BEWARE...SOME DAYS ARE NOT VERY PRETTY. I GET CRABBY LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE DO. AND I DO SPEAK MY MIND.
DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO TRUE, REAL, EVERYDAY FEELINGS LIKE MINE.(But I think you would enjoy it)
DON'T FORGET...FREEDOM OF SPEECH !
Ex-911 Operator Crenshanda Williams Gets Probation for Hanging up on Thousands of Callers
Ewan Palmer,Newsweek7 hours ago
A former 911 operator in Houston who hung up on thousands of people contacting emergency services has been sentenced.
Crenshanda Williams, 44, was found guilty on Wednesday following a
trial in Harris County of interference with emergency telephone
calls after repeatedly hanging up the phone while working at the Houston
Emergency Center (HEC) before she was caught and fired in August 2016,
reports Click2Houston.
Suspicions were raised when an audit of 911 calls to the HEC noticed a
high volume of “short calls”—lasting less than 20 seconds—which were
taken by Williams.
Crenshanda Williams was found guilty following a trial of interference with emergency telephone calls. Houston Police Department
According to prosecutors, documents from the review revealed
thousands of short calls were attributed to Williams hanging up between
October 2015 and March 2016, reports KTRK-TV.
One emergency caller, Jim Moten, rang 911 in 2016 to say he spotted
two cars speeding on a highway where two people had recently been
killed, only to be hung up on by Williams. Before hanging up, Williams
is reported to have told Moten: "Ain't nobody got time for this. For
real."
Other 911 short calls to Williams included reports of robberies and
homicides. According to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg,
Williams said she hung up on the callers as she “did not want to talk to
anyone at those times,” reports Click2Houston.
Following a three-day trial, a judge has now sentenced Williams to 18 months’ probation, and 10 days in jail as a condition.
“The citizens of Harris County rely on 911 operators to dispatch help
in their time of need," Assistant District Attorney Lauren Reeder said
in a statement. "When a public servant betrays the community's trust and
breaks the law, we have a responsibility to hold them criminally
accountable."
At the time, the HEC said the high volume of short calls from
Williams were an “anomaly” rather than an issue with the center, reports
the Houston Chronicle.
“This is just a very significant event,” HEC Manager Joe Laud said at
the time. “And we feel that her actions do not represent all the call
takers in this facility or call takers in general. They have a very
specific interest in doing a great job in providing emergency response
to people.”
Man with assault rifle allegedly shot dead 3 other passengers on charter bus: Police
EMILY SHAPIRO,Good Morning America5 hours ago
A manhunt is underway for a suspect -- whom police say is armed and dangerous -- wanted for a triple killing in Illinois.
Early Saturday morning, 22-year-old Raheem King was allegedly on a
private charter limousine-style coach and shot three other passengers
with an assault rifle, said police in Rockford, Illinois, which is about
90 miles northwest of Chicago.
Other passengers fled on foot but the driver stayed on the bus and called 911, police said.
Responding officers found three people dead inside the coach, which had been rented the day before. Facebook user posts confession hours after his mother and friend are found dead: Authorities An
arrest warrant was obtained for King. Police said he's believed to
still have an assault rifle and should be considered armed and
dangerous.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Rockford Police Department at 779-500-6551.
A term for someone that thinks they are unique and special,
but really are not. It gained popularity after the movie "Fight Club"
from the quote “You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique
snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else."
Began being used extensively as a putdown for someone,
usually on the political left, who is easily offended or felt they needed a
"safe space" away from the harsh realities of the world, but now has
morphed into a general putdown for anyone that complains about any subject.
Comedians have a hard time performing on college campuses
anymore because of all the little snowflakes running around that get offended
by just about anything they say
When you say something and another person gets upset and tells everyone to boycott you on twitter..... Why does that matter?
If you really believe what you said............. why would you want those that are boycotting........ to follow you anyway?
Social media is getting out of control, why are these people boycotting just because ONE person told them too? Sounds "cult-ish" to me.
I have my OWN MIND... I don't need a young child telling me to do something, and you shouldn't either. Makes YOU look very weak.
Protesting just to protest. Some don't even know why they are protesting.
Plus, you probably have never met most of the people on your own twitter. You only know what they are telling you.... (doesn't mean it's the truth lol)
The
star, 40, allegedly punched the mother of his two sons, Emily
Bustamante, seven times in the face and threatened her father and
brother during a “domestic dispute” in Englewood, New Jersey, earlier
this month, according to court documents obtained by NorthJersey.com.
Fabolous,
born John Jackson, and Bustamante — who share children Jonas, 2, and
Johan, 10 — allegedly got into an argument over text message on March 7
after he “became enraged” when he found out via Instagram she was also
in Los Angeles, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Bustamante, who previously starred in VH1’s Love & Hip Hop,
told authorities that Jackson wrote that he wanted to “hit her in the
head with a baseball bat” and that he would “kill her” but he “did not
want to go out like that,” as reported by NorthJersey.com.
Emily Bustamante and Fabolous in 2015
According
to NorthJersey.com, the court documents detailed that Jackson punched
Bustamante seven times in the face “causing severe damage to her two
front teeth,” which she ended up losing.
Following
the incident, Bustamante claims she called her father and brother to
their residence in order to “remove two handguns … due to her fear that
they may be used against her.” Jackson allegedly told her family members
that “he had a bullet for them” when the rapper could not locate the
firearms, according to court documents.
A rep and attorney for Fabolous did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
Want to keep up with the latest from PEOPLE? Sign up for our daily newsletter to get our best stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
On
Wednesday, Fabulous was charged with third-degree aggravated assault
and third-degree terroristic threats. Before he turned himself into the
cops, Bustamante called the police to tell them he had hit her, as reported by TMZ.
While
Fabolous has not commented directly on the charges, he seemingly
referenced the incident on his Instagram Stories that same day, writing,
“2018 tryna break my heart,” over a black background and a broken heart
emoji.
Brother of Florida shooting victim says he was shut out of March for Our Lives because speech 'didn't fit into the agenda'
Meadow Pollack's father Andrew Pollack discusses Palm Beach event held in honor of his daughter.
The brother of a Florida school
shooting victim said he wasn’t included in last week’s March for Our
Lives because his speech “didn’t fit into the agenda,” despite
organizers blaming his lack of inclusion on miscommunication.
Hunter Pollack, the brother of Meadow
Pollack — who was one of the 17 killed in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
School — pushed back on fellow student David Hogg’s claim Saturday that
a miscommunication barred the Florida school shooting survivor from
speaking at the rally in Washington, D.C.
“Thank you, I appreciate you pushing out my video but
there was no miscommunication my speech didn’t fit In to the agenda,”
Pollack tweeted in response to Hogg promoting the student’s speech that would have been read during the march.
Pollack told local10.com last week he was set to give a speech, but wasn’t allowed to put is voice out.
"I was going to give a speech about Meadow and how
devastated I am and how we need to make change, but they won't allow me
to put my voice out," he told the local news site. STUDENTS AT FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL STAGE WALKOUT IN SUPPORT OF SECOND AMENDMENT
Ryan Deitsch, a March for Our Lives organizer, said Pollack “never showed up” despite being invited.
"We openly invited a lot of people, and some people just turned it down," Deitsch said.
Pollack and his father, Andrew Pollack, have been vocal
advocates for safer schools since 18-year-old Meadow died in the
Valentine’s Day massacre. Pollack got a chance to give his speech on
Saturday, speaking to a crowd of more than 1,000 gathered in his Coral
Springs backyard for the “Ride for Meadow” event, held in honor of his
sister, the Miami Herald reported. A fundraiser was also set up to build a new playground in honor of shooting victims.
“The one common denominator we all share is the desire to live,” Hunter Pollack said.
“It took a while but at least I can say it now,” he
added. “We as the students of this country must take our anger and take
our pain and our desire to live this life to the fullest and we must
channel it into a mission that is obtainable, one that can be achieved
without heavy debate.”
Meadow Pollack was among the 17 killed when gunman Nikolas
Cruz opened fire in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's
Day.
(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
More than 600 motorcyclists drove about 40 miles from
the Harley Davidson dealership in West Palm Beach to the Pollack
residence, a week after the March for Our Lives rally. Pollack
questioned if it was “their political agendas” that caused him to be
left out of the D.C. rally, where many shooting survivors gave powerful
speeches on gun control and violence. 'RIDE FOR MEADOW' RAISES MONEY IN HONOR OF PARKLAND VICTIM
Hogg, who attended Saturday’s gathering for Meadow
Pollack, also asked his followers retweet a video of Pollack’s speech,
adding: “We need an intersectional approach to this issue to save as
many lives as we can. This isn’t left or right, it’s about saving lives.
Through unity and love we will win and end gun violence.”
Andrew Pollack was appointed to Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School Public Safety Commission by Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
He previously said his daughter's death gave him “extra strength” to
push for change. He said he hopes his daughter is the last child to die
in a deadly school shooting.
Rev. KirbyJon Caldwell is the pastor of Houston's Windsor Village United Methodist Church. (Bob Levey via Getty Images)
A Texas megachurch pastor stands
accused of using his influence to lure “vulnerable and elderly” people
into a financial scheme that caused some to lose their life savings.
Rev.
Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, the pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist
Church in Houston, is facing federal charges of defrauding investors out
of more than $1 million using obsolete Chinese bonds.
A federal grand jury has handed a 13-count indictment charging Caldwell
and Gregory Alan Smith, a financial planner from Louisiana, U.S.
Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook of the Western District of Louisiana said
Thursday. The charges against the men, who allegedly conspired with
each other, include wire fraud and money laundering.
Van Hook’s office claims Caldwell used his status as pastor of the Houston church to help gain investors’ trust.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission is also suing Caldwell and Smith in
federal court for allegedly violating financial laws.
Dan Cogdell, an attorney for Caldwell, told HuffPost in a statement that the accusations against the pastor are “simply false.”
Cogdell
said his client believed the bonds to be legitimate and had invested a
significant amount of his own money into the scheme. He also said
Caldwell “never used his status as a Reverend at all regarding the
investments.”
Rev.
Kirbyjon Caldwell (top right) attends the presidential inaugural prayer
service at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 22, 2013. (The
Washington Post via Getty Images)
The
SEC says that between April 2013 and August 2014, Caldwell and Smith
allegedly convinced 29 people, many of them “vulnerable and elderly,” to
invest more than $1 million in bonds issued by the former Republic of
China.
These
bonds are not recognized by China’s current government and have no
value beyond being collectors’ items. But Smith and Caldwell reportedly
promised their investors high rates of return, sometimes three to 15
times the value of the investments.
Smith
was responsible for finding the investors, according to the SEC
complaint. Caldwell would then instruct them to wire transfer money to
an associate or to a company he and his wife controlled in Wyoming.
“Instead
of investing the funds, the defendants used them to pay personal loans,
credit card balances, mortgages, vehicle purchases and other personal
expenses,” Van Hook’s office said.
Throughout
2014, Caldwell and Smith reportedly sent emails and texts to investors
promising them they would be paid. The SEC states that these “lulling
emails” provided “elaborate” explanations about why the investors had
yet to see returns. Caldwell also reportedly used “religious references”
to give investors hope that they would be repaid, repeatedly telling
them to “remain faithful.”
Many
of the investors were allegedly “unsophisticated retirees” who followed
Smith’s advice to liquidate their annuities to invest in the
scheme. The SEC says none of the investors received any return on their
investments, and that the majority never made back their principal
investment.
“Although
many investors did not understand the investment, they ultimately
trusted Smith and took comfort in the fact that a high-profile pastor
was offering the investment,” the SEC complaint reads.
Cogdell claimed his client refunded unsatisfied investors with his own money.
George
W. Bush stands with his wife Laura and Rev. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell after
services at Tarrytown United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas, on Dec.
14, 2000. Caldwell has long been a spiritual adviser to Bush.
Caldwell has been a prominent religious figure in Texas and the U.S. for many years.
Caldwell has led Windsor Village Church since 1982, helping the congregation grow from 25 members to more than 16,000, according to the church’s website.
Before becoming a United Methodist Church pastor, Caldwell was an investment banker and bond broker, The Washington Post reports. He also wrote a book in 1999 called The Gospel of Good Success: A Road Map to Spiritual, Emotional and Financial Wholeness, in which he said God wants Christians to be successful in all aspects of their lives, including their finances.
Windsor
Village Church did not respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment, but a
spokesman for the Texas Annual Conference of the UMC told HuffPost on
Friday afternoon that Caldwell remained a pastor there.
“The
United Methodist Church has high standards for the moral conduct of its
clergy, and we recognize the seriousness of the charges against
him,” wrote Scott J. Jones, the conference’s bishop. “We will walk
through this difficult situation with Rev. Caldwell and the Windsor
Village congregation and keep them in our prayers. We have faith that
the judicial process will find the truth.”
The
attorney said the pastor will surrender to authorities in Louisiana “in
the next week or so.” He said he expects Caldwell to be released on
bail pending trial.
Caldwell and Smith each face
20 years in prison for the wire fraud charges, and 10 years for the
money laundering charges. They also each face a $1 million fine.
