[AP] KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) ‐ A Michigan man charged with killing six strangers between picking up rides for Uber pleaded guilty to murder on Monday, just before attorneys were set to interview jurors for his trial.
Jason Dalton’s surprise move came about three years after the shootings, which occurred over the course of a few hours in and around Kalamazoo. Dalton pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder over his attorney’s objections, triggering a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole on Feb. 5.
"Yes, I’ve wanted this for quite a while," Dalton replied when a judge asked if the pleas were voluntary.
The 48-year-old Dalton answered "yes" to a series of questions, admitting that he shot eight people at three locations. After his arrest, police quoted Dalton as saying a "devil figure" on Uber’s app was controlling him on the day of the shootings.
Four women were killed in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant: Barbara Hawthorne, Dorothy "Judy" Brown, Mary Lou Nye and her sister-in-law, Mary Jo Nye. Rich Smith and his 17-year-old son, Tyler Smith, were fatally shot while looking at a pickup truck in a dealer’s lot.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/08/2019 8:38 Comments ||
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#2
All seriousness aside, my little sister informed me yesterday ( from her Stately Kalamazoo County abode) that one of the victims was a friend of our mother and she went to school with another one of them. She has been following this quite closely and was releived at the sudden turn of events yesterday.
#1
Kudos to the exercise leader at the senior center who gave them a workout routine that incorporated controlled stretching, balance, light calisthenics, camaraderie, and memory training in such an amusing way.
[BGD] Sgt. Michael Eckert is a United States Marine and he has a unique workout routine that builds explosive strength without bulking up. He does a lot of what he calls "Strength Circuits" that are basically multiple sets of strength and calisthenic exercises with little rest in between sets.
Don't do this if you want to get fit.
Let your heart rate recover, THEN do the high intensity exercise.
As you get fitter your heart rate will drop faster.
As you can see "our" super-marine is already extremely fit so needs very little recovery time.
If you don't recover you won't get the benefit of HIIT and you'll not burn fat.
[AFRICANEWS] South Africa’s ruling African National Congress implied on Sunday that it had nominated former president Jacob Zuma as candidate for its legislative elections in May.
Zuma is currently embroiled in corruption scandal. The ANC expressed commitment not to introduce people involved in corruption cases at a news conference in Durban.
Party spokesman, Dakota Legoete said ‘’ we are still at the stage where every candidate must accept or decline his or her nomination ‘’.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2019 00:00 ||
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[AFRICANEWS] The Gabon presidency has reported the death of two soldiers involved in the attempted coup of Monday morning.
The fifth officer and leader of the action has also been enjugged Please don't kill me! , the presidency confirmed. An earlier report said four of the five plotters had been arrested.
It is not known the circumstances around which the two died. The leader of the mutiny was found hiding in a house close to the state broadcaster.
He managed to elude security forces deployed to arrest them after making an announcement on state radio earlier on.
Government assures situation under control, four soldiers picked
The Gabonese government spokesperson confirmed to Rooters and French channel, RFI, that the attempted coup had been brought under control.
"The government is in place, the institutions are in place," Guy-Bertrand Mapangou told La Belle France24.
Gabon coup soldiers arrested, internet off but Libreville calm
Apparently, there were only five soldiers involved in the attempt, out of which government confirmed that four had been arrested whiles one is on the run. African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... condemns coup attempt
Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, said in a tweet that the attempted coup in Gabon was strongly condemnable. He added that the AU will not countenance an unconstitutional change of government.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2019 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
[SG.NEWS.YAHOO] Peru announced Monday it was barring entry to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his cabinet, increasing pressure on the socialist leader days ahead of his second-term inauguration.
The move announced by Peru's Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio followed a decision Friday by 12 Latin American countries and Canada not to grant recognition to Maduro's hardline government following his controversial re-election in May.
Popolizio told Peru's RPP radio that Lima's immigration authority would be given "a list of all the members linked to the leadership of the Maduro regime, including family members, so that they cannot enter the country."
He said the measure would take effect immediately.
Popolizio said the ban would also include bank transfers from individuals named on the list.
The 14-member Lima Group met in the Peruvian capital Friday to discuss ways to step up pressure on Maduro's regime.
The Group, which includes Canada, called on Maduro to temporarily transfer power to the opposition-controlled National Assembly until free elections can be held.
However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... Mexico -- under the new leftist government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador -- refused to sign the statement.
Lopez Obrador defended the move on Monday, saying his administration was simply following a policy of "non-intervention."
"It's not about ideological sympathies," he said.
Maduro was re-elected on May 20 in a ballot boycotted by the main opposition parties and widely condemned by the international community, including the United States which called it a "sham."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe Venezuela can start getting their respect next week?
[SG.NEWS.YAHOO] A special North Korean train entered China late Monday, Yonhap news agency reported, raising speculation that leader Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... could be on his way to Beijing.
The train crossed the border around 10.15 pm local time (1315 GMT) and was expected in the Chinese capital Tuesday morning, the Southern news agency reported, citing an informed source.
China is the isolated, nuclear-armed North's key diplomatic ally and main source of trade and aid, and Kim visited three times last year to pay his respects to leader Xi Jinping.
Until his first trip in March, Kim had not meet Xi for more than six years after inheriting power from his father, as relations between the neighbours once described as close as "lips and teeth" deteriorated.
But a whirlwind of diplomacy enveloped the Korean peninsula last year, with Kim also meeting the South's President Moon Jae-in three times, and culminating in his high-profile Singapore summit with US counterpart Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... in June.
None of Kim's 2018 trips to China were announced in advance, and the earliest indications of the first one -- before Kim met either Moon or Trump -- came when his train was spotted in Beijing.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
is K J Un afraid of flying?
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/08/2019 0:13 Comments ||
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#2
No one has ever killed everyone on a train with a MANPAD.
[DW] The Trump administration has downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... 's delegation to the United States, an EU official has confirmed to DW. The demotion happened at the end of last year without notice.
The unannounced move by the US State Department, which has not previously been reported, downgraded the EU delegation's diplomatic status in Washington from member state to international organization.
"We don't exactly know when they did it, because they conveniently forgot to notify us," an EU official who is familiar with the matter told DW in an interview.
It sounds like someone at State is being passive-aggressive about things. Those people don’t forget.
"I can confirm that this has not been well received in Brussels," the person said, adding that the issue and an official EU response was still being discussed.
After the delegation noticed that the EU's Washington ambassador had not been invited to certain events late last year, officials organizing the state funeral for President George H.W. Bush provided final confirmation to EU diplomats that the status of the representation had in fact been downgraded. Diplomats believe the downgrade must have been implemented in late October or early November.
After discovering the downgrade, EU diplomats in Washington reached out to the State Department, which is responsible for diplomatic affairs, for clarification. "They have told us that they forgot to notify us and that this is a decision they have taken because that is apparently what the chief of protocol thinks is the proper thing to do," the person said.
The EU official said the bloc ambassador's status in Washington was upgraded to the level of a nation state ambassador in September 2016, after a lengthy and intensive process by the State Department under former President Barack Obama Ready to Rule from Day One...
So not a long-standing tradition, merely another of President Obama’s little poop bombs for his successor. Such a lovely man.
In a major foreign policy speech in Brussels in early December, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised Trump, a self-declared nationalist, and urged European countries to reassert their national illusory sovereignty vis-a-vis the EU.
Asked for comment, the State Department did not respond on the issue, citing limited operations due to the government shutdown. "Due to the lapse in appropriations, the Press Office will be operating on a reduced status. Communications with the media will be limited to events and issues involving the safety of human life or the protection of property, or those determined to be essential to national security," the State Department said in an email.
#1
Asked for comment, the State Department did not respond on the issue, citing limited operations due to the government shutdown. "Due to the lapse in appropriations...
Limited opns at Foggy Bottom and a disgruntled Europe, are we to assume there are downsides as well ?
#5
Ohgeedarn that's too bad. How much longer is the EUSSR gonna be around once more states leave? Maybe we'll downgrade you to towel boy at the spa then.
[AnNahar] French police placed in durance vile You have the right to remain silent... a former professional boxer on Monday who was seen punching coppers during a "yellow vest" protest in Gay Paree, in shocking scenes that have highlighted the violence of recent protests.
The images filmed on Saturday show a heavily built man in a black duffel coat square up to several coppers before knocking them down in a hail of punches and kicking them on the ground.
One of the officers is then beaten by other protesters wearing yellow vests before he is rescued by fellow riot police in protective equipment and helmets.
The ex-boxer, identified by French media as 37-year-old Christophe Dettinger, is a former heavyweight professional fighter who reportedly works for the local government in the Essonne area south of Gay Paree.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said Dettinger, known in the ring as "The Gypsy From Massy", a town south of Gay Paree, had handed himself into police in the capital.
"He was immediately arrested and will be held accountable for his acts by the justice system," Castaner added.
Dettinger, the boxer, could face years in jail if convicted over his rampage on Saturday on the Leopold-Sedar-Senghor bridge which links the Tuileries gardens to the Musee d'Orsay in central Gay Paree.
Assaulting a police officer can lead to up to three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (51,000 dollars), though sentences can be increased in certain circumstances.
The French boxing federation issued a statement condemning the violence, saying that it "ran completely contrary to the values of our sport."
"The French Boxing Federation sends its support to the family and loved ones of the officer who was a victim of this individual, but equally to all the security forces who have been on duty these last weeks," it said.
Dettinger's former coach, Jacky Trompesauce, had urged the father of three to give himself up to police earlier on Monday.
"There was something that set it off, which I learned overnight," Trompesauce told RMC radio on Monday morning, claiming that a woman was attacked by the police, prompting Dettinger to respond with a flurry of punches.
Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), along with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), will introduce the No Budget, No Pay legislation, which stipulates that members must pass all budget resolutions and appropriation bills by the start of the fiscal year, October 1, or else they will not receive any pay.
Meanwhile Dems in the House want to be able to automatically raise the debt ceiling.
Posted by: Jan ||
01/08/2019 10:33 ||
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#1
How about a Constitutional Amendment, that if Congress fails to pass appropriations on all Federal departments by 1 October, the entire body is barred from reelection or appointed offices for 10 years. Suddenly, I feel real compromise will occur.
#3
IIRC, the Constitution prohibits cutting the pay of Congressmen during their session. That sort of thing was done in pre-Revolutionary times and was much out of favor with the Founders.
#6
might find inflation taken a lot more seriously. A greater problem is that the electorate doesn't take their habitual re-election of incumbents very seriously.
[DAWN] HARIPUR: A school principal and a female teacher were tossed in the clink Book 'im, Mahmoud! and sent to jail for allegedly subjecting a girl student to corporal punishment, police said on Sunday.
Both the accused were on pre-arrest bail from a local court since the registration of case.
Khalabat Township police quoted Waheed Khan, a resident of Sector No 4 in Khalabat Township, as saying that his daughter, Bushra Khan, student of 10th grade at Iqra Public School, was severely beaten up by school principal, Abid Khan and female teacher, Aniqa Bibi on Oct 16, 2018, over unknown reasons. He said she had lost her senses and started behaving like a mentally unsound person.
The complainant told the police that when she was taken to a private doctor who referred her to psychiatry ward of Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... , where she remained admitted for several days. He accused the principal and the female teacher of hitting his daughter in the head which resulted in her developing psychological complications. On his complaint, the police had on Oct 28 started the paperwork but haven't done much else against the school head and the female teacher under section 13/34 of the Child Welfare Protection Act, 2010.
The accused had, however, obtained bail before arrest from the local court which was cancelled by additional sessions judge-II on Saturday, leading to arrest of both the accused from the courtroom.
The female teacher was sent to Haripur jail the same day, while the police produced the principal before the judicial magistrate for obtaining his physical remand, but the court declined to grant the same, and sent him on judicial remand on Sunday.
Meanwhile, ...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout Montefiore's foot was still stuck and the hound had completely soaked his uniform with slobber... the school principal denied that he or any of the teachers of school had ever subjected the girl to corporal punishment. He claimed that the girl was already a psycho patient and was undergoing treatment.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2019 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Pakistain Medical Association (PMA) on Sunday said the country registered birth of 15,000 babies on the first day of the New Year, showing an increase of over five million in a year, which was not a good omen for a country which had miserably limited resources to run itself.
It demanded the government to formulate an effective policy to control the alarmingly increasing population.
"The PMA has been raising its voice for long to curb the rapid increase of population in Pakistain. The birth of 15,000 babies in Pakistain on the first day of 2019 is an alarming sign," said PMA secretary general SM Qaisar Sajjad in a policy statement of the medical fraternity’s premier body.
The PMA official cited a report issued by the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... agency for children giving the number of births per day in Pakistain.
"It means we have 450,000 births in a month and 5.4 million in a year. This proves that Pakistain is among the countries registering the fastest population growth in the world."
The PMA said at present Pakistain was a country with more than 200 million people and in a few years it would be the fourth most populous nation in the world.
"The PMA thinks that it is a distressing situation as at the moment 60 per cent of the national population stands below the age of 25 years; 25 million children are not going to school and 90pc population is not being provided with clean drinking water. Malnutrition is another big issue and food scarcity is a grave problem as well.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2019 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] A Senate committee was informed on Monday that 300 cases of child sexual abuse were registered in Islamabad over the last five years, while another 260 cases went unregistered.
Cases of child abuse have been on the rise in Pakistain. A report compiled by NGO Sahil last year reveals that more than 12 children are abused every day. Instances of child abuse rose 32 per cent in the first six months of 2018 compared to the corresponding period in 2017, it says.
A Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) official earlier told Dawn that 3,445 cases of child abuse had been reported last year, according to data collected by NGOs.
Nuzhat Sadiq, the convener of the Senate special committee on the issue of increasing incidents of child abuse, raised concerns over human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... minister Shireen Mazari's absence from the committee's meeting today.
"The surge in cases of child sexual abuse is a very important matter. The human rights minister did not attend the last session either," Sadiq noted, adding: "This is very non-serious of her."
Ministry of Human Rights representatives told the Senate committee that Mazari "is at PM House" and were unsure whether she would be able to attend the session.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
'Over 500...'
the real number, including abuse where people are too scared to report, is probably closer to 50,000
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/08/2019 9:16 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] Rwanda’s national airline will start operating regular flights to and from Israel in the coming months after the two countries on Monday signed a bilateral agreement as part of the Open Skies aviation reform.
The development comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Rwandan President Paul Kagame agreed in September to open embassies in each other’s countries, amid a diplomatic flurry that has seen Jerusalem develop closer ties with other African nations such as Chad.
[IsraelTimes] Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun blockaded herself in a room, begged for help on social media, saying she was fleeing her family; Bangkok announces she won’t be sent back against her will.
A Saudi woman used social media to draw attention to her plight trying to flee her family, claiming that authorities in Thailand confiscated her passport and were holding her Sunday at an airport hotel room in Bangkok.
Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, 18, began posting on Twitter late Saturday after Thai authorities stopped her in transit from Kuwait. She claims to have a visa for Australia, where she appears to have been planning to seek asylum.
Earlier in the day, Thailand’s immigration police chief, Maj. Gen. Surachate Hakparn, said Alqunun’s father would arrive Monday night, and that officials would see if the young woman was willing to depart with him.
On Twitter, Alqunun wrote of being in "real danger" if forced to return to her family in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , and has claimed in media interviews that she could be killed. She told the BBC that she had renounced Islam and is fearful of her father’s retaliation.
Alqunun told Human Rights Watch that she was fleeing beatings and death threats from her male relatives who forced her to remain in her room for six months for cutting her hair.
Her plight mirrors that of other Saudi women who in recent years have turned to social media to amplify their calls for help while trying to flee abusive families. Alqunun’s Twitter account has attracted tens of thousands of followers in less than 48 hours and her story has grabbed the attention of foreign governments and the UN refugee agency.
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.
[AFRICANEWS] South Africa’s ruling African National Congress implied on Sunday that it had nominated former president Jacob Zuma as candidate for its legislative elections in May.
North Korea
[AnNahar] French police 
