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MEAN STREETS MEDIA

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Greece Athens ( Protesters throw petrol bombs - Anti government rally ) See photos


 
Police have clashed with protesters hurling petrol bombs and bottles in central Athens after an anti-government rally called as part of a general strike in Greece turned violent.
Picture: REUTERS/Yorgos Karahalis
About 50,000 people joined the union-organised march in Athens, held during a general strike against new austerity measures planned in the crisis-hit country. The action, the first large-scale walk-out since the country's coalition government was formed in June, closed schools and disrupted flights and most services.
Picture: EPA/SIMELA PANTZARTZI
Demonstrators react to teargas fired by riot police
 
A masked protester runs during the demonstration
Demonstrators shout slogans in front of the Greek Parliament during a general strike

Mississippi ( 5 yr old sent home from school - wrong color shoes )

Cops Nab 5-Year-Old for Wearing Wrong Color Shoes to School

Have Mississippi’s disciplinary tactics gotten out of control?
Cops Nab 5-Year-Old for Wearing Wrong Color Shoes to School
Wearing the wrong shoes can get kids thrown into one of these in Mississippi. (Photo: Mitch Kezar)
In Mississippi, if kindergarteners violate the dress code or act out in class, they may end up in the back of a police car.
A story about one five-year-old particularly stands out. The little boy was required to wear black shoes to school. Because he didn’t have black shoes, his mom used a marker to cover up his white and red sneakers. A bit of red and white were still noticeable, so the child was taken home by the cops.
The child was escorted out of school so he and his mother would be taught a lesson.
Ridiculous? Perhaps. But incidents such as this are happening across Mississippi. A new report, “Handcuffs on Success: The Extreme School Discipline Crisis in Mississippi Public Schools,” exposes just how bad it’s become.
Released on January 17, the report is a joint project between state chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Mississippi Coalition for the Prevention of Schoolhouse to Jailhouse and the Advancement Project.
The report examined more than 100 school districts and claimed that black students are affected by harsh disciplinary actions at a much greater rate than their white peers. It notes that “for every one white student who is given an out-of-school suspension, three black students are suspended, even though black students comprise just half of the student population.”
Carlos McCray, an associate professor at Fordham University Graduate School of Education in the Education Leadership Administration Program, says, “Research has shown that students who are subjected to multiple suspensions and expulsions are more likely to drop out of school. And we all know where this leads.”
More: In Mississippi, Dress Code Violations and Back-Talk Send Students Straight to Jail

 

 

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Cal State Fullerton ( Observe a moment of silence for Monica Quan - Coach killed )

 

Cal State Fullerton players observe a moment of silence before Saturday's game (via @VikkiNBCLA)
Less than a week after the Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team learned assistant coach Monica Quan had been shot to death in her car last weekend, the Titans played a game in her honor Saturday afternoon.
A look at the shirts worn by Cal State Fullerton players (via @BigWestWBB)They lost to UC Riverside 64-45, but the final score was secondary to paying tribute to the 28-year-old woman they knew as "Coach Mo."
Awaiting fans as they walked into Titan Gym was a memorial featuring photos of Quan and several bouquets of flowers. There was also a blank book and a handful of pens to allow fans to offer their condolences.
During pregame warmups, Cal State Fullerton players donned orange T-shirts that read "MOtivation" on one side and "... it is the courage to continue that counts" on the other. They also observed a moment of silence in Quan's honor before tipoff before the catharsis of the game itself finally arrived.
The game was no doubt the first bit of normalcy for Cal State Fullerton since they learned authorities found the bodies of Quan and her fiancé, 27-year-old Keith Lawrence, in their car at a parking structure in Irvine Sunday night. Quan and Lawrence met at Concordia University in Irvine, where both played basketball for the Division III school.
A memorial for Monica Quan at Titan Gym (via @AbbeyMastracco)Police believe the couple was targeted by fired police officer Christopher Dorner, who has allegedly also killed a Riverside police officer this week and has threatened to bring "warfare" to the Los Angeles Police Department. Quan's father, ex-LAPD captain Randy Quan, was involved in the 2008 firing of Dorner.
Quan, who graduated from Concordia in 2007, was in her second season as an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton under coach Marcia Foster. Earlier this week, Foster told reporters she'll remember Quan for her work ethic, honesty and passion for life.
"We are going to have some work to do," said Foster, "because too many young women have been affected by this."

MOSCOW ( Two American adoptive mothers get their Russian Kids )

American adoptive mothers get their Russian kids

MOSCOW (AP) — After weeks of anxiety plodding through the opaque Russian legal system, two U.S. women have custody of their adopted Russian children and are preparing to take them home to start a new life together.
Jeana Bonner of South Jordan, Utah, and Rebecca Preece from Nampa, Idaho, told The Associated Press on Saturday about the expenses, the confusion and emotional swings they've gone through since arriving in Moscow in mid-January, expecting to quickly leave with their children, both of whom have Down syndrome.
The Bonners and Preeces each have another child with the syndrome.
Bonner and Preece, and their husbands Wayne and Brian, had spent about a year, including multiple trips to Russia, to arrange for the adoption of the 5-year-old girl and 4 ½-year-old boy. By late 2012, the adoptions had received court approval and they thought all they had to do was wait out the 30-day period in which such rulings can be challenged.
But in those 30 days, a ban on Americans adopting Russian children sped through parliament and into law, part of a hastily born package of measures retaliating against a new U.S. law allowing sanctions on Russians identified as human-rights violators.
When Jeana Bonner and the Preeces arrived in Moscow, they found themselves caught in a legalistic blind alley. Although officials said adoptions approved before the ban would go through, the judge who was to issue the decree formally granting custody said the ban meant there was now no mechanism for him to do so.
Help came from a surprising quarter — the office of Russia's children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov, who has been one of the strongest critics of American adoptions. The office appointed an attorney for the Preeces and Bonners, who obtained a Supreme Court order directing the lower court to immediately issue the decree, Bonner said.
"We were really excited and thought 'let's go pick up our children'," Bonner said. But the lower court waited another 15 days. "That was really frustrating and disheartening" especially because some other American adoptive parent had received quick action from courts in other regions of Moscow, she said.
The further delay forced Brian Preece to go back home to attend to the family's fireplace business, while the two women stayed, racking up what Rebecca Preece said were "a couple thousand dollars" in costs for food, accommodation and canceled flights.
The decree came through on Tuesday, the women rushed to the orphanages.
"It was an amazing day, just so special, what we'd hoped and dreamed it would be," Bonner said.
Both aim to leave on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, they've been doting on the kids, who are keeping their Russian names as middle names and getting new first names — Jaymi Viktoria Bonner and Gabriel Artur Preece.
The children have already brought some cheerful surprises to the toy-laden hotel rooms where they're staying until the flight to the U.S.
"As soon as he saw the bathtub, he wanted a bath," Preece said. "That's been his favorite thing to do, sit in the warm water, sit and splash in the bathtub."
The pleasure of finally having the children has smoothed over much of the last month's distress and the women expect to leave Russia with favorable memories.
In light of ombudsman Astakhov's criticism of American adoptions and frequent complaints that adopted Russian children face abuse and even death at the hands of their new parents, "We were very surprised that he had appointed that attorney for us," Preece said.
"It makes us hopeful for the other families that have met their children and really would like to finish their adoptions," she said. "It makes us hopeful that they will do the right thing for these families as well."
At the time the ban went into effect, 46 adoption cases went into the legal limbo. U.S. officials have not said how many cases have been resolved.

TUCSON Az ( LA Fitness Thief - steals credit cards from lockers ) see photo

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Detectives are asking for the public's help in identifying a man suspected of stealing credit cards and charging thousands of dollars on them. The warning is be careful this morning, if attending a gym keep an eye on personal belongings.
A man stole credit cards from a locker inside a LA Fitness gym in Tucson.
Pima County Sheriff's deputies are looking for a man who went on a shopping spree, with those same stolen credit cards.
Detectives have released surveillance video of the suspect at several stores, including a local Best Buy, a Chipotle restaurant and a Ben Bridge Jewelry store, charging more than $20,000 in purchases.
Tom Peine with the Pima County Sheriff's Department says there are a lot of unknowns in this case, but they believe he has done it before. Peine says in the video the suspect is talking with cashiers and seems perfectly at ease.
The suspect is described as 6 feet tall and weighing around 220 pounds and speaks with a possible Russian accent.

Paris ( Smelly Family ordered to leave popular museum )

Smelly French family 'ordered to leave Musee d'Orsay'

A French family were ordered to leave one of Paris's most popular museums because their body odour was annoying other visitors.

Smelly French family 'ordered to leave Musee d'Orsay'
The Musee d'Orsay Photo: ALAMY

The couple and a young child were on a free trip to the Musee d'Orsay with a charity that supports hard-up families.
As the group browsed a room with paintings by Van Gogh, security guards told them they had to leave the building because people were "complaining about their smell".
The worker with the Act for Dignity charity said: "I argued with the security man, telling him the family were all decent and properly dressed.
"Not a single other person had complained about us so I refute the idea that it was their smell.
"We moved on to another room, but we were again met by four museum guards who ordered us out of the building."
Claire Hedon, vice-president of the ATD charity, said she had written to Aurelie Filippetti, the French culture minister, to complain about the incident.
The director of the museum told the French media he was "saddened" by the treatment of the family.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Bahrain ( Protesters 31 of them - Stripped of citizenship ) see photo

Bahrain accused of failing to follow through political reforms

Bahrain's leaders hit back against criticism by a leading rights group that the Gulf state has failed to follow through with promised political and security reforms in the wake of the kingdom's anti-government uprising.

Bahrain accused of failing to follow through political reforms
More than 55 people have been killed in clashes between Bahraini authorities and Shiite-led protesters Photo: REUTERS

Authorities cited a series of measures taken since an independent report on the crisis came out last November, including giving more oversight to parliament.
Amnesty International says any progress has been overshadowed by harsh steps recently in attempts to quell the 21-month-old protests, including a ban on demonstrations and stripping 31 activists of citizenship.
"Bahrain is facing a stark choice between the rule of law or sliding into a downward spiral of repression and instability," Amnesty said in a report, issued on the anniversary of the independent fact-finding inquiry into Bahrain's unrest.
The inquiry, led by Egyptian-born legal scholar Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, called for sweeping overhauls in Bahrain's political system and investigations into alleged abuses by security forces after protests began in February 2011.
More than 55 people have been killed in clashes between Bahraini authorities and Shiite-led protesters demanding a greater political voice in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.