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Green Light

Red light camera CEO sentenced for bribing public officials

John Vibes
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 08:57 UTC
red light cameras
© Tom Dodge/Dispatch Photo
After being found guilty of bribing politicians to implement her due process-removing products, Karen Finley, former CEO of the red light company Redflex, was sentenced last week to 14 months in prison this week. In addition to the charges that she was sentenced for, Finley is also awaiting sentencing on similar charges in a different state, which could potentially compound her jail time.

The prosecutors laid out the case against Finley in the following court statement:
From December 2005 to February 2013, Finley served as CEO of a red light camera enforcement company. As part of her plea agreement, Finley admitted that, between 2005 and 2013, she participated in a scheme in which the company made campaign contributions to elected public officials in the cities of Columbus and Cincinnati through a consultant retained by the company. According to admissions made in connection with her plea, Finley and others, including another executive of the company, agreed to provide the conduit campaign contributions with the understanding that the elected public officials would assist the company in obtaining or retaining municipal contracts, including a photo red light enforcement contract with the City of Columbus.
This case has shed doubt on the process by which red light cameras are installed in cities across the US.

Even US District Judge Michael H. Watson, the judge presiding over the case, admitted that the whole process could be a "sham."
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Sheriff

Sheriff deputies side with inmates in Santa Clara hunger strike

John Vibes
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 08:16 UTC
Prisoner's hands in a cell
The Santa Clara County sheriff deputies union has made an unprecedented statement in support of inmates who recently took part in a hunger strike to air grievances about their housing and treatment. The inmates are hoping to improve living conditions, and their demands are very reasonable.

Just before the hunger strike began, the inmates published a list of 5 demands, which read as follows:

l. End: Meaningless classification reviews and biased appeal process.
Solution:
A. Incorporate classification practices of other jurisdictions (CDCR, Alameda County,
etc.)
B. Establish independent oversight and review of inmate appeal process, jail conditions,
practices and policies.
C. Safeguard all due process protections.
2. End: Placement in solitary confinement when there exists no serious rule
violation to merit such placement.
a. Prohibit the use of long-term/indefinite solitary confinement.
b. Prohibit the use of solitary confinement based solely on gang allegations,
affiliation, validation, etc.
Solution:
A. Follow the classification and housing practice of other jurisdictions (CDCR, Alameda
County, etc.)
B. Allow all inmates a genuine opportunity to be downclassed and properly integrated
into the general population.
C. Determine classification/housing of all inmates based on individual behavior.
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Black Magic

FBI agents, prosecutors to be replaced in Eric Garner probe in rare shake-up


RT
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 05:51 UTC
Protesters, demanding justice for Eric Garner
© Elizabeth Shafiroff/Reuters
Protesters, demanding justice for Eric Garner, hold placards while shouting slogans in Foley Square, New York December 4, 2014.
The Department of Justice has replaced New York-based FBI agents and federal prosecutors who reportedly do not believe charges should be brought against an NYPD officer who killed Eric Garner in 2014. The rare move is expected to advance the probe.


Comment: When politics outweigh your boots on the ground.


The DOJ opened the investigation into Garner's death in December 2014, after a New York State grand jury decision not to indict New York Police Department officer Daniel Pantaleo. Garner, 43, had been confronted by Pantaleo and another officer for allegedly selling "loosies" — untaxed cigarettes — on a street corner in Staten Island, before Pantaleo put Garner in a chokehold. Garner eventually died, repeating "I can't breathe." His last words became a slogan of numerous protests against police brutality.

The federal civil rights investigation has since stalled, according to the New York Times, as federal prosecutors and FBI agents in New York assigned to the case have argued that federal charges should not be brought against Pantaleo, who has remained an NYPD officer working on desk duty since Garner's death.
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Bad Guys

Gay Trump supporters attend Ohio rally with no hassles - now getting death threats from leftists after interview

Jim Hoft
Gateway Pundit
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 15:38 UTC
gay trump supporters threatened
© Wall Street Journal
Cody Moore and Dewey Lainhart
Gay Trump supporters Cody Moore and Dewey Lainhart were interviewed at a massive Trump rally in Cincinnati in mid-October.

The two men told The Wall Street Journal they were "tired of the bullshit government" and were supporting Donald Trump for president.

The video of their interview had 256,000 views and over 900 comments.

Now leftists and Hillary supporters are threatening to kill them.

At the end of the interview Lainhart says he is a supporter of the Second Amendment saying,
"I look over my back and I do carry because I love the Second Amendment."
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton took millions from the most violent anti-gay regimes on Earth.

And the Democrat hypocrites could not care less.

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Robot

New study predicts robots could put more than 1mn Brits out of work by 2030


RT
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 20:34 UTC
Robot
© Jean-Paul Pelissier / Reuters
More than 1 million jobs could be automated by 2030 as part of a fourth industrial revolution powered by artificial intelligence (AI), according to research by Oxford University and consultancy firm Deloitte.

The study found there is a 77 percent probability of 1.3 million "repetitive and predictable" administrative and operative roles being automated within 15 years.

More than 850,000 public sector jobs - including teachers, social workers and even police officers - could also be replaced by computer programs.

Although the figures appear to herald a future blighted with mass unemployment, Deloitte claims automation has created more work than it has destroyed over the past 140 years.

Comment: The trend towards automation and artificial intelligence keeps marching forward for better or worse.

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Attention

US elections: Long lines, vote-changing machines reported amid record-breaking early turnout


RT
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 20:10 UTC
Casting ballot in US
© Jim Young / Reuters
New ID requirements, voting machines casting the wrong vote, unfamiliar or distant polling places, and names missing from voting rolls are just some of the challenges that are starting to disrupt voting leading up to Election Day.

The November presidential election will be the first without federal protections under the Voting Rights Act, with 14 states creating laws requiring voter ID.

Early voting has begun in several states, including Texas, North Carolina and Florida, with record turnout - although voters for both parties have reported experiencing problems with voting machines.

Comment: The US elections are off to a flying start and already we are seeing problems. Maybe Trump has made people more aware of possible "vote rigging".

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Bomb

Huge explosion 'destroys building' in northwest China town, casualties feared (UPDATE)


RT
Mon, 24 Oct 2016 10:05 UTC
Explosion
© ZhangZhulin / Twitter
An explosion has ripped through a town in Fugu County, Shaanxi province in northwestern China, resulting in multiple injuries and severe damage to local infrastructure, according to local media.

The blast occurred on Monday at about 2pm local time (06:00 GMT) near a hospital in Xinmin Township, according to the China Daily.

The incident "might be related to unlicensed storage of explosives," the local Huashang newspaper cited local residents as saying. This has not been officially confirmed.

Comment: See also: Is there more to the 2015 Tianjin, China, explosion than meets the eye?

Update (Oct. 24): At least 7 were killed and 94 injured in the explosion. The cause of the explosion is still unclear.

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Black Cat

Canadian nursing home employee charged with murdering 8 elderly residents


RT
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 19:08 UTC
Caressant Care Woodstock Long Term Care Home
© Peter Power / Reuters
The Caressant Care Woodstock Long Term Care Home, where police accuse nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer of killing seven elderly patients, is seen in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada October 25, 2016
A 49-year-old Canadian nurse has been charged with eight counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of nursing home residents that were in her care, according to Ontario police.

Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer, from Woodstock, Ontario, is suspected of carrying out the murders between 2007 and 2014, by administering a fatal dose of a drug. The police were unable to comment on the type of drug used, where it came from, or what Wettlaufer's motive may have been.
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Airplane

25 British Airways cabin crew taken ill mid-flight, plane diverted


RT
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 18:42 UTC
British Airways Boeing
© Toby Melville / Reuters
A British Airways Boeing
Cabin crew aboard a British Airways flight became so unwell their aircraft was forced to divert to Vancouver, Canada on Monday night.

Airline spokeswoman Michele Kropf confirmed 25 people were transferred to local hospitals after BA Flight 286, en route from San Francisco to London, was forced to land in western Canada.

However, she insisted smoke inhalation was not the cause of the problem, according to Reuters.
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Bomb

ISIS & Taliban group both claim responsibility for Quetta terror attack in Balochistan, Pakistan


Katehon
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 17:47 UTC
quetta
Dozens killed and more than a hundred injured - the result of a raid of terrorists on the Police Academy in Quetta, Balochistan province.

What happened

The attack took place at night from Monday to Tuesday. Initially police academy students were taken hostage. Later it became known that the terrorists committed a mass shooting. 59 people were killed and 117 wounded. It is likely that the number of victims will increase. The police and the authorities claim that it is the most massive and deadly attack in recent years.


Comment: More details:
Officials said that five or six armed men had attacked the dormitory of the Balochistan Police College on the outskirts of Quetta where cadets were resting and sleeping, provoking a counterterrorism response from the army and Frontier Corps. "Two attackers blew themselves up, while a third one was shot in the head by security men," said Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister of Balochistan. Bugti added that more than 200 of the 700 cadets at the academy were quickly rescued.

Comment: It's still not clear who exactly was responsible. Pakistani authorities blamed the Al-Alimi faction of Lashkar-e Jhangvi, who are affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban (the "Hakimullah group" mentioned above). But Islamic State also claimed responsibility, and included a photograph of three alleged attackers:
The Islamic State (IS) extremist group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a police academy in southwestern Pakistan that left at least 61 people dead.

The group's Arabic-language Amaq news agency said on October 25 that "Islamic State fighters" carried out the overnight attack in Quetta, the provincial capital of restive Balochistan Province, in which more than 100 people were also wounded.
See also:

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