Nipsey Hussle Was Apparently Targeted By The LAPD Before His Death Despite Saying He Wasn’t In 2019

 

After Nipsey Hussle‘s death in 2019, the Los Angeles Police Department denied that he was the target of an investigation into the neighborhood of his Marathon Clothing store. The investigation was aimed at trying to curb gang violence in the Central LA area around the store, but representatives for the LAPD said that Nipsey wasn’t being investigated.

However, in a new episode of Guardian‘s Today In Focus podcast, the initiative, called the LASER (Los Angeles Strategic Extraction and Restoration) program, Nipsey’s brother, Samiel Asghedom (aka Blacc Sam) revealed that many of those anti-gang efforts centered on the Marathon store, despite the positive work the rapper had committed to. “The agenda was, ‘Whatever they’re doing over there, crush it,” he said.

Meanwhile, law professor Andrew Ferguson described the program, explaining its title as a “metaphor that they were going to, like laser surgery, remove the tumors, the bad actors from the community” via “predictive policing technology.” According to Los Angeles Times, the program used data to identify “anchor points” were more officers could be concentrated. In 2019, the program was ended by the LAPD after community criticism, with a spokesperson saying, “We discontinued LASER because we want to reassess the data. It was inconsistent. We’re pulling back.”

Jeff Bezos-Backed Lab Hired Nobel Laureate Top Scientists to Beat Death

 Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has assembled an all-star team of scientists, including Nobel laureates to start Altos Labs that will use cellular reprogramming to reverse disease, injury, and disabilities, a launch statement from the biotechnology company said. 

Last year, we had reported that Bezos was funding a biotech startup that would have onboard Shinya Yamanaka, the Nobel laureate who reprogrammed mature cells into younger stem cells, capable of taking new cells forms.  Although Yamanaka was to work with the company in an unpaid consultations role, few other details were then available about what the company was aiming for. Now, in the press release, the company had not only revealed how it will function but also the roles of who's who in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical markets, both in the industry and the academia. 

The company will initially be based in San Diego and San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. as well as Cambridge in the U.K. and in Japan. Researchers at its Institutes of Science headed by Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a former professor at Salk Institute who worked on organ regeneration, Wolf Reik, an honorary professor at Cambridge working on epigenetic reprogramming of cells and Peter Walter, an investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Center working on quality control of cellular proteins, will respectively try to answer deep scientific questions.

Thore Graepel, a professor at University College London and previously a research lead at Google Deep Mind will head the computational science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning functions at the company while The Institute of Medicine will translate knowledge gained about cell health and programming into transformative medicines.

The company's executive team consists of Hal Barron, currently the Chief Scientific Officer at GlaxoSmithkline, Rick Klausner, former director of the National Cancer Institute, and Ann Lee-Karlon, former Senior Vice President at Genentech. Its board of directors includes Frances Arnold, who won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on directed evolution of enzymes, Jennifer Doudna, who won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on gene-editing technique, CRISPR and David Baltimore, who won the 1975 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on the interaction of viruses with the genetic material of cells, among other notable names. 

The company has also secured a funding of 3 billion dollars that will be used to not only engage in scientific pursuit but also to transform science into medicines, the press release said. 

Whether this all-star team with deep pockets can really reverse aging remains to be seen. Or is it a problem that both the best brains and loads of money cannot solve?

‘Yeah, I Took a Motherfucking Dive’: Tyron Woodley Opens Up on His Knockout Loss to Jake Paul

Yeah, I Took a Motherfucking Dive’: Tyron Woodley Opens Up on His Knockout Loss to Jake Paul

Last month, Jake Paul fought Tyron Woodley in a stellar rematch that had everyone’s attention. Although the ex-UFC elite was a favorite to win, Jake Paul slept Woodley with a power-packed overhand right to attain his biggest career win.

‘The Problem Child’ became an obvious center of attraction, bagging some sublime reactions from fans and purists. At the same time, many pinned this fight as rigged as they believed Paul could never demolish a former UFC champion.

However, ‘The Chosen One’ finally gave his take on the last punch he took on December 19. On The MMA Hour, he said, “Yeah, I took a motherfucking dive, but it wasn’t on purpose. That motherfucker hit me with some shit 

This rematch began well for the former UFC welterweight champ. Coming ahead with his jabs and straight rights, Woodley pressed the Ohio native and dictated the pace of the fight to a fair extent. Moreover, the duo even clashed their heads, which later opened a stream of blood on Paul’s head.

Paul remained in a vulnerable spot, and he was slowly losing his grip on this fight. But then came round 6, when Jake Paul applied all his force to land his best shot. He tricked Woodley into dropping his guard and went 5-0 as a professional.

Jake Paul beat Tyron Woodley via an SD last August. To date, that remains the only fight of his that has gone the distance. However, Paul turned the tables in the rematch, knocking Woodley out to earn the distinction of having finished every opponent he has faced.

Right from Ali Eson Gib to Nate Robinson, and Ben Askren to ‘The Chosen One’, Jake Paul has demolished everyone with his crucifying power.

Breaking News Rocket attack on U.S. Embassy in Baghdad January 2022

 Stunning videos appear to show rockets raining down on the US embassy compound in Baghdad

Striking video of a rocket attack on the US embassy in Baghdad appears to show the embassy's C-RAM defense system — meant to detect and destroy incoming rockets — shooting down at least two rockets on Thursday as more got through. 

US officials blamed"terror groups" for the nighttime attack that was launched from the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad and said a woman and child were injured. 

Three missiles struck within the perimeter of the US embassy, Iraqi security officials told the Associated Press. At least one of the missiles hit the Elaf school. 

The videos show the US-made system firing 20mm rounds, some with illumination, through its six barrels so rapidly the sound of the shots blend together. One video appears to show a rocket strike at close range to the person recording.

Baltimore state's attorney indicted on federal charges

 Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, the city's top prosecutor, was indicted on Thursday on federal charges of perjury and filing false mortgage applications related to her purchase of two Florida vacation homes.

Mosby, a Democrat elected to her post in 2015, is accused of falsely claiming twice to have suffered a work-related financial hardship from COVID-19 in order to request early withdrawals totaling $90,000 from her city employee retirement account.

In both instances, the indictment stated, Mosby fraudulently cited a federal CARES Act provision allowing for emergency distributions of up to $100,000 from her retirement plan in the event of a furlough, layoff, quarantine, reduced work hours, lack of childcare or impact on one's own business caused by COVID-19.

Prosecutors said Mosby, 41, used the money she received - $36,000 in May 2020 and $45,000 on Dec. 31 of that year - toward down payments on vacation homes in Kissimmee, Florida, and Long Boat Key, Florida.

The two counts of perjury stem from Mosby's false statements of coronavirus-related financial duress at a time when she was earning a gross annual salary of nearly $248,000 in full, the indictment asserted.

Mosby is further charged with two counts of making false statements on mortgage applications seeking a total of more than $900,000 in loans to purchase the two Florida properties in question.

In particular, the indictment says, Mosby failed to disclose as required in both applications that she and her husband were delinquent in federal tax payments resulting in $45,000 tax lien filed against them by the Internal Revenue Service in 2020.

Mosby, who ran for office as a part of a movement of "progressive prosecutors" promising to address systemic inequities in the U.S. criminal justice system, made national headlines in 2015 when she charged six officers in the police custody death of Freddie Gray, a young Black man.

The death of Gray, who suffered a fatal spinal injury while being transported without a seatbelt in a police van, led to rioting on the day of his funeral. None of the six officers charged in his death was convicted.

There was no immediate comment from Mosby, her office or any legal representative about the indictment.

If convicted, she could face up to five years for each of two perjury counts and decades in prison on charges of making false mortgage applications, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for Maryland.

Young Dolph press conference

 U.S. Marshals and Memphis authorities held a media briefing regarding rapper Young Dolph's murder case Wednesday.

U.S. Marshal Tyreece Miller, Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis and Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich held a joint press conference at the Odell Horton Federal building in Memphis, following the arrest of Justin Johnson.

Young Dolph's killing: What we know about the shooting, suspects, indictments

Johnson was captured Tuesday in Indiana for his suspected role in the shooting death of Young Dolph, whose legal name is Adolph Thornton Jr.

Johnson was captured after a coordinated investigation by the U.S. Marshals Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force and the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, according to a U.S. Marshals release.

Along with Johnson, U.S. Marshals announced the arrest of Shondale Barnett during the briefing. He was charged with helping Johnson evade law enforcement.

A second suspect in Thornton's case, Cornelius Smith, was also indicted by a Shelby County grand jury on several charges, including first degree murder, according to Weirich's office.

Smith was arrested on Dec. 9 in Southaven, Mississippi. 

Memphis' rapper: Young Dolph remembered for generosity, commitment to Memphis, as 'a man after God’s own heart'

Thornton was killed on Nov. 17 after two suspects shot him at Makeda's Homemade Butter Cookies in Memphis

Justin Johnson, 23, also known as Straight Drop, was captured Tuesday afternoon in Indiana. Another man, Cornelius Smith, 32, was already in custody in Mississippi but was indicted in Shelby County on several charges in this case including first-degree murder.

Another man, identified as Shundale Barnett, who is originally from Memphis but lives in Dallas, faces charges of accessory after the fact for a role in helping Johnson, officials said. Barnett was a passenger in the vehicle driven with Johnson when he was captured. He is also being held in the Clay County Indiana Jail and will be extradited back to Memphis.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Barnett also faces charges of criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder and theft of property from $10,000 to $60,000.