Society's ChildS


Stock Up

Veterans Affairs spending on erectile dysfunction meds almost triples

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© Shutterstock
The Department of Veterans Affairs is spending almost three times as much it did in 2006 on erectile dysfunction drugs, reported Bloomberg News.

That's apparently due to soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health issues, according to a senior program manager at the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Boat

Sailor adrift in life raft for three days rescued by Antarctic cruise ship

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© Photo: Facebook
Alain Delord was attempting to sail solo and without assistance around the world in his yacht, Tchouk Tchouk Nougat

A French solo sailor adrift for days in a life raft in the Southern Ocean after his yacht sank has been rescued by the crew of an Antarctic cruise ship.


Alain Delord was attempting to sail solo and without assistance around the world when his yacht, Tchouk Tchouk Nougat, was damaged in rough weather off southern Australia's Tasmania island on Friday.

The Frenchman was forced to abandon ship and has been adrift in a life raft on the Southern Ocean for more than three days.

An Antarctic cruise ship carrying 100 passengers was diverted about 1,118 miles to his assistance and had battled deteriorating weather conditions to reach him before sunset, with fears he would have to spend a third night at sea.

But the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the Orion ship managed to find Delord and pluck him to safety.

Airplane

Lightning-induced explosions ground 'Lightning II' F-35B in bad weather

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© Reuters / Handout
It's the world's most expensive combat aircraft, but don't expect it to fly in bad weather: The $237-million F-35B has been banned from traveling within 25 miles of a thunderstorm, amid fears that lightning could cause its fuel tank to explode.

The aircraft, which is ironically known as 'Lightning II,' is not permitted to fly in thunderstorms until an oxygen gauge in the fuel tank is redesigned.

The findings were disclosed in the Pentagon's 2012 Annual Operational Test and Evaluation report, which examined 327 defense programs slated for full production.

The announcement is a major setback for the combat plane, which is set for use in the US Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force. The planes are also scheduled to fly with Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force by 2018.

Other fears besides a lightning-induced explosion have left engineers worried. A design fault in the fuel tank prevents the jet from rapidly descending to low altitudes. The Pentagon report described both flaws as "unacceptable for combat or combat training."

The F-35B's problems don't stop there: Attempts to increase the aircraft's fuel efficiency by reducing its weight have made it more vulnerable to enemy attack - even more so than the aircraft it's designed to replace, the Telegraph reported.

Examinations by the US Air Force and manufacturer Lockheed Martin also discovered possible widespread cracking on the right wing and right engine of the F-35A, and on an area of the F-35B. "All of these discoveries will require mitigation plans and may include redesigning parts and additional weight," the report said.

Black Cat

Teenager kills two adults, three children in New Mexico

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of two adults and three children in the US state of New Mexico.

A man, a woman, two girls, and a boy were found dead at a house in Albuquerque Saturday night.

All of the victims suffered from several gunshot wounds, according to police.

Multiple weapons, including an assault type rifle, were found nearby, police said in a statement.

The juvenile was reportedly arrested and charged with two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death.

Bernalillo County Sherriff's spokesman Aaron Williamson says the boy's motive and connection to the victims is not yet known, and that investigators are trying to determine whether the victims were related.

The identities of those involved have not yet been released.

Black Magic

Menacing statue linked to witchcraft mysteriously appears in Texas cemetery

Santa Muerte
© San Benito News/Michael Rodriguez and Francisco E. JimenezA statue of the Santa Muerte is pictured at the San Benito Municipal Cemetery on Thursday, when two local women expressed concern that the folk figure’s image was “disrespectful” to the memory of those buried on the grounds.
A menacing statue mysteriously appeared in a Texas cemetery last week, and an occult expert believes it's linked to witchcraft intended to do deadly harm.

The 3 foot tall statue depicting Death perched atop a pile of skulls was discovered by two San Benito women on Thursday, who brought the statue to the attention of cemetery officials. The women believed the porcelain figure to be disrespectful to the family plots located nearby.

"I noticed the statue on Monday (January 14) when I came to visit my mom's grave," 61-year-old "Samantha" told the San Benito News. "First of all, a statue like this shouldn't be placed at a city cemetery.

Whoever it belongs to should have a little more respect for our loved ones and the other people who are buried here. I don't have anything against people who worship that statue, just not here at our city cemetery. It is disrespectful to our loved ones."

Samantha's friend wasn't as shaken by the find, claiming that she's "into a lot of prayer" and has already been in contact with the city officials about the statue's presence. The local police told her that it was out of their juridiction and wouldn't remove it.

Dr. Antonio N. Zavaleta, Vice President for External Affairs at the University of Texas at Brownsville is a world renowned occult expert who believes that the figure is part of a ritual intended to cause harm to one of the families who's relatives are buried in the nearby graves.

"Someone, a man or woman, is doing witchcraft for pay," Zavaleta said. "Somebody has paid the witch; they don't do it for free and it (witchcraft) could easily go for a couple thousand dollars. So it definitely needs to be removed. The city should remove it, and that should be the end of it."

Arrow Down

Faith healer rapes and impregnates minor, mother dismisses complaint

Srinagar - A 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a self-styled faith healer (pir) in his mid fifties in Anantnag district, 60 km from Srinagar, last summer.

The crime was discovered after a routine medical check-up of the girl revealed she was eight months pregnant. "The parents of the girl were staunch followers of the pir, Mohammad Yousuf Bhat. He used to visit their house often," said Mattan SHO Farooq Ahmad.

The girl allegedly became the victim of the healer in summer last year when he visited her home and raped her when he found her alone.

A local newspaper reported on Friday that when the girl complained of pain in her abdomen, the family took her to the same pir for faith-healing.

"It was only after she complained about the abnormal size of her stomach that she was taken to a doctor who said she was pregnant," the report said.

The report quoted police sources as saying that the girl had complained to her mother about the rape but the latter dismissed her utterances as "childish".

Eye 2

CVS manager fatally strangles homeless man for shoplifting toothpaste

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Chilling video has surfaced of the 2010 choking death of a homeless shoplifter at the hands of a CVS store manager who chased him into an alley.

And a U.S. congressman is now calling for a special investigation into the death of 35-year-old Anthony Kyser, who stole toothpaste from the drug store before his death nearly three years ago.

The grainy surveillance video from the alley near the Little Village CVS was obtained from a source by DNAinfo.com Chicago.

It shows Kyser's final minutes on May 8, 2010, and the beginning of the police investigation into the case. No charges were filed in Kyser's death, which police ruled an accident. CVS has said the manager acted in self-defense after being attacked by Kyser.

Attention

Man stole dad's corpse from cemetery, hoped to bring it back to life

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© Shutterstock
A man accused of stealing his father's body from a Detroit cemetery with the hope of bringing him back to life was charged Friday and ordered held on a $75,000 bond.

Vincent Bright, 48, whom police say was keeping his father's body in the basement freezer of his home, was charged with disinterment of a body. He was arraigned by video from the Wayne County Jail.

"It's an unusual case, it's not something you see every day," Gerald Karafa, Bright's court-appointed lawyer, told the Detroit Free Press. Karafa said he had not spoken with his client.

Sherlock

Cleaner not at fault for Swedish train crash - prosecutors

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© REUTERS/Jonas Ekstromer/Scanpix SwedenA local train that derailed and crashed into a residential building in Saltsjobaden is seen outside Stockholm in this picture taken by Scanpix Sweden January 15, 2013. According to local media, a spokesman from Arriva, the company that operates the train line, says the train was stolen by a domestic cleaner, who stole the train for unknown reasons. The cleaner was taken to a hospital after the crash. No residents in the building were injured.
The crash of a train into a low-rise apartment building in Sweden this week was an accident and not the fault of a cleaner who was the only person hurt, state prosecutors said on Friday.

Swedish police and prosecutors began an investigation into the accident on Tuesday in which a train ploughed past the end of the line at a depot, vaulted a narrow sidestreet and crashed into an apartment block in the upscale Stockholm suburb of Saltsjobaden.

Snakes in Suits

Racist business owner fires Obama-supporting employees to 'cover new Obongocare costs'

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© photo via AP
First, the owner of a smoothie bar in Vernal is charging liberals more for a cup of juice. Now, a Cedar City business owner who let two workers go because of Obamacare costs said he picked the pair in large part because of their support for President Obama.

Terry Lee, owner of Terry Lee Forensics, showed his support for the Vernal smoothie bar's practice of trying to recoup the costs it says are incurred because of liberal policies by posting in the comments section of a story about it in Thursday's Salt Lake Tribune.

"Love it. We had to let two employees go to cover new Obongocare [sic] costs and increased taxes," Lee wrote. "Found two Obongo supporters and gave them the news yesterday. They wanted the idiot in the Whitehouse [sic], they reap the benefits."