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In One New York State Prison, Higher Education Is Making A Slow But Significant Impact

“The classrooms inside the Sing Sing Correctional Facility look and feel like any other college classroom on any college campus. Chalkboards in the front of the class, posters of famous authors hanging from the walls, the familiar all-in-one Corcraft desk and chair sets that are—ironically—made by fellow inmates at other facilities across the state.

“You kind of anticipate men wearing orange jump suits, men in shackles, guards with rifles everywhere,” said Jo Ann Skousen, an adjunct English professor at Mercy College and a longtime Hudson Link professor, of her first day of class.

Instead, she said, Skousen was met with a group of intellectually curious and highly motivated students. “There’s a spark in their eyes, a desire to learn and a graciousness about them,” she said. “They’re so appreciative. How eager they are to participate.”

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NRA-Backed Group Scams Chicago Taxpayers Into Buying Ammo, Bolt-Action Rifles For Children

Late last month, Guns Save Life, a pro-gun group that organizes summer shooting camps for children, succeeded in scamming Chicago taxpayers out of more than $6,000 to fund the purchase of ammunition and guns they then handed out to children as young as nine years old.

Chicago, like many large cities around the country, sponsors a successful gun buyback program meant to incentivize owners of dangerous weapons to turn their guns into authorities. The program’s no-questions-asked policy allows for anyone to drop off a gun — no matter the condition or circumstances surrounding how it was obtained — in exchange for prepaid Visa cards worth $100 per gun and $10 per BB gun or air gun. The program, called “Don’t Kill a Dream, Save a Life,” aims to reduce the number of dangerous weapons on the streets and in households.

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New 9/11 Documents Reveals Underfunded CIA, Explicit Warnings Of Plane Hijackings

A new trove of previously classified CIA documents were publicly released for the first time yesterday, shedding new light on the run-up to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

The documents, which were obtained by the National Security Archive through the Freedom of Information Act, point to missed opportunities by intelligence agencies to apprehend or eliminate Osama bin Laden and better prepare security agencies for attacks involving hijacked civilian aircraft.

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