A jury has convicted an Atlanta truck driver accused of pouring boiling water over two gay men as the couple slept in February.

The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes Wednesday before finding Martin Blackwell guilty of eight counts of aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated assault, according to the Associated Press.

Blackwell was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

The 48-year-old wasn’t charged with a hate crime because Georgia is one of five states that do not have hate crime statutes. An FBI spokesman told Reuters that federal investigators are considering whether to charge Blackwell with a federal hate crime.

Martin Blackwell watches arguments in his trial Wednesday in Atlanta. (John Bazemore/AP)

Anthony Gooden had told his family he was gay shortly before the attack, which happened as Gooden slept on a mattress in his mother’s living room next to Marquez Tolbert, according to the AP. The men had been dating for about six weeks.

Blackwell, a long-haul trucker who stayed at the house when he was in town, came in and saw the two unconscious men lying next to each other.

He went to the kitchen, pulled out a pot, filled it with water and set it to boil. Moments later, he poured the scalding water over the men, The Washington Post reported.

“I woke up to the most unimaginable pain in my entire life,” Tolbert said, sobbing frequently during his testimony, according to the AP. “I’m wondering why I’m in so much pain. I’m wondering why I’m wet. I don’t understand what’s going on.”

[‘We were just burning': Ga. man poured boiling water over gay couple as they lay in bed, police say]

Then Blackwell allegedly yanked him off the mattress and yelled, “Get out of my house with all that gay,” Tolbert recalled toWSBTV.

“They were stuck together like two hot dogs … so I poured a little hot water on them and helped them out,” he said to police, according to the incident report. “… They’ll be alright. It was just a little hot water.”

Blackwell claimed the two men were having sex when he poured water on them. Vickie Gray, a friend of Tolbert’s, told the news station that’s not true; they were asleep after a long day of work — not that the alleged attack would have been justified in any case, she noted.

Marquez Tolbert cries as he testifies in the trial of Martin Blackwell on Tuesday in Atlanta. (John Bazemore/AP)

Tolbert must now wear compression garments 23 hours a day for the next two years, Gray wrote in an email to The Post, and is attending weekly counseling and physical therapy sessions to deal with his emotional and physical scars. It’s difficult for him to go outside because sunlight exacerbates the pain of his burns.

Gooden, who was burned even more severely, was in a medically induced coma for several weeks, Gray said. According to his GoFundMe page, more than 60 percent of his body was burned, and he had to undergo skin graft surgery to repair damage to his face, neck, back, arms, chest and head.

(The Washington Post)

Remember how a couple of days ago the German government advised its citizens to start stockpiling food and water? Well, today they have announced that they are considering reintroducing conscription…the draft, to ‘help with any future disaster’.

And Germany isn’t alone. There are increasing hints in countries around the world that something big is on its way…and it won’t be pretty.

Do they know something we don’t?

The German government will discuss their emergency plans Wednesday. The BBC reports:

Germany may reintroduce a form of national service for civilians to help the army deal with a future disaster.

The role of civilians is part of a new civil defence strategy to be discussed by the government on Wednesday.

Since the strategy was leaked to the media there has been intense debate about stockpiling food and water.

In a crisis civilians might be obliged to help direct traffic or provide fuel and accommodation for the military.

Germany only scrapped conscription in 2011. However, it was not removed from the country’s constitution, which means it would be incredibly simple to reinstate.

Not sure I like the look of this.

The German Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance published a list

As I wrote about on Monday, the German government is urging citizens to get prepared – and quickly.

The German Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) put the following list on their website as a guide:

• 28 litres (6.2 gallons) of drinking water
• 4.9kg (10.8 pounds) of bread, noodles, rice, potatoes
• 5.6kg (12.3 pounds) of vegetables and pulses (preferably pre-cooked)
• 3.6kg (eight pounds) of fruit and nuts (in jars or tins)

This it states is a survival list that should last an individual for two weeks in the event of a national emergency.

Wolfgang Kast, a public health manager with the German Red Cross said,

“People have become less and less prepared for an emergency”.

…We’ve got accustomed – not least because of the internet – to having everything available at all times,”

In addition to the food list he suggested medicines, a flashlight, spare batteries, and candles. Hardly comprehensive, but it’s a start. (source)

The American government has also issued recent warnings.

Last summer there were two alarming warnings urging Americans to get prepared.

First, in May, President Obama said:

One of the things that we have learned over the course of the last seven and a half years is that government plays a vital role, but it is every citizen’s responsibility to be prepared for a disaster. And that means taking proactive steps, like having an evacuation plan, having a fully stocked disaster supply kit. If your local authorities ask you to evacuate, you have to do it. Don’t wait. (source)

This was followed by DC Homeland Security Director Christopher Geldart issuing a warning to residents:

Everyone needs to dust off their evacuation plans, understanding Metro isn’t a reliable option over the next year.

“When we put more vehicles on the road– like an emergency happening in the middle of the day and everybody leaving at the same time– that’s going to cause backup and it’s going to take people a good time to get home,” Geldart said. “It will take longer– much longer– than they are used to. So what we’re telling folks is, you need to have a plan with your family.” (source)

And that’s not all. The hints are everywhere that war could be on the horizon.

The rest of the world hasn’t exactly been calm and peaceful, either.

In general, Europe doesn’t have the prepping mentality that exists on this side of the pond but it looks like they are starting to consider that the government may not be in a position to help its citizens.

The UK hasn’t come right out and said that Brits should start stockpiling food and water, but the government there has produced a Preparing for Emergencies booklet that few people even know exists. It’s ‘What You Can do’ page lists essential items that should be to hand in the event of an emergency and advises that enough food, water, and medication should be available to last a few days. The booklet also gives advice on various emergency situations and how to deal with them.

The pace of world events is picking up…yesterday it was announced that Turkey had evacuated an entire town as it intends to engage in across border action with Islamic State in Syria. (That has now happened – Ed.)

North Korea has fired a missile from a submarine in violation of International law.

Venezuela

Every day, something worrying occurs on the international stage. Worrying developments that threaten stability across the globe.

Make sure you have:

• Emergency Food
• Firearms and Ammo
• Water Filtration
• Extra Cash

There’s something very suspicious about all of these unsettling events happening in such close succession.

We shouldn’t be waiting for governments to tell us to prepare. We should be doing it of our own volition. We should be taking responsibility for the safety of our families.

And we should be doing it now.

This article first appeared at DaisyLuther.com

(activistpost.com)

(Iraqi Kurdish female fighters take aim against Islamic State militants in Nawaran near Mosul, Iraq, April 20, 2016.Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)

It almost seems inevitable.

With such an oppressive regime and a weakening infrastructure, the organization that touts itself as the caliphate is facing growing dissent within its civilian populace.

And it looks like this gap is widening, especially after the efforts of a secret group called the Mosul Battalions.

In Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and one of the few remaining ISIS bastions, this secret network has been causing disarray for ISIS members by carrying out assassinations and hit-and-run strikes against ISIS targets.

In a report by CNN, online video from the Mosul Battalion has shown the capture and assassinations of ISIS members and the bombings of the militant's checkpoints.

"The roadside bombs they used, they would steal from ISIS," “Abu Ali”, a Mosul Battalion intermediary told CNN. "ISIS puts bombs in certain areas and those who have previous military experience go and steal these bombs and place them to target ISIS."

After ISIS captured Mosul on June 2014, the jihadists conducted a search for weapons that were both abandoned by fleeing Iraqi soldiers as well as arms held by citizens; however, many remained hidden outside of ISIS’ grasp. It is with these rifles and pistols that the Mosul Battalion wreaks havoc for ISIS, Ali explained to CNN.

"Saddam militarized the population, all Iraqi people have weapons training,” continued Ali.

(A man weeps as paramedics look for burned bodies inside a mall at the scene of a truck bomb attack claimed by the Islamic State group in Baghdad, Iraq, July 7, 2016.Khalid Mohammed/AP)

Risking torture and death, the organization claims to be so secretive that many of their members don’t know the identities of others. Contacting each other via cell phone — a crime that’s punishable by cutting the hand off the offender or even death — the rebels have developed a crude, yet effective, way of communicating.

"They work in two-person formations and a third person is at a higher level to avoid compromising the group if one is captured," he said.

Initially established by two close friends, the Mosul Battalion now claims to have between 100 and 300 fighters, many of them youth and former military members. If this figure is correct, their efforts may be invaluable in the coming months as coalition forces begin their massive campaign to liberate the city from ISIS.

(Coalition airstrike on an ISIS targetCJTF Operation Inherent Resolve/YouTube)

The Mosul Battalion claims to have also already provided intelligence and coordinates of ISIS positions for coalition airstrikes.

“They wanted to work with the coalition for a couple reasons. So that the coalition is precise and doesn't hit civilian populations but also to accelerate the elimination of ISIS,"said Ali to CNN.

Given how past failures of the Iraqi military and US-led coalition forces led to the unintended rise of ISIS, the presence of an organic and local anti-ISIS resistance movement will be critical to the continued success of beating the militants.


(Yahoo Finance)

• By MORGAN WINSOR

·

It took 17 hours and several firefighters to rescue her, but 10-year-old Giulia was pulled from the rubble alive today after an earthquake struck central Italy Wednesday.

As rescue workers raced to find survivors beneath the crumbled buildings in the town of Pescara del Tronto, about 100 miles northeast of Rome, they spotted Giulia’s legs and carefully removed wreckage around the trapped girl to get her out this morning.

"You can hear something under here. Quiet, quiet," one rescue worker said, according to The Associated Press, before urging her: "Come on, Giulia, come on, Giulia."

Her last name has not been released and the extent of her injuries, if any, is unknown.

Giulia’s dramatic rescue was captured on footage. The girl emerged caked with dirt and dust, and people clapped and cheered as a firefighter carried her away from the flattened building in one of the towns hit hardest by the powerful quake.

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Firefighters in central Italy rescue 10-year-old girl 17 hours after 6.2-magnitude quake hit http://abcn.ws/2bQOxiG

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The 6.2-magnitude earthquake that rocked central Italy early Wednesday killed at least 247 people, injured hundreds more and left thousands homeless, according to Italy's Civil Protection agency.

Several aftershocks have occurred since the initial quake struck, around 3:30 a.m. local time, and tremors were felt as far away as Rome, more than 100 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.