Society's ChildS


Camcorder

Virginia Beach: Cops attempt -- and fail -- to delete video evidence of their assault on teen

Courtney Griffith
© cop logic
Virginia police unsuccessfully attempted to delete evidence of their assault on an unarmed teenager during a traffic stop for a broken license plate light. Video of the incident, taken by the car's driver, was recovered despite police efforts.

In January, Courtney Griffith, 18, was pulled over in Virginia Beach, Virginia for the defective light. Soon after being pulled over, she activated a camera just behind the steering wheel on her vehicle's dashboard.

The officers then told her the vehicle smelled of marijuana and demanded Griffith and her two passengers exit the vehicle. According to Free Thought Project, four cop cars were present on the scene.

Comment: Brandon should be released immediately and the cop who perpetrated this crime should take his place in jail.


Che Guevara

Best of the Web: Juice Rap News: The EuroDiVision Contest - What to do about 'Austerity Measures'? Decolonize Europe!

Eurodivision
We've all heard of EuroVision. But there's another song that's being sung across Europe - the peoples' chants of protest against Europe's austerity measures.

Today we'll hear some of the leading and loudest voices in this competition, such as Greece, Spain and Ireland, who are fighting back against austerity with people power; before turning to the contest's three judges: Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Slovenian philosopher-rockstar Slavoj Žižek, and IMF dominatrix err... director, Christine Lagarde.

Join Robert Foster as he examines the Eurozone crisis and the causes behind it: Is it all economics and budgets? Or is this an ideological class war aimed at the welfare state? What are the solutions? And what on earth is Australia doing competing in this EuroZone song contest? All these questions and more will be tackled as Juice Rap News dives into this most bizarre of modern European traditions. Welcome to the EURODIVISION CONTEST!


Comment: Juice News nails it again.


Beaker

Extreme narcissism: 65-year-old woman set to become the oldest woman ever to give birth to quadruplets

oldest women _quadruplets
© AFP/DPA/Joeg Carstensen
Germany - A 65-year-old schoolteacher is set to become the oldest woman ever to give birth to quadruplets.

German Annegret Raunigk, already has 13 children by five different fathers. This latest pregnancy is the result of artificial insemination using both donated sperm and eggs.

According to The Daily Mail, Raunigk, who is in the 21st week of her pregnancy, said she was "shocked" when an ultrasound scan showed she was carrying quadruplets. She previously made headlines in Germany when she had her daughter Leila at the age of 55.

She told German media that she does not worry about what her future will look like in five years time, with a teenage daughter and the young quadruplets, because she assumes she will "stay healthy".

She defended her decision to get pregnant later in life, saying: "I think one needs to decide for oneself and not listen too much to the opinions of others."

At present, the oldest woman to have given birth to quads is Merryl Fudel, who was 55 at the time.

The oldest woman ever to give birth is Indian Omkari Panwar, who was believed to be 70.

Comment: More insane than this woman are the doctors who preformed the procedure.


Eye 1

New coalition site launched: Fight215.org to amplify opposition to NSA's mass surveillance

Fight 215
© dcpost.orgFight215 coalition begins campaign to abolish NSA surveillance on citizens.
A coali­tion of 34 orga­ni­za­tions from across the polit­i­cal spec­trum is launch­ing Fight215.org today to help con­cerned indi­vid­u­als con­tact law­mak­ers and demand an end to NSA's uncon­sti­tu­tional mass sur­veil­lance under the Patriot Act.

The launch coin­cides with the count­down to the expi­ra­tion of Sec­tion 215 of the Patriot Act, which the NSA claims jus­ti­fies bulk col­lec­tion of the phone records of mil­lions of inno­cent peo­ple. Whistle­blower Edward Snow­den shared these thoughts with the coalition:
Sus­pi­cion­less sur­veil­lance has no place in a democ­racy. The next 60 days are a his­toric oppor­tu­nity to rein in the NSA, but the only one who can end the worst of its abuses is you. Call your rep­re­sen­ta­tives and tell them that the uncon­sti­tu­tional 'bulk col­lec­tion' of Amer­i­cans' pri­vate records under Sec­tion 215 of the Patriot Act must end.
Fight 215
© twitter.com
The 34 groups and com­pa­nies join­ing Fight215 (see a full list at the bot­tom of this post) have come together to send a clear mes­sage: the pol­i­tics of fear doesn't trump the Con­sti­tu­tion. The uncon­sti­tu­tional bulk col­lec­tion of phone records must end now. In addi­tion to orga­ni­za­tions like EFF and Fight for the Future, the coali­tion rep­re­sents the whole polit­i­cal spec­trum, from R Street to Demand Progress. It also includes press free­dom orga­ni­za­tions like Free Press and Free­dom of the Press Foun­da­tion, civil rights orga­ni­za­tions like ACLU and Coun­cil on American-Islamic Rela­tions, stu­dent orga­ni­za­tions like Stu­dent Net Alliance, and grass­roots groups like Restore the Fourth. The coali­tion also includes com­pa­nies like Sonic.net

Comment: "The official start of the post-9/11 era assault on core civil liberties was the late 2001 enactment of the Patriot Act, regarded even then as a radical and dangerous erosion of constitutional protections. Though it has subsequently become normalized through years of bipartisan support and surpassed by even worse abuses which it enabled, it is still a serious menace to freedom, exploited by the U.S. government far beyond the realm of terrorism. We now have the best opportunity since its enactment to end it, and we should devote all of our energies to doing so." - Glen Greenwald, journalist

Fourteen years ago this monster was let out of its constitutional cage to ravish our privacy and rights. What are the chances it will reverse course and relinquish its totalitarian power and grip on society? At least there are a few awake organizations with their necks on the line for the rest of us.


Heart - Black

Heartless: Mom abandons quadriplegic son with cerebral palsy in woods

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© Dave Palmer / NBC10This Bible was laying across a 21-year-old quadriplegic man's chest when he was found abandoned in the woods along Cobbs Creek Parkway. The man, who has cerebral palsy, was found 10 feet from his wheelchair, covered with leaves and a blanket.
Police have signed an arrest warrant for a Philadelphia woman after she allegedly left her quadriplegic son with cerebral palsy alone in the woods for over five days with nothing but a blanket and a Bible.

Nyia Parler, 41, is accused of leaving her 21-year-old son in a wooded area along Cobbs Creek Parkway near Catharine Street around 11 a.m. Monday before traveling to Montgomery County, Maryland to visit her boyfriend.

After several days of cold temperatures and rain, the victim was found 100-feet into the woods around 9 p.m. Friday, according to Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker. Investigators say the victim likely would have died if not for the man who spotted him while passing by.

"They found [him] about 100 yards off the roadway here, laying in leaves. He's got a blanket over him and a Bible on his chest," Walker said. "He has a wheelchair about 10 feet from his body."

This Bible was laying across a 21-year-old quadriplegic man's chest when he was found abandoned in the woods along Cobbs Creek Parkway. The man, who has cerebral palsy, was found 10 feet from his wheelchair, covered with leaves and a blanket.

Sheriff

Video released of man shot and killed by cop who meant to fire taser

Image
Tulsa police have released graphic video of the Tulsa man who was shot and killed last week by a reserve sheriff's deputy who thought he had pulled his Taser instead of his gun.

Eric Harris died last week after Reserve Deputy Robert Bates, 73, mistakenly grabbed his service weapon — believing it was his Taser — and shot him as he attempted to assist with the arrest.

In the video, provided to the New York Daily News, a body-cam captures an officer in a foot pursuit of Harris who is subsequently tackled in the street.

As the officer instructs Harris to roll onto his stomach, a gun shot is heard.

Warning: Video is graphic in nature


Handcuffs

Two college students charged in spring break gang rape

Image
© Picayune Leader
Two college students have been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a young woman on a Florida beach during spring break, in an attack that hundreds of bystanders apparently did nothing to stop, authorities said.

Delonte' Martistee, 22, and Ryan Austin Calhoun, 23, were arrested Friday and charged with sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, the Bay County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Both are students at Troy University in Alabama, NBC station WJHG reported.

The arrests were made after the Troy, Alabama, police department discovered video of the sexual assault, which occurred between March 10 and 12 on a Panama City Beach, as it investigated a shooting, the sheriff's office said. The video shows the sexual assault of a 19-year-old passed out on the sand.

Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen called the video "probably one of the most disgusting, repulsive, sickening things that I have seen this year on Panama City Beach, and I have seen a lot of them," WJHG reported.

"Within 10 feet from where this is happening there are hundreds of people standing there watching, looking, seeing, hearing what is going on," he said. More arrests are expected, the sheriff's office said.

Martistee and Calhoun appeared in court Saturday and their bonds were set at $50,000, WJHG reported. Troy University suspended both students, the station said.

Comment: The gang rape is disgusting enough, but the fact that there were hundreds of people standing there, just watching these men rape a woman, is another sign of the normalization of rape in society. For more on that, see: Rape Culture in America - How the system protects the rapists and fails the victims


Sheriff

Over 1,500 police officers protest in the Hague

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© Twitter/@wa_StWillebrordPolice action in The Hague
A large group of policemen protested in The Hague on Wednesday afternoon, NRC reports. The protesters demand that Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice submit better proposals for a new police collective bargaining agreement by Monday. If this does not happen, the unions and their members will move on to harder actions.

The protest started after King Willem-Alexander ceremoniously handed over the new police standard to police chief Gerard Bouman. The protest march started from the Malieveld. Police officers wore a bright orange vest with the text 'police work deserves more appreciation' printed on it. According to the unions between 1,600 and 2,000 police officers participated.

The police have been performing actions since last month, including only writing fines for "gross violations" of public order and safety, slow actions on highways and siren actions.

Phoenix

Kenyan student dies, over 100 injured in stampede after electricity transformer blast

Funerals for Garissa attack victims
© ReutersFunerals have been going on for the victims of the Garissa attacks
A student has died and more than 100 were hurt in a stampede which followed the explosion of an electricity transformer at a Kenyan university.

Residents of Nairobi university's Kikuyu campus mistook the blast for a terrorist attack and jumped out of hostel windows early on Sunday morning.

Tensions are high among students after an Islamist attack on a Kenyan college 10 days ago which left 148 dead.

Meanwhile activists criticised Kenya for ordering Somali refugees home.

Human Rights Watch Africa Deputy Director Leslie Lefkow said justice for the victims of the attack in Garissa - by members of the Somali militant group al-Shabab - would not be served by forcing more than 500,000 Somalis in the Dadaab refugee camp to leave Kenya.

"Instead of scapegoating refugees, Kenya is legally obliged to protect them until it is safe for them to return home and should identify and prosecute those responsible for the killings in Garissa," she said.

UNHCR Kenya chief Emmanuel Nyabera described the possible relocation as a "logistic challenge".

The remarks follow calls on Saturday by Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto to close Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in Africa.

Mr Ruto said UNHCR had three months to close Dadaab and make alternative arrangements for its residents - otherwise, Kenya would "relocate them ourselves", he said.

Dadaab was set up in 1991 to house families fleeing conflict in Somalia. Some people have been living at the site for more than 20 years.

Airplane

Air rage: Plane forced to land after elderly woman, 79, 'attacks, bites' crew

Air Canada plane
© wikipedia.org

Air Canada flight ACA-877 had to be diverted to Ireland's Shannon Airport on Friday after an elderly female passenger became disruptive and bit one of the crew members. Irish police were called to meet the plane after it landed and the woman was arrested.

The Boeing 777-300 jet was traveling from Frankfurt to Toronto when a passenger seated in first class became unruly and assaulted at least one of the air stewards. Reports say she was accused of biting and scratching members of the cabin crew. Following the incident, the woman, who was in her 80s, was restrained, according to Irish media.

"It took two or three of the attendants to subdue her and they were thinking about, I think, putting her in some kind of tether. And they did that because she was not having anything to do with them," passenger Al Hinnegan told CBC News.

Even though the flight was 1,000 kilometers north from Shannon airport, the crew made the decision to turn around.

The pilot contacted the Irish Aviation Authority's (IAA) North Atlantic Communications Service center at Ballygirreen, in the west of the country to, request permission to land in Shannon, after describing the situation on board the airplane.

The plane was able to land successfully in Shannon at 8:15pm local time on Friday, with the Irish Gardai police force as well as airport law enforcement officers dispatched to arrest the elderly woman.

Comment: Statistics show "air rage" has become a disturbing trend. Experts say you can think of air rage kind of like road rage - it's rooted in people's lack of ability to cope with stress. Or perhaps something else is affecting passenger behavior?

According to the International Air Transport Association, flight crews reported more than 8,000 bad passenger incidents last year. In 2007 there were only 500 reports. Even allowing for the increase in air travel, this seems like a dramatic rise.

Incidents of "air rage" have almost trebled in the last three years in Britain, with cases of passengers fighting cabin crew and each other.