UPDATE: Former Miss Jamaica runner-up, Marsha Gay Reynolds might not have known that she was smuggling $3.0 million worth of 68 pounds cocaine through airport when she bolted leaving her Gucci high heels– defence

Thursday, March 24, 2016 

NEW YORK (AP) — A JetBlue flight attendant accused of trying to sneak a suitcase full of cocaine through Los Angeles International Airport and making a dramatic dash to escape says she might not have been sure what was in her bag, a spokesman for her said Thursday as prosecutors suggested she had smuggled before.

Marsha Gay Reynolds

Marsha Gay Reynolds, a former Jamaican beauty queen and college track athlete, turned herself in Wednesday to face a federal drug charge.

Authorities said they found 70 pounds of cocaine in her luggage at LAX on March 18 after she was flagged for a random security screening, flung off her high heels and bolted barefoot down an upward-moving escalator. They said she ran out of the terminal and crossed the country to New York. Reynolds' spokesman Allan Jennings, representing her family and her defense lawyer, said, "She may not have been fully aware of what was in the bags".

But Assistant US Attorney Alicia Washington told a court that last week was "not the only time the defendant has engaged in this conduct". Washington didn't elaborate, and Jennings said he was surprised by the claim.

A US magistrate judge set bail for Reynolds at $500,000 and then warned her parents and two friends from her church they could lose their homes if she flees. He gave prosecutors a day to appeal before Reynolds can be freed.

Reynolds, a 31-year-old Jamaican-born US citizen, graduated from New York University and ran track there. She was a runner-up in the Miss Jamaica World 2008 pageant, which sends the country's representative to Miss World contests.

Leaders of the Jamaica pageant were "shocked and surprised" at news of Reynolds' arrest, said organizer Laura Butler, who doesn't know Reynolds. She said Reynolds apparently had travelled to Jamaica to compete while living in New York, as the contest allows for women of Jamaican heritage living elsewhere.

Reynolds arrived last week at a security checkpoint in LAX's Terminal 4 wearing jeans, heels and a black suit jacket and carrying her known crew member badge, an FBI agent's sworn statement said. She was off duty at the time.

Asked to step aside for a random check, Reynolds nervously looked around and made a cellphone call as she was led to a screening area, the statement said. When a Transportation Security Administration officer asked her for identification, she dropped her bag, ditched her Gucci shoes and took off, an affidavit said. A TSA officer said he didn't pursue her because his primary concern was her abandoned luggage.

In it was just over 68 pounds of cocaine, worth as much as $3 million on the streets of Los Angeles, authorities said.more

SHOCKING: President Nixon Aide, John Ehrlichman Reportedly Admitted Drug War Was Meant To Target Black People.... “Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

03/22/2016 12:58 pm ET

An eye-opening remark from a former aide to President Richard Nixon pulls back the curtain on the true motivation of the United States’ war on drugs.

John Ehrlichman, who served 18 months in prison for his central role in the Watergate scandal, was Nixon’s chief domestic advisor when the president announced the “war on drugs” in 1971. The administration cited a high death toll and the negative social impacts of drugs to justify expanding federal drug control agencies. Doing so set the scene for decades of socially and economically disastrous policies.

John Ehrlichman

Journalist Dan Baum wrote in the April cover story of Harper’s about how he interviewed Ehrlichman in 1994 while working on a book about drug prohibition. Ehrlichman provided some shockingly honest insight into the motives behind the drug war. From Harper’s:

“You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

In other words, the intense racial targeting that’s become synonymous with the drug war wasn’t an unintended side effect — it was the whole point. more

UPDATE : 2 Americans Killed In Brussels.... Bombings Secretary of State John Kerry met with Belgian leaders and offered condolences and help following the attacks.

03/25/2016 06:51 am ET

BRUSSELS, March 25 (Reuters) - Two Americans were killed in Tuesday’s suicide bombings in Brussels, a senior U.S. official said on Friday, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Belgian leaders and offered condolences and help following the attack.

The family of siblings Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski confirmed their deaths to CBS.  We are grateful to have closure on this tragic situation, and are thankful for the thoughts and prayers from all,” relatives of the two New York residents said in a statement.  They had been reported missing since the blasts.

Kerry, traveling back to Washington after talks in Moscow, stopped in Belgium to demonstrate solidarity after the attacks, which killed 31 people and injured hundreds of others.

“The United States is praying and grieving with you for the loved ones of those cruelly taken from us, including Americans, and for the many who were injured in these despicable attacks,” Kerry said after meeting Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.

“The United States stands firmly with Belgium and with the nations of Europe in the face of this tragedy,” he said.

“We will continue to provide any assistance necessary in investigating these heinous acts of terrorism and bringing those responsible to justice,” Kerry added.

Michel offered his condolences for the death of the Americans, but did not elaborate. “We want to cooperate with you, do our best with you in order to face these very sensitive issues,” he said.

LOW ENERGY HEALTH- What Is Low Energy, Diagnosing Low Energy, Help For Low Energy and more...

CONGRATULATIONS : SHAGGY donated a bombastic cheque valued JA$55.0 million to the Bustamante Hospital for Children in JAMAICA.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016— Simone Morgan

YESTERDAY, the Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation handed over a cheque valued at $55 million to the Bustamante Hospital for Children in St Andrew.

The money represents proceeds from the Shaggy and Friends Concert held on the lawns of Kings House in January.

Shaggy donated $55Million Cheque to the Bustamante Hospital for Children

Businessman Kenneth Benjamin, chairman of the hospital, said so far, more than 450 pieces of medical equipment have been purchased with proceeds from biennial concerts.

“Over 77,000 children are treated at this hospital yearly. This is the only children’s hospital in the the Caribbean, so we attend to children from the region also. Shaggy and his team has proven that they are all about making a change and not just another avenue for talk,” said Benjamin at the handing-over ceremony. This year’s proceeds will go towards several different ventures in the hospital, including the Intensive Care Unit which currently has a total of five beds — far fewer than the required amount.

Before handing over the cheque, director of the Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation, Orville ‘Shaggy’ Burrell thanked the Jamaican acts and sponsors who took the time to lend their support.

“The figure that we make is nothing compared to what we spend. What we make is a drop in the bucket from what we really need; however, we are grateful for all the support,” he said.

This year Shaggy and Friends partnered with iHeartRadio, which broadcasted the concert on over 18 stations in the United States. However, Shaggy said while the radio station did their part, the Jamaicans living overseas were not that supportive.

“There are over four millions Jamaicans living in the United States, more than who live in Jamaica. But the Jamaicans didn’t step up to do their part. We raised way less than we expected from them,” he said.

Managing director of the Wisynco Group, William Mahfood, handed over a cheque valued little over $8 million dollars to the foundation. During January, three dollars was donated to The Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation and the Bustamante Hospital for Children from every specially marked bottle of WATA sold. WATA released two million of the specially marked bottles on December 22.

New-car dealership Stewart’s Auto also contributed $1.5 million to the Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation.

Since its inception in 2009, the concert has raised more than $255 million dollars for the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

JIMMY RILEY has died at 61 y-o after battle with cancer (R.I.P)....Jimmy is the father of reggae artist Tarrus Riley

  

"He was in New York at the time,he had been getting treatment for the cancer. The family is devastated," a source close to the family told Loopjamaica.com.

Jimmy Riley

Tarrus Rliey posted an image with the expletive, "F... Cancer" in response to his father's death. 

Jimmy Riley was born Martin James Ziggy Norman Riley, 22 May 1954. He is best known as a solo act but had carved out a great reputation as a member of the Sensations and The Uniques. 

He had several hits in the 1970s, including Tell The Youths The Truth, Nyah Bingi, and Clean up the Streets, and continued to be successful in the 1980s, working with Sly & Robbie's Taxi productions. In 1983, Riley topped the UK reggae chart with his version of Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing. In the late 1980s, Riley moved to Miami, and put his career on hold, but returned to Jamaica in the early 1990s.

Riley's son Tarrus followed him into music and the success of Tarrus gave a boost to Jimmy's career. They have performed together several times, headlining a number of festivals including the Ocho Rios Seafood Festival in 2007.

In September 2013, he released the album Contradiction, that featured guest appearances from his son Tarrus, Sizzla, and Fantan Mojah.

PM Andrew Holness announces 25% drop in rates to use North-South link of Highway 2000 — Says alternative routes to highway will be maintained

Thursday, March 24, 2016

ONE week after much outcry over the proposed toll rates to traverse the North-South link of Highway 2000, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that the fees will be reduced by 25 per cent. The toll became effective midnight last night.

This means that Class 3 vehicles, to include trucks and big buses travelling from Caymanas in St Catherine to Mammee Bay, St Ann, or vice versa, will now pay $2,775 — $925 less than the originally proposed rate ($3,700). Under this arrangement, motorists travelling the same stretch in a Class 2 vehicle (pickups and large sport utility vehicles) will pay $1,837.50 — a $612.50 difference — while morotists with Class 1 vehicles, such as motor cars and small sport utility vehicles will pay $915 — $305 less than the previous proposed rate.

Motorists travelling from Caymanas to Linstead, Unity Valley, and Lydford will now pay $2,235, $1,485 and $750 for Class 3, Class 2, and Class 1 vehicles, respectively.

Drivers of vehicles such as motor bikes that fall in the Class 4 classification will pay $450 — down from a high of $540 — to travel the entire thoroughfare, to as low as $60 to travel from Caymanas to Angels. Motorists who intend to traverse Angels to/from Mammee Bay in a Class 1 vehicle will now pay $810 down from $1,080. Class 2 users will pay $1,612.50 — $537.50 less than proposed rate — while the rate for motorists in Class 3, is $2,400, down from $3,200. The same stretch will cost Class 4 users $405 — a $135 decrease from the initially proposed rate.

Additionally, Class 3 motorists travelling between Ocho Rios and Linstead — a 39-kilometre stretch — will be asked to pay up to $1,650. The rate for Class 2 vehicles along the same corridor will be $1,110 — $370 less than the proposed $1,480. Class 1 drivers will pay $555, while Class 4 vehicles will attract a toll of $270 — $90 less than the initially proposed rate.

Prime Minister Holness, in speaking yesterday at the official opening ceremony for the thoroughfare at the Caymanas toll plaza, said deliberations will continue to reach a final equilibrium toll in the months to come. The lowered rates came after two days of talks with the toll operator. more

MANHUNT: EUROPE.....Search Is On For Man In The Hat... Other Suspects... 'Mother Of Satan' Explosives Found In Bomb-Maker's Apartment... Same Explosives Used In Paris Attacks... AP: 400 ISIS Fighters Trained To Strike Europe... Turkey To Belgium: We Warned You... Names Of Victims Trickle In..Investigators also accumulated evidence that the same jihadist network was involved in the deadly Paris attacks last November.

  03/24/2016 12:08 am ET.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian police were on Thursday hunting for a third man filmed with two Islamic State suicide bombers at Brussels airport as evidence piled up that the same jihadist network was involved in the deadly Paris attacks last November.

With pressure mounting on Europe to improve cooperation against terrorism, EU interior and justice ministers were to hold emergency talks on a joint response to Tuesday’s bombings in Brussels, which killed at least 31 people and injured 270.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls led calls for a “strong European response”, but officials say many states, including France, withhold their most cherished data despite a mantra of willingness to share intelligence.

The chief surviving suspect linking the Paris and Brussels attacks, French national Salah Abdeslam, 26, arrested in the Belgian capital last week, was remanded in custody until April 7 with two other suspects. Correcting an earlier statement, the public prosecutor said Abdeslam, who is in detention in a prison in Bruges in western Belgium, did not appear in person.

His lawyer, Sven Mary, who requested the adjournment, said Abdeslam was no longer opposed to being extradited to France.

“Salah Abdeslam has asked me to inform you that he wishes to leave for France as quickly as possible,” Mary told reporters at the courthouse, saying his client “wants to explain himself”. more

Supreme Court Hands Down First 4-To-4 Decision Since Antonin Scalia’s Death.... The ruling wasn’t major, but it offered a small taste of what an understaffed court is like.

 03/22/2016 11:53 am ET

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued its first evenly split ruling since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia: a decision in a minor banking case involving spouses who serve as guarantors for each other’s debts.

Antonin Scalia

The 4-to-4 ruling was “per curiam,” which means it was handed down in the name of the entire court, and nobody really knows what justice was on which side.

The opinion was just one line long: “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.”

That means the ruling sets no nationwide precedent and leaves the lower-court ruling as the final decision in the case.

Leaving the law unsettled for now could potentially be good or bad news for major cases where future splits are a possibility — including pending disputes onabortion, affirmative action, public union fees, immigration and contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

In the public union fees case, for example, a 4-to-4 split would be an important victory for labor, since union advocates won that case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which skews liberal. (The unions didn’t do so well when the Supreme Court heard the case.)

But a split ruling in the abortion case, which is coming from the more conservative 5th Circuit, would represent a blow for women’s access to reproductive services, since the lower-court ruling upheld the Texas abortion clinic regulations being challenged.

If more splits do happen, the Supreme Court may consider these issues again in the future, but it probably won’t until the Senate decides to confirm Scalia’s replacement — whether that will be the recently nominated Merrick Garland or someone else is still anyone’s guess.

Which all underscores the need for a fully functioning Supreme Court. As Justice Anthony Kennedy once said at a congressional hearing, 4-4 ties “mean that everybody’s time is wasted.” more

Former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Has Died....More info at www.RulaBrownNetwork.com

TORONTO (Reuters) - Rob Ford, the former mayor of Toronto who gained global notoriety for admitting to smoking crack cocaine while in office, has been moved into palliative care after his recent cancer treatment was unsuccessful, CP24 television reported.

His chief of staff, Dan Jacobs, told CP24 the move was to make Ford more comfortable and was not end-of-life care. Jacobs did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Ford, 46, now a Toronto city councillor, has been receiving treatment for an aggressive form of cancer that reoccurred despite surgery and several rounds of chemotherapy.

During his tumultuous 2010-2014 tenure as mayor of Canada's most populous city, Ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine, buying illegal drugs and driving after drinking alcohol.

Ford was diagnosed in September 2014 with pleomorphic liposarcoma, a rare and hard-to-treat cancer found in soft, fatty tissue of the body, after he was admitted to a hospital with abdominal pain.

WOW! Michael Jackson's Children To Lose Most Of Their £900Million (Approx. US1.4 Billion ) Inheritance?

Stephanie Soteriou 3/22/16

It has been reported that Michael Jackson’s three children might lose the majority of their huge inheritance due to taxes.

Nineteen-year-old Prince, seventeen-year-old Paris, and fourteen-year-old Blanket were due to inherit the huge £900million when they turned thirty, but authorities are said to be seeking £555million from Michael’s estate. It is also believed that the singing legend, who tragically died in 2009, owed over £300million in other debts - which will ripe out the rest of the huge inheritance sum.

A source told The Sun: “On paper the kids are billionaires thanks to these massive sums. But the truth is those sums will barely be in their accounts for any time as they have this huge tax bill to settle. And that’s not all that that the Jackson children have lost out on, with it recently being revealed that the star’s treasured ‘Gone With The Wind’ Oscar that he bought for $1.54million in 1999, has gone missing.

Michael’s executors of his estate are unable to find the prized trophy and have no idea where the singer even kept it, with Lawyer Howard Weitzman admitting: “The estate does not know where the ‘Gone With the Wind’ statuette is.    more

BREAKING NEWS: 28 Persons Killed in Two Loud Explosions Reported At Brussels Airport; Evacuations Underway Passengers are being told to avoid the airport.....A 3rd bomb did not explode.....DEVELOPING STORY (VIDEO)

03/22/2016 03:51 am ET
Two explosions were heard at Brussels airport early on Tuesday morning and Belgian media said several people were injured. The cause of the explosions was not immediately clear. Sky news in London said the blasts had occurred in the departures lounge and cited reports it had occurred near the American Airlines desk.

Belgian media said rail traffic to the airport was suspended.