Browsing: Crime

A Brief History Today, November 4, 2014, voters in Cleveland, Ohio have the opportunity to vote against one of the more Orwellian aspects of modern society: red-light cameras. Digging Deeper As the son of a former police captain who is adamantly opposed to these eye sores, I am briefly presenting some of the many reasons to vote “Yes” on Issue 35 in today’s election in Cleveland, Ohio and “Yes” on Issue 99 in today’s election in Maple Heights, Ohio. The question on the Cleveland ballot asks, “Shall the Charter of the City of Cleveland be amended to add new Chapter…

A Brief History On October 29, 1390, Paris, France got its first taste of professional witch hunting when the first of two witchcraft trials began in the French capital.  Religious persecution of witches was nothing new, with records of arraignments by ecclesiastical authorities going back to 1275, but now the secular authorities, i.e. the state authorities, were involved.  History and Headlines Note:  Exactly 302 years later, on October 29, 1692, the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Salem, Massachusetts was dissolved after having presided over the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Digging Deeper This particular case involved two women who had conspired with the devil to create…

A Brief History On October 17, 1931, Mobster Al “Scarface” Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and later sent to Alcatraz Federal Prison.  Authorities had long sought to arrest and convict this famous gangster for the murders, extortion and bootlegging he was involved in, but they never had enough evidence. Finally, law enforcement hit on the idea of going after him on income tax evasion. It is not a surprise that a career criminal would have income-reporting irregularities, but what about seemingly non-criminal people?  Here we look at  9 celebrities, not from the criminal underworld, who have had problems…

A Brief History On October 16, 1968, two U.S. Olympic athletes on the medal podium raised a black-gloved fist during the playing of the American national anthem to protest the status of human rights in the U.S., particularly in regard to African-Americans.  What is hardly remembered is that both African-American medalists also wore no shoes and instead stood there in black socks to symbolize Black poverty in the U.S.  Both of the Americans as well as the silver medalist from Australia wore “Olympic Project for Human Rights” badges and some other symbols of protest.   An irate International Olympic Committee expelled…

A Brief History On October 9, 2012, Malala Yousafzai boarded her school bus in northwest Pakistan.  A gunman asked for Malala by name, then pointed a Colt 45 at her and fired three shots.  One bullet hit the left side of Malala’s forehead, traveled under her skin the length of her face and then penetrated her shoulder.  In the days immediately following the attack, she remained unconscious and in critical condition, but later her condition improved enough for her to be sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in England for intensive rehabilitation.  She went on to win Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize and the Sakharov Prize for 2013. Digging…