For The Children

Bill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave…

"Deny a young person work and you deny him a career. Deny him a career and you deny him a way to support a family. Deny him a family life, and who knows what happens? In China, the 'bare branches' – young men who couldn't find wives – started a revolution. The Nien Rebellion, which took place between 1851 and 1868, cost 100,000 dead and almost toppled the Qing Dynasty. Will today's young people accept their lot... and remain in docile debt servitude their whole lives? Or will they rise up, as Mr. Graeber suggests, and burn T-bonds in public spaces... rampage down Wall Street... and perhaps hang Ben Bernanke in front of the New York Federal Reserve?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave…

One Million Children Labor in Africa’s Goldmines

"The U.S. Department of Labor also is funding a four-year, $5 million project in Burkina Faso, one of the world's poorest nations, to reduce child labor in cotton farming and gold mining. The grant will be used to help raise awareness about child labor laws and build government capacity to monitor and enforce the laws, said Eric Biel, acting associate deputy undersecretary for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs. Small-scale gold mining began here in earnest in the 1980s as droughts and famines forced families from farms and into mines to earn a living. It remains a family affair." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOne Million Children Labor in Africa’s Goldmines

Another Assault on America’s Children—Electroshocking kids promoted as “safe & effective”

"Despite a 1979 federal law requiring makers of ECT devices to prove to the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, that the machines are safe and effective, to date, none of the manufacturers have complied with the law. 100,000 Americans yearly are subjected to an ECT device that forces up to 480 volts of electricity through the brain, putting patients at risk of irreparable damage to the brain and other body systems and the FDA, which is tasked with insuring the safety of these devices, cannot assure the public that the ECT procedure is either safe or effective, simply because it refuses to enforce the law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnother Assault on America’s Children—Electroshocking kids promoted as “safe & effective”

Suspension over gun-shaped toaster pastry is now permanent mark on kid’s record

"This week brought more bad news for Joshua Welch, the Baltimore-area second-grader who was suspended for two days because his teacher thought he shaped a breakfast pastry into something resembling a gun. School officials have denied an appeal to have the suspension expunged from the boy’s permanent record. Welch, who is now eight, was suspended from Park Elementary School for two days in March after he allegedly sculpted the pastry into something that maybe looked like a gun. At the time, Welch said that his goal was to turn the prefabricated delicacy into a mountain, but that didn’t really materialize." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSuspension over gun-shaped toaster pastry is now permanent mark on kid’s record

Students Underwater

"When government gets involved in any sector, it creates massive distortions. Easy government-backed student loans have resulted in heavy debt burdens for those who have recently graduated from college. At the same time, government regulations have resulted in poor job prospects. Leading to more and more students defaulting on their debt." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudents Underwater

Tweet referencing Pink’s song ‘Timebomb’ gets teen arrested at concert

"A 16-year-old boy was arrested at a Pink concert in Australia over the weekend after he tweeted a reference to the singer’s 'Timebomb' song. According to The Age, the teen was attending the U.S. pop star’s concert at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Sunday when he tried to express his excitement in a way that authorities did not find amusing. In an interview with 10 News, the boy said that that arena staff used the photo on his Twitter profile to track him down out of the crowd of 12,000 people. The boy now faces charges of being a public nuisance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTweet referencing Pink’s song ‘Timebomb’ gets teen arrested at concert

Rape and sexual assault run rampant in juvenile justice system: Justice Department survey

"Hundreds of teen-agers are raped or sexually assaulted during their stays in the country’s juvenile detention facilities, and many of them are victimized repeatedly, according to a U.S. Department of Justice survey. The teens are most often assaulted by staff members working at the facilities, and fully 20 percent of those victimized by the men and women charged with protecting and counseling them said they had been violated on more than 10 occasions. The Justice Department survey involved more than 8,500 boys and girls. In all, 1,720 of those surveyed reported being sexually assaulted." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRape and sexual assault run rampant in juvenile justice system: Justice Department survey

Belgian diplomat booted from NY golf club, treated like ‘terrorists’ over wife’s breast-feeding

"Minutes later, the Greenburgh Police Department arrived. Detective Scott Harding allegedly yelled, 'Close the doors!' and two other diners were told to leave the terrace. 'He was walking as if he was acting in a Western movie,' Neijens said. 'He had one hand on his gun, one hand on his Taser.' Neijens said the officer warned the couple they were trespassing and said some people at the club thought they were terrorists because of their black backpack. When Remans, on the verge of tears, questioned why terrorists would breast-feed at a ritzy club, the cop allegedly replied, 'In Sri Lanka, babies are used by terrorists.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBelgian diplomat booted from NY golf club, treated like ‘terrorists’ over wife’s breast-feeding

Tobacco Speakeasy: Prohibition Lite Is Making RYO Cigarettes All the Rage

"A month ago, I was sitting with some college students for lunch. After we ate, two of them took out loose-leaf tobacco and rolling papers, with filters and all. They started rolling cigarettes at the table. In some way, it looked more like poverty than a charming anachronism. Puzzled, I asked why they were doing this. The answer was what I feared: Thanks to taxes, no student can really afford pre-rolled cigarettes anymore. You can avoid those taxes by rolling your own for a fraction of the price. And so it has come to be. Students are equipping dorm rooms with rolling machines. Kids carry pouches and filters. It strikes me as very strange, like a reversal of time." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTobacco Speakeasy: Prohibition Lite Is Making RYO Cigarettes All the Rage

Italy bans sale of electronic cigarettes to minors

"Italy banned the sale of electronic cigarettes containing nicotine to minors on Thursday and forbid their use in schools, amid criticism from a consumer watchdog that the move did not go far enough. Italian consumer association Codacons criticised the new law as 'utterly insufficient'. 'E-cigarettes should be banned in all public places, just like normal cigarettes. It’s not clear why the ministry believes they are dangerous, and therefore should be banned in schools, but not in other places open to the public,' Codacons president Carlo Rienzi said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingItaly bans sale of electronic cigarettes to minors