Society's ChildS


Robot

'Biohacker' implants chip in arm

Implant
© YouTube screengrab from MotherboardBiohacker Tim Cannon had a battery-powered electronic device installed in his arm.
Kids, don't try this at home: A self-described "biohacker" had a big electronic chip - almost as large as a deck of cards - inserted beneath the skin of his arm. Without a doctor's help. And without anesthetics.

Tim Cannon is a software developer from Pittsburgh and one of the developers at Grindhouse Wetware, a firm dedicated to "augmenting humanity using safe, affordable, open source technology," according to the group's website. As they explain it, "Computers are hardware. Apps are software. Humans are wetware."

The device Cannon had inserted into his arm is a Circadia 1.0, a battery-powered implant that can record data from Cannon's body and transmit it to his Android mobile device. Because no board-certified surgeon would perform the operation, Cannon turned to a DIY team that included a piercing and tattoo specialist who used ice to quell the pain of the procedure.

Now that the device is inserted and functioning, Cannon is one step closer to achieving a childhood dream. "Ever since I was a kid, I've been telling people that I want to be a robot," Cannon told The Verge. "These days, that doesn't seem so impossible anymore."

Brick Wall

Paralyzed Detroit firefighter will lose health benefits

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© MyFoxDetroit.comBrendan Milewski (image from video)
A paralyzed Detroit firefighter is about to lose his health benefits. Brendan Milewski was injured on the job and left permanently paralyzed.

Now, he is losing his benefits because Detroit is going into bankruptcy.

Brendan Milewski was hurt by a piece of limestone that fell on him while he was working as a firefighter at the scene of an emergency. This left him paralyzed and unable to work. The Detroit firefighter requires ongoing physical therapy to stay healthy, but he is not expected to walk again.

The firefighter has received a recent notice letting him know his health benefits will end on Jan. 1, 2014. The city is offering a small montly stipend to help him, but it will not be enough to cover his healthcare costs.

Brendan Milewski had no other warning from Detroit that it was changing the health benefits, and he feels betrayed.

Pistol

Update - Suspect shot, in custody at Los Angeles International Airport after TSA agent fired upon

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© CNNAirport officials said a police incident began about 9:30 a.m. at Terminal 3, an airport spokeswoman said.
A suspect has been shot and is in police custody after a shooting that prompted evacuations Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, a law enforcement source close to the investigation tells CNN's Miguel Marquez.

Airport officials also confirmed the arrest in a tweet, adding that there were "multiple victims."

The incident began when a person with a firearm approached a checkpoint at Terminal 3 Friday morning and opened fire on Transportation Security Administration agent, a former Los Angeles Police Department ranking officer who arrived at the scene shortly after the incident told CNN.

Multiple shots were fired, and the TSA agent and the gunman were taken to hospitals, the source said.

Pistol

Breaking - Los Angeles International Airport: Shots fired at TSA agent, evacuation in process

Several people have been shot Los Angeles International Airport Terminal 3, according to the LAPD. The victims' conditions are unknown at this time. Authorities say the incident at a checkpoint at Terminal 3 began at 9:30 a.m. At least one of the shooting victims is believed to be a TSA employee. Initial reports are that there is a suspect in custody. It is unclear if there is a search for a second suspect.

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An "incident" at Los Angeles Airport began at 9:30 a.m. airport officials confirmed.
Terminal 3 has been evacuated. LAPD's West Bureau and South Bureau are in tactical alert due to the shooting.

Century Boulevard has been shut down. Motorists are advised to avoid the area.

Terminal 3 is the last terminal on the north side of the airport. Airlines that operate out of the terminal include Allegiant Air, Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit and Virgin America.

Live broadcast link

DEVELOPING: We will add more details to this report as they become available.

People 2

Germany allows 'indeterminate' gender at birth for 'intersex' people

Germany has become Europe's first country to allow babies with characteristics of both sexes to be registered as neither male nor female. Parents are now allowed to leave the gender blank on birth certificates, in effect creating a new category of "indeterminate sex". The move is aimed at removing pressure on parents to make quick decisions on sex assignment surgery for newborns. However, some campaigners say the new law does not go far enough. As many as one in 2,000 people have characteristics of both sexes.


Pistol

Fate to be decided for boy who killed neo-Nazi father

Jeff Hall, neo-Nazi, murdered by son
© Associated PressJeff Hall, pictured in 2010, was a regional leader of the National Socialist Movement and organised rallies at synagogues and day labour sites.
Lawyers argue over the future of a 10-year-old who shot dead the white supremacist Jeff Hall while he was sleeping.

The blond boy was 10 when he put a gun to the head of his sleeping neo-Nazi father and pulled the trigger.

It was over in an instant for Jeff Hall, but deciding the fate of his son has been a two-and-a-half-year journey that approaches its final stage on Friday in a hearing to determine where he will spend his teens and, possibly, his early adult years.

The judge hearing the case must decide not how to punish a child for second-degree murder, but how to rehabilitate someone who grew up in an abusive home, attacked his school teachers and was indoctrinated in the beliefs of white supremacy.

Mr. Potato

Toronto mayor Rob Ford under fire after police confirm they have video footage of him smoking crack cocaine

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
© UnknownThe infamous "Rob Ford crack video" is now in police hands.
The revelations came in a torrent. In two hours, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford faced several new challenges to his grip on power: the release of details from a Toronto police drug probe that mentions his name hundreds of times, confirmation that police have a video that appears to show him smoking crack-cocaine and a powerful new critic in the form of his own police chief.

The last point was underscored at the end of a morning press conference. "As a citizen of Toronto I'm disappointed," Police Chief Bill Blair said. "I know this is a traumatic issue for the citizens of this city and for the reputation of this city - and that concerns me."

Normally spoiling for a political scrap, Mr. Ford seemed at a loss for any defence against this new adversary.

Comment: For readers outside of Toronto to get a good idea of the utter buffoonery of the Toronto Mayor, here's a link to a recording of a live radio call-in show where it appears the Mayor called in incognito in order to defend himself.


Dominoes

Best of the Web: Food Bank CEO: "Riots always begin typically the same way" - Immediate consequence of U.S. food stamp program shutdown

The head of the largest food bank says the $5 billion annual cut will take a week of meals off millions' plates

Soup Kitchen
© Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP
Food stamp recipients face a massive benefit cut set to kick in when stimulus funds expire Friday. The nationwide cut "is equivalent to about 16 meals a month for a family of three," according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis using the USDA's "Thrifty Food Plan." CBPP called the roughly $5 billion annual cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program "unprecedented" in "depth and breadth."

"If you look across the world, riots always begin typically the same way: when people cannot afford to eat food," Margarette Purvis, the president and CEO of the Food Bank for New York City, told Salon Monday. Purvis said that the looming cut would mean about 76 million meals "that will no longer be on the plates of the poorest families" in NYC alone - a figure that outstrips the total number of meals distributed each year by the Food Bank for New York City, the largest food bank in the country. "There will be an immediate impact," she said.

Bomb

Ukrainian student gets 40 years for terror campaign against UK Muslims

White supremacist Pavlo Lapshyn
© ReutersPavlo Lapshyn came to Britain in April from Ukraine after winning a prize to further his studies, but within days he had stabbed Mohammed Saleem in Birmingham.
Pavlo Lapshyn hunted down a Muslim to murder before he bombed three Midlands mosques to trigger a race war.

A white supremacist who hoped to "ethnically cleanse" Muslims has been told he will serve at least 40 years imprisonment for a terror campaign in which he hunted down a Muslim to murder before he bombed three Midlands mosques aiming to kill and maim worshippers.

Pavlo Lapshyn, 25, came to Britain in April from Ukraine after winning a prize to further his studies. Instead he tried to trigger a race war, fuelled by extremist material on his computer - including a video game called "ethnic cleansing" which celebrated racist violence.

Bad Guys

How David Cameron's energy pricing reforms put my gas bill up 583%

Donnachadh McCarthy outside his retrofitted eco home in London
© Donnachadh McCarthyDonnachadh McCarthy outside his retrofitted eco home in London
Donnachadh McCarthy used energy-saving measures and renewable power to reduce his gas bill to just £18 a year. But now he's being stung by standing charges.

A 583% gas-bill rise.

That was the shock news I received this week from British Gas. Over the last 15 years, instead of running a car, I invested about £30,000 to make my south London Victorian terrace home eco-friendly.

I installed solid-wall, under-floor and loft insulation, triple-glazing, LED lighting, wood-burner, rain-harvester, solar hot water and solar photovoltaic panels. Whilst I did this because I passionately wanted to show that it was possible to make old homes almost zero-carbon, the other plus-side was that it slashed my annual gas bill to about £18 and my electricity-bill to almost zero, helping me recoup some of the costs.

However David Cameron's new "clearer pricing policy" has resulted in British Gas imposing a new £95 standing-charge on my gas bill. This means that whereas a rich Tory MP living in a rural mansion with a £3,000 heating bill will be paying 5p per unit, the unit cost for my gas will jump to 48p. That is a 963% premium.