AOL – by MOHAMMAD DARAGHMEH

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) – An autopsy showed an Arab teenager who Palestinians say was killed in a revenge attack was burned to death, officials said Saturday, while Palestinian militants fired two rockets toward a major southern city deeper into Israel than any other attack in the current round of violence.

The Israeli military said its “Iron Dome” defense system intercepted the rockets that were aimed at Beersheba. The military also said at least 29 other rockets and mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel over the weekend. It said it had retaliated with airstrikes on militant sites in Gaza.   Continue reading “Palestinian teen burned to death, autopsy shows”

Secret vegetable garden grows along the FDR DriveNew York Post – by Priscilla DeGregory

There’s a secret garden growing in the most unlikely of places — along the FDR Drive in the East Village.

An unidentified horticulturalist has maintained the lush urban garden for two years, growing vegetables and herbs adjacent to the East Sixth Street footbridge, city parks employees say.

The 30-by-9-foot strip of land, which runs along the southbound lanes of the FDR, was previously filled with day lilies but now boasts rows of fresh veggies.   Continue reading “Secret vegetable garden grows along the FDR Drive”

AOL

When you think of an explosion, a computer is usually not the first thing that comes to mind. But one woman in Pennsylvania had a big scare when her laptop battery blew up while she was using it.

KYW-TV says, “It flipped my computer back and everything — like the battery pack and all — came out this way.”

Fox News reports, “My shirt caught on fire. So I [quickly] got my shirt off and that’s when I think I singed my hair and probably my face and all…”    Continue reading “Laptop battery explodes and burns owner”

targetHuffington Post – by Alexander C. Kaufman

Target announced Wednesday it is adopting a no-guns policy and, in a statement, asked that customers not bring guns into stores.

Even customers in localities where guns are allowed will be subject to the chain’s new policy.

“Bringing firearms to Target creates an environment that is at odds with the family-friendly shopping and work experience we strive to create,” Target’s interim CEO John Mulligan said in a statement.   Continue reading “Target: Don’t Bring Guns Into Our Stores”

LEPAGEHuffington Post – by Samantha Lachman

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) is facing questions over his decision to repeatedly meet with activists who have ties to a group the FBI and Maine law enforcement consider a domestic terrorist organization.

Talking Points Memo published on Monday an excerpt from author Mike Tipping’s new book, in which he details how LePage engaged with members of the Constitutional Coalition, which is affiliated with the Sovereign Citizen movement. Members of the organization believe the government is planning an attack on Christian Americans by collecting firearms, that it runs mind-control operations and that it was behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks.   Continue reading “Paul LePage Disputes Claim He Discussed Hanging Democratic Leaders With Extremist Group”

AOL

SHILOH, Ohio (AP) – Visitors from around the world to two upcoming events in Ohio’s Amish country could come away with more than they bargained for, health officials fear – a case of measles from the nation’s largest outbreak in two decades.

The outbreak, with more than 360 cases, started after Amish travelers to the Philippines contracted measles this year and returned home to rural Knox County, where it spread thanks to a lower rate of vaccination among the Amish and the difficulty public health authorities had in getting the word out to largely rural communities where phones are few and the Internet is nonexistent.   Continue reading “Measles outbreak complicates 2 big Amish events”

The Atlantic – bu Julia Filip

The average American child is 13 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than are children in other industrialized countries, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. And that’s after the gun homicide rate in the United States went down 49 percent since its 1993 peak, paralleling a general decline in violent crime, as illustrated by a Pew Research Center analysis of government data.

More than 900 children in the U.S. die in homicides each year, the majority of whom (51 percent) are shot by a relative, according to an NBC News analysis of 25 years of homicide reports. The most recent analysis of U.S. homicide rates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that firearms were the cause of 11,078 deaths out of 16,259 homicides recorded in 2010.   Continue reading “Propaganda Alert: Doctors’ Role in Stopping Gun Violence”

Suzanne Chase was denied funeral benefits for her husband because he was never treated at a VA hospital, even though he died after waiting four months for an appointment. (WBZ-TV)CBS Boston – by Joe Shortsleeve

ACTON (CBS) – “He was steadfast. He took care of us, all of these years.”

Suzanne Chase of Acton was talking about her husband, Doug, a Vietnam veteran who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2011.

In 2012, she tried to move his medical care to the Veterans Affairs hospital in Bedford.   Continue reading “I-Team: Acton Vet Finally Gets VA Doctor’s Appointment – 2 Years After He Died”

Huffington Post – by Mandy Valez

If you want to name your baby girl Harriet, don’t live in Iceland.

The country recently denied 10-year-old Harriet Cardew’s passport renewal request because her name doesn’t comply with Icelandic baby naming laws. Her name doesn’t appear on the approved list of 1,853 female and 1,712 boy names, The Guardian reports.   Continue reading “10-Year-Old Icelandic Girl Denied A Passport Because Her Name Is ‘Harriet’”

mark_mayfield01.jpgThe Clarion Ledger – by Geoff Pender and Emily Le Coz

Mark Mayfield’s family plans to sue or bring charges against the city of Madison, its police department or “anyone responsible” after Mayfield’s apparent suicide Friday.

Mayfield’s relatives, already angered over his arrest in May in the U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran photo scandal, say Madison police were trespassing when they showed up at his home in Ridgeland after he apparently shot himself. They say Mayfield’s arrest was politically motivated by supporters of Cochran and drove him to suicide.   Continue reading “Mayfield family plans lawsuit, charges against Madison”

New York Daily News – by ROCCO PARASCANDOLA

A Bronx woman who has accused an NYPD cop of breaking into her apartment during a drunken early morning attack told investigators that he viciously beat her in her bed, punching her more than 20 times.

Officer Eugene Donnelly, clad only in his underwear, eventually fled — but not before taking a drink of milk from her refrigerator, a source familiar with the woman’s account told the Daily News.   Continue reading “Drunken NYPD cop punched Bronx woman 20 to 30 times after breaking into her apartment: source”

New York Times

To find Stanley Theodore’s house, turn down 182nd Street in Springfield Gardens, Queens, and look for the ramshackle house with the grand old oak tree and the six-foot-wide American flag draped from the front window.

He opens the door before you can knock. Mr. Theodore is a long, lithe drink of water with a breeze-soft Trinidadian baritone. He has a Vietnam Veterans baseball cap pulled down over gray dreadlocks; he wears shorts and his beloved Jimi Hendrix T-shirt.   Continue reading “Veteran Wages a New Fight: For His Home”