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Heart - Black

US: 4th arrest in Philly basement case; 10 youths held


MSNBC / Associated Press
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:45 UTC
Authorities in at least two states missed chances to help four mentally disabled adults

Authorities say a fourth person has been charged in a case in which four mentally disabled people were found locked up in a Philadelphia basement, allegedly so their captors could cash their Social Security checks.

Thirty-two-year-old Jean McIntosh was arrested Wednesday. Prosecutors say she is the daughter of the scheme's alleged ringleader, 51-year-old Linda Weston. Philadelphia police said detectives had been interviewing her about the case and put her under arrest around 3:45 a.m.

Image
© Ron Cortes / AP
The dank basement room in Philadelphia in which four weak and malnourished mentally disabled adults, one chained to the boiler, were found locked up on Saturday is shown Monday.
Two other men are also charged in the case.

News of the fourth arrest came after authorities in at least two states acknowledged that they missed opportunities to help the four captives.

Two other men are also charged in the case. News of the fourth arrest came after authorities in at least two states acknowledged that they missed opportunities to help the four captives.
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Heart - Black

US: Teen girl forced to wear armor, fight stepfather with wooden sword

Drew Mikkelsen
MSNBC / King5 News
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:38 UTC
Couple told officers they punished the teen for going to a party without their permission

A Thurston County couple is accused of beating their daughter and forcing her to fight them in a medieval-style duel.

Investigators arrested the 16-year-old girl's stepfather, Fremon Seay, and her mother, Julie Seay, this weekend.

According to police, the teen was forced her to dress in armor and fight Fremon Seay with a wooden sword for two hours. Police also said Seay punched and beat his stepdaughter with a tree branch prior to the duel. Investigators said she collapsed from exhaustion.

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Family

US People Power: Alaska voters say no to gold, copper mine

Becky Bohrer
MSNBC / Associated Press
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:28 UTC
Juneau - Voters in a small southwest Alaska borough narrowly passed a measure blocking a proposed gold and copper mine that conservationists said would have threatened one of the world's premier wild salmon fisheries in a local election that gained national attention, pitting environmental and business interests on opposing sides.

The vote bans large-scale resource extraction - including mining - that would destroy or degrade salmon habitat. The measure was aimed squarely at Pebble Mine, a massive gold and copper operation planned near the headwaters of Bristol Bay and one of the world's premier wild salmon fisheries.

Unofficial results, released by the Lake and Peninsula Borough clerk late Monday, showed 280 in favor of the measure and 246 against.

Image
© Unknown
The mine is a joint venture of Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and Anglo American plc of the United Kingdom.

The proposal, like the project itself, was the subject of an intense public relations campaign on both sides. And the vote is unlikely to be the last word on whether, or how, the mine is built - a court challenge has already been filed.
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Smiley

What if Mormons Were Mainstream and Christians the Fringe?

Edwin Decker
San Diego City Beat
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:38 UTC
Two Crooks
© Steve Marcus / Reuters
Mitt Romney, left, and Rick Perry in the GOP candidate debate in Las Vegas.

Pondering the comments of those who think Mitt Romney's religions is kooky and others aren't.

Two weeks ago, at the GOP's Values Voters Summit - also known as Lalaland-a-Palooza - Mitt Romney's faith was taken to task.

For whatever reason, Romney was scheduled to speak in the slot immediately before Bryan Fisher, a right-wing talk-radio host and spokesperson for the American Family Association.

Fischer's a raging mormophobe. He's the guy who famously declared that the First Amendment doesn't apply to Mormons, along with a spate of even more ludicrous and bigoted remarks that helped earn him a slot as a featured speaker at Lalaland-a-Palooza.

But the comments that made the headlines came during the introduction to Texas Gov. Rick Perry's speech.

"Only faith in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, qualifies you as a Christian," said Dr. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Texas.

I always get a big yuck out of these mainstream-religion types who scoff at fringe religions as being preposterous, which is like junkies scoffing at tweakers for being addicted to a more damaging drug.

As much as Jeffress, Fischer and those who share their views would like to separate Christianity from Mormonism, the fact is, Mormons are Christians. This is not debatable.
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House

Violent clashes as UK police begin clearing illegal Traveler camp


MSNBC
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:30 UTC
British police in riot gear on Wednesday used sledgehammers to clear the way for the eviction of a community of Irish Travelers from a site where they have lived illegally for a decade.

A large force of police and bailiffs faced resistance from several dozen residents and supporters who threw bricks and struggled with officers at the Dale Farm site, set amid fields 30 miles east of London. One mobile home was set on fire as police moved in at dawn, and several protesters chained themselves to barricades with bicycle locks in a bid to slow down the evictions. Others scaled a 40-foot scaffolding tower, from which police began removing them one by one.

Essex Police said two protesters were Tasered and one person arrested and that police officers had been attacked with rocks and other missiles.

Image
© Peter MacDiarmid / Getty Images
Activists confront police as they enter the site to begin evictions from Dale Farm travelers' camp near Basildon, England, on October 19. Travelers have fought for 10 years to stay on the former scrap yard site. The local authorities have been given the go-ahead to proceed with the eviction of illegal dwellings after rulings by the Court of Appeal.
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Pistol

Turkey PM promises great revenge after deadly PKK attacks


MSNBC
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 06:20 UTC
Turkey kills 15 Kurdish militants, reportedly sends troops into Iraq after 26 Turkish soldiers die in multiple raids
Image
© Unknown
Turkish Military and Tank.

Ankara, Turkey - Turkish security forces said they had killed 15 Kurdish militants and they also reportedly launched an incursion inside Iraq Wednesday, after Kurdish rebels killed 26 Turkish soldiers and wounded 22 others in multiple attacks along the border.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said revenge would be "very great" for the attacks in southeastern Turkey.

"No one should forget this, those that inflict this pain on us will endure far greater pain. Those that think they will weaken our state with these attacks or think they will bring our state into line, they will see that the revenge for these attacks will be very great and they will endure it many times over," Gul told reporters in Istanbul.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and its Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu both cancelled foreign trips after the attacks, the deadliest strike on Turkish security forces in 18 years, Al Arabiya reported. Al Arabiya, citing the AFP, said that the PKK killed 33 unarmed soldiers in Bingol province in 1993.

The Kurdish rebels, who are fighting for autonomy in Turkey's southeast, staged simultaneous attacks on military outposts and police stations near the border towns of Cukurca and Yuksekova early Wednesday.

The attacks left 26 soldiers dead and 22 others wounded, the Interior Ministry announced. It was the deadliest Kurdish rebel attack since 1992, according to a tally by NTV television.
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Stormtrooper

US: Romney and Perry spar at Nevada debate

Michael O'Brien
MSNBC
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:03 UTC
Cain faces heightened scrutiny of '9-9-9' economic plan

Washington - A long-awaited showdown between former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry erupted at Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate, in an occasionally personal battle between the two GOP heavyweights.

Romney and Perry sparred throughout the two-hour CNN/Western Republican Leadership Conference debate in Las Vegas, mostly overshadowing an early pile-on of Herman Cain and his "9-9-9" economic plan.

Perry called Romney a hypocrite, while the former Massachusetts governor retorted that the Texan was suffering from some recent rough debate outings. The body language of both turned visibly cool as they talked past one another at points.

The fireworks emerged halfway through the first hour of the debate, when Perry accused Romney of having hired illegal immigrants as landscapers at one of his homes. Perry has been looking to reverse a slide in the polls driven in part by poor debate performances.

"The idea that you stand here before us and talk about you're strong on illegal immigration is on its face the height of hypocrisy," a more animated Perry said.

Romney denied ever having hired an illegal immigrant and heatedly insisted he have a chance to talk when the two bickered during Romney's response.


"This has been a tough couple of debates for Rick and I understand that, so you're going to get testy," Romney said, later adding: "You have a problem with allowing someone to finish speaking."

Comment: Comical. In the dustbin of Politics we have non-debates, upside down 6-6-6, and a chance in the 2012 S-election to vote for Satan, Lucifer or the Devil. How does one look better if the only options are Evil, Greed, Lies, Corruption?

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Stormtrooper

Greek protesters clash with police

Eleni Colliopoulou
Agence France-Presse
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:18 UTC


Police clashed with protesters outside the Greek parliament on Wednesday, blanketing the centre of Athens in tear gas as they came under attack from firebombs during a massive demonstration against austerity.

An AFP reporter saw some 200 youths hurling themselves at a steel barricade erected outside the parliament building as the street protest of some 70,000 people converged on central Syntagma Square at the beginning of a two-day general strike.

A battle later broke out outside a row of luxury hotels on the square and a department store was vandalised as small groups of hooded and masked protesters broke away from the main demonstration.

A presidential guard sentry box was set on fire near the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Greece's foremost military monument that stands next to parliament, before police moved in to clear the area.

Police were also attacked in the second city of Thessaloniki, where the government's regional headquarters was assaulted by a group of 100 protesters throwing firebombs.
Image
© AFP/ Aris Messinis
Union sources put the turnout at 200,000 people in Athens alone
More pictures here.
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Che Guevara

Day of 'Global Revolution' comes to London as thousands of demonstrators take over the City

Lee Moran
Daily Mail, UK
Sat, 15 Oct 2011 05:41 UTC
Image
© PA
Unite! A woman holds a flag during a protest against the global financial system outside St Paul's Cathedral
Protesters inspired by the growing 'Occupy Wall Street' movement in the U.S have today taken over the City of London.

Thousands have descended on the area known as the Square Mile - under the banner 'Occupy the Stock Exchange' - for a 'peaceful protest' against the global financial system.

They had planned to take Paternoster Square, where the Stock Exchange is located, but police cordoned off the area prior to the protest.

A notice was put up stating the square is private property and access would be restricted. Police sources said a High Court injunction had been taken out to prevent members of the public from accessing the square.

The event kicked off at midday outside St Paul's Cathedral and initial reports on Twitter talked of an 'amiable' atmosphere.

Activists carried banners with slogans such as 'We are the 99%' and 'Bankers got a bailout, we got sold out'.

Among them was Lorena Fuentes, 27, a charity worker originally from Vancouver, Canada. She said: 'I'm here today because I can't see why you wouldn't be and I feel that this is one of the few moments in history where it's not a protest, it's an actual movement that's taken root.
Image
© AFP/Getty
Angry: Protesters hold placards as they stand on the steps of Saint Paul's Cathedral
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Stormtrooper

British justice: Dawn raid with riot police, tasers and bulldozers on community of Traveller families in Dale Farm, Essex

Rob Cooper & Rick Dewsbury
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 04:44 UTC
Image
© Getty
Last stand: An activist holds aloft a crucifix in one hand and a mug of tea in the other as behind her the last of a caravan is burned to the ground
Riot police have used axes to smash through fences to evict dozens of traveller families living illegally on the Dale Farm site in Essex.

Protesters retaliated by hurling missiles at police who had fired Tasers when the eviction got underway at the rear of the illegal camp just after sunrise this morning. Talks that were going on at the front gate are thought to have been a police distraction.

Anarchists used motorcycle D-locks to chain themselves by the neck to ruined cars but police used their shields to barge protesters aside as they marched deeper into the site.

Electricity was cut and moments later a caravan was set alight, sending flames and thick black smoke into the air. After a 90-minute stand off the police made another push into the site at 9.25am and scaled the scaffolding at the entrance to the camp.
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