Police union president accused of bilking members out of $1 million in personal expenses – Gothamist

Former Sergeant’s Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins surrendered to federal authorities on Wednesday morning, amid allegations that he defrauded the police union’s membership out of nearly $1 million over four years.

Mullins, who led the 13,000-member union for two decades until his resignation in October, pleaded not guilty in federal court to one count of wire fraud. He was released on $250,000 bail.

Between 2017 and 2021, prosecutors allege that Mullins raked in hundreds of fraudulent reimbursements from the union’s dues fund for non-work related expenses, including high-end meals, jewelry, home appliances and a relative’s college fund.

As part of the alleged scheme, Mullins regularly inflated the cost of his meals by an order of magnitude, seeking as much as $800 in reimbursement for a $45 check at a wine bar, according to the complaint.

Source: Police union president accused of bilking members out of $1 million in personal expenses – Gothamist

B.C. doctor to face disciplinary panel over ‘misleading, incorrect or inflammatory’ claims about COVID-19 | CBC News

A B.C. doctor who’s been touring the province and giving public speeches that include false claims about the COVID-19 vaccine is facing a hearing over allegations of professional misconduct.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. has posted a notice online saying a citation has been issued for family physician Dr. Charles Hoffe of Lytton for “publishing statements on social media and other digital platforms that were misleading, incorrect or inflammatory about vaccinations, treatments and public measures relating to COVID-19.”

Vancouver pediatrician Dr. Alastair McAlpine, one of more than a dozen doctors who’ve filed complaints against Hoffe with the college, said he has mixed feelings about the news.

“[I’m] grateful on the one hand that something is being done, but also just disappointment because it honestly feels like it’s too little too late … and there’s no indication that his licence has been limited in any way, which means he can continue to spread the misinformation that he’s been spreading,” McAlpine told CBC News.

A college disciplinary panel will consider evidence that includes Hoffe’s recommendation for patients to use the antiparasitic medication ivermectin to treat COVID-19, and suggesting they visit animal feed stores to buy the veterinary version of the treatment, according to the notice.

Source: B.C. doctor to face disciplinary panel over ‘misleading, incorrect or inflammatory’ claims about COVID-19 | CBC News

Trump claims investigations into him are politically motivated. That is a lie | Heather Cox Richardson | The Guardian

…Trump’s lawyers continually portrayed James’s investigation not as a valid exercise in protecting the rule of law, but as a political attack on Trump. His lawyers argued that James’s investigation is “selective prosecution” and is “unconstitutional”, and that she is pursuing the case only to hurt the former president before the 2024 election.

The judge rejected these claims, pointing out, among other things, that none of the 600 or more documents in the case refer to Trump’s politics; they focus on his financial practices. “In the final analysis,” the judge wrote, “a State Attorney General commences investigating a business entity, uncovers copious evidence of possible financial fraud, and wants to question, under oath, several of the entities’ principals, including its namesake. She has the clear right to do so.”…

Source: Trump claims investigations into him are politically motivated. That is a lie | Heather Cox Richardson | The Guardian

Public transportation in North America -we could do better…

Context, Thought, and Learning: ShiraDest Offers Project Do Better

Here is why the trains come first, and then the quiet, safe, separately ventilated apartments and office buildings:

The fact that Vancouver transit has posted such strong gains in the absence of Uber and Lyft undercuts those companies’ claims about reducing car usage in major cities. But it also shows that the formula for rising ridership isn’t that complicated: Providing ample service while clustering development around good transit will yield results.

So, it turns out that even up in the cold north, folks use mass transit, when it is available with decent service. The US could take some lessons from our northern neighbors…

Yassas, γεια σας! Salût ! Nos vemos! Görüşürüz! ! שָׁלוֹם

Action Items in support of transportation for All that you can take right now:

1.) Search for two different reasons to use public transportation.

2.) Share them with us in…

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A new pact to end neglected tropical diseases – Mágica Mistura を

Trachoma, onchocerciasis, filariasis, leishmaniasis … These names may seem Greek or refer to diseases from a very distant past. However, they are examples of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a public health martyrdom that continues to punish 1.7 billion people across the planet, 10 million of them in Brazil alone. NTDs, whose list of evils still includes intestinal worms a Chagas disease, are more frequent in regions without access to good housing, hygiene and health conditions. If they are no longer detected and treated in time, they usually generate significant sequelae, when they do not shorten their own life expectancy. In common, these diseases are caused by some type of microbe or parasite A small glossary helps to understand and visualize threats:.

  • Trachoma: bacterial infection that can lead to blindness ;
  • Onchocerciasis: caused by a worm transmitted by mosquitoes, compromises the eyes and skin ;
  • Phylariasis: also known as elephantiasis, comes from a worm spread by mosquitoes and unties bumps and deformations in the limbs ;
  • Leishmaniasis: it is the result of a protozoan that hitches mosquitoes and is behind lesions on the skin and other organs ;
  • Chagas: the work of a protozoan transmitted by the barber insect and by the contamination of foods such as açaí, it markedly affects the heart

Source: A new pact to end neglected tropical diseases – Mágica Mistura を

¿Quiénes son?

Verdad! Somos gente…

Santiago Galicia Rojon Serrallonga

SANTIAGO GALICIA ROJON SERRALLONGA

Derechos reservados conforme a la ley/ Copyright

Les llaman, en sus discursos, pueblo. Académicos, economistas, intelectuales, políticos, artistas, abogados, periodistas, religiosos, analistas. líderes y funcionarios públicos, entre otros, se refieren a la gente común con el término pueblo, como si se tratara de una palabra contagiosa o con una dosis tóxica, capaz de volver pobre, desafortunada e ignorante a cualquier persona que la pronuncie.

Incluso, al referirse al pueblo, queda la idea de que, para ellos, los que hablan en las tribunas públicas, lo hacen como si fueran ajenos y extraños a la humanidad. “El pueblo necesita atención, medicamentos, educación, asesoría, programas sociales, seguridad, fuentes laborales, obras, servicios”, en el tono que lo expresan, parece que solo falta agregar: “también requiere muletas, intermediarios, socorristas y golpes para que entienda y supere su mediocridad”.

En México, como en otras regiones del mundo, donde las clases sociales están…

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 Three Men(white supremacists)Plead Guilty to Conspiring to Provide Material Support to a Plot to Attack Power Grids in the United States | OPA | Department of Justice 

According to court documents, Christopher Brenner Cook, 20, of Columbus, Ohio; Jonathan Allen Frost, 24, of West Lafayette, Indiana, and of Katy, Texas; and Jackson Matthew Sawall, 22, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.  The charge and plea agreements indicate that the defendants knew and intended that the material support they conspired to provide would be used to prepare for and carry out the federal offense of destroying energy facilities.

“These three defendants admitted to engaging in a disturbing plot, in furtherance of white supremacist ideology, to attack energy facilities in order to damage the economy and stoke division in our country,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. “The Justice Department is committed to investigating and disrupting such terrorist plots and holding perpetrators accountable for their crimes.”

Source: Three Men Plead Guilty to Conspiring to Provide Material Support to a Plot to Attack Power Grids in the United States | OPA | Department of Justice

Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime Charges for Attacking Asian Family | OPA | Department of Justice

According to documents filed in connection with the plea, Gomez entered a Sam’s Club Warehouse in Midland, Texas, behind an Asian family with young children on March 14, 2020. Gomez had never seen the family before and believed they were Chinese. Gomez followed the Asian family in the store for several minutes because he perceived them to be a “threat” as they were “from the country who started spreading that disease around.” Gomez then momentarily left the family to find a serrated steak knife in the store. Gomez bent the blade so that when he held the handle in his fist, the blade rested against his knuckles, sharp-edge facing outward. Gomez returned to the Asian family and punched the father, identified by the initials B.C., in the face, cutting him. Gomez then left the scene, only to retrieve an eight-inch knife from the store.

When Gomez returned, he abruptly went after B.C.’s two young children – then aged 6 and 2 years old – who were seated in the front basket of the shopping cart.  Gomez slashed open the face of R.C., the then-six-year-old child. The blade entered millimeters from R.C.’s right eye, split his right ear, and wrapped around to the back of his skull. Gomez also stabbed a white Sam’s Club employee who intervened to stop Gomez from further assaulting the Asian family. While being held down on the ground, Gomez yelled at the Asian family, “Get out of America!”

Source: Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime Charges for Attacking Asian Family | OPA | Department of Justice