GemMan

Mum Of Girl Mauled By Staffordshire Bull Terrier Says ‘Don’t Blame The Dog’ Video: Rebecca Learmouth was attacked by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier The mum of a girl attacked by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier says the blame should lie with the owners, not the dogs. Six-year-old Rebecca Learmouth was mauled by the dog while playing near her home in Byker, Newcastle on Tuesday May 29. Rebecca was left with wounds to her mouth, nose and cheek and needed surgery to repair her injuries. It’s the second attack by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in Tyne and Wear this month after eight-year-old Jonathon Harwood was mauled in South Shields. Despite her ordeal, mum Louise Cavanah says she doesn’t blame the breed and says it’s the owners who should be held accountable. She said: “Not all dogs are the same, it’s just the way some of them are being brought up. “They’re being used for street cred and protection. At one point it was a Rottweiler and now it’s a Staffie.”

California Shooting: Gunman Picture Released New details emerge of the California shooting that left four victims dead as the attacker is snapped on a surveillance camera. 3:43am UK, Sunday 09 June 2013 The picture shows the gunman dressed all in black and carrying a rifle Weapons and armour recovered from the gunman An image has emerged of a gunman during a shooting rampage in California that left four victims dead. The CCTV picture shows the killer carrying an assault-style rifle as he enters the library of a college in Santa Monica, where many students were forced to block a doorway as they hid. The image was released as police revealed the gunman used to be a student at the college and had a brush with the law in the seaside town as a teenager. Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks has revealed new details about the killing spree. The gunman's father and brother were found dead in their houseShe explained how the 23-year-old gunman, having killed his father and brother and apparently setting their house on fire, went on to order a woman to drive him around as he targeted other victims. The woman, who was held at gunpoint, escaped unharmed. However, two others died - one a college worker shot while driving a 4x4 and another a woman gunned down outside the library at Santa Monica College. Another woman in the 4x4 was seriously injured and her prognosis was described as “grim”. Police officers at the scene. The killer's motives remain unclearPolice have not named the gunman, who was dressed all in black and in a bullet vest during Friday's rampage, but said he was enrolled in the college as recently as 2010. As well as the rifle he was carrying a handgun, a bag filled with ammunition and other firearms gear. He exchanged shots with police who confronted him outside the library before he went inside and was pursued by the officers who ultimately shot him dead. Several students in the library took shelter in a study room when they saw the gunman approaching, police said.

21 Panoramic Photos That Went Horribly Wrong The iPhone 5 has a panoramic feature that allows you to take long photographs. As you can see, the technology is far from perfect.

Horrible WTF Tattoo Fail of the Day Goes to… What does true love look like? Well, if you're a complete moron it looks like a bloody, black ink scrapping across the side of your face. In one of the worst cases of documented idiocy, a Russian woman allowed her boyfriend to ink his name across her face in 5-inch tall gothic letters. All hail Lesya Toumaniantz, queen of the idiots. Oh, it's also worth mentioning that she got the tattoo on not one, but both sides of her face. Possibly to let people know a dumbass is close by, no matter which side of her they're standing on. The college graduate met her boyfriend, Rouslan Toumaniantz in an online chatroom and is now engaged to her heavily tattooed fiance. In time, Lesya. In time. There will be plenty of opportunity for horrible mistakes down your road of fail. It's a symbol of our eternal devotion. I'd like him to tattoo every inch of my body," - Lesya's Facebook page. Perhaps this face tattoo wasn't a hasty decision though and I'm being incredibly too harsh? If only that were the case. After chating online for an unknown amount of time, the two online lovers agreed to meet and Lesya got her face ink just 24 hours after meeting her beau for the first time. All together now... "AWWWWWWWWW." If her boyfriend's name, Rouslan Toumaniantz sounds vaguely familiar, that's because in 2009 he made internet headlines after he tattooed 56 stars across a girl's face. Gotta admit, the guy is making quite a name for himself of ruining young girls' faces. Keep that in mind, kids. When searching for the perfect tattoo or other body modification, don't think, just act with your heart. Thinking is for suckers. I know that there are people who are terrified that Lesya has made a rash decision that she’ll regret horribly, but sometimes the best decisions are the ones you make in an instant with your heart rather than the ones long-debated in your mind." - unnamed friend of Lesya.

Unbelievable 3D Drawings (16 pieces) These three-dimensional pencil drawings by Chilean artist Fredo are absolutely mind-blowing! The 17-year-old prodigy draws objects that look like they're about to jump off the page! In fact, by taking pictures of his art at just the right angle, it's hard to differentiate what's real and what's not. Though there is no doubt that Fredo has been inspired by artists who have come before him, such as M.C. Escher, Fredo's art definitely has a modern twist. Some of his extremely detailed drawings even feature creepy goblins holding physical objects like a lighter or reaching out of the page for a soda can. To be able pull this off, this gifted teenager not only has a powerful imagination but an extreme amount of patience and a crazy amount of talent. I caught up with Fredo to ask him a few questions about his work: At what age did you start to draw? I've drawn all my life, but the "climax" was in 2005. When i was 15, I started to ask myself things about life and space. Who are some of the other artists you are inspired by? I like Beksinski, Arcimboldo, Rembrandt, Alex Grey, and, of course M.C. Escher. He's a great source of inspiration. I'm also inspired by other types of artists such as musicians. Tool, Sigur Rós, and Explosions in the Sky are just some examples. To me, music is necessary. How long does each piece take? It depends. Sometimes 30 minutes, sometimes one month. Time is gold but the satisfaction of seeing a finished drawing is the most important. Is there any advice you'd give to other artists? Everything is possible with a pencil in your hands, the real world is smaller than the imaginary. And, of course, have fun and do it with love.

Saudi Arabia's jobs problem: Not enough executioners Published June 07, 2013 FoxNews.com Saudi Arabia can't find enough people willing to perform the grim task of beheading convicts. (Reuters) Saudi Arabia can't find enough executioners to carry out its barbaric brand of justice, according to reports. The Kingdom is actively soliciting applicants who can be trained to behead people sentenced to death under Sharia law, according to Vatican Insider. While the problem may shine a light on Saudi Arabia's frightening justice system, it also could show a more humane population, according to the Asia Times. “Fewer people are interested in a "career" in executing others, a task that requires a lot of cold blood and a lot of training to be able to swing a sword properly,” Asia Times reported. The executioners who are on the job are doing double duty, as the number of death penalties meted out has not slowed. Some 76 people were put to death in 2012, and 40 have already been put to death this year. The most recent case took place on May 14 in the southwestern city of Najran, where a man was beheaded after being convicted of murdering a fellow tribesman. The ultimate penalty is applied in Saudi Arabia in cases of murder, armed robbery, rape, drug trafficking, witchcraft and sodomy. Human rights groups and western groups have tried to influence Saudi Arabia to implement more fair trials and less cruel methods of execution. It remains the only country in the world where beheadings are carried out in public places.

Francis tells Jesuit students, 'I didn't want to be pope' Published June 07, 2013 Associated Press June 8, 2013: Pope Francis smiles he listens to children reading out their message during an audience with students of Jesuit schools and institutions in Italy and Albania, at the Vatican. (AP) VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has revealed that he never wanted to be pope and that he's living in the Vatican hotel for his "psychiatric" health. Francis got very personal Friday as he met with thousands of children from Jesuit schools across Italy and Albania. Answering their questions one by one, Francis told them the decision to become a priest had been difficult for him and that he had suffered "moments of interior darkness" when "you feel dry, without interior joy." But he said he went ahead because he loved Christ. One of the most touching moments came when Teresa, a bright-eyed redhead no more than six, asked Francis flat out if he had wanted to be pope. After joking around, Francis replied: "I didn't want to be pope."

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Octavio Frias de Oliveira Bridge, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Stari Most, or Old Bridge, Mostar, Bosnia. Kintai Bridge, Iwakuni, Japan.

Erasmus Bridge, Rotterdam, Netherlands Millennium Bridge, Newcastle, England. Banpo Bridge, Seoul. Magdeburg Water Bridge, Magdeburg, Germany. Pont du Gard, Gard, France. Chapel Bridge, Lucerne, Switzerland. Nanpu Bridge, Shanghai, China. Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, Charleston, South Carolina. Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic. Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge, Brasilia, Brazil. Langkawi Sky Bridge, Malaysia Rialto Bridge, Venice, Italy. Pont Alexandre III, Paris, France.

Samsung dropped a nuclear patent on Apple June 6, 2013 -- Updated 1243 GMT (2043 HKT) Apple's older iPhone models ran afoul of Samsung patents, according to the U.S International Trade Commission. STORY HIGHLIGHTS U.S. government agency gave Samsung a victory over Apple in patent dispute Florian Mueller: President Obama can veto the ruling, but he shouldn't get mired in it He says what's really at state are standard-essential patents Mueller: Congress can abate mobile patents wars by disallowing bans over SEPs (CNN) -- This week, the U.S. International Trade Commission made a decision that sent shock waves around the world. The governmental agency banned the importation of Apple's older iPhones (before the 4S) and cellular iPads (before the third-generation iPad 4G) into the U.S. market. These devices were found to violate a Samsung patent necessary to connect with AT&T's cellular network. Simply put, if you're an AT&T customer, your phone is not a phone without a technology that Samsung owns. Customs officers will hold any Apple shipments coming from China in 60 days if they contain those older products unless an appeals court sides with Apple or President Barack Obama vetoes the order. The president has delegated this decision-making power to the U.S. trade representative, but obviously, he can still do what no U.S. president has done in decades. However, he shouldn't get mired in this particular battle. A veto would be consistent with a set of patent reform proposals the White House unveiled a few hours before the ITC's decision, which would make it harder to obtain such bans. But it would mean depriving Samsung of its most significant victory in a bitter legal spat with Apple and interfere in the intense two-horse race going on in the smartphone market. A veto would also snub a major U.S. trading partner and geopolitical ally: South Korea, where Samsung accounts for about a fifth of the national economy. The South Koreans would certainly cry foul over "protectionism." The good news for Apple is that most of the affected products are no longer on sale. The ones that are still being sold are Apple's lowest-priced entry-level offerings. As soon as Apple launches the iPhone 5S , the iPhone 5 will replace the 4S as the mid-priced product. The iPhone 4S, which is also safe, will then become the low-end iPhone. Samsung takes aim at Apple Until this happens, we're talking about 1% of Apple's sales -- less, actually, because AT&T can buy as many iPhone 4 and iPad 2 units over the next 60 days as it wants and sell them afterward. And customers still have different models from which to choose. But there's a bigger reason for concern. What Samsung dropped on those older Apple products is the patent equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and a U.S. government agency with court-like powers said: "Yes, Samsung, you're in your right to use this lethal weapon, and we don't care that Apple claims it's been universally outlawed." Next time someone -- not necessarily Samsung, which could even find itself on the receiving end -- will use patents of this kind, called standard-essential patents, to nuke products that jobs depend on and that customers will sorely miss. And next time could be a matter of months because various other ITC cases over standard-essential patents are pending and will come to judgment soon. That's the real concern. Not the iPhone 4. Why are standard-essential patents the equivalent of a nuclear weapon? Because there are industry standards that establish the use of certain techniques. Unless your phone and mine use the same standard, we can't give each other a call or send each other a photo because the devices we use won't understand each other. This is called interoperability -- working together. When companies get together and define a standard, they have to promise to use these patents only as parking meters, not as guns. Conventional patents, such as the ones Apple is suing Samsung over, don't raise the same issues. For example, Apple is suing Samsung over a feature called "rubber-banding." It's the iconic bounce-back effect when you scroll a list (such as your phone's address book) and reach the end. I like it, but if you have rubber-banding and I don't, we can still keep in touch. No nuclear threat there. Congress should work with the president and denuclearize the mobile patents wars by disallowing import bans over standard-essential patents. Now.

Woman Training for Marathon Has Surprise Baby Jun 6, 2013 1:01pm Trish Staine thought the aches and pains of a two-hour run were just one hazard of training to run a half-marathon. But Staine’s soreness was instead a sign that she was in labor. A day after completing a two-hour run along a hilly road, Staine was admitted Monday to the Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, Minn., with severe pain in her back. Emergency room doctors told Staine and her husband that she wasn’t injured, she was about to have a baby. “They found a fetal heartbeat and I was like, ‘No, that’s not possible,’” Staine told ABCNews.com affiliate WDIO-TV. “They rushed me upstairs and within five minutes of getting into my room, she was born.” Staine’s baby girl, named Mira, short for Miracle, according to The Associated Press, was born five weeks early at a healthy weight of 6 pounds and 6 ounces. Staine and her husband were completely surprised by the birth because she had not gained significant weight or missed periods. “I’ve always been skeptical about all these TV shows and whatnot with people saying, ‘Oh, I didn’t know I was pregnant,’” Staine told WDIO-TV. “I’m like that’s impossible. … As soon as I had her, I was like, ‘I’m a believer.’” (Image Credit: WDIO-TV) Although it is rare to a have pregnancy undetected until birth, Dr. Shilpi Mehta-Lee, assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, said that according to studies, about 1 in 2,500 births are not detected until the baby is delivered. Mehta-Lee, who did not treat Staine, said that some women have difficulty psychologically accepting they are pregnant, which can result in a medical condition called “‘denial of pregnancy.” She cautions, however, that some women do not realize they’re pregnant simply because they display no traditional symptoms of pregnancy. “This [story] is a great opportunity to step back and say I haven’t gotten my period or my period is irregular,” Mehta-Lee told ABCNews.com of other women who might be missing the signs of pregnancy. ”It’s never too late. Better to initiate [prenatal] care 20 or 30 weeks [into a pregnancy] than never initiating care.” In addition to baby Mira, Staine and husband John have two biological children of their own, plus John’s two sons from a previous marriage and two foster children. Trish Staine said there was one member of the family who was particularly excited about the new baby: her older daughter, 7. “My daughter is really happy, she finally has a little sister,” Staine told WDIO-TV. ”She’s the only girl. Now we have two girls and whole team of boys.”

Arizona Teen Breaks Feet Jumping to Pool From House Roof Jun 5, 2013 6:51pm An Arizona mom has been chastised after posting a video of her teenage daughter jumping from the house roof onto cement, missing the swimming pool a few inches away. Carrie Yunker said she had hoped to raise funds for daughter Nicole after the injury. “The website wants to take down the page because it has been reported as fraud,” Yunker of Show Low, Ariz., told ABC News. In early May, Nicole and her roommates jumped from the roof of their house into the pool. Nicole appeared hesitant to jump, but took the leap anyway. She landed short of the pool and directly onto the cement. She broke both of her feet and might need multiple surgeries. That’s when Carrie Yunker created the webpage – June 3 – on gofundme.com after concerns that her teenage daughter wouldn’t be able to work. She had hoped to raise up to $4,200. “A lot of people say I’m begging for money, but that was never what I tried to do,” the mother said. “I set up a webpage for family and friends to help her out, but they took down the video from the site.” Yunker has been criticized for asking for money for her daughter’s poor judgment. People have flooded Yunker with negative messages since the video caught on. So far, Yunker has only received $400 in donations since posting the video. While Nicole had a full-time job, she had no health insurance and has since been added to her dad’s health insurance plan. “I was personally attacked for my past and I even got a death threat,” Carrie Yunker said. Nicole was expected to go into surgery today, and her recovery time could be anywhere from six months to a year. “Nicole realizes she made a mistake and she is in a lot of pain,” Yunker said. “I will take pictures of her at the hospital to show that this is not fraud.”

Michael Jackson's daughter hospitalized June 6, 2013 -- Updated 1317 GMT (2117 HKT) Paris Jackson's 'cry for help' STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: AEG Live asked Paris Jackson "intimate details about her father in a deposition," lawyer says NEW: "A grilling of a child regarding the loss of her father is going to create a lot of pressure," lawyer says Paris called a suicide hotline, prompting a counselor to call 911, a source says "Being a sensitive 15-year-old is difficult no matter who you are," a Jackson lawyer says Los Angeles (CNN) -- Paris Jackson, the 15-year-old daughter of Michael Jackson, was rushed to a hospital after cutting one of her wrists early Wednesday morning, sources close to the Jackson family told CNN. Paris called a suicide counseling hotline early Wednesday, which lead to a counselor calling 911 to the Jackson home in Calabasas, California, those sources said. "Being a sensitive 15-year-old is difficult no matter who you are," attorney Perry Sanders said Wednesday morning. "It is especially difficult when you lose the person closest to you. Paris is physically fine and is getting appropriate medical attention. Please respect her privacy and the family's privacy." Other Jackson sources stopped short of calling the incident a suicide attempt, although one suggested it might be "a cry for help" from the teenager. Paris posted messages to her million-plus Twitter followers late Tuesday evening: Michael Jackson's daughter hospitalized Paris Jackson's 'cry for help' "i wonder why tears are salty?" "yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away "now it looks as though they're here to stay" The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said its deputies "responded to a medical situation" at an address that matches the Jacksons' Calabasas home at 1:27 a.m. Wednesday. A patient was taken to a hospital, it said. Paris, along with her grandmother, Katherine Jackson, and her brothers, Prince and Blanket, are suing AEG Live for liability in Michael Jackson's 2009 drug overdose death. Paris and Prince are listed as witness in the Los Angeles trial and have been expected to testify in the wrongful death trial later this month. Jackson trial lawyer Kevin Boyle spoke to reporters outside of court Wednesday afternoon, saying Paris can decide if she will testify during their part of the case, but AEG Live has subpoenaed her, calling her a key witness. "The Jackson family and the Jackson lawyers are putting no pressure on Paris regarding this case at all," Boyle said. "It is AEG who is putting this case at Paris' back door." Paris and Prince were questioned separately over two days by AEG lawyers just before the trial began in April. "A grilling of a child regarding the loss of her father is going to create a lot of pressure," Boyle said. "Paris Jackson was asked intimate details about her father and her father's death; it was a very intense situation." AEG Live lawyer Marvin Putnam denied his team was tough on Paris Jackson in her deposition. "I don't think anybody in the world could call it a grilling." He declined to say he would not call her as a witness if she does not testify during the Jacksons' case. "We have to know what they're putting on as a case before we decide what our defense will be," Putnam said. "I have no idea who we're going to call." Paris made millions cry four years ago when she spoke up at the end of the public memorial service for her father. "Ever since I was born, daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine," she said, fighting back tears as relatives consoled her. "And I just want to say that I love him so much," she said as she burst into tears and sought refuge in the embrace of family members. Paris was recently reunited with her mother, who bowed out of her life when she was an infant. She has been spending time with Debbie Rowe on her horse farm. Rowe issued a statement through her lawyer Wednesday morning: "We appreciate everyone's thoughts for Paris at this time and their respect for the family's privacy."

102-Year-Old Woman Tandem BASE-Jumps for Birthday Jun 5, 2013 6:45pm At 102 years old, Dorothy Custer spends most days on her porch in Twin Falls, Idaho, sewing and playing the harmonica. But her birthday celebration Sunday called for something a bit more dramatic: tandem BASE-jumping. “I wish I could’ve floated around a little bit longer,” Dorothy Custer told ABC News. “I thought if I did break a leg, it doesn’t matter one way or another. I wasn’t scared at anytime. I thought it was just a wonderful experience.” Courtesy Dorothy Custer and Sean Chuma Tandem BASE-jumping, which stands for Buildings, Antennas, Spans and Earth, is an extreme sport where a person, with an instructor attached, jumps off a platform and glides to the ground via a parachute. But Custer is no stranger to extreme sports. She celebrated her 101st birthday last year with a zipline adventure over the Snake River Canyon in southern Idaho. This year her grandson decided to up the ante by bringing up the idea of tandem-BASE jumping. “I was thinking of doing that, but I wouldn’t jump by myself. I wouldn’t do it unless I was with somebody,” Custer said. That’s when her grandson approached Sean Chuma, an experienced tandem-BASE jumper in the Twin Falls area. “[Her grandson] asked, ‘Would you be interested in taking a 102-year-old lady on a tandem base jump?’” Chuma told ABC News. Chuma met Custer at her home to assess whether she’d be fit for the jump, asking questions regarding her heart and feelings about extreme sports. Chuma, with more than 2,000 jumps under his belt, concluded it was safe and offered to take Custer tandem-BASE jumping, for free. “She told me, ‘If I break a leg, it’s OK, I want to do this,’” Chuma said. “Who was I to tell her she couldn’t do it? I was more nervous than she was.” Three days later, he was assisting the petite woman climb over a four-foot handrail to reach the platform. With a “full body of armor” of dirt bike pads, helmet, harness and Chuma strapped in behind her, Custer stood overlooking the Snake River Canyon ready to take her leap of faith. “We just counted down 3, 2, 1, see ya! And we jumped,” Chuma said. “It had to be the softest landing ever.” Custer said it was the experience of a lifetime, and one she had never even considered before. “I wasn’t afraid,” she said. “You sometimes have butterflies in my stomach but, no, I never felt anything. I thought it was just a wonderful experience. Something to do. Something I never thought of doing.” As for the daredevil’s next adventure, Custer said she has no set plans but some ideas. “You think I’ll be around for another birthday?” Custer said, chuckling. “I don’t know. There are only two things I might like to do. One is maybe float around in a hot air balloon.”

Heather McGill, Wife of Alabama Sen. Shadrack McGill, Warns on Facebook to Keep Off Her Man By ABC News Jun 5, 2013 9:37am An Alabama politician’s wife who took to Facebook to warn women to stay away from her husband said a “righteous anger” pushed her to write a post that has now gone viral. “I know that I can’t bring about change in other people’s lifestyles but I can protect my household, my husband and my children,” Heather McGill, the wife of Alabama state Sen. Shadrack McGill, told ABC News. Heather McGill logged on to her husband’s Facebook page Monday night to write a post targeted at the women she claims are soliciting her husband, a Republican who has served in the Senate since 2010, for sex. “Multiple times since being in office he has gotten emails from women (who may not even be real) inviting him to explore, also sending pictures of themselves. NO MORE!!!,” McGill wrote. “We have children that look at our face books from time to time! Shame on you!” Sen. McGill told ABC News that, during his 2010 campaign, strippers arrived at his family’s home in the middle of the night and that, since being elected, he has received numerous photos on Facebook of scantily clad women. Heather McGill said it was the latest photo, one posted just last Sunday, that drove her to write the post in which she warned the women, “Next time everyone will know who you are!! For I will publicly share your name before we ‘unfriend’ you.” “I had looked on my husband’s Facebook page yesterday and again there was another picture and another email,” she told ABC News. “Being that we have daughters, I guess a righteous anger rose up in me to protect my family.” The McGills have been married for 14 years and have six children together. They are also foster parents. Heather McGill called the type of unwanted attention her husband has received, “the ‘behind-the-scenes’ garbage that political life brings.” Despite the attention and strain placed on his family, Sen. McGill said he was prepared for the next campaign season. “I was a novice the first time but this time I’ve got my feet under me,” he said.

Woman Pulled From Philadelphia Building Collapse as Death Toll Rises to 6 Philadelphia Building Collapse, People Trapped June 6, 2013 A 14th survivor was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed a four-story building in central Philadelphia minutes after officials said six people were killed and at least 13 people were injured. Rescue workers used buckets and their bare hands to move bricks and rubble to free a 61-year-old woman late Wednesday night identified as Myra Plekam of Kensington, Pa., Philadelphia Public Safety Director Michael Resnick confirmed to ABC News. Plekam was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and listed in critical condition. Plekam's rescue came more than 12 hours after the building collapsed Minutes before the woman was pulled from the rubble, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said one man and five women were among the dead, but did not release their names at a late-night news conference. At least 13 other people have been transported to hospitals with minor injuries, according to authorities. "This has been a tough day here in the city of Philadelphia but we're a pretty tough city and we're quite resilient," Nutter said. Fire officials said that 40 percent of the collapsed building still needs to be checked. Officials declined to say how much longer they will remain at the site to search for potential survivors, but Nutter insisted that the search will continue through the night. WPVI/ABC News Firefighters are at the scene of a building... View Full Size Bridge Collapse: Moments of Terror Watch Video June 29, 1995: S. Korea Building Collapse Watch Video Workers Survive Roof Collapse Caused by Snow Watch Video "We did not know and we still do not know how many people were actually in the store or possibly on the sidewalk or some other area adjacent to the Salvation Army thrift store," he said. The building was in the process of being demolished when an exterior wall that it shared with an adjoining building fell outward Wednesday morning, collapsing into the adjoining two-story building that housed a Salvation Army Thrift Store. The thrift store was damaged but is still standing. Officials at the University of Pennsylvania hospital, which treated five victims, said that they saw mostly cuts and bruises on victims taken there. At least one victim has already been released, and others were expected to be discharged sometime Wednesday. "They were a bit stunned, they were saying they heard a loud noise and then the ceiling began falling," Dr. Elizabeth Datner said at a news conference Wednesday. "We saw one individual who had been trapped, but they are all talking and all in stable conditions." Datner said that most of the victims were in the thrift store at the time of the collapse. The vacant mixed-use commercial building was in the process of being demolished when it collapsed, according to city inspector Carlton Williams. Authorities are unsure how many construction workers were at the site when the building collapsed. "We want to be sure to keep the focus on the firefighters that are actively engaged in search and rescue," Nutter said earlier today. "We had a significant number of people on the scene, and we will continue this operation until we are certain that anyone who was in the building has been taken out of building and is recovered." Firefighters were first dispatched to the building at 10:43 a.m. and arrived at 10:45 a.m. to begin working, Fire commissioner Lloyd Ayers said. A 10-block stretch of Market Street, which runs through the city, was shut down for the rescue effort. Williams said that both the building's owners and the contractors had all of their permits and paperwork in order and up to date, and the building had no prior code violations.

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How Bitcoin Could Destroy America Bitcoin represents a significant threat to the currency domination of the USA, which is the only thing propping up the nation's status as a worldwide superpower. Following the USA's defaulting on all its international loans on August 15, 1971, the US trade balance has been maintained using a combination of military threats and telling people to buy US dollars just to fund the ongoing consumption of the USA. Where other world currencies have failed to challenge the USD, and therefore this mechanism of maintaining US economic dominance, bitcoin may succeed. To understand this scenario, we need to understand just how bankrupt the United States of America is. For some reason, most spotlights at the moment are pointed at the failing Euro; this is probably in part due to the fact that the US Dollar failed long ago, and is being kept alive by blowing up a bubble harder by the day. An ELI5 version can be found here (ELI5 meaning "explain it like I'm five"), but in a nutshell, the USA defaulted on its international loans following the Vietnam War, and has been borrowing more money to fund its extravagant consumption ever since. Since long ago, more money is now borrowed just to pay interest on the previous loans. Last year, the United States' budget deficit was an astonishing 50% of the budget - for every US Dollar in revenue, two were spent. Remarkably, this isn't discussed a lot - I imagine if it were, the US' ability to pay back its loans would be called into question, something that would bring down the house of cards like a ton of bricks dumped on top, so nobody is really interested in rocking the boat too much. After all, everybody is sitting on USD reserves that would become worthless overnight if that were to happen. The United States started its money printing presses on August 15, 1971, and has kept them going ever since. Just in 2011, 16 trillion dollars - that's trillion with a T - were printed to prop up the US economy. How much is that in perspective? It's slightly more than the US gross production combined. For every dollar produced of value, one more was printed out of thin air, in the hope that somebody would buy it. And people do. That's the thing - there is a key mechanism here that forces people to keep buying US dollars. The United States is kept alive as a nation by the fact that if anybody wants to purchase goods from another nation, like China, they first have to buy US Dollars from the USA, then exchange those USD for the goods they want in China. That, and the fact that this results in all countries buying tons of USD to put in their currency reserves. The fact that people must keep buying USD to get what they want from anybody else in the world is the mechanism that props up the entire US economy, and more importantly, fuels its military which in turn enforces this mechanism (see Iraq, Libya, Iran, etc). It's a cycle of violence-enforced economic dominance that leads to extravagant spending, and an enabled such spending, by the United States - mostly on military power to maintain that very dominance. (As a side note, it's questionable how much the middle class in the United States benefits from this any longer. A decade ago, this feedback loop made the normal standard of living in the US noticeably higher than in other parts of the Western world; today, the US comes pretty much last in every category of standard of living.) As "end of the world" articles are typically discarded as tinfoilhattery, I wanted to start this article with establishing economic facts on the table. The USA is bankrupt, and the only thing keeping it from collapsing are its military and the fact that everybody else is so heavily invested in the USA that nobody wants it to go bankrupt on their watch. Thus, the borrowing and overspending continues for another day... until it doesn't. What would happen if the US were one day unable to continue its overspending? We would see a mighty crash of the global economy, but more importantly, the US would come down in a Soviet-style collapse, only much worse due to structural differences. (To understand these differences, consider the fact that public transport kept running through the Soviet collapse, and that most families were well-prepared for food shortages. In the US, you would instead have people stranded in suburbs with no fuel, food, or medicine - only lots of weapons and ammo. See Orlov's collapse gap for more on this structural difference.) Enter bitcoin, which can break the cycle of borrowing and overspending. As we observed, the key reason that people are forced to buy US Dollars today is that it's the international mechanism of exchange of value. If you want a gadgetoid from China or India, you need to first buy US dollars, and then exchange the US Dollars for the gadgetoid. But as we have seen, bitcoin far outshines the US Dollar in every aspect as a value token for international trade. Using bitcoin is cheaper, easier, and much much faster than today's international systems for transfer of value. Pretty much everybody I've spoken to who is involved in international trade would switch to a bitcoin-like system in a heartbeat if they were able to, venting years of built-up frustration with the legacy banking system (which uses the USD). If that happens, the US won't be able to find buyers for its newly-printed money that keeps its economy propped up (and its military funded). If the cycle of dollar lock-in breaks, the United States of America comes crashing down. Hard. It would seem inevitable at this point, and bitcoin may be the one mechanism that breaks the cycle.