Society's Child

Newlywed couple found murder victim on Craigslist, police say

AP
Sun, 08 Dec 2013 10:13 UTC

Sunbury, Pennsylvania - A couple married for just three weeks lured a man to his death with a Craigslist ad because they wanted to kill someone together, police said.

Elytte Barbour told officers before his arrest Friday night that he and his wife, Miranda, had planned to kill before, but their plans never worked out until last month when Troy LaFerrara responded to an online posting that promised companionship in return for money, authorities said.

Elytte Barbour told investigators "that they committed the murder because they just wanted to murder someone together," police said in the affidavit.

Elytte Barbour, 22, and Miranda Barbour, 18, face criminal homicide charges in LaFerrara's death. His body was found Nov. 12 in an alley in Sunbury, a small city about 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The couple had recently moved to nearby Selinsgrove from Dunn, N.C.

Comment: Conversation that potentially leads to murder is not 'delightful', except perhaps to psychopaths and predators.

Rare riot breaks out on Singapore streets

The New Zealand Herald
Sun, 08 Dec 2013 13:20 UTC

A rare riot broke out in Singapore's Little India neighbourhood last night, apparently after a Bangladeshi worker was hit and killed by a bus, a local television channel reported.

Channel News Asia showed dramatic pictures of burning vehicles and people attacking the windshield of a bus with sticks and garbage bins. It was not clear if anyone was injured in the rioting that began late in the evening.

Such violence is unheard of in Singapore, an orderly and modern city-state known for strict punishments and generally law-abiding citizens.

Violent rapist jailed after court of appeal quashes acquittal

The Guardian
Sat, 07 Dec 2013 09:49 UTC

© Derbyshire police/PA
Harbinder has been has been jailed after a landmark legal ruling in which his original acquittal for the offence was quashed by the court of appeal

Harbinder Khatkaris attacked six women in February - less than six weeks after a jury acquitted him of earlier rape

A violent rapist has been jailed for life after a landmark legal ruling in which his original acquittal for the offence was quashed by the court of appeal.

Harbinder Khatkar, from Derby, has been ordered to serve at least 14 years after being convicted of offences committed in December 2011 and February 2013.

The 37-year-old attacked six women on 2 February this year - less than six weeks after a jury acquitted him of an earlier rape in which he forced his way into the victim's home.

U.S. federal prison population has grown 27 percent in 10 years

Washington Free Beacon
Fri, 06 Dec 2013 04:18 UTC

The number of federal prison inmates has grown 27 percent in the last decade, according the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

In a report examining the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) budget, the GAO found that prison population is rising:

The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is responsible for the custody and care of over 219,000 federal inmates - a population that has grown by 27 percent over the past decade. BOP is composed of 119 institutions, 6 regional offices, 2 staff training centers, 22 residential reentry management offices (previously called community corrections offices), and a central office in Washington, D.C. With a fiscal year 2013 operating budget of about $6.5 billion - the second-largest budget within DOJ - BOP projects that its costs will increase as the federal prison population grows through 2018. [...]

A variety of factors contribute to the size of BOP's population. These include national crime levels, law enforcement policies, and federal sentencing laws, all of which are beyond BOP's control.

'Selfish selfie' lands on the New York Post front page

Nadine Kalinauskas
Yahoo! News - Canada
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC

"Selfie" might be the Oxford Dictionary's word of the year, but one woman's self portrait is teaching us all a lesson in selfie etiquette.

Folks, don't take a photo of yourself in front of a tragedy.

On Tuesday morning, a woman, identified only as a tourist, snapped a photo of herself in front of the Brooklyn Bridge. In the background of the photo, a suicidal man threatened to leap into the East River below.

While the man was eventually talked down from the ledge and taken to the hospital for evaluation, the woman's poor photography decision lives on: It landed her on the cover of the New York Post.

Smog at extremely hazardous levels in Shanghai

Eugene Hoshiko and Didi Tang
Associated Press.
Sat, 07 Dec 2013 09:41 UTC

© AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko
A building under construction is covered with haze in Shanghai, China, Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Shanghai authorities ordered schoolchildren indoors and halted all construction Friday as China's financial hub suffered one its worst bouts of air pollution, bringing visibility down to a few dozen meters and obscuring the city's spectacular skyline

Shanghai authorities ordered schoolchildren indoors and halted all construction Friday as China's financial hub suffered one of its worst bouts of air pollution, bringing visibility down to a few dozen meters, delaying flights and obscuring the city's spectacular skyline.

The financial district was shrouded in a yellow haze, and noticeably fewer people walked the city's streets. Vehicle traffic also was thinner, as authorities pulled 30 percent of government vehicles from the roads. They also banned fireworks and public sporting events.

"I feel like I'm living in clouds of smog," said Zheng Qiaoyun, a local resident who kept her 6-month-old son at home. "I have a headache, I'm coughing, and it's hard to breathe on my way to my office."

7 things Nelson Mandela believed that most people won't talk about

Aviva Shen
Think Progress
Fri, 06 Dec 2013 10:11 UTC

In the desire to celebrate Nelson Mandela's life - an iconic figure who triumphed over South Africa's brutal apartheid regime - it's tempting to homogenize his views into something everyone can support. This is not, however, an accurate representation of the man.

Mandela was a political activist and agitator. He did not shy away from controversy and he did not seek - or obtain - universal approval. Before and after his release from prison, he embraced an unabashedly progressive and provocative platform. As one commentator put it shortly after the announcement of the freedom fighter's death, "Mandela will never, ever be your minstrel. Over the next few days you will try so, so hard to make him something he was not, and you will fail. You will try to smooth him, to sandblast him, to take away his Malcolm X. You will try to hide his anger from view."

Sandy Hook benefit concert canceled due to low ticket sales

Kyla Gardner
DNAInfo
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 17:11 UTC

A Chicago benefit concert to help first responders to last year's Sandy Hook massacre was canceled due to low ticket sales, it was announced Wednesday.

The event, scheduled for Sunday at Untitled, 111 W. Kinzie St., was set to feature performances by local musicians and the Chicago Children's Choir and a silent auction.

"It is with great sadness that we have to cancel the Chicago Musicians Care Performance & Benefit event ... due to low ticket sales," read a Facebook post from organizer Chicago Musicians Care, which was created in response to the shooting.

One of the goals of the music project, Founder Kevin Tenbrunsel said in a YouTube video, was "to send a message to the people of Sandy Hook that this city has not forgotten, and still grieve the tragedy of that day."

Charity claims its been targeted for feeding the homeless

RT
Fri, 06 Dec 2013 17:23 UTC

A church group in Olympia, Washington is blasting proposed City Council changes it claims are intended to stop an outreach mission that feeds hundreds of homeless residents every week.

Twice a week for the last two years, the nondenominational Christian group Crazy Faith Ministries has gathered at a public parking lot to feed the city's homeless population. The program has become increasingly popular since it began, but complaints about mounting vehicle traffic in the area and concern for pedestrian safety resulted in the city informing Crazy Faith it would not be allowed to continue its activity.

Ben Charles, the leader of Crazy Faith, argued his organization has the right to assemble and feed the homeless, however, and declined to comply with the order given in October, saying no laws were being broken. Now, City Hall is considering changes to its parking ordinances that would require anyone using public parking lots to acquire a permit, ranging in price from $50 to $187. Failure to do so could result in a fine of up to $1,000 or 90 days in jail, though Deputy City Attorney Darren Nienbar suggested a $50 fine would be most likely.

During a City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 3, the proposal was passed on to a second reading by a vote of 6-1. Another meeting is scheduled for December 10.

DC cop suspected of running prostitution ring

RT
Fri, 06 Dec 2013 21:00 UTC

A police officer in Washington, D.C. is currently under investigation for possibly running a prostitution ring out of this apartment, where a 16-year-old missing girl was found on Tuesday evening The unnamed officer has yet to be to charged with a crime, though the Metropolitan Police Department has placed him on paid leave while it wraps up the investigation.

According to the Washington Times, the teenage girl told investigators that she met the officer in question two weeks ago. The officer allegedly took nude photos of her in glossy shoes and arranged a meeting with another man who would pay her $80 for sex. The officer would reportedly get a $20 cut of the bill, though it's not clear if the meeting ever occurred.

Additionally, the teenage girl told authorities that six other women were working for the officer, and advertisements for the operation were posted on a website called backpage.com.

Comment: Define 'few', please.

I once wore a kilt to elementary school but that was because it was part of my homemade Braveheart costume. I had shorts on underneath but pranked...

Animanarchy

She hopefully also knocked out a complete chronology of her situation and made it available to the press. God speed lady! Fight that good fight -...

Rowan Cocoan

.. .. Never go to Happy Hour when it's nurses night.. or, Let's go phizzer [Link]

Jibrish

But we're going into a mini 'ice age'! HAARP has nothing to do with this...

tekdude

Ehret an idiot beyond belief

smertzasmert

Society's Child

Newlywed couple found murder victim on Craigslist, police say

Rare riot breaks out on Singapore streets

Violent rapist jailed after court of appeal quashes acquittal

U.S. federal prison population has grown 27 percent in 10 years

'Selfish selfie' lands on the New York Post front page

Smog at extremely hazardous levels in Shanghai

7 things Nelson Mandela believed that most people won't talk about

Sandy Hook benefit concert canceled due to low ticket sales

Charity claims its been targeted for feeding the homeless

DC cop suspected of running prostitution ring

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