Society's ChildS


Bad Guys

State-owned Chinese company purchases Smithfield Foods?

Christian Gomez
TheNewAmerican.com
Tue, 17 Sep 2013 00:00 UTC
Image
© Associated Press

On September 6, the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment approved a deal valued at approximately $7.1 billion allowing China's Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd (Shuanghui Group) to officially take ownership of Smithfield, Virginia-based Smithfield Foods Inc., the world's largest pork producer. Shuanghui had already purchased all of Smithfield's stock back in May for approximately $4.72 billion. "The deal, which would be the biggest purchase of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm, still needs shareholder approval at a special meeting scheduled for September 24," according to Reuters. Shuanghui announced that Smithfield would be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after the takeover was complete.

One thing that Reuters and other Western media fail to mention is that Shuanghui International Holdings is controlled by the Communist Party of China.

Comment: Could it be that China is disgorging its stockpile of US Dollars to buy US property and businesses? And could they be trying to hide it? If so, US hyperinflation may be coming soon.

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Arrow Down

Developer unearths secret U.S. military bases

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
Mashable
Fri, 13 Dec 2013 13:00 UTC
Secret Military Bases_1
© Google Maps
If you look closely enough on Google or Bing Maps, some places are blanked out, hidden from public view. Many of those places disguise secret or sensitive American military facilities.

The United States military has a foothold in every corner of the world, with military bases on every continent. It's not even clear how many there are out there. The Pentagon says there are around 5,000 in total, and 598 in foreign countries, but those numbers are disputed by the media.

But how do these facilities look from above? To answer that question, you first need to locate the bases. Which, as it turns out, is relatively easy.

That's what Josh Begley, a data artist, found out when he embarked on a project to map all known U.S. military bases around the world, collect satellite pictures of them using Google Maps and Bing Maps, and display them all online.

The project, which he warns is ongoing, was inspired by Trevor Paglen's book Blank Spots on the Map which goes inside the world of secret military bases that are sometimes censored on maps.

"I wanted to apply this to a digital landscape," Begley told Mashable. "What are the actual blind spots of Google Maps or Bing Maps? Which installations are secret and which can be viewed on the open Internet?"
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Attention

Widow faces eviction in Fla. city for 'living off the grid'

Oliver Darcy
The Blaze
Sat, 14 Dec 2013 10:53 UTC
eviction
© Screen grab via WFTX-TVRobin Speronis may be evicted from her Fla. home for her unique “living off the grid” lifestyle.
A Fla. city is set to evict a widow for her unique lifestyle of "living off the grid."

Robin Speronis told WFTX-TV that she was given an eviction notice after the station aired a story about how she chooses to live in a home without modern amenities, such as running water and electricity.

"A code enforcement officer came, knocked on the door then posts a placard that says uninhabitable property, do not enter," Robin said.

"Putting a woman who lives by herself, who is a widow, out on the street without any due process of law is unfathomable," she added.

Comment: If you intend to live in this authoritarian follower, cookie cutter world, be mindful that anything and everything you say and/or do can and will be used against you by the General Law, if so inclined.

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Ambulance

Mom says hospital security guards put dead son in taxi


Courthouse News Service
Fri, 13 Dec 2013 06:30 UTC
Taxi
© UPI/Billie Jean Shaw
Hospital security guards sent an "uncooperative" patient who was "refusing to talk or move" home in a taxi, though he was dying or already dead, the man's mother claims in court.

The late A'Darrin Washington's mother, Deborah Washington, sued AlliedBarton Security Services, in Cumberland County Superior Court.

A'Darrin Washington died on Nov. 22, 2011 during his discharge from nonparty Cumberland County Hospital, according to the complaint.

Washington, who suffered from recurrent pneumonia associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, had been a patient of the hospital for 10 years, the lawsuit states.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a cancer of lymphocytes, or white blood cells.

Washington's mother claims the hospital admitted her son on Nov. 14 and misdiagnosed him as suffering from bacterial pneumonia. A few days later, she says, tests showed he had fungal pneumonia, and he had been receiving the wrong type of medication. The staff noted he was weak, unable to walk and in pain, and his condition deteriorated over the next few days.

On Nov. 21, after Washington received the first dose of the right medication, the hospital declared him stable and prepared him for discharge, his mom says. She says her son was still weak, seriously ill and not fit for discharge.
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Eye 1

Peek-a-boo: everyone on Facebook can see you (unless you block them)


Forbes
Thu, 10 Oct 2013 05:12 UTC
fb timeline
Privacy feature goes bye-bye
In an earlier, simpler time, Facebook FB +2.87% had a quaint little privacy option that let users opt out of being found in searches. It allowed the rare hermit types who embraced social media to have a profile on the site that could not be found by strangers, or even in some cases, contacts and friends. Like an invisibility cloak, it allowed them to be on the site but only to open the cloak - and friend people - when they chose. It was a popular option among privacy-loving types and celebs.

Facebook took away that Harry Potter-like option from its privacy settings last year. But anyone who had donned the invisibility cloak previously - such as Selena Larson at ReadWrite - got to hold onto it... until now. Facebook says it's yanking away the cloak from the remaining privacy hold-outs.

"The search setting was removed last year for people who weren't using it," wrote Facebook's chief privacy officer Michael Richter in a blog post Thursday. "For the small percentage of people still using the setting, they will see reminders about it being removed in the coming weeks."

Comment: More interesting information:

Employees Have No Expectation of Privacy in Facebook or MySpace Profiles

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Brick Wall

Gaza receives first fuel shipment in weeks as storm causes havoc


CBC News
Sun, 15 Dec 2013 10:15 UTC
Gazastorm crisis
© Khalil Hamra/The Associated PressThe storm hit Gaza at a time when it is buckling under widespread fuel shortages and rolling power cuts as a result of a tightened border closure by Egypt.
'Large swathes of northern Gaza are a disaster area'
A Palestinian official says the Gaza Strip has received its first industrial fuel shipment in 45 days, bringing much-needed relief to the storm-battered coastal territory.

A lack of fuel has hampered the rescue efforts in Gaza, where flooding from heavy rains has forced about 40,000 residents from their homes.The territory suffers from frequent power outages.

While the rival Palestinian government in the West Bank can ship fuel to Gaza through Israel, Gaza's Hamas rulers have refused to accept the shipments, saying they cannot afford a new tax.

Palestinian border official Raed Fattouh said Sunday's fuel shipment was paid for by Qatar.

The storm has also left thousands of Israelis without power. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was postponing a regularly scheduled Cabinet meeting until Sunday afternoon over it.

Comment: There is an ongoing, urgent humanitarian crisis in Gaza due to the brutal, illegal military Israeli occupation and blockade. In addition, Gazans have been enduring daily rolling power outages for up to 18 hours per day, and sewage-filled streets due to the fuel shortage, both of which could be resolved if the international law-violating, UN resolution-condemned Israeli government occupier would release its chokehold over the people of Palestine. It is Israel, ultimately, that controls, decides and determines what goes on ( or does not) in Gaza with respect to food, fuel, electrical power, the economy, and the extent to which Palestinians are able to respond to and manage any crisis, whether man-made or weather-related.

Ask yourself how you'd survive in such conditions.

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Airplane

Venezuela grounds Air France plane over suspected terror threat


The Guardian
Sun, 15 Dec 2013 09:33 UTC
air france passangers
© Associated Press/Fernando LlanoPassengers by the Air France desk at the airport in Caracas after their flight to Paris was cancelled.
Minister says French authorities passed on intelligence that terrorist group was planning to put bomb on flight

Venezuela has grounded an Air France flight after being tipped off by French authorities that a terrorist group might be planning to detonate an explosive device in midair.

The Venezuelan interior minister, Miguel Rodríguez Torres, told state TV late on Saturday that more than 60 technicians, bomb experts and a canine team would perform an exhaustive search of the aircraft before the flight could be reprogrammed. Five hours after the flight's 7.25pm scheduled departure it was still unclear what the results of that search were or when they would be announced.
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Robot

Meet the robot telemarketer who denies she's a robot

Zeke Miller and Denver Nicks
Time Newsfeed
Tue, 10 Dec 2013 08:58 UTC
robocall
© Getty Images
Our encounter with an all-too-convincing robot.

The phone call came from a charming woman with a bright, engaging voice to the cell phone of a TIME Washington Bureau Chief Michael Scherer. She wanted to offer a deal on health insurance, but something was fishy.

When Scherer asked point blank if she was a real person, or a computer-operated robot voice, she replied enthusiastically that she was real, with a charming laugh. But then she failed several other tests. When asked "What vegetable is found in tomato soup?" she said she did not understand the question. When asked multiple times what day of the week it was yesterday, she complained repeatedly of a bad connection.
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Stormtrooper

U.S.: Georgia police caught on video body slamming 70-year-old woman to ground

Jonathan Wolfe
Opposing Views
Fri, 13 Dec 2013 06:57 UTC
A YouTube video posted on Tuesday appears to show yet another case of excessive force used by American police officers.

The video shows a Glynn County, Georgia police officer body slamming a 70-year-old woman to the ground during a DUI arrest. A witness filming the arrest was then allegedly intimidated by a Glynn County officer and pressured to stop recording.

The elderly woman has been identified as Kathleen Mary Allegrone. At the start of the video, Allegrone is pulled out of her car by officers and falls to the ground. It's not clear whether she fell out of intoxication or due to the force used by police. Moments later, she is seen being escorted with her arms behind her back over to Officer Jones' car. She can be heard yelling to officers that she is in pain.

Next, officers move to handcuff Allegrone. Out of nowhere, Allegrone is picked up and body slammed to the ground. Her arms were immobilized and she could not break her fall. The man filming the video said he heard a distinct smack when Allegrone's head hit the pavement. Judging by Allegrone's post-arrest picture, she seems to have fallen directly on her face.

In light of the public attention the incident is receiving, the officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave. He claims Allegrone dug her nails into his skin while he was putting handcuffs on the woman, and he body slammed her in order to "stop the assault." Glynn County PD is conducting an internal investigation of the event.

Here is the video of the incident. Allegrone is dropped to the ground around the 1:10 mark:

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Evil Rays

'Interpreter' at Mandela memorial event says he does not remember being up on stage with world leaders


KVUE.com
Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:33 UTC
interpreter at mandela
© Associated Press/Tsvangirayi MukwazhiThamsanqa Jantjie gesticulates at his home during an interview with the Associated Press in Johannesburg, South Africa,Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. Jantjie, the man accused of faking sign interpretation next to world leaders at Nelson Mandela's memorial, told a local newspaper that he was hallucinating and hearing voices.
The man accused of faking sign interpretation while standing alongside world leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama at Nelson Mandela's memorial service said Thursday he hallucinated that angels were entering the stadium, suffers from schizophrenia and has been violent in the past.

Thamsanqa Jantjie said in a 45-minute interview with The Associated Press that his hallucinations began while he was interpreting and that he tried not to panic because there were "armed policemen around me." He added that he was once hospitalized in a mental health facility for more than one year.

Comment: Mind control?

The firm he was supposedly hired from is a cut-out:

Firm that employed fake interpreter for deaf at Mandela memorial service has 'vanished'

And then, there's this:

Family concerned about priest after bizarre call regarding an assassination plot involving himself and interpreter

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