[Daily Mail] Police say seven Lehigh University football players have been charged in an off-campus break-in meant as revenge, but they targeted the wrong northeastern Pennsylvania home.
Bethlehem police said two men in the house, who are also Lehigh students, used a university football roster to identify the suspects in the intrusion which occurred around 3am on November 8.
They told police the men kicked in the doors as they slept and one suffered a concussion and a busted lip and was treated at St. Luke's University Hospital after he was punched in the face.
Six were arraigned on Wednesday on a count of felony criminal trespass and then released.
They were identified as Jacob Scott, 19, Maxwell Frankel, 18, Dylan Parsons, 20, Noah Scott Robb, 21, Michael Gies, 19, and Mark Walker, 19, according to Lehigh Valley Live.
A seventh player, Brian Githens, is accused of punching the man and was charged in November with simple assault. The day after the incident, Githens admitted what he and the other players had done and also confessed that they had targeted the wrong house, court records show.
[NYPOST] RUTLAND, Vt. — A New York woman was arrested after she allegedly bit an employee of a Vermont store after he attempted to retrieve underwear she had allegedly stolen from the store.
The Rutland Herald reports the 33-year-old woman from White Plains, New York, will be arraigned on Dec. 14 on misdemeanor charges of retail theft and simple assault. Her hearing had been scheduled for Monday, but has since been rescheduled.
Loss prevention officer Richard Durham, of the TJ Maxx store in Rutland, told police the woman kicked him, slapped his glasses off his face and bit his thumb after he had taken her purse to check for the stolen underwear.
Police say Durham retrieved the $21.50 underwear from the woman’s bag.
If convicted, the woman faces a maximum sentence of more than a year in prison.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2015 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iran's health minister says an outbreak of swine flu has killed at least 42 people in the country over the past month.
Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi says 33 of the deaths from the H1N1 virus occurred in southeastern Kerman province. He says 600 people who contracted the virus there have been hospitalized, but that the outbreak is now under control.
He says other fatalities occurred in southeastern and southwestern Iran and one person died in Karaj, 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of the capital, Tehran.
Last year, swine flu claimed at least 89 lives in Iran.
The 2009 H1N1 outbreak started a global pandemic that killed as many as half a million people. The strain has been lethal mostly to those with complicating circumstances and is now considered a seasonal flu.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2015 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] At least eight members of an organised gang of robbers were beaten to death by a mob who caught them red handed when they were trying to steal rice sacks from a store at Purundi Bazar of Araihazar in Narayanganj early yesterday.
Four of them were killed before the police reached the spot near the Dhaka-Sylhet highway around 6am. Witnesses said two robbers died in presence of police, the body of another was recovered from a ditch around 7am while another died in a local hospital around 1pm.
Police have identified four of the dear departed from the mobile phones found on their bodies. They are truck driver Rony, 35, of Noakhali; Jewel alias Titu, 32; Shawkat, 30; and Rubel, 28, from Mymensingh.
Four other robbers were placed in durance vile Book 'im, Mahmoud! from the spot. They are Lokman, 28, Sajib, 27, Manik, 25, and Sabbir, 22. Of them, all but Lokman hail from different areas of Mymensingh.
Three of them are currently undergoing treatment at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital at death's door.
Law enforcers have also recovered the truck onto which the robbers were loading the sacks stolen from Bhai Bhai Store, owned by one Gafur Bhuiyan.
Two cases were filed over the incident last night -- one for robbery and the other for murder against several thousand people.
According to local people, there have been several incidents of robbery and theft in the area in recent times, but law enforcers have not been able to solve any of the cases. One of the robberies took place at Bagbari Bazar around 20 days ago during which robbers snatched around 180 sacks of rice from a store.
National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... s over the death of the eight robbers in mob beating.
According to the statistics compiled by rights group Ain o Salish Kendra, at least 104 people were reportedly killed in mob beating in different areas between January and September this year. Of them, 50 were killed in Dhaka and 17 in Chittagong.
Police said the gang comprised 18-20 members who rented the truck from the capital's Tejgaon area on Wednesday.
OC (investigation) Arifur Rahman of the Araihazar police said the robbers went to the Purinda Bazar with the truck -- numbered Dhaka Metro Ta-18 4311 -- around 4am and asked the on-duty security guards about the location of Bhai Bhai Store.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
What, they purloined 180 sacks of rice? How long did that take? "Are you happy to see me or...."
Posted by: Steven ||
12/11/2015 3:37 Comments ||
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Russia is battening down the hatches for a Biblical collapse in oil revenues, warning that crude prices could stay as low as $40 a barrel for another seven years.
Maxim Oreshkin, the deputy finance minister, said the country is drawing up plans based on a price band fluctuating between $40 to $60 as far out as 2022, a scenario that would have devastating implications for Opec.
It would also spell disaster for the North Sea producers, Brazil's off-shore projects, and heavily indebted Western producers. "We will live in a different reality," he told a breakfast forum hosted by Russian newspaper Vedomosti.
The cold blast from Moscow came as US crude plunged to $35.56, pummelled by continuing fall-out from the acrimonious Organisaton of Petrol Exporting Countries meeting last week. Record short positions by hedge funds have amplified the effect.
Bank of America said there was now the risk of "full-blown price war" within Opec itself as Saudi Arabia and Iran fight out a bitter strategic rivalry through the oil market.
Brent crude fell to $37.41, even though demand is growing briskly. It is the lowest since the depths of the Lehman crisis in early 2009. But this time it is a 'positive supply shock', and therefore beneficial for the world economy as a whole.
The International Energy Agency said in its monthly market report that Opec has stopped operating as a cartel and is "pumping at will", aiming to drive out rivals at whatever cost to its own members. Opec revenues will fall to $400bn (ÂŁ263bn) this year if current prices persist, down from $1.2 trillion in 2012. This is a massive shift in global wealth.
The IEA said global oil stocks were already at nose-bleed levels of 2,971m barrels, and were likely to increase by another 300m over the next six months as "free-wheeling Opec policy" floods the market.
The watchdog played down fears that the world was running out of sites to store the glut, citing 230m barrels of new storage coming on stream. Inventories in the US are still only at 70pc capacity. But this could change once Iranian crude comes on stream later next year.
Russia's $40 warning is the latest escalation in a game of strategic brinkmanship between the Kremlin and Saudi Arabia, already at daggers drawn over Syria.
The Russian contingency plans convey a clear message to Riyadh and to Opec's high command that the country can withstand very low oil prices indefinitely, thanks to a floating rouble that protects the internal budget.
Saudi Arabia is trapped by a fixed exchange peg, forcing it to bleed foreign reserves to cover a budget deficit running at 20pc of GDP.
Russia claims to have the strategic depth to sit out a long siege. It is pursuing an import-substitution policy to revive its industrial and engineering core. It can ultimately feed itself. The Gulf Opec states are one-trick ponies by comparison.
The deputy premier, Arkady Dvorkovich, told The Telegraph in September that Opec will be forced to change tack. "At some point it is likely that they are going to have to change policy. They can last a few months, to a couple of years," he said.
Kremlin officials suspect that the aim of Saudi policy is to force Russia to the negotiating table, compelling it join Opec in a super-cartel controlling half the world's production.
Abdallah Salem el-Badri, Opec's chief, came close to admitting this last week, saying the cartel is no longer big enough to act alone and will not cut output unless non-Opec producers chip in.
"We are looking for negotiations with non-Opec, and trying to reach a collective effort. Everybody is trying to digest how they can do it," he said
Russia is in effect calling Opec's bluff, gambling that it has the greater staying power. It cannot easily cut output since its main producers are listed companies, answerable to shareholders. Any arrangement would have to be subtle.
Mr Dvorkovich gave an oblique answer when asked whether Russia would ever do a deal. "We are not going to cut supply artificially. Oil companies will act on their own. They will look at market forces and decide whether to invest more or less. If prices stay low, it is in the nature of oil companies to stabilize production, or even to cut production," he said.
Whether Russia really can withstand the strain for years is an open question. The economy is in deep recession. Output has contracted by 4pc over the last year. Real incomes have fallen by 9pc. The latest gambit may in reality be a negotiating ploy.
Mr Oreshkin said oil prices of $40 would force the government to bleed its reserve fund by 1.5 trillion roubles next year, or 2pc of GDP.
Standard & Poor's says the budget deficit has reached 4.4pc of GDP, including local government shortfalls. A further $40bn is needed to bail out the banking system.
"They just don't have the money. The deficit is heading for 5pc of GDP," said Lubomir Mitov from Unicredit.
"The biggest danger is that the reserve fund will be exhausted by the end of 2016. They will then have to monetise the deficit or cut real spending by another 10pc. They can't cut defence so that leaves social welfare," he said.
Bond markets in Russia are shallow. The country cannot hope to borrow abroad on any scale as long as it is under Western sanctions.
Saudi Arabia's leaders are fully aware of the Kremlin's painful predicament. They appear certain that they can outlast Russia in a long duel. By the time we find out which of these two petro-giants is stronger, both may be on their knees. Check out the original article. There are a number of interesting and revealing graphs. Interesting times we live in.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2015 15:56 ||
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#1
$36 today
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2015 16:24 Comments ||
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[Political Calculations] More or Less is a BBC 4 radio program, hosted by Undercover Economist Tim Harford, dedicated to explaining and sometimes debunking the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life. It's a fascinating program and we often play the podcasts as we toil behind the scenes here at Political Calculations.
We bring that up because we've noticed a pattern developing in this past week, where we find ourselves treading on their territory, as we've explored a better measure of the economic well-being of the people of a nation, debunked a key assertion of a team of climate scientists and used U.S. soybean exports to explain why China's economy may not be performing as dismally as it appears.
Today, we're back in debunking mode, thanks to the release of a report by the Pew Research Center on Wednesday, 10 December 2015, which finds that the United States has reached a kind of tipping point, as middle class households in the U.S. are no longer in the majority. The Washington Post describes the report's key findings:
#5
They're not disappearing, they're just more selective...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/11/2015 17:44 Comments ||
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#6
The middle classes are almost non existant. Who outside rentier jobs can afford to employ one assistant full time? (that's the typical entry level middle class).
Collapse in Land affordability has ruined the youth too.
[Legal Insurrection] White House spokesman Josh Earnest called it "ironic and tragic" Thursday that a spike in American gun sales has occurred in the wake of mass shootings in places like San Bernardino and Colorado Springs. The usual regime response; the bemoaning of common sense and logic in favour of continued government ineptitude and failure.
On Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, the FBI did 175,754 background checks, part of the seventh consecutive record-breaking month in gun purchases. Gun rights experts told the Free Beacon that recent terrorist attacks and the Democratic push for more gun control have fueled this surge.
"I wonder if the president feels as if what's happened may actually be giving motivation or momentum to gun rights advocates rather than his position?" NBC reporter Chris Jansing asked.
"Well, I guess there is some evidence to indicate this," Earnest said. "The FBI put out information a week or so ago that [on] Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when many people go shopping, they actually processed the largest number of background checks for gun purchases in history. I described this, I think, at a briefing earlier this week as a tragic irony, that the more that we see this kind of violence on our streets, the more people go out and buy guns, and that is both ironic and tragic.
#1
It is a fundamental responsibility of any government to provide security in one's person, one's family, and one's property. When government demonstrates it no longer is willing or able to do so, it is no longer legitimate no matter what rituals it performs to justify its existence.
#7
This was so well stated that it needs repeating.
"It is a fundamental responsibility of any government to provide security in one's person, one's family, and one's property. When government demonstrates it no longer is willing or able to do so, it is no longer legitimate no matter what rituals it performs to justify its existence. "
#8
Guns sales are a reflection of the public trust in GIVERnment. The folks in charge want to take away the 2nd amendment rights of innocent American people because of a few mental cases. Yet at the same time want to give non constitutional rights to immigrate to non-Americans while ignoring the behavior of the few terrorist immigrants. A little consistency would go a long way in building trust.
#10
If we each are focused on some local, fragmented social issue like this or the education bill,...we are distracted from the US open border policy, the collapse of the US economy and shift of world order. Don't be manipulated.
Posted by: Sloluth Protector of the Weak7539 ||
12/11/2015 13:33 Comments ||
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#11
Don't overthink it, Josh. It's really very simple. You don't trust us. We don't trust you.
[DAWN] THE problems of the child healthcare sector in Pakistain are extensive and, in the main, well known. Apart from the high infant and under-five mortality rates, perhaps the most talked about globally and of greatest concern domestically is the fact that this is one of the world's last two polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... -endemic countries. All the focus on polio, however, has perhaps shifted attention away from the even more grave threats to health, especially in terms of numbers, faced by the country's children: diarrhoea, typhoid, pneumonia, and many others, which kill often because of either the unavailability of medical attention, or the child's unvaccinated status.
Depressingly, in recent days, a new illness has been added to this list, which has shockingly killed on the premises of a medical facility and despite there being a remedy. A probe into several diphtheria-related deaths at the Children's Hospital, Lahore, has found two glaring causes: one, the number of boosters of the diphtheria vaccine administered to children under the Expanded Programme on Immunisation may not be enough to provide full coverage, and, two, delays in the procurement of the diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) and its delivery to hospitals. This was concluded by the inquiry committee constituted on the Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... chief minister's direction, which was presided over by the King Edward Medical University vice chancellor. These factors were behind the deaths of 14 children at the Children's Hospital alone, with the figure going up to perhaps 20 over the last two months when hospitals did not receive DAT. To say that the situation is unacceptable would be a gross understatement. The responsibility rests solely on the shoulders of the state and its subsidiaries, and rectification has to be undertaken on an urgent basis. This must include large-scale immunisation and timely treatment of this bacterial disease which involves the proper use of antibiotics. There can be no more striking example of an uncaring government than when a country's most vulnerable segment -- its children -- contract illnesses that are preventable.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2015 00:00 ||
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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.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iran's health minister says an outbreak of swine flu has killed at least 42 people in the country over the past month.
Russia is battening down the hatches for a Biblical collapse in oil revenues, warning that crude prices could stay as low as $40 a barrel for another seven years.
[Political Calculations] More or Less is a BBC 4 radio program, hosted by Undercover Economist Tim Harford, dedicated to explaining and sometimes debunking the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life. It's a fascinating program and we often play the podcasts as we toil behind the scenes here at Political Calculations.
