Category Archives: Fail!

Brazilian President Rousseff blames mining companies for dam rupture | News | DW.COM | 12.11.2015

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said the conglomerates behind the Samarco mine would be held responsible for the deadly dam ruptures at an iron ore mine that killed at least eight people on November 5.Rousseff flew over the two burst dams at a waste collection pond at the mine that had unleashed a deadly wave of mud, as 19 people remained missing after the incident. Most of the nearby village of Bento Rodrigues was also flattened in the event.”We are committed in the first place to blame those who are responsible. Who is responsible? A private business, Samarco, a big business that has Vale and BHP Billiton as partners,” Rousseff said. The president added that several laws “were actually not followed. That is why we have imposed a preliminary fine.”

Source: Brazilian President Rousseff blames mining companies for dam rupture | News | DW.COM | 12.11.2015

News from The Associated Press – EXPERT: POLICE SHOOTING OF BOY WITH PELLET GUN WAS JUSTIFIED {What!}

“Regrettably, with the release of yet another utterly biased and shamelessly misguided ‘expert report’ the County Prosecutor is making clear his intention to protect the police from accountability under the criminal laws, rather than diligently prosecute them,” attorney Jonathan Abady of New York said in a statement Thursday.

Source: News from The Associated Press

Claremont College Dean Resigns After Writing That Latinos Don’t Fit In: LAist

Espinosa emailed Spellman her op-ed, and Spellman responded on October 25 by telling her that, “[W]e are working on how we can better serve students, especially those who don’t fit our CMC mold.”Telling students who already feel isolated that they don’t fit their school’s mold didn’t go over well. Matters weren’t helped by a photo that began circulating of CMC’s junior class president, Kris Brackmann, posing with two white students who were dressed up like Mexican stereotypes for Halloween. Brackmann has also since resigned from her position.

Source: Claremont College Dean Resigns After Writing That Latinos Don’t Fit In: LAist

Adel Termos: The Lebanese Hero Of the Borj el Barajneh Terrorist Attacks | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

Tonight, Haidar lost his mother and father. Shawki Droubi and Khodr Aleddine, a nurse, were lost to their families. Hussein Mostapha passed away with his wife, leaving their son behind. Samer, a Syrian father of two who fled horrors in his country, was killed in what he had feared back home, and Hussein, a Palestinian man whose family sought refuge here, also passed away. Alaa Awad, a third year law student, was also among the victims. Rawan Awad was a school teacher. Hanady Joumaa, Bilal Hammoud, Ahmad Awwada, Rawan Atwi were among the victims too.

Source: Adel Termos: The Lebanese Hero Of the Borj el Barajneh Terrorist Attacks | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

Tlatlaya Massacre and U.S. Military Aid

A few weeks ago, for the second time, the Mexican Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA) denied an access to information request that would require documentation related to U.S. training, equipment or support for members of the 102nd Battalion.The 102nd Battalion became famous, or infamous, with the Tlatlaya massacre. On June 30, 2014, 22 young people died at the hands of the Battalion. The day after the massacre, the Army released a communiqué stating that 22 criminals had died in a confrontation in which not one member of the Army was injured.

Source: Tlatlaya Massacre and U.S. Military Aid

life on the verge of existence…. my article in huffington post italia | nadiaharhash

When Oppression is the Law. Resistance becomes an Obligation. Resistance is the way to liberation. Liberation is the way to peace. Peace cannot be built under oppression, apartheid and injustice.

Source: life on the verge of existence…. my article in huffington post italia | nadiaharhash

Theft, Lies, and Facebook Video — Medium {So is anyone surprised? Profit before people debases the whole system and is not likely to change}

Among the user generated content that drove traffic to YouTube in 2006 and 2007, there were plenty of Family Guy and Daily Show clips. But YouTube was a tiny start-up flying under the radar. As soon as it got big (and got bought) Google fixed this problem with “Content ID,” a system that analyzes every single video uploaded to YouTube and checks it against a massive database of known owned content.It’s a little inexcusable that Facebook, a company with a market cap of $260 BILLION, launched their video platform with no system to protect independent rights holders. It wouldn’t be surprising if Facebook was working on a solution now which they can roll out conveniently after having made their initial claims at being the biggest, most important thing in video.But even if they do have a system, it won’t function as well as Content ID. Content ID works so well largely because YouTube is good at monetizing content. So, instead of taking a video down, a copyright holder can claim the video and receive revenue from it. Content ID has claimed millions of videos and is responsible for over a billion dollars in revenue so copyright holders love it. But without a good system of monetization, Facebook can only remove videos, not send big checks to the owners of stolen content. For the copyright holder, interfacing with a profitless system is just a pain in the ass with no upside.

Source: Theft, Lies, and Facebook Video — Medium

Erdogan, Sisi and Western hypocrisy | Middle East Eye

The message sent to the people of the region is loud and clear: either a made to fit democracy tailored to our needs and likes, or a dictator, odious though he may be. We will block our noses and shake the vulgar thug’s hand. We will call on our band of hired apologists: “experts,” “commentators” and “analysts” to concoct a set of justifications and excuses for his nauseating conduct, from mythical economic development and reform to political shrewdness, and if all else fails, reach for the Kissinger-Albright dictionary and throw in some “political realism”.Ironically, while over 85 percent of eligible voters had participated in the Turkish elections, roughly the same percentage of Egyptians had chosen to collectively abstain from taking part in the recent shambolic Egyptian parliamentary polls. Thus they had denied the Field Marshal and his backers in Washington and London the fig leaf much needed to cover his dictatorial rule.While Erdogan is vilified and chastised, the red carpet is rolled out for Sisi. Yet one had placed his country on the route to democracy after five military coups and decades of absolutist army rule, while the other had put a brutal stop to his nation’s nascent democratic experiment.

Source: Erdogan, Sisi and Western hypocrisy | Middle East Eye

Utah judge orders baby taken away from married lesbian foster parents | US news | The Guardian

Utah state child welfare officials on Wednesday were wrangling with a ruling by a juvenile court judge who ordered a baby to be taken from lesbian foster parents and instead placed with a heterosexual couple, saying it was for the child’s wellbeing.Judge Scott Johansen’s order on Tuesday raised concerns at the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, said agency spokeswoman Ashley Sumner.Its attorneys plan to review the decision and determine what options they have to challenge the order.

Source: Utah judge orders baby taken away from married lesbian foster parents | US news | The Guardian

Drivers Keep Killing Pedestrians, So The NYPD Will Crack Down On Jaywalkers: Gothamist

A dozen pedestrians have been killed by drivers in the past twelve days. At least three of them were killed crossing the street with the right of way, and four of them were killed as they walked on the sidewalk. In response to one of those deaths, in which a hit and run casino bus driver killed a pedestrian in Flushing, the NYPD is going to start handing out more jaywalking tickets.”If you’re crossing in the middle of the street, you’re wrong, you’re endangering yourself, you’re endangering others, you’re endangering drivers,” Queens Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz said, standing next to NYPD Deputy Inspector Thomas Conforti, the commander of the 109th Precinct, according to DNAinfo.”Cross at the green, not in-between, and hopefully we will be able to reduce the number of traffic fatalities.”While the 109th Precinct is promising to issue more tickets to pedestrians, they have decreased their enforcement against drivers. In 2015, the 109th has issued 433 speeding tickets, according to the most recent data available from the department; at this time last year, they had issued 599.The number of citations the precinct has issued to drivers for failing to yield to pedestrians has also decreased from 2014 to 2015, from 665 to 621.

Source: Drivers Keep Killing Pedestrians, So The NYPD Will Crack Down On Jaywalkers: Gothamist