Society's ChildS


Wolf

Top Romney Adviser Tied to Militia That Massacred

walid phares
© Photo courtesy of An-NaharWalid Phares lecturing in front of a Lebanese Forces banner in 1986

Walid Phares, the recently announced co-chair of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Middle East advisory group, has a long résumé. College professor. Author. Political pundit. Counterterrorism expert. But there's one chapter of his life that you won't find on his CV: He was a high ranking political official in a sectarian religious militia responsible for massacres during Lebanon's brutal, 15-year civil war.

During the 1980s, Phares, a Maronite Christian, trained Lebanese militants in ideological beliefs justifying the war against Lebanon's Muslim and Druze factions, according to former colleagues. Phares, they say, advocated the hard-line view that Lebanon's Christians should work toward creating a separate, independent Christian enclave. A photo obtained by Mother Jones shows him conducting a press conference in 1986 for the Lebanese Forces, an umbrella group of Christian militias that has been accused of committing atrocities. He was also a close adviser to Samir Geagea, a Lebanese warlord who rose from leading hit squads to running the Lebanese Forces.

Since fleeing to the United States in 1990, when the Syrians took over Lebanon, Phares has reinvented himself as a counterterrorism and national security expert, traveling comfortably between official circles and the GOP's anti-Muslim wing. In a little over two decades, he's gone from training Lebanese militants to teaching American law enforcement and intelligence officials about the Middle East, and from advising Lebanese warlords to counseling a man who could be the next president of the United States.

Bad Guys

US: North Dakota oil boom creates thousands of jobs

Those hurt hard by the ailing economy are flocking to Williston, N.D., where an oil boom has turned a sleepy prairie town into a place producing thousands of jobs.

"There's opportunity here and that's what we all need is opportunity," said Williston Mayor Ward Koeser. "It's kind of been an oasis for the country. You know, there's a lot of jobs here, good paying jobs in the oil industry."

Williston is situated on the Bakken formation, an oil field that some say will produce the biggest boom in North America since the 1960s. Koeser said that his town currently has 2,000 to 3000 jobs and they haven't been able to fill the openings fast enough.

"A lot of jobs get filled every day, but it's like for every job you fill, another job and a half opens up," Koeser said.

A job on an oil rig can pay as much as six figures. The starting salary for truck drivers is around $80,000. While the nation's unemployment rate is 9.1 percent, Williston's unemployment rate is less than 1 percent.


Eye 1

Catholic cardinals and Bishops revolt against Benedict XVI

Catholic Cardinals and Bishops Refuse to Shake Pope Benedicts Hand


The Cause is that many Cardinals around the world think that Benedict XVI's authority was removed by God publicly, this happened during the World youth Day this year.

In this shocking video, a violent storms attacks Benedict XVI and removes his zucchetto, (hat) which is the symbol of authority, this is called ''Defenestration''.

As recorded in the book of Kings II in the Bible, Jezebel was defenestrated at Jezreel by her own servants at the urging of Jehu. (2 Kings 9: 33)

Chess

US: Campaign team walks out on Bachmann

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© Rex FeaturesRepublican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann has seen support for her slump since August
Staff in key state of New Hampshire quit in a huff over 'cruelty' of candidate's inner circle

The star of Michele Bachmann, who wants to ride the energy of the Tea Party all the way to the White House, is dimming quickly - at least in the key state of New Hampshire, where her entire team has resigned in a huff over the "cruel" and "dismissive" way they were being treated by the congresswoman's national campaign team.

While personnel struggles and high-dudgeon walk-outs are hardly uncommon within presidential campaigns, few can remember a candidate being ditched by every one of their hires in a state, particularly one as important as New Hampshire, which holds the first Republican primary on 10 January.

The drama in the Bachmann enclosure is the latest in a series of squalls to ruffle the Republican field. Causing fresh consternation yesterday, at least in the camp of long-time front-runner Mitt Romney, was a New York Times/CBS News poll showing him slipping to second place nationally behind Herman Cain, the former Godfather's Pizza chief executive and radio talk show host.

Ambulance

Best of the Web: US: Veteran Scott Olsen Could Be The First Person To Die At A Wall Street Protest

 olsen down at occupy oakland wall street

Scott Olsen survived two tours of Iraq, but his life could be over after being critically injured by a police projectile at Occupy Oakland, The Guardian reports. He's 24 years old.

As we know, Occupy Oakland got incredibly ugly this week as police tried to remove protesters from their camp in front of City Hall by using tear gas, fire crackers, and rubber bullets.

Olsen suffered a head injury on Tuesday night, and is now in critical condition in Oakland's Highland Hospital. Jay Finneburgh, a photographer on the scene, managed to witness and take pictures of the incident. Police policy specifically prohibits the firing of these weapons at a person's head.

"This poor guy was right behind me when he was hit in the head with a police projectile. He went down hard and did not get up," Finneburgh wrote.

Megaphone

US: Marine Veteran's Skull Fractured by Police Projectile at 'Occupy Oakland' Protest

scott olsen @ oakland
© n/a
A Marine veteran protesting with "Occupy Oakland" sustained a skull fracture Tuesday night after being shot in the head with appears to be a tear gas canister.

Scott Olsen, a two-time Iraq war veteran and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, was at 14th Street and Broadway when he was struck in the head.

"We need medic!" one protester was heard screaming. "Medic! Medic!"

"What happened?" another asked.

"He got shot!"

As Olsen was carried away, he appeared unconscious and bloody, unable to even respond when asked his name.

People

US: Drum Circles Could Doom Wall Street Occupation, Organizers Fear

A child plays along with an Occupy Wall Street drum circle in Zuccotti Park on Sunday
© Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty ImagesA child plays along with an Occupy Wall Street drum circle in Zuccotti Park on Sunday


Incessant noise divides demonstrators, upsets neighbors.

Someday the Occupy Wall Street protests will end, and the only question is whether they will go out with a bang or a whimper - or a lot of loud banging followed by whimpers.

At least one organizer fears it's the latter. An anonymous activist wrote a letter to the literary magazine N+1 on Monday warning that drum circles are causing such an outcry that it could derail the whole movement. Really.

It seems a core group of beat-niks in New York's Zuccotti Park has been holding marathon jam sessions from mid-morning until late at night every day, punishing the eardrums of their fellow protesters and the surrounding neighborhood. Teachers at a school across the street have complained they can't teach. And the local neighborhood community board is holding a meeting Tuesday night in which it could revoke its support of the protests if it's not satisfied that the noise will subside.

Che Guevara

Best of the Web: Occupy the World - Comparing the Words and Actions of Our Dear Leaders


This video really puts things in perspective.

Originally uploaded by Starvexer

Creative commons: Non-Commercial, Attribution, No Derivative Works license. Please message filmmaker for translations, which are very welcome : )

http://www.facebook.com/OgilvieFilm

http://www.ogilviefilm.com

If mirroring, please do not change video in any way for its whole duration. Please credit the original filmmaker, musicians and music labels as some people have posted it claiming they made the video, which breaches the ethics of a creative commons.

This said, please share with everyone, including your leaders. Mirroring is encouraged, but please don't change video in any way. This video is meant to be a warning to our leaders.

Stunning music by: Hauschka, song "Stumm (Kein Wort)"

Music Label: Karaoke Kalk label based in Berlin

Including amazing shots from Alex Mallis and Kristopher Rae - sociallyawkwrd.tumblr.com

Heart

Where Do We Go From Here? Occupy Wall St.


"Where Do We Go From Here?"

On the one month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, I went to Liberty Plaza to find out where the movement will go next.

Director ED DAVID
Producer DANA SALVATORE
Cinematography ED DAVID & ANDREW MCMULLEN
Editors LILY HENDERSON & ED DAVID
Assistant Producer JILLIAN MASON

Music:
"I Drive" by Cliff Martinez

ED - kittyguerrilla.com
ANDREW - andrewmcmullen.com
LILY - thinplacepictures.com

Pistol

US, South Carolina: Woman charged with killing sons, ex-husband and stepmother for insurance

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© Pickens County Detention Center'Cover up': Susan Hendricks shot and killed her two sons, her ex-husband and her stepmother then tried to make it look like her son was the killer, police said
A South Carolina mother who told police her son killed three family members and himself has been charged with murdering all of them to get their life insurance money, police said Tuesday.

Susan Hendricks, 48, was charged with the murder of her two sons, her ex-husband and her stepmother after being arrested at a motel Monday night, police said.

She was also charged with possession of a weapon during a violent crime -- a handgun she kept in her night stand.

Police were called to a house in Liberty, South Carolina, on October 14, Pickens County Assistant Sheriff Tim Morgan said. Based on observations at the scene, forensic evidence and interviews with family members, police determined Hendricks' version of what happened was false, he said.

Family members told police her motive was life insurance money. Hendricks was the beneficiary of multiple life insurance policies taken out by the victims, a police report said.