#6
This month, the city announced a $30 million project that targets 1,200 high school pupils identified as most at risk to become victims of gun violence, giving them full-time mentors and part-time jobs to keep them off the streets.
#10
I always had a small fear in the back of my mind that this (the picture in question) would happen to me if my car broke down on the Dan Ryan Expressway on the southside...
A man who was shot by an off-duty Pittsburgh police officer last year is suing the city and the now-reinstated officer for false imprisonment and excessive force.
Officer Paul G. Abel Jr. was found not guilty of criminal charges -- including aggravated assault -- by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Manning in June. He was reinstated to his position through arbitration last week.
According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Kaleb Miller was walking on Sidney Street on the South Side about 2:10 a.m. on June 28, 2008, when he saw Officer Abel, an off-duty Zone 3 police officer. He had a gun in his hand and was "yelling unintelligibly and was visibly intoxicated."
The officer, who testified at his trial that he had been assaulted at a stop light when he left a bar that morning, believed Mr. Miller was the person who struck him.
According to the lawsuit, Officer Abel got into a car, did a U-turn onto 20th Street and stopped 10 feet in front of Mr. Miller. Officer Abel then grabbed Mr. Miller by the shirt and ordered him to the ground, it continued.
"Defendant Abel then pushed the barrel of his pistol into the left eye and face cheek of plaintiff, at which point plaintiff began to go to the ground as ordered by defendant Abel," the lawsuit said.
Mr. Abel then began to hit Mr. Miller in the back of the head with the gun, the suit continued. Trying to protect himself, Mr. Miller put his right hand over the back of his head and was shot in the hand.
"After plaintiff suffered the right hand gunshot wound, he fell to the ground on his right side, at which point plaintiff viewed defendant Abel seated on the sidewalk, twirling his pistol," the complaint said.
Two uniformed officers arrived and said that Mr. Miller was under arrest. Later, however, after they realized he had not assaulted Officer Abel, he was released and taken to the hospital for treatment.
Mr. Miller claims that the city failed to investigate prior acts of false imprisonment or excessive force by Officer Abel.
He had three previous complaints with the city's Citizen Police Review Board before being acquitted of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and DUI in a non-jury trial.
Judge Manning said what he did was "inappropriate, imprudent and ill-advised," but not criminal.
The city solicitor had not yet seen a copy of the lawsuit yesterday and could not comment.
#2
And here I thought they'd suspended the double jeopardy clause for cops after the Rodney King trial. Certainly the feds could trump up a civil rights violation or misuse of authority here for another go at Officer Abel. /sarc off
Indian police said on Sunday they were questioning Chinese engineers and site workers as part of investigations into how a power plant chimney collapsed, killing 41 people.
China's Shandong Electric Power Construction was one of the firms contracted by Balco, a subsidiary of London-listed resources giant Vedanta, to build the electricity station in central Chhattisgarh state. Bad choice of subcontractor.
"We are taking statements from the Chinese team on the chimney collapse," senior police officer Ratanlal Dangi told AFP by telephone. Eighty Chinese nationals have been involved in the construction of the plant, he said.
"Some of them were preparing to leave the country so we requested the state and central governments to ensure they do not leave before investigations are complete," Dangi said, adding that no arrests had been made. Chinese project people leaving the country in such a timely fashion makes them persons of interest, alright.
The partially built 275-metre (900-foot) chimney caved in on Wednesday, killing scores of Indian labourers and leaving many others badly injured under piles of debris.
"We have gone through almost 95 percent of the rubble," said Ashok Agarwal, a Chhattisgarh state official. "We will continue our efforts to ensure no one is buried."
According to Dangi, bad weather had been ruled out as a cause of the accident and police have registered a case of culpable homicide against Balco. "We are looking through their records, their tenders, what materials they were using to build the chimney, whether there were any design or implementation flaws," he said. Hint, check for excessive fly ash in the concrete mix. And check the mix design and the cracked cores, if they did any.
Hundreds of rescue workers have been struggling to remove a huge pile of smashed concrete that covered the site where the chimney collapsed.
On Thursday, a top union official told AFP he feared that more than 100 people had been killed, and a lack of formal records about the number of employees working at the scene has complicated rescue efforts.
Construction site accidents are relatively common in India, where health and safety rules are routinely flouted.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"Some are preparing to leave the country" > wehell, as per PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUMS "leave" is more like "ESCAPE" as Chin workers are repor FLEEING FROM INDIAN POLICE + INVESTIGATORS???
OTOH SAME/BHARAT RAKSHAK > CHINESE SHUN PAKISTANI EXODUS. + CHINESE TROOPS OFFER AFGHAN SOLUTION. Instead of leaving strife-torn PAKISTAN, CHINA is actually intensifying its local investments + bilateral cooper ventures.
#3
WMF > MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: OVERSEAS CHINESE ARE BECOMING THE TARGETS OF DIRECT TERRORIST ATTACKS.
One way to start a INDO-CHINESE WAR afore 2012???
OTOH SAME > JAPANESE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: DEVELOPMENT OF "EAST ASIAN COMMUNITY" [= EAUnion?] MAY TAKE 10-15 Years.
IOW, to Year 2020-2025 which is weirdly and mysteriously, but only PC coincidentally, the same rough timeline where CHINA thinks A STRONG, NUKE-ARMED, MIL- and GEOPOL-RESURGENT JAPAN COULD POTENS THREATEN ITS RISE TO SUPERPOWER STATUS???
Guinean soldiers fired into a crowded stadium where demonstrators had gathered to protest against the West African nation's coup leader on Monday, shooting dead dozens of people, witnesses said.
Opposition parties had organised the protest in the capital's main football stadium, which drew some 50,000 people. Demonstrators chanted "We want true democracy."
But soldiers from the presidential guard entered the stadium and fired into the crowd, reportedly using tear gas, live ammunition and baton charges against the demonstrators.
The number killed in the attack remains unclear, but witnesses reported seeing dozens of bodies.
Can we please hurry up with approval for small, safe nuclear reactors?
A Chinese state-owned oil company is in talks with Nigeria to buy large stakes in some of the worlds richest oil blocks in a deal that would eclipse Beijings previous efforts to secure crude overseas.
The attempt could pitch the Chinese into competition with western oil groups, including Shell, Chevron, Total and ExxonMobil, which partly or wholly control and operate the 23 blocks under discussion. Sixteen licences are up for renewal.
CNOOC, one of Chinas three energy majors, is trying to buy 6bn barrels of oil, equivalent to one in every six barrels of the proven reserves in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africas biggest crude producer and a major supplier to the US.
Details of the talks were revealed in a letter from the office of Umaru YarAdua, Nigerias president, to Sunrise, CNOOCs representative, a copy of which was obtained by the Financial Times. The overall value of the Chinese offer is not disclosed, although some details suggest a figure of about $30bn. Some oil sector executives said the total on the table was $50bn.
A spokesman for Mr YarAdua said: Negotiations are ongoing not only with Sunrise/CNOOC but also with all other stakeholders in the industry. The federal government has not taken any final position on the issue.
The fate of NigComSat-1 has been emblematic of Chinas recent dealings with Nigeria
Last November, 18 months after its launch, the controllers of Nigerias $257m Chinese-built satellite switched it off after a faulty power supply meant it risked colliding with other objects in orbit.
It was a public relations disaster for China at a time when it seemed to be stumbling in its efforts to gain a strategic foothold in Africas biggest energy producer.
In 2006, towards the end of the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, Chinese companies won four oil-drilling licences in exchange for pledges to build a hydroelectric power plant, a railway and a refinery.
Oil-for-infrastructure deals have flourished elsewhere for China, notably in Angola. In Nigeria they faltered, as Umaru YarAdua, the new president, ordered investigations into the pacts. The projects stopped before they had started.
There are 20,000 Chinese expatriates living in Nigeria, according to official estimates, and Chinese products have made inroads into the countrys teeming markets. But until now the big state-to-state deals that have typically paved the way for Chinas entry into other resource rich African markets have mostly run aground.
The letter, dated August 13, said an initial offer was unacceptable but added: Your interest in all the listed blocks will be considered if your revised offer is favourable.
Details of how the Nigerian government would allocate equity in the blocks to CNOOC have yet to emerge and it is unclear whether this would involve forcing western groups to relinquish stakes.
The Royal Navy says it has seized its biggest haul of cocaine, estimating its street value at £240m ($380m).
The Portsmouth-based frigate HMS Iron Duke seized more than five-and-a-half tonnes of the drug from a 138ft fishing boat off the coast of Colombia. The Royal Navy and US Coast Guard jointly intercepted the boat after it was spotted by a navy helicopter crew.
Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell praised the operation for "damaging the trade in this vile substance". He said cocaine "only serves to poison our communities".
Whitehall officials have said the bust took place in international waters off the north coast of Colombia, according to BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner. The 212 bales of cocaine, weighing about 26kg each, were seized in an area known for trafficking.
Cdr Andrew Stacey said the ship's crew was "delighted". He said: "This was our third successful drug bust in as many months but this surpasses anything we've had and anything the navy had previously.
"It is the largest drugs bust by value, and by volume, in terms of cocaine. It is a massive blow for the narcotics industry."
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/29/2009 00:00 ||
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The de facto government of Honduras on Monday frustrated attempts by supporters of Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president, to hold mass protests in Tegucigalpa as it posted troops throughout the nations capital and closed down two opposition media outlets.
Soldiers and anti-riot police descended on the Globo de Tegucigalpa radio station on Monday morning and stopped it from broadcasting. Cholusat, a television satellite channel, was also taken off the air. The media crackdown follows a decree passed on Sunday by the de facto government that strips Hondurans of constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties, including the right to hold unauthorised protests.
Critics saw the move as a direct response to calls by Mr Zelaya to mark the three-month anniversary of his removal from office by holding mass demonstrations as part of what he dubbed the final offensive in his bid to regain office.
There were media reports on Monday that only a few hundred Zelaya supporters gathered at the capitals Pedagogica University, fazed by the decree and unsure of their next move. Many wore tape across their mouths, alluding to the media crackdown.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/29/2009 00:00 ||
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Seems like Mexico has some of the same problems on their southern border that we have on ours.
TRAFFIC is light on the bridge linking Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico to Tecún Uman in Guatemala. Tricycle-taxi drivers and an armed guard idly stand around in the sun. All the action takes place on the river below. A small flotilla of rafts fashioned from trailer tyres and stacked with sacks of corn floats by, in sight of customs officials. Their cargo is destined for Tecún Uman's bustling market, which overflows with crackers and bread made affordable by the recent depreciation of Mexico's peso against the Guatemalan quetzal. "It's illegal, but it's a job for these people," says Antonio Aguilar, the chief of Guatemala's national police in Tecún Uman. That is one reason why he leaves the 5,000 or so small-time smugglers in this area alone. Another, he admits, is that when one of his predecessors cracked down on smuggling, a mob burnt down the police station.
Migration and the trafficking of drugs and guns across Mexico's northern border with the United States capture endless headlines. (This week agents fired at three vans containing 74 illegal immigrants as they failed to stop at a border crossing near San Diego.) But many of these problems are quietly mirrored on its southern frontier. This is "a no-man's land, a wild frontier," says Conrado Aparicio, a naval commander at Puerto Madero. That is despite recent government attempts to exercise greater surveillance.
Today's problems date from the 1990s, when traffickers began to move drugs through Central America in response to an American crackdown on their Caribbean routes. After Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998, a torrent of destitute migrants began to head north too. Mexico's governments have come to accept that if they want the United States to reform its immigration laws and to speed cross-border trade, they have to exercise more control over their own territory.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/29/2009 00:00 ||
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Two economic, military and moral juggernauts combine forces ...
(IsraelNN.com) Cuba and the Palestinian Authority (PA) signed cooperation agreements in education, sport and culture during PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's first official visit to Cuba which started on Saturday RIA Novosti reported. Abbas' visit will end Sunday.
Cuban Communist Party member Jorge Risquet pledged Cuba's continuing support to Abbas, saying he hopes "the Arab people will win and a fully sovereign Palestinian [Authority] state will be established in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with its capital in East Jerusalem." Former Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat visited Cuba five times and maintained ties with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
So what do two prison populations have to trade? Cigarettes and sexual favors?
Posted by: ed ||
09/29/2009 1:13 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States blasted ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya for his "irresponsible and foolish" return from exile before a settlement was reached in the Central American country's political crisis.
At an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States to discuss the Honduran face-off, Lewis Anselem, the U.S. ambassador to the OAS, also criticized Honduras' de facto government for its "deplorable" action in barring entry of an OAS mission and declaring a state of siege on Sunday. Anselem also criticized Zelaya for fueling violence by slipping back into Honduras last week and holing up in the Brazilian Embassy, from where he has called on his supporters to take to the streets.
"The return of Zelaya absent an agreement is irresponsible and foolish ... He should cease and desist from making wild allegations and from acting as though he were starring in an old movie," Anselm said.
Anselem urged the de facto government to handle security with "restraint and caution" and called on Zelaya to "exercise leadership" and urge his supporters to express their views peacefully.
He said the United States had urged Zelaya on several occasions not to return to Honduras before a political settlement was achieved because of the potential for unrest.
"Having chosen, with outside help, to return on his own terms, President Zelaya and those who have facilitated his return, bear particular responsibility for the actions of his supporters," the U.S. official said.
Anselem said the U.S. government will continue to urge both sides to quickly reach agreement under the San Jose accord proposed by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, which calls for Zelaya to return to office to finish his term ending in January.
While President Barack Obama has condemned the coup that toppled Zelaya and has cut off some aid to Honduras, conservatives criticize him for helping an ally of Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The United States blasted ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya for his "irresponsible and foolish" return from exile before a settlement was reached in the Central American country's political crisis. they had time to bury their own bungling and make their problem disappear from view.
#2
This is two days after the WaPost basically recommended the administration walk back from the pro Zelaya position (the NYTimes, AP, Reuters, CBS is still in the tank for Zelaya).
Thanks WaPost
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/29/2009 12:43 Comments ||
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Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will visit Korea on Oct. 9, according to diplomatic sources. Korean and Japanese diplomats said they are in the final stages of negotiating Hatoyama's visit. He is expected to visit Korea on Oct. 9 before going to Beijing for the three-way Korea-Japan-China summit the next day.
It will be Hatoyama's first proper summit visit to a foreign country since his inauguration on Sept. 16, excluding multilateral summits abroad. The Yomiuri Shimbun said the plan reflects how important Hatoyama considers Korea to be. Hatoyama also came to Korea and met President Lee Myung-bak immediately after he became the leader of his party at the end of May.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/29/2009 00:00 ||
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Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Free Democrats (FDP) are both hostile to the accession of the overwhelmingly Muslim country of 71 million.
The CDU is against the Turks joining for cultural reasons while the FDP leader, and probable new foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle has said the country's economy is too far below European standards to integrate comfortably with other members. With almost three million ethnic Turks living in Germany, many as citizens, Germany also fears there would be a flood of immigrants after Turkish accession.
Chancellor Angela Merkell has warned her Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call that Germany foreign policy was under review. An EU meeting to review the Turkish role in the unification of Cyprus in December will represent the first test of the policy.
The Turkish reaction to the German election result has been open dismay. The country's liberal broadsheet Milliyet summed up the mood in Ankara's political circles. It said: "Turkey is the loser".
The mass-market Aksam told Turks to be braced for a change in approach from Europe's biggest country. It said: "We should expect Merkel to sharpen her opposition to Turkey's membership."
The German chancellor shifted the country's stance at the outset of her first government in 2005 to a more sceptical position and has said she would prefer if Turkey was offered a "privileged position" not membership. But the Social Democrats, her previous coalition partners, blocked any move to join the other big continental powers in rejecting Turkey.
Turkey applied to join the forerunner of the EU as early as 1958 but bureaucratic hurdles have always kept it out.
Nicholas Sarkozy, the French president, has already moved to torpedo Turkish accession to the bloc by stopping ratification efforts in five key areas.
Brussels has imposed penalties on Turkey over its ban on flights and ships originating in the Greek-controlled part of Cyprus. Turkey's military still has an estimated 35,000 personnel in Cyprus, more than 30 years after it sent an expeditionary force to protect the Turkish population of the island. Cyprus became an EU member at the end of 2007 just after a reunification agreement collapsed and Brussels has since been embroiled in torturous negotiations to resolve the divide.
Huseyin Ozgurgan, the foreign minister of northern Cyprus, has complained that the EU is a "negative player" in the reunification negotiations.
The U.S. Air Force has issued its new request for proposals for a tanker to replace the aging Boeing 707-based fleet, and government officials are promising a much more objective process this time around.
The two expected contenders for the contract are The Boeing Co. and a consortium of Northrop Grumman Corp. and EADS, the maker of Airbus aircraft. Evendale-based GE Aviation would play a major part in the project if Northrup Grumman wins the bid. Boeing and Northrop have operations in the Dayton region that support Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The consortium won the contract in 2008, but that win was canceled after protests from Boeing and political leaders about irregularities. Earlier, Boeing won the contract in 2004, but that win was canceled after it was revealed that Boeing's former chief financial officer had hired the former Air Force official who had helped negotiate the deal.
In comments Thursday, Defense Secretary William Lynn said the new competition will be much more precise than the last one. "This time we will be crystal clear about what we want and what the bidders need to do to win," he said, adding that the Air Force will be looking at other factors beyond just acquisition price. These will include "life cycle" costs, or how much it will cost to maintain and operate the aircraft throughout its lifetime.
The winner for the new proposal -- for 179 tankers worth about $35 billion -- is to be chosen according to 373 "mandatory requirements," according to Air Force briefings. Another 93 "value-added capabilities" also will be weighed, with points assigned to them.
Chicago-based Boeing released a short statement after receiving the request for proposals Friday, opening the possibility that Boeing might offer an option based on its 767 or 777 jetliners. The 767 is smaller than the Airbus A330, the likely EADS option, while the 777 is larger. All three wide-body aircraft are similar in configuration, with twin jets mounted under the wings.
The new tanker aircraft are to enter service in 2017, replacing an aging fleet of 707-based tankers that has become increasingly expensive to maintain.
The first of these KC-135 tankers was delivered in 1957, and the last in 1965. Keeping these aircraft safely aloft has become increasingly difficult as many of the aircraft are suffering from metal fatigue and corrosion requiring increasingly expensive maintenance. A recent article in Aviation Week and Space Technology estimated that the Air Force is spending about $2 billion a year to maintain the current fleet, which could climb to $6 billion a year by 2018 or 2020.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Zero doesn't want tankers. He wants zero tankers. See, if we buy tankers then that's less money for ACORN. Too bad that tankers fall out of the sky.
#2
I dislike Zero intently, but I'd like to point out that the Bush administration spent two whole terms never-quite-getting-to-the-point-of-actually-buying tankers.
#3
TFSM, thank Darlene Druyon and the culture of corruption at Boeing for that debacle. Darlene killed it the first time and the massive outcry from Dem politicians killed the second attempt because the award was not in their districts.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/29/2009 17:44 Comments ||
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#2
Looks like somebody has too much budget. Especially when the Navy can't afford to build ships. I fear the Navy will be utterly unprepared for the next war.
I'm not sure I agree that this project suggests the Navy has too much budget. (They may or may not, but I wouldn't base the assessment on this center.)
SPAWAR's Systems Center is tasked with developing this sort of concept demonstration prototype so that warfighters can evaluate potential R&D investments towards new systems.
This prototype addresses an existing JCS mandate that the services form a Common Operational Picture which merges sensor, intel, and other information into displays and analyses available to all the commanders in a theater. The COP is intended to be updated in real-time, to allow drill down for lower unit commanders and to form the basis for multiservice operational coordination. That's a tough, complex capability to provide. In addition to basic technical challenges in e.g. data fusion and analysis, there are questions regarding human information absorbtion, interaction with intelligent software agents and team dynamics when these new capabilities are available. A prototype center like this allows some of those questions to be addressed at low cost before larger dollars are invested in detailed development and deployment.
#5
IIRC WAFF > THE US APPROACHES ITS DEBT CEILING - AGAIN. Congress keeps raising the mandated ceilings, now as high as US$13.2TRILYUHN VERSUS APPROXI US$14.0 TRILYUHN OFFICIAL NET GDP.
IOW, the US will only have US$1.0TRILYUHN-OR-JUST-UNDER in positive net revenue to spend on anything [read, NEW BONDS = CHINA]???
#1
8.3 Quake, Tsunami alert issued for (are you ready)
The tsunami warning also covers New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, while Hawaii, where the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre is based, is on tsunami watch.
The tsunami warning also covered Niue Island, the Wallis and Futuna Islands, the Tokelau atolls, the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Kermadec Islands, the Baker and Howland Islands, Jarvis Island, French Polynesia and the Palmyra Islands.
A tsunami watch was issued for Vanuatu, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Kosrae Island, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, Pohnpei in Micronesia, the Wake Islands, Pitcairn and the Midway Islands.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/29/2009 20:46 Comments ||
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#5
Thus far here on Guam, besides the usual EM skybursts oer Hagatna Bay + now Southern Guam, there was nuthin except a very brief rumbling noise, seeming to escalate then suddenly stop. BARELY FELT ANY SHAKES = TREMORS - IMO the EM skybursts + escalating rumbling was more significant than any ground motions.
I will add, though, that I was times feeling dizzy prior to the quake, i.e. losing my normal balance andor momentum.
#6
they've ordered a watch here in SoCal for 8"-25". Pray for us (/sarc). Rather, pray for our Samoan bruthas et al!
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/29/2009 21:12 Comments ||
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#7
ION C2CAM > SUPERTYPHOONS TO STRIKE JAPAN DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING [late 21st century = Year 2074 + beyond. STORMS TO BE SMALLER BUT PACK MORE ENERGY due to PACIFIC OCEAN becoming TWO DEGREES CELSIUS = 3.6F WARMER by 2080???
Lest we fergit, 1990's NET > TYPHOONS TO BE MORE AKIN TO [multiple?]TORNADOES AT SEA = SPOUT-ZILLAS.
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.
