Society's ChildS


Family

Dolly Parton plans to donate $1,000 per month to families affected by Tennessee wildfires, as number of injured and dead rises


RT
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 23:16 UTC
Tennessee fires
© Brian Blanco/Getty Images / AFPGatlinburg, Tennessee
The death toll from wildfires that ravaged the eastern Tennessee communities of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge has risen to 10. Country music star Dolly Parton is leading an effort to help the area ‒ her birthplace and home of her Dollywood resort.

The blaze, which began in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and spread rapidly into Gatlinburg on Monday, burned 15,000 acres and damaged or destroyed more than 700 buildings - about 300 in Gatlinburg alone - according to Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters.

Initially, four people were believed to have perished in the flames, until the authorities discovered three more bodies at a burned-out residence on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, three more deaths were counted, bringing the total to 10, WBIR reported.
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Eye 1

Woman stabs boyfriend repeatedly after bizarre blood sucking ritual


RT
Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:36 UTC
Victoria Vanatter
© Greene County Jail / ReutersVictoria Vanatter
A Missouri woman who allegedly let her boyfriend suck her blood after they became fixated on vampires has been charged by police for carrying out a stabbing attack on the man.

Victoria Vanatter, of Springfield, Missouri, is currently being held in Greene County jail on a $150,000 bond after police charged her with 1st degree domestic assault.

The 19-year-old is purported to have stabbed her boyfriend multiple times on November 23, after the pair talked about vampires and carried out a "consensual" blood sucking, reported KYTV news.
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Light Sabers

U.S. Congresswoman & Military Vet, Tulsi Gabbard to Join the Resistance With Fellow Veterans at Standing Rock

Jay Syrmopoulos
The Free Thought Project
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 14:52 UTC
U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard,
In a show of solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux, U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii Democrat who served two tours of duty in the Middle East, and who continues to serve as a Major in the Army National Guard, announced that she will be joining thousands of veterans coming from across the country to protest the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) near the Standing Rock Reservation.

"If my participation in this protest helps send one message, it is this: We must protect our fragile water resources for current and future generations," said Gabbard, who has been involved in environmental activism since her youth.

"Next weekend, the congresswoman will be joining thousands of veterans from across the country to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota who are protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline through their tribal lands, with grave concerns about the contamination of their major water source," Gabbard's Press Secretary Emily Latimer confirmed in an email to the Observer.

Gabbard's announcement coincides with a planned deployment of over 2,000 military veterans to Standing Rock, scheduled for December 4. The veterans have coordinated their actions with the Oceti Sakowin elders, and a GoFundMe account set up to raise money for this mass action has raised over half million dollars.

Comment: See also:
  • Standing Rock water protectors vindicated as another pipeline just exploded near Kansas City
  • For the first time since Standing Rock began, US Senator calls for investigation of DAPL oppression towards water protecters


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Whistle

Ex-Florida cop claims he was fired after whistleblowing on 'illegal' racial profiling practices


RT
Fri, 02 Dec 2016 13:41 UTC
Florida police arresting man
© Joe Raedle / AFP
A former Florida police officer says he was fired for "blowing the whistle" on his department's "unconstitutional" practices of racial profiling that specifically targeted young black males. He has sued the city of Miami Gardens, seeking $75,000 in damages.

Jose Rosado served on the Miami Gardens Police Department (MGPD) for over seven years, until he was terminated in June 2015.

Rosado has now sued the city, which he is accusing of violating the Whistleblower's Act, aimed at protecting people exposing wrongdoings.

In his lawsuit, the former officer has said that MGPD "had implemented, enforced, encouraged and, sanctioned a policy, practice, and/or custom of unconstitutional stop-and-frisks, searches, seizures, arrests and prosecutions of Black Males ages 15-30."
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Gear

Kellogg's blasted by Amnesty International for using child labor-produced ingredients

Joel B. Pollak
Breitbart
Wed, 30 Nov 2016 00:00 UTC
child labor kellogs
The international human rights organization Amnesty International is slamming Kellogg's and other companies that it says are profiting from child labor and other exploitative practices.

The new report, "The Great Palm Oil Scandal," released Wednesday, "investigates labour exploitation on plantations in Indonesia that provide palm oil to Wilmar, which is the world's largest processor and merchandiser of palm and lauric (palm kernel) oils and controls over 43% of the global palm oil trade."

Wilmar provides palm oil to Kellogg's and other producers of consumer goods.

The report states:
Amnesty International found serious human rights abuses on the plantations of Wilmar and its suppliers. These included forced labour and child labour, gender discrimination, as well as exploitative and dangerous working practices that put the health of workers at risk.
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Fire

Huge fire engulfs one of Italy's biggest oil refineries

Chris Summers
Daily Mail (UK)
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 18:43 UTC
Italy oil refinery explosion
The Italian fire service tweeted this picture of the fire but said no-one was injured.
Fire broke out today at a giant oil refinery near Pavia, south of Milan, sending huge plumes of smoke into the air.

Witnesses said they saw a 'ball of fire' hundreds of metres high.

The fire broke out at the Sannazzaro de' Burgondi refinery, one of the biggest in Italy, just before 4pm local time.

The news agency ANSA said a cloud of black smoke was visible for six miles from the site of the blast in northern Italy.

The refinery is owned by Italy's national oil company, ENI, who said nobody was injured and there had not been an explosion.

But Angelo Bonelli, a Green MP, said: 'Too many refineries in our country suffer major accidents that pose an urgent need to investigate.'

He said today's accident was the third at the Sannazzaro refinery. There were fires on 2 and 6 July and he said the unions at the plant had denounced the lack of effective security due to ​​staff shortages.

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Black Cat

Carnival-owned ship caught in pollution scheme, fined $40 million

Chabeli Herrera and Joey Flechas
Miami Herald
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 02:53 UTC
Carnival Cruises Ship
© Andy Newman/Carnival Cruise Lines via Getty Images
In a scheme where a cruise line cut corners and dumped oil-contaminated water into the ocean, the Caribbean Princess was caught soiling the Queen's water.

The U.S. government has slapped Carnival Corp.-owned cruise line Princess Cruises with an unprecedented $40 million penalty for illegally dumping oily water into the ocean off the coast of England in 2013 and trying to cover up the crime. Investigators later found the discharge was likely one of several instances where the ship spewed pollution into the Atlantic, including off the shores of U.S. ports from Texas to South Florida and along the Eastern Seaboard in 2012 and 2013.

Federal prosecutors called the sum the largest-ever settlement for a case where a vessel was deliberately polluting the environment. On Thursday, Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden told reporters in Miami that the settlement is a clarion call to the cruise industry to follow international environmental laws.

"We are sending a strong message with this case to the entire industry," he said. "The message is that lying to the U.S. Coast Guard and polluting the marine environment will be identified, investigated and prosecuted."
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Key

The New CEO's First Moves (and Trump)

Scott Adams
Dilbert.com
Fri, 02 Dec 2016 02:18 UTC
Donald Trump
One of the things I will enjoy about the Trump presidency is watching non-business writers try to explain his methods. Case in point, the recent stories about Ford and Carrier keeping some parts of their manufacturing in the United States because Trump negotiated/bullied them into staying. If you tell that story through a political filter - which is all I have seen so far - you focus on the facts. In this case, the political story is that both the Ford and Carrier situations are exaggerated claims of success.

The political filter misses the story completely. As usual.

Here's the real story. You need a business filter to see it clearly. In my corporate life I watched lots of new leaders replace old leaders. And there is one trick the good leaders do that bad leaders don't: They make some IMMEDIATE improvement that everyone can see. It has to be visible, relatively simple, and fast.

Why?
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Evil Rays

Humanitarian fake news: Human Rights Watch purposefully mistranslates a leaflet from Syrian army

As'ad AbuKhalil
The Angry Arab News Service
Wed, 30 Nov 2016 00:00 UTC
Syrian army letter
HRW translation
Rami Jarrah (who is widely cited as an authority by mainstream Western media) posted the Arabic leaflet dropped by Syrian regime forces and the English translation by Human Rights Watch, which has been widely circulated. I will provide to you my translation of the original Arabic and you judge how reliable the translation by Human Rights Watch is. The Arabic says (in full):
"Read and Repeat. This is the last hope. Save yourselves. If you don't evacuate those areas soon, you shall be finished off (or vanquished or destroyed). WE have provided you with a safe passage to exit. Take your decision fast. Save yourselves. You know that all have abandoned you and left you by yourselves to face your destiny and they won't provide you with any help. General Command of the army and armed forces."
PS The word annihilation is very specific and has an equal Arabic equivalent "Ibadah" which does not appear in the original Arabic.

Comment: So rather than interpret this message for the mercy that it imparts (towards those arguably who deserve no mercy), it has become, rather, another tool of propaganda for the West and its "humanitarian" organizations.

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Gold Coins

Bitcoin wallet service ordered to give IRS 3 years of user data


RT
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 23:07 UTC
Bitcoin
© Jim Urquhart / Reuters
A California federal court judge has called on Coinbase Inc., a bitcoin wallet service, to give the IRS records of American user transactions from 2013 to 2015 to conduct an investigation into potential tax fraud.

On Wednesday, the Northern California District Court allowed the Internal Revenue Service to issue a "John Doe" summons to Coinbase in the pursuit of "information about US taxpayers who conducted transactions in a convertible virtual currency during the years 2013 to 2015," the US Department of Justice said. Coinbase is a virtual-currency exchange based in San Francisco, California.

Comment: The logic there is a bit off, by the same token they could say "Hey Google, we want everyone's email records because we're looking for possible violations of law by persons whose identities are unknown."

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