U.S. Navy’s 1st Black female tactical jet pilot gets her ‘wings of gold’
The US Navy’s first Black female tactical aircraft pilot, Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle, received her “wings of gold” on Friday, marking a historic milestone for naval aviation.
Swegle was named a naval aviator and awarded her gold naval aviator wings with 25 classmates during a small ceremony at Naval Air Station Kingsville in Texas, according to the Navy.
“I’m excited to have this opportunity to work harder and fly high performance jet aircraft in the fleet,” Swegle said. “It would’ve been nice to see someone who looked like me in this role; I never intended to be the first. I hope it’s encouraging to other people.”
Swegle became the Navy’s first Black female strike pilot after completing tactical strike training at NAS Kingsville on July 7. A strike pilot flies the Navy’s strike aircraft, including fighter jets like the F/A-18 Super Hornet and the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter, or the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.
“Lt. j.g. Swegle has proven to be a courageous trailblazer,” said Vice Adm. DeWolfe “Bullet” Miller III, the commander of Naval Air Forces. “She has joined a select group of people who earned Wings of Gold and answered the call to defend our nation from the air. The diversity of that group — with differences in background, skill and thought — makes us a stronger fighting force.”
Swegle’s landmark accomplishment follows the footsteps of other groundbreaking women and minorities in the US Navy, like Rosemary Mariner, who became the first female jet pilot in 1974, and Brenda Robinson, the first Black woman to become a Navy flight instructor, evaluator and VIP transport pilot in the 1980’s, according to the non-profit organization Women in Aviation International.
“I think representation is important because we are a very diverse nation,” Swegle said in a video released by the Navy earlier this week. “I would like everyone to believe that they can achieve whatever they want to do.”
Swegle graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2017 and completed initial flight screening at NAS Pensacola. She completed primary flight training at NAS Corpus Christi and finished her advanced strike training at NAS Kingsville. She completed her aircraft carrier qualifications in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast on May 20.
Swegle will now report to Electronic Attack Squadron 129 at NAS Whidbey Island in Washington to begin training as an EA-18G Growler pilot. The squadron trains new naval aviators, naval flight officers, and naval aircrewmen in electronic warfare tactics, techniques, and procedures in preparation for their fleet assignments, according to the Navy.
The EA-18G Growler is an electronic warfare aircraft, a specialized version of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet, and is based on US aircraft carriers.
Photo Credit: wrcbtv.com
‘Get your knee off our necks’ protest held in NYC
NEW YORK — These protesters come with extraordinary pain, as their loved ones were killed at the hands of police.
Eric Garner‘s mother Gwen Carr, Sean Bell’s widow, Nicole, Breonna Taylor’s family and George Floyd’s brother Terence, all moving through midtown full steam ahead,
It was a peaceful march called “get your knees off our necks,” which means more than just how Floyd died.
“Gets your knees off our necks on everything, it means black women being killed in hospitals giving birth, that goes into foster care systems, that goes into ending gun violence,” said protester Larry Michael Smith Jr.
The families were joined by about hundred marchers who started out in Times Square and went up to Trump Tower. Their demands were clear, they want an end to police brutality and equality on all levels.
“We are tired of being sick and tired,” said Rev. Kevin McCall of the National Action Network. “We don’t want just legislation, we want everything to change.”
Protesters admit they have had some success with police reform but say they must keep the momentum going.
Garner’s mother has been outspoken since her son died 6 years ago.
”Even the laws have been passed but they’re still pushed back, they’re trying to overturn those laws that have already been established,” said Carr.
Through support, a commitment for change and their voices, these protesters are hopeful.
At one point Floyd’s brother took a moment to add his handprint to a painting in honor of his brother.
“My brother was about community and giving back,” said Terence Floyd.
That’s why the pain is still heavy and these families say time can’t heal what they feel, only justice can.
via: https://www.pix11.com/news/local-news/take-your-knee-off-our-necks-protest-held-in-nyc
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Missouri woman sentenced to life for beating officer with handcuffs
A central Missouri woman has been sentenced to life in prison for repeatedly beating a Rolla police officer with handcuffs, leaving the officer with a traumatic brain injury.
Nicole Poston, 30, of Rolla, Mo., was sentenced Wednesday for an attack in August 2019 on Officer Leann Robertson. Poston was convicted in January of first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer and armed criminal action.
Prosecutors said Poston somehow slipped out of her handcuffs after being arrested and used them to strike Robertson several times in the face. The attack left Robertson with long-term symptoms, such as severe headaches and dizziness.
More than 50 officers attended the sentencing to support Robertson.
“They all know what a tremendous asset she is to her community, and I sincerely hope the effects of this brutal assault subside with time so that Officer Robertson can continue to serve our community for years to come,” Phelps County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Brad Neckermann said.
Photo Credit: Phelps County Prosecutor’s Office
Magic’s Jonathan Isaac Only Player to Stand, Not Wear ‘Black Lives Matter’ Shirt for National Anthem
Ahead of the Orlando Magic-Brooklyn Nets game on Friday, Magic forward Jonathan Isaac stood out among the rest by being the lone player to stand while the national anthem played. Isaac was also the only player to not wear the Black Lives Matter shirt adorned by others during pregame.
“Absolutely I believe that Black lives matter,” Isaac said after the game. “A lot went into my decision…kneeling or wearing a ‘Black Lives Matter’ t-shirt don’t go hand in hand in supporting Black lives. I do believe that Black lives matter, I just felt like it was a decision I had to make, and I didn’t feel like putting that shirt on and kneeling went hand in hand with supporting Black lives.”
Isaac is, so far, the only player at the NBA’s restart in Orlando to not kneel for the anthem or wear the Black Lives Matter shirt. He explained his reasoning in response to a question from Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks:
“I don’t think that kneeling or putting on a T-shirt for me, personally, is the answer. For me, Black lives are supported through the gospel, all lives are supported through the gospel,” Isaac said. “We all fall short of God’s glory, and at the end of the day, whoever will humble themselves and seek God and repent their sins, then we could see our mistakes and people’s mistakes and people’s evil in a different light, and that it would help bring us closer together and get past skin color, get past anything that’s on the surface that doesn’t really deal with the hearts of men and women.”
The Magic released a statement supporting their players’ right to protest following the national anthem. Magic coach Steve Clifford said he and the rest of the team’s players supported Isaac’s decision, per ESPN’s Marc J. Spears.
Isaac finished the game with 16 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes as the Magic won, 128-118.BY
via: https://www.si.com/nba/2020/07/31/magic-jonathan-isaac-stands-during-anthem-black-lives-matter
Photo Credit: thedailyreformer.com
Court overturns Boston Marathon bomber’s death sentence
A federal appeals court Friday threw out Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, saying the judge who oversaw the case did not adequately screen jurors for potential biases.
A three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new penalty-phase trial on whether the 27-year-old Tsarnaev should be executed for the attack that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others.
“But make no mistake: Dzhokhar will spend his remaining days locked up in prison, with the only matter remaining being whether he will die by execution,” Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson wrote in the ruling, more than six months after arguments were heard in the case.
An attorney for Tsarnaev said they are grateful for the court’s “straightforward and fair decision: if the government wishes to put someone to death, it must make its case to a fairly selected jury that is provided all relevant information.”
“It is now up to the government to determine whether to put the victims and Boston through a second trial, or to allow closure to this terrible tragedy by permitting a sentence of life without the possibility of release,” David Patton said in an email.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston said they were reviewing the opinion and had no immediate comment. Prosecutors could ask the full appeals court to hear the case or go straight to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The mother of Krystle Campbell, the 29-year-old killed in the attack, expressed outrage at the court’s decision.
“I just don’t understand it,” Patricia Campbell told The Boston Globe. “It’s just terrible that he’s allowed to live his life. It’s unfair. He didn’t wake up one morning and decide to do what he did. He planned it out. He did a vicious, ugly thing.”
Former Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officer Dic Donohue, who was severely injured in a gunfight with the brothers, said the ruling was not surprising to him.
“And in any case, he won’t be getting out and hasn’t been able to harm anyone since he was captured,” he tweeted.
Tsarnaev’s lawyers acknowledged at the beginning of his trial that he and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, set off the two bombs at the marathon finish line. But they argued that Dzhokar Tsarnaev is less culpable than his brother, who they said was the mastermind behind the attack.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a gunbattle with police a few days after the April 15, 2013, bombing. Dzhokar Tsarnaev is now behind bars at a high-security supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
Tsarnaev was convicted on 30 charges, including conspiracy and use of a weapon of mass destruction. The 1st Circuit upheld all but a few of the convictions.
Prosecutors told jurors that the men carried out the attack to punish the United States for its wars in Muslim countries. In the boat where Tsarnaev was found hiding, he had scrawled a confession that referred to the wars and wrote, among other things, “Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop.”
Tsarnaev’s attorneys identified a slew of issues with his trial, but said in a brief filed with the court that the “first fundamental error” was the judge’s refusal to move the case out of Boston. They also pointed to social media posts from two jurors suggesting they harbored strong opinions even before the 2015 trial started.
One juror had said in Twitter posts that that she was “locked down” with her family during the manhunt and retweeted another post calling Tsarnaev a “piece of garbage,” but later told the court she had not commented on the case or been asked to shelter in place, the defense said. On the day of Tsarnaev’s sentencing, the juror changed her Facebook profile picture to an image that said “BOSTON STRONG,” a rallying cry used in the wake of the bombing, the attorneys said.
Tsarnaev’s lawyers pushed several times to move the trial out of the city where the bombs exploded, arguing the intense media scrutiny and number of people touched by the attack in Boston would taint the jury pool. But U.S. District Judge George O’Toole refused, saying he believed a fair and impartial jury could be found in the city.
The 1st Circuit said the “pervasive” media coverage featuring “bone-chilling still shots and videos” of the bombing and dayslong manhunt required the judge to run a jury selection process “sufficient to identify prejudice.” But O’Toole fell short, the judges found.
The judges said O’Toole deemed jurors who had already formed the opinion that Tsarnaev was guilty qualified “because they answered ‘yes’ to the question whether they could decide this high-profile case based on the evidence.” Yet he didn’t sufficiently dig into what jurors had read or heard about the case, it said.
“By not having the jurors identify what it was they already thought they knew about the case, the judge made it too difficult for himself and the parties to determine both the nature of any taint (e.g., whether the juror knew something prejudicial not to be conceded at trial) and the possible remedies for the taint,” Thompson wrote.
All three judges agreed that the death sentence should be tossed. In a concurring opinion, Judge Juan Torruella wrote that the case should never have been tried in Boston.
“If this case did not present a sufficient basis for a change of venue, there are no set of circumstances that will meet this standard, at least not in the First Circuit,” he wrote.
President Donald Trump weighed in on the ruling during an address to supporters on the tarmac of Tampa International Airport.
“I see in Boston, where you have the animal that killed so many people during the Boston Marathon,” Trump said. “They just sent this conviction for the death penalty back to the lower courts so they’ll argue about that for a long time. It’s ridiculous.”
Durkin Richer reported from West Harwich, Massachusetts.
via: https://apnews.com/af38a703ab88fe922629dcc254cb41df
Photo Credit: nbcnews.com
Barack Obama’s half-brother rips ‘cold and ruthless’ ex-president – “He got rich and became a snob”
A “cold and ruthless” President Obama abandoned his Kenyan family in their greatest hours of need, according to a new tell-all by estranged half brother Malik Obama.
“He got rich and became a snob,” Malik, 62, told The Post via Skype from his home in the Kenyan village of Nyang’oma Kogelo. “What I saw was he was the kind of person that wants people to worship him. He needs to be worshiped and I don’t do that. I am his older brother so I don’t do that.”
The book, “Big Bad Brother From Kenya,” a self-published memoir which Malik Obama spent 22 years writing, hit Amazon with little fanfare on July 11. In its 435 pages, Malik covers the long and gradual falling out between him and the former President, which culminated in Malik publicly endorsing Donald Trump for president in 2016.
Both Malik and Barack Obama share the same father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., a Kenyan economist who died in a car accident in 1982. Malik first met his half brother in 1985 when Barack was a 24-year-old Chicago community organizer, and they enjoyed warm relations for more than a decade. Malik spent years working in the United States, where he has dual citizenship, and frequently traveled between the US and his homeland. Malik was the best man at Barack Obama’s wedding in 1992. When Barack became president, Malik was a regular visitor to the Oval Office.
Today Malik works full time at a foundation named after their father. He hangs on to a trove of old photos showing him and a carefree Barack spending time together in Kenya. Many are included in the book.
The first fissures appeared shortly after Barack was elected to the White House, and Malik told him of his plans to set up the foundation.
“We had a big fight on the phone because he was not in support and insisted I shut down the website and not continue with the foundation. He had his reasons but I was not having any of it,” Malik writes, describing a stormy call shortly before the 2009 inauguration. “We talked late into the night that night. He threatened to ‘cut me off’ if I continued with the idea.”
The president, in retrospect, might have been right to be skeptical. In 2011, the foundation ran into trouble for failing to register as a tax-exempt, federally recognized nonprofit — and falsely claiming that it had. While the foundation still technically exists, it’s raised less than $50,000 each year since 2011, according to tax filings.
In the same call, President Obama also informed his brother that his aunt, Hawa Auma Hussein, the only surviving full-sibling of their father, wouldn’t be making the guest list for the inauguration. While Obama was in the White House, Aunt Hawa lived in near-poverty working as a charcoal seller, in a collapsing house, according to local Kenyan media.
When Barack Obama visited Kenya in July 2015, brother Malik made a personal appeal on behalf of Hawa during a family dinner.
“It was awkward as I tried to convey Auntie Hawa’s wishes to her nephew. She wanted him to look out for her, build her a house, etc. I told him he owed it to her, to the family for him to do anything, something,” Malik writes. “Barack said that he was broke.”
Another aunt, Zeituni Onyango, fared no better, squatting illegally in Boston public housing before being granted asylum in 2010. When she died penniless in 2014, Malik Obama made a reluctant appeal to his brother for help burying her.
“We needed to pay for the bills and the cost of her transportation back to Kenya,” Malik writes of an Oval Office meeting on April 16. “[Barack] asked me how much and I told him roughly $20,000. This was too much he said.”
The president ultimately gave $5,000 to the effort but it took another month before the Obama family could raise the rest of the funds.
“She really had been good to him,” Malik Obama writes. “I don’t understand how somebody who claimed to be a relative or a brother can behave the way that he’s behaving, be so cold and ruthless, and just turn his back on the people he said were his family.”
The older brother also took a swipe at Barack Obama’s memoir, “Dreams From My Father,” which he says “wasn’t accurate” and filled with “embellishments.” The book cited claims of their grandfather being detained and beaten in 1949 by British colonial troops as likely false — an assessment other scholars have also come to.
Malik Obama made national headlines after announcing he was supporting Trump over Hillary Clinton. He became one of the billionaire’s most ardent defenders on social media, earning a hit piece in BuzzFeed and an invitation to the third presidential debate, where he palled around with Kellyanne Conway.
Malik’s faith in Trump remains unwavering.
“[I’m] 110% still with Trump,” he said. “He’s not fake. He tells us the way he sees it. He’s bold and fearless and he’s tough.”
He also mocked the Democratic nominee Joe Biden as too old and feeble to win.
“I don’t think he’s going to make it. His teeth are falling off,” Obama laughed. “He looks like he’s going to drop dead.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/08/01/barack-obamas-half-brother-rips-cold-and-ruthless-ex-president/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Man who lost penis to blood infection has new one built on his arm
A British man whose penis fell off due to a severe blood infection had a new one built – on his arm, where he even got an extra 2 inches, according to a report.
Malcolm MacDonald, 45, a mechanic, suffered a horrific infection in his perineum that turned his fingers, toes and manhood black, The Sun reported.
“I had struggled for years with an infection in my perineum but I had no idea what could happen,” the separated dad of two from Thetford, Norfolk, told the outlet.
“When I saw my penis go black I was beside myself. It was like a horror film. I was in a complete panic. I knew deep down it was gone and I was going to lose it,” he said.
He said he was “completely gutted” when his penis “just dropped off on to the floor” in 2014 – but his testicles remained intact, according to the outlet.
“Because I had been through the devastation of knowing I was going to lose it, I just picked it up and put it in the bin,” MacDonald continued.
“I went to the hospital and they said the best they could do for me was to roll the remaining stump up like a little sausage roll. It was heartbreaking.”
MacDonald said he became a recluse and began drinking heavily.
“For two years after losing my penis I felt a shadow of a man. My life really fell apart because I had no self-confidence. I drank too much. I didn’t see family and friends — I just didn’t want to have to face up to it,” he said.
But then he found out from his doctor about the so-called “penis master” — Professor David Ralph of London’s University College Hospital.
The phallus expert famously created a “bionic penis” for Andrew Wardle, who was born without one, according to The Sun.
“It gave me a glimmer of hope that I could go back to being a normal bloke,” MacDonald told the outlet.
Ralph said he could perform an arm-graft procedure, which would take up to two years.
Fortunately, he received funding for the procedure because it would eventually allow him to urinate properly – not just perform sexually, according to the report.
“It was all my Christmases at once. I was so emotional because it was a chance at a new start,” he said. “I wasn’t worried about the procedure because I had seen what Prof Ralph and his team could do.
“As far as I was concerned, they were miracle workers and I was up for anything that could give me my willy back,” MacDonald continued.
“Not having a penis felt awful. It’s most men’s worst fear. For me I was never worried about sex, because I already had two children. It was always more about my self-confidence and simple things like using the loo.”
MacDonald also decided to request an extra two inches on the $65,000 appendage.
“They were happy to listen to what I wanted it to be like, which was amazing. Not many can say they have a designer penis,” he said.
Surgeons formed a new manhood — with its own blood vessels and nerves – using a skin flap on the left arm of the right-handed man. They created a urethra and installed two tubes inflated with a hand-pump, allowing him to achieve an erection.
The shaft was then removed from his forearm, leaving the base, allowing it to form naturally as skin and tissue. He now awaits for it to be finally transferred to its proper location.
“When I saw it on my arm for the first time I was so, so proud. After everything I had been through it didn’t feel weird at all — it was just a part of me,” he said.
“I was like any other man, I just couldn’t leave it alone to begin with. I thought it was the best thing ever,” MacDonald continued.
“I took to it so much I nicknamed it ‘Jimmy.’ That was what me and my mates called each other growing up and this penis was definitely my new mate,” he said.
“That they can make me a new penis at all is incredible, but that they can build it on my arm is mind-blowing,” he added. “It looks like something out of a weird sci-fi comic. But it’s my chance at a normal life. It’s been the first step towards being able to go to the toilet and even being intimate with someone.”
MacDonald said that despite wearing long-sleeved shirts to hide his “bulge,” people have sometimes spotted the misplaced member.
“People ask me about it when they see me in the pub, and of course people make jokes. But I get it. It’s not every day you see a man with a penis on his arm. Of course I see the funny side. I have to. I don’t have any other option.
“If I couldn’t laugh at the willy on my arm I’d be finished,” he added.
But the new penis has still not been attached four years after the procedure due to a series of missed appointments, scheduling problems, staff shortages at the hospital and, finally, the coronavirus pandemic.
“Then they canceled again because of the coronavirus. It feels like I’m cursed sometime,” he said, adding that he hopes to have it finally grafted between his legs by the end of this year.
“I am determined this penis will be ultimately used for what it was built for,” he said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/31/man-who-lost-penis-to-blood-infection-has-new-one-built-on-his-arm/
Photo Credit: News Licensing / MEGA
Why The U.S. Faces Eviction Crisis COVID 19
Please take note the property manager /landlord can terminate your lease. He /she is not evicting you but terminating your lease you will be safe if you get out of the home with in 30 to 90 days of your evection notice. Once Landlord or property manager has filed the lawsuit to get you out of the unit and The sheriff comes out it Becomes an evection . And now on your record. And once the evection is on your record it’ll take up to seven years to rent an apartment or home.
NBC News reports inside hospitals during COVID-19 spike
Stay informed COVID 19 is still here and it’s going to be here quite a while and for you anti-mask wears you are part of the problem.