Society's ChildS


Sheriff

Federal lawsuit accuses eight Chicago cops of illegal strip searches

Image
Three people are part of the federal lawsuit alleging eight Chicago police officers searched them illegally.

The attorney for the three people says the police apparently targeted the trio, thinking they were selling drugs.

The lawsuit says on or about May 23rd of last year, the three were stopped near 9040 S. Laflin. Their car was confronted head on by two plain clothed officers in an unmarked Chicago police car.

The lawsuit alleges that, "...an officer "pulled up" a man's shirt...and "pulled his elastic waistband away from his body, and searched down the front of his pants," and that, "a second man had his waistband pulled "away from his body" and was also searched down the front of his pants."

The suit also alleges officers demanded a woman remove her pants to be searched. She told them she was menstruating.

Syringe

Lethal batches of 'bad heroin' hit East Coast the same week Philip Seymour Hoffman died

needle-heroin
© Image via AFP

For the past three weeks, authorities have been tracking batches of deadly fentanyl-laced heroin that has been moving east from Pittsburgh.

Twenty-two people in western Pennsylvania died of overdoses in the past week. Authorities believe that most of the deaths were related to heroin laced with fentanyl, a powerful narcotic typically prescribed to terminal cancer patients as means of pain management.

It is 100 times more powerful than morphine, and in combination with heroin can shut down the respiratory system of users.

The laced heroin went by the street names "Theraflu" and "Bud Ice" in Pennsylvania, but as it made its way to Long Island it was re-branded as "24K."

It has already been linked to five Long Island overdoses.

Arrow Down

Razor blades found inside butter purchased at New Jersey supermarket

Butter
© NBC New York

Razor blades were found inside two separate packages of butter inside a New Jersey grocery store, and police are investigating the incidents as possible food tampering.

Two customers reported finding a razor blade inside a stick of Kerrygold-brand butter purchased from the Best Market store in Holmdel, police said.

Best Market says it's pulled all Kerrygold butter from its stores and was having store managers inspect each package for signs of tampering. All the Kerrygold butter from the Holmdel store was turned over to the FDA.

The supermarket chain said in a statement: "Best Market would like to assure its customers that after this thorough review, all items for sale on our shelves are believed to be unaltered."

Anyone who experienced a similar incident is asked to contact police.

Heart - Black

Insurance providers deny sick kids specialty healthcare due to Obamacare

In Washington state, some sick kids have been denied specialty care due to Obamacare, a local news outlet reports:


Arrow Down

Record high in U.S. long-term joblessness while unemployment benefits have been cut

Image
© Lynne Sladky, APLuis Mendez, 23, left, and Maurice Mike, 23, wait in line at a job fair held by the Miami Marlins, at Marlins Park in Miami on Oct. 23, 2013.
In 28 states, a third or more of the unemployed have been without a job for six months or longer, leaving them with no unemployment insurance safety net following the expiration of extended benefits in December.

In New Jersey, Florida and the District of Columbia, nearly half of the unemployed have been out of work for longer than 26 weeks, according to an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute of data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among all 50 states and D.C., the average is 33%.

Before the Great Recession, the highest the long-term joblessness share ever reached was 26% in mid-1983, according to the EPI analysis. Today, 41 states and D.C. have shares of long-term unemployment above that level.

The prevalence of long-term unemployment nationwide and in many states underscores the arguments safety-net advocates and many on both sides of the aisle in Congress made for extending the benefits before they expired.

Life Preserver

Women's resource center closes in Fort Collins, Colorado as donors quit funding due to Obamacare

Image
© Coloradoan libraryMaricela Lopez looks up from her paperwork to receive a mammogram at the Women's Resource Center tent July 13, 2012, in Loveland.
Center organizers say donations have dropped due to perceptions that federal reforms will cover women's health care needs.


Women's Resource Center closed its doors suddenly Friday, saying that federal health-care reforms have changed donor perceptions of the need to support affordable women's health care services.

The Fort Collins nonprofit, which has provided a wide array of bilingual health and human services primarily for uninsured or underinsured women, has operated in Larimer County since 1975. Its programs focused on prevention of breast, cervical, ovarian and reproductive cancers, dental health and diabetes education and mental health services.

"The perception among many of our previous grantors seemed to be that Obamacare would now be able to provide for all women's health needs," the nonprofit's board said in a written statement released Friday. "We started to develop a program to provide short-term crisis management for women who needed assistance with prioritizing and finding solutions to many of life's difficulties, especially mental health issues."

USA

Police State extravaganza at Super Bowl XLVIII

East Rutherford, NJ - Attendees to Super Bowl XLVIII will witness yet another exposé of excessive security and infringements of civil rights.

DHS Agents
© CBS NewsDHS agents train in preparation for the Super Bowl.
Fans entering MetLife Stadium will be stopped at checkpoints, searched, put through metal detectors, and filmed. Their vehicles may be inspected and their possessions will be limited to what they can fit into a single clear plastic baggie. This treatment has become the norm for the NFL.

The New Jersey State Police Department blog describes the process of entering the stadium on game day:
Fan screenings begin at 2 p.m. on game day. Fans will enter heated welcome pavilions at MetLife Stadium, where they can expect to encounter walk-through metal detectors, X-ray machines, K-9 dogs and pat-down searches. They are encouraged to arrive early to avoid delays and to speed up stadium entrance.
"We are xraying every piece of equipment, every cargo, every beverage, seat cushion, every piece of merchandise, food... everything that is going in the stadium has to be x-rayed before it goes in," Kevin McCabe, Chief of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency told Fox.

While there is no specific threat posed to the game, security is preparing for bombings and shooters. "I would list them in priority order being a suicide bomber, a vehicle laden with explosives and a mass shooter or mass shooters similar to the Kenyan mall, or the Mumbai incidents," said Ed Hartnett, former head of the NYPD Intelligence Unit.

There will be roughly 3,000 security guards and 700 cops inside the stadium. SWAT teams will be present at the game and high-altitude sniper nests will be set up above the fans, where sharpshooters can peer down at the crowd with high powered rifles.

"If you have an active shooter or you have anyone who may have a bomb. Snipers have a better angle then anyone who is on the ground to actually hit that target," explained Agent Jonathan Gilliam to MY9NJ.

Smoking

Nigeria introduces draconian law that will put smokers in jail

Image
Following rising threats smoking pose to smokers and non-smokers alike, the Lagos House of Assembly unanimously passed a private bill for a law to prohibit smoking in designated places and vehicles in the state. The bill, currently awaiting Governor Babatunde Fashola's assent, has indeed earned the support of most Lagos residents, writes Gboyega Akinsanmi

On January 21, the Deputy Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Taiwo Kolawole, banged the assembly's gavel on the table. It was however not before all the lawmakers in the chamber had unanimously chorused 'ayes' that evening. It was a thunderous 'ayes' for the passage of a bill for a law to prohibit smoking in public places across the state. Even though not less than two lawmakers in the assembly smoke, the bill eventually sailed through.

When it finally comes into force, it will be unlawful to smoke in the presence of a child. Beside that, it will become illegal to smoke in more than 18 places, which are listed in the schedule of the bill. Indeed, the essence of the bill, according to its sponsor, Hon. Olusegun Yishawu, is not really to prohibit smoking across the state. Rather, he argued, it was designed to protect residents who are non smokers from the lethal effects of second-hand smoke.

Ice Cube

US troops in Iraq were fed ice from morgue trailers: Justice Dept

Image
© UnknownUS troops deployed to Iraq between 2003 and 2004 were fed ice shipped in unsanitized containers which were used as temporary morgues.
The US Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against certain American and foreign companies for defrauding the US Army between the years 2003 and 2004.

According to the suit, US troops deployed to Iraq during that time were fed ice shipped in unsanitized containers which were used as temporary morgues.

KBR and two foreign companies used "refrigerated trailers to transport ice for consumption by the troops that had previously been used as temporary morgues without first sanitizing them," the suit states.

"Sometime around July 2003, while [refrigerated trailer] R-89 was being used as a morgue, the refrigeration motor broke down, leading KBR to send it back to Kuwait for repairs," the suit adds.

Smoking

In prelude to total public ban, China bans smoking in schools

Image
China has banned smoking in schools, state media reported on Wednesday, the latest step in a government drive to kick the country's pervasive tobacco habit.

Despite years of campaigning by health activists, China is the world's largest consumer of cigarettes and smokers can be spotted everywhere, even in schools and hospitals.

But with a huge public health burden looming ever larger, China has recently intensified efforts to stamp out smoking.

The State Council, or cabinet, is aiming for a nationwide ban on smoking in public places this year, and several cities have already introduced anti-smoking regulations.

But critics say authorities only enforce bans sporadically, if at all, and it is common to see people puffing away in front of no smoking signs.

The latest ban, imposed by the Ministry of Education, covers kindergartens, elementary and middle schools, and vocational schools. Universities must set up smoking areas and forbid lighting up in academic buildings.

Anti-tobacco efforts have been hampered by the country's powerful tobacco monopoly, health campaigners say, which pays hundreds of billions of yuan in taxes every year.