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Man dies hours after allegedly molesting 2 children at birthday party

nypd_cruiser
© Alexandra Schuler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
A man from Queens, New York, who allegedly molested two children at a birthday party, died hours after the alleged incident, police said.

Police told the New York Post that the alleged abuser was a 44-year-old man who rented a room from the tenants throwing the birthday party inside their Jackson Heights apartment for a five-year-old boy.

The man allegedly invited two of the children, the five-year-old boy and a girl of the same age, to watch a movie in his room so the adults at the party could have some time without the children.

The mother of one of the children allegedly discovered the man putting his hand down the boy's pants when she went to check on the kids around midnight. Police say the girl told the adults the man kissed her on the lips as they watched the movie.

The adults immediately removed the children from their tenant's bedroom and dialed 911 to report him to the authorities.

Police say he tried to escape out of a window before authorities arrived. Authorities found him lying on the pavement outside the apartment face up, and emergency medical personnel took him to the hospital in critical condition. He later died from his injuries.

It is unclear whether the man fell on the pavement as part of a suicide attempt or if he accidentally fell while trying to escape.

Heart - Black

Mark Doran: Lest we remember...

White poppy
White poppies are distributed by the Peace Pledge Union, the oldest secular pacifist group in the UK. Last time I wore one, I was insulted by two librarians.
Pardon me for saying so - or don't: I really couldn't care less - but I'm not much of a fan of our annual 'Remembrance Sunday' rituals.

For one thing, what really ought to be an occasion for the old to teach the young that the ruling elites have never seen them as anything other than a resource to be spent - is instead managed and manipulated so as to place those same ruling elites centre-stage in a theatre of fake respect and pseudo-humility. If you really think a creature like Theresa May (or David Cameron, or Gordon Brown, or Tony Blair...), or any of that sociopathic gaggle of 'royals' - can stand at the Cenotaph and feel anything other than the cold, then something has gone seriously awry in what should have been your education.

Plus, there's the rather obtrusive fact that what, by rights, should be a day of public rage - over loss, over suffering, over the whitewashed psychopathy of state-policy violence - never contains so much as a smidgeon of anger, not the mildest trace of anything that might ever bring about the tiniest change...

Bulb

Jordan Peterson proposes website to keep track of "Postmodernist" courses and professors

Jordan Peterson
University of Toronto faculty members have spoken out against a proposed website that would list women's studies and other "postmodern neo-Marxist" professors, saying it has created a climate of fear and intimidation.

The proposed website is spearheaded by controversial U of T psychology professor Jordan Peterson, who made headlines a year ago for publicly refusing to use gender-neutral pronouns.

He has millions of views on YouTube for his videos with titles such as "The Stifling of Free Speech on College Campuses" and "The Disability Bureaucracy Wants Your Soul."

Comment: Considering the humanities have been used to indoctrinate students in postmodernist ideology, it stands to reason that giving them warning ahead of time would be a good thing!


Die

100 Parisian politicians protest Muslim street prayers in suburb of Clichy

About 100 French politicians have marched on a street in a
france protest muslims
The politicians complain that the prayers are a misuse of public space
Paris suburb in protest at Muslims holding Friday prayers in public.

The politicians, wearing tricolour sashes of office and singing the national anthem, disrupted about 200 worshippers on a street in Clichy.

Police kept the two groups apart but some scuffles broke out.

Critics say the prayers are an unacceptable use of public space in France's strictly secular system.

The worshippers, however, say they have nowhere else to go since the town hall took over the room they used for prayers back in March.

France has about five million Muslims - the largest Muslim minority in Western Europe.

Handcuffs

Air traffic controller arrested and charged with possession of 'weapon of mass destruction'

Charlotte-Douglas International Airport
© AFPA general view of the air control tower at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport
A North Carolina-based air traffic controller has been arrested and charged with possessing a weapon of mass destruction. The suspect was working at Charlotte Douglas International Airport during the time of his arrest.

Paul George Dandan, 30, was at the airport when he was apprehended and taken to jail Friday, an unnamed source said, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Dandan's bail is set at $45,000. The man is also being charged with two other weapons offenses, according to the newspaper, citing court records.

Comment: The arrest is certainly warranted, but it's remarkable how a 'weapon of mass destruction' has gone from an excuse to start a war with Iraq to materials to make a pipe bomb.


Attention

Senior Guardian editor, two other journalists reportedly under investigation for sexual harassment

ian prior guardian
Ian Prior

The Guardian's digital editor Ian Prior has been absent from work after female staff members reported harassment allegations to management, BuzzFeed News has learned.

Guardian sources say Prior - the UK news organisation's digital editor and former head of sport - is away from work while management investigate the allegations, made in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations that have created shockwaves across Hollywood, the media industry and politics.

When reached by BuzzFeed News over the phone on Friday, Prior was asked if he had been suspended pending an investigation.

"I prefer to not comment on anything at the moment," he said.

A Guardian spokesperson said: "We do not discuss specific personnel matters. We take any allegations relating to our staff seriously and have established procedures which we follow rigorously."

People

Incestuous family: Oklahoma mother married both her daughter and son

Patricia and Misty SPan
© Stephens County JailPatricia Spann and Misty Spann.
A Duncan woman who married her biological mother last year received a 10-year deferred sentence Tuesday after pleading guilty in Stephens County to committing incest.

Court records indicate that Misty Velvet Dawn Spann, 26, was set for a bench trial Tuesday but instead pleaded guilty to illegally marrying 44-year-old Patricia Ann Spann, who is identified as Patricia Ann Clayton on their marriage license application, filed in March 2016 in Comanche County.

Patricia Span also was once married to her biological son.

District Judge Ken Graham gave Misty Spann a deferred sentence of 10 years, at least two of which must be under the supervision of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, court minutes show.

Camcorder

Leaked body cam video shows cop planting cocaine in man's wallet

LAPD planting ecidence
One of the major criticisms against police-worn body cameras is the fact that the vast majority of police departments across the country have absolutely no transparency, and refuse to release footage of contentious arrests to the public.

The Los Angeles Police Department is no different - however, 12 videos from a 2016 arrest were recently handed over to CBS2 by a defense attorney handling the case. This is the first time that footage has been released to the media since the body camera program was implemented in Los Angeles, and if this case is any indication of what the hidden footage looks like, things certainly do smell rotten at the LAPD.

Attorney Steve Levine said he believes that body camera footage from his client's arrest shows LAPD officers planting drugs. He also noticed several inconsistencies in the video that contradict statements the officers made in their police reports. His client, 52-year-old Ronald Shields was arrested after a car accident for possession of cocaine.

People

Thousands of Palestinians join to commemorate Arafat in Gaza

Palestine Yasser Arafat Gaza City
© MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/FilePalestinian children play in front of a mural of late nationalist leader Yasser Arafat in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City
Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered in Gaza on Saturday to commemorate the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat in the first such memorial in the Hamas-run territory since 2007.

The anniversary event was billed as a show of national unity after the Islamists of Hamas struck a reconciliation agreement last month with the rival Fatah movement founded and led by Arafat until his death in 2004.

The deal, which is supposed to see Hamas cede civil control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority led by current Fatah leader Mahmud Abbas by December 1, ended years of bitter division between the rival factions.

Snakes in Suits

Indonesian museum removes full-sized waxwork of Adolf Hitler following outcry

Wax Hitler
© Henryanto / AFP
An Indonesian museum, which until recently, had allowed visitors to snap selfies with a full-sized waxwork of Adolf Hitler against the backdrop of the Auschwitz death camp gates, has taken down the figure following a storm of criticism.

The De Mata De Arca visual effects museum has around 100 waxworks of celebrities, politicians and fictional characters, according to its website. Until Saturday, the figure of Hitler could be found standing between Star Wars' Darth Vader and Indonesian leader Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo.

The Nazi Germany leader was placed against a wall-sized banner depicting the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp with the notorious "Arbeit macht freit" (Work sets you free) sign. The wax Hitler proved popular with locals, who shared their selfies on social media platforms. The snapshots show some of the visitors even engaged in the Nazi salute.