The incident happened around 2:00am local time (24:00 GMT), causing a major fire.After the train caught fire, a series of explosions rocked the train cars, prompting authorities to evacuate residents living nearby and disrupting the railway service in the area for at least two days, DH newspaper quoted governor of East Flanders Jan Briers as saying.A total of six carriages derailed: two were on their side and three were on fire.The blazing carriages contained acrylonitrile, a toxic substance, according firefighters. But reportedly there is no danger to the public at this point.The train was coming from the Netherlands and was heading to the city’s seaport – Ghent-Zeehaven. … Read More
Supreme Court rules immigrants cannot be deported for minor drug offenses
In a decision issued Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court ruled that immigrants living in the U.S. cannot be deported for minor drug crimes absent the presence of a large quantity of a controlled substance or direct evidence of a sale. “We must decide whether this category includes a…
At least 2 injured in downtown Moscow explosion – reports
“The blast ripped through a metal container near Novy Arbat Street, 7, in Moscow’s center,” a law enforcement source told Itar-Tass news agency. The explosion occurred next to a building that houses an Asian restaurant and the offices of several Orthodox Church-linked organizations.Police are investigating the blast, which took place in the middle of one of the city’s main avenues, in a district full of tourist attractions. The site of the blast has been cordoned off.The Moscow department of the Russian Interior Ministry has denied that an explosive device was the cause of the Tuesday explosion.“One of the workers had a metal tank filled with a chemical substance, which exploded. As a result, two people sustained chemical burns,” the department spokesperson told Itar-Tass. The two are now being given medical treatment.According to LifeNews, the blast was caused by a chlorine-filled container used in maintenance work. The two injured are reported to be workers doing renovation.Novy (‘New’) Arbat is a modern six-lane avenue running parallel to the historic Arbat street. It was designed in the 1950s and was originally named Kalinin Prospekt. … Read More
Tens of millions to receive substance abuse help under Obama’s health reform law
When the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented in 2014, over 32 million Americans will get access to substance abuse and mental health treatments not currently available to the uninsured or through today’s most common health insurance policies. The administration calls this expansion the…
The Hakken Child Abduction Story Apparently Started With a Simple Marijuana Arrest
It’s been 24 hours since Joshua Hakken
allegedly
broke into his mother-and-law’s house in Tampa, tied her up
with zip ties, and left with his sons Cole and Chase–who are two
and four years old–in his mother-in-law’s car. Florida law
enforcement authorities say the “anti-government” couple of Joshua
and Sharyn Hakken are now on the run with Cole and Chase in tow.
Law enforcement agencies in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana have
all issued child abduction alerts, as well as disseminated pictures
of the Hakken family. ;
Over the course of those 24 hours, we’ve learned a thing or two
about the Hakkens from law enforcement and the media. The story
taking shape is both tragic and infuriating, as it appears from an
interview with officials in Louisiana that the couple’s problems do
indeed stem from Joshua Hakken’s 2012 marijuana arrest. ;
Here’s what we know at this point about the chain of events that
led the Hakkens to “abduct” their own children:
Joshua Hakken, an engineer from Tampa, Florida, was arrested at
an “anti-government rally” in a hotel in Slidell, Louisiana, on
June 17, 2012; and charged with “Possession of Marijuana,
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of a controlled
dangerous substance in the presence of a minor.”
According to Det. Daniel Seuzeneau, the Slidell police officer
who arrested Joshua Hakken, ”He was under the influence of
narcotics and also had narcotics inside his hotel room and he was
speaking kind of out of his mind a little bit.” ;
Seuzeneau says that Department of Children and Family Services
was called, the kids were taken, and Hakken was jailed for “maybe a
week or so but not very long.”
The children were placed in temporary foster care in
Louisiana.
Allegedly armed with a firearm, Joshua Hakken tried to “abduct”
his children from the foster care facility, and then left when he
could not get inside.
According to multiple media outlets, a judge in Louisiana gave
permanent custody of the Hakken children to Sharyn Hakken’s mother
in Tampa on Tuesday of this week. ;
On Wednesday, Joshua Hakken broke into his mother-in-law’s
house shortly after her husband had gone to work,
restrained her with zip ties, and left with the kids. Several
hours later, his mother-in-law broke free and called the
police. ;
The Amber Alert issued by Hillsborough County (Florida)
Sheriffs Department says the Hakkens “are anti-government,” have
“attempted a previous abduction at gun point in Louisiana,” and
“are considered armed and dangerous.”
Joshua Hakken is facing two counts of kidnapping, two counts of
interference in child custody, two counts of child neglect, one
count of false imprisonment, burglary with a battery, and grand
theft auto. If he was armed when any of that happened, Florida’s 10-20-Life law
could come into play. ;
While I haven’t been able to figure out anything about the
“anti-government” rally Hakken was allegedly attending in Slidell,
or what happened between June 2012 and Wednesday of this week, his
and his wife’s political beliefs are hardly the danger that law
enforcement officials are making them out to be.
From ;The
Tampa Bay Times:
In February 2012, someone writing as “SailingBull” posted to the
website for Adam vs. The Man, a forum “about challenging authority,
sticking it to the man, and giving the millennial generation a
voice.”
“My name is Joshua Hakken,” he wrote. “I am a father, a
registered professional mechanical engineer and a veteran of the
USAF. I am absolutely devoted to life, liberty, the rights of the
individual and the Constitution of the United States of America.
”
After saying that he had noticed that “things here in Florida
have not added up for quite some time,” he concluded, “in these
crazy times, maintaining open communication lines for ideas,
observations and news is absolutely crucial if the ‘good guys’ are
to be successful in surviving to maintain the fight of ideas.”
That same story includes several quotes from neighbors about how
normal and pleasant the Hakkens are, save for a rather careless
habit of smoking pot in their driveway. ; … Read More
Scientists find traces of dark matter from cosmos
GENEVA (AP) — A $2 billion cosmic ray detector on the International Space Station has found the first significant hint of dark matter, the mysterious substance that is believed to hold the cosmos together but has never been directly observed, scientists say.The first results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which was sent into space two years ago, show evidence of a new physics phenomena that could be the strange and unknown matter, an international team at the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva announced Wednesday.Nobel-winning physicist Samuel Ting, who leads the team, said he expects a more conclusive answer within months.The data is being collected and analyzed at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, along the Swiss-French border.The findings Wednesday are based on seeing an excess of positrons — positively charged subatomic particles. Since the 7-ton AMS magnetic detector began studying cosmic ray particles in space, it found about 400,000 positrons whose surging energies indicate they might have been created when particles of dark matter collided and destroyed each other.Continue Reading… … Read More
Four Months After Two States Legalized Pot, Holder Still Say’s He’ll Respond ‘Relatively Soon’
A month after voters in
Colorado and Washington approved the legalization of marijuana,
Attorney General Eric Holder
said the Justice Department would respond “relatively soon.”
Now he
says we can expect that response…”relatively soon.” No,
really:
“We’re still in the process of reviewing both of the initiatives
that were passed,” Holder said at a morning appearance, answering a
question from Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. “I would say,
and I mean this, that you’ll hear soon.”
“We are, I think, in our last stages of that review, and are
trying to make a determination as to what the policy ramifications
are going to be, what our international obligations are. There are
a whole variety of things that go into this determination,” Holder
said. “But the people in [Colorado] and Washington deserve that
answer and we will have that, as I said, relatively soon.”
Surely that is why no one at the Justice Department is returning my calls. Last week
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
had this to say about the eagerly awaited DOJ response:
“They’re looking at how we can adjust something in the
rule-making—is there something in the regulatory framework that we
can accommodate the will of these voters, and can we do it in such
a way that doesn’t endanger or put undue pressures on our
neighboring states or other states?” Hickenlooper said. “No one’s
got the answer on this one.”
“They have an open door to discuss it and try to work through
this,” he added of Holder’s team at the Justice Department.
“There’s more nuance to the law than just the black and white.” One
legal option, said Hickenlooper, would be to “go back to Congress
and somehow change the controlled substance laws—they’re open to
all of that.”
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee made
similar comments after meeting with Holder last month.
Addendum: Whoops. Mike Riggs
noted this story earlier today. … Read More
