Society's ChildS


Eye 1

US: To Prevent Protests, San Francisco Subway Turns Off Cell Signals

David Murphy
PC Mag
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:23 UTC
subway
Bright idea, poor timing? Or just bad idea?

Pundits are panning leaders of San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) subway system for the actions they took to stifle potential station protests this past Thursday. According to officials, underground cellular service at select BART stations was turned off from around 4 pm to 7 pm that day in an attempt to prevent protest organizers from communicating and organizing via mobile devices.

Although critics contend that the move evokes thoughts of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, when government-mandated cellular disruptions were used to try and prevent Egyptian protesters from organizing in a similar fashion this past January, BART officials maintain that the shutdown was intended to keep its service running and subway riders safe.
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Heart - Black

Hungary: Serial Killer's Victim 'Dug Himself Out of His Grave After Being Buried Alive'


Daily Mail
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:17 UTC
Csespel island, Hungary
Few inhabitants: Csespel island in Hungary, the quiet spot where four bodes were found buried in a large pit
A serial killer who buried his victims alive was caught yesterday after one of his captives managed to dig himself out of his grave and call the police.

The victim said he had been lured into the woods by the alleged killer to drink beer with a couple who lived there.

But after a few drinks the trio set upon him, tied his hands behind his back and forced him into a hole in the ground before burying him up to his neck.

Few inhabitants: Csespel island in Hungary, the quiet spot where four bodes were found buried in a large pit.

They stole his possessions and forced him to reveal his pin number.

But when they left, the victim managed to free his hands, claw himself out of the hole and fight off the killer's dog who had been left to guard him.
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People

Israel: Guillotine display stuns Rothschild's 'tent city'


Ynet
Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:46 UTC
guillotine
© B. EitanThe guillotine in Tel Aviv

A guillotine, the symbol of the French Revolution, has been placed Wednesday in the center of Tel Aviv's "tent city," turning into one of the biggest attractions in this ongoing social protest.

The surprising display arrived in Rothschild Boulevard following another long night of protests across the country, this time focusing on contractor conditions. Demonstrators in five different cities participated in rallies Wednesday night against working conditions, wearing white masks and chanting: "Contractor companies are organized crime."

In Beersheba protesters organized a 'bathing suit march' to exemplify how the social protest "has taken off." In Bat Yam hundreds of residents marched to protest against the high costs of living and housing shortage, clashing with the police's Special Patrol Unit.
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People

Everywhere oil is drilled, from Louisiana to Nigeria, human rights violations abound

Deborah Dupre
Examiner
Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:59 UTC
lagos nigeria,pipeline
© Unknown

This fall, the Supreme Court will likely decide whether overseas oil companies can be sued for alleged human rights abuses after Nigerian plaintiffs, victims most similar to Gulf of Mexico region oil survivors, filed a petition (pdf) with the Supreme Court according to The New York Times Friday. The petition follows news that Shell faces a hundreds of millions of dollars bill after accepting full liability for two massive oil spills devastating a Nigerian community of 69,000 people, expecting 20 years to clean.

"Oil companies Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp. have been battling allegations that they played a role in human rights abuses in Nigeria and Indonesia, respectively," reported The New York Times.

Those allegations are profoundly similar to those alleged in the Gulf of Mexico region, particularly in Louisiana. This week, the non-government organization (NGO) Louisiana Bucket Brigade released its Pipeline Newletter referencing the similarities, "Nigeria, as it happens, has much in common with Louisiana."
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Briefcase

Shell faces big bill for oil spills


UPI
Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:35 UTC
Niger Delta Oil Spill
© All West Africa.com Niger Delta Oil Spill.

Port Harcourt, Nigeria -- Oil titan Royal Dutch Shell faces a bill for hundreds of millions of dollars for two big 2008 oil spills in Nigeria's main oil-producing zone, a region devastated by 6,800 recorded spills over the last half century.

Shell reportedly has accepted liability for two spills following a 4-month legal battle in London over a suit initiated by a law firm representing the pollution-stricken communities in the Niger Delta, where some 31 million people live. Most are impoverished, living on $1 a day.

The case seems set to establish a precedent for other high-profile lawsuits against leading oil companies in other parts of the world. Chevron of the United States, for instance, is being sued for $27 billion in damages for massive pollution in the Amazon jungles of Ecuador.
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X

Brazil's 'Uncontacted' Amazon Tribe Attacked by Drug Gang


International Business Times
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 10:46 UTC
Image
© Survival InternationalMembers of an uncontacted Amazon Basin tribe and their dwellings are seen during a flight over the Brazilian state of Acre along the border with Peru in this May 2008 photo distributed by Survival International. Survival International estimates that there are over 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide, and says that uncontacted tribes in the region are under increasing threat from illegal logging over the border in Peru
In what authorities in Brazil have deemed a "massacre," a remote tribe in the Amazon jungle was reportedly attacked by Peruvian drug traffickers last month. The tribe was thought to never have made contact with the outside world.

The Brazilian indigenous protection service had been guarding the tribe, but their outpost was attacked by a heavily armed group from Peru. Since the raid, which was allegedly perpetrated by cocaine smugglers, there have been no sightings of the tribespeople anywhere.

The tribal village sat in the jungle near the Peruvian border on the western edge of Brazil. State agencies, who initially left the indigenous people alone, are now searching for any survivors.

"We decided to come back here because we believed that these guys may be massacring the isolated [tribe]," Carlos Travassos, the head of Brazil's department for isolated indigenous peoples, told the Brazilian news Web site IG.
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Stop

Derailed train in Poland exceeded speed limit - prosecutors


RIA Novosti
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 10:06 UTC
Image
© Reuters/ Marcin Stepien/Agencja Gazeta
The train that derailed in Poland on Friday afternoon killing one and injuring 81 passengers exceeded the speed limit, the TVN 24 channel said on Saturday quoting a spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

Four carriages of a passenger train bound from Warsaw to Katowice went off the tracks in the village of Baby, near the city of Piotrkow Trybunalski in central Poland at 4 p.m. local time on Friday.

TVN-24 said the train was travelling at a speed of 118 kmph at a railway section, which had been under repair for a month, according to Andrzej Massel, undersecretary of state responsible for rail. The traffic there has been regulated by a semaphore and the speed limit has been set at 40 kmph.
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People

Israeli Protests Widen, Poll Shows 88% Support


Raw Story
Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:45 UTC
protesting Israelis
© AFP
The leaders of a social protest movement that has rocked Israel for a month called on demonstrators to "get out of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem" to bolster demonstrations Saturday in a dozen other cities.

Israel has gripped since mid-July by a rapidly growing protest movement demanding cheaper housing, education and health care.


Comment: Paid for by the U.S. taxpayer, no doubt.


"We want to strengthen the movement in the periphery, where those who have pitched tents in protest are still few, so we have made a call to leave Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to take part in rallies in twelve cities," said Stav Shafir, a protest leader.

"The main gathering will be held in Beersheba in the south, but there will also be events in Haifa (Israel's third-largest city), Netanya, Afula, Beit Shean, Eilat and Dimona," she said.
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Evil Rays

US, Chicago: Son Accused of Stabbing Mother Over Sandwich

Dominic Trombino
NBC Chicago
Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:31 UTC
Alexander Georg
© Naperville Police Dept.Alexander Georg
Alexander Georg is charged with repeatedly stabbing his mother with a butcher knife

A woman is in the hospital after her son on Thursday allegedly stabbed her repeatedly with a butcher knife when she offered to make him a sandwich.

Alexander Georg was being held on $1.5 million bond Friday morning for the alleged attack. According to prosecutors, George attacked his mother so severely that the knife blade snapped off the handle, according to The Chicago Tribune.
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Eye 1

US: Family Fined $300 For Having Apple, Tomato, 3 Cucumbers In Backpack At Newark Liberty Airport


CBS NewYork
Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:24 UTC
A family of four from Florida visiting relatives in New Jersey got an unwelcome surprise at the Customs gate - all because of some forgotten fruit and vegetables.


The oversight was an expensive one that has the family fuming, reports CBS 2's Sean Hennessey.

"I don't have to be traumatized like this. Nobody should have to be traumatized," Suri Steinberger said.

Suri and Peter Steinberger are livid after what they call an over-reaction by customs agents at Newark Liberty Airport. They were told they had violated a federal crime - forgetting about an apple, a tomato and three cucumbers in their son's backpack.
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