For the man who shot and killed the most wanted terrorist in the world, opening up to the world about the night Osama bin Laden died was about closure.
In a highly anticipated Fox News special focused on him, former Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill spoke of the responsibility he thought he had to tell the story of the bin Laden raid. . .
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“Mr. Governor, I am asking for a second chance at life. I am asking for a second chance to be the man that I know that I can be,” Kyle Beebe wrote in his pardon application to his father.
Kyle Beebe, now 34, was charged in 2003 with possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, with intent to deliver, a class C felony. He was given 3 years supervised probation and fines. Gov. Beebe was serving as the state’s attorney general at the time. At the time of the arrest, Gov. Beebe was quoted in a local newspaper saying, “If he broke the law, he needs to pay for it. He needs to be treated like everybody else-no better, worse.”
In an interview with Channel 7 News Wednesday, Gov. Beebe said he will pardon his son.
“I would have done it a long time ago if he’d have asked, but he took his sweet time about asking. He was embarrassed. He’s still embarrassed, and frankly, I was embarrassed and his mother was embarrassed. All of the families that go through that, it’s tough on the families, but hopefully the kids learn,” Beebe said.
Beebe says his son has grown up a lot since that time.
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Written in 1964 by a deputy of the feared FBI chief J Edgar Hoover posing as a disillusioned civil rights activist, the typewritten note appears to have been a heavy-handed attempt to blackmail King into taking his own life.
Already a notorious footnote in American history, the “suicide letter” was heavily censored when it was first published, with most of its more outrageous language remaining secret.
However, the full contents of the note have now been made public after a Beverly Gage, a historian from Yale University unearthed an unredacted copy in the National Archive while researching a book on Hoover.
It shows that in his attempt to goad King, William Sullivan, the agent identified as the author of the letter, stooped to the use of near-hysterical sexual slurs against the already-revered pastor, who would go on to be assassinated three years later.
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U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said a federal grand jury indicted former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship on charges that include conspiracy to violate mandatory federal mine safety and health standards, conspiracy to impede federal mine safety officials, making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission and securities fraud.
Blankenship could face up to 31 years in prison if convicted.
The indictment alleges Blankenship conspired to violate mine safety and health standards at the Upper Big Branch Mine from January 2008 until April 2010, when an explosion at the mine killed 29 coal miners.
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This is net neutrality.
The debate is typically framed as big corporate interests against humble public-good advocates like… Google. The reality is that this is a clash of giant, self-interested corporations on both sides. Exhibit A is a piece on Gawker-owned Gizmodo about the money that big cable has thrown around:
Minutes after President Obama unveiled his plan for net neutrality yesterday, Republicans leaders like Ted Cruz came out swinging. You can chalk up the backlash to more than just partisan spite; Cruz has taken his share of campaign money from telecom giants. And he’s far from the exception.
Democrats and Republicans alike received over $8 million from the four major telecom companies and their trade group in the 2014 election alone. For some context, the top five pharmaceutical groups spent only half as much in the same cycle.
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The targets leading up to the expected Tuesday vote are Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Bill Nelson, D-Fla. If they back the bill, it could give lead sponsor Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., a victory that might give her a boost in her Dec. 6 runoff contest against Republican challenger Rep. Bill Cassidy, who is leading in polls.
Bennet, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is charged with getting Democrats elected to the upper chamber, refused to answer reporters when asked which way he would vote. Nelson, whose seat is up for grabs in 2016, told the Washington Examinersimply, “Stay tuned.”
All 45 Republican senators back the bill, which has Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., as the lead Republican sponsor. It would approve the Canada-to-Texas pipeline, which has been in administrative limbo for six years as builder TransCanada Corp. awaits a cross-border permit to complete the northern leg.
National Republican organizations have pointed to Landrieu’s struggles to pass her Keystone XL legislation as proof that she lacks clout, though she has based much of her campaign on her dealmaking abilities and her senior position on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. She would be the top Democrat if she wins re-election.
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Childbirth is normally a wonderful and beautiful process. But, every once in a while, it goes tragically wrong.
A video a father has made showing him singing to his dying newborn baby after losing his wife in childbirth is making the rounds on social media because of the heartbreaking story behind it. Tragically, Chris Picco, who is 30, lost his wife Ashley on September 30 after an emergency C-section to deliver the couple’s son, Lennon James.
Days later, Picco took to his guitar to gently sing Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird” to his prematurely born baby. Lennon was born at 24 weeks and unfortunately did not survive either.
He reportedly died hours after the video, below, was recorded and posted on YouTube.
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Border Patrol officials have pulled thousands of rifles from field agents in a large-scale effort to refurbish the weaponry, prompting the rank-and-file to complain that they’ve been left with the dangerous options of sharing guns or being disarmed altogether.
Nearly one-third of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s 16,300 M4 carbine rifles were tested by the agency’s office of training and development, which determined that more than 2,000 had the potential for malfunction. The rate of nearly 40 percent was “more than we are comfortable with,” said CBP Deputy Chief Ron Vitiello.
“Our top priority is to make sure our agents are safe,” said Vitiello, adding that the agency intends to eventually cycle through all of the rifles to ensure that those in need of repair are fixed. “They will be like new when they are refurbished.”
But in the meantime, Border Patrol agents are dubious about the department’s claims, given that the guns’ manufacturer, Colt, has not issued a recall. And they are vehemently opposed to “pool guns” — weapons shared by two or more agents.
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N4T Investigators: Border Patrol stripping agents of their rifles
By Lupita Murillo and Michel Marizco.
The News 4 Tucson Investigators have uncovered that some U.S. Border Patrol agents have lost a key part of their arsenal. And that has agents who patrol along the border here, extremely worried.
We learned that U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Offices of Border Patrol and Training and Development are inspecting the quality of agents’ M4 carbines throughout Border Patrol sectors nationwide. But agents tell us, some of those M4s have not been replaced. And, we’ve learned, agents are required to share rifles amongst each other.
“There’s a lot of agents that are pretty upset over it,” said Art del Cueto, president of the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector union. “We know it’s a dangerous job. We know what we signed on for but we want to have as much of the equipment as we need to perform the job.”
The M4 carbine is used by the U.S. military and by Border Patrol agents. It’s even used by the Border Patrol’s tactical unit, BORTAC. Agent Brian Terry was carrying the M4 when he was shot and killed in December 2010.
Del Cueto tells us that because some of those M4s have not been replaced, agents are pooling their weapons, which makes it difficult to personalize the settings on a rifle, such as the sights.
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“In fact, you’re not even the servant – you’re the slave,” said John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute.
Rutherford is representing Gresham, Oregon, resident Fred Marlow, 27, who is facing charges and fines of up to $5,000 after his Sept. 2 arrest.
“Clearly, when police officers cease to look and act like civil servants or peace officers but instead look and act like soldiers occupying a hostile territory, it alters their perception of ‘we the people.’ However, those who founded this country believed that we were the masters and that those whose salaries we pay with our hard-earned tax dollars are our servants,” Whitehead said.
“If daring to question, challenge or even hesitate when a cop issues an order can get you charged with resisting arrest or disorderly conduct, you’re not the master in a master-servant relationship. If fact, you’re not even the servant,” he said.
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Photo Credit: ROBERT F. BUKATY / AP FILE
The new rules, which fishermen say will be devastating for their livelihood, will take effect this week and last for at least the next six months.
They expand areas where commercial fishing for cod was already banned and now also apply the ban to recreational fishermen. The restrictions reduce the allowed accidental catch of cod to just 200 pounds per boat, tighten reporting requirements, and reduce the size of nets that fishermen are allowed to use.
“We’re trying to absolutely shut down fishing where there are concentrations of cod, so there will be zero cod caught,” said John Bullard, Greater Atlantic regional administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Anything that can catch cod is not allowed in these areas.”
The temporary measures could be made permanent when the next fishing season begins in May, Bullard said.
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