Society's ChildS


Handcuffs

Feds Arrest 190 Alleged Child Predators in Massive Undercover Operation

John Morton
© unknownICE Director John Morton
Nearly 200 child predators have been arrested and 18 victims rescued in a nationwide undercover operation, federal authorities announced Friday.

The month-long investigation -- called "Operation Orion" -- was conducted in May by special agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit.

The operation targeted individuals who "possessed, received, transported, distributed, advertised or produced images or videos of child pornography," ICE officials said in a press release Friday.

The investigation led to the arrests of 190 alleged child predators. The majority of the arrests were made in the U.S., though authorities said individuals in Spain, the Philippines, Argentina and the United Kingdom were also taken into custody.

Crusader

Christians Rally in Detroit to Protest Obama Administration's Contraception Mandate

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© Macomb Daily / David DaltonProtesters wield signs at the Stand Up for Religious Freedom rally Friday afternoon in front of the McNamera Federal Building on Michigan Avenue in downtown Detroit.
More than 1,000 people at a rally in downtown Detroit on Friday amplified their opposition to the Obama administration's contraception mandate, saying it attacks religious beliefs and encourages sexual promiscuity.

The heavily Catholic- and Christian-influenced Stand Up for Religious Freedom rally, one of 160 across the nation and nine in Michigan, was held to protest the Health and Human Services policy that forces even religious-based institutions such as hospitals and universities to provide birth-control coverage in health care plans.

"This mandate is not about women's access to contraception, it is about denying the rights of men and women to live and act according to their conscience," said professor Mary Healy of Sacred Heart Major Seminary. "It's about promoting an agenda that contributes to the comodification of women and the undermining of marriage and the family.

"Are we going to stand for that?"

"No," the crowd yelled.

Nuke

Indiana Radiation Spike Triggers Elevated Levels In Other States, Media Stays Silent

Radiation Spike
© Natural Society
Elevated Indiana radiation levels - specifically near the border of Indiana and Michigan - have prompted explosions, military helicopters, thousands of eyewitness accounts, but where is the mainstream media coverage? Now independent radiation experts are reporting increased levels in some other states, with one particular station noticing an increase since just around 11:45am mountain time on Thursday.

This coincides with community board posts created just around the same time in a number of locations, even before the incident hit the public. In one such posting on a law enforcement website discussing the radiation increase, an individual from Chicago states "We've been encountering some high readings at the labs here."

Independent radiation monitoring station owner Joey Stanford has uploaded a video showing spiked radiation levels as far as Colorado. Some individuals are questioning the actual source of the increased radiation, stating that it could be solar-based.

Stanford created the video in response to the growing concerns over elevated radiation levels stemming from Indiana. Indiana radiation levels normally hover around 5 and 6 counts per minute (CPM), but the levels drastically increased to as much as 7,139 CPM without warning. Afterwards, the EPA disabled the online measurement tool. Here is the screenshot of the tool showing the skyrocketing levels.

Ornament - Blue

'Smurf' victim tells of fear after series of bizarre incidents

Smurf psycho

Police are hunting for a man "who looks like a smurf" responsible for a series of bizarre incidents around May Hill.

Several women have been approached by a man wearing a skintight blue all-in-one "morphsuit", who has then run off into woodland. His face was also painted blue.

In one incident, the man followed a lone woman, waving and performing star jumps, as she walked down from the top of May Hill.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said: "I know it sounds funny but it was genuinely scary. He followed me some distance and it's really scared and unnerved a lot of people around here.

"Women, in particular, do not want to go to May Hill on their own at the moment."

That incident happened on May 20 and two similar reports were made to police last Saturday, June 2.

Cult

Mysterious desert yoga retreat where they'd pledged not to speak for three years ends in grisly death of love rival who married head monk's secret wife

  • Mysterious retreat death
    Mysterious end: Ian Thorson, left, has died after fleeing a Buddhist retreat with his wife Christie McNally, right. They camped in the Aizona mountains where Thorson died of exposure and dehydration
    Ian Thorson died from exposure after fleeing Buddhist retreat with his wife
  • Ordered out of the retreat after revealing she had stabbed him 'by mistake'
  • Thorson was the love rival of Michael Roach, a divisive Princeton-educated monk who ran the retreat
  • Roach had been secretly married to Thorson's wife
A man who was part of a mysterious yoga retreat - likened to a cult - has been found dead in the mountains in Bowie, Arizona after fleeing the sect with his wife and succumbing to exposure.

The grisly death is just the latest twist in a story that involves a Princeton-educated monk, his forbidden wife and a stabbing in the desert.

Search and rescue teams found Ian Thorson's body in a cave alongside his wife, Christie McNally, who was delirious and thirsty.

Six weeks earlier, they had been ordered to leave the Diamond Mountain retreat after she revealed in one of her lectures that she had stabbed him with a knife 'by mistake'.

Comment: This story reminds us of another Spiritual Predator: Prem Rawat AKA Maharaji.


Attention

Does Macho Culture Keep Suicidal Soldiers From Seeking Help?

U.S. Marine
© Walter G Arce, ShutterstockA U.S. Marine in dress blues.

U.S. soldiers are not out of harm's way as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq wind down. Newly released numbers show 154 suicides by active-duty military members in the first 155 days of 2012.

The nearly one-a-day suicide rate revealed by the Pentagon today (June 8) represents a troubling increase over previous years. The Associated Press, which obtained the numbers, said military officials and psychologists aren't certain what caused the surge, but part of the problem may be the culture of the military itself, which values traditional masculine stoicism and toughness under stress.

Of course, mental toughness, stoicism and self-sufficiency are important tools during battle, said Eric Caine, co-director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide at the University of Rochester Medical Center. But outside of war zones, these same characteristics can make it difficult for a service member to accept psychological help.

"It's a fine balance between saying it's a sign of strength to ask for help and saying it's a sign of strength to be able to face adversity with a sense of self-sufficiency," Cain told LiveScience. "It's always challenging for leadership to be able to find that balance."

Bizarro Earth

Best of the Web: More U.S. Soldiers Dying from Suicide Than Combat

soldier
© AP

Suicides are surging among America's troops, averaging nearly one a day this year - the fastest pace in the nation's decade of war.

The 154 suicides for active-duty troops in the first 155 days of the year far outdistance the U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan - about 50 percent more - according to Pentagon statistics obtained by The Associated Press.

The numbers reflect a military burdened with wartime demands from Iraq and Afghanistan that have taken a greater toll than foreseen a decade ago. The military also is struggling with increased sexual assaults, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and other misbehavior.

Because suicides had leveled off in 2010 and 2011, this year's upswing has caught some officials by surprise.

The reasons for the increase are not fully understood. Among explanations, studies have pointed to combat exposure, post-traumatic stress, misuse of prescription medications and personal financial problems. Army data suggest soldiers with multiple combat tours are at greater risk of committing suicide, although a substantial proportion of Army suicides are committed by soldiers who never deployed.

The unpopular war in Afghanistan is winding down with the last combat troops scheduled to leave at the end of 2014. But this year has seen record numbers of soldiers being killed by Afghan troops, and there also have been several scandals involving U.S. troop misconduct.

House

Decrepit bank-owned homes blight cities

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© Jonathan Alcorn/ReutersActivists stand in a living room of a foreclosed home, where squatters have been living, during a blight tour that the activists say highlight how big banks are hurting local communities by failing to maintain their foreclosed properties.
The smell of rotting food and decay inside 10956 South Wilmington Avenue, Los Angeles, was overwhelming.

A burst pipe in the kitchen ceiling leaked water onto a floor littered with half empty cans, razor blades, odd shoes, stained clothing and an upturned, mold-ridden sofa. Windows were smashed and boarded up.

The vacant home was foreclosed on in August 2011 by Bank of America, which has done nothing to repair it.

And in a cruel twist that underscores the connection between the housing meltdown and the fiscal crisis afflicting many local governments, the city of Los Angeles lacks the wherewithal to force the property owner to clean up the mess.

Across America, bank-owned, blighted houses sit untouched, sometimes for years, disfiguring what in many cases are already troubled neighborhoods. Activists say the problem is particularly acute in minority areas. And many cities do not have the resources, the will or the power to force banks to maintain their properties.

Comment: Ah the economy. It's a wonderful thing, currently held together by a couple of shoe strings, wishful thinking and a list of illusions. The illusions seem stronger when things are generally more fair. Alas the Puppet Masters are thinning the illusion and milking people of their wealth through fear and intimidation. Thus far it has been very effective. (Last Friday) June 1st', 274.88 tumble in the U.S. Dow Jones industrial average caused $525 billion to be poured out of U.S. stocks. And while there has been a rebound in the stock numbers, $525 billion went somewhere.

The Largest U.S. Cities Are Becoming Cesspools Of Filth, Decay And Wretchedness: "So things are going to continue to get worse and America is going to continue to descend into squalor. You better get ready."

21 Signs That This Could Be A Long, Hot, Crazy Summer For The Global Financial System: "It will be exciting to watch what happens, but it is also important to keep in mind that the coming economic crisis will cause extreme pain for millions upon millions of people."


USA

As Language Goes

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No fan of public sexual molestation or gratuitous cancer-inducing radiation, I haven't flown in four years, but tonight, I'll have to board a plane to fly to London. If there was a transatlantic tube, rickshaw relay or galley slave jubilee special to Piccadilly, I'd be on it, but since there's no way to dodge our eager TSA gropers, I might as well man up (or down) for some random intimacy.

Listen, punk, if there's no penetration, it doesn't count, it don't matter, so if a priest, football coach, cop or airport employee vigorously strokes or feels you up a bit, you can still join the Virgin Foundation or the Tim Tebow Fan Club. Rest assured.

At least it's same-sex molestation, some say, so America is not so adverse to homosexual cuddling, after all, which is good or bad according to your talk-show-host preference, anal retentiveness or upbringing, but this still doesn't take into account the sexual preference or aversion of the gropee. I mean, a cage-fighting nun cannot possibly want to be fondled by the same type of person, or in the same way, as a crucifix-collecting lesbian.

With my luck, my partner will truss me up in a backroom, stab me with an ice pick, eat me - yeah, baby - then mail my body parts to divers public officials. Obama will get my left testicle, Romney my right, though both nuts are barely distinguishable from each other, and unsmiling Janet Napolitano will get a generous helping of my, uh, Second Amendment.

Heart - Black

Couple 'raped baby daughter during supervised visit and recorded sex abuse of 18-month-old nephew'

A husband and wife are accused of raping their 13-month-old daughter during what was supposed to be a supervised visit at a children's service center, and recorded it on a cellphone - which also contained 532 images of child bestiality.

Felicia and Cody Beemer, from Trumbull County, Ohio, originally pleaded not guilty to the charges. But yesterday, Cody, 23, changed his plea to guilty on charges of rape, gross sexual imposition and four counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor.

It also emerged that he previously raped his 18-month-old nephew while they were babysitting him, which was also taped on the phone. He also pleaded guilty to that charge.