Museum says guard in shooting has died

The museum identified the guard as Stephen Tyrone Johns.  The museum released a statement saying Johns died "heroically in the line of duty."

"There are no words to express our grief and shock over these events. He served on the Museum's security staff for six years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Johns' family," the statement said. "We have made the decision to close the Museum tomorrow in honor of Officer Johns, and our flags will be flown at half mast in his memory." continue reading here.

My condolences to his family.

Pregnant Briton to escape death penalty in Laos

A British woman facing possible execution in Laos will escape the death sentence because she is pregnant, a spokesman for the Laotian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The country's criminal law prohibits courts from sentencing pregnant women to death, spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing told CNN. The woman's trial hasn't been scheduled yet, he said, but is likely to happen next week.
Samantha Orobator, 20, was facing death by firing squad for drug trafficking, said Clare Algar, the executive director of Reprieve, a London-based human rights group. continue reading here

Rwanda marks genocide anniversary

Rwandan police have increased security for a national ceremony commemorating the 15th anniversary of a genocide in which more than one million people died.

The ceremony on Tuesday was held in Nyanza, a hill in the capital of Kigali, where thousands of people were slaughtered during the 1994 massacre.

Paul Kigame, the president of Rwanda, led the ceremony which began with the singing of the national anthem. Continue reading here

Men Rape South African Lesbians to “Cure Them” ??

The partially clothed body of Eudy Simelane, former star of South Africa's acclaimed Banyana Banyana national female football squad, was found in a creek in a park in Kwa Thema, on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Simelane had been gang-raped and brutally beaten before being stabbed 25 times in the face, chest and legs. As well as being one of South Africa's best-known female footballers, Simelane was a voracious equality rights campaigner and one of the first women to live openly as a lesbian in Kwa Thema. Continue reading here

Click here to watch video

Sudan Braces for an Indictment of Its President over Darfur

If the prognosticators are correct, the International Criminal Court (ICC) will issue its first arrest warrant for a sitting head of state on Wednesday afternoon. That's when the court will announce whether Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir ought to stand trial on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for his alleged role in orchestrating the Darfur conflict. Regardless of what one makes of the idea of international justice, an arrest warrant would be a historic move that many human-rights experts believe will further erode that sense of impunity shared by dictators the world over. Continue reading here .

I don't Know What to Say

I'm hoping and praying that Rihanna is going to leave Chris Brown after this situation. I personally do not buy albums or Cd's so it will not be hard for me to boycott Chris Brown but for those who do please do not buy any of his music etc. BOYCOTT. Violence committed by anybody towards anyone needs to end. Please do not "racialize" this incident either because men of all ethnic groups are violent towards women, sadly there are women out there promoting the notion that non-black men are not violent or will not abuse you which is false. I will not name the blogs were I see this foolishness taking place.

Picture source

T.O. police on manhunt for subway shooter

Toronto police have released this image of the man suspected of shooting a 19-year-old at Osgoode station.

This utterly ridiculous , I take the same train line to and from work every single day. If anyone who lives in Toronto was on the train or in Osgoode subway station at the time of the shootng please, please go to the police and help get this male arrested.

The shooting happened at around 10:45 a.m. at the Osgoode subway station in the city's downtown core. The shooting occurred as a group of people spilled out of the southbound train. Two men got into a dispute on the platform and at least three shots were fired, Ferguson said.
The fight then continued on the mezzanine level of the subway station and the suspect fled the scene. Continue reading here

Rwanda genocide mastermind jailed

Former senior defence official Theoneste Bagosora has been convicted of instigating Rwanda's 1994 genocide and sentenced to life in prison.



Bagosora and two co-defendants were found by a UN tribunal to have led a committee that plotted the massacre of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
It is the first time the Rwanda tribunal has convicted anyone of organising the killings.
More than 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda's genocide.



Along with Bagosora, former military commanders Anatole Nsegiyumva and Alloys Ntabakuze were also found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and given life sentences.


Bagosora, 67, and the two senior military officers were found to have organised, trained and armed the Interahamwe militia, which was responsible for most of the killing.
They were also responsible for drawing up a list of Tutsis and moderate Hutus who opposed their vision of an ethnically pure Rwanda. Continue reading here

Man arrested in Hudson family's slayings

Chicago, Illinois, police arrested a man Monday in connection with the killing of three relatives of singer-actress Jennifer Hudson, a police spokesman said.

William Balfour, 27, was first detained for questioning on October 24, the day Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death. Authorities said at the time that they were holding Balfour for an unspecified parole violation.

Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were found shot to death in their South Side Chicago home. The body of her nephew, 7-year-old Julian King, was found three days later in an abandoned SUV on Chicago's West Side.
Police later found a handgun near the vehicle.

Detectives served arrest warrants on Balfour on Monday afternoon, said Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond.
Balfour was transferred from the Statesville Correctional Center to the custody of detectives in the case, she said, and he is awaiting formal charges on three counts of murder.
Balfour is the estranged husband of the singer's sister, Julia Hudson, and the stepfather of Julian King. Continue reading here

Assassination plot against Obama foiled

A nightmare scenario that has haunted Americans since Barack Obama became a presidential candidate has been foiled by federal agents who say white supremacists planned to assassinate the Democratic nominee and kill dozens of black students in a would-be Tennessee mass murder.
In court records unsealed Monday, officials for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they disrupted plans by two young neo-Nazi skinheads to rob a gun store and target a high school attended predominantly by African-Americans. Continue reading

Breaking News: Jennifer Hudson's Mother and Brother Fatally Shot

The mother and brother of Academy Award winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson have been fatally shot at a home on the city's South Side, according to news reports.

CBS2 in Chicago reports:
The mother of Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson was reportedly found dead in a South Side home.
Two adults were found fatally shot at a home at 70th Street and Yale Avenue at 3 p.m. Friday, authorities said. Willie Davis, the pastor of the Hudson family's church, Progressive Baptist, confirmed that 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donnerson was one of the victims.
The other victim was a man, the Chicago Fire Department said.
The shooting is believed to be domestic.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's office has been notified of the deaths of two people from a home at the address, but additional information is unavailable.
TMZ has also confirmed the death of Darnell, pictured here with her daughter Jennifer at the Governor's Ball following the 2007 Academy Awards, and Jennifer's brother. According to the website:

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Jennifer Hudson's mother was one of two victims shot and killed in Chicago earlier today.
A neighbor tells TMZ the other victim was Jennifer's brother Jason. A cousin who lived nearby discovered the bodies.
We're told the two bodies were found dead on the scene at 2:44 PM. When the fire department arrived and discovered the bodies, police were brought in and the home was declared a crime scene.
A call to Hudson's rep was not immediately returned.
WABC in New York reports that Jennifer is on a plane en route to Chicago. Jennifer, 27, is the youngest of three children. Her brother Jason reportedly was a mechanic and her sister Julia is a school bus driver. Their father Samuel Simpson, who died, was a bus driver.
Since announcing her engagement to David "Punk" Otunga last month, the singer/actress has been busy promoting her movie, "The Secret Life of Bees," which opened a week ago, and her self-titled debut album.
Our prayers go out to Jennifer and her family.
More details to come.

Source & Essence.com

Other links: Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother killed: reports

O.J. Simpson found guilty on all counts

Former gridiron great O.J. Simpson was found guilty Friday of all 12 counts in the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas, Nevada, casino hotel last year.

Simpson, 61, and his co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart, 54, were charged with a dozen offenses stemming from the sports memorabilia heist. Stewart was found guilty of the same charges as Simpson.

Simpson sat quietly and showed little emotion at the defense table as courtroom clerk Sandra Jeter read the verdicts.

After the verdicts were read, deputies immediately handcuffed Simpson and led him out of the courtroom. continue reading

Black Woman stabbed in parking lot, may have been random attack

I was just watching cp24 and her husband was speaking to the media, saying that his wife is doing well but is just in shock that someone randomly stabbed her. The suspect is male white, 20 to 22-year old male, five foot three to five foot five with short black hair wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and sweater.
Breaking News: The suspect has been caught!!

Police are looking for a suspect after a 34-year-old woman was stabbed outside a Great Canadian Superstore near Dufferin Street and the 407 just after noon today.

Const. Tony Vella says the victim was approached by a man who was asking for directions in the parking lot of the store, at 51 Gerry Fitzgerald Dr.

During the conservation, the male suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim in the neck. Vella says it appears to be a random attack.

The woman has been taken to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The suspect is described as a 20 to 22-year old male, five foot three to five foot five with short black hair wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and sweater. He fled in an older model, white vehicle, possibly a four door hatchback with rust around the wheels.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-3200. source

So Long Farewell. Not !!!!! Lol

There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall
And the bells in the steeple too.
And up in the nursery an ubsurd little bird
Is popping out to say cook-coo cook-coo, cook-coo
Regretfully they tell us cook-coo
But firmly they compell us cook-coo
To say goodbye cook-coo...
To you...

So long farewell, auf weidersehen good-bye
Kwame.
Lyrics from The Sound of Music.

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick told Detroiters Thursday night that he takes "full responsibility" for his actions in the scandal that led to his resignation and guilty pleas on two felony counts.

Speaking before a small audience of supporter and a clutch of television cameras at Detroit's city hall, the 38-year old Mr. Kilpatrick also suggested he may someday try to return to politics and public service.

He said author F. Scott Fitzgerald may have been wrong when he wrote there are no second acts in American lives. "There's another day for me," he said. "Detroit, you done set me up for a comeback."

I court earlier in the day, the mayor offered his resignation, effective Sept. 18, and pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice, ending a six-month scandal stemming from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by police officers who had been fired. Mr. Kilpatrick, who has been credited for a nascent revival of Detroit's downtown, also pleaded no contest to one count of assaulting an officer.

He agreed to serve 120 days in jail, repay the city $1 million, forfeit his pension and refrain from running for public office for five years.

continue reading

White female walks away free after stabbing to death 17-year-old Black female over a boy

This article is old but I still wanted to bring it to everyones attention.
Chelsea Bennett walks free from court

A schoolgirl who admitted stabbing a teenage rival to death in a fight over a boy has walked free from court after being cleared of murder.

Chelsea Bennett, 19, knifed 17-year-old Sian Simpson with a 10-inch blade during a fight between the two rival girl gangs. But she claimed she acted in self-defence.

Yesterday the victim's family erupted in anger, swearing and screaming 'bitch' as Bennett sat shaking and sobbing in the dock after being cleared of murder and manslaughter at the Old Bailey.

Outside court, furious relatives accused the judge of racism, even though race was not an issue in the fight between the black victim and Bennett, who is white.

After Miss Simpson's relatives stormed from court, the Recorder of London, Judge Peter Beaumont QC told jurors: 'Jurors don't chose the cases they try.

'You are given a case to try and you are asked to make important decisions about people you have never seen before.

'You are asked to do so responsibly and carefully and in my judgement you have done so.'

The court heard how a petty squabble between the girls over the 'attentions' of a teenage boy who had got two of their friends pregnant escalated into violence.continue reading.

White Jury Clears Cop In Mom Killing

A white police officer was acquitted Monday in the drug-raid shooting death of an unarmed black woman that set off protests about how police treat minorities in a city where one in four residents is black.

The all-white jury found Sgt. Joseph Chavalia not guilty of misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide and negligent assault.

Chavalia shot 26-year-old Tarika Wilson and her year-old son she was holding, killing her and hitting him in the shoulder and hand, during a Jan. 4 SWAT raid on her house. source

Black Woman Hit By Car Targeted

A woman riding her bike in Daytona Beach Monday night was hit by car driven by a man targeting African Americans, police said.Police believe Nekedia Cato, a 25-year-old African American woman, was hit by Thomas Cosby, of Port Orange. Police said Cosby, 56, slammed into Cato, took out a nearby porch, hit a tree and then rolled three times."He just hit me because I was black," Cato said.Cato was riding her bike home from the store on South Atlantic Avenue."I actually saw him coming toward me. I tried to move my bike as fast as I [could], but it wasn’t quick enough. He came straight for me," Cato said.Police reported that after Cosby crashed, he got out of his car, screaming racist remarks. Cosby repeatedly used the N-word and shouted he wanted to kill black people, authorities said."He was screaming out he had to kill all black people because one slept with his wife," Cato said.Cato recently moved to the Daytona Beach area with her boyfriend, D."If he could target me just because of the color of my skin, he could target anybody else," Cato said. source

WTF its Unconstitutional to Punish a Rapist??

Angry politicians vowed to keep writing laws that condemn child rapists to death, despite a Supreme Court decision saying such punishment is unconstitutional.

"Anybody in the country who cares about children should be outraged that we have a Supreme Court that would issue a decision like this," said Alabama Attorney General Troy King, a Republican. The justices, he said, are "creating a situation where the country is a less safe place to grow up."

The court's 5-4 decision Wednesday derailed the efforts of nearly a dozen states supporting the right to kill those convicted of raping a child - and said execution was confined to attacks that take a life and to other crimes including treason and espionage.

At issue before the high court was a Louisiana case involving Patrick Kennedy, sentenced to die for raping his 8-year-old daughter in her bed, an assault so severe she required surgery.

In his majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote "the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child," despite the horrendous nature of the crime. source

I'm Very Upset About this !!!!

A Chicago jury has acquitted R. Kelly on all counts at his child pornography trial.

The verdict came six years after the R&B superstar was first charged with videotaping himself having sex with a young girl. Prosecutors had said she was as young as 13 at the time.

The Grammy award-winning singer dabbed his face with a handkerchief and hugged each of his four attorneys after the verdict was read. The singer had faced 15 years in prison if convicted.

Minutes later, surrounded by bodyguards, he left the courthouse without comment. Dozens of fans screamed and cheered as he climbed into a waiting SUV.

Both Kelly and the now 23-year-old alleged victim had denied they were the ones appearing on the tape, which was played for the jury at the beginning and end of the trial.

The prosecution's star witness was a woman who said she engaged in three-way sex with Kelly and the girl from the video. Defense attorneys argued the man on the tape didn't have a large mole on his back, as Kelly does. read full story

Skinhead Gang in Brazil Attacks Young Afro-Brazilian

Another scene of violence shocked Brazil this past Sunday, June 8. A group of 15 men attacked and almost beat to death a police officer at one of the most boisterous areas of the Brazilian southeast city of São Paulo: Augusta Street, close to Paulista Avenue, one of the town's major financial districts. The brutality occurred, when a young Afro-Brazilian walking down Augusta Street around 4 am was surrounded by skinheads, a neo-Nazi group. After being called "nigger" by his aggressors, the victim was attacked. A local police officer, who was in the area at the moment of the attack, tried to intervene, with no luck. Continue reading here