Society's ChildS


Dollar

Taxpayers to shell out $3.6 million for the murder of a mentally ill man by 3 cops

Jack Burns
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 18:05 UTC
Michael James Tyree
© Maricopa County Sheriff
Much like the city of Baltimore, MD did, when faced with a lawsuit from the Freddy Gray family, Santa Clara County, CA, opted to preemptively pay the family of Michael Tyree $3.6 million dollars, before the case went to trial. Tyree, a mentally-ill inmate, was beaten to death last year, allegedly by three correctional deputies.


Comment: 3 correctional officers charged with murder for "vile and cowardly act" in fatal beating of mentally ill inmate


Settling the case early, before going to trial, means the bulk of the payment (85 percent) will be given to Tyree's daughter, a seven-year-old, without the typical court costs, lawyer's fees, and the suffering that often goes along with a drawn-out trial. Shannon Tyree and Elizabeth Ott (Tyree's sisters) will receive the remaining 15 percent.

County Counsel James R. Williams, said there were 13 pending lawsuits and three pending claims still unresolved regarding the use of force in the Santa Clara County jails. According to The Mercury News, three corrections officers, "Jereh Lubrin, Matthew Farris and Rafael Rodriguez — were charged with murder about a week after Tyree's battered (and lifeless) body was discovered," on August 27th, 2015. All attempts to resuscitate him failed and he was declared dead at the scene. From the beginning, Tyree's death was investigated as a homicide, with the correctional deputies being the prime suspects. The trio is also facing assault charges for beating up yet another mentally ill inmate, Juan Villa.
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Heart - Black

Sleepless nights for Congolese mothers trying to save their girls from rape

Ruth Maclean
The Guardian
Wed, 07 Dec 2016 17:52 UTC
A girl from Kavumu in DRC
© Ruth Maclean for the GuardianA girl from Kavumu in DRC who was abducted from her home and raped. Since 2013, 49 young children in the town have been raped.
Officially, sexual violence has declined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, dubbed the 'rape capital of the world'. But frontline workers tell a different story.

The mothers of Kavumu hardly sleep. But on rainy nights, they don't even try. The rain pounds on their tin roofs so noisily that they worry they won't hear rapists breaking in to steal their daughters. So they sit up all night, just watching their front doors.

Since 2013, 49 young children, one only 18 months old, have been abducted from flimsy houses in this town in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - and raped. The alleged ringleader of the militia responsible, an MP, was arrested earlier this year, but it is common knowledge in Kavumu that many of their daughters' "destroyers", as they call them, are still at large.

"I'm scared. In my area, everyone's scared," said Felicia, the mother of a nine-year-old girl, Charlotte, who was raped last year and who sits in silence next to her.

Branded the "rape capital of the world" in 2010 by Margot Wallström, the former special representative on sexual violence to the UN, the DRC has been trying to get rid of this moniker ever since.
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Camcorder

Norwegian #Pizzagate BUST: 51 pedophiles, including lawmakers, arrested on child abuse charges

Jack Burns
The Free Thought Project
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 17:36 UTC
podesta pizzagate
© James Alefantis Instagram ArchiveArchived image from James Alefantis' Instagram, #pizzagate
As the old expression goes "there's a special place in hell" for pedophiles. But hell for some infants, toddlers, children, and teenagers might be a little country called Norway. That's because the country just seized the largest amount of child pornography in the country's history! A whopping 150 terabytes were confiscated, the equivalent of over 35,000 child-porn DVDs!

The search began when one 22-year-old man was being investigated for having sex with a 14-year-old. The investigation led to the man's cell phone, where authorities quickly realized he had been in contact with other suspected child rapists. The network of rapists led the Norwegian authorities to create a team of 25 officers, from various departments, to work together on the ever-expanding case called "Operation Darkroom."

According to The Nordic Page, "The material has led to charges of sexual intercourse and rape of children from infancy to 15 years, serious trafficking and production, storage and sharing of material depicting sexual abuse of children, and luring of children to show off or sending nude photos or masturbate over the internet. Police also found examples of offenders who have planned atrocities against their own children with other men."

The investigation quickly led to arrests of, "51 people, all men, are so far involved in the case. 24 of them come from Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane. 26 come from other areas of Norway, from Southeast to Finnmark in the north. Among the accused offenders, there is also one Swedish national. Two politicians, one Labor politician from Oslo and a former national Progress Party (FrP) politician from Eastern Norway are involved in the case." One is also a kindergarten teacher, and four of the 51 arrested were perpetrators in the video evidence collected.

Comment: For more information on #Pizzagate check out these links:

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Newspaper

Facebook is rolling out its censorship initiative

Guilherme Schneider
The Duran
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 17:54 UTC
facebook
© Dado Ruvic / Reuters
According to the latest news, Facebook began testing new tools to carry out its "censorship plan" with the convenient name of "tackling fake news"

One of the tools being tested will enable users to inform Facebook if certain news stories are using "misleading language". Some users posted images of a Facebook survey asking them the following question: "To what extent do you think that this link's title withholds key details of the story?".
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Network

Oliver Stone discusses the making of 'Snowden' and taking Putin's advice during filming

Will Pavia
The Sunday Times
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 17:23 UTC
oliver stone
© VENTURELLI/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES
Oliver Stone says that I will screw him over. He says it quite pleasantly, in that deep patrician voice of his, smiling at me over the coffee and muffins on our little table in a sleek wine bar in lower Manhattan.

His suspicion stems, I think, from something I say not long after we sit down. We're talking about America's National Security Agency and its efforts to harvest the world's data, as unveiled by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in documents he gave to journalists — and retold, with a few embellishments, in Stone's film, Snowden, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the title role.

I mention chatting with a colleague, whose take on the whole Snowden affair was: "That is what spy agencies do, isn't it? They spy. What a surprise."

"That's the argument," says Stone, frowning. "What else did he say?"

Well, he mentioned the moment near the end of Laura Poitras's Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour, when Snowden is about to leave the hotel room in Hong Kong where he has been holed up for days with three journalists: Poitras, Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill, and the rest of the world's media is buzzing about outside. Snowden is doing his hair in the mirror: he is trying to disguise himself. But I think my colleague saw it as a sign of something else: that Snowden had a self-aggrandising streak, a hero complex, and he was putting lives in danger by releasing all these documents.
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Heart - Black

Denver cops caught stealing blankets from the homeless

John Vibes
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 17:09 UTC
cops steal blankets
The homeless population of the United States is constantly under attack by law enforcement, for the crime of being poor and living on the streets. For people who are down on their luck and out in the cold, the police are sadly more of a concern than the elements or common criminals.

In Denver, for example, local police have sparked national controversy after video of them stealing blankets from homeless people went viral this week. The police confiscated the blankets and camping gear claiming that the property was being held as "evidence." The officers were enforcing a city-wide ban on "urban camping," a measure that is popping up in cities across the country. These "urban camping" bans are an obvious assault on the homeless population who does not have a choice but to camp on the streets.

The following video was taken last week by local business owner Kayvan Khalatbari, who was disgusted with the show of force that he saw.

Comment: See also:

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Bomb

Nigeria: Child suicide bombers kill 3, injure 17


RT
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 16:06 UTC
nigeria suicide bombing
© Afolabi Sotunde / ReutersFILE PHOTO Smoke is seen after an suicide bomb explosion in Gombe, February 1, 2015.

A pair of girls, believed to be aged between 7 and 8, blew themselves up in a bustling northeastern Nigerian market in Maiduguri, killing themselves and injuring at least 17 others, according to a local official and a militia member.

The attack carried out by the two suicide bombers killed at least three people, according to state emergency agency NEMA spokesman, Sani Datti, who spoke to Reuters. The locals told the news agency that up to nine people died.

A local militia member, Abdulkarim Jabo, told AFP he saw the girls seconds before the explosion.

"They got out of a rickshaw and walked right in front of me without showing the slightest sign of emotion," he said. "I tried to speak with one of them, in Hausa and in English, but she didn't answer. I thought they were looking for their mother."

One of the girls "headed toward the poultry sellers, and then detonated her explosives belt."

The suicide bombers were as young as "seven or eight," Jabo said.

Comment: This was not a good day for Nigeria. 160 people are feared dead in a church collapse.
At least 160 people are feared dead and scores more injured after a church building collapsed during mass in Nigeria.

The incident happened at Reigners Bible Church International as worshipers were attending a Saturday prayer service in the southern city of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Local reports suggest the church was undergoing renovation work.

One witness told Nigeria's Premium Times how churchgoers had been attending the consecration of a pastor when suddenly "the whole building collapsed."



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Cowboy Hat

Bundy brothers refuse to attend federal hearing protesting charges of conspiring and taking up arms against federal agents


RT
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 12:08 UTC
Bundy brothers
© Jim Urquhart / ReutersAmmon Bundy (L), and his brother Ryan Bundy are shown in an office at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, U.S. January 6, 2016.
Through their absence in court, Ammon and Ryan Bundy are protesting charges of conspiring and taking up arms against federal agents in the infamous 2014 standoff in Nevada. Others on trial in the same case attended, but shouted oaths of defiance.

If Friday's court appearance for the Bundy brothers and their 15 co-defendants is setting the tone for proceedings, US Magistrate Judgy Peggy Leen may be in for a tough trial. The Bundy brothers were not forced to attend their Friday hearing, but were able to follow proceedings by listening to a speaker placed by their cell.

However, the Bundy brothers may be the least of federal prosecutors' problems in the case against the 17 men involved in the April 2014 Bunkerville standoff. The size of the case is a potential issue for the prosecution. They requested to have the men grouped together for three different trials beginning February 6.

Judge Leen did not rule on that matter, but she did say that it would be unfair to the 17th defendant who would have to wait months or years to resolve the case, Associated Press reported. Leen said she would release a written scheduling order soon, but did not say when.

Comment: See also: 'Shocking defeat' for prosecutors: Anti-government militant leader Ammon Bundy and six followers acquitted

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Pistol

Cop went to wrong house and kills innocent father of 3 — will not face charges

Matt Agorist
Free Thought Project
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 16:49 UTC
innocent father William David Powell
Innocent father William David Powell
In a travesty of justice, a Henry County grand jury decided that a cop who went to the wrong house responding to a 911 call and killed the homeowner, an innocent father of three, will not be charged.

According to CBS 46:
A grand jury review determined that Sergeant Patrick Snook will not face charged and found the shooting to be justified.

William David Powell was shot by officers who thought they were responding to a home on the 600 block of Swan Lake Road in Stockbridge where shots had been fired. The incident happened during the early morning hours of June 9.
Responding to a 911 call in June, Henry County police arrived at the wrong house and shot the innocent homeowner in the neck. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is investigating the incident due to the fact that the Henry County police shot a man who had committed no crime and who had no involvement with the initial 911 call.
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USA

The greatest con man since PT Barnum - Wanna be Iron Man Elon Musk

Eric Peters
Eric Peters Auto
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 16:46 UTC
Iron Man 2
© Disney
The Russians never got to the Moon - because their Moon Rocket, the N1, had trouble getting off the launch pad in one piece. It's the same problem Elon Musk's Falcon 9 Space X rocket has been having.

It blew up on the pad back in September - taking a lot of taxpayer dollars with it.

And before it.

Space X is a money-loser. Tesla Motors is a money loser. Both are gaping black holes that suck up resources and spit out things that don't work or cost too much.

Usually, both

Yet the government continues to hand over money to Musk. Our money. Lots of it. Space X has burned through a reported $900 million, almost all of it insider-deal government contracts, including $400 million to develop the "next generation of U.S. human spaceflight capabilities."

Launch Explosion
© Eric Peters Auto
Maybe focus on achieving flight capabilities first.

Better yet, focus on keeping his hands out of our pockets.

That's the real problem with Space X - with all of Musk's operations: They live off the taxpayers' dime. Could not live without the umbilical cord of taxpayer support. Which, apparently, is bottomless - regardless of Musk's failures (plural) to deliver on his hocus pocus promises.

At least the Soviet Moon program was not a crony capitalist operation. There were surely cost over-runs and inefficiencies, but no Soviet pseudo Tony Stark/Iron Man was milking the Soviet people, as Elon Musk is doing to the American people.

He gets away with it, in part, because the media fawns over Musk as if he were Tony Stark (whose big screen creations, unlike Elon's, at least work).
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