July 12, 2018

PayPal Apologizes for Letter Demanding Payment From Deceased woman

Three weeks after a British man told PayPal that his wife had died at 37 and that her credit account should be closed, he opened a letter from the company: Her death, it seemed, was in violation of the company’s contract rules.

“You are in breach of condition 15.4(c) of your agreement with PayPal Credit as we have received notice that you are deceased,” said the July 10 letter to the woman, Lindsay Durdle, who had died of breast cancer on May 31.

Her husband of nearly 10 years, Howard Durdle, 40, of Bucklebury, read the company’s list of potential consequences: shutting down her account, requiring repayment of more than $4,000 in debt, and even legal action.

In Britain, spouses are not automatically responsible for their deceased partners’ debts. Such debts must be paid through the estate of the person who died, including money or possessions. Mr. Durdle said his wife’s estate could not cover her debt.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/business/paypal-dead-wife-husband-letter-nyt.html?module=WatchingPortal®ion=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=7&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2018%2F07%2F11%2Fbusiness%2Fpaypal-dead-wife-husband-letter-nyt.html&eventName=Watching-article-click

July 12, 2018

volcano update: Hawaii STILL growing EACH DAY, a mile of new land added

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/986439/hawaii-volcano-update-kilauea-eruption-lava-flow-hazards-latest


Hawaii volcano update: Hawaii STILL growing EACH DAY as Kilauea lava flows into the sea
HAWAII’S Kilauea volcano is still terrorising Big Island as it continues to spill lava into the ocean, adding to an already major new outcrop of land jutting out from the coast.

The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island has now entered into its second month of eruption as it pushes a river of viscous red lava into the ocean.

Until recently the volcano has shown little sign of change, with an established channel flowing from the summit down to the ocean.

About a mile of new land has formed as a result, the latest addition to Hawaii’s volcanic islands.

So far, there have been no deaths and few injuries reported as a result of the eruption, but more than 600 homes are thought to have been destroyed.


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July 12, 2018

'Miracle' forest baby: Montana man ... says he left infant because it was 'very heavy"

'Miracle' forest baby: Montana man cries at arraignment, says he left infant because it was 'very heavy'

The man accused of leaving a 5-month-old baby in a Montana forest reportedly broke down crying when he heard allegations against him in court on Tuesday — two days after a search team discovered the infant buried under a pile of sticks and debris.

From his jail cell, Francis Carlton Crowley, 32, appeared via videoconference in Missoula County Justice Court on Tuesday on charges of assault on a minor and criminal endangerment, according to the Associated Press.

As the judge and prosecutor read the allegations, Crowley doubled over and fell to the floor, the AP reported. He twice exclaimed that he loves the boy and pleaded with the judge not to take him away.

Image: Lolo hot springs babyA 5-month-old infant with dirt under their fingernails after authorities say the baby survived hours being buried under sticks and debris in the woods on July 8, 2018.Missoula County Sheriff's Office via AP
Crowley did not enter a plea. His relationship to the child — and the identity of the boy's mother — were still not clear.

He told investigators he had been in a car crash and left the baby behind because the child was "very heavy," prosecutors said in an affidavit obtained by NBC News.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/miracle-forest-baby-montana-man-cries-arraignment-says-he-left-n890346

July 12, 2018

GOP growing nervous Trump's policies will plunge party into peril

GOP growing nervous Trump’s policies will plunge party into peril
Trump and Pence trot out bad-cop, good-cop routine as fears rise over trade war and NATO spat.

While President Donald Trump was in Europe speaking for America’s interest in the world, Vice President Mike Pence was in the heartland speaking to its anxieties.

On Wednesday, as Trump excoriated America’s allies for taking advantage of his nation’s largesse, Pence was gliding through the greater Midwest, seeking to calm the nerves of farmers and political foot soldiers worried that the administration’s policies will irrevocably hit their pocketbooks and set back the party before the midterm elections.


The split screen — which Trump allies liken to the hands of a clock, perpetually in motion but not always close — underscores the administration’s high-risk, high-reward approach to global diplomacy and domestic policy that helped it claim the White House and keep its base energized and loyal, yet could plunge the GOP into peril if things go off the rails.

Republicans are growing nervous about the latter possibility.

“Going into the fall, there’s a real fear among our members that a trade war will squander the economic gains we made with tax reform,” a senior GOP official on Capitol Hill told POLITICO on Wednesday.

Trump’s tough talk with allies, coming ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, is adding to their discomfort.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/11/donald-trump-mike-pence-trade-war-nato-710718

July 11, 2018

with all that money, he could get a more natural makeup. & he's looking wrong direction

July 11, 2018

the boys were sedated, passed from diver to diver, through the cave - monitored by drs posted in cav

he video of the rescue, which ended on Tuesday when the final four boys and their 25-year-old coach emerged from the cave, was released by authorities who had until today closely guarded the details of the unprecedented operation. After days of speculation, a former Thai Navy SEAL diver revealed the boys were sleeping or partially conscious as they were passed from diver to diver through the cave. 'Some of them were asleep, some of them were wiggling their fingers... (as if) groggy, but they were breathing,' Commander Chaiyananta Peeranarong said. 'My job was to transfer them along,' he said, adding the 'boys were wrapped up in stretchers already when they were being transferred' and were monitored at regular intervals by doctors posted along the kilometres-long escape route.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5943187/Navy-SEAL-footage-shows-moment-tranquilised-Thai-cave-boys-pulled-safety.html

July 11, 2018

Your brain on visible poverty

Your brain on visible poverty

You might think that visible poverty — like tent encampments along a bike path — would prompt a tender response from sheltered individuals. You would be incorrect.

In actuality, research has found that increases in visible poverty result in an increase in wealth inequality. The Haves, in this case, are less charitable, less generous and less emotionally drawn to help when they can see just how little the Have Nots have.

This is, I believe, linked to the perception of scarcity, and the idea that our economy is a zero-sum game. That is, if a poor person were to suddenly become not-poor, they may come for what you have and you might have less.

The companion to this is the assumption that when someone is poor, it must be because they deserve to stay that way. They must, fundamentally, be different than you are.

If not, there’s no clear answer as to why they are poor and you are not.

https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2018/07/11/Poverty-Biases/

July 11, 2018

The High Price of Poverty

The High Price of Poverty
By Kate Giammarise

"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor," wrote novelist and essayist James Baldwin.

Decades later, that's still true: From paying more money every month in rent than you would for a mortgage to paying check-cashing fees because you don't have a bank account, it's still expensive to be poor.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is examining the high cost of poverty in a series of stories this year.


On the bus: Riders who can afford to buy a ConnectCard save money on each bus ride. Riders who cannot afford the ConnectCard pay a higher individual fare in cash.
lpers

At home: Older homes and appliances raise the costs of utilities. Utilities also consume a greater proportion of a impoverished person's income.

https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/price-of-poverty/

July 10, 2018

Two Bengal kittens saved in Maine after drunken woman repeatedly tosses them in pond

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-news-drunk-woman-kittens-pond-20180710-story.html

Two little kitties are safe and sound after being tossed into a pond, thanks to an alert police officer in Maine.

Phippsburg Officer Zech Thomas arrived at Center Pond on July 4 to find a woman emerging from the water with two wet kittens, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Witnesses told cops that Justine Lovig had repeatedly thrown the gray Bengal kittens in the water, the newspaper reported.

Cops say Lovig covered the kittens in a T-shirt in her car and gave them part of an egg salad sandwich. Officer Thomas said the kittens looked like “they hadn't eaten in a very long time.

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Lovig failed a sobriety test and was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence, cruelty to animals and a probation violation, according to the Bangor Daily News.

She will appear in court in September.

July 10, 2018

New Jersey woman on oxygen dies after the power company shuts off her electricity

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/09/health/new-jersey-woman-dies-oxygen-trnd/index.html

A New Jersey grandmother who depended on an electric-powered oxygen tank to breathe died hours after power was cut off to her home, family members say.

The family of Linda Daniels, 68, acknowledge they were behind payments on the PSE&G power bill. But Daniels' son showed CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey bank records showing he paid the company $500 two days before power was shut off last Thursday.

Temperatures that day in Newark, where Daniels lived, were as high as 91.

"We were getting ice and putting ice on her, fanning her, trying to make it cool, but we couldn't pump the oxygen," said her daughter, Desiree Washington.


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PSE&G said in a statement to CNN that they were "saddened to hear that Ms. Daniels passed away" and that they tried at least 15 times to contact the family about their bill over the past seven months. They also say they were unaware of Daniels' medical condition.

Linda Daniels' utility bill showing the family owed more than $1,600.
Linda Daniels' utility bill showing the family owed more than $1,600.

"Everyone at PSE&G is saddened by this terrible tragedy and we extend our sincere condolences to the family. While there will be a complete investigation of this matter, our records indicate that this account was severely in arrears and we made at least 15 attempts to notify the customer since January, 2018, including two visits to the residence prior to the disconnection," the company said in the statement.
"We have reviewed our records dating back to 2016 and there is no indication by the customer of a medical condition in the home prior to disconnection," PSE&G added. "We never would have disconnected service had we been informed of the circumstances."