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Not just one bad apple: Two-thirds of Texas police force indicted on corruption charges

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:55 UTC
texas police
All too often those who continuously apologize for crimes committed by police officers are able to justify some of the most egregious instances of outright murder by claiming the officer was a bad apple. Almost as often, however, as TFTP has shown numerous times, the bad apple theory is exactly that-a theory-with no evidence to support it.

Illustrating the nature of the bad apple theory is the fact that grand jury indictments against officers in Llano Police Department, including their Police Chief Kevin Ratliff, have nearly wiped out the entire department.

There are eight law enforcement officers employed by the Llano Police Department, according to the LPD's website, and now, as of August 13, two thirds of the entire police force has been indicted.

Does that seem like "one bad apple," or a potentially much greater problem?

The indictments stem from a massive civil rights violation of a single person but have led to investigators uncovering a cesspool of bad cops.
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Cross

Pennsylvania Attorney General: Vatican helped cover up dozens of sex crimes against children


RT
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:22 UTC
the Vatican
© Vatican Media / Reuters
The Pennsylvania attorney general has revealed that the Vatican was aware of the massive cover-up of dozens of sex crimes against children in the state's dioceses, since the bishops shared their secret archives with Rome.

In another twist in the widening Pennsylvania church scandal, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro told CBS' This Morning show that while keeping the public and the police in the dark about child abuse by Catholic priests, the bishops documented all the cases and handed the damning evidence over to the Vatican.

"There are specific examples where when the abuse occurred, the priests would go, the bishops would go and lie to parishioners, lie to law enforcement, lie to the public, but then document all the abuse in secret archives that they would share oftentimes with the Vatican," Shapiro said, noting that the papers show that the Vatican was not only aware of the wrongdoings of the Pennsylvania priests but "were involved in cover-up."

When asked if the cover-up goes "all the way up to the Pope," Shapiro shied away from implicating Pope Francis or any of his predecessors in sweeping the potentially bombshell revelations under the rug for over 70 years. The transgressions were studied in a 900-plus-page report by a grand jury, the redacted version of which was made public by Shapiro on August 14.

Comment: The grand jury report about Catholic priest abuse in Pennsylvania shows the church is a criminal syndicate: 'It is time to face the horrible truth: The Catholic church is a pedophile ring'.

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Fire

Texas cop's bodycam footage shows him rescuing five children from a house fire


RT
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:14 UTC
burning house
© Rodrigo Garrido / Reuters
A Texas police officer is being hailed a hero after he saved five young children from a raging house fire. The death-defying rescue was captured on the officer's bodycam.

Officer Sam Click was on patrol Thursday morning when he came across a home engulfed in flames on Casa Grande Drive, the Seagoville Police Department said in a statement. The officer's bodycam captures the extent of the fire which appears to have completely engulfed the front of the duplex family home.

After calling the fire department and his fellow officers for backup, Click ran to speak to residents standing outside, where he learned there were people still inside the burning home.

"I was just in the right place at the right time and I had to take action," Click later told KTVT.
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Pills

'Addicted' Americans now harming their pets to get opioids

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 13:03 UTC
dog at vet
In a recent statement by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., he said the opioid epidemic and the misuse and abuse of these drugs remains his highest priority. As the crisis evolves, he said it is vital that the agency take an in-depth look at all the access points where these medications can be purchased.
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Fire

Video shows e-cigarette suddenly exploding in man's pocket


RT
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 12:59 UTC
ecigarette
© Toby Melville / Reuters
The health risks of vaping are up for debate but at least one California e-cigarette owner might think twice about puffing on one in the future after his device suddenly exploded inside his pocket.

Surveillance footage posted online by a television outlet in Anaheim shows a man at the store almost going up in smoke when an e-cigarette in his pants malfunctioned.

The incident occurred at Anaheim's HDTV Outlet. The store's manager said he feared the burning vape machine might start a fire and he had to rush to extinguish the device.

It's not known what caused the tobacco alternative to spark and explode. According to ABC News, the victim did not suffer serious injuries and he treated his burns at a local pharmacy.

But judging by the CCTV imagery the unidentified male was lucky not to have come to serious harm as flames could be seen rising up his leg and burning a hole in his trousers.

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Arrow Up

Report finds 'steep and sustained' increase in STDs in US


RT
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 12:52 UTC
legs
© Christophe Gateau/Global Look Press
Health officials have issued stark warnings as data reveals that sexually transmitted infections are soaring in the US. A report has found that cases of syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea have spiked for the fourth year in a row.

In preliminary data showing sexually transmitted disease trends over the last five years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that there is evidence of a "steep and sustained" increase in certain diseases.

The data reveals that there were nearly 2.3 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis last year. The CDC say gonorrhea diagnoses have jumped 67 percent in four years, while the prevalence of syphilis increased by approximately 76 percent between 2013 and 2017.
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Cult

Vatican removes pope's comment that children with homosexual tendencies should seek psychiatric help


RT
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 12:37 UTC
pope francis
© Gonzalo Fuentes / Reuters
Pope Francis told a reporter that parents should seek psychiatric help if their children had homosexual tendencies. The Vatican says he did not mean it and removed those words from the official transcript, however.

The comment in question was reportedly made as the pontiff was flying back to Rome from Ireland on Sunday. While the Pope has earlier implied that there is nothing wrong with being gay, this time he said that "a lot that can be done through psychiatry" no later than in childhood and added that ignoring such a child is "error of fatherhood or motherhood."

"When it shows itself from childhood, there is a lot that can be done through psychiatry, to see how things are. It is something else if it shows itself after 20 years," Pope Francis told reporters, as cited by multiple outlets.
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Snakes in Suits

Staff of New York Housing Authority caught having orgies on company property


Sputnik
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 12:08 UTC
females prostitutes
© AP Photo / Dita Alangkara
Staff of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), which provides housing for low and moderate income residents in New York City, transformed the Throggs Neck Houses, a Bronx housing project development, into a sex club where orgies involving supervisors, subordinates and even residents took place frequently.

"[It happened on] overtime, during working hours, after working hours, any day or any time of the day," Throggs Neck Houses Tenant Association President Monique Johnson told the New York Post Monday. "I now understand why work wasn't getting done."

After multiple complaints by residents and some NYCHA staff - who secretly took photos and shot videos of the debauchery - Johnson informed NYCHA management about the sex parties. Last week, the NYCHA transferred every employee who worked at the housing complex, around 40 in all, to another undisclosed location. Even the workers who were not involved in the sex parties were also relieved of their duties in Throggs Neck.

Comment: This is just the latest in a string of scandals for the Housing Authority. The fact that no one was fired but were instead reassigned to 'undisclosed locations' ensures that this culture of corruption will continue. The Observer reports:
Monique Johnson, president of the Throggs Neck Houses Tenant Association, told the paper that the staff, all of whom are members of the New York City Housing Authority, were frequently lying about the sorts of duties and repairs they had to perform in order to hide the fact that they were actually boozing and boinking. Last Friday, all of the NYCHA employees were relocated to different housing developments instead of being fired.

The NYCHA admitted to "a perversive culture of cover-ups" in court this past June, and is currently deluged with more than 170,000 backlogged work orders. The lead paint inspection crisis of December 2017 at Throggs Neck, wherein NYCHA employees allegedly found lead in 78 apartments but did not inform any of the residents, forced Mayor de Blasio to meet privately with Housing Authority officials in an attempt to contain the burgeoning scandal.


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Propaganda

German energy giant says Russian gas vital for continent


RT
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 14:56 UTC
The Castoro 10 pipelay
© Sean Gallup / Getty Images
The Castoro 10 pipelay vessel lays concrete-coated pipe for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline onto the seabed of the Baltic Sea on August 16, 2018 near Lubmin, Germany
Russian natural gas that will run through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is critical for Europe amid increasing demand and decreasing production in the region, according to CEO of Germany's energy company Wintershall, Mario Mehren.

"Demand in the EU is rising, but domestic production is declining - which in short means that the import demand is increasing," Mehren said, as quoted by the company's press-service.

"In 2030, for example, the EU will have to import around 400 billion cubic meters of natural gas. In order to meet this increasing import demand, we need reliable partners, especially in pipeline distance.

"Nord Stream 2, for example, will provide an additional capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas when it is completed. This is natural gas that Europe needs," the CEO stressed.

Comment: European leaders would be selling out its already impoverished citizens were it to instead go for unreliable and expensive US gas: Also check out SOTT radio's:

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Eye 2

Co-opting our lizard brain

Tanveer Ahmed
Quillette
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 08:34 UTC
lizard
There is money to be made from stopping us from using our devices, but it might involve better regulation of our most primitive selves.

Apple's controls to help us limit our phone usage is the clearest evidence yet that self-regulation of technology companies must include not just data privacy, but protections of our humanity.

Apple has included features on its new phones that turn off notifications overnight, during driving and expand parental protections. Google is implementing similar such controls.


Comment: Apple investors ask company to institute measures to curb childhood smartphone addiction


In the wake of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica data scandals, the so-called tech-lash is the ultimate wake up call. It's never been more essential that the industry considers implications beyond the user experience in the race to further monetise our attention.

Comment: See also:

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