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New York bill finally expands legal definition of 'rape' to include any forced sexual contact

Stephen C. Webster
Raw Story
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:06 UTC
Image
© Courtesy, Senator Cathy Young on Facebook.
Advocates are praising a newly revised version of New York's "Rape is Rape" bill that classifies any vaginal contact as "rape," bringing the legal definition of that form of sexual assault in line with the standards for forced anal and oral contact.

The change came shortly after Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) endorsed the bill on Tuesday, when Republican state Sen. Catharine Young (pictured) introduced a second version that removes the legal requirement of "penetration" for forced vaginal penetration to be considered "rape," and expands the conduct covered by the term to include forced oral and anal sex.

A New York Daily News story noted that the confusion about the last-minute changes surprised even rape survivor Lydia Cuomo, whose brutal sexual assault by an NYPD officer didn't result in his conviction of first degree rape charges because the prior definitions required prosecutors to prove a specific kind of penetration. Cuomo, who is not related to the governor, wants the definition of rape changed to include vaginal, oral or anal contact - which the bill now does.
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Syringe

Veterans Administration again accused of covering up the causes of 'Gulf War Syndrome'

Nora Eisenberg
Raw Story
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:57 UTC
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© David Kamm, NSRDEC Photographer, US Army
The federal Institute of Medicine to much fanfare recently reported that "preliminary data" suggest that veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq suffer from the same disease - commonly called Gulf War Syndrome or Illness - that has plagued veterans of Desert Storm for over two decades. Meanwhile, an alarming but widely-ignored report by a federal panel of high-level scientists charged with advising the government on the disease accused the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of covering up the true nature and cause of a profound systemic illness that medical scientists have traced to wartime exposures - including neurotoxins, depleted uranium, and microbes, among others.

The culprits, the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses claims, are bureaucrats in the Veterans' Administration Office of Public Health, whose coordination of a robust strategic plan for Gulf War Illness (on which RAC had consulted) has "gutted" science, "focus," "energy," and budgetary resources (reduced from from $15 to $4.9 million for 20013). The Office has promulgated "fictions," the RAC asserts, that are "contrary to well-established science," resurrecting a discredited theory of the syndrome belied by decades of scientific research validated by the Institute of Medicine. That scientific research shows that Gulf War Syndrome or Illness is a real and profound multi-system illness appearing with an array of conditions.
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Sheriff

Sheriff denies cabin intentionally burnt down with Chris Dorner inside

Eric W. Dolan
Raw Story
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:54 UTC
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San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon on Wednesday denied that California police had intentionally set a cabin on fire with fugitive ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner inside.

"I can tell you that it was not on purpose, we did not intentionally burn down that cabin to get Mr. Dorner out," he said at a press conference. "The tear gas canisters that we used - first off we used a presence when we showed up, a cold tear gas, then the next tear gas was pyrotechnic, which does generate a lot of heat. We introduced those canisters into the residence and a fire arose."

Police scanners captured officers saying "fucking burn this motherfucker" and "we're gonna go forward with the plan, with - with the burn" on Tuesday as they engaged the quadruple murder suspect.
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Dollars

Judge awards $400 million in settlement against rig operator for Deepwater Horizon spill


Raw Story
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:51 UTC
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© AFP Photo
A US judge approved Thursday a $400 million settlement in criminal penalties against the rig operator involved in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in American history.

The punishment was part of a plea bargain agreement reached last month by rig owner Transocean and the US Justice Department.

The penalty was approved Thursday by Judge Jane Triche Milazzo of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, in New Orleans.
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Star of David

Extremists deface headstones in Jerusalem Muslim cemetery with Stars of David


Raw Story
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:48 UTC
Image
© AFP Photo
Suspected Jewish extremists scrawled anti-Arab graffiti on the headstones in an ancient Muslim cemetery in west Jerusalem, police and witnesses told AFP on Thursday.

"The words 'price tag' and Stars of David were scrawled on around a dozen tombs in the Muslim cemetery in Mamilla in central Jerusalem," a police spokeswoman told AFP, saying an inquiry had been opened.

An AFP correspondent at the scene said the vandals had also written "Mohammed is dead" and "Maale Rehavam" on the tombs some of which date back to the 12th century.
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USA

Pentagon unveils new 'Distinguished Warfare Medal' for drone operators


Raw Story
Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:43 UTC
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© AFP Photo
The Pentagon unveiled a new medal on Wednesday to honor "extraordinary" troops who launch cyber attacks or drone strikes from their consoles, even if they do not risk their lives in combat.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, announcing the new "Distinguished Warfare Medal," said it was time to recognize those who play a crucial role in modern warfare with hi-tech weapons far from the frontline.

"Our military reserves its highest decorations obviously for those who display gallantry and valor in actions where their lives are on the line, and we will continue to do so," Panetta told a Pentagon news conference.

"But we should also have the ability to honor the extraordinary actions that make a true difference in combat operations."

He said operators of unmanned, robotic aircraft and cyber weapons "contribute to the success of combat operations, particularly when they remove the enemy from the field of battle, even if those actions are physically removed from the fight."

The medal reflects a new age of warfare that emerged over the past decade featuring robotic weapons and digital combat.
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USA

Fort Hood hero says Obama betrayed victims of massacre


RT.com
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:27 UTC
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© Reuters / Jason Reed
First lady Michelle Obama (2nd R) waves as she stands with Acting Fort Hood Police Chief Mark Alan Todd (L), Federal Police Officer Kimberly Munley (2nd L) and Rebecca Knerr (R) prior to U.S. President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Former Sgt. Kimberly Munley, who helped stop the deadly shooting at Fort Hood in 2009, claims that the US government has neglected the surviving victims of the attack, leaving them without proper medical care in the aftermath of the shooting.

When 39-year-old US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire at the Texas military base Fort Hood, he left 13 people dead and 32 wounded. Most of the wounded were service members, some of which were preparing to go to Afghanistan. But the gunshot wounds served as a setback for many, inflicting crippling disabilities that in some cases require years of treatment.

And the US government has largely abandoned the wounded soldiers, Sgt. Munley said in an interview with ABC News, which will be broadcast Wednesday night.

"Betrayed is a good word," Munley said. "Not to the least little bit have the victims been taken care of. In fact they've been neglected."
Including Munley herself.
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Blackbox

Again? Right next to a 'charred body' - wallet with a California driver's license with the name Christopher Dorner has been found in the rubble of a cabin

Tami Abdollah and Gillian Flaccus
Huff Post Crime
Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:49 UTC
An official briefed on the investigation tells The Associated Press that a wallet with a California driver's license with the name Christopher Dorner has been found in the rubble of a cabin. A charred body was also found inside after a shootout and fire.

Authorities believe the remains are those of the former Los Angeles police officer, but they have not been formally identified.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation and says the charred body and personal items were found in the basement of the burned cabin. The area is in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.

Two sheriff's deputies were also shot, one fatally. Dorner is also suspected of earlier killing a young couple and a police officer, and wounding two other officers.
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Attention

'Zombie Apocalypse' hoax message on U.S. Emergency Alert System broadcast on 10 channels across 5 states

Michael Beall
USA Today
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 03:37 UTC
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This is not a drill. Well, yes, it is, kind of... just what is the US government up to with all this zombie madness? Are they REALLY expecting a zombie apocalypse??
Fake emergency alert warned of dead bodies walking the streets and attacking the living.

Zombies weren't walking the streets here Monday, but a false alert that aired on two local TV stations went through the same channels on which true emergencies are aired, raising questions and concerns of how the hoax occurred.

The hoax reached around 10 stations in Montana, Michigan, California, Utah and New Mexico, said Greg MacDonald, the CEO of Montana Broadcasters Association.

The alert featured a scrolling warning for various Montana counties and a voice-over claimed there were "dead bodies rising from the grave and attacking the living" and urged people to use caution.

"Do not attempt to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are extremely dangerous," it said.

Comment: As we pointed out yesterday, it is not easy to access the Emergency Alert System, which is managed by the Dept. of Homeland Security. Yes, the same Dept. of Homeland Security that recently urged citizens to prepare for a 'Zombie Apocalypse'. This was just tongue-in-cheek, they reassured us, but coming as it did on top of all the other 'just-joking-around' messages from governments about the 'Zombie Apocalypse', we have to wonder if this 'Zombie' meme is being spread deliberately - in both subtle and not so subtle ways...

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Feds vs. Zombies: CDC officially denies 'Zombie Apocalypse'

US: "Zombie Apocalypse" campaign crashes website

Note that the EAS, until this 'cyber-attack', had never before been activated on a national scale.

Perhaps this then was a test?

For someone or some group to have done this and piped the message to particular stations across the country strongly suggests that very high-level clearance, planning or access was required.

They're now blaming 'a foreign source' for this 'cyber-attack', but whoever did it, this is another example of flicking the paranoia switch and inducing yet more hysteria in the U.S. population.

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Mr. Potato

Governor John Hickenlooper tells senate committee he drank fracking fluid


The Huffington Post
Wed, 13 Feb 2013 03:32 UTC
hickenlooper
© Associated Press
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has made no secret of his support for hydraulic fracturing, but on Tuesday he went one big step further and testified that he actually drank fracking fluid.

"You can drink it. We did drink it around the table, almost ritual-like, in a funny way," Hickenlooper said before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

From The Washington Times:
Sen. Al Franken, Minnesota Democrat, found humor in the governor's admission and asked if the experience was part of some bizarre occult practice.

"No, there were no religious overtures," Mr. Hickenlooper responded.
The governor testified that it wasn't "tasty" but added, "I'm still alive."

Hyrdaulic fracturing is a controversial process of injecting water, sand, and chemicals underground at very high pressures to release natural gas. Most companies however have declined to reveal what components make up their fracking fluids, calling them "trade secrets."
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