Clipmarks | CrazyRedHead's 'society' clips

Albinos Face Deadly Threat in Tanzania

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:03:54 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: "It is no accident that the Tanzania Albino Society’s office is on the grounds of a cancer hospital. Many of its members are sick."

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Discrimination against albinos is a serious problem throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but recently in Tanzania it has taken a wicked twist: at least 19 albinos, including children, have been killed and mutilated in the past year, victims of what Tanzanian officials say is a growing criminal trade in albino body parts.

Many people in Tanzania — and across Africa, for that matter — believe albinos have magical powers. They stand out, often the lone white face in a black crowd, a result of a genetic condition that impairs normal skin pigmentation and strikes about 1 in 3,000 people here.

Tanzanian officials say witch doctors are now marketing albino skin, bones and hair as ingredients in potions that are promised to make people rich.

Police officers are drawing up lists of albinos in every corner of the country to better look after them. Officers are escorting albino children to school.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Police officials said the albino killings were worst in rural areas

Tags: race, africa, health, religion

Children & Alcohol

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:37:16 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: timesonline.typepad.com

Eamon and Antoinette McGuckin were taken to hospital and their kids - ages 1 through 6 - were taken into care temporarily after the adult McGuckins apparently passed out in a hotel lobby and bar. The plot thickens as stories report that Antoinette says she only had three beers. Friends and neighbours describe them as devoted homebody parents rather than as, y'know, ginhead chavs.

Even for the most upstanding of us, drinking in front of children poses problems.

I've never gotten blotto around the under-18s but my daughter frequently brandishes her plastic stemware and says "This is my wine."

But so what? Drinking is part of the adult world. We drink responsibly. We don't drive afterward.

A big question is, does drinking around your children promote healthy drinking habits (witness the enduring story of Italian children learning to sip wine from their toddler years) or does it normalise a dangerous drug?

Do you drink around your kids and what is your stopping point?

Tags: children, alcohol, society, morality, health

Justice for Ugly People

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:40:28 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: "In Britain, of course, we would have less of a political hurdle to overcome, as our sturdy leader has been bred for stomping around the grounds of a manse in Kirkcaldy rather than insinuating himself round the luscious forms of sultry tango dancers."

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Clip Source: lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk

an Argentine writer has been applying himself to wider questions of social injustice. Gonzalo Otalora has written a book entitled ¡Feo! (Ugly!), which calls for the taxation of good-looking people to counteract the natural advantages they have over munters.

"Countless studies show that ... it's easier for them to find jobs; they're paid more and find partners more easily," he says.

As you may possibly have already suspected, the genesis of Mr Otalora's tome lies in his years as a pallid, bespectacled, bepustuled youth in Buenos Aires, where he stood out like a sore, myopic thumb amid his buff compatriots

Some men would simply have retired, defeated - or moved to Britain - but Otalora used his experiences to formulate his radical policy of redistributive justice for the greater good.

We could either tax all celebrities or have a 24-hour-a-day reality show in which every member of society is assessed as taxably hot or not by a panel of vituperative judges.

Tags: humour, humor, society, politics

One in Three UK Nurses Abused by Patients

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:33:31 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Almost a third of nurses are subjected to physical assaults or verbal abuse at least once a month

The figure for British nurses is the second highest among ten European countries, with only France having a higher rate.

Male nurses were targeted more often than their female workmates. Those on psychiatric, geriatric and emergency wards were at higher risk

Roz Hanson feared she would die after a patient stabbed her with a broken mirror.

The casualty nurse, who gave up a job in a building society to join the NHS, was stabbed in the arm while trying to treat the man for minor injuries.

As she broke free and tried to run away, he stabbed her again, this time in the back.

Mrs Hanson needed 29 stitches, including 18 in her back, and spent nearly two days as a patient in her own hospital.

in a job where you are caring for someone who you think has turned to you in their hour of need, it is the last thing you expect."

Tags: health, healthcare, nurse, nursing, toss the idiots out the back door

Greedy, Vulgar, Tacky

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:09:10 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Lying seductively back on white silk sheets, legs akimbo, wearing naught but his skimpy undies, David Beckham's new poster ad is not so much "Hello Boys" as "Hello Sailors".

While many people will simply dismiss this image as little more than gay erotica - it is clearly, and cynically, designed to appeal as much to gay men as to women - I would suggest that this is a new low point in the vulgerisation of so much of modern life.

But then what else should we expect from the man who, along with his wife, has done as much as any modern celebrity to destroy the value placed by our society on self-respect and self-restraint.

Why should Beckham's private parts - for this is what it is really all about - be shoved into the nation's face for cheap commercial gain?

And what kind of a father - of three boys - exposes himself draped across the world's billboards in his posing pouch, looking like the male equivalent of a Page Three tart?

Tags: sports, celebrity, sex

On Patrol in Iraq

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:54:47 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

anyone who perceives Americans only as imperial bullies, blundering around Iraq purely for oil or some other selfish interest, has failed to explain men like Captain Francisco Lopez.

On a Stryker patrol in south-west Baghdad I watched him tirelessly listen, negotiate, cajole, advise and sympathise with anxious members of the public, displaying a bedside manner and Herculean patience that would make you think he was running for president.

During the hot afternoons they kicks footballs with children, reassure parents, take cups of tea out of politeness to their hosts and deal with a whole range of complaints about electricity, healthcare, rubbish collection, schools, sewage and water.

When will the bridge be fixed? Why is there no power? Why is there still rubbish in the street that could make our daughters ill? The captain pulled up a chair and did his best to answer all the questions.

He has more patriotic Iraqi feeling then the Iraqis themselves

Tags: war, soldiers, society, iraq

Are you a tokophobic?

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:04:24 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Of course, for most women, the anticipation of labour comes with a degree of anxiety. But as many as one in seven women are thought to suffer from tokophobia (a word which derives from the Greek "tokos" meaning childbirth).

Dealing with the condition is often difficult because it remains one of society's taboo subjects.

Despite her desire to find a way to have children, Rachel has been labelled "cold-hearted" and a "babyhater" by some friends she has discussed her fears with.

"Because there is the reward of a baby at the end of childbirth, it seems most people think that women should just stop whinging and get on with it," she says.

"In fact, plenty of mothers wear their stories of horrific deliveries like a badge of honour.

There are two main types of the condition. Primary tokophobia relates to childless women who have a deep-seated dread of pregnancy and birth, often relating back to their own mother's experience or something they learned in school.

Tags: sex, children, childbirth, fertility, health, psychology

Husband gets life-size tattoo of his wife - then she splits

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:10:45 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

After 15 happy years with his wife, Alan Jenkins decided it was time for the ultimate expression of love.

So, determined to prove his devotion, he had a lifesize image of her face - along with those of their two daughters - tattooed on his back.

The painful procedure took 20 hours and cost £870.

Unfortunately for the besotted Alan, it also backfired on a monumental scale after Lisa, 36, absconded with a 25-year-old Latvian hunk she had met at work.

Speaking last night, the jilted steelworker, said: "It's a real sickener. I thought she was happy.

"I had it because I thought we loved each other - I feel very betrayed."

Lisa met her new love, fitness instructor Kaspars Gavars, at work and now intends to move him into the family home in Port Talbot, South Wales, - once Alan has moved out.

"I didn't plan to fall in love with Kaspars - it just happened," she said.

"And I never wanted Alan to have my face tattooed on his back in the first place."

Tags: humor, funny, society, marriage, love, sex

Child Predator Kills Himself

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 11:47:06 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

A federal prosecutor accused of flying to Detroit last month to have sex with a 5-year-old girl committed suicide Friday in his cell in a Milan federal prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John D.R. Atchison was found unresponsive, taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m.

He was charged with three felonies, the most serious of which was crossing state lines with intent to have sex with someone under 12. A conviction had carried a minimum of 30 years in prison.

A statement released Friday by his lawyer, James Thomas, said Atchison had "done a lot of good in his life."

"Unfortunately, he is going to be judged by his most recent charges and what we have read in the media, and not by the goodness, hard work or by the love of his family."

Atchison had attempted to hang himself with a bedsheet last month in a Sanilac county jail, but another inmate alerted guards who stopped the suicide attempt.

Tags: children, sex, crime, society

Mom snorted cocaine off baby's stomach while breastfeeding.

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:59:06 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: wnyt.com

"This is right at the top of the all time despicable crime list in Schenectady," said Schenectady Police spokesman Lt. Brian Kilcullen.

Wendy Cook of Saratoga was one of five women arrested during a police operation targeting prostitution in Schenectady. Police say Cook's five year old daughter and eight week old son were with her as she stayed out all night, having sex and doing drugs. Police say at one point, cook even snorted cocaine off the baby's stomach as she was breastfeeding.

Police say Wendy Cook, 37 of Saratoga, had been out all night, selling sex and smoking crack and snorting cocaine, while her children were with her.

Cook is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. Her children were turned over to family members. Police say that the infant will be tested for cocaine.

Tags: children, crime, society, drugs, cocaine, idiots

My Life as a Woman

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:12:35 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

For the past week, steered by a small bunch of female friends, I experienced the thoughts, anxieties and simple daily tasks of a 21st-century woman. For one week, I lived as I imagined a woman might.

I worried about cellulite, obsessed about finding the right partner and thought constantly about my biological clock. In my mission, I journeyed into the darker side of the female psyche.

I won't wear dresses but I will ring my mother every day, buy flowers, read my horoscope, pluck my eyebrows and browse the chick-lit section of the bookshop - all things deemed necessary by my panel of female advisors.

Most frightening for me is the revelation that I will have to attempt to multi-task. That's right. I, a mere male, will try to do two things at once.

I have seen inside women's handbags and, for authenticity, filled mine with the following items: a hairbrush, old receipts, an umbrella, several pens that don't work, loose change, fluff, and a spare pair of pants.

Tags: gender, sex, society, entertainment, humour, humor

Serial Killers

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 19:45:25 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.francesfarmersrevenge.com

Dennis Rader - The BTK Killer

Serial Killers

The Killers Master List:

Alligator Man

Alphabet Murders

Angel of Death

Axeman of New Orleans

Blood Countess
Bloody Benders, The

Buttermilk Bluebeard

Cleveland Torso Murderer

Dog, Jim Red
Donnybrook Killer

French Ripper, The

Green Cleo
Green River Killer

Killer Clown

Monster of Rillington Place
Monster of The Andes

Sithole, Moses

Singing Strangler

Sunday Morning Slasher

Elizabeth Bathory

Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo

Overview:

Types of Killers

Unsolved

Serial Killer Nicknames

Essays/Information/Etc:

Crime Patterns

Profiling Basics

Genesis of a Serial Killer

Hybristophilia

Ligature Analysis

Serial Killer As Anti-Hero

Killers By Category

Snipers

Hospital Killers

Team Killers

Racially Motivated

Farm Killers

Spree Killers

Links

Archival
Encyclopedia Excerpts
Crime Magazine
Serial Killer Daily
Occult Crime Database
Criminal Justice Virtual Library
Crime Library

The Zodiac Killer

Tags: crime, serial killers, murder, society

Scary Stats - Child Predators

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:32:15 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: Few children are abducted and killed each year, but most are snatched within 3 blocks of home - scary.

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

Victim Profile

76 percent of children killed by their abductor are girls

The average age is between 11 and 12 years old

57 percent are victims of opportunity

14 percent are chosen because of some physical characteristic

Well over half of all child abductions that lead to murder happen within three blocks of the victim's home.

Source: Attorney General of Washington State, U.S. Department of Justice

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

Profile of A Killer Kidnapper

The average killer of abducted children is 27 years old

85 percent are unmarried

Half are unemployed

51 percent live either alone or with their parents

61 percent have prior arrests for violent crimes

66 percent have a legitimate reason to be in the area where the abduction takes place

Clip Source: www.karisable.com

There is one child abduction murder for every 10,000 reports of missing children

The media's fixation with pretty white girls who become victims is so prevalent that the concept has been coined the "The Missing White Girl Syndrome."

Tags: children, family, crime, society

Betting Their Lives - Gamblers Anonymous

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:12:52 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.star-telegram.com

America's love of gambling has a new, younger generation of addicts.

His introduction to gambling began innocently enough. Will says he was about 7 or 8 years old when his dad would let him scratch off instant lottery tickets. Reflecting now on his childhood, he realizes how excited he would get.

When he was 14, Will accompanied his dad to Lone Star Park and picked the winning horse on his first try.

And one form of gambling tends to lead to another. When he was 20, Will and a friend drove to the WinStar Casino in Oklahoma, only a day after he had wrecked his truck in an accident.

"I lost $700 the first night I went," Will says. "It felt so awesome that I had gone to a casino and played poker, that I didn't care about losing the money."

When Will first maxed out his credit card, he used a debit card linked to his parents' bank account for cash.

"I would literally buy a stick of gum and get $50 back," he says.

Today, Will is a member of Gamblers Anonymous.

Tags: society, gambling, psychology, mental illness

17 Grim Westerns

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 11:55:58 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.avclub.com

1. High Noon (1952)

Westerns tend to be about heroes, and heroes usually win. Which makes stark, morally muddy features like High Noon stand out.

2. Track Of The Cat (1954)

Robert Mitchum plays a strong-willed son in a stressed-out ranching family; when a panther starts preying on their cattle, Mitchum takes to the hills

4. The Searchers (1956)

The Searchers opens by introducing a happy family, then having most of them die horribly at the hands of Comanche raiders

the question of whether Wayne's wee niece—the family's one survivor—will be found alive becomes a question of whether she'll be sane and fit for white-folk society even if they do.

6. Man Of The West (1958)

Cooper plays a family man confronted by his murderous outlaw past

Clip Source: www.avclub.com

10. The Wild Bunch (1969)

13. High Plains Drifter (1973)

Eastwood plays a dark variation on the already dark Mysterious Stranger role he'd perfected

Clip Source: www.avclub.com

14. Heaven's Gate (1980)

15. Unforgiven (1992)

16. Dead Man (1995)

17. The Proposition (2005)

Tags: movies, entertainment, western