Society's ChildS


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War profiteers and military insiders will be "reviewing" the horrific private immigration prisons for Homeland Security

Sarah Lazare
AlterNet
Wed, 31 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC
Jeh Johnson
Jeh Johnson: Fascist tool
The Department of Homeland Security declared on Monday that it will review its widespread use of for-profit immigrant detention centers, in what amounts to an implied acknowledgment that human rights abuses plague its prisons, some of which house mothers with their children.

If the announcement translates into meaningful action, it could help chip away at the political power of a private prison industry that has aggressively lobbied for harsh immigration policies, including the congressional immigrant detention quota, which today directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold an average of 34,000 people in detention on a daily basis. Meanwhile, the announcement left many wondering whether the federal agency will also revisit mass detentions and deportations of refugees, immigrants and migrants, which have soared to record levels under the administration of President Barack Obama.

However, a critical aspect of the DHS announcement has gone overlooked. The federal agency's plan is contingent on a review process initiated by the so-called "Homeland Security Advisory Council." Here is what DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said that process will look like:

Comment: Once again we see a US governmental policy or reform that is designed to do exactly the opposite of what it purports to be doing. Up is down, right is wrong and black is white in the United States of Amerika.

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USA

Can we please do away with the totalitarian Pledge of Allegiance?

Mike Whitney
Counterpunch
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 00:00 UTC
US flag
The Pledge of Allegiance is not an expression of patriotism. It is a loyalty oath that one normally associates with totalitarian regimes. People who love freedom, should be appalled by the idea our children are being coerced to stand and declare their support for the state. This is the worst form of indoctrination and it is completely anathema to the principals articulated in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I cannot imagine outspoken libertarians like Thomas Jefferson or Tom Paine ever proclaiming their loyalty to the state when they correctly saw the state as the greatest threat to individual freedom. Which it is.

Now I know that many people think the Pledge is simply an affirmation of their respect for the flag, their love for the country, and their gratitude to the men and women who fought in America's wars. But that's not what it is. The Pledge is an attempt to impose conformity on the masses and compel them to click their heels and proclaim their devotion to the Fatherland. That's not how it's supposed to work in a democracy. In a democracy, the representatives of the state are supposed to pledge their loyalty to the people and to the laws that protect them. That's the correct relationship between the state and the people. The Pledge turns that whole concept on its head.
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Heart - Black

Cop raped and impregnated 14 y.o. girl he volunteered to mentor and show that 'policemen are good'

Carey Wedler
The Anti Media
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 21:05 UTC
officer James Blair
© Gaston County JailOfficer James Blair
A Lowell, North Carolina cop has been accused of impregnating a 14-year-old girl he volunteered to mentor.

WSOCTV reported the ordeal began when Officer James Blair offered to mentor two children — the now impregnated teen, who had previously run away, and her sibling. The girl's mother says he told her he wanted to take a role in their lives "To show them, 'Hey, policemen are good.'"

The mother told WSOC she was hesitant at first but allowed him to spend time with her children because he was a policeman. He visited them often and, on one occasion, took them on a trip.
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Cowboy Hat

Putting his money where his mouth is: Colin Kaepernick donating first $1 million of salary this year to community organizations

David Fucillo
Niners Nation
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 20:08 UTC
Colin Kaepernick
© NY Daily News
Colin Kaepernick met with the media Thursday evening following the San Francisco 49ers preseason victory over the San Diego Chargers. He got a chance to get into significant detail about his protest, the causes he supports, and how things will work moving forward.

Kaepernick told the media he will be donating the first $1 million of his 2016 salary to various community organizations. He talked about putting his money where his mouth is, and will use this money to help various organizations. He said he has been speaking with various organizations to move this beyond the why of the protest, and into the underlying issues of the protests. This will include working in communities in need, and effecting change as much as he can. Charles Robinson posted an article shortly after the game talking about the potential pivot we might see on this. It reads like someone who has spoken to sources close to Kaepernick. It's a good read.

Comment: More on Colin:

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Blackbox

American student who went missing in 2004 reportedly kidnapped by Kim Jong-un to be English tutor


RT
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 19:38 UTC
David Sneddon
© helpfinddavid.comDavid Sneddon
A US college student who vanished during a trip to China in 2004 is alive and living in North Korea after being abducted by Pyongyang, the head of a South Korean abductees organization says. Chinese police called the disappearance a hiking accident.

David Sneddon, then a 24-year-old college student, vanished in western China's Yunnan Province in 2004. Police said he likely died while walking in Tiger Leaping Gorge near the Jinsha River.

It's a story that Sneddon's family never believed, particularly because a body was never recovered.

Now it appears that over a decade of doubt may have been warranted, with an official from South Korea's Abductees' Family Union, Choi Sung-yong, saying Sneddon was kidnapped to be an English tutor to Kim Jong-un, long before he took over his father's post as the country's leader.

Choi cited a source who reportedly told his organization that Sneddon is living in Pyongyang and teaching English. He has a wife and two children, the Japanese News Network (JNN) reported.
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Pistol

'Deadliest month' in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 25 years

Ashley Luthern
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 10:36 UTC
Milwaukee police
© www.chicagotribune.com
A woman beaten to death with a lamp in an act of domestic violence. A man fatally stabbed during an argument outside a tavern. A man shot and killed while returning from a funeral for his grandfather. Those are just three of the 24 homicides recorded in August — what Milwaukee police have termed the "deadliest month" in 25 years. It is the highest monthly total since July 1991, when the victims of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer were discovered, Milwaukee police said.

"We've had a slight increase in domestic violence homicides this year, but the biggest driver of our homicides is arguments and fights and retaliation among people with criminal records," Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said Thursday. "Some of our challenge is simply consistently being able to deter armed offending through the criminal justice system," he added. "The penalties are too weak."


Comment: Penalties come after the fact. How many potential killers stop and weigh the consequences in the heat of an argument or the throes of a fight?


Although Chicago has captured national headlines for having its deadliest month in nearly two decades, Milwaukee had a higher per capita rate of killings (4 per 100,000 people) in August compared with its neighbor to the south (3.3 per 100,000 people), according to Milwaukee police.

Comment: Planetary unrest, countries in turmoil or war, governmental chaos, economic uncertainty, rampant inhumanity, societal unrest and dogs going mad...the trickle down effect likely hasn't hit bottom yet. More "Milwaukees" on the way, sorry to say.

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Che Guevara

Hero in a helmet: Kaepernick takes a knee against American exceptionalism and police brutality


RT
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 18:29 UTC
kaepernick kneel anthem
© Jake Roth / ReutersColin Kaepernick, number 7, took a knee during the national anthem Thursday night
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, America's most courageous, or hated, athlete, depending who you ask, went into the belly of the beast Thursday and took a knee during the national anthem in advance of a "Salute to the Military" game.

Backed by teammate Eric Reid, the two players protested silently before a pre-season game in the military town of San Diego while a US Navy Officer sang about "bombs bursting in air" and a land that's supposedly free.


Comment: Another player, Jeremy Lane from the Seattle Seahawks, also sat during the national anthem in a different game in solidarity with Kaepernick.


Standing fans used the bully pulpit of a corporately-sponsored sporting event to boo the pair for protesting police who kill innocent, unarmed civilians.

Last month Kaepernick sparked this now ongoing controversy when he wore socks during team practice depicting police officers as pigs.

He defended the socks saying the "rogue cops that are allowed to hold positions in police departments" are putting both community and "cops that have the right intentions" in danger.

Kaepernick refused to stand during the US National Anthem at another preseason game last week against the Green Bay Packers.

Comment: See also:

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Map

Yemeni Army and Popular Forces capture several military bases in Saudi Arabia's Assir Province


FARS News Agency
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 18:55 UTC
Yemeni army
The Yemeni army and popular forces managed to take control of a number of Saudi military bases in the kingdom's Assir province.

The captured Saudi military bases were located to the West of the city of al-Rabou'a in Assir province.

Scores of Saudi forces were killed and injured in fierce clashes with the Yemeni army and popular forces.

On Wednesday, the Yemeni army and popular forces hit the Saudi military positions in the kingdom's Assir province with a Zalzal-3 ballistic missile in retaliation for the Saudi airstrikes on residential areas across Yemen.

The Yemeni missile attack inflicted heavy losses on the Saudi troops in Najran province.

Comment: Yemeni forces launch homegrown missile deep inside Saudi Arabia

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Penis Pump

Philadelphia police officer pictured with Nazi tattoo


RT
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 17:48 UTC
nazi cop
© Evan Parish Matthews
The threat bicycle police officers seem to pose falls somewhere between officers on horseback and those on a Segway. However, one officer's insidious neo-Nazi arm tattoo has raised a lot of questions about his past and present.

A picture shared on Wednesday of an officer, believed to be Ian Hans Lichterman, shows his forearms are heavily adorned with Nazi iconography. On one arm, he sports a Nazi War Eagle tattoo known as the 'parteiadler' with the word 'Fatherland' above it.

In the photo, the officer's uniform has the name 'Lichtermann', spelled with an extra 'n' at the end.

The Anti-Defamation League notes that the Blue Eagle logo of the Roosevelt's New Deal program is often mistaken for a Nazi Eagle. However, the similarity between the tattoo in question and Nazi iconography is striking. In addition, recent looks into Lichterman's past show that it wouldn't be out of the question for a man with his interests to have a white supremacist tattoo.

Comment: Whether it's Lichtermann or not is beside the point - it's still a neo-Nazi cop. Just what the public needs in these volatile times.

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Rocket

Yemeni forces launch homegrown missile deep inside Saudi Arabia


PressTV
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 18:39 UTC
Scud-type Borkan-1 (Volcano-1) missle
Scud-type Borkan-1 (Volcano-1) missle.
Yemeni army forces have launched a locally designed and manufactured ballistic missile towards an area deep inside Saudi Arabia in response to Riyadh's atrocious aerial bombardment against the crisis-stricken Arab country.

On Friday, the media bureau of the operations command in Yemen released the footage of the missile attack against a stationary target in the Saudi city of Ta'if, located more than 700 kilometers (434 miles) southeast of the capital, Riyadh.

The video shows the Borkan-1 (Volcano-1) blasting off from a launcher deployed in an unknown location in Yemen. The voice of a man can be clearly heard as he chants slogans against the United States and Israel.

The solid propellant and Scud-type Borkan-1 missile reportedly has a range of more than 800 kilometers (497 miles).
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