Who Guards Corrections Corporation of America as it Guards Our Immigration Prisons?

Amplify’d from www.alternet.org

A federal prosecutor is likely investigating claims that CCA used inmate violence to force prisoners to snitch on one another or be moved to extremely violent units.

In November, the Associated Press reported that a video obtained by its reporters showed Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) prison guards watching prisoners fight in an Idaho prison, ignoring the pleas of the prisoner being beaten, Hanni Elabed. While this was not an immigration detention facility, CCA operates many detention facilities under contract from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE needs to look closely at this incident and others reported this year and reassess whether it will continue to risk housing immigration detainees in CCA facilities. Read more at www.alternet.org

 

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GOP’s Immigration Plan: They’re Taking Our Jobs!

Amplify’d from motherjones.com

Despite the harsh anti-immigration rhetoric from some Republicans on the campaign trail, the newly empowered GOP could be walking a tightrope when it actually comes to tackling the issue in the next Congress. The anti-immigration wing of the conservative base will demand that Republicans fulfill their promises to crack down on “birthright citizenship,” among other fringe issues. But in the run-up to the 2012 elections, the GOP also risks alienating Latino voters in key swing states if the party leadership adopts the flamethrowing stance of its far-right flank. In the face of such a conundrum, the Republicans’ game plan on immigration has begun to take shape: Keep focus on the economy by attacking illegal immigrants for taking away jobs from American citizens. Read more at motherjones.com

 

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Chicago Cop Who Oversaw Torture of Over 100 Prisoners Awaits His Sentence

Amplify’d from www.alternet.org

Infamous Police Commander Who Oversaw Torture of Over 100 Prisoners Awaits His Sentence

The depressing Jon Burge saga in Chicago reinforces the notion that racial bias is part of the institutional gene pool of the nation’s police departments.

G. Flint Taylor should be basking in the glow of vindication as he awaits the January 20 sentencing of Jon Burge, the retired Chicago police commander convicted for lying about a ring of torturing cops he led. Read more at www.alternet.org

 

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Anti-Gay Iowa Republicans Will Try To Impeach Supreme Court Justices

Amplify’d from tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com

For conservatives angry over the Iowa Supreme Court’s unanimous decision last year to legalize gay marriage, getting three of the seven justices booted from the bench just isn’t enough. Now, a handful of Republican lawmakers are now trying to impeach the remaining four. Read more at tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com

 

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Kate Middleton’s ‘commoner’ status stirs up Britons’ old class divide

Amplify’d from www.washingtonpost.com

LONDON – Since the royal engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton, one word describing the bride-to-be has stood out more than any other. She may be beautiful, graceful and fabulously rich, but Middleton is still a “commoner.” Read more at www.washingtonpost.com

 

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Take a peek at the queen’s royal panties

Amplify’d from www.miamiherald.com

Unusual pieces of history from one of South Florida’s most eccentric icons will be shown this weekend at a Coconut Grove estate.

Although Queen Elizabeth II’s undergarment can’t be purchased (yet), it will be on display during the estate sale of Coconut Grove’s larger-than-life character, the late Baron Joseph de Bicske Dobronyi, better known as Sepy. Read more at www.miamiherald.com

 

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Bird uses physics to impress females

Amplify’d from www.newscientist.com

The male six-wired bird of paradise – aka Lawes’s parotia – has a clever trick up his sleeve. Or rather, on his breast.

Native to Papua New Guinea, Lawes’s parotia males are mostly black, with six elongated wire-like feathers on their heads, and a colourful bib of iridescent feathers on their breast, shown off during their complex courtship dances. The feathers change colour depending on the angle of view, yet this effect differs from other species that use similar tricks. Read more at www.newscientist.com

 

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Fox News chief again caught demanding conservative spin

Amplify’d from www.salon.com

Beautiful — Media Matters has another memo from Fox News Washington Bureau Chief Bill Sammon urging Fox’s supposed “straight news” anchors and reporters to adopt right-wing spin when discussing the news. This time, Sammon wants to make sure that no one on Fox ever admits that global warming is happening.

From: Sammon, Bill To: 169 -SPECIAL REPORT; 036 -FOX.WHU; 054 -FNSunday; 030 -Root (FoxNews.Com); 050 -Senior Producers; 051 -Producers; 069 -Politics; 005 -Washington Cc: Clemente, Michael; Stack, John; Wallace, Jay; Smith, Sean Sent: Tue Dec 08 12:49:51 2009 Subject: Given the controversy over the veracity of climate change data… Read more at www.salon.com

 

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Are Right-Wing Libertarian Internet Trolls Getting Paid to Dumb Down Online Conversations?

Amplify’d from www.alternet.org

There are daily attempts to control and influence content in the interests of the state and corporations: attempts in which money talks.

They are the online equivalent of enclosure riots: the rick-burning, fence-toppling protests by English peasants losing their rights to the land. When MasterCard, Visa, Paypal and Amazon tried to shut WikiLeaks out of the cyber-commons, an army of hackers responded by trying to smash their way into these great estates and pull down their fences. Read more at www.alternet.org

 

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In The Navy Of The 1970s, Syphilis Was A Cartoon Vampire (VIDEO)

Amplify’d from tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com

Sometimes a cartoon vampire named Count Spirochete* is the only way to get sailors to use protection.

In 1973, the Navy made a 20-minute animated movie warning sailors — in graphic detail — about the dangers of venereal disease. The plot: The annual Communicable Disease of the Year Awards sees a huge upset when Venereal Disease, represented by the syphilis-carrying Count Spirochete, wins the coveted Fourth Horseman award over diphtheria and smallpox. Read more at tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com

 

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