January 16, 2022

Florida Police Sergeant grabs neck of female colleague and pushes her against patrol car

Florida Police Sergeant Puts His Hand On The Neck Of A Female Officer Who Tried To Deescalate An Arrest

https://twitter.com/DCohenNEWS/status/1481790079119015937



Rosa also said Pullease threatened the man with pepper spray as officers were trying to put him into the police car. That's when the female officer ran from behind and pulled the sergeant by his belt to get him away from the suspect.

“In accordance with our department policies and procedures that call for intervention when there is an imminent fear of engagements escalating unnecessarily, the officer is seen grabbing the sergeant by the back of his duty belt and pulling him backwards,” Rosa told Vice News.

Pullease then grabbed his colleague and pushed her against a patrol car while placing one hand on her neck.

“The initial contact between the sergeant and the officer was his hand against her throat,” Rosa said.

Pullease walked back to the suspect in the vehicle seconds later. The sergeant opened the car door and closed it immediately before pointing at the female officer and saying something.

Florida Police Sergeant Puts His Hand On The Neck Of A Female Officer Who Tried To Deescalate An Arrest



--------------------------------------------------
https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/florida-cop-seen-putting-hand-on-fellow-officers-throat-on-body-cam-video/

Sunrise police Chief Anthony Rosa said in a statement Pullease has been relieved of supervisory responsibilities, and an internal affairs investigation is active and ongoing.

Rosa called the female officer’s actions “definitive and demonstrative of good leadership.”

January 16, 2022

hot mic catches high school broadcasters body shaming girl athletes and laughing... fired immediatel

The comments were circulated on social media, and you can probably find them if you really want to. Travis Lazarczyk of the Portland Press Herald had the story of their immediate firing:

WHOU-FM owner Fred Grant said he fired Jim Carter and Steve Shaw on Thursday night after they completed their broadcast of a high school basketball game in Caribou. Grant said he began seeing complaints almost immediately after the announcers made their comments. Shaw, a former athletic director, and Carter, a former coach, had broadcast games for WHOU for about a month, Grant said.

…

The broadcasters, who didn’t realize their microphones were on, made the derogatory remarks about players in a girls’ game between Central Aroostook and Easton that they were watching on a monitor while they prepared for their game at Caribou.

In a 40-second video posted to Twitter, the two are heard making derogatory comments about the weight of some players. One of the broadcasters was heard to say, “two girls out here extremely overweight. Awful.” Other derogatory comments were followed by laughter

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/maine-high-school-broadcasters-fired-after-hot-mic-catches-shaming-of-girls-basketball-players/ar-AASOWta

“I gotta say I’ve never heard anything so unprofessional as what Jim Carter and Steve Shaw said about a couple of the … players tonight, You should both be ashamed of yourselves and remove yourselves from high school basketball,” one commenter posted to WHOU’s Facebook page.

“I agree,” someone posted in a reply to that comment. “One is my granddaughter and she is totally devastated!”

Another person remarked on the WHOU Facebook page, “The girls singled out in that video will NEVER forget that. It will stick with them for the rest of their lives. … Their bodies never should have been a topic of discussion.”

Several commenters on the station’s Facebook page praised Grant for firing the announcers swiftly.

https://www.pressherald.com/2022/01/14/announcers-fired-by-houlton-radio-station-after-body-shaming-comments-about-girls/

January 16, 2022

Priorities

https://twitter.com/Craig_A_Spencer/status/1482174635722563591?t?

January 16, 2022

lots of mayhem this week: 20 year old shot dead by police after backhoe rampage

January 16, 2022

dad planned Burger King robbery w kids friend. another employee thought it was real robbery, killed

the employee friend by accident when firing at the dad. YIKES.


Earlier this month, a 16-year-old employee of a Burger King in Milwaukee was fatally shot during an attempted robbery. Now comes a startling twist to the case from prosecutors: They say the robbery was staged, and the teen who died was in on it, reports the Kansas City Star. A criminal complaint lays out what allegedly happened, per WISN. Prosecutors say 41-year-old Antoine Edwards cooked up a plan with Niesha Harris-Brazell, who worked at the restaurant with his daughter. Niesha was assigned to work the drive-thru on Jan. 2, and the plan was for Edwards to drive up and demand money at gunpoint.

Edwards did exactly that, but prosecutors say Niesha panicked in the moment. When she was slow to hand over the money, they say Edwards began climbing through the drive-thru window. That's when another employee, who wasn't in on the staged robbery, opened fired and accidentally struck Niesha, according to the complaint. Edwards never fired his weapon during the altercation. The employee who shot Niesha, identified as Derrick Ellis, has been charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon. He fled the scene and remains at large, say authorities.

Edwards has been charged with murder and contributing to the delinquency of a child where death is a consequence, per the complaint. Investigators say he admitted his role and said his daughter had nothing to do with the planning of the staged robbery.

https://www.newser.com/story/315691/fatal-burger-king-robbery-takes-unexpected-turn.html

January 16, 2022

Cruise Cancels at Sea, Stranding Passengers

Cruise Cancels at Sea, Stranding Passengers
Norwegian Gem was nearly halfway through its itinerary when COVID issues hit


Kim Newton and Matt Daly, of Surf City, N.C., wait for a taxi after the Norwegian Cruise Line canceled their cruise on the Getaway last week in Miami. They were on their honeymoon. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)


Four days into a 10-day cruise, the trip was canceled because of COVID issues. That leaves the passengers who left New York on Sunday floating, stranded at sea, USA Today reports. Any hopes Aimee Focaraccio, the day in St. Maarten, had for an early return were dashed by an announcement to passengers. "We will arrive as per schedule on the 19th in the morning," it said. Focaraccio is not looking forward to the rest of her birthday trip on the Norwegian Gem. "I really can’t imagine four more sea days back to back without much to do," she said.

The line said Friday evening it isn't sure when the Gem will reach New York again, attributing the cancelation to "COVID-related circumstances." Other cruises, by Norwegian and other lines, have been canceled or suspended over the past week or so. Another Gem passenger said he has no complaints. "It was not the exact itinerary we signed up for but has still been an absolutely amazing cruise," Anthony Bivona told USA Today. Norwegian's total cancelations during the spike in COVID cases has reached 12. The Gem's passengers will receive a full refund, per Cruise Industry News.

https://www.newser.com/story/315695/cruise-passengers-sit-on-ship-after-cancellation.html

January 15, 2022

woman gives up baby and sues after finding out sperm donor lied about ethnicity, education

A woman in Japan who thought the man she commissioned as a sperm donor was also from Japan, and educated at an elite university, was distressed to find out that wasn't the case—facts she found out when she was already pregnant and it was too late to have an abortion. Vice reports she had the baby, gave it up for adoption, and is now suing the donor for $2.9 million in a case that's shining a spotlight on Japan's illicit sperm-trade industry.

Per the Tokyo Shimbun, the woman, said to be in her 30s, wanted to have a second child, but after finding out her husband had a genetic disease, she decided to seek out a sperm donor online. She found one—a man who claimed he was Japanese and a graduate of Kyoto University. The two had sex 10 times before she became pregnant in June 2019, after which she found out the truth: The man was actually Chinese, had attended a different college, and was married. She handed over the baby to a "child welfare facility" after it was born.

https://www.newser.com/story/315671/mom-makes-drastic-move-after-learning-of-sperm-donors-lies.html

A Japanese woman gave up her baby after finding out the sperm donor she used had lied to her about his marital status, ethnicity and educational background. She is now suing the donor—a first for the country.

The woman, who has only been identified as a 30-year-old woman from Tokyo, said she and her husband wanted to try for a second child but began looking for a sperm donor through a membership exchange site (SNS) after they discovered he had a hereditary condition.


The woman found a sperm donor in his 20's on social media who claimed he graduated from one of the top universities in Japan and that he was Japanese. He also told the woman he was single. The woman and donor reportedly had sex 10 times in order to get pregnant and in June 2019 the two were successful, Tokyo Shimbun reported.



But later she found out the donor was actually a Chinese national who was indeed married and did not graduate from Kyoto University as he claimed.


By the time she learned this information, it was too late to receive an abortion and she gave birth to the baby. Japanese media reported the baby is now in the care of a child care facility in Tokyo.

https://www.newsweek.com/woman-gives-child-sues-sperm-donor-she-met-online-lying-about-education-ethnicity-1668550https://www.newsweek.com/woman-gives-child-sues-sperm-donor-she-met-online-lying-about-education-ethnicity-1668550

January 15, 2022

Meet the MAGA Extremist Who Might Be Arizona's Next Gov, Kari Lake used to be a Dem, now likes nazis

Meet the MAGA Extremist Who Might Be Arizona’s Next Governor
Kari Lake used to be a Democrat. Now she’s appearing with Nazi sympathizers. Trump endorsed her—and she just might win.





Meet Kari Lake, a former TV journalist turned aspiring gubernatorial candidate who was once a Republican turned independent, then Democrat, and is now the specific flavor of fringy-Republican that MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, former Trump national security adviser Mike Flynn, and Gosar find appealing enough to endorse in a multicandidate primary for governor—along with Trump himself.

Lake has never held elected office before, but she’s quickly risen in notoriety during this race. She’s appeared with QAnon activists and Nazi sympathizers. She has supported a secretary of state candidate with ties to the QAnon conspiracy theory movement. Her rivals see her not just as a problem for other candidates running for the nomination but also for the party’s chance to keep the governor’s mansion in general.


-----------

Lake has said that if she were elected governor she would direct Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to open a wide-ranging criminal investigation into the 2020 election where he would “seize all election material, all election equipment, and he should start questioning people immediately.” She’s described Trump as “pretty close to perfect” (at least in her latest iteration; years ago, she was an outspoken Trump critic). Trump’s decision to overlook Lake’s anti-Trump past and endorse her seems to be based on a mixture of her focus on investigating the 2020 elections, her skepticism about any measures to curb Covid-19—and her television skills.

-------------------


She’s bragged about how she sought ways around vaccination requirements when looking for a restaurant to dine at in New York. She’s bragged that she has not gotten a Covid vaccine, “and I don’t plan on getting it.” She’s also propagated the same arguments casting doubt on the safety and efficacy of vaccines—a position that actually puts her to Trump’s right. “I’m not believing a lot of the science, so-called science coming out of some of our so-called experts,” Lake said in mid-January.


https://newrepublic.com/article/165038/kari-lake-trump-extremist-arizona-governor

January 14, 2022

Graffiti plagues Joshua Tree, Pinnacles and numerous California state parks

Most of the graffiti in Joshua Tree National Park is created with acrylic paint, spray paint and stickers, but staff members have also observed chalk, charcoal and etched graffiti. A large amount of the graffiti has occurred near roads and campgrounds, and of the 601 graffiti incidents reported since 2017, 413 have been removed.

“Graffiti in Joshua Tree is a widespread issue impacting park infrastructure as well as cultural and natural resources,” Tegarden wrote.
Farther north in Pinnacles National Park, a famous cave defaced with red graffiti required an extensive cleanup in late 2021, closing the feature for weeks.

Volunteers power wash graffiti off of boulders at Pine Canyon near Mount Diablo.




Save Mount Diablo organized this volunteer effort to clean up graffiti in the wind caves at Pine Canyon.




Elaborate graffiti outside of Landers, Calif., within the Mojave Desert.



More defaced rocks in the Mojave Desert.



https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/Graffiti-plagues-Joshua-Tree-Pinnacles-16771051.php?IPID=SFGate-HP-CP-Spotlight

January 14, 2022

Professor suspended for jokey? video to students "you people are just vectors of disease to me"

the cursing starts at about the 4 minute mark... lots of F bombs. and worse



He begins the video by wearing an astronaut-ish helmet and speaking as if he were an intergalactic traveler. Things get weirder—and more foul-mouthed—from there. As a result, a history professor at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., has been placed on administrative leave, reports the Washington Post. A post at Inside Higher Ed calls the video by 74-year-old Barry Mehler "part performance, part protest," the latter because he objects to returning to the classroom amid the pandemic. Among the reasons the professor is in hot water:

“You people are just vectors of disease to me, and I don’t want to be anywhere near you," he says in his introductory video to students. "So keep your f---ing distance. If you want to talk to me, come to my Zoom.”

“None of you … are good enough to earn an A in my class,” he says. “So I randomly assign grades before the first day of class. I don’t want to know [anything] about you. I don’t even want to know your name. I just look at the number and I assign a grade. That is how predestination works."

https://www.newser.com/story/315668/professor-suspended-after-bizarre-video-to-students.html