On May 31, 2014, 20-year-old Brandon Ellingson was stopped by a Missouri Highway Patrol officer for suspicion of boating while intoxicated.

The events that followed Brandon's arrest are shocking, horrible, and tragic.

Ellingson was taken into custody by Trooper Anthony Piercy while boating on The Lake of the Ozarks after the officer claimed to see a beer can fly off of the young man's boat.

Piercy ended up arresting Ellingson. He cuffed the college student's hands behind his back and placed an ill-fitting life vest on him.

The wrong kind of life vest. Piercy used a Type III vest on Ellingson. But that kind of vest has armholes and cannot be properly secured on someone who is already handcuffed. Type I jackets go around a person's head, so even if they are handcuffed their head will float to the surface of the water. Type I life vests are the kind which troopers are trained to use on handcuffed subjects.

They were available on Piercy's boat.

In this impassioned, informed, and hard-hitting rant, YouTuber and self-declared "redneck" Dixon White calls out white America for their overtly defensive reaction to the McKinney pool party incident and the structural racism inherent in our institutions. "We know that many black people are oppressed, and we know that many black people are angry, not all but some, so white people walk around in this fear, like the cop in McKinney, Texas. He was walking around like he was dealing with an angry mob! These are teens at a swim party...Instead of protecting the black teens from the racist adults, who were yelling racial slurs at them, instead of him protecting the teens, he protected the white folks!"

He then brilliantly ties the events and America's reaction into the War on Drugs, the overcrowding and racial disparity of the for-profit prison system, and how they are all symptoms of white supremacy. He finishes with a call for white America to soul-search and come to terms with racial relations in America.

"Have we ever taken responsibly? Racially? Collectively? White people often use guilt as a defense mechanism, to remain in denial, to not have to deal with the reality that we've created. Get uncomfortable, look in the mirror, and think about what we've done as a nation. Think about what we've done as a people."

It's a moving video from White, who clearly feels strongly about these issues and makes some very poignant points.

A young man in Delta, Utah was robbed, had "Die Fag" carved into his arm with a knife, and was forced to drink bleach on a Saturday night in late April, but it doesn't stop there. Five days later, the words "Die Fag" were spray-painted on his and his family's house. And this week, a Molotov cocktail was thrown through his window and his house was spray-painted again, this time with "You'll Die. Burn Fag."

Millard County police are having a hard time finding suspects, because the young man, his family and his pizzeria have no enemies. Everyone loves them.

"Working through this has been a roller coaster," Rick Jones of Grand Central Pizzeria and Grill in Delta, Utah said in an interview.

After business close on Saturday, April 25, Jones was staying late to finish up the paperwork for the Grand Central Station Pizzeria in Delta, Utah. Jones and his sisters and other family own and manage the restaurant.

"I went out to take out the trash, and when I came back in, I thought it was strange that I didn't hear the door close," he said. "I turned around to shut the door, and someone grabbed me by the head and slammed me to the wall."

What happens next, Jones is unsure because he had passed out.

"I remember waking up and I was lying on the floor," he said. "Someone was on my chest and legs and they were trying to force me to drink bleach."

He woke up again as medical teams were considering life-flighting him to Salt Lake City, but he regained consciousness. He had lacerations — the words "Die Fag" cut into his arm — and a concussion. They attended to his wounds, held him overnight and released him.

Last month, Kansas mother Shona Banda made headlines when her son was removed from her custody after he defended her use of medical marijuana to treat Crohn's Disease. He had spoken up about her use at an anti-drug presentation at his school. This prompted the school to call to Child Protective Services and authorities, which led to a raid on her home on March 24.

The raid found what local Garden City authorities described as "'1.25 pounds of marijuana in plant, oil, joint, gel and capsule form and drug paraphernalia' along with what was characterized as a 'lab used for manufacturing cannabis oil'" (it should be noted that at the time, the Washington Post reported police found just 2 ounces of cannabis oil). Banda has seen her eleven-year-old son only once since he was taken from her.

Last week, Finney County charged her with five offenses related to marijuana, three of which are felonies. They include "manufacturing a controlled substance, possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia and child endangerment."

Do you have a moment? Would you mind entertaining a humble question? Why does our government want to drive a wedge between America and the rest of the world by using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen? It isn't accomplishing anything.

A study by Stanford Law School and New York University's School of Law notes the number of Islamic terrorists killed as a percentage of total casualties in drone strikes stands at a paltry 2 percent. The study also casts doubts on Washington's claims that these attacks produced few civilian casualties. An investigation by the human-rights group Reprieve indicates that drone bombings on al-Qaida members in Pakistan resulted in the death of 874 innocent men, women and children. In Yemen 17 men were targeted and 273 people (seven of them children) were killed in the process.

The use of drone warfare is a disaster-in-the-making. When you kill people who are not the enemy, you simply create more enemies.

Members of Veterans for Peace (VFP), Code Pink and other anti-war groups recently went to Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada to protest America's use of drones. They temporarily closed the base and 38 protestors were arrested, including retired Humboldt State University biology professor Richard Gilchrist.

Pat Robertson let his inner a**hole out on Tuesday when he told the mother of a dead child that God killed her baby to prevent the next Hitler or Stalin.

During his 700 Club program that airs on Disney-owned ABC Family, Robertson took a question from a viewer who asked the TV preacher what she should say to a grieving co-worker whose baby recently died.

After her co-worker asked her "Why did God allow my baby to die?" she told the mother that "God sees the whole picture," but wanted to know if Robertson had anything to add.

First, Robertson tried to absolve God of any blame for the baby's death, instead suggesting that the death could be due to human error.

"More and more in the New Testament era, we have come to realize that human beings have an agency, that have responsibility, and a lot of things happen because humans do. I mean people die in hospitals because of medical malpractice - somebody cuts the wrong thing, somebody dies. It happens all the time. Nurse gives the patient the wrong medicine - are you going to blame that on God? That's not God, that's people."

And then Robertson heartlessly stated that God may have killed her baby to prevent the child from growing up to be a serial killer or murderous tyrant.

"As far as God's concerned, he knows the end from the beginning and He sees a little baby and that little baby could grow up to be Adolf Hitler, he could grow up to be Joseph Stalin, he could grow up to be some serial killer, or he could grow up to die of a hideous disease. God sees all of that, and for that life to be terminated while he's a baby, he's going to be with God forever in Heaven so it isn't a bad thing."

Here's the video via Right Wing Watch:

Sarah and Nick Jensen, an Australian couple, published a letter saying they're considering divorce after 10 years of marriage — because gay people in the country might soon have the legal right to marry, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

According to the paper, the Jensens believe "widening the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples threatens the sacred nature of the union and leaves the door open to polygamy."

The Jensens' divorce threat letter is lengthy, and can be read in its entirety here. What follows is an exerpt from the text:

"MY wife and I just celebrated our 10-year anniversary. But later this year, we may be getting a divorce. The reason has nothing to do with the state of our marriage. We were married at 21 after being high-school sweethearts for several years before that. In fact, my wife is the only woman I have ever loved, the mother of our children, my perfect match...

After our divorce, we'll continue to live together, hopefully for another 50 years. And, God willing, we'll have more children. We'll also continue to refer to each other as "husband" and "wife" and consider ourselves married by the Church and before God.

So why do this? It will certainly complicate our lives as we try to explain our marital status on the sidelines during Saturday sport. The reason, however, is that, as Christians, we believe marriage is not a human invention.

Our view is that marriage is a fundamental order of creation. Part of God's intimate story for human history. Marriage is the union of a man and a woman before a community in the sight of God. And the marriage of any couple is important to God regardless of whether that couple recognises God's involvement or authority in it.

My wife and I, as a matter of conscience, refuse to recognise the government's regulation of marriage if its definition includes the solemnisation of same sex couples...

When we signed that official-looking marriage certificate 10 years ago at Tuggeranong Baptist Church, we understood that the state was endorsing marriage, as currently defined, as the fundamental social institution - with all that this implied.

But if this is no longer the case, then we no longer wish to be associated with this new definition. Marriage is sacred and what is truly 'marriage' will only ever be what it has always been.

This has been a big decision for my wife and I. Some will accuse of us being bigoted or too hateful to share. But this couldn't be further from our intentions.

The truth is, 'marriage' is simply too important. It is a sacred institution, ordained by God. It has always been understood to be that exclusive relationship where one man and one woman become "one flesh". Any attempt to change the definition of marriage by law is not something in which we are able to partake."

A New Jersey state senator wants to stop smokers from lighting up in vehicles if children 16 and under also are present.

Joseph Vitale said the measure he introduced last month would protect children from being exposed to tobacco products and electronic cigarettes in confined spaces. The Middlesex County Democrat chairs the Senate's Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.


Violators would face a $100 fine, but would not face surcharges or points on their driving or insurance records. The smoking ban would be a secondary offense, meaning violators could only be cited if drivers are stopped for committing a moving violation.

Many smokers and critics are panning the proposal, saying that it's well-intentioned but not needed. They also believe it will be difficult to enforce.

"Most parents who smoke do what they can to not expose their kids to second-hand smoke," Christine Miller of Ewing said while smoking outside a Trenton office building this week. "In my case, I rarely smoke inside my house and I don't smoke in my car when my daughters (ages 5 and 7) are with me. I know he's seeking to protect kids and I can understand his thinking, but I think there are more important issues that our lawmakers and law enforcement people can be working on."

But the proposal does have supporters, including children's right advocates and nonsmokers.

Security camera footage from outside a Ravenshoe cafe has shown the full force of the traumatic explosion that injured 20 people on Tuesday.

Channel Nine has aired the CCTV footage, which shows people starting to run from the Serves You Right cafe after it was hit by an out of control 4WD ute around midday.

The truck had hit the cafe's gas bottles, sparking a huge fireball.

The footage shows the blast roaring from the cafe doors onto the footpath, with more patrons fleeing the fire.

Witnesses can also then be seen venturing into the blazing shop to pull people out, ripping off clothing and dousing victims with water.

A former Pennsylvania bishop who was sentenced to probation for sexually assaulting a child had his probation revoked this week after he was caught molesting another child.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, then-Higher Call World Outreach Church pastor Duane Youngblood was sentenced to probation in 2008 after he admitted sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy who he was supposed to be counseling.

In December, Youngblood was sentenced to serve up to 48 month in jail over allegations that he sexually assaulted another boy for more than 2 years during counseling sessions at the church.