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Lions maul to death child at sanctuary in Johannesburg, South Africa

Vittorio Hernandez
International Business Times
Sat, 20 Aug 2016 19:52 UTC
Otavi is not a lion park and a breeding place for lions since it only has one sexually mature pair, but has four different predators and 11 different game species
© Otavi Lion Park/Karien
Otavi is not a lion park and a breeding place for lions since it only has one sexually mature pair, but has four different predators and 11 different game species
Barely a month after a tiger attacked and killed a woman at a Beijing wildlife park, another incident involving big cats occurred. This time the animal attack took place at the Otavi Lion Sanctuary in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Eyewitness News reports the incident happened on Thursday, but the incident places in question the fitness of operators of the Otavi Lion Sanctuary near Parys. It's because the victim, the child of a farmworker, entered the lion enclosure with one of the park's workers. The child lived with his guardian, the farm supervisor of the sanctuary, according to Timeslive.

Four Paws, an animal welfare foundation, notes that Otavi's claims to be a not-for-profit organisation based on its Facebook page. It points out that sanctuaries should not breed, trade or hunt wild animals.

However, "Otavi openly offers captive bred lions for sale online. A true sanctuary will not sell cubs, as all the animals should be sterilised to prevent breeding," Four Paws claims. It also pushes for no interaction between the animals, park staff and the general public, plus there must be safety measures.

Comment: See also: Woman gets out of car at Chinese Wildlife Park and is mauled to death by tiger

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Top Secret

American justice: Gitmo lawyers face ridiculous degree of censorship regarding their clients


RT
Sat, 20 Aug 2016 17:03 UTC
gitmo
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Protesters in orange jumpsuits from Amnesty International USA and other organizations rally outside the White House to demand the closure of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, in Washington January 11, 2016.
President Barack Obama's recent release of 15 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay marked the largest single transfer yet. However, as the US loosens its clutches on some detainees, the CIA's grip on keeping them silent remains tight as ever.

Despite a recent poll finding over half of US citizens believing the remaining 61 Guantanamo Bay prisoners should be either given a trial or released, their future is still murky. The truth is that their only hope for a fair trial is in the hands of an authority that needs to keep them silent.

James Connell, attorney for Gitmo detainee Ammar Al Baluchi, spoke with RT on the issues he faces with the CIA's ability to classify the most basic information an attorney needs to build a case for his client. One problem is that the CIA is seemingly given free reign over what is and is not censored, through a process known as presumptive classification.

Comment: America's very own little concentration camp. If these men are so guilty and dangerous, they should have had trials at the very beginning, or been let go. It's that simple. Instead, they have been illegally detained and tortured for more than a decade. Good ol' American justice! To add insult to injury, the CIA has given more information to the makers of a propaganda film than to the detainees' own lawyers. Just let that one sink in.

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Heart

Texas: Stay of execution for man who didn't kill anyone


RT
Sat, 20 Aug 2016 03:14 UTC
save jeff wood
© savejeffwood.com
A Texas man, whose life is hanging in the balance, has won himself a stay of execution for a murder that he never committed. Jeff Wood convinced the court to reconsider his sentencing, saying it was based on the testimony of a discredited psychiatrist.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled 7-2 to put Wood's August 24 execution on hold after the defendant called into question the testimony and scientific evidence provided by Dr. James Grigson. "After reviewing applicant's subsequent application, we find that his third and fourth allegations satisfy the requirements... Accordingly, we remand those two claims to the trial court for resolution," the appellate court wrote.

In Texas, Dr. Grigson is also known as "Dr. Death" for the hundreds of capital cases during which he has testified. Expelled from the American Psychiatric Association in 1995, in Wood's case he served as an expert. In his appeal to the court, Wood's lawyers accused Grigson of lying to jurors about how many cases he had testified in and how often he found the convict to be a future danger, allegedly misleading them.

"Three former jurors have said they feel the government's presentation to them of a discredited psychiatrist who predicted with certainty, and without evaluating Mr. Wood, that Mr. Wood would be criminally violent in the future was unfair. ... The jurors no longer support a death sentence," Wood's attorney, Jared Tyler, said. "The psychiatrist had been expelled from the American Psychiatric Association and the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians for the same unethical conduct as he engaged in Mr. Wood's case."

Comment: A good ending to an 18 years on death row bad story. This case should be a wake-up call for self-serving testimonies of paid "experts," the inherent flaws in the US justice system and certain unreasonable laws that rule the society. What are the chances?

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Red Flag

Scapegoat? Hospital blamed for death of British human rights lawyer who represented Wikileaks' Assange and Gaddafi's son

William McLennan
Camden New Journal
Fri, 19 Aug 2016 17:39 UTC
John Jones QC, a barrister
A leading human rights lawyer was allowed to walk out of a private psychiatric hospital at 5am while "really unwell" just hours before he jumped in front of a train, an inquest heard.

John Jones QC, a barrister who worked on high-profile war crimes trials at The Hague, died instantly in the collision in West Hampstead on April 18 this year, St. Pancras Coroners Court heard yesterday (Thursday).

Mr. Jones, a married father-of-two, was the head of international law at Doughty Street Chambers, Bloomsbury.

He had been admitted to the private Nightingale Hospital in Lisson Grove, Marylebone, in March, with a number of mental health issues, which had been given a "working diagnosis" of bipolar disorder and anxiety by his psychiatrist.

But the court heard that he spent the majority of the time alone in his room, refusing to attend therapy sessions or even eat in the communal dinning room.

Comment: 'Very poorly' is all very well for lesser ailments, but it's not cutting the mustard as an explanation for what went on here. Some CCTV may show him alone, but given that all London is 'under the watchful eye' of Big Brother, let's see if the rest of the footage points to the involvement of others.

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Heart

Russia's Paralympic team's petition for reinstatement passes 100K mark in just 3 days


RT
Fri, 19 Aug 2016 18:21 UTC
Russian paralympians
© Hannah Peters/Getty Images
A petition to allow Russia's Paralympic team to compete in next month's games in Rio, has gathered more than 100,000 signatures in just three days. One woman who hopes to take part is Irina Vertinskaya, who explained that the Paralympics is 'her meaning in life'.

Time is running out for Russia's Paralympians. On August 8, their world turned upside down after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) confirmed a blanket ban on Russians competing in September's event following a recommendation from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Russia's disabled athletes have public support on their side. A petition on the website Change.org has already gathered around 110,000 signatures in the space of just three days. The authors of the petition, Egor Beroev and Ksenia Alferova, are calling on the President of the IPC Philip Craven to reverse his decision and give around 270 Russian Paralympians the chance to compete on the biggest stage possible.
"We believe that the decision to ban the Paralympic sportsmen from competition and enforcing on them collective responsibility for crimes they have not committed is against the basic principles of international law and European values. This is not fair to almost all the Paralympians who are absolutely clean and were not involved in any doping scandals," the statement read.

Comment: Change.org has the petition online

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Camera

Deplorable conditions revealed in Arizona immigrant detention centers


RT
Sat, 20 Aug 2016 16:55 UTC
arizona immigrants
© americanimmigrationcouncil.org
Temporary detention facility in Nogales, Arizona, in a June 2015 photo released as evidence in Doe v. Johnson
US Customs and Border Patrol has released security footage of detention facilities in southern Arizona, where immigrants have been held in overcrowded, dirty cells without bedding, adequate food and water, and even basic sanitation.

A federal judge in Tucson ordered the release of the photos in June, as evidence in the class-action lawsuit filed by several immigrant rights groups against the Department of Homeland Security, CBP's parent agency. The case is known as Doe v. Johnson.

The photos were made public Thursday by the American Immigration Council, one of the plaintiffs in the case, which called the conditions at CBP temporary detention facilities "deplorable and unconstitutional."
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Document

Calais 'Jungle' population soars to 6,901 migrants, authorities plan to tear it down


RT
Sat, 20 Aug 2016 03:20 UTC
calais jungle
© Pascal Rossignol/Reuters
An aerial view of a makeshift camp shows containers (Bottom) that have been put into place to house migrants living in what is known as the "Jungle", a sprawling camp in Calais, France
The number of residents in the Calais 'Jungle' camp has increased to a record 6,901, the maximum since its formation in April 2015, the prefecture of Pas-de- Calais announced, citing a "precise and exhaustive" census carried out by border law enforcement officials.

The new "precise and exhaustive" assessment shows a staggering increase of 53 percent in migrant numbers in just two months. The last count, conducted on June 13, showed a figure of some 4,480 people.

Meanwhile local humanitarian aid groups, L'Auberge des Migrants and Help Refugees, counted more than 9,100 people in their own census earlier this month.

Comment: The short-term plan to dismantle 'the jungle' is no solution to the overarching problem. Refugees appear to be an unsavory inconvenience to Western civilizations, as they serve as a reminder that their leaders that 'care' and 'protect' them bomb and kill innocent men, women and children. See the articles below for more information:

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Arrow Down

Disgraceful — Cop who gunned down in cold blood innocent Philando Castile is back on the job

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 16:27 UTC
Philando Castile

Jeronimo Yanez and Philando Castile
In a blow to the family and friends of Philando Castile, the officer who is responsible for his death is returning to work.

Last month, in shocking video streamed on Facebook Live, Philando Castile, 32, is seen bleeding to death after a Minnesota police officer shot him through his driver-side car window. His girlfriend, Lavish Reynolds captured the horrific scene on her cell phone, narrating the tragic events and streaming them live on Facebook.

According to Reynolds, police pulled them over for a broken tail light and callously shot her Castile to death after he told the officers that he had a firearm and a conceal-and-carry permit. Reynold's 4-year-old daughter was reportedly sitting in the back seat when the officer fired at least four bullets into Castile's arm and chest.

Comment: See also: 46 arrested at #PhilandoCastile protest against police brutality outside residence of Minnesota governor

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Bulb

Texas non-profit program dramatically reduces the time it takes to rebuild homes destroyed by natural disasters


Science Daily
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC
RAPIDPRO, disaster rebuilding
© Texas A&M University
A home built with input from Texas A&M researchers.
Texas legislators are investigating the benefits of RAPIDO, a pilot program developed with recommendations from Texas A&M University's Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC), that dramatically reduces the time it takes to rebuild homes destroyed by natural disasters.

The Texas Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations is studying RAPIDO and other disaster recovery efforts in Texas to develop policy recommendations prior to the January 2017 state legislative session.

In a Texas Senate hearing on post-disaster housing recovery held last year, a San Benito resident, Amita Melendez, testified that her mother, who had tried for years to rebuild her home that was badly damaged by Hurricane Dolly in 2008, was able to move into a modern, customized home within six months of entering the RAPIDO program.

The program is managed by buildingcommunityWORKSHOP, a Texas-based, nonprofit organization that employs design to improve community livability and viability. The group was founded by Brent Brown '91, who earned bachelor of environmental design and master of architecture degrees at Texas A&M.

In developing recommendations for RAPIDO, HRRC researchers reviewed 40 reports detailing obstacles and challenges faced by homeowners trying to rebuild in the wake of Gulf and Atlantic coast hurricanes between 2005-2015.

Comment: As the unprecedented number of natural disasters continues to increase, such programs could be lifesaving if more states would embrace such measures rather than placing further obstacles in the path of those trying to rebuild their lives.

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Attention

US submarine and support boat wreck in the Pacific Ocean


RT
Sat, 20 Aug 2016 16:21 UTC
USS Louisiana
© Wikipedia
USS Louisiana
The US Navy has confirmed that a ballistic missile submarine collided with a support vessel off the coast of Washington State in the Pacific Ocean. No casualties have been reported, while an investigation is currently underway.

The collision of the USS Louisiana and the offshore support vessel took place in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which separates Washington State from Victoria Island, Canada, on August 18. The incident was reported on the US Submarine Force Pacific's website a day later.

An investigation is underway into why the submarine and the US Navy Offshore Support Vessel collided, while a damage assessment is being carried out.
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