The pilot of an Indonesian passenger jet that crashed last year, killing 21 people, was charged Thursday with deliberately causing the disaster when he appeared in court.
Marwoto Komar, a former captain from flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, could face life in prison if convicted of the charge. He was named a suspect in February over the March 2007 crash of the Boeing 737 with 140 people on board in the central Java city of Yogyakarta.
Prosecutors Mudin Aresto and Jamin Susanto charged Komar with three counts of negligence and one of "deliberately" destroying or damaging an aircraft causing death. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The hearing opened with the charges being read out and was then adjourned until August 4 when the defence will get a chance to reply.
Komar's lawyer Muhammad Assegaf said his client would fight the charges on the grounds that international civil aviation codes rule out criminal liability for pilots in crashes. "We will at the very least question why the pilot is being criminalised for an accident. This has not yet happened anywhere in Indonesia or in the world," Assegaf said.
"Punishing the pilot would give rise to fears among pilots that one day they could be treated as a criminal over an aircraft accident," he added. "It's impossible that a pilot could do this deliberately."
An official government report in November found Komar ignored 15 automated cockpit warnings not to land as he brought the plane in at roughly twice the safe speed, causing the jet to bounce and career off the runway and burst into flames in ricefields.
Four Australian government officials and an Australian journalist were among those killed in the crash while following a visit by then Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer, who was on a seperate plane.
The Garuda pilot's arrest has angered Indonesian pilots, who have staged protests arguing only aviation experts and not the legal system have the right to determine who was at fault in an accident.
Komar was sacked by Garuda in February and has had his pilot's license suspended. Indonesia, which relies heavily on air links across the archipelago, has one of Asia's worst air safety records.
#3
I hadn't heard of this crash. Garuda is actually one of the better Indo airlines, perhaps because it has a lot of pilots qualified to international standards, since it does fly international routes. The purely domestic airlines are far more dangerous.
I think there's an "idiots of the day" bit somewhere here.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand--A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it. Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed. Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said.
The new name was not made public to protect the girl's privacy.
"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name," he wrote. "It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily."
The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her "K" instead, the girl's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.
In his ruling, Murfitt cited a list of the unfortunate names. Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.
New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Clarke said officials usually talked to parents who proposed unusual names to convince them about the potential for embarrassment.
#1
I have always wondered when someone was going to do something about these names.Living in the islands in the early 70's, I remember the kids named by cigarette brands and one classmate of mine named, 3 Pounds, of course it was in our language, and then the triplets that were born w/ colors for names!! Yes, like Red, White and Blue! that was very hard for me to wonder, how this would effect these poor kids in the future when they have to get up to introduce themselves to friends or in class or anywhere! it's embarrassing of course. I felt for these kids very much. It was like the indians naming their kids odd names, but at the same time, they made sense. But to be named, " Skippy" like the dog food or the dog, or the peanut butter or to be named after a president even~ these kids have middle names after presidents. That's right they were born during the Bicentennial year, so these kids were named Red, White and Blue and their middle names were presidents names. So go figure~ where they live, and what their going thru~
FORMER NASA astronaut and moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell - a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission - has stunningly claimed aliens exist. And he says extra-terrestrials have visited Earth on several occasions - but the alien contact has been repeatedly covered up by governments for six decades.
Dr Mitchell, 77, said during a radio interview that sources at the space agency who had had contact with aliens described the beings as 'little people who look strange to us.'
He said supposedly real-life ET's were similar to the traditional image of a small frame, large eyes and head. Chillingly, he claimed our technology is "not nearly as sophisticated" as theirs and "had they been hostile", he warned "we would be been gone by now".
Dr Mitchell, along with with Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard, holds the record for the longest ever moon walk, at nine hours and 17 minutes following their 1971 mission.
"I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real," Dr Mitchell said. "It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it.
"I've been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes - we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit."
Dr Mitchell, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics claimed Roswell was real and similar alien visits continue to be investigated. He told the astonished Kerrang! radio host Nick Margerrison: "This is really starting to open up. I think we're headed for real disclosure and some serious organisations are moving in that direction."
Mr Margerrison said: "I thought I'd stumbled on some sort of astronaut humour but he was absolutely serious that aliens are definitely out there and there's no debating it."
Officials from NASA, however, were quick to play the comments down. In a statement, a spokesman said: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe.
'Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue.' Could Nasa be covering up somthing? Gee, please, call Richard C. Hoagland!
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/24/2008 8:57 Comments ||
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#3
From his Wikipedia bio:
"Mitchell's interests include consciousness and paranormal phenomena. During the Apollo 14 flight he conducted private ESP experiments with his friends on Earth. [3] In early 1973, he founded the nonprofit Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) to conduct and sponsor research into areas that mainstream science has ignored, including consciousness research and psychic events."
"Mitchell says that a teenage remote healer who lives in Vancouver and uses the pseudonym Adam Dreamhealer, helped heal him of kidney cancer at a distance. Mitchell said that while he never had a biopsy (the definitive test for cancer), "I had a sonogram and MRI that was consistent with renal carcinoma." Adam worked (distantly) on Mitchell from December of 2003 until June of 2004, when the "irregularity was gone and we haven't seen it since."[4]"
"Mitchell has publicly expressed his opinions that he is "90 per cent sure that many of the thousands of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, recorded since the 1940s, belong to visitors from other planets"[5] and that UFOs have been the "subject of disinformation in order to deflect attention and to create confusion so the truth doesn't come out."[6] In 2004 he told the St. Petersburg Times that a "cabal of insiders" inside the US Government were studying recovered alien bodies, and that this group had stopped briefing US Presidents after John F. Kennedy.[7]"
#5
Wow. I wonder if the freedom of sharing information on the Internet is going to have an impact on how we view the idea of UFO's.
In case you want to make fun of Dr. Edgar Mitchell, here's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlkV1ybBnHI on the topic as well. And I remember watching a documentary once that had some very credible people acknowledging UFO incidents.
Mitchell said, "all our governments" The NASA response is very specific: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe. OK. But I notice immediately that he in no way refuted Mitchell's claim.
#9
Um... NASA and the government can't even keep national security secret. Let alone something as mind blowing as ET. Personally I don't believe that aliens have contacted our government if they have visited Earth. Our government and other agencies are just not competent enough to keep it quiet for 60 years.
#12
"Hey mom theres something in the backroom
I hope its not the creatures from above
You used to read me stories
As if my dreams were boring
We all know conspiracies are dumb"
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
07/24/2008 11:26 Comments ||
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#16
If NASA had access to UFO technology I suspect we'd be on Mars long ago.
If aliens came to Earth I really doubt the government, ours or any other filled with corruptible and often incompetent bureaucrats could keep things a secret for 60 years.
If aliens came to Earth I think they'd have better ways to examine patience using DNA or something more advanced and they'd forgo the Anal probing nonsense (wonder what Freud would say about all that?).
I have to assume someone in NASA is pulling the good doctors leg after they heard of your belief in ESP, etc.
Posted by: Kelly ||
07/24/2008 13:49 Comments ||
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#20
He slipped over to the BS psychic side of things in the 70's. He has all the analytical power, common sense and discernment of a Berkeley-ite tree-sitter.
From his bio:
Mitchell became engulfed by a profound sensation "a sense of universal connectedness." He intuitively sensed that his presence, that of his fellow astronauts, and that of the planet in the window were all part of a deliberate, universal process and that the glittering cosmos itself was in some way conscious. The experience was so overwhelming Mitchell knew his life would never be the same.
He slipped a major cog back then and has been wobbling ever since.
#22
I am so conflicted. In order to believe this support for one of my favorite conspiracy theories that UFO are real, I have to accept that this guy is credible. In order to accept he is credible, I have to ignore one of my other favorite conspiracy theories about the moon landing being faked.
Maybe this situation is presented to me as a test to see whether my brain is harvestable by the greys.
#23
These morons make this small planet circling a minor yellow dwarf star near the edge of the Milky Way galaxy look like the freakin' cross-roads of the universe.
TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake jolted northern Japan early on Thursday, injuring at least 91 people, trapping hundreds in halted trains and temporarily cutting off electric power to thousands of homes. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said there was no threat of a tsunami from the quake, which struck at 00:26 (4:26 p.m. British time Wednesday) and had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 and could be felt as far away as Tokyo.
A National Police Agency official said that 91 people were confirmed injured, 15 of whom were seriously hurt. Many were injured in falls or suffered cuts from broken glass.
The focus of the quake was 108 km (67 miles) below the surface of the earth in Iwate prefecture, a mountainous, sparsely populated region. The JMA initially put the focus at a depth of 120 km.
"I woke up immediately. It felt like it was shaking for a long time. Books and other things that were piled up fell on the floor. All the doors were open and things were shattered," Sho Koseki, a city official in Hachinohe, about 550 km northeast of Tokyo, told Reuters by telephone. Koseki said that troops had arrived in the area to assist, and the Defence Agency said that military planes were flying over the area to assess the extent of the damage.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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The parents of a Kurdish death row inmate in Iran, Farzad Kamangar, on Thursday reported to police the alleged abduction and torture of his 11-year brother Javid.
Kurdish teacher Farzad Kamangar's parents said neighbours saw Javid on Wednesday being bundled into a car with a Revolutionary Guards number plate. Javid was later released but was seriously injured in one eye during his ordeal, according to an Iranian Kurdish human rights group.
Javid's older brother Farzad was sentenced to death earlier this month for "collaborating with armed organisations" and "counter-revolutionary activities".
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is helping the countrys authorities fight forest fires that have broken out southeast of the capital this week.
UNIFIL on Wednesday dispatched a second helicopter after sending a first one late on Tuesday. The UN said its force responded immediately to a request from the Lebanese government to assist in the firefighting efforts, about 25 kilometres from Beirut.
Forest fires are a recurring problem in Lebanon, and devastated large tracts of woodland last year.
Italy is one of the largest contributors to UNIFIL, with 2,500 Italian peacekeeping troops deployed in Lebanon.
UNIFIL has been operating in Lebanon since 1978. After the July 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon, UN Security Resolution 1701 increased the force to some 12,300 troops.
Resolution 1701 forged a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. It authorised up to 15,000 peacekeepers to be stationed in Lebanon, supported by international and local civilian staff.
You reap what you sow...
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The scene repeats itself daily on city streets: a driver gets stuck bumper to bumper, blocking an intersection and preventing another car from turning left. But authorities say that was enough to cause Edwin Ramos to unload an AK-47 assault weapon on a man and his two sons, killing them.
The deaths immediately drew public outrage, which intensified when authorities revealed that Ramos, 21, is an illegal immigrant who managed to avoid deportation despite previous brushes with the law. The case has put San Francisco's liberal politics to the test, setting off a debate over its sanctuary law that shields undocumented immigrants from deportation.
On Wednesday, Ramos pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the deaths of Anthony Bologna, 49, and his sons, Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16. Bologna and his older son died in the intersection on June 22. His younger son succumbed to his injuries days later. Shortly after that, police arrested Ramos, a native of El Salvador and reputed member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, known as MS-13. Investigators believe he was the gunman, though two other men were seen in the car with him.
The heinousness of the deaths has put pressure on San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris to seek the death penalty against Ramos. Harris, who campaigned on an anti-death penalty platform and has never pursued capital punishment during her more than four years in office, has declined to say exactly how she intends to proceed. "This case has been charged as a special circumstance case," making it eligible for the death penalty, spokeswoman Erica Derryck said. "No additional announcement has been made about this aspect of the charging."
Ramos' attorney, Robert Amparan, said his client was not the shooter. "They have the wrong person," he said. Amparan declined to discuss details of the case, but he denied his client was involved in gang activity and said Ramos entered the country legally. Federal authorities contend Ramos is undocumented.
The victims' family learned that Ramos had been arrested at least three times before the shooting and evaded deportation, largely because of San Francisco's sanctuary status. The policy, adopted in 1989 by the city's elected Board of Supervisors, bars local officials from cooperating with federal authorities in their efforts to deport illegal immigrants.
Officials in the juvenile offenders agency interpreted the law to also shield underage felons from deportation by refusing to report undocumented ones. Mayor Gavin Newsom said he rescinded the policy regarding juvenile offenders after learning about it in May.
The Bolognas' relatives say Ramos apparently benefited from the policy when he reportedly was convicted twice of felonies in 2003 and 2004 but never was turned over for deportation. "All San Francisco's sanctuary ordinance has done is bring violence and death to this once-great city," said Frank Kennedy, who is married to Anthony Bologna's sister. Kennedy called for an investigation of the sanctuary policy and demanded "prosecutions for violating the law."
Meanwhile, local and federal authorities are pointing fingers at each other over Ramos' most recent arrest before the shooting.
Ramos was arrested in late March with another man after police discovered a gun used in a double homicide in the car Ramos was driving. The district attorney's office decided not to file charges against Ramos, and he was released April 2 even though he was in the process of being deported after his application for legal residence was denied, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
San Francisco Sheriff's Department spokesman Eileen Hirst said jail officials faxed ICE on March 30 asking if Ramos should remain jailed. Ramos was freed after Hirst said immigration officials didn't respond. ICE spokesman Timothy Counts said his agency did not receive word of Ramos' arrest in March. He said the only communication received about Ramos was an "electronic message" from the sheriff's department three hours after his release.
The case has garnered national attention, leading U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and an anti-immigration group called Californians for Population Stabilization to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to take over, alleging San Francisco authorities have mishandled it. "Because San Francisco's political leaders have already demonstrated their willingness to act in flagrant violation of federal law, I do not believe that local judicial institutions can be trusted to fairly try the case or mete out an appropriate punishment," Tancredo said in a letter sent Tuesday to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said he was unaware of the case and the congressman's request. Miller said the attorney general routinely responds privately to such requests.
Diana Hull, president of Californians for Population Stabilization, called on about a dozen cities nationwide with similar sanctuary policies to end those programs. "We need to remember always that a death-dealing policy like 'sanctuary' hides behind the false mantle of compassion," Hull said.
Nathan Ballard, a spokesman for San Francisco's mayor, said city officials were wrong to shield undocumented, juvenile felons from federal immigration authorities. "The sanctuary program was never intended to shield felons," Ballard said. "The policy was inappropriate."
However, Newsom "still supports the worthwhile aims of denying the federal government" assistance in deporting otherwise law-abiding undocumented residents, he said.
#1
Newsome: Anyone who disagrees with sanctuary status is a bigot and a xenophobe.
Choke on it prettyboy. Now this ahole is gearing up for a run at governor. I plan to be out of Cali by that time. Cali has gone to the crapper for good.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/24/2008 17:39 Comments ||
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#2
Conspiracy and obstruction.
If this was the sixties and the city officials were protecting members of the Klan and the victims were black, we all know how this would go down.
And helpfully point him in Newsome's direction....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/24/2008 19:00 Comments ||
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#4
CA Penal code Sec. 187
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), every person, not the actual killer, who, with reckless indifference to human life and as a major participant, aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces, solicits, requests, or assists in the commission of a felony enumerated in paragraph (17) of subdivision (a) which results in the death of some person or persons, and who is found guilty of murder in the first degree therefor, shall be punished by death or imprisonment in the state prison for life without the possibility of parole if a special circumstance enumerated in paragraph (17) of subdivision (a) has been found to be true under Section 190.4.
The penalty shall be determined as provided in this section and Sections 190.1, 190.3, 190.4, and 190.5.
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.
The pilot of an Indonesian passenger jet that crashed last year, killing 21 people, was charged Thursday with deliberately causing the disaster when he appeared in court. 
FORMER NASA astronaut and moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell - a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission - has stunningly claimed aliens exist. And he says extra-terrestrials have visited Earth on several occasions - but the alien contact has been repeatedly covered up by governments for six decades. 
TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake jolted northern Japan early on Thursday, injuring at least 91 people, trapping hundreds in halted trains and temporarily cutting off electric power to thousands of homes. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said there was no threat of a tsunami from the quake, which struck at 00:26 (4:26 p.m. British time Wednesday) and had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 and could be felt as far away as Tokyo.
