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04 Nov 2011 09:06

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U.S.: Judge won’t face charges, may lose job over brutal spanking incident

  • We believe that there was a criminal offense involved and that there was substantial evidence to indicate that and under normal circumstances … a charge could have been made.
  • Rockport, Texas Police Chief Tim Jayroe • Discussing the case of Hillary Adams, the 23-year-old who posted a video of her father — a Texas judge — brutally spanking her with a belt. The video, from 2004, would have been worthy of criminal charges against William Adams, according to Jayroe … if the statute of limitations had not run out. Considering the damage to William Adams’ reputation as a result of the release of the video, it may be enough to derail his career as a judge that focuses on child abuse cases. “I would think it would be very difficult,” noted Aransas, Texas, County Judge C.H. “Burt” Mills Jr. “Personally I don’t see how he can recover from this.” For William Adams’ part, he claims the situation looks worse than it is, and in a statement he released to the press, claimed the video was intended as blackmail: “Hillary warned her father if he reduced her financial support, and took away her Mercedes automobile, which her father had provided, he would live to regret it.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Nov 2011 21:51

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U.S.: Oakland demonstrator questions violence and vandalism

  • I didn’t destroy any property yesterday, but destruction of property is not violent.
  • Derek Winslow • A demonstrator with the “Occupy Oakland” movement who was arrested early Thursday morning after overtaking a building in downtown Oakland. Winslow admitted that the occupation of the building, along with the ensuing fires that were set around the property to deter police, “wasn’t the best reaction, but we are frustrated.” More than 80 people were arrested after police deployed tear gas in the area.  source
Posted by Matthew Keys • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Nov 2011 11:01

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U.S.: A judge and his daughter relive brutal domestic incident in public eye

  • Yesterday, this brutal video made the rounds. In it, a then-16-year-old girl was brutally attacked by her father for downloading music illegally on the internet back in 2004. (Warning: it’s a tough watch.) The girl, Hillary Adams, now 23, released the video as her parents were in the midst of a custody battle. She secretly taped the incident and only told him about the video recently. “I told him I had the video,” she said. “He didn’t seem to think anything of it, and basically dared me to post it.” On its own, it seems like a harsh overreaction, but it’s made all the worse when you consider that the father in the video is a county judge who specializes in child abuse cases. You’d imagine that this would be the kind of case he’d have to deal with at his job. Based on comments the Texas judge has made, he may not be very remorseful over the incident. Here are some reactions:
  • father Aransas County, Texas Court-at-Law Judge William Adams defended the 2004 incident like so: “In my mind, I haven’t done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing. And I did lose my temper, but I’ve since apologized.”
  • daughter Here’s how his daughter, Hillary, reacted to that statement: “It’s a shining perfect example of his personality and he believes he can do no wrong. … He will cover up rather than admit to what he did and try to come clean, which is what I really want him to do.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Nov 2011 10:16

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U.S.: Occupy Oakland devolves into chaos after successful protests

  • We put together an ideological principle that the mainstream media wouldn’t talk about two months ago.
  • The Coup’s Boots Riley • Discussing Occupy Oakland’s big day yesterday, in which thousands of people showed up and made their voices heard, stopping the operations of Oakland’s major port in the process. It didn’t remain non-violent however, with riot police showing up to arrest dozens of people as windows were shattered and buildings were broken into. It was something Riley himself, prior to the incident, didn’t want to think about. “If they do that after all this …” he said with a pause, “They’re smarter than that.” (Edit: As Boots Riley himself says below, the quote was taken out of context. More info here.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Nov 2011 18:42

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U.S.: Four elderly men charged with plotting murder of federal employees

  • 68 average age of four attempted terrorists from Georgia source
  • » Don’t forget about domestic terrorism: The four men in question have been described as belonging to a fringe militia group, and the virulent anti-government rhetoric attributed to them seems in line with that: “There is no way for us, as militiamen, to save this country, to save Georgia, without doing something that’s highly, highly illegal. Murder. That’s f**king illegal, but it’s got to be done,” said Frederick Thomas, 73. Also, from the “young buck” of the group, the 65-year-old Ray Adams: “The first ones that need to die is the ones in the government buildings.” The quartet appeared in court today, and had trouble hearing what the judge was saying despite her use of a microphone. We smell an action-packed reboot to Grumpy Old Men for some reason.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Nov 2011 20:34

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U.S.: NYC woman critically hurt after being hit by falling shopping cart

  • cause A couple of twelve-year-old kids at an East Harlem shopping center were horsing around in a parking garage on Sunday afternoon when they decided to push a Target shopping cart off of a walkway. Four stories below, Marion Salmon Hedges was directly in the path of the cart, which fell to the sidewalk. And she got hurt. Badly.
  • effect Hedges is currently in a medically-induced coma, in critical condition. “She’s going to be, in the best of all cases, in rehabilitation for months,” said her husband, Michael. “She’s under sedation. She’s intubated. She has a thousand machines hooked up to her. It’s very disturbing.” The two boys have been charged in the incident. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Nov 2011 00:16

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U.S.: We just hope “Breaking Bad” doesn’t end the way this drug cartel did.

  • 76 arrested in a major drug ring which ran from Mexico into Arizona
  • $2B in profits over the past five years collected from the ring
  • 3M number of pounds of marijuana the drug ring brought to the U.S. source
  • » Their leader “El Chapo,” or “Shorty,” is still at large. Officials admit that it took them a long time to bust this particular ring, which also sent tens of thousands of pounds of cocaine and heroin into the United States. The drug ring, linked to the Sinaloa cartel, reportedly operated right under the noses of authorities by staying on rugged terrain. There are still plenty of holes in the U.S./Mexican border, but this is a very big win in the Drug War, regardless.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

31 Oct 2011 23:11

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U.S.: East Coast snowstorm bad for staying warm, good for ghost stories

  • 3 million people still without power in the northeast after snowstorms source
  • » At least five states reported major outages this morning. With record-setting snowfalls snapping tree limbs, power lines were severed cutting power off for millions. The official winter season doesn’t start for 52 more days, so start preparing now. Worst. Halloween. Ever.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Oct 2011 14:16

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U.S.: Obama puts the kibosh on marijuana legalization

  • Simply put, [marijuana] is not a benign drug.
  • Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy • In the official White House response to a number of petitions calling for weed legalization. This is part of the Obama administration’s “We The People” program: Anybody can submit a petition on a topic of their choosing, and if it gathers enough signatures, the White House will issue an official response. It’s cool that they’re actually following up on the promise to address the petitions, though we imagine proponents of medical marijuana won’t be pleased at the response.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Oct 2011 19:21

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U.S.: Ex-skinhead gets extensive surgery to remove racist face tattoos

  • Meet Bryon Widner. He used to be a white supremacist. When Widner left the movement in 2006, he had a lot to work past to prove that he no longer believed the things he once did — much of it on his own face. “This wasn’t just a few tattoos,” noted plastic surgeon Dr. Bruce Shack. “This was an entire canvas.” Widner had to fight hard to get these tattoos removed and get on with his life, turning former enemies into allies and working with the Southern Poverty Law Center. An anonymous donor paid for the changes to his face (which were incredibly painful), but he paid an even bigger price for the changes to his life. After years of being an “enforcer” for the Vinlanders Social Club, a notable white supremacist group, he quit. He had to leave his Michigan home to get a sense of normalcy. He went for it — for his kids, and for his wife, and to get a second chance. Now, as you can see, the tattoos are gone. He suffers health issues (he has to stay out of the sun), but he says “it’s a small price to pay for being human again.” An impressive redemption story. (Editor’s note: This story has two parts.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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