North Carolina defense contractor must pay government $29 million in fraud case
December 29, 2017 in Bail Bonding, Crime
A federal judge last week ordered a crooked defense contractor based in North Carolina to pay more than $29 million to the government, more than seven times what his defense attorneys requested and almost twice as much as prosecutors claim he stole.
The ruling was in line with what prosecutors requested, though.
It is unclear how much 48-year-old Philip A. Mearing will be able to pay, but court documents indicate he has at least $12 million sitting in two accounts and may own a 2002 Ferrari.
Mearing, the former head of Global Services Corp. in Fayetteville, N.C., pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced earlier this month to 5 years in prison. He has until next week to turn himself in to authorities.
Defense attorney David Smith said this week his client plans to appeal. He argued there was “no evidence or legal authority to support the government’s position, which the court adopted.”
Smith said Mearing’s family also plans to contest the government’s efforts to seize some of the money contained in accounts they at least partially control.
“They have not yet had their day in court,” he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alan Salsbury and Stephen Haynie declined to comment.
The charge stems from two fraud schemes Mearing led while overseeing his business.
In the primary scheme, he helped steal $13.6 million over 10 years ending in 2014. He worked with at least two other men to charge the government for work that was never performed, court documents said.
The second scheme involved the overbilling of the government by more than $1.7 million for work that had already been performed.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys disagreed on the scope of the fraud and on whether Mearing should be forced to pay both restitution and a forfeiture. Restitution is meant to compensate the victim for his or her losses, while forfeiture is designed to punish the wrongdoer.
Salsbury argued that Mearing should be held responsible for the full $15.4 million. Smith contended that most of the fraudulent bills in question were never forwarded to the federal government and that the government only paid Mearing about $6.2 million.
Smith asked the judge to order Mearing to pay almost $3.9 million in forfeiture, equal to the amount he claims the government paid in fraudulent invoices under the primary scheme, minus a 5 percent commission that went to an accomplice.
Salsbury asked for a $13.6 million forfeiture order on top of a $15.4 million restitution order.
U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen sided with the prosecutors, noting that Mearing signed documents referencing the $15.4 million figure when he pleaded guilty. In a footnote, the judge added that another clause in the agreement indicated Mearing would not ask the court to reduce or otherwise offset the restitution order.
“The (defense) arguments now presented appear to constitute a breach of this plea agreement,” she wrote.
Iredell Crime Watch (felonies, DWIs): Dec. 21-27
The following is a list of those booked in the Iredell County Detention Center on felony and driving while impaired charges from Dec. 21-27 in Iredell County. Listed information, including addresses, has been gathered from reports publicly available at area law enforcement agencies. If your name appears here and your case was dismissed or you were cleared of the crime, let us know by calling Shawn Taylor at 704-873-1451, ext. 4435 or emailing staylor@statesville.com.
» Juan Fernando Gomez-Arevalo, 42, of Cara lane, Statesville, DWI, $1,000 bond, Mooresville Police Department.
» Terry Justin Sherrill, 29, of Edwards Lane, Statesville, possession of methamphetamine, $2,500 bond, Iredell County Sheriff’s Office.
» Zsuzsa Susana Godwin, 22, of N.C. Highway 90, Stony Point, DWI, $500 bond, N.C. Highway Patrol.
» Regginal Donnell Blackwood, 47, of East Greenbriar Road, Statesville, $5,000 bond, Mooresville Police Department.
» Nicole Mae Skeens, 30, of Deaton Street, Statesville, DWI, released on an unsecured bond, Statesville Police Department.
» Khaleel Troy Mangum, 21, of West Sharpe Street, Statesville, assault by strangulation inflicting serious injury, $8,000 bond, Statesville Police Department.
» Lonnie Mack Finney, 23, of Phillips Hollow Road, Mooresville, DWI, released on an unsecured bond, Mooresville Police Department.
» Katherine Elizabeth Janvrin, 27, of Elmwood Road, Statesville, identity theft, $3,500 bond, Iredell County Sheriff’s Office.
» James Matthew Lahargove, 33, of Elmwood Road, Statesville, 23 counts of identity theft, $40,000 bond, Iredell County Sheriff’s Office.
» Sherri Robbins, 32, of Greensboro, DWI, $500 bond, N.C. Highway Patrol.
» Gary Lamont Parker, 42, of Chief Thomas Road, Harmony, possession of stolen goods and DWI, $5,500 bond, Statesville Police Department.
» Michael Anthony Johnson, 43, of Central Drive, Statesville, possession with intent to manufacture a schedule IV controlled substance, possession of less than 1.5 ounces of marijuana and maintaining a dwelling or vehicle for a controlled substance, $3,000 bond, Statesville Police Department.
» Brian Jordan Hamby, 19, of West Iredell Circle, Statesville, possession of a schedule I controlled substance, $1,500 bond, Iredell County Sheriff’s Office.
» Makenzie Caitlyn Reeves, 20, of Emmanuel Road, Troutman, DWI and driving after consuming alcohol under the age of 21, released on an unsecured bond, Iredell County Sheriff’s Office.
» Charles Edward Anderson, 24, of Sestwood Drive, Statesville, possession of cocaine, $1,000 bond, Iredell County Sheriff’s Office.
» Lori Ellen Klaver, 54, of Upper Oak Drive, Statesville, DWI, no bond listed, N.C. Highway Patrol.
» Zahara Anna Kitty Reid, 23, of Altondale Drive, Statesville, obtaining property by false pretense, $5,000 bond, Statesville Police Department.
» Jordan Akeem Fowler, 29, of Clark Road, Mocksville, obtaining property by false pretense, $2,500 bond, Statesville Police Department.
» Jennifer Julian McGrady Strickland, 39, of Charlotte, larceny after breaking and entering and two counts breaking and entering, $10,000 bond, Iredell County Sheriff’s Office.
A former assistant district attorney who worked in Wilkes and Yadkin counties has been banned from Wake Forest University, where he was accused of using a handheld mirror to look at a female student in April.
The ban is part of a deferred-prosecution program that Brooke M. Webster, 43, of Surrey Path Court in Winston-Salem, entered on Nov. 22 in Forsyth District Court. Webster was charged with one count of misdemeanor secret peeping in connection with the April 20 incident in the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at the university.
Entering the deferred-prosecution program means that Webster admits guilt but essentially will be on probation for two years. During that time, he has to comply with a number of conditions, one of which is staying off WFU’s campus.
If he complies with the conditions, Forsyth County prosecutors will voluntarily dismiss the charge. The agreement lasts until Nov. 21, 2019.
If he doesn’t, prosecutors will proceed with the case, using his admission of guilt to obtain a conviction on the secret-peeping charge. Because he doesn’t have any prior convictions, Webster would not face any active jail time if convicted. He could face possible supervised or unsupervised probation and a fine, among other things.
Webster is not only banned from Wake Forest University but also from areas on any college campus where large numbers of students are present, including libraries.
He also must be accompanied by an adult at all times if he attends a college sporting event, and he is banned from public libraries.
The deferred-prosecution program requires him to submit progress reports from his treating psychologist, Richard Cook, on May 1, 2018; Nov. 1, 2018; and May 1, 2019.
Webster also must make a $750 donation to Family Services, and he also must comply with any requirements from the N.C. State Bar Lawyer Assistance Program and not commit any new offenses. He still has an active law license in North Carolina.
The deferred-prosecution program is designed for defendants who do not have any previous convictions for misdemeanor crimes and certain felonies.
Prosecutors typically consult with the victims before agreeing to allow a defendant to enter a deferred-prosecution program. Forsyth County Assistant District Attorney Lizmar Bosques handled the case.
On April 20, WFU police were called to the Reynolds library. According to an arrest warrant, Webster is alleged to have put a handheld mirror under a desk to look at a female WFU student.
University police escorted Webster from campus and issued him a trespass warning, which meant that Webster would be arrested if he came back onto campus. A Forsyth County magistrate issued a criminal summons against Webster on the peeping allegation.
WFU police also increased campus patrols and monitored suspicious individuals.
Webster resigned his position as an assistant district attorney in Wilkes and Yadkin counties on April 24, according to a statement from Tom Horner, the district attorney for Wilkes, Alleghany, Ashe and Yadkin counties. Webster had worked in the office since 2006 and was handling felony cases in Superior Court when he quit.
David Freedman, Webster’s attorney, said Thursday that Webster entered the N.C. State Bar Lawyers Assistance Program soon after he was arrested and has been receiving counseling.
“We are very appreciative to the prosecuting witness to allow us to enter into this program, and Brooke has taken a number of steps to ensure (there are) no such incidents in the future,” Freedman said.
As most crime decreases, Philly records highest year-end homicide total since 2012
In Philadelphia, many drug corners are run by different crews, which keeps competition levels high and allows would-be dealers from outside the neighborhood to try to seek a foothold in the area.
This year, the Police Department for the first time trained new officers to patrol by bicycle and assigned a group of young cops to Kensington. Although rookies in recent years worked foot patrols to spur interaction with residents while learning the beat, officials believe putting police on bicycles retains those benefits while giving officers more mobility.
It’s difficult to isolate what impact, if any, the bicycle strategy had, but the department plans to unveil it in districts beyond Kensington next year.
Although Kensington represents an especially violent slice of Philadelphia, police statistics show that homicides and shootings affect neighborhoods all across the city — complicating deployment decisions and crime-fighting strategies for police commanders.
“There are literally corners in this city where if we don’t have a police presence, there is going to be a shooting,” Ross said. “We don’t have a city where we have the luxury of concentrating in two regions.”
Outside of the 25th District, which had a 23 percent spike in homicides in 2017, four other police districts saw sharp increases in homicides last year — covering territory in South Philadelphia, Southwest Philadelphia, neighborhoods in Northwest Philadelphia including Mount Airy and Germantown, and river wards including Frankford and Mayfair.
Ross also said that for part of 2017, the department had been about 400 officers short of what he would have preferred. Following a recruiting push, the commissioner said, he anticipates about 370 new cops will hit the streets by next September, allowing the department to spread about 6,500 officers throughout the city.
“[We’ll] be able to benefit from their presence,” he said.
About 4 out of 5 homicides each year are committed with guns, according to police statistics, and city officials have long lamented the ease with which people can acquire firearms.
It can cost as little as $50 to buy an illegal gun on the street, and they are so widely available that even teens can acquire them. During last week’s preliminary hearing for accused killer Brandon Olivieri, for example, prosecutors showed three photos allegedly pulled from Instagram — each of which appeared to show the 16-year-old proudly holding a different type of gun.
Officers made 8 percent more gun arrests in 2017 than a year earlier, and Ross said he is exploring the idea of having some detectives in each region of the city concentrate solely on investigating gun crimes, rather than juggling the traditional mix of shootings, robberies, assaults, and other offenses.
Ross, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and Philadelphia District Attorney-elect Larry Krasner all have spoken out in recent weeks against federal legislation that would expand the ability for people to carry concealed weapons.
Still, few of those factors are unique to 2017, and Ross noted other longtime challenges for police, such as widespread poverty and a mentality that guns can be used to solve arguments.
Grawert, of the Brennan Center, noted that Philadelphia’s homicide totals are still on the lower end of recent decades — but that a one-year spike approaching 15 percent appeared outside the normal ebb and flow of annual crime levels.
Earlier this year, the city established the Office of Violence Prevention partly to analyze the effectiveness of the dozens of antiviolence programs that receive a combined $60 million in public funding. City Council also established a special committee on gun-violence prevention in June.
Bilal Qayyum, a longtime antiviolence activist, said those efforts need to focus on providing street-level intervention for young men who for years have been conditioned to pick up a gun when they have a problem. Without combating that issue, Qayyum said, policing strategies will only get so far.
“How do we get these young men to understand that that’s not the way to resolve conflict?” Qayyum said. “We have to, as a city, address that.”
CMPD: Criminals use cold weather to steal cars
From sporting events to crime, the winter weather is leaving a mark on Charlotte.
Alex Shabad , WCNC
11:28 PM. EST December 28, 2017
(Photo: djedzura / Thinkstock, djedzura)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — From sporting events to crime, the intense cold sweeping through the Queen City is making a mark.
On Friday, thousands of fans are expected to head to Bank of America stadium for the Belk Bowl between Texas A&M and Wake Forest. Meanwhile, police are warning people to watch out for car thieves this winter.
And it’s the kind of weather that makes you move, as people making their way through uptown Thursday were walking fast, holding hands, and most importantly, bundling up.
“T-shirt and another T-shirt, and sweatshirt, and a jacket,” said one woman.
People visiting Charlotte for Friday’s game are getting a cold embrace from the Queen City.
“It’s quite cold here, it was 90 degrees in Australia, we’re from Tasmania,” said one woman making her way through the city.
Meanwhile, others escaped worse winter weather by moving to Charlotte.
“Originally, (from) Erie where they’re getting dumped on,” said another woman. “I think they’re up to 61 inches of snow, so it’s good here.”
Police also have a crime warning during the winter weather.  They are urging people to protect themselves from car thieves looking to target vehicles with keys in the ignition.
“It’s something we see every year, especially as the temperatures drop,” said Rob Tufano, a spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.  “Harden that target, don’t make yourself easy prey for these people who want to take your things.”
For now, the college football fans are more focused on preparing for the game.
“I’m not a fan of the weather, but I’m a fan of Wake Forest,” said one fan.
“I don’t know if I’ll be out much after tomorrow certainly, I may be thawing out for a couple days,” says another man.
Organizers of the Belk Bowl say it may be chilly, but at least it’s supposed to be sunny during the game on Friday.
24 pounds of meth, gun cache seized after investigation
A six-month methamphetamine trafficking investigation has resulted in the arrest of 14 people and the seizure of 24 pounds of the drug and a cache of firearms.
Officers from five agencies seized the drugs, cash and 43 firearms Wednesday while conducting numerous search warrants and arrest warrants.
The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, State Bureau of Investigation, N.C. Highway Patrol, McDowell County Sheriff’s Office and Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office served the warrants. Also assisting in the investigation were the Marion Police Department, Burke County Sheriff’s Office, Morganton Public Safety and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
More than a dozen people from Rutherfordton, Forest City, Old Fort, Bostic, Ellenboro, Mooresboro in North Carolina and Lexington and Spartanburg in South Carolina face charges and bonds as high as $5 million.
–Alison Michelle Smith, 51, of 76 Souther Road, Old Fort, with conspiring to traffic methamphetamine and continuing criminal enterprise. Bond was set at $5,000,000.
–Ashlea Hawkins, 34, of 1048 High Shoals Church Road, Mooresboro, with aid and abet continuing criminal enterprise and conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. Bond was set at $1,000,000.
–Robin Ann Rhyne,54, of 639 Highway 74 Business East, Ellenboro, with aid and abet continuing criminal enterprise and conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. Bond was set at $1,000,000.
–Tonya Chris-Ann Mullinax, 40, of 840 Jack McKinney Road, Rutherfordton, with aid and abet continuing criminal enterprise and conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. Bond was set at $1,000,000.
–Ruben Guzman, 26, of Spartanburg, with aid and abet continuing criminal enterprise and two counts of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine and two counts trafficking methamphetamine. Bond was set at $5,000,000 bond.
–Wesley Chad Smith, 42, of 122 Durham Road, Mooresboro, with conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. Bond was set at $500,000.
–Andy Darren Green, 49, of 722 Andrews Mill Road, Bostic, with aid and abet continuing criminal enterprise and two counts of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. Bond was set at $1,000,000.
–Deidre Diane Pearson, 38, of 3815 Dedmond Road, Mooresboro, with charged with aid and abet continuing criminal enterprise and two counts of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. Bond was set at $5,000,000.
–Joshua Michael “Bubba” Lipe, 37, of 70 Indian Waters Drive, Old Fort, with aid and abet continuing criminal enterprise and two counts of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. Bond was set at $5,000,000.
–Tracey Lynn Arnold, 54, of 3815 Dedmond Road, Mooresboro, with aid and abet continuing criminal enterprise and conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. Bond was set at $1,000,000.
–Dustin Bo Pearson, 30, of Brooklyn Road, Forest City, with conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. Bond was set at $1,000,000.
–Dennis Eugene Medley, 35, of 1458 Beachwood Road, Mooresboro, with conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine.
–Roman Guzman, 27, of Lexington with conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. Bond was set at $500,000.
–Cody Lee Migala, 27, of 685 High Shoals Church Road, Mooresboro, with harboring a fugitive. Unsecured bond was set at $1,000.
“The nature of a drug investigation this complex is to dismantle and disrupt the drug dealers, and will have a local impact reducing the drug flow in our communities,” Rutherford County Sheriff Chris Francis said in a news release Thursday.
“The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office will continue to be constantly vigilant in seeking out the next drug dealers who try to (fill) their shoes. Our goal is to prove that crime does not pay. We have great working relationships with our neighboring agencies and I would like to thank each of these for their support and assistance in this case.”
The case is still an ongoing investigation and further arrests are forthcoming, according to the release.
34-year-old killed in shooting at Durham’s McDougald Terrace
Durham, N.C. — Durham police are investigating after a man was fatally shot at McDougald Terrace on Thursday afternoon.
Officers responded to the shooting in the 1200 block of Wabash Street just before 1 p.m. and found Omeja Glenn, 34, laying in front of an apartment building with a gunshot wound.
Glenn was taken to an area hospital, where he died as a result of his injuries.
No charges had been filed in connection with the shooting Thursday evening.
Anybody with information is asked to call Durham police at 919-560-4118 or Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200.
Prison inmates found hanging, beaten to death. Where were the officers?
Early one winter morning in 2012, officers at an eastern North Carolina prison found inmate Willis Gravley hanging from a bed sheet. He’d been dead for hours.
His death raised a question: Why didn’t officers at Bertie Correctional Institution stop Gravley from killing himself – or why, at least, didn’t they find his body earlier?
Prison investigators later found that officers in Gravley’s unit had been skipping a crucial part of their job for years: doing the required 30-minute security checks. Instead, officers falsified prison records to indicate they had made their rounds, according to dismissal letters issued to some officers involved.
In some of North Carolina’s most dangerous prisons, officers routinely fail to make their rounds, a Charlotte Observer investigation found.
State leaders are partly to blame. They’ve allowed many prisons to become dangerously understaffed. The staff shortages – caused partly by the low pay and perennial dangers of prison work – leave some employees hard-pressed to complete all their duties.
Negligence or inaction on the part of prison staff may have contributed to the deaths of at least eight N.C. inmates since 2009, records and interviews suggest. Prison officers found the bodies of some of those inmates stiff in their cells hours after they died.
Prison leaders say they don’t track how much the state has paid to injured inmates or to the families of those who died. But it’s a problem that has proved costly to taxpayers. In one highly publicized case, the state agreed to pay $2.5 million to the family of Michael Anthony Kerr, an inmate who died of dehydration in 2014 after lying for days in his own feces and urine.
Kerr, a habitual felon with mental health problems, died while being transported from Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville to Central Prison in Raleigh. After his death, the state disciplined or fired at least 25 employees. Records show prison mental health officials were aware of Kerr’s deteriorating condition weeks before he died, but did not transfer him to a facility that could provide better care.
Such negligence adds to the dangers inside North Carolina’s prisons. A recent Observer investigation found that some officers smuggle drugs and cellphones to inmates. Others have sex with them or beat them in areas not monitored by security cameras.
Most of the state’s 8,000 correctional officers are honest and diligent, state prison leaders said.
“As a general rule, our staff do a very good job of keeping check on inmates,” said George Solomon, who retired as the state’s director of prisons earlier this year.
Lawmakers and state prison leaders say they’re taking steps to make sure officers complete their rounds. They’ve increased pay and expanded recruitment efforts to attract more qualified officers. In some units, they’ve put in place technology to ensure that officers make their security checks. And prison leaders say they are quick to take action when employees neglect their duties.
“Conducting rounds and documenting security checks on inmates are required by policy and are an important part of prison operations,” Kenneth Lassiter, N.C.’s director of prisons, said in December. “ … When supervisors are aware of officers not following policies, appropriate action is taken, up to and including dismissal.”
‘He’d been down for a while’
When investigators looked into Gravley’s death, they found that the officers responsible for the inmate’s unit had not done their required security rounds in the seven hours before his body was discovered. They were supposed to check that unit every half hour.
Ricky Morris, a former lieutenant with the Windsor Police Department who investigated the suicide, said that by the time he was called to the scene, Gravley’s body was no longer warm.
“He’d been down for a while,” Morris said.
The investigation determined it was a routine unapproved practice for staff … to falsify the required thirty (30) minute security checks.
From dismissal letter issued to officers who were fired from Bertie Correctional Institution following the death of inmate Willis Gravley
Gravley was sentenced to life in prison in 1993 for the stabbing death of his girlfriend. He died in his cell at the age of 36.
A medical examiner concluded Gravley had killed himself. The investigation that followed his death resulted in the dismissal of six staff members and the reassignment of the prison’s top administrator.
“The investigation determined it was a routine unapproved practice for staff assigned to Gray Unit to falsify the required thirty (30) minute security checks …,” states a dismissal letter written to the former manager of the prison unit. “Your willful violation of policy compromised the safety and security of the inmates … ”
Prison records also raise questions about whether a former officer at Scotland Correctional Institution in Laurinburg skipped security rounds – and whether that contributed to an inmate’s death last year.
Steffone McCallum, the officer, was fired for failing to document rounds in the solitary confinement unit where inmate Scott Sica was found dead, hanging from a shoelace. Sica died in April 2016 from “autoerotic asphyxiation,” an act in which a person temporarily cuts off the oxygen supply to the brain to heighten sexual pleasure, according to his autopsy report.
“Based on your poor judgment and failure to abide by policy, management cannot substantiate that rounds were made … to observe inmate (Sica’s) behavior, which could have prevented his death,” McCallum’s dismissal letter reads.
McCallum could not be reached for comment. But in statements to prison investigators, he contended he made security rounds in the hours before Sica’s body was discovered.
Following Sica’s death, a prison manager at Scotland sent out an email to staff members. Officers beginning their work days must help departing shifts with security rounds “to ensure that there is a live breathing body in each cell on controlled and restrictive housing units,” it said.
More than a dozen current and former staff members told the Observer it was common for state prison officers to skip rounds and falsify paperwork.
“You could falsify it at any time,” said Marcus Mercer, a former officer at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, located southeast of Charlotte. “Most supervisors don’t check the log book anyway.”
Mercer said he resigned from the prison last year after inmates stabbed him in the cheek with a homemade knife and made threatening calls to his cellphone.
When officers miss their rounds, inmates have more time to make and acquire weapons or to harm themselves, he said.
“Usually that’s when bad things happen,” Mercer said. “Fights in the cells. Inmates trying to commit suicide.”
State: We’re addressing problems
State prison leaders say technology upgrades have helped ensure that staff members regularly check on some inmates. In solitary confinement units, officers now scan electronic tablets at each cell to document that they observed the prisoners.
But staffing challenges make problems inevitable, experts say.
Statewide, about 16 percent of officer positions were vacant in October.
At some prisons, the vacancy rates were much higher. At Polk Correctional Institution, north of Durham, more than 30 percent of positions were unfilled.
“That is an absolutely shocking number that should be raising alarm bells at the legislature and the governor’s office,” said David Fathi, director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project.
At Pasquotank Correctional Institution, where four workers were fatally wounded in an October escape attempt, the vacancy rate was 28 percent.
And at Bertie Correctional, where Sgt. Meggan Callahan was killed in April, the rate was more than 25 percent.
Experts say better staffing might have saved those employees.
Correctional officers are caught in a spiral of impossible demands.
Jennie Lancaster, a former high-ranking N.C. prison official
But finding people who are willing to work as prison officers isn’t easy. The hours are long, the pay is low, and the work is dangerous.
“Correctional officers are caught in a spiral of impossible demands,” said Jennie Lancaster, a former high-ranking state prison official. “ … They are the forgotten actors on the law enforcement stage.”
Prison leaders say they’re beefing up their recruitment efforts. They’re holding hiring events and partnering with schools and military bases to fill jobs.
State lawmakers have boosted pay in recent years in an effort to attract and retain qualified staff.
Officers at maximum-security prisons are now paid an average of about $38,000 a year – still about $8,000 less than the national average for correctional officers and jailers. More salary increases may be needed, legislative leaders say.
A recent study by Duke University recommended additional efforts, including forming recruitment committees at each prison and offering referral and signing bonuses to employees.
This year, N.C. prisons hired an average of 147 officers a month, but lost 153 officers, records show.
Negligence or inaction may have contributed to the deaths of at least eight inmates in North Carolina since 2009, interviews and state records show.
▪  Richard Dwyer, a prisoner at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, died Aug. 17 of an apparent suicide, a state Department of Public Safety news release said. Officers found Dwyer dead at 10:15 a.m. He had a cord wrapped around his neck, his autopsy report said. According to the report, an officer last saw Dwyer alive at 6:34 a.m. – more than 3 hours and forty minutes before he was found dead. Officers are supposed to make security rounds at least once an hour for inmates in maximum-security prisons like Lanesboro, prison officials say. The state is conducting an internal review of the suicide, a spokeswoman for the prison system said.
▪ Inmate Scott Sica was found dead at Scotland Correctional Institution in 2016 with a shoe string tied around his neck. An autopsy found that the cause of death was autoerotic asphyxiation, an act in which a person temporarily cuts off the oxygen supply to the brain to heighten sexual pleasure. An officer at the prison was fired for failing to document his rounds on the day Sica died, according to a dismissal letter.
▪ Michael Anthony Kerr, an inmate at Alexander Correctional Institution, died of dehydration in 2014 after lying for days in his own urine and feces, court records show. Court documents show prison mental health and nursing staff delayed proper treatment for Kerr. Following the prisoner’s death, the state fired or disciplined at least 25 employees.
▪ Prisoner Willis Gravley hung himself in his cell at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor in 2012. A prison investigation found that staff had failed to check on inmates in Gravley’s unit that night. Six officers were fired and a top prison administrator was reassigned as a result.
▪ Thomas Sellars, an inmate at Greene Correctional Institution in Maury, complained to a prison sergeant one morning in 2010 that he was suffering from chest pains, another inmate testified at a N. C. Industrial Commission hearing. The sergeant ignored his pleas, a lawsuit alleges, and Sellars died of a heart attack soon afterward. The Industrial Commission later found wrongdoing on the sergeant’s part and awarded more than $80,000 to Sellars’ sister.
▪ Inmate Charles Branch was strangled in 2010, according to an autopsy report. Surveillance video showed multiple prisoners entering Branch’s cell at Maury Correctional Institution after midnight on Sept. 6 and leaving just before 1 a.m, according to his autopsy report. When emergency workers arrived about five hours later, Branch’s body was “cold to the touch and was in full rigor,” according to the autopsy report.
▪ Officers found prisoner Johnny Lee Lewis at Maury Correctional Institution with a plastic bag over his head and a belt around his neck, according to his autopsy report. When emergency workers arrived at the prison, his body was in rigor and was cold to the touch, the autopsy states. (It typically takes hours for a body to grow cold following death.) Lewis’ 2009 death was ruled a suicide.
▪ One morning in 2009, inmate Prentiss Quick was found unresponsive in his cell at Lanesboro. An autopsy determined that he had died of heart disease. Officers did no hourly rounds in the seven hours before Quick’s body was discovered, according to dismissal letters issued to two officers.
Ames Alexander and Gavin Off
A Charlotte Observer investigation, published in June, found that a hidden world of drugs, sex and gang violence thrives inside the state’s prisons – and that officers who are paid to prevent such corruption are instead fueling it. Prison officers frequently collude with inmates on crimes that endanger staff members, inmates and the public.
The newspaper’s investigation found that some officers run lucrative contraband rings inside prisons. Others have sex with inmates. Still others beat shackled prisoners, or team up with gang members to allow brutal attacks.
Subsequent stories – published following the fatal attacks of five prison workers – showed that staff shortages in North Carolina’s prisons have climbed to dangerous levels over the past two years, despite state efforts to attract more officers.
In the months since the deaths and the first Observer stories, state officials say they’ve begun:
▪ Frisking almost everyone who enters the prisons.
▪ Buying batons for officers in medium-security prisons. Currently, only maximum-security officers are issued batons, which can be used to subdue violent inmates.
▪ Upgrading security cameras in several prisons.
▪ Installing additional fencing around some prisons, so that it’s harder for inmates to retrieve contraband that is thrown over fences.
▪ Creating a new security unit that will develop safety training and ensure regular safety audits at all prisons.
Greenville police investigating two armed robberies on Thursday
GREENVILLE, NC (WITH) – Police are investigating two different armed robberies in Greenville on Thursday, one of those connected to another hold-up in Martin County.
Greenville police say Salon Centric, located on Greenville Boulevard and Red Banks Road, was held-up around 10:45 a.m.
Lt. Carlton Williams says the masked robber came in with a handgun while several employees were inside the business.
After the robbery, the gunman ran from the business.
Williams says with the help of a Pitt County deputy who was nearby, they found a mask and jacket beside the building.
A K-9 led lawmen to a nearby man, but police said that person was not involved in the robbery.
The gunman is described as a thin black man wearing white sneakers, khaki cargo-style pants, a black hooded sweatshirt, and a skeleton-style mask.
The business is a wholesale distributor of products for salons and hair stylists.
Police believe the same man robbed a Speedway in Oak City on Wednesday.
Greenville police say the other robbery Thursday happened shortly after 3:00 p.m. near ECU’s campus.
Two masked men forced their way into a home on East 11th Street. Victims told police they were robbed and then the two robbers ran from the apartment.
Police describe the gunmen as a thin black man and a heavy set Hispanic man, both wearing muddy construction boots, dark blue pants, gray hooded sweatshirts and masks.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Greenville Police Department (252) 329-4315 or Crime Stoppers (252) 758-7777. Crime Stoppers offers up to a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.
Cary mom charged with abuse after 10-year-old locked out of house
December 28, 2017 in Bail Bonding, Crime
A Cary mother is due in court next month on a charge that her 10-year-old son was locked outside her home Christmas Day without warm clothing.
Police charged 43-year-old Susan Dowless with misdemeanor child abuse on Christmas and arrested her Wednesday morning at an apartment on Orchard Hollow Lane, records show.
The boy had been playing with friends, and the the family left for a dinner party, officers said.
“A lady in the neighborhood [on Pony Club Circle] called us,” Capt. Randall Rhyne said.
The arrest warrant naming Dowless alleged that the boy was abused “by other than accidental means” through Dowless’ “locking the child outside the residence when the temperature was below 40 degrees for several hours without providing adequate clothing, nourishment or supervision.”
Dowless was released Wednesday on $5,000 bail and scheduled for a court hearing on Jan. 29.
As a condition for her release, a magistrate ordered Dowless not to have any contact with the boy before then. That is a common restriction issued in child-abuse cases.


Free Siege Titan Wars Apk Download For PC Full Version
Developers report that the basis of the game originates in Clash Royal, but they will also add to their offspring many other unique features. First of all they mean the Siege, during which there will be a huge number of troops on the battlefield, but not a few individual units. All this mass will be within the framework of the fantasy universe, which adds color to the gameplay. The armies we are talking about are headed by the Titans, who will destroy the hordes of enemies on their way.


This post will present over 100 screen-captured Facebook images that have been cached from the Facebook accounts of one dozen White Helmet members and will highlight the fact that these White Helmets post images to their own Facebook accounts that are in support of the FSA and varioust, Nour al -Zinki (child beheaders),. In this case, I decided to highlight a dozen accounts to provide an example. The online addresses of the Facebook accounts which were examined are included
Note also: Facebook appears to not monitor these terrorist accounts and I have personally noticed that many atrocities are being uploaded to these accounts, including beheadings. Proof of such is at the following CoS link:
White Helmet Exhibit 3 – Mohamad Salom Alabd
White Helmet Exhibit 4 – Hamid al-Kutani
Photo directly above includes another lead White Helmets propaganda disseminator Hadi Abadallah. More info on him here:
White Helmets Exhibit 7 and 8 – Anas al-Dyab and Hamid Kutini
Images from the Facebook page of Anas-al Dyab
Twitter post exposes these two White Helmet terrorists……
More info on Orient News propaganda outlet at the following link:
Understanding the Orient TV propaganda arm of the Gulf State jihadists in Syria
White Helmet Exhibit 9 – (Non specified individual 1)
White Helmet exhibit 11- (Non-specified individual 3)
Links to Facebook pages of the White Helmet terrorists shown above-?
Screenshot of linked accounts taken in WordPress Edit Mode in case they are removed
38 ”
The name of the White Helmet guy, is misspelled two times: Where he himself writes “Majd Khalaf”, you wrote “Madj Khalif”, here.
Hi Mike, I read you post and have share it at White Helmets Exposed on Twitter today. You can contact me at Whitehelmetsexposed@Protonmail.com I will also send an email through your blog link. Kind regards.


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Starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Ben Wishaw, Lea Seydoux, Olivia Colman, John C Reilly, Ashley Jensen
The Lobster opens with a woman driving through the rain, who then stops, gets out of her car, walks up to a grazing horse, shoots it dead, and then gets back in the car. No idea why – it might well be a former husband. But that’s the charm of Lanthimos’ bizarre slice of absurdity and the modern relationship.
It is some kind of near-future dystopia where being single is outlawed. Farrell – with deeply dodgy moustache – has just been dumped so, as are the rules of this world, he must report to The Hotel, where one has 45 days to find the perfect mate or be turned into the animal of your choice (he has chosen the titular lobster.) Here he meets the likes of John C. Reilly who gets his hand stuck in a toaster by a nasty Olivia Colman for having a wank, Ben Wishaw who constantly bangs his face on the table so he can hook up with a young woman with a propensity for nosebleeds, and Ashley Jensen throwing herself out of the windows, before escaping to the forest to live amongst the outlaw loners, who are in turn hunted and shot by those seeking coupling.
It’s all rather strange, a world that clearly has rules but which initially are at times almost impenetrable. But slowly, Lanthimos creates a style and mood that starts to seduce you, abandon rationale and go with the flow and The Lobster starts to work.
It has a deadpan approach that renders all the performances pedantically paced and distant, but which does therefore make them – and this world – cohesive. Some of it is very funny, some of it feels too slow for its own good. It’s a confounding piece, but a defiantly original one.


s been a lesson I have learned
A discipline indeed
Fed my creative need
I wrote the stories, friend
Some say they’ve lost their edge, but still
Be love for the clichés.
As I try to shape this project with words, not images, it occurs to me how much Garden and the Brook reflects my life-long journey of learning to see. Although I grew up along the ocean, it wasn’t until I became a river rafter in my thirties that I first heard the expression, “read the water.” In the whitewater rafting world, reading water is how you chart a course through rapids. It is how you follow the “tongue” into the current, avoid standing waves and other obstacles, and catch the eddy when you want, rather than the eddy catching you. Decades later, along the gentle flow of an autumn stream, I found myself plotting courses for sticks and leaves through “rapids” created by elevation drops measured in inches rather than feet. Here I was, once again reading the water. But for the first time, I realized that the shapes and curves created by fluid dynamics and ripple geometry have their counterparts not only in the great rivers of the West, but also in my garden. This is not a particularly original insight. But back when I learned to read water I knew nothing of gardening and, to me, botany was only a lab course. I never would have made the connection, never would have seen it. At that point in my life I had no idea that “painting with plants” was something that would become such a great source of pleasure and inspiration.
Today I am filled with gratitude for this gift of time to discover and see the world anew.
Here is a sneak peak of the Garden and the Brook. </s> A couple of months ago, I took advantage of a feature in my contract with my last carrier and upgraded to a really nice phone. However, I never intended to continue on with that carrier past the end of our contract period. I felt their rates were too high and there were some hidden fees that I was not aware of when I signed the contract in the first place. So now I am looking for sim only contracts so that I can bring my phone over to my new contract, and not have to buy a new phone.t. </s> When we did the big bedroom switch in preparation for Jelly Bean’s arrival, we pretty much kept the style of their rooms the same as they had been. We gave each child their choice of colours but they didn’t want to change them so Little Bean kept her pink bedroom and decided she wanted to keep the Princess and Castle wall stickers she had previously had in her larger bedroom. Initially the room looked ok but as it turns out the stickers weren’t so keen to move rooms and after about a month they began falling off the walls on a weekly basis until in the end I got fed up and removed them altogether so ultimately she was left with a big pink box to reside in.
The plan was always to find her something else to pretty her room up but we couldn’t decide what we wanted and then I remembered TinyMe. I had previously met TinyMe at a bloggers event a couple of years ago and then as if by chance I was invited to another bloggers event as they had now hopped across the pond and were based in the UK as well as Australia. Unfortunately for me I couldn’t attend the bloggers event this time but TinyMe still very kindly sent me a £30 gift voucher to choose something. I took AAAAAAAAGES to make a final decision because. I also needed to find something which I could put on the walls higher up as Little Bean is a monkey for peeling stickers and I didn’t want her to spoil it. In the end I chose these pretty wall stickers and over the Christmas period when we had Finley the Elf On The Shelf to stay I waited until she was at school and set to work on decorating her room with the stickers under the pretence that Finley had done it for her as a reward for being a good girl. She absolutely loves her stickers and I have to say I have found them a little addictive as I have already been back on the site to see what other stickers I can find. (The images may look a little odd because I have had to blank out Little Bean’s name which is on her bedroom wall in large wooden letters).
Fast forward a month to when I was sorting through boxes and I found another little sample pack of stickers which I had been sent by TinyMe previously and completely forgotten about. How perfect that they should complement the stickers in Little Bean’s room AND be the perfect size for incorporating Little Bean’s new TidyBooks bookshelf into her room.
DISCLAIMER: I received a voucher to purchase the above wall stickers with no obligation to post about i1 Comment </s> The current Crafty Boots Challenge is called 'See the Woods for the Trees', in other words trees or wood texture. Today I have an image with a rather unconventionally decorated Christmas Tree, so cute.
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This is not the first time that Liverpool has taken centre stage for a film of this caliber; many films are shot in and around Liverpool, even on the University's own campus!
Dr Julia Hallam, who led the University of Liverpool's 'City in Film' project, which documented more than 1000 film pieces shot in the city, said: "Liverpool offers a wealth of locations, due to its unique architecture. It has ; its waterfront; beaches at New Brighton and Formby; its racetrack at Aintree; its tunnels; and wealth of large Georgian mansions and houses; as well as its many parks, makes it a highly attractive offer for film makers."
Dr Hallam added: "This trend will continue. A new film studio is being built in the old Littlewoods offices on Edge Lane, itself a listed building, and along with the well-established Film Office that enables shooting to progress smoothly, the city will remain a highly attractive location."
Along with the city, the University campus has also been used for film and TV locations. These include Casualty 1906, where the Waterhouse Building and Victoria Building were used to shoot two whole series of the historical drama; the 2016 season of Peaky Blinders; the new Poliakoff post-war-time drama, Close to the Enemy; Who Do you Think You Are?


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Oct 31, 2017 5:25 PMPublication: The Southampton Press
Scientists Say Signs That Red Tide Killed Scallops Are Present, But Few
Scientists from Long Island University say that outbreaks of “rust tide” algae this summer may have killed large numbers of bay scallops in Great Peconic Bay but do not appear to have wholly devastated what is expected to be a robust harvest this fall.
Blooms of the red algae, which marine scientists have dubbed rust tide for the brownish-red tint it stains waters where it is blossoming, were widespread in the Peconics this summer—and scientists from LIU said they found large numbers of what they call “cluckers” on the bottom of the bay there.
“They are scallops that are dead but are still attached at the hinge—meaning, they died recently,” said Dr. Stephen Tettlebach, a marine science professor at LIU’s C.W. Post campus. “We saw pretty high numbers of mortality in Great Peconic, but most other areas were fairly consistent from the spring to fall.”
Nonetheless, he said, the number of scallops in Great Peconic is very high, thanks to what he said was one of the largest “sets” of young scallops in decades in 2016.
The rust tide algae has been shown by scientists to be capable of killing fish and shellfish if exposed to a dense bloom for an extended period. The algae has been blamed for a massive die-off of bay scallops during the summer of 2012, when blooms of the algae were especially dense and widespread.
With tracking of rust tide blooms difficult, because they move up and down in the water column during the day and night, Dr. Tettlebach said that pointing to the algae as the cause of the scattered hot spots of mortality witnessed in the surveys is impossible.
Mr. Tettlebach’s researchers have been conducting biannual survey counts of wild scallops at 20 sites around the East End for the last 13 seasons, once in the spring and once in the fall, just before the harvest season opens.
On the whole, Mr. Tettlebach said, the team saw evidence that the population of scallops in the waters between the two forks would be considerably better than last year.
The scientists, however, conduct almost all of their sampling in deep areas of state waters, not in the shallow areas of enclosed harbors or tidal ponds—like Napeague Harbor, Cold Spring Pond or the western shoreline of Shinnecock Bay—that many local recreational scallopers and baymen rely on to tip the scales of whether a given season is good or not.
There may be some promise for town waters—which open in Southampton Town on November 6 and in East Hampton Town on November 12—in the gargantuan set of 2016, which should be of legal harvesting size now.
Dr. Tettlebach said that due to an anomaly of environmental conditions, last year’s young-of-the-year scallops grew quickly in the summer and fall of 2016 and an unusually high percentage of them had reached legal harvestable size by the latter months of the past scallop season, which run until March 31. In town waters, however, pressure is less late in the season, and the leap between robust years and down years are difficult to predict, the scientist noted.
While regulations require that in addition to being at least 2.25 inches at the clasp, harvested scallops must also show a telltale growth ring, which indicates they are more than a year old.
“Last year, there was a lot of harvesting of juvenile scallops that were supposed to be illegal because they had no growth ring, but we saw guys bringing in limits in March, from places where there had not been enough adults in the fall to sustain that,” Dr. Tettlebach said. “That took away from this year’s spawning stock and the adult harvest. It had been one of the largest I’d ever seen—but a lot of those animals are gone.”
And why would SHT trustees have dredging in the local creeks?
By knitter (870), Southampton on Nov 2, 17 5:35 PM
By CaptainSig (644), Dutch Harbor on Nov 7, 17 10:32 AM


System of measuring human traits and cutting out the undesirable ones was once practised the world over
The first sterilisation law - which stopped disabled people from having children - was passed in the US in 1907
In 1931, Labour MP Archibald Church proposed a bill for the compulsory sterilisation of of 'mental patients'
Gruesome sterilisation was often done without the people being informed of what was being done to them
All legislation was eventually repealed in the 1940s - and history was then subtly rewritten
Published: 07:13 EDT, 23 June 2017 | Updated: 13:28 EDT, 23 June 2017
Bruno Beger was a German racial anthropologist who worked for the Ahnenerbe, a project in Nazi Germany to research the archaeological and cultural history of the Aryan race. In this image taken in 1938, Dr Beger is measuring a Tibetan woman's head to demonstrate what he believed were the 'inferior' characteristics of her race
These images have been released today from the the Library of Congress archive.
Advocates of eugenics made significant advances during the early twentieth century - and claimed that 'undesirable' genetic traits such as dwarfism, deafness and even minor defects like a cleft palate needed to be wiped out of the gene pool.
Scientists would measure the human skulls of felons in an effort to eradicate criminality - whilst other eugenic proponents suggested simply cutting out entire groups of people because of the colour of their skin.
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The first sterilisation law - which stopped certain categories of disabled people from having children - was passed in Indiana, USA in 1907.
In one haunting image from 1912, a British family of children born with rickets is photographed by the Eugenics Society to demonstrate that their condition is hereditary and could be controlled through selective breeding.
Composite photographs (left), created to show the common faces of criminality and disease, taken from Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development in 1883. A photograph of a Fich Henri Leon (right), a convicted criminal, with the measurements of his various body parts in Paris in 1902
Shown here are various types of Indian dwarfs and giants, photographed by the Eugenics Society to demonstrate how humans could be selectively bred to control size in 1912. As these photos make clear, for nearly 100 years, eugenics was much more than a German idea - many parts of the world were complicit
The New York City Police Department practices taking arm measurements using anthropometric methods (left) and demonstrates how to measure a criminal's cranium in (right) in 1908.  From 1907 in the United States, men, women and children who were deemed 'insane, idiotic, imbecile, feebleminded or epileptic' were forcibly sterilised
Researchers (left) measure the capacity of a human skull by filling it with water in the National Academy of Sciences in 1885. Pictured right is an image of a human skull taken from the same year. After the publication of Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species', a veritable craze for eugenics spread through Britain, the United States and Europe
Whilst in another photo, families from Kansas are seen competing in the 1925 'Fitter Family' contest, which was meant to find the most eugenically perfect family in America.
In another 1912 image, a child with a cleft lip poses for the camera in London, England - to show that they should be kept from breeding.
He believed that breeding humans with superior mental and physical traits was essential to the well-being of society as a whole, writing 'Eugenics is the science which deals with all influences which improve the inborn qualities of a race; also with those which develop them to the utmost advantage.'
In 1907, the eugenics Education Society was founded in Britain to campaign for sterilisation and marriage restrictions for the weak to prevent the degeneration of Britain's population.
Portraits demonstrating the standard head shapes of 'criminal types' of various races. The images were captured in France in 1914
A child's head is measured to determine his personality and predict his future in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, in 1932. At the time it was believed the quality of an individual's genes could be determined by their skull measurements. Some eugenic proponents suggested simply cutting out entire groups of people if they had degenerative genes
In 1907, the Eugenics Education Society was founded in Britain to campaign for sterilisation and marriage restrictions for the weak to prevent the degeneration of Britain's population.
A year later, Sir James Crichton-Brown, giving evidence before the 1908 Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the Feeble-Minded, recommended the compulsory sterilisation of those with learning disabilities and mental illness - an act that Sir Winston Churchill supported.
Then in 1931, Labour MP Archibald Church proposed a bill for the compulsory sterilisation of certain categories of 'mental patient' in Parliament.
Babies compete in the 'Better Baby Contest' where doctors tried to find the perfect infant human specimen in Washinton DC in 1931. The Better Baby contests were designed to evaluate and improve families. Babies between the age of 6 and 48 months were judged on their health and the competitions aimed to establish standards for judging infant health
Families in Topeka, Kansas compete in the 'Fitter Family' contest which was designed to find the most eugenically perfect family in 1925. These contests were a popular form of eugenics education in the 1920s and were modelled on the Better Baby Contests. They exemplified 'positive eugenics' and encouraged 'fit' people to have larger families
Although such legislation was never actually passed in Britain, this did not prevent many sterilisations being carried out under various forms of coercion.
A mental institution in Illinois euthanized its patients by deliberately infecting them with tuberculosis, an act they justified as a mercy killing that cut the weak link in the human race.
Shown here are composite photographs of patients with and without various diseases, created to find the common facial characteristics of people who are resistant to disease. The images were taken in London in 1912
Dr Bruno Beger measures the facial characteristics of a Tibetan man in 1938. This project was masterminded by Ernst Schäfer, a zoologist who worked for the German secret service. The aim of the project was to help the Race and Settlement Office or SS-Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt of the SS identify Jews
Photographs of 'human races,' organized to suggest a common trait shared by 'primitive' Australians, Africans, and Neanderthals
A poster warns that breeding among the unfit creates an unwanted burden on the rest of society in Philadelphia in 1926. 'Some people are born to be a burden on the rest', the poster reads.'Every 15 seconds $100 of your money goes for the care of persons with bad heredity such as the insane, feeble minded, criminals and other defectives'
French researcher Alphonse Bertillon demonstrates how to measure a human skull in Paris, France in 1894. Bertillon was a criminologist who first developed a system for measuring physical body parts - particularly of the head and face - to work out if someone might be a criminal
Photographs of 'Indian Dwarfism' from the Eugenics Society in 1912. Dwarfism refers to people who are 4 feet 10 inches or under as a result of a genetic or medical condition. Before the atrocities of Nazi Germany, eugenics - the system of measuring human traits, seeking out the desirable ones and cutting out the undesirable ones - was once practised the world over
After these kinds of ideas took root in Nazi Germany and sparked the horrors of the Holocaust, eugenics turned into a dirty word.
With the dark conclusion of its philosophy exposed before the world, it became difficult to justify forced sterilization as a tool for the greater good.
All legislation was eventually repealed in the 1940s - and history was then subtly rewritten, with eugenics discussed as something that the Germans did and from which the rest of the world could wash its hands clean.
But, as these photos make clear, for nearly 100 years, eugenics was much more than a German idea. The whole world was complicit.
A craniologist demonstrates how to measure a human skull in Sweden in 1915 (left) and a woman wears a psychograph (right), a machine designed to determine someone's mental faculties by measuring their skull in the US in 1931. Used in the early part of the twentieth century, the psychograph discerns a subject's aptitudes by looking at a person's head
A demonstration of how to measure a criminal's ear, inspired by Bertillon in Paris in 1894. Scientists would measure the human skulls of felons in an effort to eradicate criminality. The Bertillon system quickly gained acceptance as a reliable way to carry out criminial investigations and in 1884 it was used to capture 241 offenders
A convicted criminal named Albert Smit has his head measured in the Netherlands in 1896. Law enforcement created records of known criminals and their skull measurements as well as full-face photographs, now known as 'mugshots'. The system was introduced into the US in 1887
An anthropometry class learns about the different types of human noses, inspired by Bertillon (left) and French weightlifter Alexandre Maspoli (right) poses as an ideal human specimen on the cover of La Culture Physique in France in 1904. Maspoli was born in Lyon in 1875 and was amateur weightlifting champion for 19 years in a row and was also a successful sculptor
A class studies the Bertillon method of criminal identification, based on measuring body parts in Paris between 1910-1915. In 1907, the Eugenics Education Society was founded in Britain to campaign for sterilisation and marriage restrictions for the weak to prevent the degeneration of Britain's population
A woman with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism (left) in 1912, as photographed by the Eugenics Society. The notes point out that her parents and children also have achondroplasia. A humiliated-looking man with 'eunuchism' (right) allows scientists of the Eugenics Society to photograph him in the nude in the same year
A family of children born with rickets are photographed by the Eugenics Society in 1912. In 1907, the Eugenics Education Society was founded in Britain to campaign for sterilisation and marriage restrictions for the weak to prevent the degeneration of Britain's population
Children afflicted with rickets, photographed by the Eugenics Society in 1912 to demonstrate that their condition is hereditary and could be controlled through selective breeding. Sir James Crichton-Brown, a leading psychiatrist, recommended the compulsory sterilisation of those with learning disabilities and mental illness - an act that Sir Winston Churchill supported
A phrenologist demonstrates how to measure a person's head in the United Kingdom in 1937. In 1931, Labour MP Archibald Church proposed a bill for the compulsory sterilisation of certain categories of 'mental patient' in Parliament. Although such legislation was never actually passed in Britain, this did not prevent many sterilisations being carried out under various forms of coercion
A phrenologist demonstrates how to measure the mental energy inside of a woman's head in London in 1937. By 1938, 33 American states permitted the forced sterilisation of women with learning disabilities and 29 American states had passed compulsory sterilisation laws covering people who were thought to have genetic conditions
A map illustration revealing which states in the United States have laws condoning forced sterilisation in New York in 1921 (left). A photograph of a child with a cleft lip (right), taken to demonstrate the type of child that should be kept from breeding in London in 1912
A Eugenics and Health Exhibit teaches the crowd how illiteracy can be controlled through selective breeding in the US (date unknown). The first sterilisation law - which stopped certain categories of disabled people from having children - was passed in Indiana, USA in 1907. This was twenty-six years before a similar law was introduced by the Nazis in Germany in 1933
A photograph from the Eugenics Society showing a family with the 'lobster claw' deformity, meant as a demonstration of a hereditary defect in 1912.  A mental institution in Illinois euthanized its patients by deliberately infecting them with tuberculosis, an act they justified as a mercy killing that cut the weak link in the human race
Amazing animation shows the future of unmanned aerial vehicles
Artist plans to launch 100m wide satellite to view from earth
Elon Musk presents Tesla's powerpack battery storage unit
Terrifying moment a shark narrowly misses surfer
Saints and Dolphins players protest at Wembley before NFL game
Singer Jason Aldean flees stage as gunman opens fire into crowd
At least FIFTY dead and 406 injured as gunman with terrifying arsenal of weapons opens fire on packed Vegas music festival from 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay hotel: Shooter killed and 'companion' caught


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They directed their senior officials to remain in touch.
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 being hosted by Russia.
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The Kremlin, in a statement, said w
The two leaderModi conveyed his gratitude to Putin for the assistance provided in combating the spread of the Corona vi, the Kremlin said.


The Santiago Swallow project started with a simple question: how easy is it to quickly and cheaply create credibility on line? The answer was clear. Anybody with Internet access and Paypal can make a Twitter account and populate it with paid followers. Nothing more than that is needed. I extended the character into Wikipedia and this, his own web site, because I thought it might be necessary to stop him from being found out. It wasn’t — he would have done just as well without them.
I had been gradually improving Santiago’s automatic tweet generation so it was not too repetitive. I called these tweets fortune cookies. My intention was to have Santiago spout some faux TED-style wisdom every so often: a short line that may at first glance seem profound, but was actually nonsense. One formula was:
“To [verb a] is to [verb b] [adverb].”
The automation software then randomly picked verbs and an adverb from a list and generated hundreds of sentences. Some were good:
There were more misses than hits. Letting the automation run unchecked—which I did at first to drive Santiago’s tweet count up—caused him to spew repetitive, cryptic nonsense:
This made it obvious he was a bot, so I had to curate the auto tweets before the were posted, deleting many, sometimes hand correcting grammar on others. I also wrote some tweets by hand and queued  them to be released at random times and in random order. Many of Santiago’s tweets are still written by me and added to the queue, many of his automated Tweets are deleted by me before they are sent. Curation teaches me what works and what does not. The eventual goal is be to have everything he says be auto-generated. Santiago took a small step towards this goal and became a more interesting Tweeter once I simplified his fortune cookie formulae and made many more of them. This increased the variety, reduced the chance of the same formulae appearing in succession, and resulted in a better ratio of sense to nonsense. One example is:
“I [verb] therefore I am.”
This yielded some interesting results:
In addition to generating fortune cookies, Santiago post information from the web too: for, his queue includes scores from  social analytics web site Kred, which featured in the original Quartz story. He scrapes his own score, and also randomly selects from lists of public figures and Quartz editorial staff, by going to:
then using the site’s built in “Tweet” function. There is a catch: often the resulting Tweet exceeds Twitter’s 140 character limit, so some tricky deletion, normally of some or all of this part of Kred’s boilerplate text [and an Outreach level of x in the Global Community] is required. Another problem is that not all verified accounts use the public figure’s name in an expected way, so sometimes he is Tweeting the Kred score of an account that does not belong to the right person. I need to build his target lists by checking for verified accounts.
I am also experimenting with having Santiago tweet lyrics from songs by Daft Punk, Gary Numan and others, but this is hit and miss at present unless I enter them manually. Sometimes lines of lyrics pasted from the web run together or include formatting instructions.
The biggest challenge is having Santiago respond realistically to Tweets directed at him by followers. To do this well, he almost has to pass the Turing Test. “Almost” is the key word. Twitter’s 14o character limit ( 124 characters in practice, as “@SantiagoSwallow” accounts for 16), plus Twitter users’ conventions, such as “RT” and hashtags, constrain the problem within helpful bounds. Twitter profiles also have structure for user name, location and web site which is helpful.
This challenge nearly tripped Santiago up before he got started. As part of his early automation, he followed random Twitter accounts. This result in a Twitter suspension before the article was posted for overly aggressive following, after which I turned follow automation off completely, with one exception, discussed later.
But before the suspension, Santiago had randomly followed an account called @RachelRoseReid. Rachel sent him a tweet asking why he was following her. At that time his response was to favorite hr message and retweet it. This amplified Rachel’s suspicion. I sent her a handwritten reply from my account, and then another from Santiago’s to allay her concerns. I then sent her an e-mail explaining the project and asking her not to give Santiago away. Thankfully, Rachel agreed.
I have taken a number of steps to improve Santiago’s reactive automation. Building on lesson I learned about the need for simplicity and variety in the fortune cookies, Santiago parses all Tweets that include the string [@SantiagoSwallow] to identify ones that are candidates for reply. Tweets containing links are immediately eliminated. There is no way of knowing where they lead and no  way for him to understand linked content. Favorites, retweets, modified treats and “heard throughs” are also eliminated .The remaining interactions come in two classes: new followers and messages. New follower protocol is straightforward. If a profile includes a blog in WordPress, blogger or another common tool, Santiago will check the date of the last post. Most people do not update their blogs regularly. If the most recent post is more than three months old, Santiago will welcome the follower with a canned phrase teasing them about their blog, for example:
This is a nice automation trick. It appears personal, but the syntax is simple. Once Santiago identifies that the web site in the user’s profile is a dormant blog, he only has to complete this string:
“Welcome, [Twitter handle]. It has been so long since you posted something new on your home page I was starting to worry.”


Home Breaking News Dhanuka Group Resolved to Nurture New Possibility Towards Amrit Kaal and Launches...
Taking the message of Panch Pran of Amrit Kaal – Goal of developed India, to remove the trace of colonial mindset, take pride in our roots and to bringing unity and sense of duty among citizens, Agri-input major Dhanuka Group has launched a unique brand campaign ‘India Ka Pranam Har Kisan Ke Naam’ to mark the 42nd foundation day of the company.
“From ‘ship-to-mouth‘ syndrome of the 1960s to a net exporter of food grains, we have a lot to be proud of. It is primarily due to the tireless efforts of our farmers that we are in such a sweet position in comparison to some other nations that are undergoing severe food shortages amidst the global turmoil,” said Mr. R. G. Agarwal, Chairman, Dhanuka Group.


Arts and Crafts style home built by Forest Dupuis, merchant and undertaker. Located on the grounds were a mortuary, "filling station", dance hall, and garages to house a horse-drawn hearse and family vehicle.
Location. 31° 8.51′ N, 92° 3.846192 and North Main Street11989 LA 1192Joffrion-Roy-Luke Home (approx. ¾ mile away); Marksville Methodist Church (approx. ¾ mile away); MarksvilleDupuis-Mims .


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This past week two Expanding the Table guests expressed a need. The ETT sites are often place where folks can be found struggling with the financial burdens of everyday living. One, a woman whose gas heat was not working properly and the service tech could not arrive for several days. She recently had to undergo heart surgery and was in need of a way to stay warm while waiting on the repair. Change for a Dollar offered a space heater to hold her over. Another guest who uses a bicycle for his basic transportation had the front light stolen from his bicycle last week. The police will issue citations for folks riding a bicycle at night without lights in the front and back. Change for a Dollar offered to get him a new head light for his bicycle.
Walmart – heater & bike light - $63.47


BOJ MOBILE is the Mobile Banking service from Bank of Jordan.
Enjoy a unique banking experience with the Bank of Jordan application, through which you can complete your banking transactions quickly, easily and safely. And obtain features and services tailored to suit your lifestyle.
App highlights:
• Log in using fingerprint, face ID, and PIN.
• Self-registration.
• Opening a New account for the first time
• Cardless ATM withdrawal.
• Quick balance feature.
• Transfers.
• JoMoPay.
• CLIQ.
• Open sub-accounts
• Open Deposits
• Change SMS number.
• ATM and Branch locator.
• Request electronic account statement.
Services available on the app:
• Accounts summary and transactions.
• Free E-statement registration
• Loans and Deposits details and summery.
• Cheque book Request.
• Account Statement request.
• Ability to share IBAN.
• Loan Postpone.
• Summary of card balance and transactions.
• Ability to check card transactions.
• Instant credit card payment.
• Activate or activate credited cards.
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• Modify the debit card primary account
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• Request Supplementary Credit card.
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• Transfer between client's accounts.
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• Transfer using JOMOPAY service.
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EFAWATEERcom Payments:
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- OTP Enhancements
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Mostafa kreshan , 25/09/2020
After the latest update the Face ID login is not working and I have to enter all the details every time I open the app
Larisa Sam , 26/11/2020
Worst Bank App Ever
Using iphone app. Worst app ever! Were are your quality employees!!!?
It’s been an hour since I started to transfer money using joMoPay, it showed me that the transfer is confirmed for 6 times but nothing actually worked. Login is awful, I can’t save my device. Face ID doesn’t work. You need to work on your application because it’s a money app it must be accurate and working fine!
Rawanesho , 22/01/2021
You should add online chat like other banks, so we can communicate without making calls, and you can make a better interface and a faster one
The developer, Bank Of Jordan, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.


F., Jr., Rockford, Ill. / Edison Academy
Marosevic recorded three goals in Michigan’s two victories over the weekend, giving the Wolverine’s a perfect 2-0 start to the season. On Friday, against Wisconsin-Green Bay, the junior forward chipped in two scores, including the game winner, a mere 15 seconds after the Phoenix tied the game at 3-3. The Rockford, Ill., native punched in his final goal in Michigan’s 4-0 rout ofOregon State on Sunday. Marosevic picks up his second career weekly accolade.


’t get me wrong, I wasn’t slacking while writing about a planning application for a church to be turned into a block of flats, but it doesn’t quite match the intensity of a breaking news story.
On our website, we use live blogs to cover all breaking news stories, so when I found out an air ambulance had landed at a nearby Tunbridge Wells school that morning, I promptly set one up. I knew very little detail. Then someone messaged our Facebook inbox asking why a road was closed off. I realised that if a helicopter was to attend an incident there, the only place it could possibly land would be at the school.
Putting two and two together, I sent over an email to Kent Police asking about what was going on in the road and why an air ambulance had landed. Police confirmed they were there but gave me very little detail as to why, which caught my curiosity.
Another message had come through, this time with a picture. It showed rows of houses behind a road block, multiple police cars, and even a police van. This was big – especially for Tunbridge Wells. I got the all-clear to go down there myself, which was when I realised the true extent of what had happened. The police cordon stretched a good 100 metres and incorporated at least 20 houses, with police officers trawling the area back and forth.
We knew someone had died but who? This was the hardest part. I searched the name that popped up in the database on Facebook and managed to find someone with a matching name and age from the area. Was this him? By this point, I had already knocked on quite a few doors, but no one seemed to know anything about what happened, and it was actually our stories which were supplying them with information.
We had the ID, so we could run the “named locally” story before anyone else did. I was absolutely knackered, but I was told not to leave the scene until all possibilities were exhausted, so I went round all the houses again asking for tributes to the victim. I was constantly told he was a man “who liked to keep himself to himself” but I managed to get three people to talk. Someone even told me the name of the .
up a match. I went back to the road the next morning to find an ID – this time for the suspect – and I got it, so we could run his picture when he was charged. While our competitors and the nationals were all at the scene, I got everything first and owned the story as it evolved from a mere air ambulance landing to one of the biggest stories of the year in our area. </s> PHB Ethical Beauty (Pure. Handmade. British) was founded in England and has the world's largest selection of certified natural, vegan, cruelty-free and halal beauty products. They are dedicated ands, exclusively using the purest natural, ecological and eco certified ingredients, that are proven to be safe, mild and effective.
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This is one in a litany of clubs they’ve made up over the years, of course. This one lasted roughly two days.
Clare gave up being a vegetarian when we had hot dogs for dinner. Goodbye VSDG.
The next iteration of the Baker Girls Club is in discussion as we speak. We’ll see if they can outdo their past efforts. </s> "Afghanistan needs troops--"President Obama just committed


™t help but stop smoking for a split second to run his hand along the velvety aerodynamic body angles of the one person craft. Ã¢Â€ÂœJust in caseÃ¢Â€Â Fett said with a level and emotionless voice while he tugged on the leather fastenings preventing the bike from banging and crashing around so much during the flight.
Naguchi checked out of The Ripe Lemon Bar and Grill/Hotel andÃ¢Â€Â¦Ã¢Â€Â¦Casino too, Fett found out as she arrived back at the ship. The pack of predator hunters departed from the Mos Eisley spaceport in the late afternoon, setting a course straight to Concord Dawn. Taking flight during rush-hour traffic wasnÃ¢Â€Â™t the best idea, but they all wanted to get a head start on the week long trip, which was clear across on the other side of the universe and actually close to place where Naguchi and the rest of the team members were from. Their home planet, Earth, was smack-dab on the opposite side of the deadly San Andreas Triangle of asteroid fields in a far away galaxy named the Milky Way. This secluded part of the universe, according to Naguchi, had never been affected by the likes of the Empire or Republic and their entire galaxy was only inhabited by humans. Ã¢Â€ÂœUntil the predators cameÃ¢Â€Â Jess clarified.
There would definitely be more than ample time to learn more about the new business associates as soon as they got into hyperspace Fett thought as he calibrated the coordinates to the planet where he, the once Journeymen-Proctor named Jaster Mereel was long ago exiled from, Concord Dawn.
The barren wasteland of Tatooine and the rest of the Outer Rim Territories became shrinking spheres through the transparent rear panel view-plates of Slave IV as the planets and stars became streaking lines while the bounty hunterÃ¢Â€Â™s vessel hit hyperspace speed. Fett set the course, allowing the autopilot CPU unit to take control over the shipÃ¢Â€Â™s navigation systems. Then he climbed down the ladder rungs from the cockpit leading to the adequately-spaced, lounge deck located in the belly of the craft. He felt younger with every step as he hit the grated base and moved towards the waiting squad.
Naguchi, in addition to the team, were comfortably seated around the rarely used mini-conference table in a corner of the lounge floor. They discussed the plan of killing the predators for good as Fett joined the impromptu meeting. Listening intently, the bounty hunter learned that these veteran soldiers had encountered the predator creatures on several brutal previous occasions. Sadly and shockingly, the original ten-man Weyland/Yutani Predator Extermination Team or PET, had tragically lost seven hired guns to date that were, currently part of the predatorÃ¢Â€Â™s trophy room, he guessed. Fett could without doubt, see now why the credit amount was so high and even more importantly, why the company was willing to pay for the best. He still withheld his prior Imperial knowledge of the fatal creatures, but the strategic plan of the menÃ¢Â€Â™s two military minds nevertheless unfolded before his covered eyes.
After two hours and forty nine minutes of brainstorming a various amount of different attack scenarios along with gathering information about general predator knowledge, FettÃ¢Â€Â™s throat started to sting. Keeping in mind he wasnÃ¢Â€Â™t a conversationalist, the bounty hunter was surprised heÃ¢Â€Â™d actually sat and talked for even that long at all.
Never really the ladies man either; there was something about this Naguchi woman that Fett was undeniably attracted to. Besides her apparent beauty, he couldnÃ¢Â€Â™t precisely target his scope on what it was that he liked about her. Wanting to know more, they started chatting about her life as Jess and Dex caught some shuteye in the spare bunk-beds Fett had setup near the bulkhead.
As she got into her story, he couldnÃ¢Â€Â™t believe his ears. Naguchi had actually lived with the predators for over two years and even took part in that alien seeding ritual of a variety of different planets Fett had read about before. This was the reason for the lighting bolt on her forehead, he suspected. She however, had a great respect for the predators, but she also explained that she could never take part in the senseless slaying of innocent humans.
Naguchi told Fett how she couldnÃ¢Â€Â™t seem to ever get along with the predators for some reason and basically, they had forced her out of their exclusive hunting clan when the monsters went on a human safari, taking place on the swampy marsh of Bunda. Ever since then, the Company tried to cover the meaningless disasters all up, so the top industry executives hired Naguchi to lead the PET project with the sole purpose of getting rid of the problem for good. Since she was most familiar with them, she was chosen to make the predator race extinct of any Weyland/Yutani controlled colonies around the universe. Ã¢Â€ÂœThat was a decade agoÃ¢Â€Â Naguchi elaborated while she ogled at FettÃ¢Â€Â™s visor. The woman alleged she still owned and used some personal type of predator helmet along with a set of armor she wore. Even though her shielded cladding was stowed in the cargo bay well below, she couldnÃ¢Â€Â™t stop asking questions about FettÃ¢Â€Â™s Mandalorian protective coverings, just to compare to hers, he guessed.
B. Fett could see Naguchi wanted to know more about the rest of his outfit, so he retrieved the full Mandalorian body armor from a covert compartment in the cockpit and began to talk about his lifelong history with the famed armor. He explained that during the time of the Empire, he had emerged as the preeminent bounty hunter of the known galaxy. His armor, like his father's, was a weapon-covered combat-suit equipped with a jetpack for evasive maneuvers. FettÃ¢Â€Â™s fearsome armor dated back from that of the historic Mandalorian design. The often battle-scarred suit's blueprint heritage can be traced back to four thousand years ago, when the clans of Mandalores fought against the powerful Jedi of the Old Republic during the Great Sith War. She couldnÃ¢Â€Â™t believe the armor had such a rich past and was still so heavily modified with the numerous, well hidden and fatal features Naguchi didnÃ¢Â€Â™t even know about. Gadgets like the wrist gauntlets, which contained a flamethrower, as well as a whipcord lanyard launcher with a hundred meter line span. His kneepads concealed rocket dart launchers and he even had an optional rocket launcher aperture in the back armor for Ã¢Â€Âœmultiple targetsÃ¢Â€Â he said. Naguchi noticed that, eerily similar to the predatorÃ¢Â€Â™s habits, several ominous braids hung from the armorÃ¢Â€Â™s breastplate shoulder. Ã¢Â€ÂœTrophies from fallen prey that were especially difficult to apprehendÃ¢Â€Â Fett explained as they underscored the hunter's lethality. Naguchi was anxious to show of her armor when they landed, but was also extremely impressed with the Mandalorian designed equipment.
The next couple of days of travel aboard the Slave IV ran pretty smoothly, mostly because the four hunters didnÃ¢Â€Â™t have much else to do besides plan and talk when they werenÃ¢Â€Â™t sleeping. Fett knew the time would come when Naguchi would ask him about who Jaster Mereel was, and what his history was on Concord Dawn. When the inevitable question arrived, Fett didnÃ¢Â€Â™t know what else to do except tell the truth. It was weird to talk about his past because truthfully the bounty hunter had never divulged this much personal information to anybody, ever. Let alone, even talk this much to anyone. He thought.
The real Jaster Mereel had actually been his father, JangoÃ¢Â€Â™s mentor and role model when he was a boy. Jango FettÃ¢Â€Â™s dad was a Journeymen Protector on the distant farm


CMS issues additional change to CoPs that could affect HOPDs
 Published: July 05 2016 S ofContinue reading…
The Joint Commission says hospitals will have until November to prepare forCMS will begin surveying health care facilities on its new Conditions of Participation (CoPs) on November 7, 2016, after the CoP effective date of July 5. Beginning November 7, facilities will need to complyContinue reading…
Advocacy alert from ASHE Bulletin: CMS adopts 2012 Life Safety Codhe final rule adopting the 2012 ed but is currently available on the Federal Register's public inspection site. The document includes about 100 pages of backgroundContinue reading…
ASHE celebrates our local award recipients at the Annual Conferencephysical healthcare environment. Awards were presented during its 51st Annual ASHE Conference in Chicago, Illinois. Mike Mattox, former TSHE Secretary, received the designation of Senior ASHE member (SASHE) at the ASHE Annual Conference. SeniorContinue reading…
TSHE at the ASHE Annual Conference
Our group from the ASHE 2014 Annual Conference in Chicago! Hospital and Vendor members were represented from our local TSHE chapter- what a great event!