Society's ChildS


Eye 2

2.3 million Americans rot in prison -- Meet the corporations exploiting them for profit

Liliana Segura
AlterNet
Wed, 02 Oct 2013 17:43 UTC
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The prison industry is more lucrative than you think.
"Global Tel* Link. You have a collect call from: 'Tim.' An inmate in Shelby County Correctional Facility.... If you wish to accept and pay for this call, dial zero now."
I don't know how many times I heard the same robotic voice speak these words since last fall. I was researching the story of Timothy McKinney, a Memphis man facing his third death-penalty trial for the killing of an off-duty police officer in 1997. Tim would call from Shelby County Jail, to answer my questions and to do what anyone facing trial would want to do: air concerns about his case, vent. Sometimes he would call multiple times a week. Because the phone calls were limited to fifteen minutes at a time, a couple of times he hung up and called right back, so we could keep talking.

The calls were expensive, more than a dollar per minute, depending on the time of day. In order to accept one, I had to set up a prepaid account with Global Tel* Link, or GTL, "The Next Generation of Correctional Technology." If Tim called and my account was out of money, the automated voice would prompt me to replenish it via credit card, while he waited on the other line. "By accepting an inmate call, you acknowledge and agree that your conversation may be monitored and recorded," the company advises.
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Cut

Circumcised men desperate to reverse the proceedure


Mail Online
Mon, 07 Oct 2013 17:38 UTC
circumcised men
Some circumcised men reportedly feel angry and resentful about the surgery and look to find methods of reversing it because they feel it makes them 'sexually incomplete'
Many men are circumcised at an early age or have to undergo the procedure later in life for health reasons.

Now, a small but vociferous community of circumcised men is gathering online to discuss methods of 'foreskin restoration'.

These men reportedly feel angry and resentful about the surgery and are looking to find methods of reversing it.

They are congregating on forums where they can vent their anger and discuss their options, The Kernel reports.

Typically, they are using websites such as foreskin-restoration.net and circumstitions.com
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Bizarro Earth

'Morally reprehensible': Downton Abbey viewers left in shock after Anna Bates is raped

Kelby McNally
Daily Express
Mon, 07 Oct 2013 17:24 UTC
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© ITVDownton Abbey's Anna Bates was left battered and bruised after being attacked by Mr Green
Fans of hit show Downton Abbey were left in shock last night, after popular house maid Anna Bates was beaten and raped.

Hundreds of viewers took to Twitter to air their disgust after the popular character, played by Joanne Froggatt, was left battered and bruised after being sexually abused by newcomer Mr Green.

A message was played before the third episode in the new series, warning that that it contained "violent scenes that some viewers may find upsetting."

However, despite the warning, many fans were left "distressed" and reprimanded writer Julian Fellowes' decision to air the scene.

"Can someone tell me what the point was of that rape scene in Dowton Abbey? It merely reminded me that all men are potential rapists," wrote one viewer.
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Question

Propaganda? College grad says Obamacare 'has raped my future' in viral letter

Benjamin Fearnow
CBS DC
Wed, 09 Oct 2013 17:18 UTC
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A University of Michigan graduate penned an open letter that went viral online as she described how President Barack Obama's signature health care law hurts the working poor, and has "raped" her future.

Ashley Dionne, 26, posted the now-viral letter to conservative radio host Dennis Prager's Facebook page earlier this week.

She explains how she graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009, at which point she was told she was "too educated and wouldn't stay" at low-paying jobs.

Dionne writes that she has a series of medical conditions, and the Obamacare system pushes her out of a system that favors the non-working poor.
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Che Guevara

Gambia accuses U.S., UK of attempts to topple its government and steal its resources - Withdraws its membership of 'neo-colonial' British Commonwealth


Press TV
Wed, 09 Oct 2013 16:22 UTC
Gambia has accused the United States and Britain of fomenting multiple coup attempts and supporting the opposition in a bid to topple
President Yahya Jammeh and destabilize the country.


Comment: Any takers for 'terrorists' being planted in Gambia by Christmas?

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Colosseum

Best of the Web: Impending collapse of civilization is mathematical certainty, says University of Connecticut professor

Dave Ross
mynorthwest.com
Thu, 10 Oct 2013 16:22 UTC
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© "White House Down" film image Professor Peter Turchin has spent years developing a model that uses numbers to explain historical cycles - like the fall of the Roman Empire, the Rise of Communism. And he says the end of America's superiority is next - unless something drastic happens to avert it.
There is a mathematical formula created by a professor at the University of Connecticut which appears to be predicting a huge social shift - and which may explain why we're in the shutdown and debt ceiling crisis.

Professor Peter Turchin has spent years developing a model that uses numbers to explain historical cycles - like the fall of the Roman Empire, the Rise of Communism.

He measures things like income inequality, the minimum wage, and health - which he measures by life expectancy and the average height of the population.

And the bottom line is - the wider the gap between rich and poor, the unhappier the general population is, and the closer people get to revolution.

We are, right now, climbing that inequality curve and all the signs are there: low taxes on the rich and low wages for workers.

Comment: See also:

Cliodynamics: Explaining and Predicting Human History

Transforming history into science: Arise 'cliodynamics'

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Arrow Down

Vampire cannibals: Real ghouls haunt Papua New Guinea

Marc Lallanilla
LiveScience
Fri, 11 Oct 2013 14:06 UTC
Skeleton Dance
© marcovarro/ShutterstockA group of children and adults get ready for the skeleton dance at Goroka Tribal Festival in Goroka, Papua New Guinea, on September 16, 2011.
Papua New Guinea - a large island nation north of Australia - boasts a fast-growing economy and a rich natural resource base of gold, copper, oil and agricultural products. But deep within the British Commonwealth country's rugged mountains and tropical rain forests, some dark practices still occur.

On Wednesday (Oct. 9), the father of a three-year-old girl allegedly took his daughter into a wooded area and bit into her neck, eating the flesh and sucking her blood, the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier reports. Two boys witnessed the event and reported it to local officials, who quickly arrested the man.

"He was just laughing at the boys and continued eating the flesh and sucking the blood," local councilor John Kenny told the Post-Courier. As gruesome as the incident was, it's not an isolated event, according to numerous reports from Papua New Guinea (PNG). The relatively unexplored country is home to millions of people who live in isolated rural villages and maintain traditional practices that, by many reports, sometimes include cannibalism.

Last year, PNG officials arrested 29 people for killing and cannibalizing the brains and genitals of seven people accused of sorcery. In February, the family of a 6-year-old boy who had recently died accused a 20-year-old mother of witchcraft.

The woman was stripped, bound, tortured with a hot iron, doused with gasoline and burned to death on a pile of trash in broad daylight in front of hundreds of onlookers, The Associated Press reported. Officials condemned the brutal killing, but made no arrests.
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Camera

My embarrassing picture went viral

Caitlin Seida
Salon
Wed, 02 Oct 2013 15:03 UTC
When strangers mocked me for my weight, it was a lesson in Internet cruelty, mean girls -- and fighting back

Image
© Courtesy of the author
I logged onto my Facebook one morning to find a message from a girlfriend. "You're internet famous!" it read. She sent a link to a very public page whose sole purpose was posting images that mock people's appearances. There I was in full glory - a picture of me dressed as my hero Lara Croft: Tomb Raider for Halloween - but written over the image were the words "Fridge Raider."

Funny enough, I wasn't even angry at first. I was actually kind of amused. Who doesn't laugh at unfortunate shots of poorly dressed strangers? I've certainly done it before; the Internet runs on this kind of anonymous scorn. There are entire websites dedicated to the poor fashion choices of random people. And just like me, most of those people are fat.
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Che Guevara

'March against Monsanto': Global movement plans 2nd protest


RT
Fri, 11 Oct 2013 07:12 UTC
Monsanto protests
© AFP Photo / Robyn Beck
Joining six continents, 52 countries and over 500 cities, 'March against Monsanto' is planning its second mass rally Saturday against the biotech giant and genetically modified food. A number of Agent Orange victims are expected to join the protest.

"Saturday is a big day of action against Monsanto. We took our lights out to a local cornfield. Monsanto is bad for our food and bad for our planet," the March against Monsanto's movement posted on its Facebook page.

The rallies, which come four days ahead of World Food Day on Oct. 16, will call on millions of activists to boycott "Monsanto's predatory business," genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and other harmful pesticides, which threaten "health, fertility and longevity."

On October, 5, Movement against Monsanto launched a global 'Twitter storm' asking people to tweet and post certain hashtags as frequently as possible.

"The goal of this Twitter storm is to get the March and info about GMOs trending on Twitter and Facebook and to build awareness about Monsanto and their dangerous products and policies," the organizers said in a statement.
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Newspaper

Civics Class? The U.S. government shutdown is teaching students how not to run a country

Emily Richmond
The Atlantic Magazine
Wed, 09 Oct 2013 01:02 UTC
"What we're seeing now is so at odds with what we teach in civics classes that it's going to cause cognitive dissonance."

government shutdown
© Evan Vucci/Associated Press
With the partial shutdown of the federal government well into its second week, it's reasonable to ask what lessons students might be absorbing from the actions of Congress - or lack thereof. Peter Levine, director of the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University, told me the political stalemate might translate into a short-term "teachable moment" for a class on government. But in the long run, it's a less-than-ideal curriculum.

"What we're seeing now is so at odds with what we teach in civics classes that it's going to cause cognitive dissonance," Levine said. He added that students already know there's a disconnect between what they're being taught about how U.S. government is supposed to function and the realities of current events. And the shutdown only contributes to that gap, he added.

Levine's organization recently convened a commission to examine civic learning and engagement among young people, leading to a new report released today at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The Commission on Youth Voting and Civic Knowledge conducted an extensive mix of surveys and interviews (including repeats over time to measure changes) with more than 700 teachers and more than 6,000 young people. Among the key takeaways:
  • On the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as "The Nation's Report Card," white students from affluent families were "four to six times as likely to exceed the 'proficient' level" on the civics test, when compared with their black or Hispanic classmates from low-income households. (Irony alert: If you're looking for more on NAEP, you won't find it on the official government site. It's been shut down by the shutdown.)
  • Even in presidential elections, fewer than half of eligible young Americans vote. Those who do show up at the polls are more affluent and highly educated than those who don't vote.
  • Nine out of 10 Americans ages 18-24 failed to meet the organization's benchmark of "informed engagement" last year, defined as the following: "registered, voted, answered at least one (out
 of two) campaign knowledge questions correctly, answered four or more general political knowledge questions correctly, voted consistently with their personal opinion on
a campaign issue of their choice, and followed the news fairly or very closely during the election season."
While neither voter turnout nor political knowledge among young people has declined much since the 1970s, the political debate has become "more confusing, alienating, and polarizing," the report's authors contend.
"The degree of pushback and controversy surrounding the very idea of civic engagement is new," Levine told me. "If I had to highlight just one statistic, it's that a quarter of [the government and civics] teachers said their students' parents would object to discussion of politics in the classroom."
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