Society's ChildS


Heart - Black

Samurai sword bloodbath: Head priestess violently butchered at Tokyo religious shrine along with others


RT
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 15:57 UTC
Religious shrine
© Kyodo / ReutersA policeman stands guard in front of the main temple of the Tomioka Hachimangu shrine in Tokyo, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo on December 8, 2017.
A family feud escalated into an apparent murder-suicide in Tokyo when a man launched a violent samurai attack at a religious shrine, killing three including his sister, a chief priestess and his wife.

The brutal attack, which took place on Thursday night at the Tomioka Hachimangu shrine, was captured on CCTV and showed head priestess Nagako Tomioka, 58, being attacked by her brother, Shigenaga, 56, and her brother's wife, Mariko,49, according to Kyodo News.

After attacking his sister, Shigenaga apparently turned the sword on his wife and fellow assailant before then taking his own life, reports the Japan Times, citing the Metropolitan Police Department.
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Magnify

DOJ launches investigation into Planned Parenthood over sale of fetal tissue

Brooke Singman and Jake Gibson
Fox News
Thu, 07 Dec 2017 16:40 UTC
planned parenthood
The Justice Department has launched a federal investigation into Planned Parenthood's practices and the sale of fetal tissue.

In a letter first obtained by Fox News, Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Stephen Boyd formally requested unredacted documents from the Senate Judiciary Committee, the same panel that led the congressional probe into the women's health organization.

"The Department of Justice appreciates the offer of assistance in obtaining these materials, and would like to request the Committee provide unredacted copies of records contained in the report, in order to further the Department's ability to conduct a thorough and comprehensive assessment of that report based on the full range of information available," Boyd wrote.

Fox News has learned that last month, the FBI first requested the unredacted documents from the committee.

Fox News is told that Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said they needed to receive a letter and be assured that the documents would be used for investigative purposes.
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Heart - Black

Innocent Minnesota woman sues after being viciously attacked by police dog (VIDEO)


RT
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 15:44 UTC
Lady attacked by police dog
© Charlotte Alerts / YouTube
Footage has emerged showing the moment a Minnesota woman was attacked by a police dog while innocently taking out the trash. The victim has filed a lawsuit against the officer handling the canine.

The video, which was captured by an officer's body cam, shows Officer Thaddeus P. Schmidt walking a German Shepherd on a leash near a dumpster in the city of St. Paul while he and his colleagues were in search of suspects implicated in a nearby home burglary.

The dog is not initially seen in the video, nor is Desiree Collins, the victim. However, her screaming can soon be heard behind the dumpster.

An officer approaches the dumpster and discovers the terrified victim. "There's a lady," he says.
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Star of David

Report finds 20 Palestinians from Gaza Strip have died this year waiting for Israeli exit permits


Middle East Monitor
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 16:03 UTC
palestinian man hospital
© Ashraf Amra/ApaimagesA Palestinian man receives medical care at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on 16 April 2017
Since the start of this year, 20 Palestinian patients from the Gaza Strip died due to an Israeli ban on their travel, Israeli newspaper Haaretz has revealed.

The Israeli newspaper cited rights groups' reports noting the "unjustified" increase of the Israeli "trend" to prevent issuing exit permits for patients.

Haaretz reported the case of four-year-old Yara Bakheet who vomited frequently for an entire week and became dehydrated. After a series of tests in the European Hospital in Gaza, doctors told her mother that she suffers from a heart disease.

She was granted a medical transition report to Al-Maqasid Hospital in East Jerusalem where she should have been treated.
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People 2

Dutch people vote 'genderneutraal' as most annoying word of 2017


DutchNews.nl
Thu, 07 Dec 2017 14:45 UTC
gender neutral bathroom
'Genderneutraal' has been chosen as the most annoying word of 2017 in the annual poll 'Weg met dat woord!' (Down with that word), conducted by language lobby group Instituut van de Nederlandse Taal.

Some 43% of the Dutch respondents voted for the word to disappear as quickly as possible, ahead of 'in je kracht staan (to be in your power)' and 'papadag (day off for dads)'. Among Flemish voters, the expression 'ik heb zoiets van (I'm like)' raised most hackles. Some 2,300 people participated in the poll.

One reason 'Genderneutraal' was chosen was the use of the English word 'gender' - the word should be 'geslachtsneutraal', one commenter wrote.

People are also annoyed by the implications of the word: 'Another hype!' wrote another commenter while a third opined there is no such thing as gender neutrality because 'you're either male or female'. Last year's most annoying word was 'diervriendelijk' - or animal friendly.

Comment: One wonders just how many more people in other countries want 'gender neutral' to disappear as quickly as possible. It's probably likely that a lot of Westerners resent being forced to alter their language, and their behavior, by a small vocal minority:

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Handcuffs

Disgraced former US gymnastics doctor Nassar gets 60yr sentence for child porn, 100's of lawsuits accusing him of sexual abuse


RT
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 15:10 UTC
Larry Nassar
© AFPFormer Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
Former US Gymnastics and Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar has been sentenced to the maximum 60 years in federal prison for possessing thousands of images and videos of child pornography.

Nassar, who worked for nearly 30 years as the US gymnastics team doctor, pleaded guilty to three federal child pornography charges in July 2017 and received the maximum sentence in court on Thursday.

This was the first of three punishments for Nassar, who will be sentenced in a separate sexual abuse case on January 18 after admitting to molesting female gymnasts when they sought treatment for hip and back pain.

More than 100 women filed lawsuits against Nassar accusing him of sexual abuse, with Michigan State and USA Gymnastics being co-defendants in many cases.

Comment:
Michigan State's former director of sports and former Olympic gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nasser - accused of sexual assault by more than 150 women, including several Team USA gymnasts - now has pleaded guilty to 10 sexual assault counts as well as possession of child pornography. He also admitted in court to committing sexually abusive procedures thousands of times throughout his 20-year career.

See article: Michigan State accused of covering up worst sex abuse scandal in US sports


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Megaphone

Chief investigator names police and municipal clerks as most often involved in cases of corruption


RT
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 12:57 UTC
Police crime
© Global Look Press
The head of the Russian Investigative Committee has revealed the latest statistics on corruption crime, which show that most cases involve law-enforcement agents, military servicemen, municipal clerks, teachers and doctors.

"Representatives of law-enforcement agencies, officials from municipal bodies and enterprises, people working in the spheres of education and healthcare, and also the military," said Aleksandr Bastrykin, listing the professions most often involved in cases of corruption.

Comment: After Ulyukayev's arrest, Russian markets saw a boost for the ruble and Russian stocks (coinciding with the Trump-Putin call as well as a slight recovery in oil prices).

Russian officials commented on the scandal: The head of the upper house's International Relations Committee, Aleksey Pushkov, pointed out that bribery is becoming "Russian roulette" in Russian business and politics. As it should be, and thanks to Putin's anti-corruption push for the last several years. State Duma MP and former Chief Prosecutor of Crimea Natalya Poklonskaya wrote on Facebook:
The detention of a civil servant of the highest rank is yet another confirmation of the official position of our state: there are no 'untouchables' in Russia. Everyone who chooses a criminal path must understand that sooner or later everything that is hidden will become public.
At the same time, these officials cautioned against hasty conclusions, adding that that's the courts' job.

A court has ordered Ulyukayev to be placed under house arrest, and Putin has dismissed him from his position. He was questioned today for five hours, but has not pled guilty and has refused to provide testimony. His lawyers say he was framed. If found guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of a fine 80-100x what he took as a bribe, and will lose the right to serve in government for up to 15 years. Either that, or a slightly smaller fine and 8-15 years in jail.
See article: Russian economy minister caught taking $2mn bribe from oil giant Rosneft

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Blackbox

37 Years Ago Today: The Assassination of John Lennon


Brasscheck
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 15:18 UTC
John Lennon shot dead
37 years ago today, John Lennon was gunned down in NYC. The official verdict was that the assassin, Mark David Chapman, acted alone. Here are the details and a short vide. See if you can lead yourself to that same conclusion (hint, it's kind of difficult).
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Question

'Object sexual' British woman proposes to chandelier she found on Ebay


RT
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 14:32 UTC
A British woman is about to marry the light of her life after meeting her online... but it isn't your average relationship. Amanda Liberty has proposed to a 90-year-old chandelier she found on Ebay.

Amanda Liberty with her beloved chandelier.
© Inside Edition. / YouTubeAmanda Liberty with her beloved chandelier.
Leeds woman Amanda Liberty is engaged to marry 'Lumiere,' a Baccarat crystal chandelier 53 years her senior. £400 in shipping costs later, the 33-year-old woman now showers the nearly 70cm-wide chandelier with kisses and cuddles, and even proposed to the light fitting on Valentine's Day.

But her romantic affection doesn't stop at just one ornate light fitting. At night Liberty cuddles up with an entirely different light fitting - a smaller chandelier named Jewel.
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Arrow Down

Apple reaps $47bn of its own money deemed 'windfall' profit by Trump's tax reform


RT
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 13:00 UTC
Apple windfall
© Brendan McDermid / Reuters
There is growing opposition to the GOP and US President Donald Trump's impending tax overhaul, as a new analysis finds Apple is reaping tens of billions in "extra profits" from the plan. Apple earned that money under the current tax law.

When it comes to taxes, Apple is unique among giant multinational corporations. It stands alone in its practice of setting aside funds specifically in anticipation of potential taxes to be paid. Aside from the tech giant being the most valuable company in the world, that is why the Financial Times focused on the iPhone maker in a specific analysis of the impact of the Senate's and House's tax-reform proposals.

The Financial Times found Apple would benefit from a $47 billion "windfall" under the new tax regime, and as the report ripped through social media this week, it provoked outcry from critics of the Republicans' tax reform agenda.

However, windfall profits occur when unexpected income is gained, and the $47 billion figure is already in Apple's coffers. A lower tax rate than the company initially planned for years ago may be unexpected, but simply not paying more in taxes can't be considered a profit in the same sense that profits are made by producing goods consumers want to buy. MSNBC's Chris Hayes goes even further, tweeting that the US government is giving, he adds a parenthetical "essentially" $47 billion to Apple.

Comment: "Trump has said he hopes to sign the final product into law as a "Christmas present" for the American people."

More like a "Christmas present" for Apple and big corporations.

See also: Corporate Power and the death of Democracy

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