Society's ChildS


Ambulance

Eight dead when California tour bus crashes with pickup truck on mountain highway east of Los Angeles


New York Daily News
Mon, 04 Feb 2013 08:27 UTC
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© AP PHOTOAt least eight people are dead and dozens injured after a California bus carrying a tour group collided with a pickup truck Sunday night.
San Bernardino County Fire Department spokesman says 28 people were treated at the scene and injuries varied from minor to life-threatening. The twisted wreckage was still being searched for survivors hours after the 6:30 p.m. collision.

At least eight people were killed and 38 injured Sunday when a tour bus careened out of control while traveling down a Southern California mountain road, struck a car, flipped and plowed into a pickup truck, authorities said.

The accident occurred around 6:30 p.m. about 80 miles east of Los Angeles and left State Route 38 littered with debris, the bus sideways across the two lanes and its front end crushed. Emergency crews worked to free passengers who were trapped in the bus, which was returning to Tijuana, Mexico, California Highway Patrol spokesman Mario Lopez said.

The violence of the crash and severity of the injuries made for a chaotic scene, and authorities had a difficult time determining how many people were injured or killed. Lopez said at least eight and perhaps 10 were dead, and 38 transported to hospitals.
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Padlock

Authorities shut down prostitution 'house of horrors'


CBS Chicago
Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00 UTC
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© Cook County State’s AttorneyKeith Williams, from left; Roman Kurek; Sylvia Topolewski
Police say they've broken up a prostitution "house of horrors" that did business in Schiller Park and on Chicago's west side.

Keith Williams, 52, allegedly served his prostitutes crack and heroin twice a day on a silver platter, but prosecutors say he was one brutal master, WBBM Newsradio's Bob Roberts reports.

He allegedly would beat women for rule infractions, real or imagined, with his fists and feet. He would choke them, handcuff them and lock them away for days at a time without food or drugs, making them ill, authorities said Friday.

Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez says the multi-agency investigation, dating back to May, showed a pattern of preying on women who were down-and-out. Some admitted they went to work for Williams despite a violent reputation.
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Newspaper

The moment Taser police take down knifeman outside Buckingham Palace: Terror at Changing of the Guard as man breaks security cordon

Vanessa Allen and Ben Spencer
Daily Mail, UK
Sun, 03 Feb 2013 00:00 UTC
  • Metropolitan Police confirm taser was used in central London at 11:50am
  • Photos show man holding knife to his throat during Changing of the Guard
  • Queen and Prince Philip were at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk at the time
  • Man arrested on suspicion of affray and has been taken to a police station
Holding a blade to his own throat, this was the moment a knifeman brought chaos to the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace yesterday.

The middle-aged man walked through crowds of tourists clutching two large kitchen knives before police surrounded him and used a Taser stun gun to disarm him.

As a policeman shouted a warning call of 'Taser, Taser, Taser' to his colleagues, the knifeman lunged forward, brandishing a six-inch blade in a series of swipes, before falling to the floor as he was stunned by the electrical charge.
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Dramatic: Police officers tasered a man holding a knife to his throat outside Buckingham Palace yesterday
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© Youtube/Grant ShepherdScary: The dramatic incident saw the man brandish two knives in front of hundreds of terrified tourists
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© Youtube/Grant ShepherdDown: The man charged towards a police officer outside Buckingham Palace who fired a taser gun at him
A video showed the man, in his 50s, shouting and holding the knife to his throat as he walked past the Victoria Memorial, towards the gates of the palace.

Police officers shouted to tourists to keep away from the man as they raced to surround him.

The man, who clutched a set of wooden beads and wore a flat woollen hat similar to the pakuls traditionally worn by men in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, was later arrested.
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Pistol

Iraq war veteran charged in Texas shooting that killed author/ex-Navy SEAL Kyle, his friend


The Washington Post
Sat, 02 Feb 2013 00:00 UTC
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© The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley/ Associated Press In this April 6, 2012, photo, former Navy SEAL and author of the book American Sniper poses in Midlothian, Texas. A Texas sheriff has told local newspapers that Kyle has been fatally shot along with another man on a gun range, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013.
Stephenville, Texas - A 25-year-old Iraq war veteran charged with murdering former Navy SEAL and American Sniper author Chris Kyle and his friend turned a gun onto the pair while they were at a Texas shooting range, authorities said Sunday.

Eddie Ray Routh of Lancaster was arraigned early Sunday in the deaths of Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, at a shooting range at Rough Creek Lodge, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth. He was being held on one charge of capital murder and two charges of murder.

Capt. Jason Upshaw with the Erath County Sheriff's Office said Routh used a semi-automatic handgun, which authorities later found at his home. Upshaw said ballistics tests weren't complete Sunday, but authorities believe it was the gun used in the shootings. Upshaw declined to give any more details about the gun.

Routh has not made any comments indicating what his motive may have been, Upshaw said. Sheriff Tommy Bryant said Routh was unemployed and "may have been suffering from some type of mental illness from being in the military himself."

"I don't know that we'll ever know. He's the only one that knows that," Upshaw said.

Bryant didn't know if Routh was on any medication or whether he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The U.S. military confirmed Sunday that Routh was a corporal in the Marines, serving in active duty from 2006 to 2010. He was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and Haiti in 2010. His current duty status is listed as reserve.

Routh is being held on $3 million bond. Authorities did not know whether Routh had a lawyer yet.
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Vader

Canadian refused all-expenses-paid trip to Super Bowl because of a marijuana charge from 1981


CBC News
Sun, 03 Feb 2013 14:42 UTC
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© CBCMyles Wilkinson has lost out on the trip of a lifetime due to a pot possession conviction 32 years ago.
A Vancouver Island man who won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Super Bowl in New Orleans has been refused entry into the U.S. because of a marijuana possession conviction dating back to 1981.

Victoria resident Myles Wilkinson won the trip in a fantasy football league contest, competing against nearly four million other players for the chance to attend the National Football League championship, featuring the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers.

But when he got to Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Thursday, U.S. customs agents learned of a marijuana possession conviction in Vancouver in 1981 and told him he was not allowed to enter the country.
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People

Humanitarian aid workers in Uganda show signs of stress, depression, and burnout

Stephanie Berger
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:36 UTC
Latest research points to the high risk for mental health problems among staff working in humanitarian organizations in northern Uganda, due in large part to their work environment. A new study by researchers at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health examined the mental health of 376 Ugandan workers at 21 humanitarian aid agencies and found that a significant number of the staff at these organizations experienced high levels of symptoms for depression (68%), anxiety disorders (53%), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (26%), respectively.

Research up to now has focused on international or expatriate staff; the new study looks at humanitarian workers who are nationals of the country where they work. Workers in Gulu, Northern Uganda, are of particular interest because of their high exposure to chronic and traumatic stress following many years of conflict between the Lord's resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda forces.

Findings are published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.

The study, based on self-reported symptoms, showed that female workers reported significantly more symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and emotional exhaustion than males. Between one-quarter and one-half of all respondents reported symptom levels associated with high risk for burnout. Chronic stressors such as financial hardship, uncertainty whether peace will continue, separation from close family, and unequal treatment of expatriate and national staff were among those cited for causing these adverse mental health effects.
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Bizarro Earth

California preschool closing amid allegations of sexual contact between students

Arturo Garcia
Raw Story
Sat, 02 Feb 2013 11:14 UTC
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A group of parents is suing a California preschool as it prepares to shut down following allegations that at least two boys got oral sex from a 5-year-old girl.

One of the parents, Richard McCarthy, told KABC-TV on Friday that his 4-year-old son and another student "have been introduced to this feeling that they don't know how to process, [and] are still looking for it, and trying to make it happen" following the incidents at the First Lutheran Church of Carson School in Carson, California.

McCarthy's attorney, Craig Owen, told ABC News he will file a lawsuit on Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court against school personnel, as well as the school and the church, and the girl.

School officials announced last week that the school will close on Feb. 8 due to an inability to find a new school director, and not because of the incidents. The current director, they said, was resigning for "personal reasons."
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Pistol

"American Sniper" author Chris Kyle was killed at Texas gun range


aljazeera
Sun, 03 Feb 2013 00:00 UTC
chris kyle
© FacebookKyle told US media he favoured arming teachers in the wake of the school massacre in Newtown
Author and gun advocate Chris Kyle, responsible for a record 160 kills during his army career, reportedly shot dead.

Chris Kyle, a former US Navy SEAL sniper who was responsible for 160 kills during his career, has been shot dead at a gun range, local media reports.

A suspect, identified as Eddie Ray Routh, was arrested, according to reports.

Kyle, who wrote American Sniper about his military service from 1999 to 2009, and another man were found dead at the Rough Creek Lodge's shooting range on Saturday, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, quoting Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant.

The second victim was not identified.

"It just comes as a shock and it's staggering to think that after all Chris has been through, that this is how he meets his end, because there are so many ways he could have been killed" in Iraq, Scott McEwen, who co-authored Kyle's book, said.

Rough Creek Lodge is located in Glen Rose, Texas, which is about 80km southwest of Fort Worth.
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Die

One-third of Americans believe God decides who wins sporting events

David Ferguson
Raw Story
Sat, 02 Feb 2013 11:06 UTC
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A reent study by the Center for Public Religion has found that nearly 3 out of every 10 Americans believes that God decides the outcome of sporting events by favoring players who are virtuous and who God perceives as good.

According to the study, "Americans are less likely to believe that God plays a role in the outcome of sporting events than they are to believe God rewards religious athletes. While only about 3-in-10 (27%) Americans, believe that God plays a role in determining which team wins a sporting event, a majority (53%) believe that God rewards athletes who have faith with good health and success, compared to 42% who disagree."
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Bizarro Earth

Saudi preacher gets fine and short jail term for raping and killing daughter


RT.com
Sun, 03 Feb 2013 11:00 UTC
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© Screenshot from youtube.comLama al-Ghamdi
Public anger has gripped Saudi Arabia after a prominent preacher who raped and beat to death his 5-year-old daughter was sentenced to a few months in jail and a $50,000 fine - known as 'blood money' - to compensate the victim's relatives.

According to Islamic law, the 'blood money' can be paid in lieu of the death penalty. The preacher's fine was reportedly half the usual amount because the victim was a girl.
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