Society's Child

2013: 2-in-3 call it a 'bad year,' 4-in-10 a disaster for their family

Paul Bedard
Washington Examiner
Fri, 27 Dec 2013 15:14 UTC

Overshadowed by the bungled debut of Obamacare and congressional gridlock, most Americans in a new poll dubbed 2013 a bad year that will be quickly forgotten. For more than four-in-10, the perils of 2013 hit home hard.

"Put simply, most Americans are happy to see 2013 go," said the latest Economist/YouGov Poll.

- 54 percent called 2013 a "bad year" for the world. Another 15 percent called it a "very bad year," with just 3 percent calling it a "very good year" and 29 percent a "good year."

- Only 13 percent of Republicans say 2013 has been a good year for the world.

Overstock CEO: Plans to accept Bitcoin

Nin-Hai Tseng
Fortune
Tue, 24 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC

Overstock.com, which sells everything from bedding to dinnerware online, recently announced it would accept bitcoin as early as June, making it the first U.S. retailer to use the virtual currency. Still in its experimental phase, bitcoin has fluctuated from as low as $13 in January to more than $1,200 in December.

And while it has had a wild ride, Overstock's (OSTK) plans to accept bitcoin as payment shouldn't be read as another bet that the currency will soar higher, says CEO Patrick Byrne.

Fortune caught up with Byrne over telephone on Monday from his office in Utah. The executive is known to be a doomsdayer, siding with the likes of former libertarian U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, who has argued that the U.S. should return to the gold standard and that the Federal Reserve should be abolished.

Byrne thinks bitcoin could be a helpful addition to the payment system, but even he has mixed feelings about the currency. Here's an edited version of our chat:

Already affecting 71% of U.S. female military personnel by 2004, reported sexual assaults jumped 50% higher in 2013 alone

RT.com
Sun, 29 Dec 2013 07:04 UTC

Reported sexual assaults in the US military increased by over 50 percent in 2013, new data reveals. The boost punctuates a year filled with damning disclosures of a culture that has failed to protect the enlisted from systemic levels of sexual violence.

Data obtained by AP shows there were more than 5,000 sexual assault reports during the 2013 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30. By contrast, there were 3,374 incidents reported in 2012.

Of the total reports in 2013, around 10 percent involved incidents that happened before the victim was officially in the military - up from 4 percent in 2012. The increase in cases has led military officials to suggest there is more confidence among service members in reporting incidents of sexual assault than in the past.

"Given the multiple data points, we assess that this is more reporting," said Col. Alan R. Metzler, deputy director of the Pentagon's sexual assault prevention and response office, according to AP. Metzler said that more victims are stepping up to make official complaints instead of simply seeking medical care while avoiding formal accusations.

Comment: See also:

'One third of US military women raped':

Back in 2003, a survey of female veterans suggested that 30 percent of the women serving had been raped, while a study conducted in the following year on veterans seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder indicated that 71 percent of the women said they had been sexually assaulted or raped while serving.

At this point in America's descent into oblivion, it's a safe bet that the vast majority of female personnel in the U.S. military have been - or will be - raped or sexually assaulted.

In the wealthiest area of the U.S. 7 homeless people have frozen to death this winter

Scott Keyes
Think Progress
Wed, 18 Dec 2013 14:52 UTC

Joe White, a homeless man who died during a Bay Area cold snap last weekend, in a photograph with his mother Mary Archuleta

Joe White was this close to making it.

A 50-year-old California man described by relatives as a "loving father and a doting grandfather," White had been living on the streets of Hayward for years. He wanted to work and was able to find odd jobs here and there, but it was never much or consistent enough to afford a place to live. Hayward has no emergency shelter with beds for single men, so White slept outside.

But things were looking up. Last Saturday, White was second on a long list to get permanent supportive housing in Hayward. He had been waiting in line for months and it seemed as though he might finally catch a break.

White died on Sunday.

'Nazi America', The Spaceman: Chaos featuring John Trudell

Youtube
Fri, 27 Dec 2013 13:47 UTC

A free awareness video to kind of put into perspective the direction the United States is heading in.

Follow the leaders: 600 people brawl outside movie theatre

Breitbart
Fri, 27 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC

Florida Theater Parking Lot Brawl with 600-Plus Involved Results in 5 Arrests

Police in Jacksonville, Fla., say made five arrests after more than 600 people got into a brawl in the parking lot of a movie theater.

The fight broke out in the Regal River City Marketplace theater parking lot around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, WJXT-TV, Jacksonville, reported.

Good Samaritan dog guards dead pal on busy road in China

Sky News
Sat, 28 Dec 2013 12:50 UTC

Pictures of a dog faithfully watching over his canine companion who had been killed by a car in China have become a hit on the internet.

The sandy-coloured 'Good Samaritan' pooch stayed by his friend's side, despite his pal's body lying in the middle of a busy road.

And he refused to move for a whole night as temperatures plummeted to low as -13C.

Some people who live and work nearby saw the pair and decided to put a stool next to the animals to alert drivers and avoid a second dog death after the first accident on December 22.

Passers-by took pictures and put them online, and the images have been re-posted many times.

One woman called Ma Hongyan said: "It is our stool. A kind-hearted woman put it next to the dogs to protect them from being hit again by another car."

The Rage Grows: Hundreds of teens trash mall in wild flash mob

Kevin Sheehan, Natasha Velez and Natalie O'Neill
New York Post
Fri, 27 Dec 2013 13:01 UTC

A wild flash mob stormed and trashed a Brooklyn mall, causing so much chaos that the shopping center was forced to close during post-Christmas sales, sources said Friday.

More than 400 crazed teens - who mistakenly thought the rapper Fabolous would perform - erupted into brawls all over Kings Plaza Shopping Center in Mill Basin on Thursday at 5 p.m., sources said.

The troublemakers looted and ransacked several stores as panicked shoppers ran for the exits and clerks scrambled to pull down metal gates.

"I was begging them to stop. There were a lot of kids, hundreds of kids . . . [Security] would chase them out one door and they would come back in another door," said Abu Taleb, 31, a clerk at the kiosk Candy Plaza 2. "I've been here seven years, and I have never seen anything like this before."

Seattle sex attacker says he's God and was sent to 'free womankind' through rape

David Ferguson
The Raw Story
Fri, 27 Dec 2013 15:27 UTC

Coty D. Kelly

A 28-year-old man who was arrested for sexual assault in a Seattle public park said that he was God in human form and that he was sent to help the world's women by putting them in "traumatic sexual situations."

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that Coty D. Kelly allegedly attacked a 39-year-old woman in front of witnesses on Sunday in Myrtle Edwards Park and was arrested.

According to KOMO, Kelly reportedly assaulted a woman who was jogging in the park. She told police that she had observed him standing unsteadily and possibly urinating Sunday morning. She attempted to move away from him but he ran after her, tackled her, tore off her pants and underwear and attempted to digitally penetrate her.

Witnesses called 911 and police arrested Kelly at the scene.

Indian train inferno kills at least 26 people

The Raw Story
Sat, 28 Dec 2013 11:44 UTC

Fire raced through an Indian train carriage packed with sleeping passengers on Saturday, killing at least 26 people, and forcing terrified passengers to smash windows in a frantic bid to escape.

Some passengers were able to break the train's toilet cabin windows, but other victims were overcome by the thick, swirling smoke and bodies were found heaped at the windows and doors.

"We woke up to the screams of 'fire, fire!'. Everybody was screaming," one survivor, identified as Patil, told The Press Trust of India news agency.

Another survivor, Sharad, recalled: "We were all asleep. All of a sudden, we all woke up to a burning sensation."

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Society's Child

2013: 2-in-3 call it a 'bad year,' 4-in-10 a disaster for their family

Overstock CEO: Plans to accept Bitcoin

Already affecting 71% of U.S. female military personnel by 2004, reported sexual assaults jumped 50% higher in 2013 alone

In the wealthiest area of the U.S. 7 homeless people have frozen to death this winter

'Nazi America', The Spaceman: Chaos featuring John Trudell

Follow the leaders: 600 people brawl outside movie theatre

Good Samaritan dog guards dead pal on busy road in China

The Rage Grows: Hundreds of teens trash mall in wild flash mob

Seattle sex attacker says he's God and was sent to 'free womankind' through rape

Indian train inferno kills at least 26 people

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