Torture in U.S. Prisons? Historic Senate Hearing Takes Up Solitary Confinement’s Devastating Toll

In the first-ever hearing of its kind, a Senate panel heard testimony this week on the psychological and human rights implications of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons. While defenders of solitary confinement claim it is needed to control the most violent prisoners, many of the people called to testify at the hearing described how it can cause intense suffering and mental illness.

via Torture in U.S. Prisons? Historic Senate Hearing Takes Up Solitary Confinement’s Devastating Toll.

For most of his 12 years on death row, Anthony Graves lived in what he called an 8-foot by 12-foot “cage.” To see outside he would stand on top of his rolled up plastic mattress and look through a small window at the top of the concrete wall in the back of his cell. He spent 22, sometimes 24, hours a day in this room.

“Solitary confinement does one thing, it breaks a man’s will to live and he ends up deteriorating. He’s never the same person again,” said Graves, who served more than 18 years in a Texas prison before being exonerated of all crimes in 2010.

Speaking at what was described as the first congressional hearing about solitary confinement, Graves told a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee that solitary confinement is “inhumane and by its design is driving men insane.”

Psychological studies indicate that approximately one-third of prisoners in solitary confinement suffer from mental illness and 50 percent of prison suicides occur in solitary confinement, said Craig Haney, professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Earlier this month, the Center for Constitutional Rights sued the state of California for its practice of isolating prison inmates with a suspected gang affiliation. The lawsuit focuses on 300 inmates who have been held at Pelican Bay State Prison’s Security Housing Unit for more than a decade.

Charles Samuels, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, told the committee that inmates are only placed in solitary confinement to protect the safety of the prison population. The bureau attempts to limit time spent in solitary confinement and seriously mentally ill inmates are not supposed to be placed in solitary confinement, he said.

“Inmates who are disruptive or aggressive to others endanger the security of our institutions,” Samuels said. “Removing and segregating them from the general population allows us to continue to operate institutions.”…

via BostonHerald

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one had, if you are stupid enough to cause problems, you should be isolated. On the other hand, there are cases where the person who gets punished was not the actual trouble-maker. Sometimes another inmate sets them up. No matter how bad someone is, they should not be tortured. Isolation seems like the least worst thing they can come up with to change problem behavior, but I don’t know. I’ve never been inside and I’m not sure how prisons could be realistically reformed.

My hope is that the entire prison population can be permanently be cured with brain rewiring. That’s 3.5 million people in just the US and China according to these statistics. Fix their brains and get them back into society as productive people.  I think that is what a truly advanced species would do.We first need to better understand the brain and criminal behavior better.

Miniature body part jewellery by Percy Lau

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London-based jewellery designer Percy Lau

via Miniature body part jewellery by Percy Lau – Fashion – Stylist Magazine.

‘Zombie’ attacks continue: Man gets naked, bites off chunk of man’s arm, continues fighting after three or four tasings

The latest in a string of “zombie” like attacks happened in a Manatee County home Wednesday night after a man under the influence went into a fit of rage and bit a piece of someone’s arm off during a visit with his children.

Much like the Miami face-eating attack, 26-year-old Charles Baker got naked, ate human flesh and wouldn’t go down without a fight, according to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office report.

Authorities say Baker went to his girlfriend’s home on 25th St in Palmetto to visit his kids at 10:15 p.m. They say he was high on an unknown substance when he knocked on the door, then barged in, began yelling and taking off his clothes.

He was screaming and wouldn’t calm down, then began throwing furniture around the home. Jeffery Blake, who lives in the home, attempted to restrain Baker, but the suspect bit him, taking a chunk of his flesh from his bicep. Blake, 48, was able to get Baker to the ground and kept him there until two deputies arrived.

When law enforcement came inside, Blake released Baker. Baker got up, but would not respond to deputies orders. The suspect instead faced the deputies, tensing his body, clenching his fists and screaming.

Baker, still naked, acted like he was going to rush the deputies, according to the report. Deputy Wildt deployed his an electronic control device after giving a verbal warning.

Baker fell to the ground, and then tried to get back up, so Deputy Wildt deployed the device again. Baker pulled the probes out, so deputy Blake deployed his electric shock device.

Those probes were also pulled out, and Deputy Wildt deployed a second cartridge. By this time, several other deputies had arrived on scene and were able to hold him down and handcuff him.

Baker was taken to Manatee Memorial Hospital for evaluation before being transported to the jail. …

via ‘Zombie’ attacks continue? Man under the influence gets naked, bites off chunk of man’s arm.

See bath salts.

Rare hat-shaped cloud appears near Mount Fuji

A rare anvil or hat-shaped cloud appeared near Mount Fuji after a strong typhoon swept through Japan.

The cloud, called “tsurushi-gumo,” or hanging cloud, was seen on Wednesday morning.

The phenomenon occurs when winds around Mount Fuji become strong, or after tropical storms. But experts say such clouds rarely appear at this time of the year.

The cloud disappeared after about 30 minutes when the sky became overcast.

via Video: Rare hat-shaped cloud appears near Mount Fuji.

Lenticular clouds are cool. I’ve seen them at Mt. Shasta.

Strange Snakes dropped by helicopter on Namibian Town?

… This is the story, by Adam Hartman:

Since December last year, Erongo`s Tubuses settlement, north of Usakos near the foot of the Erongo Mountains,(1) has apparently been plagued by hundreds of `large strange snakes`.

Speculation is rife, but one particular version has it that some residents claim that they saw a helicopter flying low over the area before the New Year- soon after which there was a sharp increase in the snake population. According to one resident, the snakes are not the usual kinds (like pythons, puff adders, whip snakes and mambas) found in the area. The `new` snakes were also larger and more dangerous. “Instead of staying in the bush, these snakes are coming into the houses as if the houses belong to them” said David Nuseb. One story has it that a toddler was apparently sitting on the couch watching television, when a large serpent entered the living room and made its way to the TV where it started `fighting` with the images on the screen. The child called his parents, the snake was cornered and killed Nuseb said.

There is agreement among the community that there is usually an increase of snakes after a good rainy season, like that of last year, but then the snakes apparently stay in the bush, away from people. Another member of the community, Isak Naweseb said that scores of them have been killed by people over the past few months, or by vehicles driving over them on the roads. “ Just this past weekend, when a relative of mine went to a funeral nearby, he said that he drove over three large snakes,” said Naweseb.(While he was speaking to the newspaper, another resident of the area, a certain Yvonne, sent a sms to this reporter`s mobile claiming that a snake was in the generator room at the water pump.)

Mobile images of some of the dead snakes were given to The Namibian. The images are of poor quality, but a comparison to the snakes kept at the Swakopmund Snake Park did not shed much light except – considering the colours – that some of those photographed could have been Angolan or Mozambican cobras and mambas. Some of the snakes are found in that area, while others not.One argument is that the snakes could have been washed down river from another region. “Sometimes large snakes are found in Swakopmund, especially after the Swakop River has flooded. The river brings the snakes downstream from the interior. Maybe this was what had happened, an official at the snake park explained.

The owner of the Snake Park, and author of books regarding reptiles of the Namib, Stuart Hebbert, said that nothing is “impossible” anymore, but there were definitely things that were “improbable”. The story of the helicopter is improbable. Helicopters are very expensive, and it would be much easier to transport snakes by car. And why would someone drop snakes from a helicopter? he asked. Hebbert said that he did not want to shrug off the community`s stories as fables, but admitted he was a sceptic.” I`ve heard many snake stories, and once a story gets off the ground it spreads like wildfire, and with that the snakes become more in number, bigger and more dangerous” , he said. He said that the idea of good rains bringing more rodents into the area, attracting more snakes, was more probable.(2)

via CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track: MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: “STRANGE SNAKES” INVADE A NAMIBIAN TOWN.

‘Giant wombat’ grave found in Queensland, Australia

Diprotodon (Greek for “two forward teeth”); pronounced die-PRO-toe-don, Plains of Australia, Pleistocene-Modern (2 million-10,000 years ago), About 12 feet long and two tons, ate plants.

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Scientists have unearthed the biggest find yet of prehistoric “giant wombat” skeletons, revealing clues to the reasons for the species’ extinction.

The find, in Queensland, Australia, of about 50 Diprotodons – the largest marsupial that ever lived – has been called a “palaeontologists’ goldmine”.

The plant-eating giants, the size of a rhinoceros, had backward-facing pouches big enough to carry an adult human.

The fossils are believed to be between 100,000 and 200,000 years old.

Lead scientist Scott Hocknull, from the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, said: “When we did the initial survey I was just completely blown away by the concentrations of these fragments.

“It’s a palaeontologist’s goldmine where we can really see what these megafauna were doing, how they actually behaved, what their ecology was.

“With so many fossils it gives us a unique opportunity to see these animals in their environment, basically, so we can reconstruct it.”

Ancient crocodile

The “mega-wombats” appeared to have been trapped in boggy conditions while taking refuge from dry conditions, Mr Hocknull added.

The pigeon-toed animals were widespread across Australia about 50,000 years ago, when the first indigenous people are believed to have lived, but they first appeared about 1.6 million years ago.

It is unclear how or why they became extinct, but it could have been due to hunting by humans or, more likely, a changing climate.

via BBC News – ‘Giant wombat’ grave found in Queensland, Australia.

The giant wombat is not a myth.

DNA clues to Queen of Sheba tale

An Ethiopian fresco supposedly depicting the Queen of Sheba traveling to Solomon.

Clues to the origins of the Queen of Sheba legend are written in the DNA of some Africans, according to scientists.

Genetic research suggests Ethiopians mixed with Egyptian, Israeli or Syrian populations about 3,000 years ago.

This is the time the queen, mentioned in great religious works, is said to have ruled the kingdom of Sheba.

The research, published in The American Journal of Human Genetics, also sheds light on human migration out of Africa 60,000 years ago.

According to fossil evidence, human history goes back longer in Ethiopia than anywhere else in the world. But little has been known until now about the human genetics of Ethiopians.

Professor Chris Tyler-Smith of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, a researcher on the study, told BBC News: “Genetics can tell us about historical events.

“By analysing the genetics of Ethiopia and several other regions we can see that there was gene flow into Ethiopia, probably from the Levant, around 3,000 years ago, and this fits perfectly with the story of the Queen of Sheba.”

Lead researcher Luca Pagani of the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute added: “The genetic evidence is in support of the legend of the Queen of Sheba.”

More than 200 individuals from 10 Ethiopian and two neighbouring African populations were analysed in the largest genetic investigation of its kind on Ethiopian populations.

About a million genetic letters in each genome were studied. Previous Ethiopian genetic studies have focussed on smaller sections of the human genome and mitochondrial DNA, which passes along the maternal line. …

via BBC News – DNA clues to Queen of Sheba tale.

The queen of Sheba has been called a variety of names by different peoples in different times. To King Solomon of Israel she was the Queen of Sheba. In Islamic tradition she was called Bilqis or Balqis by the Arabs, who say she came from the city of Sheba, also called Mareb, in Yemen or Arabia Felix. The Roman historian Josephus calls her Nicaule. The Ethiopian people claim her as Makeda or Maqueda. She is thought to have been born some time in the 10th century BC. Her lineage was part of the Ethiopian dynasty established in 1370 BCE by Za Besi Angabo, which lasted 350 years; Makeda’s grandfather and father were the last two rulers of this dynasty. Makeda’s mother was known as Queen Ismenie. In 1005 BCE, Makeda’s father appointed her as his successor from his deathbed.^[2]

To the early ancient Greeks, Ethiopia referred to an empire that encompassed a vast territory, extending to Arabia, Syria, Armenia and the territory between the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. This is the empire that the Queen of Sheba was said to have reigned over. In the Ethiopian Book of Aksum, she is described as establishing a new capital city at Azeba, while the Kebra Negast refers to her building a capital at Debra Makeda, or “Mount Makeda”. The Yemenite kingdom of Himyar refers to her in its histories as well.^[3]

In the Hebrew Bible, a tradition of the history of nations is preserved in Genesis 10. In Genesis 10:7 there is a reference to Sheba, the son of Raamah, the son of Cush, the son of Ham, son of Noah. In Genesis 10:26-29 there is a reference to another person named Sheba…Recent archaeological discoveries in Mareb, Yemen support the view that the Queen of Sheba ruled over southern Arabia, with evidence suggesting that the area was the capital of the Kingdom of Sheba.

via Wikipedia

Tumour op in womb saves foetus

Surgeons have removed a tumour from the mouth of a foetus, in what has been described as a “world first” procedure.

After a scan at 17 weeks, mother Tammy Gonzalez said she “could see a bubble” coming out of her baby’s mouth.

Doctors said it was a very rare tumour called an oral teratoma and there was little chance her daughter would survive.

After the pioneering operation, baby Leyna was born five months later.

Doctors at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida, said this type of tumour was so rare it had been seen only once in 20 years at the hospital.

In the procedure, Mrs Gonzalez was put under a local anaesthetic as a needle was pushed through the protective amniotic sac around the foetus.

Leyna is now a healthy 20-month-old child

A laser was then used to cut the tumour from Leyna’s lips. The operation lasted just over an hour.

Tammy told a press conference in Miami: “When they finally severed the whole thing off and I could see it floating down, it was like this huge weight had been lifted off me and I could finally see her face.”

She described the surgeons as “saviours”.

The doctors said: “To our knowledge, this is the first successful treatment of a foetal oral teratoma in utero.”

via BBC News – Tumour op in womb saves foetus.

More water on the moon: NASA finds two-mile-deep crater with ice across a quarter of surface

Ice may lie scattered across up to a quarter of the surface of a crater on the moon.

NASA spotted bright illuminations in images returned from the Shackleton crater, which is located on the moon’s South Pole.

The more water we find on the moon, and the more accessible it is, the better – as it will be needed if Man ever establishes a permanent colony on the moon.

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft returned data that indicate ice may make up as much as 22 percent of the surface material.

The team of NASA and university scientists using laser light from LRO’s laser altimeter examined the floor of Shackleton crater.

They found the crater’s floor is brighter than those of other nearby craters, which is consistent with the presence of small amounts of ice. This information will help researchers understand crater formation and study other uncharted areas of the moon.

Gregory Neumann, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said: ‘The brightness measurements have been puzzling us since two summers ago.

‘While the distribution of brightness was not exactly what we had expected, practically every measurement related to ice and other volatile compounds on the moon is surprising, given the cosmically cold temperatures inside its polar craters.’

via More water on the moon: NASA finds two-mile-deep crater which has ice scattered across a quarter of its surface | Mail Online.

50 Gigapixel (50,000 megapixel) camera?

By synchronizing 98 tiny cameras in a single device, electrical engineers from Duke University and the University of Arizona have developed a prototype camera that can create images with unprecedented detail.

The camera’s resolution is five times better than 20/20 human vision over a 120 degree horizontal field.

The new camera has the potential to capture up to 50 gigapixels of data, which is 50,000 megapixels. By comparison, most consumer cameras are capable of taking photographs with sizes ranging from 8 to 40 megapixels. Pixels are individual “dots” of data — the higher the number of pixels, the better resolution of the image.

via ScienceDaily

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120620133151.htm