Society's ChildS


Sheriff

Mission PD Chief Denies Police Brutality Alleged in Lawsuit

Ildefonso Ortiz
The Monitor
Sun, 09 Sep 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
Texas, McAllen - A Mission man says in a lawsuit that police officers entered his property and assaulted him, but city officials maintain his claims are baseless.

John Kenneth Snider claims that on Dec. 19, "four or five police officers from the Mission Police Department made a warrantless and unauthorized entry" into his home, according to a lawsuit he filed in July against Mission city officials.

Snider claims once inside his home, police officers "immediately began to assault, beat and strike" him.

Attempts to reach Snider and his lawyer, Rodney Sipes of Edinburg, were unsuccessful last week.

Snider was indicted in February on one count of assault on a public servant. He was later convicted of the charge in the 139th state District Court, where he was sentenced to two years of probation. Whether the charge and conviction stem from the same incident is not clear in court papers and could not be confirmed last week.

The lawsuit names Mission police Chief Martin Garza as the man responsible for the actions of "unnamed officers" and asks for unspecified damages.

Garza told The Monitor he was not at Snider's house during the alleged incident, but he is familiar with the lawsuit and stands by his officers.

"I believe our officers acted within reason and within department policy," Garza said. "I have no reason to doubt the integrity of my officers."
Read More...
Attention

Chicago Teachers to Strike For 1st Time in 25 Years

James B. Kelleher
Reuters
Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:00 UTC
  • Strike could have implications for Obama's campaign
  • Community leaders had urged agreement
  • Teacher pay, evaluations are major issues

Chicago public school teachers will strike for the first time in a quarter century on Monday after they failed to reach agreement with the nation's third-largest school district over education reforms sought by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

The historic confrontation between Emanuel - Barack Obama's former top White House aide - and organized labor could have implications for education reform nationwide and for the president's re-election campaign.

Image
© Sitthixay Ditthavong/Associated PressMembers of the Chicago Teachers Union distributed strike signs as the deadline approached.
"We have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike," Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis told a press conference on Sunday night. "In the morning, no CTU members will be inside our schools."

About 29,000 teachers and support staff in Obama's home city will not report for work on Monday morning, affecting some 350,000 students.

Lewis was interrupted by applause from about 100 union supporters as she spoke, some wearing red in support of the union and carrying signs "On Strike" even before she had finished speaking.

Leigh Nevels, an occupational therapist who works at several schools in the city, said she came out to support Lewis and other union leaders. "The teachers work really hard and they deserve every penny that they get, and then some," Nevels said. "Rahm (Emanuel) just pulled the rug out from under us."

The union wants Chicago to drastically reduce class sizes and increase funding for education.

It is suspicious of efforts to erode traditional job protections such as tenure, teacher autonomy and seniority.
Read More...
Question

Are We Ready for a Zombie Attack?

Michelle Dupler
Tri-City Herald
Sun, 09 Sep 2012 01:55 UTC
Image
© unknown
No one in emergency preparedness circles really believes the dead will rise and come looking for living people to devour -- that weird face-eating incident in Florida aside.

But they do see zombies -- the moaning, flesh-eating stars of a plethora of horror novels, comics and movies -- as a brain-grabbing way to get people to think about preparing for large-scale disasters.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency became the latest federal government agency to shamble onto the zombie bandwagon, following in the footsteps of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency that captured the hearts of internet geeks everywhere when it unveiled its "Zombie Apocalypse" preparedness page and social media campaign last year.

"We need something that gets their attention, so I applaud that," said Richland Fire Chief Grant Baynes, who is involved in local disaster planning.

Baynes likened getting the public engaged in emergency planning to "trying to sell an umbrella on a sunny day."

In a place that's relatively disaster-free -- the Tri-Cities doesn't get catastrophic hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or floods as other parts of the United States -- residents can become complacent and forget that a flu pandemic or some other disaster might be around the corner.

Baynes said it's good that people feel safe, but he'd also like them to be mindful that life is unpredictable.

"Preparedness isn't just a technical thing," he said. "It's mental. It's an attitude. It's that same attitude that says, 'I know there is that potential, so I'll buy this umbrella now while I have the opportunity.' "
Read More...
Binoculars

Are you better off?: 40 statistics that will absolutely shock you


The Economic Collapse
Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:00 UTC
obomney
© KickThemAllOut.com
Are you better off today than you were four years ago? This is a question that comes up nearly every election. This year the Romney campaign has even created a Twitter hashtag for it: #AreYouBetterOff. The Democrats are making lots of speeches claiming that we are better off, and the Republicans are making lots of speeches claiming that we are not. So are most Americans actually better off than they were four years ago? Of course not.

One recent poll found that only 20 percent of Americans believe that they are better off financially than they were four years ago. But the same thing was true four years ago as well. Our economy has been in decline and the middle class has been shrinking for a very long time. The Democrats want to put all of the blame on the Republicans for this, and the Republicans want to put all of the blame on the Democrats for this. A recent CNN headline defiantly declared the following: "Decline of middle class not Obama's fault", and this is the kind of thing we are going to hear day after day until the election in November. But obviously something has gone fundamentally wrong with our economy. So who should we blame?

Sadly, you hear very little on the mainstream news networks or the talk radio shows about the institution that has the most power over our economy. The Federal Reserve has far more power over our financial system than anyone else does, but the media and both political parties tell us that the Federal Reserve is "above politics" and that their "independence" must never be questioned.

But the truth is that the debt-based financial system that the Federal Reserve is at the core of is absolutely central to our economic problems. If you do not understand this, please see this article: "10 Things That Every American Should Know About The Federal Reserve".
Read More...
Sherlock

A 15-year Mystery in Syracuse: Who Keeps Sending These Anthrax Hoax Letters?

John O'Brien
The Post-Standard
Sun, 09 Sep 2012 11:56 UTC
The FBI has evidence that for the past 15 years someone in Syracuse has been panicking office workers with powder-filled letters threatening an anthrax attack.
Anthrax Hoax Letters
© FBIThe drawing common to many of the letters, which appears to be drawn from the works of horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft.
The pattern is the same: A letter arrives with a mound of white powder inside. The writer claims it's anthrax. It terrorizes the poor soul who opens the letter and has to wait as long as 36 hours to find out it was only baby powder.

Then the terrorist disappears for months, even years.

For 15 years, through 21 scares in Syracuse and throughout the East, the FBI has tried to solve the mystery.

Now the FBI wants help.

The agency is sharing details about the chain of terror. It says the letters contained white powder with threats that it was lethal anthrax spores. But in each case, it turned out to be baby powder, detergent or other nonhazardous materials.

The letters also carry clues about the sender, including his penchant for the writings of a long-dead science fiction writer.

The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the conviction of whoever sent the powder in 21 threatening letters from Syracuse since 1997.
Read More...
Black Cat

World's Richest Woman Supports $2 per Day Slave Wages

Michael Allen
Opposing Views
Wed, 05 Sep 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
Gina Rinehart, the world's wealthiest woman, claims that iron-ore mining in Australia may have to abandoned if wages are not cut.

Rinehart then proudly added that African miners are "willing to work for less than $2 per day," reports the BBC (video below).

In a video recently posted on the Sydney Mining Club website, Rinehart, who is worth $18[B], said Australia should emulate Africa, reports RawStory.com.
Read More...
Dollar

Flying le coop: France's Richest Man Seeks Belgian Citizenship, Denies its an Attempt to Dodge Taxes


RT America
Sat, 08 Sep 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
Bernard Arnault, France's richest man with a net worth estimated at US$41 billion, has applied for Belgian citizenship - citing personal and business reasons and maintains this has nothing to do with François Hollande's 75 per cent tax hike on the super-r[ich].

As the Belgian authorities evaluate Arnault's request to determine whether or not he has demonstrable "real ties" to Belgium, it stands to reason that Arnault would wish to seek shelter under Belgium's 50 per cent tax rate.

Arnault insisted on Saturday that he was not becoming Belgian to dodge tax.
Read More...
Dollar

Debt Slavery! Collectors Cash in on $1 Trillion in US Student Loans


RT America
Sun, 09 Sep 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
Most US college students hope to land a good job with a high salary after graduation. But for some the reality is very different. Many find themselves faced with insurmountable debt - and a loan industry that's happy to cash in on their misfortune.

­As the number of people taking out government-backed student loans has soared, so has the number of borrowers who have fallen behind in making payments.

Around 5.9 million people nationwide have fallen at least 12 months behind in their payments. This number has grown by a third in the last five years, according to a State Higher Education Finance survey.

Many who can't repay their loans feel they have no choice but to default. It's a decision that can be disastrous - ruining a borrower's credit and increasing the amount they owe. It can also result in penalties of up to 25 per cent of the balance.

Comment: The student loan racket is destroying the future for many young people and often forces them to take desperate measures:
Prostitution Attractive Option for Med Students with Debt
"I Cannot Eat Your Prayers": How Student Debt Changed One Woman's Mind on "Christian Charity"
America's Student Loan Racket
US: Students Protest Debt While These Companies Rake in Money

Read More...
Heart - Black

Gardening company faces $12.5 million penalty for adding poison to bird food


RT
Sun, 09 Sep 2012 00:00 UTC
bird
© Agence France-Presse/Patrick Pleul
The US law and garden products company, Scotts Miracle Gro, the world's largest marketer of residential pesticides, is facing $12.5 million in fines for violating numerous federal pesticide laws and for adding illegal toxins to wild bird food.

The company pleaded guilty to distributing pesticides with misleading and unapproved labels, distributing unregistered pesticides and falsifying pesticide registrations - but the most disturbing was its use of toxic insecticide in its bird food products, including Storcide II and Actellic 5E.

Part of Friday's $12.5 million criminal settlement will go towards restoring some of the wildlife the company may have endangered. Scotts will be forced to contribute $500,000 to organizations that protect bird habitats. Other fines include a $6 million civil penalty, $2 million for environmental projects and a $4 million criminal state fine.

"Storcide II is extremely toxic to fish and toxic to birds and other wildlife," reads the label on the containers of the chemical. Still, Scotts used the substance and sold its illegally treated bird food for two years after it began making it and for six months after employees warned the company of its dangers. The company admitted it used the toxic substances to protect against insects in the bird food during storage.

Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had prohibited the use of Actellic 5E and Storcide II, both of which were used by Scotts and which the company imported illegally from other countries.
Read More...
House

Wells Fargo loses all of family's possessions after wrongfully foreclosing on home


RT
Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:00 UTC

Wells Fargo employees wrongfully foreclosed a modest home near a small town in California, removing and destroying nearly all of an old couple's belongings.

Alvin and Pat Tjosaas, who have been married for 56 years, lost three generations worth of their belongings when a contracted foreclosure crew accidentally broke into the wrong house. The Tjosaas had no mortgage on the house that Alvin had built with his dad as a teenager.

"Good news, we know who took it: Wells Fargo. Bad news, the stuff is all gone," Alvin Tjosaas told CBS Los Angeles.

Subcontractors hired by the bank broke doors, smashed windows and stole valuables while foreclosing the couple's vacation home near Twentynine Palms.

A 14-year-old Alvin had build the house brick by brick with his dad in 1961 and has taken his family and kids there ever since.

"I put my whole life into this place, building it for my mom and dad," he told ABC News.

"I know every inch, every rock... my mom mixed all the cement by hand," he told CBS.

Among the stolen goods were three tractor mowers, three golf carts, masonry tools, carpenter tools, a WWI uniform and flag, and decades worth of family heirlooms.
Read More...