Society's ChildS


Pistol

Tracking police murders: 2016 slated to be deadlier than last year


Mint Press News
Fri, 01 Jul 2016 23:58 UTC
police victims
Screenshot of The Guardian’s ‘The Counted’ project, which tracks killings by Police in the United States.
As controversy continues to swirl around the issue of police violence in the United States, the media continues to be our main source of data about the scope of the problem.

The Washington Post, which tracks fatal shootings by police as part of its Fatal Force project, reports that there have already been 20 more fatal shootings this year compared to the same period of 2015.

In April, the Post's Fatal Force project won a Pulitzer Prize, journalism's most prestigious award, in the national reporting category. The project originated when Post staff realized that no government agency tracks police violence, reported Paul Farhi:

"After covering several high-profile incidents involving the killings of civilians by police officers in 2014, Washington Post staff writer Wesley Lowery was surprised to discover that there were no official statistics about such fatalities. So Lowery pitched an idea to his editors: The newspaper, he suggested, should collect the information itself and analyze it for patterns in law enforcement."
Read More...
Arrow Up

Big win for Pine Ridge Reservation: No uranium mining on sacred land


White Wolf Pack
Wed, 29 Jun 2016 17:01 UTC
Pine Ridge
Crow Butte, seen from the south, has historical and cultural significance for tribal opponents of uranium mining at the landmark in northeastern Nebraska.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe and activists scored a win on May 26, when federal administrative judges ruled that Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has failed to take "a hard look" at cultural resources in recommending renewal of a uranium mining license for Crow Butte Mine, near here. The decision delays permitting.

The tribe, intervening in the license renewal application for the mine in Dawes County, Nebraska, adjacent to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, argued that the staff recommended approval in violation of its rights under the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Protection Act, or NEPA.

Resolving in favor of the tribe's argument, an oversight panel established by the Atomic Licensing and Safety Board ruled: "The NRC staff has not met its identification obligations" under the two laws, "nor has the NRC staff, in its environmental assessment, undertaken a hard look under NEPA at cultural resources within the license area."

Comment: See also: Sold down the river: Navajo activists protest Utah water rights as a bad deal
  • Navajo Water Supply is 'More Horrific than Flint,'; Victimized by the US government because they're Native American


Read More...
Bomb

Young man severely injured in explosion in New York's Central Park: Bomb squad at the scene


RT
Sun, 03 Jul 2016 16:13 UTC
NYC explosion
© Andrew Kelly / ReutersMedics stand over a man who was injured after an explosion in Central Park, in Manhattan, New York, U.S. on July 3, 2016.
A young man was severely injured in an explosion in New York's Central Park, in which "his left leg [was] blown off," according to reports from the scene.
Read More...
Heart - Black

Chicago: Muslim woman attacked and strip-searched by cops for running to catch her train

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Sat, 02 Jul 2016 14:47 UTC
chicago police
An innocent Muslim woman was tackled, beaten, and strip-searched by Chicago cops who mistook her being late for a train ride — as terrorism.

The incident occurred on the Fourth of July last year, but only went to trial this month. Itemad "Angel" Almatar said that she was also kicked, and had her hijab taken off by five Chicago police officers at a train station, CBS Chicago reported.

Almatar was charged with reckless conduct and resisting arrest over the incident.

Much of the incident was captured on video and shows that Almatar was no criminal. In spite of the video showing her innocence, Cook County prosecutors forced Almatar to go to trial. On Wednesday, a jury found her not guilty on all charges.
Read More...
Attention

Death toll rises to 165 in Baghdad twin blasts


Sputnik
Sun, 03 Jul 2016 13:32 UTC
Bahgdad car bomb picture
© REUTERS/ Khalid al Mousily
According to INA News Agency, the death toll in Baghdad twin blasts has risen to 165 people.

It has been reported earlier that at least 131 people were killed and hundreds more injured following the explosions.

The attack, which claimed the lives of many children and injured hundreds of people, occurred early on Sunday in central Baghdad's majority-Shiite Karrada district, the Al Jazeera news channel reported, citing its own sources.
Read More...
Airplane

Russian IL-76 plane with 10 on board disappears while fighting forest fire in Siberia


RT
Fri, 01 Jul 2016 11:16 UTC
An Ilyushin Il-76TA Candid aircraft of the Russian Ministry for Civil Defense
© EMERCOM of Russia / Sputnik An Ilyushin Il-76TA Candid aircraft of the Russian Ministry for Civil Defense
Contact was lost with a Russian IL-76 fighting a blaze near the city of Irkutsk when it was at an altitude of 3,000 meters (9,900ft). The emergencies ministry plans to parachute in 100 rescue workers to search for the missing plane and the 10 people on board.

"Contact was lost in the Kachug area of the Irkutsk Region, where smoke from forest fires was extremely thick," RIA Novosti reports, citing a source within the emergencies ministry.

A large search operation has been launched to find the missing plane, with nearly 450 people involved in the rescue effort.

"All in all the search-and-rescue operation involves 441 people and 28 units of equipment, including 16 aircraft," an official told RIA Novosti.

According to the local administration, the search is being conducted by planes because the territory is too large and inaccessible for a ground search and there are no roads in the area.

Read More...
Attention

Update: 83 killed as 2 blasts rip through Ramadan crowds at Baghdad shopping areas


RT
Sat, 02 Jul 2016 23:34 UTC
Baghdad blast
© Ammar Karim / Facebook
Two blasts have ripped through busy market areas in Baghdad, Iraq's capital, killing around 80 people and injuring 160. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for one of the attacks.

Over 160 others were also injured, AP reported citing hospital and police sources. Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan confirmed that the attack was a car bomb.

Eyewitnesses reported on Twitter that many shops burned down in the explosion. Many also fear the number of casualties could grow.

Karrada, the upper middle class district of the Iraqi capital, is mostly inhabited by Shia but also has quite a large Christian minority. The area gets really busy after sunset during the holy month of Ramadan.
Read More...
Black Magic

Not-so-useful idiot: Ivy League student went to Syria to join Daesh - then begged U.S. to extract him

Dave Urbanski
The Blaze
Fri, 01 Jul 2016 19:51 UTC
Mohimanul Alam Bhuiya
© NBC NewsMohimanul Alam Bhuiya
Like many fellow Americans, Mohimanul Alam Bhuiya aimed for the stars.

In a 2008 essay for his Brooklyn high school newspaper, Bhuiya wrote, "I believe that I have greatness in me. I want to be a superhero," the Washington Post reported. He added kudos to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill who "fought a worldwide battle against the evil supervillain Adolf Hitler."

Soon he was enrolled at Columbia University — and the brand-new Ivy Leaguer seemingly had the world at his feet.

Then something shifted.

Bhuiya, a Muslim, became deeply interested in the Islamic State. His internet activity on that topic came to the FBI's attention in June 2014 — particularly that he might try to travel to Syria — so the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York paid him a visit, the Post said, citing court documents.

Comment: What role if any did the Task Force have in his decision to go to Syria? For every dupe like Bhuiya who goes to Syria only to have his illusions shattered, there's another (or more) who have a great time amid the filth and gore. That's what Daesh is designed to do: attract the pathological and naive cannon fodder and head choppers, all in the interests of covert U.S. foreign policy. And now, after having realized the depth of his mistake, Bhuiya has the privilege of becoming property of the FBI. Out of the frying pan...

Read More...
Handcuffs

Abuse of a moose: Two idiots charged with riding a swimming elk rodeo-style


RT
Sat, 02 Jul 2016 19:42 UTC
man on moose
© Wolftracker TV/YouTube
Like many stupid ideas, this one probably started with a comment about holding beer. Two British Columbian men are charged with a variety of wildlife-related crimes for a moose-riding stunt that went viral

It appeared to be a beautiful day on the remote Tuchodi Lakes in the northwestern British Columbia, so a large moose decided to take a swim. Like a celebrity sun-tanning on vacation, however, the casual dip soon went viral thanks to some pesky paparazzi.

In a video posted last June to the Wolftracker TV YouTube channel that subsequently went viral, the moose is chased by a boat across the otherwise serene waters. A shirtless man standing astride the bow then jumps aboard the hapless Alces alces and proceeds to take a spin on the moose for 15 seconds before falling off like a rodeo rider tossed from a bucking bronc.
Read More...
Info

Inequality and conflict: The real problems driving human migration

John Wight
RT
Sat, 30 Jul 2016 21:50 UTC
migrant
© AFP 2016/ ARIS MESSINIS
Humanity and migration are two sides of the same coin, enjoying a symbiotic relationship that will never be broken no matter how much people and politicians may try.

Indeed, rather than the alien phenomenon it is currently in vogue to characterize it, immigration is as natural as the sun rising and setting every day. In a previous article I explored how mass migration was a key factor in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, doing so in relation to the refugee crisis that began lapping up on Europe's southern shores in 2015, an ongoing crisis directly related to the chaos that has engulfed the Middle East and North Africa. This refugee crisis is not the same phenomenon as immigration; however both are linked in so far as they are the product of concrete factors out of the control of those most affected by it - i.e. people compelled to uproot and move to other countries and parts of the world due to economic factors or in order to flee conflict and the societal collapse that conflict produces.

The prominence that the subject of immigration/migration now has across the northern hemisphere is directly linked to the global economic crisis which began in 2008 which continues to wield havoc, especially in poorer economies that were most exposed to its impact. In political terms it has wrought the collapse of the center ground, opening up space for radical ideas and narratives. Thus we have seen the emergence and rise of movements, parties, and political leaders from both the radical right and left, vying for the hearts and minds of people and communities, especially poorer and low income communities where the impact of migration is felt most, in the battle of ideas.

Comment:

Read More...