Earlier this month, a Fresno man received what is believed to be the strongest sentence issued anywhere in the United States for firing a laser pointer at an aircraft--14 years in prison. His girlfriend was also convicted on similar charges, but she will not be sentenced until May 2014.
"To our knowledge, it is the largest sentence imposed in this type of case," Karen Escobar, the assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of California, told Ars.
The practice is on the rise: Feds recorded nearly 4,000 such incidents in 2013.
According to the criminal complaint, on a warm summer evening in late August 2012, Sergio Rodriguez took his green laser pointer and fired it at a passing helicopter from outside of his apartment. His apartment complex sat just about a half mile north of the west end of the Fresno Yosemite International Airport in one of the Central Valley's largest cities.
Unknowingly, the then-24-year-old struck not just any helicopter, but "Air George," an emergency transport ambulance helicopter of Children's Hospital of Central California. The helicopter was flying from Bakersfield to Fresno with a young patient, two crew members, and a pilot on board. The pilot informed the airport's air traffic control, which then relayed it to a nearby police helicopter that was on routine patrol. As the helicopter, called Air-1, moved to the reported location north of the airport, it was struck seven times as it circled overhead.
Air-1 next radioed down to the neighboring town of Clovis, which sent patrol cars to an apartment complex. Using Air-1's spotlight, Fresno's pilots guided Clovis officers to the north side of the apartment complex so they would not be observed. One Clovis cop, Officer Peters, jumped over a wall and began walking around the area. Peters was quickly informed by a fellow resident that the person "in Apartment #117 is doing it, I saw him."
Peters recognized Rodriguez from his prior encounters with local law enforcement (including a domestic disturbance) and knew that he was out on probation--and he saw a "dark cylindrical object in his right hand." Rodriguez turned and ran toward his apartment, but Peters caught up to him. After searching him, Peters found the green laser pointer. Meanwhile, another Clovis cop, Officer Cleaver, arrived and began to arrest Rodriguez.
Rodriguez' girlfriend, Jennifer Coleman, then interrupted and said that she was the one that fired the laser. However, Coleman denied intentionally firing at the helicopter. Both of the two were booked at Fresno County Jail and later released.
A long tedious section follows about how the mook and the moll both admitted the crime and then said they didn't there was anything wrong with lasing 'the sky'. Then there's a great section about the mook's past legal trouble, including lying under oath, causing the judge to pad the sentence substantially.
Amongst California's 34 non-coastal counties ranging from the Oregon border to Kern County (adjacent to Los Angeles County), federal investigators recorded 100 laser strikes against aircraft. The highest frequency occurred at Fresno's Yosemite International Airport and Bakersfield Municipal Airport. That total reached 26 in 2013, a doubling since 2010.
Maybe it was the mook and the moll...
In February 2014, federal authorities began a new $10,000 reward program that leads to the arrest of someone who shoots a laser at an aircraft.
"We in federal law enforcement understand the dangers posed by laser strikes on aircraft," US Attorney Benjamin Wagner stated in a late March 2014 statement. "This is not a game. It is dangerous, and it is a felony. Those who aim lasers at aircraft should know that we will seek to convict them, and we will seek to send them to prison. The safety of aircraft and the people in them demands no less."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Green laser? Dolt. Unlike most other spectrum of laser, those are visible to the naked eye, meaning you can see them all the way up, which is "cool" and great for teaching astronomy. But that also means you can see them and trace them visibly back to point of origin.
#4
Sort of amazed that we haven't regulated laser pointers so that they have an effective range of 10 feet or so before starting to dispurse into harmlessness. Guess the politicians and control freaks (but I repeat myself) hadn't thought of that.
[An Nahar] Curators were forced to remove a precious cup from display in a church in Spain when crowds swarmed there after historians claimed it was the Holy Grail, staff said. Kinda the "holy grail of holy grails," is it?
Visitors flocked to the San Isidro basilica in the northwestern city of Leon after two historians published a book saying the ancient goblet was the mythical chalice from which Christ sipped at the Last Supper.
The director of the basilica's museum, Raquel Jaen, said the cup was taken off display on Friday while curators look for an exhibition space large enough to accommodate the crowds.
"It was in a very small room where it was not possible to admire it to the full," she told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Made of agate, gold and onyx and encrusted with precious stones, the object in Leon is formed by two goblets joined together, with one turned up, the other down.
It has been known until now as the goblet of the Infanta Dona Urraca, daughter of Fernando I, King of Leon from 1037 to 1065.
The two historians -- Leon University medieval history lecturer Margarita Torres and art historian Jose Manuel Ortega del Rio -- identified it as the grail in their book "Kings of the Grail", published last week.
They said two Egyptian parchments they found in 2011 at Cairo's University of Al-Azhar set them on a three-year investigation.
Their studies led them to identify the upper part of the princess's goblet, made of agate and missing a fragment as described in the parchments, as the grail -- one of the most prized relics in Christianity.
It was offered to Fernando, a powerful Christian Spanish king, as a peace offering by the emir of a kingdom in the Mohammedan part of Spain at the time, Torres said.
In Europe alone there are 200 supposed Holy Grails, the Spanish researchers admitted. They attempted to debunk the authenticity of some of the better known candidates in their book.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2014 00:00 ||
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"We are searching for the Holy Grail."
"Go away. We already got one."
[MAGHAREBIA] Two Tunisian coppers on Monday (March 31st) received seven-year prison sentences for a 2012 rape that drew international attention, AFP reported.
The coppers had denied the charge, instead accusing the victim of seeking to seduce them.
Journalists were barred from attending the closed court session. Outside the Tunis court house, a group of supporters waved banners and shouted slogans, including Tunisian women's rights activist Amina Sboui.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday approved a series of joint military exercises with NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... countries that would put U.S. troops in direct proximity to Russian forces in the annexed Crimea peninsula.
"This is a good opportunity to develop our armed forces," acting defense minister Mykhailo Koval told Verkhovna Rada politicians ahead of the 235-0 vote.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
As per FREEREPUBLIC, POLAND has repor asked NATO to base up to 10,000 troops on its territory in response to Russia's annexation the Crimea.
Also, the US-NATO are in negotiations wid ROMANIA + HUNGARY for similar. BULGARIA on its part is feeling nervousy twitchy as it claims Russian flew near its border. aircraft
#3
Putin will form his own NATO or EU. This is one of his plans in the works. With China he will have a good start. That will bring in Latin America. Perhaps Africa. Then the Aussies will have to choose. Japan will be even more isolated. India with develop a nervous tick for sure. Norway foots the bills now and the EU is asking for more money, much more. Even Bill Gates is concerned.
#18
Sure seems like the conditions are all there. Personally I was looking forward to a day when the US had an adult President and USA/RUS could team up for mutual jihadi weasel stomping. I maybe felt that the disagreements and outright conflicts of interest could be put in a little box over there if some stuff had to be done.
#19
Grom, better that than backing a fascist totalitarian like you are. Goons like you support Grom get ground under the boots of free men, sooner or later. Get ready to eat it punk.
By the way From, when you going to start going after Jews? Its what your type always ends up doing.
#20
Also Grom, wrong. Russia is still a regional power, not a superpower, with the exception of strategic nuclear weapons. The US is still a superpower, once we have adult leadership.
And one other thing: you seem to be reveling in raw power and illegal aggression from Russia. Remember the last bunch that did that for Fatherland? Proud of Nationalism? Proud oc collectivist/socialist government by and for the oligarchs? That is Russi now, and Fascit Germany then. Just making sure you realize the jackboots you have put on, and that actions like these make me and many others implacable enemies. Enemies you do not want coming after you. Your side has lost - Fascists in Germany, Russian Communists in the Cold War. Get ready to lose again, your type always costs us blood because we are slow to fight, but your type also always ends up being little bitches after we defeat you.
#21
The US is still a superpower, once we have adult leadership.
The present regime is making Carter look a little better. I was watching a piece on TV regarding the Reagan era the other night. Carter had a lot of the same losing attributes of the current president and his regime. Seems to be a donk thing.
[DAWN] BRUSSELS: NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... on Tuesday said it could not confirm the withdrawal of Russian troops from near the flashpoint Ukrainian border as Russia heaped even more pressure on a teetering Ukraine economy with a painful gas price hike.
Foreign ministers from the western alliance gathered in Brussels to try and forge a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea last month, amid tentative signs of a calming in the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War.
Ukraine's parliament met one of Moscow's key demands by voting unanimously to disarm all self-defence groups that sprang up across the country during its political crisis that first erupted over a ditched EU alliance in late November.
But tensions still remained high over two weeks after Moscow formally annexed Crimea and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned he could not confirm that Russia had pulled away from the Ukrainian border, as announced by the Kremlin.
"This is not what we have seen," Rasmussen said as NATO ministers gathered for two days of talks, including US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... , who flew in between shuttle diplomacy stops in the Middle East.
Ukraine and the United States have accused Russia of massing thousands of troops near the border and have 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... that Moscow intends to seize southeastern parts of Ukraine that are home to large populations of ethnic Russians, following the Crimea takeover.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... 's office said Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... had personally informed her of the troop pullback in a telephone conversation and on Tuesday said she had "no reason" to doubt his word.
Ukraine also reported Monday that Russian troops were leaving the sensitive area adding it appeared to coincide with a phone call that Putin had unexpectedly placed to US President Barack Obama I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money... on Friday.
With the assurances from Moscow, NATO seemed to be stepping back from a floated idea to reinforce the alliance's military presence in countries bordering Russia, preferring for now to give more time to talks.
"I think everybody realises that the best way forward is a political and diplomatic dialogue," Rasmussen said, though he added NATO was "very determined to provide effective defence and protection of our allies".
One counter-measure apparently off the table for now is the idea to set up permanent military bases in NATO countries bordering with Russia.
The move would be highly controversial for Moscow, reversing an informal agreement made when NATO expanded east to include former Warsaw Pact countries that were eager to break away from years of Soviet domination.
But Dutch foreign minister Frank Timmermans said that for now "we don't need NATO troops at the border with Russia," adding there was "no need for sudden moves".
The cautious line could come as a disappointment to eastern NATO members, such as the Baltic nations and Poland -- who were expected to argue for a tougher stance against Russia at the meeting.
Poland "would welcome any forces" on its territory, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said.
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04/02/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A devout Sikh immigrant with a criminal past and a woman facing marijuana possession charges were identified Tuesday as the shooter and the savior, respectively, of a policeman in a Canadian courthouse last week.
Police shot and killed an armed man at Canada's busiest courthouse on the outskirts of Toronto on Friday after he entered the secure building and shot and maimed an officer.
Ontario province's Specicial Investigations Unit (SIU) identified Charnjit Singh Bassi, 45, as the shooter.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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h/t Instapundit
Vegetarians may have a lower BMI and drink alcohol sparingly, but vegetarian diets are tied to generally poorer health, poorer quality of life and a higher need for health care than their meat-eating counterparts.
A new study from the Medical University of Graz in Austria finds that vegetarians are more physically active, drink less alcohol and smoke less tobacco than those who consume meat in their diets. Vegetarians also have a higher socioeconomic status and a lower body mass index. But the vegetarian diet -- characterized by a low consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol that includes increased intake of fruits, vegetables and whole-grain products -- carries elevated risks of cancer, allergies and mental health disorders. Bingo!
#2
Several years ago, I read an article about a guy in his 30's exhibiting Alzheimer's symptoms. Tuned out the guy was a vegetarian, took no supplements, and had a severe B-vitamin deficiency (B12?)
Oh, and his brain was permanently damaged. Bring me a New York Strip steak, please, medium rare!
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/02/2014 8:01 Comments ||
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#3
There's a reason we climbed to the top of the animal kingdom. We eat meat. Cows don't. Predators tend to be apex dwellers, herbivores tend to be prey.
#5
Your back teeth are not designed for ripping and shredding. Your front teeth are not designed for grinding. It's a hint from mother nature on what has worked for the species for tens of thousands of years. It's a balance of intake.
1) We have been eating meat since well before Lucy. It is absurd to think our internal chemsistry hasn't changed and that we can still live with purely vegatarian diet like gorillas do.
2) Try, just try, to live on uncooked vegetabless. You will become thinner and thinner, weaker and weaker and will probably die. Potatoes, wheat, corn, beans, about every vegetable with a decent caloric content cannot be assimilated: our teeth are too weak, our intestine too short, our digestive acidas not strong enough and there is no way you an get enough calories from fruits (mostly water) and salads (about zero calories). The only way to keep your weight while eating "naturally" ie uncooked food is by eating meat but it is still difficult: we no longer have the powerful digestive juices of our ancestors. That is the result of having being eating cooked food for 80,000 years. We have been eating meat for over 3 million years.
3) In one occasion I met a vegan couple and their twelve years old daughter. She looked more like being seven or eight years old.
4) Sometime by the end of XIXth century, beginnng of the XXth not one but two vegan group established themselves is islands of the South Seas. The outcome was the same for both experiments: a few years lmatereveryone either had died of nutrition deficiencies or had ben murdered by the praetorian guard of the Guru after having been caught eating forbidden food or feeding his children with it. In both cases the Guru was the sole survivor.
#9
Linda McCartney (famous vegan) sponsored a bike team back in the 1990's and imposed a vegan diet on the riders (who need at least 4,000 calories a day, more like 6 to 8K). There's simply no reasonable way to get that from a vegan diet. The riders bitched and moaned; the team went belly-up the same year.
#21
Less healthy and lower quality of life is a small price to pay for knowning how much better you are than your fellow man. These scientific studies fail to really quantify arrogance in a meaningful way.
#25
If God didn't want us to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
04/02/2014 19:31 Comments ||
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#26
JFM is correct. I tested my willpower for nearly a year. Yes, I can be stubborn. Weight loss. Weak and so on. Too hard on the body to digest.It was an interesting experience.It was a challenge but it does have an impact on the mind.I lived in an area with many vegetarians. I went one step further. I hardly ate any cooked food. I think our problem today would be too much variety. Think about it. Most ate the same things every day in the past but only changed as the seasons changed. Why did I stop? Girl friend. :)
What the new research suggests is that the benefits of running may come to a hard stop later in life. In a study involving 52,600 people followed for three decades, the runners in the group had a 19% lower death rate than nonrunners, according to the Heart editorial. But among the running cohort, those who ran a lotmore than 20 to 25 miles a weeklost that mortality advantage.
#29
Went vegetarian for Lent a few times. Sundays and feast days (Lent will make you an expert on obscure feast days) are the only thing kept me going. This year I gave up liver.
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.
Just as we suspected. 
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
