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The new crime of eating while homeless

Jim Hightower
Alternet
Thu, 23 May 2013 19:54 UTC
Image
© Larry Powell/ Shutterstock.com
Whenever one of our cities gets a star turn as host of some super-sparkly event, such as a national political gathering or the Super Bowl, its first move is to tidy up - by having the police sweep homeless people into jail, out of town, or under some rug.

But Houston's tidy-uppers aren't waiting for a world-class event to rationalize going after homeless down-and-outers. They've preemptively outlawed the "crime" of dumpster diving in the Texan city.

"I was just basically looking for something to eat," he told the Houston Chronicle. But, unbeknownst to both this indigent tourist and the great majority of Houston's generally generous citizens, an ordinance dating way back to 1942 says that "molesting garbage containers" is illegal. In March, James Kelly, a 44-year-old Navy veteran, was passing through Houston on his way to connect with family in California. Homeless, destitute, and hungry, he chose to check out the dining delicacies in a trash bin near City Hall. Spotted by police, Kelly was promptly charged with "disturbing the contents of a garbage can in the [central] business district." Seriously.
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Heart - Black

Son of disgraced former George W. Bush aide 'killed man, 25, with a hatchet during an altercation at the family's home


Source
Fri, 24 May 2013 12:31 UTC
Image

Crime scene: Investigators gather outside the Maryland property where a man was killed with a hatchet
The son of a former aide to President George W. Bush has been charged with murdering a man with a hatchet at his home.

Claude Alexander Allen III, 20, was arrested on Friday by police after they found the body of Michael Phillip Harvey, 25, in the woods near the Allen family home in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Records show that the home is owned by Allen's father, Claude A. Allen, a former Bush domestic policy adviser who pleaded guilty to theft in 2006.

A man called 911 around midnight and told police that he killed an intruder after he tried to break in. But authorities determined it wasn't a break-in and that the younger Allen knew Harvey.

Harvey's body was found around 75 yards behind the house but police told the Washington Post that they believe an altercation occurred and the attack started in a two-car garage.

Montgomery County Police Capt. Jim Daly told the Post it was not clear if the argument moved to the woods or if the man's body was dragged there after he died.

When police arrived at the large white-brick home, Allen was waiting for them but that his parents were not home at the time of the attack.
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Stormtrooper

Stretched by 'worst riots in years', Swedish police call reinforcements

Ilze Filks and Mia Shanley
Yahoo News via Reuters
Fri, 24 May 2013 11:20 UTC
Image
© REUTERS/Fredrik Sandberg/Scanpix
A bystander checks the debris around a row of burnt cars in the suburb of Rinkeby after youths rioted in several different suburbs around Stockholm May 23, 2013.
Police in Stockholm called in reinforcements on Friday after youths set cars and a school ablaze in a fifth night of rioting, the worst to hit Sweden for years.

Pupils at a primary school in Kista - an IT hub that is home to the likes of telecoms equipment maker Ericsson and the Swedish office of Microsoft - arrived to find the inside of the small red wooden building had been completely burnt out.

While Thursday was slightly calmer than the four nights before, about 30 cars were torched and eight people, mostly in their early 20s, were detained, police said.

In a country with a reputation for openness, tolerance and a model welfare state, the rioting has exposed a fault-line between a well-off majority and a minority - often young people with immigrant backgrounds - who are poorly educated, cannot find work and feel pushed to the edge of society.
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Airplane

Runways reopened after emergency landing at Heathrow; BA cancels some short-haul flights


Washingtonpost.com
Fri, 24 May 2013 06:55 UTC
Image

Emergency services attended to the aircraft following the emergency landing.
A British Airways jet made an emergency landing at London's Heathrow Airport Friday after developing a technical problem after takeoff. TV footage showed smoke streaming from one of the engines.

Airport officials briefly closed both runways at Europe's busiest airport, causing delays. They later resumed operation, but passengers were advised to check their flight status.

British Airways said it was canceling short-haul flights in and out of Heathrow until 4 p.m. (11 a.m. EDT) so that it could "stabilize our schedule."
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Arrow Down

I-5 Skagit River Bridge collapses in Washington State; cars and people seen in water


Vancouver Sun
Thu, 23 May 2013 22:00 UTC
Skagit River Bridge
© Tiffany Riley Matson , Twitter
The Skagit River Bridge on the I-5 in Washington State shortly after it collapsed on May 23, 2013.
The Skagit River Bridge on the I-5 in Washington State has collapsed, sending vehicles into the water below, according to police.

Washington State Patrol District 7 spokesman Trooper Mark Francis tweeted around 7:20 p.m. on Thursday that people and cars have been spotted in the water.

The Skagit River Bridge is located between Burlington and Mt. Vernon, about 100 kilometres north of Seattle and 128 kilometres south of Vancouver.
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Cult

London beheading sparks fascist 'English Defence League' (EDL) to riot in Woolwich

Rosie Taylor
The Mail Online
Thu, 23 May 2013 15:39 UTC
EDL members
© national pictures/Nick Edwards
Pointing: EDL members clash with Metropolitan Police officers during their protest in south-east London
  • EDL supporters wearing balaclavas waved flags and chanted
  • Riot police with shields stood guard before dispersing group
  • 'Knife-carrying' man arrested over suspected arson at Braintree mosque
  • Man held over suspected criminal damage 'revenge' attack at Kent mosque
More than 100 members of far-right group the English Defence League gathered near the scene of the suspected terrorist attack last night.

Many were draped in St George's flags and wore black balaclavas with the EDL logo on.

Riot police holding shields formed a cordon around the area as the EDL members waved flags and chanted 'no surrender to the Muslim scum', 'Rule Britannia' and 'England'.

EDL leader Stephen Lennon - who goes by the name Tommy Robinson - addressed the crowd, saying: 'We have got weak leadership. They have allowed this to happen. People are scared to say the word Muslim. They are scared to offend them.


Comment: Unite against fascism reports the EDL is "riddled with fascists":
EDL leader 'Tommy Robinson' - real name Stephen Yaxley Lennon - is a former member of the fascist British National Party. Founder EDL member Chris Renton was also in the BNP, as were other leading figures including North East organiser Alan Spence.

Many more former members of the BNP, the Nazi National Front and other fascist organisations are also active in the EDL and its splinter groups.


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Satellite

Man 'controlled by satellites' makes 100 calls to 911 in a month, vows to continue


CBS 13
Tue, 21 May 2013 13:15 UTC

    • Sacramento - A man who called 911 more than 100 times in one month says he's not going to stop until his concerns are heard by the federal government.

    Jimmy Shao keeps a log book of every 911 call he's made. So many that he boasts he's probably set a world record.

    He doesn't believe he's wasting the time of emergency responders because he has an emergency of his own: Shao believes he's being watched by shadowy government authorities.

    He claims to believe his body is controlled by satellites.

    "My brain, I can feel it starting. I'm blasted by the signals, every couple of minutes," he said. "I yell and I scream, 'Stop it, I don't need this,' but they never listen."
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    Bad Guys

    Psychopathy! Hit and run driver tweets about running over cyclist

    Ashley Davis
    Opposing Views
    Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00 UTC
    Image
    © huffingtonpost.co.uk
    When Emma Way hit a cyclist and drove off, she might have gotten away with it if she had not tweeted about it soon afterward.

    In the tweet, from her account which is now deleted, she said, "Definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier - I have right of way he doesn't even pay road tax! #bloodycyclists"

    Way, from Norwich, England, had a small circle of 100 followers on Twitter. But the tweet soon spread, and got the attention of Norwich Police.

    Norwich Police tweeted back, "@emmaway20 we have had tweets ref an RTC with a bike. We suggest you report it at a police station ASAP if not done already & then dm us"

    And soon after that, more people saw the tweet, eventually locating the injured person.

    James Lucas tweeted that he knew the man who was hit, saying, "Police are on the case. They had already located her and were just waiting for the victim to come forward. He has contacted them ..."

    The cyclist was Toby Hockley, who was interviewed later by BBC.
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    Heart - Black

    Heartless! Psychiatry hospital has been dumping patients for five years, leaving them homeless, stranded

    Oliver Jenkins
    Opposing Views
    Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00 UTC
    Image
    A criminal investigation has been launched into a Las Vegas psychiatric hospital that allegedly bused over 1,500 patients out of the facility on one-way tickets over a five year span.

    According to a report published by the Sacramento Bee - which obtained bus receipts from the facility in question - patients were bused to every single state in the U.S., with approximately 200 arriving in Los Angeles County.

    As a result, the Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital is now facing a criminal probe from the city of Los Angeles into the scheme, which officials believe originally began back in 2008.

    According to investigators, over 30 percent of those bused out of the facility were homeless and stranded upon departure - equipped with only a small supply of medication and several bottles of a nutritional supplement.

    One such person, James Flavy Brown, said he was sent to Sacramento even though he had never been there before. The psychosis patient had only been treated for three days before he was sent to the California capital equipped with a one-way ticket, three Ensure nutritional shakes, and three days-worth of medication.

    "I said, 'I don't want to leave Nevada,'" Brown told ABC News. "[The doctor] said, 'California sounds like a really nice state. I think you'll be happy there.'"

    With no Social Security card, food stamps, or Medicaid card, Brown was eventually forced to check into a homeless shelter after feeling the early effects of medication withdrawal.

    Comment: What took them so long to launch an investigation? This has been going on since 2007.
    Mentally ill man missing in alleged pattern of 'patient dumping' by Nevada health officials

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    Arrow Down

    Wells Fargo forecloses on homeowner for making early mortgage payments!

    DSWright
    FDL
    Wed, 22 May 2013 11:15 UTC
    Foreclosures
    © Occupy Wall Street via Twitter
    Foreclosure protester arrested at DOJ.
    As Occupy Our Homes demonstrates at the Department of Justice the fraudclosure crisis continues unabated.

    A Florida family man who not only made his mortgage payments on time but made payments early faces foreclosure by Wells Fargo. The explanation for initiating the foreclosure proceedings by Wells Fargo is nothing short of amazing and offers a sad commentary on how little has changed despite the 2008 financial crisis and supposed reforms like Dodd-Frank.
    Etienne Syldor said he's worked his whole life for a home in Orlando for his wife and three children.

    Syldor is an immigrant from Haiti and a bus driver at Walt Disney World. At times, he said he has worked multiple jobs to make sure he never missed a mortgage payment.

    Last year, Wells Fargo offered him mortgage modification, and he was told if he made four monthly payments during a trial period, the modification would be permanent.
    So far so good. Family man working multiple jobs to make sure he is paying his bills - personal responsibility and all that jazz. Court records confirm that Syldor made his payments.

    Then something funny happened.
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