Society's ChildS


Dollars

Leaked documents link Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's campaign with questionable dark money fundraising


RT
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 06:45 UTC
Scott Walker
© Brian Snyder / Reuters Former Republican U.S. presidential candidate and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker faced threats of losing his title in 2012 during a recall election. He won, but newly-leaked documents show that Walker and his team may have only done so by engaging in questionable fundraising.

Documents recently released to the Guardian show the extent to which Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker had to pursue money during a tough recall in 2012. They reveal the way that politicians rely on private donors and shadowy nonprofits.

According to the documents, Walker may have owed his successful recall election to private donors who were able to secretly fund his campaign using tricks that pushed the limits of the law.

Fundraising isn't the only fishy aspect of what the Guardian refers to as the "John Doe Files." Rather, it is the first step in a long chain of events that cast a shadow over Wisconsin's politics and the cozy relationship between corporations and politicians that is bolstered by campaign finance committees posing as nonprofits.

Comment: Unfortunately this appears to be business as usual; all U.S. elections are rigged:

Read More...
Pistol

Ohio cop kills 13yo boy after he pulls BB gun


RT
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 15:20 UTC
cop kills 13 yo boy
© Phil Noble / Reuters
Columbus Police Department, Ohio was responding to a report of an armed robbery when the incident occurred. The robbery victim told police that they had been approached by a group of people demanding money and one of them had a gun.

Officers said they saw three suspects fitting their descriptions and approached them. Two of the suspects fled on foot while officers tried to arrest the third suspect, identified as 13-year-old Tyree King.

"Officers followed the males to the alley ... and attempted to take them into custody when one suspect pulled a gun from his waistband," police said in a statement early Thursday. "One officer shot and struck the suspect multiple times."
Read More...
People

Far from over: Paris anti-labor reform protests turns violent


RT
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 15:21 UTC
Paris labor clashes
© Ruptly
People took to the streets across France on Thursday to once again protest the government's controversial labor reforms. Violent clashes with police were reported in Paris and Nantes where tear gas was used.

There was a heavy presence of riot police in the French capital where thousands marched against the legislation, which allows employers to hire and fire people more easily, as well as negotiate working times with their staff directly.

Clashes broke out in Paris as groups of young protesters, who had their faces covered, provoked the police by throwing stones and flares. Law enforcement replied with batons and pepper spray.

Five police officers and at least one protestor were injured in clashes in Paris, French broadcaster iTELE reported, adding that 10 people were detained.
Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

No kidding! U.S. one of the most depressed countries in the world

Deidre McPhillips
USNews.com
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 10:05 UTC
India depressed
© Robert Nickelsberg/Getty ImagesIndia suffers the most years of life lost due to disability or death caused by depression and anxiety.
Mental health issues cut the most years off of life in Asia and the U.S.

The U.S. is one of the most depressed countries in the world, according to the World Health Organization.

In terms of quality years of life lost due to disability or death - a widely adopted public health metric that measures the overall burden of disease - the U.S. ranked third for unipolar depressive disorders, just after India and China.

India, China and the U.S. are also the countries most affected by anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to WHO.
Read More...
Newspaper

Americans' trust in mass media sinks to new low in Gallup polling history

Art Swift
Gallup
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 15:00 UTC
US media news persons
Americans' trust and confidence in the mass media "to report the news fully, accurately and fairly" has dropped to its lowest level in Gallup polling history, with 32% saying they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. This is down eight percentage points from last year.

Gallup began asking this question in 1972, and on a yearly basis since 1997. Over the history of the entire trend, Americans' trust and confidence hit its highest point in 1976, at 72%, in the wake of widely lauded examples of investigative journalism regarding Vietnam and the Watergate scandal. After staying in the low to mid-50s through the late 1990s and into the early years of the new century, Americans' trust in the media has fallen slowly and steadily. It has consistently been below a majority level since 2007.
Read More...
Info

All-female flotilla tries to sail through 'criminal' Gaza blockade and raise awareness of Palestinians plight


Sputnik
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 13:35 UTC
Women's Boat to Gaza
© Rumbo a Gaza / Pablo Miranzo
A group of activists are sailing from Barcelona to the Gaza Strip in an effort to draw attention to the role of women in the survival of Palestinian people, blockaded in Gaza.

On September 14 two sailing boats set sail from the port of Barcelona on the Women's Boat to Gaza, in order to raise awareness of the plight of Palestinians living under blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The two boats are called "Amal" (Hope in Arabic) and "Zaytuna" (Olive), and are crewed by women from 15 different countries. One of the crew, Jaldia Abubakra, told Sputnik Mundo that the activists want to draw attention to the blockade of the Gaza Strip. "I hope that we will wake up the conscience of humanity, and draw attention to this criminal blockade of Gaza, which has lasted for nearly ten years," said Abubakra, who was born in the city of Beersheba in southern Israel and now lives in Madrid.
Read More...
Ambulance

6 dead and hundreds injured in Pakistan train collision


PressTV
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 10:15 UTC
Train collision
© ReutersLocals gather at the scene where two trains collided near Multan, Pakistan, September 15, 2016
At least six people have lost their lives and more than 150 others sustained injuries in a train crash in central Pakistan.

According to media sources in Pakistan, the casualties occurred early on Thursday when a passenger train collided with a freight train near the central Pakistani city of Multan in Punjab Province.

Explaining the accident, Saima Bashir, a railway official, said the freight train had stopped so its driver could remove the body of a man who had been crushed to death while crossing the railway track, and as a result, the freight train was then hit from behind by the passenger train.

Bashir placed the blame on the passenger train's driver, saying he failed to heed a red signal that had gone up after the freight train had stopped.
Read More...
Fire

Massive blaze engulfs hundreds of homes in Brazilian favela


Globalnews.ca
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 11:19 UTC
Brazilian favela fire
© YouTube/worldstudio (screen capture)
A massive fire erupted on Tuesday in a Brazilian favela in the country's most populous city of Sao Paulo.

The fire at the Esperanca favela, or shantytown, began at Tuesday evening and quickly burned hundreds of homes in its path. The favela is thought to contain about 500 homes.

According to local media, more than 30 firefighters were called in to battle the blaze.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed in the fire or what caused the blaze.

Many of Brazil's poorest residents live in favelas, or urban slums, which traditionally have crime rates.

Read More...
Bullseye

Cop forced two women to shake their exposed breasts in roadside stop, claims lawsuit

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 21:15 UTC
Hazel Park michigan police car
Two women are suing a group of cops after they were forced to pull out their breasts and shake them during a traffic stop, according to a lawsuit filed this week.

The women claim the incident happened around 2 a.m. on June 5. According to the lawsuit, the women were driving home when they were pulled over for allegedly crossing a white line.

After being pulled over, according to the lawsuit, an illegal search was conducted, and a small baggie of cocaine was found on a male passenger in the vehicle. However, both women were doing nothing illegal.

After police found the cocaine, they made the women come to the front of the vehicle one by one. First, the officers made the women lift up their shirt, then pull up their bras, and then shake their breasts as oncoming traffic watched. As the four officers and the passing cars watched, one officer filmed the incident with his cellphone, telling them women to shake their breasts harder.
Read More...
Snakes in Suits

The fight against legalized pot bankrolled by Big Pharma and Big Alcohol

Lee Fang
The Intercept
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 20:45 UTC
legalize pot
The fight against legalized pot is being heavily bankrolled by alcohol and pharmaceutical companies, terrified that they might lose market share.

On the heels of a filing last week that revealed that a synthetic cannabis company is financing the opposition to legal marijuana in Arizona comes a new disclosure this week that a beer industry group made one of the largest donations to an organization set up to defeat legalization in Massachusetts.

The Beer Distributors PAC, an affiliate that represents 16 beer-distribution companies in Massachusetts, gave $25,000 to the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts, tying it for third place among the largest contributors to the anti-pot organization.

William A. Kelley, the president of the Beer Distributors of Massachusetts, did not respond to a request for comment, but his organization's decision to oppose legalization is hardly unique in the alcohol industry.

In Arizona, one of the five states with marijuana legalization ballot measures this November, the Arizona Wine and Spirits Wholesale Association donated $10,000 to a group opposing legalization. In 2010, the last time California considered marijuana legalization, another alcoholic beverage distribution group provided financing to a law enforcement-backed campaign to defeat legalization.
Read More...