August 29, 2016

Brock Turner expected to be released from Santa Clara County Jail Friday

Source: SF Gate

Brock Turner, the former Stanford University student and swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious and intoxicated woman in 2015, is expected to be released from the Santa Clara County Jail this Friday, September 2, after serving only half of his six-month sentence.

As the Associated Press reported in June, early releases are common for good behavior.

Back in January 2015, Turner was detained for the campus assault after two graduate students saw Turner and a woman behind a garbage bin. When the 19-year-old Turner tried to flee, the two students caught him and held him down until the police arrived and made the arrest. Turner was later charged and found guilty of three felony counts of sexual assault.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Brock-Turner-to-be-released-from-jail-Friday-due-9191098.php

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He's still a douchebag rapist.

August 23, 2016

Stanford bans hard alcohol at campus parties

Source: CNN

Stanford's undergraduate students will no longer be allowed to drink hard alcohol at on-campus parties, the university announced Monday.

The university's students can still drink beer and wine at such events, but will no longer be permitted to have hard alcohol that has more than 20% alcohol by volume or 40 proof. The new policy also limits the size of the bottles of hard liquor they're allowed to keep in their dorms or common areas to under 750 milliliters.

"Our focus is on the high risk of the rapid consumption of hard alcohol," said Ralph Castro, director of the Office of Alcohol Policy and Education, in a Stanford news release. "Our intention is not a total prohibition of a substance, but rather a targeted approach that limits high-risk behavior."

The new alcohol policy comes two months after the sentencing of Brock Turner, a former Stanford swimmer who was convicted on a charge of intent to commit rape. The case gained national attention after the victim issued a powerful statement. The judge's subsequent decision to give Turner a six-month jail sentence for sexually assaulting the unconscious woman also caused a national uproar.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/23/us/stanford-hard-alcohol-ban/index.html

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I'm of mixed feelings about this. Alcohol isn't going away, and a students reaction when they do finally consume high proof alcohol could be worse.

August 6, 2016

Rio Olympics Today: The First Gold Medal Goes to ..American Shooter Virginia Thrasher

Source: NY Times

We already have a gold medalist, and it’s a 19-year-old West Virginia University sophomore, Virginia Thrasher.

With two shots to go in the women’s air rifle event, Thrasher, who is known as Ginny, led by 0.7 points. She coolly squeezed off shots of 10.5 and 10.4 to take gold. Two Chinese shooters, Du Li and favored Yi Siling won silver and bronze. Another American, Sarah Scherer was eighth.

Thrasher has only been shooting for five years, after she asked her father to take her deer hunting. She was N.C.A.A. champion as a freshman and surprisingly qualified for the U.S. team at the Olympic Trials. “For me, it has been a whirlwind of a summer,” she said. She will also compete in the 50-meter rifle, three positions, next Saturday, then head back to W.V.U.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/sports/olympics/rio-games-schedule.html?_r=0

August 4, 2016

Video of Palestinian father taunting Israeli police to shoot his young son just got worse

A Palestinian father, in front of a professional Palestinian videographer, pushed his young child towards Israeli Border Police, yelled at the son to throw rocks (which he did in a childish way), and then taunted the police to shoot the child so that the cameras could capture the killing.

As if that weren’t bad enough, Palestinian television then promoted the video, but left out a crucial piece where the border policeman and the child exchange a “high five” — which is contrary to the image promoted of a hostile interaction between the police and the child. It was a moment in which the father’s attempt to taunt the police into harming the child was met with humanity.

Videos at link:

http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/08/video-of-palestinian-father-taunting-police-to-shoot-his-young-son-just-got-worse/