Boston (CNN)Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, his face a blank, stood with his head bowed and his hands clasped as the guilty verdicts tolled one after another for what seemed like an eternity: Guilty of using weapons of mass destruction, guilty of bombing a place of public use, guilty of conspiracy and aiding and abetting. Guilty, guilty, guilty: The word was spoken 32 times.
Yes, the jury said, Tsarnaev caused the deaths of Krystle Campbell, Martin Richard, Lingzi Lu and Sean Collier. Yes, it was murder. And so, the word “yes” was spoken 63 times, each time making Tsarnaev eligible for the death penalty.
From start to finish, it took 26 minutes for the jury to announce its verdict in the Boston Marathon bombing trial: Tsarnaev didn’t skate on a single charge. He now stands guilty of all 30 counts, 17 of which could send him to death row.
ABOUT TIME. Although I suppose I should be thankful it “only” took two years to convict this terrorist. It’s an improvement over the Nidal Hassan debacle, which took 4 years. Seriously, what takes so long? We have tons of witnesses, graphic video, and saw it play out right in front of our eyes. I know there’s a vast mountain of legal procedures to get through, but WHY?
CNN has some hand-wringer named Ann O’Neill covering the trial, and her columns are excruciating. Check out this first paragraph from her latest entry:
We don’t have to pretend anymore: Dzhokhar “Jahar” Tsarnaev did it. The jury has spoken. He was in cahoots with his big brother, and together they set off the deadly bombs at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon.
Um, what do you mean, “WE,” Kemosabe? I wasn’t pretending about anything, and I’m pretty sure 99% of the country, including the defense’s own lawyer, knew he did it.
The rest of her article is one long explanation of HOW EXCRUCIATING it will be to give Tsarnaev the needle he so richly deserves, and how the slimy lawyers are going to try and get him out of the death penalty. She fills her report with nuggets like this:
(Tsarnaev’s lawyer) urged jurors to “find the truth” and hold her 21-year-old client accountable.
But how? What we do next will say more about us as a society than it ever could about Tsarnaev.
See what she did there? If you’re in favor of the death penalty for a man who murdered people and maimed many others, YOU’RE A BAD PERSON. I hope he gets the death penalty, and I hope the method of execution is being torn apart by grizzly bears.
This is all very predictable. Roughly 98% of reporters are against the death penalty, and 100% would all WRITE that they’re against the death penalty.
Also predictable is the defense lawyer sob story tactic about the poor little child and his tough life:
The parties’ witness lists have not been made public, and a behind-the-scenes battle appears to be brewing over a social worker the defense hopes to call. They want her to narrate the Tsarnaev family’s story of political and religious strife in Russia, their immigration to America, their struggle to assimilate, and, ultimately, the parents’ divorce and return to their homeland when their dream of a better life failed.
This is classic shyster defense lawyer stuff: Deflect away from the crimes, humanize the murderer, and shame those of us who demand justice. Unfortunately, I feel no shame in this case.
Dzhokhar “Jahar” Tsarnaev was a cold-blooded murderer, terrorist, and religious fanatic who killed the infidels in the name of Islam. I, for one, have no interest in letting him while away his time in a cushy federal prison for the rest of his life, supported by taxpayer money for the next 60 years or so. Execute him and be done with it.
A 2009 NCIS investigation into Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s activities while in Afghanistan reveal that there is clear evidence Bergdahl was “going over to the other side with a deliberate plan,” Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer said on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” Monday night.
Shaffer, a former military intelligence officer and Fox News contributor, said two senior sources told him that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation included a forensic review of his computer, which show Bergdahl’s apparent intent to travel to Uzbekistan.
This revelation, if true, should be absolutely damning to the case that Bergdahl was just an innocent guy who wandered off the reservation. Also, note that this investigation took place way back in ’09. Which means Obama and his dopey sidekick Susan Rice surely HAD to know about it before they went out to the TV cameras praising Bergdahl and his service. And yet praise him they did.
GREGORY ARBOGAST JR. Gregory M. Arbogast Jr., 31, of Rio Rancho, N.M., known to the world as “Whiskey Greg”, died in a tragic motorcycle accident Friday, March 27, 2015, in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Greg was born May 8, 1983, in Albuquerque, N.M. to his parents, Greg Arbogast Sr. and Nancy CdeBaca. After high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force and became a Special Operations Combat Controller. During his military career, Greg volunteered for five separate deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, earning two Bronze Stars for heroism against the enemy. He married Alex Baskerville in 2008, and they had two children, Brody and Wyatt, during their marriage. After an honorable discharge from the military, Greg became a contractor for the Department of Defense. Greg was a loving father and a loyal friend. He had close family ties and was always the life of the party. He was also an avid motorcycle rider and mechanic, favoring Harley Davidsons to most other bikes, but he could rip it up on anything with two wheels. As a full-patch member of the Infidels Motorcycle Club, his motto was, “You don’t party”.
Very sad. The family has a gofundme.com page set up, if you care to make a donation.
A command sergeant major at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, has been convicted of wrongfully wearing the Ranger tab and Pathfinder badge.
Command Sgt. Maj. Perry McNeill was found guilty by a military judge of eight specifications of wearing unauthorized insignia, decoration, badge, ribbon, device, or lapel button. The judge also found McNeill guilty of making a false official statement.
McNeill was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery.
He was sentenced to receive a letter of reprimand, reduction in rank to E-7, and forfeitures of $500 a month for 10 months, according to a statement Wednesday from Fort Sill.
It amazes me that someone could be so brazen that they have zero compunction about wearing such an enormous, unearned patch on their uniform while still on active duty. Also, a ranger tab is one of those badges that causes people to start talking to you about when you went through. Pretty easy to catch people in lies about schools that they never attended.
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I mean, you’re in Texas, for Christ’s sakes. Don’t embarrass yourself by not being squared away with your firearms proficiency. It’s actually a state law that you can be executed for not knowing what a failure drill is.
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A scheduled movie screening of “American Sniper” at the University of Michigan was abruptly cancelled Tuesday after nearly 300 students and others complained the film perpetuates “negative and misleading stereotypes” against Muslims…
…“While our intent was to show a film, the impact of the content was harmful, and made students feel unsafe and unwelcomed at our program,” stated The Center for Campus Involvement, which oversees student activities and is run by university employees, as it announced its decision Tuesday on its various social media accounts, including Twitter and Facebook.
“We deeply regret causing harm to members of our community, and appreciate the thoughtful feedback provided to us by students and staff alike.”
Got that? Students at what is presumed to be an elite university are so infantile that they cannot watch a movie. But, it seems, the public shaming seems to have worked in this case.
University Vice President for Student Life E. Royster Harper called the decision to cancel the Friday night showing a “mistake” in a statement.
“The initial decision to cancel the movie was not consistent with the high value the University of Michigan places on freedom of expression and our respect for the right of students to make their own choices in such matters,” Harper said. “The movie will be shown at the originally scheduled time and location.”
Harper added that the university will also screen the family-friendly film “Paddington” as an alternative.
All of this for the low, low price of 41,000.00$ per year, for you out of staters. For those lucky enough to be in state, the tuition is a mere 14,000.00$ per year. PRACTICALLY FREE.
A Florida man who stripped off his clothes and ran through Fort Lauderdale traffic to escape imaginary killers hot on his heels was high on “flakka,” the synthetic drug that appears poised to supplant bath salts as the leading cause of hallucinatory havoc, cops report.
Following his apprehension, Matthew Kenney, 34, told police that after smoking the synthetic drug he began fleeing pursuers who had stolen his clothing and were intent on murdering him. Seen at right, Kenney explained that he would “rather die than be caught by these unknown people,” according to a Fort Lauderdale Police Department report.
I’m enjoying the facial hair on Matthew Kenney. What is that, exactly? A mustache-less goatee? And, say what you will about Messr. Kenney: the man has great hair.
The two-and-a-half year period in which the Marine Corps’ Infantry Officer Course became gender-integrated for research will end without a single female graduate.
The final iteration of IOC to accept female Marines on a volunteer basis began April 2 with two female participants. One was a volunteer and one was a member of the newly integrated ground intelligence track.
Both were dropped that same day during the grueling initial Combat Endurance Test, said Capt. Maureen Krebs, a spokeswoman for Headquarters Marine Corps. Nine of the 90 men who began the course were also cut.
IOC, held quarterly at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, began accepting female officers fresh out of training in September 2012 as part of a larger research effort into the feasibility of opening ground combat jobs to women. Lieutenants who made it through the legendarily tough 86-day course would not receive an infantry military occupational specialty or career advancement; they did it only for the challenge and the hope of being part of a historical Marine Corps achievement.
But as the research continued, few volunteers took advantage of the opportunity. By July 2014, only 20 female officers had attempted the course. Only one made it through the Combat Endurance Test, and none made it to the end.
All this information will be compiled this summer and used to inform Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford’s recommendation to the secretary of Defense onwhether or not to open remaining ground combat units to female troops.
This is from the Marine Corps Times, which is trying very hard to be quite vanilla about this disaster. I’m going to assume that the Combat Endurance Test is either the very first day or extremely close to it; that’s how these schools usually go. They have to make sure you’re physically up for the challenge before lots of time and money are spent on you.
In other words, just about all of the female candidates were washed out on day one.
Having said all this, bet it now: There is literally NO WAY General Dunford recommends females not be allowed into ground units. Despite a 100% failure rate, he will drink the gender-equity kook-aid, or the administration will replace him. Standards will be lowered, instructors told to look the other way, all in the name of some bizarre quest to have a female infantry officer.
A man faces extradition from Puerto Rico after he was accused in Texas of pretending to be an elite Navy SEAL.
Carlos Luna-Gonzalez once served in the Navy as an apprentice, but he aroused suspicion in Texas last year after allegedly dressing in a Navy lieutenant junior grade uniform with a Purple Heart, SEAL trident and jump wings, officials said. Acting on a tip, Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler – himself a veteran – found military records showing Luna-Gonzalez never served as a SEAL, so Fowler teamed up with local gun shop owner Joey Blanton for an elaborate sting.
“We were going to award him with a firearm for his service,” Blanton said.
Luna-Gonzalez allegedly accepted an expensive assault rifle as a gift, and was arrested. But police say he jumped bail, fleeing to Puerto Rico. He was taken into custody Monday and has not entered a plea.
This is a great idea. Since it’s not a crime (nor should it be) to just be a poseur, the guys set it up so it would turn into an actual crime. Once he accepted that weapon, that was profiting off of a stolen valor claim which IS against the law.
Look, if you want to tell lies in a bar about all the Haji you’ve slain over the years to try and get in some girl’s pants, go for it. First off, it’s dumb. You should just tell her you’re a stockbroker or something. But the second you start taking either favors or material goods out of gratitude for your fake service, you should be thrown in jail.
The Army on Thursday identified the soldier who was killed in a deadly insider attack in Afghanistan.
Spc. John Dawson, 22, was from Whitinsville, Massachusetts. He died Wednesday in Jalalabad from wounds suffered when he was attacked by small arms fire while he was on an escort mission, according to the Defense Department.
Dawson was assigned to 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. He was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Dawson was a combat medic. He joined the Army in 2012 and arrived at Fort Campbell in January 2013.
22 years old. Afghanistan needs to be nuked from orbit.
The United States Postal Service is set to honor Maya Angelou today in a dedication ceremony for a new postage stamp depicting the legendary author, poet and singer. But there’s one problem: The quotation that accompanies Angelou’s picture on the stamp was apparently not originally written by her.
The text on the new “forever” stamp reads: “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” It appears to be a reference to Angelou’s best-known book, her 1969 memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
But the Washington Post reported yesterday that the quotation can also be found in “A Cup of Sun,” a 1967 poetry collection by children’s author Joan Walsh Anglund. A Postal Service spokesman told the newspaper that the line, which has been widely attributed to Angelou by people including President Obama, was approved for use on the stamp by Angelou’s family.
Gee, that sure was big of the family to approve a quote that was stolen from someone else. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “Use caution when attributing quotes found on the internet.”
And screw the post office anyway. I don’t think I’ve gotten a single letter that I’ve actually needed from the post office in at least five years. Everything I do is online now. And yet, every day I have 3 pounds of crap stuffed into my mailbox that I never asked for: Coupons, catalogs, flyers, etc. Fuck.
A group of Chinese soldiers who only ate pickles – while the citizens they were protecting ate like kings – has prompted a wave of scorn on Chinese social media. And now the state-controlled press is fighting back.
It was supposed to be a story about heroism. This week two giant warships rescued 571 Chinese nationals stranded in Yemen, where a crisis appears to be escalating fast. The ships were manned by Chinese soldiers, who sailed their countrymen home to safety.
On Wednesday Beijing News interviewed one of the evacuees as they returned home. “While on the navy ship, the soldiers ate pickles, but we had an eight course meal, and beer as well,” one man is reported to have said. “I am moved, I feel the warmth of the motherland,” he went on. China’s state controlled media seized on the story, seeing it as a chance to celebrate the stoicism and bravery of their troops. The government’s Xinhua News Agency and other commercial outlets reworked the article and gave it a punchy new headline: “An Evacuee’s experience: we eat eight courses, soldiers have pickles.” Images of the passengers’ feast were published as well.
This was pretty funny. The ChiCom government thought this was going to be a huge Look-At-Our-Mighty-Military moment, and it backfired spectacularly. The people of China weren’t too happy when they found out their military was starving.
(CNN)Authorities in South Carolina have released dash cam video in connection with the fatal shooting of Walter Scott, but the footage does not show the actual shooting.
Video from the patrol car of North Charleston’s Michael Slager shows an initial traffic stop and early interactions between the officer and Scott.
Slager approaches Scott’s vehicle. The two men speak. Scott tells the officer he does not have insurance and is in the process of purchasing the vehicle. Slager then returns to his patrol car.
Scott exits his vehicle, briefly, and Slager tells him to stay in the car. Scott then gets out of the car, again, and runs away, out of the range of the dash cam.
From what I’ve seen on the video, this looks inexcusable. The guy is running away, you have his ID, and you feel the need to blast him in the back?
Personnel records show that Slager served in the Coast Guard from 2003 to 2009, last serving at Station Cape Canaveral, Florida, as an unrated fireman before his honorable discharge.
His service record is unusual as most enlisted qualify for a rating within a few years of service and move up the petty officer ranks, a retired Coast Guard captain told Navy Times.
Scott received a general discharge under honorable conditions stemming from a drug charge in 1986. He served two years and was last stationed at Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore as an unrated fireman apprentice.
Slater, the police officer, served for 6 years and didn’t earn a rating? How is that even possible? What did he do all day? And apparently, in 1986, you could use drugs in the military Coast Guard and still get a general discharge under honorable conditions. Or does that mean he was arrested for drugs, not doing them? The story doesn’t say.
Something about this story is weird. Why did Scott sprint away from the cop? He’s 50 years old, driving with no insurance, no registration, and he runs from the police when pulled over? What went wrong there?
Then there’s Slager. You really felt the need to chase after a tubby older guy and shoot him in the back? I realize you had a legitimate reason to pull him over. That doesn’t mean the guy deserves a death sentence. What the hell was Slager thinking?
A California judge has reduced a child rapist’s mandatory 25-year sentence down to only 10 – saying anything longer would be ‘cruel and unusual punishment’.
Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly told an Orange County jury that 20-year-old Kevin Jonas Rojano-Nieto ‘did not intend to harm’ the three-year-old girl he raped at his family home in June.
The judge said that he was sure that although Rojano-Nieto sodomized the girl and covered her mouth so she couldn’t scream out, ‘there was no violence or callous disregard for the victim’s well-being’.
Can you believe this psychopath? He didn’t intend to harm? HE SODOMIZED A THREE YEAR OLD. Oh, let’s not omit this sentence:
Judge Kelly also said Rojano-Nieto, ‘inexplicably became sexually aroused but did not appear to consciously intend to harm the victim.’
You catch that? He “inexplicably became aroused…” HE BECAME AROUSED BECAUSE HE’S A CHILD-RAPING FREAK, you fucking twat. This judge should be carried out of his chambers and thrown into a pit of wolves.
A little tip for you: Anyone who wears robes on a regular basis should be regarded with suspicion. Whether it’s a judge, a priest, or Bill Cosby, you want to steer clear.
About 39,000 immigrant children are expected to enter the country illegally as unaccompanied minors this federal fiscal year, reaching the second-highest level of that migration since 2008, says an analysis issued Wednesday by a research group in Washington, D.C. The Migration Policy Institute’s analysis, though, calls the federal government’s efforts “a success” because the flow of immigrant children is declining. It credited, in part, a “multifaceted regional policy response” by the United States in partnership with Mexico and Central American nations that “greatly reduced” illegal crossings since last year.
Marsha Catron, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees several immigration agencies, said the federal government sent more patrol agents to secure the border, built detention space and launched a campaign in Central America to highlight “the dangers of the journey.”
The Obama administration also stepped up “in-country” refugee processing so that immigrants here legally can petition to have their children come to the United States rather than seek to have them smuggled.
I can’t get enough of these border stories. Notice how the debate is framed: Like it’s a natural disaster that we don’t have any control over. OH WELL THESE THINGS HAPPEN. If it’s expected, can’t you do something about it? But don’t worry, everyone, we have a multi-faceted regional policy response! No, I don’t know what that is either.
And check out the response from the DHS drone spokesdoofus. You know what word is missing from that list of security measures she rattled off? I’ll give you a hint: It rhymes with Skeeportation.
The Army has relieved the head of a Virginia medical center after an investigation found command climate problems and “undue influence by a commander,” according to an Army press release.
Col. Glenda Lock, under temporary suspension since Feb. 4, was formally relieved of her command of McDonald Army Health Center at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, on March 25.
Brig. Gen. Robert Tenhet, commander for Northern Regional Medical Command, said he had “lost confidence in Col. Lock’s ability for continued command of the medical facility,” the release said.
As many of you know, I’m intrigued with the ways the English language can be manipulated by journalists to make the vanilla sexy, and the shocking banal. I’d really like to know what actually went on at this medical center. Oh, and then there’s this little nugget:
Her decorations include a Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with six oak leaf clusters, and an Army Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster.
A nurse officer was awarded a Bronze Star? Interesting.
Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) said Californians will face heavy fines for taking long showers.
Brown said, “This executive order is done under emergency power. It has the force of law. Very unusual. It’s requiring action and changes in behavior from the Oregon border all the way to the Mexican border. It affects lawns. It affects people’s — how long they stay in the shower. How businesses use water.”
Guest host host Martha Raddatz pointed out, “More water used for almond production than is used by all residents and businesses in San Francisco and Los Angeles combined.”
Brown countered by saying, “Farm workers who are — very low end of the economic scale here, are out of work. There are people in agriculture areas that are suffering. Who are providing food.” adding, “They’re not watering their lawn or taking long showers. They’re providing most of the fruits and vegetables of America. And a significant part of the world.”
Got all that? The farmers have suffered enough already, and they are growing FOOD, unlike you FASCISTS with your lawns and showers. So they go untouched, while the rest of us get lectured. Let’s go to some quick facts:
So every single one of us could stop showering and watering our lawns, and we’d still be nowhere near conserving the water that we need to. Sorry, the farmers need to cut back too. Maybe, I don’t know, you shouldn’t try and grow RICE (!!!) in the desert?
Have you been to your local commissary lately? I saw approximately 743 different brands of rice on the shelves, mostly from Asia. So I’m not sure why we have this pressing need to grow stuff like rice, almonds and pistachios (all non-native crops) in California.
But all of this makes sense if you understand Governor Jerry Brown.
See, Jerry Brown is a minimalist. He was famously monastic back in the day, charming reporters with tales of sleeping on the floor in his tiny apartment. Which makes sense, seeing how he was an ex-seminary student who was used to the privations of the cloth. The reporter eat this crap up, giggling like school kids every time Brown makes one of his dumb jokes.
He hates freeways. He hates lawns. He hates the suburbs, and the cars, and the fact that people like their own houses and yards and do not wish to live in a 500 square foot box like he did. All of this gnaws at him day and night, the DESIRE to rid the world of these evil materialistic things.
We’ve all heard Jerry Brown with his ramblings about, “the era of limits.” This is why California’s water infrastructure is a crumbling mess. There is absolutely no will, much less funding, to build new aquifers, dams, pipelines, or de-salination plants. Yet the legislators of California always seem to have a couple billion lying around to dole out to favored constituencies or to just piss away.
The really scary thing is, Brown is actually the voice of fiscal sanity compared to the the rest of the ultra-far left legislature. Once he leaves, the doors to the treasury in Sacramento will really be thrown wide open.
Contact me @BKactual with any news or information you think we should take a look at.
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