A routine shoplifting arrest at Walmart escalated into a tale of meth charges and "prohibited sexual conduct" between a brother and sister.

When Charlene Ellet, 25, was detained for alleged shoplifting at a Porter, Texas, Walmart, her brother Cameron Beck, 26, came looking for her at the loss prevention office. County deputies searched their car and found a burnt lightbulb and a cut pen, which tested positive for crystal meth.

The two admitted to smoking the meth about two weeks prior, and were booked for possession of a controlled substance (and a shoplifting charge for Ellet). And that's when things got really complicated.

Police placed Ellet and Beck in adjoining cells, and while they were filing the booking reports, the two began "kissing each other on the lips through the bars."

After double-checking that they heard that whole "brother and sister" thing correctly, deputies questioned Ellet separately. She admitted to a sexual relationship with her brother that started when he was released from jail in November—although she insisted they had different fathers.

She said the two had been living in a motel with her 2-year-old twin daughters, and they put up a partition or went into the bathroom so the babies wouldn't see them having sex.

Prohibited sexual conduct laws in Texas apply to half-siblings, so the two were charged and remain in jail. Ellet's daughters were released to her sister.

[H/T Fark, Photo Credit: Montgomery County Police Reporter]

Actress Scarlett Johansson pregnant. Pregnant by her fiancé Romain Dauriac. E! and TMZ say she pregnant. Her fiancé a French journalist.

[Image via AP]

John McCain, who convinced 59.9 million people and most of the old Confederate States of America to vote for him to be president of the United States, expressed some strong opinions about this country's foreign policy this morning:

In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, McCain (R-Ariz.) said the "blatant act" by Russian President Vladi­mir Putin "cannot stand," even as he acknowledged that the United States does not have a realistic military option to force Russian troops to withdrawal.

The back end of that sentence, supplied by the Washington Post, captures the ridiculous of the American war party after a decade of open-ended failure of armed foreign relations. On the one hand, they are committed to the idea that military action is the truest, most realistic expression of national strength and the natural interest—and that President Obama, despite his willingness to blow things up, is unacceptably reluctant to call out the troops.

Yet on the other hand, no one is quite prepared to go so far as to demand a genuine shooting war with the Russians. What we get then, is a branding exercise: the rhetoric of muscular and fearless action, despite the absence of any such means of acting. The warmongers cannot stop mongering...something.

Thus as Putin apparently prepares to carve the Crimea off of Ukraine through open imperial invasion, McCain was demanding sanctions, which is basically the White House position. But unlike the White House, McCain was proposing military non-action from a position of undaunted boldness:

"Why do we care? Because this is the ultimate result of a feckless foreign policy in which nobody believes in America's strength anymore," McCain said to the annual gathering of Jewish leaders in Washington.

America's strength, then, is like an internet currency. It exists if enough people believe in it. Why can't Obama persuade Vladimir Putin to buy #Warcoin?

In this, McCain was picking up where the Post's own editorial board left off yesterday. Under the headline "President Obama's foreign policy is based on fantasy," the Post editorialists argued that the Obama administration has acted according to an unrealistic vision of international affairs:

It was a world in which "the tide of war is receding" and the United States could, without much risk, radically reduce the size of its armed forces. Other leaders, in this vision, would behave rationally and in the interest of their people and the world. Invasions, brute force, great-power games and shifting alliances—these were things of the past.

Obama, the Post argued, embodies this country's recurring bad habit of retreating from "global engagement." Sometimes, often after a particularly useless and bloody war, America becomes reluctant about jumping into the next war. But this mood passes, because our heroic national destiny demands it.

Not, mind you, because we want to fight wars. The Post wouldn't go so far as to say, in its argument about the inevitability of war and the necessity of staying on perpetual war footing, that this country should be fighting a war:

The White House often responds by accusing critics of being warmongers who want American "boots on the ground" all over the world and have yet to learn the lessons of Iraq. So let's stipulate: We don't want U.S. troops in Syria, and we don't want U.S. troops in Crimea. A great power can become overextended, and if its economy falters, so will its ability to lead. None of this is simple.

This is the alternative to fantasy, the serious, realistic position: that there is some form of bold, resolute action that will stop Russia from taking Crimea, but without any deployment of troops. Either the Post is asking for a nuclear exchange with Moscow, or, like McCain, it has no idea what it is asking for.

[Image via Getty]

Is the buff guy who posted this nude photo on Grindr actually NFL prospect—and likely first openly gay NFL player—Michael Sam?

Speculation is running wild, but after the photos leaked online, Sam's agent told TMZ they didn't belong to his client. "The picture is not Mike," Cameron Weiss said, "It could be anyone. There's no face."

Weiss added that Sam is still focused on the draft and will be ready for his Pro Day, implying the prospect is too busy for Grindr hookups at the moment.

But is this really a shot of Mike Sam's penis? Let's consider the evidence.

Pro: The bracelet and the door in the nude photo look somewhat like the bracelet and door in a previous Sam selfie. The dick pic was also apparently posted to the same Grindr profile as a photo that shows Sam's face.

Con: Anyone could own a generic bracelet and a generic bathroom door. Do they even match? There's also an iPad covering the naked guy's face—he could be anybody. Oh, yeah, and Sam's agent denied it.

Whatever the truth, between this alleged Grindr pic and last week's Bonergate at the NFL Scouting Combine, it's safe to say that Sam is currently the owner of the most talked-about penis in football.

[H/T TMZ, Photo Credit: Popwrapped]

It would be awesome, Sarah Slocum . Also awesome if Google could throw in a self-driving car, a Starbucks gift card, and maybe some of those cool shoes that have the wheels built in—you know, the ones kids scoot around on at the mall sometimes?

On Monday, America's most famous Type A personality typed a grim little proposition into the Twitter client of her choosing, beckoning her public to follow her to a second blog location like a shirtless man with dirty teeth beckons lost travelers behind his privately-owned service station to show them "some crazy shit."

"EVER SEE A HORSE GET HIS TOOTH PULLED?" screamed Martha. "SEE MY HORSE RUTGER GET HIS TOOTH PULLED ON MY BLOG TODAY. Pls comment on blog."

Ever see a horse get a tooth pulled? See my horse Rutger get his tooth pulled on my blog today. Pls comment on blog http://t.co/MCvXDCfdqH

— Martha Stewart (@MarthaStewart) March 3, 2014

The tweet linked out to a post titled "My Friesian, Rutger, Went To Visit The Dentist," on Stewart's recently launched animal torture fetish vertical, "The Martha Blog." The post consisted of a 44 photo slideshow depicting the extraction of Rutger's giant cracked molar. (The procedure actually took place last month, and was documented less graphically in two installments on MarthaStewart.com subdomain "The Daily Wag," a blog allegedly written by Stewart's French bulldogs, Francesca and Sharkey).

Ever see a horse get a tooth pulled?

Hey, now you have.

The first image of Rutger's freed bloody tooth bursts onto the scene 15 clicks into the slideshow. The tooth is big enough that if you tried to fit all of it inside your mouth at once, alongside your own teeth, you would probably gag. It is steaming like an egg roll fresh from the oyster pail.

A lesser blog might have held onto this money shot until the very end of the slideshow, tossing it up as the grand, terrifying finale. How does Stewart round out the remaining two-thirds of the images?

More of the same.

But man cannot live on crunchy, crumbling bloody horse teeth alone.

Luckily, at Photo 34, the really stomach-churning part of the procedure is unveiled: the equine dental team will have to "flush the sinus cavity of any bacteria that may have accumulated" by drilling a hole into Rutger's skull (he was anesthetized!) and then pumping a solution into the cavity via a thin tube. The solution will leak out of Rutger's nose and into a bucket. It will be a lot like a human using a neti pot if, instead of tilting your head to one side and pouring the saline solution into one nostril, you drilled a hole directly into your forehead and dumped water into it. The execution will be elegant and tasteful.

With characteristic pep, Photo 44 declares the procedure "a complete success!" and proclaims Rutger "very happy and relieved." (The hole, a prior slide informs us, will mend itself.)

Pls comment on blog.

[Images via TheMarthaBlog.com, Getty]

Deadspin Fake Chef Fools Midwest Morning Shows, Makes Reporters Eat Gross Food | Gizmodo New Netflix Phishing Scam Tricks You Into Calling Fake "Tech Support" | io9 Watch Mr. Hublot, the animated short that just won an Oscar | Lifehacker How to Afford Traveling the World | Kinja Popular Posts

Now that every Oscar attendee has been freed from Spanx hell and the self-aggrandizing celebrity beatoff ceremony has come to a close, we can return to discussion of who's hot in Los Angeles and who is a wet pile of poorly performing public duties. Hot off the presses: the LAFD has been sleeping on the job.

In an independent report published by PA Consulting and in response to public mistrust of the Los Angeles Fire Department, it was revealed that 24 percent of LAFD firefighters were sons or nephews of other Los Angeles firefighters. As the Los Angeles Times reported last week:

Mayor Eric Garcetti's office called for an investigation into the recruitment process. Interim Chief Jim Featherstone also reassigned two commanders after he found they oversaw a recruitment process that allowed their own sons to advance while thousands of other applicants were eliminated. The criteria: the applicants did not turn in paperwork during a 60-second window.

LAFD firefighters can earn up to $143,000 a year, with $43,000 of that sum being found in overtime alone. As for diversity in the department, the numbers are grim. As of 2013, about 11 percent of LA firefighters are black; 31 percent are Latino; and 50 percent are white; only 3 percent of the force are women. Last year, the LAFD put out a call to "diversify," after which they hired fewer than 1 percent of a 13,000 people applicant pool, probably saving spots of their cousins.

Interim Fire Chief Jim Featherstone says he's working on it.

"I am committed to enacting meaningful and effective changes to the structure and operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, in order to continue providing the highest quality emergency medical and fire protection services to the citizens we serve."

L.A. councilman Mitchell Englander, when speaking on the nepotism in the department, took the words right out of our mouths.

"The numbers are so high," he said. "It's my suspicion that where there's smoke, there's fire."

Cheeky.

After the icy round of applause that didn't involve much clapping, rumors began flying about an alleged feud between 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen and screenwriter John Ridley.

Inside sources spoke with The Wrap's Jeff Sneider, who reports that Ridley "turned down" McQueen's request for shared screenplay credit. The refusal to add McQueen's name to the screenplay, in turn, led to an uncomfortable awards season for those involved with 12 Years a Slave. The Wrap writes that McQueen had even "barred people from speaking to Ridley and insisted that the writer be seated at separate tables at awards shows late in the season, including the BAFTAs."

These same sources also claim McQueen berated Ridley's wife at the BAFTAs and that the film's team worked very hard to avoid media speculation about the relationship between the two men in order to protect the movie's reputation during awards season.

Here is how The Wrap explains the details of the feud:

McQueen tapped Ridley to work on a separate slavery-themed project that eventually led to "12 Years a Slave" after McQueen's wife discovered the book, which Ridley subsequently agreed to adapt on spec. McQueen had a hand in shaping the script that Ridley turned in, but when he asked the writer for shared credit — not uncommon in Hollywood — Ridley politely declined, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap.

McQueen was nonplussed and appealed to Fox Searchlight, which ultimately sided with Ridley. Brad Pitt, who produced "Slave" and plays a small role in the film, was even forced to step in at one point and mediate. (It didn't help that Pitt was also in the midst of a PR battle with Paramount over the fact that his company Plan B, based at the studio at the time, failed to offer it a chance to finance and distribute "12 Years a Slave" before taking the project to New Regency.)

McQueen begrudgingly agreed to hold his tongue for the sake of the movie. He, Ridley, Pitt and Fox Searchlight executives all knew what was at stake — and how easily a Best Picture win could slip through their fingers if public discord leaked to the media.

Luckily for both men, the only thing that slipped through McQueen's fingers on Sunday night was fake air.

[Images via AP]

The inimitable, the proud, the only boat in Big Bear Lake, California with a liquor license sank on Saturday, leaving fans of drinking on replica pirateships at a loss for a weekend activity. Due to bad weather at Holloway Marina, the 27-ton booze boat was submerged below water, potentially not to be salvaged.

Cartoon hiccup bubbles were left out of this post, but feel free to use your imagination.

[Images via AP]

In a recent government study, it was found that most people who abuse prescription painkillers don't actually purchase them through drug dealers—instead, they get them for free from friends and family.

The study revealed that as low as 15 percent of prescription painkiller abusers actually purchase the drugs from dealers or other strangers. 1 in 4 admitted to doctor shopping, getting different doctors to fill out a number of prescriptions, while another 25 percent said they just got the harmful pills like OxyContin or Vicodin from people they knew for free.

While painkiller abuse in the US has remained consistent over the years—1 in 20 people aged 12 and older will take painkillers without need—deaths from overdoses are on the rise.

Previous CDC data show overdose deaths involving these drugs more than tripled from 1999 to 2010, with more than 16,000 deaths that year. By contrast, overdose deaths that involved heroin and cocaine totaled less than 8,000, and deaths that involved often-abused prescription drugs that include anti-anxiety medication totaled about 6,500.

After New York-based actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a heroin overdose last month, the New York Times reported that prescription painkillers are often a gateway to heroin, and can be dangerous triggers for previous heroin abusers.

The pills set off heroin craving in recovering addicts, doctors say, every bit as well as they soothe withdrawal in current users.

According to the Center for Disease Control in 2011, "Enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every American adult around-the-clock for a month." The original CDC study didn't state whether these giving friends had prescriptions of their own or got the drugs by other means, but users are being urged to stop sharing and "turn in any leftovers to designated drop-off sites."

[Image via AP]

Mad scientists in France saw no real issue with awakening a 30,000-year-old virus from Siberian permafrost this week, even when they admitted that after it thawed, it became infectious once again. Sounds very chill.

Not only is the virus infectious, it's also huge. Still, nothing to see here.

Called Pithovirus sibericum, it belongs to a class of giant viruses that were discovered 10 years ago.

These are all so large that, unlike other viruses, they can be seen under a microscope. And this one, measuring 1.5 micrometres in length, is the biggest that has ever been found.

Though the scientists behind the study claim this isn't something worth reacting to, that it's no big deal, don't panic, it's mostly because we apparently have other, bigger issues to absolutely lose our heads over.

Professor Jean-Michel Claverie of the University of Aix-Marseille in all likelihood was smoking a chocolate cigarette when he told the BBC:

"It is a recipe for disaster. If you start having industrial explorations, people will start to move around the deep permafrost layers. Through mining and drilling, those old layers will be penetrated and this is where the danger is coming from."

He told BBC News that ancient strains of the smallpox virus, which was declared eradicated 30 years ago, could pose a risk.

"If it is true that these viruses survive in the same way those amoeba viruses survive, then smallpox is not eradicated from the planet - only the surface," he said.

Chalk it up to global warming. The team working near the East Siberian Sea worried that the continual thawing of permafrost could unleash a number more viruses. So let's dial that one back a smidge.

[Image via BBC]

Blessed be, tomorrow is the holy day that comes before Ash Wednesday, the day whereth flour and eggs mix to make circular spheres on which maple juice is poured and patties of butter melt. Yes, it is Shrove Tuesday, best known as Pancake Day.

Shrove Tuesday derives from the word "shrive," which means to confess one's sins. If confessing one's sins means eating four-and-a-ha' stack of pancakes at the parlor down the road, then absolution isn't far off for you or I.

Every year since 2006, The International House of Pancakes has given up free stacks of pancakes to willing repenters, with a suggested donation to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. The only catch is that you have to say sorry between the hours of seven and ten a.m. How sorry are you? Sorry enough for seven a.m. free flapjacks?

If you don't make it in time for the freebies, you could always schedule a Pancake Race:

Pancake races are also held where people must successfully toss and flip their pancakes into the air before crossing the finish line. Points are awarded for time, for number and height of flips, and number of times the pancake turns over.

It is believed that the tradition of pancake races was born out of women rushing to church to confess their sins before the noon cut off time, clutching their half finished pancakes.

Divine blessings in the form of half-finished pancakes.

[Image via AP]

The Economist Intelligence Unit reports yearly on where you should live if you have cash bleeding from your eyeballs, and this year they named that place Singapore. Since no one can live in Berlin anymore, and Singapore's probably no longer an option, where else is there?

These cities followed behind Singapore in terms of expensive living:

2. Paris
3. Oslo
4. Zurich
5. Sydney
6. Caracas
7. Geneva
8. Melbourne
9. Tokyo
10. Copenhagen

Fortunately, there is hope. If you hate cigarettes but love bread, you might consider Singapore your own personal paradise.

[Images via AP/Economist Intelligence Unit]

In a surreal moment of television and civilization as we know it, Toronto mayor Rob Ford withstood three full segments of Jimmy Kimmel's abuse as a guest on tonight's Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Kimmel took the opportunity to confront Ford with several memorable moments in recent Ford history, like the drunken Jamaican accent thing and him steamrolling Toronto City Councillor Pam McConnell . Commenting on his greatest hits (except for those from the crack pipe), Ford sweat, muttered, and made only sporadic eye contact, like a nervous fifth grader talking to his crush. "I have a lot of Jamaican friends, and that's how we speak in a private setting," he told Kimmel of his patois. Ford's face was just a few shades lighter than his Santa-red tie.

Speaking of Santa, make sure to catch the footage of Ford tossing candy canes at children as though throwing bread to pigeons in the clip above.

Kimmel also went through some famous absurd pictures of Ford (Ford with a milk mustache, Ford making a baby cry, Ford stuffing his face, etc.) contrasted with normal ones of Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti. Kimmel then pointed out his guest's perspiration and wiped him down. Charitable.

But that's not all. Kimmel also ran down viewers' grievances when they found out Ford was going to be a guest on the show.

Kimmel could have been tougher on the racism and homophobia accusations, but whatever. There wasn't unlimited time and Kimmel clearly felt the need to read Ford with a thoroughness that would impress a drag queen.

Ford, to his credit, was a good sport. A creepy, shifty eyed, hemorrhoid-red good sport who sometimes talked like a CD being fast-forwarded, but a good sport all the same.

Asked about the video showing Ford smoking crack that is in police custody, Ford said, "I want the world to see this video. I'd love to see it. I keep saying show the video." Well, at least we're all on the same team.

Kimmel ended the interview by encouraging Ford to get help for his alcoholism, which was kind of smarmy and counter-productive given how much fun everyone has derived from this man's laundry list of issues. Ford threw his head back and laughed.

Kimmel's other guest was the Muppet Gonzo, which is perfect.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kiev—$1 billion in guaranteed loans for Ukraine in tow—as Russian President Putin backtracked somewhat, saying military force would be used only as a "last resort," though he maintained the right to use "all options" in the crisis. Meanwhile, the Crimean prime minister told reporters that the majority of Ukrainian troops in Crimea have either surrendered or pledged allegiance to his government.

In his speech on Tuesday, Putin called the ousting of former Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovych an "unconstitutional coup" necessitating Russia's intervention, which he described as "legitimate and within the framework of international law," to maintain order in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.

"We realized what was the major concern for the Ukrainians, the Russian-speaking people who reside on the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine, this is concern about lawlessness," Mr. Putin said, according to Reuters. "When they ask us for help – and we do have an official request from the president – we reserve the right to defend these people and we believe this is legitimate."

Putin also said all "threats [from the U.S. and the E.U] against Russia are counterproductive and harmful."

More than 150,000 Russian troops performing readiness tests near the Ukraine border returned to their bases on Tuesday as previously scheduled, though it's not clear if the decision was the result of international pressure.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov told reporters that most of the Ukrainian military had either surrendered or defected to his pro-Russian government and that "there is no safety threat to human life in Crimea." Aksyonov's claims contradicted reports that Russian troops in Crimea fired warning shots from a seized Crimean airfield at about 300 Ukrainian soldiers who'd gathered outside the base.

Last but probably not least: John Kerry arrived in Kiev on Tuesday to show his support for Ukraine's fledgling government, promising an immediate $1 billion in American loan guarantees as well American assistance for more technical issues, like fighting corruption and training election monitors.

[Image via AP]

No matter where you run on the Internet today, this video of a sweet little girl dramatically conducting a church choir in Kyrgyzstan is going to catch you and hold you down until your heart is sufficiently warm.

Her name is Lara, and her dad sings in the choir at Kyrgyzstan's Central Baptist Church.

And now that she's got a TV appearance under her belt—even if it's just Kathie Lee and Hoda butchering the pronunciation of "Kyrgyzstan" over coconut martinis—she's pretty much destined for stardom.

[H/T: Viral Viral Videos]

It was only a few weeks ago that Rosa Torres and her young son lost Raffiki, their Rhodesian ridgeback puppy, out of their L.A. backyard. But now Raffiki has a new name and a new home—and her fate has some animal lovers questioning the ethics of the group that "rescued" her.

According to L.A. Times columnist Sandy Banks, the Torres family went to great lengths to recover Raffiki, but they ran up against a system checkered by social and cultural elitism:

Torres scoured the neighborhood, hung fliers, searched Craigslist and posted pictures on a Facebook page dedicated to missing pets. She visited her local animal shelter again and again and again.

She didn't realize someone had found Raffiki and taken her to an animal shelter on the other side of the San Fernando Valley, 10 miles from Torres' home.

A week had gone by when a volunteer searcher spotted a photo of the missing Rhodesian ridgeback puppy on an adoption website. An animal rescue group had bailed Raffiki out of the shelter, changed her name to Kami and found her a new home.

Since then, Torres has been futilely trying to get her puppy back. "I'll compensate the family that has her," she said. "I'll do whatever it takes. She's not just an animal, she's a part of our family. My 4-year-old son cries whenever he looks at her picture. We just want her back."

Torres didn't dilly-dally. She left voicemail messages for the rescue group, Karma Rescue, and even applied to purchase her own dog through its online application system.

The group rejected Torres' request and sold Raffiki to another family for a $300 "contribution," which is awfully steep, as rescue pets go. Banks has a pretty good idea why:

[H]er application "did not meet the qualifications that Karma looks for when adopting a dog to a home," Karma Rescue said in a statement to me.

As someone who's worked with animal rescue, let me translate that: Torres is young; she and her son live with her parents in a small rental home in a not-so-great part of town. Her dog wasn't microchipped, spayed or wearing ID tags. If she couldn't manage to find the dog in a week, she doesn't deserve to get her back.

"Had she been a little more diligent, we would have spoken with her," acknowledged Karma Rescue's lawyer Susan Willis.

Instead, they decided the dog would be better off with strangers than with people who've loved her since she was 2 months old.

It's unclear precisely what criteria Karma Rescue and other groups use to make that tough judgment call. Certainly you don't want to give a dog back over to a neglectful or abusive owner. But it's not clear the Torres family fits that criteria. If rescuers start looking at the size of one's house or family situation, can unstated biases prejudice their work, as Banks suggests?

Banks interviewed a Karma Rescue volunteer who left the group last week over its decision to re-house Raffiki, saying the group's move reeked of elitism: "This is somebody's own dog, and you're making the judgment and denying them the dog back without even bothering to talk to them, get to know them, let them explain what happened. That is just wrong."

The re-adoption seems especially rich in light of Karma Rescue's own philosophy, touted on its website:

Unfortunately, your pet does not have a voice, the Karma Rescue website reminds pet owners considering giving up their pets. He can't tell you he would rather stay with the family he has known and loved all his life.

Dogs and cats ... go through psychological torment when they lose their family. Your pet deserves to stay with the family he/she loves.

A cached version of Karma Rescue's adoption bulletin for Raffiki—or "Kami"—is still accessible online. "I am already spayed, housetrained, up to date with shots, good with kids, and good with dogs," it says. "I'm a really sweet girl who loves to have fun so if you think you're the right match for me, please ask to meet me!"

Ultimately, though, a stranger may decide whether you're the right match for your own dog.

Update: Karma Rescue has responded by posting a two-page letter on its Facebook page, which is unfortunately hard to read and impossible to embiggen; it's embedded below. It strikes a strident, unapologetic tone. The highlights:

Unfortunately, the recent publicity and prolonged social media assault surrounding the adoption of "Kami" has disseminated misinformation about our organization's practices… Though this has been a sad experience for everyone involved, our aspiration is that something good can come of it: more people will microchip and tag their dogs…

On February 21 at 6:03 p.m., Karma received, and approved, an adoption application for Kami, and requested the applicant family have an in-person meet-and-greet with her. That family met Kami at NKLA and took her home that day.

At 6:54 p.m. that evening, Karma Rescue received an e-mail containing a second application for Kami from "Rosa Torres." However, this application was not reviewed until after the adoption was complete. Karma received a voicemail at 4:57 p.m. from "Rosa Torres" in which she claimed to be the dog's owner. Karma had not been aware of this voicemail until after the adoption had taken place.

At 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 22, Karma contacted "Rosa Torres" to let her know Kami had already been adopted. She was also informed that had she contacted the organization sooner, Karma would have been in a better position to reunite her with the dog…

Although our organization, as a rule, does not participate in mud-slinging on the internet, it has been monitoring various social media outlets regarding this situation…

The letter goes on to raise questions about the fact that they never heard from Rosa Torres via social media, but were harangued online by "a woman named 'Lexi Quinn'" who "claims ownership of the dog that she calls 'Raffiki'." It describes a "social media assault against Karma Rescue" including "defamatory on-line statements" of "a particularly insidious and exploitive" nature.

Although the letter confirms that Torres contacted Karma Rescue before the transaction for her dog was completed—and that Karma Rescue didn't check its voicemail before the sale—it never claims any responsibility for the "sad experience."

It's also unclear whether the group, or anyone else, proposed to the new buyers that they get their pick of another dog if they returned "Kami" to her original owner, a Solomonic compromise that yours truly, at least, thinks would have been worth considering.

President Obama refuted Russian President Putin's claims that troops wearing unmarked uniforms in Crimea are members of local pro-Russian militias , not Russian soldiers. "I don't think that's fooling anybody," Obama said. Meanwhile, Russia reportedly test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile this afternoon.

Texas death row inmate Ray Jasper is scheduled to be put to death on March 19. He has written us a letter that, he acknowledges, "could be my final statement on earth." It is well worth your time.

Ray Jasper was convicted of participating in the 1998 robbery and murder of recording studio owner David Alejandro. A teenager at the time of the crime, Jasper was sentenced to death. He wrote to us once before , as part of our Letters from Death Row series. That letter was remarkable for its calmness, clarity, and insight into life as a prisoner who will never see freedom. We wrote back and invited him to share any other thoughts he might have. Today, we received the letter below. Everyone should read it.

Mr. Nolan,

When I first responded to you, I didn't think that it would cause people to reach out to me and voice their opinions. I've never been on the internet in my life and I'm not fully aware of the social circles on the internet, so it was a surprise to receive reactions so quickly.

I learned that some of the responses on your website were positive and some negative. I can only appreciate the conversation. Osho once said that one person considered him like an angel and another person considered him like a devil, he didn't attempt to refute neither perspective because he said that man does not judge based on the truth of who you are, but on the truth of who they are.

Your words struck a chord with me. You said that my perspective is different and therefore my words have a sort of value. Yet, you're talking to a young man that's been judged unworthy to breathe the same air you breathe. That's like a hobo on the street walking up to you and you ask him for spare change.

Without any questions, you've given me a blank canvas. I'll only address what's on my heart. Next month, the State of Texas has resolved to kill me like some kind of rabid dog, so indirectly, I guess my intention is to use this as some type of platform because this could be my final statement on earth.

I think 'empathy' is one of the most powerful words in this world that is expressed in all cultures. This is my underlining theme. I do not own a dictionary, so I can't give you the Oxford or Webster definition of the word, but in my own words, empathy means 'putting the shoe on the other foot.'

Empathy. A rich man would look at a poor man, not with sympathy, feeling sorrow for the unfortunate poverty, but also not with contempt, feeling disdain for the man's poverish state, but with empathy, which means the rich man would put himself in the poor man's shoes, feel what the poor man is feeling, and understand what it is to be the poor man.

Empathy breeds proper judgement. Sympathy breeds sorrow. Contempt breeds arrogance. Neither are proper judgements because they're based on emotions. That's why two people can look at the same situation and have totally different views. We all feel differently about a lot of things. Empathy gives you an inside view. It doesn't say 'If that was me...', empathy says, 'That is me.'

What that does is it takes the emotions out of situations and forces us to be honest with ourselves. Honesty has no hidden agenda. Thoreau proposed that 'one honest man' could morally regenerate an entire society.

Looking through the eyes of empathy & honesty, I'll address some of the topics you mentioned. It's only my perspective.

The Justice system is truly broken beyond repair and the sad part is there is no way to start over. Improvements can be made. If honest people stand up, I think they will be made over time. I know the average person isn't paying attention to all the laws constantly being passed by state & federal legislation. People are more focused on their jobs, raising kids and trying to find entertainment in between time. The thing is, laws are being changed right and left.

A man once said that revolution comes when you inform people of their rights. Martin Luther King said a revolution comes by social action and legal action working hand in hand. I'm not presenting any radical revolutionary view, the word revolution just means change. America changes as the law changes.

Under the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution all prisoners in America are considered slaves. We look at slavery like its a thing of the past, but you can go to any penitentiary in this nation and you will see slavery. That was the reason for the protests by prisoners in Georgia in 2010. They said they were tired of being treated like slaves. People need to know that when they sit on trial juries and sentence people to prison time that they are sentencing them to slavery.

If a prisoner refuses to work and be a slave, they will do their time in isolation as a punishment. You have thousands of people with a lot of prison time that have no choice but to make money for the government or live in isolation. The affects of prison isolation literally drive people crazy. Who can be isolated from human contact and not lose their mind? That was the reason California had an uproar last year behind Pelican Bay. 33,000 inmates across California protested refusing to work or refusing to eat on hunger-strikes because of those being tortured in isolation in Pelican Bay.

I think prison sentences have gotten way out of hand. People are getting life sentences for aggravated crimes where no violence had occurred. I know a man who was 24 years old and received 160 years in prison for two aggravated robberies where less that $500 was stole and no violence took place. There are guys walking around with 200 year sentences and they're not even 30 years old. Its outrageous. Giving a first time felon a sentence beyond their life span is pure oppression. Multitudes of young people have been thrown away in this generation.

The other side of the coin is there are those in the corporate world making money off prisoners, so the longer they're in prison, the more money is being made. It's not about crime & punishment, it's about crime & profit. Prison is a billion dollar industry. In 1996, there were 122 prisons opened across America. Companies were holding expos in small towns showing how more prisons would boost the economy by providing more jobs.

How can those that invest in prisons make money if people have sentences that will allow them to return to free society? If people were being rehabilitated and sent back into the cities, who would work for these corporations? That would be a bad investment. In order for them to make money, people have to stay in prison and keep working. So the political move is to tell the people they're tough on crime and give people longer sentences.

Chuck Colson, former advisor to the President once said that they were passing laws to be tough on crime, but they didn't even know who the laws were affecting. It wasn't until the Watergate scandal and Colson himself going to prison that he learned who the laws were affecting. Colson ended up forming the largest prison ministry in America. He also foreseen in his book THE GOD OF SPIDERS & STONES that America was forming a new society within its prisons. Basically, that prison would become a nation inside this nation. He predicted that over a million people would be locked up by the year 2000. The book was written in the 8O's. Now, its 2014 and almost two million people are locked up. It's not that crime is the issue. Crime still goes on daily. It's that the politics surrounding crime have changed and it has become a numbers game. Dollars & Cents. You have people like Michael Jordan who invest millions of dollars in the prison system. Any shrewed businessman would if you have no empathy for people locked up and you just want to make some money.

I don't agree with the death penalty. It's a very Southern practice from that old lynching mentality. Almost all executions take place in the South with a few exceptions here and there. Texas is the leading State by far. I'm not from Texas. I was raised in California. Coming from the West Coast to the South was like going back in time. I didn't even think real cowboys existed. Texas is a very 'country' state, aside a few major cities. There are still small towns that a black person would not be welcomed. California is more of a melting pot. I grew up in the Bay Area where its very diverse.

The death penalty needs to be abolished. Life without parole is still a death sentence. The only difference is time. To say you need to kill a person in a shorter amount of time is just seeking revenge on that person.

If the death penalty must exist, I think it should only be for cases where more than one person is killed like these rampant shootings that have taken place around the country the last few years. Also, in a situation of terrorism.

If you're not giving the death penalty for murder, then the government is already saying that the taking of one's life is not worth the death penalty. Capital murder is if you take someone's life and commit another felony at the same time. That's Texas law. That makes a person eligible for the death penalty The problem is, you're not getting the death penalty for murder, you're actually getting it for the other felony. That doesn't make common sense. You can kill a man but you will not get the death penalty......if you kill a man and take money out his wallet, now you can get the death penalty.

I'm on death row and yet I didn't commit the act of murder. I was convicted under the law of parties. When people read about the case, they assume I killed the victim, but the facts are undisputed that I did not kill the victim. The one who killed him plead guilty to capital murder for a life sentence. He admitted to the murder and has never denied it. Under the Texas law of parties, they say it doesn't matter whether I killed the victim or not, I'm criminally responsible for someone else's conduct. But I was the only one given the death penalty.

The law of parties is a very controversial law in Texas. Most Democrats stand against it. It allows the state to execute someone who did not commit the actual act of murder. There are around 50 guys on death row in Texas who didn't kill anybody, but were convicted as a party.

The lethal injection has become a real controversial issue here of late because states are using drugs that they're not authorize to use to execute people. The lethal injection is an old Nazi practice deriving from the Jewish Holocaust. To use that method to kill people today, when it's unconstitutional to use it on dogs, is saying something very cruel and inhumane. People don't care because they think they're killing horrible people. No empathy. Just contempt.

I understand that it's not popular to talk about race issues these days, but I speak on the subject of race because I hold a burden in my heart for all the young blacks who are locked up or who see the street life as the only means to make something of themselves. When I walked into prison at 19 years old, I said to myself 'Damn, I have never seen so many black dudes in my life'. I mean, it looked like I went to Africa. I couldn't believe it. The lyrics of 2Pac echoed in my head, 'The penitentiary is packed/ and its filled with blacks'.

It's really an epidemic, the number of blacks locked up in this country. That's why I look, not only at my own situation, but why all of us young blacks are in prison. I've come to see, it's largely due to an indentity crisis. We don t know our history. We don't know how to really indentify with white people. We are really of a different culture, but by being slaves, we lost ourselves.

When you have a black man name John Williams and a white man name John Williams, the black man got his name from the white man. Within that lies a lost of identity. There are blacks in this country that don't even consider themselves African. Well, what are we? When did we stop being African? If you ask a young black person if they're African, they will say 'No, I'm American'. They've lost their roots. They think slavery is their roots. Again, its a strong identity crisis.

You take the identity crisis, mix it with capitalism, where money comes before empathy, and you'll have a lot of young blacks trying to get money by any means because they're trying to get out of poverty or stay out of poverty. Now, money is what they try to find an identity in. They feel like if they get rich, legal or illegal, they've become somebody. Which in America is partly true because superficially we hail the rich and despise the poor. We give Jay-Z more credit than we do Al Sharpton. What has Jay-Z done besides get rich? Yet we see dollar signs and somehow give more respect to the man with the money.

A French woman who moved to America asked me one day, 'Why don't black kids want to learn?' Her husband was a high school teacher. She said the white and asian kids excel in school, but the black and hispanic kids don't. I said that all kids want to learn, it's just a matter of what you're trying to teach them. Cutting a frog open is not helping a black kid in the ghetto who has to listen to police sirens all night and worry about getting shot. Those kids need life lessons. They need direction. When you have black kids learning more about the Boston Tea Party than the Black Panther Party, I guarantee you won't keep their attention. But it was the Black Panther Party that got them free lunch.

People point their fingers at young blacks, call them thugs and say they need to pull up their pants. That's fine, but you're not feeding them any knowledge. You're not giving them a vision. All you're saying is be a square like me. They're not going to listen to you because you have guys like Jay-Z and Rick Ross who are millionaires and sag their pants. Changing the way they dress isn't changing the way they think. As the Bible says, 'Where there's no vision the people perish'. Young blacks need to learn their identity so they can have more respect for the blacks that suffered for their liberties than they have for someone talking about selling drugs over a rap beat who really isn't selling drugs.

They have to be exposed to something new. Their minds have to be challenged, not dulled. They know the history of the Crips & Bloods, but they can't tell you who Garvey or Robeson is. They can quote Drake & Lil Wayne but they can't tell you what Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton has done. Across the nation, they gravitate to Crips & Bloods. I tell those I know the same thing, not to put blue & red before black. They were black first. It's senseless, but they are trying to find a purpose to live for and if a gang gives them a sense of purpose that's what they will gravitate to. They aren't being taught to live and die for something greater. They're not being challenged to do better.

Black history shouldn't be a month, it should be a course, an elective taught year around. I guarantee black kids would take that course if it was available to them. How many black kids would change their outlook if they knew that they were only considered 3/5's of a human being according to the U.S Constitution? That black people were considered part animal in this country. They don't know that. When you learn that, you carry yourself with a different level of dignity for all we've overcome.

Before Martin Luther King was killed he drafted a bill called 'The Bill for the Disadvantaged'. It was for blacks and poor whites. King understood that in order to have a successful life, you have to decrease the odds of failure. You have to change the playing field. I'm not saying there's no personal responsibility for success, that goes without saying, but there's also a corporate responsibility. As the saying goes, when you see someone who has failed, you see someone who was failed.

Neither am I saying that advantages are always circumstancial. Sometimes its knowledge or opportunity that gives an advantage. A lot of times it is the circumstances. Flowers grow in gardens, not in hard places. Using myself as an example, I was 15 when my first love got shot 9 times in Oakland. Do you think I m going to care about book reports when my girlfriend was shot in the face? I understand Barack Obama saying there is no excuse for blacks or anyone else because generations past had it harder than us. That's true. However, success is based on probabilities and the odds. Everyone is not on a level playing field. For some, the odds are really stacked against them. I'm not saying they can't be overcome, but it's not likely.

I'm not trying to play the race card, I'm looking at the roots of why so many young blacks are locked up. The odds are stacked against us, we suffer from an identity crisis, and we're being targeted more, instead of taught better. Ask any young black person their views on the Police, I assure you their response will not be positive. Yet if you have something against the Police, who represent the government, you cannot sit on a trial jury. A young black woman was struck from the jury in my case because she said she sees the Police

as 'intimidators'. She never had a good experience with the Police like most young blacks, but even though she's just being true to her experience, she's not worthy to take part as a juror in a trial.

White people really don't understand how it extreme it is to be judged by others outside your race. In the book TRIAL & ERROR: THE TEXAS DEATH PENALTY Lisa Maxwell paints this picture to get the point across and if any white person reading this is honest with themselves, they will clearly understand the point. I cannot quote it word for word, but this was the gist of it...

Imagine you're a young white guy facing capital murder charges where you can receive the death penalty... the victim in the case is a black man... when you go to trial and step into the courtroom... the judge is a black man... the two State prosecutors seeking the death penalty on you... are also black men... you couldn't afford an attorney, so the Judge appointed you two defense lawyers who are also black men... you look in the jury box... there's 8 more black people and 4 hispanics... the only white person in the courtroom is you... How would you feel facing the death penalty? Do you believe you'll receive justice?

As outside of the box as that scene is, those were the exact circumstances of my trial. I was the only black person in the courtroom.

Again, I'm not playing the race card, but empathy is putting the shoe on the other foot.

The last thing on my heart is about religion and the death penalty. There are several well-known preachers in Texas and across the South that teach their congregations that the death penalty is right by God and backed by the Bible. The death penalty is a governmental issue not a spiritual issue. Southern preachers who advocate the death penalty are condoning evil. They need to learn the legalities of capital punishment. The State may have the power to put people to death, but don't preach to the public that it's God's will. It's the State's will.

If God wanted me to die for anything, I would be dead already. I talk to God everday. He's not telling me I'm some kind of menace that He can't wait to see executed. God is blessing me daily. God is showing me His favor & grace on my life. Like Paul said, I was the chief of sinners, but God had mercy on me because He knew I was ignorant. The blood of Abel cryed vengeance, the blood of Jesus cryed mercy.

There are preachers like John Hagee in San Antonio who have influence over thousands of people, who not only attend his church, but also watch his TV program, and hear him condoning the death penalty. Hagee doesn't see his Southern mentality condones the death penalty, not the scriptures. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible that condones the way Texas executes people today.

Southern preachers use scriptures like God telling Noah, 'Whoever shed's man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed'. 'That's murder. Under Texas law, you cannot receive the death penalty for murder. There is no such thing as capital murder in the Bible, where murder must be in the course of another felony. Yet, they preach capital punishment is God's

will. Even if you're guilty of capital murder in Texas, it doesn't mean you'll receive the death penalty. People get the death penalty when a jury has judged them to be a 'continuing threat to society'. 'That means they are deemed so bad that they have no hope of redemption or change in their behavior. That is the only reason a person gets the death penalty. They are suppose to be the absolute worse of the worse, so terrible that they cannot live in prison with other murderers.

That in itself is contrary to the whole Christian faith that believes no one is beyond redemption if they repent for their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ. For a Christian to advocate the death penalty is a complete contradiction.

As easy as it is for a preacher to stand up in the pulpit with a Bible and tell thousands of people the death penalty is right, I challenge any preacher in Texas, John Hagee or any others to come visit me and tell me that God wants me to die. Martin Luther King said, 'Capital punishment shows that America is a merciless nation that will not forgive.'

Again, Mr. Nolan, this is only my perspective. I'm just the hobo on the street giving away my pennies. A doctor can't look at a person and see cancer, they have to look beyond the surface. When you look at the Justice system, the Death Penalty, or anything else, it takes one to go beyond the surface. Proper diagnosis is half the cure.

I'm a father. My daughter was six weeks old when I got locked up and now she's 15 in high school. Despite the circumstances, I've tryed to be the best father in the world. But I knew that her course in life is largely determine by what I teach her. It's the same with any young person, their course is determined by what we are teaching them. In the words of Aristotle, 'All improvement in society begins with the education of the young.'

Sincerely,

Ray L. Jasper

Ps: Forgive me for being longwinded, but I was speaking from the heart. Thanks for the opportunity.

Previously

You can find all of our letters from death row here.

Update: For those who have asked, Ray Jasper's mailing address is: Ray Jasper 999341, Polunsky Unit, 3872 fm 350 S., Livingston, TX 77351.

[Image by Jim Cooke]