Category: Featured

Categories
Featured Nelson Mandela News

‘Fake’ Sign Language Interpreter Marred Mandela Memorial

As President Obama and other world leaders spoke Tuesday in Johannesburg at a memorial for Nelson Mandela, a man stood nearby and appeared to be doing sign language interpretation. Many in the deaf community are outraged because the man appeared to be faking.

Pedro Ugarte /AFP/Getty Images

There’s outrage among many in the deaf community over the appearance on stage Tuesday of a man who they say was only pretending to do sign language interpretation as President Obama and other world leaders eulogized Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Among those who noticed what was happening was Wilma Newhoudt, the first deaf person elected to South Africa’s parliament and a vice president of the World Federation of the Deaf.

“Shame on this male so called interpreter on the stage,” she wrote on Twitter during the memorial service. “What is he signing? He knows that the deaf cannot vocally boo him off. Shame on him!”

Others who protested included Bruno Peter Druchen, national director at the Deaf Federation of South Africa. “Please get RID of this CLOWN interpreter, please!” he tweeted.

The Limping Chicken, a U.K. website that focuses on news involving the deaf community,posted a video showing both the “fake” and a sign language interpreter who many TV viewers saw in a small box superimposed on their screens. The woman in that box was actually interpreting what was said, Limping Chicken reports. You can see how different her actions and gestures are compared to those of the man on stage.

As you can see from the photo we’ll attach to the post, the man was within just a few feet of Obama as the president delivered his remarks.

IOL, a news site from South Africa’s Independent Newspapers, reports that “government spokeswoman Phumla Williams said she was unable to respond to the allegations immediately, as she did not know which department procured the service provider. She said she did not know about his qualifications or expertise.”

Update at 1:45 p.m. ET. White House Regrets Distraction:

Asked about the apparently bogus interpreter, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Wednesday that “it’s a shame that you had a service that was dedicated to honoring the life and celebrating the legacy of one of the great leaders of the 20th century has gotten distracted by this and a couple of other issues that are far less important than the legacy of Nelson Mandela.”

The “other issues” he was referring to would include the handshake between Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro, and the selfie taken by Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt of Denmark.

Update at 11:20 a.m. ET. Government Is “Looking Into This Matter.”

The national government just emailed reporters with a statement about Tuesday’s memorial service. In it, there’s this passage:

“As we look at yesterday’s events, government has noted the concern expressed in various quarters about the alleged incorrect use of sign language at the National Memorial Service.

“Government is looking into this matter but has not been able to conclude this inquiry due to the demanding schedule of organising events related to the State Funeral.

“Government will report publicly on any information it may establish but wishes to assure South Africans that we are clear in defending the rights and dignity of people with disabilities.”

h/t NPR

Categories
Featured News trayvon martin

George Zimmerman’s Girlfriend wants Case Dropped, Document Says

(CNN) — George Zimmerman’s girlfriend is asking a judge to lift an order that blocks her from seeing him and says she doesn’t want charges filed against him.

In a court document obtained by CNN Monday, Samantha Scheibe says she wants a no-contact provision against Zimmerman lifted so the couple can “talk and be together.”

“I am not afraid of George in any manner and I want to be with him,” she says.

Zimmerman was arrested on November 18 at Scheibe’s Apopka, Florida, home after the two had a heated fight. According to a police report about the incident, Scheibe said that after an argument, Zimmerman broke a table with a shotgun and then pointed it at her “for a minute.”

But in a signed affidavit filed by Zimmerman’s attorney, Jayne Weintraub, Scheibe says Zimmerman “never pointed a gun at or toward my face in a threatening manner” and claims police misinterpreted her.

“I believe that the police misinterpreted me and that I may have misspoken about certain facts in my statement to the police,” she said. “I do not feel that the arrest report accurately recounts what happened.”

Zimmerman is accused of aggravated assault and misdemeanor counts of domestic violence battery and criminal mischief in the incident. His arraignment is scheduled for January 7.

Search in Zimmerman case turns up weapons, ammunition

He was released on $9,000 bail and has denied the accusations.

h/t – CNN

Categories
Featured News

Woman Falsely Accuses 3 Black Men of ‘Knockout’ Game Attack

A 23-year-old St. Louis woman who was badly beaten by her boyfriend blamed the act on 3 innocent black men. Police charged 25-year-old Justin Simms and his girlfriend Ashley DePew, 23, with filing false police reports.

The two insisted that DePew was sucker-punched by a “random thug” outside the Trophy Room bar in south city.

From The Riverfront Times:

DePew told police and KMOV-TV (Channel 4) that she may have been the victim of the violent phenomenon turned national mania known as the “knockout game,” where groups, especially of teenagers, viciously attack random victims.

The fake knockout narrative went like this: DePew and Simms stopped by the Trophy Room on Arsenal early on November 17 to pick up a drunk friend. The couple was separated in the crowd gathered outside, and someone stepped forward to punch DePew in the face.

The truth is that the couple was arguing while driving when Simms struck DePew in the eye out of anger. The couple originally told the lie to DePew’s parents, who made the connection to the “Knockout” game. DePew filed a police report two days later.

DePew suffered from a double fracture and needed reconstructive surgery. Police noticed inconsistencies in DePew ‘s story early on which prompted them to further look into the case.

h/t – blackyouthproject

Categories
Featured new mexico police

Police Who Shot at Minivan Filled With Kids is Fired – Plans Appeal

A New Mexico State Police officer who fired shots at a minivan full of children during a chaotic October traffic stop in Taos plans to appeal his sacking.

Attorneys for Elias Montoya say the veteran officer intends to file an appeal for wrongful termination.

State Police Chief Pete Kassetas fired Montoya on Friday, one day after a disciplinary hearing

Video from a police cruiser’s dashboard camera taken during the October 28 traffic stop has drawn national attention. It showed Montoya shooting at the minivan as a Memphis, Tennessee, woman drove away from a traffic stop after an officer knocked out her van’s window with a baton.

The motorist, 39-year-old Oriana Farrell, had been stopped by another State Police officer for speeding. She fled twice after that officer tried to give her a ticket and then arrest her.

The officer was placed on administrative leave last week following an investigation into the shooting outside the northern New Mexico tourist town of Taos.

Categories
Featured New York News

Let’s Give A Warm Welcome To NYC’s New Winter-Proof Cockroach


Dominic Evangelista and Jessica Ware in the insect lab on the Rutgers-Newark campus. (Rob Forman)

Great news for bored New Yorkers looking to spice up their cockroach life: a new species of roach has been discovered in Manhattan, and this one isn’t fazed by cold weather. The hearty new species Periplaneta japonica was discovered last year by an exterminator on the High Line; like most everyone else in that perpetually crowded elevated park, it ain’t from around here. The exterminator immediately knew there was something special about it, so he sent several carcasses to the University of Florida for analysis.


This male (left) and female of the species Periplaneta japonica were found the High Line in 2012. (Lyle Buss, Univ. of Florida)

Rutgers insect biologists Jessica Ware and Dominic Evangelista were subsequently brought in to study the samples, and they concluded that the roach is common in Asia but has never been spotted in the U.S. “About 20 years ago colleagues of ours in Japan reared nymphs of this species and measured their tolerance to being able to survive in snow,” Ware tells Rutgers Today. “As the species has invaded Korea and China, there has been some confirmation that it does very well in cold climates, so it is very conceivable that it could live outdoors during winter in New York. That is in addition to its being well suited to live indoors alongside the species that already are here.”

Awesome, indoor-outdoor roaches. But before you surround the perimeter of your bed with glue traps, there’s a slight sprinkle of good news: these imported roaches’ weird foreign genitals don’t fit together with the normal genitals of our local roaches, so it’s unlikely they’re going to mate to produce mutant Godzilla-Sasquatch hybrid monster roaches. We’re just going to have tougher roaches now. Whatever; at this point we’ll take anything that isn’t bed bugs.

h /t – gothamist

Categories
Featured News

Boyfriend Jumped to his Death because Girlfriend Insisted on Visiting Another Store

A man jumped to his death after a furious row with his girlfriend who insisted they go into another clothes shop.

CCTV shows Tao Hsiao, 38, escorting his girlfriend around a shopping mall in Xuzhou, Jiangsu
province, east China.

After five hours Tao finally had enough and demanded to go home.

Had enough: Tao Hsiao, 38, jumped to his death after a furious row with his girlfriend in a shopping mall

Eyewitnesses say he could be heard saying they already had more bags than they could carry, but she insisted on going into one more shop where the was a special offer on shoes.

An eyewitness said: ‘He told her she already had enough shoes, more shoes that she could wear in a
lifetime and it was pointless buying any more.

‘She started shouting at him accusing him of being a skinflint and of spoiling Christmas, it was a really heated argument.’

Tao Hsiao is carried out of the shopping mall on a stretcher but he was pronounced dead
Shoppers look down at the body of Tao Hsiao who jumped to his death after he had a row with his girlfriend

The shouting match ended when the man chucked the bags on the floor and jumped over the balcony, smashing into Christmas decorations on his way down before hitting the floor seven stories below causing shocked shoppers to flee in panic.

Emergency services arrived at the scene but Tao was killed immediately from the impact of the fall.

A shopping spokesman said: ‘His body was removed fairly quickly.

‘He actually landed on one of the stalls below and then fell to the floor so although the store was damaged it meant he didn’t hit anybody.

‘This is a tragic incident, but this time of year can be very stressful for many people.’

Read more: Daily Mail

Categories
Featured News

10-Year-Old Girl Caught Viciously Attacking Infant In An Elevator (VIDEO)

A 10-year-old girl was videotaped on surveillance footage attacking a baby in an elevator in China.

According to the video on ABC News, the girl grabs the little boy out of his stroller, and pulls him into a high-rise elevator where she then attacks him.

She first slams him to the floor and then proceeds to kick him repeatedly after the grandmother of the boy had the doors of the elevator shut on her before she could save him.

The doors finally open on the 25th floor where the girl then throws the baby outside of the elevator and onto the floor before she exits.

The poor infant is seen flailing on the ground just outside, before the elevator doors close and the footage cuts off.

In more disturbing news, ABC News reports:

Chongqing TV News  reported that Mrs. Wu followed the girl up to the 25th floor and ran into her in the hall without Yuanyuan.  The girl then apparently tried to comfort the distraught grandmother and told her than someone else took the baby and proceeded to search the apartment with her, the report said.

Minutes later, a security guard found the baby on the ground, with broken branches and twigs around puddles of blood.

He is now in the hospital in critical condition.

The site reports that the family of the boy does not know who the girl is or why she would attack their son.

We pray for the little boy from this horrible attack and hope he recovers soon.

SOURCE: ABC News

 

Categories
Featured News

Newlyweds Killed Man for The Thrill of Killing Together

(AP) — A couple married just three weeks lured a Pennsylvania man to his death with a Craigslist ad because they wanted to kill someone together, police said.

Elytte Barbour

Elytte Barbour told officers before his arrest Friday night that he and his wife, Miranda, had planned to kill before but their plans never worked out until last month when Troy LaFerrara responded to an online posting that promised companionship in return for money.

Elytte Barbour, 22, and Miranda Barbour, 18, both face criminal homicide charges in LaFerrara’s death. His body was found Nov. 12 in an alley in Sunbury, a small city northwest of Philadelphia. The couple recently moved to nearby Selinsgrove from North Carolina.

According to Sunbury police, Elytte Barbour told investigators he hid in the backseat of the couple’s SUV as his wife picked up LaFerrara at a mall on Nov. 11. He told police that, on his wife’s signal, he wrapped a cord around LaFerrara’s neck, restraining him while Miranda Barbour stabbed him.

The 42-year-old man was stabbed 20 times, police said.

Miranda Barbour

Miranda Barbour was charged Wednesday. She initially denied knowing LaFerrara, but her story evolved as investigators gathered evidence, including the discovery that the last call received by the victim’s cellphone was made from her number, according to a police affidavit.

The affidavit said Miranda Barbour acknowledged meeting the victim in Selinsgrove then driving with him to Sunbury, where they parked. She said LaFerrara groped her and she took a knife from between the front seats and stabbed him after he put his hand around her throat, according to the affidavit.

Police said Miranda Barbour had told them she purchased cleaning supplies at a department store after stabbing LaFerrara, then picked up her husband and took him to a strip club for his birthday. On Friday, police said Elytte Barbour told them it was he that had purchased the cleaning products, an account investigators said was backed up by surveillance footage.

Following his wife’s arrest, Elytte Barbour told The Daily Item of Sunbury his wife, whom he married on Oct. 22, regularly hired herself out as a “companion” to men she met on various websites, a business venture he said he supported because it did not involve sexual contact.

Barbour said his wife made anywhere from $50 to $850 for meeting with men for such activities as having dinner or walking around a mall. The ads she placed on websites including Craigslist all said upfront that sex was not part of the deal, he said.

Categories
Featured

Sandy Hook 911 Tapes Released – Disturbing Calls, Bullets Heard in Background

I don’t see the need for posting the actual 911 calls from terrified teachers and workers at Sandy Hook the day Adam Lanza decided to slaughter 26 people. I see no point in hearing people scream for their lives, or hearing gunshots ringing in the background as kids were murdered. I side with the families of the slain that these tapes should not be released. But today, they were. And based on other reports, the tapes are indeed gruesome and disturbing.

Gunshots boomed in the background as panicked callers flooded Newtown’s 911 emergency line with desperate pleas for help as deranged gunman Adam Lanza blasted his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and massacred 26 students and staffers, recordings released Wednesday reveal.

“Sandy Hook School, I think there’s someone shooting in here, Sandy Hook School!” a terrified woman reported in one of the earliest of seven calls released by police.

“I caught a glimpse of somebody. They’re running down the hallway. Oh, they’re still running and still shooting. Sandy Hook school, please,” the woman pleaded, her voice trembling.

Another call came from a custodian, Rick Thorne, who said that a window at the front of the school was shattered and that he kept hearing shooting.

Thorne remained on the phone for several minutes.

“There’s still shooting going on, please!” the custodian pleaded to the 911 dispatcher, as six or seven shots could be heard booming in the background. “I keep hearing shooting, I keep hearing popping! … Still, it’s still going on!”

While on the line with Thorne, the dispatcher told somebody off the call: “Get everyone you can going down there.”

The recordings show dispatchers calmly responding to the panicked janitor, a teacher and others while assuring them help was on the way as gunman Adam Lanza blasted his way through the school.

The operators urge the callers – who reported hearing multiple gunshots – to take cover as they desperately contact town and state police for help.

The operators also ask about the welfare of the children.

Lanza, 20, stormed the school on the morning of Dec. 14 and gunned down 20 children and six educators with a semi-automatic rifle. He had earlier killed his mother nancy as she slept, and blew his own brains out as police arrived.

The calls begin at 9:35 a.m. from the school’s central office, saying the front glass had been shot out.

There were a total of seven landline calls from inside the school to Newtown police — including Thorne’s.

The janitor stayed on the phone with a dispatcher as he made his way through the school trying to warn staffers and students about Lanza’s bloody rampage.

Another call came from a teacher.

“It sounds like there are gunshots in the hallway. I’m a teacher at the school,” the woman said. “All of my students are in the classroom …the door’s not locked yet.”

The dispatcher tells her to lock the door and keep the children away from the windows.

Categories
Featured News

“Let My Kids Know I Loved Them”: Woman Found Stabbed To Death By Her Ex

Late Saturday evening, 25-year-old mother of two, Michelle Rowling was found in her apartment stabbed to death. Already a sad and terrifying turn of events, it was uncovered soon after that Rowling, of East St. Louis, knew that an attempt on her life was coming.

Rowling had been dating 25-year-old Montrell Cooper on and off for more than three years, but her ex-boyfriend became so abusive that Cooper eventually wound up serving time for a domestic dispute in August. Ironically, he did jail time in 2012 for another domestic dispute where he reportedly stabbed her in the neck. For some reason, Rowling testified on his behalf in order to help Cooper get his sentence reduced to probation. This time around, after the incident in August, she didn’t testify, but was uncooperative in helping prosecutors with their case against Cooper so he was released on probation. The day he was released from jail on November 25, she posted this message on her Facebook, alarming friends and followers:

When a follower told her to cal the police, she responded with, “THE POLICE. ………….LOL IM GONE B GONE BOUT TIME THEY COME.” Unfortunately, by the 30th, Rowling was found in her apartment after police received a disturbance call, stabbed several times and bleeding out. She was rushed to the hospital, but died upon arrival. Now her family accuses Cooper of being behind the attack. The police can’t find him, but they did find his abandoned car. Anyone out there who knows of his whereabouts is of course asked to contact the police.

– See more at: Madamenoire.com

Categories
dead Featured

Woman’s Scary Facebook Message Before She Was Stabbed to Death

An East St. Louis woman who was found stabbed to death in her apartment Saturday night had posted a Facebook status update prior to her murder warning her friends that she might die.

“If anything happens to me tonight just let my kids know I loved them dearly and tell my momma I love her,” Michelle Rowling posted on November 25th.

Less than a week later, police were called to Rowling’s housing complex to investigate a disturbance and found the 25-year-old bleeding out, having sustained several stab wounds.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was pronounced DOA.

According to the St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly, Rowling’s post was in reference to the release of her ex-boyfriend, 25-year-old Montrell Cooper, who had been jailed since August for assaulting her.

Cooper, who is the chief suspect in Rowling’s murder, had assaulted Rowling before, but she testified on his behalf and managed to get his sentence reduced to probation.

Montrell Cooper
Categories
Featured Health

Controversy – Woman Shows Off Her Washboard Abs, 4 Days After Giving Birth

Frankly, I’m proud of her. I know a few women who just cannot get back their pre-pregnancy body. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a post-pregnancy body, but these women have tried diets, exercise programs, personal trainers etc. and nothing seems to work. That this new mom is able to get her body back is fascinating. But apparently, this picture is causing worldwide controversy.

Is the postpregnancy body the new weapon of choice among superfit women? Yes, charge critics of Norwegian soccer wife and fitness blogger Caroline Berg Eriksen, who posted a flat-stomach, bra-and-panties selfie to her 245,000 Instagram followers just four days after giving birth.

“This is not a selfie. This is an act of war,” writes one Australian blogger in response to the image — just one of many blogs, news outlets, body image experts, and social-media commenters around the world to weigh in on the matter in the past few days, putting the photo at the center of a major online body image controversy. “This whole situation has become ludicrous. The competition for women to give birth and then immediately remove any trace from their their bodies that they ever carried a child is OBSCENE. There is no other word for it.” Another blogger calls the photo of Eriksen, who is married to pro soccer player Lars-Kristian Eriksen, “wildly provocative.”

Eriksen posted the photo of herself on Instagram, along with the caption, “I feel so empty…4 days after birth,” igniting the online backlash. Twitter users called Eriksen and her washboard abs “intimidating,” “unhelpful,” “obviously a freak,” and “unfair to all women.”

Exit mobile version