Society's ChildS


Cloud Lightning

Ontario woman recovering from lightning strike in Manitoba


CBC News
Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
Lightning
© Owen Zammit via Flickr
Canada - A 23-year-old Ontario woman says she's in good spirits after she survived being struck by lightning while canoeing in a Manitoba river this week.

Corynne McCathie of Innisfil, Ont., says was with six other people, taking part in a Manitoba Pioneer Camp canoe trip on the Bloodvein River, when a major storm blew in on Sunday afternoon.

The group was retreating to safety on a nearby island when McCathie, who is a camp staff member, was hit by lightning while hauling a canoe to shore.

McCathie told CBC News she does not remember the precise moment she was struck, but she remembered having trouble speaking and feeling disconnected from her body.

"I remember waking up and being very disoriented and just seeing my arms in front of me and realizing that I couldn't feel them," she said Tuesday from Winnipeg.

"I saw arms and legs [but] they didn't feel like they were mine, even though they were attached to my body."
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Info

Group arrested during G20 sue police, alleging profiling, sexual assault

Sarah Ratchford
The Vancouver Sun
Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
Warning! Contains strong language.


Canada, Toronto - A lawsuit against Toronto police is more about alleged sex-based discrimination than being profiled for having "hairy legs," one of the plaintiffs said Wednesday.

Alicia Ridge, 27, is part of a group of seven people from Hamilton suing Toronto police for $1.4 million over their arrests during the 2010 G20 summit, claiming false arrest, battery and malicious prosecution.

The women in the group claim they were profiled by an officer who wrote in his arrest notes that all the women had hairy legs - something he said he associated with G20 protesters.

Ridge, who is a nurse and studying to become a midwife, and also volunteers with a sexual assault centre, said the lawsuit was prompted by allegations beyond the "hairy legs" comment.

"My arresting officer, who was male, decided to do an initial search of my body, which was just basically running his hand up the side of my leg and grabbing my ass, along with sexualized comments and comments that were put out there to create fear," Ridge said Wednesday after serving the lawsuit at police headquarters.

None of the claims has been proven or tested in court. The Toronto Police Services Board was not immediately available to comment on the lawsuit.

The group alleges the police wrongfully arrested them on June 27, 2010 - a day after vandals went on a rampage in downtown Toronto - as they emerged from a pizza parlour.
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Stormtrooper

12-Year-Old Girl Tased Inside Victoria's Secret

Mike Rush
5 KSDK
Fri, 27 Jul 2012 22:23 UTC
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Arrow Up

Judge Overturns Murder Convictions After Facebook Post Leads to New Witnesses

Michael Allen
Opposing Views
Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
Raymond and Thomas Highers have been in jail, since 1987, for the murder of Robert Karey, who was shot dead at his home.

However, they may be set free due to a Facebook post by an old friend named Mary Evans.

Evans told Fox Detroit what she wrote on the Northeast Detroit Alumni Facebook page in 2009: "All I said was it's too bad or it's sad that the Highers brothers are in prison for life, and that there just started this domino effect."

Apparently, another classmate, who saw the Facebook post, recalled hearing that someone else had committed the murder and tried to find witnesses.

Judge Lawrence Talon, on Thursday, reversed the brother's convictions after "credible and reliable" new evidence surfaced from some [then] teens, who said they were in a car outside Karey's house the night he was shot.
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Handcuffs

Arkansas police claim man shot himself in head despite handcuffs

David Edwards
The Raw Story
Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:51 UTC
Chavis Chacobie Carter
© WREG
A Mississippi mother is accusing police in Jonesboro, Arkansas of killing her son after he was found shot in the head with his hands cuffed behind his back in a squad car.

A police report obtained by KAIT indicated that 21-year-old Chavis Chacobie Carter had been a passenger in a pickup truck when Officer Ron Marsh found "some marijuana" and plastic baggies in his possession. Marsh also determined that Carter had been wanted on a warrant after he missed a court date for drug charges in DeSoto County, Mississippi.

Marsh then had Carter "exit the patrol unit, placed him into handcuffs, searched him a second time then placed him into the back seat of the patrol unit."

Jonesboro Police Sergeant Lyle Waterworth told WREG that Carter had been "handcuffed behind his back and double locked, and searched."
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House

UK homeless rate rises by 25% in the recent three years


PressTV
Wed, 01 Aug 2012 20:06 UTC
UK Homeless
© UnknownA new research shows the number of homeless households in England has surged by a quarter in the recent three years.
The number of the homeless families and individuals in England has surged by 25 percent in the recent three years, a new research shows.

The number of homeless families and individuals in England has surged by a quarter in the recent three years, a new research warns.

According to data experts SSentif, the number of people classed as homeless and in need of emergency accommodation was 50,290 in 2011-12, showing an increase of over 25 percent when compared to 40,020 in 2009-10.

The research also found that regionally, the East of England faced the highest increase, with the number of cases increasing from 3,660 in 2009-10 to 5,270 in 2011-12, up by 44 percent.

Moreover, the figures revealed that the British government's spending on tackling the problem of homelessness has dropped from £213.7m in 2009-10 to £199.8m in 2010-11.

However, a spokesman for the UK Department for Communities and Local Government claimed that these figures were "a narrow and misleading snapshot," adding that the homelessness "is actually lower than for 28 of the last 30 years - and is half the average rate seen under the previous government".
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Bulb

Powercut Cripples Grand Cayman

Søren Dreier
Zen-Haven
Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
A power outage in Grand Cayman, which started at 6:30 this morning and lasted until late afternoon, crippled the entire island Wednesday.

Businesses across Grand Cayman were forced to draw operations to a halt due to the loss of electricity, with many telling their employees to stay home.

Hospitals used backup generators to continue offering services, while police had to be dispatched to direct motorists on the street due to the blackout.

Caribbean Utilities Company, the only electricity provider on the island, said the outage was caused by a fault in one of its substations which affected the entire system.
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Attention

Assange's Mother Worried About His Health in Embassy 'Conditions Similar to Detention'

Diego Torres
Associated Press
Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© AP Photo/Dolores OchoaEcuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, right, talks with mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Christine Assange, during their meeting in Quito, Ecuador, Monday, July 30, 2012. Christine Assange is in Quito to appeal to Ecuador's government to grant her son asylum. The 40-year-old Australian has been holed up inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since applying for political asylum on June 19.
Quito, Ecuador - The mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Monday after meeting with Ecuador's foreign minister that she's worried about her son's health after nearly seven weeks' confinement at the South American nation's London embassy.

''He is under a lot of stress and it's been long-term stress now for nearly two years and in conditions which are similar to detention,'' Christine Assange told The Associated Press.

Her son took refuge in the embassy on June 19, requesting political asylum after exhausting all legal appeals to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about sexual misconduct allegations.

Julian Assange, who angered U.S. officials by publishing secret U.S. diplomatic cables and military documents, calls the accusations trumped up and says he fears Sweden will extradite him to the United States for trial.

Ecuadorean officials have said they will not announce a decision on the asylum request until after the London Olympic Games end in mid-August.
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Airplane

San Antonio Airport reopened after bomb threat


NBC News
Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:00 UTC
Image
© WOAISan Antonio Airport was evacuated on Wednesday because of a bomb threat.
San Antonio Airport -- shut down on Wednesday afternoon due to a bomb threat -- has been reopened. About 2,000 passengers are returning to terminals, an airport spokesperson said.

Both terminals were evacuated earlier in the day after a caller reported a bomb threat inside the parking garage, officials said.

The garage in question remains closed and a bomb squad is evaluating two suspicious cars, the airport spokesperson added. No car traffic is allowed to enter the airport.

A caller reported the threat at 3:19 p.m. ET and mentioned three devices, according to the airport.

On its Twitter feed, San Antonio Airport posted: "We are evacuating the terminals at this time."
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Question

Aussie Tycoon Wants to Clone Dinosaurs for His Real Life, Resort-Based Jurassic Park

Kathy Sundstrom
Sunshine Coast Daily, Australia
Wed, 01 Aug 2012 16:34 UTC
Jurassic Park
© WikipediaJurassic Park...the ride.
The suggestion would be considered unbelievable - if it involved anyone other than Clive Palmer.

The controversial billionaire is rumoured to be planning to clone a dinosaur from DNA so he can set it free in a Jurassic Park-style area at his new Palmer Resort in Coolum.

Mr Palmer has, apparently, been in deep discussion with the people who successfully cloned Dolly the sheep to bring his dinosaur vision to life.

If Mr Palmer can resurrect the Titanic, what is to stop him from trying with another of his other alleged passions - dinosaurs?

This is just one of the rumours circulating about Mr Palmer's plans for Coolum.

And while the concept sounds like a joke, it apparently comes from a source close to Mr Palmer's inner circle.
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