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Immigrants sew mouths shut to demand release from migrant center in Italy


RT
Sun, 22 Dec 2013 19:57 UTC
tunisia immigrants
© AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte
Tunisian migrants wait to be sent back to Tunisia, at the Lampedusa airport, on April 11, 2011.
Eight immigrants from Tunisia and Morocco, kept in a migrant center outside Rome, have sewn their mouths shut to protest forced long-term detention and further deportation from Italy, renewing the debate over harsh migration law.

Using a needle made from a cigarette lighter and threads from bedsheets, four Tunisians, all in their 20's and 30's, sewed their lips together with a single stitch in the middle. The protesters were found by the detention center's medical staff shortly after the action. None of them was hospitalized.

Hours after that four, or according to some local reports five, Moroccans also stitched their mouths. They have been also treated at the migrant center. The men are being currently held in the Center for Identification and Expulsion (CIE), the heavily guarded immigrant detention center in the suburb of Ponte Galeria.

"Their revolt requires us to reopen the national debate on these inhumane centers and on the legislation, the Bossi-Fini law, which criminalises those fleeing war, violence and poverty," said Rome mayor Ignazio Marino. "We cannot and do not want to get used to the tragedies. We must, on the contrary, all strive against indifference," he added.
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Arrow Down

Canadian troops look to video games for training

Murray Brewster
The Canadian Press
Sun, 22 Dec 2013 22:12 UTC
Video Game
© Cirillina.com

Ottawa - Video simulation, including commercial, first-person shooting games such as Call of Duty, will play an increasing role in the Canadian military in the coming years.

But a tug-of-war is underway between skeptics who see video as a mere cost-cutting tool, and soldiers who regard the technology as a welcome addition to the existing training regime.

National Defence is examining how computer-generated scenarios boost ordinary training, and for the first time is considering their use in mission rehearsals.

"That's something that's being seriously looked at," Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, head of special forces, said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"It would be complementary. You wouldn't be replacing (rehearsal-of-concept) drills. It would be a complementary asset," said Thompson.

Before almost every major operation, troops carry out rehearsals to test the strengths and pitfalls of various battle plans. It's a practice that goes back at least to the First World War.

Whether storming full-sized mock-ups of targets, or taking notes based on sand models of the battlefield, preparation has until the last two decades been decidedly low-tech.

Computer simulations have changed that to the point where dozens of troops and even pilots can be linked to together in a virtual world, which includes realistically rendered enemies, right down to uniforms and faces.

Thompson stressed the technology does not substitute for the rugged dress rehearsals soldiers carry out before operations, such as commando raids and anti-terrorism missions.
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Arrow Down

Midtown Manhattan: Man throws toddler son off 52-story high-rise rooftop, then jumps himself

Tina Moore, , Mark Morales and Caitlin Nolan
New York Daily News
Sun, 22 Dec 2013 07:01 UTC
ny jumper
© Andrew Savulich
A 35-year-old man threw his son from the roof of a 52-story Manhattan high-rise Sunday, according to a police source.

A man threw his tiny son off the roof of a Manhattan high-rise Sunday afternoon before jumping off himself, a police source said.

The 35-year-old man died after jumping from the 52-floor building in Lincoln Square around 12:05 p.m. The child, who was either 3 or 4, died at Roosevelt Hospital, cops said.

jumper ny
© Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News
A woman on a balcony looks down at the crime scene in Midtown Sunday afternoon.

A police source identified the man as Dmitriy Kanarikov, 35. A neighbor said the child's name was Kirill.
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Heart - Black

Florida teen Terry Hadley killed his parents so he could throw a party 'at his crib' that night

Nathaniel Rich
The Rolling Stone
Wed, 18 Dec 2013 11:40 UTC
Image
The shocking story of a troubled Florida teen, his wild house party and two grisly murders

You could tell it was going to be a huge party because almost nobody had heard of the kid who was throwing it. Word was that his name was Tyler Hadley, he attended Port St. Lucie High, and, most crucially, his parents were out of town. Where exactly Tyler's parents had traveled, or how far, no one seemed to know.

Tyler had been telling his friends all week that he was going to have a party, but nobody believed him. He'd never thrown a party before, and it was impossible to believe that his parents, who had been increasingly strict with him lately, would give their consent. When his friends asked whether the party was still on, Tyler replied, "I'm working on it." They assumed that meant it was off. At 11:25 a.m. on Saturday, July 16, 2011, Hadley received a Facebook message from his friend Antonio Ramirez.
Tyler Hadley: sup bra

Antonio Ramirez: Chillen what you doin tonight?

Tyler Hadley: tryin to have a party at my crib

Antonio Ramirez: Your parents ain't home?

Tyler Hadley: nope

Tyler Hadley: well their leasvin soon
At 1:15 p.m. Tyler posted a message on his Facebook wall:
party at my crib tonight...maybe
No one was convinced by this, but at 8:15 p.m., Tyler posted another message:
party at my house hmu
Still his friends remained incredulous.
Ashley Haze messaged: "WHAO what what if your parents come home"

"they won't," replied Tyler. "trust me."
      Read More...
Eye 1

Florida man breaks baby's leg after Xbox session is interrupted for a diaper change

Evan Bleier
upi.com
Sun, 22 Dec 2013 14:48 UTC
Man was frustrated about being asked to change the baby's diaper.

Image
© UPI/Phil McCarten
An XBox display at the Electronic Entertainment Expo
A Florida man is being held without bond on a charge of aggravated child abuse after he allegedly became so enraged about having to stop playing Xbox to change a diaper that he broke a month-old baby's leg.

The baby's grandmother told police that 20-year-old Citrus County man Paul Lajeunesse often would get upset about having to change the child's diaper and that she was concerned about how he handled the baby.

On Dec. 11, she asked Lajeunesse, who doesn't work and spends most of his time at home, to change the baby's diaper while he was playing Xbox.

Already frustrated with how his game was going, Lajeunesse lifted the infant's legs and "heard a pop and saw the right leg go limp."

After the baby's grandmother brought the infant to the doctor, X-rays revealed that the baby's leg had been fractured.

It's unclear what relationship Lajeunesse has with the victim, but he has been ordered to not have any further contact with the child.
      Read More...
Arrow Up

Food prices skyrocketed 72% in Venezuela in 2013: International financiers' currency speculation to blame?


Press TV
Fri, 20 Dec 2013 17:22 UTC

Food prices in Venezuela have risen by an average of 72 per cent in 2013, thus giving the country the highest inflation rate for food items in the Americas.

The country imports more than 50 per cent of what it consumes. And imports are already pushing up prices given that the country's poor domestic production cannot support demand. Onions for example, whose production within Venezuela has drastically dropped, have seen a price surge of four hundred per cent over the past twelve months.

Comment: See also:

Venezuelan Government Expands Battle Against Currency and Price Speculation

      Read More...
Gear

How insane is France? Brittany bar boss has been fined €9,000 for using illegal workers by asking customers to bring their glasses and trays back to the counter after use


The Connexion
Wed, 18 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
Image
© CafeRepaireLocmiquelic.fr
Chez Mamm Kounifl
A Brittany bar boss has been fined €9,000 for using illegal workers - for asking customers to bring their glasses and trays back to the counter after use.

Maryka Le Floch, who has run the popular Mamm Kounifl music bar in Locmiquélic, Morbihan, for 10 years, told Le Télégramme officials from social security agency Urssaf had accused her and her husband of using customers as unpaid "waiters" by asking them to return glasses.

She said the pub, which has received the label Café de pays and hosts regular folk and Celtic music evenings with local bands, was often so busy that it was counter service only and they asked customers had to return trays and glasses.
      Read More...
Camcorder

France: Fewer speeding drivers


The Connexion
Tue, 17 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
Image
© The Connexion
The number of drivers caught speeding in France has fallen for the first time since fixed-point automatic speed cameras were introduced a decade ago.

Interior ministry figures seen by L'Express magazine show 15 million cars were flashed for breaking the speed limit in the 10 months to the end of October - down from 17 million over the same period last year.

The magazine says the downward trend continued in November - down 15% year on year - meaning 2013 will be the first time that automatic radars have failed to exceed the previous year's total.

However the reason for the decline is not necessarily a change in driving habits. It is reported that up to 600 speed cameras are currently out of action because of a maintenance backlog at the new company responsible for keeping the devices operational.
      Read More...
Whistle

John Bolton: Edward Snowden 'ought to swing from a tall oak tree'

Mollie Reilly
The Huffington Post
Tue, 17 Dec 2013 15:39 UTC

Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton spoke out against former government contractor Edward Snowden for leaking classified details on the National Security Agency's controversial surveillance practices, suggesting Snowden should "swing from a tall oak tree" as punishment.

Speaking on Fox News on Monday, Bolton, who served under former President George W. Bush, characterized Snowden's actions as treason, and urged against any public talk of amnesty.
      Read More...
Arrow Down

Google's Location History: Big brother Android keeping tabs on your every move?

Alan Mark De Luzuriaga
The BitBag
Sat, 21 Dec 2013 22:25 UTC
I just read a number of articles over the weekend and I am still not sure whether I am going to be amazed or creeped out. Several technology journals and publications have started to feature a tool that Google Maps and Google Now uses to apparently monitor and track the movement history of certain persons. What does this mean? It means that if your location history was collected, then Google knows where you were last November 25, 2013 at exactly 1:00 in the morning. So if you were doing something "nasty" at someplace that is not so "respectable" at that certain date, time and place, then somebody else knows what you were doing.


Now before you scream "Damn NSA" and blame Obama once again for being spied upon and losing your privacy, this is not the US government's fault. And this is not a clandestine operation too. This tool, operated by Google, actually asks permission from you to gather data from your Google gadget (like an Android Phone or on Android Tablet / Phablet) the moment you set up your gear. In many cases, the gadget user would say yes ( I wouldn't if I owned an Android gadget, and since I set up my wife's Samsung smartphone, I did not consent in sending Google the location data contained in her phone all the way to Google's "Orwellian" headquarters (or at least its servers wherever they are). But that's just me.
      Read More...
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