Society's ChildS


V

Thousands protest in Japan demanding removal of U.S. military base in Okinawa

Ben McGrath
World Socialist Web Site
Wed, 27 May 2015 21:01 UTC
Image
Japanese protesters gathered outside the parliament building in Tokyo on Sunday to demand the removal of a US base on the island of Okinawa. Numerous rallies have been held recently, both on the island and the Japanese mainland, to oppose the US military's presence in the country.

An estimated 15,000 people took part in Sunday's protest, denouncing plans to move the US Marine Corp Air Station Futenma base to a new location at Henoko, which is currently being constructed. Futenma is located in the city of Ginowan, while Henoko sits along a less populated coast in Okinawa. Many people held banners reading, "No to Henoko." They demanded the base be removed from the prefecture altogether.

One protester, Akemi Kitajima, told the press: "We must stop this construction. The government is trying to force the plan, no matter how strongly Okinawa says 'no' to it." The demonstrators also expressed opposition to US plans to deploy CV-22 Ospreys to the Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.

A larger protest took place on the previous Sunday, when 35,000 people gathered on Okinawa to oppose the base relocation plan. The protests began that Friday and continued throughout the weekend. On the Saturday, demonstrators marched around the Futenma base and were joined in other cities across the country by approximately 2,600 others. Besides their opposition to the base, people shouted slogans, such as "Oppose enhanced Japan-US defense ties," directed against Japan's turn to militarism.

Plans to move the Futenma base have been in the works since 1996, following the 1995 brutal kidnapping and rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three US servicemen, which resulted in widespread anti-US protests. Other, less publicized crimes by US personnel have also stoked anti-US sentiment.
Read More...
Syringe

Failed war on drugs: Doctors create more heroin addicts than street dealers

Carey Wedler
The AntiMedia
Tue, 26 May 2015 21:01 UTC
money doctor
A recently released Drug Enforcement Administration report reveals not only that heroin use has exploded, but that 4 out of 5 new users have previously abused prescription drugs. The details of the analysis, titled the "National Heroin Threat Assessment," unwittingly demonstrate that the Drug War has failed to curb drug use and has actually exacerbated the problem.

The report opens with an overview of heroin addiction:
"The threat posed by heroin in the United States is serious and has increased since 2007. Heroin is available in larger quantities, used by a larger number of people, and is causing an increasing number of overdose deaths."
The report acknowledges more specific data about heroin use. It explains that the strength of the drug has skyrocketed since the 1980s, increasing from 10% purity in 1981 to 40% in 1999. Due to this purity, the drug has become easier to snort and smoke, which broadens its appeal. Alternatively, the reformulation of Oxycontin in 2010 made the prescription opiate harder to inject, leading some pill addicts to turn to heroin for a drug they could use intravenously.

Comment: See also

Read More...
Alarm Clock

Hysteria: Two high school students charged with felony after putting alarm clocks in lockers as prank

Donna Swicegood
Statesville Record & Landmark
Wed, 27 May 2015 19:48 UTC
Image
© Statesville Record & LandmarkShannon Marie Farrell, 18, is led from the Troutman Police Department by Sgt. Corey Richard as she was taken to jail Tuesday morning.
Two South Iredell High School seniors each face a felony charge after a senior prank led to the evacuation of the school Tuesday morning.

Shannon Marie Farrell, 18, of Troutman, and Lekia Hall, 18, of Statesville, were charged with perpetrating a hoax by use of false bomb or other device in a public building, said Troutman Police Chief Matthew Selves.

Farrell's father, Dan, said his daughter and a few other seniors planned the prank, which involved bringing alarm clocks to school, setting them to go off at different times and placing them in unused lockers.

Selves said it was those unused lockers and the way they were secured that sounded the alarm Tuesday morning. He said School Resource Officer Kerry Baker called for assistance after finding one of the lockers, which had been zip-tied by staff members, secured with a lock instead. "They cut the zip ties and put their own lock on the locker," Selves said.

Comment: The adults in our world are sending a clear message to our children: Don't think out of the box, don't waste the time of authority figures, and definitely don't attempt anything fun anymore! Just keep your head down and get with the program of being a wage slave to the owners of this world.

Read More...
Airplane

Singapore Airlines jet plunges 13,000 feet after losing power in 'both' engines


The Guardian
Wed, 27 May 2015 07:50 UTC
Singapore Airlines
© Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images Singapore Airlines said power was restored after the pilots ‘followed operational procedures’.

Airlines announces investigation after Airbus A330-300 carrying 194 people suffered engine failures travelling from Singapore to Shanghai

A Singapore Airlines Airbus with 182 passengers and 12 crew on board lost power to both engines en route to Shanghai - falling 3,962m (13,000ft) - the airline said on Wednesday as it announced an investigation into the incident.

The Airbus A330-300 flight on 23 May "encountered bad weather at 39,000 feet (11.9 km) about three and a half hours after departure" from Singapore, the airline said in a statement.

"Both engines experienced a temporary loss of power and the pilots followed operational procedures to restore normal operation of the engines," it said.

"The flight continued to Shanghai and touched down uneventfully at 10.56pm local time," it said.

It added that the Airbus A330-300 plane's two Rolls-Royce engines "were thoroughly inspected and tested upon arrival in Shanghai with no anomalies detected".

"We are reviewing the incident with Rolls-Royce and Airbus," Singapore Airlines said.

In a Twitter post late on Tuesday, Flightradar24 said the flight, codenamed SQ836, "lost power on both engines & 13,000 feet before power returned".


Comment: In April, the Serbian President's plane suffered an engine failure, sending the aircraft into a horrifying 60-second plunge over the Adriatic Sea. A few days later it was revealed that the "co-pilot had spilled coffee on the instrument panel" causing the accidental descent!

Recently a cargo plane, Carson Air Flight 66, crashed in Vancouver's North Shore Mountains following an "uncontrolled descent". According to Transportation Safety Board investigator Bill Yearwood:
"The radar track showed a very steep descent," he said. "The crew did not call, declare an emergency or have any stress, which gives us an idea that whatever happened, happened suddenly. The radar track gives us information on how fast it was descending ... and that is consistent with uncontrolled flight."
What is going on?

As well as these planes 'falling out the sky', we also have planes suddenly 'disappearing' from radar, sometimes in "unprecedented" blackouts; more planes diverting due to "electrical burning and smoke smells", "engine fires" and plane wings "bursting into flames"; statistics showing a disturbing trend in "air rage"; the tragic Germanwings crash not being the full story and the still unresolved mystery of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370?

SOTT EXCLUSIVE: Year of the planes Cluster of plane problems as 2014 comes to a close

Read More...
Airplane

Belgian airspace closed: Air traffic control failure grounds all flights as power outage causes chaos

Demid Getik
NL Times
Wed, 27 May 2015 13:58 UTC
airport chaos
© Getty Images/AFP/E. Lalmand
An electrical failure at Belgium air traffic control forced the closure of airspace above Belgium on Wednesday morning, Eurocontrol said in a statement. The regional airspace will remain shut until at least 4 p.m. local time, the Brussels Airport authority and Eurocontrol both said.

Just over 60 flights were cancelled, and 21 were diverted, the airport said at about 11:40 a.m. There were 10,176 departures from the airport, and 10,193 landings last month. In 2013, the Brussels Airport authority estimated that 510,000 passengers based in the Netherlands use the capital city airport.

The electrical failure is causing significant delays, according to the airport authorities. "A number of flights are being diverted to airports in the neighbourhood," they stated.

The cause of the problem was not yet announced. Wednesday morning marked the beginning of a three-and-a-half month long project to renovate runway 25L at the airport.

Dutch air traffic control reports that some of the Belgian flights will land in the Netherlands. Flights that had to cross Brussels airspace on the way to the Netherlands can reroute via Germany or the North Sea.
Read More...
Water

​'Gross insult' and 'undemocratic': Petition against Irish water charges snubbed by officials


RT
Tue, 26 May 2015 17:05 UTC
Iriish water protesters
© Reuters / Cathal McNaughtonPeople gather to protest against austerity policies and increases in water bills in central Dublin.
Anti-austerity campaigners in the Republic of Ireland say Cork City Council's refusal to accept a petition opposing the Irish government's water charges is undemocratic and an insult to local citizens.

The petition was handed over by 50 anti-water charges campaigners who had gathered outside Cork City Hall before a local council meeting on Monday.

The petition called upon local councils to stand firmly against the water charges and actively encourage local citizens to resist paying them.

It contained the signatures of 15,000 local people who strongly oppose the Irish government's water taxation policy.


The recently implemented water charges form part of the Irish government's wider debt re-payment plan in the wake of a crippling bank bailout that cost Irish taxpayers over €64 billion. Campaigners maintain they are an austerity tax, and will impact on society's most vulnerable.

In a climate of widespread poverty, negative equity and mounting repossession orders, Irish protesters continue to campaign against the government's recently implemented water charges.Protesters gathered outside Cork City Hall on Monday had hoped to give their petition to Cork's Lord Mayor Mary Shields or Deputy Lord Mayor Ken O'Flynn.

However, they were informed beforehand that neither Shields nor O'Flynn would be available to meet with them.

Comment: Back to reality! What happened to the "new, open, equal society" and "social revolution" that followed the recent historic, euphoric referendum on same-sex marriage in Ireland?

For more insight on this "milestone in Ireland's journey towards a more liberal, secular society", listen to: Behind the Headlines on SOTT Radio Network: gay marriage means equal rights as global society descends into chaos

Read More...
Sheriff

Judge orders restraining order against sheriff who arrested man serving him a subpoena

Travis Gettys
Raw Story
Tue, 26 May 2015 21:41 UTC
Image
© FacebookSheriff Tracy Carter
North Carolina sheriff called on his deputies to arrest a man trying to serve him with a subpoena to testify in a federal lawsuit filed by a man who suffered broken bones and other injuries during an arrest.

A judge granted a temporary restraining order against Lee County Sheriff Tracy Carter preventing the three-term Republican and his deputies from interfering with attempts to serve subpoenas in the lawsuit filed five years ago.

U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle found in his order that Carter and other members of the sheriff's department were "obstructing or otherwise interfering" with attempts to call witnesses in the trial, which is scheduled to start June 2.

Robert Wade was hired to serve a subpoena to Carter at his home, but the 71-year-old man said the sheriff yelled at him and blocked him from leaving until deputies arrived to arrest him.

Comment: Looks like it's time Sheriff Carter learns an important lesson: those who work for the law are not above the law.

Read More...
Red Flag

California considering usage of recycled sewage water as source of drinking water amid drought


RT
Tue, 26 May 2015 21:25 UTC
Image
© Reuters / Lucy NicholsonA man fills a tank with water at the local fire station, in East Porterville, California
Potable water reuse - or converting sewage effluent to heavily-treated, purified drinking water - is receiving renewed attention in California in the midst of the state's four-year drought.

According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, "California water managers and environmentalists"are pushing the idea of recycled sewage water. Yet past efforts in the state to employ similar systems have stalled, as opponents have dubbed the concept "toilet to tap."

This spring, California Gov. Jerry Brown ordered a 25 percent cut in urban water usage based on ongoing drought conditions across the state.

Proponents of potable water reuse say that the system could convert the hundreds of billions of gallons of treated sewage that is already directed into the Pacific Ocean into drinking water.

"That water is discharged into the ocean and lost forever," Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies, told the LA Times. "Yet it's probably the single largest source of water supply for California over the next quarter-century."

A potable reuse system would mean effluent would be sent to an advanced treatment plant for a three-step purification process.
Read More...
Pistol

Gunman in shooting at North Dakota Walmart an active airman in military


RT
Tue, 26 May 2015 21:03 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Shannon Stapleton
A US airman is suspected of being the gunman responsible for a Tuesday morning shooting in a North Dakota branch of Walmart. The man entered the store, killed one employee and injured one other, before killing himself.

The suspected gunman, Marcell Willis, 21, is an active airman at the Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Police said the shooting occurred a few minutes after 1 am , that left one Walmart employee dead and another injured, may have been random, with no link yet found between Willis, the store or the employees.

"We've not been able to find any linkage to him and any of the victims. That's not to say that can't change," police Lt. Derik Zimmel said during an afternoon news conference, reported by the Associated Press. "There's no apparent motive that jumps out at this time."
Read More...
Magnify

Ex-Air Force lawyer: Victims of rape in the military face revenge, backlash from superiors for coming forward


RT
Tue, 26 May 2015 18:00 UTC
Image
© Reuters / Shamil Zhumatov
The US military's system of prosecution has to change, as rape victims are often put in positions where they even regret coming forward, Maribel Jarzabek, ex-Air Force lawyer, said on a recent HRW survey of sexual assault survivors.

Of those who answered the US Army's call to come out as sexual assault victims, 62 percent are facing backlash from their commanders and fellow servicemen, a report released by Human Rights Watch earlier this week stated.

The victims are "spat on, deprived of food, assailed with obscenities - whore, cum-dumpster, slut, faggot - threatened with 'friendly fire' during deployment... demoted, disciplined [or] discharged for misconduct," the paper entitled "Embattled: Retaliation against sexual assault survivors in the US military" said.

According to HRW, only 5 percent of sexual assault cases in the US military lead to convictions of the perpetrators.

"Virtually no-one is held accountable" for retaliating against those reporting rape and other abuses, the report added.
Read More...