White House Party Crashers Raise Questions and Alarms
Crashing holiday parties is nothing new. People have been attempting and succeeding for decades. Crashing the White House state dinner, however, is a whole different story. Nichaele and Tareq Salahi crashed President Barack Obama's first state dinner last week, according to Yahoo News. The Salahi's are candidates for Bravo's "The Real Housewives of D.C."
The fact that the couple made it into the state dinner without an invitation has raised questions for both the White House and the Secret Service. The officers never checked whether the couple was on the guest list before letting them on the grounds. Although the couple did go through all of the standard security, the fact that the couple interacted with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden has caused alarm.
Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan expressed concern and embarrassment over the issue and assured that an investigation is being conducted. A review of the Secret Service practices has been called for and a briefing is expected this week.
South African babies Receiving HIV Treatment
December 1 is World AIDS Day, and there are efforts across the world to fight this issue.
In South Africa, all HIV-positive babies will be treated. South African president Jacob Zuma gave a speech Tuesday, which was viewed as a definitive turning point for a nation where the previous administration distrusted drugs developed to keep AIDS patients alive and instead promoted garlic treatments, according to Yahoo News.
A Harvard University study revealed that lack in medical treatment resulted in more than 300,000 premature deaths. The United States announced it was giving South Africa $120 million over the next two years for AIDS treatment drugs. The nation has a population of about 50 million, with an estimated 5.7 million people affected with HIV. All HIV children under the age of one year will be able to receive treatment.
Farmville Town Council Selects New Police Chief
The Farmville Town Council voted unanimously on Nov. 24 to appoint Chesterfield County Police Lt. Doug Mooney as the new police chief, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch. He is the father of Longwood students Rachael and Clint Mooney.
Mooney replaces Stuart Dunnavant, who retired from the department in May due to health reasons. Since Dunnavant's departure, Capt. Wade Stimpson has served as acting police chief. He was at the helm of the department overseeing the investigation into the quadruple homicide at the late Professor Debra Kelley's home.
Town Manager Gerald Spates said the department needed "a fresh outlook." This is meant to improve the relations between the department and Longwood students, who have had run-ins with a few officers in past years. An assessment of the department, conducted by Chapel Hill N.C. retired police chief Gregg Jarvies this past summer, called for a more stable department to fully operate professionally in Farmville and urged the revamping certain departmental procedures.
Mooney will officially become police chief of Farmville on Jan. 4 where he will oversee a unit of 25 officers.
Afghanistan Policy
President Barack Obama announced his new Afghanistan policy during a speech at West Point Military Academy Tuesday. The policy includes a plan to send out at least 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, as well as an outline for a general time frame for the U.S. to begin withdrawal.
Monday night, former Vice President Dick Cheney criticized Obama for projecting "weakness" to adversaries and warned that more workaday Afghans will side with the Taliban if they think the United States is heading for the exits, according to an article on Yahoo News.
Cheney had a 90-minute-interview at his home in McLean, Va. "I begin to get nervous when I see the commander in chief making decisions apparently for what I would describe as small ‘p' political reasons, where he's trying to balance off different competing groups in society," Cheney said.
Cheney also expressed concern regarding Obama's foreign and national security polices. Cheney said his worries extend to Obama's domestic agenda: "He obviously has a very robust agenda of change — health care system, cap and trade, redistribution of wealth. I rarely hear him talk about the private sector."
Seattle Coffeehouse Shooting Suspect Killed
The man suspected of killing four police officers in a coffee shop about 35 miles south of Seattle was shot and killed early Tuesday morning, according to an article on Yahoo News. Suspect Maurice Clemmons opened fired in the coffee shop on Sunday morning. Clemmons suffered a gunshot wound Sunday morning from one of the dying officers, but managed to flee the scene.
On Tuesday morning Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel was investigating a stolen car. At approximately 2:45 a.m. Pugel came across the car in a Seattle neighborhood. He detected movement behind him, recognized Clemmons and ordered him to stop and show his hands. Clemmons failed to do so and several rounds were fired, leading to fatal gunshot wounds.
The Pierce County sheriff's offices believe there are six to seven more people involved in the incident.
There is no known motive as to why Clemmons shot the officers.
