The following Texas truisms were sent to me by a good friend who lived and worked in Houston for several years until Shell Oil transferred him back to his British homeland:
A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.
There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in Texas.
There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in Texas, plus a couple no one's seen before.
If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.
Onced and Twiced are words.
It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy!
Jawl-P? means, Did you all go to the bathroom?
People actually grow, eat and like okra.
'Fixinto' is one word. It means I'm going to do that.
There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there's supper.
Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. It is referred to as the Wine of Texas.
Backwards and forwards means I know everything about you.
The word 'jeet' is actually a question meaning, 'Did you eat?'
You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is, you work until you're done or it's too dark to see.
You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.
Ya'll is singular. All ya'll is plural.
All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal.
You carry jumper cables in your car - for your OWN car.
You only own five spices: salt, pepper, mustard, Tabasco and ketchup. And the ketchup is only for french fries, not to be used on hot dogs or hamburgers!
The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports, the motor sports, and gossip.
You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.
You know what a hissy fit is and you don’t have em, you pitch em.
Fried catfish is the other white meat.
We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive!!!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD: A MERE STEPPING STONE TO THE EXTERMINATION OF ISRAEL
Friday’s Houston Chronicle had a long editorial calling on the Palestinians not to go through with this week’s expected bid for UN recognition as an independent state. Instead the Chronicle’s editors suggest that the Israelis and Palestinians agree to a peace based on the 1993 Oslo Accords. The editorial was highly critical of Israel’s settlement policy and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ‘tone of bellicosity.’ It was less critical of PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas.
I don’t know whether they will publish it or not, but I sent the following letter to the Chronicle’s viewpoints section:
Your editorial ‘Remember Oslo?’ (9-16-11) sounds great, but it ignores the fact that what the Palestinians really want is a ‘final solution’ of a Judenrein state replacing Israel, not a Palestinian state living side-by-side with a Jewish state.
Time after time Israel has offered concessions to the Palestinians in an effort to strike a peace deal only to be rebuffed by the PLO leadership. The Palestinians, on the other hand, have never offered any concessions to the Israelis.
The Oslo Accords is a good example. Despite the photo-op handshake in front of a beaming President Clinton between Rabin and Arafat, a disingenuous Yasser Arafat never really had any intention of making peace with Israel.
The only difference between the ‘moderate’ Mahmoud Abbas and the ‘radical’ Hamas is that Abbas sounds conciliatory when speaking to the international community in English, but when he speaks to the Arab street in Arabic, he has made it crystal clear that “There will be only one state, a Palestinian state from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea.” That is exactly the same position Hamas takes when it calls for the extermination of the Jewish state.
Your editorial calls on the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, but Abbas has also declared that the Palestinians will never recognize a Jewish state.
The Israeli settlements that you criticize were built to provide a defensive buffer zone against any future Arab attacks. A peace based on the pre-1967 borders would be suicidal for the State of Israel. That border is indefensible – at some points Israel is less than nine miles wide.
The PLO leadership sees any peace agreement as a mere stepping stone to the eventual extermination of the Jewish state. So why should any Israeli leader make any concessions to a group that is determined to wipe Israel off the global map?
I don’t know whether they will publish it or not, but I sent the following letter to the Chronicle’s viewpoints section:
Your editorial ‘Remember Oslo?’ (9-16-11) sounds great, but it ignores the fact that what the Palestinians really want is a ‘final solution’ of a Judenrein state replacing Israel, not a Palestinian state living side-by-side with a Jewish state.
Time after time Israel has offered concessions to the Palestinians in an effort to strike a peace deal only to be rebuffed by the PLO leadership. The Palestinians, on the other hand, have never offered any concessions to the Israelis.
The Oslo Accords is a good example. Despite the photo-op handshake in front of a beaming President Clinton between Rabin and Arafat, a disingenuous Yasser Arafat never really had any intention of making peace with Israel.
The only difference between the ‘moderate’ Mahmoud Abbas and the ‘radical’ Hamas is that Abbas sounds conciliatory when speaking to the international community in English, but when he speaks to the Arab street in Arabic, he has made it crystal clear that “There will be only one state, a Palestinian state from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea.” That is exactly the same position Hamas takes when it calls for the extermination of the Jewish state.
Your editorial calls on the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, but Abbas has also declared that the Palestinians will never recognize a Jewish state.
The Israeli settlements that you criticize were built to provide a defensive buffer zone against any future Arab attacks. A peace based on the pre-1967 borders would be suicidal for the State of Israel. That border is indefensible – at some points Israel is less than nine miles wide.
The PLO leadership sees any peace agreement as a mere stepping stone to the eventual extermination of the Jewish state. So why should any Israeli leader make any concessions to a group that is determined to wipe Israel off the global map?
POLICE DISCRETION
Cops have a lot of discretion in carrying out their duties. Had they existed at the time, Mothers Against Drunk Driving would have called for my scalp because I let a number of drunk drivers go if I found they were on their way home and were only a couple of blocks or so from where they lived. Of course, on most of those occasions I made them lock up their cars and drove them home in my patrol car. Then I would give the keys to their wives or other responsible adults and tell them where they – not the drunk – could pick up the car.
POLICE DEFEND OFFICER WHO LET INTOXICATED DRIVER GO
A Wisconsin woman was pulled over, let go, pulled over again, and arrested
PoliceOne.com
September 17, 2011
FOND DU LAC, Wis. — Police are defending a Fond du Lac officer who didn’t arrest a woman later found to be under the influence.
A woman was pulled over last week after police received calls about a vehicle that hit a curb, the Houston Chronicle reported. She drove away after the officer ticketed her for inattentive driving, but an hour later, a Calumet County sheriff’s deputy pulled her over again.
She was arrested after failing a sobriety test. Sources say her two children were riding in the car at the time.
The Fond du Lac officer did nothing wrong because there were no signs the driver was intoxicated, Police Captain Steven Klein said.
POLICE DEFEND OFFICER WHO LET INTOXICATED DRIVER GO
A Wisconsin woman was pulled over, let go, pulled over again, and arrested
PoliceOne.com
September 17, 2011
FOND DU LAC, Wis. — Police are defending a Fond du Lac officer who didn’t arrest a woman later found to be under the influence.
A woman was pulled over last week after police received calls about a vehicle that hit a curb, the Houston Chronicle reported. She drove away after the officer ticketed her for inattentive driving, but an hour later, a Calumet County sheriff’s deputy pulled her over again.
She was arrested after failing a sobriety test. Sources say her two children were riding in the car at the time.
The Fond du Lac officer did nothing wrong because there were no signs the driver was intoxicated, Police Captain Steven Klein said.
HS SEX-ED IN TEXAS
Sex-education is a dirty word in many parts of Texas, especially in the Baptist bible belt of East Texas.
10 TEXAS ANSWERS TO A HIGH SCHOOL SEX-ED TEST
By Mandy Oaklander
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 16, 2011
Public schools in Washington D.C. are going to start administering a new standardized test to elementary, middle school and high school students. And this one's all about sex.
It's the first of its kind in the U.S., but it probably won't be the last. Should such a test ever make its way to Texas -- notoriously bad at teaching anything but abstinence -- we recommend that students come armed with plenty of rubbers. (Erasers, not condoms, of course. This is Texas.) Can you imagine what kinds of answers students would bubble into Scantrons here? We can. You may now turn to page one of your blue book:
1. Please check one. HIV stands for:
a) Human Immunodeficiency Virus
b) HOMOSEXUAL INFECTIOUS VENGEANCE
2. I have some questions about sex. I should:
a) Research on the Internet
b) Check out books from the library
c) KEEP QUIET AND OBSERVE MY FARM ANIMALS DOING IT
d) Move to another state
3. Please check one. STI stands for:
a) SOMETHING TO IGNORE
b) Sexually Transmitted Infection
4. Joel is a good Christian, but he had unprotected sex once. Though he doesn't have any STI symptoms, he gets tested anyway. The test reveals that Joel has Chlamydia. Pick two rational reactions to this news:
a) This is extremely common, as many men are asymptomatic for STIs
b) Joel shouldn't be worried. Chlamydia can be cured with an antibiotic
c) JOEL IS A GOOD CHRISTIAN, SO THE TEST MUST BE WRONG
d) JOEL IS GOING TO DIE, AND THEN SWIFTLY ENTER HELL
5. Yeast infections can result from:
a) Stress
b) Medications
c) Not using enough lubricant during sex
d) TEXAS TOAST EATEN PAST ITS EXPIRATION DATE
e) All but d
6. Chastity finds out that her friend Dick has HIV. She can contract it if:
a) She gives Dick a hug
b) She tells Dick it's okay to be gay
c) Dick cries about how hard it will be to tell his parents
d) His tears run down Chastity's arm
e) ALL OF THE ABOVE
f) None of the above
7. Girls, if you have premarital sex:
a) No one will want you
b) You'll have to get an abortion, which will render you infertile
c) You'll die
d) You should use protection and enjoy yourself
e) ALL BUT D
8. Condoms:
a) Fail 80 percent of the time at preventing pregnancy
b) Fail 90 percent of the time at preventing STIs
c) Are the devil's spadetail umbrella
d) ALL OF THE ABOVE
e) None of the above
9. Gay and lesbian sex:
a) Is normal sexual behavior
b) IS SHAMEFUL, AND ILLEGAL, IN TEXAS
c) Can be just as safe or safer than the way heterosexuals have sex
d) Is probably none of your business anyway
e) All but b
10. If you have sex before marriage, the first thing you should do is:
a) Get a morning-after pill for you or your partner
b) Get a pack of condoms for next time
c) Get tested
d) GET MARRIED
10 TEXAS ANSWERS TO A HIGH SCHOOL SEX-ED TEST
By Mandy Oaklander
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 16, 2011
Public schools in Washington D.C. are going to start administering a new standardized test to elementary, middle school and high school students. And this one's all about sex.
It's the first of its kind in the U.S., but it probably won't be the last. Should such a test ever make its way to Texas -- notoriously bad at teaching anything but abstinence -- we recommend that students come armed with plenty of rubbers. (Erasers, not condoms, of course. This is Texas.) Can you imagine what kinds of answers students would bubble into Scantrons here? We can. You may now turn to page one of your blue book:
1. Please check one. HIV stands for:
a) Human Immunodeficiency Virus
b) HOMOSEXUAL INFECTIOUS VENGEANCE
2. I have some questions about sex. I should:
a) Research on the Internet
b) Check out books from the library
c) KEEP QUIET AND OBSERVE MY FARM ANIMALS DOING IT
d) Move to another state
3. Please check one. STI stands for:
a) SOMETHING TO IGNORE
b) Sexually Transmitted Infection
4. Joel is a good Christian, but he had unprotected sex once. Though he doesn't have any STI symptoms, he gets tested anyway. The test reveals that Joel has Chlamydia. Pick two rational reactions to this news:
a) This is extremely common, as many men are asymptomatic for STIs
b) Joel shouldn't be worried. Chlamydia can be cured with an antibiotic
c) JOEL IS A GOOD CHRISTIAN, SO THE TEST MUST BE WRONG
d) JOEL IS GOING TO DIE, AND THEN SWIFTLY ENTER HELL
5. Yeast infections can result from:
a) Stress
b) Medications
c) Not using enough lubricant during sex
d) TEXAS TOAST EATEN PAST ITS EXPIRATION DATE
e) All but d
6. Chastity finds out that her friend Dick has HIV. She can contract it if:
a) She gives Dick a hug
b) She tells Dick it's okay to be gay
c) Dick cries about how hard it will be to tell his parents
d) His tears run down Chastity's arm
e) ALL OF THE ABOVE
f) None of the above
7. Girls, if you have premarital sex:
a) No one will want you
b) You'll have to get an abortion, which will render you infertile
c) You'll die
d) You should use protection and enjoy yourself
e) ALL BUT D
8. Condoms:
a) Fail 80 percent of the time at preventing pregnancy
b) Fail 90 percent of the time at preventing STIs
c) Are the devil's spadetail umbrella
d) ALL OF THE ABOVE
e) None of the above
9. Gay and lesbian sex:
a) Is normal sexual behavior
b) IS SHAMEFUL, AND ILLEGAL, IN TEXAS
c) Can be just as safe or safer than the way heterosexuals have sex
d) Is probably none of your business anyway
e) All but b
10. If you have sex before marriage, the first thing you should do is:
a) Get a morning-after pill for you or your partner
b) Get a pack of condoms for next time
c) Get tested
d) GET MARRIED
A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL, WELL NOT QUITE ALL
As the Brits might say, one of them kept a stiff upper lip.
TWO MEN TOOK FRIEND’S CORPSE ON BOYS’ NIGHT OUT – AND USED HIS ATM CARD TO BUY DRINKS AT STRIP CLUB
By Paul Bentley
Mail Online
September 16, 2011
Two men took their friend's corpse on a night out with them to a strip club so they could use his ATM card to buy drinks, police claim.
Robert Jeffrey Young, 43, and Mark Rubinson, 25, discovered their friend Jeffrey Jarrett dead but delayed reporting the find to police so they could first have a free night out.
While keeping Mr Jarrett's body in their car, they stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Denver, used their friend's ATM card and withdrew $400 at a strip club before finally reporting him dead.
The men, who are now free on bond, have been charged with abusing a corpse, identity theft and criminal impersonation.
It's unclear how Mr Jarrett died, but the men have not been charged with his death.
The bizarre scenario is reminiscent of the 1980s movie Weekend at Bernie's, in which two men discover their friend dead and maintain a façade that he's still alive while staying at his home for the weekend.
One of Mr Jarrett's relatives, who asked not to be named, told the Denver Post Mr Jarrett had invited Mr Young, a former college friend, to stay with him for a few months while he had money struggles.
It is thought that on August 27, Mr Young arrived home at about 11pm and found his friend unresponsive.
Rather than call authorities, however, he went to see Mr Rubinson at a restaurant where he works to tell him about the find.
The pair then went back to Mr Jarrett's home, loaded him into Mr Rubinson's car and took the body with them to Teddy T's bar and grill, where they drank on his tab while the body was hidden in the vehicle.
'Young stated ... that it was obvious Jarrett was dead while all three are at Teddy T's,' Denver Detective Ranjan Ford wrote in the affidavit.
The went on to eat at Mexican restaurant Viva Burrito and withdrew $400 on their dead friend's card at strip bar Shotgun Willie's, where they stayed until closing time.
Only then did the pair report their friend dead by flagging down a police officer at 4am.
'This is a bizarre and unfortunate crime,' Denver Police Department spokesman Sonny Jackson told the Denver Post.
'This isn't anything you want to have happen to a loved one. You want them treated with respect in death.'
The relative of Mr Jarrett, a father who sold real estate, added: 'We just want to make sure they're prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'
TWO MEN TOOK FRIEND’S CORPSE ON BOYS’ NIGHT OUT – AND USED HIS ATM CARD TO BUY DRINKS AT STRIP CLUB
By Paul Bentley
Mail Online
September 16, 2011
Two men took their friend's corpse on a night out with them to a strip club so they could use his ATM card to buy drinks, police claim.
Robert Jeffrey Young, 43, and Mark Rubinson, 25, discovered their friend Jeffrey Jarrett dead but delayed reporting the find to police so they could first have a free night out.
While keeping Mr Jarrett's body in their car, they stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Denver, used their friend's ATM card and withdrew $400 at a strip club before finally reporting him dead.
The men, who are now free on bond, have been charged with abusing a corpse, identity theft and criminal impersonation.
It's unclear how Mr Jarrett died, but the men have not been charged with his death.
The bizarre scenario is reminiscent of the 1980s movie Weekend at Bernie's, in which two men discover their friend dead and maintain a façade that he's still alive while staying at his home for the weekend.
One of Mr Jarrett's relatives, who asked not to be named, told the Denver Post Mr Jarrett had invited Mr Young, a former college friend, to stay with him for a few months while he had money struggles.
It is thought that on August 27, Mr Young arrived home at about 11pm and found his friend unresponsive.
Rather than call authorities, however, he went to see Mr Rubinson at a restaurant where he works to tell him about the find.
The pair then went back to Mr Jarrett's home, loaded him into Mr Rubinson's car and took the body with them to Teddy T's bar and grill, where they drank on his tab while the body was hidden in the vehicle.
'Young stated ... that it was obvious Jarrett was dead while all three are at Teddy T's,' Denver Detective Ranjan Ford wrote in the affidavit.
The went on to eat at Mexican restaurant Viva Burrito and withdrew $400 on their dead friend's card at strip bar Shotgun Willie's, where they stayed until closing time.
Only then did the pair report their friend dead by flagging down a police officer at 4am.
'This is a bizarre and unfortunate crime,' Denver Police Department spokesman Sonny Jackson told the Denver Post.
'This isn't anything you want to have happen to a loved one. You want them treated with respect in death.'
The relative of Mr Jarrett, a father who sold real estate, added: 'We just want to make sure they're prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'
Saturday, September 17, 2011
JUDGE PUTS NATIONAL SECURITY AHEAD OF MIRANDA RIGHTS
His Honor got it exactly right!
JUDGE’S RULING ON MIRANDA RIGHTS IN TERRORISM CASE TOUCHES OFF LEGAL DEBATE
By David Ashenfelter and Tresa Baldas
Jewish World Review
September 16, 2011
DETROIT— A judge's decision Thursday to let prosecutors use a terrorism suspect's incriminating statements -- even though he wasn't read his rights -- has triggered a legal debate.
Some say it was the right call, because agents needed to find out quickly whether other suicide bombers were in the air. Others say the ruling sets a dangerous precedent that could open the door to coerced confessions.
The case involves Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 24, who goes on trial Oct. 11 on charges that he tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009 with a bomb hidden in his underwear.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds ruled Thursday that Abdulmutallab's statement, which he sought to have suppressed, was admissible.
"This is a slippery slope," Andrew Patel, a prominent New York City defense attorney, said of the FBI agents' decision to question a suspect without reading him his rights.
Patel, who has represented terrorism suspects, said he fears Miranda rights could eventually be ignored in run-of-the-mill cases.
"Where do we stop? Where's the line in the sand? How about the drunk driver?" he said, arguing that the decision could give police too much leeway in deciding what constitutes an emergency.
But Marcellus McRae, a defense lawyer in Los Angeles and former federal prosecutor, said Edmunds got it right in putting national security ahead of Miranda rights.
"This actually was a life and death situation," he said.
Though criminal defendants have the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney, he said, protecting human life is more compelling than advising someone of those rights.
Edmunds ruled Thursday that Abdulmutallab wasn't under the influence of the painkiller fentanyl when he told FBI agents he was an al-Qaida operative trying to blow up the jetliner. She also said Miranda rights weren't necessary because of the imminent threat to public safety.
"There was a national security exception that excused the giving of Miranda warnings," she said.
Abdulmutallab's defense lawyer, Anthony Chambers, spent two days trying to shake the testimony of a nurse, FBI agent and Wayne State University pharmacologist who agreed Abdulmutallab was coherent during the interview.
Chambers tried to show that Abdulmutallab was under the influence of fentanyl and was confused when agents coercively questioned him in a hospital room.
Chambers said he's considering his options.
Peter Henning, a Wayne State law professor and former federal prosecutor, said Chambers can't appeal Edmunds' decision until after the trial.
JUDGE’S RULING ON MIRANDA RIGHTS IN TERRORISM CASE TOUCHES OFF LEGAL DEBATE
By David Ashenfelter and Tresa Baldas
Jewish World Review
September 16, 2011
DETROIT— A judge's decision Thursday to let prosecutors use a terrorism suspect's incriminating statements -- even though he wasn't read his rights -- has triggered a legal debate.
Some say it was the right call, because agents needed to find out quickly whether other suicide bombers were in the air. Others say the ruling sets a dangerous precedent that could open the door to coerced confessions.
The case involves Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 24, who goes on trial Oct. 11 on charges that he tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009 with a bomb hidden in his underwear.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds ruled Thursday that Abdulmutallab's statement, which he sought to have suppressed, was admissible.
"This is a slippery slope," Andrew Patel, a prominent New York City defense attorney, said of the FBI agents' decision to question a suspect without reading him his rights.
Patel, who has represented terrorism suspects, said he fears Miranda rights could eventually be ignored in run-of-the-mill cases.
"Where do we stop? Where's the line in the sand? How about the drunk driver?" he said, arguing that the decision could give police too much leeway in deciding what constitutes an emergency.
But Marcellus McRae, a defense lawyer in Los Angeles and former federal prosecutor, said Edmunds got it right in putting national security ahead of Miranda rights.
"This actually was a life and death situation," he said.
Though criminal defendants have the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney, he said, protecting human life is more compelling than advising someone of those rights.
Edmunds ruled Thursday that Abdulmutallab wasn't under the influence of the painkiller fentanyl when he told FBI agents he was an al-Qaida operative trying to blow up the jetliner. She also said Miranda rights weren't necessary because of the imminent threat to public safety.
"There was a national security exception that excused the giving of Miranda warnings," she said.
Abdulmutallab's defense lawyer, Anthony Chambers, spent two days trying to shake the testimony of a nurse, FBI agent and Wayne State University pharmacologist who agreed Abdulmutallab was coherent during the interview.
Chambers tried to show that Abdulmutallab was under the influence of fentanyl and was confused when agents coercively questioned him in a hospital room.
Chambers said he's considering his options.
Peter Henning, a Wayne State law professor and former federal prosecutor, said Chambers can't appeal Edmunds' decision until after the trial.
PROBLEMS WITH EYEWITNESS ID AND FORENSIC EVIDENCE GATHERING
From examiner.com (September 16, 2011):
[On] Thursday, The Constitution Project, along with Georgetown University Law Center and Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, celebrated Constitution Day with a lively and insightful expert panel. The panel was moderated by George Washington University law professor and legal affairs editor of The New Republic Jeffrey Rosen.
Former Attorney General of Ohio and current Chancellor of the University System of Ohio Jim Petro, University of Virginia Brandon L. Garrett, and vice-chair of The Ohio State University Hospital Board and twenty year principal of a graphic design firm Nancy Petro discussed the flaws in the present criminal justice system that can often result in wrongful convictions.
Garrett is the author of Convicting the Innocent. Garrett has studied 250 cases where wrongful convictions were overturned with DNA evidence. In 76 percent of those cases, the exonerated had been incriminated by eyewitnesses in lineups or photo arrays.
"The problem with the system might easily be areas of eyewitness IDs and evidence gathering - especially with forensics," said Professor Garrett.
The Petros' book, False Justice: Eight Myths that Convict the Innocent, explore the kinks in the justice system which accounts for far too many people being incarcerated and some executed for crimes they did not commit.
Vice-Chair Nancy Pero exclaimed, "I'd like to see an academy set up to certify people who deal with forensics."
"We just presented a discussion by some very knowledgeable and bright people," said Virginia Sloan, President of The Constitution Project. "We need to take this show on the road because there are issues that every American needs to know about. They need to know how the criminal justice system is working, or in fact, how it’s not working."
[On] Thursday, The Constitution Project, along with Georgetown University Law Center and Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, celebrated Constitution Day with a lively and insightful expert panel. The panel was moderated by George Washington University law professor and legal affairs editor of The New Republic Jeffrey Rosen.
Former Attorney General of Ohio and current Chancellor of the University System of Ohio Jim Petro, University of Virginia Brandon L. Garrett, and vice-chair of The Ohio State University Hospital Board and twenty year principal of a graphic design firm Nancy Petro discussed the flaws in the present criminal justice system that can often result in wrongful convictions.
Garrett is the author of Convicting the Innocent. Garrett has studied 250 cases where wrongful convictions were overturned with DNA evidence. In 76 percent of those cases, the exonerated had been incriminated by eyewitnesses in lineups or photo arrays.
"The problem with the system might easily be areas of eyewitness IDs and evidence gathering - especially with forensics," said Professor Garrett.
The Petros' book, False Justice: Eight Myths that Convict the Innocent, explore the kinks in the justice system which accounts for far too many people being incarcerated and some executed for crimes they did not commit.
Vice-Chair Nancy Pero exclaimed, "I'd like to see an academy set up to certify people who deal with forensics."
"We just presented a discussion by some very knowledgeable and bright people," said Virginia Sloan, President of The Constitution Project. "We need to take this show on the road because there are issues that every American needs to know about. They need to know how the criminal justice system is working, or in fact, how it’s not working."
A PRISON CHAPLAIN FOR WICCANS?
Political Correctness – or better yet, Religious Correctness – run amuck in the liberal bastion of Wisconsin. Whatever possessed the prison authorities to provide Wiccan inmates with their own chaplain? What the fuck is going on there?
WHEELCHAIR-BOUND WITCH WHO WORKS AS PRISON CHAPLAIN FACES JAIL AFTER STAGING ‘FAKE RAPE BY INMATE TO GET A TRANSFER’
By Jessica Satherley
Mail Online
September 15, 2011
A wheelchair-bound Wiccan prison chaplain claimed she was sexually assaulted by a drugged inmate after tricking him into taking part in her plan to get a transfer.
Jamyi J. Witch told the prisoner that if he took her hostage while behaving as though she was his mother they would both get a transfer out of prison, it was revealed by Gawker.
But instead, it is believed, she drugged him and had sex with him, tricking the guards outside the door into believing she was raped.
She is now facing charges of second-degree sexual assault and delivery of narcotics after her story unravelled, Northwestern.com reported.
Witch, 52, was hired in 2001 by Wisconsin's Oshkosh Correctional Institution to be their first-ever Wiccan prison chaplain.
On August 10 this year the prison went into lockdown while Witch and a male inmate were barricaded in her office.
She claims that he had forced himself into the office, blocked the door and held her hostage, during which time he sexually assaulted her.
After an hour, the guards were finally able to lure the prisoner out by telling him 'he would get breakfast'.
But it soon emerged that the incident was all part of an intricate plan to get a transfer away from the prison.
Her version of events were put into question when Oshkosh Correction Warden Judy Smith intercepted a letter written by the inmate - addressed to his mother.
The inmate, who has been transferred to Green Bay Correctional Institution, had written that Witch had devised the hostage plan.
He said the chaplain wanted to leave the prison because of threats from staff members and he wanted to transfer because he had been attacked by three men while in his cell.
He said Witch suggested he come into her office, lock the door and start throwing things around.
During the hour they were barricaded in the office, as part of her plan he pretended Witch was his mother and they performed oral sex on each other.
She is said to have then given the inmate 15 sleeping pills and sang him lullabies.
All the while, prison officials were on the other side of the office door, thinking Witch was being held against her will and raped.
The inmate’s written statement said he had known Witch for years, from when he was being held at Waupun Correctional Institution.
He had also seen her approximately six times at Oshkosh since being transferred there in 2009.
Witch, of Omor, appeared at Winnebago County Circuit Court on September 2 and was charged with second-degree sexual assault by correctional staff, delivering illegal articles to an inmate and delivery of schedule I or II narcotics.
She faces over 58 years in prison and $160,000 in fines if convicted.
Witch will appear again in court on September 22 for a preliminary hearing.
WHEELCHAIR-BOUND WITCH WHO WORKS AS PRISON CHAPLAIN FACES JAIL AFTER STAGING ‘FAKE RAPE BY INMATE TO GET A TRANSFER’
By Jessica Satherley
Mail Online
September 15, 2011
A wheelchair-bound Wiccan prison chaplain claimed she was sexually assaulted by a drugged inmate after tricking him into taking part in her plan to get a transfer.
Jamyi J. Witch told the prisoner that if he took her hostage while behaving as though she was his mother they would both get a transfer out of prison, it was revealed by Gawker.
But instead, it is believed, she drugged him and had sex with him, tricking the guards outside the door into believing she was raped.
She is now facing charges of second-degree sexual assault and delivery of narcotics after her story unravelled, Northwestern.com reported.
Witch, 52, was hired in 2001 by Wisconsin's Oshkosh Correctional Institution to be their first-ever Wiccan prison chaplain.
On August 10 this year the prison went into lockdown while Witch and a male inmate were barricaded in her office.
She claims that he had forced himself into the office, blocked the door and held her hostage, during which time he sexually assaulted her.
After an hour, the guards were finally able to lure the prisoner out by telling him 'he would get breakfast'.
But it soon emerged that the incident was all part of an intricate plan to get a transfer away from the prison.
Her version of events were put into question when Oshkosh Correction Warden Judy Smith intercepted a letter written by the inmate - addressed to his mother.
The inmate, who has been transferred to Green Bay Correctional Institution, had written that Witch had devised the hostage plan.
He said the chaplain wanted to leave the prison because of threats from staff members and he wanted to transfer because he had been attacked by three men while in his cell.
He said Witch suggested he come into her office, lock the door and start throwing things around.
During the hour they were barricaded in the office, as part of her plan he pretended Witch was his mother and they performed oral sex on each other.
She is said to have then given the inmate 15 sleeping pills and sang him lullabies.
All the while, prison officials were on the other side of the office door, thinking Witch was being held against her will and raped.
The inmate’s written statement said he had known Witch for years, from when he was being held at Waupun Correctional Institution.
He had also seen her approximately six times at Oshkosh since being transferred there in 2009.
Witch, of Omor, appeared at Winnebago County Circuit Court on September 2 and was charged with second-degree sexual assault by correctional staff, delivering illegal articles to an inmate and delivery of schedule I or II narcotics.
She faces over 58 years in prison and $160,000 in fines if convicted.
Witch will appear again in court on September 22 for a preliminary hearing.
WHEN YOU GOTTA GO, YOU GOTTA GO
What I want to know is how can a drunk whip it out, take a leak, hold a can of beer and flip off the cops all at the same time? It looks like we may have an 'America’s Got Talent’ finalist here.
POTTY STOP DISRUPTS FREEWAY DWI PURSUIT
Suspect flips off cops, dropped by beanbag gun
By Alex Tomlin
WLFi.com
September 16, 2011
ALBUQUERQUE -- A drunken-driving suspect learned just how painful a beanbag gun can be. He also learned you don't make obscene gestures at police, and you don't stop to zip down your pants and relieve yourself in the middle of a chase.
Dashcam video shows the driver, now identified as Estevan Tapia, 26, swerving all over Interstate 25 north of Albuquerque Tuesday night as New Mexico State Police and Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies give chase. He stopped and got out twice, each time giving police the middle-finger salute.
The second time he stopped he got out and took a bathroom break, beer bottle in hand, before deputies dropped him with the two shots from a beanbag gun.
Tapia has been arrested more than a dozen times and already has four DWI convictions.
How drunk Tapia may have been won't be known for a few weeks because they had to draw his blood at the hospital. Deputies took him to the hospital because they wanted to make sure the bean bags didn't do any serious damage.
If Tapia's convicted of a fifth DWI, he faces one to two years behind bars.
POTTY STOP DISRUPTS FREEWAY DWI PURSUIT
Suspect flips off cops, dropped by beanbag gun
By Alex Tomlin
WLFi.com
September 16, 2011
ALBUQUERQUE -- A drunken-driving suspect learned just how painful a beanbag gun can be. He also learned you don't make obscene gestures at police, and you don't stop to zip down your pants and relieve yourself in the middle of a chase.
Dashcam video shows the driver, now identified as Estevan Tapia, 26, swerving all over Interstate 25 north of Albuquerque Tuesday night as New Mexico State Police and Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies give chase. He stopped and got out twice, each time giving police the middle-finger salute.
The second time he stopped he got out and took a bathroom break, beer bottle in hand, before deputies dropped him with the two shots from a beanbag gun.
Tapia has been arrested more than a dozen times and already has four DWI convictions.
How drunk Tapia may have been won't be known for a few weeks because they had to draw his blood at the hospital. Deputies took him to the hospital because they wanted to make sure the bean bags didn't do any serious damage.
If Tapia's convicted of a fifth DWI, he faces one to two years behind bars.
ADIOS ARIZONA, VIVA CALIFORNIA
ILLEGAL immigrants, showing their outrage with Arizona's controversial new SB-1070 law, are boycotting Arizona and moving elsewhere by the thousands.
In the small town of Guadalupe, AZ, south of Phoenix, Manuel Renaldo is one of those who is punishing Arizona by leaving. As he loaded his car with his belongings and family of ten, Renaldo told this reporter through an interpreter "It's a matter of principle; I refuse to be supported by a state that treats me like a criminal!"
The exodus of illegals is being felt by Arizona retailers, who are reporting dwindling sales of beer, spray paint, and ammunition. Tattoo parlors are in a state of panic. Construction companies and roofers are reporting a severe shortage of laborers. And homeowners are now finding it almost impossible to hire anyone who will mow their lawns and do their house cleaning.
Also hit hard are the state’s hospitals, which have reported a dramatic decline in births and emergency room visits. “Actually, we’re ecstatic,” said Sister Magdalene, the administrator for Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Phoenix. “At this rate we may realize a profit one day.”
Renaldo also told this reporter through an interpreter that he and his family are moving to California, a sanctuary state led by Democrats that will support him, his wife, and their eight kids with dignity!
Kind of brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?!
In the small town of Guadalupe, AZ, south of Phoenix, Manuel Renaldo is one of those who is punishing Arizona by leaving. As he loaded his car with his belongings and family of ten, Renaldo told this reporter through an interpreter "It's a matter of principle; I refuse to be supported by a state that treats me like a criminal!"
The exodus of illegals is being felt by Arizona retailers, who are reporting dwindling sales of beer, spray paint, and ammunition. Tattoo parlors are in a state of panic. Construction companies and roofers are reporting a severe shortage of laborers. And homeowners are now finding it almost impossible to hire anyone who will mow their lawns and do their house cleaning.
Also hit hard are the state’s hospitals, which have reported a dramatic decline in births and emergency room visits. “Actually, we’re ecstatic,” said Sister Magdalene, the administrator for Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Phoenix. “At this rate we may realize a profit one day.”
Renaldo also told this reporter through an interpreter that he and his family are moving to California, a sanctuary state led by Democrats that will support him, his wife, and their eight kids with dignity!
Kind of brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?!
YOM KIPPUR, LAST YEAR
"Hi. This is Sarah Palin. Is Senator Lieberman in?"
"No, governor. This is Yom Kippur."
"Well, hello, Yom. Can I leave a message?"
"No, governor. This is Yom Kippur."
"Well, hello, Yom. Can I leave a message?"
Friday, September 16, 2011
AND JIMMY CARTER CALLED ISRAEL AN APARTHEID STATE
This reminds me of when I first came to America. There were signs in front of many New York apartment buildings that read: NO JEWS OR DOGS ALLOWED.
What the Palestinians really want is the final solution of a Judenrein Palestinian state replacing Israel, not a Palestinian state living side-by-side with a Jewish state.
PALESTINIANS: NO JEWS IN OUR STATE
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
September 15, 2011
The Palestinine Liberation Organization (PLO) ambassador to the US, Maen Areikat, told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that the Palestinian state his regime is trying to gain recognition for at the UN next week should be free of Jews.
"I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated," said Areikat. Of course, any talk by Israeli politicians of removing Arabs from the Jewish state is immediately branded as racism and aggressively dismissed by the international community.
Israeli and Jewish leaders were incensed by the Palestinian official's remarks.
"It is advisable for the world's nations to take these statements into account when discussing the Palestinian request to establish an independent state," said Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who filed official statements of protest with the US and European powers.
Turning the tables on those who want to make Israel synomymous with history's most racist regimes, Minister of Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein noted:
"After an unending de-legitimization campaign and attempts to brand Israel an apartheid state, it appears it is the Palestinians who seek apartheid. ...[Areikat's] comments conjure up Judenrein motifs."
Judenrein was the term used by the Nazis to describe the goal of their campaign to cleanse Germany and Europe of Jews.
Speaking of the Nazis, former US National Security Council official said that it appears the planned Palestinian state will be the first nation since World War II-era Germany where Jews are forbidden to live by law.
The UN General Assembly is scheduled to start deliberating on recognizing a Palestinian Arab state on September 21. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will address the assembly on September 23, the last day of the first session of deliberations.
That same day, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki has said he will officially submit to the UN Security Council a request for full UN membership status for "Palestine." The US has already said it will veto such a motion, but the General Assembly may hold its own vote which, though not legally binding, is almost certain to approve the Palestinian statehood bid.
And just in case anyone was considering that recognition of a Palestinian state by the UN would end the conflict and lead to peace, the Palestinians themselves have revealed otherwise.
Even if the UN votes in favor of recognizing a Palestinian state and accepting it as a UN member state, the Palestine Liberation Organization will not disband, and will still be seen as the offical representative of the Palestinian Arabs.
Why, one might ask, would such a "liberation" organization need to continue its work if the ostensible goal of statehood has been achieved? Because, as the Palestinians have said all along - starting with Yasser Arafat and continuing with the democratically-elected Hamas government - the true end goal is not a Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel, but rather a Palestinian state replacing Israel.
What the Palestinians really want is the final solution of a Judenrein Palestinian state replacing Israel, not a Palestinian state living side-by-side with a Jewish state.
PALESTINIANS: NO JEWS IN OUR STATE
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
September 15, 2011
The Palestinine Liberation Organization (PLO) ambassador to the US, Maen Areikat, told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that the Palestinian state his regime is trying to gain recognition for at the UN next week should be free of Jews.
"I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated," said Areikat. Of course, any talk by Israeli politicians of removing Arabs from the Jewish state is immediately branded as racism and aggressively dismissed by the international community.
Israeli and Jewish leaders were incensed by the Palestinian official's remarks.
"It is advisable for the world's nations to take these statements into account when discussing the Palestinian request to establish an independent state," said Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who filed official statements of protest with the US and European powers.
Turning the tables on those who want to make Israel synomymous with history's most racist regimes, Minister of Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein noted:
"After an unending de-legitimization campaign and attempts to brand Israel an apartheid state, it appears it is the Palestinians who seek apartheid. ...[Areikat's] comments conjure up Judenrein motifs."
Judenrein was the term used by the Nazis to describe the goal of their campaign to cleanse Germany and Europe of Jews.
Speaking of the Nazis, former US National Security Council official said that it appears the planned Palestinian state will be the first nation since World War II-era Germany where Jews are forbidden to live by law.
The UN General Assembly is scheduled to start deliberating on recognizing a Palestinian Arab state on September 21. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will address the assembly on September 23, the last day of the first session of deliberations.
That same day, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki has said he will officially submit to the UN Security Council a request for full UN membership status for "Palestine." The US has already said it will veto such a motion, but the General Assembly may hold its own vote which, though not legally binding, is almost certain to approve the Palestinian statehood bid.
And just in case anyone was considering that recognition of a Palestinian state by the UN would end the conflict and lead to peace, the Palestinians themselves have revealed otherwise.
Even if the UN votes in favor of recognizing a Palestinian state and accepting it as a UN member state, the Palestine Liberation Organization will not disband, and will still be seen as the offical representative of the Palestinian Arabs.
Why, one might ask, would such a "liberation" organization need to continue its work if the ostensible goal of statehood has been achieved? Because, as the Palestinians have said all along - starting with Yasser Arafat and continuing with the democratically-elected Hamas government - the true end goal is not a Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel, but rather a Palestinian state replacing Israel.
OBAMA GETS 92 PERCENT JOB APPROVAL RATING
You read it right, a 92 percent job approval rating. Polls show that 92 percent of African-Americans approve of the way Obama is doing his job as president.
However, the latest polls also show that among all American adults, Obama’s job approval rating is only 41 percent.
That 92 percent approval rating means only one thing. Blacks are judging Obama by the color of his skin and not according to the job he is actually doing.
However, the latest polls also show that among all American adults, Obama’s job approval rating is only 41 percent.
That 92 percent approval rating means only one thing. Blacks are judging Obama by the color of his skin and not according to the job he is actually doing.
MONEY-MAKING RED LIGHT CAMERAS
There is no doubt that cities use red-light cameras for one purpose, and it’s not for traffic safety. Those cameras are cash cows for both the cities and the camera vendors and that is why they have been installed. More and more cities have been doing away with those cameras. In Houston, it has been a total fiasco!
THE RED LIGHT CAMERA CIRCUS
By Mandy Oaklander
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 14, 2011
Hot tip for all those cities considering a red-light camera program: Check out how Houston did it, and then do the exact opposite.
Houston's danse macabre with camera vendor American Traffic Solutions (ATS) may have botched the city's budget, business reputation, and credibility. Mayor Annise Parker flip-flopped on the issue at every turn. First, she allowed the very life pulse of the cameras to go to a vote; then, in accordance with the voice of the people, she turned them off. Threatened by ATS's damage estimate in the 20 millions, she turned them back on. And finally, facing a near-uprising, she extinguished the cameras once more.
She did, however, manage to unite the most polar of political groups. From Tea Partiers to Black Panthers, Houstonians hate the red-light cameras. And that's without even knowing the full story.
This is the story of how two brothers, Paul and Michael Kubosh, rallied about 186,000 people to demand the end of red-light cameras.
The Kuboshes seem unlikely champions of the voice of the people. Both are Republicans, and both have pretty reviled professions. Paul is a traffic attorney (a "bottom feeder," he says he's called) and Michael is a bail bondsman. But both are experts in the politics and what they call trickery of red-light camera companies, having studied them since the early 1990s.
The worst part, they say, is that Houston is in on it too -- that the cameras are about money, not safety.
ATS and Houston both deny it. But it only takes a trip to the next town over to find the same thing happening.
Kyle Sadler is the president of a boutique investment firm in Humble. Ever since he got a ticket for a right turn on red, he's been investigating the cameras. The city of Humble, he found, isn't very open to discussing the program.
On the city's web site, only five of the 10 camera locations are named, though it seems to be presented as an exhaustive list. (City manager Darrell Boeske told us he probably just forgot to update the web site.) Humble's mayor refuses to let him speak at city council meetings about starting a petition to turn the cameras off, Sadler says. And the lists of violations he's requested from the city have serious discrepancies from one to the next. Sadler suspects that city council members aren't being ticketed. "There's a lot of stuff that's going on," he says. "We haven't even broken the surface."
That's just a taste of the red-light camera circus, folks. Things are even bigger and badder in Houston.
THE RED LIGHT CAMERA CIRCUS
By Mandy Oaklander
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 14, 2011
Hot tip for all those cities considering a red-light camera program: Check out how Houston did it, and then do the exact opposite.
Houston's danse macabre with camera vendor American Traffic Solutions (ATS) may have botched the city's budget, business reputation, and credibility. Mayor Annise Parker flip-flopped on the issue at every turn. First, she allowed the very life pulse of the cameras to go to a vote; then, in accordance with the voice of the people, she turned them off. Threatened by ATS's damage estimate in the 20 millions, she turned them back on. And finally, facing a near-uprising, she extinguished the cameras once more.
She did, however, manage to unite the most polar of political groups. From Tea Partiers to Black Panthers, Houstonians hate the red-light cameras. And that's without even knowing the full story.
This is the story of how two brothers, Paul and Michael Kubosh, rallied about 186,000 people to demand the end of red-light cameras.
The Kuboshes seem unlikely champions of the voice of the people. Both are Republicans, and both have pretty reviled professions. Paul is a traffic attorney (a "bottom feeder," he says he's called) and Michael is a bail bondsman. But both are experts in the politics and what they call trickery of red-light camera companies, having studied them since the early 1990s.
The worst part, they say, is that Houston is in on it too -- that the cameras are about money, not safety.
ATS and Houston both deny it. But it only takes a trip to the next town over to find the same thing happening.
Kyle Sadler is the president of a boutique investment firm in Humble. Ever since he got a ticket for a right turn on red, he's been investigating the cameras. The city of Humble, he found, isn't very open to discussing the program.
On the city's web site, only five of the 10 camera locations are named, though it seems to be presented as an exhaustive list. (City manager Darrell Boeske told us he probably just forgot to update the web site.) Humble's mayor refuses to let him speak at city council meetings about starting a petition to turn the cameras off, Sadler says. And the lists of violations he's requested from the city have serious discrepancies from one to the next. Sadler suspects that city council members aren't being ticketed. "There's a lot of stuff that's going on," he says. "We haven't even broken the surface."
That's just a taste of the red-light camera circus, folks. Things are even bigger and badder in Houston.
JACK DANIEL'S IS MIGHTY GOOD WHEN FISHING
I went fishing this morning, but after a short time I ran out of worms. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a cottonmouth with
a frog in his mouth.
"Frogs are good bass bait," I thought to myself.
Knowing the snake couldn't bite me with the frog in his mouth, I grabbed him right behind the head, took the frog, and put it in my bait bucket.
Just then, I realized I had a problem: How was I going to release the snake without getting bit?
So, I grabbed my bottle of Jack Daniel’s and poured a little whiskey in its mouth. The snake's eyes rolled back and he went limp.
I released him into the lake without incident and carried on fishing using the frog.
A little later, I felt a nudge at my foot. There was that same snake with two more frogs in its mouth.
Jack Daniel’s is mighty good and so is life in the south!!
a frog in his mouth.
"Frogs are good bass bait," I thought to myself.
Knowing the snake couldn't bite me with the frog in his mouth, I grabbed him right behind the head, took the frog, and put it in my bait bucket.
Just then, I realized I had a problem: How was I going to release the snake without getting bit?
So, I grabbed my bottle of Jack Daniel’s and poured a little whiskey in its mouth. The snake's eyes rolled back and he went limp.
I released him into the lake without incident and carried on fishing using the frog.
A little later, I felt a nudge at my foot. There was that same snake with two more frogs in its mouth.
Jack Daniel’s is mighty good and so is life in the south!!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
'IF AMERICA HAD NOT SAVED OUR BACON ..........'
While Aussie human rights activist Dorina Lisson and I have had numerous vigorous arguments over the death penalty, which she fervently opposes and which I fervently favor, we have become dear friends because, despite our differences, I found her to be an honorable and decent young lady. While Dorina’s ‘pit bull’ attacks against the American correctional officers who carry out executions are way over the top and unwarranted, I understand that it’s just her way of expressing the cause she deeply believes in. Dorina is committed to the cause of human rights and I respect her for that.
As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approached, Dorina and I exchanged a number of communications in which she expressed her deepest sympathy for America on this solemn occasion. On September 11 she wrote: TO OUR AMERICAN FRIENDS AND CLOSE ALLY, AUSTRALIANS REMEMBER 9/11.
During one of our exchanges I wrote, ‘Australia has been a steadfast ally and friend of the U.S. ever since we saved your bacon from the Japanese.’ And this is how Dorina responded to that:
Yes, I have heard many stories about America saving our bacon ... and Australians are often reminded of this via the media.
I guess if America had not saved our bacon, Australia would have been invaded and be speaking Japanese. In which case, my parents would have chosen to migrate to America instead of Australia. I have relatives living in PA.
I watched and listened as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi delivered a heartwarming message to America [on the 10th anniversary of 9/11].
Keep in mind that the negative reports from Australia against America are mostly coming from new arrivals (Muslims) who hate everything about Western society. These people come here, then want to change our way of life.
And ... they have the audacity to call for Sharia law be introduced in Australia. If these people want Sharia law, I suggest they migrate elsewhere. Why migrate to a western country and culture if you hate it ?!?!
If the Western world doesn't do something real fast, the whole world will be speaking Arabic and most people will be stoned to death or beheaded for a mega-variety of non-violent acts against Islam.
EDITOR’S NOTE: God bless Australia and God bless Dorina Lisson!
As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approached, Dorina and I exchanged a number of communications in which she expressed her deepest sympathy for America on this solemn occasion. On September 11 she wrote: TO OUR AMERICAN FRIENDS AND CLOSE ALLY, AUSTRALIANS REMEMBER 9/11.
During one of our exchanges I wrote, ‘Australia has been a steadfast ally and friend of the U.S. ever since we saved your bacon from the Japanese.’ And this is how Dorina responded to that:
Yes, I have heard many stories about America saving our bacon ... and Australians are often reminded of this via the media.
I guess if America had not saved our bacon, Australia would have been invaded and be speaking Japanese. In which case, my parents would have chosen to migrate to America instead of Australia. I have relatives living in PA.
I watched and listened as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi delivered a heartwarming message to America [on the 10th anniversary of 9/11].
Keep in mind that the negative reports from Australia against America are mostly coming from new arrivals (Muslims) who hate everything about Western society. These people come here, then want to change our way of life.
And ... they have the audacity to call for Sharia law be introduced in Australia. If these people want Sharia law, I suggest they migrate elsewhere. Why migrate to a western country and culture if you hate it ?!?!
If the Western world doesn't do something real fast, the whole world will be speaking Arabic and most people will be stoned to death or beheaded for a mega-variety of non-violent acts against Islam.
EDITOR’S NOTE: God bless Australia and God bless Dorina Lisson!
BACHMANN WOULD GET CLOBBERED BY OBAMA
Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann has made a number of boneheaded statements since she became the darling of the Tea Party. During Monday’s Tea Party debate Bachmann tried to regain some of the ground she lost to Rick Perry by attacking the governor’s executive order mandating that all 11 and 12-year-old Texas schoolgirls be given the HPV vaccine Gardasil. Perry’s mandate was quickly rescinded by the Texas legislature.
Bachmann stated that the HPV vaccine Gardasil was very dangerous and that a mother recently told her that her daughter became mentally retarded because of the HPV vaccination.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the CDC quickly weighed in by assuring the many parents frightened by Bachmann’s boneheaded statement that Gardasil was perfectly safe.
Over 35 million doses of Gardasil have been given with an outstanding safety record. Only a few minor side effects have been reported and there have been absolutely no reports that the vaccine causes mental retardation.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus that has been proven to cause cervical cancer. Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC’s medical consultant, says that Gardasil is an anti-cancer vaccine. The reason it is given to 11 and 12-year-old girls is because at that age the human body produces the best immune response that will protect kids later when they become sexually active.
Medical authorities also strongly recommend that young boys be vaccinated with Gardasil because, in addition to cervical cancer, HPV causes other cancers like cancer of the throat and mouth.
Bachmann’s HPV vaccine statement was so far off the wall that even Rush Limbaugh, one of her most ardent admirers, rebuked the congresswoman for making such erroneous and parent-frightening remarks.
During Monday night’s debate, Michelle Bachmann’s attack against Perry on the vaccine’s issue was met with loud and prolonged applause. That just goes to show that there are many boneheads in the Tea Party.
There is no doubt in my mind that if Bachmann ends up as the Republican presidential candidate, she would get clobbered by Obama even if the nation’s economy and high rate of unemployment have not recovered by election time next year.
Bachmann stated that the HPV vaccine Gardasil was very dangerous and that a mother recently told her that her daughter became mentally retarded because of the HPV vaccination.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the CDC quickly weighed in by assuring the many parents frightened by Bachmann’s boneheaded statement that Gardasil was perfectly safe.
Over 35 million doses of Gardasil have been given with an outstanding safety record. Only a few minor side effects have been reported and there have been absolutely no reports that the vaccine causes mental retardation.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus that has been proven to cause cervical cancer. Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC’s medical consultant, says that Gardasil is an anti-cancer vaccine. The reason it is given to 11 and 12-year-old girls is because at that age the human body produces the best immune response that will protect kids later when they become sexually active.
Medical authorities also strongly recommend that young boys be vaccinated with Gardasil because, in addition to cervical cancer, HPV causes other cancers like cancer of the throat and mouth.
Bachmann’s HPV vaccine statement was so far off the wall that even Rush Limbaugh, one of her most ardent admirers, rebuked the congresswoman for making such erroneous and parent-frightening remarks.
During Monday night’s debate, Michelle Bachmann’s attack against Perry on the vaccine’s issue was met with loud and prolonged applause. That just goes to show that there are many boneheads in the Tea Party.
There is no doubt in my mind that if Bachmann ends up as the Republican presidential candidate, she would get clobbered by Obama even if the nation’s economy and high rate of unemployment have not recovered by election time next year.
THIS KILLER JUSTIFIES THE DEATH PENALTY
As the saying goes, ‘No good deed goes unpunished.’ This case illustrates why I am so fervently in favor of capital punishment.
GIRL SLAIN, 2 WOUNDED IN APPARENT RETALIATION FOR GOOD DEED
By Phil Willon
Jewish World Review
September 14, 2011
Fourteen-year-old Destiny Hull spent Tuesday morning mopping up dried blood from her grandmother's San Bernardino, Calif, front porch, stains from an evening that began with an act of kindness and ended with an apparent act of vengeance that left a small girl dead and a pregnant woman and her young daughter seriously wounded.
The series of events in San Bernardino began Monday evening when a Good Samaritan who lived in the house — police won't say who for fear of tainting possible eyewitness accounts — saw a man beating a woman down the street, charged in and broke up the fight, allowing the woman to escape.
An hour later, the woman's attacker came to the male Good Samaritan's home and opened fire. Destiny's sister, who was five months pregnant, was shot in the jaw and neck, and bullets hit Destiny's two 3-year-old nieces in the head.
Destiny, overwhelmed by tears and fits of anger at the invading news cameras, stayed home from school to help clean up.
"I just can't believe this happened," she said, scrubbing the blood away from the porch, where the walls were pocked with bullet holes.
The shooting outraged residents of the working-class neighborhood. A large extended family lived in the home of Sophia Cardona, the matriarch who was inside cleaning and cooking tacos when she heard the shots.
Her grandson ran to the porch, scooped up the wounded children and drove them to the hospital.
"Whatever happened … was cowardice. He knew what he was doing and was trying to hurt someone. But he didn't have to hurt the children," Cardona said, breaking down in tears. "We lost one of our babies."
San Bernardino Police Chief Keith Kilmer called the shooting "tragic, senseless and despicable" and vowed to catch the killer.
"We will find you, we will seek you out and we will bring you to justice," Kilmer said at police headquarters, six blocks from where the shooting occurred.
Police declined to release specifics about who they believe was the intended target of the attack other than to say that the gunman knew the Good Samaritan lived at the house.
The shooting happened about 7:45 p.m. Monday as the family was about to sit down for dinner and the kids were playing out front. The next morning, dolls were still lying on the concrete porch, along with three empty 40-ounce beer bottles.
Nylah Franco-Torres, 3, was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the hospital. Cardona said her great-granddaughter was a joyful child who didn't deserve such a violent fate.
"She was a sweet little girl. She loved going to the store. She was happy," Cardona said. "The first thing she did in the morning was turn on the TV and watch cartoons."
Cardona said her granddaughter La-Donna Howie, 21, and Howie's daughter Justine were the others wounded. Howie, who is five months pregnant, was listed in stable condition at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. Her unborn child was unharmed and in good condition, police said. Justine was in extremely critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center with a head wound.
Police described the suspect as a black man in his early 20s, about 6 feet tall, weighing 160 to 170 pounds, with short dark hair.
GIRL SLAIN, 2 WOUNDED IN APPARENT RETALIATION FOR GOOD DEED
By Phil Willon
Jewish World Review
September 14, 2011
Fourteen-year-old Destiny Hull spent Tuesday morning mopping up dried blood from her grandmother's San Bernardino, Calif, front porch, stains from an evening that began with an act of kindness and ended with an apparent act of vengeance that left a small girl dead and a pregnant woman and her young daughter seriously wounded.
The series of events in San Bernardino began Monday evening when a Good Samaritan who lived in the house — police won't say who for fear of tainting possible eyewitness accounts — saw a man beating a woman down the street, charged in and broke up the fight, allowing the woman to escape.
An hour later, the woman's attacker came to the male Good Samaritan's home and opened fire. Destiny's sister, who was five months pregnant, was shot in the jaw and neck, and bullets hit Destiny's two 3-year-old nieces in the head.
Destiny, overwhelmed by tears and fits of anger at the invading news cameras, stayed home from school to help clean up.
"I just can't believe this happened," she said, scrubbing the blood away from the porch, where the walls were pocked with bullet holes.
The shooting outraged residents of the working-class neighborhood. A large extended family lived in the home of Sophia Cardona, the matriarch who was inside cleaning and cooking tacos when she heard the shots.
Her grandson ran to the porch, scooped up the wounded children and drove them to the hospital.
"Whatever happened … was cowardice. He knew what he was doing and was trying to hurt someone. But he didn't have to hurt the children," Cardona said, breaking down in tears. "We lost one of our babies."
San Bernardino Police Chief Keith Kilmer called the shooting "tragic, senseless and despicable" and vowed to catch the killer.
"We will find you, we will seek you out and we will bring you to justice," Kilmer said at police headquarters, six blocks from where the shooting occurred.
Police declined to release specifics about who they believe was the intended target of the attack other than to say that the gunman knew the Good Samaritan lived at the house.
The shooting happened about 7:45 p.m. Monday as the family was about to sit down for dinner and the kids were playing out front. The next morning, dolls were still lying on the concrete porch, along with three empty 40-ounce beer bottles.
Nylah Franco-Torres, 3, was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the hospital. Cardona said her great-granddaughter was a joyful child who didn't deserve such a violent fate.
"She was a sweet little girl. She loved going to the store. She was happy," Cardona said. "The first thing she did in the morning was turn on the TV and watch cartoons."
Cardona said her granddaughter La-Donna Howie, 21, and Howie's daughter Justine were the others wounded. Howie, who is five months pregnant, was listed in stable condition at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. Her unborn child was unharmed and in good condition, police said. Justine was in extremely critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center with a head wound.
Police described the suspect as a black man in his early 20s, about 6 feet tall, weighing 160 to 170 pounds, with short dark hair.
BY GAR, THERE AIN'T A GONNA BE NECKID WOMEN IN OUR TOWN
Hmm now, let’s see, it took 40 cops over 4 hours to conduct this titty-joint raid. That means they conducted a thorough search of the nude dancers and looked hard for evidence of wrongdoing. I’m sure that these dedicated cops and their chief made Edinburg a much safer place to live in.
EDINBURG VS. THE ALL-NUDE CLUB: ON LIKE DONKEY KONG
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 13, 2011
Ever since Rolando Castenada took over as Edinburg's chief of police in May, he has had a hard-on for the all-nude Jaguars club.
Maybe that should be reworded: Let's just say he's been preoccupied with getting Jaguars closed.
There's not much he can do -- the club doesn't serve alcohol, and it is grandfathered under the city's anti-SOB ordinances because it opened up in an unincorporated part of the area before being annexed.
That hasn't stopped Castenada, and now the city is being sued over a raid last month.
The owners of Jaguars filed a suit, outlining such tactics by the chief as parking three cop cars in front of the establishment for hours at a time one weekend, "thereby reducing the number of customers patronizing Jaguars."
They also said he brought in a lawn chair and sat down in the parking lot of the club, where he then oversaw the August raid.
During the raid, the suit says, 40 cops zip-tied everyone in the place, police officers went through the contents of the safe, property was taken without proper warrants, and a raid that should have lasted 30 minutes stretched over four hours of valuable titty-baring time.
Eleven dancers and hostesses were detained on immigration charges, the Monitor reports.
The club owners say the raid violated a slew of their constitutional rights and are seeking a temporary restraining order and damages.
For its part, the city has issued a statement saying it denies any allegations of wrongdoing "and will defend itself to the full extent of the law against these allegations."
EDINBURG VS. THE ALL-NUDE CLUB: ON LIKE DONKEY KONG
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 13, 2011
Ever since Rolando Castenada took over as Edinburg's chief of police in May, he has had a hard-on for the all-nude Jaguars club.
Maybe that should be reworded: Let's just say he's been preoccupied with getting Jaguars closed.
There's not much he can do -- the club doesn't serve alcohol, and it is grandfathered under the city's anti-SOB ordinances because it opened up in an unincorporated part of the area before being annexed.
That hasn't stopped Castenada, and now the city is being sued over a raid last month.
The owners of Jaguars filed a suit, outlining such tactics by the chief as parking three cop cars in front of the establishment for hours at a time one weekend, "thereby reducing the number of customers patronizing Jaguars."
They also said he brought in a lawn chair and sat down in the parking lot of the club, where he then oversaw the August raid.
During the raid, the suit says, 40 cops zip-tied everyone in the place, police officers went through the contents of the safe, property was taken without proper warrants, and a raid that should have lasted 30 minutes stretched over four hours of valuable titty-baring time.
Eleven dancers and hostesses were detained on immigration charges, the Monitor reports.
The club owners say the raid violated a slew of their constitutional rights and are seeking a temporary restraining order and damages.
For its part, the city has issued a statement saying it denies any allegations of wrongdoing "and will defend itself to the full extent of the law against these allegations."
JIMMY CARTER SUPPORTS PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD BID
Former president Jimmy Carter, who has called Israel an apartheid state, voiced his support for the forthcoming bid by the Palestinians to gain U.N. recognition as an independent state.
Here are is an excerpt from a report on Carter’s decision in the September 13 issue of the Washington Post:
Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday he supports the Palestinians’ effort to secure statehood recognition at the United Nations this month, despite White House concerns for the region.
The Georgia Democrat said he wouldn’t be in favor of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ bid to win U.N. recognition if President Barack Obama’s administration had “put forward any sort of comprehensive peace proposal.” But he told Palestinians have few other options but to seek statehood since no deal is in the works.
“As an alternative to a deadlock and a stalemate now, we reluctantly support the Palestinian move for recognition,” he said at a town hall event at the Carter Center in Atlanta.
Carter said it would be a “real step forward” even if a nonmember Palestinian state were recognized.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Considering Carter’s many anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian pronouncements, I seriously doubt if there was any reluctance in his decision to support the statehood bid.
Here are is an excerpt from a report on Carter’s decision in the September 13 issue of the Washington Post:
Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday he supports the Palestinians’ effort to secure statehood recognition at the United Nations this month, despite White House concerns for the region.
The Georgia Democrat said he wouldn’t be in favor of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ bid to win U.N. recognition if President Barack Obama’s administration had “put forward any sort of comprehensive peace proposal.” But he told Palestinians have few other options but to seek statehood since no deal is in the works.
“As an alternative to a deadlock and a stalemate now, we reluctantly support the Palestinian move for recognition,” he said at a town hall event at the Carter Center in Atlanta.
Carter said it would be a “real step forward” even if a nonmember Palestinian state were recognized.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Considering Carter’s many anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian pronouncements, I seriously doubt if there was any reluctance in his decision to support the statehood bid.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
TURKEY'S ISLAMIST REGIME LOOKING TO PICK FIGHT WITH ISRAEL
Things seem to be going from bad to worse in the Middle East. Erdogan’s ruling Islamist party is not the Israel-friendly secular party that led previous Turkish governments.
ISRAEL-TURKEY MILITARY CLASH BECOMES MORE LIKELY
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
September 13, 2011
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday significantly increased the likelihood of an Israeli-Turkish military clash when he dispatched a naval task force to the eastern Mediterranean with orders to confront Israeli warships.
Erdogan has called Israel's May 2010 interception of a Turkish-led "humanitarian aid" flotilla to Gaza an act of piracy. He labeled as a "war crime" the killing of nine Turkish nationals who, along with other passengers, tried to lynch the Israeli boarding party.
Last week, Erdogan ratcheted up his hostile rhetoric when he told an Al Jazeera interviewer that Israel's raid on the Mavi Marmara and its fellow vessels had been "grounds for war."
War was only averted, said Erdogan, because "befitting Turkey's greatness, we decided to act with patience."
That won't be the case next time around, Erdogan suggested in a thinly veiled threat.
"Right now, without a doubt, the primary duty of Turkish navy ships is to protect its own ships," he said.
And it seems Erdogan is determined to actually provoke a confrontation. He told Al Jazeera that Turkey has "humanitarian aid that we want to carry" to Gaza, under the protection of his warships, in violation of the Israeli blockade.
Israel says it will not back down on its maritime blockade of Gaza, which the UN commissioned Palmer Committee certified as legal and legitimate just last month. While the Palmer Report criticized Israel for the level of violence used in subduing the Mavi Marmara crew, it approved of Israel's enforcement of the Gaza blockade, even in international waters.
Erdogan's threat also completely ignores the fact that an enormous amount of humanitarian aid enters Gaza ever day via the coastal territory's land crossings with Israel.
Prior to the Mavi Marmara incident, Israel and other nations urged the flotilla's organizers to transfer their aid via those land crossings. Readily admitting that their main goal was to break Israel's UN-certified blockade, the flotilla organizers refused.
Now it appears Erdogan is prepared to do the same, but with far more serious consequences.
ISRAEL-TURKEY MILITARY CLASH BECOMES MORE LIKELY
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
September 13, 2011
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday significantly increased the likelihood of an Israeli-Turkish military clash when he dispatched a naval task force to the eastern Mediterranean with orders to confront Israeli warships.
Erdogan has called Israel's May 2010 interception of a Turkish-led "humanitarian aid" flotilla to Gaza an act of piracy. He labeled as a "war crime" the killing of nine Turkish nationals who, along with other passengers, tried to lynch the Israeli boarding party.
Last week, Erdogan ratcheted up his hostile rhetoric when he told an Al Jazeera interviewer that Israel's raid on the Mavi Marmara and its fellow vessels had been "grounds for war."
War was only averted, said Erdogan, because "befitting Turkey's greatness, we decided to act with patience."
That won't be the case next time around, Erdogan suggested in a thinly veiled threat.
"Right now, without a doubt, the primary duty of Turkish navy ships is to protect its own ships," he said.
And it seems Erdogan is determined to actually provoke a confrontation. He told Al Jazeera that Turkey has "humanitarian aid that we want to carry" to Gaza, under the protection of his warships, in violation of the Israeli blockade.
Israel says it will not back down on its maritime blockade of Gaza, which the UN commissioned Palmer Committee certified as legal and legitimate just last month. While the Palmer Report criticized Israel for the level of violence used in subduing the Mavi Marmara crew, it approved of Israel's enforcement of the Gaza blockade, even in international waters.
Erdogan's threat also completely ignores the fact that an enormous amount of humanitarian aid enters Gaza ever day via the coastal territory's land crossings with Israel.
Prior to the Mavi Marmara incident, Israel and other nations urged the flotilla's organizers to transfer their aid via those land crossings. Readily admitting that their main goal was to break Israel's UN-certified blockade, the flotilla organizers refused.
Now it appears Erdogan is prepared to do the same, but with far more serious consequences.
WHAT WILL THE U.S. DO WHEN THE ARMIES OF TURKEY AND EGYPT ATTACK ISRAEL?
Here are some excerpts from ‘Will the President and the Congress Send a Message to Turkey and Egypt That An Attack Upon Israel Will Be Viewed As An Attack Upon the U.S.?’, an op-ed by former New York mayor Ed Koch:
Israel is now surrounded by Arab and other Muslim nations who believe this is the moment when they can finally destroy the Jewish state. They tried and failed to conquer Israel in five different wars since 1948. They are still trying.
Once a friend of Israel, Turkey now has an Islamist government led by its prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has issued a statement tantamount to a declaration of war. The Times reported on September 10th, "The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab network, that he would use his warships to prevent Israeli commandos from again boarding a Gaza-bound ship as they did last year, killing nine passengers, and from letting Israel exploit natural gas resources at sea."
In addition to Hamas on its southern border, Israel is now facing an increasingly hostile Egypt, with an army of nearly one million and a population of 81 million. To Israel's north is not only hostile Lebanon and Syria, but now Turkey with an army of one million and a population of 73 million.
It is also disturbing that there is a rising tide of Jew-hatred in Great Britain and in France. In Great Britain, that hatred was recently demonstrated by those who called themselves artists, who disrupted a concert by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta in London on September 1st. The police arrested no one who for a time prevented the audience of 5,000 from enjoying the evening. No speaker supporting Israel is permitted to speak at British universities. They are not invited or hooted down if invited.
France is working with the Palestinians to achieve their admission to the United Nations General Assembly. Israel's only apparent defender on the European continent is Germany because of the continuous ongoing support of Israel by Chancellor Angela Merkel. I met and heard Chancellor Merkel in 2004 when I attended in Berlin the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conference on rising anti-Semitism, when I served as chairman of the U.S. delegation. I was impressed by the depths of her sincerity in denouncing anti-Semitism and recognizing the depravity of the German nation under Hitler in its efforts to exterminate world Jewry.
The Muslim nations are undoubtedly licking their chops at what they would do if they were ever to be successful in defeating Israel on the battlefield or at the U.N. which is prepared to serve as the site of today's Munich. If Assad of Syria is willing to kill innocent men, women and children in the streets and cities in Syria, what do you think he would do if his soldiers patrolled Tel Aviv?
The Arab countries' threats to destroy Israel, a nation with a total population of 7.7 million, including 1.2 million Muslims, is not receiving front page coverage or denunciations from NATO nation leaders. The revolutionaries making up the "Arab Spring" are lauded by the opinion-makers here in the U.S. and even more so in Europe.
This past Sunday, we commemorated in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania the deaths of more than 3,000 innocent civilians on 9/11, committed by Islamic terrorists whose supporters run into the millions and are now located in at least 62 countries. Our NATO allies never supported the U.S. to the extent they promised when we invaded Afghanistan to punish the Afghan government for providing a refuge for al-Qaeda, which perpetrated the 9/11 atrocities and many others. In my judgment, as harsh as it sounds, many of those NATO countries, including Britain and France, would deliver the Jewish nation into the hands of their putative murderers if it gave them "peace in our time," just as Chamberlain gave Czechoslovakia to the Nazis. Are we willing here in the U.S. to continue to fight for our precious liberties and support countries like Israel having the same moral and cultural values?
We in America, led by President Obama and Congress, must make it absolutely clear to the Islamist terrorists that we will never surrender. We will hunt them down as we did their leader, Osama bin Laden, and kill them.
The U.S. is Israel's only friend and ally. It is not foolish or premature to ask what will the U.S. do when and if the Muslim nations surrounding Israel, this time led by Egypt and Turkey, supported by others, assault the Jewish nation? Will the President and the Congress come to its aid? Shouldn't Israel know now? Shouldn't the Muslim nations know?
I urge the President and the Congress to do for Israel what President Kennedy did during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. President Kennedy said "It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union."
Israel is now surrounded by Arab and other Muslim nations who believe this is the moment when they can finally destroy the Jewish state. They tried and failed to conquer Israel in five different wars since 1948. They are still trying.
Once a friend of Israel, Turkey now has an Islamist government led by its prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has issued a statement tantamount to a declaration of war. The Times reported on September 10th, "The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab network, that he would use his warships to prevent Israeli commandos from again boarding a Gaza-bound ship as they did last year, killing nine passengers, and from letting Israel exploit natural gas resources at sea."
In addition to Hamas on its southern border, Israel is now facing an increasingly hostile Egypt, with an army of nearly one million and a population of 81 million. To Israel's north is not only hostile Lebanon and Syria, but now Turkey with an army of one million and a population of 73 million.
It is also disturbing that there is a rising tide of Jew-hatred in Great Britain and in France. In Great Britain, that hatred was recently demonstrated by those who called themselves artists, who disrupted a concert by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta in London on September 1st. The police arrested no one who for a time prevented the audience of 5,000 from enjoying the evening. No speaker supporting Israel is permitted to speak at British universities. They are not invited or hooted down if invited.
France is working with the Palestinians to achieve their admission to the United Nations General Assembly. Israel's only apparent defender on the European continent is Germany because of the continuous ongoing support of Israel by Chancellor Angela Merkel. I met and heard Chancellor Merkel in 2004 when I attended in Berlin the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conference on rising anti-Semitism, when I served as chairman of the U.S. delegation. I was impressed by the depths of her sincerity in denouncing anti-Semitism and recognizing the depravity of the German nation under Hitler in its efforts to exterminate world Jewry.
The Muslim nations are undoubtedly licking their chops at what they would do if they were ever to be successful in defeating Israel on the battlefield or at the U.N. which is prepared to serve as the site of today's Munich. If Assad of Syria is willing to kill innocent men, women and children in the streets and cities in Syria, what do you think he would do if his soldiers patrolled Tel Aviv?
The Arab countries' threats to destroy Israel, a nation with a total population of 7.7 million, including 1.2 million Muslims, is not receiving front page coverage or denunciations from NATO nation leaders. The revolutionaries making up the "Arab Spring" are lauded by the opinion-makers here in the U.S. and even more so in Europe.
This past Sunday, we commemorated in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania the deaths of more than 3,000 innocent civilians on 9/11, committed by Islamic terrorists whose supporters run into the millions and are now located in at least 62 countries. Our NATO allies never supported the U.S. to the extent they promised when we invaded Afghanistan to punish the Afghan government for providing a refuge for al-Qaeda, which perpetrated the 9/11 atrocities and many others. In my judgment, as harsh as it sounds, many of those NATO countries, including Britain and France, would deliver the Jewish nation into the hands of their putative murderers if it gave them "peace in our time," just as Chamberlain gave Czechoslovakia to the Nazis. Are we willing here in the U.S. to continue to fight for our precious liberties and support countries like Israel having the same moral and cultural values?
We in America, led by President Obama and Congress, must make it absolutely clear to the Islamist terrorists that we will never surrender. We will hunt them down as we did their leader, Osama bin Laden, and kill them.
The U.S. is Israel's only friend and ally. It is not foolish or premature to ask what will the U.S. do when and if the Muslim nations surrounding Israel, this time led by Egypt and Turkey, supported by others, assault the Jewish nation? Will the President and the Congress come to its aid? Shouldn't Israel know now? Shouldn't the Muslim nations know?
I urge the President and the Congress to do for Israel what President Kennedy did during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. President Kennedy said "It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union."
SOON TO BE EX-TEACHER TEXTS WRONG SUBJECT ON THE INTERNET
His ability to express himself seems better than that of many other teachers. He should be able to land a college job teaching Human Sexuality once he gets out of the slammer.
TOAN QUOC NGUYEN: SCIENCE TEACHER’S STEAMY SEXTS TO 16-YEAR-OLD LEAD TO CHARGES
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 13, 2011
Here's what you don't want to come home to as a parent: Your 16-year-old daughter "lying on her own bed" with a 26-year-old dude.
That's what court documents show happened to one local mother, and a Cy-Fair science teacher from Tomball has been charged with online solicitation of a minor.
Toan Quoc Nguyen's Facebook messages to the girl were discovered when the mom went through her daughter's iPod, the court documents say.
And here is some of the stuff she read, according to the documents. Only Nguyen's side of the conversation was included.
-- "I would have loved to feel your hand on my cock."
-- "...one hand on your boob and one in your pussy? Eventually, I'll get good enough at multitasking that I can bite your shoulder and neck as well."
-- "... I really wish I could fuck you."
-- “I aim to please hun. I was hoping to find your nipple so I could pinch and tweak them.”
-- "If it weren't for you being 16, I would have jumped on that wagon already...why can't you be older?"
-- "...leaning over my desk so I can take you from behind...and reach forward so I can squeeze your tits and nibble on your neck and shoulders."
Okay, dude, you realize it would be wrong to have sex with a 16-year-old, but you think it's acceptable to write this crap to her? That is one unique moral compass you have there, teach.
Here's the statement from the school district: Once the district receives official notification from law enforcement of Toan Nguyen's arrest, he will be placed on administrative leave. If allegations of his off-campus conduct with a minor in another district are confirmed, his employment with the district will be terminated and the Texas Education Agency will be notified.
TOAN QUOC NGUYEN: SCIENCE TEACHER’S STEAMY SEXTS TO 16-YEAR-OLD LEAD TO CHARGES
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 13, 2011
Here's what you don't want to come home to as a parent: Your 16-year-old daughter "lying on her own bed" with a 26-year-old dude.
That's what court documents show happened to one local mother, and a Cy-Fair science teacher from Tomball has been charged with online solicitation of a minor.
Toan Quoc Nguyen's Facebook messages to the girl were discovered when the mom went through her daughter's iPod, the court documents say.
And here is some of the stuff she read, according to the documents. Only Nguyen's side of the conversation was included.
-- "I would have loved to feel your hand on my cock."
-- "...one hand on your boob and one in your pussy? Eventually, I'll get good enough at multitasking that I can bite your shoulder and neck as well."
-- "... I really wish I could fuck you."
-- “I aim to please hun. I was hoping to find your nipple so I could pinch and tweak them.”
-- "If it weren't for you being 16, I would have jumped on that wagon already...why can't you be older?"
-- "...leaning over my desk so I can take you from behind...and reach forward so I can squeeze your tits and nibble on your neck and shoulders."
Okay, dude, you realize it would be wrong to have sex with a 16-year-old, but you think it's acceptable to write this crap to her? That is one unique moral compass you have there, teach.
Here's the statement from the school district: Once the district receives official notification from law enforcement of Toan Nguyen's arrest, he will be placed on administrative leave. If allegations of his off-campus conduct with a minor in another district are confirmed, his employment with the district will be terminated and the Texas Education Agency will be notified.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
THE SAGA OF 'PEANUT', HIS STEEL-TOED BOOTS, AND THE FATAL BEATING OF HIS CELLMATE
All prison officials know that inmates have their own code of justice, one that bodes ill for child molesters. Putting a convicted child rapist in the same cell with a violent nutcase was probably not the smartest move for Texas prison officials to make.
In this case the parents of a child rapist are suing because their son’s new cellmate promptly proceeded to beat the living crap out of him until he was terminally rehabilitated. Their son was in custody at the Ferguson unit of the Texas prison system until July 13, 2006, when his cellmate strangled and kicked him to death after the two were assigned to share a cell the previous day.
MICHAEL DEWAYNE WALKER: LAWSUIT OVER CHILD RAPIST’S PRISON DEATH ALLOWED TO CONTINUE
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 12, 2011
Michael DeWayne Walker was serving a 21-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a child when he was put in a cell with Wilbert "Peanut" Hamilton in 2006.
Hamilton beat him to death, and Walker's parents have sued on the grounds that guards and prison officials knew Hamilton was a violent psychotic and that he was allowed to have steel-toed boots in his cell.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees have sought to have the suit dismissed on grounds of immunity, but federal judge Kenneth Hoyt has ruled the parents' claims can be heard.
There's a factual dispute over how long the beating went on -- Walker's parents say it lasted five hours, and guards should absolutely have been able to hear it, while the defendants in the suit say it was only a few minutes.
The guards also say there was no formal policy made clear to them that child-sex offenders should be kept isolated from the general prison population for their safety, or that the steel-toed boots had to be left in the prison work area and not taken into the cell.
In court documents, Walker's parents say Hamilton "was regarded as crazy and had a reputation for beating on his cellmates." They claim Hamilton warned guards he would kill Walker as they were putting him in the cell.
Putting him there violated their son's constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, their suit says.
The guards say all proper procedures were followed.
Hoyt denied the guards' motion, saying, "genuine issues of material fact remain disputed regarding whether defendants violated Walker's Eighth Amendment rights."
In this case the parents of a child rapist are suing because their son’s new cellmate promptly proceeded to beat the living crap out of him until he was terminally rehabilitated. Their son was in custody at the Ferguson unit of the Texas prison system until July 13, 2006, when his cellmate strangled and kicked him to death after the two were assigned to share a cell the previous day.
MICHAEL DEWAYNE WALKER: LAWSUIT OVER CHILD RAPIST’S PRISON DEATH ALLOWED TO CONTINUE
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 12, 2011
Michael DeWayne Walker was serving a 21-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a child when he was put in a cell with Wilbert "Peanut" Hamilton in 2006.
Hamilton beat him to death, and Walker's parents have sued on the grounds that guards and prison officials knew Hamilton was a violent psychotic and that he was allowed to have steel-toed boots in his cell.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees have sought to have the suit dismissed on grounds of immunity, but federal judge Kenneth Hoyt has ruled the parents' claims can be heard.
There's a factual dispute over how long the beating went on -- Walker's parents say it lasted five hours, and guards should absolutely have been able to hear it, while the defendants in the suit say it was only a few minutes.
The guards also say there was no formal policy made clear to them that child-sex offenders should be kept isolated from the general prison population for their safety, or that the steel-toed boots had to be left in the prison work area and not taken into the cell.
In court documents, Walker's parents say Hamilton "was regarded as crazy and had a reputation for beating on his cellmates." They claim Hamilton warned guards he would kill Walker as they were putting him in the cell.
Putting him there violated their son's constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, their suit says.
The guards say all proper procedures were followed.
Hoyt denied the guards' motion, saying, "genuine issues of material fact remain disputed regarding whether defendants violated Walker's Eighth Amendment rights."
DOCTOR EVIL'S HENCHMAN TO SPEND REST OF HIS LIFE IN THE SLAMMER
What bothers me is that his crime-partner was sentenced to only 17 years and four months in prison when his acts were every bit as cruel as those of Doctor Evil’s henchman.
‘AUSTIN POWERS’ HENCHMAN GETS LIFE IN PRISON IN RAPE-TORTURE CASE
Los Angeles Times
September 9, 2011
To millions of moviegoers he was Doctor Evil's henchman Random Task.
But now a 40-year-old Orange County actor famous from an "Austin Powers" movie will be spending life in state prison in connection with a 1990 Christmas Eve gang rape and torture of a woman taking a walk to see the seasonal lights.
Joseph Hyungmin Son was found guilty Aug. 25 of felony torture, an offense that carries a life term without possibility of parole. The actor was originally charged three years ago with numerous sex crimes but because of a statute of limitations, prosecutors eventually won a conviction on torture.
The crime unfolded seven years before the 1997 movie "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery."
According to prosecutors, a woman walking back to her apartment alone with her dog after going to look at Christmas lights with a relative and friend was stopped by Son about 12:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve 1990. Son asked her for directions and then with another man dragged her to their car, threw her in the back and drove away.
Son and the other man told her they were driving to Compton, pistol-whipped her and repeatedly threatened to kill her. Prosecutors said Son then repeatedly raped, sodomized and forced the victim to orally copulate him in the back of the car. He also tortured her with a firearm. Son's cohort Santiago Lopez Gaitan, 40, of San Antonio raped the woman.
Afterward, Son threatened to kill the victim and counted the bullets in the gun out loud as she pleaded for her life. Son and Gaitan finally allowed the woman, identified only as Jane Doe, to leave, naked and with her pants tied around her eyes. The victim was actually in Huntington Beach and went to a nearby home where homeowners called the police.
While physical evidence was gathered in the case from the sexual assault, the case went cold. Son, however, was convicted in May 2008 of felony vandalism in an unrelated case and was forced to give a DNA sample. That sample was then linked to DNA collected in the 1990 case, prosecutors said.
Gaitan pleaded guilty in January to kidnapping, sodomy, rape, forcible oral copulation and forcible rape with a sentencing enhancement for committing rape while armed with a firearm. He was sentenced to 17 years and four months in state prison.
The victim told the judge before sentencing Friday that she suffers daily post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I feel debilitating fear come over me and am convinced a hand is coming from behind again," she said in court. "My emotional scars are intense. My 20s were stripped from my life as I relearned how to walk, see, hear and cope with the outside world again. Joseph Son not only cost me my job at my salon but also my college savings ... not to mention the impact it’s made on celebrating Christmas year after year."
‘AUSTIN POWERS’ HENCHMAN GETS LIFE IN PRISON IN RAPE-TORTURE CASE
Los Angeles Times
September 9, 2011
To millions of moviegoers he was Doctor Evil's henchman Random Task.
But now a 40-year-old Orange County actor famous from an "Austin Powers" movie will be spending life in state prison in connection with a 1990 Christmas Eve gang rape and torture of a woman taking a walk to see the seasonal lights.
Joseph Hyungmin Son was found guilty Aug. 25 of felony torture, an offense that carries a life term without possibility of parole. The actor was originally charged three years ago with numerous sex crimes but because of a statute of limitations, prosecutors eventually won a conviction on torture.
The crime unfolded seven years before the 1997 movie "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery."
According to prosecutors, a woman walking back to her apartment alone with her dog after going to look at Christmas lights with a relative and friend was stopped by Son about 12:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve 1990. Son asked her for directions and then with another man dragged her to their car, threw her in the back and drove away.
Son and the other man told her they were driving to Compton, pistol-whipped her and repeatedly threatened to kill her. Prosecutors said Son then repeatedly raped, sodomized and forced the victim to orally copulate him in the back of the car. He also tortured her with a firearm. Son's cohort Santiago Lopez Gaitan, 40, of San Antonio raped the woman.
Afterward, Son threatened to kill the victim and counted the bullets in the gun out loud as she pleaded for her life. Son and Gaitan finally allowed the woman, identified only as Jane Doe, to leave, naked and with her pants tied around her eyes. The victim was actually in Huntington Beach and went to a nearby home where homeowners called the police.
While physical evidence was gathered in the case from the sexual assault, the case went cold. Son, however, was convicted in May 2008 of felony vandalism in an unrelated case and was forced to give a DNA sample. That sample was then linked to DNA collected in the 1990 case, prosecutors said.
Gaitan pleaded guilty in January to kidnapping, sodomy, rape, forcible oral copulation and forcible rape with a sentencing enhancement for committing rape while armed with a firearm. He was sentenced to 17 years and four months in state prison.
The victim told the judge before sentencing Friday that she suffers daily post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I feel debilitating fear come over me and am convinced a hand is coming from behind again," she said in court. "My emotional scars are intense. My 20s were stripped from my life as I relearned how to walk, see, hear and cope with the outside world again. Joseph Son not only cost me my job at my salon but also my college savings ... not to mention the impact it’s made on celebrating Christmas year after year."
BUT THEY PUT UP A CROSS
This looks like a clear-cut violation of the Equal Protection Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Since they put up a cross at the 9/11 Memorial that was formed by the collapsed girders of the World Trade Center, how can they deny a place at the memorial for a swastika that was similarly formed? You neo-Nazis need to get hold of the ACLU!
9/11 MEMORIAL CURATORS DECIDE NOT TO DISPLAY SWASTICA FORMED BY TWISTED GIRDERS FOUND AT GROUND ZERO
The Onion
September 9, 2011
NEW YORK—Despite the surprising coincidence of finding a perfectly formed swastika amidst the broken girders of the Twin Towers, 9/11 memorial curators have opted not to display the symbol, choosing instead to leave it in the storage facility where it has been located for the past 10 years. "On the one hand, it's pretty miraculous that there was a precisely shaped 80-by-80-foot swastika found in the rubble of the fallen World Trade Center, but in the end, we decided not to include it in our plans for the museum," said memorial spokesman Stanley Morgenstern, adding that it would probably be seen as inappropriate. "Although you've got to admit that it is pretty incredible. Mathematically, what are the odds? It's amazing but, perhaps, not right for what we are trying to achieve with the museum." Upon hearing the news, neo-Nazi groups have complained about the exclusion, arguing that the giant swastika is "a sign from heaven" and that "9/11 affected all Americans, including those who believe in the inherent genetic superiority of the Aryan race."
9/11 MEMORIAL CURATORS DECIDE NOT TO DISPLAY SWASTICA FORMED BY TWISTED GIRDERS FOUND AT GROUND ZERO
The Onion
September 9, 2011
NEW YORK—Despite the surprising coincidence of finding a perfectly formed swastika amidst the broken girders of the Twin Towers, 9/11 memorial curators have opted not to display the symbol, choosing instead to leave it in the storage facility where it has been located for the past 10 years. "On the one hand, it's pretty miraculous that there was a precisely shaped 80-by-80-foot swastika found in the rubble of the fallen World Trade Center, but in the end, we decided not to include it in our plans for the museum," said memorial spokesman Stanley Morgenstern, adding that it would probably be seen as inappropriate. "Although you've got to admit that it is pretty incredible. Mathematically, what are the odds? It's amazing but, perhaps, not right for what we are trying to achieve with the museum." Upon hearing the news, neo-Nazi groups have complained about the exclusion, arguing that the giant swastika is "a sign from heaven" and that "9/11 affected all Americans, including those who believe in the inherent genetic superiority of the Aryan race."
WE ARE NOT WINNING THE WAR AGAINST GLOBAL TERRORISM
This is not an assessment on the war against Jihad by some anti-Obama rabble rouser like Roach Limburger. Walid Phares is a professor and commentator on global terrorism and Middle Eastern affairs and the author of several books on Jihad. He advises members of Congress and the European Parliament.
TEN YEARS AFTER 9/11: THE JIHADISTS ARE WINNING
By Walid Phares
politicalmavens.com
September 12, 2011
A decade after the jihadi strikes against America’s military and financial centers at the hands of al-Qaida, the question remains: Have we won the war?
In the ongoing, debate, we see two camps. One stating that we were defeating the enemy until Washington changed direction three years ago, and another boasting that America was losing the war until three years ago when a change of direction brought victory in sight.
Some really believed that the years following the attacks have brought the free world and democracy to an inch from victory. Others among us believe that thanks to today’s policies we are finally better than ever before.
Sad to say at this anniversary, but both views are wrong. We weren’t close to strategic victories some five years ago and we are far from defeating the jihadists today. This sober assessment isn’t for domestic politics consumers, far from it.
Here are some realities:
AFGHANISTAN: Bringing down the Taliban regime was a smashing victory for the U.S., NATO and the Afghan people particularly for women and minorities.
Defending the country against the return of the jihadi militias and containing their incursions from inside Pakistan’s enclaves were the right strategic choices. But the U.S. and NATO failed to engage civil society groups, women, and secular wings to help launch a democratic revolution in the country instead of spending billions on asphalt, construction, and futile unproductive projects.
We surged against the Taliban but we didn’t help the people surge politically via massive education efforts. Now we are doing the unthinkable: negotiating with the Taliban for Afghanistan’s future.
IRAQ: Managing the country without a strategy to confront the ayatollahs and Bashar’s regimes was a mistake. As in Afghanistan, work half done in Iraq backfired. Billions were spent and huge human sacrifices were made without enabling the Iraqi society to rise against the multiple anti-democracy forces.
Now a catastrophic policy of abandoning Iraq’s democrats to the region’s Islamists, during the past three years seems to be what we’re left with.
Yes Saddam is gone, and there is a multiparty system in Iraq. But Iran controls the Shia militias that are devouring the government and two-thirds of the country; the Salafi Islamists of the Sunni areas are pushing back against the moderates; the Kurds are encircled by three threatening regimes; and the Christians and other minorities are relentlessly persecuted.
IRAN: The present administration has dangerously engaged with Tehran, allowing the Khomeinist regime to expand its threats in all directions: Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, Eastern Arabia, Northern Yemen and other continents. None of the U.S.’ policies, including sanctions, have stopped Iran’s development of missiles and its frenetic pace to equip them with nukes. And when the Green revolution exploded, we let the Pasdaran take back the streets unquestioned.
THE ARAB SPRING: Before it even started, the Arab Spring’s true democratic forces were already abandoned by Washington. Back in 2008, Hezbollah invaded Beirut and crumbled the Cedars Revolution of 2005 under heavy silence from both the Bush administration and Congress.
The next year, the Obama administration turned its back on the opposition in Tehran. Civil societies in the Arab world tried to revolt next. In early 2011, secular youth rose and brought down the Mubarak regime but Washington preferred to empower the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and their Islamist colleagues in Tunisia.
In Libya the administration joined the fray against Moammar Gadhafi only to eventually partner with the country’s Islamists. In Syria Washington’s hesitates between the Baath and the Brotherhood ignores democratic reformers. The same alignment is projected for Yemen, Bahrain, and other Arab countries. The democrats of the Arab Spring are losing.
AL-QAIDA: The long relentless campaign against the top entity of the jihadists bore results over 10 years. They lost the sole regime that backed them openly in Kabul, retreated to Pakistan, lost more of their commanders by the years, and eventually lost their leader Osama in 2011. But multiple other tentacles of the organization have grown bigger and longer in reach.
Still operating and killing in AFPAK, franchises opened in Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, North Africa, and their cells hit in India, Russia, and Europe. Al-Qaida today is 10 times larger in global reach than the old one headed by bin Laden.
HOMELAND SECURITY: The terrorists who brought down the twin towers were foreign-born aliens who penetrated America’s defenses killing thousands. However their ideology penetrated America, producing homegrown cells. Moreover, a more lethal type is expanding within our borders: the jihadi lone wolves. No spectacular acts since 2001 but an army is brewing inside the country.
The U.S. is losing on all these fronts, and so are democracies and free people around the world. The real debate should be about what is being missed. We must focus on the enemy’s ideology.
Unfortunately over the past 10 years, Washington and its companions in Europe have lost the mother of all wars: the war of ideas. If American leadership persists in dodging the ideological battle with the jihadists, by 2020 not only we would have missed a precious opportunity with the Arab Spring but most likely lost a vital shot at bolstering national security.
TEN YEARS AFTER 9/11: THE JIHADISTS ARE WINNING
By Walid Phares
politicalmavens.com
September 12, 2011
A decade after the jihadi strikes against America’s military and financial centers at the hands of al-Qaida, the question remains: Have we won the war?
In the ongoing, debate, we see two camps. One stating that we were defeating the enemy until Washington changed direction three years ago, and another boasting that America was losing the war until three years ago when a change of direction brought victory in sight.
Some really believed that the years following the attacks have brought the free world and democracy to an inch from victory. Others among us believe that thanks to today’s policies we are finally better than ever before.
Sad to say at this anniversary, but both views are wrong. We weren’t close to strategic victories some five years ago and we are far from defeating the jihadists today. This sober assessment isn’t for domestic politics consumers, far from it.
Here are some realities:
AFGHANISTAN: Bringing down the Taliban regime was a smashing victory for the U.S., NATO and the Afghan people particularly for women and minorities.
Defending the country against the return of the jihadi militias and containing their incursions from inside Pakistan’s enclaves were the right strategic choices. But the U.S. and NATO failed to engage civil society groups, women, and secular wings to help launch a democratic revolution in the country instead of spending billions on asphalt, construction, and futile unproductive projects.
We surged against the Taliban but we didn’t help the people surge politically via massive education efforts. Now we are doing the unthinkable: negotiating with the Taliban for Afghanistan’s future.
IRAQ: Managing the country without a strategy to confront the ayatollahs and Bashar’s regimes was a mistake. As in Afghanistan, work half done in Iraq backfired. Billions were spent and huge human sacrifices were made without enabling the Iraqi society to rise against the multiple anti-democracy forces.
Now a catastrophic policy of abandoning Iraq’s democrats to the region’s Islamists, during the past three years seems to be what we’re left with.
Yes Saddam is gone, and there is a multiparty system in Iraq. But Iran controls the Shia militias that are devouring the government and two-thirds of the country; the Salafi Islamists of the Sunni areas are pushing back against the moderates; the Kurds are encircled by three threatening regimes; and the Christians and other minorities are relentlessly persecuted.
IRAN: The present administration has dangerously engaged with Tehran, allowing the Khomeinist regime to expand its threats in all directions: Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, Eastern Arabia, Northern Yemen and other continents. None of the U.S.’ policies, including sanctions, have stopped Iran’s development of missiles and its frenetic pace to equip them with nukes. And when the Green revolution exploded, we let the Pasdaran take back the streets unquestioned.
THE ARAB SPRING: Before it even started, the Arab Spring’s true democratic forces were already abandoned by Washington. Back in 2008, Hezbollah invaded Beirut and crumbled the Cedars Revolution of 2005 under heavy silence from both the Bush administration and Congress.
The next year, the Obama administration turned its back on the opposition in Tehran. Civil societies in the Arab world tried to revolt next. In early 2011, secular youth rose and brought down the Mubarak regime but Washington preferred to empower the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and their Islamist colleagues in Tunisia.
In Libya the administration joined the fray against Moammar Gadhafi only to eventually partner with the country’s Islamists. In Syria Washington’s hesitates between the Baath and the Brotherhood ignores democratic reformers. The same alignment is projected for Yemen, Bahrain, and other Arab countries. The democrats of the Arab Spring are losing.
AL-QAIDA: The long relentless campaign against the top entity of the jihadists bore results over 10 years. They lost the sole regime that backed them openly in Kabul, retreated to Pakistan, lost more of their commanders by the years, and eventually lost their leader Osama in 2011. But multiple other tentacles of the organization have grown bigger and longer in reach.
Still operating and killing in AFPAK, franchises opened in Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, North Africa, and their cells hit in India, Russia, and Europe. Al-Qaida today is 10 times larger in global reach than the old one headed by bin Laden.
HOMELAND SECURITY: The terrorists who brought down the twin towers were foreign-born aliens who penetrated America’s defenses killing thousands. However their ideology penetrated America, producing homegrown cells. Moreover, a more lethal type is expanding within our borders: the jihadi lone wolves. No spectacular acts since 2001 but an army is brewing inside the country.
The U.S. is losing on all these fronts, and so are democracies and free people around the world. The real debate should be about what is being missed. We must focus on the enemy’s ideology.
Unfortunately over the past 10 years, Washington and its companions in Europe have lost the mother of all wars: the war of ideas. If American leadership persists in dodging the ideological battle with the jihadists, by 2020 not only we would have missed a precious opportunity with the Arab Spring but most likely lost a vital shot at bolstering national security.
CONTRASTING POEMS
A WOMAN'S FANTASY POEM:
Before I lay me down to sleep,
I pray for a man who's not a creep,
One who's handsome, smart and strong.
One who loves to listen long,
One who thinks before he speaks,
One who'll call, not wait for weeks.
I pray he's rich and self-employed,
And when I spend, won't be annoyed.
Pull out my chair and hold my hand.
Massage my feet and help me stand.
Oh send a king to make me queen.
A man who loves to cook and clean.
I pray this man will love no other.
And relish visits with my mother.
A MAN'S FANTASY POEM:
I pray for a deaf-mute gymnast nymphomaniac
with big tits who owns a bar on a golf course,
and loves to send me fishing and drinking.
This doesn't rhyme and I don't give a shit!
Before I lay me down to sleep,
I pray for a man who's not a creep,
One who's handsome, smart and strong.
One who loves to listen long,
One who thinks before he speaks,
One who'll call, not wait for weeks.
I pray he's rich and self-employed,
And when I spend, won't be annoyed.
Pull out my chair and hold my hand.
Massage my feet and help me stand.
Oh send a king to make me queen.
A man who loves to cook and clean.
I pray this man will love no other.
And relish visits with my mother.
A MAN'S FANTASY POEM:
I pray for a deaf-mute gymnast nymphomaniac
with big tits who owns a bar on a golf course,
and loves to send me fishing and drinking.
This doesn't rhyme and I don't give a shit!
Monday, September 12, 2011
ISRAEL STOOD BY AMERICA WHILE THE ARAB STREET CELEBRATED 9/11
Sunday was a solemn day of remembrance in Israel, as it was in the United States.
ISRAEL REMEMBERS 9/11
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
September 11, 2011
Israelis across the country on Sunday solemnly remembered the September 11, 2001 terrorist assault on the US, as Americans prepared to mark the 10th anniversary of the largest terrorist attack in history.
Israeli Internet news sites and television news stations provided live broadcasts of memorial ceremonies being held in the US.
Israeli President Shimon Peres phoned US President Barack Obama to tell him:
"The Israeli nation has shared happy times with you, but has also shed tears with you a decade ago. Today Israel once again bows its head as America mourns the loss."
Israel was the only nation in the Middle East to stand by America on that fateful day 10 years ago. The surrounding nations, and even the "Palestinian" half of Jerusalem, erupted in celebration as the Twin Towers burned and then fell. It was a critical reminder of who America's true friends are in the Middle East.
ISRAEL REMEMBERS 9/11
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
September 11, 2011
Israelis across the country on Sunday solemnly remembered the September 11, 2001 terrorist assault on the US, as Americans prepared to mark the 10th anniversary of the largest terrorist attack in history.
Israeli Internet news sites and television news stations provided live broadcasts of memorial ceremonies being held in the US.
Israeli President Shimon Peres phoned US President Barack Obama to tell him:
"The Israeli nation has shared happy times with you, but has also shed tears with you a decade ago. Today Israel once again bows its head as America mourns the loss."
Israel was the only nation in the Middle East to stand by America on that fateful day 10 years ago. The surrounding nations, and even the "Palestinian" half of Jerusalem, erupted in celebration as the Twin Towers burned and then fell. It was a critical reminder of who America's true friends are in the Middle East.
THE PEOPLE WE ENCOURAGED TO OVERTHROW MUBARAK
These are the ‘animals’ that Obama and the international community encouraged to overthrow America’s longtime ally, Hosni Mubarak. Will the rebels that we supported militarily in Libya also turn out to be animals? Will the West come to regret the Arab Spring?
CAIRO MOB ATTACKED CNN: ‘THEY WERE ANIMALS’
NN journalists described the mob that attacked them during the riot at the Israeli embassy as “animals.” One journalist was called a spy.
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
IsraelNationalNews.com
September 11, 2011
CNN journalists described the Friday mob that attacked them during the riot at the Israeli embassy as “animals.” One other journalist was called a spy and was almost raped.
The worldwide news site reported a scene that brought back ugly memories of the gang rape of CBS reporter Lara Logan earlier this year during the Arab spring uprising against the Mubarak regime.
CNN reported that one person in the mob on Friday called Dina Amer, a woman member of another American crew, “a spy.” A CNN producer who is an Egyptian approached to rescue the woman from the rioters, but “the mob overwhelmed the pair,” the network reported.
"I was thinking, how powerless I was because there was no police to save us," said the producer, Mohammed Fadel Fahmy. "I was worried that they were going to rape her."
Someone shouted to Fahmy that there was a nearby car, and he brought the “spy” into the vehicle, which belonged to a television crew.
“When Margaret Warner, a correspondent with the PBS program ‘Newshour’ managed to get the vehicle moving away from the crowd, men threw stones at the departing vehicle,” the journalist said.
"They were animals," said Amer.
The rioters also attacked Egyptian journalists, including a reporter for Egyptian state television. Many correspondents ran for their lives.
After the brutal and vulgar assault on CBS correspondent Logan, the Uncoverage.net website noted, “The assault on Lara Logan illustrates just how much order has recently broken down in the MidEast region which is now far more dangerous for Westerners.”
CAIRO MOB ATTACKED CNN: ‘THEY WERE ANIMALS’
NN journalists described the mob that attacked them during the riot at the Israeli embassy as “animals.” One journalist was called a spy.
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
IsraelNationalNews.com
September 11, 2011
CNN journalists described the Friday mob that attacked them during the riot at the Israeli embassy as “animals.” One other journalist was called a spy and was almost raped.
The worldwide news site reported a scene that brought back ugly memories of the gang rape of CBS reporter Lara Logan earlier this year during the Arab spring uprising against the Mubarak regime.
CNN reported that one person in the mob on Friday called Dina Amer, a woman member of another American crew, “a spy.” A CNN producer who is an Egyptian approached to rescue the woman from the rioters, but “the mob overwhelmed the pair,” the network reported.
"I was thinking, how powerless I was because there was no police to save us," said the producer, Mohammed Fadel Fahmy. "I was worried that they were going to rape her."
Someone shouted to Fahmy that there was a nearby car, and he brought the “spy” into the vehicle, which belonged to a television crew.
“When Margaret Warner, a correspondent with the PBS program ‘Newshour’ managed to get the vehicle moving away from the crowd, men threw stones at the departing vehicle,” the journalist said.
"They were animals," said Amer.
The rioters also attacked Egyptian journalists, including a reporter for Egyptian state television. Many correspondents ran for their lives.
After the brutal and vulgar assault on CBS correspondent Logan, the Uncoverage.net website noted, “The assault on Lara Logan illustrates just how much order has recently broken down in the MidEast region which is now far more dangerous for Westerners.”
OBAMA, PERRY, BACHMANN AND PAUL SEEN AS EXTREMISTS
Poll shows that of the presidential contenders - and that includes Obama - only Mitt Romney is not seen as an extremist.
OBAMA HOLDS MORE EXTREME VIEWS THAN HIS BIBLE-THUMPING RIVAL RICK PERRY, SAY VOTERS
By Duncan MacPherson
Mail Online
September 9, 2011
More than two out of five American voters believe Barack Obama is an extremist.
Forty-four per cent of those surveyed said the US president held extreme views, compared with 36 per cent saying the same of Texas Governor Rick Perry, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.
But exactly the same proportions of those polled - 44 per cent and 36 per cent respectively for Obama and Perry, who rejects evolution in favour of creationism - considered each man to be a moderate. The remainder were undecided in a telephone poll of 1,000 voters by Rasmussen on Tuesday.
A year ago, 48 per cent of voters said the president was mainstream, against 42 per cent who labelled him an extremist.
Last night President Obama unveiled a $450billion plan to ease the unemployment crisis which has left 9 per cent of Americans jobless - and to save his job when the country goes to the ballot box in November next year.
But Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann last night claimed Mr Obama's approach was merely more 'failed gimmicks.'
Another 2012 Republican presidential contender, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, is seen as more moderate than both Obama and Perry.
Forty-eight per cent believe he is mainstream and 26 per cent say he is an extremist.
Michele Bachmann, a favourite of the conservative Tea Party movement, is described as extreme by 51 per cent, compared with 27 per cent who say she is mainstream.
Her ratings have slumped from 16 per cent to 8 per cent in recent weeks and she has lost her second place in the Republican presidential race to Romney.
Her fellow Republican and presidential nomination candidate Ron Paul is viewed as extreme by 52 per cent and moderate by just 17 per cent.
The margin of error on the Rasmussen poll is 3 percentage points.
OBAMA HOLDS MORE EXTREME VIEWS THAN HIS BIBLE-THUMPING RIVAL RICK PERRY, SAY VOTERS
By Duncan MacPherson
Mail Online
September 9, 2011
More than two out of five American voters believe Barack Obama is an extremist.
Forty-four per cent of those surveyed said the US president held extreme views, compared with 36 per cent saying the same of Texas Governor Rick Perry, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.
But exactly the same proportions of those polled - 44 per cent and 36 per cent respectively for Obama and Perry, who rejects evolution in favour of creationism - considered each man to be a moderate. The remainder were undecided in a telephone poll of 1,000 voters by Rasmussen on Tuesday.
A year ago, 48 per cent of voters said the president was mainstream, against 42 per cent who labelled him an extremist.
Last night President Obama unveiled a $450billion plan to ease the unemployment crisis which has left 9 per cent of Americans jobless - and to save his job when the country goes to the ballot box in November next year.
But Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann last night claimed Mr Obama's approach was merely more 'failed gimmicks.'
Another 2012 Republican presidential contender, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, is seen as more moderate than both Obama and Perry.
Forty-eight per cent believe he is mainstream and 26 per cent say he is an extremist.
Michele Bachmann, a favourite of the conservative Tea Party movement, is described as extreme by 51 per cent, compared with 27 per cent who say she is mainstream.
Her ratings have slumped from 16 per cent to 8 per cent in recent weeks and she has lost her second place in the Republican presidential race to Romney.
Her fellow Republican and presidential nomination candidate Ron Paul is viewed as extreme by 52 per cent and moderate by just 17 per cent.
The margin of error on the Rasmussen poll is 3 percentage points.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
THE 9/11 ATTACKS
Here, on this 10th anniversary of 9/11, is an excerpt from a Michelle Malkin column that makes it crystal clear what the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were all about:
………. a new poll released this week showed that Americans today "are generally more willing to believe that U.S. policies in the Middle East might have motivated the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon," according to Reuters.
9/11 was a deliberate, carefully planned evil act of the long-waged war on the West by Koran-inspired soldiers of Allah around the world. They hated us before George W. Bush was in office. They hated us before Israel existed. And the avengers of the religion of perpetual outrage will keep hating us no matter how much we try to appease them.
………. a new poll released this week showed that Americans today "are generally more willing to believe that U.S. policies in the Middle East might have motivated the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon," according to Reuters.
9/11 was a deliberate, carefully planned evil act of the long-waged war on the West by Koran-inspired soldiers of Allah around the world. They hated us before George W. Bush was in office. They hated us before Israel existed. And the avengers of the religion of perpetual outrage will keep hating us no matter how much we try to appease them.
UPCOMING UN VOTE ON PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD A PRECURSOR TO VIOLENCE
In the General Assembly, the vote will be overwhelmingly in favor of recognizing a Palestinian state. In the Security Council, the U.S. will probably exercise its veto when the statehood bid is taken up for consideration. The prediction is that regardless of how the vote turns out, the result will lead to a rash of Palestinian violence.
PALESTINIANS: OBAMA PROMISED US A STATE
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
September 8, 2011
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas is deliberately exploiting a speech by US President Barack Obama to drum up support for the Palestinians' unilateral statehood bid at the UN later this month.
As part of a worldwide media campaign ahead of the September 21 motion for Palestinian statehood, Abbas' regime has produced a radio spot that includes Obama saying the following to the UN General Assembly in 2010:
"When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel."
Obama Administration officials insist the president was simply expressing his hopes that a two-state peace deal would be concluded by now, but Abbas states at the end of the radio spot: "If he said it, he must have meant it."
Palestinian officials have said they are angry with Obama because, like previous US presidents, he has said much about helping establish a Palestinian state, but have failed to force Israel to meet Palestinian demands in that regard.
The Palestinian Authority's systematic violation of signed peace agreements and ongoing Palestinian terror attacks against Israel are dismissed by these same officials as the real reasons a Palestinian state has not been realized.
Going back to the UN statehood bid, the Palestinian Authority on Thursday officially notified the office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of its intention to seek membership in the world body of nations.
The letter sent to Ban's office called on him to "exert all possible efforts toward the achievement of the Palestinian people's just demands."
The letter was seen as a diplomatic slap in the face to Washington, which just a day earlier had formally requested that the Palestinian Authority abandon its unilateral statehood bid, and return to the path of bilateral negotiations with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed up by issuing a direct call to Abbas to return to the negotiating table.
"I call from this stage to the president of the PA to come to direct negotiations without preconditions, and to remain there until it is finished," Netanyahu said during a naval ceremony in Haifa.
Both Obama and Netanyahu insist that a unilateral action by the Palestinians will not achieve peace, and may actually spark renewed conflict.
PALESTINIANS: OBAMA PROMISED US A STATE
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
September 8, 2011
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas is deliberately exploiting a speech by US President Barack Obama to drum up support for the Palestinians' unilateral statehood bid at the UN later this month.
As part of a worldwide media campaign ahead of the September 21 motion for Palestinian statehood, Abbas' regime has produced a radio spot that includes Obama saying the following to the UN General Assembly in 2010:
"When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel."
Obama Administration officials insist the president was simply expressing his hopes that a two-state peace deal would be concluded by now, but Abbas states at the end of the radio spot: "If he said it, he must have meant it."
Palestinian officials have said they are angry with Obama because, like previous US presidents, he has said much about helping establish a Palestinian state, but have failed to force Israel to meet Palestinian demands in that regard.
The Palestinian Authority's systematic violation of signed peace agreements and ongoing Palestinian terror attacks against Israel are dismissed by these same officials as the real reasons a Palestinian state has not been realized.
Going back to the UN statehood bid, the Palestinian Authority on Thursday officially notified the office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of its intention to seek membership in the world body of nations.
The letter sent to Ban's office called on him to "exert all possible efforts toward the achievement of the Palestinian people's just demands."
The letter was seen as a diplomatic slap in the face to Washington, which just a day earlier had formally requested that the Palestinian Authority abandon its unilateral statehood bid, and return to the path of bilateral negotiations with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed up by issuing a direct call to Abbas to return to the negotiating table.
"I call from this stage to the president of the PA to come to direct negotiations without preconditions, and to remain there until it is finished," Netanyahu said during a naval ceremony in Haifa.
Both Obama and Netanyahu insist that a unilateral action by the Palestinians will not achieve peace, and may actually spark renewed conflict.
SANCTUARY COUNTY
Hmm, I wonder if the Cook County commissioners who voted for this sanctuary ordinance are having their lawns mowed and their homes cleaned by illegals from Mexico?
RELEASED ILLINOIS MAN WAS JAILED FOR HITTING COP
A county ordinance said his immigration status meant release
By Lisa Donovan
Chicago Sun-Times
September 10, 2011
CHICAGO — Eduardo E. Sanchez blew a red light and then punched and elbowed a police officer who arrested him - sending the officer to the hospital earlier this week, authorities said.
But after being charged with a felony and several traffic offenses, the 32-year-old Southwest Side man posted 10 percent of his $25,000 bond and walked out of Cook County Jail on Wednesday, thanks to an hours-old ordinance passed by Cook County commissioners.
While federal authorities had requested the sheriff's office hold Sanchez for up to 48 hours after he posted bond, the new county ordinance instructs the sheriff to disregard those requests and release suspected illegal immigrants like anyone else who posts bond.
While immigration advocates are hailing the new ordinance as a step toward equal treatment under the law, one Cook County Commissioner says Sanchez's release underscores his concern that suspected felons - not just those arrested on minor misdemeanor charges - can now avoid federal authorities seeking to deport them.
"If you listened to the debate, many commissioners believed this did not affect individuals charged with serious offenses," Cook County Commissioner Timothy Schneider said. "But that's not the case."
Cook County Commissioner Joan Murphy on Thursday went as far as to say she "misspoke" when she earlier declared that only those locked up on misdemeanors would be affected. "It's a misdemeanor - it's nothing, this is the people that we're talking about that are going to be released, not anyone that has a felony," Murphy said at Wednesday's meeting.
"That's not what I meant," Murphy said Thursday. "The point is that the majority are being held for misdemeanors."
RELEASED ILLINOIS MAN WAS JAILED FOR HITTING COP
A county ordinance said his immigration status meant release
By Lisa Donovan
Chicago Sun-Times
September 10, 2011
CHICAGO — Eduardo E. Sanchez blew a red light and then punched and elbowed a police officer who arrested him - sending the officer to the hospital earlier this week, authorities said.
But after being charged with a felony and several traffic offenses, the 32-year-old Southwest Side man posted 10 percent of his $25,000 bond and walked out of Cook County Jail on Wednesday, thanks to an hours-old ordinance passed by Cook County commissioners.
While federal authorities had requested the sheriff's office hold Sanchez for up to 48 hours after he posted bond, the new county ordinance instructs the sheriff to disregard those requests and release suspected illegal immigrants like anyone else who posts bond.
While immigration advocates are hailing the new ordinance as a step toward equal treatment under the law, one Cook County Commissioner says Sanchez's release underscores his concern that suspected felons - not just those arrested on minor misdemeanor charges - can now avoid federal authorities seeking to deport them.
"If you listened to the debate, many commissioners believed this did not affect individuals charged with serious offenses," Cook County Commissioner Timothy Schneider said. "But that's not the case."
Cook County Commissioner Joan Murphy on Thursday went as far as to say she "misspoke" when she earlier declared that only those locked up on misdemeanors would be affected. "It's a misdemeanor - it's nothing, this is the people that we're talking about that are going to be released, not anyone that has a felony," Murphy said at Wednesday's meeting.
"That's not what I meant," Murphy said Thursday. "The point is that the majority are being held for misdemeanors."
IT'S HARD TO PAY FOR A BOAT AND RV ON A COP'S SALARY
Sometime it takes creative overtime to make ends meet. That is, until you get caught.
3 MORE FORMER FORT WORTH OFFICERS INDICTED IN OVERTIME SCANDAL
By Mitch Mitchell
Star-Telegram
September 8, 2011
FORT WORTH -- A Tarrant County grand jury has indicted three more former Fort Worth police officers accused of falsifying traffic tickets in an effort to earn extra overtime pay.
The indictments accuse James Dunn, Maurice Middleton and Marcus Mosqueda each of at least 20 counts of tampering with a government document and one count of theft by a public servant, according to the Tarrant County district attorney's office.
Middleton and Dunn are charged with theft by a public servant of $1,500 to $20,000 and could face a maximum of 10 years in prison, said Melody McDonald, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.
Mosqueda was charged with theft by a public servant between $20,000 and $100,000 and if convicted could serve a maximum of 20 years in prison. Each conviction on the tampering with government records charge carries a maximum of two years in state jail, McDonald said.
According to investigators, the former officers falsified the times when they issued traffic citations while working in the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program.
Dunn, 40, was indicted on Sept. 1 and was arrested and released after posting a $5,000 bail, Tarrant County district clerk records show. Dunn is an 11-year veteran who worked with the program from April 16, 2009, to March 5, 2010.
Middleton, 52, and Mosqueda, 33, were both indicted Tuesday and were also arrested and released after posting $5,000 bail, according to records.
Middleton, an 11-year veteran, worked in the traffic enforcement program from Dec. 22, 2009, to March 4, 2010. Mosqueda, a seven-year veteran, worked in the program from Jan. 9, 2009, to Feb. 27, 2010.
They are among nine officers accused after an investigation. Six were fired and three resigned. Four of the six who were fired admitted to falsifying records but deny that they did so to collect overtime pay, according to police officials.
Three of other officers are awaiting trial.
Robert Peoples, 49, was indicted on 12 counts of tampering with a governmental record and one count of theft by a public servant, accused of taking in $14,592 in overtime that he did not earn over three years beginning in 2008.
Jonathan Johnson, 39, was indicted on 19 counts of tampering with a governmental record and one county of theft by a public servant for receiving $25,427 for work he did not do during the same period.
Herman Young, 46, was indicted on 12 counts of tampering with a governmental record and one count of theft by a public servant.
The district attorney's office is preparing the final three cases for grand jury consideration, McDonald said.
Those officers are Ron Wigginton, a five-year veteran who worked in the program from Dec. 28, 2009, to Feb. 19, 2010; Patrick Aguilar, an 18-year-veteran, worked in the program for three days; and James McDade, on the force for five years.
Some of the officers greatly enhanced their paychecks with overtime pay last year, according to Star-Telegram research.
Young received $48,530.49 in overtime on top of a base salary of $72,321. Mosqueda received $44,669.59 in overtime on top of a base salary of $60,819. Peoples received $40,167 in overtime on top of a base salary of $72,321.
3 MORE FORMER FORT WORTH OFFICERS INDICTED IN OVERTIME SCANDAL
By Mitch Mitchell
Star-Telegram
September 8, 2011
FORT WORTH -- A Tarrant County grand jury has indicted three more former Fort Worth police officers accused of falsifying traffic tickets in an effort to earn extra overtime pay.
The indictments accuse James Dunn, Maurice Middleton and Marcus Mosqueda each of at least 20 counts of tampering with a government document and one count of theft by a public servant, according to the Tarrant County district attorney's office.
Middleton and Dunn are charged with theft by a public servant of $1,500 to $20,000 and could face a maximum of 10 years in prison, said Melody McDonald, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.
Mosqueda was charged with theft by a public servant between $20,000 and $100,000 and if convicted could serve a maximum of 20 years in prison. Each conviction on the tampering with government records charge carries a maximum of two years in state jail, McDonald said.
According to investigators, the former officers falsified the times when they issued traffic citations while working in the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program.
Dunn, 40, was indicted on Sept. 1 and was arrested and released after posting a $5,000 bail, Tarrant County district clerk records show. Dunn is an 11-year veteran who worked with the program from April 16, 2009, to March 5, 2010.
Middleton, 52, and Mosqueda, 33, were both indicted Tuesday and were also arrested and released after posting $5,000 bail, according to records.
Middleton, an 11-year veteran, worked in the traffic enforcement program from Dec. 22, 2009, to March 4, 2010. Mosqueda, a seven-year veteran, worked in the program from Jan. 9, 2009, to Feb. 27, 2010.
They are among nine officers accused after an investigation. Six were fired and three resigned. Four of the six who were fired admitted to falsifying records but deny that they did so to collect overtime pay, according to police officials.
Three of other officers are awaiting trial.
Robert Peoples, 49, was indicted on 12 counts of tampering with a governmental record and one count of theft by a public servant, accused of taking in $14,592 in overtime that he did not earn over three years beginning in 2008.
Jonathan Johnson, 39, was indicted on 19 counts of tampering with a governmental record and one county of theft by a public servant for receiving $25,427 for work he did not do during the same period.
Herman Young, 46, was indicted on 12 counts of tampering with a governmental record and one count of theft by a public servant.
The district attorney's office is preparing the final three cases for grand jury consideration, McDonald said.
Those officers are Ron Wigginton, a five-year veteran who worked in the program from Dec. 28, 2009, to Feb. 19, 2010; Patrick Aguilar, an 18-year-veteran, worked in the program for three days; and James McDade, on the force for five years.
Some of the officers greatly enhanced their paychecks with overtime pay last year, according to Star-Telegram research.
Young received $48,530.49 in overtime on top of a base salary of $72,321. Mosqueda received $44,669.59 in overtime on top of a base salary of $60,819. Peoples received $40,167 in overtime on top of a base salary of $72,321.
LAND OF SPECIAL INTERESTS AND HOME OFTHE DOUBLE STANDARD?
Here is a rather thought-provoking letter to the editor of a small weekly Michigan newspaper. The letter, which has been circulating around the internet, has just come to my attention.
Iosco County News Herald
June 9, 2010
WHAT HAS AMERICA BECOME?
Editor,
Has America become the land of special interest and home of the double standard?
Lets see: if we lie to the Congress, it's a felony and if the Congress lies to us its just politics; if we dislike a black person, we're racist and if a black person dislikes whites, its their 1st Amendment right; the government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims; in public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer; we don't burn books in America, we now rewrite them; we got rid of communist and socialist threats by renaming them progressive; we are unable to close our border with Mexico, but have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea; if you protest against President Obama's policies you're a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your 1st Amendment right.
You can have pornography on TV or the internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas; we have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called sick people; we can use a human fetus for medical research, but it is wrong to use an animal.
We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don't want to work; we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology; we still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct; parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games; the land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs; the similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything to help.
And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who's at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes; tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their reelection campaign.
What has happened to the land of the free and home of the brave?
- Ken Huber
Tawas City
Iosco County News Herald
June 9, 2010
WHAT HAS AMERICA BECOME?
Editor,
Has America become the land of special interest and home of the double standard?
Lets see: if we lie to the Congress, it's a felony and if the Congress lies to us its just politics; if we dislike a black person, we're racist and if a black person dislikes whites, its their 1st Amendment right; the government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims; in public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer; we don't burn books in America, we now rewrite them; we got rid of communist and socialist threats by renaming them progressive; we are unable to close our border with Mexico, but have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea; if you protest against President Obama's policies you're a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your 1st Amendment right.
You can have pornography on TV or the internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas; we have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called sick people; we can use a human fetus for medical research, but it is wrong to use an animal.
We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don't want to work; we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology; we still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct; parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games; the land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs; the similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything to help.
And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who's at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes; tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their reelection campaign.
What has happened to the land of the free and home of the brave?
- Ken Huber
Tawas City
Saturday, September 10, 2011
MEXICAN MAYOR WANTS ARMED CITIZENS TO HELP FIGHT CRIME
Hey there all you anti-gunners! Take note that this mayor favors gun-toting citizens to defend themselves and to help in the fight against crime.
From Borderland Beat:
GARCIA, NUEVO LEON MAYOR OFFERS FIREARM AND ‘URBAN DEFENSE’ TRAINING
by Javier Estrada
CNN
September 8, 2011
Officials in a northern Mexican city plagued by violence say a new course will take a fresh approach toward protecting citizens: Training people to handle and shoot guns.
The aim of the approach, says Garcia Mayor Jaime Rodriguez Calderon, is putting a stop to crime in the 40,000-person city in Nuevo Leon state.
"Many people call me because their son or their husband has been kidnapped, or some family member's car has been stolen. I said to myself, 'Wow, how can we, the citizens, defend ourselves,' " Rodriguez told CNNMexico.com.
Twice this year, gunmen have tried to assassinate Rodriguez, who has earned the nickname of Bronco for his strong personality.
The training for people with weapons permits in Garcia is part of a phase of Rodriguez's security program aimed at "involving the citizens in defense of the region."
"Many of them want the training and knowledge ... to defend their families and their heritage," he said.
In addition to the weapons course, the project also includes broader training in its "urban defense" goals.
"Imagine if there is someone wounded and no one in the neighborhood knows what to do. It's happened to us that in the street there is someone who's been shot and the (paramedics) don't come," Rodriguez said.
So far, about 3,000 people from Garcia and nearby cities have signed up for the course, including engineers, teachers, housewives and retired military.
The course's start date has not yet been scheduled. It will be free and take place in a city hunting club, where students will use .22-caliber guns for training.
Garcia's program is not the first citizen-defense proposal in Nuevo Leon state involving weapons. State lawmakers are also studying a proposal that would relax weapons restrictions there.
Nuevo Leon, which borders Texas, has seen a surge in violence as the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas drug gang fight over drug trafficking routes.
From Borderland Beat:
GARCIA, NUEVO LEON MAYOR OFFERS FIREARM AND ‘URBAN DEFENSE’ TRAINING
by Javier Estrada
CNN
September 8, 2011
Officials in a northern Mexican city plagued by violence say a new course will take a fresh approach toward protecting citizens: Training people to handle and shoot guns.
The aim of the approach, says Garcia Mayor Jaime Rodriguez Calderon, is putting a stop to crime in the 40,000-person city in Nuevo Leon state.
"Many people call me because their son or their husband has been kidnapped, or some family member's car has been stolen. I said to myself, 'Wow, how can we, the citizens, defend ourselves,' " Rodriguez told CNNMexico.com.
Twice this year, gunmen have tried to assassinate Rodriguez, who has earned the nickname of Bronco for his strong personality.
The training for people with weapons permits in Garcia is part of a phase of Rodriguez's security program aimed at "involving the citizens in defense of the region."
"Many of them want the training and knowledge ... to defend their families and their heritage," he said.
In addition to the weapons course, the project also includes broader training in its "urban defense" goals.
"Imagine if there is someone wounded and no one in the neighborhood knows what to do. It's happened to us that in the street there is someone who's been shot and the (paramedics) don't come," Rodriguez said.
So far, about 3,000 people from Garcia and nearby cities have signed up for the course, including engineers, teachers, housewives and retired military.
The course's start date has not yet been scheduled. It will be free and take place in a city hunting club, where students will use .22-caliber guns for training.
Garcia's program is not the first citizen-defense proposal in Nuevo Leon state involving weapons. State lawmakers are also studying a proposal that would relax weapons restrictions there.
Nuevo Leon, which borders Texas, has seen a surge in violence as the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas drug gang fight over drug trafficking routes.
MAD COW, DUMB BROAD, BOTTOM FEEDING LAWYER
‘Punitive damages and her alleged past and future medical expenses, mental anguish, pain, impairment, disfigurement.’ All that because some woman was so dumb as to get out of her car in front of a very pissed-off cow. And you can always find a bottom feeding lawyer to turn a minor incident into a major catastrophe.
Sue for what it cost to fix the dent and any immediate medical bills, but all that other shit ….. give me a break! Mental anguish and disfigurement, my ass.
WHEN COWS ATTACK: WOMAN SUES OVER BOVINE ASSAULT
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 9, 2011
You're rolling along in the East Texas town of China, presumably minding your own business, when a cow decides to attack your car.
What do you do?
If you're Linda Anderson, you get out of the car in front of an obviously annoyed cow. And then you get attacked by it.
And then you sue.
We don't have the cow's version of this vicious thug-like incident, but Anderson has related hers in a lawsuit filed in Jefferson County.
She doesn't sue the cow directly, but says the animal's owner did not take the proper care to keep his animal fenced in.
Anderson says she was driving home in May when she met the unnamed cow, who "rammed her vehicle and dented the driver's side," according to the Southeast Texas Record.
"When she got out of the car to check out the damage, the cow attacked her," the Record says.
The suit says she suffered severe if unspecified injuries. She "is suing for punitive damages and her alleged past and future medical expenses, mental anguish, pain, impairment, disfigurement and lost wages, plus all court costs," the Record says.
If the cow gets back to us, we'll update.
Sue for what it cost to fix the dent and any immediate medical bills, but all that other shit ….. give me a break! Mental anguish and disfigurement, my ass.
WHEN COWS ATTACK: WOMAN SUES OVER BOVINE ASSAULT
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 9, 2011
You're rolling along in the East Texas town of China, presumably minding your own business, when a cow decides to attack your car.
What do you do?
If you're Linda Anderson, you get out of the car in front of an obviously annoyed cow. And then you get attacked by it.
And then you sue.
We don't have the cow's version of this vicious thug-like incident, but Anderson has related hers in a lawsuit filed in Jefferson County.
She doesn't sue the cow directly, but says the animal's owner did not take the proper care to keep his animal fenced in.
Anderson says she was driving home in May when she met the unnamed cow, who "rammed her vehicle and dented the driver's side," according to the Southeast Texas Record.
"When she got out of the car to check out the damage, the cow attacked her," the Record says.
The suit says she suffered severe if unspecified injuries. She "is suing for punitive damages and her alleged past and future medical expenses, mental anguish, pain, impairment, disfigurement and lost wages, plus all court costs," the Record says.
If the cow gets back to us, we'll update.
IN LIEU OF FLOWERS
This Daniel’s Funeral Home announcement was in the Rome News-Tribune of Rome, Georgia:
Mr. Donald Charles Unsworth
Mr. Donald Charles Unsworth, age 78 of Charlton Street, Rome died Monday evening following a brief illness.
A memorial service will be held Friday, 1 p.m. in the Thomas B. Griffin Memorial Chapel of Daniel’s Funeral Home with Rev. Bert Brooks officiating. The family will receive friends Thursday evening from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at other hours they may be contacted at the residence.
In lieu of flowers the family respectfully asked that donations be sent to the American Cancer Society or to the campaign of who ever is running against President Barack Obama in 2012.
A complete obituary will be published in Thursday’s Rome News-Tribune.
Daniel’s funeral home has charge of the services for Mr. Donald Charles Unsworth.
__________
EDITOR’S NOTE: When his family asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Obama’s opponent in the 2012 election, they made sure that Mr. Unsworth did not die in vain.
Mr. Donald Charles Unsworth
Mr. Donald Charles Unsworth, age 78 of Charlton Street, Rome died Monday evening following a brief illness.
A memorial service will be held Friday, 1 p.m. in the Thomas B. Griffin Memorial Chapel of Daniel’s Funeral Home with Rev. Bert Brooks officiating. The family will receive friends Thursday evening from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at other hours they may be contacted at the residence.
In lieu of flowers the family respectfully asked that donations be sent to the American Cancer Society or to the campaign of who ever is running against President Barack Obama in 2012.
A complete obituary will be published in Thursday’s Rome News-Tribune.
Daniel’s funeral home has charge of the services for Mr. Donald Charles Unsworth.
__________
EDITOR’S NOTE: When his family asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Obama’s opponent in the 2012 election, they made sure that Mr. Unsworth did not die in vain.
Friday, September 09, 2011
FROM FED UP TO DOWN IN FLAMES
I like Rick Perry. So does Kinky Friedman. And since Perry is the longest serving governor in the state’s history, it is obvious that most Texas voters like him too.
I watched Wednesday’s Republican debate. I thought Perry more than held his own as all the other candidates took him on. Where he came up somewhat short was in trying to defend some of the things he wrote in his book, Fed Up!.
Unfortunately for Perry, some of what he wrote in Fed Up!, and some of the things he said while campaigning ahead of Wednesday’s debate, will surely come back and bite him in the ass during his run for the Republican nomination and in the general election, should he be the Republican nominee.
When Perry called Social Security a huge Ponzi scheme and a monstrous lie he was referring to his belief that today’s 25 and 30 year olds will not get the SS benefits they’ve been promised because there will not be enough money left in the SS trust fund to pay them. Perry has left the impression that he’s out to do away with SS, although he’s never actually said so. His statements contradicting most of the world’s scientists on global warming and his stated doubts about the theory of evolution have led many to believe Perry is the anti-science candidate.
If Perry continues to stand behind those positions, he is very likely to see his lead over the other candidates evaporate. If he manages to hold on and end up with the Republican nomination, what he’s written in his book, and other statements he’s made, may cost him the crucial independent vote. If that happens, Perry will go down in flames.
One issue that will not hurt Perry in the run for the Republican nomination is his strong stand in favor of the death penalty. The governor said, “In the state of Texas, if you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you're involved in another crime and you kill one of our citizens you will face the ultimate justice and that is you will be executed.”
In the general election, those opposed to capital punishment would vote for Obama rather than for a death penalty advocate like Perry. And his pro-gun views won’t make any difference either because those favoring gun control would not vote for a Republican anyway.
Although I like Perry, I believe that Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman represent the best chance for Republicans to unseat Obama. Romney and Huntsman can get the independent vote. If Perry fades away during the run for the nomination, I would prefer Huntsman over Romney. The problem is that Huntsman is seen as too liberal by many Republicans and will probably fade away before Perry does.
I watched Wednesday’s Republican debate. I thought Perry more than held his own as all the other candidates took him on. Where he came up somewhat short was in trying to defend some of the things he wrote in his book, Fed Up!.
Unfortunately for Perry, some of what he wrote in Fed Up!, and some of the things he said while campaigning ahead of Wednesday’s debate, will surely come back and bite him in the ass during his run for the Republican nomination and in the general election, should he be the Republican nominee.
When Perry called Social Security a huge Ponzi scheme and a monstrous lie he was referring to his belief that today’s 25 and 30 year olds will not get the SS benefits they’ve been promised because there will not be enough money left in the SS trust fund to pay them. Perry has left the impression that he’s out to do away with SS, although he’s never actually said so. His statements contradicting most of the world’s scientists on global warming and his stated doubts about the theory of evolution have led many to believe Perry is the anti-science candidate.
If Perry continues to stand behind those positions, he is very likely to see his lead over the other candidates evaporate. If he manages to hold on and end up with the Republican nomination, what he’s written in his book, and other statements he’s made, may cost him the crucial independent vote. If that happens, Perry will go down in flames.
One issue that will not hurt Perry in the run for the Republican nomination is his strong stand in favor of the death penalty. The governor said, “In the state of Texas, if you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you're involved in another crime and you kill one of our citizens you will face the ultimate justice and that is you will be executed.”
In the general election, those opposed to capital punishment would vote for Obama rather than for a death penalty advocate like Perry. And his pro-gun views won’t make any difference either because those favoring gun control would not vote for a Republican anyway.
Although I like Perry, I believe that Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman represent the best chance for Republicans to unseat Obama. Romney and Huntsman can get the independent vote. If Perry fades away during the run for the nomination, I would prefer Huntsman over Romney. The problem is that Huntsman is seen as too liberal by many Republicans and will probably fade away before Perry does.
BRING BACK HANGING???
Here is how Dorina Lisson, my Aussie anti-death penalty friend responded to my post, ’33 Years On Death Row For Killing A Cop And The Appeals Keep Going On And On’ (9-7-11):
You state … ‘They should bring back hanging and be done with it.’
DEATH BY HANGING - THE BRUTAL FACTS
Submitted by Dorina Lisson
Immediately before the hanging, the prisoner's hands and legs are tied and secured, the noose is placed around the neck with the knot behind the left ear. A hood is then pulled over the prisoner's head.
Hooding the prisoner saves government officials' who have to witness the execution from seeing the prisoner's face as he is about to die and also after the death. Not looking at the condemned person's face is one way of coming to terms with state-sanctioned killing, but righteousness is another.
The hanging takes place when a trapdoor is opened and the prisoner falls through. At the end of the 'drop' the body, still accelerating under the force of gravity, delivers a massive blow to the back and one side of the neck, which combined with the downward momentum of the body breaks the neck and ruptures the spinal cord. The prisoner's weight is supposed to cause a rapid fracture-dislocation of the neck - allegedly caused by dislocation of the third and fourth cervical vertebrae or asphyxiation.
Truth is, that instantaneous death is rarely achieved. Death by hanging is not a humane method of exterminating a healthy human being. It is a very brutal and cruel death. The condemned often collapse or faint before the noose can be properly positioned over his/her head.
Death by hanging is often botched or carried out in such a way as to intentionally maximize the prisoner's suffering.
Botched hangings result in strangulation, obstructed blood flow, or beheading. If the prisoner has strong neck muscles, is of light-weight, if the 'drop' is too short, or if the noose is wrongly positioned, the fracture-dislocation will not be rapid and death results from slow asphyxiation. In these botched cases, the prisoner writhes and throttles to death over several minutes. In medical terms - death finally comes from cerebral contusion, shock and asphyxia. There have been reported cases of the rope breaking during the 'drop', which resulted in the prisoner falling to the ground. After government officials' replaced the broken rope the prisoner would again have to endure the emotional and physical torture of being hanged for a second time, usually taking place within the hour. In another reported botched incident, the head of a prisoner split from the body during the hanging.
When a human being is hanged, the face becomes engorged, the tongue protrudes, the mouth vomits and drools, the eyes pop, the body defecates, violent movements of body limbs occur and the face begins to turn a greyish-black. Although the prisoner may appear to be unconscious, the heart does not completely stop beating for some 20 minutes.
Most people do not know that a human heart beats on its own - and continues to do so - even when the rest of the body has shut down. This happens because the human heart is hard-wired with electrical impulses. Therefore, during a phase of some 20 minutes the pulsations of the doomed heart become fainter and slower as the heart struggles to maintain its normal function to pump blood throughout the body, intent on keeping the body alive.
Eventually, the heart lapses into a spasmodic rhythm, then begins to flutter, before it slowly collapses, fails, and finally stops all movement. In medical terms - this is the "true" time of death. The "official" time of death portrayed to the public is deliberately distorted for the obvious reason.
It has been generally assumed that fracture-dislocation of the neck causes instantaneous loss of sensation. Sensory pathways from below the neck may rupture, but the sensory signals from the skin above the noose and from the trigeminal nerve may continue to reach the brain until hypoxia blocks them. The belief that fracture of the spinal cord causes instantaneous death is wrong - whether it causes instantaneous loss of consciousness is actually unknown.
One case of a botched hanging was that of Colin Campbell Ross in Australia. The 29-year-old bar owner was hanged on April 24. 1922 at Melbourne Prison for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old school girl. The new rope used to execute Ross proved to be a failure. The botched hanging was brutal and gruesome. Ross did not die quickly because his spinal cord was fractured, not severed. His windpipe was torn and obstructed by his damaged larynx. Hanging on the rope, Ross continued with rasping breaths and convulsions. He bent his knees and flexed his arms as he battled against the rope as he slowly strangled for more than forty minutes before dying from asphyxiation.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dorina goes on to point out that subsequent evidence indicated that Colin Ross was innocent. If he was innocent, Ross’ execution was most unfortunate indeed. But executions of those who were innocent – a tiny fraction of those condemned to die - does not justify throwing the baby out with the bathwater by abolishing capital punishment.
It is quite obvious that Dorina’s detailed descriptions are designed to turn us off of hanging as a form of execution and I’m sure that she could come up with some stomach-turning descriptions of death by lethal injection in her crusade against the death penalty. However, I am not bothered by the gruesome description she gives of hangings. I know that victims of cold blooded killers often experience horrific suffering while they are being murdered and I think it’s just damn good payback when the murderer also has to suffer before his death.
You state … ‘They should bring back hanging and be done with it.’
DEATH BY HANGING - THE BRUTAL FACTS
Submitted by Dorina Lisson
Immediately before the hanging, the prisoner's hands and legs are tied and secured, the noose is placed around the neck with the knot behind the left ear. A hood is then pulled over the prisoner's head.
Hooding the prisoner saves government officials' who have to witness the execution from seeing the prisoner's face as he is about to die and also after the death. Not looking at the condemned person's face is one way of coming to terms with state-sanctioned killing, but righteousness is another.
The hanging takes place when a trapdoor is opened and the prisoner falls through. At the end of the 'drop' the body, still accelerating under the force of gravity, delivers a massive blow to the back and one side of the neck, which combined with the downward momentum of the body breaks the neck and ruptures the spinal cord. The prisoner's weight is supposed to cause a rapid fracture-dislocation of the neck - allegedly caused by dislocation of the third and fourth cervical vertebrae or asphyxiation.
Truth is, that instantaneous death is rarely achieved. Death by hanging is not a humane method of exterminating a healthy human being. It is a very brutal and cruel death. The condemned often collapse or faint before the noose can be properly positioned over his/her head.
Death by hanging is often botched or carried out in such a way as to intentionally maximize the prisoner's suffering.
Botched hangings result in strangulation, obstructed blood flow, or beheading. If the prisoner has strong neck muscles, is of light-weight, if the 'drop' is too short, or if the noose is wrongly positioned, the fracture-dislocation will not be rapid and death results from slow asphyxiation. In these botched cases, the prisoner writhes and throttles to death over several minutes. In medical terms - death finally comes from cerebral contusion, shock and asphyxia. There have been reported cases of the rope breaking during the 'drop', which resulted in the prisoner falling to the ground. After government officials' replaced the broken rope the prisoner would again have to endure the emotional and physical torture of being hanged for a second time, usually taking place within the hour. In another reported botched incident, the head of a prisoner split from the body during the hanging.
When a human being is hanged, the face becomes engorged, the tongue protrudes, the mouth vomits and drools, the eyes pop, the body defecates, violent movements of body limbs occur and the face begins to turn a greyish-black. Although the prisoner may appear to be unconscious, the heart does not completely stop beating for some 20 minutes.
Most people do not know that a human heart beats on its own - and continues to do so - even when the rest of the body has shut down. This happens because the human heart is hard-wired with electrical impulses. Therefore, during a phase of some 20 minutes the pulsations of the doomed heart become fainter and slower as the heart struggles to maintain its normal function to pump blood throughout the body, intent on keeping the body alive.
Eventually, the heart lapses into a spasmodic rhythm, then begins to flutter, before it slowly collapses, fails, and finally stops all movement. In medical terms - this is the "true" time of death. The "official" time of death portrayed to the public is deliberately distorted for the obvious reason.
It has been generally assumed that fracture-dislocation of the neck causes instantaneous loss of sensation. Sensory pathways from below the neck may rupture, but the sensory signals from the skin above the noose and from the trigeminal nerve may continue to reach the brain until hypoxia blocks them. The belief that fracture of the spinal cord causes instantaneous death is wrong - whether it causes instantaneous loss of consciousness is actually unknown.
One case of a botched hanging was that of Colin Campbell Ross in Australia. The 29-year-old bar owner was hanged on April 24. 1922 at Melbourne Prison for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old school girl. The new rope used to execute Ross proved to be a failure. The botched hanging was brutal and gruesome. Ross did not die quickly because his spinal cord was fractured, not severed. His windpipe was torn and obstructed by his damaged larynx. Hanging on the rope, Ross continued with rasping breaths and convulsions. He bent his knees and flexed his arms as he battled against the rope as he slowly strangled for more than forty minutes before dying from asphyxiation.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dorina goes on to point out that subsequent evidence indicated that Colin Ross was innocent. If he was innocent, Ross’ execution was most unfortunate indeed. But executions of those who were innocent – a tiny fraction of those condemned to die - does not justify throwing the baby out with the bathwater by abolishing capital punishment.
It is quite obvious that Dorina’s detailed descriptions are designed to turn us off of hanging as a form of execution and I’m sure that she could come up with some stomach-turning descriptions of death by lethal injection in her crusade against the death penalty. However, I am not bothered by the gruesome description she gives of hangings. I know that victims of cold blooded killers often experience horrific suffering while they are being murdered and I think it’s just damn good payback when the murderer also has to suffer before his death.
RELEASING CONVICTED KILLERS IS ALMOST A CRIME IN ITSELF
I once supervised a parolee from Texas who was serving a life term for killing his wife. When I supervised him, he was the manager of a large manufacturing plant in the Los Angeles area. I could not see where he would pose any risk to public safety if he were discharged from his life sentence. I recommended that be done, but Texas insisted he remain on parole for the rest of his life.
While there are murderers who pose no risk to public safety if they are paroled, that does not hold true for most murderers. What the California parole board is doing in releasing so many murderers, is almost a crime in itself.
A NEW DAY IN CALIFONRIA FOR CONVICTED KILLERS
By Los Angeles Police Protective League Board of Directors
LAPPL Blog
September 7, 2011
For law-abiding citizens, these are tough economic times. But for convicted killers serving time in California prisons, it’s a time for optimism.
Ian Lovett of the New York Times reported from Los Angeles that the state has upheld 207 of the parole board’s 254 decisions to release convicted killers. To date, more releases dates granted to murderers have been allowed to stand in 2011 than in any other year since California chief executives got the power to reverse them.
Previously, inmates serving life sentences for murder were virtually never set free, noted Lovett. Even on the rare occasions when the parole board granted a release, California’s governors almost invariably overturned it.
So why is it a new day in California for convicted killers who are more likely than ever to be paroled? At least part of the answer, according to the Times story, lies in the U.S. Supreme Court mandate to reduce overcrowding in the state’s prisons.
But that is not an acceptable reason for turning murderers loose on society. State government must find less dangerous ways to address prison overcrowding. Like our city government, the state simply must put public safety first.
At the rate the state is going, more than 1,000 convicted killers who should be serving time will be set free, putting residents at increased risk. We urge the governor to use his predecessors as role models when reviewing parole board decisions.
While there are murderers who pose no risk to public safety if they are paroled, that does not hold true for most murderers. What the California parole board is doing in releasing so many murderers, is almost a crime in itself.
A NEW DAY IN CALIFONRIA FOR CONVICTED KILLERS
By Los Angeles Police Protective League Board of Directors
LAPPL Blog
September 7, 2011
For law-abiding citizens, these are tough economic times. But for convicted killers serving time in California prisons, it’s a time for optimism.
Ian Lovett of the New York Times reported from Los Angeles that the state has upheld 207 of the parole board’s 254 decisions to release convicted killers. To date, more releases dates granted to murderers have been allowed to stand in 2011 than in any other year since California chief executives got the power to reverse them.
Previously, inmates serving life sentences for murder were virtually never set free, noted Lovett. Even on the rare occasions when the parole board granted a release, California’s governors almost invariably overturned it.
So why is it a new day in California for convicted killers who are more likely than ever to be paroled? At least part of the answer, according to the Times story, lies in the U.S. Supreme Court mandate to reduce overcrowding in the state’s prisons.
But that is not an acceptable reason for turning murderers loose on society. State government must find less dangerous ways to address prison overcrowding. Like our city government, the state simply must put public safety first.
At the rate the state is going, more than 1,000 convicted killers who should be serving time will be set free, putting residents at increased risk. We urge the governor to use his predecessors as role models when reviewing parole board decisions.
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