Society's ChildS


Chalkboard

Inhuman Birmingham council, UK, prosecutes mother of girl, 7, who battled cancer

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© BBC Midlands TodayKerry Capper with daughter Libby when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. She has kept her daughter off school over cancer fears but is being prosecuted for not sending her to classes

An unemployed mother who kept her daughter off school over cancer fears is being prosecuted for not sending her to classes.

Kerry Capper said she wanted to keep a close eye on seven-year-old Libby Bennett at home when she fell ill, because the youngster had developed similar symptoms when battling the disease.

However, Miss Capper, of Birmingham, has now been summoned to appear before magistrates for failing to pay a £60 penalty fine - after Libby missed seven days of school earlier this year.

Comment: Whatever happened to good, old communication? You know, teachers talking to parents, knowing what their pupils are up to and how they are doing, giving extra support when needed. Not treating parents and children as if they are petty thieves, while ignoring their suffering.


Crusader

China plans its own 'Christian theology'

china christian
China says it may try to create a theology based on Christianity - that integrates the religion with Chinese culture and is compatible with the country's socialist beliefs, it's been reported.

Wang Zuoan, a senior official for religious affairs, says China supports the development of Christianity within the country. But "the construction of Chinese Christian theology should adapt to China's national condition," the state-backed China Daily website reports. His comments came at a conference for Sinicization of Christianity in Shanghai.

Stormtrooper

2 shot, 31 arrested as Ferguson becomes a war-zone between civilians and armed cops

ferguson clashes
Police attempt to control demonstrators in Ferguson, Missouri on August 18, 2014 protesting the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown
Violence erupted once again on Monday night in Ferguson, Missouri, where two people were shot and more than 30 were arrested during another night of protests against the killing of an unarmed African-American teen by a white policeman.

The chaotic situation has been going on for more than a week even as Missouri National Guard troops arrived on Monday in Ferguson to confront protesters angered by the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by officer Darrell Wilson on August 9.

Captain Ron Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said early Tuesday that 31 protesters have been arrested, with some coming as far away as New York and California. He noted that at least two people have been wounded by gunfire. Johnson called on protesters to refrain from staging rallies during the nighttime, which, he said, provides cover for criminal elements.

Johnson said "officers came under heavy gunfire" during the night, but said officers did not fire a single shot. They "acted with restraint and calm," he said. Johnson blamed a group of "lawbreakers" and "criminals" for the violence.

Comment: Goon cops have gone wild all over America


Black Magic

Human-Cosmic connection? Siberian elders vote to bury 2,500 year-old mummy to stop quakes, floods

mummy siberia
© RIA Novosti / Yuriy ZaritovskiyMummy of a woman with a tattoo on her hand who died approximately 2500 years ago
A council of elders in Russia's Altay Region voted to bury the mummy of a woman who lived in the region in the 5th century BC. Altay locals believe that her excavation from her tomb back in 1993 angered her spirit and causes natural disasters.

The mummy, dubbed the Siberian Ice Maiden in English-language sources and the Princess of Ukok, the Altay Princess or Ochi-Bala domestically, was unearthed from a subterranean tomb at the Ukok Plateau, close to borders with Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia. The remains have spent most of the time thereafter at a research facility in Novosibirsk, as scientists conducted facial reconstruction, DNA tests and other research projects on the Maiden.

Comment: The elders of Altay might be on to something, though the Earth Changes they experience and the Human-Cosmic connection might not be exactly as they understand it.




Roses

Crash in Argentina kills pope's great-nephews, wife of nephew

pope
© Associated Press/Gregorio BorgiaPope Francis meets the media during an airborne press conference on his journey back to Rome from Seoul, South Korea yesterday, Monday, Aug. 18, 2014
The Vatican says a road accident in Argentina has killed two young great-nephews of Pope Francis as well as their mother, the wife of the pope's nephew.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the accident occurred Tuesday morning in the area of Cordoba, a major Argentine city. One nephew was 2, the other was 8 months. The age of their mother wasn't immediately available. Lombardi said the nephew survived; local news reports said he was injured. Lombardi didn't have the victims' names.

Lombardi said "the pope was informed about the tragic accident. He is deeply pained." He added the pope asks "all who share in his grief to unite with him in prayer."

Comment: Interesting that just yesterday, Pope Francis was predicting that his own death will come in two-three years:

Pope predicts: God will give me two or three more years


Footprints

Pope predicts: God will give me two or three more years

pope francis
© Agence France-Presse/Vincenzo PintoPope Francis (C) gives a press conference aboard a flight carrying them back to Rome at the end of a five-day trip to South-Korea, on August 18, 2014
Pope Francis on Monday publicly broached the prospect of his own death for the first time, giving himself "two or three years" but not ruling out retirement before then.

Talking to reporters on a flight back to the Vatican from South Korea, the 77-year-old pontiff, who seemed in good spirits, was asked about his global popularity, which was evident again during his five-day visit.

"I see it as the generosity of the people of God. I try to think of my sins, my mistakes, not to become proud. Because I know it will last only a short time. Two or three years and then I'll be off to the Father's House," he replied light-heartedly.

Eye 1

Ferguson: Where the real violence is coming from

While the Governor of Missouri is sending in the National Guard to Ferguson, it is worth considering where the real violence is coming from.
Ferguson police
© Reuters / Mario AnzuonA police officer holds his riot gun while demonstrators protest the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri August 13, 2014
One. Hours before the 12 pm Sunday night curfew went into effect, peaceful nonviolent protestors were legally marching in Ferguson. Then without warning the police turned on the marchers. Purvi Shah, a human rights lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, was marching with hundreds of others and reported just after 10 pm: "Just got tear gassed. Eyes burning. No warnings. People running with someone in wheelchair. This is lawlessness. Police fired on peaceful protestors."

Two. The police tear gas canisters hit an eight year old child walking with his mother according to Yahoo.

Comment: Goon cops have gone wild all over America


Books

Number of Saudi students in US grows to 111,000 

saudi students in US
© Arab NewsIn this undated file photo shows education counselors at the US Embassy provide guidelines for Saudi students during an expo.
The number of Saudi students in the United States has reached 111,000 this year, up from 10,000 in 2007 while the number of Saudi students studying medicine in the States is over 600.

The Department of Commerce in the US said that international students have contributed to revive the US economy with $22.7 billion in 2011. "The number of Saudi students increased by 50 percent in 2011 alone," local media said.
Saudi students can go for higher studies abroad through enrolling in the King Abdullah Foreign Scholarship Program that allows access to the best world universities to pursue disciplines which lead to bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees and medical fellowships.

The countries where Saudi students are sent to study are selected on the excellence of their educational programs and are subject to periodic reviews. Currently, students accepted in the program are sent to the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, New Zealand, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, the People's Republic of China, Malaysia, India and South Africa, according to the Ministry of Higher Education's website.

However, the most preferred destination for Saudi students is the US owing to the excellent academic programs in their universities. Accordingly, the Saudi government has raised the financial allocations of the education sector by 21 percent from the amount it had allocated in 2012. Education spending accounted for 25 percent of the Kingdom's public spending for the year 2013.

"The Saudi government is interested in sending its students to the best universities in the world. American universities represent a top priority for the Saudi government in spite of the high costs of living. In view of this, the Kingdom has allocated SR10 billion to send Saudi students to the US," Farooq Al-Kateeb, a former professor of economics at the King Abdul Aziz University and financial analyst told Arab News.

"Saudi students in the US play a big role in reviving the US universities which are currently facing a financial crisis.

Bizarro Earth

Fear and loathing in Liberia as Ebola 'plague villages' pop up across the country

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© AFP Photo / Carl de Souza
In scenes reminiscent of medieval Europe, "plague villages" have appeared across Liberia as the West African nation faces the spreading Ebola epidemic. The World Health Organization is urging people leaving the disease-hit countries to get screened.

Liberia's remote villages, quarantined off from the outside world, appear to be the only hope for the crude containment of the deadly fever. However, very little food and few medical supplies are getting in, Reuters reports. This means the sick are left with a stark choice: either get out and risk inflicting suffering on others, or stay put and risk death there.

And that suffering has consequences in more ways than one: in Lofa County, one Joseph Gbembo, who survived the disease, is now struggling to raise 10 children under the ages of five, while also taking care of five widows, after nine members of his family succumbed to the illness.

Even the healthy in the communities are being torn apart by fear. Gbembo's neighbors will no longer speak with him, blaming him for bringing Ebola into his village, Boya. Worse still, he says, "I am lonely... nobody will talk to me and people run away from me." On top of this, he receives no food, healthcare or benefits for the children.

Handcuffs

Iowa GOP lawmaker arrested for having sex with incapacitated wife after judge told him not to

henry rayhons
© Unknown
A Republican state representative in Iowa was arrested last week on a third-degree sexual abuse charge for having sex with his wife after a court told him that she lacked the mental capacity to consent, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reports.

According to the criminal complaint, on May 15, 2014, Representative Henry Rayhons (R) was told by officials at the Concord Care Center that his wife, Donna Rayhons, no longer possessed the mental capacity to consent to sexual relations.

A little more than a month later, Donna Rayhons' daughter, Suzan Brunes, was made her mother's temporary guardian after video surveillance captured Rayhons leaving his wife's room and discarding her underclothes in a nearby laundry hamper.