Society's Child

Mysterious phone calls scamming cell phone users in Florida

Amanda Warford
ActionNewsJax
Thu, 30 Jan 2014 23:01 UTC

Jacksonville -- A new con is targeting cell phone users who do nothing but use their phones the way they're intended.

The Better Business Bureau issued an alert Thursday to users of any kind of cell phone under any carrier.

The scam starts when users receive a call from a number they don't recognize.

"There was no static, no fuzz, no anything, so I just hung up," said Carla Aldridge of the call from Antigua / Barbuda that she answered Thursday morning.

Aldridge owns CPR Cell Phone Repair in Jacksonville, and is always cautious of scams in the industry, but even this one got by her. Now, she owes her cell phone company $9.

"Nine dollars just for answering my phone?"

Aldridge is one of dozens of cell phone users Action News easily located, who were also targets over the past two days. Each received calls from somewhere in the Caribbean like Antigua, Grenada, Jamaica or the British Virgin Islands, where a computer calls random numbers and quickly hangs up if you don't answer.

"A certain percentage of people are going to automatically call back that number," says Tom Stephens, President of the Better Business Bureau of Northeast Florida and the Southeast Atlantic.

If 3 inches of snow can cause this much chaos in Atlanta, what will an economic collapse look like?

Michael Snyder
The American Dream
Wed, 29 Jan 2014 08:00 UTC

This week, three inches of snow "paralyzed" the ninth-largest city in the United States, and the highways of Atlanta "resembled a scene in a post-apocalyptic world" according to national news reports. Hundreds of cars were abandoned on the side of the road, people were spending the night in churches and grocery stores, and many walked for hours in a desperate attempt to get home or find needed provisions. So if three inches of snow can cause this much chaos in one of our major cities, what will a full-blown economic collapse look like? Most Americans have no idea how fragile our way of life is. In the event of a major natural disaster, a massive EMP blast or a complete economic meltdown, our lives would change very rapidly, and most people are totally unprepared for that.

In Atlanta, a relatively minor snowfall has resulted in the deaths of 5 people, more than 100 injuries, and some commuters reported being stuck in traffic for up to 18 hours. According to USA Today, highways around Atlanta resembled "a post-apocalyptic world" at the height of the storm...

Why the rich are freaking out

Ben White
Politico
Thu, 30 Jan 2014 04:02 UTC

The co-founder of one the nation's oldest venture capital firms fears a possible genocide against the wealthy. Residents of Manhattan's tony Upper East Side say the progressive mayor didn't plow their streets as a form of frosty revenge. And the co-founder of Home Depot recently warned the Pope to pipe down about economic inequality.

The nation's wealthiest, denizens of the loftiest slice of the 1 percent, appear to be having a collective meltdown.

Economists, advisers to the wealthy and the wealthy themselves describe a deep-seated anxiety that the national - and even global - mood is turning against the super-rich in ways that ultimately could prove dangerous and hard to control.

President Barack Obama and the Democrats have pivoted to income inequality ahead of the midterm elections. Pope Francis has strongly warned against the dangers of wealth concentration. And all of this follows the rise of the Occupy movement in 2011 and a bout of bank-bashing populism in the tea party.

The collective result, according to one member of the 1 percent, is a fear that the rich are in deep, deep trouble. Maybe not today but soon.

Comment: The elite should feel nervous. In times of catastrophe and societal collapse the population turns against its leaders.

It's about time: India's supreme court orders inquiry into gang rape

Rahul Bedi
The Irish Times
Fri, 24 Jan 2014 19:00 UTC

India's supreme court yesterday ordered an investigation into the gang rape of a 20-year-old woman in eastern Bengal state, allegedly at the behest of her village council as "punishment" for falling in love with a Muslim boy.

The court called the case "disturbing" and asked the district judge at Birbhum, 240km west of the state capital Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) where the sexual assault took place on Monday night, to investigate and file his report within a week.

The tribal woman, who is admitted to a local hospital, told the police that she was raped the entire night on the directions of her village council for falling in love with a man from a different community and religion.

She said her lover visited her on Monday to propose marriage, but was caught by the villagers who were enraged by his motives.

The two of them were then tied to a tree while the village council conferred to decide their fate.

It ordered each of them to pay a fine of Rs25,000 (€296) and when the woman's family, too poor to pay, demurred the council ordered her gang rape, police said.

Me, Myself, and Biebs

Nathan Rabin
Slate
Thu, 23 Jan 2014 13:56 UTC

The blond, slight, hockey-obsessed Canadian teenager flirts outrageously with the camera, knowing full well that it is his greatest friend and professional asset. The young man is not just handsome, he's downright pretty, with a delicate, androgynous beauty that drives the teenyboppers crazy but also, uncomfortably, makes him an object of erotic desire for adults as well. He's still several years away from being able to drink legally in his adopted country of the United States but he looks much, much younger, less like a late teenager on the cusp of manhood than a boyishly handsome middle-aged lesbian.

He is so popular with teenyboppers that his name has become synonymous with a subset of perpetually screaming teen, tween, or preteen girls. This is a gift and a curse: It gives him a massive, loyal, and devoted fan base but it also makes it difficult, if not prohibitively impossible, for him to be taken seriously. He is a popular subject of worship and derision, lusty adulation and glib mockery. Child stardom of this nature and ferocity and intensity is not something to be experienced or enjoyed: It is something to be survived and endured, and sometimes even that is asking too much.

The young man in question is not Justin Bieber. It's the late Corey Haim. The video is Me, Myself, and I, a notorious, 40-minute long 1989 "video diary" the iconic former child star made following one of many stints in rehab to prove to the world that he was clean, sober, and ready for work. Instead the video helped finish the job Haim had already started of destroying a once promising career.

'Daddy, who are all these poor people?' How Anton Casey's Facebook comments dissed Singapore

The Guardian
Thu, 23 Jan 2014 08:23 UTC

Name: Anton Casey

Age: 39.

Appearance: Pasty expat Brit.

That's not very nice. I don't think you'll find many people who have a good word to say about Mr Casey.

What does he do? He's a fund manager.

In that case, fire away. Amazingly, Casey's job is the least unattractive thing about him.

What's his problem? Casey - who lives in Singapore - had to leave his Porsche at the garage, obliging him to take the train.

Good for him to see how the other half lives. He then posted a picture of his son sitting on said train on Facebook, along with the caption: "Daddy, where is your car & who are all these poor people?"

Nice. Casey later posted another picture of his son sitting in the newly repaired Porsche, with the words: "Ahhhhhhhhh, reunited with my baby. Normal service can resume, once I have washed the stench of public transport off me ...!"

Comment: It looks like Mr. Casey was fired from his job and run out of town for his comments. Jolly good!

Don't want to be hassled by creationist teacher? Give up Buddhism, Louisiana public school says

Eric W. Dolan
The Raw Story
Thu, 23 Jan 2014 11:58 UTC

A public school in Louisiana allegedly advised a Buddhist family to change their beliefs if they didn't want their child to face harassment from zealous teachers.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Louisiana on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit against Negreet High School in Sabine Parish on behalf of two parents, Scott and Sharon Lane, and their son, "C.C." The lawsuit claims the school has "a longstanding custom, policy, and practice of promoting and inculcating Christian beliefs," including the teaching of creationism.

Sixth-grade teacher Rita Roark has told her students that the universe was created by God about 6,000 years ago, and taught that both the Big Bang theory and evolution are false, according to the lawsuit. She told her students that "if evolution was real, it would still be happening: Apes would be turning into humans today."

One test she gave to students asked: "ISN'T IT AMAZING WHAT THE _____________ HAS MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The correct answer was "Lord," but C.C. wrote in something else. Roark responded by scolding the boy in front of the entire class.

When informed that C.C. was a Buddhist and therefore didn't believe in God, Roark allegedly responded, "you're stupid if you don't believe in God."

On another accusation, she allegedly described both Buddhism and Hinduism as "stupid."

Wasteful supermarkets

Natalie Bennett
The Independent, UK
Thu, 30 Jan 2014 15:33 UTC

It was a commenter on my Facebook page who put the 'skipping' charges against three men who were taking discarded food from a bin at an Iceland store in North London in the best perspective I've seen - they said: if there's a crime here, it's only the (non-legal) one of wastefulness, in which case it's the supermarket that should be in the dock, not the dumpster divers.

Three men are being charged - the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said it sees "significant public interest" in proceeding - accused of taking stealing tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese and Mr Kipling cakes from a supermarket's bins. Police say they retrieved and "returned" the items to the store. That is to say they ensured what was undoubtedly perfectly good food went into (at best) composting or anaerobic digestion, but quite likely into landfill.

You do have to wonder if there's a campaigner in the CPS who thinks it is time to put the entire supermarket model of food distribution on trial.

Recently, Tesco admitted that more than 30 per cent of bagged salad is wasted in store, and 40 per cent of apples. In total in the first six months of last year, 28,500 tonnes of food waste were generated in its stores and distribution centres. No doubt the other giant oligopolists that dominate our food chains are similar.

The fact that 'dumpster diving'/'skipping'/'bin raiding' is a new phenomenon is clear from the absence of a settled name - but it's clear that it the practice is spreading fast. That's a product of the rising desperation in our society that has seen foodbanks become one of our fastest growing industries, as I saw for myself last week on a visit to one in prosperous Winchester.

US government punishes 11-year-old girl for selling cupcakes without permission

Police State USA
Thu, 30 Jan 2014 14:43 UTC

Troy, Illinois - An 11-year-old entrepreneur recently learned a lesson about the economics of living in a police state when her home-based cupcake business was closed-down by local bureaucrats.

When people started noticing young Chloe Stirling's cake decorating skills, they started requesting she bake them orders for birthdays and holidays. Her clever designs quickly turned into a childhood business venture, as her eager customers gave her money in exchange for birthday cakes and baked goods.

She's created some 3-dimensional designs with her cakes, including a soccer-ball cake filled with pudding and cupcakes shaped like high-heels. Her largest order topped out at 220 cupcakes. She has also donated batches to charity fundraisers.

With twelve satisfied year-round clients, she began saving the money she made with the hope of buying her first car when she turns sixteen.

In the long term, she hopes to open her own bakery with the money she saves.

At least, she was, until the local county bureaucrats got wind of her creative spirit. When a local newspaper ran a favorable article about her cupcake decorating, the conscienceless regulators decided to seek out the child and quash her business.

Rookie cop who shot 72-year-old dead in his home while investigating burglary at the WRONG address will not be charged

Ashley Collamn
Daily Mail
Thu, 30 Jan 2014 16:15 UTC

© NBC DFW
No consequences: A grand jury has decided not to indict the rookie police officer who shot dead 72-year-old Jerry Waller (right) on accident last May. Pictured above with wife Kathy

A grand jury in Tarrant County, Texas has decided not to indict the rookie police officer who shot dead a homeowner while investigating a burglary at the wrong address.

Last May, R.A. 'Alex' Hoeppner and his partner Benjamin Hanlon accidentally started searching 72-year-old Jerry Waller's property, confusing it in the dark for a house across the street.

Waller was in bed with his wife Kathy at the time, and was stirred by the police officer's flashlights. Fearing a prowler was outside, he grabbed his .35-caliber-pistol and went to investigate.

According to a search warrant affidavit released by the Star-Telegram in July, the two officers encountered an armed Waller near the corner of his home, told them they were police and to drop his gun.

Waller didn't drop his gun and instead raised it at Hoeppner who proceeded to fatally shoot the senior citizen seven times.

According to the autopsy report, Waller suffered three hits to his chest as well as single shots to his abdomen and hand. Two other bullets grazed his wrist and forearm.

There's no mileage in anything the Smith's have to say, their well versed in interfering with things. So we can all sleep safely in our bed...

Winternights3

Seriously, lets break down these words, and I am fully equipped for this task that I give to myself NOW. gives OSHA the authority to act quickly...

Buffalo_Ken

Forensic pathologists performed a postmortem and concluded that the man had probably died mid-flight Let me see ... he walked onto the plane,...

HashAttack2

This ain't no fucking real emergency. It is an effing emergency in the mind of a few....who thought they were gonna put the rest of us into...

Buffalo_Ken

The administration defended OSHA's legal right to issue these requirements, saying that the Occupational Safety and Health Act "gives OSHA the...

HashAttack2

Society's Child

Mysterious phone calls scamming cell phone users in Florida

If 3 inches of snow can cause this much chaos in Atlanta, what will an economic collapse look like?

Why the rich are freaking out

It's about time: India's supreme court orders inquiry into gang rape

Me, Myself, and Biebs

'Daddy, who are all these poor people?' How Anton Casey's Facebook comments dissed Singapore

Don't want to be hassled by creationist teacher? Give up Buddhism, Louisiana public school says

Wasteful supermarkets

US government punishes 11-year-old girl for selling cupcakes without permission

Rookie cop who shot 72-year-old dead in his home while investigating burglary at the WRONG address will not be charged

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