Society's Child

BP thinks an oil spill in Australia would be a 'welcome boost' for local economies

RT
Sat, 07 Apr 2018 10:33 UTC

BP, the company behind the deadly Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, the biggest in history, has claimed an oil spill off the South Australian coast would be a good thing, as the clean up would boost local economies.

BP made the outlandish claim as part of its bid to drill for oil in the pristine Great Australian Blight. "In most instances, the increased activity associated with cleanup operations will be a welcome boost to local economies," it said, in its second rejected environmental safety plan, submitted to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) in March 2016.

The strange argument was uncovered thanks to a two-year-old freedom of information request made by Climate Home News. Government documents reveal Australia's doubts about the oil giant's proposal.

In a letter to BP, NOPSEMA pointed to a number of statements that BP should remove from its proposal. These included the "welcome boost" claim and the giant firm's allegation that a spill would not have a social impact, which it said meant, "BP interprets this event to be socially acceptable."

A 'David and Goliath situation': How New York City poop became a rural Alabama town's problem

RT
Sat, 07 Apr 2018 12:57 UTC

The unbearable stench of some 150 rail cars filled with human waste has pushed a small town in rural Alabama into the international spotlight. It turns out the toxic sludge came from New York City, over 1,000 miles away.

Since January, freight cars filled with human waste and other "sludge" from New York City and nearby New Jersey have been piling up at the rail yard in Parrish, Alabama, about half an hour's drive northwest of Birmingham. The town of less than 1,000 residents has been overwhelmed by the stench.

"It smells like dead bodies," one resident told WVTM, a Birmingham-based CNN affiliate, in mid-March. Other locals compared the smell to rotting animals.

"It greatly reduces the quality of life," Mayor Heather Hall told CNN. "You can't sit out on your porch. Kids can't go outside and play, and God help us if it gets hot and this material is still out here."

The rail yard is "right next door to our softball and baseball fields and right across the street from houses," Hall told Canadian radio. "It's a very small town."

'You have to be brain-dead to believe US in Syria for democracy' - Eva Bartlett interview on RT America

RT
Fri, 06 Apr 2018 15:19 UTC

The US should, but likely won't, pull out of Syria soon, independent journalist Eva Bartlett told RT's Lee Camp. She added that you have to be "brain-dead" to believe the myths used by the US to justify the conflict.

Comedy show Redacted Tonight hosted by Lee Camp strikes a more serious tone in its special interview editions. This week he spoke with Bartlett - whose extensive reporting from inside Syria has challenged mainstream coverage of the conflict - about what the US is doing in Syria, the human cost of "bringing democracy" to the Middle East, and the many myths used by the West to justify its involvement in the war.

US President Donald Trump's recent comments about wanting to bring home US forces currently operating in Syria caused an uproar in Washington and the media. Administration officials quickly clarified that while an immediate withdrawal was not being seriously considered, Trump was opposed to maintaining a long-term presence in the country.

Comment: See also:

US hypocrisy marks its descent into barbarism

Strategic Culture
Fri, 06 Apr 2018 12:00 UTC

The war of words over American trade tariffs on Chinese exports and the expulsion of Russian diplomats may seem unrelated issues. But there is a connecting theme: the staggering US hypocrisy over its own aggressive behaviour.

This blatant American hypocrisy - beyond reason and respect for international law - marks a fatal descent into barbarism towards foreign relations. Dialogue and diplomacy are repudiated with a "might is right" attitude.

Washington took the initiative to propose slapping China's economy with nearly $50 billion in levies on certain exports - claiming unfair trading practices conducted by Beijing. Then when China responded this week by announcing it would be reciprocating by imposing equivalent tariffs on American exports, the Trump White House threw up its arms in annoyance, saying that the Chinese decision was "not fair".

Comment: In its role of hegemon, the US has often flouted international law and diplomacy, however with the emerging multi-polar world now holding them to account and their internal structure collapsing under the weight of corruption, they're are becoming ever more brazen:

Also check out SOTT radio's:

Will America ever learn? Racism, materialism and militarism still reign supreme

John W. Whitehead
The Rutherford Institute
Tue, 03 Apr 2018 15:59 UTC

"In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. [Y]ou can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization...filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love... What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black...."-Robert F. Kennedy on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

I was sitting in a crowded bar, drinking a beer, when the news broke that Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot and killed.

The room erupted in cheers.

It was April 4, 1968.

I've never forgotten that moment.

Twenty-two years old and a junior at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, I was horrified that King's death was being greeted with such glee. Then again, as hard it is to believe it today, there was rejoicing all across the country on that dark day that this man-a black activist-a troublemaker-an extremist-had been silenced for good.

Despite having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, graced countless magazine covers, and consorted with movers and shakers throughout the country, King was not a popular man by the time of his death. In fact, a Gallup poll found that almost two-thirds of Americans disapproved of King.

'We see you very well': IDF's tweet threatening children with sniper fire enrages social media users

RT
Sat, 07 Apr 2018 09:04 UTC

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman has tweeted an image of a group of Palestinian children seen through a sniper's lens, along with an ominous warning.

Avichay Adraee, the IDF Arabic spokesman tweeted the image on Friday, which appeared to be stamped with red letters reading, "We see you very well."

"Whoever thinks he can evade the lens of our forces is wrong, we see you clearly, and we will not allow anyone to threaten security of #Israel and the citizens of it. Enough with your naivety and self-endangerment," Adraee wrote.

Comment: See also:

Backpage.com, website notorious for its sex marketplace, seized by U.S. authorities

Sarah N. Lynch, Lisa Lambert
Reuters
Fri, 06 Apr 2018 23:52 UTC

© backpage.com via Reuters
An image of the current home page of the website backpage.com shows logos of U.S. law enforcement agencies after they seized the sex marketplace site April 6, 2018.

U.S. law enforcement agencies have seized the sex marketplace website Backpage.com as part of an enforcement action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a posting on the Backpage website on Friday.

A Phoenix FBI official said that there was "law enforcement activity" on Friday at the Sedona, Arizona home of Michael Lacey, one of the founders of Backpage.

Glenn Milnor, FBI Special Agent and Media Coordinator, referred further inquiries to the Department of Justice.

The Department of Justice will provide more information at 6 p.m. EDT (1000 GMT), according to the website posting, which said U.S. attorneys in Arizona and California, as well as the Justice Department's section on child exploitation and obscenity and the California and Texas attorneys general had supported shutting down the website.

Lawmakers and enforcement officials have been working to crack down on the site, which is used primarily to sell sex and is the second largest classified ad service in the country after Craigslist.

Craig Murray: Here's an 'extremely boring' video I did for Sky News about Skripal - don't watch It

Craig Murray
Craig Murray Blog
Fri, 06 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC

I have managed to get hold of a copy, which you can see here, of my lengthy interview with Sky News about the Skripals yesterday, which Sky refused to put online because they allege I was boring. With the warning you might therefore be very bored, you may watch it if you wish.

Comment: You have to forgive Kay Burley of Sky News - some of these media people find objective reasoning and inquiry to be a little boring.

Baltimore PD gun task force members arrested for theft and drug dealing

Daily Mail
Wed, 04 Apr 2018 22:37 UTC

© Baltimore PD
An extra GPS tracker was the first clue that helped bring down the Baltimore Police Gun Task Force (Pictured l-r Evodio Hendrix, Marcus Taylor, Wayne Jenkins, Jemell Rayam, Maurice Ward)

It was a case that would rock Baltimore to its core. An elite police squad robbing its own citizens, stealing thousands of dollars and re-selling confiscated drugs.

There were homeless men and construction workers who were robbed, prisoners who claimed they were framed, and a shed where ecstasy and heroin were stored.

What sounds like a plot out of a Hollywood film became reality in March 2017 when seven of the eight men who made up the Gun Trace Task force were arrested.

They became one of America's most corrupt police force, and their entire world came crashing down due to one rogue GPS tracker, according to the BBC.

Comment: More on the Baltimore PD's corruption:

'Don't be evil': Thousands of Google employees are in revolt - demand company desist from supporting US war

John Vibes
Free Thought Project
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC

More than 3,100 Google employees are calling for the cancellation of a controversial drone program and saying that they want out of the business of war.

Last month, a press leak revealed that Google has been working with the U.S. Department of Defense on a drone program called "Project Maven," which is being developed to scan images in drone footage and identify targets.

Prior to it being reported in the news, this project was unknown to most Google employees, even those who were working on different aspects of the project.

The company was so secretive about the project and kept their employees so compartmentalized, that thousands of talented engineers had no clue that they were aiding a war effort. Now, many of those employees are speaking out, and demanding that the company cancel its work on the controversial program.

This week, a letter that was signed by over 3,100 Google employees, addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, stated that they did not want to be involved "in the business of war."

Comment: Wow - who would have thought there were 3,100 employees at uber liberal Google who were awake and strong enough to take such a stand. Good on them. They are setting the example for all people of conscience who see how they may be unwittingly made to contribute to the malevolent US war-making monstrosity.

Recently around here a 17 year old who played hockey died suddenly of pericarditis/myocarditis within weeks of his first shot. My brother told me...

Animanarchy

I once wore a kilt to elementary school but that was because it was part of my homemade Braveheart costume. I had shorts on underneath but pranked...

Animanarchy

She hopefully also knocked out a complete chronology of her situation and made it available to the press. God speed lady! Fight that good fight -...

Rowan Cocoan

.. .. Never go to Happy Hour when it's nurses night.. or, Let's go phizzer [Link]

Jibrish

But we're going into a mini 'ice age'! HAARP has nothing to do with this...

tekdude

Society's Child

BP thinks an oil spill in Australia would be a 'welcome boost' for local economies

A 'David and Goliath situation': How New York City poop became a rural Alabama town's problem

'You have to be brain-dead to believe US in Syria for democracy' - Eva Bartlett interview on RT America

US hypocrisy marks its descent into barbarism

Will America ever learn? Racism, materialism and militarism still reign supreme

'We see you very well': IDF's tweet threatening children with sniper fire enrages social media users

Backpage.com, website notorious for its sex marketplace, seized by U.S. authorities

Craig Murray: Here's an 'extremely boring' video I did for Sky News about Skripal - don't watch It

Baltimore PD gun task force members arrested for theft and drug dealing

'Don't be evil': Thousands of Google employees are in revolt - demand company desist from supporting US war

Latest News

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

Recent Comments

Quantum Quirk

Contact Us