Wrong hair...

The FBI is notifying hundreds of defendants in 46 states that their convictions involved flawed expert testimony. It now admits that nearly Every Examiner in an elite forensic unit overstated hair matches that favored prosecutors.

This is one of the country's largest-ever forensic scandals and includes dozens of death row convictions, reports CBS News correspondent Julianna Goldman.
Cleveland Wright spent 28 years behind bars serving time for a 1978 murder.  Wright was exonerated in 2014, but has not been compensated.

The Innocence Project and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers found from the 1970s through 1999, in 268 cases where FBI hair analysis led to a conviction, 257, or 96 percent, had errors in analysis.

Eighteen of those defendants were living on death row 12 had been executed.

"There's a certain aura about FBI agents. They are very sharp, and very trustworthy; it doesn't mean their experimentation was done properly," Kobilinsky said.
Errors do not mean there was no evidence of guilt, but defendants may have grounds for appeal.

Just a thought.

Quack... OZ

In a letter to the college, the self-described "disgruntled" physicians wrote they are "surprised and dismayed" that Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons would maintain Oz's faculty appointment, "let alone a senior administrative position in the Department of Surgery."the letter states."  Worst of all, he has manifested an egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain."                                                       

Oz came under scrutiny during a U.S. Senate hearing that examined false diet-product ads.  Sen. Claire McCaskill grilled Oz, citing moments when he used his TV show to peddle green coffee extract as a "magic weight loss cure," and raspberry ketone as "the number one miracle in a bottle to burn your fat.

"Since that hearing Oz has not altered his methods as a TV doctor pushing scientifically unproven products to his massive audience. "But when an erudite, well-respected and highly trained physician goes on television with a huge audience and does the same thing, he has a vast potential to do harm, presenting these useless and potentially toxic supplements and magical cures," Ross said in a phone interview.

I don't know how much of this he actually has a financial interest in but I would suspect it's quite a bit,"    Oz talks up certain foods, drinks, supplements or other products often with little science to support them.   

To stop the false advertisement, we must follow the money.  Just a thought.

Fake Mistress...?*



Two principles of California law...... , a spouse can't give away community property without the written consent of the other spouse. And anything a spouse earns while he is living "separate and apart from the other spouse" is the spouse's separate property, not community property, and he is free to do what he wants with it.  

The key finding that Judge Richard Fruin

Break Up is Hard....

Ryan Poston was supposed to be on a date with a beauty pageant champion on the night that his on-again, off-again girlfriend fatally shot him.

Audrey Bolte, Miss Ohio 2012, said she planned on meeting the 29-year-old attorney for drinks and to play pool on October 12, 2012, but he never showed up.

That night, Poston was shot six times, allegedly by Shayna Hubers, according to prosecutors. Hubers, now 24, is accused of one count of murder.

Prosecutors allege that she shot Poston out of anger after he tried to break up with her. Hubers has pleaded not guilty, saying Poston was frequently violent, and that she shot him in self-defense.

In the days before he died, Poston had expressed uncertainty about his relationship with Hubers and struggled to tell her about his date, his step-father said.

Hubers’ cellmate testified that Hubers seemed almost “carefree” when discussing the shooting. She laughed “about shooting [Poston] in the face and giving him the nose job he always wanted”.

Breaking up is hard to do.         Just a thought. 

Who digs a pit....!

A cardiologist on Long Island’s Gold Coast traded semiautomatic guns and prescription pills in an elaborate plot to rub out a rival heart doc, (Reuters).  A New York cardiologist has been arrested and accused of a murder-for-hire plot against a competing doctor. The failed scheme was put into motion only after Anthony Moschetto, 54, hired two men to torch the competitor’s office in February.

A search of Moschetto’s ritzy home in the exclusive Sands Point neighborhood turned up a cache of some 100 weapons, concealed behind a motorized moving bookshelf in the heart doc’s basement, the Nassau County District Attorney’s office said. Among his secret arsenal were an illegal Uzi, an SKS semiautomatic weapon, a hand grenade, an assortment of knives and enough ammo to supply a small army.

He was accused of bartering prescription pills and semiautomatic guns in the shocking murder-for-hire plot.
“He wanted to put rival out of business so he could get his business,” said Nassau County prosecutor Anne Donnelly, explaining that Moschetto’s hatred for the doctor stemmed from a “professional dispute.”

Undercover officers conducting a drug sting unraveled the sinister plot when an oxycodone dealer they were targeting ask them for explosives “to blow up a building.”

He who digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.

Just a thought.

Which Marco?

 

All politicians are a combination of the principle and calculation. One candidate's ideological stand is another's craven surrender. Sometimes it's even hard for supporters to tell the difference.

Yet this dichotomy within Rubio seems especially stark. At his best, the junior senator demonstrates that his party is more than a collection of oppositionists and ideologues.

Rubio has earned a reputation for policy ideas that are more pragmatic than partisan, starting with legislation he sponsored in 2013 that would have given 11 million undocumented immigrants an eventual path to citizenship.

Rubio's tax-reform proposals may be budget-busters, but at least his inclusion of bigger middle-class tax credits acknowledges that such reform must include goals other than cutting the top personal rate.

And his proposal for automatic income-based repayments of student loans would help ensure that nobody goes broke because of college debt.

Last year, Rubio gave a speech focused on improving the financial security of older Americans. It included proposals to end the Social Security clawback for those who work after turning 62, and ending the Social Security tax altogether for people who keep working after they reach retirement age. Those ideas are as good as they are dull.

There's another Marco Rubio. The one who abandoned his position on immigration when his party's base demanded it, who says human activity isn't to blame for climate change, whose positions on foreign policy opposing efforts to engage Cuba, for example reflect an outdated view of the world and of U.S. power.

As Rubio's campaign progresses, it will be interesting to see which version predominates. A talented politician, Rubio is capable of being both thoughtful and reckless. There's no question which quality makes for a better president.

[David Shipley of Bloomberg]

 

We need to see more work and more experience.

Just a thought.

Kind Bars 'healthy'??????????

The FDA issued a warning that Kind Bars misleading consumers by using the word "healthy" on labels of four products.  "None of your products listed above meet the requirements for use of the nutrient content claim "healthy" that are set forth........" wrote William A. Correll Jr. of the FDA New York District. Correll cited misbranding issues related to product label claims about fiber, antioxidants, trans-fats and non-GMO glucose. 

"The above violations are not meant to be an all-inclusive list of violations that may exist in connection with your products or their labeling. It is your responsibility to ensure that your products comply with the Act and its implementing regulations," the letter said. "You should take prompt action to correct the violations. Failure to promptly correct the violations may result in regulatory action without further notice, including seizure and/or injunction."
A company spokesman, Joe Cohen, said the issue focused on nuts. Even though they do not meet the standard for use of the term "healthy," they are still considered nutritious by an overwhelming body of scientific evidence, Cohen said.

Just because a company claims its products are healthy, doesn't make it true.

Just a thought.

Helping Yourself?

A home health care worker, a McDonald’s cashier, a bank teller, and adjunct professor. They are all evidence of an improving economy and not among the steadily declining ranks of the unemployed.

Nearly three-quarters of the people helped by programs geared to the poor are members of a family headed by a worker. As a result, taxpayers are providing not only support to the poor but also, in effect, a huge subsidy for employers of low-wage workers.

One report estimates that state and federal governments spend more than $150 billion a year on four key antipoverty programs used by working families: Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, food stamps and the earned-income tax credit, which is specifically aimed at working families.

The low-wage business model practiced by many of the largest and most profitable employers in the country leaves many working families unable to afford the basics, and also imposes significant costs on the public as a whole.

Other states, as well as several cities, have moved to raise the minimum wage above $10, while local activists demand $15 an hour. It doesn't matter though.

The US economic system and its balance require exactly this arrangement. Poor people working these jobs and get public assistance. Certain services are high cost for no reason except balance. Example, healthcare premium can cost as much as 10K/per year in USA while other Countries cost 3k with better service.

So don't look down at no one, and no one would wish you fail. Just a thought.

the Support...*!

John Booker Jr. struck others as strange or even troubled but also as a young man not shy about discussing his faith or debating Islamic philosophy at the mosque.

But the 20-year-old Topeka resident told a confidante informant that he wasn't liked at his mosque because he expressed support for the terrorist group al-Qaida - views that would have gotten him barred. The cleric said the FBI brought Booker to the mosque and sought counseling to turn him from views behind Facebook postings about plans to die in a jihad.

Booker was in contact with two informants portraying Islamic State group sympathizers. He was arrested trying to arm a 1,000-pound bomb outside Fort Riley.

Kansas' top federal prosecutor also charged another Topeka man, Alexander Blair, 28, with failing to report Booker's plans to authorities.  He loaned Booker money to rent space to build and store a bomb.         Remove the support. Just a thought.

Don't Shush...

The controversy began when Paul grew curt with "Today" show anchor Savannah Guthrie.   She pressed him on shifts in his positions over the years, Paul accused her of editorializing. Paul was also abrasive when AP reporter Philip Elliot asked him about apparent contradictions in his positions on abortion legislation.

They recall when Paul shushed CNBC anchor Kelly Evans earlier this year.

By Wednesday evening, Paul was telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "I think I've been universally short tempered and testy with both male and female reporters. I'll own up to that."

In her interview with Paul on Wednesday, Kelly, who hosts a primetime show on Fox News, defended Evans and Guthrie for their line of questioning and admonished Paul.
 "Those women were not yelling at you," Kelly told Paul.

Some may contended that Paul's interactions could be construed as sexist.

Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire mogul who counts Fox News among his media assets, has made no secret of his affinity for the senator. Paul has made more appearances on Fox News than any other Republican presidential contender.
The senator is on better terms with the Fox News community than his father.

When you ask a question, let us hear the answer instead of interrupting with another question. Just a thought.