Society's ChildS


Heart - Black

Readers of 'soft porn' like 'Fifty Shades of Grey' more likely to binge drink, have eating disorders and abusive relationships

violence women
A study conducted at Michigan State University found that young adult women who have read the popular erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey are more likely to exhibit symptoms of eating disorders and to have verbally abusive partners than women who haven't read the book.

Furthermore, reported MSU Today this week, women who have read all three books in author E. L. James' Fifty Shades trilogy are more prone to binge drinking and risky sexual behaviors.

The study, which appeared in the Journal of Women's Health, attempted to assess whether a connection exists between unhealthy behaviors in women and an affinity for popular culture - like the Fifty Shades series - that glamorizes and eroticizes violence against women.

"Fifty Shades - a blockbuster fiction series - depicts pervasive violence against women, perpetuating a broader social narrative that normalizes these types of risks and behaviors in women's lives," said the study's background statement.

Comment: Violent and abusive behavior against women, which can be both physically and emotionally harmful, gain societal acceptance when they are glamorized and normalized in popular culture such as books and movies. 'Culture' has now become so degraded that all forms of psychopathy have been normalized and violence against women is epidemic. It is no wonder that consumers of such 'entertainment' exhibit disturbing behaviors and engage in relationships with abusers as they have been taught by the proliferation of this garbage to accept sociopathic abuse as the norm.

Fifty Shades of Grey romanticizes sexual violence and emotional abuse of women
Violence against women at epidemic proportions
Psychopathy: the character trait that predicts risky sexual behavior and hypersexuality in both males and females


Camcorder

Newly released video disproves police depiction of fatal shooting in St. Louis

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The final moments of Kajieme Powell, a 25-year-old black man shot and killed by St. Louis police officers earlier this week, were caught on video.
New video footage from a cell phone camera at the scene of a deadly shooting by two St. Louis Metropolitan police officers two days ago strongly betrays the depiction of the killing given by the department in the aftermath of the incident.

Kajieme Powell, a 25-year-old black man was shot and killed by police on Tuesday just miles from where ongoing street protests in response to the August 9th killing of a black unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, have garnered international attention. Following the death of Powell on Tuesday, St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson claimed the shooting was justified because the man was brandishing a knife - "with an overhand grip" and making swiping motions - as he approached the two officers on the scene.

However, the new footage taken by a civilian bystander but released by the department late Wednesday shows that although Powell appeared agitated, his hands were at his sides and does not appear to be as close as stated when the officers opened fire with lethal force.

The following video contains the Chief Dotson's initial depiction of the shooting and then the new cell phone footage of the moments leading up to the shooting and the shooting itself. [Warning: Graphic content]:


Comment: Police justifying lethal force is nothing new. Will anything be done to the officers who killed Kajieme Powell in cold blood? If Darren Wilson gets paid leave for murdering Michael Brown, it's hard to expect anything different being handed down to the two policemen in the video. It's clear they shot and killed a man, used lethal force, when it was not necessary. When you see incidents like this and the way they are dealt with by a psychopathic, militarized police force, it's hard to see the U.S. as anything other than a police state where the citizens are the enemy.


Gear

Truth to the lies: Right wing blogger claim that Ferguson officer suffered fractured eye socket knocked down by CNN source

ferguson police
An unnamed source has "unequivocally" knocked down the anonymous report that Officer Darren Wilson suffered broken bones near his eye socket before shooting unarmed teenager Michael Brown.

The deadly shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, provoked international outrage as police in military gear confronted protesters demanding answers from authorities in ongoing - and frequently violent - demonstrations.

Little information about the investigation has been officially released, although at least a dozen sources close to the officer or authorities have refuted witness statements about the incident.

Conservative blogger Jim Hoft - known in some quarters as "the dumbest man on the Internet" - reported Tuesday that the officer suffered an "orbital blowout fracture to the eye socket."

The blogger, who calls himself "The Gateway Pundit," based his report on two unnamed sources, including one "within the Prosecuting Attorney's office and confirmed by the St. Louis County Police."

Hoft's claims have been widely reported, despite his dubious reputation.

Comment: The conservative media has been attempting to twist the facts to shore up the notion that local police are only doing their duty, when it is obvious to anyone with a conscience that US cops are armed to the teeth and have been murdering people and pets with impunity for quite some time:

Social media used to illustrate mainstream media bias towards minorities in police shooting of Michael Brown
Ferguson highlights the rise of police militarization where peaceful protesters become enemy combatants
The police have become a militarized murder machine


Bacon

Russia is busy winning friends and influencing people: Chilean meat producers to visit Russia in September

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© AP Photo/ Steve PopeChilean meat producers plan to visit Russia in September to discuss delivery volumes
Members of the Chilean associations of poultry and pork producers intend to visit Russia in September to discuss delivery volumes, according to a statement released by Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) Tuesday.

"The Embassy of Chile has asked Rosselkhoznadzor for assistance for members of the associations, who arrive in Russia in September on a trade mission to discuss increasing their deliveries to Russia", the statement said.

The Chilean delegation would also like to conduct talks with Rosselkhoznadzor about safety requirements and the product assessment technology deployed in Russia to ensure that the Chilean products meet the necessary standards.

Megaphone

Topsy-turvy world: South Carolina student arrested after writing about shooting a dinosaur, while Michael Brown shooter gets paid leave

student who shot dinosaur
Screenshot from 5 News Channel
The mother of a South Carolina high school student was left irate when her 16-year-old son was suspended and then arrested after writing that he intended to buy a gun and kill a dinosaur as part of a homework assignment.

Alex Stone, a student at the South Carolina school, said he wrote a joke that included a gun and a dinosaur for a class assignment to write a few sentences about himself and to list a mock Facebook status. The homework was due Tuesday, the second day of the school year.

The teen wrote, "I killed my neighbor's pet dinosaur." For his status, he said, "I bought the gun to take care of the business."

The teacher then reported Stone to school administrators, Dorchester District 2 officials said. The principal followed the school system's procedures, suspending the 16-year-old. This prompted the school's resource officer to call the Summerville Police Department.

Hearts

Fed up with stalling tactics Russian humanitarian convoy enters Ukraine en route to Lugansk

Russian aid convoy
© RIA Novosti / Maksim BlinovTrucks of a Russian convoy carrying humanitarian aid for Ukraine, August, 22, 2014
Several dozen trucks in the Russian humanitarian convoy have crossed the Ukrainian border and started moving in the direction of Lugansk, after Moscow ordered the convoy to proceed, without waiting for further permission from Kiev.

Moscow has accused Kiev of deliberately holding up the delivery of Russian humanitarian aid to the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine, according to a new statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"Our convoy with humanitarian aid is starting to move in the direction of Lugansk," the Foreign Ministry's statement reads. "We are of course ready for it to be accompanied by Red Cross representatives and for their participation in the aid's distribution."

A third of the Russian humanitarian convoy, which is around 90 trucks, has now reportedly crossed the border with Ukraine.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is not escorting the convoy.

"That's because of the problems with security," Galina Balzamova of the ICRC told RT. "Lugansk was shelled all night long. We believe we did not get sufficient guarantees of safety from all the parties to the conflict to start escorting the convoy."

Comment: While Russia is the only country that actually cares and is providing the desperately needed aid to the suffering people relentlessly shelled by Kiev, here's what the Western mainstream media presstitutes write:

The New York Times: Russian Trucks Cross Border Without Assent of Ukraine

BBC News: Ukraine crisis: Russia aid trucks 'an invasion'

The Washington Post: Russian aid convoy enters eastern Ukraine; Kiev official denounces 'invasion'


Ambulance

33 killed, over 40 injured in Egypt bus collision

egypt bus collision
At least 33 people have been killed and more than 40 injured when two buses collided early on Friday morning in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, according to the Egyptian news agency MENA. The incident happened around 50 km from Sharm el-Sheikh.

The accident is believed to have happened when one of the bus drivers fell asleep behind the wheel, which led to the collision, which was so strong that one of the vehicles overturned. Four foreigners are among the wounded, including one woman from Ukraine, two Saudi citizens and one from Yemen, according to local health ministry official, Mohamed Lashin.

Candle

Free Andrei Stenin: Mexican journalists demand release of Russian photographer while Kiev remains suspiciously uncooperative

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© RIA Novosti/Sergei Sarimov
The Mexican Press Club has condemned the abduction of Rossiya Segodnya photo reporter Andrei Stenin in Ukraine and expressed hope for his speedy release.

"We condemn the abduction of a true media representative, opposing violations of his rights starting from his disappearance and feeble efforts to find his exact location," a statement obtained by RIA Novosti read.

"We express our support to our colleague Andrei Stenin, his family and urge his speedy release," the press club stressed.

Comment: For more information, please see:

Mother of missing journalist, Andrey Stenin, asks Red Cross for help in finding her son
Kiev refuses to talk; situation around missing Russian journalist Stenin "unprecedented"


Alarm Clock

Not at home on the range: Subsidized fracking hits Colorado

Duke Cox, Grand Valley Citizens Alliance
© UnknownDuke Cox, Grand Valley Citizens Alliance
A general contractor in Colorado's Grand Valley, Duke Cox says the first time he became aware that drilling for gas might be a problem was back in the early 2000s when he happened to attend a local public hearing on oil and gas development. A woman who came to testify began sobbing as she talked about the gas rigs that were making the air around her home impossible to breathe.

"There were 17 rigs in the area, at that time," Cox says. "And they were across the valley, so I wasn't affected. But she was my neighbor." The incident led Cox to join the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, a group of activists concerned about drilling policies in his area on Colorado's Western Slope. Within months he became the group's President and public face. And as fracking for gas became more common across the state, he has found more and more of his time taken up with the cause.

"We are ground zero for natural gas and fracking in this country," he says.

His claim is not hyperbole in many respects. Scientists in Colorado are publishing alarming studies that show gas wells harm those living in close proximity, and dozens of stories stretching back over a decade have documented the ill effects of natural gas drilling on Colorado's citizens.

In response to public unease, the state has created a system to report complaints of oil and gas health effects. The subject has become so acute that it consumes Colorado's politicians and electorate, who have been squaring off on multiple ballot initiatives to limit where companies can drill, in order to provide a buffer between gas wells and people's homes.

But there's one fact the industry would like to hide from the public (but uses in its lobbying of Congress): much of the drilling activity in Colorado would never happen were it not for generous tax subsidies.

Four years ago, the American Petroleum Institute concluded that gas development would fall dramatically in the Rocky Mountain region without certain tax breaks to make development economically viable. While precise figures for subsidies specific to Colorado are difficult to derive, a recent report by Oil Change International shows that subsidies to the fossil fuel industry continue to grow in value as the fracking boom has hit its stride.

At the national level, the report shows over $21 billion in federal and state subsidies that taxpayers provided to the fossil fuel industry in 2013. The use and value of these subsidies have increased dramatically in recent years - a product of the "all of the above" energy policy.

"They are profitable because of tax breaks," says Cox.

Snakes in Suits

'Young Turks' Cenk Uygur blasts Hannity on Ferguson: 'Why don't you shut the f*ck up?'

Hannity
© Fox News
Young Turks host Cenk Uygur hammered Fox News counterpart Sean Hannity on Thursday for his wanting to "educate" a Ferguson, Missouri official about the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

"Hey Sean, I've got a question for you: were you there?" Uygur asked. "I mean, you've got all these assumptions - 'Oh, the cops, gotta respect the cops, maybe [Brown] had his head down and he was charging, he was doing all these things.' Wait, Sean. Why don't you shut the f*ck up, 'cause you weren't there?"

On Wednesday, Hannity berated local committeewoman Patricia Bynes (D) during an interview, saying she could not say that Brown's shooting at the hands of Officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9 was a case of police brutality because she was not at the scene at the time.

Hannity told Bynes on multiple occasions that he wanted to "educate" her regarding the criminal justice system, and argued that Wilson suffered "an orbital eye socket fracture" during his encounter with Brown. However, CNN reported that early reports that he suffered that kind of injury were false. The Washington Post also reported on Thursday that Wilson has still not spoken to prosecutors about the shooting.

"Eyewitnesses say that Brown charged at [Wilson]," Hannity told Bynes. "You weren't there. What if that turns out to be true in our court system? Then that would mean you're wrong, doesn't it?"

"We have lots of eyewitnesses that are saying something different," Bynes responded.

"So you don't know, do you?" Hannity pressed.

On Thursday, Uygur sarcastically wondered why Hannity was so intent on reminding Bynes about the presumption of innocence for Wilson, then tried to "educate" the Fox News host.

"Just because we're not in a court of law - and the reason we're not is that the cop hasn't even been arrested after he put 6 to 8 bullets in that kid - doe not mean that facts don't exist," Uygur explained. "Facts can exist outside of a courtroom. So you keep saying to her, 'You don't know 'cause you weren't there,' but you don't know because you weren't there."

Uygur also chided Hannity for seemingly siding with accounts supporting Wilson, while claiming he was being impartial.

"Sean, nobody's convicting the officer - they haven't even arrested him," Uygur repeated. "Bill O'Reilly talks about a 'lynch mob.' How dare you?"