Category Archives: Law Enforcement

TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY AGREES TO PLEA BARGAIN ON FELONY CHARGES

August 16, 2014 Pol Pinoy 1 Comment

Austin, Texas (The Adobo Chronicles) – Texas Governor Rick Perry was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly abusing the powers of his office by threatening to veto funding for state prosecutors investigating public corruption. If found guilty of the two felony charges, Perry will be the first indicted governor of the state of Texas in nearly 100 years.

The two counts – abuse of official authority and coercion of a public servant – carry a combined maximum punishment of 109 years in federal prison.

Perry was expected to make a second run for president in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections.

Realizing that his political career is all but over, Perry, 64, announced that he has agreed to a plea bargain to lessen the potential punishment for the felonies.

An attorney for Perry told The Adobo Chronicles that his client has agreed to pleading guilty on both counts in exchange for a 50% reduction in jail time — from 109 to 54 1/2 years.

As part of the plea bargain, Perry will ask the court to allow him to be transferred to a high-security retirement home once he reaches the age of 100. As an alternative, Perry proposed that he be incarcerated in the Philippines, a former colony of the U.S., where convicted high government officials like ex-presidents and senators are locked in designer jail cells or placed under hospital arrest.

A federal court is expected to rule on the plea bargain next week.

Law Enforcement, Science and Environment, The Media

HUNDREDS FINED IN CALIFORNIA FOR ACCEPTING THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE

August 15, 2014 Pol Pinoy 11 Comments

Sacramento, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – Hundreds of Californians who accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge have found themselves in hot water.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is the fundraising campaign that has gone viral, raising more than $3 Million for the ALS Association. ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a paralyzing and sometimes fatal condition that involves a degeneration of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

The challenge involves people dousing themselves with a bucket of ice and posting a video on social media. They then challenge two other people to do the same within 24 hours, or make a donation to the ALS Association.

Hundreds of Californians have taken up the Ice Bucket Challenge, but they have also been slapped with a $500 fine.

Because of the drought and worsening water shortage crisis, California water regulators have recently approved an ordinance imposing the fine on residents who waste water – from washing their cars and hosing down sidewalks to watering their lawns.

In the last two weeks, close to 800 Californians were cited and fined for dousing themselves with buckets of ice in their front yard, a clear violation of the new ordinance. Most of the citations were served in person, for those who were caught in the act of dousing. However, a few violators received citations in the mail after they posted their videos on social media.

International, Law Enforcement, Music, Politics

CHA CHA MAKES A BIG COME BACK IN PHILIPPINES’ DANCE SCENE

August 14, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Not since the Macarena craze in 1996 has a dance form made a big splash in the Philippines. It’s a big come back never before seen on the dance floor.

Cha cha is, of course, a dance that first became popular in the 1950s. It is derived from two other dances, the Latin Mambo and the Swing. It is a favorite category in ballroom dancing as well as in the popular American reality television show, “Dancing With The Stars.”

In recent weeks, Filipinos — baby boomers and millennials alike — have been packing dance studios and night clubs to practice or showcase their ‘1-2-3-4 and 1’ steps, and DJs are dusting their old vinyl records to replace their hip hop CDs.

Many believe that the big come back was prompted by recent clamor from supporters of President NoyNoy Aquino for him to run for a second term. The constitution limits the presidential term to six years, without the possibility of re-election. Aquino’s term ends in 2016. His allies in Congress have suggested a constitutional convention to amend the fundamental law of the land and allow for a second term for the president. In the Philippines, a constitutional convention is more popularly know as “Cha Cha.”

Aquino’s Interior Minister Mar Roxas is leading the clamor to convene a new Cha Cha to allow the President to stay in power. Ironically, Roxas, in 2008, was a harsh critic of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who wanted to convene a Cha Cha to allow her to run for another term.

In the beginning, Aquino had said that a Cha Cha just to extend his current term is out of the question, but he is now warming up to the idea as he faces the remaining year and a half of his residence at the presidential palace. “I’ve come to enjoy living here,” he told reporters. “I wouldn’t mind another six years or more.”