Society's ChildS


Stormtrooper

Israel passes draft law requiring Palestinians to pay for their own home demolitions

Saed Bannoura
International Middle East Media Center
Thu, 30 Jun 2011 05:50 UTC
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© Anticap/wordpressHome demolition in Hebron
A Committee of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) passed a first draft of a law that will require that Palestinians whose homes are destroyed by Israeli forces pay the Israeli government for the demolition costs.

The law will now be passed to the full Knesset for a final reading, where it is expected to pass due to the current makeup of the Knesset.

Since 1967, Israeli forces have demolished 24,813 Palestinian homes. 90% of these homes were destroyed for 'administrative' reasons - because they either lacked a permit or were in an area designated for expansion by the Israeli military. No permits have been issued by Israeli authorities for Palestinian construction in the Occupied Territories since 1967. The remaining 10% of the demolitions have been 'punitive' demolitions of the homes of Palestinians accused of attacking Israel, or of their families' homes.
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Arrow Down

Asia Grain Outlook: Prices May Rebound on Physical Demand, U.S. Floods

Sameer Mohindru
The Wall Street Journal
Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:50 UTC
Asian grains prices are likely to get support over the next few days from strong demand and concerns that recent floods may have dragged down acreage in the U.S., trade participants said Wednesday.

"After the recent long liquidation, prices seem to have bottomed out for the time being and another rally is on the cards," said a Singapore-based executive with a global commodities trading company.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is due to issue acreage and stockpiles reports on Thursday, and many traders are covering short positions and rebuilding long positions in preparation for what is expected to be bullish data, said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager for research with Japan-based commodities brokerage Nihon Unicom Inc.

Most traders expect near-month wheat, corn and soybean contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade to rise at least 20 cents a bushel in the next few days on the back of strategic buying by investors. The July contracts are currently trading around $6.49/bushel, $6.96/bushel and $13.38/bushel, respectively.

The corn contract has already tumbled more than $1.0/bushel since it hit a record high of $7.9975/bushel on June 10. In past few days, wheat prices have fallen to their lowest level in almost a year.
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Family

A Million Elderly Hit by "Epidemic of Poverty and Loneliness"

James Chapman
The Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:07 UTC
A generation of lonely and poverty-stricken pensioners needs urgent help from their communities, a think-tank study argues.

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© AlamyMore than a million over-65s report feeling loneliness often or always, and a similar number feel trapped in their homes, according to the Centre for Social Justice.
More than a million over-65s report feeling loneliness often or always, and a similar number feel trapped in their homes, according to the Centre for Social Justice.

The report by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith's think-tank also claims that growing numbers are living alone in their own homes but are unable to meet repair and maintenance costs.

'The result is significant housing poverty among older homeowners, especially in the private sector,' it says.

'Currently there are 3.2million older householders living in non-decent private sector homes.'

The CSJ recommends that these pensioners should be prevailed upon to remortgage their homes to pay for this basic upkeep.
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Evil Rays

French Woman Sues Opus Dei, Claims Brainwashing

Dorothee Moisan
Agence France-Presse
Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
statue of St Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer
© Agence France-Presse/Vincenzo PintoA French woman is suing Opus Dei, founded by St Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, a statue of whom is shown at the Vatican.
A French woman claiming to have been brainwashed by the secretive Catholic society Opus Dei is suing it for allegedly keeping her illegally as a domestic servant, she told AFP Tuesday.

Catherine T., who asked not to be identified by her family name, said she joined a hoteliers' school in northeastern France in 1985, aged 14, which she later discovered was run by associates of Opus Dei.

She said she was forced to take vows and made to work as a domestic servant for virtually no pay.

Opus Dei responded in a statement that it was "not involved in the charges being brought" and had "nothing to be guilty about."

It will be the first ever trial targeting the organization, branded a sect by some, which came to wide attention after featuring in the blockbuster novel and film The Da Vinci Code.

"They assigned me a 'tutor' who was actually a kind of conscience instructor," Catherine told AFP. "I entered into the system.... You were forbidden to talk about it to your parents."
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Bizarro Earth

Focusing on Casey Anthony Rather than the Child Murder Epidemic

Anissa Ford
Huliq
Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
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© Red Huber/Orlando SentinelCasey Anthony arrives at Friday's hearing.
Babies and children are killed by their parents and caregivers every day. So what's the big deal about Casey Anthony's case?

Forbes Magazine's women's writer, Kiri Blakeley, points to the number of African American babies and children murdered this winter and spring as ample reason why the Casey Anthony murder trials deserves little attention.

In Blakeley's mind, all children murdered by their caregivers and parents deserve national media attention. Children like Caylee Anthony and Jon Benet Ramsey get far too much attention, Blakely argues.

And while most people are long past their grief for the murdered daughter in the Caylee Anthony murder trial, Casey Anthony's denial and her inability or refusal to admit guilt (or relay any information at all) about her daughter's death, brings people from all over the nation into the Florida courtroom to witness this trial.

When the nation is shocked or fascinated with a person and an incident, they are also shocked by the complete disconnect and lack of empathy that the accused displays while proclaiming innocence.

Scott Peterson, to date, is the strongest example of presumed and declared innocence in such murder trials. For as long as he could, Peterson ran a baton race with the basic and fundamental right of any US citizen---he was innocent until proven guilty.
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Camcorder

US: To Catch a Predator host who traps sex perverts in TV stings 'caught cheating on his wife'... by hidden cameras

Fiona Roberts
The Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:45 UTC
He's made his name with a controversial show that catches would-be internet sex perverts in televised stings.

But now Chris Hansen has found himself on the receiving end of his own hidden camera tactics, after the married NBC anchor was secretly filmed on an illicit date with a blonde television reporter 20 years his junior.

Hansen, 51, has allegedly been having an affair with Kristyn Caddell, a 30-year-old Florida journalist, for the last four months.

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Affair: Married NBC anchor Chris Hansen is allegedly having an affair with Florida television reporter Kristyn Caddell, who is more than 20 years his junior
Last weekend he was recorded taking Miss Caddell on a romantic dinner at the exclusive Ritz-Carlton hotel in Manalapan, before spending the night at her Palm Beach apartment.

Hansen, who has two young sons, was caught in an undercover sting operation arranged by the National Enquirer.
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Info

UK: Snake Sanctuary Owner Luke Yeomans Dies from Cobra Bite


BBC News
Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:55 UTC

The owner of a Nottinghamshire snake sanctuary has died after apparently being bitten by one of his own animals.

Luke Yeomans, 47, was due to open the King Cobra Sanctuary, in Eastwood, to the public this weekend.

Police confirmed they were called to a property in Brookhill Leys Road, near Eastwood, where Mr Yeomans had suffered a suspected heart attack.

Officers confirmed the snake had been contained and there was no danger to the public.
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Laptop

Google+ Challenges Facebook in Social Network Battle


BBC News
Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:41 UTC
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© GoogleGoogle+ has been released for use by a small, selected number of users
Online search giant Google has launched a new social networking website in its latest attempt to take on Facebook, which now claims more than 500m users.

Google+ allows individuals to share photos, messages and comments but also integrates the company's maps and images into the service.

It also aims to help users easily organise contacts within groups.

But some analysts say Google has simply reproduced features of Facebook while adding a video chat function.

Google, which handles roughly two out of every three internet searches in the US, has taken several stabs at Facebook in recent years.

But its previous efforts ended in failure, with both Google Wave and Google Buzz proving unpopular with users.
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Alarm Clock

Thom Hartmann: Second Japan Nuke... More Dangerous Than Fukushima?

Thom Hartmann
RT America
Wed, 29 Jun 2011 21:59 UTC
Kevin Kamps, Nuclear Waste Watchdog at Beyond Nuclear joins Thom Hartmann. If Japan didn't have its hands full with one melted down nuclear plant at Fukushima - it certainly does now with another nuclear power plant on the verge of melting down. About 300 miles southwest of Fukushima sits the Monju nuclear reactor - a prototype fast-breeder reactor filled to the brim with plutonium - the deadliest element on the face of the planet. And last year - a 3 ton device of some sort fell into the Monju reactor blocking access to the nuclear fuel rods in the reactor core - and despite several attempts - has yet to be recovered. Another attempt will be made next week to clear the 3 ton object from the reactor - but critics caution that the procedure is extremely dangerous and could trigger an explosion in the nuclear fuel rods. One ominous sign of just how dangerous the situation is - a top manager at the plant just recently committed suicide. Think of the damaged Monju plant as a nuclear bomb just waiting to go off that could take out the city of Kyoto which is just 60 miles from the plant - and has a population of 1.5 million people. And Japan's largest city Tokyo is downwind from the crippled Monju plant. So what does this all mean? And what's the latest with the two nuclear plants that are in danger right here in the United States - in Nebraska?
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Heart - Black

North Carolina, US: Frontier Worker Charged with Animal Abuse

Maggie Tobias
The Sylva Herald
Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
peppervetc
© The Sylva HeraldPepper, an 8-year-old miniature schnauzer owned by Gina and John Rarick of Dillsboro, is still recovering from injuries she sustained after being hit by Frontier Communications employee Joshua Gray, according to Gina Rarick. Gray has been charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals, and his court date is July 12. Rarick said earlier this week that Pepper had improved slightly, but the dog can’t hold her head up and is unable to walk straight.
Joshua Gray of Sylva, a Frontier Communications employee, has been charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals after a June 17 incident, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

Pepper, an 8-year-old miniature schnauzer owned by Gina and John Rarick of Dillsboro, sustained severe brain injuries after Gray hit her with a large test phone, according to Gina Rarick.

Pepper is currently in the care of Sylva Animal Hospital during the day, but Gina Rarick takes her home at night. Pepper's condition is unstable, but she can walk, and by early this week, Pepper was doing better, Gina Rarick said.

"She can walk but she walks in circles. That's the brain damage," she said. "She'll probably always walk in circles."
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