Current Events #3

More Human Than You?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/opinion/sunday/dogs-are-people-too.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

But now, by using the M.R.I. to push away the limitations of behaviorism, we can no longer hide from the evidence. Dogs, and probably many other animals (especially our closest primate relatives), seem to have emotions just like us. And this means we must reconsider their treatment as property.

Boy = 1, TSA = 0

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/06/us/vegas-flight-child/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

(CNN) -- A flight to America's adult playground, Las Vegas, had an unusual passenger last week: a 9-year-old boy traveling on his own, apparently without a ticket.

Destroying Bad Memories

http://news.yahoo.com/newtown-votes-demolish-sandy-hook-school-155625493.html

Newtown, Conn., residents have voted to move ahead with the plan to demolish Sandy Hook Elementary School and build a new one at the site of one of the worst school massacres in U.S. history.Demolition is slated to begin later this month. The new facility is expected to open in January 2016 at the same address on Dickinson Drive where 26 people, including 20 children, were killed on Dec. 14, 2012, when a 20-year-old gunman opened fire inside the school.

Bad Boys III: Time to Party?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/04/tech/web/internet-black-market/index.html

(CNN) -- Authorities say Silk Road, the shadowy "deep Web" site shut down by the FBI this week, was the Internet's biggest destination for drugs and other illegal goods.It had nearly 1 million registered users, the bureau says, and was used for roughly $1.3 billion in transactions over the past two or so years.

Diving for Migrants

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/health/camels-linked-to-spread-of-fatal-virus.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=1&

Lampedusa, Italy (CNN) -- "Today is a day of tears," Pope Francis said Friday of a shipwreck off the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa a day earlier, in which at least 111 people died.There are fears the death toll could rise further since the boat, which capsized after catching fire just half a mile off the coast, may have been carrying as many as 500 migrants from Africa. Italian authorities estimate that about 200 people are not accounted for.

We Elected These Idiots?

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-77729056/

U.S. House of Representatives Republicans are considering signing on to a short-term increase in the government's borrowing authority to buy time for negotiations on broader policy measures, according to a Republican leadership aide.

How long the increase might suffice - a few weeks or a few months - was unclear. But agreement by Republicans and Democrats to raise the debt ceiling would at least stave off a possible default after October 17, when Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has determined the government will no longer be able to borrow.

Very Bad Officer

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/08/us/bikers-attack-video/index.html?c=us

New York (CNN) -- New York police have arrested one of their own on riot and criminal mischief charges in connection with the September 29 attack on an SUV driver in New York City, a law enforcement official said Tuesday.Wojciech Braszczok, a 32-year-old detective in the New York Police Department who was off duty at the time, is allegedly shown on a video smashing the rear window of the Range Rover as it drove amid a sea of motorcyclists on the city's West Side Highway, according to the official.

Start Playing Nice…or Else!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/13/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?c=homepage-t

(CNN) -- Gunmen kidnapped seven aid workers in northwestern Syria on Sunday, officials said.The International Committee of the Red Cross said six Red Cross workers and one Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteer were kidnapped in Syria's Idlib province, where they had traveled to deliver medical supplies.

We Already Know the Winner

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/09/oops-azerbaijan-released-election-results-before-voting-had-even-started/

So it was a bit awkward when Azerbaijan's election authorities released vote results – a full day before voting had even started.The vote counts – spoiler alert: Aliyev was shown as winning by a landslide – were pushed out on an official smartphone app run by the Central Election Commission. It showed Aliyev as "winning" with 72.76 percent of the vote. That's on track with his official vote counts in previous elections: he won ("won"?) 76.84 percent of the vote in 2003 and 87 percent in 2008.

Burn the House Down

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/science/earth/by-2047-coldest-years-will-be-warmer-than-hottest-in-past.html?_r=0

If greenhouse emissions continue their steady escalation, temperatures across most of the earth will rise to levels with no recorded precedent by the middle of this century, researchers said Wednesday.Scientists from the University of Hawaii at Manoa calculated that by 2047, plus or minus five years, the average temperatures in each year will be hotter across most parts of the planet than they had been at those locations in any year between 1860 and 2005.

What is in Your Wallet

http://www.dogonews.com/2013/10/7/rare-400-cent-american-coin-sells-for-2-dollars-5-cents-million-usd/page/14

When the Los Angeles branch of Bonhams Auctioneers placed a rare $4USD gold coin up for bidding they knew they had something special. However even the experts were stunned when on September 23rd, 2013, instead of the expected $1.5 million USD, the coin fetched $2.75 million USD, placing it amongst the 10 most valuable US coins sold at an auction.

Were There Just a Lot of Stairs?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/sf-hospital-concludes-body-missing-patient-20523617

Family and friends of a patient who disappeared from her room only to be found dead in a hospital stairwell more than two weeks later demanded answers from authorities and medical officials, who said they, too, were horrified at what happened to Lynne Spalding.

Spalding had been missing for 17 days before she was found on Tuesday in a fourth-floor stairwell during a routine check. San Francisco General Hospital Chief Operating Officer Roland Pickens told the San Francisco Chronicle ( http://bit.ly/163082C ) the stairwell was several hundred feet from the unit where Spalding was being treated.

Lots of People Leave Safely

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2013/1013/In-India-Cyclone-Phailin-s-devastation-tempered-by-planning

India heaved a sigh of relief as Cyclone Phailin hit its east coast but left very few casualties, thanks to a speedy mass evacuation of nearly a million people. The official death toll of 14 so far includes 7 who died after being hit by falling trees before the cyclone hit. As rescue officials reach remote areas, the death toll is expected to climb but not top 100.

Burgers for Everyone

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Early-snow-kills-thousands-of-cattle-in-SD-4875848.php

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A record-breaking storm that dumped 4 feet of snow in parts of western South Dakota left ranchers dealing with heavy losses, in some cases perhaps up to half their herds, as they assess how many of their cattle died during the unseasonably early blizzard.

Cold Bangs of Idiocy

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/15/234649675/second-dry-ice-bomb-goes-off-at-l-a-airport

Monday night's incident occurred outside the airport's Tom Bradley Terminal. There were no reports of any injuries, authorities said. The Associated Press says that "the dry ice was found near a gate area, a secure part of LAX only accessible to airport workers, according to the Los Angeles Times. There were no reports of significant damage."

Two other devices also were found at the airport but they did not explode, Detective Gus Villanueva said, according to the AP. So far, he said, there do not appear to be any links to terrorism.