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Old 11-09-2013, 10:25 AM
  #61
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That's the part that I can't get over.

Shoddy detective work is.... obviously not a good thing, but it happens. These things happen.

And it's looking less and less like the suspects they did have will either stay free (in the case of Ms Knox) or be freed (in the case of her ex) soon.

Considering the flimsy evidence, that's obviously what needs to happen.

But poor Mercedes Kercher's parents.

Their little girl died. That's terrible enough on its own.

Now it looks like, thanks to the shoddy detective work, they'll never know what happened to her.
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Old 11-12-2013, 12:36 AM
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Why would this story be published if this wasn't an investigation that was properly taken care of?
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Old 11-12-2013, 08:35 PM
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Why would there be reporting on Mercedes Kercher's brutal murder despite the fact that the investigation seems to have been bungled from the start?

Is that what you're asking?

Because, if it is, then I'd have to hazard a guess (not being a newspaper publisher myself) that it's because the tawdry and the scandalous sells papers.

Not to mention the fact that a very young woman was, again, brutally murdered.

With some exceptions, reporting on crime rarely has anything to do with the quality of the investigation, especially since it usually begins while the investigation is still ongoing.
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Old 11-12-2013, 09:10 PM
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Yes
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Old 11-13-2013, 06:30 PM
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Old 11-14-2013, 12:47 AM
  #66
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Old 11-14-2013, 05:30 PM
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^ Didn't know what to respond to "yes," and I'm starting to annoy myself with the 20 questions.

So I went with a N&P old favourite: the sailboat.

Meanwhile, awesome news today:

Quote:
Hundreds held over Canada child porn

Police in Canada say 348 people have been arrested and nearly 400 children rescued during a three-year investigation into child pornography.

At the centre of the inquiry was a Toronto-based firm that allegedly sold DVDs and streamed videos of naked children.

Azov Films marketed the footage as "naturist" and claimed it was legal in Canada and the US.

The films were distributed in 94 countries, police said.

In Canada 108 arrests were made, with another 76 in the US and 164 in other countries during the investigation codenamed Project Spade.

Inspector Joanna Beavan-Desjardins, from Toronto police, said the number of suspects who had close contact with children was of particular concern to investigators.

Doctors, school teachers, foster carers and priests were among those detained, she said.

The head of Azov Films, identified as Canadian Brian Way, 42, has been in custody since his arrest in May 2011, following an undercover operation.

He is accused of paying people to film the children and has been charged with 11 offences.

The company has been shut down.

Identities

The Toronto Police Service (TPS) Child Exploitation Section was able to determine the identities of customers using Azov Films' databases.

US investigators then joined the inquiry because many of the films were being exported to addresses in America. Seven months later, a series of raids took place across Toronto, including at a site owned by Azov Films and Brian Way, police said.

Among the other countries involved in the investigation were Australia, Spain, Mexico, South Africa, Norway, Greece and the Republic of Ireland.

"It is alleged that officers located hundreds of thousands of images and videos detailing horrific sexual acts against very young children - some of the worst they have ever viewed," police told reporters.

Ms Beavan-Desjardins said that Canadian officers, executing a search warrant at the home of a retired school teacher, found over 350,000 images and 9,000 videos depicting child abuse, with some of the victims known to the man.

He was also charged with sexually abusing a young child relative, she said.

Gerald O'Farrell, Acting Deputy Chief Inspector of the US Postal Inspection Service, said all the victims identified were pre-pubescent, with some as young as five years old.

Mr O'Farrell detailed the cases of several US residents investigated as part of Project Spade, who have already pleaded guilty to crimes.

A school employee from Georgia, who had admitted receiving child pornography, had placed a hidden video camera in the toilets used by school students, the inspector said.

A pre-school teacher had pleaded guilty to producing child pornography while teaching in Japan, he said.

Mr O'Farrell said US postal inspectors had identified and rescued 330 child victims as part of the investigation.

Toronto police acknowledged the assistance of a website, cybertip.ca, which allows for the online reporting of the sexual exploitation of children.

The website had received many complaints about Azov Films which became the basis for the investigation, TPS said.‪
I expect it goes without saying, but just in case there's any confusion, it's obviously not good news that all of these horrific things happened to children.

The good news is that the investigation has yielded solid evidence against actual people and, also, that actual victims have been made safe as a result.

It's such a large-scale operation that it's almost impossible to comprehend, at least in terms of logistics, but I applaud all of the law enforcement officials who were involved in bringing and end to these horrific crimes.

At least, in this instance. Obviously, this is hardly the end of child pornography.
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Old 11-15-2013, 02:16 PM
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The war against child pornography can never be won completely, but I echo what you said, Sunny. It's good that at least these kids are safe now.
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Old 11-16-2013, 09:42 AM
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That they can name the exact number of victims that have been saved gives the story a whole lot of credence.

If you can be specific, there's a better chance that you're not just making it up.
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Old 11-18-2013, 06:31 PM
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It does seem like Russia has decided to dig its heels in with regards to the Greenpeace activist it is detaining:

Quote:
Russian court refuses to free Greenpeace activist, signalling no leniency

PETERSBURG, Russia -- A Russian judge refused Monday to free one of the 30 people arrested following a Greenpeace protest against oil drilling in the Arctic, signalling that all of them could be kept in jail for three more months pending trial.

Among those arrested were two Canadians: Paul Ruzycki of Port Colborne, Ont., and Alexandre Paul of Montreal.

Australian activist Colin Russell was the first to have his case heard, as investigators asked St. Petersburg courts to extend the detention period for all 30. Six other defendants, including Ana Paula Alminhana Maciel of Brazil, also have hearings Monday.

During separate hearings two months ago on whether to jail the defendants, the rulings were the same in all 30 cases.

The Russian coast guard seized the Greenpeace ship on Sept. 18 and arrested everyone on board after a few of the environmental activists tried to scale an offshore drilling platform owned by Russian state energy giant Gazprom.

The detainees are charged with hooliganism, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years. They were initially charged with piracy, a more serious offence, but investigators have said that those charges would be dropped.

"I haven't done anything wrong," Russell, 59, told the court, adding that he did not understand why he had been detained.

His lawyer asked the court to free him on bail of two million rubles (US$61,500) or put him under house arrest in a St. Petersburg hotel. But the judge refused, saying if Russell was freed he could put pressure on the investigation or flee the country. He ordered him held until Feb. 24.
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Old 11-19-2013, 03:12 PM
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I think it's also about setting a precedent. Russia wants to signal that it's not gonna go easy on what they view as troublemakers.
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Old 11-19-2013, 05:51 PM
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But wasn't setting a precendent why they arrested and imprisoned some of the Pussy Riot members?

I mean, it just seems to be like Russia shouldn't be short on precedent-setting things right now.

We get it. If you piss off Putin, you're going to jail.

It's still completely unacceptable.
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Old 11-22-2013, 07:18 PM
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Quote:
Duke lacrosse accuser Crystal Mangum guilty of murder

A black US woman who falsely accused three white Duke University athletes of rape in 2006 has been convicted of stabbing her boyfriend to death.

In the state of North Carolina, Crystal Mangum was found guilty of the second-degree murder of Reginald Daye, 46.

Mangum, now 34, was hired to perform as an exotic dancer at a party for the Duke lacrosse players, later accusing three of gang-raping her.

The athletes were cleared after Mangum's story fell apart.

On Friday, Mangum was sentenced to up to 18 years in prison for stabbing Daye on 3 April 2011.

Daye, 46, died 10 days later from his injuries.

Privilege and entitlement

During the eight-day trial in Durham, North Carolina, Mangum acknowledged she "poked" Daye in the chest with a steak knife but claimed she acted in self-defence during an altercation.

Assistant District Attorney Charlene Franks told the jurors the evidence did not corroborate Mangum's account.

"It did not happen the way the defendant said it happened. No, not at all," he said, according to the Charlotte Observer.

In 2006, Mangum attended an off-campus party for the lacrosse team at which she was hired to perform as a stripper.

Later, Mangum accused Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans of raping her in a bathroom.

The case's race, class and gender elements provoked a national debate about the perceived privilege and out-of-control entitlement of elite male athletes on US university campuses.

But those assumptions were turned upside down when all charges against the three students were dropped by North Carolina's attorney general, who cited significant inconsistencies between the evidence and various accounts given by Mangum.

Durham, North Carolina, prosecutor Mike Nifong later resigned following an ethics trial investigating whether he had broken rules of professional conduct in the case.
It's a little interesting, isn't it?

Once, she falsely accused three men of raping her and now she seems to have killed another.

That's just... something's wrong with this woman.

That's all.
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Old 11-26-2013, 07:23 PM
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Quote:
Ashley Smith inquest: 'Secretive' prison system must be independently monitored

TORONTO -- Only an independent, external watchdog can force improvements on a secretive prison system deeply resistant to change, an inquest jury heard Tuesday.

Proper accountability is desperately needed to prevent a recurrence of the Ashley Smith tragedy, a lawyer for a women's prisoner advocacy group told jurors.

In closing submissions, Breese Davies said it would be useless to simply recommend a culture shift at Correctional Service Canada.

"This inquest has taught us the risks of allowing CSC to continue to operate under a cloud of secrecy," Davies said.

"They have lost their moral compass. The cloud of secrecy has to be lifted."

Speaking for the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, Davies said prison authorities need to focus less on security and more on therapy when it comes to mentally ill and chronically self-harming women.

Davies, who joined with Smith's family in urging jurors to return a verdict of homicide in the teen's choking death six years ago, said CSC has done little to deal with the issues that led to the tragedy.

"CSC cannot be trusted to fix the problems," she said.

The deeply troubled Smith, 19, strangled herself in her segregation cell in Kitchener, Ont., on Oct. 19, 2007, as guards delayed going in to try to save her.

Davies opposed a finding of suicide or accidental death given evidence the warden had ordered underlings to stay out of Smith's cell as long as the inmate was still breathing.

"The order was a well researched, meticulously-crafted policy that we now know was a major factor in Ashley's death," Davies said.

"It was extreme hesitation that caused her death that day."

An inquest homicide verdict is a neutral finding that does not involve liability or blame but indicates only that a person contributed to the death of another.

"The people who made the order foresaw or expected her death," Davies said. "They were told directly."

In submissions for Ontario's child and youth advocate, lawyer Richard Macklin urged a more therapeutic approach to "emerging adults" who find themselves in adult prisons.

That means offering specialized treatment by correctional staff experienced and knowledgeable in dealing with prisoners 18 to 21 years old, said Macklin, who backed a homicide verdict.

He replayed a video clip of a chatty, smiley Smith, of Moncton, N.B., on a transport plane bantering happily with guards about going shopping.

Immaturity leads to an inability to cope, leads to acting out, which in turn prompts a heavy-handed security response, creating a vicious cycle, jurors heard.

"Ashley Smith was a child," Macklin said. "It was the security focus that led to her undoing."

The inquest has heard about 20 high-needs women with issues similar to Smith, who repeatedly tied cloth strips around her neck, are in Canadian prisons poorly equipped to deal with them.

Self-harm has to be seen as a medical issue, not a security issue, Davies said. As such, jurors heard, the focus should be on getting mentally ill women out of prison and into independent, therapy-centred health facilities.

The inquest has heard how Smith, whose index offence was throwing crab apples at a postal worker, was kept in segregation, restrained or injected with drugs against her will, and repeatedly shunted from prison to prison because she was too difficult to handle.

"Forced compliance was exactly the opposite of what Ashley needed," Davies said.

Davies called for independent oversight of the use of restraints in prisons, and a ban on segregation -- where Smith was kept for years -- for the mentally ill.

"That's the right thing to do," she said. "If it's not an option, then other forms of intervention will be found."

The lawyer called for a strengthened women's secretariat within CSC -- given that prisons are a male-dominated system -- to which its institutions for females would report.

To ensure jury suggestions aren't ignored, Davies urged jurors to include public, ongoing oversight of their recommendations along with an independent five- and 10-year audit.

"This way, the cloud of secrecy can't persist, or return."

Corrections Canada is expected to make its submissions on Thursday.
With a "law-and-order" government such as ours, I thinh the mentally ill in this country are doomed.

I'm not exagerating very much when I say that.

I'm obviously no expert on our correctional services, but I see no attempt to address the problems these people have. As most of them will eventually reintegrate society, I find that completely unacceptable.

Not to mention stupid and pointless.
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Old 12-02-2013, 07:41 PM
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Quote:
Man apologises on Facebook for mugging 35 years ago

A man who mugged someone in New York in the 1970s has apologised to his victim after finding him on Facebook.

Michael Goodman said he stole Claude Soffel's bus pass from him outside the Museum of Natural History.

After reading a post about a bagel shop closing down Mr Goodman recognised the name of his victim and sent him a message to apologise.

Mr Soffel responded to the message and said he accepted the apology.

Writing on Facebook Mr Goodman said: "You may not remember this (about 1976 or '77) but a long long time ago... trying to look like a tough guy... I walked up to you and mugged you for your bus pass.

"I have never forgotten the incident or your name. Finally I can say I'm very sorry. So once again I'm truly sorry for taking your bus pass back then."

Arrested immediately

Some time later the victim, Mr Soffel, replied.

"Clearly you're a bigger man today. I recognise your name now as well. So, apology accepted. So let us now, jointly put this in its proper place, behind us," he wrote.

Mr Goodman went on to explain that on the day of the mugging there had been undercover police nearby and he was arrested immediately.

"My father had to leave work and come and get me (I was a minor at the time) and [he] was not too happy with me to say the least," he wrote.

He expressed his surprise that the story of the apology had spread so quickly and hoped the reason for the original contact with Mr Soffel did not get lost in all the coverage.
That's kinda... sweet, isn't it?

Out of the norm, for sure, but kinda sweet.
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