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Another suspect in Kim Jong-nam murder arrested in Malaysia - police


RT
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 14:39 UTC
Kim Jong Nam
© Kyodo / Reuters
Kim Jong Nam
Malaysian authorities have arrested a third person in connection with the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The third arrest was confirmed by Malaysian police on Thursday.

"He was detained to facilitate investigations as he is the boyfriend of the second suspect," Selangor state police chief Abu Samah Mat told Reuters.

The second suspect was arrested earlier the same day. That arrest was confirmed by the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Baka and Indonesia's foreign ministry, as she was found in possession of an Indonesian passport.
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Nuke

Acid fumes over German town after leak at chemical plant - 150 people treated


RT
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 14:33 UTC
Sulfuric acid leakes Germany
© Arnulf Stoffel / www.globallookpress.com
Sulfuric acid leakes out of a tank at a chemical company in Oberhausen, Germany, 16 February 2017
At least 150 people suffered minor respiratory issues after a leak from an acid tank at a chemical plant in Oberhausen, western Germany, according to local media. The neighborhood has been evacuated and residents have been told not to leave their homes.

So far, at least 150 people have been treated for minor respiratory issues by the emergency services, but only two of them were taken to hospital, a spokesman for the Oberhausen fire department told MDR.

Among the injured are 40 chemical plant staff, while the remaining 110 are people working at an industrial
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Stock Down

Budget crisis forcing school district to close schools, consider using students as janitors


RT
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 14:11 UTC
School bus
© Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
A massive budget crisis has forced a Texas school district to consider radical measures including suggestions to use students as janitors and having students pay to play sports.

The Frisco Independent School District (ISD) serves over 56,000 students in the Dallas area, but to what extent in the future remains to be seen. Between a loss of state funding and voters refusing to pay an extra 13 cents in property taxes, the district has been left to devise its own methods of fixing its budget.

When it comes to school budget cuts, it's rare for there to be an easy or simple solution. However, one particularly interesting idea made its way into Thursday's brainstorming session: "reasonable 'self-service' programs to reduce custodial needs." The suggestion essentially means that the district is being asked to consider having students use time during the school day to take out the garbage.
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Bullseye

Former journalist creates algorithm to spot serial killers

Daniel Lang
The Daily Sheeple
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 13:37 UTC
serial killers
© Paul Ward
Although serial killers make frequent appearances in TV shows and movies, and are often reported on disproportionately by the news, most of us know that they're not really much of a threat in the big scheme of things. Statistically speaking, you aren't very likely to be murdered in most places, and only a small percentage of murders are committed by serial killers. The image crafted by the media of the cold, brilliant, and ruthless killer who stalks people for nothing more than sport and pleasure, is an outlier in the real world.

However, though their ranks are incredibly small, there may be more of them lurking in our cities and highways than we realize. That's the conclusion that former journalist Thomas Hargrove came to, after he developed a computer algorithm which can spot serial killers who are often overlooked by the police. He told Bloomberg that "I think there are a great many uncaught serial killers out there...I think most cities have at least a few."

Comment: Math formula may explain why serial killers kill

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Wolf

Mark of the beast on trial: CIA deputy director Haspel asked to testify in torture lawsuit initiated by ACLU


RT
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 22:11 UTC
Waterboarding torture
© Shannon Stapleton
The official appointed by President Donald Trump to be the deputy director of the CIA may be compelled to testify in a case against two contractors who helped design the interrogation techniques widely denounced as torture.

Gina Haspel, who was appointed to the post in early February, was named in the court filing on Tuesday that requested Judge Justin Quackenbush compel her deposition in a lawsuit. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell, two psychologists who developed the so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" such as waterboarding.

Attorneys for Jessen and Mitchell filed the motion after the Trump administration informed them it would "not authorize" the deposition, according to the Guardian. They say the deposition would help show that their clients' actions or inactions were "within the scope of legally and validly conferred authority."


Comment: In other words, the CIA head honchos and others said it would be ok - which is most probably true, but also seems to deflect the responsibility for recommending such heinous behavior. At the same time, one might ask, why isn't the ACLU suing the CIA?

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Fire

Gas pipeline explosion lights up South Texas sky and shakes homes as far as 60 miles away

Ariel Zilber
Daily Mail (UK)
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 13:56 UTC
Refugio gas explosion
© Michelle Amador
Texas officials say the explosion occurred early Wednesday near Refugio, a rural community north of Corpus Christi, about 15 miles from the Texas Coast
A natural gas pipeline has exploded in South Texas, in a fiery display that lit up the sky and could be seen for miles.

The force of the explosion shook homes as far as 60 miles away, according to KHOU-TV.

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Nathan Brandley says the explosion occurred early Wednesday near Refugio, a rural community north of Corpus Christi, about 15 miles from the Texas Coast.

Brandley says no one was hurt and that there are no refineries or plants nearby.

He says it's too early to know what triggered the explosion.

Brandley says crews are working to close the line and extinguish the flames.

Mishaps with transmission lines are not uncommon.

In the past two decades, the US government has recorded more than 2,000 accidents on gas transmission lines across the country.

Comment: Another natural gas pipeline exploded in Texas on 17th January. Last week a blast occurred at a gas pipeline in Louisiana.

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Stormtrooper

'Forced to strip & pole dance': New details emerge of sadistic abuses at elite German military base


RT
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 00:46 UTC
german military
© Michaela Rehle / Reuters
Female soldiers have been routinely forced to strip and pole dance as part of humiliating "recruitment tests" and "training sessions" at the notorious military base in southern Germany, according to a new internal report obtained by German media.

A report issued by the German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr, and seen by Der Spiegel and DPA contains testimony of a female soldier identified only as Nicole E, who was sent to the infamous Pfullendorf military base in Baden-Wuertemberg in 2016.

The infamous military facility hit the headlines late January when it was revealed that "sexual abuse and sadistic actions" were"common practice" there.

In her testimony, Nicole E. said instructors at the base forced her to go through a humiliating "recruitment test" that involved a dance against a pole in the soldiers' barracks.
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People

Cincinnati University to host workshop on "White Fragility" and "White Tears"

Raven Clabough
The New American
Tue, 14 Feb 2017 00:00 UTC
white fragility
© Unknown
The University of Cincinnati, a publicly funded facility, is hosting a racially charged "inclusive" workshop on "white tears" and "white fragility."

The workshop, entitled "White Fragility, White Tears, and White Allies: Learning to manage emotion in difficult conversations about race and racism," is one of 21 workshops sponsored by the university's Office of Equity & Inclusion, the Daily Caller reports. This particular workshop will be taught by PhD student Ainsley Lambert of the university's sociology department. The various workshops are being held throughout the year, and the workshop on "white fragility" begins April 3.

Lambert's profile on the school's website ticks off all of the requirements of left-wing professors:

Ainsley is also committed to applying her research expertise to create a more diverse and inclusive campus climate at the University of Cincinnati in which all students, staff, and faculty are able to thrive. She has served as a member of the A&S Diversity and Inclusion Council for three years and has worked on multiple committees charged with making A&S and the university at large a more equitable institution. As a three-time recipient of the Norris Johnson Teaching Fellowship, Ainsley has carried this charge into the classroom by focusing her efforts on creating an inclusive environment where the perspectives of all students are welcome, but particularly those of marginalized groups whose voices are often silenced. By bringing marginalized and diverse perspectives to the forefront, all students are challenged to think more critically about the social world and the lives we lead within it.
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Blackbox

The Iraqi reform center deradicalizing former Daesh members


Sputnik
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 23:09 UTC
Iraqi teenager escorted in Dohuk reform center
© REUTERS/ Azad Lashkar
A facility in Iraq is providing new hope to 54 teenagers, who are suspected of aiding the terror group Daesh (also known as ISIL).

The aim of the reform center, based in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk, aims to deradicalize youths and women who have helped Daesh, an exclusive Reuters report has revealed. The hope is that through counseling and therapy, the facility will prevent the terror group from brainwashing a new generation of young people and stop them from becoming suicide bombers. The reform center also hopes to tease out intelligence on the terror group.

"We encourage the teenagers and women to choose life and not death," Zaki Saleh Moussa, head of the facility in northern Iraq said in a recent interview with Reuters.
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Airplane

I'll never bring my phone on an international flight again. Neither should you

Quincy Larson
freeCodeCamp
Tue, 14 Feb 2017 20:35 UTC
Airport Security
© Unknown
US Customs and Border Patrol agent in an airport.
A few months ago I wrote about how you can encrypt your entire life in less than an hour. Well, all the security in the world can't save you if someone has physical possession of your phone or laptop, and can intimidate you into giving up your password.

And a few weeks ago, that's precisely what happened to a US citizen returning home from abroad.On January 30th, Sidd Bikkannavar, a US-born scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory flew back to Houston, Texas from Santiago, Chile.

On his way through through the airport, Customs and Border Patrol agents pulled him aside. They searched him, then detained him in a room with a bunch of other people sleeping in cots. They eventually returned and said they'd release him if he told them the password to unlock his phone.
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