Society's Child

Cops, FBI, and border agents love Trump

Paul Bedard
Washington Examiner
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 19:00 UTC

Law enforcement is pushing back hard on Democratic charges that President Trump's criticism of top FBI and Justice officials is a demoralizing attack on the rank and file, with one top cop saying there is "no doubt" that Trump has been better for police than former President Obama.

"The majority of law enforcement is very, very pleased with this administration because he truly does support law enforcement and it doesn't matter at what level. He supports law enforcement and that's very important," said Sheriff Harold Eavenson of Rockwall County, Texas, and president of the National Sheriffs' Association.

Eavenson, overseeing the group's legislative meeting in Washington this week, said he has heard support for Trump from the streets to the management of the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.

"I have talked with some of those guys at the supervisor level down to the agent level and they are absolutely enthralled with President Trump. They like him because they can do their the job the way it is supposed to be done," he said in an interview.

Trump's foes have suggested that his criticism of the politicization inside the FBI and Justice, displayed fully in newly-released reports and texts quoting officials pleading for Hillary Rodham Clinton to win the 2016 election, has sunk morale in law enforcement.

Comment: To people like Schiff, the FBI is the suits. But like a fish, organizations rot from the head down. Disparaging political hacks at the top of the bureaucracy doesn't mean one is disparaging the organization. And the rank and file know that.

US Companies To Extract Rare Minerals From Afghanistan To 'Defray Cost Of US Assistance'

MintPress News
Fri, 22 Sep 2017 20:03 UTC

© AP/Rahmat Gul
Afghanistan has a vast untouched wealth of minerals, including lithium, the silvery metal used in mobile phone and computer batteries considered essential to modern life

U.S. Companies are planning on taking a larger role in extracting Afghanistan's enormous reserves of valuable rare earth minerals, Reuters reported after U.S. President Donald Trump met with his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani on Thursday.

According to a White House statement, the presidents agreed that the development of Afghan minerals by U.S. companies would "develop materials critical to national security," as well as "defray some of the costs of United States assistance as Afghans become more self-reliant."

Afghanistan has some of the world's largest un-extracted reserves of rare earth minerals valuable in electronic production, such as lithium, as well as gold and various gemstones. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the total value at at least US$1 trillion.

Smoking rooms in bars, restaurants banned in the Netherlands

Janene Pieters
NL Times
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 13:30 UTC

Restaurants, bars and cafes in the Netherlands may no longer have smoking areas, the court in The Hague ruled on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by non-smokers association Clean Air Nederland (CAN), RTL Nieuws reports.

The Netherlands banned smoking in restaurants and the like in 2008, but added an exception for specially designated smoking areas that must comply to certain rules. The court now ruled that this exception for smoking rooms is contrary to the World Health Organization's rules on combating tobacco use.

The ruling is a hard blow for the catering industry, which used smoking rooms to still attract smokers to their cafe or restaurant.

Florida governor says 'people with mental illness should not touch a gun'

RT
Thu, 15 Feb 2018 17:59 UTC

Florida Governor Rick Scott says he wants to make sure people with mental issues "do not touch a gun" in the wake of Wednesday's deadly school shooting in Florida. The suspect was able to purchase his weapon legally.

The 19-year-old suspected shooter in the attack, Nikolas Cruz, had been dealing with mental health issues for some time, according to a statement from officials. A family lawyer said Cruz was depressed. Yet the teen was able to purchase a gun legally in Florida.

"The violence has to stop. We cannot lose another child in this country to violence in a school," Scott said ."If someone is mentally ill, they should not have access to a gun ... None of us want anything like this to happen again."

The governor made the comments at a press briefing following Wednesday's shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in south Florida. Seventeen people were killed and many others injured in the shooting. The attack took place shortly before the end of the school day in Parkland, a town about 45 miles north of Miami.

Comment: See also: Former student Nicolas de Jesus Cruz blamed for Florida school shooting - Update

Austria's 2015 reforms to their 1912 Islam Law: No foreign meddling, one legal system for all Austrians

Soeren Kern
Gatestone Institute
Fri, 27 Feb 2015 18:30 UTC

Mehmet Görmez (left), head of the Turkish government's Religious Affairs Directorate, denounced Austria's new law and said that Austria should instead "make an effort to remove anti-Islamic sentiments and Islamophobia." Johann Rädler (right), speaking for the Austrian People's Party, said the law "guarantees Muslims more rights, and on the other hand it serves to counteract undesirable developments."

The Austrian parliament has approved controversial reforms to the country's century-old Islam Law (Islamgesetz), governing the status of Muslims in the country.

The new law, which was passed on February 25, is aimed at integrating Muslims and fighting Islamic radicalism by promoting an "Islam with an Austrian character."

Among other changes, the new law seeks to reduce outside meddling by prohibiting foreign funding for mosques, imams and Muslim organizations in Austria. It also stresses that Austrian law must take precedence over Islamic Sharia law for Muslims living in the country.

The Austrian government says the new law is a milestone and could serve as a model for the rest of Europe. But Muslim groups say it is discriminatory and have vowed to challenge it in court.

The new law overhauls the original Islam Law, which dates back to 1912. The original law was passed in order to help integrate Muslim soldiers into the Habsburg Imperial Army after the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908. The law recognized Islam as an official religion in Austria, and allowed Muslims to practice their religion in accordance with the laws of the state.

After the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed in the aftermath of World War I, the number of Muslims in Austria was reduced to just a few hundred people. After World War II, however, Austria's Muslim population increased rapidly with the arrival of "guest workers" from Turkey and the Balkans in the 1960s, and refugees from Bosnia in the 1990s.

According to data compiled by the University of Vienna, the Muslim population in Austria now exceeds 574,000 (or roughly 7% of the total population), up from an estimated 340,000 (or 4.25%) in 2001 and 150,000 (or 2%) in 1990.

IRS will start denying and revoking passports to American citizens with over $50k in unpaid taxes

Kevin D. Williamson
National Review
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 18:06 UTC

A draconian new policy tramples on a basic civil right. The U.S. government is building the world's largest debtors' prison: the United States.

Beginning this month, the Internal Revenue Service will begin denying passports to some American citizens with unpaid taxes and, in some cases, revoking the passports of Americans with tax delinquencies. The government will in effect place those with unpaid taxes under arrest, effectively denying them their right to travel.

To be clear: We are not talking about Americans who have been convicted of tax evasion or tax fraud, or who are awaiting a criminal trial on charges related to tax matters. These Americans have not been charged with a crime, must less convicted of one. They simply have unpaid taxes amounting to $50,000 or more.

More precisely: They have an unpaid IRS liability amounting to $50,000 or more. The IRS's aggressive schedule of interest and penalties for unpaid taxes ensures that a relatively small amount of unpaid taxes can turn into a $50,000-plus liability with remarkable speed.

Bolivia fights to reclaim coastal territory lost to Chile over a century ago

teleSUR
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 17:54 UTC

Bolivian President Evo Morales has announced a mass mobilization to commemorate his country's centennial maritime claim against Chile.

To mark the occasion, Morales said the country will hold nationwide ceremonies and will hoist "the largest flag in the world" which will include the colors of the national flag as well as the colors of the Indigenous Wiphala flag.

The country is preparing for a "show of unity of the Bolivian people around the maritime demand," the head of state said in a tweet.

Council renders man homeless by removing him from his own caravan before confiscating it

RT
Thu, 15 Feb 2018 17:30 UTC

John Jones, 63, was pictured crying along with his two dogs and his possessions dumped on the ground after council evicted him from his own caravan.

A heartbreaking photo of a man in tears has surfaced online after he was forced from his caravan by a UK council. Essex County Council evicted 63-year-old John Jones and took his van, leaving him with nowhere to live on Friday.

The picture of Jones, who was left sobbing with his two dogs and all of his worldly possessions dumped on the ground after local authorities evicted him and took his caravan, has prompted an outpouring of support from his community.

A petition with over 35,000 signatures is already calling for Essex County Council to return Jones' home, but calls for empathy appear to have fallen on deaf ears. When approached by RT to explain what complaints were made against the man and whether or not his caravan would be returned to him, Essex County Council stated that it "had previously offered Mr Jones a pitch at the local Essex Countywide Traveller Unit caravan site nearby, which he declined."

"Last month we visited him to conduct welfare and human rights checks. Unfortunately, a court summons was our last resort following complaints from local residents. When Mr Jones did not attend his court hearing, we gave him an additional 24 hours to respond and then a further 48 hours to leave the site.

There are no leaders today, only demagogues

umair haque
Medium
Thu, 15 Feb 2018 16:59 UTC

Here's a tiny question.

What happened to this generation of leaders?

Climate change, financial crisis, inequality, debt, stagnation, robo-dystopia...a nearly endless, panic-attack inducing list of Really Major Global Issues Threatening the Ongoing Survival and Prosperity of Humankind...and they mostly seem to be slumped over snoring at the wheel...when they're not busy clapping each other on the back steering us dead-on into the icebergs.

In this little essay, I want to advance a small thesis. Many of today's leaders aren't worthy of the word. Because they are not leaders at all. So what are they? Let me explain, with a simple example.

Comment: Jordan Peterson's prescription for accomplishing just that:

Smoking may return to Prague's pubs

Raymond Johnston
Prague.TV
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 17:41 UTC

The long saga of ending smoking in pubs may not be over. Some members of the Chamber of Deputies are seeking to overturn parts of the current law.

Smoking has been banned indoors in restaurants and pubs, as well as many other enclosed spaces, since May 31, 2017. Similar laws are common across the European Union.

But there has been a backlash against the law, with many people claiming it went too far. Deputies Marek Benda (ODS), Mikuláš Ferjenčík (Pirates) and Patrik Nachter (ANO) have put forward a proposal to ease the restrictions, and some 86 deputies from eight parties out of the 200 members lower house back the idea.

Comment: There is resistance to EU diktats being doled out wholesale with complete disregard to the cultures and norms of member countries and those resisting have become a target of Brussels wrath. Despite this, the backlash is growing.

Although it seems many countries are rightly resisting the anti-smoking fascism:

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Society's Child

Cops, FBI, and border agents love Trump

US Companies To Extract Rare Minerals From Afghanistan To 'Defray Cost Of US Assistance'

Smoking rooms in bars, restaurants banned in the Netherlands

Florida governor says 'people with mental illness should not touch a gun'

Austria's 2015 reforms to their 1912 Islam Law: No foreign meddling, one legal system for all Austrians

IRS will start denying and revoking passports to American citizens with over $50k in unpaid taxes

Bolivia fights to reclaim coastal territory lost to Chile over a century ago

Council renders man homeless by removing him from his own caravan before confiscating it

There are no leaders today, only demagogues

Smoking may return to Prague's pubs

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