[Mail] A man who killed two young girls and their parents by slashing their throats and setting their home ablaze during a violent New Year's Day home invasion in Virginia more than 11 years ago has been executed.
Death row inmate Ricky Gray, 39, was pronounced dead at 9.42pm on Wednesday following a lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia.
#2
He murdered a whole family, including two small children, so of course, his idiot lawyers are still whining (he may have "felt pain from the drugs").
It took far too long, but he's finally where he belongs - burning in HELL.
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/19/2017 23:33 Comments ||
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Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/19/2017 13:04 Comments ||
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#3
I was at the Dayton Hamvention about 10 years ago & was nearly killed by a massive man (?500 lb) who tumbled off his electric scooter when he tipped it over at high speed while making it do a 2-wheel turn into a food court at Hara Arena. Watching him fall toward me was like watching an avalanche of flesh.
#2
I wonder when the networks will realize that pissing off half of their viewing audience isn't good for business. I fully realize they aren't there yet--if they were they would have made it absolutely clear that no bullshit would be tolerated during the halftime performance.
Yesterday at about 12:00 a visiting USA couple, both in their sixties, was hijacked between Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage.
They stopped next to the road to take photographs when they were overpowered by two unknown males and forced to drive to a bushy area near Motherwell Township.
They were robbed of personal belongings and left tied in the bushes.
A local farmer noticed the abandoned vehicle and alerted police. SAPS Air Support was summoned and the couple was found with slight injuries. Several leads are being followed.
The Provincial Commissioner of the Eastern Cape applauded the swift response of all involved in the search for the couple and applauded the farmer for his alertness and reporting his suspicions to the SAPS.
[Bangla Daily Star] In a bid to establish dominance in local politics and business, Nur Hossain, a local Awami League leader, planned to kill his archrival Nazrul Islam, panel mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation.
Nur hired Rab men to carry out the plot, as he had "good relations" with some members of the elite force in Narayanganj.
From an informant in Nur's gang, Nazrul's father-in-law Shahidul Islam came to know about the plot some 15 days before the seven-murder incident.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2017 00:00 ||
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h/t Instapundit
Wisconsin's biennial budget picture got $714 million brighter Wednesday, with a projected deficit turning into a small surplus, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
Fiscal bureau director Bob Lang reported tax revenues are expected to be $455 million higher than what the Department of Administration projected in November. Also, spending in the current fiscal year that ends June 30 is expected to be $226 million lower -- largely due to lower-than-expected Medicaid enrollment -- and other revenues are expected to be $33 million higher.
That turns what was thought to be a $693 million deficit for the upcoming budget into a $21 million surplus, including all departmental budget requests.
h/t Instapundit
Staffers for the Trump transition team have been meeting with career staff at the White House ahead of Friday’s presidential inauguration to outline their plans for shrinking the federal bureaucracy, The Hill has learned.
The changes they propose are dramatic.
The departments of Commerce and Energy would see major reductions in funding, with programs under their jurisdiction either being eliminated or transferred to other agencies. The departments of Transportation, Justice and State would see significant cuts and program eliminations.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be eliminated entirely.
Overall, the blueprint being used by Trump’s team would reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over 10 years.
The proposed cuts hew closely to a blueprint published last year by the conservative Heritage Foundation, a think tank that has helped staff the Trump transition.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/19/2017 13:15 Comments ||
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#2
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be eliminated entirely.
OMG... the liberals will scream bloody murder over this.
#4
According to the British charity group Oxfam, in 2016 the eight richest men in the world controlled as much capitol as the poorer half of humanity combined. Six of the eight are Americans (Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Michael Bloomberg) and all are liberal, even Progressive. Each can easily afford to take on the projects supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities. Ditto Planned Parenthood. And they'd probably run them more efficiently, too, since they wouldn't have to accept the personnel and government rules along with the projects.
[Inquirer] AS EXPECTED, the European Parliament's legal affairs committee voted in favour of extending rights to robots, granting them what the committee called "electronic personhood", by 17 votes to two, with two abstentions.
The robot 'bill of rights' is intended to cover such issues as liability, such as when automated or robotic systems are involved in accidents or go postal, as well as ethical issues, such as should it be legal to beat your robot? Related article from TECHSPOT
[Guardian] Drivers in Paris must display an anti-pollution sticker in their vehicles or face fines in the latest attempt by the French authorities to improve air quality.
The sticker scheme, which became mandatory on Monday, includes cars, lorries, motorcycles and scooters, and bans some vehicles from the city during weekdays.
It follows numerous spikes in pollution in which smog has descended over the French capital, forcing traffic reduction measures and the introduction of free public transport on the worst days.
The six different coloured Crit’Air (air criteria) stickers indicate the age and cleanliness of a vehicle. Certain vehicles ‐ including petrol and diesel cars registered before 1996; vans registered before 1997; pre-2000 scooters and motorbikes; and lorries, trucks and buses from before 2001 ‐ are banned from the city between 8am and 8pm.
[Instapundit] ACCORDING TO THE PRESS CONSENSUS, TRUMP IS AN IMPULSIVE GOOFBALL, but he came up with "Make America Great Again" after observing Romney’s defeat in 2012:
It happened on Nov. 7, 2012, the day after Mitt Romney lost what had been presumed to be a winnable race against President Obama. Republicans were spiraling into an identity crisis, one that had some wondering whether a GOP president would ever sit in the Oval Office again.
But on the 26th floor of a golden Manhattan tower that bears his name, Trump was coming to the conclusion that his own moment was at hand.
And in typical fashion, the first thing he thought about was how to brand it.
One after another, phrases popped into his head. "We Will Make America Great." That one did not have the right ring. Then, "Make America Great." But that sounded like a slight to the country.
And then, it hit him: "Make America Great Again."
"I said, ’That is so good.’ I wrote it down," Trump recalled in an interview. "I went to my lawyers. I have a lot of lawyers in-house. We have many lawyers. I have got guys that handle this stuff. I said, ’See if you can have this registered and trademarked.’ "
Five days later, Trump signed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in which he asked for exclusive rights to use "Make America Great Again" for "political action committee services, namely, promoting public awareness of political issues and fundraising in the field of politics." He enclosed a $325 registration fee.
His was a vision that ran against the conventional wisdom of the time -- in fact, it was "much the opposite," Trump said.
To save itself, the Republican establishment was convinced, the GOP would have to sand off its edges, become kinder and more inclusive. "Make America Great Again" was divisive and backward-looking. It made no nod to diversity or civility or progress.
It sounded like a death wish.
But Trump had seen something different in the country, and in the daily lives of its struggling citizens.
This doesn’t sound like the behavior of an impulsive goofball.
#3
DJT's current strategy, laudatory comments, etc, in reference to Obama should continue. Seasoned with occasional 'faint praise' from his advisers of course.
- Dominic Puopolo, 51, is being held without bail on charges of threatening harm against a public servant
- Hillary Clinton was especially close to Puopolo's sister Sonia and mother, also named Sonia
- Puopolo once gave $20,000 to the Democratic National Committee, DailyMail.com has learned
- His mother was among 92 people on American Airlines Flight 11 on Sept. 11, 2001, when it crashed into the World Trade Center's north tower
- Puopolo posted a video on his Twitter account that said, 'This is the 16th of January 2017, I will be at the review/inauguration and I will kill President Trump'
He was arrested a short time later at a Miami Beach Subway restaurant and admitted to officers he had posted the threatening video.
[DAWN] Chief Justice of Pakistain (CJP) Saqib Nisar remarked on Wednesday that there was no doubt that a criminal act had been committed in the Taiba case.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by the CJP was hearing a suo moto case regarding the 10-year-old's alleged torture.
The child had allegedly been employed as a maid and abused by the now deposed Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Raja Khurram Ali Khan and his wife.
CJP Nisar directed the police to submit a challan ... list of charges ... in order for the trial to began.
The police submitted its investigation report for the case, but additionally sought a week's time to complete investigations and submit a final medico-legal report, saying they were still waiting for the results of a DNA test.
During proceedings, the CJP asked how crimes such as child abuse could be stopped in the future and whether Taiba's case could be considered bonded-labour.
Human rights lawyer Tariq Mehmood informed the court that there had been no progress on a bill concerning children's rights after it was presented in the Senate.
Under present law, anyone found guilty of employing a child is fined Rs200 and the child's parents Rs50, said Mahmood, who is a retired justice.
CJP Nisar also questioned the grounds on which Khan's wife, Maheen Zafar, was granted bail. Her lawyer Sardar Aslam responded that the offence her client has been accused of is bailable.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2017 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The focus of the Panamagate hearing on Wednesday returned to a piece of agricultural land which Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... allegedly bought in the name of his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, in 2011. The court also inquired after large sums of money that were gifted by the premier's son Hussain Nawaz to his father.
"We want to know the source of the amount, where such a big amount is coming from," Justice Ijazul Hassan posed a question to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan as a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa resumed hearing the case.
The judge was referring to an amount of Rs510 million that, he said, Hussain Nawaz, gifted to his father over a period of four years.
According to Justice Ijazul Hassan, the move signalled that a significant amount of money had been circulating.
Makdhoom Khan told the court that an amount of Rs210m was sent by Hussain Nawaz in 2012 and another Rs129.8m was gifted by him in the same year.
"It could be that this is black money. The son (Hussain Nawaz) sent the amount to the father (Nawaz Sharif) and the father bought the land in his daughter's (Maryam Nawaz's) name." Justice Khosa observed.
The judge was referring to agricultural land spread over 5.38 acres in Mansehra ...a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south... district, which is worth Rs243m. The land was declared under Maryam Nawaz's name by the prime minister in his 2011-12 income tax returns.
"This property was not benami, was it?" asked Justice Gulzar Ahmed, referring to the agricultural land.
"Why did Hussain Nawaz only give gifts to his father?" Justice Ijazul Hassan asked.
Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed reiterated the bench's desire to see the records of transactions. "We are not speaking in Persian," he said. "Present the records," he told the PM's counsel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2017 00:00 ||
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The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is officially asking the public for help heading off a looming threat to information security: quantum computers, which could potentially break the encryption codes used to protect privacy in digital systems. NIST is requesting methods and strategies from the world’s cryptographers, with the deadline less than a year away.
The Call for Proposals for Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization (link is external), announced today in the Federal Register, is NIST’s first formal step toward countering the danger that quantum computers pose to the security of digital information. Though practical quantum computers have yet to be built, their design—which would draw upon very different scientific concepts than conventional computers—would enable them to break some of the cryptographic algorithms commonly used to protect electronic messages.
With the public’s participation, NIST intends to spend the next few years gathering, testing and ultimately recommending new algorithms that would be less susceptible to a quantum computer’s attack.
First up is the gathering stage. Cryptographers can send proposed algorithms to NIST by Nov. 30, 2017. Full details are available at nist.gov/pqcrypto, but according to NIST mathematician Dustin Moody, their main concern should be with new algorithms for public key cryptography (link is external), a commonly used method of protecting information that uses electronic keys to unlock secrets.
Widely used public key cryptographic systems, which protect electronic banking data and many other kinds of information, use pairs of very large numbers to serve as the keys for decrypting the message. These numbers can be hidden by multiplying them together to produce even larger numbers that a conventional computer cannot easily factor. However, a quantum computer would be able to find the initial two numbers quickly, breaking the encryption.
“We’re looking to replace three NIST cryptographic standards and guidelines that would be the most vulnerable to quantum computers,” Moody said, referring to FIPS 186-4, NIST SP 800-56A and NIST SP 800-56B. “They deal with encryption, key establishment and digital signatures, all of which use forms of public key cryptography.”
from AlJaz inside is a link to PressTV which has video of the collapse
The 17-storey building dated from the early 1960s and had a shopping centre and clothing workshops inside [AFP]
At least 20 later 30
firefighters have died after a major commercial building in Iran's capital, Tehran, collapsed following a huge fire, according to the city's mayor.
The confirmation of the death toll by Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf came after conflicting casualty reports earlier on Thursday, with some state media outlets initially reporting dozens of deaths but later backtracking.
Firefighters battled the blaze for several hours before the building, just north of the capital's sprawling bazaar, fell. Police tried to keep out shopkeepers and others wanting to rush back in to collect their valuables.
The building came down in a matter of seconds, shown live on state television, which had begun an interview with a journalist at the scene. A thick plume of brown smoke rose over the site after the collapse.
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/19/2017 11:03 ||
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#1
So possibly not another case of insh'Allan construction collapse, but casualties due to people running into a burning building to rescue stuff, then the fire didn't melt the steel and the CIA-placed explosives were detonated.
#2
probably not construction error as the building has stood for 50 years
but over the years there were numerous changes to the electrical wiring, ventilation, etc.;
also, apparently, flammable material was stored all over the place with minimal or no sprinklers or smoke detectors
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/19/2017 12:09 Comments ||
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#3
Used to work construction and it was always amazing what had been done to old buildings.
One of the biggies was running modern plumbing in a turn of the century building by boring pipe sized holes through anything in the way. Imagine how the main carrying beams still worked with a hole 2/3 the width of the beam was cut through it.
Had to abandon a couple of projects cause the damn place would have come down around our ears if someone sneezed.
#8
As a former volunteer firefighter, it breaks my heart to read of the firefighters' deaths. I hate to hear of that anyplace. It's a hard and dangerous job. My deepest sympathies to their families.
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/19/2017 23:28 Comments ||
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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will name former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as his nominee for secretary of agriculture on Thursday, a senior transition official said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Perdue, 70, served on Trump's agricultural advisory committee during his presidential campaign. His nomination, which must be confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, will complete Trump's proposed Cabinet just two days before he is sworn in as president on Friday.
During his time as governor, Perdue's key agricultural issues included water management and making changes to the tax code that were beneficial to farmers, said Jeffrey Harvey, legislative director for the Georgia Farm Bureau.
Perdue, a Republican, was elected to two terms as governor, serving from 2003 to 2011. Before that, he served in the state Senate representing a rural swath of the state about 100 miles (160 km) south of Atlanta.
After finishing his second term as governor, Perdue founded Perdue Partners, a global trading firm that consults and provides services for companies looking to export products.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/19/2017 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Mail] A man who killed two young girls and their parents by slashing their throats and setting their home ablaze during a violent New Year's Day home invasion in Virginia more than 11 years ago has been executed. 
[Bangla Daily Star] In a bid to establish dominance in local politics and business, Nur Hossain, a local Awami League leader, planned to kill his archrival Nazrul Islam, panel mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation.
[Inquirer] AS EXPECTED, the European Parliament's legal affairs committee voted in favour of extending rights to robots, granting them what the committee called "electronic personhood", by 17 votes to two, with two abstentions.
[Guardian] Drivers in Paris must display an anti-pollution sticker in their vehicles or face fines in the latest attempt by the French authorities to improve air quality.
a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south...
