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Cops had THREE bizarre encounters with Elliot Rodger over the last year but didn't arrest him after finding him 'polite'

Zoe Szathmary and Snejana Farberov and Will Payne
Daily Mail
Sat, 24 May 2014 13:44 UTC
rodger apartment
© Reuters
An investigators' van leaves an apartment complex where suspect Elliot Rodger lived, and where it is believed that he stabbed his three roommates, before he allegedly went on a shooting spree that killed 6 people and injured 13
Police had 'three contacts' with suspect Elliot Rodger before a mass shooting on Friday night in Isla Vista that left seven dead and thirteen injured.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said on Saturday that police had conducted a 'welfare check' on 22-year-old Rodger on April 30.

Police spokeswoman Kelly Hoover has said the wellness check will be reviewed as authorities continue their investigation.

On January 15, 2014, Rodger made a citizen's arrest when his roommate allegedly stole three candles from him worth $22, Brown said.

Rodger also called police on July 31, 2013 and claimed to be the victim of assault, Brown said, though police believe Rodger may have actually been the aggressor. No charges were filed.

Attorney Alan Shifman earlier told reporters that the Rodger family called police several weeks ago after being alarmed by YouTube videos 'regarding suicide and the killing of people' that Rodger had been posting.

Police interviewed Rodger and found him to be a 'perfectly polite, kind and wonderful human,' but noted that he had few friends and no girlfriend, he added. Police did not find a history of guns.


Comment: This is just one area where a general knowledge of ponerology would do the world a lot of good. Rodger was obviously mentally disturbed: his shallow affect contrasted to his overly emotional wording, his asocial demeanor, his 'weird' behavior resulting in few friends, his hypersensitive reactions to perceived insults and slights. Not to mention his pathological and contradictory views of himself and women. On the one hand all he wanted was to 'love and be loved', he was a 'perfect gentleman', and he despised the 'cruel and heartless' girls who did not accept his advances (if there even were any). On the other hand, he displays his own cruelty and heartlessness, utter lack of 'gentlemanly' qualities, and love in the act of premeditated murder.

Forget about gun laws! If police had an iota of psychological knowledge, this tragedy could have been prevented. Of course, for this to work, the police forces themselves would have to be purged of their own psychopaths.

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V

Donetsk crowds protest Ukrainian elections, besiege richest oligarch's mansion


RT
Mon, 26 May 2014 13:32 UTC
donetsk activists
© RIA Novosti / Natalia Seliverstova
Activists take part in a demonstration against the new Kiev government at Lenin square in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, on May 25, 2014.
Several thousand people took part in an anti-govt rally in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, rejecting Sunday elections and hailing the region's self-determination. The crowd then marched to a residence of Ukraine's wealthiest oligarch, blocking it.

As people in Kiev cast their votes at the May 25 Ukrainian presidential elections amid almost celebratory atmosphere, there was a strong mood of rejection and anger in the industrial center of Donetsk, the heart of volatile eastern Donetsk Region - and the capital of the recently proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.

Hundreds of people flocked to the city's center during the day to demonstrate against the early elections, which they believe are unable to represent their interests and concerns. The so-called "anti-terrorist operation," launched by Kiev authorities against the dissent in the east has set many people against the Ukrainian state as it now stands.

Similar action took place in Kharkov, where over 2,000 people gathered to denounce Ukraine's presidential election. This resulted in some clashes after police tried to arrest a man with St. George's ribbons and the crowd intervened on his behalf.
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Clock

Man admits killing Australian 'vampire' prostitute to avenge alleged rape


Gulfnews.com
Wed, 14 May 2014 15:58 UTC
Image
© John Hart/Herald Sun
Shane Chartres-Abbott, self-confessed vampire and prostitute, outside the County Court where he was facing a rape charge.
Three other men are on trial for the murder and have pleaded not guilty

An Australian man admitted on Wednesday that he killed a male prostitute who styled himself as a vampire, saying he did so to avenge a woman who was allegedly raped and had part of her tongue bitten off.

The man - who is appearing as the prosecution's key witness in the high-profile Melbourne trial, and cannot be named for legal reasons - told the court that he shot 28-year-old sex worker Shane Chartres-Abbott near his suburban home in June 2003.

Three other men are on trial for the murder and have pleaded not guilty.

The unnamed man said he shot Chartres-Abbott after one of the accused, 42-year-old Warren Shea, told him about the escort's alleged rape of the ex-girlfriend of the second defendant, Mark Perry, 46.

The witness told the court that he carried out the shooting as "a favour".
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Family

Judge's order barring deadbeat dad from fathering more kids upheld by Ohio court

Scott Kaufman
The Raw Story
Wed, 14 May 2014 09:03 UTC
Image
© Naturallymoi.com
Asim Taylor
An Ohio appeals court upheld a judge's decision to bar a man from having any more children until he made good on child support payments for those he already has.

Lorain County Probate Judge James Walther issued an order last year prohibiting Asim Taylor from having any children for the five years he was on probation for failing to pay the $100,000 in child support for his four current children.

"I put this condition on for one reason and one reason alone," Walther told Taylor at the time of his sentencing. "It's your personal responsibility to pay for these kids."

If Taylor violates the terms of his probation by impregnating another woman, he faces an automatic jail sentence of one year. Judge Walther also stipulated that he would remove the ban if Taylor paid the child support he already owed.

Taylor's attorney claimed that the prohibition was unconstitutional, because the only way Taylor could meet the order's demand that he "make all reasonable efforts to avoid impregnating a woman" was abstinence.
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Arrow Up

U.S. Supreme Court: Police can stop vehicles based on anonymous tips


Police State USA
Sun, 25 May 2014 16:53 UTC
"The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man's spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his intellect. They knew that only a part of the pain, pleasure and satisfactions of life are to be found in material things. They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone - the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men."

- Justice Louis Brandeis, dissenting in Olmstead v. United States (1928)
Traffic Stop
© Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. - In a recent 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court set the legal precedent which allows police to initiate traffic stops based solely on anonymous tips. The Navarette v. California decision was so dangerous that one Justice called it "a freedom-destroying cocktail."

On August 23, 2008, Pravdo Navarette was stopped by a California Highway Patrol (CHP). No police officer ever witnessed Navarette driving in a way that would have indicated that he was impaired behind the wheel of his truck. Instead, entire basis for the stop was an anonymous phone call to police alleging that Navarette had driven dangerously. The caller identified the make, model and license plate number of the truck. Fifteen minutes later, a highway patrolman proceeded to follow Navarette for five minutes before finally pulling him over.

Once officers had Navarette on the side of the road, they observed that he was not intoxicated. However, officers began fishing for reasons to search the vehicle. One officer reported smelling the odor of marijuana. Police proceeded to search his truck, found a bundle of cannabis, and then arrested both men in the vehicle.
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Water

Texas town seeks solution to drought with 'toilet water'

Lauren Rothman
Munchies
Fri, 23 May 2014 12:00 UTC
Toilet
© Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock
The old adage of "desperate times call for desperate measures" has been taken up by a drought-stricken Texas town that's looking to a new source for its drinking water: its toilets. Wichita Falls, a city of about 100,000 located in the north of the state, is well into its third year of the severe water shortage that's affecting much of much of the west. Mandatory water conservation measures have already reduced residents' water usage by more than a third, but when city officials realized that remaining water supplies would still run out in about two years, they decided that Fido was on to something when he deigned to drink from the porcelain bowl.

OK, not exactly. The city's new direct potable reuse project, as it's called, is far more involved than slaking your thirst at the toilet rather than at the tap. Instead, in a $13 million effort designed by Wichita Falls' Public Works department, the city has installed a 13-mile pipeline connecting its water treatment plant (where ordinary tap water is filtered and purified before entering the city's pipes) with its wastewater treatment plant (i.e., all the stuff that goes down drains - not just toilet water, which makes up about 20 percent of the mix, but also water from sinks, tubs, washing machines, and dishwashers), creating a two-destination, multi-step cleansing system. Wastewater is first treated at its respective plant, then sent down the pipeline to be treated once more with all the rest of the drinking water. The project, now in its final stages of testing, should begin producing about five million gallon of water per day by early July.
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Black Magic

Chilling drug cartel style threat messages found on El Paso, TX billboards

Jason Howerton
The Blaze
Sat, 24 May 2014 12:35 UTC
el paso drug cartel billboard
© AP Photo/El Paso Times, Victor Calzada
An El Paso, Texas police officer checks a makeshift mannequin Thursday, May 22, 2014, which was left hanging on a billboard along with the message, “silver or lead” in Spanish, a threat heard in Mexico signifying pay up or get shot. El Paso police were investigating two mysterious messages painted onto billboards in the border city that included mannequins dressed in suits hanging from nooses.
El Paso police were investigating two mysterious messages painted onto billboards in the border city that included mannequins dressed in suits hanging from nooses.

The El Paso Times reported that motorists alerted police to the graffiti early Thursday morning. Both billboard companies said the painted messages were vandalism and not paid advertisements. They have been removed.
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Chart Pie

Europe against sanctions on Russia: It would mean 'cutting the trees they are sitting on'


RT.com
Sun, 25 May 2014 10:49 UTC
global CEO Summit
© RIA Novosti / Vladimir Astapkovich
St. Petersburg hosts Global CEO Summit
While this year's Int Economic Forum in St Petersburg saw fewer foreign guests due to sanctions tension, those who chose to leave politics aside told RT imposing economic restrictions on Moscow would mean "cutting the trees" they are "sitting on".

Here's what the top managers told RT at the Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.

Reiner Hartman, Chairman at the Association of European Businesses
"We as investors have a success story in this country for 22 years. We've started from scratch and we have now such a fantastic story... We have investors from Europe, from the United States, from South America, from Africa, from Asia. They are all here. And why are we being taken hostage by irresponsible, I must say, political decision making people?"

"I've heard about 20 or 57 Chinese high-tech companies ready just to move in and replace Alstom, Siemens, BASF, and Bayer, just to name the few. It's amazing!"
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Dollar Gold

Wealth funds in China and Qatar plan to continue investments in Russia as US interest fades

Megan Davies,
Yahoo News
Fri, 23 May 2014 12:50 UTC
middle east wealth funds
© RDIF
Major sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia have invested in Russian businesses and backed its state-funded private equity fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund
Sovereign wealth funds in China and Qatar on Friday signaled their increased commitment to Russia, boosting Moscow's hopes of strengthening ties with Asia and the Middle East as relations with the West deteriorate.

Major sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia have invested in Russian businesses and backed its state-funded private equity fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). By contrast, U.S. financial investors in the country remain few.

"CIC has invested several billions of dollars in Russia," said Ding Xuedong, chairman of the $575 billion CIC, on the sidelines of the country's main annual investment conference in St Petersburg.

"We will continue to increase our investment in Russia, not only in the public markets, but in direct investments," he said.

Russia's RDIF separately announced that Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, is allocating $2 billion to investments with the fund.

Numerous U.S. financiers avoided the annual investment conference in St Petersburg on advice from the White House. Washington and the European Union have imposed sanctions against various individuals deemed close to Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to the situation in Ukraine.

Comment: Who needs the United States? Not Russia and China

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Chart Bar

The essential role of volatility, stress and dissent on the micro and macro levels

Charles Hugh Smith
Investment Watch
Sat, 24 May 2014 12:13 UTC
The individual or system that never experiences dissent, volatility or stress is systemically unhealthy and increasingly prone to sudden "gosh, I didn't see this coming" collapse.
Stress
To say that volatility, stress, dissent are not just healthy, but essential for maintaining health sounds counter-intuitive. On an individual level, we try to avoid exertion, stress and crisis, and on a larger systemic level, our institutions devote enormous resources to minimizing systemic volatility and suppressing dissent.

In other words, the notion that stress and dissent are to be avoided is scale-invariant: it works the same for individuals, households, enterprises, economies, governments and empires.

What got me thinking about this was some recent research that suggests short bursts of physical exertion several times a day yields the equivalent positive results as 20+ minutes of strenuous workout in the gym.

Doing some strenuous exercise for 60 seconds a few times of day appears to trigger the same immune response and repair systems that longer duration exercise engenders.
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