Typhoon Haiyan is being considered one of the biggest ever, with registered wind speed of 235mph, putting it well into the category 5 classification. The storm slammed into the Philippines and preliminary reports are putting the death toll in the tens of thousands, with over 10,000 in one city alone.
Below are some of the pictures showing the after effects of the Typhoon.
A man jailed for murder for 34 years has had his conviction quashed after it was revealed that one of the main witnesses was lying.
Kash Delano Register broke down and cried on Thursday after a Los Angeles judge threw out his conviction for shooting dead elderly Jack Sasson in April 1979.
The conviction was overturned after Sharon Anderson, sister of one of the main witnesses, Brenda Anderson, told a court that the testimony used to send Register to jail was a lie.
Nineteen-years-old Brenda was a neighbor of 78-year-old Sasson, who was shot five times.
She told police that after hearing shots, she looked out of a window and saw an African-American fleeing the scene.
She identified the gunman as Register. The two had been at High School together.
Her testimony was the main pillar of he prosecution case.
No murder weapon was ever discovered, no fingerprints found at the scene matched Register’s and police and prosecutors were accused of suppressing evidence.
Register’s girlfriend also testified that he was with her at the time of the shooting, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Register, now 53-years-old, was sentenced to 27 years to life and had always pleaded his innocence, something which he believes kept him in jail, where he was inmate No. C11693.
“It appears that the only reason that I have been consistently denied parole is because I have maintained my innocence,” court papers revealed he once told the parole board.
In 2011, another of Brenda Anderson’s sister, Sheila Vanderkam discovered via the Internet that Register was still incarcerated.
She then got in contact with Register’s attorney to tell him her sister Brenda had been lying all those years ago. Vanderkam had even worked at the same LAPD station where detectives investigated the case. But her pleas to one detective went unheeded.
“The detective placed his finger over his mouth (like a shush sound) and just stared at me,” she said in her court statement. “He made it very clear to me, without actually saying anything, that I was to stay out of it.”
Prosecutors will make a final decision next month to release or retry Register.
h/t Daily News
If nothing else, the press is having a field day, or a month anyway, with the government shutdown and now the contretemps over the health care website and law. I’m sure you’ve read the articles and have seen the overblown videos from both sides of the political divide. There aren’t more for me to add.
What’s been lost in the tree-to-tree debate is the forest of actual health care and the health of United States citizens. Yes, President Obama should have said that those people whose insurance policies do not meet the minimum standards set by the ACA would indeed need to upgrade them. That inattention to detail is exactly what can derail a noble point, especially given the rabid opposition he faces in Congress. But the larger point is that more people will have better health plans, and, presumably, better health.
The other issue that’s been buried is the relative success of the exchanges in states that have functioning representative democracies and not one-party GOP monopolies who don’t seem to care whether their poorest residents get Medicaid relief or, in the case of New Jersey, a governor who aspires to national office. In states such as New York, Oregon, Kentucky and California, people are signing up for health care and, for the most part, are finding it both easy and cost-effective to do so (OK, OK…here’s a link).
Which proves that the law is working and that it’s here to stay and that ultimately it will do what it set out to do and the GOP knows it. That’s why they only have the political issue to focus on. By next October, the ACA will be a net plus for the Democrats. The website will be fixed and more people will be demanding that all states fully cover their Medicaid populations.
There will be no place to hide for those who believe that it’s an American right to be sick and have other people pay for it, or for those who perversely call it freedom when people are denied access to a government entitlement like Medicaid, or who say it’s un-American for the government to provide access to checkups, physicals, reproductive health or to have insurance companies cover people with preexisting conditions.
I’ve always believed that if you do the right thing, eventually the people in your orbit will notice and reward you for it, even if at times you are punished for your good deeds. The health care law and the sentiment behind it is worthy, moral, ethical and in the best sense of the word, healthy. This, in the end, is what will ensure its success.
For more please go to:
www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and Twitter @rigrundfest
The old adage ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ may ring true for some, but one husband in northern China feels that his ‘beautiful’ wife bamboozled him by having ‘ugly’ kids.
Jian Feng sued his wife for giving birth to what he called ‘incredibly ugly’ girl and won.
“I married my wife out of love, but as soon as we had our first daughter, we began having marital issues,” he told the Irish Times.
“Our daughter was incredibly ugly, to the point where it horrified me.”
But wait… there’s more to the story than Feng’s blatant lack of love for his own child, he insists that his wife should have told him about all the plastic surgery she’d had prior to meeting them so he could have made an informed decision on whether to marry her and procreate.
A judge agreed.
Initially Jian accused his wife of infidelity, because he knew he could never be the father of an unattractive child but DNA tests proved that the child was indeed his.
Feng’s wife then came clean and admitted that she had undergone about $100,000 worth of cosmetic surgery in South Korea before they met.
Read more: straightfromthea.com
Organ harvesting is a multibillion-a-year underground business. According to authorities, an Asian couple adopted a collection of African children with the sole purpose of killing them and harvesting their organs for a financial feast.
A California couple living in Qatar, located off the coast of Saudi Arabia are facing possible execution for allegedly starving their daughter to death. The pair were released on bail today after almost a year in jail.
The court imposed a travel ban that prevents them from returning to the U.S.
The couple has been imprisoned since January after their 8-year-old adopted daughter Gloria died, they say, from unknown complications from a childhood eating disorder. But the Qatari authorities charged them with forced starvation and intent to murder. The police accuse the Huangs of trafficking Gloria and her brothers to harvest their organs.
The Huangs moved to Qatar in 2012 so Matthew Huang could work as an engineer on two major infrastructure projects associated with improvements for the 2022 World Cup, according to a narrative of the case posted on the family’s website, . http://www.freemattandgrace.com
The Huangs, who are Asian-American, accuse the Qatari authorities of faulty evidence and cultural ignorance, failing to understand how or why they would have three children from Africa. The California Innocence Project is housed at the San Diego-based California Western School of Law says they are wrongly accused and are working on the family’s behalf.
In addition to Gloria, the Huangs have two adopted boys – one from Ghana, the other from Uganda – forming a bi-racial family rarely seen in oil-rich Qatar which is void of much diversity (except for Asian workers who go to work as laborers) and where adoptions are scarce.
It’s almost inexplicable and indefensible to release the parents, even if on bail and on strict travel restrictions, if the courts think these two are enough of a threat to society to possibly recommend the death penalty.
h/t – rollingout
Marissa Alexander may be a little more than a week away from getting a taste of freedom.
A judge set Alexander’s bond hearing for November 8, when she will find out if she will be released from prison while she awaits her new trial over an incident in which she fired what she described as a warning shot at her abusive husband.
Alexander attempted to seek immunity under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law in her first hearing, but was denied that opportunity. She was ultimately convicted and given a mandatory 20-year sentence under Florida’s 10-20-life law covering all crimes involving a firearm.
An appeals court judge ordered a new trial last month, not because of the Stand Your Ground ruling in the case, but because the “jury instructions on self-defense were erroneous” in her first trial. Alexander’s new trial date has been set for March 31, 2014, according to the Florida Times-Union.
Renisha McBride, 19, was shot to death in a Dearborn Heights, Michigan neighborhood after seeking help following a car crash, reports The Detroit News.
At approximately 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning, McBride knocked on the door of a home, hoping for assistance. Instead, she got a gunshot wound to the head.
“He shot her in the head … for what? For knocking on his door,” said McBride’s maternal aunt, Bernita Spinks. “If he felt scared or threatened, he should have called 911.”
“You see a young black lady on your porch and you shoot?” asked Spinks. “He killed my niece and he needs to pay for it. He needs to be in jail.
“There was no windows broken. My niece didn’t bother anyone,” said Spinks. “She went looking for help and now she’s dead.”
The Dearborn Police Department have confirmed the shooting, but have not released the name of the suspect. They initially told McBride’s family that her body was “dumped,” but have now admitted that she died on the man’s porch, reports FOX 32.
The investigation is ongoing and findings will be forwarded to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
Read more here: http://hellobeautiful.com/2013/11/05/renisha-mcbride-shot-after-car-accident/
This is Governor Christie scolding a teacher on Saturday for questioning his education policies. A full accounting of the event can be found on Jersey Jazzman’s site. But as always with this governor, the picture really tells the story.
Here is a man who wants to be president, who wants to be a role model, and who wants to brook no opposition. He’s only succeeded at the latter. This is what we get when we elect former prosecutors to public office. Prosecutors, remember, are true believers who are always, always, always right. Even when they’re wrong. But they never are wrong, so the point is proven. Challenging them is a challenge to the natural order of things.
Remember when New Jersey missed out on some wonderful federal Race to the Top dollars because Christie nixed the application that included some concessions to the New Jersey Education Association? That couldn’t be Christie’s fault, even though it was, so he fired Education Commissioner Brett Schundler.
And when Christie’s budget numbers didn’t add up and the state economist, David Rosen, called him on it? And it turned out that Rosen was right? The governor never admitted he was wrong on the numbers because, well… Christie is never wrong.
So now we have an example of a teacher asking the governor why he’s against teachers, and his response is clearly venomous. Does he really think that teachers are supposed to like what he’s said and done over the past four years? Has he convinced himself that trying to tear down the NJEA, overtly accusing teachers of bringing pro-union sentiment into their classrooms, and saying that the public schools in New Jersey are failing would be popular among the education set? If this is his response to a teacher when his reelection is looking promising, just imagine his response in a national race when the press won’t let a story go just because the governor wants it to.
As for being a role model, Christie said in the first debate that he didn’t think his style was anything but telling people the truth and that New Jerseyans appreciated his candor. Now we know what that really means: I’m right, you’re wrong and I’m going to bully you into believing me. This man is no role model, and he never will be.
But there is a remedy to all of this. On Tuesday, vote for Barbara Buono. She knows how to speak to people, but more importantly, she knows how to listen to people. She will make us proud as our governor. And she will do right by families, workers, the environment and our long-term future.
Remember this on November 5.
For more please go to:
www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and Twitter @rigrundfest
According to BuzzFeed, the cyber attacks on Lynch very quickly took a turn for the nasty, as netizens scoured the web for more information about the young woman.
Identifying information about Lynch was circulated, as well as nude videos and pictures that she had allegedly appeared in.
Lynch, whose Twitter account has since been suspended, says her family has been subjected to death threats in recent days.
“Plz stop with the death threats towards my parents. They did nothing wrong. I was the one in the wrong and I am paying for being insensitive,” she tweeted Friday.
She later wrote that she had lost her job over the costume fiasco.
Some very upset Tweets!
@SomeSKANKinMI You should be ashamed, my mother lost both her legs and I almost died in the marathon. You need a filter.
— Sydney Corcoran (@Sydney23Lynne) November 2, 2013
@mzbilly @mmurphycit @SomeSKANKinMI Wow. If she has kids, would she put them in bloodied Sandy Hook shirts?
— LisainDallas (@LisainDallas) October 31, 2013
@rennoceralc @SomeSKANKinMI repulsive. As someone who experienced it first hand, I cant see how a mentally stable person can think that's ok
— Molly Walsh (@MollyWalsh) October 31, 2013
@SomeSKANKinMI People at the Boston Marathon died in terror and agony… and you looked at the images and thought "lol funny costume idea"?
— Rebecca Brown (@Chinchillazllla) November 2, 2013
h/t – huffingtonpost
According to reports, Caitlin Cimeno has been fired from her job for posting racially-insensitive photos of her sons, William Filene and Greg Cimeno, with the caption: “Happy Halloween from Zimmerman & trayvon (insert smiley face emoji here.)”
The Massachusetts woman failed to realize that you can be easily tracked down if you post your full name, photos of your children at school, shots of your car with the license plate and selfies at work (duh!). After one Instagram user wrote, “You ruined your life by posting those pics,” Caitlin quickly changed her profile name and deleted the racist shots. But sadly for her, it was too late.
According to the Facebook page Stop Blackface For Halloween, “Earlier this morning Caitlin Cimeno had her employer listed on her Facebook page, but recently deleted it. Members of the Tumblr community took note of this employer before the deletion and contacted them to report the incident. Around 12:54 pm, I called the employer to report the incident and they stated that she has been fired.”
h/t – hellobeautiful
An image posted July 14 to Facebook shows Rachel Poole with her husband and an ultrasound photo of their unborn child.
A pregnant El Paso Army wife suffered a horrible attack on Wednesday while her deployed husband watched helplessly from video chat.
This incident allegedly occurred when Corey Bernard Moss, a 19-year-old soldier at nearby Fort Bliss, went to the home of 31-year-old Rachel Poole to confront her about money he owed her, according to a police affidavit seen by KFOX14. She wasn’t home yet, so Moss broke into her home and hid inside waiting for her return, police say.
When Poole came home, she began a FaceTime call with her husband, Justin Poole, a U.S. Army soldier who was deployed overseas.
Moss allegedly attacked Poole from behind with a knife. Rachel Poole says she immediately recognized Moss during the attack and began screaming his name to her husband. Moss allegedly beat and stabbed her repeatedly, before fleeing the scene and calling a coworker to pick him up.
Poole was able to call 911 and was then taken to a local hospital with several stab wounds and fractures to her face and body that require surgery.
El Paso Police say Moss provided a voluntary statement admitting physically assaulting Poole. Moss was arrested on a charge of criminal attempted murder and booked into El Paso County Detention Center with a bond of $60,000.
Read more:http://www.businessinsider.com
Larry Dunn cheated on his wife and killed his mistress after she revealed that she was HIV positive. According to the Dallas Morning News, Dunn, 37, believed that he would not live long and wanted revenge.
One week after his mistress, Cicely Lee Bolden, revealed that she was HIV positive, Dunn arranged another sexual encounter with her. Dunn admitted that he had unprotected sex with Lee for the last time.
As she laid in bed, Dunn went to the kitchen and grabbed a steak knife. He returned to the room and slashed Bolden’s neck. Dunn told authorities that he believed that she gave him a death sentence and decided to kill her.
When Dunn left, Bolden’s 7-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter discovered her body. The children have been separated and are staying with different relatives. Authorities found Dunn’s number in Bolden’s phone and contacted him.
Dunn was arrested and revealed that he killed Bolden while enraged because he was unsure if he had infected his wife. However, Dunn and his wife have yet to test positive for HIV. Both will have to undergo more tests to get complete confirmation on their status.
Dunn faces two-20 years in prison if convicted.
h/t – rollingout
