Society's ChildS


Camera

New York City cracks down on 'upskirting" crimes against women, potentially being registered as a sex offender

upskirting
New York City police are on the lookout for illegal "upskirters" who take voyeuristic photographs of unsuspecting women in crowded train stations and subways, officials have said.

Five arrests of so-called "upskirters" who targeted women in public places were made during a spate of warm weather in March, according to the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

Arrow Down

University mistakenly sends 5,000 students acceptance emails, still being considered for acceptance

graduates
More than 5,000 prospective students have mistakenly been notified by email that they've been accepted into an upstate New York university.

University at Buffalo spokesman John DellaContrada says the mistaken email was sent Wednesday to students whose applications hadn't been fully reviewed. He says the university sent a second email about three to four hours later notifying the students of the gaffe and apologizing for it.

Pistol

Beers, ribs and bullets: Texan brings real gun to water fight, 'accidentally' shoots teenage girl

Texas guns
© brykmantra / FlickrTexas loves barbecues and guns.
Beers, ribs, and bullets were all on the menu at a family barbecue in Spring, Texas this past weekend where a 42-year-old man "accidentally" shot a teenage girl with his real gun while she was playing with a water weapon.

"It was crazy, like you would never expect somebody to bring a gun to a barbecue, or a family gathering at all," neighbor Micah Stewart told KPRC, who apparently forgot he was in Texas where guns are ubiquitous.

The 15-year-old had been playing with a water gun with Jason Speights when, according to Stewart, Speights went to his car to fetch dry clothes and stumbled on his gun.

Whistle

Baby left in hot car while her mom auditioned at a strip club

Kelsey McMurtry
© Metro Nashville Police DepartmentKelsey McMurtry (left) and Summer Taylor (right) will appear in court on Monday.
Kelsey McMurtry was arrested in Nashville after leaving her 13-month-old child locked in a blisteringly-hot car for 30 minutes while she auditioned to be a stripper in a club.

The 24-year-old, who works as a bikini model and MMA ring girl, was at Deja Vu strip club on Thursday to audition for a dancing job. She left her daughter in a car outside the club under the supervision of 19-year-old Summer Taylor, according to WKRN Nashville.

Police were alerted to the unattended girl after witnesses raised the alarm. McMurtry was brought out of the club to open the car.

No Entry

Muslim student booted off of Southwest flight for speaking Arabic

southwest plane
© Lucy Nicholson / Reuters
A university student who came to the US as an Iraqi refugee says he was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight after a fellow passenger became alarmed that he was speaking Arabic.

Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, a student at the University of California, Berkeley, said he called his uncle while waiting for his plane to take off from Los Angeles International Airport earlier this month. He wanted to tell him about a speech he had attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"I was very excited about the event, so I called my uncle to tell him about it," the 26-year-old told The New York Times.

Makhzoomi told his uncle that he had asked a question about Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) at the event, and used the phrase "inshallah" (God willing) at the end of the conversation.

Comment: See also:


Red Flag

Anti-Muslim propagandist to be the keynote speaker at New York police conference

Ryan Mauro
© Fox“National security analyst” Ryan Mauro, appears on Fox News.
Despite widespread criticism of his views, an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist will be the keynote speaker at an upcoming private police conference.

Ryan Mauro, a national security analyst at Clarion Project, a Zionist, anti-Muslim think tank formerly known as the Clarion Fund, will appear at the New York Tactical Officers Association's upcoming Tactical Conference, a police exposition attended primarily by SWAT team members. Attendance is strictly limited, and press and the general public are not welcome.

Hatewatch, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, criticized Mauro last year for spreading anti-Muslim propaganda:

Comment: One can only expect more anti-Muslim attacks by the police in the future.


Megaphone

'Ditch dodgy Dave': Londoners protest against austerity, call for Cameron's resignation

London protest
© Stefan Rousseau/PASaturday’s anti-austerity demonstration in central London.
A protest calling on David Cameron to resign has brought more than 150,000 people onto the streets of London on Saturday afternoon.

The March for Health, Homes, Jobs and Education was organized by activist group thePeople's Assembly Against Austerity. The demonstrators called for an end to austerity, and demanded that David Cameron quit over the Panama Papers revelation that he profited from his father's offshore investment fund.

People's Assembly National Secretary Sam Fairbairn said:

"The Tories are increasingly out of touch with the reality of life for most people. Every time they say 'we all in it together' it's another slap round the face of millions of people. The revelations that have unfolded with the 'Panama Papers' show the super-rich hiding their wealth in tax havens on an industrial scale. This means they avoid taxes that would pay for all the social benefits that are currently under attack and people are understandably angry. We're now seeing the potential for big unrest across the country and it wont be long until this government face a movement for change they can't control."

Comment: Previous anti-austerity protests in London (apparently, no one is listening):


Bell

Court decision on videotaping police erodes First Amendment rights and transparency, invites violence and police retaliation

First amendment rights
A federal district court in Pennsylvania recently issued a terrible joint decision in Fields v. City of Philadelphia and Geraci v. City of Philadelphia, holding for the first time that "observing and recording" police activities is not protected by the First Amendment unless an observer visibly challenges police conduct in that moment. The right to record police activities, under both the First and Fourth Amendments, is an increasingly vital digital rights issue. If allowed to stand, Fields would not only hamstring efforts to improve police accountability, but—given disturbing patterns across the U.S.—could also lead to unnecessary violence.

Criticism of the Fields decision emerged quickly, but focused mostly on its artificial distinction between what counts as protected "expression" under the First Amendment and what does not. Unfortunately, that fallacy is merely one among several that pervade the decision.

Artificial Distinctions in the Law

In previous cases emerging from across the country, appellate courts have held that the First Amendment "unambiguously" confers on civilians a right to record police activities, so long as they don't interfere with those activities.

Both the First Circuit (in 2011, in Glik v. Cunniffe) and the Seventh Circuit (in 2012, in ACLU ofIllinois v. Alvarez) have established controlling precedents establishing that rule within their jurisdictions. As a result, residents of Boston and Chicago, for instance, are entitled to observe and record police unless they interfere with them.

People

Churches and mosques in Sweden come together to solve refugee crisis

refugees Sweden
A Door that Cannot be Shut: Muslims and Christians Create Joint Business Helping Refugees

Stockholm — Sweden's substantial influx of refugees has resulted in an unexpected collaboration that could set a precedent for interfaith cooperation throughout the world. As an unforeseen consequence of the crisis, two of the country's largest Muslim and Christian congregations have united to create a unique business venture providing accommodation for refugees.

In relation to its size, Sweden has accepted more refugees than any other European country. More than 160,000 people sought asylum in 2015, a per capita rate over six times the E.U. average. With a population of less than 10 million, the scale of the influx is changing the country profoundly — and the transformation will continue for decades.

Rumour has it that the little country, known for its progressive politics, is being pushed to its breaking point. The population is set to top 10 million next year, with another million expected to be added less than a decade later. Some Swedes are even predicting that health and social welfare systems could be heading for collapse. Anger over the influx has seen refugee shelters burnt to the ground, and the growing popularity of Sweden's far right mirrors the backlash against multiculturalism rippling across Europe.

Comment: In the coming times, when we'll see much more turmoil, governmental dysfunction and societal breakdown, it'll be up to individuals and organizations with a conscience to assist those in need.


Cell Phone

Dad's stranger-danger test scares teens to call 911, an 'epic fail'

911 call
A suburban Cleveland man had a friend pose as a threatening ex-convict during a test to see whether his teenagers would let a stranger into their home, prompting them to flee and call 911, police said Friday.

A prosecutor will consider potential child-endangering charges against the adults.