Society's ChildS


Chart Pie

UAE Minister: Asia's middle class is reshaping world trade

Asian Mall
© Unknown
Recent visits to India and China by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, show how fast global trade patterns are changing as Asia's rising middle class shifts wealth from north to south.

The United Arab Emirates sits at the pivot point of this re-balancing of the global trade flows. In the last decade, India and China have emerged as the UAE's biggest trading partners -- each does about $60 billion in trade with us every year.

This growth is being driven by middle income earners. Their numbers are projected to rise to five billion by 2030, two thirds of them will live in India and China.

The UAE aims to nurture this re-balancing in order to promote our national principles of peace, stability, prosperity, tolerance and unity throughout the region.

Heart

Syrian residents thank Russia for liberating their towns

Syrian army
© en.farsnews.com600Syrian Army liberation of Nubl and al-Zahra.
"Thank you Russia! Thank you Hezbollah! Thank you Iran!" a resident shouted on the street, as reported by CNN. The Syrian Army, backed by pro-Iranian militias and Russia, which has been conducting air strikes targeting Daesh positions in the country, was welcomed with open arms by the residents that support the Syrian government and Bashar Assad.

Syrian towns Nubl and al-Zahra in Northern Aleppo province had been occupied by the Free Syrian Army since July, 2012. After their liberation on the February 3rd and following improvement of their living conditions, residents are expressing their gratitude to Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. Only about two weeks ago, the two strategically important towns were under the control of various rebel factions, including the al-Nusra Front. According to reports from locals, for more than three years they had to conquer fear and learn how to survive without enough aid, but with constant shelling in the background.

This is a victory of great importance for the Syrian Army, as al-Zahra and Nubl are located between the Turkish border and parts of Aleppo that are controlled by insurgents. This leaves the terrorists in Northern Aleppo with no supply routes. The towns will become the main centers for military operations by government forces in the north of Syria. What's just as important is that the lifting of the sieges bolstered morale among pro-government forces, which now believe there are capable of winning back any territory, occupied by opposition. Russia continues carrying air strikes against terrorist targets across Syria, including those in Aleppo province.

Comment: If the so-called 'safe zone' can be taken and held by the Syrian Army, the insurgents will lose their supply line corridor into Syria via Turkey and the West. The victories in al-Zahra and Nubl give hope that this will be the case. Momentum!


Stop

State sponsored child abuse: UN may finally ban taser use on UK children

taser
© Neil Hall / Reuters
The United Nations will tell the UK to ban police Taser use on minors, after figures revealed a 38 percent increase in the use of stun guns on under-18s over the last year.

The UN will confront the UK in Switzerland later this year over violations of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, which the UK signed up to in 1990, the Independent on Sunday reports.

In 2008, the last time the UK was admonished for allowing Taser use on children, the UN called on ministers to "put an end to the use of all harmful devices on children."

However, since that first hearing police use of Tasers has been steadily on the rise.

Tasers, which were first introduced in England and Wales in 2003 as part of a 12-month trial for firearms officers, send 50,000 volts through a target's body, overwhelming the nervous system. Police use of the powerful stun guns jumped from 6,238 incidents in 2010 to 9,196 in 2014.

Comment: In a more sane and civilized society, the idea of using such devices on children would be unthinkable.


Bad Guys

Taking advantage of vulnerable families: Child welfare standards lowered in Texas for-profit detention centers

child immigrant detention centers
© Daniel Becerril / Reuters
Two for-profit detention centers housing hundreds of children in Texas will not need to meet the state's childcare standards starting next month, after the state's Health and Human Services Commission lowered its standards on Friday.

A federal court announced a ban on housing children in detention centers that aren't licensed by child welfare agencies last July.

A veteran social worker blew the whistle on what she called "unethical behavior" inside Karnes County Residential Center (KCRC) during a Congressional hearing in June.

Without the license, Geo Group's KCRC and the South Texas Family Residential Center, which is run by the Corrections Corporation of America, were in danger of being closed down.

However, instead of making the two centers meet the existing regulations, the commission created an exemption by increasing the maximum number of occupants that can be accommodated in a room - and allowing unrelated adults and members of the opposite sex to share rooms with children.

A number of detention centers have been accused of incidents involving sexual assault and inhumane conditions.

Comment: Another example of American 'exceptionalism', a country where corporate profits generally take precedence over the well-being of the populace.


Attention

Massive blaze engulfs apartment building in Brooklyn, NY

fire brooklyn NY
© mattcoats / Instagram
More than 140 firefighters were scrambled Sunday night to deal with a massive fire that engulfed all three stories of a private dwelling in Brooklyn.

To extinguish the intense fire, firefighters used a ladder pipe attached to an extended ladder to spray water onto the fire from an elevated point.

Ambulance

Police: I-78 crash sent 73 to hospital, involved 64 vehicles

pileup_pennsylvania
© James Robinson/PennLive.com via AP Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. The pileup left tractor-trailers, box trucks and cars tangled together across several lanes of traffic and into the snow-covered median.
Fredericksburg, Pa. — More than 70 people were treated following the huge pileup on a central Pennsylvania interstate that killed three people, authorities said Sunday.

The names of those killed would be released later in the day, said Trooper Justin Summa of the state police barracks in Lebanon County.

Saturday's crash on Interstate 78 during a snow squall involved 64 vehicles, including a dozen commercial vehicles such as tractor-trailers and box trucks, Summa said. A total of 73 people were taken for treatment at 11 hospitals.

At least one person remained in critical condition with injuries from the crash. Penn State Hershey Medical Center said two others taken to the hospital with critical injuries had improved and most of the 13 people brought to the hospital had been discharged.

The interstate reopened Sunday morning following the pileup, which left tractor-trailers, box trucks and cars tangled together across three traffic lanes and into the snow-covered median about 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Stock Down

Financial experts agree this time is different! It is not 2008

Stock Market graphic

If someone were to ask us what year it was, we would probably politely answer that it was 2016, curious to find out whether the inquirer was a) very confused, b) had only recently awoken from a coma and was still unsure of his when-abouts, or c) was a time traveler who got temporarily lost.

In the unlikely case that we should find ourselves unable to remember the year with sufficient precision to ensure a reliable answer, we'd probably consult a calendar. We recently found out that a great many people actually seem to be uncertain about what year it is. Or at least many mainstream media appear to think so, as they have launched an intense awareness campaign.

Video

Still getting bread and circuses: For decadent and immoral, look no further than current television shows

Ring master
© sbs.com.auLadies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to... the circus!
If you ever want to see the results of a society that has become entirely too permissive — read: decadent and immoral — look no further than the current crop of television.

I know, I know, it's been said about the boob tube for years that it's a barometer of social decline. To my mind, though, it's gotten worse in the last few years, and it's missing key elements.

Back in the day (don't worry, there won't be snow involved), TV shows rarely showed humanity at its most open or even at its worst, and each television show usually allowed some redemptive arc, that solved all sorts of problems.

Heck, the "Brady Bunch" solved pretty much every Standards and Practices-approved teenage problem in less than 30 minutes. Yes, there weren't any pregnancy- or drug-charged episodes. Yes, it could be construed as being less than an accurate portrayal of real life.

It really wasn't supposed to be. It was supposed to make you think, and feel good, and realize that all is not wrong in the world.

But today's fare is pushing the envelope of tragic."Teenage Mom," "Little Honey Boo Boo," "19 and Counting," "Fear Factor," or any other number of shows of this ilk are making a spectacle of the bottom of the barrel of humanity.

Moreover, it's an example of what happens when you glorify the tragic, and the compounding effect of constant exposure to this kind of fare.

In order to keep the masses in line, Roman emperors put on entertainment — or contests, if you will — of men and women slashing and hacking and killing each other. Kinda kept peoples' minds off of being hungry and poor and generally miserable. As time went on, things escalated, and eventually, ended up serving no purpose other than distraction.

Comment: Bread and Circuses...American style


Black Magic

Horrific: Pennsylvania mother fakes cancer for sympathy, severely beats 11-month-old daughter during 'week of hell'

Ashley Reichard
© Levittown PatchAshley Reichard
The Deputy District Attorney told the judge the baby's injuries were "horrific" and the child "could have died."

A Levittown woman who authorities say "severely" beat and abused her 11-month-old baby was sentenced Wednesday to six to 12 years in state prison.Ashley Reichard, 27, also lied about having cancer to get sympathy, the Bucks County District Attorney's office said.

According to information provided by the District Attorney's office, the abuse Reichard imposed on her daughter in 2014 during what the deputy district attorney called a "week of hell" was "among the worst" witnessed by a pediatric child abuse expert who testified in court.

During that week, Reichard admitted to authorities that she had slammed her daughter to the floor six times. She also admitted putting the baby unbuckled into a stroller then "forcefully" tipping her forward so the infant fell face-first onto a cement walkway. She also told authorities she smashed her baby's head into the floor. The baby had burns on her legs, authorities said. Reichard never elaborated on how the burns got there.

Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Schorn told the judge the baby's injuries were "horrific" and the child "could have died." As a result of the abuse, the baby suffered multiple skull fractures, an upper leg fractured in two places, fractures on both sides of her jaw, bruising from blows to her face and lower back, a perforated eardrum, a scratched cornea, and second-degree burns on both thighs, the Bucks County District Attorney said.

Reichard did not seek medical help for the baby until forced by others to do so, authorities said. Reichard pleaded guilty but mentally ill on Oct. 6 to felony aggravated assault. "What you did to the child is, quite frankly, unspeakable," Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. said in court.

According to the District Attorney's office, the child, now two and a half, has fully recovered from her injuries and lives with her father. Dr. Carla Parkin-Joseph, a pediatrician and child-abuse expert, described the baby's abuse as "probably one of the worst cases I've seen in my experience."

Comment: It's possible this woman is a psychopath. In The Mask of Sanity, Hervey Cleckley writes that the psychopath periodically needs to take vacations into filth and degradation.

From The Psychopath - The Mask Of Sanity - Special Research Project of the Quantum Future School:
One very interesting aspect of the psychopath is his "hidden life" that is sometimes not too well hidden. It seems that the psychopath has a regular need to take a "vacation into filth and degradation" the same way normal people may take a vacation to a resort where they enjoy beautiful surroundings and culture. To get a full feeling for this strange "need" of the psychopath - a need that seems to be evidence that "acting human" is very stressful to the psychopath - read more of The Mask of Sanity, chapters 25 and 26.



Shopping Bag

Learning from the food crisis in Venezuela

Venezuelan market
Venezuela is out of food.

After several years of long lines, rationing, and shortages, the socialist country does not have enough food to feed its population, and the opposition government has declared a "nutritional emergency." This is just the most recent nail in the beleaguered country's slow, painful economic collapse.

Many people expect an economic collapse to be shocking, instant, and dramatic, but really, it's far more gradual than that. It looks like empty shelves, long lines, desperate government officials trying to cover their tushes, and hungry people. For the past two years, I've been following the situation in Venezuela as each shocking event has unfolded. Americans who feel that our country would be better served by a socialist government would be wise to take note of this timeline of the collapse.