- Been trying to locate your favorite civil rights activist
and had trouble because some extremist whack job has kidnapped them? Good news
is here. A group known as Civil Rights Defenders has issued its first batch of GPS bracelets
that will alert its headquarters, other nearby activists and everyone who
follows the group on any of its social media outlets if the bracelet’s owner is
ever kidnapped. A batch of five bracelets were issued during the Civil Rights
Defenders’ conference, Defenders’ Days, held April 2-5. The CRD plans to issue
55 of the bracelets over the next year and a half and describes them as a
personal alarm that is part of what it is calling the “Natalia Project.” The
project is named in honor of Natalia Estemirova, a human rights defender who was
murdered within 24 hours of being kidnapped in 2009. Since her death, CRD
officials have suggested that if the authorities were alerted about Estemirova’s
kidnapping sooner, her death could have been prevented. Robert Hårdh, the executive
director of Civil Rights Defenders, said the bracelets “give us an opportunity to react faster
and extend our hands-on protection further.” Equipped with GPS tracking, the
bracelets can be activated manually, or if an attacker forcefully removes it
from the activist’s wrist. Once a bracelet is activated, a signal with the
wearer’s location will be sent to the CRD headquarters in Stockholm. Alerts will
also be sent out to other CRD activists in the same area as the abductee and an
automatic notification will be sent out throughout the Natalia Project’s
Facebook and Twitter accounts. All together, the alerts could potentially reach
hundreds of thousands of people instantly, according to CRD officials. In their
idealist world, this would also put pressure on the attacker because the world
would (theoretically) be aware of the attack. Before the organization can
distribute more bracelets, it must raise more money and it is asking anyone who
can help to support the Natalia Project to donate to the cause……
- It has been an uncharacteristically down year for the
Detroit Red Wings. The chief attraction in Hockeytown is mired in seventh place
in the Western Conference standings as the NHL winds toward the end of its
strike-shortened, 48-game regular season. While that would be enough to get
Detroit into the playoffs and give them hope for a title run, the Red Wings are
clearly going to need a boost to put them over the top and be a real playoff
threat. Maybe controversial prospect Riley
Sheahan can be that spark. The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Sheahan from
their American Hockey League affiliate and his first game with the top club
this season came Sunday when Detroit hosted the St. Louis Blues. If his name
sounds familiar but you’re the type of person who doesn’t care about hockey and
especially doesn’t scour the scores and statistical leaders of the American
Hockey League, know that there is good reason to recall Sheahan’s name. See,
after he was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NHL draft and one game for
the Red Wings last year, he was dispatched to the minors after pleading guilty
to drunken driving in December 2011 following an infamous traffic stop. When he
was arrested, he was rocking the costume of the purple Teletubby named Tinky
Winky and Grand Rapids (Mich.) police said at the time Sheahan had a
blood-alcohol level of 0.30, nearly four times the legal limit and yet, still
not enough to justify a grown man being dressed as a Teletubby. During his time
this season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Sheahan 35 points in 67 games and
perhaps his drunken antics can inject life into a moribund Red Wings season………
- Same old, same old in Mexico. While the world spins on and
much changes, life south of the U.S.-Mexico border remains largely the same –
at least in regards to drug cartels and gang activity. So, who’s trying to
assassinate whom this week in the name of keeping their powdery product moving
smoothly from Point A to Point B? The targets in this week’s saga of gang
violence are/were federal legislators David and Ricardo Monreal, who are also brothers.
According to Assistant Attorney General Mariana Benitez, Mexican authorities
have arrested a group of armed men suspected of plotting to assassinate the two
leftist lawmakers. Benitez confirmed that members of the gang were arrested
Thursday at a hotel in downturn Mexico City. Like good low-level gang bangers,
these meatheads have already confessed to planning to kill the brothers
Monreal. “Early today the raid was successfully carried out without violence,
and apart from the individuals arrested ... guns and communication equipment
with which they planned to carry out the assassinations were seized,"
Benitez said. The Monreal brothers became targets because the district they
represent lies in the central state of Zacatecas, a key drug trafficking route.
Senator David Monreal belongs to the Labor Party, which belonged to a leftist
coalition backing Andres Lopez Obrador, the former leader of the Democratic
Revolution Party and runner-up in last year’s presidential election. Ricardo
Monreal belongs to the Citizen Movement party and was a campaign manager for
Lopez Obrador and both have been outspoken against the cartels and their reign
of violence both locally and across Mexico. Police have remained tight-lipped
about any details regarding the plot and with the cartels’ history of trying to
put a bullet in the head of anyone who stands in their way, the odds seem high
that whoever is behind this plot will try again………
- No one has confused Detroit and utopia in a long, long
time, but that doesn’t mean the locals are all right with outsiders rubbing
their face in the Motor City’s down-and-out status. That extends beyond the
city limits to Detroit Metro Airport, where officials have come under fire for their
decision to pull a free newspaper from terminals over a headline that
appeared to slam Detroit. At the center of the controversy is The
Metropolitan, a local entertainment and culture magazine. The
publication recently ran headline “Detroit, the Most Miserable City in America,”
which was meant as an ironic rebuttal to an article in Forbes magazine. Either
airport workers and travelers don’t read Forbes or don’t have a great sense of
humor because airport spokesman Mike Conway said the airport received many
complaints from customers, employees and volunteers about the issue. “You don’t
have to explain the concept of sarcasm to me. I get sarcasm; I understand what
sarcasm is; I laugh when I watch Monty Python movies, so I know what irony is
and sarcasm is,” Conway said. “This just landed flat.” Yes, he just made a
Monty Python reference and yes, that is an incredibly dated reference to make,
but don’t allow that to completely undercut Conway’s case. The angriest group seems
to be the Airport Ambassadors group, which takes on the daunting task of
boosting Detroit’s image amongst those passing through the airport. “Their
mission is to help customers that are lost or have questions or whatever. But
their whole objective is to help the image of Detroit," Conway added.
"They see this publication that says Detroit is the most miserable city in
American, and, as one of them out it, we have 150 destinations out of this
airport around the world. People around the world are connecting here."
Conway took the ultimate responsibility for the decision to pull The
Metropolitan, but airport censorship can’t hide the fact that Forbes has a
point………
- Continuity was the theme at the movies this weekend as
only one new (and one not really new) movie darkened the doorstop of the top 10
on the earnings list. “Evil Dead” debuted in first place, banking $26 million by
attempting to scare the life out of those brave enough to go and see it. Second
place belonged to the family flick “The Croods,” which tallied $21.1 million
for a three-week tally of $125.8 million. That was enough to outmuscle Dwayne
“The Rock” Johnson and his cohorts in “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” which dipped to third
with $21 million as Johnson shifted his focus to competing at WrestleMania
XXIX. Through two weeks, “G.I. Joe” has banked $86.7 million. The return of
“Jurassic Park” to theaters in 3D form was met with mild interest from fans,
who bought enough tickets to stake it to fourth place with $18.2 million in its
“debut.” Fifth place was the landing spot for “Olympus Has Fallen,” down one
spot from last weekend after earning $10.1 million to up its overall domestic
total to $71.1 million. “Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage
Counselor” somehow lingered in the top 10 for the second straight
weekend, making $10 million for an overall domestic haul of $38.3 million
through two weeks. The occupant of seventh place was “Oz The Great and Powerful,”
owner of $8.2 million in weekend revenue and $212.8 million overall after five
weeks in theaters. “The Host” occupied eighth place with $5.2 million and its
modest two-week total stands at $19.7 million. “The Call” rang up $3.5 million
to rank ninth for the frame, elevating its cumulative domestic total to $45.4
million and counting in four weeks. “Admission” earned the final spot in the
top 10 with a $2 million weekend that left its cumulative total at $15.4
million after three weeks. “Spring Breakers” and “The Incredible Burt
Wonderstone” both dropped out from last weekend’s top 10………
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