Mainstream News

Former Dallas cop sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison for Crime Stoppers scam

"Theodora Ross, the former Dallas police senior corporal who ran the department's Crime Stoppers program, was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison today for stealing at least $175,000 from the program. Beginning in 2005 and through early 2010, Ross would give bogus tip information to an accomplice, Malva Delley, who collected cash rewards from the bank. Delley would collect the proceeds of the bogus tips and would then 'divide the cash, per Ross’s instructions, and deliver Ross’s share of the illegally obtained money by either directly depositing cash into Ross’s Bank of America bank account or by giving cash directly to Ross.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Dallas cop sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison for Crime Stoppers scam

Cleveland police chase ends with 13 officers firing 137 shots, 2 people dead

"Investigators did not find a gun inside the bullet-riddled blue Chevrolet Malibu SS when staff from the Cuyahoga County medical examiner's office removed the bodies from the car Friday evening. Why did the department get involved in a chase for more than 20 minutes, why did 13 officers fire 137 rounds, and why did this situation occur?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCleveland police chase ends with 13 officers firing 137 shots, 2 people dead

Milwaukee Police Officer Richard Schoen punches woman, fired and then re-hired

"A Milwaukee police officer fired for punching a female suspect will get his job back. Officer Richard Schoen was let go after this dashcam video surfaced of him punching a handcuffed woman he arrested in May. The Milwaukee police chief said it was clear Schoen had lost control and was using excessive force. Schoen appealed, saying he punched the woman because he was afraid she would bite or spit on him. Monday, the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission overturned the firing. Schoen said he's learned his lesson." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilwaukee Police Officer Richard Schoen punches woman, fired and then re-hired

Rape victim Sara Reedy, accused of lying and jailed by U.S. police, wins $1.5 million payout

"The man entered the petrol station near Pittsburgh where she was working to pay her way through college and pulled a gun. He emptied the till of its $606.73 takings, assaulted her and fled into the night. But the detective who interviewed Reedy in hospital didn’t believe her, and accused her of stealing the money herself and inventing the story as a cover-up. Although another local woman was attacked not long after in similar fashion, the police didn’t join the dots. Following further inquiries, Reedy was arrested for theft and false reporting and, pregnant with her first child (by her now ex-husband), thrown in jail. She was subsequently released on bail, but lost her job." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRape victim Sara Reedy, accused of lying and jailed by U.S. police, wins $1.5 million payout

Sexual assault reports jump at military academies, Pentagon finds

"The number of sexual assaults reported on the campuses of the nation’s military academies increased by nearly a quarter over the 2010-2011 academic year, according to an annual Pentagon survey released Friday. The dramatic increase was recorded despite efforts that defense officials have put into sexual assault awareness programs and other training to try to prevent rape and harassment on campus. Roughly 12 percent of women who responded to the survey, and two percent of men, said they had experienced unwanted sexual contact." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSexual assault reports jump at military academies, Pentagon finds

Suicide underscores grim conditions at Guantanamo

"The suicide of a Guantanamo inmate underscores the grim reality for detainees held there for nearly 11 years without charge or trial, with no end in sight to their imprisonment. Three months after Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif was found dead in his cell, the US Army formally declared his death to be a suicide — the seventh at the prison. How, Remes would like to know, did the prisoner manage to die at the tightly-controlled facility of a self-administered drug overdose, as the autopsy report cites as the cause? And how could an inmate suffering from acute pneumonia be languishing in a disciplinary cell without medical care?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSuicide underscores grim conditions at Guantanamo

‘Yak insurance’ plan saving Nepal’s endangered snow leopard

"Four years ago Sherpa, 48, founded with other locals an insurance plan for livestock that conservationists say is deterring herders from killing snow leopards that attack their animals. In doing so the scheme has given hope for the endangered cat, whose numbers across the mountains of 12 countries in south and central Asia are thought to have declined by 20 percent over the past 16 years. Under the scheme, herders pay in 55 rupees ($1.50) a year for each of their hairy yaks, the vital pack animal that is also kept for milk and meat, and are paid 2,500 rupees for any animal killed by the endangered cat." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Yak insurance’ plan saving Nepal’s endangered snow leopard

Saving the rhino with U.S. military surveillance drones

"A rhino farmer in South Africa is planning to use surveillance drones designed for the US military to combat poachers who are driving the animals towards extinction. Clive Vivier, cofounder of the Zululand rhino reserve in KwaZulu-Natal province, said he has been granted permission by the US state department to buy the state-of-the-art Arcturus T-20 drone. He is now seeking clearance from local civil aviation authorities to put 30 of the drones in South African skies. He appealed for the US, UK or other countries to help raise the necessary funds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSaving the rhino with U.S. military surveillance drones

‘Citizen Drone Warfare’: Hobbyist explores a frightening scenario

"Less than a month ago, rumors that celebrity news and gossip website TMZ was interested in obtaining a paparazzi drone prompted privacy concerns and public debate about the appropriate personal and commercial uses of unmanned aerial vehicles. Now, a new online video poses a more troubling question: What if civilian drones are equipped to shoot more than just pictures? Titled 'Citizen Drone Warfare' and posted to YouTube last week anonymously, a video shows a hobbyist drone equipped with a custom-mounted paintball pistol flying over a grassy field and peppering human-shaped shooting-range targets with pellets." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Citizen Drone Warfare’: Hobbyist explores a frightening scenario

Tunisian president stoned by protesters

"Protesters on Monday hurled rocks at Tunisia’s President Moncef Marzouki and parliamentary speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar in Sidi Bouzid, cradle of the revolution that erupted exactly two years ago. The police held back, after violent clashes over the past few months, which have often followed attempts to disperse protesters angry over the Islamist-led government’s failure to improve living conditions in the poor region. Clashes and strikes, as well as attacks by hardline Islamists, have multiplied across Tunisia in the run-up to the second anniversary of the start of Tunisia’s revolution." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTunisian president stoned by protesters