia has reached a $4.4 million settlement with a black deliveryman which 2 officers say they mistakenly shot 14 times leaving him with permanent injuries and a seizure disorder.

The settlement represents the largest in a police shooting incident in the city's history, Philly.com reports, citing Philadelphia Law Department records.

The settlement dates back to an incident in 2014 when then 20-year-old Philippe Holland was working as food delivery man. He had just dropped off a hamburger at a house when he was confronted by two plainclothes police officers.

During sworn testimony, Hollande said that when he saw the two officers, Mitchell Farrell and Kevin Hanvey approaching him, he thought he was about to get robbed. He got into his car on the passenger side to try and get away when one of the men shined a flashlight into the car while the other held a gun.
Read More...
Eye 1

US covert retaliation? 'Internet of things' used in cyber-attack on Russian banks

Alexander Abramov - Translation by Krisitna Kharlova
Fort Russ News
Sat, 07 Jan 2017 19:26 UTC
hacking by internet of things
Internet-connected appliances were used in a massive attack on the sites of Russian financial institutions. The attack is suspected to be organized by a hacker from USA or Europe.

A network of thousands of intelligent home appliances attacked the sites of Russian financial institutions. In particular, the attack was carried out by toasters, Internet cameras, coffee makers and communications equipment. In total, the attack could have involved at least half a million devices, stated a report by Kaspersky Lab - a leading Russian and global cyber security firm.

Likely the attack was planned by hackers outside of Russia, according to Kaspersky Lab. The identity of the hacker, was not released. The hacker has previously announced the intention to strike at Russian financial institutions, explaining the intention by the fact that, in his opinion, Russian hackers actively intervened in U.S. presidential election.

In December, Rostelecom announced about observed attacks on major banking and financial institutions. The attack, according to the statement, was carried out by household communication devices. The attacks had a duration from several minutes to several hours.
Read More...
V

"Dear CIA!": RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan mocks intelligence report calling RT 'Kremlin propaganda'


Sputnik
Sat, 07 Jan 2017 19:25 UTC
Margarita Simonyan
© SputnikRT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan
A declassified US intelligence report released on Friday directly accused RT and Sputnik of waging a campaign to influence the US presidential vote by helping Donald Trump's election chances and harming his rival, Hillary Clinton.

"Russia's state-run propaganda machine—comprised of its domestic media apparatus, outlets targeting global audiences such as RT and Sputnik, and a network of quasi-government trolls—contributed to the influence campaign by serving as a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences," the report, jointly prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency, said.

It directly accuses RT and Sputnik Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan of links to the Kremlin.

Simonyan was quick to mock the report as "shallow," failing to name the sources and based on dated and/or false intelligence.
Read More...
People 2

Huckabee: Most Americans don't think Russia influenced election, intelligence report will have "very little" impact


Sputnik
Sat, 07 Jan 2017 18:47 UTC
trump
© REUTERS/ Mike Segar
The majority of Americans don't think that Russian authorities had any influence on the outcome of the recent presidential election in the US, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said, adding that the intelligence report alleging that Russia is behind several high-profile cyberattacks which hit the US in 2016 will have "very little" impact.

"Most of the American public... they just don't believe that the Russians impacted the outcome of the election. Even if it's proven that they hacked in the systems and got John Podesta's emails, there is not a shred of evidence, not a centile of evidence that it had any impact on how people voted and certainly not that the Russians were able to involve themselves in the election itself," he said.

Huckabee, a longtime supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, made similar statements in the past.

Opinion polls back his assessment.

A poll, conducted by Politico and Morning Consult between December 15 and December 17, showed that 44% of respondents did not believe that Russia influenced the outcome of the presidential election held in November, with 25 percent unsure. According to an NBC News and Wall Street Journal survey released on December 18, fifty-seven percent of those polled did not think that Russia's supposed cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2016 US presidential campaign, made any difference in the election.
Read More...
Black Cat

Five injured after wild brawl in America's largest jail


RT
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 18:36 UTC
Cook County Jail
© Trần Thái Cook County Jail brawl
A brutal brawl captured on security cameras has left five inmates seriously injured at Cook County Jail, the largest jail in the US. The vicious melee broke out in a common room at the Chicago state correctional facility on Friday.

CCTV footage shows violent skirmishes taking place between inmates for more than a minute before guards intervene brandishing tasers. Some 30 inmates were in the room at the time.

It is unclear from the video what caused the frenzied fighting, which saw one man knocked unconscious with a single punch and another shanked in the back.
Read More...
Life Preserver

Refugee deaths at record high in 2016, majority drowned in Mediterranean sea

Emma Batha
Thomson Reuters Foundation
Sat, 07 Jan 2017 18:24 UTC
Syrian refugees in boat
© Yannis Behrakis / Reuters
A record 7,495 refugee and migrant deaths were recorded worldwide last year - almost a third higher than in 2015 - with the vast majority perishing in the Mediterranean Sea, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday. The preliminary 2016 toll, which is likely to rise as more data comes in, pushed the number of fatalities for the last three years to 18,501, or almost 20 deaths a day, IOM said.

"These data ... are simply shocking. And we don't believe we are anywhere near counting all of the victims," IOM Director General William Lacy Swing said in a statement. "We are past the time for counting. We must act to make migration legal, safe and secure for all."

The 2016 total of 7,495 deaths compares with 5,740 last year and 5,267 in 2014. IOM, which has collated data on migrant deaths for its Missing Migrants Project since 2013, said the increase was largely due to better research methods.
Read More...
Pistol

Ft. Lauderdale shooter 'lost his mind' after tour in Iraq, says family


RT
Sat, 07 Jan 2017 17:19 UTC
lookout police
© Andrew Innerarity/ReutersLaw enforcement officers are seen as the search for suspects is conducted near the airport perimeter following a shooting incident at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S. January 6, 2017.
Family members of the Fort Lauderdale airport attacker Esteban Santiago-Ruiz have said that he suffered severe mental health problems following his tour of duty in Iraq.

Santiago-Ruiz, 26, who killed at least five people and wounded eight during a shooting rampage at Fort Lauderdale Airport in Florida on Friday, "lost his mind" in Iraq, his aunt has said.


Comment: Multiple fatalities confirmed in shooting at Ft. Lauderdale airport


Maria Ruiz Rivera told NJ.com that her nephew, who was born in New Jersey and living in Alaska, was hospitalized for mental health issues after returning from Iraq, where he was on tour with the Puerto Rico National Guard from April 2010 to February 2011.

Ruiz Rivera said he appeared to be doing well, particularly following the recent birth of his son. However, she said that "he lost his mind in Iraq."

Comment: Interesting history. Is it possible that the shooter is another mind-controlled patsy? He reportedly told the FBI in October that the government was controlling his mind and forcing him to watch ISIS videos online. It would be foolish to discount his words considering the history of the US government creating mind-controlled assassins: This Sex Offender/Predator flyer photo for Santiago has been making the rounds, but it's probably just someone with the same name. The man in the photograph is not the same man involved in the shooting.

Read More...
Seismograph

#N**gerNavy: Internet harsh and unforgiving over Yahoo's spectacular typo


RT
Sat, 07 Jan 2017 11:53 UTC
Yahoo
© Denis Balibouse / Reuters
Yahoo Finance's social media manager has discovered just how harsh and unforgiving the internet can be after one small typo turned a routine story about the US Navy's budget into a full-on meme monsoon.

The typo in question transformed the word 'bigger' into the N-word, sparking a Twitter frenzy.

Yahoo did not do themselves any favors by allowing the offending tweet to remain live for a full 20 minutes before taking it down and issuing an apology.
Read More...