SIDEBAR #58 - Travis Alexander forum

[Wagara]

:hilarious: You're too funny this morning, Chelly... I am waiting for it to warm up, too...... can I see 25 degrees before I have to get out there to shovel the heavy snow.. it isn't deep, but the kiddos need to get to their bus stop tomorrow.

It's amazing how what's normal for others is so foreign to me! I have never shoveled snow. We just stay in the house!

 

[Hatfield]

It's amazing how what's normal for others is so foreign to me! I have never shoveled snow. We just stay in the house!

I always try to figure out a mechanical way to do it when the snow gets bad. A few years ago I ended up getting a snow blade attachment for my Sears Riding mower. It works great but it is hard to hook the attachment to the mower.

I have to take the mower deck off and hook up the blade attachment so it ends up taking about 2 hours. And then when I first used it my tires were spinning so I ended up having to get chains for the tires. LOL

So I only put it on when the snow is really bad.

One year I woke up one morning to about 8 inches of snow. I pulled the mower into the garage to begin the job of putting on the snow blade attachment. About 2 hours later when I was all done and ready to go plow the driveway, it started to rain and melted all the snow. LOL

 

[Spellbound]

It's amazing how what's normal for others is so foreign to me! I have never shoveled snow. We just stay in the house!

Gotta rub it in, do ya? :giggle:
Actually, until the past few years I never minded, and prefer shoveling to using the snow blower. But the older I get, the more the body complains. I have contemplated getting a snow shovel on wheels..... hubby doesn't think I would like it, though.

Hatfield, you should get your improvised snow mover ready when you are done cutting the lawn ..... wouldn't it be easier to remove the chains and put the deck back in the spring than having to go through all that in the cold weather?

 

[ILikeToBendPages]

Good Morning, my special friends.


Hatfield did you ever see any of these?

1955 - The beginning of Rod Serling’s stellar career began with the TV production of Patterns, an original, hour-long drama. Within two weeks, the then struggling author had 23 other TV assignments.


[video=youtu;v0KmuCVxEbM]http://youtu.be/v0KmuCVxEbM[/video]

 

[ILikeToBendPages]

and this is the reason some people just need killing. I remember hearing the two little girls on the phone as their daddy shot them. It was horrifying to hear.


The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeal from the former Dallas accountant who is scheduled to die for killing his two young daughters.

The high court had no comment Monday in rejecting the appeal from 60-year-old John Battaglia.

His execution is scheduled for March 30.

Liberty, left, was a 6-year-old who loved ballet. Her sister Faith, right, was a 9-year-old tomboy who played soccer and the violin. (File photo)
Liberty, left, was a 6-year-old who loved ballet. Her sister Faith, right, was a 9-year-old tomboy who played soccer and the violin. (File photo)
Battaglia was on probation for hitting his ex-wife in 2001 when he took his daughters, 9-year-old Faith and 6-year-old Liberty, to his Deep Ellum loft. He shot them while on the phone with their mother.

“Mommy, why do you want Daddy to have to go to jail?” Faith asked before she died.

Battaglia has been on death row since he was convicted of capital murder in 2002. His case went to the Supreme Court after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals similarly rejected his appeal that contended lawyers at his trial were deficient.

In a 2013 interview with The Dallas Morning News, he maintained that he loved his daughters but said he’s a “a little bit in the blank” about what happened.

“I don’t feel like I killed them,” he said.

John Battaglia poses during an interview at the Polunsky Unit in West Livingston, Texas in 2013. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)

[video=youtu;UaU79hjGrjs]http://youtu.be/UaU79hjGrjs[/video]

 

[Hatfield]

We are on our 4th dog in our lives and each one has been so special and provided many years of mutual love and companionship. Below is our 3rd dog we had named "Ricky". It was rough when his time came. He now rests in his grave near the backyard. Even though he is gone now, all the years of love and joy we had together totally outweighs the rough times that we all must face when our loving pets have to leave us. We know that we provided them many years of safety, shelter, security, and mutual happiness while they were here. They know it and they show us their appreciation in many ways while they are here. And I truly believe they look down on us and thank us from their heaven too. Ricky does. And Sammy, and Sticker do too.

Prayers for Zuri and Knox. May Knox' spirit comfort you in the days ahead.

 

[Hatfield]

Here is our current dog named "Skippy".

 

[Hatfield]

Gotta rub it in, do ya? :giggle:
Actually, until the past few years I never minded, and prefer shoveling to using the snow blower. But the older I get, the more the body complains. I have contemplated getting a snow shovel on wheels..... hubby doesn't think I would like it, though.

Hatfield, you should get your improvised snow mover ready when you are done cutting the lawn ..... wouldn't it be easier to remove the chains and put the deck back in the spring than having to go through all that in the cold weather?

The problem with that idea was the year I did that we ended up getting no snow...LOL

 

[Hatfield]

Good Morning, my special friends.


Hatfield did you ever see any of these?

1955 - The beginning of Rod Serling’s stellar career began with the TV production of Patterns, an original, hour-long drama. Within two weeks, the then struggling author had 23 other TV assignments.


[video=youtu;v0KmuCVxEbM]http://youtu.be/v0KmuCVxEbM[/video]

Never have seen any of his earlier work. I will have to look it up and watch it someday. I am sure it was really good.

 

[Spellbound]

The problem with that idea was the year I did that we ended up getting no snow...LOL

Just like the year we bought a snowblower ... and had no snow. Sounds like good insurance to me! :giggle:

Hatfield, you have had some really adorable dogs!

Here are my canine cuddlers (Calli the terrier, Roxy the beagle-mix)

 

[Spellbound]

And these are the fickle felines. Maus (gray), and Baby (aka Sybil, black & white)

 

[Niner]

Morning all! :wave:

here's a few jokes from my Reader's Digest.

Amazing Animal Sleep Schedules:
*Thrushes take hundreds of power naps a day, a few seconds at a time, in midflight.
*Otters sleep floating on their backs, sometimes holding paws with their friends so they don't drift apart.
*Giraffes sleep only 20 minutes a day, often curled up with their heads nestled on their own rumps.
*Brown bats, on the other hand, sleep 19 hours a day - upside down.
*But nobody beats the desert snail, which has been recorded sleeping for four years at a time. No word on how it takes its coffee.

Rom.com
Saying "I love you" for the first time is like guessing the Wi-Fi password for someone's heart.

When breaking up with your first boyfriend/girlfriend. It helps to say, "You'll always be the answer to my online-banking security question."

Lost in Translation
American TV shows get screened all over the world but not always with their original titles intact. Here's what some of those foreign titles look like when they're translated back to English:
*Mad Men = "People in Manhattan" (Serbia)
*Curb Your Enthusiasm = "Swim Quietly, Larry" (Sweden)
*Frasier = "The Gossip Machine" (Hungary)
*Six Feet Under = "The Customer is Always Dead" (Russia)

An article I read in this was about the "The Children Who Vanished" - five young siblings disappear - but did they die? About a house fire in 1945 on Christmas Eve. They're names are/were Maurice 14, Martha 12 , Louis 9, Jennie 8 and Betty 5. Last name Sodder. Do we have a thread for that? YESorNO - you are good at searching - ?? :waitasec:

Glad that Scratch (my nickname for your DH ) is feeling better (and is cooking for you again- after all, you might starve if you have to cook :facepalm: ).

We didn't have that much snow today- maybe 1/2", so no :snowball: for you. It 's 12 degrees tonight- cold as the dickens

I use lemon water for heartburn- works great (fresh lemon juice, not lemonade).

Yes - I would starve! :lol: Lemon water?? That's a new one! Water & Lemon juice?? warm water?

Niner, I'm glad hubby is improving.

Thank you!!

Wow! That is a nice quilt coffeejunkie!! :luv:

Love the pictures of all your pets!!

Okay - off to read some other threads!

Later! :seeya:

 

[YESorNO]

Link: http://www.commentsyard.com/graphics/good-afternoon/good-afternoon10.gif
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ex-death row inmate's malicious prosecution claim dismissed

"PHOENIX (AP) -
An Arizona woman who spent 22 years on death row in her son's killing before her conviction was thrown out has suffered a setback in her lawsuit that alleges she was wrongfully convicted based on a confession fabricated by a detective.

A judge on Friday dismissed part of Debra Milke's lawsuit that alleged she was maliciously prosecuted in the 1989 death of her 4-year-old son Christopher, concluding Milke didn't meet a requirement that her criminal case was resolved in her favor.

U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver said a federal appeals court that overturned Milke's conviction and cast doubt about the confession never concluded that she was innocent - and a state appeals court that ruled she couldn't be retried had never expressed an opinion on whether it believed she committed the crime..."

http://www.azfamily.com/story/30938153/ex-death-row-inmates-malicious-prosecution-claim-dismissed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Police believe they found Lonzie's remains (with clip)

"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Remains believed to be of Lonzie Barton, the toddler reported missing nearly six months ago, were found Monday in a wooded area off Philips Highway near State Road 9B...

Lonzie's mother, who was dating Ebron when the boy disappeared, testified at a pre-trial hearing Friday that Ebron sold drugs every day she was with him, including when her children were around.

Peoples-Waters, who is not connected to the case, said Ebron likely considered that testimony against him on the child neglect charge, plus additional charges of tampering with evidence and escape charges he also faced in a second trial. Together, he would likely get 15-20 years in prison and could have still faced another trial if the state found sufficient evidence of Lonzie's death...."

http://www.news4jax.com/news/police-find-remains-in-southside-woods

WS thread: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...e-Barton-2-Jacksonville-24-July-2015-9/page17
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Teresa Sievers
Revealed: Bombshell court documents allege doctor's cash-strapped husband hired her killers to get $4.5million in life insurance money

"Probable cause affidavit alleges Marks Sievers hired his friends Jimmy Rodgers and Curtis Wayne Wright Jr to kill his wife
Teresa Sievers, 46, was found dead in her Bonita Springs, Florida, home on June 29; it's believed she was beaten to death with a hammer
Wright and Rodgers were arrested in August on second-degree murder charges; Mark Sievers has not been charged in Teresa's death
Investigators believe the husband orchestrated the murder-for-hire plot to cash in on Teresa Sievers' life insurance policy
Detectives learned that both Mark and Teresa had had a series of extramarital affairs and had been experimenting with swinging
The 33-page probable cause affidavit also includes GPS data, phone calls and text messages pointing to Mark Sievers' involvement in the killing ..."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-killers-4-5million-life-insurance-money.html

Blood splatter, hammer with hair among 1,500 photos released in Sievers case

"FORT MYERS, Fla. – Pictures of blood splatter and a hammer on a floor with hair attached were among more than 1,500 photos released Thursday in connection to the Dr. Teresa Sievers murder case.

The batch was the third set of documents, which number well into the thousands, released by the State Attorney’s Office...

The released documents also included messages from the Facebook account of Jimmy Ray Rodgers, one of two men charged in the killing.

Sievers, 46, was found bludgeoned to death with a hammer inside the kitchen of her Jarvis Road home on June 29. Rodgers, 25, was arrested in connection with the killing. He is serving six months in federal prison for a probation violation in an unrelated gun case. Curtis Wayne Wright, 47, is charged with second-degree murder in the case..."

https://www.winknews.com/2016/01/07/third-batch-of-documents-in-sievers-murder-case-released/

WS threads: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?575-Dr-Teresa-Sievers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[YESorNO]

Illinois settles class-action suit on mentally ill inmates

"Lawyers representing 11,000 mentally ill inmates in Illinois prisons have reached a settlement with the state in a long-running class-action lawsuit that alleged inadequate treatment amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment,” a deal both sides heralded.

Among a long list of provisions, the agreement calls for the Illinois Department of Corrections to build four new treatment units, including at Logan, Pontiac and Dixon prisons, at a cost of $40 million. Hiring new staff members is expected to reach another $40 million a year....

Attorneys for the mentally ill inmates said the agreement will help ensure that they get better access to care and should also reduce the amount of time they spend in solitary confinement. The lawyers said that stte corrections officials would release from solitary those with serious mental illnesses confined there for minor violations..."

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/...ettles-class-action-suit-mentally-ill-inmates
-------------------------------------------------

Denver Inmate's Death At Hands Of Deputies Ruled A Homicide (with clip)

"On Nov. 11, 2015, deputies at the Denver jail forcibly restrained a man who was experiencing a psychotic episode. When the man became unresponsive, he was sent to a nearby hospital, where he was put on life support and died nine days later.

The man, 50-year-old Michael Marshall, was originally arrested on charges of disturbing the peace and trespassing at a motel where he had been staying.
Now, nearly two months after the fact, Marshall's death has been ruled a homicide.

A report released Friday by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner concludes that Marshall died from "complications of positional asphyxia to include aspiration pneumonia due to being physically restrained by law enforcement during an acute psychotic episode.".."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...6d9db?utm_hp_ref=crime&ir=Crime&section=crime
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parents Turn in Teen Boys Accused of Girl’s Shocking Rape

"A horrific gang rape in a dark Brooklyn playground has left not only an 18-year-old brutalized victim in its wake, but also a collection of traumatized parents — including the girl’s father, forced from the scene at gunpoint — who have no doubt been undone by their various connections to the crime...

While one of the teen perpetrators is still at large, four suspects have been arrested — two of them, ages 14 and 15, after being turned in to police by their own parents. The arrests came a day after the police released a surveillance video of the teens entering a deli before the incident...

In this case, for the parents who turned in their teens, “there’s got to be a great deal of conflict,” Lipman says. “On one hand, there’s a kind of mortification upon discovering their child’s behavior — but it’s also their child. There’s likely also the recognition that if they don’t turn him in, the consequences may be greater.”..."

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/how-parents-played-roles-in-girls-shocking-rape-212019749.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[YESorNO]

'Like coming back to life' says child soldier who escaped ISIS (with clip)

"Gweyr, Iraq (CNN)"Nasir" is one of the lucky ones. He managed to escape from the grasp of ISIS, which was training him to be a suicide bomber. He is just 12 years old.

The boy is now reunited with his mother at the Esyan refugee camp in Kurdistan, home to almost 15,000 Yazidis fleeing ISIS. He's asked CNN not to broadcast his face or voice, or to disclose his real name.

"There were 60 of us," Nasir says. "The scariest times for us all were when the airstrikes happened. They'd lead all of us underground into the tunnels to hide. They told us the Americans, the unbelievers, were trying to kill us but they, the fighters, they loved us. They would look after us better than our parents.

"When they were training us they would tell us our parents were unbelievers and that our first job was to go back to kill them." ...."

[video=cnn;world/2016/01/12/iraq-isis-child-soldiers-elbagir-pkg.cnn]http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/12/middleeast/isis-child-soldiers/index.html[/video]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/12/middleeast/isis-child-soldiers
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ideologies pose challenge to criminal justice system

"NASHVILLE — It was a melee that unfolded on the doorstep of a Nashville home where three women tried to escape police officers who came to do their jobs.

The women, according to court testimony, did not believe the police had the authority to interfere in their lives. One police officer testified in a recent trial that the women shouted that police "were not law enforcement, we were merely policy enforcers."

The women are followers of what is called the "Moorish Nation," a black nationalist group that has scattered followers in Nashville. Their case is an example of the alternative populations that do not believe in government authority and how they pose a challenge to the criminal justice system. .."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...e-challenge-criminal-justice-system/78665678/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Oregon, a new-age militia holds its ground

"BURNS, Ore. - Blaine Cooper, 36, is a watchman among rebels. An assault rifle sits propped up in the truck seat behind him.

“What makes me nervous is government," he says, wearing military fatigues and standing in the Oregon snow-covered sagebrush, his pale blue eyes shadowed by a wide-brimmed camo hat. "Government has been responsible for the greatest atrocities in the world.”

Cooper, from Humboldt, Ariz., stands guard at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge here, one of a small faction of armed anti-government protesters and vigilantes who say they won't back down until the U.S. recognizes their rights as landowners. It's a classic struggle borne right out of the Wild West, with deeply distrustful ranchers fearing their land - and their freedoms - are under siege..."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...regon-standoff-wildlife-refuge-land/78427520/

----------------------------------------------------------------------

This Land Is Your Land. Or Is It? (an opinion)

"Since last weekend, armed men have been in control of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. Incensed by the sentencing of local ranchers to jail time for burning public lands, the protesters want the federal government out of the land business. Their stated goal is to return the refuge to the locals so that “people can reclaim their resources.” But this raises an important question: Why does justice demand that the land and resources belong to the locals instead of the commons? What makes property private?

This is not a question germane only to a standoff in Oregon. It’s a question that applies to each and every one of us. If you’re reading this, you probably own a smartphone. You think you justly own your phone and that it’s wrong for the government or anyone else to take it from you. But why is your phone your private property? You might say that you are entitled to it because the law says that you are entitled to it. But that’s a bad answer..."

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.co...emc=edit_ty_20160106&nl=opinion&nlid=73927810
--

In Oregon, Myth Mixes With Anger

"TO outsiders, one of the puzzling aspects of the anti-government militia’s takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is its location. Twenty-five million birds a year visit the refuge in the high desert of southeastern Oregon, but few people have heard of it. Yet Malheur is a place of bitterly contested human histories that remain potent today...

n the late 1970s and the 1980s, many Western ranchers, miners and loggers felt increasingly threatened, partly by globalization, which created new competition, and partly by federal regulations that seemed to value wildlife more than people. What became known as the Sagebrush Rebellion gave locals a focus for their concern.

Environmentalists, they argued, were conspiring to destroy America, starting with rural communities. Many ranchers bitterly complained about the federal land management agencies. They felt powerless, hemmed in by policies they had little hand in shaping. They feared that economic gains were passing them by..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/o...emc=edit_ty_20160106&nl=opinion&nlid=73927810
---

The Latest: Oregon Sheriff Meets Leader of Armed Group

"...An Oregon sheriff met with the leader of a small, armed group that has been occupying a national wildlife refuge for almost a week and asked them to leave peacefully.

Harney County Sheriff David Ward and Ammon Bundy met Thursday afternoon. The sheriff's office said via Twitter that Ward asked Bundy to respect the wishes of local residents and leave the area. The sheriff's office said the two sides planned to talk again Friday.

Ward was cheered at a packed community meeting in Bend, Oregon, on Wednesday evening when he said the group needed to leave so local people could get back to their lives.

The group objecting to federal land policy seized buildings at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon's high desert country on Saturday. Authorities have not yet stepped in to remove the group of roughly two dozen people, some from as far away as Arizona and Michigan..."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-sheriff-meet-armed-group-leave-36152560
--

Ill-prepared Oregon militia asks for supplies - from coffee creamer to tampons - as standoff enters a second week

"A group of ranchers have taken over a government building in southeast Oregon to protest the federal ownership of land
As the group enters its second week, it has sent out a list of needed supplies to supporters
The list includes boxer briefs, tampons and chewing tobacco.."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...plies-Oregon-standoff-enters-second-week.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Longest Armed Standoff In America May Finally Be Over (with clip)
It's not the one you think.

"What is believed to be the longest armed standoff in American history is over -- sort of. While authorities have decided not to pursue the case, the man at the center of it is not yet ready to test the bounds of his freedom...

Gray, a 66-year-old carpenter with alleged ties to anti-government militia groups, has not left his fortified Trinity, Texas, property since January 2000, after he was accused of assaulting a Texas State Police trooper during a traffic stop. Trinity is a small city located about 60 miles south of Dallas.

When Gray failed to appear in court to face those charges, a warrant was issued for his arrest. In response, Gray and his family armed themselves and began regularly patrolling their wooded 47-acre compound, according to Dallas-Fort Worth's WFAA-TV..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/armed-standoff-john-joe-gray_5693f1fde4b0c8beacf7d631
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[YESorNO]

Making A Murderer Hero Dean Strang: Not Done Fighting

"...Dean Strang and Jerry Buting, Avery's defense lawyers, have become unlikely heroes of the show — which is not an everyday thing for people most often portrayed as slimy and unscrupulous on episodes of Law & Order. Strang has become the object of the internet's affection, but the 55-year-old wants to use his fame to highlight the problems he encounters within the justice system as a whole, and not just for one man victimized by biased local officials.

Strang took time from his busy schedule to speak with Refinery29 about the Avery case, the unique challenges of being a defense attorney, and what people can do for Avery and Dassey instead of signing a petition. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.."

http://www.refinery29.com/2016/01/100954/dean-strang-q-a
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lawyer: Teen Accused of Killing Family Can Be Rehabilitated

'A New Mexico teenager who pleaded guilty to killing his parents and three siblings can be rehabilitated and should not be sentenced as an adult, his public defender argued Monday.

Nehemiah Griego, 18, has made progress at a state psychiatric treatment center, attorney Stephen Taylor said as a weeklong hearing to determine Griego's fate got underway. Investigators, witnesses and psychology experts are expected to take the stand.

Griego was 15 when authorities say he fatally shot his family at their home south of Albuquerque in January 2013. He pleaded guilty in state children's court in October to two counts of second-degree murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death.

Sheriff's officials said the teen told detectives after the killings that he was angry with his mother and had been having homicidal and suicidal thoughts..."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-decide-sentencing-teen-killed-family-36217853
--

Treatment vs. jail debated for Nehemiah Griego

"...A court-appointed psychologist yet to testify apparently wants to put together a five-year treatment plan, Taylor said.

“Think about blending the sentence, because nothing in the law says you can’t do that,” he said.

But the forensic psychologist who also testified for the state took a different view, deciding after looking at reports, administering tests and conducting an interview that Griego has a mixed personality disorder.

Kris Mohandie, a Pasadena, Calif., consultant who has studied mass killings and who testified for the prosecution in the Aurora, Colo., theater shootings, said he found no evidence of insanity – which the defense had once contemplated raising – or evidence of thought disorder.

Mohandie found Griego detached, even callous, in his recounting of the murders and said he showed no signs of remorse. He also said treatment of the disorder is “very difficult.”

Griego showed no signs of emotion at all, Mohandie said, “consistent with what I’ve seen with other adolescent (killers).”..."

http://www.abqjournal.com/704562/news/treatment-vs-jail-debated-for-nehemiah-griego.html
--

Nehemiah GRIEGO

"Classification: Mass murderer
Characteristics: Juvenile (15) - Parricide
Number of victims: 1
Date of murders: January 18/19, 2013
Date of arrest: Next day
Date of birth: 1997
Victims profile: His father, Greg Griego, 51; his mother, Sarah, 40; his brother Zephania, 9; and his sisters Jael, 5, and Angelina, 2
Method of murder: Shooting
Location: Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, New Mexico, USA
Status: Remained in custody at the Juvenile Detention Center and remains held without bond..."

http://murderpedia.org/male.G/g/griego-nehemiah.htm

Link: http://www.kob.com/kobtvimages/repository/2015-01/griego-family.png

Twitter: https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=Nehemiah Griego &src=typd

https://twitter.com/MeganCruzKOAT

WS thread: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...r-Albuquerque-including-three-children/page17

The hearing is scheduled daily through Friday and then February 10-12.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[YESorNO]

My Right To Die
Assisted Suicide, my family, and me

"...For more than a decade after Oregon passed the nation's first assisted-suicide law, no other state followed. Then, in 2008, Washington voters passed a ballot measure legalizing the practice. In 2009, it was legalized by court order in Montana. Vermont's lawmakers followed in 2013. Now, the addition of California has tripled the number of Americans with the right to ask a physician for a lethal prescription if they have a terminal disease.

Does this mean that assisted suicide is the next big civil rights battle? The fact that four states have approved assisted suicide in just the past seven years suggests momentum may finally be reaching critical mass. What's more, if Gallup's polling is to be believed, the word "suicide" has finally lost its shock value. Still, legislation continues to fail more often than it passes, even in blue states like Massachusetts and Connecticut. Right now, it's just too early to tell...

When he signed California's right-to-die bill, Gov. Brown attached a signing statement. "I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain," he wrote. "I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn't deny that right to others..."

http://www.motherjones.com/politics...lifornia-kevin-drum?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leading Harvard physicist has a radical new theory for why humans exist

"Where do we come from? There are many right answers to this question, and the one you get often depends on who you ask.

For example, an astrophysicist might say that the chemical components of our bodies were first forged in the nuclear fires of stars.

On the other hand, an evolutionary biologist might look at the similarities between our DNA and that of other primates' and conclude we evolved from apes.

Lisa Randall, a theoretical physicist at Harvard University, has a different, and novel answer, which she describes in her latest book, "Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs."..."

http://www.businessinsider.com/lisa-randall-thinks-dark-matter-killed-the-dinosaurs-2015-11
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19 Things Every Baby Boomer Will Immediately Remember

AARP asked Boomers which people, places, and things defined the generation, and rounded up the best in Boomers 101: The Definitive Collection. Here’s a peek inside..."

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariannarebo...-every-baby-boomer-feel-like-a-kid#.gkw4Ql1G9

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[YESorNO]

Drugmakers Raise Prices Despite Criticisms

"...Pfizer Inc., Amgen Inc., Allergan PLC, Horizon Pharma PLC and others have raised U.S. prices for dozens of branded drugs since late December, with many of the increases between 9% and 10%, according to equity analysts. The increases are on list prices, before any discounts or rebates that manufacturers sometimes provide insurers and other payers...

In recent years, it has been common for drug companies to push through annual price increases in at least the high single digits around Jan. 1 for many brands—and in some cases additional increases throughout the year—analysts said. But this latest round of price hikes is significant in light of the political pressure...

The price hikes are “our way of insuring that we can survive and develop these programs and bring these new innovative drugs to market,” he [Dr. Cohen]said..."

http://www.wsj.com/articles/drugmak...iticisms-1452474210?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

Link: http://www.buzz50.com/media/kunena/attachments/32071/478bf29e-e8e1-4610-9ad6-51bfb47403ea.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Couple Spends $100,000 To Clone Deceased Dog, Gets Two Puppies

"...Jacques, 29, and Remde, 43, from Skipton, England, lost their beloved dog, Dylan, earlier this year. The 8-year-old boxer died of a heart attack after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor...

Crushed by the loss, Jacques came up with the idea of cloning Dylan after she recalled a documentary she'd seen about a competition to have a dog cloned. Together, Jacques and Remde found a South Korean company, Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, which for a cool $100,000 offers the controversial commercial dog-cloning service..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...5c6e4b0b958f659f8d9?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Say Goodbye To Your Microbead Exfoliators

"This Monday, December, 28, President Barack Obama signed the Microbead Free Waters Act of 2015. The bill requires that all products containing plastic microbeads will begin to be phased out starting July 1, 2017. This decision follows a California measure to ban both plastic and biodegradable microbeads, which some companies are developing as an alternative to environmentally harmful plastic beads. Six other states – Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, Colorado, Indiana, and Maryland respectively – also enacted legislation restricting the use of microbeads, but California’s ban is the only one that hampers the use of biodegradable microbeads as well.

For more than two years, environmentalists have warned that these tiny plastic beads found in exfoliators, scrubs, and toothpastes easily end up in lakes, rivers, and oceans. There, they pick up toxic pollutants and are ingested by fish, which are then ingested by humans. Microbeads are typically under 5mm in diameter, so they easily slip through drains and are unable to be processed by water treatment plants..."

https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/say-goodbye-to-your-microbead-exfoliators-194745613.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[YESorNO]

Disney child star Michael Galeota of 'The Jersey' dies

"Michael Galeota, star of Disney Channel's series The Jersey and movie Clubhouse Detectives, has died at age 31, Galeota's brother, Jimmy, confirms to USA TODAY.

Galeota, whose last IMDB credits cite his work on Jersey from 1999-2004, went to the hospital last Wednesday after complaining about abdominal pains, according to TMZ, which first reported the news. He reportedly left the hospital last Wednesday and died Sunday.

"At this time we are not certain as to the cause of death ... and more details will be released later once my family is ready," Jimmy wrote in a message to USA TODAY..."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2016/01/11/disney-michael-galeota-dies/78653434/

Link: http://www.boyactors.org.uk/actors/274.jpg

Link: http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/M...tZTYwNzUyMTY1._V1_UX214_CR0,0,214,317_AL_.jpg

RIP :candle:

 

[YESorNO]

Link: http://in1.ccio.co/W9/Z3/5E/MjAxMi03OWVhOThmZjYwOWNiNjRk.png

:facepalm: