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US, Washington: Judge Will Decide if Charges Against 9-Year-Old in School Shooting will Proceed


The Washington Post
Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:46 UTC
Image
© The Seattle Times / Ken Lambert / Pool / Associated Press
The 9-year-old boy accused of accidentally shooting a classmate at a Bremerton, Wash. elementary school is led away after his juvenile detention hearing in Kitsap County, Wash. Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012.
A frightened 9-year-old boy accused of accidentally shooting a classmate sat before a judge in juvenile court, crying and wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, as his father gently rubbed his back.

Thursday's scene came a day after police said the boy accidently shot a fellow third-grader, and raised questions that will be played out in the legal system: Did he know what he did was wrong? And is anyone else responsible?

Bail was set at $50,000 during the hearing where preliminary charges were filed, and ultimately the court will determine whether the case against the third-grader will continue.

An 8-year-old girl remains critically wounded.

"I just want everyone to know that my kid made a mistake. It was a terrible mistake," the boy's father, Jason Cochran, said outside the courthouse.

An uncle, Patrick Cochran, is the boy's legal guardian and also sat by his nephew's side in the courthouse. The Seattle Times reported late Thursday the boy had been released on bail. The Kitsap County Juvenile Detention Facility said it couldn't comment and a juvenile administrator did not immediately return a phone call. Court arrangements provided that the boy would be released to his uncle and placed under house arrest if bail was met.
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People

China's 'Occupy' Toilet Protests Spread


Breitbart
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:54 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse
Signs for the men's and women's toilets are seen at the Hong Kong international airport in 2009.
A Chinese student is hoping to become a heroine for women around the world by launching an occupy movement of her own -- in the men's toilets.

Fed up with long queues for ladies', Li Tingting made headlines when she and 20 women marched into a men's public toilet in the southern city of Guangzhou carrying colourful placards calling for equal waiting times for both sexes.

Now, she plans to take her protest to the capital Beijing, where China's leaders will gather next month for the annual meeting of the country's rubber-stamp parliament.

"We want senior officials to pay attention to this issue," she told AFP. "It is a big issue for many women. During the protest in Guangzhou, we conducted random surveys and found that the majority of people supported us."
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Cheeseburger

US, Wisconsin: Man Charged After Cooking Own Meal at Denny's


The Associated Press
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:32 UTC
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© unknown
Police say a Wisconsin man took the Denny's restaurant chain slogan "America's diner is always open" too far, marching into one of the restaurants, announcing he was the new boss and cooking himself dinner.

James Summers walked into a Madison Denny's on Tuesday dressed in a maroon tie and black trench coat and carrying a briefcase, according to police. He strode into the manager's office, told her he was the new general manager and then fixed himself a burger, fries and a soda before police arrived.

"This is why you don't dine and dash, kiddies," Summers yelled out to diners as officers took him away, police said in a release.

Police found a stun gun in a hip holster under his coat and crack pipes in his briefcase, a criminal complaint showed. Prosecutors charged him Wednesday with disorderly conduct and possession of drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors, and felony possession of an electronic weapon.

According to the complaint and the police news release, Summers, 52, entered the Denny's and found restaurant manager Tracy Brant counting out the day's receipts in a back office. He announced he was her new general manager and would be starting work that evening.
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Heart - Black

US: 1-Year-Old Drowns In Indianapolis Church's Baptismal Pool


CBS News Cleveland
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:21 UTC
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© Google maps
Praise Fellowship Assembly
A 1-year-old boy is dead after he drowned in an Indianapolis church's baptismal pool Wednesday.

Indianapolis police said the boy - identified as Juan Cardenas in several reports - went missing for a short period, presumably having wandered off from the supervision of childcare staff members at the Praise Fellowship Assembly of God. There, eight employees monitor between 30 and 45 children.

The child wasn't discovered missing until his therapist arrived for a session and couldn't find him. The daycare employees then found him floating in two-feet of water in the pool. He was transported in critical condition to St. Vincent's Hospital where he was later declared dead.

Police investigators from homicide and child abuse units are investigating the death. They don't suspect foul play but say the investigation is ongoing.

The church's voice mail message told callers the center will close for the remainder of the week.
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Che Guevara

US, Washington DC: 'Lunch-In' Protests Crackdown on Homemade Lunches

Daniel Halper
The Weekly Standard
Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:40 UTC
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© unknown
The National Center for Public Policy Research hosted a "lunch-in" today at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. The target of the protest? "[F]ederal school nutrition guidelines that allegedly forced at least one student to forgo her mother's home-packed lunch in favor of chicken nuggets," a press release announcing today's event read.

The alleged lunch incident happened in North Carolina. "A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because the school told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious," a local reporter wrote last week. "The girl's turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the person who was inspecting all lunch boxes in the More at Four classroom that day."
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Crusader

UK: 'Voice of God' to Scare Church Roof Raiders

John Bingham
The Telegraph, UK
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:30 UTC
Image
© Alamy
Hundreds of churches are to have "voice of God" alarms fitted to their roofs deter thieves from stripping off lead and copper.

Special movement sensors are to be hidden in spires and finials triggering a booming voice to take intruders by surprise warning that they have been detected and that security guards are on their way.

The initiative, backed by the Church of England, the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Home Office, comes after the rate of metal thefts reached "catastrophic" proportions in some dioceses with an average of seven churches targeted every day.

An insurance company has donated £500,000 to pay for hi-tech alarms to be fitted in 100 churches in England, Scotland and Wales judged to be most at risk.

But organisers hope that hundreds of other parishes will raise funds themselves to fit the devices - adapting the traditional church roof appeal model to cope with the metal theft crisis.

The soaring cost of metal during the global economic crisis has helped fuel a surge in metal thefts, triggering chaos on the rail network when copper signalling cables are taken.
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Document

US: Seven States File Lawsuit Over Contraception Rule

Louise Radnofsky
The Wall Street Journal
Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00 UTC
birth control pill
© unknown
Seven states sued the Obama administration Thursday over its requirement that employers cover contraception in workers' health plans.

The lawsuit, led by Nebraska's attorney general, contends that the proposed rule violates Roman Catholic institutions' rights under the First Amendment to express their beliefs and practice their religion.

The move is the first legal action by state attorneys general in the heated debate over the requirement. It follows lawsuits brought by three religiously affiliated universities and a Catholic television network, as well as actions in some state legislatures to try to avoid the federal requirement.

"The federal government's regulation is an unprecedented invasion of the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights to free speech, free exercise of religion, and free association," the legal complaint says.

All seven attorneys general behind the lawsuit - from Nebraska, South Carolina, Michigan, Texas, Florida, Ohio and Oklahoma - are Republicans.

A White House spokesman declined to comment because the lawsuit is pending.
      Read More...
Radar

US: Alaska Bill Would Criminalize TSA Screening Procedures

Raven Clabough
The New American
Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:27 UTC
TSA screening
Alaska State Representative Sharon Cissna has introduced a bill to criminalize TSA pat-downs and naked-body scans, adding The Last Frontier to a growing list of states battling the intrusive screening procedures of the Transportation Security Administration.

Cissna has suffered her own negative experience with the federal agency. Last year at the Seattle-area Sea-Tac International Airport, after a naked-body scan revealed her breast-cancer surgery scars, the TSA insisted on putting her through an intrusive pat-down. She refused.

"Facing the agent, I began to remember what my husband and I'd decided after the previous intensive physical search," she related. "That I never had to submit to that horror again! It would be difficult, we agreed, but I had the choice to say no; this twisted policy did not have to be the price of flying to Juneau."

The TSA responded by barring her from her flight.

Cissna's bill, HB 262, states:
A person commits the offense of interference with access to public buildings or transportation facilities if the person, as a condition for access to a public building or transportation facility, requires another person to consent or otherwise submit to

(1) physical contact by any person touching directly or through clothing the genitals, buttocks, or female breast of the person seeking access; or

(2) any electronic process that produces an electronic image of the genitals, anus, or female breast or otherwise creates an electronic image of the person seeking access that exposes or reveals a physical characteristic that is normally hidden by clothing and is not normally visible to the public.
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Cell Phone

Twitter Co-Founder Says it's Unhealthy to Stare at Tweets all Day


The Canadian Press
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz
Twitter co-founder Christopher Isaac "Biz" Stone speaks to the Board of Trade, Wednesday, February 22, 2012 in Montreal.
Twitter co-founder Christopher Isaac "Biz" Stone has a message for those followers who stare at the stream of tweets on the social networking site for hours on end - don't do it.

"To me, that sounds unhealthy," Stone told a Montreal business luncheon, recounting how some people have said they're so engaged, they'll log onto Twitter for 12 hours straight.

"I like the kind of engagement where you go to the website and you leave because you've found what you are looking for or you found something very interesting and you learned something.

"I think that's a much healthier engagement. Obviously, we want you to come frequently."

Stone, who stood out in a casual black shirt and jeans in the sea of corporate suits and ties, waxed about his philosophy of business in a speech that vastly exceeded the 140-character limit of a Twitter posting.

He said even he's amazed at the reach of the website, which he says he and his partner Evan Williams figured would never be useful for more than fun.
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Stormtrooper

Canada: Toronto Police Officer Charged with Murder


CBC News
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© CBC News
Toronto police Const. David Cavanagh, centre, is charged with second-degree murder.
A Toronto police officer has been charged with second-degree murder - the first time a member of the force has faced a murder charge for actions taken while on duty.

Crown prosecutors announced the charge against Const. David Cavanagh in a Toronto courtroom Thursday, after an investigation involving Ontario's police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit.

Cavanagh had originally been charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of 26-year-old Eric Osawe in late 2010.

Osawe was shot in the early hours of Sept. 29, 2010, during a police search at a third-floor Etobicoke apartment near Dundas Street West and Kipling Avenue that led to the arrest of Osawe's younger brother, Ebony, on firearms-related offences.

The SIU alleges Cavanagh fatally shot Eric Osawe during that search, which was carried out by at least 15 officers from the Emergency Task Force and the guns and gangs squad. Osawe was taken to St. Michael's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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