Black Immigrant Daily News

Whether South Carolina can start executing prisoners again either with a firing squad or electric chair is now in the hands of a judge after a trial over whether shooting or electrocuting inmates is cruel and unusual punishment banned by the US Constitution.

Lawyers for four death row inmates argued this week the prisoners would feel terrible pain whether their bodies were “cooking” by electricity or heart stopped by marksman’s bullet — assuming they are on target.

Attorneys for the state countered with their own experts who said death by the yet-to-be-used firing squad or the rarely-used-this-century electric chair would be instantaneous and the condemned would not feeling any pain.

The state Supreme Court ordered Judge Jocelyn Newman to rule within 30 days, but it almost certainly won’t be the end of the case. Whichever side loses is expected to appeal. From 1995 to 2011 – when the state’s last execution was performed – South Carolina carried out the death penalty on 36 prisoners with lethal injections. But the state’s supply of lethal injection drugs expired in 2013, and pharmaceutical companies have refused to sell more for executions.

Prison officials asked lawmakers for help and in 2021 they made the state’s electric chair, built in 1912, the default method for executions and let prisoners choose a new firing squad if they wish.

During this week’s trial, a Corrections Department official said he devised the firing squad protocols after consulting a prison official in Utah, location of the only three inmates to die by firing squad since 1977. Colie Rushton, the department’s security director, testified the .308 Winchester ammunition to be used is designed to fragment and split up in the heart to make death happen as fast as possible, according to media reports from the trial.

Much of the rest of the trial was each side calling its own experts to detail whether inmates feel any pain before they die.

The human brain remains conscious at least 15 seconds after a person’s heart stops beating, said Dr. Jonathan Arden, who formerly led the Washington D.C. Medical Examiner’s office. Arden, testifying on behalf of the inmates said it appeared at least 10 per cent of prisoners in cases he reviewed remained conscious after the first shock of an electrocution.

“Forgive me for saying it so plain,” Arden testified about the electric chair, “but you get the effects on parts on the body, including internal organs, that is the equivalent of cooking.”

Experts for the state testified the shock delivered by the electric chair is so great and the use of ammunition that shatters when it hits bone creating a number of fragments to destroy the heart means almost immediate loss of consciousness and no pain, retired forensic pathologist Dr. D’Michelle DuPre said.

“I believe it would be so quick they would not experience pain at all,” DuPre testified, according to media reports.

Lawyers for the inmates also submitted autopsy photos and reports from inmates who died in the electric chair, saying they demonstrate the pain suffered. Those documents will be reviewed by the judge and not made public. Just three prisoners in South Carolina have chosen the electric chair since lethal injection was made available in 1995.

In closing arguments, lawyers for the state said the other side did not prove that electrocution or a firing squad is more painful than lethal injection, a method that has long been allowed across the country.

“We are in a court of law. This court’s job is to decide questions of law based on the law and based on the facts that it’s heard,” said attorney William Grayson Lambert who is representing the state.

Lawyers for Justice 360, a group that fights for fairness and transparency in death penalty and other major criminal cases and is representing the inmates, said this case wasn’t just about cold facts.

“This case isn’t all about science,” attorney Joshua Kendrick said according to media reports. “Our decisions today are guided by mercy.”

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Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.

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Sports

Tyra Gittens of Trinidad and Tobago competes in the women’s long jump qualification, in the Alexander Stadium, at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, on Friday. (AP PHOTO) –

THE TRINIDAD and Tobago men’s 4×400-metre (mile) team and long jumper Tyra Gittens both advanced to finals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, on Friday.

The TT quartet of Dwight St Hillaire, Che Lara, Machel Cedenio and Kashief King clocked three minutes, 7.12 seconds (3:07.12) to finish third in heat two of round one. TT are expected to strengthen their team for the final with Jereem Richards and Asa Guevara available.

The final will be held at 3.30 pm TT time, on Sunday.

Kenya won heat two in a season’s best time of 3:06.76 and India were second in 3:06.97 to earn spots in the final.

Barbados faded in the final leg of the race, but finished fourth in 3:07.23 to book a place in the final.

Four teams also qualified for the final from heat one – Botswana (3:05.11), Jamaica (3:05.20), Zambia (3:06.02) and Nigeria (3:06.36).

Gittens finished sixth in Group A in the women’s long jump qualifying round to advance to the final.

She jumped 6.18m on her first attempt, fouled her second effort and leaped 6.28m on her third, which was enough to qualify. Australian Brooke Buschkuehl won Group A with a 6.84m performance.

A total of 13 athletes qualified for the final on Sunday at 2.05 pm.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Las Perseidas o ‘lágrimas de San Lorenzo’, el espectáculo celeste que cada mes de agosto alumbra el firmamento, podría quedar ‘deslucido’ este año por la Luna llena. La NASA advierte que la noche del 12 al 13 de agosto, en el periodo de mayor intensidad de la vistosa lluvia de meteoros, el satélite natural de la Tierra se encontrará en su fase de mayor visibilidad, pudiendo interferir en la observación del fenómeno astronómico.

No obstante, si se encuentra a la intemperie en la medianoche del 12 al 13 de agosto, la agencia espacial aconseja mirar al cielo: quizá tenga suerte y vea los meteoros más brillantes.

It’s a shine off!
This year’s Perseids meteor shower will have to contend with the full Moon’s brightness. Look up if you’re outside after midnight (local time) on Aug. 12 or 13, when it’ll be at its peak–you might be lucky and see the brightest ones. https://t.co/vFkqWhKOmi pic.twitter.com/iPP9lsYmzx

— NASA (@NASA) August 1, 2022

El fenómeno se puede apreciar entre el 17 de julio y el 24 de agosto, aunque es necesario determinar la fecha óptima para ver la mayor cantidad de estrellas fugaces sin que la observación se vea interferida por la Luna. Según el portal Xataka, este día es el 6 de agosto.

Ese día el ocaso de la Luna tendrá lugar a una hora temprana: a las 1:58 en España; a las 1:35 en Mexico y a las 2:12 en Argentina. A partir de esas horas, nada impedirá disfrutar de la maravillosa vista de las estrellas fugaces.

En cualquier caso, lo más importante es alejarse de las ciudades, que pueden opacar todo el cielo estrellado con su luz artificial. Los expertos recomiendan ir a poblaciones pequeñas y zonas de montaña para obtener condiciones ideales para la observación.

Las Perseidas son fragmentos del cometa Swift-Tuttle, una bola de polvo helada que orbita alrededor del Sol cada 133 años. Todos los años la Tierra pasa cerca de la trayectoria del cometa y sus restos se queman al penetrar en nuestra atmósfera, creando la lluvia más popular de meteoros.

Noticia original de RT en Español.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Wednesday’s reported seven day rolling average for COVID cases, as per numbers recorded by Cayman’s Department of Public Health was 41, the lowest 7-day rolling average in recent months and three cases lower than the rolling average reported for the first two days of the month. While this has been an ongoing trend in recent weeks, it begs the question- is this a function of actual declining cases or a reduction in testing due to the elimination of COVID-testing requirements for travelers?

The response to that question is not cut and dry. Statistics since May have shown a progressive decrease in the seven day rolling average case count. The seven-day rolling average was 44 for August 1 and 2, 43 for July 28 and 42 for July 27. This is in sharp contrast to weeks prior; for example, on July 19, the seven day rolling average was 56, on July 13 it was 65, on June 28 it was 58, on June 1 it was 72, on May 30 it was 77, on May 26 it was 98, on May 24 it was 116 and on May 20 it was 121. This dates back to pre-elimination of testing requirements for travelers to the Cayman Islands, which went into effect on June 30.

Between July 24-30, local data shows a continuing decline in COVID-cases detected. The number of cases detected fell from 323 to 310 cases, with the case rate declining by 4 per cent to 447 cases per 100,000 population from 466 cases per 100,000 population.

Globally, the reported number of cases also decreased during the last week by 9 per cent compared to the week prior.

In its weekly report, the World Health Organization pointed out that the current global trends in reported cases should be interpreted with caution as several countries have been progressively changing COVID-19 testing strategies, resulting in lower overall numbers of tests performed and, consequently, lower numbers of cases detected.

Cayman’s Department of Public Health has responded to the trend, stating:

Whilst the number of detected cases has decreased, a reduction in transmission is not necessarily reflected by other data indicators. Preventative measures including good hand hygiene, home isolation for those positive, wearing of masks in public and uptake of the vaccine continue to be advised to reduce the risk of infection.

Indeed, the reduction in COVID numbers could very well be a function of reduced testing. The number of PCR tests conducted between July 24 and 30 decreased by 16 per cent from 724 to 610 tests, while the test positivity increased by 11 per cent to be 50 per cent for the most recent weekly assessment. The graph below shows that the positivity rate has not been decreasing.

Source: Department of Public Health

Statistics with respect to hospitalizations also shed some light on whether the trend in recorded cases is actually reflective of an actual decline. The hospitalization numbers, while consistently quite low, are not declining.

Department of Public Health

Eight new hospital admissions were registered between July 24 and 30, one less than the previous week. Of the eight new admissions, 3 were admitted due to COVID-19 morbidity and 5 were detected on screening. A total of 11 patients required inpatient treatment, a decrease from 15 patients in the previous week.

This week, the CDC said it was tracking a new “variant of concern” dubbed BA.4.6. So far, there is little data on whether BA.4.6 is more transmissible than previous Omicron subvariants, but what is certain is that with the absence of a testing requirement it is not whether but when it will arrive in Cayman.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce are among nine Jamaicans who will be in Poland on Saturday to compete in the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Silesia.

Fraser-Pryce will be looking to re-assert her authority in the event after winning her fifth world 100m title in Eugene, Oregon.

World finalist Aleia Hobbs, US champion Melissa Jefferson and compatriot Twanisha Terry – all of whom won 4x100m gold in Oregon – are also in the line-up.

Local star and 2019 European indoor 60m gold medallist Ewa Svoboda will also present some colourful opposition.

Also in the lineup are two other Jamaicans – Briana Williams and Natasha Morrison.

More fireworks are expected in the women’s 200m, where newly crowned world champion Shericka Jackson of Jamaica will face world and Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas, as well as Olympic bronze medallist Gabby Thomas and USA’s world finalist Tamara Clark.

Jackson landed one of the performances of the championships in Eugene with a searing 21.46 to move to second on the world all-time list.

Having collected her first world gold over one lap in Eugene, double Olympic champion Miller-Uibo is not short on confidence and form. And Jackson cannot be complacent against the Bahamian, who took world bronze over 200m in 2017.

As the only woman in history to have won World Championships medals in the 100m, 200m, and 400m, Jackson is an athlete of rare versatility, and she remains open-minded over what distances she will tackle in the future.

“When you achieve a goal, you go back and set another goal,” she said. “So, for this season, it is just to have some fun. I know proper execution will get me to run fast. I love challenges, so if I go back to the 400m, I know I will do pretty well. I am not giving up any event as yet. All events are up for grabs!”

Ahead of the match-up, Miller-Uibo said she was looking forward to some fun at the shorter distance. “For just about every athlete, the high is always the major competition of the season (World Championships),” she said.

“Everyone has been putting down some really impressive times. I have done everything in the 400m, it’s time to let loose now and enjoy the rest of the season.”

Schedule for Jamaican athletes down to compete at the Diamond League meeting in Poland.

The schedule is in Jamaica time.

Women’s shot put – 7:55 amDanniel Thomas-Dodd

Men’s 100m – 9:28 amAkeem BlakeYohan Blake

Women’s 400m – 9:56 amCandice McLeodStephenie Ann McPherson

Women’s 200m – 10:28 amShericka Jackson

Women’s 100m – 10:52 amShelly-Ann Fraser-PryceNatasha MorrisonBriana Williams

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