Society's ChildS


Bad Guys

Gulf spill sampling questioned

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© U.S. Coast Guard, via ReutersFireboat crews battling a blaze at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, off Louisiana, on April 21, 2010, a day after the rig exploded, killing 11 workers and resulting in the blowout of an exploratory well owned by BP. Ultimately, roughly 200 million gallons of crude oil gushed into the gulf.
An analysis of water, sediment and seafood samples taken in 2010 during and after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has found higher contamination levels in some cases than previous studies by federal agencies did, casting doubt on some of the earlier sampling methods.

The lead author, Paul W. Sammarco of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, said that dispersants used to break up the oil might have affected some of the samples. He said that the greater contamination called into question the timing of decisions by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to reopen gulf fisheries after the spill and that "it might be time to review the techniques that are used to determine" such reopenings.

Eleven workers died and roughly 200 million gallons of crude oil gushed into the gulf after a blowout at an exploratory well owned by BP caused the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig to explode on April 20, 2010. Nearly two million gallons of Corexit, a dispersant, were sprayed on the surface or injected into the oil plume near the wellhead.

In all, more than 88,000 square miles of federal waters were closed to commercial and recreational fishing. Some areas were reopened before the well was capped three months after the blowout; the last areas were reopened a year after the disaster.

Comment: For more information on this topic, see The Day the Water Died: Detoxing after the Gulf Oil Spill:
"Whose truth are we talking about, your truth or my truth?" public relations specialist, John Scanlon, retorted to a reporter who had asked him whether he served his clients or the truth. Until science deals with its Achilles' heel of advocacy science,it cannot meet society's needs to protect life and we will continue to pollute our soil, air, and water, ourselves, and other life on this planet. Like lemmings,we are all racing towards the cliff. -Riki Ott, PhD., Sound Truth and Corporate Myth$: The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.



V

Pink Floyd star's new Israel boycott letter to "family of Rock and Roll"

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Roger Waters performs The Wall Live in Barcelona, 2011.
Pink Floyd star Roger Waters has today published a long-awaited open letter calling on his fellow musicians to boycott Israel.

The letter explains that Waters has been part of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for seven years, and has been mulling the letter over for some time.

He condemns Israeli human rights violations and explains the reasons to act:
Given the inability or unwillingness of our governments [to act] ... it falls to civil society and conscientious citizens of the world, to dust off our consciences, shoulder our responsibilities, and act. I write to you now, my brothers and sisters in the family of Rock and Roll, to ask you to join with me, and thousands of other artists around the world, to declare a cultural boycott on Israel ... proclaiming our rejection of Apartheid in Israel and occupied Palestine, by pledging not to perform or exhibit in Israel or accept any award or funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel ...

Newspaper

David Miranda, schedule 7 terror law and the danger that all reporters now face

Glenn Greenwald
© Ricardo Moraes/ReutersGlenn Greenwald, left, with David Miranda, who was held for nine hours at Heathrow under schedule 7 of Britain's terror laws.
As the events in a Heathrow transit lounge - and the Guardian offices - have shown, the threat to journalism is real and growing

In a private viewing cinema in Soho last week I caught myself letting fly with a four-letter expletive at Bill Keller, the former executive editor of the New York Times. It was a confusing moment. The man who was pretending to be me - thanking Keller for "not giving a shit" - used to be Malcolm Tucker, a foul-mouthed Scottish spin doctor who will soon be a 1,000-year-old time lord. And Keller will correct me, but I don't remember ever swearing at him. I do remember saying something to the effect of "we have the thumb drive, you have the first amendment".

The fictional moment occurs at the beginning of the DreamWorks film about WikiLeaks, The Fifth Estate, due for release next month. Peter Capaldi is, I can report, a very plausible Guardian editor.

Pistol

Arizona Minuteman militia member arrested for pointing AR-15 rifle at sheriff's deputy

Richard Malley
© ABC15Richard Malley
A member of a Minutemen militia was arrested Saturday night for allegedly pointing his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at a Maricopa County sheriff's deputy.

Richard Malley, 49, and two other group members were patrolling the area along Interstate 8 in search of illegal activity when two deputies approached, according to court documents. The Minutemen watch for unauthorized immigrants and drug smugglers crossing to Arizona from Mexico.

Malley pointed his rifle and flashlight at one of the deputies. He was also armed with a .45 caliber pistol and a fixed-blade knife. The deputy identified himself as a law enforcement officer, but Malley did not lower his weapon. Instead, he demanded that the deputy provide him with identification.

Stock Down

Texas begins replacing paved roads with gravel due to lack of funding

Young Builder
© ShutterstockYoung Builder And Asphalt Spreader During Road Street Repairing Works
The oil and gas boom in Texas has produced an unintended effect: The state plans to covert some roads to gravel to save money.

The oversized vehicles and overweight loads used by energy companies has had a devastating impact on many roads, but the state has not appropriated enough money to fix them.

The Texas Department of Transportation began converting more than 80 miles of paved roads to gravel on Monday, according to the Texas Tribune. The speed limit on the new gravel roads will be reduced to 30 mph.

Briefcase

Russia asks France to extradite ex-Moscow region official

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© RIA NovostiRussia Asks France to Extradite Ex-Moscow Region Official
Russia has asked France to extradite a former Moscow Region official suspected of major fraud, Russia's Deputy Prosecutor General told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

Former Moscow Region Deputy Governor and Finance Minister Alexei Kuznetsov was detained by French authorities in early July near the resort town of Saint-Tropez, and is wanted by Russia on charges of fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement.

On Tuesday, France's Foreign Ministry confirmed that an extradition request for Kuznetsov had been received and is under consideration, but declined to comment further.

He is accused of leading a criminal group that swindled the Moscow Region out of 3.5 billion rubles (about $105 million) over the years 2005-2008 through fraud in the housing and utilities sector, according to information on Russia's Interior Ministry website.

Nuke

300 tons of highly radioactive water leak from Fukushima plant

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said Tuesday that at least 300 tons of highly radioactive water leaked from one of the storage tanks at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the worst leakage yet from the tanks.

TEPCO found the leakage on Monday as water level in one of the tanks has lowered by about 2.9 meters. The 11-meter-high tank contained about 1,000 tons of water before and an estimated 300 tons of water is thought to have leaked.

The company detected about 80 million becquerels per liter of radioactive substances emitting beta ray, such as strontium-90.

Masayuki Ono, spokesman of TEPCO, told a press conference Tuesday that the leakage is continuing and leaked water has most likely seeped into ground but not run into the sea.

Target

Ignore fracking protests, UK government tells local authorities

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© Dan Kitwood/GettyRed herring, this way: Protesters take part in an anti-fracking demonstration in the West Sussex village of Balcombe.
Planning authorities have been banned from considering whether renewable energy plants would be a better fit for their communities, if they receive an application for a fracking mine.

Documents released by the government stress that local authorities should instead recognise that "mineral extraction is essential to local and national economies". This is despite a Department for Communities and Local Government document highlighting 16 environmental risks linked to the process, including seismic shocks and the appearance of radioactive surface water.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of drilling and then injecting fluid into the ground at high pressure to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas. Critics point to a series of environmental disasters in America linked to fracking as a reason to instead concentrate on renewable energy.

Comment: We sort of agree with the British government in this instance. Ignore the anti-fracking movement. In fact, ignore all environmentalist movements. They are riddled with police informants and are often set up by the British government in the first place to distract and separate people into manageable units.

If you are going to protest, protest as one voice against ALL government corruption in ALL forms. The only thing they will listen to is a united front, although even then be warned they are prepared to go to extremely violent lengths to defend their privileges, as we're currently seeing in Egypt.

Stifling dissent through COINTELPRO: 'Progressive academic' and key figure for over three decades in British 'radical' environmentalist movements... turns out to be an undercover police agent

COINTELPRO: 'McLibel' leaflet was co-written by undercover police officer Bob Lambert

UK COINTELPRO: Undercover police unit monitored 9,000 'domestic extremists', many with no criminal record

COINTELPRO in the UK: Undercover Police officers stole identities of dead children to become 'anti-capitalist hippies'

COINTELPRO: British prosecutors suppressed key evidence to protect undercover 'environmental activist'

Protest movements are crawling with COINTELPRO: Sixth police spy unmasked in British protest movement

COINTELPRO in the UK: Undercover British police officer was pivotal in extreme actions of environmental campaigners


Handcuffs

"Overpasses For Obama's Impeachment" protesters arrested on St. Charles overpass and forced to breath police car's toxic exhaust fumes

The arrest Saturday afternoon of two anti-Barack Obama protesters on an Interstate 70 overpass is stirring controversy - fueled by a video of the incident circulating on the internet.


The two - Marc S. Messmer, 41, of St. Charles, and Jimmy D. "Duane" Weed, 57, of Bridgeton - say that their constitutional rights were violated.

"Citizens have a right to peaceably assemble," said Messmer, who was part of a series of overpass demonstrations around the country seeking the president's impeachment. "We were simply doing that. There were no laws broken."

Sgt. Al Nothum, a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol, said the potential for a traffic hazard was why the two and 10 or so other protesters were told by officers to leave the Fairgrounds Road overpass about 2 p.m.

The two were arrested, he said, for failing to obey. Nothum said the patrol wants charges filed but prosecutors have yet to decide. The patrol also wants Messmer to be charged with resisting arrest.

Comment: If you still think you have Civil Liberties in America, you haven't tried to exercise them lately.


Light Saber

The Real Bashar Al-Assad

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I am tired of reading nothing but horrific things about this man, Bashar al Assad. The international Jew-owned media have made it impossible to find anything positive about him. In fact, when Vogue Magazine did a positive special on Asma, his lovely wife, they were called to task for their work. However, the article has almost completely disappeared and there are now public apologies from the magazine for its positive zeal for "the rose of the desert" and her husband. So here I present quotes from various luminaries and leaders around the world about Bashar Al-Assad.

lf you look at the eyes of this man you do not see the tyrant described by the lying Zionist media. I see a man I would be proud to call a friend.

Some of them come from people now sworn to defame him, before Syria became the focus of extreme NATO intervention a few years ago... with so much more NATO horror to come. One thing you will see is that this man is another leader who, just by being what he is, strikes fear and loathing in the hearts of his enemies who are, to all intents and purposes, also the enemies of humankind in general.

Edited and translated by Mohamad Abdo Al-Ibrahim