Society's ChildS


Bad Guys

Wave of Iraq attacks kills 42

Image
© AFP PhotoLocal men inspect the site of an explosion in Kirkuk, Iraq, on January 16, 2013.
Attacks in Baghdad and north Iraq killed 42 people on Wednesday as hundreds attended the funeral of a Sunni MP who died in a suicide attack a day earlier, as a political crisis grips the country.

The violence, which struck mostly in disputed territory in the north and which officials also said wounded at least 245 people, was the deadliest this year.

It comes as Iraq grapples with a long-running political dispute, with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki facing several protests in hardening opposition against his rule and calls from many of his erstwhile government partners for his ouster.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni militants often launch waves of violence in a bid to destabilise the government and push Iraq back towards the sectarian violence that blighted it from 2005 to 2008.

Attention

Some 22,000 children considered missing in Turkey

Image
According to the Turkish statistics data, some 27,000 children were missing in the country from 2008 to 2011, CNN Turk TV channel said today. Some 16,200 of this number are girls.

According to the statistics, only 5700 children were found.

Red Flag

Pregnant? That might get you arrested

Image
© Matthew Benoit/Shutterstock
Abortion continues to be a hot-button issue in the US, as dozens of states have passed measures to limit women's access to the procedure. But even women who want to be pregnant are not free of legal restraints on their bodies, as a new paper in the Journal of Health, Politics, Policy and Law demonstrates. In many instances, women have been arrested, institutionalized, or subjected to unwanted medical interventions due to their pregnancies.

The paper looks at 413 criminal and civil cases from 1973 to 2005 in which women were subject to legal action related to their unborn children. In all the cases, the women were deprived of their own civil liberties by legal authorities claiming to seek protection of the fetus. Many dealt with charges related to drug or alcohol use during pregnancy, refusing to follow doctor's orders, or for miscarriages that were blamed on their actions (even if there was little to no evidence to prove that those actions led to the miscarriage).

USA

U.S. military suicides outnumbered combat deaths in Afghanistan in 2012

Dead Soldier
© Associated Press
The bigger struggle facing the U.S. military isn't how to "win" in Afghanistan, but how to get the troops home and keep them alive.

Last year, more military personnel committed suicide (349) than the total of soldiers killed in the war (295).

The suicide total was the highest ever recorded since the Department of Defense began keeping track in 2001. The new mark shattered the previous high of 301, set in 2011.

The suicides among Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans may be attributed to depression, post-traumatic stress or substance abuse, according to David Rudd, a military suicide researcher and dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Utah. Suicidal military personnel who have not seen battle may face personal problems relating to financial, legal or relationship problems, Rudd told The Associated Press (AP).

People 2

Fracking the Amish

Image
© OnEarth/Lynn JohnsonActivist Carrie Hahn explains the potential risks of the natural gas drilling technique known as fracking to one of her Amish neighbors.
In a community that shuns technology and conflict, the intrusion of gas wells shatters tranquility and brings unexpected schisms

A bleak December sky hangs low over rural Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. Here, in areas populated by large Amish families, open fields roll toward the horizon uninterrupted by electrical wires and telephone poles. Stepping from a car that seems grossly out of place in this 19th century landscape, Carrie Hahn, a newcomer to the area, takes a deep breath of mud and cow outside an Amish farmhouse. Suddenly, like an apparition, Andy Miller appears on a flagstone path, his face hidden beneath beard and broad-brimmed hat. He quickly ushers us inside a large, unfurnished mudroom to escape the wind.

Miller, who is in his late 40s and has nine children, is a leading member of the Old Order Amish, who eschew all modern conveniences. (Like all the Amish names in this story, Miller's has been changed at his request, to respect Amish traditions and preserve his anonymity.) Standing against a western window, a silhouette of felt hat, bushy sideburns, and stiff cotton work clothes, he explains how he came to be in the uncomfortable position in which he finds himself today: dealing with multibillion-dollar energy companies that use high-tech methods to shatter the earth and release mile-deep pockets of natural gas.

Decades ago, Miller says, oil and gas companies began prowling around western Pennsylvania, locking residents into leases for conventional gas wells, which are relatively shallow and unobtrusive. Many landowners, Miller included, had no idea that once they had assigned their mineral rights, often for a thousand times less than the going rate, the leaseholders could return and burrow deeper into the same piece of property.

Attention

Glenn Beck and 'historian' guest: History proves armed elementary kids prevent school shootings

Image
Conservative host Glenn Beck and "historian" David Barton on Tuesday debuted a new show called "Foundations of Freedom" and suggested that history proved that school shootings could be prevented if all elementary school children were armed.

After pointing out that some areas of the United States required every household to own a gun in the late 1800s, Beck told Barton that "everybody grew up with a gun" and it was "part of school."

Barton noted that guns were only fired in schools at the time to stop criminal activity.

Ice Cube

Detroit man stores father's corpse in freezer in hopes of reanimation

Image
Detroit police arrested two men on Tuesday for allegedly stealing their father's corpse and hiding the body in a freezer in the hopes of resurrecting him.

According to WJBK-TV, 93-year-old Clarence Bright's body was found in the home of one of the unidentified siblings, a 48-year-old man, following tips from family members. His 38-year-old brother was also taken into custody.

Bright's body was allegedly taken from a mausoleum at a local cemetery, where it was stored because weather conditions forced his Jan. 12 funeral to be canceled. When cemetery workers attempted to bury him on Monday, they said, they found a van driving away with the body still inside the casket.

Eye 2

Colorado cops wrongfully shoot second dog in just two months

Image
For the second time in just two months, law enforcement officers in Colorado have been accused of wrongfully killing a man's best friend.

Business owner Jeff Fisher told KUSA that his 8-year-old dog, Ziggy, was shot and killed when Adams County deputies ended up at the wrong address while responding to a security alarm.

"That's my son," Fisher said, weeping. "I've had him for eight years. That's my son."

Fisher recalled that Ziggy ran outside to check things out after deputies reportedly forced their way into his business. Seconds later, the dog was dead.

Dollar

Sgt. Ronald Crump, gay Los Angeles police officer, to receive $1.5 million settlement in harassment lawsuit

Image
Sgt. Ronald Crump
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a $1.5 million settlement in a case involving a gay police officer who alleged he was the victim of harassment and retaliation by a supervisor.

Sgt. Ronald Crump, who will resign from the department as part of the settlement, filed the complaint in 2009 after he was ordered transferred from the media relations section and after he said his supervisor, Lt. John Romero, made derogatory remarks about his sexuality.

Crump worked in the media relations section from December 2008 through July 2009, when he was transferred to Skid Row.

Arrow Down

Taiwan confiscates 435 dog penises

Dog
© AFPA caged stray dog waits to be adopted during an event in Taipei on Jan. 6, 2013.
Animal disease officials in Taiwan have confiscated more than 400 dried dog penises, testicles and various internal organs in a raid on an illegal slaughterhouse.

A total of 435 penises were discovered in a fridge along with the other body parts, while 12 fresh dog corpses were also found in the raid at the slaughterhouse in western Yunlin county on Tuesday, the Animal Disease Control Centre said.

It was not immediately clear why the owner of the abattoir kept the body parts, a spokeswoman said. But local media suggested the man could have used the penises as an ingredient in herbal wine due to the belief they could help boost male potency.