Mexico ( Mexico's First Openly Gay Mayor says Fighting Cartels is a Priority )

Mexico's First Openly Gay Mayor says Fighting Cartels is a Priority

Sunday, September 15, 2013 | Borderland Beat Reporter Havana Pura

The first openly gay mayor in Mexico's history has been sworn in at a ceremony in city of Fresnillo.

Benjamin Medrano said his sexuality only became an issue in the electoral campaign when the opposition tried to use it against him in conservative Zacatecas state.

The city has been caught up in a turf war between drug cartels operating in central and northern Mexico.

Mr Medrano says he hopes to make a difference for the people of Fresnillo.He posted a message on his Twitter account soon after the ceremony: "The time has come to listen to your demands and address your problems. I have a commitment with you."

 Two of Mexico's biggest criminal organizations - Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel - have been fighting for control of drug trafficking routes leading north towards the American border.

Mr Medrano said the fact that he has no involvement with criminal organisations would enable him to do a good job for the people of Fresnillo.

"What matters the least for the people is who you may sleep with, what you do in your private life. What they want is good results from their politicians," he told BBC Mundo.

Gay marriage
Mr Medrano comes from a very poor background in Zacatecas state. He went to the United States aged six, as part of an "artistic caravan."

He returned to Mexico after many years to finish school and to read law at university.  He began a professional career as a singer and opened Fresnillo's first gay nightclub.

A Roman Catholic in a very conservative part of Mexico, he says he has no intention of getting married.

He denied being against gay marriage, but hinted that what is acceptable in the capital, Mexico City, and other regions of the country may not be acceptable in Zacatecas.

"My agenda is based on achieving human and social development for all of us who live in Fresnillo, regardless of sexual orientation," he told BBC Mundo. Security is the main concern of the population of Fresnillo, a city of some 200,000 inhabitants.

Security is the main concern of the population of Fresnillo, a city of some 200,000 inhabitants. "First, we need to get our police better equipped and better trained, so they don't become accomplices of the criminal gangs," said Mr Medrano.

He was elected mayor for the centre-right Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) of President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office in December promising to review the "war on drugs" policy of his predecessor.

Japan ( Pro Boxer - Must register his own fists as lethal weapons - He is Outraged )

Japanese pro boxer condemns law for classifying him as a dangerous weapon

By Rachel Tackett

Crime Sep. 16, 2013 - 06:47AM JST ( 27 )

TOKYO —

On Sept 9, Hozumi Hasegawa, a second-division professional boxer competing successfully at a world level, made a very angry post to his blog condemning the nation’s laws for preventing him from raising his hand against anyone outside of work, regardless of the circumstances.
We’ve probably all heard the story in unspecific terms: rumor states that a trained fighter must register his own fists as lethal weapons. It would then stand to reason that any scuffle involving that person would put him on the receiving end of severe charges for battery and assault with a dangerous weapon. 
Hasegawa opened his recent blog post with the admission that he “was writing out of irrational anger.” According to his personal understanding of the subject, the law states that because he is a pro boxer, his own body is classified as a dangerous weapon and thus he cannot exchange blows with anyone on the streets, even if the circumstances would normally classify fighting as a justifiable response.
Hasegawa gives two examples in his angry rant. “Even if a large number of young punks were to come and pick a fight with me, because I’m a pro, I’d have to endure their beating without fighting back. […] So, even if I’m squarely and purposefully hit, I cannot retaliate simply because I’m a pro?”
Hasegawa goes on to question all of the inconsistencies that this rule creates. “Would it be better for a pro martial artist?” he writes. “Is it because I’m a pro boxer? Would it still be forbidden if it was me against ten armed assailants? Or, what if two pro boxers have a fight in the streets? This law is strange!” he laments.
Of course, Hasegawa’s outcry is not for his inability to start a rumble in the streets, the professional fighter assures his readers. What he wants is to retain the right to protect himself, his friends, and those important to him as an act of legitimate self-defense. “There’s a difference between hitting someone out of frustration and hitting them to protect yourself. I don’t understand this law that says I can’t hit anyone just because I’m a pro.”
Now, I’m no lawyer, but I worked a little Google to see what I could dig up about this peculiar law. While I wasn’t able to find anything specifically targeting boxers, I did come across an interesting fact on 3Yen, a legal FAQ for Japan. According to this site, residents of Japan do not have a right to self-defense! It is only a mitigating option. What this means is that any attempt to use violence as a form of defense leaves one liable to battery charges which will only be dropped if a number of mitigating circumstances can be proved.
In other countries, such as America and Australia, fighting back in the face of an assault is legally permissible within “necessary measure,” even for a trained fighter. This usually matters most in the courtroom, long after a fight, as the victim of the initial assault must be able to prove that the amount of force that they used in their retaliation was necessary given the circumstances. In such cases, a trained fighter acting instinctively upon a perceived threat can be at a disadvantage when placed before a jury. If the fighting specialist suffers no injuries, while their assailant suffers many it can be hard to prove that the measures taken were not excessive, but in fact necessary.
So, I want to believe that Hasegawa’s legal advisory to refrain from all fighting on the streets was more to avoid the high likelihood of battery claims against him in the event of injury to his assailant, rather than the existence of a law specifically targeting professional boxers. After all, it would be difficult to defend the mitigating circumstances when the assailant is the one suffering a broken jaw. 
As an extra little follow-up to Hasegawa’s angry blog rant, the pro boxer posted a written apology for his outburst over the unfair law. After discussing the issue with his boss and his trainer, he has calmed down considerably and regrets specifically that he showed any willingness whatsoever to strike a person. He is rethinking the matter very deeply and apologizes sincerely for lashing out in a public forum.

CRIME WATCH (HUMAN RIGHTS SITE): MESA Az ( Man Accused of Attacking Teacher in kin...

CRIME WATCH (HUMAN RIGHTS SITE): MESA Az ( Man Accused of Attacking Teacher in kin...:   Permalink     MESA, Ariz. (AP) – A parent is facing c...

MESA Az ( Man Accused of Attacking Teacher in kindergartners Class ) Felony arrest

 

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MESA, Ariz. (AP) – A parent is facing charges after Mesa police say he walked into an elementary school and attacked a teacher in front of kindergartners.

KTVK-TV reports that Aaron Jermaine Byrd was arrested this week following the bizarre attack at Emerson Elementary in Mesa.

According to police, Byrd came to the school on Tuesday, yelled profanities and refused to sign in at the front office. The police report says the man then shoved his way into the classroom by pushing the teacher backward with his chest as she repeatedly asked him to "stop touching me.''
The TV station report says the principal told its reporter that parents weren't notified because they didn't need to know, and he asked the reporter to stop telling parents who arrived at the school on Friday to pick up their kids after school.

Byrd faces a felony charge of assault on a school teacher.

Read more: http://www.kfyi.com/articles/arizona-news-118695/man-accused-of-attacking-teacher-in-11653923/#ixzz2ez4RA2Mu

Mexico City ( Three More Arrested in Mexico Bar Kidnapping )

MEXICO CITY – Three more suspects have been arrested in connection with the May 26 kidnapping of 13 people from a capital bar and their subsequent murder, a Mexican federal prosecutor said.

Jonathan Robles Gonzalez, Pedro Francisco Paz Lopez and Fernando Fernandez Sanchez are implicated “in the offenses of kidnapping and deprivation of life of the 13 people found in the clandestine grave in Tlalmanalco,” Renato Sales told reporters.

Federal police took the three men by helicopter from Toluca, capital of Mexico state, to the federal Attorney General’s Office in Mexico City, where the suspects were paraded before the media.

Present for the press conference was Mexico City district attorney Rodolfo Rios Garza, who thanked the federal AG’s office for assisting his investigation.

The bodies of the people snatched in May from the Heaven bar in Mexico City’s upscale Zona Rosa district were discovered last month by federal authorities pursuing leads in a firearms case unrelated to the Heaven kidnappings.

Investigators found the mass grave – covered with cement, asbestos and lime – on the La Mesa ranch in Tlalmanalco, Mexico state.

Only two of the 13 families have received the remains of their slain loved ones.

Authorities say the mass abduction and murder was carried out in reprisal for the May 24 killing of Horacio Vite Angel, a reputed member of the La Union de Insurgentes drug gang, by the rival La Union de Tepito group.

One of the people taken from the bar and killed, 16-year-old Jerzy Ortiz, was the son of Jorge “El Tanque” Ortiz Reyes, the jailed boss of La Union de Tepito, officials said. EFE

Syria ( Government forces take back parts of Ancient Christian Town )

Casey Anthony ( Will finally be forced to answer to a court about the disappearance of her daughter Caylee )

 

While Casey went to trial and was acquitted of killing Caylee, she did not answer questions under oath about her daughter’s disappearance.

But now Casey Anthony is due to return to court after Zenaida Gonzalez filed a defamation suit against Anthony. In 2008, Casey told investigators that her daughter was kidnapped by a babysitter named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, but detectives said the sitter never existed. Caylee’s body was found the next year.When the case goes to trial next month, Casey will be forced to answer questions about Caylee’s death, said Gonzalez’s attorney Matt Morgan.

“Casey Anthony will not be permitted to plead the Fifth as her appeals have now been resolved,” Morgan said.. “We look forward to getting answers to the questions we have had for a very long time.”

Gonzalez says her life was ruined by the allegation Casey made against her. A judge must first decide if the case will be discharged or if it will got forward. Morgan said he believes it will because Anthony committed a calculated act against his client.

“We believe that it’s not because it was an intentional act and the judge will make a final decision,” said Morgan. “We hope it’s going to reveal the truth of what happened and how Zenaida got drug into the circus in the first place.”

Legal Analyst Mark NeJame said he believes Casey Anthony’s deposition will finally let the public know exactly what happened to Caylee.

“I’ve always believed this is pre-meditated, first-degree murder,” said NeJame. “How she weaved the set of facts into Zenaida Gonzalez being the nanny is relevant because all of that would be a part of the parcel of the apparent lie that was told.”

NeJame said it will be a difficult situation for Casey. If she tells the truth she will likely have to admit to murder, but if she lies then she will face legal consequences, NeJame said.

It will also be one of the first public appearances for Casey Anthony since the end of her trial. She has spent most of the past few years in hiding.