Society's ChildS


People 2

Silicon Valley's mysterious teen 'suicide clusters' brings community and federal action


RT
Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:19 UTC
teen suicide
© Counselling / pixabay.com
Palo Alto, California is home to high-tech companies, Stanford University, and upscale living, but the success-oriented culture has a dark side. Recent "suicide clusters" of teens and young adults are stirring the community and federal agents into action.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a "suicide cluster" as three or more suicides that occur closer in time and space than what would be considered normal for the community.

That is what happened in Palo Alto during 2009 and 2010, when five students or recent graduates from Henry M. Gunn High School took their own lives, and it is what happened again across 2014 and 2015 when four more students, three from Gunn and one from Palo Alto High School, did the same, according to the Palo Alto Unified School District and other local reports.

This week, at the invitation of the city council, the CDC will begin investigating what it calls the "suicide contagion," what is behind the tragedies, through one of its epidemiological assistance teams. Since 2011, the federal agency has conducted similar suicide cluster inquiries in Fairfax County, Virginia and two Denver counties.

The CDC lists suicide as the second most common cause of death for Americans 15-24 years of age.

Comment: Given the emptiness of Western culture, and its lack of support for its youth, it's not hard to imagine some teens feel they have no other option

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Laptop

British 15-year-old arrested charged with hacking attempt on FBI computers


RT
Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:11 UTC
british school boy hacks fbi
© Ints Kalnins / Reuters
A 15-year-old British schoolboy has been arrested in Glasgow for allegedly trying to hack into the US Federal Investigation Bureau's (FBI) computer system.

He could face extradition and imprisonment after being accused of attempting to access the high-security computer network. US officials from the security service reportedly flew to Scotland, where the boy lives, to oversee his arrest.

The officials also sat in on local police interviews with the boy.

Police confirmed the arrest, questioning and release, saying he was arrested under the Computer Misuse Act, which covers attempted hacking of secure networks.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "Following a search of a property in the Glasgow area on Tuesday, February 16, a 15-year-old male was arrested in connection with alleged offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
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Heart - Black

Secretly filmed footage shows teacher verbally abusing 1st grade student for answering question incorrectly


RT
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 22:01 UTC
classroom
© Stefanie Loos / Reuters
Disturbing footage of a teacher at a Success Academy charter school in New York chastising a young child for answering a math question incorrectly has raised further questions concerning such educational institutes.

In the video, Charlotte Dial, a teacher at the organization's charter school in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, can be heard venting her frustration at a first grade child who is made to sit away from the other students for getting confused over how she had solved a math puzzle.

Angrily ripping up the young pupil's paper, Dial can be heard telling the child to "go to the calm-down chair and sit." "There's nothing that infuriates me more than when you don't do what's on your paper," Dial says angrily.

"You're confusing everybody," she says to child, who is sitting away from the circle of students, before adding that she is "very upset and very disappointed."

The video was secretly filmed in 2014 by an assistant teacher who wanted to lift the lid on the atmosphere that can be found in such schools and the harsh treatment that children endure in them on a daily basis. The New York Times published the video on Friday.

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Megaphone

Head of Russian Orthodox Church: We need to do everything to avert major war


RT
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 21:50 UTC
Russian orthodox head kirill
© Ian Sbalcio / RT America
A new clash of world powers should be prevented at all costs, Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill said in an exclusive interview with RT America's Ed Schultz, stressing that both Russia and the US must do "everything possible" to improve relations.

Speaking to Schulz, Patriarch Kirill warned that a confrontation between "two major powers" with "immense destructive force" had the potential to devastate "the whole world," calling for an improvement in relations between Russia and the United States as soon as possible.

"A large-scale war should be averted at all costs," he said, adding that it should be the "number one priority for the Americans, the Russians, and many other people with a sensible perspective on what is happening."

The Patriarch stressed that most people in the US are "Christians who share the same values and belong to the same global Christian family" as Russians, urging the two nations to use this cultural affinity "to build bridges, rather than deepen the divide" between the two countries.
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Red Flag

Judge arrested for DWI while on her way to court


RT
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 21:29 UTC
judge
© AFP Photo
A New York state judge has been arrested for driving while intoxicated after being involved in a single-vehicle collision while on her way to court.

Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio, who was appointed to her post in 2014, was arrested and crashed her car along Interstate 490 at approximately 8 a.m. Saturday while en route to the court to preside over a number of criminal court arraignments.

When state troopers arrived at the scene of the crash, they found the 34-year-old's car had been damaged, but there were no injuries.

Police asked Astacio, who previously worked in the drunk driving bureau in Monroe County, to take a breathalyzer test, but she refused, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
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USA

Bye bye 4th Amendment: Wisconsin Supreme Court rules cops can enter homes and forcibly seize evidence without a warrant

Brianna Acuesta
Activist Post
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 18:26 UTC
fourth amendment
© Terence McCormack
In a 4-3 decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court just killed the rights of citizens outlined in the Fourth Amendment by stating that police officers may enter a home, or parts of the home, without a warrant and can seize evidence to use in the arrest and prosecution of citizens.

The Fourth Amendment states that unreasonable searches and seizures are not allowed and that the only legally recognized search and seizure is one that is preceded by a warrant granted by courts. The warrant must be supported by probable cause.

The deciding vote was cast by Justice Rebecca Bradley who was appointed by Governor Scott Walker, a member of the Republican party. There has been skepticism surrounding this decision because Justice Bradley was not present for the oral arguments and instead listened to them later on a tape recording, stating that it was sufficient enough for her to make a decision.
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Shoe

Thought police: 'Muslim' and 'Islam' banned, but 'Al Qaeda' and 'KKK' OK in Nike's guidelines for custom sneakers


RT
Mon, 15 Feb 2016 18:32 UTC
sneaker
© Charles Platiau / Reuters
A New Yorker has filed an angry complaint to Nike, saying the footwear giant forbid him from putting the words "Muslim" or "Islam" on its customizable sneakers, while allowing expressions like "KKK," "Daesh," and "Al Qaeda."

In a letter on his Facebook page, 40-year-old Nabeel Kaukab wrote to the company, saying that the word "Muslim" does not fit into any of the categories of banned words for NikeiD.

"As I was experimenting with different words to customize my shoes, I noticed that for Nike, neither Islam nor Muslim 'fit within our guidelines.' Based on your guidelines, I have to ask what category of banned words do you consider Islam & Muslim to fall under? Profanity? Inappropriate slang? Insulting or discriminatory content? Content construed to incite violence?"

The NIKEiD service enables customers to choose from a range of different materials and colors to create their own personalized style of shoes. It also allows customers to add their name, number, or a motivational message.

"As far as I (or any rational person) can assume, neither word is profanity, slang (appropriate or inappropriate), insulting or discriminatory (more than a billion people globally find identity in being called Muslims)," Kaukab's angry letter continued.

"Either you believe the word Islam or Muslim incites violence or they are words that Nike doesn't want to place on its products?"

Kaukab noted that the company's service allows other religious terms like "Christ" or "Hindu," so the exclusion cannot be based on religion.
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Bizarro Earth

A million children in Africa suffering severe acute malnutrition after years of drought linked to El Niño


RT
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 12:03 UTC
african children famine
© Mike Hutchings / Reuters
Up to 1 million children across eastern and southern Africa are being exposed to "severe acute malnutrition" after two years of rain and drought, aggravated by the strongest El Niño in 50 years, UNICEF said. El Niño can also affect the spread of Zika virus.

"The El Niño weather phenomenon will wane, but the cost to children - many who were already living hand-to-mouth - will be felt for years to come," UNICEF Regional Director Leila Gharagozloo-Pakkala said in a press-release.

"Governments are responding with available resources, but this is an unprecedented situation. Children's survival is dependent on action taken today," she added.

"El Niño will have a devastating effect on southern Africa's harvests and food security in 2016. The current rainfall season has so far been the driest in the last 35 year," the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network said in a joint statement.

Comment: The genetically modified crops that were forced on African nations and which were supposed to withstand drought and increase yields, have obviously done nothing of the sort.

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Info

Pope Francis loses temper after crowd pulls him onto man in wheelchair


RT
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 18:11 UTC
Angry Pope
Pope Francis has proven he is "only human" after losing his cool with some eager worshippers in Mexico, who pushed him on to a man in a wheelchair.

The pontiff was visiting a stadium in the western city of Morelia as part of his six-day trip to Mexico when people in the crowd tugged at the pope, pulling him closer and ultimately onto a man in a wheelchair.

Even after the pope fell on the disabled man's head the crowd persisted tugging, causing him to lose his cool. Francis tells the crowd in Spanish: "Don't be selfish, don't be selfish."
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Stormtrooper

Federal monitor says NYPD cops still conducting unjustified stop and frisk


RT
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 14:15 UTC
New York Police Department’s stop, question and frisk program
© Lucas Jackson / Reuters
A federal monitor overseeing changes to the New York Police Department's stop, question and frisk program said that out of 600 stops analyzed over the course of three months in 2015, nearly a quarter could be viewed as unconstitutional.

The findings come in a 72-page report released on Tuesday. It is the second progress report issued by court-appointed federal monitor Peter Zimroth.

"In almost every case in which [the NYPD's] Quality Assurance Division found insufficient basis for the stop, frisk or search, the supervisor in that command nonetheless had signed off on the report and noted there was sufficient basis for the stop, frisk or search," stated the report, which was conducted by the monitor.

Comment: While the numbers of NYPD stop, question and frisk program has dropped way down. One in four stops is still viewed as unconstitutional. Plus the daily reports of criminal police abuse that never get prosecuted. No wonder the public confidence in law enforcement is at an all time low.

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