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 !
US police fire pepper spray after pro-Trump 'Straight Pride' parade
Boston Police officers use pepper spray on
protesters opposed to the "Straight Pride" parade (AFP
Photo/Joseph PREZIOSO)
Boston (AFP) - US police fired pepper spray Saturday after
counter-demonstrators accused them of protecting "Straight Pride"
advocates who support President Donald Trump, and refused to let
officers re-open a road.
The unrest came after the counter-protesters and "Straight Pride"
group -- considered homophobic extremists by their opponents -- staged
dueling rallies in Boston.
There was no serious violence during the rallies themselves, which involved groups of several hundred.
But after the "Straight Pride" group had dispersed, the
counter-protesters accused police of protecting "Nazis," chanted "shame
on you" and formed a human chain which police tried to get through, an
AFP photographer said.
Officers fired pepper spray and made several arrests.
Earlier outside City Hall, in what is one of America's most liberal
cities, people from the two camps stood close enough to yell in each
other's faces and in a few instances threw coffee cups and soil at each
other.
The demonstrations came as tensions simmer between leftists and white
nationalists across the United States, and critics of Trump say his
rhetoric has fueled extremism.
Black-clad riot police with batons and gas masks stood by in formation, ready to snuff out any trouble.
Many in the "Straight Pride" group wore capes or other attire bearing the US stars and stripes flag.
Some also bore Israeli flags, while the counter-protesters hurled chants of "Nazi" and "Free Palestine."
An AFP photographer saw the remains of several US flags that had been burned.
Before the more serious unrest, a couple of counter-demonstrators scuffled with police and threw dirt and eggs at them.
A group calling itself Super Happy Fun America organized the
"Straight Pride" parade in response to the gay pride parades that take
place, jamming the streets of US cities every year.
Critics say the "Straight Pride" organizers are white-supremacists
whose intent is to bait members of the LGBT community in Boston.
The marshal of the "Straight Pride" rally was Milo Yiannopoulos, a
prominent and provocative member of the far-right movement in America
who has been banned from several social media sites. He also happens to
be gay. "My fellow homosexuals have been embarrassing me for decades," he told AFP. "Finally I found my crowd." "Honestly, as a gay man, I have been embarrassed and attacked by my
fellow homosexuals for most of my life, and these people feel like
home." He added that he stands for traditional Christian family values -- "even if I don't always live them."
- An 'oppressed majority' -
Rachel Domond, an organizer of the counter-demonstration, said she
turned out to "stand up against this hatred that is here in Boston, and
nationally."
Trump's rise, she told AFP, had made people like the white
supremacists feel "empowered to say those statements and be more public
about it."
Two weeks ago, a far-right rally and counter-demonstration by
anti-fascist protesters in the city of Portland, Oregon passed with no
major incident amid a heavy police presence.
Super Happy Fun America's website says Saturday's march was designed to "spread awareness of issues impacting straights."
It quotes the group's president, John Hugo, as describing heterosexuals as "an oppressed majority."
Massachusetts was the first US state to legalize same-sex marriage.
But the parade had a clear political slant too, as participants
walked alongside pro-Trump floats. The group's website displays a
doctored photo of Trump holding a sign saying #GreatToBeStraight.
A "Straight Pride" rally held the previous weekend in Modesto,
California attracted only a few dozen people and about 250
counter-protesters, according to local newspaper The Modesto Bee.
I'm sorry but I've been to Nebraska... it is NOT like you see on TV.
All apartment complexes and huge house subdivisions everywhere. Tall buildings and businesses everywhere.
Don't believe those stupid shows on tv... NOTHING like it.
If you don't like their football team... you are TRASH. They REQUIRE you to take care of YOUR yard the way that THEY want. YOU must drive the proper car, you must believe their beliefs, you must NOT disagree about ANYTHING IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD or you are considered and enemy.
They are NOT friendly people at all. But of course they will all get together and reply how wonderful they are. Don't fall for their "fake personality".
We spent a lot of time there setting up for our companies, they never changed. RUDE people unless you are one of the "pod people". Nope, not me... I love having fun with neighbors and BBQ's and parties etc. These people are "dry" and stuffy. (for no reason, we all make the same money)
Despite facing felony child porn charge, Nebraska RB Maurice Washington plays in Week 1
Nick Bromberg,Yahoo Sports2 hours 6 minutes ago
Nebraska running back Maurice Washington played against South Alabama on Saturday. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
A felony child pornography charge was not stopping Maurice Washington
from playing in Week 1 for Nebraska. The running back received carries
in the third quarter of Saturday’s game against South Alabama despite a
court date in California on Sept. 3.
Washington is facing a felony charge for
allegedly possessing a video of his ex-girlfriend (a minor) and a
misdemeanor charge for distributing the video. The alleged incident
happened in the spring of 2018 when Washington, a senior in high school
at the time, allegedly got a video of the young woman in a sexual act.
He then allegedly sent the video to her. The teen girl was 15 at the
time the video was filmed.
Nebraska coach Scott Frost had said Thursday that he would make a
decision close to kickoff whether or not Washington would participate in
Saturday’s game. Washington went through warmups ahead of the game.
Washington finished with six carries for 39 yards in Nebraska’s 35-21 win over the Jaguars. (is this what matters to Nebraska? The whole state is like a cult with that team. Rude people everywhere.)
Washington was initially charged in February and has remained a
member of the team as the case against him has progressed through court.
He was also cited in June for marijuana possession by University of
Nebraska police.
Aftab Hussain, 40, was sentenced to 24 years in prison, and Abid
Saddiq, 38, to 20 years by the judge at Sheffield Crown Court, who
described Saddiq as a “cunning and determined sexual predator”.
Masaued Malik, 35, was jailed for five years; Sharaz Hussain, 35, for
four years; and one man who cannot be named for legal reasons was
jailed for 10 years.
Malik was told that his sentence will follow on from a 15-year term he is already serving for similar offences.
The men were convicted of a number of child sexual abuse offences,
including rape and sexual assault, as part of an investigation by the
National Crime Agency (NCA).
The NCA believes 1,510 teenagers were exploited in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. (PA)
Judge Michael Slater said that, after sitting through the trial of
the five men, he was “quite satisfied” that the “relevant authorities”
were well aware of the way vulnerable teenagers in the South Yorkshire
town were being targeted for sexual exploitation more than a decade ago.
Judge Slater described this as a “lamentable state of affairs”,
saying that the authorities at the time were at best “totally
ineffectual” and, at worst “wholly indifferent”.
The NCA has said it believes 1,510 teenagers were exploited in the town during the period between 1997 and 2013.
Friday’s sentencing followed the latest trial to arise out of
Operation Stovewood – the massive National Crime Agency (NCA)
investigation into the sexual exploitation of teenagers in Rotherham
between 1997 and 2013.
A total of 20 men have now been convicted as a result of Operation
Stovewood and the NCA has said it believes 1,510 people were victims in
the town.
Judge Slater praised the eight victims mentioned in Friday’s hearing,
including one who sat in court for the sentencing and who said in a
statement read to the court: “They took my childhood away.”
The judge said: “Nothing I can say to you can restore those
childhoods of which you were so cruelly deprived by the actions of these
defendants and others.”
He added that he was “particularly concerned” to hear that a number
of complainants “expressed feelings of shame, guilt and self-loathing in
relation to what happened to her and by extension to her family”.
He told the victims: “It seems to me the time for such wholly
unjustified but understandable self-criticism and soul searching is
over.”
The judge said the women should instead be praised for the
“incredible resolve and bravery” they each showed to bring the men to
justice and how they “stood up to ensure that what happened to her
should never happened to young girls in the future”.
During the five-week trial, the jury heard that girls were targeted
due their vulnerability and were given alcohol and drugs before some
were raped by multiple men.
Violence was sometimes used to ensure they complied, the court was told.
Referring to the defendant who cannot be named for legal reasons, the
judge said: “I cannot think of a worse violation of a young girl by
those who purported to be her friends.”
Another man who cannot be named for legal reasons, who was also found
guilty of offences earlier this week, will be sentenced at a later
date, as will a seventh defendant, Mohammed Ashan, who pleaded guilty to
sex offences at a previous hearing.
The NCA was invited in following the Jay Report which shocked the
nation in 2014 when it outlined the scale of the offending against
children in the town.
The agency now has more than 200 people working on Operation
Stovewood, which had a budget last year of just under £12 million, and
is looking to increase this as it works towards recruiting a staff of
250.
The agency said it has now engaged with 313 victims and survivors in the town and has identified 190 suspects.
