Friday, December 2, 2011

Rolando McClain's Poor Judgment Likely Won't Keep Him From Field This Season - Silver And Black Pride

Rolando McClain's Poor Judgment Likely Won't Keep Him From Field This Season - Silver And Black Pride: "Rolando McClain is guilty of using horrible judgment. There is no denying that. To what degree, we can't be as certain.

The degree to which McClain was a bonehead, combined with the ability of his legal team, and his attitude going forward, will greatly affect his future with the Raiders. This is not going to be a speedy trial.

What We Know

McClain was arrested Thursday on misdemeanor assault, menacing, reckless endangerment and firing a gun inside the city limits. According to a statement released by Lt. John Crouch of the Decatur Police Department, it is alleged that Ro held a gun beside a man’s head during an altercation and the man begged him not to shoot."

'via Blog this'

Saturday, November 19, 2011

San Luis Obispo Police Say Abducted Man Survived Burning, Beating, And Stabbing

San Luis Obispo Police Say Abducted Man Survived Burning, Beating, And Stabbing: "A 27-year-old California man abducted and held hostage in a trailer survived three days of beating, burning, and stabbing before making an escape to report his captors to police, according to officials.

San Luis Obispo authorities arrested two suspects who they believe are responsible for the Central California kidnapping and torture incident, according to a statement from the police department.

"A man alleged that he had just escaped from his abductors, had been beaten for several days, and was calling from another location for help," said San Luis Obispo County spokesperson Rob Bryn, according to KCOY."

'via Blog this'

Sex In Police Car: Tina Marie Arie And Howard Windham, Arrested On Drug Charges, Allegedly Engage In Sex Act In Patrol Car

Sex In Police Car: Tina Marie Arie And Howard Windham, Arrested On Drug Charges, Allegedly Engage In Sex Act In Patrol Car: "Call this one a crime of passion.

A couple arrested in a Texas fast-food restaurant on drug charges got amorous in the backseat of a cop car taking them to jail on Monday, according to the Montgomery County Police Reporter.

Even with their hands cuffed behind their backs, Howard Windham's pants were somehow unbuttoned and lowered enough for his partner in crime, Tina Marie Arie to perform oral sex. It's a feat that would impress the lascivious side of Harry Houdini.

A constable's deputy in Porter, outside Houston, noticed that something was up when he looked in the rearview mirror and allegedly saw Arie's head in Windham's lap. Arie explained that she was tired, according to the Police Reporter, but the law officer said he saw what was going down and ordered them to break up the hanky-panky."

'via Blog this'

Calif. Teacher With Porn Sites Gets Put On Leave

Calif. Teacher With Porn Sites Gets Put On Leave: "STOCKTON, Calif. -- A high school teacher is under investigation after school officials said she was maintaining a pornographic website from her school-issued laptop computer.

Lincoln High School teacher Heidi Kaeslin is on paid leave while the district investigates whether she violated its code of ethics, The Stockton Record reported.

The investigation also involves former Stockton police officer Richard Fields, who was assigned to the school as a resource officer. He told the newspaper he had acquired domain names including mysluttyteachers.com to develop them into websites."

'via Blog this'

Brooklyn sex shop worker killed in botched robbery; Cops search for suspect on foot and by air  - NY Daily News

Brooklyn sex shop worker killed in botched robbery; Cops search for suspect on foot and by air  - NY Daily News: "An over-the-hill porn store clerk was beaten to death during a robbery gone awry in Brooklyn early Saturday, and cops are still searching for a suspect.

A man working behind the counter of Video Xcitement on 3rd Avenue was bludgeoned to death about 12:30 a.m., police and the store’s owner said.

“I don't know what happened,” said the pacing owner of the 24-hour Sunset Park sex shop, refusing to give his name. “The police are still looking into it, but it might have been a robbery.”"

'via Blog this'

Heidi Kaeslin, Lincoln, Calif. Teacher With Porn Site, Put On Leave

Heidi Kaeslin, Lincoln, Calif. Teacher With Porn Site, Put On Leave: "STOCKTON, California (AP) — A high school teacher is under investigation after school officials said she was maintaining a pornographic website from her school-issued laptop computer.

Lincoln High School teacher Heidi Kaeslin is on paid leave while the district investigates whether she violated its code of ethics, The Stockton Record reported (http://bit.ly/uka7kA ).

The investigation also involves former Stockton police officer Richard Fields, who was assigned to the school as a resource officer. He told the newspaper he had acquired domain names including mysluttyteachers.com to develop them into websites."

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Sunday, November 6, 2011

CIA's 'vengeful librarians' monitor Twitter, Facebook posts – USATODAY.com

CIA's 'vengeful librarians' monitor Twitter, Facebook posts – USATODAY.com: "At the agency's Open Source Center, a team known affectionately as the "vengeful librarians" also pores over Facebook, newspapers, TV news channels, local radio stations, Internet chat rooms — anything overseas that anyone can access and contribute to openly.
From Arabic to Mandarin Chinese, from an angry tweet to a thoughtful blog, the analysts gather the information, often in native tongue. They cross-reference it with the local newspaper or a clandestinely intercepted phone conversation. From there, they build a picture sought by the highest levels at the White House, giving a real-time peek, for example, at the mood of a region after the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden or perhaps a prediction of which Mideast nation seems ripe for revolt."

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Miami Police Beat Man With Down Syndrome | News One

Miami Police Beat Man With Down Syndrome | News One: "A twenty-two-year-old man with down syndrome is recovering from his injuries nearly a week after Miami-Dade police officers beat him outside his home.

According to police reports, a violent confrontation ensued after officers tried to handcuff Gilberto Powell to investigate a bulge they spotted in his pants.

After he was detained they realized the bulge in his waistband was a colostomy bag."

'via Blog this'

TRENDING: Cain: Black community ‘brainwashed’ into voting for Dems – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

TRENDING: Cain: Black community ‘brainwashed’ into voting for Dems – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs: "Washington (CNN) - The one African-American running for the GOP presidential nomination said Wednesday the black community was 'brainwashed' for traditionally siding with liberal politicians.
"African-Americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view," Cain said on CNN's "The Situation Room" in an interview airing Wednesday between 5-7 p.m. ET. "I have received some of that same vitriol simply because I am running for the Republican nomination as a conservative. So it's just brainwashing and people not being open minded, pure and simple."

Cain went on to explain that his interactions with African Americans led him to be optimistic about his own chances with the demographic.
"This whole notion that all African-Americans are not going to vote for Obama is not necessarily true," Cain said.
He continued, "I believe a third [of African-Americans] would vote for me, based on my own anecdotal feedback. Not vote for me because I'm black but because of my policies.""

'via Blog this'

Rezwan Ferdaus Terror Plot: 26-Year-Old U.S. Citizen, Charged With Plotting Attack On Pentagon, U.S. Capitol

Rezwan Ferdaus Terror Plot: 26-Year-Old U.S. Citizen, Charged With Plotting Attack On Pentagon, U.S. Capitol: "A 26-year-old Massachusetts man has been arrested in connection with a plot to attack the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol using an aircraft filled with C-4 explosives.

The Boston Globe reveals the name of the suspect as Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen who was charged with "attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization, specifically to al Qaeda...""

'via Blog this'

Monday, September 26, 2011

He was 14 yrs. 6mos. and 5 days old --- and the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th Century | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

He was 14 yrs. 6mos. and 5 days old --- and the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th Century | Flickr - Photo Sharing!: "n a South Carolina prison sixty-six years ago, guards walked a 14-year-old boy, bible tucked under his arm, to the electric chair. At 5' 1" and 95 pounds, the straps didn’t fit, and an electrode was too big for his leg.

The switch was pulled and the adult sized death mask fell from George Stinney’s face. Tears streamed from his eyes. Witnesses recoiled in horror as they watched the youngest person executed in the United States in the past century die."

'via Blog this'

Sunday, September 25, 2011

what-it-takes-become-millionaire-cnbc: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

what-it-takes-become-millionaire-cnbc: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance: "When it comes to retirement, most Americans doubt they've saved or invested enough to retire comfortably, let alone reach that million-dollar milestone. A new AP-CNBC poll finds nearly one-third (31 percent) of U.S. residents believe they would need a minimum savings of $100,000 to $500,000 if retiring this year in order to be confident of living comfortably in retirement, and 22 percent believe the minimum is $1 million or more to retire comfortably.

Only one-fifth of U.S. respondents think it's likely that their net worth will total at least one million dollars in the next 10 years, while 62 percent said that is "very unlikely." The consensus from the majority of respondents (61 percent): It is "extremely" or "very difficult" to become a millionaire in the United States today."

'via Blog this'

Koppel on Discovery : Program Highlights : Discovery Channel

Koppel on Discovery : Program Highlights : Discovery Channel: "Part 1: Joined at the Hip
The American and Chinese economies are irreversibly intertwined. The common complaint that the Chinese are taking jobs away from American workers is in many cases true. China's cheap and abundant labor attracts manufacturing from all over the world. Still, American economists estimate that the U.S. is as much as $70 billion richer each year because of its relationship with China —something must be going right.

Wal-Mart, America's largest retailer, is able to maintain low prices in part because of cheap Chinese labor. And when Apple sells a $299 iPod (designed in California and assembled in China), the American computer company makes an $80 profit, while the Chinese assembly plant makes just $4."

'via Blog this'

Koppel on Discovery : Program Highlights : Discovery Channel

Koppel on Discovery : Program Highlights : Discovery Channel: "The American and Chinese economies are irreversibly intertwined. The common complaint that the Chinese are taking jobs away from American workers is in many cases true. China's cheap and abundant labor attracts manufacturing from all over the world. Still, American economists estimate that the U.S. is as much as $70 billion richer each year because of its relationship with China —something must be going right.

Wal-Mart, America's largest retailer, is able to maintain low prices in part because of cheap Chinese labor. And when Apple sells a $299 iPod (designed in California and assembled in China), the American computer company makes an $80 profit, while the Chinese assembly plant makes just $4."

'via Blog this'

Crack: A cheap and deadly cocaine is a fast-spreading menace - TIME

Crack: A cheap and deadly cocaine is a fast-spreading menace - TIME: "In New York City, the sleazy dealers peddling dope in Manhattan's Washington Heights call it "crack." In the south central part of Los Angeles, the desperate addicts chasing an ever more elusive high know it as "rock." On both coasts, and in Chicago, Detroit and other cities throughout the U.S., the drug by either name is an inexpensive yet highly potent, highly addictive form of cocaine that is rapidly becoming a scourge. Pushers sell pellet-size "rocks" in tiny plastic vials for as little as $10. Smoked rather than snorted, a single hit of crack provides an intense, wrenching rush in a matter of seconds. "It goes straight to the head. It's immediate speed," says a former addict. "It feels like the top of your head is going to blow off.""

'via Blog this'

Alabama Town Gives Offenders a Choice: Jesus or Jail - TIME NewsFeed

Alabama Town Gives Offenders a Choice: Jesus or Jail - TIME NewsFeed: "Given the choice between jail and church, which would you choose?

The small southern Alabama town of Bay Minette is giving non-violent offenders a chance to pick between lockup and the Lord.

Beginning next week, Operation ROC (Restore Our Community) will have a city judge offer those found guilty of misdemeanors the choice between working off their offenses in jail and paying a fine or attending the church of their choice every week for a year. WKRG-TV in Mobile, Ala., reported 56 churches in North Baldwin County are participating in the program."

'via Blog this'

Thursday, September 22, 2011

'Flawed' new rape law roils military justice system | McClatchy

'Flawed' new rape law roils military justice system | McClatchy: "WASHINGTON _ Six years ago, Congress tried cracking down on rape in the military. Prompted by disturbing reports of sexual assaults in military academies and war zones, lawmakers rewrote the rules. They wanted to protect victims and help prosecutors.

Now it’s clear that the effort backfired.

The politically attractive but poorly understood legal changes have incited courtroom confusion, judicial frustration and constitutional conflict. Extensive interviews and a McClatchy review of thousands of pages of court documents and internal studies find a congressionally caused crisis of military justice that few civilians know anything about.

The rewritten sexual assault law puts judges “in an impossible position,” the top military appellate court warned. Military lawyers find it “cumbersome and confusing,” a Pentagon task force noted. It leads to “unwarranted acquittals,” Defense Department officials added. And some judges call it unconstitutional."

'via Blog this'

Slavery Footprint: How Many Forced Laborers Work For You?

Slavery Footprint: How Many Forced Laborers Work For You?: "If you're a 20-something renter who owns a laptop, a bike and a fair amount of shoes, you probably have close to 100 slaves working for you.

Slavery Footprint launched a lifestyle survey Thursday to show consumers how many forced laborers--of the 27 million worldwide--have contributed to making their possessions. The organization crafted the questionnaire after investigating what goes into making about 400 everyday items, from grains to gym bags.

The results aim to inform customers and put pressure on companies to disclose their labor practices.

"[Slavery] is in everything," Justin Dillon, chief executive of Slavery Footprint, told the Huffington Post. "It's in every product. It's not just tracing one element on the periodic table.""

'via Blog this'

Ga. executes Davis; supporters claim injustice - Yahoo! News

Ga. executes Davis; supporters claim injustice - Yahoo! News: "JACKSON, Ga. (AP) — Strapped to a gurney in Georgia's death chamber, Troy Davis lifted his head and declared one last time that he did not kill police officer Mark MacPhail. Just a few feet away behind a glass window, MacPhail's son and brother watched in silence.
Outside the prison, a crowd of more than 500 demonstrators cried, hugged, prayed and held candles. They represented hundreds of thousands of supporters worldwide who took up the anti-death penalty cause as Davis' final days ticked away.
"I am innocent," Davis said moments before he was executed Wednesday night. "All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight.""

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Florida Legislature Makes Stealth Move to Privatize Prisons

Florida Legislature Makes Stealth Move to Privatize Prisons: "The Miami Herald is reporting that the Florida Senate quietly slipped language into its newly proposed budget Monday that seeks to give corporations the chance to run correctional facilities and probation services in 18 counties, in what could signal a massive private takeover of public prisons.

The move -- which could shift nearly $600 million to private firms -- surprised prison guards, their unions and even the head of the state Senate's Criminal Justice Appropriations Committee, Mike Fasano, who said that his committee was opposed to the idea of privatizing prisons when it was proposed by Gov. Rick Scott's aides. "We made it clear that we weren't interested. We moved on without doing it," said Fasano. "And now it appears in the budget. I'm not pleased. It is a huge, substantive issue. It's a major policy change, and it should have at least been discussed publicly.”"

'via Blog this'

Lawrence Brewer Executed: White Supremacist Executed For Texas Dragging Murder

Lawrence Brewer Executed: White Supremacist Executed For Texas Dragging Murder: "HUNTSVILLE, Texas — White supremacist gang member Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed Wednesday evening for the infamous dragging death slaying of James Byrd Jr., a black man from East Texas.

Byrd, 49, was chained to the back of a pickup truck and pulled whip-like to his death along a bumpy asphalt road in one of the most grisly hate crime murders in recent Texas history.

Brewer, 44, was asked if he had any final words, to which he replied: "No. I have no final statement."

He glanced at his parents watching through a nearby window, took several deep breaths and closed his eyes. A single tear hung on the edge of his right eye as he was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m., 10 minutes after the lethal drugs began flowing into his arms, both covered with intricate black tattoos."

'via Blog this'

Troy Davis Execution Approaches As Calls For Clemency Continue

Troy Davis Execution Approaches As Calls For Clemency Continue: "JACKSON, Ga. -- Behind razor wire and thick concrete walls, Troy Davis spent what may be his final hours Wednesday with friends and family, awaiting his execution at 7 p.m. for the murder of a police officer over 20 years ago, a crime he maintains was committed by another man.

"Troy is in good spirits," said Amnesty International spokeswoman Wende Gozan Brown, who visited with Davis on Tuesday, after he received news that a final plea for clemency to a state pardons board had been rejected. "He is steadfastly maintaining his innocence, as he always has.""

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Troy Davis Execution: Former FBI Chief William S. Sessions Calls On Georgia To Stay Order

Troy Davis Execution: Former FBI Chief William S. Sessions Calls On Georgia To Stay Order: "The execution of Troy Davis, a Georgia death row inmate scheduled to die in less than a week, should be halted because of "pervasive, persistent doubts" about his guilt, said William S. Sessions, a former federal district judge in Texas and FBI director under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, in a sharply-worded editorial on Thursday.

"Serious questions about Mr. Davis' guilt, highlighted by witness recantations, allegations of police coercion, and a lack of relevant physical evidence, continue to plague his conviction," Sessions wrote. He urged a state pardons board to commute the sentence to life in prison."

'via Blog this'

Death-row inmate Troy Davis loses clemency appeal | The Raw Story

Death-row inmate Troy Davis loses clemency appeal | The Raw Story: "Georgia death-row inmate Troy Davis has lost his final appeal and will face the death sentence on Wednesday, human rights groups said Tuesday morning.

Davis was convicted of murdering Georgia police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989. Since his conviction, seven of the nine people who testified against him have recanted or changed their testimonies.

"I am utterly shocked and disappointed at the failure of our justice system at all levels to correct a miscarriage of justice," Brian Kammer, an attorney for Davis, said following the decision."

'via Blog this'

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Could "Obamacare" be working? - CBS News

Could "Obamacare" be working? - CBS News: "(The New Republic) Need a reason to believe the Affordable Care Act is starting to work? The Census Bureau just gave you a half million of them.
That’s how many young adults had health insurance in 2010, as compared to 2009, according to the official estimates. Or, to put it another way, the proportion of 18- to 24-year olds without health insurance fell, by roughly two percentage points, last year.

It's pretty remarkable, given what was happening in the rest of the population. For every other group of non-elderly adults, from 35 through 64 years of age, the proportion without health insurance increased.

You expect that sort of data, given economic conditions: When people lose jobs, they also lose access to employer-sponsored insurance. When their incomes fall or their debts rise, they have a harder time keeping up with premiums. "

'via Blog this'

Resisting the Corporate Theft of Seeds | The Nation

Resisting the Corporate Theft of Seeds | The Nation: "We are in a food emergency. Speculation and diversion of food to biofuel has contributed to an uncontrolled price rise, adding more to the billion already denied their right to food. Industrial agriculture is pushing species to extinction through the use of toxic chemicals that kill our bees and butterflies, our earthworms and soil organisms that create soil fertility. Plant and animal varieties are disappearing as monocultures displace biodiversity. Industrial, globalized agriculture is responsible for 40 percent of greenhouse gases, which then destabilize agriculture by causing climate chaos, creating new threats to food security."

'via Blog this'

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Colbert Mocks Bachmann's HPV Vaccine Claims (VIDEO)

Colbert Mocks Bachmann's HPV Vaccine Claims (VIDEO): "During Monday's CNN Tea Party debate, one of the most memorable exchanges occurred between frontrunners Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann over the HPV vaccine Perry mandated in Texas.

While the other candidates did their fair share of attacking Perry, Bachmann insisted that Perry's mandate, which called for girls aged 11 and 12 to get the vaccine to prevent an STD that causes cancer, is morally "flat out wrong" and said she was told it causes mental retardation."

Jacqueline Kennedy Tapes ‘Horrified’ Her Granddaughters - TIME NewsFeed

Jacqueline Kennedy Tapes ‘Horrified’ Her Granddaughters - TIME NewsFeed: "In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's Good Morning America, Caroline Kennedy admitted her daughters were "horrified" by the American icon's description of her marriage.

Jacqueline Kennedy characterized her relationship as "rather terribly Victorian or Asiatic" and said her opinions mostly derived from her husband.

After listening to portions of the tapes, her daughters asked, "Did she really think that?"

But Caroline Kennedy emphasized that the interview is a part of an oral history and is more like a diary. She called the tapes a "snapshot of a world we barely recognize.""

'via Blog this'

Sexist Shirts and Bimbo Barbies: Six Products That Caused Outcries Over Gender - TIME NewsFeed

Sexist Shirts and Bimbo Barbies: Six Products That Caused Outcries Over Gender - TIME NewsFeed: "Believe it or not, girls actually can do math. Yet retailers continue to commit offensive gaffes by insulting their target audience’s intelligence with stereotypical merchandise. Though many of these items have sparked an outcry from the public, stores continue to conceptualize, market and sell products promoting the idea that girls are not as smart as boys and shouldn’t bother to apply themselves in school."

'via Blog this'

USPS: Postal Service Proposes End To Overnight Mail Delivery, Cuts To Processing Centers

USPS: Postal Service Proposes End To Overnight Mail Delivery, Cuts To Processing Centers: "WASHINGTON -- The financially troubled Postal Service said Thursday it may close more than 250 mail processing facilities across the country and plans to reduce service standards for first-class mail in an effort to cut costs.

The steps are part of a broad effort to cut costs for the agency that lost $8.5 billion last year and is facing ever more red ink this year as the Internet siphons off the lucrative first-class mail and the stagnant economy holds down the growth of advertising mail. Over the last five years mail volume has declined by more than 43 billion items..

"We are radically realigning the way we process and deliver the mail," said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. "With the dramatic decline in mail volume and the resulting excess capacity, maintaining a vast national infrastructure is no longer realistic.""

'via Blog this'

Duane Buck Case: U.S. Supreme Court Stays Execution Of Texas Inmate

Duane Buck Case: U.S. Supreme Court Stays Execution Of Texas Inmate: "HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The U.S. Supreme Court halted the execution Thursday of a black man convicted of a double murder in Texas 16 years ago after his lawyers contended his sentence was unfair because of a question asked about race during his trial.

Duane Buck, 48, was spared from lethal injection when the justices, without extensive comment, said they would review an appeal in his case. Two appeals, both related to a psychologist's testimony that black people were more likely to commit violence, were before the court. One was granted; the other was denied."

'via Blog this'

Breaking Headline News

Breaking Headline News: "HBS Rogue Trader; UN Faces Showdown with Palestine; Mass. Lawmakers Want Gambling; Sarah Powell Update; Todd Palin is Papa Bear"

Vietnamese Drug Rehab Labor

Vietnamese Drug Rehab Labor: "Drug rehabilitation centres in Vietnam are nothing more than forced labour camps according to Human Rights Watch."

Sex Worker Parking Meter

Sex Worker Parking Meter: " city in Germany has introduced special metered parking places for prostitutes to use with clients"

NATO Taliban Twitter Fight

NATO Taliban Twitter Fight: "During the 20-hour fight in Kabul, NATO and the Taliban took their fight to Twitter."


Sarah Palin Glen Rice

Sarah Palin Glen Rice: "A new book set to be released soon claims Sarah Palin used drugs, slept with Glen Rice and engaged in other infidelity."


Ga. Man in Spotlight as Execution Nears - TIME

Ga. Man in Spotlight as Execution Nears - TIME: "(ATLANTA) — Hundreds of thousands of people are rallying behind Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis — not just because they oppose capital punishment but because they believe the state could put an innocent man to death. The case is fraught with drama: The murder of an off-duty police officer. Conflicting eyewitness testimony. Last-minute court decisions sparing a condemned man's life and global dignitaries who say they fear an innocent man could die."

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Young: Hoover Lied to Kennedy About MLK

Young: Hoover Lied to Kennedy About MLK: "Ill feelings expressed about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by former first lady Jackie Kennedy in interviews released earlier this week are a direct result of lies about the civil rights leader spread by longtime FBI head J.Edgar Hoover, said Andrew Young, one of King’s lieutenants in the movement.

In an exclusive interview Tuesday on "The Tom Joyner Morning Show," Young, a former United Nations ambassador and King confidant, detailed the great effort taken by Hoover to discredit King and undermine the civil rights movement.

Two Congressional committees in the 1970s investigated the tapes of Jackie Kennedy recorded in 1964, not long after the 1963 assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy. “There were FBI agents who said they felt they had to come back with dirt on Dr. King because if they did not, they could lose their job or be sent to faraway places,” Young said."

'via Blog this'

Life and Debt | A Film By Stephanie Black

Life and Debt | A Film By Stephanie Black: "Life and Debt is a feature-length documentary which addresses the impact of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and current globalization policies on a developing country such as Jamaica. More on Life and Debt..."

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The upcoming Palestinian vote | The World Around You

The upcoming Palestinian vote | The World Around You: "It appears that Tuesday September 20, 2011 will not just be the annual opening of the UN General Assembly. It will be the day that Palestine will officially ask the international community to recognize it as a sovereign state.
“Abbas will personally present the request to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon… at the opening of the sixty-sixth session,” according to Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki. “[Abbas] will insist on this historic initiative and Ban Ki-moon will present the request to the Security Council.”"

'via Blog this'

Eel Swims Up Man's Penis, Has To Be Surgically Removed

Eel Swims Up Man's Penis, Has To Be Surgically Removed: "It's every man's worst nightmare.

Zhang Nan, of China, was bathing with live eels in order to cleanse his skin when things went horribly wrong. According to Metro, one of the small eels managed to not only swim up his urethra, but actually made it all the way to his bladder.

"I climbed into the bath and I could feel the eels nibbling my body. But then suddenly I felt a severe pain and realized a small eel had gone into the end of my penis," the 56-year-old told the British paper.

The eel bath is similar to more common "fish pedicures" in which small sea creatures remove layers of dead skin."

'via Blog this'

French Woman Sues Husband for Lack of Sex - Yahoo! News

French Woman Sues Husband for Lack of Sex - Yahoo! News: "Husbands and wives, take note: The phrase, "Not tonight, honey," could end up costing quite a bit more than a bruised ego and grumbled acceptance.
A French wife sued her husband and won about $14,000 because he didn't have sex with her enough, according to Time.
The wife sued her husband about two years ago for the waning bedroom activity over 21 years of marriage, and now the Nice, France, judge has ruled that a lack of copulation is indeed a violation of the marital contract.
"A sexual relationship between husband and wife is the expression of affection they have for each other, and in this case it was absent," the judge ruled, according to the Telegraph. "By getting married, couples agree to sharing their life and this clearly implies they will have sex with each other."
Of course, some men also take extreme measures in dissolving relationships."

'via Blog this'

Trucker on cell phone at time of crash that killed 11 - Yahoo! News

Trucker on cell phone at time of crash that killed 11 - Yahoo! News: "(Reuters) - The truck driver involved in a 2010 Kentucky crash that killed 11 people was on his cell phone when the accident occurred, federal officials said on Tuesday, and they called for a national ban barring commercial drivers from calling or texting behind the wheel.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board said Kenneth Laymon, the 45-year-old driver of the truck, had just initiated a call when his vehicle and the 53-foot-long trailer it was hauling crossed a median on Interstate 65 near Munfordville, Kentucky and plowed into a van carrying 12 people."

'via Blog this'

Monday, September 12, 2011

U.K. police rescue 24 'slavery' victims, arrest 5 suspects - CNN.com

U.K. police rescue 24 'slavery' victims, arrest 5 suspects - CNN.com: "London (CNN) -- British investigators were questioning suspects Monday after police rescued 24 men that they said were kept as slaves -- some for as long as 15 years.
Police in Bedfordshire, northwest of London, arrested five suspects under a new anti-slavery law passed last year, alleging that they lured the men to a trailer park with promises of food and shelter, then threatened them with violence and forced them into hard labor.
The men, from England and parts of Eastern Europe, are "all believed to be victims of slavery," police said. Living in squalid conditions in the town of Leighton Buzzard, many of the men were on the verge of starvation, police said."

'via Blog this'

Ashley Jessup, Ohio Mom, Accused Of Raping 10-Month-Old Son

Ashley Jessup, Ohio Mom, Accused Of Raping 10-Month-Old Son: "A 24-year-old Ohio woman charged with raping her 10-month-old son and sharing the videotaped assault with her boyfriend is being held behind bars tonight on a $1 million bond.

Ashley Jessup of Dublin, a city about 20 miles northwest of Columbus, was arrested on Aug. 31 on two counts of rape of a child under 13 years old, one count of endangering children and one count of pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor.

A Franklin County grand jury indicted Jessup on the charges. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday.

According to Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Ron O'Brien, Jessup sexually abused her baby at her Camden Circle home on Aug. 30. She allegedly performed sexual acts on the baby, which she videotaped and emailed to a boyfriend in Battle Creek, Mich."

'via Blog this'

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Maurice And Toni Johnson Accused Of Sexually Torturing Mentally Disabled Woman

Maurice And Toni Johnson Accused Of Sexually Torturing Mentally Disabled Woman: "A northeast Alabama couple has been arrested for allegedly torturing and sexually abusing a mentally disabled woman who was recently found naked and handcuffed to a bed.

Maurice Rex Johnson, 52, and Toni Renea Johnson, 40, have been charged with sodomy, sexual torture and unlawful imprisonment. The couple is accused of abusing a 23-year-old woman with profound mental disabilities inside their Attalla home for months, according to police.

The alleged abuse and sexual cruelty came to light on Aug. 27.

"[The victim's] boyfriend, who is somewhat mentally challenged himself, found her," Gadsden Police Capt. Regina May told The Huffington Post. "She was laying on the floor nude. They had shaved her head and handcuffed her to a bedframe and left her.""

'via Blog this'

Serial Killer Anthony Sowell's 'House Of Horrors' Condemned

Serial Killer Anthony Sowell's 'House Of Horrors' Condemned: "CLEVELAND -- The city has condemned the killing ground dubbed the "House of Horrors," a home where 11 women were murdered by a man who dumped their remains around his house and property.

The owner has until Oct. 2 to make repairs or face having the house demolished, mayoral press secretary Andrea Taylor said Friday in an email to The Associated Press.

The three-story frame house in an impoverished Cleveland neighborhood was the home of Anthony Sowell, who was convicted and sentenced to death last month for killing the 11 women, many of whom were living on the street and dealing with addiction problems."

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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Regulations, taxes aren't killing small business, owners say | McClatchy

Regulations, taxes aren't killing small business, owners say | McClatchy: "WASHINGTON — Politicians and business groups often blame excessive regulation and fear of higher taxes for tepid hiring in the economy. However, little evidence of that emerged when McClatchy canvassed a random sample of small business owners across the nation.

"Government regulations are not 'choking' our business, the hospitality business," Bernard Wolfson, the president of Hospitality Operations in Miami, told The Miami Herald. "In order to do business in today's environment, government regulations are necessary and we must deal with them. The health and safety of our guests depend on regulations. It is the government regulations that help keep things in order.""

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Police: Teen loses legs as she tries to hop train - Yahoo! News

Police: Teen loses legs as she tries to hop train - Yahoo! News: "LONGMONT, Colo. (AP) — A 17-year-old Colorado State University student lost both her legs when she tried to hop aboard a freight train and slipped underneath the moving train on Monday, police said.
One of three males with the student was briefly dragged by the train but suffered only minor injuries. The accident occurred in the northern Colorado town of Longmont shortly after 1 p.m. when the group tried to board the northbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe train, police said.
Train speed limits through Longmont are 25 mph. It wasn't known exactly how fast the train was going at the time of the accident.
The student was taken to Longmont United Hospital by ambulance and then flown to Denver Health Medical Center. Denver Health officials said they couldn't release any information about her, but Longmont Police Cmdr. Jeff Satur said he believed she was conscious and able to talk."

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It Wasn't Just Neanderthals: Ancient Humans Had Sex with Other Hominids - Yahoo! News

It Wasn't Just Neanderthals: Ancient Humans Had Sex with Other Hominids - Yahoo! News: "cientists have collected evidence for years that modern humans interbred with our ridge-browed Neanderthal ancestors in Eurasia. But in Africa, where the homo sapien species is said to have emerged, a lack of genetic evidence has left researchers scratching their heads about exactly how we came to beat out not only the Neanderthals, or homo neanderthalis, but other archaic species like homo erectus and homo habilus. A new paper published by Michael Hammer from the University of Arizona, however, provides evidence that homo sapiens not only interbred with Neanderthals in Eurasia, they also had sex with several species of our ancestors across the African continent. And they did it often. "We think there were probably thousands of interbreeding events," said Hammer. "It happened relatively extensively and regularly."
Related: How Long It Takes Stephen Hawking to Answer a Question
"

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Sheriff: Gunman used AK-47 in IHOP shooting - Yahoo! News

Sheriff: Gunman used AK-47 in IHOP shooting - Yahoo! News: "CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A man with an AK-47 assault rifle shot an entire group of five uniformed National Guard members eating breakfast at a Nevada IHOP on Tuesday, killing two of them and another person in a hail of gunfire.
The suspect, 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion of Carson City, also shot himself and later died at a hospital. Seven people were wounded in the attack at a strip mall near a casino and department store in the state's capital.
The gunman's motive was unclear, but authorities are investigating whether the military members were targeted. The two Guardsmen killed were men; another woman also was shot and killed.
Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said Sencion entered the front doors of the IHOP and traveled "all the way through the restaurant to the back area" before opening fire."

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Family files lawsuit over alleged Miss. hate crime - Yahoo! News

Family files lawsuit over alleged Miss. hate crime - Yahoo! News: "JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The family of a black man who authorities say was run over by a white teenager in a truck filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday over the alleged hate crime.
The lawsuit accuses seven white teenagers of setting out on June 26 after a night of partying to find a random black man to harass. The accusation tracks with police allegations that a group of teens were out looking for a black man to "mess with" when they found 49-year-old James Craig Anderson before dawn in the parking lot of a Jackson hotel.
Investigators have said two of the teens attacked Anderson before one of them climbed into a green Ford F-250 and ran the man down near the hotel on Ellis Avenue."

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Pat Robertson Blames Mild Earthquake on People Who Seem Kind of Gay « Borowitz Report

Pat Robertson Blames Mild Earthquake on People Who Seem Kind of Gay « Borowitz Report: "VIRGINIA BEACH (The Borowitz Report) – Evangelist Pat Robertson sparked controversy in today’s broadcast of his 700 Club program by saying that yesterday’s mild East Coast earthquake was God’s revenge on people “who act kind of gay.”

“All across the Eastern seaboard, there are men who get manicures, wear designer eyewear and know about thread counts,” Rev. Robertson. “God finds this somewhat gay-like behavior confusing, and He responded by getting mildly peeved.”"

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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Footage Of United 93 Aftermath Surfaces (Video)

Footage Of United 93 Aftermath Surfaces (Video): "On Sunday night, CNN anchor Susan Hendricks introduced new footage from the immediate aftermath of United Flight 93, which crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania on 9/11. The clip was recorded by an unnamed man —apparently now dead — who watched smoke rise from the crash site about 15 miles from the point of impact. In it, the narrator/cameraman calmly describes the scene unfolding in front of him, and says that he is already watching TV coverage of the Pentagon and World Trade Center terrorist attacks. Only now has the man's family authorized the video to be released. Via CNN, watch below:"

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Footage Of United 93 Aftermath Surfaces (Video)

Footage Of United 93 Aftermath Surfaces (Video): "On Sunday night, CNN anchor Susan Hendricks introduced new footage from the immediate aftermath of United Flight 93, which crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania on 9/11. The clip was recorded by an unnamed man —apparently now dead — who watched smoke rise from the crash site about 15 miles from the point of impact. In it, the narrator/cameraman calmly describes the scene unfolding in front of him, and says that he is already watching TV coverage of the Pentagon and World Trade Center terrorist attacks. Only now has the man's family authorized the video to be released. Via CNN, watch below:"

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IHOP Shooting: Multiple People Reportedly Shot In Carson City, Nevada

IHOP Shooting: Multiple People Reportedly Shot In Carson City, Nevada: "Multiple people have been shot at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nevada, according to local media reports.

According to KOLO-TV, initial details are sketchy but the shooting took place on the 3800 block of Carson Street.

At least eight were shot and the gunman was carrying a semi-automatic weapon, The Record-Courier reports. "Several people were killed," according to the Carson City Sheriff's Department."

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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Joseph Hyungmin Son, 'Austin Powers' Actor, Convicted Of Rape & Torture

Joseph Hyungmin Son, 'Austin Powers' Actor, Convicted Of Rape & Torture: "The actor who played Dr. Evil's sidekick in the first 'Austin Powers' movie may face life in prison for taking part in a brutal abduction and gang rape.

Joseph Hyungmin Son, 40, was convicted last week of raping and torturing a 20-year-old woman in 1990, according to Los Angeles station KTLA. The victim was reportedly walking her dog on Christmas Eve near her home in in Huntington Beach, California, when Son and an accomplice abducted her at gun point. Son was accused of repeatedly raping the woman, sexually assaulting her with the gun then releasing her naked with her pants tied around her eyes."

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Glenn Beck: 'African American' Is Stupid

Glenn Beck: 'African American' Is Stupid: "Poor Glenn Beck. He's been thoroughly confused, and made to feel "afraid" and "bad" by the use of the term "African American." By the sounds of a recent rant on his radio show, he really can't take it anymore. Highlights of the commentary included the following:

Didn't you feel ridiculously stupid everywhere in Africa, in Europe, in South America, in Jerusalem, when you would say the word "African American" ... It doesn't apply! How can people be something one place and not anywhere else in the world!? (Um, perhaps because race is a social construct, and terms used to describe it will differ in places with different histories and social realities?)"

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Monday, August 29, 2011

U.S. News: Glenn Beck Calls Hurricane Irene 'A Blessing'


Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

U.S. News: FEMA Reroutes Funds from Joplin


Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com


BBC News - Guatemalans sue US over syphilis tests

BBC News - Guatemalans sue US over syphilis tests: "Guatemalans who were deliberately infected with syphilis or gonorrhoea in medical tests in the 1940s are suing the US government for compensation.

Hundreds of Guatemalan prisoners, psychiatric patients and orphans were infected without their consent in a programme to study penicillin.

A class action lawsuit was filed by lawyers for the Guatemalans and their relatives.

The US apologised last year for the "reprehensible" experiments.

But lawyers said the Obama administration had not responded to a request for an out-of-court compensation settlement.

The tests were kept secret for decades, until a medical historian uncovered hidden records and made them public last year.

The study carried out by US scientists took place in Guatemala between 1946 and 1948."

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BBC News - Guatemalans 'died' in 1940s US syphilis study

BBC News - Guatemalans 'died' in 1940s US syphilis study: "t least 83 Guatemalans are thought to have died not long after being deliberately infected with syphilis and gonorrhoea in the 1940s, a presidential commission in Washington has heard.

US government scientists infected hundreds of Guatemalan prisoners, psychiatric patients and sex workers to study the effects of penicillin.

None of those infected consented.

The head of the commission, Amy Gutmann, called the research a "shameful piece of medical history".

The Presidential Commission for the study of Bioethical Issues said some 5,500 Guatemalans were involved in all the research that took place between 1946 and 1948.

Of these, some 1,300 were deliberately infected with syphilis, gonorrhoea or another sexually transmitted disease, chancroid."

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Porn Shutdown Over HIV Case

Porn Shutdown Over HIV Case: "LOS ANGELES — An adult film performer has tested positive for HIV, causing porn producers to shut down shoots in Southern California as the diagnosis is confirmed through re-testing, according to an industry group.

Free Speech Coalition executive director Diane Duke told The Los Angeles Times () on Monday that her group became aware of the HIV case Saturday. http://lat.ms/mX0vin

A series of tests were being conducted on the performer to confirm the case before anyone the performer might have spread the illness to will be notified to get tested, Duke told The Associated Press.

She didn't know how long that would take.

Duke declined to release the performer's name, age or gender, citing the person's federal right to medical privacy. She also declined to say how her group learned of the case."

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Dan Choi On Trial For 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' White House Protest

Dan Choi On Trial For 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' White House Protest: "WASHINGTON -- A gay former Army lieutenant arrested for handcuffing himself to a White House fence during a protest is being treated differently because he is a prominent voice for gay rights, his lawyer said Monday.

Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and Iraq War veteran, is charged with disobeying police orders to leave an area in front of the White House during a November 2010 protest of the military's "don't ask, don't tell policy." During the protest, 13 people handcuffed themselves to the fence, some in uniform, chanting slogans including "let us serve."

Choi's attorney Robert Feldman said Monday at the start of his trial in federal court in Washington that people arrested for protesting at the White House are usually charged in local court where the penalty for disobeying a police order is a fine of between $100 and $1,000. But Choi was charged in federal court, where he faces both a fine and jail time of up to six months."

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Virginia Abortion Clinics Threatened By New Regulations

Virginia Abortion Clinics Threatened By New Regulations: "There are 22 facilities that provide first-trimester abortions in Virginia, and all of them may have to close their doors over the next two years if they can't meet the state government's rigorous new health clinic regulations.

Virginia lawmakers passed legislation in the spring that required the Department of Health to release a set of "emergency" draft regulations for abortion clinics that were to go into effect by December 31.

The rules, released late on Friday, borrow a number of very specific physical plant requirements from a rulebook intended for the construction of new hospitals. For instance, a clinic must have 5-foot-wide hallways, 8-foot-wide areas outside of procedure rooms, specific numbers of toilets and types of sinks and all the latest requirements for air circulation flow and electrical wiring."

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Toning Shoes’ Lack of Performance Triggers Lawsuit | NiceKicks.com

Toning Shoes’ Lack of Performance Triggers Lawsuit | NiceKicks.com: "A California woman has filed a lawsuit against New Balance accusing the brand of deceiving customers with claims that their toning shoes create more sculpted legs. The complaint is seeking class-action status at the US District Court in Boston, with damages of over $5 million to the woman and others with the same claim. New Balance isn’t the only company being targeted as there is a case against Reebok. Sketchers also took a big hit with their stock falling from 20.00 to 19.40, a 3% drop, in a matter of minutes triggered by a big sell off. The stock neared it’s 52 week low.

There has been much speculation about the effectiveness of toning product, but the industry continued to see strong growth with sales figures expecting to exceed $1.5 billion in 2010.

Could the craze be over? Is the bubble about the burst? Whatever the case may be, this lawsuit does not help any brand trying to sell toning shoes."

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Lawsuit pending against toning shoes | WJLA.com

Lawsuit pending against toning shoes | WJLA.com: "Toning shoes are the wildly popular shoes that promise to give your legs and rear-end a workout. But could they be more of a hazard than a help?

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Rosie Jackson, 57, broke her ankle and injured her back last November after wearing the toning shoes for less than a month. She still has unpaid hospital bills and was out of work for three months – all because of a fall she says wouldn’t have taken if it weren’t for the shoes.

“I was walking and all of sudden my feet was going from up under me and I was going down and I couldn't do anything,” she said."

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Toning Shoes Lawsuit / Reebok Easy Tone Injury / Skechers Shape-Ups

Toning Shoes Lawsuit / Reebok Easy Tone Injury / Skechers Shape-Ups: "If you have reason believe you have been injured by your use of toning shoes, you may have legal rights to claim compensation. The MEDLAW legal team of Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC, is a nationally recognized law firm committed to assisting victims of negligently manufactured products.

Our team includes accomplished personal injury lawyers, a board-certified physician and registered nurses to help maximize our ability to recover substantial damages for those who are seriously injured by a negligently manufactured product or device.

The MEDLAW Legal Team of Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC, is a national firm with offices in Baltimore, MD, Asheville, NC, and Columbia, SC. The law firm has satellite offices in New York City. Time is of the essence to protect your legal rights. Call (888) 4-MED-LAW or contact us online immediately."

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Skechers Shape-Ups Lawsuit: Woman Sues Saying 'Toning Shoes' Caused Hip Fractures - ABC News

Skechers Shape-Ups Lawsuit: Woman Sues Saying 'Toning Shoes' Caused Hip Fractures - ABC News: "A new lawsuit alleges that Skecher's Shape-up shoes can cause serious injuries.

An Ohio woman is suing the company after developing stress fractures in both hips -- which she blames on the shoes.

Skecher's Shape-ups have a distinctive round sole. They are marketed as toning shoes, the fastest-growing segment of the athletic shoe market.

Toning shoes are meant to help you get in shape as you walk or work. But at least one person says rather than helping them, the shoes hurt them.

Holly Ward, 38, says her routine involves physical therapy and she now has pins in her hips because of injuries she says were caused by wearing Skecher's Shape-ups."

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Saturday, August 27, 2011

Rick Perry Bills Feds $349M For Cost Of Texas Incarcerating Undocumented Immigrants

Rick Perry Bills Feds $349M For Cost Of Texas Incarcerating Undocumented Immigrants: "AP) AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for nearly $350 million to cover the costs he says Texas has incurred incarcerating undocumented immigrants in state prisons and county jails.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Perry reiterated a claim he's often leveled against the federal government: that it's not doing enough to secure the border with Mexico and as a result, has allowed undocumented immigrants to enter the U.S. and use taxpayer-funded resources, including the prison system.

The letter was dated Aug. 10, three days before the Republican governor formally announced he is running for president."

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Atiyah Abd Al-Rahman Dead: Al Qaeda Second In Command Killed In Pakistan

Atiyah Abd Al-Rahman Dead: Al Qaeda Second In Command Killed In Pakistan: "WASHINGTON -- U.S. and Pakistani officials said Saturday that al-Qaida's second-in-command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, delivering another big blow to a terrorist group that the U.S. believes to be on the verge of defeat.

Since Navy SEALs stormed Osama bin Laden's compound and killed him in May, the Obama administration has been unusually frank in its assessment that al-Qaida is on the ropes, its leadership in disarray. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last month that al-Qaida's defeat was within reach if the U.S. could mount a string of successful attacks.

"Now is the moment, following what happened with bin Laden, to put maximum pressure on them," Panetta said, "because I do believe that if we continue this effort we can really cripple al-Qaida as a major threat.""

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Victoria Advocate | Audit finds hundreds of millions unspent at Va DOT

Victoria Advocate | Audit finds hundreds of millions unspent at Va DOT: "RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - An inattentive Virginia transportation bureaucracy left nearly $500 million unspent last year as interstate rest stops were shuttered and maintenance projects deferred by emergency budget cuts, a private audit to be released Thursday shows.

The four-month review of the Virginia Department of Transportation's finances shows that the recouped cash combined with steps to redirect other state funds will add $614 million to backlogged road maintenance and construction projects through June 2011.

And by 2016, the newfound cash, savings and efficiencies available for the state's six-year road building and maintenance master plan will total nearly $1.5 billion, Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton told The Associated Press.

Gov. Bob McDonnell, who ordered the audit in April, planned to release the findings and remedial steps the administration will take at a Thursday afternoon news conference. The Republican unsuccessfully called for a private VDOT audit two years ago, while still attorney general, and pledged one while campaigning for governor in 2009."

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Rewrite, Sugarcoat, Ignore: 8 Ways Conservatives Misremember American History—for Partisan Gain | The Nation

Rewrite, Sugarcoat, Ignore: 8 Ways Conservatives Misremember American History—for Partisan Gain | The Nation: "Hannity’s is just one example of the selective memory and historical revision frequently on display in the conservative movement. Right-wing pundits, politicians and pseudo-historians are nibbling away at objective historical truths to rewrite history for present-day purposes, and hardly any topic is off-limits: glorifying the “Reagan Revolution” to children, sugarcoating the Jim Crow South and revising textbooks to offer a favorable view on Phyllis Schlafly—among many others"

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Rick Perry: Governor for Sale | The Nation

Rick Perry: Governor for Sale | The Nation: "Perry has been elected governor three times and has proclaimed his state a model worth replicating at the national level. Yet Texas has the highest number of residents without health insurance in the nation, among the worst-ranked food stamp programs, one of the highest child poverty rates, the lowest percentage of residents with a high school diploma and one of the highest teenage birth rates. These are stats that deserve swears, not swagger.

Texas’s political system is also as brazenly capable of corruption by money and special interests as that in Washington, and unabashedly so.

Long before the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United allowed unlimited contributions to begin flowing into national super PACs, Texas had some of the most lax campaign finance laws anywhere. At the state level, there are no limits on the amount of money individuals can contribute to candidates, allowing wealthy donors to directly bankroll campaigns. In such an environment, Rick Perry didn’t just survive, he flourished. He didn’t just embrace the system, he shattered records with it, raising more than anyone in Texas history. Indeed, for as long as Perry has been governor, the governor’s mansion has been ostensibly for sale."

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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Gadhafi says he retreated from besieged compound - Yahoo! News

Gadhafi says he retreated from besieged compound - Yahoo! News: TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A TV channel is quoting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi as saying he retreated from his Tripoli compound in a "tactical move" after 64 NATO airstrikes turned it to rubble.
Al-Rai TV said Wednesday it would air the comments from Gadhafi in full soon and reported an excerpt in which the leader of Libya's crumbling regime vows his forces will resist "the aggression with all strength" until either victory or death.
It was not clear from the remarks when Gadhafi abandoned the Bab al-Azaziya compound, which was overrun by rebel fighters Tuesday.

New York Attorney General Kicked Off Government Group Leading Foreclosure Probe

New York Attorney General Kicked Off Government Group Leading Foreclosure Probe: WASHINGTON -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Tuesday was kicked off the committee leading the 50-state task force charged with probing foreclosure abuses and negotiating a possible settlement agreement with the nation's five largest mortgage firms, according to an email reviewed by The Huffington Post.

Schneiderman was one of roughly a dozen state attorneys general leading the talks with the five companies, alongside representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other federal agencies. The government launched the negotiations in the spring after widespread reports of foreclosure irregularities, such as so-called "robo-signing" and illegal home seizures, emerged.

Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Arrests Mount As Climate Activists Push Obama

Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Arrests Mount As Climate Activists Push Obama: WASHINGTON -- Waving signs and chanting "Yes we can," scores of protesters were arrested outside the White House Monday as they called on the Obama administration to block approval of TransCanada's Keystone XL oil pipeline.

As of Monday night, 162 people had been arrested, detained and released. Organizers say more than 2,000 volunteers have signed up to participate in the sit-ins in shifts, which began over the weekend and are slated to run through Sep. 3. Dozens more are expected to be arrested Tuesday

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Pregnant teen shot dead, baby saved | The Chicago Local - Yahoo! News

Pregnant teen shot dead, baby saved | The Chicago Local - Yahoo! News: A pregnant teenager is dead after a shooting on the city's Southwest Side, but the girl's unborn baby was saved.
As CBS 2's Susanna Song reports, authorities say the unborn child was in stable condition when the mother, Charinez Jefferson, 17, who was six months pregnant, was brought to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn after the shooting. It was unclear how the preemie, a boy, was doing as of 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Jefferson was shot multiple times and suffered a wound to the head, as she walked with a group of people around 10:35 p.m. Tuesday in the 3000 block of West 64th Street in the Marquette Park neighborhood.
Police say the suspect, a man the group did not know, got out of a car and walked up to them. Then he opened fire.

Bodies found in Mexico might be kidnapped marines - Yahoo! News

Bodies found in Mexico might be kidnapped marines - Yahoo! News: The Mexican navy said Thursday it found bodies in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz that could include those of three marines and a naval cadet kidnapped by suspected drug cartel gunmen earlier this month.
Mexican drug cartels have kidnapped and killed military personnel before, but it remains a relatively rare occurrence.
The navy said in a statement that objects belonging to the kidnapped servicemen were found in a raid on a warehouse Sunday and that investigators later found the four bodies in four pits on the outskirts of the state capital.
The raid also resulted in the capture of five people suspected of participating in the abductions, authorities said.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Defense Industry Faces Profit Losses As Golden Decade Ends

Defense Industry Faces Profit Losses As Golden Decade Ends: "NEW YORK (AP) -- The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down, Osama bin Laden is dead, and the federal government is deeply in debt. This spells the end of what was a golden decade for the defense industry.

In the decade since the Sept. 11 attacks, the annual defense budget has more than doubled to $700 billion and annual defense industry profits have nearly quadrupled, approaching $25 billion last year.

Now defense spending is poised to retreat, and so are industry profits. 'We're about to go into the downhill side of the roller coaster here,' said David Berteau, a defense industry analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Congress agreed last month to cut military spending by $350 billion over the next 10 years. The defense budget will automatically be cut by another $500 billion over that period if lawmakers fail to reach a deficit-cutting deal by November.

Defense industry stocks have already begun to suffer; they are lagging the S&P 500 in recent months. During the last defense spending downturn, which lasted from 1985 to 1997, defense stocks underperformed the broader market by 33 percent, according to an analysis by RBC Capital Markets."

Buffett Blasts Low Taxes On Billionaires, Says Congress Must Stop Coddling Them | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance

Buffett Blasts Low Taxes On Billionaires, Says Congress Must Stop Coddling Them | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance: "The most respected investor and capitalist on the planet, Warren Buffett, took to the pages of the New York Times this morning to bust a myth that has dominated political discourse in recent months:
The idea that raising taxes on super-rich people would hurt the economy.
Buffett observes that his own personal taxes as a percent of his income have plummeted in the past decade, to all-time lows. He observes, as he has before, that he pays a much lower tax rate than his secretary. He calls out the absurdity of hedge-fund managers and other professional investors playing 'long-term capital gains' rates on short-term trading profits.
And then he takes aim at the biggest rationale for preserving these astonishing tax breaks: The claim that, if taxes on deca-millionaire and billionaires were increased, these super-rich Americans would stop investing, thus clobbering the economy and hurting job growth:"

James Craig Anderson's Death Sparks Internet War Of Words Over Alleged Mississippi Hate Crime

James Craig Anderson's Death Sparks Internet War Of Words Over Alleged Mississippi Hate Crime: "JACKSON, Miss. -- Authorities call it a hate crime by two white teens against a middle-aged black man, 'murder by physically assaulting and purposefully using a 1998 Ford F-250 to run over James Craig Anderson.'

Defense lawyers insist the incident had nothing to do with race. One of the teen's attorneys said the group was on a beer run that morning, not out looking for a black man to assault, as prosecutors claim.

Regardless of whether race had anything to do with the killing, that's how it's being seen by many who live far away from Mississippi's capital. Stoked in part by security camera footage showing Anderson being run over, people across the country have begun to sound off on social media pages created for and against the defendants, filling them with shrill, often hateful comments."

Barbara & Shannon Kelley: Are Women "Pornified" by Popular Media?

Barbara & Shannon Kelley: Are Women "Pornified" by Popular Media?: "A new study by University of Buffalo sociologists suggests the answer is yes, indeed. This may be well-tread territory, but we think we need to go there anyway. One reason is what we call the 'tyranny of the shoulds.'

The study, entitled 'Equal Opportunity Objectification? The Sexualization of Men and Women on the Cover of Rolling Stone', will be published in the September issue of the journal Sexuality & Culture. The researchers, Erin Hatton, Ph.D., and Mary Nell Trautner, Ph.D., analyzed covers of Rolling Stone magazine over the past three decades and found that 'sexualized representations of both women and men increased, and hypersexualized images of women (but not men) skyrocketed.' They chose Rolling Stone, in particular, because of its long lifespan and because its covers have featured a broad mix of pop culture icons -- from celebrities to politicians -- of both genders. According to the University of Buffalo News Center, here's what they had to say about their findings:"

Jailing Undocumented Immigrants Is Big Business (VIDEO)

Jailing Undocumented Immigrants Is Big Business (VIDEO): "LOS ANGELES -- At dawn on July 19, nearly 40 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Immigration (HSI) agents burst into the home home of Carmen Bonilla, 44. The agents were searching for 'Robert' an alleged drug dealer, but ended up terrifying Bonilla and her son Michael, 16, daughter Josefina, 23, daughter-in-law Leticia, 28, and two of her granddaughters.

According to Jessica Dominguez, the family's lawyer, and Jorge Mario Cabrera, spokesperson of the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), the family was subjected to 'different levels of physical and verbal abuse,' including screaming, 'kicking, beating and aggression.' Their treatment was documented last week by HuffPost LatinoVoices' Jorge Luis Macías.

What happened to the Bonillas has happened to thousands of immigrant families. Immigration authorities -- both local police and federal ICE agents -- have embarked on a program to seek out 'criminal illegal aliens' and, whether they find them or not, have often rounded up entire families for deportation."

Why Bottled Water Companies Target Blacks and Latinos | Mother Jones

Why Bottled Water Companies Target Blacks and Latinos | Mother Jones: "Judging from a new study published by the American Medical Association, the PR push is working. Researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin found that Latino and African Americans are more likely to give bottled water to their children, and spend up to twice as much of their household income on bottled water as do whites. After surveying some 640 people they found that Latino and African Americans are more likely to consume bottled water largely because they view tap water as a health risk. From the study:

Beliefs about tap water safety and cleanliness, preference for bottled water taste, and perceived bottled water convenience had the strongest association with the use of bottled water. Obtaining information about tap water from environmental organizations was also associated with greater odds of bottled water use."

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Leigh Stubbs, Mississippi Woman, Serving 44-Year Sentence Despite Discredited Testimony

Leigh Stubbs, Mississippi Woman, Serving 44-Year Sentence Despite Discredited Testimony: "Prosecutors in the U.S. often decry what is sometimes called the 'CSI Effect.' Movies and TV crime dramas like the popular 'CSI' franchise on CBS can fill jurors' heads with unrealistic expectations about forensic science. But there's also a flip side to the CSI Effect: Because jurors are ready to believe the fantastical feats preformed by the wondrous forensics computers they see on screen, an unscrupulous prosecutor armed with an expert willing to offer otherwise dubious forensics on the witness stand can cause a lot of damage."

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Uranium firm urges Va. towns to keep 'open mind' - Washington Times

Uranium firm urges Va. towns to keep 'open mind' - Washington Times: "A company seeking to mine a 119-million pound southern Virginia uranium deposit has sent letters to localities urging officials to “keep an open mind” before the release of studies that could affect whether the General Assembly votes to overturn the nearly 30-year ban on the practice.

Virginia Uranium Inc. says it wants to mine a site in Pittsylvania County considered to be one of the world’s largest untapped sources of the radioactive element widely used in nuclear reactors.

The letter, signed by Walter Coles, the chairman of Virginia Uranium, says an independent engineering study has revealed the “enormous positive economic impact” that such a mining and milling would have on the region, adding that direct and indirect economic benefits would exceed $240 million a year.

“I think our position has been very clear since our company was formed in 2007,” said Patrick Wales, Virginia Uranium’s project manager. “We have great confidence in this industry, but we feel we need independent scientific research.”

Virginia Uranium points to a pending National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study on the statewide impact of mining and a separate one regarding the socio-economic impacts of tapping the supply in Pittsylvania."

Neb. mine find to challenge China’s dominance of vital rare minerals - Washington Times

Neb. mine find to challenge China’s dominance of vital rare minerals - Washington Times: "Elk Creek, Neb. (population 112), may not be so tiny much longer. Reports suggest that the southeastern Nebraska hamlet may be sitting on the world’s largest untapped deposit of “rare earth” minerals, which have proved to be indispensable to a slew of high-tech and military applications such as laser pointers, stadium lighting, electric car batteries and sophisticated missile-guidance systems.

Canada-based Quantum Rare Earths Developments Corp. last week received preliminary results from test drilling in the area, showing “significant” proportions of “rare earth” minerals and niobium.

The only people more excited than Quantum? The residents of Elk Creek, where nearly one in seven people live under the poverty line, but whose economy has been booming ever since the company showed up late last year to start laying the groundwork for a possible mining bonanza.

“It’s been a very, very positive experience for our community,” said state Sen. Lavon Heidemann, an Elk Creek farmer. “When Quantum came in here, they put money in the local community. And any time you have money flowing in a small town, that’s a positive.”"

Newsvine - Social Security is Not an Entitlement

Newsvine - Social Security is Not an Entitlement: "I am sick and tired of the whiners and liars claiming that Social Security is an entitlement. It is a payroll tax that is paid for by both the employe and the employer. Thus it can be stated that it is part of the earnings of an employee. Yes employers split the cost, but it is part of our wages. Here is a link to who pays for Social Security. http://loopholelewy.com/loopholelewy/10-payroll-taxes/payroll-taxes-02-social-security-medicare-taxes.htm

Those who are trying to call it an entitlement are trying to say that they do not want to have to pay their employees this 12.4% for their old age retirement savings. They are trying to take away what was put in place to keep the corporations and the wealthy from enslaving the American workers for all of their lives. They think people should be forced to live as they want us to, always crawling on our hands and knees to them for the crumbs they make us sweat for."

Thursday, August 4, 2011

‘Pentagon’s Worst Nightmare’ - Yahoo! News

‘Pentagon’s Worst Nightmare’ - Yahoo! News: "During a decade of warfare, the Pentagon mostly had its way with budgets, as Congress was reluctant to turn down many spending requests for troops in the field. There was billions here for IED-detection and billions there for weapons like the F-35 joint strike fighter, the Virginia class of submarines, or the Predator drone.
Sometimes defense officials even got money for projects they didn’t request, such as armored vehicles known as MRAPs (mine-resistant and ambush-protected) that top military officials said were not a good investment. The end result was the Pentagon’s base budget swelled from $307 billion in 2001 to $529 billion this year, a 72 percent increase over 10 years
And while the Pentagon was just beginning to trim its spending over the last year, the debt deal approved by Congress this week raises the possibility of steeper cuts between $350 billion and $800 billion over the next decade. And that has left even the most veteran Pentagon budget watchers surprised.
“This is the Pentagon’s worst nightmare,” says Travis Sharp of the Center for a New American Security."

Where are the people of color in national parks? - Travel - News - msnbc.com

Where are the people of color in national parks? - Travel - News - msnbc.com: "The National Park system is often called “America’s Best Idea,” but according to a new report, it remains more like terra incognita for many people of color.
Released Wednesday, “The National Park System Comprehensive Survey of the American Public,” conducted by the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming, is a follow-up to a much-cited report on race/ethnicity among park visitors conducted in 2000.
Taken together, the two surveys show that while the American public has grown increasingly diverse in the last decade, black and Hispanic-Americans remain underrepresented in visits to the 394 National Park Service (NPS) properties."

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Latinos to GA: pick your own crops! (Video) | MarioWire

Latinos to GA: pick your own crops! (Video) | MarioWire: "In America’s ongoing battle over illegal immigration, there are few battle lines hotter than a cucumber field in a secluded corner of rural Georgia.

“Where are these cucumbers coming from!” Benito Mendez, 50, shouted at a row of stooped men. The sun-beaten crew boss angrily held up one of the offending vegetables, a yellowing specimen as thick as a baseball bat.

“These are no good!” Mendez said. “They’re already old!”

His crew of 14 pickers, sluggish and suffering in the 100-degree heat, paid little heed. These weren’t the seasoned Latino migrants Mendez usually employs, this was a stopgap crew — probationers and ex-convicts, mostly — few of whom had ever picked a vegetable before."

Video catches witness horror at police beating - US news - Crime & courts - msnbc.com

Video catches witness horror at police beating - US news - Crime & courts - msnbc.com: "SANTA ANA, Calif. — Six police officers have been placed on leave after a surveillance video surfaced of witnesses expressing horror moments after seeing a homeless man beaten to death, allegedly by the officers.
Kelly Thomas, 37, died five days after an altercation with Fullerton, Calif., officers at the Fullerton Transportation Center.
His father, Ron Thomas, made an emotional appearance at a Fullerton City Council meeting Tuesday evening along with more than 200 community members who demanded answers, NBC Los Angeles reported.

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When speaking to the City Council, Thomas referred to audio of the alleged altercation that was posted online on You Tube, NBC Los Angeles said."

HIV infections in U.S. stable but disparities exist | Reuters

HIV infections in U.S. stable but disparities exist | Reuters: "New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal progress since the peak of the HIV epidemic in the 1980s. But the sharp increases in infection rates among young black men who have sex with men show there is much more work to do, they said.

'We're very concerned about these increases among young gay men,' Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, said in a telephone interview.

'We can't allow the health to a new generation to be lost to what is essentially a completely preventable disease.'

According to the estimates, published in the journal PLoS ONE, there were 48,600 new HIV infections in the United States in 2006, 56,000 in 2007, 47,800 in 2008 and 48,100 in 2009. Over the four-year period, that amounts to an average of 50,000 cases per year."

Judge allows American to sue Rumsfeld over torture - Yahoo! News

Judge allows American to sue Rumsfeld over torture - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld can be sued personally for damages by a former U.S. military contractor who says he was tortured during a nine-month imprisonment in Iraq.
The lawsuit lays out a dramatic tale of the disappearance of the then-civilian contractor, an Army veteran in his 50s whose identity is being withheld from court filings for fear of retaliation. Attorneys for the man, who speaks five languages and worked as a translator for Marines collecting intelligence in Iraq, say he was preparing to come home to the United States on annual leave when he was abducted by the U.S. military and held without justification while his family knew nothing about his whereabouts or even whether he was still alive.
The government says he was suspected of helping pass classified information to the enemy and helping anti-coalition forces get into Iraq. But he was never charged with a crime, and he says he never broke the law and was risking his life to help his country."

Autopsy: Beaten NC boy, 4, had alcohol in system - Yahoo! News

Autopsy: Beaten NC boy, 4, had alcohol in system - Yahoo! News: "CANDLER, N.C. (AP) — An autopsy shows a 4-year-old North Carolina boy had alcohol in his system when he was beaten to death in April.
Trenton Michael Scott had a blood alcohol content of 0.12 percent, well above the legal limit for driving.
Dr. Patrick Lantz tells the Asheville Citizen-Times that he believes Trent ingested the alcohol, though one toxicologist says its possible bacteria in his body fermented.
The autopsy found Trent died from a laceration to his liver caused by blunt force trauma to the abdomen and chest. He also had broken ribs and teeth, a fractured skull and bite marks on his back and chest.
Police have charged 24-year-old William Godfrey Hedden, who lived with Trent's mother in a mobile home in Candler. His attorney declined to comment to The Associated Press."

National Rifle Association To File Lawsuit Over Bulk Gun Sales Rule

National Rifle Association To File Lawsuit Over Bulk Gun Sales Rule: "WASHINGTON -- The gun industry plans to file lawsuits on Wednesday challenging requirements that weapons dealers along the U.S. border with Mexico report multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles, escalating the fight with the Obama administration.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives last month ordered more than 8,000 gun dealers in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and California to report such sales to try to stem the 'iron river' of guns flowing to the violent Mexican drug cartels.

Dealers are required to report sales of two or more rifles to the same person at one time or during any five business days for semi-automatic weapons greater than .22 caliber and with the ability to accept a detachable magazine."

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Report Shows Terror Recruitment in U.S. Still a Problem - FoxNews.com

Report Shows Terror Recruitment in U.S. Still a Problem - FoxNews.com: "A new report released by Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee shows there's still a threat of Americans being recruited by Somali terror group and Al Qaeda ally Al Shabaab for the purpose of carrying out attacks in the U.S.

Committee chairman Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. held a hearing Wednesday on Al Shabaab recruiting in America. It was the third in a series of controversial 'Muslim radicalization' hearings King has called.

'The key finding is that there is a looming danger of American Shabaab fighters returning to the U.S. to strike or helping Al Qaeda and its affiliates attack the homeland,' the report reads. 'U.S. intelligence underestimated the Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda in Yemen's capability of launching attacks here; we cannot afford to make the same mistake with Shabaab.'

The report says at least 40 Americans have joined the terror group and 15 have been killed fighting for them. It also says 21 American Shabaab members are unaccounted for and that they pose a threat to U.S. security.

Many Democrats have bemoaned King's series of radicalization hearings, and while the ranking member of the committee Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., says Shabaab is an issue, he downplays its importance and says other types of terror should be focused on as well."