Society's ChildS


Stormtrooper

Okinawa: Tokyo's move to resume work on US base is 'illegal invasion'


RT
Mon, 02 Nov 2015 23:46 UTC
protest japan
© www.nationofchange.orgTens of thousands of protesters in Okinawa, Japan demonstrated against the presence and expansion of U.S. military bases on the island for the third day.
Okinawa authorities have filed a complaint against the Japanese government's decision of October 28 to recommence work on a landfill project that is preparing a site for the relocation of a US military base, labeling it an "illegal invasion." Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga blasted the Wednesday move, asserting "the decision by the land minister represents illegal involvement," the Japan Times reports.

The local government filed a complaint with a third-party panel, the Central and Local Government Dispute Management Council, after Tokyo restarted the landfill work on Thursday. If the Council's ruling does not block the central government's work, which Okinawa has been opposing from the start, the local government plans to file a lawsuit.

Okinawa's previous governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, gave the go-ahead for the relocation of the US military's Futenma base to Henoko in 2013. The mood changed, however, in 2014, when Onaga was elected and promised to scuttle Tokyo's plans. Last week, Onaga stressed that he would do everything is his power to block "the construction of a new base at Henoko," the Asahi Shimbun reported.

On October 13, Onaga revoked permission for the construction of a new US military base to host the US Marine Corps. Tokyo is now looking to formerly invalidate Ogana's revocation and also plans to file a lawsuit, the Japan Times reported. Okinawa prefecture, home to about one percent of Japan's population, hosts nearly half of the 47,000 US troops based in Japan.


Comment: No one wants the US military in their backyard...or their country, for that matter! "This has gone on for 70 years since the end of World War II and now we are going to stop it." Okinawa accounts for 0.6 percent of Japanese land, but 74 percent of US military facilities are in Okinawa. The Okinawan citizens are determined. If they succeed, it will be a welcomed example of the power of the people, as so few exist today.

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Document

Memory refresh: Hamas demands Britain apologize for Balfour Declaration carving up Palestine


RT
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 18:35 UTC
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© Abed Omar Qusini / ReutersPalestinian Hamas supporters hold Hamas flags as they take part in a rally to show solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, in the West Bank city of Nablus May 15, 2014.
Palestinian political Islamists Hamas have demanded Britain apologize for agreeing to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine in 1917, a move experts say had "profound and pervasive" consequences for those who lived there.

Hamas released its statement Monday to coincide with the 98th anniversary of the declaration. It claimed the 1917 agreement between then British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour and influential Jewish community leader Baron Walter Rothschild is now null and void.

The original declaration, which aimed to combine two apparently contradictory aims, read:
"His Majesty's government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

Comment: This is a great reminder from history how this Israel-Palestinian conflict started. Even in the Balfour Declaration, it states: "it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine", which Israel doesn't adhere to.

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Pirates

Qatar opens 'Labor City' (more like 'Slave City') for 70,000 foreign workers


RT
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 00:53 UTC
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© Stringer / ReutersA picture shows the new labor city in the Sanaya Industrial Area in Doha
An enormous worker complex in Qatar has been opened just outside of Doha. 'Labor City' can accommodate some 70,000 foreign workers, who come to the Gulf state to participate in its grand construction projects, such as those for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The country's Special Engineering Office officially presented the $825 million housing project which is set to house some 68,640 workers.

Sunday's ceremony in the capital, Doha, was opened by Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani and the Labor Minister Abdullah al-Khulaifi, who reiterated that improving living standards for migrant workers has become the country's priority.

Labor City, which lies just 14 kilometers from Doha and covers an area of 1,100,000 square meters, is just one of seven house complexes that the government is building to house almost 260,000 labor migrants.

Comment: Read more:

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Beaker

Chipotle closes 43 restaurants in Oregon and Washington after investigation into E. coli outbreak opens


RT
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 17:20 UTC
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© Robert Galbraith / Reuters
Fast food chain Chipotle voluntarily closed 43 restaurants in Washington State and Oregon over the weekend after health authorities launched an investigation into 22 cases of E. coli poisoning. Beef shipped across the US has also been recalled.

"There have been links made to six restaurants in the Seattle and Portland areas," Chris Arnold, communications director for Chipotle, told The New York Times. "We have closed 43 restaurants in those markets out of an abundance of caution."

The company is not planning to close any other restaurants because there is no evidence of an E. coli link to other locations. Re-openings will depend on the investigation.

The Oregon Health Authority said in a statement over the weekend that the outbreak affected people who had eaten at Chipotle outlets from October 14 to 23. They expect the number of cases to rise as more people hear about the situation and seek medical attention.
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Snakes in Suits

Audi and Porsche being investigated alongside VW for emission standards scandal


RT
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 17:13 UTC
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© Michael Buholzer / Reuters
Audi and Porsche have been pulled into Volkswagen's emission-cheating scandal. The US environmental regulator has broadened its investigation and found that the Porsche Cayenne and five Audi models also have software cheating federal pollution standards.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended its list of affected vehicles to include a new 2015 Porsche Cayenne and the yet-to-come 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L, and Q5. It also includes the 2014 Volkswagen Touareg.

"The NOV [notice of violation] alleges that VW developed and installed a defeat device in certain VW, Audi and Porsche light duty diesel vehicles equipped with 3.0 liter engines for model years (MY) 2014 through 2016 that increases emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) up to nine times EPA's standard," the EPA said in a statement on Monday.

The newly-issued NOV covers an "unknown" number of 2016 vehicles.
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Eye 1

Honey tests positive for "elevated" radioactivity found near nuclear power station in Scotland


RT
Mon, 02 Nov 2015 14:05 UTC
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© ReutersThe nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Dounreay in Scotland.
Honey contaminated with nuclear waste has been found near a disused power station in Scotland, scientists have confirmed, with samples of the product testing positive for "elevated" radioactivity.

The samples showed levels of radioactive caesium-137 that are 14 times higher than samples of honey from elsewhere in the UK, prompting scientists to call for an investigation into wider contamination at the site.

The plant, which closed in 1994, no longer produces nuclear energy. It is still in the process of being decommissioned, however.

Independent nuclear energy consultant John Large said bees are an important barometer of environmental health.

"Bees are key indicators of what is happening in the environment."

Comment: "Bees are key indicators of what is happening in the environment."

Read more:
  • History of dangerous problems at radioactive dump sites

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Cheeseburger

How's that 'Obama recovery' working out for ya? High cost of beef leads to more meat thefts in New York

Dave Carlin
CBS News - New York
Mon, 02 Nov 2015 23:43 UTC
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© blog.8thandwalton.com/
Shoplifting is a common crime in the United States, but the number one stolen item in the country may surprise you.
Believe it or not, it's meat. Experts say meat thefts are reaching an all-time high because beef prices have soared in recent years.

"People steal stuff because they need it," Joe Giacalone, a former NYPD detective, said. "And also, people steal stuff because of greed." "You only have so much money you can spend on groceries, so if the cost of ground beef goes up 30 percent to 40 percent, you have two ways of eating beef — eating less, or in this case, stealing it," Jamie Schweid, of Schweid & Sons Burgers, said.

Schweid is a fourth-generation beef purveyor, whose company specializes in custom-blended ground beef, CBS2's Dave Carlin reported. According to Schweid, there was an ample supply of cattle when his father started his business in the Meatpacking District in the 1970s — and beef prices were low.


Comment: Record high ground beef prices since last financial crisis; American paychecks lagging

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Snakes in Suits

Baltimore city employee who joined sex-for-maintenance lawsuit suspended without pay

Yvonne Wenger and Luke Broadwater
Baltimore Sun
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 16:55 UTC
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© Amy Davis / Baltimore SunBaltimore's housing chief, Paul T. Graziano, on a recent tour of apartments that need repairs at Gilmor Homes.
A Housing Authority of Baltimore City employee who joined a lawsuit accusing agency maintenance workers of harassment and sexual assault has been suspended indefinitely without pay.

Anthony Coates, a housing authority worker who also is president of the union representing maintenance workers, was suspended effective Monday. He recently filed an affidavit in U.S. District Court alleging that he and others had previously informed top housing authority officials that some workers were demanding sexual favors from tenants as a condition for making repairs to their homes.

The affidavit was in support of a federal lawsuit filed Sept. 28 by 11 tenants at three public housing complexes.

In a letter to Coates on Friday, a top housing authority official told him he was being suspended for violating the authority's "Code of Conduct policy." The letter does not elaborate. Housing authority officials declined to discuss Coates' suspension, citing the need for confidentiality in personnel matters.

Several City Council members said Monday they are concerned about the appearance that a "whistle-blower" was fired. The council is preparing to hold a hearing looking into the housing authority, which already is the subject of a criminal investigation by city prosecutors and another investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Comment: It seems the local government in Baltimore is following the examples set by the federal government in silencing the whistleblowers that work for them.

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Pistol

Man arrested for leaving 5-year-old granddaughter in Arizona desert with gun to 'shoot bad guys'


RT
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 11:01 UTC
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© Cqui/WikipediaChihuahuan Desert at Big Bend National Park.
A 53-year-old man from Buckeye, Arizona, has been arrested for leaving his five-year-old granddaughter alone in the desert with a powerful handgun for protection. Paul Armand Rater was charged with two counts of child abuse and one count of child endangerment. His bond was set at $25,000 at his initial court appearance Monday.

Rater took his granddaughter for a ride in his new pickup truck on Sunday afternoon from her family house in Buckeye, about 50 km west of Phoenix. Four hours later the girl was reported missing, prompting a helicopter search. The girl was eventually found by her mother and an off-duty firefighter. The child was unharmed, but was holding a powerful .45-calibre loaded and cocked handgun, which, it turned out, her granddaddy gave her. "She was given the gun and told to shoot any bad guys," Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. "I don't know how a five-year-old can tell a good guy from a bad guy but that's what she said she was told."

Rater himself was located later eating and drinking at a restaurant. He explained that his truck broke down and he and the girl had to walk for help because he left his cellphone at home. But the child complained the she was tired and couldn't walk anymore, so Rater left her under a tree with a gun and "went for a few drinks and a cheeseburger," the sheriff's office said.

Comment: And you wonder why there are so many accidents with guns and children. This is utterly irresponsible and stupid!

Toddlers with guns kill more Americans than terrorists

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Magnify

Investigator finds injuries to victims of A321 crash in Egypt show midair explosion caused crash, but not explosives.


RT
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 16:30 UTC
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© Mohamed Abd El Ghany / ReutersMilitary investigators from Russia stand near the debris of a Russian airliner at the site of its crash at the Hassana area in Arish city, north Egypt, November 1, 2015.
The nature of passengers' injuries from the Russian jet that crashed in Egypt's Sinai on Saturday may indicate that an explosion took place aboard before the plane hit the ground, an Egyptian doctor who examined the bodies said, Sputnik news agency reported.

"A large number of body parts may indicate that a powerful explosion took place aboard the plane before it hit the ground,"an Egyptian forensic expert told the agency.

A DNA analysis would be required to identify the victims of the Russian A321 airliner crash in Egypt, the expert added.

Earlier, Russian tabloid LifeNews claimed to have obtained the results of a forensic medical examination that allegedly stated that the passengers "in the tail section of the liner died because of so-called blast injuries."

Comment: When the investigator says "explosion", he doesn't mean "explosives". He means a concussive force that dismembered bodies. No evidence of explosive residue has been found.

As Joe Quinn points out in his article, Russian Flight 9268 downed by extreme weather/meteor event?, a midair explosion caused by an incoming object, or some extreme weather event could be the culprit for the plane's practical disintegration and the wide area over which the plane's debris was found.

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