Society's ChildS


Bizarro Earth

Whales and dolphins in danger of highly toxic waste still lingering in UK waters

dead Dolphins UK
© Reuters
Whales and dolphins in British waters could face extinction because of the presence of toxic chemicals banned over three decades ago, environmental researchers have warned.

Data from the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CISP) published Friday showed blubber taken from whales and porpoises contains some of the highest levels of a man-made chemical called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB).

The chemical was used to make a range of materials including flame retardants, electrical equipment and paints, but were banned in 1981.

Now a study has shown that the large marine mammals are extremely vulnerable to the chemical because they are "top marine predators" high up the food chain.

The study's lead author, Dr Paul Jepson, from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), said: "Our findings show that, despite the ban and initial decline in environmental contamination, PCBs still persist at dangerously high levels in European cetaceans.

2 + 2 = 4

Teachers in Detroit protest crumbling, pest-ridden schools with 'sickout' strike

Colin Powell Academy run down scool
© Joshua Lott / ReutersColin Powell Academy in Detroit, Michigan, one of the many schools abandoned since 2009. Teachers at the remaining schools are complaining about deteriorating conditions.
Detroit, Michigan teachers have been calling in sick to protest working conditions, forcing a number of schools to close. Buildings are falling apart, while rats and roaches roam the hallways; teachers blame the state-appointed emergency manager.

Five schools were closed on Wednesday, down from 24 on Tuesday and 64 on Monday, due to teacher absences. Michigan law prohibits teacher strikes, with fines up to $5,000 a day for teachers involved, but a "sickout" is technically not a strike.

According to examples provided by the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT), one high school "is literally falling apart." A special education school has "infestations of rats, other rodents, roaches and bed bugs." At a preparatory academy, "pieces of the ceiling are falling on kids' heads," while one elementary school has "a classroom without power due to black mold in the wiring."

Comment: It's not only unfair to the teachers to force them to work in these types of conditions, but it's just plain wrong to force kids to attend a school where they have to worry about getting diseases from rodents or insects. Disgusting!


Info

12 feared dead in military helicopters collision off Oahu, Hawaii

Helicopter
The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for two Marine helicopters with 12 aboard that reportedly collided north of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

Coast Guard District 14 said two CH-53 helicopters, the Marine Corps' largest helicopter, collided shortly after midnight local time (3 a.m. Eastern). Emergency workers found debris including an empty life raft and fire on the water. Waves reaching 40 feet are hampering rescue efforts.

The aircrafts are from Kaneohe Bay U.S. Marine Corps Air Station with six people aboard each.

Handcuffs

UN chief Ban Ki-moon: Syria starvation is 'a war crime'

Ban Ki-moon
© AFPUnited Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
UN chief Ban Ki-moon says the use of food as a weapon against the Syrian people is a war crime amid reports of severe malnourishment in some besieged towns. Some 400,000 people in Syria are under siege as a foreign-backed insurgency is wreaking havoc across much of the country.

"Let me be clear: the use of starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime," Ban said on Thursday. "I would say they are being held hostage, but it is even worse. Hostages get fed." Ban's remarks came after humanitarian aid made its way into the town of Madaya in the southwest and Kefraya and al-Foua in Idlib Province which are besieged by militants.

The government recently agreed to facilitate the flow of relief aid into Madaya which is under the army siege. Fifty trucks carrying international aid supplies left Damascus for Madaya on Thursday. Another convoy of 44 humanitarian aid trucks entered the city on Monday.

While the city has come under the spotlight amid claims of starvation, there has been a virtual media blackout on the situation in Kefraya and al-Foua. Ban said, "In 2014, the UN and partners were able to deliver food to about 5 per cent of people in besieged areas. Today, we are reaching less than 1 per cent. This is utterly unconscionable."

Earlier, the Syrian government reiterated its commitment to cooperating fully with the UN and the Red Cross to deliver humanitarian aid to all civilians "without any discrimination." Last week, the Lebanese al-Manar TV said terrorist groups had hoarded aid packages for Madaya and sold it to the locals at inflated prices. Syria's Ambassador to the UN, Bashar al-Ja'afari, confirmed the report, saying aid delivered to Madaya had been looted by terrorist groups and sold to civilians.

Comment: It seems the UN picks and chooses its admonishments for human rights infractions/war crimes while letting others off the hook. Where is this guy with the ongoing atrocities perpetrated on the Palestinians, the bombing of hospitals by the US, the formation, funding and unleashing of proxy terrorists by the US/UK/Israel cabal? An example: He caved in to pressure from Israel and the United States and removed the Israeli military off an official list of serious violators of children's rights. The 557 children killed in occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2014 was the third highest after Iraq and Afghanistan. Was this not a war crime? The UN is just a tool in someone's pocket. Who is wearing that coat? Apparently those with leverage and undeserved impunity.


Quenelle

Wannabe Sultan Erdoğan lashes out against academics, Noam Chomsky hits back

Erdogan
© UnknownTurkey's President Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu lashed out at more than 2,000 scholars from Turkey and elsewhere, including renowned philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky, for signing an open letter, which called Ankara's ongoing operation against the Kurds a "deliberate and planned massacre."

The document, titled "We will not be a Party to This Crime," urges the Turkish government to end its operation in the areas populated by the Kurds and launch an inclusive and internationally monitored peace process. The letter was published on Monday.

A day later, Erdogan accused those who signed the documents of being "dark and ignorant." The Turkish president also invited foreign scholars to Turkey, so that they could see the operation with their own eyes. He specified that Chomsky could be "hosted" in the Kurdish regions.

Comment: Further reading: Wannabe Sultan Erdoğan and the Dark Side of the Late Ottoman Empire


Health

Russia launches humanitarian operation in Syria

Russian humanitarian aid in Syria.
© Andrey Stenin / Sputnik Unloading Russian EMERCOM plane with humanitarian aid which arrived to Latakia Airport in Syria.
The Russian military is maintaining logistics support for a humanitarian operation in Syria aimed to provide the civilian population with basic needs. International humanitarian missions have so far been providing aid to regions which remain under terrorist control. Although a number of non-governmental organizations have been providing humanitarian aid on Syrian territory, most of the supplies sent have ended up on territories controlled by terrorists.

"The extremists used most of that aid for the supply of [terrorist] gangs," Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy, chief of the main operations department of the Russian General Staff, said during a press briefing in Moscow. "On top of that, multiple [terrorist] attempts have been registered to deliver arms and munitions, and to evacuate wounded militants under the guise of humanitarian convoys," Rudskoy stressed. According to the general, these issues with the foreign aid sent so far have led to Russia taking the decision to launch a humanitarian operation of its own in Syria.

A Syrian Ilyushin Il-76 jumbo jet has already delivered the first batch of humanitarian aid to the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, Rudskoy said.

Comment: As a result of probable western pressure, Bulgaria closed off its airspace to Russian aid flights to Syria in September. The US embassy also appealed to Athens with the same request, but Greece refused. Iran naturally opened its airspace for the delivery of Russian humanitarian supplies to Syria. 'You will know them by their fruits': U.S. attempting to block Russian aid flights to Syria.

See also:


Arrow Down

Pathological: Charlie Hebdo depicts drowned Syrian toddler as pervert

charlie hebdo
A new caricature by Charlie Hebdo has landed the satirical magazine in hot water, as social media users have been outraged by a cartoon depicting a drowned 3-year old Syrian refugee as an adult carrying out sexual attacks in Germany.

The black-and-white cartoon has a small illustration of Aylan Kurdi lying face down on a Turkish beach, linking it to the infamous photo that touched the whole world in September. The image of little Aylan, who died along with his mother and brother on their way to Greece, has become a symbol of the refugee crisis.

In its caricature, Charlie Hebdo has now depicted the boy as an adult chasing two women with his hands stretched out. His face resembles that of an animal rather than a human being's. Titled "Migrants," the cartoon has an explanatory caption that reads: "What would little Aylan have grown up to be? A groper in Germany."

Comment: It's not just ignorance that make up minds like those at Charlie Hebdo. It's pathological persistence and reality-distortion. The cartoon is not just in poor taste. It purposefully promotes the patently false idea that all male refugees (and all male Muslims) are perverts and rapists. This type of propaganda has always been used as a means to an end. And unfortunately for Europe -- and most unfortunately for Muslims in Europe -- that end is essentially the same as the atrocities of history: from the inquisition to the Nazis. When will people realize that the problem isn't any identifiable race, society, ideology or religion? It is the small percentage of psychopaths in every population.


Info

Irate Bavarian politician buses refugees to Merkel's office

Angela Merkel
© ODD ANDERSEN/Getty Images
An irate local politician in Germany's southern state of Bavaria has dispatched a bus filled with dozens of refugees on a 7-hour journey to Chancellor Angela Merkel's office in Berlin as a protest against her open-door refugee policy.

A spokesman for Peter Dreier from the southeastern town of Landshut confirmed to Reuters that 31 refugees were making the 550 kilometer trip to the capital and were likely to arrive in the afternoon.

A video on the online site of German newspaper Die Welt showed police officers shepherding dozens of men and women with bags onto a bus in a sunny country road lined with trees and chalets.

Dollars

3 tickets split $930mn top Powerball Jackpot amid scandal and criticism

Host Sam Arlen
© Philip Sears / ReutersHost Sam Arlen speaks as the winning Powerball numbers are shown after being drawn at the Florida Lottery studio in Tallahassee, Florida January 13, 2016.
After 19 draws and hours in line, the record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot has finally been won. The $930 million top prize is set to be shared among three winning tickets sold in California, Tennessee, and Florida.

Crowds gathered to celebrate at a 7-Eleven store in Chino Hills, California where one of the winning tickets was sold.

Fire

Burn a wood stove in Montreal and face thousands of dollars in fines, residents told

wood burning
© Pixabay.com
Montreal residents that burn wood for heat must register their stoves and by October 2018, must replace them with newer models or face thousands of dollars in fines.

The registration is part of an effort to ban most wood-burnings heaters in Canada's second largest city.

The burning of wood, coal, pellets and other solid fuels is already banned during smog alerts in Montreal. Starting October 18, 2018, the city will extend the ban to all devices that emit more than 2.5 grams of fine particles an hour. Any fireplace, furnace or stove that does not meet that standard will be banned, and there is no grandfather clause. With some older models emitting 10 to 20 grams per hour, many residents will be forced to find a new source of heat - and stop using heaters that may have been in the family for generations.

The new law effectively bans all older stoves and fireplaces because they are not certified by the EPA, the CBC reported. Persons who refuse to replace or stop using their wood burners will face a $500 fine for the first offense, a $1,000 fine for the second offense and a $2,000 fine for every offense beyond that.

Comment: It seems people are being regulated to death, humans have been burning fires for thousands of years, now it's becoming illegal but it's alright for big industry to rape and pillage the planet.