Wednesday wonderings - 6/26/2019

The funeral for Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department's Deputy Joseph Solano was held this past Monday.  Unless someone discovers a motive, this was a completely random act of violence.  Senseless.  The accused shooter, Rhett McKenzie Nelson, is alleged to have murdered another person an hour earlier.  Nelson is also charged with two armed robberies that same day in Long Beach.

Nelson, who is 30 years of age, was reported missing by his family in Utah prior to these shootings and robberies.  They mentioned he suffers from mental illness and an addiction to opiates.  They also said he had a gun with him.

We need to know just how Nelson got his hands on a gun.  Whether or not his mental illness was just the parent's opinion or if he had been diagnosed.  There are questions to be answered.

Meanwhile, there is a Go Fund Me page to help the Solano family.

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Speaking of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, the Los Angeles Times reports that ICE is still able to have occupants of the county jail transferred to them upon release for deportation.

That flies in the fact of campaign promises made by Alex Villanueva during his successful run for his current position as the County Sheriff.

I'll let you read the story for yourselves, but something is rotten in Los Angeles as opposed to Denmark.

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Rounding out L.A. County issues, the Times also reports on attorneys for the county asking for information on sources reporters used to gather information.  This is tied to a lawsuit filed by the Times seeking records that the county is refusing to disclose.

Yet another example of the importance of a free press.

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Newly released documents show that the Trump Transition Team "red-flagged" retired four-star General David Petraeus from consideration as Secretary of State because of his publicly-state opposition to the use of torture.  

I'm opposed to torture.  Given enough painful stimuli, the victim of torture will say anything to make the pain stop.

But I'd oppose General Petraeus from serving in any high government position based on his having pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information.  In fact, he had provided his biographer/mistress Paula Broadwell with information classified Top Secret - SCI.  That is disqualifying in my eyes.

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Love this quote from NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley.  In the wake of LaVar Ball's latest gaffe (he made an offensive comment regarding ESPN's Molly Qerim), Barkley said, "Wherever LaVar Ball is, there's a village missing an idiot."