Society's ChildS


Eye 1

China Tried to Play Down Size of Bohai Bay Oil Spill


The Chosun Ilbo
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:27 UTC
Bohai Bay, oil spill,china
© CFPA screen grab from China’s Central Television (CCTV) on July 6, 2011, shows the devastation caused by the oil spill at the Penglai 19-3 oil field in Bohai Bay off China's eastern coast.

The sea area polluted in an oil spill in China's Bohai Bay was five times as large as Beijing previously announced. A probe conducted by the Chinese State Oceanic Administration found that some 4,240 sq.km of water, or seven times the size of Seoul, were polluted by oil leaks from the Peng Lai 19-3 oilfield in Bohai Bay, the daily Xin Jing Bao reported Wednesday.

Beijing admitted the oil spill for the first time on July 5, a month after two oil leaks occurred at China's largest marine oilfield on June 4 and 17, saying only 840 sq.km were polluted. But the water quality of a 3,400 sq.km area nearby dropped from Grade 1 to Grade 3.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. and ConocoPhillips, the joint operators of the oilfield, said the oil spill was quickly contained and cleaned up, but earlier this week Beijing admitted that oil continues to leak out.
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Family

UK: Mother Repeatedly Stabbed Daughter, 11, As Child Cried Out "I Love You"


The Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:00 UTC
Image
© Philip IdeThe Old Bailey heard how a nursery worker plunged a large knife into her 11-year-old daughter and stabbed her repeatedly as the little girl cried 'I love you'
A nursery worker plunged a large knife into her 11-year-old daughter and stabbed her repeatedly as the little girl cried 'I love you,' the Old Bailey has heard.

Mid-way through the attack she paused to hug the child who was begging her mother to stop.

But she then resumed the vicious onslaught, stabbing her daughter ten times at the side of a canal.

After the youngster collapsed in St Margaret's Field, Ealing, west London, the 48-year-old woman turned the knife on herself, causing blade wounds to her stomach.

Both survived the ordeal but the girl - who received multiple cut wounds to her hands and arms - has been left with long-lasting injuries and scarring.

She was saved by a ten-hour operation to repair wounds to her abdominal organs.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to attempted murder in August last year, and was detained under the Mental Health Act without limit of time.
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People

US: Hundreds scramble for Dallas County rental vouchers


WFAA
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:02 UTC
Dallas, Texas - Hundreds of people lined up Thursday morning to apply for Dallas County Section 8 housing vouchers.

The office at the Jesse Owens Memorial Complex wasn't supposed to open until 8 a.m., but some applicants started lining up at 10 o'clock Wednesday night.

Police kept people off school district property until the gates opened at 6 a.m. That resulted in a long string of cars lined up on the streets.

Doors were opened early.

Hundreds of people rushed the line, causing moments of unruliness. But authorities eventually gained control.

Seven people were treated by paramedics. None were taken to the hospital.

The federally-subsidized vouchers pay a portion of the rent, based on household income.

This is the first time in five years that the Dallas County waiting list for vouchers has been open.

Applicants who do get on the list could face a wait of up to two years before receiving assistance.
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Magnify

Many parents are only on Facebook to stalk their kids

Team Register
The Register
Wed, 13 Jul 2011 02:25 UTC
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© Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Try to friend offspring without speaking to them

A survey has revealed that fully 30 per cent of British parents' Facebook "friend" requests to their children get rejected, and that many then resort to using other people's login details in order to keep track of their offspring's Web-2.0 activities.

This sad commentary on the number of parents who feel able to speak to their kids as opposed to interacting with them primarily online - it would seem normal to know in advance whether a friend request to one's nipper would be rejected, for instance - came among the results of a survey of 2,000 online Brits.
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Heart - Black

US: Accused sex offender allowed to watch child porn in jail

Keith Eldridge
Katu.com
Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:38 UTC

Tacoma, Washington -- A strange quirk in the law is allowing an accused child rapist to watch child pornography inside the Pierce County Jail.

Marc Gilbert is accused of sexually assaulting young boys and videotaping the abuse.

Under the law, defense attorneys are allowed to review material tied to the case. And because Gilbert has chosen to act as his own attorney, he has had unlimited access to the pornographic footage.
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Nuke

Radioactive waste leaks at nuclear plant in South Carolina

Sammy Fretwell
The State
Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:24 UTC
V.C. Summer Nuclear
© AP/FILE/The (Charleston) Post & Courier V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville, South Carolina


Officials say no threat posed, but federal safety team continues to investigate

Federal nuclear safety inspectors are investigating a radioactive waste leak at SCE&G's atomic power plant in Fairfield County.

An estimated 100 gallons of liquid waste spilled at the utility's V.C. Summer plant, apparently from a pipe that leaked, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The discovery was made late last week.

State, federal and SCE&G officials say they have found no signs the material left the SCE&G nuclear plant or posed any threat to the public, but they are continuing to investigate.
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Che Guevara

Egypt: Picking Up The Remains of a Revolution

Dr. Ashraf Ezzat
Veterans Today
Wed, 13 Jul 2011 12:26 UTC
Image
Thousands of Egyptian protesters came back to Tahrir Square once again on July 8, calling for faster reforms
"On February 11, Mubarak, the head of the corrupt regime in Egypt stepped down ... but the regime itself stayed very much in its place"

"Could Mubarak's impending death be a game changer in the Egyptian revolution?"
Things are not always what they seem ...

The Egyptian revolution lasted for amazing 18 days. The president was forced to step down. The power was restored to the people. The mass crowd cheered and screamed in jubilation. Everybody returned home happy.

Dictatorship was overthrown and democracy has finally won and freedom prevailed... The revolution has come to a happy ending.

A wonderful and thrilling story, but unfortunately far from true or over...

Five months ago the whole world was captured by the incredible scenes of millions of Egyptians pouring into Tahrir square literally seizing and taking control of the square, not by force but through peaceful demonstrations and refusing to leave the place before they have toppled the dictator, Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for almost 30 long years.

Throughout those 30 years, like in any dictatorship ruled by one party, Egypt has witnessed one of its most corrupt and darkest eras. And as the political corruption was infiltrating all aspects of life the deterioration symptoms began to clearly manifest itself on the socio-economic life in the country.

Mubarak rule ignored everything that related to the human rights and the development of the people in Egypt, his party known as the National Democratic Party - NDP- did not care much for the welfare of the Egyptians, their education or their health care and even neglected the historic and strategic file of the river Nile.
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Bad Guys

US - Missing 8-year-old Brooklyn, New York boy found dead

Reuven Fenton
Newyorkpost.com
Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:50 UTC
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© UnknownPolice have arrested Levi Aron. Aron is a suspect in the killing of 8-year-old Leibby Kletzky.
The dismembered body of a missing 8-year-old Hasidic boy was found early today at two locations in Brooklyn -- with police arrested a suspect in the grisly slaying who had the child's severed feet in his freezer, authorities said.

Police made the gruesome discovery after raiding a Kensington home and arresting 35-year-old Levi Aron, who led them to parts of missing boy Leibby Kletzky's body, stuffed in a red suitcase and hidden in a Dumpster outside an auto repair shop about two miles away, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said during a news conference this morning.
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Gear

Modern TV Shows Teach Kids Fame Is No. 1 Value

Remy Melina
Live Science
Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:35 UTC
Hannah Montana
© Disney Enterprises, Inc.TV shows such as Hannah Montana reflect shifting values, with fame taking center stage as the most important value, researchers say.
While popular TV shows of past generations, such as Happy Days, focused on values including benevolence, self-acceptance and tradition, today's shows emphasize fame as the No. 1 value, according to a new study.

Researchers reviewed the values of characters in popular television shows for 9- to 11-year-olds, from 1967 to 2007, with two shows per decade evaluated. (For example, the researchers evaluated The Andy Griffith Show and The Lucy Show in 1967, Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days in 1977, and American Idol and Hannah Montana in 2007.)

The shows were evaluated for 16 values, including community feeling (being part of a group), spiritualism, tradition and popularity. Although community feeling was the No. 1 value in 1967, 1977 and 1997, by 2007, it had fallen to No. 11. In 2007, the top five values were fame, achievement, popularity, image and financial success.

"The rise of fame in preteen television may be one influence in the documented rise of narcissism in our culture," study researcher Patricia M. Greenfield, a psychology professor at UCLA, said in a statement. "Popular television shows are part of the environment that causes the increased narcissism, but they also reflect the culture."
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X

Death toll in Russian boat disaster reaches 100


Reuters
Wed, 13 Jul 2011 01:18 UTC
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© ReutersSEARCHING: Russian Emergencies Ministry members search for the missing people from a tourist boat that sank on the Volga River.
The confirmed death toll in a Russian riverboat accident reached 100 Wednesday after divers recovered more bodies from the sunken vessel, an Emergency Situations Ministry official said.

Twenty-nine of the 208 people who were aboard the ageing, overcrowded boat when it sank in the Volga River Sunday were still unaccounted for and feared dead.

Officials say 79 people survived Russia's worst river accident since 1983.

The Bulgaria, a 79-metre river cruiser built in 1955, listed onto its right side during a thunderstorm and sank in minutes in a broad stretch of the Volga in the Tatarstan region, trapping many passengers inside, survivors said.
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