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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
8/28/2014 12:23:38 AM

Ferguson shooting protests move to St. Louis

Associated Press

A group of protesters march from City Hall to the federal courthouse a few blocks away Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2014, in St. Louis. About 100 protesters marched as they continue to press for broader reforms to local and federal law enforcement following the shooting death of Michael Brown by police. They were calling attention not only to Brown's death but also the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Kajieme Powell by St. Louis police 10 days later. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)


ST. LOUIS (AP) — Protests over the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in suburban St. Louis migrated to the city Tuesday as demonstrators pressed for broad reforms to local and federal law enforcement — including the revival of a proposed civilian police oversight board.

About 100 protesters marched from City Hall to the downtown federal courthouse several blocks away to call attention not only to Brown's death on Aug. 9 but also the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Kajieme Powell by St. Louis police 10 days later. Police have said Powell threatened two officers with a steak knife after stealing two energy drinks and a bag of doughnuts from a convenience store.

The demonstrators organized under the banner of Hands Up United, a broad movement forged from witness accounts that Brown, who was unarmed, had his hands in the air when he was shot six times by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson. Dozens of similar protests were planned across the country Tuesday, with several more in European cities. No arrests were reported in St. Louis.

The St. Louis police force is among many local departments summoned to support the Missouri Highway Patrol's crowd control efforts in the north St. Louis County community.

Protesters called for the creation of a civilian review board to monitor St. Louis police shootings and other uses of force, renewing an effort that won the support of the elected Board of Aldermen eight years ago but was vetoed by Mayor Francis Slay.

"We're drawing a line from Ferguson to right here where we live," said Taurean Russell, who was arrested by county police at one of the nightly protests that occurred for nearly two weeks after Brown's death.

A new proposal is expected to be presented by at least one member of the 28-person board when it returns from summer recess in September.

Quasi-judicial, civilian police review boards are common in large cities — but their oversight powers are often heavily criticized by those who have served on the boards, citing an absence of real power and a lack of cooperation by those whom they're supposed to monitor.

In North Carolina, the Charlotte Observer found in 2013 that the city's police review board sided with officers in each of the 78 cases of alleged misconduct it reviewed over 15 years and held just four hearings in those cases. In New Mexico, three of the Albuquerque Police Oversight Commission's six members resigned in April after a U.S. Justice Department investigation that identified a culture of abuse and aggression in a police department that had killed 23 men since 2010.

In St. Louis, the city's police union opposed the 2006 bill and is also lining up against the newer effort. Jeff Roorda, the union's business manager and a Democratic state legislator from Jefferson County, told The Washington Post that a "handful of militant, anti-police aldermen" are seeking to "capitalize on this tragedy to advance their own political agenda."

Mayoral spokeswoman Maggie Crane said Tuesday that Slay supports the idea of a civilian review board but rejected the 2006 measure over details he considered anti-police.

"Of course, things are different now, post-Ferguson, but these were all in the works," she said, referring to negotiations between review board supporters and city leaders. "It's not like things are being thrown together."

___

Follow Alan Scher Zagier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/azagier






The march is one of dozens across the country in response to the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
'Drawing a line'



"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
8/28/2014 12:55:57 AM

Israeli premier, Hamas declare victory in Gaza war

Associated Press



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Gaza Cease-Fire Holds As Sides Weigh Gains


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JERUSALEM (AP) — Both Israel's prime minister and Hamas declared victory Wednesday in the Gaza war, though their competing claims left questions over future terms of their uneasy peace still lingering.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments, delivered in a prime-time address on national television, appeared aimed at countering critics of the war, with both hard-liners in his governing coalition, as well as residents of rocket-scarred southern Israel, saying the war was a failure because it did not halt Hamas' rocket attacks or oust the group from power.

Masked Hamas militants carrying heavy weapons gave their own address upon the rubble of one destroyed Gaza neighborhood, though their own major demands won't be addressed until indirect talks with Israel begin again in Cairo.

Israel and Hamas agreed to an open-ended truce Tuesday, with each side settling for an ambiguous interim agreement in exchange for a period of calm. Hamas, though badly battered, remains in control of Gaza with part of its military arsenal intact. Israel and Egypt will continue to control access to blockaded Gaza, despite Hamas' long-running demand that the border closures imposed in 2007 be lifted.

Hamas is seeking an end to the Israeli blockade, including the reopening of Gaza's sea and airport. It also wants Egypt to reopen its Rafah border crossing, the territory's main gateway to the outside world. Under the restrictions, virtually all of Gaza's 1.8 million people cannot trade or travel. Only a few thousand are able to leave the coastal territory every month.

Israel, meanwhile, wants Hamas to be disarmed.

"Hamas was hit hard and it received not one of the demands it set forth for a cease-fire, not one," Netanyahu said. He said Israel "will not tolerate" any more rocket fire, and would respond "even harder" if the attacks resume.

Addressing the future of Gaza, Netanyahu said that should Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "choose peace," he would be happy for the Palestinian leader to regain control of the coastal enclave, which the Islamic militant group Hamas has ruled since it routed Abbas' forces in 2007. Netanyahu indicated that so long as Hamas was in power, reaching a negotiated solution to the conflict with the Palestinians was impossible.

Critics have said that Netanyahu did not go far enough to topple Hamas and that the war, meant to end incessant rocket fire on communities in Israel's south, changed little on the ground at the cost of 70 people killed on the Israeli side, all but six soldiers. The war marked the third round of fighting since Hamas seized power in Gaza.

"Both sides did not exactly want this campaign, both sides made all possible errors dragging them into it, and both sides find themselves today returning to square one, where they were at the start of the warfare," wrote Alex Fishman in the Yediot Ahronot daily newspaper.

Much of the criticism has come from residents of southern Israeli communities, thousands of whom fled their homes to seek safer areas during the war. They complain they have lived under rocket barrages for more than a decade without any change.

Many said they were reluctant to return to their homes, fearing that the cease-fire did not secure an end to rocket and mortar fire on their communities.

"There is a lot of concern and a lot of uncertainty and we want quiet already, but a real quiet, not something bogus and not a cease-fire that lasts just a few days," Liraz Levy, a resident of Kibbutz Nirim near Gaza, told Israeli television broadcaster Channel 10.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu's main coalition partner, said that violence would continue if Hamas was not toppled and that the cease-fire would allow Hamas to "grow stronger."

Hamas also declared victory, even though it had little to show for a war that killed 2,143 Palestinians, wounded more than 11,000 and left some 100,000 homeless, according to Palestinian health officials and United Nations figures.

In Gaza, masked militants gathered on the rubble of destroyed homes in the Shijaiyah neighborhood, site of some of the heaviest fighting, to declare victory. The men displayed heavy machine guns, mortar shells, rockets and anti-tank missiles. Hundreds of residents gathered around the militants, taking pictures with them and their weapons.

Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Hamas military wing, stood over an Israeli flag as he addressed the crowd.

"Gaza achieved victory because it has done what major armies failed to do. It forced the enemy to retreat," he said. "We must know that no voice is louder than the voice of the resistance."

Life slowly returned to normal Wednesday in Gaza, as traffic policemen took up their positions in streets overwhelmed by vehicles transporting thousands of people back to the homes they had abandoned during the fighting. Harried utility crews struggled to repair electricity and water infrastructure damaged by weeks of Israeli airstrikes.

"We are going back today," said farmer Radwan al-Sultan, 42, as he and some of his seven children used an overloaded three-wheeled tuk-tuk to return to their home in the hard-hit northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. "Finally we will enjoy our home sweet home again."

The United Nations' said that the number of displaced people had decreased significantly. UNRWA, the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, said about 53,000 people are still living in shelters, down from almost 290,000 on Tuesday.

___

Barzak reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.








Benjamin Netanyahu says his country didn’t accept any of Hamas’s demands in the cease-fire deal.
'Hamas was hit hard'



"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
8/28/2014 10:57:17 AM

British Filmmaker: Why My Stepbrother And Others Have Become Islamic Extremists

Yahoo News

News this week of the death of Douglas McCain, an American who joined the ISIL militia and was killed in Syria, has hit close to home for Robb Leech. The British filmmaker’s stepbrother, Richard Dart, turned to Islamist extremism in 2009 and was convicted in England for plotting to commit terrorist acts in 2012, but Leech never thought of abandoning him. Instead, he turned on his cameras and delved into the militant community to learn more. The result was two documentaries: “My Brother the Islamist” and “My Brother the Terrorist.” He shares his insights with Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga.

Americans and Europeans have become increasingly concerned to hear of members of their own countries who have turned away from Western society and joined extremist groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL. Reports that the ISIL killer of American journalist James Foley might have been a British national have fueled fears that terrorists could be living among friends and neighbors in Western nations.

Related: James Foley’s Brother: The U.S. Could Have Done More for Jim

Leech says that he believes that for his brother, the transition to radicalism did not come out of the blue. “He was probably vulnerable,” he said, “He was probably quite lonely. He definitely was on his own journey to make sense of the world and to find meaning in life. … He met some of these guys, and they sort of took him under their wing.”

Indeed, ISIL has capitalized on its appeal to lost youth and has taken to social media to enlist recruits. Leech believes that ISIL may even use Westerners for high-profile activities as a form of propaganda, particularly in the case of James Foley’s execution. “The fact that it was British guy holding a knife … What it’s saying is that, ‘You guys in Britain, this is your Islamic State too.’ ”

Although families must grapple with devastation and betrayal when confronted with their loved ones’ new allegiances, Leech says he has not lost his affection for Dart. Despite his stepbrother’s convictions, he says, “I absolutely love him.”


Why my stepbrother became a Muslim extremist


Filmmaker Robb Leech explains why many, including his relative Richard Dart, have turned to Islamist extremism.
'Vulnerable'

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
8/28/2014 11:17:18 AM
Storms bring huge waves to U.S. coasts

Hurricanes on Both Coasts Bring Dangerous Surf

Good Morning America


This is a NASA photo of the view from space of Hurricane Marie. NASA


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Beware of hurricanes straddling the United States even though they may not crash directly into either coast.

Hurricane Marie, a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds at 100 mph, will be no direct threat to land as it moves out to sea in the eastern Pacific Ocean -- but surf's up! The storm will bring large, perhaps damaging waves and strong or dangerous rip currents to the Southern California coast ... even as the storm will be 800 miles offshore.

Breakers could reach 10 to more than 15 feet for south-southeast facing beaches in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, with high surf also possible for Santa Barbara's south coast. High surf advisories were in effect for those areas for this week. Swells were peaking Tuesday and Wednesday, with some subsiding Thursday into Friday.

Minor coastal flooding, beach erosion, and structural damage were all possible, as well.

California Prepares for Big Waves

Cristobal Becomes Hurricane, Moves away from Bahamas

Hurricane Marie Grows Stronger in Pacific

On the other side of the country, Hurricane Cristobal is making its way across the open Atlantic Ocean.

Cristobal was not expected to directly impact the United States, but rather to bring another type of danger this week -- strong and frequent rip currents.

Cristobal is the third Atlantic hurricane of 2014 after Arthur and Bertha both became hurricanes. The last time the season's first three storms became hurricanes was 1992, more than 20 years ago, when Andrew, Bonnie and Charley blew in.

Currently, the Category 1 hurricane continues to track north with an eventual northeasterly turn, strengthening just a bit over the next 24 hours, but remaining a Category 1.

Bermuda was under a tropical storm watch. Although it was not expected to get a direct hit, it could definitely see tropical storm conditions this week, with winds over 40 mph and rainfall up to six inches.

Swells generated by the Cristobal were expected to reach the East Coast in the form of breakers and cause rough surf and dangerous rip currents from Florida to Maine.

From Florida to the Carolinas, surfers and beach goers need to be aware of life-threatening conditions in the water through Wednesday. Then, from Virginia to New Jersey and up to the New England coast, they should take caution through Friday.

Luckily, waters on both coasts should calm down just in time for Labor Day weekend.







A Category 2 storm is expected to cause strong currents in California, while another storm makes its way across the Atlantic.
Surfers warned



"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
8/28/2014 11:25:18 AM

One Midwest High School, Two American Terrorists

ABC News

One Midwest High School, Two American Terrorists (ABC News)


With the news that an American was among those killed recently while fighting on the side of the terror group ISIS inSyria came the revelation that he was classmates and close friends with another U.S. citizen who died in battle alongside a different anti-American extremist group on a different front line five years before.

Douglas McAuthur McCain, a 33-year-old rapper, was identified by the White House Tuesday as having been killed in the bloody conflict in Syria. The Free Syrian Army, an opposition group that fights the government of President Bashar al-Assad as well as competing rebel groups, claimed on social media McCain had been fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a brutal al Qaedabreakaway organization.

A public records search traced McCain’s youth back to the Twin Cities in Minnesota and to Robbinsdale Cooper High School, which is the same school attended in the same time period by Troy Kastigar. Kastigar’s image appeared in news reports around the world in 2009 after he was killed fighting with jihadist group in Somalia, this one an al Qaeda affiliate called al-Shabab.

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Prior to both their fatal trips halfway across the world, McCain and Kastigar briefly shared an address after high school, records show, and news reports today said the two were close friends.

David Brom, who was principal at the high school when the young men attended, told ABC News there was “no indication whatsoever that these two students would eventually end up fighting for al-Shabab or ISIS.”

“We never would’ve guessed that,” he said, after acknowledging that he didn’t personally remember the students after 15 years. “It was a pretty normal high school. We had pretty normal kids… I can only think it was influences beyond the high school, certainly beyond our community.”

Kastigar reportedly traveled to Somalia to join al-Shabab in 2008. After he was killed in fighting, al-Shabab featured their American recruit in a martyrdom video in which Kastigar urges his fellow Americans to join him in his holy war.

“If you guys only knew how much fun we have over here – This is the real Disneyland,” a bearded Kastigar says. “Come here and join us.”

McCain posted Kastigar’s photo on his Facebook page after his death, saying he believes his friend to be in paradise.

Public records and other social media posts do not indicate McCain ever traveled to Somali, but five years after Kastigar’s death, he did follow in his friend’s doomed footsteps by joining a militant jihadi group. He appears to have traveled to Syria earlier this year after tweeting about being eager to join his brothers. He retweeted another ISIS supporter who said, “It takes a warrior to understand a warrior. Pray for ISIS.”

“It’s remarkable that two terrorists from one high school,” said Richard Clarke, former White House counterterrorism advisor and ABC News consultant. “The appeal of jihad is it gives them purpose. It gives them a way out of a life that’s going nowhere. It gives them a higher calling.”

News of McCain’s death emerged a day before the mother of an American journalist as a hostage by ISIS pleaded directly to ISIS’s leader for mercy.

“I want what every mother wants, to live to see their children’s children,” Shirley Sotloff says in the video.

Mother of American Hostage Pleads With ISIS ‘Caliph’ for Mercy






Douglas McAuthur McCain, the U.S. citizen killed fighting in Syria, attended school with a man who died in another holy war.
'This is the real Disneyland'



"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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