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Church defends New Jersey pastor accused of rape; 'think what you want', we've got 'nobody to answer to but God'

Eric W. Dolan
Raw Story
Mon, 20 Apr 2015 14:59 UTC
Image
© Via Facebook
Elder Freddie Alexander
A church in New Jersey is standing by its pastor after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old woman for several years, starting when she was 17.

Pastor James E. Simmons Jr., 64, of New Life in Christ Ministries turned himself in to authorities last week after he was charged with sexual assault, criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child.

Church elder Freddie Alexander told an applauding congregation on Sunday that the accusations against the pastor were the work of Satan.

"If Satan knew what he was doing to New Life, he wouldn't have done it. Because what Satan don't know, what he turn around and did is made New Life get closer... now, because of what Satan has done, he is bringing [us] together."

The elder warned Satan not to "mess with" the church, and denied the allegations against Simmons.

"We love our pastor," Alexander said. "They can say what they want. And I hope I get on YouTube, and I tell you this here. I love my pastor. I love God first, but I love my pastor, and I trust him. And I know that I know him, deep from part of my heart. In the pit of my heart, I know we're going to be exonerated. When our time comes, you will know."

"Think what you want," he added. "We're going to trust God. We've got to answer to nobody but God."

Alexander said Simmons had a "Godly heart" because he was praying for the woman who accused him of sex crimes.

Comment: Religious organizations are a playground for sexual predators. Listen to the SOTT editors interview with Dr. Anna Salter, author of the best-selling book, Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, and Other Sex Offenders, Who They Are, How They Operate, and How We Can Protect Ourselves and Our Children
Pierre: Something that is heartbreaking in your book is that apparently those kind of individuals target, above all they target the most empathetic ones, the most caring ones. One of your interviewee says "The reason I can be so successful" an inmate tells me "is I find people who really care about other people".

Dr. Salter: I have had offenders tell me that they love churches because people are more gullible in churches, that they look for the best in everyone. You know the real, oh gosh I don't know the word, but the truth is that offenders, predators don't just prey on our weaknesses, they prey on our strengths as well. They prey on the fact that many people are trusting, that they do look for the best in people, that they don't consider the worst in people. And those are natural victims for them. Most of them are not actually looking for a challenge, they're looking for the easiest victim.
See also: Men Who Hate Women: The Franklin Scandal and the Truth About Our Leaders

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USA

Irony alert: Ten wonderful things to be grateful for

Charles Hugh Smith
Of Two Minds
Tue, 21 Apr 2015 16:44 UTC
Being grateful boosts your happiness. Ten wonderful things I'm grateful for.
thumbs down
© unknown
Since every volume on the nearly endless shelf of pop psychology self-help books recommends working up some gratitude as the key to happiness, I've conjured up a list of what I'm grateful for. (Please turn your irony setting on.)
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Dollars

A cashless society will strengthen the black market

Joshua Krause
The Daily Sheeple
Tue, 21 Apr 2015 16:24 UTC
coins
There is nothing the banks would love more than to ban paper currency, though not for the same reason most gold bugs might like to do the same. If there were no cash, then the banks would have absolute control over our savings, and we would all have to keep our money "in the system." Governments would probably enjoy this as well. It would make it so much easier for them to track our purchases and profits, and tax them accordingly.

The desires of the banking cartel became perfectly clear two weeks ago when Willem Buiter, the chief economist for Citigroup, advocated banning cash to supposedly save the global economy.

Comment: Reconsidering where you're keeping your cash?

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Bullseye

Enough already! U.S. capitalist model continues to serve a tiny elite at the expense of billions

Michael Albert
telsurtv.net
Wed, 22 Apr 2015 15:53 UTC
Image
© Reuters
A campsite at a homeless tent city in Sacramento California March 15, 2009.
Amidst the usual self congratulatory palaver that crowds out reason in U.S. media and academia, a recent essay by Paul Buchheit in AlterNet (a source I admit I very rarely consult) conveys some very striking information. Here are some excerpts:
"America's wealth grew by 60 percent in the past six years, by over $30 trillion. In approximately the same time, the number of homeless children has also grown by 60 percent."
Shouldn't that one fact be enough evidence - yes, just that one fact - to convince everyone that U.S. institutions are barbaric? Or perhaps that is too extreme a reaction? Maybe it is nasty naysaying as compared to righteously celebrating the new model iPhone while ignoring homelessness?

Buchheit continues:
"Financier and CEO Peter Schiff said, 'People don't go hungry in a capitalist economy.' The 16 million kids on food stamps know what it's like to go hungry. Perhaps, some in Congress would say, those children should be working. 'There is no such thing as a free lunch,' insisted Georgia Representative Jack Kingston, even for school kids, who should be required to 'sweep the floor of the cafeteria'."
When you study much earlier times, and you find horribly harsh formulations, at least you can note that in many cases they arose when there was generalized ignorance of related issues. Now, however, we all know what is right. But we are pressured to do what is wrong - and to then rationalize it.
"Teacher Sonya Romero-Smith told about the two little homeless girls she adopted: 'Getting rid of bedbugs, that took us a while. Night terrors, that took a little while. Hoarding food'."

Comment: Read the free ebook, From Dictatorship to Democracy by Gene Sharp to get an idea how dictatorships are formed, prevented and destroyed. It's a tall order, so don't hold your breath:
When one wants to bring down a dictatorship most effectively and with the least cost then one has four immediate tasks:
  • One must strengthen the oppressed population themselves in their determination, self-confidence, and resistance skills;
  • One must strengthen the independent social groups and institutions of the oppressed people;
  • One must create a powerful internal resistance force; and
  • One must develop a wise grand strategic plan for liberation and implement it skillfully
A liberation struggle is a time for self-reliance and internal strengthening of the struggle group.


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Cardboard Box

Shocking reactions to 'homeless' man offering money in Los Angeles (VIDEO)

Jin Zhao
Raw Story
Tue, 21 Apr 2015 13:23 UTC
Image
© Raw Story/Screen grab
A video capturing people's reactions when they were offered money by a seemingly homeless man in the streets of Los Angeles went viral on YouTube.

In the video made by "fouseyTUBE," a man who appears to be homeless holds a sign that reads "No One Has Ever Become Poor From Giving" and offers cash to random passersby in the streets of LA. The responses he received were shocking.

"In today's society, it's socially acceptable for the wealthy to give money to the homeless. Is it acceptable because it's one individual helping another? Or because one individual is better than the other, so it's okay to help?" the man asks on camera.

Sitting on a sidewalk or walking up to people, he offers money to the unsuspecting.

"I just want to be a helping hand today. God bless," he says.

The people he approaches, many of whom are in suits, appear to assume that the man is asking for money. When they realize that he's offering money, many of them react with animosity.

"I don't need your f***ing money, you a**hole," a man on his cell phone replies, throwing the money back at the actor. "I could f***ing buy you."

Comment: Most of these people are behaving as their conscienceless leaders do. Apathy, indifference and outright animosity towards people who aren't like them. Psychopaths are charismatic to the point of being able to manipulate people to think and act the way they want you to think; like psychopaths.

Global Pathocracy, Authoritarian Followers and the Hope of the World

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Card - MC

New York City bans pre-employment credit checks

Michelle Chen
The Nation
Mon, 20 Apr 2015 17:38 UTC
credit card
© 2.0
Gone are the days when a job applicant could make a good first impression with a smart suit and firm handshake. Now your first impression might get boiled down to three digits on a botched credit rap sheet, leading a boss to reject you, sight unseen.

But the city where first impressions count for everything is about to make the job market a little less judgmental. New York's City Council just voted overwhelmingly to outlaw the common practice of letting employers prejudge people based on their credit history—passing an unprecedented ban against employers use of workers' credit background data.

The legislation, which passed last Thursday following an extensive grassroots campaign by local and national labor and community groups, restricts a boss, prospective employer or agency from "us[ing] an individual's consumer credit history in making employment decisions."
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Red Flag

Dept of Justice investigating death of Baltimore man who's spine was severed while in police custody


RT
Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:32 UTC
Image
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP
The Baltimore Police Western District station where Freddie Gray was taken after being arrested in the Sandtown neighborhood April 21, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland.
The US Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it is opening a federal civil rights investigation into the death of Freddie Gray. The Baltimore man who died after his spine was severed while he was being held in police custody.

Gray was arrested by multiple police officers on April 12 after reportedly making eye contact with the police. Law enforcement officers said the 25-year-old began running away from police in an area known for drug activity. He was detained and placed in a police van, where he suffered a serious spinal cord injury.

After arriving at a hospital for treatment, Gray fell into a coma and died on April 19.

"The Department of Justice (DoJ) has been monitoring the developments in Baltimore, MD, regarding the death of Freddie Gray," an agency spokesperson told the Guardian in an email.

"Based on preliminary information, the Department of Justice has officially opened this matter and is gathering information to determine whether any prosecutable civil rights violation occurred."

Gray's death has resulted in multiple protests in Baltimore, where local police have failed to explain how and why Gray was injured. The Baltimore Police Department is also conducting an investigation into the incident, which is scheduled for completion next week. Results are expected by May 1.

"We know the injuries that Mr. Gray sustained. We know the final outcome of Mr. Gray...What we don't have at this point is how Mr. Gray sustained those injuries," Baltimore PD Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said at a media briefing on Monday.

Comment: 15 outrageous examples of police misconduct uncovered by theDOJ on serial civil rights violators Ferguson PD

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Camcorder

Eight things you wouldn't think are spying on you, but are


Agenda 21 News
Sun, 05 Apr 2015 00:00 UTC
statue of liberty
© stuckathomemom.com
Making eye contact...no longer a liberty!
The next time you take a trip to the mall, make sure you give those man­nequins a big smile. The sur­veil­lance industry's lat­est recruit—joining the ranks of the Statue of Lib­erty, vend­ing machines, Kinect, and a litany of other seem­ingly innocu­ous retail products—is store man­nequins. The $245 bil­lion dol­lar lux­ury goods indus­try cur­rently avails itself of five com­pa­nies in Europe and the U.S. that use the Eye­See poly­styrene frame man­nequins, whose eyes are equipped with police grade face-recognition cameras.

Ital­ian man­nequin maker Almax SpA sup­plies these bionic odd­i­ties, offer­ing com­pa­nies the holy grail of retail: "per­son­al­iz­ing" their sales offerings.

Comment: What does it mean when money from a federal agency like DHS is funneled to local police departments like Seattle's to purchase and use high-powered surveillance gear or listen in on Kinect?

Maybe another good question is how all these non-discretionary devices connect back to the NSA and CIA. Nifty if they managed to get all these retailers and other entities to do their sleuthing at your and the companies' expense. "Face it." You've been "sold out" without your knowledge or consent.

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Apple Green

Courts vigorously prosecuting teachers who sexually assault students

Barbara Goldberg
Reuters
Tue, 21 Apr 2015 13:45 UTC
teachers sexual assaults
© Reuters
A combination image of booking photos show teachers convicted of sexual assaults (L-R) Nicole Dufault, Erica Ann Ginnetti and Kathryn Ronk in Essex County Department of Corrections, Michigan Department of Corrections, and Pennsylvania State Police photos respectively.
A "Saturday Night Live" skit about a male student having sex with his female high school teacher painted the relationship as every teen boy's dream, but drew a firestorm of criticism on social media.

The reaction to the comedy sketch reflected a growing view among law enforcement and victims' advocacy groups that it is no laughing matter when a woman educator preys on her male students.

In U.S. schools last year, almost 800 school employees were prosecuted for sexual assault, nearly a third of them women. The proportion of women facing charges seems to be higher than in years past, when female teachers often got a pass, said Terry Abbott, a former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education, who tracked the cases.

This year's numbers are already slightly ahead of last year with 26 cases of female school employees accused of inappropriate relationships with male students in January compared to 19 cases the previous January.

Comment: It's good that the courts are now sending the message that predatory behavior in the school system won't be tolerated, but when will they address the rampant pedophilia and human trafficking of children that exists within government agencies and at the highest levels of society? Don't hold your breath!

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Arrow Down

Ridiculous! EPA tells kids to avoid baths, check for leaky toilets to conserve water

Justin Haskins
Breitbart
Sat, 11 Apr 2015 23:26 UTC
Image
Parents across America who struggle to keep their young rambunctious kids clean now have a new obstacle: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

As part of its effort to help save the planet from the dangers of taking too many baths, the EPA's WaterSense program is trying to convince kids they should avoid bathtubs in favor of showers, which it says is a far more efficient use of water.

"To save even more water, keep your shower under five minutes long—try timing yourself with a clock next time you hop in!" the "WaterSense for Kids" website says.

In addition to convincing kids to stay away from the tub, the EPA's website instructs children to be careful not to give plants or the yard too much water, to ask parents to use car washes that recycle used water, and to avoid using hoses whenever possible. The EPA even suggests kids conduct experiments with parents to test toilets for leaks.

When kids aren't busy timing their showers to ensure they remain as unclean as possible and training to be future plumbers, they can "test" their "water sense" by playing EPA's Pac-Man-inspired online game starring the "water-efficiency hero," Flo. The goal of the game is to move Flo, a cartoon water drop, "through water pipes and answer water-efficiency questions while avoiding water-wasting monsters."

There's nothing kids hate more than those darn water-wasting monsters.

You can add this pathetic attempt by the EPA to brainwash kids into feeling guilty every single time they flush the toilet to the long list of ridiculous efforts the federal agency has made recently to control every aspect of Americans' lives.


Comment: Under the guise that the government knows what's best. The serfs need to save water while they golf on some of the most expensive golf courses in the world!


Comment: The EPA has shown such incredible disregard for the well-being and health of people in the U.S. They allow corporations to poison the food, air and water. Oil spills, pesticide contamination, fracking, Monsanto. And now, picking on kids about taking baths? What a gang of bullies and hypocrites!

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