Society's ChildS


Mail

Best of the Web: Dear Putin: A letter of support to Russia's president for countering the U.S. and ISIS in the Middle East


DearPutin.com
Wed, 07 Oct 2015 11:37 UTC

Comment: The following letter is addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin on behalf of world citizens who are thankful for the role Putin and Russia have taken in their support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the fight against U.S.-sponsored terrorism.

Putin has proven himself to be a statesman and politician of the first order and has done more than anyone on the world stage not only for his own country, but the world at large, countering the U.S. Empire's arrogance and greed. And the amount of lies and barely veiled aggression leveled against Putin has been extraordinary and practically unprecedented. Russia's involvement in Syria has only reinvigorated the attackers. But their words ring even more hollow today. Russia seems to have the West checkmated, and all they can do is watch and prattle as their plans fall to pieces.

So we encourage all our readers to take a stand for what's right and sign the letter. We have!


Image
You can sign the letter!

Dear President Putin,

As members of the global reality-based community, we'd like to extend our appreciation and support for the Russian Federation's decision to provide humanitarian and military assistance to Syria, its armed forces and its democratically elected leader, President Bashar al-Assad, in their fight against international US-backed terrorists.

The launch of airstrikes directed against ISIL terrorists in Syria comes at a critical time,1 just as did Russia's pivotal role in preventing a Western military intervention in 2013. As a voice of reason and a force for justice, you have the thanks and support of Syrians, Russians and all people of conscience around the world.

Since 2011, Western leaders have been determined to turn Syria into a failed state. They have gone to the extent of providing funding, training and weaponry to foreign mercenaries who have waged a brutal campaign of terror on the Syrian people and their legitimate government.2 These terrorist forces and religious fanatics do not represent the will of the Syrian people, the majority of whom support President Assad. As you said in your speech at the United Nations General Assembly, it is for the Syrian people and only the Syrian people to decide who should lead them.
Read More...
Hearts

92% complete: Russia's largest chemical weapons stockpile destroyed


ITAR-TASS
Thu, 08 Oct 2015 11:43 UTC
Toxic sign
© AP Photo/Petros Karadjias
Russia's largest chemical weapons stockpiles have been completely destroyed at a special enterprise in the town of Pochep, in the central Russia's Bryansk region.

A spokesperson for the government's Federal Agency for the Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons said the last air bomb was destroyed at the enterprise on September 26.

Since the plant's launch in 2010, more than 67,000 chemical aircraft ammunition have been neutralized at the Pochep facility that contained almost 7,500 tons of toxic agents as sarin, soman and the VX type substances.

Comment: This is great news. Chemical weapons are a scourge of humanity and a psychopath's weapon.

Read More...
Gold Coins

Islamic State currency mint found in Turkey


RT
Wed, 07 Oct 2015 10:42 UTC
ISIS currency
© Cihan Haber Ajansı / YouTube
Six people linked to Islamic State have been arrested on charges of illegally minting coins in the Turkish province of Gaziantep, according to the local governor's office. It comes just one month after the group released a propaganda video showing off its currency.

The Gaziantep Police Department's counter-terrorism unit on Wednesday confiscated minted coins, 12 coining blocks, 56 coins in four sizes, and other materials used in the minting of coins, Turkish daily Milliyet reported Wednesday.

A video posted online reportedly shows the confiscated coins and equipment.

Comment: It's too bad the article doesn't mention what the confiscated coins were made of. If it was gold and silver, how did ISIL get a hold of enough to mint coins?

Read More...
Heart - Black

Tone deaf Hungarian photographer unveils "migrant chic" fashion shoot


RT
Thu, 08 Oct 2015 10:49 UTC
Image
© Norbert Baksa; Model: Monika Jablonczky / Visage; Styling Mark Kiss; MUA Emese Balla / The vision makeup school
Hungarian fashion photographer Norbert Baksa has published a photo editorial called 'Der Migrant' featuring a model in designer clothes posing as a refugee by a barb-wired fence. Some viewers have called the project "utterly sick" and "wickedly wrong."

The photo shoot, featuring popular fashion model Monika Jablonczky, looks just like an ordinary page spread from a glossy glamour magazine presenting a new designer collection... apart from the fact that it's actually shot by a fence symbolizing the Hungarian border with what looks like a man in a police uniform forcefully pulling at the model's arm in some images.

Instead of sending fashion addicts scurrying to boutiques for luxurious headscarves, the images of the girl in full-length dresses with her head covered in designer scarves were immediately branded as "utterly sick."

Comment: If one is looking for another example of the destruction of beauty and art in modern society, this is exactly that.

Read More...
Bulb

President of Medecins Sans Frontieres calls for independent investigation of Kunduz hospital bombing, saying 'even war has rules'


RT
Thu, 08 Oct 2015 10:26 UTC
Image
© Denis Balibouse / ReutersJoanne Liu, president of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) International, pauses before making her statement in Geneva, Switzerland, October 7, 2015
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is calling for an independent investigation into the deadly US airstrike on a hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz to determine whether the attack can be regarded as a war crime.

According to Doctors without Borders, such an investigation should gather evidence from the US, NATO and Afghanistan, as well as testimonies of the Kunduz hospital staff and patients. Depending on the findings, MSF would consider whether to bring charges for loss of life and partial destruction of the hospital in Kunduz.

"If we let this go, as if it was a non-event, we are basically giving a blank cheque to any countries who are at war," MSF International President Joanne Liu told a news briefing on Wednesday.

"If we don't safeguard that medical space for us to do our activities, then it is impossible to work in other contexts like Syria, South Sudan, like Yemen," she added, while describing the horrors of the hospital bombing.


Comment: The U.S. has spent decades breaking international law, so it should be no surprise that they ignored it this time, but it's particularly egregious to bomb a hospital. Even if the dubious claims that the hospital was housing members of the Taliban are true, it does not excuse their actions. It's time they are held accountable by the rest of the world

Read More...
Fire

"Flash explosion" at Texas chemical container facility


RT
Thu, 08 Oct 2015 02:42 UTC
Pasadena container explosion
© Rick Wilking / Reuters
Officials said three people were injured in an explosion and fire at an apparent container company in Pasadena, Texas. The company reportedly cleans containers used to store chemicals, hampering response efforts.

The Houston Fire Department hazmat crew joined firefighters battling the blaze at the business, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Two firefighters and one employee were injured during the firefight and taken to the hospital, according to ABC 13. Their condition is unknown.

Firefighters were struggling to enter the building uncertain about the chemicals they're dealing with, KTRK stated.

Comment: There seems to have been an increase in the number of chemical related explosions and fires around the world in recent months, with investigators still attempting to determine the cause in many cases. Could a 'cosmic' source of ignition be responsible for some of these incidents? See also:

Read More...
Handcuffs

New federal sentencing guidelines, 6,000 inmates to be released


RT
Wed, 07 Oct 2015 02:50 UTC
hands in jail
© Shutterstock.com
The US Department of Justice is preparing to release roughly 6,000 inmates from federal prisons later this month under new sentencing guidelines. The inmates' crimes were predominantly nonviolent drug offenses, but under mandatory minimum sentencing laws enacted during the crack and cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and '90s, they were sentenced to many years behind bars, according to federal law enforcement officials.

"The inmates from federal prison nationwide will be set free by the department's Bureau of Prisons between October 30 and November 2," according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to the Washington Post. "Most of them will go to halfway houses, and home confinement before being put on supervised release."

The release will be the largest one-time discharge of inmates in American history. It comes as the result of new sentencing guidelines issued by the US Sentencing Commission in April. In July 2014, the Commission voted to retroactively apply an amendment lowering federal guidelines for sentencing persons convicted of drug trafficking offenses.


Comment: About time something was done in regards to criminal justice reform. "The US incarcerates a quarter of the world's prison population"...so many, in fact, it has turned to private prison hell holes to accommodate the overflow, more self-serving and corrupt in their operation than the inmates that occupy them.See also:

Read More...
Stock Down

Global financial meltdown coming? Clear signs that the great derivatives crisis has now begun

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Wed, 07 Oct 2015 00:03 UTC
derivatives
Warren Buffett once referred to derivatives as "financial weapons of mass destruction", and it was inevitable that they would begin to wreak havoc on our financial system at some point. While things may seem somewhat calm on Wall Street at the moment, the truth is that a great deal of trouble is bubbling just under the surface. As you will see below, something happened in mid-September that required an unprecedented 405 billion dollar surge of Treasury collateral into the repo market.

I know - that sounds very complicated, so I will try to break it down more simply for you. It appears that some very large institutions have started to get into a significant amount of trouble because of all the reckless betting that they have been doing. This is something that I have warned would happen over and over again. In fact, I have written about it so much that my regular readers are probably sick of hearing about it. But this is what is going to cause the meltdown of our financial system.

Many out there get upset when I compare derivatives trading to gambling, and perhaps it would be more accurate to describe most derivatives as a form of insurance. The big financial institutions assure us that they have passed off most of the risk on these contracts to others and so there is no reason to worry according to them.

Well, personally I don't buy their explanations, and a lot of others don't either. On a very basic, primitive level, derivatives trading is gambling. This is a point that Jeff Nielson made very eloquently in a piece that he recently published...

Comment: Perhaps these derivatives (bets) will ignite or be allowed to ignite a new series of financial and economic problems due to the severe downturn in the commodities and other markets. If they do or are allowed to finally start a meltdown, then they will be igniting a system already being held up with the glue and bubble gum of systemic lies and manipulation. The situation has only gotten worse since 2008. Due to this fact, when the system does finally let go the impacts are going to be felt worldwide by every man, woman and child.

It is also reasonable to consider the Western elites fostering such events in order burn the system down in their desperation to somehow maintain control. Russia and Putin's moves in the Middle East, perhaps wider ambitions to counteract the influence and damage done by the West, and revelations of truth starting to take hold in the general public must be putting extraordinary pressure on the elites. Only time will tell what their reaction will be, yet planned economic collapse has to be one of the plays they are considering, especially if Putinmania spreads.

Read More...
Snakes in Suits

California judge refuses to throw out Bill Cosby sexual assault of 15-year old; seals deposition until December


Yahoo! News
Wed, 07 Oct 2015 23:39 UTC
Image
© AFP
A California judge on Wednesday refused to throw out a lawsuit filed by a woman who claims comedian Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her when she was 15.

Attorneys for the 78-year-old disgraced actor had sought to have Judy Huth's lawsuit tossed, alleging her lawyers had failed to follow proper procedure and arguing that the suit should not have included Cosby's name. Attorney Martin Singer said that naming Cosby in the suit that was filed in December 2014 had harmed his client and encouraged other allegations by women who claim he drugged and sexually assaulted them decades ago.

However, Superior Court Judge Craig Karlan said that while the case may have been improperly filed, he did not believe it would prevent Cosby from getting a fair trial. Huth alleges Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974, when she was 15 years old, and that she had suffered "psychological damage and mental anguish" as a result.

Cosby is scheduled to be deposed in the case on Friday and had requested that his testimony be sealed to the public. But Karlan ruled on Wednesday that the deposition would be sealed for at least 60 days and set another hearing in the case for December 22.

On Tuesday, another woman filed suit against Cosby, alleging he sexually assaulted her in 2008, also at the Playboy Mansion, when she was 18.

Comment: Bill Cosby wore a mask for the world. He created a reputation and a persona of a kindhearted, fatherly human being via the media. When the mask came off, we saw the predatory creature underneath. A man with no remorse, no feeling for the damage he has done to these women. Does that sound like a psychopath to you?

Read More...
Syringe

Montana judge blocks state's lethal injection drug, but not 'ultra-fast' enough


RT
Wed, 07 Oct 2015 04:24 UTC
lethal injections
© listverse.comThe line up. Three strikes an you're out.
A Montana judge ruled that one of the drugs planned for use in a lethal injection mix for executions violated the law, effectively halting all executions in the state until the legislation is changed. There are currently two inmates on death row.

"The State of Montana is hereby enjoined from using the drug pentobarbital in its lethal injection protocol unless and until the statute authorizing lethal injection is modified in conformance with this decision," District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock wrote on Tuesday.

Under Montana law, one of the drugs used in its lethal injection combination must be an "ultra-fast acting barbiturate," in order to put the inmate into a coma, followed by a paralytic agent called pancuronium. The state's execution protocol lists sodium pentothal as the barbiturate, with pentobarbital as a substitute.

Sodium pentothal is no longer manufactured in the US, however, and it can't be imported. Meanwhile, pentobarbital is used for lethal injections in other states and, while the drug does act quickly, Sherlock ruled it does not meet the "ultra-fast" classification.

Comment: Electrocution, lethal gas, lethal injection, firing squad, hanging...some inmates have a choice. People die all the time with less particularity, some at the hands of these inmates.

Read More...