Society's ChildS


Gold Seal

Actor, former NFL player Terry Crews opens up about his pornography addiction

Carly Ledbetter
Huffington Post
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 13:51 UTC
Terry Owens
© Via Instagram/Terry Owens (2015)
Actor Terry Crews is shedding light on a pornography addiction that took over his life and nearly ended his marriage.

Calling his confessional series "Dirty Little Secret," the "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star has released three videos on Facebook in which he openly talks about his problem with porn.

"Pornography, it really, really messed up my life in a lot of ways," Crews said in his first video, adding that day turned into night while he watched. "My wife was literally like, 'I don't know you anymore. I'm out of here.' And that changed me."

Crews said he went to rehab for his addiction about six or seven years ago to get the help he needed.

In the second video of his series, Crews devoted time to answering fan questions about how he overcame his addiction. The actor and former NFL player candidly talked about therapy and battling depression.

Terry Crews and wife, Rebecca King-Crews
© Tibrina Hobson/Getty ImagesTerry Crews and his wife Rebecca King-Crews pose as they arrive to attend the Warner Music After Party, in Hollywood, California, on February 16, 2016.
"I went to therapy, big time. When I went into therapy I didn't know what was going on, how to beat it, I couldn't do it alone," Crews said, adding that he focused on becoming more aware. "I had to realize when I was depressed. I had to realize when I was sad about something or when I was feeling lonely. Because those were the times I was more likely to use pornography."

Crews also said that he had to overcome shame and a big sense of entitlement to get better.

"I felt the world owed me something. I felt like my wife owed me sex," Crews said. "I felt that everybody owed me. And when you have a sense of entitlement, it's extremely dangerous."

Crews mended his relationship with his wife, telling HuffPost Live last year that the two completed a sex fast that left them "more in love" than ever.

"Ninety days -- no sex, all relationship, all talk, all cuddle," the actor said. "I found that at the end of that 90 days ... I knew who she was, and it wasn't about 'Let's go out because I know I'm gonna get some sex later.' It was like, 'Let's go because I want to talk to you. I want to know you.'"


Comment: See also:

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Piggy Bank

US banks warning 81% chance of economic downturn in 2016

Kristian Rouz
Sputnik
Fri, 26 Feb 2016 17:46 UTC
New York Stock Exchange
© AFP 2016/ JEWEL SAMAD
The recent surge of anti-corporate sentiment trending across America is likely to play a nasty joke on the US economy; as growth stalls amid threats of a full-blown recession, shrinking corporate profits won't allow American businesses to muster a recovery within the existing environment of excessive governmental involvement and regulation.

After two consecutive quarters of declines in US corporate earnings due to the dollar's strength slashing overseas profits, and the government's excessive involvement in the domestic economy undermining market competition, the broader economy is heading for a recession which may happen as soon as later this year. Capital wipeouts on Wall Street and the ongoing oil bust support the gloomy outlook, while declining prices keep inflation subtle, holding back consumer spending, one of the US economy's key drivers. Unless the US corporate sector is able to recover through tax cuts and a quick re-prioritization favoring the domestic market, the overall economic perspective is likely to deteriorate.

Comment: With the American consumer tapped out and short of an all out war, we are headed for some economic hard times.

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Rose

South Carolina woman dies of dehydration after being dragged out of hospital to jail over unpaid court fines

Travis Gettys
Raw Story
Fri, 26 Feb 2016 11:33 UTC
Joyce Curnell
© Screenshot via WCBD TVJoyce Curnell
A South Carolina woman died 27 hours after she was hauled out of a hospital and taken to jail over unpaid court fines — and her family said she was denied water and medical care.

Joyce Curnell was found dead in her cell July 22, one day after she was arrested at Roper Hospital, where she had been treated for a stomach illness, and taken to the Charleston County Jail, reported The Post and Courier.

The 50-year-old Curnell became too ill to eat or call for help, according to court documents filed this week as part of a planned lawsuit.

Curnell had been taken by ambulance to Roper Hospital from her Edisto Island home after complaining of nausea and vomiting, and she was diagnosed with gastroenteritis in the emergency room. A bench warrant was discovered at some point during her hospital stay, and someone alerted law enforcement officers.

Curnell had been placed on a payment plan in April 2012 to pay $1,148.90 in fines related to a shoplifting case, but she apparently quit paying the following January and a warrant was issued in August 2014.

The newspaper reported Thursday afternoon that Curnell's son, who is planning the lawsuit, notified law enforcement of the open warrant. However, the newspaper did not report whether Javon Curnell was asked about his mother's criminal background — or why.

A local doctor told Curnell's family that her death could likely have been prevented if she had been properly treated for dehydration and the irritation of her stomach and intestines. Simply put: Ms. Curnell died because she was deprived of water," said Dr. Maria Gibson, of Medical University Hospital.
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Chart Bar

Iranians go to the polls for dignity and to disappoint their enemies


RT
Fri, 26 Feb 2016 17:05 UTC
iran tehran elections
© Raheb Homavandi / ReutersIranians fill in their ballots during elections for the parliament and Assembly of Experts, which has the power to appoint and dismiss the supreme leader, in Tehran February 26, 2016.
Millions of Iranians have been lining up at polling stations across the country to take part in elections. Control over the 290-seat parliament and 88-member Assembly of Experts, the body empowered to appoint and dismiss the supreme leader, is at stake.

The massive turnout has forced authorities to extend the voting by two hours to let everyone who wants cast their ballots do so.

"Anybody who loves Iran, anybody who loves the Islamic Republic and national dignity, grandeur and glory is advised to participate in the elections, which is both duty and right of the people," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated after casting his ballot in the first polls since a nuclear deal last year finally led to the long-awaited lifting of the US and EU sanctions from Iran.

"All should participate in the elections in order to increase national prestige and dignity and disappoint the enemies," he added, the official IRNA news agency reported.


Comment: Democracy is alive and well in Iran. Too bad the same can't be said for the U.S. and Israel... In the last parliamentary elections (2012), the voter turnout in Iran was 62%. In the last U.S. parliamentary elections (2014), a whopping 33% of Americans came out to vote. Says a lot, doesn't it?

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Laptop

A threat to all iPhone users: Apple tells court to prevent FBI back-door order


RT
Fri, 26 Feb 2016 16:08 UTC
apple
© Brendan McDermid / Reuters
Apple has asked the court to reverse its order compelling the company to help the FBI hack an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists. The motion argues the Justice Department and the FBI are seeking "a dangerous power."

"This is not a case about one isolated iPhone," Apple wrote in the motion filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California on Thursday, the latest salvo in a court battle that between national security and digital privacy.

"Rather, this case is about the Department of Justice and the FBI seeking through the courts a dangerous power that Congress and the American people have withheld: the ability to force companies like Apple to undermine the basic security and privacy interests of hundreds of millions of individuals around the globe," the Cupertino-based company argued.

Apple has said it wants to cooperate with law enforcement, but creating a backdoor that would allow the FBI to unlock the iPhone of Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino shooters, would threaten the security of all its customers.

"The government says: 'Just this once' and 'Just this phone.' But the government knows those statements are not true," lawyers for Apple wrote in the motion submitted to Magistrate Sheri Pym.

Comment: This story is getting a lot of news coverage. If only there was the same amount of ongoing coverage on the NSA's existing abilities to spy on ordinary citizens. The sad thing is that even if Apple wins its case and doesn't have to create the back-door to all its iPhones, it won't change the fact that our security is already severely compromised.

Further reading:


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Sheriff

Virginia Senate passes bill that turns cops into secret police

Clarice Palmer
Activist Post
Fri, 26 Feb 2016 15:15 UTC
secret police
In the United States, the Fourth Estate, also known as the Fourth Power or the fourth branch of government, has always been a popular label for the media's role in a free society. But in the state of Virginia, legislators want to remove that power from the press by shielding police officers from public scrutiny.

Senate Bill 552, which has already been approved by the Senate, hopes to classify the names of all local police officers and fire marshals as "personnel records," shielding these individuals from the responsibility of dealing with public backlash in the case that something goes awry.
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Family

Optimism? Ordinary Syrians reflect on imminent ceasefire


Sputnik
Fri, 26 Feb 2016 14:08 UTC
Damascus, Syria
© Sputnik/ Iliya Pitalev
With the Syrian ceasefire due to enter force on February 27, Sputnik's Arabic edition asked Syrians to give their thoughts on the matter.

Sputnik's Arabic edition asked Syrians to give their thoughts on a much-awaited ceasefire in their country, which is set to take effect on February 27. This is what they said.

Opposition activist Sinan Diyab welcomed the ceasefire decision, which he said greatly reduces the risk of civilians coming under fire during the fighting. Also, he said, the ceasefire will contribute to the peace process in Syria.

"This truce is being held for the sake of Syrians and for the sake of political settlement between Syrians," Diyab said.
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Arrow Down

Not number one: 11 things other countries do way better than America

Larry Schwartz
AlterNet
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 13:54 UTC
bicycle riders
© S-F / Shutterstock
America! Land of the free, home of the brave, and the greatest country on the face of the planet, right? A country with seemingly limitless natural resources, and according to many politicians, anointed by God herself to lead the world out of the wilderness and into a bright new age of liberty and justice for all. Too bad the road to that vision is pockmarked with so many potholes, because we haven't raised enough taxes on people who can afford to pay to fill them.

Americans, maybe more than anyone on Earth, are guilty of the sin of hubris and excessive pride. As the great Greek poets of the ancient world have taught us, hubris can lead to some really bad outcomes.The reality is that a good portion of the rest of the world has far outpaced the United States in things like healthcare. While the U.S. has painstakingly cobbled together a convoluted insurance-friendly monster called Obamacare (remarkable mostly for how much better it is than what we had), the rest of the developed world enjoys one-payer government healthcare that outperforms the U.S. in both cost and quality of care. The proof is in the pudding; they live longer than Americans.

But healthcare is not the only way America lags behind the rest of the world. Here are 11 things other countries do better than us.
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Cross

Russian Patriarch Kirill, Pope Francis, discuss anti-terrorist coalition, future of humankind


RT
Fri, 26 Feb 2016 10:17 UTC
Pope F and Patriarch K
© www.rt.comHeads of Eastern/Western Christianity coming together, the world finally got their attention.
Global leaders ought to overcome political dissent and close the ranks in fighting international terrorism as the challenge to mankind at large, the chief foreign spokesman of the Russian Orthodox Church told the media.

The unprecedented meeting of the head of the Church, Patriarch Kirill, with his Roman Catholic counterpart Pope Francis in Havana on February 12 is going to have "far-reaching consequences," the head of the Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion, told TASS in an exclusive interview. "The word of the pope and the patriarch is addressed to men of all conditions, including political leaders the future of humankind depends upon," the Metropolitan said.

"We expect the message of peace to be heard. That instead of creating various anti-terrorist coalitions, alienated with deep-rooted contradictions and fraught with unpredictable consequences, there would be only one such alliance," he noted.

Metropolitan Hilarion emphasized that such coalition could not be made up only of politicians. "Spiritual leaders and other people of good will should go into it." The first-ever face-to-face talk between two of the major leaders of the Christian world does not mean that the dialogue has just started, Metropolitan Hilarion stressed. "It means the dialogue has entered a new stage of augmented intensity."

Despite all the existing theological disagreements, there is a clear understanding on both sides that "the situation in the world urges immediate collaborative action," as it was put in the final joint declaration of the heads of churches. "The meeting was necessary to coordinate our actions in the first place." It was important that leaders of world's two largest Christian churches spoke with a single voice. "So they did," Metropolitan Hilarion said.

Comment: Christianity's supreme leaders hope to bring the world together (after a 1,000-year rift for theological differences in Eastern and Western branches of the religion).

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Smoking

Anti-smoking hysteria: French authorities move to extend e-cigarette ban to clubs, restaurants and cafes


RT
Fri, 26 Feb 2016 23:49 UTC
Man vaping
© Mark Blinch/Reuters
France's top health authority has recommended extending the country's ban on e-cigarettes to include restaurants, cafes and nightclubs, saying there is a risk the devices could act as a "gateway" to smoking.

The vapes are already prohibited in France in areas where children are present, as well as on public transport and in enclosed workplaces.

France's High Council for Public Health (HCSP) hopes the increased ban will help avoid "renormalizing" the habit and tackle high smoking rates among under-16s, according to the agency's report.

The health authority released its notice on Thursday, saying that while e-cigarette can be seen as an aid to help break the smoking habit, their presence in public places may convey a positive image or "gateway" to smoking.

The HSCP went on to say vaping should be banned "even if the risks of passive smoking are zero or extremely limited".

Interprofessional Federation of Vape (FIVAPE) responded to the HSCP notice immediately by saying that such a ban would give the impression that vapes were just as harmful as regular cigarettes, Le Figaro reports.

Comment: Some people should smoke, some people shouldn't. If you are the tobacco-smoking sort, organically grown, additive-free is your best option to enjoy the blessings of tobacco. See:

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