Judi Lynn
Judi Lynn's JournalVideo Shows White Officer Kicking Black Man in Face
Source: Associated Press
Video Shows White Officer Kicking Black Man in Face
DOVER, Del. — May 8, 2015, 1:23 AM ET
By RANDALL CHASE Associated Press
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In this Aug. 24, 2013, photo made from a police dash camera video and released by the Dover Police Department, Dover Police Cpl. Thomas Webster, center, kicks Lateef Dickerson in the face as Dickerson is following orders to get on the ground during... View Full Caption
AP
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A police dashcam video released Thursday shows a black suspect being kicked in the face by a white police officer who was charged this week with assault.
The video, recorded in August 2013, was released by Dover police after a federal judge ruled last week that it was no longer considered confidential. The judge's ruling came in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the suspect by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Recorded by another officer's dashboard camera, the video shows Dover Cpl. Thomas Webster IV kicking Lateef Dickerson after Dickerson gets down on his hands and knees in response to commands to get on the ground.
Dickerson, 30, was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken jaw, police said in a news release Monday after Webster was charged.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/dover-police-officer-charged-assault-video-released-30884038
Colombia holds 2nd highest displacement statistics in the world: Report
May 6, 2015
Colombia holds 2nd highest displacement statistics in the world: Report
posted by Alice Bradshaw-Smith
6.04 million citizens are internally displaced in Colombia — the second highest number in the world — according to a report published Wednesday.
Colombia is only surpassed by Syria, with 7.6 million people affected by the issue, stated the information compiled by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC). The figures result from six decades of research on the matter.
In 2014, 137,000 people were displaced in Colombia, which is less than the records held for the previous year, according to the IDMC.
The more than 50-year-long armed conflict on Colombian territory and the resultant spread of violent crime are the main factors that lead people to leave their homes, the statement said.
More:
http://colombiareports.co/colombia-holds-2nd-highest-displacement-statistics-in-the-world-report/
Mississippi megafloods wiped out biggest ancient Native American civilisation of Cahokia
Mississippi megafloods wiped out biggest ancient Native American civilisation of Cahokia
Hannah Osborne
By Hannah Osborne May 5, 2015 12:16 BST
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Cahokia was probably wiped out by megafloods, scientists say(William R. Iseminger)
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Megafloods likely wiped out the largest and most influential prehistoric Native American civilisations, scientists have said.
Cahokia was the biggest and most prominent cultural centre north of Mexico between around 1000 and 1200, having emerged around 600 AD. It had economic power and influence over a huge area, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.
However, the city suddenly declined and by 1400, the city that spanned over six square miles had been completely abandoned. Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison now say they know why.
Publishing their findings in the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, scientist say major flood events in the Mississippi River are tied to both the culture's rise and fall.
More:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/megafloods-wiped-out-biggest-prehistoric-native-american-civilisation-cahokia-1499723
Follow the minerals: Why the US is threatened by Venezuela's 'blue gold'
Follow the minerals: Why the US is threatened by Venezuela's 'blue gold'
Carrie Giunta 06 May 2015. Posted in News
Could the precious mineral coltan have anything to do with Obama's claim that Venezuela is an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security?
US PRESIDENT Obama generated international outcry after imposing further sanctions on Venezuela in March and claiming that Venezuela poses an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security. President Maduro of Venezuela fired back at Obama, saying the sanctions and executive order are an attempt to use force to control the country.
One forthright response to the US decree from Bolivian President Evo Morales demanded Obama to: “Stop turning the world into a battlefield.”
Is any threat posed by Venezuela merely an illusion created to oil the wheels of intervention?
What is real and tangible is the US’ increasing demand for the natural resources Venezuela has in superabundance.
Resource wealth can be a blessing and a curse. Not only is Venezuela the fifth largest oil exporting country in the world, with the second-largest reserves of heavy crude oil, but also add to that the country’s rich mineral reserves, plus a turbulent economy, and you have a recipe for ‘resource curse’.
More:
http://stopwar.org.uk/news/follow-the-minerals-why-the-us-is-threatened-by-venezuela-s-blue-gold
The War over the Vietnam War
The War over the Vietnam War
May 5, 2015
Exclusive: The Pentagon has retreated somewhat from its recent campaign to rewrite the Vietnam War history to push the discredited theory that the military strategy was sound, just undercut by disloyal war reporters and a misled public, a modest victory for truth, as war correspondent Don North describes.
By Don North
Wars are fought twice, once on the battlefield and later in the remembering. In that way, the Vietnam War – though it ended on the battlefield four decades ago – continues as a battle of memory, history and truth. And the stakes are still high. Honest narratives about important past events can shape our destinies, helping to determine whether there will be more wars or maybe peace.
A few years ago, I was pleased to hear that the Pentagon would be funding a committee for the commemoration of the Vietnam War. I thought maybe, finally, we’ll get the record straight. But I didn’t have to read further than the keynote quote at the top of the new website to realize it was not to be.
Quoting President Richard Nixon, it read: “No event in history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam war. It was misreported then and is misunderstood now.”
I belong to the dwindling ranks of journalists who covered the war. We call ourselves “the Vietnam old hacks” and we got pretty exercised about this quote since it perpetuates the myth that the war would have worked out just fine if not for the discouraging words of some reporters. I wrote a letter to the chief of the commemoration committee, retired Lieutenant General Claude Kicklighter, protesting this slur on the thousands of journalists who tried to honestly cover the war, a slur coming from a U.S. president who was one of the most responsible for misleading the public about the war.
More:
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/05/05/the-war-over-the-vietnam-war/
Martelly Thugs Attack KOD Militants at May Day Demonstration
Du 6 au 12 mai 2015
Martelly Thugs Attack KOD Militants at May Day Demonstration
by Isabelle L. Papillon
Hooligans attached to the regime of President Michel Martelly and Prime Minister Evans Paul attacked about 30 militants from the Dessalines Coordination (KOD) party as they loudly demonstrated at an official event for International Workers Day in front of Haiti’s National Palace on May 1.
The KOD militants had marched about three miles from the Industrial Park with hundreds representing unions, popular organizations, and student groups. The demonstrators loudly shouted their demands for a 500 gourdes ($10.57) a day minimum wage. Many marchers affiliated with KOD also called for an end to the United Nations military occupation of Haiti and the resignation of President Martelly before the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections, now scheduled for August, October, and December 2015.
At the official ceremony on the Champ de Mars, regime thugs assaulted the chanting KOD militants, who fought back. A melee ensued in front of the stage where Martelly and Paul were sitting.
“We so panicked Martelly with our action that it became clear that he did not know what to say,” stated KOD leader Oxygène David after the struggle. “There was a security officer behind Martelly who sent a guy to come take the sign I was holding high. When he came to me, I gave him a shove. I received a lot of blows today, but I also gave a lot of blows.”
More:
http://www.haiti-liberte.com/archives/volume8-43/Martelly%20Thugs%20Attack%20KOD%20Militants%20at%20May%20Day%20Demonstration.asp
Cuba to hold a mass gay wedding to promote gay rights
Cuba to hold a mass gay wedding to promote gay rights
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Activists will be led by daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro
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Payton Guion
New York
Wednesday 06 May 2015
Gay marriage remains illegal in Cuba, but activists – led by the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro – are holding a mass gay wedding this weekend in Havana to promote gay rights.
The wedding will be held alongside Cuba’s annual gay-pride parade, the BBC reported. At the moment it can only be symbolic, but Mariela Castro says she hopes the mass wedding will lead to change in the future.
“We can't do a wedding, but we wanted to have a very modest celebration of love with some religious leaders,” Ms Castro told the BBC. “In the future we'll see what more we can do.”
The president’s daughter – and granddaughter of former president Fidel Castro – is the chief of the National Sex Education Centre and a member of the Cuban National Assembly, and she has played a large role in promoting gay rights in the communist country.
More:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cuba-to-hold-a-mass-gay-wedding-to-promote-gay-rights-10229569.html
(Correction: Mariela Castro is the niece, not the granddaughter of Fidel Castro. Her father, Raul, and Fidel are brothers.)
Colombia's Santos OKs Extradition of Serra Murder Suspect
Colombia's Santos OKs Extradition of Serra Murder Suspect
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Venezuelan lawmaker Robert Serra, who was murdered last October, appears in this file photo. | Photo: AVN
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Leiver Padilla is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder of Venezuelan lawmaker Robert Serra.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos authorized Wednesday the extradition of Leiver Padilla Mendoza, a suspected paramilitary who has been identified by Venezuelan authorities as the mastermind behind the murder of socialist lawmaker, Robert Serra.
Padilla was arrested by Colombian authorities in Nov., with Venezuelan authorities submitting an extradition request afterward. He facing a number of charges, including aggravated homicide.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stated that preliminary investigations into Serra's murder had revealed the involvement of Colombian paramilitaries, acting as part of broader efforts to destabilize the Venezuelan government, including plots to assassinate leftist politicians.
More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Colombias-Santos-OKs-Extradition-of-Serra-Murder-Suspect-20150506-0018.html
Mass grave found on the Venezuela-Colombia border
Mass grave found on the Venezuela-Colombia border
5 May 2015
Seven bodies have been found in a mass grave on the border between Venezuela and Colombia, say officials.
Venezuelan troops found the corpses of six men and one woman in Tachira state on Monday, only 4km (2.5 miles) from the border with Colombia.
How they died is not yet known but reports say that the bodies were found tied together with barbed wire and had gunshot wounds. Local media said that they were all in an advanced state of decomposition.
On Tuesday, Alejandro Garcia, the local mayor, confirmed the finding and told reporters that the bodies also showed signs of torture. He added that the mass grave may not be the only one to be found in that area.
. . .
The border location between Colombia and Venezuela is known to be dangerous, with paramilitary groups, smugglers and drug gangs all operating in the area.
More:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32598600
Chile's quest to save melting mummies
Chile's quest to save melting mummies
By Chris Kraul
May 6, 2015, 6:00 AM|Reporting From ARICA, Chile
or thousands of years, the mummies lay buried beneath the sands of the Atacama Desert, a volcanically active region along the northern Chilean coast with virtually no rainfall..
When the first ones were discovered 100 years ago, archaeologists marveled at the ancient relics, some of them fetuses, their little bodies amazingly intact.
But now the mummies, which are believed to be the oldest on Earth, are melting.
Mariela Santos, curator at the University of Tarapaca museum here, noticed a few years ago that the desiccated skins of a dozen of the mummies were decomposing and turning into a mysterious black ooze.
"I knew the situation was critical and that we'd have to ask specialists for help," said Santos, whose museum stores and displays the so-called Chinchorro mummies, which date back as far as 5000 BC and are among archaeology's most enigmatic objects.
More:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/la-fg-c1-chile-mummies-20150506-story.html#page=1
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