July 19, 2017

Body camera footage shows officer planting drugs, public defender says

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-body-camera-footage-20170719-story.html

Baltimore police and prosecutors have launched investigations after being alerted to body camera footage that the public defender's office says shows an officer planting drugs.

The footage is from a January drug arrest. It shows an officer placing a soup can, which holds a plastic bag, into a trash strewn lot. The officer can then be seen walking to the street, where he flips on his body camera.

"I'm gonna go check here," the officer says. He returns to the lot and picks up the soup can, removing a plastic bag filled with white capsules.

Police cameras have a feature that saves the 30 seconds of video prior to activation, but without audio. When the officer is first in the alley, there is no audio until 30 seconds later.

https://twitter.com/justin_fenton/status/887504546074939393

July 4, 2017

U.S. Flag Recalled After Causing 143 Million Deaths

WASHINGTON—Citing a series of fatal malfunctions dating back to 1777, flag manufacturer Annin & Company announced Monday that it would be recalling all makes and models of its popular American flag from both foreign and domestic markets.

Representatives from the nation's leading flag producer claimed that as many as 143 million deaths in the past two centuries can be attributed directly to the faulty U.S. models, which have been utilized extensively since the 18th century in sectors as diverse as government, the military, and public education.

"It has come to our attention that, due to the inherent risks and hazards it poses, the American flag is simply unfit for general use," said Annin & Company president Ronald Burman, who confirmed that the number of flag-related deaths had noticeably spiked since 2003. "I would like to strongly urge all U.S. citizens: If you have an American flag hanging in your home or place of business, please discontinue using it immediately."

Added Burman, "The last thing we would want is for more innocent men and women around the world to die because of our product."

http://www.theonion.com/article/us-flag-recalled-after-causing-143-million-deaths-17248

July 4, 2017

North Korea Says It Has Successfully Tested an ICBM

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/04/world/asia/north-korea-missile-test-icbm.html

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said on Tuesday that it had successfully conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, claiming a milestone in its efforts to build nuclear weapons capable of hitting the mainland United States.

The announcement came hours after a launch that the United States military said had sent the missile aloft for 37 minutes. That duration, analysts said, suggested a significant improvement in the range of the North’s missiles, and it might allow one to travel as far as 4,000 miles and hit Alaska.

In an initial statement, the United States Pacific Command described the weapon as an intermediate-range missile rather than an intercontinental ballistic missile. But South Korean and Japanese officials said they were studying the data to determine if it was an ICBM.

The missile departed the Banghyon airfield in the northwestern town of Kusong and flew 578 miles before landing in the sea between North Korea and Japan, the South Korean military said in a statement.

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They probably don't know how to make a nuclear device small enough to be carried on an ICBM. But you can be sure they're working on it!

July 2, 2017

So who made that CNN/Trump gif? Obviously not the president.

According to the Intellectualist, it was a racist Reddit poster.

https://theintellectualist.co/trump-sourced-video-of-him-beating-cnn-from-a-white-supremacist-reddit-user/

July 2, 2017

Video shows use of force after Sioux Co. chase, raises more questions about Nebraska State Patrol

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts fired the director of the NE state patrol the other day, and turns out this case -- not publicly disclosed before now -- is one of the reasons why.

http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/video-shows-use-of-force-after-sioux-county-chase-raises/article_50d3bc92-e2de-5fd8-a4ab-a9a6966a1d63.html

After leading Nebraska state troopers on an hourlong chase that reached speeds of nearly 100 mph, the Colorado man was so intoxicated or impaired he could barely stand when ordered out of his van, falling back against it.

Following the troopers’ orders, he put his hands up, and he kept them away from his body the whole time he stood before the troopers. He did not, however, comply with more than a dozen other commands to “Get down on the ground!”

That’s when Trooper Lindsey Bixby took Brian Davis down himself — with the butt end of his rifle. A sharp crack rang out as Bixby leveled Davis with a strike to the side of the head, Davis crumpling to the ground.

The March 4, 2016, arrest in Nebraska’s far-west Sioux County was captured in a dashboard camera video that was recently obtained by The World-Herald — stark images that raise more questions about the Nebraska State Patrol and how former Patrol Superintendent Brad Rice policed conduct within the ranks.

July 2, 2017

Video shows use of force after Sioux Co. chase, raises more questions about Nebraska State Patrol

http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/video-shows-use-of-force-after-sioux-county-chase-raises/article_50d3bc92-e2de-5fd8-a4ab-a9a6966a1d63.html

After leading Nebraska state troopers on an hourlong chase that reached speeds of nearly 100 mph, the Colorado man was so intoxicated or impaired he could barely stand when ordered out of his van, falling back against it.

Following the troopers’ orders, he put his hands up, and he kept them away from his body the whole time he stood before the troopers. He did not, however, comply with more than a dozen other commands to “Get down on the ground!”

That’s when Trooper Lindsey Bixby took Brian Davis down himself — with the butt end of his rifle. A sharp crack rang out as Bixby leveled Davis with a strike to the side of the head, Davis crumpling to the ground.

The March 4, 2016, arrest in Nebraska’s far-west Sioux County was captured in a dashboard camera video that was recently obtained by The World-Herald — stark images that raise more questions about the Nebraska State Patrol and how former Patrol Superintendent Brad Rice policed conduct within the ranks.

July 2, 2017

In a Minnesota town that went for Trump, a Muslim doctor tries to understand his neighbors

Long read, and worth it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/in-a-midwestern-town-that-went-for-trump-a-muslim-doctor-tries-to-understand-his-neighbors/2017/07/01/0ada50c4-5c48-11e7-9fc6-c7ef4bc58d13_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_minnesotamuslim-640pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.3ba9512115e8

DAWSON, MINN. — The doctor was getting ready. Must look respectable, he told himself. Must be calm. He changed into a dark suit, blue shirt and tie and came down the wooden staircase of the stately Victorian house at Seventh and Pine that had always been occupied by the town’s most prominent citizens.

That was him: prominent citizen, town doctor, 42-year-old father of three, and as far as anyone knew, the first Muslim to ever live in Dawson, a farming town of 1,400 people in the rural western part of the state.

“Does this look okay?” Ayaz Virji asked his wife, Musarrat, 36.

In two hours, he was supposed to give his third lecture on Islam, and he was sure it would be his last. A local Lutheran pastor had talked him into giving the first one in Dawson three months before, when people had asked questions such as whether Muslims who kill in the name of the prophet Muhammad are rewarded in death with virgins, which had bothered him a bit. Two months later, he gave a second talk in a neighboring town, which had ended with several men calling him the antichrist.

July 2, 2017

In a Minnesota town that went for Trump, a Muslim doctor tries to understand his neighbors

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/in-a-midwestern-town-that-went-for-trump-a-muslim-doctor-tries-to-understand-his-neighbors/2017/07/01/0ada50c4-5c48-11e7-9fc6-c7ef4bc58d13_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_minnesotamuslim-640pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.3ba9512115e8

DAWSON, MINN. — The doctor was getting ready. Must look respectable, he told himself. Must be calm. He changed into a dark suit, blue shirt and tie and came down the wooden staircase of the stately Victorian house at Seventh and Pine that had always been occupied by the town’s most prominent citizens.

That was him: prominent citizen, town doctor, 42-year-old father of three, and as far as anyone knew, the first Muslim to ever live in Dawson, a farming town of 1,400 people in the rural western part of the state.

“Does this look okay?” Ayaz Virji asked his wife, Musarrat, 36.

In two hours, he was supposed to give his third lecture on Islam, and he was sure it would be his last. A local Lutheran pastor had talked him into giving the first one in Dawson three months before, when people had asked questions such as whether Muslims who kill in the name of the prophet Muhammad are rewarded in death with virgins, which had bothered him a bit. Two months later, he gave a second talk in a neighboring town, which had ended with several men calling him the antichrist.

June 20, 2017

Case file in Castile shooting is made public (dash cam footage)

http://www.startribune.com/case-file-in-philando-castile-shooting-to-be-made-public-today/429659263/

Warning: Graphic.

***
Authorities on Tuesday released graphic dashcam footage of officer Jeronimo Yanez firing seven shots into Philando Castile's car last year, killing him as viewers watched the aftermath on Facebook Live.

The video and other data collected in the investigation was released following Yanez's acquittal last Friday in the July 6 killing that thrust Minnesota into the national debate over police use of force and racial profiling.

The video released by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and Ramsey County Attorney's office starts about 9:05 p.m. as Yanez activates his squad lights to pull Castile over on Larpenteur Avenue near Fry Street in Falcon Heights for a nonworking brake light, and to see if he is the suspect in an armed robbery from four days earlier. Radio traffic said Yanez pulled over Castile because of they "just look like people that were involved in a robbery" because of Castile's "wide set nose."

The routine traffic stop turns deadly in about a minute. Yanez said he shot Castile seven times because he believed Castile was reaching for a firearm that he told the officer he had. In an interview with the BCA, Yanez said he assumed Castile would be reckless because he smelled marijuana.

June 20, 2017

RIGGED: Forced into debt. Worked past exhaustion. Left with nothing.

https://www.usatoday.com/pages/interactives/news/rigged-forced-into-debt-worked-past-exhaustion-left-with-nothing/

A yearlong investigation by the USA TODAY Network found that port trucking companies in southern California have spent the past decade forcing drivers to finance their own trucks by taking on debt they could not afford. Companies then used that debt as leverage to extract forced labor and trap drivers in jobs that left them destitute.

If a driver quit, the company seized his truck and kept everything he had paid towards owning it.

If drivers missed payments, or if they got sick or became too exhausted to go on, their companies fired them and kept everything. Then they turned around and leased the trucks to someone else.

Drivers who manage to hang on to their jobs sometimes end up owing money to their employers – essentially working for free. Reporters identified seven different companies that have told their employees they owe money at week’s end.

* * * * * * * *
This is a devastating piece that requires a long read. The details, stats and stories are infuriating. Our economy is subsidized on the backs of people all down the line, all in the name of cheap goods for the tyranny of the Consumer. Please do read it.