Society's ChildS


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West Virginia chemical spill company files for bankruptcy

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© Steve Helber/APA leak from the Freedom Industries storage facility in Charleston contaminated water supplies for hundreds of thousands of residents.
The chemicals maker Freedom Industries Inc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday, eight days after a leak from one of the company's storage tanks contaminated drinking water for hundreds of thousands of West Virginia residents.

A chemical used to process coal spilled into the Elk River in Charleston last week, prompting the state's governor to declare a state of emergency and ban the use of drinking water. More than 200 people have visited emergency rooms with nausea.

As a result of the leak, vendors have demanded Freedom pay in cash, draining the company of financing and prompting it to seek bankruptcy, according to documents filed in the US bankruptcy court in Charleston, West Virginia.

"Likewise, the defence of the numerous suits filed against the debtor will exhaust the debtor's liquidity," Freedom said in a court filing. The bankruptcy filing will put a stay on more than 20 lawsuits filed against the company over the spill.

Bulb

8 Habits of Intolerant People

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I find it difficult to believe that there still remain so many people who are intolerant of others; like those who are so vehemently against gay marriage even though other people's intimate relationships do not directly hurt them. It turns out these people share some similar traits. Over my years as a psychotherapist, I have worked with many people who have personality issues. I have observed the following about those who are quick to anger, resentful and begrudging of others.

Arrow Down

Rise in 'funeral poverty' means more than 100,000 in UK cannot afford to die

Funerals
© The Independent, UKDamning study says there is a lack of support to help Britain’s poorest pay for funerals.

Never mind the cost of living crisis - the rise of "funeral poverty" in Britain means more than 100,000 people will be unable to afford the cost of dying this year, researchers have said.

The average price of arranging a funeral, burial or cremation service with state administration now stands at £7,622, and has risen by 7.1 per cent in the past year alone.

Combined with the financial challenges faced by the poorest people in recession-hit Britain, it means the level of "funeral poverty" is up 50 per cent from three years ago.

According to a study from the University of Bath's Institute for Policy Research (IPR), the hundreds of thousands of people who will struggle to afford to die in 2014 will also leave their families with an unnecessarily difficult challenge to apply for state support.

For families on low incomes, the Social Fund Funeral Payment, first introduced in 1988, is intended to take the financial pressure away from giving their loved-one a proper funeral.

But the IPR report called for a review of the Department for Work and Pensions-administered payment, describing it as "outdated", "overly complex" and "insufficient" to meet the needs of the poorest in society.

In spite of the lowest-ever recorded mortality rates for England and Wales, the cost of dying has steadily increased over recent years.

The average cost of a funeral actually rose by 80 per cent between 2004 and 2013 and the costs of dying are expected to continue to increase over the next five years.

On average, the price of a typical funeral, including non-discretionary fees and a burial or cremation, is £3,456.

Piggy Bank

'Can't afford to die': British families on low incomes struggle with 'funeral poverty'‏

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© Reuters/Darren StaplesA man walks through a cemetery in Nottingham, central England
Over 100,000 people in the UK will hardly manage to pay for a funeral this year. With the average cost of dying having risen by 7.1 percent, the poor simply cannot afford to pay the costs of funerals, a survey has found.

The average cost of dying, including funeral, burial or cremation and state administration, currently stands at £7,622 ($12,528), a rise of 7.1 percent in the past year, according to the latest study at the University of Bath's Institute for Policy Research.

"With growing funeral costs, quite simply growing numbers of people might find they can't afford to die," Chief Executive of the International Longevity Centre-UK, Baroness Sally Greengross, stated on the University's website.

Bulb

Problem Sizing

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© Unknown.Waterwheel -simple solution for a heavy burden
This story about the Waterwheel really moved me:

"When Cynthia Koenig, a young social entrepreneur from New York, learned that millions of girls and women around the world spend hours each day collecting water from distant sources, she decided to create a new way to help people in poor communities transport water and it's called the WaterWheel. Koenig's WaterWheel allows people to roll water in a 50-liter container versus carrying it in 5 gallon (19 liter) jugs."

If you are from the Indian Sub-continent, this is a plight that you are all too familiar with. Yet when its quantified, the facts are staggering:
  • 200 million hours are spent everyday balancing 5 gallons of water on your head as you walk from sources that are miles away.
  • And the world over, 1 in 7 live over a kilometer away from a water source.
  • Carrying water leads to chronic head, neck and back pain.
  • 75% of girls between the age of 15-17 in the Indian State of Rajasthan drop out of school because of such pressures on their time.
  • With WaterWheel, valuable time is freed up for women and girls to spend time on income generating work as well as an increased likely hood that young girls will now be educated.
I get energy and inspiration from folks I interact with at work and play every day. And from such stories. This holiday break I chose to skip crystal balling 2014 and enjoyed focusing on learning from stories and people that inspire me. And this was one of them.

Bizarro Earth

China pollution wafting across Pacific to blanket U.S.

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© Reuters/China Daily"A growth-at-all-costs economic model has poisoned much of the country's air, water and soil."
Pollution from China travels in large quantities across the Pacific Ocean to the United States, a new study has found, making environmental and health problems unexpected side effects of U.S. demand for cheap China-manufactured goods.

On some days, acid rain-inducing sulphate from burning of fossil fuels in China can account for as much as a quarter of sulphate pollution in the western United States, a team of Chinese and American researchers said in the report published by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a non-profit society of scholars.

Cities like Los Angeles received at least an extra day of smog a year from nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide from China's export-dependent factories, it said.

"We've outsourced our manufacturing and much of our pollution, but some of it is blowing back across the Pacific to haunt us," co-author Steve Davis, a scientist at University of California Irvine, said.

Between 17 and 36 percent of various air pollutants in China in 2006 were related to the production of goods for export, according to the report, and a fifth of that specifically tied to U.S.-China trade.

Comment: Detoxify or Die!


Hearts

Flashback "Kangaroo Care" in action: Clinically dead baby revived by Mother's touch

After being told her newborn son was dead, mother Kate Ogg was able to cuddle and caress her baby's limp body back to life, astonishing doctors.


Laptop

Dieudonne fans bring down French JDL website, two others

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© JTAScreenshot of the French Jewish Defense League hacked by fans of anti-Semitic French comedian Dieudonne.
Supporters of anti-Semitic comedian whose new show was banned in France hijack pro-Israel websites

Supporters of the anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala hijacked three French pro-Israel websites in a coordinated cyber attack.

The attack Thursday paralyzed the websites Israel-Flash.com, Europe-Israel.org and liguedefensejuive.com, the website of the French Jewish Defense League, and replaced their content with messages of support for Dieudonne, Le Nouvel Observateur reported.

On the hijacked websites, the hackers called the attack a "triple quenelle" - a reference to a gesture invented by Dieudonne, which French Interior Minister Manuel Valls last week termed "an inverted Nazi salute, an anti-Semitic gesture of hate." The gesture involves placing one's outstretched left palm on one's right shoulder while pointing downward with one's right arm.

On the website of the far-right JDL, the hackers posted a caricature of the league's logo, featuring the silhouette of a ballet dancer framed by the Star of David of the original logo.

"Dear Zionist enemies, some of you (all?) interpret the quenelle to a be secretly anti-Semitic. This is a mistake," the text posted on the JDL's website read. "I realize you don't like Dieudonne but unfortunately, you don't understand the material. This can be fixed."

The hackers also posted videos claiming the quenelle is an anti-establishment expression.

Control Panel

Houston man's pickup burns half-hour after he gets GM recall notice

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© Tundraheadquarters.comThis is what’s left of Paul’s 2014 Chevy Silverado.
Houston wrestling coach Allen Paul said he received a recall notice on his 2014 Chevy Silverado just 30 minutes before his truck burst into flames.

Paul said his truck slowed down and all of the dash interior lights came on as he was driving along Richmond around 7 p.m. Tuesday. It was then that he noticed a fireball under the hood.

Paul bolted from the cab and within 30 seconds he said the truck's front end was engulfed in flames.

Late last week, General Motors issued around 370,000 recall letters for 2014 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks. A software malfunction makes an idling truck heat up to levels that can start a fast-moving fire, melting plastic parts and leading to total destruction of the vehicle, according to GM.

Paul, the head wrestling coach at St. John's School, believes his truck is a victim of the recall defect.

Truck owners are to report to a GM dealership as soon as possible for a no-charge fix, which should only take half an hour, according to GM spokesman Alan Adler. In the meantime, owners are warned not to let their vehicle idle.

According to the recall letters, only those trucks equipped with a 4.3 liter or 5.3 liter engine are at risk for fire. Trucks with 6.2 liter engines are not a part of the recall.

Stormtrooper

Cambodia riot police break up fresh rally as West's slave-wage workers revolt

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Cambodian riot police broke up a rally Sunday arresting an activist, an official said, in the latest move by authorities to quell protests against strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen.

About 50 security officers, armed with batons, dispersed a small group of around 10 people as they tried to hold prayers in the capital Phnom Penh for the release of people arrested during a recent bloody crackdown, Am Sam Ath, of local rights group LICADHO, told AFP.

The acting leader of a non-governmental organisation was dragged into a police car, he said, adding there "was no violence" as the prayer group did not resist.

Long Dimanche, a spokesman for the Phnom Penh city hall, confirmed police had dispersed the group because they had held a rally deemed to violate the law.

"They held a public rally without permission (from authorities) and disturb the order... This is a yellow card for those who do not respect the law," he told AFP.

He said the detained activist would be soon released.