[FOXNEWS] A judge in Baltimore Monday found a police officer not guilty on all charges against him in connection with the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.
Officer Edward Nero faced second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment charges. Prosecutors said the 30-year-old unlawfully locked away Book 'im, Mahmoud! Gray without probable cause and was negligent when he didn't buckle the prisoner into a seat belt.
Nero opted for a bench trial rather than a jury trial. Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams handed down the verdicts. Officer William Porter's manslaughter trial ended with a hung jury.
Gray died April 19, 2015, a week after his neck was broken in the back of a police transport van while he was handcuffed and shackled but left unrestrained by a seat belt.
His death set off more than a week of protests followed by looting, rioting and arson that prompted a citywide curfew. His name became a rallying cry in the growing national conversation about the treatment of black men by coppers.
Shortly after Gray's death, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby charged six officers. Three of them are black; Nero and two others are white.
Nero's attorney argued his client didn't arrest Gray and that it was the police van driver's responsibility to buckle in detainees. The defense argued that the officers who responded that day acted responsibly, and called witnesses to bolster their argument that any reasonable officer in Nero's position would have made the same decisions.
The defense also sought to convince the judge that the department's order requiring that all inmates be strapped in was more suggestion than rule because officers were expected to act with discretion based on the circumstances of each situation.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/23/2016 11:49 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
The HuffaguffasnuffalusHuffington Post has hired former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, the site announced on Sunday.
Fields will be on the political team covering presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, an interesting position for Fields considering her history with the campaign.
In March, Fields, who was then working for Breitbart, accused Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski of forcefully grabbing her out of the way after she tried to ask Trump a question during an event in Florida. When the campaign initially denied the event took place and called Fields "delusional", Fields filed a police report which led to battery charges against Lewandowski, though a Florida prosecutor decided in April not to prosecute. Fields, and at least six other staffers, left Breitbart shortly after the incident, saying the website failed to adequately support her at the time.
At Breitbart, Fields was the Ted Cruz campaign reporter, and was at the Trump event in March to cover for a colleague who was sick. At The Huffington Post though, she'll be on the Trump trail full time.
Though the site does not shy away from taking a stand on Trump (each story mentioning the candidate comes with a tag that he is a "liar," "xenophobe," "birther" and "racist"), assigning a reporter with such a direct personal history with a candidate is an unusual move.
"I'd say that we all have our biases, whether we admit it or not, but as always the work should stand for itself," Huffington Post's Washington bureau chief Ryan Grim said in an email, adding that he's "very excited" for Fields to get started.
"After the tumultuous events of the last few months, I am ready to get back to writing and reporting on what is without question the most bizarrely fascinating presidential race of my lifetime (and, perhaps, any lifetime)," Fields said in a statement.
[DailyMail] Melbourne university lecturer, 34, died of altitude sickness on Mount Everest after taking on the climb with her husband to prove 'vegans can do anything'
#6
As a vegan she couldn't let the 'I did this to prove Vegans aren't weak' rhetoric wait until after she'd returned from the summit and actually proved it. Now non-vegans have ammo. Foolish girl.
[Allen West Web Site] As you're reading this today, my wife Angela and I have probably just landed in Louisville, Kentucky for the NRA Annual meeting. This will be my first NRA gathering and I am a proud Life and Endowment Member of the National Rifle Association.
But on this day I am honored to say I have been elected for a three-year term to the NRA Board of Directors. I want to thank all of you out there who submitted my name by petition to be on the ballot and considered for this esteemed position.
Ya know, ain’t America just doggone grand? Here’s a young fella from Buttermilk Bottom, Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward, who will now be seated as a board member for the organization that protects our cherished, individual, unalienable right to bear arms.
You may ask why is this important to me. Well, it’s simple: because an unarmed American is a subject, but an armed American is a citizen. There’s a huge difference and I express that sentiment based on the assertions of our Founding Fathers.
[THEGUARDIAN] The Villa Poligono housing project, near the city of San Félix, in Venezuela’s south-eastern Bolívar state, is somewhere President Maduro might once have felt his popularity was secure.
His smiling, moustached image features prominently on a vast poster at the entrance to the complex of bungalows. Poligono is part of the socialist government’s Gran Misión Vivienda, the great housing mission designed to provide rent-free homes to those most in need, under the slogan "decent homes for the people".
But for the past few weeks few of its residents have been at home. Instead they can be found on the road outside, mounting a noisy protest. "We’ve had enough’, says Anna Karena, 44. "This has to end."
She has multiple grievances. Shockingly, none of the breezeblock homes in the entire complex has ever had running water. When the residents were given their keys in 2014, they were told that the plumbing would soon be connected. It never was. More recently, electricity blackouts, lasting four hours at a time, have become routine, as a combination of drought and inefficiency has left the nation without enough generating capacity.
But what seems to have persuaded her and her neighbours to protest openly is the extreme scarcity of basics, such as rice, soap and medicines. Unable to afford the exorbitant prices of the rampant black market, Karena has to queue for hours, sometimes from before dawn, just to buy enough to eat.
Hers are the same allegations of government incompetence and corruption that are echoing across this nation. A crash in the global price of oil, by far Venezuela’s most significant export, has unmasked both its dysfunctional economy and a calamitous lack of foresight on the part of its leaders. It is grappling with the world’s deepest recession, the world’s highest inflation (estimated at around 500%), and the world’s second highest murder rate. It has no sovereign wealth fund and is facing the serious risk of default by November.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/23/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Beijing warned Taiwan's newly inaugurated leader against seeking independence Friday, saying peace would be "impossible" if the new government attempted to move away from the mainland.
"If 'independence' is pursued, it will be impossible to have peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits," the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) said in a statement hours after Tsai was sworn in.
"Independence is the greatest disaster for the peaceful development of peace in the Taiwan straits and the peaceful development of cross-straits relations," it said.
Tsai is the head of the Democratic Progressive Party, which has in the past advocated for Taiwan to separate from the mainland, a goal that Beijing has firmly and consistently rejected.
China and Taiwan split in 1949 after the Kuomintang nationalist forces lost a civil war to the Communists. But Beijing has always seen the island as a renegade province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
The TAO statement referred to Tsai as "the new leader of the Taiwan administration", without naming her.
Her campaign emphasized the island's unique identity, and in her speech she promised to raise its profile in the international community, an idea that has long met with stiff resistance from Beijing, which has spent immense political and financial capital opposing such efforts, whittling away the number of countries that recognize Taipei diplomatically.
Addressing the issue, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that while Beijing has no objection to "unofficial trade relations", it is "opposed to other countries signing official agreements with Taiwan".
Posted by: Fred ||
05/23/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11130 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
[News Asia] Delivery of the Boeing planes is expected to run from 2019 until 2023, when VietJet will have a fleet of more than 200 planes of both Boeing and Airbus to accommodate its expansion plan.
HANOI: Vietnam's VietJet agreed a firm order of 100 Boeing F-35 737 MAX 200 airplanes worth US$11.3 billion at list prices on Monday (May 23), making it one of the region's fastest growing low-cost carriers.
Delivery of the Boeing planes is expected to run from 2019 until 2023, when VietJet will have a fleet of more than 200 planes of both Boeing and Airbus to accommodate its expansion plan, the carrier said in a statement.
In a statement, VietJet said the deal was "the largest ever single commercial airplane purchase in Vietnam aviation", and was penned in front of the Vietnamese and American presidents. United States President Barack Obama is on a three-day trip to the communist nation.
The airline also signed a US$3.04 billion deal for engines made by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies, for the 30 Airbus A321 planes that it ordered in November 2015.
#2
I'll assume there will be a formerly restricted technology transfer of maintenance devices to include the avionics and sensor code libraries.
Flight deck and flight controls[edit]
Boeing plans no major modifications for the 737 Max flight deck, as it wants to maintain commonality with the 737 Next Generation family. The 737 Max will, however, feature four new large-format display screens supplied by Rockwell Collins. These are 15.1-inch (380 mm) landscape LCD displays, in use on the 787 Dreamliner, that will increase pilots' situational awareness and efficiency. Boeing also plans to add more fly-by-wire control systems to the 737 MAX family, although Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh said that changes would be "very minimal." Boeing has confirmed that fly-by-wire controls will be added to the spoilers.[40][41]
[NATION.PK] Ali Imran, son-in-law of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is involved in embezzlement of Rs 230 million of Punjab Energy Department (PED), former Chief Finance Officer of PED Ikram Naveed told a magistrate through his counsel.
As hearing commenced, the officials of Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment produced former Chief Finance Officer of Punjab Energy Department Ikram Naveed before Judicial Magistrate Ashraf Gondal. Accused Ikram Naveed through his counsel Advocate Mushtaq Mohl told the judge that Mr. Ali Imran, son-in-law of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was involved in misappropriation of Rs 230 million of Punjab Energy Department. He said but no one could dare to nominate him in the FIRs registered by the ACE.
He said Rs 120 million were directly deposited into the account of Mr. Imran. The counsel of the accused said that his client had paid back Rs. 3.5 million while the rest of the money was invested by the son in law of Mr. Shahbaz Sharif. He said he was behind all this misappropriation but he was not nominated in any of two FIRs registered in this regard. The counsel stated that previously he was remanded twice to Anti-Corruption Officials but the allegations failed to prove and now again the officials had come to get his remand for third time. It was unjustified because earlier they could not prove anything while the amount on his part had been paid back, said Mr. Mohl. He requested the court to allow his bail.
However, the officials of Anti-Corruption Establishment said that the accused invested money in different plazas and purchased flats in Lahore and Islamabad. They denied involvement of Ali Imran, son-in-law of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. But when the accused’s counsel questioned that how could they deny deposit of Rs 120 million directly into the account of Mr. Ali Imran, the officials said that it was the part of their record. The officials opposed his bail saying that he was still required in investigation as huge amount of public money was embezzled from the Energy Department where he was Chief Finance Officer.
After hearing both sides, Judicial Magistrate Ashraf Gondal remanded Mr. Ikram Naveed into the custody of the ACE officials for three days.
Anti-Corruption Establishment arrested four senior officials of Punjab Energy Department including Chief Executive Officer Syed Farrukh Ali Shah, Deputy Secretary PED Shakeel Ahmad, Chief Finance Officer Ikram Naveed and GM PED Ihsanul Majeed when it was revealed that Rs 230 million had been embezzled. ACE registered two FIRs: 14/2016 and 29/2016 in which all above four officials were nominated.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/23/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Al Ahram] After years of suspended talks, Pope Francis will receive at the Vatican on Monday Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, the grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning.
The historic visit between the two religious leaders, which is considered unprecedented, comes after serious tensions between the two institutions during the time of Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.
The now-retired Benedict made a September 2006 speech in which he was perceived to have linked Islam to violence, sparking deadly protests in several countries and retaliatory attacks on Christians.
Since Pope Francis was elected in 2013, relations have steadily improved.
El-Tayeb will have an audience with the religious leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
"This audience is being prepared and has been scheduled for Monday," he said. "It will be a first."
A statement by Al-Azhar read that El-Tayeb's meeting with Francis will focus on coordination of efforts between Al-Azhar and the Vatican on spreading the culture of dialogue, coexistence and peace between peoples and societies.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/23/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
The GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) is a U.S. Air Force, precision-guided, 30,000-pound (14,000 kg) "bunker buster" bomb. This is substantially larger than the deepest penetrating bunker busters previously available, the 5,000-pound (2,300 kg) GBU-28 and GBU-37.
In 2012, the Pentagon requested $82 million to develop greater penetration power for the existing weapon. A 2013 report stated that the development had been a success, and B-2 integration testing began that year.
The bomb can penetrate 200 feet of 5000 psi hardened concrete and is accurate enough for multiple hits on the same location to penetrate deeper targets or targets with even stronger concrete. One GBUJ-57A/B can only penetrate 8 meters of 10,000 psi rock or concrete. This could drop to 2 meters of 30,000 psi material.
Rock of over 10,000 psi is considered hard. The strongest granite is about 30,000 psi. In 2007, the University of Tehran made several concrete cubes between 50,000 to 60,000 psi, and possible stronger. The aggregate to be made from quartz, and had some steel fibers in the mix.
High-strength concrete has a compressive strength greater than 40 MPa (5800 psi).
#3
At some point the shock alone is enough, and penetration isn't necessary. Then there's spalling...
Plus, you just need to seal the doors.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/23/2016 7:38 Comments ||
Top||
#4
In 2007, the University of Tehran made several concrete cubes between 50,000 to 60,000 psi
The French were trying to sell that stuff in the U.S. in 1995. Maybe they sold some to the Mad Mullahs, who just took 12 years to mix it up and test it.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/23/2016 8:20 Comments ||
Top||
#5
making a test cube - a lot easier than a large batch plant with Insh'allah QC
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/23/2016 11:26 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Easy enough, I suppose, to use lesser munitions on ingress, egress and ventilation portals to similar affect.
[AP] HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday lifted a decades-old arms export embargo for Vietnam during his first visit to the communist country, looking to bolster a government seen as a crucial, though flawed partner even as he pushes for better human rights from the one-party state.
Obama announced the full removal of the embargo at a news conference, saying the move was intended to step toward normalizing relations with the former war enemy and to eliminate a "lingering vestige of the Cold War."
"At this stage both sides have developed a level of trust and cooperation," Obama said, adding that he expected deepening cooperation between the two nation's militaries.
Obama is seeking to strike this balance with Vietnam amid Chinese efforts to strengthen claims to disputed territory in the South China Sea, one of the world's most important waterways.
Lifting the arms embargo will be a psychological boost for Vietnam's leaders as they look to counter an increasingly aggressive China, but there may not be a big jump in sales. Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang thanked Obama for lifting the embargo.
President Obama arrived in the steamy capital of Vietnam ahead of schedule on Sunday night to begin three days of meetings in hopes of luring yet another Southeast Asian country away from China’s tight embrace. He was greeted on the tarmac by a young woman in a long yellow dress who handed him a bouquet of flowers. Several second-tier Vietnamese officials shook the president’s hand before he climbed into his limousine for a quick trip to his hotel after nearly 24 hours of travel. Quiet clusters of people on the dark streets watched his motorcade pass. Except for the small groups, the streets seemed to have been completely cleared.
Since Air Force One had been scheduled to land after midnight, or about three hours later, the official arrival ceremony with high officials in attendance was postponed until Monday morning. Maybe then Mr. Obama will see the kind of emotional outpouring that greeted President Bill Clinton in 2000, when he became the first United States president to visit the country since the Vietnam War. But it is possible that relations between the two countries have reached a stage that the arrival of an American head of state no longer seems so unusual.
Mr. Obama will meet with the country’s newly installed prime minister and president on Monday, then get together with the country’s real power — Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the Communist Party.
Mr. Obama’s visit is an important step in a complex dance that Vietnam has carried on with China for centuries. The population here is deeply nationalistic and anti-Chinese sentiment is visceral. The American War, as it is known here, is mostly forgotten, particularly since half of the population is under 30.
Vietnam relies on China for trade, investment and even the water that feeds the vast Mekong Delta, so the leadership knows it can poke the dragon only so much. But in 2014, China placed a giant deep-sea drilling rig to explore for oil and gas right off the Vietnamese coast, and Mr. Trong could not even get his telephone calls to Beijing returned.
Since then, Vietnam has stepped up its contacts with the United States. Neither the United States nor Vietnam is ready for a formal alliance, but Vietnam may grant American warships access to its ports, and Washington seems certain at least to widen exceptions to its longtime arms embargo and may end it altogether.
Human rights remain a barrier to closer ties. While the country does have elections — polling places were packed Sunday for a parliamentary election — candidates must be approved by the Communist Party.
Mr. Obama plans to meet with some dissidents and civil society leaders on Tuesday before making a speech.
American help in reforming Vietnam’s economy is also high on the agenda for leaders of both countries.
#1
Yes, we told him to go. When he's out of the country his 'negatives' recede, then of course there's the 100 Boeing 737 MAX 200 sale, but who better to stir up shi* in Asia?
#3
News From The Front - very interesting that POTUS led with the announcement and the Boeing deal. In my experience they build up a little and make announcements on the last day (tomorrow in this case). I think the admin wanted to show the ChiComms straight away he means bidness. All of this was of course worked out back channel w/Charlie long ago. These trips are soooo scripted. Literally down to the color of the table cloths and the floral arraignments. Optics are good for the admin on this one vis a vis the ChiComms/re re pivot. Standby for flowery media play from the usual suspects. The term "rock star" was already used. Nostradamus sez look for Charlie to quietly release some low/mid-level dissidents in a few months as to not connect it to the visit/deal.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
05/23/2016 8:56 Comments ||
Top||
#4
He had to do it before he left office. Couldn't leave that one on the table for Trump.
#5
very interesting that POTUS led with the announcement and the Boeing deal
Creating those jobs must have hurt him. He'll probably allow them to be manufactured in Vietnam or something equally stupid just to claw some of that back.
He was always going to be found not-guilty by an unbiased jury or judge. That's why they waited til Monday AM, instead of late Friday. Diminished riots
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/23/2016 11:52 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11135 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
I'm delighted, but the damage is already done. His life is ruined and the effect of prolonged litigation is not lost on anyone in law enforcement. The entitlement society lives by laws of the jungle. White man's law means nothing.
Convicted by the same regime that is all open borders with Mexico.
[FoxNews] In the Iraqi-American Christian community, he is revered as an activist who delivered thousands from persecution at the hands of Muslim extremists, but in the U.S. halls of justice, Robert DeKelaita is regarded as a criminal who helped clients lie to get asylum.
The 53-year-old, Iraq-born DeKelaita, who was convicted earlier this month of helping clients falsify asylum applications, faces up to 35 years in prison when he is sentenced in August. DeKelaita’s supporters insist he was targeted for speaking out about what they consider the federal government’s blind eye to Christian persecution in the Middle East.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/23/2016 12:54 Comments ||
Top||
#3
So basically, the Left installs a religious test for its refugee program, then calls Trump a Nazi for even suggesting that we might want to look into how we're letting in unvetted refugees from a known war zone that just happens to be overrun with islamist terrorists.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
05/23/2016 14:09 Comments ||
Top||
WARNING: This dude is butt ugly at the link.
The White House has appointed a transgender woman to serve on the President's Advisory Council on Faith-based Neighborhood Partnerships.
Barbara Satin is an Air Force veteran and currently serves as Assistant Faith Work Director for The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. She is a member of the United Church of Christ.
Satin served as the first openly transgender member of the UCC's executive council. She was involved in the UCC's 2003 decision to affirm the inclusion of transgender people in the full life and ministry of the United Church of Christ.
"Given the current political climate, I believe it's important that a voice of faith representing the transgender and gender non-conforming community -- as well as a person of my years, nearly 82 -- be present and heard in these vital conversations," Satin said of her appointment to the President's advisory council.
Satin, along with 10 other individuals were appointed to the council on May 12.
President Obama described Satin and the other appointees as "fine public servants" and would bring "depth of experience and tremendous dedication" to their roles.
The advisory council helps to make policy recommendations to the administration and suggests improvements and best practices for services that relate to faith-based groups. Of the 15 current members on the council, most are Christians.
Recently, the president defended his administration's decision to instruct public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, saying that society must protect the dignity and safety of vulnerable children. Projecting Hypocrisy
#3
I missed the comment #1 and went to the site to see how ugly a person of my years, nearly 82 could be.
The link took me to an article entitled - Going to Church Could Help You Live Longer.
Coincidence? I think not.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/23/2016 9:02 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The Breitbart article has more on B.S. the person:
When he was 54, Satin retired early and began to explore his âtransgender identity.â He adopted the name âBarbara Satinâ full-time, explaining, âBarbara was the name of the first girl that I felt attracted to, and Satin is the fabric of my life.â
Satin â who has never undergone medical and surgical treatments to become more like a woman â left the Catholic Church, choosing instead to join a congregation of mostly LGBT individuals in Minneapolis.
So he's just playing dress-up, but that's much less damaging than regretting irrevocable steps. And he does have three presumably lovely grandchildren.
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.
[FOXNEWS] A judge in Baltimore Monday found a police officer not guilty on all charges against him in connection with the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.
The GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) is a U.S. Air Force, precision-guided, 30,000-pound (14,000 kg) "bunker buster" bomb. This is substantially larger than the deepest penetrating bunker busters previously available, the 5,000-pound (2,300 kg) GBU-28 and GBU-37.
President Obama arrived in the steamy capital of Vietnam ahead of schedule on Sunday night to begin three days of meetings in hopes of luring yet another Southeast Asian country away from China’s tight embrace. He was greeted on the tarmac by a young woman in a long yellow dress who handed him a bouquet of flowers. Several second-tier Vietnamese officials shook the president’s hand before he climbed into his limousine for a quick trip to his hotel after nearly 24 hours of travel. Quiet clusters of people on the dark streets watched his motorcade pass. Except for the small groups, the streets seemed to have been completely cleared.
