For thieves in Tampa, Florida, it wasn’t enough to ruin a family’s Christmas by stealing all of the toys for their children.
The thieves also stole the family dog.
Melody Russell, a single mother with two children, came home Monday night to find her house had been ransacked. All the Christmas presents she had saved to buy for her children were gone along with the TV, computers and many other valuables. The burglars broke in through a sliding glass door in the back of the home to hide themselves from neighbors.
Russell’s children, ages 7 and 5, began to cry when they discovered their 12-week-old Shih Tzu, Honey, was also taken.
“[My daughter] Marissa, she could barely talk last night because she was just crying and crying,” Russell told Fox Tampa Bay. “It’s hard. It’s like losing a family member. It really is.”
However, there was a piece of Christmas magic when the Tampa police department discovered the robbery. Several officers and dispatchers immediately hit the local malls to buy 30 Christmas gifts for Russell’s children so they would have something under their tree on Christmas morning.
A Salvation Army toy outreach in Pittsburgh had to be shut down when the crowd grew so unruly police had to be dispatched to the scene.
People who had been waiting outside a Salvation Army on North Avenue forced their way into the building when the doors opened and there were not enough staff in the building to control the crowds. The problem appeared to be a group of people who refused to wait in line and tried to jump in front of everyone else.
Police forced everyone to leave.
The Salvation Army recruited more volunteers and was able to hold the toy drive the following day.
A Salvation Army spokeswoman told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that many people showed up before their designated pick up times which contributed to the overcrowding.
Canada’s Supreme Court voted unanimously Friday to strike down all of the country’s anti-prostitution laws.
Anyone in Canada will be able to engage in prostitution in any form and be free to own & operate a brothel in the country. The order from the court has been placed on a one-year hold to give the Parliament an opportunity to respond with new legislation.
The laws struck down make it illegal to run a brothel; to live off the avails of prostitution and soliciting on the street for prostitution.
An appeals court in Ontario had previously struck down the brothel ban saying it exposed women to more danger.
Sex trade workers across the country celebrated the ruling.
Major social media network Facebook is again allowing users to post videos of people being murdered.
Facebook reversed an earlier decision banning posting of videos that showed people being beheaded or killed but now allow the videos with a warning that the video contains graphic content. The initial ban had been made after outcry from worldwide government officials.
The majority of the videos are of the beheadings of members of Mexican drug cartels. The videos usually show the entire murder from start to finish. The site is also allowing the posting of executions taking place in the middle east and Asia along with terrorist killings.
Those taking the social media giant to task say that because the site allows users as young as 13 years old the videos could cause significant mental stress. The critics point out that Facebook has rules prohibiting videos that show a single woman’s exposed breast – thus blocking some videos of mothers breastfeeding their children – but have nothing to stop what are essentially snuff films.
Facebook says they are allowing the videos to be posted so that users can discuss them and share their outrage about the killings. The site says they will remove videos if the people who post it glorify the violence in the videos in any way.
British Prime Minister David Cameron called out Facebook saying their actions were irresponsible and that they “must explain their actions to worried parents.”
Facebook has not commented about the decision to add warnings to the videos.
The FBI, DEA and multiple other federal agencies combined to shut down a massive online marketplace for illegal drugs and other criminal activities.
The hidden website, called “Silk Road” allowed criminals to buy and sell their goods much like well known sites such as Craigslist. The site’s believed over, Ross Ulbricht, was arrested and the site shut down.
Federal authorities seized over $3.6 million in the online currency “bitcoins”. The criminal website had totaled over $1.2 billion in sales.
The website was called a “black market bazaar” by federal officials. Users could buy drugs in various categories including “Cannabis”, “Ecstasy”, “Intoxicants”, “Prescription” and “Psychedelics.” Customers could also hire hackers to get into Facebook or Twitter accounts. Other “services” were offered including stolen identity information, guns and anonymous bank accounts.
Owner Ulbricht was accused by federal authorities of trying to arrange for the murder of a Silk Road user by a second Silk Road user. The subject of the hit was threatening to release information regarding the users of Silk Road.
Martin Daubney, former editor of a soft core pornography magazine, has turned his back on the porn industry and is now speaking out against the dangers of pornography for the youth of today.
London’s Daily Mail reported that Daubney has been conducting conversations with teen males about their pornography habits and a research study that has shown porn to be addictive. Daubney is now warning parents of the dangers of pornography on teen males.
Daubney is part of an upcoming documentary called “Porn On The Brain” where he expresses shock and dismay over the extent of teenager’s knowledge of porn.
“I was profoundly saddened by what I had witnessed,” said Daubney. “While teenage boys will always be fascinated by, and curious about, sex, what’s now considered ‘normal’ by under-18s is an entirely distorted view of intercourse and the way relationships should be conducted.”
“When you interview young women about their experiences of sex, you see an increased level of violence: rough, violent sex,” Professor Gail Dines told Daubney as part of the documentary. “That is directly because of porn, as young boys are getting their sexual cues from men in porn who are acting as if they’re sexual psychopaths,” she added. “Pornography is sexually traumatizing an entire generation of boys.”
South African police have announced the arrests of six men in connection with a child pornography investigation.
The six men are believed to have connections in the U.S, Canada, the U.K. And multiple European nations. Police say among the six are a school headmaster and two teachers. Continue reading →
If a man wants to pick up a prostitute in Zurich, Switzerland, the government is now providing a place for them to go.
Officials in Zurich say it’s a way for them to regulate prostitution, stop pimping and improve working conditions for sex workers. Continue reading →
Businesses in New York City remain unconcerned after a global terror alert was issued by the State Department on Friday. They believe that the threats will not keep tourists from visiting the city.
The alerts stated “al Qaeda operatives may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the coming weeks.” However, the alert did not mention that New York City faced a direct threat. Continue reading →
British Prime Minister David Cameron released a plan Monday to limit access to internet pornography.
“I feel profoundly as a politician, and as a father, that the time for action has come,” Cameron said. Continue reading →
