Society's ChildS


Pistol

Study finds Brazilian police kill 11,000 people in five years

elite police brazil
© REUTERS/Bruno DomingosArmed police in Brazil
A public safety group in Brazil has said that the country's police force killed more than 11,000 people in five years up to 2013 - the equivalent of six deaths a day.

The UN-recognised Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, an NGO based in Sao Paulo, said that the US figures from 2009 represented a similar number to those killed in the US - which has a much greater population - for the past 30 years.

The statistics come a week after a militia reportedly linked to the police went on a bloody rampage, gunning down 10 civilians in the northern city of Belém.

That massacre followed the killing of a police hour earlier on Tuesday, thought to be linked to the so-called "militia".

The issue of police "executing" suspects was a major and regular occurrence, according to Bruno Paes Manso of the University of Sao Paulo's Centre for the Study on Violence. He called it "a practice rarely investigated".

It is worrying news for a country that is just over a year away from hosting the 2016 Olympics.

Rio de Janeiro state, where the Olympic host city is located, was singled out as having the highest per-capita rate of police killings in the whole country, after 416 people died in police violence last year.

The report said it reflected empirical evidence "that Brazilian police make abusive use of lethal force to respond to crime and violence".

Cell Phone

Techno Addicts: Japan's smartphone 'zombies' wreak havoc on the streets

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A pedestrian using her smartphone on a street in Tokyo, November 3, 2014. Growing ranks of cellphone addicts are turning cities into increasingly hazardous hotspots
When the lights change at the Shibuya crossing in Japan's capital, one of the world's busiest pedestrian thoroughfares, hundreds of people with their eyes glued to smartphones pick their way over the road.

Despite being engrossed in the latest instalment of Candy Crush or busy chatting with their friends on messaging app Line, most manage to weave around cyclists, skateboarders and fellow Tokyoites.

But the growing ranks of these cellphone addicts are turning cities like Tokyo, London, New York and Hong Kong into increasingly hazardous hotspots, where zombified shoppers appear to be part of vast games of human pinball.

"Hey, watch it!" barks a middle-aged salaryman as a hipster typing on his smartphone slams into him during one recent Friday evening crush hour.

"Incidents involving people walking or on bicycles account for 41 percent of phone-related accidents," Tetsuya Yamamoto, a senior official at Tokyo Fire Department's disaster prevention and safety section, told AFP.

"If people continue walking around looking at their phones, I think we could see more accidents happening."

It goes beyond being an innocuous inconvenience where both people apologise before continuing on their merry way.

Tokyo Fire Department, which runs the ambulance service in the megalopolis, says that in the four years to 2013, 122 people had to be rushed to hospital after accidents caused by pedestrians using cellphones.

As well as the vaguely comedic incidents of businessmen smacking into lamp-posts or tripping over dogs, this total also included a middle-aged man who died after straying onto a railway crossing while looking at his phone.

Comment: For more information on our growing addiction to phones see: Techno Addicts Phone Withdrawal Has Physical Impact and You Love Your iPhone Literally


Network

Fed up with sex abuse cover-ups, vigilantes use social media to trap pedophiles

dark_web_pedophiles
© Thinkstock
Pedophiles in the UK are increasingly caught through fake social media accounts, as the hunt for vulnerable children moves away from the streets and on to the internet, an investigation has shown.

The report by the Guardian found that a number of services were creating fake social media accounts in order to lure suspected pedophiles, while building a case against them to use in British courts.

The report cites the prosecution of 50-year-old Peter Mitchell in August 2013, a school groundskeeper who sent sexually provocative messages and explicit photographs of himself to what he believed were two underage girls.

However, the accounts had been invented by Brendan Collis and his family, under the name Online Predator Investigation Team (OPIT).

Comment: No wonder people are trying to stop these predators using any tools they have, when it is obvious that the establishment is trying to bury the scandal involving British elites at the highest levels:

Woolf in sheep's clothing: Child sex abuse inquiry head 'unsuitable' say victim groups

The U.K. political pedophile ring scandal is just the tip of the iceberg - The full story is much more disturbing

Perception management: UK police arrest 660 suspected low-level pedophiles


Heart - Black

Heavily sedated hospital patient in Florida videos himself being sexually assaulted by male nurse

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  • Unnamed patient, 38, was taken to Palm Springs Hospital with back pain
  • But as he lay heavily sedated on a bed, he was 'sexually assaulted twice'
  • Rene Martinez allegedly fondled man's genitalia as he pretended to sleep
  • Nurse's second alleged assault was captured on the patient's cell phone
  • Martinez has denied battery and committing an unnatural lascivious act
  • Patient has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against hospital in Florida
This is the shocking moment a patient recorded himself allegedly being sexually assaulted by a male nurse as he lay in a hospital bed in Florida.

The 38-year-old man, who does not wish to be identified, was taken to Palm Springs Hospital in Hiaeleah, Miami-Dade County, on September 15 after suffering from severe back pain. But as he lay heavily sedated on a bed, he was allegedly molested twice by ER technician Rene Martinez. The second time, he had his cell phone video running, propped up on his shoulder.

Footage, obtained by Local10, appears to show 51-year-old Martinez entering the room, before sliding his hand into his patient's boxers and fondling his genitalia. He then leaves the room.
'I was like, "What's going on?" and he was like, "I was just checking to make sure you're OK." That's when I say, "OK this guy is up to something", said the patient, referring to the first alleged assault. 'He [then] came back, put his hand in my boxers, pulled out my private parts and started playing with it, and I was rolling on him doing it the second time.'

The victim, who did not call for help at the time because he was 'too scared' and 'drowsy' from painkillers, added: 'It has caused me a lot of damage. I haven't been the same since it happened.'
The next day, the patient, cited in legal documents as 'John Doe', complained to the hospital. But he waited two weeks to go to the police, having been traumatized by sex abuse as a child.

Following his complaint, Martinez was arrested and charged with two counts each of simple battery and an unnatural lascivious act. He denies all charges. On Monday, the patient's attorney, Jeffrey Herman, filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the South Florida-based hospital, alleging that his client was not protected from sexual assault.

In the lawsuit, Mr Herman claims the patient was told by Martinez that he could 'make good money' by showing his private parts at a hotel the nurse's friend owned. 'I could make a hundred dollars or more showing my private part,' the patient wrote in the report. 'He kept coming into the room trying to convince me.' Mr Herman added: 'My client was unable to defend himself, but he was able to get his phone out, so when it happened again, my client was able to get a video recording.'

Comment: A sexual predator faces up to one year in prison? That's it!?

North Carolina, US: man gets 9 years in prison over gluten bread

Mother of two facing 11.5 years in prison for honest mistake

Mother of dead teen gloomily blasts judge for lenient (1 month) sentence of rapist


Ambulance

Wisconsin woman facing bankruptcy because paramedics took her to out-of-network hospital while unconscious

Megan Rothbauer
Megan Rothbauer
A 30-year-old Wisconsin woman is trying to figure out how to avoid bankruptcy after getting hit with a $50,000 medical bill after paramedics took her to the wrong hospital while she was unconscious.

Megan Rothbauer suffered a heart attack last year. While she was unconscious, paramedics took her to the closest hospital - St. Marys of Madison, Wis.

The problem is, St. Marys is outside of her insurance company's billing network. Had she been taken to Meriter Hospital, which is only three blocks away, she would only be on the hook for $1,500.

"I was unconscious when I was taken to the hospital," Rothbauer told WISC. "Unfortunately, I was taken to the wrong hospital for my insurance. I was in a coma. I couldn't very well wake up and say, 'Hey, take me to the next hospital.' It was the closet hospital to where I had my event, so naturally the ambulance took me there. No fault to them."

Comment: People spend more on healthcare in the US than in any other developed nation, yet the system is painfully inadequate. In terms of life expectancy, the US ranks 26th out of 34 in the OECD member countries. The cost of childbirth is one of the most expensive in the world, yet infant mortality is higher than in many other developed countries. Healthcare in the US is now a complete travesty as the system is designed to benefit the insurance industry while sucking the life and financial resources out of most Americans.

Hospitals all over America are wildly inflating medical bills


Pistol

Man calls police to escort his girlfriend, they shoot her in the head - they will now investigate themselves

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© The Ann Arbor NewsMichigan State Police investigate the scene where one of their thugs shot dead 40 year old Aura Rosser on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014.
A 40-year-old woman and mother of three from Ann Arbor, Michigan was shot and killed Sunday night after allegedly confronting police while holding a knife.

After hearing gunshots fired, Stephens asked if he could talk to his girlfriend and that's when he was informed she was dead.

The woman's boyfriend, Victor Stephens, 54, challenged the police on their handling of the incident, saying that the use of lethal force was excessive and that the situation could have been resolved through non lethal means. Stephens said:
"Me and her, we had an argument. Glass was being broke, so I called the police to escort her out,"
Police were called at approximately 11:45 pm by Stephens to escort his girlfriend from his property. When officers arrived, Stephens was in a separate hallway in the house away from where the incident occurred and she was pronounced dead at the scene. There were 5 other people at the house.
"They said 'freeze' and the next thing I know I heard (gunshots)," Stephens said.

Comment: This is the latest of thousands of police stories we've seen in recent years, and one message comes through loud and clear:If you value your life, your family, your dog, or your possessions, do not call the police.


Bomb

Israelis stock up on self-defense weapons 'preparing for attack'

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© Reuters / Amir CohenA Jewish settler walks with his son in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maon, south of Hebron
Tensions are running high in Israel after the fatal stabbings of two Israelis by Palestinian assailants in Tel Aviv earlier this week. Israelis are stocking up on self-defense weapons in fear for new attacks and another Intifada, local media reports.

"We're sold out of everything!" an employee of an IDF weapons shop told the Jerusalem Post reporter.

"It's crazy. I've never seen anything like this," he said, adding that "everyone" is buying the merchandise.

Many Israelis are afraid to go outside without a knife in the pocket for fear they could be attacked at any moment.

Comment: Netanyahu's relentless pursuit of terrorism that Israel created seems to be ramping up along with the rest of the Middle East's instability. The psychopaths in power cannot see the eventual outcome of their actions. Obtaining power while instilling fear is the only thing they know how to do. Humans and nature will respond to this inequality. Read Pierre Lescaudron's book Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection: The Secret History of the World for more information.


Bad Guys

Attorney for Texas oil giant says facial expressions made by pipeline protesters are "assault"

#KMFace
© TwitterRainforest Action Network employees showing their #KMFace
In 2012, Texas oil giant Kinder Morgan announced plans to triple the size of their Canadian pipeline:
The expansion involves twinning, or building, 610 miles of new pipeline along the existing 715-mile route between Edmonton in Alberta and Burnaby, British Columbia, a suburban community just outside Vancouver.
Many Canadian residents are outraged and have tried to block the expansion, some even chained themselves to fencing around a test site to prevent the company from conducting tests in British Columbia. Kinder Morgan responded by suing protesters and claiming the dirty looks they gave Kinder Morgan employees constitute "assault":
Mr. Kaplan had argued the defendants conspired against Kinder Morgan, employing social media and telephone networks to harm the oil company and pipeline builder Trans Mountain as they seek to nearly triple capacity by expanding a route under Burnaby Mountain.

He entered into evidence photographs of protesters wearing facial expressions he said demonstrate anger and violence.

"One of the things I will argue is that is not only intimidation, but that is actually an assault," he said on Wednesday.
Opponents of the pipeline latched onto this ridiculous legal argument and the "assault" faces went viral under the #KMFace hashtag. Jump below the fold to see some of the reactions.

2 + 2 = 4

No kidding! Princeton study says U.S. is an oligarchy

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American media is fond of speaking about "Russian Oligarchs" as if Russia were the only nation that allowed accumulation of such unprecedented wealth. The Yeltsin days of dis-order and collapse indeed saw the rapid rise of many fortunes and oligarchs - persons of very much wealth. Some of them have proven patriotic citizens, some like Khodokorvsky or the late unlamented Boris Berezhovsky proved to be loveless gangsters. A new study, however by a Princeton University Professor of the influence of very wealthy or economically powerful persons on American political policies makes clear for the first time that a genuine American Oligarchy has staged a slow coup d'etat over US foreign and domestic policy over the past three decades since the era of Ronald Reagan. This American oligarchy today is the major force for war and dis-order across the planet.


I completed by undergraduate university studies in one of America's most elite universities, Princeton. It was during the early 1960's and classmates came from elite preparatory private schools like Andover or Exeter. Classmates with names like Firestone or Prince Faisal were attending. Then tuition cost $650 a year, the price I paid for my used 1956 Chevy. I was only able to pay that because I was awarded a full university scholarship, raised by a working mother with modest income. Today tuition for one year at Princeton costs $41,820. Princeton speaks of money and elite families. So I noted with great interest a new study published by two Princeton professors on wealth in America since 1981.

Martin Gilens is Professor of Politics at Princeton University together with Benjamin I. Page Professor at Northwestern University have published results of a unique analysis "using a unique data set that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues." The study concludes that, "Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence. The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination..."

Comment: If the word oligarchy doesn't hold that much meaning to you here are a few synonyms provided by Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group:

noun dictatorship


Bell

Mexicans protest and clash with police after government declares missing 43 students dead

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Angry protests swept Mexico over the weekend in the wake of a press conference Friday in which Jesús Murillo Karam, the country's attorney general, declared that 43 missing teaching students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School in the state of Guerrero are all dead. Murrillo based this evaluation on confessions by gang members that they had killed the students, who were handed over to them by the police, and then burned their bodies.


Demonstrations in both Mexico City and the Guerrero capital of Chilpancingo saw clashes with police and attacks on government buildings. In the capital, a small group of demonstrators launched an attack on the historic National Palace in the city's main square (El Zócalo). They first used metal security barriers to ram the building's wooden door and then doused it with gasoline and set it on fire.


Some demonstrators questioned why it took police so long to respond to these acts, suggesting that they could have been the work of provocateurs.

Whatever the case, Mexico's president, Enrique Peña Nieto, sought to exploit them, using an impromptu press conference at the Anchorage, Alaska, airport to declare that he joined all Mexicans in saying "no to violence," thus attempting to equate the abominable crimes carried out against the Guerrero normalistas, as the teaching students are known, with isolated acts of property damage by protesters.

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Translation: What if your son was the 44th?
On Monday, protesters, led by teachers, students and relatives of the disappeared normalistas, as the student teachers are known, overwhelmed riot police and set up a blockade of the international airport in Acapulco, the Pacific coast resort that is Guerrero's largest city.

Last Wednesday, university students struck across Mexico, and a hundred thousand people marched in downtown Mexico City in protest over the killings. This followed weeks of marches and protests throughout the country, and internationally.