Society's ChildS


Bizarro Earth

Fracking rural America to death: First solid case of aquifer contamination recorded in Texas

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© AFP
Testing of methane concentration in water of Parker County, Texas indicates a link between the dangerously high levels of natural gas in local water supply and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, operations in the gas-rich Barnett Shale, scientists say. Parker County resident Steve Lipsky has known for years his water has been contaminated with high levels of methane gas. Last year, he filed a complaint with state oil and gas regulators at the Texas Railroad Commission. More recently, news broadcaster WFAA even went so far as to "ignite" local well water to highlight the issue.

After measuring gas content in his water well, state regulators said that while methane concentration in Lipsky's water was up, the chemical makeup of the methane was inconclusive. Thus, the source of the gas remains a mystery, according to the state.

The Railroad Commission's tests found Lipsky's water contained 8.6 milligrams per liter of methane, not quite the federal limit of 10. Yet separate tests by a researcher at the University of Texas-Arlington found 83 milligrams per liter in the water, an incredibly high count.

"What we can say right now is that those are dangerous -- that's a dangerous level," Zac Hildebrand told WFAA.

Comment: The Railroad Commission, like the rest of the US government is bought-and-paid-for in this suicidal rush to frack bedrock for gas.

See also:

You have to see it to believe it: What it's like to have fracking in your backyard

What fracking can do to your health

Tilting at Pipelines: Geopolitical Madness at the end of Empire


Alarm Clock

95-kg kid case in UK: Parents arrested over 11-yo overweight, charged with cruelty

UK _ child
© Alban Donohoe, Albanpix LTD

British parents were arrested on suspicion of child cruelty and neglect after their 11-year-old boy tipped the scales at 210 pounds (95 kilograms).

Police in King's Lynn, Norfolk, decided to step in after doctors sounded the alarm about the boy's welfare following two visits to the doctor earlier this year. They said intervention at this level was "very rare," and was only initiated when other efforts to protect the child's welfare had proved unsuccessful.

The Sun reported that the boy, who stands at 5ft 1in, has a body mass index (BMI) of 41.8. That is higher than what is classified as obese for an average adult male and is "very overweight" for a boy his age, according to Britain's National Health Service.

V

CIA joins Twitter and is immediately trolled

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Though the US Central Intelligence Agency may use Facebook, Twitter, and the like to keep tabs on targets of interest, the spy agency has only now officially joined social media--a move hastened by an imposter who was using the agency's name online.

The agency's first tweet, which earned the CIA nearly 200,000 Twitter followers in just a few hours, was the appropriately sarcastic, "We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet." There were already 40,000 followers after just a single hour online, with the agency's debut on Facebook sparking a similar conversation on that platform.


"By expanding to these platforms, CIA will be able to more directly engage with the public and provide information on the CIA's mission, history, and other developments," CIA Director John Brennan said in a press release Friday. "We have important insights to share, and we want to make sure that unclassified information about the agency is more accessible to the American public that we serve, consistent with our national security mission."

The CIA admitted as far back as 2011 that its agents and employees regularly scan social media to spy on intelligence targets. It already had multiple accounts on Flickr and YouTube, but only debuted on Twitter Friday because it had spent months lobbying Twitter to stop someone else who was already using the @CIA handle.

Alarm Clock

Report from the frontlines in S.E. Ukraine June 5th and 6th by Juan

Lugansk admin building attack
© RTThe OSCE has confirmed the attack on the Admin building in Lugansk was carried out from the air. 8 civilians were killed and 28 wounded after an army air strike on the local administration.
June 5th combat SITREP update by "Juan"
  • Красный Лиман Krasni Liman was taken by Ukraine Army and national guard 04 June 2014.
  • Replacement Mi24 attack helicopters have arrived in Ukraine as replacements for the Ukraine Army losses in Donbas. Confirmed.
  • Strong bombardments Slavyansk City and outlying towns and villages commenced 05:00 local time 05.06.2014. Civilian casualties unknown.
  • National guard/right sector entered Railroad Hospital Krasni Liman and shot dead 37 wounded Donbas Army soldiers and civilians and at least 1 hospital worker. Confirmed.
  • Air and artillery bombardments Krasni Liman cause strong civilian casualties 04.06.2014.
  • List of dead air attack on Lugansk Administration Building:
  • Kostjukov Vladimir Andreyevich , 1971 (regional administration)
  • Corn Inna (regional administration)
  • Giza Alexander (regional administration)
  • Unidentified woman
  • Dolzenko Nina 1955 (regional administration)
  • Polezhaev Sergey 1964 (regional administration)
  • Natalia Arkhipova (regional administration)
  • Cerkez Galina 1967 (regional administration)

Dollars

Psychopathic greed: Texas cops steal millions through 'policing for profit'

policing for profit
© unknown
Texas law enforcement are continuing to enrich themselves using a little-known legal doctrine known as civil forfeiture, according to a new series of investigative reports. Under civil forfeiture, property can be forfeited even if its owner has never been charged with a crime. In these proceedings, accused criminals have more rights than innocent owners and the government sues the property, not its owner. These cases can be so baffling, one Texas Supreme Court Justice recently compared civil forfeiture to Alice in Wonderland and the works of Franz Kafka. But civil forfeiture isn't just a quirky curiosity - it's a powerful incentive for law enforcement to take millions.

Last month, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that the District Attorney's Office in Tarrant County, Texas seized $3.5 million, plus almost 250 cars and 440 computers in fiscal year 2013, roughly equal to about 10 percent of its budget. Of the property seized, almost $845,000 was spent on salaries for 16 employees at the office. By comparison, only $53,000 went to "six nonprofits that benefit victims or prosecution efforts." The county's narcotics unit spent an even greater proportion of forfeiture funds on salaries. Last year, the unit seized $666,427 in cash and used $426,058 to pay salaries.

Whistle

Soccer fan detained at game for waving a Palestinian flag as a 'racial slur'

Buthayna Hammad
Buthayna Hammad
Last Sunday, Palestinian-American Buthayna Hammad attended a soccer match at BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston's downtown 22,000-seat soccer-specific stadium, home to the Houston Dynamo. About 15 minutes after the game started Hammad was approached by the head of Compass Stadium's security Nathan Buchanan. Soon she encountered a total of eight security officials, four from stadium security and the other four, Houston police officers.

Why? because she was waving a Palestinian flag. Stadium security informed her that her Palestinian flag implied a "racial slur" and therefore was in violation of BBVA Compass Stadium rules.

Hammad, a native of Houston, is an avid soccer fan. She attended the match with her "alt family from Honduras" including her Honduran boyfriend. The match was between Israel and Honduras.

Gold Bar

Montana residents: Gold in drinking water

Gold in Tap Water_1
© KTVM
Whitehall - Two Whitehall residents say they're finding gold flakes in their tap water and that it's raising concerns about what else might be in the water.

Whitehall is about 25 miles southeast of Butte in Jefferson County. The town gets its drinking water from two wells -- one off Division Street and another a half block east of Whitehall Street. Both wells are right in the middle of town.

NBC Montana was in Whitehall today and saw firsthand gold flakes coming from the faucet.

Mark Brown told us his wife Sharon was finishing up the dishes earlier this week when she noticed something unusual.

Brown explained, "She had pulled the plug to let the water out and there were glistening, gleaming little flecks."

They showed us what they found -- small gold-colored flakes, right in the bottom of the sink.

Brown recalled their disbelief, "That couldn't possibly be gold, huh? And I was sure it wasn't."

Dollars

Greed is good? Where will America's sick obsession with wealth and money end?

Greed
© J. Solana from Madrid, SpainGreed.

Everywhere you look, Americans appear to be extremely obsessed with wealth and money. These days, networks such as CNN endlessly run "news stories" with titles such as "Best cars for the super rich".

We have television shows where people proudly show off how wealthy they are, and it seems like Hollywood is putting out an endless parade of movies that glorify the lifestyles of the elite.

We have hordes of motivational speakers and "life coaches" that will teach you how to be "more successful" in life, and every small movement in the stock market is carefully monitored by the mainstream news media.

Even in the world of faith, we have an entire class of ministers known as "prosperity preachers", and many of those ministers wear that label quite proudly.

Yes, those that grew up in the 1980s may have been the "greed is good" generation, but the truth is that they didn't have anything on us. As a society we love money, and we are not ashamed to admit it. In fact, there are times we absolutely revel in it.

For example, Time Magazine published an article this year entitled "Science Proves It: Greed Is Good" and hardly anyone even raised an eyebrow. But where will America's sick obsession with wealth and money end? Could it end up destroying us?

Shopping Bag

An all new low: Texas woman killed in crash has groceries stolen by witnesses

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© ABC13The Wednesday wreck in Houston killed the mother of two children after a trip to the grocery store.
A 23-year-old mother was killed and her two young children suffered injuries in a wreck Wednesday, Houston police said.

The woman's sons, ages 4 and 6, were in the backseat and were transferred to a hospital with broken bones but no life-threatening injuries, said HPD spokesman Victor Senties.

The mother failed to yield when she was leaving a private drive around 5 p.m., Senties said.

She then lost control of her Toyota 4Runner and hit a tree after a Mercedes E320 traveling northbound at 9600 Fondren Road clipped her. Police said she was travelling at a high speed.

Comment: These thieves ignored the injured children and the DEAD mother and grabbed the groceries? Appalling!


Stormtrooper

Albuquerque campaign against psychopathic police violence intensifies at chaotic protest

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© Adolphe Pierre-Louis/APDavid Correia, a University of New Mexico professor, during a sit-in at the Albuquerque mayor's office. Correia was later arrested.
Activists in Albuquerque have vowed to continue confronting city authorities over police shootings a day after they occupied the mayor's office, prompting chaotic scenes and 13 arrests.

The arrests and detentions on Monday night marked a hardening response by authorities to a campaign which has demanded radical reform of the New Mexico city's trigger-happy police department.

About two-dozen activists staged a sit-in at the office of Mayor Richard Berry, triggering acrimonious exchanges with officials and the suspension of a city council meeting before guards and police hauled them away. It was the third time in recent weeks that the city council has been disrupted.