Gosnell Guilty

Good. Bring on the death penalty.

PHILADELPHIA — Dr. Kermit Gosnell, a West Philadelphia doctor known for performing late-term abortions, was found guilty on Monday on three of four counts of first-degree murder.

Heist

Wow.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Individuals employed around the world by a sophisticated cyber crime ring stole $45 million from thousands of bank automated teller machines within a matter of hours, using hacked debit-card data, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday.

Members of the global criminal organization hacked into two credit card processors and used stolen data to make more than 40,500 withdrawals in 27 countries, during two separate coordinated incidents in December 2012 and February 2013, the Justice Department said.

The government charged eight individuals in New York with participating in the larger scheme by withdrawing $2.8 million in thousands of ATM transactions, in what U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said was the second-biggest bank robbery in the history of New York City.

Old Child Killer Gets 10 Years in Prison

Surprising, but excellent.

A 76-year-old Sheboygan woman convicted of killing her infant daughter more than a half century ago was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison, with the judge in the case imposing a much harsher sentence than what prosecutors had sought.

Under the sentence issued by Sheboygan County Circuit Court Judge Angela Sutkiewicz, Ruby Klokow will be eligible for release from prison after 2-1/2 years.

The prison sentence was well over the 45 days in jail and 10 years probation that was requested by both the defense and prosecution as part of a plea deal reached earlier this year.

This woman brutally killed her daughter. I don’t care if it took over 50 years to catch her. She did it and deserves to be thrown in prison for it. The judge put it well:

“Anything but incarceration would diminish the seriousness of the offense,” Sutkiewicz said before reading her sentence to a nearly full courtroom.

Indeed.

More Arrested in Bombing Case

As much as those who want to make our immigration polices even easier don’t want this to impact the debate… it will.

(CNN)—Three friends of Boston Marathon bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have been jailed on charges they tried to throw investigators off Tsarnaev’s trail, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Two of them, Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, were already in federal custody on immigration charges, their lawyers told CNN. Both are from Kazakhstan and had student visas.

The third, Robel Phillipos, is a U.S. citizen. All three are accused of removing items from Tsarnaev’s dorm room after the April 15 bombings, which killed three people and wounded more than 260.

Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev are charged with obstruction of justice, while Phillipos is charged with lying to federal agents probing the bombing, according to court papers. They made their first appearance before a judge Wednesday afternoon, when they were read the charges against them and informed of their rights.

Appeals Court Asks Supreme Court to Take Act 10 Case

Indeed, they should.

A state appeals court is asking the state Supreme Court to take up an appeal of a decision relating to Act 10, “because of its sweeping statewide impact and the pressing need for a final resolution.”

Man Shoots at Nuclear Plant Security Guard

I’d guess drug dealer.

The episode began when a security officer on patrol outside Watts Bar plant noticed an individual standing on the bank of the Tennessee River on plant property. Hopson said the officer challenged the individual, believed to be a white male wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

The individual pulled a handgun and took at least two shots at the officer, Hopson said. The security guard returned fire and called for backup. The gunman got into a flat-bottomed boat and escaped downstream. The exchange occurred in less than a minute, Hopson said.

White Hat In Custody

I’m glad. Maybe we can find out if there’s more behind this attack.

One Down. One at Large

Wow... this is still going on. Let’s hope that nobody other than the other bomber gets hurt.

(CNN)—Police sealed off densely populated portions the Boston metro area early Friday after a violent night chasing the Boston Marathon terror suspects left one of the men and a police officer dead.

[...]

Police shot one of the men dead after a wild car chase through Watertown in which authorities say they hurled explosives at pursuing officers.

Proof of Insurance on Smart Phone

Huh. I didn’t know this was not approved. In fact, I had an occasion where I had to show proof of insurance and used my smart phone. The officer didn’t mention a thing and accepted it.

Madison - Drivers could use their smartphone to show police they have auto insurance, under a bill passed by the state Senate Wednesday.

The Senate passed the bipartisan bill without debate on a voice vote. It now heads to the Assembly.

Chinese Ship Runs Aground with Endangered Species On Board

Generally speaking, if you are smuggling endangered species, you should try to avoid running your ship aground on a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Chinese vessel that ran into a protected coral reef in the southwestern Philippines held evidence of even more environmental destruction inside: more than 10,000 kilograms (22,000 pounds) of meat from a protected species, the pangolin or scaly anteater.

The steel-hulled vessel hit an atoll on April 8 at the Tubbataha National Marine Park, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site on Palawan island. Coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said Monday that 400 boxes, each containing 25 to 30 kilograms of frozen pangolins, were discovered during a second inspection of the boat Saturday.

The World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines said the Chinese vessel F/N Min Long Yu could have been carrying up to 2,000 of the toothless, insect-eating animals rolled up in the boxes, with their scales already removed.

FBI Investigating Bugging

It’s concerning if people are bugging the offices of high-ranking American officials.

Campaign staff for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell met on Wednesday with FBI investigators concerning the alleged illegal bugging of McConnell’s office.

“The FBI is taking this very seriously. They were at our office for about an hour today, and they tell us that they’re running down some leads,” Jesse Benton, the Kentucky Republican’s campaign manager, told radio host Mike Huckabee on his show on Wednesday.

Walker May Not Fill Dane County Judicial Vacancies

Heh.

Gov. Scott Walker says he may no longer bother with filling vacancies for judicial openings in Dane County after a second appointee of his was ousted by voters.

[...]

Walker says in the future it “probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to go through that appointment process” in Dane County. Instead, he says he may simply allow judicial positions to remain vacant until there’s an election.

I can understand his point. The voters of Dane County are such rabidly anti-Walker that it’s not worth putting good people through the hassle of being appointed merely to be thrown out of office. However, I would consider it his duty to do so. I’d be surprised how many people accept those appointments anymore.

Chinese Scientist Accused of Economic Espionage

Yikes.

MILWAUKEE — When three vials of a possible cancer-fighting compound disappeared recently from a professor’s desk at the Medical College of Wisconsin, suspicion quickly fell on a research assistant who had been working in the scientist’s lab.

Security video showed Hua Jun Zhao, who studied in China and whose wife lives there, was the only person who entered the professor’s office that day. Investigators later found research results from another fellow professor on Zhao’s computer.

Zhao has been charged in a federal complaint with economic espionage, accused by prosecutors stealing academic research to pass off as his own in China. Prosecutors said he hoped to study the compound and other materials at Zhejiang University, one of several Chinese schools that have been troubled by plagiarism, fraud and academic misconduct.

Pardon Me?

Apparently some folks are trying to make an issue of this.

MADISON, Wis.—Gov. Scott Walker has refused to consider any of at least 1,400 pardon applications since he’s taken office, an Associated Press review has found.

The Republican governor hasn’t issued a single pardon since he took the oath of office on Jan. 3, 2011. He issued an executive order creating a pardon advisory board but never appointed anyone to the body before quietly suspending pardons indefinitely.

[...]

“I just look at (granting pardons) and say that’s not really why I ran for office. It’s not what I campaigned on. It’s not what I talked about,” the governor said. “To me, the only people who are seeking pardons are people who have been guilty of a crime and I have a hard time undermining the actions of a jury and of a court.”

While it is nice for a governor to pardon someone who committed a crime long ago and has since lived a good life, it is by no means mandatory. If Walker doesn’t want to get in the business of picking and choosing who deserves a pardon or not, then that’s fine. He’s not obligated to issue pardons.

Disabled Sue for Digital Accommodations

Oh, fer cryin’ out loud.

Advocates for disabled Americans have declared that companies have a legal obligation to make their websites as accessible as their stores, and they’ve filed suits across the country to force them to install the digital version of wheelchair ramps and self-opening doors.

[...]

That could mean websites will be required to include spoken descriptions of photos and text boxes for the blind, as well as captions and transcriptions of multimedia features for the deaf, said Jared Smith, associate director of WebAIM, a nonprofit group that trains and evaluates companies on Web accessibility.

Mr. Smith also advises companies to ensure that people with motor disabilities can navigate websites without the use of a mouse, and to use plain language and a strong design to aid people with cognitive or intellectual disabilities.