Ever feel so bushwhacked that you tell someone you’re “half asleep”? Well, it turns out you probably were. Researchers have found that parts of your brain actually do turn off when you’re fatigued—sometimes even before you’re consciously aware that you’re tired, according to a new study. These slumbering neurons…
Continue reading …A little bright spot amid the tornado devastation : A woman in Trenton, Ga., tells WRCB-TV that she and her two daughters survived by climbing into a tanning bed in the family’s newly opened salon. “We just laid there for a few minutes,” says Lisa Rice. “I kept telling them just…
Continue reading …OK, so technically he’s an alien, but really, what’s more American than Superman? Heck, even his outfit is red and blue. But after years of fighting for “truth, justice, and the American way,” the Man of Steel announced he’s going to renounce his US citizenship in Action Comics #900 . It…
Continue reading …A new iPhone app in Philadelphia reverses the typical Big Brother roles. The city controller wants citizens to use the app, called Philly Watchdog , to report evidence of government waste and corruption, reports Fast Company . That could mean sending photos or video of city workers on long lunch breaks or…
Continue reading …At Ed’s Martian Book in New York City, you can buy one book and only one book. That book is Martian Summer: Robot Arms, Cowboy Spacemen, and My 90 Days With the Phoenix Mars Mission , about 3,000 copies of which are propped up in the front window and around…
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Conservative commentators and bloggers react with disgust to the DC Comics superhero’s decision After years of declaring he stood for “truth, justice and the American way,” Superman has provoked the ire of rightwingers by threatening to renouce his US citizenship. In the latest issue of Action Comics, which went on sale on Wednesday, the Man of Steel decides to take the step after he intervenes in a protest against the Iranian government. After the Islamic regime brands his non-violent protest as an act of war taken on behalf of the US president, the DC comic hero says he will renounce his citizenship before the United Nations . “I’m tired of having my actions construed as instruments of US policy,” he says. Although Superman never actually renounces his citizenship in the story, conservative commentators reacted with disgust. In a blogpost at The Weekly Standard, senior writer Jonathan Last questioned Superman’s beliefs , now that he seems to have rejected the United States. “Does he believe in British interventionism or Swiss neutrality?” Last wrote. “You see where I’m going with this: If Superman doesn’t believe in America, then he doesn’t believe in anything.” Posters on comic book discussion forums drew parallels between the superhero’s doubts about his citizenship and the conspiracy theories about Barack Obama’s nationality . Several posters branded conservative critics of the storyline “Earthers” – a reference to the Birthers – the nickname for the rightwingers who have questioned Obama’s citizenship. The plot comes as the superhero from the planet Krypton, who was raised by a Kansas farmer and his wife, looks to take on a more global mission for his battle against injustice. “The world’s too small. Too connected,” Superman says. Superman, who was first introduced in 1938, has a long association with the United States, although Joe Shuster, the artist who helped create the character with writer Jerry Siegel, was born in Canada. Superman’s life story of assimilating into US culture has been seen as a metaphor for the immigrant experience, particularly Jewish immigrants. DC Comics co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio appeared to downplay their character’s declaration in a joint statement. “In a short story in Action Comics 900, Superman announces his intention to put a global focus on his never ending battle, but he remains, as always, committed to his adopted home and his roots as a Kansas farm boy from Smallville,” they said. In a story published in 1974 Superman was granted citizenship of every member country of the United Nations . Comics and graphic novels United States David Batty guardian.co.uk
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Guilty pleas will spare Dugard, now 30, and her daughters from having to testify at a trial A convicted sex offender and his wife have pleaded guilty in California to kidnapping and raping Jaycee Dugard when she was 11 and holding her captive for nearly 20 years. Phillip Garrido, who had two children with Dugard, faces a maximum sentence of 431 years in prison while his wife, Nancy, could be jailed for 36 years. The guilty pleas are part of a deal with prosecutors that will spare Dugard, now 30, and her daughters from having to testify at a trial. “I’m relieved Phillip and Nancy Garrido have finally acknowledged their guilt and confessed to their crimes against me and my family,” she said in a statement. Dugard and her children, now 13 and 16, were kept in a hidden compound of backyard tents and sheds for 18 years, never attending school or receiving medical attention. Garrido, 60, pleaded guilty to 14 kidnapping and sexual assault charges. Nancy Garrido, 55, who originally faced the same charges as her husband, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and one count of rape. She is technically eligible for parole, but county District Attorney Vern Pierson said it was “extraordinarily unlikely” she would ever be released from prison. Pierson said the plea deal was only possible because Dugard was willing to testify about her experiences in captivity. He said he spoke with her on Wednesday, and she remained willing to take the witness stand but was reluctant to put her children through the ordeal. “Frankly, I’m relieved that this means that that will not happen,” Pierson said. “Should her children be called and drug [sic] into all of this was something that I don’t think any mother in her right mind would want to see.” Both defendants waived their right to appeal and are due to be sentenced on 2 June. Dugard was snatched from her family’s South Lake Tahoe street in June 1991 while walking to a school bus stop. Her disappearance prompted a massive search, nationwide publicity and one of the largest police investigations in the region. The case attracted international attention after Dugard surfaced in August 2009. She and her children were discovered in August 2009 when Phillip Garrido took them to a meeting with his parole officer. Dugard has been reunited with her mother and has remained in California with her and her daughters. She requested privacy and has not attended any of the court hearings. She is writing her memoirs, which are expected to be published in September. Dugard’s case revealed problems with California’s sex offender monitoring system, which has since been reformed. She received a $20m (£12m) settlement under which the state acknowledged parole agents responsible for monitoring Garrido had missed numerous clues and chances to find her. United States David Batty guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Dozens of states are investigating the possibility that major insurance companies have been less than conscientious about paying out life insurance benefits for their dead customers. The investigations began when 35 states signed up for an auditing firm’s offer to look for unclaimed life insurance benefits that could be seized…
Continue reading …President Obama “stared deep into political irrationality” yesterday and offered up his long-form birth certificate —in what the New York Times calls “a profoundly low and debasing moment in American political life” in an editorial today. Here was a president who, more than halfway through his term and with far…
Continue reading …Why did Barack Obama leave the United States, and his young son, returning just once to visit the future president? The Immigration and Naturalization Service file on the elder Obama , obtained by the Arizona Independent through a FOIA request, sheds some light on the mystery. On Capital New York , Andrew…
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