February 2, 2012

Torture in Illinois goes to Illinois Supreme Court..

Long running story...for years...


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: February 2, 2012 at 8:05 AM ET

Illinois High Court to Rule in Police Torture Case

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: February 2, 2012 at 8:05 AM ET




CHICAGO (AP) — An inmate who says Chicago police officers tortured him into confessing to a brutal rape could learn Thursday whether the Illinois Supreme Court will allow him to present evidence of coercion that was denied at trial, a ruling that could have implications for as many as 20 other inmates seeking similar appeals.

Stanley Wrice, 57, is among dozens of men — almost all of them black — who have claimed since the 1970s that former Chicago Lt John Burge and his officers used torture to secure confessions in crimes ranging from armed robbery to murder. Allegations persisted until the 1990s at police stations Allegations persisted until the 1990s at police stations on the city's South and West sides.

While several of the incarcerated men with torture claims have been released, Wrice's case could have far-reaching impact on how Illinois deals with such cases in the future. Wrice, who is serving a 100-year sentence, insists he's innocent.

Allegations of abuse and torture have plagued the Police Department in the nation's third-largest city for decades and were a factor in former Gov. George Ryan's decision to institute a moratorium on the death penalty in 2000. Gov. Pat Quinn abolished the death penalty in Illinois last year.
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So torture was alive in Illinois, before either Bush was elected. I heard about it in the 80s from students in the high school that
I taught in. Actually, I didn't believe the cops would do these kinds of things. But it is clear that they did, and I was wrong.
Burge was eventually convicted of lieing to a grand jury and is serving for lieing that related to the torture, not the torture itself.
Burge was poitically connected ..well..you know the rest..
The prosecuter who got him on lieing to grand jury was Scott Fitzgerald ..see lower link...



this is link to story above:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/02/02/us/AP-US-Police-Torture.html?ref=us

More info on Jon Burge who was in charge of the torture:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Burge

February 2, 2012

I found this story buried at MSNBC..about journalist being arrested at hearing.

MSNBC has this as an "enviornment issue" not one of "freedom of the press"
It is there, but not among the major stories..a secondary story. I wonder how it would be reported if one of their
crews were arrested for taping an event. So, those at MSNBC, who run it, can say..yea we reported it, but
it never got front page coverage...

The story is located in U.S News, under the .."Enviornment" subheading...

See for yourself....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032525/ns/us_news/
then here is the story itself:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46227895/ns/us_news-environment/

February 2, 2012

Josh Fox's Statement after being arrested for filming a public congressional hearing. 2/1/12

From Huffington Post..
Journalist arrested today..


Josh Fox, meanwhile, has issued the following statement to the press:

I was arrested today for exercising my First Amendment rights to freedom of the press on Capitol Hill. I was not expecting to be arrested for practicing journalism. Today's hearing in the House Energy and Environment subcommittee was called to examine EPAs findings that hydraulic fracturing fluids had contaminated groundwater in the town of Pavillion, Wyoming. I have a long history with the town of Pavillion and its residents who have maintained since 2008 that fracking has contaminated their water supply. I featured the stories of residents John Fenton, Louis Meeks and Jeff Locker in GASLAND and I have continued to document the catastrophic water contamination in Pavillion for the upcoming sequel GASLAND 2. It would seem that the Republican leadership was using this hearing to attack the three year Region 8 EPA investigation involving hundreds of samples and extensive water testing which ruled that Pavillion's groundwater was a health hazard, contaminated by benzene at 50x the safe level and numerous other contaminants associated with gas drilling. Most importantly, EPA stated in this case that fracking was the likely cause.
As a filmmaker and journalist I have covered hundreds of public hearings, including Congressional hearings. It is my understanding that public speech is allowed to be filmed. Congress should be no exception. No one on Capitol Hill should regard themselves exempt from the Constitution. The First Amendment to the Constitution states explicitly "Congress shall make no law...that infringes on the Freedom of the Press". Which means that no subcommittee rule or regulation should prohibit a respectful journalist or citizen from recording a public hearing.

This was an act of civil disobedience, yes done in an impromptu fashion, but at the moment when they told me to turn off the cameras, I could not. I know my rights and I felt it was imperative to exercise them.

When I was led out of the hearing room in handcuffs, John Boehner's pledge of transparency in congress was taken out with me.

The people of Pavillion deserve better. The thousands across the US who have documented cases of water contamination in fracking areas deserve their own hearing on Capitol hill. They deserve the chance to testify in before Congress. The truth that fracking contaminates groundwater is out, and no amount of intimidation tactics --either outright challenges to science or the arrest of journalists --will put the genie back in the bottle. Such a brazen attempt to discredit and silence the EPA, the citizens of Pavillion and documentary filmmaking will ultimately fail and it is an affront to the health and integrity of Americans.

Lastly, in defense of my profession, I will state that many many Americans get their news from independent documentaries. The hill should immediately move to make hearings and meetings accessible to independent journalists and not further obstruct the truth from being reported in the vivid and in depth manner that is only achievable through long form documentary filmmaking.

I will be thinking on this event further and will post further thoughts and developments.

I have been charged with "unlawful entry" and my court date is February 15.

Josh Fox
Washington D.C.
2/1/12

February 1, 2012

Alzheimer’s Spreads Like a Virus in the Brain, Studies Find

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/health/research/alzheimers-spreads-like-a-virus-in-the-brain-studies-find.html?hp

Alzheimer’s Spreads Like a Virus in the Brain, Studies Find

By GINA KOLATA

Published: February 1, 2012

Alzheimer’s disease seems to spread like an infection from brain cell to brain cell, two new studies find. But instead of viruses or bacteria, what is being spread is a distorted protein known as tau.

The surprising finding answers a longstanding question and has immediate implications for developing treatments, researchers said. And they suspect that other degenerative brain diseases like Parkinson’s may spread in a similar way.

But for more than a quarter-century, researchers have been unable to decide between two explanations. One is that the spread may mean that the disease is transmitted from neuron to neuron, perhaps along the paths that nerve cells use to communicate with one another. Or it could simply mean that some brain areas are more resilient than others and resist the disease longer.

February 1, 2012

House Republicans Order Journalists Arrested at Public Hearing.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/house-republicans-order-j_n_1246971.html

WASHINGTON -- In a stunning break with First Amendment policy on Capitol Hill, House Republicans directed Capitol Hill police to detain a highly regarded documentary crew that was attempting to film a Wednesday hearing on a controversial natural gas procurement practice. Republicans also denied the entrance of a credentialed ABC News news team that was attempting to film the event.

Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Gasland" was taken into custody by Capitol Hill police this morning, along with his crew, after Republicans objected to their presence, according to Democratic sources present at the hearing. The meeting of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment had been taking place in room 2318 of the Rayburn building. Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, is currently seeking to secure a procedural maneuver that would allow the detained film crew to re-enter the hearing, which is open to the public. Miller's motion is not expected to succeed.

Approximately 16 officers entered the hearing room and handcuffed Fox amid audible discussions of "disorderly conduct" charges, according to Democratic sources present at the arrest.
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UPDATE: 12:09 p.m. -- Capitol Police public information officer Seargant Kimberly Schneider provided the following statement to HuffPost on the morning's events:

"At approximately 10:30 a.m. today, United States Capitol Police arrested Joshua Fox of Milanville, Pa. in room 2318 of the Rayburn House office building. He is charged with unlawful entry, and he is currently being processed at United States Capitol Police headquarters
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UPDATE: 4:45 p.m. -- Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) told HuffPost, “I have served in the House of Representatives since 1992, and I had the privilege of chairing the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. In all that time, I cannot recall a chair of any committee or subcommittee having ever ordered the removal of a person who was filming a committee proceeding and not being disruptive, whether or not that person was accredited. It is a matter of routine that all sorts of people photograph and record our proceedings. Most of them are not accredited. I cannot recall anyone questioning their right to be there."