May 11, 2015

Seattle U study finds laws pile up against homeless

Rankin said cities across the state have been adopting more and more laws that effectively make being homeless a crime by outlawing behaviors that are part of surviving on the streets — sleeping on a sidewalk or in a car, or relieving one’s self outdoors. There are things people have to do, like sleep or use the bathroom, which are hard to do if you don’t have a bedroom or a bathroom.

The report, released last week, is the first of its scope, Rankin told me Thursday. It consists of four policy briefs — a survey of ordinances and enforcement, a look at costs, the demographics of homelessness, and a comparative history of laws that affect selective groups.
The researchers found that most communities have ordinances that police public behavior and are aimed primarily at controlling or removing people who are homeless from places where they aren’t wanted.

Auburn has 14 such laws, the most in the state. Seattle has six, which is average, but Seattle issues by far the most citations because it has the largest population of homeless people.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-u-study-finds-laws-pile-up-against-homeless/

May 11, 2015

Pluto hugs a kid too hard

Disneyland trip ends with hospital visit for boy, 8, after over-the-top hug from Pluto leaves him with a severe muscle strain
Ethan, 8, had a trip to Disneyland in California to forget on Thursday after a hug from an overzealous Pluto left him nursing a sore back
Cell phone footage shows the young boy almost in tears immediately after the encounter with Micky Mouse's exuberant dog
The boy's mother claims that reps at the resort initiially tried to pretend that nothing had happened and refused them access to a wheelchair
A trip to the hospital resulted in a muscle strain diagnosis for Ethan and the resot has promised to reimbursh all medical costs


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3075955/Disneyland-trip-ends-hospital-visit-boy-8-hug-Pluto-leaves-severe-muscle-strain.html#ixzz3ZnOxeOp2


http://www.inquisitr.com/2078150/woman-says-pluto-injured-her-son-during-their-trip-to-disneyland/ok

May 10, 2015

cops caught on audio making up reason for arresting man after they arrested him

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/hidden-camera-catches-nypd-cops-arresting-man-no-reason-making-purpose-stopping-himHidden Camera Catches NYPD Cops Arresting Man For No Reason, Making Up Purpose for Stopping

He continues to ask why he’s being arrested. The cops continue to ignore his question.

The camera keeps rolling as they take the man away, then return to search his vehicle further, not realizing the camera is recording. While an officer rifles through the driver’s belongings, he moves the phone, blocking the lens in the process, but the audio remains clear.

There’s silence for about two minutes until two officers return to the vehicle. What the officers can be heard saying next is incredible.

Cop 1: “I don’t even know why we pulled him over…he keeps saying what’s the reason why you pulled me over”

Cop 2: “Just put “Cocaine Test”


Cop 1: “That’s what you put”

You can hear the officers laughing about it as they open the door, grab the phone and stop the recording, realizing they’ve just been caught.

New York’s finest, ladies and gentleman.
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/hidden-camera-catches-nypd-cops-arresting-man-no-reason-making-purpose-stopping-him

May 10, 2015

nypd cop "what you got in the bag?", man "none of your fucking business" cop "alright"

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/man-shuts-down-unlawful-nypd-search-just-seven-seconds
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/man-shuts-down-unlawful-nypd-search-just-seven-seconds

Fastest ever seen a cop get shut down.


“Sir, what do you got in your bag?” An officer asks.


“None of your f*cking business, that’s what I’ve got in the bag.” The man asserts as he films the encounter.

“Alright,” the officer concedes, as he begins to walk away.

“Honor your oath scumbag!” The man filming throws in for good measure.

May 10, 2015

doctor dressed homeless to treat homeless, fostering a "street medicine" movement

Pittsburgh (CNN)Dr. Jim Withers used to dress like a homeless person. On purpose.

Two to three nights a week, he rubbed dirt in his hair and muddied up his jeans and shirt before walking the dark streets of Pittsburgh, searching for the very people he was trying to emulate.

Withers wanted to connect with those who had been excluded from his care.

"I was actually really shocked how ill people were on the street. It was like going to a third-world country," he said. "Young, old, people with mental illness, runaway kids, women (who) fled domestic violence, veterans. And they all have their own story."

Homelessness costs the medical system a lot of money. Individuals often end up in emergency rooms, and stay there longer, because their illnesses go untreated and can lead to complications.


For 23 years, Withers has been treating the homeless -- under bridges, in alleys and along riverbanks.

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Today, Withers is also fostering a global "street medicine" movement. His nonprofit, the Street Medicine Institute, supports communities in starting programs of their own. Its network includes dozens of teams in the United States and around the world.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/07/us/cnn-heroes-homeless-doctor-jim-withers/?iid=ob_homepage_NewsAndBuzz_pool&iref=obnetwork

May 10, 2015

FedEx ships a 850 pound polar bear from zoo to zoo

St. Louis Zoo welcomes 850-pound bear — via FedEx


ST. LOUIS (AP) — Sometimes, shipping an 850-pound beast can be a real bear.
The St. Louis Zoo on Friday announced the arrival of its latest resident, a 2-year-old male polar bear named Kali that was orphaned as a cub. The bear was shipped in by FedEx plane and truck ahead of its scheduled June 6 debut at the zoo's new Polar Bear Point Exhibit.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/St-Louis-Zoo-welcomes-850-pound-bear-via-6251193.php
The zoo said Kali was resting comfortably and would remain in quarantine for about a month, which is a standard practice that allows an animal to become acclimated to its new digs.

Kali spent the past two years at the Buffalo zoo after he was orphaned in Alaska's wilderness when a hunter unknowingly killed his mother, unaware she had a cub.
Kali's latest adventure came Tuesday, when FexEx — having over the years handled everything from endangered sea turtles to seals and pandas — stepped in with air and ground transportation to get a bear halfway across the country.
Kali caught a three-hour flight on a FedEx Express 767 jet from Rochester, New York, to Memphis, Tennessee, secured in a specially designed, half-ton aluminum crate while monitored by a veterinarian and two attendants, the company said in its blog.



The crate was placed behind the cockpit wall, allowing a Buffalo zoo representative and Steve Bircher, the St. Louis Zoo's curator of mammals and carnivores, to monitor and hydrate him and "basically talk to him," said Susan Gallagher, the St. Louis zoo's spokeswoman.

At Memphis, FedEx said, the bear was wheeled to a waiting company truck, its drivers trained in handling sensitive shipments. Attendants who followed in a vehicle frequently checked Kali's condition, providing water along the way during the five-hour drive in which the bear was in a cargo area kept at 55 degrees.

May 10, 2015

Watch black bears chase tourists at Yellowstone National Park

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Sightseers in Yellowstone National Park got an up-close look at a family of black bears — probably a little too close for comfort.

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks posted this video on Facebook.

The black bear and her cubs found themselves in the middle of a bridge among a large group of onlookers.
http://wgntv.com/2015/05/09/watch-black-bears-chase-tourists-at-yellowstone-national-park/

May 9, 2015

A Cancer Survivor Designs the Cards She Wishes She’d Received From Friends and Family

Los Angeles–based designer Emily McDowell was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 24, enduring nine months of chemo and radiation before going into remission.

“The most difficult part of my illness wasn’t losing my hair, or being erroneously called ‘sir’ by Starbucks baristas, or sickness from chemo,” McDowell writes on her website. “It was the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn’t know what to say, or said the absolute wrong thing without realizing it.”

The 38-year-old designer has been cancer-free ever since. But the emotional impact of the experience lingered, inspiring her to design a newly launched series of Empathy Cards—emotionally direct greeting cards that say the things she wanted to hear when she was ill.









http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2015/05/06/empathy_cards_by_emily_mcdowell_are_greeting_cards_designed_for_cancer_patients.html

May 9, 2015

natural reactions to being arrested for no reason lead to "assaulting an officer" charge

Wiggling one’s body while in handcuffs, bracing one’s hand on a steering wheel during an arrest and yelling at a police officer are among the grounds for an “assaulting a police officer” charge in the District of Columbia. The map indicates where each of these arrests have taken place throughout the city, with concentrations in the central part of the urban area and also in the predominantly black neighborhoods in the Southeast. Ninety percent of these arrests are of black people, more than 75 percent male.
http://www.revealnews.org/article/dcs-assaulting-an-officer-charge-could-hide-police-abuse-critics-say/
A five-month investigation by WAMU 88.5 News and the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, co-produced by Reveal, documented and analyzed nearly 2,000 cases with charges of assaulting a police officer. The results raise concerns about the use or overuse of the charge. Some defense attorneys see troubling indicators in these numbers, alleging that the law is being used as a tactic to cover up police abuse and civil rights violations.

As protests and rioting have exploded across the county in response to police conduct, even Cathy Lanier, the chief of police in the nation’s capital, is urging lawmakers to revise the statute because its broad application “naturally causes tensions between police and residents.”

Copacino said many cases arise from a typical human response to being unjustifiably stopped by an officer, yet District residents do not have the right to resist an unlawful arrest. “When (police) are clearly arresting someone for no reason, if the person resists by pulling away, by not putting his hands behind his back when the police officer grabs him to try to handcuff him, that becomes a crime in itself,” he said.

May 9, 2015

Kentucky ‘free range’ family loses custody of 10 kids over apparent ‘unschooling’

Kentucky “off-grid” family had their 10 children seized this week by authorities, and their supporters say they were targeted “simply because the government disagrees with their lifestyle and their educational choices.”

An anonymous tip sent sheriff’s deputies Wednesday to the 26-acre rural Breckenridge County home of Joe and Nicole Naugler, who document their “back to basics” lifestyle on social media.

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Investigators attempted to question the teens away from their mother, and she was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest when deputies said she interfered.

“I am a free range human, not meant to be caged,” Nicole Naugler said. “But I will stand up for my rights.”

Authorities ordered Joe Naugler to hand over all the children Thursday morning or face felony charges, and the family believes they were removed due to their “unschooling.”

The Nauglers follow the so-called unschooling method that allows children to learn through natural experiences – including play, household chores, travel, and personal courses of study.


http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/kentucky-free-range-family-loses-custody-of-10-kids-over-apparent-unschooling/





http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3074746/Surrounded-garbage-kept-school-neighbors-threatened-knives-s-just-free-range-parenting-claim-parents-blast-authorities-seizing-10-kids.html