Hasta La Gadget!

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida State graduate Myron May seemed to change from a well-liked young attorney to would-be killer in a matter of months, stopped only by a fusillade of police bullets outside the library at his alma mater after he opened fire on students who dove between the stacks to escape.

Earlier this year, May, who went on to graduate from the Texas Tech law school, was a rookie prosecutor in New Mexico. He was also beginning to fall apart.

May posted on his Facebook page links to information on alleged government mind-reading and believed the government was spying on him. He made rambling statements to the police and a former girlfriend. He abruptly quit his job and headed back to Florida, staying with friends and giving no hint about his plans until early Thursday morning when he headed to his old campus.

“Mr. May’s sense of being and place in our community was not what most people would refer to as a normal,” Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo said. “He had a sense of crisis and he was searching for something.”

At Stozier Library, about 450 students packed the library when May showed up and opened fire about 12:30 a.m. When police arrived, the 31-year-old 2005 graduate had wounded two students and an employee and reloaded his .380 semi-automatic pistol. He refused to put down the weapon and a gun battle erupted. Between May and police, 30 rounds were fired and the shooter was dead, killed by officers’ bullets.

May didn’t get past the lobby, but the sound of gunfire set off screams among students, who scrambled for cover among the bookshelves and barricaded themselves in rooms.

Senior Jason Derfuss, 21, of Orlando, told the Tallahassee Democrat he heard gunfire as he left and saw a man shoot at another person. Derfuss ran to his car and called 911 to report what he’d seen. After he got home, Derfuss dumped the contents of his backpack on the floor. He noticed several books were damaged, and then his roommate found a slug in the bag: a bullet had gone through a book about 14th-century philosopher John Wyclif.

“It was humbling to know that my life was in God’s hands right there and he graciously spared me,” Derfuss told the newspaper.

One person wounded in the shooting was in critical condition at a local hospital. Another, library staffer Nathan Scott, was in good condition at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. A third person was treated and released.

The school and library were expected to reopen Friday.

Friends called May sweet, smart and understated. He returned to Florida about three weeks ago, looking to get a new start in life.

“His fraternity nickname was ‘Sensitive Joe’ and it was fitting,” said state Rep. Matt Gaetz, who belonged to the same Florida State political club as May. “I was so surprised that someone with this docile nature would have something happen in their lives that would have this outcome.”

There were signs of his unraveling.

Police in Las Cruces, New Mexico, said a former girlfriend called to report he came to her home uninvited and claimed police were bugging his house and car. Danielle Nixon told police May recently developed “a severe mental disorder.”

“Myron began to ramble and handed her a piece to a car and asked her to keep it because this was a camera that police had put in his vehicle,” a police report said.

Police were still going through May’s writings and social media posts, but it was clear something was wrong.

“Mr. May had a written journal and videos where he expressed fears of being targeted and that he wanted to bring attention to this issue of targeting,” DeLeo said. “Mr. May was in a state of crisis.”

Abigail Taunton, who runs a foster home in the Florida Panhandle, let May stay in a guest house. She knew him as a teenager who moved to rural Wewahitchka in the Florida Panhandle to live with his grandmother after having problems with his parents in Ohio.

“We’re just all astounded,” Taunton said. “Obviously, he was not in his right mind.”

May was licensed to practice law in Texas and New Mexico and Taunton said he was preparing to take the Florida bar exam in February.

“He was having some financial issues and moved back home and decided he’d come back to Florida to work,” she said. “My heart’s broken.”

In New Mexico, Third Judicial District Attorney Mark D’Antonio said May worked for his office as a junior attorney from Jan. 18 until his unexpected resignation Oct. 6. He said he didn’t know why May stepped down, leaving a formal resignation letter on his desk.

“He performed his job with great distinction,” D’Antonio said at a news conference. “He was friendly and kind. Everyone liked him.”

___

Associated Press writer Juan Carlos Llorca in Las Cruces, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

“FIXING THE SYSTEM,” the banner atop the whitehouse.gov page proudly announces. Finally, after months of stalemate in Congress, President Obama decided to take executive action on immigration. And his plans will help some people. Now, undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. for five years or who have children that are U.S. citizens will be temporarily protected from deportation and have the opportunity to “come out of the shadows,” while “highly-skilled and educated” immigrants will face an easier path to citizenship.

But what Obama’s action certainly does not do is “fix the system.” His first move of the night, to increase funding and personnel to secure the border — “to prioritize criminals,” he explained — just pumps more money into the same broken system. And every bill introduced in Congress, from the most bold to the most tepid Republican-backed reforms included more money for border security.

Spending more on border security feeds the system that has made U.S. immigration policy an international failure and tragedy for millions of people. Border patrol funding has reached a high of $18 billion, which is more money than the FBI, CIA, U.S. Marshals or DEA combined. The number of border patrol agents has increased from 4,000 to 23,000 in the past 20 years, not to mention the creation of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), at another 20,000. So how does increasing this budget and personnel further do anything to fix the system?

The fact is, funneling money into border control does not address the problem at any sort of institutional level. It does not examine any of the root causes that explain why immigration from Latin and Central America has surged in the past 20 years or give us any tools to better manage it.

U.S. policy with Latin America in the past 20 years has reinforced the mechanisms that impel people to migrate north. International trade agreements like NAFTA have coincided with more Mexicans in poverty and a higher incidence of human rights abuses. Consequences of NAFTA have weakened Mexico’s economy, leading to fewer job opportunities and more migration.

U.S. opponents can say that undocumented immigration “isn’t our problem,” our government has exacerbated economic conditions that lead to immigration on such a large scale from Latin and Central America.

Of course, Obama’s speech barely even mentioned the humanitarian crisis facing detention of recent immigrants. His plan will only protect people who have been in the U.S. for more than five years. Five years ago was 2009, a year that the U.S. supported a coup in Honduras that subverted the democratic rule of law. Now, Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world, and so it is no surprise that so many families have fled such dangerous conditions to seek safety in the U.S. Their treatment once they arrive once again speaks to the “not our problem” mentality of immigration policy. Instead of asylum, these families often instead face months in jail-like detention centers where they await their fates.

Because they are recent arrivals, Obama’s declaration that “mass deportation would be impossible and contrary to our character” rings hollow. Not to mention that U.S. companies profit off of the exploitation of detained immigrants, and their lobbies undoubtedly influence policy choices about funding and structure of immigrant detention, another point the mainstream media often fails to mention as part of the policy-making equation.

Executive action was crucial, and for the five million immigrants who are eligible, the ability to “come out of the shadows” cannot be overlooked. But perhaps the reason no one can pass a solid immigration reform bill is because the conditions that motivate the immigration are so poorly understood. The mainstream discourse surrounding immigration today is entirely misguided. Conditions will not change until we recognize and address the complicity of U.S. government policy in creating the impetus for immigration in the first place.

At this point, it seems pretty pointless to review a new entry in The Hunger Games series. 

If you’re not already interested, you’re unlikely to plug in and buy a ticket to see this film, just as the story revs up for its conclusion. It would be a little like going to see the third Hobbit movie after skipping the first two. 

On the other hand, if you are hooked on the dystopian tale of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and friends, nothing a critic says is going to quell your urge to see the next installment. 

For those just joining the fray, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 is the third film in the series, based on the third and final book in Suzanne Collins’ trilogy. But Hollywood  being Hollywood, that final volume has been split into two films. Perhaps the “Part 1” in the title gave that away. 

This review continues on my website.

I recently interviewed Harry DeMell, an immigration lawyer since 1977 and a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, about the current immigration crisis.

Schupak: Mr. DeMell. President Obama said he needed to fix the immigration system. You seem to have some practical insights into President Obama’s executive action on immigration last evening on this issue.

DeMell: Well. I see these actions as having a two edged effect. The system will be complicated in many ways but in others congress will be pushed into eventual action.

Schupak: Where do you see the complications?

DeMell: For one, the immigration court system will be greatly affected. At least one hundred thousand cases now before the court will have to be adjourned or closed. Right now cases are being adjourned at least in New York City to 2018. These matters can’t be completed until the president’s order is resolved. It will get worse.

Schupak: But the president has given the order. These matters can be closed.

DeMell: Not so simple. Not so fast. You know the saying that the devil is in the details. We really don’t know the details and it will be a year before we do. First there has to be a proposed rule, which may take months. Then there will be comment time, which will be several months more and then a regulation cannot go into effect without 30 days notice. We will be in 2016 presidential season by then.

Schupak: So what will happen to these people?

DeMell: Those living in the shadows will continue to do so for a couple of more years while those in immigration court will have their cases postponed again and again. The courts will be bogged down doing this because they don’t have enough resources.

Schupak: Eventually the policy will go into effect.

DeMell: Maybe not. I expect that there will be litigation from both sides when the regulations come out claiming that the regulations are too broad or too narrow. Either way this can hold things up well into or past the next presidential election. I suspect that the president’s actions will create a situation where there may be a bi-partisan bill resolving this issue for the short run.

Schupak: How so?

DeMell: Both sides will want to seem to resolve the issue before the election. The Democrats will not want to put Hilary Clinton into a situation where she has to commit on one side or the other. It could affect her standing as a frontrunner. The Republicans want to portray themselves as the party of good, responsible and constitutionally restrained government and want to take the ethnic, race and origin issue off the table. As these issues get played out during the election season both parties will have reason to deep six it.

Schupak: So what do you see coming out of congress?

DeMell: I think that an increase in skilled worker temporary and permanent visas is in the works. Congress has to give the administrative agency and court more authority to allow people to stay here permanently when they have family hardships. The current law is too restrictive. That would obviate the need for an amnesty. Of course the agencies and the immigration court need more judges and more staff.

Schupak: What about the people who get benefits under this order? Will they be able to stay?

DeMell: Those who get benefits will be able to get green cards in the U.S. if they qualify under other provisions of the law. They aren’t able to do so now.

Schupak: So you believe that this will lead to a fix?

DeMell: I would not call this a fix in any way but I do believe he has created a situation where congress will have to act before the next election. He has also created a situation where many fraudulent cases will be filed and where many people will want to come here illegally to do so. Not exactly a fix.

Schupak: Any other thoughts?

DeMell: One more. It is very dangerous for congress to allow this matter to go to the Supreme Court. If they rule that the president does not have this power future presidents might be restrained from doing things that need doing. If they rule he has the power a future president might abuse it in ways we cannot today imagine.

Schupak: So you think he has the power to do what he did?

DeMell: Just because you have a power does not mean you can use it without consequence.

We have a lot of smart objects in our lives these days. Smart phones, smart watches, smart homes, and a bit of smart cars. What about smart bikes? No? Well, Baidu thinks “yes” and its Dubike smart bike is now up for everyone to see. Or at least images and videos of it. The Dubike is indeed equipped with your … Continue reading