Society's ChildS


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Homeless not finding aloha in Hawaii

homeless in hawaii
© Wayne Yoshioka/Hawai‘i Public RadioHonolulu city workers dismantle an abandoned tent during a sweep of one of the state’s largest homeless encampments.
Two days before the city planned to dismantle her sidewalk home, Kionina Kaneso had no idea where she and her daughter and grandchildren would sleep.

A full-time fast-food worker, Kaneso had bad experiences at shelters before and was hesitant to live in another, ending up instead in one of the nation's largest homeless encampments for two years. Desperate, she decided to try to get into a shelter.

Kaneso, a daughter and granddaughter made the long walk to one from their camp in a neighborhood between downtown Honolulu's high-rises, the swaying palm trees of a beachfront park and the glittering tourist mecca of Waikiki.

A shelter worker helped several people from the camp find a spot inside to live.

She wasn't as lucky: There was no more space for families.

"Where can I go?" Kaneso asked.

Homelessness in Hawaii has grown in recent years, leaving the state with 487 homeless per 100,000 people, the nation's highest rate per capita, ahead of New York and Nevada, according to federal statistics.

Comment: See also:


Light Sabers

Anti-fascist protesters clash with police in Bologna, Italy

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© Ruptly
Leftist demonstrators clashed with police in Bologna as they protested a meeting of the right-wing Northern League party leader with former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, held in the Italian city.The protesters used wooden sticks to attack the police, with the security forces using riot shields and batons to push back the angry crowd back.


At least one officer was injured during the Sunday's clashes, Reuters reported, citing the Italian media. A police force of 600 was deployed in Bologna to separate the Northern League rally and the leftist counter-protest, in which hundreds took part, according to Bologna Today. Various leftist groups in Bologna decry the Northern League's views on immigration, saying that they are fascists, who are not welcome in their city.


Overnight unknown perpetrators set fire to railway cables, which caused the shutdown of the key Bologna-Milan railtrack for several hours. The saboteurs left an anti-fascist graffiti behind them, leading to suggestions that the move was aimed at preventing the right-wing supporters from arriving in Bologna.

Matteo Salvini, Northern League leader, was meeting with former PM Berlusconi to discuss a possible alliance capable of challenging the Democratic Party in the next election. The Northern League united several regional parties in 1991 to push for greater autonomy or even independence for Italy's northern regions.

Comment: Jaw dropping: Italian opposition submits over 82 million amendments to constitution reform bill


Heart - Black

Foaming at the mouth: Most Israelis support executing alleged 'terrorists' on the spot

militarized idf troops
© REUTERS/ Ronen ZvulunJudge, jury, and executioner?
A new poll shows more than a half of Jewish Israelis support extrajudicial killings of Palestinians.

A majority of Jewish Israelis said they support the statement that "any Palestinian who has perpetrated a terror attack against Jews should be killed on the spot, even if he has been apprehended and no longer poses a threat," a recent Peace Index poll by the Israel Democracy Institute shows.

Comment: Looks like the majority of the Israeli population is losing any sense of humanity they have, if they ever had any to begin with.


Blue Planet

2nd train derails in Wisconsin in 2 days, spills crude oil

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A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying crude oil derailed Sunday in Wisconsin, the second day in a row a freight train derailed in the state.

The eastbound CP train derailed about 2 p.m. in Watertown in the southeastern part of the state. The railroad said at least 10 cars derailed, and some were leaking.

No fires or injuries were reported. CP was sending teams to the site.

Comment: All these train accidents are beginning to look suspicious: Another Buffett-owned oil tanker train derails in Wisconsin one day after Obama kills Keystone XL pipeline


Handcuffs

Out of control cops: 3 youths violently beaten and arrested by Texas police

austin police violently arrest people for jaywalking
© YoutubeProtecting citizens from dangerous jaywalkers
Three people were arrested by police in Austin after jaywalking in a violent incident that was caught on video Friday.


Comment: Only in a police state could jaywalking possibly be an arrest-able offense.


After the three spent the night in jail, two were released and had their charges dropped while the other remained detained.

Jeremy Kingg, one of the arrested men, told ATTN: news that the group had called out to police at about 2:30 a.m. because they did not know if they were allowed to cross. When police didn't respond, they crossed the street.


Comment: Warning: There is, quite understandably, a lot of swearing in the video below.



Comment: Even if these people were breaking the law by jaywalking, this response is totally unreasonable. These cops should be fired and charged with assault.


Attention

Mexico facing public pressure, demanding corrupt security forces be held accountable for mass grave

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© Henry Romero / Reuters
More than 100 bodies were discovered in central Mexico, officials said Friday. Authorities have begun an investigation into local security forces, who are accused of secretly dumping the bodies.

At least 105 bodies were found in an indigenous community in Morelos province, which is known for the country's highest abduction rate, according to a statement released by the region's prosecutor Javeir Perez.

Perez said there was no official authorization to bury the bodies. According to Mexican law, all unidentified bodies must be buried in plastic bags with a case number label attached to them.

Arrow Down

The shocking suicide rate of US veterans

Marching US Soldiers
© AFP 2015/Jewel SamadUS military soldiers march during the Veterans Day Parade in New York.
Why are suicide rates among veterans higher than in the general US population, American author David Swanson asks, posing yet another question: why does the subject of war as a suicide-related motive never arise in official studies?

The problem of high suicide rates among war veterans is widely discussed in the United States: the latest study has found that the suicide rate among recent veterans is 50 percent higher than non-military civilians.

Incredible as it may seem, official reports brush aside the idea that war itself has anything to do with the problem, American activist and author David Swanson notes.

"Remarkably, the subject of war, their role in war, their thoughts about the supposed justifications (or lack thereof) of a war, never come up," Swanson wrote in his article for Information Clearing House.

The psychiatric studies and mass media reports are being focused on various "factors to blame" from "prior suicidality" to "poverty." However, they tell us virtually nothing, according to Swanson.

"Perhaps their goal isn't to tell us something factual so much as to shift the conversation away from why war causes murder and suicide, to the question of what was wrong with these soldiers before they enlisted," the author remarked.

The issue requires further investigation the American activist says, calling attention to the fact that violence and PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder), which are closely connected with one another, are also higher among veterans than among non-veteran civilians.

Arrow Up

Viggo Mortensen stands by Tarantino's anti-police brutality statements: 'You have to speak up'

Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn
This week we have been paying close attention to the developing feud between Academy Award-winning film director Quentin Tarantino and the police departments of the United States. The largest police union in the country, representing 330,000 full-time cops Threatened Tarantino with a "surprise" after he refused to back down in his statements about police brutality.

As police departments around the country are attempting to bully Tarantino into recanting his statements, other celebrities are surprisingly risking their own positions as well to speak out in his support.

Actor Viggo Mortensen of the Lord of The Rings series and numerous other successful films recently appeared on Democracy Now to discuss the situation and show his support for Tarantino.

Comment: See also:


Snakes in Suits

Former employee at Service Dogs Europe claims company exploits the vulnerable

Stephanie Mortlock
© Simon Hildrew/NewsquestStephanie Mortlock, 22, is among dozens of people who claim they’ve been conned by Service Dogs Europe.
A former employee at Service Dogs Europe (SDE) has turned whistleblower to accuse the company of risking its customers' lives.

They were advertised as miracle dogs to provide life-saving services for those in greatest need.

However, the reality has proven the opposite for hundreds of vulnerable and disabled Britons who ploughed their savings - and hopes - into a bogus training firm.

Investigators are also calling for government intervention amid claims the firm is among several exploiting a charity funding crisis for legitimate dog training centres.

Some animals supplied for round-the-clock assistance for paralysed people, diabetics and extreme allergy sufferers were not even fit to fetch a ball.

Ex-trainer Janne Kovaljeff, 43, described his time at Irish-based SDE as "horrifying" as he revealed how one dog was so ill it died within days of delivery to a vulnerable customer who had shelled out thousands of pounds.

The company, run by Henry Fitzsimons, has now shut down while allegedly still owing hundreds of thousands of pounds to its customers.

Mr Kovaljeff, who worked for SDE for more than a year, claimed Mr Fitzsimons sacked anyone who complained about the regime.

"I warned Henry he could kill someone," Mr Kovaljeff said.

According to an investigation to be published on Thursday in Dogs Today, animals were sold by SDE with virtually no training and within weeks of arriving at the centre.

Comment: So Mr. Fitzsimons found a market where people were desperate and used that against them in order to turn a greater profit. In so doing, he knowingly put the lives of his customers at risk. This psychopath deserves to be put into a cage much more than the service dogs he was supposed to be training.


Handcuffs

US Border Patrol agent arrested in 'ISIS style' beheading

Joel Luna
Joel Luna
Videos depicting the decapitation of hostages by the nihilistic terrorist group called ISIS have caused millions of Americans to fear that the Middle Eastern group might infiltrate the United States - perhaps working in concert with Mexican drug cartels.

On November 5, San Juan, Texas native Joel Luna was arrested and charged with capital murder in an ISIS-style beheading that took place last March. While the 30-year-old Luna has no documented ties to ISIS, he is a six-year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol.

Brownsville ABC affiliate KRGV reports that Luna faces a capital murder charge, in addition to charges of possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence and criminal conspiracy. A safe that was seized by investigators contained more than two pounds of cocaine, 17 grams of methamphetamine, three pistols, $89,000 in cash, and Luna's Border Patrol badge.

Comment: "ISIS" operating in Mexico remains to be proven. DHS denies it, but how trustworthy are they? At any rate, one needn't be affiliated with ISIS to behead someone. Beheadings are a time honored tradition of psychopathic killers no matter what their affiliation.