Welcome to Sott.net
Fri, 05 Mar 2021
The World for People who Think

Society's Child
Map

X

Joker Case Gagged: Media Fight Colorado Court Ban


RT
Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
James Holmes

James Holmes during his first court appearance on July 23. Was he 'greenbaumed'?
Attorneys representing media outlets are in court to push for the publication of files concerning the Colorado cinema murders. The judge put a gag on the files at the behest of prosecutors, but the press argues the public has a right to see them.

The decision to seal the documents off from public access "undermines our nation's firm commitment to the transparency and public accountability of the criminal justice system," said media lawyer Steven Zansberg in a written statement.

The Associated Press along with 20 other news agencies is appealing for the dissemination of the documents in court this Thursday.

Judge William Sylvester closed the case on July 20 at the request of the prosecutors, who claim that releasing the files could potentially jeopardize the case investigation. The move sparked a wave of protest from the media, saying the public had a right to see the documents.

Press attorneys argue that the explanation given for the sealing of the files is not adequate and needs to be elaborated on if the bar is to remain in place. In most court cases in the US the documents pertaining to the trial are available to the public. However, exceptions are made if files obstruct an ongoing police investigation or encroach on the privacy of family members of the victims.

Comment: See also:
"A Coordinated Attack": July 20th Colorado Shooting Anomalies
FBI and DHS Warned in May of Terrorists Planning to Attack Movie Theaters
Suspect 'Eyewitnesses' - From 9/11 to the Colorado Massacre

      Read More...
Briefcase

Norwegian Tourist Falls Asleep on Italian Airport Baggage Belt

Josephine McKenna
The Telegraph
Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© La Repubblica
The tourist was spotted in this X-ray image on the baggage belt
Rome's Fiumicino airport has defended its security procedures after a drunk Norwegian tourist fell asleep on a baggage belt and travelled 160 feet before being identified by an X-ray scanner.

The 36-year-old, who has not been named, arrived at the international terminal of Italy's busiest airport at the end of last month with a backpack and a can of beer in his hand.

The Norwegian was due to check in for a flight to Oslo and when he found no one on duty at the airline desk he leapt across the counter and fell into a deep asleep on the baggage belt with his bag beside him.

As the belt began to move the unsuspecting tourist reportedly travelled for 15 minutes through the secure baggage area in Terminal 3 before officials spotted his body curled up in a foetal position in an X-ray image on their monitors.
      Read More...
Info

JetBlue Pilot Has Psychotic Episode In Prison


CBS News Houston
Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
Clayton Osbon
© unknown
Dallas - The JetBlue Airways pilot who disrupted a cross-country flight by leaving the cockpit and yelling about religion and terrorists has had a psychotic episode in prison and requires further mental evaluation, a judge said Wednesday.

Clayton Osbon was charged with interference with a flight crew, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity last month. A forensic neuropsychologist testified in a short, unpublicized trial that Osbon had a "brief psychotic disorder" at the time of the flight brought on by lack of sleep.

Passengers said Osbon left the cockpit during a March 27 flight from New York to Las Vegas. He ran through the plane's cabin yelling about Jesus and al-Qaida. The flight was diverted and safely landed in Amarillo, Texas.

After the trial, Osbon was sent to a prison medical facility in North Carolina for evaluation. He was scheduled to return to Amarillo federal court this week for another hearing on whether he should go free or be sent to a mental health facility.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson on Wednesday extended Osbon's evaluation period to Oct. 15, with a final evaluation report due to her by the end of that month.

Robinson said she was notified by a forensic psychologist that Osbon "had suffered a psychotic episode." She did not say what the nature of the episode was, if it was connected to his previous disorder or what prompted it. A message seeking comment was left for Osbon's attorney, Dean Roper.

Robinson's order said attorneys on both sides did not oppose the extension.
      Read More...
Stormtrooper

Police State: Hong Kong Police Body Cameras Spark Fears

Beh Lih Yi
Yahoo! News - Canada
Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse/Philippe Lopez
In a first for Asia, Hong Kong police said Thursday they will trial the use of video cameras attached to their uniforms to film exchanges with the public, despite concerns from human rights groups.

The southern Chinese city's police force said officers would start to wear the small cameras by the end of the year.

Similar devices have been deployed by police in the United Kingdom and United States, while police in the Australian state of Victoria are proceeding with a trial this month.

"We will try out the body camera scheme by end of this year," a Hong Kong police spokeswoman told AFP.

She played down criticism from human rights activists that the use of body cameras was a step toward the creation of a police state in the former British colony, which reverted to mainland rule in 1997.

"We are not targeting anyone at any public rallies but of course it could be a useful device for the police to deal with those who disturb public law and order at these rallies," she said.

The devices would be used by trained and clearly identified police officers, in order to enhance evidence gathering and public security, officials said.

But Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor director Law Yuk-kai said filming random interactions with the public could breach Hong Kongers' "constitutional right to privacy" and threaten the city's cherished freedoms.
      Read More...
Die

Zimmerman Prosecutors In Huge Screw-Up - Photo of Dead Trayvon Martin, College Docs Mistakenly Released


The Smoking Gun
Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin
© unknown
George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin
In an embarrassing screw-up, Florida prosecutors today accidentally distributed a post-mortem photo of Trayvon Martin as well as copies of George Zimmerman's college records, material that Florida law considers confidential and exempt from disclosure.

The documents were inadvertently included in supplemental discovery records distributed this morning by prosecutor Angela Corey's office. The material was sent to a variety of media outlets, including TSG, that have paid fees to receive discovery provided by the government to Zimmerman's lawyer.

The photocopied picture of Martin was one of three taken by an unnamed witness. The photo mistakenly released by Corey is a black and white copy of an image depicting the teenager lying face down on a lawn.

After distributing the picture, a Corey aide sent an e-mail to reporters noting that a "photo depicting the killing of a person" was "confidential and exempt" pursuant to state law.
      Read More...
USA

Police Brutality! Cops Strip Search Florida Mom, "Forcibly" Pull Tampon Out of Her for Maybe Rolling Through Stop Sign

Chris Sweeney
Broward Palm Beach New Times
Thu, 09 Aug 2012 08:33 UTC
Image
US, Florida - Getting pulled over for rolling through a stop sign is whack. But getting pulled over, having a gun pointed in your face, and then being strip searched on the side of the road in front of your two children for rolling through a stop sign is, well, really whack and probably an excessive use of force.

At least. that's what a new lawsuit in the Sunshine State is claiming.
Last July, Leila Tarantino claims that she was pulled over by an officer with the Citrus County Sheriff's Department. In the suit, Tarantino says she came to a full stop and should have never been pulled over in the first place.

A passing cop pulled a u-turn, flashed the lights, and rolled up behind her. Tarantino claims that the cop immediately drew his weapon, pulled her from the car, and refused to explain why he pulled her over. Tarantino's two young children watched all of this unfold from inside her car.
      Read More...
Dollar

Economy Forces World's Oldest Shipping Company into Liquidation

Isaac Arnsdorf
Bloomberg
Thu, 09 Aug 2012 08:33 UTC
Image
© Xabier Mikel Laburu/Bloomberg
The world's oldest shipping company sold its last vessel and is going out of business, according to the liquidator.

Stephenson Clarke Shipping Ltd., started in 1730, has been placed into liquidation, according to a statement from accounting firm Tait Walker. The Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England- based shipper, which employed nine people, sold off its final vessel in July, according to the statement
      Read More...
Gear

Doomsday Group Charging $5000 for Spot in End-of-the-World Bunker Near Tenterfield

Mitchell Toy
The Sunday Mail, Queensland
Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:04 UTC
Doomsday_1
© Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
SURF'S UP: A wall of water engulfs Sydney in this Doomsday prediction. Would a $5000 seat in a bunker protect you from this?
A 2012 doomsday group is charging $5000 for admission to a survival bunker in the northern NSW hills.

Massive earthquakes, shifts in the Earth's poles and devastating solar flares will be among events faced by the global community this year, according to the group, which describes itself as a "survival community".

Group organiser, NSW refrigeration mechanic Simon Young, said the entry fee went towards concrete and other materials to construct the bunker, believed to be in mountains near Tenterfield.

The group points to Egyptian texts, Bible passages and a frozen mammoth as evidence the world will undergo massive physical change around December 21.
      Read More...
Bad Guys

Organ Trafficking - A 'business' Built on Guilt and Desperation

Igor Booker
Pravda.ru
Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© kelloggs12.edu.glogster.com
According to the WHO, in 2010, 107,000 both legal and illegal transplants of human organs were carried out. Two-thirds of all transplanted organs are kidneys. Experts believe that ten percent of all kidney transplants are illegal. The organization Organ Watch provided a different number - from 15 to 20,000 illegal operations a year.

At least two illegal human organs transplantation surgeries performed in the capital of the Republic of Kosovo trace back to Germany. In 2008, according to the newspaper Spiegel, in the clinic of Pristina 74-year-old German businessman named Walter (last name is not mentioned for obvious reasons) of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia has been illegally transplanted an organ from a 50-year-old Russian woman Vera Schewdko, an immigrant to Israel, who sold her left kidney for 8,100 euros.

Comment: Another of the many ways the wealthy are preying on the poor and desperate:
Exploitation of Poor By Human Organ Traffickers
Rogue Kidney Brokers in the U.S. Sell Black Market Organs for Transplantation
Organ Theft - Not Just Urban Legend
Organ Gangs Force Poor to Sell Kidneys for Desperate Israelis

      Read More...
Family

Pathocrats' Austerity Measures Force More Desperate Europeans to Abandon Children

Holly Ellyatt
CNBC
Thu, 09 Aug 2012 09:20 UTC
Image
© Nina Ruecker | Getty Images
A doll is used to demonstrate a "baby hatch" in Hamburg, Germany, in this 2000 file photo.
As the euro zone debt crisis deepens and austerity measures take their toll across Europe, the number of young children and babies abandoned across the region has increased, according to local charities.

The rise in the abandonment of infants across Europe is most visible in the spread of "baby hatches" or "boxes" across Europe, where unwanted infants are left anonymously.

The phenomenon was previously more prevalent among immigrants, but it is becoming more widespread among financially desperate members of the local population.

The hatches are sensor-activated so when a baby is placed, an alarm is activated and a carer comes to collect the child. Despite the practice being widely viewed as contravening the 1953 European Convention on Human Rights, of the 27 EU member countries, 11 countries still have "baby hatches" in operation, including Germany, Italy and Portugal.

In those countries where hatches are illegal, the number of infants abandoned in hospitals, clinics and churches has also risen, raising concerns among European charities, the UN and the European Commission that austerity measures and increasing social deprivation are the catalyst for the rise in child abandonment.
      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts