– We've had "Cornerstone Caroline," "Pool Patrol Paula," and "BBQ Becky." Now: "Golfcart Gail." That's the nickname given by Ginger Williams to a woman she says was at her son's soccer game in Ponte Vedra, Fla., this weekend, harassing a black dad cheering his son on. Williams' Sunday Facebook post—titled "Soccer While Black"—shows a pic of the unnamed woman, on her phone in a golf cart, allegedly making a call about a man Williams says was simply shouting out instructions to his son. The dad simply "yelled 'The ref is right' when he saw his kid out there getting frustrated after a call," Williams notes. That apparently set "Gail" off, and she told the dad "harassment won't be tolerated" and "continued to harass and beleaguer him." NBC News explains talking to the ref in a game isn't permitted, but Williams writes the man explained he was talking to his own son. He finally offered to just leave to defuse the situation, Williams adds, at which point "Golfcart Gail" said she was still calling the cops "because she no longer felt safe with his threatening behavior." (NBC News also has some video.) A rep for the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office says the woman in the golf cart is an athletic association field marshal, and the head of that group says the cops were called not just because of that dad, "but as a result of a culmination of several immediate prior incidents" at the game, including a mom who was cursing and another dad who'd been ejected for being verbally abusive, per WTLV. Deputies didn't detain the father from Williams' post, IDed as Gerald Jones. He's not so sure it wasn't a racially spurred incident and says the field marshal and the soccer club owe him an apology, reports WTLV. (Remember "Permit Patty"?)

Expand this summary.

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 / Updated By Elisha Fieldstadt

 An attendant at a teen soccer game in Florida over the weekend called police on a father who instructed his son from the sidelines, in what many are saying is the latest example of a white person dialing 911 on a black person who had done nothing wrong.

 Ginger Williams, who was watching the game, posted photos of the incident to Facebook on Sunday with the heading "Soccer While Black." She said a woman in a golf cart at the game in St. Johns County told a black father that "harassment won't be tolerated," even though he had been directing his son to listen to the referee.

 Chuck Mulligan, a spokesman for the St. Johns County Sheriff's Department, said the woman who called police, being dubbed "Golfcart Gail," is a field marshal.

 The father informed the marshal that he was only speaking to his son and not the referee, which is not allowed, but "Golfcart Gail just would not let this go," Williams wrote.

 The father, whose identity has not been revealed, began to leave in an effort to defuse the situation, Williams said, but the woman in the golf cart still called police saying, "she no longer felt safe with his threatening behavior."

 Maria Morales-Walther filmed the encounter in which the father tells the field marshal, "I wasn’t talking to you. ... I was talking to my son, and I still get this from you."

 Morales-Walter said when deputies arrived, the woman told them that the father "was being aggressive and 'coming at' her," but "in my video, that was the most aggression he showed."

 "I started filming because she would not leave the father alone," Morales-Walter told NBC News. "There was no reason for her to call the cops," she said, adding that the woman had not identified herself as a field attendant of any kind.

 Another video, shot by Ginger Williams, shows two St. Johns County deputies arrive at the game.

 The father explained to one of them that he did nothing wrong. "I was talking to my son, no one else ... Listen I play by the rules. I know how sports are," the father says.

 "I don’t understand why this woman felt the need to call the police on this man," Williams can be heard saying in the video as she films. The officer tells her that "anybody can call the police at any time for any reason. We'll respond."

 Williams wrote in her Facebook post that the field marshal had not called police on a parent who had been "ejected from this game" due to a "disturbance."

 Gary Easom, president of the Ponte Vedra Athletic Association, the athletic association the field marshal works for, said in a statement that "authorities were not called solely for this particular incident, but as a result of a culmination of several immediate prior incidents" at the game.

 Those incidents included a parent being kicked out of the game for being verbally abusive to the teenage referees, and another parent getting scolded for cursing in the stands, Easom told NBC affiliate WTLV.

 "I have parents that are out of control and need to be removed from a youth soccer game," the field marshal can be heard in audio from the 911 call telling a dispatcher.

 Easom said if game attendees "behave badly" after warnings, "staff is left with no choice but to call law enforcement."

 "That is an extreme circumstance which seldom occurs, but that is exactly what happened in this situation," he added. "Our team acted appropriately to protect the children."

 The deputy eventually told the father that he had no reason to detain him, to which the field marshal responds: "Good, I didn't want anything like that done."

 Mulligan, the spokesman for the sheriff's department, said the department gets about 40 disturbance calls a day, and is obligated to respond. He said the officers spoke with those remaining at the game, and "found that there was no crime whatsoever."

 The situation was one of three in a week in which white people have been recorded and shamed on social media for calling police or claiming to call police on black people who are going about their daily routines.

 Last Wednesday, a woman in New York City said she was calling police after accusing a 9-year-old of grabbing her backside. Surveillance footage showed he hadn't. And on Friday, a black man filmed as a white woman tried to block him from getting into his apartment building because she didn't believe he lived there. He said officers showed up to his apartment after he proved to her that he did. ||||| JACKSONVILLE, Fl -- During a soccer game Sunday at Davis Park in St. Johns County a verbal confrontation between a parent and a field marshal turned into allegations of racial profiling.

 The alleged incident happened off the field and portions were captured via cell phone.

 Gerald Jones, the parent, said he was telling his son, who was playing with the visiting team from Oakleaf, that the referee is always right and to do what the referee says.

 Jones said within moments he was confronted by a field marshal who was riding in a golf cart.

 "Then she went, 'I am going to call the police,'" he said.

 And she did. When St. Johns County Deputies showed up, he told them the same account of what happened.

 But the cell phone recording of the field marshal's account to the deputy was different.

 She was overheard saying, "He just got nasty with me."

 Maria Walther was a witness to the incident. She was sitting next to Jones when it got out of control.

 "He was pretty much telling her 'leave me alone, I am leaving I am grabbing my stuff,'" said Walther, "but that wasn't enough for her."

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 The Navy wife told us she was also thrown out of the game because she refused to stop recording the incident.

 Walther said, "She was barking at him, 'You can't be yelling at the ref' and he said 'Ma'am, I am talking to my son,' and she said, 'I don't care who you are talking to.'"

 Walther said earlier that day, the same field marshal threw out another parent who was shouting at the referee, who is white, but had a different tone with the black parent.

 "She was more aggressive," said Walther, "It was, 'I am going to call the cops.'"

 Gary Easom, President of the Ponte Vedra Athletic Association, said in a statement:

 "The Ponte Vedra Palm Valley Athletic Association puts the welfare of children above all else. The PVAA Code of Conduct protects children in a number of ways, including the prohibition of inappropriate conduct such as berating referees, coaches or athletes, and "coaching" children from the sidelines. Unfortunately, parents sometimes violate the conduct code while watching games. When such violations occur, our staff addresses the violator or violators and ask that they behave appropriately. If, after warnings, the violators continue to behave badly, staff is left with no choice but to call law enforcement, consistent with county policy. That is an extreme circumstance which seldom occurs, but that is exactly what happened in this situation. The authorities were not called solely for this particular incident but as a result of a culmination of several immediate prior incidents. The field marshal acted appropriately and without malice to ensure the welfare of the children she is charged with protecting. Unfortunately, an incomplete narrative of this incident was posted and sensationalized, creating a wholly inaccurate and irresponsible version with little relation to what actually happened that day. It was an unfortunate incident and I am sorry it happened, but our team acted appropriately to protect the children, consistent with our organizational mission."

 Was it perception or was Jones racially profiled? Jones is convinced it is the latter.

 Ironically he is the father of a biracial child who witnessed the entire incident.

 "I spoke with my son," said Jones. "He is biracial. What is he supposed to mark? White or black? It is too much, when will it end."

 On Your Side contacted the Florida Elite Soccer Club which oversees the teams, we have yet to hear from the club.

 Jones said the club and the field marshal owe him an apology. ||||| A woman seen in a viral video calling the police on a group of black people who were barbecuing at an Oakland park has been identified as a Stanford University-educated environmental scientist. Jennifer Schulte, who has become known on social media as “BBQ Becky,” was identified by The Root and News One, and widely on social media. Schulte, 41, could not be reached for comment about the video by Heavy and has not spoken out about the incident.

 The video was posted on YouTube by Michelle Snider on April 29 just hours after the incident. The story went viral after Snider and her husband, Kenzie Smith, talked to KRON-TV on May 9. The incident occurred amid a string of viral incidents in which white people called the police on people of color for controversial reasons, including a white Starbucks manager who called the police on two men who were waiting for a business meeting, a white woman who called the police on a group of black people staying at an AirBnB, a white mother who reported two Native American teens to police because she didn’t think they belonged on a college tour and a white Ph.D student who called the police on a Yale University grad student who was napping in a dorm common room while studying for finals. The incident has also drawn comparisons to a viral video of a Manhattan lawyer ranting about restaurant workers speaking Spanish.

 Here’s what you need to know about Jennifer Schulte and the incident:

 1. Schulte Was Evaluated for an Involuntary Psychiatric Hold by Police

 The nearly 25-minutelong video of the incident was posted on YouTube on April 29 by Michelle Snider, who uses the handle Michelle Dionne on YouTube. The video begins after a confrontation had already been ongoing between the woman identified as Jennifer Schulte and Snider’s family and friends. “At around 11:20 AM a white woman approached a black man named Deacon for having a BBQ grill at Lake Merritt today.

 She told him he could not BBQ there and called the police. She would not leave Deacon alone. A young black woman was walking by overheard how the white woman was harassing him telling him he can not be there, she stopped and asked the woman to leave her alone. The white woman became aggressive with the woman,” Snider wrote on YouTube. “Shortly after that Deacon’s friend Kenzie arrived. According to Kenzie, the woman said ‘Oh another n*gger.’ She proceeded to tell all three of the people at the BBQ table that she owned the park, and they are not allowed there. She also said them they were going to jail.” The racist comment allegedly made by the woman was not caught on video.

 Snider, who is Smith’s wife, said her husband texted her a picture of the woman and said, “If I go to jail this is who did it to me.” Snider, who was at a nearby restaurant, then walked over to the park and arrived about 12:50 p.m., which is when the video begins. The video shows the interaction between Snider, her husband and others with the woman identified as Schulte. Snider follows the woman as she continues to call police to try to get them to respond to the park. When the officer eventually does arrive, the woman begins to cry as she talks to him, as the video ends.

 “This is exactly what is the problem with Oakland today. This lady wants to sit here and call the police on them for having a barbecue at the lake as if this is not normal,” Michelle Snider told KRON-TV. Snider said the woman told them it was illegal to have a charcoal barbecue in the area where they were having their cookout. According to KRON, an Oakland Parks and Recreation map shows that the area is not a designated charcoal area, but is an area where portable non-charcoal grills can be used. Lake Merritt has three areas with stationary charcoal grills for public use, according to the map. But residents and officials told the news station that the rule is not typically followed or enforced, and is not a police matter.

 “I have seen people barbecue with charcoal for years,” Kenzie Smith told the news station. “She said that we were trespassing, we were not welcome, and then she turned back around and said, ‘ya’ll going to jail.’ I think we need to question the policies that made this woman think woman feel she had the right to harass people.”

 Oakland City Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney told the news station, “I think it is really incumbent on all of us that when we call police, it is for emergency purposes.” She suggested there were other options than calling the police, telling the news station, “I want to encourage people to know when to call the police, when to raise a question of regulations with the city council, maybe there is a passive way to reach out to us.

 Oakland Police said responding officers took a police report, but no citations were issued and no arrests were made.

 On May 24, police released a log that reveals more details about the call. The officer told dispatchers he evaluated Schulte for a 5150 psychiatric hold, but determined that she “didn’t fit the criteria,” according to the report obtained by KTVU-TV.

 “A 5150 in California allows a police officer or another professional to take a person into custody for up to 72 hours to evaluate their mental state and whether they are a danger to themselves or to others,” KTVU reports.

 The incident took about 3 hours, with Schulte on the phone with police nearly the entire time, records show. At one point, the dispatcher told responding officers Schulte, “sounds 5150.”

 2. ‘BBQ Becky’ Memes Have Spread Across Social Media

 In the days after the video went viral, the woman has become a meme on social media known as “BBQ Becky.” According to Know Your Meme, “BBQ Becky, also known as White Woman Calling the Cops, refers to a series of Photoshop memes of a woman in sunglasses calling the police in a park on a group of African American people having a cookout in an Oakland, Ca park. The image has been edited into photographs of the civil rights milestones as well as captions that mock the woman for calling the police.” Becky is a n You can see some of the memes below:

 @jemelehill now we know who really got Rosa Parks in trouble pic.twitter.com/uwYDPNU45E — Squatty Bell (@Squatty386) May 13, 2018

 Black Twitter Meme Council, I respectful propose that 'Black Man on Phone' be replaced with 'White Lady Spoils BBQ'. pic.twitter.com/H9dRKT2PGe — Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) May 11, 2018

 "Hi, I'd like to report a graduation." pic.twitter.com/V2EiKOvNQ5 — Tim Barnes (@TimBarnes451) May 12, 2018

 The woman who posted the original video tweeted one of the memes:

 I knew this woman would turn into a meme 🤦🏻♀😹 pic.twitter.com/uxN6ZXrmaB — Michelle Dione 🐈 (@ShelleDione) May 10, 2018

 “Beyond the ‘Cookout Beckie’ aka ‘BBQBeckie’ memes and jokes, the reason why this story resonates so much in the Black community is that there is a pattern of people, white people, calling the police on Black people, which often ends up being scary at the very least, or deadly. Even cops have complained that white people waste their time with irrational fear of Black people, imagine that!” AfroPunk writes. “So this isn’t just about ‘Cookout Beckie’. This is a pattern. And this isn’t about conservatives vs. liberals either. As we’ve often reported (and so did Martin Luther King Jr. before us), white liberals are just as problematic as conservatives.”

 Otis Taylor Jr. wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle, “The first time I saw the video of a white woman on the phone with police because two black men were using a charcoal grill at Lake Merritt, I thought it was a parody, a provocative satire on race in America. But, no, this is America, a country where a black person must be prepared for the possibility that police might be called to investigate and indict their blackness.”

 3. Schulte Has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering From Stanford, but the University Says She Does Not Work There, Disputing Reports That She Is a Professor

 The 41-year-old Jennifer Schulte, whose name has been in some reports misspelled Jennifer Shulte, graduated from Stanford University in 2006 with a Ph.D in chemical engineering, according to her now-deleted Linkedin profile. That detail and her use of the name Dr. Jennifer Schulte on social media has led some to believe she is a professor or otherwise employed by Stanford.

 But the California university distanced itself from her on Twitter, writing, “According to our records, a person by this name earned graduate degrees at Stanford more than a decade ago. She is not employed as staff or as a faculty member.” An entry on a Stanford website shows that she was part of the James Swartz Research Group in the chemical engineering and bioengineering department.

 Schulte is a North Dakota native and attended the University of North Dakota for her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering. She has lived in Oakland since 2006.

 4. She Works as an Air Quality & Climate Change Specialist

 Schulte works as a senior project manager at an environmental resources and services company in Oakland, according to her Linkedin profile. Her work focuses on air quality. She is also a climate change technical specialist. She previously worked at Horizon Water and Environment, URS Corporation and Environ International Corporation.

 An announcement for a 2016 meeting of the American Petroleum Institute shows that Schulte gave a talk titled “OEHHA Revised Risk Assessment Methods: Developing a Facility Game Plan” for the organization. “Dr. Jennifer Schulte is a Senior Project Manager with ERM based in Walnut Creek, California. She has 10 years of experience as an air quality and climate change specialist, and is a recognized expert in the fields of air quality, emission estimation, air dispersion modeling, health risk assessments, and climate change impacts,” the website said. “Dr. Schulte has conducted complex projects throughout California, the United States, and some international locations involving air emission inventories, air dispersion modeling, health risk assessments, and climate change analyses for numerous clients including commercial and residential development projects, ports, transportation, refineries, and various other industrial areas. She conducts air quality and climate change analyses for regulatory compliance, environmental studies required for CEQA and NEPA, and litigation support.”

 The Irvine, California, city website shows that she was part of a team that prepared a supplemental environmental impact report as part of a city project.

 5. Oakland Residents Held a Large Cookout & Spoke Out About It at a City Hall Meeting

 How Black Oakland responds to a white lady calling the cops on Black folks BBQing… pic.twitter.com/kRdJpnmXQ2 — Brotha B (@BlakeDontCrack) May 11, 2018

 Oakland residents responded to the viral video by holding a large cookout in the area where the incident occurred. A huge crowd showed up for the barbecue at Lake Merritt on May 10. “This how we feel about mad a** Oakland gentrifiers,” Michael Swanson Jr. said in a video from the party.

 Residents also spoke out at a recent city council meeting:

 “The assault on black life is not an isolated set of circumstances,” activist Carroll Fife told the council, according to Mother Jones. “The recent emergency phone call from Jennifer S”—the name of a woman identified on Twitter as the caller, but whose identity remains unconfirmed—”a white woman angered by an African American family barbecuing in an unauthorized location at Lake Merritt, highlights how anti-black racism is used in a way to control black bodies and used in a way to control space.”

 She added, “We don’t want any more apologies. We don’t want any more business cards. We don’t want any more forums. What we want is you all to take note and take account.”

 City Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney told HuffPost, “In a city that needs significant policing services, we can’t have those precious expensive resources squandered in a frivolous way. Police are not private security for any white person that’s offended by the presence of black folks in our public spaces.” ||||| St. Johns County deputies were called on a father during a teenage recreation soccer league game in Ponte Vedra over the weekend.

 A witness named Ginger Williams recorded some of the incident on her cell phone and posted it to her Facebook page headlining it "SOCCER WHILE BLACK." She also dubbed the field marshal who called the police "Golfcart Gail" because she approached the father while riding in a golf cart.

 UPDATE: New video shows Ponte Vedra's 'Golfcart Gail' calling police on soccer dad during child's game

 Williams said the father was only speaking to his son about a call the ref made and when he attempted to leave to diffuse the situation, the field marshal called police.

 Williams' Facebook post continues to spread with people alleging that this is yet another case in a disturbing national trend of people trying to weaponize police against a person of color.

 Gary Easom, president of the Ponte Vedra Athletic Association, said the incident is being mischaracterized on social media and is more about parents behaving badly while watching their child play soccer.

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 During this particular game, the players were 15 years old. Easom said a father had already been ejected for being verbally abusive to the high school aged referees. He also said a mother was scolded for using profanity in the stands.

 Easom, who was not at the game, said the field marshal reported the incidents to him. "This happens more times than I would like," he said, adding that police are usually not called.

 The father the field marshal called police on told deputies he was simply coaching his son up. "I told him 'Hey, the ref is always right,'" he's heard telling the deputies on Williams' video.

 Easom said parents are not supposed to approach their children during the game.

 The father also said he had taken responsibility for the child whose parent had been thrown out earlier. He said when he attempted to leave he told the other parents to make sure his son and the other child of the earlier-ejected parent would be transported home because he had to leave due to the confrontation with the field marshal.

 Williams said the father attempted to leave because of the altercation, but the field marshal called police anyway.

 St. Johns County deputies spoke with the father, the field marshal and Williams who said she videotaped the incident because she wanted to ensure the safety of the parent.

 Deputies let the dad go and said they would not detain him.

 "Good, I didn't want anything like that done," the field marshal says in the cell phone video.

 One of the deputies on scene said to Williams that it is within the marshal's right to call the authorities and that he was there to diffuse the situation. ||||| Published on Oct 17, 2018

 Witnesses recorded an incident where a white woman called the police on a black father who was coaching his son from the sidelines. Police found no wrongdoing and did not detain the father. It is the latest in a string of occurrences where white people have called 911 on black people who have done nothing wrong.

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 Video Shows ‘Golf Cart Gail’ Calling Police On Black Father At Soccer Game | NBC News |||||


Summarize this article:

Archive-It Partner 1067: The Political TV Ad Archive, a project of the Internet Archive, collects political TV ads and social media sites in key 2016 primary election states, unlocking the metadata underneath and highlighting quality journalism to provide journalists, civic organizations, academics, and the general public with reliable information on who is trying to influence them & how. ||||| The FCC has released the final draft of its proposal to destroy net neutrality. The order removes nearly every net neutrality rule on the books — internet providers will be free to experiment with fast and slow lanes, prioritize their own traffic, and block apps and services. There’s really only one rule left here: that ISPs have to publicly disclose when they’re doing these things.

 In the proposal, the commission calls its 2015 net neutrality ruling a “misguided and legally flawed approach.” It repeatedly states that the 2015 order “erred,” was “incorrect,” and came to “erroneous conclusions.” Removing these rules, the commission now argues, will “facilitate critical broadband investment and innovation by removing regulatory uncertainty and lowering compliance costs.”

 The FCC argues that web companies are wealthy enough to fend for themselves

 The proposal also argues that consumer protections simply aren’t necessary because Federal Trade Commission will now have oversight of ISPs. “The transparency requirement we adopt, together with antitrust and consumer protection laws, ensures that consumers have means to take remedial action if an ISP engages in behavior inconsistent with an open internet,” the proposal states.

 So while blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization may be okay with the FCC, the commission says that ISPs will still have to answer to the FTC, which may or may not be okay with those things. At a bare minimum though, the FTC has to be at least somewhat accepting of them — a court has already ruled that blocking those things outright would treat internet providers like common carriers; and since this proposal removes the common carrier designation from internet providers, that won’t be allowed.

 Net neutrality supporters have long argued that these policies could unfairly advantage ISPs’ own content. But in the proposal, the FCC says it thinks that won’t happen — simply because some web companies are so much wealthier than ISPs. “It is unlikely that any ISP, except the very largest, could exercise market power in negotiations with Google or Netflix,” the proposal says. It also argues that small web companies need not worry, because any deal made between a large web company, like Google, and an ISP would need to be consistent with antitrust laws.

 States won’t be allowed to pass their own net neutrality laws

 Existing antitrust law is the commission’s answer for pretty much every problem that could come up. Why should the FCC have its own rules on the books, it essentially asks, if federal law already covers many of these things? That ignores something important, though: federal antitrust law isn’t used very aggressively, whereas the FCC could have strictly enforced prohibitions on anti-competitive behavior. It’s not a huge leap to say this change is designed to significantly loosen the regulatory leash around ISPs so that they can go off and try new practices, even if they may put consumers at risk.

 And in a fun twist, the commission also intends to prevent states from passing their own net neutrality laws. Allowing states to implement their own rules, the commission says, “could pose an obstacle to or place an undue burden” on the delivery of broadband service.

 The order will be voted on next month, at the commission’s December 14th meeting, where it’s almost certain to pass. |||||

– The FCC released the final draft of its proposal to end net neutrality on Wednesday, and the Verge reports it gets rid of "nearly every net neutrality rule on the books" while allowing for "blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization" on the part of internet service providers. The proposal will allow ISPs to create fast and slow lanes, give preference to certain customers, and stop people from accessing apps and services at will. The one net neutrality rule the proposal leaves in place is that ISPs must publicly disclose when they are doing those things. The FCC says removing net neutrality rules will "facilitate critical broadband investment and innovation." Here's what else you need to know:


Article:
By Laura Woods/GoBankingRates

 On Oct. 3, 1995, a jury acquitted Orenthal James "O.J." Simpson of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The murders -- and resulting O.J. Simpson trial and verdict -- drastically changed many peoples' opinions of the former football sensation.

 More than two decades later, Simpson sits behind bars after being convicted for entirely different crimes. But that could change soon. On Thursday, Simpson will appear before a Nevada judge to make his case for parole. If parole is granted, "The Juice" could be on the loose as soon as Oct. 1.

 In anticipation of the hearing, let's take a look at O.J. Simpson's net worth, as well as revisit his infamous murder trial.

 Estimated net worth: $250,000

 His bank account was once flush, but O.J. Simpson now has little money left from his days has a high-earning football star. Celebrity Net Worth reports O.J. Simpson's net worth was $10.8 million when he and Nicole Brown Simpson divorced in 1992. That sum is equal to more than $19 million as of May 2017.

 The divorce settlement revealed Simpson was earning $55,000 per month in 1992 — more than $97,000 in May 2017 dollars. Much of this was from car rental company Hertz, where he served as spokesperson for nearly 20 years. Simpson was earning $550,000 per year from the company at the time of his divorce, according to The Washington Post.

 Money has seemingly been tight for Simpson since the Nicole Brown murder trial. Despite being acquitted in the famous criminal case, he was found guilty in a subsequent civil suit and ordered to pay $33.5 million to the Brown and Goldman families in February 1997. In a 2014 interview with CNBC, Goldman's sister Kim said the family has collected less than 1 percent of the judgment.

 Also in 1997, Simpson defaulted on the mortgage of his estate in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, and the property went into foreclosure. Simpson purchased the 6,200-square-foot mansion for $650,000 in 1977. The new owner paid $4 million for the house before demolishing it.

 Football career and acting highlights

 O.J. Simpson's football career is nothing short of legendary. The Heisman Trophy winner made a name for himself as a member of the University of Southern California football team, when he pulled off a jaw-dropping 64-yard run against UCLA. He was chosen by the Buffalo Bills as the first pick in the 1969 NFL draft. Simpson played for the team for nine seasons.

 In 1973, the running back made history as the first NFL player to rush more than 2,000 yards in a season. Simpson retired from the NFL in 1979, after spending his final two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

 Also an actor, Simpson appeared in nearly three dozen films and television shows from 1968 to 2008. Some of his most high-profile works included playing Nordberg in "The Naked Gun" movie franchise and T.D. Parker in the television series "1st and Ten: The Championship."

 Nicole Brown murder trial

 In June 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, were found stabbed to death outside her Brentwood condominium. Days later, O.J. Simpson was charged with the murders. After promising to turn himself in, Simpson famously led police on a 60-mile low-speed chase in a white Ford Bronco. He eventually surrendered at his Brentwood home.

 Regarded as the trial of the century, the O.J. Simpson trial ran from Jan. 24, 1995 to Oct. 2, 1995. Judge Lance A. Ito allowed cameras in the courtroom, granting the public a front row seat. Some 150 million viewers tuned in to watch the reading of the not-guilty verdict, making it one of the most watched events in history. The country is still divided regarding the O.J. Simpson trial and verdict today.

 Prison sentence

 O.J. Simpson now sits in a Nevada jail for crimes entirely unrelated to the Nicole Brown murder. This punishment stems from a September 2007 robbery, where Simpson and five other men forced their way into sports memorabilia collector Bruce Fromong's Las Vegas hotel room and robbed him at gunpoint. Simpson said he was trying to reclaim personal items stolen from his home years ago.

 The guilty verdict in this O.J. Simpson court case came on the 13th anniversary of his double murder acquittal. The former athlete and his co-defendant were found guilty on 12 charges, including conspiracy to commit a crime, robbery, assault and kidnapping with a deadly weapon.

 After this O.J. Simpson trial, "The Juice" was sentenced to anywhere from nine to 33 years in prison. The Nevada parole board won't decide his fate until July 20, but the outlook appears to be in Simpson's favor. He already went before the board on five of his charges in July 2013 and was granted parole on those offenses.

 If he's released, Simpson will be able to live on his NFL pension, which is an estimated $25,000 per month. By law, the Brown and Goldman families are unable to touch these funds to settle the judgment against Simpson.

 More from GoBankingRates: ||||| CLOSE If the hearing goes as expected, Simpson would be eligible to leave prison on Oct. 1. USA TODAY Sports

 O.J. Simpson could be released from prison as soon as Oct. 1 if he is granted parole on Thursday. (Photo: Ethan Miller, AP)

 When O.J. Simpson leaves prison for the first time in almost a decade, possibly as early as Oct. 1, he will no doubt have a list of things he wants to do.

 See his children. Reconnect with old friends. Play golf. Figure out why people are making themselves look like dogs, mice and pieces of bread in photos on smart phones that will disappear in 24 hours. Figure out why anyone would take a photo only to have it disappear in 24 hours, for that matter.

 Actually, that last bit might be instructive.

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 Simpson’s release from prison – his parole hearing in Nevada on Thursday is considered something of a formality – will produce a spectacle unlike anything we’ve seen since he went behind bars. He’s been a national obsession for the better part of a quarter-century now, these past nine years the closest there’s been to a respite, and his release from prison will only renew the rabid curiosity.

 Has his time behind bars changed him? Does Simpson, who turned 70 on July 9, look different? Is he repentant? Humbled? What does he have to say now about the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman?

 It might be tempting, both financially and psychologically, to indulge the hype. A few months back, there was even speculation he could land a reality TV show.

 It also would be the worst possible thing he could do.

 Instead of courting the spotlight, Simpson needs to disappear. Walk out of prison, head straight for an SUV with tinted windows – definitely not a white Ford Bronco – and vanish from the public eye, leaving the gawkers in his wake without so much as a wave or a glance backward.

 Otherwise, he risks falling into the same toxic mentality that landed him in prison in the first place.

 “He just says, 'We’ll be together again, my life will go back to normal,’ ” longtime friend Tom Scotto told USA TODAY Sports over the weekend.

 Normal? There’s never been such a thing for O.J. Simpson.

 A Hall of Fame running back who became a beloved broadcaster, actor and pitchman, Simpson wasn’t just a household name. He was a welcome guest in every American household.

 Until the murders.

 The Bronco chase, the so-called “trial of the century,” the bloody glove, those “ugly-ass shoes,” even a Kardashian thrown in for good measure – we didn’t realize it then, but the O.J. circus was the advent of reality TV. Everything about Simpson, before and after the trial, became a source of fascination.

 Simpson was acquitted of murder charges Oct. 3, 1995, but was found responsible for Brown and Goldman’s deaths two years later in civil court. He was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages to their families.

 That’s not why he’s in prison, though. A confrontation with memorabilia collectors in Las Vegas led to armed robbery and kidnapping charges, and he was sentenced to a minimum of nine years in 2008.

 Simpson’s time behind bars hasn’t diminished interest in him. A documentary on him won an Oscar this year while a television series dominated the Emmys last year. It’s no surprise, really. We have become a culture that revels in celebrity, drama and other people’s misfortunes, and Simpson checks every one of those boxes.

 Which makes a vanishing act all the more imperative.

 Simpson knows what happens when ego and hubris get the best of him. “I just wish I’d have never gone to that room,” he said, referring to the Las Vegas robbery, during a 2013 hearing that led to him being paroled on five of the lesser charges against him.

 There’s even less benefit now to being a public curiosity.

 Sure, there will be some who wish Simpson well. But many more will be rooting just as hard for him to fail. Opinions were set hard and fast long ago, and nothing Simpson does after his release is likely to change them.

 Besides, any money he makes wouldn’t be his for long, anyway, with the Brown and Goldman families expected to renew their pursuit of the millions they’re owed. Though Simpson can shield many of his assets – his NFL pension, for example, is protected by law – Goldman’s father was awarded the rights to Simpson’s supposed confessional, If I Did It.

 Though Simpson’s friend Scotto says the former football player is “in the best shape I’ve ever seen him,” we all have expiration dates and Simpson is closer to his now than when he went to prison.

 He’s wasted the past nine years of his life. Unless he stays out of the spotlight, he’s likely to burn the rest, too.

 Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour. ||||| O.J. Simpson Parole Hearing Could Lead To His Release From Prison

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Ethan Miller/AP Ethan Miller/AP

 O.J. Simpson will find out on Thursday if he soon will be released from the Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada. He has been held there for nearly nine years for convictions on armed robbery and other charges.

 The former NFL hero, TV pitchman and movie star, now 70, stands a good chance of being granted parole when he appears before the Nevada Parole Board via video link. No one has registered to testify against him. He will likely try to persuade the board of his good behavior behind bars.

 If paroled, Simpson would be released from prison no sooner than Oct. 1.

 Enlarge this image toggle caption AP/Nevada Department of Corrections AP/Nevada Department of Corrections

 As with all things O.J., there has been a tremendous media interest in the parole hearing. Thirty media organizations will be on-site in Carson City and at Lovelock Correctional Center, and many outlets will be streaming it live.

 Ordinarily, the parole board's decision would be announced a few weeks after the hearing. But the board announced that it will rule in Simpson's case the same day as the hearing, saying that it has been a "disruption" and the board wants to "return to normal as soon as possible after the hearing."

 It's not the way many Americans imagined he'd do time. The fame and adulation he once enjoyed are hard to overestimate. But it's also hard to overestimate how shocked his fans were when he was arrested in 1994 in the brutal slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

 He was acquitted of the murder charges in what became known as "the trial of the century." But years later, he couldn't beat the more mundane criminal charges stemming from a burglary gone wrong.

 In 1995, when Simpson was acquitted in the brutal stabbing deaths of his ex-wife and her friend, opinions on the verdict broke down largely along racial lines. Many African-Americans believed that the verdict was fair, but most whites thought he'd gotten away with murder.

 Two award-winning 2016 television productions provided reminders of how shocking the murder charges, trial and verdict were at the time: ESPN's documentary O.J.: Made in America and FX's The People v. O.J. Simpson.

 Simpson had been a Heisman Trophy winner while playing football in college. He made the NFL Hall of Fame. After retiring from sports, he became a commentator and actor. He starred in commercials for Hertz Rental Cars that showed him hurdling obstacles in an airport the way he once hurdled defensive linemen. He proved himself a decent comic foil in the popular Naked Gun movies. He was glamorous and rich.

 But after all his glory and his infamy, he was convicted of a botched 2007 burglary in a cheap Las Vegas hotel. Along with a handful of accomplices, the former star broke into the room of a couple of sports memorabilia dealers. They had some items that Simpson believed belonged to him and that he wanted back. A couple of guys with Simpson brought guns.

 Simpson was later convicted on 12 criminal counts including armed robbery, kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to nine to 33 years.

 In his 2013 parole hearing, Simpson told the Nevada Parole Board that he wished he'd never gone into the hotel room.

 "I wish I'd said, 'Keep it and not worry about it,' " Simpson said.

 He also argued to the parole board that he'd been a model prisoner. When he'd arrived at Lovelock, "I gave [prison officials] my word that I would try to be, or would be, the best prisoner they ever had here. And I think for the most part, I've kept my word on that."

 He spoke via video conference from prison, while the parole board met in Carson City more than 100 miles away. That same procedure will be followed Thursday.

 In making parole decisions, the state of Nevada uses a scoring system to evaluate the risk a prisoner might pose to the community. The categories include an inmate's behavior in prison, as well as age.

 "He deserves parole. It's as simple as that," says Yale Galanter, one of Simpson's defense attorneys in the armed robbery case.

 Galanter believes that the Las Vegas jury was dishing out some payback, not so much for Simpson's murder acquittal 13 years earlier, but for a 2007 book that Simpson co-authored called, If I Did It.

 Galanter says he could hear the jury's anger over the book when he questioned them. And he didn't blame them.

 "How do you write a book that your children are going to see called 'If I killed your mother?' and 'If I killed your mother's friend?' I thought that was a totally, socially disgusting act."

 In 1997, two years after his acquittal, Simpson was found liable for the deaths of Brown and Goldman in a civil suit brought by their families. He was ordered to give control of the book to the Goldman family as partial payment of the civil judgment, and they changed the name to If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer. ||||| Former football star and actor O.J. Simpson could be one step closer to freedom after more than eight years in a Nevada prison.

 What you need to know about OJ Simpson's parole hearing in Nevada (Elaine Wilson/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

 O.J. Simpson returns to the witness stand to testify after a break during an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas on May 15, 2013. (Julie Jacobson/AP, Pool, file)

 O.J. Simpson looks over at his lawyer Tom Pitaro during an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court on May 17, 2013 in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/AP, Pool)

 Defense attorney Patricia Palm, left, and O.J. Simpson appear at an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court on May 17, 2013 in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/AP, Pool)

 O.J. Simpson listens to audio recording played during an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court, Thursday, May 16, 2013 in Las Vegas. (Julie Jacobson/AP, Pool)

 O.J. Simpson testifies during an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Las Vegas. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine to 33-year sentence in state prison as a result of his October 2008 conviction for armed robbery and kidnapping charges, is using a writ of habeas corpus, to seek a new trial, claiming he had such bad representation that his conviction should be reversed. (Pool Photo/ Julie Jacobson)

 FILE - In this May 13, 2013, file photo, O.J. Simpson appears at an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court, in Las Vegas. Los Angeles police are investigating a knife purportedly found some time ago at the former home of Simpson, who was acquitted of murder charges in the 1994 stabbing deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, Pool, File)

 CARSON CITY — Former football star and actor O.J. Simpson could be one step closer to freedom after more than eight years in a Nevada prison.

 Simpson, 70, could be released from Lovelock Correctional Center by Oct. 1 if the state Parole Board rules favorably on his release request following a Thursday hearing. Simpson will take part from Lovelock, a medium security facility where he is serving his sentence. The hearing will be teleconferenced to the board in Carson City.

 Four members of the Parole Board will deliberate in private following the 10 a.m. testimony and then take a public vote. If the vote is unanimous in favor of parole, Simpson will be released this fall. Two other commissioners could participate if the vote is not unanimous.

 Media interest in the hearing is overwhelming, unlike his first hearing in 2013 when Simpson was paroled from his first set of sentences for convictions related to the 2007 robbery of two memorabilia collectors at the Palace Station hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

 Simpson is serving a nine- to 33-year sentence for the 12 convictions — including kidnapping and armed robbery — related to the incident.

 Simpson said he was trying to recover memorabilia stolen from him. In his 2013 parole hearing, Simpson expressed remorse for the armed heist of memorabilia collectors Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.

 Simpson was found not guilty by a Los Angeles jury in 1995 of the 1994 deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman, in one of the most celebrated trials in American history. A jury in a civil trial in 1997 ordered Simpson to pay $25 million in punitive damages to the families of Simpson and Goldman after finding him liable for the murders.

 Before those deaths, Simpson — known also by his nickname, “The Juice” — was one of the best known and liked former athletes in America, regularly appearing in films and TV commercials.

 Second parole hearing

 Simpson has been incarcerated at Lovelock, about 130 miles northeast of Carson City, since December 2008. He was paroled in July 2013 on two kidnapping and three other charges stemming from his 2007 robbery. He is now up for parole on a second set of sentences.

 The sentences that are aggregated for purposes of the hearing include four concurrent sentences for use of a deadly weapon and two consecutive sentences for assault with a deadly weapon.

 While the hearings are public, testimony is limited to the inmate, a representative of the inmate, if any, victims of the crime and one family member or supporter of the inmate. The board will consider confidential information, including a pre-sentence investigation, a parole hearing report, a risk assessment and letters of support or opposition, if any.

 Well behaved

 Simpson said at his 2013 parole hearing that he had been a model inmate during his five years in Lovelock. Simpson said he would “be the best prisoner they’ve ever had here” when he arrived and “for the most part I’ve kept my word on that.”

 “I’ve not had any incidents despite all the stories in the tabloids and everything,” he told the parole board.

 The board on Thursday will get an update on Simpson’s behavior over the past four years.

 Simpson said in his 2013 statement that he had spoken to the victims and apologized for the incident, which he said got out of hand.

 “We have, for the most part, put it behind us,” he said.

 Simpson said the difference between he and other inmates is that they tried to steal other people’s property or money while he was trying to recover property that belonged to him.

 “Make no mistake, I would give it all back to these guys,” he said. “They can have it all to give me back five years.”

 Simpson said he has missed seeing his two younger children go through high school and missed his sister’s funeral.

 Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @seanw801 on Twitter. |||||Summary:

– OJ Simpson's parole hearing in Nevada will be broadcast live at 1pm EDT Thursday and there's a strong chance that his path to freedom will be clear by the end of the afternoon. Nobody has registered to testify against the 70-year-old Simpson, who has been in prison for nine years on 12 convictions related to a Las Vegas robbery and will appear before the Nevada Parole Board via videolink, NPR reports. Thursday's hearing will cover four concurrent sentences for use of a deadly weapon and two consecutive sentences for assault with a deadly weapon, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Four board members will vote after the hearing and Simpson could be free by Oct. 1 if they are all in favor of parole. If Simpson is indeed released this fall—which appears almost certainly to be the decision—it will "renew the rabid curiosity" in the case and "produce a spectacle unlike anything we’ve seen since he went behind bars," Nancy Armour at USA Today predicts. There has even been talk that Simpson might end up with a reality TV show, but Armour wants Simpson to avoid the spotlight unless he wants to return to the "toxic mentality that landed him in prison in the first place." If the former NFL star does end up with a TV show, the money is likely to go to the families of murder victims Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, CBS News reports. He will still receive an NFL pension estimated at $25,000 per month.


Article:
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni signs an anti-homosexual bill into law at the state house in Entebbe, 36 km (22 miles) southwest of the capital Kampala February 24, 2014.

 WASHINGTON The United States on Thursday cut aid to Uganda, imposed visa restrictions and canceled a regional military exercise in response to a Ugandan law that imposes harsh penalties on homosexuality.

 The White House said in a statement the measures were intended to "reinforce our support for human rights of all Ugandans regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity."

 Homosexuality is taboo in most African countries and illegal in 37, including in Uganda where it has been a crime since British rule.

 Uganda's new law, signed by President Yoweri Museveni in February, imposes jail terms of up to life for "aggravated homosexuality" which includes homosexual sex with a minor or while HIV-positive.

 Widely condemned by donor countries, the law also criminalizes lesbianism for the first time and makes it a crime to help individuals engage in homosexual acts.

 Western donors, including the United States, had halted or re-directed about $118 million in aid to the east African nation's economy before Thursday's announcement.

 The White House said on Thursday the United States would impose visa restrictions on Ugandans it believes have been involved in human rights violations, including gay rights.

 The United States will halt $2.4 million in funding for a Ugandan community policing program in light of a police raid on a U.S.-funded health program at Makerere University and reports of people detained and abused while in police custody.

 In addition, Washington will shift some funding for salaries and travel expenses of Ugandan health ministry employees to non-governmental agencies involved in health programs.

 It will also reallocate $3 million in funding for a planned national public health institute in Uganda to another African country, which it did not name. A National Institutes of Health genomics meeting would be moved from Uganda to South Africa, the White House said.

 It also canceled plans for a U.S.-sponsored military exercise in Uganda that was meant to include other East African countries. A date had not yet been set for the exercise.

 Uganda is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamic extremism in Somalia, where Ugandan troops for the backbone of the African Union force battling al Qaeda-aligned militants.

 U.S. special forces have also been involved in the hunt for Joseph Kony, the elusive rebel commander seeking to topple the Ugandan government. Kony is believed to be hiding in the jungles of central Africa.

 In Kampala, a government official asked about the U.S. measures said that Uganda would not alter its decision to toughen laws against homosexuals.

 "Uganda is a sovereign country and can never bow to anybody or be blackmailed by anybody on a decision it took in its interests, even if it involves threats to cut off all financial assistance," government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said.

 U.S. President Barack Obama previously told Museveni the law would complicate relations between the two countries. Since then Washington has been reviewing its funding to Uganda, while privately pressing Museveni's government to repeal the law.

 (Additional reporting by Elias Biryabarema in Kampala; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Cynthia Osterman) ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is imposing visa bans on Ugandan officials who are involved in corruption and are violating the rights of gay people and others.

 The Obama administration did not identify the targeted officials.

 Uganda passed a law in February that strengthened criminal penalties for gay sex and made life sentences possible for those convicted of breaking the law.

 Human rights groups have reported a surge in rights abuses of gay people since the law took effect.

 "LGBT rights are human rights and the steps taken today make clear that the United States will take action to defend those rights," U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power said in a statement. "The discriminatory law in Uganda that criminalizes homosexual status should be repealed, as should laws and policies in the more than 76 countries around the world that criminalize homosexuality. We will do everything we can to work with governments and our non-government partners to end anti-gay discrimination around the world."

 The U.S. already has said it would discontinue or redirect several million dollars in assistance to Uganda. The Pentagon also canceled a training exercise in Uganda.

 ___

 Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. ||||| Story highlights U.S. pulls funding from Uganda's government

 Move is in response to Uganda's anti-gay law

 Washington also cancels a planned military exercise

 Uganda's President signed measure earlier this year

 Uganda's government institutions will lose U.S. funding as punishment for a law signed earlier this year by President Yoweri Museveni that makes some homosexual acts punishable by life in prison.

 In addition, the White House said Thursday that Washington will cancel a planned military exercise with Uganda and deny entry to certain Ugandan citizens, including those "involved in serious human rights abuses, including against LGBT individuals."

 The United States will not end its humanitarian support for Uganda or its cooperation to stamp out the Lord's Resistance Army, led by the elusive Joseph Kony

 "We will seek to advance these interests even as we continue -- in Uganda and around the world -- to oppose discriminatory practices and champion human rights for all," read the statement by White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.

 Uganda's anti-homosexuality act, first introduced in 2009, originally included a death penalty clause for some such acts. It was briefly shelved when Britain and other European nations threatened to withdraw aid to Uganda, which relies on millions of dollars from the international community.

 JUST WATCHED Gay Ugandan speaks out about new law Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Gay Ugandan speaks out about new law 05:56

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 Museveni signed the bill into law in February, two months after Uganda's Parliament passed it after replacing a death penalty provision with a proposal of life in prison for "aggravated homosexuality." This includes acts in which one person is infected with HIV, "serial offenders" and sex with minors, according to Amnesty International.

 The law calls for the imprisonment of those who counsel or reach out to gays and lesbians -- a provision that would ensnare rights groups and others providing services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

 Museveni's position on the law changed several times before he signed it.

 At one point, he said he wouldn't sign the bill, describing homosexuals as "sick" people who needed help, not imprisonment.

 He said he changed his mind after scientists had determined that there is no gene for homosexuality and that it is merely a choice to embrace abnormal behavior. |||||Summary:

– Uganda's harsh new anti-gay law—which makes "aggravated homosexuality" punishable by life in prison—is costing the country: The US yesterday cut aid to Uganda over it, and didn't stop there. It slapped visa restrictions on Ugandans believed by the US to have been involved in human rights violations or corruption, the AP reports; a planned National Institutes of Health meeting will be moved from Uganda to South Africa; and a planned military exercise with Uganda has been axed. Among the aid cuts: $2.4 million that was meant to fund a Ugandan community policing program has been halted, and $3 million planned to fund a national public health institute will be reallocated to another unnamed African country. The moves "reinforce our support for human rights of all Ugandans regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity," the White House said in a statement, according to Reuters. But a government spokesperson in Uganda was unswayed: "Uganda is a sovereign country and can never bow to anybody or be blackmailed by anybody on a decision it took in its interests, even if it involves threats to cut off all financial assistance," he says. And Uganda has experienced more than threats: Before yesterday's announcement it had already seen $118 million in aid from Western donors pulled. The US will continue its involvement in the hunt for Joseph Kony, CNN notes.


Write a summary based on this article:

Story highlights Pentagon wants aerial platform to carry drones

 Defense Advanced Research Products Agency is seeking proposals

 Pentagon wants to use existing aircraft to launch and recover drones

 (CNN) Got an idea on how to make a flying aircraft carrier? The Defense Department wants to know about it.

 The Defense Advanced Research Products Agency has a request out for ideas on how to develop an airborne platform that could both launch and recover other aircraft.

 But before you start looking for schematics of the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701) or Battlestar Galactica, or how you might levitate the USS Nimitz, think a little smaller, like B-1, B-52 or C-130.

 DARPA wants ideas on how to turn those aircraft currently in the Pentagon inventory into platforms that could carry Unmanned Aerial Systems, what most folks call drones, close to their targets. The drones could then go about their business -- bombing, missile strikes, reconnaissance, etc. -- then fly back to the mother ship and head for home.

 This plan could add to the range of the drones and open up new missions they cannot now undertake because of their limited range, DARPA says.

 Read More ||||| Washington (AFP) - It's a Hollywood sci-fi fantasy that has long eluded the Pentagon: a flying "mothership" that launches smaller aircraft.

 The Pentagon's research agency put out a request to industry this month to outline how a large cargo plane could release drones to spy on or attack an enemy and then return to the flying aircraft carrier.

 The concept conjures up fantastical images from "The Avengers" film and the "StarCraft" video game, with large, lumbering motherships sending out smaller craft -- but there are no cloaking devices involved in this particular project.

 At the moment, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is not close to constructing any test planes and is merely exploring the possibility on paper, officials and experts said.

 "This is the float-the-idea stage of the concept. It's not the build-me-a-prototype stage. We're not to that yet," said author Peter Singer, who has written extensively about robots and warfare.

 In a conceptual drawing from DARPA, a cargo plane resembling a C-130 releases a squadron of drones that look similar to Predator or Reaper aircraft.

 "We want to find ways to make smaller aircraft more effective, and one promising idea is enabling existing large aircraft, with minimal modification, to become 'aircraft carriers in the sky,'" Dan Patt, the manager for the DARPA program, said in a statement.

 - Airships with biplanes -

 It's not the first time the American military has sought to create a carrier in the sky.

 "This idea goes back to the 1920s," said James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

 "If you think back to dirigibles, they used to have small aircraft, a one-man fighter, that would hook up to them."

 Constructed by the US Navy in the late 1920s, the rigid airships could carry a small squadron of Sparrowhawk biplanes inside, and the planes would then launch from the dirigible after being lowered by a trapeze device. The biplane would return by latching onto a hook on the belly of the mothership.

 The US Navy built two of the airships but both of them went down in disastrous crashes in the 1930s, killing dozens of crew and spelling the end of the experiment.

 In the 1960s, the CIA commissioned a pioneering drone manufactured in secret by Lockheed Martin, the D-21, which was designed to launch from another jet and later from a B-52 bomber. The unmanned D-21 carried a camera for spy missions over China and then was supposed to release the camera for retrieval while the plane would self-destruct.

 In four missions, the plane either failed to self-destruct as planned or the camera module could not be retrieved, and the program was scrapped by 1971.

 - Underwater aircraft carrier? -

 The flying carrier could allow the use of drones in areas where the United States has no access to nearby airfields, but the technical challenge of recovering a robotic plane in mid-air remains a serious obstacle, Lewis said.

 The exploration of a possible airborne carrier is part of a massive effort by the Pentagon to invest in cutting-edge robotic technology, as commanders are keenly aware that China, Russia, Iran and other countries are looking to build their own fleets of unmanned weapons.

 The carrier fits into what researchers call the "marsupial" category of robots. At the recent Zhuhai arms show, China unveiled a prototype of an unmanned armored vehicle that carries two smaller robots inside, a tracked robot outfitted with a machine gun and a flying surveillance quadcopter.

 But while the flying drone carrier may be a long way off, US military researchers are moving closer to an underwater carrier, with aircraft launched from a torpedo or missile tube, Singer said

 "If you are looking at other places where you might see aircraft carriers, don't look up in the air, look under water," he said. "That's where there is some really interesting research work and strategic need."

 Last year the US Naval Research Laboratory said it had successfully released a drone from a submerged submarine, with the robotic plane flying out of a Tomahawk missile tube and its wings unfolding origami style. |||||

– In the latest effort to make reality out of what is currently science fiction, US officials are looking into the possibility of building a mothership: a large aircraft from which smaller ones take off. "This is the float-the-idea stage of the concept. It's not the build-me-a-prototype stage," says an expert. But this month, the Pentagon asked companies to envision designs for a drone-carrying cargo plane, AFP reports. The request seeks a design that could be demonstrated within four years, CNN reports. The effort has focused on converting aircraft the Pentagon already has. "One promising idea is enabling existing large aircraft, with minimal modification, to become 'aircraft carriers in the sky,'" says an official with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Versions of the idea have been around since the 1920s; in the 1930s, airships carrying Sparrowhawk biplanes crashed and the US dropped the effort for the time being. An underwater version of such a system could come sooner than a flying version, AFP notes: The US has already managed to launch a drone from a submarine's missile tube.


– A Mississippi State University student was fatally shot in a dorm on Saturday, and a second student attending a Mississippi college was killed at an off-campus party yesterday. John Sanderson, 21, died shortly after three suspects fled his Starkville residence hall. "The perpetrators fled our campus, but we're still attempting to identify them, and we're following every lead in order to do that," said spokesman Bill Kibler. The campus has not been locked down, but only residents are being allowed in and out of dorm, and are being carefully screened, reports ABC News. Officials believe the shooting, the first ever on campus, is an isolated incident. In the second shooting, a 19-year-old Nolan Ryan Henderson of Jackson State University was shot dead in the face at a pool party. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant expressed sorrow over both deaths, and offered any aid needed, reports Fox News. "Those perpetuating these crimes will be apprehended and held accountable," he vowed.

Expand this summary.

A male student was fatally shot at a Mississippi State University residence hall Saturday night by three suspects who fled the scene and are still at large, school officials said today.

 Campus police were notified of an incident in Evans Hall, a male dorm, at approximately 10 p.m. Saturday, and arrived at the scene within one minute, according to Dr. Mark Keenum, Mississippi State University president.

 Police found 21-year-old John Sanderson at the scene in grave condition. He was taken to the hospital, where he died about 30 minutes later.

 According to the MSU website, the suspects are three black males who fled Evans Hall in a blue Crown Victoria.

 "The perpetrators fled our campus, but we're still attempting to identify who those perpetrators are and so we're following every lead in order to do that," said Dr. Bill Kibler, vice president of student affairs at MSU.

 Getty Images A male student was fatally shot at... View Full Size Getty Images A male student was fatally shot at Mississippi State University residence hall Saturday night by three suspects who fled the scene.

 Campus officials alerted students last night of the incident.

 "Our local city police department and the county sheriff's office are all participating cooperatively in patrolling our campus and conducting a full scale investigation," Kibler said.

 Mississippi State University is currently operating under advisory conditions, according to its website, and has set up a call center for worried parents.

 "No one's being admitted to the residence halls other than residents themselves. That's all being screened very carefully," Kibler said. "We have not locked down the entire campus."

 In a press conference this morning, Keenum said campus officials believe this is an isolated incident.

 "This is the first time in our school's history that such a tragic incident has occurred, involving a student being shot on campus," he said. "Our campus is known as a safe place, and I want to assure students, parents, faculty, and staff that it continues to be safe."

 "I do not believe there's any imminent threat to our students on the campus right now," Kibler said. "This appears to be an incident that was contained there involving those that were involved." ||||| Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Sunday expressed his sorrow at the shooting deaths of two college students in the state over the weekend.

 Late Saturday, 21-year-old John Sanderson of Madison, Miss., was shot to death in a Mississippi State University dormitory, though the killing appears to be isolated, according to university officials.

 Early Sunday, a 19-year-old freshman at Jackson State University died from being shot in the face and killed at an off-campus apartment pool party in Jackson. Police identified the victim as Nolan Ryan Henderson III of Atlanta.

 Bryant said in a statement that he and his wife Deborah were "saddened to learn that Mississippi lost two college students this weekend." He said he's spoken with university leaders and instructed the state public safety commissioner to assist in the investigations.

 "Those perpetuating these crimes will be apprehended and held accountable," he said. "Mississippi does not take these instances lightly, and rest assured, we will continue to provide a safe learning environment for students at all our Mississippi College and University campuses."

 At Mississippi State, university president Mark Keenum said in a statement on the school's website Sunday that the killing of Sanderson was the first time a student had been shot on the campus. Keenum said officials could reveal few other details because of the ongoing investigation.

 University spokeswoman Maridith Geuder said police received a call about the shooting at Evans Hall around 10 p.m. Saturday. Police were on the scene within a minute. Sanderson was taken to Oktibbeha County Hospital, where he died.

 Three male suspects fled the building in a blue Crown Victoria, officials said. No arrests had been made Sunday.

 Shortly after the shooting, the university began sending a series of text message alerts to students. Police officers stepped up patrols to make sure the campus was safe, Keenum said.

 The four-story Evans Hall holds about 300 male students and is located on the north side of campus. The campus of about 20,000 students is located in a rural area in the northeastern part of the state, about 125 miles northeast of Jackson.

 The school's website says the campus is located in a low-crime area, and that emergencies are rare.

 Within a few hours, Jackson police say a freshman at Jackson State University was killed.

 Police spokeswoman Colendula Green said officers early Sunday found the body of Henderson lying on a walkway inside the Palisades Apartments.

 Henderson reportedly lived on campus but was attending a pool party at the apartment complex. He was shot one time.

 Green said Sunday evening that details of what happened were sketchy and that police did not have a motive or suspect. JSU students had planned a vigil for Sunday evening.

 Hank Bounds, the state's commissioner of higher education, said in a statement Sunday that both deaths were "senseless tragedies and our sympathies go out to each of their families."

 But Bounds stressed that university campuses are "very safe, with many precautions taken and systems in place to protect students." He praised Mississippi State for its "swift action and communication to students and the university community."

 The commissioner said both universities have counseling centers and other resources available to assist students deal with the tragedies.

 Click here for more on this story from FOX40.com. |||||


Here is a news article: Photos of Pippa Middleton have made the sister-in-law of England's presumptive future king a worldwide sensation, but nothing quite like the shot this weekend when she was snapped laughing as a male companion in a car pointed a gun at a photographer following them in Paris.

 Middleton, 28, was in the passenger seat of an Audi convertible with three male friends Sunday when the driver allegedly reached for a what appeared to be a semi-automatic gun and jokingly aimed it at a paparazzi following them, London newspaper The Sun reported.

 The image shows Middleton, the younger sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, looking back at the paparazzo and grinning as her friend, the driver, reaches down and aims what appears to be the gun.

 But now it appears that the excitement, which included reports that Pippa Middleton could face criminal charges, may have been overblown.

 ABC News has learned that the photographer says he knew all along the gun was a fake and has been telling people he never felt scared. Even friends of one of the young fashionistas in the car told ABC News today that they have the toy gun in their possession.

 The Sun had reported that the Paris Judicial Police department is "poised" to launch a probe into the incident, but police told ABC News that there is no investigation, because no one has filed a complaint.

 Middleton was reportedly in Paris to attend a costume birthday party at the Chez Raspoutine as a guest of fashion label owner Arthur de Soultrait, also a passenger in the car when the gun incident occurred.

 "Pippa is a party girl. She mixes now in very high society and they don't come very higher than this group of French aristocratic sons," the Sun's royal editor, Duncan Larcombe, said of the three men Middleton was photographed with.

 Even if the flap blows over, it is a a rare misstep for Middleton, who was dubbed "Her Royal Hotness" and became a target of paparazzi after she wowed onlookers as a bridesmaid at her sister's wedding to Prince William last April.

 It was revealed in January that lawyers for Middleton sent a cease-and-desist letter around to six media agencies that distribute paparazzi photographs worldwide. The letter was said to warn the agencies that unless their photographers stop following Middleton, she will pursue legal action, which could include an injunction and legal costs.

 Just prior to the letter being sent, the picture editor for U.K.'s Daily Mail newspaper reported that 400 photographs of Middleton cross his desk every single day.

 Middleton, who lives in London and works for her family's party-planning business, was last said to be back in a serious romance with her old flame, George Percy, an heir to the Duke of Northumberland, one of Britain's grandest and richest titles.

 "Pippa has been photographed; she's been coached on how to behave," Larcombe said. "If she's photographed by an unwanted freelance photographer, she smiles, she keeps her head up and she lets the lawyers doing the arguing behind the scenes. She knows much better than this."

 Buckingham Palace said it would not comment on the incident, since it does not officially represent Middleton because she is not a member of the royal family.

 "I think often by what they're not saying can often say more and I think there are some very nervous people behind the scenes right now," Larcombe said.

 "I think, in fairness to her [Pippa], it will be interesting to know whether she told this guy off after he'd done something as stupid as this or whether she thinks it was all a big joke because in the pictures, unfortunately for her, it does look as though she found the funny side of it," he said. ||||| gungate

 Gun not real, says spokesperson. Plus, check out our brief history of other scandalous royal and celeb siblings .

 A spokesperson at Arthur de Soultrait's fashion company, Vicomte A, said this morning that the gun the driver of Pippa Middleton’s car pointed at a photographer Saturday was a fake. "It was not a real gun, it was just a stupid joke," said the spokesperson. That will do little to assuage anger at the idiotic stunt in Paris, where a recent spate of high-profile shootings have rocked the country. What was the driver- who has yet to be identified, although de Soultrait was in the back seat - thinking when he produced a very convincing-looking automatic pistol from the glovebox of his car, and pointed it at a photographer pursuing his car through the streets of Paris on Saturday?

 And why did Pippa grin as he committed this idiotic act?

 The charitable explanation is that it was a nervous reaction, or that the sister of future queen, Kate Middleton didn’t really realise what was going on.

 Then again, maybe she thought it was funny.

 The Paris police are now saying that all four of the people in the car could face arrest, and possibly, imprisonment for up to two years.

 Fame Flynet Pippa in Paris this weekend, a few hours before the incident took place. On the right she is pictured with Marcy de Soultrait, Arthur's brother

 If Pippa is called in for questioning by the French police, which seems a distinct possibility given public anger over the recent spate of high-profile shootings in France, the Gungate drama could completely overshadow the Diamond Jubilee celebrations taking place this year.

 The shooter has yet to be identified, but, sitting in the back of the car, wearing a baseball cap, was Viscount Arthur de Soultrait, whose fancy dress party Pippa was attending in Paris. De Soultrait is an aristocratic fashion designer, and a friend of Pippa's (she previously stayed at his Paris apartment last May after attending the French Open). The party was on Friday night. These pictures were taken on Saturday as Pippa was driven to the Gare du Nord to get the Eurostar home.

 Contacted this morning by the Daily Beast, Royal press officers refused to comment. They told the Royalist that Pippa is a ‘private individual’ and therefore not their responsibility.

 Unbelievably, Palace press officers, who one might have assumed would be calmly preparing a humble written apology by Pippa to the people of Paris, and perhaps an expression of sympathy about the recent French shootings, and maybe a contribution to an appropriate charity, insist it’s nothing to do with them.

 The Royalist wrote about the challenges that Pippa faces as being a sort-of-member of the Royal Family in early March - she is more famous than Kate in some parts of the world but has no protection as she is not an HRH. Remember when a truck driver, Erik Smedhs, came up to her and kissed her after a big cross-country ski race she did for charity in Sweden?

 Of course then, one assumed the issue was stranger-danger, not unpredictable friends of her own choosing.

 But this new incident highlights the challenges that Pippa faces as a public personality.

 The Royalist’s view is that the Palace is being incredibly short-sighted not to bring Pippa into the fold officially, perhaps by making her a lady-in-waiting which was originally mooted, but was then quietly dropped on the grounds she would attract too much media attention. The Royal Family are (albeit indirectly) responsible for the fact that she is famous, and she should be given the same protection and advice that other Senior Royals are being given.

 She is clearly more in need of protection than, say, Princess Eugenie, and she, and her bottom, have certainly done as much for the reinvigoration of the Royal brand as any HRH.

 If Pippa does get arrested for this, which is a distinct possibility given public anger over the recent shootings in France, it will completely overshadow the Jubilee celebrations. Everyone in the car could face two years in jail, whether the gun is fake or real. ||||| Pippa, a gun scare and a risque night at the court of Paris's king of decadence

 Friend of Her Royal Hotness brandished realistic-looking weapon

 Police expected to question Prince William's new sister-in-law

 If authorities want to prosecute, Pippa could be called as a witness

 It happened hours after she attended decadent 18th century-style party

 By Rebecca English

 |

 Only hours after a debauched aristocratic bash, Pippa Middleton was at the centre of controversy as she was photographed with a man brandishing a gun on the streets of Paris.

 Prince William's new sister-in-law, dubbed Her Royal Hotness after her appearance at his wedding, is expected to be questioned by police after her companion pointed the realistic-looking weapon at a photographer who was following them.

 It is not clear whether the pistol was real or a fake, but the French authorities are investigating the incident after receiving a complaint from a member of the public at a time when the capital is on high alert after a string of fatal shootings.

 Scroll down for video

 Gun drama: With Pippa in the front seat, the driver of the car had produced a pistol from the glove box

 Pippa's male companions appear to find the gun stunt hilarious as stunned onlookers struggled to make out if the weapon was real

 Taking aim: As the others laugh and smile, the driver of the car Pippa was in points the pistol directly at a photographer

 Firearm terror: With the future Queen's sister sitting next to him, the man continues to point the weapon in the direction of a photographer Retail therapy: Pippa had made a last-minute dash to the shops before hopping into the convertible Audi belonging to her male companions in Paris

 On the gilded throne: A smiling Pippa Middleton and other female guests join the Vicomte de Soultrait, who is wearing a dog collar and chain Party people: Pippa posed happily with the Vicomte de Soultrait (left) during the party thrown for her close French aristocrat friend

 If they prosecute, the sister of the future Queen is likely to be called as a witness. The crime itself carries a maximum seven-year jail sentence.

 Either way, the situation has the potential to cause acute embarrassment to the Royal Family as the Queen prepares to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee.

 The incident occurred hours after Pippa, 28, was guest of honour at a decadent 18th century-themed party thrown by her close friend, the French aristocrat and designer Vicomte Arthur de Soultrait, on Friday.

 The licentious bash at one of Paris's hottest nightspots saw costume-clad socialites greeted by three dwarves lounging on a sofa for their 'entertainment'.

 It concluded with a stripper bursting out of a giant birthday cake before disrobing to a remix of God Save The Queen.

 A smiling Pippa, in a scarlet corseted dress, even posed for photos perched on the side of a gilded throne – shipped in for the occasion – next to the vicomte, who wore a studded dog collar and chain.

 Pippa, pictured at the back of the group next to the vicomte, was said to have been constantly surrounded by a 'gaggle of hangers-on' during the party

 Guest of honour: Pippa with a man believed to be the vicomte's brother Marcy (left) and posing for a photo with the vicomte (right) Attraction: Sparks fly as a party performer grinds on the dancefloor

 Scenes from the lavish party, attended by Pippa Middleton, in Paris to mark the seventh anniversary of Vicomte A a company formed by Arthur Solutrait, who also celebrated his 30th birthday at the event

 Some pictures from the event have appeared on a publicly-accessible website set up to promote the party, while others have appeared on the website of the French magazine Le Point.

 Pippa works as a party planner and is renowned for her assiduous development of society connections. Last year she stayed with de Soultrait at his multi-million-pound Paris home when she was invited to attend the French Open tennis tournament as a guest.

 Arriving at his 30th birthday party on Friday at the Theatre Saint Germain she appeared to be dressed rather half-heartedly compared to the other guests in a ribboned corset top, under which she wore lacy legging and gold pumps.

 But onlookers said she still managed to cause a stir and was constantly surrounded by 'a gaggle of hangers-on, like a swarm of bees', and had her own bodyguard who 'watched her constantly'.

 Party animal: Entrepreneur Vicomte de Soultrait appeared to revel in the party atmosphere at the Paris nightspot. With the guests dressed in period costume, another performer plays tricks for the crowd

 The party was, by all accounts, filled with 'feathers, baubles, jewels and privileged youngsters'. Some 300 guests including the cream of French, American, Latin American and English society had been invited to the bash, which was entitled 'Le Roi est Mort, Vive le Vicomte' (the king is dead, long live the vicomte).

 Among them was a Marie-Antoinette lookalike, a reveller claiming to be sexual deviant the Marquis de Sade, and a man dressed as a cardinal who was carrying a copy of the Kama Sutra instead of a bible.

 'We don't take ourselves too seriously,' said the vicomte's brother, Marcy.

 Arthur went further, boasting: 'I love decadence. Today we're going to have fun.'

 Champagne flowed and revellers posed suggestively in revealing outfits and cavorted with the dwarves in the dimly lit room, draped with red velvet curtains.

 Party girl: Pippa, dubbed 'Her Royal Hotness', appeared relaxed and in a celebratory mood during the decadent 18th century-style party

 Decadent: The partygoers in fancy dress pose around the throne with Pippa

 The 'highlight' was the sight of a brunette stripper bursting out of a birthday cake and entertaining the guests, including Pippa, to a risque burlesque show which culminated in her striking her metal chastity belt with an electric angle grinder, showering the audience in sparks.

 When midnight struck, the vicomte was given a Cartier watch as a present, before joking that he hoped to get a Rolex for his 40th.

 The self-confessed party animal is one of the most successful young entrepreneurs in France and runs the upmarket Vicomte A clothing range. It is famed for its eye-wateringly bright preppy style clothing, such as polo shirts.

 WHO IS VICOMTE DE SOULTRAIT?

 A self-confessed party animal, Vicomte de Soultrait was - despite his supposed 'mortificaton' - yesterday still boasting to friends that 'any party where Pippa is goes with a swing'.

 So who is the French aristocrat that has got the Duchess of Cambridge's younger sister in such hot water?

 In fact, he is one of the most successful young entrepreneurs in France and runs the upmarket Vicomte A clothing range, which had a turnover of around £10million in 2010.

 Arthur went into business while doing an internship in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2004, and began selling ties imported from Italy door-to-door.

 Among the lucrative contracts he has picked up in recent years is a contract to supply ties to the French Olympic team - but his firm is as famed for its eye-wateringly bright preppy style clothing, such as polo shirts, which are immensely popular in France and Palm Beach.

 They can be best described as a cross between Ralph Lauren and Gap – but very much targeted at wealthy young people like himself.

 Hailing from a wealthy Burgundian family who have an estate in the region as well as a stunning chateau on the outskirts of Paris - to which Pippa is a frequent visitor - de Soultrait is a fanatically keen huntsman whose passion for anything connected with bloodsports is matched only by his love for the high life.

 He plays polo to a high standard and has even been photographed with the Queen.

 It is clear that his long-standing friendship with Pippa is now, given her sister's marriage, one he prizes even more highly.

 Yesterday, a spokesman for his company insisted that the furor was a storm in a teacup. 'It was not a real gun. It was just a stupid joke,' they were reported to have said.

 Hailing from a Burgundian family who have an estate in the region and a stunning chateau on the outskirts of Paris – to which Pippa is a frequent visitor – de Soultrait is a keen huntsman whose passion for bloodsports is matched only by his love of the high life.

 He plays polo and has been photographed with the Queen.

 After the birthday bash, Pippa was among partygoers driven to the trendy Raspoutine bar. According to sources, the high-spirited group did not arrive back at the vicomte's apartment in the expensive Rue de Varenne until 6am on Saturday.

 Following a few hours of sleep, Pippa and her friends emerged in time for a late brunch nearby.

 Afterwards she was driven to the Gard du Nord to catch the Eurostar home in a black Audi A5 convertible with red leather seats.

 De Soultrait wore a baseball cap and sat in the back with an unidentified male friend, while Pippa hopped in the front and chatted with the mystery driver. It was on the journey to the station, at around 2pm, that the man spotted a photographer pulling up behind him on a moped in stationary traffic.

 As his friends – including Pippa – smirked, the driver reached into his glove box and pulled out the weapon before aiming it directly at the photographer.

 It is not clear whether the pistol was real or a fake – but his actions constitute an offence under French law either way. A judicial source said: 'Anybody involved in the illegal use of a handgun in public is liable to arrest and interrogation.'

 If the gun was real, those involved in the incident face up to seven years in prison. If it is a fake, they could be jailed for two years.

 Sources indicated that the weapon looked similar to a Sig Sauer P226, used by numerous law enforcement and military organizations worldwide as well as by personal bodyguards.

 France is on a heightened security alert after Islamic terrorist Mohammed Merah shot dead seven people in the south-west of the country last month.

 And two men were arrested in Paris at the weekend in connection with four murders carried out with a pistol over the past five months. If the French authorities decide to question Pippa, the episode could turn into a major incident.

 Striking up the party: The French aristocrat looks on in amazement as a scantily-clad dancer emerges in front of the vicomte

 Raunchy: A provocatively-dressed dancer in suspenders and a corset emerges from a giant cake sculpture as the celebrations continued Fancy dress: Guests got into the spirit of the 18th century-style party hosted by Vicomte de Soultrait Provocative: Partygoers, including one dressed as a nun who later removes her wimple to dance with a dwarf

 Diplomatic sources in the city said the 'phones from London were already red hot about Pippa's involvement'. 'There is anger in London in royal circles that she has been dragged into this when she was just a passenger in the car,' said one.

 At least one witness has made a formal complaint to police. This is not believed to be the photographer concerned, who is still considering his options.

 The complaint has been handed to the judicial police who are conducting a preliminary investigation before deciding whether to alert an examining magistrate.

 St James's Palace declined to comment while the Middleton family solicitor failed to respond to repeated requests for a comment.

 Sources close to the Vicomte de Soultrait said he was 'mortified' and was 'preparing to explain' to the authorities what had happened.

 Friends refused to the name the driver who brandished the gun but said he was 'keeping a low profile and hoping everything will calm down'.

 Video: Pippa stars in Vicomte A fashion film |||||
A summary of this is?

– A "gun joke" involving palace sis-in-law Pippa Middleton is causing a royal stir. The driver of a car that Pippa, 28, was riding in smilingly pointed what looked like a gun at pestering paparazzi in Paris over the weekend. Now he says he was just goofing around, and the gun wasn't real. "It was not a real gun. It was just a stupid joke," said a representative. The French aren't laughing, though, especially in the wake of the shocking shootings in Toulouse last month. Paris authorities warned that everyone in the car (including grinning Pippa) could face arrest and even two years in prison. "Anybody involved in the illegal use of a handgun in public is liable to arrest and interrogation," a source told the Sun. But so far, no one has filed a complaint, and the "targeted" photographer didn't feel threatened, reports ABC. The driver hasn't yet been identified. Her Royal Hotness was in the front passenger's seat, and sitting in the back were two men, including aristocrat fashion designer Viscount Arthur de Soultrait, whose wild birthday party Pippa attended (for photos, check here). Buckingham Palace reps are keeping mum, saying Pippa is a "private individual" and not their concern.