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Poll shows Russian public thinks USA is country's number one enemy


RT
Wed, 15 Oct 2014 22:02 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti / Iliya Pitalev
U.S. Embassy in Moscow
The overwhelming majority of Russians think the US is their main enemy, and more than half name China as Russia's main friend, a recent poll shows.

According to the research conducted by the influential Russian VTSIOM center, the number of Russians who think that USA is their country's main foe grew from 25 percent in 2008 to 73 percent currently. Ukraine ranked second with 32 percent, compared to 21 percent in 2008.

Other countries Russians perceive as hostile are Germany and European Union in general, 10percent, Great Britain 9 percent, Poland 6 percent, Canada 3 percent and France 3 percent.

Sociologists said that Russian people's opinion on the subject had become firmer, the share of undecided fell from 44 percent in 2008 to just 15 percent today.

As for friendly countries, 51 percent of Russians see China as their main geopolitical ally, double the 23 percent in 2008. Belarus was second with 32 percent and Kazakhstan third with 20 percent.

India, Argentina and Brazil were also put in the "friends" list. Researchers saw a sharp change in Russians' attitude to Germany, only 1 percent of those responding see it as Russia's friend and ally, compared to 17 percent in 2008.

The poll was conducted in late September in 130 cities and villages in 42 Russian regions.
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Arrow Down

US government spends more at elite private universities than at public universities

Robert Reich
robertreich.org
Mon, 13 Oct 2014 20:54 UTC
Princeton University Alexander
© Wikimedia Commons
Princeton University Alexander
Imagine a system of college education supported by high and growing government spending on elite private universities that mainly educate children of the wealthy and upper-middle class, and low and declining government spending on public universities that educate large numbers of children from the working class and the poor.

You can stop imagining. That's the American system right now.

Government subsidies to elite private universities take the form of tax deductions for people who make charitable contributions to them. In economic terms a tax deduction is the same as government spending. It has to be made up by other taxpayers.

These tax subsidies are on the rise because in recent years a relatively few very rich people have had far more money than they can possibly spend or even give away to their children. So they're donating it to causes they believe in, such as the elite private universities that educated them or that they want their children to attend.

Private university endowments are now around $550 billion, centered in a handful of prestigious institutions. Harvard's endowment is over $32 billion, followed by Yale at $20.8 billion, Stanford at $18.6 billion, and Princeton at $18.2 billion.

Each of these endowments increased last year by more than $1 billion, and these universities are actively seeking additional support. Last year Harvard launched a capital campaign for another $6.5 billion.

Because of the charitable tax deduction, the amount of government subsidy to these institutions in the form of tax deductions is about one out of every three dollars contributed.
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Handcuffs

Five teens charged after pranking autistic teen with ice bucket challenge using urine and tobacco spit

Travis Gettys
Raw Story
Wed, 15 Oct 2014 19:44 UTC
Image
Five teens have been charged in connection with a disgusting prank pulled on an autistic classmate who thought he was participating in the "ice bucket challenge."

The teen's mother found video on her son's cell phone that showed classmates dumping a bucket of urine, tobacco spit, and water onto the 15-year-old boy's head.

The Bay Village, Ohio, boy believed he was taking part in a viral stunt intended to raise money and awareness for the ALS Foundation.

Three of the teens were charged with two counts of delinquency, assault, and disorderly conduct, and they were ordered to turn themselves in to police.

Two other teens were charged with one count each of disorderly conduct. All of the teens, who are between 14 and 16 years old, were charged as juveniles.

The incident took place Aug. 18, and the boy's mother reported it to police Sept. 3 after finding the video evidence.
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Heart - Black

Mother furious after store manager demands disabled son stay in hot car

Scott Kaufman
Raw Story
Wed, 15 Oct 2014 19:35 UTC
Image
© WDSU
A women from Lafitte, Louisiana is furious with the manager of a dollar store after he told her to leave her disabled son in a hot car, WDSU reports.

Jessica Margiotta claims that she was at the Family Dollar in Marrero, Louisiana buying diapers over the weekend with her infant daughter and disabled three-year-old son. She was carrying her daughter and wheeling her son, who has a muscle deficiency that renders it difficult for him to walk, in a stroller.

A store employee allegedly approached her and told her that strollers are "against store policy." When she complained, the manager told her she could leave the stroller at the front of the store and carry her two children, or she could put her disabled son in the car and shop without him.

The high temperature in Marrero over the weekend was 90 °F, meaning that after only ten minutes, the temperature in the car could have reached 109 °F.
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Eye 2

High school football player out on bail on rape charges still allowed to remain on team

David Ferguson
Raw Story
Wed, 15 Oct 2014 19:26 UTC
Image

Tyler Smith
An 18-year-old high school senior in Hoquiam, Washington has been charged with the rape of two female students, but the school has refused to suspend him from the football team while he is out on bail.

According to KOMO News, Tyler Smith has been charged by prosecutors in two separate rape investigations. Now, parents of students at Hoquiam High School are angry that school officials are allowing Smith to continue to play defensive tackle for the Hoquiam Grizzlies in his senior season.

Officials like Hoquiam School District Superintendent Mike Parker say they are "sickened" by the allegations against Smith, but until he is convicted, he should have the benefit of playing for his school.

"We felt that he's innocent until proven guilty," Parker told KOMO. "As bad as the crime might be, as repulsive as the crime might be, we're trusting that the court system will sort that out for us."
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Bad Guys

Police brutality U.S.: LA cops at it again, snatch and shake baby, beat, taze and arrest father

Alissa Kokkins
TheAntiMedia
Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:11 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Another victim of police brutality: Brandon Dawson, 26, father and dental assistant.
Around the block from where Ezell Ford was killed by LAPD, officers from the Newton Division stopped, Brandon Dawson, 26, on Sunday evening. Dawson had just finished his shift as a dental assistant and was picking up his seven-month-old daughter from his grandmother's house. He was strapping the baby's carrier into the car when officers stopped Brandon asking why Brandon had parked in the private driveway. Brandon explained that there were no other spaces available and he had just pulled up to pick up his daughter. The police asked for no papers, and told Brandon to put his hands up as they snatched the father's baby. Soon after, Brandon would be tazered, beaten, and arrested by police on suspicion of assaulting a gang officer from the LAPD's Newton Division, according to Officer Lilliana Preciado. However, Officer Preciado claims not to have any details regarding what led to the arrest.

An eyewitness on the scene that asked not to be identified or recorded due to police terrorizing members of low income communities that call for police accountability, watches the confrontation between Dawson and LAPD. A witness who says that after LAPD snatched the baby from Brandon's arms, an officer began violently shaking the seven-month-old back and forth as if they were intentionally trying to make the baby fly out of the carrier.

Comment: Where are the successful and rich members of the black community (if one can call it that)? Why don't they speak out?
What our young people are also upset about is that they understand that too many of our black middle class brothers and sisters have been 'reniggerised'. All you've got to do is give big positions, give them some status, give them a little money, but walking around they're still intimidated, they don't want to tell the truth about the situation.


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Evil Rays

Vast majority of U.S. hospitals not prepared to treat people with Ebola, and the story gets worse

Michael Snyder
End Of The American Dream
Mon, 13 Oct 2014 00:00 UTC
Image
© Unknown
If an epidemic of Ebola ever broke out in the U.S., the Nebraska Biocontainment Patient Care Unit would be only one of less than a handful of hospitals that would be adequately trained and equipped enough to deal with it. And for only small numbers of patients.
This Ebola outbreak is being called the "most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times", and the U.S. health care system is completely and totally unprepared for it. The truth is that most U.S. hospitals are simply not equipped to safely handle Ebola patients, and most hospital staff members have received little or no training on Ebola. And the fact that Barack Obama and our top public health officials are running around proclaiming that Ebola is "difficult to catch" is giving doctors and nurses a false sense of security. There is a reason why Ebola has been classified as a biosafety-level 4 (BSL-4) pathogen. It is an extraordinarily dangerous virus, and there are only a few facilities in the entire country that are set up to safely handle such a disease.

The Ebola patient that recently died in Dallas was the first to be cared for in a facility that did not follow biosafety-level 4 protocols. And so it should not be a surprise that this is the facility where transmission happened...
Of the six Ebola patients treated in the U.S. before the health worker's case, Duncan was the only one not treated at one of the specialized units in several hospitals around the country set up to deal with high-risk germs.

The CDC's director, Dr. Thomas Frieden, has said that any U.S. hospital with isolation capabilities can care for an Ebola patient. But his stance seemed to soften on Sunday, when asked at a news conference whether officials now would consider moving Ebola patients to specialized units.

"We're going to look at all opportunities to improve the level of safety and to minimize risk, but we can't let any hospital let its guard down," because Ebola patients could turn up anywhere, and every hospital must be able to quickly isolate and diagnose such cases, he said.

Comment: If you've gotten the impression from reading this article that we will see many more failures in the effort to treat and control the spread of Ebola (whether by incompetence or design, or both) you're not alone.

Some ways you can help yourself naturally, right away:

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Attention

Amid sanctions war, Russian economic policy authority recommends diverting energy flows to Asia

Denis Tichenkov
Russia Insider
Tue, 14 Oct 2014 00:00 UTC
putin chinese pipeline


Putin opening the Russian section of a Russian-Chinese pipeline
Russian elite opinion lining up behind full-scale pivot to China. Long term, Europe's economy will suffer while US benefits

Russia's leading economic policy making authority has released a report which urges Russia to divert energy flows to Asia, away from Europe where risks of a deflationary spiral and stagnation remain high.

Amid growing tensions with Europe over the US-initiated sanctions war, the growing consensus among Russian elites to develop markets in the east is likely to be painful for Europe, particularly for Germany.

According to the report, by the ministry of economic development, the world economic slowdown has hit bottom and a rebound is likely to take place in the next 3 years. World economic growth will increase from 3.3% in 2014 to 4.0% in 2017. China will be at the forefront (see graphic below). Russia may profit from the rebound if it develops strong ties with Asia; particularly China.
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Evil Rays

Netherlands is okay with 'No Surrender' biker gang fighting Islamic State jihadists


RawStory
Tue, 14 Oct 2014 19:00 UTC
Image
© AFP Photo/Olaf Kraak
Members of the No Surrender biker gang are fighting against Islamic State militants in northern Iraq
The Dutch public prosecutor said on Tuesday that motorbike gang members who have reportedly joined Kurds battling the Islamic State group in Iraq are not necessarily committing any crime.

"Joining a foreign armed force was previously punishable, now it's no longer forbidden," public prosecutor spokesman Wim de Bruin told AFP.

"You just can't join a fight against the Netherlands," he told AFP after reports emerged that Dutch bikers from the No Surrender gang were fighting IS insurgents alongside Kurds in northern Iraq.

The head of No Surrender, Klaas Otto, told state broadcaster NOS that three members who traveled to near Mosul in northern Iraq were from Dutch cities Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Breda.

A photograph on a Dutch-Kurdish Twitter account shows a tattooed Dutchman called Ron in military garb, holding a Kalashnikov assault rifle while sat with a Kurdish comrade.

Comment: Just can't imagine what could be going through these bikers' mind. Fighting terrorism with terrorism will not accomplish anything productive. Loosing their life for what exactly?

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Cult

Conservative and religious states in the U.S. more likely to search for Internet porn

Scott Kaufman
Raw Story
Mon, 13 Oct 2014 23:45 UTC
Image
© Shutterstock
Individuals in states with higher levels of religiosity and conservatism are more likely use the Internet to search for sexually explicit material, according to a study in the latest Archives of Sexual Behavior.

In "Do American States with More Religious or Conservative Populations Search More for Sexual Content on Google?," Canadian psychologists Gordon Hodson and Cara MacInnis correlated state-wide levels of both religiosity and conservatism with Google trends. Religiosity was defined by answers to a 2011 Gallup poll in which residents were asked to define how religious they were, while conservatism was determined by self-identification.

According to the study's abstract, the psychologists "observed moderate-to-large positive associations between: (1) greater proportions of state-level religiosity and general web searching for sexual content and (2) greater proportions of state-level conservatism and image-specific searching for sex."

While this means that "a greater preponderance of right-leaning ideologies is associated with greater preoccupation with sexual content in private Internet activity," the correlation may not necessarily be prurient on the part of social conservatives.
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