Society's ChildS


Bomb

US finally admits "ISIS HQ" that we blew up was actually an innocent family's home

Claire Bernish
Free Thought Project
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 14:22 UTC
Arab woman war
Overnight from September 20 through 21, the U.S.-led coalition carried out an airstrike against a family home — putatively believed to be a strategic Islamic State target — killing four members of the Rezzo family and wounding others on scene.

Airwars reports, "University professor Mohannad Rezzo; his 17-year old son Najib Mohannad Rezzo; his brother Bassim's wife Miyada Rezzo and their 21-year old daughter Tuka Rezzo" perished together, as bombs intended for Islamic State leaders instead heedlessly destroyed a family.

But, unironically, it took until April Fool's Day 2017 for U.S. officials to concede the coalition's heinous error.

"This report was opened and a credibility assessment completed in 2015. However, the report was never officially closed or reported publicly. I do not know why that was," Colonel Joe Scrocca, Director of Public Affairs for the Coalition, told Airwars. "The case was brought to our attention by the media and we discovered the oversight, relooked [at] the case based on the information provided by the journalist and family, which confirmed the 2015 assessment, and officially closed the report in February."
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Smoking

Anti-smoking fascism: New laws come into effect in Britain in a few weeks

Joshua Nevett
Daily Star
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:31 UTC
Menthol cigarettes and rolling tobacco
© Getty Images/Ocado
Six new laws aiming to crackdown on "harmful" and "dangerous" cigarettes killing more than 120,000 Brits a year are coming into force.


Comment: These numbers are estimates, not based on real data. They also take no account of the health damage from extraordinary levels of pollution from diesel vehicles, especially in places like London.


Under the new rules small packs of rolling tobacco and menthol cigarettes will be banned outright. Packs of 10 cigarettes will also no longer be available from shops.

It comes after smokers were hammered with a government price hike that saw the cost of a premium 20 deck soar to £10.26.

The government gave shops a year to adjust after rolling out the new laws in May last year. Now the changes will come into full force from May 20, 2017.

Here are the six laws that smokers need to be aware of.
  • Ten decks of cigarettes will not be available to buy in shops;
  • All packets of rolling tobacco under 30g will disappear from shops;
  • The cheapest packet of fags will cost £8.82 from May 21;
  • Menthol cigarettes will be outlawed completely by 2020;
  • Plain cigarette packets with graphic images will be introduced;
  • Some flavoured tobacco will be made illegal.

Comment: Just like Russia, smoking gets blamed for all sorts of troubles it doesn't cause. Tobacco does not cause cancer and is not unhealthy for everyone. Educate yourselves and light up!

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Snakes in Suits

Sick and Heartless Iowa politician, Shannon Lundgren, calls for women who miscarry after 20 weeks to carry dead fetuses to full term

Mike Moffitt
San Francisco Chronicle
Sat, 01 Apr 2017 21:38 UTC
Shannon Lundgren
Iowa Rep. Shannon Lundgren
An Iowa state representative is under fire after saying women who miscarry after 20 weeks of pregnancy should be forced to carry their dead fetuses to term.

During a hearing Wednesday of Senate File 471, which would clear the way for a state ban on abortions after the 20-week mark, Republican Rep. Shannon Lundgren — the manager of 471 — faced a question from fellow Rep. John Forbes, a Democrat.

Noting that he has a daughter who is 20 weeks pregnant, Forbes asked that under the bill, would his daughter have to carry her child to term even if a doctor told her there was no longer a heartbeat.

"Is that good medicine?" Forbes wondered.

Lundgren's response:

"This bill wasn't written for the intent to protect or govern on the side of the woman. It was written to save babies' lives, giving the choice and being the voice of those babies...that don't have one. I understand what you're saying—this fetus, this baby, is not alive. I would concur that in that instance, if your daughter's life is not in danger, that yes, she would have to carry that baby."
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Sheriff

To protect and serve: Woman who was told to stop calling police killed in AK-47 massacre


Sputnik
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:56 UTC
police line
© Fotolia/ Dominik Herz
Police in Florida told a local woman to stop calling emergency services, and hours later she and one of her sons were dead, shot by a violent boyfriend with an assault rifle.

According to reports, Latina Herring and her eight-year-old son were shot and killed, and four others were wounded last week, after Herring's boyfriend fired an AK-47 assault rifle at them.

Herring is reported to have called the 911 emergency hotline several times on March 27, according to Rawstory.com, claiming that her boyfriend was drunk and displaying erratic behavior, making false accusations and displaying rage-based emotions.

In a recording of the calls, an officer is heard assuring Herring that, "We're going to handle it," before telling her, "Just stop calling 911 and making accusations that you don't know about."
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Star of David

Together, we prevail: Message from BDS activist undergoing Israeli interrogation

Omar Barghouti
Mondoweiss
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:35 UTC
Omar Barghouti
Omar Barghouti
Dear friends and colleagues,

Finally, I was allowed to access my email account after 12 days of being banned from doing so during the most intense phase of the ongoing interrogation I am subjected to by the Israeli authorities.

The BNC statement on this issue accurately sums up this latest chapter in the Israeli regime's war on the BDS movement.

Due to a gag order, I am not allowed to delve into any facts about the case. I am thus denied the ability to even refute the vicious lies published by Israel's regime against me. I am in no hurry to do so, though, as their main objective — attempting to tarnish my reputation and, by extension, hurting the BDS movement — has clearly failed.
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Life Preserver

Evil Russians? Red Cross praises Russia's 'great humanitarian work' in Syria


Sputnik
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:35 UTC
Russia aid Syria Aleppo Red Cross
© Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation
The International Committee of the Red Cross president praised Russia's efforts in restoring peace in Syria and said that the establishment of safety zones should be discussed with Moscow.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) appreciates Russia's humanitarian work in Syria and greatly values the help it has provided to the aid charity, ICRC President Peter Maurer told Sputnik.

"We do appreciate the very close contacts we do have with Russia in Syria. They are extremely helpful to the work of ICRC. We appreciate all the work that Russia is doing on a large scale of issues and our delegation in Syria as well as the Russian embassy keeps close contact to see how we can coordinate, reinforce, what we can do together in the humanitarian response," Maurer said.

Comment: Further reading: Russian soldiers give much-needed hope to war orphans in Aleppo

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Heart - Black

Thugs who tortured pensioners with boiling water arrested in Heathrow


RT
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:14 UTC
Kacey Adams
© Kent Police / YouTube
The moment police boarded a plane to arrest two "barbaric" burglars who poured boiling water over an elderly couple after breaking into their home has been caught on camera.

Footage shows police boarding the plane as it arrived at Heathrow Airport to arrest Daniel Wallace, 33, and Kacey Adams, 34, as they returned from a spending spree in Dubai after their £50,000 (US$62,200) raid.

Their luggage was found to contain more than £18,000 of luxury goods.

Sentenced to life in prison on Monday, Adams and Wallace broke into their victims' home in Halstead, Kent, last April. The pair tied up John Buswell, 66, and his wife Janis, 64, with cable ties before repeatedly assaulting them and demanding money.
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Handcuffs

Price-gouging: Maker of EpiPen hit with fraud & racketeering lawsuit


RT
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 12:46 UTC
EpiPen
© Joe Raedle / AFP
A group of EpiPen purchasers have hit drug maker Mylan with a class-action lawsuit, claiming the company engaged in illegal price fixing to inflate the price of its allergy treatment over a decade by 574 percent.

According to the complaint filed in Washington state on Monday, Mylan acquired the rights to market and distribute EpiPen in 2007, and increased the list price 17 times, from $90.28 to $608.62, causing some patients to resort to carrying expired EpiPens, or to use syringes to manually inject epinephrine.

Plaintiffs argued the skyrocketing list price for the EpiPen was the result of Mylan's behind the scenes payments of rebates to pharmacy benefit managers - CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx - which handle prescription drug benefit programs of insurance plans.
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Sheriff

Supreme Court unanimously rules for court flexibility in mandatory minimum sentences


RT
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 12:16 UTC
Supreme Court of the United States
© wikipedia.orgSupreme Court of the United States
The US Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that courts have the discretion to decide whether a defendant has already been given a mandatory sentence for one crime when considering an appropriate sentence for another charge.

"Sentencing courts have long enjoyed discretion in the sort of information they may consider when setting an appropriate sentence," wrote Chief Justice John Roberts, deliveringthe court's opinion in Dean v United States on Monday. "This durable tradition remains, even as federal laws have required sentencing courts to evaluate certain factors when exercising their discretion."

The government had argued courts should calculate the appropriate term of imprisonment for each defendant and disregard whatever sentences already faced on other counts.
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Dollar

Critics upset after Trump donates salary to National Park Service


RT
Mon, 03 Apr 2017 00:09 UTC
Yosemite National Park, California
© Robert Galbraith / ReutersYosemite National Park, California
President Donald Trump has donated over $78,000 - his entire first-quarter salary - to the National Park Service, leaving his critics spluttering about broken promises and the cost of security for his residences in New York and Florida.

Trump, who was a billionaire real-estate tycoon before running for president, initially tried to decline a salary altogether, but it turned out he was legally required to take one. He then said he would donate all of it to a charity, and even invited reporters to give suggestions.

On Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters that "every penny" Trump was paid between January 20 and the end of March will be handed over to the NPS.
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