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Yesterday George Zimmerman was
charged with aggravated assault after his girlfriend, Samantha
Scheibe, claimed he aimed a shotgun at her during a fight. Here is
part of the
911 call that Scheibe placed at 12:30 p.m. from her home in
Apopka, Florida:

Scheibe: He’s in my house breaking all my
shit because I asked him to leave. He has a freakin’ gun, breaking
all of my stuff right now. [To Zimmerman:]
 I’m doing this again? You just broke my glass
table, you broke my sunglasses, and you put your gun in my freakin’
face and told me to get the fuck out…This is not your house. No,
get out of here. 

Dispatcher: OK, where’s his weapon at?

Scheibe: He just put it down. [To Zimmerman:]
Get out of my house. Do not push me out of my house. 

Zimmerman: I didn’t push you, Sammy.

Scheibe: Will you please get out of my
house.

Zimmerman: Calm down. 

Scheibe: Are you serious right now? Are you
fucking kidding me? [To dispatcher:] He just pushed me out of my
house and locked me out.

Zimmerman denies brandishing any weapons. He claims Scheibe was
the one who flew off the handle and broke the table. He says she
became irate when he started packing his things to move out after
she informed him that she was pregnant but wanted to raise the baby
on her own. (Scheibe says she is not pregnant.) When police
arrived, about four minutes after Scheibe called 911, they found
Zimmerman calm and unarmed.

This incident is reminiscent of a fight that Zimmerman had with
his estranged wife, Shellie, in September. She initially claimed he
had threatened her and her father with a gun but later
admitted she never actually saw a weapon. The police concluded
there was insufficient evidence to charge Zimmerman.

People who are already convinced that Zimmerman’s shooting of
Trayvon Martin was not justified will see these two incidents as
further evidence that Zimmerman is an aggressor who is good at
playing the victim. And if he really did threaten his ex-wife or
his girlfriend with a gun, that suggests a disposition consistent
with the conclusion that he acted more out of anger than out of
fear when he shot Martin.

Still, the prosecution
did not come close to proving that claim beyond a reasonable
doubt at Zimmerman’s trial. On the whole, the evidence indicated
that Martin started the fight and that he was on top of Zimmerman
when the shot was fired. Furthermore, Zimmerman’s injuries were
consistent with his report that Martin punched him in the face and
knocked his head against the pavement. That does not necessarily
mean Zimmerman reasonably believed shooting Martin was necessary to
prevent death or serious injury. But to win an acquittal, all the
defense had to do was make that scenario seem plausible. If it
seems a little less plausible in light of Zimmerman’s subsequent
domestic squabbles, that does not mean the jury erred. After all,
even an asshole can act in self-defense. We will never know for
sure whether Zimmerman really did, but under our system of justice
he rightly benefited from that doubt. And it should go without
saying that any crime Zimmerman might commit after his acquittal
cannot possibly make the right to stand your ground retroactively

relevant to his defense in the earlier case. 

Of course he would be from
Florida! GOP Rep. Trey Randel, representing the Fort Meyers-Naples
area of Florida, was arrested in D.C. for possession of cocaine.
From
Politico:

Rep. Trey Radel, a Florida Republican elected in 2012, will be
in court Wednesday on charges that he possessed cocaine.

Radel, 37, was charged with misdemeanor possession of cocaine in
D.C. Superior Court on Tuesday.

He faces a maximum of 180 days in jail, as well as a fine of up
to $1,000. Radel has missed all four votes in the House this
week.

He gave a statement saying he “struggles with the disease of
alcoholism” and is going to seek treatment and counseling and is
sorry for letting everybody down.

If he had been caught with cocaine in Florida, it would have
been a
felony there, risking him jail time and loss of his voting
rights (not that either of those things would have probably
happened to him). The Washington Post
noted that Randel is a co-sponsor of federal legislation to
reform mandatory minimum sentences for drug violations (and is a
lover of rap music).

Read the whole story (and more of Radel’s statement)
here.

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Drones aren’t going away any
time soon. In fact, they’re going to be more present than ever in
our skies, seas, and on land. Some of us might even buy them for
ourselves.

As Shane Harris previous wrote for
Reason, not only is “the military is planning for a future
that relies more on drones than it does on manned planes,” but also
“the market in domestic drones [is] poised for takeoff. A drone
revolution is coming.” Below are a few pieces of unmanned
technology, some of which are already being implemented. (Others
are still at the drawing board.)

1. Unmanned Aerial (and Aquatic and Terrestrial)
Vehicles

Sandia National Laboratories are developing and testing
“multi-modal vehicles” that can fly, swim, drive, and jump. All of
these features are operated through a single interface. Concept
videos show the vehicle’s ability to drop exterior layers, such as
its wings when it hits the water and its paddles when it drives
onto land. Sandia anticipates that the Volant will provide quick,
flexible assistance to manned operations without requiring a whole
army of robots outfitted exclusively for certain situations.

The Volant’s design is not without drawbacks, though.
Wired explains
that “because it sheds parts and material as it transforms from one
mode to another, recovery is almost impossible — making every
mission an expensive one-way trip.”

2. The Rail-Launched Stealth Bat

The Bat is a drone with a
blended wing body that makes it stealthier than conventional
designs. It also relies on a mobile hydraulic-rail launcher for
take off and a large net for recovery.Unlike larger, more
cumbersome combat drones, the Bat does not require a runway. Being
freed from the tarmac allows this drone to take off in rougher
environments.

The Bat may be small, but it is fierce. Current models comes in
10 to 12-foot wingspan, can fly 70 mph, and can carry a 3.2 cubic
foot payload. Until recently, this drone was resigned to
“intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, target acquisition and
communications,”
according to Northrop Grumman, producer of the Bat. But, it was
recently outfitted with a “miniature electronic attack payload”
that makes it capable of engaging in combat.

3. Drones for Personal Use

Frog, a product strategy and design firm, is working on ways to
integrate unmanned aerial vehicles into daily activities and

transform them into “off-body wearables.” These small
drones would be privately owned tools more akin to a flying roomba
than a war machine.

The Guardian Angel concept drone would fly along with its owner
on jogs. Guided by a signal from a heart-rate monitor, this drone
“helps you adjust your performance by providing instant feedback,”

according to the design team. Other designs include the
“Paparazzi” drone that would film its owner for social media
purposes. Or at least that’s the idea. The company doesn’t
anticipate completing these devices until 2020. 

• The Department of Justice has
  abandoned its efforts to block
  Louisiana’s school voucher program, but still wants the
  authority to review and meddle with things.
• The House Oversight committee will investigate allegations that
  
  unemployment reports were falsified in the months leading up to
  the 2012 presidential election.
• Occasionally drunken
  Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says he’s giving up the booze.
• 
  Bitcoin’s price has gone on an exciting adventure over the past
  24 hours, even reaching a high of $900 before coming back
  down.
• George Zimmerman’s latest charges include allegations he
  
  pointed a shotgun at his girlfriend. One presumes she is now
  his ex-girlfriend.
• The Obama Administration is still stuck playing defense of the
  Affordable Care Act as the latest information shows they were
  
  informed well in advance about problems with the federal
  exchange site.

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Years ago, Jerry Lewis and his telethon for the
Muscular Dystrophy Association dominated the airwaves every Labor
Day. While MDA still raises millions through the telethon, about as
much as it ever has, it does so now without Lewis and with just a
couple of hours of actual television airtime. But the decline of
the televised telethon should not be seen as a sign of disinterest
in combining entertainment with philanthropy via mass popular
culture. Instead, Scott Shackford suggests, look online and see how
avid gamers are using their favorite recreational activities to
raise millions for health-related causes. Climb aboard the
Desert Bus and prepare to shill out a few coins … for
the children!

View this article.