DETROIT — DETROIT (AP) — Prosecutors have filed charges against a Detroit man they say abducted, raped and killed, then burned the body of his girlfriend’s 5-year-old niece in 2011.
Darnell H. Cheatham, 22, was arrested Friday and arraigned Monday afternoon on charges of first-degree murder, torture, child abuse, arson and mutilation of a body.
Read More…
More on Serial Killers
By David Alexander
WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Two years of budget cuts and fiscal uncertainty have forced the U.S. Army to greatly curtail spending on training, leaving it with only two combat brigades fully prepared to go to war, the Army’s top officer said on Monday.
“Right now, we have in the Army two brigades that are trained. That’s it. Two,” General Ray Odierno told a news conference at the annual conference of the Association of the U.S. Army.
Odierno’s comments came as he and Army Secretary John McHugh discussed the impact of the recent U.S. government shutdown as well as across-the-board budget cuts that forced the military to slash spending in March, nearly halfway through its fiscal year.
McHugh and Odierno both appealed to Congress to find a way to give the military more financial predictability so it can plan effectively. McHugh said that with the way the military is currently funded, budgets that are approved today are based on planning that occurred three years earlier.
“You can’t run the most important military on the face of the Earth locked into three-year-old budgets,” McHugh said.
The Army was hit particularly hard by the cuts in March, known as sequestration, because of higher-than-projected Afghanistan war costs and the need to make up those funds from its operations accounts, which include money for training.
“We had to stop training, basically, in the last six months of the year,” Odierno said.
The ongoing uncertainty with the defense budget could make the situation worse in the fiscal year that began in October. The U.S. government began the year with a shutdown that lasted nearly three weeks and put many federal workers on unpaid leave.
The government resumed operations last week under a deal to fund operations at last year’s spending levels and priorities.
The Army chief said he hoped to be able to devote enough money to training this fiscal year to ensure that seven combat brigades are fully ready by June to respond to a conflict. He said the current lack of training was his biggest concern.
A combat brigade team has about 3,500 to 5,000 soldiers.
“The worst-case scenario is you ask me to deploy thousands of soldiers somewhere and we have not properly trained them to go because we simply don’t have the dollars and money because of the way sequestration is laid out,” Odierno said.
Odierno said that while troops going to Afghanistan had been trained, they were “trained now to do training and advising only. They’re not trained to do combat operations … because that’s not their mission in Afghanistan any more.”
The Army grew to about 570,000 uniformed personnel over the past decade. But with the war in Iraq over and the one in Afghanistan winding down, officials plan to reduce the size of the force to 490,000. The number of brigade combat teams is due to fall from a total of 45 currently down to 33.
With the Pentagon increasingly likely to face cuts of nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, the Army could be forced to cut further. A management review this summer conducted by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel indicated the Army might have to shrink by up to 70,000 more soldiers, to 420,000.
McHugh said that if the across-the-board cuts continue in force, essentially all of the Army’s programs will be affected.
Odierno also said the Army needs a replacement for its armored fighting vehicles, its workhorse Humvee vehicles and its helicopters. “The bottom line is we can’t afford all of that. And so we’re going to have make some tough decisions,” he said. (Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Will Dunham)
Read More…
More on Chuck Hagel
Joel Shapiro has been constructing artworks both massive and minuscule since the 1960s. His signature rectangular shapes adorn the interior halls of galleries and the exterior expanses of public spaces in at least 20 states across America. So it’s not necessarily a surprise that the artist is an honoree at this year’s Americans for the Arts, receiving the organization’s Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award.
In anticipation of the gala on October 21, we spoke to Shapiro about his public art legacy, his early years as a professional artist and his admiration for the sculptors before him:
This week the MLB’s fall classic kicks off as the Red Sox face the Cardinals. If you’re not a baseball fan there’s still other things to look forward to, with plenty of horror-related Blu-ray releases and the requisite cheesy Syfy movie arriving in time for Halloween. The Nerdist himself Chris …
AUSTIN, Texas — AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Advocacy groups are asking a federal judge to derail a strict new Texas abortion law that was the center of a high-profile summer filibuster.
The law requires doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals to perform abortions. It also only allows abortions in surgical centers and bans the procedure after 20 weeks, while limiting medication-induced abortions.
The ditto Glucose Data System consists of a Bluetooth device, an electronic logbook app, and a secure Web site.
(Credit: Biomedtrics)
Let’s face it: traditional glucose monitors require their share of work. Even diabetics who are diligent about monitoring their glucose levels have to then go to the trouble of either plugging the meters into a computer to upload the readings or tracking them manually.
So Pleasanton, Calif.-based Biomedtrics has come up with what it calls the ditto Glucose Data System to bridge the gap between glucose monitors and smartphones and thus make glucose tracking a little easier. The system comprises a Bluetooth device, an electronic logbook app, and a secure Web site — called mydittolife — on which to store and track data. Users can also share the information with their physician, family, caregivers, etc.
The device is available on Amazon for $129, while the logbook app is available … [Read more]
Related Links:
     |
Many believed the Christmas Comet would arrive in time for the holidays. But fears are now rising that it won’t be here in time for the holidays.
Following Sony’s introduction of the A7 and A7r mirrorless full-frame cameras earlier this month, a Nikon shooter has surfaced suggesting there’s a rival device in the works. Though no name for the camera has been leaked, the specifications suggest that it is a full-frame offering (not mirrorless, unfortunately), and that it’ll have a retro-centric design […]
In a surprising report by Localytics, the iPhone 5c has been shown to be catching up to the iPhone 5s in sales both within the US and globally. The 5c has seen some ups and downs. Apple initially thought it would sell many more than the 5s, but the 5s quickly took over and skyrocketed […]
TOMS RIVER, N.J. — TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — Nearly a year after Superstorm Sandy, victims of the storm told a state panel that insurance woes and bureaucratic red tape are doing just as much damage as the storm.
At a state Senate hearing Monday in Toms River, one of the hardest hit communities at the Jersey shore, many residents complained of insurance companies trying to low-ball them on payouts, and stringent aid rules that are delaying them from rebuilding.
Read More…
More on Hurricane Sandy 2012
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
