Judge rules that accused cop killer is mentally fit for death penalty if found guilty
By Louis Sahagun
Los Angeles Times
October 27, 2018
A judge has ruled that the man accused of killing two Palm Springs police officers during an ambush-style attack is mentally fit to be executed if found guilty.
In his ruling on Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Anthony R. Villalobos rejected a motion filed by defense attorneys to strike the death penalty for John Hernandez Felix, 28, asserting he was too intellectually disabled to face capital punishment.
Felix faces two counts of murder with the special circumstances of multiple murders, murder of a police officer in the line of duty and lying in wait.
Authorities say that during the Oct. 8, 2016, slayings, Felix used an assault rifle with an extended magazine to fire on Officers Lesley Zerebny, 27, and Jose "Gil" Vega, 63, through a metal security gate.
The officers had responded just after noon that day to a disturbance at Felix’s home.
The officers were wearing ballistic vests at the time of the attack, officials said. Felix, who was wearing body armor during the confrontation, was arrested after a lengthy standoff.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Here is another case of cops sweet talking a cop killer to give up. It’s been two years since the two Palm Springs officers were ambushed and this worthless piece of shit has not gone to trial yet. And if he is sentenced to death, since this is California, he will likely die of old age on death row.
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
TRUMP-ADMIRING CANDIDATE WHO TOLD CONGRESSWOMAN ‘I WOULD NOT RAPE YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF IT,’ ELECTED PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL
Trump congratulates Brazil's new far-right president Jair Bolsonaro in 'excellent call' and makes no mention of leader's controversial record
By Geoff Earle
Daily Mail
October 29, 2018
President Donald Trump issued a hearty and informal online 'congrats!' to the newly elected right wing president of Brazil Jair Bolsinaro.
The president tweeted Monday that he had an 'excellent' call with Bolsinaro, a former Army captain who won election crusading against corruption and crime. But the incoming president is also under scrutiny for his comments about women, gays, and minorities, as well as statements praising the former Brazilian dictatorship.
'Had a very good conversation with the newly elected President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, who won his race by a substantial margin,' Trump said, tipping his hat to Bolsonaro's 55 per cent victory over left-wing Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad.
'We agreed that Brazil and the United States will work closely together on Trade, Military and everything else! Excellent call, wished him congrats!' Trump wrote.
President Trump's boosterism contrasted with the more boilerplate comments issued by French President Emanuel Macron.
"The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron congratulates Jair Bolsonaro, who was elected by the people of Brazil to become president of the federal republic of Brazil on Sunday, October 28," Macron's office office said. "France and Brazil have a strategic partnership based around common values of respect and the promotion of democratic principles," Macron added.
Among Bolsinaro's controversial comments that grew scrutiny during the campaign are times he said he would prefer a dead son to a homosexual one. Of torture, he said: 'I am in favor of torture — you know that. And the people are in favor of it, too.'
At a rally last week he threatened to jail political opponents. 'This time, the cleanup will be even greater. This group, if they want to stay, they will have to abide by our laws. Either they stay out or they will go to jail,' he said, the New York Times reported in a catalogue of his controversial comments.
Following his win, Bolsonaro vowed to 'pacify' the country and spoke of national unity.
'This country belongs to all of us, Brazilians by birth or by heart, a Brazil of diverse opinions, colors and orientations,' he said. He rode to office attacking a wave of corruption scandals, including the Operation Car Wash" investigation, which uncovered bribes worth billions.
Former President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva, received a 12-year sentence after getting convicted on corruption charges.
There are echoes to Trumpism, and the candidate has borrowed some tactics from the North American president who praised him.
Bolsinaro has vowed to drain the swamp, slash regulations and get tough with China. Evangelicals and gun-rights advocates love him. He has denounced the media as 'fake news.' Political foes? Lock 'em up.
Bolsonaro, is an ardent admirer - and shrewd imitator - of Trump. And that could usher in one of the warmest bilateral relationships in the Western Hemisphere.
Trump called to congratulate Bolsonaro on Sunday night, shortly after the far-right congressman scored a resounding victory at the polls, winning 55 percent of the vote following a mud-slinging campaign with a leftist rival.
Bolsonaro and Trump spoke of 'a strong commitment to work side-by-side' on issues affecting Brazil, the United States and beyond, the White House said.
Trump has bullied and wrangled with other leaders in the Americas, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
But in Bolsonaro, Trump will find a doppelganger whose world view and pugnacious style are strikingly similar to his own.
'Just like he wants to make America great, I want to make Brazil great,' Bolsonaro, a former army captain, said in a televised interview in July.
The 63-year-old ran as an outsider bent on smashing what he sees as a corrupt and hidebound political system that has forgotten ordinary citizens. His fiery rhetoric and slurs against gays, women and minorities have thrilled followers who view him as an authentic straight shooter. He has championed law and order, patriotism and religious values. And he has demonized his leftist detractors as enemies of the people.
While many world leaders have held Trump at arm's length, Bolsonaro has made no secret of his esteem. He has praised America's 45th president as a gutsy, decisive commander who has prevailed in the face of unfair criticism.
'Trump faced the same attacks I am facing - that he was a homophobe, a fascist, a racist, a Nazi,' Bolsonaro told Reuters last year before his candidacy caught fire. 'But the people believed in his platform. I was rooting for him.'
Such blandishments are likely to play well with Trump, who has shown an affinity for authoritarian leaders, particularly those who flatter and cajole him.
Christopher Garman, chief Americas analyst for the New York-based political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said a new cross-hemisphere bromance could be in the offing.
'(Bolsonaro's) win will surely herald a stronger bilateral relationship,' Garman said. 'Bolsonaro not only is a self-professed fan of Donald Trump, but both were elected on a wave of anti-establishment anger with relatively similar ideological proclivities. 'The White House is likely to respond well, and Donald Trump has already shown he values personal relationships with foreign leaders,' Garman said.
MOVING CLOSER
Bolsonaro has already signaled his plan to shift Brazilian foreign policy hard to the right, a development that would play well with the Trump administration.
He has said he will move Brazil's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, following the lead of the United States. And similar to Trump, Bolsonaro is rethinking his country's membership in multinational organizations and treaties that he thinks might not be in Brazil's best interest, including the Mercosur trade bloc, the BRICS group of large emerging economies and the Paris climate accord.
Those changes would reverse 13 years' worth of diplomacy crafted by governments led by the country's leftist Workers Party, which focused on alliances with Brazil's South American neighbors and other developing powers.
Bolsonaro is also questioning Brazil's relationship with China, which he views as a predatory economic partner. The Asian giant is Brazil's biggest foreign buyer of soybeans, iron ore and other commodities. But Bolsonaro is alarmed at a spate of Chinese purchases of Brazilian energy and infrastructure companies.
'The Chinese are not buying in Brazil. They are buying Brazil,' Bolsonaro has warned repeatedly.
Such talk is likely to please Trump, whose tariffs on Chinese goods have ignited a trade war that has much of the world blaming the United States for disrupting global supply chains and rattling markets worldwide.
So, too, is Bolsonaro's plan to privatize a string of Brazil's state-owned companies and loosen environmental restrictions to make way for more mining, ranching and farming.
Still, trade is likely to remain a sore point between the United States and Brazil, whose steep tariffs on imported goods make it one of the most closed economies in the world.
Trump singled out Brazil this month in a rant about tariffs.
'They charge us whatever they want,' he said in remarks to reporters at a White House event. 'If you ask some of the companies, they say Brazil is among the toughest in the world - maybe the toughest in the world.'
Even if trade issues remain thorny, Bolsonaro's gaze is directed north. He is an avid supporter of the National Rifle Association and vows that once he takes office on January 1, he will roll back Brazil's strict gun laws and let citizens take up arms to defend themselves from criminals.
Like Trump, Bolsonaro masterfully tapped into voters' fears and frustrations to rocket to the presidency. Brazil is beset by appalling levels of street crime. In the past few years, a sprawling corruption investigation has revealed epic levels of corruption at the highest levels of government.
One former president is in jail and another was impeached and tossed from office. The economy was hit by the worst downturn in decades and has yet to regain its luster; more than 13 million Brazilians are unemployed.
Hungry for change, voters responded to Bolsonaro's bold promises to crack heads and clean up the mess.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said he sees echoes of his old boss, who rode a similar wave of discontent.
'It takes those types of crises, and Brazil is going through that type of crisis now,' Bannon told Reuters recently. 'I think that Bolsonaro, he's a figure like Trump.'
EDITOR’S NOTE: When Bolsonaro said he will move Brazil's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he got my vote.
By Geoff Earle
Daily Mail
October 29, 2018
President Donald Trump issued a hearty and informal online 'congrats!' to the newly elected right wing president of Brazil Jair Bolsinaro.
The president tweeted Monday that he had an 'excellent' call with Bolsinaro, a former Army captain who won election crusading against corruption and crime. But the incoming president is also under scrutiny for his comments about women, gays, and minorities, as well as statements praising the former Brazilian dictatorship.
'Had a very good conversation with the newly elected President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, who won his race by a substantial margin,' Trump said, tipping his hat to Bolsonaro's 55 per cent victory over left-wing Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad.
'We agreed that Brazil and the United States will work closely together on Trade, Military and everything else! Excellent call, wished him congrats!' Trump wrote.
President Trump's boosterism contrasted with the more boilerplate comments issued by French President Emanuel Macron.
"The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron congratulates Jair Bolsonaro, who was elected by the people of Brazil to become president of the federal republic of Brazil on Sunday, October 28," Macron's office office said. "France and Brazil have a strategic partnership based around common values of respect and the promotion of democratic principles," Macron added.
Among Bolsinaro's controversial comments that grew scrutiny during the campaign are times he said he would prefer a dead son to a homosexual one. Of torture, he said: 'I am in favor of torture — you know that. And the people are in favor of it, too.'
At a rally last week he threatened to jail political opponents. 'This time, the cleanup will be even greater. This group, if they want to stay, they will have to abide by our laws. Either they stay out or they will go to jail,' he said, the New York Times reported in a catalogue of his controversial comments.
Following his win, Bolsonaro vowed to 'pacify' the country and spoke of national unity.
'This country belongs to all of us, Brazilians by birth or by heart, a Brazil of diverse opinions, colors and orientations,' he said. He rode to office attacking a wave of corruption scandals, including the Operation Car Wash" investigation, which uncovered bribes worth billions.
Former President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva, received a 12-year sentence after getting convicted on corruption charges.
There are echoes to Trumpism, and the candidate has borrowed some tactics from the North American president who praised him.
Bolsinaro has vowed to drain the swamp, slash regulations and get tough with China. Evangelicals and gun-rights advocates love him. He has denounced the media as 'fake news.' Political foes? Lock 'em up.
Bolsonaro, is an ardent admirer - and shrewd imitator - of Trump. And that could usher in one of the warmest bilateral relationships in the Western Hemisphere.
Trump called to congratulate Bolsonaro on Sunday night, shortly after the far-right congressman scored a resounding victory at the polls, winning 55 percent of the vote following a mud-slinging campaign with a leftist rival.
Bolsonaro and Trump spoke of 'a strong commitment to work side-by-side' on issues affecting Brazil, the United States and beyond, the White House said.
Trump has bullied and wrangled with other leaders in the Americas, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
But in Bolsonaro, Trump will find a doppelganger whose world view and pugnacious style are strikingly similar to his own.
'Just like he wants to make America great, I want to make Brazil great,' Bolsonaro, a former army captain, said in a televised interview in July.
The 63-year-old ran as an outsider bent on smashing what he sees as a corrupt and hidebound political system that has forgotten ordinary citizens. His fiery rhetoric and slurs against gays, women and minorities have thrilled followers who view him as an authentic straight shooter. He has championed law and order, patriotism and religious values. And he has demonized his leftist detractors as enemies of the people.
While many world leaders have held Trump at arm's length, Bolsonaro has made no secret of his esteem. He has praised America's 45th president as a gutsy, decisive commander who has prevailed in the face of unfair criticism.
'Trump faced the same attacks I am facing - that he was a homophobe, a fascist, a racist, a Nazi,' Bolsonaro told Reuters last year before his candidacy caught fire. 'But the people believed in his platform. I was rooting for him.'
Such blandishments are likely to play well with Trump, who has shown an affinity for authoritarian leaders, particularly those who flatter and cajole him.
Christopher Garman, chief Americas analyst for the New York-based political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said a new cross-hemisphere bromance could be in the offing.
'(Bolsonaro's) win will surely herald a stronger bilateral relationship,' Garman said. 'Bolsonaro not only is a self-professed fan of Donald Trump, but both were elected on a wave of anti-establishment anger with relatively similar ideological proclivities. 'The White House is likely to respond well, and Donald Trump has already shown he values personal relationships with foreign leaders,' Garman said.
MOVING CLOSER
Bolsonaro has already signaled his plan to shift Brazilian foreign policy hard to the right, a development that would play well with the Trump administration.
He has said he will move Brazil's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, following the lead of the United States. And similar to Trump, Bolsonaro is rethinking his country's membership in multinational organizations and treaties that he thinks might not be in Brazil's best interest, including the Mercosur trade bloc, the BRICS group of large emerging economies and the Paris climate accord.
Those changes would reverse 13 years' worth of diplomacy crafted by governments led by the country's leftist Workers Party, which focused on alliances with Brazil's South American neighbors and other developing powers.
Bolsonaro is also questioning Brazil's relationship with China, which he views as a predatory economic partner. The Asian giant is Brazil's biggest foreign buyer of soybeans, iron ore and other commodities. But Bolsonaro is alarmed at a spate of Chinese purchases of Brazilian energy and infrastructure companies.
'The Chinese are not buying in Brazil. They are buying Brazil,' Bolsonaro has warned repeatedly.
Such talk is likely to please Trump, whose tariffs on Chinese goods have ignited a trade war that has much of the world blaming the United States for disrupting global supply chains and rattling markets worldwide.
So, too, is Bolsonaro's plan to privatize a string of Brazil's state-owned companies and loosen environmental restrictions to make way for more mining, ranching and farming.
Still, trade is likely to remain a sore point between the United States and Brazil, whose steep tariffs on imported goods make it one of the most closed economies in the world.
Trump singled out Brazil this month in a rant about tariffs.
'They charge us whatever they want,' he said in remarks to reporters at a White House event. 'If you ask some of the companies, they say Brazil is among the toughest in the world - maybe the toughest in the world.'
Even if trade issues remain thorny, Bolsonaro's gaze is directed north. He is an avid supporter of the National Rifle Association and vows that once he takes office on January 1, he will roll back Brazil's strict gun laws and let citizens take up arms to defend themselves from criminals.
Like Trump, Bolsonaro masterfully tapped into voters' fears and frustrations to rocket to the presidency. Brazil is beset by appalling levels of street crime. In the past few years, a sprawling corruption investigation has revealed epic levels of corruption at the highest levels of government.
One former president is in jail and another was impeached and tossed from office. The economy was hit by the worst downturn in decades and has yet to regain its luster; more than 13 million Brazilians are unemployed.
Hungry for change, voters responded to Bolsonaro's bold promises to crack heads and clean up the mess.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said he sees echoes of his old boss, who rode a similar wave of discontent.
'It takes those types of crises, and Brazil is going through that type of crisis now,' Bannon told Reuters recently. 'I think that Bolsonaro, he's a figure like Trump.'
EDITOR’S NOTE: When Bolsonaro said he will move Brazil's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he got my vote.
US ARMED FORCES INVADE ICELAND, WIPE OUT ALL THE BEER IN NATION’S CAPITAL
Iceland’s bars ran out of beer trying to serve drunk US sailors and Marines
By J.D. Simkins
Military Times
October 28, 2018
Founding Father and principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, once quipped, “Beer, if drunk in moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit and promotes health.”
The military never got that memo.
A national crisis hit Iceland this week when a force of 7,000 American sailors and Marines who know nothing about the third president’s propensity for alcoholic self-restraint invaded the country’s capital city of Reykjavík, flexed an unquenchable thirst for frosty suds and swiftly drained much of the city’s beer supply.
Upon arrival, sailors and Marines taking part in NATO’s Trident Juncture exercise wasted no time getting wasted, Iceland Magazine reported, with most making a beeline straight from the ship to the closest bar to locate, close with and destroy beers.
Bar owners tried to accommodate the onslaught of American patrons, but “they were fighting an overwhelming force,” said local blogger, Eiríkur Jónsson.
Give me your tired, your thirsty, your huddled masses yearning to drink beer.
Wave after wave of dehydrated sailors and Marines strolled into town, filling local establishments for four days straight in search of that old, familiar embrace of sweet inebriation.
One restaurant, Sæta Svínið — good luck pronouncing that — was one of the first to run out of beer. Bar owners tried borrowing from other businesses that were better stocked, but the Americans were too many.
As other bars quickly began drying up, owners who said they had never experienced such an alcoholic assault put out a beer distress signal.
One of Iceland’s local breweries, Ölgerð Egils Skallagrímssonar, answered the call and immediately began working overtime to distribute emergency beer shipments that could furnish the parched Americans with sustenance. Ölgerð Egils Skallagrímssonar — the king in the North.
When the ships finally departed Reykjavík, the city with a population of about 120,000 in a country with just under 340,000 was finally able to breathe.
Iceland had survived the assault, the Americans had drank their fill and there have yet to be any reports of overindulgent debauchery — a true success story.
By J.D. Simkins
Military Times
October 28, 2018
Founding Father and principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, once quipped, “Beer, if drunk in moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit and promotes health.”
The military never got that memo.
A national crisis hit Iceland this week when a force of 7,000 American sailors and Marines who know nothing about the third president’s propensity for alcoholic self-restraint invaded the country’s capital city of Reykjavík, flexed an unquenchable thirst for frosty suds and swiftly drained much of the city’s beer supply.
Upon arrival, sailors and Marines taking part in NATO’s Trident Juncture exercise wasted no time getting wasted, Iceland Magazine reported, with most making a beeline straight from the ship to the closest bar to locate, close with and destroy beers.
Bar owners tried to accommodate the onslaught of American patrons, but “they were fighting an overwhelming force,” said local blogger, Eiríkur Jónsson.
Give me your tired, your thirsty, your huddled masses yearning to drink beer.
Wave after wave of dehydrated sailors and Marines strolled into town, filling local establishments for four days straight in search of that old, familiar embrace of sweet inebriation.
One restaurant, Sæta Svínið — good luck pronouncing that — was one of the first to run out of beer. Bar owners tried borrowing from other businesses that were better stocked, but the Americans were too many.
As other bars quickly began drying up, owners who said they had never experienced such an alcoholic assault put out a beer distress signal.
One of Iceland’s local breweries, Ölgerð Egils Skallagrímssonar, answered the call and immediately began working overtime to distribute emergency beer shipments that could furnish the parched Americans with sustenance. Ölgerð Egils Skallagrímssonar — the king in the North.
When the ships finally departed Reykjavík, the city with a population of about 120,000 in a country with just under 340,000 was finally able to breathe.
Iceland had survived the assault, the Americans had drank their fill and there have yet to be any reports of overindulgent debauchery — a true success story.
Monday, October 29, 2018
TRUMP’S INFLAMMATORY RHETORIC BLAMED FOR SYNAGOGUE SHOOTING
It didn’t take a New York minute for the media to put the blame of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on Trump
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
October 28, 2018
Saturday morning’s shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh left 11 worshipers dead and six wounded, including four police officers. It didn’t take a New York minute for the media to put the blame of the synagogue shooting on Trump for his inflammatory rhetoric.
President Trump is being blamed for fomenting the toxic divisiveness that now permeates our country. According to the media, Trump’s bombastic speeches have not only energized his base, but they have also energized white supremacists. In addition to the synagogue shooting, the shooting of blacks in a Kentucky Kroger supermarket on Wednesday and the pipe bomb mailings are cited as examples.
Trump was also criticized for continuing to go on the campaign trail during a period of mourning.
As can be expected, the synagogue shooting has also reenergized the debate on gun control. The anti-gunners are once more calling for a ban on AR-15 and other military style rifles. The pro-gunners are chiming in with “if only one of those worshipers had been armed.”
A ban on military-style rifles will not prevent mass shootings. The nutjobs will merely use pistols instead of rifles. And as a former FBI agent said about one of the worshipers being armed, they are “not combat trained” and are likely to shoot themselves or others rather than the shooter.
Robert Bowers, the synagogue shooter, has a long history of making anti-Semitic statements on social media. He is a Holocaust denier. Bowers also slammed Trump for doing nothing to stop an “infestation” of the United States by Jews.
Police sources said Bowers walked into the synagogue and yelled “All Jews must die.” According to an FBI affidavit, when captured, Bowers told a SWAT officer, “They're committing genocide to my people. I just want to kill Jews.”
Trump’s rhetoric may well be inflaming the divisiveness and hatred that has always existed in this country. But not so fast there! The anti-Trump rhetoric by Democrats like Corey Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Maxine Waters and now Barack Obama are just as inflammatory as Trump’s bombastic speeches.
There is plenty of blame to go around. But the shootings by white supremacists cannot be blamed on either Trump or his Democratic antagonists. Nor can they be blamed on the Trump-hating media.
Blame for the atrocities that occurred at the Kroger supermarket and the Pittsburgh synagogue rests solely on the shoulders of the white supremacists who committed the shootings and on no one else. And what about those pipe bombs? Just because they were mailed by a pro-Trump nutjob, the President cannot be blamed for that either.
Update
Now, in the wake of the synagogue shooting, Trump is even being accused of anti-Semitism because he calls out George Soreass by name on the campaign trail.
Soreass, the anti-Israel billionaire, has been contributing millions and millions of dollars to Democratic candidates, to the left-wing opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and to far-left organizations. He makes no secret of his disdain for Trump and is doing everything he can to give the Democrats control of both houses of congress.
I’m Jewish and have been a vocal critic of Soreass for years. Does that make me anti-Semitic? Does slamming one of his enemies who happens to be Jewish make Trump anti-Semitic? It does in the minds of the anti-Trumpers.
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
October 28, 2018
Saturday morning’s shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh left 11 worshipers dead and six wounded, including four police officers. It didn’t take a New York minute for the media to put the blame of the synagogue shooting on Trump for his inflammatory rhetoric.
President Trump is being blamed for fomenting the toxic divisiveness that now permeates our country. According to the media, Trump’s bombastic speeches have not only energized his base, but they have also energized white supremacists. In addition to the synagogue shooting, the shooting of blacks in a Kentucky Kroger supermarket on Wednesday and the pipe bomb mailings are cited as examples.
Trump was also criticized for continuing to go on the campaign trail during a period of mourning.
As can be expected, the synagogue shooting has also reenergized the debate on gun control. The anti-gunners are once more calling for a ban on AR-15 and other military style rifles. The pro-gunners are chiming in with “if only one of those worshipers had been armed.”
A ban on military-style rifles will not prevent mass shootings. The nutjobs will merely use pistols instead of rifles. And as a former FBI agent said about one of the worshipers being armed, they are “not combat trained” and are likely to shoot themselves or others rather than the shooter.
Robert Bowers, the synagogue shooter, has a long history of making anti-Semitic statements on social media. He is a Holocaust denier. Bowers also slammed Trump for doing nothing to stop an “infestation” of the United States by Jews.
Police sources said Bowers walked into the synagogue and yelled “All Jews must die.” According to an FBI affidavit, when captured, Bowers told a SWAT officer, “They're committing genocide to my people. I just want to kill Jews.”
Trump’s rhetoric may well be inflaming the divisiveness and hatred that has always existed in this country. But not so fast there! The anti-Trump rhetoric by Democrats like Corey Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Maxine Waters and now Barack Obama are just as inflammatory as Trump’s bombastic speeches.
There is plenty of blame to go around. But the shootings by white supremacists cannot be blamed on either Trump or his Democratic antagonists. Nor can they be blamed on the Trump-hating media.
Blame for the atrocities that occurred at the Kroger supermarket and the Pittsburgh synagogue rests solely on the shoulders of the white supremacists who committed the shootings and on no one else. And what about those pipe bombs? Just because they were mailed by a pro-Trump nutjob, the President cannot be blamed for that either.
Update
Now, in the wake of the synagogue shooting, Trump is even being accused of anti-Semitism because he calls out George Soreass by name on the campaign trail.
Soreass, the anti-Israel billionaire, has been contributing millions and millions of dollars to Democratic candidates, to the left-wing opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and to far-left organizations. He makes no secret of his disdain for Trump and is doing everything he can to give the Democrats control of both houses of congress.
I’m Jewish and have been a vocal critic of Soreass for years. Does that make me anti-Semitic? Does slamming one of his enemies who happens to be Jewish make Trump anti-Semitic? It does in the minds of the anti-Trumpers.
BEING RICH IS NOT WITHOUT ITS PROBLEMS
by Bob Walsh
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha is, or more correctly was, a rich guy. A billionaire. He owned, among other things, the Leicester City Football Club, a Premier League team in the U.K.. He was helicoptering away from the stadium on Saturday when the helicopter had a difference of opinion with gravity. Gravity won, fairly spectacularly. All aboard, including the guy with the long, unpronounceable name, were killed in the crash.
If he had just taken an Uber, or even a limo, he would probably still be alive.
Shit happens, even to rich people.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha is, or more correctly was, a rich guy. A billionaire. He owned, among other things, the Leicester City Football Club, a Premier League team in the U.K.. He was helicoptering away from the stadium on Saturday when the helicopter had a difference of opinion with gravity. Gravity won, fairly spectacularly. All aboard, including the guy with the long, unpronounceable name, were killed in the crash.
If he had just taken an Uber, or even a limo, he would probably still be alive.
Shit happens, even to rich people.
FEDERAL C/O SENTENCED TO TEN YEARS
by Bob Walsh
Armando Moronta, 40, was formerly a correctional officer at the Federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. He was charged with accepting bribes, smuggling drugs and sexual abuse of prisoners.
Moronta had originally made a decent deal, but then it turns out he was named as a defendant in a wrongful death suit. A prisoner, Michael Garrett, died in 2016 from smoking a batch of drugs Moronta had smuggled in. That kind of twisted the judges panties a bit.
The prosecutors were asking for five years. Moronta got ten. Plus he forfeited all the bribe money, about $15k. And he has to register as a sex offender when he gets out.
Armando Moronta, 40, was formerly a correctional officer at the Federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. He was charged with accepting bribes, smuggling drugs and sexual abuse of prisoners.
Moronta had originally made a decent deal, but then it turns out he was named as a defendant in a wrongful death suit. A prisoner, Michael Garrett, died in 2016 from smoking a batch of drugs Moronta had smuggled in. That kind of twisted the judges panties a bit.
The prosecutors were asking for five years. Moronta got ten. Plus he forfeited all the bribe money, about $15k. And he has to register as a sex offender when he gets out.
AWW, I'M GONNA FEEL BAD ABOUT THAT FOR ABOUT EIGHT SECONDS
by Bob Walsh
James Alex Fields, Jr. is a guest of the county in Charlottesville. He is the man who drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters and bystanders at a white separatist rally about 14 months ago. One person died in that mess.
In any event it seems that Fields got thumped by Timothy Brown, Jr. Allegedly Brown knew and was in the company of the dead woman when she was ploughed under by Fields.
Fields was not seriously injured. Depending on how you interpret the news articles Fields may have been under escort by custody staff when the attack occurred. Assuming that is true, somebody screwed the pooch or they need more observant staff.
Not that I give a fuck about Fields, but once you put someone in the slammer you have a duty to reasonably ensure their safety. The Albermarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail failed in that duty, or at least so it would appear.
James Alex Fields, Jr. is a guest of the county in Charlottesville. He is the man who drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters and bystanders at a white separatist rally about 14 months ago. One person died in that mess.
In any event it seems that Fields got thumped by Timothy Brown, Jr. Allegedly Brown knew and was in the company of the dead woman when she was ploughed under by Fields.
Fields was not seriously injured. Depending on how you interpret the news articles Fields may have been under escort by custody staff when the attack occurred. Assuming that is true, somebody screwed the pooch or they need more observant staff.
Not that I give a fuck about Fields, but once you put someone in the slammer you have a duty to reasonably ensure their safety. The Albermarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail failed in that duty, or at least so it would appear.
AS REPORTED IN THE ISRAELI PRESS
Gunman kills 11 in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
Israel Hayom
October 28, 2018
A gunman yelling "All Jews must die" stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue during Saturday services, killing 11 worshippers and wounding six other people including four police officers, before he was arrested.
Authorities say that just before 10 a.m., Robert Bowers, 46, entered the large synagogue with an assault-style rifle and three handguns. Three separate congregations were conducting Sabbath services in different areas of the large building, according to Michael Eisenberg, the immediate past president of the Tree of Life.
The Pennsylvania attorney general's office said it was told by victims that a brit milah – a ritual circumcision ceremony at which a baby boy also receives his Hebrew name – was also taking place, though law enforcement officials later said no children were among the dead or wounded.
KDKA television cited police sources as saying Bowers walked into the building and yelled "All Jews must die."
Bowers was taken into custody after a shootout with a SWAT team. Federal prosecutors charged him with 29 criminal counts including violence and firearms offenses, and violating U.S. civil rights laws.
"The actions of Robert Bowers represent the worst of humanity. We are dedicating the entire resources of my office to this federal hate crime investigation and prosecution," U.S. attorney for western Pennsylvania Scott Brady told reporters.
Earlier, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said federal prosecutors could seek the death penalty.
Bowers, who had no apparent criminal record, expressed virulently anti-Semitic views on a social media site called Gab, according to an Associated Press review of an archived version of the posts made under his name. The cover photo for his account featured a neo-Nazi symbol, and his recent posts included a photo of a fiery oven like those used in Nazi concentration camps used to cremate Jews during World War II.
Other posts referenced false conspiracy theories suggesting the Holocaust was a hoax.
Gab confirmed Bowers had a profile on its website, which is popular with far-right extremists.
Special Agent Bob Jones of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the probe, said the crime scene was the worst he had seen in 22 years with the FBI. He said he believed Bowers was acting alone, adding: "We have no knowledge that he was known to law enforcement before today."
Bowers had made many anti-Semitic posts online, including one early on Saturday. In another, he slammed U.S. President Donald Trump for doing nothing to stop an "infestation" of the United States by Jews.
Jones said Bowers was armed with an assault rifle and three handguns. He said authorities believed the suspect entered the synagogue, murdered the worshippers and was leaving when he encountered a uniformed police officer. The pair exchanged gunfire, Jones said, and Bowers re-entered the building before a SWAT team arrived. After a shootout, he surrendered.
Bowers was taken to a hospital where he was listed in fair condition with multiple gunshot wounds. Victims taken to area hospitals included a 61-year-old woman, a 70-year-old man, and a 55-year-old officer. No children were killed, authorities said.
Three police officers were shot and one was injured by shrapnel, authorities said. Two of the six people injured were in critical condition.
A social media post by Bowers on Saturday morning said a Jewish organization, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, "likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in."
The comment was posted on Gab. In a statement, Gab.com confirmed the profile belonged to Bowers and also said it had suspended the account and contacted the FBI about it.
The mass shooting prompted security alerts at houses of worship around the country. It follows a spate of pipe bombs found mailed in recent days to prominent political figures, mostly Democrats including former President Barack Obama.
The Tree of Life synagogue in the city's Squirrel Hill neighborhood, a heavily Jewish area, was holding a Shabbat religious service at the time of the shooting.
Police are normally only present at the synagogue for security on high holidays, Michael Eisenberg, former president of the synagogue, told KDKA.
"On a day like today, the door is open, it's a religious service, you can walk in and out," he said.
Around the time, three congregations amounting to about 100 people would have been using the building, Eisenberg said.
"Please know that justice in this case will be swift and it will be severe," Scott Brady, the chief federal prosecutor in western Pennsylvania, said at a news conference, characterizing the slaughter as a "terrible and unspeakable act of hate."
Israel Hayom
October 28, 2018
A gunman yelling "All Jews must die" stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue during Saturday services, killing 11 worshippers and wounding six other people including four police officers, before he was arrested.
Authorities say that just before 10 a.m., Robert Bowers, 46, entered the large synagogue with an assault-style rifle and three handguns. Three separate congregations were conducting Sabbath services in different areas of the large building, according to Michael Eisenberg, the immediate past president of the Tree of Life.
The Pennsylvania attorney general's office said it was told by victims that a brit milah – a ritual circumcision ceremony at which a baby boy also receives his Hebrew name – was also taking place, though law enforcement officials later said no children were among the dead or wounded.
KDKA television cited police sources as saying Bowers walked into the building and yelled "All Jews must die."
Bowers was taken into custody after a shootout with a SWAT team. Federal prosecutors charged him with 29 criminal counts including violence and firearms offenses, and violating U.S. civil rights laws.
"The actions of Robert Bowers represent the worst of humanity. We are dedicating the entire resources of my office to this federal hate crime investigation and prosecution," U.S. attorney for western Pennsylvania Scott Brady told reporters.
Earlier, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said federal prosecutors could seek the death penalty.
Bowers, who had no apparent criminal record, expressed virulently anti-Semitic views on a social media site called Gab, according to an Associated Press review of an archived version of the posts made under his name. The cover photo for his account featured a neo-Nazi symbol, and his recent posts included a photo of a fiery oven like those used in Nazi concentration camps used to cremate Jews during World War II.
Other posts referenced false conspiracy theories suggesting the Holocaust was a hoax.
Gab confirmed Bowers had a profile on its website, which is popular with far-right extremists.
Special Agent Bob Jones of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the probe, said the crime scene was the worst he had seen in 22 years with the FBI. He said he believed Bowers was acting alone, adding: "We have no knowledge that he was known to law enforcement before today."
Bowers had made many anti-Semitic posts online, including one early on Saturday. In another, he slammed U.S. President Donald Trump for doing nothing to stop an "infestation" of the United States by Jews.
Jones said Bowers was armed with an assault rifle and three handguns. He said authorities believed the suspect entered the synagogue, murdered the worshippers and was leaving when he encountered a uniformed police officer. The pair exchanged gunfire, Jones said, and Bowers re-entered the building before a SWAT team arrived. After a shootout, he surrendered.
Bowers was taken to a hospital where he was listed in fair condition with multiple gunshot wounds. Victims taken to area hospitals included a 61-year-old woman, a 70-year-old man, and a 55-year-old officer. No children were killed, authorities said.
Three police officers were shot and one was injured by shrapnel, authorities said. Two of the six people injured were in critical condition.
A social media post by Bowers on Saturday morning said a Jewish organization, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, "likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in."
The comment was posted on Gab. In a statement, Gab.com confirmed the profile belonged to Bowers and also said it had suspended the account and contacted the FBI about it.
The mass shooting prompted security alerts at houses of worship around the country. It follows a spate of pipe bombs found mailed in recent days to prominent political figures, mostly Democrats including former President Barack Obama.
The Tree of Life synagogue in the city's Squirrel Hill neighborhood, a heavily Jewish area, was holding a Shabbat religious service at the time of the shooting.
Police are normally only present at the synagogue for security on high holidays, Michael Eisenberg, former president of the synagogue, told KDKA.
"On a day like today, the door is open, it's a religious service, you can walk in and out," he said.
Around the time, three congregations amounting to about 100 people would have been using the building, Eisenberg said.
"Please know that justice in this case will be swift and it will be severe," Scott Brady, the chief federal prosecutor in western Pennsylvania, said at a news conference, characterizing the slaughter as a "terrible and unspeakable act of hate."
EL MENCHO HAS REPLACED EL CHAPO ….. DEA OFFERING $10 MILLION REWARD FOR HIS CAPTURE
'New' El Chapo's Mexican drug cartel makes Australia their top target as they look to crack into the lucrative ice market with the help of bikie gangs
By Adam McCleery
Daily Mail
October 26, 2018
After the arrest of the notorious cartel leader Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, a new narco is poised to take up the void in the drug market - and he has his sights set on Australia.
The next generation of narco on the rise in Mexico is former policeman, Ruben Nemesio Oseguera 'El Mencho' Cervantes, one of the founders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, News Corp reported.
The Australian Federal Police have honed in on the new narco, who they allege has targeted the Australian drug market.
'Mexico has been a weakness for us in the past as we didn't have a presence there but since (October 2017) last year that changed when we opened up a post there as we saw what was happening,' a senior AFP law enforcer said.
It's believed at the height of El Chapo's Sinaloa cartel's stranglehold on the drug trade, he had control of at least 60 per cent of the Australian market.
El Chapo left behind a void upon his re-arrest and subsequent extradition to the United States, which has already filled.
AFP officials believe El Mencho could be responsible for as much as 75 per cent of all meth being trafficked into Australia.
Now Colombian, Mexican and Australian authorities are working together to prevent El Mencho from gaining a stronger foothold.
'The comprehensive counter drug strategy has three pillars, harm reduction, supply reduction and demand reduction. Law enforcement is about supply reduction … that's what we are responding to and working closely with overseas authorities, like in Mexico with the Mexican Federal Police,' the AFP spokesman said.
'It's complex. For us critically it's about sharing intelligence on the organised crime level to disrupt their criminal activities and that's already paying off.'
Australia presents an opportunity to the cartel because it is the second highest user of methamphetamine in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) world.
Australia is also one of the highest users of cocaine per capita.
DEA and Mexican drug authorities said the rapid rise of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was partly because of the drug trade in Australia.
Despite this they said they were still shocked at how quickly El Mencho and his cartel were able to consolidate power, already building up a $20billion drug empire.
They also theorise that while US and Mexican authorities targeted El Chapo, El Mencho was able to move toward trafficking drugs into Australia while under the radar.
In 2017 and 2018 alone, seizures of meth in Australia have tripled from previous years, with 3762kg seized in the last year.
Authorities will continue to hunt El Mencho and his cartel, however his exact location is not known. It is believed he is holed up in the Mexican mountains of Michoacan.
As a former police officer El Mencho knew the value of getting law enforcement on side and Mexican authorities allege he managed to bribe a number of officers and justice officials.
The United States is currently offering a US$10million reward for his capture.
While Mexican authorities are offering MXN$30 million for any information that would lead to his capture.
And in 2015 the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added El Mencho to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, or 'Kingpin Act'.
A White House statement outlined the 'Kingpin Act' as an effective tool against cartel leaders.
'Its purpose is to deny significant foreign narcotics traffickers, their related businesses, and their operatives access to the U.S. financial system and to prohibit all trade and transactions between the traffickers and U.S. companies and individuals,' the statement read.
'The Kingpin Act authorizes the President to take these actions when he determines that a foreign person plays a significant role in international narcotics trafficking.'
By Adam McCleery
Daily Mail
October 26, 2018
After the arrest of the notorious cartel leader Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, a new narco is poised to take up the void in the drug market - and he has his sights set on Australia.
The next generation of narco on the rise in Mexico is former policeman, Ruben Nemesio Oseguera 'El Mencho' Cervantes, one of the founders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, News Corp reported.
The Australian Federal Police have honed in on the new narco, who they allege has targeted the Australian drug market.
'Mexico has been a weakness for us in the past as we didn't have a presence there but since (October 2017) last year that changed when we opened up a post there as we saw what was happening,' a senior AFP law enforcer said.
It's believed at the height of El Chapo's Sinaloa cartel's stranglehold on the drug trade, he had control of at least 60 per cent of the Australian market.
El Chapo left behind a void upon his re-arrest and subsequent extradition to the United States, which has already filled.
AFP officials believe El Mencho could be responsible for as much as 75 per cent of all meth being trafficked into Australia.
Now Colombian, Mexican and Australian authorities are working together to prevent El Mencho from gaining a stronger foothold.
'The comprehensive counter drug strategy has three pillars, harm reduction, supply reduction and demand reduction. Law enforcement is about supply reduction … that's what we are responding to and working closely with overseas authorities, like in Mexico with the Mexican Federal Police,' the AFP spokesman said.
'It's complex. For us critically it's about sharing intelligence on the organised crime level to disrupt their criminal activities and that's already paying off.'
Australia presents an opportunity to the cartel because it is the second highest user of methamphetamine in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) world.
Australia is also one of the highest users of cocaine per capita.
DEA and Mexican drug authorities said the rapid rise of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was partly because of the drug trade in Australia.
Despite this they said they were still shocked at how quickly El Mencho and his cartel were able to consolidate power, already building up a $20billion drug empire.
They also theorise that while US and Mexican authorities targeted El Chapo, El Mencho was able to move toward trafficking drugs into Australia while under the radar.
In 2017 and 2018 alone, seizures of meth in Australia have tripled from previous years, with 3762kg seized in the last year.
Authorities will continue to hunt El Mencho and his cartel, however his exact location is not known. It is believed he is holed up in the Mexican mountains of Michoacan.
As a former police officer El Mencho knew the value of getting law enforcement on side and Mexican authorities allege he managed to bribe a number of officers and justice officials.
The United States is currently offering a US$10million reward for his capture.
While Mexican authorities are offering MXN$30 million for any information that would lead to his capture.
And in 2015 the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added El Mencho to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, or 'Kingpin Act'.
A White House statement outlined the 'Kingpin Act' as an effective tool against cartel leaders.
'Its purpose is to deny significant foreign narcotics traffickers, their related businesses, and their operatives access to the U.S. financial system and to prohibit all trade and transactions between the traffickers and U.S. companies and individuals,' the statement read.
'The Kingpin Act authorizes the President to take these actions when he determines that a foreign person plays a significant role in international narcotics trafficking.'
BRITISH RESTAURANT OWNERS BETTER PAY ATTENTION TO SPECIAL NOTES FOR TAKEOUT ORDERS
Two restaurant bosses guilty of manslaughter after girl, 15, dies from allergic reaction to takeaway
Independent
October 26, 2018
Two restaurant bosses have been convicted of manslaughter after a 15-year-old girl died of an allergic reaction to an Indian takeaway.
Megan Lee fell ill immediately after eating the meal from from the Royal Spice in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, on 30 December 2016.
She suffered irreversible brain damage from an asthma attack due to her nut allergy and died at Royal Blackburn hospital two days later on New Year’s Day 2017.
Owner Mohammed Abdul Kuddus, 40, and manager Harun Rashid, 38, were found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.
The judge, Mrs Justice Yip, warned the pair they faced going to jail when they return to court for sentencing on 7 November by Mrs Justice Yip.
She said: “The fact that I am granting bail shouldn’t be taken as any indication there should be a non-custodial sentence. You need to prepare yourselves for a custodial sentence.”
Megan’s family were in tears in the public gallery as the verdicts were announced.
The court heard one of Megan’s friends ordered the meal of an onion bhaji, a seekh kebab and a Peshwari naan, using the Just Eat website.
She wrote “prawns, nuts” in the comments and notes section to alert staff to allergies.
The meal was later found to have the “widespread presence” of peanut protein.
Following Megan’s death the restaurant was closed down by Trading Standards and environmental hygiene officers. It has since reopened under new ownership.
Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, told the court her death was a “disaster waiting to happen”.
Jurors heard there was a “litany of failings” in the kitchen including poor hygiene and no records of ingredients.
Rashid, of Rudd Street, Haslingden, was convicted of manslaughter, failing to discharge a general duty of employers under the Health and Safety at Work Act and breaching European Union food safety regulations. He had claimed he was merely a delivery driver at the restaurant at the time.
Kuddus, of Belper Street, Blackburn, was convicted of manslaughter. He had already pleaded guilty to the two other charges on behalf of himself and of behalf of the Royal Spice Takeaway Ltd.
Megan’s parents Adam and Gemma Lee said in a statement outside court: “Our lives will never be the same. The loss of our beautiful daughter has completely devastated us.
“Megan’s positive presence and infectious smile will forever be missed.
“It breaks our hearts that Megan didn’t get the chance to sit her GCSE exams, something she had worked so incredibly hard for, to celebrate her 16th birthday or go to the school prom with her friends.
“Megan didn’t get the opportunity to fulfil her ambition of working in musical theatre, to explore the world, fall in love or have children of her own.
“It’s these thoughts that cause great sadness, because nobody deserved it more than Megan.”
Mr Lee said: “Megan’s legacy is to be kind, considerate, to be helpful to others.
“We will continue to work with the Anaphylaxis Campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of allergies.
“Whilst we may have received some justice with today’s verdicts, we live in hope that today’s result is a warning to other food businesses operating in such a deplorable and ignorant manner to learn from this and improve their standards with immediate effect.
“We urge all food businesses to improve their standards in food safety and take allergies seriously.”
He added: “Do not guess, do not play ignorant, do not play Russian roulette with precious lives.”
Independent
October 26, 2018
Two restaurant bosses have been convicted of manslaughter after a 15-year-old girl died of an allergic reaction to an Indian takeaway.
Megan Lee fell ill immediately after eating the meal from from the Royal Spice in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, on 30 December 2016.
She suffered irreversible brain damage from an asthma attack due to her nut allergy and died at Royal Blackburn hospital two days later on New Year’s Day 2017.
Owner Mohammed Abdul Kuddus, 40, and manager Harun Rashid, 38, were found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.
The judge, Mrs Justice Yip, warned the pair they faced going to jail when they return to court for sentencing on 7 November by Mrs Justice Yip.
She said: “The fact that I am granting bail shouldn’t be taken as any indication there should be a non-custodial sentence. You need to prepare yourselves for a custodial sentence.”
Megan’s family were in tears in the public gallery as the verdicts were announced.
The court heard one of Megan’s friends ordered the meal of an onion bhaji, a seekh kebab and a Peshwari naan, using the Just Eat website.
She wrote “prawns, nuts” in the comments and notes section to alert staff to allergies.
The meal was later found to have the “widespread presence” of peanut protein.
Following Megan’s death the restaurant was closed down by Trading Standards and environmental hygiene officers. It has since reopened under new ownership.
Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, told the court her death was a “disaster waiting to happen”.
Jurors heard there was a “litany of failings” in the kitchen including poor hygiene and no records of ingredients.
Rashid, of Rudd Street, Haslingden, was convicted of manslaughter, failing to discharge a general duty of employers under the Health and Safety at Work Act and breaching European Union food safety regulations. He had claimed he was merely a delivery driver at the restaurant at the time.
Kuddus, of Belper Street, Blackburn, was convicted of manslaughter. He had already pleaded guilty to the two other charges on behalf of himself and of behalf of the Royal Spice Takeaway Ltd.
Megan’s parents Adam and Gemma Lee said in a statement outside court: “Our lives will never be the same. The loss of our beautiful daughter has completely devastated us.
“Megan’s positive presence and infectious smile will forever be missed.
“It breaks our hearts that Megan didn’t get the chance to sit her GCSE exams, something she had worked so incredibly hard for, to celebrate her 16th birthday or go to the school prom with her friends.
“Megan didn’t get the opportunity to fulfil her ambition of working in musical theatre, to explore the world, fall in love or have children of her own.
“It’s these thoughts that cause great sadness, because nobody deserved it more than Megan.”
Mr Lee said: “Megan’s legacy is to be kind, considerate, to be helpful to others.
“We will continue to work with the Anaphylaxis Campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of allergies.
“Whilst we may have received some justice with today’s verdicts, we live in hope that today’s result is a warning to other food businesses operating in such a deplorable and ignorant manner to learn from this and improve their standards with immediate effect.
“We urge all food businesses to improve their standards in food safety and take allergies seriously.”
He added: “Do not guess, do not play ignorant, do not play Russian roulette with precious lives.”
Sunday, October 28, 2018
‘THIS IS DISGUSTING AND A WASTE OF THE COURT’S TIME AND RESOURCES,’ JUDGE SAYS IN DISMISSING CHARGES FILED AGAINST BLACK URBAN FARMER BY THREE WHITE WOMEN
How ‘Gardening While Black’ in Detroit Almost Landed Marc Peeples in Jail
By Audra D. S. Burch
The New York Times
October 26, 2018
DETROIT — For nearly two years, a man tilled an overgrown park in a half-abandoned Detroit neighborhood into a tiny urban farm, filling the earth with the seeds of kale and spinach and radishes. He was black.
For half of that time, the man, Marc Peeples, 32, was the subject of dozens of calls to the police — the allegations growing more serious with each call — by three women who lived on a street facing the park. They were white.
Mr. Peeples said he returned to the neighborhood where he grew up to create a garden that could help feed residents, chip away at food deserts and teach children about urban horticulture — a personal redemptive mission after three years in prison on drug charges.
What happened next was something else: gardening while black, as his lawyer described it, another example of white people calling the police on a black person for everyday activities.
In many of these cases, the caller is mocked with whimsical, alliterative nicknames like BBQ Becky, Cornerstore Caroline and Permit Patty. A cellphone video of the caller goes viral. Sometimes they lose their jobs.
This time was different. Mr. Peeples was arrested and went to trial. But a judge intervened and last week dismissed the case against him.
The women who complained said Mr. Peeples had terrorized the neighborhood, about 20 minutes north of downtown, by repeatedly threatening to burn down their houses and ordering them to leave because they were white.
They accused him of illegally painting trees and vandalizing houses. And in the most serious allegation, one neighbor falsely accused him of sexual misconduct.
The multiple police calls and reports made by the three women — Deborah Nash, Martha Callahan and her granddaughter, Jennifer Morris — eventually led to three stalking charges against Mr. Peeples and a trial. In a case first reported by The Detroit Metro Times, State District Judge E. Lynise Bryant threw the charges out at the trial, calling them fabricated and rooted in racism.
“At the heart of this case is a kind of inseparable mix of race and power,” Mr. Peeples’s lawyer, Robert Burton-Harris, said adding that the women had their own plans for the park, which fed their hostility. “They knew they could use the police as their own personal henchman to get him removed from this area just based on their allegations.”
In some ways, the story hints at the unsteady, culture-clashing path of gentrification, the ubiquitous lens of race and the social role of law enforcement. Absent race, the women insisted, this is a dispute between residents about rebuilding a neighborhood that had largely been written off.
“You see people giving these nicknames. That is letting them off the hook,” Mr. Peeples said. “These are serious allegations. They tried to have me go down for a hate crime.”
Days after the verdict, Ms. Nash sat outside in her car, giving her first interview about the case.
“I am not a racist. I was all for the garden and even helped with supplies at first, but he threatened me several times, in person to my face, that I needed to leave my neighborhood or I would be put out one way or another,” said Ms. Nash, 49, a part-time art teacher who moved to the neighborhood in 2014. “I called the police because he was destroying property in the neighborhood and painting graffiti. No one had the right to paint park trees.”
In spring of 2017, Mr. Peeples, the great-great grandson of a South Carolina farmer and third-generation community member, began planting seeds in Hunt Playground, a city-owned park near the old State Fairgrounds. He described the neighborhood where deer still roam, as desolate and desperate but in its own way, full of promise.
“I like to say farming is in my DNA. I remember reading articles about how Detroit was a food desert and thinking, I don’t have the money to buy a supermarket, so what can I do to combat it?” he said.
The trouble started in the summer of 2017 with the colors red, black and green. Mr. Peeples painted the color bands on a tree and on the porch of a gutted home facing the park. He said they were the colors of liberation, of Pan Africanism. The women said they were the colors of a gang.
It wasn’t long before the three women were calling the police.
“We were like, ‘You can’t paint them trees.’ That’s when the threats started. He yelled it out from the field. He said he would kill us, burn down our homes and kill our dogs too, so we went and filed the police reports,” Ms. Morris, 37, said in an interview. “We went down to the prosecuting attorney’s office and told our story and it went to court. We didn’t want it to go that far. We just wanted the threats to stop.”
Until that point, the two sides mostly stayed away from each other. But in March, just as the weather broke and Mr. Peeples returned to the garden for another season, the police received a report that he had a gun. Six officers in three cars responded. It turned out that Mr. Peeples had a rake, for gathering leaves. The police soon left.
“Now I know these women are calling the police on me all the time, but I didn’t know how deep it was, that they were accusing me of threatening to burn the house down, threatening to kill the dogs,” Mr. Peeples said.
Two months later, Mr. Peeples hosted a group of home-school children at the garden. As they planted cabbage, carrots and wildflowers, the police showed up once again. During cross-examination at the trial, Ms. Callahan admitted that she called 911 and told the police that Mr. Peeples had been convicted of sexual misconduct, according to Mr. Burton-Harris and Judge Bryant.
Ms. Callahan, 74, testified that she had called the principals of nearby schools to warn them about Mr. Peeples, but offered no evidence to corroborate her testimony.
Shortly after, Mr. Peeples was arrested on three counts of stalking charges based on the earlier claims that he had threatened the women. Each count carried a sentence of up to a year in jail.
In court last week, Judge Bryant described the women’s testimony as inconsistent, without credibility and part of a strategic campaign against Mr. Peeples. In one example that came out in court, Ms. Nash admitted she hired Mr. Peeples to paint a house after she accused him of threatening her.
“This is disgusting and a waste of the court’s time and resources,” Judge Bryant said, who added that she found the case upsetting.
“These ladies testified they made the initial contact with him, not the other way around,” she said in an interview. “They testified that they called the police and the parks and recreation department and they followed him to the bus stop and said he was in a gang and had a gun. That is the definition of harassment.”
“From the bottom of my heart, I believe race was a motivating factor and an injustice has been done to this man,” Judge Bryant said.
The three women say they were not allowed to present evidence and they have since been threatened on social media. Clutching a walker outside her home, Ms. Callahan said she planned to move from her home of 15 years.
Because of the charges, Mr. Peeples said he stopped getting temporary jobs with a janitorial service, lost business opportunities and had to hire a lawyer. He spent about $4,500. A fund-raising campaign on his behalf has generated about $27,000.
“These women are racist, plain and simple. They don’t want me here. They wanted to do this garden without me,” Mr. Peeples said. “I am boarding up houses, cutting grass, planting a garden, trying to keep riffraff out of here and they are a filing false reports against me. They did a lot of damage to me.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: I hope Peeples sues the supreme shit out of those three white racist bitches.
By Audra D. S. Burch
The New York Times
October 26, 2018
DETROIT — For nearly two years, a man tilled an overgrown park in a half-abandoned Detroit neighborhood into a tiny urban farm, filling the earth with the seeds of kale and spinach and radishes. He was black.
For half of that time, the man, Marc Peeples, 32, was the subject of dozens of calls to the police — the allegations growing more serious with each call — by three women who lived on a street facing the park. They were white.
Mr. Peeples said he returned to the neighborhood where he grew up to create a garden that could help feed residents, chip away at food deserts and teach children about urban horticulture — a personal redemptive mission after three years in prison on drug charges.
What happened next was something else: gardening while black, as his lawyer described it, another example of white people calling the police on a black person for everyday activities.
In many of these cases, the caller is mocked with whimsical, alliterative nicknames like BBQ Becky, Cornerstore Caroline and Permit Patty. A cellphone video of the caller goes viral. Sometimes they lose their jobs.
This time was different. Mr. Peeples was arrested and went to trial. But a judge intervened and last week dismissed the case against him.
The women who complained said Mr. Peeples had terrorized the neighborhood, about 20 minutes north of downtown, by repeatedly threatening to burn down their houses and ordering them to leave because they were white.
They accused him of illegally painting trees and vandalizing houses. And in the most serious allegation, one neighbor falsely accused him of sexual misconduct.
The multiple police calls and reports made by the three women — Deborah Nash, Martha Callahan and her granddaughter, Jennifer Morris — eventually led to three stalking charges against Mr. Peeples and a trial. In a case first reported by The Detroit Metro Times, State District Judge E. Lynise Bryant threw the charges out at the trial, calling them fabricated and rooted in racism.
“At the heart of this case is a kind of inseparable mix of race and power,” Mr. Peeples’s lawyer, Robert Burton-Harris, said adding that the women had their own plans for the park, which fed their hostility. “They knew they could use the police as their own personal henchman to get him removed from this area just based on their allegations.”
In some ways, the story hints at the unsteady, culture-clashing path of gentrification, the ubiquitous lens of race and the social role of law enforcement. Absent race, the women insisted, this is a dispute between residents about rebuilding a neighborhood that had largely been written off.
“You see people giving these nicknames. That is letting them off the hook,” Mr. Peeples said. “These are serious allegations. They tried to have me go down for a hate crime.”
Days after the verdict, Ms. Nash sat outside in her car, giving her first interview about the case.
“I am not a racist. I was all for the garden and even helped with supplies at first, but he threatened me several times, in person to my face, that I needed to leave my neighborhood or I would be put out one way or another,” said Ms. Nash, 49, a part-time art teacher who moved to the neighborhood in 2014. “I called the police because he was destroying property in the neighborhood and painting graffiti. No one had the right to paint park trees.”
In spring of 2017, Mr. Peeples, the great-great grandson of a South Carolina farmer and third-generation community member, began planting seeds in Hunt Playground, a city-owned park near the old State Fairgrounds. He described the neighborhood where deer still roam, as desolate and desperate but in its own way, full of promise.
“I like to say farming is in my DNA. I remember reading articles about how Detroit was a food desert and thinking, I don’t have the money to buy a supermarket, so what can I do to combat it?” he said.
The trouble started in the summer of 2017 with the colors red, black and green. Mr. Peeples painted the color bands on a tree and on the porch of a gutted home facing the park. He said they were the colors of liberation, of Pan Africanism. The women said they were the colors of a gang.
It wasn’t long before the three women were calling the police.
“We were like, ‘You can’t paint them trees.’ That’s when the threats started. He yelled it out from the field. He said he would kill us, burn down our homes and kill our dogs too, so we went and filed the police reports,” Ms. Morris, 37, said in an interview. “We went down to the prosecuting attorney’s office and told our story and it went to court. We didn’t want it to go that far. We just wanted the threats to stop.”
Until that point, the two sides mostly stayed away from each other. But in March, just as the weather broke and Mr. Peeples returned to the garden for another season, the police received a report that he had a gun. Six officers in three cars responded. It turned out that Mr. Peeples had a rake, for gathering leaves. The police soon left.
“Now I know these women are calling the police on me all the time, but I didn’t know how deep it was, that they were accusing me of threatening to burn the house down, threatening to kill the dogs,” Mr. Peeples said.
Two months later, Mr. Peeples hosted a group of home-school children at the garden. As they planted cabbage, carrots and wildflowers, the police showed up once again. During cross-examination at the trial, Ms. Callahan admitted that she called 911 and told the police that Mr. Peeples had been convicted of sexual misconduct, according to Mr. Burton-Harris and Judge Bryant.
Ms. Callahan, 74, testified that she had called the principals of nearby schools to warn them about Mr. Peeples, but offered no evidence to corroborate her testimony.
Shortly after, Mr. Peeples was arrested on three counts of stalking charges based on the earlier claims that he had threatened the women. Each count carried a sentence of up to a year in jail.
In court last week, Judge Bryant described the women’s testimony as inconsistent, without credibility and part of a strategic campaign against Mr. Peeples. In one example that came out in court, Ms. Nash admitted she hired Mr. Peeples to paint a house after she accused him of threatening her.
“This is disgusting and a waste of the court’s time and resources,” Judge Bryant said, who added that she found the case upsetting.
“These ladies testified they made the initial contact with him, not the other way around,” she said in an interview. “They testified that they called the police and the parks and recreation department and they followed him to the bus stop and said he was in a gang and had a gun. That is the definition of harassment.”
“From the bottom of my heart, I believe race was a motivating factor and an injustice has been done to this man,” Judge Bryant said.
The three women say they were not allowed to present evidence and they have since been threatened on social media. Clutching a walker outside her home, Ms. Callahan said she planned to move from her home of 15 years.
Because of the charges, Mr. Peeples said he stopped getting temporary jobs with a janitorial service, lost business opportunities and had to hire a lawyer. He spent about $4,500. A fund-raising campaign on his behalf has generated about $27,000.
“These women are racist, plain and simple. They don’t want me here. They wanted to do this garden without me,” Mr. Peeples said. “I am boarding up houses, cutting grass, planting a garden, trying to keep riffraff out of here and they are a filing false reports against me. They did a lot of damage to me.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: I hope Peeples sues the supreme shit out of those three white racist bitches.
FORMER TEXAS DEPUTY INDICTED IN FATAL SHOOTING OF UNARMED BLACK MAN
If he's convicted, former Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Cameron Brewer could face life in prison on the charge of aggravated assault by a public servant for the death of 34-year-old Danny Ray Thomas
By Keri Blakinger
Houston Chronicle
October 26, 2018
HOUSTON -- A fired sheriff's deputy who shot to death an unarmed black man in March was indicted Thursday, a rare outcome in a case that grabbed national attention after dashcam video showed Danny Ray Thomas wandering in the street with his pants around his ankles in the seconds before he was killed.
If he's convicted, former Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Cameron Brewer could face life in prison on the charge of aggravated assault by a public servant for the death of the 34-year-old Thomas.
"Our democracy depends on the public's trusting that police are here to protect us," said District Attorney Kim Ogg. "When they exceed their lawful authority, our community holds them accountable, and that's exactly what this grand jury of ordinary citizens did."
The grand jury's decision marks the first time in 15 years that Harris County prosecutors have secured an indictment against a peace officer for an on-duty fatal shooting, officials said.
On the heels of another high-profile police shooting in California last spring, the case sparked protest locally and the slain man's family filed suit. The federal suit is still pending, but the family's attorneys were not immediately available for comment.
Now, in light of the indictment, attorney Wes Rucker is coordinating with the district attorney's office to arrange his client's surrender.
"I'm disappointed that there was an indictment," he said late Thursday. "He's not guilty of committing any crime. He was put in a situation where he felt like he had no alternative."
The March 22 dashcam video begins with Thomas getting into a physical altercation with a passing motorist at a Houston intersection. At about 40 seconds in, Brewer orders Thomas to the ground.
"Hey, get down!" the deputy shouts.
Thomas, walking through the street with his pants around his ankles, points to the deputy and heads toward him before passing out of frame.
"Get down on the ground, man!" Brewer continues. "I will shoot your ass, man."
Cell phone video obtained by the Chronicle picks up where the dashcam leaves off, showing Thomas continuing to walk toward the deputy, who backs up with his gun drawn.
A commercial vehicle pulls into the frame, blocking the camera seconds before one shot rings out – just 17 seconds after Brewer gave his first order.
Afterward, the dashcam video shows Brewer running to Thomas and trying to save his life. Thomas was rushed to a hospital, where he later died.
Though he was equipped with a Taser, Brewer chose not to use it. And while he had a body camera, the recently issued device was charging in his car at the time, officials later said.
The deputy, who is black, was fired in April. On the heels of this week's indictment, the sheriff released a statement stressing the need to continue building community relations.
"The brave men and women of the Harris County Sheriff's Office hold our community's trust as sacred," said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. "We will continue striving to earn that trust anew, every single day."
When prosecutors took the case to a grand jury on Thursday, they failed to secure an indictment for murder – but the charge they got instead has the same punishment range.
"In Texas, there's more than one way under Texas law to skin a cat," Ogg said. "Everybody has seen the video, this is a common-sense case. I believe that's how the grand jury evaluated it and they selected the offense that they thought most appropriate."
Brewer's attorney disagreed, and stressed that his client was "a little different cut from the mold of a police officer" and had previously worked as a teacher.
"He's cooperated this entire time," Rucker said. "His reaction is the same as most officers involved in a shooting - it's something he wished never happened."
Meanwhile, the Harris County Deputies' Organization issued a statement in support of the fired deputy.
"We are confident when the true facts of this case come to light, a jury will make a fair and appropriate decision in this matter," the organization said.
Indictments against law enforcement in fatal use-of-force incidents are rare, though recently Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was arrested after and charged with manslaughter after she allegedly shot her neighbor when she mistook him for an intruder. But in that case, the officer was off-duty - and indictments against on-duty officers are even less common.
The last time a Harris County grand jury indicted a law enforcement officer for an on-duty fatal shooting was in 2003, when Arthur Carbonneau was charged with murder after the shooting of a 14-year-old special education student, officials said. He was ultimately convicted of criminally negligent homicide.
Though officer-involved shootings are down, according to Ogg, since 2010 nearly 350 such cases have gone before a grand jury. Only two - including Brewer - netted indictments.
The previous indictment was of Houston police officer Jason Loosmore, who was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for an off-duty incident in 2017 when he allegedly shot and wounded a neighbor after a dispute over a dog. His case is slated for trial in early 2019.
By Keri Blakinger
Houston Chronicle
October 26, 2018
HOUSTON -- A fired sheriff's deputy who shot to death an unarmed black man in March was indicted Thursday, a rare outcome in a case that grabbed national attention after dashcam video showed Danny Ray Thomas wandering in the street with his pants around his ankles in the seconds before he was killed.
If he's convicted, former Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Cameron Brewer could face life in prison on the charge of aggravated assault by a public servant for the death of the 34-year-old Thomas.
"Our democracy depends on the public's trusting that police are here to protect us," said District Attorney Kim Ogg. "When they exceed their lawful authority, our community holds them accountable, and that's exactly what this grand jury of ordinary citizens did."
The grand jury's decision marks the first time in 15 years that Harris County prosecutors have secured an indictment against a peace officer for an on-duty fatal shooting, officials said.
On the heels of another high-profile police shooting in California last spring, the case sparked protest locally and the slain man's family filed suit. The federal suit is still pending, but the family's attorneys were not immediately available for comment.
Now, in light of the indictment, attorney Wes Rucker is coordinating with the district attorney's office to arrange his client's surrender.
"I'm disappointed that there was an indictment," he said late Thursday. "He's not guilty of committing any crime. He was put in a situation where he felt like he had no alternative."
The March 22 dashcam video begins with Thomas getting into a physical altercation with a passing motorist at a Houston intersection. At about 40 seconds in, Brewer orders Thomas to the ground.
"Hey, get down!" the deputy shouts.
Thomas, walking through the street with his pants around his ankles, points to the deputy and heads toward him before passing out of frame.
"Get down on the ground, man!" Brewer continues. "I will shoot your ass, man."
Cell phone video obtained by the Chronicle picks up where the dashcam leaves off, showing Thomas continuing to walk toward the deputy, who backs up with his gun drawn.
A commercial vehicle pulls into the frame, blocking the camera seconds before one shot rings out – just 17 seconds after Brewer gave his first order.
Afterward, the dashcam video shows Brewer running to Thomas and trying to save his life. Thomas was rushed to a hospital, where he later died.
Though he was equipped with a Taser, Brewer chose not to use it. And while he had a body camera, the recently issued device was charging in his car at the time, officials later said.
The deputy, who is black, was fired in April. On the heels of this week's indictment, the sheriff released a statement stressing the need to continue building community relations.
"The brave men and women of the Harris County Sheriff's Office hold our community's trust as sacred," said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. "We will continue striving to earn that trust anew, every single day."
When prosecutors took the case to a grand jury on Thursday, they failed to secure an indictment for murder – but the charge they got instead has the same punishment range.
"In Texas, there's more than one way under Texas law to skin a cat," Ogg said. "Everybody has seen the video, this is a common-sense case. I believe that's how the grand jury evaluated it and they selected the offense that they thought most appropriate."
Brewer's attorney disagreed, and stressed that his client was "a little different cut from the mold of a police officer" and had previously worked as a teacher.
"He's cooperated this entire time," Rucker said. "His reaction is the same as most officers involved in a shooting - it's something he wished never happened."
Meanwhile, the Harris County Deputies' Organization issued a statement in support of the fired deputy.
"We are confident when the true facts of this case come to light, a jury will make a fair and appropriate decision in this matter," the organization said.
Indictments against law enforcement in fatal use-of-force incidents are rare, though recently Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was arrested after and charged with manslaughter after she allegedly shot her neighbor when she mistook him for an intruder. But in that case, the officer was off-duty - and indictments against on-duty officers are even less common.
The last time a Harris County grand jury indicted a law enforcement officer for an on-duty fatal shooting was in 2003, when Arthur Carbonneau was charged with murder after the shooting of a 14-year-old special education student, officials said. He was ultimately convicted of criminally negligent homicide.
Though officer-involved shootings are down, according to Ogg, since 2010 nearly 350 such cases have gone before a grand jury. Only two - including Brewer - netted indictments.
The previous indictment was of Houston police officer Jason Loosmore, who was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for an off-duty incident in 2017 when he allegedly shot and wounded a neighbor after a dispute over a dog. His case is slated for trial in early 2019.
RAPPER ‘DOOSKI THA MAN’ WELL REMEMBERED
'High Probability' Chicago Mass Shootings are Related
By William Lee
Chicago Tribune
October 26, 2018
CHICAGO — A shooting that wounded five men in the Washington Park neighborhood Wednesday night may have been in retaliation for an ambush outside the funeral for a local rapper that injured six people earlier in the week, according to Chicago police.
“It’s a high probability that the shootings were connected,” said Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesman for the police department.
In Wednesday’s shooting, five men between the ages of 22 and 49 were shot just before 9 p.m. outside a home in the 6200 block of South King Drive, police said.
They were standing on the sidewalk when several people walked up and opened fire minutes, police said. The gunmen fled in a white sedan, police said. None of the wounds were considered life-threatening.
Detectives are looking into a possible connection to a mass shooting Monday afternoon outside the Bethlehem Star Missionary Baptist Church at 9231 S. Cottage Grove Ave. As people were leaving the church, six people were wounded by at least two gunmen, a police spokesman said. As many as five mourners drew their own weapons and returned fire during the broad daylight attack.
The funeral was for rapper Vantrease “Dooski Tha Man” Criss, killed earlier this month in a drive-by shooting about a mile from Wednesday’s shooting. The shootout occurred on a main business drag in the Burnside neighborhood.
Among the wounded was another rapper, Marvel “FBG Wooski” Williams, 21, who was struck in the head. His condition was upgraded from critical to serious condition on Tuesday.
Police don’t know who the intended target was because several victims have refused to cooperate.
Investigators believe this week’s shootings stem from a yearslong conflict between warring factions of the Gangster Disciples and Black Disciples. Violent skirmishes between the two are often discussed in-depth in “diss” raps on social media.
On Thursday, top police officials with the Central and South detective areas met with department crime analysts to review the roots of the bitter gang conflict in an attempt to head off any further retaliatory shootings.
“We’re doing everything we can to get ahead of the shootings,” Guglielmi said.
No arrests have been made in either shooting.
By William Lee
Chicago Tribune
October 26, 2018
CHICAGO — A shooting that wounded five men in the Washington Park neighborhood Wednesday night may have been in retaliation for an ambush outside the funeral for a local rapper that injured six people earlier in the week, according to Chicago police.
“It’s a high probability that the shootings were connected,” said Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesman for the police department.
In Wednesday’s shooting, five men between the ages of 22 and 49 were shot just before 9 p.m. outside a home in the 6200 block of South King Drive, police said.
They were standing on the sidewalk when several people walked up and opened fire minutes, police said. The gunmen fled in a white sedan, police said. None of the wounds were considered life-threatening.
Detectives are looking into a possible connection to a mass shooting Monday afternoon outside the Bethlehem Star Missionary Baptist Church at 9231 S. Cottage Grove Ave. As people were leaving the church, six people were wounded by at least two gunmen, a police spokesman said. As many as five mourners drew their own weapons and returned fire during the broad daylight attack.
The funeral was for rapper Vantrease “Dooski Tha Man” Criss, killed earlier this month in a drive-by shooting about a mile from Wednesday’s shooting. The shootout occurred on a main business drag in the Burnside neighborhood.
Among the wounded was another rapper, Marvel “FBG Wooski” Williams, 21, who was struck in the head. His condition was upgraded from critical to serious condition on Tuesday.
Police don’t know who the intended target was because several victims have refused to cooperate.
Investigators believe this week’s shootings stem from a yearslong conflict between warring factions of the Gangster Disciples and Black Disciples. Violent skirmishes between the two are often discussed in-depth in “diss” raps on social media.
On Thursday, top police officials with the Central and South detective areas met with department crime analysts to review the roots of the bitter gang conflict in an attempt to head off any further retaliatory shootings.
“We’re doing everything we can to get ahead of the shootings,” Guglielmi said.
No arrests have been made in either shooting.
TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT JUMPS INTO THE ARMS OF JESUS
Fraternity member, 19, who was arrested last month for hazing at a Texas college commits suicide by leaping from the fourth floor of a parking garage
Daily Mail
October 27, 2018
A fraternity member who was arrested for hazing last month has committed suicide.
Andrew Walker, a 19-year-old from Massachusetts who was enrolled at Texas Christian University, was found dead on the sidewalk of the school's Fort Worth campus on Thursday night.
According to police he had jumped to his death from the fourth floor of an apartment complex parking garage.
The medical examiner has determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma from a fall.
Last month, Walker and Christopher Barksdale were arrested after they allegedly forced pledges to sort sprinkles, eat expired guacamole and drink dangerous quantities of vodka straight from the bottle.
Daily Mail
October 27, 2018
A fraternity member who was arrested for hazing last month has committed suicide.
Andrew Walker, a 19-year-old from Massachusetts who was enrolled at Texas Christian University, was found dead on the sidewalk of the school's Fort Worth campus on Thursday night.
According to police he had jumped to his death from the fourth floor of an apartment complex parking garage.
The medical examiner has determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma from a fall.
Last month, Walker and Christopher Barksdale were arrested after they allegedly forced pledges to sort sprinkles, eat expired guacamole and drink dangerous quantities of vodka straight from the bottle.
WHAT THE HELL ARE WE COMING TO WHEN IT BECOMES OFFICIALLY OK FOR PROBATIONERS AND PAROLEES TO BREAK THE LAW
Five former probation commissioners urge officials to stop testing parolees for marijuana
By Reuven Blau
New York Daily News
October 16, 2018
People on parole and probation should no longer be tested for marijuana if the drug is legalized in New York State, five former city probation commissioners said Tuesday.
The call for a more relaxed supervision comes as the number of parole violators ordered back to city jails has spiked over the past few years.
“Our public tenures and a growing body of research suggest that, in terms of community corrections, less is often more,” Vincent Schiraldi, a former city probation commissioner, testified before a state Assembly committee hearing on “allowing adult use of marijuana.”
The average number of parole violators tossed in city jails has gone up by 9.5% over the past four years, from 773 in 2014 to 847 in 2017, according to the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice.
That population is the only group of people behind bars that has gone up in recent years, records show.
But that’s never how parole and probation were intended when they were created as diversions from jail in the 1800s, Schiraldi testified at the lower Manhattan hearing.
“So, probation and parole have become much larger than originally intended, with burdensome conditions that serve as trip wires to incarceration rather than as alternatives,” Schiraldi said.
There’s no evidence that shows marijuana use “threatens public safety,” he added.
“Likewise there is no public safety justification for routine testing for marijuana for probation or parole,” he said.
New York currently allows people to use marijuana for medical purposes. State lawmakers are considering fully legalizing the drug for recreational use.
“Revocations for marijuana use made little sense before,” Schiraldi said, “and will make no sense once marijuana use is legal for the adult population.”
At the hearing, Schiraldi spoke on behalf of four other former probation commissioners, Martin Horn, Michael Jacobson, James Payne and Raul Russi.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The conditions for probation and parole universally prohibit the use of drugs, association with criminals and the violation of any laws.
This is crazy! I can think of a number of reasons why this is a terrible proposal. First and foremost though, probationers and parolees will have to associate with criminals in order to purchase pot since recreational use of marijuana has not been legalized in New York yet. And many of the probationers will not have enough money to buy pot. So how are they going to afford it? By committing thefts, burglaries and other crimes.
Even the kooks in California haven’t proposed this … yet.
By Reuven Blau
New York Daily News
October 16, 2018
People on parole and probation should no longer be tested for marijuana if the drug is legalized in New York State, five former city probation commissioners said Tuesday.
The call for a more relaxed supervision comes as the number of parole violators ordered back to city jails has spiked over the past few years.
“Our public tenures and a growing body of research suggest that, in terms of community corrections, less is often more,” Vincent Schiraldi, a former city probation commissioner, testified before a state Assembly committee hearing on “allowing adult use of marijuana.”
The average number of parole violators tossed in city jails has gone up by 9.5% over the past four years, from 773 in 2014 to 847 in 2017, according to the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice.
That population is the only group of people behind bars that has gone up in recent years, records show.
But that’s never how parole and probation were intended when they were created as diversions from jail in the 1800s, Schiraldi testified at the lower Manhattan hearing.
“So, probation and parole have become much larger than originally intended, with burdensome conditions that serve as trip wires to incarceration rather than as alternatives,” Schiraldi said.
There’s no evidence that shows marijuana use “threatens public safety,” he added.
“Likewise there is no public safety justification for routine testing for marijuana for probation or parole,” he said.
New York currently allows people to use marijuana for medical purposes. State lawmakers are considering fully legalizing the drug for recreational use.
“Revocations for marijuana use made little sense before,” Schiraldi said, “and will make no sense once marijuana use is legal for the adult population.”
At the hearing, Schiraldi spoke on behalf of four other former probation commissioners, Martin Horn, Michael Jacobson, James Payne and Raul Russi.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The conditions for probation and parole universally prohibit the use of drugs, association with criminals and the violation of any laws.
This is crazy! I can think of a number of reasons why this is a terrible proposal. First and foremost though, probationers and parolees will have to associate with criminals in order to purchase pot since recreational use of marijuana has not been legalized in New York yet. And many of the probationers will not have enough money to buy pot. So how are they going to afford it? By committing thefts, burglaries and other crimes.
Even the kooks in California haven’t proposed this … yet.
ERDOGAN IS USING THE MURDER OF KHASHOGGI TO SETTLE A SCORE WITH THE SAUDI REGIME
Khashoggi’s murder could impact a number of relationships in the region and across the globe
BY Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror
Israel Hayom
October 26, 2018
The assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey is interesting on three levels: gossip, regional implications, and the Israeli angle.
It is a fascinating event from a gossip perspective, like a chapter in a suspense novel. To a large extent, it's similar to the assassination of the Russian spy in Britain – agents are dispatched on a murder mission, the perpetrators successfully flee the scene. Technology comes into play as local law enforcement agencies are able to identify the route the killers used to enter and leave the country. Even in the case of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's assassination in Dubai, which was attributed to Israel's Mossad, photographs of the alleged killers were published and their modus operandi was retraced using hotel security cameras.
The incident could impact a number of relationships in the region and across the globe. No one should be surprised by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's fiery response. The person who has ordered the arrests of dozens of Turkish journalists isn't actually bothered by the murder; rather he is using it to settle a score with the Saudi regime, due to severe disagreements between them. The Saudis loath the Turkish dictator who dreams of resurrecting the Ottoman Empire – and the feeling is mutual. For Erdogan, this is also an opportunity to divert his public's attention from Turkey's economic crisis.
The Western world's relationship with Saudi Arabia is also cast into doubt. The Americans are having a hard time accepting that a man who had recently lived in the U.S. was despicably murdered in his own consulate. On the other side of the scale are America's economic and diplomatic interests in the Persian Gulf, where Saudi Arabia is its main ally. Weakening Saudi Arabia will directly strengthen Iran, America's main adversary in the area, which is another reason for Trump's efforts to ease tensions. The Europeans are also deeply disgusted about the incident and what it represents, although they are less tethered to Saudi Arabia by large trade deals and are less worried about Iran.
It's still unclear how the affair will affect the standing of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. The transfer of power from his father is a critical juncture for him. When he was appointed by his father, his path as the inevitable heir to the throne had seemed relatively effortless, and that future control of the kingdom would assuredly pass to his offspring while keeping his many cousins at arm's length from the crown. Now his throne is wobbling and it isn't obvious how the debacle in Istanbul will impact the stability of his rule, which the 33-year-old crown prince had appeared to have consolidated.
In the wider lens, it's important to note the Sunni world is currently leaderless in its fight with Shiite Iran. Saudi Arabia tried assuming that mantle on the basis of its wealth and control of Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, but as a consequence of the murder it has apparently squandered this legitimacy and as a result – with no visible leadership on the horizon – the Sunni world will be weaker.
Lastly, there's the Israeli angle. Against Iran, their common enemy, Israeli-Saudi relations have quietly become stronger behind the scenes. Presently, it isn't clear how the assassination in Turkey will affect domestic stability within the kingdom and consequently its relations with the world, but perhaps with Israel they will actually be bolstered amid the turmoil. Israel's under-the-table ties with Jordan, with whom it also has open diplomatic relations, are robust, yet the Jordanian king decided not to extend the special land lease with Israel.
The two cases are different but lead to a harsh conclusion: Israel's relations with Arab countries must still be taken with a grain of salt. The character of these regimes and the way their leaders think and act prevents true rapprochement. Some of these regimes are veritable sand castles sitting atop shifting dunes; things can change quickly. In any endeavor, whether diplomatic or intelligential, public or clandestine, we should always remember: Nothing lasts forever.
BY Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror
Israel Hayom
October 26, 2018
The assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey is interesting on three levels: gossip, regional implications, and the Israeli angle.
It is a fascinating event from a gossip perspective, like a chapter in a suspense novel. To a large extent, it's similar to the assassination of the Russian spy in Britain – agents are dispatched on a murder mission, the perpetrators successfully flee the scene. Technology comes into play as local law enforcement agencies are able to identify the route the killers used to enter and leave the country. Even in the case of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's assassination in Dubai, which was attributed to Israel's Mossad, photographs of the alleged killers were published and their modus operandi was retraced using hotel security cameras.
The incident could impact a number of relationships in the region and across the globe. No one should be surprised by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's fiery response. The person who has ordered the arrests of dozens of Turkish journalists isn't actually bothered by the murder; rather he is using it to settle a score with the Saudi regime, due to severe disagreements between them. The Saudis loath the Turkish dictator who dreams of resurrecting the Ottoman Empire – and the feeling is mutual. For Erdogan, this is also an opportunity to divert his public's attention from Turkey's economic crisis.
The Western world's relationship with Saudi Arabia is also cast into doubt. The Americans are having a hard time accepting that a man who had recently lived in the U.S. was despicably murdered in his own consulate. On the other side of the scale are America's economic and diplomatic interests in the Persian Gulf, where Saudi Arabia is its main ally. Weakening Saudi Arabia will directly strengthen Iran, America's main adversary in the area, which is another reason for Trump's efforts to ease tensions. The Europeans are also deeply disgusted about the incident and what it represents, although they are less tethered to Saudi Arabia by large trade deals and are less worried about Iran.
It's still unclear how the affair will affect the standing of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. The transfer of power from his father is a critical juncture for him. When he was appointed by his father, his path as the inevitable heir to the throne had seemed relatively effortless, and that future control of the kingdom would assuredly pass to his offspring while keeping his many cousins at arm's length from the crown. Now his throne is wobbling and it isn't obvious how the debacle in Istanbul will impact the stability of his rule, which the 33-year-old crown prince had appeared to have consolidated.
In the wider lens, it's important to note the Sunni world is currently leaderless in its fight with Shiite Iran. Saudi Arabia tried assuming that mantle on the basis of its wealth and control of Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, but as a consequence of the murder it has apparently squandered this legitimacy and as a result – with no visible leadership on the horizon – the Sunni world will be weaker.
Lastly, there's the Israeli angle. Against Iran, their common enemy, Israeli-Saudi relations have quietly become stronger behind the scenes. Presently, it isn't clear how the assassination in Turkey will affect domestic stability within the kingdom and consequently its relations with the world, but perhaps with Israel they will actually be bolstered amid the turmoil. Israel's under-the-table ties with Jordan, with whom it also has open diplomatic relations, are robust, yet the Jordanian king decided not to extend the special land lease with Israel.
The two cases are different but lead to a harsh conclusion: Israel's relations with Arab countries must still be taken with a grain of salt. The character of these regimes and the way their leaders think and act prevents true rapprochement. Some of these regimes are veritable sand castles sitting atop shifting dunes; things can change quickly. In any endeavor, whether diplomatic or intelligential, public or clandestine, we should always remember: Nothing lasts forever.
Saturday, October 27, 2018
THE BLAME-TRUMP MEDIA AND DEMOCRATS ARE GOING TO HAVE A FIELD DAY WITH THIS
Trump-supporting, bodybuilding, Native American Florida strip-club worker is revealed as the 'MAGAbomber' who sent suspicious packages to 12 liberals
Daily Mail
October 26, 2018
The suspect in a mail bombing spree targeting critics of President Donald Trump has been identified. Cesar Altier Sayoc was taken into custody on Friday morning in Plantation, Florida in connection with the 12 suspicious packages that have been discovered this week.
According to Sayoc's Facebook page, he is a Trump fan who posted pictures and videos of himself at one of the President's rallies in October 2016. He is Native American and according to a picture posted on his social media page, he is a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Authorities impounded a van covered in anti-liberal propaganda that is believed to be owned by Sayoc at the scene of his arrest.
The white commercial van plastered with stickers that appear to express support for President Donald Trump and disdain for his political rivals, including several featuring red shooting targets over the faces of Hillary Clinton , Barack Obama , CNN commentator Van Jones and others. There are also several large stickers from Trump's 2016 presidential campaign which show the then-candidate and his running mate Mike Pence with their thumbs up.
Sayoc has a lengthy rap sheet that includes arrests for drug possession, grand theft and making a bomb threat
EDITOR’S NOTE: A fingerprint on the package addressed to Maxine Waters led to Sayoc’s arrest.
Being an American Indian, I’m surprised Cesar did not send a bomb to Senator Pocahontas Warren.
Daily Mail
October 26, 2018
The suspect in a mail bombing spree targeting critics of President Donald Trump has been identified. Cesar Altier Sayoc was taken into custody on Friday morning in Plantation, Florida in connection with the 12 suspicious packages that have been discovered this week.
According to Sayoc's Facebook page, he is a Trump fan who posted pictures and videos of himself at one of the President's rallies in October 2016. He is Native American and according to a picture posted on his social media page, he is a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Authorities impounded a van covered in anti-liberal propaganda that is believed to be owned by Sayoc at the scene of his arrest.
The white commercial van plastered with stickers that appear to express support for President Donald Trump and disdain for his political rivals, including several featuring red shooting targets over the faces of Hillary Clinton , Barack Obama , CNN commentator Van Jones and others. There are also several large stickers from Trump's 2016 presidential campaign which show the then-candidate and his running mate Mike Pence with their thumbs up.
Sayoc has a lengthy rap sheet that includes arrests for drug possession, grand theft and making a bomb threat
EDITOR’S NOTE: A fingerprint on the package addressed to Maxine Waters led to Sayoc’s arrest.
Being an American Indian, I’m surprised Cesar did not send a bomb to Senator Pocahontas Warren.
NBC’S TITANIC FINALLY PLOWS HEAD ON INTO HUGE BLACKFACE ICEBERG
Megyn Kelly’s low-rated morning show is finally about to sink into the deep blue of purported racism
Megyn Kelly has a 3-year $69 million contract with NBC for her morning show which began 13 months ago. Kelly has been a disappointment for NBC because the show has been suffering from low ratings.
During Monday’s show Kelly said:
“But what is racist? Because you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid that was OK, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character.”
CRACK … CRUNCH
NBC’s Titanic just plowed head on into a huge iceberg, the Blackface Iceberg. Kelly’s show is finally about to sink. Kelly was hit by a shitstorm of criticism accusing her of being a racist who is insensitive to the fact that blackface was used by white performers in minstrel shows to poke fun at Negroes. Kelly’s apologies could not save the sinking show.
NBC executives are now in discussion with Kelly about how they are going to toss her overboard.
What you’ve got here is a dumb blonde, a genuine dumb blonde. But dumb as this blonde may be, Kelly is not so dumb as to Let NBC get out of the monetary obligations in her contract.
I wonder if Megyn knows that President Trump is really a black man wearing whiteface?
Megyn Kelly has a 3-year $69 million contract with NBC for her morning show which began 13 months ago. Kelly has been a disappointment for NBC because the show has been suffering from low ratings.
During Monday’s show Kelly said:
“But what is racist? Because you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid that was OK, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character.”
CRACK … CRUNCH
NBC’s Titanic just plowed head on into a huge iceberg, the Blackface Iceberg. Kelly’s show is finally about to sink. Kelly was hit by a shitstorm of criticism accusing her of being a racist who is insensitive to the fact that blackface was used by white performers in minstrel shows to poke fun at Negroes. Kelly’s apologies could not save the sinking show.
NBC executives are now in discussion with Kelly about how they are going to toss her overboard.
What you’ve got here is a dumb blonde, a genuine dumb blonde. But dumb as this blonde may be, Kelly is not so dumb as to Let NBC get out of the monetary obligations in her contract.
I wonder if Megyn knows that President Trump is really a black man wearing whiteface?
WOW, THE VIEW IS SURE SPECTACULAR … FLAP FLAP FLAP … SPLAT
2 Yosemite National Park visitors die in fall from overlook
By Olga R. Rodriguez
Associated Press
October 25, 2018
SAN FRANCISCO -- Two visitors died in a fall from a popular overlook at Yosemite National Park that allows people to walk to the cliff's edge, where there is no railing, an official said Thursday.
Park rangers were trying to recover the bodies of a female visitor and a male visitor spotted by another tourist Wednesday, spokesman Scott Gediman said. Officials are still investigating when the pair fell and from what spot at Taft Point, which is 3,000 feet (900 meters) above the famed Yosemite Valley floor, he said.
Railings only exist at a small portion of the overlook, which is popular for its breathtaking views of the valley, Yosemite Falls and El Capitan and fissures on the granite rock that plunge to the valley floor.
More than 10 people have died at the park this year, some from natural causes and others from falls, Gediman said.
Last month, an Israeli teenager fell hundreds of feet to his death while hiking near the top of 600-foot-tall (180-meter-tall) Nevada Fall. The death of 18-year-old Tomer Frankfurter was considered an accident, the Mariposa County coroner's office said.
Taft Point is also where world-famous wingsuit flier Dean Potter and his partner, Graham Hunt, died after leaping from the cliff in 2015. The pair experienced at flying in wingsuits — the most extreme form of BASE jumping — crashed after trying to clear a V-shaped notch in a ridgeline.
BASE jumping — which stands for jumping off buildings, antennas, spans (such as bridges) and Earth — is illegal in the park.
An investigation concluded that the deaths were accidental. Despite video and photos of the jump, officials consider the specific reason why Potter and Hunt died a mystery.
ECITOR’S NOTE: This could be a double suicide, or a murder-suicide.
By Olga R. Rodriguez
Associated Press
October 25, 2018
SAN FRANCISCO -- Two visitors died in a fall from a popular overlook at Yosemite National Park that allows people to walk to the cliff's edge, where there is no railing, an official said Thursday.
Park rangers were trying to recover the bodies of a female visitor and a male visitor spotted by another tourist Wednesday, spokesman Scott Gediman said. Officials are still investigating when the pair fell and from what spot at Taft Point, which is 3,000 feet (900 meters) above the famed Yosemite Valley floor, he said.
Railings only exist at a small portion of the overlook, which is popular for its breathtaking views of the valley, Yosemite Falls and El Capitan and fissures on the granite rock that plunge to the valley floor.
More than 10 people have died at the park this year, some from natural causes and others from falls, Gediman said.
Last month, an Israeli teenager fell hundreds of feet to his death while hiking near the top of 600-foot-tall (180-meter-tall) Nevada Fall. The death of 18-year-old Tomer Frankfurter was considered an accident, the Mariposa County coroner's office said.
Taft Point is also where world-famous wingsuit flier Dean Potter and his partner, Graham Hunt, died after leaping from the cliff in 2015. The pair experienced at flying in wingsuits — the most extreme form of BASE jumping — crashed after trying to clear a V-shaped notch in a ridgeline.
BASE jumping — which stands for jumping off buildings, antennas, spans (such as bridges) and Earth — is illegal in the park.
An investigation concluded that the deaths were accidental. Despite video and photos of the jump, officials consider the specific reason why Potter and Hunt died a mystery.
ECITOR’S NOTE: This could be a double suicide, or a murder-suicide.
GOING THE EXTRA MILE ….. NOT MILE, BUT 200 EXTRA YARDS
Japanese runner, 19, crawls on a BROKEN LEG to complete her relay marathon stage after falling with 200 yards to go
BY Sara Malm
Daily Mail
October 26, 2018
This is the amazing moment when a teenage runner who broke her leg during a relay marathon, finished the race on her hands and knees.
Rei Iida, 19, fell and fractured her leg with just 200 yards to go of her 2.2mile stage of a relay marathon in Fukoka, Japan.
Despite what would have been a painful injury, the university student was determined to finish her stretch of the race.
Video footage shows Ms Iida crawling on the tarmac as fast as her broken leg can carry her, with volunteers and bystanders cheering her on.
She appears determined to continue, despite sustaining injuries to her hands and knees, and leaving a train of blood on the road behind her.
With her team-mate reportedly waiting for her in tears to take over the sash, Ms Iida made it to the end with blood pouring out of her knees.
The head judge later told local news: 'I struggled to decide whether I should stop her, but I felt she could do it as she was almost at her goal'.
The teenage amateur runner had reportedly refused to quit when she was approached on the tarmac, asking 'how many meter are left until my goal?', according to Runners World
Runners World reported that Ms Iida was sent to a nearby hospital after crossing the finish line, and was found to have suffered a fracture which will take months to heal.
BY Sara Malm
Daily Mail
October 26, 2018
This is the amazing moment when a teenage runner who broke her leg during a relay marathon, finished the race on her hands and knees.
Rei Iida, 19, fell and fractured her leg with just 200 yards to go of her 2.2mile stage of a relay marathon in Fukoka, Japan.
Despite what would have been a painful injury, the university student was determined to finish her stretch of the race.
Video footage shows Ms Iida crawling on the tarmac as fast as her broken leg can carry her, with volunteers and bystanders cheering her on.
She appears determined to continue, despite sustaining injuries to her hands and knees, and leaving a train of blood on the road behind her.
With her team-mate reportedly waiting for her in tears to take over the sash, Ms Iida made it to the end with blood pouring out of her knees.
The head judge later told local news: 'I struggled to decide whether I should stop her, but I felt she could do it as she was almost at her goal'.
The teenage amateur runner had reportedly refused to quit when she was approached on the tarmac, asking 'how many meter are left until my goal?', according to Runners World
Runners World reported that Ms Iida was sent to a nearby hospital after crossing the finish line, and was found to have suffered a fracture which will take months to heal.
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