Society's Child

Ecuadorian journalists reporting on escalating violence on border with Colombia kidnapped then murdered

teleSUR
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 15:53 UTC

© Reuters
People participate in a vigil for two Ecuadorean journalists and their driver in Quito, Ecuador April 13, 2018. The sign reads, "You don't kill the truth by killing journalists".

Journalist Javier Ortega, photographer Paul Rivas, and driver Efrain Segarra were kidnapped and killed by the Oliver Sinisterra Front.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) accepted a request from the Colombian and Ecuadorean authorities to recover the bodies of the team of journalists kidnapped and murdered by a criminal group operating on the border between the two countries.

The ICRC "confirms it received a petition from Ecuadorean and Colombian authorities, as well as from the families and the group led by Guacho, to recover the bodies of the two Ecuadorean journalists and the driver held against their will since March 26," the committee said in a press release Friday.

Comment: See also:

Over 350K Catalan independence supporters flood Barcelona streets calling for release of political prisoners

teleSUR
Sun, 15 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC

The march was called by a platform set up in March to "defend Catalan institutions" and "the rights and fundamental freedoms" of its citizens.

Hundreds of thousands of Catalan independence supporters flooded the streets of Barcelona Sunday calling for the release of jailed separatist leaders after a supreme court ruling frustrated their latest attempt to elect a regional leader.

Around 350,000 demonstrators clogged several main city arteries waving flags and wearing yellow in support of separatist leaders jailed for their role in the region's banned drive to split from Spain last year.

Comment: See:

Perception management: US, UK & France want after-the-fact endorsement from UN for illegal Syria air strikes

RT
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 15:44 UTC

© Eduardo Munoz / Reuters
UK envoy Karen Pierce, French envoy Francois Delattre and US envoy Nikki Haley before the UN Security Council meeting on Syria, April 13, 2018.

Having set themselves above international law by bombing Syria without UN authorization, the US, the UK and France are now going calling on other countries to unite behind their fait accompli and endorse their actions.

American, British and French ships and airplanes fired over 100 missiles at Syria Saturday morning, claiming it was in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb of Douma. The three countries did not wait for UN authorization, or even for evidence from the scene: the international team of experts from the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had just arrived in Syria to investigate when the missiles began to fly.

As US President Donald Trump triumphantly declared "mission accomplished," his French colleague Emmanuel Macron called for the UN Security Council to step in and pick up the pieces.

"It is now for the UN Security Council to unite and take initiative on the political, chemical and humanitarian questions in Syria," the French presidency said in a statement after Macron's teleconference with Trump and British PM Theresa May on Saturday.

Poll: Nearly 90% of Russians find no need to participate in protests

RT
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 15:45 UTC

© Alexandr Kryazhev / Sputnik
Participants in a spontaneous rally in memory of those killed in a fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping mall, in front of the Kemerovo administration building on Sovetov Square.

Almost 90 percent of Russians say they don't want to take part in protests, and three quarters of respondents claim they don't expect others to demonstrate either, according to the latest research by an independent agency.

In a poll conducted by the Levada sociological service in late March, 86 percent of respondents said that, regardless of their opinions, they were highly unlikely to participate in street protests. It represents an increase from the 81 percent who expressed this opinion last December. Only 8 percent of Russians told researchers that they were ready to protest - down from 13 percent last year.

When respondents were asked if they thought street protests over living standards were likely in the near future, 75 percent said they were not. Just 17 percent thought such demonstrations were likely. In the corresponding poll last December, these figures were 70 and 23 percent, respectively.

Canadian govt. worried public debate could undermine overall support for immigration

Teresa Wright
National Post
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 15:28 UTC

© Jean Levac / Postmedia
C.D. Howe building at 235 Queen St building in Ottawa, March 29, 2018. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is inside.

Internal department data suggests just over 50 per cent of Canadians believed the number of immigrants who come to Canada every year is 'about right'

The federal government has been warned to take a cautious approach to publicly debating immigration over fears of reaching a "tipping point" that could undermine public support for welcoming immigrants.

Internal data prepared by the Immigration Department for a committee of deputy ministers suggests a majority of Canadians supports current immigration levels, but this support drops when they are informed of how many immigrants actually arrive every year.

"Public support (often aided by a diversity of prominent stakeholders) in indispensable," the department told the co-ordinating committee of deputy ministers during a meeting in April 2017 to discuss immigrant outcomes.

"But there could be a tipping point that, once reached, undermines the history of relative Canadian consensus."

Comment: So the Canadian government feels it needs to 'manage' the debate around immigration. Sounds an awful lot like trying to sneak a potentially unpopular policy past its citizens.

More American restaurants are going strictly cashless

Zlati Meyer
USA Today
Sun, 15 Apr 2018 15:21 UTC

If you're craving the Serrano Grilled Shrimp Bowl at the Tender Greens salad chain, don't bother bringing cash.

Tender Greens, with 28 restaurants on the East and West coasts, is one of a growing number of eateries that are either shunning cash and only accepting credit and debit cards and contactless payment systems, like Apple Pay, or experimenting with the strategy.

While no one has kept a running count of restaurants adopting the cashless policy, interest is clearly rising. A 2016 Federal Reserve study found the number of non-cash payments - including credit and debit cards - totaled 144 billion in 2015, having grown 5.3% annually between 2012 and 2015

Sweetgreen, another salad chain on the coasts and part of the Midwest, and some independent restaurants have adopted the same policy. Two national chains are exploring it.

Pang of conscience: MSNBC host Chris Hayes tells truth about Gaza protests (VIDEO)

Jimmy Dore
Information Clearinghouse
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC

"Israeli troops shot more than 750 Palestinians, killing at least 15"

Comment: How horrible that broadcasts like this one from MSNBC have to be pointed out as good or exceptional - when objective coverage of State-sponsored atrocities should be the rule among journos. But propagating wholesale lies is just how corporate mainstream media rolls now, and and an all-too-large percentage of the population still swallows the poison.

Saudi Arabia to send evacuated Syrian militants to Yemen

Sputnik
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 14:39 UTC

The Russian Defense Ministry has reported that a total of 170,152 people, including 63,117 militants and their relatives, had been evacuated from the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta during a large-scale humanitarian operation in the area.

500 Jaysh al-Islam militants who were earlier evacuated from Eastern Ghouta, plan to go to Yemen, according to the pan-Arabic satellite television channel Al Mayadeen.

It cited its own source as saying that the terrorists first intend to illegally arrive in Saudi Arabia, from where they will try to enter Yemen.

Amazon employees pee into bottles out of fear of being punished for taking bathroom breaks

RT
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 12:00 UTC

Amazon may be owned by the world's richest man, but some employees at the company pee into bottles to avoid missing their targets by going to the toilet, says an author who went undercover at the firm's UK warehouse.

According to James Bloodworth, who applied for a job at Amazon's warehouses in Staffordshire to complete his book on low wages in the UK, the workers "picking" products for delivery do not go to toilet, as it is too far away.

"For those of us who worked on the top floor, the closest toilets were down four flights of stairs. People just peed in bottles because they lived in fear of being disciplined over 'idle time' and losing their jobs just because they needed the loo,"Bloodworth said, as quoted by the Sun.

The e-commerce giant traditionally boasts of having its pick-and-package services done exceptionally fast. To stay in line with declared objectives, Amazon imposes strictly timed breaks and targets for its fulfilment center staff. The company reportedly issues warning points for those who don't meet their goals or take prolonged breaks.

Not in my name: List of emergency No War with Syria protests in the US

Anti-Media
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 14:14 UTC

Below is a list of local emergency actions compiled by Women's March on the Pentagon in response to US military aggression on Syria. If you are planning or attending an action that is not listed below, please email us to submit your event. US wars of aggression must end now! Click on the location to find the Facebook event pages for each action.

Comment: Did Trump just make a big mistake by finally unifying the American people against him on the one issue we are all in agreement?

Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya...

rs1

I'm sick of the unjabbed being called "unclean", even when done sarcastically. We are the pristine, uncontaminated ones. The jabbed are...

Steelj

The process of indoctrination was alarmingly simple: first, terrify them out of their wits and then offer just one solution. And unbelievably...

ReRan

while gyms will no longer have to limit treadmill speeds, ban playing music with high beats per minute during group exercises Limit treadmill...

Christian83

Well they got away with it last time so now, it'll be the norm

ScottyFishman

Society's Child

Ecuadorian journalists reporting on escalating violence on border with Colombia kidnapped then murdered

Over 350K Catalan independence supporters flood Barcelona streets calling for release of political prisoners

Perception management: US, UK & France want after-the-fact endorsement from UN for illegal Syria air strikes

Poll: Nearly 90% of Russians find no need to participate in protests

Canadian govt. worried public debate could undermine overall support for immigration

More American restaurants are going strictly cashless

Pang of conscience: MSNBC host Chris Hayes tells truth about Gaza protests (VIDEO)

Saudi Arabia to send evacuated Syrian militants to Yemen

Amazon employees pee into bottles out of fear of being punished for taking bathroom breaks

Not in my name: List of emergency No War with Syria protests in the US

Latest News

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

Recent Comments

Quantum Quirk

Contact Us