[AP] NORRISTOWN, Pa. ‐ The Latest on Bill Cosby's sexual assault retrial (all times local): 1:50 p.m.
Bill Cosby has been convicted of drugging and molesting a woman in the first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era.
A jury outside Philadelphia convicted the "Cosby Show" star of three counts of aggravated indecent assault on Thursday. The guilty verdict came less than a year after another jury deadlocked on the charges.
Cosby was charged with violating Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. His lawyer called Constand a "con artist" who leveled false accusations against Cosby so she could sue him.
Cosby could get up to 10 years in prison on each of the counts.
Dozens of women have come forward in recent years to say he drugged and assaulted them. Five of the other accusers testified against him at the retrial.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission. Constand has done so.
#5
Alan, I was thinking more like this:
N: Wumpa, Wumpa. Wumpa.
G: "NOAH!"
N: Who is that? Wumpa, Wumpa, Wumpa.
G: "It's the Lord, Noah. And Noah more freedom for you."
[Sara A. Carter] Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is now facing possible criminal charges for lying under oath about leaks he made to The Wall Street Journal in 2016, in an effort to salvage his reputation and give his account to journalists who were questioning whether he gave a "stand-down" order to FBI agents investigating the Clinton Foundation.
Multiple former FBI officials, along with a Congressional official, say that while there may have been internal squabbling over the FBI’s investigation into the Clinton Foundation at the time, there was allegedly another "stand-down" order by McCabe regarding the opening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of her private email for official government business.
McCabe’s stand-down order regarding Clinton’s private email use happened after The New York Times first reported Hillary Clinton Used Personal Email Account at State Dept., Possibly Breaking Rules in March 2015 and before the official investigation was requested by the Justice Department toward the end of July 2015.
#4
The peculiar Spanish requirement (also in Mexico) that civilian owned firearms can't use military issue rounds has helped keep my fetish caliber .38 Super alive. As for a butcher with a confiscated snubby revolver, I'ma heading for the parking lot...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/26/2018 10:21 Comments ||
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#5
Out here when someone dressed like that takes off his glasses, it translates to "Now what is thisbull-shit."
SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- If you've done the college experience then you know finals can be rough!
But Nemo Miller, an art student at the University of Utah is trying to cushion the final's week blow by creating an escape for students who might be feeling the finals week pressure.
It's called the "Cry Closet!"
The art project went viral after someone posted a picture of it on Twitter which ended up getting hundreds of thousands of likes and retweets.
But you can't just go in there willy nilly! There are rules they have to follow.
For example, you gotta knock before barging in (you don't want to interrupt someone mid-cry), one person at a time for only ten minutes, and use #cryclosetuofu if posting on social media. And don't forget to wipe things down when you are done.
#2
...Dear God, what is happening to these people when they get out in the real world and face other people who aren't going to be anywhere near as understanding of their pain?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/26/2018 5:49 Comments ||
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#3
Future HR inmates
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/26/2018 7:13 Comments ||
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#4
Funny - I used to get backed & shitfaced with my fraternity brothers as one way to deal with stress.
As Jimmy Dugan would say - 'There's no crying in academia!' God damn, grow the fuck up, you bunch of fucking babies.
#8
C'mon, you guys. It's a joke. Right? Right? Oh, you mean they're serious?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/26/2018 11:10 Comments ||
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#9
Granted I'm an old boomer, but damn.
Anyone I knew or knew of in school would have died of embarrassment if caught seriously thinking about, no less doing, any such thing. And that includes all the stoners.
#10
Dear God, what is happening to these people when they get out in the real world and face other people who aren't going to be anywhere near as understanding of their pain?
#1
The onerous De Klerk and his attempted back peddling of betrayal. There are many, but here is one example of why this situation as posted above, is... as it is:
#3
2018 Apartheid def. (in the Republic of South Africa) = a rigid former policy of segregating and economically and politically oppressing and occasionally murdering the nonwhite white population.
[AAWSAT] Kuwait announced on Wednesday that it was expelling the Philippine ambassador, giving him a week to leave the country. The decision was taken over the actions of the Philippine embassy in Kuwait, which were deemed a violation of the local laws.
Announcement of the diplomatic expulsion comes despite an apology to Kuwait on Tuesday by Philippine foreign secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, after videos emerged of embassy staff helping Filipinos flee from employers.
"I apologize to my counterpart and we apologize to the Kuwaiti government, the Kuwaiti people and the leaders of Kuwait if they were offended by some actions taken by the Philippine embassy in Kuwait," Cayetano told news hounds in Manila.
Kuwait was furious about the videos, saying they amount to a violation of its illusory sovereignty.
Cayetano said that he had presented a clarification to the Kuwaiti ambassador in Manila. The Kuwaiti official voiced his understanding of the issue. The Philippine official will send a similar clarification to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khalid al-Sabah.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
Probably no big deal. Embassies are supposed to deal with passports, and they're probably delivered to them in the mail before they give them to US citizens who need them.
One thing bugs me:
Ms Mitchell dialled 999 and claims a police call handler told her to place the 20 passports in the bin, before their supervisor backtracked on the advice.
Do they really have folks with room-temperature IQs handling police calls?
Well, actually, two things bug me about this statement. The English apparently spell "dialed" funny.
#4
Best story about the UK was that a bunch of people were calling 911 in emergencies because they'd watched to many US tv programs. I believe they needed a citizen awareness campaign.
Should have just had 911 forward folks to 999, why fight it and risk confusing people.
This could never happen here. Of course.
China is rolling out a high-tech plan to give all of its 1.4 billion citizens a personal score, based on how they behave.
But there are consequences if a score gets too low, and for some that’s cause for concern, CBS2’s Ben Tracy reported Tuesday.
When Liu Hu recently tried to book a flight, he was told he was banned from flying because he was on the list of untrustworthy people. Liu is a journalist who was ordered by a court to apologize for a series of tweets he wrote and was then told his apology was insincere.
"I can’t buy property. My child can’t go to a private school," he said. "You feel you’re being controlled by the list all the time."
And the list is now getting longer as every Chinese citizen is being assigned a social credit score ‐ a fluctuating rating based on a range of behaviors. It’s believed that community service and buying Chinese-made products can raise your score. Fraud, tax evasion and smoking in non-smoking areas can drop it.
China’s growing network of surveillance cameras makes all of this possible.
"It can recognize more than 4,000 vehicles," Xu Li said.
Li is the CEO of Sensetime, one of China’s most successful artificial intelligence companies. It has created smart cameras for the government that can help catch criminals, but also track average citizens.
"We can tell whether it is an adult, a child, male or female," Li said.
Ken Dewoskin has studied China’s economic and political culture for more than three decades. He says how the new scoring system truly works is kept secret and could be easily abused by the government.
Tracy: "How far into people’s daily mundane activities does this go?"
Dewoskin: "Well, I think that the government and the people running the plan would like it to go as deeply as possible to determine how to allocate benefits and also how to impact and shape their behavior."
The fear, of course, it that the government may use this social credit scoring system to punish people that it deems not sufficiently loyal to the communist party, Tracy reported. And trying to clear your name or fight your score is nearly impossible, because there’s no due process. And nobody will ever think of using this system to blackmail people to do God-knows-what.
#1
Well, we know Google works with the Chinese government. Guess what they'll share with agencies, activities, and organizations in the US. Given they use their various divisions to shut down conservative news and videos, you can guess what's in store.
[DAWN] A Copenhagen court on Wednesday found Danish inventor Peter Madsen guilty of the premeditated murder and sexual assault of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on his homemade submarine last year, handing him a life sentence.
Madsen, 47, had admitted chopping up the 30-year-old's body and throwing her remains overboard in waters off Copenhagen on the night of August 10, 2017, but claimed her death was accidental.
"He committed a cynical, planned murder, of a particularly brutal nature," judge Anette Burko said as she read out the verdict, adding that Madsen "dismembered the body in order to hide the evidence of murder."
A life sentence in Denmark averages around 16 years.
Wearing a black T-shirt and blazer, Madsen stood in the courtroom to hear the ruling. As it was read out, he sat down next to his lawyer, visibly affected and dejected.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2018 00:00 ||
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[Reuters] The U.S. Senate confirmed Mike Pompeo as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state on Thursday, putting the former CIA director in a pivotal role to handle U.S. foreign policy challenges such as North Korea and Iran.
Pompeo, a former Army officer who was a Republican congressman, is regarded as a Trump loyalist with hawkish world views.
He is already deeply involved in diplomacy. Trump sent Pompeo to North Korea three weeks ago to meet with the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, ahead of a summit with the U.S. president to address Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
Senators voted 57-42 in favour of Pompeo, who had faced stiff resistance from Democrats worried about his reputation for hawkishness and past harsh statements about homosexuality and Islam.
Pompeo will be forced quickly to address a wide array of other international challenges, including long conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, Chinese expansionism in Asia and Russian assertiveness.
[Washington Examiner] Ronny Jackson, President Trump's controversial pick to lead the Department of Veterans affairs, is withdrawing from the nomination, according to press reports.
Jackson’s confirmation hearings were delayed indefinitely after allegations emerged against him for workplace misconduct. The longtime White House physician has been accused of handing out prescription pain medications and working drunk on the job. I suspect our veterans have just lost a very good man.
#1
So unsubstantiated accusations win the day and a string of 'top block' USN FITREPS signed by multiple presidential senior raters (both Republican and Dem) mean nothing.
I am now beginning to wonder how much longer Donald Trump will put up with this kak before he finally says... 'that's it, I gave it my best shot. Take this job and shove it.'
#5
I just heard Trump on TV with words to the effect that a certain Democrat senator from Montana who is up for reelection this year might be confronted with this issue in November.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/26/2018 10:35 Comments ||
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#6
Why would any sane person want to 'put up with this kak'?
[DAWN] The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday overturned the acquittal of Axact chief executive officer Shoaib Sheikh and other officials of the company in the fake degrees case by a sessions court.
A two-member bench of the court comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the verdict on an appeal of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against the acquittal.
Ordering a retrial of the case, the IHC ordered the sessions judge Islamabad (West) to decide the matter after hearing all the arguments afresh.
See: The spectacular crash of Shoaib Sheikh's digital empire
However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... the court extended some relief to the accused by leaving open the option for them to submit new surety bonds to secure bail and avoid arrest.
During a hearing of the appeal last month, a law officer of the federal government had requested the IHC to order retrial of the Axact CEO and other officials of his IT company because they had been acquitted by a district and sessions judge after receiving a bribe.
Deputy Attorney General Raja Khalid Mehmood Khan had said that despite admission of additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) Pervaizul Qadir Memon that he had taken a bribe for issuing a favourable verdict, the judgement was still intact.
Besides Axact, Sheikh also owns Bol TV network.
ADSJ Memon had acquitted Sheikh and others in the fake degrees case on October 31, 2016. Later the judge was sacked on February 15, 2018 due to his admission of receiving Rs5 million bribe for acquitting the accused.
Axact first came into the limelight in 2015 when a New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... report titled "Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pak Company Axact Reaps Millions" outlined how the "secretive Pak software company" had allegedly earned millions of dollars from scams involving fake degrees, non-existent online universities and manipulation of customers.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] An Indian guru with millions of followers was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for raping a teenage devotee on the pretext of ridding her of evil spirits, his lawyer said.
Asaram Bapu, one of India's most charismatic and controversial "godmen", was given the maximum sentence at a closed jailhouse hearing in Rajasthan state, where hundreds of police were on high alert for a backlash from his disciples.
"Asaram has been sentenced for life until death," Rajendra Singh, a lawyer for the defence team, told AFP outside the court in the western city of Jodhpur.
The white-bearded guru, 77, who urges followers to live a pious life free of sexual desires, has always denied raping the then 16-year-old in 2013 during a spiritual retreat at his ashram in Jodhpur.
His lawyer said they would appeal the sentence.
Asaram is just the latest high-profile guru locked away Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! for sex crimes, and his conviction comes as India reverberates with anger over a series of child rapes in recent weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Police on Wednesday exhumed the body of an Italian national of Pak origin over claims she had been murdered by relatives in a so-called 'honour' killing, in a case that has made headlines across Italia.
Police in Gujrat launched an investigation earlier this week into the death of 26-year-old Sana Cheema after allegations she had been murdered went viral online.
"After the news of her death spread on social media, police found the family and started an investigation," said police officer Waqar Gujjar.
Cheema's father, brother and uncle are currently being held in jug for questioning but have not been charged, added Gujrat police officer Mudassar Sajjad.
"Now it depends on the post-mortem report. If it determines the cause of death is due to murder, only then will police charge the suspects," said Sajjad.
According to family members, Cheema died earlier this month after succumbing to an unspecified illness, said police officer Syed Mobarak.
Police said Cheema's father Ghulam Mustafa brought her back to Pakistain to get married. This ultimately led to a confrontation with a nearby family who spurned the offer of a match, according to the woman's family.
Because of the rejection Cheema refused to eat, fell ill and died, relatives told police.
Reports in Italian newspapers alleged Cheema was killed because she wanted to marry a man in Italia against her family's wishes. The reports further alleged that Cheema’s parents had been forcing her to marry someone in the family in the days leading up to her death.
A spokesperson for the Gujrat police had earlier told Dawn that Kunjah police visited Mangowal town, where Cheema had been staying with her family, and collected some information about her death which strengthened their suspicions about the version offered by the woman’s family.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] A teenage girl from district Umerkot in Sindh has reportedly 'disappeared' after allegedly being taken into police custody and handed over to a landlord, the girl's family claims.
According to police, a week ago on April 18, SHO Khushbakht of Umerkot women cop shoppe, reportedly raided the girl's house in Hashim Palli village and placed in durance vile Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! five persons including three women over charges of involvement in child marriage.
Among those taken into custody was the 13-year-old girl ‐ who was found wearing a bridal dress ‐ to verify the case. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... the girl's family says she has since gone missing without a trace since then.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features.
If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!... Sindh Inspector General (IG) has taken notice of the incident, and a committee has been formed to recover the girl and uncover the truth. The committee comprises of DIG Mazhar Sheikh, SIP Khalil Kunbhar, and Lady SHO Khushbakht.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features.
If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!... the girl's parents have levelled allegations against police, saying that the girl was taken away under the false pretence of raiding a child marriage. They allege that police took her away at the instigation of local influentials having malicious intent.
The missing girl's family has accused police of handing over the girl to influential landlords Faiz Muhammad Palli, and Saifullah Palli, who, according to them, often abduct newly-wedded girls in connivance with the police.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2018 00:00 ||
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[MedPageToday] Something most of us know intuitively, that mentally fragile people tend to get worse after taking cannabis, amphetamines &/or opoids. Study comes from Denmark, which collects such statistics very carefully. Of interest are the "HR"s - "Hazard Ratios"
Hjorthoj and colleagues also examined amphetamine and opioid misuse, which had stronger associations with conversion than did cannabis use:
Cannabis: HR 1.30 (95% CI 1.01-1.68)
Amphetamine use disorders: HR 1.90 (95% CI 1.14-3.17)
Opioid use disorders: HR 2.74 (95% CI 1.38-5.45)
#5
Part of the problem is that the drug-using corner of the internet is full of claims that pot is absolutely harmless, and that all scientific reports to the contrary are the lies of fun-hating Puritans.
The other part of the problem is that exactly those mentally fragile individuals most at risk are blind to the fact that they mentally abnormal. My girlfriend’s schizophrenic son, the one who murdered his grandmother at the orders of St. Michael because she was a zombie, insisted that he was perfectly sane and not in need of treatment until after he had been forcibly medicated for months while in jail awaiting trial. He reports that some of the residents on the prison psych ward still will stop taking their meds, because even in prison —in Pennsylvania at least — they cannot be forced to take their daily pills until they have yet again become psychotic.
#8
That would be the truth, yes. You can buy really powerful pot at a recreational dispensary. OTOH you can buy really potent booze at a liquor store. Neither is very good for a psychotic to consume.
#9
This is my problem as a libertarian. Freedom versus someone is gonna overdo it and we have to deal the fallout (medical expenses or really damaging votes).
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ‐ A new Indiana law that requires medical providers who treat women for complications arising from abortions to report detailed patient information to the state "imposes unique and burdensome obligations" that are unconstitutional, Planned Parenthood said in lawsuit filed Monday that seeks to block two of the law’s provisions.
The federal suit ‐ the latest of several filed in recent years challenging abortion restrictions passed by Indiana lawmakers ‐ contends that the reporting rules and a separate provision requiring annual inspections of abortion clinics are both unconstitutional because they target only abortions and abortion providers and not other procedures or clinics.
The complaint asks a federal judge to block those provisions, which are set to take effect July 1.
"Once again Indiana politicians are barging into the exam room with irrational demands and intrusive requirements," said Jane Henegar, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which filed the suit on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky
The suit contends that the abortion complications reporting requirement creates "vague and uncertain standards" that are written so broadly "as to be meaningless."
Many of the purported abortion complications the law lists "are both extremely rare for abortions and are more likely to occur after other medical procedures," according to the suit. One condition the law lists ‐ blood clots ‐ is a typical and short-lived side effect of having an abortion, it argues.
[FoxNews] The Charlotte Observer reports 40-year-old Jennifer Ann Jasmaine says in the lawsuit that chaplains at the all-male Lanesboro Correctional Institution have violated her constitutional rights by restricting when, where and how she can practice Wicca, the religion based on ancient pagan beliefs.
Jasmaine also says Lanesboro refused to provide her with the foods Wiccans are supposed to eat.
#9
Beseoker, they already have the Osprey, so exploring the gunship lite option, and I repeat myself, "...seems a worthwhile idea."
The more important thing is that maybe, just maybe, the USMC is recovering from the Transformationalist mania that they descended into in the 90's. Their Revolutionary systems such as the Osprey, the F-35, and the EFV have all been troubled -- if not disastrous flops. So a dose of Evolutionary programs is a pleasant surprise.
#10
#8 Hornetizing comes to tilt-rotorland.....Posted by: USN, Ret.
Yesss... Retiring the A-6 and F-14 so we could go "one airframe to rule the heavens" F/A-18 seems to prove again that "multi-role does not necessarily mean multi-capable."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday overturned the acquittal of Axact chief executive officer Shoaib Sheikh and other officials of the company in the fake degrees case by a sessions court.
[DAWN] Police on Wednesday exhumed the body of an Italian national of Pak origin over claims she had been murdered by relatives in a so-called 'honour' killing, in a case that has made headlines across 
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ‐ A new Indiana law that requires medical providers who treat women for complications arising from abortions to report detailed patient information to the state "imposes unique and burdensome obligations" that are unconstitutional, Planned Parenthood said in lawsuit filed Monday that seeks to block two of the law’s provisions.
[FoxNews] The Charlotte Observer reports 40-year-old Jennifer Ann Jasmaine says in the lawsuit that chaplains at the all-male Lanesboro Correctional Institution have violated her constitutional rights by restricting when, where and how she can practice Wicca, the religion based on ancient pagan beliefs.
