Society's ChildS


Rocket

Long Range Rocket Launch: North Korea Thumbs its Nose at the World

Robert Johnson
Business Insider
Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00 UTC
North Korea Rocket
© Unknown2009 North Korean rocket launch
Thumbing its nose at threats from both Japan and South Korea to shoot it down if it comes near their territory, North Korea has moved a long-range missile onto its launch pad in preparation for an April liftoff.

CNN reports the news broke during a nuclear summit in South Korea where 60 world leaders were gathering to discuss nuclear terrorism, and how best to secure nuclear material.

Hyung-Jin Kim from the Associated Press reports South Korea joined Japan in announcing it will track the orbit of Pyongyang's rocket and shoot it down if it slips into Southern territory.

Yoon Won-shik, a vice spokesman at the South Korean Defense Ministry says "We are studying measures such as tracking and shooting down (parts) of a North Korean missile in case they stray out of their normal trajectory."

"We cannot help viewing (the launch) as a very reckless, provocative act."
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Question

Where's the Outrage Over Senseless Killings Taking Place Here in Philadelphia?

Jenice Armstrong
philly.com
Mon, 26 Mar 2012 02:01 UTC
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© unknown
Last I checked, the city's homicide rate stood at a disgraceful grand total of 84 for the first three months of 2012.

That's practically one a day.

Not to take anything away from the hoodie rallies and marches around the country protesting the death of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed, black Florida teen killed last month while returning home after buying Skittles and iced tea, but where's the outrage for the homicidal madness that passes as everyday life right here in Philadelphia?

A senseless shooting like what happened to Trayvon is something we all should stand up and protest against. It's outrageous that George Zimmerman, a neighborhood-watch captain who admitted killing Trayvon, hasn't been taken into custody. I agree with Mayor Nutter, who called this "nothing short of an assassination."

Philadelphians are fired up. An estimated 2,500 people turned out Friday for the Hoodie March in Center City. Churchgoers donned hoodies yesterday in honor of Trayvon. In the 20-plus years that I've called this city my home, I've never seen Philadelphians as riled up about a single murder as they are in this case. But it gives me pause that we don't direct the same level of outrage at some of the incidents that take place closer to home.
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Attention

Trayvon Martin Killing Lead Prosecutor Says George Zimmerman Could Walk

Matt Gutman
ABC News
Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00 UTC
video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

The nationwide clamor for an arrest notwithstanding, the lead prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin case tells ABC News that convicting his killer, the neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, could prove difficult.

"The stand-your-ground law is one portion of justifiable use of deadly force," veteran State Attorney Angela Corey said. "And what that means is that the state must go forward and be able to prove it's case beyond a reasonable doubt... So it makes the case in general more difficult than a normal criminal case."

Zimmerman shot Martin dead the night of Feb. 26, after following him for several minutes. Zimmerman told police Martin looked suspicious because he was wearing a hoodie, and when he confronted him the two fought -- ultimately resulting in a single bullet in Martin's chest.
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Dollar

Group Offers $10,000 to 'Capture' Trayvon Martin's Killer

Tina Moore
New York Daily News
Sat, 24 Mar 2012 05:18 UTC
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© Mario Tama/Getty ImagesMembers of the New Black Panther Party rally next to a memorial to Trayvon Martin outside The Retreat at Twin Lakes community in Sanford, Florida, where Trayvon was shot and killed by George Zimmerman. The group is offering a $10,000 bounty for Zimmerman's capture.
US - The new Black Panther Party offered a bounty of $10,000 Saturday for the "capture" of a Florida neighborhood watch captain who killed unarmed teen Trayvon Martin.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," leader Mikhail Muhammad said after announcing the reward for George Zimmerman at a protest in Sanford, Fla.

Muhammad called on 5,000 black men to mobilize and capture the neighborhood watch volunteer.

"If the government won't do the job, we'll do it," Muhammad said, leading chants that included "freedom or death" and "justice for Trayvon."

Muhammad said New Black Panther's chairman, Malik Zulu Shabaz of Washington, was taking donations from black entertainers and athletes.
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Airplane

India Bans its Airlines From Paying EU Carbon Tax

Ammu Kannampilly
Agence France-Presse
Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:00 UTC
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© Agence France-Presse
India has barred its airlines from complying with the European Union carbon tax scheme, joining China in resistance to plans that have caused a backlash among the EU's trade partners.

The European Union imposed a carbon levy on air travel with effect from January 1, but no airline will face a bill until 2013 after this year's carbon emissions have been tallied.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told parliament on Thursday that "the imposition of carbon tax does not arise" because Indian airlines would simply refuse to hand over their emissions data.

"Though the European Union has directed Indian carriers to submit emission details of their aircraft by March 31, 2012, no Indian carrier is submitting them in view of the position of the government," he said.

India's resolution to boycott the scheme follows China's decision last month to prevent its airlines from complying with the EU directive.

The two Asian giants have attacked the EU scheme, calling it a unilateral trade levy disguised as an attempt to fight climate change.
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Sherlock

Half-Naked 42-Year-Old Man Found Dead in Queens Cemetery

Barry Paddock
New York Daily News
Sun, 25 Mar 2012 02:18 UTC
The man's body, pants around his ankles, was discovered by a mourner in Calvary Cemetery Sunday morning; victim not immediately identified

police
© unknown
US, New York - A half-naked man was found dead in a Queens cemetery Sunday morning.

The 42-year-old man was found face up near a tombstone with his pants around his ankles just before 10 a.m. by a mourner visiting Calvary Cemetery, police sources said.

The victim's name was not immediately released.

There were no obvious signs of trauma. The city medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

Police are investigating the bizarre and mysterious death.
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Handcuffs

Police Detain Protesters in Moscow, St. Petersburg


The Associated Press
Sun, 25 Mar 2012 11:19 UTC
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© The Associated Press/Dmitry LovetskyPolice officers detain opposition activists as they try to march after finishing a sanctioned protest meeting against Kremlin policies and vote rigging. in downtown St.Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, March 25, 2012.
Russia - Police in St. Petersburg have detained more than 10 protesters who tried to march down the Russian city's main avenue following an opposition rally.

Several hundred people took part in Sunday's rally in St. Petersburg to express their opposition to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who in May will begin a new six-year term as president.

The demonstrators chanted "Putin is a thief" and "Russia without Putin," two slogans heard at most opposition protests in recent months.

In Moscow, police said they detained about 30 opposition activists near Red Square to prevent them from protesting.

Ekho Moskvy radio cited the opposition Solidarity movement as saying its activists were simply out for a stroll. They were wearing the white ribbons that have become a symbol of the peaceful protest movement.
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Boat

Costa Concordia: Five More Bodies Found


BBC News
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:46 UTC
Costa Concordia
© ReutersThe operation to remove oil from the ship's tanks is due to end on Friday night
More than two months after the cruise ship Costa Concordia capsized off the Italian coast, a team searching the wreck has found five more bodies.

Italian authorities say they were found outside the ship, in a small space between the wreck and the sea bed.

Altogether 30 bodies have now been found since the vessel ran aground off the island of Giglio on 13 January.

The Costa Concordia was carrying 4,200 passengers and crew when its hull was torn open by rocks.

Civil Protection Agency chief Franco Gabrielli did not give any details on the sex or ages of the latest victims to be found.

Two people remain missing and are presumed dead.

Eight more bodies were found in late February, but forensic authorities are still working on formally identifying them.

A crew member from India and passengers from the US, Italy and Germany are reported to be among those as yet unaccounted for.
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Che Guevara

Hundreds of Israelis March in Tel Aviv to Protest War With Iran


Haaretz
Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:59 UTC
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© Hadar CohenProtest against Israeli strike on Iran, Tel Aviv, March 24, 2012.
Anti-war protest comes amid growing Facebook campaign linking Israelis and Iranians; campaign leaders: We have nothing to do with the protest rally.

Hundreds of Israelis marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday to protest against a possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

The protest came amid a recent Facebook campaign linking Israeli and Iranian citizens in their opposition to war between the two nations. Campaign leaders, however, made it clear on their Facebook page that they had nothing to do with the Tel Aviv protest march.

Last week, graphic designers Ronny Edry and his wife, Michal Tamir, unknowingly began a Facebook phenomenon when they uploaded a poster depicting Edry and his daughter with the words, "Iranians, we will never bomb your country, we [heart] you."

That one image sparked a movement of sorts, with hundreds, if not thousands, of images sent from Israel, Iran, and elsewhere in the world, in support of exposing what participants consider to be the human side of the conflict between Iran and Israel.
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Arrow Down

Director James Cameron to Take Record-Setting Plunge


Agence France-Presse
Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:00 UTC
James Cameron
© Agence France-Presse/Karin ZeitvogelJames Cameron, the Oscar-winninng director of Avatar and Titanic, is visits the National Geographic headquarters in 2011.
Titanic director James Cameron could dive as early as this weekend to the deepest place on Earth, further than any other human has on a solo mission, so long as the weather cooperates.

The Canadian filmmaker left the tiny Pacific atoll of Ulithi on Saturday headed for the the Mariana Trench's Challenger Deep, which plummets 6.8 miles (11 kilometers) down in the Pacific Ocean, according to mission partner the National Geographic scientific institution.

His goal is to become the first human to visit the ocean's deepest point in more than 50 years, and to bring back data and specimens.

"If seas remain calm -- a big if -- the team may proceed with Cameron's submersible mission to the trench's Challenger Deep this weekend," a National Geographic News report said.

It said the submersible that Cameron designed, a "vertical torpedo" of sorts, already successfully completed an unpiloted dive on Friday.

The sub is expected to allow the director to spend around six hours on the seafloor during which he plans to collect samples and film his journey with several 3-D, high-definition cameras and an eight-foot-tall (2.4-meter-tall) array of LED lights.
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