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A portrait of Iran's supreme leader where Saddam Hussein's statue once stood in Baghdad

Liz Sly
The Washington Post
Tue, 17 Feb 2015 23:54 UTC
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© Liz Sly/ The Washington PostA billboard depicting the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was erected recently on the edge of Baghdad’s Firdaus Square.
Perhaps nothing illuminates more starkly the transformation underway in Iraq than the billboard depicting the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini erected recently on the edge of Baghdad's Firdaus Square. The portrait obscures the view of the plinth where a giant statue of Saddam Hussein once stood, until U.S. Marines pulled it down in 2003.

The 2003 event was a profoundly symbolic moment that seemed to capture the swift triumph of American troops over Hussein's crumbling army. It also signaled the start of Iraq's steady drift into the orbit of Iranian influence, a trend that has accelerated dramatically since the surge into northern Iraq by the Islamic State last summer.

Comment: Just goes to show how popular the US is in Iraq.

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Ambulance

16 killed in Haitian Carnival electrocution accident


New York Post
Tue, 17 Feb 2015 00:00 UTC
electrocution
© www.dailymail.co.ukElectric Shock: The moment a performer on top of a float at the Haiti arrival got caught by an overhead power line as the parade passed through the streets of Port-au-Prince in the early hours of the morning
At least 16 people were killed early Tuesday in the Haitian capital after a man on top of a musical group's Carnival float was shocked by high-voltage wires above the street, setting off a panic in which dozens of people were trampled, officials said. The accident occurred as thousands of people filled the streets of downtown Port-au-Prince for the raucous annual celebration.

Video from the scene showed sparks coursing from the wire after a singer from the Haitian hip-hop group Barikad Crew was jolted by the overhead power line as the float passed beneath it. The cable appeared to have shocked several others as well.

Prime Minister Evans Paul said 16 people were confirmed dead and 78 were injured. His statement conflicted with earlier reports on the number of casualties. Nadia Lochard, a coordinator for the Department of Civil Protection, had said at least 20 people were killed.


Comment: Seems like this tragedy could have been prevented or avoided. Odd that a similar tragedy happened in a Carnival parade on the same day in Rio de Janeiro.

Three Brazilian revelers died after being electrocuted early on Tuesday while standing atop a Carnival float that hit a power line, officials said. The Light power company confirmed the deaths that happened during a Carnival celebration in Nova Iguacu, a city of 800,000 people on the northern outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Firefighters said at least one other person was taken to hospital and three others were aided on the scene. None appear to have life-threatening injuries. Police are investigating the incident. During Brazil's 2011 Carnival, 16 people were killed at a packed street party in Minas Gerais state when a power line fell atop the crowd.

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Sheriff

Blue privilege: Cop accused of molesting 3 kids pleads down charges - no jail time

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 18 Feb 2015 20:47 UTC
Dale Couch
Officer Dale Couch was accused of molesting three kids and threatening them if they ever spoke up. He's now free to carry out those threats because he was a cop.
A former Manatee County Sheriff's Lieutenant escapes jail time for his sadistic and sickening acts against three children, after pleading to a lesser charge. In May of 2013 Dale Couch was arrested after children told authorities what Couch had done to them. He was charged two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under age 12 and a third charge of lewd and lascivious molestation against a 12-year-old child.

According to reports, initially, the 12-year-old girl said Couch had inappropriately touched her once.

"She said that while he was over her (in her bed) yelling and cussing at her, he grabbed her breasts with his hands," according to the arrest report.

Then in March, the counselor came forward to report additional allegations. The girl had stated that Couch had also inappropriately touched her private areas on multiple other occasions while she sat on his lap. The 9-year-old victim had reported similar allegations, with a third child also interviewed who reportedly witnessed such instances on multiple occasions.

According to the 12-year-old girl, she did not want to disclose anything because she was terrified that Couch "would do more than he was already doing."

The Harold-Tribune reported that when Couch first heard of the allegations he became so enraged that he punched a door in his home, knocking it completely off the hinges. Both of the victims were present during this display.

Comment: Sickening. The inmates are running the asylum.

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Arrow Down

Louisiana student brutally beaten by police then charged for police battery for raising a hand to defend himself


Sputnik
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 19:02 UTC
Brady Becker
Brady Becker was beaten almost unconscious by police.
A Louisiana high school student was beaten up so badly by a cop that the local police department took the highly unusual step of telling the teenager's family to please go ahead and file a complaint.

It all happened last Friday night when 17-year-old Brady Becker was with some friends at the mall in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie.

Apparently some words were exchanged with a group of Jefferson Parish Sheriff deputies, and several of the teens took off, but Becker was grabbed by a deputy, thrown to the ground and beaten up.

The whole thing was captured on video and it shows the deputy holding Becker by the throat with one arm and using the other arm to hold the teen down on the ground. Becker's hand went up to defend himself, and the deputy punches him at least four times in the face.

Comment: It sounds encouraging that the department has recommended that the family file a complaint. However, considering how often police officers are acquitted of wrongdoing, even when it is fairly obvious there was little or no provocation for their brutal actions, one wonders if the police department is quite confident that very little will result from such an 'investigation'.

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Pistol

New Jersey man faces up to ten years in prison for owning 300-year-old flintlock pistol


Police State USA
Wed, 18 Feb 2015 18:34 UTC
Gordon Van Gilder
© NRA NewsGordon Van Gilder.
Millville — A retired schoolteacher is facing felony charges for owning an 18th century relic firearm in the state of New Jersey.

Gordan N. Van Gilder, 72, was pulled over by a Cumberland County Sheriff's Deputy on November 20, 2014 for a minor traffic violation.

"The deputy, Joshua Sheppard, started screaming at us," Mr. Van Gilder recalled to NRA News. "He wanted to search the car."

"You're going to give us your consent, or do I have to get the dog?" Deputy Sheppard allegedly challenged.

"You don't have to get any dogs. Help yourself," Van Gilder recounted saying to the deputy.

When asked, Mr. Van Gilder told the deputy that he had an unloaded, antique pistol wrapped up in a cloth in his glove compartment. The collectible pistol was made in the mid-1700s and would require the manual loading of gunpowder and spherical projectiles in order to actually fire.

His cooperation with the police ended up being his undoing. The Sheriff's Deputy nailed him with felony charges because of the antique.

Mr. Van Gilder elaborated on the situation in his interview with NRA News. "They were trying hard to nail me," he said. "I don't get it."

The Cumberland County Sheriff himself signed off on the arrest, Van Gilder stated. His charging document spelled out his offense:
THE DEFENDANT... DID KNOWINGLY AND/OR PURPOSELY HAVE IN HIS POSSESSION A WEAPON, SPECIFICALLY A "FLINT GUN" WITHOUT HAVING PROPER PAPER WORK ON HIS PERSON AND IMPROPERLY STORED IN A MOTOR VEHICLE; IN VIOLATION OF N.J.C. 2C 39-5B
New Jersey's gun control laws are notoriously draconian. It is one of the few states that enforces gun registration and explicitly does not exempt antique firearms, as many states do. According to the law, there is no legal distinction between a three-century-old piece of history and a modern, operable firearm. All of these — regardless of the presence of a victim or malicious intent — are considered prohibited items without acquiring government permission, and carry grave legal consequences.
Flintlock pistol
© AmmolandGordon VanGilder’s 300 year old flintlock pistol.
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Grey Alien

Savage borderlands: Former Ukraine officials are regularly lynched, beaten and thrown into dumpsters


RT
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 15:21 UTC
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Democrazi in Ukraine: Not exactly rainbows and unicorns
European constitutional experts are due to deliver their verdict on a new Ukrainian law. The legislation was introduced to bar members of the former regime from entering government. But as Murad Gazdiev reports some activists have been taking the law into their own hands.

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Hardhat

SOTT Exclusive: Historic U.S. oil refineries strike goes into third week - Plant explodes in California, highlighting workers' safety concerns

Niall Bradley
Sott.net
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 10:54 UTC
US oil strike
US oil refinery workers are on strike, reducing domestic US energy production by 10% in the last 3 weeks.
There was a time when this news would have been the biggest story for months in the US. Now it's barely mentioned in US media, buried below 'head-lies' about ISIS boogeymen, kittens, Nutella, twerking, and celebrity gossip.
US oil workers on largest national strike since 1980

BBC, 2 February 2015

US union leaders have launched a large-scale strike at nine refineries after failing to agree on a new national contract with major oil companies.

It marks the first nationwide walkout since 1980 and impacts plants that together account for more than 10% of US refining capacity.

The United Steelworkers Union (USW) said it "had no choice".

"This industry is the richest in the world and can afford to make the changes we offered in bargaining," USW International Vice President of Administration Tom Conway said in a statement.

"The problem is that oil companies are too greedy to make a positive change in the workplace and they continue to value production and profit over health and safety, workers and the community."

Royal Dutch Shell, the lead industry negotiator, said it "hopes to resume negotiations as early as possible".
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Pistol

Amerika's genius solution to its college campus rape culture: Give young women firearms


RT
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 10:45 UTC
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'Real sorry to hear your daughter was raped in her freshman year. Have you considered giving her one of these?'
Taking a page from the National Rifle Association and tapping into the national spotlight on sexual assault on college campuses, lawmakers from Florida to Nevada are introducing legislation to permit the carrying of firearms at universities.

Eleven states are considering such proposals, the New York Times reported.

The carrying of concealed firearms on college campuses is banned in 41 states by law or by university policy, but some state lawmakers are looking at the failure of several colleges to handle recent scandals over sexual assault and hoping they will help to consolidate the passage of these measures. Some states have already lifted restrictions.

"If you've got a person that's raped because you wouldn't let them carry a firearm to defend themselves, I think you're responsible," Florida state Rep. Dennis K. Bexley said during a House subcommittee debate last month.

The Florida bill was passed by the Republican dominated legislature. It also passed the Senate committee but still has a way to go before it becomes state law. If enacted, it would allow concealed weapons on campus at 12 state universities. However, many law enforcement, college students and college administrators are opposed.

Comment:
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What can we say but 'sure, go for it'? Let's give firearms to schoolkids while we're at it.

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Phoenix

Massive explosion as oil tanker train derails in West Virginia


Daily Telegraph
Tue, 17 Feb 2015 21:27 UTC
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© APTNHuge explosion as a train derails in West Virginia.
A train carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil has derailed in southern West Virginia, sending at least one tanker into the Kanawha River and igniting at least 14 others that caused a house fire, officials said.

One person was being treated for potential inhalation issues, but no other injuries were reported, according to a news release from CSX, the train company.

Nearby residents were told to evacuate as state emergency response and environmental officials headed to the scene about 30 miles (48.2 kilometres) southeast of Charleston.

The state was under a winter storm warning and getting heavy snowfall at times, with as much as five inches (12.7 centimetres) in some places.

It's not clear if the weather had anything to do with the derailment, which occurred along a flat stretch of rail.

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Phoenix

Explosion tears through Torrance refinery, California

Jonathan Lloyd
nbclosangeles.com
Wed, 18 Feb 2015 21:04 UTC
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Four people sustained minor injuries Wednesday morning after a “large explosion” was reported at the ExxonMobil Refinery in Torrance
Minor injuries were reported after an explosion ripped apart structures at an oil refinery in southern Los Angeles County Wednesday morning and shook homes for miles around the blast site.

Aerial video showed smoke coming from a damaged portion of the Torrance ExxonMobil Refinery, located south of the 405 Freeway. The blast, which led to an air quality advisory due to smoke, twisted metal and sent ash raining down on vehicles parked near the sprawling 750-acre refinery property.

"I thought it was an earthquake, like someone hit the back of my car," said resident Drew Magtoto.

Another resident told NBC4 he could feel shaking from about seven miles away and noticed a large flare-up from the plant's burnoff stack. The stack flaring is a safety measure used to dissipate pressure and avoid explosions.


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