Society's Child

Rio bus fell 40 meters from a bridge in Brazil

ETurboNews
Wed, 07 Aug 2013 16:19 UTC

Six people are dead and numerous injured after a Brazilian bus crashed on a bridge and fell 40 meters (130 feet). This happened in the city of Itaguai. Tourists may have been on board, but details are not all known yet.

Itaguaí is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population is 93,662, and its area is 272 km². The city was founded in 1688. Itaguaí is located 75 km west of the city of Rio de Janeiro on the road to Santo.

There are no details on how many were aboard or how the wreck happened.

Behind the Headlines: Solar flare kill shots and theatrical wars of distraction

Sott Editors
Sott.net
Sun, 11 Aug 2013 18:00 UTC

'Worldwide travel alerts' urging Americans to remain within the US; wild weather; missing crop circles; strange lights in the sky; trains running off their tracks; animals dying in droves; record profits for some while debt explodes for most; hunting down al-Qaeda in the War on Terror; sending weapons to al-Qaeda in the War on Syria; countless senseless murders; crops failing; food prices skyrocketing; chemical plants exploding; "solar flare killshots"; fireballs raining down from the sky... Is this the end of the world or something?

'All and Everything' returns to SOTT Talk Radio this week to offer our listeners a show packed with 'condensed Truth' on various different current (and perhaps not-so-current) topics. We'll aim to deal with each discrete topic in about 5 minutes and then see if our analysis leads us to an overall view of 'life on planet earth'.

What's the weather like where you are? More importantly, what are the people like where you are? Are they getting worked up about the state of the economy? Are they noticing the extreme and unusual weather events? Or are they just totally oblivious to anything beyond their daily routines?

Running Time: 02:09:00

Download: MP3

Matt Damon: Obama 'Broke Up With Me'

Larry O'Connor
Breitbart
Sun, 11 Aug 2013 07:15 UTC

Actor Matt Damon told Black Entertainment Television (BET) that President Barack Obama "has some explaining to do:"

There are a lot of things that I really question - the legality of the drone strikes, these NSA revelations. Jimmy Carter came out and said we don't live in a democracy. That's a little intense when an ex-president says that. So you know, he's got some explaining to do, particularly for a constitutional law professor.

When asked his opinion of the President's second term, Damon chuckled and said, "He broke up with me."

Watch the segment here:

U.S. Senator Rand Paul: 'National Security' has run amok

Rand Paul
The Washington Times
Fri, 09 Aug 2013 05:23 UTC

The feds have concluded Americans would rather be safe than free

In March, Sen. Ron Wyden asked Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper if the federal government had "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans." Mr. Clapper replied, "Not wittingly."

In June, we learned that the National Security Agency (NSA) had not only been collecting millions of Americans' phone data, but every American's phone data - wittingly.

This astounding level of surveillance that government officials first denied quickly became something they were eager to defend. All of it was essential and necessary, we were told. President Obama and others also assured us that the NSA was only collecting "metadata" and not eavesdropping on our phone calls.

Reality Check: 4 in 5 in U.S. face near-poverty, no work

Hope Yen
AP
Sun, 28 Jul 2013 00:00 UTC

© AP Photo/Debra McCown
This photo taken Friday July 12, 2013, shows the Salyers' produce stand in Council, Va. Four out of five U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and a vanishing American Dream.

Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.

Survey data exclusive to The Associated Press points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor, and the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend.

The findings come as President Barack Obama tries to renew his administration's emphasis on the economy, saying in recent speeches that his highest priority is to "rebuild ladders of opportunity" and reverse income inequality.

As nonwhites approach a numerical majority in the U.S., one question is how public programs to lift the disadvantaged should be best focused - on the affirmative action that historically has tried to eliminate the racial barriers seen as the major impediment to economic equality, or simply on improving socioeconomic status for all, regardless of race.

Taken: Americans who haven't been charged with wrongdoing can be stripped of their cash, cars, and even homes

Sarah Stillman
The New Yorker
Sat, 10 Aug 2013 14:01 UTC

© Ashley Gilbertson
Clockwise from left: James Morrow, Javier Flores, Jennifer Boatright and her son Jacob, Dale Agostini, and Nelly Moreira. Many police budgets depend on money from forfeiture.

On a bright Thursday afternoon in 2007, Jennifer Boatright, a waitress at a Houston bar-and-grill, drove with her two young sons and her boyfriend, Ron Henderson, on U.S. 59 toward Linden, Henderson's home town, near the Texas-Louisiana border. They made the trip every April, at the first signs of spring, to walk the local wildflower trails and spend time with Henderson's father. This year, they'd decided to buy a used car in Linden, which had plenty for sale, and so they bundled their cash savings in their car's center console. Just after dusk, they passed a sign that read "Welcome to Tenaha: A little town with BIG Potential!"

They pulled into a mini-mart for snacks. When they returned to the highway ten minutes later, Boatright, a honey-blond "Texas redneck from Lubbock," by her own reckoning, and Henderson, who is Latino, noticed something strange. The same police car that their eleven-year-old had admired in the mini-mart parking lot was trailing them. Near the city limits, a tall, bull-shouldered officer named Barry Washington pulled them over.

Body found in search for missing Oakland investigator

Alexis Shaw and Rachel Katz
ABC News
Fri, 09 Aug 2013 16:34 UTC

A female body was discovered Friday afternoon in the area where California authorities were searching for a missing federal criminal investigator.

The body, which has yet to be identified, was found at about 1 p.m. in the area where officials were looking for Sandra Coke, who was reported missing since Sunday. Coke went missing after following a tip on her stolen dog.

Based on additional information obtained by the Oakland, Calif., Police Department, detectives decided to move their search-and-rescue location from the Vallejo, Calif., area to Lagoons Valley Park, an unincorporated area just outside of the city of Vacaville, Calif., according to Solano County Sheriff's Office Deputy Daryl Snedeker.

For now, authorities have called off any additional searches.

Earlier, registered sex offender Randy Alana, 56, was identified as a person of interest in Coke's disappearance.

Investigators believe Alana and Coke were together the night she went missing, according to the Oakland Police Department.

Man who created own credit card sues bank for not sticking to terms - Brilliant!

Andrew Trotman
The Telegraph
Thu, 08 Aug 2013 16:22 UTC

When Dmitry Argarkov was sent a letter offering him a credit card, he found the rates not to his liking. But he didn't throw the contract away or shred it. Instead, the 42-year-old from Voronezh, Russia, scanned it into his computer, altered the terms and sent it back to Tinkoff Credit Systems.

Mr Argarkov's version of the contract contained a 0pc interest rate, no fees and no credit limit. Every time the bank failed to comply with the rules, he would fine them 3m rubles (£58,716). If Tinkoff tried to cancel the contract, it would have to pay him 6m rubles.

Tinkoff apparently failed to read the amendments, signed the contract and sent Mr Argakov a credit card.

"The Bank confirmed its agreement to the client's terms and sent him a credit card and a copy of the approved application form," his lawyer Dmitry Mikhalevich told Kommersant. "The opened credit line was unlimited. He could afford to buy an island somewhere in Malaysia, and the bank would have to pay for it by law."

However, Tinkoff attempted to close the account due to overdue payments. It sued Mr Argakov for 45,000 rubles for fees and charges that were not in his altered version of the contract.

Criminalizing Privacy - U.S. Government Forces Snowden's Encrypted Email Service, Lavabit, to Shut Down

Global Research News
Sat, 10 Aug 2013 16:08 UTC

NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden famously used an encrypted email account to communicate privately with Glenn Greenwald and other reporters.

Shortly after it was revealed that Snowden used Lavabit, the U.S. government pressured them to close down after ten years of service.

Lavabit's owner, Ladar Levison, received a court order to turn over all users' private email data. He refused, and said he would not "become complicit in crimes against the American people."

Levison claims he was given two choices: cooperate with authorities or be shut down. He bravely said goodbye to his business and livelihood in protest of the digital police state.

Here is the full letter to users regarding the shutdown:

U.S. cops out of control: Eugene, Oregon police officer punches 8 year old boy in the face

Dahboo Seven
YouTube
Mon, 05 Aug 2013 13:52 UTC

This was a disgusting incident in Eugene, Oregon, on August 4, 2013. The police department was helping Department of Human Services take this child from his mother because a former boyfriend had somehow obtained custody. The child was punched by the police officer for what he said was biting.