Society's Child
© Reuters
US District Judge Cormac J. Carney, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, heard the case of Ernest Dewayne Jones. The death row inmate was sentenced on April 7, 1995. He was convicted for the 1992 rape and killing of Julia Miller, his girlfriend's mother. The murder occurred 10 months after Jones was paroled for a previous rape conviction, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In his ruling released Wednesday, Carney noted the death row inmate faced "complete uncertainty as to when, or even whether" he would be executed.
"Allowing this system to continue to threaten Mr. Jones with the slight possibility of death, almost a generation after he was first sentenced, violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment," the judge wrote in his decision.
© Haaretz
A man sports a T-shirt with a Neo-Nazi slogan at a demonstration in Tel Aviv, July 12, 2014.
A man sports a T-shirt with a Neo-Nazi slogan at a demonstration in Tel Aviv, July 12, 2014.
Neo-Nazis in Europe wear shirts with this phrase, which accompanies an image of a man attacking a left-wing activist, denoted by a star or anarchy symbol. The online store Final Resistance offers clothing bearing neo-Nazi slogans - popular attire at rock concerts by far-right bands. The emblem and slogan are a response to the original left-wing counterpart: "Good night white pride."
© Agence France-Presse/John Moore
The unidentified nurse - described by one inmate as a 40-year-old Latino - is believed to be the first conscientious objector to Guantanamo's controversial tube feeding policy.
The news comes as US District Judge Gladys Kessler prepares to hear complaints regarding force-feeding from prisoners who object to the procedure on humanitarian grounds and believe it to be torture.
According to the Miami Herald, it first learned of the development from attorney Cori Crider, who represents Guantanamo inmate and frequent hunger striker Abu Wa'el Dhiab. In a phone call with Crider, the 43-year-old Syrian national said that after a couple of months on the job, a male Navy nurse refused to force-feed hunger-striking inmates sometime before the Fourth of July. Once the nurse made his decision, he was reportedly moved to other duties.
© AFP Photo / Google
Self-drivinga two-seat prototype vehicle conceived and designed by Google.
Self-drivinga two-seat prototype vehicle conceived and designed by Google.
The report was obtained by the Guardian after the newspaper made a public records request. FBI predictions included the statement that self-driving cars would ultimately "have a high impact on transforming what both law enforcement and its adversaries can operationally do with a car."
Criminal "multitasking" is being anticipated despite the potential beneficial impact on road safety, and there have been sporadic suggestions that the vehicles could operate as rolling bombing platforms for terrorists - a means by which to conduct suicide bombings without the suicide aspect.
Companies like Google are in the process of developing the self-driving cars which are without a steering wheel and would travel at just 25 mph.
The vehicles use a combination of lidar (laser ranging), radar, video cameras and GPS to overcome obstacles on the road and reach a destination safely.
While still a prototype, the possibility that the cars could "revolutionize" high speed car chases and other criminal activity is on the cards.
"Autonomy ... will make mobility more efficient, but will also open up greater possibilities for dual-use applications and ways for a car to be more of a potential lethal weapon that it is today," said the report.
For tens of millions of Americans without a bank account, paying a bill isn't just an odyssey. It's a part-time job.
Alex was doing the thing he loved most, singing and playing his acoustic guitar onstage when, after one show, he met Melissa. "We kinda hit it off," Melissa said. "No kinda about it." Alex corrected. "We just hit it off." He proposed ten weeks after their first date. They moved into a house in Scituate, Rhode Island, and had two kids, whom they raised comfortably on two incomes.
© Reuters
In a flash, their lives changed dramatically. Alex was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had to quit his job. Now he walks with a cane. A few weeks later, their young son Jonah was diagnosed with severe autism. Their medical costs suddenly soared as their incomes dwindled. To manage their finances as responsibly as they knew how, Alex and Melissa chose to live on cash. But they weren't making enough money to meet their bills. Without a credit history, they couldn't qualify for a bank loan. Desperate for something to tide them over, Melissa visited a payday lender.
"In the moment that we needed it, I was glad that it was there," she said. But soon, they were both trapped in a cycle of dependency that wracked up more than $1,700 in fees. With one diminished salary and rising medical costs, they couldn't make it alone. They needed the help of their neighbors to pay off the original loan.
The amount of that original loan? Just $450.
One of the fundamental principles of progressive economics is that a rich country should do what is reasonable to make life for the poor feel easier - even cheaper.
What does that mean? Medical care should feel cheaper, so we invented and expanded Medicaid. Food should feel cheaper, so we have food stamps. Mortgages should be cheaper, so banks offer mortgage write-downs for struggling households. Children should feel cheaper, so we offer tax credits for kids that phase out as income rises. Being unemployed should feel cheaper, so low-income workers receive a larger share of their pre-unemployment income. Going to college should feel cheaper, so many families don't pay the full sticker price. Working should feel cheaper, so the money you earn under $10,000 is taxed less than the money you earn over $100,000.
© unknown
The first story comes from South Carolina, where a mother was jailed and charged with "unlawful conduct toward a child" for . . . leaving her 9-year-old daughter alone to play in a park. Lenore Skenazy of "Free Range Kids" comments:
Comment: The Nanny State strikes again. The psychopaths in power won't be satisfied until their tentacles are invading every aspect of our lives.
Georgia - The Chattooga County School District has signed a five-year contract to use StudentConnect, a product that lets school districts and parents track students using ID cards that contain radio frequency identification device (RFID) chips. The program will be free of charge to the school system and optional for parents."The service is offered free of charge to the school system", said Kayode "Kay" Aladesuyi, chairman and CEO of East Coast Diversified Corp., the holding company that owns StudentConnect.
Using the RFID badges is not being sold at cost to parents, however, it is being given away for free. It will know when and where students get on and off the bus and notify the bus drivers if a student gets on the wrong bus or fails to get off the bus."StudentConnect plans to make money through advertising that will show up on parents' smartphones along with text messages or email notifications of their children's whereabouts."
Israel Is Winning the Propaganda War
Israeli war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza?
So far, Americans don't know or don't care ...
A new poll by Pew shows that only 14% of Americans sympathize with Palestinians, while 51% - including 73% of all Republicans and 44% of Democrats - sympathize with Israel:
Numerous other polls show similar results.
Israeli war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza?
So far, Americans don't know or don't care ...
A new poll by Pew shows that only 14% of Americans sympathize with Palestinians, while 51% - including 73% of all Republicans and 44% of Democrats - sympathize with Israel:
© Pew Research Center
© ALAN SCHNEIDER/GLOBO G1
Jose Aguinelo dos Santos.
Jose Aguinelo dos Santos.
Mr dos Santos, who is known as Ze, has never married or had children, eats a plate of rice and beans and smokes a packet of cigarettes every day.
The former coffee plantation worker was born just two months after slavery was abolished in Brazil. He was born in a slave compound in the town of Pedra Branca in northeastern Brazil.
He told Brazil's G1 website there is no secret to living a long life: "The truth is that you just keep getting older. You take each stage at a time. If I got to this age it's because I've lived a lot, that's all."
Mariana Silva, psychologist at the Vila Vicentina home, said Jose has no health problems and is so lucid he still amuses other residents by cracking one-liners.
Comment: One more way wealth is funneled up to the 1%.
Shut them down! - Pay day loan companies are making billions preying on the misery of the poor
Debtors' Prison USA: Jailed for $280