Society's Child

Walmart employees told not to use app to understand company labor rules, legal rights

RT
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 21:51 UTC

OUR Walmart, a worker-led activist group, has devised a new app, now available for Android smartphones, that uses artificial intelligence to help workers understand company policies and legal rights. Walmart has told workers to not download the app. The app, WorkIt, was released Monday to offer advice to Walmart workers on a host of issues, according to OUR Walmart.

OUR Walmart is a labor group, but not a union, as Walmart does not offer collective bargaining rights, which has thousands of paying members and has organized Black Friday protests at Walmart locations nationwide.

The OUR Walmart organization teamed up with software development company Quadrant 2 to develop WorkIt. The app uses IBM's Watson artificial intelligence bot to answer concerns or questions of employee, who are only identified on the app by their username and store position. Watson accesses a database built by Walmart workers to address user questions. When Watson cannot answer one of about 200 queries, "there is a peer network of experts that will interact with the users," Jason Van Anden, founder of Quadrant 2, told the Wall Street Journal. Watson then has the ability to learn how to answer certain questions from the peer experts.

For its part, Walmart has already addressed store managers about the app, warning that OUR Walmart is "increasingly trying to get our associates to turn over personal information to the union by using deceptive and slick looking social media and mobile apps," according to a document reported by the WSJ.

Mother dies in Michigan jail after calls for help allegedly ignored

RT
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 18:21 UTC

A mother who was to spend 30 days in Macomb County, Michigan jail for failing to pay child support died in her cell 12 days into her confinement suffering from a virus and failing to get proper medical help. Videotaped statements from witnesses about Jennifer Meyers' death allege prison guards ignored the woman's constant pleas for help. Her death follows a similar death at the jail two years ago.

Jennifer Meyers was found dead in her cell on day 12 of her 30-day sentencing, allegedly from a virus which progressively worsened during her incarceration. Inmates said despite her constant pleas for help, Meyer went from sweating to being too sick to get off of her cot in just days.

The statements were part of a civil lawsuit into the death of the 37-year-old mother on July 7, 2013. Even though she complained of pain, neither the Sheriff's Department guards nor the privately contracted medical staff allowed her medical assistance.

'Puppycide': 2 Detroit cops kill 100 dogs throughout combined careers

RT
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 08:11 UTC

Harrowing reports filed by the Detroit Police Department have revealed that police killed 25 dogs last year and at least 21 this year. The records also identified two officers that have killed more than 100 dogs throughout their combined careers.

The 'destruction of animal' reports, obtained by Reason, provide evidence of what critics are calling 'puppycide.' They reveal that at least 46 dogs were killed in 2015 and the first eight months of 2016 - despite just one officer being bitten by a dog during that period, according to the records.

Comment: See also:

Cop illegally enters family's yard, executes their dog for no reason leaving seven orphaned puppies

Dogs executed for killing woman, then DNA evidence exonerates them

Two freight trains collide, derail in Florida, injuring two crew members

David Ingram
Reuters
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 13:05 UTC

© Marion County Fire Rescue/REUTERS
Two derailed CSX trains and 20 overturned rail cars are seen in a handout picture from the Marion County Fire Rescue taken in Citra, Florida, U.S. November 16, 2016.

Two CSX Corp (CSX.O) trains collided and derailed in central Florida early on Wednesday, injuring two crew members, the company said.

One freight train carrying non-hazardous phosphate rock while the second train loaded with coal collided in Citra, Florida, about 4:15 a.m. (0915 GMT), CSX said.

The cause of the collision was under investigation and the two CSX crew members were being treated for minor injuries, the company said.

Twenty rail cars overturned, the Marion County Sheriff's Office said, though CSX was unable to confirm the number.

Propaganda alert! US officials hype non-specific holiday terror attack warning

Brian Ross Aaron Ketersky, Josh Margolin & Lee Ferran
ABC News
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 15:35 UTC

U.S. officials issued a somber warning today that the coming holiday season could mean "opportunities for violent extremists" to strike, especially as terror groups are squeezed abroad.

"Though we know of no intelligence that is both specific and credible at this time of a plot by terrorist organizations to attack the homeland, the reality is terrorist-inspired individuals have conducted, or attempted to conduct, attacks in the United States," reads a bulletin posted online today by the Department of Homeland Security.

The warning said terrorists could attempt to target "public events and places where people congregate."

The bulletin came days after an ISIS magazine called on the terrorist group's followers to use vehicles to attack popular outdoor attractions, like a New York parade.

"It is very difficult to protect events like large gatherings such as parades from these types of attacks using vehicles, and we saw that last summer in Nice," said Matt Olsen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center and current ABC News consultant.

BYOB: California becomes the first state to ban plastic bags

Amanda Froelich
True Activist
Fri, 11 Nov 2016 14:59 UTC

25 million single-use plastic bags are discarded every day in California. This new law aims to benefit the environment and all wildlife.

In July of 2015, Hawaii made headlines when it completely banned the use of plastic bags at a county level. Now, California in the news because it has accomplished similar, but at a state level.

The California Plastic Bag Veto Referendum (Proposition 67) was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in 2014, but was put on hold until it was approved by voters. Though the out-of-state plastic bag industry invested $6 to campaign against Proposition 67, it narrowly passed with a margin of 51.97% to 48.03% on November 8th. Now, California is the first state in the union to completely ban the sale of plastic bags.

It's worth noting that while the plastic bag ban passed, Proposition 65, which proposed an environmental fund created with the proceeds from a 10-cent fee on the sale of cloth or other alternative bags, was defeated.

Californians Against Waste (CAW) campaign co-chair, Mark Murray, said:

Cop wishes he could shoot teens: "If I could get away with it, I woulda put a bullet in their heads"

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 14:32 UTC

A concerning video was uploaded to YouTube this week, from an alleged Weiser police officer's body camera demeaning a teenager for no reason. After a brief period of unprofessional and disrespectful behavior, the officer's body camera then catches him wishing he could shoot teenagers.

The video was uploaded to YouTube Monday night and it has since garnered over 5,000 views. As the video begins, the alleged Weiser police officer is berating a teenager, claiming they were at a location at which they deny being.

When the officer asks the teen for their ID, he begins acting like a drill instructor.

"Where's your license at?" barks the officer.

When the teen turns to retrieve the license, like 99 percent of all people would have, the officer begins playing demeaning games.

"I didn't say to go get it! I asked you where it was!" yells the cop.

Mainstream media declares war on competition; labels alt-media as 'fake news'

Activist Post
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 14:13 UTC

The establishment media is dying. This is not a biased view coming from "alternative media," it is a fact borne out by metrics and opinion polls from within the establishment itself. It was true before the recent election, and is guaranteed to accelerate after their shameless defense of non-reality which refused to accept any discontent among the American population with standard politics.

Now, with egg on their face after the botched election coverage, and a wobbling uncertainty about how they can maintain multiple threads of a narrative so fundamentally disproven, they appear to be resorting to their nuclear option: a full shut down of dissent.

Voices within independent media have been chronicling the signposts toward full-on censorship as sites have encountered everything from excessive copyright infringement accusations, to de-monetization, to the open admission by advertising giants that certain images would not be tolerated.

However, until now these efforts have appeared random, haphazard, and rife with retractions and restorations of targeted sites and content. A massive backlash of reader outrage toward these restrictive measures has confirmed that most consumers don't like the idea of being given boundaries to their intellectual freedom.

Comment: See also:

Protesting soldiers teargassed and hit with water cannon by Belgian police

RT
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 13:21 UTC

© Yves Herman / Reuters
Belgian soldiers scuffle with police officers during a protest against planned pension reforms in central Brussels, Belgium November 15, 2016.

Riot police in Brussels turned water cannons and tear gas on scores of angry military personnel protesting government plans to raise the retirement age from 56 to 63.

According to local reports, an 8,000-strong crowd of servicemen and women took to the streets of the Belgian capital to express their disapproval at the proposal.

Footage of Tuesday's demonstration, which took place on a national holiday for the Belgian royal family, shows protesters clashing with riot police amid the explosion of tear gas canisters.

Oklahoma City airport locked down after shooting of father of NFL player

RT
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 22:26 UTC

One person was shot and killed at Will Rogers Airport (OKC) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and the suspect is still on the loose, police say. All flights out of the airport have been halted, and the inbound flights diverted.

Oklahoma City Police have identified the deceased victim as Michael Winchester, a Southwest Airlines employee. Winchester, 52, died in the hospital after being reported in critical condition. Carey Murdock of WWLS reported that Winchester had been a punter for the University of Oklahoma Sooners football team and was the father of James Winchester, a former Sooner and current player for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Police also said they would be corralling travelers from inside the airport to SW 67th and Terminal Drive.

Shots were fired in the parking lot area of the airport, said Captain Paco Balderrama of the OKCPD. He confirmed that one person was shot, and that police were looking for a second reported victim, as well as the suspect.

By 3:25pm local time, the police confirmed that the victim had died. The person was only identified as a 52-year-old Southwest Airlines employee.

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Society's Child

Walmart employees told not to use app to understand company labor rules, legal rights

Mother dies in Michigan jail after calls for help allegedly ignored

'Puppycide': 2 Detroit cops kill 100 dogs throughout combined careers

Two freight trains collide, derail in Florida, injuring two crew members

Propaganda alert! US officials hype non-specific holiday terror attack warning

BYOB: California becomes the first state to ban plastic bags

Cop wishes he could shoot teens: "If I could get away with it, I woulda put a bullet in their heads"

Mainstream media declares war on competition; labels alt-media as 'fake news'

Protesting soldiers teargassed and hit with water cannon by Belgian police

Oklahoma City airport locked down after shooting of father of NFL player

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