Society's ChildS

Family

US: Fire dept. watches home burn because family didn't pay fee

Stephen C. Webster
The Raw Story
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:44 UTC
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© U.S. Army
Firefighters in one Tennessee county watched this week as a family's home burned to the ground, refusing to take action to save the structure because the residents had not paid their yearly $75 fee.

Homeowner Vicky Bell told a reporter with NBC affiliate station Local 6 WPSD that she immediately called 9-1-1 when the fire began, and emergency crews rushed to the scene.

Unfortunately for Bell, once firefighters arrived they realized that the family had not contributed to the department this year, so they stood down - exactly as instructed to by the City of South Fulton's "pay for spray" policy.

Due to budget cuts, residents of rural areas outside the city limits have to pay the city for fire protection, or face potential disaster
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Robot

US: Texas mom who shot kids, killed self in standoff was denied food stamps


CBS News
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:26 UTC
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© AP/Laredo Morning Times/Cuate SantosTexas Health and Human Services Office
San Antonio - A Texas woman who for months was unable to qualify for food stamps pulled a gun in a state welfare office and staged a seven-hour standoff with police. The incident ended with her shooting her two children before killing herself, officials said Tuesday.

Authorities identified the mother as 38-year-old Rachelle Grimmer and the children, who remained in critical condition Tuesday, as Ramie and Timothy. The shooting took place at a Texas Department of Heath and Human Services building in the southwest Texas border city of Laredo. Police say about 25 people were inside at the time.

Grimmer, who police say had recently moved to Laredo from Ohio, first applied for food stamps in July but was denied because she didn't turn in enough information, said Texas Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman.

In addition to completing an 18-page application, families seeking state benefits also must provide documents proving their information, such as employment and residency.

Comment: Some time ago there was a paper written, which went along these lines: "..in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare.." The paper, considered the corner stone of American Democracy, appears to have been forgotten. This isn't to make acceptable what this lady has done, but due to the fact that the paper is being, has been undermined, people are becoming more and more desperate for help, especially in the state the Western Worlds economy is in.

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Igloo

UK: School turns heating off to 'save planet': Fury as kids shiver on coldest day

John Coles
The Sun
Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:22 UTC
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© The SunSchool's cool ... Ansford
A headteacher got a roasting yesterday for turning the school heating OFF on one of the coldest days of the year - to save the planet.

Pupils shivered in coats, hats and scarves as temperatures fell to just 1ยฐC (34ยฐF).

Head Rob Benzie switched off the radiators to show how the secondary school could cut its carbon footprint.

But some staff and parents slammed the "barbaric" plan.

One teacher called it "beyond stupid" and added: "It was absolutely ridiculous.

"I've never worked in such cold. I'm all for saving the planet but this was barbaric.
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V

SOTT Focus: Defying the March of Fascism in the Degenerating United States of Euramerica

Richard Swander
Sott.net
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:38 UTC
"In a regular sequence, new 'emergency decrees' appeared every six months, each yet again reducing salaries, pensions, social benefits, and finally even private wages and rates of interest. Each was the logical consequence of the last one, and each time Bruning [German Chancellor 1930-1932], clenching his teeth, imposed the painful logic." From: Defying Hitler: a memoir, by Sebastian Haffner, written in 1939, discovered by his son after his death, published in 2000
European Nazi Flag
© Unknown
The above haunting words were written by Sebastian Haffner in his 1930s memoirs as a young lawyer in Berlin who experienced first-hand the Nazi takeover.

The economic circumstances that Germans were subjected to seem an eerily relevant description of what we are experiencing today. History seems to be repeating itself as we encounter the current repetitive fiscal emergencies and imposition of 'austerity measures' ad-nauseum. If you listen carefully to the emotional, fatalistic language of 'desperate' politicians, you'll hear a not-so-faint echo of the vitriol of the Third Reich's infamous chancellor.

Through Government media agents, we're told "we need to make sacrifices" or the world and everything in it, will implode and die a painful, agonising death. The new 'emergency decrees' of our times all sound necessary in the 'life-raft' manner they are announced. New legislation or amendments are touted as the saviours of global security, fiscal responsibility or financial stability, but the true, freedom-crushing impact of a few carefully chosen, ambiguous words on a legislative manuscript is only fully understood when it is far too late as Haffner carefully explicates.
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Stormtrooper

US: San Francisco Police Clear Occupy Camp, 70 Arrested


CBC News
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:17 UTC
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© Stephen Lam/ReutersA demonstrator is arrested during a morning police raid on the Occupy San Francisco encampment at Justin Herman Plaza on Wednesday.
More than 100 police officers gave protesters at the Occupy encampment in San Francisco five minutes to gather belongings before authorities took down about 100 tents and arrested 70 people as the camp was dismantled in an overnight raid.

A few officers remained at daybreak Wednesday as trash crews raked up paper and plastic bottles, removed chairs and other belongings that accumulated at the camp over the past two months and pressure-washed the sidewalks.

Dozens of police cars, fire engines and ambulances surrounded the campsite at Justin Herman Plaza and blocked off the area during the raid, which began shortly after 1 a.m. PT.

Police did not immediately release how many people were in the plaza at the time, but campers put the estimate at 150.
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Stormtrooper

US: Police Reportedly Went Undercover at Occupy Los Angeles


The Guardian, UK
Sat, 03 Dec 2011 01:39 UTC
Reports suggest police used undercover detectives to infiltrate the Occupy LA camp to find out protesters' intentions
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© Bret Hartman/EPALos Angeles police officers remove an Occupy protester from the camp at the City Hall.

Los Angeles police used nearly a dozen undercover detectives to infiltrate the Occupy LA encampment before this week's raid to gather information on the anti-Wall Street protesters' intentions, according to media reports.

None of the officers slept at the camp, but they tried to blend in during the weeks leading up to the raid to learn about plans to resist or use weapons against police, a police source told the Los Angeles Times. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.

The undercover work yielded information that some protesters were preparing bamboo spears and other potentially dangerous weapons in advance of an expected eviction, none of which were used, according to the City News Service, which first reported the story.

Police played down the significance of the undercover work since Occupy meetings were public and easily tracked.
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Padlock

US: Blagojevich Gets 14 years in Prison for Corruption

Michael Tarm
Atlantic Journal Constitution
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:31 UTC
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© scoodersport.com
Rod Blagojevich, the ousted Illinois governor whose three-year battle against criminal charges became a national spectacle, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday, one of the stiffest penalties imposed for corruption in a state with a history of crooked politics.

Among his 18 convictions is the explosive charge that he tried to leverage his power to appoint someone to President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat in exchange for campaign cash or land a high-paying job.

Judge James Zagel gave Blagojevich some credit for taking responsibility for his actions - which the former governor did in an address to the court earlier in the day - but said that didn't mitigate his crimes. Zagel also said Blagojevich did some good things for people as governor, but was more concerned about using his powers for himself.

"When it is the governor who goes bad, the fabric of Illinois is torn and disfigured and not easily repaired," Zagel said.

As the judge announced the sentence, Blagojevich hunched forward and his face appeared frozen. Minutes later, his wife, Patti Blagojevich, stood up and fell into her husband's arms. He pulled back to brush tears off her cheek and then rubbed her shoulders.
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Handcuffs

Russian Police Arrest Hundreds in Anti-Putin Rally

Dmitry Zaks and Laetitia Peron
Agence France-Presse
Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00 UTC
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© Agence France-Presse/Kirill Kudryavtsev Riot police detain a Russian opposition activist taking part in an unauthorized rally, on Triumfalnaya Square in central Moscow.
Russian riot police arrested hundreds of activists in central Moscow on Tuesday to stop a new protest alleging that elections were rigged in favour of Vladimir Putin's ruling party.

Helmeted police in green camouflage and interior ministry troops deployed in force for an event that was organised through the Internet after a rare thousands-strong protest on Monday startled the authorities.

Opposition supporters shouted "Shame on you fascists!" and "Russia without Putin" in a tense stand-off with hundreds of pro-Kremlin youth who descended on the site in advance.

Those detained in Moscow included former cabinet minister turned Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov -- released after being booked at a police station -- and several other members of opposition groups that were barred from running in the polls.
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Mr. Potato

US: Blagojevich Expresses Remorse in Courtroom Speech

Monica Davey
The New York Times
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00 UTC
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© Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated PressRod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, leaves his home in Chicago on Wednesday for the second day of his sentencing hearing on 18 corruption convictions.
Rod R. Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, apologized to residents of his state, to the judge in his case and to his family on Wednesday as he spoke in court during his sentencing hearing.

"I have nobody to blame but myself for my stupidity and actions, words, things that I did, that I thought I could do," he said.

Mr. Blagojevich spoke before the federal judge who will decide his sentence for 18 felony corruption convictions, including trying to sell or trade the Senate seat that President Obama left behind when he moved to the White House. Although he had been outspoken in the past about his innocence, Mr. Blagojevich was remorseful in court on Wednesday.

"I accept the peoples' verdict, Judge, they found me guilty," he said adding later, "All I can say is I never wanted to hurt anyone."

Mr. Blagojevich's crimes carry maximum sentences that could stretch into hundreds of years behind bars, but federal prosecutors say he deserves 15 to 20 years in prison. Mr. Blagojevich's lawyers said they were seeking far less, saying simply that they were advocating for "the lowest sentence possible."
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Airplane

US: Alec Baldwin: Booted from Plane for Playing Game

Gordon Cameron
Plugged In
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00 UTC
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© Getty ImagesAlec Baldwin
You know when the flight attendants tell you to turn off all electronic devices prior to takeoff? They're not kidding -- even if you happen to be a star.

Actor Alec Baldwin was removed from an American Airlines flight leaving Los Angeles for New York on Tuesday when he was apparently too engrossed in a game of Zynga's Words With Friends to power down his iPad.

"Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving. #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt," the actor tweeted.

The incident caused a one-hour delay in the flight and kicked off a flurry of Internet chatter. Baldwin's own Twitter feed has been pulsing with caustic comments about his removal.

"Last flight w American," the 30 Rock star tweeted Tuesday afternoon, "Where retired Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950s find jobs as flight attendants."
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