Society's ChildS


Pirates

Rights groups: Saudi regime targeted Yemeni civilians with British cruise missiles


Press TV
Wed, 25 Nov 2015 08:59 UTC
missile shell
© www.theguardian.comSaudi Arabia air strike in Yemen using UK weapons. Remnants of the UK-made PGM-500 missile from the site of a Saudi attack on a Yemeni factory near the capital city Sana’a on September 23, 2015 (Amnesty International)
Saudi Arabia used British-made cruise missiles during an attack on a civilian Yemeni factory, say Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

According to a report published by the human rights groups on Wednesday, remains of PGM-500 missiles, manufactured by the UK firm Marconi Dynamics, were found in the rubble of a factory that was targeted near the capital Sana'a in September.
"The attack on the factory in the Sana'a governorate, which appeared to be producing only civilian goods, killed one person, and was in apparent violation of international humanitarian law," read a Human Rights Watch statement.

Comment: There is no law, apparently humanitarian or otherwise. What is being protected?

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Pistol

Out of fear: Armed US vigilantes patrol borders to keep ISIL out


Sputnik
Wed, 25 Nov 2015 21:18 UTC
Image
© Flickr/ khowaga
Heavily armed US citizens are voluntarily patrolling the country's borders in an attempt to "keep ISIL out," led by a man who started such vigils after blaming Mexicans for him losing his job.

Tim "Nailer" Foley, 56, is simply terrified of immigrants. He leads a band of men (with nothing better to do?) who call themselves the Arizona Border Recon. They've been dressing up in military garb and playing Border Patrol to make sure nobody crosses the border from Mexico.

Foley lost his construction job several years ago, leading to a foreclosure on his home, and his situation was made worse by a divorce. He blamed Mexican immigrants for the loss of his job so he began patrolling the borders.

Comment: Here we have a disgruntled American taking out his anger on immigrants and using fear to justify his actions. Nothing good will be accomplished.

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Cow Skull

Rampant, pervasive, violent Islamophobia rears its ugly head all over the place

Tom McKay
Mic
Sat, 21 Nov 2015 00:00 UTC
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Islamophobia around the globe has grown significantly since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York CIty, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. Just one week after a terrorist attack in Paris killed at least 130 people and wounded over 350 others, a massacre which the Islamic State group has since claimed credit for, that trend shows no signs of slowing down.

Despite the fact that extremists willing to kill hundreds of innocent people do not speak for Islam any more than the Ku Klux Klan speaks for all Christians, a worrying spare of incidents in the West shows many are responding to the Paris incident with bigotry and fear towards innocent Muslims.

In the two days following the attack, the National Post reports 16 mosques across France were "attacked by firebombs, gunshots or pig heads — a major insult to Muslims who don't eat pork." U.S. politicians and commentators — many of whom insist they are not Islamophobic — have responded with a deluge of mean-spirited comments and calls for the U.S. to turn away Muslim refugees fleeing conflict zones in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Comment: And, sadly, we can only expect worse things to happen.

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Quenelle - Golden

US anthropological association backs boycott of Israel in landslide vote

Ali Abunimah
The Electronic Intifida
Mon, 23 Nov 2015 00:00 UTC
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Members of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) have overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution backing the Palestinian call for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

The measure passed at the association's annual meeting in Denver on Friday by 1,040 votes in favor to 136 against.

It must now be ratified in a referendum of the association's entire membership of 10,000 in April.

A second resolution condemning the Palestinian-led movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) on Israel was crushed 1,173 to 196.

Comment: If the Israeli government and institutions weren't so Psychopathic and so far on the road to self-destruction, it would have been nice to see the world's voices of conscience compel Israel to change its ways. But those are, of course, very big ifs.

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Pistol

Culture of violence: Why American cops kill so many compared to those in Europe

Paul Hirschfield
The Conversation
Wed, 25 Nov 2015 16:05 UTC
NYC police
© Andrew Kelly/REUTERS NYC police prepare for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, 2015. Andrew Kelly/REUTERS
Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first degree murder November 24 in the death of Laquan McDonald. A video released by police shows Van Dyke shooting the teenager 16 times.

Van Dyke is an extreme example of a pattern of unnecessary deadly force used by US police. American police kill a few people each day, making them far more deadly than police in Europe.

Historic rates of fatal police shootings in Europe suggest that American police in 2014 were 18 times more lethal than Danish police and 100 times more lethal than Finnish police, plus they killed significantly more frequently than police in France, Sweden and other European countries.

As a scholar of sociology and criminal justice, I recently set out to understand why rates of police lethality in the US are so much higher than rates in Europe.

Comment: One additional reason that American police are far more violent is that the entire culture has succumbed to the process of ponerization. The U.S. has a history of inflicting its brutality around the globe and the mindset of those in power who have promulgated this savagery has infected the entire 'justice' system.

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Blackbox

Why did the Russians wait to acknowledge the destruction of Metrojet A321 was a terrorist action?

Katehon
Fort Russ
Mon, 23 Nov 2015 16:28 UTC
Russian Metrojet A321 crash
© Sputnik/ Rafael DaminovDebris from the Russian Metroject A321 that crashed over the Sinai peninsula on Oct 31st, 2015
On October 31st, 2015, the Russian airplane of the Kogalymavia company disappeared over Sinai. The catastrophe killed about 224 people, almost all of them were Russian citizens. Without delay, the media announced that the most probable cause was a terrorist attack. The same day, an affiliated group of ISIS, Wilayat Sinai, took responsibility for the plane crash. This version of events had been denied by Russian authorities for two weeks. The main argument was that the investigation was incomplete, and therefore that it was too early to announce the causes of the incident. The fact that Dmitry Peskov, the press spokesman for the President of Russia, as well as other minor politicians, were charged with the task, while Putin kept silent on the causes of the event, added even more fuel in the fire. It is significant that the president himself (excluding written statements prepared by the Office) offered his condolences to the relatives of victims only on the third day after the explosion. There was a feeling that the Russian authorities clearly knew much more than they were able to say.

On November 6th, at the request of Alexander Bortnikov, the Director of the FSB, the President of Russia banned all flights to Egypt. During this time, the preliminary decoding results of the black boxes must be obtained, and the investigation of the wreckage must be performed. The decision is indirect evidence that the Russian authorities knew that the terrorist attack theory was the most likely one. But it would take almost two weeks for them to officially recognize it.

So, after the monstrous terrorist attack in Paris, and following the G20 summit on November 17th, the FSB officially recognized the cause of the crash as a terrorist attack. The Russian President promised to punish all involved parties, wherever they may be. Russia increased its bombing of terrorists in Syria using air force bombers and the Navy. What was the reason for such a long period of silence from Russia on the real cause of the crash? The subject demands more information.

Comment: Of course there is evidence of an alternative explanation as to how the plane was brought down, but being unable to reveal that cause it makes the most sense to go with the 'terrorist attack' narrative after Paris in order to create broader anti-ISIS sentiment.

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Green Light

Iran and Russia: 1.2B euro rail deal signed


Press TV
Wed, 25 Nov 2015 11:32 UTC
train bridge
© m.dw.comThe deal envisage electrifying 495 kilometers of railway in northern Iran.
Iran and Russia have signed an agreement worth $1.2B euros to electrify a train line, linking north-central Iran to the northeastern border with Turkmenistan, an official says. The agreement signed between Russian Railways and the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (RAI) envisages constructing power stations and overhead power lines along the Garmsar-Sari-Gorgan-Inche Burun route in Iran.

"The implementation of the contract will improve the capacity of passenger trains and raise transit to 8 million tons," said RAI Managing Director Mohsen Poursaeed-Aqaei who signed the document. The train line, among the first in Iran with a history of 80 years, extends to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan and links the Central Asia to the Persian Gulf and beyond.

The project will be financed by the Russian government and will be implemented in 36 months, which includes manufacturing all electric locomotives inside Iran, electrifying 495 kilometers of railway and building 32 stations and 95 tunnels.

"With the implementation of this contract, besides the electrification of the line, tunnels on the way will be enlarged, enabling Russian and other transit wagons to ply conveniently on it," Poursaeed-Aqaei said. "Overall, we will witness the establishment of an electrified and modern train line in the country's north," he added.

The signing came as President Vladimir Putin visited Tehran on Monday to attend a summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).

Comment: This is what friendly countries do. Some countries need to take lessons.

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People

Turkish embassy in Moscow pelted as angry crowds protest Su-24 downing


RT
Wed, 25 Nov 2015 15:28 UTC
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© Evgeny Odinokov / Sputnik Protesters gather near Turkish Embassy in Moscow.
The Turkish embassy in Moscow was pelted with various objects on Wednesday in a furious protest over the downing of the Russian bomber over Syria. Numerous images and videos on social media show broken glass and stained walls.

Several police cordons are seen in images near the embassy. Users on social media wrote that law enforcers have been trying to shield the entrances to the building from protesters.
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Fire

Payback? 5 reported injured after gas explosions rock Ankara's industrial zone


RT
Wed, 25 Nov 2015 15:18 UTC
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© Umit Bektas / ReutersFILE PHOTO: Police officers stand guard in Ankara, Turkey
Multiple explosions have been heard in Turkish capital Ankara, causing panic and prompting police to investigate the matter. It has been revealed that gas explosions took place at the city's Ozpetek Industrial Complex, the local media reported.

There are reports of 5 people being injured as result of the incident, which occurred at 12:20pm local time, according to Turkish website T24.
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V

Protests erupt as Chicago police release video in Laquan McDonald shooting


RT
Wed, 25 Nov 2015 01:04 UTC
Image
© Screenshot via Youtube/DNAinfo Chicago
The Chicago Police Department has released video footage of the officer-involved shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was struck 16 times during a confrontation with officers.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel urged calm as City Hall got set to release police dash cam footage from the shooting incident, which occurred in October 2014. During the incident, 37-year-old Jason Van Dyke, a white officer, shot and killed McDonald, an African-American teen.

Warning: The footage has been described as graphic.


From the black and white dash cam video, which features no audio, viewers can see the back of McDonald jaywalking along the middle of the road at 5:18, with his arm outstretched and holding a small knife. A police vehicle is seen approaching him to the left of the screen, and two officers get out with guns drawn.

As McDonald moves away from the officers, his body becomes the only one in the video frame. He can then be seen twisting around and falling to the ground. A puff of smoke lifts from his body as a bullet appears to strike. Without audio, there is no way of knowing what, if anything, was said. There is no way of knowing how many shots were fired simply from viewing the video. McDonald appears to move his arms several times.

At 5:45, another puff of smoke is seen leaving his body. At 5.51, a police officer comes into the frame to kick the knife out of McDonald's hand. Another police vehicle drives up and at this point, because of the vehicle lights, what appear to be pools of water around the body, possibly blood, can be seen. Prosecutors said Officer Jason Van Dyke opened fire from about 15 feet and kept shooting after the teen fell to the ground.

Comment: Considering how many times Van Dyke shot this man, the 'I feared for my life' defense is complete nonsense. The City didn't charge this officer because he executed a man 15 feet away that was no actual threat. They filed charges to minimize the backlash and anger from a community that has EVERY right to protest how they are being treating. Cops have been getting away with state sanctioned terrorism for far too long. March on Chicago!

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