Let’s start with some basic facts. The United States of America, land of the free, home of the brave, has 4.4% of the world’s population and 22% of the people incarcerated.1 That works out to be 716 men and women per 100,000 of the national population. Compared to other Western democracies the U.S. is grotesquely out of line; Denmark is 73 out of 100,000; Norway is 72 per 100,000; Germany is 79, France is 98, the entire United Kingdom is 348. We hear about how large and dreadful the prisons of North Korea, Russia, or China are, but the truth is no other country on earth has anything like the American gulag.2
Let’s break it down further. As of April 2019, The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1719 state prisons, 109 federal prisons, 1772 juvenile correctional facilities, 3163 local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military […]
Clémence Michallon, - Independent (U.K.)
Stephan: "A “training exercise” for cadet
prison guards that required female
inmates to expose their genitals has been deemed legal. Menstruating inmates had to remove their tampons and sanitary pads in front of others, were not given replacements, and many got blood on their bodies and clothing and blood on the floor."
I really don't know what country I live in anymore, certainly not the country all politicians describe. Here's how an English newspaper now describes the United States.
Women prisoners
Credit: Common Dreams
A “training exercise” for cadet prison guards that required female inmates to expose their genitals has been deemed legal.
The exercise took place at the Lincoln Correctional Centre in Illinois in 2011. A court of appeals delivered its ruling on the case earlier this week.
Inmates, according to court papers, “were required to stand naked, nearly shoulder to shoulder with eight-10 other inmates in a room where they could be seen by others not conducting the searches, including male officers.
“Menstruating inmates had to remove their tampons and sanitary pads in front of others, were not given replacements, and many got blood on their bodies and clothing and blood on the floor.
“The naked inmates had to stand barefoot on a floor dirty with menstrual blood and raise their breasts, lift their hair, turn around, bend over, spread their buttocks and vaginas, and cough.”
The searches, as noted by dissenting District Judge John Z Lee in a court filing, took place in a beauty shop […]
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Amby Burfoot, - Science alert
Stephan: Finally, we are getting real data on the connection between processed foods and health, or rather illness.
Nearly everyone these days seems to be promoting whole foods over processed foods. Think about how terms like ‘whole grain’, ‘clean eating’, ‘all natural’, ‘functional’ and ‘local’ have taken over the lexicon.
Yet, until now, there has been scant scientific evidence to support the eat-whole-foods movement.
In recent weeks, the British Medical Journal published two new populations studies (study 1; study 2) that found a lower risk of heart disease risks and greater longevity among adults who eat less processed food. And a far more rigorous investigation from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) showed that subjects eating ultra-processed foods consumed significantly more calories and gained more weight than the same subjects when they ate minimally processed or whole foods.
The NIH paper, published in Cell Metabolism in an issue dated August 6, also offered some surprising theories to explain the benefits of minimally processed foods. At the same time, it acknowledged that ultra-processed foods make several important contributions to the nation’s diet.
The NIH research was led by Kevin Hall, a mathematical modeler who has become a global obesity expert in the past […]
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Henry Bodkin, Science Correspondent -
Stephan: What most people eat is not only killing them, it is also making it very difficult for men to procreate. But boy is it profitable for the corporations that make this crap.
Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA
Male fertility is being irreversibly damaged by a diet of western junk food by the time men reach 18, a study has found.
A groundbreaking investigation has established that teenagers who favour high-fat and processed foods like pizzas, chips and snacks are killing off sperm-producing cells that can never be replaced.
It showed that a diet dominated by fish, chicken, vegetables and fruit is best is for protecting those cells and ensuring healthy levels of sperm.
Sperm counts have been declining in recent decadesand various studies have pointed to poor diet as a significant cause.
However, they have tended to focus on older men – those in their late 20s, 30s and 40s who are struggling to conceive.
By contrast, the new Harvard University investigation shows for the first time that poor diet while growing up may reduce a man’s chances of fathering children for the rest of his life.
Experts believe processed food starved of […]
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