May 2, 2014

Ukrainian democracy in action

Activists send ballots to the fascists and say N-yet. or Violent mob of terrorists attacks hapless police.

Once you unleash mob democracy, the narratives are many.

May 2, 2014

Hammond police officer placed on leave, investigated for allegedly abusing K9 dog

A northwest Indiana police officer has been placed on leave as he is investigated for the alleged abuse of a K9 dog.

Video of the incident was posted on the internet Thursday.

It appears to show the officer lifting the dog by its collar and hitting it with a leash. It happened on a busy street with other officers on the scene.

Read More: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/indiana&id=9524100

disgusting

May 2, 2014

Libya says Jordan to handover jailed Islamist to get kidnapped ambassador

Jordan has agreed to handover a Libyan Islamist to Tripoli to secure the release of its ambassador kidnapped in the North African country two weeks ago, Libya's state news agency LANA said on Monday.

Jordan's ambassador to Libya, Fawaz al-Itan, was snatched by gunmen who demanded the release of Mohamed Dersi, a Libyan Islamist militant jailed for life in 2007 for plotting to blow up the main airport in Jordan.

Sohar Banun, an undersecretary in Libya's justice ministry, said both countries had agreed that the ambassador would be released in exchange for Jordan reducing Dersi's sentence and allowing him to complete his jail term in Libya, LANA said.

"The Jordanian authorities expressed their total readiness to solve this crisis, confirming that the ambassador will be released in exchange for reducing the term of the Libyan prisoner and sending him home to complete his sentence," he said according to the agency.

"The crisis will be solved according to a memorandum of understanding between the two countries," said Banun, who heads a department taking care of Libyans jailed abroad.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/28/us-libya-jordan-idUSBREA3R1EE20140428

May 2, 2014

Two Broward Deputies Accused Of Using Excessive Force

Two Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies are under fire, accused of using excessive force—and all of it was caught on camera.

BSO is conducting an internal affairs investigation to find out if the two officers involved were justified in using force and are also questioning why Sheriff Scott Israel wasn’t notified until three months after the incident.

On February 18th, BSO says two of their deputies responded to a convenience store in Deerfield Beach for a report of a theft. 50-year-old David Gonzalez was their suspect.

The store manager, Mohamad Kabir, said a drunk and mumbling Gonzalez stole candy then tried to get beer, offering his watch as a trade.*

Read More: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/04/30/two-broward-deputies-accused-of-using-excessive-force/

May 2, 2014

NATO official: Russia now an adversary

After two decades of trying to build a partnership with Russia, NATO now feels compelled to start treating Moscow as an adversary, the alliance's second-ranking official said Thursday.

"Clearly the Russians have declared NATO as an adversary, so we have to begin to view Russia no longer as a partner but as more of an adversary than a partner," said Alexander Vershbow, the deputy secretary-general of NATO.

In a question-and-answer session with a small group of reporters, Vershbow said Russia's annexation of Crimea and its apparent manipulation of unrest in eastern Ukraine have fundamentally changed the NATO-Russia relationship.

"In central Europe, clearly we have two different visions of what European security should be like," Vershbow, a former U.S. diplomat and onetime Pentagon official, said. "We still would defend the sovereignty and freedom of choice of Russia's neighbors, and Russia clearly is trying to re-impose hegemony and limit their sovereignty under the guise of a defense of the Russian world."

http://news.yahoo.com/nato-official-russia-now-adversary-150211090--politics.html

May 2, 2014

FAA under pressure as clamor for small commercial drones grows

It seems like a perfect time to get into the drone business.

With easy access to technology and patchy regulation, small commercial drones already have been used to film box-office hits and market expensive real estate.

Internet retailer Amazon is testing its sixth generation of an unmanned aircraft system that could one day whisk packages to customers within hours. With big corporations like FedEx and Domino's Pizza flirting with the technology, law firms, trade groups and insurers are lining up to capitalize on an expected economic gold mine.

There's only one catch: Commercial drones are illegal.

In a 2007 policy statement, the Federal Aviation Administration essentially declared a ban on operating drones for commercial purposes. The agency doubled down on that position in early April, appealing an administrative order that tossed out the legal foundation for its policy. The ruling came after a commercial drone user challenged an FAA fine levied against him.

The ongoing case and mounting pressure to tap into the potentially lucrative industry puts the FAA in a tough spot. The regulatory body, responsible for keeping U.S. airspace safe, plans to propose a formal rule for commercial drones by the end of the year. But regulations aren't likely to be finalized until 2015 at the earliest, leaving some wondering whether the FAA can catch up to an industry already half past go.

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-drones-faa-20140501,0,818378.story

May 2, 2014

In wake of Sterling scandal, NAACP leader is under scrutiny

The head of the Los Angeles Chapter of the NAACP is coming under scrutiny in the wake of the organization's decision to give awards to Donald Sterling.

The group granted Sterling an award in 2009, the same year the real estate magnate and L.A. Clippers owner paid $2.73 million to settle U.S. government claims that he refused to rent his apartments to Latinos and blacks in Koreatown. The chapter was set to give Sterling a second award when a recording emerged in which a man said to be Sterling asked a female friend not to publicly associate with African Americans.

Leon Jenkins, president of the NAACP branch, has been a focus of attention in recent days.

While a Detroit judge, Jenkins in 1988 was indicted on federal bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud and racketeering charges, according records from the State Bar of California.

Authorities at the time alleged that Jenkins received gifts from those who appeared in his court and committed perjury, the records show. He was acquitted of criminal charges. But in 1994 the Michigan Supreme Court disbarred him, finding "overwhelming evidence" that Jenkins "sold his office and his public trust," according to the bar records.

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-in-wake-of-sterling-scandal-naacp-leader-under-scrutiny-20140430,0,1220086.story

May 2, 2014

Second-Grader Says School Put Him In Handcuffs For Misbehaving

A second-grader said a school security guard put him in handcuffs because he was misbehaving.

“Some of the kids were messing with me,” Kalyb Primm Wiley told KSHB-TV.

Kalyb told the station that kids were teasing and taunting him but nothing got physical. A teacher was unable to calm him down and he was taken to the principal’s office by a school security guard.

“We were halfway down the hall, he put handcuffs on and twisted my wrists a little,” Kalyb added.

“I don’t think any 7-year-old should be put in handcuffs unless he was armed with a weapon, or violent,” Kalyb’s mother, Tomesha Primm, told KSHB.

Read More: http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/05/01/second-grader-says-school-put-him-in-handcuffs-for-misbehaving/

May 2, 2014

Gubernatorial candidate to hand out Klan hoods

Democratic candidate for governor Brett Hulsey plans to hand out white Ku Klux Klan-style hoods to Wisconsin Republicans as they gather for their annual convention Friday to highlight what he says are their racist policies.

Hulsey, a state representative from Madison who is white, came into the state Capitol press room on Thursday to show off a hood he says he made with his daughter's sewing machine using curtain material he purchased for $1.

"It's a Wisconsin Republican Party hat," Hulsey said. "And people can interpret it any way they want."

When asked whether he was serious, trying to be funny or provocative, Hulsey answered: "All of the above."

Read More: http://news.yahoo.com/gubernatorial-candidate-hand-klan-hoods-223003488.html

Wear them proudly boys, you've earned them.

May 1, 2014

It's not Russia that's pushed Ukraine to the brink of war

The threat of war in Ukraine is growing. As the unelected government in Kiev declares itself unable to control the rebellion in the country's east, John Kerry brands Russia a rogue state. The US and the European Union step up sanctions against the Kremlin, accusing it of destabilising Ukraine. The White House is reported to be set on a new cold war policy with the aim of turning Russia into a "pariah state".

That might be more explicable if what is going on in eastern Ukraine now were not the mirror image of what took place in Kiev a couple of months ago. Then, it was armed protesters in Maidan Square seizing government buildings and demanding a change of government and constitution. US and European leaders championed the "masked militants" and denounced the elected government for its crackdown, just as they now back the unelected government's use of force against rebels occupying police stations and town halls in cities such as Slavyansk and Donetsk.

"America is with you," Senator John McCain told demonstrators then, standing shoulder to shoulder with the leader of the far-right Svoboda party as the US ambassador haggled with the state department over who would make up the new Ukrainian government.

When the Ukrainian president was replaced by a US-selected administration, in an entirely unconstitutional takeover, politicians such as William Hague brazenly misled parliament about the legality of what had taken place: the imposition of a pro-western government on Russia's most neuralgic and politically divided neighbor.

Read More: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/30/russia-ukraine-war-kiev-conflict