BlueWaveNeverEnd
BlueWaveNeverEnd's JournalCalifornia rock climber sentenced to life for sexual assaults inside Yosemite National Park
Four women, at times tightly holding hands, could barely contain their cries of relief as a Sacramento federal judge sentenced a prominent professional climber and guidebook author to life in prison for sexually abusing women and wielding his authority to threaten victims if they came forward.
Charles Barrett, 40, snatched away freedom and ability to pursue happiness — citizens’ birthright as outlined in the Constitution — for the women because his actions will reverberate through each victim’s entire life, said one woman, K.G., on Tuesday in downtown Sacramento.
A federal jury found Barrett guilty Feb. 13 — called “freedom day” by K.G. — of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact stemming from incidents in 2016. She said she was raped and sexually assaulted while in Yosemite National Park for a weekend of hiking.
“It is time to put a definitive end to Barrett’s reign of terror,” the victim said during her statements in court before sentencing by U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez.
Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article289004929.html#storylink=cpy
NC Gov candidate Mark Robinson repeatedly used the phrase "British cigarette" to circumvent Facebooks community guidelin
https://www.advocate.com/news/mark-robinson-homophobic-facebook-posts#toggle-gdprNorth Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican politician who recently won theGOP primary for governor, has a history of making bigoted remarks aboutLGBTQ+ people, including a series of unreportedFacebook posts reviewed by The Advocate.
These posts reveal Robinson’s years-long pattern of using homophobic slurs and promoting fearmongering claims against the LGBTQ+ community, describing it as “perverted,” “unnatural,” “sinful,” and “demonic.”
Robinson repeatedly used the euphemism “British cigarette” — a term seemingly employed to circumvent Facebook’s community guidelines — to refer to a highly offensive homophobic slur. Robinson used the term at least three times.
The next year, he questioned whether domestic violence incidents involving transgender individuals should be categorized as violence against women,asking, “Will the feminists raise hell over it? I’m asking for a British cigarette,” and again in 2018, apparently during the Winter Olympics,commenting, “I can’t watch these Olympics. There are entirely too many British cigarettes smoking up the screen.”
In 2017, he mocked Facebook’s standards bywriting, “So apparently, using the British word for cigarettes violates Facebook’s ‘community standards.’ LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!”
'Who's going to live here?' What happens when an e-commerce warehouse takes out your neighborhood
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-05/san-bernardino-warehousing-project-leaves-rural-bloomington-fracturedBLOOMINGTON, Calif. — Benjamin and Christine Granillo bought their 2.25-acre property in San Bernardino County four decades ago. They built their home by hand and surrounded it with a lush grove of avocado, orange and lemon trees.
“We thought we’d be here for the rest of our life,” Christine Granillo, 77, said as she tended to her trees on a recent afternoon.
But their neighborhood in unincorporated Bloomington is rapidly transforming, as developers convert the 10 Freeway and its adjacent communities into a logistics corridor connecting goods shipped into Southern California ports with online shoppers across the nation. An industrial real estate company based in Orange County is demolishing 117 homes and ranches in rural Bloomington to make way for more than two million square feet of warehousing space. The project will serve as yet another distribution center dedicated to storing and moving the vast array of products consumers want delivered to their doorsteps.
All the neighbors across the street from the Granillos sold their homes to the developer, and many have already been bulldozed. The Granillos opted not to sell — and now look out their stately front gate at the rubble, soon to be supplanted with a 479,000-square-foot fulfillment center. Their street will become a busy truck route. Next door will be a parking lot with hundreds of truck and trailer stalls.
Christine Granillo mourns the loss of her neighbors and her view of the San Bernardino Mountains. But, she added, “What can you do about it? There’s really nothing you can do about it.”
fake 911 caller (swatted across US and Canada) sentenced to 3 years in federal prison
Garcia’s goal was to trick dispatchers into sending armed law enforcement officers into his target’s homes, which is a malicious practice often referred to as ‘swatting’,” assistant United States attorney Jessica Manca wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “He used certain language to escalate the law enforcement response, often telling dispatchers that someone was dead or fatally injured, someone else was being held hostage or hiding in fear, and that the perpetrator had access to deadly weapons like knives, guns, and explosives.
Federal investigators alleged Garcia targeted dozens of people in at least 13 states and Canada.
In one case in Edmonton, Alberta, Garcia reported a fake emergency at the home of a mother and an 8-year-old boy who were asleep. The family was awoken by dozens of officers with rifles arriving at their home in the middle of the night.
“Garcia often made several hoax calls per week and sometimes multiple calls in a single day. He treated swatting like a form of entertainment in which he was the star performer. He set up internet chatrooms devoted to swatting, and he invited people to come watch his swatting calls as if it were a premier sporting event,” Manca wrote.
https://komonews.com/news/local/cyberterrorist-ashton-connor-garcia-21-years-old-bremerton-sentenced-to-prison-canada-swattting-fake-emergency-extortion-edmonton-alberta-internet-chatrooms-crime-dispatchers-shaker-heights-oohio-punishment-law-enforcement-charges-virtual-private-network
A man who described himself as a ‘cyber terrorist’ while taunting police and emergency dispatchers during his false reports of violent crimes was sentenced to prison Tuesday morning.
Ashton Connor Garcia, 21, of Bremerton, pleaded guilty to federal charges of extortion and threats for which he will spend three years in federal custody, followed by a term of three years of federal supervision.
Tension, distrust, anxiety pervade UCLA. 'Everywhere you turn there's a security guard'
Less than 24 hours after the attack, scores of officers descended on the campus, arresting more than 200 people, including many students, and tearing down the encampment. When students set up a new encampment last week, campus leaders quickly called on police to push them out.
The increased security on the 419-acre campus, which was designed to feel like a “college in a garden,” has translated into an uncomfortable mood on campus, students say.
“Everywhere you turn there’s a security guard,” Schorkopf said. “It almost feels like the university has become somewhat of an oppositional force against its students.”
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A few hundred feet away down the Tongva steps, students lounged on a hill under the sun. They typed on laptops and listened to music, the sounds of the picket line echoing faintly in the distance.
Private security guards stood by surveying the situation. Schorkopf counted them. “Seven,” she said with a slight chuckle of disbelief. “All that for a very nonthreatening presence of students.”
“This campus has essentially become a police state,” Elisa Pabon, the postdoctoral unit chair for the union, said gesturing to uniformed security guards standing nearby.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-04/ucla-after-protests-uc-strike-stokes-tension-anxiety
L.A. City Council refuses police dog donation over training firm's name, shared with Hitler's bunker
The Los Angeles City Council has declined a donation for two police dogs after one city leader raised concerns that the canines were trained by a company that shares its name with a Nazi military hideout used by Adolf Hitler.
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“This company is a company that is glorifying Hitler’s bunker, and it’s a company that is dealing with German shepherds, of which there’s all that history with the Holocaust,’’ Blumenfield said. “I don’t know that’s the intent of this company, but in reality it’s a creepy name that shouldn’t really be associated with a company like this. They’ve had plenty of time to deal with it, and I can’t support doing business with a company that’s glorifying Hitler’s bunker.”
Nestled in the Bavarian Alps, Adlerhorst, which means “Eagle’s Nest’’ in German, was a bunker complex built to hide Hitler during World War II. The location also served as the Nazi leader’s command post in December 1944 and January 1945.
Adlerhorst’s president, Michael Reaver, said he didn’t understand the council’s decision and had no intention of changing the company’s name. “We have no affiliation with any Nazi anything, we’re just like everyone else, we look back at the Nazis and we consider that to be a horrible period of mankind,” Reaver said in a phone interview Tuesday.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-04/la-city-council-adlerhorst-police-k9-donation
They Spent Their Life Savings on Life Coaching - pyramid scheme of Life Coaching courses
An Expensive DreamIn 2018, Ms. Mullett was tiring of the grind of the corporate world and struggling to form a blended family with her now-husband when she discovered life coaching.
“My friend recommended a podcast, and I immediately felt that this was what I’d been looking for,” she said. “The host was talking about how our thoughts impact our emotions and our behaviors. I was hooked.”
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She withdrew $18,000 from her 401(k) to pay for her first course at a leading life coach school, hoping that it would lead to a much-needed career change.
The course wasn’t what she expected. Ms. Mullett described a confusing and low-quality program of online lessons — one hour per week for six months — in which aspiring coaches discussed chapters they had read outside of class and practiced coaching one another. She said that students were often belittled and that questioning the wisdom of the coaches who led the course was discouraged.
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After completing the program, Ms. Mullett was certified by the school and hoped to start coaching. But although she had initially been told that her certification would give her “everything I needed to make my first $100,000,” Ms. Mullett found herself short of clients and scrambling to make any income. The solution that she was offered? To spend more money on being coached.
paywall free link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/02/business/life-coach-debt-savings.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xE0.cuhH.4WAHqpNSd99W&smid=url-share
Faith-Based Groups That Assist Migrants Become Targets of Extremists, James O'Keefe poses as exterminator to gain access
Faith-Based Groups That Assist Migrants Become Targets of ExtremistsCharities that feed, clothe and shelter border crossers fear for the safety of their employees and volunteers as the election nears and the vitriol over immigration intensifies.
A man posing as a pest exterminator tried to gain access to a San Diego hotel that operates as a shelter for migrant families. The next day, a woman showed up claiming to be an immigrant in need of help. Workers at the shelter, run by Catholic Charities, turned away both impostors.
Three days later, menacing calls began pouring in to the staff. Voice mail left for the chief executive called him “scum” and “not really Christian.” A woman left another staff member an expletive-laced message about Catholics. She claimed that the nonprofit was flying migrants all over the country and profiting from an illegal operation.
The bogus exterminator was James O’Keefe, the right wing-provocateur who used to head Project Veritas, a group known for trying to entrap political opponents by using disguises and concealed cameras. The deluge of vitriol ensued after Mr. O’Keefe began posting videos on X in March claiming that the shelter was an illegal holding site for women and children and speculating, without evidence, that they had been trafficked.
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In San Diego, the threats online spawned threats in real life, as supporters of Mr. O’Keefe started appearing at other Catholic Charities sites, according to Vino Pajanor, the chief executive of Catholic Charities San Diego.
Private armed guards were posted at Catholic Charities facilities across the city, including at a shelter for homeless women and a center for Afghan refugees, after people, apparently prompted by Mr. O’Keefe’s posts, came searching for “smuggled” children.
paywall free link.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/02/us/migrants-charities-shelters-threats.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xE0.H57y.2wKbrLvi7HyU&smid=url-share
Elon Musk, America's richest immigrant, is angry about immigration. Can he influence the election?
WASHINGTON — Elon Musk and his brother Kimbal were speaking to a crowd of business leaders in 2013 about creating their first company when the conversation seemed to go off script. Originally from South Africa, Kimbal said the brothers lacked lawful immigration status when they began the business in the U.S
“In fact, when they did fund us, they realized that we were illegal immigrants,” Kimbal said, according to a recording of the interview from the Milken Institute Global Conference.
“I’d say it was a gray area,” Elon replied with a laugh.
Eleven years later, Elon was back at the Milken Institute last month in Beverly Hills, talking once again about immigration. This time, he described the southern border as a scene out of the zombie apocalypse and said the legal immigration process is long and “Kafkaesque.”
“I’m a big believer in immigration, but to have unvetted immigration at large scale is a recipe for disaster,” Musk said at the conference. “So I’m in favor of greatly expediting legal immigration but having a secure southern border.”
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While Musk’s views are clear, what’s murkier is his influence. Some see him as an influential opinion maker with the power to shape policy and sway voters, while others dismiss him as a social media bomb thrower mainly heard within a conservative echo chamber.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-06-03/elon-musk-immigration
public backlash, theft, cancellations, vendor loss hit Idaho bar that declared June 'heterosexual awesomeness month'
EAGLE, Idaho (TND) — An Idaho bar said it was the victim of theft and other backlash after announcing drink specials commemorating its heterosexual patrons during Pride Month.
Old State Saloon in Eagle, Idaho wrote via Facebook last week it would recognize June as “heterosexual awesomeness month.” The festivities would award free beer to “any heterosexual male dressed like a heterosexual male.”
June will be OSS’s inaugural Heterosexual Awesomeness Month!” the bar wrote. “Come join us all month to celebrate heterosexuals, for without them, none of us would be here!”
That post received over 2,600 reactions. Old State Saloon later followed up, noting the pronounced level of negative reactions the announcement received.
“It seems as though people who are against Heterosexual Awesomeness Month have a hard time commenting without using horrific words, expletives, using the name of the Lord in vain, etc,” the bar wrote. “Make an intelligent comment and stay. Cuss and you are banned. Thanks. We’ve banned about 25 already.”
In another post noting “we love our LGBTQ+ patrons,” Old State Saloon added more deals including 15% off everything for heterosexual couples, all day prices for heterosexual women and “hetero awesomeness t-shirts.” The saloon later announced a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to alleviate damages received following the announcement.
Since we announced Hetero Awesomeness Month we’ve had some significant backlash: theft of our property, vendors refusing to fulfill our orders for ingredients, wedding catering cancelation, libel, slander - even the owner being falsely accused of being a sex offender!” the owners wrote. “But, to the credit of the community that is rational and reasonable, we’ve also received so much support from like-minded people who want to celebrate ‘Heterosexual Awesomeness Month’ with us, and get the concept of it as being about freedom and being true to our personal values.”
https://idahonews.com/news/local/thieves-hit-idaho-bar-that-declared-june-heterosexual-awesomeness-month-old-state-saloon-in-eagle-idaho-wrote-via-facebook-last-week-it-would-recognize-june-as-heterosexual-awesomeness-month
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