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Poll: American support for death penalty continues its long-term decline, despite recent uptick favoring capital punishment for murder convictions

David Masci
Pew Research Center
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
death penalty, capital punishment
President Donald Trump has voiced his support for the death penalty, and a recent Pew Research Center survey found an uptick in the share of Americans who favor capital punishment for those convicted of murder. Over the long term, however, public support for the death penalty has declined significantly, as has the number of executions in the United States.

As the debate over the death penalty continues in the U.S. and worldwide, here are five facts about the issue:

1.The annual number of U.S. executions peaked at 98 in 1999 and has fallen sharply in the years since. In 2017, 23 inmates were executed, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. That's slightly higher than the year before, when 20 people were executed, but still well below the number of inmates annually put to death in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Just eight states - Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Texas and Virginia - accounted for all executions in 2017, compared with 20 states in 1999.
pew research US executions

Comment: And Russian views: Nearly 80% of Russians want death penalty to combat corruption, Twitter poll shows

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Sheriff

Cop arrested for punching his 14yo autistic son in the face and repeatedly smashing his head into a wall

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Fri, 29 Jun 2018 16:21 UTC
Larry Bybee
An Amesbury police officer was arrested on Tuesday and charged with crimes related to the alleged beating of a 14-year-old autistic boy.

According to the Essex District Attorney's Office, officer Larry Bybee arrested on Tuesday and charged with two counts of assault and battery on a child-his own son. The court issued a restraining order against Bybee and he was ordered to stay away from his children, alcohol, and drugs during his arraignment.

According to NBC10, court documents show the alleged incident happened at Bybee's home in Amesbury on June 13. It was reported to the New Hampshire Division of Children, Youth and Families the following day since Bybee's son lives in New Hampshire half of the time with Bybee's ex-wife.
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Sheriff

New body cam footage shows Vegas police cowered in fear in hallway as Paddock slaughtered dozens

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Fri, 29 Jun 2018 15:57 UTC
Cordell Hendrex Las Vegas shooting
Sadly, the more information we receive from the worst mass shooting in modern American history, the less coverage it gets by the mainstream media. Damning footage contradicting official timelines and LVMPD documents have surfaced and they barely register as a blip on the media's radar.

After being forced to release information on the October 1 massacre, the Las Vegas police department-in an insultingly futile attempt at transparency-has been dumping information related to the shooting. In what appears to be a deliberate attempt to muddy the waters, much of the video released by the department has no time stamps and is provided without context.

Like all the previous footage, the latest body camera video to be released lacks a time stamp. However, because we know that Stephen Paddock - according to the official timeline and citizen videos of the incident - initially opened fire at 10:05 p.m. and did not stop shooting until 10:14 p.m., we now know that officers were inside the hotel and could've engaged him-contrary to what we've been told.

Comment: See also:

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People 2

String of transgender murders could be the work of a serial killer, activists fear killings are linked

Tim Fitzsimons
NBC News
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 01:53 UTC
Transgender
Three transgender black women have been fatally shot in Jacksonville, Florida, since the beginning of the year, and local activists fear that the killings are linked.

"The transgender community in Jacksonville is frightened," Gina Duncan, a transgender-rights advocate with Equality Florida, said in a statement on Tuesday. "They fear this could be a serial killer or orchestrated violence targeting the community. They do not feel protected on their own streets."

Celine Walker, 36, was the first trans women killed in Jacksonville this year. Police found her body on Feb. 4 inside a room at an Extended Stay America hotel in the city's Southpoint area, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Antash'a English, 38, was found shot in the abdomen between two abandoned houses in northern Jacksonville on June 1, and she later died in a hospital, the sheriff's office said.
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Passport

The cause of mass migration: Western wars and imperial exploitation uproot millions

James Petras
James Petras Website
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 15:51 UTC
migrants asylum seekers
© punghi / Shutterstock.com
Migrants on their way to Western Europe
"Immigration" has become the dominant issue dividing Europe and the US, yet the most important matter which is driving millions to emigrate is overlooked - wars.

In this paper we will discuss the reasons behind the massification of immigration, focusing on several issues, namely (1) imperial wars (2) multi-national corporate expansion (3) the decline of the anti-war movements in the US and Western Europe (4) the weakness of the trade union and solidarity movements.

We will proceed by identifying the major countries affected by US and EU wars leading to massive immigration, and then turn to the western powers forcing refugees to 'follow' the flows of profits.
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Family

Number of homeless children in England at highest level since 2007

Patrick Greenfield
The Guardian, UK
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 10:05 UTC
Child homelessness in England
© Alamy
Rough sleeping in England increased for a seventh consecutive year in 2017, reaching 4,751 people, although the true figure is believed to be much higher.
The number of homeless children and older people in temporary accommodation has reached the highest level since the global financial crisis in 2007, government figures show.

A total of 123,130 children were housed in temporary accommodation in England in the first quarter of 2018, an increase of nearly 80% since 2011. The number of people accepted as homeless over the age of 60 has increased by 40% in the last year, reaching 2,520. There has also been a significant rise in the number of homeless single parents.

Campaigners have blamed government welfare cuts, lack of affordable housing and rising rents for the growing number of homeless people housed in temporary accommodation by the state.
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Dollars

China caps film star pay citing 'money worship', 'distortion of social values', and fake contracts

Lily Kuo
The Guardian
Thu, 28 Jun 2018 15:44 UTC
Fan Bingbing
© Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
‘Yin-yang’ contracts said to belong to Fan Bingbing were posted online.
Chinese authorities are capping the salaries of celebrities, blaming the entertainment industry for encouraging "money worship" and "distorting social values".

The salaries of on-screen performers should be capped at 40% of the total production costs, according to a joint notice from five government agencies including China's tax authority, the television and film regulator, and the propaganda department. Leading actors should receive no more than 70% of total wages for the cast, according to the announcement, published in Xinhua.

The directive - the same as guidelines released last year by the China Alliance of Radio Film and Television - comes after a series of Chinese celebrities were accused of signing fake contracts to evade taxes.

In May a well-connected Chinese TV presenter, Cui Yongyuan, posted photos of contracts believed to belong to Fan Bingbing, one of the country's highest paid actors. The contracts, one for $1.56m and another for $7.8m, were meant to be an illustration of "yin-yang contracts", a common method of tax evasion in which only the smaller contract is reported to authorities.

Comment: Not a bad idea for a LOT of professions.

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Bizarro Earth

Left wing justices don't like the law

Andrew Klavan
PJ Media
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 15:30 UTC
Sotomayor Supreme court
© Renee Jones Schneider/Minneapolis Star Tribune via AP
Sonia Maria Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
The left doesn't like the rule of law much. If they legally lose an election, they take to the streets as if some injustice had been done to them. If we enforce our border laws, they become hysterical and try to intimidate and bully public officials. If they can't get a law passed by constitutional means, they are perfectly happy to use regulation to exert extra-legal control over the citizenry.

All of which is bad enough in leftist media, leftist mobs and leftist officials. But in leftist Supreme Court justices, it's even worse.

Comment:

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Stock Down

Trump supporters to learn painful lesson: No one wins a trade war

S. E. Cupp
Townhall
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 14:40 UTC
harley davidson
© Henry Nicholls / Reuters
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com. Trending

On his HBO show two weeks ago, Bill Maher faced some searing scrutiny over his suggestion that only economic pain would save us from President Trump.

"I feel like the bottom has to fall out at some point. And by the way, I'm hoping for it. I think one (way) you get rid of Trump is a crashing economy." He added, "So please, bring on the recession. Sorry if that hurts people, but it's either root for a recession or you lose your democracy."

Despite the fact that Maher would likely be spared the brunt of that pain, he doubled down last week, saying, "If a recession is what it takes to make Donald Trump not so cute anymore, then bring it on."

Comment:

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Star of David

Palestinian Journalists' Club lauds BBC's Andrew Marr for bringing attention to Israel's killing of children


Middle East Monitor
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 15:19 UTC
Andrew Marr
© Chris Boland/Flickr
BBC broadcaster Andrew Marr
Palestinian Journalists' Club (PJC) yesterday hailed BBC broadcaster Andrew Marr after he disclosing Israel's crimes against Palestinian children in Gaza, the Safa news agency reported.

Marr had been rebuked by the BBC on the grounds that he had breached its editorial guidelines when he accused Israel of killing "lots of Palestinian kids".

In a statement, the PJC called for the BBC to stand of the side of humanity and remain objective in reporting the news and not to ignore the Israeli crimes against Palestinian civilians.

It stressed that the occupation's violations amount to "flagrant war crimes and crimes against humanity and they cannot be covered up."

The BBC broadcaster said in April as he was speaking about the killing of Syrian children by chemical weapons at the hands of the Assad regime: "And the Middle East is aflame again. I mean there's lots of Palestinian kids being killed further south as well by the Israeli forces," referring to the killing of Palestinian children in Gaza.

The BBC claimed that Andrew Marr had "risked misleading audiences on a material point," noting that he was in breach of its editorial guidelines.

Comment: The BBC has actually had some good coverage of Palestine over the years - one of the few mainstream channels to call Israeli propagandists on their lies. But notice the context in which Marr's comment was given: Assad "killing children" with nonexistent "chemical weapons".

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