Society's ChildS


People 2

How we are impoverished, gentrified and silenced - and what to do about it

John Pilger
globalresearch.ca
Thu, 25 Jul 2013 10:14 UTC
I have known my postman for more than 20 years. Conscientious and good-humoured, he is the embodiment of public service at its best. The other day, I asked him, "Why are you standing in front of each door like a soldier on parade?"
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"New system," he replied, "I am no longer required simply to post the letters through the door. I have to approach every door in a certain way and put the letters through in a certain way."

"Why?"

"Ask him."

Across the street was a solemn young man, clipboard in hand, whose job was to stalk postmen and see they abided by the new rules, no doubt in preparation for privatisation. I told the stalker my postman was admirable. His face remained flat, except for a momentary flicker of confusion.

In Brave New World Revisited, Aldous Huxley describes a new class conditioned to a normality that is not normal "because they are so well adjusted to our mode of existence, because their human voice has been silenced so early in their lives, that they do not even struggle or suffer or develop symptoms as the neurotic does".

Surveillance is normal in the Age of Regression - as Edward Snowden revealed. Ubiquitous cameras are normal. Subverted freedoms are normal. Effective public dissent is now controlled by police, whose intimidation is normal.
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Question

Spanish train crash driver called operator BEFORE crash to say: "I'm at 190kmph and we're going to derail"

Harriet Alexander
Everyday Worldwide
Fri, 26 Jul 2013 04:24 UTC
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The driver of the train that crashed in northern Spain, killing at least 78 people, made a panicked phone call moments before the crash saying that the train was going too fast.

"I'm at 190 (kmph) and I'm going to derail!" the engine driver told the controllers of RENFE, the rail network.

Two men were at the controls of the train at the time, and it was not clear who had made the call.

Police sources told Spanish newspaper El Pais that, moments after the crash, the traumatised driver made another call to the operator.

Comment: This odd detail needs to be explained. If the driver knew he was going too fast, and had time to contact his operator to inform them that he was about to derail, why was he unable to do anything to avoid the outcome he foresaw?

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Post-It Note

Police threaten to jail and fine man posting flyers for lost medical alert dog

Sarah Rae Fruchtnicht
Opposing Views
Wed, 24 Jul 2013 00:00 UTC
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A Washington man posted flyers in his Marysville neighborhood after his service dog, Nanna, went missing. When police called him, instead of giving him good news, they told him if he put up any more flyers, they would fine him $250 and he would recieve a day in jail for each one.

Shawn Slater, 34, suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. He suffered seizures and took a great deal of anxiety medication before he got Nanna. Nanna is a certified medical alert and therapy dog.

"With Nanna, I didn't take any medication at all," Slater said. "I was two years clean off all those drugs. I didn't have problems. I didn't even have to take her everywhere I went. I'm finally employed again."

On July 4, the fireworks in the neighborhood frightened the dog. Nanna forced her way through a hole in the fence and ripped off her dog tags as she escaped.

After Slater and friends put up signs looking for Nanna, he received a phone call from police. Posting the signs to utility poles and other city property is apparently illegal.

"If I were to put another sign up, I will be getting a $250 fine and a day in jail per sign," Slater said the caller told him.
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House

Bank wrongfully repossesses Ohio woman's home, tosses her possessions then refuses to pay her back

Jonathan Wolfe
Opposing Views
Tue, 23 Jul 2013 00:00 UTC
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Ohio resident Katie Barnett is understandably furious after she came home from a two-week trip only to find her house had been accidentally repossessed.

Barnett became suspicious of something when her key would no longer open her door. She was forced to crawl through a window into her house. Once inside, she saw that everything was gone.

Barnett soon found out that First National Bank in Wellston, Ohio had accidentally repossessed her home.

"They repossessed my house on accident, thinking it was the house across the street," Barnett said. "They told me that the GPS led them to my house. My grass hadn't been mowed and they just assumed."

As if having all of your belongings taken from you isn't bad enough, Barnett says the bank is now refusing to pay her back enough money to replace her items, most of which have been thrown away or sold by the bank.

Barnett estimated that she would need $18,000 to replace her belongings, but the bank won't pay up.
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House

Another bankster home grab: Green Tree Financial illegally seizes home of Indiana family despite up-to-date mortgage

Jonathan Wolfe
Opposing Views
Wed, 24 Jul 2013 00:00 UTC
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Yesterday, we told you about this Ohio woman who had her home wrongfully repossessed. Today, we have got a similar story developing in Indiana.

RTV-6, an Indiana ABC affiliate, broke the story of Michael, who wished to remain anonymous beyond his first name, and his family of four's townhouse. The family lived in the house for 10 years, but recently decided to rent out the townhouse to move into a more spacious home. They found a tenant to rent the old townhouse but were forced to repay the rent the new tenant paid when, without warning, their mortgage company shut off utilities to the house and changed all the locks.

The locks were changed despite Michael being completely up-to-date on his mortgage payments on the home. Michael hired Indiana attorney Kathy Davis to handle their case. Davis said when she called the mortgage company, she received a response she had never heard before.

"The woman told me - this is something I'll never forget, honestly - she told me that they were the mortgage company, and if they wanted to change your locks, they could," Davis said.

Comment: When bankers are rewarded for seizing homes, these psychopaths will do anything necessary:
Wells Fargo forecloses on homeowner for making early mortgage payments!
Former employees accuse Bank of America of lying to homeowners and rewarding foreclosures
Wells Fargo loses all of family's possessions after wrongfully foreclosing on home

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Cloud Grey

Rain chases toxic cloud after rocket crash in Kazakhstan

Andrew E. Kramer
The New York Times
Tue, 02 Jul 2013 15:31 UTC
An unmanned rocket carrying Russian satellites veered off course and crashed a few seconds after liftoff early Tuesday, sending a cloud of highly toxic orange fumes toward the Kazakh city of Baikonur only 50 miles away.


Fears that the toxic cloud would waft into Baikonur were eased later in the day, however, after heavy rains dispersed the fumes.

Photographs posted online had shown the ominous cloud stretching over buildings near the launching pad, and residents of Baikonur, population 70,000, had been instructed to stay indoors and refrain from using air conditioners.

The Proton-M rocket rose just above its launching tower at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, wobbled and then tipped over into the desert in a ball of fire.

The short flight on Tuesday was the fourth Proton failure in three years, and it was sure to raise safety questions among NASA officials and Western commercial clients of Russia's space services.
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Water

Florida's radioactive fountain of youth may prolong life

Jackie Snow
National Geographic
Tue, 23 Jul 2013 16:03 UTC

Five hundred years ago in June, the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon started his journey back to Puerto Rico from Florida after becoming the first European to land on mainland America. After exploring the east coast of Florida, he circled the peninsula and explored the west coast, including modern-day Charlotte Harbor, most likely the location he chose for his second voyage.

According to legend, the explorer set out in search of the fountain of youth, a fabled stream that would extend the life of anyone lucky enough to drink from it.

Thanks to the myth of Ponce de Leon's trip, Florida - known for its large population of retirees - is now awash in "fountains of youth." Dozens of bodies of water claim the title of the one legendary fountain, from mineral springs to deep-water wells, not to mention water from a variety of sources that is piped into various built structures.

Only one, however, is known to be radioactive. And, oddly, it might be actually extending life.
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X

Sifiso Makhubo: South African 'serial rapist' found dead


BBC News
Thu, 25 Jul 2013 15:00 UTC
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© Supplied
A man accused of being one of South Africa's worst serial rapists, Sifiso Makhubo, has been found dead in his prison cell, officials say.

Sifiso Makhubo, who faced 122 charges, including murder, was found hours before his trial was due to start.

He is also charged with attempted murder over allegations he knowingly infected his victims with HIV - the first such prosecution.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world.

Some 64,000 cases were reported to the police last year.

It is also the country with the largest HIV-positive population - some 5.5 million people, or 17% of those aged 15-49.
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Black Cat 2

French woman savagely attacked by... cats


The Local
Wed, 24 Jul 2013 16:37 UTC
Feral Cats
© Alamy
A band of wild cats pounced on a French woman this week and attacked her as she walked her pet dog. The traumatised woman was reportedly left with a gashed artery and bites to her arms and legs in what a vet said was an unprecedented assault.

Traditionally cats are meant to be solitary and docile creatures. But a band of feral French felines in the north-eastern French city of Belfort appears to have put that theory to bed.

The seemingly unprecedented attack happened around 7pm on Sunday at the edge of a wood in Belfort, in the north-eastern region Franche-Comté, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, French news site l'Est Republicain reported.

The 31-year-old woman had apparently been out walking her pet poodle when she was set upon by half a dozen blood thirsty moggies.

The victim's mother Josette Galliot described the mob attack.

"They scratched and bit my daughter and really went for her," Galliot told Est Republicain.
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Green Light

CCTV Footage Shows Deadly Spanish Train Crash


Sott.net
Thu, 25 Jul 2013 07:26 UTC
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