July 7, 2016


News and Views


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/james-comey-hillary-clinton-email/

FBI Director James Comey testifies on decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
July 7, 2016, 9:49 AM


11:40 p.m. Comey told the House Oversight Committee that the decision not to recommend an indictment was unanimous among the investigative team.

11:40 a.m. FBI Director Comey, previously a registered Republican "for most of my adult life," told a House Oversight Committee member that he is no longer a registered Republican voter.

Comey also clarified that none of the Clinton documents had headers stating the documents were classified.

11:24 a.m. Comey testifies that three documents on Clinton's server were marked with a "(C)" -- a "confidential" classification marking.

The FBI director said he was unsure whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was "sophisticated" enough to know that the marking meant "confidential."

"I think it's possible she didn't understand what a 'C' meant when she saw it in the body of an email like that," he told the committee.

Comey said the FBI will give the House Oversight Committee whatever it can provide "under our law" from the Clinton investigation.

11:10 a.m. Comey takes tangental [sic] queries about white supremacists and neo-Nazi messages on Twitter. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Missouri, posed the questions.

11:00 a.m. Comey notes that what was classified on Hillary Clinton's emails was the topics of discussion -- not any top secret documents.

10:45 a.m. Asked by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, whether he timed his announcement of the FBI's recommendation to help Clinton during her first day of campaigning with President Obama, Comey said he did not.

It was "entirely my own," Comey replied, and his team "didn't coordinate" with Clinton.

10:30 a.m. Chaffetz questions Comey on whether Hillary Clinton lied under oath about her private email server use.

"We have no basis to conclude that she lied to the FBI," Comey responded.

When asked if Clinton broke the law, Comey said that his judgment was that there was not enough evidence to "establish beyond a reasonable doubt" that Clinton did so. But Comey also reiterated that he would go as far as to fire someone in the FBI's employ who handled classified information the way the Clinton team did.

Responding to a rapid-fire series of questions, Comey testified that several Clinton statements on her email server use -- including her use of just one device to email -- were untrue.

Chaffetz then urged another investigation into Clinton's "lies."

"Do you need a referral from Congress to investigate her statements under oath?" Chaffetz asked.



"Sure do," Comey responded.

"You'll have one, " Chaffetz said, with a laugh. "You'll have one in the next few hours."

When Rep. Cummings asked if there were parallels or differences with the Gen. Petraeus case (where Petraeus was charged with a misdemeanor), Comey said the ex-CIA head had shown "clearly intentional conduct" and admitted to lying to the FBI. He noted that Petraeus had also stored classified information in the insulation of his attic, an unsecured location.

10:20 a.m. FBI Director James Comey gives his opening statement, defending his department's investigation as "competent" and "honest."

It was conducted "in an apolitical and professional way -- including our recommendation," Comey said. The investigation was done, he said, "by people who didn't give a hoot about politics."

He explained that his recommendation to the DOJ not to prosecute Hillary Clinton was based on two questions used in every case regarding handling classified information: "What did the person do? And when they did that thing, what were they thinking?"

Comey noted that in order to prosecute a person for mishandling classified information, prosecutors would be required to prove willfulness (a very high bar) or "gross negligence".

While "I see evidence of great carelessness," Comey said, "no reasonable prosecutor would bring this case" on those grounds.

10:15 a.m. Ranking member Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, thanked FBI Director Comey for his appearance before the House Oversight Committee, noting that Comey had a "thankless task" before him in investigating Clinton's private email server use.

Paul Ryan asks James Clapper to deny Hillary Clinton access to classified information

"No matter what recommendation you made, you were sure to be criticized," Cummings said. "In a sense, Mr. Director, you are on trial."

The Democratic congressman praised the "extremely thorough" job the FBI did in their investigation while slamming Republicans for politicizing the final recommendation.

"Amazingly, amazingly, some Republicans who were praising you just days ago for your independence, for your integrity, and your honesty, instantly turned against you, because your recommendation conflicted with the predetermined outcome they wanted," Cummings said. "In their eyes, you had one job. And one job only: to prosecute Hillary Clinton. But you refused to do so. So now you are being summoned here to answer for your alleged transgressions."

10:05 a.m. House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, begins the hearing.

Chaffetz criticized the conclusions reached by Comey in his opening statement, saying some are "mystified and confused" about the recommendation not to prosecute the Democratic presumptive nominee.

The Utah congressman claimed there was a "legitimate concern that there is a double standard" when it comes to dealing with Clinton.

"There's no consequence for these types of activities in dealing with a careless way with classified information," Chaffetz said, addressing Comey. "It seems to a lot of us that the average Joe, the average American -- if they had done what you laid out in your statement, that they'd be in handcuffs."

He added that the FBI recommendation set a "dangerous" precedent when it comes to handling classified information.

9:45 a.m. FBI Director James Comey will testify in front of the House Oversight Committee Thursday on his recommendation to the Justice Department not to prosecute Hillary Clinton over the use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.

The hearing will begin at 10 a.m., where Comey will be joined by the State Department's inspector general, Steve Linick, and the inspector general for the intelligence community, Charles McCullough III.

Earlier this week, Comey said that "no charges are appropriate in this case," giving the reason that "no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case." The FBI director did note, however, that Clinton and her staff were "extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information."

The House committee is likely to hammer Comey on whether any security breaches occurred during Clinton's use of the server, CBS News' Paula Reid reports.

The hearing is ongoing. Stay tuned for live updates.



11:24 a.m. Comey testifies that three documents on Clinton's server were marked with a "(C)" -- a "confidential" classification marking.The FBI director said he was unsure whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was "sophisticated" enough to know that the marking meant "confidential.""I think it's possible she didn't understand what a 'C' meant when she saw it in the body of an email like that," he told the committee.Comey said the FBI will give the House Oversight Committee whatever it can provide "under our law" from the Clinton investigation. …. 11:00 a.m. Comey notes that what was classified on Hillary Clinton's emails was the topics of discussion -- not any top secret documents. 10:45 a.m. Asked by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, whether he timed his announcement of the FBI's recommendation to help Clinton during her first day of campaigning with President Obama, Comey said he did not. …. 10:30 a.m. Chaffetz questions Comey on whether Hillary Clinton lied under oath about her private email server use. "We have no basis to conclude that she lied to the FBI," Comey responded. When asked if Clinton broke the law, Comey said that his judgment was that there was not enough evidence to "establish beyond a reasonable doubt" that Clinton did so. But Comey also reiterated that he would go as far as to fire someone in the FBI's employ who handled classified information the way the Clinton team did. ….He explained that his recommendation to the DOJ not to prosecute Hillary Clinton was based on two questions used in every case regarding handling classified information: "What did the person do? And when they did that thing, what were they thinking?" Comey noted that in order to prosecute a person for mishandling classified information, prosecutors would be required to prove willfulness (a very high bar) or "gross negligence". While "I see evidence of great carelessness," Comey said, "no reasonable prosecutor would bring this case" on those grounds. …. The Democratic congressman praised the "extremely thorough" job the FBI did in their investigation while slamming Republicans for politicizing the final recommendation. "Amazingly, amazingly, some Republicans who were praising you just days ago for your independence, for your integrity, and your honesty, instantly turned against you, because your recommendation conflicted with the predetermined outcome they wanted," Cummings said. "In their eyes, you had one job. And one job only: to prosecute Hillary Clinton. But you refused to do so. So now you are being summoned here to answer for your alleged transgressions."


Comey gives no evidence in my eyes of being unethical in his decision. It may matter that he is an EX-Republican, and he may have some serious qualms about their ever more Rightist leaning and the truly frightening threat that someone of Trump’s characteristics present. I think, like the Democratic Party, the Republicans may come to a breakdown into at least two smaller parties soon. I want to see that. Both parties are becoming increasingly restrictive on the right of their members to think freely and to say what we think. They’re “too big to fail” for a similar reason to the banks. Their tendrils are linked in an intricate way with too much money, power, organized systems of all kinds, and the unseen secretive way that they sometimes operate.

I am thinking particularly of the “Clinton Coronation” by the DNC, and the way one politician after another among the Republicans make exactly the same comments on any number of subjects and in the same phraseology. People don’t really do that unless they have been “coached,” as Perry Mason used to say. I’m glad to see Comey breaking out from their ranks and speaking for himself on issues. As the good old reliable Democrat Cummings said, "In their eyes, you had one job. And one job only: to prosecute Hillary Clinton. But you refused to do so. So now you are being summoned here to answer for your alleged transgressions."

Politics is fascinating and it is hugely important in maintaining US society. I use that as my rationale for spending so much time thinking about it.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-deeply-disturbed-by-police-shootings-in-baton-rouge-falcon-heights/

Obama "deeply disturbed" by police shootings in Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS
July 7, 2016, 12:38 PM


President Obama is "deeply disturbed" by the two deadly police-related shootings of black men that occurred in Louisiana and Minnesota this week, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Earnest said that the president in general is "deeply disturbed" by the reports and is following the situation in both places.

The White House is declining to comment specifically on the shootings, Earnest said, because the Justice Department is already investigating the one that took place in Baton Rouge and might look into one that occurred in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

The Justice Department is investigating a deadly encounter Tuesday between two Baton Rouge officers and 37-year-old Alton Sterling, who died at the scene. A bystander captured the incident on cell phone video, which has now gone viral. One video clip appears to show the police officers pinning down Sterling, who was then shot multiple times in the back and chest.

The other shooting in Falcon Heights, a suburb of St. Paul, occurred Wednesday night when a Minnesota police officer pulled over a vehicle. The officer eventually fatally shot 32-year-old Philando Castille, who was in the car with his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and a child at the time of the shooting. Reynolds live-streamed the incident on Facebook Wednesday night and she said they were pulled over for a "busted tail light." She said her boyfriend was reaching for his ID and wallet when the officer shot him.

Last year, the president asked Congress to approve $50 million for this year for the distribution of body cameras to law enforcement agencies in the wake of numerous police-related shootings. Lawmakers allocated less than half of the request -- $22.5 million -- in the government spending package approved last December.



“Last year, the president asked Congress to approve $50 million for this year for the distribution of body cameras to law enforcement agencies in the wake of numerous police-related shootings. Lawmakers allocated less than half of the request -- $22.5 million -- in the government spending package approved last December.” Congressional Republicans want to “save money” on human and ethical issues and spend it on big ticket military things. There have been several things of that sort through the years that have proven not to work in the way they are supposed to, but the money is still allocated and spent on them. That’s truly foolish to me. Contracts should be written in such a way that a worthless item can be returned to the company for replacement, or the order canceled entirely. I remember a fighter plane and a tank which made the news because they were found to be junk.

When it comes to an improvement in how police operate and are supervised, of which we are greatly in need, the money just isn’t there to finance it. The idea that all these things should be locally financed isn’t practical because in Jacksonville, for instance, our only source of income is local taxation – property tax, especially, with some talk of a sales tax for a specific purpose (which I don’t remember right now) – we run short. Our police, municipal and fire department pensions have been in danger of bankruptcy, and we mustn’t be in the position of have inadequately functioning city services. The State of FL does not levy an income tax, so only those property owners must pay.

I can’t remember the exact amount, but the body cams cost a great deal each. They’re not cheap. And then the officer, with some of them anyway, is required to turn them on and off as appropriate, and they simply sometimes forget. The dash cams are better because they are firmly attached on to the car and they’re always on – or should be.

The statement above that the two officers body cams, BOTH of them (??), actually came unattached from the officer’s uniforms and “fell off,” so no film was taken. That sounds like “the dog ate my homework” to me, and should be taken no more seriously. The failure to perform the job in the prescribed way should be grounds for suspension, demotion or even firing, especially when something like a death is involved. Not to do so shows either a deadly carelessness or an evil intention. Also, I’ve mentioned this before and will again now; the fact that a car has “a busted taillight” should not escalate to a deadly shooting just because the driver did what he was told to do – reached for his driver’s license.

The very fact that police are allowed to shoot people, in essence an execution, with no due process and at their personal discretion by being given “the benefit of the doubt,” is deeply unjust in my eyes in most cases. If a “perp” has pulled a knife or a gun – not if he “seemed” to be “reaching” for one – that’s different. Those are deadly weapons. Even so, it’s not desirable, but it is understandable.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alton-sterling-baton-rouge-police-shooting-leads-to-federal-investigation/

Baton Rouge police shooting leads to federal investigation
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS/AP
July 6, 2016, 11:11 AM

Video -- WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, Sports
Photograph -- Protesters on July 5, 2016 at scene outside Baton Rouge, Louisiana convenience store of fatal confrontation between two police officers and suspect WAFB-TV


BATON ROUGE, La. -- The U.S. Justice Department will lead the investigation into the killing of a black man shot to death by Baton Rouge police, Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards announced Wednesday.

Alton Sterling was shot and killed early Tuesday outside a convenience store where he was selling CDs. Authorities say he was confronted by police after an anonymous caller said he saw a man threaten someone with a gun. In a cellphone video taken by a community activist, two officers had Sterling pinned to the ground, and gunfire erupted moments after someone yelled, "He's got a gun! Gun!"

Edwards said the video "is disturbing to say the least."

In a statement, the U.S. Justice Department said the FBI's New Orleans Division, the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Louisiana have opened a civil rights investigation into the 37-year-old's death. Louisiana State Police will assist, Edwards said.

"I have full confidence that this matter will be investigated thoroughly, impartially and professionally," Edwards said.

Edwards urged calm in the wake of public outrage over the shooting. He said he had expressed condolences to Sterling's family, who is also asking for any public gatherings to remain peaceful.

"It's a horrible thing, it's a horrible thing to happen to him," said Sandra Sterling, an aunt who raised Alton Sterling, at a press conference earlier Wednesday. "He didn't deserve that."

The two officers who responded to the report of a gun threat had some type of altercation with the man and one officer fatally shot the suspect, Cpl. L'Jean McKneely said. Baton Rouge Police say Sterling was armed.

Baton Rouge Police identified the officers as as Blane Salamoni, a four-year veteran, and three-year veteran Howie Lake II. They have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard department policy.

The video that purported to show the shooting further fueled public anger on Tuesday, prompting hundreds to protest. The protest lasted into the night, with people chanting and holding up signs.

Some may find the cellphone video disturbing and graphic.

Sandra Sterling said Wednesday the video "made us realize what really happened. It shed light on everything we didn't know."

"Mr. Sterling was not reaching for a weapon. He looks like a man that was actually fighting for his life," said state Rep. Edmond Jordan, an attorney for Sterling's family.

Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of Sterling's teenage son, trembled as she read a statement outside City Hall, where a few dozen protesters and community leaders had gathered. Her son, Cameron, 15, broke down in tears and was led away as his mother spoke.

She described Sterling as "a man who simply tried to earn a living to take care of his children."

"The individuals involved in his murder took away a man with children who depended upon their daddy on a daily basis," she said.

In the video, which appears to be shot from inside a nearby parked car, one of two police officers outside the store can be seen tackling a man in a red shirt and wrestling him to the ground. Then the other officer helps him hold the man down.

At one point someone can be heard saying, "He's got a gun! Gun!" and then one officer on top of the man can be seen pulling his weapon from his holster. After some shouting, what sounds like a gunshot can be heard and the camera pulls away. Then another four shots can be heard. At one point, a person in the vehicle asks, "They shot him?" as a woman can be heard crying.

CBS News has not been able to authenticate the video. But the appearance of the store in the video matches the front of convenience store where the shooting occurred. The man being subdued by police was wearing a red shirt, matching the description given earlier by police.

Wednesday, advocates demanded justice and called for the officers involved to be arrested and charged with murder. Also at the Wednesday news conference, the head of the NAACP in Baton Rouge called for Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. to be fired.

"What I'm calling for today is that the (mayor) to fire the police chief," Michael McClanahan said. "He must step down. We cannot have anybody who allows this type of action to take place."

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond of New Orleans called earlier Wednesday for the federal investigation. In a statement he called the video "deeply troubling."

Richmond said he shares the anger over the incident, which he said "has understandably evoked strong emotion and anger in our community."

The Advocate reported the crowd that gathered late Tuesday afternoon at the store where Sterling died grew to more than 200 people. They chanted "black lives matter" and "hands up don't shoot," waving signs late into the night, according to the newspaper.

An autopsy shows Sterling died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back, East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. William Clark said.



“Alton Sterling was shot and killed early Tuesday outside a convenience store where he was selling CDs. Authorities say he was confronted by police after an anonymous caller said he saw a man threaten someone with a gun. In a cellphone video taken by a community activist, two officers had Sterling pinned to the ground, and gunfire erupted moments after someone yelled, "He's got a gun! Gun!" Edwards said the video "is disturbing to say the least." …. The two officers who responded to the report of a gun threat had some type of altercation with the man and one officer fatally shot the suspect, Cpl. L'Jean McKneely said. Baton Rouge Police say Sterling was armed. Baton Rouge Police identified the officers as as Blane Salamoni, a four-year veteran, and three-year veteran Howie Lake II. They have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard department policy. …. Sandra Sterling said Wednesday the video "made us realize what really happened. It shed light on everything we didn't know." "Mr. Sterling was not reaching for a weapon. He looks like a man that was actually fighting for his life," said state Rep. Edmond Jordan, an attorney for Sterling's family. Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of Sterling's teenage son, trembled as she read a statement outside City Hall, where a few dozen protesters and community leaders had gathered. Her son, Cameron, 15, broke down in tears and was led away as his mother spoke. She described Sterling as "a man who simply tried to earn a living to take care of his children." …. In the video, which appears to be shot from inside a nearby parked car, one of two police officers outside the store can be seen tackling a man in a red shirt and wrestling him to the ground. Then the other officer helps him hold the man down. At one point someone can be heard saying, "He's got a gun! Gun!" and then one officer on top of the man can be seen pulling his weapon from his holster. After some shouting, what sounds like a gunshot can be heard and the camera pulls away. Then another four shots can be heard. At one point, a person in the vehicle asks, "They shot him?" as a woman can be heard crying. …. Wednesday, advocates demanded justice and called for the officers involved to be arrested and charged with murder. Also at the Wednesday news conference, the head of the NAACP in Baton Rouge called for Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. to be fired. "What I'm calling for today is that the (mayor) to fire the police chief," Michael McClanahan said. "He must step down. We cannot have anybody who allows this type of action to take place." U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond of New Orleans called earlier Wednesday for the federal investigation. In a statement he called the video "deeply troubling."


This did look like an unnecessary killing, because Sterling was pinned flat on his back with one officer on his chest and another on his abdomen. He didn’t look capable of moving around much at all. However, the article did say that he had bullet wounds on his back as well as the chest, so he had been up on his feet before that point. I clearly didn’t see the whole thing. When the cry of “gun” occurred, the officer who was kneeling on him immediately pulled his revolver and shot the man in his chest at point blank range, between two and three times it appeared. It’s good that such clear video was available. I’m glad that the DOJ is already on the case and that the Governor of LA is cooperating fully. In all these cases a higher authority should be called in.


HONOR KILLINGS AND BRIDE BURNINGS

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pakistan-gruesome-honor-killings-bring-backlash-060717119.html

In Pakistan, gruesome 'honor' killings bring a new backlash
KATHY GANNON, Associated Press
Mon, Jul 4 12:21 AM PDT


LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Parveen Rafiq closed her hands around the neck of her youngest daughter, Zeenat, and squeezed and squeezed until the girl was almost dead.

Then, in the tiny apartment where the family lived, she doused the 18-year-old with kerosene and set her on fire.

Neighbors saw the smoke and rushed to the home. Someone inside, apparently one of Rafiq's daughters-in-law, was screaming, "Help her! Help!"

But the door was bolted from within. Moments later, they heard Rafiq scream from her rooftop: "I have killed my daughter. I have saved my honor. She will never shame me again."

Zeenat's crime was marrying a childhood friend she loved, defying her widowed mother's pressure for an arranged marriage and, in the mind of her mother and many of her neighbors, tarnishing her family's honor.

Her macabre death on June 8 in the eastern city of Lahore was the latest in a series of increasingly gruesome "honor killings" in Pakistan, a country with one of the highest rates of such killings in the world.

In one case, a mother slit the throat of her pregnant daughter who had married a man she loved. In yet another a jilted suitor doused a teenage girl with kerosene and set her on fire.

In the city of Abbottabad, a teenage girl was tortured, injected with poison and then strapped to the seat of a vehicle, doused with gasoline and set on fire. Her crime was helping a friend elope.

A jirga, or council of local elders, ordered her killing and dictated the manner of her death. The vehicle was parked in a public place, outside a bus stop as a message to others.

The brutality and rapid succession of killings horrified many Pakistanis. The numbers of such killings have climbed in lockstep with their sometimes-public spectacle. Last year, three people a day were killed in "honor" crimes in Pakistan: a total of 1,096 women and 88 men, according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. In 2014, the number was 1,005 women, including 82 children, up from 869 women killed a year earlier. The true numbers are believed to be higher, with many cases going unreported, activists say.

Some human rights and women's rights activists believe honor killings have been inching up and showing greater brutality as the older generation tries to dig in against creeping change. Over the years, more women have been going to school and working outside the home, even among lower and lower middle class, and use of social media has helped women raise their voices.

"The old order of misogyny and extremism is falling apart, is really crumbling," says Marvi Sermid, a political commentator and women's rights activist. Conservative Muslim clerics are furious over the creeping change and are fighting back with regressive changes targeting women, she said.

The changes are a serious challenge to the status quo in Pakistan, where centuries of tradition and culture have tied the idea of a woman as a pristine and untouched commodity to a family's honor. Deeply conservative traditions have been further strengthened by decades of governments and military dictators who have often curried the support of religious hard-liners with legislation enshrining the old ways.

But more than 70 percent of Pakistan's 180 million people are under 30, and among the younger, more tech-savvy generation, some are vocally challenging the traditions of their elders to an unprecedented degree.

Salman Akram Raja, a lawyer, said the young are pushing traditional boundaries even if the state is lagging behind and even if the conservative old guard is lashing back.

"I don't think this archaic order will win," Raja said. "But it is going to go down violently."

For months, neighbors said, Zeenat's mother had complained about her two elder daughters, who had married men of their own choice.

Zeenat was her last chance to save her honor. She planned an arranged marriage for Zeenat with a member of their own social caste, the Rajput, which traces its origin to the Indian subcontinent and is said to be descended from kings.

But Zeenat had her heart set on a young motorcycle mechanic named Hassan Khan.

They had met when she was 12 and he was 14 and quickly became playmates. They lived about two blocks apart in Changi Amar Sadhu, a crowded Lahore shantytown where electrical wires and phone lines crisscross overhead in a crazy jumble that obscures the sky. As they grew older, friendship became romance.

"We were in love," Khan said, his voice barely a whisper.

He fumbled through his phone until he found a collection of selfies that Zeenat had put together to the rhythm of their favorite song, an Urdu pop tune called "You Made Me Your Lover."

She loved taking selfies, loved music and poetry, he said. As the music played, Zeenat in the photos struck different poses, sometimes coy, sometimes playful or teasing, but always smiling, her long black hair falling loosely past her shoulders.

She also taught the neighborhood children the Quran, Islam's holy book. She could recite the entire book from memory.

Her mother knew about Khan, and she and Zeenat were constantly fighting. Zeenat told him her mother beat her. Over long hours on the phone, Zeenat pleaded with him to marry her so she wouldn't be forced into an arrangement.

Finally, in May, they sneaked off and registered their marriage at the local courthouse and Zeenat moved into Khan's home.

They had defied her mother. They were together.

Those who kill for "honor" are almost never punished in Pakistan. A law based on Islamic Shariah allows the family of a victim to forgive a killer, and in these cases the killers are almost always family. So other relatives, whether they condone the killing or not, give their forgiveness, unwilling to see loved ones jailed.

Successive governments have been reluctant to toughen the laws, fearful of Islamic hard-liners who oppose anything they see as weakening enforcement of Shariah, undermining the family's authority or promoting women's rights seen as "Western."

Sermid, the women's rights activist, has felt their wrath.

During a televised debate in June exploring the phenomenon of honor killings, lawmaker Hafiz Hamdullah, who belongs to a Taliban-affiliated religious party, Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam, threatened Sermid with rape and called her a whore. A burly, bearded man, Hamdullah was escorted out of the TV station by security guards when he tried to take a swing at Sermid, who has since filed charges.

Female politicians have also felt resistance to efforts at raising their voices.

When lawmaker Shireen Mazari last month tried to speak up during a parliament debate, the defense minister insulted her appearance and demanded she use a "more feminine" tone. Mazari, the parliamentary leader of Pakistan's Justice Party, has furiously demanded an apology.

Still, outrage over recent honor killings and other violence against women has fueled a bold outcry against the establishment. One target in particular has been the Council of Islamic Ideology, a body of conservative, elderly Muslim clerics that advises the government on laws to ensure they don't stray from Shariah.

When the government proposed a law aimed at protecting women against violence, the council in May put forward an alternative that would allow men to "lightly beat" their wives.

Young activists fired up a Twitter campaign with the mocking hashtag #TryBeatingMeLightly. On TV talk shows, guests denounced the council, which has opposed laws against child marriage and denounced using DNA evidence in rape cases, as irrelevant, misogynist and out of touch. In Parliament, some lawmakers called for it to be disbanded.

The outcry appears to be having an effect. The council in June decreed that honor killings are un-Islamic.

A few days after Zeenat and Khan were married, her mother and uncle showed up. They pleaded with her to come home.

Just for a few days, they said. During that time, they would arrange a proper wedding for her and Khan. That would save their honor, showing neighbors she left "respectably" from her mother's home, instead of eloping.

As is tradition, Khan's elders did the negotiating, and eventually they agreed that Zeenat would go with her mother. Zeenat's uncle gave his promise she would be safe.

Zeenat and Khan spoke every day. The first three days were qood, Khan said. It seemed her mother had accepted their marriage.

But on the fourth day, Zeenat called him and said, "The mood has changed." Her mother was yelling at her threateningly. She was scared.

"I told her to not worry. It was just two more days and she would be back home with me."

The next morning, she was dead. Khan saw his wife for the last time in the morgue. They had been married for less than two weeks.

"When I saw her, 100 thoughts were in my head. But my first thought was that I will kill myself. Then I thought, I will kill her family," he said. "But now I have decided I will fight the legal battle. I will not find peace until I get punishment."

Rafiq and one of her sons suspected of helping her in the killing are now in police custody. And they may actually face punishment.

The two are being charged under Pakistan's anti-terrorism law, specifically under a clause making any act that causes general panic an act of terrorism. Under pressure to do something about honor killings, police and prosecutors have started to use the law as a way around the forgiveness loophole.

"It is just cold-blooded murder and it has created panic, so it falls under the anti-terror law," said Lahore's deputy police superintendent, Mohammad Amin.

Sermid and others see hope for change under the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Sharif is closely allied to Islamic hard-liners, but he's under heavy criticism for alleged corruption in his party and the weakness of his government. Under pressure to show results, Sharif is realizing that Pakistan's image of intolerance is bad for business, said Sermid.

"The prime minister has called for a liberal, modern Pakistan," she said.

Sharif has promised to introduce legislation making it harder for family members who kill their daughters to go unpunished. He has yet to do so.

The neighborhood women outside Rafiq's home all agreed that she was driven to kill Zeenat, and she should go free.

"Daughters are duty-bound to maintain the honor of the family," said Muneeba Bibi, her head and most of her body hidden under a white shawl. "It's better to have no children than to have a daughter who brings you shame."

Bibi said she has daughters of her own and that, as far as she was concerned, education was ruining girls today.

"The problems are all because the girls go to school. They see boys, they fall in love," she said. "I will not send my girls to school. That is the only answer."

Of Zeenat's killing, she added, "This is a good lesson for all the girls here to protect the family honor, to not bring disrespect."

The little girls playing in the alleys knew all about Zeenat's death. Some had heard her mother's cry from the rooftop that morning.

But they weren't sure why. All they knew was she had done something very bad. When asked if they might fall in love with a boy, they broke out into giggles.

The eldest of them, 11-year-old Sameera, seemed to have some idea but was too shy to say. When asked why Zeenat was killed, she looked down and was silent.

"She was strangled and then they burned her," said Sameera, who wore a white shawl covering her head. "When I think about it I get scared."

In the two-story concrete home he shared with Zeenat in their brief, doomed marriage, Khan cradled the few keepsakes of hers that he possessed: her slippers, new clothes, a bright red cup emblazoned with the word "love."

On a white tissue paper, she had written a poem, part in English, part in Urdu.

"I love you. I kiss you

I love you. I miss you

I take your name with every breath

I see you in every dream

I want to see you all the time"

Carefully, Khan refolded the fragile tissue and returned it to his wallet.

Finally, he spoke.

"I want her hanged," he said of Zeenat's mother. "She has to be punished. This is the only way this will stop."



“Young activists fired up a Twitter campaign with the mocking hashtag #TryBeatingMeLightly. On TV talk shows, guests denounced the council, which has opposed laws against child marriage and denounced using DNA evidence in rape cases, as irrelevant, misogynist and out of touch. In Parliament, some lawmakers called for it to be disbanded. The outcry appears to be having an effect. The council in June decreed that honor killings are un-Islamic.” …. . But my first thought was that I will kill myself. Then I thought, I will kill her family," he said. "But now I have decided I will fight the legal battle. I will not find peace until I get punishment." Rafiq and one of her sons suspected of helping her in the killing are now in police custody. And they may actually face punishment. The two are being charged under Pakistan's anti-terrorism law, specifically under a clause making any act that causes general panic an act of terrorism. Under pressure to do something about honor killings, police and prosecutors have started to use the law as a way around the forgiveness loophole. …. Sermid and others see hope for change under the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Sharif is closely allied to Islamic hard-liners, but he's under heavy criticism for alleged corruption in his party and the weakness of his government. Under pressure to show results, Sharif is realizing that Pakistan's image of intolerance is bad for business, said Sermid. "The prime minister has called for a liberal, modern Pakistan," she said. Sharif has promised to introduce legislation making it harder for family members who kill their daughters to go unpunished. He has yet to do so.”


The Internet is a path to progress worldwide, I think, at least as long as free access to it is available. There’s nothing so damaging to repressive regimes as free disseminated information. Young Pakistani women and men are following the new ways, which are an obvious improvement, and they are seeing that a better way of living is available. I’m glad to see that they are working within their own country to make the same kinds of new attitudes and laws there, rather than merely moving en masse into the US or Europe. It’s better to expunge the evil rather than simply fleeing from it.

I’m saying that, not because I object to having Islamic people in our country, but because there is a need for the whole world to become a good environment for humankind to thrive within, and a refusal to oppose evil won’t cause that to happen. Young women who are in essence being sold as brides by age 12 and are not allowed to get any education are almost doomed. The one bright light, though, is the beautiful and brave Malala Yousafzai, who suffered a grievous gunshot wound because she resisted the old men in charge and went to school against their prohibition. Two things are important – insight and intestinal fortitude, or as we say in the US somewhat crudely, “guts.”

I’m glad to see that Sharif, a Pakistani male who almost certainly shares some of the old viewpoints, knows enough to “talk the talk” of a greater liberalization in the country, and isn’t apparently afraid to anger the Council of Islamic Ideology. That’s good. Maybe he will be a good ruler. I’m so glad that the US is large and diverse, more liberal and secular in our leaning, and the kind of place where a free thinking and individualistic soul such as myself can escape notice and live in my own way.

I think that, my personality being what it is, if I were born to a place like Pakistan I would make great efforts to escape the country. Chinese citizens have sometimes had themselves smuggled out of the country in shipping containers. That has appeared on the national news at least twice. A shipping container arrives in the port and Surprise! It’s full of Chinese people often tightly packed together in a way that looks extremely uncomfortable to say the least. That’s dangerous, but living under a repressive and cruel government is also dangerous. To some of them they will take the risk of death for the hope of making it out to a better place. I’m very interested in the Chinese, but until the country stops its’ anti-human rights policies, I will not fully respect their government, nor believe that we should be closely linked with them.



https://gma.yahoo.com/sharp-shooting-us-army-veteran-rescues-bald-eagle-142727414--abc-news-topstories.html?post_id=1605282889713411_1762525500655815#

Sharp-shooting US Army Veteran Rescues Bald Eagle Hanging from a High Tree
By ABC NEWS
July 4, 2016 5:25 PM
Good Morning America

Photograph -- See How Patriotic You Are by Taking This Fourth of July Quiz
YouTube Names the Most Popular Songs for July 4th
View gallery -- Sharp-shooting US Army Veteran Rescues Bald Eagle Hanging from a High Tree (ABC News)


A U.S. Army veteran used his sharp-shooting military training to rescue a bald eagle who became entangled in a rope and was hanging upside down from a tree, 70 feet off the ground.

Last Thursday, Jason Galvin used a .22-caliber rifle with a scope to fire 150 shots at the distant rope that was tangled around the eagle's leg. The bird was hanging upside down in a tree near Galvin’s Rush City, Minnesota cabin, according to his wife.

Galvin’s wife, Jackie, wrote on Facebook Friday that her husband was nervous about shooting near the eagle but the couple felt they had no choice after officials said the eagle had been stuck for days and there was “nothing they could do.”

“I told Jason he had to shoot it free! He was nervous as he didn't want to get in trouble for shooting at an eagle but I know with his sharp shooter skills that if anyone would save this eagle it was him!,” Jackie wrote in the post.

She described the rescue effort taking nearly 90 minutes with a borrowed gun, in difficult conditions. "A neighbor at the cabin drove by and borrowed Jason his .22 as it had a better scope than Jason's," she wrote. "It was windy and he only had about 4" of rope to shoot without hitting the eagle."

When the bald eagle was finally freed, the couple wrapped it in a blanket, the post said. The eagle was never hit by one of Galvin's bullets and is now recovering at the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center.

The couple named the eagle “Freedom” and hope to be able to release him near they’re home once he is back to good health, Jackie said.

“What an amazing hero, my Army Veteran saving an eagle on 4th of July Weekend!” she wrote.



This is a great story. I’m glad to see that Galvin cared enough to save the bird. He spent an hour and a half progressively eliminating the rope by shooting it apart. He then put the bird in his car and drove him to the University Raptor Center. In Jacksonville here we have such a place for birds, called “Beaks.” Eagles were endangered until the last few years (August 2007, according to the Fish and Wildlife Bureau) and killing one was a crime. I was lucky, while with friends in Virginia on a fishing trip, to see a bald eagle. It was beautiful. It had a really large nest built up in the top of a tall tree.

One American Indian tribe traditionally uses eagle feathers for their ceremonies, but of course that won’t eliminate too many of them; teenaged white boys with rifles, however, have also been prone to kill a bird like that just to get a closer look at it. Our long-legged and elegant water birds here in Florida such as blue herons and egrets are also in the same category. Many birds have been killed to decorate women’s hats with a beautiful feather. Thank goodness many if not most Americans are learning not to be so wasteful of life as we were in those days. Young people don’t seem to understand that life is more important than the whim of the moment. Once a species is decimated it can’t be reconstructed.



http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-is-tightening-its-grip-on-yazidi-women-and-children-forced-to-become-sex-slaves-2016-7?yptr=yahoo?r=UK&IR=T

ISIS is tightening its grip on Yazidi women and children forced to become sex slaves
Associated Press
Lori Hinnant, Maya Alleruzzo and Balint Szlanko, Associated Press
July 5, 2016

Photograph -- Yazidi, Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate August 10, 2014. REUTERS/Rodi Said
Photograph -- ISIS, Islamic State fighters. AP
Photograph -- yazidi clothes, This May 22, 2016 photo, shows clothing worn by a Yazidi girl enslaved by Islamic State militants, that was collected by Bahzad Farhan Murad to document Islamic State group crimes, in Dohuk, northern Iraq. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo
Photograph -- ISIS Islamic State, Iraqi security forces stand with an Islamist State flag which they pulled down at the University of Anbar, in Anbar province July 26, 2015. Reuters


KHANKE, Iraq (AP) -- The advertisement on the Telegram app is as chilling as it is incongruous: A girl for sale is "Virgin. Beautiful. 12 years old.... Her price has reached $12,500 and she will be sold soon."

The posting in Arabic appeared on an encrypted conversation along with ads for kittens, weapons and tactical gear. It was shared with The Associated Press by an activist with the minority Yazidi community, whose women and children are being held as sex slaves by the extremists.

While the Islamic State group is losing territory in its self-styled caliphate, it is tightening its grip on the estimated 3,000 women and girls held as sex slaves. In a fusion of ancient barbaric practices and modern technology, IS sells the women like chattel on smart phone apps and shares databases that contain their photographs and the names of their "owners" to prevent their escape through IS checkpoints. The fighters are assassinating smugglers who rescue the captives, just as funds to buy the women out of slavery are drying up.

The thousands of Yazidi women and children were taken prisoner in August 2014, when IS fighters overran their villages in northern Iraq with the aim to eliminate the Kurdish-speaking minority because of its ancient faith. Since then, Arab and Kurdish smugglers managed to free an average of 134 people a month. But by May, an IS crackdown reduced those numbers to just 39 in the last six weeks, according to figures provided by the Kurdistan regional government.

Mirza Danai, founder of the German-Iraqi aid organization Luftbrucke Irak, said in the last two or three months, escape has become more difficult and dangerous.

"They register every slave, every person under their owner, and therefore if she escapes, every Daesh control or checkpoint, or security force - they know that this girl ... has escaped from this owner," he said, using the Arabic acronym for the group.

The AP has obtained a batch of 48 head shots of the captives, smuggled out of the IS-controlled region by an escapee, which people familiar with them say are similar to those in the extremists' slave database and the smartphone apps.

Lamiya Aji Bashar tried to flee four times before finally escaping in March, racing to government-controlled territory with Islamic State group fighters in pursuit. A land mine exploded, killing her companions, 8-year-old Almas and Katherine, 20. She never learned their last names.

The explosion left Lamiya blind in her right eye, her face scarred by melted skin. Saved by the man who smuggled her out, she counts herself among the lucky.

"I managed in the end, thanks to God, I managed to get away from those infidels," the 18-year-told the AP from a bed at her uncle's home in the northern Iraqi town of Baadre. "Even if I had lost both eyes, it would have been worth it, because I have survived them."---

The Sunni extremists view the Yazidis as barely human. The Yazidi faith combines elements of Islam, Christianity and Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persian religion. Their pre-war population in Iraq was estimated around 500,000. Their number today is unknown.

Nadia Mourad, an escapee, has appeared before the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament to appeal for international help.

"Daesh is proud of what it's done to the Yazidis," she said to Parliament. "They are being used has human shields. They are not allowed to escape or flee. Probably they will be assassinated. Where is the world in all this? Where is humanity?"

IS relies on encrypted apps to sell the women and girls, according to an activist is documenting the transactions and asked not to be named for fear of his safety.

The activist showed AP the negotiations for the captives in encrypted conversations as they were occurring in real time.

The postings appear primarily on Telegram and on Facebook and WhatsApp to a lesser degree, he said.

Both Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Telegram use end-to-end encryption to protect users' privacy. Both have said they consider protecting private conversations and data paramount, and that they themselves cannot access users' content.

"Telegram is extremely popular in the Middle East, among other regions," said Telegram spokesman Markus Ra. "This, unfortunately, includes the more marginal elements and the broadest law-abiding masses alike." He added the company is committed to prevent abuse of the service and that it routinely removes public channels used by IS.

In addition to the posting for the 12-year-old in a group with hundreds of members, the AP viewed an ad on WhatsApp for a mother with a 3-year-old and a 7-month old baby, with a price of $3,700. "She wants her owner to sell her," read the posting, followed by a photo.

"We have zero tolerance for this type of behavior and disable accounts when provided with evidence of activity that violates our terms. We encourage people to use our reporting tools if they encounter this type of behavior," said Matt Steinfeld, a spokesman for WhatsApp.

Like the Bible, some passages of the Quran implicitly condone slavery, which was widespread when the holy book emerged. It also allows men to have sex with both their wives and "those they possess with their right hands," taken by interpreters to refer to female slaves.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, most Muslim scholars backed the banning of slavery, citing Quranic verses that say freeing them is a blessing. Some hard-liners, however, continued to insist that under Shariah sex slavery must be permitted, though the Islamic State group is the first in the modern era to bring it into organized practice.

In the images obtained by AP, many of the women and girls are dressed in finery, some in heavy makeup. All look directly at the camera, standing in front of overstuffed chairs or brocade curtains in what resembles a shabby hotel ballroom. Some are barely out of elementary school. Not one looks older than 30.

One of them is Nazdar Murat, who was about 16 when she was abducted two years ago - one of more than two dozen young women taken away by the extremists in a single day in August 2014. Her father and uncles were among about 40 people killed when IS took over the Sinjar area, the heart of the Yazidi homeland.

Inside an immaculately kept tent in a displaced persons camp outside the northern Iraqi town of Dahuk, Nazdar's mother said her daughter managed to call once, six months ago.

"We spoke for a few seconds. She said she was in Mosul," said Murat, referring to Iraq's second-largest city. "Every time someone comes back, we ask them what happened to her and no one recognizes her. Some people told me she committed suicide."

The family keeps the file of missing Yazidis on a mobile phone. They show it to those who have escaped the caliphate, to find out if anyone has seen her, and to other families looking for a thread of hope they'll see their own missing relatives again.

The odds of rescue, however, grow slimmer by the day. The smuggling networks that have freed the captives are being targeted by IS leaders, who are fighting to keep the Yazidis at nearly any cost, said Andrew Slater of the non-profit group Yazda, which helps document crimes against the community and organizes refuge for those who have fled.

Kurdistan's regional government had been reimbursing impoverished Yazidi families who paid up to $15,000 in fees to smugglers to rescue their relatives, or the ransoms demanded by individual fighters to give up the captives. But the Kurdish regional government no longer has the funds. For the past year, Kurdistan has been mired in an economic crisis brought on by the collapse of oil prices, a dispute with Iraq's central government over revenues, and the fallout from the war against the Islamic State.

Even when IS retreats from towns like Ramadi or Fallujah, the missing girls are nowhere to be found.

"Rescues are slowing. They're going to stop. People are running out of money, I have dozens of families who are tens of thousands of dollars in debt," Slater said. "There are still thousands of women and kids in captivity but it's getting harder and harder to get them out."---

Lamiya was abducted from the village of Kocho, near the town of Sinjar, in the summer of 2014. Her parents are presumed dead. Somewhere, she said, her 9-year-old sister Mayada remains captive. One photo she managed to send to the family shows the little girl standing in front of an IS flag.

Five other sisters all managed to escape and later were relocated to Germany. A younger brother, kept for months in an IS training camp in Mosul, also slipped away and is now staying with other relatives in Dahuk, a city in the Iraqi Kurdish region.

Sitting very still and speaking in a monotone, Lamiya recounted her captivity, describing how she was passed from one IS follower to another, all of whom beat and violated her. She was determined to escape.

She said her first "owner" was an Iraqi IS commander who went by the name Abu Mansour in the city of Raqqa, the de-facto IS capital deep in Syria. He brutalized her, often keeping her handcuffed.

She tried to run away twice but was caught, beaten and raped repeatedly. After a month, she said, she was sold to another IS extremist in Mosul. After she spent two months with him, she was sold again, this time to an IS bomb-maker who Lamiya said forced her to help him make suicide vests and car bombs.

"I tried to escape from him," she said. "And he captured me, too, and he beat me."

When the bomb-maker grew bored with her, she was handed over to an IS doctor in Hawija, a small IS-controlled Iraqi town. She said the doctor, who was the IS head of the town hospital, also abused her.

From there, after more than a year, she managed to contact her relatives in secret.

Her uncle said the family paid local smugglers $800 to arrange Lamiya's escape. She will be reunited with her siblings in Germany, but despite everything, her heart remains in Iraq.

"We had a nice house with a big farm ... I was going to school," she said. "It was beautiful."---


Salar Salim in Khanke, Lee Keath in Cairo and Desmond Butler in Washington contributed to this report.



“The advertisement on the Telegram app is as chilling as it is incongruous: A girl for sale is "Virgin. Beautiful. 12 years old.... Her price has reached $12,500 and she will be sold soon." The posting in Arabic appeared on an encrypted conversation along with ads for kittens, weapons and tactical gear. It was shared with The Associated Press by an activist with the minority Yazidi community, whose women and children are being held as sex slaves by the extremists. …. The thousands of Yazidi women and children were taken prisoner in August 2014, when IS fighters overran their villages in northern Iraq with the aim to eliminate the Kurdish-speaking minority because of its ancient faith. Since then, Arab and Kurdish smugglers managed to free an average of 134 people a month. But by May, an IS crackdown reduced those numbers to just 39 in the last six weeks, according to figures provided by the Kurdistan regional government. …. From there, after more than a year, she managed to contact her relatives in secret. Her uncle said the family paid local smugglers $800 to arrange Lamiya's escape. She will be reunited with her siblings in Germany, but despite everything, her heart remains in Iraq. "We had a nice house with a big farm ... I was going to school," she said. "It was beautiful."


Tearing up roots and starting over is hard, and leaving her home wasn’t voluntary. Even though conditions there are very bad, home is always home, and having to live elsewhere, perhaps forever, is sad. That is, of course, what Jews have had to do for thousands of years. If the Yazidis are going to be treated so badly in Iraq, they should all simply migrate, perhaps. Of course there is a certain possibility that ISIS, as powerful as it appears to be now, may not last as long as the other sects. I personally think the US and the European powers will eventually have to make all-out war against them and hopefully wipe them out. To me they are a cult and not a religion, and they have “no redeeming value,” unless they should decide to join the human race in their behavior and attitudes.

An interesting article appears above on the emergence of new and liberal thinking in Pakistan, one of the worst places for women, which is an outgrowth of young people’s uses of the Internet. They are seeing American and European ways and rebelling against the old customs, particularly the “honor killings.” They also want to pick their own sexual partners by the Western way – “LOVE.” That’s very good news. That’s the only way to stop such a “philosophy” as that of ISIS in its’ tracks. As the old people die and the young refuse to take up the destructive customs, eventually there will be a kind of purification. Of course if the world is rid of one problem there will inevitably be another to take its’ place. That’s what age has taught me.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/senior-navy-official-karnig-ohannessian-caught-on-camera-threatening-young-men-with-a-gun/

Senior Navy official caught on camera threatening young men with gun
CBS NEWS
July 5, 2016, 6:58 PM

Photograph -- martin-pkgframe2782.png, Ohannessian's wife apparently tried to calm the situation. CBS NEWS
Photograph -- martin-pkgframe1477.png, Karnig Ohannessian is seen pointing a gun at young men outside of his home. CBS NEWS


A senior naval official is under investigation after pulling a gun on some young men outside his home, CBS News' David Martin reports. One of those men recorded the heated altercation on his phone.

Karnig Ohannessian, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Environment, can be seen in the video pointing a gun at young men he says are drunk and making noise outside his house in the Washington suburbs.

Ohannessian tells the boys to get in their car, to which one of them responds: "You're pointing a gun at my friend. This is a criminal offense, so please stop it."

The men taunt him while one of them records the incident.

"Be thankful you have a gun man," one of the boys tells Ohannessian as he continues to brandish the gun. "It shows what kind of a [expletive] you are."

A woman seen in the video talking on the phone is apparently Ohannessian's wife. She later pleads for him to let the men leave as he claims that they are on his private property.

It's unclear if the gun is loaded, but in the footage Ohannessian threatens to use it.

"I can shoot the [expletive] out of you guys right now," he says.

Shortly after the incident last month, the mother of one of the young men filed a complaint. Ohannessian, who is also a recipient of two meritorious civilian service awards, was briefly taken into custody.

The Navy learned of the incident on Tuesday when shown the video by CBS News. It says it is working to understand the full details of what happened.

No charges have been filed against Ohannessian, and the investigation remains open.




Conservative guy with an important job goes bonkers and threaten two teens with a gun. With embarrassment, his wife tries to make him shut up and go back into the house. Unfortunately for him, the police were then called and he is on administrative leave at his high powered job as of today’s news report. Sad, but not really serious. Goodnight to all.