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A Lovejoy father will serve 12 years in prison for nearly starving his twin sons to death. James McCart pleaded guilty Thursday to charges he starved his 13-month-old twins to the point they could barely move, Clayton County District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson said. Superior Court Judge Deborah Benefield sentenced McCart to 15 years. He must serve 12 years before being eligible for parole.
“Once his head cleared and he realized what he had done, he made a commitment to do the right thing and assist in the prosecution and the truth-finding process,” said Steve Frey, McCart’s lawyer.
McCart pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty to children, four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and two counts of second-degree forgery.
Prosecutors offered McCart a plea deal last year, Frey said.
Last month, a jury found the babies’ mother, Tessa Zelek, guilty in the same case. Zelek, who refused a plea deal, is now serving a 70-year sentence. A judge ordered her to serve 75 percent of her sentence.
McCart testified against Zelek during the trial. He told jurors that he and Zelek went days without feeding the children.
“I don’t know how many days went by that the kids weren’t fed. I thought like two, but I’m not sure,” he told jurors.
Prosecutors said Ashton and Avery McCart were so malnourished that their eyes were sunken in and their clothes hung off their tiny limbs.
McCart told the jury that the couple was often too high on drugs to care for the babies.
The couple was taking about 20 Methadone tablets a day, along with Xanax, Oxycontin and alcohol, he testified. They obtained the drugs after making prescriptions in their home and forging doctors' signatures, he said.
“At some point we started getting pretty sick [because of the Methadone]. We were both throwing up and we stayed in bed,” McCart testified. “We just ignored the baby monitor. We turned it down.”
Doctors say the boys would have died if their relatives hadn’t intervened.
The boys are staying with McCart’s mother.
The boys are a bit behind other children in their age group and a little smaller because they suffered brain damage from the malnourishment, doctors said.
The boys' maternal grandmother, Christiann Zelek -- a former Henry County schools special education official -- is charged with not reporting the child abuse to police. Her trial is scheduled for January.A Lovejoy father will serve 12 years in prison for nearly starving his twin sons to... more
"It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison, and yet not free — to be under no physical constraint and yet to be a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel and act as the representatives of the national state, or of some private interest within the nation, wants him to think, feel and act. The nature of psychological compulsion is such that those who act under constraint remain under the impression that they are acting on their own initiative. The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free. That he is not free is apparent only to other people. His servitude is strictly objective."
Aldous Huxley via dmitridb:
The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent. But if we can come to terms with this indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.
Stanley Kubrick via Athila
THERE IS MUCH HERE-"It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison, and yet not free — to be... more
As an atheist and a secularist, one of my greatest concerns has long been the tone of negativity that, in my perception, we often put forward to the rest of the world. It’s a concern I much share with Paul Kurtz, a secularist hero and my former boss at the Center for Inquiry in Buffalo, NY, who has long been worried about ensuring that humanists have positive, constructive messages to offer about the virtues of a life of unbelief.
So how fortunate to have just learned of the release of the Harvard humanist chaplain Greg Epstein’s new book Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. The book description suggests that it is exactly what I, and Kurtz, are looking for:
With the current state of the economy, the ongoing wars that rage across the globe, and the unsettling changes to the earth’s climate, questions about the role of God and religion in world affairs have never been more relevant or felt more powerfully. Many of us are searching for a place where we can find not only facts and scientific reason but also hope and the moral courage needed to overcome such challenges. For some, answers to the most challenging questions are found in the divine. For others, including the New Atheists, religion has no place in the world and is, in fact, an “enemy.”
But in Good Without God, Greg Epstein presents another, more balanced and inclusive response: Humanism. With a focus on the positive, he highlights humanity’s potential for goodness and the ways in which Humanists lead lives of purpose and compassion. Humanism can offer the sense of community we want and often need in good times and bad, as we celebrate marriages and the birth of our children, and as we care for those who are elderly or sick. In short, Humanism teaches us that we can lead good and moral lives without supernaturalism, without higher powers . . . without God.
In this constructive response not only to his fellow atheists Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris but also to contemporary religious leaders such as Rick Warren and Jim Wallis, Epstein makes a bold claim for what nonbelievers do share and believe. At a time when the debate about morality rages more fiercely than ever—and when millions are searching for something they can put their faith in—Humanism offers a comfort and hope that affirms our ability to live ethical lives of personal fulfillment, aspiring together for the greater good of all.As an atheist and a secularist, one of my greatest concerns has long been the tone of... more
That's not exactly the way Rice University humanities professor Anthony Pinn, in an article for the online magazine Religion Dispatches, describes the monotone of mockery at the Atheist Alliance International convention, but it gets you to Pinn's key points pretty quickly.
The convention, starring the atheist band's Mick Jagger, Richard Dawkins, promoting his book on evolution, The Greatest Show on Earth, and some backup singers like TV host Bill Maher, was held in Burbank, Calif., earlier this month.
Pinn found the main idea at the event, is that religion is
... the single most dangerous human creation.
The welfare of humanity, it was argued, depends on the dismantling of religion and all of its delusions. The possibility of collaboration, of compromise, of any shared ethical commitments between theists and non-theists, was not on the table.
Pinn, who calls himself a humanist, zeroes in on the common trait that atheists share with fundamentalists of any religion -- "their inability for critical self-reflection and critique."
They have formed, in effect, the religion of "not," defined by what they refuse and rebuke.
Consider Christopher Hitchens, the Keith Richards of the band (OK, enough Stones), who is on the road right now promoting his new documentary, Collision, in which he debates Rev. Douglas Wilson. Hitchens, who has no new intellectual songs to sing here but he does have nice manners, sort of. He writes in Slate
I have discovered that the so-called Christian right is much less monolithic, and very much more polite and hospitable, than I would once have thought, or than most liberals believe.
Pinn, however, is more focused on substance. He proposes atheists and humanists construct
... (A) system of ethics meant to enhance quality of life, both through scientific advancement and rigorous struggle against irrational modes of destruction such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. What is necessary is the application of practices that speak clearly to atheism's concern for life within the context of a fragile environment.
After all, Pinn observes, while religious rituals doctrines shift with time and culture, religion is never going away. It offers it's own set of answers for core questions:
... Theism, at its core, is about the making of meaning and the establishment of stories and practices related to how and why we occupy time and space.
Pinn would like to see atheists, humanists and believers, retaining their distinctions, focus on shared ethical commitments. What are the chances?Forget God, let's talk about arrogance.
That's not exactly the way Rice University... more
NAIROBI, Kenya, Three masked members of a militant Islamist group in Somalia last week shot and killed a Somali Christian who declined to wear a veil as prescribed by Muslim custom, according to a Christian source in Somalia.
Members of the comparatively “moderate” Suna Waljameca group killed Amina Muse Ali, 45, on Oct. 19 at 9:30 p.m. in her home in Galkayo, in Somalia’s autonomous Puntland region, said the source who requested anonymity for security reasons.
Ali had told Christian leaders that she had received several threats from members of Suna Waljameca for not wearing a veil, symbolic of adherence to Islam. She had said members of the group had long monitored her movements because they suspected she was a Christian.
The source said Ali had called him on Oct. 4 saying, “My life is in danger. I am warned of dire consequences if I continue to live without putting on the veil. I need prayers from the fellowship.”
“I was shocked beyond words when I received the news that she had been shot dead,” the source in Somalia told Compass by telephone. “I wished I could have recalled her to my location. We have lost a long-serving Christian.”
Ali had come to Galkayo from Jilib, 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Kismayo, in 2007. She arrived in Puntland at the invitation of a close friend, Saynab Warsame of the Darod clan, when the Islamic extremist group al Shabaab invaded Kismayo, the source said. Warsame was born in Kismayo and had lived in Jilib but moved to Puntland when war broke out in 1991.
The source said it is not known if even Warsame knew of Ali’s conversion from Islam to Christianity.
“She might not have known, because Warsame is not a Christian,” he said.
In 1997 Ali, an orphan and unmarried, joined the Somali Christian Brothers’ Organization, a movement commonly known as the Somali Community-Based Organization. As such she had been an active member of the underground church in the Lower Juba region.
Muslim extremists have targeted the movement, killing some of its leaders after finding them in possession of Bibles. The organization was started in 1996 by Bishop Abdi Gure Hayo.NAIROBI, Kenya, Three masked members of a militant Islamist group in Somalia last week... more
Billionaires for Wealthcare is a grassroots network of health insurance CEOs, HMO lobbyists, talk-show hosts, and others profiting off of our broken health care system. We'll do whatever it takes to ensure another decade where your pain is our gain. After all, when it comes to health insurance, if we ain't broke, why fix it?Billionaires for Wealthcare is a grassroots network of health insurance CEOs, HMO... more
Republican pollster Bill McInturff was the keynote speaker on the final day of the America's Health Insurance Plans's state issues conference on Friday morning.
But his speech on how the health care reform debate was playing among the public was interrupted before it even began. A group of protesters began aggressively cheering McInturff for the work he has done for AHIP (he's a hired pollster for the private insurance lobby and, most infamously, was the force behind the 'Harry and Louise' ads in 1994)
McInturff, initially thinking that the cheering was legitimate, thanked the "AHIP officials" in the back of the room for giving him mental encouragement for his speech. He was not being paid for his appearance, he noted.
And then, the protesters -- dressed in business attire to fit into the crowd -- began singing. A relatively lengthy and harmonious rendition of "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie ensued, only with the chorus focused on government-run insurance. "The option, the option, we must have, the option... " went the rendition, in reference to the public plan.
The whole episode lasted a few minutes before the troupe (around 5 or 6 protesters) was escorted out by security.
McInturff, who remarked earlier that he didn't have a joke to lead off with, pointed to the exiting protesters and said "there's my joke." But while his speech had been interrupted, the pollster actually admitted to being mildly impressed.
Story continues below
"If you are going to have protesters at least you can hire people who sing," he said. "That was very good singing."
The musical was written and performed by Billionaires for Wealthcare, a grassroots network of health insurance CEOs, HMO lobbyists, talk-show hosts, and others profiting off of our broken health care system. A group official writes to say: "We'll do whatever it takes to ensure another decade where your pain is our gain. After all, when it comes to health insurance, if we ain't broke, why fix it?"
Check it out for the lyrics too!Republican pollster Bill McInturff was the keynote speaker on the final day of the... more
The graphic novel for "Fahrenheit 451" was just released and it's pretty good. I had forgotten how exciting the story was and it's amazing how relevant the book still seems. The most interesting part of the book for me was the introduction by Bradbury himself. He reminds us that he wrote that book 50 years ago! It's a bit hard to remember what one was think from a half a century in the past.The graphic novel for "Fahrenheit 451" was just released and it's pretty good. I had... more
There are 10^10^16 of them (but #1,000,443,163,313,125,343,132 is the evil one)
For some time, physicists have theorized about the existence of alternate universes. In fact, some models of physics require multiple universes, to explain some rarely observed phenomena. But, other than obvious ones like The Man In The High Castle Universe where the Nazis won WWII, the Earth-295 Age of Apocalypse Universe, and the Terran Empire "Mirror Mirror" Universe, just how many alternate universes are there? Well, some Stanford University physicists have answered that question, and the magic number is: 10^10^16 other realities.
The physicists, Andrei Linde and Vitaly Vanchurin, calculated the number by first going all the way back to the Big Bang. Linde and Vanchurin posit that the stellar organization and physics of our universe resulted from small perturbations in the otherwise uniform mass of matter and energy that existed milliseconds after the Big Bang. So, the number of possible variations of those perturbations represents the upper limit of possible alternate universes, or about 10^10^10^7 possible alternate universes.
However, because of the physical limits of the human brain, no individual could perceive more than 10^10^16 realities different from our own. And since the perspective of the viewer factors into the calculations (like time dilation in relativity), that's the number of possible alternate universes.
Of course, that's the total number of POSSIBLE alternate universes. The number of ACTUAL alternative universes actually depends on depends on how many boxes the Professor made.There are 10^10^16 of them (but #1,000,443,163,313,125,343,132 is the evil one)
For... more
Is it possible to be 'all-knowing' and 'all-powerful' provided that what one means by these terms is that god knows all that can be known and can do all that can be done?
"Can ominscient god who,
Knows the future find,
The ominpotence to
Change his future mind?"Is it possible to be 'all-knowing' and 'all-powerful' provided that what one means by... more
A new study confirmed something essential about women, something that refuses to budge, even though many say it’s long past time. While the number of male nonbelievers was rocketing, the overall totals were slowed by women hitching themselves to the anchor of faith: “Gender difference is a brake on the growth of the No Religion population,” says the study, which found that 19 percent of men were no longer denizens of a religious America, while only 12 percent of women live outside the faithful fold.
These statistics are consistent with a recent Pew Forum summary of religion in America. In fact, a researcher at Pew told me that studies going back as far as he can remember have shown this discrepancy, and reaching back into history, even prehistory, we find the same story. And yet, major religions—put down your crystals and pocket those pentagrams, ladies—have always favored men. Not a single major faith is led by members of its female flock, and the more deeply adherent a religious group becomes, the less freedom it offers its women, not to mention power.
Researchers have offered many theories about why women are religious in greater numbers than men. Most are inconclusive; all are fascinating. Any thoughts on why this is anybody?A new study confirmed something essential about women, something that refuses to... more
I am grateful to Mr. Don Harkins the editor of THE IDAHO OBSERVER, (USA) and her associates Ms. Anne Wilder Chamberlain to help me prepare my story.
The following short note comes from them:-
KHALID
When we first began corresponding with Khalid Awan in 2007, we had no idea why he was serving time in U.S federal prison.We soon discovered Awan was one of the first of thousands of Muslims taken prisoner in the post-9/11 U.S "terror War". As the story began unfolding in our letters, we began to realize that this honest, humble and sincere man was not only innocent, but the ongoing injustice being done to him provides critical insight into the mindless, mean-spirited, bureaucratic-yes-men idiocy fueling the illegal U.S. "War on Terror" (and just about everything else that is going wrong in this country). At our insistence, Awan wrote his story and supplied us with whatever documents we requested. And now, after three months of cooperative efforts, the story of Khalid Awan can be told. We have come to know Awan as a peaceful man engaged in peaceful work, who has been wrongfully accused, detained and repeatedly convicted of crimes he did not commit because he was a Muslim with international connections and an office in New York on 9/11. Anyone who might of the Muslim belief, especially a person raised overseas who has difficulty understanding our language and our corrupt judicial system, can be arrested and detained indefinitely in this country, certainly without a trial before a jury of his peers. Khalid is one of these Muslims.
We present this to you in faith that you will realize a deeper understanding of the levels of complicity necessary for the "land of free" to tolerate the phony war on terror year after year and in hope that Awan --- and all the other million or more political prisoners being held by this country---will one day be reunited with their families.
(Thanks from the bottom of my heart to you, Mr. Don Harkin and Ms. Anne W. Chaimberlain for your devoted, caring attention in helping me expose my plight and injustices being suffered by myself and others. Your humanitarian devotion, on-going help and attitude truly an inspiration to me in my life!)
Khalid Qayyum Awan (From USA Federal Prison)
CONTACT OR MAILING ADDRESS IS GIVEN BELOW
Khalid Awan # 50959-054
USP Marion
P.O.BOX : 1000
Marion, IL 62959
USAI am grateful to Mr. Don Harkins the editor of THE IDAHO OBSERVER, (USA) and her... more
I am grateful to Mr. Don Harkins the editor of THE IDAHO OBSERVER, (USA) and her associates Ms. Anne Wilder Chamberlain to help me prepare my story.
The following short note comes from them:-
KHALID
When we first began corresponding with Khalid Awan in 2007, we had no idea why he was serving time in U.S federal prison.We soon discovered Awan was one of the first of thousands of Muslims taken prisoner in the post-9/11 U.S "terror War". As the story began unfolding in our letters, we began to realize that this honest, humble and sincere man was not only innocent, but the ongoing injustice being done to him provides critical insight into the mindless, mean-spirited, bureaucratic-yes-men idiocy fueling the illegal U.S. "War on Terror" (and just about everything else that is going wrong in this country). At our insistence, Awan wrote his story and supplied us with whatever documents we requested. And now, after three months of cooperative efforts, the story of Khalid Awan can be told. We have come to know Awan as a peaceful man engaged in peaceful work, who has been wrongfully accused, detained and repeatedly convicted of crimes he did not commit because he was a Muslim with international connections and an office in New York on 9/11. Anyone who might of the Muslim belief, especially a person raised overseas who has difficulty understanding our language and our corrupt judicial system, can be arrested and detained indefinitely in this country, certainly without a trial before a jury of his peers. Khalid is one of these Muslims.
We present this to you in faith that you will realize a deeper understanding of the levels of complicity necessary for the "land of free" to tolerate the phony war on terror year after year and in hope that Awan --- and all the other million or more political prisoners being held by this country---will one day be reunited with their families.
(Thanks from the bottom of my heart to you, Mr. Don Harkin and Ms. Anne W. Chaimberlain for your devoted, caring attention in helping me expose my plight and injustices being suffered by myself and others. Your humanitarian devotion, on-going help and attitude truly an inspiration to me in my life!)
The simple fact that he was elected was reason enough for him to be the recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Because on that day the murderous actions of the Bush/Cheney years were totally and thoroughly rebuked. One man -- a man who opposed the War in Iraq from the beginning -- offered to end the insanity. The world has stood by in utter horror for the past eight years as they watched the descendants of Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson light the fuse of our own self-destruction. We flipped off the nations on this planet by abandoning Kyoto and then proceeded to melt eight more years worth of the polar ice caps. We invaded two nations that didn't attack us, failed to find the real terrorists and, in effect, ignited our own wave of terror. People all over the world wondered if we had gone mad.Why? Because "HOPE".
The simple fact that he was elected was reason enough for him... more
Atheist scholar and pundit Christopher Hitchens wowed the crowd at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas In Sydney, Australia. The Festival, presented by the Sydney Opera House and the St James Ethics Centre, brought together some of the more controversial thinkers from Australia and around the world. Hitchens gave the key note address.Atheist scholar and pundit Christopher Hitchens wowed the crowd at the Festival of... more
Obama can not see the wisdom of this Man?? Even the "Main Stream Media" is covering the Dalai and he should be given a full Head of State welcome. Obama has a lot to learn from this man. Some day the US may be a China State??We all owe China way to much$$$, Look down the road ,for our children' s sake,if not your own.Why is it that the USA always follows the Money?
The Dalai is Wise, and has been dealing with the Chinese Government a lot longer than many a man alive today. Yet he still has compassion.
Dalai Lama Accepts Human Rights Award - ABC News
Link above is being blocked by ABC , may need to cut and paste
Heres the video (complete with Commercials) As always he gives words of Wisdom http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8763586Obama can not see the wisdom of this Man?? Even the "Main Stream Media" is covering... more
We take so much for granted. If we could just flash back to the age where our ancestors were still hunting for survival or building the first blocks of primitive civilizations we would see just how incredibly far have we come. Biologically we are nothing more than just another animal that evolved on this Earth through a complex process of action and reaction. But amazingly, from our own biased perspective at least, this ability to rely on tools (technology) have made our otherwise fragile human selves the most powerful specie on this planet.
However, our big brains have also allowed for a breadth of other interesting features such as this ability to imagine and unfortunately in the process confuse fiction for reality. In order to make sense of what we see we often tend to ascribe to mythical entities that which we cannot otherwise understand. We thus often see God. Of course, the idea is to evolve past such tendencies, and this is one of the visions behind DoublePlusHuman. Meanwhile, however, we can take a jibe at this tendency in order to portray an interesting contrast:
Imagine yourself standing in front of a group of ancient humans in all your technological glory of the early 21st century. They would likely not be able to comprehend what they see and in their struggle to understand they would probably form myths about just who and what you are. Here are a few ways in which you may appear godlike to them.
Its not just about Politics, though Politics is also important here.
Its not just about numbers, though Numbers are important too..
It’s about Faces, So many of them…..
Faces who have seen too much in too little a time. …
Here you see many slums , but no millionaires.
You will find travellers but no destination….
These are internally displaced People of SWAT.
Many of them settled in IDP camps established..
at Mardan, Nowshehra and other areas,
while the majority chose to stay independent.
A large portion of these displaced people arrived at Karachi
where they are living with their relatives, or rented houses
with high rents. This is there story.
Bonier is situated around 60 miles from Islamabad.
An idyllic place with a history full of traditions, simplicity and peace.
All this changed one fine morning….
The terror had finally arrived Taliban’s.
They came with colourful Promises.
The promise of quick justice,
Divine Law, Sharia.
Soon the terror removed its masks and unveiled its true face.
The recent Operation by Pakistan against Taliban forces
For them this was a ray of light, a glimmer of hope.
But everything comes with a price.
The army needed space,
the collateral damage too much a political baggage;
they had to be removed from the war zone.
With in few days more than 1.5 million people left their houses…
and settled for different parts of Pakistan.
Even here, their miseries are far from over.
The new place offers them nothing but a reminiscence
of what they have left behind.
What could have been theirs?
These children are a product of fear;
these faces the faces under terror.
These faces need to be seen,
these voices be heard,
for they tell a story not covered in any of the debate rooms.
They tell why a combination of poverty, ignorance, deception and ultimate terror alters the course of human lives in such a short span of time.
These faces need to be helped.
Because in the end, they are all human faces.
Kazim Raza, Karachi. PakistanIts not just about Politics, though Politics is also important here.
Its not just... more
