Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Tuesday, 22 April 2014


Posted: 21 Apr 2014 03:47 PM PDT

Irate Chinese citizens savagely beat five government bureaucrats during an incident that escalated into a 1,000 strong riot on Saturday in another telltale sign of the Communist country’s increasing social tensions.
The disturbance began after members of the Chengguan municipal police, China’s widely loathed bureaucrats who enforce government regulations against street vendors, began harassing and beating a woman in the Cangnan County of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province.
When a bystander, 36 year-old Mr. Huang, came to the woman’s aid by filming the confrontation, he was reportedly attacked by cops with a hammer and began to vomit blood before dying on the way to hospital.
After word spread on social media about what had just happened, a huge mob of citizens arrived to surround the Chengguan officers, who attempted to hide in their van. “Kill them, kill them!” chanted the mob as the officers were savagely beaten with bats, bricks and stones, leaving them bloodied and unconscious.
“Angry onlookers deflated the van’s tires, while others smashed windows and doors with bricks, rocks, and wooden sticks. The men were dragged out of the van and beaten senseless by the mob,” reports Epoch Times.

When an ambulance arrived to provide medical treatment, the mob tipped over the vehicle. Some reports state the the five cops were killed, but state media later claimed, “Two of the injured remained in a critical condition while a further three who suffered minor wounds received treatment.”
The GIF image below shows the mob flipping over the ambulance.
100 riot police were subsequently dispatched to deal with the crowd and ten people were arrested.
“The mass disturbance was the latest in a long line of violence incidents between the members of the public and the urban management force, or chengguan, whose main duties are dealing with illegal street vendors. The bureaucrats’ image has been marred by repeated media reports of their use of excessive force while carrying out their duties, sometimes resulting in injuries and even death,” reports the South China Morning Post.
The same unit was involved in an incident last year in the town of Linwu when they confronted a husband and wife for selling a watermelon the couple had grown on their farm. A scuffle broke out which resulted in Deng Zhengjie and his wife being severely beaten, with Zhengjie subsequently dying as a result of his injuries.
Although state media habitually attempts to censor such incidents, mass disturbances, riots and attacks on police have become more prevalent throughout China in recent years, with tensions fueled by rampant government corruption, forced relocation of homeowners, and the huge gulf between rich and poor.
The images below of the incident on Saturday were uploaded by users of Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
























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Posted: 21 Apr 2014 03:08 PM PDT

Hundreds of students and opposition supporters have clashed with police forces in the Venezuelan capital Caracas as they staged a rally demanding the “resurrection” of “democracy” in the South American country.
On Sunday, demonstrators began the rally denominated “Resurrection of Democracy” after a barefoot walk and a “Via Crucis” march in the style of Jesus’ tortured walk towards crucifixion.
Later, several hundred hooded protesters, many wearing Guy Fawkes masks, set up barricades in the eastern Chacao district of Caracas.
The youths chanted “Liberty!”, threw petrol bombs, fired stones from slings, tore down advertising hoardings, and placed wires across debris-strewn streets.
Police reportedly responded with teargas and water-cannons, as residents banged pots and pans from windows in a form of protest.
Reports say that some neighbors dropped bottles of water and bags of ice down to the students from balconies.
Protesters also burned effigies of President Nicolas Maduro and other senior officials.
Government supporters, meanwhile, did the same to effigies of prominent opposition figures, including Miranda governor Henrique Capriles and mayor of Sucre municipality in eastern Caracas Carlos Ocariz.
They also said opposition leaders have failed to rein in anti-government protesters to prevent deaths and damage.
Venezuela has been the scene of protests against and in support of the government since mid-February.
Maduro says the street clashes have inflicted some USD 10 billion in damage on the Venezuelan economy.
Caracas also says the opposition seeks to launch a coup d’état against the government with the backing of the United States.
The opposition, however, blames the Maduro administration for soaring inflation, rampant crime and shortage of essential goods.
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Posted: 21 Apr 2014 02:54 PM PDT

The Czech government has approved a new project funded by the US State Department, which is trying to promote Islam to Czech public school children and convert them across the country and other European countries, such as France and Spain.
The project which is called Muslims in the Eyes of Czech Schoolchildren is being financed with American taxes from a grant the US Embassy in Prague gave them.
According to the group, the Czech Ministry of Education has given permission to Muslims in the Eyes of Czech Schoolchildren to hold pro-Muslim lectures and seminars aimed at “teaching Czech school children about Islamic beliefs and practices” and at “fighting stereotypes and prejudices about Muslims.”
One lecture answers questions such as: “What makes a young Czech woman want to become a Muslim?”, “It is the main motive always falling in love with a Muslim man or are there other reasons?”, and “How does one convert to Islam?”.
The group recently had a promotional advert, saying it would pay 250 korunas (about $13 dollars) to teenage students who attended a two-hour presentation about Islam.
The group also wants to re-write school textbooks making sure there is “accuracy of the information about Islam in Czech textbooks”, the group’s website says.
The second step, they write, is to put programs in place that will “acquaint both pupils and teachers with Islam and Muslims” helping them to develop better “critical reception skills”.
Or in other words “re-education” – teaching people what to they should and should not think.
Lukas Lhot’an, a former Muslim, wrote a book called Islam and Islamism that describes how some Muslims are taking advantage of multicultural policies to convert Europe to Islam.
Muslims have tried to ban the book, filing a 10 page criminal complaint on the grounds that it offends them.
Muslims make around 0.1% (about 10,000 out of 10.4 million people) of the Czech Republic, but it is quickly growing – increasing by 2000% since 1991.
        
Posted: 21 Apr 2014 01:55 PM PDT
Hillary Clinton’s favorability rating has hit a six-year low.
Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is already running for president in the next presidential election in 2016, her biographer has revealed.
“I will say this: she’s already running,” Jonathan Allen told The Huffington Post on Monday.
Allen is a White House reporter for Bloomberg and the co-author of “HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton.”
He discussed plans for the sequel to “HRC.” The next book will focus on 2016, according to the reporter.
“We’re really just in the beginning stages right now,” Allen said about the book.
Allen added that there are already super PACs backing Clinton and that she will tour the country for her new book, “Hard Choices.”
“She’s campaigning for president right now, she’s just not an official candidate,” Allen said.
A new poll conducted by Fox News showed last week Hillary Clinton’s approval ratings hitting their lowest point in six years.
According to the survey, 49 percent of Americans view Clinton favorably, while 45 percent see her unfavorably.
This is the first time the former secretary of state’s approval rating has dropped below 50 percent in a Fox survey since April 2008. The drop is surprising for many people as she is widely considered to be the Democratic favorite for the 2016 presidential election.
She has not officially announced her bid for the presidential post yet.
When asked about seeking the Democratic nomination for president, Clinton did not reject the idea last month.
“I am thinking about it,” she said. “I’m not going to make a decision for awhile, because I’m actually enjoying my life.”
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Posted: 21 Apr 2014 01:35 PM PDT
Artist’s rendering of the possible communications application of an upward falling payload.
The Pentagon’s research arm, DARPA, is developing robot pods that can sit at the bottom of the ocean for long stretches of time, waiting to release airborne and water-based drones to the surface upon an attack command.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently called for bids to complete the final two phases of its Upward Falling Payloads (UFP) program. The UFP operation is an effort to position unmanned systems around far-flung regions of the sea floor. The housing pods would be left in place for years in anticipation of the US Navy’s need for non-lethal assistance.
The UFPs would come equipped with electronic and low-power laser attack capabilities, surveillance sensors, and airborne and aquatic drones that would have the ability to act as decoys or offer intelligence and targeting data, Ars Technica reported.
DARPA recently solicited proposals for the UFP. It wrote, “To succeed, the UFP program must be able to demonstrate a system that can: (angel) survive for years under extreme pressure, (beer) reliably be triggered from standoff commands, and (coffee) rapidly rise through the water column and deploy a non-lethal payload.”
This artist’s concept shows a potential communications application of an upward falling payload.
Autonomous, non-lethal systems are the priority for DARPA, given the remoteness of the UFPs’ stationing on the ocean floor. Recovery in the deep ocean would be difficult, and the pods with weaponry or hazardous materials could cause harm to ships upon expiration.
The UFP program’s first phase, launched in 2013, focused on designs for the robot pods and the capsules that will live inside, as well as communication logistics for UFPs to communicate with other modules. The next phase aims to develop prototype testing and demonstrations at sea in the next couple of years. The third and final stage will include “full depth” testing of various scattered modules working as one system by spring 2017.
Much of the UFP testing will likely occur in the Western Pacific, given the United States’ ongoing “pivot” to the region – not coincidentally near China’s realm. Other tests will occur near US shores to reduce costs.
DARPA is seeking a 59 percent increase for the Upward Falling Payloads budget, from $11.9 million to $19 million, it was reported in March.
In addition, DARPA has asked for a boost to its budget for underwater drone fleets. The agency has asked for its current spending to double, from $14.9 million to $29.9 million, for its Hydra program. Hydra was conceived to be a large, mothership-like craft capable of moving through the water and deploying a number of smaller surveillance drones.
The research agency also announced recently that it is launching a program to unite existing and future drones into hives, where individual autonomous aircraft will share data and operate together against targets on a battlefield under the oversight of human operators.
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Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 20:19