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In March 2024, Carlos Ballestros of Injustice Watch reported that Lt. John D. Poulus, Chicago policeman and attorney, was running in the upcoming 2024 election for Cook County Judge and raised concerns about his tumultuous past. With the upcoming presidential elections at the peak of the news cycle, many voters are eager to collect as much information to pick their candidate of choice. For the citizens of Cook County, Chicago, there is a much more concerning candidate breaching the ballots.

Prior to his time serving as a police officer, he had several run-ins with the law, including a tampering charge as a result of his decision to try to remove a person’s tires from their car after they failed to pay a debt. His time as a police officer showed continued patterns of dishonesty and manipulation, according to the internal affairs office’s track record.

Even his limited legal career as a real estate attorney is mired by reports of malpractice. After notarizing several documents in which he held stake in one party, many have questioned his ability to perform his tasks as a county judge in an unbiased manner. Despite these concerns, Poulus has continued to hold his position in the Records Department of the Chicago Police Department. He is now asking the  citizens of Cook County to vote for him through a campaign platform based on being tough on crime.

This sentiment may reach many of the citizens of Cook County because according to the Chicago Police Department, there were 77,523 crimes committed in 2023. When a city has a high crime rate, it is important to have fair legal actions taken against perpetrators to serve justice for their victims. This being said, according to an article written in Chicago Magazine, “A new UIC report lists the Chicago area as the most corrupt region in the country, and Illinois as the third-most corrupt state in America.”

His continuous breaches of law and policy have caused a call for proper vetting prior to electoral candidacy and offered a peek into the prevalence of corruption in the Chicago Police Department. It also highlights the importance of voter education regarding candidates in state and local elections.

As of this writing, no major corporate media platforms have covered the story of Lt. John D. Poulus’s actions in correlation with his candidacy. Although his possible candidacy will mostly affect the citizens of Cook County, the possible implications of having a corrupt police officer as a judge, and the precedent that it sets for the legal system going onward is a story of national importance.

As citizens, we deserve to make informed choices about those running for election; without accurate  and comprehensive coverage, we cannot make informed decisions. There are only a few articles from local news sites that have reported on Poulos and his crimes. However there appears to be a lack of concern regarding his ability to carry out his duties as judge in conjunction with his past. With the monopolization of public attention that is held by major corporate media, it is simply not enough to have this pushed to marginalized local news sites.

Source: Carlos Ballesteros, “A Notorious Chicago Cop Wants to Become a Cook County Judge,” Injustice Watch, March 4, 2024.

Student Researchers: Anabelle Canavan, Kayla LaFleur, and Lisbel Vargas  (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

Faculty Evaluator: Allison Butler (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

Israel has launched air strikes in Lebanon and is restricting gatherings in the city of Haifa and other northern areas as it continues to attack targets linked to Hezbollah.

Dozens of fighter jets started “extensively” striking southern Lebanon “following detection of Hezbollah preparing to fire toward Israeli territory”, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said.

The latest Israeli offensive comes a day after it carried out an air strike in Beirut, which the IDF said killed a dozen senior Hezbollah commanders. Lebanon said 37 people – including three children – were killed.

The US government is urging its citizens there to leave “via commercial options while still available”.

On Friday, exchanges of cross-border fire resumed between Israel and Hezbollah.

Before the evening Israeli strikes began, the IDF said earlier it had destroyed “about 180 sites and thousands of [rocket] launcher barrels” with strikes

The IDF also said more than 90 rockets were fired at Israeli territory from Lebanon. Hezbollah said it had targeted 11 Israeli military positions over the course of the day.

On Saturday night, Hezbollah said it had fired dozens of rockets towards the Ramat David Airbase in Israel’s north in retaliation for the Israeli attacks.

Earlier this week, 39 people were killed and thousands wounded after pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political group, exploded on two days across Lebanon.

On Thursday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel for the attacks, saying it had crossed “all red lines” and vowed “just punishment”.

Israel has not claimed responsibility.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said the pager and walkie-talkie explosions violated international humanitarian law.

On Saturday, the IDF announced new restrictions on communities in northern Israel and parts of the southern Golan Heights starting at 20:30 local time (17:30 GMT).

The IDF limited gatherings to 30 participants in an open area and 300 participants in a closed space. Educational activities can continue and arrival to work is permitted as long as there are protected spaces available.

The restrictions apply to the Haifa area and northward.

As fears increase that the conflict may break out into a full-scale war, the US State Department issued new travel advice for citizens currently in Lebanon.

The US Embassy in Beirut urged people to “depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available”, noting they were already running at “reduced capacity”.

The embassy added it “may not be able to assist US citizens who choose to remain”.

Neighbouring Jordan’s foreign ministry issued similar advice to its citizens, urging those in Lebanon to leave as soon as possible.

Cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated on 8 October 2023 – the day after the attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from Gaza – when Hezbollah fired at Israeli positions in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Israel recently added the return of people displaced from the north of the country due to the cross-border fighting to its list of war goals.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday that Israel was entering a “new phase of the war” concentrating more of its efforts in the north.

BBC

‘Just vile’

‘I was frightened’

SPECIALIST security is set to guard Mike Lynch’s sunken superyacht over fears rogue governments may want to plunder it for sensitive secrets.

Italian prosecutors reckon there could be classified information locked inside the £30million Bayesian which sunk during a storm off Sicily on August 22.

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Salvage experts believe passcodes could be among data held on two super-encrypted hard drives stored in on-board watertight safes.

Local law enforcement initially feared professional thieves might loot the 164ft vessel, which is set to be raised in the coming weeks, for valuables like expensive jewellery.

But they have asked for security to be bolstered both above water and underwater due to concerns over foreign powers like Russia and China.

A Sicilian civil protection authority official assisting with the criminal investigation told CNN: “A formal request has been accepted and implemented for additional security of the wreckage until it can be raised.”

Mr Lynch, 59, had connections with British, American and other intelligence services through firms like his cyber security company Darktrace.

The billionaire tycoon, known as Britain’s Bill Gates, previously advised PMs like David Cameron and Theresa May as an expert on science, technology and security.

The tragic trip was celebrating Mr Lynch’s acquittal from a US fraud trial surrounding the £8.6billion sale of his Autonomy company to Hewlett Packard.

He died alongside 18-year-old daughter Hannah, on-board chef Recaldo Thomas, lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda, banker Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy.

His wife Angela Bacares and 14 others survived including captain James Cutfield who is being probed for multiple manslaughter.

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Inside The Bayesian’s final 16 minutes

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By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter

Data recovered from the Bayesian’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) breaks down exactly how it sank in a painful minute-by-minute timeline.

At 3.50am on Monday August 19 the Bayesian began to shake “dangerously” during a fierce storm, Italian outlet Corriere revealed.

Just minutes later at 3.59am the boat’s anchor gave way, with a source saying the data showed there was “no anchor left to hold”.

After the ferocious weather ripped away the boat’s mooring it was dragged some 358 metres through the water.

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By 4am it had began to take on water and was plunged into a blackout, indicating that the waves had reached its generator or even engine room.

At 4.05am the Bayesian fully disappeared underneath the waves.

An emergency GPS signal was finally emitted at 4.06am to the coastguard station in Bari, a city nearby, alerting them that the vessel had sunk.

Early reports suggested the disaster struck around 5am local time off the coast of Porticello Harbour in Palermo, Sicily.

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The new data pulled from the boat’s AIS appears to suggest it happened an hour earlier at around 4am.

Some 15 of the 22 onboard were rescued, 11 of them scrambling onto an inflatable life raft that sprung up on the deck.

A smaller nearby boat – named Sir Robert Baden Powell – then helped take those people to shore.