Society's ChildS


Heart - Black

Charges mulled against writer who told Canadian family to 'euthanize' autistic son

Image
Canadian authorities are considering criminal charges -- albeit not for a hate crime -- against whomever wrote a stark letter to an Ontario family urging them to either "move or euthanize" their autistic son.

Prosecutors determined that "despite the hateful language used," the content of the letter "falls below the threshold for a hate crime," the Durham Regional Police Service issued a statement Tuesday.

"However, there are other criminal code issues that are being considered," police added.

The anonymous letter stirred a far-reaching outcry, as well as prompting neighbors to rally around the targeted 13-year-old, Max Begley, since it became public.

Red Flag

Mother of dead teen gloomily blasts judge for lenient sentence of rapist

Image
Auliea Hanlon told CNN on Thursday the month-long sentence of her daughter's admitted rapist and former teacher was "horrific."

Yellowstone County District Judge G. Todd Baugh suspended all but 30 days of a 15-year sentence for Stacey Dean Rambold, who admitted to raping Cherice Morales when she was 14-years-old.

Baugh said the girl, who later killed herself, was "older than her chronological age" and "as much in control of the situation" as the teacher

People

Most French oppose attack on Syria and don't trust Hollande to do it: opinion poll

Hollande
© Reuters/Jacky NaegelenFrench President Francois Hollande and Ahmad Jarba (R), head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, speak to journalists in the courtyard of the Elysee Palace in Paris, August 29, 2013.
Most French people do not want France to take part in military action on Syria and most do not trust French President Francois Hollande to do so, a poll showed on Saturday.

The United States said on Friday it would punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government for a chemical attack that it says killed more than 1,400 people in Damascus last week, and Hollande said Britain's parliamentary vote against military strikes would not affect France's own actions.

The BVA poll released by Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France, showed 64 percent of respondents opposed military action, 58 percent did not trust Hollande to conduct it, and 35 percent feared it could "set the entire region (Middle East) ablaze".

Question

Vapors spark explosion at NW Iowa recycling center


An explosion leads to a massive amount of smoke and flames at a Western Iowa business.

The incident, at Schau Recycling, caught the company and its neighbors off guard.

"I heard what I thought was a sonic boom," said Brian Muhlbauer.

"I knew it either had to be a jet flying over or explosion," added Lonnie Heuton.

The rumbles were heard and felt blocks away. Heuton was in his office at Adam's Motors.

"The windows rattled. I was standing just two feet from the windows and they did rattle," he described.

Crews arrived to find flames shooting out from a 30-foot pile of scrap metal.

Arrow Down

Humane Society investigating discovery of decapitated dog in Hawaii

Honolulu - The Hawaiian Humane Society has opened a felony cruelty to animals investigation after a dog was found dead on Tantalus, with its head and paws cut off.

The grisly discovery was made Wednesday afternoon when two women went to Tantalus during their lunch break to enjoy the view. They were at a turnoff on Round Top Drive just below Puu Ualakaa State Park Wayside when they discovered the dog's body lying in the grass.

"I told my friend to go check, and she said, 'oh, it might have been a pig. But a closer look, it was a dog, and its head had been cut off and wasn't anywhere in the area," said Sarah Kleinschmidt.

Kleinschmidt was shocked by the discovery. She called the city, which referred her to the Hawaiian Humane Society.

"When we recovered the body we did a thorough inspection of it, and it doesn't look to us like this was an accident," said Jacque LeBlanc, Hawaiian Humane Society Community Relations Director. "It looks like the dog's head as intentionally decapitated, and his paws deliberately removed. We can only hope that this happened after he died."

Investigators were unable to determine exactly what kind of dog it was or its age. But they did find clues that it had belonged to someone.

Arrow Down

Violent raccoon attack sends dog, owner to hospital


A violent raccoon attack in Seattle's Leschi neighborhood left both a dog and its owner in need of medical attention.

Jason Campbell says he let his dog out into their fenced backyard on Tuesday night, just like he does every evening.

He heard the confrontation between his pet and an aggressive raccoon even before he saw it.

"I heard him squealing, and I heard the raccoon hissing," he said. "And I was like Alfie, Alfie, get inside!"

His terrier mix, Alfie, quickly ran inside. That's when Jason says the raccoon followed, and then turned on him.

Question

Tails and manes cut from ponies in latest attack targeting horses in Ipswich

Horse
© Ipswich StarA horse in Beck Row had its tail hacked - similar to a recent incident in Hoo, near Wickham Market, when two ponies were targeted.
It is the latest in a number of similar incidents in which animals have been targeted.

The most recent happened at a farm in Hoo, near Wickham Market, between 9pm on Saturday, August 17 and 7am the following day.

A spokeswoman for Suffolk police said because horses were left in open fields it was sometimes difficult to catch offenders in the act.

However she urged anyone who spotted any suspicious activity to report it immediately.

"It is quite likely that in most cases a vehicle may have been used to get to more rural locations," she said. "In this incident it looks like someone had their headlights on.

Donut

Human rights watch says this Thai Dunkin Doughnuts ad is 'bizarre and racist'

Human Rights Watch demanded that Dunkin' Doughnuts remove an ad running in Thailand that the organisation is calling "bizarre and racist."

The ad, for a chocolate "Charcoal Doughnut," features a woman in blackface makeup with bright pink lips, evoking memories of the minstrel shows that once mocked black Americans in the United States.

Here's the ad:
Donut Ad
© Business Insider, AustraliaDunkin' Doughnuts Charcoal Ad.
"It's both bizarre and racist that Dunkin' Doughnuts thinks that it must colour a woman's skin black and accentuate her lips with bright pink lipstick to sell a chocolate doughnut," Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, told the Associated Press.

Bomb

Military practice bomb lands in Maryland parking lot

An electronic failure may be to blame for a practice bomb that was dropped from a jet onto a tavern's parking lot, a Maryland National Guard official said Friday.

An A-10 Warthog jet from the 104th Fighter Squadron in the 175th Wing was returning from a training mission Thursday night to Warfield Air National Guard Base in Middle River when the inert device was dropped, guard spokesman Lt. Col. Charles Kohler said. The guard has grounded the aircraft while it investigates.

Kohler didn't yet know exactly what device it was, but said it is made to fly like a 500-pund bomb, but weighs much less.

"This is an unfortunate incident and we're very lucky that no one was hurt. Safety is a top priority in all operations," Kohler said.

A customer at Darlene's Tavern in Sudlersville came in from outside saying he thought a car in the parking lot was on fire, said owner Darlene Hurley. The car was covered in dust and stones and a few feet away was a 3-foot deep hole, she said. They called 911.

Police officers dug in the hole and when they spotted the fins of the device, they called in the fire marshal's bomb squad, Hurley said. Bomb technicians determined that it was a practice aerial bomb and the device was turned over to the National Guard, the fire marshal's office said.

"It could have been a whole lot worse. It landed about 100 feet from the building," Hurley said noting that there are propane tanks nearby. "It could have been really, really bad. Thank God everyone was OK."

Source: Associated Press

Arrow Down

'Bizarre' case of animal cruelty discovered in Missouri town

Rabbits
© Fox4 Newsroom
Chillicothe - Police in Chillicothe, Missouri, said they are investigating one of the most usual cases of animal cruelty they have ever seen.

Police received an anonymous tip that sent them to a home where a number of rabbits were being abused. Police described what they found as bizarre.

"They had rabbit cages that weren't being kept up, feces wasn't being cleaned up or removed from the cages," said Captain Tony Kirkendoll. "Animals were laying in their own urine and feces. They were left out in the sun, no shade."

Police found 17 neglected animals and two decomposed rabbits. The rabbits that were found alive are being treated at an area shelter.

James Venneman, 29, of Chillicothe, faces 18 counts of animal cruelty and neglect charges.

Chillicothe is about 90 miles northeast of Kansas City, Mo.