Society's Child
California - A police shooting that left a man dead led to a violent clash as angry witness threw bottles at officers who responded with tear gas and beanbag rounds to suppress the crowd, authorities said.
The man was shot in front of an apartment complex around 4 p.m. following a foot chase, Anaheim Sgt. Bob Dunn said. He died three hours later at a hospital.
As officers were investigating what happened at the scene, Dunn said an angry group of people began yelling and throwing bottles at them. He said that as officers detained several people, the crowd advanced on officers so they fired tear gas and beanbag rounds at them.
© Janie Barrett
"The One" ... Serge Benhayon.
"The One" ... Serge Benhayon.
Serge Benhayon, a former tennis coach from Maroubra, has up to 1000, mainly female, devotees to his movement, Universal Medicine, based in the hills outside Lismore on the north coast of NSW.
Mr Benhayon told The Sun-Herald he had no medical qualifications but stood by the effectiveness of his treatments, including ''esoteric breast massage'' - administered only by women - and ''chakra-puncture''. His daughter, Natalie, 22, claims to be able to talk to women's ovaries - for $70 an hour.
Mr Benhayon defended himself against claims a personality cult had built up around him, with dozens of relationships from Brisbane to Byron Bay and Bangalow breaking down as a result. The Sun-Herald spoke to nine men who blame Mr Benhayon for their break-ups.
But Mr Benhayon said his female students had merely discovered the ''livingness of love'' from his ''esoteric way of life''. There is concern in the medical fraternity that certain treatments provided at Universal Medicine's Lismore headquarters are being subsidised by Medicare.
A physiotherapist, Kate Greenaway, and a psychologist, Caroline Raphael - both decade-long followers of Mr Benhayon who work at Universal Medicine - encourage patients to seek GP referrals for treatment. Medicare will reimburse two-thirds of the cost for long-term injuries.
While the author is almost certainly on the right track, it's important to bear in mind that psychopaths, while sharing some essential qualities (or the lack thereof), appear to come in all shapes and sizes and that most of them don't resort to outright violence to get what they want.
There's going to be a lot of finger-pointing and hand-wringing in the coming days as we begin to process the awful tragedy that unfolded early this morning in Aurora, Colorado. In particular, it seems that right-wingers are eager to point fingers and are being hypersensitive about any suggestion of right-wing politics being even remotely involved in this case.
Of course, one of the foremost facets of events like these is that premature speculation is almost always wrong. It's wisest to let the facts emerge first, at which time we can begin making a rational appraisal of the event and its underlying causes. (We will, of course, be keeping a close eye on just what is in those "items of interest" found in the home of the suspect, James Eagan Holmes, since that will tell us a great deal.)
Unlike a lot of the talking heads out there, though, it seems silly to run and hide from the political dimensions of these kinds of tragedies, especially when it comes some of the broader social ramifications, most notably the role of the mass proliferation of handguns in American society that's occurred in recent years. Just ask folks in Seattle if that conversation isn't already under way here.
City environments are highly toxic. One of the planet's largest cities, London is no exception.
A report by WWF-UK and BioRegional, called Towards a One Planet Olympics Revisited, concludes that London 2012 has succeeded in being the most sustainable Games yet, but that failures have occurred in some significant areas.
For example, the use of carbon footprint as a strategic tool was good, but the failure to build a significant and visible renewable energy source was bad.
The report's authors conclude that: "London 2012 is the Olympics that sets a new sustainability standard for future Games; we just wish London 2012 had been able to push sustainability a little faster, a bit higher and with an even stronger focus on changes beyond the Olympic Park."
In 2005, BioRegional and WWF-UK, worked with London 2012, to write the original sustainability strategy, Towards a One Planet Olympics. The new report provides a snapshot of progress on the eve of the Games, examining the 76 promises made then and rating them according to whether they have been met.
© Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
The apartment complex in which shooting suspect James Holmes lived is surrounded by fire engines, police and other investigators near the intersections of Peoria and 17th ave in Aurora. Authorities were worried that his apartment had been bobby-trapped with explosives.
The apartment complex in which shooting suspect James Holmes lived is surrounded by fire engines, police and other investigators near the intersections of Peoria and 17th ave in Aurora. Authorities were worried that his apartment had been bobby-trapped with explosives.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates Friday night called the potentially explosive mess "vexing" and said Saturday, bomb technicians from Colorado will get help from the federal government.
"Hopefully, we will be able to address and solve that problem tomorrow," he said.
Until then, the building at 1690 Paris St., where the gunman who allegedly killed 12 and injured 58 others during early morning showing of the newest Batman movie lived, remains evacuated.
Residents evacuated from four other buildings near it were being allowed to return briefly to retrieve necessities, such as medication, Oates said.
Rumors flew around the complex at Peoria and 17th Avenue, as residents mingle with medical students from the nearby University of Colorado Anshutz Medical Campus and others who came by to see what has become a macabre reminder of the mass shooting at the nearby Aurora 16 Movie Theater.
© Unknown
"He was dressed in black," James Wilburn told the Denver Post. "Wearing a flack jacket and a gas mask."
Naya Thompson, 21, and her Derrick Poage, 22, were on scene, but managed to escape unharmed. Thompson later told the Denver Post that gas of some sort was used and that the gunman may have dropped two canisters.
"It was like a tear gas," said. "I was coughing and choking and I couldn't breathe."
© Unknown
As thousands scanned over Ghawi's Twitter feed and available writings this morning, they noticed an unnerving blog entry she made last month. In that piece, Ghawi detailed her feelings and emotions in the aftermath of escaping the Toronto Mall shooting that had occurred three days earlier.
I just got off the phone with Colin Henderson, who is frenetically monitoring breaking news in Oklahoma, where yet another patient at Scientology's flagship Narconon drug treatment center has been found dead.
Jeanne LeFlore of the McAlester News-Capital broke the news earlier today that Stacy Dawn Murphy, 20, had died at the facility, which is in the town of Canadian.
By the time that news hit, Henderson was already sending out messages to Oklahoma state officials, putting even more heat on them now that at least three deaths have occurred at the Narconon center since this past October.
"This young lady's death is on the hands of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health Substance Abuse Services for their inaction after two previous deaths," Henderson tells me.
Henderson himself was a patient at the center in July 2007. Since then, he's been trying to get the word out about Narconon's quack science, its reliance on low-paid non-medical staff, rampant drug abuse among patients, and dangerous conditions for patients in withdrawal.
© unknown
The words "The Fish were here first" appear on the sidewalk next to a skate park at Rocky Point Park in Port Moody. After finishing the work and walking away the artist says he was later apprehended and surrounded by four police officers he was handcuffed, searched and threatened with jail.
"I was told that I was being arrested for mischief and obstruction of justice for failing to provide my name. I believe the arrest to be unlawful, intimidating and unnecessary. The police mentioned that they had brought a Fire Truck to remove the artwork and because they weren't able to remove it, they now had reason to confront and arrest me." stated the artist.
At least 14 people have been killed in a shooting at a Batman film premiere in the US city of Denver, police say.
About 50 people have been injured in the incident at the cinema complex in the suburb of Aurora.
Witnesses say a gunman wearing a gas mask opened fire during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises.
A man was arrested in a car park nearby in possession of a rifle and hand-gun. He told police that explosives were stored at his home.
Police chief Dan Oates told reporters that an apartment block in the north of Aurora had been evacuated as a consequence of that information.
An eyewitness said the man was dressed all in black wearing a riot helmet, bullet proof vest and goggles
Comment: 'Sustainability', as it is used by the CO2-obsessed green movement, is a highly politicised term referring to 'targets' that might be reached if computer models tell them exactly what they want to hear - garbage in, garbage out. There is nothing 'sustainable' about a city like London. The only sustainable thing about 'sustainability' is that it is a cash cow.