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Kiss of death: Oregon woman sentenced for killing jailed boyfriend by passing him a mouthful of meth


Kansas City Star
Fri, 24 Nov 2017 15:34 UTC
oregon state penitentiary
© Statesman-Journal / AP / Danielle Peterson
Oregon State Penitentiary, in Salem, Ore. An Oregon woman was sentenced to two years in federal prison in Portland, Ore., Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017, on a drug conspiracy charge after her inmate boyfriend died from a meth-laden kiss at the Oregon State Penitentiary after a prison visit in 2016.
An Oregon woman whose inmate boyfriend died from a meth-laden kiss after a prison visit was sentenced to two years behind bars Tuesday on a drug conspiracy charge.

Melissa Ann Blair and Anthony Powell shared a long kiss at the end of a visit last year at the Oregon State Penitentiary and she passed seven tiny balloons filled with methamphetamine into his mouth. Two of the balloons ruptured in Powell's stomach a short time later and he died of methamphetamine toxicity, prosecutors have said.

U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez said Blair's actions were part of a scheme devised by Powell and others to get drugs inside the prison. There was a dispute as to whether Blair participated of her own free will, but Powell shared responsibility for his own death, Hernandez said.

"It was tragic and sad but he shares responsibility for what happened," the judge said.
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Attention

Poll: Almost half of white Americans living in the South feel like they're under attack

Matt Vespa
Townhall
Thu, 23 Nov 2017 02:55 UTC
blue collar labor, construction workers
This is something that fell on the backburner, but a bit interesting. A poll showed that a significant amount of white southerners feel they're under attack. I can see how. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but the fact remains that Confederate statues, the flag, etc. are all cornerstones of southern culture. It's part of American history as well. Not one of our best moments, but a part of it nonetheless. Here's the breakdown of the survey (via The Hill):
Nearly half of white American poll respondents living in the South feel like they're under attack, a new Winthrop University poll found.

Forty-six percent of white Southerners polled said they agree or strongly agree that white people are under attack in the U.S. More than three-fourths of black respondents said they believe racial minorities are under attack.

And 30 percent of all respondents in the poll agreed when asked if America needs to protect and preserve its white European heritage. More than half of respondents disagreed with the statement.

Forty percent of respondents said they believed that Confederate statues should remain as is, while nearly a quarter said a plaque should be added to contextualize the statue.
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USA

Native Americans hold 'National Day of Mourning' Thanksgiving protest at Plymouth Rock


telesur
Thu, 23 Nov 2017 17:03 UTC
thanksgiving protest
© Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
Juan Gonzalez of Boston kindled a fire under the statue of Massasoit in a prayer ritual during the 41st National Day of Mourning in Plymouth in 2010.
"As Indigenous people, we've been taught by our elders to give thanks every day. We are a people who have survived genocide," said rally organizers from UAINE.

Hundreds of Native American people and their supporters have gathered in Massachusetts for a "National Day of Mourning" at Plymouth Rock.

"Indigenous people give thanks all the time. We're not against giving thanks, and we're not against people having meals with their families," said Mahtowin Munro, co-leader of United American Indians of New England, the organization behind the annual event.

Since 1970, the site has served as a platform to bring awareness to Native American struggles as well as a day of remembrance dedicated to the culture, family, and history of Indigenous communities in the United States.

"As Indigenous people, we've been taught by our elders to give thanks every day. We are a people who have survived genocide," Monroe said.
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No Entry

Oxford Circus tube station evacuated after reports of gunfire [Update]


RT
Fri, 24 Nov 2017 18:39 UTC
oxford circus
© Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Oxford Circus Underground station and London's major shopping district Oxford Street were evacuated and armed officers called to the scene on Friday night amid reports of gun shots. The Metropolitan Police said there was no evidence of an attack.

The operation was stood down just after 6pm local time. "If you sought shelter in a building please now leave and follow the direction of police officers on the ground if you need assistance," the Metropolitan Police said.

"At 16:38hrs on Friday, 24 November police started to receive numerous 999 calls within a short space of time reporting shots fired in a number of locations on Oxford Street and at Oxford Circus underground station. Given the nature of the information received, the Met responded in line with our existing operation as if the incident was terrorism, including the deployment of armed officers," it said in a statement.

"Officers working with colleagues from British Transport Police carried out an urgent search of the area. No causalities, evidence of any shots fired or any suspects were located by police. Some cordons remain in place and additional officers remain on duty in the West End to reassure the public. We thank the public for their patience and assistance during our response," it added.

Comment: Apparently, a fight between two men initiated the panic:
An altercation between two men appears to have triggered the outbreak of mass panic in London on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, leading to people fleeing in fear, armed police being deployed and a section of the West End being evacuated.

British Transport Police issued a CCTV appeal for information about two men believed to be involved in a fight in Oxford Circus tube station on Friday afternoon as part of their inquiries into the cause of the panic.

Nine people were injured as hundreds ran to escape what they believed to be an attack on Friday evening, only to find it was a false alarm. The reaction was a sign of just how jittery many have become at the end of a year in which the capital and Manchester have been targeted by five terrorist attacks.


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Bullseye

Christian college teacher sacked after telling administration he's gay

Harley Tamplin
Metro
Thu, 23 Nov 2017 16:48 UTC
Craig Campbell
© Facebook
Craig Campbell was dismissed when he told school bosses about his sexuality.
A teacher has been sacked by his school in Australia after bosses found out that he was gay.

Craig Campbell was removed from South Coast Baptist College's list of supply teachers after telling his bosses at the Western Australia school that he had a boyfriend.

Des Mitchell, the school's principal, told local TV channel 7 News Perth: 'At present, for us, we choose not to employ someone who's openly gay.' Mr Mitchell told the West Australian: 'I shared with him that, at present, there is an inconsistency with his beliefs on sexuality and the college's beliefs.'

The sacking has prompted calls to remove private schools' legal right to discriminate against gay members of staff in the region.
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Ambulance

Venezuela: Malaria outbreak spreads in the midst of drug shortage and unsanitary conditions

Maria Ramirez
Yahoo News
Sat, 25 Nov 2017 16:42 UTC
venezuelan clinic
© REUTERS/William Urdaneta
People gather outside a health center as they wait to get treatment for malaria, in San Felix, Venezuela November 3, 2017.
On a recent morning in Venezuela's southern jungle state of Bolivar, Amanda Santamaria, her two sons, one daughter-in-law, and a granddaughter lined up in front of a shabby community health center in the hope of receiving treatment for malaria.

All five of them are afflicted by the mosquito-borne disease, which is rapidly spreading through Venezuela as an economic meltdown strips the country of medicine and doctors.

"We don't know if this is a curse, but the entire area is awash in malaria," said Santamaria, 56, suffering her second bout of the illness in the last three months and relying on palliative herbal teas because she has not found regular drugs.

The family was waiting with some 500 others under the scorching sun in the hope of receiving treatment.

Unsanitary conditions in Bolivar are thought to have led to a recent flare-up in malaria, a life-threatening disease that had been largely brought under control in Venezuela in the 1990s.
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Chart Pie

Seattle judge nixes income tax on the wealthy

Barnini Chakraborty
Fox News
Sat, 25 Nov 2017 16:26 UTC
monopoly game
Seattle's controversial tax on the wealthy failed its first legal test this week after a judge ruled the new ordinance violates state law - but the city isn't backing down and vows to appeal, setting the stage for a Washington State Supreme Court showdown.

King County Superior Court Judge John Ruhl ruled in a Wednesday that Seattle did not have the authority to impose the tax because state law prohibits tax on net income.

City Attorney Pete Holmes called the decision "disappointing" but, in a joint statement with Seattle Mayor Tim Burgess, said their goal to eliminate the state's "over-reliance on regressive sales taxes" would continue.

"We are also living in a time of extreme income inequality that corrodes our social compact and causes many to wonder whether wealthy individuals are paying their fair share," they said.

Opponents of the tax immediately hailed the ruling as proof Seattle officials knew the tax was legally flawed but still pushed it through.
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Brain

Self-driving vehicles programmed to decide who dies in a crash

Todd Spangler
USA Today
Thu, 23 Nov 2017 15:59 UTC
self driving car crash
Consider this hypothetical:

It's a bright, sunny day and you're alone in your spanking new self-driving vehicle, sprinting along the two-lane Tunnel of Trees on M-119 high above Lake Michigan north of Harbor Springs. You're sitting back, enjoying the view. You're looking out through the trees, trying to get a glimpse of the crystal blue water below you, moving along at the 45-mile-an-hour speed limit.

As you approach a rise in the road, heading south, a school bus appears, driving north, one driven by a human, and it veers sharply toward you. There is no time to stop safely, and no time for you to take control of the car.

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TV

A view from the outside: The media's coverage of "sexual harassment of women by powerful men"

Deena Stryker
Global Research
Wed, 22 Nov 2017 14:30 UTC
Pädophile Weinstein Spacey Hoffman
While the Yemenis wonder whether the Saudi Crown Prince will ever stop bombing them with American weapons, and the President threatens to take on North Korea, the US media mainly talks about the sexual harassment of women by powerful men.

It all started with testimonies that a judge running for the US Senate from the fiercely Republican state of Alabama. had tried to seduce teenagers in the past. His accusers were rapidly followed by a complaint against a famous Democratic comedian turned Senator, followed by similar revelations about a famous television personality, Charlie Rose. Like broken records, the testimonies of women who were molested years or even decades ago, alternate with opinions as to the offenders' proper punishments, superseding everything else going on in a world that the United States claims to lead.

The only mitigating factor is that the back story is more complicated than in other cultures, touching on both religion and politics. In the nineteen fifties, in boys' fathers' spacious cars parked in secluded places, American teenage girls allowed themselves to be 'petted', and the onus was on them not to 'go too far'. In the sixties, the women's liberation movement and the hippies brought 'free love' to communes and suburbia. Although the women's liberation primer, The Second Sex, published in 1953, was written by French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, it produced a much more robust feminist movement in the US than in Europe.
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Attention

Slappy Holidays! Typical Black Friday madness ensues


RT
Sat, 25 Nov 2017 15:40 UTC
black friday fight
© newsstar 2018 / YouTube
Shoppers and protesters combined to make Black Friday 2017 as wild as any other year in the US. Violent incidents in Alabama, St. Louis and Houston set the stage for the rowdiest shopping day of the year.

Alabama

Shoppers got an early start on Black Friday deals Thursday night at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Alabama. However, it wasn't long before fights broke out between overeager shoppers trying to scoop up the hottest items at the lowest prices. The commotion subsequently prompted the mall to close at 11:20pm instead of midnight, the Alabama Media Group reported.

The Hoover Police Department responded to the galleria after 11pm because of at least one fight in a store on the mall's second floor. Reports of gunfire surfaced on social media, but authorities said the reports were never confirmed, and no one was shot. Hoover Police Lieutenant Keith Czeskleba said Friday authorities believe the noises that were reported as gunshots were just the sound of fireworks being set off, Alabama Media Group reported.

One unnamed witness told WBRC that someone in the mall hurled a shoe over a railing, striking an infant.

Reports emerged that several arrests were made following the incidents, but the Hoover Police Department denied the reports, according to the news outlet.
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