Wednesday, July 29, 2015

(my music video) "Forevermore"



The song "Forevermore" by Xandria  + a video compilation by someone named Sieswell under the file name "The World is Beautiful (Timelapse & Hyperlapse)".

[If you want to see this in high quality you can "full screen" this or click the wheel, in the lower-right, and change it to "720p".]

Saturday, July 25, 2015

(my music video) "Carefree Highway"



An old 1970s song called "Carefree Highway" by Gordon Lightfoot + my favorite car crashes from Russia.

[If you want to see this in high quality you can "full screen" this or click the wheel, in the lower-right, and change it to "720p".]

Friday, July 24, 2015

The Terror Strategist: Secret Files Reveal the Structure of Islamic State



By Christoph Reuter

Aloof. Polite. Cajoling. Extremely attentive. Restrained. Dishonest. Inscrutable. Malicious. The rebels from northern Syria, remembering encounters with him months later, recall completely different facets of the man. But they agree on one thing: "We never knew exactly who we were sitting across from."

In fact, not even those who shot and killed him after a brief firefight in the town of Tal Rifaat on a January morning in 2014 knew the true identity of the tall man in his late fifties. They were unaware that they had killed the strategic head of the group calling itself "Islamic State" (IS). The fact that this could have happened at all was the result of a rare but fatal miscalculation by the brilliant planner. The local rebels placed the body into a refrigerator, in which they intended to bury him. Only later, when they realized how important the man was, did they lift his body out again.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

My 25 years as a prostitute

Brenda Myers-Powell was just a child when she became a prostitute in the early 1970s. Here she describes how she was pulled into working on the streets and why, three decades later, she devoted her life to making sure other girls don't fall into the same trap. Some people will find Brenda's account upsetting.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Negligence a role in Island County Jail inmate’s death, investigation concludes

by JESSIE STENSLAND,  South Whidbey Record Staff Reporter
Jun 20, 2015

Keaton Farris, 25, died in April because of dehydration. According to an Island County Sheriff's Office report, there was a 'catastrophic systemic failure' while Farris was imprisoned in Island County Jail. — Image Credit: Contributed Photo

“Catastrophic systemic failures” at the Island County Jail led to a 25-year-old man’s death from dehydration April 8, Island County Sheriff Mark Brown said.

An exhaustive investigation by Detective Ed Wallace offers an unblinking look at how negligence and errors by both corrections deputies and jail administration contributed to Keaton Farris’ tragic death. The report was released Thursday.

Two corrections deputies who falsified logs were placed on administrative leave and have since resigned. Lt. Pam McCarthy was placed on paid administrative leave pending a disciplinary review.

Chief De Dennis, the jail administrator, was suspended for 30 days without pay and his continued employment is uncertain, Brown said.