Monday, August 25, 2014

Your Map of Recent World Crises

crisismap

A- Vladimir Putin and Russia annexes Crimea
B- Russia sponsors armed rebellion against Ukrainian government
C- Russian supplied missile shoots down MH-17, killing 295 civilians
D- Boko Haram kidnaps hundreds of schoolchildren, sells many into slavery
E- Boko Haram declares a new Caliphate
F- Libya in civil war between Islamists and government. Islamists have the upper hand
G- Hamas sparks war with Israel
H- Syrian Civil War kills almost 200,000, including hundreds massacred by chemical weapons
I- ISIS gains power in Syria and Iraq, declaring a Caliphate and massacring thousands.
J- Iraq's political crisis expands. Government becomes ineffective and corrupt, allowing ISIS's rise.
K- Pakistan faces massive protests, including demands that the government resign by a major Islamic cleric


 

Pakistan Cleric Demands Gov't Step Down Among Widening Protests

It hasn't reached much of the domestic news, but Pakistan is also facing a government crisis. The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been accused of rigging the elections last year. Now, information from the nation's Election Commission appears to justify this claim. Thousands have been rallying for over a week against the current government.

The protests are being led by leading cricket player Imran Khan, who lashed out at the United States.
"You like only those governments in Muslim countries that are your slaves," Mr. Khan said in remarks directed at the U.S. "Is there another democracy for you, and another for us?"

Now a populist cleric calls for the resignation of the government within 48 hours.

There is a real fear of a military coup if this continues. Over 30 members of Parliament have resigned over the crisis.

Don't Look Now But Boko Haram Just Declared a New Caliphate, Too

There is no word if this is the same Caliphate that ISIS has established in the Middle East or another competitor for the title. The Boko Haram jihadists in Nigeria have declared a new religious state in West Africa.

The group that kidnapped hundreds of children recently has also massacred over 10,000 people over the last five years.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" relayed a threat to the United States and the world:

"Who is America in the sight of Allah? .... We don't fear you at all. .... We were the ones who carried out all these attacks. Not just Gwoza, all the attacks you see in Borno or any country we are the ones carrying them out. This is the life for us; it is our world and we are living it out.... This is the speech I have to make; which is a warning for worse things to come. Better submit to Allah before it becomes too late."


They also showed ISIS-like barbarity:

At the end of the video, Boko Haram includes gruesome footage showing approximately 20 men in civilian clothes lying on their stomachs with their hands tied behind their backs being executed by gunfire at close range. Two other men are beaten to death with shovels after they allegedly tried to escape dressed as women.


Personal Injury Lawsuit Tips

Most car accident claims are resolved before a lawsuit is filed. Either the plaintiff will settle with the insurance carrier on their own, or the plaintiff will hire a lawyer and the lawyer will settle with the insurance carrier. And if you look at all the car accident lawsuits that do get filed, a majority of them will get settled before trial.
However, it is important to keep in mind that not all car accident cases are settled out of court. There are many reasons for this. The most common reason is that the parties cannot agree on who is liable for the accident. Party A says Party B is liable, and Party B says Party A is liable. Another reason could be disagreements over amount of compensation. The plaintiff might want a certain amount that the defendant will not pay because he or she believes the amount is unfair.

If you have been involved in any kind of accident and have not been able to settle out of court, you will have to file a lawsuit and go through trial to get the compensation that you deserve. You will very likely have to hire a lawyer to help you. If you are not familiar enough with the legal system, then your case will get crushed by the opposing party's legal team, and you will end up with nothing. That's why it is a very good idea to retain an injury lawyer whenever you are involved in any accident. At this point, you may have some questions regarding what happens at trial. Although the rules of trial vary from state to state, we will review the ones that are common to most states.

In most states, it is a jury (and not a judge) that makes most decisions in a car accident case. There are usually twelve people in a jury, although that number is sometimes lower depending on the circumstances. The first stage is the stage in which jury members are selected. Potential jurors will be asked a series of questions to find out if there hold any biases that could prevent them from being impartial. Of course, you want a jury that is fair, because you want your trial to be fair and the decisions to be fair. If you have doubts regarding the fairness of the jury, you will need to speak with your car accident lawyer. If the lawyer finds that the jury is biased for some reason, they can raise this issue with the judge.
After the jury has been selected by the judge, each side makes its opening statement. Your attorney will give an introduction regarding why everybody is there, and what your story is about, and what key decisions they are expected to make. The opposing counsel will also make an opening statement, and this will be about their defense. They will talk about why their client is not responsible for your damages. Next, your attorney will present your case, supporting his views by all the evidence that is available to him. The evidence could be video recordings, photographs, witness testimonials, pay slips, and medical bills. A medical doctor could also testify about the severity of your injuries. You can also present medical bills and other medical documentation, since hiring an expert witness can get expensive. If your attorney chooses to call you to testify, he should (and will) prepare you before trial, so don't worry. It's completely normal to be anxious about testifying, especially when you have so much at stake.

Then, the defendant's attorney will follow a similar procedure to present his side of the story. This will be a defense, much like the kinds of defense you see on television. The defendant's attorney will call witnesses to make testimonies that will show that their client is not liable for your damages. They may also bring photographs, video recordings, or expert witnesses to defend themselves against your claim.
After all the evidence has been presented, the attorney from each side will give a closing argument. This is your last opportunity to talk to the jury and convince them that the defendant is liable for your damages. Your attorney will summarize all the facts that were presented. He will state that you have been wronged, and you need to be made whole again by being awarded for your injuries.

After the closing arguments, the jury will move to a deliberations room where they will deliberate. This means they will look at all the evidence, and using the instructions they were given, they will draw conclusions as to whether the defendant should pay for your damages. There is no time limit set by the courts regarding how long juries can deliberate. Sometimes deliberations take hours, and sometimes they take days. When the jury has reached a verdict, they will inform the judge, and the verdict will be read aloud for everyone to hear. The legal procedure described here is not exclusive to car accidents. If you have been involved in a bus accident and hire a bus accident attorney, then the procedure will be very similar. One important difference that we notice between these two cases is that in bus accidents, the injuries tend to be more severe. Bus companies are usually owned by the city, so you would sue the city, and not a private individual.

Let's say you won your case at trial. If you won, that means you are legally entitled to collect from the defendant, or their insurance carrier. But that was the easy part. The hardest part is collecting. Many people believe that once the losing party hears the judgment, they will write a check and the case is over, and everybody goes home happy. Furthermore, some people even believe the court will write them a check. In reality, neither scenario actually happens. Unfortunately, it is now your job to go after the defendant for payment. However, the degree of difficulty in collecting does vary greatly, from very easy, to impossible.
If the defendant had a high coverage, then you will most likely be dealing with their insurance carrier. In such cases, it is relatively painless to collect. Hopefully, the opposing party will not file an appeal, and their insurance carrier will pay within 20 to 60 days after the judgment. The ideal situation is having an unlimited insurance policy. In that case, you can get as much as your damages. Unfortunately, the typical driver's policy is around $15,000 and so that's the maximum their insurance provider is obligated to pay you. We can contrast this with slip and fall cases. In a slip and fall case, you would sue the premises where you fell. For example, let's say you fell at a major chain grocery store. Most famous grocery stores carry very high policies, usually near a million dollars. Compare that to the $15000 policies that car drivers carry, and you will understand why a personal injury lawyer is much more willing to take a slip and fall case over a car accident case.

There are also instances in which you will be disappointed to find that the person you were suing has no insurance. In such cases, you will have to collect from them personally. You will have to either seize the available funds in their bank account, or garnish their wages, or put a lien against their property, if they own property. If you don't have the time or the patience to collect on your own, you can hire a professional to collect for you. The field of collections is complicated, and beyond the scope of our discussion. But before you attempt collections, be aware that the defendant can file bankruptcy at any time, and that will eliminate their debt towards you. Therefore, you want to start collecting as soon as you possibly can.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Autopsy: Officer Wilson Would Have Had to be Over 12 FEET TALL to Corroborate Pro-Brown Witnesses

For days something has been irking me about the Michael Brown shooting and the autopsy performed. Repeatedly we've heard from witnesses who do not agree with Officer Darren Wilson's account. They have said that either, one, Brown was shot in the back or, two, he had his hands raised in surrender, while standing upright, when Wilson shot him.

Well, the autopsy showed that Brown was not shot in the back, so the witnesses that claimed that are now confirmed to either be mistaken or liars. But what about the hands raised witnesses? Forget for a moment that most of these witnesses were the same ones who claimed Brown was struck repeatedly in the back. For whatever reason, the press has been reporting that the autopsy somehow confirms anti-Wilson testimony. But that's not true. Simple mathematics disproves their testimony and likely confirms Wilson's.
michael-brown-darren-wilson-550x414
But before we get to that, let's establish a few facts. First, the particular bullet in question that disproves this testimony is one that entered Mr. Brown's skull and exited into his collar bone.

Second, there are no videos or testimony that the street on which the shooting occurred was unusually sloped or hilly.

Third, we need to look into what those who stated that Brown had his hands up in surrender say they witnessed.

Tiffany Mitchell stated, “After the [first] shot, the kid just breaks away. The cop follows him, kept shooting, the kid’s body jerked as if he was hit. After his body jerked he turns around, puts his hands up, and the cop continues to walk up on him and continues to shoot until he goes all the way down."

Disregarding the fact that Brown was not shot in the back (which already disproves this testimony), to summarize, several shots are fired at Brown first, then he turns around and the fatal bullet is fired. Three total witnesses, Dorian Johnson, Tiffany Mitchell, and Piaget Crenshaw, say the same thing: Brown was shot in the back, then he turned around, then he was mortally wounded. His head was raised.

Fourth, if Brown's head was raised, then the shot must have been angled, otherwise any exit wound would have exited the back of his skull and not hit any other part of his body. To go from any part of the head into the collar bone is a pretty steep angle.

Fifth, how far away was Brown from Wilson? Well, according to these three witnesses, there was a sizable gap between the two men. Another witness, Michael Brady, seems to corroborate these stories by placing the distance at about 20 feet.

All the facts are now assembled to show how the witnesses testimony falls apart. But just to recap: the street is flat, Michael Brown has his hands and head raised, he is twenty feet away from Officer Wilson, and the bullet in question went from his head to his collar bone.

Now all we need to do is create a triangle that shows the trajectory of the bullet. Actually, we have to create a small one first to get the proper big triangle. And assuming that both Mr. Brown and Mr. Wilson were both standing straight up, we can use the Pythagorean Theorem to find out all the proper measurements, or a2 + b2 = c2.

Still following? It's a bit tough at first because Mr. Brown has a height of six feet, four inches, so we cannot use him as the lowest point on a triangle. However, that can be the height on the first triangle we make. So, height would be equal to 6.33, which would be a in our equation.

To get the proper angle, we would use the distance given by Mr. Brady in his testimony, 20 feet, and that would be b. Now we can find out c, the hypotenuse. 6.33 squared is roughly 40. 20 squared is 400. Together, that's 440. The square root of that is almost exactly 21.

Now all we have to do is double the numbers and retain the same angles. The conclusion is... Officer Brown would have to be... 12 feet, 8 inches to have shot Michael Brown the way that "witnesses" say he did. Officer Wilson is not 12 feet, 8 inches.
Michael Brown Angle
But you know how this would all make sense? If we take into account Officer Wilson's testimony, that Brown was charging him, his head lowered. There wouldn't have to be a big angle any more because, if Wilson fired forward, it could easily go through Brown's head and into his collarbone.

Math has disproved the already shaky testimony of pro-Brown witnesses and confirmed the story of Officer Wilson.

Monday, August 11, 2014

URGENT: ISIS Declares Battle for Baghdad Has Begun

From a reliable source on Twitter and ISIS itself. The group has declared that they are aiming to seize the capital of Iraq as it is thrown into chaos due to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's apparent coup. Foreigners, including the US Embassy staff have fled the city. ISIS appears to be pulling forces away from the Kurdish front to face the faltering Iraqi government in Baghdad.

We are looking for more information as it comes in.







Let us hope this is not true as intermittent explosions have rocked the city for the last twenty-four hours. It is not clear if this is due to Maliki, anti-Maliki government forces, or ISIS-- or perhaps all three.

UPDATE: Heavy gunfire in the capital:

And the airport came under heavy attack:



Sunday, August 10, 2014

ISIS Prepping Large New Offensive As Baghdad Burns

Even more bad news coming out of Iraq at this hour. ISIS has lost some ground to the Kurds but is poised to take much more from the Arabs.





BREAKING: Possible Military Coup Rocks Iraq

Iraq's parliament just chose a new President who refused to rename Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki to a third term. Maliki declared the move unconstitutional and his own State of Law Party pulled support from him. Now his forces are seizing government buildings in Iraq, have closed the airport, and are surrounding the Green Zone.

His speech refusing to step down occurred at midnight and was followed by the military action.

State of Law coalition continue intensive consultations with all political parties and the reference to rid the country of the constitutional impasse and al-Maliki's military coup.



The lives of political leaders in the country is in danger and we appeal to the Iraqi people not to listen to cling to the job







UPDATE: Maliki calls for the arrest of the President of Iraq, a Kurd. This will lead to Kurdish indpendence.

Uh Oh: Erdogan Wins Presidency in Turkey

obama-erdogan-ap-670-550x287 (1)Current Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the election for President today. This was the first popular election of President in the country's history. The Prime Minister has been in office for 11 years as head of the Islamist AKP Party, which established close relations with both Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Iran's Islamic Republic. Erdogan's party blocked US efforts to send combat troops to Northern Iraq through Turkey in 2003 and has severely deteriorated relations with Israel. He has defanged the secular military and has arrested many members.

Now, he's won with a clear majority. He's won with 52% of the vote, 14% ahead of the second place finisher. This is disturbing news as secularists see him as consolidating power with increasingly dictatorial powers.

Anti-ISIS Protesters Attacked in the Netherlands

Dutch protesters against the jihadist group ISIS were attacked in the Netherlands by a group of Muslims. The video below shows some of the frightening aftermath:

Lindsay Graham: ISIS Will Leave an American City in Flames

Chilling words from the Senator from South Carolina.

Video: Andrea Mitchell (!) Slams Obama for Allowing ISIS to Grow

From Newsbusters, we get a video many of our readers never expected to see. NBC's Andrea Mitchell slammed President Obama for not stopping ISIS's rise. When the White House claimed that they had no intelligence regarding the issue, Mitchell countered:



When pigs fly.

Friday, August 08, 2014

ISIS Chief: "Our Appointment in New York"

ISIS's chief, the self-proclaimed Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has issued a chilling threat, disseminated through twitter. A follower of the Islamist group has a message for the people of the United States:

isis

Another member of the group was recorded recently stating that ISIS would fly the flag of Islam over the White House. It's time to wipe out this group as it spreads throughout the Middle East.

BONUS:



 

Concern as Patient in Canada Has Ebola-Type Symptoms

A man that recently visited Africa is undergoing treatment in Toronto for symptoms that appear to be similar to ebola. This raises the risk of Ebola on the North American continent.

The good news is that even if the man is infected, it appears that it is unlikely to spread:
"It’s unlikely that we’re going to see cases of Ebola virus that come to Canada," McGreer told CBC News. "But it’s important that we are precautionary about it, that we have systems in place to detect people.

Thursday, August 07, 2014

NY Times: US Bombs Iraq

Breaking from the Times:
American military forces bombed at least two targets in northern Iraq on Thursday night to rout Islamist insurgents who have trapped tens of thousands of religious minorities in Kurdish areas, Kurdish officials said.

Word of the bombings, reported on Kurdish television from the city of Erbil, came as President Obama was preparing to make a statement in Washington.

Kurdish officials said the bombings targeted fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria who had seized two towns, Gwer and Mahmour. Residents who had fled those areas by car were heard honking their horns in approval.

Obama administration officials had said earlier in the day that Mr. Obama was considering airstrikes or airdrops of food and medicine to address a humanitarian crisis among as many as 40,000 members of religious minorities in Iraq, who have been dying of heat and thirst on a mountaintop where they took shelter after death threats from ISIS.

Iraq

Sunday, August 03, 2014

Concern as Ebola Reaches London Airport

A first since the most recent outbreak, Ebola has reached Britain. A passenger offloading from Sierra Leone died suddenly after landing at Gatwick Airport.

Airport workers faced an anxious wait to see if the woman had Ebola. One said: “Everyone’s just ­petrified.

“We’ve all seen how many people have died from Ebola, especially in Sierra Leone, and it’s terrifying.”


Also scary considering there are now two infected with the disease in the US-- although both are quarantined.