Embassy Worker Owes $3.3 Million to Escaped Sex Slave

A Virginia federal judge awarded $3.3 million to a Yemeni woman who was enslaved by a State Department employee and repeatedly raped by that worker's husband.
The 12-page decision does not name the woman who was kept in involuntary servitude for three months in 2009.
Linda and Russell Howard lured her to Tokyo in December 2008 with promises that she would earn $200 a month cleaning their home in the U.S. Embassy compound.
The Howards allegedly said they would quickly raise her salary to $300 a month, give her a day off every week, and a safe place to live at the Embassy compound.
Instead, Jane Doe says she was repeatedly raped and forced to work more than 80 hours per week, earning $0.88 per hour.
"At trial, plaintiff testified that Russell Howard raped her at least four times, and that he forced her to perform oral sex approximately ten times, and that he repeatedly sexually assaulted her," U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady said. "Plaintiff testified that Linda Howard was complicit in her husband's sexual abuse, telling plaintiff that she should gratify Russell Howard and make Russell happy."
Russell Howard allegedly told Doe that the couple had "several previous domestic workers from whom he demanded sex, including threesome sexual contact with both of the Howards. He told Mrs. Doe that prior workers who refused to comply with his requests had been fired."
In addition to the sexual abuse, Russell Howard also would not let Doe practice her religion.
"The Howards controlled all aspects of Mrs. Does' life in Tokyo, including limiting her

Washington State Joins the Movement for Public Banking

http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/washington-state-joins-movement-for-public-banking

Oh look, common sense seems to be catching on.
Here's hoping it spreads like wildfire.
It's the only sane thing left to do to save "our" collective and individual selves.
Cut out the middle man



Bills were introduced on January 18 in both the House and Senate of the Washington State Legislature that add Washington to the growing number of states now actively moving to create public banking facilities.

The bills, House Bill 1320 and Senate Bill 5238, propose creation of a Washington Investment Trust (WIT) to “promote agriculture, education, community development, economic development, housing, and industry” by using “the resources of the people of Washington State within the state.”

Currently, all the state’s funds are deposited with Bank of America. HB 1320 proposes that, in the future, “all state funds be deposited in the Washington Investment Trust and be guaranteed by the state and used to promote the common good and public benefit of all the people and their businesses within [the] state.”

The legislation is similar to that now being studied or proposed in states including Illinois, Virginia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, Michigan, Oregon, California and others.

The adoption of MERS?

http://www.mersinc.org/news/details.aspx?id=243


Who made these decisions and were the taxpayers asked or told?

8/23/2010
Municipalities and States Adopt MERS® System to Ease Foreclosure, Vacant Property Registration
Boston, Los Angeles, Connecticut and Virginia allow the MERS® System
as an alternative to existing proprietary registries

RESTON, Va., Aug. 24, 2010—This month, the City of Los Angeles joined the Commonwealths of Virginia and Massachusetts, and the State of Connecticut, in accepting the MERS® System as an alternative to the City’s registry of foreclosed properties and property preservation contacts for vacant properties.

“Many law enforcement agencies and municipalities already use the MERS® System on an informal basis to find a loan’s servicer and identify the companies responsible for maintaining vacant properties in their area,” said R. K. Arnold, President and Chief Executive Officer of MERSCORP, Inc. “By formally allowing lenders and property preservation companies to use the MERS® System as a suitable location to store this information, the City of Los Angeles can save money and the time it takes to find the data.”

Current MERS members can use the system to register the identity of the property preservation company responsible for maintaining vacant properties, which are frequently in foreclosure. The MERS® System can track both residential and commercial properties.

“Maintaining residential vacant properties in foreclosure is important to prevent blight and to protect property values,” said Doug Guthrie, General Manager of Los Angeles Housing Department. “We’re able to see these benefits more quickly while saving on the city budget by partnering with MERS, whose system is immediately available and already in use by many property preservation companies.”