An off-duty pilot who claims he was in the middle of a bad trip on psychedelic mushrooms when he attempted to shut off the engines of an Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight has been indicted on 84 charges related to the Oct 22 incident.
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt confirmed
Tuesday that a grand jury indicted Joseph David Emerson on one count of endangering aircraft in the first degree and 83 counts of recklessly endangering another person.
Despite being initially charged with 83 counts of attempted murder, the grand jury declined to charge the 44-year-old, according to ABC News
, ruling he did not deliberately attempt to injure anyone at the time.
Audiences attending New York
theater are used to hearing the announcement at the beginning of many productions—that the venue they are sitting stands on land that was the original homeland of the Lenape people. In the program for the Public Theater
’s production of Mary Kathryn Nagle’s 2013 play, Manahatta (to Dec. 23)
, the statement has grown in declarative emphasis. “The Public stands in honor of the first people and our ancestors…We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory. We honor the generations of stewards, and we pay our respects to the many diverse indigenous peoples still connected to this land.”
The play, directed by Laurie Woolery, takes place in two time zones and places—the year of the financial crash in 2008 in Manhattan and Oklahoma
, and then 17th century Manahatta (popularly known as Manhattan Island), where Dutch settlers land, and—first by inquisitive charm, then by brute force—displace the Lenape. The play contrasts the echoing themes of the two different eras: the violent centrifugal spin of money, racism, trade, power, and identity. The company of actors play different characters with similar characteristics in both eras.
Present in both old and modern storylines are the Lenape—a people in the 17th century selling furs and at home in what we know today as Downtown Manhattan. In the 17th century, we see the incipient forces of capitalism destroy the Lenape in their own homeland; in 2008, we see a modern Lenape family in Oklahoma threatened with losing their home because of the financial crash.
Of all the issues before voters, healthcare remains the holy grail for Democrats
.
In the last three election cycles, it delivered Democratic victories based on deeply held beliefs about which party could be trusted to reform a system that had left millions without health care and millions more bankrupt with medical debt.
The Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010 (and more commonly known as Obamacare
), is far from perfect, but it allowed people with pre-existing conditions to get health insurance, it removed unrealistic caps on medical care, and it allowed young people to remain on their parents’ insurance policy until the age of 26.
Two months after she voted to boot Kevin McCarthy from the House speakership, Rep. Nancy Mace
(R-SC) is dealing with some leadership problems of her own.
In the past week, three staffers have left Mace’s office, according to a new report in The Washington Examiner
.
Two of the staffers resigned, while chief of staff and longtime Mace staffer Dan Hanlon was fired, according to the Examiner, which quoted one source alleging a “toxic work environment.”
A 16-year-old boy was arrested in Las Vegas for threatening to make a “lone wolf” terrorist attack in support of ISIS on social media, according to authorities. He was found with components for homemade bombs, an information packet on how to make explosives, a handmade Islamic state flag, headbands and other terrorist propaganda.
The boy has been taken into custody and charged with multiple felonies such as attempting to further an act of terrorism, terroristic threats, providing material support to a terrorist organization and five counts of possession of explosive components, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed in a statement
Friday.
The initial police investigation revealed that the boy is a recent Islam convert and was living with his parents and siblings. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department was first alerted when he posted his support for the Islamic State accompanied by a threat for a “lone wolf operations in Las Vegas against the enemies of Allah” online.
