Society's ChildS


Stormtrooper

LA police kill fleeing, unarmed teen as eight officers fire 90 rounds at him

LA teen shooting
A Los Angeles teen was killed by a hail of police gunfire on Wednesday night after eight officers fired 90 rounds in total as he appeared to point an object at them, according to The Associated Press.

Police confronted 19-year-old Abdul Arian following a car chase that was caught on video, during which he allegedly called 911 and warned that he had a weapon and would hurt officers if they pointed firearms at him. After he was gunned down, officers discovered that he was unarmed.

Cult

Jan Brewer signs abortion ban defining pregnancy before conception

AZ Governor Jan Brewer
© Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.comJan Brewer
Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Thursday signed one of the most controversial and restrictive abortion bans in the country, which experts say effectively bans abortions after 18 weeks and declares that a woman could be pregnant 2 weeks before she even had sex.

Light Saber

Newark Mayor Cory Booker runs into burning house, saves woman's life

Cory Booker
© CBS NewsSen. Cory Booker, D-NJ
Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey, claims he had a "come to Jesus" moment on Thursday night after he arrived home to discover a neighbor's residence on fire.

After a moment of arguing with his security team, he charged into the blaze, which he said had fully engulfed the house, in search of the last person remaining inside. Speaking to CBS This Morning on Friday, he explained that after finding the woman, he threw her over his shoulder and "punched through the kitchen" to escape.

Nuke

MSNBC on Reactor No. 2: It is beyond human capability, "problem gets worse and worse and worse"

- The really bad news is this is the good news, as they can't even determine what is going on at Reactors No. 1 and 3

Title: Video: How do you solve a nuclear disaster?
Source: MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show
Date: April 6, 2012


Arrow Up

Temperature rises at Fukushima No. 4 Spent Fuel Pool, now around 50°C

Unit 4 of the crippled Fukushima
© Air Photo Service Co. Ltd., JapanThis March 24, 2011 aerial photo shows damaged Unit 4 of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
Summary of temperature rise at Reactor No. 4′s spent fuel pool since Thursday morning:
  • Apr. 12 @ 3a = 28°C (Source)
  • Apr. 12 @ 8p -to- Apr. 13 @ 3a = 49.9°C, stable (Source)
  • Apr. 13 @ 10a = 55°C (Source)

    Title: TEPCO Press Conference 4/13/2012 11AM: Reactor 4 SFP Temperature Was 49.9 Degrees Celsius as of 3AM, 4/13/2012
    Source: EXSKF
    Date: April 12, 2012UPDATE: Matsumoto was speaking about the Reactor 4 Spent Fuel Pool, and mentioned the temperature. I took to mean the temperature of the SFP, but it is more likely that Matsumoto suddenly switched back to talking about the temperature of the Reactor 1 dry well. Sorry for the confusion. A lot of viewers apparently thought Matsumoto was talking about the Reactor SFP like I did.

    So, it was the Reactor 1 dry well temperature that started to rise noticeably starting 4AM on April 13, 2012.

    No word yet on exactly what the temperature is in the Reactor 4 SFP.

    - - - - - - END OF UPDATE - - - - -

Light Saber

Best of the Web: Brilliant! Iceland forgives mortgage debt of its population

The government of Iceland has forgiven the mortgage debt for much of its population. This nation chose a very different way of stopping the crisis from the rest of European countries. It decided to hear the requests of the population and to put politicians and bankers on the bench of the accused three years after their financial excesses would sank one of the most prosperous economies in 2008.


Alarm Clock

Chemical Warfare: The US Military's Pill Addiction

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© commondreams.orgThe modern Army psychiatrist’s deployment kit is likely to include nine kinds of antidepressants, benzodiazepines for anxiety, four antipsychotics, two kinds of sleep aids, and drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a 2007 review in the journal Military Medicine.
To fight our insane wars, we're wrecking our soldiers' ability to live with themselves and function in society, then regulating what's left of them with chemicals, which often make things immeasurably worse.

In the pursuit of order, could we possibly be creating more chaos, not simply externally - in the shattered countries we're leaving in our wake - but internally, in the minds of those soldiers?

The Los Angeles Times noted that Air Force pilot Patrick Burke was recently acquitted in a court-marital hearing on charges of auto theft, drunk driving and two counts of assault - due to "polysubstance-induced delirium." This was, the Times explained, a turning point: the first official acknowledgement, by military psychiatrists and a court-martial judge, that the drugs that have become a routine part of military service - in Burke's case, the prescribed amphetamine Dexedrine ("go pills") - can contribute to temporary insanity.

Che Guevara

Best of the Web: We don't need the banks anymore! Greek town develops bartering system without euro

As Greece wonders whether its debt crisis will eventually spell its exit from the euro, one town in the centre of the country, Volos, has formed an alternative local currency.

It works through a bartering system or exchange of goods.

The BBC's Mark Lowen reports.


Comment: A peaceful way forward for the global revolution!


People

Best of the Web: Intelligence in Decline

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© unkBack when Britain was brainy: applicants for the Mensa exam gather at the Russell Hotel in 1961
Average IQ is falling in Britain and beyond, explains Philip Hunter

Intelligence quotients (IQs) have risen in developed nations for almost a century. This phenomenon, named the "Flynn effect" after the New Zealand intelligence researcher James Flynn, was first identified in 1984 in the United States. It has been found to occur in all developed nations, and some others as well. The received wisdom became: IQs always go up. But this trend seems to be stopping and even reversing in some countries, research in Britain, Denmark and Norway has shown. It is discomfiting to find intelligence in decline. There is a strong association between a nation's IQ, its prosperity and health.

IQ testing is contentious and regarded by some as a crude indicator of ability or potential. When comparing nations, measured average IQ tends to be affected by class, nutrition, and cultural factors including education. There is also disagreement over the influences of nature and nurture.

Info

Snakes, Leopards, Dogs on the Menu in Zimbabwe

Animal Food
© Minyanville
Earlier this week, Coca-Cola announced plans to invest $4 billion in China over the next three years. The company also opened its 42nd bottling plant in the country last month, according to Forbes.

Well, while Coke works to break into China's home market, competition for Chinese consumers abroad has been heating up. In Zimbabwe, for example, Coke -- along with McDonald's, Burger King, and the rest -- has been facing increased competition from anteaters and stray dogs.

A recent article in the Global Post reports that Chinese workers in Zimbabwe have been doing a number on the local wildlife, eating up everything from pythons to tortoises and leopards to dogs. Apparently, many of these animals are "viewed as prestigious dishes" that "would be expensive to serve at banquets back in China."

China has made a number of substantial investments in Africa and this has led thousands of workers to move to the continent. Unfortunately, as the number of Chinese workers in Africa increases so does the trade in illegal animals.