Society's ChildS


Pistol

House Democrats: Bill to allow doctors to quiz patients on guns

Chris Eger
Guns.com
Fri, 06 Nov 2015 00:00 UTC
Mike Honda
© www.guns.comUS Rep. Mike Honda wants health care funds and efforts to be brought in to help smother gun violence.
As part of a measure designed to expand government funded research into gun violence as a health care issue, a bill introduced this week would free physicians to ask patients about gun ownership.

The proposal is supported by 37 House Democrats and would explore the links between gun ownership and gun violence according to its author, U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., who represents the Silicon Valley area. "In Silicon Valley, we recognize the power of research," said Honda in a statement. "My Gun Violence Research Act seeks to bring this data-driven approach to the public sphere so that we may develop a more pointed strategy to understand and ultimately better address the public health crisis of gun violence."

Honda's bill, filed Wednesday as H.R.3926, states in its four-page text that it is not advocating for gun control while funding research by the Centers for Disease Control into the causes, treatment, diagnosis and injuries of those killed and injured through the use of firearms. As such, it also calls for an expansion of the National Violent Death Reporting System to accommodate such changes.

Comment: Honda is the same guy whose Responsible Body Armor Possession Act was to prohibit the sale, purchase, use or possession of military-grade body armor by anyone other than law enforcement, active duty military or other authorized users. He based the legislation on false media information: the gunman was not wearing body armor as he stated, and, instead of the demise of two law enforcement officials, it was in fact two civilians - an 86-year-old grandmother and her 58-year-old son-in law. "Never mind the details!"

Honda: "How many times must we bury our loved ones from senseless acts of gun violence before we pass commonsense legislation to understand the problem our society is facing?" Legislation has never been a societal enlightener. Perhaps Honda should look elsewhere for his solutions, such as the deeper and broader contexts within the decay of government, covert population manipulation and to those who profit from it. He apparently doesn't understand the multi-faceted ploy he is facilitating.

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Document

Best of the Web: The astonishing amount of data being collected about your children

Valerie Strauss
Washington Post
Thu, 12 Nov 2015 17:36 UTC
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© Alan Brandt/APBig data is no longer a tool reserved solely for big businesses.
Remember that ominous threat from your childhood, "This will go down on your permanent record?" Well, your children's permanent record is a whole lot bigger today and it may be permanent. Information about your children's behavior and nearly everything else that a school or state agency knows about them is being tracked, profiled and potentially shared.

During a February 2015 congressional hearing on "How Emerging Technology Affects Student Privacy," Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin asked the panel to "provide a summary of all the information collected by the time a student reaches graduate school." Joel Reidenberg, director of the Center on Law & Information Policy at Fordham Law School, responded:
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Black Cat 2

Use of Corexit dispersant in BP oil spill toxified ocean, hid oil, made disaster far worse than it already was

Joe Wright
Activist Post
Thu, 12 Nov 2015 00:00 UTC
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© Guardian
The fallout continues from the Deepwater Horizon explosion that directly killed 11 workers and ravaged the food chain and the environment more than 5 years ago.

Since then we have seen little accountability, despite a nominal fine against BP for its role in unleashing 4 million barrels of oil (approx. 200 million gallons). In fact, the EPA lifted a ban which subsequently resulted in BP being awarded $40 Billion in new contracts, essentially erasing all that was "lost" by BP from their criminality.

Running in tandem with BP's negligence was the use of Corexit 9500 oil dispersant (owned by Nalco, a Goldman Sachs subsidiary) as a supposed means to drastically minimize the impact. Contrary to that assertion, evidence continues to mount that it did the exact opposite.

Comment: This is all so symbolic. Isn't it like a pathological (in this case British Petroleum along with the U.S. Government) to make an already bad problem even worse by trying to first hide it - and also use the worst possible means to do so; absolutely criminal.

But there are even larger ramifications for the BP disaster which we will likely see in the not-too-distant future...



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Bomb

Update: 41 killed, dozens wounded in worst Beirut terrorist attack since 1990


RT
Thu, 12 Nov 2015 17:08 UTC
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© Via Twitter@IraqiSecurity
Two suspected suicide bombings in the southern suburbs of Beirut have left at least 20 people dead and 40 more injured, Reuters reports citing sources in the Interior Ministry.Some of the dead and injured have been taken to the Bahman hospital. The death toll is expected to rise with local news websites saying over 100 were injured.


A third bomber might still be somewhere in the area, local media report.The attacks took place in a busy area outside a Shiite center in the Borj al-Barajneh area.

The explosions rocked the commercial area in the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital just before 6 p.m. local time on Thursday, BNO News reported. The neighborhood is regarded a stronghold of Hezbollah.Ambulances were seen rushing to the scene as Hezbollah and Lebanese police cordoned off the area.

Comment: Israel and the U.S. CREATED Hamas, Hezbollah and Al Qaeda

See an update from RT here.

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Clipboard

On the couch: Therapists opine on Donald Trump's psychological worldview

Henry Alford
Vanity Fair
Wed, 11 Nov 2015 16:25 UTC
As his presidential campaign trundles forward, millions of sane Americans are wondering: What exactly is wrong with this strange individual? Now, we have an answer.

Trump puzzle
© Photo-Illustration by Ben Park; By Noam Galai/WireImage/Getty Image.
For mental-health professionals, Donald Trump is at once easily diagnosed but slightly confounding. "Remarkably narcissistic," said developmental psychologist Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education. "Textbook narcissistic personality disorder," echoed clinical psychologist Ben Michaelis. "He's so classic that I'm archiving video clips of him to use in workshops because there's no better example of his characteristics," said clinical psychologist George Simon, who conducts lectures and seminars on manipulative behavior. "Otherwise, I would have had to hire actors and write vignettes. He's like a dream come true."

That mental-health professionals are even willing to talk about Trump in the first place may attest to their deep concern about a Trump presidency. As Dr. Robert Klitzman, a professor of psychiatry and the director of the master's of bioethics program at Columbia University, pointed out, the American Psychiatric Association declares it unethical for psychiatrists to comment on an individual's mental state without examining him personally and having the patient's consent to make such comments. This so-called Goldwater rule arose after the publication of a 1964 Fact magazine article in which psychiatrists were polled about Senator Barry Goldwater's fitness to be president. Senator Goldwater brought a $2 million suit against the magazine and its publisher; the Supreme Court awarded him $1 in compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive damages.

Comment:

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Light Sabers

Austerity: Violent street clashes amid labor strike in Greece; rioting, Molotov cocktails, tear gas


RT
Thu, 12 Nov 2015 16:31 UTC
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© Screenshot via RT
A labor strike in the Greek capital has turned violent, with demonstrators hurling Molotov cocktails at police. Officers have responded with tear gas. The protesters are rallying against government austerity measures. Labor union members have walked off their jobs for 24 hours, protesting in Athens' central square.


The demonstrators are rallying against austerity measures including spending cuts and tax hikes, which were adopted by the government formed by the leftist Syriza party after it won the January elections. The general strike has seriously disrupted public transportation in the country.

The Athens metro system is not running, bus and trolley routes have been considerably reduced, and connections between Greek islands and the mainland have been nearly brought to a halt as public ferries remain tied in ports. Dozens of domestic flights have been canceled.

The strike has left many museums closed, damaging the tourism industry. Students stayed home on Thursday, as schools did not open in the absence of teachers. Some printed media is expected to hit the streets, although online news outlets are not being updated. Only emergency teams remain on duty in hospitals, and pharmacies are closed.
The strike is being supported by the left-wing labor policy division of the ruling Syriza Party, which takes aim at the austerity policies enacted by its own government.


Comment: Greek "crisis" about political ideology and psychopathology, not finance

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Pistol

Gunman reportedly fired shots from roof of San Francisco hospital - police "neutralized" threat


RT
Thu, 12 Nov 2015 16:41 UTC
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© Google MapsSt. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco
Police responded to reports of a gunman on the roof of a construction site near St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco on Wednesday, local media reported. Law enforcement said the suspect was "neutralized" and later confirmed his death.

A shelter-in-place was ordered at the hospital, according to NBC Bay Area.

According to KRON 4 News, a shooting was reported at 3555 Cesar Chavez Street. The outlet reported that the gunman appeared to be dead, and the man's death was later confirmed by police.

In the aerial images, what appears to be a man slumped over on top of a red construction elevator can be seen. When police responded to the scene, officers threw flash bangs during what looked to be a confrontation, according to NBC Bay Area.

The gunman was reportedly a Hispanic man in a white hat and overalls, according to CBS San Francisco. The outlet stated that a local businessman said he heard two shots ring out around 4:30 p.m. local time.
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V

Million Student March: Students across the US unite to protest student debt and tuition fees


RT
Thu, 12 Nov 2015 16:31 UTC
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© studentmarch.org / Reuters
Students from more than 100 American universities are set to unite in a Million Student March to protest over tuition fees, student debt and higher wages for campus workers.

"We are people of all colors, genders, and sexual orientation, and we are united to fight for education as a human right,"the movement's statement reads.

Organized primarily through Facebook by students, numerous marches are expected to hit US states from Seattle and Florida to California and Vermont, with a total of 106 universities and colleges planning to participate. It's unclear how many students are going to take part.

"Together, we can build an independent movement capable of winning tuition-free public college, a cancellation of all student debt, and a $15/hr minimum wage for all campus workers!" the Million Student March website says.

Comment: It's unlikely this will make a difference, since politicians listen to the rich who fill their campaign coffers and not the young who suffer through increasing tuition rates and ridiculous student debt. But at least they are making themselves heard and voicing their opinions, so others can see that there is a problem.

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Red Flag

Over 35% of women aged 19-34 live at home with parents, most since 1940


RT
Thu, 12 Nov 2015 16:23 UTC
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© Larry Downing / Reuters
Over a third of America's young women live at home with their parents or relatives - a percentage not seen since 1940 - as more millennial women put off marriage, attend college, and face high living expenses, according to Pew Research Center.

Analysis of data from the US Census Bureau showed 36.4 percent of young women aged 19-34 living with parents or relatives, compared to 36.2 percent in 1940.

The number of young men living with their parents is also on the rise. Pew discovered that 42.8 percent of young men are currently staying with family or relatives, compared to 47.5 percent in 1940. Pew said the results showed a striking U-turn, "indicating a return to the past, statistically speaking."

Comment: With the US economy in the tanks and young adults burdened with student loan debt, it's no surprise many young women live at home. They likely have no choice. There's no jobs other than low-wage service jobs which, combined with the high cost of living in urban areas, makes for living on one's own very difficult. Maybe if the US government didn't saddle college graduates with debt that can't be relieved through bankruptcy, we would see more young adults able to go out on their own. But the government cares only about spending money on bombs and bullets, not the well-being of its own citizens.

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Airplane

More hysteria: Miami airport locked down after dentist's bag slipped through TSA screening

Andre Damon
World Socialist Web Site
Wed, 11 Nov 2015 00:00 UTC
false alarm miami airport
Passengers Evacuated in False Alarm at Miami International Airport
On Monday evening, an American Airlines flight from Miami, Florida to Barbados was boarded by a paramilitary police unit wielding assault rifles, who demanded that passengers put their hands on their heads as they were forced off the flight.

Large sectors of the airport were effectively placed under lockdown during the operation. The gates of terminal cafes and restaurants were closed, leaving patrons locked inside by iron bars as police SWAT teams decked out in body armor and toting assault rifles swept through the terminal.

Photos and videos posted to social media documented the egregious violation of passengers' constitutional right to be free of unwarranted searches and seizures. "There were very large machine guns, body armor, all of that," one passenger told a local CNN affiliate. "Very, very frightening."

Some 70 flights were delayed and nine were diverted as a result of the lockdown, which shut down two concourses for almost three hours.

Comment: It appears that after the recent downing of a Russian plane over the Sinai, the PTB could be using this an opportunity to ramp up the fear factor and to accustom people to the presence of the military in every facet of life.

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