Thursday, October 24, 2013
manessmorrison2@yahoo.com

NBC News Clips


Sonoma County Deputies Shoot, Kill Boy Carrying Replica Assault Rifle
Boy's father said his son wasn't hiding from anything, adding he was out in the open in the middle of the day when he was shot and killed

Two sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a 13-year-old boy carrying a replica assault rifle -- who they say wouldn’t drop it -- prompting outrage and grief in the typically quiet Northern California city of Santa Rosa.
The Sonoma County deputies on patrol saw the boy, identified as Andy Lopez, walking in a blue hoodie with what appeared to be a rifle at 3:14 p.m. Tuesday, Sheriff's Lt. Dennis O'Leary said in a statement. The replica gun resembled an AK-47 with a black magazine cartridge and brown butt, according to a photograph the sheriff released. It did not have the traditionally orange tip of a replica firearm. There is a photo of the fake gun and a real AK47 posted below.
Andy's father, Rodrigo Lopez, said he can't believe his son wouldn't listen to authorities if they asked him to drop the weapon. His son, he said, had a lot of respect for police.
"I sense that he did obey orders," Rodrigo Lopez said. 
Other community members also stood behind the boy.
"He was not a gang member, he was an 8th grader," said Anita Ruiz, whose son was friends with the victim. "He was not a criminal, but yet he's dead. He's 13 years old. Couldn't something else have been done?"
Nicole Guerra, another mother whose son was friends with Andy, could barely contain her emotions.
"He's not the kind of boy that would resist," she told NBC Bay Area, wailing and gasping as she tried to articulate her thoughts. "He wanted to go to college and do something with his life. He would not have resisted. No way, no way. He's not that kind of boy."
The sheriff's department outlined the basic facts from the agency's point of view. Two deputies patrolling near Moorland and West Robles avenues in Santa Rosa  about 3 p.m. spotted a "male subject" carrying what appeared to be an assault style rifle, similar to an AK-47 assault rifle.
The deputies hit their sirens and called for backup. Then, according to O'Leary, the deputies "repeatedly ordered the subject to drop the rifle."
Initially, officers said the subject’s back was toward them, but as they ordered him to put down the weapon they said he began to turn toward them. The department issued this statement:
"One of the deputies described that as the subject was turning toward him the barrel of the assault rifle was rising up and turning in his direction. The deputy feared for his safety, the safety of his partner, and the safety of the community members in the area. He believed the subject was going to shoot at him or his partner. The deputy described that he is aware an assault weapon of this type is capable of firing a bullet that can penetrate his body armor, the metal exterior of his car, and the walls of the residential houses behind him. The deputy then fired several rounds from his service weapon at the subject, striking him at least one time."
The deputies still commanded Lopez to move away from the rifle, the sheriff's statement read, but at this point, he was "unresponsive." Deputies handcuffed him, administered First Aid and called for medical help.
But it was too late. Andy was pronounced dead at the scene. In addition to learning the rifle wasn't real, the sheriff's department also stated they found a plastic hand gun in his waistband.
As is standard protocol, this officer-involved shooting is being investigated by the Santa Rosa and Petaluma police departments, and the District Attorney’s Office. The Sonoma County deputies who were involved in this incident have been placed on administrative leave, which is routine for such events.
Residents on Wednesday night held a protest in response to the killing and demanded justice for the Cruz family. Neighbors also paid their respects a growing memorial of flowers, photos, candles and stuff animals near where the boy was fatally shot.
Santa Rosa is about 55 miles north of San Francisco and better known, like other cities in the North Bay, for its wineries. This year, Santa Rosa was ranked among the Top 10 "happiest cities" in the United States. Andy's death marks the third fatal officer-involved shooting in Sonoma County this year. He had attended Lawrence Cook Middle School, where Assistant Principal Linsey Gannon said he was a talented trumpet player.
 "He was a handsome young man with many friends and a lovely  family," Gannon said. "He will be missed."


This is a sad story. I can understand what the police did – they have to protect themselves and they can't always tell when they are in danger. The assault rifle looked real. Is it a problem for parents to buy so many toy weapons for their children, especially an assault rifle which is only used for violence? I had a Dale Evans suit and toy pistol when I was 5 years old, and the boy next door had a Roy Rogers suit and gun, and we played cowboys and Indians. We had no cultural sensitivities in the South at that time – back then the Indians were always the bad guys. Of course, by the time I was 13 years old, I had long outgrown all that, but maybe boys take longer to quit pretending.

I have heard some parents say they wouldn't buy a toy gun for their children, because it encourages them to concentrate on violence. This makes me wonder if they are right, especially if the boy is as old as 13. A boy that age may tend to focus on violence in real life, not just as a fantasy, and such a toy could encourage that. Of course, in the country, forty years ago, his parents might well have bought him a real rifle and taught him to hunt at 13. The parent would instruct him on gun safety, as a matter of course. He would certainly be helping with the farming by the time he was that age.

The problem with the age of 12 or 13 is that kids are no longer really kids. They are coming into puberty and naturally distancing themselves from parental restraints, plus they do tend to start developing more aggressiveness. They are rapidly becoming young men and women. They need credit for that (our society has no “rites of passage”) and responsibilities and training to teach them to keep a home, think like an adult, perform work of some sort and learn to care for younger brothers and sisters if there are any.

The big question here is why the boy didn't respond after the police put on their siren and ordered him to drop the gun. The way he began to turn toward them silently and raise it (into a threatening position, I wonder?) sounds like he may have been confused. Since he was thought to be 'a good boy” and not into gangs or such things, I tend to think that he was surprised and didn't think through the situation. It's just a tragedy all around. The news is full of them.




Judge orders release of grand jury indictment in JonBenet Ramsey case

DENVER — A Colorado judge Wednesday ordered the release of the 1999 grand jury indictment in the killing of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, possibly shedding light on why prosecutors decided against charging her parents in her death.

Senior District Court Judge J. Robert Lowenbach ruled that the indictment signed by the grand jury foreman constituted an official action and must be released Friday. A reporter for the Boulder Daily Camera and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a lawsuit to seek the records.
In the ruling, Lowenbach noted that District Attorney Alex Hunter prepared possible charges against John Ramsey and his wife, Patsy, three years after the death. The indictment has remained sealed for 14 years because Hunter decided against pursuing charges, but officials have never explained that decision.
JonBenet's body was found bludgeoned and strangled in her family's home in Boulder on Dec. 26, 1996. Former District Attorney Mary Lacy said in 2008 that DNA evidence suggests the killer was a stranger, not a family member, and she announced that she planned to treat the Ramseys as victims of the crime. JonBenet Ramsey's mother, Patsy, died of cancer in 2006.
Earlier this week, John Ramsey asked officials to release the entire grand jury record if the unprosecuted indictment was made public. However, the judge said transcripts of grand jury proceedings and evidence presented to it are not considered "official action" under the law governing criminal court records. He also said releasing such information could hurt other grand juries, whose work is secret.

An attorney representing John Ramsey, L. Lin Wood, said he's confident that no evidence in the grand jury case implicated the Ramsey family and the public should be able to see that for themselves.
"Anything less than the release of all of the proceedings is a gross injustice to the Ramsey family," he said.


This story was a true mystery with multiple suspects. The police were thought to have botched the investigation, destroying possible evidence, and not charging anyone. A neighbor who played Santa Claus for the party on the night of the murder was a primary suspect, but they never made a case against him. Later investigation even looked into the possibility that the Ramsey's son may have committed the crime, which the Ramseys strongly disputed. Whoever did it had access to the Ramsey home after the family had gone to sleep. The mother tucked her daughter in that night and went to sleep. She was found dead in the basement later, with no sounds or other disturbance during the night. The neighbor, if I remember correctly, did have a key to the house, as a family friend. Most of the focus of the investigation fell on the Ramseys as the possible killers, though. The family was hounded by the press until Mrs. Ramsey died of cancer. Now Mr. Ramsey is trying to clear their name.




Mirrors help to light town hidden in a valley's gloom
People gather on a spot in front of the town hall of Rjukan, Norway, Oct. 18, 2013, where sunshine is reflected by three giant mirrors erected on the mountainside above the industrial town.

Rjukan, Norway, known for its darkness in winter, is located in the bottom of a valley between steep mountains in Telemark County, about 90 miles west of Oslo. The idea to use mirrors to reflect sunshine during the winter was launched 100 years ago but will finally become a reality after the official opening on Oct. 31. 
A Norwegian town deprived of sunlight because the shadows of surrounding mountains has erected giant mirrors to bathe its residents in glorious rays.
Rjukan, 100 miles west of the capital, Oslo, is home to 3,500 people all presumably suffering from seasonal affective disorder.
But now three giant mirrors - called heliostats - reflect a beam of light onto the town's square giving the illusion of a second sun.
Rjukan, 100 miles west of the capital, Oslo, is home to 3,500 people all presumably suffering from seasonal affective disorder.
But now three giant mirrors - called heliostats - reflect a beam of light onto the town's square giving the illusion of a second sun.
Karin Roe, head of the town's tourist office, said: "We think it will mean more activities in town, especially in autumn and wintertime.
"People will be out more," reports the Telegraph.
The idea is not a new one - 100 years ago an industrialist in the town, Sam Eyde, suggested the very same idea.
But technology wasn't advanced enough to carry out the work until recently
Artist, Martin Andersen, drew up the plans and obtained five million Norwegian Kroner (£523,400) to make the idea a reality.
Anderson said: "It sounds like something from a Donald Duck cartoon, it is pretty crazy," reports the Times.
"There are three heliostats that have been installed to bring sunlight to the town square as a kind of health project to promote the well-being of people living in the shade."
Previously, residents had to go up the mountain in a specially built cable car in order to see sunlight in the darker months.
Inspiration for 'The Mirror Project' came from the town of Viganella in northern Italy which already has a system installed.


The sun is one of the main reasons I enjoy living in Florida. I can't imagine moving to a place like that, but maybe the residents were mostly all born there and are adapted to it. The technology is amazing, of course. We are truly in a new age. I don't generally care much about technology, but this is clearly needed and worth the millions that it cost.





'Nail down the tongue': Ancient magician's curse found in Jerusalem

Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists excavated a 1,700-year-old curse tablet from a Roman mansion in the City of David in Jerusalem. In the text inscribed on the lead tablet, a woman named Kyrilla curses a man named Iennys, probably over a legal case.

A lead curse tablet, dating back around 1,700 years and probably written by a magician, has been discovered in a collapsed Roman mansion in Jerusalem, archaeologists report.
The mansion, which is being excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Givati Parking Lot, is located in what is known as the "City of David," an area that holds at least 6,000 years of human occupation. The mansion itself covers at least 2,000 square meters (about half an acre) and contains two large open courtyards adjacent to each other. It was in use between the late third century and the year 363, when it was destroyed in a series of earthquakes on May 18 or 19.
The text is written in Greek. In the inscription, a woman named Kyrilla invokes the names of six gods to cast a curse on a man named Iennys, apparently over a legal case. [See Photos of the Ancient Curse Tablet]
"I strike and strike down and nail down the tongue, the eyes, the wrath, the ire, the anger, the procrastination, the opposition of Iennys," part of the curse reads in translation. Kyrilla asks the gods to ensure that "he in no way oppose, so that he say or perform nothing adverse to Kyrilla … but rather that Iennys, whom the womb bore, be subject to her..."
Four religions
To obtain her goal, Kyrilla combined elements from four religions, Robert Walter Daniel, of the Institut für Altertumskunde at the University of Cologne, told LiveScience in an email. Of six gods invoked, four of them are Greek (Hermes, Persephone, Pluto and Hecate), one is Babylonian (Ereschigal), and one, Abrasax, is Gnostic, a religion connected to early Christianity. Additionally, the text contains magic words such as "Iaoth" that have a Hebrew/Judaism origin.
A professional magician likely created the curse for Kyrilla, who may have literally used a hammer and nails to perform a magical rite that enhanced the effectiveness of the curse, Daniel said.
"The hammering and nailing is a form of gaining control over the person(s) targeted in magical texts," he wrote in the email.
Kyrilla and her curse-recipient were probably members of the Roman middle or upper class who were involved in some legal dispute, as the curse tablet bears similarities to others found in Cyprus that are known to have been used in legal cases. Additionally the word "opposition" in this text hints at a legal matter.
Exploring the mansion
The newfound artifacts hint at the wealth the occupants of the mansion would have enjoyed. They include a miniature head of a boxer athlete used as a scale-weight and several gems, including one engraved with an image of Cupid holding a torch.
The curse tablet itself was excavated in the northwest part of the mansion. While the second-floor room where the tablet was originally placed has collapsed, the artifacts excavated near the tablet provide hints about what the room may have looked like when in use. [In Photos: Two Black Magic Curse Tablets]
Archaeologists Doron Ben Ami and Yana Tchekhanovets, both with the Israel Antiquities Authority, told LiveScience in an email that they discovered the remains of mosaics and frescoes that contain geometric and floral motifs near the tablet. They also found carved bone fragments from a box that depict the "Triumph of Dionysus," a Greek god, along with maritime imagery such as seahorses.
The team also uncovered roof tiles in the mansion that contain the stamp of the Roman 10th Legion, a unit that, for a time, was stationed in Jerusalem. "This practice is common for all the provinces of the Roman Empire. In peaceful times soldiers were responsible for 'civil engineering': They built roads and aqueducts, produced tiles and bricks, etc. The 10th Legion produced so many tiles, that it was enough for many more years of construction activity in the city, long after the legion itself left Jerusalem," Ben Ami and Tchekhanovets said.
The researchers also found female figurines, probably depicting a goddess. They might have been used in a "private cult" whose members included residents of the mansion. These figurines were found at or below floor level and may not have been part of the second-floor room that the curse was placed in.
The researchers do not know the purpose of this second-floor room. However, Iennys appears to have been connected to it to such a degree that the curse tablet was placed there intentionally. "Since the curse is directed against Iennys, it might have been hidden in or close to a place that he frequented," Daniel wrote in the email. Perhaps lennys lived or worked in the mansion or a courtroom was located near the second floor room, Daniel said.
The discovery was detailed recently in the journal Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik.


Even though the Romans had great wealth and developed the technology to build many buildings and other things, they were clearly superstitious to the ultimate degree. Religions at that time were leftovers from very primitive beliefs. That curse was so violent in its imagery that it's really shocking. Oh, well, the Celtic people, my ancestors, were performing human sacrifices. I'm glad that we have progressed from that point. This must have been a really interesting “dig” for the archeologists, though – so many artifacts as clues to what life then was like.




Madeleine McCann investigation reopened by Portuguese cops

LONDON -- The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from her hotel room was reopened by Portuguese authorities Thursday, five years after they closed the case.
The Policia Judiciaria said new lines of inquiry had been found during an internal review of their initial investigation

The British girl was three years old when she vanished from the hotel in the Portuguese beach town of Praia da Luz in May 2007, while her parents were dining at a nearby restaurant.
British police last week said they had received two tip-offs giving the name of the same suspect following a television appeal that reconstructed the incident. "Colleagues in Portugal fully shared with us the developments in their review, and the fact that they were taking the significant step of applying for the investigation to be formally reopened," said Mark Rowley, crime and operations specialist at London's Metropolitan Police.

The BBC's "Crimewatch" broadcast last week showed a new computer-generated image of a suspect, described by police as being white, in his 30s, clean-shaven with short brown hair, and of medium build and height. 
Two separate witnesses gave the same name for the suspect after seeing the Electronic Facial Identification Technique (e-fit) image, police said.
The man was seen carrying a child toward the beach near the McCanns' hotel apartment on the night she disappeared

British police also said last week that they were pursuing another new investigative thread -- that burglaries around the resort had jumped by 400 percent in the first half of 2007, including two in the McCanns' apartment block three weeks before they arrived for their holiday. They have also said they are trawling through cellphone activity in the area at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.
Portuguese investigators initially named Kate and Gerry McCann as suspects but quickly dropped the theory.


They have a name now. Maybe they can find him and make a case. It's almost too much to expect that they might find the child alive, but it has happened before. I'll keep following this.



School official: 'Bullying did not occur' in 91-0 football win
The astoundingly uneven final score of a Texas high school football game was a tough loss for the team defeated 91-0, but it was just that — a loss — and not a case of bullying, an official at the school said Wednesday.
“I consider this matter closed,” Aledo Independent School District Superintendent Derek Citty wrote in a letter addressed to the “Bearcat Family” at Aledo High School in Texas that was obtained by NBC News.
“I am confident that no act of bullying occurred on the part of our coaching staff,” Citty wrote in response to a formal complaint over Friday night's game, in which the undefeated team at Aledo High beat its opponent by a nearly 100-point margin. “Quite the opposite, while the score is not what either district would want, the coaches from each district acted in the best interest of the Bearcats of Aledo ISD and the Western Hills Cougars.”
The game attracted national attention when the parent of a member of the losing team filed a bullying complaint against Aledo High’s coaching staff. That complaint led to a formal investigation.
“The complaint specifically alleges ‘bullying’ on the part of our coaching staff with the victim being the student-athletes at Western Hills High School in Fort Worth,” Citty said in his letter. “Administration has reviewed the elements of the complaint and determined bullying did not occur during this contest. Coach Tim Buchanan and his staff acted in an honorable manner of which I am proud.”
Citty noted that Coach Buchanan consulted with the Cougars’ head coach throughout the game and “discussed a variety of ways to keep the score as low as possible.”
TODAY viewers agreed with Citty’s assessment by a large margin. In a survey, 80 percent of more than 4,600 respondents said they did not think the winning team’s coaching staff engaged in bullying.

From the original news article on the parent's complaint, the following paragraphs explained the situation better.

The UIL follows NCAA rules, but most other states follow guidelines of the National Federation of State High School Associations, said Bob Colgate, the federation's director of sports and sports medicine.
Colgate said many of the federation's 48 member states and the District of Columbia have adopted a mercy rule in 11-man football. He noted that a survey published in February found that 16 states reported using a mercy rule with point margins, which are set by individual states, ranging from 30 points to 50 points.

Buchanan said he started substituting players in the first quarter. He also said the game clock ran continuously starting toward the end of the third quarter.
But when asked why the team did not simply start kneeling the ball -- in effect, stop trying to play the game -- Buchanan was clear in his answer.
"To go out and tell your kids, 'No, I don't want you to play hard, because we're ahead,' that's against every fundamental coaching strategy that you have," Buchanan said.


I don't follow sports very much at all, and I think it is stressed to an unhealthy degree in most high schools. I would like to see more students be intellectually inclined or at the very least be more gentle, rather than being into physical force, even if it is in a game. The number of football players who are developing severe brain damage from bashing their heads together is appalling. But if we are going to have football games, it seems to me that they should be viewed as a game and not as a war. If you lose, you lose. My Jacksonville Jaguars are an embarrassment because they hardly ever win. As long as we are going to have a football team, I would like to see the coaches fire players and hire more if need be to improve our scores. My solution to the problem is to continue in turning the TV channel every time a football game comes on. The only sports I get any excitement out of watching are basketball, baseball and tennis. I like to see athletes move around a lot and compete without hitting each other. There's still plenty of competition in those games.



­ Report: Memos Unmask Pakistan's Approval Of Drone Strikes – from NPR
­ While it is been "one of the more poorly kept national security secrets in Washington and Islamabad" that Pakistani leaders privately endorse U.S. drone strikes aimed at terrorists in their country, The Washington Post says that:
"Top-secret CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos" it has obtained show that "top officials in Pakistan's government have for years secretly endorsed the program and routinely received classified briefings on strikes and casualty counts."
The Post's exclusive, written by intelligence correspondent Greg Miller and investigative legend Bob Woodward of Watergate fame, adds that:
"The files expose the explicit nature of a secret arrangement struck between the two countries at a time when neither was willing to publicly acknowledge the existence of the drone program. The documents detailed at least 65 strikes in Pakistan and were described as 'talking points' for CIA briefings, which occurred with such regularity that they became a matter of diplomatic routine. The documents are marked 'top ­secret' but cleared for release to Pakistan.
"A spokesman for the Pakistani Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. A CIA spokesman declined to discuss the documents but did not dispute their authenticity."
The report came just hours after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met with President Obama at the White House. Voice of America writes that:
"As he has done elsewhere in Washington, Prime Minister Sharif called for an end to drone strikes the United States has used to target al-Qaida and militant figures in Pakistan's tribal areas."
But as NPR's Philip Reeves said Tuesday on Morning Edition:
"There's a difference between the public and the private positions of senior Pakistani government officials on this issue. Some senior figures in government and in the army are known to have in the past privately supported drone strikes. And, indeed, a certain element of the Pakistani public actually feels the same way."
Nawaz is expected to be back in Pakistan on Friday.
­ In August, Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. hopes to soon end drone strikes on targets in Pakistan. "The program will end as we have eliminated most of the threat and continue to eliminate it," Kerry told Pakistan TV. "I think the president has a very real timeline and we hope it's going to be very, very soon."


Well, this is certainly an eye-opener. I suppose they secretly oppose the activities of al Qaeda, but are unable to fight them successfully, or maybe there are strong elements in the Pakistani populace who support the insurgents and would overthrow the Pakistani leaders if they cracked down on them. I did notice, though, that when the Navy Seals team went in to assassinate Bin Laden they purposely did not tell the Pakistani officials that they were going to do it, because they didn't trust them not to tell Bin Laden our men were coming. I wish they had told more about the subject in this article.


I am reading now. This is the end of the news for today. About The Canterbury Tales, I gulped when I saw the original language. There is a sample of the original with a number of instructions on how to pronounce it. It looks too different from modern language for me to be able to make even a good guess at many of the meanings. It was written in Middle English, believed to have been begun “in the early 1380s.” He died in 1400, having written only 24 tales, about half of what he had planned to write. The stories are supposed to be very witty, so I expect to enjoy them, since this book is a translation into modern English and I won't have to wrestle with every word. Here goes my trip to 1400 AD England.


Words from the reading:
Palmer ... The pilgrim had some home or dwelling place, the palmer had none.
Fustian definition, a stout fabric of cotton and flax.
HAUBERK  a tunic of chain mail worn as defensive armor from the 12th to the 14th century
Yeoman-- a freeborn servant (serviens or sergeant) ranking between an esquire (shield escort, from scutum) and a page
Baldrick definition, a belt, sometimes richly ornamented, worn diagonally from shoulder to hip, supporting a sword, horn, etc. ...
AMOR VINCIT OMNIA:  love conquers all things
Love knot – Formed of two intertwining loops, which were symbolic of fidelity and devotion. “Truelove knots” could also have been metaphors of Christ or for the foursome of the Trinity and Mary.
palfrey -- a type of horse highly valued as a riding horse in the Middle Ages. The term 'palfrey' usually referred to the most expensive and highly-bred types of riding horse during the period.
franklin denotes a member of a social class or rank in England in the 12th to 15th centuries. In the period when Middle English was in use, a franklin was simply a freeman; that is, a man who was not a serf, in the feudal system under which people were tied to land which they did not own, in bondage to a member of the nobility who owned that land. The surname "Fry", derived from the Old English "frig" ("free born"), indicates a similar social origin.

Motley – multicolored
serjeant , sergeant at law , Also called: sergeant  (formerly in England) a barrister of a special rank, to which he was raised by a writ under the Great Seal
foot-mantle as “a species of petticoat tied about her hips
chantry priest, a priest who sings anniversary masses for the dead
Reeve definition, an administrative officer of a town or district.
A reeve by definition is a minor
official or superintendent on an estate, generally an intermediary between a
lord and his serfs. His job included being responsible and accountable for
all his master's accounts and animals
Summoner is a Church officer who brought sinners to the church court for possible excommunication and other penalties. Corrupt summoners would write false citations and frighten people into bribing them to protect their interests
pardoner in Chaucer's day was a person from whom one bought Church "indulgences" for forgiveness of sins, but pardoners were often thought guilty of abusing their office for their own gain
1. Manciple definition, an officer or steward of a monastery, college, etc., authorized to purchase provisions
1. knave (pl. knaves)
2. archaic - A boy; especially, a boy servant.
3. archaic - Any male servant; a menial.
4. A tricky, deceitful fellow; a dishonest person; a rogue; a villain.
5.
5:32 Time to rest. The end.