Society's ChildS


Newspaper

"As above, so below": Miss Israel muscled her way into Miss Lebanon's selfie

Saly Greige
© AFP Photo/Anwar AmroSaly Greige waving after being crowned Miss Lebanon 2014, on October 5, 2014. She is now in trouble for appearing in "selfie" photo with Miss Israel
Miss Universe contestants are keen to proclaim their desire for world peace, but this year's Miss Lebanon has declared war after claiming Miss Israel muscled in uninvited during a group "selfie."


Comment: This is blaming the victim. It was Miss Israel who muscled her way into the picture, uninvited, and she should be called out for violating Greige's privacy, for unprofessional behavior, and a total lack of manners.


Saly Greige took to her Facebook page to declare that Israel's Doron Matalon had pushed her way into a now widely-circulated photo showing the Middle Eastern beauties with Miss Japan and Miss Slovenia.

"Since the first day of my arrival to participate to Miss Universe, I was very cautious to avoid being in any photo or communication with Miss Israel (that tried several times to have a photo with me)," Greige wrote in English on her page.

"I was having a photo with Miss Japan, Miss Slovenia and myself, suddenly Miss Israel jumped in, took a selfie, and put it on her social media."

Eye 1

Not just France: Islamophobia on the rise in British schools

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© AFP/Getty ImagesTeachers unions and anti-racism said they have recorded an increase in Islamophobic incidents in schools with Muslim pupils in British schools increasingly likely to be taunted as “terrorists”, “paedophiles” or “immigrants”
Muslim pupils across Britain are suffering a backlash of bullying and abuse following the Charlie Hebdo massacre amid a broad rise in Islamophobia in schools which the Government is failing to tackle, campaigners have told The Independent.

The sole UK charity monitoring anti-Muslim hate crime said it had recorded a "significant" increase in incidents in schools in the wake of the killings in Paris with both parents and teachers reporting verbal and physical attacks against Muslim students.

In one case, a teenage Muslim pupil at a school in Oxfordshire was this week allegedly slapped and called a "terrorist" by classmates after a teacher raised the murders of 12 people at the French magazine in a classroom discussion and suggested Muslims should be "challenged" by the display of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The boy told his parents he did not wish to return to school.

Comment: 'Never again' is happening again. These are the signs. See also:


Handcuffs

Civilian shoots cop: The aftermath of no-knock SWAT raids

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© shutterstock
The careless use of SWAT teams in no-knock drug raids - when heavily armed police burst into a home without warning - has resulted in a long list of innocent people being killed or seriously injured in the United States. 2014 alone found SWAT teams in Georgia senselessly killing businessman David Hooks and maiming toddler Bounkham "Baby Boo Boo" Phonesavanh. And when those raids victimize people who aren't even selling drugs, narcotics officers seldom face criminal charges and are given every benefit of the doubt. But if, on the other hand, Americans shoot narcotics officers during militarized drug raids - perhaps believing that they are being robbed and are acting in self-defense - charges of first-degree murder are likely. The case of Marvin Louis Guy in Texas is a glaring example.

Comment: Unfortunately for Mr. Guy, it is unlikely that there will be justice in this case. Meanwhile egregious, no-knock SWAT raids will continue in the government and police's mad quest for absolute power and control


Bizarro Earth

North Dakota pipeline leaked 3 million gallons of brine in oil drilling

Cleanup is underway after nearly 3 million gallons of brine, a salty, toxic byproduct of oil and natural gas production, leaked from a pipeline in western North Dakota, the largest spill of its kind in the state since the current energy boom began.

The full environmental impact of the spill, which contaminated two creeks, might not be clear for months. Some previous saltwater spills have taken years to clean up. A contractor hired by the pipeline operator will be on site Thursday, assessing the damage.

Operator Summit Midstream Partners LLC detected the pipeline spill on Jan. 6, about 15 miles north of Williston and informed North Dakota officials then. State health officials on Wednesday said they weren't given a full account of the size until Tuesday.

Smoking

City of New Orleans passes draconian fascist smoking ban

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© Rauluminate
Update: Amendments added to the ordinance slightly changed the final ban to not effect parks or outdoor shopping malls, according to the Times-Picayune. Fines will also begin at $50. A previous version of this story said fines began at $100.

New Orleans passed a far-reaching smoking ban on Thursday that prohibits lighting up in bars, casinos, private clubs - even in the car while waiting in line at a drive-thru.

Claiming there is no "constitutional right" to smoke, the New Orleans City Council unanimously voted to outlaw smoking and electronic cigarettes in indoor and outdoor public places.

The ordinance, which goes into effect in 90 days, applies to bars, casinos, parks, private clubs, any business establishment, recreational areas, sports arenas, theaters, and a host of other places.

"[T]here is no legal or constitutional 'right to smoke,'" the ordinance said. "Business owners have no legal or constitutional right to expose their employees and customers to the toxic chemicals in secondhand smoke. On the contrary, employers have a common law duty to provide their workers with a workplace that is not unreasonably dangerous."

The ordinance was coauthored by Democratic councilmembers LaToya Cantrell, a former "community organizer," and Susan Guidry.

The smoking ban carries $50 fines for a person who smokes a cigarette, natural or synthetic marijuana, or e-cigarettes in "public places."

Public places include aquariums, laundromats, parking structures, trailer parks, condos, restaurants, shopping malls, outdoor stadiums and amphitheaters, libraries, theaters, lobbies, and more.

Comment: This is completely fascist. It's sad to see another city following the Nazi model; Hitler was also a vehement anti-smoker. Smoking is not bad for you - keep those neurons firing:



Handcuffs

Woman thrown in jail for having an addiction while pregnant

Supporters of a new law criminalizing drug use during pregnancy say it's supposed to get women treatment. Then why is this woman going to jail?

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Last year, Tennessee became the first state to define drug use during pregnancy as a crime. Women whose newborns test positive for narcotic drugs can be charged with assault and punished with up to 15 years of prison.

When critics of the measure -- which included everyone from addiction counselors to doctors to Obama's drug czar -- pointed out that terrorizing pregnant addicts with the threat of prison would not be helpful in the treatment of their condition, supporters shot back that they didn't want to put women in jail; the law would merely allow prosecutors to help push women into rehab.

Comment: It's unfortunate that there are few, if any viable services that truly support those suffering from addiction. The lack of understanding surrounding addiction unfortunately often exacerbates the problem. The article below explains how social connection can play a role in helping many overcome it:

Addiction rooted more in social isolation than chemical dependency


Eye 1

New Illinois law allows school officials to demand access to students' Facebook passwords

Facebook page
© Adrian Wyld/Canadian PressTechnically Incorrect: Conceived to combat cyberbullying, a new law in Illinois may result in schools demanding social media passwords, even if the posting was not done at school or on school computers.
Illinois can't seem to decide whether it's the home of midwestern gentlefolk or of the most draconian humans this side of Moscow.

One of the state's newest laws, for example, may have goodness at its heart. However, it may have something else in various of its extremities.

The law, which went into effect on January 1, is designed to curb cyberbullying, but it also could encourage schools to pry into students' personal lives.

KTVI-TV reported that the law was already making some parents deeply uncomfortable. That's because one of its stipulations is troubling.

Comment: This is America. Basic rights are fading fast.


Eye 2

Man arrested after forcing woman to sign "slave contract" and torturing her

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© Lincoln Police DepartmentNicholas Allen Talbot
A former sex offender has been taken into custody after Nebraska police discovered he had forced a woman in a long-term abusive relationship with him to sign a 'slave contract,' the Journal-Star reports.

Nicholas Allen Talbot, 35, was charged with second-degree domestic assault, after the unidentified woman showed injuries she had sustained to her pastor who contacted police authorities.

"They were horrific," said the Rev. Kathy Gouin of the Lincoln Foursquare Church.

According to authorities, Talbot forced the 32-year-old woman to sign what he said was a legal document titled "Slave Contract" on Jan. 15.

In an affidavit, Lincoln Police Officer Angela Morehouse said that document stated the woman "only had rights the master gave her."

The affidavit states that Talbot whipped the woman, burned her with cigarettes, and forced her to drink his urine several times a day.

Police discovered burn marks on the woman's spine, buttocks, and one breast where the woman said Talbot used a heated screwdriver.

According to Morehouse, the woman had "PROPERTY OF NICK" written on her left arm in black marker.

The woman explained to investigators that Talbot had been abusing her nearly 10 years, but she had been afraid to go the police because she had been led to believe they were part of Talbot's "company" or "gang," Morehouse said.

The woman stated that he had threatened to have her parents and grandmother killed in front of her if she didn't obey him.

The Rev. Gouin said she has known the woman for approximately one year and described her as "very sweet and innocent' and "vulnerable."

"She's very innocent and believes people," Gouin said.

Talbot previously served three years in prison for sexually assaulting a child twice in 1998, and is being held in jail pending bail.

Sheeple

Chris Kyle vs. Casey Sheehan - The U.S. glorifies murderers while frowning upon the real heroes who refuse to kill

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Casey and his Mom
"I only wish I had killed more." Navy Seal and American Shame (Sniper), Chris Kyle
"I can't kill anyone." US working-class soldier before his short deployment to Iraq, Casey Sheehan
This is something that I don't want to revisit - I never want to relive the worst experience of my life. However, with the 11th anniversary of my son's death in Iraq on 04/04/04 approaching and the new "blockbuster" infecting movie screens around the world, I really must get this off of my chest.

Most citizens of this nation are without a doubt addicted to wars and war "heroes" without stopping for more than a few cursory seconds to count the costs or evaluate the propaganda. I despair that a movie like American Sniper grossed over 105 million at the box office over the weekend where we are supposed to be commemorating the birth of a man of peace, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Everything in American Sniper is taken for fact when the author and focus Chris Kyle already had been proven to have been a blowhard and a liar, when the facts and political motivations ofSelma are being questioned.

As is the US addicted to its wars, it is also addicted to lying about them and I know this because I have my own case about Casey for proof. We got the news about Casey about 14 hours or so after his detail had been ambushed in Iraq. After I lie on the floor screaming for I don't know how long, the three emissaries of death couldn't really tell us much except that he was Killed In Action (KIA) - I still can't see a KIA brand car without my heart sinking.

Comment: It truly is a sad state of affairs in the U.S. when a psychopathic killer is lauded as a hero. It's hard not to see things the way Cindy does, and know that she is more than likely correct. See also:


Newspaper

Seven kids removed from Arkansas family's home over use of bogus 'miracle' cure

Arkansas stanley children
© FacebookStanley children
Authorities removed seven homeschooled children from an Arkansas "prepper" family during a search for a bogus "miracle" cure their father uses.

State troopers and Garland County authorities executed a search warrant Jan. 12 at the home of Hal and Michelle Stanley, and their school-age children were taken by ambulance for a medical examination after officers found containers marked "MMS."