Society's ChildS


Black Cat 2

Rome becoming Italy's mafia crime capital

Josephine McKenna
The Telegraph
Sun, 27 Jan 2013 11:28 UTC
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© GETTY IMAGES
A senior judge has warned that Rome is fast becoming the country's crime capital
Giorgio Santacroce, the president of Rome's Appeals Court, said he was alarmed by the spread of the Camorra and 'Ndrangheta, once confined to the country's south, and their infiltration of restaurants, bars and other businesses in the Eternal City.

In a report to mark the inauguration of the judicial year, Mr Santacroce said that various clans were systematically using cafés and restaurants to launder money and also investing heavily in real estate, construction and finance.

"Mafia organisations are acquiring properties, companies and commercial businesses, that are often not on the market, in which they invest money gained from criminal sources, giving the earnings the appearance of legality," the judge said.

The court report noted half a dozen of the most powerful 'Ndrangheta clans from the southern region of Calabria, including the Gallico di Palmi, Alvaro, and Pelle, had effectively divided the city into their own separate territories where they exercised control.

Luigi Ciampoli, chief prosecutor of the Appeals Court, said: "The capital, seat of political and economic power, offers the prospect of solid establishments and lavish earnings."
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Attention

Wild rabbits wreck havoc on car wiring at Denver Airport

Libby Smith
CBS
Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:35 UTC
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© CBSCBS4′s Suzanne McCarroll talks to Ken Blum about the damage rabbits did to his car.
Travelers have a warning for drivers who park their cars near Denver International Airport (DIA). Rabbits are chewing the wires under many cars costing owners a lot of money. The rabbits get in and chew the brake lines, the clutch lines and other wiring. Local car repair shops estimates they can do thousands of dollars in damage.

"When I had the trouble with the oil light coming on, the dealer told me the wires that controlled the air conditioning were chewed," said Ken Blum, one car owner who knows all about the not so funny bunny business at DIA.

Blum has had to have repairs done on his car twice due to rabbit damage and he estimates the cost at approximately $700.
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Evil Rays

Five shot dead in separate incidents of Chicago gun violence


Guardian
Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:55 UTC
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One victim is woman's fourth child lost to shootings since 1995: 'They took my only child. I have nobody right now'.

At least five people were gunned down on Saturday in Chicago, including a 34-year-old man whose mother had already lost her three other children to shootings.

Ronnie Chambers, who was his mother Shirley's youngest child, was shot in the head Saturday while sitting in a parked car on the city's west side. A 21-year-old man who was also in the car was wounded, police said.

Shirley Chambers, whose two other sons and daughter were shot in separate attacks more than a decade ago, was left grieving again on Saturday, WLS-TV reported.
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Magnify

Horsemeat in burgers traced to Polish suppliers

James Meikle
Guardian
Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:53 UTC
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© Photograph: Niall Carson/PABurgers were withdrawn from UK supermarkets including Tesco after horse DNA was found during tests.
Irish government says raw material imported from Poland had up to 20% horse DNA.

Polish suppliers were responsible for the horsemeat in beefburgers scandal which hit supermarkets including Tesco, the Irish government has revealed.

Tests in recent days showed raw material imported by an Irish processing plant from Poland had up to 20% equine DNA. Products made for Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and Iceland were implicated in the initial scare this month caused by food standards checks late last year.

Other UK chains withdrew products made at Silvercrest, County Monaghan, and Dalepak Hambleton in north Yorkshire, both owned by the Irish-based ABP Food Group. Burger King also stopped using burgers made at Silvercrest, which suspended production more than a week ago and is now being deep cleaned.
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Sheriff

Dead robber 'used fake gun' in Plymouth betting shop raid

Cass Jones
Guardian
Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:48 UTC
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© Photograph: Emma Hallett/PAPolice at the Devon Ladbrokes where a masked armed robber died after being disarmed and pinned down by customers.
Police say masked man apparently carrying imitation pistol when he was disarmed and pinned down by Ladbrokes customers.

A gunman collapsed and died after being disarmed and pinned down by customers as he tried to rob a bookmakers.

Alan Levers, 50, was believed to be wearing a gas mask and holding a gun when he entered Ladbrokes in Plymouth on Friday night. Customers tackled him to the floor while others contacted the police. Officers found Levers unconscious and attempted to help him but he was later declared dead.

Plymouth police commander Andy Bickley said the gun appeared to have been an imitation pistol. He added that four men were in the betting shop at the time of the incident and had been questioned by police but not arrested.
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Stormtrooper

Sexual assault crisis tempers euphoria over end of combat ban

Karen McVeigh
Guardian
Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:38 UTC
Victims of sexual assault and their advocates demand reform of culture in which most of thousands of cases are not prosecuted

The day before defense secretary Leon Panetta announced the lifting of the ban on women in combat, Jennifer Norris, an air force veteran and rape survivor, testified before a congressional panel into one of the worst sexual scandals in military history.

Norris, who was abused by her recruiter and technical school inspector at Keesler Air Force Base, kept quiet about it, she said, after learning "very quickly" that reporting sexual harassment, assault or even lewd remarks could get her turned out of the Air Force. When she did find the courage to report her abusers, they were charged with sexual assault and pleaded guilty. But they were permitted to resign honourably, with full military benefits. One was allowed to stay for another two years. That was 15 years ago.
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Pills

FDA panel pushing for new limits on access to Vicodin

Arturo Garcia
Raw Story
Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:23 UTC
Citing concern over increasing reports of addiction and overdoses, a Food and Drug Administration safety panel has recommended new restrictions on access to the commonly-used painkiller Vicodin and other products.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the panel voted 19-10 to suggest that Vicodin and other products containing hydrocodone be reclassified as Schedule II, placing it alongside narcotic painkillers like cocaine and percocet.
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Ambulance

Police up death toll to 245 in Brazil club fire


Associated Press
Sun, 27 Jan 2013 08:56 UTC
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© AP Photo/Agencia RBSA man carries an injured man, victim of a fire at the Kiss club in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, early Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013.
A fire swept through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing at least 245 people and leaving at least 200 injured, police and firefighters said.

Police Maj. Cleberson Braida told local news media that the 245 bodies were brought for identification to a gymnasium in the city of Santa Maria.

That toll would make it one of the deadliest nightclub fires more than a decade.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, officials said. Officials earlier put the death toll at 180.

Civil Police and regional government spokesman Marcelo Arigoni told Radio Gaucha earlier that the total number of victims is still unclear and there may be hundreds injured,
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Info

Grandma killed by 'vicious' pet cockatiel

Fiona Keating
International Business Times
Sat, 26 Jan 2013 22:11 UTC
Cockatiel
© IBTSymptoms of Bird Fancier’s Lung usually develop four hours after exposure, and include breathlessness and coughing.
Lilian Kershaw, aged 84, became increasingly breathless after nine years of inhaling particles from the bird's droppings and feathers when its cage was being cleaned out.

The 84-year-old grandmother was later diagnosed with the little-known disease Bird Fancier's Lung.

Despite never handling Charlie the cockatiel, the retired cotton mill worker became out of breath while exposed to the bird in her living room.

Unbeknown to her family, the ill health was partly due to the bird, which was bought for grandson Lloyd in 2002.

Mrs Kershaw's daughter Denise Bacchas told the Daily Mirror: "My mother never handled him, nobody could because he was so vicious. He would peck you to death and he would draw blood. Whoever cleaned him would have to wear gloves."

After the inquest hearing, Mrs Bacchas admitted: "If we had known we would never have got Charlie.
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Pistol

The resistance begins: New York gun owners refuse to register

Mac Slavo
SHTFplan.com
Sat, 26 Jan 2013 19:49 UTC
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With emotions running high in the aftermath of the Newtown Sandy Hook shooting, politicians on the State and Federal level have begun introducing legislative actions to curtail access to firearms protected by the Second Amendment.

In Missouri, parents may soon be forced to register firearms with their child's school under threat of criminal penalties. In Massachusetts, another proposal would require storage of semi-automatic rifles at government approved storage depots.

And, in the State of New York, congressional representatives have already passed legislation that requires registration of every semi-automatic rifle and reduces maximum magazine capacity to 7 rounds of ammunition, and Governor Cuomo has floated the idea of gun confiscation.
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