LAPD officer charged with assaulting arrested woman, who later died

LAPD officer charged with assaulting arrested woman, who later died
By Greg Botelho, CNN
updated 10:38 PM EDT, Thu October 10, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Woman's family thinks officer is to blame, urges more action, spokesman says
Prosecutor: Video shows Alesia Thomas being kicked by officer, pushed in the throat
That officer is charged with assault; if convicted, she could face three years in prison
The accused police officer is "devastated" by the charge, her lawyer says

(CNN) -- A Los Angeles police officer has been charged with assaulting a woman under arrest, Alesia Thomas, who lost consciousness in a patrol car and was declared dead soon thereafter, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Mary O'Callaghan, 48, was charged a day earlier in a felony assault case, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

The prosecutor's office said it will request $35,000 bail for the officer who, if convicted, could spend three years in state prison.

<snip>

The charge stems from an incident July 22, 2012, when police investigating a possible child abandonment went to Thomas' home.

This was after Thomas had dropped off her two children at a police station because she felt her drug abuse had made her an unfit parent, according to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

At the mother's home, police talked with Thomas and arrested her.

It was then that O'Callaghan arrived on the scene, helping her fellow officers put Thomas -- then wearing handcuffs and leg restraints -- in a patrol car.

Video captured what happened next, the prosecutor's office said, including "O'Callaghan kicking Thomas in the stomach and groin area and pushing her in the throat."

Thomas lost consciousness in the patrol car, then was transported by paramedics to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

<snip

CNN's Sonya Hamasaki contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/10/justice/lapd-officer-charged-assault/index.html

Two Fullerton cops charged with murder in beating death od mentally ill homeless man

Tweet recalling Yom Kippur war, 40 years on, jolts oil traders

Tweet recalling Yom Kippur war, 40 years on, jolts oil traders


NEW YORK | Thu Oct 10, 2013 2:15pm EDT

(Reuters) - Oil traders razor-focused on signs of escalating violence in the Middle East were jolted on Thursday by a Twitter posting from the Israeli military that, at first glance, suggested they had just bombed Syrian airports.

Oil prices jumped $1 as the talk raced through oil markets, which frequently react quickly to rumors of geopolitical events and where traders have increasingly turned to the Internet and social media for advance warning of escalating risks, from the Arab Spring to the Iranian nuclear standoff.

The Tweet was true, but it wasn't news. The posting referred to an attack 40 years ago in the Yom Kippur war, the latest in a series of Tweets from the Israel Defense Forces Twitter handle (@IDFSpokesperson) commemorating the war.

The Tweet just before 10:30 a.m. EDT stated: "October 10 #YomKippur73: Israel Air Force bombards airports in Syria to prevent Soviet weapons reaching the Syrian Army". It then links to a website that gives a day-by-day account of the war.

"Obviously this was part of our Yom Kippur Twitter series. The facts are there and simple to read. It was apparent within the Tweet itself," said IDF spokesman Peter Lerner.

Although traders quickly realized the historical nature of the Tweet, oil prices maintained their gains, supported in large part by hopes of a breakthrough in U.S. debt discussions and earlier anxiety over political stability in Libya.

Front-month Brent crude prices rallied from $110.40 a barrel at 10:20 a.m. EDT -- just before the Tweet -- to as high as $111.50 just after 11 a.m., as trading volumes rose. By 1 p.m. oil was up $2.68 a barrel to $111.74, its highest in a month.

The incident is the latest example of how social media outlets are playing an increasingly important role in financial markets, often causing sudden moves - not always corrected.

In April, hackers took control of the Associated Press Twitter account and falsely posted that two explosions at the White House injured President Barack Obama. Reuters data showed the Tweet briefly wiped out $136.5 billion (89.5 billion pounds) of the S&P 500 index's value before markets recovered.

"The IDF tweet caused a bit of a stir in the oil market, with rumors circulating of a possible Israeli strike in Syria before people realized they were referring to events 40 years ago," said Richard Mallinson, chief policy analyst at consultancy Energy Aspects.

Oil prices surged in October 1973 after a coalition of Arab states launched a surprise attack on Israel during the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, threatening to overwhelm the country. Israel launched a massive counter-offensive before a ceasefire took hold.

The war prompted Arab nations and members of OPEC to use what they called "the oil weapon," proclaiming an oil embargo that lasted several months and set off global oil price shocks.

More recently, the conflict in Syria, and its potential to spill over into large oil-producing nations in the region, have kept crude traders on closely watching for fresh news.

(Reporting by Robert Gibbons, Jeanine Prezioso, Selam Gebrekidan, David Sheppard, Matthew Robinson, Joshua Schneyer and Eileen Houlihan; and Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem; Writing by Matthew Robinson, editing by Ross Colvin)

No way to treat a lady? No way to treat anybody.

NEXT GOP MOVE: IMPEACH OBAMA!

Richard Reeves
Richard Reeves 6 hours ago

WASHINGTON -- If the Republicans in Congress are unable to prevent the United States from paying its bills later in this month of shutdowns and deficit limits, I assume their next move will be an attempt to impeach President Obama.

This has not been a great century for American democracy, beginning with the Supreme Court's decision to give the presidency in 2001 to a man who may not have won it. Since then, we have started two wars we did not have a chance to win, we have had one fiscal crisis after another, and now seem to be at the mercy of 30 or 40 wackos in the House of Representatives who do not really believe in democracy or majority rule.

Alexis de Tocqueville worried about an American tyranny of the majority, still always a danger. He did not, however, envision a tyranny of the minority, which we are now living through.

<snip>

"The Constitution requires the president to spend what Congress has instructed him to spend, to raise only those taxes Congress has authorized him to impose and to borrow no more than Congress authorizes. ... Lawyers tend to play down policy considerations as a basis for interpreting law. In this case, the consequences are so overwhelmingly on one side that they cannot be ignored by the president and should not be ignored by the courts. If the debt ceiling is not increased, the president should disregard it, and honor spending and tax legislation....

<snip>




Thanks and a tip o the hat to tx4obama

The fifth edit is a charm

This cartoon says it all:

My dog was just run over and killed.

I just can't see myself getting past this.

Blinking art exhibit closed after patrons fall ill

Blinking art exhibit closed after patrons fall ill
Sept. 30, 2013, 9:14 AM EST

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Authorities have temporarily shut down a room-sized art installation with blinking lights in Pittsburgh after three visitors reported seizure-like symptoms.

An 18-year-old woman was treated at the scene Sunday afternoon after reporting seizure-like symptoms at the downtown work titled "Zee" by Austrian artist Kurt Hentschlager, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/18jk44i ) reported.

District EMS Chief Paul Sabol said she was the third person to report feeling ill since the exhibition opened Friday.

Before entering, patrons must sign a waiver that describes the exhibit as "intense stroboscopic light in combination with thick artificial fog, resulting in a loss of spatial orientation." People with photosensitive epilepsy, breathing or heart problems, migraines, claustrophobia or anxiety are warned not to go inside.

Sabol said the exhibit will be temporarily closed and changes could be made before it reopns. Henstchlager couldn't be reached for comment.

The installation has appeared in other venues in the city previously, and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust spokeswoman Shaunda Miles said some patrons reported seizures in those places as well.

___

Information from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, http://pghtrib.com

His website is: http://www.bloodyloud.com/zee-kurt-hentschlager/

Quote of the Day

Quotations of the day

Published: September 30, 2013 Updated 7 hours ago

The Associated Press

"You're going to shut down the government if you can't prevent millions of Americans from getting affordable care," — Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., in comments after congressional Republicans vowed to keep using an otherwise routine federal funding bill to try to attack the president's health care law as the government teeters on the brink of partial shutdown.

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Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2013/09/30/2751028/quotations-of-the-day.html#storylink=cpy

Futures fall sharply as US careens toward shutdown

Source: AP


Futures fall sharply as US careens toward shutdown

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — U.S. stock futures slumped Monday as the federal government careened toward a partial shutdown.

<snip>

The Dow Jones industrial futures fell 144 points to 15,051. S&P futures gave up 15.6 points to 1,670.80, and the index could see its first back-to-back trading days below 1,700 in three weeks. Nasdaq futures tumbled 30 points to 3,193.

<snip>

On Friday, the government releases its jobs report for September. The earnings seasons opens on Oct. 8 when Alcoa reports third-quarter results and on the following day, the U.S. Federal Reserve releases minutes from its most recent meeting.

<snip>

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares slid 0.9 percent to 6,457 while Germany's DAX fell 1.1 percent at 8,567. The CAC-40 in France fell 1.4 percent to 4,129.... Milan's stock exchange tumbled 1.9 percent to 17,310..... Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average closed 2.1 percent lower at 14,455.80. Hong's Hang Seng index fell 1.5 percent to 22,859.86 while South Korea's Kospi was 0.7 percent lower at 1,074.

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2013/09/30/2751228/futures-fall-sharply-as-us-careens.html#storylink=cpy

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2013/09/30/2751228/futures-fall-sharply-as-us-careens.html