Death Row Millionaires? Nah.

Cecil has all the answers:
The Straight Dope: Have any millionaires ever been executed in the United States?: "Prosecutors often don't even pursue the death penalty against the rich--think O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake, Phil Spector, and John du Pont (of the chemical du Ponts). You needn't hire a Johnnie Cochran or a Clarence Darrow to get the treatment. An analysis of Georgia cases showed that prosecutors were almost twice as likely to ask for the death penalty when the defendant couldn't afford a lawyer. Nationwide an estimated 90-plus percent of those arrested for capital crimes are too poor to retain experienced private counsel. In Kentucky, a quarter of death row inmates were defended by lawyers who were later disbarred (or resigned to avoid disbarment); other states are similar. A few states have offices dedicated to providing a proper defense for capital defendants, but a Texas jurist summed up the attitude elsewhere: 'The Constitution does not say that the lawyer has to be awake.' So is it cynical to oppose the death penalty on such grounds? Nah. Just realistic."

What Effect Reading Has on Our Minds - MSN Encarta

What Effect Reading Has on Our Minds - MSN Encarta: "Here are two facts that probably won't surprise you: Reading makes you smarter, and the more reading you do, the better.

Why this is so and how the magic happens, though, is quite interesting.

In a paper called What Reading Does for the Mind, Anne E. Cunningham, associate professor of cognition and development at the University of California, Berkeley, makes the case that reading:

* increases vocabulary more than talking or direct teaching;

* substantially boosts general knowledge while decreasing the likelihood that misinformation will be absorbed; and

* helps keep our memory and reasoning abilities intact as we age."

CNN report on Al-Zarqawi death

General Caldwell sounds convinced but apparently he does not know that Muslims are prohibitted from having tattoos.

CNN.com - 'Painstaking' operation led to strike on al-Zarqawi - Jun 8, 2006: "Al-Zarqawi's body was taken to a secure location, visually identified by 'scars and tattoos consistent with what had been reported and what we knew about him,' and by fingerprints, Caldwell said. 'We have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Zarqawi was in the house. It was 100 percent identification.'"

CNN report on Al-Zarqawi death

General Caldwell sounds convinced but apparently he does not know that Muslims are prohibitted from having tattoos.

CNN.com - 'Painstaking' operation led to strike on al-Zarqawi - Jun 8, 2006: "Al-Zarqawi's body was taken to a secure location, visually identified by 'scars and tattoos consistent with what had been reported and what we knew about him,' and by fingerprints, Caldwell said. 'We have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Zarqawi was in the house. It was 100 percent identification.'"

Honduras has 9.5 Times the Murder Rate of NYC

Dominican Today: "Violent deaths in Honduras up by 14.7 percent so far this year

Tegucigalpa.– The violent death rate in Honduras was up by 14.7 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2005, according to a study released Tuesday in this capital.

In the year's first quarter, police reported 1,308 violent deaths, 168 more than in the first three months of 2005, said the study prepared by the Observatorio de la Violencia in Honduras.

The study says that men between 15 and 24 years of age are the main victims of violence in this country.

Honduras has a population of 7 million people, about the same as New York City, which had fewer than 550 murders last year. Much of the violence here is blamed on youth gangs."

Leader of Honduras Gang Escapes From Jail

Leader of Honduras Gang Escapes From Jail: "Leader of Honduras Gang Escapes From Jail

By FREDDY CUEVAS
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 6, 2006; 11:59 PM

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- A leader of a violent kidnapping gang that abducted and killed the son of a former Honduran president was among four inmates who escaped from a prison outside the capital on Tuesday.

The prisoners used makeshift saws to cut through the bars of their cells at the National Penitentiary outside Tegucigalpa. A rainstorm muffled the sound of the escape, but guards may also have been involved, prison director Rafael Castro told reporters"

Backstory: How to get into Harvard by almost trying | csmonitor.com

Backstory: How to get into Harvard by almost trying | csmonitor.com: "Backstory: How to get into Harvard by almost trying
By Chuck Cohen
Are your child's SAT scores lower than Dick Cheney's approval ratings? Is junior's grade-point average only visible with a magnifying glass? Is there a definite absence of participation in sports, clubs, and charitable work to put on that college application? Then perhaps it's time you paid good money for Mr. Chuck's 'This Way To Harvard,' the college admission service that will overcome laughable test scores, mediocre grades, and the lack of any application-worthy activity other than intense pouting.

Is Mr. Chuck expensive? You better believe it. But to show why it makes sense for you to take out a second mortgage and sell the family heirlooms to get your child into a prestigious college, we invite you to read our case histories. By creating new personas for nonpersona children, the Mr. Chuck Ivy League admission rate has soared almost as high as Mr. Chuck's bank account."

Professors want their classes 'unwired' | csmonitor.com

Professors want their classes 'unwired' | csmonitor.com: "Learning
from the May 04, 2006 edition

Professors want their classes 'unwired'
By Maia Ridberg | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
NEW YORK – When Don Herzog, a law professor at the University of Michigan, asked his students questions last year, he was greeted with five seconds of silence and blank stares.

He knew something was wrong and suspected he knew why. So he went to observe his colleagues' classes - and was shocked at what he found."

Civilian deaths prompt 'values' refresher - Jun 2, 2006

CNN.com - Civilian deaths prompt 'values' refresher - Jun 2, 2006: "WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Don't leave wounded enemies to die. Don't desecrate the dead. Don't cause unnecessary suffering. Don't steal things while searching private homes. And don't photograph detainees, especially when they're hooded.

These mandates may seem like common sense, or at least common courtesy, but reports of U.S. troops killing civilians in Iraq have prompted the military to offer all Iraqi-based troops a refresher course on 'the importance of professional military values.'

Along with the aforementioned values, the 38-slide presentation includes other tidbits, such as ones reminding troops that theft, war crimes and prisoner abuse are considered 'acts inconsistent with common values.'"

Honduras: UN experts concerned at detention, police powers in justice system

And the United States is not much better when it comes to its own extra-legal detentions.

Honduras: UN experts concerned at detention, police powers in justice system: "Honduras: UN experts concerned at detention, police powers in justice system

2 June 2006 – Despite improvements in the judicial system in Honduras, the continued remand detention of nearly 2,000 people, some for more than 10 years, and the “excessive power” of police in the criminal justice system remain matters of concern, according to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Government officials assured the experts they were aware of the problems and committed to continuing and strengthening the reform process, Group Chairperson Leila Zerrougui, an Algerian judge, told a news conference in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, at the end of as visit to the Central American country.

“The Working Group is encouraged by these assurances and hopes that the Government will be able to address some of the concerns expressed already before it adopts its final report on the visit at the beginning of September,” Ms. Zerrougui said.

The Group, whose other member was Spanish judge Manuela Carmena Castrillo, noted that the new criminal procedure code, which entered into force in 2002, had resulted without any doubt in greater transparency of judicial proceedings and a reduction of the delays in the administration of justice.

The share of prisoners held without sentence, which in 2002 amounted to 92 per cent, has shrunk to approximately 62 per cent by March.

But the experts expressed concern with regard to the discrimination to which at least 1,800 persons in remand detention under the old criminal procedure code are subjected. They have been deprived of their freedom without being found guilty of a crime for at least four years – and in some cases more than 10 years.

Among the pre-trial detainees held under the old criminal procedure are persons who were acquitted by the first instance court but continue to be detained because the prosecution has appealed the acquittal. “Their detention is doubly arbitrary,” the experts concluded.

The Group also noted that prosecutors exercise only weak control over the investigative police. As the police also run the prison system, they exercise physical control over all persons in detention at all stages, and not only during the first 24 hours while they are in the holding cells of police stations.

The experts voiced concerns over the Government’s strategy to fight the violent youth gangs, citing its apparent nearly exclusive reliance on repression and marginalization, as well as occasionally on unlawful means, while making no efforts to try to reintegrate into society the thousands of adolescents and young adults belonging to these groups."

Deportations to Honduras

DesMoinesRegister.com: "Everyone who wants to 'round up' illegal immigrants and 'send them home,' should consider the case of Estephanie Izaquirre, who is sitting in the Polk County Jail today.

The 18-year-old parentless teenager came to the United States illegally from Honduras when she was 13. She was able to remain here by using a provision in the law allowing child immigrants to get a green card. She started to build a life. She made friends. Spent time with family, including an uncle who is a Des Moines school principal. She graduated from East High School in Des Moines this spring.

Then she turned 18. The next day, her attorney, Jim Benzoni, received an e-mail from an immigration official informing him the young woman should come to the office and 'complete the paperwork.' He thought that meant she was going to get a green card.

Izaquirre was thrilled.

When she showed up, a deportation officer arrested her.

The plan is to deport her to Honduras. Where she has no family. Where the person who was supposed to look after her pushed her into prostitution. Where people will not care 'if she dies,' Benzoni said.

If Iowans can't recognize the sheer inhumanity of what's going on here, they should note the sheer absurdity of the cost of 'rounding up' people. Benzoni said the girl could spend months in the county jail. He estimated the process of getting her back to Honduras could cost as much as $5,000. Those are taxpayer dollars.

Multiply that by the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in this country.

That's $60 billion. And counting, since more illegal immigrants will come."