Category Archives: History

A little bit of hope died last night in a 5-2 loss by the Chicago Blackhawks to the Nashville Predators, their sixth loss to the Predators this season. Watching the opening of the third period, I felt like I was Ralph Wiggum when Lisa Simpson broke his heart, I could see and feel the exact moment my playoff spirit for the Blackhawks broke. It was the Luke Kunin goal to make it a 5-2 game. Damnit, Luke. Why did it have to be a former Wisconsin Badger to break my heart like that?

With the loss, and a Dallas Stars win last night, the Blackhawks fell to sixth-place in the Central Division. They trail the Predators by four points in the standings and now trail the Stars by a point for fifth-place. Two more games remain against the Predators this season and it is unlikely, given the history between the Blackhawks and Predators over the last four years, that Chicago will make a miraculous turnaround and get right back into contention. Im happy to be wrong, but I dont think I will be.

I ran this poll last night following the game. Even with the recency-bias of the result, it appears overwhelmingly that Blackhawks fans are feeling the same sense. The thought of making the playoffs is all but over.

Faltering in big moments has somewhat become the calling card for the Blackhawks under head coach Jeremy Colliton. Aside from winning the play-in series against an unmotivated Edmonton Oilers team last summer, when the lights have shined brightest on the Blackhawks in the past three seasons, when theyve had big moments to swing momentum or move up in the standings, or even get a win on a special night (Patrick Kanes 1,000th game comes to mind), they fall flat more often than not.

Im not sure where they go from here, but a win on Wednesday for Chicago, and for Detroit, would do wonders for the sliver of hope and optimism that still resides in my heart and the hearts of many other Blackhawks fans.

Punches in bunches will do a lot of damage in boxing or MMA, and the same goes for hockey with goals coming in quick succession. Chicago allowed two goals in 51 seconds in the second period to blow Nashvilles lead at the time to 3-1, and then started the third period with two goals in 18 seconds to drive the nail in the coffin of the game.

Bad defensive reads and turnovers continue to plague the Blackhawks. But, it also doesnt help when it feels like the Hockey Gods, who once smiled upon the Blackhawks, have now turned their backs to them.

The most egregious incident was on the 4-2 goal to open the third period. Connor Murphy loses his helmet in a puck battle and, by rule, must immediately leave the ice if he cannot retrieve his helmet. Murphy leaves, two Predators are left unchecked in front of Kevin Lankinen, Nashville scores.

You can see in the video, Murphys helmet doing almost as good of a job as the Blackhawks on defense.

18 seconds after the 4-2 goal, Duncan Keith blows a tire in transition and Luke Kunin is left wide open in front of Kevin Lankinen and buries the 5-2 goal. Game over.

It didnt help last night that the Blackhawks were shorthanded defensively for about 90% of the game. Early in the first period, defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk took a hit along the boards and had to leave the game. He didnt return and Chicago was down to five defensemen for the remainder of the game.

Chicago was also a bit shorthanded in their forwards group as well, with Brandon Hagel being a late scratch after a delay with his COVID test results. After the game, it was revealed he had another false positive test and didnt get his result in time to play. This is the second time Hagel has had a false positive in three weeks.

With Hagel out, newly acquired forward Adam Gaudette would make his Blackhawks debut on the first line with Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach. Talk about a big opportunity in your first game.

And talk about not getting a chance to take advantage of it. Although Gaudette did register his first assist as a Blackhawk on David Kmpfs goal to make it 3-2 in the second period, Gaudette was not given ample ice-time.

Chicago has ten games remaining this season. All ten of them are now going to be against teams that are ahead of them in the Central Division standings. Of the Predators, Blackhawks, and Stars, Chicago has the toughest schedule ahead of them as the three teams battle for the final playoff spot. Im an optimistic person, but Im not that optimistic.

Hey! Heres some good news for Blackhawks and Bulls fans, apparently Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot believes that fans may return to the United Center before the seasons end!

Just in time for the Blackhawks to possibly not be in the playoff hunt. Woo.

Its a somewhat somber Blackhawks birthday today as Brent Seabrook turns 36 -years-old today. You hate to see a player that has meant so much to the organization for so many years not get to celebrate his birthday with his teammates, like Im sure he expected to do a few months ago.

As much as his play had declined in recent years, you still gotta love Brent Seabrook and his legacy with the Blackhawks.

Speaking of legacies, a huge milestone record was broken in the NHL last night as Patrick Marleau passed Gordie Howe for the most NHL games every played with his 1,768th game.

Marleau is a lock for the Hockey Hall of Fame with over 500 goals in his career and nearing 1,200 points. He now holds the record for most NHL games played and was part of two Olympic Gold Medal teams with Canada in 2010 and 2014. He has 195 career Stanley Cup playoff games under his belt as well.

Marleau was honored last night by seemingly everyone across the NHL last night, but the most attention-grabbing tribute came from his former teammates with the Toronto Maple Leafs as young stars Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner paid tribute, with a cameo from Marleaus long-time San Jose Sharks teammate Joe Thornton.

You can see just how much every one of his 1,768 games has meant to Marleau.

What an honor for such a likable player and person. Congratulations!

. Thats all for today. Have yourselves a good Tuesday!

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Playoff Hopes Fading, Reality Setting In, Marleau Makes History, and Other Blackhawks Bullets - bleachernation.com

For many observers, the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyds death, has felt like the culmination of years of outrage and grief over police killings of Black people in America. Video of the arrest that led to Mr. Floyds death inspired demonstrations that touched every corner of the country last summer, with protesters demanding justice for Mr. Floyd.

The Times reviewed dozens of similar cases in which encounters between Black people and police ended fatally. Though many cases prompted public outrage, that did not always translate to criminal indictments. In some cases, police officers were shown to have responded lawfully. In others, charges were dropped or plea agreements were reached. Some have resulted in civil settlements. But very few have resulted in convictions at trial.

These cases offer valuable points of comparison about what issues video evidence, drug use, whether the person who died was armed proved decisive in each outcome and what consequences, if any, officers faced. Even as the trial has unfolded, several events, including the killing of Daunte Wright just a few miles from Minneapolis, have provided a grim reminder that Mr. Floyds death is one in a decades-long history of fatal encounters.

In many killings, the officers involved are never indicted, much less brought to trial, even when the victim was unarmed. Prosecutors charged Mr. Chauvin four days after his encounter with Mr. Floyd.

Eric Garner, Staten Island, 2014

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Mr. Garner was standing outside a store when officers, who believed he was selling cigarettes illegally, confronted him. Officer Daniel Pantaleo wrapped his arm around Mr. Garners neck, forcing him to the ground as Mr. Garner told officers, I cant breathe. Officer Pantaleo testified to a grand jury that he had intended to use a maneuver he learned at the Police Academy and that he had tried to unhook himself when he heard Mr. Garners pleas.

OUTCOME: A grand jury ruled that there was not enough evidence to indict Officer Pantaleo. Federal investigators also declined to bring charges.

Michael Brown, Ferguson, Mo., 2014

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson. Mr. Wilson originally testified that he had been responding to a report of a stealing in progress at a convenience store when he encountered Mr. Brown and another person walking in the street and tried to block their path with his car. A scuffle ensued, followed by a foot chase that ended when Mr. Wilson shot an unarmed Mr. Brown several times.

OUTCOME: A grand jury declined to indict Mr. Wilson. A separate U.S. Department of Justice investigation did not result in charges. More than five years later, a St. Louis County prosecutor reopened the case but ultimately decided not to prosecute Mr. Wilson.

Tamir Rice, Cleveland, 2014

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Tamir, 12, was playing with a toy gun in a park when he was shot and killed by Officer Timothy Loehmann. A 911 caller reported seeing a person with a gun but said that it was probably fake and that the person was probably a juvenile. Surveillance video showed that Mr. Loehmann had opened fire on Tamir within two seconds of arriving on the scene.

OUTCOME: Local prosecutors never pressed charges against Mr. Loehmann or his partner, Frank Garmback. A federal investigation that languished under two administrations also ended without charges.

Stephon Clark, Sacramento, 2018

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Mr. Clark was in his grandmothers backyard when Officers Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet, responding to a vandalism complaint, fatally shot him because they believed he was holding a gun. The police did not find any weapon but found a cellphone under his body.

OUTCOME: The officers believed that he was pointing a gun at them, according to the district attorney, who declined to charge them. State and federal prosecutors also declined to bring charges.

Breonna Taylor, Louisville, Ky., 2020

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Ms. Taylor was killed in her apartment during a botched raid by police officers who later said they had announced their presence, which most witnesses said they did not hear. When her door was broken down after midnight, her boyfriend shot at what he thought were intruders, striking one officer in the leg. In response, that officer and two others fired 32 shots toward the couple.

OUTCOME: Neither of the two officers who struck Ms. Taylor were indicted by a grand jury, which did indict a third officer on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing recklessly into her neighbors apartment. There is an F.B.I. investigation into her death.

Charging police officers with a crime in a fatal encounter does not guarantee that they will face a trial jury. Prosecutors may drop charges if they believe their case is weak or if they reach an agreement with the defendant to avoid trial. In fact, Mr. Chauvin initially agreed to go to prison for at least 10 years in a plea deal, but the deal was scuttled by the Justice Department.

Sandra Bland, Prairie View, Texas, 2015

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Ms. Bland was found hanged in her jail cell three days after a Texas state trooper, Brian T. Encinia, arrested her during a traffic stop. In an affidavit justifying the arrest, Mr. Encinia said he had removed Ms. Bland from the car so he could safely investigate it. A grand jury ruled that claim false and indicted him on a perjury charge.

OUTCOME: Prosecutors dropped the charge after Mr. Encinia agreed to end his career in law enforcement.

Freddie Gray, Baltimore, 2015

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Mr. Gray died after sustaining a severe spinal cord injury in a police transport van. He had been handcuffed but not secured with a seatbelt. The states attorney charged the six officers involved. In four trials, defense lawyers raised doubts about the narrative laid out by the prosecution and argued that there wasnt enough evidence to show that the officers had acted inappropriately.

OUTCOME: After failing to secure convictions at trials for the first four officers, the states attorney later dropped the charges against the others. Federal prosecutors also declined to charge them.

Videos captured by dashboard cameras, body-worn cameras and bystanders with cellphones have significantly changed the way police officers are prosecuted. In the Chauvin trial, the widely viewed bystander video is the central piece of evidence for the prosecution, whose experts analyzed it frame by frame.

Walter Scott, North Charleston, S.C., 2015

FATAL ENCOUNTER: During a traffic stop over a broken taillight, Mr. Scott left his vehicle and began running away. Officer Michael T. Slager shot and killed him, initially claiming that the two had scuffled over a Taser. But a bystander video showed Mr. Slager shooting an unarmed Mr. Scott in the back from 17 feet away and then planting his own Taser next to Mr. Scotts body.

OUTCOME: Mr. Slager was tried on a murder charge in state court, but the jury was unable to decide whether he should be acquitted, convicted of murder or found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and a mistrial was declared. Mr. Slagers defense team later worked out a plea deal to settle all state and federal charges against him, but the plea agreement left it up to a judge to decide if Mr. Slager was guilty of second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter. The judge ultimately found Mr. Slager guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

Oscar Grant III, Oakland, Calif., 2009

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Mr. Grant was shot and killed by Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, Calif. Dozens of bystanders watched and recorded as transit officers, who had been called to break up a fight, roughly detained several passengers. During the confusion, Mr. Mehserle fatally shot Mr. Grant in the back while he was being restrained by another officer. Mr. Mehserle would later say he meant to use his Taser, and not his gun, when he shot Mr. Grant a claim disputed by prosecutors. Bystander videos led to citywide protests and provided critical angles not captured by surveillance video or police cameras.

OUTCOME: Mr. Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 11 months in prison in 2010. Last year, a district attorney said she would reopen the case, focusing on a different officer, Anthony Pirone, after a 2019 report showed that he had punched Mr. Grant in the face and used a racial slur.

Many investigations of police killings hinge on whether the person killed had been armed, or whether the officer had reason to believe he was armed, a judgment that officers say they have only a split second to make. Thats not a factor in the Chauvin trial Mr. Floyd was unarmed, and there was never any contention that he had a weapon.

Sean Bell, Queens, 2006

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Mr. Bell was with friends during his bachelor party the night before his wedding when detectives fired at the car they were in, killing Mr. Bell and wounding others. At trial, witnesses testified that they had heard a gun mentioned in an argument involving Mr. Bell. The detectives argued that they had believed they had to intervene to prevent a drive-by shooting. Investigators did not find any guns afterward.

OUTCOME: A judge acquitted the detectives involved, saying they had made a fair and just decision based on a reasonable fear that someone was armed. Federal prosecutors also declined to charge them.

Akai Gurley, Brooklyn, 2014

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Mr. Gurley was unarmed and in the stairwell of a public housing complex when Officer Peter Liang entered it with his gun drawn. Mr. Liangs gun went off, and the bullet ricocheted off a wall and struck Mr. Gurley, killing him. Mr. Liang said he had accidentally discharged his weapon. Prosecutors argued that Mr. Liang had been reckless in having his weapon drawn and that he had not done enough to save Mr. Gurleys life.

OUTCOME: A jury convicted Mr. Liang of manslaughter.

When drugs or alcohol are present, defense teams and police departments may cite them as a contributing cause of death or point to resulting erratic behavior as a justification for using deadly force. Mr. Chauvins lawyer, Eric J. Nelson, has repeatedly asserted that Mr. Floyds death was caused by a combination of drug use and an underlying medical condition.

Daniel Prude, Rochester, N.Y., 2020

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Mr. Prude was experiencing a psychotic episode when he ran out of his brothers Rochester home. When officers arrived, they placed Mr. Prude, who was naked and high on PCP, in a spit hood and pinned him to the pavement for at least two minutes until he became unresponsive. Mr. Prude was taken to a hospital, where he died seven days later.

OUTCOME: Though the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, a grand jury declined to indict any of the seven officers involved. The officers were suspended five months after Mr. Prudes death.

Terence Crutcher, Tulsa, Okla., 2016

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Mr. Crutcher was standing in the street next to his S.U.V. when the police approached him. He raised his hands but walked away from them, even after they told him to stop. Officer Betty Jo Shelby fired a single shot, fatally striking Mr. Crutcher in the chest. The police said Mr. Crutcher had been talking nonsensically and was not complying with officers demands. A vial of PCP was found in his vehicle, and an autopsy found that the drug was in his system at the time of his death.

OUTCOME: In her trial on manslaughter charges, Officer Shelby testified that she had seen Mr. Crutcher reach into the S.U.V. and that she had been trained to consider that a move to grab a weapon. A jury acquitted her.

Rebuking a fellow officer is rare. Police unions and top officials are often loath to speak out against one of their own. One of the most damning pieces of witness testimony against Mr. Chauvin came from the Minneapolis police chief, Medaria Arradondo, who said Mr. Chauvin had absolutely violated department policies on the use of force, de-escalation and the duty to render aid.

Philando Castile, St. Anthony, Minn., 2016

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Mr. Castile was shot and killed by Officer Jeronimo Yanez during a traffic stop. During Mr. Yanezs trial on charges of second-degree manslaughter and endangering safety by discharging a firearm, his defense relied heavily on the testimony of fellow officers, who argued that Mr. Yanez had reacted reasonably when Mr. Castile disclosed that he had a firearm in the vehicle.

OUTCOME: The St. Anthony police chief, Jon Mangseth, said Mr. Yanezs actions were consistent with his departments policies and training. Mr. Yanez was acquitted and cleared of all charges.

Laquan McDonald, Chicago, 2014

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Laquan, 17, was shot 16 times by Officer Jason Van Dyke. Mr. Van Dykes fellow officers initially backed his claim that Laquan, who was armed with a knife, had lunged menacingly toward police. The officers version of events was later disproved by dashboard camera video that showed Laquan had been walking away from officers when he was killed.

OUTCOME: Mr. Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to nearly seven years in prison. Three other officers were tried and acquitted on charges that they had conspired to protect Mr. Van Dyke. The case also prompted a federal investigation into to the Chicago Police Department that found that officers routinely violated civil rights and operated under a code of silence to protect one another.

Courts have generally accepted the argument that the police need to make difficult, quick decisions while responding to perceived threats. In Mr. Chauvins trial, prosecutors have argued that the defendant had ample time to change how he was subduing Mr. Floyd but did not, even after it was clear that Mr. Floyd had stopped moving.

Sylville K. Smith, Milwaukee, 2016

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Mr. Smith was fatally shot about 12 seconds after the police confronted him and another man in a car about a suspected drug deal. The two men tried to run away. Mr. Smith tossed his gun over a fence and was trying to climb over it when Officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown shot him. The officer fired again once Mr. Smith had landed on the ground.

OUTCOME: Mr. Heaggan-Brown was charged with reckless homicide, but his defense argued that he had followed his training. A jury acquitted Mr. Heaggan-Brown in Mr. Smiths killing, but he was later convicted on unrelated charges.

John Crawford III, Beavercreek, Ohio, 2014

INCIDENT: Mr. Crawford picked up an unwrapped, unloaded air rifle while shopping at Walmart. Another shopper called 911 to report a suspicious man with a gun. Officer Sean Williams fatally shot Mr. Crawford in the store within seconds of seeing him holding the fake gun.

OUTCOME: The officers at the time believed they were responding to what could have turned into a mass shooting, the special prosecutor for the case said. A local grand jury declined to indict Officer Williams in 2014. A federal grand jury did the same in 2017.

Even when, as in the death of Mr. Floyd, much of the public views a killing as not justified and prosecutors believe they have strong evidence to prove that, the outcome is far from certain. Even when prosecutors sway some jurors, others may have remained unconvinced, which has led to mistrials. Prosecutors can sometimes secure convictions in subsequent trials.

Samuel DuBose, Cincinnati, 2015

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Mr. DuBose was driving without a front license plate when Raymond M. Tensing, a University of Cincinnati police officer, stopped him. As the officer questioned him, the car began to roll forward. Officer Tensing shot Mr. DuBose in the head. The officer claimed that he felt that the car was dragging him and that he feared he would be run over.

OUTCOME: Jurors couldnt agree that Mr. Tensing had intended to kill Mr. DuBose or that he had acted out of rage or passion, so the judge declared a mistrial. A jury deadlocked in a second trial, and prosecutors dropped the case.

Damon Grimes, Detroit, 2017

FATAL ENCOUNTER: Damon, 15, was illegally riding an all-terrain vehicle when state troopers tried to stop him. As Damon disregarded their orders and kept riding ahead, Trooper Mark Bessner shot Damon with Taser darts from the passenger window, sending him careening into a parked truck. Damon, who was unarmed, died shortly afterward.

OUTCOME: Mr. Bessner was charged with murder but testified that he had thought Damon was reaching for a gun. The jury deadlocked; a second trial ended in his conviction on manslaughter charges.

Read the rest here:

Derek Chauvin, George Floyd and the Long History of Police Killings - The New York Times

A key investor in the mysterious $100 million company that owns only a tiny New Jersey deli has a history of legal woes and ties to several people who have criminal convictions or have been sanctioned by regulators.

They include a lawyer, an accounting firm and a former stockbroker who have done work related to the company, Hometown International. They are linked to shareholder Peter Coker Sr., a 78-year-old North Carolina businessman.

Coker's Hong Kong-based son, Peter Coker Jr., is chairman of Hometown International, whose Your Hometown Deli in Paulsboro, New Jersey, had sales of only about $35,000 in the past two years combined.

Despite those meager sales, Hometown International had nearly 8 million common shares of stock outstanding. On Monday, shares of the company rose 0.15% to $13.01.

Hometown International, which has traded on the over-the-counter market since 2019, catapulted out of obscurity last week after hedge fund manager David Einhorn mentioned its bizarrely high market capitalizaton in a letter to clients.

"Someone pointed us to Hometown International (HWIN), which owns a single deli in rural New Jersey ... HWIN reached a market cap of $113 million on February 8," Einhorn wrote in Thursday's letter. "The largest shareholder is also the CEO/CFO/Treasurer and a Director, who also happens to be the wrestling coach of the high school next door to the deli. The pastrami must be amazing."

Hometown's stock routinely sees daily trading volume below 1,000 shares.On some days it sees no trades. But on Friday, nearly 43,000 shares changed hands. Just under 15,000 shares were traded Monday.

Coker Sr. is one of several key shareholders in Hometown International mentioned in Securities and Exchange Commission filings, as are entities in Hong Kong and Macao, China.

Public filings show that the entities in Hong Kong are all located on the same floor of the same building there. That is the case for the entities in Macao, as well. In Hong Kong, an investor named Manoj Jain, of Maso Capital Partners, has sole voting and investment power over the Homeland International shares held by each of the three entities, records show.

Coker Sr. personally holds 63,334 shares of Hometown common stock, with warrants for another 1.26 million shares. Coker Sr.'s own company, Tryon Capital, is being paid $15,000 per month through a consulting contract with Hometown.

Coker Sr. has himself been sued for allegedly hiding money from creditors and business-related fraud. He has denied wrongdoing in those cases, one of which settled out of court in recent years in North Carolina. He did not return repeated requests for comment from CNBC.

His partner in Tryon Capital, Peter Reichard, in 2011 entered a plea in a criminal case that led to his conviction for a scheme to illegally contribute thousands of dollars to the successful 2008 campaign of Bev Perdue, a Democrat who was elected that year as North Carolina's first female governor.

The scheme involved the use of a bogus consulting contract between Tryon Capital Ventures and a fast-food franchisee who wanted to support Perdue. Coker Sr. was not charged in that case.

Reichard is also a managing member, with Coker Sr., of an entity called Europa Capital Investments, which owns 90,400 common shares of Hometown International, and has warrants for another 1.9 million shares.

A footnote in Hometown's annual report, filed last month with the SEC, says that Coker Sr. and Reichard "have joint voting and investment power over the securities of the Company held by Europa."

Reichard did not return a call seeking comment.

Two years before his 2011 plea bargain, Reichard learned through a DNA test that his actual father was the famous spiritual leader Ram Dass, the author of the bestselling book "Be Here Now." Dass, who while working in the 1960s as a Harvard psychology professor under his then-name Richard Alpert, became with Timothy Leary a leading researcher of LSD. He later traveled to India, where he became a disciple of a guru.

Coker Sr., meanwhile, was a star basketball player at North Carolina State University after a stellar high school hoops career in his native Allentown, Pennsylvania, and before he launched his business career. At one point, he helped oversee pension fund investments at now-defunct Bethlehem Steel in Pennsylvania, according to his online biography.

He has also faced loads of legal trouble over the years, including some beyond the business realm.

In August 1992, the then-49-year-old Coker Sr. was arrested in Allentown and charged "with prostitution and other offenses after he allegedly exposed himself to three girls as he drove around Central School," The Morning Call reported at the time.

The newspaper, citing police, reported that Coker Sr. drove up to two sisters, ages 14 and 10, and their 15-year-old cousin as they sat on their porch near an elementary school, and "called them over to the car and tried to proposition them."

Coker Sr. soon allegedly drove his BMW back around to the girls, the newspaper said. The 14-year-old told The Morning Call that to stall for time she pointed out her mother, who was down the street, and told him "She'll take care of you."

The girl's mother then approached the car, and tried to pull Coker Sr. out, grabbing out a clump of his hair in the process, the girl and police told the newspaper.

Coker Sr., who was nabbed shortly afterward, was also charged with corruption of minors and open lewdness in that case, The Morning Call reported in the article, which noted Coker's address at the time, which shows up in public records.

Records detailing the outcome of that case were not publicly available.

Malcolm Gross, an Allentown lawyer who previously represented Coker Sr., told CNBC on Monday that he referred the businessman to a well-known criminal defense lawyer in Allentown after Coker was arrested in the indecent exposure case. That lawyer died in the late 1990s.

Allentown Police on Monday said a check of their files did not find records of Coker's arrest.

Gross had represented Coker Sr. in litigation where he was being sued by American Express Bank for nearly $900,000 in unpaid debt.

American Express Bank in 1992 accused Coker Sr. of fraudulently shifting hundreds of thousands of dollars of assets to prevent collection of the money he owed the bank. It also accused of him of filing for bankruptcy in bad faith, given the fact, American Express said, that he was solvent at the time of that filing.

Also in 1992, The Morning Call reported that a corporation that owned Unclaimed Freight furniture stores settled a lawsuit against Coker Sr. and another former corporate officer, who were accused of improperly taking at least $1 million from the firm.

Coker Sr. had been vice president of the company, and his wife, Susan, was also a defendant in the case, where it was alleged that she had been paid nearly $43,000 in rent for a barn on their property in Macungie, Pennsylvania.

"We had not done the things Valley Advisors claimed, so this resolution is good for all parties," Coker Sr. said in a news release at the time.

A check of SEC filings and other documents by CNBC subsequently revealed other curious details about Hometown International, and people connected to it.

Gregg Jaclin, a now-disbarred lawyer previously connected to Hometown International during its early financial filings, was sanctioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and prosecuted and convicted in federal court for a scam involving shell companies. That scheme predated his work in connection with Hometown.

SEC records show that an assistant director at the commission emailed Coker Sr. in 2012 with questions about a firm called Troy Inc. Jaclin was cc'ed on that email.

The letter says, "We note that Peter Coker, your chief executive and sole shareholder, is also an executive and/or significant shareholder of other shell companies that have recently filed for registration on Form 10."

Jaclin is also cc'ed in a May 2014 email from the SEC to Ramon Tejeda, CEO of TablacaleraYsidron, whose address in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is the same as an address Coker Sr. has used.

Jaclin, who remains on federal supervised release, has not responded to requests for comment.

Hometown's auditors, Liggett & Webb, were censured and fined in August by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. One of the accountants from that firm, James Liggett, was barred from being associated with a registered public accounting firm, because of conduct unrelated to Hometown.

Liggett told CNBC "I don't recall" being involved in auditing Hometown's records. He referred questions about work on the company to his former partner, Derek Webb, who did not respond to messages. Hometown's annual report, filed last month, said Liggett & Webb has been the company's auditors since 2015.

James Patten, whose LinkedIn profile identifies him as a financial analyst at Coker Sr.'s Tryon Capital, wrestled in high school with Hometown International's CEO, Paul Morina.

Patten is barred by FINRA, the broker-dealer regulator, from acting as a stockbroker or associating with broker-dealers, according to the regulator's database.

Patten was the subject of repeated disciplinary actions by FINRA, which included not complying with an arbitration award of more than $753,000 for violating securities laws, unauthorized trading and churning a client's account.

In 2006, he successfully appealed sanctions issued by an SEC administrative law judge in a case where he was accused of manipulating the price of a Nasdaq-listed stock.

Patten was defended in that matter by Ira Sorkin, the lawyer best known for representing Ponzi scheme kingpin Bernie Madoff, who died in prison last week.

Morina, who did not return repeated requests for comment, according to SEC filings holds 1.5 million shares of Hometown common shares, which on paper are worth more than $20 million, given the current share price.

Morina also is principal of Paulsboro High School, and additionally is the coach of the school's renowned wrestling team, which is a perennial contender for state championship titles. His brother, Carmel Morina, is sheriff of Gloucester County, New Jersey, which includes Paulsboro.

Patten is the signer of a letter, cited in SEC filings, which detailed the lease of the building to Your Hometown Deli, which is the company's sole business, from Mantua Creek Group. SEC filings indicate that Paul Morina is also involved in Mantua Creek Group.

The letter was sent to Hometown's other executive officer, Christine Lindenmuth, who is a math teacher and administrator at Paulsboro High School.

Patten did not respond to a request for comment. Lindenmuth has not returned repeated requests for comment.

Public records show that Morina is the owner of property that appears to be adjacent to the deli, along with John Giovannitti, athletic director of Paulsboro junior and senior high schools, the principal of the junior high school and president of the Borough of Paulsboro council.

Giovannitti did not return a request for comment.

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Key investor in $100 million NJ deli has a history of legal problems, ties to criminals - CNBC

Joe Wilkinson, a fifth-generation Atlantan, worked at the Coca-Cola Company for about a quarter century, beginning in 1977, and eventually became the executive assistant to the president of Coca-Cola International. But the most difficult moment of his tenure, he told me recently, came early on, when he was a spokesman for the company in the U.S. It was the early eighties, and Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow PUSH Coalition were leading a boycott of Coke, demanding that the company, which has been headquartered in Atlanta since the late nineteenth century, invest thirty million dollars into Black-owned businesses and place a Black executive on its board of directors. There was a robust debate within the company, Wilkinson said. It was a fraught moment. But it all comes down to money. Coke agreed to Jacksons request, which Wilkinson, who is white, described as a capitulation. I think it was the wrong move, he said, but it was made at the highest levels. Wilkinson described a news conference at which the president of Coke at the time, Don Keough, appeared with Jackson. Don said, I feel like Im being ordained, Wilkinson recalled. And Jesse Jackson turns and says, Well, youve been preached to enough. (A spokesperson for Coke told me, of Jackson, We greatly appreciate the collaboration and dialogue weve had with him and his organization over the years. Jackson did not reply to a request for comment.)

Wilkinson left Coke and became a Republican legislator, representing a conservative corner of the Atlanta metro area in the Georgia House from 2001 to 2017. In his view, the Coca-Cola company has just capitulated again. Coke stayed mum during debates about the so-called Election Integrity Act, a new Georgia voting law that Joe Biden has called un-American and which Stacey Abramss advocacy group, Fair Fight Action, described as Jim Crow 2.0. In the past, the company, through a political-action committee, had given money to multiple sponsors of the billalong with many other politicians, including a number of Democrats. (The company suspended political contributions following the riot on the Capitol in January.) Then, earlier this month, Cokes C.E.O., James Quincey, issued a statement condemning the law. The Coca-Cola Company does not support this legislation, as it makes it harder for people to vote, not easier, the belated statement read. Other companies, including Delta Air Lines, which is also based in Atlanta, criticized the law, too. Major League Baseball pulled the All-Star Game from Georgia, and an upcoming Will Smith production called Emancipation, which was scheduled to be shot in Georgia, will be going elsewhere. Now some Republicans are threatening retaliatory measures. Voting is a foundational right in America, the Coca-Cola spokesperson told me, and we think its appropriate for us to stand up for what we believe in and for what is important to our employees and the people of the state weve called home for 135 years.

Wilkinson told me that hes read the voting bill and that it expands voting rights, rather than restricting them. Analysts continue to debate the likely effects of the bill, which was introduced by Republicans in the wake of false claims by former President Donald Trump that the election in November was rigged in Georgia and elsewhere, and amid efforts by Republican politicians in most states to newly limit or restrict voting. Though the Georgia bill requires seventeen days of early votingand allows for two optional Sundaysit makes it harder to acquire an absentee ballot, just about bans mobile voting centers, prohibits giving out water within a hundred and fifty feet of precincts, and confers greater power over the electoral process to the state legislature. Wilkinson told me that he is convinced that the bill was meant to do good. I know the authors, he said. I know their intent. I asked him whether he thought the results of the Presidential election were fair and accurate. He said he had his doubts.

For Coca-Cola, the latest political kerfuffle has echoes that go well beyond the Rainbow PUSH boycott. As Bart Elmore, the author of Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism, put it to me, Coca-Cola is not an innocent victim caught in a crossfire between right-wing boycotters and woke liberal activists. It is facing a long overdue reckoning with a Jim Crow past that still shapes Georgia politics today and one that for decades the company quietly accepted.

Coke, which originally included traces of cocaine, was invented by a former lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army named John Pemberton, who became addicted to morphine after he was wounded in the last weeks of the Civil War. Pemberton, a pharmacist, sold the formula to a fellow-druggist, Asa Griggs Candler, and for years it could be found only at white soda fountains. Then Candler sold the bottling rights, making the beverage more widely available. Candler removed cocaine from the recipe, in 1903, not because the drug was illegalit wasnt, yetbut because it had become connected in the white imagination with Black men. The rumors then were that Black men were drinking Coke, getting high on it, and raping white women, Mark Pendergrast, the author of For God, Country, and Coca-Cola, told me. The company wanted to minimize any association between the soft drink and Black consumers. They had no Blacks in their ads during the Depression, other than to show them as Aunt Jemima types, or servants holding a tray of Coke, Pendergrast said.

By then, the company had been taken over by Robert Woodruff, a college dropout from a wealthy Georgia family who kept Black servants on the familys South Georgia plantation and once said that allowing Black people to vote was like giving monkeys the vote. But choosing to ignore Black customers carried an increasing economic cost; Coke finally began to advertise in Jet and Ebony, in the fifties, after Pepsi started making inroads on Cokes market share by advertising to Black customers. Then the civil-rights movement forced the companys hand. When Martin Luther King, Jr., won the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1964, much of Atlantas white business community planned to boycott a local ceremony, until J. Paul Austin, then the president of Coca-Cola, insisted that they do otherwise. Coke soon hired Ray Charleswho eventually switched to Pepsiand a number of other Black performers. By that point, Atlanta had embraced the nickname the city too busy to hate, or, as James Baldwin put it, the city too busy (making money) to hate.

King did not stop criticizing the company, however: in his very last speech, he told his listeners to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola, along with products from a few other companies, because they havent been fair in their hiring policies. Even so, when King was assassinated, in 1968, Woodruff sent the company jet to Coretta Scott King to take to Atlanta for the funeral, which he helped pay for.

The accusations that Cokes hiring practices were racist did not go away. In the late nineties, four former and current employees filed a lawsuit accusing the company of systemic bias against Black employees. (Bart Elmores father was a partner at the firm that represented the employees.) Finn Findley, who worked for Coke in operations and marketing for twenty years, recalled the episode. Two weeks before the shareholders meeting that year, he said, I get a call from the C.E.O.s office thats, like, Hey, there are gonna be a couple buses of people up there that are suing the company for discrimination. Can you make them feel welcome? Findley went on, Im this low-level guy. Im, like, What do you want me to do? Put up a stand and serve Cokes? How about not discriminating against these people? That would help. But its a little late now. Still, he noted, the company didnt fight the case, settling the suit, in 2000, for $192.5 million. When it was brought to their attention, they were, like, Yeah, it doesnt look right, Findley said. Im sure they werent excited about paying hundreds of millions of dollars, but they didnt make a big stink about it. The Coca-Cola spokesperson told me that the company settled the lawsuit because it was the right thing to do, and that the company was unable to confirm Findleys account of the incident. Pendergrast told me, They want to placate all sides and to try to appear like the good guy. Thats their normal approach. But the bottom line is what usually drives things.

After Coca-Cola issued its statement criticizing the voting law, many Republicans, in Georgia and beyond, decided that it was their turn to call for a boycott. Legislators dramatically removed the soft drink from their offices. Trump called for a boycott of Coke and other woke companiesalthough a picture posted on Twitter by Stephen Miller two days later appeared to include a partially obscured Diet Coke bottle behind Trumps phone. (The former President reportedly drinks twelve of them a day.)

Gabriel Sterling, who works in the Georgia secretary of states office, and who won over Democrats earlier this year for his clear and repeated denunciations of Trumps election-fraud claims, insisted that the Election Integrity Act has been misconstrued. It expands early voting and the ID requirements will lower absentee rejection rates, he wrote on Twitter. As for Coke, he told me, I know people whove sold all their Coke stock. I know people who wont drink it now. But none of that will really hurt Coke. He was sipping a Coke Zero as we talked. Im against boycotts in general, and in this case, he said, adding that any economic fallout from the bill would be the fault of Abrams and other Democrats pushing the false narrative that the bill restricts voting.

Chuck Hufstetler, a state senator in northwest Georgia, who was among the very few Republican officials in the state to publicly dispute Donald Trumps false claim that massive voter fraud took place in the Presidential election, also defended the law. Like Wilkinson, Hufstetler worked for Coke early in his career, in quality control, just after he graduated from college, four decades ago. (The Coca-Cola company, through its PAC, has donated money to Hufstetler in the past.) He was one of a handful of Republicans who voted against the original version of the Election Integrity Act, but he supported the version that ultimately passed, and he noted, in an interview, that Georgias election laws were not out of line with those of Delaware, Bidens home state, or New York. This has become a common talking point among Georgia Republicans, but, while a number of states with Democrat-controlled legislatures have restrictions on voting, many of those legislatures have taken steps to expand voting access. Delaware, for instance, has already passed a law establishing early in-person voting; it goes into effect next year. Also, its state election laws do not specifically prohibit the distribution of food and water.

Hufstetler has a forgiving interpretation of Cokes decision to speak out against the bill. Its long, he said. I think maybe they heard some of the earlier stuff and just didnt read the final bill, which is nearly a hundred pages. Hes heard some colleagues talk about boycotting Coke, and I asked whether he would. For health reasons, I dont drink any soft drinks anymore, he said. Too much sugar. He had a hard time imagining folks in his district giving it up, or, God forbid, switching to Pepsi. Joe Wilkinson, for his part, got up to get himself a Diet Coke in the middle of our conversation. Im continuing to drink products of the Coca-Cola Company, he said. He had no plans to stop flying Delta, either; his wife worked there for years.

Finn Findley, the former Coke employee, said that the boycotts struck him as grandstanding, noting that Coca-Cola is a huge global company, and that the U.S. is maybe a third of the total sales volume. Those paying close and critical attention to this controversy were just a fraction of that. Pendergrast, the author of For God, Country and Coca-Cola, also took a global view, remarking that the company has faced accusations of depleting Indias aquifers, of turning a blind eye to Latin American bottlers who allegedly hired death squads to kill union employees, and of contributing to an obesity epidemic. This isnt huge, he said, stacked up against the allegations of obesity, of murderous death squads, of mistreating the environment and people of India, of being racist. I think itll blow over.

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Georgias Voting Laws and Coca-Colas Complicated History - The New Yorker

In fall of 1921, about two years after the Spanish Flu epidemic struck Berks County, officials were concerned about an outbreak of typhoid fever.

After 28 workers in Penn Pants Co. in West Reading were stricken with the illness, state health officials were called in. Most of the stricken lived in Reading.

The Reading Times reported an outbreak of typhoid fever on Sept. 15, 1921.

Dr. C.S. Reber, state health department representative in Berks, launched an investigation into the cause of the outbreak.

He finds that there are 52 people ill from one factory, and 28 have been diagnosed with typhoid fever, the Reading Times reported on Sept. 15, 1921.

The state health department assigned two engineers to assist in the investigation.

Miss Patterson, the state nurse, has been on the job at the plant for about a week, the Times reported. Both she and Dr. Reber are leaving nothing undone to stamp out the disease.

Penn Pants employed about 400 people. Laboratory reports on most of the workers had not been completed, making it difficult to trace the disease.

West Reading Paper Co. reported some cases among workers who lived in Reading. In the city, there were people stricken who did not work at Penn Pants.

St. Joseph Hospital has six cases. Homeopathic Hospital had several cases. Reading Hospital had 14 cots, as the paper put it, occupied by typhoid fever patients, and there were cases of people with the disease being treated in their homes in Reading.

Unofficial sources estimated there were 60 cases in the city. Eventually, there were 95 cases in 1921.

The Times has reported several weeks earlier that there was an outbreak in Reading. City officials denied the report.

Reber ordered the cafeteria at Penn Pants closed, but did not shut down the factory. Some workers did not report for duty.

Typhoid fever is caused by contaminated water or food washed in contaminated water. Other sources include using a toilet contaminated with bacteria and touching the mouth before washing hands.

Health officials ruled out water, milk and ice cream from the cafeteria as causes for the outbreak at Penn Pants.

Speculation that the outbreak had spread to other parts of the county was ruled out. Birdsboro had three cases, but they were among some of the people who worked at Penn Pants.

While it does seem that the majority of cases are centered around one manufacturing plant, state health authorities are sending out warnings to physicians, asking them to report cases at once and help fight the disease wherever it springs up, the Times reported.

Officials turned their attention to determining whether the disease was spread by a carrier who worked at Penn Pants.

There had been cases of people in Pennsylvania who are immune to the disease, the Times reported, but spread it from bacteria that grow on their skin.

Typhoid fever vaccine shots were offered to all 400 employees at Penn Pants. Reber and Dr. Ira J. Hain, Readings health officer, administered shots to about 100 workers.

It is uncertain if the exact cause of the fever was ever determined.

Communicable diseases, including measles and whooping cough, were on the rise in Reading in 1921. In the first 10 months, 2,045 cases were reported, about double the year before.

Contact Ron Devlin: rdevlin@readingeagle.com.

More here:

Outbreak of typhoid fever strikes Berks in fall of 1921 [History Book] - Reading Eagle

Rome is marking Natale di Roma, the city's 2,774th birthday on 21 April, with a series of video mapping projects and light shows around the Eternal City.

From 20 April to 1 May, the faade of Palazzo Senatorio in Piazza del Campidoglio will host a light show featuring a sequence of historic and cultural images inspired by the sense of Rome, or "Romanit,"linked to various eras of the city's history.

Bvlgari, the luxury jeweller which is funding the visitor development of the Area Sacra site at Largo Argentina, will celebrate Natale di Roma in Piazza Augusto Imperatore, home to the Mausoleum of Augustus and the Ara Pacis Museum.

Beginning on 21 April, and lasting a few months, Bvlgari will host a video mapping project inspired by Roman frescoes in a "contemporary and surreal reinterpretation" of the Mausoleum.

Photo La Repubblica

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Rome lights up landmarks to celebrate 2774 years of history and culture - Wanted in Rome

Carbon dioxide emissions are forecast to jump this year by the second biggest annual rise in history, as global economies pour stimulus cash into fossil fuels in the recovery from the Covid-19 recession.

The leap will be second only to the massive rebound 10 years ago after the financial crisis, and will put climate hopes out of reach unless governments act quickly, the International Energy Agency has warned.

Surging use of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, for electricity is largely driving the emissions rise, especially across Asia but also in the US. Coals rebound causes particular concern because it comes despite plunging prices for renewable energy, which is now cheaper than coal.

Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the IEA, and one of the worlds leading authorities on energy and climate, said: This is shocking and very disturbing. On the one hand, governments today are saying climate change is their priority. But on the other hand, we are seeing the second biggest emissions rise in history. It is really disappointing.

Emissions need to be cut by 45% this decade, if the world is to limit global heating to 1.5C (2.7F), scientists have warned. That means the 2020s must be the decade when the world changes course, before the level of carbon in the atmosphere rises too high to avoid dangerous levels of heating. But the scale of the current emissions rebound from the Covid-19 crisis means our starting point is definitely not a good one, said Birol.

Birol compared the current surge of emissions to the financial crisis, when emissions rose by more than 6% in 2010 after countries tried to stimulate their economies through cheap fossil fuel energy. It seems we are back on course to repeat the same mistakes, he warned. I am more disappointed this time than in 2010.

Emissions plunged by a record 7% globally last year, owing to the lockdowns that followed the Covid-19 outbreak. But by the end of the year, they were already rebounding, and on track to exceed 2019 levels in some areas.

The IEAs projections for 2021 show emissions are likely to end this year still down slightly on 2019 levels, but on a rising path. Next year there could be even stronger rises as air travel returns, Birol added. Aviation would normally contribute more than 2% of global emissions, but has been almost absent this past year.

He called on governments to bring forward new climate policies urgently and seek a green recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. Last year, I expressed my hope that the economic recovery from Covid-19 should be green and sustainable. But these numbers indicate that this recovery is currently anything but sustainable for our climate, he said.

The US president, Joe Biden, is convening a climate summit this week, with the leaders of 40 countries expected to attend, at which he will urge countries to come forward with strong commitments on cutting emissions this decade. Birol said this was an opportunity for countries to change course and put policies in place for a green recovery.

If governments take clear and imminent action, with the amount of cheap clean energy technologies we have, we can transform this disappointment to some good outcomes, he said.

The IEA is considered the global gold standard for energy data, and its projections for 2021 are based on comprehensive soundings from around the world, including data from existing energy sources and new plants scheduled to come onstream. Energy data from the end of last year showed fossil fuels ahead of 2019 levels, and the surge has continued in the first part of this year.

In its Global Energy Review, published on Tuesday, the IEA found that global carbon emissions from energy use, which accounts for the great majority of greenhouse gas emissions, were on course to rise by 1.5bn tonnes in 2021, after having fallen last year. That represents a 5% rise to 33bn tonnes of carbon dioxide for the year. After more than half a decade of decline, global coal demand is forecast to grow by 4.5%, approaching its all-time peak in 2014.

China is planning to build scores of coal-fired power stations, despite pledging last year to reach net zero emissions by 2060. The countrys five-year economic plan, set out by Beijing last month, contained little detail on curbing emissions before 2030. However, after a surprise visit to Shanghai by the US climate envoy, John Kerry, the US and China pledged cooperation on greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade.

Coal use is also surging in the US, reversing annual declines since 2013. Birol said this was the result of high gas prices, which are driving a switch from gas to coal for electricity generation. Donald Trump as president scrapped regulations put in place by Barack Obama to curb coal use by power stations. Biden is considering further measures to hasten the move to renewable energy.

Nicholas Stern, a climate economist and the chair of the Grantham research institute on climate change at the London School of Economics, said the IEA findings show that countries really must act with greater urgency to accelerate the transition to zero-carbon pathways if we are to have a chance of emissions being reduced in line with the Paris agreement. This is a crucial and historic opportunity to build back differently from the polluting ways of the past and in particular to move much more quickly away from coal. A strong and sustainable recovery will come from less coal not more.

See the article here:

Carbon emissions to soar in 2021 by second highest rate in history - The Guardian

There isnt a horse race anywhere in North America and maybe even the world that receives more annual scrutiny than the world-famousKentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve at Churchill Downs. Considered to be the most exciting two minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby pits 20 lightly raced 3-year-old Thoroughbreds against each other in a battle for supremacy on the first Saturday in May.

Each year, handicappers spend months analyzing the top contenders for the historic race, which has been held every year since 1875. And once the field is set, they pour over historical data, looking for trends to aid their handicapping.

Picking the winner isnt just a matter of bragging rights theres great money to be won. Bettors who correctly selected the first four horses across the 2005 Kentucky Derby finish line were rewarded with a payoff of $864,253.50.

Not sure where to begin in analyzing the Kentucky Derbys historical data? Weve got you covered! Weve put together a dozen trends to help point you toward the winner of racings renowned run for the roses.

Speed horses have an advantage

In the not-too-distant past, horses could come charging from just about anywhere in the pack to win the Kentucky Derby. But times change, and in recent years, the Derby has strongly favored horses with enough tactical speed to work out clean trips on the front end.

Case in point? Between 2014 and 2020, six out of seven Derby winners prevailed by setting or tracking the pace from no farther back than third place. In addition, pacesetter Maximum Security famously crossed the finish line first in the 2019 Derby, only to be disqualified for causing interference on the far turn.

The takeaway? Dont assume the 1 1/4-mile distance of the Kentucky Derby will give an edge to late runners. Recent history suggests horses with tactical speed have a substantial advantage in the run for the roses.

Year

Winner

Position after first 1/2-mile

-mile & -mile times

2020

Authentic

1st by 1 length (15 starters)

46.41, 1:10.23 (fast)

2019

Country House

8th by 4.75 lengths (19 starters)

46.62, 1:12.50 (sloppy)

2018

Justify

2nd by 0.5 lengths (20 starters)

45.77, 1:11.01 (sloppy)

2017

Always Dreaming

2nd by 1 length (20 starters)

46.53, 1:11.12 (wet fast)

2016

Nyquist

2nd by 4 lengths (20 starters)

45.72, 1:10.40 (fast)

2015

American Pharoah

3rd by 2 lengths (18 starters)

47.34, 1:11.29 (fast)

2014

California Chrome

3rd by 1.5 lengths (19 starters)

47.37, 1:11.80 (fast)

2013

Orb

16th by 18.75 lengths (19 starters)

45.33, 1:09.80 (sloppy)

2012

Ill Have Another

7th by 8 lengths (20 starters)

45.39, 1:09.80 (fast)

2011

Animal Kingdom

10th by 6 lengths (19 starters)

48.63, 1:13.40 (fast)

Look for horses capable of finishing strongly

Horses who have shown the ability to finish fast at the end of a two-turn route race have the best chance to handle the Kentucky Derbys testing 1 1/4-mile distance. When analyzing Derby contenders, look for horses who sprinted the final three-eighths of a mile in :38 seconds or less weve compiled a handy chart to help you out.

The data is strong: 18 of the last 23 Kentucky Derby winners successfully shaded the :38 mark in their final prep race, suggesting the ability to finish strongly is critical for success on the first Saturday in May.

Derby contenders who finished their final prep in :38 seconds or less: Essential Quality, Highly Motivated, Known Agenda, O Besos, Hidden Stash, Soup and Sandwich, Hot Rod Charlie, Midnight Bourbon, and Like the King.

Favor California shippers and the Florida Derby winner

Horses based in California have outperformed all others in recent renewals of the Kentucky Derby. Six of the last 10 Derby winners (Authentic, Justify, Nyquist, American Pharoah, California Chrome, and Ill Have Another) spent the winter in California and completed the majority of their training at Santa Anita Park, though Authentic, Nyquist, and American Pharoah did race outside of California prior to the Derby.

Over the last decade, California has also produced Kentucky Derby runners-up Exaggerator (2016), Firing Line (2015), and Bodemeister (2012), plus third-place finishers Battle of Midway (2017) and Dortmund (2015). Its safe to say 3-year-olds based in the Golden State warrant extra respect in the run for the roses.

Yet the single most productive prep race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby has undoubtedly been the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. Over the last 15 years, Barbaro (2006), Big Brown (2008), Orb (2013), Nyquist (2016), and Always Dreaming (2017) all managed to complete the Florida Derby-Kentucky Derby double, and Maximum Security (2019) would have done the same if not for his disqualification at Churchill Downs.

Derby contenders based in California: Hot Rod Charlie, Rock Your World, Medina Spirit, Dream Shake, and Get Her Number.

Derby contenders exiting the Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa: Known Agenda (winner) and Soup and Sandwich.

Oppose the Blue Grass and Wood Memorial winners

Two prominent Kentucky Derby prep races the Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct have struggled to produce Derby champions in recent years. No horse has used the Blue Grass as a springboard to success in the run for the roses since Street Sense in 2007, and the last horse to win both races was Strike the Gold in 1991.

The statistics for the Wood Memorial paint a similar picture. The last horse to exit the Wood Memorial and win the Kentucky Derby was Funny Cide in 2003, and the only horse in the past 40 years to win both races was Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000.

Perhaps these trends are nothing more than statistical anomalies overdue to be broken, but a strict interpretation of the historical data suggests the Blue Grass and Wood Memorial tend to rank among the weaker of the major Kentucky Derby prep races. The fact both races were recently downgraded from Grade 1 to Grade 2 status may cement this trend even further, causing top-tier Derby contenders to increasingly target more prestigious races like the Santa Anita Derby and Florida Derby.

Derby contenders exiting the Blue Grass: Essential Quality (winner), Highly Motivated, Hidden Stash, and Keepmeinmind.

Derby contenders exiting the Wood Memorial: Bourbonic (winner) and Dynamic One.

Downgrade horses breaking from post positions #1 and #2

Due to the abnormally large field, the Kentucky Derby can be a challenging race for horses starting from inside post positions. Unless they break quickly, or drop back to rally from behind, its difficult for the horses drawn in posts #1 and #2 to secure clean and unencumbered trips.

The rail post is a famously tricky spot and hasnt produced a Derby winner since Ferdinand in 1986. But post #2 hasnt seen a winner since Triple Crown winner Affirmed in 1978, suggesting both slots can be bad news. Outside posts are generally preferable, with seven of the last 10 Derby winners starting from post 13 or wider. For much more on Kentucky Derby post positions, check out Americas Best Racings Post Positions By the Numbers feature.

Favor last-out winners

Horses who prevailed in their final prep race have dominated recent editions of the Kentucky Derby. If you count the disqualified Maximum Security, the last 10 horses to cross the finish line first at Churchill Downs entered off a victory. Furthermore, eight of those 10 entered the Kentucky Derby undefeated for the season, so it pays to arrive at Churchill Downs in winning form.

Derby contenders who won their final prep race: Essential Quality, Hot Rod Charlie, Super Stock, Like the King, Known Agenda, Rock Your World, Bourbonic, Helium, and King Fury.

Derby contenders undefeated in 2021: Essential Quality, Rock Your World, Helium, and King Fury.

Avoid horses who ran more than three times between January and April

A fresh horse in peak form has the best chance to win the Kentucky Derby, and horses who race too frequently during the winter and spring tend to be at a disadvantage. Between 2005 and 2018, every Kentucky Derby winner competed in just two or three races between January and April of their 3-year-old season.

In 2019, Kentucky Derby winner Country House ran four times during this timeframe, but he was only awarded the roses via the disqualification of Maximum Security, who prepped three times. 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic also ran four times, but this was in response to the postponement of the Derby due to COVID-19, a factor not in play for 2021.

On a related note, its also uncommon for Kentucky Derby winners to contest three or more Road to the Kentucky Derby prep races and/or graded stakes between January and April. Since 2007, only Country House and Authentic have won the Derby off such an action-packed racing schedule, and both benefited from the extenuating circumstances outlined above.

Derby contenders who ran four or more races between January and April: Medina Spirit.

Derby contenders who contested three or more Road to the Kentucky Derby prep races and/or graded stakes between January and April: Medina Spirit, Midnight Bourbon, Mandaloun, Caddo River, and Hidden Stash.

Downgrade horses entering off a single start as a 3-year-old

Notwithstanding the above, its possible for a horse to enter the Kentucky Derby too fresh and lightly raced. The last horse to crack the Derby trifecta after running just once as a 3-year-old was Challedon, runner-up in 1937.

Derby contenders who have only run once as a 3-year-old: Helium and King Fury.

Beware horses who went unraced as juveniles

Since 1882, only one horse (2018 Triple Crown winner Justify) has won the Kentucky Derby without racing as a 2-year-old. Its hard to claim the roses without building foundation as a juvenile.

Derby contenders who did not race at age two: Rock Your World, Soup and Sandwich, Sainthood, and Dream Shake.

Long layoffs havent been a strategy for success

Since 1956, only two Kentucky Derby winners Animal Kingdom in 2011 and Authentic in 2020have won the run for the roses off a layoff of six weeks or more. A strong race within five weeks of the Derby is the usual recipe for success.

Derby contenders entering off layoffs of six weeks or more: Hot Rod Charlie, Midnight Bourbon, Mandaloun, Helium, and O Besos.

Avoid runners who finished off the board in their final prep

In 1957, Iron Liege finished fifth in the Derby Trial Stakes, then rebounded to upset the Kentucky Derby. Remarkably, he remains the most recent Derby winner to finish off the board in his final prep race. All subsequent Derby champions finished fourth or better in their last prep, suggesting horses in poor form a few weeks out from the Derby are unlikely to bounce back in the run for the roses.

Derby contenders who finished off the board in their final prep: Mandaloun and Keepmeinmind.

Upgrade sons of Grade 1-winning routers

Stallions who displayed the ability to win Grade 1 races running one mile or farther have enjoyed the strongest success siring Kentucky Derby winners. Case in point? Ten of the last 12 Derby victors were sired by a Grade 1-winning route runner, with Orb and California Chrome the lone exceptions. If a stallion was an elite-level racehorse running long, theres a good chance hell pass that ability on to his progeny.

Derby contenders not sired by Grade 1-winning route runners: Medina Spirit, Caddo River, Helium, Dream Shake, and Keepmeinmind.

Conclusions

Its hard to find a Kentucky Derby contender who perfectly matches the historical profile outlined above, but a couple of horses in the 2021 Derby Essential Quality and Known Agenda come very close.

Indeed, Essential Quality qualifies on almost every criterion. He has tactical speed, he finished in less than :38 seconds to win his final prep, hes undefeated for the season, hes run twice this year, and hes a son of the Grade 1-winning route runner Tapit.

Just about the only knock on Essential Quality is the fact hes exiting the Blue Grass Stakes, which hasnt been the most productive prep race in recent years. But if youre willing to forgive this relatively minor shortcoming, Essential Quality looms as a formidable Kentucky Derby favorite.

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Using History as a Guide to Handicapping the 2021 Kentucky Derby - America's Best Racing

An exchange-traded fund driven by artificial intelligence has correctly predicted Tesla price movements, and recently shared its most recent portfolio additions and subtractions with MarketWatch.

The fund is the Qraft AI-Enhanced U.S. Large Cap Momentum ETF, trading as AMOM AMOM, -0.09% on the New York Stock Exchange since May 2019. The ETF has delivered total returns of 9% so far in 2021 and 79% in the last year significantly outpacing its benchmark, the S&P 500 Momentum ETF SPMO, -0.80%, which has returned a comparable 45% since April 2020.

AMOM is an actively managed portfolio driven by artificial intelligence, tracking 50 large-capitalization U.S. stocks and reweighting its holdings each month. It is based on a momentum strategy, with the AI behind its stock picks capitalizing on the movements of existing market trends to inform the decision to add, remove, or reweight holdings. The artificial intelligence scans the market and uses its predictive power to analyze a wide set of patterns that show stock market momentum.

The fund is a product of Qraft, a Seoul, South Korea-based fintech group leveraging AI across its investment products, which include three other AI-picked versions of major indexes: a U.S. large cap index QRFT, -0.63%, a U.S. large cap dividend index HDIV, -0.80%, and a U.S. value index NVQ, -1.22%.

One of AMOMs standout achievements has been correctly anticipating price moves in electric-vehicle maker Teslas TSLA, -1.78% stock. The fund sold off all of its shares in Tesla at the end of August, before the stock fell 14% in September and a further 10% in October. AMOM bought that dip, reinvesting in Tesla in November, and loaded up on shares until the end of January, at which point Tesla made up 6.7% of its portfolio.

Before the start of February, AMOM sold off its entire Tesla holdings as the stock was near its all-time high. Shares in the EV company are down more than 12% since the beginning of February, when the AI decided to sell up. AMOM has yet to buy Tesla again.

The entrance of AI-run funds onto Wall Street promised a new high-tech future for investing, though it hasnt quite lived up to the hype yet. Theoretically, researchers have shown that AI investing strategies can beat the market by up to 40% on an annualized basis, when tested against historical data.

But Vasant Dhar, a professor at New York Universitys Stern School of Business and the founder of a machine-learning-based hedge fund, argued on MarketWatch in June 2020 that AI-run funds will not crack the stock market.

Dhar said that it was difficult for funds underpinned by machine learning to maintain a sustainable edge over markets, which are highly adversarial in nature. He advised investors considering investing in an AI system to ask tough questions, including how likely it is that the AIs edgewill persist into the future, and what the inherent uncertainties and range of performance outcomes for the fund are.

AMOMs top stocks for April

The AI driving AMOM made recommendations to reorient the funds portfolio at the end of March, including reweighting holdings as well as adding new stocks and booting others.

Target TGT, +0.23% was the biggest addition, coming in with a portfolio weight of 2.7%. So far, shares in the retail giant are up 3% this month, with the stock 15% higher so far in 2021. The AI may have picked up this stock as part of the wider rotation into value stocks, in line with its addition of another retail giant Walmart WMT, -0.01% as the funds second-largest holding in March, Qraft said. Shares in Walmart have rallied more than 7% since it was added to AMOM last month.

ServiceNow NOW, +0.40% was another addition to the fund, with a portfolio weighting just below Targets at 2.69%. Shares in the cloud computing software company have already climbed near 10% so far this month, in a rebound that brings the stock up 4% this year.

Hot on Service Nows heels in terms of portfolio weight is Autodesk ADSK, -0.01%, making up 2.16% of AMOMs portfolio. Shares in the maker of software and design tools, including AutoCAD, are more than 6% higher since the beginning of the month and below flat on the year. Monster Beverage MNST, -0.09% was another pick for April, included in AMOM with a portfolio weight of just below 2%. The energy drink companys stock is up 5% in April and near 6% in 2021.

The final stock of the top five added to AMOM for April was another of the stalwart value variety: OReilly Auto Parts ORLY, -0.21%, with 1.8% allocation. Shares in the parts retailer are trading just 1% higher since the beginning of the month, up 13% since the start of the year so there could be more gains in the remainder of the month if the AI is right.

5 stocks the AI doesnt like

But AMOM also ditched stocks at the beginning of April, including booting out two blue-chip big names with heavy weightings in the portfolio. Graphics microchip maker Nvidia NVDA, +0.16% and home improvement retailer Home Depot HD, +0.08%, each previously making up more than 5% of AMOM, were removed at the beginning of the month.

The next three largest stocks by portfolio weight removed from the fund were semiconductor systems supplier KLA Corporation KLAC, +0.59%, bar code and computer tracking group Zebra Technologies ZBRA, -2.69%, and backup power generator maker Generac Holdings GNRC, -0.42%.

So far, all five of those stocks are actually up in April, with Nvidia more than 17% higher since the end of March. But if AMOM is right, there may be a correction coming.

Link:

This robot-run fund with a history of predicting Tesla price moves has just made these stock picks - MarketWatch

When Seal Team Six carried out a raid on Osama bin Ladens compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011, they not only killed the al Qaeda leader. While under immense time pressure to vacate the premises before Pakistani military arrived, they quickly swept up a treasure trove of his personal belongings. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has since made a large portion of these materials available to the public. Bin Ladens personal possessions paint a more complete picture of the psyche of the notoriousand notoriously secretiveleader behind the 9/11 attacks. Here are nine unexpected things discovered in Osama bin Ladens compound and what they reveal about the founder of the international terrorist network al Qaeda.

This 2005 satellite image shows theAbbottabad, Pakistancompound where Osama Bin Laden was hidingand later shot and killed by Navy SEALs in May 2011. The residence, about 40 miles from Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, was just up the road from a garrison that housed Pakistan's premier military academy.

DigitalGlobe via Getty Images

Despite having no Internet access or phone lines at the compound"those would be too great a risk to his personal safety, says Bill Roggio of Long War JournalOsama bin Laden was a prolific writer and communicator from his self-imposed isolation. Using couriers, hed save email correspondence to a flash drive, which the courier would then send from an Internet caf.

Navy SEALs retrieved about 100 of these drives, which reveal that bin Laden was involved in critical al Qaeda operations even after world leadership assumed his responsibilities had been handed off to Ayman al-Zawahri. The emails showed bin Laden did not surrender operational or strategic control, says Roggio, who was granted advance access to many of bin Ladens files before the CIA released them to the public. He was issuing orders and being briefed on reports, promotions, reassignments, strategy and ideological issues like fatwahs and religious rulings.

READ MORE: How SEAL Team Six Took Out Osama bin Laden

This picture shows the alleged signature of Saudi-born terrorist Osama bin Laden, taken from a fax sent to Qatar's Al Jazeera satellite television channel, September 24, 2001, about two weeks after the 9/11 attacks. According to the statement, bin Laden was urging Pakistanis to fight any assault on Afghanistan by 'crusader Americans.'

AFP via Getty Images

The SEAL team also recovered his 228-page journal, which records thoughts he expressed to family members between February and April of 2011. (Its unclear exactly how many people were living at the compound at the time of the raid, but its known that the cadre included several of his wives, along with multiple children and grandchildren, along with his couriers and their families.) Believed to have been recorded for him by one of his daughters, the diary revealed his thoughts on the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings taking place in several majority-Muslim countries and his vision for Al Qaeda's place in world politics: This chaos and the absence of leadership in the revolutions is the best environment to spread al-Qaeda's thoughts and ideas, the journal says.

The raid also unearthed a family video from bin Ladens son Hamza bin Ladens wedding in Iran. The only picture we had of Hamza prior to the videos release was of him as a child. Hamza was being groomed for a leadership position, so seeing him as an adult was very valuable, says Roggio.

The wedding guest list also proved revealing, as it included multiple members of al Qaedas inner circle. Hamza married the daughter of Abu Muhammad Al-Masri, another al Qaeda leader, and guests included Mohammed Showqi al-Islambouli, whose brother Khalid assassinated former Egyptian President Anwar-el Sadat. Hamza bin Laden was killed in 2019.

READ MORE:The Storied History of SEAL Team Six, the Secret Unit That Killed Bin Laden

A series of video games downloaded and saved onto compound computers suggest Osama bin Laden or someone else who lived on the compound was an avid video game enthusiast. The CIA files released after the 2011 raid showed the al Qaeda leader had downloads of popular games like Half-Life, Super Mario Bros., Yoshis Island DS, Final Fantasy VII, Dragon Ball Z, and Counter-Strike, a game where multiple players team up to take hostages while fending off counterterrorism efforts.

WATCH: How Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda Planned 9/11

While evading authorities, the fugitive leader released a number of pre-recorded videos to followers. Practice reels were discovered in the compound. Streaming live is a traceable activity, so he would pre-record the messages and hand them to a courier to distribute, says Roggio. Recording these videos in advance enabled him to carefully control his public image.

READ MORE: The Making of a SEAL

Its strange to think that the mastermind behind the death of thousands of people would have Disney films in his hideout, but several were found at the Abbottabad compound, including Antz, Cars, Chicken Little and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. His four youngest children were under the age of 10 at the time of his death.

A few items from the hideout were never released to the public, including bin Ladens reportedly large pornography collection. According to Reuters, "the pornography recovered in the Abbottabad compound consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive. Multiple Freedom of Information requests for the release of the files have been denied, so their exact contents remain amystery.

WATCH: Revealed: The Hunt for Bin Laden, premiering Sunday, May 2 at 8/7c on The HISTORY Channel:

Osama bin Laden, the subject of thousands of news articles and multiple documentaries, apparently had an avid curiosity about his public image. After he was killed, authorities found on his computer several films about him, including BiographyOsama bin Laden and the 2008 comedy documentary Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?

Osama bin Ladens personal library was full of surprises. He owned several books on American military and diplomatic history like Bob Woodwards Obama's Wars, Noam Chomskys Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies and Robert Hopkins Millers The U.S. and Vietnam 1787-1941. It was important for him to understand his enemy and their way of thinking, Roggio says. The compound also housed books on popular conspiracy theories on 9/11, The Committee of 300, and the Illuminati.

WATCH: 9/11 Documentaries on HISTORY Vault

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9 Unexpected Things Navy SEALs Discovered in Osama bin Ladens Compound - History