Category Archives: Fail!

Eyewitnesses: soldiers placed knife next to youth after his execution, Hebron | PNN

An eyewitness, a schoolteacher at the scene said that the boy was heading towards the checkpoint, and when he was close, an Israeli soldier shot him in the shoulder and the stomach.He adds that when he fell down, soldiers approached him, placed a knife right next to his body, then again fired three bullets on his head, from zero distance, leading to his immediate death.The soldiers then stripped him from his clothes, covered him in a black bag, and took him in an ambulance, detaining his body.Several eyewitnesses denied Israeli claims of any stabbing attempts, and confirmed it was a cold-blooded execution.

Source: Eyewitnesses: soldiers placed knife next to youth after his execution, Hebron | PNN

Whistleblower Claims Censorship of Research into Pesticide Linked to Bee Deaths | Civil Eats

A senior scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture filed a whistleblower complaint on Wednesday accusing the federal agency of suppressing research findings that could call into question the use of a popular pesticide class that is a revenue powerhouse for the agrichemical industry.Jonathan Lundgren, a senior research entomologist with the USDA’s Agriculture Research Service who has spent 11 years with the agency based in Brookings, S.D., said that retaliation and harassment from inside USDA started in April 2014, following media interviews he gave in March of that year regarding some of his research conclusions.Lundgren’s work has included extensive examination of a class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids, or neonics, which are widely used by U.S. farmers to control pest damage to corn and other crops, helping protect production. The insecticides are sold in forms that both are sprayed on plants or coated on seeds before they are planted. They are also used on plants sold by lawns and garden retailers.

Source: Whistleblower Claims Censorship of Research into Pesticide Linked to Bee Deaths | Civil Eats

58% of Israelis want Palestinians out of Jerusalem

Israel wants to create ghettos for Palestinians and strip them of any citizenship – but will not call them concentration camps?

PNN/ Jerusalem/A recent poll released on Tuesday by the Israeli Midgam Institute showed that 58% of Israeli’s back canceling the resident status and its accompanying rights for Arab residents of east Jerusalem.According to Israeli media, the poll comes after the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu suggested stripping residency from Jerusalem Arabs this week and announced he may take a tour of the area to consider the move.Withdrawing the Israeli card from the Palestinians means that they will not be able to move or

Source: 58% of Israelis want Palestinians out of Jerusalem

IOF assault, kidnap two sisters, claim they had knives: Hebron | PNN

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Tuesday noon have brutally assaulted and kidnapped two Palestinian girls from Hebron, claiming that they had knives.The Imam of the Ibrahimi Mosque, Munther Abu Al-Feelat said that the sisters who were identified as Nour and Jihan Erekat, were passing in front of the mosque when Israeli soldiers stopped them to search them, but they refused.The Imam continued by saying that then, the mosque guards interfered to stop the soldiers from potentially shooting the girls.The two guards, Salah Al-Ja’bari (52) and Jehad Al-Ja’bari (30) were both arrested for “defending the girls.”

Source: IOF assault, kidnap two sisters, claim they had knives: Hebron | PNN

One-woman counter-protest breaks up anti-choice vigil by chanting “yeast infections!”

Numair’s best friend and co-worker clocked in early so she could head out to the protest, where she planted herself between two families with children. “In my first 30 seconds of walking out there, I did get called a whore,” Numair said. “One woman was shaking her head. I knelt down to her kid and said, ‘Do you know about yeast infections?’ ”Onlookers gave Numair the thumbs-up, and some passing cars honked in support, but she was the only counter-protester on the scene. Still, with a spontaneous chant, she managed to break up the protest in under a half-hour. “I don’t know why I started chanting ‘Yeast infections!’ but it just came out. I have this cold, so it was just this obnoxious squeak, cheerleader-like. And I started doing high kicks, which I don’t normally do, in my skinny jeans.” A religious leader was guiding a circle of protestors in prayers for Numair—but as her chants got louder and more grating, they stopped.I’m on board with pretty much anything — including being straight-up obnoxious — that makes it as hard as possible for anti-choicers to gather in front of clincs. A recent British study found that patients found the presence of anti-choice protestors outside clinics distressing, regardless of the protestors’ behavior; a silent prayer vigil by so-called “sidewalk counselors” was just as much of an unwanted intrusion as a more aggressive protest with graphic signs.Unfortunately, our legal system apparently thinks anti-choicers’ right to free speech takes precedence over patients’ right to access a legal medical procedure without harassment and intimidation. As long as that’s the case, the only (imperfect) solution is countering their speech with our speech — and if it’s shouting about yeast infections that makes anti-choicers as uncomfortable as they make those seeking abortions, so be it.

Source: One-woman counter-protest breaks up anti-choice vigil by chanting “yeast infections!”

Texas Is Fishing Through Your Abortion Files | Dame Magazine

A demand for records—especially an extensive demand such as the one apparently occurring in Texas—is just as much about serving as a warning to future providers and patients as it is about casting as wide a net as possible in the hopes of finding some sort of error or deviance to potentially prosecute. For doctors, it’s a warning that the act of performing an abortion will inevitably put you under a microscope, where a mistake made in another medical profession that would likely be overlooked could in this case turn into a fine, a loss of a medical license, or worse. For patients, it’s an active reminder that someone, somewhere could find out about your medical past, and that there is always the chance that information could get out.  That’s an especially alarming scenario for the women of Texas, who are already learning the hard way that politics will often trump their health and safety, as the state cuts off family-planning services, refuses to expand Medicaid for low income residents, and will even arrest an undocumented mother while she is visiting her gynecologist.Subpoenaing medical records is just the latest salvo of the state of Texas’s vendetta against Planned Parenthood, and regardless of what the health department finds, the state will most likely be successful in frightening some patients and medical professionals away from the clinics. But like every other political attack in the state, it will do nothing to stop the need for reproductive health services, and instead it will just continue to put those services further out of reach for those who need it.

Source: Texas Is Fishing Through Your Abortion Files | Dame Magazine

Northrop Grumman wins $60-billion Air Force contract to build new stealth bomber – LA Times

{This tells the tale – Northrop which began is California, now based near the Pentagon in DC to be closer to the feedline for dollars. Are the new bombers needed? Or is this just a jobs and budget game for lobbiests and folks planning to cash in when they “retire” and take cushy jobs for companies like Northrop?}

Northrop, based in Falls Church, Va., built the iconic bat-winged B-2 stealth bomber two decades ago. But the company was seen as the underdog in the battle against a team considered better funded and more politically connected.

Source: Northrop Grumman wins $60-billion Air Force contract to build new stealth bomber – LA Times

Chris Christie: Black Lives Matter Movement Not “Justified” : Gothamist

{And guess what bigoted fool could not get elected to anything in New Jersey again?}

Speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, floundering presidential hopeful and current New Jersey governor Chris Christie blamed President Obama for encouraging a prevailing “lawlessness” in America, specifically by speaking out in favor of the Black Lives Matter movement.”He [President Obama] doesn’t back up the police. He justifies Black Lives Matter,” Christie said. “I don’t believe that that movement should be justified when they’re calling for the murder of police officers.”

Source: Chris Christie: Black Lives Matter Movement Not “Justified” : Gothamist

When girls become wives to escape war | Europe | DW.COM | 26.10.2015

When will men grow to be human and humane!

Marriage as protection from sexual violence

One of the recurring topics is family honor. Many girls and women are expected to defend their honor: this is perceived to include entering into marriage as a virgin. But sexual assault and rape often occur in Syria’s war zones. Claudia Söder from Medica Mondiale says that everyone there has had such experiences. Rape brings great shame to families, she says, as the honor of their daughter has been sullied. Marriage can solve the problem. “They hope that they will no longer be subjected to sexual violence,” explains Söder, adding that families accept the fact that the girls are legally much too young. Age often does not matter. “People are not bothered and the state does not take action,” says Christa Stolle. In dire situations, money plays a part, as families need the monetary dowry they receive for every eligible daughter. So the number of child brides has tripled in Syrian refugee camps in recent years.The subject is unsettling and it seems remote from people’s lives here, but there have been similar cases in Germany. Christa Stolle tells the story of a 16-year-old whose parents of Turkish origin wanted to marry her off. It is legally possible in Germany if special judicial authorization is granted but the parents had only planned a religious wedding, without the necessary documents. After the parents had taken the girl out of school and locked her up at home, the girl turned to the women’s rights organization. That was five years ago. The girl is now 21 years old and lives in an unnamed place with a different name and has a job, according to Stolle: “She is now a confident young woman and very grateful to us.”

Source: When girls become wives to escape war | Europe | DW.COM | 26.10.2015