Society's ChildS

Question

Ireland glue attacks: More houses are targeted

Crime Scene
© BBC NewsThe scene of a previous incident when car and house doors were glued shut in Letterkenny.
House and car doors have been glued shut in a County Donegal town for the third time in five weeks.

On Wednesday morning, up to 60 cars and houses in the Glencar Park area of Letterkenny had their locks glued by a disguised man who was captured on CCTV.

Local locksmith, Conal Kelly, said the glue renders the doors useless and they cost more than โ‚ฌ50 (ยฃ40) to replace.

In the first incident on September 28, over 25 homes in Letterkenny were targeted.

Resident John Stevenson had his house and car doors glued shut.

"A neighbour came along and told me I had glue on my front door and the door of my car, all the houses in the row were done.

"He had a little screwdriver with him and he managed to get the glue out of both the house and the car doors so it wasn't a major problem.

"But if I had left the house and pulled the door behind me it would have been a problem there

"It was only then that I had heard that Ballymacool had been targeted before.

Arrow Down

African painted dogs kill 2-year-old who fell into Pittsburgh zoo exhibit

African Painted Dogs
© Paul A. SelvaggioAfrican Painted Dogs at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.
A 2-year-old boy fell 14 feet into the African painted dog exhibit area at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium shortly before noon Sunday and was mauled to death by the dogs.

Police said the child lost his balance after his mother lifted him in a standing position onto the 4-foot-high wooden railing of an elevated, gazebolike structure that overlooks the enclosure. He toppled over the railing, hit a mesh shelf and landed on the ground of the open exhibit space, where he was set upon by the 11 dogs in the area.

The medical examiner's office would not release the child's name Sunday evening. Police said he and his 34-year-old mother are from Pleasant Hills and were visiting the zoo with cousins, an adult and another child.

Major Crimes Lt. Kevin Kraus declined to comment on potential charges and said the bureau will continue to investigate to determine if anything could have prevented the death.

Angela Cinti, 20, of Bethel Park saw the attack and described a horrifying scene that lasted minutes but seemed like hours.

"The screams just kept coming and coming," said Ms. Cinti, who was at the zoo with her boyfriend. "We were on our way to the polar bear exhibit when we heard the most horrible piercing screams. ... Someone was begging for help, asking someone to do something."

As they ran toward the screams, she saw a small crowd of distressed onlookers and the little boy's apparently lifeless body lying on the hill inside the painted dog exhibit with three of the animals at his head, neck and leg.

Bad Guys

Cop ruptures woman's breast implant during arrest over unpaid speeding ticket


A North Texas woman who says a Pantego police officer caused her breast implant to rupture during an arrest is suing the department.

Rebecca Van Hooser of Arlington, Texas, said the officer threw her against her car on Oct. 28, 2011, when he arrested her during a traffic stop.

The Pantego officer pulled her over on a headlight violation and arrested her after learning she had a warrant for an unpaid speeding ticket.

"She gets out of the car, (the officer) grabs her, throws her against the car, spreads her legs ... and grabs her arms and forcefully pulls them out and yanks them very hard behind her back," said her attorney, Susan Hutchison.

Hutchison said throwing Van Hooser against the car caused her breast implant to burst.

Vader

Police mace, pepper spray Occupy Portland protesters

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© Ross William Hamilton /The Oregonian Multiple people who were part of the Occupy Portland activities on Saturday, were pepper sprayed when they tried to enter NE 14th from NE Halsey Street.
Portland police arrested and pepper-sprayed protesters who were marching against austerity measures on Saturday. The police, dressed in riot gear with several officers on horseback, tackled and sprayed several demonstrators who were carrying signs.

Around 300 protesters of the Portland Action Lab, an offshoot of the city's Occupy movement, had gathered in the Lloyd District to march on issues ranging from healthcare reform to military spending to public education. The protesters had not acquired a permit to march and some did not know the route, which led to a confrontation with police.

While police insist they only used pepper spray after being confronted by people with wooden shields, protesters who witnessed the incident say it happened suddenly after several high school students tried to push through and continue the march.

Vader

Blaming the victim: School district accuses rape victim of being "careless and negligent"

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Two teachers at Joaquin Moraga middle school in northern California sexually abused student Kristen Cunnane over a four-year period beginning in 1996, when Cunnane was an eighth-grader.

Former Joaquin Moraga physical education teacher Julie Correa pleaded guilty to rape and sexual battery of Cunnane, who turned to science teacher, Daniel Witters, to report the abuse, but he also molested her. Witters later committed suicide after the allegations against him surfaced, reports ContraCostaTimes.com.

Cunnane has now filed a lawsuit against the school district, retired Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School principal Bill Walters, retired assistant principal Paul Simonin and retired superintendent John Cooley, claiming they repeatedly ignored allegations of abuse, allowing her and other students to be victimized.

In response, the Moraga School District claims Cunnane that was "careless and negligent" and contributed to her ongoing sexual abuse at the hands of the teachers. They also claim that Cunnane was "careless and negligent" in the matter of her own rape.

Comment: Talk about hypocrisy - careless and negligent might better describe the school and the district itself!


Cloud Lightning

Angry New Yorkers confront Bloomberg about lack of aid after Sandy

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New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was confronted by angry citizens, on Saturday, while visiting a neighborhood in Rockaway, Queens that had been ravaged by Hurricane Sandy.

One woman yelled: "When are we going to get some f****** help?"

An angry man told Mayor Bloomberg: "There's old ladies in my building that don't got nothing. Mr. Bloomberg, this is the first drop off site. Over the bridge we can't get a bottle of water, a hot chocolate, a coffee, nothing."

The confrontations were recorded by NY 1 TV, who happened to be in the neighborhood, reports the Daily Mail.

Mayor Bloomberg told the angry citizens: "You know, we're trying to do it as fast as we can."

He told WCBS-TV that he regretted canceling he New York Marathon: "I still think that we had the resources to do both, and that we want people to be able to take a break and that sort of thing. ... It's a big part of our economy."

Comment: The Mayor still cannot understand why thousands of frustrated, hungry people might be angry over a decision to put a marathon and "the economy" over their needs. The marathon was only canceled at the last minute because of "bad press" - certainly not because of any consideration for the suffering of the populace.


Gold Coins

Central Bank gold run at hand?

gold bars
On learning that French gold was being held by the U.S. Federal Reserve, French President Charles de Gaulle is reported to have said, "I could hardly sleep easily with such an arrangement." So in 1965 he ordered French navy ships to cross the Atlantic to pick up $150 million in gold held in the Fed's New York vaults and deliver it to the Banque de France in Paris.

It was a prudent move by de Gaulle. And it was consistent with the advice I have long given: Do not leave your gold in the care of somebody else. Take physical possession of your gold.

De Gaulle realized the United States was running an international con. It had promised that holders of U.S. dollars would always be able to redeem them for gold at the official rate of $35 per ounce. But like someone writing bad checks, it was clear that the U.S. was printing more dollars than it could possibly redeem at that rate.

V

Best of the Web: Thousands recreate closing scene of V for Vendetta with march on English Parliament, Fifth of November marked with worldwide protests, One-World Government agents respond with false-flag cyber attacks

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"Hundreds"? Try thousands, at least!
A worldwide day of protests and cyber attacks against governments, banks and security firms has been launched by Hacker collective Anonymous to mark Guy Fawkes Day. Hundreds of people marched in London, while another rally hit Washington, DC.

Around 200 Anonymous supporters, according to RT's London Bureau, assembled in London's Trafalgar Square for Operation Vendetta, a march to the Houses of Parliament. The group itself claims over 9,000 people joined the action.

The demonstrators were carrying banners reading, "We are Anonymous. We are the legion" or "Stop creating imaginary debt!" At the Houses of Parliament they were stopped by police.

Minor scuffles broke out outside parliament as a few protestors attempted to push police lines back, but the bulk of OpVendetta remained peaceful.

V

Guy Fawkes Day hacktivist protest hits PayPal and others?

Even though it is usually celebrated on the other side of the ocean, the protests of Guy Fawkes Day (November 5, 2012) has far-reaching implications. The troubled spirit of the very late Guy ("Guido") Fawkes and the failed Gunpowder Plot is still reaching us some 407 years after. Google News and BBC News have reported that the hacktivist team Anonymous has taken down some very notable websites. These include/d the NBC website (which is back up now), PAYPAL and Lady Gaga's website. Others were included in the hacktivist protest.

If you do have a PayPal account you might still be concerned - some "28,000" PayPal passwords were posted online. We checked ours to be safe and you may want to check yours. Time's newsfeed also reported that the Anonymous organization announced plans to hack Facebook and Zynga this day. Facebook seems to be "normal" - for now - and we have not checked into Zynga. The computer/security firm Symantec is reportedly looking into the hacks. We'll be keeping an eye on Threatpost to see if they report any hacktivism.


People

Is Occupy Wall Street outperforming the Red Cross in hurricane relief?

 Volunteers inside St. Jacobis Church
© UnknownVolunteers inside St. Jacobis Church working with Occupy Sandy's relief efforts.
In Sunset Park, a predominantly Mexican and Chinese neighborhood in South Brooklyn, St. Jacobi's Church was one of the go-to hubs for people who wanted to donate food, clothing, and warm blankets or volunteer help other New Yorkers who were still suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. On Saturday, Ethan Murphy, one of the people heading the kitchen operation, estimated they would prepare and send out 10,000 meals to people in need. Thousands and thousands of pounds of clothes were being sorted, labeled, and distributed, and valuable supplies like heaters and generators were being loaded up in cars to be taken out to the Rockaways, Staten Island and other places in need. However, this well-oiled operation wasn't organized by the Red Cross, New York Cares, or some other well-established volunteer group. This massive effort was the handiwork of none other than Occupy Wall Street - the effort is known as Occupy Sandy.

The scene at St. Jacobis on Saturday was friendly, orderly chaos. Unlike other shelters that had stopped collecting donations or were looking for volunteers with special skills such as medical training, Occupy Sandy was ready to take anyone willing to help. A wide range of people pitched in, including a few small children making peanut butter sandwiches, but most volunteers were in their 20s and 30s. A large basement rec room had become a hive of vegetable chopping and clothes bagging. They held orientations throughout the day for new volunteers. One of the orientation leaders, Ian Horst, who has been involved with a local group called Occupy Sunset Park for the past year, says he was "totally blown away by the response" and the sheer numbers of people who showed up and wanted to help. He estimated that he'd given an orientation to 200 people in the previous hour.