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Only in America...

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moXJO said:
I don't like any politicians. The majority are self serving tossers that in no way represent us.

I'm not sure why you are saying that Bidens lies are any better?
He has a huge list of lies that were worse than Santos.
Click to expand...
With lines like that I reckon Psycho Santos should call you in as his PR guy.
 
Not sure if this could only happen in America but I think it does reflect on a dog eat dog extreme capitalistic economic system.

Ex-Colorado funeral home owner gets 20 year sentence for selling body parts​


Megan Hess and her mother Shirley Koch defrauded distraught families and dismembered bodies for illegal sale

Megan Hess, owner of Donor Services, pictured during an interview in Montrose, Colorado, in May 2016. Photograph: Mike Wood/Reuters

Reuters
Wed 4 Jan 2023 13.54 AED


A former Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting 560 corpses and selling body parts without permission.
Megan Hess, 46, pleaded guilty to fraud in July. She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity, Donor Services, from the same building in Montrose, Colorado. The 20-year term was the maximum allowed under law.


Colorado funeral home owner accused of stealing body parts pleads guilty
Read more
Her 69-year-old mother, Shirley Koch, also pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to 15 years. Koch’s central role was chopping up the bodies, court records show.

“Hess and Koch used their funeral home at times to essentially steal bodies and body parts using fraudulent and forged donor forms,” prosecutor Tim Neff said in a court filing. “Hess and Koch’s conduct caused immense emotional pain for the families and next of kin.”

....Hess’ lawyer said she has been unfairly vilified as a “witch”, a “monster” and a “ghoul”, when instead she is a “broken human being” whose conduct can be attributed to a traumatic brain injury at age 18. In court on Tuesday, Hess declined to speak to the judge.

A Reuters investigation in 2018 heard from former employees who recounted that Koch would pull teeth from some of the corpses to extract the gold in crowns or fillings.

Ex-Colorado funeral home owner gets 20-year sentence for selling body parts

Megan Hess and her mother Shirley Koch defrauded distraught families and dismembered bodies for illegal sale
www.theguardian.com
 
I checked out the Reuters investigation into the sale of body parts in the US.
Yep a lot of people are worth far more dead than alive. There is up to $10,000 of valuable body parts from a cadaver ...

There are 9 parts in this excellent piece of investigative journalism.


More in this series​


Part 1: Body Brokers Part 2: Desperate Gift Part 3: Industry Leader Part 4: Grisly Case Part 5: Mystery Woman Part 6: Unexpected Guests Part 7: The Chop Shop Q&A: Body Donations

In the U.S. market for human bodies, almost anyone can dissect and sell the dead​


Part 1: When Americans leave their bodies to science, they are also donating to commerce: Cadavers and body parts, especially those of the poor, are sold in a thriving and largely unregulated market. Grisly abuses abound.

As with other commodities, prices for bodies and body parts fluctuate with market conditions. Generally, a broker can sell a donated human body for about $3,000 to $5,000, though prices sometimes top $10,000. But a broker will typically divide a cadaver into six parts to meet customer needs. Internal documents from seven brokers show a range of prices for body parts: $3,575 for a torso with legs; $500 for a head; $350 for a foot; $300 for a spine.

In the U.S. market for human bodies, anyone can sell the donated dead

If you leave your body to science, you may also be donating to commerce: Cadavers and body parts are sold in a thriving, unregulated market where abuses abound.
www.reuters.com
 
basilio said:
Not sure if this could only happen in America but I think it does reflect on a dog eat dog extreme capitalistic economic system.
Click to expand...
...And Africa (especially if you're albino)
...And Asia
...And The rest of the Americas
...And Eastern Europe.

It happens just about everywhere under all systems and styles of government, but 1/350,000,000 bad apples in America and it's a reflection of extreme capitalistic system?

I even linked you a guardian article
 
Yep there are egregious examples of organ sales across the world. The US is certainly not alone in this.

There were a number of points raised in the Reuters investigation however that highlighted the laissez faire approach of US capitalism as a driver of this industry.

1) There are minimal regulations in selling body parts. Its just dead easy. So with legislation out of the way let her rip
2) The business model used by the body parts merchants allows them to create a story about what they do that doesn't represent the facts. Check out the examples given in the report.
3) The example of the funeral home owners approach to selling their clients body parts highlights the extremity of how brutal people can be in pursuing the buck.

How would we feel if we discovered our loved ones had been chopped and sold after their death to make a buck for the funeral home.
( Personally I think donating ones organs after death is really cool. But that is not what happens here..)
 

One of the big whoppers George Santos pulled was claiming a University degree at a prestigious College. I was thinking about that when I was reminded of just how entrance to the name universities works in the US.

If you have the have the moolah you lie and buy your way in. Check out the original story

The guy who masterminded this scam has finally been sentenced. (The wheels of justice...)

Mastermind of US college admission bribery scheme sentenced to 3.5 years

Rick Singer, 62, was handed the longest sentence in the sprawling scandal that shone a spotlight on the secretive system
www.theguardian.com

The US college admissions scam toolkit: bribes, fake profiles and playing 'stupid’​


Thirty-three parents were charged with fraud after paying tens of thousands of dollars to get their children into elite schools

Actors Felicity Huffman, left, and Lori Loughlin were charged with fraud and conspiracy. Photograph: Lisa O’connor/AFP/Getty Images

Adam Gabbatt in New York

@adamgabbatt
Wed 13 Mar 2019 16.00 AEDTLast modified on Thu 14 Mar 2019 06.50 AEDT


The years-long, $25m scheme to pump the children of dozens of wealthy Americans into elite schools, revealed on Tuesday, alternated between the elaborate and the almost comically basic.
Beginning in 2011 William “Rick” Singer, who the FBI has charged with racketeering, would variously photoshop the faces of non-athletic, but wealthy, students on to the heads of actual athletes he had found on the internet, and have the director of a private college preparatory school stand in for other students in SAT tests.



Felicity Huffman among dozens charged over admissions fraud at top US schools

Read more
In one case, Singer told a parent that his daughter should “be stupid” when she was evaluated by a psychologist in order to get extra time in her exams, and presented one boy as “an elite high school pole vaulter”. The boy’s school had no record of him ever having pole vaulted, or taken part in any track and field events.

Singer pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges including racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice, but it is the parents named in the long-running scam who have attracted much of the attention.

The US college admissions scam toolkit: bribes, fake profiles and playing 'stupid’

Thirty-three parents were charged with fraud after paying tens of thousands of dollars to get their children into elite schools
www.theguardian.com
 
Now this is how you do election fraud in the US. Be interesting to see the range of coverage. Not to mention the outcome.


Republican candidate's wife arrested, charged with casting 23 fraudulent votes for her husband in the 2020 election​

Charles R. Davis
Fri, January 13, 2023 at 10:43 AM GMT+11·2 min read



An absentee ballot application form.Getty Images
  • Kim Phuong Taylor was arrested Thursday and accused of multiple counts of voter fraud.
  • According to prosecutors, Taylor cast 23 fraudulent votes for her husband in the 2020 election.
  • Jeremy Taylor, the husband, is an elected Republican.
The wife of an Iowa Republican who ran for Congress in 2020 was arrested Thursday and accused of casting 23 fraudulent votes on behalf of her husband.

In an 11-page indictment, prosecutors allege that Kim Phuong Taylor "visited numerous households within the Vietnamese community in Woodbury County," where she collected absentee ballots for people who were not present at the time. Taylor, who was born in Vietnam, then filled out and cast those ballots herself, the indictment alleges, "causing the casting of votes in the names of residents who had no knowledge of and had not consented to the casting of their ballots."

Taylor is also accused of signing voter registration forms on behalf of residents who were not present. In all, prosecutors allege, she engaged in 26 counts of providing false information and voting, three counts of fraudulent registration, and 23 counts of fraudulent voting. Each charge carries a maximum 5-year prison sentence.

The aim, prosecutors allege, was to get her husband, Republican politician Jeremy Taylor, elected to public office.

Republican candidate's wife arrested and charged with casting 23 fraudulent votes for her husband in the 2020 election

She was charged with 26 counts of providing false information in registering and voting, three of fraudulent registration, and 23 of fraudulent voting.
news.yahoo.com
 
It's now out... Donald Trump secretly donated $1m to the Cyber Ninjas who undertook a meandering train wreck of an audit on the Arizona elections to somehow find 45,110 votes to turn the result.

Yep. The Liar in Chief flicked a Million Bucks to the crazies who believed his "Stop the Steal" lies who then discovered just how how screwed they were. (see next post)

And in 2023 Trump has yet another serious legal problem on his doorstep.

Revealed: Trump secretly donated $1m to discredited Arizona election ‘audit’

Funding for controversial review of state’s vote count in 2020 election can be traced to former president’s Pac
www.theguardian.com
 
The results of the crazies audit ?

Arizona ‘audit’ finds Biden won (by more votes) and no evidence of fraud​

By: Jeremy Duda - September 23, 2021 9:07 pm​




Maricopa County ballots from the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors hired by the Arizona Senate in an audit at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix on May 24, 2021. Photo by David Wallace | Arizona Republic/pool photo

After months of work and some $6 million spent, a so-called audit that Trump supporters claimed would show that the election had been stolen from the defeated president found that Joe Biden actually won Arizona by more votes than the official tally — and it found no conclusive evidence that the election had been influenced by fraud.

Draft reports from the review that Senate President Karen Fann commissioned of Maricopa County’s election results declared that a hand count of nearly 2.1 million ballots from the November 2020 election found Donald Trump had 261 fewer votes than the county’s official canvass gave him, while Biden had 99 more. All told, Biden gained 360 votes in the Senate “audit” hand count — which was criticized by election experts as fundamentally flawed — giving him a victory of 45,469 votes in Maricopa County.

Arizona 'audit' finds Biden won (by more votes) and no evidence of fraud

After months of work and some $6 million spent, a so-called audit that Trump supporters claimed would show that the election had been stolen from the defeated president found that Joe Biden actually won Arizona by more votes than the official tally — and it found no conclusive evidence that the...
www.azmirror.com
 
Last edited:
And of course despite the fact that there is zilch, zero, absolutely no evidence of fraud in the Arizona elections ... the Trump poisoned zealots are still fighting tooth and nail to destroy the Arizona election officials who won't bend the results.

This is really crazy


Interview

‘I see things now that I’ve never seen before’: the Maricopa county attorney fighting false election claims​

Rachel Leingang
Tom Liddy, a lifelong Republican, is a target of his own party for fending off lawsuits against the county over blatant election lies

Liddy has been made a central character by members of the Republican party suing Maricopa county. Photograph: Monica D Spencer/The Republic/USA Today Network

The fight for democracy is supported by

About this content
Thu 19 Jan 2023 22.00 AEDTLast modified on Fri 20 Jan 2023 04.42 AEDT


Down the hall from Tom Liddy’s office in downtown Phoenix, a whiteboard tracks all the election law cases filed against Maricopa county, where he works as civil division chief. Liddy has defended the county against dozens of claims, including that the 2020 election was stolen and that only hand-counted ballots can be trusted.

In his office, he keeps ammunition in a safe to protect himself should a threat, which have become more frequent, become reality at work. At his desk, he’s surrounded by photos of his family, who have also become a target.

‘I see things now that I’ve never seen before’: the Maricopa county attorney fighting false election claims

Tom Liddy, a lifelong Republican, is a target of his own party for fending off lawsuits against the county over blatant election lies
www.theguardian.com
 
It's really not that bad when you think about in comparison to below...

Alabama's Nick Saban rejected 2 players who were searching for $1.3 million combined in NIL money: report

The Alabama Crimson Tide football team lost a top recruit and a starter due to hefty requests for NIL money, head coach Nick Saban reportedly said.
www.foxnews.com

"One of them wanted $500,000 and for us to get his girlfriend into law school at Alabama and pay for it. I showed him the door," Saban reportedly said.

College coaches dominate list of highest-paid public employees with seven-digit salaries

College sports are major revenue engines at American schools, and coaches are often well compensated to maintain winning programs.
www.usatoday.com
 
Fascinating/scary story of a family that dominated South Carolina for over 100 years.

Alex Murdaugh shines a true light on privilege in the US​

Emma Brockes


I was in South Carolina last week: scene of the trial and home of the Murdaugh dynasty. Both tell us a lot about race and power today
Fri 3 Mar 2023 11.39 AEDTFirst published on Thu 2 Mar 2023 22.00 AEDT


There have been bigger trials with splashier consequences, but for pure drama – and a window on the way entrenched privilege works in the US south – the events unfolding this week at the Colleton county courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, are hard to match. In the dock: the 54-year-old Alex Murdaugh, scion of a legal dynasty stretching back 100 years, who has been found guilty of murdering his wife and son. That is the matter at hand and it is lurid enough: 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh and his mother, Maggie, found shot to death in 2021 in the grounds of the family’s hunting lodge, 65 miles west of Charleston – killed by Alex, say prosecutors, to distract attention from his financial crimes.

Behind the double murder, however, lies layer upon layer of further alleged criminal activity, from vast embezzlement from the family law firm, to cover-up, to the involvement of Paul in a drunken boat crash in which a 19-year-old died, and for which the 22-year-old was facing trial at the time of his murder. Three months after the killings, someone shot Alex Murdaugh in the head – an act, it is alleged, that Murdaugh commissioned himself, paying a gunman to kill him so his surviving son could collect on insurance. Meanwhile, the death of the family housekeeper in 2018 has been the subject of renewed police interest.

The story, currently the subject of Netflix and HBO multi-part documentaries, would seem so wild and convoluted as to illuminate nothing beyond itself, were it not for the influence of the Murdaugh family. Going back to the 1920s, Alex Murdaugh’s great-grandfather, grandfather and father – respectively, Randolph Murdaugh, Randolph Murdaugh Jr, and Randolph Murdaugh III (Alex Murdaugh’s older brother is Randolph Murdaugh IV) – all served as top prosecutors across a five-county district, an area of about 8,300 square kilometres (3,200 square miles) over which they had responsibility for all criminal prosecutions.

Alex Murdaugh shines a true light on privilege in the US | Emma Brockes

I was in South Carolina last week: scene of the trial and home of the Murdaugh dynasty. Both tell us a lot about race and power today, says Guardian columnist Emma Brockes
www.theguardian.com
 
Yep Michelangelos David is pr0n. So say Florida parents and had a Principal sacked on that premise....

In Florida, parents are always right – even when they think a Michelangelo is pr0n​

Arwa Mahdawi


A principal was fired after a Renaissance art class was shown David in the latest example of the state’s censorship crusade

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...rincipal-fired-michelangelo-pr0n-desantis-law
 
Back to Florida. This is priceless.

Democrats bid to use censorship law against DeSantis and ban his book​

Opponents say memoir The Courage to be Free, published in February, violates law governor signed last year

Martin Pengelly in New York

@MartinPengelly
Wed 5 Apr 2023 01.00 EDTLast modified on Wed 5 Apr 2023 01.59 EDT


Democrats in Florida are attempting to use a state law that censors books in public schools against the governor who signed it, Ron DeSantis, by asking schools to review or ban the Republican governor’s own book, The Courage to be Free.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/09/ron-desantis-florida-education-censorship
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/09/ron-desantis-florida-education-censorship
“The very trap he set for others is the one that he set for himself,” Fentrice Driskell, the Democratic minority leader in the Florida state house, told the Daily Beast.

Democrats bid to use censorship law against DeSantis and ban his book

Opponents say memoir The Courage to be Free, published in February, violates law governor signed last year
www.theguardian.com
 
Not sure if this is "Only in Amercia" . Nonetheless the story on just how the private health system in the US absolutely gouges people is a great reminder of why we wouldn't want to replicate it here.

In a liberal US state, my life-saving abortion cost $55,000 ​

I was flabbergasted by the cost of medical care I could have died without – but surprise fees are standard in a system motivated first and foremost by profit

In a liberal US state, my life-saving abortion cost $55,000

I was flabbergasted by the cost of medical care I could have died without – but surprise fees are standard in a system motivated first and foremost by profit
www.theguardian.com
 
Consider this story in relation to the one above. A doctor in America has a very simple well proven method to provide abortion care.
It has been used safely for many, many years. The long story is well worth reading.
It could be an excellent solution for omen needing to terminate a pregnancy.

A gamechanger': this simple device could help fight the war on abortion rights in the US​


Only a tiny fraction of primary care physicians provide abortion care. Dr Joan Fleischman believes that training them in a simple and easy abortion method might be the best way to offset the war on access​


Joan Fleischman has always had people flying in from across the world to her private abortion practice in Manhattan. In the two decades her clinic has been open, she has seen clients from places such as Ireland, the Bahamas and Mexico, who couldn’t get abortions in their home countries. In the past year, that has changed. Since the US federal right to abortion was overturned in June last year, she is now more likely to see patients flying in from her own country.

Often they are from Texas, sometimes Ohio, or Florida. Some with links to the city, others with none.

After years of providing abortion care, Fleischman, 60, still finds these trips shocking. “Usually, if somebody needs unusual medical care, they are willing to fly around the world for it – like for advanced neurosurgery or something. It’s always struck me as incredible that people are flying to me for the most simple procedure.”

There’s a reason people fly to see Fleischman. She provides abortions through manual uterine aspiration – using a small, hand-held device to remove pregnancy tissue. The device is gentle enough that the tissue often comes out almost completely intact. It is a quick and discreet procedure where a patient might be in and out of the door in less than an hour.

Fleischman is a co-founder of the MYA Network, a network of primary care clinics and clinicians in 16 states. They believe the tool could be radical in the hands of more primary care clinicians – clinicians they are amping up to train.

‘A gamechanger’: this simple device could help fight the war on abortion rights in the US

Only a tiny fraction of primary care physicians provide abortions. Dr Joan Fleischman wants to offset the rightwing war on reproductive rights by training many more of them
www.theguardian.com
 
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