Video: Police Shoot Family’s Service Dog Outside 9-Year-Old’s Birthday Party

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Video: Police Shoot Family’s Service Dog Outside 9-Year-Old’s Birthday Party

Bear Scare As Couple Attacked Outside Home

A Scottish couple have had a brush with a bear after walking past it on the doorstep of their holiday home without even realising it was there.

CCTV footage shows Bob and Irene McKeown locking up their Californian holiday home as the creature lurks just metres from their front door.

The oblivious couple then walk towards their car, followed by the curious cub – and only realise the animal is there when it lurches towards them.

Mr McKeown said he suffered “a couple of scratches and a wee bit of bruising” after his encounter with the bear, which is believed to have been searching for food in Pasadena, near Los Angeles National Forest.

The animal, which neighbours said is a regular sight in the neighbourhood on days when rubbish is due to be collected, is not currently a risk to public safety, according to game warden Charlie Healy.

“It’s just a bear knocking through a neighbourhood,” he said. “We’re just going to let the problem fix itself.”

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

Odd News

Bear Scare As Couple Attacked Outside Home

The 6 creepiest “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” covers

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is one of those Christmas songs that really has nothing to do with Christmas — it’s just about cold weather, and also sexual coercion.

Famously, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” written by Frank Loesser in 1944, tells the story of a man and woman indoors on a snowy night; the woman repeatedly tries to depart for home and is repeatedly told that it’s too cold for her to travel. The woman, famously, asks, “What’s in this drink?” In the original score, the male part was denoted as the “wolf” and the female as the “mouse,” a predatory view of sex whereby the man must not woo but win that suffuses the entire song. “No” is never “no” over the course of the song.

The song has been defended as a narrative about a woman constructing her own excuses, as it was difficult for a woman in 1944 to stay over at a man’s house because she wanted to. However, it was also difficult for a woman in 1944 to say “no” and be heard; the song’s repeated covers over the years simply indicate how deeply ingrained in our culture is the idea (familiar from the work of Camille Paglia) that saying “no” is merely part of the flirtatious dance between the genders. Here are a few of the covers that have particularly creeped us out in recent years.

Norah Jones and Willie Nelson, 2009

Willie Nelson is by all accounts a lovely person and a legendary musician, but he is also 46 years Jones’ elder. Hearing him rasp, “What’s the sense in hurting my pride?” to the young lady he’s just served a drink is not how we want to celebrate the season.

Darren Criss and Chris Colfer, 2010 

There’s something about teens in the 2010s enacting the aggressive, posturing courtship rituals of the 1940s that’s somewhat depressing, not sweet.

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, 2012

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In this deeply strange, gender-swapped version, Newton-John tries to seduce her “Grease” costar, who’s worried about his parents overreacting to his coming home late. Travolta was 58 when this song came out, unlikely to be worried about his parents or, allegedly, the particular charms of a woman like Newton-John, who nearly blows out her larynx trying to sound kittenish.

Lady Gaga and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 2013

The pop scene’s most theatrical star and Hollywood’s most theatrical actor put on a very over-the-top rendition of the song on Gaga’s Thanksgiving special, complete with Gaga lying on top of Gordon-Levitt’s body and fighting with him over his coat.

Mac Miller and Ariana Grande, 2013

This version is creepy on aesthetic, not just ideological, grounds; it’s very low-fi and shuffling and melancholy, creating an almost dystopic mood as the pair circle each other.

Linda Eder and Jake Eder, 2013

This duet between singer and actress Eder and her teen son gets revisions — Jake is drinking hot cocoa and just wants to play computer games while at home — that point out just how edgy the original actually is. And memories of hearing, year after year, a woman ask a man to let her end the date are strange associations to bring to a mother-son duet.

Salon.com

The 6 creepiest “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” covers

Highest Radiation Level Ever, Lethal In 20 Minutes, Recorded Outside Fukushima Reactor

Highest Radiation Level Ever, Lethal In 20 Minutes, Recorded Outside Fukushima Reactor
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/12/NHK%20clip.jpg

Zero Hedge
December 8, 2013

With all the excitement about Japan’s soaring stock market (if plunging wages), crashing non-digital currency (leading to soaring energy prices), recent passage of an arbitrary secrecy bill (“Designed by Kafka & Inspired By Hitler“), and ongoing territorial spat with China, it is almost as if the Abe administration is desperately doing everything in its power, including some of the most ridiculous decisions taken by a government in recent history, to hide some key development behind the scenes. Such as this one perhaps: NHK reported today that TEPCO said radiation levels are extremely high in an area near a ventilation pipe at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. TEPCO found radiation of 25 sieverts an hour on a duct, which connects reactor buildings and the 120-meter-tall ventilation pipe.

Putting this number in context the estimated radiation level is the highest ever detected outside reactor buildings. People exposed to this level of radiation would die within 20 minutes.

The exhaust pipe in question was used to release radioactive gases following the outbreak of the accident 2 years ago.

TEPCO says radioactive substances could remain inside the pipes. Given TEPCO’s safety record, they could also leak outside of the pipes. And given the company’s “credibility” the world would be sure to learn about this… anywhere between 2 and 3 years after the fact.

In the meantime, we urge Japan to follow the bouncing, and so pleasantly distracting, Topix and Nikkei 225 balls, while sticking its head in the glow in the dark sand and completely ignore the radioactive monster in the closet.

From NHK:

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

… Which reminds us: on Thursday the following headline hit the Bloomberg tape:

• FUKUSHIMA RADIATION TO REACH U.S. COAST AT SAFE LEVEL: NRC

We are sure it is nothing, and the NRC is telling the truth.

This article was posted: Sunday, December 8, 2013 at 7:30 am

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Prison Planet.com

Read more about Highest Radiation Level Ever, Lethal In 20 Minutes, Recorded Outside Fukushima Reactor and other interesting subjects concerning NSA at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Ukraine government survives in parliament while rage boils outside

By Thomas Grove

KIEV Tue Dec 3, 2013 4:05am EST

1 of 2. Police stand guard in front of protesters during a demonstration in support of EU integration in front of the Parliament building in Kiev December 3, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Gleb Garanich

KIEV (Reuters) – Thousands of pro-EU protesters calling for the resignation of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich gathered outside parliament on Tuesday with opposition leaders pressing for a vote of no-confidence in his government.

Only days after a massive rally that brought 350,000 protesters into central Kiev, Yanukovich is set to travel to China, leaving the country plunged into crisis by his decision to spurn a landmark deal with the European Union and boost ties with Ukraine’s Soviet master Russia.

In addition to political opposition, Yanukovich is under pressure from international markets, increasing the risk of a financial crisis that could force his hand.

Ukraine’s currency and bonds have come under pressure, along with share prices, and the central bank was forced to assure people their savings were safe and there was no need for panic withdrawals.

The cost of insuring Ukraine’s debt against default has risen to its highest since September, while the government must find billions to meet debt repayments and the cost of gas imports next year.

Outside parliament, several thousand protesters holding EU and Ukrainian flags stood face to face with riot police. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov accused the opposition of planning to seize the building.

Protesters had blocked the entrances to the main government building on Monday, and Azarov said the government could not perform its basic functions, which could affect the payment of pensions and salaries.

“This has all the signs of a coup d’etat. This is a very serious matter,” Interfax news agency quoted him as telling the ambassadors of the EU, United States and Canada.

Parliamentarian Hannah Herman, from Yanukovich’s Party of Regions, said there was a possibility that some members of the party could vote against Yanukovich’s government.

Deputies were due to debate whether to hold a no-confidence vote. The opposition needs at least 226 votes to get the confidence motion on the agenda, and the same again to pass it.

LONG CAMPAIGN

In Kiev’s Independence Square protesters set up tented camps in preparation for a long campaign against Yanukovich’s last-minute decision to reject the free trade deal, which had been due to be signed on Friday.

On Monday, demonstrators halted traffic and called a general strike, seeking to force Yanukovich from office after massive demonstrations at the weekend, the biggest since the pro-democracy “Orange Revolution” of nine years ago.

The United States said violence by the authorities against protesters on Saturday was unacceptable that reports of media representatives being targeted were “disturbing”.

With temperatures dropping well below zero, the numbers of protesters have dropped sharply, and Yanukovich clearly felt the security situation was under control when he announced he would stick to a plan to travel on Tuesday to China, from which he is seeking loans and investment to avert a debt crisis.

But some felt leaving was unwise nevertheless.

“It is a very bad time to go abroad. The president’s absence may make talks with the opposition much more difficult,” said Ukrainian political analyst Gleb Vyshlinsky.

Russia wants to draw Ukraine into a Moscow-led customs union and prevent it moving closer to the EU, a move that would signal a historic shift towards the West and away from Kiev’s former Soviet masters in Moscow.

But the tug-of-war between Brussels and Moscow for influence in Ukraine has so far done little to alleviate its looming debt crisis and the China visit will involve the signing of at least 20 economic and trade agreements.

“Yanukovich is trying to show that the European Union and Russia are not the only possible partners for Ukraine,” said Volodymyr Fesenko of Ukraine’s Penta think-tank.

However, he said Beijing may now demand assurances over Ukraine’s political and economic stability, adding: “Ukraine is unlikely to secure direct financial aid (from China).”

Beijing has already provided the former Soviet republic with loans worth $ 10 billion, but the government must find more than $ 17 billion in 2014 to meet gas bills and debt repayments.

(Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk; editing by Richard Balmforth and Giles Elgood)

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Reuters: Top News

Ukraine government survives in parliament while rage boils outside

UPDATE 1-Atomico aims $476 mln fund at tech start-ups outside Silicon Valley

UPDATE 1-Atomico aims $476 mln fund at tech start-ups outside Silicon Valley
http://currenteconomictrendsandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/db98b__p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

Tue Nov 19, 2013 1:27pm EST

By Mia Shanley

Nov 19 (Reuters) – Atomico, a European venture capital firm that has invested in the likes of Angry Birds developer Rovio, plans to spend its new $ 476 million fund on technology start-ups outside Silicon Valley, it said on Tuesday.

While the United States has long dominated venture capital investments in technology, investors have been increasingly drawn to opportunities in Asia and Europe, especially in areas such as e-commerce and gaming.

“Ten years ago people thought you had to be in Silicon Valley to build a global technology business. That is no longer the case,” said Atomico founder Niklas Zennstrom, a Swedish entrepreneur who co-founded Skype, a web phone service which was sold to Microsoft Corp for $ 8.5 billion in 2011.

“We see entrepreneurs from all over the world achieving global success faster than ever before and across every sector of the global economy. Our new fund is aimed squarely at this opportunity,” he said.

Reuters reported last week that London-based Atomico had wrapped up its third fund, citing a document filed with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.

The venture capital firm said on Tuesday the fund, three times the size of its previous in 2010, would be dedicated to helping entrepreneurs outside Silicon Valley scale their businesses globally.

Asked which sectors the money could be spent on, Mattias Ljungman, an Atomico partner who also sits on the board of Finnish mobile game maker Supercell, pointed to a current portfolio of investments which includes online games, payments, travel and e-commerce services.

“This is what’s so exciting. What we’re seeing now is the transformation of the old economy into the new economy, which is a digitised economy,” he said, adding that there were a lot of interesting opportunities in the mobile phone space.

He said Atomico would stay focused on big markets where it is present such as Europe, China, Japan, Brazil, Turkey and South Korea.

“But that’s by no means exclusive,” he added. “We want to work with outstanding entrepreneurs wherever they are.”

The firm said the fund was oversubscribed and had broad backing from investors in Asia, the United States and Europe.

According to Thomson Reuters data, venture capital firms have made $ 35.7 billion in tech investments so far this year, with the United States taking up the lion’s share at almost 60 percent followed by Asia at 31 percent and Europe at 9 percent.

Atomico, which is seven years old, has made more than 50 investments including Jawbone, maker of the Up fitness tracker, and Swedish payments service Klarna.

Supercell, one of its earlier investments, was recently given a $ 3 billion valuation after Japan’s SoftBank snapped up a 51 percent stake in the three-year-old firm.

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Reuters: Financial Services and Real Estate

Read more about UPDATE 1-Atomico aims $476 mln fund at tech start-ups outside Silicon Valley and other interesting subjects concerning Real Estate at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Spying on someone outside

Spying on someone outside
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Illinois Law Would Heavily Restrict Possession of Firearms Outside Home

Awr Hawkins
Breitbart
Oct. 18, 2013

In a bid to fight against criminal and gang possession of firearms on the street, Illinois state rep. Mike Zalewski (D-21st Dist.) is set to propose legislation that essentially labels all firearm possession outside the home illegal.

This measure—HB 2265—does not differentiate between possession by law-abiding citizens and possession by criminals or gang members. And the NRA warns that this creates a situation where a law-abiding citizen who has a gun in his or her car for self-defense—but no concealed carry permit or Firearm Owner Identification Card (FOID)—could “face serious penalties for an innocuous mistake.”

In other words, someone who has moved to the state but has yet to receive their carry permit or FOID could face extensive jail time for the victimless crime of exercising their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Read more

This article was posted: Friday, October 18, 2013 at 10:39 am

Tags: constitution, gun rights

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Infowars

Illinois Law Would Heavily Restrict Possession of Firearms Outside Home

Suicide bombers kill 78 Christians outside Pakistani church

1 of 2. A man cries at the death of his brother at the site of a suicide blast at a church in Peshawar, September 22, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Fayaz Aziz

By Fayaz Aziz

PESHAWAR, Pakistan | Sun Sep 22, 2013 7:15am EDT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a 130-year-old church in Pakistan after Sunday Mass, killing at least 56 people in the deadliest attack on Christians in the predominantly Muslim South Asian country.

Religious violence and attacks on security forces have been on the rise in Pakistan in past months, undermining Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s efforts to tame the insurgency after coming to power in June.

The attackers struck the historic white-stone All Saints Church in the north-western city of Peshawar just as hundreds of parishioners streamed out of the building after Sunday mass.

“I heard two explosions. People started to run. Human remains were strewn all over the church,” said one parishioner, who only gave her first name, Margrette.

Her voice breaking with emotion, she said she had not seen her sister since the explosions ripped through the gate area outside the church.

Christians make up about four percent of Pakistan’s population of 180 million and tend to keep a low profile in a country where Sunni Muslim militants frequently bomb targets they see as heretical, including Christians, Sufis and Shi’ites.

Attacks on Christian areas occur sporadically around the country but Sunday’s assault was the most violent in recent history.

In 2009, 40 houses and a church were set ablaze by a mob of 1,000 Muslims in the town of Gojra in Punjab province. At least seven Christians were burnt to death. Seventeen Christians were killed in an attack on a church in Bahawalpur in 2001.

Najeeb Bogvi, a senior police officer, put the death toll from Sunday’s attack at 56, saying more than 100 people were wounded. Police said the death toll included many children and women.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the densely populated Christian residential area in the old walled city in Peshawar.

ANGRY RESIDENTS

Some residents, enraged at the lack of adequate security at the church, took to the streets immediately after the attack, burning tires and shouting slogans. Shops were closed in the Kohati Gate area where several other churches are located.

“Terrorists have not spared mosques, temples and churches. Please have mercy on us,” one man outside the church, his face distorted by fear and anger, told Pakistan’s private Geo television channel.

Protests by Christians were also reported in other cities including the violent port city of Karachi.

A bomb disposal security source said there were two explosions carried out by a pair of attackers. More than 600 parishioners were inside the church for the service.

Pakistan, which also faces a Taliban insurgency, is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for minorities, and Christians, Shi’ite Muslims and Ahmadis are victims of a rising tide of deadly violence.

Sunday’s attacks could complicate efforts by Sharif to engage militants in peace negotiations at a time when roadside bombs, targeted killings and suicide attacks continue unabated.

“The Prime Minister said that terrorists have no religion and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all religions,” his office said in a statement.

“He added that such cruel acts of terrorism reflect the brutality and inhumane mind set of the terrorists.”

(Writing by Maria Golovnina; additional reporting by Hameedullah Khan and Syed Raza Hassan; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Suicide bombers kill 78 Christians outside Pakistani church