Society's ChildS


Sheriff

Cops forced to apologize after having fake suicide bomber shout 'Allahu Akbar' during mass police drill


RT
Tue, 10 May 2016 15:26 UTC
police
© Reuters
Manchester Police have issued an apology after getting a fake suicide bomber to shout a Muslim religious slogan during a mass counter-terror exercise in the city's Trafford Centre Tuesday.

The mass drill involved dozens of people splashed with fake blood and feigning bomb injury to simulate a major terror attack in the busy shopping area.

Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan of Greater Manchester Police told Sky News Tuesday that the test was to prepare for a "suicide attack by an extremist Daesh-style organization," using the Arabic pejorative term for Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

However, he acknowledged that "it was unacceptable to use this religious phrase immediately before the mock suicide bombing" because it "vocally linked" the exercise with Islam.

"We recognise and apologise for the offense that this has caused," he said.
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Candle

'Consensual fight' between two teens in school bathroom leaves one teen dead


Yahoo News
Tue, 10 May 2016 22:50 UTC
Amy Joyner
A 16-year-old girl charged in a high school restroom assault that left another girl dead has maintained good grades and had no prior disciplinary history involving fighting or other disruptive behavior, her attorney said Tuesday.

Attorney John Deckers also said in a statement to The Associated Press that his client had no way of knowing that the April 21 altercation at Wilmington's Howard High School of Technology would result in the death of 16-year-old Amy Joyner-Francis.

Deckers' client, who is accused for repeatedly hitting Joyner-Francis in the head and torso, is charged with criminally negligent homicide. Prosecutors have said they will seek to have her tried as an adult. In the meantime, she is under home confinement after being released Tuesday on $13,000 unsecured bond.
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Arrow Down

Forget the rising stock market -- the US economy is rapidly declining

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Tue, 10 May 2016 15:59 UTC
stock market
We have seen this story before, and it never ends well. From mid-March until early May 2008, a vigorous stock market rally convinced many investors that the market turmoil of late 2007 and early 2008 was over and that happy days were ahead for the U.S. economy. But of course we all know what happened. It turned out that the market downturns of late 2007 and early 2008 were just "foreshocks" of a much greater crash in late 2008. The market surge in the spring of 2008 was just a mirage, and it masked rapidly declining economic fundamentals. Well, the exact same thing is happening right now. The Dow rose another 222 points on Tuesday, but meanwhile virtually every number that we are getting is just screaming that the overall U.S. economy is steadily falling apart. So don't be fooled by a rising stock market. Just like in the spring of 2008, all of the signs are pointing to an avalanche of bad economic news in the months ahead. The following are 11 signs that the U.S. economy is rapidly deteriorating...

Comment: Are you prepared?

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Red Flag

Wildfires in Canada curbing oil supply, keeping prices stable


RT
Tue, 10 May 2016 15:07 UTC
canada wildfires
© Mark Blinch / ReutersSmoke and flames from the wildfires erupt behind a car on the highway near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, May 7, 2016
Massive wildfires in Canada's oil-rich Alberta Province have resulted in an estimated 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) crude supply shortfall, pushing global disruptions to 2.5 million bpd since January.

Although 90 percent of buildings in the evacuated oil sands town of Fort McMurray have survived, producers expect shutdowns for several weeks. Facilities and pipelines close to the fire need to be inspected before workers can return.

Consultancy Energy Aspects has estimated production of 1.6 million bpd will be lost.

Suncor Energy, Royal Dutch Shell, Syncrude Canada and ConocoPhillips are already preparing to bring workers back and restart plants as the fire moves away, according to Bloomberg.

Michal Moore, a professor of energy economics at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy told the media that the plants are ready to open within a week after the threat is cleared.
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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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