Quote a Insurance.com

Posts Tagged ‘home’

Australian tax officials lifted a controversial travel ban on “Crocodile Dundee” star Paul Hogan on Friday, leaving him free to return to his home in the United States, his lawyer said. Hogan, 70, who is in dispute over a tax bill reportedly running into millions of dollars, was barred from leaving Australia last month after flying back

Read more:

KIBBUTZ KARMIYYA, Israel — Dana Chetrit, her husband Alain and their two young children in August 2005 reluctantly left their home in the northern Gaza settlement of Elei Sinai, never to return. They were among 8,000 Israeli settlers evicted by their own government from 21 settlements in Gaza, in a move heralded as ending 38

See the original post here:

A flight attendant furious with passengers who refused to follow his instructions told them off over the loudspeaker before pulling the chute to make his own dramatic personal emergency exit, police said. “A day after the attendant-turned-wing-nut had a meltdown on a flight from Pittsburgh, eight Facebook fan pages have been created overnight in Slater’s name, according to AOLNews.com,” The New York Post reports . Come to San Francisco and I will buy you a drink,” wrote one fan on Facebook. “You are a hero to many!” There are even “Free Steven Slater” T-shirts available on Customink.com for fans to buy. The administrator of another Facebook page with nearly 4,000 fans wrote today that many have inquired about helping Slater with his legal bills. Story continues below… AOL News adds , At least seven Facebook fan pages have been created in Slater’s name, one with an image that appears to be from a Jet Blue safety demo showing a man careening down escape chute. “I LOVE YOU! YOU ARE MY HERO!” one fan wrote in all capital letters. “Come to San Francisco and I will buy you a drink,” wrote another. “Steven … you are a hero to many!” But a Daily News columnist perhaps captures the public reaction to Slater’s antics best, with his headline: “Take This Job and Shove It! JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater does what we all dream of doing.” The New York Post headline blares: ” FREAKIN’ FLIER !” …. With strangers inquiring about how they can donate to a legal defense fund, the administrator of another Facebook page with more than 3,600 fans (and counting) wrote: “As of this moment there is no official donation response in effect yet however if such a fund is erected it will be made public on here. Thanks for the support!” The attendant, identified in the US media as Steven Slater, 39, was working a Jet Blue flight from Pittsburgh to New York that had just landed, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said. Slater told passengers to remain seated upon landing. But when a passenger started collecting his belongings from the overhead bin, disregarding the instructions, Slater tried to stop him but was hit in the head by the baggage and became irate. When Slater “asked for an apology,” the passenger “instead cursed at him,” The New York Times reported. Slater “got on the plane’s public address system and cursed out all aboard. Then he activated the inflatable evacuation slide at service exit R1, launched himself off the plane, an Embraer 190, ran to the employee parking lot and left the airport in a car he had parked there.” The attendant snatched a beer from the galley before jumping on the slide, ABC News reported. His silver-screen-worthy escape was short-lived. Police arrested Slater shortly after at his home nearby in Queens. “There were no injuries and all customers deplaned the aircraft safely through the jetway,” the airline said in a statement. “At this time, we are working with the FAA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to investigate the incident. At no time was the security or safety of our customers or crew members at risk.” According to ABC, Slater was charged with criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. (with additional reporting by RAW STORY)

Read the original post:

The shooting of a Siberian husky at a Maryland dog park by an off-duty federal police officer has aroused national outrage. Now the Anne Arundel County Police Department, which initially refused to investigate the incident because there was no sign of criminal activity, has announced it will conduct a full investigation. According to the Baltimore Sun, the change of heart came after County Executive John R. Leopold, who described himself as “outraged” and “deeply troubled,” contacted Chief of Police James Teare. “This is a priority case,” Teare now says. “The citizens need to feel they are safe to go into a park and not have their pets in danger or themselves in danger.” Teare, like Leopold, is himself a dog owner. Leopold promised on Wednesday that “if charges are warranted … we’re going to prosecute to the full extent of the law.” The shooter is a Department of Defense employee whose identity has not been released. According to a statement from the Anne Arundel County police, however, he told them “that he feared for the safety of himself, his wife and their dog” after the unleashed husky came over and began roughhousing with his own German shepherd. He said the husky tried to bite him when he went to separate the animals, so he pulled out a handgun and shot the dog. Story continues below… Bear-Bear died a few hours later at an emergency veterinary clinic, and his owners tell a very different story. “I find it so hard to believe that this man really felt his life was in danger when he had so many other avenues to break up what was just a dog tussle,” said Rachel Rettaliata. “They were roughhousing, wrestling, what dogs usually do,” added Ryan Kurinij. “I was shocked because he took out his weapon, took two steps back and fired.” “I’ve been bawling my eyes out since 7 p.m. last night,” Rettaliata told the Sun. “It’s grief mixed with anger. We’re so angry this guy was able to take our animal for what we feel was no reason at all. We still don’t believe that he’s gone.” Tiffany Greco, who fostered Bear-Bear when he was removed from an abusive situation and placed at a husky rescue center, described him as “a very lovey-dovey, happy-go-lucky guy.” “They have a much different play style than other dogs,” she said of huskies. “They’re a rough-and-tumble breed. They’re mouthy. Often people interpret that as being aggressive when it’s really them just playing.” The Baltimore Sun reports that “since news of the shooting broke, people from across the country, many with dogs of their own, have flooded online forums and showered officials with complaints. Television stations all but camped outside the home of Bear-Bear’s owners. … Animal advocates created Facebook protest pages with names like “Justice for Bear-Bear,” while others started legal defense funds.” “I have great concern regarding the shooting incident (Monday) night at the Quail Run dog park,” County Executive Leopold said in a statement released on Wednesday. “It is concerning whenever a firearm is discharged at a public facility, let alone a facility that close to homes and children playing. All aspects of this incident merit a thorough and complete investigation.”

More:

Mother wrote note claiming her husband stabbed her with a screwdriver and taught their son “how to kill someone at the age of 3.” A New Jersey couple who gave their children Nazi-inspired names should not regain custody of them, a state appeals court ruled Thursday, citing the parents’ own disabilities and the risk of serious injury to their children. The state removed Heath and Deborah Campbell’s three small children from their home in January 2009. A month earlier, the family drew attention when a supermarket refused to decorate a birthday cake for their son, Adolf Hitler Campbell. He and siblings JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell have been in foster care. A family court had earlier determined that there was insufficient evidence that the parents had abused or neglected the children. That decision was stayed until the appeals court could review it. On Thursday, the three-judge appeals panel determined there was enough evidence and that the children should not be returned. Story continues below… The panel sent the case back to family court for further monitoring. A gag order remains in place and the parties refused to discuss the decision. Heath Campbell told The Associated Press last year that he believed the children were taken because officials felt they were in “imminent danger.” He accused the state of removing the children because of their names and said government officials were relying on unproven accusations made by a neighbor and by an ex-wife who charged him with abusing her years ago. The children’s names and the birthday cake were not mentioned in Thursday’s ruling. The court found that there were myriad other reasons that proved the need for continued protection services for the children. According to court records, both parents are unemployed and both suffer from unspecified physical and psychological disabilities. The court found that both parents were themselves victims of childhood abuse and said neither “have received adequate treatment for their serious psychological conditions.” Heath Campbell, 37, cannot read and Deborah Campbell dropped out of high school before finishing the 10th grade, according to court records. In its ruling, the panel found the parents “recklessly created a risk of serious injury to their children by failing to protect the children from harm and failing to acknowledge and treat their disabilities.” The judges considered a typo-riddled note signed by Deborah Campbell and given to a neighbor. In it, Campbell says that if she were found dead, her husband was to blame. “Hes thrend to have me killed or kill me himself hes alread tried it a few times. Im afread that he might hurt my children if they are keeped in his care. He teaches my son how to kill someone at the age of 3,” the letter read in part. Deborah Campbell later acknowledged writing the letter but claimed it was all a lie. “She described her husband as ‘a perfect guy’” according to court records. The family made headlines when a ShopRite supermarket in Greenwich, near the family’s home in Holland Township in west-central New Jersey, refused to decorate a birthday cake with their son’s name. A Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania wound up decorating the cake, but the resulting publicity put the family under media scrutiny. Heath Campbell said neighbors and others were harassing them, and local police reported a mailed death threat. Source: AP News Deborah Campbell had given a neighbor a rambling note which claimed her husband stabbed her with a screwdriver and taught their son “how to kill someone at the age of 3.”  Although she claimed that she wrote the letter to “get out anger” and that it wasn’t factually true, the court didn’t find her testimony “credible.” If anything may happened to me please do an altops on me b/c My husband has done something to me. If there is drugs in my system then him or some of his friends put them there b/c I don’t do drugs. Hes thrend to have me killed or kill me himself hes alread tried it a few times. Im scare to leave b/c I will be killed. Im afread that he might hurt my children if they are keeped in his care. I know that one day he will kill me and Im scared to death that he will. Im very afread of him. Im scared for my life when he’s around. Hes always putting his hands on me. He’s already stabed me with a screwdriver in the hand. Im afread for my life. Please do an investagtion on my death b/c I would be murdered by my husband or his friends. He teaches my son how to kill someone at the age of 3. Thank you[.] The full ruling can be viewed here . (With additional reporting by RAW STORY.) Mochila insert follows… Powered by Mochila

Read the rest here:

Should the founder of one of the world’s most important Web sites be spirited away from his home country by the U.S. military? That’s what one so-called “low-level Bush propagandist” advocated on behalf of in Monday’s Washington Post . Marc Thiessen, a former Bush speechwriter, claimed in a Post op-ed that because Wikileaks has published classified information, they should be considered in violation of the espionage act and taken down using “military assets,” even if that means kidnapping founder Julian Assange from an undisclosed location within the European Union — which would be a violation of international and domestic laws. He writes: Assange is a non-U.S. citizen operating outside the territory of the United States. This means the government has a wide range of options for dealing with him. It can employ not only law enforcement but also intelligence and military assets to bring Assange to justice and put his criminal syndicate out of business. The first step is for the Justice Department to indict Assange. Such an indictment could be sealed to prevent him from knowing that the United States is seeking his arrest. The United States should then work with its international law enforcement partners to apprehend and extradite him. Story continues below… Assange seems to believe, incorrectly, that he is immune to arrest so long as he stays outside the United States. He leads a nomadic existence, operating in countries such as Sweden, Belgium and Iceland, where he believes he enjoys the protection of “beneficial laws.” (He recently worked with the Icelandic parliament to pass legislation effectively making the country a haven for WikiLeaks). The United States should make clear that it will not tolerate any country — and particularly NATO allies such as Belgium and Iceland — providing safe haven for criminals who put the lives of NATO forces at risk. With appropriate diplomatic pressure, these governments may cooperate in bringing Assange to justice. But if they refuse, the United States can arrest Assange on their territory without their knowledge or approval. This is the same individual who once criticized the Army’s field manual rules for interrogations because anyone can read it. He made the bizarre claim while simultaneously promoting the abuse of detainees through torture. In a February appearance on MSNBC, he even repeated the fallacious claim that torture helped prevent a terrorist attack on the Library Tower in Los Angeles — a building which President Bush once famously called the “Liberty Tower,” sparking a confusion that ultimately led to the claim of preventing an attack being thoroughly disproved. Theissen’s latest campaign was an attempt to mislabel the lawyers who defend Guantanamo Bay inmates, painting them as terrorist sympathizers. Comedy Central host Jon Stewart challenged Theissen on that point during an interview in March , asking whether any defense attorney who represents a pedophile also qualifies as a pedophile sympathizer. Theissen did not directly answer the question. Time Magazine was quick to fire back over his latest screed calling for the kidnapping of Julian Assange: To be clear, Assange’s crime, according to Thiessen, is intentionally receiving and republishing classified information, something that is done with some regularity in the United States by respectable and responsible reporters working for top flight news organizations. To adopt Thiessen’s view, one would effectively have to reject the Supreme Court’s opinion in New York Times Co. v. United States, the so-called Pentagon Papers case from 1971. Concurring in that case, Justice Potter Stewart observed, “In the absence of governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the area of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry — in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government.. . . . Without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people.” As Salon writer Glenn Greenwald summarized in mid-July , “When The Washington Post hired torture advocate and low-level Bush propagandist Marc Thiessen as an Op-Ed columnist, it got exactly what it apparently wanted: a regular dose of falsehood-filled neoconservative tripe.”

See more here:

Ousted USDA employee Shirley Sherrod says she will sue conservative blogger over edited video Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted an edited video of her making racially tinged remarks last week. Sherrod made the announcement in San Diego at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention. The edited video posted by Andrew Breitbart led Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to ask her to resign, a decision he reconsidered after seeing the entire video of her March speech to a local NAACP group. In the full speech, Sherrod spoke of racial reconciliation and lessons she learned after initially hesitating to help a white farmer save his home. Vilsack and President Barack Obama later called Sherrod to apologize for her hasty ouster. Vilsack has offered her a new job at the department, which she is still considering. Story continues below… Obama said Thursday morning on ABC’s daytime talk show “The View” that the incident shows racial tensions still exist in America. “There are still inequalities out there. There’s still discrimination out there,” Obama said. “But we’ve made progress.” Obama pinned much of the blame for the incident on a media culture that he said seeks out conflict and doesn’t always get the facts right. But he added, “A lot of people overreacted, including people in my administration.” Powered by Mochila

Read more: