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16 Feb 2012 14:09

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World: Many Honduran prisoners caught in fire weren’t charged or convicted

  • New revelations on Honduran prison fire: As we mentioned yesterday, the most lethal prison fire in the last century took place Tuesday in Honduras, at a prison in Comayagua. Since then some startling and grisly facts have come out, which speak to the sad state of legal affairs in Honduras, as well as to the staggering overcrowding and understaffing of their facilities – of the 800 or so inmates at Comayagua, 57% were being held without charge or were awaiting trial, most on suspicion of gang membership. During the fire, only six guards were on duty, just one of whom held the keys for every prison cell. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 May 2011 15:18

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World: Chinese labor camps: Where MMO games stop being fun?

  • World of Warcraft meets the world of forced labor: The Guardian has an interview up today with a 54-year-old prisoner at the Jixi labor camp in China, who makes an extremely bizarre and terrible claim; that prison bosses forced some inmates to play World of Warcraft after finishing the day’s grueling physical labor. The idea is that they’re being forced to grind out high-level characters with choice equipment and lots of gold, which are then sold by the guards to cash-rich, lazy gamers who want all the gain with none of the pain. It’s sort of like the anti-drug argument that your money might be financing terrorism or violence — don’t take the shortcut to World of Warcraft glory, or you might do it on the back of a Chinese prisoner. Bizarre story. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 23:35

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U.S.: Bobby Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan to stay in jail

  • NO RFK’s assassin won’t be granted parole (again) source
  • » Why parole was prevented again: The parole board in the infamous case claims Sirhan Sirhan hasn’t shown an understanding of the “magnitude” of his crime. “At this hearing, you’re interrupting me time and time again, demonstrating a lack of control and impulsitivity,” California Board of Parole Hearings Commissioner Mike Prizmich said to Sirhan.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Dec 2009 00:56

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U.S.: Thomson, Illinois is looking a lot like Guantanamo Bay right now

The rural town, 150 miles south of Chicago, will reportedly house some of the detainees being vacated from Gitmo. People will complain … soon. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2009 22:42

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U.S.: California’s budget agreement: Everyone comes out on the short end

  • Politicians Facing the kind of political deadlock only captured in movies, it’s surprising they even pulled it off. “There isn’t a whole lot of good news in this budget,” said Democratic Senate leader Darrell Steinberg. source
  • Politicians Facing the kind of political deadlock only captured in movies, it’s surprising they even pulled it off. “There isn’t a whole lot of good news in this budget,” said Democratic Senate leader Darrell Steinberg.
  • The poor Welfare checks get cut – or go away entirely – for many families. Health care gets cut for thousands of children, along with their grandparents. To cut the budget by $26.3 billion, social welfare goes the way of the dodo. source
  • Politicians Facing the kind of political deadlock only captured in movies, it’s surprising they even pulled it off. “There isn’t a whole lot of good news in this budget,” said Democratic Senate leader Darrell Steinberg.
  • The poor Welfare checks get cut – or go away entirely – for many families. Health care gets cut for thousands of children, along with their grandparents. To cut the budget by $26.3 billion, social welfare goes the way of the dodo.
  • Cutbacks State workers will continue to get their days cut. Prisoners (unless you’re a Manson) will get out early, making the streets “safer.” But despite all of this, politicians managed to largely avoid raising taxes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Apr 2009 10:45

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U.S., World: For those who don’t think waterboarding is torture, explain this

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2009 10:21

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U.S.: The Manson “family” – are they really a danger anymore?

  • Model prisoners Charles Manson’s followers in the late 1960s – the ones who killed Sharon Tate and numerous others – appear to no longer be a danger to society. They all have spotless prison records; they all seem to show remorse and personal responsibility for their crimes. Yet, Susan Atkins (who’s terminally ill), Charles “Tex” Watson (who’s a minister), Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten probably will never be let out of prison. source
  • Model prisoners Charles Manson’s followers in the late 1960s – the ones who killed Sharon Tate and numerous others – appear to no longer be a danger to society. They all have spotless prison records; they all seem to show remorse and personal responsibility for their crimes. Yet, Susan Atkins (who’s terminally ill), Charles “Tex” Watson (who’s a minister), Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten probably will never be let out of prison.
  • No shot at parole? Despite the records, what’s working against them is the sensationalism of their crimes. They keep going up to parole boards, only to get shunned. There are reasons it makes sense to let them go: Prisons are expensive. California’s broke. But it may not be enough. For the record, Tate’s sister doesn’t want them paroled, saying the slayings were “so vicious, so inhumane, so depraved, that there is no turning back.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 Mar 2009 22:14

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U.S.: Keeping people in prison is really expensive, guys

  • 7.3 million people are currently in prison in the U.S.; no word on whether they’re wearing orange jumpsuits or striped black-and-white getups source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2009 11:05

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Culture, World: Dwight from “The Office” speaks out on his Baha’i faith

  • About the faith Rainn Wilson is a member of the Baha’i faith, a monotheistic religion which started in Iran in the mid 1800s. As places to start religions go, Iran is a pretty bad one, and much religious persecution has occurred there since. It’s probably worse than anything Dwight puts up with. source
  • About the faith Rainn Wilson is a member of the Baha’i faith, a monotheistic religion which started in Iran in the mid 1800s. As places to start religions go, Iran is a pretty bad one, and much religious persecution has occurred there since. It’s probably worse than anything Dwight puts up with.
  • Why he’s speaking out Wilson, in a commentary piece he wrote for CNN, is bringing light to the religion in part because of a group of seven prisoners being held in Iran on a variety of charges he says lack evidence – just the latest to be persecuted by Iran. Learn more about the seven here. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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