News

Parkland Shooter Who Killed 17 Get Life Sentence

Published

1 year ago

2022-10-14

The death penalty has been waived for the parkland shooter who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The jury recommended the 24-year-old defendant spend the remainder of his life in jail for the 14 February 2018 shooting.

As the ruling was read aloud in court, relatives of the victims were distressed and enraged. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 1.

In October last year, the gunman, Nikolas Cruz, pled guilty to the murders. It was the most deadly mass shooting case ever tried by a jury in the United States.

Relatives of those deceased denounced the judgement sparing him from the death penalty as “unreal” and “incorrect” at a press conference following the trial.

“I could not be more dismayed by today’s events,” said Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was one of the deceased children.

“I’m stunned. I’m devastated, “he said. “Today, seventeen victims have not received justice. Today, this jury failed our family.”

The jury’s verdict was also a setback for prosecutors, who had repeatedly attempted to establish that the crimes were “cold, planned, and premeditated” and satisfied Florida’s definition of “aggravating elements” that justify the death penalty.

A unanimous vote would have been required to impose the death penalty.

As each of the 17 counts was read out in court, it became apparent that while jurors thought there were reasons that justified the death penalty, at least one juror believed “mitigating factors” warranted life in prison.

The features of many of the family members gathered in court exhibited distress. Tony Montalto, who had lost his daughter Gina in the attack, constantly shook his head. As the tally relating to Gina was read aloud, his arm was around his wife, Jennifer, who rested her head on his shoulder.

Other family members could be heard silently sobbing. Corey Hixon, whose father, Christopher Hixon, was killed in the attack, stood and exited the courtroom as soon as he heard the jury’s recommendation for a life sentence rather than the death penalty.

Ilan Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa was murdered, told reporters after the court that the shooter was “not a human being; he’s an animal.”

“I pray that animal suffers in prison every day of his life,” he remarked. And that his life is brief.

Gordon Weekes, the public defender in charge of the defence team in Broward County, urged the public to “respect the process” that resulted in the verdict.

He noted that the decision represents “a solemn chance to reflect on the necessary healing for this community.”

The Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, and his Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, stated that the shooter should have gotten the death penalty.

Mr. DeSantis stated, “I just don’t think anything other than a capital sentence is appropriate in this instance.”

The perpetrator was 19 years old when he entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and began fire with a lawfully purchased AR-15 rifle. In less than four minutes, 34 persons were shot.

Seventeen of them were slain, including fourteen students and three faculty members. The attack remains one of the deadliest school shootings in the history of the United States.

In the ensuing pandemonium, the gunman escaped the murder scene by disguising himself as a student and remained in the vicinity after purchasing a soft drink at a local fast-food establishment. Approximately two miles (3.2 kilometres) from the school, he was apprehended shortly thereafter.

Following the murders, prosecutors provided evidence indicating that the attack was premeditated. The gunman studied previous mass shootings and posted online comments that he vowed to show “no mercy.”

In a video recorded days before the attack, the gunman stated that he intended to be the “next school shooter” of the year and to kill at least 20 people.

The gunman’s attorneys attempted to depict him as mentally sick, a young man whose traumatic upbringing was “poisoned” by his mother’s alcoholism and substance abuse.

The shooting revived the gun control debate in the United States and sparked a wave of youth-led activism.

A group of surviving students, including Cameron Kasky, David Hogg, X Gonzalez, and Sarah Chadwick, appealed for stricter gun control regulations and the ability to attend school without fear of being killed via social media in the days following the tragedy.

Just six weeks after the attack, an estimated 800,000 people attended the “March for Our Lives” demonstration in Washington, DC, to protest gun violence.

The organization continues to advocate for policy objectives such as increased regulation and control of firearms and “holding accountable” the gun lobby.

However, its legislative objectives, which include a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, have proven elusive.

Up Next

Cuba Gooding Jr. Avoids Pleads Guilty in Sex Harassment Case

Don't Miss

JP Morgan Chase Goes Woke on Rapper “Ye” Kanye West

Politics

Trump Is Back At His New York Civil Fraud Trial As Testimony Nears An End

Published

4 hours ago

2023-12-07

Kiara Grace

NEW YORK – After a month of criticizing the proceedings from afar, former President Donald Trump returned to his civil business fraud trial as a spectator on Thursday.

After more than two months of testimony, the Republican presidential candidate for 2024 arrived to hear an accounting professor testify about financial issues relevant to the case.

Trump is slated to testify for the second time on Monday.

Even as he campaigns to retake the office and fights four criminal charges, Trump focuses heavily on the New York lawsuit. Outside the courtroom, he’s been a dissatisfied bystander, a combative witness, and a furious pundit.

“This is a witch hunt, and it’s a very corrupt trial,” Trump remarked as he entered the courtroom on Thursday.

The case is putting his net worth on trial, probing his real estate empire, and threatening to bar him from doing business in his home state.

Trump Is Back At His New York Civil Fraud Trial As Testimony Nears An End

In the claim, New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Trump, his corporation, and some officials of defrauding banks and insurers by providing them with financial statements that overstate the value of trademark properties such as his Trump Tower penthouse and Mar-a-Lago, the Florida club where he now resides.

The statements were submitted to assist in secure deals, such as loans with low-interest rates available to the ultra-wealthy, and certain loans required fresh statements every year.

Donald denies any wrongdoing and claims that the figures in the statements understated his wealth. He has repeatedly minimized the value of the documents in closing agreements, stating that lenders and others should conduct their analyses.

And he argues that James and Judge Arthur Engoron, both Democrats, abused their power in the case.

Eli Bartov, an accounting professor at New York University, testified in Trump’s defense on Thursday.

trump

Trump Is Back At His New York Civil Fraud Trial As Testimony Nears An End

Bartov rejected the attorney general’s assertions that Trump’s financial statements violated basic accounting principles in a report written before his hearing. According to the professor, such statements are merely a starting point for recipients to do their own assessments in the accounting and financial world.

Trump has frequently lamented the situation on his Truth Social platform.

Going to court in person provides him with a microphone —several of them, thanks to the press cameras stationed in the hallway. He frequently expostulates and casts various developments as wins on his way into and out of the proceedings, which cameras cannot record.

When Engoron ruled Trump had breached a gag order that forbids trial participants from publicly commenting on court staffers, he penalized him $10,000 on Oct. 26. Trump’s lawyers are challenging the gag order.

James has not gone unchallenged, frequently — but not on Thursday — showing up to court when Trump is present and making her statements on social media and on the courthouse steps. Lawyers in the case have been instructed not to make press remarks in the hallway, but the former president has been permitted to do so.

Trump Is Back At His New York Civil Fraud Trial As Testimony Nears An End

“Here’s a fact: Donald has been committing financial fraud for years.” “Here’s another fact: There are consequences when you break the law,” her office tweeted this week on X, formerly Twitter.

While the non-jury trial focuses on allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud, and manipulating corporate documents, Engoron previously concluded that Trump and the other defendants committed fraud. He appointed a receiver to take charge of some of Trump’s properties, but an appeals court has stayed that order for now.

During the trial, James seeks more than $300 million in penalties and a ban on Donald and the other defendants doing business in New York.

It is unclear when the testimony will conclude, although it is expected before Christmas. Closing arguments are slated for January, and Engoron hopes to reach a verdict by the end of the month.

SOURCE – AP

Entertainment

Wikipedia, Wrapped. Here Are 2023’S Most-Viewed Articles On The Internet’s Encyclopedia

Published

2 days ago

2023-12-05

Kiara Grace

NEW YORK – Remember what you were looking for in 2023? Wikipedia, on the other hand, has the receipts.

According to data provided Tuesday by the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit behind the free, openly edited online encyclopedia, English Wikipedia received more than 84 billion views this year. The most popular piece was on ChatGPT (the AI chatbot that appears to be everywhere these days).

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has flown into the public eye since its inception just over a year ago, as the technology makes its way into schools, health care, legislation, and even religious preaching. The chatbot has also contributed to developing arguments regarding the possible benefits and risks of generative AI, most of which are detailed on its Wikipedia page.

Here Are 2023’S Most-Viewed Articles On The Internet’s Encyclopedia

The annual list of fatalities was the second most-read article on Wikipedia in 2023, after taking the #4 and #1 rankings in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Individual entries for important figures who died this year drew much attention, notably those for Matthew Perry and Lisa Marie Presley.

Meanwhile, the highly anticipated 2023 Cricket World Cup came in third place — along with three other cricket-related entries in Wikipedia’s top 25 this year, including the Indian Premier League at #4, marking the first time cricket content has made the list since the Wikimedia Foundation began tracking in 2015.

“Barbenheimer,” Taylor Swift and others also appeared to influence our internet-reading habits in 2023. Here are this year’s top 25 English Wikipedia articles.

According to the Wikimedia Foundation, this top 25 ranking was constructed using English Wikipedia statistics as of November 28. The charity plans to update full-year figures on January 3, 2024.

The United States (33.2 billion) and the United Kingdom (9 billion), along with India (8.48 billion), Canada (3.95 billion), and Australia (2.56 billion), are the top countries that accessed English Wikipedia globally in 2023, according to Wikimedia Foundation data shared with The Associated Press.

Here Are 2023’S Most-Viewed Articles On The Internet’s Encyclopedia

1. ChatGPT: 49,490,406 pageviews

2. Deaths in 2023: 42,666,860 pageviews

3. 2023 Cricket World Cup: 38,171,653 pageviews

4. Indian Premier League: 32,012,810 pageviews

5. Oppenheimer (film): 28,348,248 pageviews

6. Cricket World Cup: 25,961,417 pageviews

7. J. Robert Oppenheimer: 25,672,469 pageviews

8. Jawan (film): 21,791,126 pageviews

9. 2023 Indian Premier League: 20,694,974 pageviews

10. Pathaan (film): 19,932,509 pageviews

11. The Last of Us (TV series): 19,791,789 pageviews

12. Taylor Swift, 19,418,385: pageviews

13. Barbie (film): 18,051,077 pageviews

14. Cristiano Ronaldo: 17,492,537 pageviews

15. Lionel Messi: 16,623,630 pageviews

16. Premier League: 16,604,669 pageviews

17. Matthew Perry: 16,454,666 pageviews

18. United States: 16,240,461 pageviews

19. Elon Musk: 14,370,395 pageviews

20. Avatar: The Way of Water: 14,303,116 pageviews

21. India: 13,850,178 pageviews

22. Lisa Marie Presley: 13,764,007 pageviews

23. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: 13,392,917 pageviews

24. Russian invasion of Ukraine: 12,798,866 pageviews

25. Andrew Tate: 12,728,616 pageviews

According to the Wikimedia Foundation, this top 25 ranking was constructed using English Wikipedia statistics as of November 28. The charity plans to update full-year figures on January 3, 2024.

SOURCE – (AP)

Entertainment

Rizz Named Word Of The Year 2023 By Oxford University Press

Published

3 days ago

2023-12-04

Kiara Grace

Are you adept at flirting or chatting up possible partners? If this is the case, you may already have rizz and be unaware of it.

Young folks utilize the Oxford word of the year, internet slang for romantic appeal or charm.

It was one of eight words chosen from a shortlist to define the mood, ethos, or preoccupations of 2023.

A public poll was used to narrow down the list before Oxford lexicographers made the ultimate selection.

Swiftie, Beige Flag, and Situationship were among the other contenders.

If you are not a member of Generation Z, the term may be meaningless to you.

However, it is widely utilized online, with billions of views of the hashtag “rizz” on TikTok.

Rizz Named Word Of The Year 2023 By Oxford University Press

It is described as style, charm, or attractiveness, as well as the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner, by Oxford University Press [OUP], which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary [OED].

The word “charisma” is assumed to be a shorter variant of “charisma.”

It can also be used as a verb, as in “to frizz up,” which means “to attract, seduce, or chat up someone.”

It’s essentially a modern version of the “game,” described as skill, proficiency, and the capacity to sexually entice people through one’s charm.

What do the shorlisted words mean?

Beige flag (n.): a character feature that indicates that a partner or possible partner is boring or lacks creativity; (also) a quality or habit, especially of a partner or potential mate, that is very distinctive but not good or bad. [proposed definition]

A situationship (n.) is a romantic or sexual relationship that is not formal or established.

Swiftie (n.): a devoted follower of Taylor Swift. [proposed definition]

Prompt (n.): a command issued to an artificial intelligence program, algorithm, or the like that affects or influences the content it generates [draft definition]

De-influencing (n.): the activity of deterring individuals from purchasing specific things or pushing people to consume less material goods, particularly through social media [draft definition]

The Oxford University Press emphasized that lexicographers are writing a draft definition “for the Word of the Year campaign” and that terms without draft definitions are already in the OED.

Rizz Named Word Of The Year 2023 By Oxford University Press

The rest of the words will be included in dictionaries “after assessment of their longevity, frequency, and breadth of usage,” according to the statement.

Kai Cenat, a Twitch streamer and YouTuber is widely credited with popularizing the term rizz, which he used with his buddies.

The word’s popularity has grown this year, and in June, actor Tom Holland was asked by Buzzfeed about the secret to his frizz.

Holland responded, “I have no rizz at all.” “I have limited rizz,” he says before detailing how he won his fiancée Zendaya over by playing the “long game.”

Another slang term characterizing “unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy” behavior that was last year’s Oxford word of the year was “goblin mode.”

Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, stated that while “goblin mode” was popular following the epidemic, “it’s interesting to see a contrasting word like rizz come to the forefront.”

He speculated that the word referred to “a prevailing mood of 2023, where more of us are opening up after a challenging few years and finding confidence in who we are.”

Mr. Grathwohl said that the increased use of the word frizz demonstrated that words and phrases derived from online culture “are increasingly becoming part of the day-to-day vernacular.”

The language specialists at Oxford University Press chose the selection of eight words.

This list was then subjected to a public vote in late November, narrowing the field to four finalists before the experts decided.

Collins Dictionary revealed “artificial intelligence” as the word of 2023 in November.

SOURCE – BBC