Mail.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Investigators were treating the death of a 10-year-old boy on the world’s tallest waterslide as a “civil matter” rather than a criminal incident, a police spokesman said Monday, as the park and Kansas authorities pressed to sort out what caused the tragedy.

Few details have been released about the death Sunday of Caleb Thomas Schwab, the son of a Kansas state legislator. The 168-foot-tall Verruckt is one of the top attractions of Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas. The park was closed Monday amid the investigation.   Continue reading “Police: Nothing criminal suspected in boy’s waterslide death”

Mail.com

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Johnny Small was just 15 when police came to arrest him in 1988 — so young he assumed he was in trouble for a curfew violation. Instead, police charged him with first-degree murder of a woman who owned a tropical-fish store — a place Small says he’d never even visited.

He was convicted and sentenced to life behind bars, mainly on the testimony of co-defendant — a friend who once lived with Small’s family. That man, David Bollinger, has since recanted. Bollinger says he testified only because prosecutors promised his charged would be dropped in exchange, and threatened the death penalty if he didn’t cooperate.  Continue reading “Convicted of murder as a teen, man now has shot at freedom”

Mail.com

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s longtime president has praised his security forces while warning against violent protests, days after the police crushed an anti-government march in the capital, Harare.

President Robert Mugabe spoke Monday at a commemoration event notable for the absence of some of his previously loyal wartime allies. The commemorations are held annually to honor this southern African country’s dead heroes, particularly those who fought in the 1970s independence war.   Continue reading “Zimbabwe’s president warns against further protests”

Mail.com

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber killed at least 67 people and wounded dozens more in an attack that struck a government-run hospital in the southwestern city of Quetta on Monday, police and doctors said.

Witnesses described horrifying scenes of bodies scattered on the ground the wounded screaming out for help. Hours after the attack, a breakaway faction of militant Taliban group claimed responsibility.   Continue reading “Suicide bombing at Pakistani hospital in Quetta kills 67”

Janet_Yellen_official_Federal_Reserve_portraitThe Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the central banking system of the United States. Known colloquially as “Chair of the Fed”, “Fed Chair” or “Fed Chief”. The Chair is the “active executive officer”[2] of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The currently used gender-neutral title for this position is “Chair.”

The current chair is Janet Yellen, the first woman to hold the position.[3] She began her term on February 1, 2014, and previously served as the Vice-Chair from 2010 to 2014.   Continue reading “Millard’s Target”

CBC News

Canadian Jewish groups are blasting the Green Party of Canada for passing a resolution this weekend supporting sanctions against Israel.

B’nai Brith issued a statement Sunday night saying it was “irate” that delegates at the party’s biennial convention in Ottawa voted in support of the so-called Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement, also called BDS.   Continue reading “Jewish groups condemn Green Party for supporting Israeli boycott policy”

USA Today – by Steph Solis

New Jersey already draws ire for not letting drivers pump their own gas. But the state might ban them from having a cup of coffee behind the wheel too.

A bill under consideration in the state Legislature calls to prohibit “any activity unrelated to the actual operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that interferes with the safe operation of the vehicle on a public road or highway.” That means no cup of coffee for those sitting in traffic, no munching on that breakfast burrito, no time to groom. (No, the law does not target coffee verbatim.)   Continue reading “Only in New Jersey: Bill would ban motorists from drinking coffee and driving”

Anti-War – by Uri Avnery

On June 28, 1914, the Austrian heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, visited Sarajevo, the main town of Bosnia, then an Austrian province.

Three young Serbian inhabitants of Bosnia had decided to assassinate him, in order to achieve the attachment of Bosnia to Serbia. They threw bombs at the car of the archduke. All three failed to harm him.   Continue reading “The Shot Heard All Over the Country”

Courthouse News – by Kevin Lessmiller

(CN) — A public defender office claims in court that the New York Police Department won’t disclose how many millions of dollars it seizes in cash each year through civil forfeiture.

The Bronx Defenders sued the NYPD and outgoing Commissioner Bill Bratton on Thursday, seeking access to records “pertaining to the policies and procedures regarding, and accounting for, money and property seized from defendants incident to arrest.”   Continue reading “Public Defenders Sue for NYPD Seizure Info”

Courthouse News – by Victoria Prieskop

ALBUQUERQUE (CN) — Two Albuquerque police officers killed a man and dumped his body in an arroyo in 1976 and the Albuquerque Police Department covered it up for 40 years, the late José Farfan’s son claims in court.

Dino Farfan sued Albuquerque on Aug. 5 in Bernalillo County Court. He claims that on April 26, 1976, Albuquerque police Officers Robert Earl Davis and Robert Todd Hobson arrested his father, José Farfan, on misdemeanor charges of receiving stolen property.   Continue reading “Albuquerque Cops Accused of Murder & Coverup”

The Intercept – by Naomi LaChance

AFTER A WATCHDOG BLOG repeatedly linked him and other local officials to  corruption and fraud, the Sheriff of Terrebone Parish in Louisiana on Tuesday sent six deputies to raid a police officer’s home to seize computers and other electronic devices.

Sheriff Jerry Larpenter’s deputies submitted affidavits alleging criminal defamation against the anonymous author of the ExposeDAT blog, and obtained search warrants to seize evidence in the officer’s house and from Facebook.   Continue reading “Sheriff Raids House to Find Anonymous Blogger Who Called Him Corrupt”

Common Dreams – by Deidre Fulton

A new legal opinion penned by two former Justice Department officials bolsters warnings that the proposed merger between agroindustrial giants Bayer and Monsanto “is a five-alarm threat to our food supply and to farmers around the world.”

The white paper (pdf) by Maurice E. Stucke and Allen P. Grunes, both former employees of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, states that Bayer’s proposed takeover of Monsanto would:   Continue reading “Bayer-Monsanto merger is ‘five-alarm threat’ to food and farms: Legal experts”

Consumerist – by Mary Beth Quirk

Why would the state need to know your name, phone number, where you live, wand how old you are when you buy beer? It’s unclear, but that kind of detailed info is exactly what Alabama regulators have proposed craft brewers collect from anyone buying beer to bring home.

The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is considering a new rule [PDF]what would require brewers to collect that kind of information from anyone who purchases beer at a brewery for off-premise consumption, the Associated Press reports, and industry groups are not pleased: they’re calling it an invasion of privacy, and an administrative nightmare.   Continue reading “State Wants Craft Brewers To Keep Info On Every Person They Sell Beer To”

Free Thought Project – by Jay Syrmopoulos

Washington, D.C. – A new Department of Defense Inspector General’s report, released last week, has left Americans stunned at the jaw-dropping lack of accountability and oversight. The glaring report revealed the Pentagon couldn’t account for $6.5 trillion dollars worth of Army general fund transactions and data, according to a report by the Fiscal Times.

The Pentagon, which has been notoriously lax in its accounting practices, has never completed an audit, would reveal how the agency has specifically spent the trillions of dollars allocated for wars, equipment, personnel, housing, healthcare and procurements allotted to them by Congress.   Continue reading “Audit Reveals the Pentagon Doesn’t Know Where $6.5 Trillion Dollars Has Gone”

Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist

The police state apparatus will now condition children to prostrate themselves before their masters as they are extorted during traffic stops. Illinois drivers education now includes instructions on how to properly allow police to generate revenue.

The bill signed into law on Friday by Governor Bruce Rauner authorizes a new curriculum for driver’s education classes which includes interacting with police. It will be instituted for the 2017-18 school year and become mandatory training at both private and public schools.   Continue reading “Illinois Institutes Chilling New Mandate for Schools to Teach Children How to Submit to Police”

Constitution – by Onan Coca

The liberal fascists in Charlotte, North Carolina might have been stopped from forcing unisex bathrooms on private businesses, but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped fighting. The activists have shifted their focus from private businesses towards the local public school system and pushed the school board in Charlotte-Mecklenburg County to enact new guidelines on dealing with gender issues.   Continue reading “Public Schools in North Carolina Look to Brainwash Children on Gender with “the Gender Unicorn”!”