Feds drop appeal in Dru Sjodin killing,
still seek death penalty
Posted By: Ribicon, 3/26/2022 11:17:18 AM
Minneapolis—Federal prosecutors are dropping their appeal of a judge's decision to overturn the death sentence for a Minnesota man convicted in the 2003 kidnapping and killing of Dru Sjodin, but they said they still intend to seek the death penalty when he is resentenced. In a court filing Friday, prosecutors and defense attorneys for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. voluntarily agreed to dismiss the appeal. Interim U.S. Attorney Nicholas Chase told The Associated Press that the case will now be set for a resentencing, as the judge ordered, and "we are still seeking the death penalty."(Snip)Authorities said Rodriguez, a convicted sex offender, kidnapped Sjodin from the parking lot
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A federal judge has dismissed felony drug and gun charges against a former policy fellow for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's office, finding two Minneapolis police officers illegally searched his car during a traffic stop in 2020. U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel ruled that evidence overwhelmingly did not support claims by Minneapolis officers Zerrick Fuller and Daniel Ledman that they smelled marijuana coming from Keegan "KJ" Rolenc's car after they pulled him over. Brasel threw out the evidence the officers collected during what she deemed an unconstitutional search, calling Ledman's testimony about the stop inconsistent and "not credible."
Across the United States, police frequently cite the distinctive odor of marijuana
The long-promised project to extend the Second Ave. subway to Harlem will get $400 million in the annual budget President Biden is set to propose Monday, according to New York Democrats Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Adriano Espaillat. After years of delays, the money will go to engineering and construction for Q train stops up to 125th St., the pair said.(Snip)The funding allocation “means we’re out of the station and heading on the track,” the Senate Majority Leader told the Daily News on Sunday. “Once you have $400 million allocated, that’s enough to start construction, and it means all systems are go,” he said.
Oscar winners are almost seven times more likely to suffer from mental health and addiction issues than other people. Analysis by Paracelsus Recovery, a clinic that has treated dozens of celebrities, said ‘fame should come with a health warning’ after it emerged that two-thirds of actors who have won Academy Awards over the past 30 years experienced disorders. Of the 60 performers who won either the Best Actor or Best Actress gong since 1992, 41 have suffered from a mental health issue–with depression, anxiety and substance abuse the most common problems.(Snip)Figures show that ten per cent of the general population have a mental health issue,
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the United States is not looking for 'regime change' in Moscow or anywhere else in the world after President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin 'cannot remain in power.' Biden went directly after the Russian autocrat in an emotional speech on Saturday, warning if Putin's ambitions went unchecked it could lead to decades of war in Europe. Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem the next day, Blinken explained that his boss was likely referring to Putin's influence outside of his country—including Moscow's bloody and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine which has now spanned over a month. 'I think the president, the White House,
A women's rights group meeting to discuss single-sex spaces was protested by trans activists—leading to police being called.
Around 200 protestors holding up placards that read 'Some women have penises' and 'If you are transphobic—do one' gathered outside a venue in Manchester where Women's Place UK were holding their discussion. The group was hosting its annual conference to consider 'the importance and future of single-sex provision in policy and law'. But it is reported that the protestors stationed themselves outside the Mechanic Institute conference centre's door with a sound system. The protest was organised by the Manchester Trans Rise Up group, which described Women's Place as
A lawyer who ran for governor of Maine twice was arrested on child pornography charges Friday. Eliot Cutler, 75, faces four counts of possession of sexually explicit material of a minor under 12 after investigators found 10 files of children being exploited on his computer, according to The Portland Press Herald. Culter may face additional charges as cops continued to look through terabytes of data on devices seized from two of the former Independent candidate’s homes, the article said. Officials arrested Cutler at his farm in Brooklin even as the probe continued, prosecutors said. He was being held on $50,000 bail.(Snip)Cutler, a former member of President Jimmy Carter’s administration,
The Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children raked in $3.9 million in 2020, but spent only a fraction of that on its purported mission to help kids, The Post has learned. The Delaware-based charity, which was started in honor of President Biden’s late son, got an infusion of $1.8 million from the Biden Foundation before that group shut down in 2020, according to the charities’ latest tax filings. The Biden Foundation was started by Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, to champion “progress and prosperity for American families.” The Beau Biden charity also took in $225,000 from entities tied to a top political donor and bundler
Vladimir Putin is “a butcher,” President Biden said Saturday, after he made an emotional trip to visit Ukrainian refugees at Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy Stadium. “He’s a butcher,” Biden told a reporter who asked what he thought of Putin after speaking with just a few of the 3.7 million Ukrainians who have fled the Russian invasion.(Snip)The president wore a black face mask and a dark blue baseball cap bearing the logo of the Beau Biden Foundation—but frequently lowered the face covering as he talked.(Snip)He hoisted a young girl in his arms and gave her a quick smooch—“I don’t speak Ukrainian, but tell her I want to
Seattle—The man accused of randomly attacking a Harborview Medical Center employee at a Seattle light rail station earlier this month appeared in court for the first time on Thursday. The alleged victim was there to speak to the court directly. I believe if he is let out "he will kill someone," said assault victim Kim Hayes of Seattle.
Prosecutors argued Alexander Jay's conduct was "alarming" and requested bail be set at $150,000 for the alleged attack on March 2. He is charged with second-degree assault.(Snip)Records show Jay has been convicted of 20 crimes in the last two decades in California and Washington, including assault, theft, and burglary.
President Joe Biden on Saturday compared Poland's taking in more than 2 million Ukraine refugees to the migrant situation on the Southern border of the U.S. The odd comparision came as Biden was thanking Polish President Andrzej Duda for his country's response to the humanitarian crisis and pledging U.S. financial aid.
'We do acknowledge Poland has taken on a lot with all of the responsibility,' Biden said. 'The fact that you have so many Ukrainians seeking refuge in this country of Poland. We understand that because we have, at our southern border, thousands of people per day literally, not figuratively, trying to get into the United States,' he said.
The gunman who shot a 3-year-old girl walking with her father in Brooklyn was aiming at another dad and child when the innocent toddler took a bullet to the shoulder, cops said Saturday.
The revelation comes as cops released surveillance images of the gunman in the hopes that someone recognizes him. The triggerman was aiming at a 28-year-old man putting his 2-year-old son into a car on Riverdale Ave. near Amboy St. in Brownsville when he opened fire at 6 p.m. Friday, cops said. He completely missed his target, but one bullet went wild and hit a 3-year-old girl leaving the Creative
Minneapolis—Federal prosecutors are dropping their appeal of a judge's decision to overturn the death sentence for a Minnesota man convicted in the 2003 kidnapping and killing of Dru Sjodin, but they said they still intend to seek the death penalty when he is resentenced. In a court filing Friday, prosecutors and defense attorneys for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. voluntarily agreed to dismiss the appeal. Interim U.S. Attorney Nicholas Chase told The Associated Press that the case will now be set for a resentencing, as the judge ordered, and "we are still seeking the death penalty."(Snip)Authorities said Rodriguez, a convicted sex offender, kidnapped Sjodin from the parking lot
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New Zealand – Dr. Cat Pausé, a Massey University ‘fat studies’ lecturer died suddenly in her sleep this weekend.
Cat Pausé’s work focused on the impacts of “fat stigma” and made it her life’s mission to spread ‘body positivity’ and health at every size.
Three supposed comediennes co-hosted the Oscars Sunday night, as the show, which has been reeling from its plunge in ratings in recent years, attempted to win America over. Co-host Wanda Sykes decided she would alienate plenty of people in Florida by attacking them over the state’s Parental Rights in Education legislation, sniping, “Well, we’re going to have a great night tonight. And for you people in Florida, we’re going to have a gay night.”
She then joined co-hosts Regina Hall and Amy Schumer to chant like defiant four-year-olds, “Gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, gay.”
Joe Biden’s trip overseas has been a disaster!
Biden has dramatically escalated his rhetoric against Vladimir Putin, calling for the Russian leader to be removed because of his brutal invasion of Ukraine.
“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden’s said at the very end of a speech in Poland’s capital that served as the capstone on a four-day trip to Europe.
Biden has frequently talked about ensuring that the Kremlin’s now two-month invasion becomes a “strategic failure” for Putin and has described the Russian leader as a “war criminal.” But until his remarks in Warsaw, the American leader had not said that Putin should not run Russia.
Chatter concerning the possible removal of President Joe Biden, 79, from the White House erupted online this weekend after the president on multiple occasions seemed to blurt out escalation talk regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, all in contrast with White House messaging.
The Daily Wire highlighted that Biden’s seemingly off-the-cuff remarks had to quickly be addressed and walked-back by the administration.
In one instance, Biden told a group of American troops in Poland that they were going to see the “backbone” and “guts” of the Ukrainian people “when you’re there,” suggesting the U.S. was putting boots on the ground in Ukraine, in contrast with White House statements and talking points.
Law Professor Denounces the Constitution's
'White Supremacy,' Calls for an 'Antiracist' Replacement 32 replies
'White Supremacy,' Calls for an 'Antiracist' Replacement 32 replies
Is the Constitution inherently racist? Brandon Hasbrouck says yes.
In Boston University Law Review article “The Antiracist Constitution,” the Washington and Lee University professor alleges our nation’s founding document “serves white supremacy.”
He aids his argument with George Floyd’s death, the Fugitive Slave Act, and the fact that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves.
The professor points out a peculiarity:
It is June 28, 1776. The Continental Congress orders that Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence “lie on the table.” … Jefferson, who enslaves hundreds of people, nonetheless includes an assertion that “all men are created equal.”
Moving forward to fugitive slaves:
It is September 18, 1850. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act…
A South Carolina mother had both arms amputated and her colon removed after she was mauled by two pit bulls and a mixed breed dog earlier this week.
Kyleen Waltman, 38, was savagely attacked by the pit bulls while she was out on a walk Monday morning, WYFF reported. (snip) A good Samaritan saw Waltman being mauled by the dogs and was able to scare the animals off by firing his gun into the air.
One of President Joe Biden’s signature promises during the 2020 campaign was that he would “unify the country.” Now, a little more than a year into the presidency, most Americans don’t feel he has lived up to his promise. In fact, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows they feel America is divided, not united, under Biden.
“I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify; who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States,” Biden told followers after declaring victory on Nov. 8, 2020.
That speech was seized on by many as a sign
Booker Contends Democrats Are Not at Fault
for How Contentious Supreme Court Hearings
Have Become 26 replies
for How Contentious Supreme Court Hearings
Have Become 26 replies
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker on Sunday railed against Republican questioning of Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson last week during her confirmation hearings and suggested that Democrats' past treatment of conservative nominees was necessary.
During an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," after host Chuck Todd asked how to fix the "broken" confirmation hearings that become increasingly partisan in recent years, Booker slammed Republicans' line of questioning for Jackson as "outrageous" and "beyond the pale."
He came, he saw, he confused.
Joe Biden’s call-to-arms speech in Poland was long on soaring rhetoric about the virtues of democracy but woefully short on what more the West will do to help Ukraine defeat the Russian invasion. But by the time he got to the finish, most of that was forgotten. What mattered most and what will be remembered for a long time was a single line the president of the United States said about the president of Russia: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”(Snip)Maybe the idea just popped into Biden’s addled brain and he added it on the fly.
Joe Biden's 2023 budget proposal includes $32 billion to fight rising crime in the U.S., according to two White House officials, despite years-long calls from the progressive wing of his party to defund police.Massive crime spikes, particularly in cities, are one issue that could threaten Democrat's majority in the upcoming midterm elections. Republicans are effectively branding the issue as widely Democrat-caused due to calls to abolish police and rhetoric against law enforcement in general.The officials tell Axios that Biden's budget proposal would require $30 billion in new spending over the next decade to expand law enforcement and increase crime prevention.
There was an amazing moment at the Oscars a few minutes ago where Will Smith jumped out of his seat and slapped Chris Rock across the face — HARD — after Rock made a joke that Smith’s wife, Jada, who is bald thanks to a medical condition is auditioning for “GI Jane 2,” an older movie starring Demi Moore as a female Navy SEAL who shaved her head.
But, in America, the censors at ABC didn’t want us to hear Smith yelling at Rock when he went back to his seat. Viewers in Australia and Japan, however, heard and saw the whole thing:
Tech giant Apple is working on turning its iPhone and other products into a subscription-based hardware service sharing some similarities with a car lease.
Bloomberg reports that tech giant Apple is developing a subscription service for its iPhone and other hardware products, which could turn iPhone ownership into a subscription service rather than direct hardware ownership. The service would be Apple’s biggest effort so far to enter the automatically recurring sales market.
The project is reportedly still in development, according to sources with knowledge of the matter, and has yet to be finalized. Apple shares climbed to a session high falling Bloomberg’s reporting of the feature late this week,
Comments:
Six months out of prison after 23 years incarcerated on a rape, aggravated assault, and kidnapping conviction, level 3 sex offender Alfonso Rodriguez, the son of "migrant farm workers" and with many previous sex assault convictions, kidnapped, raped, and murdered a young woman. Sixteen years later his case is still being heard in the courts, with the suggestion that his constitutional rights have been violated. A just society would have put him down 5 minutes after the conviction, but this is America, where Equity is our highest value.