Society's Child

6 Russians kidnapped after pirates attack vessel near Benin

RT
Sat, 05 Jan 2019 21:02 UTC

Six sailors were kidnapped when pirates attacked a ship with a Russian crew off the coast of Benin in West Africa, Russia's Maritime and River Transport agency confirmed.

A group of seven to nine attackers, armed with firearms and blades boarded the Panama-flagged MSC Mandy on Tuesday night, according to the maritime authority and the Russian embassy in Benin. The pirates pillaged the ship for two hours before leaving and taking six of the sailors on board with them.

There were 23 Russians and one Ukrainian among the crew members, according to the Russian maritime authority. The embassy, citing the Benin Navy, says there were 26 people: 20 Russians, four Ukrainians and two Georgians.

Comment: See also:

Yellow Vests demand reduction in taxes, Macron's spokesman claims they want 'to overthrow the government'

RT
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 19:29 UTC

© Reuters / Stephane Mahe
File Photo: A Yellow vest protester during a protest in the French city of Nantes, December 22, 2018

The Yellow Vest movement has become full of agitators who only want to "overthrow the government," a spokesman for President Emmanuel Macron's government said of the protests that gripped France since November.

Benjamin Griveaux made the comments following the government's first Council of Ministers meeting of 2019 on Friday, as cabinet members returned from their two week Christmas break.

He addressed those "still mobilized among the Yellow Vests," saying the movement has "become the act of agitators who want insurrection and to overthrow the government."

Comment: The Yellow Vests have been supported by the public the very beginning, and even now, following weeks of political diversions and state violence, 75% of the public still support them.

Griveaux added that the government was "ready to discuss with sincere people who do not turn the difficulties of fellow countrymen into a political instrument."

Comment: RT reports what the protesters are actually demanding:

Stop treating people like beggars or face hatred - Yellow Vests to Macron

A group associated with Yellow Vests has written a fiery open letter to Emmanuel Macron, warning the French president against treating people like beggars, rejecting his nationwide debate, and demanding a major tax reduction.

The missive was posted in the Angry France group on Facebook, which unites almost 300,000 supporters of the Yellow Vest movement, and was also sent to the local media late on Thursday.

"Anger will turn into hatred if you continue, from your pedestal, you and your associates, to look at little people like beggars," the protesters warned Macron.

The 3-page manifesto by Angry France also turned down Macron's invitation to take part in the national debate, which the president ordered in response to the violent protests that gripped the country every week-end since November.

The debate was a "political trap" designed to drown the issue that "terrifies" the head of state so much, the letter read.

The Yellow Vest activists also demanded a "significant reduction in all taxes on essential goods" for the French people paired with an equally significant reduction in pensions and salaries for the elected politicians and senior civil servants.

Protests in France appeared to be calming down recently, but Yellow Vest activists have been posting calls on social media for new rallies to take place on the first Saturday of 2019 in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Strasbourg and other cities.

The Yellow West movement, which got its name after the high-visibility jackets worn by the demonstrators, kicked off in November over a proposed hike in fuel taxes. As protests got increasingly violent and spanned more and more cities, the government dropped the planned increase.

Demonstrations continued due to the movement already morphing into wider discontent with Macron's pro-business agenda, decline in living standards and growing inequality.

Macron's government are trying to deflect from the real issues, because the majority of Yellow Vests agreed to and provided a clear manifesto of what they want implemented, and they need a government to do that. However It is true that they want Macron, who represents the very elites and policies destroying France, gone (although you'd never know that from watching mainstream French news).

See also:

The Yellow Vests are out again today, Saturday 5th January, which makes it 8 weeks since the protests began:

Woman in long term vegetative state suddenly gives birth, sparking sex abuse investigation

RT
Sat, 05 Jan 2019 08:28 UTC

The unexpected birth of a baby boy to a woman who has spent the last 14 years in a vegetative state has sparked a sex abuse investigation at a Phoenix nursing facility.

Staff at Hacienda HealthCare were reportedly unaware the woman was even pregnant "until she was pretty much giving birth," a source familiar with the situation told KPHO. "From what I've been told she was moaning. And they didn't know what was wrong with her."

The baby, a healthy boy, was delivered on December 29.

The mother has "lived" at Hacienda ever since a near-drowning incident left her brain-damaged over 14 years ago. She requires 24-hour care, meaning many of the facility's staff would have had access to her room, and is incapable of communication or voluntary movement.

Since the birth, Hacienda has adopted a policy requiring female employees to accompany male employees to female patients' rooms, most likely mandated by the Arizona Department of Health Services, which said in a statement that it has implemented "heightened safety measures" that include "increased staff presence during patient interactions" as well as increased surveillance of patient care locations.

The moral theater of the anti-smoking campaign is now taking target at the mentally ill

Will Truman
Arc
Thu, 03 Jan 2019 00:00 UTC

Pennsylvania has decided that unless you are willing to quit smoking for the duration of your treatment, you don't deserve mental health treatment from the state:

Tobacco products and vape devices have been banned at Pennsylvania's six state mental health hospitals, including Torrance State Hospital in Derry Township.

"Smoking is a contributing factor to the shortened life expectancy of individuals with a mental illness," Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller said Monday in a statement announcing the ban. "This initiative will further support health, wellness and recovery within these communities."

The hospitals will be posted to advise patients, staff, visitors, contractors and tenants that the campuses and buildings are tobacco-free zones. The facilities will offer smoking cessation programs and support as needed, including nicotine patches and gum. Information about cessation support groups and programs will be posted online for employees.

We are, apparently, so concerned with moral theater that we are willing to act at the expense of mental health. State officials can argue that the goal of this new policy is to encourage healthy choices, but they will in effect be denying care to those who don't make the state's preferred decisions.

Malaysian waiter slapped for enforcing smoking ban

The Straits Times
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 07:32 UTC

A mamak restaurant waiter who politely told a group of three men to stop smoking in the eatery got a rude shock when he was slapped and scolded.

Mr M. Selvam, 25, from India, was merely doing his job in reminding customers of the newly imposed smoking ban when one of the customers slapped him.

"It was around 12.30 pm on the first day of the ban on Jan 1. We had placed 'no smoking' signs but some customers were still smoking.

"I went over to a group of three men who were smoking. I politely told them to stop smoking but one of them got up and suddenly slapped me. I was shocked. They then left," he said, speaking at the restaurant in Seksyen 25 in Shah Alam on Thursday (Jan 3).

Comment: See also: Smoke, Lies and the Nanny State

Facebook tracks users using Android apps - even if they don't have a Facebook account

Anthony Cuthbertson
Independent
Thu, 03 Jan 2019 00:00 UTC

Report from Privacy International reveals how social network tracks people through popular apps like Skyscanner and Duolingo

Facebook's data collecting practices have once again been called into question, after a new report revealed that it "routinely tracked" people who do not use the app.

Privacy International analysed 34 apps on the Android mobile operating system with user bases of between 10 and 500 million.

The charity began the study after the scandal surrounding the now defunct London based political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, which was accused of improperly obtaining personal information on behalf of political clients and using it to influence the outcome of the US 2016 presidential election or the UK Brexit referendum.

Comment: See also:

Officer fired, bullied and forced to move after neglecting to kill a suicidal man

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 19:56 UTC

As TFTP reported last year, former Weirton police officer Stephen Mader sued the city after he was fired for not killing a suicidal man who needed help. Mader received $175,000 in a settlement as a result of his unnecessary firing. But the successful settlement was the beginning of a dark road for this hero cop who was unafraid to show restraint.

"My hope is that no other person on either end of a police call has to go through this again," said Mader at the time. Sadly, however, this former Marine has since been forced to move because the intimidation and bullying has gotten so bad.

West Virginia attorney and ACLU representative Timothy P. O'Brien helped to bring the lawsuit against the city.

"No police officer should ever lose their job ... for choosing to talk to, rather than shoot, a fellow citizen," said O'Brien. "His decision to attempt to de-escalate the situation should have been praised, not punished. Simply put, no police officer should ever feel forced to take a life unnecessarily to save his career."

Terrorism suspected in Santiago bus stop blast that injured 5 people

RT
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 19:49 UTC

At least five people have been injured in an explosion at a bus stop in Santiago, the capital of Chile. An eco-terrorist group has claimed responsibility.

The explosion took place shortly before noon local time on Friday, at the intersection of Avenida Vicuña Mackenna and Av. Francisco Bilbao, in downtown Santiago. One of the people touched a bag that was left at the bus stop, triggering the blast, according to police.

Interior Minister Andrés Chadwick is visiting the injured at the hospital. Santiago mayor Evelyn Matthei told the local media that the circumstances point to "intention to cause harm."

Miami-Dade cop charged with battery for kicking a handcuffed suspect

CBS Miami
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 19:18 UTC

A cellphone video showing a Miami-Dade police officer kicking a handcuffed suspect was released Thursday by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office.

Seargent Gustavo De Los Rios, 38, was charged with a misdemeanor for the incident which took place in February.

The video shows several officers arresting a suspect, then De Los Rios is seen kicking the suspect once and then dropping his knee on his neck.

De Los Rios was relieved of duty with pay at the time the complaint was filed.

The incident occurred in Miami Lakes on Valentine's Day of 2018.

Caring for caravan migrants has Tijuana fed up and on the brink

Sarah Cowgill
Liberty Nation
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 00:00 UTC

The financial burden on the border city is only one cost. Add in crime, illness, and unsanitary conditions.

As thousands of immigrants gather in Tijuana after a months-long march through poverty-stricken countries to reach the Calexico border, it appears the Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and Honduran wannabe refugees are receiving an unhealthy dose of reality.

Their promised America - mostly advertised as a life replete with bountiful resources, including unending welfare, free child care, and high-paying jobs for the uneducated - refuses to process the entire lot. And as a government scale-back and standoff over border security tediously plods along, legal immigration into the United States is held in perpetual limbo.

What could possibly go wrong?

Has everyone seen the documentary Century of the Self? It's about Bernays, PR BS, etc. and is REALLY well done. (I found it at an AA article.)...

Rowan Cocoan

Their were saints in Catholic history who most have heard about and others not so much. Now you have Saint Francis of Assisi, but you also have...

Buffalo_Ken

I have a different definition for the "global commons". It is in the definition of "the commons" definition in the link provided below. Here is a...

Buffalo_Ken

Biden the child-killer. Think of the children, vaxxers, think of the children.

hobnyeba

Thanks, all, for great comments and links. Lots to think about.

ReRan

Society's Child

6 Russians kidnapped after pirates attack vessel near Benin

Yellow Vests demand reduction in taxes, Macron's spokesman claims they want 'to overthrow the government'

Woman in long term vegetative state suddenly gives birth, sparking sex abuse investigation

The moral theater of the anti-smoking campaign is now taking target at the mentally ill

Malaysian waiter slapped for enforcing smoking ban

Facebook tracks users using Android apps - even if they don't have a Facebook account

Officer fired, bullied and forced to move after neglecting to kill a suicidal man

Terrorism suspected in Santiago bus stop blast that injured 5 people

Miami-Dade cop charged with battery for kicking a handcuffed suspect

Caring for caravan migrants has Tijuana fed up and on the brink

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