When Pope John Paul II visited Damascus in May 2001, Bashar used his welcoming speech to denounce the Jews, saying, “They tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad.”   read more

With Republicans in charge of Congress, Hall was an easy choice for them when Doug Elmendorf’s term expired in 2015. Hall opposes government spending to curb poverty, instead wanting to increase the labor supply. He also is against the Affordable Care Act, saying “it raises the costs of production.” He even opposes Social Security disability benefits saying they’re an incentive for people not to work. SSID benefits top out at $2,663 a month and average $1,165.   read more

Increases in deductibles have outpaced increases in wages. “Deductibles have risen more than six times faster than workers’ earnings since 2010,” wrote Abelson. Deductibles also have become more common for employees, with about 80% now being forced to pay them. “Asking employees to cover more of their medical bills through high deductibles raises questions about whether some workers...are being discouraged from seeking the care they need,” wrote Abelson.   read more

“The findings, several legal experts said, support the argument that the death penalty is arbitrary and unconstitutional because politics...influence the outcome of an appeal,” Reuters’ Levine and Cooke wrote. They added that, according to Yale's Stephen Bright, “courts have a responsibility to protect a defendant’s constitutional rights without political pressure, especially when the person’s life is at stake.” Said Bright: “It’s the difference between the rule of law and the rule of the mob.”   read more

Killers of black men have been executed in only 3 cases out of 12,949 homicides since 1976. “Being a victim of homicide in Louisiana is heavily dependent on race, gender, and age," wrote the authors. "Young black males have extremely high rates of homicide victimization compared to other categories. However, the death penalty is used only very rarely in those cases.” They couldn't find a single case “in the entire history of Louisiana where a white person was executed for killing a black male.”   read more

“When I escaped, I was recaptured, bleeding and crying, and taken back to be raped again,” Vang recalled. “I thought my body, my life and my future were ruined forever.” The rapes resulted in Vang becoming pregnant, and her traditional Hmong parents demanded she marry Prataya, who is now in his 50s. The couple moved to Minnesota along with Vang’s father. Once in the U.S., Prataya threatened to keep Vang from seeing their child unless she agreed to continue to have sex with him.   read more

Selfie fatalities exceed shark attack deaths by 33% this year. Tragedies include people falling off cliffs or being hit by trains while trying to incorporate danger into their images. A Cessna pilot, distracted while taking selfies, lost control of his plane, killing himself and his passenger. People have been shot to death when guns they held to their heads for selfies accidentally discharged. A musician died in a traffic accident while snapping selfies as he rode his motorcycle.   read more

The inquiries relate to the use of a Polish intelligence base from 2002 to 2003 to question terrorism suspects, using so-called enhanced interrogation techniques—or torture. One request was for an unedited copy of the U.S. Senate report on CIA torture. Former Polish president Kwaśniewski, publicly admitted his country was asked to provide a “quiet location” for questioning suspects following the September 11 attacks. But he claimed no authorization was given for the harsh treatment of detainees.   read more

The Norwegian operators of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault were asked for some seeds back by officials with the ICARDA, which was based in the Syrian city of Aleppo until the war broke out. Now operating in Beirut, ICARDA had submitted 325 boxes of seeds to the vault. It informed Svalbard that 130 boxes containing 116,000 samples are needed. The seeds include samples of wheat, barley and grasses. Researchers requested the seeds after the gene bank near Aleppo was damaged in the war.   read more

Twenty-five walruses, including 12 babies, were found dead last week on a remote shore in Alaska. Officials suspect poachers may be to blame. The carcasses were spotted near Cape Lisburne, about 50 miles north of Point Hope in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The animals showed signs of being shot, and many had their heads removed. Poachers prize walrus tusks for their ivory, leading to suspicions that the animals were killed intentionally.   read more

“‘Happy Birthday’ is finally free after 80 years,” said attorney Randall Newman. “Finally, the charade is over. It’s unbelievable.” Royalties from the song were often collected from stage productions, TV shows, movies and greeting cards. “But even those who wanted to sing the song publicly as part of a business...technically had to pay to use the song," wrote the L.A. Times. Warner/Chappell has collected as much as $2 million a year from royalties it charged for use of the song.   read more

Gilligan was the inspiration for the film “Arsenic and Old Lace” after she was convicted of poisoning a resident of a nursing home she ran in Windsor. She was originally charged with five murders, including that of her second husband, and may have been responsible for dozens of others. She was confined to a psychiatric hospital from 1924 until she died in 1962. The court stopped the release of 200 pages of psychiatric records related to Gilligan. Author Robillard had requested their release.   read more

The suit claims the court system has thrown defendants, mostly poor, in jail with no date of hearing or release. Those arrested for unpaid fees are subject to a $20,000 bond. “Despite longstanding Supreme Court precedent that the government cannot imprison people just because they are poor, New Orleans officials routinely use jail...to collect court debts from thousands of the City’s poorest people,” the suit says. “The result is an illegal...modern debtors’ prison."   read more

Those who are eligible will work 20 hours a week and receive half their pay and half their retirement annuity. But at least 20% of their work time has to be devoted to mentoring other employees so someone is in a position to take over once they fully retire. “The idea is to keep talented employees with valuable institutional knowledge on the job a little longer so they can train other workers, while they also enjoy a partial retirement,” Kellie Lunney wrote at Government Executive.   read more

Judge Soble found Gerawan had given preferential treatment to workers, allowing them to pass out literature during the workday but preventing the union from distributing its own materials. UFW claimed Lopez “received a $20,000 donation from the Fresno-based California Fresh Fruit Association to assist with ‘travel expenses.’ Sobel cited Gerawan’s complicity: ‘There is powerful circumstantial evidence to suggest that the company knew about this donation beforehand."   read more

The number of banged-up players was quite high even before the Week 2 games. There were 234 players hurt before teams played their second games of the season. This total included 40 knee injuries, 12 concussions and two neck injuries. Then, Week 2 was played and another 16 players went down. All were taken out of their games. A report released last week found that 87 of 91 deceased NFL players studied were found to have suffered from a brain disease linked to repetitive brain trauma.   read more

The IRS says it struggled to keep up with the call volume in light of the budget cuts imposed by the Republican-controlled Congress this decade. The agency has endured five consecutive years of budget reductions that have stripped $1.2 billion from its operations. The cuts have forced the IRS to eliminate more than 18,000 full-time and seasonal positions while it has had to deal with a growing number of taxpayers filing returns and new responsibilities created by the Affordable Care Act.   read more