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200 Lashes and 6 months in Jail for Rape Victim

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:49:27 GMT

RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi court has increased the sentence given to a gang rape victim to 200 lashes of the whip and six months in prison and ordered disciplinary action against her lawyer for talking to the media, the lawyer said on Friday.

A series of erratic verdicts have focused attention on the Saudi legal system, much of which remains uncodified and which does not recognize the concept of precedent.

The 19-year-old Shi'ite woman from the town of Qatif in the Eastern Province was raped by seven men in 2006. A court had originally sentenced the woman to 90 lashes and the rapists to jail terms of between 10 months and five years.

"The court blamed the girl for being alone with unrelated men, but it should have taken the humane view that it cannot be considered her fault," Lahem said, adding the case still has an appeal stage before the verdict becomes final.

Tags: rape, saudi arabia, law

MySpace Suicide

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:04:37 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129
clipper's remarks: A sad case, for parents to be so cruel is just unbelievable.

Clip Source: tech.yahoo.com

Teen suicide is nothing new (it's one of the top causes of death for teens), but the online component certainly is, and it's growing. Meier's case, on the surface, has all the hallmarks of classic bullying. Overweight, depressed, and suffering from low self-esteem, she turned to the web, specifically MySpace, to make friends. There she met Josh, who flirted with her for weeks before abruptly cutting her off, sending her nasty notes about her being "mean" and "everybody hates you." Hours later, she had taken her own life.

Weeks later, Megan's parents would learn a horrifying truth: There was no "Josh." Josh was a creation of the parents of one of Megan's former friends, a girl with whom she'd had a falling out. That's right: A 13-year-old girl was bullied into taking her own life by grown-ups.

Thirteen-year-old Megan Meier, victim of an orchestrated cyberbullying pile-on that left her dead, hanged by her own hand in her bedroom, unable to take the abuse any longer.

Tags: suicide, myspace, bullying

AT&T Charges Couple for Damage from Wildfires

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:24:25 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129

Clip Source: tech.yahoo.com

Victims of the wildfires that have swept through Southern California this week have a new thing to worry about: Big bills for rented high-tech equipment destroyed by the blazes.

In what sounds like a callous and tragic lapse of judgment, AT&T has slapped San Diego area residents Matt and Danelle Azola, who were on their honeymoon in Mexico while the fires were getting underway, with a $300 bill. Their crime? Failing to rescue their satellite dish receiver from their burning home before they fled. The house, as you can see in this news report, was completely burned to the ground.

The good news is that the Azolas should be covered by their insurance plan, when they eventually get paid, but they'll still have to cough up the $300 now unless they want a ding on their credit report. The bad press, of course, is going to cost AT&T considerably more.

Tags: at&t, california, wildfires, satelite tv

Does Unleaded Gas decrease Crime Rates?

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:00:00 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129
clipper's remarks: Interesting...skeptical, but interesting

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The answer, according to Jessica Wolpaw Reyes, an economist at Amherst College, lies in the cleanup of a toxic chemical that affected nearly everyone in the United States for most of the last century. After moving out of an old townhouse in Boston when her first child was born in 2000, Reyes started looking into the effects of lead poisoning. She learned that even low levels of lead can cause brain damage that makes children less intelligent and, in some cases, more impulsive and aggressive. She also discovered that the main source of lead in the air and water had not been paint but rather leaded gasoline — until it was phased out in the 1970s and ’80s by the Clean Air Act, which took blood levels of lead for all Americans down to a fraction of what they had been.

Has the Clean Air Act done more to fight crime than any other policy in American history? That is the claim of a new environmental theory of criminal behavior.

Tags: economics, health, ny times, gasoline, violence, crime

Net Neutrality not so Neutral

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:41:58 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129

Clip Source: mashable.com

The Associated Press conducted nationwide tests of Comcast’s data networks, and confirmed that the organization actively interferes with its high-speed Internet subscribers file-sharing attempts.

If the same practices were applied by other broadband providers, BitTorrent and other file sharing software would be disabled. A spokesperson from the number two broadband provider denied AP’s findings, saying “Comcast does not block access to any applications, including BitTorrent.” Analysts theorize that Comcast’s interference is simply a way of keeping the growth of network usage under control, and keeping file-sharing traffic from swallowing too much bandwidth.

Allegations have been floating around regarding major North American broadband operators using packet shaping to restrict the free flow of certain data on their network, but this is one of the first confirmations of non-net neutrality in a major United States broadband provider.

Comcast Not Net Neutral

Tags: internet, net neutrality, comcast, ap, bittorrent, broadband

Cough and Cold Meds potentially fatal to tots

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:24:37 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Child deaths lead to FDA hearing on cough, cold meds

Devon Mehlberg-Alvarez was Alvarez's firstborn -- and her mother's first grandchild. When he was 4 months old, Devon got a cold. Alvarez took him to the doctor. The doctor told her to give Devon an over-the-counter infant cold and cough medicine. Alvarez followed the doctor's directions and gave Devon the suggested amount.

However, a few mornings later when the Bloomington, Illinois, mother checked on her son, something was wrong. "I screamed," says Alvarez, "He wasn't breathing. He was cold."

A few months later, the results came back. The cause of death: Dextromethorphan intoxication. Devon's family says they were told later that Devon's body could not metabolize one of the key ingredients found in many infant cold and cough medicines.

Over the past two years, 1,500 babies and toddlers have wound up in emergency rooms after having a bad reaction to cold medicines, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tags: cough medicine, children, health, babies, fda, medicine

Staph may kill more than AIDS

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:21:28 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly infections each year from a drug-resistant staph "superbug," the government reported Tuesday in its first overall estimate of invasive disease caused by the germ.

Deaths tied to these infections may exceed those caused by AIDS, said one public health expert commenting on the new study. The report shows just how far one form of the staph germ has spread beyond its traditional hospital setting.

The overall incidence rate was about 32 invasive infections per 100,000 people. That's an "astounding" figure, said an editorial in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, which published the study.

In recent years, the resistant germ has become more common in hospitals and it has been spreading through prisons, gyms and locker rooms, and in poor urban neighborhoods.

Tags: staph infections, aids, disease, cdc, deaths

Nano Starts Man's Pants on Fire

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 17:50:26 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129

Clip Source: www.wsbtv.com

iPod Sets Man's Pants On Fire

The new iPod Nano is hot. But one Douglasville man said his old Nano got even hotter -- hot enough to burst into flames.

“So I look down and I see flames coming up to my chest,” said Danny Williams.

“I’m still kind of freaked out that after only a year and a half my iPod caught fire in my pocket,” said Williams.

The iPod uses a lithium ion battery -- the same type of battery under recall for setting laptops on fire.

Williams said Apple wants him to send his iPod back and they’ve vowed to replace it. Williams’ mother called Channel 2 because she said this is more than one iPod. She said it’s about what could have happened.

“It could have happened when we were sleeping, it could have happened when he was driving and the outcome could have been much worse,” said Elaine Williams.

After Channel 2 sent Apple pictures of the iPod, they called back but they refused to say how common the problem is. In fact, Apple refused to talk about this particular incident at all.

Tags: ipod, apple, fire, battery, lithium ion

Legislator Shows Nude Pics During Civics Lesson

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 04:54:46 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129
clipper's remarks: Whoops!

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

NORWALK, Ohio (AP) -- A state legislator surprised a high school class when the computer he was using projected a photo of a nude woman during a lecture on how a bill becomes a law.

State Rep. Matthew Barrett was giving a civics lesson Tuesday when he inserted a data memory stick into the school computer and the projected image of a topless woman appeared instead of the graphics presentation he had downloaded.

Police interviewed Barrett and school officials and seized the data memory stick and the computer to determine where the image came from, a state highway patrol spokesman said.

Barrett said there were a few snickers from the approximately 20 students in the senior government class at Norwalk High School when the image appeared. He said he immediately pulled the memory stick out of the computer.

"I have no idea where these came from," the Democrat said.

Tags: nude, state legislator, ohio

Dude Offers 100,000 to not do Drugs or Strippers, Fails, Now Sues

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:49:13 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129
clipper's remarks: What an idiot

Clip Source: www.nypost.com

EX IS HIT WITH 100G 'SIN TAX'

September 30, 2007 -- A hard-partying Wall Street trader and his ex-girlfriend are in court over an allegedly broken $100,000 promise to keep on the straight and narrow.

In recently filed court papers, Elisa Kwon accuses her former beau Greg Calvino, 45, of reneg ing on a pledge he had made to not "use drugs, stay out late, frequent strippers or prosti tutes." The 30-something Kwon insists Calvino had vowed that if he ever did any of those things again, she could cash a $100,000 check he had made out to her.

But Kwon, in a motion to dismiss filed on Sept. 20, said Calvino's drug use and wild ways with women entitled her to the money. She said she cashed the check in November 2005, after he went out with fellow RBC traders to ogle the girls at Flashdancers and do cocaine that March.

Tags: lawsuit, strippers, drugs

Boys Heart Stops After Being Hit by Baseball

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:43:02 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129

Clip Source: www.foxcarolina.com

Boy’s Heart Stops After Being Hit By Pitch

One upstate boy is lucky to be alive after a baseball pitch hit him in the chest and stopped his heart. His family said they are grateful a doctor turned coach was only feet away.

However, it was only about two weeks ago that Andrew almost died at home plate.

Andrew said all he remembers from the experience is going up to bat, squaring off to bunt and feeling the ball hit him in the chest.

“It hit him flush in the chest,” Tad Buff said. “It made an awful sound. Andy dropped to his knees when it happened. It was a pretty scary moment.”

Buff said he was in the dugout watching the scene unfold in disbelief.

“I have a weird sense of time about it,” Buff said. “It was like slow motion for me.”

Doctors said the pitch hit Andrew in the chest and stopped his heart.

Dr. Lollis said the one thing he wants everyone to take away from this story is how important it is to know CPR and how easy it is for anyone to learn.

Tags: heart, medical, baseball, youth, cpr

More Minorities in Prison than in College Dorms

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 13:51:52 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Census: More blacks, Latinos live in cells than in dorms

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than three times as many black people live in prison cells as in college dorms, the government said in a report to be released Thursday.

The ratio is only slightly better for Hispanics, at 2.7 inmates for every Latino in college housing. Among non-Hispanic whites, more than twice as many live in college housing as in prison or jail.

"It's one of the great social and economic tragedies of our time," said Marc Morial, president and CEO of the Urban League. "It points to the signature failure in our education system and how we've been raising our children."

Black students are more likely to attend segregated schools with high concentrations of poverty, less qualified teachers, lower expectations and a less demanding curriculum, she said.

"We need to get serious about true investment on the front end," Morial said.

Tags: race, education, prison, census, immigration

Parents Remember Pets, Forget Son in Burning Home

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:08:03 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129

Clip Source: www.thepittsburghchannel.com

Police: Beaver Couple Flees Trailer Fire, Forgets To Bring Boy

Two mobile homes were badly damaged by fire in Center Township, Beaver County, and a couple who lived in one of the trailers is facing charges Tuesday -- even though they are also victims of the fire.

Crystal Adams, 31, and James Chandler, 33, are accused of reckless endangerment, because police say the two grabbed their pet dogs and fled the fire at Center Manor Court but left Chandler's young son behind on Friday night.

The 4-year-old boy was treated for smoke inhalation after a firefighter ran inside and pulled him out, township Fire Chief Bill Brucker said.

"You tuck your kid in bed, you should remember that he's still in there," Brucker said.

Tags: fire, mobile home, parenting

Secret Lobbying by Phone Co's

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:27:19 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Case Dismissed?

The secret lobbying campaign your phone company doesn't want you to know about

Sept. 20, 2007 - The nation’s biggest telecommunications companies, working closely with the White House, have mounted a secretive lobbying campaign to get Congress to quickly approve a measure wiping out all private lawsuits against them for assisting the U.S. intelligence community’s warrantless surveillance programs.

The campaign—which involves some of Washington's most prominent lobbying and law firms—has taken on new urgency in recent weeks because of fears that a U.S. appellate court in San Francisco is poised to rule that the lawsuits should be allowed to proceed.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say the U.S. intelligence community is in a near-panic about this,” said one communications industry lawyer familiar with the debate who asked not to be publicly identified because of the sensitivity surrounding the issue.

Tags: phone companies, congress, war on terror, spying, telecommunications, lobbying, lawsuits

Woman Sues for Two Babies

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:35:00 GMT

clipped by: HockeySkates1129
clipper's remarks: Ridiculous!

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Mom sues after IVF brings 2 babies instead of 1

Australian woman seeks $332,000 to cover cost of raising extra child

CANBERRA, Australia - An Australian woman who gave birth to twins instead of a single baby after receiving in-vitro fertilization has sued her doctor for the cost of bringing up the second child.

The woman, who cannot be identified because of a court order, is seeking more than 400,000 Australian dollars (US $332,000) to cover the expense of raising one child until age 21.

The couple, whose combined income exceeds A$100,000 (US $82,875), are seeking A$398,000 (US $329,000) to cover the costs of raising one of the girls, including private school fees. They also want around A$15,000 (US $12,427) to compensate them for time off work and medical expenses.

Tags: law suits, australia, in vetro fertilization