Society's ChildS


Pistol

Policewoman gunned down just outside Paris


Yahoo! News
Thu, 08 Jan 2015 21:00 UTC
Image
© Sky NewsPolice Operation under way as Paris cop dies
Police are hunting a gunman who shot dead a policewoman and seriously hurt a street sweeper in the second "terrorist act" in France in as many days.

The attacker wore a bullet-proof vest and carried a handgun and automatic rifle in the shooting in Montrouge just south of Paris on Thursday morning.

But there were no indications so far it was linked to Wednesday's attack on the Paris office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead, including two police officers.

The latest shooting happened after police and maintenance workers were called to the scene following a traffic accident involving a grey Clio just before 8am (7am UK time).

The gunman opened fire and the trainee policewoman - who was around 20 - was shot dead. A street sweeper was seriously injured.

Witness Ahmed Sassi, 38, who was watching from his kitchen window, said it was "a scene of panic".He said he saw "a police officer standing in the road. A man with dark clothes shot them at point blank range, while continuing to run."

The shooting is now being treated as a "terrorist act" by the French authorities. Security forces detained a man soon afterwards but he was not the shooter, police said.
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Airplane

Plane lands safely at Heathrow after declaring urgent safety condition

Simon Calder
The Independent, UK
Thu, 08 Jan 2015 20:01 UTC
Image
© Flickr/danchitnisFile photo of a British Airways plane.


The aircraft landed without problem at 5.26pm, and passengers disembarked as normal

A British Airways Dreamliner has touched down safely at Heathrow after declaring a "pan" - a level of urgency short of a full-scale emergency. It is believed one of the engines had been shut down.

Flight BA103, a routine service to Calgary, had taken off from the airport shortly after 4pm with 213 passengers on board. The Boeing 787 had travelled about 120 miles north-west and was over Derbyshire at a height of 35,000 feet when it turned around to return to the London area.

The jet flew circuits over Buckinghamshire in order to burn fuel before landing.

It is understood the captain declared a "pan", indicating an urgent safety concern but not a full-scale emergency that a mayday call would signify. In a statement, British Airways said: "The flight crew requested a priority landing as a precaution".

Comment: See also these other recent reports: Panicking passengers refuse to re-board AirAsia plane after engine stops with loud bang on Surabaya airport runway

Plane bursts tyre upon landing at Rio de Janeiro airport

Philadelphia-Manchester flight is forced to make emergency landing after flames appear under the plane

UK EasyJet flight makes emergency landing after pilot declares medical emergency

Air Asia plane overshoots runway in the Philippines

Thai Airways flight to London dumps fuel and returns to Bangkok due to 'hydraulic leak'

Problems with another Air Asia aircraft: Flight AK6242 makes emergency landing due to technical difficulties

SOTT EXCLUSIVE: Year of the planes: Cluster of plane problems as 2014 comes to a close

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Eye 2

Mark of the Beast: Torture advocates outnumbered critics 2-to-1 on T.V. news


Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 00:00 UTC
Image
Dick Cheney: "I would do it again" (and by following my perverse logic and reasoning, you should agree to it too ).
A new FAIR study finds that torture defenders outnumbered critics of torture by nearly 2 to 1 in TV news coverage of the Senate Intelligence Committee report released on December 9.

FAIR surveyed the guests of nine news programs for the week of December 7 to December 14, when discussion of the torture report's findings was most prominent. The programs included the Sunday talk shows (NBC's Meet the Press, CBS's Face the Nation, ABC's This Week, Fox News Sunday and CNN's State of the Union) along with four weekday news shows (MSNBC's Hardball, Fox's Special Report, the first hour of CNN's Situation Room and the PBS NewsHour).

Of the 104 guests discussing the topic on these shows, 53 expressed a discernible opinion either for or against the use of torture. Thirty-five of those who took a position, or 66 percent, were supportive of torture. This included a few individuals who claimed to be against "torture," but defended interrogation methods such as waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" that are recognized as torture under US and international law.

Only 18 guests (34 percent) articulated clear opposition to the CIA's torture practices--about half as many as spoke up in defense of torture.

Comment: One has to wonder whether or not the majority of news outlets received 'directives' from on high about who and how to cover the story of CIA-implemented torture. Or whether most of the individuals interviewed and doing the interviewing simply have no conscience and have acquiesced to the most base parts of their nature - if they aren't in fact completely psychopathic altogether. Whatever the relative truth is here, one thing is clear, the greater message being communicated by the major media is that torture is permissible and justified, period. And in that sense we can say that the greater influence that they are attempting to impart on their viewers is that it is appropriate to take a psychopathic mind-set in regards to torturing another human being.

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Eiffel Tower

The Saker: I am NOT Charlie

The Saker
Vineyardsaker.net
Thu, 08 Jan 2015 19:32 UTC
Je suis Charlie
© UnknownJe suis Charlie is French for I am Charlie
Okay, let's be clear. I am not Muslim. I oppose terrorism. I don't even support the death penalty. I loathe Takfirism. I oppose violence as a means to make a political or ethical point. I fully support freedom of speech, including critical speech and humor.

But this morning I am most definitely NOT Charlie.

In fact, I am disgusted and nauseated by the sick display of collective hypocrisy about the murders in France. Here is why:

Charlie Hebdo for the Darwin Awards

anti-muslim cartoon
© UnknownJust a stupid dare?
The folks at Charlie Hebdo had it coming. Here is what I wrote about them in September 2012 when they published their famous caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed: Worthy of the Darwin Awards, if you ask me. Excellent, the "gene pool" of the French "caviar-Left" badly needs some cleaning". Today I fully stand by my words.

Let me ask you this: what would be the point of, say, taking a nap on train tracks? You don't have to "agree" with the train which will run you over, but it still will, won't it? What about taking a nap on train tracks specifically to make a point? To prove that the train is bad? To dare it? To make fun of it? Would that not be the height of stupidity? And yet, that is *exactly* what Charlie Hebdo did. I would even argue that that his how Charlie Hebdo made it's money, daring the "Muslim train" to run them over. You think I am exaggerating?

Check out the caricature which one of the folks who got murdered yesterday had just posted. The text reads: "Still no terrorist attacks in France - Wait, we have until the end of January to send you are best wishes". The crazy person shown in the drawing is packing a Kalashnikov and wearing an Afghan "Pakol" - the typical "crazy Muslim" in Charlie Hebdo's world. Talk about a stupid dare...

Comment: See also:

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Camera

Men who take more selfies have higher than average narcissistic, psychopathic traits - study

Dina Rickman
The Independent, UK
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 17:57 UTC
Men who take more selfies have higher than average traits of narcissism and psychopathy, a study from academics at Ohio State University has found
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© Independent, UK
The research, published in the journal of Personality and Individual Differences, looked at 800 men between the ages of 18-40 who completed an online survey about how many photos they posted on social media, and another questionnaire looking at their personality traits.

It also found men who edited their selfies before posting them were more likely to have traits of narcissism but editing selfies was not linked to psychopathic traits.

Professor Jesse Fox, the study's lead author, said while it may not be surprising that men who spend a lot of time posting selfies and editing them are more narcissistic, it had not yet been confirmed in a scientific research. For Fox, the "more interesting finding" was that selfie-obsessed men had more psychopathic traits and self-objectified, which means valuing oneself primarily on the basis of appearance.

"We know that self-objectification leads to a lot of terrible things, like depression and eating disorders in women," Fox said. "With the growing use of social networks, everyone is more concerned with their appearance. That means self-objectification may become a bigger problem for men, as well as for women."

Comment: Taking selfies is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to learning about and identifying psychopaths and narcissists. For a better understanding of the psychopath and their effects on society, a must read is Political Ponerology by Andrew M. Lobaczewski. See following article for an introduction:

Political Ponerology: A Science on The Nature of Evil adjusted for Political Purposes

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Arrow Down

First order of business: Congress undermines solvency of Social Security

Michael Hiltzik
Los Angeles Times
Tue, 06 Jan 2015 21:21 UTC
social security
© Matt Rourke / AP
Well, that didn't take long.

As one of its first orders of business upon convening Tuesday, the Republican House of Representatives approved a rule that will seriously undermine efforts to keep all of Social Security solvent.

The rule hampers an otherwise routine reallocation of Social Security payroll tax income from the old-age program to the disability program. Such a reallocation, in either direction, has taken place 11 times since 1968, according to Kathy Ruffing of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

But it's especially urgent now, because the disability program's trust fund is expected to run dry as early as next year. At that point, disability benefits for 11 million beneficiaries would have to be cut 20%. Reallocating the income, however, would keep both the old-age and disability programs solvent until at least 2033, giving Congress plenty of time to assess the programs' needs and work out a long-term fix.

Comment: These politicians are well aware of what they are doing and could not care less. Most are extremely wealthy and as such have no real understanding of the struggles that most Americans face in their daily battle to keep afloat financially. In all likelihood, many of them have psychopathic tendencies which render them incapable of empathy. And, it does not matter whether they are Democrats or Republicans as their only motivation stems from greed and the hunger for power.

Chris Hedges: Sacrificing the vulnerable, from Gaza to America

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Heart - Black

Phyllis Schlafly: Campus sex assault is on the rise because too many women go to college

Luke Brinker
Salon
Thu, 08 Jan 2015 04:15 UTC
Phyllis Schlafly
© Unknown
The college-educated Schlafly thinks colleges should reduce the number of women they admit

Conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly is worried that college campuses are populated by too many women, a phenomenon she insinuated has contributed to increased sexual assault on campus.

In a Monday column for the far-right website World Net Daily, the longtime anti-feminist crusader lamented the declining portion of university enrollments accounted for by men. Schlafly - BA and JD, Washington University in St. Louis; MA, Radcliffe College - argued that it may even be time to implement quotas to ensure that men constitute at least half of a college's enrollment.

"Long ago when I went to college, campuses were about 70 percent male, and until 1970 it was still nearly 60 percent," Schlafly wrote. "Today, however, the male percentage has fallen to the low 40s on most campuses."

Never one to shirk victim-blaming, Schlafly proceeded to link the problem of campus sexual assault to the increased enrollment of women in postsecondary institutions.

"Boys are more likely than girls to look at the cost-benefit tradeoff of going to college," Schlafly asserted. "The imbalance of far more women than men at colleges has been a factor in the various sex scandals that have made news in the last couple of years."

With so many women around, what do you expect a college man to do - seek consent!?
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Family

Three out of five Americans don't have savings to cover unexpected expenses

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge.com
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 11:52 UTC
While various CNBC anchors may be willing to say that the US is "growing gangbusters" yet again confusing the liquidity-oozing equity markets with the economy, there are a couple hundred million Americans who would bet to differ (which incidentally may also explain why the Comcast channel no longer wishes to have its viewership calculated by Nielsen): the reason is that according to the latest Bankrate survey released today, more than three in five Americans don't have money in their savings accounts to cover any unexpected bills such as a $500 car repair or a $1,000 emergency room visit.

In fact, only 38% of respondents said they have enough funds in their bank accounts to cover even the most mundane of spending emergencies... Most others would need to take on debtor cut back elsewhere.
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© Zerohedge
As the WSJ reports, citing Bankrate banking analyst Claes Bell, "a solid majority of Americans say they have a household budget but too few have the ability to cover expenses outside their budget without going into debt or turning to family and friends for help."

The survey found that an unexpected bill would cause 26% to reduce spending elsewhere, while 16% would borrow from family or friends and 12% would put the expense on a credit card. The remainder didn't know what they would do or would make other arrangements.

Ok, so clearly more than half of Americans not only cannot budget more than a few months down the road, but is living pay-check to pay-check: hardly a surprise.
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Stormtrooper

Best of the Web: Policing comes to a stop in New York, people get along peacefully and society continues


Filming Cops
Thu, 01 Jan 2015 16:58 UTC
why they need us
So, where's all the chaos and the murder and the children smoking meth?

We are constantly reminded by State institutions, from lecture halls to mainstream "news" organizations, that if it weren't for the police out there arresting everybody, society would break down immediately.

Oh there will be the motorcycle gangs with flamethrowers invading supermarkets, the wild-eyed adolescents disobeying teachers and leaving school, the religious conservatives forming new dictatorships, the horde of unwashed illegal immigrants urinating on our golf courses, the rabid murder parties and fornication spilling onto the streets, zoo animals escaping and mauling the children - the end of human civilization.

Well, there has finally been a "virtual stoppage" of police activity in New York, and the people there are... reading blogs, working, buying groceries, watching netflix, waiting in lines, saying hi to strangers, checking facebook. Same as usual. It looks like they haven't murdered each other yet.

Of course they haven't.

Comment: See also:

Psychopaths in power: The Parasite on the Human Super-organism

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Black Magic

Strange black substance invades Chicago train station

LeeAnn Shelton
Chicago Sun-Times
Tue, 06 Jan 2015 00:56 UTC
Image
© Ben Bradley/ABC7

Comment: One has to wonder, if it was a burst pipe that caused this, just why was the water black?


The bitterly cold weather may be to blame for a burst pipe that spilled dark-colored water onto part of Union Station Tuesday afternoon. Train service was not affected.
BREAKING: Mystery substance pouring out of ceiling in Union Station near Metra's south concourse. @OnTheMetrapic.twitter.com/GpvxZW0Bff

- Ben Bradley (@BenBradleyABC7) January 6, 2015
The pipe leading to a sprinkler in the south concourse of Union Station burst about 3:15 p.m., Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.

"There was an issue perhaps related to the extreme cold in the station that caused the pipe to break," Magliari said.
Union Station leak has stopped, crews working to clean up "mystery liquid" in Metra's south concourse. pic.twitter.com/w5nhmX27WU

- Ben Bradley (@BenBradleyABC7) January 6, 2015
Crews cleaned up the spill within 15 minutes, and there was no impact on train service during the afternoon rush, he said.
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