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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Oscar Pistorius convicted of murder as appeals court overturns earlier conviction
[CNN] Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of the murder of Reeva Steenkamp after South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the previous conviction of culpable homicide.

Judge Eric Leach ruled Thursday that the Paralympic gold medalist should have foreseen that his firing of a gun would have killed whoever was behind the door in his bathroom, regardless of whether he thought it was Steenkamp or an intruder.

State prosecutors appealed the verdict of culpable homicide, seeking a conviction on more severe charges.
Posted by: Fred || 12/04/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmm. How rational. How American (see: Churchill), having done the right thing after all other avenues have been exhausted (see: OJ).

Oxcart Pissoir needs to do serious time.
Posted by: JHH || 12/04/2015 16:31 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Report: The World Will Run out of Breathable Air Unless Carbon Is Cut
Where's that Krusty screaming image when you need it?
Nothing lasts forever.
[Yahoo] As representatives from 195 nations gather in Paris to hammer out a global agreement to slash greenhouse gas emissions, a new study finds that the failure to do so could leave the world gasping for breath.

Marine plants such as phytoplankton are estimated to produce more than half the Earth's atmospheric oxygen, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For the study, Sergei Petrovskii, an applied mathematics professor at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, calculated how unrestrained global warming could affect phytoplankton and thus the ocean's ability to generate breathable air. He ran computer models that looked at what would happen to phytoplankton's ability to photosynthesize at different temperatures.

If the world's oceans warmed by 6 degrees Celsius--a realistic possibility if global emissions continue unabated--the tiny plants would halt oxygen production, according to the study, which was published Tuesday in the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology.

By 2100, the earth at sea level could have atmospheric oxygen levels comparable to the top of Mount Everest today. "And as far as I know, people cannot normally stay on Everest without oxygen masks for more than a few minutes," Petrovskii said.

The threat has been "mostly overlooked" by climate scientists, Petrovskii said, noting that such a global disaster would come with little notice.

"A distinct feature of this catastrophe is that there will be few warning signs and little change before it is too late," he said. That's because phytoplankton can continue to produce oxygen and photosynthesize at levels below 6 degrees of temperature rise.

"Under a 2-degree increase, we will probably see no change; the 4-degree increase would already be dangerously close," Petrovskii said, adding that more research is needed to determine what increase in global temperatures would halt phytoplankton's ability to photosynthesize.
More research is needed. To be done by him. With a large, five year, unrestricted grant from NOAA and NSF...
Posted by: gorb || 12/04/2015 04:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Affirmative action + collegiality = "scientists" with zero ability and zero intellectual integrity.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/04/2015 4:29 Comments || Top||

#2  What a buffoon.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 12/04/2015 7:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Onion News Network?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/04/2015 8:18 Comments || Top||

#4  The threat has been "mostly overlooked" by climate scientists

You mean the alarmists hadn't thought this stuff up yet?
Posted by: jvalentour || 12/04/2015 8:28 Comments || Top||

#5  If there hasn't been a justification before to eliminate the oxygen sucking political ruling caste before, they give you one now. Do it for the children!
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/04/2015 9:11 Comments || Top||

#6  The dinosaurs didn't breathe obviously.
Posted by: European Conservative || 12/04/2015 11:43 Comments || Top||

#7  Details, EC. Don't bother use with details.
Posted by: Mulla Richard || 12/04/2015 11:47 Comments || Top||

#8  We'e all fallen victim to the assertions and studies made by anonymous people. No one questions the sources or motives, we are all guilty of just nodding our heads and saying "that sounds right."
Lemmings.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/04/2015 12:13 Comments || Top||

#9  Just cancel all the conferences. That'll prevent a lot of hot air getting into the atmosphere.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 12/04/2015 12:15 Comments || Top||

#10  Ebbang Uluque6305 and take the elite left's carbon emitting private jets and SUVs? (leave the other's SUVs and jets)
Posted by: 3dc || 12/04/2015 12:24 Comments || Top||

#11  I think they must have overlooked the fact that with that much CO2, the plants would be growing so fast, and putting out so much O2, there'd be no room left for people. Maybe Petrovskii can do that up for his next "study".
Posted by: Bobby || 12/04/2015 13:25 Comments || Top||

#12  Doesn't fit the narrative Bobby.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/04/2015 13:29 Comments || Top||

#13  We will run out of air if we don't cut air?

Insipid
Posted by: newc || 12/04/2015 13:41 Comments || Top||

#14  Bullshit alert, we are NOT "Running out of air', trees make air (Oxygen) and we're not short of trees.

Oceans make air, we're short on oceans?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/04/2015 13:49 Comments || Top||

#15  Someone needs to inform the phytoplankton about this because they seem to be doing rather well: Plankton Are Multiplying Like Crazy Due to Warming

Interesting that they mention coccoliths which are known for their intricate shells make of calcium CARBONate. Along with Inspector Renault, I am shocked to learn that plants are thriving a in warm environment rich in CO2.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/04/2015 13:58 Comments || Top||

#16  Even if the 1 degree in a hundred years screws with the plankton I suspect planketon will start appearing farther from the tropics where the water is suddenly the right temperature and where the seeds couldn't find root before.

This guys a scaremongering idiot.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 12/04/2015 15:06 Comments || Top||

#17  Um... considering that 75% of the oxygen is produced by plankton in the oceans... and they thrive on CO2... I think the reasoning should be there will be more oxygen.

Can I just shoot this idiot now please?
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/04/2015 17:07 Comments || Top||

#18  The releaseof this "report" at the same time as the hot air conference... Surely a mere coincidence. I mean they wouldnt be wanting media to report dire warnings (tm) to push their agenda? No - unimaginable! Only liars and cheats would do that....
Posted by: Anon1 || 12/04/2015 21:02 Comments || Top||

#19  The Carboniferous Period had 32.5% O2 and 800 ppm of CO2. When lightning started fires they really burned.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/04/2015 23:46 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Lahore High Court: Petitioner asks British queen to return Koh-i-Noor diamond
[DAWN] LAHORE: An attorney on Thursday announced that he has filed a petition with the Lahore High Court seeking the return of the famed Koh-i-Noor diamond which Britain forced India to hand over in colonial times.

Once the largest known diamond in the world, the 105-carat Koh-i-Noor is one of the Crown Jewels. It is set in a crown last worn by the late mother of Queen Elizabeth II during her coronation.

Attorney Jawaid Iqbal Jafree filed the court petition naming Queen Elizabeth II as a respondent. The application asks that Britain hand back the diamond, now on display in the Tower of London.

India also has made regular requests for the jewel's return, saying the diamond is an integral part of the country's history and culture.
Get a chisel and a hammer. I think I can solve this problem...
Britain's then colonial governor-general of India arranged for the huge diamond to be presented to Queen Victoria in 1850, during British colonial rule.

Jafree said that the Koh-i-Noor rightly belonged to Punjab province and was “forcibly and under duress” taken by the British from the local ruler at the time. “Now it should be returned to Pakistan,” he said.

“Her Majesty the Queen will rise in the highest public interest with facilitating honest disposal and transferring the possession of the Koh-i-Noor diamond which was illegally taken,” Jafree said in his petition, which the court has not yet admitted for hearing.

“Koh-i-Noor was not legitimately acquired. Grabbing and snatching it was a private, illegal act which is justified by no law.”

If Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William, who is second in line to the throne, eventually becomes queen consort, she will don the crown holding the diamond on official occasions.

In the last half century, Jafree has written over 786 letters to Queen Elizabeth and various Pakistani officials asking for the diamond's return. His latest high court petition notes that his letters have never been acknowledged, except once by Queen Elizabeth through her principal private secretary.
Did they ever return the Elgin marbles to Greece or the Obelisk to Egypt? Perhaps the motto of Britain should be "What's mine I hold fast."
Posted by: Fred || 12/04/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Government
Surprise, surprise
[TheAmericanInterest] In international comparisons of electoral integrity, the United States does not score high—but most Americans appear to neither know nor care about it.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/04/2015 06:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  All of the movement away from simple paper ballots was mostly a move to hide ballot theft.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 12/04/2015 13:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Or so tv networks could give an instant result.
Posted by: Grunter || 12/04/2015 18:24 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Entire Police Force of SC Town resigns.
The entire small police force of North, South Carolina, including police chief Mark Fallaw, has resigned, prompted by the city's new mayor issuing a gag order for the department.

Fallaw, along with fellow officer Anthony Blanchard, submitted his resignation on November 17, giving two weeks notice. Fallaw, who served on the force for 14 years, asserted that Mayor Patty Carson told the department all requests from media would have to be handled by her; she wanted to monitor the department's incoming and outgoing emails, and she demanded that members of the department give her two weeks notice before they made any public appearances. He also claimed she wanted him to write three times as many tickets and would only permit him to buy gas or tires with her approval.
And you should have seen the form we had to fill out to take a piss! Three pages - in triplicate!
Fallaw told WLTX 19, "For her to be directing procedures that were contrary to national standards, that was going to cause a problem. So I just said it was best for me probably to step down."

One officer left just before Carson's election, and another regular officer and a reserve officer followed Fallaw when he left. Two other officers resigned earlier in 2015, finding jobs at other agencies.

The county's law enforcement has had to step up and substitute for the police;

When contacted by WLTX 19, Carson refused to comment, arguing that personnel issues should not be discussed publicly.

He noted that replacing the officers may be difficult, because similar jobs in other towns offer more pay.
Not to mention not having a micromanaging mayor...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/04/2015 00:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wonder why she bothered. Could it be that the cops were abusing the city credit cards? Writing practically no tickets? Got to be another side if the mayor wanted to take on those additional problems.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 12/04/2015 8:20 Comments || Top||

#2  It gets better:

Fallaw admits he and Carson have “history.” It started after she was first elected to council in 2010. She wanted to see the cellphone records for the police, but not other departments, Fallaw said. When she insisted under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, Fallaw said he told her it would cost an estimated $700 for him to go through the records and weed out the numbers of confidential informants, victims and others. She no longer sought the information.

“Some of this seems a little vindictive if I had to guess,” he said.

For instance, he resigned on a Tuesday, Nov. 17. She had him clean out his office by the next Friday, not waiting until he left, Fallaw said.

“She also kicked the sergeant out of his office. She now occupies that office,” Fallaw said.

Also, she is holding the officers’ last checks to ensure nothing was compromised, even though she signed receipts saying all the town’s property was returned by the officers, Fallaw said.

But he notes the people of North voted for Carson over the other candidates.

“They elected Ms. Carson, and we can’t deny that,” he said.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/04/2015 8:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Having to presumably get each tank of gas pre-approved seems more like micro-management to me.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/04/2015 9:26 Comments || Top||

#4  And you should have seen the form we had to fill out to take a piss! Three pages - in triplicate!

I'd have signed it once, highlighted, John Spartan style, basically what the department did.

Better yet, make her change the tires, for her own confirmation of course.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/04/2015 10:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Does Ms. Carson, by any chance, have a "D" after her name?
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/04/2015 12:08 Comments || Top||

#6  But the department can buy lubricating oil without any red tape. I think........
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/04/2015 12:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Also, she is holding the officers’ last checks

Lawyer up!
Posted by: gorb || 12/04/2015 22:05 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
54[untagged]
7Govt of Pakistan
5Islamic State
2Haqqani Network
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1al-Shabaab
1Taliban
1Govt of Syria
1Commies

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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2015-12-04
  They're here
Thu 2015-12-03
  Syed Farook is religious, sez Dad
Wed 2015-12-02
  Dozens of Houthis killed in major offensive across border from Yemen
Tue 2015-12-01
  Russia Arms Su-34s with Air-to-Air Missiles in Syria for First Time
Mon 2015-11-30
  Suspected Jihadists Attack Cash Truck in Burkina Faso
Sun 2015-11-29
  Pakistan Airstrikes Kill 17 Militants
Sat 2015-11-28
  ISIS top dawg dies in Tal Afar
Fri 2015-11-27
  Top Pakistani extremist killed in 'shoot-out' with police
Thu 2015-11-26
  Drone strike kills Taliban shadow district governor in Nangarhar
Wed 2015-11-25
  One Russian pilot killed, other returned to Russia airbase in Syria
Tue 2015-11-24
  Tensions rise after Turkey shoots down Russian jet, says it will take the issue to the UN, NATO
Mon 2015-11-23
  Chinese police use a flamethrower on 'Muslim terror suspects'
Sun 2015-11-22
  Abu Sayyaf leader killed in Tawi-Tawi clash
Sat 2015-11-21
  Mali hotel attack: 27 dead with no more hostages
Fri 2015-11-20
  Gunmen take 170 hostages in Radisson Blu hotel in Mali capital

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