Society's ChildS


Heart - Black

Connecticut court sets accused rapist free, says handicapped victim did not resist


A Connecticut court has set an accused rapist free, saying there wasn't sufficient evidence to prove that his severely disabled victim resisted the attack, reports say.

According to NBC, Richard Fourtin Jr. was found guilty in 2008 of sexually assaulting a woman who has severe cerebral palsy.

His victim, who was 26 at the time of the assault, reportedly cannot speak and has little body movement. The Connecticut Post notes the woman, known in court by her initials L.K., "is so physically restricted that she is able to make motions only with her right index finger."

She also is said to have the "intellectual functional equivalent of a 3-year-old," NBC Connecticut notes.

Fourtin, 28, was convicted of attempted sexual assault and sentenced to six years in prison.

However, in a 4-3 ruling on Tuesday, the state Supreme Court overturned the conviction, saying there isn't enough evidence to prove victim resisted Fourtin's advances.

Stormtrooper

Police Brutality: Police union defends Philadelphia cop who punched woman


A police union is coming to the defense of the Philadelphia cop who has been targeted for dismissal after he was caught on video punching a woman in the face.

It was originally announced that Lt. Jonathan Josey would be suspended for a month pending an Internal Affairs investigation. But less than two days later, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said he was taking "Commissioner's Direct Action" against Josey and that the officer would be dismissed.

A video posted on YouTube shows Josey punching a woman in the face and knocking her to the ground before she is led off bloodied and handcuffed.

The Fraternal Order of Police in Philadelphia is angered with the decision and how quickly it was made.

"I think it stinks," John McNesby, president of the Fraternal Order of Police in Philadelphia, told ABC News' Philadelphia station WPVI. "It sends a bad message to the police out there on the streets."

The Fraternal Order of Police is a U.S. labor union made up of law enforcement officers.

Play

Top 10 astonishing U.S. police brutality videos caught on surveillance cameras

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© ThisCantBeHappeningWe saw NYPD brutality against Occupy, but there is much more
The internet is full of videos exposing police officers' use of excessive physical force when trying to apprehend or detain "potential criminals". Every year in fact there seems to be an increase in YouTube video uploads, video views, and news stories depicting this type of injustice.

Much of this increase is due to the rising number of security cameras, which allow us to witness events that otherwise may have never been publicized at all, and to the widespread use of cellphones, which almost all have video capability.

All these videocams mean police now face added transparency and accountability (where before we only had "internal" accountability... which typically has meant a slap on the wrist).

As it so happens, I work with a security camera company called 2MCCTV, so I thought it fitting to increase awareness of police brutality by showcasing videos that happened to be captured from security cameras (not from our own cameras from around the country). There would be too many to choose from if we included other countries --especially were I to include China, South Africa, Brazil, etc., as they house some of the most brutal police forces on the planet. The secondary reason for limiting this to American footage is because I think many people mistakenly still believe that the US is the one place where police brutality is not an issue, or at least not prevalent.

This top 10 list is controversial, and not for the faint of heart. These unnerving videos include police officers and their unwarranted BEAT-DOWNS of the following: a special-ed kid, a grandmother trying to pay her bills at a Hooters, a homeless man with schizophrenia, and a woman already handcuffed and at the police station who had just gotten in a car wreck (no alcohol involved)... to name a few. Do these cops truly believe they are above the law? You decide:

Cloud Lightning

Met Office threatened with legal action over 'pessimistic' forecasts

Weather Forecast
© APS Blog
A tourist attraction boss in the UK says he is considering legal action against the Met Office after "a series of overly pessimistic" forecasts he says are threatening to bring the tourist industry to its knees.

Rick Turner, who runs The Big Sheep animal attraction in north Devon in southwest England, said he had contacted lawyers with a view to possibly suing the Exeter-based Met Office for damages.

"My issue is about the medium-term forecasts the Met Office have been doing always being incredibly pessimistic," Mr Turner said.

"Over the August bank holiday weekend, I remember they forecast a whole weekend of rain with heavy rain on the Saturday. We did not have a drop and were enjoying sunshine and blue sky all day.

"This will have cost the tourism industry here in the South West millions of pounds and my business thousands.

"I have been seeking legal advice and am looking to get a group of other tourism businesses to go with me in taking a group action against the Met Office for losses incurred as a result of their pessimistic forecasting."

The UK has endured one of the worst summers on record, and the wettest for more than 100 years, with many days blighted by downpours.

Sherlock

Best of the Web: The Kissing Sailor, or "The Selective Blindness of Rape Culture"

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Most of us are familiar with this picture. Captured in Times Square on V-J Day, 1945, it has become one of the most iconic photographs of American history, symbolizing the jubilation and exuberance felt throughout the country at the end of World War II.

For a long time, the identity of the pair remained a mystery. It certainly looks passionate and romantic enough, with many speculating that they were a couple - a sailor and a nurse, celebrating and sharing their joy. This year, however, historians have finally confirmed that the woman is Greta Zimmer Friedman, a dental nurse at the time, and George Mendonsa, a sailor.

Eye 2

Thomas Mortimer IV admits slaughtering his family in Winchester home in 2010

Thomas Mortimer IV
© The Associated Press/Bizuayehu TesfayeThomas Mortimer IV, at his arraignment in 2010
Woburn - Debra Stone-Sochat fought through tears today as she confronted Thomas Mortimer IV, the man who slaughtered her mother, her sister, and her sister's two small children in a horrific act of domestic violence.

Stone-Sochat delivered a victim impact statement in Middlesex Superior Court this afternoon after her former brother-in-law, Mortimer, pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder for killing his family inside their home on Windsong Lane in Winchester in June 2010.

A clean-shaven Mortimer showed no emotion as he admitted to murdering his wife, 41-year-old Laura Stone Mortimer; his children, 2-year-old Charlotte Mortimer and 4-year-old Thomas "Finn" Mortimer V; and his mother-in-law, 64-year-old Ragna Ellen Stone.

Stone-Sochat, who was in contact with her sister, her mother, and the children on a nearly daily basis until the day they were killed, said she had struggled to regain joy in her life since the murders.

"My family has suffered an enormous tragedy. My life, my family's life, my children's life, has been so affected. My children wonder why they can't have play dates with Charlotte and Finn,'' Stone-Sochat said. "My mom and my sister were my best friends. It is difficult to find joy when the sadness is so overwhelming.''

Mortimer, who pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge S. Jane Haggerty, was impassive when the prosecution described the violence he had committed on his four victims, a gruesome recitation that included the number of stab wounds suffered by each victim.

Camera

Police chief suspended after his affair with fellow officer is exposed when she posts a picture with gun in her mouth

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    © TwitterShocking photo: Angelica Robinson posted this image after finding out that Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee was seeing another woman
    Ralph Godbee accused of placing 'lover' under surveillance after seeing Twitter photos of her with gun in her mouth
  • She claims Godbee, who is married but reported to have filed for divorce, is a 'sex addict'
  • Second time in two years a Detroit police chief has been embroiled in a scandal
  • Godbee's predecessor, Warren Evans, was fired in 2010 partly because of a relationship with a female officer
Detroit's top law enforcement officer has been suspended amid allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a subordinate.

Chief Ralph Godbee's affair with Angelica Robinson, an internal affairs officer, emerged after she posted a photo with her service weapon in her mouth on Twitter, after learning Godbee was at a police conference with another woman.

Godbee had other officers locate the 37-year-old and put her under surveillance after seeing her photo.

Her attorney, David Robinson has confirmed that there was a relationship between his client and Chief Godbee, who is married but filed for divorce in August, according to myFoxDetroit.com.

Arrow Down

Propaganda Alert! Violence and protest in Iran as currency drops in value

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© European Pressphoto AgencyRiot police officers clashed with money changers in Tehran on Wednesday.
Tehran, Iran - The first outbreak of public anger over Iran's collapsing currency and other economic maladies jolted the heart of the capital on Wednesday, with riot police violently clamping down on black-market money changers, hundreds of citizens marching to demand relief and merchants in the sprawling bazaar closing their shops in protest.

The official news media in Iran said an unspecified number of people had been arrested, including two Europeans, in the unrest, which was documented in news photographs, at least two verifiable videos uploaded on YouTube and witness accounts. Economists and political analysts in Iran and abroad said the anger reflected both the accumulated impact of harsh Western economic sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear program as well as the government's inability to manage an economic crisis that has become increasingly acute.

It came a day after Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told a televised news conference that the plunge in the value of the currency, the rial - it has fallen by 40 percent against the dollar this past week - was orchestrated by ruthless currency speculators, the United States and other unspecified internal enemies of Iran. He pleaded with fellow citizens to stop selling their rials for dollars, a currency he once characterized as "a worthless piece of paper," and warned that speculators face arrest and punishment.

But Mr. Ahmadinejad, whose stewardship of the economy has been increasingly challenged by other Iranian politicians in the last year of his term, offered no new solutions to arrest the slide in the rial, which is a major inflationary threat and has become the most visible barometer of Iran's economic travails. Because of the sanctions, Iran is facing extreme difficulties in selling oil, its main export, and in repatriating dollars and other foreign currencies, because Iran has been largely cut off from the global banking system.

Sheeple

Every U.S. baby born with over $13,000 debts

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© Unknown
A newly released study revealed that every newly-born baby in the US owes more than $13,000 when it comes to state debt.

According to State Budget Solutions, a nonpartisan group pushing for state budget reform, "every American owes $13,425 in state debt on average."

For private sector workers who are shouldering much of the tax burden, the amount of debt adds up to well over $37,000 per worker, the study released on Tuesday said according to Huffington Post.

In a relevant study released in August, the SBS released another report showing that all together, state governments are facing debts of more than $4.6 trillion.

The state with the highest total debt is California, which is $617 billion in the red. New York is second with just more than $300 billion, followed by Texas, Illinois and New Jersey. Vermont has the least amount of debt among the 50 states, with only $5.8 billion in state debt, according to the report.

On a per capita basis, the states with the highest debt load are Hawaii, New Jersey and Alaska. Nebraska has the lowest total debt per capita at just $4,249 for each resident.

Over the last several years, the recession hit states and cities hard, causing revenues from income, property and sales taxes to fall off significantly. To shore up their budgets, many states have slashed work forces and payroll, made deep cuts into services, and have had to hunt for new revenue.

The accrued debts account for state spending on everything from roads, schools, state employee salaries, and even a pork-barrel project or two.

Comment: With the collapsing of the U.S. and world economy, who will be able to make good on such debts?


Nuke

North and South Korea 'on the verge of nuclear war'

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© AP Photo/Frank FranklinNorth Korean Deputy Vice Minister Pak Kil-yon addresses the United Nations General Assembly
A senior North Korean diplomat warned a meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York that "a spark of fire could set off a thermonuclear war" on the Korean Peninsula.

Pak Kil-yon, Pyongyang's vice-foreign minster, put the blame for the tense state of inter-Korean relations firmly on South Korea's conservative government and claimed the citizens of the North feel "shame" and "political terror."

Monday's speech was the first time a representative of North Korea has addressed the General Assembly since Kim Jong-un assumed power after the death of his father in December last year.

"Since taking office, the current South Korean government has caused the worst situation in North-South relations by making all inter-Korean agreements null and void," Pak said, referring to pacts with previous South Korean administrations that sought reconciliation between the two ideological enemies and an expansion of economic co-operation.

Describing relations between the two governments as in "total bankruptcy," Pak dismissed the South Korean government of Lee Myung-bak with the comment, "History will bring them to justice."

Neither the United States nor the UN escaped criticism, with Pak saying recent joint military manoeuvres between the US and South Korean troops were "reckless provocations."