Society's ChildS

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Megalomania in the US: The fight between Trump & Bush that everyone is talking about

Trump
© Unknown
In case you missed last night's two hour steelcage GOP extravaganza, here's the 26-second food fight between frontrunner Donald Trump and Jeb Bush that everyone is talking about.

Not surprisingly, the topic was one that dominated the discussion all night: What candidate is best qualified to savage civil liberties at home while bombing the rest of the planet into oblivion?

Judging by his ability to disembowel Bush in front of a hand-picked audience of red-meat party loyalists, Trump appears to be the hands-down winner.

Comment: Trump's got a history of being a conman whose obsession with his own image is rivaled only by his contempt for everyone else. After all, when he's not bragging about himself or insulting someone's looks, he's perfectly comfortable insulting the handicapped. So what does it say about the future of America that so many Americans are held spellbound by his lunacy? As Laura Knight-Jadczyk writes in her article Knowledge and Freedom: Antidote to the rising fascism:
[T]hose individuals who have sustained and make a living propagating the illusion of free markets, just wars, humanitarian interventions, etc. are either themselves psychopaths in positions of power or so deeply corrupted by psychopathic thinking that they might as well be psychopaths - for all the suffering and destruction they inflict on others. Unless and until people come to recognize this problem for what it is, humanity as a whole is in for a long, slow, horrifying train wreck of massive global suffering.

Morality and humanism cannot long withstand the predations of this evil. Knowledge of its nature - and its insidious effect on both individuals and groups - is the only antidote.



Nuke

Scottish nuclear power station reactor shuts down after 'electrical fault'

Torness nuclear power station
© TSPLReactor 2 at Torness nuclear power station made an 'unscheduled' shut down
There has been an unscheduled shutdown of one of the reactors at Torness power station in East Lothian.

Reactor 2 stopped automatically during routine testing when an issue with an electrical system was detected.

EDF energy which operates the plant said there were no health or environmental impacts.

Paul Winkle, Torness Power Station director, said: "I believe it is important to keep you updated on any developments at Torness power station."

He added: "I wanted to make you aware that we shut down one of our reactors earlier on Monday. This is the first unplanned shut down this year.

"Reactor 2 automatically shut down during routine testing when an issue was detected in an electrical system. Protection equipment, which is designed to 'fail safe', operated to automatically shut down the reactor.

"The reactor shut down safely and cooling to the reactor was maintained at all times. There were no health or environmental impacts."

Torness power station's two nuclear reactors generate enough electricity to power more than two million homes and started operating in 1988.

The station employs more than 500 full time staff and around 250 full time contract partners.

Comment: One of the reactors at the Indian Point nuclear power plant, outside New York City, was shut down this week following an "electrical disturbance". It was the second shutdown at the complex this month, and the fifth incident this year. See also:

SOTT Exclusive: Solar System 'grounding': Transformer explosions and electrical anomalies


Arrow Down

Woman donates tiny house to San Diego homeless man, one week later cops take it and arrest him

homeless, tiny houses, michael clark
© KGTV-TVMichael Clark stands next to a 'tiny house' donated to him by Lisa Kogan.
San Diego police are investigating the arrest of a local homeless man less than a week after he began using a "tiny house" donated to him, KGTV-TV reported.

"They said, 'Well, we are going to give him two hours to move it,'" said Anthony Brown, who witnessed the arrest of Michael Clark on Tuesday morning. "Five minutes later there was a tow truck here and they took the house away."

According to Brown, officers immediately handcuffed Clark, rather than issue him a ticket.

Clark had only received the small structure on Saturday following the efforts of a local woman, Lisa Kogan, and her friends. He was arrested while sleeping in it across the street from a local church, the International Love Ministries of God, where he also works as a deacon.

Comment: The cruel and heartless treatment of the homeless in the 'exceptional' USA is truly despicable.


Bullseye

Saudi camel smooch leads to heated family feud

camel
© unknown
A Saudi family is demanding their son divorce his wife after seeing her kiss a camel.

The bride's mother-in-law was left incensed after witnessing the smooch and her orders to end the marriage have sparked a family feud.

The couple say they are happy together but the wife is now too scared to return to her husband's home, where her mother-in-law also lives.

The wife kissed the camel spontaneously at the family's home west of Riyadh because she was happy about the profit the animal was generating.

Her enraged mother-in-law believed it to be a violation of social and religious standards and insisted her son divorce his wife.

According to Gulf News, the woman has moved back to her father's house and will return to her husband's house only if she does not have to live with his mother.

The wife thinks the whole ordeal came about because she has yet to have a baby, and just wants the dispute to end so that she can live in peace with her husband.

Comment: Let's hope the couple can remove the manipulating psychopath out of their home and live in peace.


Boat

Castaway survives 15 months at sea, gets sued for $1mn, accused of 'eating' his crewmate

castaway
© Jose Cabezas / ReutersCastaway fisherman Jose Salvador Alvarenga.
A fisherman from El Salvador who was lost at sea for 438 days but miraculously survived is being sued for $1 million by the family of his dead crewmate, who accuse him of eating their son's remains in order not to starve to death.

Salvador Alvarenga, 36, is the only man in the world to have survived so long stranded at sea, but he might now have to pay $1 million to the family of Ezequiel Cordoba - the man who accompanied him on his shark fishing trip in November 2012.

Bell

Homeless are taking refuge in LaGuardia Airport

A  homeless man sleeps on a ledge at LaGuardia Airport
© Georgett RobertsA homeless man sleeps on a ledge at LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport has become so riddled with homeless that it could now even make some 3rd world nations look good.

The number of homeless living at the airport has increased dramatically in the past year, turning the main terminal into the city's most popular de facto crashpad, where they sleep, eat and wash up while competing for space with passengers, according to Port Authority sources.

At least 50 homeless people live inside the airport's Terminal B, which anyone can get into without passing through security, sources said.

Comment: The Port Authority's main goal is to provide them services? Then quit dragging your arse about it (or lying about your intent) and get busy helping! Sheesh.


Wolf

Oregon is the latest target of effort to get rid of national forests

English Peak, located within the Klamath National Forest
© WikiMediaEnglish Peak, located within the Klamath National Forest
A draft bill recently released by U.S. Representative Greg Walden (R-OR) proposes to dispose of hundreds of thousands of acres of national forest land in Oregon's Klamath River Basin so that it can be clear-cut or auctioned off to the highest bidder.

The proposal, which is the latest in a series of attempts by right-wing politicians to seize or sell-off national public lands, is so controversial that observers say it could spark a renewed water war in Rep. Walden's home state of Oregon.

Quenelle

Thailand: Man faces 37 years in prison for insulting the king's dog

King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Tongdaeng
© ReutersKing Bhumibol Adulyadej and Tongdaeng
In America, we often joke that what we post on the internet might land us in prison, but for the time being โ€” though perhaps not for long โ€” we are generally safe to say what we like about the government. We worry mostly only about the "slap on the wrist" of probably being placed on a watch list.

A man in Thailand, however, faces 37 years in prison for criticizing the king's dog on the internet, as well as allegedly insulting the monarchy.

Thanakorn Siripaiboon, a factory worker, faced trial this week in a military court for making a "sarcastic" comment about the king's dog online. Though officials declined to cite any specific statements, CBS News reports the man shared an "inappropriate" picture of the dog and liked a photo disparaging to the king.

Che Guevara

Ouch! Teen punches Spanish PM Rajoy square in the face during election event

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
© Vincent West / ReutersSpanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, one of the four leading candidates for Spain's general election, arrives to a campaign rally in Santander, Spain, December 15, 2015.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was punched in the face on Wednesday during an election event in his home region of Galicia in the northwest of the country.

A young man caught the conservative politician by surprise during an event in Pontevedra, punching him hard and knocking his glasses off.

Rajoy was not hurt in the incident, according to a People's Party spokesperson, but he later appeared with a deep red mark on his face.

"I'm fine, and on the way to a rally in Coruna," he wrote later on Twitter.

Health

Secret Service agent who was suspended over domestic incident shot and killed

secret service
The U.S. Secret Service says a uniformed officer who was suspended after being charged in a domestic incident earlier this year has been shot and killed.

District of Columbia police say USSS Uniformed Division Officer Arthur Baldwin was shot and killed shortly before 3 p.m. in a residential neighborhood in southwest Washington on Tuesday. Police are looking for three people in connection with the shooting, but have released no information about them or a possible motive. Baldwin was placed on leave and his security clearance was suspended in April after he was charged with trying to break into his girlfriend's house while armed. His most recent court appearance was on Tuesday, a few hours before he was slain. He was scheduled for trial in February.

In a statement, USSS said:

"Secret Service is aware of the information. We express condolences to the family of our employee. Any inquiries regarding the investigation should be directed to Metropolitan Police Department."