Author: mangakiko

Categories
Australia

Driver training program helps migrants gain license and independence in Launceston

A boy smiling to camera in the foreground, a car with a P plate and a younger boy in the background.

When 18-year-old Afghan migrant Mehdi Safari from Launceston passed his driving test, he was “hopping around” with excitement.

It made it easier for him to travel to his part-time job at a local hardware store, and to school every day.

“Yo puedo [also] go out more with friends, and even when I’m going out to play sport, it’s very helpful to have a license,” he said.

It was also an important milestone for the Launceston Migrant Resource Center’s learner driver program, Drive4Life, as Mr Safari was its 500th participant to pass the P-test.

Coordinator Janice Molineux said it was incredibly significant for those migrants and refugees and their families.

“I was very happy… [and] now it’s 511 [people who have passed]. I just think it’s such a great thing,” she said.

A boy in a hoodie behind the wheel of a parked car.
Mr Safari got a “lecture” from his father about the serious responsibility of driving well.(ABC Northern Tasmania: Sarah Abbott)

license to independence

Arriving in Launceston with his family from the Iranian city of Ahvaz in 2013, Mr Safari said he was passionate about cars and wanted to become a mechanic or engineer since childhood.

“Growing up, I tried to buy toy cars and I’d disassemble them to try to work out how they worked,” he said.

But in Tasmania, once old enough to obtain a driver’s licence, Mr Safari found it a challenge to accrue the required number of hours of practice as a learner driver.

“It was difficult for me to find a car to practise,” he said.

A car provided by the Drive4Life program allowed him to gain the supervised driving practice and skills he needed to get his P-plates.

Odds stacked high

In many ways, Mr Safari and the 510 other migrants who have now passed through Drive4Life have beaten the odds in obtaining a licence, according to Ms Molineux.

“One challenge… is knowing someone with a full driver’s license to help them gain the required hours to sit for their P-test,” Ms Molineux said.

Another is knowing enough English to pass.

A woman with tied back hair smiling to camera, with greenery and a building behind her.
Janice Molineux enjoys seeing Drive4Life graduates driving around town.(ABC Northern Tasmania: Sarah Abbott)

Ms Molineux said some learners who were capable drivers were not able to gain their Ps due to interpreters not being allowed in the car with them during tests.

That restriction was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Ms Molineux said her organization was working on a proposal to address it.

“We are hopeful that people who are still learning English can acquire their licences. It should not be ‘English first, then a license’,” she said.

“Safety must always come first… [but] you don’t need perfect English to be able to drive.”

Ms Molineux said being able to drive was life-changing for many migrants and refugees living in Tasmania.

“A license lets them gain independence, get to English classes and travel to work where public transport options are not viable,” she said.

Bring your own tutor

Launceston’s Migrant Resource Center started its Drive4Life program in 2009.

The program operates with around ten volunteer driving tutors providing lessons in two dual-controlled cars. The 500 drivers it has helped to gain a license have come from countries ranging from Afghanistan to Sudan.

But the program’s success means it now has a long list of learner drivers waiting to join it, and not enough driving tutors to keep up.

Ms Molineux said it was due to the “battle” of finding driving tutors, particularly bi-lingual ones, that she began a ‘Bring Your Own Mentor’ initiative last year.

“It doesn’t matter where you are on the [learner waiting] list, if you bring someone who’s happy to be inducted as a Drive4Life mentor, then they help you and someone else from the top of the list,” Ms Molineux said.

A man wearing a cap crouched in front of a car that has an L plate on it
Abbas Safari is a fluent Farsi speaker and tutors Farsi-speaking Launceston locals.(ABC Northern Tasmania: Sarah Abbott)

The volunteer tutors go through a driver induction, which involves “some theory, but mostly practice” in a dual-control car with the program’s head mentor.

It was through this initiative that Mr Safari successfully passed his Ps, after being tutored in a Drive4Life car by his father, Abbas.

“With him… teaching me it was alright, because we had that father-son bond and connection, so I was comfortable with him,” Mr Safari said.

“It made the learning experience a bit easier.”

Finally finding their legs

Abbas Safari has gone on to tutor his other son, 16-year-old Milad, and Farsi-speaking Launceston mother-of-nine, Shah Jafari.

He said he enjoyed teaching “very much”, and was motivated to volunteer by his desire to help people in Tasmania’s Afghan community get their license “so they can go on with their lives”.

“Not having a license is like having extra weight on your shoulders,” he said.

A woman in a green headscarf sitting behind the wheel in a car, while a man in the passenger seat smiles to camera too
Shah Jafari looks forward to having her license so she can help with school drop-off.(ABC Northern Tasmania: Sarah Abbott)

Abbas Safari is keen to keep tutoring into the future, and has inspired his older son to one day “definitely” do the same.

“I would like for everyone in the right age bracket to have their license,” Mehdi Safari said.

“Because I experienced that feeling when you get your license and… it’s like you finally find your legs, so you can travel everywhere.”

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Categories
US

Violent rhetoric circulates on the pro-Trump internet following FBI search, including against a judge

Violent rhetoric circulates on the pro-Trump internet following FBI search, including against a judge

Other posts were more explicit, “I’m just going to say it. [Attorney General Merrick] Garland needs to be assassinated. Simple as that.” Another user posted, “kill all feds.”

Users also encouraged others to post the address of the magistrate judge they believe signed off on the search warrant. “I see a rope around his neck from him,” a comment under a picture of the judge read.

Amid the users on the forum Monday night was a convicted US Capitol rioter.

One reply to the top-rated “lock and load” post came from an account with the username bananaguard62 and asked “Are we not in a cold civil war at this point?”

By combing through bananaguard62’s posts, Advance Democracy, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that conducts public-interest investigations, identified Tyler Welsh Slaeker as running the account.

Slaeker was charged by the Justice Department last summer in connection with the January 6 attack. Slaeker’s in-laws tipped off the FBI about his presence at the Capitol, according to court filings, making him one of the many January 6 rioters who were turned in by family members.

Timeline: The Justice Department criminal inquiry into Trump taking classified documents to Mar-a-Lago

He was initially charged with four nonviolent misdemeanors, and pleaded guilty in June to one count of entering a restricted building. His sentencing is scheduled for November.

NBC News was first to report Advance Democracy’s findings on Slaeker. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It can be difficult to distinguish between empty and serious threats of violence online, but it cannot be ignored, said Daniel J. Jones, a former US Senate investigator who led the investigation into the CIA’s use of torture and now runs Advance Democracy, a non -partisan, non-profit organization that conducts public-interest investigations.

“We are seeing conspiratorial rhetoric from elected officials, political leaders, and political entertainers that is fueling calls for real-world violence,” Jones said. “The conspiratorial and divisive rhetoric — from elected officials and others who should know better — is continuing to undermine our institutions and democracy at an alarming rate.”

A congressional security official told CNN shortly after news of the search warrant broke Monday night, US Capitol Police began about discussions monitoring and planning for potential violent rhetoric.

Trump fields calls from Republican allies to speed up 2024 bid after FBI raid

Of particular concern is the possibility of violence could be directed at members of Congress or other federal law enforcement, the security official said.

The Capitol Police declined to comment on security plans.

One post CNN found called for violence against FBI agents. The FBI declined to comment on the post or wider security concerns due to violent rhetoric.

After the January 6 attack, alternative social media platforms became more popular among Trump supporters after companies like Facebook and Twitter banned Trump and some other prominent figures who spread election conspiracy theories.

Those platforms, like Trump’s own Truth Social site, tout themselves as bastions of free speech, with looser rules and moderation. But that can result in the proliferation of violent rhetoric. CNN reported in June how threats against members of the January 6 House select committee circulated on those platforms.

But talk of violence isn’t exclusive to the more fringe platforms.

'Hang them all': January 6 committee members target of violent rhetoric on right-wing social media platforms
There was a surge in tweets Monday mentioning “civil war” — at some points more than one tweet a second, according to a CNN review of data from Dataminr, a service that tracks Twitter activity. While some mentions of “civil war” came from Trump critics expressing fear of what his supporters might do – one researcher posted multiple screenshots of Twitter accounts outright calling for civil war.

Jones, whose group Advance Democracy has been tracking online threats since the FBI raid on Monday, said political leaders posting on their main social media accounts are stoking more violent rhetoric.

“The attack on the Capitol on January 6th showed that we can’t ignore calls for political violence online — no matter how fringe the theories are behind those calls for violence,” Jones said.

Magistrate judge’s bio removed from court website

The biography of a federal magistrate judge in Florida, along with their contact information and office address, were removed from the court’s website amid the right-wing backlash to the FBI search.

The magistrate judge has been identified by some media outlets as the judge who approved the FBI warrant. CNN has not independently confirmed that this is the judge in question and is not naming him at this time.

Records reviewed by CNN show the webpage with the judge’s information was removed from the official website for the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida sometime between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.

Former President Donald Trump invokes Fifth Amendment rights and declines to answer questions from NY attorney general

Reached for comment Tuesday, officials from the court didn’t say why the judge’s webpage was removed. CNN has requested comment from the FBI, the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department and the US Marshals Service.

On Tuesday, on pro-Trump social media sites, there were calls for the publication of the judge’s home address, according to Ben Decker, the CEO of Memetica, a threat analysis company.

Decker has seen a “massive surge” in threats targeting the judge since Monday, including, he told CNN, on message boards “that played a notable role in the lead-up to January 6.”

In the federal court system, magistrate judges often handle procedural matters before the cases are assigned to a district judge, which is a much more prominent position and requires a presidential appointment and Senate confirmation.

Magistrate judges differ from the US district judges who are appointed by presidents and confirmed by the Senate. Magistrate judges handle tasks like authorizing search warrants and conducting the preliminary proceedings in a criminal case, though they don’t have all the powers as a district judge.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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Categories
Entertainment

Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan, 82, is spotted in his homeless-ridden Venice neighborhood

Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan was seen last month running errands in his Venice, Los Angeles, neighborhood

Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan has been spotted out and about for the first time in over a year as he ran errands in his crime and homeless-ridden Los Angeles neighborhood.

The reclusive Australian-born actor wearing jeans and a denim shirt looked gaunt as he pumped gas and washed his windows last month in his Venice neighborhood that has been overrun by vagrants.

The last time Hogan, 82, was photographed in public was last May when he was thought to be pinning up an angry note to vagrants camped outside his $3.5million Venice mansion.

Hogan denied writing the sign that read, ‘THIS IS MY HOUSE NOT YOURS,’ despite being pictured holding a red marker near the note. He claimed he was carrying the red marker near the sign because he was leaving instructions for an electrician.

Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan was seen last month running errands in his Venice, Los Angeles, neighborhood

Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan was seen last month running errands in his Venice, Los Angeles, neighborhood

The 82-year-old wore a denim outfit as he pumped gas

The 82-year-old wore a denim outfit as he pumped gas

The 82-year-old wore an all-denim outfit as he pumped gas into his black SUV

The last time Hogan, 82, was photographed in public was last year when he was thought to be pinning up an angry note to vagrants camped outside his $3.5million Venice mansion

The last time Hogan, 82, was photographed in public was last year when he was thought to be pinning up an angry note to vagrants camped outside his $3.5million Venice mansion

Hogan denied writing the sign that read, 'THIS IS MY HOUSE NOT YOURS,' despite being pictured holding a red marker near the note

Hogan denied writing the sign that read, ‘THIS IS MY HOUSE NOT YOURS,’ despite being pictured holding a red marker near the note

Hogan is best know for depicting heartthrob adventurer Mick Dundee in the 1986 romantic adventure classic

Hogan is best know for depicting heartthrob adventurer Mick Dundee in the 1986 romantic adventure classic

Hogan is best known for depicting heartthrob adventurer Mick Dundee in the 1986 romantic adventure classic.

He moved to Los Angeles in 2005 with his then-love interest and former co-star Linda Kozlowski, who he met on the set of Crocodile Dundee.

He left his first wife Noelene to pursue a love affair with much-younger Linda, now 64, and they wed in 1990.

In 2014 she filed for divorce but they are said to still be on good terms and live in the same neighborhood while co-parenting their son Chance, 24.

In an interview with Sunrise last year, Hogan said he was ‘desperate’ to return to Australia and leave his life in America behind.

‘I am desperately homesick,’ he said.

Hogan moved to Los Angeles in 2005 with his then love interest and former co-star Linda Kozlowski

Hogan moved to Los Angeles in 2005 with his then love interest and former co-star Linda Kozlowski

Hogan wore dark black shades and black sneakers while he ran his errands on a Thursday afternoon

Hogan wore dark black shades and black sneakers while he ran his errands on a Thursday afternoon

Hogan wore dark black shades and black sneakers while he ran his errands on a Thursday afternoon

Despite yearning to come back to Australia, Paul said he would remain living in Venice to be apart of his son Chance's life. Pictured in December 2016. Chance is now 24

Despite yearning to come back to Australia, Paul said he would remain living in Venice to be apart of his son Chance’s life. Pictured in December 2016. Chance is now 24

His home is in the eleven-elite beachside suburb of Venice, where a vast increase in homelessness has been seen hundreds of tents line the beach’s famous boardwalk and a sharp increase in crime.

‘I’m living in LA County, which is 10 million people and half of them have got Covid. So am I homeick? You bet your life,’ Hogan complained.

When asked how he was coping with Los Angeles’ crime wave, Hogan simply said he ‘doesn’t go anywhere.’

‘[I’m] bored in lockdown, and the minute I can get on the plane without being locked in a hotel for two weeks, I’m back,’ he said in 2021.

Despite yearning to go back to Australia, Hogan said he would remain living in Venice to be a part of his son’s life.

‘Where Paul lives is hell on earth,’ Hogan’s neighbor Tyler Proctor, a local politician, said last year. ‘His house from him is like a fortress and it needs to be. I can see why [he] wants to move out.’

The actor lives in the eleven-elite beachside suburb of Venice, where an increase in homelessness has resulted in a terrifying crime wave

The actor lives in the eleven-elite beachside suburb of Venice, where an increase in homelessness has resulted in a terrifying crime wave

'Where Paul lives is hell on earth,' Hogan's neighbor Tyler Proctor, a local politician, said last year. 'His house from him is like a fortress and it needs to be. I can see why [he] wants to move out.' The outside of Hogan's home is pictured

‘Where Paul lives is hell on earth,’ Hogan’s neighbor Tyler Proctor, a local politician, said last year. ‘His house from him is like a fortress and it needs to be. I can see why [he] wants to move out.’ The outside of Hogan’s home is pictured

Hogan isn't the only Venice resident who is fed up with the homelessness. DailyMail.com revealed last month that Hunter Biden moved out of a $25,000-per-month rented canal-front home in Venice. Hunter's former home is pictured left

Hogan isn’t the only Venice resident who is fed up with the homelessness. DailyMail.com revealed last month that Hunter Biden moved out of a $25,000-per-month rented canal-front home in Venice. Hunter’s former home is pictured left

Photos show tents, umbrellas, trash bags, camping chairs, blankets and shopping carts piled up, filling the width of the sidewalk and stretching down the Venice street

Photos show tents, umbrellas, trash bags, camping chairs, blankets and shopping carts piled up, filling the width of the sidewalk and stretching down the Venice street

Hogan isn’t the only Venice resident who is fed up with the homelessness.

Hunter Biden's former neighbors in Venice, California, are outraged that their neighborhood has turned into a 'tent city' since he left

Hunter Biden’s former neighbors in Venice, California, are outraged that their neighborhood has turned into a ‘tent city’ since he left

DailyMail.com revealed last month that Hunter Biden moved out of a $25,000-per-month rented canal-front home in Venice.

The First Son’s trendy digs came with a 24-hour Secret Service protection, and mysteriously coincided with the disappearance of any homeless encampments from the street, neighbors said.

But since Hunter up and moved to Malibu, a ‘tent city’ of homeless people camping out on the sidewalk has sprung up again, prompting outrage among residents.

Tents, umbrellas, trash bags, camping chairs, blankets and shopping carts were seen piled up, filling the width of the sidewalk and stretching down the Venice street where Hunter’s former home sits.

His former neighbors are now incensed that their street has turned into a ‘tent city’ since he left – with no more Secret Service agents to move homeless people along.

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Categories
Sports

LIV defectors barred from FedEx Cup playoffs, Rory McIlroy, Cameron Smith, Justin Thomas, video

Rory McIlroy says the PGA had a little win against LIV Golf after a court’s decision to bar three players from playing in the FedEx Cup at t TPC Southwind. Photo: Getty Images

Controversy swirling over the upstart LIV Golf series got “a little more personal” when 11 LIV rebels sued the US PGA Tour this week, according to Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy.

McIlroy and fellow US PGA Tour pro Justin Thomas both welcomed a judge’s ruling that denied a request by three LIV Golf players for a temporary restraining order that would have allowed them to play in the St. Jude Championship this week, the first event of the US PGA Tour’s season-ending playoffs.

The three players qualified for the playoffs were among 11 golfers who filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the US Tour challenging the indefinite suspensions imposed by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan upon those who played in any of the Saudi-backed LIV tour’s first three events.

Watch LIVE coverage from The USPGA Tour with Fox Sports on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Rory McIlroy says the PGA had a little win against LIV Golf after a court's decision to bar three players from playing in the FedEx Cup at TPC Southwind. Photo: Getty Images
Rory McIlroy says the PGA had a little win against LIV Golf after a court’s decision to bar three players from playing in the FedEx Cup at TPC Southwind. Photo: Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

McIlroy, who has been a critic of the new series offering stunning $20 million purses for its 54-hole events as well as signing bonuses reportedly worth tens of millions for some stars, said he believed golfers had the right to choose the new tour — but the US PGA Tour also had the right to exclude those who made that decision.

“Guys are going to make their own decisions that they feel is best for them and that’s totally fine,” McIlroy said after playing a pro-am round at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

“I don’t begrudge anyone for going over to play LIV or taking guaranteed money.

“I think where the resentment comes from the membership of this tour is the fact that they want to try to get their way back in here with no consequences, and anyone that’s read the PGA Tour handbook or abided by the rules and regulations, that would feel very unfair to them.”

Cam Smith and others set to join LIV | 01:30

As a PGA Tour board member, McIlroy has even-handedly fielded questions about LIV Golf — spearheaded by Australian Greg Norman — for months. It comes as the Australian world No.2 Cameron Smith is said to have joined the rebels on a deal worth $140 million.

But I have acknowledged that the lawsuit hit close to the bone.

“I certainly have a little more respect for the guys who haven’t put their names to the suit,” McIlroy said.

“It’s become a little more personal because of that.”

The fact that Australian Matt Jones and Americans Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford weren’t given temporary relief from their suspensions to compete in the playoffs was, McIlroy said, “a good day for the Tour and for the majority of the membership.”

READ MORE

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NEXT TIME: Aussie Matt Jones rejected from $75m event, ‘icy’ standoff avoided as LIV court bid fails

Donald Trump backs LIV Golf Series | 00:46

I have noted, however, that it remained to be seen how the full lawsuit would play out.

“It’s like you birdied the first hole, but you’ve still got 17 holes to go,” he said.

– Play golf, stop worrying –

Thomas said he’s not looking too closely at what promises to be a protracted legal battle.

“The only thing I really care about is this golf tournament and trying to play well and trying to win the FedExCup,” Thomas said.

“And to be honest, I just don’t care about all that stuff that’s going on.

“However it’s going to happen is going to happen. I may have an opinion here or there, but at the end of the day, once it gets to this point, it’s way out of my hands in terms of getting to lawyers and judges and things of that nature.

“So I just want to play golf and stop worrying about it,” added Thomas, who described being asked about the controversy at a wedding he attended recently.

That said, Thomas agreed with McIlroy that the lawsuit, and the demand of LIV rebels that they be allowed to return to the PGA Tour, intensified feeling around the issue.

“You can have your cake, but you don’t need to eat it, too,” he said.

“And they got their fair share of a large, large amount of cake and go eat it on your own means. You don’t need to bring it onto our tour.”

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Categories
Australia

Neighbours’ Ramsay Street would have been Ramsay Court if it was in NSW. So, when is a street a street?

Ramsay Street, as it appears on the TV show, Neighbours

The recent end of the long-running soap Neighbors has raised the question: why was Ramsay Street not Ramsay Court?

Pin Oak Court in Melbourne’s east doubled as the famous fictional street, correctly acknowledging its cul-de-sac status.

But why is a street not a road, an avenue not a boulevard and a crescent not a circuit?

ABC Radio Sydney Drive presenter Richard Glover put these questions to the New South Wales Geographical Names Board.

If Ramsay Street were under the purview of the NSW board, it would have been a court, a close or a place, deputy surveyor general and director of survey operations Thomas Grinter said.

“With all the high drama that happened on Ramsay Street, I’m pretty sure it would have come to our attention,” Mr Grinter said.

Pin Oak Court sign
Pin Oak Court has doubled as Ramsay Street for decades.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)

The authority is in charge of naming places in NSW like mountains, railway stations and suburbs. However, roads are typically named by local councils.

Mr Grinter said the state authority receives applications from councils, which are then reviewed to avoid duplicates.

When is a street a street?

While “road” is a generic term used for vehicle passages from one place to another, “street” refers to a passage found in a town or an urban environment.

Mr Grinter explained the board’s definitions for other common road types:

  • Avenue: a broad open-ended road usually lined with trees
  • Boulevard: a wide open-ended road usually ornamented with trees and plants
  • Drive: a wide thoroughfare without many cross-streets
  • Parade: a public roadway with good pedestrian facilities on either side
  • Parkway: a roadway through parklands or open grassland area
  • Terrace: a roadway where the homes are raised above the road level

Some areas use a particular road type frequently, which is taken into account by council when putting forward the names of road types.

“In one particular suburb or town, you might have a lot of very similar road types throughout,” Mr Grinter said.

Another interesting rule is that the road cannot be named after a living person, according to Mr Grinter.

Themes of your town

Some areas of the city appear to have been exempt from that rule though.

In Newington, which hosted the athletes’ village for the 2000 Olympics, some streets are named after living Australian athletes.

Examples include Perkins Avenue, Thorpe Place and O’Neill Avenue, named after Kieran Perkins, Ian Thorpe and Susie O’Neill.

A male Australian swimmer smiles as he holds up a gold medal with his right hand after winning at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Swimmer Ian Thorpe has Thorpe Close named after him in Newington in Sydney’s west.(AAP: Julian Smith)

Other suburbs have adopted themes when naming their local arteries.

Cremorne in Sydney’s lower north shore has many names of cricketers, including Spofforth Street, Bannerman Street, Boyle Street and Murdoch Street.

Croydon Park holds castle names, such as Windsor Avenue, Balmoral Avenue and Dunmore Street.

Marsfield on the Upper North Shore kept to its namesake, naming its roads after famous battles including Waterloo Road, Balaclava Road and Agincourt Road.

Small Arms Factory dormant building
Many of Lithgow’s streets are named after weapons in a possible node to the city’s old small arms factory.(ABC Central West: Gavin Coote)

The tradition is not limited to Sydney suburbs. Lithgow in the state’s Central Tablelands has many streets named after weapons such as Carbine Street and Rifle Parade, possibly in recognition of the city’s small arms factory.

Some Sydney streets pay homage to ancient history, for example The Appian Way in Bankstown.

For some streets, the authority may have simply tried to have it both ways — see Avenue Road in Mosman, Glebe and Hunters Hill.

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Categories
US

2 arrested in fatal shooting of off-duty officer in Downey

2 arrested in fatal shooting of off-duty officer in Downey

DA announces arrest, charges against two suspects who killed Monterey Park police officer

Two suspects have been arrested for fatally shooting a Monterey Park police officer in Downey. According to the DA’s office, Gardiel Solorio was killed during an attempted robbery.

THE ANGELS – Two people – including a 17-year-old – have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of an off-duty Monterey Park police officer who was gunned down outside an LA Fitness in Downey on Monday.

Gardiel Solorio, 26, was shot multiple times while sitting in his car outside the gym in a busy shopping center located in the 12000 block of Lakewood Boulevard Monday around 3:45 pm.

Officials said the suspect, Carlos Delcid, 20, approached Solorio as he was sitting inside his car and tried to rob him. Security footage shows Solorio’s car backing up and slamming into a parked van as he tried to get away. That’s when Delcid allegedly shot Solorio five times at close range, authorities said.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Off-duty Monterey Park police officer shot, killed in Downey identified

Delcid fled the scene in a car driven by a 17-year-old, LA County DA George Gascón announced Wednesday. He said his office will also be filing charges against the getaway driver.

Monterey Park police killing: 2 including juvenile arrested, charged

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced charges against two people involved in the killing of off-duty Monterey Park Police officer Gardiel Solorio.

Delcid was arrested and charged with one count each of murder, attempted robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon with the special circumstance allegation that the murder was committed during a robbery.

Gascón said they will be seeking life without the possibility of parole for Delcid.

At this time authorities do not believe Solorio was targeted because he is a police officer.

“Senseless gun violence has once again taken someone who pledged to protect and serve others,” Gascón said.

Los Angeles County jail records show Delcid has been booked a half-dozen times in the past year — the most recent coming Tuesday, a day after Downey police arrested him. He is being held on $2 million bail.

RELATED: California cop killing suspect has violent rap sheet, domestic violence conviction in March

Solorio had joined the department as a recruit in January, but only graduated from the sheriff’s training academy on July 22, and began his field training on July 25.

Multiple arrests made in killing of off-duty Monterey Park police officer

Authorities tell FOX 11 they do not believe Gardiel Solorio was targeted because he was a police officer.

“We all knew from the moment we met him that he had the heart of service and was going to be a great officer,” MPPD Chief Kelly Gordon said. “And I could tell that from the moment he walked in and did our first introductions in my office. The family and department are grieving right now, and this is an especially difficult tragedy. It’s a senseless act of violence. He was only 26 years old. I don’t know about all of you, but I have children that age. So to me this is particularly difficult.”

Friends of Solorio said he dreamed of being a policeman since he was a child.

“He was living his dream. Why would someone kill him outside the gym?” a friend said.

Gardiel Solorio Death: Off-duty Monterey Park cop killed in Downey

We are learning more about the off-duty Monterey Park police officer killed in broad daylight in Downey.

A procession was held Monday night as Solorio’s body was transported from the crime scene to the LA County coroner’s office.

Solorio is survived by his parents, brothers, sisters and fiancée. His family of him has started a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral expenses

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Categories
Technology

Forspoken trailer gets the meme treatment

Big in 2022: Forspoken

A new Forspoken trailer is getting the meme treatment, with the internet latching onto what many believe are some seriously cringy vibes. Check out the trailer for the upcoming Square Enix action RPG below, and read on for the memeifcation.

See more

The trailer, which dropped on Twitter midday on August 8, features the protagonist Frey describing her rather unique situation in which she’s been inexplicably transported to another world. We see her fighting bizarre fantasy creatures aided by a magical cuff that she talks to, and it all looks pretty cool – it’s the voiceover that the internet is fixing on.

Categories
Entertainment

Constance Hall’s rant about ‘d*ck’ pics after man sends explicit image

Constance Hall's rant about 'd*ck' pics after man sends explicit image

Constance Hall has slammed “desperate, lonely” men who send unsolicited photos after receiving a “d*ck pic” from a total stranger.

The mummy blogger posted a lengthy rant after she received an explicit image from a random man on an app that she had ironically downloaded at the request of “paranoid friends” who wanted to communicate safely.

After receiving the image, along with a string of disturbing sexual text messages, the outspoken mum tried to “put herself in the shoes” of males who send these pictures to understand why they do this.

However she concluded that there was no circumstance in the world in which she would send such a “depraved” photo – labeling it an “assault” against the unwitting recipient.

“What would drive me to the point of being gratified by sending a close-up cl*t pic of my [vagina] to someone who I’m 99 per cent sure doesn’t want to see my clacker?” she wrote on Facebook.

“Could it be depravity? If I had never met anyone who actually wanted to see my [vagina] could I be driven to send it out there anyway? Umm that’s a no.

“What if I thought that my cl*toris was a hooded mystic possessing some kind of power or blessings (which isn’t that far-fetched), meaning that even though these people didn’t want to see it… the photo is for their own good? Hmm no I’d just keep the blessings for those who consented to them.”

She also decided she wouldn’t send a “cl*t pic” if she was “terrified” of the opposite sex but had a high libido – or if she had “throbbing” genitals.

Despite toying with various reasons why men send unsolicited images, the 38-year-old concluded that “there isn’t enough empathy in the world that could help me understand”.

In an unexpected twist, Constance was able to have “sympathy” for the males who commit this awful act.

“Now that I’ve let the shock settle. I do feel a little sorry for the poor excited man, alone in his room, [erection] in one hand iPhone trying to get the best angle in the other, dreaming about the wide world of sexual encounters being had all over the place, none of which he was invited to,” she said.

However, even with a sprinkling of “sympathy” for the “desperate, lonely” men who do this, she pointed out it was a criminal offense and a form of assault.

Constance’s rant was widely well received, with many praising the mum-of-five and stepmum of two for her “clever” post.

“Never in my life will I understand why ‘men’ send (ad*ck) pic! Send back a pic of a scoring panel!” one woman wrote.

“I’m in a relationship now but before I wasn’t and I found this kind of behavior really disgusting and degrading… hard no, from me,” another said.

While one woman said: “Weird that men think it is a turn on.”

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Categories
Sports

McLaughlin reunited with 2018 championship Falcon

McLaughlin reunited with 2018 championship Falcon

Scott McLaughlin with the FGX Falcon with which he won the 2018 Supercars Championship. Picture: Scott McLaughlin Facebook

Scott McLaughlin has been reunited with the Ford Falcon with which he won the 2018 Supercars Championship.

The title was the first of three on the bounce for McLaughlin, who piloted Mustang machinery in 2019 and 2020 with DJR Team Penske.

He has since made the move to the United States, where he is now a two-time IndyCar race winner for ‘The Captain’.

So it was that he came across the FGX Falcon he drove in 2017 and 2018, while on its way to the Penske Racing Museum in Phoenix.

“Paths crossed with an old friend, on its way to the Penske Museum,” wrote the New Zealander on social media, where he shared a photograph of himself with the car.

McLaughlin won nine races in the 2018 Supercars season, the last of which came on the final weekend of the season in Newcastle, where the title battle was still live.

The Ford driver took a 14-point lead over Shane van Gisbergen to the streets of the Hunter, but looked to have lost most of that when he ran out of fuel on the final lap of the Saturday encounter and was passed for victory by the 2016 champion.

Van Gisbergen was then penalized for a pit stop breach which dropped him to fifth, and McLaughlin was able to cruise to the crown on the Sunday, even letting David Reynolds pass him for the lead in the final laps.

Earlier, Car #17 had also won races at Albert Park, Phillip Island (two), Wanneroo (two), Hidden Valley, Queensland Raceway, and Pukekohe.

He and Alexandre Premat finished third in that year’s Bathurst 1000, his first podium in the Great Race.

However, the car was, of course, part of an even more remarkable moment in McLaughlin’s career given the circumstances which transpired in Newcastle on the final day of the 2017 season.

He had just come back from two penalties to move into the live championship lead, on a countback, when he slipped wide at the start of the second-last lap and ended up making contact which put Craig Lowndes into a wall.

Car #17 would be issued the equivalent of a drive-through penalty as it took the checkered flag, dumping it from 11th to 18th, with race winner Jamie Whincup instead being crowned champion.

It was after his triumphant 2018 Newcastle weekend that the car initially went on display at Dick Johnson Racing’s Stapylton workshop, before its move Stateside.

McLaughlin is currently sixth in the IndyCar Series after finishing second in the most recent event on a chaotic Sunday in downtown Nashville.

Categories
Australia

Backyard hens’ eggs contain 40 times more lead on average than shop eggs, research finds

Black white and brown chickens run in the grass

There’s nothing like the fresh eggs from your own hens, the more than 400,000 Australians who keep backyard chooks will tell you.

Unfortunately, it’s often not just freshness and flavor that set their eggs apart from those in the shops.

Our newly published research found backyard hens’ eggs contain, on average, more than 40 times the lead levels of commercially produced eggs.

Almost one in two hens in our Sydney study had significant lead levels in their blood. Similarly, about half the eggs analyzed contained lead at levels that may pose a health concern for consumers.

Even low levels of lead exposure are considered harmful to human health, including among other effects cardiovascular disease and decreased IQ and kidney function. Indeed, the World Health Organization has stated there is no safe level of lead exposure.

So how do you know whether this is a likely problem in the eggs you’re getting from backyard hens? It depends on lead levels in your soil, which vary across our cities.

We mapped the areas of high and low risk for hens and their eggs in our biggest cities — Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane — and present these maps here.

Our research details lead poisoning of backyard chickens and explains what this means for urban gardening and food production. In older homes close to city centers, contaminated soils can greatly increase people’s exposure to lead through eating eggs from backyard hens.

What did the study find?

Most lead gets into the hens as they scratch in the dirt and peck food from the ground.

We assessed trace metal contamination in backyard chickens and their eggs from garden soils across 55 Sydney homes. We also explored other possible sources of contamination such as animal drinking water and chicken feed.

Our data confirmed what we had anticipated from our analysis of more than 25,000 garden samples from Australia gardens collected via the VegeSafe program. Lead is the contaminant of most concern.

The amount of lead in the soil was significantly associated with lead concentrations in chicken blood and eggs. We found potential contamination from drinking water and commercial feed supplies in some samples but it is not a significant source of exposure.

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Unlike for humans, there are no guidelines for blood lead levels for chickens or other birds. Veterinary assessments and research indicate levels of 20 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) or more may harm their health. Our analysis of 69 backyard chickens across the 55 participants’ homes showed 45 per cent had blood lead levels above 20µg/dL.

We analyzed eggs from the same birds. There are no food standards for trace metals in eggs in Australia or globally. However, in the 19th Australian Total Diet Study, lead levels were less than 5µg/kg in a small sample of shop-bought eggs.

The average level of lead in eggs from the backyard chickens in our study was 301µg/kg. By comparison, it was 7.2µg/kg in the nine commercial free-range eggs we analyzed.

International research indicates that eating one egg a day with a lead level of less than 100μg/kg would result in an estimated blood lead increase of less than 1μg/dL in children. That’s around the level found in Australian children not living in areas affected by lead mines or smelters. The level of concern used in Australia for investigating exposure sources is 5µg/dL.

Some 51 per cent of the eggs we analyzed exceeded the 100µg/kg “food safety” threshold. To keep egg lead below 100μg/kg, our modeling of the relationship between lead in soil, chickens and eggs showed soil lead needs to be under 117mg/kg. This is much lower than the Australian residential guideline for soils of 300mg/kg.

To protect chicken health and keep their blood lead below 20µg/kg, soil concentrations need to be under 166mg/kg. Again, this is much lower than the guideline.

How did we map the risks across cities?

We used our garden soil trace metal database (more than 7,000 homes and 25,000 samples) to map the locations in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne most at risk from high lead values.

A map graphic of Sydney showing the levels of lead risk for backyard chickens.
A map graphic of Melbourne showing level of lead risk for backyard chickens.
A map of brisbane with red dot in the center
Map of Brisbane showing levels of lead risk for backyard chickens. Dark green dots indicate areas with safe lead levels. Light green and yellow dots are areas over the safe lead level. Orange and red dots indicate areas with high levels. (Supplied: Max M. Gillings, Mark Patrick Taylor)

Deeper analysis of the data showed older homes were much more likely to have high lead levels across soils, chickens and their eggs. This finding matches other studies that found older homes are most at risk of legacy contamination from the former use of lead-based paints, leaded petrol and lead pipes.

What can backyard producers do about it?

These findings will come as a shock to many people who have turned to backyard food production. It has been on the rise over the past decade, spurred on recently by soaring grocery prices.

People are turning to home-grown produce for other reasons, too. They want to know where their food came from, enjoy the security of producing food with no added chemicals, and feel the closer connection to nature.

While urban gardening is a hugely important activity and should be encouraged, previous studies of contamination of Australian home garden soils and trace metal uptake into plants show it needs to be undertaken with caution.

Contaminants have built up in soils over the many years of our cities’ history. These legacy contaminants can enter our food chain via vegetables, honey bees and chickens.

Urban gardening exposure risks have typically focused on vegetables and fruits. Limited attention has been paid to backyard chickens. The challenge of sampling and finding participants meant many previous studies have been smaller and have not always analyzed all possible exposure routes.

Mapping the risks of contamination in soils enables backyard gardeners and chicken keepers to consider what the findings may mean for them.

Particularly in older, inner-city locations, it would be prudent to get their soils tested. People can do this at VegeSafe or through a commercial laboratory. Soils identified as a problem can be replaced and chickens kept to areas of known clean soil.

Mark Patrick Taylor is Chief Environmental Scientist at EPA Victoria and Honorary Professor at Macquarie University. Dorrit E Jacob is a Professor at Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University. Vladimir Strezov is a Professor at the School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University. This piece first appeared on The Conversation.

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