New Development in "Hate Crime" Case.

This morning's news does something to answer our questions as to the motives behind the possible "hate crime" that occurred this week in West Virginia. CNN reports that the victim, Megan Williams, may have had a previous relationship with one of the suspects. Furthermore, all six of the suspects have been arrested numerous times prior to this incident and are "familiar with law enforcement". The mother of the man accused of raping Miss Williams, Frankie Brewster, was tried for first degree murder in the 1990s and spent 5 years in jail on the lesser charge of manslaughter. Clearly, this family had many prior encounters with the legal system. Knowing what we know now, are they "evil" or is this a product of the American justice system failure to rehabilitate? Whose fault is this?

Police in Nepal torture 8 people including 2 minors on basis of a false allegation

Eight men, including six minors were arrested in Nepal for allegedly committing a robbery. One evening when these people were waiting for public transportation, two police vans stopped and the police officers ordered the victims to stand beside the road. The police did not listen to the fact that they were returning from a religious ceremony and arrested them. The victims were first beaten on the street for a period of one hour with bamboo sticks, butt of the guns and even kicked them with their police boots. In addition they were also verbally abused, said one victim.

The victims were than taken to a local hospital for a medical check up but did not receive any medical attention. Then the victims were taken to jail and were again interrogated inhumanely where the police personnel beat them again, causing swelling in one of the victims eardrum. They were then forced to dig a pond during their five day detention period. The victims were then appeared in court where their detention was extended by another ten days. The shocking fact is that the victims were not asked nor were they allowed to complain about the torture they faced in jail.

Who should be held responsible for such atrocities happening in Nepal? What steps should the government of Nepal and the UN take to ensure that this does not happen again in future? Should the minors not be tried in a separate court of law?

Hate Crime in West Virginia?

Are these people evil? Why did they torture 20-year old Megan Williams?
Megan was forced to eat rat and dog feces and drink from a toilet. She was choked with a cord, sexually abused, and had hot water poured over her...
Why?
Because she was black.
Rush Dozier, author of Why We Hate, would probably have a few theories as to why this happened. So would Roy Baumeister, author of "Four Roots of Evil". What do you think?

Support Intervention in Sudan? ..Then Why Criticize Iraq

So many people in the country are concerned about the genocide that has been taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan, and I agree, its terrible. Obviously genocide is horrible and I am in no way condoning it. Whats bothering me is that many of the same people who are saying the US should intervene and stop the atrocities of Darfur are the same ones that are criticizing our involvement in Iraq. One of the main reasons we went to Iraq, besides the threat of WMDs, was to stop Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath partys killing of many Iraqi civilians. Its a similar situation, and in Darfur we don't have any interests that would legitimize our involvement aside from attempting to stop the genocide. However, I do feel that the situation in Darfur should be recognized by the UN, not specifically the US. The US did not take on the role of international peacekeepers so we shouldn't have to be the ones to stop all the problems. In addition, we have a ton of problems within our own borders. I think before we make anymore problems for ourselves we should fix the ones that are brewing here, then maybe move on to the issues elsewhere.

In Padilla interrogation, no checks or balances

This article brings our attention to the treatment (or rather the mistreatment) of terror detainees. Torturous acts of interrogation and abuse continue to be implemented and the United States Executive branch is allegedly turning the other cheek. Some prisoners who report physical abuse are guaranteed an investigation while other reports (the vast majority) are overlooked. Understandably, the state does not want to be accused of supporting terror and the people who advocate terrorism. However that should not make it permissible to violate the rights of the detainees by inflicting physical harm. Such oversights put us in as much of the wrong seat as are the terrorists themselves. And for what reason should one prisoner deserve an investigation of the matter and not another? Who should be held accountable for such issues within our government and how do we prevent these occurrences in the future?

So, you still think you can't make a difference?

The Genocide-Intervention-Fund -- started by a "naive" college kid from Swathmore -- they said it couldn't be done, but Mark Hanis did it. Check out the website: http://www.genocideintervention.net/

What a "pay-it-forward" project!