Except for Aristide's tenure, what passes for Haitian democracy would make a despot blush, thanks to America's imperial grip on the hemisphere's poorest, long-suffering people.
As a result, last November's presidential and legislative elections might best be called a cruel joke. The entire process was rigged to exclude 15 parties, including by far the most popular, Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas.
Moreover, the election was so tainted by brazen disenfranchisement and fraud, including ballot box stuffing and other irregularities, that legitimate independent observers would have demanded throwing out the results and starting over.
Most Haitians, however, weren't fooled. A scant 22%, in fact, voted, a hemispheric low since record keeping began over 60 years ago.
Society's Child
© Khyber Mortenson
Greg Mortenson is being sued in Montana for fraud related to his best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea," and his philanthropy.
Greg Mortenson is being sued in Montana for fraud related to his best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea," and his philanthropy.
The plaintiff's - Democratic state lawmakers Michelle Reinhart of Missoula and Jean Price of Great Falls - claim Mortenson fabricated central details about his activities and work building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan and defrauded charity donors as well as unsuspecting consumers who bought his bestselling book "Three Cups of Tea," which purports to be a work of non-fiction.
The class-action lawsuit filed Thursday in Montana U.S. District Court, makes claims of "fraud, deceit, breach of contract, RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) violations, unjust enrichment."
© KTLA.com
Hundreds of students walked out of class Tuesday.
Hundreds of students walked out of class Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Board of Education is scheduled to vote Tuesday afternoon on the aggressive school-improvement strategy, which has been pushed by board member Yolie Flores, a graduate of Huntington Park High who represents the area.
According to one walkout participant, students gathered in an outdoor area of campus and refused to go to class at about 10 a.m. The intended destination of protest leaders was the headquarters of the Los Angeles Unified School District, located just west of downtown, where a public meeting was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The nearly seven-mile trek through busy city streets was expected to take two hours or more.
An estimated 10 to 15 adults from the school were accompanying the students, a standard precaution to try to keep students safe.
An internal district memo indicated that no bus transportation would be provided to return students to campus. For some past protests the district has provided such transportation as a safety measure.
Thirty-three students and teachers have been taken to area hospitals, and Winona Elementary School has been evacuated and closed for the day after people in isolated areas of the school suddenly became ill.
Loveland Fire and Rescue is investigating the cause of the illness, which initially was reported as dizziness. Some reported nausea, stomachaches and feeling lightheaded.
Students have reported that they smelled something odd.
Ten patients were taken to McKee, 18 to Medical Center of the Rockies and five to Poudre Valley Hospital.
Loveland Fire and Rescue is investigating the cause of the illness, which initially was reported as dizziness. Some reported nausea, stomachaches and feeling lightheaded.
Students have reported that they smelled something odd.
Ten patients were taken to McKee, 18 to Medical Center of the Rockies and five to Poudre Valley Hospital.
A mystery virus that has infected eight patients from different parts of the country claimed its first known victim yesterday morning after a 36-year-old, nine-months pregnant woman died in a Seoul hospital of multiple organ failure triggered by pulmonary fibrosis and a stroke.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday that the woman had received intensive care treatment in a general hospital in Seoul for a month before her death. Doctors managed to save the baby.
According to the KCDC, the victim was one of the eight patients in the hospital receiving treatment for various conditions suspected to be caused by the same unidentified virus. All patients initially received treatments at different clinics around the country, but were later transferred to the Seoul hospital to receive intensive care, the KCDC said. The patients were not infected because they were at the same hospital, it said.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday that the woman had received intensive care treatment in a general hospital in Seoul for a month before her death. Doctors managed to save the baby.
According to the KCDC, the victim was one of the eight patients in the hospital receiving treatment for various conditions suspected to be caused by the same unidentified virus. All patients initially received treatments at different clinics around the country, but were later transferred to the Seoul hospital to receive intensive care, the KCDC said. The patients were not infected because they were at the same hospital, it said.
29 year old Sheriff Deputy Matt Paul recently cost Seattle tax-payers a record 10 million dollars for his use of excessive force against Chris Harris, a suspect wrongly identified. As seen in the video, Paul body-slamed Harris causing sever damage to his brain and spinal cord later resulting in his death.
So far the King County Sheriff's office has not reprimanded Paul, claiming there is "No evidence of misconduct," and Paul continues to loom large on the streets of Seattle. In this investigative report by K5 News, reporters find that Paul has, "A pattern of frequent force and questionable tactics that needlessly escalated some situations and caused injuries." According to sources, Paul uses force 6 times more frequent than the average Sheriff's Deputy.
© K5 News Seattle
Matt Paul, pictured here has, "A pattern of frequent force and questionable tactics that needlessly escalated some situations and caused injuries."
Matt Paul, pictured here has, "A pattern of frequent force and questionable tactics that needlessly escalated some situations and caused injuries."
© Unknown
Muslim demonstrators march on the US embassy in London this afternoon
Muslim demonstrators march on the US embassy in London this afternoon
Police stepped in to separate the chanting groups amid threats of violence from both sides.
US leaders were branded "murderers" by radicals, who warned vengeance attacks were "guaranteed" and shouted: "USA, you will pay."
Protesters carried signs declaring 'Islam will dominate the world' and Jihad to defend the Muslims' as well as banners attacking the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The pro-bin Laden 'funeral' took place as relatives of the 7/7 terror attack on London - which claimed 52 lives - wept at the inquest into the atrocity just three miles away.
© The Associated Press
Penticton British Columbia, couple Albert Chretien and wife Rita are shown in this undated Royal Canadian Mounted Police handout photo. The couple went missing en route to Las Vegas more than a month ago. Rita Chretien has been found alive Friday May 6, 2011 in a remote part of northeastern Nevada police say. Hunters in Elko Country, Nevada, found Rita alive on Friday, RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk announced in a tweet. There is no word yet about the whereabouts of her husband.
Penticton British Columbia, couple Albert Chretien and wife Rita are shown in this undated Royal Canadian Mounted Police handout photo. The couple went missing en route to Las Vegas more than a month ago. Rita Chretien has been found alive Friday May 6, 2011 in a remote part of northeastern Nevada police say. Hunters in Elko Country, Nevada, found Rita alive on Friday, RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk announced in a tweet. There is no word yet about the whereabouts of her husband.
Rita Chretien, 56, told investigators the last she saw of Albert Chretien, 59, was on March 22 when he set off for help on foot with a GPS unit just a few days after they got stuck in the mud on a national forest road in extreme northern Elko County, Elko County Sheriff Jim Pitts said.
While it seemed unlikely he could have survived all this time, sheriff's Detective James Carpenter said crews weren't ready to turn the rescue mission into a recovery operation.
"I want to wait to see what they come up with," Carpenter told the Associated Press. "It's pretty nasty up there and there's no communication."
Deputies from Nevada and Idaho's Owyhee County continued searching the rugged river canyons and snowy mountain sides about 10 miles northeast of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest's Jarbidge Wilderness Area.
"I don't know how much snow is up there, but it's really wet and heavy," Carpenter said from the northeast Nevada town of Elko, which sits on U.S. Interstate 80, roughly 80 miles south of where hunters spotted the Chretien's van on Friday.
© Wikipedia
Amur leopard
Amur leopard
The unidentified boy climbed over a four- to five-foot railing at the Sedgwick County Zoo and approached the Amur leopard, which then grabbed him with a paw or paws and tried to bite the boy, assistant zoo director Jim Marlett told The Wichita Eagle.
KSN-TV reports that witnesses said the leopard grabbed the boy with both paws and that a woman ran to the boy's rescue. Several school groups were at the zoo today.
© CBS News
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports, Byron Morrow has sued Taylor Funeral Home, 63 E. 79th St., and Mount Hope Cemetery, 11500 S. Fairfield Ave.
Morrow claims that after his mother died on April 5, the funeral home improperly embalmed her, leaving brown liquid leaking from her skull.
