October 5 and 6, 2016


News and Views


This will be my third direct experience with a hurricane of some size, and I’m feeling the usual mixture of pleasure and nervousness. I really love the displays of Mother Nature for the most part, and I live on the 9th floor of a steel reinforced concrete building with a security guard downstairs, so I’m staying on site. I also am located beyond the mandatory evacuation zone. The whole city of St. Augustine, FL, however, is under mandatory evacuation order. No one would be arrested for refusing to leave home, but the city has sent a truck on the city’s streets broadcasting the announcement that anyone who decides to stay will have no protection from emergency services because in several feet of water those vehicles won’t be able to get through, and the lives of the first responders would be endangered unduly. St. Augustine is a truly beautiful little city, and I hope the damage won’t be catastrophic as it was in New Orleans. The ocean is beautiful and wonderful from the standpoint of all the life forms that it nurtures, but I will not willingly live any closer to it than I currently do. So, I’m going to gather my battery powered lighting sources near the bed, pull out a good book and relax tonight. Tomorrow the storm will be right on us, I understand. I’ll go next door and sit with my neighbor if I do feel afraid.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-matthew-will-be-devastating-florida-governor-rick-scott/

Hurricane Matthew "will be devastating," Florida Gov. Scott says
CBS/AP
October 5, 2016, 10:13 AM

Photograph -- gettyimages-612867344.jpg, A woman walks on October 5, 2016 along a coastal road between Guantanamo and Baracoa which was left covered in rocks and severely damaged after the passage of Hurricane Matthew through the eastern tip of Cuba on Tuesday afternoon. YAMIL LAGE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Play VIDEO -- Hurricane Matthew hits Bahamas ahead of U.S.
Animation -- hurricane-matthew-gif-10-5.gif, An animated gif showing the cloud cover and rainfall of Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean on Oct. 5, 2016. NOAA


TALLAHASEE, Florida – Florida Governor Rick Scott sounded the alarm on the powerful Hurricane Matthew on Wednesday, saying no matter what path the storm takes now, “the effects will be devastating.”

At least 11 deaths have been blamed on the powerful storm during its weeklong march across the Caribbean, five of them in Haiti. But with a key bridge washed out, roads impassable and phone communications down, the part of Haiti hit the hardest remains isolated and there was no word on dead and injured.

The Category 3 storm is expected to start affecting the Florida Atlantic coast with tropical storm conditions by early Thursday, but Scott said the time to prepare is now. Matthew is projected to strengthen back into a Category 4 with estimated 145 mph sustained winds as it passes the Bahamas.

Florida and other Atlantic Coast states have begun mobilizing their disaster response teams in earnest, and mandatory evacuations are expected to begin by Wednesday afternoon. Its projected path puts millions of people in line for at least an indirect hit of the giant storm.

“Don’t focus on the projected path,” Scott said at a news conference urging people in low lying areas to evacuate now, adding that a small deviation from Hurricane Matthew’s current trajectory could “mean catastrophic devastation.”

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the eye of Matthew was centered at 8 a.m. EDT Wednesday about 115 miles south of Long Island in the Bahamas. It had top sustained winds of 115 mph and was moving north-northwest at 10 mph.

The Florida governor said people who stay for the storm could easily become trapped.

“During the storm we cannot put a first responder’s life at risk,” Scott said. “You better prepare yourself.”

Classes along the entire Atlantic coastline of Florida have been canceled already. Officials in central Florida’s Brevard County have ordered residents on barrier islands and in flood-prone areas to evacuate in advance of the powerful hurricane. Residents who live in mobile and manufactured homes also are being ordered to leave.

Forecasters said Hurricane Matthew’s high winds, pounding rains and storm surge were already beginning to have an impact in the southern Bahamas as the storm, with top sustained winds of 125 mph.

A day earlier, Matthew swept across a remote area of Haiti with 145 mph winds, and government leaders said they weren’t close to fully gauging the impact in the vulnerable, flood-prone country where less powerful storms have killed thousands.

States of emergency have been declared across Florida, parts of Georgia and North Carolina and in all of South Carolina, where Governor Nikki Haley is ordering more than a million people to move inland.

At a press conference Wednesday, S.C. Governor Nikki Haley said 250,000 people were being ordered to evacuate two coastal counties, a figure not including the tourists there too.

Haley said the two counties -- Charleston and Beaufort -- will begin evacuating at 3 p.m. Wednesday. She said evacuations in Georgetown and Horry counties will be on Thursday.

The hurricane rolled across the sparsely populated tip of Cuba overnight, destroying dozens of homes in Cuba’s easternmost city, Baracoa, and leaving hundreds of others damaged.

A Pentagon spokesperson told CBS News correspondent David Martin that the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba’s eastern tip “weathered the storm nicely” and should resume normal operations by noon Wednesday. Detainees “sheltered in place,” meaning they were not moved outside the prison compound.

CBS News correspondent Manuel Bojorquez found so many people fueling up at a service station in Pembroke Pines, Florida on Tuesday night, a man was directing traffic to the pumps.

“There were quite a few lines earlier so we decided to come out a little later,” said Judy Karagiannes, fueling up. “We figured you know, maybe later would be better.”

“What about this storm in particular made you decide, ‘let’s get prepared?’” Bojorquez asked.

“The strength of the winds and how big it is,” Karagiannes said.

“Been through Wilma and Katrina and pretty much seen what devastation they can cause - so not taking any chances,” said another resident.



SHOCKING ATTACK BY A BOY’S PLAYMATES

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Burning-of-Kerrville-boy-investigated-9756094.php

10-year-old Kerrville boy in a coma after suffering severe burns
By Zeke MacCormack
Updated 10:59 am, Thursday, October 6, 2016

Photograph -- 10-year-old Kerrville boy in a coma after suffering severe burns
By Zeke MacCormack Updated 10:59 am, Thursday, October 6, 2016
26 Photographs -- Kayden Culp‘s bicycle lies next to the shed where he was burned while playing with other children Sunday in Kerrville. Kayden, 10, was at a University Hospital after suffering second degree burns over 20 percent of his body. Authorities are investigating the incident. Photo: /Zeke MacCormack / San Antonio Express-News, Photo: /Zeke MacCormack


Kerrville authorities are investigating whether severe burns suffered Sunday by a local boy, who relatives say was often picked on by playmates, resulted from an accident or a deliberate act.

Kayden Culp, 10, was in an induced coma Wednesday at University Hosptial where he’s being treated for burns over 20 percent of his body, according to Tristyn Hatchett, his mother.

She said a relative of one of the other youngsters present during the incident Sunday afternoon later called and told her that one boy allegedly doused Kayden with gasoline and another set him alight.

“There’s no reason they should not already be incarcerated,” Hatchett, 29, said. “The other boys who were there having been telling kids at school that it was not an accident, that it was intentional.”

Kerrville Fire Marshall Chris Lee referred questions about the incident on Blanks Street to city spokeswoman Kaitlin Berry, who said it was being investigated as a possible arson.

“I’ve heard the rumors (about Kayden being deliberately set afire), but that’s not something we can confirm at this time,” Berry said Wednesday. “That’s why the fire marshal is investigating... There is a potential that arson was involved.”

Kayden Culp often bore the brunt of other kids’ harassment, possibly due to a speech disorder linked to his hearing impairment, according to relatives who said he also had behavioral issues.

“They make fun of him. He gets beat up in Carver Park every time he’s goes up there. That’s just the way it is. The kids are really mean,” said Alike Richardson, his aunt.

She’s been caring for the three other children of Bobby and Tristyn Hatchett while Kayden is in the hospital.

Richardson, 39, has heard the talk Kayden was intentionally set alight, but hopes that’s not the case.

“We’re hoping it was an accident. Who wants kids to hurt each other like that? What kids think about burning other kids up?” she said.

Ashley White, a family friend who lives on Wallace Street, said she was alerted to the incident by the sound of approaching sirens, then watched as firefighters tackled the smoking shed and police went to the home of one of the boys.

She called Bobby Hatchett to inquire about Kayden because she’d seen him playing with the kids there earlier.

“They later said a lady up the street had helped put the fire on Kayden out,” said White, 27.

“I’m praying it was an accident but, if it wasn’t an accident, justice needs to be served because no chld deserves to go through what he’s going through,” she said.

White said of Kayden Culp, “He may have issues with the other kids from time to time, but he still likes to play with them.”

Tristyn Hatchett said she last spoke to her son while he was in the ambulance, when he asked for a hug and a kiss and said a specific boy “needs to go to jail.”

She said Kayden isn’t doing well, unable to breathe on his own, fed through a tube and fighting a possible lung infection.

“My son is a special guy. He was rowdy and he liked to have fun,” she said Wednesday. “He considered these guys his friends, but they would make fun of him and pick on him and tease him. He was usually the brunt of that kind of joke, but he kept playing with them.”



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/arrest-after-disabled-10-year-old-texas-boy-suffers-burns-in-coma/

Arrest after disabled 10-year-old Texas boy suffers burns, put in coma
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS NEWS
October 6, 2016, 2:37 PM

Photograph -- Kayden Culp KENS


KERRVILLE, Texas – The family of a 10-year-old disabled child who is in a medically induced coma after suffering burns say they believe he was intentionally set on fire, reports CBS affiliate KENS.

One juvenile is under arrest in the case, charged with first-degree arson, but Fire Chief Dannie Smith told Crimesider that so far their investigation does not indicate anyone intended to harm Kayden Culp. Smith said four male juveniles were present during the incident. He said a fire was lit inside a vacant shed and an accelerant added to enhance the flames.

Culp’s aunt, Tanya Casper, told KENS that the boy was lured into an open field where one boy doused him with gasoline and another set him on fire.

“He wore a hearing aid, talked with a lisp… I mean, he was challenged from the get-go,” Casper said. “And for him to face this new challenge, it’s going to be overwhelming.

She added: “The kids are letting everyone know this was planned.”

According to Chief Smith the investigation into the incident is ongoing.


“She added: “The kids are letting everyone know this was planned.” The most similar incidents to this, in which the participants actually bragged about what they did, had to do with Internet bullying, which until the last few years was not covered under the law as a crime. I think it is, now after several suicides. While I don’t want a child ending up in an adult prison or charged with a life sentence, I think they do need to be strictly confined for at least a year, and given mandatory mental health treatment, especially talk therapy. Drugs are very helpful, but only talk therapy will really drive it through the kid’s “thick skull,” that the issue is not funny, not mentally healthy – that they’re the sicko and not the victim; and that such behavior is not acceptable at all even for “boys,” and will result in real prison when they become an adult.

On one of my Discovery Channel videos a group therapy setting was featured for men who assault women, and in my view this is a similar psychological setup. The “objectifying” of the victim and the resulting loss of whatever empathy they may have had in their psyche, can at least to some degree be changed by intensive therapy. It is also often if not always true that the Bully him/herself is being abused at home either with overly strict discipline or sexual assault.

Certain people don’t have any natural empathy, and the therapy group put the convicted rapists together to talk about how they feel and think and how the woman feels. Ideally these things would be taught in the home, but sometimes the very roots of their apparently vicious behavior is in the home, with harsh punishment untempered by expressed warmth, love, clear thinking and verbal discussions when they do things like this to their siblings, their peers, or their poor unfortunate pets. Children are not born entirely “good,” after all.

I wonder if these boys were white or black? If it turns out that they were treated in this lenient way due to race, social or economic privilege, I’m going to be angrier than I already am. The class based justice system in this country starts in school, as several news stories have shown. Black or poor kids are punished more quickly and severely. This may not be one of those cases, of course. I’ll look for more details if I can find them. I’m glad to see that “an arrest” was made, however, as gang bullying is all too common in our modern schools. I would tend to view this is as aggravated assault at least, and possibly attempted murder. Can fire be considered “a deadly weapon?” A car can. The article said that “arson” is the charge that is being considered by the fire investigators, but that doesn’t mean that assault won’t be one of the charges.



IDIOTIC MOVE BY SOMEONE AT THE RNC

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rnc-prematurely-declares-mike-pence-debate-winner-two-hours-before-start-time/

RNC prematurely declares Mike Pence debate winner two hours before start time
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS October 4, 2016, 7:42 PM


The Republican National Committee (RNC) appeared to accidentally declare on its website Tuesday night that Mike Pence was the winner of the vice presidential debate, nearly two hours before it was slated to start.

“Americans from all across the country tuned in to watch the one and only Vice Presidential debate. During the debate we helped fact check and monitor the conversation in real time @GOP. The consensus was clear after the dust settled, Mike Pence was the clear winner of the debate,” said the blog post on gop.com, the party’s website.

The post, which went viral nearly two hours before the debate was scheduled to begin at 9 p.m., said that Pence’s top moments were on the “economy” and “highlighting Hillary’s scandals.”

screen-shot-2016-10-04-at-7-24-49-pm.png
Screengrab of RNC blog post

“Mike Pence made the most of his opportunity to debate Hillary’s VP pick Tim Kaine. The other clear winner from tonight’s debate was Donald Trump. His running mate perfectly shared Trump’s vision to make America great again and that message is resonating with Americans all across the country,” the post continued.

The RNC also posted a separate blog with the headline, “It’s Clear Who Lost the VP Debate, Hillary Clinton.”

“Tim Kaine was unable to answer for his running-mate’s record of failure, corruption and secrecy at tonight’s debate. The American people have spoken and it’s clear who tonight’s biggest loser is, Hillary Clinton,” that post said.

CBS News’ Elaine Quijano is moderating the debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.



http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/duane-buck-case-supreme-court-considers-role-race-sentencing-n659556

Duane Buck Case: Supreme Court Considers Role of Race in Sentencing
by PETE WILLIAMS
NEWS OCT 5 2016, 1:08 PM ET

Image: Nearly two decades after a Texas jury sent Duane Buck to death row for killing two people, including his ex-girlfriend, the Supreme Court is being asked to look at whether his sentence was tainted by testimony referring to his race. AP
Related: Supreme Court Strikes Down Florida Death Penalty Law
Video -- Play FROM MAY 23, 2016: SCOTUS rules on striking jurors based on race 2:04


For nearly 14 years, Duane Buck has been challenging his death sentence as based in part on racial prejudice, because of a psychologist's testimony that he was more likely to be a future danger because he is black.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared willing to give him another try.

A majority of the justices expressed concern that Buck's own defense lawyer, not the prosecutors, introduced the racially charged testimony during his trial.

"It would seem more prejudicial when the defendant's own lawyer brings it up. The jury would probably think, then it must be true," said Justice Elena Kagan.

"Doesn't it show how abysmal his counsel was?" asked Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Buck's lawyers are not challenging his conviction, but they are seeking another chance to argue that he should not get the death penalty.

A few weeks after breaking up with his girlfriend in 1995, Buck barged into her Texas home with a shotgun and a rifle. He wounded his step sister, killed another man who was in the house, then followed his former girlfriend outside and killed her in front of her children.

At the sentencing hearing, Buck's own lawyers called a former prison psychiatrist, Walter Quijano, to assess his future dangerousness. He would be unlikely to be violent in the future, Quijano said, but Buck's race "increased the probability" of future violence.

"It's a sad commentary that minorities — Hispanics and black people — are over-represented in the criminal justice system," he said.

Future dangerousness is one of the factors a Texas jury must unanimously find before a defendant can be sentenced to death.

In the first of what would become several unsuccessful appeals, newly appointed counsel failed to challenge the decision by Buck's own trial lawyers to introduce the psychiatrist's testimony.

But in 2000, the Texas attorney general said a defendant's race should never be an issue at sentencing and identified Buck's case as one in which the state would not oppose an appeal for a new sentencing hearing. The state later reversed course, explaining that because it was Buck's own lawyers who raised the issue, the state had not made an error that needed to be remedied.

Last August, a federal appeals court declined to give Buck permission to pursue his appeals.

"As a result, a death sentence tainted by egregious racial bias remains intact, and the legitimacy of our criminal justice system has been seriously undermined," said Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP legal defense fund, which is representing Buck before the Supreme Court.

During Wednesday's Supreme Court argument, lawyers for the state downplayed the significance of the psychiatrist's testimony, which said Buck presented a low likelihood of future dangerousness.

They also argued that Buck cannot show a "substantial likelihood" that a jury would have reached a different conclusion without the discredited testimony about race, which the state said was a precondition for a new round of appeals. Evidence of his future dangerousness, including "the horrific facts of the offense" and Buck's lack of remorse, was overwhelming, said Scott Keller of the Texas attorney general's office.

"This stereotype, that black men are more dangerous, is animating our entire public discussion these days. It's now up to this court to say, that's enough," said Kathryn Kase of the Texas Defender Service.

She said the Supreme Court should send a clear message that appeals to racial prejudice have no place in the criminal justice system.

A decision is expected sometime before late June.

Pete Williams



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/activists-demand-answers-after-fatal-lapd-shooting-carnell-snell/

Activists demand answers after fatal LAPD shooting
CBS/AP
October 2, 2016, 11:02 PM

Photograph -- A neighbor who goes by the name of “Hundred Dollar Bill,” left, hugs an unidentified woman as they stand by driveway of a home where Los Angeles Police officers shot and killed a 18-year-old man in south Los Angeles at the end of a car chase, in Los Angeles Oct. 2, 2016. DAMIAN DOVARGANES, AP
32 PHOTOS -- Charlotte police shooting protests
Photograph -- ap-16276665197596.jpg, Los Angeles Police officers speak to neighbors and members of the community gathered around a memorial spell out “L.L.C.J.” for Long Live C. J., outside a residence on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016. DAMIAN DOVARGANES, AP
Photograph -- carnell-snow.jpg, Carnell Snell. CBS LOS ANGELES


LOS ANGELES -- Activists on Sunday called on Los Angeles police to publicly name the officers involved in the deadly shooting of an 18-year-old black man near his home and to conduct a quick and transparent investigation.

“We don’t want to see a cover-up. We don’t want to see a whitewash,” Earl Ofari Hutchinson of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable said after meeting with the family of Carnell Snell Jr. “We have a family that’s grieving. We have a community that’s grieving.”

The shooting occurred Saturday afternoon. Los Angeles police say they tried to pull over a car with paper license plates at about 1 p.m. After a short chase the driver and a passenger got out and fled. The passenger ran in back of a house, where he was shot. The driver escaped.

The coroner’s office confirmed Sunday that Snell was the man killed. His family lives in another house in the front of the property where the shooting occurred. A back gate there was riddled with six bullet holes.

Police have disclosed little about their investigation other than to say a handgun was found at the scene. It was not clear if Snell was carrying it.

In a statement, the LAPD said investigators will gather evidence related to the shooting to determine whether deadly force was necessary and the district attorney’s office will review it to see if any criminal charges are warranted.

The shooting drew several dozen people to the scene Saturday. As news of what happened spread, a group of several dozen protesters blocked an intersection near the house Saturday night. Some people waved signs that read “Black Lives Matter,” and others shouted at officers standing behind yellow police tape and wearing riot helmets.

A large group of protesters gathered at the intersection of Western Ave and 108th street on Sunday night in order to protest the latest police shooting in Los Angeles, CBS Los Angeles reported.

People at the protest eventually started to vandalize nearby businesses, and also perform donuts on the street with their vehicles.

Other people were seen attempting to stop the vandalism.

This protest allegedly came after a candlelight vigil was held nearby.

CBS Los Angeles reported Saturday that protesters had gathered at L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s house, which was egged along with his vehicle.

Area resident Monique Morgan told CBS Los Angeles she believed the victim is her son, 18-year-old Carnell Snell Jr.

“Please let me see my baby. If that’s my baby, please let me see him,” Morgan pleaded to police when arriving on the scene.

Witnesses told CBS Los Angeles the deceased man was running with his hands up, and said he was telling officers he was unarmed, when police shot him about five times.

Snell was the third black man in five days to die in confrontations with police in Southern California. Last Tuesday, Alfred Olango was fatally shot by an officer in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon, triggering three days of angry and sometimes violent protests. Olango was shot when he took a “shooting stance” and pointed at an officer with what turned out to be a 4-inch vape pen -- an electronic cigarette device.

On Friday, Reginald Thomas died after being shot with a Taser by police in Pasadena. He was armed with a knife and his wife described him as mentally ill. His brother told a 911 dispatcher that Thomas was high and had a history of violence.

In Snell’s South Los Angeles neighborhood of small stucco houses and well-kept lawns there was a makeshift shrine of flowers and candles in front of the property where he died.

Christine Conley, a next-door neighbor of Snell’s for 10 years, described the teenager she knew as “CJ” as cheerful and polite, someone who liked to dress nicely and didn’t sport gang clothing or tattoos.

She knew he had been in jail but didn’t know why. A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department website indicated that Snell was arrested in January and released from jail on probation in June. It did not describe the nature of the offense.

“’’He’s never given me any problems. He’s always been respectful and kind,” Conley said. “He was always happy.”

She said there is outrage in the black community “because of the way police handle our people.”

“If he was any other race than black, he may have had another chance,” she said.

There were small protests over the shooting Saturday night near Snell’s home and at the residence of Mayor Eric Garcetti in the Hancock Park area. Protesters blocked an intersection near the Snell home and eggs were thrown at the mayor’s house.

In a statement issued Sunday night, Garcetti urged everyone to wait for “the completion of a thorough and proper investigation.”



SIGNIFICANT SUPREME COURT RULINGS


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/us/politics/north-carolina-supreme-court-voting-rights-act.html

Supreme Court Blocks North Carolina From Restoring Strict Voting Law
By ADAM LIPTAK
AUG. 31, 2016

Photo -- An election worker checked a voter’s drivers license during the state’s presidential primary election in Charlotte, N.C., in March. Credit Chris Keane/Reuters
Photo -- The justices were divided 4 to 4 on Wednesday over a state law seen as targeting blacks. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times


WASHINGTON — A deadlocked Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to revive parts of a restrictive North Carolina voting law that a federal appeals court had struck down as an unconstitutional effort to “target African Americans with almost surgical precision.”

The court was divided 4 to 4, with the court’s more conservative members voting to revive parts of the law. The court’s brief order included no reasoning.

North Carolina’s law, which imposed an array of voting restrictions, including new voter identification requirements, was enacted by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature in 2013. It was part of a wave of voting restrictions enacted after a 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision that effectively struck down a central part of the federal Voting Rights Act, weakening federal oversight of voting rights.

Challenges to the laws have met with considerable success in recent months, and Wednesday’s development suggested that the current eight-member Supreme Court is not likely to undo those victories.

Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican who is seeking re-election this fall, asserted that North Carolina had “been denied basic voting rights already granted to more than 30 states.” He noted that four justices had supported the state’s position and that “four liberal justices blocked North Carolina protections afforded by our sensible voter laws.”

The law’s critics welcomed the order.

“This decision opens the door for fair and full access to the democratic process for all voters,” said Allison Riggs, a lawyer for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. “Hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians will now be able to vote without barriers. The voting booth is the one place where everyone is equal and where we all have the same say.”

Civil rights groups joined with the Obama administration in filing suit against the law, arguing that, several parts of the law violated the Constitution and what remained of the Voting Rights Act. A trial judge rejected those claims in April, but in July a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., disagreed.

The appeals court ruling struck down five parts of the law: its voter ID requirements, a rollback of early voting to 10 days from 17, an elimination of same-day registration and of preregistration of some teenagers, and its ban on counting votes cast in the wrong precinct.

The court found that all five restrictions “disproportionately affected African Americans.” The law’s voter identification provision, for instance, “retained only those types of photo ID disproportionately held by whites and excluded those disproportionately held by African Americans.”

This was so, the court said, even though the state had “failed to identify even a single individual who has ever been charged with committing in-person voter fraud in North Carolina.” But it did find that there is evidence of fraud in absentee voting by mail, a method used disproportionately by white voters. But the Legislature exempted absentee voting from the photo ID requirement.

The court also found that the early voting restrictions had a much larger effect on black voters, who “disproportionately used the first seven days of early voting.”



EXCERPT -- "It was part of a wave of voting restrictions enacted after a 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision that effectively struck down a central part of the federal Voting Rights Act, weakening federal oversight of voting rights."

The conservative justice apparently "felt" that Southern states could be "trusted" now to refrain from totally unfair political decisions, but that clearly isn't true. I'm delighted that our 5th member is gone. The 4 to 4 ties have been in the Progressives' favor so far since that.




http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/supreme-court-rejects-appeal-nc-racial-bias-law-42530650?cid=clicksource_4380645_1_hero_headlines_headlines_hed

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal Under NC Racial Bias Law
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Oct 3, 2016, 9:49 AM ET


The Supreme Court will not hear an appeal from four former death row inmates in North Carolina who claimed systemic racial bias contributed to their death sentences.

The justices said Monday they will not disturb a state Supreme Court ruling that could result in new death sentences for the three African-American and one Native American inmates.

They were among defendants whose sentences were cut from death to life in prison under the state's unique Racial Justice Act.

The law allowed prisoners on death row and defendants in capital cases to use statistics to prove racial bias. The law has since been repealed.

But appeals filed under the law have essentially halted executions in North Carolina, where no one has been executed in more than 10 years.


So It was part of a wave of voting restrictions enacted after a 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision that effectively struck down a central part of the federal Voting Rights Act, weakening federal oversight of voting rights. It once halted executions, but has now been repealed. How can it be upheld by the US Supreme Court if it is no longer in force anyway? I don’t understand. Is this situation what is called a "moot point?" Where does NC proceed from this point if the original law has now been upheld as being Constitutional? At least the Supremes are watching the trend toward reinstituting of Jim Crow laws and working to block the "mean old White Backlash" from their efforts.


INTERNATIONAL CONCERNS


http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/women-poland-strike-protest-proposal-abortion-ban-42524998

Women in Poland Strike to Protest Proposal for Abortion Ban
By VANESSA GERA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
WARSAW, Poland — Oct 3, 2016, 11:15 AM ET

Photograph -- People attend the anti-government, pro-abortion demonstration in front of Polish Pariament in Warsaw, Poland, …. The Associated Press


Polish women donned black, waved black flags and took to Poland's streets on Monday, boycotting jobs and classes as part of a nationwide strike to protest a legislative proposal for a total ban on abortion.

Many men — public figures among them — joined the thousands of women on the streets of Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and elsewhere across the largely Catholic nation on what has been dubbed "Black Monday." The country already has one of Europe's most restrictive abortion laws and opinion surveys show very little support for an even stricter law, despite the nation's deep Catholicism and conservative political direction.

In Brussels, some 200 black-clad protesters joined the campaign, picketing in front of the European Union offices on behalf of Polish women, with banners reading "No to the abortion ban."

"Women must not be forced to deliver children from rape or that are unable to survive," Brussels-based Polish writer Grazyna Plebanek told the Polish news agency, PAP.

Monday's events follow a street protest by thousands on Saturday in front of the parliament in Warsaw. Women have been wearing black in a sign of mourning for the feared loss of reproductive rights and for the deaths that they feel some women would face.

Under the existing law, a hard-won compromise in force since 1993, abortion is banned except in cases where the woman's life is in danger, the fetus is irreparably damaged or the pregnancy results from rape or incest. The new proposal, now being examined by a parliamentary commission, would make all abortions illegal, even in cases of rape or when the woman's life is at risk, with prison terms of up to five years for women seeking abortion and doctors who perform them.

The proposal for the stricter law came from an anti-abortion citizens' initiative that had gathered 450,000 signatures in this nation of 38 million, and is supported by the church. The conservative ruling party, Law and Justice, which has a majority in parliament, includes supporters of the proposal but it's not clear if there are enough to push it through.

Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski criticized the way protesters were expressing their views, saying: "We expect serious debate on questions of life, death and birth. We do not expect happenings, dressing in costumes and creating artificial problems."

There were also counter protests Monday, with people attending special Masses devoted to the legislative proposal. At one, a Warsaw bishop, Henryk Hoser, denounced what he called a "civilization of death" that leads to some 50 million abortions worldwide per year.

While it was difficult to gauge participation in small towns and rural areas, which tend to be conservative, participation in the cities appeared to be significant.

A day of protests culminated in a huge rally in the afternoon in the heart of Poland's historic old town, with thousands braving the rain to form a sea of figures in black packed tightly together, the only color provided by their umbrellas.

In downtown Warsaw, some small shops were closed, with signs on their doors saying they were observing the strike, while women in black served food in some restaurants. Coffee shops were filled with groups of women dressed head to toe ahead of the main rally.

One was 34-year-old banker Agnieszka Krysztopolska, who sat in a Starbuck's shop with several friends who were all boycotting work.

"I have two children and it's not like I am some kind of hardline feminist but I do not agree with somebody depriving me of the right to my own health or that of my children. I think this bill is just dangerous," she said.

Near her, 28-year-old Magdalena Gwozdz chatted with her 17-year-old sister, who was boycotting school.

"This should be a woman's choice and abortion should be available in case of rape or a damaged fetus," Gwozdz said. "This is Europe and we are in the European Union."

The private all-news broadcaster, TVN24, broadcast images of establishments in other cities joining the strike: a restaurant in Wroclaw that closed to let female employees participate, a museum in Krakow where none of the women showed up to work.

In Warsaw a popular actor and theater owner, Michal Zebrowski, dressed in black, was in the box office selling tickets to allow the clerk to take part in the protest.

In Czestochowa, a symbol of the country's Catholicism due to a major shrine there, some 60 women employed at the City Hall refused to show up to work and many of those who showed up wore black, according to TVN24.

The day of action also included a call for housewives to refuse to do housework.

The organizers of Monday's strike took their inspiration from a strike by women in Iceland in 1975 when 90 percent of women refused to work, clean or look after children, to voice anger at discrimination in the workplace. A law the following year guaranteed equal rights for men and women.

—————

This story has been corrected to say that 60 women not 60 percent of women did not show up for work in Czestochowa City Hall.


RESTRICTING WOMEN IS SUCH A POPULAR THING TO DO, EVEN IN EUROPE. I'M GLAD I'M NO LONGER MARRIED.


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37539616

Russia suspends weapons-grade plutonium deal with US
October 3, 2016, 12:14 PM 1 hour ago

Photograph -- Plutonium goes into the warheads of nuclear missiles like these Russian Topols


Russia has suspended an agreement with the US on the disposal of surplus weapons-grade plutonium, the latest sign of worsening bilateral relations.

In a decree, President Vladimir Putin accused the US of creating "a threat to strategic stability, as a result of unfriendly actions" towards Russia.

Moscow also set pre-conditions for the US for the deal to be resumed.

Under the 2000 deal, each side is supposed to get rid of 34 tonnes of plutonium by burning it in reactors.

It is part of cuts to nuclear forces.

The US state department said the combined 68 tonnes of plutonium was "enough material for approximately 17,000 nuclear weapons". Both sides had reconfirmed the deal in 2010.

'We fulfilled our duties'

In Monday's decree (in Russian), President Putin said Russia had to take "urgent measures to defend the security of the Russian Federation".

In April, Mr Putin said the US was failing to fulfil its obligations to destroy plutonium. Instead, he argued, the US reprocessing method allowed plutonium to be extracted and used again in nuclear weapons.

Both sides had agreed to build special facilities for disposing of the surplus plutonium.

"We fulfilled our duties, we built that enterprise. But our American partners did not," Mr Putin said.

The US rejected that claim, insisting that its disposal method did not violate the agreement.

Also on Monday, President Putin submitted a bill (in Russian) to parliament setting a series of pre-conditions for the US for the agreement to be resumed, including:

*reduction of US military infrastructure and troops in countries that joined Nato after 1 September 2000

*lifting of all US sanctions against Russia and compensation for the damage they have caused

The US - as well as the European Union - imposed a series of sanctions against Russia following the annexation by Moscow of Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula in 2014, and Russia's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Tensions between Washington and Moscow rose further last month over Russia's bombing campaign in Syria, which some have described as a "war crime".

Russian planes are helping Syrian government forces to hit rebel groups, some of which are supported by the US and its Gulf Arab allies.

Russia is currently modernising its nuclear arsenal.


We are definitely in a new "Cold War," of hostilities that don't quite reach the level of full military engagement. I'm not proud of the US for this, but of course Russia's actions are equally untrustworthy. In my view Putin himself is the cause of much of this. We've had much better relations with others.


http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/03/496376263/hungarian-referendum-on-refugees-is-overwhelming-but-invalid

Hungary's Referendum On Refugee Resettlement Is Overwhelming — But Invalid
October 3, 20168:43 AM ET
CAMILA DOMONOSKE

Photograph -- Hungarian women wearing traditional costume cast their ballot at a polling station in Budapest, Hungary, during a referendum on Oct. 2 on refugee resettlement., Arpad Kurucz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
THE TWO-WAY -- Hungary Indicts Camerawoman Accused Of Kicking Migrants
PARALLELS -- Risking Arrest, Thousands Of Hungarians Offer Help To Refugees
PARALLELS -- In Today's Migrant Crisis, Echoes Of Hungary's Troubled Past


One of the most fiercely debated issues in the European Union — the question of refugee resettlement — was put to a referendum vote in Hungary on Sunday.

The result: a landslide with no legal weight. More than 90 percent of voters sided with the Hungarian government against the prospect of European Union-dictated refugee resettlement. The Associated Press reports that with nearly all the valid ballots counted, the tally stood at more than 98 percent of voters opposed to resettlement.

But fewer than half the country's voters cast a ballot at all — turnout low enough to make the entire referendum invalid.

On top of that, a small but noteworthy percentage of voters intentionally cast a botched ballot to protest the referendum.

The referendum was described as a "Brussels or Budapest" question, the AP reports, with the ballot asking: "Do you want the European Union to be able to prescribe the mandatory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary even without the consent of Parliament?"

NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Sarhaddi Nelson explained on Morning Edition that "mandatory settlement" isn't part of the European Union's currently stated plans.

"That is definitely not what Brussels was proposing," she says. "What they wanted to do was relocate — maybe relocate, and only temporarily so — 1,300 refugees just to help give some relief to other countries that were having issues with large numbers coming in."

Whether it's relocation or resettlement, there is resistance in Hungary — and across Europe — to the idea of allowing refugees across borders.

"What voters were telling me is that this is a Christian country here and they want it undiluted by immigrants, and that they want to preserve the Hungarian culture," Soraya says.

But that sentiment wasn't enough to bring more than 50 percent of the country's voters to the polls.

One Hungarian who stayed home, Central European University professor Szabolcs Pogonyi, told Soraya he didn't think the EU's quota system, even if it were ever mandatory, would result in refugees staying in Hungary. They'd go to Sweden or Germany, where they could have a better life, he predicted.

And of those who did head to the polls, an estimated 6 percent of voters cast a defaced ballot, Soraya says. Many of them were inspired by a satirical political party called "The Two-Tailed Dog Party," which crowdsourced a $150,000 billboard and poster campaign to mock — and counter — the referendum.

The party, which includes free beer among its campaign promises, is headed by Monty Python enthusiast Gergely Kovács, Soraya reports:

"The 36-year-old graphic designer offered helpful tips to disgruntled voters on YouTube: He says a "quick and efficient way" to invalidate a ballot, is to spray lighter fluid onto it and set it on fire. Kovacs suggests: Burn it nice and easy, and make sure you don't set the voting booth on fire.

"Twenty-nine-year-old voter Alexandra says she watched the video. Fearing repercussions, she won't give her last name. Alexandra cast her ballot at a busy polling station in Budapest's business district, where chatty poll workers stamped her ballot and pointed her to a makeshift voting booth.

"Alexandra says she checked both the 'Yes' and 'No' boxes to invalidate her ballot: 'I wanted to show that I do agree with the democratic views and I do want to be part of a referendum but the question is stupid.' "

The AP reports that, according to Hungary's National Election Office, turnout for the referendum was less than 44 percent — and with invalid ballots discarded, just over 40 percent.

Even if Sunday's referendum was invalidated by low turnout, the overwhelming number of voters essentially voting against refugees has still raised concerns among asylum-seekers, Soraya says.

"Especially here in Hungary, where you now have fences that make it hard for asylum-seekers to come in and there's increasingly overt verbal abuse and just sort of xenophobia that's being stirred by this referendum, they're concerned that this is going to get worse," she says. "That you're going to have worsening border conditions, more fences going up and eventually refugee camps closing, which is going to leave them with no place to go."



STRANGE THINGS IN THE DEMOCRATIC CAMP

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-campaign-events-canceled

Clinton resets campaign schedule with Sanders
By Cyra Master
October 02, 2016, 07:50 pm


Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced Sunday night that it had canceled tentatively planned events with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for Monday.

Instead, her primary rival will now be on the campaign trail Wednesday in Iowa and Wisconsin.

“Wednesday's Des Moines stop was added to make up for appearances tentatively scheduled in Iowa on Monday, October 3,” the campaign said in a release.

Sanders will be in Des Moines, Iowa, in the morning, and will host rallies in Madison and Green Bay, Wis., in the afternoon.

He will discuss the Democratic nominee’s “plan to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top, and Donald Trump's plan, which would benefit himself and other millionaires and billionaires,” the campaign said.

Though unclear if it’s related, the schedule change comes a few days after audio from a February fundraiser leaked that made public Clinton’s take on fans of her then-rival Sanders, whom she suggested were overly idealistic.

"There’s just a deep desire to believe that we can have free college, free healthcare, that what we’ve done hasn’t gone far enough, and that we just need to, you know, go as far as, you know, Scandinavia, whatever that means, and half the people don’t know what it means but it is something that they deeply feel,” she said.

Sanders, who ran for president as a member of the Democratic Party, said "of course" it bothered him that Clinton said he sold a "false promise" to his supporters.

But, he said Sunday, his supporters should still vote for her.

He also defended her statement.

"Well, I agree with her, what she is saying," Sanders said on CNN's "State of the Union."

GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump said Sunday night that Sanders should revoke his endorsement.

“Bernie should pull his endorsement of Crooked Hillary after she decieved [sic] him and then attacked him and his supporters,” Trump tweeted.



http://www.salon.com/2016/10/03/bernie-sanders-defends-hillary-clinton-over-leaked-fundraiser-audio-but-postpones-joint-campaign-event/

Bernie Sanders defends Hillary Clinton over leaked fundraiser audio, but postpones joint campaign event.
Sanders said Clinton was “absolutely correct” to say many of his supporters were living in their parents’ basement VIDEO
SOPHIA TESFAYE
MONDAY, OCT 3, 2016 11:13 AM EDT

Photographs – Clinton and Sanders, (Credit: MSNBC)
VIDEO -- Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Rally Together in New Hampshire
Video -- Bernie Sanders Says Clinton Comments In Leaked Audio 'Absolutely Correct'


Bernie Sanders defended Hillary Clinton after leaked audio from a closed-door fundraiser revealed the eventual Democratic presidential nominee’s unflattering description of the young voters who backed her rival during the primary, however, previously scheduled campaign events with the two former rivals were suddenly postponed this week.

The recording, from a February 16 fundraiser at the home of former U.S. Ambassador Beatrice Welters, was acquired by hackers and first published by the Washington Free Beacon last week.

“They’re children of the great recession,” Clinton said of Sanders’ young supporters in the audio. “And they are living in their parents’ basement, they feel that they got their education and the jobs that are available to them are not at all what they envisioned for themselves, and they don’t see much of a future,” she explained to room of wealthy donors.

The Vermont senator defended Clinton Sunday during appearances on ABC and CNN, arguing that the two largely agree — even though Clinton dismissed some of Sanders’ policy positions as “false promises.”

“Well, I agree with her, what she is saying,” Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“If you listen to the whole discussion that she had, a very important point that she made is that a lot of young people who went into debt, worked very hard to get a good education, can’t find a job commensurate to the education that they received,” Sanders told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Asked whether Clinton’s remarks at the fundraiser amid their hotly contested Democratic primary bothered him, Sanders admitted, “Of course it does.”

“Secretary Clinton and I do disagree on issues. But what she was saying there is absolutely correct,” Sanders told George Stephanopoulos. “And that is you’ve got millions of young people, many of whom took out loans in order to go to college, hoping to go out and get decent-paying, good jobs and you know what? They are unable to do that. And, yes, they do want a political revolution.”

The two were set to have joint appearance together Monday. But amid the uproar the leaked tapes created over the weekend, the Clinton campaign announced late Sunday that Sanders will now be on the campaign trail Wednesday in Iowa and Wisconsin instead.

Clinton’s new rival, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump attempted to seize on the leaked audio to hit Clinton in a tweet over Saturday:

Follow
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Crooked H is nasty to Sanders supporters behind closed doors. Owned by Wall St and Politicians, HRC is not with you. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-supporters-audio-leak-228997 …
1:01 PM - 1 Oct 2016


Photo published for Clinton gives her take on Sanders supporters in leaked fundraising recording
Clinton gives her take on Sanders supporters in leaked fundraising recording
She calls Sanders supporters the "children of the Great Recession."
politico.com
16,070 16,070 Retweets 30,429 30,429 likes

But by Saturday night, Trump was also attacking Sanders during his rally in Manaheim, Virginia, saying he had “much bigger crowds than Bernie Sanders ever had” and labeling Sanders as “crazy.”



EXCERPT -- "Bernie Sanders defended Hillary Clinton after leaked audio from a closed-door fundraiser revealed the eventual Democratic presidential nominee’s unflattering description of the young voters who backed her rival during the primary, however, previously scheduled campaign events with the two former rivals were suddenly postponed this week."

Clearly all is not forgiven, and how could it be? I would like to have been a fly on the wall during their meeting together this last weekend. I do hope their alliance of convenience will hold until the November election, however.



REMEMBERING ROBIN WILLIAMS

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/robin-williams-widow-details-actors-final-days-42532697

Robin Williams' Widow Details Actor's Final Days
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oct 3, 2016, 11:07 AM ET

Robin Williams' widow says the actor had "chemical warfare in his brain" before his death.

Williams suffered from dementia caused by Lewy body disease and took his own life in August 2014.

Susan Schneider Williams writes in the medical journal, " Neurology ," that her husband's suicide came "at the end of an intense, confusing, and relatively swift persecution" from the disease.

Schneider Williams says Williams had trouble remembering lines during the filming of "Night of the Museum 3" in the spring of 2014 and says the "loss of memory and inability to control his anxiety was devastating to him."

Williams was diagnosed with Lewy body disease after his death. Schneider Williams says she's sharing her experience in the hope doctors will be "inspired to turn Robin's suffering into something meaningful."



http://www.lewybodyjournal.org/whatlbdis.html

What Lewy Body Disease Is

Lewy body disease is a kind of dementia

Lewy body disease is a kind of dementia. Dementia is a general decline in cognitive abilities (thinking, memory, language, etc.) usually due to degeneration of the brain. There are many kinds of dementia. The most common and best known kind is Alzheimer's disease. Lewy body disease is thought to be the second most common kind of dementia. It causes cognitive problems similar to those seen in Alzheimer's disease and motor problems like those in Parkinson's. Like Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body disease is currently incurable and it gets worse with time. It should be noted that there are some kinds of dementia (for example, those caused by a thyroid problem or a deficiency in vitamin B-12) that can be reversed. That's why it's important to have a full work-up done when dementia is suspected.

Lewy body disease is also referred to as dementia with Lewy bodies, Lewy body dementia, diffuse Lewy body disease, senile dementia of Lewy body type, and Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease.

Despite its prevalence, Lewy body disease is not well known. Every year, it seems that Newsweek and other popular magazines run a feature article on the progress made against Alzheimer's disease, and any new information about Alzheimer's is big news. In these articles there's never a mention of Lewy body disease. In our experience many health professionals (physical therapists, nurses, and even some doctors) aren't well informed about Lewy body disease.

What are Lewy bodies?

In 1912, while Frederick Lewy was examining the brains of people with Parkinson's disease, he discovered irregularities in the cells in the mid-brain region. These abnormal structures (microscopic protein deposits found in deteriorating nerve cells) became known as Lewy bodies. Since that time, the presence of Lewy bodies in the mid-brain has been recognized as a hallmark of Parkinson's disease. In the 1960s, researchers found Lewy bodies in the cortex (the outer layer of gray matter) of the brains of some people who had dementia. Lewy bodies in the cortex are known as cortical Lewy bodies or diffuse Lewy bodies. (That's why Lewy body disease is sometimes called cortical Lewy body disease or diffuse Lewy body disease.) Cortical Lewy bodies were thought to be rare, until the 1980s when improved methodologies showed that Lewy body disease was more common than previously realized.

People with Lewy body disease have Lewy bodies in the mid-brain region (like those with Parkinson's disease) and in the cortex of the brain. It's believed that they usually also have the "plaques and tangles" of the brain that characterize Alzheimer's disease. Conversely, it's believed that many people with Alzheimer's disease also have cortical Lewy bodies. Because of the overlap, it's likely that many people with Lewy body disease are misdiagnosed (at least initially) as having either Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease. A big factor in the misdiagnosis might be that Lewy body disease is relatively unknown.

Symptoms of Lewy body disease

People with Lewy body disease have cognitive problems (problems with thinking, memory, language, etc.) similar to those that occur in Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, it can be hard to distinguish the two. Some doctors think there are three distinguishing features and the presence of two of them makes the diagnosis of Lewy body disease probable:

Motor problems typical of Parkinson's disease but usually not so severe as to warrant a diagnosis of Parkinson's. Of these problems, an impairment in walking (a shuffling gait) might be the most common one. Also common would be muscle stiffness and a tendency to fall. Tremor would be less common.

Fluctuations in cognitive function with varying levels of alertness and attention. Periods of being alert and coherent alternate with periods of being confused and unresponsive to questions.
Visual hallucinations, usually occurring early on. Delusions may be common too.
It's possible that people with Lewy body disease are better able to form new memories than those with Alzheimer's disease. Compared with Alzheimer's, Lewy body disease may affect speed of thinking, attention and concentration, and visual-spatial abilities more severely than memory and language. Depression may be a typical symptom too.

Treatment

Right now, doctors prescribe drugs to treat four major features found in Lewy body disease (also see the medication section of our Information page):

Cognitive problems. Usually, a drug like Aricept is prescribed. This is the same drug that is commonly prescribed for Alzheimer's disease. In some people, it seems to slow the progression of the disease.
Motor problems. Levodopa/carbidopa (Sinemet) is frequently prescribed to deal with the motor problems. This medication can worsen hallucinations, though.
Hallucinations. An antipsychotic medication, such as Zyprexa, might be prescribed. This kind of medication can worsen motor problems, though. Also note the FDA warning.
Depression. In cases of depression, an antidepressant, such as Zoloft or Prozac, might be prescribed.

Why do some people get Lewy body disease?

No one knows.

To learn more, check out Links.