High court won't stop California inmate reduction

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday it will not consider Gov. Jerry Brown's appeal of an order to trim the state prison population by another 9,600 inmates, leaving him with just one more chance to persuade a lower court to stop or delay a reduction that he says threatens public safety.

The justices did not comment on their order, which leaves in place the earlier ruling by a panel of three federal judges requiring California to reduce its prison population to improve medical and mental health treatment.

The case now goes back to the three judges, who repeatedly have ruled against Brown and at one point threatened to hold him in contempt if he didn't adhere to their order.

It's the second time Brown has been rebuffed by the nation's highest court. In 2011, Supreme Court justices ruled that the lower court panel had the authority to order California to reduce inmate overcrowding as the key condition for improving conditions.

At the heart of the case is a 2001 lawsuit filed on behalf of inmates who claimed medical treatment in the prisons was so poor it was leading to a death a week through neglect or malpractice. The federal courts agreed, saying conditions violated inmates' constitutional rights against cruel and unusual punishment.

In addition to spending billions of dollars on new medical facilities and staff, the state was ordered to reduce overcrowding, which was seen as a main obstacle to providing better health care. The state has also been forced to take similar steps to improve inmate mental health treatment, the subject of a separate lawsuit

Deborah Hoffman, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, expressed disappointment with the high court and said the state will continue working to improve prison conditions. She noted that in the past two years, the prison population has been reduced by 25,000 inmates.

Brown signed a bill in September allowing the state to spend $315 million this fiscal year to house thousands of inmates in private prisons and county jails if the lower court doesn't postpone its January deadline for reducing the prison population. If the court agrees to a three-year delay called for in the legislation, the state must spend part of the money on rehabilitation programs intended to reduce the inmate count.

Last month, the court ordered the state to negotiate with inmates' attorneys toward a possible compromise. But the attorneys say there have been no face-to-face talks with administration officials, though a court-appointed mediator has been active. The judges ordered the mediator to update them next Monday on the progress of negotiations.

"Now that the court has ruled and the governor's out of legal options, it would be in their interest to try and resolve this in a way that is effective and productive," said Don Specter, director of the Prison Law Office that filed the lawsuit over prison medical care.

While the issue plays out in court, the state has been signing contracts with private prison operators to house inmates.

The Corrections Department and Corrections Corp. of America announced Tuesday that the state had signed a $28.5 million annual contract to lease the private California City Correctional Center, which will hold 2,381 inmates. The lease is for three years, with unlimited two-year renewals, and the annual cost will rise with inflation after the initial three-year contract expires.

Last month, the state signed a five-year, $30 million annual contract with Geo Group to lease two prison facilities in Kern and San Bernardino counties. The two facilities can hold 1,400 inmates.

The steps leave the state about 4,400 inmates above the population cap set by the courts. The state must reduce the population of its major prisons to about 110,000 inmates by the end of January under the current lower court order.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/high-court-wont-stop-california-inmate-reduction-163018964.html
Similar Articles: 2013 Emmy Winners   blue moon  

18-Foot Oarfish Livens Up A 'Leisurely Snorkel' In California

People hoist the body of an 18-foot oarfish that was discovered in Toyon Bay at Catalina Island off the California coast.

Courtesty of Catalina Island Marine Institute

People hoist the body of an 18-foot oarfish that was discovered in Toyon Bay at Catalina Island off the California coast.

Courtesty of Catalina Island Marine Institute

A snorkeler off the coast of California found more than she bargained for on the ocean floor Sunday, when she saw the large eyes of an 18-foot fish staring back at her. It turned out to be a dead oarfish, a mysterious creature known to live in waters thousands of feet deep.

The discovery at the bottom of Toyon Bay at Catalina Island came as a shock to Jasmine Santana, an instructor at the Catalina Island Marine Institute, who approached the ribbon-like animal with care before realizing it was dead. Its body was "almost perfectly intact," the institute says. It may have died of natural causes.

As Santana tried to pull the sea creature through the shallows and up to a beach, other instructors spotted her and pitched in. It took at least 15 of them to hoist the oarfish, which brought a surprise ending to what had been a "leisurely" afternoon snorkel.

The institute, which runs a camp and activities for children, has contacted ocean wildlife experts about the find. The oarfish is the longest bony fish in the world; a specimen was reported as being 36 feet in length, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

The animal is also called a ribbon fish, or sometimes merely the king of herrings. In 2011, a large oarfish was filmed swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, in striking images that show its single dorsal fin rippling along the length of its body.

"It is believed that oarfish dive over 3,000 feet deep, which leaves them largely unstudied," the Catalina Institute says, "and little is known about their behavior or population. They are likely responsible for sea serpent legends throughout history."

The oarfish graced the pages of NPR.org this summer, when The Two-Way noted the discovery of a "mysterious sea monster" that had washed ashore.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/15/234736706/18-foot-oarfish-livens-up-a-leisurely-snorkel-in-california?ft=1&f=
Tags: james spader   First Day Of Fall 2013   iOS 7 Release Time   Ozymandias   Hunter Hayes  

EXCLUSIVE-U.S. quietly observes coup law on Egypt aid, but shuns term

By Arshad Mohammed and Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite withholding most military aid to Egypt until it makes progress on democracy and human rights, the U.S. government is still tying itself in knots over whether to describe July's army overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi as a "coup."

The administration's latest rhetorical gymnastics came to light when U.S. officials briefed Congress this week on their decision to withhold deliveries of fighter planes, tanks, helicopters and missiles - as well as $260 million in budget aid to Egypt.

During the briefing, the officials told congressional aides they had quietly decided to respect a law that bars aid to the Egyptian government in the event of a military coup - even though the administration decided over the summer it was under no obligation to decide whether or not a coup had taken place and so did not have to apply the law.

Congressional aides said officials from the State Department, Pentagon and Agency for International Development who discussed Egypt on Capitol Hill still refused to use what they wryly termed "the C word" to describe the ouster of Morsi, an Islamist and Egypt's first freely elected president.

"They made very clear that they were not calling it a coup," one House of Representatives aide said after a briefing.

The language issue illustrates what some analysts see as a tortured U.S. policy toward Egypt, where the desire to be seen as supporting human rights and democracy has clashed with a hope of retaining influence in a strategically vital country and not upsetting the Egyptian army.

"There are a thousand and one ways to describe the intersection between our interests and our values here," said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.

Despite this week's aid suspension, President Barack Obama plans to keep providing some assistance to Cairo, including military spare parts, training for military officers and funds to promote health, education and economic development.

Transferring that money, however, will require Congress to give Obama authority to spend it, one reason he chose to try to avoid irritating lawmakers by respecting the law against giving aid to countries where a coup has taken place, officials and congressional aides said.

"They did not want to poke their finger in the eye of Congress," said an official.

U.S. lawmakers were annoyed earlier this year when Obama sidestepped a decision on whether to call the army's overthrow of Mursi a "coup." Such a designation would have meant automatically suspending about $1.55 billion in annual aid.

The State Department's avoidance of the term "coup" became fodder for late-night television comedy and raised questions about whether the United States was acting hypocritically by refusing to call a spade a spade.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-u-quietly-observes-coup-law-egypt-aid-000510502.html
Similar Articles: demarco murray   penn state   grand theft auto 5   Tropical Storm Flossie   Nexus 7  

Russia says foils plot to attack chemical arms facility

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian authorities said on Tuesday they had arrested two men from the North Caucasus on suspicion of plotting an attack on a chemical weapons storage and destruction facility.

Investigators believe the suspects planned to build a bomb and attack the Maradykovo facility in the Kirov region, about 1,000 km (620 miles) northeast of Moscow, the federal Investigative Committee said.

The investigators found bomb components as well as "literature with extremist content" in an abandoned house in the area where the suspects, aged 19 and 21, were living, it said.

The committee said the suspects were natives of the North Caucasus, a mountainous, mainly Muslim region in southern Russia where security forces are battling an Islamist insurgency with roots in the post-Soviet wars in Chechnya.

Russia committed to destroying its chemical weapons arsenal by 2012 but, like the United States, missed the deadline.

(Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-says-foils-plot-attack-chemical-arms-facility-081514107.html
Related Topics: steelers   emmy awards   Talk Like a Pirate Day   Laurie Forman   phil mickelson  

Adidas "Welcome: Eric Jackson" Full Video

Posted by: Evan Litsios / added: 10.14.2013 / Back to What Up

Adidas Snowboarding presents the third installment of their "Welcome" series, introducing Eric Jackson. This series gives us a closer look at the Adidas team riders by allowing them to voice their opinions and tell their own stories. Eric talks about living in Japan as a youngster, growing up with his brother, John Jackson, getting hurt, and a whole lot more. With lots of old and new footage of one of the most amazing backcountry riders alive, this one's a must see. 

“I can be lazy and get by or I can really be motivated and really have self discipline and make sacrifices and get up early and go snowboarding ... and that’s when you get the rewards.”  Eric Jackson

Comments:

Drop A Line:

Source: http://www.frqncy.com/news/2013/10/14/adidas-welcome-eric-jackson-full-video?utm_campaign=blog_feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feed_reader
Related Topics: Maria de Villota   wes welker   Phillip Lim Target   Rihanna   BBC  

Box Office: Tom Hanks' 'Captain Phillips' Earns $600,000 Thursday Night

Sony's Captain Phillips earned $600,000 as it began rolling out in theaters Thursday night, boosting chances that the movie will hit $20 million in its debut.

Directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks, the Somali pirate drama hopes for a berth in this year's awards race. The critically acclaimed film cost $55 million to produce.

Captain Phillips outpaced the $450,000 earned Thursday night by Lee Daniels' The Butler, which had a $24.6 million opening in August. However, with Gravity still taking up plenty of oxygen, Sony believes Captain Phillips will instead match the $19.5 million opening of Argo in October 2012.

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: On Board With 'Captain Phillips' Stars Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi

Warner Bros.' Gravity, enjoying record-breaking weekday business, is expected to top the North American box office in its second weekend with a gross north of $28 million. Alfonso Cuaron's space epic, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, will cross the $80 million mark domestically sometime on Friday.

Robert Rodriguez' Machete Kills took in $200,000 Thursday night. The exploitation action film is expected to earn $8 million in its domestic opening.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/business/~3/Z2JqfiPag_8/story01.htm
Similar Articles: alexis bledel   Clemson University   taylor swift   Jennifer Rosoff   marc anthony  

Oman's friendly football match with Libya cancelled

In the letter, the Libyan Football federation regretted that some of their players' passports had been expired which could result in visa issues and travel outside their country. As a result, the Libyan coach decided not to come to play the friendly. ?

Coach Paul Le Guen's boys will face Singapore in Jalan Besar Stadium.

The OFA, in a brief statement, said: "Our national team's scheduled friendly game against Libya at the Al Saada Sports Complex in Salalah on 5 August has been cancelled.

"We received a letter from the Libyan Football Federation on Friday, which stated that some of their national team players' passports have expired and so they can't travel with the team. It forced Libya's national coach to call off the trip."

Oman's national football team is currently training in Salalah. They played a friendly match against Salalah Club on Saturday evening.

The Red Warriors will fly to Singapore on 6 August, over a week ahead of the match with Singapore. Omani football team has played a friendly international match with Iran since they crashed out of the final round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on 18 June.

In February, Oman defeated Syria 1-0 in its opening match in Muscat.

Meanwhile, the AFC has made a change to the kick-off time for the Oman-Singapore match, which begin at 7:30pm, Oman standard time.

Singapore suffered a humiliating 0-4 loss to Jordan in its opening match in Group A.

Jordan will face Syria on 15 August.

The winners and runners-up from the five groups, along with the best third-placed side, will qualify for the main event, to be held in Australia in 2015.

Source: http://www.timesofoman.com/News/Article-20675.aspx

giuliana and bill nflx bill rancic elie wiesel giuliana rancic giuliana rancic temptations