In 1973, college girls in Santa Cruz would get into a stranger's car and spend the ride guessing what the killer looked like. The driver was the killer. His name was Ed Kemper. Students had been warned to accept rides only from cars with a university sticker. His mother worked at UC Santa Cruz, so he had one. He was 6 foot 9, and his IQ had tested at 145. At 15 he shot and killed his grandparents. He was released at 21, against the advice of the hospital's psychiatrists, and in November 1972 his juvenile record was erased. By then he had already killed three times. The day after he killed a 15-year-old girl named Aiko Koo, he sat in front of a panel of psychiatrists for a parole check. They found no reason to consider him dangerous. He had wanted to be a cop, but he was rejected for being too tall. So he drank with cops instead, at a bar across the street from the courthouse, and asked them how the investigation was going. Kemper says a detective once came to his house to take away a gun he wasn't supposed to have. The loaded .22 he had used in the murders was under the front seat of his car. A purse, a book bag and the IDs of his last two victims were in a box in his bedroom closet. The detective left thinking he was a nice, helpful guy. In the video below, recorded in prison in 1984, Kemper tells these stories himself. In April 1973 he killed his mother and her best friend, then called the Santa Cruz police from a phone booth in Colorado to confess. They thought it was a joke and told him to call back later. He asked for death by torture and got life instead. He is 77 now and was denied parole again in 2024. Psychiatrists, cops and the girls in his passenger seat all looked at him and saw nothing. Who was supposed to stop him?

The BJP has planned a month-long nationwide padayatra campaign from 1st November to 30th November across various cities. Union Ministers and CMs have been assigned to participate in the foot marches to connect with citizens and counter opposition allegations regarding the SIR exercise. The awareness initiative seeks to address claims concerning voting rights and explain that the exercise is meant to ensure only eligible voters participate in elections. #BJP #Padayatra #RamlilaMaidan #SIR #IndianPolitics | @poojashali @aishpaliwal

An examination of the amended Motor Vehicles Act reveals stringent legal accountability for parents and vehicle owners when minor drivers are involved in road accidents. Under the amended law, a minor driver is produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and barred from obtaining a driving licence until age 25. #Kochi #HitAndRun #KochiNews #JuvenileDriving #CrimeScene | @poojashali

#Exclusive In an interview with @poojashali, Bhadrakeerthi, the daughter of a scooterist killed in a road accident in Kochi, expressed heartbreak and demanded justice. She criticised the swift bail granted to the minor accused, the 17-year-old son of a serving judge, saying, "The one who killed my father got bail in one hour." Questioning the disparity in legal proceedings, she stated that while her family waited twelve hours to receive her father's body, the accused walked out immediately. #Kochi #KochiAccident #RoadSafety #JusticeForVictim

Kochi Mercedes crash minor driver gets bail. Father of accused minor to face case now. @KGShibimol gets us more details. #Kochi #ITVideo | @poojashali

"Show me the evidence, not the insinuation," says @sardesairajdeep. He further adds, "investigate the foreign hand if there is evidence but don’t use it to deflect questions about the government’s own actions." Should dissenting citizens face labels before their questions receive answers? #ForeignHand #PoliticalDebate #Dissent #Protests #DemocraticNewsroom | @PreetiChoudhry

"You cannot blame foreign powers for everything, but you cannot ignore geopolitical interests either." The exchange between @PoojaShali and @sardesairajdeep highlights a difficult question facing South Asia: how do countries distinguish genuine public movements from attempts by external actors to influence political outcomes? Domestic discontent must be acknowledged, while claims of foreign interference require credible evidence rather than political speculation. #Bangladesh #Geopolitics #MuhammadYunus #WesternMedia #ForeignPolicy | @PreetiChoudhry

"Ensure that antisocial elements cannot take advantage of the fault lines we have," says @PoojaShali. The warning comes amid a wider discussion about India’s domestic challenges, international commentary and the farmers' protests. But the crucial balance remains: engage with genuine protesters, address the issues driving discontent and distinguish proven wrongdoing from political suspicion. #NEETProtest #Unemployment #MEA #StudentProtests #NationalIssues #DemocraticNewsroom | @gauravcsawant | @PreetiChoudhry