It started deflating when I saw the top two(!) stories above the fold in picking up the printed copy this morning.
"Teens to be tried as adults in rock drop" Associated Press May 01, 2015
LEWISBURG, Pa. — A judge ruled Thursday that three teenagers will be tried as adults in a rock-throwing incident last summer that severely injured an Ohio school teacher, who attended the hearing wearing a plastic helmet to protect her still healing head.
Mental health professionals testified in support of the defense that the cases should be moved to juvenile court.
Though 18 now, the defendants were 17 last July when a rock was dropped from an Interstate 80 overpass and struck Sharon Budd of Uniontown, Ohio.
(When blog editor read that he shook his head in anger and ascribed it to the values of Zionism with which the society has been inculcated. )
Judge Michael Sholley rejected the defense arguments.
If not for modern medicine, he said, the three would probably have been facing homicide charges instead of aggravated assault.
Defense lawyers for Keefer McGee, Dylan Lahr, and Tyler Porter told the court that therapy and other measures could help rehabilitate the defendants.
Yeah, let's get them on some pharmaceuticals.
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I'd say maybe a good ass-pounding would do the trick, but that's politically-inappropriate and old school (bombing and killing people based on war lies is okay, see, but....) and might not be the best way to go0 in light of the next article:
"Supreme Court reinstates church official’s 2012 conviction" by Maryclaire Dale Associated Press May 01, 2015
PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic church official was sent back to prison Thursday after the state Supreme Court reinstated his 2012 child endangerment conviction over his handling of priest sexual abuse complaints.
Monsignor William Lynn, the longtime secretary for clergy at the Philadelphia archdiocese, is the first US church official prosecuted or convicted in the clergy abuse scandal.
Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina on Thursday agreed that Lynn’s case presented a ‘‘novel’’ issue upon which she could have erred when she sent the case to trial: the question of whether Lynn actually ‘‘supervised’’ children under the law in 1998, when the boy at issue in Lynn’s case was molested by a parish priest. But in a case full of twists and turns, the state Supreme Court this week said Lynn did and called his conviction legal.
So after 18 months in prison and 16 months on house arrest at a city rectory, the 64-year-old Lynn — wearing jeans and a gray sweatshirt instead of his usual black shirt and collar — found himself back before Sarmina.
The issues raised in Lynn’s case have entangled prosecutors, defense lawyers, and at least 10 Pennsylvania judges since 2005, when the city’s top prosecutor blasted the archdiocese after a grand jury investigation into 63 accused priests but concluded the law applied only to parents and caregivers.
A new district attorney believed differently and in 2011 brought charges against Lynn but not against longtime Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who died in 2012.
Lynn had served half his minimum three-year sentence when the state Superior Court threw out his conviction in December 2013 and ordered him released. But the state Supreme Court reversed that decision in the 4-1 opinion Monday.
‘‘His conviction’s back in. He should go back in,’’ trial prosecutor Patrick Blessington argued Thursday to Sarmina, who had presided over his three-month trial.
She had allowed the jury to hear weeks of agonizing testimony from adults who said they were sexually assaulted by Philadelphia priests to show what prosecutors said was the church’s pattern of transferring predators to unsuspecting parishes and hiding complaints in locked files.
Lynn had control of those ‘‘secret archives’’ and perhaps wanted to address the brewing crisis, Sarmina found. But he stood silent when Bevilacqua ordered that his list of known and suspected predator priests be destroyed.
Defense lawyers will now challenge other aspects of his trial, especially Sarmina’s decision to let about 20 other church accusers testify about abuse they said they suffered decades ago. Their allegations were not directly part of the case.
The conviction involved only Lynn’s oversight of the Rev. Edward Avery, who admitted assaulting an altar boy at a northeast Philadelphia parish, where he landed after earlier complaints about his relationship with another boy.
‘‘There are enough unusual issues in this case [that Lynn] ultimately could be exonerated, and he’ll have done his whole sentence,’’ defense lawyer Alan Tauber, one of Lynn’s trial lawyers, said as Lynn was handcuffed and taken into custody.
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I can't remember the last time I went to Mass in Philly, sorry.
"Mass. most wanted sex offender captured in Pennsylvania" by Aneri Pattani Globe Correspondent April 30, 2015
A violent sex offender who was on the State Police’s most wanted list was captured Thursday after troopers discovered he was living in Pennsylvania under a false identity.
Richard Sease, 47, was arrested just before 7 a.m. by Pennsylvania State Police and US Marshals at an apartment in Meadville, Pa., Massachusetts State Police said in a statement. He was charged as a fugitive from justice and is being held at a Pennsylvania jail on a $500,000 bond.
Sease is wanted by the State Police, as well as Grafton, Hadley, and Worcester police. He is believed to have fled the state sometime around May 2013 after an arrest in Worcester, State Police said.
Sease was added to the State Police’s most wanted list in April 2014. At the time, he had nine outstanding warrants on various charges, including stalking, carrying a dangerous weapon, threatening to commit a murder, failure to register as a sex offender, criminal harassment, and violating a harassment prevention order.
Sease is also a suspect in a rape case in Ashtabula County, Ohio, in which the victim was drugged, State Police said.
On Wednesday, State Police received information from the public about Sease’s Pennsylvania residence. Troopers from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania worked together to capture him. Massachusetts prosecutors will work with Pennsylvania authorities to arrange his rendition to Massachusetts. State Police also notified Ohio authorities of his capture.
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Time to end the show:
"Toddler’s death linked to wrestling move" AP May 08, 2015
JERSEY SHORE, Pa. — A man said he was mimicking a professional wrestling move when he inadvertently slammed his girlfriend’s toddler to the floor, causing head injuries that killed the boy, police said.
Brandon Hoffman, 20, was charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated assault, and other offenses in the death of 18-month-old Bryson Shoemaker.
Police said Hoffman was performing a wrestling move by The Undertaker known as ‘‘The Last Ride’’ at his Jersey Shore apartment Tuesday and had intended for Bryson to land on a bed. In the move, depicted in many online videos, the wrestler gets the opponent on his shoulders in a sort of reverse piggyback, then throws him to the ground.
The "sport" of wresting needs to be banned.
He had earlier performed another wrestling move that also involved dropping Bryson onto the bed, authorities said.
Hoffman told investigators he tried performing CPR and took Bryson to the hospital instead of calling 911 because he feared getting in trouble. Hospital staff told police the child may have had a broken neck and collapsed lung.
Freddie Gray.
Hoffman had been looking after Bryson while the boy’s mother was working.
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The trial of corrupt police must not fit the narrative today.
There is a certain art to being back on the beat.
"Justice Department to investigate practices of Baltimore police" by Matt Apuzzo New York Times May 08, 2015 --more--"
My print byline was by Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post:
"Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch testified during her first hearing on Capitol Hill as attorney general. “The situation in Baltimore involves a core responsibility of the Department of Justice — not only to combat illegal conduct when it occurs but to help prevent the circumstances that give rise to it in the first place,” Lynch told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, science and related agencies. “When there are allegations of wrongdoing made against individual officers and police departments, the Department of Justice has a responsibility to examine the evidence and, if necessary, implement changes.” Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) made the same point during the congressional hearing with Lynch on Thursday morning when she said she supported the mayor’s request to open an investigation. She sent a formal letter to the attorney general Thursday afternoon. “Last year, 120,000 police stops occurred in Baltimore,” Mikulski said. “We’re a population of 610,000. That’s a lot. I don’t know what the appropriateness of that is, but I think we need to look at it. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on Wednesday called on the Justice Department to open a federal investigation."
As long as they aren't investigating their own (think Todashev).
Baltimore prosecutor tries to force broader change
Residents said Roxbury shooting looked like execution
What did the police do now?
"LA chief questions officer’s decision to use deadly force" Associated Press May 08, 2015
LOS ANGELES — Less than a day after a Los Angeles police officer shot and killed an unarmed homeless man in a struggle near the beach, Chief Charlie Beck was questioning the need to use deadly force in the confrontation.
Amid tensions nationwide over police killings of unarmed black men, Beck said he was ‘‘very concerned’’ by the shooting. In this case, both the officer and the man he shot Tuesday night were black, a point Beck made to reporters.
Oh, thank God. That means it's all all right.
The union representing officers quickly criticized the chief’s remarks as premature and prejudicial.
In a written statement, the president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League called Beck ‘‘completely irresponsible’’ to publicly opine ‘‘without having all of the facts.’’ President Craig Lally said that by speaking out, Beck ‘‘essentially renders the investigation process void.’’
Tuesday’s confrontation began late at night on a block lined with bars and restaurants when two officers responded to a 911 call saying the man, believed to be in his 20s, had been arguing with a bouncer who would not let him into a bar and was hassling passers-by, police said.
Maybe it is time to ban bars!
The officers spoke to the man, who began walking away but then came back and began struggling with someone on the sidewalk, according to a police news release. The officers tried to detain the man, who was shot during the struggle, police said.
Where print copy ended.
Department investigators have not interviewed the officer because he is on medication to treat a knee he hurt during the struggle, Beck said.
The man died at a hospital, and no weapon was recovered, police spokeswoman Liliana Preciado said.
At the scene Wednesday, a small crowd of people shouted at police.
The department also was criticized after an officer fatally shot a homeless man in March on Skid Row, near downtown.
I remember that.
The officers in Tuesday’s shooting were not wearing body cameras, but police have surveillance footage from nearby stores.
Yeah, the cameras, right....
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And now there are water restrictions in place!
Nepal and the migrants also received mention today:
"The April 25 quake killed at least 7,800 people and injured another 15,000. Temples were reduced to rubble. During the customary 13-day mourning period, close family members stay at home, do not touch outsiders, and refrain from eating salt. No entertainment is allowed. The central bank announced Thursday that people whose houses were damaged in the quake can obtain loans at a 2 percent interest rate. The average commercial loan rate is about 10 percent.
How about 0%, or a flat fee like Islam? Or a bailout like what the banks got.
What that small bit makes you realize is that ALL NATIONS -- with very few exceptions -- are UNDER the CONTROL of CENTRAL BANKS!
Bhimsen Das Shrestha, a lawmaker representing Kathmandu, said the government should introduce rules to make buildings more earthquake-resistant. ‘‘When we rebuild the structures in Kathmandu, we need to consider new technologies in earthquake-prone areas,’’ he said. Also Thursday, a UN health official said there have been no epidemics in areas hit by the earthquake or in camps where homeless people are sheltered."
Hmmm.
Another staged and scripted fake?
"Italy links wreck to migrant disaster" by Nicole Winfield Associated Press May 08, 2015
ROME — Italian navy ships on Thursday located what is believed to be the fishing boat that capsized April 18 with an estimated 800 migrants aboard, a tragedy that spurred Italy and Europe into a new round of soul-searching over how to cope with the record waves of migrants coming ashore from Libya.
Using sonar and a submarine, the navy located a blue, 82-foot vessel matching the description of the doomed boat about 85 miles northeast of the Libyan coast, a statement said. It was on the seabed at a depth of about 1,230 feet.
A navy official said the boat could be raised but any decision to do so rested with Sicilian prosecutors, who are conducting a criminal investigation into the deaths and requested the navy try to find the wreck.
Survivors reported that up to 800 people were locked into two levels of the hold by the smugglers. The boat capsized when its captain mistakenly rammed it into a freighter that had come to its rescue. It was further destabilized when the migrants on deck rushed to one side hoping to get off first.
The capsizing prompted renewed calls for Europe to help Italy shoulder the burden of rescuing and caring for migrants and to find new ways to prevent the migrants from setting off in the first place. At an EU summit in the days that followed, EU leaders pledged more funds and resources to beef up its border patrol mission, and diplomatic initiatives gained steam to target the traffickers.
On Thursday, the Italian navy said it had placed a $3.9 billion order for six patrol boats capable of high seas rescues as it upgrades its fleet to take on a greater role in the Mediterranean.
Never mind that austerity foisted upon italian citizens.
So WHO got the CONTRACT to BUILD THOSE?
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I guess this post has sunk about as low as it can go.
"Evidence that Greece’s cash squeeze is hurting the economy may heap more pressure on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (right) to seal a deal with creditors as haggling over reforms drags on. Unemployment data on Wednesday will highlight that more than a quarter of Greeks remain out of work, economists say. The figures will come a day after the European Commission gives its latest assessment, when it will probably cut its 2015 growth forecast. Greece has payments to the International Monetary Fund looming and must refinance $1.6 billion of short-term debt maturing Friday. That will push its finances to the limit; it has received no bailout disbursements since August. “It’s pretty obvious the economy will feel the effects of this renewed uncertainty, even if ultimately the worst is avoided,” said Riccardo Barbieri Hermitte, chief European economist at Mizuho International in London. Greece’s future in the euro area depends on ending a standoff with creditors over changes they demand in return for more bailout funds. A deal has proved elusive since Tsipras’s election in January."
Because once he makes one the Greek people see him for the fraud that he is.
Also see: Greece makes IMF payment amid signs of bailout progress
Just hit bottom.
NDUs:
Logged in to this: South Carolina Cop Shoots Man Who Called for Help
Seriously?
Working our way back up:
Member nations oppose EU refugee quota system
The Hungarian prime minister says ‘‘It is a crazy idea for someone to let refugees into their own country, not defend their borders, and then say: ‘Now I will distribute them among you, who did not want to let anyone in,’ ’’ which, of course, is exactly what Obama did with the long forgotten immigrant children.
Then again, the impression I get from my jew$paper is that the Hungarians are all a bunch of hidden Nazis which -- if you study prewar history -- would lead us to Nepal:
UN official says aid to Nepal lagging
You know, I was told things were back to normal after a great outpouring of response from the world, and now.... WTF?!!!!???
Thousands turn out for N.Y. officer’s funeral
Some lives do mean more than others.
US officials investigating Baltimore police
Reading through that the whole Freddie Gray thing is filled with interesting connections as it advances an agenda on which they were "already collaborating." Hmm.
When do they start in South Carolina?
I guess that's enough hot air for this update.
UPDATE 2017:
"A judge in Philadelphia said Friday that Monsignor William Lynn would be retried on child endangerment charges.
Lynn had served nearly three years of a three- to six-year sentence when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed his conviction because of trial errors. That was the second time Lynn’s conviction had been thrown out after a sweeping 2012 trial that unearthed decades of abuse complaints.
Lynn, 66, appeared weary but unfazed after the latest ruling. He will be back in court this week for the judge to decide how many church-abuse victims can testify at the retrial. His lawyers could also try again to have the case dismissed.
In a separate development...."
