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San Francisco scrambling to relocate homeless before Super Bowl 50


RT
Sat, 23 Jan 2016 05:54 UTC
Homeless
© Susan Ragan / Reuters
With Super Bowl 50 just weeks away, host city San Francisco is struggling to move its homeless into shelters and out of the eye of the media. Workers have been sent to the Embarcadero to help transients find shelter away from the future Super Bowl Fan Village.

According to Bloomberg Politics, San Francisco officials are focused on cleaning up the scenic waterfront Embarcadero Center. The Embarcadero is a highly rated shopping and dining center with high-end stores like Godiva Chocolatier and L'Occitane En Provence. With views of the Golden Gate Bridge, it is easy to see why it is an ideal location for the one million visitors expected to be at the Super Bowl Fan Village.

However, the city's famed Market Street, which runs down to the Embarcadero, is also a makeshift home to some of San Francisco's 6,775 homeless residents.

Comment: See more: Jail or freezing to death: Woman vandalizes Virginia assembly to escape cold

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Quenelle

Russians remain calm throughout financial difficulties because their economy is 'unsinkable'


Sputnik
Sat, 23 Jan 2016 13:39 UTC
ruble currency
© Sputnik/ Alexandr Demyanchuk
In spite of the difficult economic situation, Russians remain calm, because they believe in the stability of the state and "floodability" of the Russian economy, German financial analyst Matthias Siller said in an interview with Finanz und Wirtschaft.

Since Russia managed to achieve a high degree of self-sufficiency, the threat of inflation and bank failures is very low, the expert said.

According to Siller, Russian residents are "surprisingly quiet" compared to the "panic attacks" in the past. "Russians have become poorer, but none of them really believed in the prospects of wealth," the expert explained.

Comment: Also see: US investigation into 'Russian meddling' in the EU is a farce

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Newspaper

Do they just make it up? Passive reporting vs scientific mortality studies

Nicolas Davies
War Is A Crime
Sun, 17 Jan 2016 03:05 UTC
How many people have been killed in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen or Somalia? On November 18th, a UN press briefing on the war in Yemen declared authoritatively that it had so far killed 5,700 people, including 830 women and children. But how precise are these figures, what are they based on, and what relation are they likely to bear to the true numbers of people killed?

Dead Aghani Children
© ReutersAfghan villagers sit near the bodies of children who were reported to have been killed during a NATO airstrike in Kunar province on April 7, 2013
Throughout the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, the media has cited UN updates comparing numbers of Afghans killed by "coalition forces" and the "Taliban." Following the U.S. escalation of the war in 2009 and 2010, a report by McClatchy in March 2011 was headlined, "UN: U.S.-led forces killed fewer Afghan civilians last year." It reported a 26% drop in U.S.-led killing of Afghan civilians in 2010, offset by a 28% increase in civilians killed by the "Taliban" and "other insurgents." This was all illustrated in a neat pie-chart slicing up the extraordinarily low reported total of 2,777 Afghan civilians killed in 2010 at the peak of the U.S.-led escalation of the war.

Comment: See also: The legacy of US war and occupation and the "staggering" violence we now see in Iraq

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Quenelle

New video game mocks Bill Gates and his 'save the world' philanthropy


RT
Sat, 23 Jan 2016 03:54 UTC
Bill Gates
© globaljustice.org.uk
Anti-poverty campaigners have launched an online video game satirizing Bill Gates' global philanthropy and featuring a pixelated version of the billionaire flying across stereotypical African landscape.

'Save us Bill Gates' was released on Friday by UK campaign group Global Justice Now in a bid to highlight the business magnate's role in international development.

The game's creators opted for 1980s-style animation, and have made it impossible for Gates' character to lose money. Players must try to throw away all his money within 30 seconds by clicking their mouse. But no matter how hard players click, the billionaire's wealth increases as the game goes on due to his investments in fossil fuels and tax avoidance - making it impossible for him to donate his fortune.

Global Justice Now's campaigns and policy chief, Polly Jones, said the game shows how Gates' free market approach to development holds the potential to make poverty and inequality even worse.

Comment: Also see: Ultra-rich 'philanthrocapitalist' class subverting global democracy

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Pistol

Fathers of executed terror suspects sue France for unlawful murder


RT
Thu, 21 Jan 2016 01:19 UTC
Hasna Aitboulahcen
© Green Apple / YouTubeHasna Aitboulahcen
The families of two suspected jihadists, who were killed in the French police counter-terrorist operations following the Paris attacks in November, have sued France for murder, saying that their relatives were killed wrongfully.

Murder complaints were recently filed by the family of the Hasna Aitboulahcen, a cousin of the alleged Paris attacks mastermind, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, and by the father of Tarek Belgacem, who tried assaulting a police station with a knife on the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, The Local reported.

Aitboulahcen was killed on November 18, five days after the Paris attack, when the police stormed an apartment in Saint-Denis where she was hiding together with Abaaoud and another terrorist, Chakib Akrouh.

French investigators believe that the 26-year-old woman was the one who found and rented the safe house for the jihadists.

However, her family disagrees with the official version of the events, claiming that Aitboulahcen was helping the terrorists against her will.

Comment: Isn't it strange that this is probably the first time this issue has even been raised in the mainstream news? Innocent until proven guilty? Apparently not. Aitboulahcen and Belgacem should have been taken in alive, interrogated, and put on trial - not extrajudicially murdered. Then again, dead men and women cannot contradict an official government narrative, which makes such a practice ever so appealing.

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Eye 2

New Israeli anonymous messaging app makes online harassment and bullying easier than ever

Joe Dyke
PysOrg
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 00:50 UTC
anonymous messages blindspot app
The Blindspot app allows users to send anonymous messages, photos and videos to their contacts without the receiver being able to trace it
A new Israeli app launched by a company with investors including Will.I.Am and Nicki Minaj has been accused of encouraging teen bullying and Internet trolls. The Blindspot app allows users to send anonymous messages, photos and videos to their contacts without the receiver being able to trace it. It has shot towards the top of the charts in Israel but caused controversy—with politicians and campaigners calling for it to be banned as it could feed online bullying.

A committee of the Israeli parliament on Monday criticised the app, which the company says has had over half a million downloads since it was launched in late December. The brother of the country's most famous model, Bar Rafaeli, is one of the figures involved in Blindspot, which is due to be launched in the United States and Europe in the coming months.

The launch of Blindspot, owned by an Israeli firm, has been accompanied by the largest campaign for a new app in the country's recent history, said Moran Bar, CEO of the Israeli blog Geektime. Adverts showing a yellow smiley face with one eye covered by an eye patch adorn billboards across Tel Aviv and on major highways. The app is a key part of the Shellanoo Group, which is funded in part by investments from global celebrities, including music stars Will.I.Am and Nicki Minaj, as well as Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea football club Roman Abramovich.

The Israeli anonymous messaging app developer Blindspot has been accused of encouraging teen bullying and Internet trolls The app works like other social networking channels such as Whatsapp, with users able to chat, send pictures and videos. But the identity of the sender remains anonymous.

Comment: Trust Israel to come up with this sort of thing. And what an ignorant statement by Strauss regarding Ms Ben Ari's valid concerns.

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Vader

The groundswell of American authoritarianism could make President Trump a reality

Kyle D Killian Ph.D., LMFT
Psychology Today
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 00:00 UTC
trump, authoritarian
Pundits have been discussing "typical profiles" of Trump supporters. Terms like blue collar, male, lower income, lower educated, and older have been offered up for our consideration. But statistical results tell a different story.

A recent article in Politico points to two traits that best predict whether you are a Trump supporter: Authoritarianism, and fear of terrorism. Matthew MacWilliams found that Trump's bump in the polls is connected to support from "Americans with authoritarian inclinations." But what is authoritarianism? Adorno et al. (1950) offered an explanation for how the masses of Germany blindly submitted themselves to the Nazi authoritarian regime. Adorno posited that authoritarianism manifests in a willingness to submit to social authority, as well as the need to subject "weaker" others to one's own authority. Correlates of authoritarianism include attributions of favorable characteristics to one's own person or group, and ascribing unfavorable characteristics to "weaker" others. In short, authoritarian personalities obey, follow strong leaders, and tend to respond very negatively, and aggressively, to outsiders, like immigrants, Muslims, and visible minorities. When they feel threatened, persons inclined to authoritarianism support any policy that they think will help keep them "safe". You know, build a wall, ban Muslims, establish a database to track Muslim American citizens, which is totally unconstitutional. That kind of stuff.

Comment:

Global Pathocracy, Authoritarian Followers and the Hope of the World:
What we have today is the Chaos produced by pathological individuals that induces Consent from the Authoritarian Followers. The really sad thing is that the authoritarian followers who 'believe in authority' could as easily follow an authority that has their best interests at heart and the example of such a person is that set by Vladimir Putin. As it is, the authoritarian sheep follow and support the very worst of humanity; pathological individuals who gain power by deception and manipulation.
See also:

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Pistol

5 killed, 2 injured at a First Nation elementary school shooting in Canada; suspect arrested


RT
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 21:32 UTC
La Loche Community School
© Canadian PressLa Loche Community School
Five people have been killed and another two critically injured in a shooting at a First Nation school in Saskatchewan, Canada, the country's prime minister confirmed. The suspect has been detained.

"We all grieve with and stand with the community of La Loche and the province of Saskatchewan on this terrible and tragic day," Trudeau said.

Initially, law enforcement did not described the incident as a shooting, but Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall confirmed "shootings" took place.

"The community usually pulls together really strong in times like this. Right now, La Loche is devastated," chief of the Clearwater River Dene Nation, Teddy Clark, told Saskatoon Star Phoenix newspaper.

The incident occurred at La Loche Community School, CBC News reported. Both it and the community elementary school are in lockdown.


According to the school's Facebook page, an "emergency" took place at the Dena Building, and the lockdown won't be lifted until the area is declared safe. The school is asking the public to stay away.

"Parents and community members are asked to not attend the Dene High School at this time due to the active, ongoing incident. Parents only are asked to attend the Ducharme Elementary School on Mission Street in La Loche," RCMP said in an emailed statement, according to BNO News. "We are in the preliminary stages of investigation. Further details will be provided as they become available."
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Handcuffs

The "war on terror" farce: US releases Yemeni citizen held for 13 years as case of "mistaken identity"


Sputnik
Sat, 23 Jan 2016 00:34 UTC
prison guards guantanamo bay gitmo
© AP Photo/ Suzette Laboy
The mistaken 13-year imprisonment of Yemeni National Mustafa al-Shamiri at the Guantanamo Bay detention center exposes the fairy tale that the remainder of detainees represent some of the world's most dangerous terrorist suspects, a US human rights group said on Friday.

On Thursday, a US prison parole board said Shamiri could be transferred to an Arabic-speaking country, but not back to Yemen.

"Shamiri isn't the first case of mistaken identity," the release stated. "This goes directly against the myth that all remaining Gitmo detainees are 'the worst of the worst.'"

Comment: So they illegally imprisoned him, without charges, for 13 years and at the end admitted that they were so incompetent that they couldn't figure out that they had the wrong guy the entire time. Then, to top it all off, they refuse to send him back to his own country. Could it be any more obvious that the entire war on terror is a fabricated sham? Truly shameful.

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Ice Cube

Jail or freezing to death: Woman vandalizes Virginia assembly to escape cold


Sputnik
Sat, 23 Jan 2016 01:29 UTC
homeless woman in snow
© Tanner Spendley
A Virginia woman was arrested on Thursday evening after purposely getting herself arrested to escape from the bitter cold.

The woman reportedly threw a slab of concrete through the window of the General Assembly Building during a legislative committee meeting.

Nobody was injured in the incident, and Captain Randy Howard of the Capitol Police stated that it seems as though it was a desperate act to be jailed so she could have a warm place to sleep during the freezing night.

Comment: How sad it is that in America, some are forced to choose between being arrested or freezing to death.

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