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Indiana man incompetent again for trial in gruesome killing


ABC News
Tue, 07 Jan 2020 01:22 UTC
Joseph Oberhansley
A southern Indiana man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and eating parts of her body has once again been found incompetent to stand trial in the 2014 slaying, months after his first trial ended in a mistrial.

An agreement between Joseph Oberhansley's defense attorneys and Clark County prosecutors stipulates that he is to be transported to a state hospital for competency restoration, based on two evaluations filed in December by psychiatrists, the News and Tribune reported.

"Both court-appointed psychiatric experts concluded that (Oberhansley) lacks the ability to understand the proceedings and assist in the preparation of the defense," the agreement, filed Jan. 2, reads in part.

The psychiatrist's reports were ordered by Clark County Circuit Court Judge Vicki Carmichael after defense attorneys filed a renewed suggestion in October that their client was not competent.

Comment: See also: Indiana: Convicted killer accused of fatally stabbing ex-girlfriend, then eating her brain, internal organs

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Family

Report urges Britain to action: End 'generational apartheid'

Laura Bundock
Sky News
Tue, 07 Jan 2020 19:14 UTC
baby grandparent

Parents taking their children to the classes say they are uplifting
Britain is one of the most generationally segregated countries in the world and must take action to end "age apartheid", a new report has said.

A report by the think tank United for All Ages has highlighted 20 ways the UK must act to tackle the divisions facing younger and older people. One of the ideas mentioned in the report is the Together Project, which runs baby and toddler music classes in residential care homes.

At the George Mason Lodge in east London, residents relish their "Songs and Smiles" sing-a-long sessions with local under-fours.

"The first night I came here I cried all night. Not with sad tears but with absolute happiness," resident Kathleen Lane explained.

Parents bringing their children to the classes agree they are uplifting and mutually beneficial.

Comment:

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Handcuffs

Israeli anti-occupation activist, Jonathan Pollak, arrested on trumped up assault charges

Yumna Patel
Mondoweiss
Tue, 07 Jan 2020 18:31 UTC
Jonathan Pollak arrest
© Oren Ziv/Activestills.org
Jonathan Pollak, right, at the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court after being arrested on January 6, 2020.
Israeli police arrested left-wing Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak on Monday morning from the offices of Israeli newspaper Haaretz, where Pollak is employed.

Pollak was arrested for his continued refusal to appear before an Israeli court over charges against him of attacking Israeli soldiers, an accusation which Pollak and fellow activists vehemently deny.

The charges were brought against Pollak by right-wing Israeli group Ad Kan, who has been pressuring Israeli authorities for months to arrest the activist.

Ad Kan alleges that Pollak and two other activists attacked Israeli soldiers during protests in the West Bank villages of Nil'in, Nabi Saleh, and Bil'in, where Pollak regularly demonstrates in solidarity with Palestinians protesting against settlement expansion in their towns.

Since filing the criminal complaint — which Pollak and others argue does not meet the requirements of the law — Ad Kan has continued to harass Pollak on social media, calling on its supporters to publish any information about the activist, leading to the posting of his address and place of employment online, Haaretz reported.
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Document

New bill would require student-athletes in Tennessee to play as gender identified at birth

Kelly McCarthy
ABC News
Tue, 07 Jan 2020 11:05 UTC
Transgender athletes
The new year is underway and lawmakers have started to make a push for new legislation, but one bill already has a flag on the play.

A controversial bill in Tennessee that would seek to stop transgender athletes from playing on a team that matches their gender identity has drawn some sharp criticism in the LGBTQ+ and sports communities.

Tennessee House Bill 1572, if passed, would require public elementary and secondary schools to "ensure that student athletes participate in school-sanctioned sports based on the student's biological sex as indicated on certificate issued at time of birth."
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X

Deranged Michigan man accused of killing his Grindr date and eating parts of his body - Update: Man pleads insanity

Khaleda Rahman
Newsweek
Tue, 07 Jan 2020 18:23 UTC
Mark Latunski
© Shiawassee County Sheriff's Office
Mark Latunski, 50, has been charged with murder and mutilation in the death of Kevin Bacon, who he met on the Grindr dating app.
Michigan man is accused of murdering a man he met on Grindr, then cutting off and eating parts of his body.

Mark Latunski, 50, was arraigned on December 30 on one count of open murder and one count of disinterment/mutilation of a dead body in the death of hairstylist Kevin Bacon, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Court documents obtained by NBC News revealed police discovered a horrific scene inside Latunski's home in Morrice, Michigan, after he allowed them to enter and search on December 28.

They arrested Latunski after they found the deceased Bacon hanging from the ceiling naked in the home, according to NBC News. In an interview with police, Latunski admitted that he had stabbed Bacon in the back then slit his throat.

Comment: The accused man, Mark Latunksi, has plead insanity in court. Latunski believes he is a member of a royal family from Wales with another name, his lawyer claimed on Wednesday.

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Post-It Note

Americans approve of Trump's assassination of Soleimani... even though 60% had never heard of him - poll


RT
Tue, 07 Jan 2020 14:20 UTC
Pictures of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani
© Mehdi Bolourian/Fars News Agency/WANA via Reuters
Women hold pictures of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani in Kerman, Iran January 7, 2020.
A new poll has found that Americans doubt Donald Trump has a clear Iran policy, but nonetheless they support the decision to kill Qassem Soleimani - who, remarkably, had been an unknown entity for the majority of respondents.

Forty-three percent of Americans said they approved of the US drone strike that killed the Iranian commander last week in Baghdad, while 38% disapproved and 19% said they were unsure, according to the results of a HuffPost/YouGov survey.

Comment: See also: Soleimani had diplomatic immunity, making his assassination a far graver crime

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Better Earth

Six-hour days and four day work week trial called for by Finland's new PM

Luke O'Reilly
Evening Standard
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 12:00 UTC
Marin
© REUTERS
Ms Marin heralded the idea as 'the next step' in working life
Finland's new Prime Minister has called for the introduction of a flexible working schedule that would involve a four-day week and six-hour days.

Sanna Marin, the youngest female head of government in the world , has announced the intention to trial the initiative, which she claims could be "the next step" in working life.

The 34-year-old leads a five party centre-left coalition - all led by women.

The Social Democratic Party leader told NewEurope: "I believe people deserve to spend more time with their families, loved ones, hobbies and other aspects of life, such as culture. This could be the next step for us in working life."

Comment: Our current work model is outdated (arguably throughout recent history it has, for the vast majority, been far from ideal) and so while productive work is an integral component for a fulfilled life, so are other factors, such as those mentioned by the PM, like family and hobbies:

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Yellow Vest

"I am France": No one is calling this a revolution, but it is

David Studdert
Off Guardian
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 12:00 UTC
France Strikes
Five days ago, the 2nd of January, French strikers set a new record for consecutive days on strike: 29. This beats the 28 days registered in 1968.

No one is calling this a revolution, but it is.

Since November the revolt against Macron and the French state has entered a higher, more intense phase. Along with the vast union strikes go freeway and rail closure, petrol shortages, the selected allocation of electricity supplies to poor areas; the denial of power to Amazon, the marches of the Gilet Jaune, the intensifying battles with the police, the involvement of more and more of the French citizenry and institutions, including, last week, the National Ballet; all of it is evidence of how the struggle to remove Macron is intensifying.

After a year of weekend battles in every major French city and the official entry of the trade unions into the fight, big changes are in the wind and the yearlong power struggle in France is moving inexorably towards a climax.

Comment: For an idea of how the striking workers and the Gilet Jaune's rung in the New Year, see: France's pension reform strike breaks record, fresh clashes in Paris, calls for renewed action following Macron's refusal to back down

Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal #26: Globalization vs Nationalism - The Hidden Causes of The Yellow Vest Protests in France

And from today:



Translation: AT #Nimes , lawyers in #grève make a human chain around the arenas. Facing the banners of #Macron , the liberal professions are also in the arena against the reform of #retraites ... #FiersDeLaGrève#greve6Janvier#GreveGenerale#GiletsJaunes


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Question

Siberian man found decapitated after claiming local police framed him on drug charges

Robert Coalson
RFE/RL
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 13:55 UTC
Dmitry Fyodorov protest death siberia

Protesters in Omsk rally to call for an investigation into the death of Dmitry Fyodorov.
Locals in this Siberian city are calling for an impartial investigation into the death of Dmitry Fyodorov, a 25-year-old man whose decapitated body was found on a railway late last month.

About 80 people braved frigid temperatures on January 4 to attend a demonstration at which participants signed a petition urging federal prosecutors to investigate the police handling of the case.

Fyodorov, an information-technology specialist and musician, was arrested on December 15 and charged with the large-scale distribution of narcotics. On December 18, after he was released on his own recognizance pending trial, Fyodorov recorded a video in which he claimed that the drugs had been planted on him by the police.
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Snakes in Suits

"National shame": Top FTSE bosses paid typical worker's annual salary in just 33 hours

Kalyeena Makortoff
The Guardian
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 00:01 UTC
Union
© Andrew Matthews/PA
Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress: 'This tells you everything about how unfair our economy is'.
Senior executives in the UK's top 100 companies took just 33 hours to be paid more than the typical worker's annual salary, according to data that unions say should be a "source of national shame".

Figures released by the High Pay Centre thinktank showed that the typical FTSE 100 chief executive is paid 117 times more than the median worker, at £901.30 an hour or £3.46m a year.

It means that by 5pm on 6 January 2020, the chief executives of Britain's largest listed businesses will have pocketed more than the £29,559 annual salary earned by the median full-time employee, who is taking home about £14.37 an hour.


Comment: And a significant proportion of the population are earning much less than that.


Comment: If the contribution to society in one hour was equal to that of a year of the average worker then perhaps their salary would be justified, as it is, a worrying number of these CEOs - as reflected in the Persimmon example above - are primarily being rewarded for corrupt business practices: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Yellow Vest Protests, Brexit Farce - Revolutionary Climate in Western Europe?

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