Society's ChildS


Eye 2

Psychopaths? Parents charged with child abuse after forcing child to stand on pavement barefoot in 110 degree weather

Peter Holley
Washington Post
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 10:29 UTC
mark sarah simmons
© Maricopa County Sheriff’s OfficeMark and Sarah Simmons
On July 12, the high in Phoenix was 110 degrees, according to Weather Underground.

That's not quite hot enough to effectively fry an egg on the street, according to The Washington Post, but it is hot enough to severely burn the bottom of someone's feet.

Police said that's exactly what happened when Mark Simmons decided to punish his 6-year-old son by "taking the boy outside and making him stand barefoot on the ground in the backyard as punishment," according to court records cited by ABC affiliate KNXV-TV.

Simmons also allegedly told police that he used a belt to whip the child, leaving him with bruises.

On camera, KNXV-TV reporter Sonu Wasu demonstrated that she could barely endure the blazing Phoenix concrete for more than a second or two.

Police claim Simmons's child was forced to stand outside for about 10 minutes, the station reported.
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Airplane

Four dead after medical plane crashes in northern California; pilot declared 'smoke on board'

Madison Park and Joe Sutton
CNN
Sat, 30 Jul 2016 13:43 UTC
medical plane crash in California
A medical transport plane crashed in northern California killing all four people on board Friday.

Around 12:30 a.m. local timeFriday, the Piper Cheyenne aircraft containing three crew members and one patient departed from airport in Crescent City, California -- about 20 miles south of Oregon.

The plane, which is part of Cal-Ore Life Flight's fleet, was headed for Oakland International Airport, located about 400 miles south.

By 1 a.m., the pilot declared an emergency indicating that there was smoke onboard, said Lt. Wayne Hanson of the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department. Five minutes later, communication with the plane was lost, according to Cal-Ore Life Flight.

Search teams from several agencies including the Coast Guard, Humboldt County Sheriff's Department and Cal Fire fanned the area trying to locate the crash site. Around 10 a.m., rescue teams found the wreckage just north of McKinleyville, California. But there were no survivors. The plane crashed in a rural, mountainous area, so no one on the ground was hurt, said Hanson.

"This is one of the saddest moments in our history," said Cal-Ore Flight in a statement. "First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the patient and our crew members.

"A transport medic, a flight nurse, a patient and the pilot had been onboard, according to CNN affiliate KIEM-TV in Eureka, Calif. The company stated that it could not release the identities of the deceased until they receive confirmation from local authorities.

Comment: There was another fatal plane crash in California last week. See also: Columbia Airport, California: 4 dead in fiery plane crash

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Cheese

Blooming only once a decade, fetid corpse flower overwhelms New York Botanical Gardens visitors

Nicole Puglise
The Guardian
Fri, 29 Jul 2016 02:02 UTC
corpse flower
© Kathy Willens/Associated PressLike a decomposing body, the inside of the flower heats up to help distribute the smell.
One of the world's largest flowers, Amorphophallus titanum takes around a decade to bloom and promptly dies two days later in a foul-smelling crescendo

On Friday morning, visitors to New York's botanical garden in the Bronx gathered together and began to sniff. They were there to witness one of the world's largest and smelliest flowers - Amorphophallus titanum, also known as the corpse flower - bloom.

"It smells like lettuce when you take it out of the bag," a woman yelled from the crowd of onlookers in the Enid A Haupt conservatory. "It smells like the aquarium. Like the penguin enclosure," another added. The odor came in waves as onlookers jostled for the best spot to take photos and selfies with the giant flower. Some left holding their noses.

Kathryn, an 11-year-old plant enthusiast, said it smelled like her cat's litter box but sharper. Her six-year-old brother, Toby, said it smelled worse than "one thousand pukes". Like many others, the young girl watched an online live stream of the plant all week anxiously waiting for its petals to open.

Friday marked the first time the flower, which takes around a decade to bloom and then dies after 24-36 hours, appeared in the city since 1939. The blooming was highly anticipated due to the "gross-out factor" and the flower's rarity, said Marc Hachadourian, director of the Nolen Greenhouses at the garden. Its petals began to creep open on Thursday afternoon.
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Ambulance

Rio Olympics 2016: Athletes warned to keep mouths closed when swimming in faeces-infested water

Feliks Garcia
The Independent
Sat, 30 Jul 2016 01:51 UTC
water pollution Rio Olympic games
© Matthew Stockman/GettyPollution floating in Guanabara Bay
All efforts by the government to clean the Rio waters seem to have failed

Athletes competing in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil have been warned by doctors, engineers, and scientists to keep their mouths shut while participating in activities in the water.

Researchers found that many of the beaches in Rio de Janeiro have been long contaminated with raw sewage, household garbage, and even dead bodies, creating hazardous swimming conditions for the 500,000 people expected to descend on the city in August.

"Foreign athletes will literally be swimming in human crap, and they risk getting sick from all those microorganisms," Rio paediatrician Dr Daniel Becker told the New York Times. "It's sad but also worrisome."

The Brazilian government had promised to clean the pathogen-infested Guanabara Bay in 2014, but those efforts failed.
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Bomb

Kabul rocked by massive truck bomb, Taliban claims responsibility, gunfight ongoing with militants


RT
Mon, 01 Aug 2016 01:24 UTC
kabul
© Omar Sobhani / ReutersAfghan policemen keep watch near the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan August 1, 2016.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for a truck bomb attack on a foreign hotel in the Afghan capital of Kabul early on Monday. Several gunmen attacked the compound following a powerful explosion and engaged in a shootout with security forces.

The blast occurred in the middle of the night, at around 1:30 am local time. The blast has been described on Twitter as being so loud that it woke up people "all over the city."

A "truck bomb" struck "a foreign guesthouse," reported Lotfullah Najafizada, head of Kabul-based TOLOnews TV broadcaster, citing security sources. He added that "four attackers" were trying to enter the building.

"A truck full of explosives exploded near the entrance of Northgate [hotel]," reported Bilal Sarwary, another local journalist, citing police, adding that there were reportedly four attackers involved.

"Fighting is heard" in the proximity of the site, he added.

Comment: The Camp North Gate hotel reportedly caters primarily to US and other Western defense contractors. Still no word on casualties, but dozens are feared to be dead. Afghan security forces have begun storming the hotel. Recently, the Taliban sent a delegation to China to discuss the situation and their battle against foreign occupation. See:

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Attention

Death toll of Baghdad July 3rd bombing attack climbs to 324


Sputnik
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 22:46 UTC
Baghdad suicide car bomb
© REUTERS/ Khalid al Mousily
The death toll from a suicide bombing in central Baghdad on July 3 has reached 324 and might climb further, according to Health Minister of Iraq.

The attack, claimed by the Daesh militant group, was the deadliest suicide bombing attack since the US-led toppling of Saddam Hussein 13 years ago.

In the initial days after attack, the reported death toll was more than 100 people. In a month after the attack, the number of casualties tripled.

According to Iraqi Minister of Health Adela Hmoud, the death toll can rise even further, as forensic teams are still working to identify bodies.
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Nuke

Cairo and Moscow agree on Egypt's first nuclear power plant construction terms


Sputnik
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 22:40 UTC
model of nuclear plant
© Flickr/ Maxence
Egypt and Russia have agreed on all the clauses of the commercial contract on construction of the first nuclear power plant in the country, the Egyptian presidential office said in a statement Sunday.

"The minister [of Energy] during the meeting briefed the president on the final version of the contract on Dabaa [nuclear power plant], informing him on the agreement with the Russian side on all terms in question," the statement read.

The date of contract signing is expected to be announced right after its approval by the country's supreme administrative court, the Council of State.
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Cross

Muslim community refuses to bury killer of French priest, attends Catholic Mass across France and abroad


RT
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 08:50 UTC
Flowers pic of priest
© Pascal Rossignol / Reuters
The Muslim community in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in northern France, where two jihadists slit Father Jacques Hamel's throat, is refusing to bury one of the attackers, saying that he put a stain on Islam, the French media reported.

Algerian-born 19-year-old Adel Kermiche was one of the two attackers who killed the 85-year-old priest and seriously injured an elderly parishioner. A French citizen, he was living in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray and attempted to join Islamic jihadists in Syria back in 2015.

"We're not going to taint Islam with this person," Mohammed Karabila, a leader at a local mosque, told Le Parisien newspaper, "We won't participate in preparing the body [for the burial] or the burial." A Muslim worshiper, Khalid El Amrani, supported the move, saying that the refusal to bury the terrorist is "normal." "What this young man did is sinful," the 25-year-old engineer said, "He is no longer part of our community."

Now it is up to the local authorities to decide how to issue the burial permit for Kermiche.

Comment: Actions speak volumes when we come together for the right reasons and go beyond our petty self-definitions to do what is honorable.

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Newspaper

Young girl hit by car after running across road, walks away uninjured


RT
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 22:11 UTC
girl in china gets hit by car
© CCTV News / YouTube
A dramatic moment when a young girl dashed across the street, only to be hit by an oncoming car, has been captured on video. Miraculously, she simply got up and walked away uninjured.

While many parents fear just such an incident, for the mother of this four-year-old girl in the Chinese city of Chuzhou in Anhui Province, the nightmare became a reality.
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Sheriff

Almost tragic irony: Innocent cousin of slain Baton Rouge cop detained under suspicion of Lousiana cop killings, nearly killed by police

Claire Bernish
Free Thought Project
Fri, 29 Jul 2016 00:00 UTC
Damarcus Alexander
Damarcus Alexander
The cousin of one of the police officers gunned down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, faced arrest after being falsely linked to the murders — and nearly slipped into a coma when callous police refused to obtain vital medicine to treat his diabetes.

Damarcus Alexander and a friend stopped to change in a Walmart on their way to church for the friend's special singing engagement — but were arrested shortly afterward in a startling case of mistaken identity that nearly cost Alexander his life.

On Sunday, July 17, the two friends left Dallas at about 4 a.m. for the small Louisiana town of Belle Rose, about an hour south of Baton Rouge. Just a few hours later, Baton Rouge police came under fire, and three officers — including Alexander's cousin, Montrell Jackson — were killed.

After Alexander and his friend, who purchased a white shirt for the singing engagement at the church, changed their clothes at Walmart, they got back on the road — not knowing someone suspicious of the two black men, following the shooting in Baton Rouge by Gavin Long moments before, had dialed 911 to report them.

As the Daily Beast reports, during their pit stop at the department store, Alexander and his companion didn't hear about the shooting just across the river — much less that one of the fatally wounded was the man's cousin.
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