July 27, 2021

Stressed and "fighting demons" Biles exits the team competition

https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Biles-Said-She-Was-Not-in-a-Good-Place-Mentally-16343009.php


In the biggest upset for the United States at the Tokyo Games, Simone Biles withdrew from the gymnastics team competition after it had started on Tuesday, handing Russia’s squad a path to the gold medal and ending American domination of the event for more than a decade.

Biles, Team USA’s star, said she pulled out of the event because she wasn’t in the right place mentally to perform the difficult and often dangerous skills she is known for, after feeling so much pressure to be successful. She had been struggling with the stress of being the greatest gymnast in history, she said, and outside expectations were just too hard to combat.

July 27, 2021

olympic sport that requires $10,000 in "Gear"... air rifle

apparently, people can't compete at this level without the expensive "shooting coat" that helps the shooter to steady their body and heart rate... off the shelf coat costs $700... the competitors may be wearing coats made for them..which would be much pricier... then there are shooting shoes, the head and eye gear, gloves and the rifle with its attachements. Pricey sport.

https://apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-olympics-sports-ee25fd742d33374bbb8915a0a1216aa5





Olympic air rifles turning heads with futuristic looks

Admit it: Hearing about air rifle at the Olympics conjures up images of athletes firing wooden-stocked, pump-action BB guns at ominous cowboys and targets that spin when hit.

Far from it.

The guns used in the air rifle events at the Tokyo Olympics are the most precise implements at the Games, elaborately designed hardware firing wadcutter pellets within millimeters of a target 10 meters away.

Forget Red Ryder. Think Call of Duty.

“Really, what they are is just air rifles that are a regular 1.77-caliber that shoot lead pellets with compressed air,” USA Shooting national rifle coach Dan Durben said. “It’s just that everything else around it looks a lot fancier.”

Olympic air rifles were once standard issue, each one essentially the same down the line at the range. The issue back then was that while the rifles fit a certain shooter body type, everyone else had to adapt.

The rules were changed to level the playing field and shooters have since turned their rifles into erector sets, attaching risers, weights, extenders and apertures to the main components to shoot pellets with laser-like precision.

July 27, 2021

OK gun range that called itself a "Muslim-free" business, closes. hate doesn't pay

‘Muslim-free’ gun range closes in Oklahoma. ‘Looks like hate does not pay’

A shooting range and once self-proclaimed “Muslim-free” zone is up for sale in Oklahoma, following a years-long legal battle brought by a Muslim resident

.----------
Muslim community leaders and others aren’t shedding any tears over the latest news.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here? Looks like hate does not pay after all,” Adam Soltani, director of the Council on American Islamic Relations’ Oklahoma chapter, said on Facebook.

-----------

Save Yourself Gun Club — formerly Save Yourself Survival and Tactical Gun Range — made headlines in 2015 over a sign posted at the business that read: “This privately owned business is a Muslim free establishment!!! We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone!!! Thank you!”

Several months later, Raja’ee Fatihah, a Muslim man, filed a lawsuit against Save Yourself, alleging the owners made good on the promise of their infamous sign, and kicked him out after he came to the range because of his faith. Fatihah said he had heard about the sign, and that it was the reason he chose to go to Save Yourself Survival.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/nation-world/national/article253034728.html

July 27, 2021

US diplomat, pleads guilty to raping and drugging 23 women over 14 years while stationed in Mexico

US diplomat, 45, pleads guilty to raping and drugging 23 women over 14 years while stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City



Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 45, of La Mesa, California, pleaded guilty Friday to federal sexual abuse and transportation of obscene material charges
An investigation into Raymond was launched after a nude woman was spotted screaming for help on the balcony of his Mexico City apartment last May
The woman told the FBI she had no recollection of events after consuming drinks and food provided by Raymond
During their investigation, FBI agents said they recovered hundreds of files depicting more than 20 unconscious and nude women on Raymond's devices
The files date back to 2006, continuing up until May 2020
Photographs and videos clearly depict Raymond fondling the victims breasts and buttocks, in addition to lying in bed with unconscious women twice
Over the course of 14 years, Raymond admitted he recorded and/or photographed at least 24 unconscious and nude women without consent
If convicted, Raymond could potentially face life in prison

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9827861/Former-diplomat-45-pleads-guilty-raping-drugging-23-women-14-years.html

July 27, 2021

Texas Man, 68, arrested after video captures husky being abandoned on road. dog ok, adopted out

A man has been arrested and charged after a video of a husky being abandoned by a road went viral.

The video was filmed in Horizon City, east of El Paso and close to the Mexican border in southern Texas.

Luis Antonio Campos, 68, was arrested on Friday under suspicion of animal cruelty. He was held in El Paso County Jail before putting up the $5,000 bond that same day, jail logs show.




The video was filmed in Horizon City, east of El Paso and close to the Mexican border in southern Texas.

Luis Antonio Campos, 68, was arrested on Friday under suspicion of animal cruelty. He was held in El Paso County Jail before putting up the $5,000 bond that same day, jail logs show.


Officials said on Friday that at least one other arrest is expected in the case. Mr Campos is accused of being one of at least two people who left the dog on the side of the road on Tuesday.

A younger man can be seen in the video unleashing the dog. The husky then lies down next to the car. The man reenters the car, which drives off, prompting the dog to chase after it. An older man can be seen in the video through the driver side mirror.

The dog was rescued by a volunteer from Pawsitive Rescuers of El Paso and put up for adoption by Huckleberry Hound Dog Rescue, a nonprofit animal rescue organization, the El Paso Times reported.

The husky was adopted by Maddie Clappsaddle’s family on Wednesday. They named the about ten-month-old dog Nanook.

https://news.yahoo.com/man-arrested-video-captures-husky-131536926.html

July 27, 2021

Last victim identified in Florida condo collapse, bringing the death toll to 98 people

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-florida-condo-collapse-20210726-d73rsy6w5vfyzcdf5rjx4znjqy-story.html

The final victim of the condo building collapse in Florida has been identified, a relative said Monday, more than a month after the middle-of-the-night catastrophe that ultimately claimed 98 lives and became the largest non-hurricane related emergency response in state history.

Estelle Hedaya, an outgoing 54-year-old with a love of travel, was the last to be identified, ending what her relatives described as a torturous four-week wait. Her younger brother, Ikey Hedaya, confirmed the news to The Associated Press. A funeral was scheduled for Tuesday.


It comes just days after rescuers officially concluded the painstaking and emotionally heavy task of removing layers of dangerous debris and pulling out dozens of bodies.


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


The site of the June 24 collapse at the oceanside Champlain Towers South has been mostly swept flat, the rubble moved to a Miami warehouse. Although forensic scientists and rabbis are still at work, including examining the debris at the warehouse, seeking to recover any additional remains and personal items.

In the end, crews found no evidence that anyone who was found dead had survived the initial collapse, Fire Chief Alan Cominsky has said.

July 27, 2021

Former Sen. Barbara Boxer assaulted, robbed in Oakland's Jack London neighborhood

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/barbara-boxer-assaulted-robbed-oakland-jack-london-16341325.php

Former Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., was assaulted and robbed in Oakland's Jack London neighborhood on Monday, her office said in a tweet.

Boxer, 80, was assaulted by an assailant who "pushed her in the back, stole her cell phone and jumped in a waiting car," the tweet said.

The former senator was not seriously injured in the confrontation, according to the tweet.

The Oakland Police Department could not confirm whether Boxer was involved in a robbery and assault on Monday but did say that a victim was walking on the 300 block of 3rd Street in Oakland when she was approached by someone. The incident is being investigated by the Oakland Police Department's robbery section, the police department said.

July 27, 2021

Pizza restaurant brawl over wait times

https://youtube.com/shorts/9wV0ffwhXvQ?feature=share

July 27, 2021

5 killed in bakersfield including deputy

https://ktla.com/news/california/kern-county-sheriffs-deputy-among-5-killed-in-hostage-standoff-at-bakersfield-area-home/

California sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot this weekend when his SWAT team tried to rescue people held hostage inside a San Joaquin Valley home by a man armed with an AK-47-style rifle and a handgun, authorities said Monday.

Four other people were also killed in the shootout, including the gunman — who had been previously arrested multiple times for domestic violence offenses, according to Lt. Joel Swanson, a spokesperson for the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.

Editor’s note: This story includes discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

Swanson did not know the specifics of the 41-year-old shooter’s previous arrests and he has not yet been named publicly. A restraining order against the gunman — filed by one of the victims and effective June 3 — was supposed to stop him from coming to the home where the killings occurred.

Three people inside the home — believed to be the gunman’s sons and their mother — were fatally shot during the standoff Sunday afternoon in Wasco, a small community in the middle of farm fields northwest of Bakersfield.

The woman had filed the restraining order, Swanson said, but authorities were still trying to determine what had prompted her to seek legal action against him. The restraining order was also supposed to prevent the gunman from having firearms.

July 26, 2021

The new real estate normal: Boise house that sold for $239K in 2018, sells for $523K in bidding war

The new real estate normal
In the fracturing American economy, any house can inspire a bidding war.

Descisciolo had moved from California to Idaho a few years earlier with his wife and two young daughters, in part because the area was still affordable for a middle-class family. He’d managed to buy their home in a new suburb called Star in 2018 with help from a relative, spending $239,000 for a new three-bedroom house with a horseshoe pit in the backyard. During the next few years, he’d watched out his back window as the Boise metropolitan area continued to expand outward, until the crop dusters slowly disappeared from the sky above his house and construction crews built another subdivision behind his backyard. Then, early in the pandemic, he’d begun to receive form letters from investors offering to buy his home. “We can pay now. We can pay cash,” one read. Descisciolo started checking the estimated value of his house on Zillow, watching in disbelief as it continued to rise by $30,000 each month, until it felt to him like the only sensible thing to do was to sell and then use the proceeds to build a bigger home for his family farther from the city

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

McFerrin posted the listing online and went back to her office to watch the traffic grow: 34 views in the first 10 minutes, 238 within an hour, more than 1,000 by the end of the afternoon. The Boise area had an average of 25 active buyers for each available house, many of whom were investors who offered to pay above asking price with all cash, which meant hundreds of first-time buyers had spent months trying and failing to find a home. Their standard offers now typically included a personal note written to the seller.

-----------

There was the offer from Carl and Vickie Foster, with an escalation clause that would go up to $511,000. “Obviously, all-cash is great,” McFerrin said. Then she told them about the offer from the Christensens, which came with a small down payment but a purchase price that escalated up to $513,000. “I talked to their Realtor, and it’s actually a neat story,” McFerrin said. “They’ve missed out on multiple offers, and they’re starting to run out of hope, and they’d never been willing to do an escalation clause before. So, the fact that they managed to come in with an offer this strong, I’m impressed. They really want this house.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/18/idaho-housing-market/