Society's ChildS


Stormtrooper

Georgia police SWAT team throw flashbang into crib during raid, 50% chance baby will die

baby injured by raid
© WSBTV
"It landed in his playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face"

In a multijurisdictional raid in Habersham County police barged into the home of Wanis Thometheva at 3:00 am.

During the raid one of the uniformed men, tasked with caging people for possession of substances the state deems illegal, threw a stun grenade into the crib of a 19 month old baby.

Alecia Phonesavanh, the mother of the 19-month old, was staying at her sister-in-law's home when cops smashed in.

"It's my baby. He's only a baby. He didn't deserve any of this," Phonesavanh said. "It landed in his playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face."

Phonesavanh's son is in the burn unit of a local hospital. The grenade blew a large laceration in his chest and ripped his face wide open.

There were many pictures taken but they were so graphic that the local news station chose not to share them.

According to WSBTV,
Cornelia Police Chief Rick Darby confirmed that the raid took place at the home just before 3 a.m.

Deputies said they bought drugs from the house and came back with a no-knock warrant to arrest a man known to have drugs and weapons.

"Everyone's sleeping. There's a loud bang and a bright light," Phonesavanh said. "The cops threw that grenade in the door without looking first and it landed right in the playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face."

They arrested Wanis Thometheva, 30, during the raid.

Palette

Brazilian graffiti art sends World Cup a clear message: 'Need food, not football'

Child, fork, soccer ball
© AFP Photo / Nelson AlmeidaA graffiti painted by Brazilian street artist Paulo Ito on the entrance of a public schoolhouse in Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 23, 2014
With just two weeks remaining until the World Cup kicks off in Brazil, those who believe the global event is too much of a burden for the country's struggling economy have found a new way to channel their protest energy - with graffiti.

Street artists have covered walls in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo with pictures which blame football's governing body, FIFA, for exploiting Brazil and the local government for neglecting the needs of the poor.

They share the belief that the US $11 billon which has been spent on the World Cup should have been used to improving transportation, healthcare, and education.

Comment: Eleven billion dollars have been pumped into funding an eight-week tournament fraught with high costs, unnecessary construction, corruption, greed and injustice. As Brazilians protest (against the sport for which they are most famous), the World Cup becomes a sticker face for underlying problems effectively expressed by artists who message human suffering in colorful and graphic terms.


Bizarro Earth

Slaviansk people's mayor: 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers killed so far in battle for Slaviansk

Image
© RIA Novosti, Evgeny Blyatov

About 1,200 Ukrainian army soldiers have been killed during a special operation in Slaviansk, and eight helicopters and 15 armored vehicles were destroyed, Slaviansk people's mayor Vyacheslav Ponomaryov said Thursday.

"According to our information, the Ukrainian army has the following losses and damages: 1,200-1,300 people were killed, eight helicopters, 15 armored transport vehicles, and three [artillery] weapons destroyed. They are suffering huge losses. I'm speaking only about Slaviansk," Ponomaryov said in an interview with the Latvian radio station Baltkom.

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov confirmed Thursday the downing of a military helicopter had killed 14 Ukrainian servicemen, including a general. Soon after that, the Ukrainian National Guard clarified that 12, not 14 people were killed in the Mi-8 helicopter crash near Slaviansk.

The people's mayor also noted that the self-defense forces of Slaviansk had lost about 200 people.

Arrow Down

The end of the consumer society: retail death rattle grows louder

store closing
The definition of death rattle is a sound often produced by someone who is near death when fluids such as saliva and bronchial secretions accumulate in the throat and upper chest. The person can't swallow and emits a deepening wheezing sound as they gasp for breath. This can go on for two or three days before death relieves them of their misery. The American retail industry is emitting an unmistakable wheezing sound as a long slow painful death approaches.

It was exactly four months ago when I wrote The Retail Death Rattle. Here are a few terse anecdotes from that article:
The absolute collapse in retail visitor counts is the warning siren that this country is about to collide with the reality Americans have run out of time, money, jobs, and illusions. The exponential growth model, built upon a never ending flow of consumer credit and an endless supply of cheap fuel, has reached its limit of growth. The titans of Wall Street and their puppets in Washington D.C. have wrung every drop of faux wealth from the dying middle class. There are nothing left but withering carcasses and bleached bones.

Once the Wall Street created fraud collapsed and the waves of delusion subsided, retailers have been revealed to be swimming naked. Their relentless expansion, based on exponential growth, cannibalized itself, new store construction ground to a halt, sales and profits have declined, and the inevitable closing of thousands of stores has begun.

The implications of this long and winding road to ruin are far reaching. Store closings so far have only been a ripple compared to the tsunami coming to right size the industry for a future of declining spending. Over the next five to ten years, tens of thousands of stores will be shuttered. Companies like JC Penney, Sears and Radio Shack will go bankrupt and become historical footnotes. Considering retail employment is lower today than it was in 2002 before the massive retail expansion, the future will see in excess of 1 million retail workers lose their jobs. Bernanke and the Feds have allowed real estate mall owners to roll over non-performing loans and pretend they are generating enough rental income to cover their loan obligations. As more stores go dark, this little game of extend and pretend will come to an end.
Retail store results for the 1st quarter of 2014 have been rolling in over the last week. It seems the hideous government reported retail sales results over the last six months are being confirmed by the dying bricks and mortar mega-chains. In case you missed the corporate mainstream media not reporting the facts and doing their usual positive spin, here are the absolutely dreadful headlines:
  • Wal-Mart Profit Plunges By $220 Million as US Store Traffic Declines by 1.4%
  • Target Profit Plunges by $80 Million, 16% Lower Than 2013, as Store Traffic Declines by 2.3%
  • Sears Loses $358 Million in First Quarter as Comparable Store Sales at Sears Plunge by 7.8% and Sales at Kmart Plunge by 5.1%
  • JC Penney Thrilled With Loss of Only $358 Million For the Quarter
  • Kohl's Operating Income Plunges by 17% as Comparable Sales Decline by 3.4%
  • Costco Profit Declines by $84 Million as Comp Store Sales Only Increase by 2%
  • Staples Profit Plunges by 44% as Sales Collapse and Closing Hundreds of Stores
  • Gap Income Drops 22% as Same Store Sales Fall
  • American Eagle Profits Tumble 86%, Will Close 150 Stores
  • Aeropostale Losses $77 Million as Sales Collapse by 12%
  • Best Buy Sales Decline by $300 Million as Margins Decline and Comparable Store Sales Decline by 1.3%
  • Macy's Profit Flat as Comparable Store Sales decline by 1.4%
  • Dollar General Profit Plummets by 40% as Comp Store Sales Decline by 3.8%
  • Urban Outfitters Earnings Collapse by 20% as Sales Stagnate
  • McDonalds Earnings Fall by $66 Million as US Comp Sales Fall by 1.7%
  • Darden Profit Collapses by 30% as Same Restaurant Sales Plunge by 5.6% and Company Selling Red Lobster
  • TJX Misses Earnings Expectations as Sales & Earnings Flat
  • Dick's Misses Earnings Expectations as Golf Store Sales Plummet
  • Home Depot Misses Earnings Expectations as Customer Traffic Only Rises by 2.2%
  • Lowes Misses Earnings Expectations as Customer Traffic was Flat
Of course, those headlines were never reported. I went to each earnings report and gathered the info that should have been reported by the CNBC bimbos and hacks. Anything you heard surely had a Wall Street spin attached, like the standard BETTER THAN EXPECTED. I love that one. At the start of the quarter the Wall Street shysters post earnings expectations. As the quarter progresses, the company whispers the bad news to Wall Street and the earnings expectations are lowered. Then the company beats the lowered earnings expectation by a penny and the Wall Street scum hail it as a great achievement. The muppets must be sacrificed to sustain the Wall Street bonus pool. Wall Street investment bank geniuses rated JC Penney a buy from $85 per share in 2007 all the way down to $5 a share in 2013. No more needs to be said about Wall Street "analysis"

Bad Guys

Marine drowned in water screening test at Camp Pendleton, despite being excellent swimmer

Joshua Islam
Joshua Islam
A top Marine Corps training commander has been relieved of his duties after a four-month investigation into the death of Josh Islam, an 18-year-old Marine from Weddington.

Islam drowned Jan. 13 during a water screening test to get into reconnaissance training at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Maj. Adam Burch, commanding officer of Reconnaissance Training Company at School of Infantry-West, was relieved on May 15, Marines spokesman Col. Sean Gibson said Thursday. Brig. Gen. John Simmons removed Burch for a loss of confidence in his ability to lead Marines and for allowing unsafe conditions that contributed to Islam's death.

The drowning has also prompted a sweeping review of all training at the reconnaissance school, including how to assess a Marine's swimming ability. The specific screening event that Islam underwent has been eliminated, Gibson said.

An investigative report obtained by the Observer through a Freedom of Information Act request details errors in judgment by trainers overseeing Islam as he attempted to tread water in his camouflage uniform, without boots, for 30 minutes. The report also found training and screening deficiencies.

Family

America's homeless: The rise of Tent City, USA

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© CNN
Homeless encampments known as "tent cities" are popping up across the country

Formed as an alternative to shelters and street-living, these makeshift communities are often set up off of highways, under bridges and in the woods. Some have "mayors" who determine the rules of the camp and who can and can't join, others are a free-for-all. Some are overflowing with trash, old food, human waste and drug paraphernalia, others are relatively clean and drug-free.

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty documented media accounts of tent cities between 2008 and 2013, and estimated that there are more than 100 tent communities in the United States -- and it says the encampments are on the rise.

"[T]here have been increasing reports of homeless encampments emerging in communities across the country, primarily in urban and suburban areas and spanning states as diverse as Hawaii, Alaska, California, and Connecticut," the organization's study states.

Comment: Tent cities and encampments are the last resort for most people. They are certainly not a means of 'self-help'. What a ridiculous inhumane thing to say. CNN is normalizing homelessness and seems to be spinning the tale that "it's not so bad." It is that bad. Homelessness is essentially being criminalized all over the U.S. Cities all over are passing tyrannical laws against feeding the homeless and their homes are being destroyed. One city has even created a hotline to report their presence. The U.S. wastes BILLIONS on endless wars, but no funds to take care of impoverished and downtrodden?
  • Cities all over America are becoming extremely cruel to the homeless
  • Philadelphia Bans Outdoor Feeding of Homeless
  • America Today: Heartbreaking Pictures From New Jersey's Homeless 'Tent City'
  • U.S. city's plan for homeless bizarre, inhumane
  • It is illegal to feed thehomeless in cities all over the United States
  • 70-year-old charity told to stop feeding homeless in Seattle
  • US: Homeless Epidemic Spreading from Cities to Suburbs, and No Longer Invisible
Utah has a pretty good idea to make things better. What about the rest of the States?
  • Utah is ending homelessness by giving people homes
  • Utah is on track to end homelessness by 2015 with this one simple idea



Alarm Clock

'8 knives, bat and crowbar': 16 yo admits to parents' brutal murder for taking away iPod

Vincent Parker
Vincent Parker
A 'smart' and 'sane' North Carolina teen has admitted to stabbing and bludgeoning his parents to death over slight and routine punishments, like depriving him of his iPod.

Eight knives, an aluminum baseball bat and crowbar, all coated in blood: The grisly scene which unfolded at the 1000 block of Bland Street in Norfolk, Virginia last December is more befitting of horror movie fodder, or Tarantino torture fantasy. But the violence was very real, and the murderer, rather than a serial killer or mafia hit man, was a 10th-grade-honor student who had grown tired of what by all definitions was soft parental admonishment.

On Wednesday, 16-year-old Vincent Parker admitted in court to killing his parents, claiming he had grown tired of their seemingly routine punishments.

"I just remember getting mad," he told investigators. "It's all from my dad. All this stuff like my dad taking away my iPod and stuff," local CBS affiliate WTKR cites him as saying.

The revenge he meted out for those slight infractions beggars belief.

Autopsy reports show how, on December 19, Vincent armed himself with eight kitchen knives, an aluminum bat and a crowbar. He then went upstairs to find his mother, Carol Parker. When his mother emerged from the bathroom, Vincent doused her with pepper spray, stabbed her in the eye, and then beat her in the face and head with a baseball bat and a crowbar "until she stopped breathing."

Fireball

Ukrainian Air Force helicopter shot down, 14 people dead including general

Ukrainian helicopter
© EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY Ukrainian soldiers near checkpoint outside Sloviansk (archive)
Fourteen Ukrainian servicemen were killed in a special operation conducted against federalization supporters in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, parliament-appointed Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov told a parliament meeting.

A general of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is among those killed, he said. "Our servicemen were in the helicopter that was shot down. They were to replace other servicemen in rotation," Turchynov said.

Militiamen claim 2 helicopters shot down

Earlier, a self-defense forces' representative stated that the people's militia fighters had shot down the second helicopter of the armed forces controlled by Kiev authorities.

The first helicopter was shot down by the militiamen on the south-eastern outskirts of Sloviansk, Donetsk Region, near Chervony Molochar settlement.

"Violent shooting can be heard in this area, and dense black smoke is seen," the militia representative said. In addition, according to latest reports, fight is underway near the Semyonovsk locality.

Light Sabers

All 80 Ukrainian troops at a Lugansk military base surrendered to self-defense forces

Image
© Reuters / Marko Djurica

All of the 80 Ukrainian troops holed up at a Lugansk military base have surrendered to self-defense forces who stormed the military installation hosting the Ukrainian National Guard.

The initial assault lasted for 10-15 minutes with almost unceasing gunfire, witnesses say. A video reportedly filmed near the attacked facility has appeared on YouTube.

There are conflicting reports on casualties and the outcome of the attack, which took place on the territory of an Air Force academy. Earlier, at least one Ukrainian soldier was reported to be seriously injured.

According to RIA Novosti, all of the 80 Ukrainian soldiers holed up at the base surrendered. They were escorted out of the building as the other side applauded.

People 2

Legislated robbery: This family thought Obamacare was 'the answer'... until they found out their plan 'doesn't even work'

Image
© Shutterstock
Nick and Rachel Robinson were excited about the possibilities that Obamacare offered them when they found out they were expecting a third child.

"It's one of those times where you hear the news and there's this immediate sense of joy and excitement like, 'Yay, a new kid. That's awesome!'" Nick Robinson told NPR. But the happy news also came with a new set of worries. "What are we going to do? How are we going to pay for this? This is intense."

When the option of the Affordable Care Act became available, the Robinsons believed it was the answer to what they were looking for. Nick's company didn't offer health benefits and neither did Rachel's position as a wedding photographer.