Society's Child
Brandon Griesemer of Ann Arbor, Michigan, made 22 calls to CNN on January 9-10, according to an affidavit which was unsealed Friday and cited by the news network. Four calls, which were recorded, contained threats.
"Fake news. I'm coming to gun you all down," he reportedly said during a January 9 call, while cursing and using a derogatory word directed at African-Americans.
Its 'HomePod' will go on sale in a matter of weeks, the tech giant announced today.
The new smart speaker works a bit like the Amazon Echo, which is operated using voice commands, and features microphones so sensitive they can pick up your words even when loud music is playing.
When switched on, the device is always listening for orders, which it then encrypts and sends back to Apple's servers to be interpreted and sent back to the speaker.
Privacy advocates are becoming increasingly wary of devices which can record what's going on owners' homes.
At least 445 LGBT Brazilians died as victims of homophobia in 2017 - a 30% increase from 2016, according to LGBT watchdog group Grupo Gay de Bahia.
The victims - 387 murders and 58 suicides - include Dandara dos Santos, a transexual woman who was beaten to death in the north-eastern Brazil city Fortaleza in March. A video of her being beaten and kicked circulated on social media with her torturers calling her homophobic slurs.
Brazil is one of the world's most violent countries, with a record 62,000 homicides in 2016, but authors of the research say that the deaths were directly related to homophobia.
Luiz Mott, an anthropologist and president of Grupo Gay de Bahia, said the rising violence owed much to the prominence of ultraconservative politicians, many of whom are linked to the country's powerful evangelical caucus in congress.
"It's a discourse that destroys solidarity and equates LGBT people to animals," he said. TV programs linked to evangelical churches often compare homosexuality to the devil.
Boubacar Kante was one of the soldiers kidnapped in northern Mali between July 2016 and March 2017. He was subsequently killed in an airstrike which targeted Islamist militants from Jamaah Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) on October 23 - less than a month after the terrorist group posted a video of the detainees. The French Foreign Ministry confirmed the airstrike, but denied any collateral damage, including civilians and hostages. It described such claims as "propaganda coming from an armed terrorist group."
Kante's family, who are yet to receive a conclusive answer about his fate, shared their anguish with the Ruptly news agency.
"On July 17, 2016, he was taken prisoner in the Nampala attack. There were people dead, people wounded and people missing. Boubacar is one of the missing. France says no, it's not true. So who is right? Is it France that is there? Mali is not there. What can we say? Nothing. France says that at the time of the operations there were no hostages there, that is what I heard from RFI [Radio France International]. But afterwards, Boubacar's supervisor phoned me to tell me that they have no information in relation to the situation. After checking, they found no clue as to whether Boubacar is dead or not. It was denied."
The State Department says the United States is sending "deepest condolences" to the families and friends of those killed, and wishing a speedy recovery to those wounded, Reuters reported.
The attack occurred when gunmen burst into the hotel on Saturday night, opening fire on guests and staff members and taking dozens of people hostage. The incident led to a 12-hour standoff with police, with all of the attackers ultimately being shot dead by authorities. Desperate hostages were seen using bedsheets to shimmy to the ground from their balconies during the standoff.
Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said on Sunday that 18 people had been killed in the incident, including 14 foreigners. Six of the foreigners were Ukrainian citizens, according to Kiev. Eleven of those killed reportedly worked for KamAir, a private Afghan airline.
ACLU:
"Enough is enough. We cannot rely on empty promises from those who have already proven to play politics with the lives of Dreamers. Today, Republicans - and too many Democrats - in Congress betrayed our American values and allowed bigotry and fear to prevail. But too many lives are on the line and too much is at stake to give up on this fight. Let it be known - we will be watching, and will make sure voters this November know if their representatives stood for Dreamers or for their deportation."
Comment: See also:
- Trump hails end of US shutdown: "Big win" for Republicans, Dems "caved"
- Do the Dems really care about Dreamers or just do anything to score political points
- Leaked Center For American Progress memo says DREAMers 'critical' to Dems 'future electoral success'
- CBO calculates legalization of 2M 'dreamers' would cost $26B

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, the co-founder, spokesman and leader of the English Defence League
Darren Osborne, 48, from Cardiff, denies deliberately mowing down 51-year-old Makram Ali, who died from his injuries, and nine other people shortly after 12.15am on June 19 last year. He is charged with terrorism-related murder and attempted murder. The case is being heard at Woolwich Crown Court this week.
The court heard that Osborne became "obsessed" with Islam and the Rochdale grooming scandal after watching a BBC TV drama. He is said to have believed that all Muslims were rapists and belonged to pedophile gangs.
Comment: The implication here is that these far right leaders were somehow influential or involved in the attack on Muslims at the London mosque. It's basic guilt by association, yet it's pretty obvious Osborne contacted them rather than the other way around. While these groups aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, there's no reason at this point to assume any direct connections with the attack.
The incident happened on Saturday but the dispatch recordings were released Monday night which paint a picture of what happened. The most crucial part of the picture, however, is missing, and that is why the officer felt the need to kill the 17-year-old wrestling and track star.
Naturally, the officer is claiming that he feared for his life as the teen backed out of the garage, so he had no other choice but to kill him. Apparently, stepping sideways was not an option.
Police said that "as the responding officers approached the residence to make contact, the garage door opened and a vehicle exited the garage, moving rapidly toward one of the responding officers. The officer discharged his service weapon striking the male driver," the statement said. "The driver died at the scene."
"He was supposed to be helping them learn P.E., run around and have fun," one parent told CBS2's Adrianna Weingold. "But he undressed and started chasing the kids while he was naked, and then the kids ducked and dodged, ran into some of the classrooms and got safe haven that way."
A video taken by a construction worker passing by captured the unidentified teacher putting his pants back on in the middle of the playground.
Parents were notified of the incident via robocall as well as a letter that was sent home with students.














Comment: See also: