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Why scary movies may be good for your health. Watching a scary movie can burn as many calories as exercise. We're all familiar with the feelings that come with watching a fright flick — the sense of dread that engulfs us as a character enters a foreboding place, ominous music building, etc. According to a 2012 study commissioned by the video subscription service Lovefilm, these heart-pounding moments can do more than cause a good old-fashioned scare, however. Of the 10 movies tested, half caused participants to burn at least 133 calories, more than the amount used up by a 140-pound adult on a brisk 30-minute walk. Granted, this limited study was hardly robust enough to earn a write-up in a peer-reviewed journal. Yet the science behind the results is essentially valid, thanks to human hard-wiring that traces to when our primitive ancestors had good reason to fear the monsters lurking in the night. When exposed to a harrowing situation, our sympathetic nervous system triggers the "flight or fight" response, which sends adrenaline into the bloodstream, diverts blood and oxygen to muscles, and kicks heart activity into a higher gear. Add in the outwardly physical reactions often prompted by the scariest scenes, such as jumping back in your seat or instinctively reaching for a companion, and it's easy to see how sitting through The Shining (184 calories) or Jaws (161 calories) delivers results akin to sweating through a workout. There are other benefits to putting ourselves through this sort of simulated danger, including the release of endorphins and dopamine, which allows us to feel relaxed and fulfilled after "surviving" the events witnessed on screen. Of course, not everyone is a fan of the frightening imagery in The Exorcist (158 calories) or Alien (152 calories), and researchers caution that stress can outweigh the gains for people who are genuinely repulsed by these movies. If health is your goal and the sight of blood makes you queasy, you're better off rising from the couch and getting your legs moving instead of watching someone else flee the clutches of a zombie. Calories burned during the study's airing of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” 118 Competitive chess players can burn up to 6,000 calories per day during a tournament. If scary movies aren't your cup of tea and you want another creative way to burn calories, then competitive chess may be your ticket. According to Stanford University researcher Robert Sapolsky, a chess player can go through 6,000 calories a day over the course of a tournament, about three times the daily amount expended by the average person. The reasons are largely the same as those previously mentioned — the heightened tension of a high-stakes game forces bodies into a state of energy-consuming overdrive. However, the effects are magnified by the behavior of participants, who often skip meals and endure sleepless nights as they obsess over strategy. As a result, top players have taken to training like professional athletes to prepare for the grueling toll of tournaments. Norway's Magnus Carlsen, for example, partakes in an array of activities that include running, soccer, skiing, and yoga, a regimen that helped him reign supreme as the undisputed world chess champion from 2013 to 2023.

April 16th, 2007 Virginia Tech shooting leaves 32 dead. On April 16, 2007, 32 people died after being gunned down on the campus of Virginia Tech by Seung-Hui Cho, a student at the college who later died by suicide. The Virginia Tech shooting began around 7:15 a.m., when Cho, a 23-year-old senior and English major at Blacksburg-based Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, shot a female freshman and a male resident assistant in a campus dormitory before fleeing the building. Police were soon on the scene; unaware of the gunman’s identity, they initially pursued the female victim’s boyfriend as a suspect in what they believed to be an isolated domestic-violence incident. However, at around 9:40 a.m., Cho, armed with a 9-millimeter handgun, a 22-caliber handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, entered a classroom building, chained and locked several main doors and went from room to room shooting people. Approximately 10 minutes after the rampage began, he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The attack left 32 people dead and more than a dozen wounded. In all, 27 students and five faculty members died in the massacre. Two days later, on April 18, NBC News received a package of materials from Cho with a timestamp indicating he had mailed it from a Virginia post office between the first and second shooting attacks. Contained in the package were photos of a gun-wielding Cho, along with a rambling video diatribe in which he ranted about wealthy “brats,” among other topics. In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting, authorities found no evidence that Cho, who was born in South Korea and moved to America with his family in 1992, had specifically targeted any of his victims. The public soon learned that Cho, described by students as a loner who rarely spoke to anyone, had a history of mental health problems. It was also revealed that angry, violent writings Cho made for certain class assignments had raised concern among some of his professors and fellow students well before the events of April 16. In 2011, Virginia Tech was fined by the U.S. Department of Education for failing to issue a prompt campus-wide warning after Cho shot his first two victims. #Crime, #Virginia, #Shooting,

Why Do Teens Kill? These Four Teenage Girls Committed a Brutal Murder Shanda Sharer was just your ordinary pre-teen, but her life was changed forever when she was brutally murdered by three older teenage girls. It’s hard to believe that young girls are capable of this type of behavior, but this case proves that they really are. It also shows that crowd mentality is very real. It’s hard to believe that any one of these girls wanted to go along with the plan, but somehow, the evening’s events transpired without any protest Not only did they murder Shanda Sharer, but they brutally tortured her before putting an end to her life. At the tender age of 11, Shanda Sharer didn’t even have a chance for her life to begin. Her life was unfairly taken from her, way too soon. How did all this happen? Keep reading to find out. About Shanda Sharer Shanda was a bubbly pre-teen with her whole life ahead of her. She was someone that everybody wanted to be friends with. But one day she got into a fight at school with a 14-year-old girl named Amanda. And this is where the entire story begins. The two were put in detention together and made up quickly. It wasn’t long before they became best friends. But Shanda’s mom wasn’t too happy about this new friendship, as Shanda’s grades started slipping, and she started getting into more trouble at school. Soon the pair started to become romantically involved. Although this wasn’t made clear to Shanda’s mother at the time, she would soon find out. It All Started at a School Dance The events all started at a school dance that Shanda attended with her new girlfriend Amanda. Unfortunately, Amanda’s ex wasn’t too happy about the fact that she was dating someone else. Melinda Loveless was the name of her ex, who decided to pick a fight with Shanda that evening. Both Amanda and Melinda were a few years older than Shanda, and Melinda started to torment Shanda, saying she wanted to kill her. Amanda got between them and told Melinda to calm down, so the events didn’t escalate too badly that night. But it seemed that revenge was brewing in Melinda’s mind. It Turned Out to Be More Than Just Friendship One day, Shanda’s mom, Jackie, found love letters written between Amanda and Shanda. She was worried about how sexually explicit the content of the letters was. Especially because her little girl was only 11 years old. That’s quite a young age to become romantically involved. Jackie decided she wanted to send her daughter to another school to split the two girls up. Shanda was getting into trouble more and her mother didn’t like the direction the situation was going towards. Shanda was sent to a catholic school and started to enjoy it. Although the two girls were now at separate schools, they continued to send love letters to one another. But it seemed as if Shanda was less responsive now than she had been when they were at the same school. How Was Shanda Sharer Abducted? It was early evening on the 10th of June, 1992, when four girls rocked up outside of Shanda’s house. Their names were Melinda Loveless (Amanda’s ex), Hope Rippey, Laurie Tackett, and Toni Lawrence. These girls had a plan for Shanda, and it all began with Hope and Toni knocking on Shanda’s front door. When Shanda opened the door, she was told that Amanda wanted to talk to her and they would take her to her girlfriend. She said her dad and stepmom were still awake, but that they should come back later because she wanted to see Amanda. What she didn’t know, was that this was some kind of twisted revenge plot put together by Amanda’s ex, Melinda Loveless. Events at the Witches Castle The girls left and came back at 12:30 am in the dark of night as they were certain Shanda’s dad and stepmom would be asleep by then. Hope and Laurie marched up to the door to fetch Shanda, while Melinda and Toni stayed in the car. They hid under a blanket holding a knife. Just the sort of surprise that Shanda would not be expecting. When Shanda got into the car, Melinda popped out and threatened Shanda with the knife. They then took her to the Witch’s Castle in the woods. There they tied her hands and feet and threatened her with cutting all her hair off. They then made a fire, it’s not entirely clear why, but it can be assumed it was either for ambiance or to stave off the cold. Leaving the Witch’s Castle The girls were worried that the fire may have drawn attention to them, so they decided to leave the Witch’s Castle. They drove around aimlessly for a while, all unsure of what they were going to do next. Eventually, they ended up in the forest that was located behind Laurie’s house. This seemed like a quiet place for them to go about their evil deeds. Laurie and Melinda took Shanda into the woods while Toni and Hope remained in the car. The two girls proceeded to take off all of Shanda’s clothes, and they started beating her. Melinda even tried to cut Shanda’s throat, but it appeared that the knife was too blunt. It was then that Hope decided to join them in the woods. It seemed that she wanted to be a part of all the action. A Seeming End to the Torture Now that Hope had joined Laurie and Melinda in the woods, they had an extra set of hands to help them. Hope was holding Shanda down, while Laurie and Melinda took turns to stab Shanda. They then strangled young Shanda until they were sure she was unconscious before putting her body into the back of the car. It’s almost unbelievable that girls of this age would be capable of such a gruesome murder, but there’s a lot more to each of these girls than first meets the eye. Each of them had lived very difficult lives, not that anything aids as an excuse for the terrible events that unfolded that night. All About Melinda Loveless As you can imagine, Melinda Loveless didn’t come from a healthy, loving, and balanced home. Melinda’s father, Larry Loveless, was an army veteran from the Vietnam War. He had difficulty getting and holding down a job and spent all the money he did make on guns and motorcycles. Which is not a very responsible way for any father to behave. Larry was also an abusive drunk and was known to beat his wife in front of their children. He and Marjorie (Melinda’s mother) had an open relationship, and would often bring other couples home from the bar. They were a promiscuous couple, to say the least. Larry was also known for lending out his wife to his friends. Whether this was out of her own will or forced upon her is not known. More About the Life of Melinda Loveless Marjorie was beaten badly and often, sometimes even having to be hospitalized for her injuries. Because of this, she became increasingly depressed and tried to take her own life many times. Unfortunately, Larry didn’t keep his abusive behavior to only his wife, it seemed he was willing to abuse everyone and anyone he had any kind of power over. He was abusive toward his three young daughters too. Even going as far as molesting them. Melinda claimed that she shared a bed with her father until she was 14, which was when her parents finally got divorced and her father moved out of state. Leaving his family to live in peace for the very first time. But it’s easy to see how their tragic past could have tormented each of them a great deal. Melinda Loveless Continued to Have a Difficult Life As a young teenager, Melinda struggled badly with depression and she got into fights at school on a regular basis. This is not surprising considering the level of violence that she had to endure at home. Yet still, nobody could have ever predicted how far she would take her violence with Shanda. Melinda was having trouble at school because there was so much else going on in her life. She ended up being held back a year to repeat her grade. She was also very open about being gay, which was not very common for a young girl living in a small town in the ‘90s. Melinda was a mere 16 years old when she was involved with Shanda’s murder. Who Was Laurie Tackett? Mary Laurine “Laurie” Tackett was raised in a strict Christian household in Madison. Both her parents were abusive and child services had been to their house on numerous occasions. Laurie started to self-harm as a young teen, landing herself in hospital many times. Eventually, she was diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder after confessing that she’d had hallucinations ever since she was a child. After being released from the hospital, Laurie ran away from home and went to live with friends in Madison. That is where she met Melinda, and after becoming inseparable friends, she moved to New Albany with Melinda. Laurie was the oldest of the girls, being 17 when she assisted in the murder of Shanda Sharer. Who Was Hope Rippey? Hope also made friends with Laurie in Madison. Her parents (who were much more involved in her life than the rest of the girls), weren’t happy about the two spending time together as they could tell that Laurie was not a good influence. Their daughter was precious to them, and they didn’t want bad things to come her way simply because of the people she was hanging out with. But they had no idea just how bad things would get. Just like the other two girls, Hope was a self-harmer and identified as gay. She was also the only one in the group that was friends with Toni. The two had been very close friends from a young age. She was just 15 years old when she assisted in the murder of Shanda Sharer. Who Was Toni Lawrence? Toni was a little different from the rest as she was close friends with Hope, but didn’t know the other two very well. There were reports that stated that Toni was abused by a relative at the tender age of nine. She was also raped by a teenage boy at the age of 14, and there was no justice as the police simply asked the boy to stay away from her. Although Toni started going to counseling after being raped, she stopped going after a short while. This event seemed to be a turning point, changing her into a promiscuous young teenager who engaged in self-harm and even attempted to end her own life when she was only in eighth grade. When she was involved with Shanda Sharer’s murder she was just 15 years old. What Was the Original Plan? The girls were planning on attending a rock concert on the 10th of June, the night of Shanda’s murder. Toni had never even met Laurie and Melinda, but she was solemn friends with Hope so she was invited along for the ride. When Toni got into the car, Laurie asked Hope, “did you tell her yet?” Laurie responded with, “tell her what?” Laurie told Toni, “we’re going to kill a girl tonight!” Of course, Toni thought it was some sort of strange joke, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Then they drove to New Albany to pick up Melinda. When Melinda came walking out of her house, she was carrying a very large kitchen knife. She got in the car excitedly and told the girls she wanted to give this Shanda girl a scare. The Three Girls Were Just Along for the Ride Out of all of the girls, Melinda was the only one who had ever met Shanda. So when Melinda said she wanted to give the young girl a scare, the others were just going along for the ride. It’s hard to imagine how it escalated so quickly with none of the girls attempting to stop the events of that evening. When the four arrived at Shanda’s house for the first time, Melinda was hiding on the floor of the car as she knew that Shanda would not get in the car if she knew Melinda was there. Shanda had never actually met Toni or Hope before, but she agreed to go along with them in the hopes of seeing her girlfriend Amanda. Unfortunately, the group had other plans for her. Toni Started to Have Her Suspicions When Shanda told the two girls to come back later, they hopped in the car and all headed to the rock concert they had been planning on attending that night. When it was over, they started to make their way back to Shanda’s house. It was then that Toni started to feel uncomfortable. At this point, Toni started to feel concerned over the events that were going to unfold. Melinda kept talking about how excited she was to kill Shanda, although she kept correcting herself, saying that she just wanted to scare the girl. Toni didn’t like this very much, and because of it, refused to go back to Shanda’s door to lure her to the car. An Awful Surprise for Shanda Shanda excitedly made her way toward the car as she looked forward to seeing her girlfriend. But when she was in the car, Melinda popped up and grabbed her hair, all while holding a knife to her throat. While Shanda begged Melinda not to hurt her, Melinda coldly said “shut up, b***h!” They then headed to the Witch’s Castle, where Laurie and Melinda started to tie her up. They kept telling her that the place was full of dead people to scare her as if their actions weren’t enough to terrify the young girl. Laurie then lit a t-shirt on fire and told Shanda that soon she would be the one burning. Although none of the girls were likely to believe this at the time, it would turn out to be true. What Happened Next? Next, the girls took Shanda to the woods. There Laurie and Melinda stabbed her multiple times and strangled her until she was unconscious. They then took her body and put it in the trunk of the car, telling the other girls that she was dead. This was something they probably believed to be true at the time. When they heard sounds coming from the trunk of the car, they realized she must still be alive. Laurie got out of the car and stabbed her a few more times until Shanda was completely silent. That was how poor 11-year-old Shanda was brutally tortured. It’s hard to even imagine the pain she must have endured that night. What Did the Girls Do After Committing Murder? Laurie and Melinda then dropped Hope and Toni off, before driving around with Shanda in the trunk of their car. Neither of them remember how long they were driving before they picked up Toni and Hope again. With events so gruesome, it’s not hard to believe that the entire night went by in a blur. Laurie and Melinda then wanted to show the other two girls what they had done to Shanda. Although Toni refused to look, Hope did. She then sprayed the body with Windex and said, “You’re not looking so hot now, are you?” What inspired this kind of treatment for a girl she had never even met before that night is incomprehensible. The Final Moments of Shanda’s Life The girls pulled up to a local gas station and Toni bought a bottle of Pepsi. That seemed to give Laurie an idea as she snatched the bottle, emptied it, and filled it with gasoline. They all hopped in the car and drove down a country lane surrounded by fields. Laurie and Hope hoisted the still barely alive Shanda out of the boot and dumped her body. When the body was in the middle of a field, Laurie poured gasoline on Shanda and set her alight. All four girls then went to McDonald’s. Toni, who never wanted to go along with the idea at all was absolutely hysterical - understandably. It had been a dramatic evening filled with incredibly dark activities. One’s that all the girls would come to regret. Melinda Decided to Contact Her Ex Melinda and Laurie decided it was time for Hope and Toni to go home. They dropped them off and then decided to call Melinda’s ex, Amanda. Melinda told Amanda about what they had done, but Amanda didn’t believe it. She agreed to meet up with Melinda anyway to find out what was going on. They picked Amanda up and took her to Melinda’s house, where Melinda broke down and told Amanda everything. Amanda couldn’t believe what she was being told, so Melinda showed her the trunk of the car which contained pools of blood, bloody handprints, long dark strands of hair, and one of Shanda’s socks. The Body Was Found Almost Instantly While the girls had been chowing down burgers at McDonald’s, two brothers had been out hunting quail in the same vicinity that the girls had dumped the body. They stumbled across Shanda’s burnt remains and immediately called the cops. What an unexpected and traumatic find during your early morning hunting session. What the cops realized is that the body wasn’t only horribly burnt and mutilated but it had been placed in a sexual position. This caused them to believe that the young girl had been molested before her death as well. Of course, in the morning Shanda’s dad noticed she was missing and immediately called the cops to report his missing daughter. Toni Stepped Forward The very next day, Toni walked into the police station with her dad to speak to a detective. She was in hysterics but told the cops absolutely everything about the murder that she never intended to be a part of. This would help her in the long run, but she got off far from scot-free. She told the cops that the girl’s name was Shanda and that she was either 12 or 13. She didn’t remember the times that all these events took place, but she could tell the cops exactly what happened in each location. Leading them through the story from picking Shanda up, going to the Witch’s Castle, heading to the woods behind Laurie’s house, going to the gas station, and then the open field where the cops had found a body that very morning. Arrests and Sentencing Although the girls were teenagers, they were all tried as adults. Because every single one of the girls admitted guilt, they managed to avoid the death penalty. Laurie and Melinda were given double life sentences, while Hope was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Toni however, got out with only a 20-year sentence. None of the girls served their full sentences, Toni and Hope even managed to get out after just a couple of years. They went on parole before being set free for good. Many of the girls went on to change their names, no longer wanting to be tied to their criminal past. But for Shanda, a night of gruesome torture at the hands of cruel teenagers would be her last day on earth. Do you think that justice was served for this horrific crime? #TrueCrime #Murder #Death #Crime

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Police, Robbers and Vandals, Have The Same Thing In Common Implied Consent! This is the background, our story and how to simply end 'implied consent'. Warning: This information isn't embellished or prettied up, what you read here is what happened, including the 'testing'. Four things prevents their abuse of your consent: 1. Private Property! 2. No Trespassing! 3. No Implied Consent! 4. No Invasion of Any Privacy! That's it. https://www.amazon.com/Police-Robbers-Vandals-Thing-Common-ebook/dp/B00275EF70 DISCLAIMER: I do not earn commissions on promoting this ebook. I do not earn anything. I simply believed we have the right to say “NO IMPLIED CONSENT” to criminals who thinks they have our “implied consent” when we never did such thing. That is why I liked this rule. #privateproperty #notraspassing #noimpliedconsent #noinvasionofanyprivacy #police #robbers #vandals #common #impliedconsent #criminals #citizensafety #citizens #civilians #civiliansaftey #safety #protection #protectionsagainstthugs #thugs

Police, Robbers and Vandals, Have The Same Thing In Common Implied Consent! This is the background, our story and how to simply end 'implied consent'. Warning: This information isn't embellished or prettied up, what you read here is what happened, including the 'testing'. Four things prevents their abuse of your consent: 1. Private Property! 2. No Trespassing! 3. No Implied Consent! 4. No Invasion of Any Privacy! That's it. https://www.amazon.com/Police-Robbers-Vandals-Thing-Common-ebook/dp/B00275EF70 DISCLAIMER: I do not earn commissions on promoting this ebook. I do not earn anything. I simply believed we have the right to say “NO IMPLIED CONSENT” to criminals who thinks they have our “implied consent” when we never did such thing. That is why I liked this rule. #privateproperty #notraspassing #noimpliedconsent #noinvasionofanyprivacy #police #robbers #vandals #common #impliedconsent #criminals #citizensafety #citizens #civilians #civiliansaftey #safety #protection #protectionsagainstthugs #thugs

'They watched her die': Teen dies hours after arriving at juvenile detention center in front of employees who did nothing, lawsuit says. Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center in Dalton, Georgia . Alexis Marie Sluder. A 16-year-old runaway died after overdosing on methamphetamine in a youth detention center in Georgia hours after she was arrested, and authorities did nothing as they watched her convulse, writhe in pain and cry for help until it was too late, her family alleges in a lawsuit filed this week. Alexis Marie Sluder died in 2022 at the Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center in Dalton, according to the lawsuit filed on Tuesday in a federal court in Georgia. Dalton is about 90 miles north of Atlanta. “Instead of monitoring her health and safety, they watched her die,” said Sam Harton, the family’s lawyer, in a news conference . “No one even picked up the phone to call 911 until after Alexis stopped breathing.” Related Coverage: The lawsuit names five Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice employees as defendants, including an officer, a cadet, a sergeant, a nurse, and the facility’s director. It also names Augusta University, the medical and mental health services provider for juvenile detainees at the facility. In a statement , the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice said it “is committed to the well-being and safety of the individuals entrusted to our care. We remain deeply saddened by this tragic incident and continue to hold heartfelt thoughts and prayers for the family of the deceased.” A media representative for Augusta University did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The events leading to Sluder’s death began after her arrest for possession of methamphetamine and shoplifting on Aug. 26, 2022, court documents said. She was issued a ticket and jailed before being transferred to Elbert, where she was booked at 9 p.m. Upon booking, Gilmer County Sgt. Sharon Ellis “failed to note that methamphetamine or any other foreign substance was found on Alexis Sluder’s person,” even though she had noted she saw a white substance on the police vehicle seat next to Sluder earlier, the lawsuit said. Notes in her medical screening indicated Sluder had “medical problems,” had previously been hospitalized, and was taking medication. Sluder had depression, bipolar anxiety, and schizophrenia, the lawsuit said. In her mental health screening, when asked why she was at the facility, Sluder said, “because I ran away.” She also said she had attempted suicide, had recently been sexually abused, had been hospitalized for an overdose the previous month and “sometimes sees shadow people that are not there,” court documents said. Her answers warranted four “Warning” and four “Caution” notations. Sluder’s answers about drug and alcohol use were “explicitly excluded from the ‘Warning’ and ‘Caution’ totals,” court documents said. Sluder told authorities that just before she was about to be arrested before arriving at the facility, she “ate the meth she had on her when the cops came and she realized she might be going to jail” and “she had taken other unknown items earlier in the day as she felt suicidal over the last 3 weeks and currently feels this way,” court documents said. Ellis declined to take her to the hospital, saying she wasn’t permitted to because she had already released her into the custody of the state of Georgia, “so she no longer had jurisdiction to transport Alexis Sluder,” court documents said. Instead, Sluder was placed in a room equipped with a live video feed where she could be constantly monitored. In her cell, Sluder began to suffer a medical emergency. She convulsed, writhed in pain, thrashed about, sweated profusely, and breathed heavily. The overdose symptoms lasted over four hours, court documents said. Despite an employee, Rebecka Phillips, being with Sluder the entire time, a second employee, Maveis Brooks, being with her intermittently, and Cadet Russell Ballard watching via the video feed from a control room, no one did anything, the lawsuit alleges. During the final two hours of the medical emergency, Sluder lay on the ground, nearly motionless. At one point, Sluder even reached out and grasped toward the ankle of Phillips, who stood over her, watched, and did nothing to help her, court documents said. At another point, Sluder turned to the camera and said, “Someone please help me. I took something,” the lawsuit alleges. The defendants talked about the girl’s condition but didn’t act, saying they did not have enough officers on staff to take her to a hospital without violating a policy, court documents said. “There is no policy set forth by the State of Georgia, the Department of Justice, and the Dalton RYDC preventing State employees from calling 9-1-1 or another emergency medical services to transport juveniles to the hospital in a medical emergency,” the lawsuit said. “Alexis Sluder was not suspected of a violent crime. Alexis Sluder was not arrested for a violent crime. There was no legitimate penological interest in keeping Alexis Sluder from going to the hospital.” At 3:12 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2022, Phillips advised over the radio that Sluder “was not breathing properly,” the lawsuit said. Brooks went to the cell, assessed Sluder and advised Ballard in the control room to call 911. “Soon after Sergeant Maveis Brooks advised Defendant Cadet Ballard to call 9-1-1, Alexis Sluder stopped breathing,” court documents said. The 911 call was made, and Brooks and Phillips began lifesaving measures, but Sluder was pronounced dead from methamphetamine toxicity at 4:26 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2022, court documents said. The five employees were terminated from their jobs stemming from the death. They were indicted on charges of cruelty to children a year later, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement . Their cases are pending. The parents have shared their pain over the death of their daughter, who once won an award for “Prettiest Smile,” enjoyed playing softball and was set to graduate from Gilmer High School this year. Instead, her school reserved a seat for her at the ceremony on May 24, where she graduated posthumously. “I didn’t get to watch her pick out her first car, go to the prom, or graduate this past year with her friends,” her mother, Melanie Hogan Sluder, said in a statement . “I am lost without her, and not a minute goes by that I don’t think about her and what she would be doing.” #TrueCrime

Word of the Day: Syncretism. NOUN 1. The amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought. 2. (Linguistics) The merging of different inflectional varieties of a word during the development of a language. Example Sentences. 1. "The food festival displayed the syncretism of the city's Jamaican and French heritages." 2. "Her research paper explored the syncretism of the English language in different countries." 3. "After several multicultural community events, there was an attitude of syncretism developing in the neighborhood." Word Origin. Greek, early 17th century Syncretism (from the Greek word "sunkrētismos," meaning "to unite against a third-party") is the merging of different worlds, often referring to various cultures, religions, or schools of thought. If you've ever enjoyed a sushi burrito or fantasized about a particularly delicious banh mi, you have familiarity with syncretism in the culinary world.