Society's Child

Thai soldier goes on shooting rampage, killing at least 20 people - UPDATE: Hostages rescued, suspect dead

Al Jazeera
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 19:20 UTC

© Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
Thai security forces enter in the shopping centre as they chase a shooter hidden in after mass shooting

A Thai soldier has killed at least 20 people and wounded 31 in a shooting rampage in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima, according to the health ministry.

The suspect of Saturday's attack, identified by police as Sergeant Major Jakrapanth Thomma, remains at large, and Thai police entered a shopping centre he was hiding in.

Dozens of terrified shoppers were evacuated from the centre as armed police said they had "taken control" of the ground floor of the complex.

But authorities did not give any firm details on the whereabouts of the attacker.

"There are about 20 dead," Kongcheep Tantravanich, defence ministry spokesman said.

Comment: The hostages in the shopping mall have been rescued, though some were wounded:

Security forces in Thailand have finally managed to neutralize a heavily armed and highly trained gunman who killed at least 30 people during a shooting rampage that lasted for nearly 17 hours.

"The police have killed the perpetrator and rescued eight hostages. Some were wounded," a security source told Reuters on condition of anonymity pending an official press conference.

Civilians fled the mall as the police closed in:

The apparent motive for revenge over a land deal gone bad, though the gunman's social media posts also indicated his anger over corruption in the Thai military:

A soldier who went on a deadly shooting spree at a mall in northeastern Thailand was disgruntled over a land deal, the country's prime minister said. The gunman was killed by special forces after an overnight siege.

Thomma killed his commander and two fellow soldiers, before stealing weapons, ammunition and a Humvee from his military base. He then drove to a Buddhist temple and then a busy shopping center, Terminal 21, in Korat, northeastern Thailand. He opened fire on shoppers and pedestrians before taking hostages, triggering a 17-hour standoff with security forces before he was shot and killed.

Former drone operator: Dropping a missile on Afghan children, the military is 'worse than the Nazis'

Greg Graziosi
The Independent
Fri, 07 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC

A former US drone operator is speaking out against the atrocities he says he was forced to inflict during his time in the armed forces and says the American military as 'worse than the Nazis'.

Brandon Bryant was enlisted in the US Air Force for six years. During his time with the military, he operated Predator drones, remotely firing missiles at targets more than 7,000 miles away from the small room containing his workspace near Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mr Bryant says he reached his breaking point with the US military after killing a child in Afghanistan that his superiors told him was "a dog." Mr Bryant recalls the moment: After firing a Hellfire missile at a building containing his target, he saw a child exit the building just as the missile struck. When he alerted his superiors about the situation after reviewing the tape, he was told "it was a f***ing dog, drop it."

Following that incident, Mr Bryant quit the military and began speaking out against the drone program.

'Unhinged': Hyped up Chris Matthews' bizarre rant on Sanders includes mass executions and 'the Reds'

RT
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 21:39 UTC

MSNBC host Chris Matthews is facing backlash on social media after he launched into a heated rant about socialism and appeared to suggest a Bernie Sanders presidency could somehow lead to mass executions in the streets.

During a post-debate special Friday evening, Matthews said his personal views on socialism go back "to the early 1950s" before drawing comparisons between Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and former leader of Cuba Fidel Castro.

"I believe if Castro and the Reds had won the Cold War there would have been executions in Central Park and I might have been one of the ones getting executed — and certain other people would be there cheering."

Matthews then told viewers he doesn't really know what Sanders means when he talks about socialism.

Comment: The brain-dumping rapid-fire tirade by Matthews leaves the panel absolutely dumbfounded. Check out their expressions and reactions!

Tribune Publishing: New CEO fires execs in a brutal one-day bloodbath

Keith J. Kelly
New York Post
Thu, 06 Feb 2020 02:01 UTC

Even the ax men are getting axed at Tribune Publishing.

The struggling newspaper giant's new boss has unleashed a bloodbath in the executive ranks — and casualties include a former New York Daily News publisher who himself had halved the paper's staff in a brutal, one-day bloodbath in 2018, The Post has learned.

Former financial chief Terry Jimenez — who was promoted on Monday to replace Tim Knight as chief executive of the owner of papers including the Daily News, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun — has swiftly executed a series of cuts that wiped out at least a half-dozen executives with the rank of vice president or higher, sources close to the company said.

Among the highest-ranking executives to get fired was Grant Whitmore, the chief digital operations officer and former publisher of the Daily News. He did not return calls or emails.

Comment: It seems 'greed' is more important than 'read' - especially if the news product is a cookie cutter version of MSM and rising executives are eating into profits. Conglomerate news organizations are foremost a business, with service to the public a distant second.

Populist wave reaches Ireland: Sinn Fein stuns establishment, becoming first left-wing party to win Irish general election

Danielle Ryan
RT
Sun, 09 Feb 2020 19:55 UTC

Comment: Sinn Fein is definitely 'left', but there's more to it than that. It's also nationalist, and wants a referendum on Irish reunification ASAP. But the primary source of its support is likely drawn from a decade of austerity measures and the failure of neo-liberalism.

Needless to say, the entire media-political establishment spent the entire election campaign warning the Irish people that voting for Sinn Fein would mean certain DOOM!...

Polls have closed in Ireland's general election and, with no party securing a strong lead, confusion abounds as voters wait to see which parties will agree to do business with each other to form a coalition.

An Ipsos MRBI exit poll published by Ireland's state broadcaster RTE at 10pm shows FG [Fine Gael], SF [Sinn Fein] and FF [Fianna Fail] tied with a statistically insignificant (given a margin of error of 1.3 percent) difference of 22.4, 22.3 and 22.2 percent of the vote respectively.

A Sinn Fein surge in the run up to election day looks to have translated into votes at the ballot box, allowing party leader Mary Lou McDonald to head into post-election discussions with some serious clout - and possibly even form a coalition either with another major party, or with the Green Party, the Social Democrats and independents - though the 'grand left coalition' still looks like one of the least-likely outcomes.

Comment: It'll be a few days before results are counted, but so far Sinn Fein actually appear to be doing better than even the exit poll suggested, approaching 25% of the popular vote as of 22:00 CET this Sunday February 9th.

Ironically, Sinn Fein themselves apparently didn't believe they were going to do this well, as they didn't field enough candidates to translate their large vote share into a corresponding number of seats!

This means that the two establishment parties, if they hinder Sinn Fein efforts to form a coalition government this time around, will almost certainly lose more seats to them if another election were held later this year.

Ireland still has some way to go before its fractured polity of multiple small parties and independent candidates reunite under strong leadership, as in the 1918 election when (old) Sinn Fein won the vast majority of seats, but something historic may indeed be in motion here.

One thing is certain: Ireland's current leader, Leo Varadkar, is out.

Van plows through Republican voter registration tent, narrowly misses volunteers - UPDATE: Suspect arrested

Hannah Lee
Action News JAX
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 18:33 UTC

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is reporting that a van drove through the Republican Party of Duval County's tent while they were registering voters Saturday afternoon.

The Republican Party of Duval County had six volunteers at the Kernan Village shopping center where they were registering voters. JSO reported that around 3:45 p.m., an older brown van, driven by a white man in his early 20s, approached the tent. He then drove right through the table and tent with his van. The suspect then stopped, got out of the van and took a video of the scene, flipped off the victims and fled. As of now, the suspect has not been identified.

Nearly 1,000 attend London Assange rally to see speakers on press freedom

Demond Cureton
Sputnik
Sun, 09 Feb 2020 18:07 UTC

Nearly 1,000 attendees gathered in London to show support for the Wikileaks founder on Tuesday evening, just weeks before the detained activist is set to begin attending two crucial court hearings ahead of a final extradition request ruling later this year.

Key speakers at the rally included UK shadow chancellor John McDonnell, Julian Assange defence team member and barrister Jennifer Robinson, Wikileaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, UN special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer, UK shadow justice minister Richard Burgon and New Left Review editorial committee member and renowned activist, Tariq Ali.

Groups supporting the rally included the Stop the War Coalition, Socialist Equality Party, Campaign to Defend Julian Assange, Julian Assange Defence Campaign, among others.

Comment:

Pope to visit Italian region poisoned by toxic waste dumping

Nicole Winfield
ABC News
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 02:16 UTC

Pope Francis will mark the fifth anniversary of his ecological manifesto by visiting a southern Italian region where decades of toxic-waste dumping by the mob have polluted the environment and sickened its people.

The diocese of Acerra announced Francis' May 24 visit on Saturday. It said his trip to the so-called "Land of Fires" would be a source of joy and hope for the region's families, and especially their cancer-stricken children.

Italy's National Institutes of Health said in a 2016 report to parliament that residents of the area near Naples suffered higher-than-normal incidents of death and cancer due to exposure to contaminants from illegal dumps and the burning of urban and hazardous waste.

Israel's police arrest rabbi & sect leader accused of rape & sham healing for money

RT
Sun, 09 Feb 2020 11:37 UTC

Members of a cult-like sect tried everything to prevent officers from bringing to custody a controversial Israeli rabbi thought to have taken advantage of gravely ill people and convicted of sexual assaults on women.

Israeli police have arrested Rabbi Eliezer Berland early on Sunday morning, along with his wife and other top members of his ultra-Orthodox Shuvu Bonim sect. Shortly afterwards, the sect's followers thronged the nearby street, trying to seal it off and stop the vehicle carrying Berland.

Stunning footage from the arrest shows them hurling stones at officers and banging fists on the passing car. Riot police shielded the vehicle as it passed by and tried to stand ground; two of them were injured, local media reported.

Comment: For more on this deviant and his group, see: Charlatan Israeli sex convict rabbi says he can revive the dead, for only $5k

See also:

And check out SOTT radio's: The Truth Perspective: How to Numb Your Conscience with Totalitarian Religion

Colorado university to offer cannabis-related degree

ABC News
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 12:45 UTC

A university in Colorado will offer a cannabis-related degree program after receiving approval from the state.

Colorado State University is expected to launch the program this fall at its Pueblo campus about 115 miles (185 kilometers) south of Denver, The Denver Post reported.

The Cannabis, Biology and Chemistry program would focus on the science necessary to work in the cannabis field and emphasize natural products and analytical chemistry, officials said.

"It's a rigorous degree geared toward the increasing demand coming about because of the cannabis industry," College of Science and Mathematics dean David Lehmpuhl said. "Hemp and marijuana has really come to the forefront in a lot of economic sectors in the country. We're not pro-cannabis or anti-cannabis. What we're about will be the science, and training students to look at that science."

Comment: See also:

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Ruth

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codis

.. .. Let's go pfhizer!! [Link]

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Let's go pfhizer!! [Link]

Jibrish

Society's Child

Thai soldier goes on shooting rampage, killing at least 20 people - UPDATE: Hostages rescued, suspect dead

Former drone operator: Dropping a missile on Afghan children, the military is 'worse than the Nazis'

'Unhinged': Hyped up Chris Matthews' bizarre rant on Sanders includes mass executions and 'the Reds'

Tribune Publishing: New CEO fires execs in a brutal one-day bloodbath

Populist wave reaches Ireland: Sinn Fein stuns establishment, becoming first left-wing party to win Irish general election

Van plows through Republican voter registration tent, narrowly misses volunteers - UPDATE: Suspect arrested

Nearly 1,000 attend London Assange rally to see speakers on press freedom

Pope to visit Italian region poisoned by toxic waste dumping

Israel's police arrest rabbi & sect leader accused of rape & sham healing for money

Colorado university to offer cannabis-related degree

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