Society's ChildS


Magic Wand

South Africa: 'Dead man' wakes up inside morgue

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© BBC
A 50-year-old South African man woke up inside a mortuary over the weekend and screamed to be let out - scaring away attendants who thought he was a ghost.

His family presumed he was dead when they could not wake him on Saturday night and contacted a private morgue in a rural village in the Eastern Cape.

He spent almost 24 hours inside the morgue, the region's health department spokesman told the Sapa news agency.

The two attendants later returned and called for an ambulance.

The man - whose identity has been withheld - was treated in hospital for dehydration.

Stormtrooper

US, Michigan: Man Says TSA Screener Mishandled Urostomy Bag -- Again!

Thomas Sawyer
© Fox 2 Thomas Sawyer
A man with bladder cancer whose humiliating security pat down at Detroit Metro Airport ended with urine from his urostomy bag spilled on him said Friday that he was mishandled again by a screener last week.

Thomas Sawyer of Houghton Lake made national news in November when a security agent's aggressive pat down caused the lid of his urostomy bag to loosen, spilling urine on his shirt and pants. Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole personally called Sawyer to apologize and pledge an investigation into how screeners handle passengers with sensitive medical conditions.

"I thought that I had really made a difference for people flying with urostomies, I really did," the 62-year-old told the Free Press on Friday. "I'm angry this time. They can't be training them properly."

Sawyer said he went through security July 14 at the McNamara Terminal for a flight to Orlando -- the same destination he was flying to in November -- and a screener disregarded his warning that he had a urostomy bag beneath his untucked shirt.

Bizarro Earth

Return of Mass Layoffs a Grim Sign for U.S. Workers


Putting pressure on an already lousy job market, the mass layoff is making a comeback. In the past week, Cisco, Lockheed Martin and Borders announced a combined 23,000 in job cuts.

Those announcements follow 41,432 in planned cuts in June, up 11.6% from May and 5.3% vs. a year earlier, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Meanwhile, state and local governments have cut 142,000 jobs this year, The WSJ reports, and Wall Street is braced for another round of cutbacks. This week, Goldman Sachs announced plans to let go 1000 fixed-income traders.

If these trends continue, we may soon be talking about losses in the monthly employment data -- not just disappointing growth, says Howard Davidowitz, CEO of Davidowitz & Associates

"Everything in business is confidence," Davidowitz says. "You lose confidence and businesses can't deal with that [and] who could have confidence with what's going on in Washington?"

Davidowitz is bipartisan in his criticism, calling the U.S. political system "dysfunctional and deranged."

Arrow Up

Gold hits new high as debt talks stall

gold bars
Gold rose to fresh record high on Monday as talks over lifting the debt ceiling appeared to be stalling just days before the August 2 deadline, raising the prospect of a debt default.

Spot gold climbed as high as $1,622.49 an ounce versus Friday's high of $1,607.01 and the previous record of $1,609.51 before easing back to $1,614.66 by 0007 GMT, Reuters data showed.

President Barack Obama and congressional leaders struggled late on Sunday to break a partisan deadlock on a budget deal and bullion dealers said investors were ditching stocks in favor of safe haven assets, such as gold, until the outcome of talks become clearer.

A slightly weaker U.S. dollar at the start of early trading in Asia gave gold its initial lift, though bullion continued to firm even as the greenback later stabilized, according to bullion dealers.

"Gold is moving on its own," a dealer said.

Attention

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Accuser Tells Her Story


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© ABC News
The hotel maid who has accused former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of trying to sexually assault her in a New York City hotel room has broken her public silence in an exclusive broadcast interview with ABC News.

"I want justice. I want him to go to jail," Nafissatou Diallo told ABC's Robin Roberts in an interview to air Monday on Good Morning America and World News with Diane Sawyer and Tuesday on Nightline. "I want him to know that there is some places you cannot use your money, you cannot use your power when you do something like this."

Strauss-Kahn may not go to jail. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is considering whether to drop the charges amid "concerns" he has said he has about Diallo's credibility.

Camera

US: Entering Police State (for your own good)

Amerikan Police State
© Woodcock
There's a story out of New York by Taylor Hatmaker, Secret Service raids Apple store artist for snapping 1000 spy photos , that caught my attention the other day. The secondary title was a bit more accurate, "A young digital artist secretly recorded shoppers peering into computers at New York Apple stores"; too late, I was already looking for James Bond behind every iPad.

The article indicated Kyle McDonald asked for permission to install a computer program of his own design which would secretly take photographs of potential customers as they contemplated purchasing items at the store. McDonald collected the photographs to make a short artistic video which he posted on the internet; a video which is no longer available for viewing.

Who hit the alarm button, the one to alert Homeland Security, Secret Service, the CIA and MI-6 to save us from having our pictures taken in a public setting? "All units, unauthorized picture taking on 14th Street; seek and destroy. Call out the black ops helicopter and get Maxwell Smart out of retirement; the security of our civilized society is now at Defcom 3". Somebody took photographs in New York City; oh my heavens, call out the guard!
"The stealthy undertaking resulted in the confiscation of McDonald's two computers, his iPod, and some other storage devices, but it isn't yet clear if the McDonald was actually in violation of any laws. While the Secret Service warrant cited 'computer fraud' as the cause for the raid..."
Did you catch that, "it isn't yet clear if the McDonald was actually in violation of any laws"? The "state" always knows best so it must be for our own good.

USA

To the Editor: Obama's Police State

Obama, Police State
© unknown
Every day, Americans are assaulted by government officials in the name of national security and you are powerless to stop it. This new power was developed and enhanced by President Obama and the progressive oligarchs that are currently in power. How many civil liberties will be lost so that Americans will have the illusion of safety?

In May, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled 3-2 that private citizens cannot stop the illegal, unwarranted search of their homes by police officers. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled in this manner to "protect" the police from assaults for infringing on individual civil liberties. This same Supreme Court ruled that the police don't have to knock on searches of a home. Do you feel safer knowing that the police can enter your home using force and illegally without knocking? Please do not think that this cannot happen in Michigan.

This month, in Arizona, a police chief declared martial law because citizens protested an illegal tax. It seems that the Tea Party threatened to protest the actions of the city council and the police chief felt a need to "take control of the situation." He subsequently fired the elected mayor. Just where did he get this new power from? Isn't it a citizen's duty to ask questions at a town hall meeting about all new taxes? The last time I checked, this is the reason that the Open Meetings Act was enacted. Why is this police chief siding with elected officials who might be breaking the law? Aren't the police supposed to be impartial and enforce the law equally? Do the people of Arizona feel safe with this new government?

Stormtrooper

US, Oklahoma: Police state insanity: teens arrested while waiting for parents in OKC curfew sweep

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© unknown
Last Saturday, around 20 teenagers were arrested for alleged curfew violations in front of a local movie theater. However, this action flies in the face of the law, no matter how it is interpreted.

The city's curfew statute sets the curfew at 11 PM, which was 20 minutes later than when the teens were rounded up like common criminals and taken to jail. The statute also allows for children to wait for rides from parents after attending a movie, even if it is after curfew, which, incidentally, was not the case here.

Some of the teens who had been attending a movie with adult supervision were also arrested while waiting for the adults to return with their car.

One pair of teenage girls were told to shut up when they attempted to explain that they had just been let out of a movie and were waiting in front of the theater while their mother pulled the car around. The teens were never asked if they were there to see a movie, which would be acceptable under the city's statute.

One mother told NewsOK that the thuggish police officers would not listen when her children pointed out their mother's car waiting for them, which had been there minutes before the curfew time of 11.

Bizarro Earth

Malaysia Rules Harsh Interrogation Caused Suicide

Teoh Beng Hock
© unknownTeoh Beng Hock
A Malaysian government official says an opposition aide who died mysteriously is believed to have committed suicide after anti-graft officers subjected him to harsh interrogation.

The finding by a high-level investigative panel is unlikely to appease opposition supporters who suspect that Teoh Beng Hock was killed by officers in the government's Anti-Corruption Commission.

Teoh was found dead in 2009 on a roof next to the commission's office hours after being questioned over alleged misuse of funds by his boss.

Parliamentary minister Nazri Abdul Aziz said Thursday a panel established that Teoh killed himself because of pressure from aggressive interrogation tactics by three officers who violated protocol.

Source: The Associated Press

Sherlock

UK: Body of woman found in Nottingham alley sparks murder inquiry

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© unknownPolice carried out house-to-house inquiries in the area
The death of a woman in her 20s whose body was found in a Nottingham alleyway is being treated as murder.

The discovery was made at about 08:45 BST in an alleyway between two houses in Thorneywood Mount, in the St Ann's area.

Police officers have searched bins and gardens in the surrounding streets. A cordon put in place earlier has now been lifted.

Detectives have appealed for witnesses to come forward.