| Death of troubled officer whose gun wasn't taken away marks record number of suicides in NYPD Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:53 AM PDT  A police officer's recent death has disturbingly highlighted the record number of suicides among members of the New York Police Department this year.
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| PHOTOS: Rescued sea otter pups being named in a digital contest Posted: 19 Sep 2019 10:44 AM PDT  Heading into Sea Otter Awareness Week, people across the country will have a say in how two rescued southern sea otter pups at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium get names. The aquarium will host a digital naming contest focused on building affinity and understanding around sea otters and inspiring voters to also make their voices heard in support of conservation legislation and protections that are critical for vulnerable species.
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| How Iran Would Unleash an 'All Out War': Lots of Missiles Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:19 AM PDT  If Trump decides to strike here is how Tehran could respond.
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| 'Serial killer' charged with killing four women and leaving their bodies in abandoned houses Posted: 18 Sep 2019 11:53 AM PDT  A suspected serial killer has been charged with murdering four women and leaving their bodies in abandoned houses in Detroit.Police had arrested Deangelo Martin in June for allegedly stabbing and sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman, who managed to escape, the previous month.
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| Women’s March Dismisses New Board Member amid Backlash over Statements Comparing ISIS to U.S. Military Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:23 AM PDT  Zahra Billoo, who joined the board of the Women's March just several days ago, announced on her Twitter feed Thursday morning that she has been voted off the board.Billoo has a history of controversial statements on Twitter, in which she has compared the U.S. and Israeli militaries to ISIS and Nazis, once even asserting that the FBI recruits "mentally ill" people to join ISIS.The Women's March has not released a statement explaining the justification for her dismissal as of this writing.However, Billoo asserted in a tweet thread that she was voted out as a result of an "Islamophobic smear campaign led by the usual antagonists, who have long targeted me, my colleagues, and anyone else who dares speak out in defense of Palestinian human rights and the right to self determination."Addressing the controversy over her tweets, she wrote "In looking at the tweets in question, I acknowledge that I wrote passionately. While I may have phrased some of my content differently today, I stand by my words."> In looking at the tweets in question, I acknowledge that I wrote passionately. While I may have phrased some of my content differently today, I stand by my words. 15/> > -- Zahra Billoo (@ZahraBilloo) September 19, 2019Billoo stated on Facebook in 2017 that she would not go to see the movie "Wonder Woman" because of the participation of actress Gal Gadot, who served in the Israeli Defense Forces. She justified her stance by saying she would similarly not see a movie in which the lead actress was proud of being a member of ISIS, al-Qaeda, or the U.S. military.In a 2014 post on Twitter, Billoo said she was opposed to "all terrorism, including all that regularly committed by the US military and Al Qaeda, the Israeli Defense Forces and ISIS."Billoo and other new members were hired to replace three former Women's March leaders dogged by allegations of anti-Semitism. Two of these members, Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour, have drawn fire for their support of Louis Farrakhan, the anti-Semitic leader of the Nation of Islam.
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| Trump Pushes Baseless Smear That Ilhan Omar ‘Partied’ on 9/11 Posted: 18 Sep 2019 09:54 AM PDT  REUTERSPresident Donald Trump on Wednesday used his Twitter account to boost a baseless smear claiming that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) danced at an event last week on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, a claim that's based on footage that wasn't actually taken from that day.Trump's tweet circulated a video from conservative personality Terrence Williams, in which Williams declared that Omar "partied on the anniversary of 9/11." In his video, Williams comments on footage of the Muslim congresswoman dancing and fumes that she's disrespecting the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks.But the footage of Omar dancing actually came from a Sept. 13 event hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus and wasn't taken on the 11th, as Williams and Trump wrongly claimed. Trump, however, used Williams' video to declare that Omar would help Republicans win Minnesota. "Ilhan Omar, a member of AOC Plus 3, will win us the Great State of Minnesota," the president tweeted. "The new face of the Democrat Party!" Williams' original tweet was deleted from Twitter at some point on Wednesday. Twitter confirmed to The Daily Beast that the video post was not removed by the social media site's administrators but was instead deleted by Williams or someone with access to his Twitter account.Williams did not respond to a request for comment.Omar blasted Trump's smear on Wednesday, tweeting that he has put her life in danger."The President of the United States is continuing to spread lies that put my life at risk," she wrote. "What is Twitter doing to combat this misinformation?"Trump has frequently targeted Omar with smears, inspiring death threats against the Somali-American lawmaker. In July, Trump suggested that Omar had married her own brother to commit immigration fraud—a baseless claim that's become increasingly popular on the right, despite being based entirely on a single, anonymous message-board post. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Man who allegedly changed adopted daughter's age then abandoned her turns himself in Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:14 AM PDT  An Indiana couple has been charged with neglect after allegedly changing their daughter's age from 11 to 22, moving to Canada and leaving her behind.
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| All the National Coffee Day deals and freebies you should take advantage of Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:59 AM PDT  National Coffee Day takes place on Sept. 29 and luckily for customers, there are tons of deals and even free cups of coffee to be had.
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| Earth to 2020 Democrats. The Syrian civil war was not caused by climate change. Posted: 19 Sep 2019 02:00 AM PDT  This is a sad excuse for real discussion on climate change and international conflict, two very separate issues.
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| US drone strike 'kills 30 Afghan farmers' Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:17 AM PDT  A U.S. drone strike intended to hit an Islamic State (Isil) hideout in Afghanistan killed at least 30 civilians resting after a day's labor in the fields, officials said on Thursday. The attack on Wednesday night also injured another 40 people after accidentally targeting farmers and laborers who had just finished collecting pine nuts at Wazir Tangi in eastern Nangarhar province, three Afghan officials told Reuters. "The workers had lit a bonfire and were sitting together when a drone targeted them," tribal elder Malik Rahat Gul told Reuters by telephone from Wazir Tangi. Afghanistan's Defense Ministry and a senior U.S official in Kabul confirmed the drone strike, but did not share details of civilian casualties. Taliban control in Afghanistan "U.S. forces conducted a drone strike against Da'esh (Isil) terrorists in Nangarhar," said Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. "We are aware of allegations of the death of non-combatants and are working with local officials to determine the facts." About 14,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, training and advising Afghan security forces and conducting counter-insurgency operations against Isil and the Taliban movement. Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor of Nangarhar, said at least nine bodies had been collected from the site. Haidar Khan, who owns the pine nut fields, said about 150 workers were there for harvesting, with some still missing as well as the confirmed dead and injured. Jihadist Isil fighters first appeared in Afghanistan in 2014 and have since made inroads in the east and north where they are battling the government, U.S. forces and the Taliban. The exact number of IS fighters is difficult to calculate because they frequently switch allegiances, but the U.S. military estimates there are about 2,000. There was no word from Isil on the attack. There has been no let-up in assaults by Taliban and Isil as Afghanistan prepares for a presidential election this month. In a separate incident, at least 20 people died in a suicide truck bomb attack on Thursday carried out by the Taliban in the southern province of Zabul. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in fighting across Afghanistan after the collapse of U.S.-Taliban peace talks this month. The Taliban has warned U.S. President Donald Trump will regret his decision to abruptly call off talks that could have led to a political settlement to end the 18-year-old war. The United Nations says nearly 4,000 civilians were killed or wounded in the first half of the year. That included a big increase in casualties inflicted by government and U.S.-led foreign forces.
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| Guatemala joins ranks of cocaine producers as plantations and labs emerge Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:41 AM PDT  Guatemala is no longer just a transit point for traffickers seeking to smuggle cocaine north towards the United States, authorities said on Thursday after security officials discovered several coca plantations and processing laboratories. The finds underscored concerns that cocaine production is moving beyond Andean nations, where the leaf has traditionally been grown, and closer to its main market, the United States. The discoveries of coca plantations and laboratories in different locations prompted Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart to admit Guatemala was now a cocaine-producing nation.
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| California’s Ban on School Suspensions Invites Another Parkland Posted: 18 Sep 2019 03:30 AM PDT  My daughter Meadow was murdered in the Parkland school shooting in Florida last year. It was the most avoidable mass murder in American history. And last week, Governor Gavin Newsom just forced into every school in California the policies that made it inevitable.The Parkland shooter was a known-wolf. Before the massacre was over, students knew who did it. He was considered so dangerous when he attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that school administrators banned him from bringing a backpack and frisked him every day for fear that he'd bring a deadly weapon.Even though security staff brought him to the principal's office all the time, his disciplinary record looked pretty clean on paper. If he had been arrested at school for his crimes, maybe the FBI could have followed through on tips that he would shoot up the school. And if he'd been disciplined for his sub-criminal misbehavior, maybe school administrators could have made a strong case for sending him back to a specialized school for disturbed students, where he so badly needed to be.But the Broward County school district had embarked on a quest to fight the "school-to-prison pipeline" by lowering suspensions, expulsions, and arrests. And school principals responded by systematically sweeping disturbing behavior under the rug. If one individual in the Broward school district made one responsible decision about the killer, the tragedy could have been averted. But you can't even call what happened a "failure," because each obviously irresponsible decision makes perfect sense given the policies.The state of California has just lurched far harder on leniency than Broward, by banning suspensions and expulsions for nonviolent offenses.Don't you dare think that in practice this leniency won't extend to violence, though. In Broward, 52 percent of teachers fear for their safety. Twenty-four percent have been threatened. Thirteen percent have been assaulted. And only 39 percent think that a student would be suspended if he assaulted them.Beyond leading to an increase in school violence and risk of deadly catastrophe, these leniency policies are profoundly bad for learning and for character. We know what happens when schools ban suspension.In Philadelphia, math proficiency declined by three percentage points, and reading proficiency by seven. Truancy skyrocketed from about 25 percent to over 40 percent, perhaps because even as suspensions for nonviolent offenses fell, suspensions for serious offenses rose.Education researcher Dominic Zarecki studied the effects of suspension bans in several California districts: Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, and Pasadena. The harm to math achievement was large enough to take a student from the 50th percentile to the 39th percentile after three years.Anti-discipline advocates claim that suspensions can be replaced by "restorative justice" and "healing circles." In reality, that does further damage. A gold-standard study from the RAND corporation found that in Pittsburgh, "restorative justice" harmed academic achievement among black students.Anti-discipline advocates claim that they are fighting the "school-to-prison pipeline." In reality, their policies increase the flow. The idea that not holding kids accountable for their actions will make them more law-abiding as adults is idiotic. If we tell juveniles there are no consequences for misbehavior, we set them up for failure in the workplace. And we put them at risk for a hard reckoning when they find that behavior that didn't even get them suspended in school gets them a felony charge when they hit age 18.For evidence, look no further than Los Angeles. As the school board banned suspensions, referrals to law enforcement increased 145 percent. And last year, threats of violence in Los Angeles schools increased by 70 percent.I sent my daughter to public school thinking she was safe. I had no idea there was a kid there so dangerous that they frisked him every day. I had no idea that the school was systematically covering up threats and violence. I didn't know.I can't let any other parent make that excuse. That's why I wrote a book to tell the true story of Parkland. I don't expect that this article or that book, or that anything, really, will convince the Democratic politicians who run California to think twice about this terrible mistake. My whole life's mission now is to inform parents.Chances are, your kid won't get murdered at school. But you have to know about the type of environment you're putting your child in. Public school in California is now a place where disruption, threats, and even violence can't even be punished.My advice to California parents: Stretch your wallet to send them to private school. Or keep them in public school and roll the dice.
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| Possible sighting of Loch Ness monster may back up scientists' theory Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:56 AM PDT  Could the mystery of the Loch Ness monster finally be solved?
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| How to make ratatouille, a vegetable dish that's both hearty and healthy Posted: 19 Sep 2019 11:59 AM PDT  This fall ratatouille recipe works perfectly as a side dish or a delicious vegetarian main. The different colored veggies looks great on the table, too.
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| Teens are pledging not to have kids until the government takes climate change seriously Posted: 18 Sep 2019 01:51 PM PDT  Emma Lim, an 18-year-old student at McGill University in Montreal, recently launched a climate-change movement called "NoFutureNoChildren."
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| Makeup guru Bobbi Brown reveals her top six favorite products from Walmart Posted: 18 Sep 2019 12:50 PM PDT  If we're going to take beauty advice from anybody, it's going to be Bobbi Brown.
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| ‘It’s happening’: Trump is getting impeached, former White House ethics chief says Posted: 19 Sep 2019 04:54 AM PDT  A former White House ethics lawyer has said people who oppose impeachment hearings probing the Trump presidency do not respect the US constitution."It's happening, [Donald Trump] is getting impeached," Richard W. Painer said on Twitter.
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| Alien enthusiasts descend on Nevada desert near secretive U.S. base Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:27 PM PDT  UFO enthusiasts began descending on rural Nevada on Thursday near the secret U.S. military installation known as Area 51, long rumored to house government secrets about alien life, with local authorities hoping the visitors were coming in peace. Some residents of Rachel, a remote desert town of 50 people a short distance from the military base, worried their community might be overwhelmed by unruly crowds turning out in response to a recent, viral social-media invitation to "storm" Area 51. The town, about 150 miles (240 km) north of Las Vegas, lacks a grocery store or even a gasoline station.
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| Officer who guarded El Chapo's wife arrested in drug sting Posted: 19 Sep 2019 04:14 PM PDT  A New York City police officer who moonlighted as a bodyguard for the wife of convicted Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was arrested in a drug sting Wednesday after prosecutors say he transported cocaine for an undercover officer posing as a drug dealer. Ishmael Bailey, 36, cried as he was arraigned Wednesday night.
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| Two key hearings on Capitol Hill could shed light on the origins of the Russia investigation Posted: 18 Sep 2019 08:27 AM PDT  House Judiciary Committee holds hearing on alleged surveillance abuse as Justice Department watchdog Michael E. Horowitz is set to testify before the oversight panel; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Washington.
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| The F-35 Is About to Enter Beast Mode Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:24 AM PDT  Here's the missile that will seriously boost the fighter jet's firepower.
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| CNN Brings on Corey Lewandowski, a Known Liar, for Totally Batshit Interview Posted: 18 Sep 2019 08:56 AM PDT  Less than 24 hours after former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski admitted that he has "no obligation to be honest to the media" while being caught lying red-handed, CNN brought on the pugnacious Trump loyalist for an interview that predictably went sideways.Appearing on CNN's New Day on Wednesday morning, Lewandowski and anchor Alisyn Camerota spent a frustrating and headache-inducing 16 minutes going round and round over his contentious and combative testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. The lengthy CNN segment, in fact, basically came across like a microcosm of Tuesday's hearing—lots of deflection, insults, contradiction, and condescension.For instance, Camerota began the interview by asking Lewandowski about his tactic of stonewalling or just straight-up refusing to answer questions from House Democrats during his testimony, prompting the possible Senate hopeful of doing the same exact thing to her. "You just mischaracterized saying I didn't answer the majority of questions," Lewandowski complained at one point. "You and I both know that's not an accurate statement. You and I both know I answered the majority of their questions."This prompted a mini-argument between the two over whether or not Lewandowski invoking executive privilege during the hearing was the same as refusing to answer a question. This was merely the beginning of the insufferability.Later on, Lewandowski—a one-time CNN political commentator—used a Trumpian line to mischaracterize the findings of the Mueller Report, claiming the report was "very clear" that there "was no collusion, there was no obstruction.""That's not what the Mueller Report said, Corey!" Camerota shouted back, adding: "Did you read the Mueller Report?"Lewandowski admitted he "never did," prompting Camerota to ask how he even knows what is in the report. The Trump operative, however, decided to flip it back to the CNN anchor, asking her whether she read the 400-plus page report. "There were 10 different examples of obstruction in there," she accurately said, causing Lewandowski to claim his former colleague was lying and being "disingenuous." She went on to air a graphic that showed the 10 different instances of Trump's attempted obstruction of the Russian investigation laid out in the report, including Lewandowski's own attempts to get then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reverse his recusal and stymie the probe."All of the examples that any regular citizen would have been charged and convicted of if they were not a sitting U.S. president," Camerota noted. "You know that part, right?""I don't know that to be true," Lewandowski dismissively replied.Camerota, eventually, swung it back around to Lewandowski's confession that he lies to the press, asking him if he only feels an obligation to tell the truth under oath. Lewandowski's answer was to invoke former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who is now a CNN contributor."You and your network continue to use him as a contributor who has been lying under oath," he sneered. "So if you're going to hold me to a standard, hold your same employees and contributors to that same standard."Naturally, the conversation went nowhere. As Lewandowski kept trying to make it about McCabe, Camerota attempted to get him to admit that he lies to the media, prompting his to ask: "Are you a journalist, or are you a talking head?""You're listening with your mouth," Camerota snapped back.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Injured crewman sues California dive boat owner after 34 diein fiery tragedy Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:44 PM PDT  Ryan Sims filed the suit last week in Ventura County Superior Court saying the Conception dive boat was unseaworthy and operated in an unsafe manner.
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| Single 25-year-old mother of 3 diagnosed with terminal cancer: 'I'm scared of leaving them behind' Posted: 19 Sep 2019 01:51 PM PDT  A single mother of three who had gone cancer-free for months has now been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
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| Trump's new national security adviser is a 'nice guy', but poorly equipped for one of the toughest jobs in the White House, sources say Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:34 AM PDT  Trump lauded O'Brien for his 38-0 negotiation record, but US and European officials feel the new national security adviser will be treading water.
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| American Airlines Mechanic who Sabotaged Plane before Takeoff Suspected of ISIS Ties Posted: 19 Sep 2019 10:41 AM PDT  A federal judge denied bail on Wednesday to an American Airlines mechanic, who has been incarcerated since July for sabotaging a plane with 150 people on board, due to suspicions the mechanic has ties to ISIS.Abdul-Majeed Alani was arrested on September 5 and confessed to tampering with a Boeing 737 at Miami International Airport weeks earlier, grounding the plane before it had a chance to take off. He told investigators at the time that he was upset over a contract dispute involving a union, and decided to ground the plane so that he could obtain overtime work.However, investigators subsequently found videos of mass murders committed by ISIS on Alani's cell phone.In the Wednesday bail hearing, prosecutors announced that Alani has a brother in Iraq who may be involved with ISIS, and that Alani had previously expressed his desire for Allah to harm non-Muslims.Alani's lawyer requested bail to be posted at $200,000 but Magistrate Judge Chris M. McAliley denied the request, deeming Alani a flight risk.Alani has been a mechanic at American Airlines for thirty years and does not have a criminal record. He is a U.S. citizen.Court documents assert that Alani used a piece of foam to obstruct the plane's air data module, which tracks air speed and other critical flight data. Security camera footage from July 17 shows Alani tampering with the aircraft.The plane had left the gate and reached the runway just before takeoff when the pilots received an error message, after which they aborted the takeoff.
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| Russia detains shaman on mission to 'banish Putin' Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:26 AM PDT  Russian police on Thursday said they had detained a Siberian shaman trekking towards Moscow on a mission to expel "demon" President Vladimir Putin, picking up a crowd of supporters on the way. Police in the eastern Siberian region of Buryatia told Interfax they had detained Alexander Gabyshev, the shaman, on a highway near Lake Baikal and would put him on a flight back to his home region where he is "wanted for committing a crime". Gabyshev's eccentric bid to walk from his home city of Yakutsk to Moscow, a distance of over 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles), has seen a group of followers join him on the way.
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| Here's Why Russia Has Detained 161 North Korean Sailors Posted: 19 Sep 2019 02:31 AM PDT  Is a crisis brewing over illegal fishing?
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| A black Charlottesville city council candidate dropped out of the race after receiving violent threats from a white supremacist, prosecutors say Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:15 AM PDT  A federal indictment accuses Daniel McMahon, 31, of using social media "to threaten and intimidate a potential candidate."
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| This Activist Invited ICE to a Community Meeting. Days Later They Arrested Him. Posted: 19 Sep 2019 01:51 AM PDT  Smith Collection/Gado/GettyWhen Houston immigration activist Roland Gramajo Reyes invited U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to a public meeting for people worried about being arrested due to their immigration status, he didn't think he'd end up behind bars.He was wrong. Gramajo's longtime advocacy on behalf of Houston's immigrant and Latino communities, family, attorney, and allies said, make them seriously doubt that the timing of his apprehension was an accident.Now, Gramajo, 40, is caught in a tug-of-war between law enforcement agencies seeking to either deport him after 25 cumulative years in the United States, or to first incarcerate him for improper entry into the United States, a charge that could land him in prison.Handout"His bond was denied Monday by a federal judge, so he will remain in detention while his illegal reentry charges are resolved," Raed Gonzalez, Gramajo's attorney, told The Daily Beast. "We are trying to reopen his immigration case… Many hurdles await us, but we are trying our best."Gramajo, a father of five and grandfather of two, was born in Retalhuleu, Guatemala in 1979, and first moved to Houston at age 15. Since then, he has made the improvement of the Guatemalan community and his adopted hometown his life's mission.He founded the Centro Organizativo Guatemalteco, which raises funds for humanitarian causes in Guatemala, as well as the Southwest American Systems Chamber of Commerce, which helps minority children participate in sports and beauty pageants. After Hurricane Harvey devastated the city in 2017, he took weeks off work to organize community efforts in helping those affected by the storm's flooding that caused an estimated $125 billion in damage. For his work, Gramajo has received commendations from a host of state and local organizations, including the Alief Independent School District, Houston Community College, the Golden Eagle Society, and the Houston City Council.Only days before his apprehension by ICE, Gramajo had organized a "know your rights" seminar for undocumented immigrants and their families in the city—the seminar to which he had invited immigration agents to participate. That invitation, Gramajo's defenders believe, may have unintentionally goaded ICE into looking into Gramajo's immigration status, a charge ICE has called "baseless.""To be abundantly clear, ICE personnel did not attend this Immigration Forum in any capacity—official or unofficial," the agency released in a statement last week, saying that Gramajo became a target after ICE received an anonymous tip about his status. "To portray him in one-sided media reports… as a victim of some 'covert' law enforcement operation is an insulting affront to public safety.""We're not gonna be able to comment any further on the anonymous tip" that led to Gramajo's apprehension, ICE spokesperson Tim Oberle told The Daily Beast when asked about the timing of the tip that lead to his arrest, "because it's anonymous, obviously."At the heart of ICE's deportation case is Gramajo's 1998 guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of burglary of a vehicle, for which he was sentenced to 20 days in prison. Gramajo's family told reporters in Houston that the charge was the result of a practical joke that he had played on a friend, the vehicle's owner.After his plea, immigration authorities commenced deportation proceedings against Gramajo, culminating in his deportation to Guatemala in summer 2004. Gramajo returned months later to be with his family in Houston—including his wife and children—and has remained ever since.It's that 2004 illegal entry for which Gramajo will stand trial. If he is found guilty, he could face a six-month prison sentence before his potential deportation."My sons, they are texting me asking how is their father, and that's what hurts the most," Magaly Quicano, Gramajo's wife, told reporters in Houston last week. "I've been praying, praying praying that he will win this immigration battle."Gramajo's defenders, who count members of Houston's political establishment among their members, told The Daily Beast that the potential deportation of the father of five is disgraceful."The prospect of deporting Mr. Gramajo is outrageous," Mayor pro tem Ellen Cohen, a member of the Houston City Council, told The Daily Beast. Last year, the city council commended Gramajo as "dedicated to serving and inspiring the community," and whose "qualities represent a true leader with an exceptional drive to improve the quality of life" throughout the city."His so-called 'crime' of coming back to this country—his country—after his 2004 deportation is a result of unjust laws. If I were in his shoes, I would have tried to find a way back to my spouse and children too," Cohen added, noting that she has called upon ICE to immediately release him. "He is an asset to Houston and there is no legitimate public safety-related reason to deport him again. If ICE's concern is public safety, they should be focusing their limited resources on those who are bringing violence, drugs, and human trafficking in to our communities."Houston City Council member Steve Le, who brought forth a successful proposal last year to name May 17, 2018 as "Roland Omar Gramajo Reyes Day" in the city, called Gramajo "a good person and community leader" whose presence in the city makes it a better place to live. "Our office appreciates everything he has done for the community and recognized him with a Mayoral Proclamation for his achievements," Le told The Daily Beast. "We were surprised by his arrest and hope the court will take into account all the great contributions he has made when determining his sentencing. We look forward to a favorable outcome for his family and our community."But after a judge denied his bond in a hearing on Monday, Gramajo will remain in federal detention until trial. Even if he wins his criminal case, his presence in the United States is far from assured—if deported, Gramajo will be barred from entering the United States for 20 years."I don't know what the verdict will be, but I leave everything in the hands of God and wait," Quicano said tearfully. "No more."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Marianne Williamson wants a national mandatory service for people ages 18-26 to combat climate change Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:22 PM PDT  At a presidential climate forum hosted by MSNBC, Marianne Williamson said Americans need a "World War II" level of mobilization against climate change.
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| Dascha Polanco dishes on her journey to body positivity Posted: 18 Sep 2019 06:14 PM PDT  Dascha Polanco, star of 'Orange is the New Black' and the upcoming musical 'In The Heights,' sat with AOL to share her struggles as a Latina in Hollywood.
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| Scientists reconstruct skeleton of elusive, pre-historic human Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:00 AM PDT ![Scientists reconstruct skeleton of elusive, pre-historic human]( "Scientists reconstruct skeleton of elusive, pre-historic human") Researchers in Israel say they have reconstructed the skeleton of a pre-historic human from a long-extinct and elusive species using DNA found in the pinky bone of a 13-year-old girl who died 70,000 years ago. Little is known about the Denisovans, who were ancient relatives of the more familiar Neanderthals and our own species. Evidence was first uncovered in 2008 in a cave in Siberia, and today it includes only three teeth, a pinky bone and a lower jaw, said Hebrew University genetics professor Liran Carmel.
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| Trump wants you to think he's racist so you won't notice he's corrupt and killing jobs Posted: 18 Sep 2019 03:06 PM PDT  'Who is the real racist, the person warning about illegal immigrants or the person saying that's racist?' When that's the debate, Donald Trump wins.
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| Parents of Israeli held in Gaza plead for news, action five years on Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:14 PM PDT  The parents of an Israeli man believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza since 2014 travelled to Geneva this week to demand international action to help bring him home. Avera Mengistu, a 33-year-old Israeli of Ethiopian descent, is depressed and suffering from mental problems since the death of his older brother when he crossed into Gaza five years ago. Israel's defence ministry determined he was being held by Hamas, but the Islamist movement governing Gaza has to date provided no information about his whereabouts or condition.
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| See Photos of the 2020 BMW Z4 M40i Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:59 AM PDT |
| A damning new report on the 737 Max blames 'inexperienced pilots' and the low-cost airlines that employ them — not Boeing Posted: 18 Sep 2019 08:39 AM PDT  The Boeing 737 Max has been grounded worldwide for months after two fatal crashes. A new report suggests that Boeing doesn't deserve all the blame.
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| Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Verdict Leads to Angry Fallout Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:54 AM PDT  Christopher FurlongTOKYO—Three executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) who ignored repeated warnings of a potential tidal wave that could result in a nuclear disaster, which did in fact take place, were found not guilty of criminal negligence resulting in death and injury by a Tokyo Court on Thursday. Many feel justice was poorly served. However, a former prosecutor says that the verdict was to be expected. * * *The Four-Hour Verdict* * *The Tokyo District Court ruled former executives of TEPCO were not guilty of criminal negligence, in the only criminal prosecution to come out of the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.The cataclysm at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in March of 2011 resulted in over 100,000 people losing their homes, wide-spread radioactive pollution, injuries, and the deaths of patients who had to be evacuated. The disaster, on the scale of Chernobyl, raised alarms around the world about nuclear energy and atomic safety. The disaster area has not been cleaned up entirely and is essentially a nuclear accident still in progress, requiring constant cooling. Radioactive water stored at the TEPCO facilities is likely to be dumped into the ocean next year—probably after the Olympics. The three former executives of TEPCO who were indicted on charges of professional negligence resulting in injury and death were: Tsunehisa Katsumata, 79, chairman of TEPCO at the time of the accident, and two former vice presidents—Sakae Muto, 69, and Ichiro Takekuro, 73. The trial centered on whether these three could be held criminally responsible for what the Japanese Parliament's Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission called "a man-made disaster." How the Earth Is Reclaiming Fukushima, the Ninth Ward, and Staten IslandThe central issue at stake could be summarized as this: Did the TEPCO officials know about the possibility of a nuclear-meltdown-inducing tidal wave, when did they know, and what did they do—or not do about it? TEPCO's six-reactor plant, located on the Pacific coast, was disabled after tsunamis triggered by the massive earthquake of March 11, 2011 flooded power supply facilities, which were unprotected, and crippled reactor cooling systems. Some reactors suffered fuel meltdowns, while hydrogen explosions damaged others. The indictment blamed the three former executives for injuries to more than 10 people from hydrogen explosions at the plant, as well as the deaths of 44 patients forced to evacuate from nearby hospitals. As early as 2002, TEPCO and the Japanese government were aware of a potentially disastrous earthquake and tidal wave causing a nuclear accident. The prosecutors argued, and the court also acknowledged that several times between February 2008 and March 2009 the TEPCO executives were warned of the risk of a tidal wave 14 meters (45 feet) high or higher hitting the power plant and causing a potential nuclear disaster. On March 11, tidal waves between 11.5 and 15.5 meters (50 feet) did hit the power plant, knocking out the power grid and, yes, as predicted for years, triggering the nuclear disaster. There were also independent reports that suggested the earthquake's tremors caused a nuclear meltdown in the 40-year-old Reactor One even before the waves hit, but those allegations were not considered by the court.The verdict, which took several hours for the judges to finish reading out loud—starting at 1:15 p.m. and ending around 4:30 p.m. with a short break—concluded that while the TEPCO executives did receive several warnings of a tidal wave large enough to cause a nuclear accident, they were justified in taking no safety measures for a number of reasons:1) If they had taken the warnings seriously and tried to take countermeasures it would have required them to close the plant down temporarily, which was considered prohibitively expensive. 2) There were questions as to how seriously to take the data about tsunamis.3) Even if the TEPCO executives had acted on the warnings, they probably wouldn't have completed safety countermeasures in time. In reaching the decision, the court stated that tsunami forecast information was vague, and that the three could not have "realistically" foreseen a disaster on such a grand scale. It took the judges so long to read out the explanation for their ruling because as ex-prosecutor Nobuo Gohara explains, "Legally the judgment made sense but on an emotional level, gut instinct level—it all seems wrong and the judges must know that. They wanted to convince people their judgment makes sense." Residents of Fukushima Prefecture took the judgment less gracefully. "It's a disgrace. It's a slap in the face and it shows that the courts here always value profits over people," said a 67 year old farmer from the area who had come to hear the verdict himself this afternoon. Former prosecutor Gohara noted, "There are limits to the Japanese justice system and I have said from the start that it was unlikely the individuals would be found guilty. What you have in the Fukushima Nuclear disaster is a failure of policy and of the entire organization. Japan does not have a legal mechanism for holding a corporation responsible for criminal behavior, and in this case the charges were criminal negligence—on an individual level. The hurdle is very high to prove that." * * *The Trial That Almost Never Took Place* * *The trial of TEPCO executives almost never took place at all.In June of 2012 residents of Fukushima Prefecture submitted criminal complaints against TEPCO executives and central government officials to try to make sure someone was found responsible for the nuclear accident. As noted, the Japanese Parliament's Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission called it "a man-made disaster," so it would seem to follow that men should be help accountable.However, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office decided not to indict anyone named in those complaints. In typical Tokyo Prosecutor's Office fashion, they deliberately tried to bury the story at first by leaking their decision not to prosecute on the day Japan won the bid for the 2020 Olympics.Despite the best efforts of the prosecutors not to serve the public interest, a prosecutorial review board decided on two separate occasions that the former executives should be indicted and made to stand trial. The Prosecutorial Review Board system was introduced in May of 2009 as part of judicial reforms in Japan that included the introduction of a modified jury system. If eight of 11 citizens chosen for the board agree that the prosecutors have failed to do their job, and that indeed an indictment is warranted—on two separate occasions—the individual named must stand trial. The court designates civilian lawyers to act as prosecutors, who then indict the individual. In February of 2016, the three former executives were indicted formally. The trial began in June of 2017. All of the former executives pled not guilty. The prosecution asked for five years in prison. * * *Jokyo Kokumi* * *It should be noted that even after the TEPCO executives were indicted, they were not jailed, although the charges were very serious and involved loss of life. In Japan, suspects in criminal cases typically are arrested and held for up to 23 days. But the executives of TEPCO, who are politically connected, belong to what the Japanese public now angrily refer to as Jokyu Kokumi (upper-class citizens who are above the law) so they remained at large during the entire trial. Carlos Ghosn, the former Chairman of Nissan charged with far lesser crimes, but a foreigner, spent months in detention without bail while prosecutors tried to extract a confession. Miwa Chiwaki, a 49-year old woman who was living in a small village in Fukushima Prefecture at the time of the meltdown, was outraged by the verdict. She is the spokesperson for a group of citizens supporting the pursuit of criminal justice in the Fukushima nuclear disaster. She told The Daily Beast, "It's as if the Japanese courts said that there is no one responsible at all. The argument that TEPCO executives would have had to shut down the power plant to put safety measures into place, therefore they had reason not to do it, makes no sense. It is the same as saying corporate profits matter more than people. The Japanese courts care more about the well-being of a company than a person. At least the case established that they knew of the danger...and did nothing."The Real Fukushima Fallout Isn't RadiationThe designated prosecutors in the case may appeal and demand a second trial. In Japan, prosecutors do have the right to appeal a case. Not guilty verdicts are rare and occur in less than one percent of all criminal cases. In general, prosecutors almost always appeal when losing the first round, but the prosecutors in this case are civilian lawyers. It is not clear what will happen next, or if anything will happen at all. Nuclear power plant operators in Japan have faced charges of criminal negligence resulting in death in the past and were found guilty. In April 2003, the Mito District Court found six of employees of JCO guilty over a fatal nuclear accident. They ruled that the company had allowed workers to use buckets to pour uranium solution into a processing tank, causing a nuclear fission chain reaction that resulted in the deaths of workers. The guilty were given suspended sentences and served no time in jail.Hiroyuki Kawai, a lawyer who represents the 5,700 Fukushima residents who filed the original criminal complaint, said in a press conference, "It's a terrible verdict. Yet, if there had been no indictment, the evidence would have never seen the light of day. In that sense, [the trial] has a historical significance." Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Missing Magnolia teen found safe in Dobbin, Texas Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:22 PM PDT  The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office confirmed that she was not abducted, but ran away.
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| Jerry becomes a hurricane en route to Puerto Rico; Humberto knocks out power in Bermuda Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:39 AM PDT  Tropical Storm Jerry strengthens into a hurricane. Meanwhile, there's power outages in Bermuda thanks to Humberto.
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| EXPLAINER-'Only Bibi' no more: Why does Israel's Netanyahu want to power-share? Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:24 AM PDT ![EXPLAINER-'Only Bibi' no more: Why does Israel's Netanyahu want to power-share?]( "EXPLAINER-'Only Bibi' no more: Why does Israel's Netanyahu want to power-share?") After failing to secure a clear election victory twice in six months, Israel's longest-serving prime minister now seems to be calculating that he can stay in power only by sharing it. Following Tuesday's deadlocked parliamentary election, a weakened Netanyahu offered a national unity government on Thursday to his chief rival Benny Gantz - a former general who has emerged this year as a fresh face to take on Netanyahu. Gantz did not even mention Netanyahu by name and left it to his junior party leaders to echo his campaign pledge not to enter an alliance with the prime minister, who faces corruption allegations which he denies.
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| US faces ‘unacceptable risk’ of exploding planes and crumbling buildings if Trump border wall funds not replaced, Pentagon warns Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:37 AM PDT  Donald Trump's border wall funding scheme has taken money away from critical military infrastructure, and is weakening the US Defence Department's readiness, according to a new report.The funding deficits for the military projects were detailed in annual budget requests sent from the Pentagon to Capitol Hill over the past three years. Those documents, reviewed by the Washington Post, describe crumbling warehouses with "leaking asbestos panel roof systems"; a drone pilot training facility with sinkholes and a bat infestation; and a middle school infested with mould.
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| Justin Trudeau says white 'privilege' blinded him to racism of blackface as he expresses 'deep regret' Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:45 PM PDT  Justin Trudeau has refused to rule out the existence of more pictures of himself in blackface as he said white "privilege" had blinded him to the racism of the practice. Three separate cases of Mr Trudeau wearing blackface have emerged in the last two days, shredding his reputation as a liberal poster boy a month before the Canadian elections. During a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Mr Trudeau said he "deeply regretted" the incidents, saying it was the sort of discrimination ethnic minorities "face on a regular basis". "I didn't see that from the layers of privilege that I have. And for that I am deeply sorry, and I apologise". He declined to be drawn on whether further photographs may emerge, saying "I am wary of being definitive about this because the recent pictures that came out I had not remembered." Mr Trudeau admitted he did not reveal the episodes to his Liberal Party during vetting processes when he ran for office, saying "I never talked about this. Quite frankly I was embarrassed". The Canadian leader's political turmoil began on Wednesday night, when Time magazine published a yearbook photograph of a 29-year-old Mr Trudeau wearing robes and a turban, his hands, face and neck coated with brown makeup. Then a teacher at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver, Mr Trudeau was attending an Arabian nights themed gala dressed as Aladdin. In the few photos from the event, Mr Trudeau appears to be the only reveller wearing makeup. On Thursday morning, Global News released an undated, low resolution video of Mr Trudeau wearing blackface, raising his hands in the air and sticking out his tongue. The Liberal party confirmed it shortly afterwards. "Wearing brownface is an act of open mockery and racism. It was just as racist in 2001 as it is in 2019," said opposition Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, adding that the prime minister is "not fit to govern". Justin Trudeau, 29, wearing a turban and robe, with dark makeup on his hands, face and neck Credit: Time Magazine Addressing the media on his campaign plane on Wednesday, Mr Trudeau admitted he also "wore makeup" while performing Day-O by Harry Belafonte at a high school talent show, taking the number of incidents to three so far. "I'm p----d off at myself, I'm disappointed in myself," Mr Trudeau said during his apology. The prime minister said he did not consider it racist at the time, but knows better now. Mr Trudeau dodged a question about whether he should resign, responding: "I think there are people who've made mistakes in this life and you make decisions based on what they actually do, what they did, and on a case-by-case basis, I think. I deeply regret that we, that I, did that, I should have known better but I didn't." Mr Trudeau is widely seen as a leading exponent of multiculturalism and diversity. Asked four years ago why he had nominated a gender-balanced cabinet, following his landslide election victory, Mr Trudeau famously responded: "Because it's 2015." BREAKING: A video — obtained exclusively by Global News — shows a third instance of Justin Trudeau in what appears to be racist makeup.cdnpolielxn43https://t.co/1WNWm9QPat— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) 19 September 2019 "This is the Trudeau brand imploding," said Stephanie Chouinard, professor of politics at Queen's University, of the images. Popular support for Mr Trudeau has slumped this year following accusations he pressured his former attorney-general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to drop a criminal probe into engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. The company, which is accused of handing out bribes worth C$47.7m to Libyan officials between 2001 and 2011, employs more than 3,000 workers in Quebec, where Mr Trudeau's own electoral riding of Papineau lies. In August, independent ethics commissioner Mario Dion accused the prime minister of violating Canada's ethics laws, while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has reportedly been in contact with Ms Wilson-Raybould - who was expelled from the Liberal caucus in April - to discuss the matter. Heading into the October 21 election, Mr Trudeau is currently tied with Conservative Mr Scheer in the polls. With little public support for either candidate, the Liberal party has attempted to fight the election on social issues, accusing Mr Scheer of having archaic views on abortion and same-sex marriage and digging up dirt on conservative candidates. "Trudeau has not been shy about contrasting his party's image with that of the conservative party," said Ms Chouinard. Against that backdrop, many Canadians will see hypocrisy in Mr Trudeau's blackface revelations. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologises for wearing brownface makeup in 2001 Credit: Reuters Jagmeet Singh, leader of the third-place NDP, called the image insulting. "It's about every young person mocked for the colour of their skin," tweeted Mr Singh, who himself wears a turban. West Point Grey Academy is one of several elite Vancouver private schools, catering to wealthy families in British Columbia, with annual fees of C$23,490. Exclusive. Sources have confirmed to me that this is THE picture of @JustinTrudeau in blackface from high school that he referenaced in his press conference. From the year book at Brebeuf college. cdnpoli He is singing Day Oh apparently. pic.twitter.com/ivBPoxbXi8— Evan Solomon (@EvanLSolomon) September 19, 2019 Profile | Justin Trudeau The gala Mr Trudeau attended – which also featured belly dancing, according to a 2001 school newsletter in 2001 – raised approximately $160,000 for the academy. Earlier this year across Canada's southern border, Virginia governor Ralph Northam refused to resign after admitting he had worn blackface, following the release of a yearbook photo. The Liberal Party did not respond to The Telegraph's request for comment.
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