Society's ChildS


Smoking

Smoking ban targeting bars, restaurants, workplaces, other public spaces considered in Waco, Texas

J. B. Smith
Waco Tribune
Sat, 13 Jun 2015 17:50 UTC
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© Waco Tribune/Jerry Larson
A comprehensive ban on smoking inside bars, restaurants and other public spaces and workplaces goes before the Waco City Council for a vote Tuesday.

The "smoke-free" ordinance proposed by the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District board would erase exemptions that the current smoking ordinance has for bars and for businesses that have separately ventilated smoking sections. It would also prohibit smoking in public parks or within 25 feet of the door of a nonsmoking establishment.

It would preserve exemptions for smoke shops and cigar bars, as well as outdoor workplaces and some designated hotel rooms.

The council Tuesday will take the first of two votes required to pass the ordinance. The business meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the Waco Convention Center's Bosque Theatre, following a 3 p.m. work session.

Mayor Malcolm Duncan Jr., who sits on the health district board, said the proposed smoke-free ordinance would protect employees from secondhand smoke and mark a step forward for public health. He said he has been hearing more support than opposition to the ordinance from constituents.

"I think everybody believes not smoking leads to a healthier community," he said.

"If you look around the country, there has been a pretty consistent increase in the trend of cities to go no-smoking."

Comment: Here's the rub: Smoking is not bad for everyone. When have governments truly done anything that was in the best interest of the people? All of this legislation and effort to stamp out something that stimulates the immune system, helps you think better, protects against lung cancer and sparks creativity creates a nation of zombies.

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Whistle

Whistler-blower cop demoted, transferred and forced to undergo psychological evaluation after drowning death of young Iowa man

M. David and Jackson Marciana
Counter Current News
Sat, 13 Jun 2015 15:29 UTC
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Pictured left is Sgt Randy Henry, in the middle is Brandon Ellingson who was killed in May 2014
The Missouri Highway Patrol trooper who questioned the cops who killed Brandon Ellingson has just been slapped with a demotion. Sgt. Randy Henry refused to remain silent in the aftermath of Ellingson's death. He spoke out against the agency of the young Iowa man and has been disciplined for doing what everyone says "good cops" are supposed to do.

Now, Sgt. Randy Henry has been demoted to the status of corporal. He has further been moved from Lake of the Ozarks where he has been on patrol for almost thirty years. His superiors have transferred him away from the crime scene, to Truman Lake. Henry's attorney, Chet Pleban of St. Louis, referred to his client as a whistleblower.

In the days after Brandon Ellingson's death, Henry told investigators what Trooper Anthony Piercy told him the night a handcuffed Ellingson died. The college student was in Piercy's custody.

But Piercy's account later, as well as his testimony to a coroner's inquest, was different. Henry also testified in front of a legislative committee about minimal trooper training after the Water Patrol merged into the Highway Patrol in 2011.

"Randy Henry doesn't have a horse in the race," Pleban told The Star. "He's not on one side or the other. He has testimony to give that's material. The truth is the truth. He went to his superiors to say, 'This is wrong. This is what happened.' And they blew him off. So now here we are."


Comment: More details surrounding Brandon's death are available here.


Comment: Another soul lost needlessly to careless and corrupt policing practices. When asked to be accountable for their actions, the department attacks anyone who doesn't toe their line of lies. If you're upset about it, sign the petition and share the article.

RIP Brandon, you were lost to us too soon

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Water

California drought has thieves stealing water


CBS News - San Francisco
Sat, 13 Jun 2015 23:00 UTC
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© Ali Al-Saadi/AFP/Getty Images
Police are warning for businesses and residents to start locking up their taps. California's drought has gotten so bad, people are stealing water.

Thieves busted the locks on the spigots at a popular Asian shopping center on Barber Lane in Milpitas, just to get their hands on what has become liquid gold.

Palo Alto resident Jason Zhur said he's shocked it has come this far. "But water's becoming more expensive than gas," he said.

Police say the thieves waited until the businesses were closed and returned in the middle of the night to steal their water — and lots of it.

Witnesses saw 3 or 4 water bandits prying open the small boxes that house the spigots. Then they filled up large containers with hundreds of gallons of water.

The businesses discovered the theft after the property owner noticed a much higher water bill and told them.

"It's an easy target," said shopper Sara Tang, "because no one is here at night after they're closed."

Many businesses here have surveillance cameras, but apparently they weren't a deterrent.

"I imagine it's come to that point because water rates are going up, everything is going up, now," said Zhur.

On June 1, water districts across the state began enforcing mandatory cutbacks on water consumption. Residents who don't comply risk steep fines.

Comment: See also:


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Vader

Epidemic of U.S. police violence continues unabated as 500th victim killed this year

Tom Hall and Andre Damon
World Socialist Website
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 00:00 UTC
police brutality
© unknown
The number of people killed by police so far this year topped 500 this week as the nationwide epidemic of police violence continued, with cops killing 20 people over the past seven days alone.

The US media largely has ignored the 500-victim milestone, with headlines this week dominated by the attempt to whip up law-and-order hysteria around the massive manhunt to recapture two inmates who recently escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility in New York.

The 500th fatality of the year, according to one database of police killings, occurred Monday night when members of the Maricopa County SWAT team gunned down 69-year-old Richard Warolf, a suicidal man, during a courtesy call requested by his family in Sun City, a suburb of Phoenix.

The following night, a police officer in Des Moines, Iowa shot and killed unarmed 28-year-old Ryan Bollinger through the window of her squad car after a two-minute low-speed chase.

Comment: It has become abundantly clear that the entire system is corrupt and the message being sent is that police have been given a license to do everything necessary to instill fear and cow the populace into submission to the state.

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Mr. Potato

Best of the Web: 'Obama zombies': Americans sign prankster's petition to nuke Russia


RT
Tue, 09 Jun 2015 17:11 UTC
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© Still from YouTube video/Mark Dice
US journalist Mark Rice has asked the people of San Diego to sign President Barack Obama's "plan" to nuke Russia to "maintain America's superiority." The majority of beachgoers didn't appear to get the joke, and signed the fake petition.

The "experiment" was recorded on video, which Mark Ricethen shared on his Twitter, YouTube and Facebook accounts.

"We just need a couple more signatures to support President [Barack] Obama's new plan to deal with Russia," Dice tell a random man whom he stops. "We are going to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike."

The man, who does not seem to be much familiar with the issue, cuts off Dice in mid-sentence, and says: "I'll sign it for you."

Comment: This demonstrates how difficult it is to make any improvements to our slavery. In contrast, RT tried a similar experiment in Russia. The results were reassuringly lackluster:



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Quenelle

'Outraged' opposition mayors take control of Madrid & Barcelona


RT
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 00:18 UTC
Ada Colau's swearing-in ceremony
© REUTERS/Albert GeaPeople watch Ada Colau's swearing-in ceremony as the new mayor of Barcelona, at Sant Jaume square in Barcelona, Spain, June 13, 2015.
Left wing party coalition leaders have been sworn in as mayors of Madrid and Barcelona, assuming control of the Spain's two largest cities. This is yet another case of parts of Spain showing their opposition to the country's conservative rule.

In the Spanish capital, a 71-year-old former judge, Manuela Carmena has put an end to the 24 years of conservative mayorship. She defeated her rival, 63-year-old Esperanza Aguirre from the People's Party, in what proved to be a very close race.


The new mayor managed to claim 20 seats in the city chamber during the May 24 vote against Aguirre's 21. However, Carmena managed to forge an alliance with the main opposition Socialist Party to secure victory. She was officially elected mayor by 29 of the 57 council representatives on Saturday morning.

Carmena, a former communist and rights activist, promised to improve the living conditions for the poor, who have been struggling since the 2008 financial crisis. She also echoed the calls of the massive Indignados (Outraged) protest movement that was formed in 2011 to fight corruption, government spending cuts and evictions.

"We are at the service of the citizens of Madrid. We want to govern by listening. We want them to call us by our first names," Carmena said after being voted in.

Among her chief promises to the electorate are the development of public transport and increased support for poor families. She has promised to slash her salary by more than half to €45,000 ($51,000).
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Info

Freight train derails on bridge in Houston, TX causing several cars to fall off overpass

Tim Wetzel, Alice Barr
KHOU.com
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 14:33 UTC
train derailment
© Air 11 / KHOU 11There were no injuries reported when several cars derailed on the bridge over Old Katy Road in Houston on Thursday.
After a day of clean up after a train derailed along Old Katy Road, officials said the road should be reopened by Friday morning.

The incident happened around 8:30 a.m. near Washington Avenue, just north of the Katy Freeway.

According to a spokesman Jeff Degraff with Union Pacific, which runs the tracks, the Kansas City Southern train traveling from Beaumont was heading west on its way to Kendleton when the derailment happened at the Eureka Junction.

A total of nine cars and a locomotive came off the tracks. Two of the cars fell off the overpass.

The spokesman said that the cars that fell contained soy bean and plastic pellets. No hazardous materials were present.
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Padlock

Canada gone crazy: 23yo "ISIS supporter" guilty of no crime in custody in Winnipeg

Karen Pauls, Jill Coubrough
CBC
Sat, 13 Jun 2015 21:33 UTC
Aaron Driver
Warning: supporting U.S.-backed terrorist groups can get you arrested.
RCMP in Winnipeg have raided the rental home of an ISIS supporter known by the alias Harun Abdurahman and seized what's believed to be computer equipment.

Neighbours say undercover officers have been watching the home in the city's southwestern neighbourhood of Charleswood for months.

RCMP took out garbage bags containing what appeared to be computer towers.

It's unknown if Abdurahman has been arrested.

RCMP would only confirm officers executed a search warrant as part of an investigation.

"The large police presence, initially, was to ensure the safety of the officers involved, and the public," Sgt. Bert Paquet wrote in an email. "At this point, any further details could undermine the ongoing investigation."

Comment: From Yahoo News:
Driver has been in custody for a week and RCMP are seeking a peace bond as they fear he will participate in terrorism, but so far no charges have been laid.

But that's what concerns civil rights advocates. "It should shock every Canadian citizen that this is possible or that is being done," Corey Shefman told CBC News.
It should, but it won't.

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Pistol

Dallas police HQ attack: Suspect believed killed during standoff


CNN
Sat, 13 Jun 2015 17:44 UTC
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Suspect Mug Shot from Dallas County Sheriff’s Office that matches name given to police – James Boulware.
A man unleashed a barrage of gunfire on Dallas' police headquarters and planted explosives outside the building early Saturday -- narrowly failing to wound anyone -- leading to a chase to a suburb that ended with officers shooting him in his parked van at a restaurant parking lot.

Police believe they killed the suspect, though they haven't confirmed his death yet. Late Saturday morning were using a robot to probe the van in the suburb of Hutchins because the suspect claimed he had rigged the vehicle with explosives, Dallas Police Chief David Brown told reporters.

"We believe this suspect meant to kill officers," Brown said. "We barely survived the intentions of this suspect."
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Better Earth

Untold stories: First-ever US Nakba Museum opens in Washington DC

Kayla Blau
Mondoweiss
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 15:19 UTC
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© Nakba Museum Project of Memory and Hope Facebook page
When Bshara Nassar arrived in Washington, DC, he strolled along the National Mall and passed myriad museums dedicated to exposing the painful history of oppressed peoples: the National Museum of the American Indian, the Holocaust Museum, Laogai Museum, the list goes on. He quickly recognized there was no "place for the Palestinian story to be told," which inspired him to launch the first-ever Nakba Museum Project of Memory and Hope.

As Nassar worked on a master's degree in conflict transformation, the thought of a space dedicated to Palestinian voices became a working reality. He was particularly interested in telling the little-known story of the "Nakba," which means "catastrophe" in Arabic. The term is used to refer to the displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes in 1948 when the State of Israel was created. Today, nearly 5 million people, nearly all of them descendants of the original group, are registered as Palestinian refugees with the United Nations.

Comment: Some sanity in this insane world!

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