Society's ChildS


Fire

Investigation underway as 4 critically injured in Dow Chemical plant explosion in Massachusetts

North Andover chemical explosion
© Matt DeFillippoJan. 7, 2016: Four people were injured in a chemical explosion at a Dow Chemical plant in North Andover, Massachusetts
An explosion at Dow Chemical plant in northeastern Massachusetts injured four people and damaged part of the building Thursday afternoon.

Firefighters, paramedics and police responded to the plant in North Andover at about 2:30 p.m.

Several people were injured and rushed to the hospital.

The State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said a chemical reacted with water in a lab in Dow Chemical, which caused the explosion.

The chemical called Tri Methyl Aluminum is used to make electronics, things like circuit boards and LED lights. Fire officials say it's not the same chemical that exploded in 2013, killing a Dow worker at the same plant.

What caused Thursday's reaction and explosion is unclear. Fire officials in North Andover say the town works closely with Dow and after an event like this is ready to help. Lt. Bone said, "One of the techs will meet us and give us guidance on what we are doing and dealing with." Coan said no nearby residents were in danger, but four employees received critical burns and shrapnel like wounds. The victims were rushed to the hospital.


Comment: The explosion was so powerful that neighbors felt it blocks away. Kaela Henessey said "We heard a very loud boom and the house shook." See also: Massive blast rocks another chemical plant in China's Hunan province


Sheriff

Baltimore man shot in face by police faces 17 ridiculous charges

Keith Davis, Jr.
© RT
Baltimore native Keith Davis Jr. was shot in the face by police after an alleged attempted robbery in June 2015. But according to Davis' girlfriend Kelly Holsey, the evidence found at the scene supports neither the police's story nor the charges he faces.

According to The Baltimore Sun, Police Officers Catherine Filippou and Lane Eskins received a call at 10:00am on June 7. Responding to a car accident, the officers were informed by an unlicensed cab driver, or hack, that he was being robbed. According to Baltimore City Paper, the police affidavit claims that Keith Davis Jr., 23, ran into a garage with his gun drawn and proceeded to point the weapon at police. When Davis entered the garage, police opened fire.

By the time police finished shooting, they fired 44 bullets, three of which hit Davis - including once in his jaw.

However, the version Davis gave to Holsey tells a very different story.

First, Davis claims he did not rob the driver. Rather, he and a group of people were checking out a hit-and-run car accident when a police officer approached the crowd with his gun drawn. As Holsey explained to RT, "It wasn't [pointed at] Keith in specific, it was at the crowd." As a result, the crowd scattered.

Davis and a group of others ran to seek shelter at a nearby auto garage. Davis was then shot in the arm and called Holsey. Holsey described hearing a "constant pop-pop-pop" while Davis told her, "Babe, I'm gonna die." The phone call ran for one minute and seven seconds before Kelly heard one last gunshot and the call dropped.

Photos of Davis with his face badly wounded have circled around social media. Baltimore police claim that he told officers he would put his gun down if the officers would stop firing. The officers agreed and entered the garage to find him shot in the face and a .22 caliber gun nearby.

Comment: It's time for these thugs to cease being shielded and protected from their unjustified shootings, brutal beatings and killing. Enough already.


Attention

Critics call for Flint, Michigan governor's resignation, arrest over contaminated water

contaminated water
© michiganradio.org
Emails show that high-ranking officials in Michigan were aware of elevated lead levels in Flint's water six months before the state of emergency was declared. Calls are mounting for the governor to resign or face criminal charges.

Internal emails, obtained by NBC News, were written by Governor Rick Snyder's former chief of staff, Dennis Muchmore, to the state health department saying he was frustrated by the water issue in Flint.

"These folks are scared and worried about the health impacts and they are basically getting blown off by us (as a state we're just not sympathizing with their plight)," Muchmore wrote in the email, according to NBC News.

"I really don't think people are getting the benefit of the doubt," Muchmore continued. "Now they are concerned and rightfully so about the lead level studies they are receiving."

Comment: See more: Michigan state officials lied about lead in Flint's water - knowingly poisoning countless children


Dollars

Opium of the poor - The lottery and social despair in America

This mania, so generally condemned, has never been properly studied. No one has realized that it is the opium of the poor. Did not the lottery, the mightiest fairy in the world, work up magical hopes? The roll of the roulette wheel that made the gamblers glimpse masses of gold and delights did not last longer than a lightning flash; whereas the lottery spread the magnificent blaze of lightning over five whole days. Where is the social force today that, for forty sous, can make you happy for five days and bestow on you—at least in fancy—all the delights that civilization holds?

Balzac, La Rabouilleuse, 1842
Lottery Powerball
© Patch.com
The jackpot in the US Powerball lottery has hit $800 million, since there were no winners in Wednesday's drawing. In the current round, which began on December 2, over 431 million tickets have been sold, a figure substantially larger than America's population.

Go into any corner store in America and you will see workers of every age and race waiting in line to buy lottery tickets. With the current round, the lines are longer than ever. Americans spend over $70 billion on lottery tickets each year. In West Virginia, America's second-poorest state, the average person spent $658.46 on lottery tickets last year.

Powerball players pick six random numbers when they purchase their tickets, with a certain percentage of sales going to the jackpot. If no winning ticket is sold, the jackpot rolls over to the next round.

The totals for the Mega Millions and Powerball national lotteries have been growing every year. This year's jackpot has eclipsed 2012's record of $656.5 million, the $390 million payout in 2007 and the $363 million prize in 2000. The jackpots have grown in direct proportion to ticket sales.

State-run gambling programs such as Powerball have been promoted by Democrats and Republicans alike as a solution to state budget shortfalls, even as the politicians slash taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals and gut social programs. From the standpoint of government revenue, lotteries and casinos are nothing more than a back-door regressive tax, soaking up money from the poor in proportion to the growth of social misery.

The boom in lotteries is global. Lottery sales grew 9.9 percent worldwide in 2014, after growing 4.9 percent in 2013.

Psychology Professor Kate Sweeny has noted that lottery sales grow when people feel a lack of control over their lives, particularly over their economic condition. "That feeling of self-control is very important to psychological well-being," Sweeny says.

There is ample reason for American workers to feel they have no control over their lives. According a recent survey by Bankrate.com, more than half of Americans do not have enough cash to cover an unexpected expense of $500 or more—roughly the price of four name-brand tires.

Bizarro Earth

Massive blast rocks another chemical plant in China's Hunan province

Lengshuijiang China
A massive fire broke out after a chemical plant exploded in the city of Lengshuijiang, in China's southeastern Hunan province, local media reports.

Firefighters managed to contain the blaze, local media reported, adding that there were no casualties as a result of the incident.

While there is no information available about the cause of the explosion, specialists are monitoring the air near the plant to check whether there has been any chemical contamination.

Last year, China was hit by a wave of explosions rocking its industrial facilities.

In December, a blast was reported at a pesticide plant in the city of Jilin in northeastern China. Authorities were forced to issue a warning to locals not to approach the plant.

In November, an explosion was reported at a chemical factory in Fushun, also in northeastern China. While no casualties were reported during this incident, a previous blast in October at a civilian-use explosives factory in eastern China left two people injured and nine were reported missing.


Comment: There have been an extraordinary number of explosions at chemical plants in China recently. There were also the explosions that rocked the Chinese city of Tianjin in August of last year:


Quenelle - Golden

'I will not be silenced by fear' - Jewish student faces legal action for being pro-Palestinian

Bethany Koval
© Flickr/ woodleywonderworks
New Jersey high school student Bethany Koval has gained thousands of followers in social media overnight following accusations of bullying over her pro-Palestine messages.

The 16-year Israeli-American high school student with Jewish roots prompted public interest earlier this week after her anti-Israel tweets where she railed against the Netanyahu government's treatment with Palestine. Legality of her brave actions have been, however, put under consideration by Fair Lawn High School which she is attending after an alleged complaint by a classmate over the Christmas holiday.

On Wednesday, school officials called Koval down to discuss her activity on the internet, she live tweeted updates to her account, later making it private.

#IStand WithBenny went viral on Twitter as Koval's followers blamed the school administration and the large Jewish lobby in the US for reportedly calling her a terrorist sympathizer.

Comment: What an inspiring example of speaking truth to power, and what a fearless child - hopefully she'll receive the support she deserves. After all, what happens to this girl could happen to us all.


Post-It Note

Note to America: When corruption is rampant, empires fall

empire over a cliff
Widespread corruption destroys empires.

By way of example, corruption was one of the main causes of the collapse of the Roman Empire:
The Praetorian Guard—the emperor's personal bodyguards—assassinated and installed new sovereigns at will, and once even auctioned the spot off to the highest bidder [and see this]. The political rot also extended to the Roman Senate, which failed to temper the excesses of the emperors due to its own widespread corruption and incompetence. As the situation worsened, civic pride waned and many Roman citizens lost trust in their leadership.
The Ottoman Empire started its decline when the sale of offices, bribery and corruption became widespread. Indeed:

Hourglass

Anti-government protesters set fire to Kosovo government HQ over EU-mediated deal with Serbia

Kosovo government headquarters
© Agron Beqiri/ReutersA police vehicle is set on fire by protesters during clashes in Pristina, Kosovo January 9, 2016.
Kosovo's government HQ has caught fire after anti-government protesters threw Molotov cocktails at the building. Police used tear gas to disperse protesters, who rallied against the government's EU-mediated agreements with Serbia.


A fire broke out at the Kosovo government building in Pristina after angered protesters pelted it with petrol bombs, according to photos and reports from the scene. Firefighters rushed to the scene to extinguish the fire while police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds, according to Balkans-based reporters' Twitter accounts. Protesters, in turn, pelted stones and bottles at security forces.

Binoculars

Rape culture is deeply rooted in Germany, not an imported phenomenon

main station of Cologne
© AP/Hermann J. KnippertzA huge number of police officers patrol in front of the main station of Cologne, Germany, on Wednesday
Ever since New Year's Eve, German media have largely been discussing the violence at Cologne's central train station in terms of a rape culture that was imported into Germany - simply because the perpetrators in this case looked "Arab" or "North African",according to witnesses. The only point being, of course, that the men weren't white.

That's an idea that renders sexualised violence and theft harmless by trivialising and exorcising both notions. The fact that our society and its institutions aren't in any position to protect those affected by the violence and identify its culprits doesn't in any way mean that there's never been sexualised violence in Germany before. In fact, Germany's rape culture is deeply rooted in our collective psyche.

Sexual assaults and even rape happen every year at big events like Oktoberfest. "The way to the toilet alone is like running the gauntlet: within 50 feet, you can be sure to tally three hugs from drunken strangers, two pats on the ass, someone looking up your dirndl and some beer purposely splashed right down your cleavage," wrote Karoline Beisel and Beate Wild in 2011, in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. An average of 10 reported rapes take place each year at Oktoberfest. The estimated number of unreported cases is 200.

A 2004 study on the living conditions, security and health of women in Germany, showed that 13 percent of German women have experienced a form of criminal sexualised violence. The scandal is that only 8 percent of these women filed a complaint with the police. If you include multiple complaints, then the figure decreases to 5 percent. That means that an incredible 95 percent of women in Germany who experience sexual violence don't report it to the police.

Comment: The rape of any woman can never be excused or forgiven. But before even knowing what had happened that night in Cologne, the international media began to beat the drums of racism and Islamophobia from the minute the story broke. The only beneficiaries of this manufactured crisis were the neonazis and the powers that be that want to see Europe - and especially Germany - fall to pieces so that it can become easier to control. Using the refugee crisis to fulfill this strategy of division is only part of a bigger plan.

Read also: Mayor of German city where women were sexually assaulted during New Year's celebrations blames women for attacks


Heart - Black

Price gouging continues unabated as Pfizer raises prices on over 100 medicines

drug prices
Pfizer kicked off the New Year by quietly jacking up the costs of over 100 drugs

Pfizer's drug hike is consistent with broad industry trends. (Photo: A./flickr/cc)

Former pharma CEO Martin Shkreli, widely reviled for dramatically hiking the price of a life-saving drug used by HIV and cancer patients, is in good company.

Starting at the beginning of 2016, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. quietly jacked up the U.S. prices of over 100 of its drugs, some by nearly a fifth.

Reuters reported the findings on Friday, citing statistics from the information services company Wolters Kluwer that were included in a research note from by UBS Securities.

Comment: The pharmaceutical industry, like most psychopathic corporate entities exists merely for profit, despite the suffering of millions. The industry defends the high drug prices as a means of funding research to develop new drugs. But a close look at the finances of more than a dozen public drug companies illustrates research and development expenses are routinely smaller than company overheads, including marketing costs. And often after-tax profits still greatly exceed those R&D expenses that the companies say are so high.