OF THE
TIMES
"Say a prayer before leaving your house, dress in your best clothing. Brush your hair well, and smile for the camera. You may end up as another poster on the bleeding walls of the city. No one is safe from their guns."This quote was written on Facebook a number of weeks ago by a young Palestinian who has been the subject of dozens of arrests and has spent much of his life in jail, due to political persecution as a result of his participation in protests. Pay attention to the wording: the author treats leaving the house as a nearly-suicidal act, viewing death as an inevitable force in the hands of the (Israeli) ruler. For him, the only means of defense is a short prayer before leaving home. This is where the role of religion begins and ends in the collective consciousness of resistance among most young Palestinians.
— A young Palestinian from Silwan, Jerusalem, October 2015.
Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato has expressed anger at the central government and Tokyo Electric Power Co., saying both "betrayed" the people of Fukushima Prefecture with repeated assurances about the safety of nuclear power plants.
"We feel we were betrayed [by the central government and TEPCO]," Sato said during an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun on Thursday, nearly a month after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the outbreak of a series of accidents at the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant.
"The central government and TEPCO repeatedly told us, 'Nuclear power plants are safe because they've got multiple protection systems,' and, 'Earthquake-proof measures have been taken,'" Sato said.
"TEPCO used the term 'beyond our expectations' [to describe the natural disaster], but they can't establish effective policies for nuclear energy safety unless they take into account things that are beyond their expectations," Sato said.
Sato pointed out that more than 100,000 evacuees remain in a state of high anxiety, worrying about radiation exposure every day. "I want to cry out: 'Do the government and TEPCO understand our feelings?'"
Asked about a plan to build a seventh and eighth reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, Sato flatly rejected the idea, saying even to suggest it was "unforgivable."
@getbracknell pic.twitter.com/zNjWchA799— Joey Gurney (@TheGurnicle) November 3, 2015
cops kicking them off the plane for being black @SpiritAirlines
racist racist racist pic.twitter.com/tYG9HwPHKj
— TYLER GROS$O (@tylergrosso) November 3, 2015
Comment: Moral obligations of police departments are slipping into the abyss. While some are still within the boundaries of law and justice, others are taking down the system and obliterating citizen protections, sinking civil rights to its lowest level. Tarantino is making a courageous stand, but in fairness, would he still be doing this without his upcoming movie? Perhaps. He seems like a moral kind of guy. Point: Cops die in shoot outs and such. This risk is part of their job. They signed up for this possibility when they joined the force and went through their training. Innocent victims, of police brutality and trigger-happy cops, did not.