[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] published [press release] a study [text, PDF] on Wednesday finding that 3,278 Americans are currently serving life sentences without parole for nonviolent offenses. The study, entitled “A Living Death: Life without Parole for Nonviolent Offenses,” explains the racial and gender makeup of the inmates, as well as the state of the law that has led to the increasing rate at which nonviolent offenders are being sentenced to life without parole. In this analysis, the report makes particular note of mandatory minimum sentences stemming from “repeat offender” laws. “The punishments these people received are grotesquely out of proportion to the crimes they committed,” said author Jennifer Turner. “In a humane society, we can hold people accountable for drug and property crimes without throwing away the key.” The study also points out extreme racial disparity in the sentencing patterns and…

November 16, 2013 – TOKYO, JAPAN– A 5.5magnitude earthquake hit eastern Japan on Saturday. Tremors were felt from inside Tokyo skyscrapers, and the city’s high-speed train service was halted as a precaution. The earthquake struck at 8:44 p.m. local time (11:44 a.m. GMT) at a depth of 63 kilometers (39 miles) in the Chiba prefecture which neighbors Tokyo, the US Geological Survey reported.  The quake shook skyscrapers in the Japanese capital and temporarily halted the city’s high-speed train service, according to AFP. The trains soon resumed after a track inspection. Local broadcaster NHK assured that neither Tokyo’s Narita International Airport nor regional nuclear installations were affected by the earthquake. There were no reports of damage or casualties. It comes just one week after another 5.5 earthquake struck close to the capital, and three weeks after a major 7.3 magnitude quake sent small tsunamis to Japan’s northeast coast…

It’s over and done with. Now, it’s time for rest.

Then go on as a new day appears!! 

~~Ralph Waldo Emerson~~

Annie – Tomorrow (Movie)

Lyrics:
The sun’ll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There’ll be sun!

Just thinkin’ about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
‘Til there’s none!

When I’m stuck with a day
That’s gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh!

The sun’ll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
‘Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You’re always
A day
A way!

We ALL are ONE!

We ALL are connected!!

Tomorrow there’ll be SUN!! 

John Brennan was given written questions by Mike Rogers, chair of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, back in September. One of the questions specifically dealt with this point: were CIA who had been in Benghazi during the attack made to sign NDAs.

Brennan denied it, in writing.

Here is a copy of the letter, signed by Brennan, denying anyone was made to sign an NDA after Benghazi, and with a postscript that also appears to be from Brennan, saying, “I want to assure you that I will not tolerate any effort to prevent our intelligence oversight committees from doing their jobs”.

via CIA Head Brennan Lied, Benghazi Survivors WERE Asked To Sign Non-Disclosure Agreements At Memorial Service | Weasel Zippers.

Related articles

• Benghazi Survivors Intimidated, Forced to Sign Nondisclosure Agreements During Memorial Service (sfcmac.wordpress.com)
• CIA personnel asked to sign additional non-disclosure form after Benghazi attack (fromthetrenchesworldreport.com)
• Source: Benghazi…

The 1840 Anti-Slavery Convention, by Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1841, London, England (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Abolitionism

 

Exeter Hall (1840 Anti-Slavery Convention)

(Caption and photo credit: Wikipedia) 

“Thomas Clarkson[i] (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846), was an English abolitionist. He helped found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, formed on 22 May 1787, and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended British trade in slaves. In 1840, he was the key speaker at the Anti-Slavery Society (today known as Anti-Slavery International) conference in London, which campaigned to end slavery in other countries.”

The Abolition of Slave Trade (Britain 1807)

 

Thomas Clarkson (Britain)

William Wilberforce (Britain)

Anthony Benezet (US)

British Abolitionists (list)

 

The Slave Trade Act of 1807 did not abolish slavery, but it paved the way for the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire, the