Society's ChildS


Heart - Black

Police publicly execute unarmed, mentally ill man

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Thu, 24 Mar 2016 14:30 UTC
Freddy Centeno shot 7 times
© Fresno Police
On September 3, 2015 at approximately 11:00 a.m., Fresno Police Officers, Zebulon Price and Felipe Miguel Lucero shot 40-year-old Freddy Centeno seven times causing severe injuries. Mr. Centeno was unarmed, was wearing shorts, no shirt on, and walking along the street when he was approached by Fresno Police who immediately started shooting.

Freddy Centeno would not recover from the multiple wounds suffered at the hands of these two Fresno cops.

According to Roger Centeno, the victim's brother, Freddy is bipolar and schizophrenic and abused drugs. The family had been asking the city and county for help and were told "something needs to happen" before Freddy could get help.

"Is this what needs to happen?" asked Roger, after the shooting.
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Better Earth

Couple fosters wildlife sanctuary in India by letting barren farmland return to nature

Melissa Breyer
Tree Hugger
Wed, 09 Mar 2016 00:00 UTC
Malhotra's sanctuary
© milestothewild
The husband and wife have spent 25 years buying up wasteland farmers no longer wanted; now elephants, tigers and leopards roam free there.

Sometimes it takes a village, sometimes it just takes a person or two, as in the case of Anil and Pamela Malhotra who together are creating what is likely India's first private wildlife sanctuary.

Having met and married in the United States in the 1960s, the couple moved to India in 1986 after visiting for the funeral of Anil's father. While generally it would be the beauty of a place to inspire relocation, for the Malhotras it was the opposite - the terrible state of nature in Haridwar was the attraction.

"There was so much deforestation, the timber lobby was in charge, and the river was polluted. And no one seemed to care. That was when we decided to do something to reclaim the forests in India," Anil tells the India Times.
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Arrow Down

Austerity bites: UK experiencing devastating increase in homelessness


RT
Fri, 25 Mar 2016 14:16 UTC
homelessness britain
© Stefan Wermuth / Reuters
Shocking new government figures reveal that homelessness has rocketed in England since 2010, with over 41,000 families destitute or living in temporary accommodation last year.

The figures analyzed by homelessness charity Shelter show the number of families without a home in England soared by 42 percent between 2010 and 2015. The charity says that people losing their privately-rented homes is the single biggest cause of the crisis.

In 2015 alone, around 17,000 families reportedly became homeless after being evicted from privately-rented homes.

Comment: What arch hypocrisy!! The austerity measures that have been imposed have had devastating repercussions on Britain's most vulnerable, while the fortunes of the most affluent continue to increase.

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House

Demolition company wrecks wrong house and says it's 'not a big deal'


RT
Fri, 25 Mar 2016 16:20 UTC
demolished home
© Todd Yates / Reuters
Two families that survived Christmas tornadoes are now back to square one after a demolition company tore down the wrong complex. The company blames Google Maps for the mix up and doesn't really see what the big fuss is about.

Lindsay Diaz and Alan Cutter shared a duplex that was badly damaged by a tornado that hit Texas on December 26. Both Diaz and Cutter had been waiting for insurance and FEMA to assist them in making repairs.

"We were geared towards getting the house ready; we were ready," Diaz told WFAA.

Yet, on Tuesday, Diaz found herself speeding over to her Rowlett home after receiving a panicked phone call from Cutter's wife.

"I pull up, and - sure enough - it's gone," Diaz said to WFAA. "There's nothing left."

Billy L. Nabors Demolition was responsible for the mistake. One worker told WFAA that Google Maps had led them astray. The house that Nabors Demolition had been hired to demolish was actually a block away.

Nabors CEO George Gomez insisted that his demolition crew believed they were working on the correct home. He told WFAA that the situation is "not a big deal."
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Heart - Black

Cynthia McKinney: Homelessness is out of control in the U.S.

Cynthia McKinney
RT
Fri, 25 Mar 2016 15:41 UTC
Homeless crisis US
© Eduardo Munoz / Reuters
It's hard to imagine that the country that controls so much nuclear firepower and drops so many bombs every day is unwilling to educate its children and house its own people.

The poor have been with us since there was an "us." And, as much as I would like to see zero poverty in the United States, a country that spends trillions on its domestic and international security apparatuses, I know that the political will for such policies is just not there today. This, despite the efforts of thousands of people just like me all over the country to alleviate the unnecessary suffering of the poor in the US. Instead, it has become clear from the rhetoric of the 2016 Presidential campaigns, that it is easier to preen oneself by boasting of increasing such security spending, and almost never to decrease it. Not even Democratic Party Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders discusses cutting back on military spending and cutting weapons systems. Thus, we can have a Presidential election and not one word is uttered about the criminalization of the poor and now the crisis of homelessness that afflicts a growing number of cities on the west coast of the US.

It is hard to estimate the number of homeless people in the US, but one indicator is the number of school children who do not have an address. According to the Child Trends Databank, at the start of the 2013 - 2014 academic year, there were approximately 1.4 million children in the United States who reported to school and did not have an address to give to school authorities. Child Trends asserts that while reporting has improved and can provide some background for the increased numbers, the sad fact is that the instance of homelessness among children is increasing.

Comment: Ms. McKinney has properly identified the rapaciousness of neoliberal capitalism as a major source of the problem of homelessness. Yet where there is political will, this crises can be addressed:

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Clipboard

Utah: Establishes white-collar crime registry for fraud, financial crimes


RT
Thu, 24 Mar 2016 19:19 UTC
hands and chart
© discovermagazine.comFinancial manipulation is fraud.
In an attempt to combat high levels of fraud, Utah has taken inspiration from the sex offender list, becoming the first state in the US to establish a white-collar felon registry for financial crimes.

An early version of the list has been online since February, and it already contains more than 100 people who were convicted of crimes such as tax, credit card or insurance fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported. This makes the state "the most aggressive jurisdiction in the country when it comes to publicly shaming financial criminals."

The registry features individuals' names, mugshots, any known aliases, physical descriptions and a list of the crimes they were convicted of. Utah is the first state to create such a registry, and it stands in contrast to the policy of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which does not publicize the identities of fraudsters.

To be listed on the registry, individuals will need to be convicted of second-degree felony charges of securities fraud, theft by deception, unlawful dealing of property by a fiduciary, insurance fraud, mortgage fraud, communications fraud or money laundering, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Their information will stay on the list for 10 years after one conviction, and another decade after a second. If someone is convicted three times, their data will remain on the list for their entire lifetime. When the registry officially launches in the next few months, it is expected to contain some 230 names, according to the WSJ.


Comment: Will be interesting to see if any politicians find themselves on the list and how inclusive in the upper echelons of the oligarchy. The list is only as good as its gate-keeper. Is this registry of use or is it just another redundant layer of bureaucracy?

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Heart - Black

Pregnant inmate denied prenatal care and forced to carry dead baby for days; files lawsuit

Justin Gardner
The Free Thought Project
Thu, 24 Mar 2016 14:16 UTC
pregnant inmate
Time after time we hear of people dying in jail under suspicious circumstances or neglected health issues. This culture of disregard is highlighted by the case of Sentoria McMillon, who lost her unborn child at a Cole County jail soon after being booked as a pretrial detainee.

McMillon, whose due date was weeks away, began complaining of abdominal pains and continually cried for help, telling the nurse she felt increasing pain and pressure. Her child had died in the womb and, being denied a doctor visit for a week, she was forced to carry the decaying body for days.

Strangely, McMillon was released of her own recognizance hours before a scheduled appointment with the prison-contracted doctor. McMillon's normal prenatal physician sent her to the emergency room, where doctors induced labor and said the baby had been dead for a week.
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Stormtrooper

Shocking video emerges of IDF soldier executing injured 'Palestinian attacker'


RT
Thu, 24 Mar 2016 15:11 UTC
IDF scum murdering injured Palestinian
© B'Tselem/YouTube
Shocking footage has emerged online apparently showing an Israeli soldier executing a wounded Palestinian lying on the ground. The victim had reportedly been injured in retaliation for a stabbing attack before being cold-bloodedly shot in the head.

The video has been uploaded to B'Tselem human rights center's YouTube account. It shows a crowd of IDF members - all armed - helping to evacuate their fellow soldier into an ambulance somewhere in Hebron. The description to the video says the evacuee was stabbed by a Palestinian man who was allegedly injured by the Israelis in retaliation.

You can watch the full video here. (WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT)


Comment: Where is a good comet when you need one?

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Bad Guys

Anti-migrant gang 'Soldiers of Odin' expand street patrols to Sweden after gaining popularity in Finland, Estonia and Norway


RT
Thu, 24 Mar 2016 22:42 UTC
Soldiers of Odin in Estonia
© Ints Halnins/ReutersMembers of the anti-immigrant group Soldiers of Odin Estonia.
The far-right, anti-migrant vigilante group "Soldiers of Odin" has expanded its presence to Sweden after gaining popularity in Finland, Estonia and Norway. The group was established in response to the European refugee crisis.

Soldiers of Odin made its Swedish vigilante debut in the province of Dalarna last weekend, patrolling the towns of Borlange, Hedemora, and Säter, Dagens Nyheter newspaper reported. It was later spotted in Stockholm.

The group has about 100 full members in Sweden and nearly 5,000 supporters, spokesman Mikael Johansson told Avesta Tidning newspaper.

Sweden is the fourth country to be 'patrolled' by Soldiers of Odin, which was created in late 2015. But although the group says it is protecting its chosen locations against "immigrant violence," it has been accused of being a front for a Nazi organization - a claim which Johansson denies. "Violent crime is rampaging, while police resources are on the decline. Before they get together any more resources, we help them the best we can," he said.

However, according to the group's Facebook page, the founder of Soldiers of Odin has "National Socialist views," but "his writings are not the group's writings," YLE reported.

Johansson did acknowledge that some of the group's individual members also have clear links to right-wing extremism, but maintained that those traits are part of their private lives, rather than a feature of Soldiers of Odin.

"The way the Soldiers of Odin is built [can be] compared with a motorcycle gang. It is structured in much the same way. We want to get the right people, but we do not want to get into right-wing guys who think they can go out and fight in the streets," Johansson said.

Comment: See also: Untold history of Finland: Fascist origins, Russophobia and today's anti-Muslim hysteria

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Black Magic

Beyond Flint: Investigation reveals excessive lead levels in almost 2,000 water systems spanning all 50 states

Alison Young and Mark Nichols
USA Today
Fri, 11 Mar 2016 18:42 UTC
water faucet dripping
While a harsh national spotlight focuses on the drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., a USA TODAY NETWORK investigation has identified almost 2,000 additional water systems spanning all 50 states where testing has shown excessive levels of lead contamination over the past four years.

The water systems, which reported lead levels exceeding Environmental Protection Agency standards, collectively supply water to 6 million people. About 350 of those systems provide drinking water to schools or day cares. The USA TODAY NETWORK investigation also found at least 180 of the water systems failed to notify consumers about the high lead levels as federal rules require.

Many of the highest reported lead levels were found at schools and day cares. A water sample at a Maine elementary school was 42 times higher than the EPA limit of 15 parts per billion, while a Pennsylvania preschool was 14 times higher, records show. At an elementary school in Ithaca, N.Y., one sample tested this year at a stunning 5,000 ppb of lead, the EPA's threshold for "hazardous waste."

"This is most definitely a problem that needs emergent care," Melissa Hoffman, a parent in Ithaca, forcefully pleaded with officials at a public hearing packed with upset parents demanding answers.
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