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Suicide rates surge in U.S. surpassing road fatalities

Robert Bridge
RT.com
Thu, 02 May 2013 23:58 UTC
Image
© AFP Photo / David Mcnew
More Americans now die of suicide than from car accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a disturbing statistic that some experts say points to the true depths of the US economic crisis.

From 1999 to 2010, the suicide rate among US citizens between the ages of 35 to 64 soared by about 30 per cent, to 17.6 deaths per 100,000 people, a jump from 13.7.

In 2010, there were 33,687 deaths from motor vehicle crashes and 38,364 suicides.

Although suicide has been traditionally viewed as a problem among the youth and elderly, the recent study, published in Friday's issue of its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, shows a marked rise in the number of suicides among middle-aged men and women.

The suicide rate for men aged 35 - 64 years jumped 27.3 per cent, from 21.5 to 27.3 per 100,000, while the rate for women increased 31.5 per cent, from 6.2 to 8.1.

Comment: Considering the extent of income inequality in the U.S., the devastation the ongoing financial crisis has dealt, along with the massive drugging of the population, these statistics are not surprising.
Economic Downturn Taking Toll on Americans' Mental Health
An Epidemic: Psychiatric Drugs and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in the U.S.
Warning: Antidepressants May Led to Suicidal Tendencies
Understanding and Overcoming the Myths of Suicide

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Bad Guys

Pipeline rupture redux! New ExxonMobil spill hits Missouri


RT.com
Fri, 03 May 2013 08:29 UTC
Image
© Reuters
While questions over the severity of ExxonMobil's March 29 oil spill in Mayflower, Arkansas still remain, the same pipeline has now ruptured, this time to the north, in Missouri.

The 70-year-old Pegasus pipeline, which released thousands of barrels of tar sands oil in Arkansas, has now caused another, albeit far smaller incident in Ripley County, Missouri, 200 miles north of Mayflower, Arkansas.

A resident notified ExxonMobil after spotting a patch of oil and dead vegetation in their yard outside the town of Doniphan, according to Reuters.

Luckily, unlike the spill that is still ongoing in Mayflower, the latest breach seems so far to be minor, with an estimated one barrel of crude oil having been leaked. According to an Exxon spokeswoman the cleanup operation there was "close to completion."

Originally built in the late 1940s, the Pegasus is now the subject of severe scrutiny, as many environmentalists argue that the increased corrosive impact of transporting tar sands oil presents a greater concern than other forms of oil. It is worth noting that the pipeline was shut down following the Arkansas spill, and leaked in Missouri despite being out of operation.
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Cow Skull

22 facts that prove the bottom 90 percent of Americans are systematically getting poorer

Michael
The Economic Collapse Blog
Wed, 01 May 2013 16:31 UTC
shack
© Joe Mabel
The mainstream media is not telling you this, but the truth is that most Americans are steadily getting poorer. The middle class is being absolutely eviscerated, and poverty is soaring to unprecedented heights. The fact that 90 percent of the population is constantly sliding downhill is not good for our society. The United States is supposed to be a land of opportunity with a vibrant free market system that enables average people to make better lives for themselves. Unfortunately, free enterprise is being strangled to death in the United States today. Entrepreneurs and small business are being pounded into oblivion by rules, regulations, red tape and oppressive levels of taxation. At the same time, millions of jobs have been shipped out of the United States by corporate giants and sent to countries where it is legal to pay slave labor wages. All of this has happened under both Democrats and Republicans.

Meanwhile, wealth and power continue to become even more heavily concentrated in the hands of big government and big corporations. Our founding fathers warned that we should not allow such large concentrations of wealth and power, because they tend to funnel the rewards of society into the hands of a select few. We need to change the rules of the game so that entrepreneurs, small businesses and average workers can thrive in this country once again. If big government and big corporations continue to gobble up even more wealth and power, the wealth inequality that we see right now will only get even worse.

The following are 22 facts that prove that the bottom 90 percent of America is systematically getting poorer...
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Sheeple

Hysteria: Florida teen girl charged with felony after 'small explosion' caused by water bottle science experiment

Kyle Munzenrieder
Miami New Times
Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:13 UTC
kiera wilmot
© Unknown
Kiera Wilmot got good grades and had a perfect behavior record. She wasn't the kind of kid you'd expect to find hauled away in handcuffs and expelled from school, but that's exactly what happened after an attempt at a science project went horribly wrong.

At 7 a.m. on Monday, the 16 year-old mixed some common household chemicals in a small 8 oz water bottle on the grounds of Bartow High School in Bartow, Florida. The reaction caused a small explosion that caused the top to pop up and produced some smoke. No one was hurt and no damage was caused.

According to WTSP, Wilmot told police that she was merely conducting a science experiment. Though her teachers knew nothing of the specific project, her principal seems to agree.

"She made a bad choice. Honestly, I don't think she meant to ever hurt anyone," principal Ron Pritchard told the station. "She wanted to see what would happen [when the chemicals mixed] and was shocked by what it did. Her mother is shocked, too."

After the explosion Wilmot was taken into custody by a school resources officer and charged with possession/discharge of a weapon on school grounds and discharging a destructive device. She will be tried as an adult.
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Arrow Down

Man claims to be Pink Floyd singer to avoid medical bill, police say

David Unze
SCTimes.com
Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:10 UTC
Phillip
© SCTimes.comPhillip M. Schaeffer
St. Cloud police are investigating a Monticello man who claimed to be Pink Floyd band member David Gilmour while racking up a care bill as high as $100,000 at St. Cloud Hospital.

The man even signed an autograph for a hospital employee's son before he was arrested by St. Cloud police. No charges have been filed against Phillip Michael Schaeffer, 53, who was booked April 24 at the Stearns County Jail for investigation of felony theft by swindle.

Schaeffer came to St. Cloud Hospital on April 20 for treatment and gave the name David Gilmour when he checked in, according to St. Cloud police. He claimed to not have any health insurance and was treated and released.

After he left, hospital employees had suspicions that he wasn't really the Pink Floyd singer-guitarist. That suspicion led to the hospital flagging his patient chart in case he returned, hospital spokeswoman Jeanine Nistler said.The next day, "there was some discussion among security staff leading people to believe that he really wasn't David Gilmour," Nistler said. "So our security supervisor pulled up the security camera shots of when this man entered the hospital and compared them to pictures on the Internet of Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and determined he was not David Gilmour."
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USA

Hysteria alert! Boston high school student facing 20 years for saying "F#*k the Government!" on his Facebook page

Tom Duggan
ValleyPatriot.com
Wed, 01 May 2013 12:58 UTC

Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon told the Valley Patriot this afternoon that D'Ambrosio a sent text message and posted terrorist threats on social media.

"We took this very seriously," Chief Solomon said.

"He posted a threat in the form of rap where he mentioned the White House, the Boston Marathon bombing, and said 'everybody you will see what I am going to do, kill people."
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Bad Guys

Institutionalised pedophilia: Veteran BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall admits raping multiple children

Nigel Bunyan
The Guardian
Thu, 02 May 2013 10:56 UTC
Image
© Guardian UKStuart Hall
Veteran BBC broadcaster described as 'opportunistic predator' after admitting to assault of 13 girls between 1968 and 1986

Stuart Hall, the veteran BBC broadcaster, has been described as an "opportunistic predator" by the Crown Prosecution Service after he admitted to a string of historic sex offences against girls.

Three months after dismissing the allegations as "pernicious, callous, cruel and, above all, spurious", the 83-year-old was forced to admit that his accusers had been telling the truth.

Hall, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, first made the admissions at a brief hearing at Preston crown court on 16 April. But they could not be reported because he was facing trial over an allegation that he raped a 22-year-old woman in 1976. On Thursday it emerged that the rape case had been left to lie on the file, along with three other allegations of indecent assault.

Comment: The BBC: Protecting Pedophiles and War Criminals Since 2004

Jimmy Savile scandal: Report reveals decades of abuse

Jimmy Savile scandal exposes pedophile network at heart of British establishment

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Alarm Clock

Man arrested after refusing to roll down window completely

Michael Allen
Opposingviews.com
Wed, 01 May 2013 23:29 UTC
Image
James Eades and a friend were driving on Friday morning when they came to an Operation Thunder Checkpoint in Augusta, Georgia, which they thought was an accident scene (video below).

"We saw what appeared to be an accident scene. A couple of police cars with blue lights, a car carrier and a couple of cars sitting around with no lights on," Eades told WJBF-TV.

Eades tried to turn his car around via an u-turn to avoid traffic delay, but when police saw Eades turning around, they pulled him over.
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Pistol

Suicided? Guantanamo attorney dead in apparent suicide


RT
Thu, 02 May 2013 03:37 UTC
guantanamo
© Reuters / Deborah Gembara
An American lawyer representing detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp has been found dead in an apparent suicide.

The body of Andy P. Hart, a 38-year-old US federal public defender, was found last week with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to Truthout, an investigative blog, news of the attorney's death came only this Wednesday from an investigator working on Guantanamo detainees' habeas corpus petitions. That investigator requested anonymity.

According to court documents, Hart had previously represented Kahlid Saad Mohammed, a 39-year-old Guantanamo detainee from Saudi Arabia who was transferred back to his home country in 2009 after being identified as having only "low-level" terrorist affiliation.

Perhaps most notably, Hart was assigned to defend Mohammed Rahim al-Afghani, one of 16 detainees at Guantanamo which the US government has designated as "high-value." Al-Afghani, thought to be Osama bin Laden's translator, was detained by the CIA and allegedly tortured prior to his arrival in Cuba in 2008.
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Bad Guys

Saudi diplomatic/military compound in Virginia investigated for human trafficking

Eric W. Dolan
The Raw Story
Wed, 01 May 2013 19:03 UTC
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Federal authorities are investigating a Saudi Arabian diplomatic compound in Virginia over a potential case of human trafficking, according to BuzzFeed and NBC Washington.

Federal and local police were called to a home in McLean overnight, where they encountered "two potential victims of trafficking" from the Philippines. One of the women attempted to flee. Real estate records indicate the residence belongs to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said an investigation was ongoing, but could be complicated if the subjects have diplomatic immunity. Brandon Montgomery, an ICE spokesman, told BuzzFeed that "other agencies" were also involved, but did not elaborate.
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