[AP] BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Men incarcerated at Louisiana State Penitentiary filed a class-action lawsuit Saturday, contending they have been forced to work in the prison’s fields for little or no pay, even when temperatures soar past 100 degrees. They described the conditions as cruel, degrading and often dangerous.
The men, most of whom are Black, work on the farm of the 18,000-acre maximum-security prison known as Angola -- the site of a former slave plantation -- hoeing, weeding and picking crops by hand, often surrounded by armed guards, the suit said. If they refuse to work or fail to meet quotas, they can be sent to solitary confinement or otherwise punished, according to disciplinary guidelines.
"This labor serves no legitimate penological or institutional purpose," the suit said. "It’s purely punitive, designed to ’break’ incarcerated men and ensure their submission."
It names as defendants Angola’s warden, Timothy Hooper, and officials with Louisiana’s department of corrections and its money-making arm, Prison Enterprises.
#1
"This labor serves no legitimate penological or institutional purpose," the suit said. "It’s purely punitive, designed to ’break’ incarcerated men and ensure their submission."
Sounds like a plan. Maybe make prison unpleasant.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
09/17/2023 14:21 Comments ||
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#2
Breakin' rocks in the hot sun
I fought the law and the law won
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/17/2023 14:40 Comments ||
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#3
Somewhere a group of lawyers are rubbing their hands with glee!
#7
I assume the crops are either fed to the prisoners to reduce running costs or sold to the budget for running the prison. Either way, the prison workers are receiving benefits from their labour.
[Federalist] An Air Force lieutenant general nominated by President Joe Biden once claimed U.S. service members are "naive" to believe that so-called "institutional racism" and "unconscious bias" don’t affect the military.
Last week, the Air Force Times reported that Biden tapped Lt. Gen. Jim Slife "to serve as the Air Force’s next vice chief of staff." If ultimately confirmed by the Senate, Slife, who currently serves as the branch’s deputy chief of staff for operations, would be promoted to a four-star general and become the "No. 2 officer" in the Air Force.
While much of the Times’ article focuses on Slife’s military service, it neglects to mention the lieutenant general’s flirtation with racialist politics. In the days following the May 2020 death of George Floyd, Slife authored a message claiming he was "bothered" by Floyd’s death and that the Air Force "is a reflection of our society, so, by extension," the matter is "an Air Force issue."
"We’d be naive to think issues of institutional racism and unconscious bias don’t affect us," Slife wrote. "We can’t ignore it. We have to face it. And to face it, we have to talk about it."
In his memo, Slife further asserted that it’s important for the military to "listen to other perspectives and accept them as valid, but perhaps incomplete." He also said that he is "limited in [his] perspective" and described how he’s a "middle-aged white man who grew up in a middle class family in a predominantly white area ... [and has] been in ’the majority’ in almost every organization [he’s] ever been in."
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/17/2023 7:41 Comments ||
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#3
Tuberville is right. They're top heavy with four star paper pushers, and institutional CYA may well be why our overpriced military can't seem to actually perform it's function, i.e. win a war.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
09/17/2023 9:11 Comments ||
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#4
Institutional capture is an insoluble problem. Sunset everything and everyone in gummint every 10 years.
Do the same for "foundations."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/17/2023 9:15 Comments ||
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#5
/\ Do the same for "foundations."
Amen! Foundations and so-called 'non-for-profits' are little more than tax avoidance, money laundering schemes.
#6
Do well or die! Yeah, that's some racism right there. Let me guess that this prize catch is as white as driven snow. I ain't gonna look up its picture.
BLUF:
[Breitbart] The child star reportedly had a history of abusing alcohol, Xanax, cocaine, and ketamine. Now he has joined what is known as "the 27 Club," a cultural phenomenon in which celebrities seem to have a tendency of dying at the age of 27 after living high-risk lifestyles.
Despite the Biden administration's campaign promise to tackle the nationwide drug crisis, new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that 2023 will be another disastrous year as overdose-related deaths continue rising nationwide.
New CDC estimates show 111,000 people died from a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending in April. The data shows that the drug epidemic continues ravaging counties and cities nationwide. Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are responsible for about 70% of the overdoses.
With no signs of slowing, the drug epidemic might be supercharged by xylazine, a horse tranquilizer commonly referred to on the street as "tranq" or the "Zombie drug." Tranq has been flooding illegal drug markets across the East Coast, working into the Deep South, Rust Belt, and Midwest
Axios, citing a new report from the drug testing lab Millennium Health, showed tranq is spreading across the nation at a dangerously fast pace.
Posted by: Abu Ga ||
09/17/2023 0:38 Comments ||
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#2
Tuberville seems willing to block the promotion of anyone who is promoting this garbage. If he is committed, he can make a difference through this methodology.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/17/2023 7:27 Comments ||
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#3
Yes, and they are making sure there are no stories in the news about the illegalsimmigrants new imports beating up maricons...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/17/2023 7:37 Comments ||
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#4
Next up the Gay Brigade, composed of only LGBT? personnel.
#9
Grom, talk to any jarhead (Marine) if you want to hear stories about navy 'guys'.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
09/17/2023 14:19 Comments ||
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#10
#2 Super Hose, my thanks to the people of Alabama for giving us Tommy Tuberville.
Posted by: Tom ||
09/17/2023 14:37 Comments ||
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#11
^The stroy I've heard (from a former Green Beret) about a friend of his, who clamed to by gay to dodge the draft - they told him "don't worry, we'll send you to a regiment where everyone's like you".
#14
I had to suffer through 'Race Awareness' training back in the 70's and 80's. It was, of course, "You are all racist!". I can only imagine the "Rainbow Sensitivity" that the Navy has come up with.
[MAIL] An Instagram user has sparked a furious debate about airline etiqette after speedily unboarding a plane from the back row.
In the viral video titled: 'POV: you have 0 patience when getting off planes,' a passenger sat near the back of the plane rushes to get off.
As soon as the seatbelt sign rings, the passenger grabs his backpack and takes off down the aisle, moving swiftly past passengers getting their luggage from the overhead bins.
While the majority of passengers have just unbuckled their seatbelts and are waiting patiently to exit, the man mutters to himself - seemingly pleased that he had managed to disembark so quickly.
#1
Years ago when I was a frequent flier, I used to enjoy 'blocking' airplane aisle runners. Grab a bag from the overhead or assist another passenger with theirs. Plant your feet, ignore their selfish comments, and let the seats to the front empty in sequence.
#7
Ref #2: About the same size here. A compression fracture on dark DZ tree landing years ago reduced my inseam to 33. If you exit the door and see the turn-in point fading in the distance, you know you're in for a rough one.
While not always available, later in my career 'low porosity' (LOPO) chutes became my friend.
#8
I'd have some sympathy if he had a connecting flight and was running late. But apparently that was not the case here.
He's just an entitled dickhead.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
09/17/2023 13:28 Comments ||
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#9
Yeah, I'm with the runner on this one. It takes way too long to get off the plane, and a lot of that has to do with people who don't even stand up and start retrieving their bags from the overhead until everyone in front of them has already left the plane. If you're not in a hurry that's fine, just don't pretend it's OK to make that decision for every other passenger.
[Daily Caller] Half of Americans have been priced out of the car market as real increases in income have been outpaced by the rising cost of car loan payments due to both a decrease in supply and rising interest rates driving up costs, according to experts.
The average monthly payment as of the second quarter of 2023 for a loan on a new car was $729, up from $672 in 2022 and $582 in 2021, while the average loan payment for a used car in 2023 was $528 per month, compared to $519 in 2022 and $440 in 2021, according to Experian. In the same quarter, median monthly earnings for Americans were only $4,428, with financial experts recommending spending no more than 10% of one’s income on car loan payments, putting the recommended amount for an average American at $443 for a monthly payment, which is below the cost of the average loan payment for both new and used cars, resulting in many Americans not being able to afford a vehicle.
#2
If manufacturers lose money on each sale and consumers can’t afford to buy the product anyway, there is no incentive to prevent the strike or resolve it.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/17/2023 7:45 Comments ||
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#3
"We lose money on every sale, but we make up for it in volume"
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/17/2023 8:02 Comments ||
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#4
^^ Kinda like a Ponzi scheme.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/17/2023 9:21 Comments ||
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#5
Check out the dealership interest rates for new or used car loans. The days of "zero or one percent interest" appear to be history.
#6
The automaker CEO's have gone green (note the thumb in the eye of the UAW with the move to EV). The green people are the reason fossil fuel autos are no longer affordable for the human race.
[Dawn] A man was arrested and booked in Rawalpindi on Saturday in connection with the desecration of the Bible — the holy book of the Christian faith.
The incident came to light when a video showing a man insulting the Bible with a slipper surfaced on Twitter.
In response to the video, the Rawalpindi police stated that the suspect was "swiftly traced" and apprehended through "prompt law enforcement action".
The police further stated that an "exemplary punishment" would be meted out to the suspect following a "thorough and merit-based" investigation.
Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer Syed Khurram Ali told Dawn.com the arrest was made earlier in the day.
He further stated that the suspect will be presented in court tomorrow (Sunday) to secure his physical remand, enabling the commencement of the interrogation process.
A case regarding the incident was filed at the Morgah cop shoppe based on a complaint lodged by Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Naveed Aslam, invoking Section 298 of the Pakistain Penal Code (PPC), which pertains to uttering words with a deliberate intent to wound religious feelings.
In the first information report, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, ASI Aslam explained that he "saw a viral video on social media in which an individual was seen disrespecting Christianity and the Bible".
PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal termed the incident a "shameful act".
"Where Islam teaches respect for one’s beliefs, it also teaches respect for the beliefs of others. It is the responsibility of the state to provide religious protection to its citizens," he said, adding that society collectively had to eliminate such behaviour.
It is pertinent to mention that on August 16, a violent mostly peaceful mob of hundreds ransacked and torched five churches, attacked the residences of members of the Christian community and the office of the local assistant commissioner, following an alleged incident of blasphemy ...the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Some religions consider it to be a crime. In Pakistain you can commit blasphemy by looking cross-eyed at a Koran... in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad ...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after... district.
[AlAhram] The Egyptian Jewish community celebrated on Friday the New Year (Rosh Hashanah) at the Vitali Madjar Synagogue in Heliopolis on Friday for the first time in 70 years.
The celebration, organized by the Drop of Milk Egypt NGO, was attended by members of the small Jewish community in Cairo as well as foreign diplomats and Egyptians of other faiths.
Since its inauguration in 1928, the synagogue has been renovated several times, including most recently in 2017.
Recently, the Vitali Madjar synagogue hosted a number of events including Hanukkah in December 2022.
The Jewish New Year service was led by Magda Haron, head of the Jewish community in Cairo
The year 5784 in the Jewish calendar began at sunset on 15 September.
[IsraelTimes] Some two hundred worshipers attended a Selichot service this this week in the Iranian capital Iran, according to footage broadcast by the Kan public broadcaster on Friday.
The nightly Selichot prayers — a litany of penitential and supplicant prayers — are held in the run-up to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which began on Friday night.
The service was led by Iran’s Chief Rabbi Yehuda Gerami.
Prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there were some 100,000 Jews in Iran; by 2016, according to an Iranian census, that number had fallen to below 10,000.
This year, Rosh Hashanah coincides with the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iranian police, which sparked weeks of widespread protests. Security forces were deployed across Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... on Saturday, amid regime fears of renewed unrest.
A number of members of the Tehran Jewish community were detained amid the protests last year. At the time, the Tehran Central Jewish Committee issued a letter, in which it said it was standing by the Iranian regime amid its deadly crackdown on protesters.
The Jewish community in Iran has previously taken other precautionary measures to protect members, with Gerami saying in 2021 that he condemned the US killing of top Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020, amid fears Jews could be physically attacked by some Moslem neighbors.
Prominent figures in the Jewish community of Iran intermittently issue anti-Israel statements that match the regime’s agenda.
Meanwhile in Egypt, prayers were held at a Cairo synagogue on Friday night for the first time in 70 years, Kan reported.
A number of members of Cairo’s small remaining Jewish community attended the service at the 100-year-old Vitali Madjar Synagogue, alongside foreign diplomats.
Egypt’s Jewish community, which dates back millennia, numbered around 80,000 in the 1940s, but today is thought to stand at fewer than 20 people. The departure of Egypt’s Jews was fueled by rising nationalist sentiment during the Arab-Israeli wars, harassment, and some direct expulsions by then-Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser.
...also a law which made it illegal for any Jewish male to be in the country after his eighteenth birthday. Some stayed, of course, but most left. Their sisters followed, because without the young men, who were they to marry? Bat Ye’or, who wrote about Eurabia and the idea of dhimmitude, was one of the latter.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Dawn] A man was arrested and booked in 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
