Political News & Views: 7/27/14

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Germ Warfare Soccer: Ebola outbreak affects African soccer tournament

8/2/2014

soccer ball on grass field — Christopher Bruno/SXC

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(CNN) —Concern over the spread of the Ebola virus has caused the cancellation of an African Cup of Nations football match.

The Seychelles was due to host Sierra Leone in a qualifying game on Saturday, but the tiny island nation's ministries of health and immigration prevented the visiting players from entering the country.

At least 525 cases of Ebola have been reported in Sierra Leone since March, 224 of which have been fatal.

Seychelles, which was trailing 2-0 after losing the away leg of the second-round qualifier in Sierra Leone on July 19, has forfeited both the tie and its hopes of reaching next year's tournament finals.

Sierra Leone players were on Friday reportedly prevented from boarding a plane at Kenya's Nairobi Airport that would have taken them to the Seychelles.

Seychelles Football Federation president Elvis Chetty told CNN that there was little choice but to follow government advice and forfeit the match, which was to be held in the capital Victoria.

"After being advised by the ministry of health to postpone the match for an indefinite period, the ministry of immigration informed us it would not allow the team from Sierra Leone to enter the Seychelles," Chetty said. "Subsequently, the SFF felt it was prudent to forfeit the scheduled match as opposed to asking for a postponement. We respect the decisions taken by the authorities to safeguard the health interests of our country. Our thoughts are with the Sierra Leone people in their hour of need."

There have been more than 1,300 confirmed or suspected Ebola cases in West Africa since March, when cases of the virus were first reported in Guinea.

Other countries to be badly affected include Nigeria and Liberia.

Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma has declared a public health emergency in his country in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus.

One of the country's athletes at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland was taken to hospital last week to be tested for Ebola after feeling unwell.

However, cyclist Moses Sesay was cleared and was able to compete in Thursday's men's individual time trial.

Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic fever, affecting multiple organs and accompanied by bleeding. There is no known cure or specific treatments.

The World Health Organization has said that drastic action is needed to contain what has fast become the worst outbreak on record.

Anchor Babies In The News: Dog killed, marinated in italian dressing

8/2/2014

Onyx was 9 months old, black and white, part dachshund and part chihuahua. She was a family dog, one that Mandy Malone kept in part to play with her grandchildren.

Parts of the animal were then buried in the backyard, while others were stashed inside a bag in a freezer. / Pronews 7 file photo

TORRENCE COUNTY, N.M. -- Until Onyx ended up in Malone's freezer.

How did she get there? According to a criminal complaint filed in a Torrance County, New Mexico, court, the dog was stabbed in the heart and skinned. Parts of the animal were then buried in the backyard, while others were stashed inside a bag in a freezer.

"He had her marinating in Italian dressing in the fridge," Malone told CNN affiliate KOAT. "...What could possibly go through someone's mind to do something that sick?"

Authorities characterized the man they say killed the dog as Malone's boyfriend.

Salvador Martinez was released Wednesday on bond tied to the felony charge of extreme cruelty to animals, Torrance County Sheriff Heath White said. The sheriff predicted he wouldn't be free for long.

"He was already on probation for trafficking drugs and ... violated his probation, so he's likely going to be picked back up ... and sent back to a federal facility," White said Wednesday.

Martinez's latest legal trouble began Friday, July 18, when sheriff's deputies responded to a call at an Edgewood, New Mexico, residence. They found a gray plastic bag "containing some bones and meat (that) appeared to be a carcass of an animal," the complaint said.

Authorities said Martinez admitted he had killed the dog, saying there was no food around and his girlfriend "told him to go ahead" and do it.

After killing the animal, skinning it and burying parts of it in the yard, "he said that he ... found (a) recipe for dogs online" and found states where eating dogs is allowed, the complaint says.

New Mexico is one such place; in fact, there are no laws against eating cats or dogs in most states. In some cultures, it's more widely accepted.

"But it's the manner that it was done, and the emotional stress it put on the rest of the family, that led us to arrest him and charge him with animal cruelty," White said.

Martinez could not be reached for comment and it was unclear late Wednesday if he had an attorney.

The girlfriend told the deputies that Martinez admitted killing the dog around noon of that day, explaining "it was all right to do this in New Mexico to feed your family." She disputed the assertion that they didn't have food in the house.

Malone told KOAT that Martinez had previously told her, "just out of the blue, 'I'm going to barbeque one of your dogs.'"

But she didn't believe it -- then or now.

"Nobody knows what to think," Malone said.

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Immigration Update: Police say violent gang members have become more organized

8/2/2014

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Bailout ends in front of Action 4 News studios, immigrants detained

8/2/2014

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Democratic-run Philadelphia: 3-Year-Old Girl Killed, 3 Others Shot Along Grays Ferry Street

8/2/2014

A 3-year-old girl is dead after she was shot by a stray bullet in the Grays Ferry section of the city. At least 3 others are injured.

A 3-year-old girl, shot as she sat on her front porch, has died after a man opened fire along a Philadelphia street following an argument. Three others were also hit by gunfire.

Gunshots rang out around 9:40 p.m. on Friday along the 1500 block of S. Etting Street near 27th Street in the Grays Ferry section of the city, police said.

Philadelphia Police Capt. Michael Gormley said two men began arguing along the block when one pulled out a gun and started firing.

A stray bullet hit the girl in the left side of her chest, Gormley said. Witnesses tell NBC10.com that the girl was getting her hair done when she was struck.

Officers arriving on the scene put her in a patrol car and rushed her to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, officials said. But despite trauma doctor's efforts, she was pronounced dead at 10:21 p.m.

Three other people were also hit by the gunfire, police said. The other man involved in the argument was shot in the head. He was rushed by officers to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, police said. He remains there in critical condition.

Two other women, who Gormley says were bystanders, were grazed by bullets. One in the left leg and another in the right arm. They were both also taken to HUP.

Witnesses say the shooter fled the scene on his bicycle. Police have taken a person of interest into custody near the scene, but have not identified him as a suspect.

A large number of police remain on the scene as they collect evidence.

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Scab Pickers Push Race Card With Lawsuit

8/2/2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Yitzhak Shuchat, a white member of a civilian patrol group, and Andrew Charles, the black son of a police officer, came face to face in 2008 in a neighborhood with a history of racial strife — that much is certain.

But six years later, the circumstances of the encounter in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn remain murky, even as prosecutors pursue charges against 28-year-old Shuchat alleging he attacked Charles because of his race. Shuchat's supporters in the neighborhood's Orthodox Jewish community have reacted with dismay over what they call a hate crime investigation gone awry.

Authorities "took a minor incident and made it into a very serious situation," said state Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is Jewish. "This could have been resolved a long time ago. It makes absolutely no sense."

The case received renewed attention last month when deputy U.S. Marshals retrieved Shuchat from Israel after he lost a lengthy extradition fight. He pleaded not guilty July 18 in a Brooklyn court to second-degree assault as a hate crime, attempted assault and other charges and was released on $300,000 bail put up by Jewish benefactors.

Prosecutors have yet to explain why they're treating the case as a racial incident, said Shuchat's attorney, Paul Batista. In other hate crime cases, there are typically racial slurs or other clear evidence of bias.

"I don't know where the hate element came in," Batista said. "Yitzi has no racial animus toward anyone."

Asked in a recent television interview to describe their encounter, Charles responded, "They attacked us, and that's about it." He didn't elaborate.

The Brooklyn district attorney's office declined to comment.

The case resurrected old wounds in Crown Heights, where violence exploded in 1991 after a black child, Gavin Cato, was accidentally hit and killed by a car in a Jewish motorcade. A group of blacks responded by stabbing to death a rabbinical student from Australia who was walking down the street.

Over the years the tensions in Crown Heights have dissipated as the neighborhood has become more gentrified. But occasional violence linked to race or religion has persisted — and can still stir up old fears.

In 2008, the New York Police Department increased patrols in Crown Heights after the incident with Charles and a report that a Jewish teenager was robbed and beaten by black kids.

According to police, Charles was walking with a black friend when they they were confronted by a white man who pepper-sprayed Charles. Then an SUV pulled up and a white passenger — later identified by police as Shuchat — jumped out and hit him with a nightstick.

Authorities concluded Shuchat and the other man were volunteers with the civilian patrol, Shmira, and convened a grand jury to look into the matter — a move criticized by the Jewish community but welcomed by black leaders.

"You can't have a group, whether it's the Bloods, Crips or Shmira, acting like vigilantes," then-District Attorney Charles Hynes told a local Jewish newspaper.

After learning he was wanted as a suspect, Shuchat fled to Israel through Canada amid claims he couldn't get a fair trial. He was indicted on the hate crime charges a few weeks later after prosecutors concluded bias was the only motive.

The defense doesn't dispute that Shuchat had a run-in with Charles. But it says Shuchat was responding to a radio call reporting that two black men were throwing rocks and cursing at Jews. It also claims Charles wasn't harmed despite being taken to the hospital.

"It was an argument between two people on the street," Batista said. "There's nothing more to it."

Shuchat started a family in Israel before Brooklyn prosecutors sought his extradition. While he fought it, Crown Heights Jewish leaders circulated letters of support and started a defense fund.

"Ytizy's young family does not deserve to be torn apart by a prosecution out to pander to rabble-rousers in the community," wrote the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council.

Community activist Taharka Robinson, who's advising Charles' family, said Shuchat's decision to leave the country was telling.

"I don't believe anyone would flee and go through Canada to get into Israel if they did not engage in an act that injured someone," he said.

Shuchat's supporters see the extradition as an opportunity for vindication.

"I'm glad he's back so things can be cleared up," Hikind said.

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Looking for a place to restart our Constitutional Republic of America?

8/2/2014

Video Shows First Contact with Indian Tribe in Brazil (VIDEO)

RIO DE JANEIRO – A video released by Brazil’s National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) shows an isolated Indian tribe’s first contact with civilization in Acre, a state on the border with Peru, and how the Indians interact with a nearby indigenous community.

Members of the tribe were first spotted on June 27, when FUNAI personnel out fishing saw two Indians who had dropped a basket of lemons on the banks of the Envira River.

The video, which was released on Tuesday, shows the first direct contact with the tribe on June 29.

Ashaninka Indians from Simpatia, a village on the banks of the Envira River, who receive medical care from the agency helped in making contact with the new tribe, the FUNAI said.

The video shows the Ashaninkas making contact with some members of the isolated tribe, who make signs that they are hungry and are given bananas.

The meeting between the Indian groups was not friendly, with the new tribe, armed with bows and arrows, looting the Ashaninka dwellings and stealing hatchets and clothing, the FUNAI told Efe.

It is still not clear why the tribe contacted the Ashaninkas, but it may be that the isolated group came under pressure from Peruvian loggers, FUNAI anthropologists said.

The previously unknown tribe had a shotgun that may have been stolen from a logger or abandoned by an outsider.

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Mexican State Conveniently Bars Media from Crime Scenes

8/2/2014

CULIACAN, Mexico – Legislators in the western Mexican state of Sinaloa passed a measure that bars reporters from crime scenes and sharply limits the press’ ability to cover issues of public safety and criminal justice.

The proposal, submitted by state Gov. Mario Lopez, was unanimously approved Thursday night, though one lawmaker admitted later that she voted for the bill without having read it.

Under the new law, crime reporters will have to rely exclusively on official bulletins from authorities.

Sinaloa is one of Mexico’s five most dangerous states, with 41 homicides for every 100,000 residents in 2013.

The state that gave birth to the first generation of Mexican drug lords is suffering through a period of heightened violence as rival groups jockey for supremacy following the arrest in February of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” (Shorty) Guzman.

Calling the new media law something that would be appropriate in a dictatorship, Sinaloa Journalists Association head Juan Manuel Partida Valdez demanded its immediate repeal.

The association is ready to challenge the measure before Mexico’s Supreme Court and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, he said.

The uproar after the bill’s approval prompted Gov. Lopez to ask the state assembly to review and, if necessary, amend the legislation.

His administration does not want “to inhibit the free practice of journalism in Sinaloa,” he said Friday in a statement.

The controversy only grew louder with lawmaker Silvia Miriam Chavez’s admission that she voted for the bill without being aware of its content.

“I feel ashamed because I am not accustomed to being a politician of lies,” she said. “The truth: yes, I voted for it and I didn’t notice.”

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UPDATE

Sinaloa slams the door shut on the press and democracy

Friday, August 1, 2014 |

Borderland Beat Reporter Chivis

Borderland Beat Translated by Leila English/Mexico Voices

From Sinembargo:

Perhaps it is best to begin by saying that Governor Mario López Valdez is in a fight with Sinaloa’s critical press. He has abused it, and he has besieged it. He doles out punishments by withholding government publicity funds, for example, or simply harasses its journalists. Such is the case of the newspaper Noroeste, which has suffered a campaign of aggressions that affected, obviously, even its general director.

Nothing less than a shooting. An assault, supposedly. Nobody could believe it.

Recently, the State Congress approved reforms to the Organic Law of the State Attorney General which will limit the scope of the media, who will no longer have access to information about investigations and who, by law, now, will only be able to “report” official press releases.

And these press releases have to be delivered by another organization, a very specific one: that which guards access to public information. And always and only when they are in compliance with the requisites identified in transparency laws.

To restate: even the press releases will require a bureaucratic process.

Reporters will not have access to crime scenes, any audio, video, or photographs of the people involved in a criminal event, or to the use of information related to public security or the pursuit of justice. It’s like that.

No representative from the Attorney General’s office will be able to give information to media outlets without the express authorization from the State Attorney General or from the organization guarding access to public information.

Yes, it’s like that. It’s not a joke. It’s not Iraq or Iran; it’s not China or North Korea. It’s Sinaloa.

Governor Mario López Valdez has been accused of having links with organized crime. His police forces have been accused of manipulating evidence and falsifying guilt. His administration has been fingered as an assailant of journalists. And few of these suspicions have been cleared.

In response, however, comes this law.

As journalists we are part of the mechanism of democracy. Access to information is a necessity for that great resource, the free press, to function.

Now the journalists of Sinaloa must await press releases in their offices, or risk subverting the law in a way that could send them to prison.

Mario López Vladez has constructed, for himself and his own, a hidden castle. They will live there as they please. They will act there as they wish. Not ruled by a king, but by a dictator.

These are bad times for Sinaloa. These are bad times for democracy

If you recall, after the Chapo capture, the governor said he was told nothing about the operation., which no doubt was a big part of the plan.

A year ago a video was sent to Riodoce accusing the governor of ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. Below is an article from Justice in Mexico about the incident.

Another Mexican state governor is in the media spotlight, this time for alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. Around the same time as the corruption scandal surroundingTabasco Governor Andrés Granier broke in late June, and just a week before former Quintana Roo Governor Mario Villanueva was sentenced to 11 years by a U.S. federal judge for corrupt ties to drug trafficking, a video surfaced online throughRíodoce news outlet accusing Sinaloa Governor Mario López Valdez of working with the Sinaloa Cartel to defeat cartel rivals and gain control of territory in Sinaloa. López, more commonly known as ‘Malova,’ has denied the allegations.

The video itself features López’s bodyguard, Frank Armenta Espinoza, calmly speaking to the camera as he details interactions the governor had with the Sinaloa Cartel’s two leaders, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambado García and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera. Armenta explicitly points to a meeting with El Mayo and El Chapo that he joined López at in Quilá, Sinaloa near the start of the governor’s term in office (2011-2016). Armenta accuses López of working directly with members of the Sinaloa Cartel in a collaborative effort to defeat the coalition among the Beltran-Leyva Organization, the Carrillo-Fuentes Cartel, and Los Zetas in northern Sinaloa, while simultaneously assisting the Sinaloa Cartel in gaining full control of the state

To allegedly assist the Sinaloa Cartel, Armenta said that several state officials were promoted to increase protection of the cartel and its interests. One such promotion was the appointment of Jesús Antonio Aguilar Íñiguez, also known as Chuytoño, as the head of the Ministerial Police (Policía Ministerial, PM)

Armenta alleges that Chuytoño has headed the effort to coordinate the Sinaloa Cartel’s control, a role in which he also promoted Jesús Carrasco as the Chief of Police in the municipality of Ahome to combat activities against the Sinaloa Cartel in the northern part of the state. Carrasco, who has since been replaced by Gerardo Amarillas Gastelum as chief of police, is accused of having committed crimes including extortion, assassinations, robberies, drug trafficking, and supporting the Sinaloa Cartel.

The video also contains audio clips of alleged discussions held between Governor López and various officials in Sinaloa including Chuytoño, Carrasco, General Moisés Melo García of the military, and El Carrizo Police Commander José Ángel Castro Flores. The audio clips reveal numerous conversations pertaining to organized crime activities such as drug trafficking, murders, and robberies.

Not only have the allegations in the video caught the public’s attention, but so too did the timing of its release. On June 22, 2013, Ríodoce streamed the 55-minute long video online after it was sent to its website. The sender had included a note with the video footage stating, “Please review the link as it reveals very important information. Watch the video.” The video, featuring bodyguard Frank Armenta, came three weeks after Armenta was kidnapped on June 4 as he was returning to his home located in the town of Callejones de Guasavito in the municipality of Guasave.

Although his whereabouts were and still remain unknown, the video footage of Armenta detailing Governor López’s alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel was the first sign of the bodyguard since his disappearance. For his part, López immediately partnered with the State Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado, PGJE) stating they would do everything in their power to get the guard back, including the use of land and water operatives.

While the source of the video’s audio clips are unconfirmed, López, however, has wasted no time in negating all accusations made by Armenta, including the validity of the audio. While he recognizes that the voice in the clips is his, he asserts that it was distorted using advanced technology to piece together phrases he said during various speeches to create inaccurate statements. He believes the video was made under threat to Armenta and went on to say that it is a tool that is being used by organized crime to “discredit his government.”

If the audio clips are proven true, it reveals a network of government, police, and military officials who will be linked to protecting and serving the interests of the Sinaloa Cartel within the state. For example, one audio clip reveals a conversation between Governor López and General Melo García in which López thanks the general for his support in assisting the municipal and state police in several distinct areas in the state. In response to the audio surfacing, General Melo García replied that it was not his problem nor did he have an opinion on the matter.

Due to growing concerns among residents in Sinaloa and pressure from Governor López, the government of Sinaloa has released an eight point response to the video seeking to assure residents that the video was used to fool the public and is a direct attack to discredit the government’s actions against organized crime groups.

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