Society's ChildS


Fire

Attempt by relatives to set pregnant Indian woman on fire after oracle predicts baby girl

Girija
© www.thehansindia.comGirija
A pregnant woman in India was almost set on fire by her husband's family after a soothsayer predicted that she would carry a girl, not a boy, local media reported. The incident took place in the village of Muthukur, Andhra Pradesh state, southeastern India, the Hans India newspaper reported. Though the case happened on August 20, it has appeared in Indian media only recently.

The woman, identified as Girija, married a man named Tandra Srinivasulu two years ago. The couple already has one daughter. When Girija became pregnant again, Tandra's mother and sister contacted a soothsayer who predicted that Girija would have a baby girl again. In many Indian villages baby boys are still much more welcomed than girls. The woman's in-laws demanded she have an abortion, but she did not agree.

"After Girija refused, her mother in-law attempted to set Girija on fire by pouring kerosene on her stomach while she was sleeping," police sources told News18.com outlet. The Hans India daily also reports there was some acid mixed with the kerosene. Neighbors heard the cries and called an ambulance. The woman was admitted to a private hospital. News18.com says her health is out of danger.

Women in India face numerous crimes of oppression, including rape, acid throwing and the forced prostitution of young girls. In 2012, India was ranked as the worst G20 country to be born a woman and one of the worst countries for women in the world by TrustLaw, a legal news service.

"In India, women and girls continue to be sold as chattels, married off as young as 10, burned alive as a result of dowry-related disputes and young girls exploited and abused as domestic slave labor," Gulshun Rehman, health program development adviser at Save the Children UK, which took part in the poll, told Reuters. In 2014, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said it was concerned over India's "failure to implement relevant laws and policies and ensure non-discrimination."

Comment: This monstrous action is unthinkable as a way to solve a family issue. There are extreme variations of morals, ethics and behavior in different parts of the world, and differences in acceptability within those populations. India is noted as one of the worst for women's rights and wellbeing of any modern society. It has a long way to go to reach an acceptable global standard of human rights and equality and should start with outlawing female feticide.


Syringe

Olympic wrestler refuses medal upgrade from disqualified deceased Olympic competitor

Yogeshwar Dutt
© Suhaib Salem/ReutersIndia's Yogeshwar Dutt, bronze medal winner Mens' 60Kg Freestyle wrestling, London 2012 Olympic Games
An Indian wrestler has refused a medal upgrade from the 2012 London Olympics after a Russian competitor's dope test turned out positive following his death in a car crash. The athlete said the family of the Russian wrestler should keep the silver medal.

Yogeshwar Dutt from Haryana, India, competed against Russia's Besik Kudukhov in the men's 60kg freestyle category at the 2012 Games. The Russian wrestler received a silver medal, while Dutt claimed the bronze.

Although Kudukhov - a four-time world champion and two-time Olympic medalist - died in a car crash in 2013, his samples were recently re-tested and were found to have contained banned substances. That finding has resulted in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripping him of his medal.

The re-test was part of standard practice by the IOC, which stores samples for up to 10 years to allow for the use of advanced testing methods. A total of 98 athletes from the London and Beijing Olympics have so far tested positive for doping, out of the 1,000 samples re-tested.

Comment: The anti-doping Nazis are at it to the fullest, checking samples on hand for 10 years and issuing reversals of fortunes at any time therein. Russian forfeitures were the only ones specifically mentioned in this article although it claimed 98 positive tests.


Penis Pump

US pervert politician Anthony Weiner investigated by Children's Services for sexting next to son

Anthony Weiner
© Lucas Jackson/ReutersAnthony Weiner
Children's services have reportedly entered the apartment of former congressman Anthony Weiner over his recent sexting, this time because it apparently involved his four-year-old son. According to the New York Post, representatives of the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) have already visited the Manhattan apartment, where Weiner lives with his wife, Huma Abedin, a senior aide to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and their mutual four-year-old son Jordan.

weiner and son
© www.thesun.co.uk
The ACS has reportedly started a probe into "disgraced" Weiner's care of the boy after the Post publically shared a picture that the former politician sent to an unknown woman, believed to be a divorcee in her 40s.

A children's services worker told the Post Wednesday that under ACS protocol, officials should respond with a home visit within 48 hours. ACS showed up at Weiner's on Tuesday. The government source has also explained that the main purpose of such checks is to make sure that a child has a room to sleep in and food to eat.

At the same time, the Post obtained a video that showed Weiner leaving his apartment early Tuesday morning, and it was not clear if officials managed to enter the property. On Wednesday, Weiner reportedly claimed that he had no ACS officials visiting him.

Weiner's sexual messaging exchange took place over a year ago, but was made public only this week.
"Someone just climbed into my bed," Weiner wrote in a message sent shortly after 3:00am on July 31, 2015.

"Really?" she responded.

This is when Weiner sent proof, a picture of himself lying on a bed in his underwear with his son, right near his hips.

"You do realize you can see you[r] Weiner in that pic??" the woman wrote.

Comment: That poor kid has one heck of a choice in parents.


USA

Trump immigration hypocrisy: Former models for Trump agency say they worked illegally and violated immigration rules

trump models
© Pierre Roussel/ Zuma Press; Louis Lanzano/AP Photo
Republican nominee Donald Trump has placed immigration at the core of his presidential campaign. He has claimed that undocumented immigrants are "taking our jobs" and "taking our money," pledged to deport them en masse, and vowed to build a wall on the Mexican border. At one point he demanded a ban on Muslims entering the country. Speaking to supporters in Iowa on Saturday, Trump said he would crack down on visitors to the United States who overstay their visas and declared that when any American citizen "loses their job to an illegal immigrant, the rights of that American citizen have been violated." And he is scheduled to give a major address on immigration in Arizona on Wednesday night.

But the mogul's New York modeling agency, Trump Model Management, has profited from using foreign models who came to the United States on tourist visas that did not permit them to work here, according to three former Trump models, all noncitizens, who shared their stories with Mother Jones. Financial and immigration records included in a recent lawsuit filed by a fourth former Trump model show that she, too, worked for Trump's agency in the United States without a proper visa.

Foreigners who visit the United States as tourists are generally not permitted to engage in any sort of employment unless they obtain a special visa, a process that typically entails an employer applying for approval on behalf of a prospective employee. Employers risk fines and possible criminal charges for using undocumented labor.

Syringe

Drug prohibition and the backstory behind the recent wave of heroin overdoses

heroin overdose
Over the course of six days in mid-August, 174 people overdosed on heroin in Cincinnati, Ohio. Earlier this month, 26 residents of Cabell County, West Virginia shared the same fate in a four-hour span. And between May and July of 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky, the number of heroin and opioid overdoses tripled.

As increased opioid use and overdoses become a trend, the natural response from law enforcement in most of the country is to come down harder on drug traffickers and users. This amounts to taking on the same approach to drug use and commerce that has been directly associated with the increase in incarceration among poor and non-violent blacks and Latinos.

According to the National Seizure System's data, there has been an "80 percent increase in heroin seizures in the past five years" in America, from "3,733 kilograms in 2011 to 6,722 kilograms in 2015."

Comment:


Rocket

Rocket carrying Facebook satellite explodes on launch pad at Cape Canaveral

space x rocket explosion
A Falcon 9 booster rocket exploded on the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as tropical storm Hermine bore down on the area. An Israeli satellite that was to provide Facebook broadband to Africa was lost in the explosion, SpaceX confirmed.

"In preparation for today's static fire, there was an anomaly on the pad, resulting in the loss of the vehicle and its payload," SpaceX said in a statement Thursday morning.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the explosion occurred during the fueling phase, and originated "around upper stage oxygen tank," but the cause was still undetermined.

The blast shook buildings some distance away, according to witnesses who reported it on social media. Thick black smoke could be seen rising from the pad, while secondary explosions continued.

The plume of smoke was tracked on weather radar.


Dollars

Italy: "Here's some money, kids, don't become terrorists"

St. Peter's Square
© Alessandro Di Meo/European Pressphoto AgencyItalian police stand guard at a checkpoint in Conciliazione Street, next to St. Peter's Square, in Rome in Nov. 17, 2015.
As Europe struggles to counter the threat posed by the Islamic State and other militant groups, the Italian government is set to launch a scheme that will take the fight to a different level.

Starting mid-September, more than half a million 18-year-olds living in Italy are eligible to receive vouchers valued at more than $500 each. The vouchers will allow recipients to visit museums free, go to concerts for reduced prices or watch movies.

"It sends a clear message — a welcome for those who reach the age of 18 and a reminder of how crucial culture is, both for personal enrichment and for strengthening the social fabric of the country," Tommaso Nannicini, the official in charge of the program, was quoted as saying last week.

Comment: A one-time check for $500 is hardly enough to radically change a youth's worldview. It may be fun as a "culture bonus" for those who already appreciate Italian culture, but as an incentive to counter 'radicalization'... good luck. The only solution would have to be much more complex and involve not only a complete rearrangement of geopolitics away from Western hegemony, harsh penalties for organizations (like the CIA, Gulen, and Saudi networks that support and train terrorists), support for moderate and stable government in the Middle East and surrounding regions (e.g., Assad's Syria, Libya as it was under Gadaffi, Iran, Chechnya under Kadyrov), isolation and sanctions against radical regimes (e.g., Saudi Arabia), multi-religious education, cross-cultural sharing and socialization, and more. Russia has arguably been more effective in their approach over the past 20 years. It's not perfect, but it's far better than the alternatives on offer in the West:




Sheriff

Protecting their own: Cops cover for police chief caught driving 109 mph while drunk

mississippi police chief suspended DUI
Time and time again, police officers and public officials are caught driving drunk only to be let go or given a ride home — a convenience seldom afforded to the peasant class. Even when driving a dangerously fast 109 mph through neighborhood streets, and reeking of alcohol, the chief of police for Moss Point, Mississippi was shown a despicable level of favoritism and let go. The entire scene was captured on dashcam.

Only after the public became aware of the situation and forced the local government's hand, was Moss Point Police Chief Art McClung suspended — a month after he got off scot free.

"I saw the video," said Mayor Billy Broomfield, who pointed out that the suspension is only based on the video at this point. "Based on what we've seen, which is all we have, we have not received any legal certification or confirmation from anybody other than what we all have read or seen in the papers."

On Tuesday night, the town's board voted to suspend McClung after the dashcam of the incident was publicly released. In the infuriating dashcam, you can hear the responding officers admit he's drunk after they caught him driving at deadly speeds through city streets — only to uncuff him and bring him home.

Stock Down

The Canadian economy takes a hit, shrinking at the fastest pace since the last financial crisis

canadian flag
Things have not been this bad for the Canadian economy since the last global recession. During the second quarter of 2016, Canada's GDP contracted at a 1.6 percent annualized rate. That was the worst number in seven years, and it was even worse than most analysts were projecting. This comes at a time when bad news is pouring in from all corners of the global economy. While things in the United States are still relatively stable for the moment, the same cannot be said for much of the rest of the planet. Canada in particular has been hit very hard by the collapse in oil prices, and the massive wildfire in northern Alberta back in May certainly did not help things. The following comes from the BBC...
The recent drop in GDP was larger than analysts had projected, but not far off the predicted 1.5% loss.

"[The figure] could have been worse, given the hit from the wildfire, and clearly confirms the disappointing downward trend in exports over the last few months," said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

In May, wildfires devastated the parts of northern Alberta where much of Canada's oil and natural gas is produced.

Comment: Perhaps the big bankers are getting their dominoes in line?

Central banks are ready to make their 'brave new world'


Handcuffs

Cop fired and charged with animal cruelty after leaving his dog in patrol car for 38 hours, killing it

K9 police dog
An Oklahoma sheriff's deputy has been fired and charged with animal cruelty after his K9 partner succumbed to crushing heat while confined in the deputy's patrol car for 38 hours.

Now-former Stephens County Sheriff's Deputy Matthew Peck left K9 Deputy Bak, his partner of four years, in the sweltering vehicle for over a day and a half, killing the animal.

According to the arrest affidavit, cited by local station KOCO, Bak died sometime between Wednesday night, August 3, and Friday morning, as outside temperatures climbed to 99 degrees. Court documents estimated this meant the patrol car's interior temperature could have exceeded 120 degrees — more than sufficient to kill the helpless animal, which had not been provided water or food.

A local veterinarian contacted by authorities and cited in court documents said that while the otherwise healthy eight-year-old Bak could have "easily survived through the night," once Thursday's temperatures began to rise, heating the interior to above 105 degrees, the dog would have no chance for survival. The vet surmised Bak had suffered heat stroke.