Society's ChildS


Eye 1

UK watchdog group warns of surveillance camera overload and 'nightmare scenario'


Sputnik
Tue, 14 Mar 2017 20:20 UTC
surveillance camera
Britain's Surveillance Camera Commissioner, Tony Porter, has called for a radical overhaul of Britain's surveillance regime, warning that regulators are struggling to keep pace with the sprawling growth in CCTV technology.

Porter, March 14, launched a national surveillance camera strategy for England and Wales, to help keep people safe in public places and respect their right to privacy.


Comment: Wow! Good luck with that. The whole point of the proliferation of CCTV tech is to intrude on people's privacy.


The strategy aims to provide direction and leadership in the surveillance camera community, to enable system operators to understand best practice and their legal obligations.

He says it is his strategic vision "to ensure the public are assured that any use of surveillance camera systems in a public place helps to protect and keep them safe, while respecting the individual's right to privacy."
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People 2

'Gender Inclusivity'? University of Minnesota drops homecoming 'King and Queen' — replaces with genderless 'Royals'

Dominic Mancini
The College Fix
Tue, 14 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC
Gender inclusivity
The University of Minnesota has become the latest university to do away with the traditional Homecoming King and Queen titles and replace them with the gender-neutral "Royals" term.

Taking it one step further, University of Minnesota officials also point out that the winners don't even have to be one biological male and one biological female, stating on its website: "'Royals' ... can be any combination of any gender identity."

Campus officials called the change a move "toward gender inclusivity" that promotes "a spirit of inclusion at the University of Minnesota."

"This change allows the University to select the best student representatives for the U of M based on campus and community involvement — regardless of gender," the website states.
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Health

NHS faces crippling nursing shortage if Brexit forces out tens of thousands of EU nurses and midwives


RT
Tue, 14 Mar 2017 17:36 UTC
UK nursing crisis
© Dylan Martinez / ReutersThe NHS may find itself without even the bare minimum number of nurses needed to keep itself running.
An estimated 22,000 nurses in England come from European countries, more than four percent of all nurses and midwives. But with Brexit looming and EU citizens residency rights still up in the air, many are considering their options.

"NHS trusts across England are going to face severe shortages of nurses post-Brexit," Institute for Employment Studies researcher Rachel Marangozov told RT.

"And this is not just because the recruitment pipeline is going to be squeezed because we are leaving the single market we are not going to be able to recruit so easily, but because a lot of nurses might not feel welcome, they might not want to work here anymore."

That's going to affect the level of care that NHS trusts can provide. Remember NHS trusts are already very squeezed financially, and it's going to place more emphasis on recruiting either domestically here in the UK which is going to be difficult but also from outside of Europe fill those shortages."

And the crisis is already unfoldingwith a study from the Health Service Journal revealing this January that 96 percent of hospitals across the UK "failed to meet their own planned level for registered nurses working during the day."
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Heart - Black

'Just leave her': California woman abandons 2-year old daughter in grocery store

Madeline Fish
Fox News
Tue, 14 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC
Riverside California woman abandons child
© Fox 11 Los AngelesDetectives are seeking any information on the woman who has dark hair and portions of her right arm covered in tattoos.
Police are searching for a California mother after she abandoned her 2-year-old daughter at a Riverside grocery.

Authorities say a woman of unknown race who appeared to be 20 to 30 years old walked into the store over the weekend with the child by her side. The toddler wandered off but the woman never sought the child's whereabouts and continued shopping. Eventually, a Good Samaritan brought the child back to the mother to which she responded, "oh just leave her." The woman left the store after paying for the groceries.

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Snakes in Suits

Former Virginia mayor pleads guilty to selling methamphetamine in exchange for group sex


Courthouse News Service
Tue, 14 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC
Richard Silverston Fairfax Virginia mayor
The former mayor of Fairfax, Virginia, pleaded guilty Monday to a felony drug distribution charge stemming from his arrest in August for selling methamphetamine to undercover officers in exchange for group sex.

Richard Silverthorne, 51, pleaded guilty to one count of distributing crystal meth in Fairfax County Circuit Court. The former mayor of Fairfax is to remain in custody until his June 9 sentencing hearing where he faces a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

The scandal began after Silverthorne was caught up in a police sting at a Tyson's Corner hotel.
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Pistol

Gun control: New York Remington plant lays off 120 as gun makers report struggling sales


RT
Tue, 14 Mar 2017 20:23 UTC
Gun control
© Joshua Lott / Reuters
Remington has announced layoffs at its New York plant as many gun companies reported struggling sales. The number of FBI background checks, considered a measure of firearm purchases, has dropped under the Trump administration.

Beginning in December - the month after Republican Donald Trump was elected president - the FBI has reported monthly gun background checks that were lower than the previous year, breaking a 19-month streak of monthly increases.

In January and February, the FBI processed 17 percent fewer checks that in those months in 2016. Yet January and February 2017 checks still outpace January and February background checks in 2015.
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Pistol

10,000+ arsenal of weapons intended for terrorists seized by Europol


RT
Tue, 14 Mar 2017 23:10 UTC
weapons intended for terrorists seized
© EUROPOLtube / YouTube
More than 10,000 assault rifles, 400 howitzers, shells, grenades, and anti-aerial machine guns — likely intended for sale to terrorists and criminals — have been seized in a joint raid by Spanish police and Europol.

Video footage released by Europol on Tuesday shows the massive cache of weapons, which the Spanish National Police seized in Bilbao, Cantabria and Gerona in January as part of operation Portu, which was supported by Europol. The haul was so great it took weeks to catalogue.
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Whistle

Fearing that sensitive students will be triggered, Canadian university removes scale from gym

Joe Lofaro
CBC News
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 20:40 UTC
scale
© Shutterstock/VGstockstudioCarleton University is facing online backlash after removing the gym scale in order to promote a more holistic approach to a healthy body image.
Carleton University is facing online backlash after removing the gym scale in order to promote a more holistic approach to a healthy body image.
Carleton University is feeling the burn from students on social media for removing a weight scale from its gym to promote a more holistic approach to a healthy body image.

The recent move isn't sitting well with several students who are accusing the school of kowtowing to a small group of gym users who are easily offended.

"Next it will be the mirrors. #bringbackthescale," wrote one Carleton student on Facebook, while another said online, "Are you for real, Carleton? What a sick joke."

Details of the scale controversy were first reported in the university's student-run newspaper, The Charlatan, on Thursday. In more social media reaction, others wondered if the online article was satire.

The paper quotes one student as saying, "Scales are very triggering" for people with eating disorders.

University 'may reconsider' decision to remove scale from gym

In an email to CBC News, Bruce Marshall, manager of wellness programs at Carleton, said it was the recreation and athletics department's decision to remove the scale and that it wasn't based on complaints.
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Newspaper

Flint official gets probation over failing to report an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease


RT
Tue, 14 Mar 2017 20:34 UTC
flint water tower
© Ryan Garza / www.globallookpress.com
A Michigan health official has been sentenced to a year's probation for not telling the public about an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease during the Flint water contamination scandal. Nearly 100 people fell ill during the outbreak and twelve people died.


Comment: Unbelievably corrupt: Michigan officials still refuse to test water for disease despite major outbreak of Legionnaires


Corinne Miller, the retired head of the Michigan's Health and Human Services Epidemiology Department, pleaded no contest in September to a charge of willful neglect of duty, a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail, according toAP.

Under a sentencing agreement, Judge Jennifer Manley of Flint's US district court spared Miller any jail time, with conditions that include her continued cooperation with the state attorney general's investigation into the Flint water crisis.
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No Entry

Girl Guides of Canada cancels US trips due to concerns over travel ban


RT
Tue, 14 Mar 2017 20:27 UTC
Girl Guides of Canada
© Facebook
Girl Guides of Canada has announced it will no longer take trips to the US, citing concerns about the ability of all members to "equally enter" the US.

The organization doesn't want to risk any girls being refused entry to the US as a result of President Donald Trump's travel ban, although it did not mention the ban directly.

Under Trump's second executive order travel ban, people from six predominantly Muslim countries are temporarily banned from entering the US.

"At Girl Guides of Canada, we know our members value the safe, inclusive and accepting space that Guiding provides," a Girl Guides statement read. "While the United States is a frequent destination for Guiding trips, the ability of all our members to equally enter this country is currently uncertain."

"As such, Girl Guides of Canada will not be approving any new travel to the United States until further notice."

Comment: Canadian school cancels US trip over concerns about 'unsafe and unpredictable' political landscape

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