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Selective empathy: Stanford rape judge hands down far harsher sentence to immigrant for similar offense


RT
Tue, 28 Jun 2016 02:27 UTC
protests stanford rape judge, aaron perskey protests
© Stephen Lam / Reuters
Activists hold signs calling for the removal of Judge Aaron Persky from the bench after his controversial sentencing in the Stanford rape case, in San Francisco, California, U.S. June 10, 2016.
The California judge who sentenced Brock Turner to just six months' jail time for sexual assault is about to hand down a far harsher sentence of three years to an El Salvadorian immigrant for a similar offense.

The case involves Raul Ramirez, who pleaded guilty in March to felony sexual penetration by force when he penetrated his female roommate with his fingers for five to 10 minutes in November 2014, only stopping when the woman broke down crying.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky is about to hand down a three-year prison sentence to Ramirez, according to documents obtained by The Guardian.

Comment:

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Fire

Stephen Hawking: Greed, stupidity, AI, world population - all rising out of control


RT
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 23:40 UTC
Larry King Stephen Hawking
© www.youtube.com
Interview with Stephen Hawking on Larry King NOW
Global warming, mass shootings, global instability and overpopulation are all concerns humanity faces, but what is the greatest risk to all of us? Larry King asked scientific genius Stephen Hawking, who explained that there is a lot to be worried about.

King last spoke to Hawking six years ago, when Hawking said: "Mankind is in danger of destroying ourselves by our greed and stupidity." On Monday, King checked in with him to see what has changed in the past six years."We have certainly not become less greedy or less stupid," Hawking replied.

Hawking gave a quick recap of what the world looks like in 2016, saying: "Six years ago, I was warning about pollution and overcrowding, they have gotten worse since then. The population has grown by half a billion since our last interview, with no end in sight. At this rate, it will be eleven billion by 2100. Air pollution has increased by 8 percent over the past five years. More than 80 percent of inhabitants of urban areas are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution," he said.


Comment: No one has the big picture, just points of observation. On these topics, Hawking offers a perspective not necessarily more or less informed.

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Extinguisher

Mississippi gas plant explodes, vibrations from blast felt up to 10 miles away


RT
Tue, 28 Jun 2016 06:18 UTC
explosion amoco gas plant mississippi
© Briauna Brown / Facebook
An explosion has occurred at the Amoco BP Gas Plant in Jackson County, Mississippi, local News5 channel reports. Witnesses say the blast occurred around 11:40 pm local time and reported a large plume of fire rising from the area around the plant.

There have been no reports of casualties so far. The blaze has since been brought under control. Police say that an evacuation has not been ordered.

Fire crews reported feeling vibrations from the strong blast as far away as 10 miles from their base.
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Airplane

Singapore Airlines plane catches fire after emergency landing

Clara Lindh
CNN
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 00:00 UTC
A Singapore Airlines plane burst into flames Monday after an emergency landing at the city-state's Changi Airport.


Images posted to social media show flames leaping from the plane's wing."We were so close to death!! I am still in the plane with all passengers. But I think we are safe for now..." passenger Lee Bee Yee posted on Facebook.From her seat, Yee could see the fire from inside the plane, and the aftermath as firefighters doused it with foam.
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Quenelle

Iceland's new president isn't a politician or businessman, he's a professor of history

Alex Pietrowski
Activist Post
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 00:00 UTC
Iceland’s new President
With admiration, many have been observing Iceland's handling of the banking crisis that jolted the entire world in recent years. Now experiencing a unique economic recovery, the Icelandic public became aware in 2008 that the nation's private banks had borrowed some $120 billion dollars, ten times the size of Iceland's economy, creating an economic bubble which forced housing prices to double, and saddled the nation's people with debt.

While other Western nations initiated bank bailouts in 2008, a popular uprising in Iceland led to a peaceful revolution against corrupt government and banks, and has since become the example for the global movement for liberation from central banking and unaccountable government.
In the duration of five months, the main bank of Iceland was nationalized, government officials were forced to resign, the old government was liquidated, and a new government was put in its place. [Source]
The resolve of Iceland's people to correct the systemic problems in their government and economy was again demonstrated in 2015 when dozens of high-level financial executives were jailed for their involvement in manipulating Iceland's financial markets after financial deregulation in 2001.

Comment: Good luck, Mr. Jóhannesson! Show the world it doesn't need political hacks or famous businesspeople to lead - but rather, individuals with an understanding of the law, history and healthy sense of outrage over the types of people who've been running the show for far too long!

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Quenelle - Golden

Biggest sporting upset ever? Iceland beats England 2-1 to reach Euro 2016 football quarter-finals


RT
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 22:30 UTC
iceland england match
© Peter Powell/EPA
Iceland’s players celebrate in front of their supporters after eliminating England from Euro 2016 in their last-16 match at the Stade de Nice.
Iceland produced a stunning result against England in the 2016 UEFA European Championship, winning 2-1 in their last-16 clash in Nice and setting up a quarter-final against the host-nation France.

Playing in their first major tournament finals, the Icelanders shocked England by coming from behind to claim a historic win.

Iceland's population is around 330,000 - compared to over 53 million for England - but they defied their status as minnows to claim the most momentous victory in their history.

England took an early lead on four minutes through a Wayne Rooney penalty after Raheem Sterling was brought down in the box.

Iceland, however, evened the score less than 60 seconds later when Ragnar Sigurdsson - who plays club football for Russian side FC Krasnodar - swept in at the back post following a flick-on from a long pass.


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Bomb

Lebanon attacked: Coordinated bombings kill 6, injure 19


RT
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 20:43 UTC
lebanon
© Anwar Amro / AFP
At least six people have been killed in a series of suicide bombings that targeted the Lebanese village of Qaa, local media reports. Another 19 people were wounded in the coordinated attack, which reportedly involved up to four assailants.

Multiple blasts rocked the northeastern village near the Syrian border, Lebanese private LBCI TV reports. The explosions allegedly happened some 10 minutes apart from each other.

At least three soldiers were wounded when a suicide bomber's initial attack was reportedly followed by a series of at least three others.

All those killed were civilians, the mayor of Qaa told the Voice of Lebanon.

Comment: The attacks are still ongoing:
An new explosion hit on Monday the village of al-Qaa in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley near the border with Syria, Lebanese state-run NNA news agency reported.

"A bomb blast hit the central square of al-Qaa near the building of the mayor's office," NNA said.

According to the agency, several people were killed or wounded.
Context: Hezbollah's existential war in Syria.

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Laptop

Brexit 'mulligan' petition has thousands of fraudulent signatures


RT
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 17:52 UTC
brexit
© Kevin Coombs / Reuters
UK authorities are investigating a highly-popular anti-Brexit petition after "discovering" tens of thousands of fraudulent signatures. The petition platform's lack of identity check raises concerns the vast majority of 3.5 million signs could be fake.

Britain's House of Commons Petition Committee announced on Sunday that it has removed around 77,000 signatures that authorities say were "added fraudulently," and will continue to monitor the platform for "suspicious activity."

The Committee emphasized that the website has not been "hacked," and that it is "working and secure."

"The petitions website has not been hacked," authorities said via Twitter. "Fraudulent signatures have been and will continue to be removed, to ensure the site's integrity."

Comment: Funnily enough, this latest expression of British democracy (the Brexit referendum) is leading many to grow fed up with democracy: "What? No! I change my mind! I just voted as a joke, I wasn't actually serious!" And as the 4chan users mentioned above point out, online petitioning is a ridiculous expression of democracy. If more than 50% of the population staged massive protests, that would be something. But what are the chances of that? Britain chose to Brexit, now it's just a matter of waiting to see if and when the deal is done. In his speech before the House of Commons, Cameron said there will be no second referendum (his spokesman: it's "not remotely on the cards"). And now the EU is demanding that Britain invoke Article 50.

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USA

Feel the hate: Seven stabbed at neo-Nazi rally in Sacramento

Jazmine Ulloa, John Myers, Emily Alpert Reyes and Victoria Kim
LA Times
Sun, 26 Jun 2016 17:16 UTC
neo-nazi rally
© Renee C. Byer/AP
A victim is attended to after he was stabbed during a rally at the Capitol in Sacramento on Sunday.
The white nationalists and skinheads, clad in black, began to arrive a little before noon Sunday for their planned march on the state Capitol grounds. They were met by hundreds of protesters toting signs that denounced "Nazi scum."

Violence began almost immediately, authorities and witnesses said, and by the time the clashes ended 20 minutes later, at least seven people had been stabbed, nine were hospitalized and many more suffered bruises, scrapes and cuts.

"They attacked each other without hesitation," said counter-protester Chandra Zafra, 50, a member of the Mexica Movement nonprofit. "It was a war zone."

For much of the afternoon, the historic domed Capitol was locked down, with staffers and tourists inside. Police swarmed the park-like grounds, but by Sunday evening there had still been no arrests.
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Clipboard

Patience, respect and compassion: How to become an officer of the peace

Alek Hidell
We Are Anonymous
Sun, 26 Jun 2016 16:34 UTC
peace officer
Matthew Cooke is dedicating himself to do at least one thing each week to engage in democracy. Do you have it in you to join him?

Mathew Cooke is more than a Hollywood director. He is an activist with a camera. Cooke directed the 2012 film How To Make Money Selling Drugs, a realistic look at the war on drugs and those who profit from it. Most recently, Cooke focused his efforts on the US prison system in the soon-to-be-released film The Survivor's Guide To Prison. He has spent many years exposing the police state through his documentaries and his video shorts.

Cooke's website features new videos weekly.

Comment: Great sentiments for officers with a conscience. Unfortunately, police departments are overrun with psychopaths and they typically don't respond well to pleas for compassion.

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