Ethan Saylor had Down syndrome. He was in a movie theatre and Zero Dark Thirty had just ended. Saylor wanted to watch the film all over again. A theatre employee said he either had to buy another ticket or leave. When Saylor didn’t budge, they called security, which turned out to be some off-duty sheriff’s deputies working security in the mall. The deputies claim Saylor resisted arrest and died while being restrained. The coroner has now ruled Saylor’s death a homicide. A spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s office says “We’re taking it very seriously.” The deputies involved in the incident, however, have thus far declined to speak with investigators. One would think that such noncooperation would be unacceptable under the circumstances. Can’t the Sheriff call them in and say, “A young man lost his life in your custody. I want to know what happened and why. If you decline to answer, surrender your badge and gun.”

Moral Low Ground: HOMICIDE: Man with Down Syndrome Died from 'Asphyxia' in Police Custody
Washington Post: Md. man with Down syndrome who died in police custody loved law enforcement
Daily Mail: Down's Syndrome man died of 'asphyxiation' when arrested by three police officers

The potent charge of terrorism has been used to systematically curtail justice, writes author. - In the US, due process - one of the defining features of a democratic judicial process - continues to be badly bludgeoned: Obama fights tooth and nail to push through NDAA, which would allow indefinite detention of US citizens, and the definition of terrorism has expanded its unwieldy scope, casting a widening net that ensures more and more people are captured in its snare. The US has pursued "domestic terrorism" by practicing pre-emptive prosecution, that is, going after individuals who have committed no crime but are alleged to possess an ideology that might dispose them to commit acts of "terrorism". Maintaining that it can -and should - be in the business of divining intent, the government decimates crucial elements of the US justice system. Thus, in cases where terrorism is charged, prosecutors need not prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, only the defendant's potential for committing a crime need be established in order to convict.

She was the woman of principle who implored Labor and Yesh Atid to join her in blocking Netanyahu. Now she’s traded her 'integrity' [sic] for two ministries and a meaningless promise to head peace talks. - Tzipi Livni’s decision to join Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is the first bombshell of the post-election, coalition-building season: In a reversal of her pre-Election Day stance, the woman who went on TV to implore the heads of the two leading center-left parties to join her and build an alliance to thwart the unsuitable Netanyahu’s return to the prime ministership is now the first to join the coalition, all but ensuring that Netanyahu will retain the post.

Haaretz: In first coalition deal, Livni set to be named justice minister

Poland will clear its former intelligence head of charges he knew about and permitted the CIA to run a secret prison on Polish soil to detain and torture CIA/Al-Qaeda['s] suspects, according to a local newspaper. Gazeta Wyborcza cited a source revealing that charges against former intelligence chief Zbigniew Siemiatkowski will be dropped. "The decision ... has been taken by Krakow-based prosecutors," the newspaper said on Tuesday. The Polish prosecution declined to comment.

Syrian refugee women and children walk along the fence of
their camp on the Syrian border near the east Turkish village
of Apaydin, December 12, 2012.

The deputy chairman of the Turkish opposition Republican People's Party, Faruq Logoglu, says female Syrian refugees in Turkish camps are being sold to rich sheikhs in Arab countries. - Addressing the parliament on Tuesday, the Turkish official criticized the violation of human rights in the refugee camps in Turkey, saying women and girls are being sent to neighboring rich Arab states in exchange for money, Turkish Taraf daily reported on Tuesday. He said refugee children from Syria are also being trianed to use guns and are sent to Syria to fight against Syrian government forces. Turkey is home to 180,000 of the Syrian refugees in camps in the south of the country. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 75 percent of the Syrian refugees who have taken shelter in Turkey are women and children. ■ The Turkish Republican People’s Party has repeatedly pronounced its opposition to Turkey’s stance on Syria, calling for an end to the Syrian conflict and a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis in the country. Since the start of the unrest in Syria, Turkey has thrown its weight behind the militants fighting the Syrian government.

A surface-to-surface missile struck the Jabal Badro neighborhood in the contested north Syrian city of Aleppo Monday, killing at least 31 people including 14 children, according to reports from rebels. - The neighborhood is said to be a particularly poor one, with a lot of ramshackle housing, and the single strike was enough to knock down several buildings in the immediate vicinity. Though missiles are overwhelmingly in the regime arsenal, it isn’t clear who fired this particular one, or what they were actually aiming at. Presumably, the missile was not aimed at the random neighborhood. Aleppo is Syria’s largest city, as well as its industrial and financial capital. The city has been violently contested for months, with rebels and regime each holding numerous neighborhoods and constantly fighting over territory between them. This has ground life in the city to a virtual halt, and while both sides are predicting imminent victory, they have been doing so for month now with no sign of a major shift in power.

Anonymous has announced it gained access to the State Department’s website, captured a database, and published it online. It also entered the site of investment firm George K. Baum & Company – all in the name of Aaron Swartz and Lulzsec. - The databases which they claimed to have obtained were posted on ZeroBin website. The data dump is part of “round five” of “Operation Last Resort” – Anonymous’ anti-US campaign which was launched shortly after the suicide of internet activist Aaron Swartz. The group published the names and email addresses of State Department consular and careers staff members. In some cases, their phone numbers and date of birth were also revealed. Anonymous also defaced the website of George K. Baum and Company, adding a page which linked to the firm’s client and user account credentials, passwords, phone numbers, and access to transaction information. The group pointed out that the company is linked to Stratfor, a global intelligence firm whose systems were breached by Anonymous in December 2011.

Russia Today: Apple claims cyber-attack on staff computers by hackers that targeted Facebook

Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd claims two of its boats were deliberately rammed by a Japanese whaling ship in the Southern Ocean.

Sea Shepherd had been trying to halt whaling in Antarctica, and this week had been blocking the whalers’ access to a Korean fuel tanker, Sun Laurel. Paul Watson from Sea Shepherd said it had been a successful strategy for around 48 hours, but then the factory ship Nisshin Maru came in. “They hit the Steve Irwin twice in the stern and then moved in on the Bob Barker, hitting it multiple times and slamming it into the side of the tanker.” “Then they lost control and slammed into the back side of their own tanker, causing some structural damage and destroying their lifeboat.” Watson said the fuel tanker hit by Nisshin Maru sent Sea Shepherd a message in a bottle to say it did not support how the Japanese were dealing with the situation. He said Nisshin Maru staff were throwing stun grenades, and hitting Sea Shepherd members with high-powered water cannons. Bob Barker skipper Peter Hammarstedt said there was a moment when the Nisshin Maru came in, and he could not get out of the way. “I looked out my bridge window to starboard and all I could see was Nisshin Maru’s anchor, a vessel five times my size. “As they started pushing us, my biggest fear was that they would push us over - and we have 35 souls on board.” Hammarstedt said the Japanese ship hit them several times before pulling away.