Blog March 19, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Teens Skipping Class Save 94-Year-Old Woman From Burning Home – NBC
High school students were cutting class when they sprang into action
By Cheryl Hurd
| Wednesday, Mar 19, 2014

A trio of Bay Area teens are being hailed as heroes after rescuing a 94-year-old woman from a burning home.

The senior students at California High School in San Ramon were skipping class at about 10 a.m. Monday to get something to eat when they saw smoke. The teens ended up on Broadmoor Drive, where smoke was billowing from the back of a house.

When Garen Kissoyan and his friends, Peter Kravariotis and Kirill Yantikov, drove up, they saw Dianna Davis in the garage calling for help.

"I was turning on the hose, she was on the phone with 911," Kissoyan said. "We asked the lady if anyone was in the house at the time — she didn't respond."
Davis eventually told the teens her elderly mother was inside.

"We both had the same instinct," Kravariotis said. "Just go in the house, so we did."

The teens ran into the fire and smoke, and discovered an elderly woman sitting in a chair. The woman was suffering from burns and covered in soot.

"When we picked up the chair and we grabbed the dog," Kravariotis said, "the only thing she said to us was 'I'm on fire,' and it was kind of shocking to me to hear that."

Bob Smith, who lives across the street, had already been inside. He said his age and heavy smoke pushed him right back out.

"The elderly lady, she would have been gone a minute and a half more," Smith said. "I don't think she could have survived. I went in there and couldn't see my hand in front of my face. It was that bad."

Firefighters eventually arrived on scene and extinguished the two-alarm blaze. Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.

The elderly woman was taken to a burn center in San Francisco, where she remains in critical condition.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.




Teens skipping school – that sounds like they were on their way to commit some crime, right? But no, they were out to get something to eat, and when they saw smoke they investigated as concerned citizens would. When they talked to the woman in the garage, who didn't respond at first, they could have watched without risking the danger of the fire, but they didn't. They ran into the house where they found and rescued an elderly woman and her dog. Finally the fire trucks arrived and firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze. Hopefully the teens will get an award for their efforts.




Gays In Crimea Split on Referendum
By James Novogrod

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — It lasted about five minutes. Someone hit him in the back of the head, and he crumbled to the ground.

Around fifteen people swarmed him afterward, he recalled. They punched him in the face. But the worst part wasn't the pain — it was the humiliation.

"I was saying, 'Guys, what for?'" says Vladimir Rudyuk, recounting the night in December 2012 he was jumped outside an open-air market in Simferopol. "It was painful for me. I didn't do anything to deserve it."

But, as a gay man living in Crimea, the provincial and conservative slip of land beneath mainland Ukraine, Rudyuk has come to expect abuse.

Since that night, the 27-year-old hair stylist has kept a low profile in this city, where he shares a small duplex apartment with his partner, Pavel Afanasyev, a doctor.
The couple met on the internet in 2007 and were unofficially married in Ukraine three years later, during a ceremony overseen by a Canadian minister.

"Before Russian occupation it was really complicated to be a gay in Ukraine. Now it's absolutely unbearable."

Their marriage is largely a secret, and it's not legally recognized. They tell most people they are brothers, though the neighbors have figured it out, the men say. Fortunately, no one in their suburban cluster of homes has complained.

The referendum
Days after a controversial vote that set Crimea on course to become part of Russia, the already quiet gay community here is preparing to be absorbed into a country where homosexuality has come under increasing pressure

Vladimir Rudyuk, 27, and Pavel Afanasyev, 29, on the evening the couple exchanged vows in Nikolaev, Ukraine, in May 2010. The couple lives together in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea. Their marriage is not officially recognized.

Last summer, the Russian government passed a measure banning so-called gay propaganda. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has said the law is meant to protect children. Rights groups have called it an effort to silence gays, already facing violence in their communities. In February, Human Rights Watch released a video documenting attacks on gays by roving street gangs.

In interviews one day after the Crimea referendum, gay citizens here in the Crimean capital said they were anxious about the transition to Russian rule. But like many in Crimea, where there are deep historical ties to Russia, they also said they feel culturally Russian.

For some, the referendum has stirred complicated feelings, tugging their national and personal identities in opposite directions.

Inside his suburban Simferopol home one night after the vote, Rudyuk fed kindling into a wood burning stove. The house runs off electric, but Rudyuk, who is handy and has a wiry build, said he installed the stove to save on utility costs.

Afanasyev, Rudyuk's 29 year -old partner, stood over a hot pot by the front door of their apartment, making tea. A grey cat named Simon pushed an empty dish along the floor at Afanayev's feet. "All he cares about is food," Afanasyev said.

Asked about the referendum, the men said they voted differently. Rudyuk, who suffered the beating only two years ago, said he voted pro-Russia.

He described the Kiev activists who weeks ago toppled Ukraine's pro-Moscow government as "fascists," echoing a Kremlin message.

But the anti-gay law in Russia worries him, too.

"Of course it does," Rudyuk said, speaking Russian. "It's better the dictatorship of Putin than a house of chaos."

Rudyuk's partner, Afanasyev, said he is worried that Crimea will become alienated from the international community. He voted to remain a part of Ukraine.

"We'll be unrecognized, like Abhkazia," Afanasyev said, referring to the autonomous republic in the Caucasus that broke away from Georgia in 2008, declaring itself loyal to Moscow.

Some gay Crimeans plan to abandon the peninsula altogether.
At an anti-referendum rally in Simferopol one day before the vote, a man said he planned to move to Turkey as soon as he could save the money.

"There is no democracy for people in Russia," he said in English.
The demonstrator, Maxim Kornilov, later elaborated by email to NBC News, confiding that he is gay.

"Before Russian occupation it was really complicated to be a gay in Ukraine, that's why I'm still in a closet and feel like trapped," he continued. "Now it's absolutely unbearable."

Twenty-nine years old, he works for a cultural exchange organization he says is financed by the U.S. embassy in Kiev. He lives with his mother, and hasn't told her he is gay.

During an interview in a Simferopol cafe Monday, Kornilov said his mother voted for Russia in Sunday's referendum. Kornilov, discouraged, didn't vote at all.
"It shows there's no hope for an honest life, for a transparent life," he said of the vote's outcome.




"It's better the dictatorship of Putin than a house of chaos." This simple thing may explain why some people who live under oppressive governments without rebelling prefer their situation to the “chaos” of a democratic system. “Some gay Crimeans plan to abandon the peninsula altogether.” To me, this is the logical thing to do while they still can, before Russian authorities start putting people who disagree into prison or even killing them. The gay man Kornilov expresses a desire for “an honest life, a transparent life.” In the US we call that “the right to the pursuit of happiness.” I do hope those who don't want to live under Russian rule will be allowed to leave Crimea and move to Ukraine or a foreign country, such as Turkey as one man suggested.

Wikipedia has a long and excellent article on the worldwide history and decriminalization of homosexuality and lesbianism, called Timeline of LGBT History, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_LGBT_history. This timeline starts at 9660 to 5000 BCE with Mesolithic rock art in Sicily and ends in 2014. I suggest anyone who is interested look through the entries.




Israel Bombs Syrian Posts After Their Troops Attacked
Reuters
First published March 19 2014, 3:21 AM

Israel attacked several Syrian military sites on Wednesday in retaliation for a roadside bombing that wounded four of its troops on the occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, the Israeli military said.

They included a Syrian military headquarters, a training facility and artillery batteries.

Aircraft carried out the overnight strike, said Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner. He described the targets as military facilities on the Syrian-held side of the Golan.
Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognized abroad. Tuesday's wounding of the soldiers as they patrolled the separation line on the strategic plateau marked Israel's worst casualties there since an insurgency erupted in Syria more than three years ago.

An Israeli army officer comforts a wounded soldier after he was unloaded from an army helicopter at a landing base in Haifa on Tuesday. Four Israeli soldiers were wounded when an explosion detonated near their jeep as they were patrolling Israel's border with Syria near Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement that the Syrian army had aided and abetted Tuesday's attack.

Parts of the Syrian-held side of the Golan are controlled by rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad, including al Qaeda-inspired militants hostile to Israel.

Israel says Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas helping Assad battle the insurgency also have a presence on the Golan. Israel is believed to have struck inside Syria several times since 2013, against advanced weapons it believed were intended for Hezbollah, attacks it has neither confirmed nor denied.

Hezbollah accused Israel of carrying out an airstrike on one of its bases on the Lebanon-Syria border last month and vowed to respond. Israel said it would hold the Beirut government responsible if Hezbollah attacked it from Lebanese territory.




Israel reminds me of Russia in one way. They attack massively upon any provocation whatsoever, and do so without regard to international opinion of their actions. I hate to say it, because I don't want the US to have that reputation, but if we were to put up that sort of defense Putin would probably back down. Of course, there is also the possibility that we would be involved in a nuclear war. I think Putin is smart enough that he doesn't want a nuclear war, either, so he probably still wouldn't "push the button." It would be a terrible and very scary time, though.

I have been trusting Russia more in the last ten years or so and enjoying the cultural similarities between us, so I hate to give that up. It looks like that is a pipe dream now and so, reluctantly, I will no longer look for humanitarian actions from them. Maybe all they care about is wealth and power.




With Migration, Indigenous Languages Going Extinct – NBC
By Carmen Sesín

HOMESTEAD, FL - Her name is Spanish in origin, but for Juana Sales, a migrant farm-worker from the Guatemalan high lands, it hardly reflects her cultural identity.
Ten years ago, when Sales arrived in Homestead, an agricultural area in South Florida, she only spoke Mam – a Mayan language that dates back to the year 500. The obscure tongue, which is mostly spoken in Guatemala and Mexico, is classified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as vulnerable to becoming extinct.

Since then, Sales has learned a heavily accented, broken Spanish and a little English. She has 4 children who were born in the U.S., but none of them have shown interest in speaking their mother's tongue.

Salas is one of a growing number of U.S. Latinos who speak ancient Mesoamerican languages, some of which are considered critically endangered of becoming extinct. According to the 2010 census, over 685,000 Latinos in the U.S. identified themselves as American Indian, up from around 400,000 in 2000. Experts agree the number is much higher but many indigenous speakers don’t report to the census because of immigration status and stigmas.

Most of the indigenous speaking Latinos in the U.S. are from Mexico, Guatemala and other Central American countries, although hundreds of indigenous languages are spoken all over Latin America. Through the centuries, languages have been lost for a number of reasons, primarily during the Spanish colonization period. These days, though, scholars cite cultural isolation and discrimination that comes with migration - in many cases from Spanish-speaking Hispanics - that is leading to the loss of languages that once reigned throughout Latin America.

According to Patricia Baquedano-Lopez, a professor of Social and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, the loss of language starts as soon as indigenous Latin Americans migrate internally before coming to the U.S. For instance, the indigenous groups she has studied from Yucatan first migrate to Cancun and Merida before making their way to California and other parts of the U.S.

“Merida and Cancun act as training centers before coming to the U.S.,” said Baquedano-Lopez, who is of Maya ancestry.

In these cities, they already begin to lose their language because it’s no longer important – they need Spanish and later English in order to survive. “Any kind of contact brings in the possibility of losing home languages,” added Baquedano Lopez.
Once they arrive in the U.S., their language becomes irrelevant in their new surroundings. Because many of them are undocumented they cannot travel home to see their families, making them culturally more isolated than your average Spanish-speaking Latino.

If the current migration patterns continue for years to come, they will have a serious negative impact on many languages, according to Pamela Munro, Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“When they come here they don’t have many opportunities to speak the language and don’t speak it to their children, and all contributes to language loss,” Munro said.
Many of those who come to the U.S. make money and then return to their communities, but with children who don’t speak the native language. That tends to change the indigenous speaking population even more, according to Munro.

Otto Schumann-Galvez, a professor of Mayan languages at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, adds that many indigenous speakers are subjected to ridicule by Spanish speaking Latinos in the U.S. – something they constantly faced in their own countries.

In 2012, the California Oxnard school district banned the use of the racially charged word “Oaxaquita” –or little Oaxacan – a derogatory term that students were using to refer to those from Mexico’s Oaxaca state. Indigenous students were being teased and bullied by other Mexican students, leaving them embarrassed to speak their native tongue.

“We acquire self-hating mechanisms. It’s really dramatic,” said Baquedano-Lopez.
“Many children see what their parents have suffered for being indigenous and they don’t want the same for themselves,” said Schumann-Galvez.

Indigenous people, often viewed as a minority within a minority by the larger Latino community, face an enormous amount of challenges and obstacles.

Juan Hernandez, came from Oaxaca 30 years ago speaking Mixtec, which is considered “definitely endangered” by UNESCO. Only knowing a few words in Spanish, he says he had a difficult time adapting.

"People take advantage when they know you can’t come up with the words to defend yourself,” said Hernandez, who now speaks perfect Spanish.

As a farmworker picking seasonal vegetables, Hernandez said most of the people who discriminated against him were Spanish-speaking Latinos who held managerial positions and would have him do extra work, threatening that he would be fired otherwise.
In 2001, Hernandez brought the rest of his family to Homestead. His son Agustin, who was 13 years-old when he came, speaks Mixtec, Spanish, and English, but says he prefers Spanish.

“Honestly, I prefer Spanish. I express myself better in Spanish, I like Spanish, and I feel more comfortable in Spanish,” said the younger Hernandez.

If the current migration patterns continue for years to come, they will have a serious negative impact on many languages,
Like his parents, he works in agriculture and says he has seen plenty of discrimination - more so from Latinos than from Americans.

Levis Torres, who works for We Count!, a local organization in Homestead that helps immigrant farm-workers, says at least half of the people that walk through their doors seeking help speak little or no Spanish and few have had any formal schooling.
To help them integrate, We Count! teaches newly arrived immigrants the alphabet with Spanish classes, then English classes, and lastly computer classes. They also offer training in legal rights and how to avoid being exploited.

“These people are abused and lied to more … especially when it comes to their salary” said Torres.

Baquedano-Lopez was quick to point out there are successful, professional indigenous people in the U.S. – not everyone works in agriculture. Hernandez’s daughter is studying nursing and his son is looking to enroll in culinary school. Discrimination has not had an effect on how he perceives his culture. “I’m very proud of who I am, of my customs, and my languages.”




Mam – a Mayan language that dates back to the year 500 – is a language that is possibly going extinct. The North American Indians also have lost most of their languages, as they were forced into schools during the 1800s as children, where they were punished for speaking in their native tongues. Anthropologists particularly hate this kind of acculturation which destroys rather than including native cultural traits. The fact is that John Q Citizen in any locality is more likely to hate the “different” person rather than wanting to include him, especially if there is a strongly divided class structure and a lack of overall education. As a result people find it easier to conform to pressure and change themselves.

Hernandez “has seen plenty of discrimination - more so from Latinos than from Americans.” The organization “We Count!” teaches both Spanish and English by the alphabet – thus presumably writing – and gives computer courses, plus lessons in avoiding being exploited. I would like to see those speakers of ancient languages adapt by learning Spanish and English, yes, but also make recordings of their native languages to preserve them, as has been done with some American Indian languages in the 1900s. They are going to be treated badly by some anyway, because those people are ignorant and unkind, so they need to work through it with strength and pride in their heritage. See what Sequoyah a Cherokee achieved on his own initiative in the 1800s.

From Wikipedia, see the following:

“Sequoyah ( Ssiquoya, as he signed his name,or Se-quo-ya, as his name is often spelled today in Cherokee) (c. 1770–1840), named in English George Gist or George Guess, was a Cherokee silversmith. In 1821 he completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible. This was the only time in recorded history that a member of a Pre-literate people independently created an effective writing system.[1][4] After seeing its worth, the people of the Cherokee Nation rapidly began to use his syllabary and officially adopted it in 1825. Their literacy rate quickly surpassed that of surrounding European-American settlers."





Beware of these dangerous hi-tech scams – CBS
By Dave Johnson Money Watch March 19, 2014

By now, most of us know about the most obvious scams -- we avoid phishing emails, letters from Nigerian princes, phone calls from guys claiming to represent Microsoft's tech support, and we sometimes even remember to check the ATM for the presence of a skimmer. But there's a whole new generation of scams out there, with criminals hoping to catch you unaware with an innovative con. Here are some dangerous ruses to watch out for.

One-ring phone calls. If you've ever heard your phone ring once or twice and stop and then return the call to see who it was, then you're the target audience for this particular con. Scammers use auto-dialers to randomly call vast banks of phones, but they only allow the target phones to ring once or twice before disconnecting. The expectation is that some people will return the call to see what they missed. And though the Caller ID might look like a typical U.S. number, The Federal Trade Commission says that in reality, they're connecting to a premium service (like an adult entertainment number) that charges an exorbitant per-minute fee -- as much as $9 per minute, plus a $20 international calling charge. The remedy? Don't call back a number you don't recognize. But be especially wary of area codes that include 268, 284, 473, 664, 649, 767, 809, 829, 849 and 876, since these are known offenders from the Caribbean.

Sticky ATMs. Skimmers are old news. There's a new way criminals are trying to get at your credit card, and it's at least as challenging to detect. Instead of inserting a device into the mechanism that swipes your card, criminals are starting to use adhesive to inhibit the operation of certain buttons on the keypad, meaning you can't complete your transaction after inserting the card -- and using foil in the mechanism to block the credit card from popping back out. Customers who run into these machines leave their card behind, and criminals waiting nearby then use a tool to complete the transaction and take your card as well. The good news, though, is that often there is a solution. According to police, the scam works because many people don't realize they can perform many of the same actions on the touch screen as on the keypad. So if you're stymied by the hardware try the screen instead.

Fake funerals. Fake funerals notices are the newest breed of email scam that include poisoned links. Once again, the FTC is on hand to provide a warning: In a nutshell, criminals send fake funeral notices, often mimicking real funeral homes. The email doesn't indicate whom the service is for, so recipients have to open the included link for details. And of course, the link is malicious and pushes malware onto the PC.

Scam Refunds. If you've been bitten by ransomware or a similar crime, in which your PC is held hostage by malware unless you pay a ransom fee, you might now be targeted by a new scam -- this time, promising to refund your money. As reported by Identify Theft 911, an ID theft management company, emails have been found in the wild that purport to be from Microsoft or other large tech companies and offer a refund for any losses you had from previous malware. The catch? You need to provide financial information so the refund can be direct deposited. Criminals assume that if you fell for malware once, you might be naive enough to pay a second time.





I have been curious enough to dial *69 to get a one-ring telephone number, and I have been known to call them to see who answers. I haven't been bitten by anyone on the other end. Usually a computer voice says “this number can't be used for incoming calls.” Sales call banks often call out on a number which you can get with *69, but they don't take callbacks. I will stop calling these numbers back from now on.

The sticky ATMs looks the most dangerous kind to me, because there is apparently no way to tell by looking at the ATM that it has been damaged. I do look closely at the card slot at gas stations to see if there is anything obviously stuck over the top of it. I also, often, go to the extra trouble of going inside the gas station and paying the cashier. That's the safest, I think.




Ukraine navy base in Sevastopol, Crimea stormed by pro-Russia self-defense forces
CBS/AP March 19, 2014

SEVASTOPOL, Crimea -- Crimea's self-defense forces on Wednesday stormed the Ukrainian navy base in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol a day after Russia signed a treaty with local authorities to annex the region.

An Associated Press photographer witnessed several hundred self-defense forces take down the gate and make their way onto the headquarters' premises. They then raised the Russian flag on the square by the headquarters.

Ukrainian servicemen were standing guard by the main building. Crimean self-defense forces are not armed and seemed to be waiting for the Ukrainian army's decision whether to let them in.

The commander of the Russian Black Sea fleet was seen arriving at the base for talks. Ukrainian sailors were reportedly seen filing out of the base shortly after, carrying bags full of their belongings.

A similar situation developed Tuesday night at another Ukrainian base in Crimea, and CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer was there as a pro-Russian group surrounded the compound, sparking fears they might try and enter by force.

Palmer was forced to leave the scene by the pro-Russian forces when she tried to enter the base to speak with the Ukrainian soldiers barricaded inside. That base was never stormed, however, and the Ukrainians inside told CBS News on Tuesday that they were all still fine -- if, like all Ukrainian forces right now, on edge.

Palmer said the Ukrainian forces were paying close attention to a planned visit to Crimea later Wednesday by two senior Ukrainian officials.

The officials planned to travel to Crimea in a bid to avert an escalation in hostilities a day after two men were killed at a military facility in a gunbattle between Ukrainian troops and a militia loyal to the local government.

The prime minister in Crimea, however, said Ukraine's deputy prime minister and defense minister would be turned back.

"They are not welcome in Crimea," Sergei Aksyonov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. "They will not be allowed to enter in Crimea. They will be sent back."

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a treaty to incorporate Crimea into its territory following a referendum in which residents of Ukraine's region overwhelmingly backed the move.

Jubilant crowds in Moscow and other cities across Russia hailed the annexation while Ukraine's new government called the Russian president a threat to the "civilized world and international security," and the U.S. and Europe threatened tougher sanctions against Moscow.

Thousands of Russian troops had overtaken Crimea two weeks before Sunday's hastily called referendum, seizing some Ukrainian military bases, blockading others and pressuring Ukrainian soldiers to surrender their arms and leave. Putin insisted the Russian troops were in Crimea under a treaty with Ukraine that allows Russia to have up to 25,000 troops at its Black Sea fleet base in Crimea.

The West and Ukraine described the Crimean referendum as illegitimate and being held at gunpoint.

The United States and the European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on Russia, targeting Russian and Crimean officials with visa bans and asset freezes.



Ukrainian forces at a naval base are waiting for a planned visit to Crimea later Wednesday by “two senior Ukrainian officials.” The new Crimean Prime Minister said the officials will be turned back from Crimea if they come. Putin, so far, has not tried to move past the Crimean border into the rest of Ukraine, as many fear he will eventually do. It is interesting that Putin denied that he had sent Russian troops into Crimea a few days after they appeared. He said that soldiers were the local Russian speaking militia instead. This article says he admits that he sent soldiers in, but that he did it under a treaty with Ukraine which allows up to 25,000 troops to be stationed at the Russian Black Sea fleet base.

The Russian troops so far have only fired rifles into the air as warning shots on at least two occasions, though there was a fight with two deaths between Ukrainian troops and Russian speakers at a military facility. The Ukrainians gave up one base to Russian forces, and it was not said whether they were arrested or what happened to them. The other Ukrainians who are surrounded at other bases are apparently staying until forcibly ejected, or until Kiev tells them to leave.

What I would like to see is the Ukrainians, all of them, being allowed to move across the border from Crimea into Ukraine, especially if Russia follows up with force against them. I would also like to see NATO send in a large number of peace keeping troops into Ukraine to protect the Ukrainian speakers.





14 teens charged in $1 million Calif. mansion break-in – CBS
By Crimesider Staff CBS/AP March 19, 2014

POMONA, Calif. - Authorities have filed criminal charges against 14 teenagers who allegedly broke into a Southern California mansion and held a party that caused more than $1 million in damage and losses, including the theft of a stuffed snow leopard.

Los Angeles County prosecutors announced the charges Tuesday.

Authorities say the party promoted on social media in November brought more than 100 teens to the $7 million, 90,000-square foot mansion in La Habra Heights while the owner was away. Investigators told CBS Los Angeles that the partygoers posted pictures of themselves inside the residence to Twitter.

"They were bragging about the party, showing themselves within the residence and carrying stolen property," L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. Capt. Timothy Murakami told the station.

According to investigators, partygoers entered through a window, trashed the place and stole several pricey items including designer suits, medieval armor, jewelry and the mounted leopard. Much of the loot was later recovered.

CBS Los Angeles reported that trucking magnate Nick Radoi owns the home and was out of the country when the party occurred.

The teens, who were all 15 to 17 years old at the time, face misdemeanor and felony charges ranging from trespassing to burglary and theft.

An initial court hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, according to CBS Los Angeles.




There's no evidence in this article that these teens were the type that social services and the school system would call “at risk youths.” It looks more like these kids had too much money and were living a very undisciplined life under naïve or otherwise inattentive parents. They simply ran wild, and had the computers at home, for setting the party up online with their friends and acquaintances. I always hate to see this kind of thing because it looks like students who should be super good citizens due to their economic status are instead hoodlums. I wonder how many of them will be turned loose by the police, after a family lawyer shows up, and put under the obviously inadequate supervision of their parents.