Society's ChildS


Question

Another banker found dead under questionable circumstances

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Sun, 07 Dec 2014 00:00 UTC
Image
Geert Tack Haaltert
52-year-old Belgian Geert Tack - a private banker for ING who managed portfolios for wealthy individuals - was described as 'impeccable', 'sporty', 'cared-for', and 'successful' and so as Vermist reports, after disappearing a month ago, the appearance of his body off the coast of Ostend is surrounded by riddles...

Tack disappeared on November 5th...

Impeccable. Sporty. Cared for. Successful. Just some qualifications that are attributed to the 52-year-old from the Belgian Geert Tack Haaltert.

Geert Tack worked as a private banker for ING and managed portfolios of wealthy clients. The Belgian was much respected in the financial world and was known as an up and top professional. His sudden disappearance had the effect of a bombshell. "If Tack himself was having trouble he has managed to keep it well hidden", colleagues say.

Nobody then could have guessed that the man would not return on Wednesday, November 5th to his wife in their villa Vondelen.

And would be found dead this weekend off the coast of Ostend...

Comment: As the list of banker 'suicides' and questionable deaths continues to grow, many people have espoused theories as to what is behind the phenomenon. Some theorize that corporate insurance policies may be behind some of these, but it is anybody's guess at this point.

Does the trail of dead bankers lead somewhere?

Exposing what lies beneath the bodies of dead bankers and what lies ahead for us

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Dollars

Yet another reason to detest police brutality: Taxpayers bear the burden of damages awarded

Sean Kelly
Opposing Views
Mon, 08 Dec 2014 00:00 UTC
Image
A UCLA Law Professor has found that in cases of police brutality, damages rewarded in suits against the city of New York are almost entirely paid for by taxpayers, with just a fraction of the cost incurred by officers involved or the NYPD as a whole.

Joanna Schwartz, who has extensive experience studying and analyzing cases of misconduct amongst police nationwide, presented her findings in a paper she wrote recently for the New York University Law Review. In the paper, Schwartz determines that taxpayers "almost always satisfy both compensatory and punitive damages awards entered against their sworn servants."

In the case of Eric Garner, the Staten Island man who was killed after NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo put him in a chokehold in an attempt to arrest him, the grand jury decision not to indict Pantaleo for Garner's death has prompted the victim's family to sue the city of New York for $75 million. Schwartz believes that Pantaleo may have to pay a very small portion of the damages, but it will ultimately be NYC taxpayers who foot the bill.

Comment: So, in addition to living in a police state, where you are terrified to call the cops for any reason, you are also paying for that 'privilege' via taxes to cover damage awards. It's little wonder protests are erupting all over the nation, as people have finally had enough!

#HandsUpWalkOut rallies spread across U.S. in wake of rigged Ferguson decision

Nationwide protests against police brutality in AmeriKKKa: Wilson gets away with murder, Anonymous: #HoodsOff "The war is on!"

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Sheriff

Former St. Louis cop: 'I won't say all, but many of my peers were deeply racist'

Redditt Hudson
Washington Post
Sat, 06 Dec 2014 15:27 UTC
police
© Unknown
As a kid, I got used to being stopped by the police. I grew up in an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis. It was the kind of place where officers routinely roughed up my friends and family for no good reason.

I hated the way cops treated me.

But I knew police weren't all bad. One of my father's closest friends was a cop. He became a mentor to me and encouraged me to join the force. He told me that I could use the police's power and resources to help my community.

So in 1994, I joined the St. Louis Police Department. I quickly realized how naive I'd been. I was floored by the dysfunctional culture I encountered.

I won't say all, but many of my peers were deeply racist.

Comment: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." -- Edmund Burke

It's unfortunate that police officers with a conscience are driven off of the force but kudos to the author for speaking up. Hopefully, more will follow in his footsteps.

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Extinguisher

Massive L.A. fire: Huge blaze engulfs tower, melts signs, bursts windows

Lauren Raab, Shelby Grad
Los Angeles Times
Mon, 08 Dec 2014 17:22 UTC
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© Michael Meadows / European Pressphoto Agency
A massive fire in downtown Los Angeles early today engulfed an apartment tower that was under construction, damaged two other buildings and left freeways and roads closed.

Firefighters used the 110 Freeway to set up equipment to fight the huge blaze.

Caltrans reopened the 101 Freeway and the southbound 110 at around 4:30 a.m., but the northbound 110 Freeway remained closed as of 7:30 a.m. Caltrans hoped to reopen the 110 north by 8 a.m.

Image
© Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press
More than 250 firefighters battled the fire at an apartment tower under construction in the DaVinci complex in the 900 block of Fremont Avenue, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman David Ortiz said. The building -- the size of an entire city block -- had 1.3 million square feet of floor space, and officials said two-thirds of it was consumed by flames.

Comment: Certainly will be interesting to find out what the cause of this blaze was with all the controversy about this complex.

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Cut

Woman cut off from welfare payments for not reporting she was in a coma

Sean Kelly
Opposing Views
Mon, 08 Dec 2014 04:50 UTC
coma
© www.webmd.com
Ohio resident Kimberly Thompson was recuperating from a month-long, medically induced coma when she was told that she'd no longer be receiving welfare payments. A letter from the county reportedly explained that because she hadn't informed them that she was in a coma, she was being kicked off of welfare.

According to NBC News, Thompson, 43, who spent years scraping by while raising a teenage daughter, applied for Medicaid earlier this year after being unable to work due to a hysterectomy she had in May. After the surgery, Thompson contracted an infection that led to gradual organ failure. She was placed in a coma while doctors worked to save her, and when she awoke she learned that she'd been cut off from $700 per month in government assistance.

"They told me I'd lost the benefits because I didn't go to class," Thompson told NBC News, referring to a job-training program she'd enrolled in when she began receiving Medicaid, welfare and food stamps. "How are you supposed to go to class when you're in a coma?"

Because she was unable to work in the first few months after her coma, Thompson resorted to sleeping on couches and spending time living with relatives. Her teenage daughter lived with her father during that time.

Thompson said she is confused as to why her Medicaid caseworker didn't inform her welfare caseworker of her condition; a problem that a county spokesperson admitted has affected others before. After a hearing officer ordered that Thompson's benefits be reinstated, she received the money that she missed out on after being cut off and is now receiving food stamps. NBC News says that the county is "still deciding whether to reinstate welfare payments in the future, since her daughter does not currently live with her."

"If I'd had that money after the coma, if I'd had it all along, I could have had a place for me and my daughter, but now because she doesn't live with me it's impossible to get us back together until I can get work again," Thompson said.
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Stormtrooper

California cop is being fired for NOT using violence to resolve a situation

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 07 Dec 2014 19:23 UTC
police
© Unknown
Seaside, CA - A 20 year veteran of the CSU Monterey Bay police force, was given a notice of termination this week for choosing NOT to immediately resort to violent escalation during a confrontation with a suicidal student.

The unidentified officer was the first one on the scene when responding to an incident involving a suicidal college student in his CSUMB dorm room in February of this year. The officer showed an heartening level of restraint when dealing with a student, who was in his room with a knife and hammer, and was also threatening to light himself on fire.

"He was clearly a danger to himself and he was in crisis," Marina Police Chief Edmundo Rodriguez said. "We were trying to keep him from accessing the weapons or leave, to get him medical attention."

Instead of immediately resorting to violence, this officer was talking the student down and de-escalating the situation. The officer was successful in calming the student down and was going to get him a glass of water when the Marina police department showed up, and immediately began tasering the student.

The campus officer refused to taser the student, as he did not perceive a threat. Subsequently Rodriguez's department later issued a "failure to act" complaint against the campus officer, accusing him of not engaging in a "highly agitated situation."

"It defies logic and is extremely disappointing that, at a time when law enforcement is under fire for using more force than necessary, an officer is being terminated for attempting to use civilized methods to resolve a situation," the student's father said.

"Our officer did not believe he was any threat at all," said Jeff Solomon, the union's president.

Comment: Yet another sign that police brutality is not an exception -- it's official policy.

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Footprints

Anniversary of teen murdered by police marked by demonstrations in Athens, riots by provocateurs


RT
Sun, 07 Dec 2014 23:06 UTC
athens dec 2014
Greek police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse crowds during clashes in the capital. Athens was gripped with protests marking six years since police shot dead an unarmed teenager during an anti-austerity rally.

At least 8,000 demonstrators marched in Athens on Saturday commemorating the sixth anniversary since the police slaying of Alexandros Grigoropoulos. Grigoropoulos' murder on December 6, 2008 sparked violent clashes across Greece, with cars being burned, shops looted, and police attacked in a number of Greek cities.

The violence on Saturday began at 19:30 in the evening by a group of some 200 black-clad masked men, local media reported. They started setting on fire cars and bank ATMs and threw Molotov cocktails and other projectiles at police in the bohemian neighborhood of Exarchia, where Grigoropoulos was killed.

Comment: Of the 8 thousand people who attended the demonstrations against police brutality in Athens, only about 2.5% of them caused the fires and the destruction. That's the news.

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Beaker

Chlorine gas leak hospitalizing 19 at Chicago hotel deemed intentional

Alexandra Chachkevitch
Chicago Tribune
Sun, 07 Dec 2014 17:55 UTC
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Midwest FurFest.
Several thousand people were evacuated from a Hyatt hotel in suburban Rosemont when an "intentional" chlorine gas leak at a convention led to 19 people being hospitalized early Sunday morning.

The incident happened around 12:40 a.m. at the Hyatt, at 9300 West Bryn Mawr Avenue in Rosemont, according to a statement from the Rosemont Public Safety Department. First responders were called to investigate a noxious odor that was spreading across the ninth floor of the hotel, where a high level of chlorine gas was discovered in the air, the statement said.

Nineteen people were transported to nearby hospitals after complaining of nausea, dizziness and other medical problems, according to the statement. All people inside the building were temporarily evacuated and sheltered at nearby facilities, including the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

Comment: Interesting that someone had tweeted the day before that "The security here is pretty strict!" . Apparently, not strict enough, and one wonders why a convention of art, literature, and performance based around anthropomorphic animals would warrant such security measures unless police or hotel staff had received previous threats?

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Handcuffs

Amtrak stabbings: Man charged with 4 counts of attempted murder

Christopher Behnan
Lansing State Journal
Sat, 06 Dec 2014 03:14 UTC
Amtrak
© www.usatoday.comOne person in custody in connection with multiple stabbing incidents onboard an Amtrak train.
A man has been charged with four counts of attempted murder after a stabbing aboard an Amtrak train in Niles, Mich., police said Saturday. Police identified the man as Michael Williams, 44, of Saginaw, Mich. He is being held in the Berrien County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Officers confronted Williams, who was carrying a knife, on board the train Friday evening, subduing him with a stun gun before his arrest. Police have yet to disclose a possible motive in the attack.

The multiple stabbings occurred on a Chicago-to-Port Huron Amtrak passenger train carrying 172 passengers Friday night in Niles, Mich., west of Battle Creek.

Four stabbing victims were taken to area hospitals - Lakeland-Niles Hospital and to the larger Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Ind., about 10 minutes away, a police dispatcher said.

The victims - whose identities were not immediately known - included the train's conductor, a female passenger and two male passengers, said Niles Mayor Michael McCauslin. All four victims were in stable condition Saturday, according to Niles Police Chief Jim Millen.


Comment: This seems to be another tragic example in a long line of recent "bizarre and suddenly violent incidents" surfacing without apparent provocation. Perhaps an investigation will reveal a motive, but logic says a trigger, such as a derogatory remark or argument, would involve only one victim, not four random people. Is there something else underlying the cause of violent attacks to which certain types of people are susceptible? If so, it is a wake-up call to stay alert and be aware of the circumstances and persons around you.

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Eye 1

Team America - Two hostages dead due to botched 'hostage rescue' operation

Mohammed Ghobari and Mohammed Mukhashaf
Reuters
Sun, 07 Dec 2014 12:32 UTC
Image
© Reuters via Reuters TVA man, who identified himself as Luke Somers, speaks in this still image taken from video purportedly published by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

Comment: Prepare your sick bag. John Kerry and Obama shed crocodile tears for the loss of American and African hostages who were almost guaranteed to be killed in the worst "hostage rescue" operation ever.


U.S. special forces stormed a walled compound in a remote Yemeni village early on Saturday in an attempt to free Western hostages held by an al Qaeda unit, but an American journalist and a South African teacher were killed by their captors, officials said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and a Yemeni intelligence official said Luke Somers, 33, and South African Pierre Korkie, 56, were shot by their kidnappers shortly after the raid began in the arid Wadi Abadan district of Shabwa, a province long seen as one of al Qaeda's most formidable strongholds.

It was the second U.S. attempt to free Somers in 10 days and Kerry said it had been approved because of information that Somers' life was in imminent danger. "It was our assessment that that clock would run out on Saturday," one U.S. official said.
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