FOUR PINOCCHIOS AWARDED TO HILLARY

Hillary's claim that the FBI director said her email answers were 'truthful' earns her the highest Pinocchio Test score

By Glenn Kessler

The Washington Post
July 31, 2016

"Director Comey said my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people, that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the emails."
--- Hillary Clinton, interview on "Fox News Sunday,"

Clinton made these remarks after "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace played a video of her saying: "I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified materials. I am confident that I never sent nor received any information that was classified at the time. I had not sent classified material nor received anything marked classified."

As Wallace put it, "After a long investigation, FBI Director James Comey said none of those things that you told the American public were true."

After Clinton denied that, Wallace played another video of an exchange between Comey and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), chair of the House Select Committee on Benghazi:

GOWDY: Secretary Clinton said there was nothing marked classified on her emails either sent or received. Was that true? COMEY: That's not true.

GOWDY: Secretary Clinton said, "I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material." Was that true?

COMEY: There was classified material emailed.

So what's going on here?

The Facts

Clinton is cherry-picking statements by Comey to preserve her narrative about the unusual setup of a private email server. This allows her to skate past the more disturbing findings of the FBI investigation

For instance, when Clinton asserts "my answers were truthful," a campaign aide said she is referring to this statement by Comey to Congress: "We have no basis to conclude she lied to the FBI."

But that's not the whole story. When House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) asked whether Clinton had lied to the American public, Comey dodged: "That's a question I'm not qualified to answer. I can speak about what she said to the FBI."

At another point, Comey told Congress: "I really don't want to get in the business of trying to parse and judge her public statements. And so I think I've tried to avoid doing that sitting here. … What matters to me is what did she say to the FBI. That's obviously first and foremost for us."

Comey was also asked whether Clinton broke the law: "In connection with her use of the email server? My judgment is that she did not," Comey said.

As for retroactive classification of emails, Comey did say many emails were retroactively classified. But he also said that some emails were classified at the time —and Clinton and her aides should have been aware of that.

Here's how Comey put it in his lengthy statement when he announced the completion of the investigation: "Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information."

Comey said "seven e-mail chains concern matters that were classified at the Top Secret/Special Access Program level when they were sent and received. These chains involved Secretary Clinton both sending e-mails about those matters and receiving e-mails from others about the same matters."

He added: "There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton's position, or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation." He noted that "even if information is not marked ‘classified' in an e-mail, participants who know or should know that the subject matter is classified are still obligated to protect it."

In her response to Wallace, Clinton at one point appeared to deflect responsibility to her aides: "I relied on and had every reason to rely on the judgments of the professionals with whom I worked. And so, in retrospect, maybe some people are saying, well, among those 300 people, they made the wrong call."

Testifying before Congress, Comey said it was possible Clinton was not "technically sophisticated" enough to understand what the classified markings meant. But he said a government official should be attentive to such a marking.

The Pinocchio Test

As we have seen repeatedly in Clinton's explanations of the email controversy, she relies on excessively technical and legalistic answers to explain her actions. While Comey did say there was no evidence she lied to the FBI, that is not the same as saying she told the truth to the American public —which was the point of Wallace's question. Comey has repeatedly not taken a stand on her public statements.

And although Comey did say many emails were retroactively classified, he also said that there were some emails that were already classified that should not have been sent on an unclassified, private server. That's the uncomfortable truth that Clinton has trouble admitting.

Four Pinocchios



EDITOR’S NOTE: Four Pinocchios is the highest rating on the test scale and designates Whoppers. As for Hillary: Liar, Liar, Pantsuit On Fire!

$400 MILLION IN EUROS AND SWISS FRANCS FROM A SWISS BANK?

In January, the Iranians released four American hostages on the very day they received $400 million in cash from the United States. The payment was not in dollars, but in euros and Swiss francs withdrawn from a Swiss bank.

President Obama insists we did not pay a ransom for the release of Americans held by Iran. The money transfer just happened to coincide with the release of the hostages. Obama reiterated Thursday that “We do not pay ransom for hostages.” He said the $400 million was owed to Iran because that was paid to the U.S. by the Shah in a weapons deal that was cancelled after the Iranian Revolution.

Obama explained that “We could not send them a check. And we could not wire the money. And it is not at all clear to me why it is that cash, as opposed to a check or a wire transfer, has made this into a story. It may be because it kind of feels like some spy novel or, you know, some crime novel, because cash was exchanged.”

The Obama administration said the $400 million was paid in foreign currency because any transaction with Iran in U.S. dollars is illegal under U.S. law.

Now I’ve got some beachfront property in Phoenix that I’ll sell you for a real good price if you believe the $400 million payment in euros and Swiss francs from a Swiss bank was not a ransom payment for the release of four Americans held by Iran.

ALCALDE SILVA ARRESTED AT YOUTH SUMMER CAMP

By Bob Walsh

The Alcalde (Mayor) of the crime-ridden and gang-infested hole that is Stockton was arrested today at a summer camp leased and operated by the City of Stockton at Silver Lake up in the Sierras in Amador County. The arrest had nothing to do with a recent murder committed with a gun he owned that he was very tardy in reporting stolen.

Mayor Anthony Silva, 42, was arrested early this morning on one felony and three misdemeanor charges revolving around his participation in a game of strip poker at the camp one year ago. The felony is making of an audio recording without the knowledge of all the participants. The misdemeanors include supplying alcohol to a minor and cruelty to or endangering the safety of a child. The FBI and Amador County SO were present at the arrest, along with the Stockton PD.

Silva has, over the years, been the target of several accusations of sexual misconduct against young women. No charges were ever filed and the alleged victims often refused to go on the record.

Just off the top of my head I would guess that Silva is going to have a rough go of it in the November election, but since Stockton has one of the lowest literacy rates in the country and this will probably not appear in the racing forms, you never know.

DIRTY HARRY WILL VOTE FOR TRUMP BECAUSE HILLARY WILL FOLLOW IN OBAMA’S FOOTSTEPS

Here are a few excerpts from an August 3rd interview Clint Eastwood gave to Michael Hainey of Esquire:

ESQUIRE: Your characters have become touchstones in the culture, whether it's Reagan invoking "Make my day" or now Trump … I swear he's even practiced your scowl.

CLINT EASTWOOD: Maybe. But he's onto something, because secretly everybody's getting tired of political correctness, kissing up. That's the kiss-ass generation we're in right now. We're really in a pussy generation. Everybody's walking on eggshells. We see people accusing people of being racist and all kinds of stuff. When I grew up, those things weren't called racist. And then when I did Gran Torino, even my associate said, "This is a really good script, but it's politically incorrect." And I said, "Good. Let me read it tonight." The next morning, I came in and I threw it on his desk and I said, "We're starting this immediately."

ESQ: What is the "pussy generation"?

CE: All these people that say, "Oh, you can't do that, and you can't do this, and you can't say that." I guess it's just the times.

ESQ: What do you think Trump is onto?

CE: What Trump is onto is he's just saying what's on his mind. And sometimes it's not so good. And sometimes it's … I mean, I can understand where he's coming from, but I don't always agree with it.

ESQ: So you're not endorsing him?

CE: I haven't endorsed anybody. I haven't talked to Trump. I haven't talked to anybody. You know, he's a racist now because he's talked about this judge. And yeah, it's a dumb thing to say. I mean, to predicate your opinion on the fact that the guy was born to Mexican parents or something. He's said a lot of dumb things. So have all of them. Both sides. But everybody—the press and everybody's going, "Oh, well, that's racist," and they're making a big hoodoo out of it. Just fucking get over it. It's a sad time in history.

ESQ: What do you think of Hillary?

CE: What about her? I mean, it's a tough voice to listen to for four years. It could be a tough one. If she's just gonna follow what we've been doing, then I wouldn't be for her.

ESQ: But if the choice is between her and Trump, what do you do?

CE: That's a tough one, isn't it? I'd have to go for Trump … you know, 'cause she's declared that she's gonna follow in Obama's footsteps. There's been just too much funny business on both sides of the aisle. She's made a lot of dough out of being a politician. I gave up dough to be a politician. I'm sure that Ronald Reagan gave up dough to be a politician.

ESQ: Politically, you're the Anti-Pussy party?

CE: Yeah, I'm anti–the pussy generation. Not to be confused with pussy.

2 OFFICERS IN SHOOTING OF EZELL FORD SUE LAPD, CLAIMING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

The Police Commission -- described in the lawsuit as “an inexperienced group of political appointees” - overturned the LAPD's findings which cleared officers Tony Villegas and Sharlton Wampler and found the shooting was out of policy

City News Service
August 3, 2016

Two Los Angeles police officers involved in the deadly shooting of a mentally ill man in South Los Angeles in 2014 sued the city Wednesday, alleging they are being kept from returning to field duty due to racial discrimination and retaliation.

Officers Tony Villegas and Sharlton Wampler were both assigned to the Newton Division's gang unit when they encountered 25-year-old Ezell Ford Jr. on Aug. 11, 2014.

A representative for the City Attorney's Office did not immediately return a call for comment on the plaintiffs' Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.

The suit states that Ford attempted to grab Wampler's firearm and, fearing for his life and that of Villegas, the officer grabbed the backup firearm holstered to his leg and shot Ford, who died at the scene.

"The chief (Charlie Beck) declared that all aspects of the shooting were within policy. Plaintiffs were cleared by the department," the suit says.

However, the Police Commission -- described in the lawsuit as "an inexperienced group of political appointees" - overturned the LAPD's findings and found the shooting was out of policy.

The officers were temporarily assigned to administrative duties but "remain benched today although they committed no misconduct," their suit says.

Villegas, who is Latino, has been told he cannot do outside work; Wampler, who is white, has been denied a patrol bonus; and neither officer can be promoted to the rank of sergeant because of their non-field status, their suit says.

They have additionally been unable to obtain transfers, overtime and coveted assignments, according to their court papers.

In contrast, a black officer who was recently involved in a lethal shooting that was found by the chief and the Police Commission to be out of policy was only taken out of the field for a short time and now has an important position in the Metropolitan Division, the suit says.

"Clearly, there is a different standard of discipline meted out to officers solely on account of their race and color of their skin," the suit alleges.

The treatment of the officers also illustrates the retaliation they suffered after they reported their complaints and said they intended to sue, according to their lawsuit.

RAPE VICTIMS JAILED IN HOUSTON TO ASSURE THEY WILL TESTIFY AGAINST THEIR RAPISTS

Amid uproar over jailed rape victim, DA's Office audit finds another wronged survivor

By Meagan Flynn

Houston Press
August 2, 2016

After jailing a rape victim for 27 days so she could testify against her attacker, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday it had audited itself to make sure something like this never happens again.

District Attorney Devon Anderson said it was a KPRC news story about a mentally ill woman referred to only as "Jenny" in media reports — who was jailed awaiting her rapist's trial because prosecutors feared she would run away — that prompted her to begin reviewing similar cases pending right now. And it turns out, they found some more missteps.

After KPRC's story broke, Anderson defended her prosecutors amid nationwide criticism for their decision to put 25-year-old Jenny in jail. The woman, who is bipolar and schizophrenic, endured a mental health crisis while testifying against the man who raped her, spent ten days in a hospital recovering, then, under a witness bond, spent 27 days in the Harris County jail. Saying she was homeless, prosecutors held Jenny to ensure she wouldn’t flee before they could convict the serial rapist with her testimony.

Since then, Jenny has filed a federal lawsuit alleging a myriad of civil rights violations and unconstitutional arrest and seizure. The suit, as well as KPRC's original story, recounts how Jenny was allegedly thrown in general population and assaulted by other inmates and guards despite needing mental health treatment. Yet even though Anderson called the story "misleading" and, yesterday, "incomplete," it apparently prompted her office to dig into its other bench warrant and witness bond cases to find any shortcomings.

Here's what they found: Currently, 35 people are being held in jail on bench warrants — meaning they have been convicted of crimes in different counties but were transferred to the Harris County jail so they could testify in trials here, Anderson said. Only one person is being held on a witness bond — as in Jenny’s case — so that he can testify in a capital murder trial; he is homeless, Anderson said, and has nowhere to go but the jail.

He has been held for three months, Anderson said.

During the audit, the DA’s office also discovered a sex assault victim who had been held in the jail on a bench warrant two months longer than she should have. Anderson said the woman had been convicted of felony drug possession in another county, then was extradited to Harris County to testify against her rapist. Her sentence for the drug possession was only supposed to last six months — but once it expired, Harris County prosecutors apparently forgot to let her out, and she spent two extra months in the jail on no legal grounds.

“This should not have happened,” Anderson said. “We are looking into why it happened and what went wrong in this case…It was our fault.”

In Jenny’s case, her lawyer, Sean Buckley, sent a letter Monday to Anderson’s office, asking that she appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether criminal charges of official oppression should be filed against the prosecutor who sought to book Jenny in jail. At the news conference, Anderson said Buckley's request is nothing more than an attention-grab for the civil lawsuit, and that there was no evidence that the prosecutor, Nicholas Socias, committed a crime. Anderson instead thinks Socias did “everything he could” to find a place for Jenny other than jail before the trial resumed.

Anderson claimed the lead prosecutor who dealt with Jenny had “many conversations” with her mother while Jenny was in the hospital, trying to figure out where she could go after she was discharged. Apparently, the mother said that taking her daughter into her home would be “too stressful,” Anderson said. Because Jenny had told prosecutors that she was leaving and never coming back following her breakdown in court, Anderson said prosecutors feared they would lose their key witness and a serial rapist — who prosecutors said had 11 victims — would walk free.

After the hospital stay following her breakdown, Jenny still showed no signs of ever wanting to return to court, Anderson said.

“That’s the worst thing about being a rape victim: You have to stand up in a courtroom and talk about what happened to you in front of the person who did it to you. Nobody wants to go through that. It’s the worst thing ever, but if nobody went through it, these [rapists] would be preying on all of us. And this is a man that we know. We know he will get out and do it again, because he got out and did it to her.”

To change things after the audit, she plans to appoint an “inner office tracker,” whose job will be to monitor people in the jail held on witness bonds and bench warrants to make sure they aren’t sitting in jail because authorities forgot about them. She also wants a prosecutor to petition the Texas Legislature to pass a new law requiring people like Jenny, stuck in jail on a witness bond, to be appointed their own attorneys.

Asked if she had anything to say to Jenny, Anderson said, "I’m very sorry about how all of this played out. ...It was just an awful situation, and I regret it very much."

TRUMP IS KILLING HIMSELF WITH SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS

By Rich Lowry

New York Post
August 1, 2016

Donald Trump got sound advice the other day. At a rally at Davenport, Iowa, he told the crowd that a prominent supporter had called and urged him not to sweat all the attacks at the Democratic National Convention.

“Don’t hit down,” the supporter urged, according to Trump. “You have one person to beat. It’s Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

By Trump’s account, he conceded the good sense of this, although he noted how he always prefers hitting back — “it makes me feel good.”

If so, he must have enjoyed his weekend. He spent it attacking not just Khizr Khan, the Muslim father of a soldier killed in Iraq who spoke at the DNC, but his wife.

In other words, roughly 48 hours after publicly sharing the advice he had gotten not to punch down, Trump delivered a flurry of downward blows the likes of which we haven’t seen from a presidential candidate in memory.

The old political and media rule is unassailable: When you are the bigger, more famous figure, you only draw more attention to a less prominent critic by engaging.

If people hadn’t heard, or heard about, Khan’s short speech against Trump at the DNC before, they probably have now.

In its unadorned righteous indignation, the Khan DNC speech was a stinging rebuke of Trump — Khan suggested the Republican candidate hasn’t read the Constitution, nor ever sacrificed anything for the country — and the mogul duly acted stung.

His first swipe was at Khan’s wife, Ghazala, for standing silently at her husband’s side during the speech (perhaps, Trump implied, she was forbidden from speaking as a woman?).

In subsequently trying to tamp down the controversy, Trump stoked it further by saying Khizr Khan had “no right” to criticize him as he had and complaining about his viciousness.

The Trump response predictably fueled an all-out media blitz by the Khans. It validated one of the main lines of criticism of him at the DNC — that he is so thin-skinned that he can’t be entrusted with the awesome powers of the presidency.

And his religiously fraught slap at Khan’s wife and his rhetorical manhandling of a family who had sacrificed so much for the country reinforced the sense that he refuses to honor basic political norms.

It’s not that grief validates a particular point of view, or someone who has suffered a terrible loss should be above criticism. But the grieving mother or father deserves an extra measure of respect. This isn’t just Politics 101, but Decency 101.

President George W. Bush was gentle with Cindy Sheehan, the Gold Star mother who became a fierce critic of the Iraq War. Asked on “Fox News Sunday” about two parents of State Department employees killed in the Benghazi attack who have criticized her — including Patricia Smith at the Republican National Convention — Hillary Clinton said first, “My heart goes out to both of them,” and then countered their criticisms without making it personal.

This isn’t hard. Trump may figure he needn’t bother because he has weathered so many other controversies that appalled critics on the left and the right.

But the playing field is different when he is potentially three months away from being elected president of the United States, as opposed to a Republican primary contender among many others.

It’s one thing to beat Ted Cruz and his family about the head and shoulders — he’s just another pol — but something else entirely to do it to the parents of an exemplary young man who sacrificed his life protecting others in Iraq.

Trump believes, from his decades in the public eye in the media capital of the world, that it always pays to be on the attack. This isn’t true anymore.

The question no longer is whether he can garner headlines, but whether he can demonstrate his suitability to becoming commander-in-chief. The only one he’s hurt by his assault on the Khans is himself.

BLACK LIVES MATTER BLAMED BY PARENTS OF TWO YOUTHS BUSTED FOR SHOOTING AT PENNSYLVANIA COPS

When taken into custody, Marquell Rentas told officers: “I ain't no pussy, I was shooting at you. Fuck you, police.”

Marquell Rentas, 17, and and his cousin Trenton Nace, 18, were arrested on Friday after opening fire on cops in Columbia, Pennsylvania. The officers had responded to a call of shots being fired. None of the officers were hurt even though numerous shots were directed at them during a 45-minute standoff.

Rentas, who was found near a scoped-rifle with numerous spent cartridges on the floor, told police: “I'm the one who did it, I'm the one who shot. My cousin didn't do it.” However, the police say Nace passed the ammunition to Rentas.

The Daily Mail reports that the mother of Rentas and the father of Nace both blame Black Lives Matter for the shootings at the police by their sons. They released the following joint statement:

“They are in jail for doing what Black Lives Matter wanted them to do: shoot at cops. The truth is that these are two punk kids following the orders of an irresponsible organization and now they're gonna pay for it.”

While BLM leaders and their supporters, including President Obama, insist the organization is opposed to violence, many members have been heard shouting for the murder of cops during BLM demonstrations.

An organization is no better than its worst members if it does not rid itself of them. Any way you look at it, BLM is not a benign civil rights group … it is a very dangerous organization!

SHERIFF LEE BACA DECIDES TO ROLL THE DICE

By Bob Walsh

Former L. A. County Sheriff Lee Baca (aka Pepe LePew) has withdrawn his guilty plea and is (maybe-probably) going to trial. A couple of weeks back a federal judge refused to accept a plea deal that would have given him at most six months in custody and very possibly zero actual time in lock-up. The charge he plead guilty to was lying to the feds. He could now be tried for, among other things, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Earlier this year Paul Tanaka, formerly Baca’s #2, was convicted of obstruction of justice in the same case. Tanaka was sentenced by Judge Percy Anderson to five years in the slammer.

Baca’s lawyers have already asserted that the early onset Alzheimer’s disease that Baca is apparently suffering from, in a mild form, had already kicked in at the time he made his false statements to the feds. It seems likely that they may also assert that due to his condition he is unfit to stand trial and is, or may become, unable to assist in his own defense.

Prosecutors argued in Tanaka’s trial that he, and not Baca, was the ringleader in the obstruction actions intended to keep the FBI from digging into assorted nastiness at the L A County Jail. Among other things Sheriff’s deputies allegedly went to the home of a female FBI agent and threatened her, and booked an FBI informant inmate into custody under a fake name and then shuffled him around to keep the feebs from finding him.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Here’s hoping the roll of the dice comes up snake-eyes for Pepe LePew!

GUILTY VERDICTS IN MISTAKEN IDENTITY MURDER

by Bob Walsh

Two young men have just been found guilty of first-degree murder for stomping an eighth-grader to death because they (incorrectly) believed him to be a member of a rival gang.

The verdict came in Tuesday against Clemente Salas, 19, and Jacob Lunch, 20, wrapping up a ten week trial. Both men could receive life without parole.

A total of eight people were arrested in the attack on Heriberto Reyes, 14 and his older brother on a basketball court back in 2012. The young Reyes died after three days in the hospital.

Five of the other attackers rolled over like a Jack Russel terrier wanting a belly rub. The sixth asshole was found guilty of assaulting the older brother and two other people and is looking at 40 years.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A 10-week trial? That's Kookfornia for you. Here in Texas, the trial of Salas and Lunch would have lasted one week at most. They probably would have been tried separately, with each trial lasting three or four days.

TWO 12-YEAR-OLDS ARRESTED IN MURDER OF 15-YEAR-OLD

By Bob Walsh

Jose Mendoza was 15-years-old when he was gunned down outside a church in Winston-Salem, N.C. Friday night. The cops think that two 12-year-olds did it and have both of them in custody.

The cops are not giving out much information at all but there is some speculation that it was as gang related shooting. Allegedly the victim was a good kid who was about to start high school and planning to join the junior ROTC program like his older brother. However as this information is coming from his family one never knows how accurate it is.

The two alleged shooters may be tried as adults under N.C. law. The cops have said they are not looking for any additional suspects so they seem to think that what they have is solid.

A MULTI-TALENTED WORKER AND GOOD FATHER TO HIS THREE SONS GUNS DOWN TWO SAN DIEGO COPS

Prosecutor: Jesse Gomez opened fire immediately on San Diego police

Associated Press
August 2, 2016

SAN DIEGO -- A man opened fire immediately on a San Diego police officer who walked up to him on a dark residential street last week to ask if he lived nearby, prosecutors said Tuesday, then shot into a patrol car, hitting the officer’s partner with four bullets as he sat wearing a seatbelt.

Jesse Gomez — a construction worker with two felony convictions — pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder charges at a hospital where he is recovering from wounds sustained in the gunbattle with police.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Runyon said at a news conference that Gomez and another man had been walking about 11 p.m. Thursday and split up when they saw the officers. The two officers pulled up to Gomez, and Officer Wade Irwin got out and asked if he lived in the area.

Gomez “answered with gunfire,” Runyon said.

After shooting Irwin, Gomez fired into the patrol car, where Officer Jonathan DeGuzman sat in the driver’s seat and was killed, Runyon said. Irwin fired back after being hit and police later found Gomez by following a trail of blood to a ravine.

Police have not determined a motive for the killing. They say they have not ruled out that the officers were targeted. Police arrested a second man on an unrelated warrant and questioned him as a person of interest in the case. He posted bail and has been released.

Gomez, 52, would be eligible for the death penalty if convicted, but prosecutors have not decided whether to seek it.

DeGuzman, 43, died after being rushed to a hospital. Irwin, 32, is recovering from his wounds.

Investigators have reviewed police body camera footage, though they said at Tuesday’s news conference that Irwin’s camera was not turned on until after he was shot.

Officials have released little information about Gomez. He has a criminal record stretching back to 1983, including a conviction for auto theft and drunken driving.

Prosecutors said he used a cane to seize a car from another driver.

He was convicted of firearm charges in 1992 and again in 2002 for carrying firearms while under the influence of methamphetamine.

Gomez grew up in a modest house in southeastern San Diego, about a half-mile from the site where the shooting occurred.

Real estate broker Leonard A. Marquez wrote in a 2002 letter to a judge that Gomez had worked for him for eight years. Marquez described Gomez as “a multi-talented worker who is considered to be a great asset to all construction projects.”

Gomez’s son, Daniel Gomez, told The San Diego Union-Tribune that he believes his father is innocent. He said he is a good father to his three sons and a dedicated grandfather to his 9-year-old granddaughter.

“I know he’s been in trouble, like when I was a baby, but after that nothing,” Daniel Gomez told the newspaper. “It’s like he realized he had his kids in his life and he had to take care of them, so that’s what he did. He stayed out of trouble and was about his family.”

A memorial service will be held Thursday and a public funeral Mass on Friday for DeGuzman.

POLICE SHOOT, KILL SUICIDAL KNIFE-WIELDING TEEN

Detectives discovered an apology letter after Manchester Township police officers fatally shot 18-year-old Limichael Shine on Sunday

By Alex N. Gecan, Alexandria Carolan and Andrew Ford

Asbury Park Press
August 2, 2016

MANCHESTER, NJ -- Township police shot and killed an 18-year-old Toms River man who authorities say was brandishing a knife and threatening suicide.

The man was identified as 18-year-old Limichael Shine of Toms River, officials with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office confirmed Monday morning. It was the third fatal police-involved shooting in Ocean County this year.

Township police went to a Robin Street home shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday, responding to a report of a suicidal man, according to Capt. Jack Sramaty, who heads up the county prosecutor's Special Operations Group.

According to police, Shine had been cleaning the home with his mother and "had contacted 911 stating that he wanted a police officer to respond to his location and that he ... was going to commit suicide."

Sramaty said that Shine had "a large knife" when police arrived.

"Mr. Shine asked the responding officers to shoot him. The officers gave Mr. Shine commands to relax, surrender and to drop his weapon," Sramaty said. "Mr. Shine refused to obey repeated commands by the officers to surrender and to drop his knife. This encounter resulted in a Manchester Township police officer firing one shot upon Mr. Shine."

Police rendered first aid at the scene, to no avail. Shine was pronounced dead at an area hospital soon after, Sramaty said.

Detectives found a note that Sramaty said Shine had written before calling 911 "in which he apologizes to the officer who ultimately will respond to this call. In the note, Mr. Shine writes that his goal was to commit suicide by officer."

Sramaty said that the Prosecutor's Office and the Ocean County Sheriff's Office were investigating the shooting "with the full cooperation of the Manchester Township Police Department."

Nancy Festa, 62, lives in one of the homes next to where police shot Shine. She said she didn't hear the gunshot because she was playing music. She looked out her window after a friend brought the commotion to her attention.

She said she saw ambulances, police cars and red crime scene tape strung across her front yard.

She recalled Shine's mother at the scene, crying out to police, "I want to see him, I want to see him now."

"She was very upset," Festa said. "Yeah, I would've been, too. I feel bad for the mother, I really do."

A woman who answered the door at an address listed for Shine declined to comment.

Manchester police officials did not respond to requests for comment. Sramaty said he could not yet identify the officer who fired or say whether the officer had been placed on altered duty pending the investigation.

The Shore area has already seen several officer-involved shootings in 2016.

In June, the state Attorney General's Office determined that the Ocean County SWAT officers who shot and killed Michael Laniado in February had "used an acceptable level of force." The 27-year-old Manchester man had brandished a knife and charged officers, state authorities said.

Toms River police shot 29-year-old Timothy Sauers on July 7 after he pulled a pellet gun on officers investigating a suspicious vehicle, police said. That shooting unfolded at nearly the same time that a sniper ambushed Dallas police officers guarding a peaceful protest, killing five of them. Sauers survived his injuries.

On July 16 Ocean County SWAT officers shot and killed retired New York Police Department Lt. Patrick Fennell after he fled with a handgun into the woods behind his Little Egg Harbor home.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Well, that’s one way to prevent a suicide. It's better than Crisis Hotline … Just shoot the bastard!

SELF-SERVICE CHECKOUTS ARE TURNING SHOPPERS INTO A GENERATION OF THIEVES

A shop's losses are more than double when self-service technology is used

By Fiona Macrae

Daily Mail
August 2, 2016

They are already a major source of frustration.

But self-service checkouts may not just be sending stress levels soaring – they could also be turning honest shoppers into thieves.

A Leicester University report has revealed that a shop's losses are more than double when self-service technology is used.

While some of the items may have found their way into shopping bags by mistake, others are likely to have been pilfered – and not just by hardened criminals.

Interviews with supermarket managers and staff suggest that normally honest people give into temptation when left to scan their own shopping.

The lack of human contact may lead some to believe it is a harmless crime, while others may rationalise their theft by telling themselves that a big store can afford it.

And some shoppers may simply be so frustrated with the technology that they feel justified in stealing.

Distraction is also an issue, particularly with the most hi-tech systems in which customers use their mobile phones to scan items as they walked around the aisles.

In some cases, 10 per cent of the items are not scanned due to customers forgetting to use the technology consistently.

And a separate audit of one million shopping trips found that losses including theft more than doubled with self-scanning.

Report co-author Adrian Beck, a professor of criminology, said: 'Both loved and loathed by consumers, with the phrase 'unexpected item in the bagging area' striking dread into many a shopper, self-scan technologies are growing in use and likely to become even more prominent as we begin to be encouraged to use our own mobile devices to both scan and pay for products in the stores we visit.

'From the retailers' perspective, the benefits seem obvious – less investment required in staff and checkout technologies, with the former being the biggest expense they face.

'For the shopper it could mean the end of checkout queues as product scanning and payment can in theory be performed anywhere in the store at their convenience. To borrow a well-warn Top Gear phrase, 'what could possibly go wrong'?

'Well, our research found that quite a bit could and does go wrong, with some potentially rather worrying long term consequences.'

The report also warns that customers who are caught stealing have 'ready-made excuses' – including blaming faulty technology or their own lack of computer savvy.

As a result, 'proving intent is difficult' and 'deciding whether prosecutions can be made or not is potentially a legal and customer relations minefield'.

However, retailers are wising up by tagging products and introducing prompts that require shoppers to state they have scanned all their items.

Co-researcher Dr Matt Hopkins said: 'Retailers are becoming aware of these problems and introducing ways of…trying to ensure that all that ends up in the basket also makes it onto the receipt.'

NEWLY DISCOVERED DIARIES REVEAL HIMMLER ALMOST FAINTED WHEN A JEW’S BRAIN SPLATTERED ON HIS UNIFORM

Over 1,000 pages of diaries belonging to Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler have been found in Russian military archives

By Allan Hall

Daily Mail
August 1, 2016

BERLIN -- A newly uncovered diary kept by Nazi mass murderer and SS monster Heinrich Himmler has revealed how he took a massage before ordering 10 Poles to their deaths and almost fainted when a Jew's brain splattered on his coat after they were shot.

Covering the years 1938, 1943 and 1944, the paperwork vanished at end of the Second World War and into the hands of the Red Army.

Now it has been discovered in the Russian Military Archive in Podolsk filed under Dnewnik - Russian for diary.

It is his service calendar where he recorded dates, places, meetings and his decision to send millions of people to their deaths.

It also reveals gruesome details of how he ordered the murder of thousands of people including the deaths of 10 Poles, just after he received a massage from his personal doctor.

He was known to be squeamish at the sight of blood and one diary entry in August 1941, details how when witnessing the mass shooting of Jews into a pit outside the city of Minsk in what is now Belarus, he almost fainted when the brains of a victim splashed on to his coat.

Director Professor Nikolaus Katzer of the German Historical Institute (DHI) in Moscow described it as 'a document of shudderingly outstanding historical significance.'

It contains more than 1,000 pages and has surfaced 71 years after Himmler was caught by British soldiers wandering around northern Germany dressed in the uniform of an ordinary serviceman with false papers.

Recognised when he was taken for interrogation, he bit down on a cyanide capsule contained in a tooth and was dead within minutes.

Himmler was in charge of the entire terror apparatus of the Nazi state from the policeman on the beat and the Gestapo to the concentration camps and the extermination plants like Auschwitz and Treblinka.

The diary shows that between 1943 and 1945 he met 1,600 people and records details of his life.

On a visit to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, for instance, he writes: 'Took a snack at the cafe in the SS-Casino.'

Another time he writes of witnessing the 'effectiveness' of the diesel engines at the Sobibor death camp in Nazi occupied Poland where 400 people were put to death for the exhibition. In total some 250,000 people were gassed in the camp, most within two hours of arrival.

Later the same day in 1943 he records that he was 'feted' at a banquet thrown by SS men.

The diary is dotted with references to Puppi - his nickname for his daughter Gudrun, a diehard Nazi who is still alive, living in a suburb of Munich, where she aids former Nazis with a charity called 'Stille Hilfe' - Silent Help.

He also calls for new watchdogs at the Auschwitz complex 'capable of ripping apart everyone but their handlers.'

The diary also contains many references to Margarethe Sieghroth, the woman he married in 1928 and who bore him his daughter Gudrun. It also mentions their adoptivde son Gerhard.

One page of the diary, dated 3 June 1944 - three days before the Allied armada landed on the beaches of Normandy to begin the western assault on Germany - Himmler was concerned about more pressing social matters.

The diary details the wedding details on that day between SS General Major Hermann Fegelein and Gretl Braun at Hitler's holiday retreat at the Obersalzberg in Bavaria.

Fegelein was a favourite of Himmler's and Hitler while Gretl was the sister of Eva Braubn, the woman who lived in the shadows of the Third Reich as the Nazi leader's mistress.

Fegelein was arrested by the SS on Hitler's orders three days previously because he had fled his post in the Fuehrerbunker and was suspectecd of treason. Being the husband of Eva Braun's vister did not save him; he was shot.

In the wedding day protocol Himmler describes events from 9.00am in the morning to 7.00pm at night, beginning with greeting guests in Berchtesgaden, a lunch at Haus Bormann - the residence on the mountainside of Hitler's sinister secretary - a party there in the afternoon before going on to the Berghof, the Fuehrer's mountainside residence.

The wedding was to culminate with a trip to the tea house at the top of the mountain - the only relic from Nazi times that exists there to this day and visited by tens of thousands of tourists a year.

The last few metres to the mountaintop are completed for visitors in the same bronze lift that Bormann built for Hitler in the 1930's.

The diaries, found earlier this year are to be serialised in the German newspaper Bild from tomorrow. A member of the DHI team said: 'The archive documents are the key to fully understand Himmler and all his cruel works.'

The discovery of the diaries comes two years after letters to his wife and daughter, photos and even a recipe book belonging to Himmler were discovered in Israel.

They revealed he kept the mass Jewish extermination programme he directed from his wife and mistress in case it upset them.

In the letters and diaries that were serialised by Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, he comes across as a foppish, even diffident accomplice to mass slaughter.

Historians spent three years studying the archive, which belonged to a Jewish man before it was sealed in a bank vault in Tel Aviv, in order to test its authenticity, before coming to the conclusion that it was genuine.

ANOTHER JIMMY HOFFA DISAPPEARANCE TALE

How Frank Sheeran killed Jimmy Hoffa: The shocking claims made 41 years after the legendary union activist vanished

Daily Mail
August 1, 2016

Mafia killer Frank Sheeran said he tried to alert union activist Jimmy Hoffa that something was wrong before he fired two shots into the back of his dear friend's head.

Hoffa's legendary disappearance 41 years ago has remained an unsolved mystery, but for FOX News anchor Eric Shawn, who played a significant role in launching a 2004 investigation, the evidence is clear.

Following Sheeran's instructions to the Michigan home where he said he killed Hoffa, Shawn, along with fellow Fox News producer Ed Barnes hired a forensics team to dig up the floor boards.

What they found were decades-old blood patterns that matched Sheeran's own account, which he finally disclosed in an attempt to seek absolution before his death in 2003 at the age of 83.

Hoffa was a working-class icon who turned the International Brotherhood of Teamsters labor union into a nationwide movement before falling from grace and going to jail for racketeering.

He was pardoned by President Richard Nixon and was making his comeback when he was summoned to a meeting with two mafia dons on July 30, 1975.

His abandoned car was found outside the Detroit restaurant and no trace of him has been found since.

Countless theories have prevailed over the years, but Charlie Brandt, Sheeran's former lawyer-turned-writer has had the privilege of telling Sheeran's story.

In the book, I Hear You Paint Houses: Frank 'The Irishman' Sheeran And Closing The Case On Jimmy Hoffa, Brandt recounted the fateful car ride before Hoffa's death.

Sheeran, along with two others, picked Hoffa up at a restaurant, saying they were headed to a mob meeting.

In the book, Sheeran said he purposefully took Hoffa's usual place in the passenger seat as a subtle warning to his friend that things were amiss.

According to Shawn, the FBI found a single hair that matched Hoffa and corroborated Sheeran's account.

But Hoffa failed to take notice, and Sheeran knew he was stuck between a rock and a hard place given the orders from mob bosses to kill his dear friend.

When they arrived at the empty house, Sheeran said he lingered behind Hoffa and shot him twice in the head from point blank range.

Brandt explained: 'Hoffa was Sheeran's friend but you didn't defy orders. If he hadn't killed him he'd have been shot himself. He said the mafia was upset because Hoffa hadn't shown enough gratitude over Dallas.

'I realized he was talking about the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. It was always rumoured that the killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, wasn't working alone and that the mob was behind it.

'So I asked Sheeran and his face turned to stone, he raised his right hand at me and just brushed me off, saying "I'm not going anywhere near Dallas".

'I was sure he had something to do with it and kept asking. It was a classic mob hit - Oswald thought he would get away, but Jack Ruby then killed him.

'Eventually Sheeran admitted to taking three rifles to Baltimore - he understood these had then gone to Dallas. I didn't get anything more juicy than that...'

Hoffa's son James P Hoffa also told Shawn that his father would have been wary of getting into a car with the other suspects listed by the FBI - but he would have trusted Sheeran.

Brandt said Sheeran gave him the directions to the house where he said he killed Hoffa, and a forensic team sprayed luminol on the floors in 2004 to detect traces of blood..

Nearly three decades after Hoffa disappeared, the test revealed blood on the main entrance, foyer, and hallway leading to the rear kitchen.

The blood patterns matched Sheran's account of where Hoffa's head would have hit the floor before he was dragged to the kitchen and wrapped in a body bag, Shawn claimed.

According to Sheeran, Hoffa was later cremated at a funeral home with mob connections.

Sheeran's daughter Dolores Miller said: 'He was among the top suspects and the FBI put him in prison time and again, hoping he'd crack. But he never did.

'Then towards the end of his life he told me he wanted absolution. I remember saying he had to be truly sorry for the things he'd done in the past, that if he had his time again he wouldn't do the things he'd done.

'He said he was sorry and I drove him to the church to confess. He seemed much happier after that.'

In the final five years of his life, Sheeran poured his heart out to writer Charles Brandt. He died in 2003, six weeks after reading the finished manuscript, and did not tell family what he'd done.

'We never discussed it before he died and Charles didn't tell me the truth until the book came out,' Miller said.

Brandt's book will be adapted to the silver screen, starring Robert De Niro as Sheeran in a collaboration with Martin Scorsese.

The film has been in the works for several years, but filming is reportedly due to begin in January 2017 after the rights were purchased at this year's Cannes Film Festival in May.

EDITOR’S NOTE: There have been so many tales about the disappearance and assassination of Jimmy Hoffa that it’s very hard to believe any of them. Sheeran may have shot Hoffa, but I do not believe the Mafia had any connection to the JFK assassination. It was Robert Kennedy that the Mafia had a beef with, not JFK.

GROUPS AFFILIATED WITH BLACK LIVES MATTER ISSUE SIX DEMANDS

Among the demands: An end to the type of militarized police presence seen at protests, the immediate release of all people convicted of drug offenses, sex work related offense and youth offenses, and reparations for descendants of slaves

By Errin Haines Whack

Associated Press
August 1, 2016

Ahead of the second anniversary of the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, that touched off a wave of protests nationwide, a coalition of more than 60 organizations affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement has issued a list of demands calling for policing and criminal justice reforms.

The agenda, titled "A Vision for Black Lives: Policy Demands for Black Power, Freedom and Justice" was released Monday by the Movement for Black Lives. The platform also comes after both the Republican and Democratic conventions, during which Black Lives Matter activists were noticeably absent from protest lines.

"We seek radical transformation, not reactionary reform," Michaela Brown, a spokeswoman for Baltimore Bloc, one of the group's partner organizations, said in a statement. "As the 2016 election continues, this platform provides us with a way to intervene with an agenda that resists state and corporate power, an opportunity to implement policies that truly value the safety and humanity of Black lives, and an overall means to hold elected leaders accountable."

The agenda outlines six demands and offers 40 recommendations on how to address them. To address criminal justice reform, for example, movement organizers are calling for an end to the type of militarized police presence seen at protests in cities like Ferguson, and the retroactive decriminalization and immediate release of all people convicted of drug offenses, sex work related offense and youth offenses.

The group also is calling for the passage of a bill that would create a commission to study reparations for descendants of slaves.

This is the first time Black Lives Matter has articulated its demands and has faced pressure to do so.

The Black Lives Matter movement dates to 2012, but ignited two years later when 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who is white, on August 9, 2014. The incident, followed by other killings of black men and boys by police in cities including Baltimore and Cleveland, sparked racial tensions and weeks of protests that evolved into a national conversation about disparities in policing.

Fueled largely by social media, the movement has grabbed the attention of elected officials, including President Barack Obama — who has invited activists to the White House to discuss their grievances and possible solutions. Their efforts also have forced the issues of criminal justice reform and policing disparities into the 2016 election cycle, and were credited, in part, with the ouster of district attorneys in Illinois and Ohio earlier this year.

EDITOR’S NOTE: An end to the type of militarized police presence seen at protests? The immediate release of all people convicted of drug offenses, sex work related offense and youth offenses? Reparations for descendants of slaves? No way, Jose!

ASSEMBLYMAN ROGER HERNANDEZ IS AN ASSHOLE, COWARD AND WIFE BEATER

By Bob Walsh

California State Assemblyman Roger Hernandez (D-Baldwin Park) is a cowardly asshole and wife beater. He is a “reliable liberal” which is no surprise as the California state legislature is ruled by such. Depending exactly on how many people are in prison or facing prison the Dems usually have a supermajority in both houses so the formerly great state of California is essentially a company town run by liberal Democrat-Socialists.

A while back he got in a very small amount of hot water when he ordered the microphone of a fellow Assemblyman (a Republican of course) shut off to prevent him from speaking on the record at a committee meeting. Silly me, I thought the whole idea of a deliberative legislative body was to deliberate.

Hernandez was stripped of his assembly committee assignments a month ago when a judge awarded his ex-wife a restraining order for domestic violence. Hernandez has consistently denied he is a wife-beater. He would probably also deny he is a coward and an asshole too, but those two assertions are manifestly true.

The cowardly asshole terms out at the end of this year and has been campaigning for a seat in congress. It figures. Once those assholes get a taste of power and a legion of yes men kissing their asses they are loath to give it up. For most of them it is the best gig that have ever had or could ever reasonably hope to have. A real job with real work and real responsibilities would probably kill most of them.

MOTHER AND CHILDREN MURDERED

By Bob Walsh

Takeeya Fulton, 39, was the mother of six children and lived in Miami-Dade, Florida. Early Sunday she got in some sort of a beef with the father of three of the six children while in her home. Bullets started flying and Ms. Fulton and two of the children are now dead and one is in the hospital with gunshot wounds.

So far the cops have released very little information. Not included is the name of the man Fulton got in the argument with nor his relationship (if any) to the dead children.

Nuckeria Harris, 19, and Corey Bishop, Jr, 17, are dead along with their mother. An unnamed 12-year old is hospitalized in critical condition.

THE SKY IS RISING

by Bob Walsh

OK, the sky isn’t really rising. However, if you live in the VERY prestigious Millennium Tower in the People’s Republic of San Francisco you might very well think so.

Why is that you might ask. That is because the building, at 301 Mission St., which has some very nice $10 million condos, is sinking. Rapidly and precipitously and unevenly.

The building, which was completed in 2008, has sunk 16 inches since then. It is also leaning 2” out-of-plumb to the northwest. That is making some of the residents of the 58-story edifice a tad uneasy.

The folks who built it assert that this settlement and tilting “has not significantly affected the seismic performance of the building and does not represent a safety risk.”

The tower is right next to the Transbay Transit Center, which was started two years after the tower was completed. At that time the tower had already “settled” ten inches. The tower’s builders stated originally that the building would settle about 4 inches during its lifetime. I guess they were wrong.

The engineers and lawyers are lining up. There is a LOT of money at stake and a lot of responsibility to be claimed and-or denied. The Millennium Tower builders used very little steel and a lot of concrete in the building, making it much heavier than a steel-framed skyscraper of similar size. The builders assert that this is a preferred method of building and was not done for cost savings.

VETERAN SAN FRANCISCO COP BUSTED FOR POSSESSING BANNED AR-15

18-year veteran Officer Thomas Abrahamsen was informed on by other SFPD cops

By Jessica Chasmar

The Washington Times
July 28, 2016

A San Francisco police officer is facing two felony gun charges for allegedly building and possessing a banned AR-15 rifle.

Officer Thomas Abrahamsen, 50, turned himself in to San Francisco County jail on Tuesday and appeared in court Wednesday afternoon, ending a yearlong investigation, The San Francisco Examiner reported.

Officer Abrahamsen, an 18-year veteran of the department, pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance, provided he turn over all guns and weapons, The Examiner reported.

SFPD spokesman Sergeant Michael Andraychak said the officer faces one felony count of manufacture of an assault weapon and one felony count of possession of an assault weapon.

Officer Abrahamsen has also been placed on unpaid administrative leave, Sgt. Andraychak said.

The department said internal affairs began an investigation last summer after receiving information from other members of the police department about Officer Abrahamsen’s weapon.

“In the spirit of the ‘Not on My Watch’ initiative, department members will continue to hold each other accountable and will act swiftly to report any behavior that might bring dishonor to the Police Department,” acting police Chief Toney Chaplin said in a statement, The Examiner reported.

EDITOR’S NOTE: California's Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 banned Colt brand AR-15 rifles. California's Assault Weapons ban, which was enacted in 2000, further banned possession of AR-15 assault weapons that weren't owned and registered when the law took effect.

Those bans notwithstanding, how in the fuck will possession of an AR-15 by a police officer bring dishonor to the police department?

A veteran Texas cop exclaims, “WTF? San Francisco is nuts! I hope this cop gets off and moves out of California. Dallas is hiring and you can order, build and possess as many AR-15's that you want.”

It’s not just San Fransicko, it’s the whole state of Kookfornia that’s nuts!

AMID WEED WARS, STONED-DRIVING LAWS STILL HALF-BAKED

By Peter Fimrite

San Francisco Chronicle
July 30, 2016

There are certain telltale signs that a person is stoned: bloodshot eyes, forgetfulness, ravenous late-night cravings.

But the November ballot measure that would legalize recreational pot in California says nothing about how police should detect tokers who climb behind the wheel. There’s no marijuana equivalent to the famed blood-alcohol content tests — taken by breath, blood or urine — that have planted .08 into the American consciousness.

It’s not a pressing concern for marijuana advocates, even as entrepreneurs try to develop a better sobriety test for dope smokers. But it’s a big quandary for California law enforcement officers, who are facing a question that has vexed several other states where recreational pot is legal.

California law bars driving under the influence of psychoactive substances, including weed. But with no definitive measurement for intoxication, arrests are often challenged, with officers relying on evidence like indecisiveness behind the wheel or a pungent car interior.

The lack of clear parameters for driving while stoned is one reason many police agencies and political leaders have opposed the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, known as Proposition 64. Voters in four other states also will weigh in on legalization, and they could join Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia in sanctioning adult use of the drug.

“It’s very problematic because we would be basing any type of prosecution on field sobriety tests,” said Ken Corney, the president of the California Police Chiefs Association, which is opposing the initiative on the Nov. 8 ballot. “The potential for people driving around under the influence is increased by not having adequate measures to make an arrest or to prove impairment.”

Constant challenges of field sobriety tests, Corney said, “can take time, resources and can further burden the criminal justice system.”

Advocates for marijuana legalization and some experts following the issue, however, see the focus on doped driving as a distraction, questioning whether authorizing pot use would affect the roadways of a state that already has a ripe medical cannabis industry.

Some recent studies have called into question purported connections highlighted by legalization opponents between marijuana use and car accidents. A report last year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated the agency “did not find an increase in population-based crash risk associated with THC use.”

Andrea Roth, an assistant law professor at UC Berkeley and an expert on pot legalization, called claims by elected officials, law enforcement groups and the National Institute on Drug Abuse that pot has contributed to a rise in accidents “scientifically irresponsible.”

The debate stems from the nature of the drug: The active ingredient in pot, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, is fat-soluble and binds with different receptors in the body than alcohol, which is water-soluble. As a result, THC levels can be the same in a person who smoked 15 minutes ago or two days ago.

It is therefore extremely difficult to prove that a motorist who appears stoned is actually impaired, experts say.

Things were simpler when marijuana was fully illegal. Any amount in the blood or in the car could have led to charges. But Proposition 215, the 1996 law that approved medical marijuana, made it legal for people with a doctor’s permission to have some THC in their system.

Prop. 64 would legalize the use and possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for anyone 21 or older and allow adults to grow as many as six plants for personal use — though using pot in public would remain illegal. The new rules essentially mean toking and driving is OK as long as the partaker isn’t addled.

Law enforcement officials expect the number of stoned drivers to increase if recreational use is permitted. The question is, how much — a joint, a bong hit, a slice of a brownie — is legally safe?

That’s something Colorado legislators have been grappling with since January 2014, when their state became the first to legalize recreational marijuana. Lawmakers there at first set a limit of 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood for motorists. Five other states have set similar limits.

The problem is that recent studies have shown that blood levels can drop below 5 nanograms even when a person is still high. Meanwhile, regular users could have high THC levels even if they haven’t ingested any pot that day, according to experts.

Colorado dealt with the problem by changing the language in their marijuana bill, stating that 5 nanograms in the blood is a “permissible inference” of impairment combined with other factors, like bloodshot eyes and the presence of pot smoke, bags of weed and paraphernalia in the car.

“The state still has to prove that you were impaired ... so an accused person can show a doctor’s recommendation for so much per day and argue that they can function at that level,” said Sam Kamin, a constitutional and criminal law professor at the University of Denver who is on the state’s recreational marijuana implementation task force.

In 2014, Colorado law enforcement officials reported a 12.2 percent increase in driving-under-the-influence citations involving pot. The Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking
Area, an organization set up to track the impact of legalization in Colorado, said marijuana-related traffic deaths jumped 32 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Marijuana advocates call these numbers misleading, not least because they relied on blood testing to find THC levels.

The increase in citations, they say, only means more people are using marijuana than in the past and that law enforcement officers are looking more closely for it — not that more people are driving high. Also, they say, most of the fatal accidents in the studies involved other drugs and alcohol in combination with pot.

“The well-acknowledged truth is that there is no known relationship between THC blood levels and increased relative crash risk,” Roth wrote in a California Law Review paper. If anything, she said, the studies suggest “that drivers with only THC in their blood are not causing a disproportionate number of fatal crashes.”

Amid the debate, California officials have been pushing for the development of technology to help catch stoned motorists. A 2015 bill that established a state bureau to license, regulate and tax medical pot also authorized research on marijuana-specific field sobriety tests. Many police departments have also been hiring experts who can identify symptoms of drug intoxication in motorists.

One piece of legislation proposed in April would allow California law enforcement officers to use oral swab tests to strengthen cases involving drivers who failed field sobriety tests. The handheld electronic devices, deployed in pilot programs in Southern California and other areas, test for the presence of marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines and pain medications in saliva.

One driver in Kern County was convicted using the readout from his saliva test as evidence, according to prosecutors, who say those tested are more likely to agree to a plea bargain before trial. At least two companies, one in Colorado and the other in Vancouver, British Columbia, are working on marijuana breathalyzer technology.

To marijuana advocates, the push to treat marijuana like alcohol is folly.

“They are entirely different drugs with disparate behavior,” said Paul Armentano, the deputy director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, known as NORML.

Drunk and stoned drivers behave differently behind the wheel, he said, with alcohol tending to increase driver confidence, which can lead to recklessness. Marijuana, on the other hand, often inspires self-reflection, which can cause motorists to be more cautious and drive more slowly.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study last year found that motorists with a blood-alcohol level of at least .08 were nearly 400 percent more likely to get in an accident than their sober cohorts. Drivers with THC in their systems were about 25 percent more likely than sober drivers to be in a crash.

Joe Rogoway, a Bay Area cannabis industry lawyer, said Prop. 64 could keep some potheads off the road.

“As use becomes available in social settings,” he said, “it will diminish impaired driving because people will have a place to do it — instead of in their vehicles.”

TWO ASSISTANT AGGIE FOOTBALL COACHES SUSPENDED WITHOUT PAY AFTER DEGRADING COMMENTS MADE ABOUT WOMEN

By Kelly Brown

AggieSports.com
July 29, 2016

Two assistant Texas A&M football coaches were suspended without pay Friday after officials learned a recent presentation they gave at a clinic for women fans included inappropriate content that was degrading toward females.

The presentation - which included slides sprinkled with sexual suggestions and crude comments - was shown by offensive line coach Jim Turner and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks on campus Wednesday during Chalk Talk for Women, a charity fundraising event in which roughly 700 women took part.

The assistants released a statement Friday apologizing for their remarks, saying it was a failed attempt at humor.

The program included head coach Kevin Sumlin and his staff teaching fans about football, running drills with the participants, touring Kyle Field and giving a preview of the upcoming season. The $80 event included a dinner.

Sumlin announced the two-week suspensions late Friday afternoon in a statement.

"There is absolutely no place in our program or in our University community for inappropriate conduct or degrading comments towards women, or anyone, regardless of intent."

Sumlin - who was at the popular event that benefits Twin City Mission, but didn't see the presentation - wasn't aware of the contents of the presentations until Friday morning after a social media post from a fan went viral. He said in a statement that he had been meeting participants, taking photographs and signing autographs during the event.

Once he learned about the incident, Sumlin said he consulted Athletics Director Scott Woodward and made the decision to suspend his assistants. Chalk Talk took a two-year break while Kyle Field underwent $485 million in renovations and just returned this week.

Turner, who just returned to A&M, and Banks, who started with the university in 2013, both must serve 20 hours of community service. It wasn't immediately clear what that might be.

"On behalf of Aggie Football, I want to apologize for the comments at Chalk Talk and also for my failure to review their individual presentations," Sumlin said, thanking those who attended the event and supported the homeless mission.

One of the slides featured these tips:

"PASS - BLOCKING RULES
THE DOs
Spread them again
Get erect
Stay erect
Bang him hard"

Another slide:

"RUN - BLOCKING RULES
THE DON'Ts
No penetration
Never bend over
Don't end up on your back"

And a third slide:

“RUN – BLOCKING RULES
THE Dos
Spread your legs
Enter front / Not behind
Push hard
Finiah on top”

They also introduced their parody that revised the Aggie War Hymn lyrics in a nonsensical fashion to include having women put away their cleaning supplies to make touchdowns.

Turner and Banks released the following statement along with Sumlin's remarks: "We want to sincerely apologize to the passionate Aggie fans and to women everywhere for our failed attempt at humor during this week's Aggie Football Chalk Talk and fundraiser. We clearly understand now that our comments and slides were not appropriate or consistent with the values of our football program or our Department. We must do better, and we will."

EDITOR’S NOTE: Obviously someone couldn’t take a joke. I think this was funny and not intended to degrade womwn.

A PRISON WITHOUT DRUGS, VIOLENCE OR CORRUPTION

Guachochi's peaceful population is 100% indigenous

Mexico News Daily
July 23, 2016

Mexican jails are generally known for corruption, crime and overcrowded conditions but a penitentiary in the northern border state of Chihuahua offers a contrasting picture.

Some empty beds, zero drug consumption and no bribery are features of the Social Reinsertion Center (Cereso) of Guachochi, where about half the inmates actually turned themselves in.

The 253 prisoners share one identifying characteristic: they all belong to indigenous communities. Most — 181 — are Rarámuri while 66 are Tepehuan, three are Guarojío and two, Pimas.

The state penitentiary began operating in January 2015 and was built to house a population of 100% indigenous inmates. Equipped with a kitchen, an artisan’s workshop, a barn, a bakery and a library, the jail has strict security measures, but there’s seldom a need to enforce them.

According to official figures, 98% of the inmates are behind bars for homicide and rape, a percentage hard to find in state or federal penitentiaries elsewhere in Mexico.

“Some have been charged under federal crimes and in their files they have been catalogued as ‘dangerous.’ Then you get to really know them and find out they’re peaceful people,” said the jail’s criminologist, César Payán.

“The jail’s statistics are the opposite of what one could expect. The Rarámuri are very peaceful, and since the jail opened we haven’t recorded a single fight,” said Guachochi’s warden, Juan Martín González.

“I shouldn’t say this, due to our security procedures, but we’re currently using the punishment cell as a temporary storeroom.”

Rosendo Arrazola, 29, a member of the Tepehuan indigenous goup, is in jail for homicide and has been an inmate of the penitentiaries in the state capital Chihuahua and Cuauhtémoc City.

He said Guachochi hasn’t registered a single case of suicide or sexual abuse, and that he has been able to live there in peace. “There are no ranflas here,” he added, using the local slang word for organized crime gangs that control other jails.

Arrazola also said that in his experience indigenous people in other penitentiaries are often enslaved by the other inmates.

For Guachochi’s resident doctor, the reason indigenous people commit crimes is simple: “It’s alcohol. They commit most of their crimes while drunk, and not only from their traditional tesgüino [a type of corn beer]. There’s a large quantity of adulterated spirits are seen throughout the sierra after new roads are opened, said Dr. Roque Hernández.

Of the total inmate population of Guachochi, 60% are 40 years old or younger, and 95% are in jail for alcohol-related crimes.

Warden González explained that violence in the Chihuahua sierra has been caused by warring drug cartels, severely affecting the indigenous communities which had been used to living under their traditional customs.

In recent years, the Rarámuri sierra has seen the arrival of opium poppy plantations, and the locals are often forced to work for the cartels under threats of death. Many have no other option but to flee their ancestral lands.

The Rarámuri equate nature to life and conditions of confinement often overwhelm them, leading to depression, explained Hernández.

“They don’t even attempt an escape because they know they are at fault in their communities. Social standing is all for them. It is shameful to escape, which is why many voluntarily turn themselves in after committing a crime.”

AN OPEN LETTER TO KHIZR KHAN

BY Chris Mark

Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management blog
July 31, 2016

Dear Mr. Khan,

I want to preface this letter by stating that I respect your son’s sacrifice for this great nation. By all accounts, he is a true hero that sacrificed himself in service to our country. For that I am thankful.

As a veteran, I watched your comments at the Democratic National Convention with a mixture of sadness, and anger. The United States has a military comprised of volunteers. Every single member has made the conscious choice to join the military and serve. There is not a single service member who has been forced into service. It is important for all service members (and apparently, their families) to understand that service to this great nation does not imbue one with special privileges or rights. I found your comments troubling when you said: “Have you ever been to Arlington cemetery? Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America. You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”

Does it matter whether Mr. Trump has sacrificed “…nothing and no one?”…has Ms. Clinton “..sacrificed” for this nation? How about Mr. Obama? Your comment stating that Mr. Trump “…has sacrifice no one” is alarming. Are you intimating that YOU sacrificed? Sir, your son willingly sacrificed himself. As a father I cannot imagine the pain you must feel but his sacrifice is his own. He was not forced to serve.

I am troubled that you would allow a party that has little more than contempt for the US Service Member to parade you into the DNC to denounce Donald Trump. Did you watch when protesters at the DNC booed and heckled Medal of Honor recipient Capt. Florent Groberg? Did you notice your party interrupting the moment of silence for slain police officers? Your own hypocrisy in not denouncing these acts and instead using the DNC as a platform to make a political point is disgraceful. The simple fact is that whether one served or sacrificed does not give greater power to their statements. One vote is as valuable as another. That sir, is why our Country is great. Your condemnation of one person for a statement while standing idly as your party disparages veterans and police officers is the height of hypocrisy.

To conflate the need to prevent potential terrorists from entering our country with the belief that ‘all Muslims’ should be banned is simply wrong and disingenuous. As a reminder, Mr. Trump said: “Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life,” The irony of your son’s own death at the hands of these very people in Iraq should not be ignored. I have little doubt that your son would have recognized the need to protect our country from these very people. In fact, he held is own troops back so that he could check on a suspicious car. Your son understood sacrifice and how to protect “his people”…’his soldiers’….’his fellow Americans’…

As you continue to make the media circuit and bask in the glow of affection cast upon you by a party that has little regard for your son’s own sacrifice, and veterans in general, I would ask you to consider your comments and your position more closely.

Respectfully,

Chris Mark
US Marine and Navy Veteran
__________

EDITOR’S NOTE: Chris Mark is a veteran of combat in Somalia and has served as a Scout/Sniper & Force Reconnaissance Marine as well as a US Navy Officer. Chris writes for his blog www.GlobalRiskInfo.com.

As for Mr. Khan, he knowingly let himself and his wife be used as political pawns by the Democrats, and in that role, he let his grief for his lost son scorch Trump with all the gusto he could muster.

TRUMP’S GENEROUS MOUTH, THE MOUTH THAT KEEPS GIVING TO HILLARY, GIVES STILL MORE

His fight with the Gold Star parents of Capt. Humayun Khan is the latest gift to Hillary Clinton and it tops them all

U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan was an American hero of the Muslim faith who was killed in Iraq fighting for his country, the United States of America. Khizr Khan,his father, made an emotional speech before the Democratic National Convention in which he lambasted Donald Trump. Mr. Khan pointed out that Trump had made no sacrifices for his country.

Trump, who trashes anyone who criticizes him was quick to respond with some spiteful, outrageous and ridiculous comments.

George Stephanopoulos asked Trump: “How would you answer that father? What sacrifice have you made for your country?” Here is the idiot’s answer:

“I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs. Tens of thousands of jobs.”

When Stephanopoulos said, “Those are sacrifices?”, Trump came back with this ridiculous response:

“Oh, sure. I think they’re sacrifices. I think when I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things….I was very responsible, along with a group of people, for getting the Vietnam Memorial built in downtown Manhattan, which to this day people thank me for. I raised and I have raised millions of dollars for the vets, I’m helping the vets a lot, I think my popularity with the vets is through the roof.”

To compare what he claims he did with the loss of a son in the Iraq War is absolutely absurd. Paul Rieckhoff, the founder and head of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, tweeted: “For ANYONE to compare their ‘sacrifice’ to a Gold Star family member is foolish, insulting and ignorant. Especially someone who has never served in the military himself and has no children serving.”

And Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said: “This is going to a place where we've never gone before, to push back against the families of the fallen. There used to be some things that were sacred in American politics — that you don't do — like criticizing the parents of a fallen soldier even if they criticize you.”

Of course, the big mouth didn’t stop there. Because Khan’s wife was standing silently by his side when he addressed the DNC, Trump said:

“His wife uh, if you look at his wife, she was standing there, she had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. You tell me. But plenty of people have written that. She was extremely quiet. And it looked like she had nothing to say. A lot of people have said that.”

What a schmuck! I hate to say it, but the Hildebeast is right when she says Trump is thin-skinned. Remember when Sen. McCain criticized something Trump said? The Donald came right back and said McCain was no hero and that he didn’t much like POWs.

During the campaign, Trump’s generous mouth has gifted Hillary, among others, the Latino vote and the crucial women’s vote. It seems as though almost every week his big mouth alienates another group of people that might otherwise have voted for him. Thus far, about the only voters he has solidified for himself are the neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

Trump’s generous mouth, the mouth that keeps giving to Hillary, apparently cannot be shut off. I thought he couldn’t top his invitation for the Russians to spy on us, but was I ever wrong!

For quite a while now I’ve been saying that I would hold my nose and fill a barf bag while voting for Trump. Well, since this latest fiasco, I’ve got some serious second thoughts. I think I’ll withhold my vote for president and just vote for the down ballot candidates. I know that is likely to help the Hildebeast, but I just don’t think I can vote for that big-mouthed asshole.

RESIDENTIAL ROBBER PICKS THE WRONG OLD KENTUCKY HOME

By Bob Walsh

James Stewart is a homeowner in Owsley County, Kentucky. About seven years back he and his wife were robbed at gun point and he didn’t much like the experience.

On Tuesday there was a knock at his front door at 5 a.m. He answered the door, with a pistol in his hand. There was a woman at the door asking for help so he opened the door, and a man suddenly appeared with a pistol aimed at Stewart. Stewart shot first, and he shot well.

When it was over Charles Harris, 42, of Boonville, was dead in front of the door. Linda Peters, 36, fled to a getaway car and driver. She was dropped at the hospital with at least one gunshot wound. The driver, Jamie Farthing, was also charged with first degree robbery.

I wonder if the Brady people would count that as “gun violence?” Probably they would, because they are assholes.

BURGLAR DIES AFTER 68-YEAR-OLD MAN CATCHES HIM, GAGS AND TIES HIN WITH DUCT TAPE TO TREE

After catching the now late Cleveland Gully breaking into his house, Nathaniel Johnson is probably now in some really deep shit

Cleveland Gully, 31 lived near Nathaniel Jonson, 68, in Washington County, a rural county in southwestern Alabama. Folks in rural counties are known to be quite sociable.

Cleveland decided to visit Nathaniel late Friday night, or rather, he decided to break into the 68-year-old man’s house. That turned out to be a big mistake, a deadly mistake.

Ole Nate up and catches Cleve in the act of breaking in the back door. Cleve up and runs off but falls down. Nate jumps on Cleve and overpowers him. He gift-wraps the luckless burglar for the cops with duct tape and gags him. Then he ties Cleve to a tree.

Nate then goes back in his house to call the cops. By the time sheriff’s deputies arrived, Cleve had croaked. So far, the cause of death is unknown.

Deputies took ole Nate back to their headquarters and questioned him all night.

Me thinks Nate is now in some really deep shit. I suspect he is facing a manslaughter charge.

OFF-DUTY INDIANAPOLIS COP SHOOTS DETECTIVE INVESTIGATING HIM FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

The officer faces an attempted murder charge after he shot a detective investigating a domestic violence incident involving the officer

By Rick Callahan

Associated Press
July 30, 2016

INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis police officer faces an attempted murder charge after authorities say he shot a detective investigating a domestic violence incident involving the officer and his estranged wife and then fled to Ohio.

A Marion County judge approved an arrest warrant Saturday charging Adrian Aurs in Friday night's shooting. The 42-year-old officer has been suspended without pay, pending termination from the department.

Indianapolis Police Sgt. Kendale Adams said Aurs' estranged wife and two young children were inside their apartment when the detective was shot. Adams said the detective was investigating an earlier domestic violence incident when Aurs returned to the apartment and fired.

The detective, who returned fire but did not strike Aurs, was hospitalized in good condition with elbow and back injuries.

Adams said it's unclear what happened during the domestic incident.

"We were just starting the investigation when he was shot, so we don't have all of the facts," Adams said.

Aurs, a 17-year veteran of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, was off-duty at the time of the shooting and fled to Ohio in his personal vehicle. Cincinnati police arrested him following an hour-long standoff and he was being held Saturday at the Hamilton County Jail in Cincinnati.

It was unclear if Aurs has an attorney who could speak on his behalf. A telephone message left Saturday for Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police President Rick Snyder was not immediately returned.

Adams said Aurs likely would not be returned to Indianapolis for a few days, following an expected extradition hearing.

In December 2003, Aurs was wounded but avoided serious injury thanks to his bulletproof vest when he was shot at close range by a man.

In that incident, Aurs fatally shot 23-year-old Justin Coates of Indianapolis when the two exchanged gunfire. Coates, who was suspected of stealing a truck, had been wanted on several warrants.

POLI CHIEF FROM HELL

Complaint cites police chief's 'Reign of Terror'

By Juliemar Ortiz

New Haven Register
July 30, 2016

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut -- A Police Department employee has filed a harassment complaint against the city and Police Chief Dean Esserman, after the chief allegedly yelled at her last month, reducing her to tears.

The complaint was filed with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities Thursday by East Haven-based attorney Patricia A. Cofrancesco.

According to the document, administrative assistant Phyllis Verdoliva was working at her desk June 14 when she heard Esserman say he needed to speak with the city's budget director, Joe Clerkin. In the complaint, Verdoliva said she did not know to whom the chief was talking, as her head was buried in her work, and thought he was addressing another employee.

"I heard silence and looked up to see if possibly the temporary employee was looking for the number for Mr. Clerkin," Verdoliva said in the complaint.

When she looked up, she said Esserman "demanded" to know whether she "had a problem," and she asked him in disbelief whether he was talking to her and that she was busy working. According to the complaint, Verdoliva then asked Esserman whether he wanted her to reach Clerkin for him.

The chief then allegedly "bellowed at the top of his lungs, 'I said get me Joe Clerkin! Do you have a problem? Is there something wrong with you?'" the complaint states.

Verdoliva said she was "extremely" upset and crying. She called Clerkin and transferred him to Esserman's office, then, Verdoliva said, the temporary employee came over to ask her whether she was OK, while she was "crying and shaking," according to the complaint.

Verdoliva said Assistant Chief Luis Casanova took her to his office to try to calm her down after the incident. According to the complaint, there were other employees who heard Esserman screaming. Verdoliva said she remained at work that day solely to attend the Board of Police Commissioners meeting that evening, which she is obligated to attend as the board's clerk.

According to the complaint, Esserman asked to speak with Verdoliva two days later, but she said she wouldn't meet with him unless Assistant Chief Anthony Campbell was in attendance.

During the meeting, Verdoliva said she told Esserman "never to talk to me like that again."

The complaint states that Esserman then responded, "I don't know what you mean" and asked Verdoliva what she was talking about and, when she reminded him of the incident, he allegedly said, "Haven't we had a good relationship in the last 4 years?"

The document states that Verdoliva responded by saying "at times yes and at times no" and mentioned other times when Esserman allegedly "bullied" her.

After some more back and forth, she went to her desk and "broke out crying and shaking" and was advised to go home by two assistant chiefs. When the chief tried to talk to her again, she did not engage with him, according to the complaint.

"I was afraid of retaliation or his insinuation of subordination," Verdoliva said.

She claims she was discriminated against on the basis of her gender, and that when Esserman arrived at the department in 2011, "he immediately began his reign of terror," "regularly bullying" the complainant and "engaging in arrogant, condescending treatment" of Verdoliva and other women. The complaint states that the June 14 incident is part of the "pattern of bullying behavior" exhibited by Esserman and mentions examples of other female employees who have left the department, allegedly because of Esserman's behavior. Attached to the complaint is a list of 16 witnesses to the events.

Efforts to reach Esserman for comment Friday afternoon were unsuccessful. He is on a three-week paid leave of absence from the Police Department after he allegedly berated wait staff at Archie Moore's restaurant earlier this month. The leave, which started Tuesday, was made in agreement between the chief and Mayor Toni Harp.

Verdoliva has been employed with the Police Department for 18 years as an administrative assistant in the office of the chief, and for the past six years she also has been in charge of personnel at the department.

She formally requested a transfer on July 7, indicating that she was interested in working at the Board of Education, according to a request for transfer form obtained by the Register.

Cofrancesco said the request has yet to be granted and Verdoliva continues to work at the police chief's office in the meantime.

As for the city's role in the complaint, city spokesman Laurence Grotheer said, "The City's practice is to withhold comment on pending legal matters."

Esserman also is named in a state lawsuit that initially was filed as a CHRO complaint. A racial discrimination lawsuit filed by Capt. Patricia Helliger, the department's first black female police captain, this year alleges Esserman was involved in making condescending and angry remarks toward her. The complaint was released by CHRO on Feb. 29.

Cofrancesco also represents Helliger.

Additionally, a local judge earlier this month ruled a lawsuit filed by five officers alleging procedural misconduct by Esserman could move forward. One of the five plaintiffs is David Guliuzza, vice president of the police union. Cofrancesco also is representing those plaintiffs.

City police officers voted overwhelmingly on July 7 that they have "no confidence" in Esserman's leadership.

Guliuzza said after the vote that it is time for a change and cited an alleged hostile work environment, intimidation, retaliation and lack of leadership from Esserman.

Esserman has vowed to work with the union to resolve labor disputes and contract issues. He has also highlighted a reduction in crime over the last five years while he has served as chief.

HOLY SHIT! YOU CANNOT SAY ‘FORGET BLACK LIVES MATTER, MORE LIKE ALL LIVES MATTER’ AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

UH to sanction Student Body VP over anti-Black Lives Matter post

By Zach Despart

Houston Press
July 29, 2016

Rohini Sethi may not have realized the implications of publicly criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement as a student leader at a predominantly nonwhite university earlier this month.

But her classmates are ready to punish her either way.

The University of Houston student government Senate has passed a resolution calling for the suspension of Sethi, the student government vice president, after her criticism of Black Lives Matter sparked a controversy on campus.

In a 14-2 vote, senators empowered student body President Shane Smith to sanction Sethi as he sees fit.

"I think my responsibility is to do what the students ask and what the Senate believes is best while taking into consideration all the factors going into this," Smith said.

Hours after a gunman killed five Dallas police officers on July 7, Sethi posted on Facebook: "Forget #BlackLivesMatter; more like #AllLivesMatter."

The post spurred groups on campus to call for her resignation, including the Black Student Union and Alpha Phi Alpha, a predominantly black fraternity. In a statement posted on Twitter, the Black Student Union said Sethi's post was dismissive of the Black Lives Matter movement, a social movement seeking equal protection under the law for people of color, especially at the hands of the police.

Sethi has not stepped down. She did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Smith said he is deciding the appropriate sanction for Sethi, and said senators sought a punishment "between a slap on the wrist and a full-blown impeachment."

He said some senators had recommended suspending Rohini from all SGA duties for 45 days, without pay, and requiring her to attend sensitivity training. Sethi receives a roughly $700-per-month stipend, Smith said.

Smith cautioned that Sethi was speaking for herself, and not the SGA, when she wrote the post — but that nonetheless, it reflected on her SGA colleagues. Smith said he will announce his decision Friday.

According to a 2015 fact sheet published by UH, the largest racial backgrounds within the student body are Hispanic (29 percent), white (26 percent), Asian (20 percent) and African-American (12 percent).

Smith, an economics major, said the SGA held a successful town hall meeting on race relations earlier this week, but said he looks forward to listening more to to student concerns.

"I think there has been progress. It's unfortunate that it took a negative situation like this to get people ready to talk, ready to engage on bigger community-wide issues," Smith said. "We're making it a goal to work on those."

EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s a good thing Rohini did not say, “Forget Black Lives Matter, more like Blue Lives Matter.” Had she said that, there’s no telling what they would have done to the poor girl.

If the UH administration were the least bit concerned about free speech, they should step in and suspend the whole student senate!

OIL PRICES ARE HITTING TEXAS WHERE IT HURTS

Sorry, Neiman Marcus, shopping in Texas is getting less glamorous

By Phil Wahba

Fortune
July 28, 2016

In the same way the fortunes of New York luxury emporiums like Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys move with Wall Street’s gyrations, upscale Texas stores rise and fall with the oil industry. So despite this year’s incipient oil comeback, Lone Star State retailers catering to the well-heeled are feeling the pain from the commodity’s bust.

The impact is as big as, well, Texas. By itself the state accounts for more than 10% of the $78-billion-a-year U.S. luxury market, and brands like Restoration Hardware RH 3.25% , Macy’s M -0.11% , and Dillard’s DDS 2.13% are telling investors that Texas is a drag on revenue this year. Neiman Marcus, purveyor of ball gowns to generations of Dallas debutantes, has reported declining comparable sales for three quarters ¬running—its worst spell since the Great Recession. The luxury department store, founded in downtown Dallas back in 1907, is a $5 billion national retailer, but seven of its 42 stores, including two of its three largest locations, are in Texas. “Our customers’ business interests are heavily dependent on the oil and gas industry,” Neiman CEO Karen Katz told investors.

It’s not just lower oil-industry employment that’s dinging luxury sales; it’s also energy companies’ stock. Despite a 2016 uptick, the S&P 500 Energy index is still down 30% compared with two years ago, making wealthy Texans feel a little less so. Add in a broader decline in shopping tourism from oil-rich countries like Brazil, Russia, and even Canada, and you have a recipe for an energy-slump-induced luxury malaise throughout the U.S.  Indeed, consulting firm Bain & Co. expects luxury to remain in a holding pattern for the rest of 2016. It may be a while before Houston’s shopping streets are paved in (black) gold again.

WHY THE BRIDE SLAPPED THE SHIT OUT OF THE GROOM

During a wedding ceremony, the pastor asked if anyone objected to this couple getting married. It was their time to stand up and speak, or forever hold their tongue. The moment of utter silence was broken by a young beautiful woman carrying a child. She had gotten up from the last row and started walking slowly toward the pastor.

Everything quickly turned to chaos. The bride slapped the shit out of the groom. The groom's mother fainted. The bride's father wished he'd brought his shotgun along. The groomsmen started giving each other looks and wondering if there was any way to save the wedding.

The pastor asked the woman, "Can you tell us why you came forward? What do you have to say?"

The woman replied, "We can't hear in the back."