Society's ChildS


Attention

Brussels bombs: What we know so far

maalbeek brussels
© Marija Ivoninaite / AFPEmergency services take care of wounded people outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels on March 22, 2016 after a blast at this station located near the EU institutions
As Belgium raises its terror threat to the highest "fourth" level, and the country's prime minister confirms the attacks as acts of terrorism, RT sums up what we know so far about today's explosions in Brussels.

1. Three explosions took place in Brussels. Two blasts went off in the departure hall of Brussels' Zaventem Airport at around 8am local time, with at least one of them being a suicide bombing, according to Belgium's federal prosecutor. One bomb exploded at the Maalbeek Metro station, which is close to the European Union headquarters.


Comment: "The Maalbeek station is also near a number of important EU buildings such as Berlaymont building, which houses the EU Commission and the Council of the European Union. ... The French BFMTV station, citing police sources, says that Belgian intelligence had advanced knowledge of the terrorist attacks in the country, but did not know when and where they would take place."


Comment: Belgian police have released this CCTV capture of the suspects for the airport bombings.
brussels suspects
© BFP / AFPA picture released on March 22, 2016 by the Belgian federal police on demand of the Federal prosecutor shows a screengrab of the airport CCTV camera showing suspects of this morning's attacks at Brussels Airport, in Zaventem
It shows two men with black hair, one of them definitely bearded, wearing black jumpers. Both of them can be seen pushing airport baggage trolleys, and both have one hand gloved - possibly hiding a trigger for a bomb, DH.be reported. The third man in the image is wearing a hat. Police are now searching for him, the media said.

Earlier, citing police sources, Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad reported that a third man who tried to blow himself up at the airport is still on the run. ... An undetonated suicide belt has been found at the airport, Flemish TV channel VTM reported, adding that authorities believe it may have belonged to the third terrorist who managed to flee the scene.

Two blasts went off in the departure hall of Brussels' Zaventem Airport at around 8am local time, with at least one of them being a suicide bombing, according to Belgium's federal prosecutor. Another bomb detonated at the airport might have been a suitcase bomb, a US official told AP on condition of anonymity. At least one of the bombs used at the airport contained nails, Belgian media reported, citing a hospital source.



Dollar Gold

Trump: Israel will reimburse the US when he's president

trumpy
© Al Drago/CQ Roll CallTrump speaks at a news conference at the site for Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC., the new alternate White House.
Ahead of speaking to a pro-Israel conference in Washington, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said that the nation of Israel should reimburse the U.S. for military assistance.

"I want them to pay us some money," Trump said during a press conference Monday at the site of Trump International Hotel, Washington, D.C., which is set to open later this year. "I think Israel can afford to pay us. There are many countries who can pay."

Trump was scheduled to speak Monday evening at the AIPAC Policy Conference, an annual pro-Israel gathering in Washington.

Trump was not singling out Israel, which is widely seen as a critical United States ally in the Middle East. He has made it part of his foreign policy proposal to make any wealthy country getting military assistance reimburse the U.S.

"I order thousands of television sets a year from South Korea. They are a behemoth," Trump said. "Every time North Korea raises its head, they do anything, they sneeze, we send South Korea huge sums of money and everything else. We don't get proper reimbursement for that. Now, I like South Korea. I have property in South Korea. I have a lot of friends in South Korea. They can't believe they get away with it."

Trump went on to name other countries. "Germany can't believe it. You know who really can't believe it?," Trump continued. "Saudi Arabia. You have Saudi Arabia, the richest country no matter how you cut it."

Comment: Mr. Trump, you just don't get it. Our investment in Israel is really their infest-ment in the US. But hey, Donald...go for it! Time someone balanced the books, eh? About that Israeli payback...it's in the mail (stamped and addressed to you in Mossad's Israel's official stationery response envelope).


Ambulance

People overcome by breathing problems, nausea and dizziness at Colorado pool from suspected chemical leak

mystery illness colorado pool
22 Sickened With Mystery Illness at Colorado Pool
At least 22 people, most of them children, reported symptoms such as nausea, dizziness and vomiting from an unknown cause at a Colorado recreation center this weekend, according to a local fire chief.

Lafayette Fire Chief David Friedel, in Lafayette, Colorado, told ABC News today that the cause remained undetermined.

"Thought it might have been chlorine" leak, Friedel said. "Hazmat crews couldn't detect anything like that."

Friedel said 22 people came down with nausea, dizziness and vomiting after entering a pool at the Bob L. Burger Recreation Center on Saturday.

Comment: The pool has since been reopened and investigations are continuing into the cause, which is suspected to have been a chlorine leak.


Heart - Black

Army recruits 'forced to rape each other' in hazing ritual that was recorded and shared with the rest of their unit

soldier shoes
© Phil Noble / Reuters
Two army recruits were allegedly forced to rape each other as part of an initiation ceremony in the Household Division regiment of the Welsh Guards.

The incident reportedly took place at Pirbright Barracks in Surrey and involved the men being forced to perform sexual acts on each other.

One of the soldiers involved has reportedly been discharged as a result of the distress caused by the "hazing ritual."

A source told the Sun on Sunday the "initiation" was caught on video and passed around the unit via WhatsApp and SnapChat.

"We can confirm an incident did take place and details were referred to the Royal Military Police for an initial investigation.

"No allegations of coercive or criminal behavior were made.

"However this behavior is unacceptable and administrative action was taken against those present, with disciplinary measures taken against one individual."

Handcuffs

Teens witness their friend being killed in drug deal gone wrong -- they get charged with murder

oklahoma teen murder
Two teenagers were arrested for the murder of their best friend - not because they pulled the trigger, but because they witnessed the murder, and happened to be involved in a different, less serious 'crime' at the same time, which had nothing to do with the violence that occurred.

The young men, Jessey Gonzalez, and Nicolas Gedela, along with the victim Carlos Santos, were attempting to sell a quarter pound of marijuana to three strangers. The strangers ambushed the young men and shot and killed Santos while his two friends managed to escape.

Now, the police are charging the victim's friends with first-degree murder, thanks to an asinine legal loophole.

Bomb

Surprise! U.S. police departments waste no time in beefing up security after the Brussels bombings

Union Station
© Joshua Roberts / ReutersA police officer speaks to a traveller as he makes a patrol with his dog at Union Station in Washington March 22, 2016.
From New York to Los Angeles, cities across the United States are significantly ramping up security in the wake of bombings in Brussels that have left at least 34 people dead and dozens injured.

Just hours after the attacks, which occurred at an airport and metro station in the Belgian capital, the New York Police Department announced it was closely monitoring the situation and deploying additional resources out of an abundance of caution.

"At this time, there is no known indication that the attack has any nexus to New York City," NYPD spokesperson Stephen P. Davis said in a statement. "We will continue to follow the situation in Belgium closely with the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI and adjust the department's deployments accordingly."

Comment: With each successive wave of bombings the police state grows stronger and civil liberties continue their death rattle.

Breaking news: Twin explosions hit Brussels airport; 17 dead, dozens wounded
SOTT Exclusive: Who is Bombing European Civilians?


USA

Woman who spent 27 months in solitary confinement has her charges dismissed

prison cell
© Jenevieve Robbins / Reuters
Candie Hailey was locked up in Rikers Island awaiting trial for 29 months, 27 of which were spent in solitary confinement. On Monday, a judge brokered a plea deal to dismiss her criminal charges on condition that she plead guilty to lesser offences.

Candie Hailey's saga began in 2012 when the 32-year-old was charged with attempted murder after three women accused her of trying to stab a baby during a fist fight. Hailey's version of the story is that the baby suffered a fracture when it was knocked out of a stroller during the altercation. Hailey was acquitted after a month-long trial.

Despite being found innocent of attempted murder, Hailey was still at risk of going back to jail. Charges she had racked up during her time in solitary, including for breaking a chair used in scanning the body cavities of inmates, still lingered until the judge's Monday decision, the Associated Press reports.

Comment: No matter what someone does in jail, no one should ever be subjected to over 2 years in solitary confinement. It should be considered torture.


Rose

Rob Ford, former crack-smoking mayor of Toronto, dead at 46

Rob Ford
© Rick Madonik/Toronto Star
Rob Ford, the Toronto city councillor who became the world's most famous mayor during a wild, scandal-filled term, is dead at age 46.

The married father of two young children died after 18 months of treatment for a rare and aggressive cancer first diagnosed in the midst of his 2014 bid to be re-elected mayor. Ford would have turned 47 on May 28.

A brief statement from the Ford family announcing the death Tuesday described the former mayor as a "dedicated man of the people" who "spent his life serving the citizens of Toronto."

"The family will not be making any statements to the media or taking any questions," the statement said.

Comment: The is the same Rob Ford featured in the articles below:


Eye 1

Ex-State Department 'sextortion' culprit sentenced to less than 5 years in prison

London
© Andrew Winning / Reuters Michael Ford was stationed in London from 2013-2015.
A onetime State Department employee who used embassy computers to extract sexually explicit photos from women was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison on Monday, according to news reports.

Michael Ford, who was stationed in London from 2013-15, in December had pleaded guilty to nine counts of cyberstalking, seven counts of computer hacking to extort and one count of wire fraud, according to investigators for the Justice Department and State's Diplomatic Security Service.

His nearly five-year sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross in Atlanta decided. She granted him a delay in reporting to prison until August because his wife is expecting a baby in July, according to the Associated Press.

Ford—while on the job in London—used online aliases to target young females, many of them students in sororities with ambition to be models. Posing as a representative of a common Internet service provider's "account deletion team," he sent messages warning the women that their accounts would be canceled if they failed to provide their passwords. He then hacked into their accounts in search of nude photos, after which he threatened the women with exposure unless they helped him take additional explicit photos of attractive women in gym locker rooms or store changing rooms.

At the sentencing, friends and family described Ford as a doting husband. He apologized to his victims and told the judge he was depressed and wanted to be fired from his government job. "What I did was a low and cowardly act by a person who was desperate," he said.

Comment: This man maliciously and intentionally exploited young women for his own depraved ends. That is not the mark of a depressed man desperate to get fired, but the actions of a sexual predator. He deserves a lot more than 57 months.


Pistol

Supreme Court overrules lower court on stun gun possession

taser
© Lucy Nicholson / ReutersA stunning reversal by the Supreme Court.
The US Supreme Court tossed out a Massachusetts court ruling which argued that stun guns were not covered under the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. The top court's Monday decision throws the case back to Massachusetts, giving the lower court another chance to rule, according to the Associated Press.

The justices, with no apparent dissent, issued an unsigned opinion in favor of Jamie Caetano, who was convicted for violating an anti-stun gun law. Caetano was arrested for possession of a stun gun, which she said she kept in her purse for self-defense because of an abusive former boyfriend.

Massachusetts is one of a handful of states prohibiting the possession of stun guns. The state Supreme Court's ruling in Caetano's case in March of 2015 stated that the US Congress would not have envisioned a weapon like a stun gun in 1789, when it passed the Constitution's Second Amendment protecting the right to bear arms, according to Reuters. Caetano's lawyers had argued in court that stun guns should be considered "arms" under the Second Amendment and that the Massachusetts law banning them went too far.

In their own opinion, the Supreme Court justices said "the explanation the Massachusetts court offered for upholding the law contradicts this court's precedent," according to AP. The justices were referring to a 2008 Supreme Court ruling in the District of Columbia v. Heller case, which struck down Washington, DC's handgun ban and affirmed the Constitution's recognition of an individual's right to own a gun, at least for self-defense at home.

Comment: It is the usage and intent that defines an item, not the technological upgrade or variation in design. For the time being, there is still respect for the US constitutional amendments and citizens' rights, but that could change on a dime.