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A contribution to the 2010 UN Universal Periodic Review
By NGO International CURE
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR), established by the UN General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006, is a new human rights mechanism. Through the UPR, the Human Rights Council (HRC) reviews, on a periodic basis, the fulfillment by each of the United Nations' 192 Member States of their human rights obligations and commitments. The 2010 UPR includes an assessment of the United States adherence to its commitments. CURE's assessments in the following concern only issues in correctional practices as guided by ratified human rights documents
VI. COMMUNITY TIES; VOTING and FAMILY
VII. DEATH PENALTY and LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE
14, Paragraph 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), ratified by the US: "Minimum guarantees: to be
informed promptly and in detail in an understandable language the nature and
cause of charges; to have adequate time and facilities for preparation of a
defense and communication with counsel of one's own choosing; or legal
assistance assigned without payment if one is indigent; to have free assistance
of an interpreter."
Article 5 (a) of the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD): "the right to equal treatment before the tribunals and all other organs administering justice."
A report, titled "Lessons Not
Learned," by the Innocence Project, detailed 23 wrongful convictions in New
York that have been overturned through DNA evidence.
1. Eyewitness misidentification played a role in 13 of the 23 wrongful
convictions in New York that were overturned.
2. In 10 of the 23 cases in New York, innocent people falsely confessed
or admitted to crimes that DNA later proved they did not commit.
3. Limited or unreliable forensic science played a role in 10 of the 23
wrongful convictions in New York that were overturned.
ICCPR: Inadequate legal defense for persons living in poverty results in many false convictions of innocent persons. Over one-hundred individuals in capital cases have been exonerated, through subsequent DNA technology, after spending years in prison for crimes they did not commit. This extent of injustice in high visibility capital cases is a certain indicator of more injustice in non-capital cases.
Capital juries are death qualified which means jurors have to be willing to give the death penalty in order to serve. The prosecution customarily has an unlimited budget and resources whereas public defender offices are traditionally staffed by lawyers carrying large caseloads with limited budgets. This often means limited, if any, investigation. Interrogation techniques are often manipulated by law enforcement, witnesses are threatened, confessions are coerced, eyewitness testimony is extracted with prejudicial techniques, jailhouse informants are used to gain convictions. Prosecutors cannot be prosecuted even for hiding exculpatory evidence.
Police are permitted to lie to defendants to get confessions. In many cases, defendants do not have any communication with their attorneys, even in capital cases, and little preparation takes place prior to trial. Despite a Supreme Court ruling requiring 2 lawyers and 2 investigators, one of which must be a mitigation specialist for capital trials, this is still not the norm.
Foreign nationals who are arrested are frequently not permitted to contact their consulate for help. Non English speaking defendants are often not provided with interpreters.
Denial of effective redress of constitutional violations. Persons who seek their rights must not be punished because of those efforts. The constraints on access to legal review imposed by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PLRA) have been significant impediments to the redress of violations of prisoners' rights. By keeping constitutional claims out of court, the PLRA places severe limitations on the possibility of challenging and redressing abusive prison conditions through litigation.
Racial discrimination has dominated our criminal justice system. People
of color are convicted disproportionately to their makeup in the overall
population, particularly if the victim is white. Juries continue not to
reflect the actual population. Drug laws are less severe for the
so-called white drugs vs. drugs commonly found in the poorer, non white
Change jury qualification to eliminate "death qualification" in capital juries.
Make certain juries actually reflect the racial make-up of the community.
2. In capital trials enforce ABA recommendations: defense team must have 2
lawyers, 2 investigators,
one of which is a mitigation specialist.
3. Implement videotaping in interrogations, double-blind eyewitness
identification techniques.
4. Eliminate police freedom to lie to defendants to obtain confessions.
5. Jailhouse informants are unreliable and should only be used after extreme
scrutiny of deals made for their testimony.
6. Prosecutors should be subject to prosecution and lawsuits for not disclosing
exculpatory evidence.
7. Foreign nationals should be put in contact with their consulate immediately
after arrest. Non-English speaking defendants should be provided with
interpreters at every step in legal processes.
8. DNA and other forensic testing should be provided.
9. Amend the PLRA to eliminate the barriers to
effective redress of constitutional violations.
Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment."
A study of a hundred randomly selected inmates at California's Pelican Bay supermax prison, noted that after months or years of complete isolation, many prisoners "begin to lose the ability to initiate behavior of any kind—to organize their own lives around activity and purpose."… "Chronic apathy, lethargy, depression, and despair often result. In extreme cases, prisoners may literally stop behaving," becoming essentially catatonic. (Craig Haney, a psychology professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz)
Such debasement of human beings clearly violates the intent of Article 7 of the ICCPR.
1. Current practice of prolonged isolation in
control/segregation units should be stopped completely.
2. There should be narrowly defined criteria for placement into
control/segregation units so that they are used only for prisoners who are the
most serious threats to safe and humane operations of correctional facilities.
Placement in such units may never be done for prisoners with known psychiatric
3. There should be a clearly articulated system in place for prisoners to work
their way back to open population settings over a reasonable period.
4. The conditions inside the cells must not lead to adverse sensory
deprivation, overstimulation, or disorientation, due to lack of natural light
or excessive sound/noise/music. Deprivation of food, water or sleep, or spatial
disorientation must be avoided at all costs. Restraints should not be used for
5. The mental health of all prisoners who are in control/segregation units
should be regularly reviewed by properly trained and certified mental health
professionals. If, in the opinion of these professionals, the inmates need
treatment, it should be provided immediately, including transfer to a
psychiatric setting if necessary.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states, in Article 26.1: "Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available, and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit."
Article 10.3 of the ICCPR: "The penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social rehabilitation."
Article 5 of the
ICERD: "to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to
race…the right to education and training."
Especially for ex-offenders, adequate vocational training is key to economic survival and re-integration into society, In the workplace of the United States, this usually requires vocational training beyond secondary schooling. Specialized occupational training in careers like electrical installation, plumbing, welding, building construction, air conditioning, heating, auto mechanics, and semi professional skills that are available in community colleges, are essential.
1. UDHR: Post secondary vocational training, that is needed for economic survival in the U.S., is seriously inadequate in most U.S. places of detention.
In 1995, the U.S. Congress terminated all federal funding (financial aid via PELL Grants) for post-secondary education in prisons. Within five years the U.S. Congress established post secondary grants for financial aid of youthful offenders and now such funds are available for offenders up to the age of 35. However, funding is not adequate and the level of commitment must be changed to cover all ages of the incarcerated. These social exclusions and inadequacies violate the intent of Article 26 of the UDHR.
Compounding the reentry problem, laws needlessly deny licenses to persons with criminal records that are unrelated to the work involved.
2. ICERD:The grossly disproportionate inclusion of
African-Americans and Hispanics in the prison systems of the U.S., and the
relative inadequacy of Correctional Education, effectively deprives such
persons of equal educational opportunity, thus violating Article 5 of the
1. Federal and state laws and
regulations should generally include correctional education as beneficiaries on
a par with public education.
2. Steps should be taken to enhance education in places of detention so that
educational content and quality there will approach a par with public
3. Federal funding of financial aid for post-secondary education in prisons
(PELL Grants for prisoners) should be restored, on a par with federal aid in
public education.
4. Unwarranted restrictions on work licenses should be removed.
5. To facilitate investment in correctional education, the use of lower cost
technologies such as distance learning and online video should be encouraged
and funded, as supplements to standard education delivery.
1. The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CAT): Deliberate indifference to the pain and suffering of those in custody evidenced by the denial of medical care, unreasonable delay in the provision of care, or the provision of substandard and ineffective care is prohibited by Article 16, which obligates each State Party to "undertake to prevent in any territory under its jurisdiction other acts of cruel or degrading treatment or punishment"
2. The U.S. Constitution: The 8th amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. In Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976), the Court concluded that deliberate indifference to serious medical needs of prisoners constitutes "unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain," whether the indifference is displayed by prison doctors in their response to the prisoner's need or by prison guards who deny or delay access to treatment or interfere with the treatment.
All inmates with substance use disorders should be provided evidence-based treatment and aftercare. We would then break even on this investment in one year if just over 10 percent of those receiving such services remained substance and crime free and employed. For each succeeding year that these inmates remained substance and crime free and employed, the nation would reap a huge economic benefit in reduced crime, lower arrest, prosecution, incarceration and health care costs, and economic benefits from employment. (Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University)
Documentation Of Various Instances Of Deficient Medical Care
The Prison Litigation Reform Act
· A review of the Act Prepared for Second Circuit Court of Appeals (2004) http://www.wnylc.net/pb/docs/plra2cir04.pdf
· Reform the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA)
In enacting the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) in 1996, Congress sought to curb what was perceived to be an overwhelming number of frivolous prisoner lawsuits. There certainly are frivolous prisoner lawsuits that have been kept out of court by the PLRA. However, after a decade of experience under the legislation, it is clear that the PLRA is also keeping countless serious claims from reaching the courts—including claims of physical and sexual abuse, indifference to inmate on inmate rape, gross mistreatment of confined juveniles, and markedly deficient medical and mental health treatment. This effectively prevents courts from exercising their role of protecting constitutional rights. http://www.savecoalition.org/pdfs/save_final_report.pdf
1. CAT: The systematic failure to provide adequate resources to provide care to inmates, as illustrated by the placing in judicial receivership the medical services of the California Department of Corrections, also constitutes an 8th amendment violation and, by implication, a violation of Article 16 of The Convention.
2. Only 11 percent of inmates with substance use disorders receive any type of treatment during incarceration; few of those receive evidence-based care. ("Behind Bars II: Substance Abuse and America's Prison Population" CASA; February 2010).
3. Many
other instances of failure to provide prisoners and detainees with
constitutionally adequate medical and psychiatric care. The articles
referenced in the Annex provide a glimpse of the failure of penal institutions
to provide constitutionally adequate care.
4. Medical
co-pays from inmates are sometimes large when compared to their income, and can
deter timely and preventive medical treatment.
1. All inmates with substance use disorders should be provided evidence-based treatment and aftercare.
2. Provide adequate resources and staff training to ensure constitutionally sufficient medical care.
3. Institute a structure of review of prison performance independent of prison administrative structure. For example, establish an independent ombudsman to review prisoner complaints and to monitor the indices of prison administrative performance.
4. Eliminate or reduce medical co-payments by inmates in accord with their income.
The Preamble to the Article 3 of the ICCPR states: "The States Parties to the present Covenant shall undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the present Covenant."
Article 7 of that Covenant states: "No
one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
or punishment."
Prison rape not
only threatens the lives of those who fall prey to their aggressors, but it is
potentially devastating to the human spirit. Shame, depression, and a
shattering loss of self-esteem accompany the perpetual terror the victim
thereafter must endure." (U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A.
The sexual assault of prisoners, whether perpetrated by corrections officials
or by other inmates, amounts to torture under international law. Torture is
prohibited by international conventions and treaties, including the Convention
Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR), both of which have been ratified by the
United States.
1. Sexual assault. In 2009, the State of Michigan paid $100 million to settle a class-action by more than 500 female prisoners who said they were sexually assaulted by prison guards.
2. Sexual abuse. In a 2007 survey of prisoners across the country, the
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
found that 4.5 percent (or 60,500) of the
more than 1.3 million inmates held in federal and state prisons
had been sexually abused in the previous year
alone. A BJS
survey in county jails was just as
troubling; nearly 25,000 jail detainees
reported having been sexually abused in the past six months.
Incarcerated women have undergone intrusive pat-downs and
body searches in public by male guards.
1. Adopt and enforce the national standards that were developed under the Prison Rape Elimination Act.
2. Ratify the OPCAT, which establishes a system of regular visits undertaken by international and national bodies to places of detention in order to prevent torture and other forms of ill treatment.
3. Prohibit pat-downs and body-searches of women by male officers.
4. Adopt severe penalties for staff violence against women inmates.
5. Swiftly prosecute, and widely publicize punishment, for all violence by staff on women inmates.
TIES; VOTING and FAMILY
Article 21 (1) of the UDHR states that "Everyone has the right to take
part in the government of his country directly or through freely chosen representatives,"
and (3) of the UDHR states that "the will of the people shall be
expressed ...by universal and equal suffrage."
2. Article 17 of the ICCPR states: "No one shall be
subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, home, or
correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation."
Restoring a person's right to vote is a critical element to successful reentry
into society after incarceration, and consistent with our democracy's modern
ideal of universal suffrage.
2. If offenders are to achieve a relatively stable lifestyle post-release,
continued contact with family and friends is needed.
3. Research shows that children are the unintended victims of a prison
sentence, with many children of prisoners less likely to complete secondary
school and more likely to become homeless or unemployed and more likely to come
into contact with the juvenile justice or criminal justice systems. The
likelihood of the children of an imprisoned parent ending up in prison
increases by 6 times; they are also six times as likely to have mental health
problems. (report by Justice Action)
1. Article 21 (1) of the UDHR: Nationally, an estimated 5.3
million Americans are denied the right to vote because of laws that prohibit
voting by people with felony convictions. Of these, 4 million are out of prison
and living and working in the community. Two states permanently ban voting by
anyone with a felony record of any sort.
Also, 13% of all adult black men or nearly 1.4 million are
disenfranchised. This represents one-third of the total disenfranchised
2. Article 17 of the ICCPR: Only a few states have visits
where the family is together for 48 hours.
Some correctional facilities are now limiting mail to only postcards. This is
certainly a violation of privacy in regard to the family which the state must
have a special obligation to uphold.
1. Voting should be permitted and facilitated for all persons incarcerated
and for those already released from prison.
2. There should be periodic private family visits that can continue supportive
relationships among all family members of persons incarcerated.
3. Close relations with family should be facilitated, including ordinary privacy
of correspondence.
VII. DEATH PENALTY and LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE
1. Article 6-1 of the ICCPR: "Every human being has the
inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be
arbitrarily deprived of his life."
2. Article 6-2 of the ICCPR: "In countries which have not abolished the
death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious
crimes… and not contrary to the provisions of the present covenant."
3. The "Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court," adopted by
the United Nations in July 1998, declares that in all life sentences, a review
is mandated after twenty-five years and /if warranted/ a lesser sentence may be
imposed (Article 110 No. 3). By October 2009, 110 states had become party to
the treaty, with 38 states signed but not yet ratified.
4. Article 10.3 of the ICCPR: "The penitentiary system shall comprise
treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation
and social rehabilitation."
5. Article 1 of the ICCPR: "All peoples have the right of self
determination. By virtue of that right they …freely
pursue their cultural development."
1. Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death row with
evidence of their innocence. (Staff Report, House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Civil & Constitutional Rights, Oct. 1993, with updates from
DPIC). From 1973-1999, there was an average of 3.1 exonerations per
year. From 2000-2007, there has been an average of 5 exonerations per year.
2. In the United States 35 states with death penalty statutes also can impose
life without parole. 14 states which do not have death penalty statutes
may impose life without parole, including the District of Columbia.
Alaska is the only state that does not impose life without parole.
3. A report released by The Sentencing Project, "The Meaning of 'Life':
Long Prison Sentences in Context" (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/life-without-parole), indicates a
dramatic increase in life without parole sentences and notes that prisoners are
generally serving longer terms of incarceration: "Of the lifers in
prison, one in four (26.3%) is serving a sentence of life without parole,
having increased from one in six (17.8%) in 1992. In six states -
Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota - all life
sentences are imposed without the possibility of parole. Seven states -
Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan,
and Pennsylvania - have more than 1,000 prisoners each serving sentences
of life without parole. The increase in prison time for lifers is a result
of changes in state policy and not due to increases in violent crime."
The high rate of exonerations of persons on death row awaiting execution is
proof of the "arbitrary deprivation of life," with inadequate proof of a "most
serious crime."
2. The rapid increase and the high rate of life-without-parole testifies to the arbitrary "slow death" deprivation of life as a result of politically motivated changes in state policy and not due to increases in violent crime or greater need for public safety.
3. Several other human rights are brought into question. For example, the right to the opportunity to reform one's life, to change, to grow positively in maturity and responsibility; and the right for an opportunity for "conversion or transformation" (which is held dear by many religious and social groups in our country) and to become a contributing and productive member of society.
The death penalty should be abolished.
2. The opportunity for parole or sentence reduction, based on demonstrated
rehabilitation, should be a recognized right for all prisoners, including those
with a life sentence (in accord with the Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court).
1. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination (ICERD):
Article 2: 1(c) Each State Party shall take effective measures to review
governmental, national and local policies, and to amend, rescind or
nullify any laws and regulations which have the effect of creating or
perpetuating racial discrimination wherever it exists.
2. International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR):
Article 10.3. The penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social rehabilitation.
1. In five states-Alabama, California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and New York-at least 1 in 6 people in prison are serving a life sentence.
2. The highest proportion of life sentences relative to the prison population is in California, where 20% of the prison population is serving a life sentence, up from 18.1% in 2003. Among these 34,164 life sentences,
3. There are 6,807 juveniles serving life sentences;
4. There are 4,694 women and girls serving life sentences.
5. Life in prison is the most severe punishment available for juveniles. Every state allows for life sentences for juveniles, and 46 states hold juveniles serving such terms. Juveniles serve life sentences in nearly every state, but more than 50% of the national population is located in five states: California (2,623), Texas (422), Pennsylvania (345), Florida (338), and Nevada (322).
6. In 1967, the President's Crime Commission recommended that parole boards be staffed by correctional professionals rather than political appointees. However, parole boards remain the domain of political appointees and two-thirds of states lack any standardized qualifications for service. This has resulted in a highly politicized process that too often discounts evidence and expert testimony. In the case of life sentences with the possibility of parole, the range of time that must be served prior to eligibility for release varies greatly, from under 10 years in Utah and California to 40 and 50 years in Colorado and Kansas. The median length of time served prior to parole eligibility nationally is in the range of 25 years. However, eligibility does not equate to release and, owing to the reticence of review boards and governors, it has become increasingly difficult for persons serving a life sentence to be released on parole.
1. Racial and ethnic minorities serve a disproportionate share of life sentences. Two-thirds of people with life sentences (66.4%) are nonwhite, reaching as high as 83.7% of the life sentenced population in the state of New York. Seventy-seven percent of juveniles sentenced to life are youth of color. This violates the ICERD Article 1-1, Article 2–1, and Article 5(a).
2. There is a broad range in the severity and implementation of the statutes and arbitrary mechanisms for release on parole. This violates the ICCPR Article 10-3.
1. Restore the Role of Parole
The opportunity for parole, based on demonstrated rehabilitation, is a right for all, including those with a life sentence. Parole boards should be staffed with members who have a background in corrections or relevant social services in order to best assess suitability for release. They should also use risk-based release polices that consider a range of static and dynamic factors including criminal history, offense severity, prison disciplinary record, and program participation while incarcerated. An example may come from Canada, where all persons serving life are considered for parole after serving 10 to 25 years. In the interest of public safety, some individuals sentenced to life will serve the remainder of their natural lives in prison. However, this reform would provide that a decision on release be made by a professional parole board at the time of eligibility, taking into account a person's prospects for a successful transition to the community.
2. Prepare Persons for Release From Prison
The emergence of reentry as a criminal justice policy issue in the last decade has largely ignored persons serving a life sentence. Typically, reentry programs are provided to persons within 6 months of their release date and offer transition services in the community upon release. However, for persons serving a life sentence, their release date is not fixed and they are often overlooked as policymakers and correctional administrators consider reentry strategies. Additionally, persons serving a life sentence have unique reentry needs based upon the long duration of their prison term. The failure to design reentry strategies for persons serving a life sentence neglects 1 in 11 persons in prison by denying them the opportunity to participate in valuable programming. Reentry and reintegration principles must be extended to persons serving a life sentence. Correctional programs can contribute to a successful release and persons serving life should be encouraged to access the types of services that will help them transform their lives and improve their presentation before the parole board.
1. Article 7 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states: No one shall be subject
to torture, or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
2. Article 1 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT): "severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental,…intentionally inflicted...for an act he or a third person has committed."
1. There is now a
huge population of mentally ill persons in our prisons and jails. The American Correctional Association has recognized that
holding mentally challenged individuals in isolation can exacerbate their
problems and bring about additional mental problems.
Several federal courts have found that the conditions of confinement in
isolation units can constitute cruel and unusual punishment
which is prohibited by Article 7 of the ICCPR.
2. It
would also qualify as torture defined in the CAT, Article 1, if
correctional officials knowingly place mentally ill persons in disciplinary
3. Prisoners, who are seriously mentally ill, fall under the protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990. This act was amended to include serious mental illness as a disability in 2008 and enacted January 2009 to state: (1) Mentally ill people have the rights to accommodation plans to meet the needs of their disability, (2) They have the right to have access to an (ADA) representative to oversee Correctional Institutions compliance.
1. Ensure
that mentally Ill prisoners are treated in accord with their lack of
culpability, lack of awareness and impaired judgment due to their
disabilities. Ensure that consideration is given for any adverse affects that
certain psychotropic medications could cause to the mentally ill prisoner both
physically and mentally. Ensure that the Americans with Disabilities (ADA)
Title II, Federal Regulation is recognized and complied with by all Correction
OPCAT (the Optional Protocol to the Convention
Against Torture) to monitor for abuse in places of detention. Appoint
nationally recognized experts on mental health issues such as: The Bazelon Law Center, Treatment Advocacy Center, National
Disability Rights Network and National Association of Mentally Ill (NAMI) to
a National Oversight Committee to establish National Standards and
Guidelines for the treatment of mentally ill prisoners.
that mentally ill prisoners are not placed in extensive isolation and receive
treatment. Ensure that emotionally disturbed persons are not placed in
isolation without a qualified
examination for mental illness.
community based mental health services and develop therapeutic units within the
prisons to
handle the mentally ill in an appropriate setting.
A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS and VIOLATIONS
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1. Article 7 No one shall be subjected to
torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. (See
also: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5).
Violation. – Little is more
degrading than for prisoners to be treated as commodities, to be warehoused in
for-profit private prisons like chattel. Private prison companies view
prisoners as investments, not people; the privatization of prisons for profit
is equivalent to the privatization of prisoners for profit, which is demeaning
to their humanity and dignity as human beings. The United States holds over
128,000 prisoners in privately-operated for-profit prisons.
2. Article 8, Sec. 1. No one shall be held in slavery; slavery and the
slave-trade in all their forms shall be prohibited.
(see also: Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
Article 4).
Violation – Private prisons operate on a per-diem payment system, where
they are paid per prisoner per day they are incarcerated. This mirrors the
system of slavery, which also is a for-profit enterprise that involves
imprisoning people against their will. Private prison companies are modern-day
extensions of the slave trade, in which prisoners are used to generate profit.
The largest private prison companies in the United States are listed on the
stock exchange, and the trade in prisoners for profit has become an acceptable
form of legitimized slavery.
3. Article 10, Sec. 3. The Penitentiary system shall comprise treatment
of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social
Violation – The objective of private prison companies is to generate
profit, not to reform or rehabilitate prisoners. Such companies have a duty to
their shareholders to make money; they do not have a duty to help prisoners
better their lives. Studies have shown that prisoners held in private
prisons in the United States have higher recidivism rates than those in public
The for-profit private prison industry, by its nature, is antithetical to the
principles expressed in the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Therefore, it is recommended that for-profit
privately-operated prisons be proscribed by the United States in compliance
with its obligations under those documents.
Article 22 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights states, "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others…. "
Incarcerated persons and their loved ones should have access to technology that will facilitate cost-effective communication. They should be able to communicate with each other, as long as there is no risk to security. One very effective tool for preventing torture and abuse is to ensure that vulnerable, confined persons have ready access to persons who are not confined.
In far too many jails and prisons in the United States, the rates charged to inmates for making telephone calls are much higher than comparable rates for calls placed by persons not incarcerated and much higher than the actual cost of providing the inmate calling service. There are several reasons for those high charges:
Such practices limit the communication between incarcerated persons and their
loved ones. It is not unusual for persons who are incarcerated for
lengthy periods to lose contact with family members entirely. In some
cases, these practices also limit one's access to an attorney.
While security concerns and their associated costs are sometimes cited as a rationale for these policies, the fact is that there are jails and prisons that provide calls at reasonable rates, allow less expensive debit calls, and allow calls to cell phones and VoIP phones – all without compromising security.
Article 10.3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR): "The penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners
the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social
2. Article 5, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
3. Articles 22, 23, and 24, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, provide that "Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security…the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work…to equal pay for equal work…to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity…the right to form and to join trade unions."
Productive work, that develops good work habits and skills for economic survival, and enables economic support for and relations with family, is a cornerstone of the rehabilitation process.
1. Article 5, UDHR: Wherever in the United States punishment for incarcerated persons' refusing to work results in segregation or solitary confinement, in withholding of food or access to basic support or human interaction, violations occur.
2. Although the ICCPR excludes from "forced labor" "any work…required of a person who is under detention in consequence of a lawful order of a court," (Article 8(3c)), slave labor or denial to incarcerated persons access to remunerative work sufficient to support oneself and ones' family are rarely a consequence of any criminal sentence or court order, making all cases in which either slave or forced labor, absent sentence or court order, a violation of human rights with respect to incarcerated persons.
3. Articles 22, 23, and 24, UDHR: By law and custom, US incarcerants earn extremely little or no wages and are excluded from civilian labor force participation, impoverishing themselves and their families. United States' Prison labor frequently denies incarcerated persons any choice in prison work assignments, affords neither employer nor worker investment in Social Security, pays in gratuities only a fraction of that required for "equal pay," far below even minimum amounts, ensuring poverty for the incarcerated and his family, and denying incarcerated workers any union or participatory rights whatsoever.
1. Respecting the right of incarcerated persons to access to remunerative employment sufficient to human dignity and at least partial support of oneself and family.
2. Preserving and propelling, wherever possible, offenders' access to the legal labor force, normal investment in social security and health insurance programs, and participation in workplace trade unions.
3. Segregation or solitary confinement as well as denial of food or basic support solely for refusal to accept a work assignment should cease. Wherever possible, incarcerated persons should be afforded both influence and choice in work assignments. Appropriate impartial hearings should be available before any sanctions are applied.
4. Limiting slavery and forced labor to those instances in which either forced labor or slavery are required by terms of a criminal sentence.
1. Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
states: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment or punishment."
3. Article 17 states: "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, home, or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation."
2. Other BJS surveys have shown that 70 percent of all men in prison for a sex crime were men whose victim was a child. In almost half of the child-victim cases, the child was the prisoner's own son or daughter or other relative.
2. Civil commitment is used by numerous states to detain a person convicted of a sex offense at the completion of the prison sentence, based on the premise the person may re-offend. The extended time was not meted out by the court at the time of sentencing. Committees arbitrarily determine if a person will be held. Though the Supreme Court has judged this is not additional punishment, it leads to an arbitrary violation of the person's rights, with inadequate safeguards against abuse.
1. Criminal justices' current efforts to respond to sex abuse issues is primarily punishment and tracking. Neither include evidence-based treatment and change that has been shown to be effective in most cases. Further research and analysis is needed to better identify and quantify those therapies that are most effective.
2. An approach with more prevention and control as the focus should be implemented:
a) Utilize funding for successful, evidence-based, therapy practices for those who have abused, using money previously spent on ineffective tracking methods and realigned confinement sentences.
b) Funding should go to intervention assistance with family services and child services where known dysfunctional family history is known to have led to abuse.
c) Education to families on the actual dangers of sex abuse - within the circle of their own friends, acquaintances and family- can give young people tools to be safe.
Allen J. Beck & Paige M. Harrison, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sexual Victimization in State and Federal PrisonsReported by Inmates, 2007 (2007).
Allen J. Beck & Paige M. Harrison, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sexual Victimization in Local Jails Reported by Inmates, 2007 (2008).
More than half of all prisoners,
including jail inmates, are mentally ill. Bureau of Justice
Statistics, U.S. Dept of Justice, Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail
Inmates, at 1 (2006). REPORT,American Bar
Association- Criminal Justice Section, Robert M.A. Johnson, Chair, Criminal
Justice Section, February 2007.


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Vivekan's Weekly Bit: Hell on Earth!
Tuesday, January 8th, 2013This is a weekly post from Bodhisattva Yoga's founder/director offering weekly bits of research findings, suggestions, and musings on all things directly & indirectly related to the broad Path of Yoga.
It's another day with your family and friends with the usual banter that keeps everyone entertained. All of a sudden, aggressive movements, noises and sights send all of you into a dizzying, horrifying state with everyone trying to go into different directions…Just to realize that you're all trapped and being corralled into an increasingly fearful setting. In whatever capacity you have, you exclaim, "What the hell is going on!?" – because it sounds, looks and feels like hell.
Suddenly these demonic-looking creatures, that maybe have a bit more intelligence but a whole lot more cunning and ruthlessness, begin to descend upon you and your loved ones. They are mercilessly spearing the adults among your kin for food; and greedily kidnapping your beloved children to showcase them in artificial environs to be jeered at and treated condescendingly.
If your child survives this holocaust, they're relegated to a life of confusion, misunderstanding and abject depression. Finding themselves penned in cramped quarters they're endlessly pointed at, or worse yet, thoughtlessly poked and prodded by the same race of monsters that ruined your family's life.
The recollection of the horrors of their capture, compounded by your child's realization of their enslavement, often amounts to the lonely and traumatized one committing suicide.
This is not fiction! This terrible account is taking place all too regularly with dolphins. Us humans better check ourselves, before we wreck ourselves. Please do everything you can to end the holocausts of today! Sign petitions, inform your friends and avoid supporting hotels, resorts and aquariums that take part in this vile trade. For Bodhisattvas look out not just for humans, but all beings – let alone, intelligent beings with no recourse.

subset: commoncrawl


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Irish maternity wards are under severe pressure as large volumes of women are delivering babies which were conceived during last year's snowy conditions.
Snow babies, is the term which has been given to babies conceived during last years cold snap which left thousands of people stranded in their homes during the Christmas holiday period.
This current baby boom means that women are giving birth in cramped conditions around the country as maternity wards struggle to deal with the increasing numbers of births.
Jene Kelly, founder of the Association for the Improvements in the Maternity Services, said that overcrowding issues in hospitals around Ireland is having an impact on pregnant women who are "being pushed through the system".
"There are now record levels of births as we are going through a baby boom," she told the Evening Herald.
"There are on average, 9,000 births per year in each of the maternity hospitals -- that reaches over 20,000 in Dublin alone.
Ms Kelly, who is a mother of four, said there is a demand for increased numbers of maternity staff to deal with the boom.
"With the recruitment embargo, there is little hope that this has improved," she said.
"I spoke to one woman who gave birth in the bathroom. She felt she wasn't being listened to about her symptoms. She went to the bathroom and realized she was in labor and I believe she delivered before the midwife came out."
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization (INMO) said that overcrowding has reached "crisis point".
Last week the INMO noted that seven pregnant women had to be catered for on trolleys in corridors in St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny, as there were no available beds.
"Midwives and nurses on the unit were stretched to the limit as they worked flat out to provide a safe level of care to the increased number of patients in their care," said Lorraine Monaghan, Industrial Relations Officer with INMO.
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« I'm Not Scared | Main | Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room »
Girl With A Pearl Earring
At the ripe age of 19, Scarlett Johansson has created a fertile Lolita allure for older men in three powerful movies. She was the alluring object of desire for Billy Bob Thornton in the Coen Brothers' "The Man Who Wasn't There." Johansson got Bill Murray's goat in Sophia Coppola's "Lost In Translation" and inspires Colin Firth (Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer) as Griet, a 17-year-old maid in Peter Webber's period drama "The Girl With The Pearl Earring." The film is an intriguing speculative account of the creation of one of Vermeer's most famous and sensual paintings. Every shot in the film looks like it was taken right out of a painting from Delft, Holland circa 1665 thanks to Director of Photography Eduardo Serra ("The Wings of the Dove") and Production Designer Ben Van Os ("The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover"). But it's Scarlett Johansson who turns the story with singular command of her exquisite acting instrument.
Rated PG-13. 95 mins. (B+) (Four Stars)
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Bible in Basic English (BBE) | New International Version (NIV) |
10 And not only so, but Rebecca being about to have a child by our father Isaac-- | 10 Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. |
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain. (The Bible in Basic English Version Online) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |


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Whether you're coming to town for family weekend or just a visit, here's all the information you'll need to get here and get around.
- How Do I Pay for College?
- Costs and Financial Assistance
- Apply for FAFSA
- Scholarships
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Register for the Parent Network
Help new Roanoke grads prepare for the real world by assisting with advising, interviewing, providing internships, etc. Register for the parent network now.
View photos from commencement 2012.
The Parent Leadership Council gives parents the opportunity to enhance the value of their children's education through advocacy, advisement and philanthropy.


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SpaFinder Releases Research on Industry Strengths
Posted: April 21, 2009
page 3 of 3
Learn more
SpaFinder's Spa Performance and Strategies in the Economy surveys provide further data on particular strategies being undertaken by the industry in 2009. For more information, go to www.spafinder.com.
About SpaFinder, Inc.
One of the world's largest spa media, marketing and gifting companies, SpaFinder, Inc. connects millions of wellness-focused consumers with thousands of spas worldwide. SpaFinder's media properties include the award-winning Spafinder.com, the Spa Enthusiast newsletter and the annual worldwide spa directory, Global SpaFinder. Spa Finder Gift Certificates and its new gift division, Spa & Salon Wish, offer spa gift certificates and cards that are redeemable at a combined network of more than 8,000 spas and salons worldwide and available at thousands of retail outlets. The company's software division innovates new solutions that help spas build and streamline their businesses, including the popular SpaBooker online booking system. SpaFinder Europe and SpaFinder Japan offer regional spa marketing and gifting programs, including localized, native-language Web sites. Founded in 1986, the privately held company is headquartered in Manhattan.


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It is with great dismay that the Bristol Township School Board voted to require a discriminatory union-only Project Labor Agreement (PLA) on the upcoming school construction projects. This requirement demands that all construction workers on these projects must be signatory to the respective trade union.
According to the latest U.S. Dept. of Labor statistics, 76 percent of construction workers in Pennsylvania choose to not be signatory to a construction union.


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2000 Honda Odyssey EX from North America
I would buy another Honda Van
Power steering pump was replaced in 2005. It was making a squealing sound at 90k.
The passenger side sliding door stopped working when someone was trying to open it from inside the car, and I was trying to unlock it from the driver's side.
After removing the fuse for the power door lock, without any success of getting it operating again, I removed fuse #13 for the clock for 30 seconds. BINGO, it worked!!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 2nd July, 2006


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Search Results for travel bags cover
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Canon EOS 6D Digital SLR Camera
the EOS Remote app), or even print your images on a Wi-Fi compatible printer. Perfect for travel ... in the EOS 6D without having to take it out of the bag, and easily transfer and save images directly from ... eal for travel or nature photography, the EOS 6D's built-in GPS can record longitude, latitude ... will see the exact route you travelled, and the map will show you where and when you took each image. ... and highlight detail with stunning tonal range. Adjustable to cover a range of ±3 stops, HDR... |
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photo by Romulo Yanes
Makes 4 to 6 servings
active time
45 min
total time
1 1/4 hr
- 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 (2- by 1-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, quartered
- 5 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- 5 1/3 cups water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
- 3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed
- 3 medium carrots, quartered lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
- 3 cups chopped trimmed spinach leaves (3 ounces)
- 1 cup frozen peas (not thawed)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
- Accompaniments: basmati rice; basmati rice; roasted cauliflower fresh cilantro sprigs
Heat 1/4 cup oil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook onion with 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, purée ginger, garlic, and 1/3 cup water in a blender. Add purée to golden onion and cook, stirring, until water is evaporated and oil visibly separates from onion mixture, about 5 minutes. Add curry powder, turmeric, and cumin and cook over low heat, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in lentils and remaining 5 cups water and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Add carrots and remaining teaspoon salt and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender and lentils have broken down into a coarse purée, 15 to 20 minutes.
Stir in spinach and peas and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until peas are tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in cilantro and season stew with salt and pepper. If necessary, add enough water to thin stew so that it can easily be ladled over rice.
Just before serving, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a small skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook cumin seeds and red-pepper flakes, stirring, until fragrant and a shade darker, 30 to 45 seconds (be careful not to burn spices). Pour hot spice oil in a swirl over stew.
Cooks' Note: Stew, without spinach, peas, cilantro, and spice oil, can be made ahead and chilled, uncovered, until completely cooled, then covered up to 5 days, or frozen 3 months. Reheat over moderately low heat, thinning with water to a pourable consistency and stirring frequently, before adding remaining ingredients.
my notes
recipe at a glance
main ingredients: Vegetable, Onion, Garlic, Ginger, Leafy Green, Herb
cuisine: Indian
dietary considerations: Vegetarian, Vegan


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The Rubin Manuel Valera / The New Cuban Express
Manuel Valera / The New Cuban Express
$18.00 in advance / $20.00 day of
Member Price: $16.20
Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer, and arranger Manuel Valera is at the forefront of contemporary modern jazz. He represents the next generation of great performers and composers. His sound is fresh, inviting, and evocative, and his goal is to forge innovative sounds that bring a vitality and newness to the idioms of jazz and Latin jazz. He is constantly workshopping musical ideas to develop new composition and arranging techniques that bring together Cuban, Puerto Rican, Brazilian, and various jazz styles and forms.
"It may be rare to hear a 23-year-old with the exploratory interests and tender touch of Valera, but it's an unalloyed pleasure to discover a young man so accomplished that his potential seems boundless. Pianist-composer Manuel Valera is, indeed, prime mover of this Forma Nueva." —Howard Mandel, President, Jazz Journalists Association


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NAD Electronics Preamplifier and Power Amplifier
May 9, 2009 2:49 PM
NAD Electronics introduces the C 165BEE stereo preamplifier and C 275BEE stereo power amplifier, complementary components that deliver reference-level performance for far less money than has previously been possible. The two components display attention to the minutest details, from their heavy-gauge-steel chassis and sophisticated power supplies to refinements straight from NAD's acclaimed Masters series components. Taken together, their improvements deliver the kind of high-quality performance that must be heard to be fully appreciated.
Read more about this product at The Briefing Room
Rotel Introduces New 15 Series Stereo Audio Components |
Barix Audio Over IP Devices Comprise Audio Distribution Network Across Large Shopping Mall In Portugal |
Acceptable Use Policy blog comments powered by Disqus


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- Better Roads - http://www.betterroads.com -
The Morbark 1300B Track Tub Grinder
Posted By admin On November 30, -0001 @ 12:00 am In Boomerang | No Comments
The Morbark 1300B Track Tub Grinder combines heavy-duty construction with the latest technology including the Morbark Integrated Control System or M.I.C.S. which allows the user to adjust feed rates to a variety of materials while optimizing fuel efficiency. The M.I.C.S. also allows you to monitor critical machine parameters from anywhere you can open your web browser. With a 330L Cat undercarriage, hydraulic augers and a laser-cut hammer mill, the 1300B is the most popular grinder on the market. For more information or to have one customized for your operation, please visit http://www.morbark.com or call 1-800-831-0042.
Article printed from Better Roads: http://www.betterroads.com
URL to article: http://www.betterroads.com/the-morbark-b-track-tub-grinder/
Click here to print.
Copyright © 2009 Better Roads. All rights reserved.


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I just used the "Celebrate It " brand of cupcake liner from Michaels. It smelled so bad after I baked in them!
It released a strong chemical type of odor...I will have to throw all 24 of the cupcakes away!
They were for my daughter's party tomorrow and looked cute, but how can Michaels sell such a terrible product. I have baked for many years and never once had wrappers that released an odor like these from Michaels.
Did anyone else have this experience?


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Part time Nurse Practitioner Schools in MASS??
0Dec 25, '08 by Thor77Hello everyone, I was wondering if anyone on this forum knew of any part-time NP programs in MA.? Almost finished with my RN-BSN. I work full time days as a ADON in a SNF and I am a single mother of two children. So I need my job during the day but REALLY want to continue on with my goal of becoming a Geriatric NP. Any thoughts or suggestions about this route, or anyone who has experienced this path with ideas I would love to here them. Thanks


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Nearly a year ago to the day, Bethesda Softworks entered into a long-term development deal with Enemy Territory: Quake Wars developer Splash Damage. Details on that project have been held under close wraps, with Bethesda surfacing to talk about the project only when Splash Damage adds a high-profile developer to its team. Such recent additions include Fable II lead designer Paul Ham and Killzone 2 lead level designer Neil Alphonso.
Intriguing trailer to say the least, hope its a good one! Stonerkid i agree that oblivion and fallout 3 are great games but it would get damn boring if developers who made great games only ever made new ones to the same formula. If developers have shown their ability to create good games, then i think we should encourage them to push boundaries of innovation. This of course will lead to some 'stinkers' but it will be worth it if there are then new, completely unique, innovative games. :)
Well it is bethesda so i expect something big from brink i think it will be a great game and the relase date is not far cool cool.
Great move, sounds like another DLC for us. Plus, Bethesda better keep developing things about Oblivion and FallOut coz these 2 franchises are a must for years to come. if i were at Bethesda, i'd start working on Oblivion's Game Engine :D
the best move would be to keep all future fallout and eldar scroll games exactly the way they are. There last 2 relases fallout 3 is perfect highly advanced grapichs and oblivion highly advanced grapichs dont really have to say highly advanced gameplay cause anyone who played them both would have no doubt that there gameplay is supreme. thats my 2 cents changeing those games would be like nukeing the earth theres no point in it
As long as they make more single player EDS and this it will be good. I might play this instead of WOW :P
i will be disappointed if elder scrolls 5 is multiplayer. it wont work. there, i said it
doesn't sound like bethesda is leaving much time or many resources to develop a single player TES5. :@ and @shawnanthony - at least oblivion was unique in that. in japanese rpgs the boys look like girls :P
no both as an MMO would be dreadful. fallout would be hailed as a tabula rasa rebound. oblivion wouldnt work either as its world is to vast for current teams to develope in any reasonable time frame let alone upkeep on servers. both would have too much work in them to do without pulling a ff11 (and going against its established grain in the wood). and furthermore anyone who hails a game as a WoW clone with no INDISPUTABLE evidence is an ignorant fool who cannot be reasoned with or is 13 years old (roughly).
The smart move would be to keep elder scrolls single player and make fallout a MMO. If they decide to do the elder scrolls it will end up being too similar to the way world of warcraft plays. Fallout would be somthing completely different.
Ok maybe my last comment was slightly misleading. I meant that making a new franchise would be awesome. I agree with everyone else that is shouldn't be solely MMO because that would be a stupid idea. I also would like it to be free but I have a feeling it won't...
I hope the character models are prettier in there MMO then in TES games. The girls look like boys in there games lol...
I agree with MuddVader and everyone that says that Elder Scrolls should be kept single-player. The Elder Scrolls story is good, but much of the incentive to get the next in the series would disappear if the ''do whatever you want to'' element would be hampered. Besides, there wouldn't be any monthly fees (considering Bethesda's reputation there most certainly will be) if it's single-player.
@RoboWizard I thought of a bunch of stuff to write, but people obviously dont like the stuff i say considering the red marks i get lol. so i'll say something simple, It would be a foolish mistake of the company, with their current fan base being strong, to take the game completely in a different direction when the reason they have those fans is because of their amazing single player games. They would be genius to take a simple hint from the FF series and say, "Online isnt the final solution" and were to continue with their games long after the MMO is released if indeed there is one to take place in the Elder Scrolls Universe. In other words, regardless, an MMO shouldnt be the final chapter in the TES series because its unethical to change genre for a final game when most of your fans arent just fans because of the story, but more the gameplay and freedom the game allows to do thing what when and how you wish.
Ozmosus: Yeah, Bethseda was leasing(or some other legal process that I don't understand) the rights for a Fallout MMO to Interplay, the original developer of the Fallout games. Interplay dropped the ball though, and Bethesda took it away(again, some legal stuff that I don't get). I would assume that they've decided to do it themselves. Hawkeye456: Seems likely.
isn't the MMOG Project V13 for the Fallout universe or is there going to be an MMOG for elder scrolls?
hmmm...at work on an MMO? well.. Bethesda announced they were going to make another elder scrolls quite a while ago now after Fallout 3 was released.. is this the new Elder Scrolls perhaps? I sure as hell hope so!!! :D It would certainly be an interesting take on the series, and hopefully would be as good as Oblivion was :)
@ confucioussayyo As far as I know Bethesda does not have the rights to make a Fallout MMO. Some other guys bought the rights to do that... can't remember which ones it was tho. Only thing I remember is that they bought the rights for the game and hired one of the big guys behind the original Fallout games. ... or something like that
I want to add something more, ok i don't say and elder scroll mmo will not be good but all fans of mmo's already playing on great mmo's like wow,aoc,warhammer,ffxi and others. And i don't thing they are in a hurry to just go and say ok i don't care for all the thousand hours i spent for this mmo i want to just throw everything and go to elder scrolls mmo. And second elder scrolls is and mazing single player, if they are dying to do something online do multiplayer not mmo dammit. On the other hand i think i undestand why many developer go and do mmo's this days cause with pirating and the economic crysis we have they just don't have the guts to just risk another great sp i mean face it there is more chance got more money and for longer time from an mmo.
They better not screw up the Elder Scroll franchise by making it a MMOG. That's what's happening to KOTOR. :( It would kinda ruin the fantasy for me to see an elf being controlled by some 12-year old going around tea bagging a bunch of dead guards.
@MuddVader: Assuming you're right, that this break to make an Elder Scrolls MMO (if it is in fact an Elder Scrolls MMO and not some new IP) does not spell the end for the Elder Scrolls series of single-player RPGS (a la Final Fantasy as opposed to WarCraft), then there is truly little for me to complain about. That said, there are still a FEW things I can complain about that I think are worth mentioning. The first and foremost of these being that any time they spend making this MMO will have, as others here have mentioned, the "Blizzard Effect" of slowing down (if not outright stopping) the development of other games in the series, potentially. The other thing for me is, and I'll freely admit it shows how much of a dork I am for this series I've come to know and love, but I couldn't help but feel like an MMO would mess up the canon something awful. Much in the way WoW has created this dilemma of "where do we go now?" for the universe, I can't imagine that creating a persistent game with a changing world would leave much room for creating a separate game, in the same world, with a definitive statement on what happens when this MMO ceases to be. In case that last bit didn't make a whole lot of sense, let me rephrase it by asking: how do we pick up a story set in this world from scratch for TESV without finishing the story of the MMO with a firm ending for the tales of these 100,000 or however many heroes? Maybe set it in the past? I don't know, but it'd be weird and awkward unless done with Shakespearean grace.
I really wouldn't be surprised if it is a elder scrolls mmo all the lore, Continent's,weapons,races, i really wouldnt be surprised ive played them all lol it would be kwl if they made it like the other games a fps/rpg/mmo and not a another 3rd person mmo i want something different! lol
Maybe Gamespot is wrong(imagine that), and this MMO is the Fallout MMO that Interplay screwed up. Either way, there had better be a single player ES as well. It doesn't have to come soon, but it has to come before or alongside either MMO. I think it should get priority now, after they finish all this DLC.
Instead of an Elder Scrolls MMO they should just add a multiplayer/LAN component to the existing Elder Scrolls formula just to add a co-op element, similar to something like Diablo II. Making an Elder Scrolls MMO would be taking it too far, the series is most enjoyable as a single player focused game.
Get Elder scrolls 4 on the PC. Proceed to download about 200 mods to get all the rubbish out of it. After afew hours work, bingo, There is your eldar scrolls 5. Seriously though. Oblivion on PC with mod's is amazing, (terrible on consoles vanilla) They would have their work cut out for them topping what you can do with the game now.
the Elder Scrolls is brilliant, and i hope that we will see an Elder Scrolls V sometime in the near future
Elder Scrolls is one of my all time favorite series. That being said, I would be completely up for an Elder Scrolls MMO. I have high expectations in MMO's however, being an endgame raider in WoW during burning crusade. As long as it is a great game, has a group component like instances/raiding I think Elder Scrolls is a prime candidate for an MMO. I would be very disappointed if ES: V was an MMO however. If they sacrifice the single player epic ES games for the MMO that would really annoy me. Playing MMO's and raiding is fun, but sometimes it's nice to just relax, play a single player game, do things at your own pace, pause the game when you get hungry, etc. It's been several years since Oblivion came out. Let's hear an announcent about the next ES soon Bethesda.
@RoboWizard: I don't agree with this sudden sprint to the multiplayer world of gaming. Don't get me wrong, I like certain games that survive off the multiplayer aspect, but the ES series would not feel the same if it were an MMO. On top of that, I think casual gamers are attracted to MP gaming opposed to SP, which is why companies are slashing into it. Just look how much money Blizzard pulls in with WoW ... and if you play WoW you will notice that 3 quarters of the people you play with our young gamers, often VERY young. This is why they make so much money, and this is why Bethesda and Bioware are "tapping into the MMO world." As much as we don't like the concept, it will probably happen. I just hope they don't take the ES series and throw it there. Bethesda SHOULD be smart enough to just create an all new franchise if and when they go MMO. Then they can simply reel in the cash to create that ES: V game we are anxiously waiting for. Aside of Dragon Age: Origins, I would be stoked if Bioware would begin to construct another Baldur's Gate title. ES and Baldur's Gate are two of the best SP RPG series in my opinion, hands down.
@RoboWizard, not to sounds rude, but dont play it than. In any case, i'm pretty sure that there will be a fifth oblivion and that this is just a whole nother project that they are going to use the Oblivion world for, I really doubt it, but imagine how insane an MMO would be if it had the fighting system of Oblivion, it would be amazing if they could pull that off with No more ATB bs, just good old fatigue and magika limiting what you can do. Though for people like you Robowizard, just pay no mind to this game, I'm sure the next true addition to the Elder Scrolls series will be just as great and single player aswell just like Oblivion, but with the next one i hope there is a form of multiplayer, because personally i think it would be insane to delve into dungeons and battle powerful monsters with pals.
@RoboWizard: Agreed wholeheartedly... while I wouldn't say I don't have the time for MMOs, per se, I'd rather play a diverse selection of games than feel tied to one because I'm paying a subscription fee for it. I also reject the notion that gaming HAS to be a social experience... sometimes I come home from work and don't want anything to do with anyone and would rather just play a single player game. And I don't really see too much of a point to MMOs anyway... it's sortof like after you beat GTA and you just run around blowing stuff up. As fun as that is, Rockstar wouldn't get my $60 if it didn't have the single player component and they surely wouldn't get a subscription fee. Personally, I'd rather see another single player RPG from Bethesda than an MMO... like a new Sea Dogs or even a new IP. I'd really like to see Bethesda so a samurai game... sortof like Way of the Samurai meets Fallout 3.
Back in the days of Morrowind, I never would have thought that single player gaming would be such dying niche, yet here we are. To the best of my knowledge, there are only two companies that make good western RPGs these days (Bioware and Bethesda), and now I come to find out that they're both trying to tap into the saturated MMO market I have no interest of participating in. I understand that some think it's close-minded of me to "knock it before I've tried it," but here's the deal: I have a job and am a full-time college student with virtually no time to kick back and enjoy games, so when I get the opportunity, I enjoy it, but I could never see myself having enough time to justify commititng regular payments, effectively forcing me to find to play the game so I don't waste my investment. I'm sure my situation holds for a lot of people. Beyond that, I just really want a good immersive single-player experience, and specifically a fifth Elder Scrolls game that sticks to the proven formula of "do anything you want in this massive world with real lasting consequences." As opposed to any MMO, that requires a suspension of disbelief on the part of the player every time they slay some demon, only to have it spawn again in a minute.
Sounds like a pretty good team of developers on this "Brink" game. Can't wait to hear more about it.
yeah i wouldnt want a MMO, if i did, id play WOW, and ive never played WOW, because i dont like MMO. I love elderscrolls just the way it is. If theres a way to play single player, as well as online , im down. I dont care really as long as i have my own single experience.
Okassar, there's nothing wrong with judging the IDEA of an Elder Scrolls MMO... my opinion on the THOUGHT of an Elder Scrolls MMO is "Bethesda, please don't ruin a good thing!" For me, the Elder Scrolls series is the best series of RPG games, making the 5th one an MMO would cut short that glorious sequence of amazing games. I love MMOs, but I love offline RPGs as well and I don't want the would-be next greatest RPG to be an MMO. I'll leave that to SWtOR.
Thats the end of the elder scrolls series..Look at how long it took blizzard to make diablo 3 an starcraft..SInce wow came out it was on the back burner..Elder scrools is there money maker..Why do this..There is enough mmorpgs out in the market..The only one ive been interested at all of is star trek online...Let the mmorpg market die already..
As gamers, we shouldn't be so conservative,we should open up to new ideas that developers think will work out. If Bethesda plans on making an Elder Scrolls MMO, don't judge the idea until the actual game is released. Good God.
mmo...ill pass...might change idea if fallout mmo is good enough to make me change idea !!!
well i dont have to worry about elder scrolls 5 being an mmo cuz i dont even like elder scrolls games!
It would ruin the Elder Scrolls series if they would make it into an mmo.It just would not feel right, and It being single player only is one of the reasons I like the Elder Scrolls.Its nice not having people running around calling everyone noobs as well as not having to deal with monthly fees, and many other things as well.Plus it feels like a much more unique experience.another thing is that most mmo games stories are pretty shallow if they really have one at all and the Elder Scrolls games are sorta known for the exact opposite of that... so hopefully they are not.Thought I doubt they will or are.but if they do or are maybe it will stand out from other mmo games that are currently out.


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Hi everyone,
I'm just doing a pulse check. Any interest in participating in a tomato and pepper group seed swap? I am thinking of coordnating one later in November. It would be for named varieties of any tomatoes or peppers. Would it be fair to say a minimum of 10 seeds per trade? If you send peppers in, you get peppers in return. If you send in tomatoes, you get tomatoes in return (unless you state you're open to either in return). I have a bunch of commercial orders coming in and thought it might be fun to coordinate a swap. Post here if this sounds like something you'd like to participate in. If I get 10 or more people interested, we will proceed with the swap. |
Follow-Up Postings:
If you get enough people, I would be open to participating in a swap like this! |
I'd love to participate in this swap. |
Hey there you, I am totally in!! Pulse is still strong here... |
"Would it be fair to say a minimum of 10 seeds per trade? " That sounds fair. Do you want to limit the # of packets of seeds, and the # of packets per same variety? |
I'm hoping to see a bit more interest in doing this exchange. I may post a note on Dave's garden as well to see if we can get any international gardeners would be interested in participating. Mayeeta, you're right, we will likely need to limit the number of packets sent and amount of the same type sent to ensure variety. I'll wait a couple more weeks after posting a note on dave's garden before finalizing. Once we have a good indiation of how many are interested in swapping, we'll know what guidelines need to be put in place. Thanks...Heather |
- Posted by niagara_jim Niagara, Canada (My Page) on Mon, Oct 20, 08 at 20:39
Count me in for swapping tomato seeds! |
Hi I would be interested in swapping tomato seeds for peppers. I have many varieties of heirloom tomatoes. I think this is a great idea :) Jen |
Count me in too! growjo |
We have enough interest to proceed so I a closing off this posting. If you are interested in participating, please post at this link http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/excan/?26290 Thanks....Heather |
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Just started a new job this month, but not eligible for the new 401K plan for 6 months. Normally I would be putting in my max in my previous 401K, plus max in a Roth IRA. I contributed less than half so far in the 401k from my old job, What options, if any, would be available to me to maintain my (401K)savings for retirement? Is there a max on a non-taxable IRA contributions? Is there a a better option for tax reduction to replace my (pre-tax) 401k saving? |
Follow-Up Postings:
If you have a 15-20 yr timeline before retirement, contribute up to $4K in 2007 to a Roth IRA. If you are past 50, you can do $5K, but carefully consider how long before you retire, to decide whether to contribute to a Roth or Regular IRA. If you have already maxed out for 2007 on your IRA contributions, you CAN contribute after-tax money. However, you need to keep records on how much after tax money is contribute to your IRA **forever**, and I do mean forever. Your fund manager will not be able to ever tell you how much after tax dollars were contributed to a Regular or Roth IRA because they don't separate deposit records in that fashion (any more than a bank would). Once you start drawing out your IRA funds, it is up to you to prove to the IRS that some of that money was after tax dollars, not pre-tax dollars. Another way to do it would be to start a separate IRA just for after-tax dollars, but that may complicate your recordkeeping. It's up to you how you choose to do it. |
jkom, I'm confused. I thought there was a limit to IRA contributions of $4000 a year ($5000 if one is over 50) period. The second sentence in your post sounds like you can contribute more than that amount. Were you referring to making contributions in excess of the amount allowed after taking phaseout for Roth IRAs or traditional deductible IRAs that is based on modified AGI? To the best of my knowledge and a quick check of one reference, the limit for IRA contributions to Roth IRAs, traditional deductible and traditional non-deductible is the limit you and I previously noted. Contributions in excess of those amounts are penalized at 6%. If you know something I don't, please tell me. I'm always ready to learn. To the original poster, I don't know of any way to contribute money to a retirement plan outside of your employer other than an IRA. Someone else may have a strategy, but I'm not aware of one. |
jlhug, I apologise - you are correct that one cannot make after tax contributions to an IRA. I should have been clearer on this issue. You can, however, make after tax contributions to a 401k (when eligible to contribute, which the OP is currently not) and the entire kit and caboodle can, upon leaving the employers' plan, be rolled into an Individual IRA. This is where the permanent record keeping of pre-tax and after-tax contributions comes into play. |
Thanks - but I guess I am confused again on several points. 1) I do have a separate account for a roth IRA created a few years ago. I was hoping to contribute the max $5k, to my Roth and the max $5K to a reg IRA (after tax), in addition to what i already contributed to my old 401K (which I will be rolling over into an IRA account.) Is there a limit on what the yearly total of the three account contributions can be? 2) Since I was previously putting about 30-35% of my income into my 401K in previous years, trying to get as close to the max as I could, i am worried about a big tax hit this year (6 months of full income with no 401K deductions to reduce it), so was looking for an option to reduce my tax bite. 3) If need to keep all my pre and post tax IRA records, it sounds like I will have a lot to do on retiring in 5-8 years, going thru all my old IRA records (hmmm, about 30 years worth of monthly statements from a variety of companies), I had thought this was true, but apparantly I got some bad advice from an accountant a few years ago, who assured me there was no reason to keep all my various accounts (pension and 401K rollovers, and post and pre tax iras) separate. Argh! such fun to look forward to - but I am pretty sure I saved most everything - got the cardboard boxes to prove it. |
Surfergal, you can put a total of $4000 total into IRAs either all in a traditional, all in a Roth or any combination that you choose. The limit is $5000 if you are over the age of 50 but you can still only contribute a total of $5000 to IRAs. You cannot put $5000 in a traditional AND $5000 in a Roth. Does your employer's 401k plan limit your contributions to a percent of each paycheck? |
so far they given me no info on the 401k other than I will not be eligble for 6 months. hopefuly I can contribute the max for Nov and Dec. thx again |
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Note: Don't reply to this message or anything like it. It's a scam!
Madam Purity Qaume
Nov. 19, 2012
Madam Purity Qaume My Dear, It is my pleasure to contact you for a business venture which I and my Son Harrison intend to establish in your country. Though I have not met with you before but I believe one has to risk confiding in succeed sometimes in life. I can confide on you for the brighter future of my Son since you are a human being like me. There is this huge amount of Ten Million five hundred thousand United States dollars. ($10.500.000.00) which my late Husband kept for us with a Security Company here in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire before he was assassinated by unknown persons, Now I and my son Harrison have decided to invest these money in your country or anywhere safe enough for security and political reasons. We want you to help us claim and retrieve this fund from the Security Company and transfer it into your personal account in your country for investment purposes in your country in these areas: 1). Telecommunication 2). The transport Industry 3). Five Star Hotel 4). Tourism 5). Real Estate If you can be of an assistance to us we will be pleased to offer to you 20% of the total fund. I await your soonest response. Respectfully yours, Mrs Purity Qaume and son Harrison.


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Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Williams to present lecture as Cooper Award winner
Contact for more information:
Wendy Knipe Bredhold Media Relations Specialist, News & Information Services 812/461-5259 Focusing exclusively on teaching, the Cooper award honors a USI faculty member whose work in University Core courses has been especially creative and successful in furthering UCC goals. Williams teaches hundreds of Core Curriculum students in SOC 121: Principles of Sociology and GNDR 111: Introduction to Gender Studies each year. In nominating Williams for the award, Dr. Stephen Zehr, professor of sociology, praised Williams for his success in engaging students in classes of 200 or more. "He meets this challenge through a diversified approach that substantively emphasizes a strong foundation in sociological theory and the development of what C. Wright Mills has called a sociological imagination. He brings information to students but also a very different way of thinking about the social world that complements other educational and everyday experiences." A native of Canada, Williams holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Alberta and a Ph.D. from Carleton University. He joined USI in 2000. He is a member of the Pacific Sociological Association, North Central Sociological Association, International Association for the Study of Popular Music, National Women's Studies Association, and Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association. The Cooper award is named in honor of H. Lee Cooper, long-time friend and supporter of USI. The award was presented at the Fall Faculty and Administrative Staff Meeting in August. It includes a generous stipend, a plaque, and additional monies for travel and related faculty development. Williams' name will also be inscribed on the permanent H. Lee Cooper Core Curriculum Teaching Award plaque on display in the David L. Rice Library. |


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Find out here which breeds have achieved top honors for being the smartest canines around. Maybe your breed makes the list!
Cities can be noisy, crowded, and sometimes dangerous places for dogs. You'll want to choose a doggie companion who can thrive in your exciting environment as well as you do.
While looking for dogs who don't shed may having you barking up the wrong tree (since all dogs with fur shed at least a little), you might try your luck with a short haired dog that requires minimal grooming. These dogs are all low maintenance when it comes to brushing.
The rough and tumble Australian Cattle Dog may not overtly show signs that they aren't feeling well. Learn what their coat may be telling you.
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The United Kennel Club recognizes over 300 dog breeds and varieties. Find out which ones they recognize, some of which you may not have heard of before!
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Everyone loves a big soft dog they can nuzzle into. However, will all of that hair comes a lot of shedding. Find out here which dogs shed the most compared to other breeds.
The Australian Cattle dog is a medium sized dog, generally happy and healthy. Learn more about this breed and their particular health needs.
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« May 2011 Table of Contents
With just a little more than a year under his belt as director of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Eric Schwaab seems quite comfortable in the deep end. Last May, East Coast fishermen began working under a new set of rules called sector-based management, which set strict catch limits on popular, iconic groundfish species like cod, haddock and flounder to ensure their long-term sustainability. While the new regulatory regime has been the source of considerable consternation, Schwaab says it's bound to work. After all, catch shares have worked in other regions like Alaska.
I met with Schwaab at the International Boston Seafood Show in March — where he announced that all domestic fisheries are on the path to sustainability — to discuss his first year on the job, how important good science is to the implementation of tough regulations and the progress that NMFS has made in ending overfishing in domestic waters.
SCHWAAB: We know that fishermen are embracing them as time goes on. We see evidence of that in fisheries all over the country. The important thing for us, particularly in New England, is to separate the challenges associated with setting catch limits that end overfishing and ensure the rebirth of stocks from the implementation of the management tool, which is sector-based management in this case, and catch shares. So, what we think that sector-based management does here is focus our attention on controlling the output of the catch. That unleashes the innovation and the business acumen of the fishermen to do a better job to more effectively run their businesses, minimize bycatch, maximize the harvest and the dockside value of the targeted catch and thereby continue to manage businesses effectively. So, despite the fact that, across the groundfish fisheries, catches are down because of rebuilding requirements, revenue is up. Now we don't want to attribute that necessarily entirely to sector-based management, but we think it is part of it.
Well I think we have to start with a shared understanding of the status of the stocks, so science and acceptance of the validity of the science is the foundation of any kind of conversation around management. And then you, at the other end of the spectrum, recognize the shared goals at hand, which is sustainable stocks producing at a high level. One of the things we often lack is that shared starting point. But if you have that shared starting point, if you have a commitment to and investment in the science, then moving from that foundation to the business opportunities associated with well-managed fisheries is less challenging.
First of all, it was the [Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act] that set the deadlines to end overfishing and to rebuild stocks, and we have been, along with the councils and fishermen all across the country, aggressive in pursuing that work. And we are very satisfied with the progress we have already made. We have put in place or will by the end of this year have put in place catch limits and accountability measures for all the major domestic fisheries to ensure not only ending of overfishing but prevent occurrence of overfishing and in the case where rebuilding is necessary to achieve that rebuilding.
There are many facets of that, some of which is sort of sharing databases and understanding and accounting for points of origin more aggressively internationally.
There is obviously, clearly, a big enforcement component of that and we've faced, over the last year or so, a lot of challenges with respect to our enforcement program and we are doubling our efforts to make sure that we have a fair and effective enforcement program that not only protects and maintains a level playing field for fishermen within domestic fisheries but for U.S. fishermen in global markets. And of course another piece of that is the capacity to build overseas. We do spend a fair amount of time — and it's time and money well spent — working with our counterparts around the world to help them build the kind of capacity to conduct the kind of enforcement programs to achieve the global compliance I think we all want.
That's a big question. We've made a lot of tough ones. It's difficult to pick out just one. All of the decisions that we make that affect U.S. fishermen, family businesses and local communities are tough decisions.
And while there are statutory reasons that we have to take some of these steps and there are long-term business reasons why it's important to take these steps, the impact of many of these decisions today in local communities, it's tough, and we recognize it. It's certainly tougher for those communities than it is for us. It's something that we live with.
Well, around the country we deal with tough management decisions all the time. We also deal with protective resource issues like sea turtles, marine mammals, endangered species, habitat issues — it all converges and goes way beyond fishery management.


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Aug 21, 2013 12:35 PM by NBC News
(KFOR) Three Duncan, Oklahoma teens have now been charged in the alleged "murder for fun" of the Australian student gunned down over the weekend.
Authorities said the teenagers allegedly conspired to kill an East Central University baseball player out of "boredom."
Duncan police said one of the juvenile suspects confessed to the crime.
Officials in Stephens County have charged 15-year-old James Edwards Jr. and 16-year-old Chancey Luna with first-degree murder. Because they are juveniles, they cannot receive the death penalty, but they could spend life in prison.
In addition, 17-year-old Michael Jones is facing two felony counts of discharging a weapon and accessory to murder after the fact. He is being charged as a juvenile.
The victim was 22-year-old Christopher Lane, a native of Australia.
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