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North Carolina family claim 55-year-old man was paralyzed due to police brutality

Jenée Desmond-Harris
The Root
Fri, 07 Dec 2012 04:01 UTC
Image
© ABC News
Donald Lee discusses his brother's case.
Gregory Lee-Bey, 55, was arrested and charged with burglary at a Fayetteville, N.C., bar two weeks ago. Today he's paralyzed and on life support after suffering a stroke.

What took place in between is where his family and the police have drastically different stories. The arresting officers say that Lee-Bey simply fell and hit his head while trying to escape, but relatives -- who are speaking for him, since he can't do it for himself -- say they don't believe that version of the events for a minute.

"We're angry, confused, scared, and more than anything, we want answers," Lee's niece Alexandria Lee told The Root. "Police are telling us that he tripped and fell while interacting with police. But the doctors told us that his injuries are consistent with a severe beating. He had a stroke while they beat him and had to be flown to Chapel Hill for two emergency brain surgeries. For weeks he hasn't been able to say a word."

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Evil Rays

Man charged in subway rider's death blames voices in his head

Lorena Mongelli
New York Post
Fri, 07 Dec 2012 03:33 UTC
Naeem Davis
© William C Lopez
Naeem Davis
The homeless man charged with fatally shoving a Queens father into the path of a subway train said he couldn't drown out the voices in his head.

"I heard, 'Naeem he's coming again. He's coming again. You got to do something.' I kept hearing voices like that," Naeem Davis told The Post of his alleged victim, Ki Suk Han, in a jailhouse interview at Rikers Island.

"From the depths of my heart, I didn't mean to kill him."

Davis, 30, wearing an orange jumpsuit and slippers, said he diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his 20s but wasn't taking any medication to treat his condition -- though he was high when Han, 58, was killed.

"I was under the influence [of marijuana]. It wasn't my intention to kill him. I just wanted him to get away from me," he said.

Davis, who was staying at Bronx shelter on 136th Street, was headed to W. 28th Street to pick up some merchandize to peddle in Midtown.

Davis said an intoxicated Han first approached him near the 49th Street subway booth at 11:30 a.m. -- and threatened him, he said.

"He grabbed my arm. He said, 'I'm gonna kill you,'" he said. "I yelled at him, "I don't know you. Get away from me."
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Ark

Mayan apocalypse 2012: 'Noah's Ark' prepared for doomsday

Danny Choy
International Science Times
Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:59 UTC
Ark
© RocketNews24
Remember that awesome disaster flick 2012 starring John Cusack? Inspired by the Mayan prophesy, the movie depicts the end of the world, December 21, 2012, and celebrates mankind's will to survive. In the end [SPOILER ALERT], Cusack's character and his family, a geophysicist, and the President's daughter make their way onto an enormous Chinese vessel known as an "Ark" and survive the epic destruction of Earth as we know it.

While the incredible special effects are certainly impressive, the movie has caused a man in China to take the Mayan apocalypse a bit too literally. Lu Zhenghai pooled his life savings to building his very own "Noah's Ark."

Interestingly, Lu, a master ship builder, lives in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uighur. The farthest location on Earth from any ocean, Lu's home town is the most landlocked area on Earth. An interesting occupation, what drives Lu Zhenghai to believe a ship is the answer to the apocalypse when many of his fellow neighbors have never even seen a body of water in their whole lives?

Nevermind the flawed logic - Lu Zhenghai is probably certified. A long-time enthusiast of ancient myths and legends, Lu first heard of the Mayan prophecy in 2010. Convinced of its validity, Lu set out to prepare for his survival by getting started on the ark. To date, Lu has already spent 1 million yuan, or $160,500, on building his vessel.
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Cell Phone

Girl, 9, attacked, robbed by woman after just stepping off school bus

Elizabeth Hur
CBS News Philadelphia
Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:00 UTC

Philadelphia - She's just 9-years-old and the victim of an attack all over a cell phone.

It's a case that left even the seasoned investigators just shaking their heads.

The victim, Neidy Rojas, told Eyewitness News, "It felt bad and sad. I was scared."

Rojas says she was sprayed with a burning substance on her lips then pushed to the ground, scraping her knees.

Police confirm the motive was robbery as the suspect appeared to be after the 3rd grader's cell phone, a black Samsung Galaxy S2.

Rojas recalled, "She asked if she could use my phone and I said it doesn't work."

It was true. Rojas says the phone is missing the "Home" button and she could only use it to play some games.
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Newspaper

Bizarre scenes at Westmeath rape trial


Irish Examiner
Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
Ireland - There were bizarre scenes in the Central Criminal Court today during the conviction of a Westmeath man for rape and false imprisonment.

The 46-year-old was found guilty on all counts despite protestations by his defence counsel that the jury foreman had lost control of the jury and didn't understand questions asked by the court registrar.

The defence counsel also expressed concern about a question asked by a jury member after they had returned three out of the four guilty verdicts.

The juror, who was not the foreman, asked the judge about the count of making threats to kill. He asked whether the prosecution had to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt or whether they should decide the case based "on what we believe."

Defence counsel Bernard Condon SC said it was concerning that the jury had asked such a question after already finding the accused guilty of rape, sex assault and false imprisonment because they may have approached those verdicts on the basis of a lack of understanding of the requirement to prove guilt "beyond reasonable doubt."

After being told they must believe the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury resumed their deliberations and returned shortly afterwards with another guilty verdict.

It is highly unusual for a juror other than the foreman to ask questions of the court but the juror said he had been delegated to ask it.
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Pistol

Zombie nation: Man shoots girlfriend because she 'didn't believe in zombies'... after watching TV show about zombies

Michael Allen
Opposing Views
Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:28 UTC
Image

Who needs zombies when we've got psychopaths and a raft of other seriously character-disordered people crawling all over the planet like a virus?
Jared Gurman allegedly shot his girlfriend, Jessica Gelderman, with a .22-caliber rifle on Monday over an argument over the AMC television show 'The Walking Dead' (video below).

Gurman was angry at Gelderman because she would not take the possibility of a real zombie attack seriously, reports WPIX-TV.

Nassau County Police Detective Lt. Raymond Cote told a press conference: "He feels strongly about the possibility that some military mishap could occur causing some tragic consequence. She felt that it was ridiculous."

Gelderman drove Gurman back to his home and then returned to her home in Long Island, New York.

Comment: Once again we see how the heavily promoted zombie meme is bringing about some pretty freaky consequences. It's interesting that the zombie gunman specifically pointed to the possibility of a zombie apocalypse arising from a military accident. The suggestion being made here is that a weird bio-sociological development such as the sudden appearance of hoards of disfigured zombies on every street corner would arise from man-made causes.

But what if the same natural cosmic forces responsible for all the other Earth Changes phenomena we've been cataloguing here at SOTT could somehow affect the genetic blueprint of certain types to produce such cannibalistic 'walking dead'?

Is Solar and Cosmic Radiation Playing Havoc With Life on Planet Earth?

Alternately, this trending zombie obsession could be humanity's 'group unconscious self' sending itself messages, particularly regarding something horrific, widespread and impending... like a return of the Black Death?

New Light on the Black Death: The Viral and Cosmic Connection

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Vader

Death Stars and Stripes: Americans sign petition to build killer 'Star Wars' space station


RT
Thu, 06 Dec 2012 00:00 UTC
Death Star
© Wookieepedia
Marijuana, secession and now Star Wars: Thousands of Americans have signed yet another bizarre online White House petition, this one to "secure funding and resources" to build the 'Death Star' space station from the popular sci-fi film.

­"By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense," the petition on the White House website reads.

The document, created on November 14 by a resident of Colorado, has already collected over 5,000 signatures. The petition needs around 20,000 more by December 14 for it to be formally reviewed by the White House staff.

The Death Star is the planet-destroying space station built by the Galactic Empire in the wildly popular sci-fi movie saga Star Wars, directed by George Lucas. The franchise is adored by millions of fans around the world.
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Che Guevara

Countering the virus of 'Western Civilization': Cuba cracks down on vulgar 'reggaeton' music

Giles Tremlett
The Guardian
Fri, 07 Dec 2012 04:33 UTC
Image
© Str/AFP/Getty
Puerto Rican singer René Pérez, aka Residente, of hip-hop and reggaeton duo Calle 13, performs in Havana, Cuba. The island is to outlaw public performances of music styles it views as cheap and demeaning to women.
It's a hip-thrusting mix of hip-hop, reggae and Latin beats, but for officials in Cuba the increasingly popular reggaeton is a threat to proper music and the purveyor of a cheap, aggressive sexuality that demeans the revolutionary island's "sensual" women.

A crackdown on reggaeton and other unnamed musical styles that are threatening the revolutionary country's traditional musical culture will punish artists and fine those who programme it, according to Cuban Music Institute boss Orlando Vistel Columbié.

"We are not just talking about reggaeton. There is vulgarity, banality and mediocrity in other forms of music too," Vistel told the official Granma newspaper. "But it is also true that reggaeton is the most notorious.

"On the one hand there are aggressive, sexually obscene lyrics that deform the innate sensuality of the Cuban woman, projecting them as grotesque sexual objects. And all that is backed by the poorest quality music."
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Document

George Zimmerman claims NBC News portrayed him as a 'racist and predatory villain' to boost ratings: lawsuit

Don Kaplan and Bill
New York Daily News
Thu, 06 Dec 2012 08:08 UTC
George Zimmerman
© The Associated Press/Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel/Pool
George Zimmerman, center, is directed by a Seminole County Deputy and his attorney Mark O'Mara during a court hearing Thursday April 12, 2012, in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
The neighborhood watch volunteer accused of killing Trayvon Martin slapped NBC News with a lawsuit Thursday, charging it portrayed him as a "racist and predatory villain" to boost ratings.

George Zimmerman's lawyers blasted the network for using "the oldest form of yellow journalism" in coverage of the racially charged case.

"They knew this tragedy could be, with proper sensationalizing and manipulation, a racial powder keg that would result in months, if not years, of topics for their failing news programs, particularly the plummeting ratings for the ailing Today show," charged the defamation suit, filed in Seminole County, Fla., Circuit Court Thursday.

But NBC said it would contest the suit "vigorously" in court. "There was no intent to portray Mr. Zimmerman unfairly," the network said in a statement.

Zimmerman, charged with second-degree murder in the case, claims he shot and killed the unarmed black teen in self-defense.

Moments before the Feb. 26 shooting in a Sanford, Fla., gated community, Zimmerman, a member of his neighborhood watch group, called 911 to report a "guy" lurking around houses in the rain.

The lawsuit charges that NBC reporters "maliciously edited" the 911 recording to make it appear that Zimmerman was "racially profiling Martin."
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Black Cat 2

When felines attack: Do house cats ever kill people?

Brian Palmer
Slate
Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:49 UTC
Scary Cat
© Anna Sematkina/iStockphoto/Thinkstock
An Illinois man planned to kill a rival for his wife's affections by electrocuting him and then framing the victim's cat for the murder. Brett Nash was arrested for the bizarre plot in January and pleaded guilty on Tuesday. Do cats ever kill people?

Not grown-ups. Rabies deaths notwithstanding, the Explainer is unaware of any incidents in which a house cat has killed its able-bodied adult owner. Cats can, however, inflict a pretty gruesome mauling. In 2010, a postpartum cat in Idaho bit her owner 35 times, going back for a second round of scratches and bites after the owner washed off the blood.

Last year, a Cleveland man was airlifted to a hospital after a brawl with his tabby cat. Fights with humans usually don't end well for felines. The New York Times reported a dramatic scene in 1921, when a pet Angora clamped down on the finger of a Manhattan woman who was riding in the tonneau of her husband's car. The husband responded by strangling the cat to death, although that didn't stop an arriving police officer from drawing his weapon against the lifeless feline. It wasn't the last time the NYPD had to face down a house cat: A year later, after being bitten by a cat on Columbus Avenue, a police officer shot the animal dead with his revolver.

Cats occasionally kill infants, but the deaths are accidental. In the early 1980s, a Norwegian father discovered his cat sleeping on the face of his 5-week-old baby. Although the father administered CPR, the child eventually died from the aftereffects of asphyxiation. (A doctor's report suggested that cats might be responsible for some cases of sudden infant death syndrome.) In 1931, a Connecticut cat took a nap on the chest of a 4-month-old child, smothering him. There were several reports of similar incidents in the 19th century.
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