Society's ChildS


Bizarro Earth

Pentagon military nurses take 'zombie pandemic' course to train for real life outbreaks

Picture of zombie actors
© Paulo Whitaker / Reuters
The US Department of Defense is using an animated online course about a zombie pandemic to teach active-duty military nurses about population health. There are actual Pentagon guidelines for a zombie outbreak as well. Do they know something we don't?

Military nurses studying for their doctorate at the Uniformed Services University of the Healthcare Sciences (USU) have to take a course on population health. Because many of the students are deployed around the world, the course has to be available online. It is not all PowerPoints and reading, however: the course features an animated storyline revolving around a zombie pandemic in Washington, DC.

The course was developed by Dr. Catherine Ling, assistant professor and family nurse practitioner at USU's Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing, earning her the prestigious Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award in 2015.

"We use the narrative device of a zombie pandemic in animations and assignment to help engage students in content," Ling explained in a USU release about the course. Students have to apply the theories and models of public health that they learned in the course to the case of the zombie apocalypse.

Cross

Former 'singing priest' gets two years for raping boy with crucifix

Tony Walsh
© The Irish Post
Anthony (Tony) Walsh, 63, who first gained notoriety in Britain and Ireland through his Elvis impersonations as part of Father Michael Cleary's All Priests Show was found guilty of forcing the child to have sex twice.

The first incident happened in the parochial house in his parish and on another occasion in a tunnel under Dublin's Phoenix Park, where he raped the child with a holy cross. The victim, who was ten when the abuse began, said that he was happy with the outcome but "exhausted and drained" after the three-day trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, according to The Times. "It will take some time to process the whole thing," he added. The jury of two women and ten men returned verdicts of guilty on all counts after approximately one hour of deliberation following a three-day trial.

Walsh, who is already serving a 17 and a half year sentence for sexual offences against other children committed the offense, and two other rapes on the same young victim, before new legislation came into effect in 1990, meaning that the longest sentence the judge can impose on each offence is two years.

The priest, formerly of North Circular Road, Dublin 7, pled not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to five counts of indecently assaulting the boy on dates between January 1980 and December 1982. The boy was aged between 10 and 13 years old at the time of the abuse, according to The Irish Times. In December 2010, he was sentenced to a total of 123 years for child abuse, but as the sentences were to be served concurrently, the maximum he could serve is 16 years. At the time it was the most severe sentence imposed on a child abuser.

The Murphy Report, into historic cases of the sex abuse against children within the Catholic church in Ireland has described Fr Tony Walsh as "probably the most notorious child sexual abuser to have come to the attention of the Commission... His pattern of behaviour is such that it is likely that he has abused hundreds of children."

Comment: See also:


Bizarro Earth

Death by selfie: Tourists plummet to their deaths in separate incidents while posing for selfies in Peru

Gocta Waterfall
© WikipediaGocta Waterfall
Two tourists in Peru have plummeted to their deaths in separate incidents after losing their footing while posing for photos.

A South Korean tourist lost his footing while trying to take a selfie at a waterfall in Peru.

Peruvian police confirmed Monday that the 28-year-old man, named as Kim Jongyeob, fell 1,600ft from the Gocta waterfall in northeastern Peru last Wednesday.

"The tourist was found dead, submerged 7 meters deep in the lake into which the Gocta waterfall runs," an unnamed police official told AFP. "He wanted to take a self-portrait at the waterfall but while he was looking for a good place to take it, he fell."

Divers and mountain rescue teams recovered the man's body from the lake in the Amazon jungle. The Korean consul in Peru, Chang Dongyool, said Kim's body would be brought to Lima for cremation before being repatriated to South Korea.

Pistol

Father accidentally shoots and kills 14yo son at shooting range

high noon gun range
© Sarasota County (FL) Sheriff's Office / Facebook
A father shot and killed his 14-year-old son at a shooting range in Florida in a series of events apparently caused by a spent shell casing bouncing off a wall.

The fatal incident happened at High Noon Gun Range, in Saratosa, Florida at around 3:15 p.m. on Sunday.

Stephen who sustained a .22 caliber gunshot to the left jugular, died in Sarasota Memorial Hospital later in the day, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

Currently, no charges are pending against William Brumby, his 64-year-old dad, as authorities continue their investigation. So far, "detectives determined that Brumby died as a result of an accidental gunshot by his father."

Based on witness accounts and footage obtained from the range, the Sheriff's office said that at the time of the accidental shooting the father was standing in a firing lane with a solid wall to his right.

TV

Fake reality: PBS under fire for airing stock footage of fireworks without telling viewers

people watching fireworks
© Carlos Barria / ReutersPeople watch fireworks during the 4th of July Independence Day celebrations at the National Mall in Washington, U.S., July 4, 2016
Wet and foggy weather dampened America's traditional Independence Day fireworks in Washington, DC, on Monday, but millions watching the public television broadcast might have thought everything was fine after old footage was shown instead.

'A Capitol Fourth' is a DC tradition going back 36 years. Every Fourth of July, the Public Broadcasting System shows the fireworks display in the nation's capital from the West Lawn of the US Capitol building. This year, PBS producers apparently decided the mercurial Washington weather wouldn't be allowed to rain on their parade. After all, who would know?

As PBS tweeted about how amazing the show was, the real fireworks lit up social media, with outraged viewers protesting the misleading broadcast.

Airplane

Marseille airport evacuated after suspicious package found

marseille airport
© Boris Horvat / Reuters
Marseille Provence Airport has been briefly evacuated after a suspicious package was found, according to reports on social media, which state that police officers are currently patrolling the perimeter.

According to a witness at the scene, the military has now allowed passengers to re-enter the airport. Marseille is the venue for Thursday's Euro 2016 football semi-final between France and Germany.

The airport is located 27km from Marseille, and is the fifth busiest airport by passenger traffic and third largest for cargo traffic in France. France is on high alert following the attacks in Paris in November 2015, when Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists killed 130 people.

Stringent security measures have also been imposed across the country due to the Euro 2016 football championship, with Marseille's Stade Vélodrome one of the main venues for the tournament.

Handcuffs

"Land of the free" now the nation of slaves: The Prison-Industrial-Complex

American flag barbed wire
© pixabay.com
"Prisoner number......It is time to go home".

The most beautiful words she had ever heard, as she dreamt about the day that phrase would be uttered for the past ten years. Today, she will get to see her daughter that has been out of her life and begin the process of reunification.

As she takes her first steps outside the prison walls in a decade, it is like stepping into a foreign land. Outside the concrete confinement she is overwhelmed by the simplicity of feeling the fresh breeze, the sunlight, the green grass, and of course her family. Her daughter, mother, and brother await her release in what feels like another world away.

Her lower lip starts to tremble uncontrollably - which it always has done when she becomes emotional - only to see her 13-year-old daughter's lower lip mirror that of her own. Mother-and-daughter are able to embrace for the first time in years as they share an electric bond that cannot be broken, despite so many unanswered questions over the years.
"Why is Mom in jail? Why didn't I get to have a Mom while growing up? Why wasn't anyone there to do my hair, makeup, or other little girl activities that everyone else enjoyed? Where was my Mom all this time?"

Comment: Further reading:


Bulb

German Green Party politician speaks out against demonization of Putin

Ludger volmer
© AP Photo / Jockel FinckLudger Volmer

The former green state minister Ludger Volmer strongly criticizes his party's Russia policy and warns against a one-sided image of Putin.


The former Minister of State in the Foreign Office, Ludger Volmer (Green), has sharply attacked his party's Russia policy.

The 64-year-old, who served under the aegis of Joschka Fischer and retired from the Bundestag in 2005, now castigates the Greens in an open letter for demonizing the Russian President Vladimir Putin and "meekly reciting NATO slogans,". This just increases the danger of escalation. This is "disgraceful for a peace party" that it is "stuck in silence."

Although it is correct to consider Putin critically according to Volmer, yet Putin's image in Germany is "one-sided." And: "The vast majority of Russians want him." In addition, one does not have to "love the Russian national character, but when it comes to any other questionable ideology, you try to deal constructively with them, political Islamism for instance -- in some instances too much so."

Comment: See also:


Jet3

Swiss fighter jets escort plane flying to Tel Aviv after anonymous tip of bomb on board plane

hornet fighter jet
© Fabrice Cofrini / AFPAn F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft of the Swiss Air Force
Two Swiss Air Force jets have been scrambled to escort an El Al Boeing 747 en route from New York to Tel Aviv after an anonymous tip-off about a bomb on board, according to Haaretz. The flight landed safely at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport.

The two F/A-18 fighter jets escorted the El Al plane through Switzerland's airspace from the French border, the Swiss Air Force said in a statement.

El Al flight LY002 was flying over the Swiss-French border when the fighter jets were scrambled, according to the Jerusalem Post. Once the flight had crossed Swiss airspace, the F-18s returned to their bases and the airplane continued as planned.

Flight tracking website FlightRadar24.com indicated the plane landed in Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport at 12:44pm local time. El Al released a statement saying no explosive device was found on board, the Jewish Press reported later in the day, citing Israel Radio.

The El Al Boeing 747 was checked for explosives after landing safely at Ben Gurion Airport, according to Haaretz, citing Israel's Foreign Ministry. "An examination showed the plane was 'clean'," it said.

The ministry added the anonymous tip about a bomb "inside an airplane kitchenette" was received by the US aviation body, which notified Swiss authorities "while the plane was in [Switzerland's] airspace, and the Swiss scrambled fighter jets to escort the plane."

Gear

Cogs in the machine: Economic development and modernity have transformed livelihoods into deadlihoods

workers cogs machine, working world india
© Puneet Paranjpe/Reuters
In India, economic development and modernity have transformed livelihoods into deadlihoods. They are wiping out millennia-old livelihoods that were ways of life with no sharp division between work and leisure, and replacing them with dreary assembly line jobs where we wait desperately for weekends and holidays.

Economic progress, we are told, is about moving from primary sector jobs to manufacturing and services. And so the livelihoods that keep all of us alive - farming, forestry, pastoralism, fisheries, and related crafts - are considered backward.

In India, this marginalizes 700 million-800 million people, two-thirds of its population.

The results? Horrendous ones like thousands of farmers' suicides in the last decade; or the displacement by so-called 'development projects' of 60 million people from their farms, forests, and coasts.

Less visible is the pauperization of many others deprived of the natural resources they depend on, as their lands and waters get taken away for industry, infrastructure and cities. Entire new forms of poverty are being created by development.

Comment: While the focus is on India, much of what is said can be applied to any developed nation in the world - it's definitely time for change: Post imperialism: A Template for a New Social Order