Society's ChildS


Red Flag

California considering usage of recycled sewage water as source of drinking water amid drought


RT
Tue, 26 May 2015 21:25 UTC
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© Reuters / Lucy NicholsonA man fills a tank with water at the local fire station, in East Porterville, California
Potable water reuse - or converting sewage effluent to heavily-treated, purified drinking water - is receiving renewed attention in California in the midst of the state's four-year drought.

According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, "California water managers and environmentalists"are pushing the idea of recycled sewage water. Yet past efforts in the state to employ similar systems have stalled, as opponents have dubbed the concept "toilet to tap."

This spring, California Gov. Jerry Brown ordered a 25 percent cut in urban water usage based on ongoing drought conditions across the state.

Proponents of potable water reuse say that the system could convert the hundreds of billions of gallons of treated sewage that is already directed into the Pacific Ocean into drinking water.

"That water is discharged into the ocean and lost forever," Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies, told the LA Times. "Yet it's probably the single largest source of water supply for California over the next quarter-century."

A potable reuse system would mean effluent would be sent to an advanced treatment plant for a three-step purification process.
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Pistol

Gunman in shooting at North Dakota Walmart an active airman in military


RT
Tue, 26 May 2015 21:03 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Shannon Stapleton
A US airman is suspected of being the gunman responsible for a Tuesday morning shooting in a North Dakota branch of Walmart. The man entered the store, killed one employee and injured one other, before killing himself.

The suspected gunman, Marcell Willis, 21, is an active airman at the Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Police said the shooting occurred a few minutes after 1 am , that left one Walmart employee dead and another injured, may have been random, with no link yet found between Willis, the store or the employees.

"We've not been able to find any linkage to him and any of the victims. That's not to say that can't change," police Lt. Derik Zimmel said during an afternoon news conference, reported by the Associated Press. "There's no apparent motive that jumps out at this time."
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Magnify

Ex-Air Force lawyer: Victims of rape in the military face revenge, backlash from superiors for coming forward


RT
Tue, 26 May 2015 18:00 UTC
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© Reuters / Shamil Zhumatov
The US military's system of prosecution has to change, as rape victims are often put in positions where they even regret coming forward, Maribel Jarzabek, ex-Air Force lawyer, said on a recent HRW survey of sexual assault survivors.

Of those who answered the US Army's call to come out as sexual assault victims, 62 percent are facing backlash from their commanders and fellow servicemen, a report released by Human Rights Watch earlier this week stated.

The victims are "spat on, deprived of food, assailed with obscenities - whore, cum-dumpster, slut, faggot - threatened with 'friendly fire' during deployment... demoted, disciplined [or] discharged for misconduct," the paper entitled "Embattled: Retaliation against sexual assault survivors in the US military" said.

According to HRW, only 5 percent of sexual assault cases in the US military lead to convictions of the perpetrators.

"Virtually no-one is held accountable" for retaliating against those reporting rape and other abuses, the report added.
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Pistol

Social chaos: Murder record broken in Baltimore after deadly Memorial Day weekend


RT
Tue, 26 May 2015 17:52 UTC
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© Reuters / Shannon StapletonProtesters are gathered for a rally to protest the death of Freddie Gray who died following an arrest in Baltimore, Maryland

Comment: As the citizens of the U.S. watch as their leaders go around the world invading countries and murdering their inhabitants all in the name of power, money, and control, it should not be surprising to see the rest of the country following suit and behaving the same way towards each other.


A surge of fatal shootings in Baltimore, Maryland over Memorial Day weekend has propelled the number of murders so far in May to 35, making it the deadliest month in the city since 1999.

In the midst of a wave of violence that has anything but waned in the weeks since riots unfolded across Baltimore, city officials say the tally of homicides so far in 2015 stands at 108 as of Tuesday morning.

The Baltimore Police Department told local network WJZ News that 28 people were shot over Memorial Day weekend this year. This included nine fatalities.

With the death toll for May now pushing three dozen, officials say the city is currently experiencing its most violent month since 1999.

"It's deplorable," City Councilman William "Pete" Welch told the Baltimore Sun. "The shootings and killings are all over the city. I don't think any part of the city is immune to this. I've never seen anything like it."
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Arrow Down

Texas SWAT team throws flash grenade at 82yo mans home, leaves him alone, crippled without medical assistance

David Edwards
The Raw Story
Tue, 26 May 2015 17:12 UTC
Herman Crisp
© KVUEHerman Crisp
An 82-year-old Texas man alleged this week that officers in military gear stormed his home, broke his hip and then left him without calling for medical assistance.

Herman Crisp told KTBC that Georgetown deputies wearing SWAT uniforms gave no warning before throwing a flash-bang device outside his home last September as he was sitting in a chair and smoking a cigarette.

He said that the explosion knocked him out of his chair, and then officers slammed him on the ground and handcuffed him. The force of hitting the ground broke his hip, according to Crisp, who was 81 years old at the time.

Eventually officers did help inside the home before leaving, but they did not call paramedics, he said. The next day, his family said that they found him lying on the floor in his own feces.

"After they left, I tried to get up because I had to go to the bathroom," he explained to KTBC. "And I couldn't go. So, I just crawled over and laid on the floor right down through here. My sister had to call paramedics."

Attorney Boadus Spivey, who is representing Crisp, accused the Georgetown Sheriff's Office of a "conspiracy of silence."

Comment: SWAT teams are getting more aggressive, yet have an unfortunate problem identifying suspects as they routinely go to the wrong home and inflict damage on innocent people, then deny responsibility or attempt to cover-up their actions. All part of our glorious police state, where every normal human is considered a criminal and all police are considered innocent, only rarely proven guilty of criminal behavior no matter how much evidence of their wrongdoing is provided.

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Nuke

Dumping highly radioactive water into Pacific Ocean a potential trigger to global radioactive contamination

Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research
Tue, 26 May 2015 00:00 UTC
fukushima radiation
Nuclear radiation resulting from the March 2011 Fukushima disaster - which threatens life on planet earth - is not front page news in comparison to the most insignificant issues of public concern, including the local level crime scene or the tabloid gossip reports on Hollywood celebrities.

The shaky political consensus both in Japan, the U.S. and Western Europe is that the crisis at Fukushima has been contained.

The truth is otherwise. Known and documented, the ongoing dumping of highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean constitutes a potential trigger to a process of global radioactive contamination.

This water contains plutonium 239 and its release into the Ocean has both local as well as global repercussions. A microgram of plutonium if inhaled, according to Dr. Helen Caldicott, can cause death:
Certain isotopes of radioactive plutonium are known as some of the deadliest poisons on the face of the earth. A mere microgram (a speck of darkness on a pinhead) of Plutonium-239, if inhaled, can cause death, and if ingested, radioactive Plutonium can be harmful, causing leukemia and other bone cancers.

"In the days following the 2011 earthquake and nuclear plant explosions, seawater meant to cool the nuclear power plants instead carried radioactive elements back to the Pacific ocean. Radioactive Plutonium was one of the elements streamed back to sea." (decodescience.com).

Comment: Tepco has been dumping radioactive water into the Pacific for over a year at least, spiking all-time radiation highs at monitoring points near the Fukushima power plant. The radioactive material has been found all over the world with massive die-offs of marine life and reports of radioactive contamination of seafood.

Japan begins purposely dumping 100s of tons of radioactive water from Fukushima into the Pacific

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Dominoes

505 trillion dollar interest rate derivatives bubble in imminent jeopardy

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Mon, 25 May 2015 00:00 UTC
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Now you see the bubble... soon you won't.
All over the planet, large banks are massively overexposed to derivatives contracts. Interest rate derivatives account for the biggest chunk of these derivatives contracts. According to the Bank for International Settlements, the notional value of all interest rate derivatives contracts outstanding around the globe is a staggering 505 trillion dollars. Considering the fact that the U.S. national debt is only 18 trillion dollars, that is an amount of money that is almost incomprehensible. When this derivatives bubble finally bursts, there won't be enough money in the entire world to bail everyone out. The key to making sure that all of these interest rate bets do not start going bad is for interest rates to remain stable. That is why what is going on in Greece right now is so important. The Greek government has announced that it will default on a loan payment that it owes to the IMF on June 5th. If that default does indeed happen, Greek bond yields will soar into the stratosphere as panicked investors flee for the exits. But it won't just be Greece. If Greece defaults despite years of intervention by the EU and the IMF, that will be a clear signal to the financial world that no nation in Europe is truly safe. Bond yields will start spiking in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and all over the rest of the continent. By the end of it, we could be faced with the greatest interest rate derivatives crisis that any of us have ever seen.

Comment: To hear more about the various ways an economic collapse may be brought about listen to the SOTT Talk Radio Show episode:
The Truth Perspective - Michael Snyder - Economic Collapse and Global Chaos

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Bad Guys

US-UK-Saudi attacks on Yemen leave 16 million Yemenis without clean water


PressTV
Tue, 26 May 2015 13:39 UTC
Yemen
© AFPYemenis wait to fill jerry cans with water from a public tap amid an acute shortage of water supply to houses in the capital Sana’a, on May 9, 2015.
The charity organization Oxfam says almost two-thirds of the war-hit population in Yemen have no access to clean water as Saudi Arabia continues its deadly airstrikes against the impoverished country.

The aid agency said in a statement on Tuesday that the constant Saudi bombardments have increased the number of Yemenis without clean water to at least 16 million.
"Ongoing air strikes, ground fighting and fuel shortages mean that an additional three million Yemenis are now without drinking water, raising the total number of Yemenis without a clean water supply and sanitation to at least 16 million," Oxfam said.
Oxfam's director in Yemen, Grace Ommer, said the figure is equivalent to the total population in the European capitals of Berlin, London, Paris and Rome.

Comment: See also:

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Fire

Fire hits China nursing home killing 38


Sky News
Tue, 26 May 2015 07:19 UTC
China nursing home fire
The blaze was put out in less than an hour but not before dozens had died

Bodies were burned beyond recognition and wheelchairs reduced to charred frames at the privately-run home in Henan province.

A fire has swept through an old people's home in China, leaving 38 residents dead.

Many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and wheelchairs were reduced to charred frames at the privately-owned home in Pingdingshan.

The fire broke out on Monday evening at one of the home's apartments, according to the state news agency Xinhua, and photos posted online showed a thick column of black smoke coming from behind a petrol station nearby.

The blaze was extinguished less than an hour after it broke out but 38 of the home's 51 residents were killed. Two of the injured were in a critical condition in hospital.

"The bodies were so badly burned, we couldn't tell who was who," Xinhua quoted one victim's relative saying of the identification process.

"Only myself and one other roommate managed to get out," survivor Zhao Yulan, 82, who shared her room with 11 other people, told Xinhua.

fire in China nursing home
Wheelchairs were reduced to charred frames by the fire
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Eye 1

Best of the Web: Pathological blindness: The secret country again wages war on its own people

John Pilger
JohnPilger.com
Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:00 UTC
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© JohnPilger.com
Australia has again declared war on its Indigenous people, reminiscent of the brutality that brought universal condemnation on apartheid South Africa. Aboriginal people are to be driven from homelands where their communities have lived for thousands of years. In Western Australia, where mining companies make billion dollar profits exploiting Aboriginal land, the state government says it can no longer afford to "support" the homelands.

Vulnerable populations, already denied the basic services most Australians take for granted, are on notice of dispossession without consultation, and eviction at gunpoint. Yet again, Aboriginal leaders have warned of "a new generation of displaced people" and "cultural genocide".

Genocide is a word Australians hate to hear. Genocide happens in other countries, not the "lucky" society that per capita is the second richest on earth. When "act of genocide" was used in the 1997 landmark report 'Bringing Them Home', which revealed that thousands of Indigenous children had been stolen from their communities by white institutions and systematically abused, a campaign of denial was launched by a far-right clique around the then prime minister John Howard. It included those who called themselves the Galatians Group, then Quadrant, then the Bennelong Society; the Murdoch press was their voice.
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