Society's ChildS


Boat

German govt: Turn off lights during sex to stop global warming - Better idea? Stop breathing, politicians!

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Are you doing YOUR part to stop the evil menace of global warming?
Out with boring public information leaflets and in with flashy TV ads. The German Ministry of Environment has come up with a series of commercials on the problems of climate change, featuring sex and zombies in the message.

The scene: A young girl arrives home late one night and is confronted with the awkward situation of finding her parents engaged in the act inside a brightly lit room. After uttering a meek, "Hi," the teenager proceeds to switch off the lights in the room.

The lesson learned, as the female narrator says: "The world says thanks. 5 percent less energy consumption in German households makes one coal power plant redundant. Together it's climate protection."


Comment: If carbon emissions are such a problem, German politicians would do the world a favor by holding their breath - indefinitely. Just think of all the carbon dioxide expelled each day by politicians who fund the kind of asinine, juvenile, crass garbage seen above!
The world thanks you! Stop allowing useless politicians to breath up valuable air for no good purpose, if all they produce is more carbon dioxide and lie after lie after lie. Airing out the halls of power every 100 years or so is better for the health of humanity.
But of course, carbon emissions are not the problem. Never have been, never will be. But then again, it's possible that our global climate - and our imminent collapse - just might turn out for the better if all politicians suddenly stopped breathing! For more on that comforting idea, see SOTT editor Pierre Lescaudron's book, Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection.


Bomb

Bird Bomb? Afghan police kill bird wearing antenna and explosives


Afghan police said they are investigating how a wild bird came to bear an antenna, electronic devices and explosives. Police came across the strange sight around 8 a.m. in the northern Faryab province, a volatile region ravaged by Taliban violence. When police spotted the white bird - which isn't native to the area and appeared larger than an eagle - walking along a highway, they noticed it had an antenna and decided to shoot it, provincial police chief Maj. Gen. Abdul Nabi Ilham told NBC News on Saturday. The bird then exploded, he said, and "suspicious metal stuff" scattered around.

"We are gathering all the stuff, but found parts of what looks to be GPS and a small camera," Ilham said. He added that this was the first time police have made such an encounter. Police added that it is possible the bird had been "deployed" on a surveillance mission. Using animals in warfare or for suicide missions is unusual but not unheard of. Hamas militants reportedly put explosives on a donkey and pushed it in the direction of Israeli soldiers as fighting intensified this summer in Gaza.

Stormtrooper

The path to tyranny: The Nazi Gestapo and the US police state

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© Saul Loeb/AFP
The world is watching what is happening in Ferguson, Missouri. After the announcement by the grand jury that Officer Darren Wilson was acquitted for the shooting death of Michael Brown, angry residents took to the streets of Ferguson and other towns and cities across the U.S. to protest police brutality. The U.S. government has the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) along with the Ferguson police department and the Missouri National guard ready to confront the angry protesters with force.

Michael Brown's murder is not the only incident that sparked riots. There have been other similar incidents involving police brutality such as the Rodney King beating by the Los Angeles Police Department in 1991 that also sparked riots. The Police used excessive force against the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York and other anti-Establishment protests across the U.S. In 1997, NYPD officers sodomized a Haitian immigrant by the name of Abner Louima with a broken-off broom handle after he was arrested during an altercation between the police and patrons outside a Brooklyn nightclub. He was hospitalized and most of the police officers involved were not found guilty because of insufficient evidence, except for one of the officers who received a 30-year sentence.

Following the verdict of the Michael Brown case, another African-American man was recently shot and killed by an NYPD officer in a housing project in East New York, Brooklyn. White Americans have also been victims of police brutality. In 2012, Kelly Thomas, a 37-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia was beaten to death by two veterans of the Fullerton Police Department in California. Both men were acquitted by the grand jury. Although statistics do show that minorities are more likely to get harassed (by Stop and Frisk in NYC for example), arrested and even murdered by the police. The United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a report on human rights abuses in the United States which included the epidemic of police brutality. It stated:

Comment: No longer a day goes by that one doesn't hear of a man, woman or child getting severely abused, or even killed by an "officer of the peace". And it's clearly getting worse. Far worse. If we look at the author's comparison of developments in Nazi Germany to today's militarized US police state, we notice that the changes there, as here, occurred incrementally. First new laws and institutions, then the "crackdowns" on dissent. And much of it occurring oh so covertly. One would not be incorrect in extrapolating the events of today into the near future and using one's imagination to see how far this can and will go.

"Never in America"? Don't count on it. The Nazis, fascists, totalitarians, pathocrats - choose your own descriptive - are already doing their will, and have the spilt blood to prove it.


No Entry

The American dream is an illusion with rates of social mobility that are no better than medieval England

  • Gregory Clark
    Gregory Clark, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis
    Gregory Clark, of UC Davis, claims American dream is simply an illusion
  • Instead, social mobility in U.S. is no higher than in rest of world, he says
  • Disadvantaged citizens 'will not be granted opportunities for hard work'
  • They will remain stuck in social status for life - and so will their children
  • Mr Clark's findings were obtained using figures from the past 100 years
  • But his students disagree, saying parents' wealth is not 'deciding factor
It has powered the hopes and dreams of U.S. citizens for generations.

But the American Dream does not actually exist, according to one economics professor.

Gregory Clark, who works at the University of California, Davis, claims the national ethos is simply an illusion and that social mobility in the country is no higher than in the rest of the world.

Comment: As the late, great George Carlin said, "It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."

See also:
The facade of the American dream

The American Dream As We Know It Is Obsolete


Pistol

Unarmed college student killed by police in 2012 received little national attention

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© Gil Collar/FacebookGil Collar and his Mother, who can be found in many of his facebook pictures.
We recently received a tip about a 18-year-old University of South Alabama student who was shot and killed by a campus police officer. We were asked why we have not covered this story. The short answer is that this story is not a new one, but one that broke two years ago, in October of 2012. But in the wake of the outrage surrounding the Michael Brown verdict not to indict Officer Darren Wilson, many have asked where the outrage over this story is...

Well, they're right. Every story of any unarmed citizen gunned down by rogue police officers deserves public outrage and attention. But the reality is that if we do not bring these stories to the attention of the nation through our own organic efforts (sharing, commenting, "liking" and tweeting), then many of the mainstream, corporate media sources will not find the stories to be discussion-worthy. That is the sad reality: the mainstream media will pick up story after story from independent, alternative media like Counter Current News, once they see the stories being shared widely. That was certainly with our breaking of the John Crawford shooting before any local or national media had published a story on it, or the shooting of Tamir Rice last weekend for that matter.

Two years ago, when Gil Collar was shot and killed by a campus police officer, there simply was not the "viral buzz" about the story, and thus it never got picked up. But his story is no doubt an important one that needs and deserves to be told.

Comment: Another young person shot and killed by the police. You'd think they were trained to murder.


Whistle

Unorthodox police procedures come to light in grand jury documents


When Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson left the scene of the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, the officer returned to the police station unescorted, washed blood off his hands and placed his recently fired pistol into an evidence bag himself.

Those actions, described in grand jury testimony, violated protocols for handling a crime scene and securing evidence, according to experts in policing procedures and Justice Department documents.

Wilson's movements after the shooting were among a number of police actions in the aftermath of Brown's death that experts said were unusual. The grand jury transcripts revealed, for example, that the officers who interviewed Wilson immediately after the shooting did not tape the conversations. The transcripts also showed that an investigator from the medical examiner's office opted not to take measurements at the crime scene and arrived there believing that what happened between Brown and Wilson was "self-explanatory.''

It is unclear how these un­or­tho­dox practices may have influenced the investigation of a shooting that has triggered a national conversation about race and police practices. The grand jury's decision Monday not to indict Wilson in connection with the shooting death has led to protests nationwide.

Police and forensic officials have not responded to requests for comment over a two-day period.

Comment: Unusual? You can't get away with this kind of sloppiness and disregard for procedure in a crumby TV show! The fans would be all over it. It will be interesting to see how these revelations play out on the stage of real life. Wilson washed the blood off his hands because it was getting sticky? Huh? Blood has a tendency to dry. He washed it off to remove evidence KNOWING it was Michael Brown's blood and he was the cause for the bloodshed and to protect himself, not the investigation. (Remember that the extent of Wilson's wounds was red marks on his face. Nothing else.) And the rest of it...well, it seems like the PTB that helped cook the situation to the frenzy it has become, calculated in the police "oops" factor when picking their target location. Nothing like a freebie to parlay negativity, emboldening and entrenching opposing sides to up the ante. More reaction. More chaos. More data on how America reacts to stimuli. Shame on us if we let this slide by!


Pistol

DeAndre Joshua murdered, fits profile of eye-witness to Michael Brown shooting

DeAndre
© www.patriotnetdaily.comDeAndre Joshua, a witness in the Michael Brown case?
DeAndre Joshua, 20, was murdered on the same night of the Saint Louis Grand Jury announcement. DeAndre was shot in the head, and then a flammable liquid poured on him and set afire inside his vehicle.

Perhaps coincidentally DeAndre Joshua also fits the social profile of an eye-witness who gave a police/FBI statement and testified before the Grand Jury in the Mike Brown shooting case. If that were the only coincidence it might be easy to dismiss. Alas, it's not. Out of an abundance of caution for other witnesses we are avoiding outlining the most direct connections - however, they are not in doubt.

As you are aware he was an employed black male, with no history of drug use or illicit behavior. In the Canfield Community, marijuana is not considered illicit, nor does weed really qualify as drug use - it's as common as tobacco. DeAndre was also a friend of Dorian Johnson who is currently under protection. (Note: Dorian Johnson was Michael Brown's companion the day he was mortally shot.)

Dorian
© www.nbcnews.comMichael Brown's friend, Dorian Johnson: He was "shot like an animal."
Tweet, Dorian Johnson: "My Fcking Brother Gone DeAndre Joshua!! Hella Fckd Up, SomeBody come get me right Now I gotta Go!!!!!"

Obviously, Dorian is very alarmed, understandably so. On the night before the Grand Jury announcement, there were considerable nerves amid a select group in the Ferguson community.

As the attention of a nation turned to the grand jury decision, and also to the demands of the Justice for Mike Brown coalition, Dorian Johnson was potentially going to be the recipient of a tremendous amount of angst. Several people were looking for DeAndre and Dorian.

Dorian was in hiding - DeAndre was vulnerable.

Comment: Reading the transcripts of witness statements, it is clearly "unclear" what is independent truth, maneuvered truth, or "truth by threat." It is possible that the Black community, supporting Michael Brown, had a pact for a particular eye-witness scenario and threatened potential witnesses to keep to the story.

It is also likely those who engineered the No True Bill verdict, and absolution of Darren Wilson, issued their own witness threats to protect the "white-washing" of events. It becomes evident that detectives and special agents manipulated witness testimony. It apparently is not a good time to be a witness, as DeAndre Joshua found out. His death was a vicious act and message to others. Why wasn't he protected? Where is the public outrage for this young man?
For those who believe 10 gunshot wounds from a Sig Sauer P229 semi-automatic pistol were what it took to down unarmed Michael Brown, here's the medical rundown of both his and Darren Wilson's wounds:

M.B. Gunshot wounds: top of head, forehead right side of chest, right side of chest near the armpit, through and through upper right arm, through and through right forearm, graze/abrasion upper right arm, right interior thumb.

M.B. Abrasions: inside left forearm, right hip, left thumb, left wrist, right front shoulder, forehead, bottom lip.

M.B. Damage caused by a bullet to his right eye and what looked like an exit wound on his right facial cheek.

M.B. Doctors removed one bullet from Brown's head, one from his right lateral back, and one from his posterior chest.

DW: red marks on his face, blood (not his) on his hand, uniform disheveled and shirt pockets open.
On the surface, Ferguson may be about complicated mixture of racial issues, community organized crime, civil service corruption, predation and retaliation. But it goes deeper and wider than that. The bigger picture is the ever-encroaching total authoritarian control of The American Police State. Ferguson is a test run - a profile to be studied, perfected and ultimately unleashed. We are not in Kansas anymore. Welcome to purgatory.


Sheriff

Ferguson officer who murdered Michael Brown resigns - effective immediately

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© ReutersOfficer Darren Wilson
Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, who fatally shot black teenager Michael Brown, has resigned from the police force, his attorney said. The news comes amid unceasing protests across the US against a grand jury decision clearing Wilson of murder charges.

The resignation is effective immediately, AP quoted one of Wilson's lawyers, Neil Bruntrager, as saying on Saturday.

Prior to the resignation, Wilson was on administrative leave from the Ferguson Police Department since the August 9 shooting.

On Monday, a St. Louis County grand jury decided not to indict Wilson, 28, for the fatal shooting of the 18-year-old Brown.

Wilson testified that he used deadly force against Brown - who was unarmed - in self-defense.

A majority of witnesses told the grand jury that the teenager had his hands raised and was running away from Wilson as the officer shot him repeatedly. This was, however, denied by St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch, who announced the grand jury's decision and highlighted the alleged scuffle between Brown and Wilson, which ended with the police officer unloading his gun 12 times against Brown.

Wilson's attorneys argued that he had been following his training and the law when he shot Brown.

Comment: Read Darren Wilson's resignation letter, via St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
"I, Darren Wilson, hereby resign my commission as a police officer with the City of Ferguson effective immediately. I have been told that my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that I cannot allow. For obvious reasons, I wanted to wait until the grand jury made their decision before I officially made my decision to resign. It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me. It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal. I would like to thank all of my supporters and fellow officers throughout this process."



Pistol

Ferguson and the shoot-first mentality and training of American police

police shooting
'Just following orders!'
Few, if any, of the correct questions were asked in the grand jury hearing to decide whether policeman Darren Wilson would be indicted for killing Michael Brown.

The most important unexamined question is whether police are trained to use force immediately as a first resort before they assess a situation or determine if they are at the correct address. Are the police trained that the lives of police officers are so much more valuable than the lives of possible suspects, or a houseful of people into whose residence a heavily armed SWAT team enters, that police officers must not accept the risk of judicious behavior when encountering citizens? If this is the case as all evidence indicates that it is, then the police when they gratuitously murder members of the public are merely doing what they have been trained to do. As police are trained to use violence as a first resort, the police cannot be held accountable when they do.


Comment: Exactly. When police PR departments say their officers complied with standard procedures, they mean exactly that: standard procedure is to shoot to kill, at the drop of a hat.


Comment: See: Nationwide protests against police brutality in AmeriKKKa: Wilson gets away with murder, Anonymous: #HoodsOff "The war is on!" (and note the comments - there are actually people who agree with this paramoralistic justification for cold-blooded murder)


Quenelle

Enough is enough: Hundreds demand independence at Scottish Parliament

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© Twitter/ Harry FearArticulate speakers angry at ‘greedy #Westminster rule’ over #Scotland, passionately calling for greater autonomy
Hundreds of people have gathered near the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood with St. Andrew's Cross flags, music and speeches in a celebration of Scottish nationhood, amid continued demands for independence as St. Andrew's Day celebrations got underway.

Poetry recitals, speeches and songs were on the agenda, as people wrapped themselves in flags and "Yes"-related paraphernalia. Even the blue Estelada could be seen among the crowds to show a degree of solidarity between various independence movements in Europe.

Comment: See: Scottish referendum result undoubtedly rigged