MATHIMORTICIAN

R.I.P. Roger Ebert, The Man Who Made Millions Fall in Love with Movies

2013-04-04T15:33:00.001-07:00

R.I.P. Roger Ebert, The Man Who Made Millions Fall in Love with Movies
http://feedly.com /k/10zYXVR

Roger Ebert, the film critic with the legendary thumb has died. He passed away in Chicago at the age of 70.

Headline Says It All: ‘Four Smurfs Arrested Over Assault’ [feedly]

2013-01-13T21:27:00.001-07:00

Headline Says It All: 'Four Smurfs Arrested Over Assault'
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/11/headline-says-it-all-four-smurfs-arrested-over-assault/

A screen shot of the Smurfs from a surveillance video.

The headline on the Australian news website reads: "Four Smurfs arrested over assault."

And that about sums it up.

Of course there is video of said Smurfs, who are said to have beaten a man who offered them a cigarette but refused to light it. From TheAge.com:

A 37-year-old Pascoe Vale man was buying cigarettes at a convenience store when he was approached by a man painted blue and dressed as a character from the 1980s cartoon show, police say.

The Smurf asked for a cigarette and was offered one, but he demanded the man light the cigarette before handing it over.

Police asked the men to turn themselves in. And they did:

No word on why the men were dressed as Smurfs or why they were so angry at the man for not lighting their cigarette. But we do know they were kind of blue.

Follow Jonathon M. Seidl on Twitter

How Are Skeptics Reacting to the ‘Hottest Year on Record’ Report?

2013-01-09T12:36:00.001-07:00

How Are Skeptics Reacting to the ‘Hottest Year on Record’ Report?:
The National Climatic Data Center’s head of climate monitoring Deke Arndt called the record highs in 2012 ”off the charts.” The Associated Press reported him saying that 2012 is ”a huge exclamation point at the end of a couple decades of warming,” which is attributable, according to the report, to both man-made climate change and natural variation.
Scientists say even with global warming, natural and local weather changes mean that temperatures will go up and down over the years. But overall, according to what’s being released, temperatures are climbing. In the United States, the temperature trend has gone up 1.3 degrees over the last century, according to NOAA data. The last year the U.S. was cooler than the 20th-century average was 1997.

This chart shows 2012 compared to other years. (Image: NOAA/NCDC)

“These records do not occur like this in an unchanging climate,” said Kevin Trenberth, head of climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. “And they are costing many billions of dollars.”

This map shows state rankings by average temperature. (Image: NOAA/NCDC)

What would so-called climate skeptics have to say about these records?
One of them, Steven Goddard who maintains the blog “Real Science,” wrote that NOAA “inflated the 2012 record maximum number,” which was reported to be 3.2 degrees warmer than the average for the entire 20th century. How did they allegedly inflate this? “By adding new stations which didn’t exist during the hot years of the 1930s,” Goddard wrote.
“An apples to apples comparison uses only the same stations,” he continued. ”When that is done, 2012 doesn’t even crack the ten hottest years.”
Meteorologist Joe Bastardi (via Climate Depot) echoed these sentiments on Twitter the week before the numbers were formally released.

Read more about NOAA’s 2012 State of the Climate here. Watch CBS’ report about the U.S.’s high average 2012 temperature:

Although the final numbers for global temperatures for 2012 from NOAA won’t be released until next week, according to the data, in the first 11 months of 2012, the world was on pace to have its eighth warmest year on record.
In the mean time, in other world global temperature news, on Tuesday the U.K.’s MET office scaled back forecasts for how much it predicted the world would warm by 2017. According to the BBC, it had previously predicted a rise in temperature by 0.54 C but a new computer model set it at 0.43 C. BBC noted the MET Office saying that the work is experimental though that that it will stand by the predictions it has made for the longer term.
If the newest computer model is correct, this means the average global temperature was static for about the last two decades, according to BBC. Here’s the MET’s response to this:

A Met Office spokesman said “this definitely doesn’t mean any cooling – there’s still a long-term trend of warming compared to the 50s, 60s or 70s.
“Our forecast is still for temperatures that will be close to the record levels of the past few years.
“And because the natural variability is based on cycles, those factors are bound to change the other way at some point.”

Still, there are some who believe the difference shown in this computer model could cause questioning of the accuracy of other models. According to the Daily Mail, Dr. David Whitehouse with the Global Warming Policy Foundation said that with no statistically significant change in global temperatures since 1998 would “pose fundamental problems for climate models.”
“If the latest Met Office prediction is correct, then it will prove to be a lesson in humility,” Whitehouse said, according to the Daily Mail.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Featured image via Shutterstock.com.
Follow Liz Klimas on Twitter
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Alex Jones Goes Ballistic Debating Gun Control With Piers Morgan: ’1776 Will Commence Again If You Try to Take Our Firearms!’
Poll: Where Do You Stand On Guns, Gun Rights, And The Second Amendment?
Iowa Lawmaker: Ban Semi-Automatic Weapons, Then ‘Start Taking Them’ From Gun Owners if Needed
Obama’s Inaugural Invocation Pick Breaks With 200+ Years of American Tradition
Gawker Publishes Complete 446-Page List of ‘All the A**holes Who Own Guns in New York City’

Graphic Images: Syrian Rebels Allegedly Use ‘Small Boy’ to Help Them Behead Captive

2012-12-10T23:13:00.001-07:00

Graphic Images: Syrian Rebels Allegedly Use 'Small Boy' to Help Them Behead Captive

Published on TheBlaze.com - Stories | shared via feedly mobile

Screenshot from YouTube of the disturbing video purporting to show Syrian rebels beheading a man.

Iran's Fars News website is reporting on a video it says was just released on a Syrian opposition website showing rebels using a machete to behead loyalists to President Bashar Assad. Sickeningly, a child is shown aiding in the crime. Fars reports:

The Syrian website al-Haqiqa posted a video which is the most horrific of all videos released so far about the Syrian crisis.

The tragic incident has reportedly happened in an area located between Talbisiyeh and Rastan towns in the Western Homs province

The video shows a group of Takfiri armed rebels affiliated to the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) who call themselves Khaled bin Walid Battalion and use children for beheading abducted citizens.

Fars News calls the rebels "Takfiri," by which it is accusing them in Arabic of being non-believers. The Shiite Iranian regime has been a staunch supporter of President Assad in the almost two-year uprising against mostly Sunni opponents. Fars further reports:

The video showed the terrorists bringing down the heads of the people on a piece of stone and beheaded them by using a machete.

The video appeared on the facebook page of Khaled bin Walid which is run by Qassem Sadeddin, a defected Syrian Air Force colonel.

The Iranian news agency reflects its government's concern with the influx of Sunni terrorists to Syria, who now pose a serious threat to Assad. Fars accuses other Muslim nations as well as the U.S. of supporting the Islamist radicals:

Moreover, a new al-Qaeda was formed with the support of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the western countries, specially the US, in Syria.

The above countries recruit the Salafis from different countries such as Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Libya, Europe, even Afghanistan and some Central Asian countries, train them in Libya and Turkey, and eventually send them to Syria to fight President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Terrorists have tried hard in the last several days to make Syrian cities unsafe for citizens, but the army has purged them from most neighborhoods and districts, killed tens of them and arrested many others.

The website InfoWars on Monday posted the disturbing video. Like most videos emerging from Syria, TheBlaze is unable to verify the veracity of the tape. Men on the tape are heard loudly shouting "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is Great) after each blow to one of the victims.

An Arabic translator tells TheBlaze that the subtitle on the video says: "Terrorists of Khaled ibn Al-Walid, use a small boy to cut off the head of a kidnapped Syrian citizen." Two Arabic speakers say that the Arabic of those speaking on the tape does not sound like the regional dialect spoken in Syria. This would bolster the Fars claim – and previous evidence reported by the Western media — that foreign jihadis are actively engaged in the Syrian conflict.

Paul Joseph Watson of InfoWars writes that President Assad's opponents:

…are committing atrocities on a routine basis on a par with anything the Assad regime has been accused of, and again emphasizes that they are not democratic freedom fighters but jihadist extremists who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, even to the point of making children do their dirty work for them.

A recent article in Global Post drove home how important it is to examine each purportedly new video with skepticism. Videos posted on YouTube claiming to be "new" or in Syria have sometimes been shown to be taken from past conflicts far away. With Western journalists unable to be at the site of each atrocity in Syria, these videos play a key role in spreading the message of each side. Global Post wrote in November about a different video:

On the screen was a video of someone beheading a prisoner with a chainsaw. It had been circulating in Syria for at least a year. The footage itself is very real, but it is five years old, and was shot in Mexico. Drug lords carried out the crime. The video has been used by rebels in conflicts all over the world.

The sham videos can have very real effects, creating sympathy for one side or the other. Last week, the United Nations accused the rebels of war crimes, based on a YouTube video of fighters executing prisoners. This type of atrocity makes intervention less appealing to the West.

While that video appears to have been real, many other bogus ones have found their way onto major television networks in the United States and beyond, and are spread widely by social media. It's not uncommon for the two sides to use the same footage to make opposite claims.

TheBlaze cannot verify that the beheading atrocity on this latest tape took place in Syria or recently, but hope further information will be made available either by reporters covering the conflict in Syria or by those in the position to tell more.

The extraordinarily disturbing video was available here. However, moments before this story was published it was removed.

Read more stories from TheBlaze

Jamie Foxx Jokes About Killing 'All the White People' in New Movie: 'How Great Is That?'

Do Gays Have a Constitutional Right to Marry? Here's Why Activists Fear Losing Their Supreme Court Battle

George Will Says Opposition to Gay Marriage Is 'Dying' — Find Out Why

Is It Okay for Christians to Smoke Marijuana?

The Breathtaking Then-and-Now Photos of an Abandoned Detroit High School

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Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

UPDATED: Mother of Brain Dead Ex-Boxing Champ: Turn Off His Life Support

2012-11-24T22:17:00.001-07:00

UPDATED: Mother of Brain Dead Ex-Boxing Champ: Turn Off His Life Support

Published on TheBlaze.com - Stories | shared via feedly mobile

Hector 'Macho' Camacho (AP)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (TheBlaze/AP) — The mother of Hector "Macho" Camacho says she has decided to have doctors cut off life support for the former world champion boxer Saturday once three more of his sons get a last chance to see him.

Though opposed by Camacho's eldest son, Maria Matias, the boxer's mother, said she had decided it was time for doctors to disconnect the machines that have kept him alive since he was shot in the face earlier in the week.

"I lost my son three days ago. He's alive only because of a machine," Matias said. "My son is not alive. My son is only alive for the people who love him," she added.

She said at a news conference Friday night that she was waiting only for Camacho's three other sons, who were expected to arrive from the U.S. mainland early Saturday. "Until they arrive, we will not disconnect the machine," Matias said.

Another news conference was scheduled for Saturday morning at Centro Medico, the main trauma center for San Juan.

The former champion's mother has the final say in the matter, but his eldest son, Hector Camacho Jr., said he wanted to keep his father alive.

"He's going to fight until the end. My father is a boxer," the son said.

Hector Camacho (Holly Stein/Getty Images)

Although doctors had said Camacho was clinically brain dead from a shooting Tuesday night in his hometown of Bayamon, relatives and friends told The Associated Press they were still wrestling with the idea of removing him from life support.

"It is a very difficult decision, a very delicate decision," former pro boxer Victor "Luvi" Callejas, a longtime friend, said in a phone interview. "The last thing we lose is hope and faith. If there is still hope and faith, why not wait a little more?"

Aida Camacho, one of the boxer's aunts, said in an interview that the family could decide by late Friday whether to donate his organs.

As some relatives and friends continued to pray for a miracle, condolences flowed in for Camacho's family and preparations were being made for memorials and a funeral Mass.

Gov. Luis Fortuno lamented what he called a sudden loss. "'Macho' will always be remembered for his spontaneity and charisma in and out of the ring," he said.

Also offering condolences was governor-elect Alejandro Garcia Padilla, who defeated Fortuno in November.

"The life of Macho Camacho, like other great athletes of ours, united the country," he said. "We celebrated his triumphs in the streets and we applauded him with noble sportsmanship when he didn't prevail."

1 Aug 1992: Boxer Hector Camacho sits in his corner between rounds of his fight against Eddie Van Kirk. (Credit: Holly Stein/Allsport)

Camacho was shot as he sat in a car with a friend, 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, who was killed in the attack. Police spokesman Alex Diaz said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket and a 10th bag open inside the car.

Police reported no arrests and said investigators continued to look for potential witnesses. Capt. Rafael Rosa told reporters Friday that they were following several leads, but declined to say whether police had identified any suspects. He said very few witnesses were cooperating.

Hector Camacho Jr. decried the violence that grips Puerto Rico, a U.S. island territory of nearly 4 million people that reported a record 1,117 homicides last year.

"Death, jail, drugs, killings," he said. "That's what the streets are now."

Camacho's sisters have said they would like to fly Camacho's body to New York and bury him there. Camacho grew up mostly in Harlem, earning the nickname the "Harlem Heckler."

Getty Images

He won super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles in the 1980s and fought high-profile bouts against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard while compiling a career record of 79-6-3. He knocked out Leonard in 1997, ending the former champ's final comeback attempt.

Camacho battled drug, alcohol and other problems throughout his life. He was sentenced in 2007 to seven years in prison on burglary charges, but a judge eventually suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation. He wound up serving two weeks in jail after violating that probation. A wife also filed domestic abuse complaints against him twice before their divorce.

UPDATE: Hector Camacho died Saturday at the hospital in Puerto Rico where he has been unconscious since he was shot in the face in an attack in his hometown.

Camacho went into cardiac arrest in the pre-dawn hours and he was then taken off life support and died shortly thereafter, said Dr. Ernesto Torres, the director of the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan.

Luckily, Camocho's three sons were able to visit him before he passed, said former pro boxer Victor "Luvi" Callejas, a longtime friend.

"The family is destroyed," Callejas said outside the hospital.

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

Front page photo source courtesy Getty Images.

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Badge Abuse: Former Colorado Police Officer Found Guilty of Molesting Boys

2012-11-09T21:27:00.001-07:00

Badge Abuse: Former Colorado Police Officer Found Guilty of Molesting Boys:
by Shannon Jones
Several Colorado families are relieved that justice will be served against a former volunteer middle school wrestling coach, he was also a former Colorado Springs police officer.
After two trials, Josh Carrier has been found guilty of molesting boys at Horace Mann Middle School where he became a coach in 2010.
Out of nearly 100 charges against him, Josh Carrier was found guilty on 34 counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, 12 counts of unlawful sexual contact, 22 counts of child enticement and three counts of sexual exploitation. On the remaining charges, he was found not guilty.
A significant change after his first trial in March, when he was only found guilty of 21 counts of sexual exploitation. After the start of the second trial he settled with the families in a $9.4 million lawsuit.
Carrier will be taken to jail to undergo a psychological sexual evaluation and to await his sentencing on February 22. He is in jail without bond.

Report: Chinese economy will overtake U.S. within four years

2012-11-09T21:02:00.001-07:00

Report: Chinese economy will overtake U.S. within four years:
By Josephine Moulds
China’s economy will be biggest in world by end of 2016, says leading international thinktank
China will overtake the US in the next four years to become the largest economy in the world, says a leading international thinktank.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said China’s economy will be larger than the combined economies of the eurozone countries by the end of this year, and will overtake the US by the end of 2016.
Global GDP will grow by 3% a year over the next 50 years, it says, but there will be large variations between countries and regions. By 2025, it says the combined GDP of China and India will be bigger than that of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, US and Canada put together. Asa Johansson, senior economist at the OECD, said: “It is quite a shift in the balance of economic power we are going to see in the future.”
Inequalities will persist, even though people in the poorest countries will see their income more than quadruple by 2060, with those in China and India seeing a more than a seven-fold increase. By 2060, the OECD says living standards in the emerging countries will still only be 25%-60% of the level enjoyed by those in the US.
Global imbalances, which created the conditions for the crash of 2007, will continue to widen and reach pre-crisis levels by 2030, it said. In the short term, this is largely a cyclical effect of the financial crisis. So the US, which had a large budget deficit before the crisis, experienced a sharper downturn than China, which had a budget surplus.
The OECD warned that rising imbalances could undermine growth. But, it said, if countries undertook more ambitious reforms with regards to labour and production, they could be reduced. Johansson said these could address how easy it was to hire and fire employees, or regulations around starting up a business and restrictions over foreign business investment.
© Guardian News and Media 2012

Norwegian mass killer complains about cushy prison life

2012-11-09T20:34:00.001-07:00

Norwegian mass killer complains about cushy prison life:
Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik’s complaints about prison life range from a lack of moisturiser in his cell to the temperature of his coffee, according to extracts from a 27-page letter published on Friday.
“I highly doubt that there are worse detention facilities in Norway,” the right-wing extremist, who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting frenzy in July last year, wrote in the letter to Norway’s correctional services, according to tabloid Verdens Gang (VG).
One of Breivik’s lawyers had revealed on Thursday that his client believed his prison conditions “breached human rights”.
In excerpts from the letter quoted by VG, the 33 year-old, who is being held in near complete isolation at a high security prison outside Oslo after being sentenced in August, outlined a catalogue of complaints that ranged from everyday annoyances to more serious issues.
Breivik said he was not getting enough butter to spread on his bread, was having to drink his coffee cold and was not able to keep a moisturiser in his cell, which, to his dismay, is sparsely decorated and has no view.
He also complained that the handcuffs he has to wear when being transferred are razor sharp and “cut into his wrists.”
Breivik earned international notoriety last year when he detonated a bomb outside the centre-left government’s headquarters on July 22 and then went on the rampage at a youth camp on the island of Utoeya, killing 77 people many of them teenagers.
Tord Jordet, one of his lawyers, confirmed the letter’s authenticity to AFP. Norway’s justice ministry declined to comment.

Police Arrest Man Who Allegedly Raped 18-Year-Old Disabled Woman on a LA County Bus

2012-11-09T20:22:00.001-07:00

Police Arrest Man Who Allegedly Raped 18-Year-Old Disabled Woman on a LA County Bus:

This undated image provided by the Los Angeles county Sheriff’s department shows Kerry Trotter, suspected of raping a mentally disabled woman on Nov. 7, 2012 on a public transit bus in Culver City, Calif. (Credit: AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — For 10 agonizing minutes, an 18-year-old mentally disabled woman was raped in the back of a near-empty Los Angeles County bus as it rolled past a state park and a cemetery and no one did anything about it.
Several passengers and the driver were apparently unaware that a crime was being committed in the 45-foot-long bus, but one person on board tried to alert the driver and was unsuccessful.
Authorities arrested Kerry Trotter, 20, on Friday thanks to an anonymous tip by someone who saw an image of the suspected attacker taken by a surveillance camera on the bus that was publicly released.
Trotter was booked for investigation of rape and was being held on $1 million bail, authorities said. It wasn’t immediately known if he had retained an attorney.
Investigators said given that Trotter was standing up with his back to the front of the bus and the victim was sitting down that other passengers wouldn’t know a rape happened.
“People generally think of a rape as some type of an attack where someone is thrown down. It is not always the case,” said Sgt. Dan Scott of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. For passengers, it “seems reasonable that they would not know what was going on.”
The attack occurred Wednesday during the rush-hour commute as the woman, who was returning from school, and Trotter boarded the bus at a stop in suburban Culver City. The woman went to the back of the bus and was followed by Trotter where the assault occurred, authorities said.
There were only four or five passengers on board during the five-mile leg when the rape happened and by the end there was only one who remained and tried to get the driver’s attention. Investigators are still looking for that person.
The woman, who has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old, did not scream for help, but she did tell the driver she had been raped after the man exited the bus, Scott said.
“The victim told our detective that she was shocked and didn’t know what to do and was in fear for her safety and for her life,” Scott said.

This image from video provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff s Department shows a suspect officials say is accused of raping a mentally disabled woman on a city bus. Police say the suspect boarded the bus with the woman in Culver City, followed her to the back of the bus and forced himself on her late Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012. A lone witness tried to alert the bus driver that the rape was happening, but it continued for about 10 minutes until the suspect stopped and exited the bus. (Credit: AP)

Trotter, who is unemployed, has previous convictions for grand theft and possession of rock cocaine, according to court records. He was previously investigated for sexual assault, but no charges were ever filed, Scott said.
Trotter and his victim do not know one another. Authorities wouldn’t say if DNA evidence had been recovered.
“We believe it was a crime of opportunity, that unfortunately she was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Scott said.
It was the third rape so far this year on county buses that annually carry millions of people.
Bus drivers are trained to call transit dispatchers when they become aware of a possible crime, said Marc Littman, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. If a crime is in progress, there is a silent alarm on board that can be tripped.
“This is an extremely rare occurrence,” he said.
It was unclear if the driver saw what transpired. He was being interviewed by authorities who don’t suspect he did anything improper.
“We don’t believe anybody else did anything wrong,” Scott said.
Follow Jason Howerton on Twitter
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Video Surfaces of Syrian Rebels Executing Unarmed Civilians

2012-11-05T11:11:00.001-07:00

Video Surfaces of Syrian Rebels Executing Unarmed Civilians:
by Ezra Van Auken
Syrian rebels executed unarmed men this past Thursday, close to the town of Saraqeb; The Washington Post was first to report on this story. As appeared in the newly released video, Syrian rebels forced many individuals to the ground, repeatedly kicked them and then finally sprayed the ground with bullets, which resulted in many deaths.
However, Washington Post’s Babak Dehghanpisheh noted that the victims were “unarmed government soldiers”, which seems inaccurate considering the individuals that were put to the ground and shot were not shown bearing resemblance to the government’s Army, neither in clothing nor in words.
In a second video posted on Thursday at the same checkpoint recorded three men who had been shot and killed. When the individual who filmed the video walked up to two of the three bodies, he said, “The Shabiha of Assad, the dogs.” Interestingly, the word “shabiha” means some sort of organized civilian militia that is utilized to fend off any terrorist groups trying to infiltrate a specific town.
Using the term “shabiha”, as stated by the Syrian rebel, only refers to civilians and not government soldiers, which not only reveals that Syrian rebels are committing more atrocious war crimes but also that the mainstream press will not report on the realness of a story.
This isn’t the first time that Syrian rebels have been found to conduct war crimes. As SLN reported in August, a New York Times journalist set off to Syria and ended up catching a war crime in action. When a captured shabiha member was ordered to get in a truck with rebels, the individual had no clue what was going to happen. Once on the way to a government checkpoint, Syrian rebels left the vehicle and ordered him to move to the actual checkpoint.
What the captured individual was unaware of was that the vehicle actually had a 300-kilo bomb equipped to it, making the individual oblivious to the fact that he was about to be a suicide bomber. Luckily, the device apparently malfunctioned and no one was injured or killed. The NYT and BBC later took down the video, although, the film was over-recorded, which makes it still available on the Internet.
Unfortunately, so many different countries including the United States deciding to participate in such a sophisticated government overthrow is leading to more harm than good.

3-Year-Old Boy Killed After Falling Into Zoo Exhibit and Getting Mauled By Wild Dogs

2012-11-04T14:52:00.001-07:00

3-Year-Old Boy Killed After Falling Into Zoo Exhibit and Getting Mauled By Wild Dogs:

Image source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh zoo officials say a 3-year-old boy was killed Sunday after falling into an exhibit and getting mauled by African painted dogs.
Tracy Gray of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium told the Associated Press it was unclear whether the little boy died from the fall or from the attack, which happened around 11:45 a.m. Sunday.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported a Pittsburgh police officer shot and killed one of the 11 dogs in the exhibit.
Zoo president and CEO Barbara Baker told the newspaper the boy was visiting with his mother when he fell over a railing and off a mesh barrier into the exhibit.
Visitors told zoo staff members, who immediately responded along with police officers. Zookeepers were able to quickly draw seven of the dogs away but four remained, leaving staff unable to reach the boy.
“Unfortunately, the dogs were in pack mentality and not responding,” a news release said.
Three more dogs were eventually drawn away, but one “aggressive” dog would not leave and was shot and killed by an officer, the Post-Gazette reported.
“It’s clear that the dogs did attack the child, but whether he died of the attack or the fall has yet to be determined,” Baker told the Associated Press.
The zoo described the dogs as the size of medium-sized domestic dogs, 2 to 2 1/2 feet high and 37 to 80 pounds. They are considered endangered and are also known as cape hunting dogs, spotted dogs and painted wolves.
Police and the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office are investigating.
The facility has been shut down until further notice and Baker told the Post-Gazette no decision had been made about the exhibit’s future. It was the first visitor death the zoo had had.
In May, nine of the 11 dogs caused a brief zoo shutdown when they escaped part of their enclosure into an area that’s usually closed.
Follow Madeleine Morgenstern on Twitter
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Accomplice in San Diego crime spree revealed as 18 year old rape victim

2012-11-03T20:24:00.001-07:00

Accomplice in San Diego crime spree revealed as 18 year old rape victim:
The 18-year-old accomplice in a three-day crime spree in San Diego that included the shooting of an off-duty police officer is a kidnapping and sex trafficking victim.
KFMB-TV reported Friday that Cindy Altamirano García pled not guilty to charges of carjacking, robbery and making criminal threats. She was arrested Oct. 31 at the scene of a shootout with police that killed her 40-year-old boyfriend, former Blythe, California firefighter Philip Hernandez. Her bail was set at $1 million. Her mother refused to speak to the press after her arraignment hearing.
According to U-T San Diego, Hernandez began “a sexual relationship” with García when she was 16 years old, and they moved to Blythe in April, but Riverside County police charged him for having sex with a minor a month later, after she notified authorities about the relationship.
However, the pair reconciled by the time a San Diego Police officer arrested him in connection with the case in September.
Hernandez’s arraignment had been scheduled for Oct. 29, but instead authorities say he became unhinged, wrongfully shooting a San Diego man he thought was a Blythe policeman pursuing charges against him before he and García, wearing clothing falsely identifying them as police, robbed three people and shot off-duty San Diego officer Les Stewart.
The unidentified first shooting victim is in critical condition. Stewart, who was grazed in the skull, is expected to recover.
Authorities said Hernandez was planning to kill his arresting officer in San Diego when they pulled him and García over in the Barrio Logan neighborhood Oct. 31.
Hernandez, who was allegedly driving erratically in order to incite an encounter with police, got out of his van after being pulled over and began firing at officers, who responded and shot him dead at the scene. García was arrested with a gun and tactical vest, both of which she allegedly got from Hernandez.
Documents released by officials in García’s hometown, National City, California, list her as a kidnapping victim who was taken to Mexico, where her captors raped her and prostituted her for about a month before a victim’s advocacy group, the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition (BSCC), was able to save her.
“He’s brainwashing her with love, isolation, torturing her at the same time,” said BSCC spokesperson Marisa Ugarte of Hernandez. “She told me he was hitting her. She said she was all black-and-blue.”
Watch KFMB’s report, aired Friday, below.

Former Penn State president to be charged in Sandusky scandal

2012-11-01T19:57:00.001-07:00

Former Penn State president to be charged in Sandusky scandal:
Former Penn State President Graham Spanier will be facing charges for his role in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal and cover-up at the university. According to Reuters, a source close to the investigation and criminal lawsuit said that Spanier will be charged with five counts, including conspiracy, perjury, child endangerment and obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors are also preparing to file charges against two other Penn State officials, Athletic Director Tim Curley and Vice President Gary Schultz, both of whom were indicted in the Sandusky case. Both men pleaded not guilty in that case to charges of perjury and failure to report an allegation of child abuse.
Spanier was the last major university official not facing criminal charges in the case. He resigned in the wake of Sandusky’s prosecution.
Sandusky was convicted in June of sexually abusing 10 boys over the course of 15 years. The 68-year-old was transfered on Wednesday from a state evaluation facility outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Greene State Prison to serve a sentence of 30 to 60 years.
[image of Graham Spanier via Flickr Commons]

Prosecutor: Chicago Mom Stabbed 7-Year-Old Son 100 Times Then Turned Knife on 5-Year-Old Daughter

2012-11-01T16:10:00.001-07:00

Prosecutor: Chicago Mom Stabbed 7-Year-Old Son 100 Times Then Turned Knife on 5-Year-Old Daughter:

This Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 booking photo provided by the DuPage County Sheriff’s Department in Wheaton, Ill., shows Elzbieta Plackowska, 40, of Naperville, Ill., who was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of her 7-year-old son and a 5-year-old girl. Prosecutors contend that on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, Plackowska stabbed her son because she was angry with her husband and killed the 5-year-old girl she was babysitting because she witnessed the attack. Plakowska was ordered held without bond at a hearing Thursday in Wheaton. (Credit: AP)

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago woman stabbed her 7-year-old son 100 times then turned the knife on a 5-year-old girl who witnessed the attack, killing both children as they begged for their lives, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Elzbieta Plackowska, 40, told investigators she stabbed the children and slashed their throats on Tuesday night at a Naperville home because she was angry that her truck driver husband was often away, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said.
“She told the detectives that she thought by killing (her son) Justin she would make her husband hurt the way she hurt in their relationship,” Berlin said.
Plackowska told investigators she found Justin and Olivia Dworakowski – whom she was babysitting that night – jumping on the bed, Berlin said.
“She had grabbed the knife and she made both victims kneel and begin praying. She began stabbing her son Justin and told him he was going to heaven tonight. He pleaded for his life and told her to stop. But she continued stabbing him until he was dead,” he said at a news conference after the hearing.
“She then turned her attention to 5-year-old Olivia and began stabbing her with the knife multiple times. She, as well, pleaded for her life, but the defendant continued to stab her until she was deceased.”
Plackowska killed Olivia because she had witnessed the attack on Justin, Berlin said.

The slayings took place at the home of Olivia’s mother who works nights as a nurse and had left her daughter in the woman’s care before. Plackowska also stabbed the two family dogs.
Walls in the home were spattered in blood. Olivia’s body was found on the bed, and Justin’s was found on the floor beside it. He was covered in stab wounds, including on his head, face, neck and back.
“In all my years in law enforcement, this is the most gruesome and horrific crime scene that I have seen,” Naperville Police Chief Bob Marshall said at the news conference. Naperville is 25 miles west of Chicago.

Police exit a home in Naperville, Ill., Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012, where two children were found dead inside Tuesday night when officers were called to the home to make a well-being check. First-degree murder charges have been filed against Elzbieta Plackowska in the death of her 8-year-old son and a 5-year-old girl she was babysitting. (Credit: AP)

A makeshift memorial is seen outside a home in Naperville, Ill., Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012, where two children were found stabbed to death on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Elzbieta Plackowska was accused Thursday of stabbing her 7-year-old son 100 times and a 5-year-old girl she was babysitting about 50 times. (Credit: AP)

Investigators found two blood-stained knives; a steak knife in the kitchen sink and another in Plackowska’s car, Berlin said.
After the killings, Plackowska tried to go to a Naperville church but found it closed, so she left a message on its answering machine saying she had done something bad and needed assistance, Berlin said.
Still covered in blood and with scratches on her hands, she went to a friend’s home where her other, adult son was staying and told them that she had been robbed, Berlin said.
Around the same time, Olivia’s mother, Marta Dworakowski, returned home to discover her door locked and the babysitter’s car gone. She called police saying her daughter was missing, and officers forced their way into the home.
Police took Plackowska into custody at her friend’s home, and prosecutors charged her with first-degree murder late Wednesday.
Plackowska initially told investigators that a stalker had broken into the home where Olivia lived with her mother, and that it was the stalker who killed the children. She later said the children were evil and that she was fighting the devil in the house, Berlin said.
When police confronted her about the inconsistencies during hours of questioning, Plackowska admitted that she lashed out because she was angry with her husband, because he often left her alone to care for Justin and work as a maid, which she felt was beneath her, Berlin said.
In a brief telephone interview, Plackowska’s husband, Artur, denied the two were having problems.
“The day before (the killings) she told me that she loves me,” he said in heavily accented and halting English.
However, a neighbor said he frequently heard the couple shouting at each other over the last five years.
“It happened once every other month,” said Victor Tuckenberry. “It was nothing physical.”
Tuckenberry said he was shocked by the slayings and that Plackowska doted on her sons. He said she and Justin “were together all the time.”
Marshall, the police chief, said officers had never been called to the couple’s house.
He said several of his officers knew Olivia, having helped locate her in August when she went to the wrong kindergarten class on the first day of school.
The officers told him “she was such a sweet and loving little girl,” Marshall said.
Plackowska arrived in the United States from her native Poland on a tourist visa 12 years ago, said Berlin. She is not a U.S. citizen and authorities were trying to verify her immigration status. Berlin said she has no prior history of violence, although she had a misdemeanor DUI from about 10 years ago.
DuPage County Judge John Kinsella ordered Plackowska held without bond. Plackowska didn’t speak during the hearing other than to indicate she could not afford an attorney. The judge appointed a public defender.
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Texas pastor beaten to death with electric guitar

2012-10-30T19:21:00.001-07:00

Texas pastor beaten to death with electric guitar:
Authorities in Texas are investigating why a suspect in Forest Hill allegedly crashed his car into a church, chased down the pastor and then beat him to death with an electric guitar.
Members of the Greater Sweethome Missionary Baptist Church identified Derrick Birdow as the man who is accused of killing 53-year-old Rev. Danny Kirk and beating the church’s janitor, 59-year-old John Whitaker, on Tuesday, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Forest Hill Police Chief Dan Dennis told the paper the the suspect apparently fought Kirk outside the church before chasing him into the church and beating him with an electric guitar. Officers responding to a 911 call from the church secretary were forced to use a Taser to subdue the attacker. He was later found unresponsive in the patrol car and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Whitaker recalled to WFAA that he was cleaning inside the church when he heard the car crash and attempted to save the pastor’s life but the attacker was “crazy, super strong.”
“I heard a big bang, and I didn’t know what it was,” Whitaker said. “The motor revved up, and when the dust cleared, I saw Pastor Kirk on the hood of the car.”
“I hit the man upside the head and it didn’t faze him,” he continued. “I went and got a 2-by-2 [piece of lumber] and hit him again, more than once, and that didn’t faze that man. He was crazy. He was super strong… Something was wrong with that man.”
At some point Kirk got away and ran inside the church with Birdow allegedly in pursuit. Whitaker said that he also followed.
“I got blindsided,” he explained. “When I rounded the corner, he hit me upside the head with a guitar… twice. I was dazed, but I hit him again when I saw he was hitting pastor.”
Christopher Henderson, one of the suspect’s cousins, told the Morning News that Birdlow had been behaving strangely and claiming that people were trying to kill him.
“He’s been having some issues, and he hasn’t been himself,” Henderson remarked. “This past week, he’s been going through some stuff.”
While his cousin described him as a “happy dude,” KSAX reported that Birdlow had a criminal record, including possession of a controlled substance, domestic assault, driving while intoxicated and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Watch this video from WFAA, broadcast Oct. 30, 2012.

Doctors Remove 62 Pound Tumor From Woman Wrongly Diagnosed With Obesity

2012-10-28T21:34:00.001-07:00

Doctors Remove 62 Pound Tumor From Woman Wrongly Diagnosed With Obesity:

Doctors from Dresden, Germany, said Friday they had successfully removed a 62 pound ovarian tumor from a woman that had been previously diagnosed with obesity.
According to Agence France-Presse, Irmtraud Eichler, aged 60, had been told by doctors her weight gain was a function of her diabetes and a lack of physical activity.
read more

DA: Friend Planned $50K Kidnapping, but Baby Died - ABC News

2012-10-27T22:07:00.001-07:00

DA: Friend Planned $50K Kidnapping, but Baby Died - ABC News:

ABC News

DA: Friend Planned $50K Kidnapping, but Baby Died
ABC News
A family friend hoped to hold a baby girl hostage to get $50,000 from her software-engineer parents but instead killed her and her grandmother in a botched kidnapping, according to police in a Philadelphia suburb. Raghunandan "Raghu" Yandamuri, 26, ...
Abducted baby found dead, family friend held in ransom plotPhiladelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia infant found deadCBS News
Abducted Pennsylvania baby found dead; suspect in custodyNBCNews.com (blog)
STLtoday.com -6abc.com -New Haven Register
all 1,523 news articles »

Homeless men hospitalized after ‘Friday the 13th’-style attack

2012-10-26T18:55:00.001-07:00

Homeless men hospitalized after ‘Friday the 13th’-style attack:
Two homeless men in Houston were taken to the hospital after a grisly attack patterned after a horror film series.
According to KPRC-TV, a witness said he told police the two men were attacked Thursday morning by a man wearing a hockey mask and wielding a machete, in the style of Jason Voorhees, the serial killer featured in the Friday The 13th films.
The two men were squatting behind the construction site for a shopping center and were allegedly asleep when the man attacked them.
KTRK-TV reported that one of the men allegedly lost five fingers in the assault after being repeatedly struck with the machete, while the other one suffered three broken fingers, two broken arms, and several lacerations to his neck.
KPRC’s report on the attack, aired Thursday, can be seen below.

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NYPD Arrests Officer in Grotesque Plot to Kidnap, Cook, & Eat Over 100 Women

2012-10-25T17:45:00.001-07:00

NYPD Arrests Officer in Grotesque Plot to Kidnap, Cook, & Eat Over 100 Women:
[Author’s note: Portions of this story are deeply disturbing and readers are advised to proceed with caution.]
A New York City police officer was charged Thursday with plotting to kidnap, rape, torture, and kill women he had identified and cataloged on his computer, and then cook and eat their body parts.

Gilberto Valle (Facebook)

Gilberto Valle sent numerous emails and other Internet communications about the nightmarish torture and cannibalism scheme, according to a criminal complaint.

“I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind of apparatus … cook her over low heat, keep her alive as long as possible,” Valle allegedly wrote in one online exchange in July, the complaint says.
The officer was to appear later Thursday in federal court in Manhattan to face kidnapping charges. The name of his attorney was not immediately available.
The complaint against Valle, including his correspondences with co-conspirators (“CC1” and “CC2”) can be seen here [Author’s note: Again, we advise readers to proceed with caution. The details of Valle’s plans are deeply, extraordinarily disturbing].

Gilberto Valle (Facebook)

A search of Valle’s computer found he created records of at least 100 women with their names, addresses and photos, the complaint says. Some of the information came from his unauthorized use of a law enforcement database, authorities said.
“The allegations in the complaint really need no description from us,” said Mary E. Galligan, acting head of the FBI’s New York office. “They speak for themselves. It would be an understatement merely to say Valle’s own words and actions were shocking.”
Horrifyingly enough, Valle allegedly met one potential victim over lunch.
The complaint claims that in February, Valle negotiated to kidnap another woman for someone else, writing, “$5,000 and she’s all yours.”
It says he added: “[S]he will be stuffed into a large piece of luggage and wheeled out to my van.”

Gilberto Valle (Facebook)

Cellphone data revealed that Valle made calls on the block where the woman lives in March, the complaint says. An FBI agent interviewed the woman, who told them that she didn’t know him well and was never in her home.
Valle, 28, lives in Queens. He had been assigned to a Manhattan precinct before his suspension on Wednesday.
Exit Question: How did Valle pass the psych exam?
Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter
(H/T: BuzzFeed & NY Daily News). Front page photo courtesy the AP.
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Police: A dozen more murders may be linked to Manson family

2012-10-19T18:10:00.001-07:00

Police: A dozen more murders may be linked to Manson family:
Los Angeles police said this week that up to a dozen more unsolved murders might be linked to the notorious Manson family, and according to The LA Times, they think they know where to find evidence to back up their theory.
Their request for that evidence, however, was denied by a federal judge in Dallas on Thursday, according to The Associated Press. The judge said would just have to wait until an appeal of a bankruptcy court’s hearing can be heard.
Prosecutors said that tapes that feature Manson acolyte Charles “Tex” Watson speaking to his attorney could hold clues to numerous other unsolved murder cases now more than 42 years old. Attorney Bill Boyd died in 2009, and his former law firm has since become embroiled in a bankruptcy proceeding. Watson appealed an earlier ruling ordering the law firm’s bankruptcy trustee to turn the tapes over to police, and he’s since declared that the Manson family was not involved in any additional murders.
Watson is serving a life sentence in connection to seven counts of murder orchestrated on Charles Manson’s orders, including the 1969 killing of actress Sharon Tate, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant. The string nine total killings by Manson’s followers shocked the nation for their brutality, and none of the Manson family members have been granted parole.
Cmdr. Andy Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department said the 12 additional killings being investigated are “similar” to the Manson family’s killings. “Our detectives need to listen to these tapes,” he told NBC 4 in Los Angeles. “The tapes might help with solving these murders.”
This video is from NBC 4 in Los Angeles, broadcast Friday, October 19, 2012.

Banana Boat makers recall sunscreen after users catch on fire

2012-10-19T17:59:00.001-07:00

Banana Boat makers recall sunscreen after users catch on fire:
The company behind the Banana Boat sunscreen line is recalling some of its spray-on products after reports of people catching on fire after using them.
The Associated Press reported Friday that Energizer Holdings is pulling nearly two dozen products in its UltraMist spray-on tan line after five people — four in the U.S. and one in Canada — reported that they caught on fire after standing near an open flame following application of the product.
In a statement, the company said UltraMists’s spray valve is over-applying the product, making it more flammable because it takes longer to dry.
“If a consumer comes into contact with a flame or spark prior to complete drying of the product on the skin, there is a potential for the product to ignite,” the company said.
CBS News reported in June that several customers reported catching on fire after using a Banana Boat spray-on tanner while standing near his barbeque.
“There is no warning that says this product is flammable when applied to your skin or for a period of time when applied to skin,” said one of the burn victims, Brett Sigworth. “I think if people were told this is flammable for two minutes on your skin afterward, people wouldn’t use it.”
Watch CBS’ report on Sigworth’s experience, originally broadcast on June 5, below.

File-Sharers Buy 30% More Music Than Non-P2P Peers

2012-10-15T19:00:00.001-07:00

File-Sharers Buy 30% More Music Than Non-P2P Peers:
The major music labels have a clear stance on online piracy, as the following quote from the RIAA illustrates.
“While downloading one song may not feel that serious of a crime, the accumulative impact of millions of songs downloaded illegally – and without any compensation to all the people who helped to create that song and bring it to fans – is devastating.”
This “devastation” translates into billions of dollars of lost revenue over the past decade, the RIAA claims. The more music people pirate, the less they buy is the underlying reasoning. Intuitively this might make sense, but looking at hard data a different pattern emerges.
Today the American Assembly, a non-partisan public policy forum affiliated with Columbia University, published a teaser of its forthcoming Copy Culture Survey. The study is based on thousands of telephone interviews conducted in the United States and Germany and provides a unique insight into the sharing habits in the two countries.
The preview zooms in on the digital music collections of people. Not just how much music people have on their computers, but also how they acquired these files.
As one would predict, it shows that those who are self-confessed P2P file sharers have larger music collections compared to those who aren’t. However, the data also shows that these file-sharers buy more music legally than their non-sharing peers.
30 percent more in the US.
“US P2P users have larger collections than non-P2P users (roughly 37% more). And predictably, most of the difference comes from higher levels of ‘downloading for free’ and ‘copying from friends/family’,” American Assembly’s Joe Karaganis writes.
“But some of it also comes from significantly higher legal purchases of digital music than their non-P2P using peers–around 30% higher among US P2P users. Our data is quite clear on this point and lines up with numerous other studies: The biggest music pirates are also the biggest spenders on recorded music.”

P2P users vs. non-P2P

The graph above shows that in Germany the results are even more pronounced. P2P users there buy nearly three times more digital music than their non-P2P using peers. However, the number of P2P file-sharers in the German sample is too low to be statistically reliable so these results should be interpreted with reservations.
While the survey is unique in its scope, this result of does not stand in isolation.
In the past we have documented studies that show how the majority of artists sell more music thanks to piracy, and that people who download more also buy more physical CDs. Yet another study found that pirates are 10 times more likely to buy music than those who don’t.
A likely explanation for these results is that true music enthusiasts simply want to consume, sample and discover as much new music as they possibly can, and the most straightforward and convenient way to do this is through file-sharing networks. For this group file-sharing is mostly complementary.
In any case, P2P file-sharers are not all cheapskates, quite the contrary.
In addition, the research also point out that while P2P file-sharing is a common way for people to acquire files, offline substitutes for digital music sales are bigger. Ripping CDs and sharing files with friends account for a higher percentage of people’s music collection than P2P file-sharing across all age groups.
This confirms earlier findings from a leaked RIAA report.
More interesting findings on the digital music collections of people in the US and Germany are available on the American Assembly blog.
Source: File-Sharers Buy 30% More Music Than Non-P2P Peers

Bumble Bee Tuna Plant Worker Cooked to Death in ‘Steamer Machine’

2012-10-13T14:23:00.001-07:00

Bumble Bee Tuna Plant Worker Cooked to Death in ‘Steamer Machine’:

Image source: Whittier Daily News

A 62-year-old seafood plant worker was cooked to death in an industrial accident in Southern California, authorities said Friday.
The Whittier Daily News reported that the worker, identified as Jose Melena, had been a six-year employee of Bumble Bee Foods in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. The incident occurred shortly after 7 a.m. Thursday, police said.
Erika Monterroza, a spokeswoman for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, said initial findings indicated “he was fatally injured when he was cooked in an oven.” It was unclear how precisely the man ended up in the industrial cooking device, described as a “steamer machine.”
The state agency has launched an investigation; officials are calling it an accident, according to the Daily News.
“This is a horrendous tragedy,” Monterroza said.
Bumble Bee Foods Vice President of Human Resources Pat Menke expressed condolences to Melena’s family. Operations at the processing plant are on hold until Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Monterroza said a formal investigation would take about six months and include site visits and extensive interviews.
“Once all of the facts are gathered, at that point, a determination will be made if California health and safety regulations were violated,” she said.
Any violations would result in civil penalties, the Daily News reported; the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office will determine whether any criminal charges are appropriate.
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What it's like to battle flesh-eating bacteria (with all the gory pictures) [Medicine]

2012-10-13T14:18:00.001-07:00

What it's like to battle flesh-eating bacteria (with all the gory pictures) [Medicine]:

Redditor johnboy9210 retrieved a football from a stagnant koi pond one day and contracted necrotizing fasciitis, the infamous flesh-eating disease. Fortunately, we don't have to experience the tissue-chomping bacteria first-hand, and can instead witness his photographic account from the early signs of infection through his multiple surgeries. More »

China calls on U.S. and Japan to fix their finances

2012-10-13T12:36:00.003-07:00

China calls on U.S. and Japan to fix their finances:
China said Saturday the failure by Washington and Tokyo to fix their fiscal problems was hurting the global economy, as it called for “bold, swift and decisive action” to reverse a slowdown.
Deputy central bank governor Yi Gang warned the absence of a “credible, medium-term fiscal consolidation in some of the major advanced economies such as the United States and Japan” is unsettling for the world economy.
“Uncertainties related to fiscal sustainability weigh on sentiment and confidence, negatively affecting consumption, investment, and hiring decisions,” Yi said in a statement to a key International Monetary Fund committee.
“The slow recovery in these major advanced economies poses costly spillover effects to the rest of the world,” he added.
Yi said it “remained to be seen” whether monetary easing measures touted by central banks as an elixir for growth would live up to their billing.
“The slowing global recovery suggests that fundamental constraints to economic growth and financial stability remain unresolved,” he said.
“The need for bold, swift, and decisive action to arrest the global slowdown and preserve financial stability is more urgent than ever.”
The statement credited Europe for efforts to fix its debilitating debt crisis, calling it a step in “the right direction”, but added that policymakers must follow through on promised reforms.
“A durable solution to the Euro area crisis would provide a much-needed boost to global recovery,” the statement said.
On the domestic front, Yi said the Chinese economy would expand “steadily” through the second half of 2012 and keep its “relatively strong momentum in the medium and long term”.
Beijing would also accelerate efforts to boost domestic demand to reduce the economy’s heavy reliance on exports, he added.
Yi’s assurances come amid growing fears that a slowdown in growth in the world’s second-largest economy will be a drag on the wider world.
Earlier this week the IMF cut its estimate for growth in China to 7.8 percent this year and 8.2 percent in 2013, down from a July estimate of 8.0 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively.
With global growth rates also slowing — down to 3.3 percent this year and 3.6 percent next year, according to IMF forecasts — many are looking to China to help jolt the world back onto a more upward track.
Western nations — led by the US — frequently call on Beijing to boost domestic demand, saying China’s lopsided trade relationship in which it exports far more than it imports puts them at a disadvantage.
Yi is standing in for his boss, People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, who is staying away from the Tokyo meeting along with Finance Minister Xie Xuren, in apparent protest.
Japan and China are at loggerheads over the sovereignty of a group of uninhabited, but possibly resource-rich islands in the East China Sea.