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2 killed, dozens injured in Argentina supermarket looting


CTV News
Fri, 21 Dec 2012 02:32 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press/ Diario Rio Negro
A man runs away carrying electronic goods and packages containing food during looting at a supermarket in San Carlos de Bariloche, about 1.630 km southwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012.
Buenos Aires, Argentina - Two people were killed in Argentina as looters ransacked supermarkets in several cities, officials said Friday.

Santa Fe Province Security Minister Raul Lamberto said the incidents were not triggered by social protests but were simple acts of vandalism.

Lamberto said two people were killed by a sharp object and gunfire after attacks early Friday on about 20 supermarkets in the cities of Rosario and Villa Gobernador Galvez. He declined to name the victims or the attackers but said 25 people were injured and 130 arrested during the looting about 190 miles northeast of Buenos Aires.

It followed a wave of sporadic looting that began Thursday when dozens broke into a supermarket and carried away televisions and other electronics in the Patagonian ski resort of Bariloche. The government responded by deploying 400 hundred military police to the southern city.

The disturbances evoked harrowing memories of Argentina's worst economic crisis a decade ago, when President Fernando de la Rua resigned after days of rioting and looting that left dozens dead and scores of protesters injured throughout the country.
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Info

Man held without bond for screaming and waving his arms at school children

Edward B. Colby
NBC Miami - South Florida
Fri, 21 Dec 2012 04:28 UTC
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A Broward judge ordered David Burch held without bond Thursday, saying he believed the 28-year-old man "intentionally terrorized" children at a Fort Lauderdale elementary school when he screamed and waved his arms at them.

Broward Circuit Court Judge John Hurley said he viewed Burch's actions Wednesday near Bayview Elementary School against the backdrop of the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting last week.

Twenty-two children ages 7 and 8 were playing kickball on the field just south of the school when Burch, who was wearing camouflage pants, "started screaming and jumping up and down," Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Rick Rhodes said in court. "The physical education teacher had all the kids run back into the school for their safety."

Hurley, reading from a police report, said the kids were playing when Burch approached the fence and began "screaming in a very aggressive manner. One of the teachers observed Burch create a high level of fear in the 22 children."

Burch was later found by Rhodes in a wooded area near the school, Hurley added.

The judge noted that "the children and the teacher and the employee there, they were all in a heightened state of fear. And the backdrop to this is obviously what had just happened in Connecticut, where all those children were killed.

"So these children were in a unique position of emotional vulnerability, which never really probably ended until people knew that this man was apprehended," Hurley said.

Rhodes said that Burch behaved uncooperatively, and denied his behavior in front of the children.
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Health

Kentucky court upholds decision in penis removal case

Brett Barrouquere
My Fox DC
Thu, 20 Dec 2012 09:18 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press
Deborah and Phillip Seaton
Louisville, Kentucky - A Kentucky man lost his bid Friday to force a doctor to pay damages for removing a cancer-riddled section of his penis during what was scheduled to be a simple circumcision.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals found that a jury correctly concluded that 66-year-old Phillip Seaton of Waddy consented to allow Dr. John Patterson to perform any procedure deemed necessary during the Oct. 19, 2007, surgery.

Patterson, a Kentucky-based urologist, maintains he found cancer in the man's penis during surgery and that it had to be removed. The patient claims the surgery was supposed to be a circumcision and he never authorized the amputation, nor was he given a chance to seek a second opinion.

"Additionally, there is uncontroverted testimony in the record that if Mr. Seaton were not treated for the penile cancer, it would prove fatal in the future," Judge Janet Stumbo wrote for the court.

Judge Michael Caperton dissented, but did not issue a written opinion.

Clay Robinson, a Lexington-based attorney for Patterson, said the opinion was "very well-reasoned" and fact-based.

"You always appreciate when you see judges at any level go into that amount of detail," Robinson said.

Seaton and his wife, Deborah, sued Patterson, a Kentucky-based urologist, in Shelby County Circuit Court in 2008. Seaton, now in his 60s, was having the procedure to better treat inflammation. The Seatons also sued Jewish Hospital, where the surgery took place. The hospital settled with the couple for an undisclosed amount.
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Folder

Judge OKs settlement in BP class action suit


USA Today
Sat, 22 Dec 2012 02:32 UTC
bp logo
A federal judge has given final approval to BP's settlement with businesses and individuals who lost money because of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP PLC has estimated it will pay $7.8 billion to resolve economic and medical claims from more than 100,000 businesses and individuals hurt by the nation's worst offshore oil spill. The settlement has no cap; the company could end up paying more or less.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who gave his preliminary approval in May, made it final in a 125-page ruling released Friday evening.

"None of the objections, whether filed on the objections docket or elsewhere, have shown the Settlement to be anything other than fair, reasonable, and adequate," he wrote.

BP and attorneys for the plaintiffs said they were pleased.

"We believe the settlement, which avoids years of lengthy litigation, is good for the people, businesses and communities of the Gulf and is in the best interests of BP's stakeholders," company spokesman Scott Dean said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press. "Today's decision by the Court is another important step forward for BP in meeting its commitment to economic and environmental restoration efforts in the Gulf and in eliminating legal risk facing the company."

A statement from plaintiffs' attorneys Steve Herman and Jim Roy praised the settlement program's administrator, Pat Juneau.

"This settlement has - and will continue to - bring the people and businesses of the Gulf the relief they deserve," the attorneys wrote.
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Handcuffs

Two Charleston teens found carrying handguns, arrested

Philip Weiss
Live 5 - WCSC
Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:09 UTC
Image
© CCDC
Richard Simmons
Charleston, South Carolina - Two teens who tried to run from police officers on Wednesday were arrested after officers say they were both found to be carrying handguns.

According to an incident report, officers saw the two teens loitering at 208 Hanover Street, a property of City of Charleston Housing Authority, around 12:30 p.m. on December 19.

Police say the suspects were identified as a 17-year-old juvenile and 18-year-old Richard Dara Simmons.

Officers say the 17-year-old suspect was detained after he attempted to walk away from the officers. Officers searched the teen and discovered he was carrying a .38 Taurus revolver.

Police say Simmons attempted to run, but was captured. Officers found a semi-automatic pistol in his waistband.

The juvenile was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun and possession of a handgun under 18 years of age. Simmons was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun.

Both teens were taken to the Charleston County Detention Center.

Source: WCSC
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Pistol

2 adults shot to death inside Alabama nightclub


Fox News
Sat, 22 Dec 2012 00:00 UTC
Hoover, Alabama - A police captain says two people have been shot to death inside a nightclub in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.

Hoover police Capt. Jim Coker tells Al.com that the two people were pronounced dead at the scene. The shootings happened around 11:30 p.m. EST at Martini's nightclub in Hoover.

Few other details were immediately available in the investigation, which Coker says is in its early stages. He says both victims are adults but didn't say whether they are male or female.
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Pistol

Update: Gunman kills woman at Pennsylvania church, 2 men elsewhere before being shot dead by state troopers

Genaro C. Armas
SFGate
Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:13 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press/Altoona Mirror, J.D. Cavrich
Local law enforcement block off road along Rt. 22 near the Canoe Creek State Park, Pa. while investigating a shooting on Friday, Dec. 21, 2012.
Hollidaysburg - A man fatally shot a woman decorating for a children's Christmas party at a tiny church hall and killed two men elsewhere in a rural township on Friday before he was shot dead in a gunfight with state troopers.

Three troopers in patrol cars were injured in a pursuit that began after the gunman, driving a pick-up truck, fired at them, police said. One trooper injured a wrist and then was hit in the chest but was saved by a bulletproof vest.

The gunman was killed during a final exchange of gunfire after ramming his truck head-on into another police cruiser, authorities said.

The shootings began in Frankstown Township, in central Pennsylvania, at about 9 a.m., and investigators were processing five crime scenes within about a 1.5-mile radius, authorities said at a news briefing Friday afternoon. Troopers were responding to a 911 call of a shooting in the township when they heard calls reporting at least one other shooting elsewhere, state police said.

"It's going to take us some time to put this all together ... and know exactly what occurred," said Lt. Col. George Bivens, deputy state police commissioner.

Authorities did not release the names of the victims or the shooter, though they did say the man lived in Blair County.

State police said they were still trying to piece together a timeline and motive. The gunman and the victims weren't related, though the victims may have been, at least distantly, Blair County District Attorney Rich Consiglio said.
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Pistol

Mass shootings have long history

Rossella Lorenzi
Discovery News
Thu, 20 Dec 2012 18:48 UTC
Image
© Unknown
He came along with a shotgun on his shoulder while a group of children were playing in front of the school. Without warning or provocation, he raised the gun to his shoulder, took deliberate aim, and fired into the crowd of boys.

Although it sounds sadly modern, the account was published in the New York Times more than a century ago.

Dated April 10, 1891, the article described an elderly man firing a shotgun at children playing in front of St. Mary's Parochial School in Newburgh, NY.

"None of the children were killed, but several were well filled with lead," the report said.

More than a century earlier, on July 26, 1764, a teacher and 10 students were shot dead by four Lenape American Indians in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, in what is considered the earliest known U.S. mass school shooting.

Indeed, killing or trying to kill a mass of people is not a modern phenomenon. For as long as there has been history, there have been gruesome mass murders.

Comment: Read the following articles to learm more about the recent Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre

Connecticut massacre, two shooters? Look to Aurora, Colorado
Sandy Hook massacre: Official story spins out of control
Sandy Hook psy-ops: Police state here we come
Sandy Hook massacre: Evidence of official foreknowledge?

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Arrow Down

Hunger and homelessness rise in the U.S.


RT.com
Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:09 UTC
Homeless
© Reuters/Jason Redmond
Bennie Thomas, who is homeless, eats a free Thanksgiving meal for the Skid Row homeless and needy at the Los Angeles Mission in Los Angeles, California November 21, 2012.
Homelessness and poverty is on the rise, with 84 percent of US cities reporting that requests for emergency food assistance increased in 2012. Of those seeking emergency food, 51 percent were families and 37 were employed.

The news comes just a few days before millions of Americans get together for Christmas. With homelessness and poverty reaching record levels this year, many families may not be able to afford the feast they were able to prepare in the past.

The Hunger and Homelessness Survey released by the US Conference of Mayors states that of 25 cities surveyed, 21 have seen an increase in homelessness this year and the remaining three said it remained at the same level. Cities of all sizes, regions and wealth levels were surveyed, including Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Salt Lake City.

The report found that 46.2 million Americans, or 15 percent of the population, were living in poverty, and the number of homeless people on a single night in January 2012 was 633,782. The struggling US economy has caused many workers to move from full-time work to part-time, scraping by and living from paycheck to paycheck.

"In the last year, we saw a brand-new 26,000 households [about 56,000 individuals] needing food who never did before," Steveanna Wynn, executive director of the SHARE food program in Philadelphia, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The increase in poverty and homelessness is "the worst it's ever been," she added. "These people never in their wildest dreams through they'd have to go to a food cupboard."
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Dollar

Facebook now charging some users to send messages


RT.com
Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:04 UTC
Thumbsdown
© WordTracker.com
Facebook has begun testing a pilot program where users have to pay a fee for each message they want to send over the social networking site.

The website, one of the most visited in the world, published a press release on Thursday that explains a "small experiment" that will require users to fork over a small sum if they want to contact persons that aren't directly linked to.

Since 2010, Facebook has implemented a feature where messages from unfamiliar users are routed to an "Other" folder instead of the traditional inbox where emails from users had always ended up until then. Facebook says that automatically separating messages into one folder or another by using specially designed algorithms has allowed the site to ensure that spam and other unwanted messages are absent from the actual inboxes of users.

Because users are not notified automatically when messages land into the "Other" folder, emails sent from friends of friends or other people with legitimate inquiries are easily missed. By charging users to ensure messages are routed to the primary inbox, Facebook hopes that fewer messages of actual important won't go unnoticed. It also, however, opens the door for advertisers to have one more way of targeting users.
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