Society's ChildS


Nuke

Study finds North Dakota soil and water contaminated with radioactive materials and heavy metals due to fracking


RT
Tue, 10 May 2016 14:57 UTC
fracking
© Lucy Nicholson / Reuters
A new study has revealed significant contamination of soil and water in North Dakota from radioactive materials, heavy metals and corrosive salts as a result of oil and gas wastewater spills.

The Duke University research, published in Environmental Science and Technology, highlights the possible health implications for humans and wildlife from the 3,900 reported brine spills in the region since the rise of fracking in 2007.

Some 9,700 wells have been drilled in North Dakota's Bakken shale and Bottineu oilfield region in the last 10 years, Truthout reports.

"Unlike other areas in the U.S. where decades of conventional oil and gas exploration have generated a legacy of contamination, the exploration rates of conventional oil and gas in North Dakota were significantly lower than recent unconventional operations," the Duke study says.

"Therefore, recent OGW [oil and gas wastewater] spills are directly associated with recent unconventional oil extraction."
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V

Best of the Web: Jon Stewart on 'demagogue' Trump, the Washington 'cesspool' and the media's complete failure to challenge government


YouTube
Mon, 09 May 2016 14:32 UTC
jon stewart
Jon Stewart speaks frankly in this interview about the ridiculous sensitivity of Donald Trump, the complete lack of government competence on a number of issues, and the media's failure to hold the government accountable for its total disinterest in helping the people they purportedly represent. He is interviewed by David Axelrod, who was the chief strategist for Barack Obama during his presidential run in 2008 and his 'Senior Strategist' in 2012, for his podcast, The Axe Files.

It's pretty clear from the interview that Stewart - speaking in front of a 1,000 or so University of Chicago undergraduates - realizes that the US system is completely broken and corrupt, while Axelrod still believes (naively or disingenuously) that the US government can still function as its supposed to and make a positive difference in Americans' lives.

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Books

SOTT Focus: No, not all 'opinions' are equal: an opinion piece on opinions

Daniel DeLafe
Sott.net
Tue, 10 May 2016 16:50 UTC
the dude
"Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief."

¬ Frantz Fanon
Mr. Fanon couldn't have been more correct, because I can't go a day without seeing someone on the internet rationalizing, ignoring, and denying something that doesn't fit into their core beliefs. I constantly see people outright dismissing any information contrary to their political views and world-views with comebacks like 'well, that's just your opinion and this is my opinion' - as if opinions have any relationship to facts. Often, such pearls of wisdom come from people I know don't actually read anything substantial - like, a non-fiction book. You know, those stacks of paper with words on them, bound between two covers?

Few things annoy me more than hearing someone say 'well, that's just your opinion.' These are the people who obviously think their opinion is as valid as anyone else's, and this is simply not true - in my opinion (pun intended). Sure, everyone is entitled to their opinion, just as anyone is entitled to respond to your opinion with factual data and information that refutes it. So let's get it straight: not all opinions are equal. In fact, not all 'opinions' are actually opinions. Whoever told you that nonsense did not understand the meaning of education. It is the labor of collecting and evaluating facts, data, and information that validates an opinion, giving some opinions more weight than others, or even making opinions not opinions at all, but hard facts.
"The earth revolves around the sun."

"Oh, that's just your opinion!"
To say 'all opinions are equal' is an insult to every learned person in history, who had to be wrong so many times before ever getting close to being right.
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Handcuffs

Innocent man tackled and arrested for filming cops as they choked a young man for biking on the sidewalk

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Mon, 09 May 2016 12:28 UTC
police choke man
A video posted to YouTube this week shows a police interaction over a man riding a bicycle on the sidewalk end as the man filming it is tackled by cops.

As the video begins, an unidentified young black man is seen arguing with a police officer. When the man asks the police officer the reason for the stop, she is unable to articulate one and instead calls for backup.

The alleged infraction the officer was attempting to ticket the man for was riding on the sidewalk. According to the Merced City Municipal Code Section 10.44.040, bicycles are prohibited on the sidewalks from "V" Street to "G" Street on Main Street. Whether or not this man was on one of those sidewalks is not revealed in the video.

While a citation for riding on the sidewalk is questionable given certain circumstances, under the law, the man on the bike should have presented his ID as he had technically been suspected of committing a crime.

As the man tries to ride away, however, the small female officer attempts to take down the man twice her size. The man resists but without violence.

As he records, the man filming tries to calm down the cyclist and tells him not to resist. Just as the cyclist listens to the man filming and puts his hands behind his back to be placed in handcuffs, a motorcycle officer comes storming in and grabs his throat.
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Dollar

Extra $1.44 trillion needed to rectify US infrastructure problems just for repairs


RT
Wed, 11 May 2016 12:21 UTC
Inspecting US bridge
© Gary Cameron / Reuters
Small things can make all the difference, but so can $3.32 trillion - the amount required by the American Society of Civil Engineers to rectify the US' major infrastructure weaknesses. Even worse, ignoring the problem will only make it more expensive.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has released a study and an estimate revealing how expensive and expansive the crumbling infrastructure problems are in the US. ASCE found that for all the repairs required between 2016 and 2025, the US has funded only $1.88 trillion out of the required $3.32 trillion, Fortune reported.

Ignoring the problem won't help, either. ASCE also found that the current gap between the price tag and funding could cost the US 2.5 million jobs and a $4 trillion loss in gross domestic product. The ASCE estimates that the cost will run as high as $3,100 in annual personal disposable income.
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Megaphone

Pathological projection: Man who ranted "Allah is a paedo" at rallies found to be child sex offender

Harry Readhead
Metro.co.uk
Sat, 07 May 2016 16:31 UTC
Scottish Defence League
© Picture: PAKristopher Allan is reportedly a member of the Scottish Defence League
A man who reportedly chanted 'Allah is a paedo' at far-right rallies has been revealed to be a convicted child sex offender, according to reports.

Kristopher Allan, 32, is an active member of the Scottish Defence League and was one of around 40 protesters at a rally on Edinburgh's Princes Street last December, reports the Daily Record. The paper says that he and other demonstrators chanted 'f*** off refugees' and 'Allah is a paedo'.

The Record reports that Allan has a conviction for sending indecent messages and photos and having sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl at his home a decade ago.

Comment: Just another perfect example of how the individuals (and in some cases governments) that make such absurd and insulting comments are quite often just projecting their inner sickness onto others

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Георгиевская ленточка

'Never was a story of more woe': 90Yo Russian WWII veteran recalls her one and only love


RT
Wed, 11 May 2016 01:00 UTC
Vasily and Taisia Kononenko, WWII love story
War and Love rarely go well together, but one story stands out from the others. Taisia served at a reconnaissance aviation regiment, Vasily was a pilot. They got married during World War II. When she thought she had lost him forever, he came back.

"I saw this young man come in. He was tanned, with dark hair and dark eyes. I just liked him instantly," Taisia Kononenko told RT, describing her husband Vasily, a navigator of the 10th separate reconnaissance aviation regiment.

By July 1943, Captain Kononenko had made 196 sorties to bomb military targets and enemy troop concentrations. In 1944, he received the highest distinction, a Hero of the Soviet Union medal.

Comment:

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Attention

Selective empathy: Video casts British child as refugee to highlight horrors faced by children fleeing war


RT
Tue, 10 May 2016 15:27 UTC
Save The Children
© SaveTheChildren / YouTube
Save the Children UK has released a powerful campaign video depicting a British child fleeing a hypothetical war-torn London in a bid to highlight the reality for thousands fleeing conflict for the safety of Europe.

The video, a sequel to the charity's 'Most Shocking Second a Day,' which amassed more than 50 million views, shows 12-year-old Lily's journey as she escapes the UK in search of safety.

Risking their lives in overcrowded boats, frightened and vulnerable, a total of 325,000 children have now crossed the Mediterranean and the Aegean, fleeing war, poverty and persecution, Save the Children says.

Comment: It's sickening that a charity knows that Westerners will feel more empathy for the plight of these children when they see this horrific reality from their own perspective. Many of these vulnerable children never make it to a safe haven, and this travesty is directly attributable to Western war-mongering.

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Fire

11-year-old boy is facing hate crime charges for burning bus


RT
Tue, 10 May 2016 23:51 UTC
bus fire
© CrownHeights.info Videos / YouTube
An 11-year-old African-American boy is being charged with a hate crime in connection with a fire which was lit on a Jewish school bus in Brooklyn. The bus had been parked in front of the Beth Rivkah Hebrew School for girls when a group of children set fire to it.

A surveillance tape released by CrownHeights.info found that approximately seven children had been involved with the arson incident on Sunday. The video shows several children boarding the bus - which had been left open and unattended - with pieces of cardboard in hand. The kids rush out as flames appear in the front of the bus.

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Question

Flint mayor tried to redirect water crisis donations to campaign account - lawsuit


RT
Tue, 10 May 2016 23:42 UTC
Flint, Michigan Mayor Karen Weaver
© Gary Cameron / ReutersFlint, Michigan Mayor Karen Weaver
A former city administrator of Flint, Michigan is suing Mayor Karen Weaver for allegedly trying to funnel donations intended for a lead water crisis charity into her own personal campaign fund.

Filed on Monday in US District Court, the wrongful termination lawsuit alleges that former City Administrator Natasha Henderson was fired for shining a light on the issue, and that the decision was a violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act as well as free speech protections.

Back on February 9, Henderson met with a city employee who informed her that Mayor Weaver was telling the employee and a volunteer to redirect donations that were being sent to the Safe Water/Safe Homes charity. Instead, the mayor wanted the funds funneled to an organization she set up called "Karenabout Flint," a group that was not approved to receive donations by the City Council.
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