Biden: Abused women fear being raped by the system

May 1 (Reuters) - Post position for Saturday's 139th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs after Wednesday's draw (listed as barrier, HORSE, jockey, trainer) 1. BLACK ONYX, Joe Bravo, Kelly Breen 2. OXBOW, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas 3. REVOLUTIONARY, Calvin Borel, Todd Pletcher 4. GOLDEN SOUL, Robby Albarado, Dallas Stewart 5. NORMANDY INVASION, Javier Castellano, Chad Brown 6. MYLUTE, Rosie Napravnik, Tom Amoss 7. GIANT FINISH, Jose Espinoza, Tony Dutrow 8. GOLDENCENTS, Kevin Krigger, Doug O'Neill 9. OVERANALYZE, Rafael Bejarano, Todd Pletcher 10. PALACE MALICE, Mike Smith, Todd Pletcher 11. ...

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London property being snapped up as quickly as before 2007 crisis - Hometrack

LONDON (Reuters) - Property in London is being snapped more quickly than at any time since October 2007 when the market hit its peak before the financial crisis, according to figures from real estate data firm Hometrack.

Homes in London were typically on the market for 4.6 weeks in April - nearly half the period of more than eight weeks seen at the end of 2008 at the height of the financial crisis. Sellers achieved more than 95 percent of their asking price, also a level not seen since 2007.

Property prices in the capital rose 0.7 percent in April, matching March which was the biggest jump since Feb 2010. Prices in England and Wales rose 0.3 percent, also the joint-biggest rise in three years.

Hometrack's findings, based on 5,000-6,000 completed questionnaires covering all postcode districts in England and Wales, come as concerns grow that recent government initiatives could fuel a new house price bubble.

The government's Help to Buy programme, unveiled in its March budget, and its Funding for Lending scheme, launched with the Bank of England last summer and expanded last week, are both likely to boost mortgage lending and help buyers with small deposits get on the property ladder.

Richard Donnell, Hometrack's director of research, noted there had been a marked decline in reports of mortgage availability acting as a barrier to purchase, a direct result, he said, of the Funding for Lending Scheme.

"In each of the last three months the growth in supply has failed to keep pace with demand," he said.

Property prices in Britain didn't fall as sharply as most parts of Europe and the United States during the financial crisis, and are already testing historically high levels relative to income.

House prices in London have also been supported by international demand, with the market seen as a safe haven at a time of uncertainty in the euro area.

(Reporting by Christina Fincher; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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Texas Prosecutor and Ex-Governor Agree: No Death Penalty for Being Black

Former Harris County, Texas, prosecutor Linda Geffin had no idea what was at stake the day the defense team she was up against called psychologist Walter Quijano to the stand to testify in the murder trial of Duane Buck.

“I’m not sure anyone realized it at the time,” Geffin tells TakePart. “I’m not even sure I was in the room. I didn’t snap to it.”

Asked in open court if “the race factor, black” increased Buck’s risk of reoffending, Quijano answered “yes.” The so-called expert went on to testify that being either African American or Latino “increases the future dangerousness for various complicated reasons.”

 

 

In Texas, “future dangerousness” is one of the key factors in determining whether a person is eligible for capital punishment. By allowing Quijano’s testimony to stand, Harris County, in effect, established that race can be used as a significant justification for meting out the death penalty.

In other words, being black is one more box to fill in on the death penalty checklist.

Geffin’s prosecution team benefited from the defense’s lack of judgment. Buck was, in fact, sentenced to die.

Years later, Buck’s sentence has resurfaced, and Geffin has had to face what she was a part of. With Buck still in prison, and the executioner at the door, Geffin is trying to make amends.

“This is not a cat and mouse game,” says Former Texas Governor Mark White. “This is about seeking justice.”

Yes, Buck is guilty; but Geffin, along with key other figures in the state of Texas, is now demanding he receive a new sentencing hearing.

“I’ve heard people say, ‘He’s guilty, forget about it.’ That’s so far away from how we’re looking at it,” she says. “If we don’t seek to correct this mistake, it could be any one of us.”

Former Texas Governor Mark White agrees.

White, along with Geffin and 100 more state justice leaders have sent a statement of support to Harris County D.A. Mike Anderson, urging a new sentencing hearing for Duane Buck that isn’t predicated upon his race.

White and Geffin are also seeking passage of the Texas Racial Justice Act, which would allow those sentenced to the death penalty to present evidence that racial discrimination played a role in their legal treatment.

“This is not a cat and mouse game,” says White. “This is about seeking justice.”

White oversaw 19 executions while in office from 1983 to 1987. Yet, he says, his experience as a lawyer made him as thorough as possible in meting out the ultimate punishment. A single legal loose end was enough to prevent an execution from going through under his watch.

These days, he argues, politicians are not so thorough, by choice or by incompetence, or by both.

“Let’s not let a man be executed based on frailties of his own counsel,” says White. “There is nothing wrong, or weak, or liberal, about saying, ‘Let’s be fair to the defendant.’ Fairness is at the foundation of our criminal justice system. Right now that system is an absolute disaster. The obstinacy shown by those denying Buck a resentencing is a reflection both on them as individuals, and of our criminal justice system.”

Geffin is more diplomatic: She remains employed in Harris County as a senior assistant county attorney.

Yet, she admits, “I am frustrated. It seems the right result is crystal clear. We have a golden moment to right a wrong. Harris County is known across the country as the death penalty capital. This is a chance to show we stand for justice. I hate to see that opportunity lost.”

Though she’s cautious with her words, Geffin is fully bold in her stance on Buck’s case. 

“I’ve always been inspired by Elie Wiesel, who said: ‘There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.’ ”

Does Duane Buck deserve a new sentencing hearing? Explain why or why not in COMMENTS.

Related Stories on TakePart:

• Will Texas Execute a Man for Being Black?

• Troy Davis Death Penalty Puts USA in Bad Company

• Death Row’s Damon Thibodeaux Is 300th Person Set Free by DNA

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Matthew Fleischer is a former LA Weekly staff writer and an award-winning social justice reporter in Los Angeles. Email Matt

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Ballet mum being kept on her toes

Olivia Bell with her daughter Anouska and twin sons Gabriel and Rafael. Picture: Sam Ruttyn Source: The Daily Telegraph

EVERY mum knows returning to full-time work keeps you on your toes, but Olivia Bell will be doing it en pointe when she steps onto the stage at the Sydney Opera house later this month.

Bell, a principal artist with the Australian Ballet, is about to return to performing after taking a year off following the birth of her daughter, Anouska.

With 3 1/2 year old twin boys, Gabriel and Rafael, "co-operation" is a word Bell uses frequently to cajole the boisterous duo through their day as she prepares for the Australian Ballet's triple bill Vanguard opening on April 30.

"It is a lot of organising on my behalf and also planning ahead with the ballet," Bell said. "Yes, it's a challenge but at the same time, the Australian Ballet are very accepting and very flexible at managing mothers now.

"Sadly they would have lost a number of dancers had they not put in place such a wonderful maternity policy that they have now."

Combining motherhood and a stellar classical ballet career spanning nearly two decades has helped to give Bell some life balance.

"You have to find balance in your life, it (motherhood) also brings joy and fulfils you on another level," she said.

When Bell performs in the power-packed role of Choleric, in the Balanchine classic The Four Temperaments, it will be the first time her children have seen her perform on stage. And, while she started dance classes when she was just a couple of years older than her twins, she is keen to let her children follow their hearts.

"I hope that they find, like I have, something that can be a job and a love," she said.

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Ballet mum being kept on her toes

Olivia Bell with her daughter Anouska and twin sons Gabriel and Rafael. Picture: Sam Ruttyn Source: The Daily Telegraph

EVERY mum knows returning to full-time work keeps you on your toes, but Olivia Bell will be doing it en pointe when she steps onto the stage at the Sydney Opera house later this month.

Bell, a principal artist with the Australian Ballet, is about to return to performing after taking a year off following the birth of her daughter, Anouska.

With 3 1/2 year old twin boys, Gabriel and Rafael, "co-operation" is a word Bell uses frequently to cajole the boisterous duo through their day as she prepares for the Australian Ballet's triple bill Vanguard opening on April 30.

"It is a lot of organising on my behalf and also planning ahead with the ballet," Bell said. "Yes, it's a challenge but at the same time, the Australian Ballet are very accepting and very flexible at managing mothers now.

"Sadly they would have lost a number of dancers had they not put in place such a wonderful maternity policy that they have now."

Combining motherhood and a stellar classical ballet career spanning nearly two decades has helped to give Bell some life balance.

"You have to find balance in your life, it (motherhood) also brings joy and fulfils you on another level," she said.

When Bell performs in the power-packed role of Choleric, in the Balanchine classic The Four Temperaments, it will be the first time her children have seen her perform on stage. And, while she started dance classes when she was just a couple of years older than her twins, she is keen to let her children follow their hearts.

"I hope that they find, like I have, something that can be a job and a love," she said.

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Mayor: Fight crime by being more like NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City's mayor met Thursday with the parents of a Chicago girl killed just days after performing at President Barack Obama's inaugural festivities, then suggested that places interested in reducing gun violence might want to emulate the Big Apple, where studies have found teenagers are less likely to carry weapons than in any other major U.S. city.

The meeting between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the parents of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was killed in an apparent case of mistaken identity, came as gun control advocates have pressed Congress to pass proposals that include requiring criminal history checks for nearly all gun purchases.

Rigorous background checks for handgun sales are already the norm in New York City, along with the nation's most restrictive licensing requirements, but Bloomberg also heralded "proactive policing" and a 3 1/2 year minimum mandatory jail term for illegal possession as strategies that have deterred young people from carrying guns.

A 2011 survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 2.3 percent of high school students in New York City reported having carried a gun at least once in the past 30 days. That rate was far below the national average of 5.1 percent, and the lowest among the 21 large urban school districts that participated in the survey.

Gun possession rates were highest in Washington D.C., where 7.5 percent of students reported a gun, followed by Milwaukee, Wis. and Duval County, Fla., which each had a rate of 7.1 percent. The second-lowest gun possession rate, of 3.3 percent, was found in Boston.

The survey results have been publicly available since last June, but with gun control issues high on the national agenda, Bloomberg held a news conference to discuss the findings Thursday.

In Chicago, where Hadiya was killed, 5.8 percent of students reported having carried a gun. The two men charged in her death are ages 18 and 20.

After meeting with Bloomberg at City Hall, Hadiya's mother, Cleopatra, said she was "very hopeful" Congress would pass bills that would require background checks for most private gun sales and also stiffen penalties for people who help convicted felons buy weapons.

"You know, it's my family this time, but it could be your family next time," she said.

Bloomberg is the founder of a group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns that has advocated for tighter gun control. His administration has sued gun manufacturers, claiming they recklessly flood the market with cheap pistols and organized stings against out-of-state firearms dealers he claimed were fueling the city's illegal gun trade. Recently, Bloomberg has financed a $12 million ad campaign aimed at supporting tighter regulations.

Many gun owners have been incensed at suggestions that shootings sprees like the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn. could be prevented by more restrictions on firearms possession. The National Rifle Association opposes the background check plan and wants other measures, like more armed guards at schools.

Bloomberg's news conference also coincided with a civil trial challenging the constitutionality of one of the city's strategies for taking guns off the street, a tactic known as "stop and frisk" in which officers have halted, questioned and often searched hundreds of thousands of mostly innocent people.

Most of the people stopped in the program have been black or Hispanic, and there are widespread complaints that the stops often amount to harassment. In 2011, police conducted more than 680,000 stops and recovered fewer than 800 guns.

In the trial, now under way in federal court, people who were detained have asked a judge to appoint a monitor for the police department.

Bloomberg said he sympathized with people upset about being stopped, but said the benefits were worth the hassle.

"Based on the crime data, there is just no question that it is working," the mayor said. "The more people we can keep from carrying guns, the more lives we can save, the more success that we'll have keeping teenagers from making a terrible decision they will regret for the rest of their lives."

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Associated Press Writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.

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