October 3, 2014

The little girl whose birth brought "anger, disappointment and fear"

That's when Cramblett learned from a sperm bank employee that she had been inseminated with sperm from the wrong donor, according to a lawsuit filed Monday against Midwest Sperm Bank in Cook County, Illinois.

Cramblett said they had chosen sperm from a man known as No. 380, a white donor. The sperm used for insemination came from No. 330, a black donor, she said.

"How could they make a mistake that was so personal?" Cramblett said during a telephone interview on Wednesday.

According to the lawsuit, her excitement about the pending birth was replaced with "anger, disappointment and fear."

"They took a personal choice, a personal decision and took it on themselves to make that choice for us out of pure negligence," Cramblett said.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/White-Ohio-woman-sues-over-sperm-from-black-donor-5796296.php#photo-6943129

October 2, 2014

The patients having addictions literally BEATEN out of them

The patients having addictions literally BEATEN out of them: Bizarre form of psychotherapy sees people given up to 60 lashes with a cane



Treatment includes being beaten with a cane and talking to a counsellor
Heroin addicts receive 60 lashes whereas alcoholics receive 30
Theory is that addicts lack happiness and enthusiasm in their lives
Corporal punishment releases 'happiness hormones' which can help
Doctors claim treatment has worked where conventional methods failed
Practitioners claim foreigners are flying to Siberia for the treatment


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2778001/The-patients-having-addictions-literally-BEATEN-Bizarre-form-psychotherapy-sees-people-given-60-lashes-cane.html#ixzz3F151Yg9s

October 2, 2014

Former NYPD Police Chief Can't Bear to See the End Of 'Stop And Frisk'

The news: The use of the controversial stop-and-frisk policy in New York City is on the decline, and former NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly is going down with the ship.

Kelly, who was the city's police commissioner from 1992 to 1994 and again from 2002 to 2013, remains a staunch supporter of stop-and-frisk tactics, despite the rest of the city's seeming move in the other direction. In an interview with WNYC, he defended the practice and called on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to appeal a federal lawsuit against the city for using stop-and-frisk:

I think the lawsuit was an abomination. The judge was removed from the case and I think every indication is if the appeal were allowed to go forward, it would have been reversed and it's a shame Mayor de Blasio did that because I think people will suffer. You see shootings up now; I don't know if there's a direct relationship now, maybe time will tell.

The lawsuit: Floyd v. City of New York is a class-action suit accusing the police department of racial profiling and unconstitutional policies for questioning pedestrians and patting them down for weapons or other contraband.

In 2013, a federal judge found stop-and-frisk unconstitutional. While then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed the ruling, de Blasio, who campaigned against the practice, dropped the appeal earlier this year and decided to settle instead. His treatment of the practice was a clean break from Bloomberg and previous New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, much to the chagrin of those like Kelly.

http://mic.com/articles/100188/former-nypd-police-chief-can-t-bear-to-see-the-end-of-stop-and-frisk

October 2, 2014

NYPD: Police Mistakenly Kill Man in Confrontation

NYPD: Police Mistakenly Kill Man in Confrontation
NEW YORK — Oct 2, 2014, 9:14 AM ET


The medical examiner says an unarmed man who intervened in a confrontation between police and a knife-wielding assailant died of a gunshot to the back after police fired shots.

NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis says Rafael Laureano was "inadvertently" struck by a police bullet on Monday in Brooklyn. The assailant, Francisco Carvajal, also died in the shooting.

Police say Laureano had gone to the apartment after Carvajal's former girlfriend called him for help. They say he rushed past officers to confront Carvajal.

Police say officers told Carvajal to drop the knife several times.

Police initially had said that Laureano was stabbed before officers arrived. The medical examiner said no stab wounds were found on his body.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nypd-police-mistakenly-kill-man-confrontation-25914646

October 2, 2014

cops follow black teens & tell them to ‘get out of the neighborhood,’ over loud speaker witness says

‘They were just walking down the street’: Park Slope cops tell black teens to ‘get out of the neighborhood,’ witness says
In their patrol cars with the lights and sirens on, cops followed the group of teens before demanding they leave the neighborhood, a witness said. A commanding officer said the force has had trouble with teens loitering at Atlantic Center Mall — which is a mile and a half away from where the incident occurred.



Cops protecting tony Park Slope, Brooklyn, trailed a group of black teens in their patrol car and ordered them to “get out of the neighborhood,” a stunned witness claimed.

Sara Bennett said five teens were walking along Ninth St. between Sixth and Seventh Aves. at 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 22 when she saw an NYPD patrol car following the youths with its lights and sirens on.

Then, over the loudspeakers, a cop told the teens to leave the area, Bennett said.

“I was upset by (the) police behavior,” Bennett wrote on her Facebook page Wednesday. “I notified my city council person (Brad Lander) about what I had witnessed. His office told me I should voice my concern at a precinct council meeting, so I did.”

At the meeting, Bennett said she “was really, really upset and disturbed” by what happened.

“Not by the kids, but by the way the police were yelling at them to get out of the neighborhood," Bennett said. "They were just walking down the street."

Commanding Officer Capt. Frank DiGiacomo said his officers have been on the lookout for groups of young people loitering at nearby Atlantic Center Mall who have started fights and robbed businesses.

"When one or two are hanging out, it's never a problem, but when we have large groups of kids together and we don't ask them to move or go somewhere else, they become a larger group, and that's when we get assaults," he said according to DNAinfo, which first reported the story.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/cops-black-teens-park-slope-witness-article-1.1960584

October 2, 2014

"no longer quivering"

http://www.alternet.org/education/barely-literate-how-christian-fundamentalist-homeschooling-hurts-kids

I fell out of touch with my homeschooled friends as we grew older, a few years ago, I reconnected with a few ex-Quiverfull peers on a new support blog called No Longer Quivering. Poring over their stories, I was shocked to find so many tales of gross educational neglect. I don’t merely mean that they had received what I now view as an overly politicized education with huge gaps, for example, in American history, evolution or sexuality. Rather, what disturbed me were the many stories about homeschoolers who were barely literate when they graduated, or whose math and science education had never extended much past middle school. 

Take Vyckie Garrison, an ex-Quiverfull mother of seven who, in 2008, enrolled her six school-age children in public school after 18 years of teaching them at home. Garrison, who started the No Longer Quivering blog, says her near-constant pregnancies – which tended to result either in miscarriages or life-threatening deliveries – took a toll on her body and depleted her energy. She wasn’t able to devote enough time and energy to homeschooling to ensure a quality education for each child. And she says the lack of regulation in Nebraska, where the family lived, “allowed us to get away with some really shoddy homeschooling for a lot of years.”  

“I’ll admit it,” she confesses. “Because I was so overwhelmed with my life… It was a real struggle to do the basics, so it didn’t take long for my kids to fall far behind. One of my daughters could not read at 11 years old.” 

At the time, Garrison was taking parenting advice from Quiverfull leaders who deemphasized academic achievement in favor of family values. She remembers one Quiverfull leader saying, “If they can do mathematics perfectly but they have no morals, you have failed them.” 

October 2, 2014

Nigeria’s Actions Seem to Contain Ebola Outbreak

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/health/ebola-outbreak-in-nigeria-appears-to-be-over.html

the epidemic rages out of control in three nations only a few hundred miles away, Nigeria is the only country to have beaten back an outbreak with the potential to harm many victims in a city with vast, teeming slums.

“For those who say it’s hopeless, this is an antidote — you can control Ebola,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C.

Although officials are pleased that success was achieved in a country of 177 million that is a major transport and business hub — and whose largest city, Lagos, has 21 million people — the lessons here are not easily applicable to the countries at the epicenter: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Public health officials in those countries remain overwhelmed by the scale of the outbreak and are desperate for additional international assistance.

Nigeria’s outbreak grew from a single airport case, while in the three other countries the disease smoldered for months in remote rain-forest provinces and spread widely before a serious response was mounted.



Ebola, Dr. Frieden said, “won’t blow over — you have to make a rapid, intense effort.”

While the danger in Nigeria is not over, the health minister, Dr. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said in a telephone interview that his country was now better prepared, with six laboratories able to make diagnoses and response teams and isolation wards ready in every major state.

October 2, 2014

Nicolas Cage thriller about the Rapture is so bad it's also a mystery: Why did he make it?

'Left Behind': Movie review
Nicolas Cage thriller about the Rapture is so bad it's also a mystery: Why did he make it?

This failed epic — really, an epic failure — would barely be noticed, were it not for former Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage taking on a “Sharknado”-quality remake of a Kirk Cameron movie.

If you saw the 2000 original, you know that “Left Behind” is based on Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye’s evangelical novel about the Rapture. Director Vic Armstrong seems to have hustled up his budget for this Z-grade rehash by rifling through couch cushions, which is too bad. A big-deal event like the coming of Armageddon deserves some big-time special effects.

Instead, Cage plays a pilot on an aircraft that was seemingly shot in someone’s basement. As Capt. Rayford Steele, he’s as shocked as anyone when half his passengers disappear. Where did they go? Why are they gone? His deeply religious wife, Irene (Lea Thompson), could have told him. But being a believer, she’s gone too.

Fortunately his daughter Chloe (Cassi Thomson), a proud skeptic, is still around to help the survivors. So is investigative journalist Buck Williams (Chad Michael Murray). Journalists, after all, rarely take anything on faith.

Instead, we tend to ask a lot of questions. For example, what has gone so horribly wrong in Cage’s career that he is forced to accept any paycheck that comes his way? There’s no reason he shouldn’t make a religious movie, if that’s what speaks to him. But why would he make such a terrible one?

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/left-behind-movie-review-article-1.1959634

October 1, 2014

California Governor Signs Law to Force Billionaire to Restore Beach Access

California Governor Signs Law to Force Billionaire to Restore Beach Access



California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation to force Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla to allow public access through his property to a contested beach south of San Francisco. The venture capitalist and green energy investor bought the 53-acre property south of Half Moon Bay in 2008 and erected a gate across the road, preventing beachgoers and surfers from reaching popular Martin’s Beach. The standoff has become a lightning rod in the battle over beach access, spawning legislation and litigation.

Earlier this year, Brown signed legislation allowing the state Coastal Commission to levy large fines against homeowners who block shore access. Then San Mateo Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach ruled against Khosla last week in a lawsuit aimed at forcing him to reopen the road, saying he must either allow access or get a state permit to permanently close it. Khosla has not reopened the road. Legislation signed by Brown on Tuesday specifically targets Khosla and requires the state Lands Commission to negotiate with him for a year to try to resolve the issue. If no agreement is reached, the Coastal Commission would acquire all or a part of Khosla’s property by eminent domain to ensure access. An attorney for Khosla did not immediately return a call from NBC News seeking comment on the new law or the litigation.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/california-governor-signs-law-force-billionaire-restore-beach-access-n216181

October 1, 2014

That Laser Cat Yearbook Photo Just Got Even More Awesome

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How do you take a laser cat yearbook photo to the next level? Add a chihuahua and a principal, and do it all to spread awareness about animal adoption.

Draven Rodriguez, a senior at upstate New York's Schenectady High School, made headlines earlier this month when he launched an online campaign to get his school's approval of his cat-and-laser portrait for the 2015 yearbook. The photo featured Rodriguez posing in a suit while holding his cat, Mr. Bigglesworth, with pink and blue beams shooting across the image.

At the time, school district spokeswoman Karen Corona told Schenectady's Daily Gazette the photo could appear somewhere in the yearbook but would not appear alongside the professional senior portraits.

Now, Rodriguez's cat-and-laser theme is getting even more prominent placement thanks to the addition of Principal Diane Wilkinson and her dog, Vivienne.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/30/laser-cat-yearbook-photo-aspca-principal_n_5906370.html?ir=Teen

original picture:

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