Society's ChildS


Stormtrooper

US: Police arrest reporters as press complains of media blackout at 'Occupy Wall St.'

Andrew Jones
The Raw Story
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:30 UTC
NYPD officers observe Occupy Wall protesters
© David Shankbone
"Occupy Wall Street" protesters weren't the only group who had a difficult morning thanks to NYPD's actions in Zuccotti Park.

A number of reporters complained of a media blackout from covering the morning raid. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly confirmed that several journalists were arrested by authorities.

The Associated Press reported that two of their reporters, writer Karen Matthews and photographer Seth Wenig, were taken into custody. The New York Daily News reported that their reporter Matthew Lysiak was also detained. NPR freelance reporter Julie Walker was arrested but indicated she has been released.

A photographer with Agance France Presse, a reporter for The Local East Village, and other journalists were also arrested. Police don't currently know the exact number of journalists were arrested.
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Nuke

Ex-Nuclear Engineer Speaks Out: 'TEPCO is a Terrible Company'

tokyobrowntabby
YouTube
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:17 UTC
Please click on "cc" to show English subtitles. Mr. Toshio Kimura is a former nuclear designer at TEPCO. He used to work at Fukushima-1 Nuclear Power Plant. When the earthquake/tsunami hit, he was living 15km west of the plant, operating his own business of solar power generation and surfing in his free time. After the explosion of Unit 1 reactor, he and his family evacuated to Kochi Prefecture, where they live now.

Mr. Kimura has given talks at various anti-nuclear rallies around the country. This video is one of his talks at the rally held in Kochi Prefecture on April 29, 2011.

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Eye 1

CCTV taxi plan 'a staggering invasion of privacy'

Jerome Taylor
The Independent
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:30 UTC
Image
Plans to fit all taxis operating in the city of Oxford with audio recording devices have been branded a "staggering invasion of privacy" prompting calls for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to investigate how widespread the use of microphones on public transport has become.

Taxi drivers in the university town have been told that they need to install the £460 devices by 2015 or face having their licenses revoked. The microphones, accompanied by CCTV cameras, will activate once the ignition in the car is turned on and will remain recording for 30 minutes after the engine is turned off.

The council says the recording equipment is necessary to protect drivers and passengers as well as deal with any disputes over fares. Recorded information would only be accessible to the police or council officials.

But privacy campaigners say the plans represent a significant "ramping up" of surveillance culture in Britain and may well be in breach of Government guidelines.
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Newspaper

US: Antiwar Candidate Ron Paul Moves to Top Tier in Iowa

Stephanie Condon
CBS
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:10 UTC
Ron Paul

The Iowa caucuses are just seven weeks away, but Republican voters in the nation's first presidential nominating state seem as torn as ever over the GOP field.

A new Bloomberg poll of likely caucus participants shows a four-way tie in Iowa, with Rep. Ron Paul joining Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain in the top tier of candidates. Underscoring the uncertainty in the race, 60 percent of respondents said they could be persuaded to back someone other than their first choice for the nomination.

The poll, conducted November 10 - 12 by the West Des Moines-based firm Selzer & Co, shows Cain in the lead with 20 percent, while Paul comes in at 19 percent. Romney wins 18 percent support, and Gingrich earns 17 percent. The margin of error is 4.4 percent.
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Shoe

US, South Carolina: Teacher Accused Of Making Students Rub Her Feet


WYFF4 News
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:24 UTC
School District Launches Investigation


Lexington County School District Three is investigating after a first-grader complained about having to rub her teacher's feet.

A district representative said the district has launched a full investigation, appropriate action has been taken and the situation has been rectified. But that's not nearly enough for some parents.

"She admitted to the children rubbing her feet," said Brenda Norris. "Just the thought of it... They immediately sent her home, but she's back there today."

Norris is far from satisfied after her 6-year-old granddaughter, who is in first grade, came home from Batesburg-Leesville Primary School last Wednesday to said she was "tired of rubbing her teacher's feet."

"'Do she take off her socks and shoes?'" Norris recounted asking. "'Grandma, she wears flip flops.'"
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Megaphone

US: Occupy Wall Street protesters locked in legal battle with New York's Michael Bloomberg

Jon Swaine
The Telegraph, UK
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:08 UTC
Anti-capitalist protesters are locked in a legal battle with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, after Occupy Wall Street, their New York protest camp, was demolished and demonstrators were evicted.

Image
© Getty ImagesWorkers clean-up Zuccotti Park after New York City police in riot gear removed Occupy Wall Street protesters

Lawyers for the protesters, who have inspired dozens of demonstrations around the world, were arguing in New York supreme court that a police raid on the camp early Tuesday morning was illegal.

Hundreds of NYPD officers wearing riot gear burst into Manhattan's Zuccotti Park at 1am, arresting more than 140 people inside the two-month-old camp and about 60 outside in chaotic scenes.

As they tore down tents, seized tonnes of equipment and binned the 5,000 books in the camp's library, police blocked photographers from observing the raid and physically removed reporters from the site.

Mr Bloomberg said he had ordered the eviction because "health and safety conditions became intolerable" in the park and protesters were encroaching on the rights of others.

"New York City is the city where you can come and express yourself," he told a press conference. But he added: "No right is absolute and with every right comes responsibilities".
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Attention

Canada: Occupy Toronto Protesters Get Eviction Notices


CBC News
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:50 UTC
'The time has come to remove your tents,' eviction notices read

Image
© Colin Butler/CBCAn Occupy Toronto protester remains defiant in the face of eviction notices issued by the city on Tuesday morning.
The City of Toronto issued eviction notices Tuesday calling on Occupy Toronto protesters who have been camping in a downtown park for more than a month to leave immediately.

Toronto bylaw officers began handing out the notices about 10 a.m. ET.

The notices order occupiers to "remove your tents, structures, equipment and personal belongings from the park.

"The city recognizes the rights of Canadians to gather and protest. However the city has determined that it cannot allow the current use of St. James Park to continue," they say.

"In particular, the city can no longer sanction the appropriation of St. James Park by a relatively small group of people to the exclusion of all others wishing to use the park and to the detriment of those in the vicinity of the park."
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Vader

US: New York Mayor 1% Bloomberg Defends Clearing of Occupy Wall Street


Los Angeles Times
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:50 UTC
Image
© unknownNew York City Mayor 1% Bloomberg
New York's mayor on Tuesday defended the pre-dawn clearing of the Occupy Wall Street encampment, saying "inaction was not an option" as the nearly 2-month-old set-up became packed with tents and concerns grew that fires and other hazards could erupt.

Police in riot gear moved into Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan shortly after officers handed out notices to protesters at about 1 a.m. warning them the park was about to be cleared. It said residents could return after a cleanup but that they would no longer be permitted to set up tents, bring in sleeping bags or camp in the park 24/7.

"Protesters have had two months to occupy the park with tents and sleeping bags. Now they will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement, promising that the privately owned park would reopen later Tuesday. Police said they had cleared it by about 4:30 a.m.
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Che Guevara

US, New York: Occupy Wall Street, Angry Over Eviction, Occupies a New Corner


Los Angeles Times
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:10 UTC
Image
© unknown
Hundreds of supporters of Occupy Wall Street vowed Tuesday to keep up their protests, convening at a busy corner for a meeting to discuss their next move; the city, meanwhile, appeared headed for a legal showdown over its eviction of protesters from the group's encampment.

A hearing was scheduled later on protesters' quest for an order to prohibit the city from banning tents, sleeping bags and campers from Zuccotti Park, a privately owned park that was cleared of protesters in a surprise early morning raid.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he had hoped to reopen the park to the public at 8 a.m., but at a news conference early Tuesday he said he wanted the issue of the restraining order to be settled before his next move.
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Nuke

Fukushima Fallout: Scientist Marco Kaltofen Presents Data Confirming Hot Particles In Tokyo

Arnie Gundersen
Fairewinds Associates
Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:19 UTC
Washington, DC - Today Scientist Marco Kaltofen of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) presented his analysis of radioactive isotopic releases from the Fukushima accidents at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA). Mr. Kaltofen's analysis confirms the detection of hot particles in the US and the extensive airborne and ground contamination in northern Japan due to the four nuclear power plant accidents at TEPCO's Fukushima reactors. Fairewinds believes that this is a personal health issue in Japan and a public health issue in the United States and Canada.


Scientist Marco Kaltofen Presents Data Confirming Hot Particles from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.
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