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Former Atlanta school superintendent and 34 others charged with racketeering in cheating probe

“The former superintendent of Atlanta’s public school system was among 35 people indicted on Friday in connection with a cheating scandal that dates back to 2001.
Beverly Hall, former Atlanta Public Schools human relations director Millicent Few and other administrators were indicted on 57 counts of making false statements, along with five counts of theft, two counts of influencing a witness and one count of racketeering. A grand jury recommended bail be set at $7.5 million for Hall. She, along with her fellow defendants, is expected to turn herself in to authorities by Tuesday. Hall faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.” Continue reading →

Gun-toting former Republican candidate claims ‘conspiracies’ after caught shoplifting twice

“A former Republican candidate for Agricultural commissioner in Alabama, who once waved a rifle in a campaign ad about ‘thugs and criminals,’ said on Thursday that he had been a victim of ‘conspiracies’ after his second shoplifting arrest in six months. According to the blog Yellow Hammer, Dale Peterson was arrested at a Sam’s Club in Hoover on Wednesday for stealing cashews. Security personnel reportedly observed the former candidate eating the nuts without paying for them. In October of last year, Peter had also been charged with third-degree theft of property after he pushed his cart containing paper towels and beer through a checkout line at Walmart without paying.” Continue reading →

TSA officer hits six colleagues after mistaking pepper spray for laser pointer

“Six security officers at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport landed in hospital after being hit by pepper spray — fired by one of their own. According to a report in the New York Post, quoting an unnamed source, an agent was ‘playing around’ with what he and other agents thought was just a laser pointer when it suddenly emitted spray. The TSA has suffered a series of embarrassing recent news reports, ranging from failure at Newark International Airport to detect a fake bomb carried by an undercover government agent, to complaints of overzealous searches.” Continue reading →

Study: Iraq and Afghanistan wars will cost U.S. up to $6 trillion

“The Iraq and Afghanistan wars will cost the United States between $4-6 trillion in the long term. Harvard University scholar Linda Bilmes concluded that the United States will face increasing costs to care for an estimated 2.5 million veterans, and to pay down debt incurred by borrowing to pay for the wars. Bilmes said that costs will climb over decades. She wrote that the peak year for disability payments over World War I, which ended in 1918, was 1969 as veterans became elderly. Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary under Bush, said before the invasion that the Iraq war would cost around $50 billion and called higher estimates ‘baloney.'” Continue reading →

Ex-cop guns down wife after she filed horrifying domestic violence report

“A former Pennsylvania state trooper gunned down his estranged wife in the middle of a Philipsburg supermarket on Thursday and then turned his weapon on himself. Police said that Mark R. Miscavish, 51, who retired from the force in 2011, used a shotgun to murder his wife Traci A. Miscavish, who filed for divorce just days prior following a report of domestic violence on Jan. 23. Mark Miscavish was facing a prosecution over the incident, the AP noted. He allegedly became violent when his wife tried to intervene in suspected prescription drug abuse, throwing her to the ground and trying to tie her up with duct tape.” Continue reading →

UPS receives $40 million fine for shipping prescription drugs for online pharmacies

“UPS Friday agreed to forfeit $40 million and implement a compliance program after a Department of Justice probe found the company delivered drugs on behalf of illegal online pharmacies. The agreement followed an investigation that showed that UPS was shipping drugs on behalf of Internet pharmacies that were distributing controlled substances and prescription drugs that were not supported by a valid prescription. Despite being on notice from employees that such illegal shipments were being delivered, UPS ‘did not implement procedures to close the shipping accounts of Internet pharmacies,’ said a Department of Justice statement.” Continue reading →

Former MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan, now organic farmer, thanks marijuana growers for hydroponics

“Former MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan thanked comedian Tommy Chong and marijuana growers for perfecting hydroponic farming technology. ‘I’d like to issue a letter of gratitude to Tommy and all the hydroponic marijuana growers in the world,’ he said on The Young Turks. ‘Much as porn made the Internet, the cutting edge of hydroponic lighting and water flow and nutrient film technique that really has been been perfect as a result of the marijuana industry is the very techniques that we are now benefiting from to yield incredibly nutritious kale, bok choy, swiss chard, basil, bell peppers — you pick it. So, Tommy, thank you.'” Continue reading →

French workers hold company heads captive after they’re fired without pay

“Workers at a French greetings card firm on Friday sequestered the head of their company and the chief of the Dutch firm which owns it after sacked employees were told they would not get their dues. The protest at the office of French firm Edit66 and the Dutch owner Mercurius, targeted their two chiefs Paul Denis and Merthus Bezemer. The town’s socialist mayor Jean Vila said he backed the action. France’s economy, the second biggest in the eurozone, has been stagnating in recent months. Unemployment is just shy of the record level of 3.195 million last reached in 1997 and the spending power of French households fell in late 2012 for the first time since 1984.” Continue reading →