Cheryl Bretton – Page 2 – The Speaker News Journal

ACLU Files on Behalf of Sex Offenders

October 26, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

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The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida have filed suit against Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Corrections, seeking a permanent injunction against a housing ordinance that, the ACLU alleges, makes normal life extraordinarily difficult for former sex offenders, and actually causes the former offenders to become and remain homeless, a violation of their constitutional rights.

“As public policy, the Miami-Dade ordinance is a disaster,” said Brandon Buskey, Staff Attorney at ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project, of the 2010 ordinance that has made finding normal accommodation a challenge for former sex offenders. “It has created a homeless population living outdoors in squalor, while doing nothing to serve public safety.”

“Disease, exposure to the elements, no drinkable water–these conditions make it extremely difficult to find and maintain stable employment and psychological treatment, which are the only two factors proven to reduce the likelihood of reoffending. We know from decades of research that housing restrictions like Miami-Dade’s have no impact on reoffending and, are more likely to increase it,” said Busky.

The ACLU says that the ordinance has left about fifty former offenders with nowhere to live besides an outdoor area along railroad tracks on the outskirts of Miami-Dade county.

The railroad tracks are frequently recorded by probation officers as the “address” of the former offenders, the ACLU says, because finding affordable housing for former offenders is futile.

“Sending someone just out of jail into homelessness makes no sense, not for the person and not for the public. The Miami-Dade ordinance is not just unworkable, it’s unconstitutional,” said Nancy Abudu, Legal Director of the ACLU of Florida.

The ordinance is unconstitutional, according to ACLU, because the housing ordinance makes it so difficult for former sex offenders to obey without becoming homeless.

The ordinance prohibits former offenders from living within 2,500 feet from any building that the county labels a “school.” The category has been used to include shelters and other buildings, in addition to actual institutions of learning. The label has been used arbitrarily, according to ACLU.

The ACLU and the ACLU of Florida are seeking a permanent injunction against what they allege is an unconstitutional housing ordinance, and have directed their suit against Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Corrections.

By Cheryl Bretton

Photo: Ed Yourdon

After Death Consciousness Suggested by Largest Near-Death Experience Study

October 14, 2014October 7, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

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According to the largest study ever conducted treating near-death experiences, evidence suggests that there is consciousness after clinical death.

A University of Southampton team spent four years examining 2,060 cardiac arrest patients at 15 different hospitals on three continents.

The report, “AWAREness during CPR: Be careful with what you say!” was authored by Drs Edgardo Olvera-Lopez and Joseph Varon, and was published in Resuscitation magazine.

Overall, the team found that 40 percent of people who survived cardiac arrest–140 of 330 people–described some kind of awareness during the time they were clinically dead.

The kinds of experiences reported by the survivors included an unusual sense of peacefulness and alterations in time perception. Some said time slowed down while other said it speeded up.

Some survivors reported seeing a bright light. Some described it as a golden flash or like the Sun shining.

Others, however, reported feelings of fear, of drowning or being pulled down through deep water.

Of the survivors, 13 percent reported experiences commonly referred to as out-of-body. Another 13 percent reported that their senses had been heightened.

“We know the brain can’t function when the heart has stopped beating,” said Dr Sam Parnia, a former research fellow at Southampton University, now at the State University of New York. However, Parnia went on to describe specific instances of patients who reported things that suggested that after death consciousness was possible, including accounts of out-of-body like experiences.

Dr Jerry Nolan, Editor-in-Chief at Resuscitation said: “Dr Parnia and his colleagues are to be congratulated on the completion of a fascinating study that will open the door to more extensive research into what happens when we die.”

By Cheryl Bretton

First Ebola Case in Europe

October 14, 2014October 6, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

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A nurse who had served on the team that treated a Spanish priest who contracted the disease in West Africa has become the first Ebola case in Europe. She is also the first person to have contracted the disease outside Africa, despite the highest level of precautions having been taken.

The nurse tested positive for Ebola in two tests.

The woman was part of the team that had treated priest Manuel Garcia Viejo, a Spaniard who died Sept. 25 in a Spanish hospital after contracting the disease in Liberia.

The nurse began to feel ill last week while on holiday, and was admitted to a hospital near Madrid on Monday morning with high fever, according to Health Minister Ana Mato.

No information has been reported regarding those who would have been exposed to the woman during her illness.

The nurse is being held in quarantine in Spain, and is reported to be in stable condition.

The disease, which is spreading rapidly–with cases doubling every three weeks in West Africa–has killed 3,400 of at least 7,500 confirmed cases of infection–although the actual number is suspected to be much higher. Currently, over one hundred people are dying within 24 hour periods.

Ebola spreads through contact with any bodily fluids of an infected person. The only means of stopping the spread of the disease is isolation, according to authorities.

Despite numerous calls by politicians and experts for travel restrictions, the US and other nations have rejected any travel restrictions to the affected areas.

By Cheryl Bretton

Short Weight Lifting Sessions Boost Memory [video]

October 14, 2014October 6, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

Short Weight Lifting Sessions Boost Memory, Research Finds

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According to a new study led by the Georgia Institute of Technology, just one short burst of weight-lifting can enhance long-term memory for young adults by around 10 percent.

“Our study indicates that people don’t have to dedicate large amounts of time to give their brain a boost,” said Lisa Weinberg, a graduate student and the Georgie Institute of Technology and leader of the research.

The report, “A single bout of resistance exercise can enhance episodic memory performance,” was published in the journal Acta Psychologica.

Previous research had already established that exercise could improve memory, but much subsequent research had focused on regular sessions of aerobic exercise, such as running.

Th Georgia Institute research looked instead at the effect of just one weight-lifting session conducted two days before a memory test.

The test subjects were asked to monitor a series of 90 random photographs–but not memorize them–and afterwards work out on a leg resistance machine.

Half of the subjects did leg exercises–50 leg presses at their maximum ability–and half of the subjects did no exercise.

Two days later, when participants were again shown the series of images along with 90 new images, the leg press group was able to remember the first set of photos at a 60 percent rate, while the group that did no exercise recalled the first images at a 50 percent rate.

The research based its approach on recent studies on animals that had suggested physical stress after learning can strengthen memory formation.

“Even without doing expensive fMRI scans, our results give us an idea of what areas of the brain might be supporting these exercise-induced memory benefits,” said Audrey Duarte, a researcher involved in the study. “The findings are encouraging because they are consistent with rodent literature that pinpoints exactly the parts of the brain that play a role in stress-induced memory benefits caused by exercise.”

By Cheryl Bretton

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikartHi08XU”][su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ctbc9kw1oHA”][/su_youtube]

“How Much for the Mona Lisa?” France Considers Sale to Ease National Debt

October 14, 2014September 3, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

How Much for the Mona Lisa France Considers Sale to Ease its National Debt

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The Mona Lisa, painted in the early 16th century by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, is worth an estimated $2.5 billion, and the France’s media has suggested that the “priceless” painting could be sold to alleviate the nation’s debt, which has mounted to $200 billion. The sale of other works was also suggested as possible salable items, including the collection of impressionists belonging to the Musee d’Orsay, which could be worth $6 billion.

The sale of the world’s best-known painting was suggested by France’s state-run France 24 news channel.

France has been selling off various cultural assets in the face of its burdensome $2000 billion national debt. France has already famously sold its former International Conference Center near the Arc de Triomphe to Qatari and Chinese buyers, and also sold some of its finest wines from the Elysee presidential palace cellar to private collectors.

The news site also suggested that the impressionist collection at the Musee d’Orsay would be worth approximately $6 billion.

In 1962, the Mona Lisa was valued at $100 million. The valuation was done for insurance purposes before sending the painting on tour in the US. Taking inflation into account, the painting could now be valued at around $2.5 billion.

The 1962 valuation made the Mona Lisa the highest valued piece of art in history, according to the Guinness World Records.

France 24 stated, “‘Her enigmatic smile beams down on hundreds of thousands of tourists a year at the Louvre Museum in Paris. And she could also bring a smile to France’s cash-strapped government if a sale could ease the national debt.”

Paris City Hall Head of Culture Bruno Julliard said that the sale would “In theory raise a very large sum of money,” but that France was not ready to sell off the painting for the sake of easing its debt.

Despite the high value of the Mona Lisa, France may be prohibited from selling the painting–and other such art works–due to French heritage law.

French law does not allow the selling of objects belonging to public museums. “The property constituting collections in France owned by a public entity is part of their public domain and is, as such, inalienable,” states Article 451-5 of the Code of French Heritage.

Analysts have commented that a sale would require a change to the law.

But if France did sell some of its collection of art to ease its debt problems, it would not be the first to do so.

Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands have all allowed the sale of art for similar purposes. Detroit, USA, facing state bankruptcy, sold a collection that included Van Goghs and Picassos in 2013.

Portugal is currently selling 85 works by Joan Miro, and hopes to receive over $50 million for the sale. Portugal is attempting to bail itself out of failed state status, and is $275 billion in debt.

By Cheryl Bretton

UN to Legislate Against Transnational Corporations Which Violate Human Rights – US and EU Oppose Resolution

October 17, 2014July 1, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

The UN will move toward a legal treaty that penalizes transnational corporations which violate human rights, after a vote at the 26th UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session last week.

Key language included in the resolution includes a decision to “establish an open-ended intergovernmental working group on a legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, the mandate of which shall be to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.”

The vote was split. Twenty states voted in favor, including Ecuador and South Africa, who proposed the resolution. Additionally, more than 80 nations and 600 organizations supported the resolution.

Fourteen states voted against, including the US, who said that “this legally binding instrument will not be binding for those who vote against it,” and EU states. Some nations who voted against did so expressly because of political pressure. “We vote with the EU. If we do not, it can become very unpleasant for us”, one representative was quoted as saying to Friends of the Earth International.

The opposing states also lobbied other countries to side with them, threatening the loss of developmental aid and foreign investment.

Thirteen nations abstained.

There is already a voluntary framework in place at the UNHRC to support human rights. The resolution to move from the voluntary framework to a more strict one was led by Ecuador in 2013, and was supported from the outset by 80 nations.

Cheryl Bretton

Afghanistan Opium Up 66 Percent to $3 Billion, Poisoning US Efforts in Afganistan

October 17, 2014June 10, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

Afghanistan produces 90 percent of the worlds opium–which becomes heroin–and, although the crop is illegal in the country, it remains the main product of agriculture in large regions, especially in the south. Production in 2013 surpassed its previous record, which was set in 2010.

The UN estimates that Afghanistan has produced almost $3 billion worth of opium products in 2013. In 2012, the number was $2 billion–an increase of roughly 66 Percent.

On Tuesday, John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction–the watchdog of US spending in the country–informed Congress that the trade was poisoning the Afghan financial sector, inflaming corruption, contributing to the success of Taliban insurgents and criminal networks, and threatened to damage progress America has made in its efforts to improve health, education and government in Afghanistan. The problems associated with the opium trade also make it harder for aid workers to work–hampering rebuilding and oversight programs.

By Cheryl Bretton

UNDOC

Reason for Nigerian Schoolgirls Abduction Revealed by Amnesty International

October 17, 2014May 9, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

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Amnesty International has revealed that Nigerian security forces received multiple advanced warnings about the raids that took place on the Chibok boarding school April 14-15, in which over 240 schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram forces.

Security forces were warned hours in advance, according to the rights group, who accused the Nigerian authorities of “gross dereliction of duty.”

Amnesty International independently verified information based on multiple interviews with credible sources, and concluded that the Nigerian security forces had over four hours of advance warning about the attack but not take measures appropriate to prevent it. Security and local officials had reported the threat to Damboa military command near Chibok by phone, after local civilian vigilante groups raised the alarm the evening of April 14. Reportedly, a large group of unidentified armed men entered Gagilam village on motorbikes and told residents they were headed toward Chibok.

Security forces were aware of the attack after 7:00 PM, but did not muster troops due to fear of a better-armed force, according to Amnesty International. A force of 17 army and police met the Boko Haram force significantly later, but was insufficient and was forced to retreat.

Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International’s Africa Director, Research and Advocacy, stated, “The fact that Nigerian security forces knew about Boko Haram’s impending raid, but failed to take the immediate action needed to stop it, will only amplify the national and international outcry at this horrific crime.”

By Cheryl Bretton

Source:

Amnesty International

Protest of Azerbaijan Chairmanship of Council of Europe by Amnesty International and Activists

October 17, 2014May 6, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

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In Azerbaijan Tuesday, European Amnesty International members and activists gathered from 2.00 to 3.00 o’clock outside the Council of Europe Chairmanship ceremony to protest human rights abuses in Azerbaijan–the country that will assume the chairmanship of the human rights decision-making institution May 14.

The demonstrators called on the Azerbaijani government to assume a leadership position as Chairman in protecting human rights national and internationally. Activists also called on the Committee of Ministers to pressure Azerbaijan release its detained prisoners of conscience immediately, including NIDA activists.

NIDA–which is the Azerbaijani word for “exclamation”–was founded in 2011 by a small group of young people purposing to enact democratic and social changes in the country. The group currently has 350 members, including several politicians. Eight NIDA activists were sentences recently to jail terms of six to eight years for spurious crimes.

By Cheryl Bretton

Source:

Amnesty International

Polygamy Legalized in Kenya

October 17, 2014May 6, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

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Polygamy has been legally approved by President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya. The bill was passed into law by the Kenyan parliament in a vote which caused female legislators to storm out of parliament in protest. The president signed the bill April 29.

The office of the president released a statement about the law. “Marriage is the voluntary union of a man and a woman, whether in a monogamous or polygamous union,” the statement read.

The law does ban “bride prices,” despite earlier proposed drafts of the bill. Neither does it require men to seek the consent of existing wives before subsequent marriages, which was among the demands of opponents of the bill.

“At the end of the day, if you are the man of the house, and you choose to bring in another party – and there may be two or three – I think you should be man enough to agree that your wife and family should know,” commented female lawmaker Soipan Tuya.

In Kenya, 80 percent of the population practice customary forms of marriage. The law applies to marriages that take place under customary law.

Human rights activists have opposed the legislation, which has been under discussion since 2007. Kenya is a signatory to the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which guarantees social and political equality to women, including “as equal partners in marriage.”

The law also attempts to harmonize the various forms of union practiced in Kenya, and provide a precedent minimum standard of what constitutes marriage. The law also outlaws marriage between minors; the age of consent to marriage is set at 18.

By Cheryl Bretton

Source:

Zegabi

Wild Poliovirus International Spread “Extraordinary” After Near-Eradication of Virus Last Year, WHO Says

October 17, 2014May 5, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

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The IHR Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization met last week on the “extraordinary” international spread of wild polioviruses in 2014, and voted unanimously on measures to stem the resurgence of endemic and internationally exported polioviruses, which were thought to have been nearly eradicated in 2013.

In the informational session of the meeting, affected States Parties presented information on developments in their nations, including Afghanistan, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Israel, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic, after which the Committee called the public health risk to thus-far unaffected States an “extraordinary event” and warned that a coordinated international response was essential.

Wild poliovirus was nearly stopped through the transmission season between January to April, 2012, but eradication of the disease may fail if the current situation continues. During 2013, most wild poliovirus cases were spread internationally, and in 2014–during the low transmission season–the virus has already spread from three of the 10 infected States–from Pakistan to Afghanistan, Syria to Iraq, and Cameroon to Equatorial Guinea. These three States pose the highest risk of further exportations as well.

Polio is one of the world’s most serious vaccine-preventable diseases. Prevention measures focus largely on oral vaccination and routine immunization. The Committee called for the three highest-risk States to vaccinate all residents and visitors prior to international travel. The Committee encouraged the eight non-exporting States to take similar measures.

The high transmission season for wild poliovirus–between May and June–has already started, and unilateral measures called for at by Committee face the challenge posed by compromised immunization services and high re-infection risks in polio-free but conflict-torn States.

The Committee was requested to reassess the situation in three months.

By Cheryl Bretton

Source:

WHO

First Ever Charge for Female Genital Mutilation in UK After 28 Years of Law – Top Gynecologist Warns Do Not Prosecute

October 17, 2014May 4, 2014 by Cheryl Bretton

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A London doctor charged with female genital mutilation (FGM)–the first ever charge for the 28-year-old crime in a country where 170,000 women live with the scars of the procedure–appeared at court this weekend. But a top London gynecologist is saying the man should not be charged in this landmark case.

The gynecologist, Katrina Erskine, a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist with a special interest in high risk pregnancy and maternal medicine, says this is not a case that should be prosecuted. Although the London Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) announced that there was sufficient evidence to charge Dr. Dhanuson Dharmasena, the doctor charged was not performing an original FGM. Dharmasena only performed stitching to repair tissue after the woman delivered a child. She had undergone FGM when she was much younger.

The gynecologist said she suspected that the DPP, Alison Saunders, was proceeding in the case because of pressure to prosecute someone for FGM due to the large publicity the subject had received. Erskine, who has practiced in an inner-city hospital in London’s East End for 21 years, where substantial immigrant Somali and Eritrean populations reside, said that she has never seen a case of FGM that was performed in England.

Erskine accused the DPP of prioritizing politics over other concerns and said that fellow gyneacologists were also outraged. She warned, “If, as a result of the Director of Public Prosecutions’s intervention, any post-delivery stitching or repair to a woman with FGM is going to be potentially considered as mutilation, then doctors and midwives will understandably hesitate before intervening. In certain situations, that potentially could cost a new mother her life.”

Seven thousand women who have undergone FGM give birth in London every year.

In addition to Dharmasena, a second man, Hasan Mohamed, is charged with encouraging and helping Dharmasena’s proceedure.

Female genital mutilation has been carried out on 140 million women and girls worldwide, according to UN research. 170,000 are in the UK. Of these, only 93 cases were reported in 2013. One went to court: Dharmasena’s.

Female genital mutilation has been illegal in the UK since 1985. Current prosecution of FGM takes place under the 2003 Female Genital Mutilation Act. The maximum sentence for the crime is 14 years incarceration. Dharmasena, 31, who last month was suspended by the General Medical Council, will go to trial Jan. 13, 2015. A plea will be entered June 27, 2014.

By Cheryl Bretton

Sunday Times

Ilford Recorder

Daily Mail