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Judge sentenced to 28 years incarceration for "selling" juvenile offenders to private prison over minor infractions

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Accused of perpetrating a “profound evil,” former Pennsylvania judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for illegally accepting money from a juvenile-prison developer while he spent years incarcerating thousands of young people.
 
Prosecutors said Ciavarella sent juveniles to jail as part of a “kids for cash” scheme involving Robert Mericle, builder of the PA and Western PA Child Care juvenile detention centers. The ex-judge was convicted in February of 12 counts that included racketeering, money laundering, mail fraud and tax evasion.
 
In addition to his prison sentence, Ciavarella was ordered to pay nearly $1.2 million in restitution.
 
At his sentencing, Ciavarella acknowledged his illegal acceptance of money from Mericle. But he denied ever jailing a juvenile in exchange for money.
 
Once the case against Ciavarella surfaced, special investigative panels began reviewing cases he handled from 2003 to 2008. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that he denied about 5,000 juveniles, some as young as ten, their constitutional rights, leading to the vacating of their convictions.
 
Among the young people exploited by Ciavarella were 15-year-old Hillary Transue, who was sentenced to three months at a juvenile detention center for mocking an assistant principal on a MySpace page; and 13-year-old Shane Bly, who was sent to a boot camp for two weekends after being accused of trespassing in a vacant building.
 
Another judge, Michael T. Conahan, used his position to shut down the county-run juvenile detention center and redirect juvenile detainees to the private prisons. He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.

'Angel of Death' nurse who murdered at least 40 patients to become one of America's worst serial killers speaks from prison for the first time to chillingly claim: 'I thought I was helping'

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A nurse who admitted killing at least 40 patients in his care but is suspected of murdering hundreds apologized for the deaths in his first ever interview from jail but still claimed they were mercy killings.
Charles Cullen was handed down six life sentences in 2006 after he admitted poisoning at least 40 people in New Jersey and Pennsylvania over the course of his 16-year nursing career.
Considered one of the most prolific serial killers in American history and once dubbed 'the angel of death', Cullen said he wanted to end his patients' suffering, even though many of them were in good health.


The serial killer was interviewed for the first time ever about the murders by CBS' 60 Minutes, which was aired last night.

When asked if he got pleasure out of killing people, Cullen told 60 Minutes: 'No, I thought that people weren't suffering anymore. So, in a sense, I thought I was helping.'When asked if he considered himself a murderer, he said: 'I think that I had a lot of trouble accepting that word for a long time. I accept that that's what it is.'
When it was pointed out that many of his patients weren't in pain, he said: 'You know, again, you know, I mean, my goal here isn't to justify.
'You know what I did there is no justification. I just think that the only thing I can say is that I felt overwhelmed at the time.'
In the interview broadcast last night on CBS' 60 Minutes, Cullen admits that if he had not been stopped, he probably would have went on to kill more people.
At the time of his arrest in December 2003, Cullen told authorities he had administered overdoses to patients to spare them from going into cardiac or respiratory arrest.
Even though there were suspicions at several of the hospitals he worked at, these were never reported or marked on his record and Cullen was able to continue his killing spree at each place he was transferred to. 



More murders: Cullen pleaded guilty in May 2004 to three additional murders of patients in a hospital where he worked
When Cullen was hired at Saint Luke's University Hospital in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, he had already been fired or forced to resign from five other hospitals. 
Yet none of this was in his file with the state nursing board. 
He admits to killing five people at St Lukes and even though there were suspicions, the hospital asked him to resign on the premise they would give him neutral references.
He was then hired as a critical care nurse at New Jersey's Somerset Medical Center, where he administered lethal injections to 13 patients over 13 months.
It was only when a Roman Catholic priest named Florian Gall died unexpectedly overnight while recovering from pneumonia, that the hospital discovered high levels of the heart drug digoxin in his blood.
It was the second unexplained overdose in two weeks and set in motion the events leading up to Cullen's arrest.
 

 

Asked why he thought he was able to go undetected for so long, he said: 'I think because it's a matter of worrying about lawsuits. 
'If they pointed out that there was a problem they were going to be found liable for millions of dollars. They just saw it as a lot easier to not put themselves in a position of getting sued.'
He also revealed that when he was at Somerset, he was allowed to work one more shift even though he was being fired over the suspicious deaths.
'The weird thing about Somerset Hospital was is that they were planning on firing me the night before. So they let me work one more shift knowing that they were going to fire me the next day,' he told 60 Minutes.
'So they let me work an additional shift with the suspicion that I had harmed patients. Which I, you know, was kind of a bizarre thing to do.' 

Man arrested in rape of girl begs for DNA test, which later proves he's innocent. Sheriff said he would not give test because it was a 'waste of taxpayer dollars.'

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A Sapulpa man who was held in jail for 84 days before DNA evidence cleared him in the brutal rape of his then-girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter plans to sue the Creek County Sheriff's Office for wrongful arrest. 

Tommy Braden's attorney, Don Smolen, of Tulsa, sent notice earlier this month that they plan to take legal action for wrongful arrest and detention, which they allege was the result of the Sheriff's Office negligence. 

"From day one he's begging them to do a DNA test," Smolen said. "They said they weren't going to do that because it was a waste of taxpayers' dollars." 

Braden was arrested shortly after the April 6, 2012, rape and was not released until a defense attorney, Lowell Howe, got a judge to approve a DNA test which cleared him on July 3. 

The DNA evidence was a match for Patrick Edward Misner, a convicted felon who lived in the same mobile home park at the time. 

"Three months later - after his life's gone to hell - the results he's been asking them to do comes up that he's not the guy," Smolen said. "Why wouldn't you do a DNA test? Even if it was him, why not do a test and confirm it? Why take three months?" 

After the crime, Misner moved to the Portland, Ore., area and was arrested on an unrelated matter. He was eventually brought back to Creek County where he is being held on a $750,000 bond on charges of burglary, rape and lewd molestation. He has waived a preliminary hearing and is awaiting a trial date. 

Records show Misner was convicted in 2009 of assault with a dangerous weapon in Tulsa County. 

Smolen said investigators should have looked into who was living next to the little girl and should have pursued DNA testing immediately. 

Records show the attack occurred in the middle of the night while the family was sleeping with the little girl at one end of the trailer and Braden, his girlfriend and their 2-year-old son at the other end. 

Howe said the mother left early for work that morning and that it was Braden who found the little girl in bed naked and bleeding and called 911. Records show she was hospitalized. 

According to an affidavit filed in the case, Braden noticed the little girl's bedroom window was broken and found blood on the front porch. 

Investigators believe the front porch blood came from one of the family dogs that was found dead behind the residence and appeared to have been stabbed. 

Howe said investigators thought the scene looked staged and didn't believe Braden was telling the truth. A lie detector test allegedly found him to be deceptive when questioned about the girl, he said. 

Perhaps the main appearance of guilt came when investigators said the little girl identified Braden as her attacker. 

Smolen said the 4-year-old made the statement after more than an hour of interrogation. 

The girlfriend filed a protective order against Braden soon after her daughter's attack. The state Department of Human Services filed a case against the mother for failing to protect her daughter when Braden was still being held for the rape, Howe said. 

Howe said the incident wrecked Braden and his girlfriend's relationship at first, but they reconciled and have since married. 

Braden and Howe said DHS still hasn't dropped the deprived child case. 

Braden said he and his wife did not know Misner or even recognize him. 

"We had no place to live when I got out (of jail)," Braden said. "I wasn't allowed to be around. We had to go through counseling to get back together. I lost my job. I lost pretty much everything." 

Braden said he was depressed while incarcerated, quit eating and dropped to 130 pounds from 190 pounds. 

Smolen said the sheriff has 90 days to respond, and if not, they plan to file a civil rights lawsuit in federal court. 

Current Creek County Sheriff John Davis said he couldn't comment because of the pending legal action. 

FBI claims default use of HTTPS by Google and Facebook has made it difficult to wiretape

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A government task force is preparing legislation that would pressure companies such as Face­book and Google to enable law enforcement officials to intercept online communications as they occur, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the effort.
Driven by FBI concerns that it is unable to tap the Internet communications of terrorists and other criminals, the task force’s proposal would penalize companies that failed to heed wiretap orders — court authorizations for the government to intercept suspects’ communications.
Rather than antagonizing companies whose cooperation they need, federal officials typically back off when a company is resistant, industry and former officials said. But law enforcement officials say the cloak drawn on suspects’ online activities — what the FBI calls the “going dark” problem — means that critical evidence can be missed.
“The importance to us is pretty clear,” Andrew Weissmann, the FBI’s general counsel, said last month at an American Bar Association discussion on legal challenges posed by new technologies. “We don’t have the ability to go to court and say, ‘We need a court order to effectuate the intercept.’ Other countries have that. Most people assume that’s what you’re getting when you go to a court.”
There is currently no way to wiretap some of these communications methods easily, and companies effectively have been able to avoid complying with court orders. While the companies argue that they have no means to facilitate the wiretap, the government, in turn, has no desire to enter into what could be a drawn-out contempt proceeding.
Under the draft proposal, a court could levy a series of escalating fines, starting at tens of thousands of dollars, on firms that fail to comply with wiretap orders, according to persons who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. A company that does not comply with an order within a certain period would face an automatic judicial inquiry, which could lead to fines. After 90 days, fines that remain unpaid would double daily.
Instead of setting rules that dictate how the wiretap capability must be built, the proposal would let companies develop the solutions as long as those solutions yielded the needed data. That flexibility was seen as inevitable by those crafting the proposal, given the range of technology companies that might receive wiretap orders. Smaller companies would be exempt from the fines.
The proposal, however, is likely to encounter resistance, said industry officials and privacy advocates.
“This proposal is a non-starter that would drive innovators overseas and cost American jobs,” said Greg Nojeim, a senior counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology, which focuses on issues of privacy and security. “They might as well call it the Cyber Insecurity and Anti-Employment Act.”
The Obama administration has not yet signed off on the proposal. Justice Department, FBI and White House officials declined to comment. Still, Weissmann said at the ABA discussion that the issue is the bureau’s top legislative priority this year, but he declined to provide details about the proposal.
The issue of online surveillance has taken on added urgency with the explosion of social media and chat services and the proliferation of different types of online communication. Technology firms are seen as critical sources of information about crime and terrorism suspects.
“Today, if you’re a tech company that’s created a new and popular way to communicate, it’s only a matter of time before the FBI shows up with a court order to read or hear some conversation,” said Michael Sussmann, a former federal prosecutor and a partner at the law firm Perkins Coie’s Washington office who represents technology firms. “If the data can help solve crimes, the government will be interested.”
Some technology companies have developed a wiretap capability for some of their services. But a range of communications companies and services are not required to do so under what is known as CALEA, the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. Among those services are social media networks and the chat features on online gaming sites.
Former officials say the challenge for investigators was exacerbated in 2010, when Google began end-to-end encryption of its e-mail and text messages after its networks were hacked. Facebook followed suit. That made it more difficult for the FBI to intercept e-mail by serving a court order on the Internet service provider, whose pipes would carry the encrypted traffic.
The proposal would make clear that CALEA extends to Internet phone calls conducted between two computer users without going through a central company server — what is sometimes called “peer-to-peer” communication. But the heart of the proposal would add a provision to the 1968 Wiretap Act that would allow a court to levy fines.
Challenges abound
One former senior Justice Department official, who is not privy to details of the draft proposal, said law enforcement officials are not seeking to expand their surveillance authorities. Rather, said Kenneth L. Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security from 2006 to 2008, officials are seeking “to make sure their existing authorities can be applied across the full range of communications technologies.”
Proponents say adding an enforcement provision to the 1968 Wiretap Act is a more politically palatable way of achieving that goal than by amending CALEA to redefine what types of companies should be covered. Industry and privacy experts, including some former government officials, are skeptical.
“There will be widespread disagreement over what the law requires,” said Albert Gidari Jr., a partner at Perkins Coie’s flagship Seattle office who represents telecommunications companies. “It takes companies into a court process over issues that don’t belong in court but rather in standards bodies with technical expertise.”
Some experts said a few companies will resist because they believe they might lose customers who have privacy concerns. Google, for instance, prides itself on protecting its search service from law enforcement surveillance, though it might comply in other areas, such as e-mail. And Skype has lost some of its cachet as a secure communicationsalternative now that it has been bought by Microsoft and is reportedly complying with wiretap orders.
Susan Landau, a former Sun Microsystems distinguished engineer, has argued that wiring in an intercept capability will increase the likelihood that a company’s servers will be hacked. “What you’ve done is created a way for someone to silently go in and activate a wiretap,” she said. Traditional phone communications were susceptible to illicit surveillance as a result of the 1994 law, she said, but the problem “becomes much worse when you move to an Internet or computer-based network.”
Marcus Thomas, former assistant director of the FBI’s Operational Technology Division, said good software coders can create an intercept capability that is secure. “But to do so costs money,” he said, noting the extra time and expertise needed to develop, test and operate such a service.
A huge challenge, officials agree, is how to gain access to peer-to-peer communications. Another challenge is making sense of encrypted communications.
Thomas said officials need to strike a balance between the needs of law enforcement and those of the technology companies.
“You want to give law enforcement the ability to have the data they’re legally entitled to get, at the same time not burdening industry and not opening up security holes,” he said.

Turkish sociologist declares that all children with autism are atheists and atheism is a form of autism

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That’s the opinion of Fehmi Kaya, head of the Health and Education Associations for Autistic Children in Adana, Turkey. Autistic children are atheists, he said, “due to a lack of a section for faith in their brains.”
From TimeTurk (English edition) 4/22/13:
“Autistic children do not know believing in God because they do not have a section of faith in their brains,” Kaya said, according to daily Milliyet.
Kaya said the underdevelopment of faith sections in the brain caused autistic children to not believe in God.
“That is why they don’t know how to pray, how to believe in God. It is needed to create awareness in these children through methods of therapy.”
Kaya added that autistic children should undergo treatment to “create areas of faith in their brain.”
Apparently, it’s not the children’s fault. According to Kaya whose degree is in sociology, they are born atheists because of the missing faith section. “Research,” he adds, “says atheism and autistic children are linked. Researchers in the USA and Canada say thatatheism is a different form of autism.”
A backlash from individuals and autism associations throughout Turkey has caused Kaya to complain that his remarks were taken out of context by news reports.

Americans are over-diagnosed and over-treated for depression, according to a new study

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Americans are over-diagnosed and over-treated for depression, according to a new study conducted at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study examines adults with clinician-identified depression and individuals who experienced major depressive episodes within a 12-month period. It found that when assessed for major depressive episodes using a structured interview, only 38.4 percent of adults with clinician-identified depression met the 12-month criteria for depression, despite the majority of participants being prescribed and using psychiatric medications. The results are featured in the April 2013 issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
"Depression over-diagnosis and over-treatment is common in the U.S. and frankly the numbers are staggering," said Ramin J. Mojtabai, PhD, author of the study and an associate professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Mental Health. "Among study participants who were 65 years old or older with clinician-identified depression, 6 out of every 7 did not meet the 12-month major-depressive-episodes criteria. While participants who did not meet the criteria used significantly fewer services and treatment contacts, the majority of both groups used prescription psychiatric medication."
Using a sample of 5,639 participants from the 2009-2010 United States National Survey of Drug Use and Health, Mojtabai assessed clinician-identified depression based on questions about conditions that the participants were told they had by a doctor or other medical professional in the past 12 months. The study indicates that even among participants without a lifetime history of major or minor depression, a majority reported having taken prescription psychiatric medications.
"A number of factors likely contribute to the high false-positive rate of depression diagnosis in community settings, including the relatively low prevalence of depression in these settings, clinicians' uncertainty about the diagnostic criteria and the ambiguity regarding sub-threshold syndromes," said Mojtabai. "Previous evidence has highlighted the under-diagnosis and under-treatment of major depression in community settings. The new data suggest that the under-diagnosis and under-treatment of many who are in need of treatment occurs in conjunction with the over-diagnosis and over-treatment of others who do not need such treatment. There is a need for improved targeting of diagnosis and treatment of depression and other mental disorders in these settings."

Report Details PETA Killing Thousands of Puppies & Kittens

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is an organization that publicly claims to represent the best interest of animals -- indeed their "ethical treatment." Yet approximately 2,000 animals pass through PETA's front door every year and very few make it out alive. The vast majority -- 96 percent in 2011 -- exit the facility out the back door after they have been killed, when Pet Cremation Services of Tidewater stops by on their regular visits to pick up their remains. Between these visits, the bodies are stored in the giant walk-in freezer PETA installed for this very purpose. It is a freezer that cost $9,370 and, like the company which incinerates the bodies of PETA's victims, was paid for with the donations of animal lovers who could never have imagined that the money they donated to help animals would be used to end their lives instead. In fact, in the last 11 years, PETA has killed 29,426 dogs, cats, rabbits, and other domestic animals.
Most animal lovers find this hard to believe. But seeing is believing. And if it is true that a picture speaks a thousand words, the following images speak volumes about who and what PETA really stands for.

The PETA headquarters is on the aptly named Front Street. While claiming to be an animal rights organization, PETA does not believe animals have a right to live. Instead, it believes that people have a right to kill them, as long as the killing is done "humanely," which PETA interprets to mean poisoning them with an overdose of barbiturates, even if the animals are not suffering. In 2012, 733 dogs entered this building. They killed 602 of them. Only 12 were adopted. Also in 2012, they impounded 1,110 cats. 1,045 were put to death. Seven of them were adopted. They also took in 34 other companion animals, such as rabbits, of which 28 were put to death. Only four were adopted.
A supermarket dumpster full of garbage bags. When police officers looked inside, they found the bodies of dead animals -- animals killed by PETA. PETA described these animals as "adorable" and "perfect." A veterinarian who naively gave PETA some of the animals, thinking they would find them homes, and examined the dead bodies of others, testified that they were "healthy" and "adoptable."

Ohio Republicans have found a new way for curbing college students who want to vote -- punish the universities that help them

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1979 that students have a constitutional right to vote where they go to school, even if they're considered an out-of-state student. But since the 2012 election, Republicans in Indiana and North Carolina have floated legislation to discourage college students from voting. 
In North Carolina, a Republican bill would raise taxes for the parents of any student who registers to vote at their college. The student votes, and the family gets punished.
Now Republicans in Ohio have come up with a new approach. In Ohio, eight of the 14 public universities routinely provide students with documents that make it possible for them to register to vote at school. But in the state House, Republicans are pushing a budget amendment (pdf) requiring schools that issue those documents to charge the student only in-state tuition, even if the student otherwise would pay the higher out-of-state rate. Under Ohio's scheme, the student votes and the school gets punished.
State Senator Nina Turner says the measure would give universities an incentive to make it harder for students to vote:
"[T]o force Ohio’s universities to do the dirty work of voter suppression is unconscionable."
Ohio universities say that lowering the tuition for everyone who wants to use their right to vote at school would cost the system $370 million a year. See also, from 2012: Tea Party challenges hundreds of student registrations in Ohio.

6 Horrifying Facts Every American Should Know About Guantanamo Bay and the Ongoing Hunger Strike

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The hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay continues to grow. The U.S. recently forced many prisoners into solitary confinement. The military now admits that 100 prisoners at the camp are refusing to eat. But lawyers for Guantanamo detainees say that more than 130 detainees are on hunger strike.
While the claims and counter-claims bounce back and forth, the situation continues to deteriorate. Here’s 6 facts you should know about Guantanamo Bay and the ongoing act of protest most of the prisoners are participating in.
1. U.S. Medical Reinforcements Have Arrived to Force-Feed Prisoners
One of the latest news items is that “medical reinforcements” from the U.S. Navy have arrived at Guantanamo Bay to cope with the growing hunger strike. The Naval nurses and specialists are there to help facilitate the process of force-feeding the detainees.
“We will not allow a detainee to starve themselves to death, and we will continue to treat each person humanely,” Guantanamo prison spokesman Samuel Housetold the New York Times.But the practice of force-feeding has been criticized by human rights groups.
When detainees are force-fed, they are shackled to a “restraint chair.” Then, U.S. military officials force a tube into their nose to pump nutrients into their body. The American Medical Association has come out strongly against the practice. “Every competent patient has the right to refuse medical intervention, including life-sustaining interventions,” AMA President Jeremy Lazarus wrote in a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, the Miami Herald reports.
In a harrowing New York Times Op-Ed, Guantanamo prisoner Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel described the process of force-feeding. “I will never forget the first time they passed the feeding tube up my nose. I can’t describe how painful it is to be force-fed this way. As it was thrust in, it made me feel like throwing up,” he wrote. “I wanted to vomit, but I couldn’t. There was agony in my chest, throat and stomach. I had never experienced such pain before. I would not wish this cruel punishment upon anyone.”
2. Hunger Strike Sparked By Raids, Fueled By Indefinite Detention
Detainees began the hunger strike in early February after they said personnel at the camp raided cells, confiscated personal items and treated the Qu’ran disrespectfully. The military disputes this narrative. But what is clear is that, as the New York Times reported, the strike is being driven by “a growing sense among many prisoners, some of whom have been held without trial for more than 11 years, that they will never go home.”
“The men are not starving themselves so they can become martyrs...They’re doing this because they’re desperate. They’re desperate to be free from Guantanamo. They don’t see any alternative to leaving in a coffin. That’s the bottom line,” Wells Dixon, an attorney for five Guantamano detainees, toldAlterNet earlier this month.
3. 86 Detainees Have Been Cleared for Release--But They’re Still There
There are currently 166 detainees at Guantanamo. And over half of them--86--have been cleared for release out of the hellish prison camp. But they’re still there, a fact that is helping to drive the hunger strike.
The U.S. government has effectively put release efforts on hold. The last time a prisoner left Guantanamo was September 2012. Part of the problem is that 56 of the cleared men are from Yemen, a strong U.S. ally that also has a problem with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a group that has plotted attacks against the U.S. After a 2009 terrorist plot that purportedly originated in Yemen was halted, the Obama administration decided to halt repatriation of detainees to Yemen.
Now, there is renewed pressure to continue transferring detainees to Yemen. Senator Dianne Feinstein wrote a letter to Obama in which she said: “I believe it would be prudent to re-visit the decision to halt transfers to Yemen and assess whether President Hadi's government, with appropriate assistance, would be able to securely hold detainees in Sana'a."
4. Obama Can Help Change the Situation
At a press conference today, President Obama vowed to redouble his efforts to close Guantanamo. He also noted that Congress had interfered with his ability to close the prison camp. This has a lot of truth to it, though it was Obama that signed the bills that restricted his maneuvering ability on Guantanamo.
But there is a mechanism that he can use right now: asking the Secretary of Defense to sign off on the release of detainees by using what’s called a national security waiver. It’s true, as Mother Jones’ Adam Serwer notes, that the waiver includes a provision that requires certifying that the detainee cleared for release “won't ever pose a threat in the future, which is ultimately not something the administration can control.” Still, human rights advocates say the time has come to use the waivers, since leaving innocent people there forever is untenable.
5. Clashes at Camps
Clashes have broken out at the camp both before and after the start of the hunger strike. On January 2, a non-lethal bullet hit the throat of an Afghan detainee. The military spokesperson told Truthout’s Jason Leopold that the incident started when a detainee climbed a fence and other prisoners began throwing rocks at a guard tower.
But a prisoner had a different account, which was relayed through his lawyer David Remes. “Detainee started shaking door (very common),” the Yemeni prisoner Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman, told Remes, according to Leopold’s reporting. “Guard in tower pointed rifle at him. Brothers in yard started shouting. Guard swung around with his rifle and started shooting at them - just one bullet, which hit a detainee in the throat.”
Another intense clash between prisoners and guards occurred in mid-April. They broke out as guards moved the prisoners into solitary cells, a break from the communal atmosphere the prisoners were living in. Prison guards fired a few “less than lethal” rounds the prisoners, who were reportedly wielding “improvised weapons.”
6. Torture Was Endemic
While Obama has failed to successfully shutter the prison, he did end the most brutal forms of interrogation practiced there, though some human rights groups say the current force-feeding is a form of torture. Still, the Bush administration’s torture program is no longer employed on prisoners there.
But when the prison was first opened, the torture of detainees at Guantanamo was widespread. This torture was characterized by psychological abuse, sleep deprivation, sound and light manipulation, and physical beatings.
Slate magazine has a sharp reminder of this illegal and inhumane treatment. The news outlet has published the memoirs of Guantanamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi. He has been locked up there for 11 years, despite the fact that in 2010 a judge ordered his release. Slahi’s brutal interrogation was personally signed off on by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The U.S. questioned him on his associations with known terrorists, but the U.S. never found Slahi to have been involved with a specific plot.
“The cell—better, the box—was cooled down so that I was shaking most of the time. I was forbidden from seeing the light of the day. Every once in a while they gave me a rec time in the night to keep me from seeing or interacting with any detainees. I was living literally in terror. I don’t remember having slept one night quietly; for the next 70 days to come I wouldn’t know the sweetness of sleeping. Interrogation for 24 hours, three and sometimes four shifts a day. I rarely got a day off,” wrote Slahi,describing one aspect of his torture at the prison camp.
Slahi also endured a mock rendition, where U.S. military personnel, as well as what sounded like Egyptian and Jordanian security officials, threatened to bring him to Egypt to be tortured. He wrote about this experience as well: “Suddenly a commando team of three soldiers and a German shepherd broke into our interrogation room. [ Redacted] punched me violently, which made me fall face down on the floor, and the second guy kept punching me everywhere, mainly on my face and my ribs. Both were masked from head to toe.” Slahi was then put on a boat.
“Inside the boat, [ redacted] made me drink salt water, I believe it was direct from the ocean. It was so nasty I threw it up. They put an object in my mouth and shouted, ‘Swallow, motherfucker!’ I decided inside not to swallow the organ-damaging salt water, which choked me as they kept pouring the water in my mouth.”

Due to the decline in cigarette sales, some tobacco farmers are now growing chick peas to supply the growing demand for hummus

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Prodded by the largest U.S. hummus maker, farmers in the heart of tobacco country are trying to grow chickpeas, an improbable move that reflects booming demand for hummus. 
Sabra Dipping Co., a joint venture o fPepsiCo Inc.  and Israel's Strauss Group Ltd., wants to cultivate a commercial crop in Virginia to reduce its dependence on the legume's main U.S. growing region—the Pacific Northwest—and to identify new chickpea varieties for its dips and spreads.
For Sabra, which makes hummus at a plant near Richmond, Va., a secondary source of supplies could help protect the company if a chickpea shortage occurred because of crop failures in Washington or Idaho. Sourcing chickpeas locally also would lower its shipping costs. But the Virginia effort carries risk, because experts say the state's high summer humidity could prove a significant obstacle to its viability.
"We need to establish the supply chain to meet our growing demand," says Sabra's chief technology officer, Tulin Tuzel. "We want to reduce the risk of bad weather or concentration in one region. If possible, we also want to expand the growing seasons."
Long a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine, hummus is earning a growing following among Americans seeking more-healthful snacks. The chickpea dip is low in fat and high in protein. Sales of "refrigerated flavored spreads"—a segment dominated by hummus—totaled $530 million at U.S. food retailers last year, up 11% from a year earlier and a 25% jump over 2010, according to market-research firm Information Resources Inc. 
The growth has caught the attention of big food companies like PepsiCo, which bought a 50% stake in Sabra in 2008, and Kraft Foods Group Inc.,  which owns Athenos, another big hummus brand. Sabra on Tuesday is expected to announce an $86 million expansion of its hummus plant near Richmond to help meet demand. It expects to add 140 jobs to the facility, which currently employs about 360, over the next few years.
Sabra doesn't disclose financial data, but IRI data show its hummus sales were about $315 million last year, up about 18%. And because some retailers, including Costco Wholesale Corp. don't provide information to IRI, the figures understate Sabra's retail sales.
Sabra, based in White Plains, N.Y., has helped introduce more Americans to hummus through huge sampling events in major cities in which it has handed out 10,000 2-ounce packages a day. Sabra began its first national television advertising campaign earlier this year.
"Most of the consumers out there still don't know what hummus is," said Adam Carr, chief executive of Tribe Mediterranean Foods Inc., a Sabra rival. "We think that there are going to be lots of new users coming to the category."
Growing demand for hummus has pushed up prices for chickpeas, spurring farmers to increase production. The average price that farmers received for chickpeas was 35 cents a pound last year, a 10-cent increase over the mid-2000s, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Though chickpeas are a tiny crop compared with corn or wheat, last year's U.S. harvest totaled a record 332 million pounds, up 51% from the previous year, according to the USDA. The value of the U.S. chickpea crop hit a record $115.5 million last year, USDA data show. 
U.S. farmers are expected to plant a record 214,300 acres of chickpeas this year, up 3% from last year and a fivefold increase over a decade ago, the USDA said. Demand for the U.S. crop from Spain, Turkey and Pakistan also has led farmers to plant more.
In Walla Walla, Wash., farmer Pat McConnell, 51, said he intends this spring to plant about 950 acres with chickpeas, more than double his crop last year. "They've become a pretty lucrative option," he said. "I really think chickpeas are going to continue to grow in popularity."
Virginia officials are eager to develop new crops in a state where tobacco farming has shrunk dramatically since the 1990s because of declining cigarette sales.
Sabra has provided financial support for chickpea research at Virginia State University, and this spring, Virginia State recruited farmers to plant chickpeas in on-farm trials.
But Virginia's summer humidity and heat could make chickpeas more susceptible to a fungus known as Ascochyta blight that long has threatened chickpea crops in the U.S.
Virginia State University agronomist Harbans Bhardwaj is working on identifying a variety more suited to the climate, that could potentially be planted months earlier than most chickpeas. Mr. Bhardwaj thinks Virginia farmers may be able to grow the crop on a commercial scale within three years.
James Brown, a 72-year-old tobacco, corn and soybean farmer in Clover, Va., said he knew nothing about chickpeas when an extension agent from Virginia State called him several months ago and asked if he would plant the legume.
He said he jumped at the opportunity because he is looking for ways to make his roughly 300-acre farm more profitable.
Mr. Brown planted four acres with chickpeas in mid-April. That week, his wife served him the first chickpeas he'd ever eaten. "They tasted pretty good," the farmer said. 

New Zealand says no to bizarre baby names 4Real, Juztice and Lucifer

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The list of 77 names reveals one child was set to be called "Anal" before the Department of Internal Affairs vetoed the proposal, while another narrowly avoided being dubbed "." or full stop.
Other names on the list included "4Real", "V8", and "Queen Victoria".
In some cases, parents appeared to have lost any inspiration for coming up with a moniker for their offspring, wanting to call the latest addition to the family simply "2nd", "3rd" or "5th".
The department's rules forbid any name that might imply a child holds an official title or rank, so "King", "Duke" and "Princess" were among those that had been turned down most since 2001.
"Justice" was the most popular, having been rejected 62 times, although "Justus" and "Juztice" also failed to gain official approval. 
In 2008, New Zealand's family court ordered that a nine-year-old girl whose parents had called her "Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii" should have her name changed because it was embarrassing and "makes a fool of the child".
At the time, judge Rob Murfitt criticised parents who gave their children bizarre names, citing examples such as "Number 16 Bus Shelter", "Midnight Chardonnay" and twins called "Benson" and "Hedges".

Detroit’s wall of racism: Six-foot barrier that kept black children away from middle-class whites is chilling reminder of segregated America

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When Eva Nelson-McClendon first moved to Detroit's Birwood Street in 1959, she didn't know much about the wall across the street. At 6 feet tall and a foot thick, it wasn't so imposing, running as it did between houses on her street and one over. Then she started to hear the talk. Neighbors told her the wall was built two decades earlier with a simple aim: to separate homes planned for middle-class whites from blacks who had already built small houses or owned land with plans to build.

 Division line: The six foot high concrete wall, photographed in 1941, was built to separate homes built for middle-class white people from black people living in the area



"That was the division line," Nelson-McClendon, now, 79, says from the kitchen of her tidy, one-story home on the city's northwest side. "Blacks lived on this side, whites was living on the other side. ... That was the way it was."
That's not the way it is anymore. But the wall remains, a physical embodiment of racial attitudes that the country long ago started trying to move beyond.
And slowly, in subtle ways, it is evolving into something else in its community, something unexpected: an inspiration.
Fallen barriers: A section of the half-mile long wall is seen today, covered with colourful murals depicting community life in the area


To those in the know, it goes by different names. For some, it's simply "The Wall." Others call it "Detroit's Wailing Wall." Many like "Birwood Wall," because it refers to the street and sounds like the "Berlin Wall."
It's still a half-mile long, interrupted only by two streets, much as a developer envisioned it in the early 1940s. It couldn't separate people on its own – people and policies would see to that – but it was enough to satisfy the Federal Housing Administration to approve and back loans.
Aside from the mural that appears at the wall's midpoint, much of it is easy to miss. In fact, it's impossible to follow it completely as the wall disappears behind homes and in spots is overgrown by vegetation. Where it's exposed, it's whitewashed or a drab earth tone – and sometimes marred by gang graffiti. On one corner it says, "Only 8 Mile," referring to the divisive road just yards to the north.
 'The Wall': While the separation between the black and white communities no longer exists, the wall still stands in Detroit


The wall never fell, but it didn't really have to. The area became primarily African-American in the decades to come, as most whites and even many blacks left. The pattern was replicated across much of the 139-square-mile city that was built for two million people but fell to about 700,000 in the 2010 Census.
The story of the wall has been largely lost in larger narratives, such as the 1943 and 1967 race riots and Eight Mile Road. The wall ends, almost invisible, just shy of the thoroughfare that serves as the boundary between Detroit and its suburbs and symbolically represents the divide between black and white.
Progress: Race remains a flashpoint in Detroit, a city beset by an inter-related stew of crime, corruption and high unemployment

 Moving on: People living in Birwood say the wall, which was built to divide, has become something unexpected; an inspiration

Race remains a flashpoint in a city beset by an interrelated stew of crime, corruption and high unemployment. And some accuse the state of further disenfranchising Detroit's majority black population as Michigan's governor recently declared a financial emergency in the city and the state took financial control.
Still, the wall is not forgotten. An artist descended on it several years ago with an army of about 100 fellow artists and community volunteers to create a vast, eye-popping mural with images and messages of equality and justice on a section overlooking a playground. And now, a faith-based nonprofit is giving work to men who have struggled to keep a job or a home, having them make sets of coasters that incorporate images from the wall and use materials from abandoned homes that were razed in the city. Every sale of a $20 set of coasters helps to make something good out of something bad.
 Murals: Today sections of the half-mile long wall are covered in colourful murals and slogans


"It's recycling, giving jobs to people who are having a tough time with unemployment and, at the same time, creating a very nice piece of art that could and should lead to some great discussions about race in the city of Detroit and in our country," says Faith Fowler, director of Cass Community Social Services and its Green Industries program.
Tightly clustered one-story homes dominate the neighborhood around the wall, which still has well-kept houses like Nelson-McClendon's but also suffers from a rising number of vacant, gutted structures. More tear-downs in the making. And, perhaps, more wood for the coasters.
The homes on Birwood end at Alfonso Wells Memorial Playground, where the eye is immediately drawn to the massive mural.
It's impossible to take it all in at once, but certain images pop out in a slow pan: Rosa Parks boarding the bus that would make her a household name in the civil rights struggle, followed by a man carrying a sign that says, "Fair Housing." Houses and more houses of all colors. A group of men singing a capella under a streetlight. Children blowing bubbles that pop up throughout the wall and contain various things, including an auto plant and words like "peace" and "flowers."
"Bubbles are a form of creation. Children's imaginations create the future," says Chazz Miller, the artist who designed the mural and teamed up with the Motor City Blight Busters in 2006 on the community project. "Also, bubbles capture images and distort them and give you a new perspective."
'Only 8 mile': Graffiti references the Detroit road that was a physical and cultural dividing line between the wealthier, predominantly white northern suburbs and the poorer, predominantly black city

 Creating a new perspective was part of Miller's goal with the mural, but he knew the wall had to delve into the past for those who didn't know history. He took them back to the early migration of blacks in Detroit, including to the Sojourner Truth Housing Project, which had been nearby and was named after the 19th century abolitionist and women's suffragist. When the project opened, blacks moving in were harassed and assaulted, and many view the event as a catalyst for deadly riots the following year.
"Sojourner Truth is coming out of the underground railroad at the very beginning of the wall," Miller says, pointing to the picture that's now behind a fence on private property. "And in the very tiny corner there's a Ku Klux Klansman that's pissed because she got away, and he has a burning cross.
"Of course, she has a light – and the light symbolizes leading the way," Miller says.
Not that the path forward would be bright and easy. Competition for housing and jobs between white and blacks was widespread in the city's boom years. Many blacks had moved into the area in the 1920s and 1930s because there was so much vacant land – a far cry from the overcrowded, unpleasant conditions in the two black enclaves near the city center. But a lot of white housing developments started spreading north as well and "pushing up against this black enclave on the far edge of the city," says Jeff Horner, a lecturer in Wayne State University's Department of Urban Studies and Planning.
 Landmark: Some call the structure 'Detroit's Wailing Wall', others 'Birwood Wall', while to many it is simply 'The Wall'

By 1940, the gap had closed. A developer of a proposed all-white subdivision managed to hammer out a compromise with federal housing officials: The loans and mortgage guarantees would come in exchange for constructing a wall. "This is the closest thing Detroit has to the segregated fountains or to the white-only swimming pools of the Deep South," Horner says.
Nobody had to tell Nelson-McClendon, who moved to Michigan from Alabama in 1951. "It was the same thing," she says. "Separation."
In an old warehouse a few miles to the southeast, several men are busy working at Green Industries. Among them is Jason Garland, who says he does "mostly everything" related to making the coaster sets. On this particular day, he's trying his hand at some of the final touches: spreading glue on the square pieces of paper containing images from the mural and affixing them to a small block of glass donated by a local windshield manufacturer.
Garland, 26, had been out of work for a year before coming to work for Green Industries in January. He says he had "gotten lazy at one point," but in his new job he often comes in early and on days off. The former automotive worker says he and his co-workers look out for each other, and he never wants to leave.
Garland is also learning history. He used to live near the wall but had no idea about why it was built or the meaning of the mural. "I used to always say, `What is that?'" he says.
Cass launched Green Industries in 2007, after some clients couldn't get jobs anymore because of the worsening economy and lack of reliable mass transportation. The nonprofit started with welcome mats made from illegally dumped tires, then added a paper-shredding operation employing people with developmental disabilities.
 Positive outcomes: A non-profit organisation in the city is putting people to work making coasters that incorporate images from the wall

The coaster idea grew out of collaboration between Cass and the University of Michigan. A class for business, art, design and engineering students called "Integrated Product Development" was challenged to come up with a new product for Cass that could be launched quickly and cheaply, and made with materials that would otherwise go to waste.
After months of near-miss attempts, class professor William Lovejoy devised the idea of the Detroit-branded coasters and fashioned prototypes. He presented the idea to Fowler, who says the men have made about 200 four-coaster sets and sold about 100 so far. Anytime she takes a boxful to a speaking engagement or event, she usually sells out – and gets people talking about the wall and, sometimes, their experiences with it. For most, it's a revelation.
"It gives them permission to have that kind of discussion – both black and white, young and old," Fowler says.
For muralist Miller, who sees the vacant and trashed homes behind the concrete canvas he painted, the promise of a "new Detroit" is still possible. But it won't happen, he says, without a continued push by those who remain in the neighborhood and others like it across the shrinking, struggling city.
"It's really up to us to not cry on what's gone," Miller says. "Let's focus on what we have. ... We need to get people out do these kinds of projects so they can have conversations and get to know each other and find out who their neighbors are."
A metaphor from his mural is within arm's reach: A depiction of the city's famous Spirit of Detroit statue is on a cut-out board that extended above the wall but since has fallen off and is propped against the wall. The original Spirit of Detroit is lifting up a family; Miller's Spirit emerges from flames and rubble and holds up a migrant family to symbolize the migration of workers from the South to Detroit to fill its burgeoning factories.
"What is the Spirit of Detroit, and what does it motivate us to do? It motivates us to work hard and to persevere, and to keep going," he says.
 Green Industries: Jason Garland cleans glass that will be used for one of the coasters at the faith-based organisation in Detroit

When it comes to the wall, Eva Nelson-McClendon knows about perseverance. For her, it was and remains the only option.
"Did it make me angry to see that wall up there? It was something you grow accustomed to seeing, you know, although you don't like it. Getting angry over it is not going to solve anything," McClendon says. "What was important to me was bringing up my kids and getting them to get an education so they wouldn't have to be bothered with things like that in the future."
She thinks about progress, and acknowledges some. But she knows there are still neighborhoods, mostly in the suburbs now, where African-Americans can move but they aren't welcomed with open arms.
But on this day, she takes solace that people didn't stay in place. Even if the wall did.
"It all depends on the people, the individual, the heart," she says. "You're not going to stop progress, don't care how hard you try."
Industry: Montaze Frye stains boxes made out of wood reclaimed from razed houses to hold the coaster sets

Father loses life savings on 'rigged' carnival game (but at least he walked away with a giant dread-locked banana)

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Henry Gribbohm says he lost his life savings, $2,600, on a carnival game and all he has to show for it is a stuffed banana with dreadlocks.
“You’re expecting the kids to win a few things, let the kids have a good time,” said Gribbohm. “It just didn’t turn out that way.”
Gribbohm says he attended a Manchester carnival run by New Hampshire-based Fiesta Shows and wanted to win an Xbox Kinect at a game called Tubs of Fun where contestants toss balls into a tub. When he practiced he says it was easy, but something changed when he started playing for the prize and the balls kept popping out.



“It’s not possible that it wasn’t rigged,” said Gribbohm.
The 30-year-old from Epsom says he kept trying to win back his money by going double or nothing. He dropped $300 in just a few minutes, then says he went home to get $2,300 more and soon lost all of that as well.


“You just get caught up in the whole ‘I’ve got to win my money back.’”
Fiesta Shows says the game is run by an independent contractor who has worked for Fiesta for years. Fiesta tells it is interviewing the contractor to “get to the bottom of what happened” and the game is not being set up at the upcoming carnival in Derry.


“They’ve been with us quite a while,” said Fiesta Vice President John Flynn. “First I ever heard of anything like that.”
Flynn said he did not know the name of the contractor off hand, and said it was “pretty next to impossible” to lose such a large amount of money at the game.
“I know it’s a difficult game. I’ve tried it myself — I’ve done it once, missed probably 20 times,” he said.

Henry says he went back the next day to complain, and the man running the game gave him back $600. Henry split with the banana and the cash, and filed a report with the Manchester Police Department.


Manchester Police Lieutenant Maureen Tessier says the department is investigating to determine if there was any fraud.
The traveling carnival is now setting up in Derry, NH, but you will not see Tubs Of Fun. Fiesta said the independent contractor that runs the game is not allowed to set up while an investigation is taking place.
Gribbohm says he is considering a lawsuit.

“For once in my life I happened to become that sucker,” said Gribbohm. “It was foolish for putting up my life savings.”

Incognito Sherriff's dept. volunteers burst into small Oregon highschool during teacher's meeting, firing blanks at unprepared staff to 'test readiness'

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Two masked men wearing hoodies and wielding handguns burst into the Pine Eagle Charter School in this tiny rural community. Students were at home for an in-service day, so the gunmen headed into a meeting room full of teachers and opened fire.

Someone figured out in a few seconds that the bullets were not drawing blood because they were blanks and the exercise was a drill, designed to test Pine Eagle's preparation for an assault by "active shooters" who were, in reality, members of the school staff. But those few seconds left everybody plenty scared.

Principal Cammie DeCastro said it became clear very quickly just how many of the school's 15 teachers would have survived. The answer: "Not many," she said.

Elementary teacher Morgan Gover, 31, said only two teachers would have lived to tell the tale. She admitted being scared, and also acknowledged she would have been among the casualties, having taken several fake direct hits from the shooters.

"I'll tell you, the whole situation was horrible," she said. "I got a couple in the front and a couple in the back."

The surprised staff had received training from the Union County Sheriff's Office on active shooter scenarios. They had been told they had some options, such as not rushing out of their classrooms when gunfire erupted, and locking and barricading their doors.

They weren't expecting a drill like this, and they were caught by surprise when the two men entered and began firing.
"There was some commotion," DeCastro said.

The goal of the drill was to learn how people would react, so better emergency plans could be made, she said.

It was a wake-up for many of the teachers.

"It was shocking," said elementary teacher Dollie Beck, 54.

Surprisingly, the drill made Beck aware that she would not have recognized the sounds of gunfire. "I would have blown it off as kids' sounds in the hall," she said.

The drill has since prompted her to keep her classroom door locked and to think of windows as escape routes, she said. But the biggest insight for her was the reminder that she is in charge of the youngsters in her classroom, and would have to remain calm in an emergency.

"Emotion begets emotion," she said.

Gover said before the drill, she was comfortable she had a plan to deal with such a situation. What she learned was, her plan wasn't much good. "It heightened my awareness about what's around me," she said.

Halfway, population 288, is the eastern Oregon ranching town that became world-famous 13 years ago as the globe's first "Internet city." The city council changed Halfway's name to Half.com in return for $73,000 from a Philadelphia-based Internet bazaar of the same name that sold books, CDs, movies and the like on-line at half price.

The town got its old name back a year later when the on-line bazaar was sold to eBay. Now Halfway is back in the real world, where people sometimes enter schools and open fire.

DeCastro has heard some criticisms of the drill from townsfolk, but is convinced it was valuable. "For us not to know how we were going to respond is leaving us open," she said.

Beck and Gover agree.

"I'm in charge of a pile of kids," said Gover. "It made me analyze as a teacher what my role is for these babies."

The district's Safety Committee and the School Board now will critically evaluate policies and procedures and decide what to do next, said DeCastro.

Armed teachers is one possible outcome, she said. Or the district may get armed and trained volunteers from the community to watch over the school in shifts, she said. Tougher doors and better locks are other options.

 Gover said the teachers tend to favor having one or two armed teachers in the building at all times.

"We are so remote," Gover said, "we are going to have to take care of ourselves."

But thinking about active shooter scenarios is hard, she said.

"We are tender-hearted people who give hugs all day. We don't think like that."

Health Benefits of Soybean

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Soybean is hailed as the most protective bean. Soy contains 40 percent protein. It has the highest protein content amongst plant products. “Soy protein” refers to the protein found in soybeans. As animal protein contains all the essential amino acids, lacking in pulse protein, soy is often used to replace the animal proteins in an individual's diet. Soybean is the only vegetable food that contains all eight essential amino acids. Soyabeans are processed to various soya products namely soy flour, soy milk, cottage cheese like tofu, fermented products like tempeh and miso.

 

Macronutrients-

Protein

Soyabean is the richest plant source of protein. It contains 43 percent protein as compared to other legumes which contain 20 to 25 percent protein. Soy protein is also of the highest quality amongst all legumes. Under guidelines adopted by the Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization for evaluating protein quality for children and adults, soy protein isolate receives a rating of 1, which is the highest possible score. This means that the quality of soy protein is equal to that of meat and milk proteins.

Most plant proteins are considered "incomplete" proteins because they are low in one or more essential amino acids. Levels of one amino acid or another are insufficient for human needs. Grains are typically low in lysine; beans are typically low in the sulfur amino acids, methionine and cysteine. However, the level of sulfur amino acids in soybeans is higher than in other beans, and therefore soy protein is equivalent to animal protein in quality.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Food and Drug Administration use an alternative method for evaluating protein quality called the protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS). The PDCAAS for soy protein isolate is 1.0, which makes soy equivalent to animal proteins in quality and higher than other plant proteins foods. Soy foods if used smartly contribute significantly toward meeting protein needs, and could be an excellent addition to a diet for a variety of reasons.

 

Fat

Like protein soybeans are high in fat too. Most legumes (except peanuts) contain between 2 to 14 percent fat, whereas soybean contains 19 percent fat.

At the same time, most of the fat in soybeans is unsaturated and beneficial. Polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fats make up 63 percent, 23 percent, and 14 percent respectively of the fat in soybeans with saturated fat being the lowest. The polyunsaturated fat content of soybean includes linolenic acid or Omega-3 fatty acid. The presence of omega–3 fats makes it special as soybeans are one of the very few plant sources of this essential fatty acid. Omega-3 fatty acids form an essential nutrient which helps to reduce risk of both heart disease and cancer.

Soybean oil can be used in cooking. Some soy foods have the fat removed. Defatted soy flour is commonly available. Reduced-fat tofu and reduced or non-fat soymilk also form some low fat alternatives.

Fiber

A serving of soybeans provides approximately eight grams of dietary fiber. However, some soy foods are processed in ways that decrease the fiber content significantly. Tofu and soymilk contain very little fiber, while soy foods that utilize the whole bean such as tempeh, soy flour and textured soy protein are high in fiber.

Micronutrients-

Calcium

Soy foods are a good source of calcium in comparison to the commonly used legumes. Processing affects the calcium content of soyfoods considerably. Tofu due to its processing methods can contain between 120 and 750 mg of calcium per 1/2 cup serving. Soymilk contains around 93 mg of calcium per one cup serving. The calcium-fortified soymilk could often contain between 200 and 300 mg of calcium per serving and a good amount of vitamin D.

Although soyfoods are high in both oxalates and phytates that inhibit calcium absorption, the calcium from soyfoods is well absorbed and has an absorption rate equal to that of milk.

Iron

Soya is rich in iron too. However, both phytate and soy protein reduce iron absorption which leads to the iron in soyfoods being poorly absorbed. Iron could be better absorbed from fermented soyfoods like tempeh and miso.

Other nutrients-

Like other whole grains, soyfoods are rich in B-vitamins, particularly niacin, pyridoxine and folacin. Soymilk is well fortified with vitamin B12 which makes it a prominent source of this essential nutrient.

Nutrient Content of Soyfoods

FoodCaloriesProtein
grams
Carbohydrate
grams
Fat
grams
Saturated Fat
grams
Soybeans
1/2 cup, cooked
14914.38.57.71.1
Tempeh 1/2 cup16515.714.16.41.1
Textured
Soy Protein
1/2 cup, cooked
591170.2fat free
Soynuts 1/4 cup2021514.510.01.6
Tofu 1/2 cup94102.35.90.9
Soy flour,
defatted 1/4 cup
81.712.88.40.3.02
Soymilk,
plain 1 cup
796.64.34.60.5

FoodNiacin
mg
B6
mg
Folic Acid
ug
Calcium
mg
Iron
mg
Magnesium
mg
Copper
mg
Zinc
mg
Soybeans
1/2 cup, cooked
1.35.2047884.4274.35.99
Tempeh 1/2 cup3.8.2543771.958.551.5
Textured Soy
Protein
1/2 cup, cooked
.75.12---85286.321.37
Soynuts 1/4 cup0.6.0991591.6563.351.35
Tofu 1/2 cup0.2.0619130*---127.241.00
Soyflour,
defatted 1/4 cup
0.65.1476602.3721.61
Soymilk,
plain 1 cup
1.4.104931.3845.288.54
Miso 2 Tbsp.0.3---10.123.9514.5.151
Adult Recommended
Daily Allowance
151.6-2.0180-20080010-15280-3501.5-3.012-15

Ref: USDA

Recommended servings of soy: 1-2 servings per day

There are various anti-nutritional factors in soybean as in other pulses. However most of them are heat liable and can be eliminated by suitable heat treatments.

Soybean in comparison to other legumes is far superior in terms of health benefits.

Low in fat with no cholesterol

Contains essential heart friendly omega-3 fats

An excellent source of fiber

Is a good source of enriched Calcium and Vitamin B12

Is a complete protein, containing all the amino acids essential to human nutrition

Provides important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and selenium

Rich in probiotics in the form of fermented soy products, such as miso, tempeh, and soy yogurt

Contains isoflavones which are beneficial in reducing risk of various cancers, heart disease and osteoporosis

Whole soy foods such as tofu and tempeh form a nutrient rich alternative to meat

Açaí Berries: Small Fruit, (Seriously) Big Benefits

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You've probably heard about açaí berries, but with food trends coming and going so quickly, it's possible that the facts about the fruit have gotten muddled with myths. Wanting to give you the real deal (and debunk the, well, bunk), we did a little research on exactly what exactly the deal is with these cute fruits - and the true benefits that they can bring to your diet.

"Açaí berries are deep purple fruit, about the size of a grape, that comes from the açaí palm tree, found in Central and South America," says Amy Shapiro, M.S., R.D., C.D.N. of Real Nutrition NYC. Especially plentiful near the Amazon, these sweet-tart berries have a flavor that Shapiro describes as "a marriage between a blackberry and dark chocolate." Sounds delicious, no?  

As far as açaí being a nutritional superfood - well, you've heard right on that one. Says Shapiro: "The açaí berry is very rich in nutrients; they are a wonderful vegan source of omega-3 fatty acids." Adds Marissa Lippert, M.S., R.D. of Nourish NYC: "Açaí berries are jam-packed with a type of antioxidant called anthocyanins, thanks to their dark purple-black hue. Anthocyanins help prevent disease, like heart disease and cancer, and overall inflammation. From a beauty angle, they help delay signs of aging - never a bad thing!"

Surprisingly, açaí is one fruit that is actually better to consume in its dried or frozen form, according to Shapiro. "You will see that fresh açaí berries are not available at most retailers in the U.S. - by the time the berries make their way here from the Amazon, they will have lost a lot of their nutritional value. The best way [to consume açaí] is either flash frozen, where the berries are picked and then frozen at peak ripeness, or dried, where the berry pulp is slowly dehydrated to maintain nutrition, and then often ground to insert into supplements."

While açaí berries are certainly good for you, they're not magic weight-loss tools, says Shapiro - although they're can certainly be considered to be a nutritious part of a healthy diet. "However," she adds, "these berries are low in calories and high in fiber, which can assist in weight loss when eaten as part of a healthy diet and in proper portions." Says Lippert: "[The combination of] antioxidants, fiber and 'good-for-you' monounstaurated fats can help you feel satisfied with a small portion of the fruit. Greater satisfaction from smaller portions can make a difference in your attempts to trim a few extra pounds off."

An important parting note: Especially if you're eating açaí berries dried or in frozen form, make sure the product you choose is free of added sugars - the benefits of the real thing are sweet enough.

7 Ways to Boost Your Energy when You're Struggling Big Time

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Feeling tired more often than not? Girl, we feel you: A study from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that women are typically more exhausted than men.


1. Hydrate
Start the day with a glass of room temperature water (your body has to work to heat it up if it's ice cold, which could tire you out even more), and keep hydrating until you hit the sack. "Everybody puts too many starchy carbs in their diet, and sodas, which negatively affect your blood sugar," making you feel pooped, says Hogg. Water moves those downers through your system faster.

2. Move It
Agarwal says that 25 to 45 minutes of cardiovascular exercise five to seven times a week will help you fall asleep faster and go into a deeper sleep so you're more rested during the day. Plus, you'll enjoy that natural energy high after your workout.

3. Step Away from the Screen
Staring at your computer for hours on end burns your eyes and your energy. "Find a private spot in your office and do a few sun salutations," says Hogg. Stand with your feet hip distance apart, inhale and bring your hands straight above your head. Then exhale, bend forward, bringing your hands to touch the floor or your thighs. Lengthen your arms in front of you and look forward. Exhale back down with your belly to to your thighs, and then inhale back to standing. 

4. Just Breathe
Take five deep breaths while picturing happy images, and you can actually up your serotonin ("happy hormone") levels. Note: Deep breathing comes from the belly rather than the diaphragm. Make sure you're doing it correctly by putting your finger on your bellybutton and feeling yourself getting a Buddha belly as you breathe in.

5. Good Morning
Can't seem to get out of bed? Try three downward dog and plank positions for three to five breaths each first thing in the AM. It's a nice way to rev your internal engine and your core, making it easier to harness that power center throughout the day.

6. Feed Your Bod
Filling up on those refined sugar-loaded snacks at the corner coffee shop while you race through the day? Not doing yourself any favors; you'll crash from the sugar spikes. Make sure your balanced diet is packed with protein and rich in fiber. Take in plenty of whole grains, broccoli, cauliflower, apples and jicama.

7. Stock Up on Supplements
Women tend to be deficient in Vitamin D and magnesium, which help your body stay energetic. Agarwal recommends 1,000-2,000 milligrams of Vitamin D daily, magnesium (either as a supplement of 100 to 250 milligrams a day or two to three Brazil nuts twice a day). She also suggests Siberian ginseng and ginger extract-which both help to replace stress hormones that are deficient in the body-but advises seeing an expert in Eastern medicine to determine the proper amount for you.

What Not to Buy at the Grocery Store

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You may have purchased shredded cheese, dried herbs, or instant rice because it was convenient, but did it really taste that great? Do you have any of these flavorless and costly items on your shopping list? Here are four types of groceries you shouldn't be buying and bringing home.
 
Convenience foods - Chopped vegetables cost more than buying the whole onion or head of lettuce. Pre-diced onions can cost three times more than whole onions. Pre-grated cheese can become flavorless, since it's unknown when it was actually grated. Minced garlic loses its authentic flavor and becomes slimy. It's just as easy to mince, chop, or grate these items yourself.

Suspicious seasonings - Good salt has a clean flavor, but classic iodized salt does not. Pre-ground black pepper does not have the same flavor as fresh ground peppercorns from a mill. "In the Pantry" host Aida Mollenkamp says, "These are black pieces of food confetti." Likewise, dried herbs don't have the same flavor as fresh herbs, and if you don't use dried herbs often, the herbs will become stale. Tip: Store fresh herbs in water (like flowers) to make them last longer.

Great pretenders - The biggest offender is imitation syrup. It just doesn't come from trees like authentic, pure syrup. Using margarine instead of butter when cooking is another mistake, since it does not act or taste like butter. Some margarines may even have unhealthy trans-fats. Because it's unknown when it was made and seems to last forever, canned parmesan is another food item that remains a mystery.

Instant foods - It's OK to graduate from instant foods, like noodle mixes, potato flakes, and instant rice. Boil potatoes and then mash them later when it's convenient, or spend the extra time to make your own noodles, so you don't sacrifice nutrition, texture, or flavor.

Principal fires security guards to hire art teachers

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The community of Roxbury had high hopes for its newest public school back in 2003. There were art studios, a dance room, even a theater equipped with cushy seating.
A pilot school for grades K-8, Orchard Gardens was built on grand expectations.
But the dream of a school founded in the arts, a school that would give back to the community as it bettered its children, never materialized.
Instead, the dance studio was used for storage and the orchestra's instruments were locked up and barely touched. 
The school was plagued by violence and disorder from the start, and by 2010 it was rank in the bottom five of all public schools in the state of Massachusetts.
That was when Andrew Bott — the sixth principal in seven years — showed up, and everything started to change.
“We got rid of the security guards,” said Bott, who reinvested all the money used for security infrastructure into the arts.
Orchard Gardens a one-time 'career killer'
In a school notorious for its lack of discipline, where backpacks were prohibited for fear the students would use them to carry weapons, Bott’s bold decision to replace the security guards with art teachers was met with skepticism by those who also questioned why he would choose to lead the troubled school.  
“A lot of my colleagues really questioned the decision,” he said.  “A lot of people actually would say to me, ‘You realize that Orchard Gardens is a career killer? You know, you don't want to go to Orchard Gardens.’” 
But now, three years later, the school is almost unrecognizable. Brightly colored paintings, essays of achievement, and motivational posters line the halls. The dance studio has been resurrected, along with the band room, and an artists’ studio.
The end result? Orchard Gardens has one of the fastest student improvement rates statewide. And the students — once described as loud and unruly, have found their focus.
“We have our occasional, typical adolescent ... problems,” Bott said.  “But nothing that is out of the normal for any school.”
The school is far from perfect. Test scores are better, but still below average in many areas. Bott says they’re “far from done, but definitely on the right path.”
The students, he says, are evidence of that.
‘I can really have a future in this’
Eighth grader Keyvaughn Little said he’s come out of his shell since the school’s turnaround.
“I've been more open, and I've expressed myself more than I would have before the arts have came.”
His grades have improved, too. Keyvaughn says it’s because of the teachers — and new confidence stemming from art class.  
“There's no one particular way of doing something,” he said. “And art helps you like see that. So if you take that with you, and bring it on, it will actually help you see that in academics or anything else, there's not one specific way you have to do something.”
Keyvaughn has now been accepted to the competitive Boston Arts Academy, the city’s only public high school specializing in visual and performing arts.  
“All of the extra classes and the extra focus on it and the extra attention make you think that, ‘Hey, oh my gosh, I can really have a future in this, I don't have to go to a regular high school — I can go to art school,'” he said. 
Chris Plunkett, who has taught visual arts at Orchard Gardens for the past three years, said the classes help develop trust between the faculty and students. During one particularly memorable project, he asked his eighth graders to write a memoir about a life experience and what they learned from it and then create a self-portrait.
“I couldn't believe how honest and candid they were, and how much I learned about them,” Plunkett said.  “I mean it was really, it was one of the most incredible things I've seen in eighth graders.”
Noting that kids need more than test prep, he added, it may have seemed “a little crazy” to get rid of the security guards to hire art teachers but “I definitely feel it was the right move in the end.”

Split up or son will be expelled, school tells lesbian couple

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An Mpumalanga lesbian couple has been told to split up, or their son will face expulsion from school.
Legally married Samantha (27) and Kally Mabe (26) told The Star newspaper that they were called to a meeting with the principal of Secunda Highveld Christian School and were told their homosexuality was problematic.

They were also accused of falsifying the information stating their sexual orientation in the school’s application letter.

“We never hid the fact that (our son) has two mothers and I filled in my details under the section in the form that asks for mother’s details and Sam filled in the area that said ‘Father/Guardian’, but filled in her title as Mrs,” the boy’s biological mother Kally said.

The couple was initially summoned to the meeting last month, after the child told the teacher he had two mothers. Later, another meeting was called with a pastor present.

“The pastor said if they had known we were a lesbian couple, they would never have allowed our son in the school.”

The school told The Star: “We are not going to speak to the press. If there is any information you will have to wait for a press release.”

Mpumalanga’s education department spokesperson Jasper Zwane said that although the school was independent, they viewed such matters in a serious light and would investigate.
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