Since Israel is a tiny country, the number of Africans that have crossed into the Jewish state illegally is proportionately about the same as the number of Mexicans that have entered the U.S. illegally. Thus Israel faces the danger of becoming Africanized just like the U.S. is facing the danger of becoming Mexicanized.
NETANYAHU: ISRAEL COULD BE OVERRUNG BY AFRICAN INFILTRATORS
Netanyahu praises border fence being built in the south as a means of preventing infiltrations, but added that it is also important ‘to physically remove the infiltrators’
By Talila Nesher
Haaretz Daily
May 21, 2012
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the "phenomenon of illegal infiltrators from Africa is extremely serious and threatens Israel's social fabric and national security. He made the comments at a cabinet meeting, adding that "if we don't stop the problem, 60,000 infiltrators are liable to become 600,000, and cause the negation of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."
Netanyahu also praised the border fence that is being built in the south as a means of preventing infiltrations, but added that it is also important "to physically remove the infiltrators. We must crack down and mete out tougher punishments."
Five groups that aid African migrants sent a letter to Netanyahu on Sunday, asking that he "immediately order the granting of work permits to asylum-seekers in Israel." The letter stated that the current situation is forcing migrants to seek shelter in poorer neighborhoods, exacerbating the problems there. "The situation has become intolerable," they wrote.
Interior Minister Eli Yishai echoed the sentiment expressed by the prime minister, and reiterated his own message last week, when he said that most African migrants are criminals and that all, "without exception," should be arrested and deported.
On Sunday, Yishai said he is not responsible for asylum-seekers from war-torn countries whose lives might be at risk if deported back to those countries, because "as it is, there are millions more who might be murdered.
"I'm not responsible for what goes on in Eritrea and Sudan - the United Nations is," Yishai told Army Radio on Sunday. "There are millions there who, God forbid, might be murdered. Should we open our gates to all of them?"
Yishai also lashed out in response to Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino's suggestion that allowing asylum-seekers to work while they're in Israel would help fight crime.
"I'm sick of people, particularly politicians, trying to prettify the situation," he said, saying such remarks come from people unfamiliar with the reality.
"All these stupidities will bring us the births of hundreds of people and we can bury the Zionist dream," he said. "Jobs will just root them here ... and this suggestion will only bring hundreds of thousands more here."
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees refutes Yishai's claim that "only a fraction of [the migrants] are defined as refugees, and whoever is designated a refugee gets [residency] status." UNHCR says that between 40,000-45,000 asylum-seekers here are from Eritrea, 15,000 are from Sudan and another 6,000 are from other countries to which repatriation isn't currently possible.
"This population is living here legally," said Sharon Harel of the UNHCR. "They have legal protection because they cannot return, and are living here until the danger passes. And for as long as they are here, they, like all human beings, need access to basic services and jobs."
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
NO CONTEST: COP WITH GUN VS. ANGRY MAN WITH STICK
Civil libertarians will have a field day with cop shooting man armed only with a stick
I predict the ACLU and other civil libertarians will be screaming for the deputy’s head. And the stick-wielder’s family won’t waste any time filing a multimillion dollar lawsuit against San Diego County and the City of Oceanside.
DEPUTY FATALLY SHOOTS MAN WIELDING A STICK
By Ashly McGlone
San Diego Union-Tribune
May 20, 2012
OCEANSIDE -- A sheriff’s deputy shot a man dead in Oceanside Sunday afternoon after he threatened officers with a wooden stick, sheriff’s officials said.
The unidentified victim was fatally wounded on Oceanside Boulevard near Temple Heights Drive, next to Temple Heights Elementary School. Oceanside police said he had caused a disturbance earlier at a nearby AM-PM market.
Police received a call of a disturbance at the market on North Melrose Drive and Oceanside Boulevard at 1:24 p.m. Sheriff’s deputies and Oceanside police responded to the call because the store is on the border of Vista and Oceanside, said Oceanside police investigations Lt. Joe Young.
While near the store, the man reportedly threw a large rock or cinder block at a person in a nearby vehicle and was acting irrationally before running west on Oceanside Boulevard.
Law enforcement personnel spotted the man a half-mile away as he retrieved a wooden stick from the bed of a parked truck and began threatening them.
A sheriff’s deputy fired a round from a handgun at the man’s chest. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
No other injuries were reported, Young said.
I predict the ACLU and other civil libertarians will be screaming for the deputy’s head. And the stick-wielder’s family won’t waste any time filing a multimillion dollar lawsuit against San Diego County and the City of Oceanside.
DEPUTY FATALLY SHOOTS MAN WIELDING A STICK
By Ashly McGlone
San Diego Union-Tribune
May 20, 2012
OCEANSIDE -- A sheriff’s deputy shot a man dead in Oceanside Sunday afternoon after he threatened officers with a wooden stick, sheriff’s officials said.
The unidentified victim was fatally wounded on Oceanside Boulevard near Temple Heights Drive, next to Temple Heights Elementary School. Oceanside police said he had caused a disturbance earlier at a nearby AM-PM market.
Police received a call of a disturbance at the market on North Melrose Drive and Oceanside Boulevard at 1:24 p.m. Sheriff’s deputies and Oceanside police responded to the call because the store is on the border of Vista and Oceanside, said Oceanside police investigations Lt. Joe Young.
While near the store, the man reportedly threw a large rock or cinder block at a person in a nearby vehicle and was acting irrationally before running west on Oceanside Boulevard.
Law enforcement personnel spotted the man a half-mile away as he retrieved a wooden stick from the bed of a parked truck and began threatening them.
A sheriff’s deputy fired a round from a handgun at the man’s chest. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
No other injuries were reported, Young said.
EVEREST CLAIMS MORE CLIMBERS
On Saturday, 73-year-old Tamae Watanabe, from Japan, reached Everest's summit from the northern side of the mountain in Tibet. A decade ago she became the oldest women to reach the top at the age of 63. With no news to the contrary, she must have made it safely back down.
Most climbers that have lost their lives on Everest died during the descent from the summit. The three that died Saturday and the two that are missing (and presumed dead) all climbed the south side of the mountain in Nepal.
3 CLIMBERS DIE ON DESCENT FROM MT. EVEREST SUMMIT; 2 OTHERS MISSING
Associated Press
May 21, 2012
KATMANDU, Nepal — Three climbers who were among scores who scaled Mount Everest over the weekend died on their descent and two more are missing, a Nepalese official said Monday.
The first clear weather conditions of the spring climbing season were Friday and Saturday, but a windstorm swept the higher altitudes of the mountain by Saturday afternoon, said Gyanendra Shrestha of Nepal's Mountaineering Department.
An estimated 150 climbers reached the summit on either day, most of them on Saturday.
"There was a traffic jam on the mountain on Saturday. Climbers were still heading to the summit as late as 2:30 p.m. which is quite dangerous," Shrestha told The Associated Press by telephone from Everest's base camp.
Climbers are advised to not attempt to reach the summit after 11 a.m. The area above the last camp at South Col is nicknamed the "death zone" because of the steep icy slope, treacherous conditions and low oxygen level.
"With the traffic jam, climbers had a longer wait for their chance to go up the trail and spent too much time at higher altitude. Many of them are believed to be carrying limited amount of oxygen not anticipating the extra time spent," Shrestha said.
The three climbers who died Saturday were believed to have suffered exhaustion and altitude sickness.
They were identified as 61-year-old German doctor Eberhard Schaaf, Nepal-born Canadian Shriya Shah, and South Korean mountaineer Song Won-bin. The missing climbers are a Chinese national and his Nepalese Sherpa guide.
Weather conditions are clear enough to permit climbing to Everest's 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak for only a short time in May.
On May 10, 1996, eight people died on what is believed to be the worst day on Everest. The main reason was said to be that climbers who started their ascents late in the day were caught in a snow storm that swept the mountain in the afternoon.
Most climbers that have lost their lives on Everest died during the descent from the summit. The three that died Saturday and the two that are missing (and presumed dead) all climbed the south side of the mountain in Nepal.
3 CLIMBERS DIE ON DESCENT FROM MT. EVEREST SUMMIT; 2 OTHERS MISSING
Associated Press
May 21, 2012
KATMANDU, Nepal — Three climbers who were among scores who scaled Mount Everest over the weekend died on their descent and two more are missing, a Nepalese official said Monday.
The first clear weather conditions of the spring climbing season were Friday and Saturday, but a windstorm swept the higher altitudes of the mountain by Saturday afternoon, said Gyanendra Shrestha of Nepal's Mountaineering Department.
An estimated 150 climbers reached the summit on either day, most of them on Saturday.
"There was a traffic jam on the mountain on Saturday. Climbers were still heading to the summit as late as 2:30 p.m. which is quite dangerous," Shrestha told The Associated Press by telephone from Everest's base camp.
Climbers are advised to not attempt to reach the summit after 11 a.m. The area above the last camp at South Col is nicknamed the "death zone" because of the steep icy slope, treacherous conditions and low oxygen level.
"With the traffic jam, climbers had a longer wait for their chance to go up the trail and spent too much time at higher altitude. Many of them are believed to be carrying limited amount of oxygen not anticipating the extra time spent," Shrestha said.
The three climbers who died Saturday were believed to have suffered exhaustion and altitude sickness.
They were identified as 61-year-old German doctor Eberhard Schaaf, Nepal-born Canadian Shriya Shah, and South Korean mountaineer Song Won-bin. The missing climbers are a Chinese national and his Nepalese Sherpa guide.
Weather conditions are clear enough to permit climbing to Everest's 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak for only a short time in May.
On May 10, 1996, eight people died on what is believed to be the worst day on Everest. The main reason was said to be that climbers who started their ascents late in the day were caught in a snow storm that swept the mountain in the afternoon.
Monday, May 21, 2012
An EDITORIAL THAT MAKES REAL GOOD SENSE
Police need to notify the media of the circumstances under which a person was killed by the cops just as soon as they’ve gathered the pertinent facts
The withholding of information from the public engenders distrust of the police and allows false rumors to grow and to become imbedded in people’s minds.
SouthCoastToday.com is a Massachusetts news website.
OUR VIEW: TEEN’S DEATH CRIES FOR ACTION FROM POLICE AND COMMUNITY
SouthCoastToday.com
May 20, 2012
It was perhaps understandable that law enforcement authorities provided relatively little information Friday about the sequence of events leading up to the death of Malcolm Gracia, the 15-year-old who was shot to death after police said he repeatedly stabbed a police officer Thursday night.
At a press conference Friday morning, they wouldn't say how many police were involved, how many shots were fired or what started the argument that led to the fatal moment. They wouldn't say whether or not wounded officer Tyson Barnes was wearing a protective vest, how many times he was stabbed, what other officers were with him. They did not answer a lot of questions in the hours after Malcolm Gracia's death.
That might be understandable on the day after a tragedy like this one, but it will not serve for long.
Law enforcement authorities need to move quickly and get complete answers to the community, whose members are deeply saddened, troubled and worried about what happened Thursday night at the newly renovated Temple Landing housing development, where millions of dollars have been spent to upgrade the property and change the culture of a place that long had been connected to violent troubles.
Already there have been rumors that police, guns drawn, were seen chasing Gracia moments before they brought him down in a hail of fire.
That does not quite square with the initial report from authorities, who said Gracia argued with police, then stabbed Officer Barnes, was shot by police, then got to his feet and ignored orders to halt and drop the knife he still was holding, prompting officers to fire another round of shots that killed him.
The New Bedford Police Department and the Bristol County District Attorney's Office need to provide a comprehensive series of answers to citizens' legitimate questions about this terrible incident — soon.
Most people understand that police in this city have a very difficult job. It is dangerous and frightening work, and officers like Barnes on the gang unit regularly engage with members of notorious street gangs that account for much of the violence here. We all should be grateful that people like Tyson Barnes are willing to do these hard jobs on our behalf.
Every parent and guardian in this city should speak with their youngsters and instruct them that when they engage with police, under no circumstances should they react with defiance — or a weapon. Like any of us, police officers should and must defend themselves when they are in the midst of an armed conflict with anyone, regardless of that person's age.
But other answers need to come from us, the people who live here and who are the parents and guardians of our city's young men.
Despite a troubled upbringing, Gracia had family and friends who cared about him, to be sure. Some of them spoke to reporters from this newspaper and poured out their hurt and their grief over the teenager's death.
Even the most troubled of young men have people who love them; yet again and again, young men continue to die violently.
We all know that too many of them walk around with weapons — guns or knives — so that when there is a conflict with rivals or police, there is always the possibility that someone will end up dead and another family and neighborhood will find themselves grieving.
Too many of our young men have no father or respected uncle or coach in their lives, so they never really learn the essential lessons that manhood requires; and until we face that problem as a community, there will always be another Malcolm Gracia to grieve, and our community will never have the peace we all desire.
Police and judges alone cannot teach young men what they need to know. That's all our job, and until we do it, neither they nor we will be safe from harm.
The withholding of information from the public engenders distrust of the police and allows false rumors to grow and to become imbedded in people’s minds.
SouthCoastToday.com is a Massachusetts news website.
OUR VIEW: TEEN’S DEATH CRIES FOR ACTION FROM POLICE AND COMMUNITY
SouthCoastToday.com
May 20, 2012
It was perhaps understandable that law enforcement authorities provided relatively little information Friday about the sequence of events leading up to the death of Malcolm Gracia, the 15-year-old who was shot to death after police said he repeatedly stabbed a police officer Thursday night.
At a press conference Friday morning, they wouldn't say how many police were involved, how many shots were fired or what started the argument that led to the fatal moment. They wouldn't say whether or not wounded officer Tyson Barnes was wearing a protective vest, how many times he was stabbed, what other officers were with him. They did not answer a lot of questions in the hours after Malcolm Gracia's death.
That might be understandable on the day after a tragedy like this one, but it will not serve for long.
Law enforcement authorities need to move quickly and get complete answers to the community, whose members are deeply saddened, troubled and worried about what happened Thursday night at the newly renovated Temple Landing housing development, where millions of dollars have been spent to upgrade the property and change the culture of a place that long had been connected to violent troubles.
Already there have been rumors that police, guns drawn, were seen chasing Gracia moments before they brought him down in a hail of fire.
That does not quite square with the initial report from authorities, who said Gracia argued with police, then stabbed Officer Barnes, was shot by police, then got to his feet and ignored orders to halt and drop the knife he still was holding, prompting officers to fire another round of shots that killed him.
The New Bedford Police Department and the Bristol County District Attorney's Office need to provide a comprehensive series of answers to citizens' legitimate questions about this terrible incident — soon.
Most people understand that police in this city have a very difficult job. It is dangerous and frightening work, and officers like Barnes on the gang unit regularly engage with members of notorious street gangs that account for much of the violence here. We all should be grateful that people like Tyson Barnes are willing to do these hard jobs on our behalf.
Every parent and guardian in this city should speak with their youngsters and instruct them that when they engage with police, under no circumstances should they react with defiance — or a weapon. Like any of us, police officers should and must defend themselves when they are in the midst of an armed conflict with anyone, regardless of that person's age.
But other answers need to come from us, the people who live here and who are the parents and guardians of our city's young men.
Despite a troubled upbringing, Gracia had family and friends who cared about him, to be sure. Some of them spoke to reporters from this newspaper and poured out their hurt and their grief over the teenager's death.
Even the most troubled of young men have people who love them; yet again and again, young men continue to die violently.
We all know that too many of them walk around with weapons — guns or knives — so that when there is a conflict with rivals or police, there is always the possibility that someone will end up dead and another family and neighborhood will find themselves grieving.
Too many of our young men have no father or respected uncle or coach in their lives, so they never really learn the essential lessons that manhood requires; and until we face that problem as a community, there will always be another Malcolm Gracia to grieve, and our community will never have the peace we all desire.
Police and judges alone cannot teach young men what they need to know. That's all our job, and until we do it, neither they nor we will be safe from harm.
TREVOR PARHAM: JERK OF THE MONTH COP
I know the job of being a cop lends itself to ‘tombstone humor’, but making fun of tasering a shackled jail inmate may be funny to the jerk that did it, but it is illegal and the public doesn’t see it as being one bit funny.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY: PENNSYLVANIA OFFICER SENT TEXT MAKING FUN OF TASER INCIDENT
After the incident, town declared state of emergency
By Mari A. Schaefer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
May 18, 2012
COLWYN, Pa. — The Delaware County district attorney brought charges Thursday against a Colwyn Borough police officer who allegedly Tasered a handcuffed 17-year-old while the teenager was shackled in a jail cell, and then made fun of the incident in a text message to another officer.
Cpl. Trevor Parham of Upper Darby was charged Thursday with simple assault and official oppression, both misdemeanors, the District Attorney's Office said. He was released on $25,000 unsecured bail.
"This is unfortunate, disappointing, and it is offensive," District Attorney Jack Whelan said. Whelan said his department was still trying to determine whether there was cause to arrest the juvenile, who had been charged with disorderly conduct. Whelan said sending text messages when someone is hit with a stun gun was "not funny."
"Let's not rush to judgment," said Thomas Fitzpatrick, Parham's attorney. "At the appropriate time all the facts will come out."
Fitzpatrick said his client was disheartened by the allegations.
Parham and another officer, Michael Drucktor, who purportedly witnessed the incident but failed to report it, are on leave from the department.
According to court documents, Mayor Daniel Rutland asked the District Attorney's Office to investigate the April 24 incident. In an interview with a county detective, Parham, 40, admitted he Tasered Da'Qwan Jackson, who was lying on the cell bench, his hands cuffed behind his back and his feet shackled. Parham then texted another unidentified officer.
Parham: "kid I locked up a few times before. smart ass"
Officer A: "O OK"
Parham: "got Tased in the cell lol"
Officer A: "Y"
Parham: "kept kicking the gate and calling me names"
The teenager, who was hit with 50,000 volts of electricity, did not require medical attention, Whelan said. According to court documents, he had two small bruises on his upper left arm.
Borough officials' actions are under review, Whelan said. He would not comment on the status of Deputy Police Chief Wendell Reed, who also was suspended after the Tasering.
Colwyn Solicitor Gregg L. Zeff said Reed had been reinstated.
Parham has been a police officer for about 10 years, according to Fitzpatrick. He has worked for other departments, including Cheyney University's.
Parham and his twin brother, Troy, a SEPTA police officer, cowrote a book, ‘Mr. Malik: Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown,’ based on the life of their biological father. It was made into a movie, Millionaire.
The film is set in the 1970s and revolves around two men who rise to the top of Philadelphia’s underworld and are assassinated by the Black Mafia in Atlantic City, according to a promotional website.
The Taser incident has roiled the borough of 2,500 people in the southeastern part of the county. Rutland declared a state of emergency after the incident resulted in the suspension of three officers. The council later lifted the state of emergency. Rutland reinstated it Saturday, but it was lifted again Wednesday night.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY: PENNSYLVANIA OFFICER SENT TEXT MAKING FUN OF TASER INCIDENT
After the incident, town declared state of emergency
By Mari A. Schaefer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
May 18, 2012
COLWYN, Pa. — The Delaware County district attorney brought charges Thursday against a Colwyn Borough police officer who allegedly Tasered a handcuffed 17-year-old while the teenager was shackled in a jail cell, and then made fun of the incident in a text message to another officer.
Cpl. Trevor Parham of Upper Darby was charged Thursday with simple assault and official oppression, both misdemeanors, the District Attorney's Office said. He was released on $25,000 unsecured bail.
"This is unfortunate, disappointing, and it is offensive," District Attorney Jack Whelan said. Whelan said his department was still trying to determine whether there was cause to arrest the juvenile, who had been charged with disorderly conduct. Whelan said sending text messages when someone is hit with a stun gun was "not funny."
"Let's not rush to judgment," said Thomas Fitzpatrick, Parham's attorney. "At the appropriate time all the facts will come out."
Fitzpatrick said his client was disheartened by the allegations.
Parham and another officer, Michael Drucktor, who purportedly witnessed the incident but failed to report it, are on leave from the department.
According to court documents, Mayor Daniel Rutland asked the District Attorney's Office to investigate the April 24 incident. In an interview with a county detective, Parham, 40, admitted he Tasered Da'Qwan Jackson, who was lying on the cell bench, his hands cuffed behind his back and his feet shackled. Parham then texted another unidentified officer.
Parham: "kid I locked up a few times before. smart ass"
Officer A: "O OK"
Parham: "got Tased in the cell lol"
Officer A: "Y"
Parham: "kept kicking the gate and calling me names"
The teenager, who was hit with 50,000 volts of electricity, did not require medical attention, Whelan said. According to court documents, he had two small bruises on his upper left arm.
Borough officials' actions are under review, Whelan said. He would not comment on the status of Deputy Police Chief Wendell Reed, who also was suspended after the Tasering.
Colwyn Solicitor Gregg L. Zeff said Reed had been reinstated.
Parham has been a police officer for about 10 years, according to Fitzpatrick. He has worked for other departments, including Cheyney University's.
Parham and his twin brother, Troy, a SEPTA police officer, cowrote a book, ‘Mr. Malik: Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown,’ based on the life of their biological father. It was made into a movie, Millionaire.
The film is set in the 1970s and revolves around two men who rise to the top of Philadelphia’s underworld and are assassinated by the Black Mafia in Atlantic City, according to a promotional website.
The Taser incident has roiled the borough of 2,500 people in the southeastern part of the county. Rutland declared a state of emergency after the incident resulted in the suspension of three officers. The council later lifted the state of emergency. Rutland reinstated it Saturday, but it was lifted again Wednesday night.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
EVEN A JERK DESERVES A FAIR SHAKE FROM THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
The Trayvon Martin family claims that their angelic pot smoking son was attacked by George Zimmerman. On the other hand, Zimmerman claims that Martin attacked him and was pounding his head onto the pavement when, in fear of losing his life, he shot the young man.
For starters let me reiterate that Zimmerman is a jerk. It was stupid of him to get out of his car instead of waiting for the police to arrive. He was violating all the neighborhood watch guidelines by confronting a suspicious person and by being armed. But stupidity is not a criminal offense and even a jerk deserves a fair shake from the justice system.
Zimmerman is not getting a fair shake from the justice system. Let’s suppose that Zimmerman’s version is not true and that he was the aggressor in this case. That does not justify Martin’s pounding of Zimmerman’s head onto the pavement. And even if Zimmerman is a liar, he still deserves better than to have the state charge him with murder instead of manslaughter and the feds waiting to charge him with a hate crime carrying the death penalty, all in order to appease the Martin Family, Al Sharpton and his ilk, the black community and white liberal college students, and in order to head off the possibility of ‘Rodney King’ rioting.
The documents released by the Florida state attorney’s office appear to back up Zimmerman’s version of the Trayvon Martin shooting. But that doesn’t matter to those groups and individuals out for Zimmerman’s blood. Angela Corey, the special prosecutor, had all those documents before her when she chose to file second-degree murder charges in a case that, if a crime was indeed committed, did not merit any charges beyond manslaughter.
And there is no way that Zimmerman can get a fair trial what with jurors and their family members facing the prospect of receiving death threats, hate mail and the real possibility of being physically harmed should they vote for an acquittal.
Yes, Zimmerman broke the guidelines set by the police for neighborhood watch groups. Yes, it was stupid for Zimmerman to get out of his car when advised by a police dispatcher not to do so. Yes, Zimmerman is a jerk. But let me repeat: Even a jerk deserves a fair shake from the justice system. And Zimmerman is not getting that fair shake.
For starters let me reiterate that Zimmerman is a jerk. It was stupid of him to get out of his car instead of waiting for the police to arrive. He was violating all the neighborhood watch guidelines by confronting a suspicious person and by being armed. But stupidity is not a criminal offense and even a jerk deserves a fair shake from the justice system.
Zimmerman is not getting a fair shake from the justice system. Let’s suppose that Zimmerman’s version is not true and that he was the aggressor in this case. That does not justify Martin’s pounding of Zimmerman’s head onto the pavement. And even if Zimmerman is a liar, he still deserves better than to have the state charge him with murder instead of manslaughter and the feds waiting to charge him with a hate crime carrying the death penalty, all in order to appease the Martin Family, Al Sharpton and his ilk, the black community and white liberal college students, and in order to head off the possibility of ‘Rodney King’ rioting.
The documents released by the Florida state attorney’s office appear to back up Zimmerman’s version of the Trayvon Martin shooting. But that doesn’t matter to those groups and individuals out for Zimmerman’s blood. Angela Corey, the special prosecutor, had all those documents before her when she chose to file second-degree murder charges in a case that, if a crime was indeed committed, did not merit any charges beyond manslaughter.
And there is no way that Zimmerman can get a fair trial what with jurors and their family members facing the prospect of receiving death threats, hate mail and the real possibility of being physically harmed should they vote for an acquittal.
Yes, Zimmerman broke the guidelines set by the police for neighborhood watch groups. Yes, it was stupid for Zimmerman to get out of his car when advised by a police dispatcher not to do so. Yes, Zimmerman is a jerk. But let me repeat: Even a jerk deserves a fair shake from the justice system. And Zimmerman is not getting that fair shake.
NO SMALL FEAT FOR A YOUNG MAN, LEAST OF ALL FOR A 73-YEAR-OLD WOMAN
In 2001, even after training hard for three months to withstand the high altitudes in Tibet, just hiking the short distance from the Rongbuk Monastery (elevation 16,498 feet) to the Mt. Everest mountaineer base camp (elevation 17,056 feet) left me exhausted and gasping for air. But Tamae Watanabe hiked and climbed from the base camp to the summit of Everest (elevation 29,035 feet) twice, first when she was 63, and now when she is 73. And I can't help but feel that if she's still around when she's 83, she'll try it again.
PENSIONER, 73, BECOMES OLDEST WOMAN TO CLIMB EVEREST… BEATING HER OWN RECORD IN THE PROCESS
By Rob Cooper
Mail Online
May 19, 2012
A 73-year-old pensioner has become the oldest woman to climb Mount Everest - beating her own record in the process.
Tamae Watanabe, from Japan, reached Everest's 8,850-meter-high (29,035 feet) summit from the northern side of the mountain in Tibet today with four other team members.
A decade ago she became the oldest women to reach the top at the age of 63 but today smashed that record.
Ang Tshering of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association in Nepal said that all the team members were in a good condition.
They are now making their way back to the base of the mountain.
Watanabe and her team left the last high altitude camp located at 8,300 meters (27,225 feet) on Friday night and climbed all night before reaching the summit this morning.
Weather conditions have improved throughout the week making the effort possible.
Teams have begun reaching the summit even from the Nepalese side in the southern of the mountain, according to Nepal's mountaineering department.
The first teams from the Nepalese side reached the summit on Friday, and many more made it today.
Weather conditions have been challenging this year, prompting several expeditions to cancel their plans to try to reach the summit.
May is considered the best month to climb Everest, when climbers get about two windows of good weather for their bid for the summit.
The oldest person to climb Everest is a Nepalese man, Min Bahadur Sherchan, who reached the peak in 2008 at the age of 76.
PENSIONER, 73, BECOMES OLDEST WOMAN TO CLIMB EVEREST… BEATING HER OWN RECORD IN THE PROCESS
By Rob Cooper
Mail Online
May 19, 2012
A 73-year-old pensioner has become the oldest woman to climb Mount Everest - beating her own record in the process.
Tamae Watanabe, from Japan, reached Everest's 8,850-meter-high (29,035 feet) summit from the northern side of the mountain in Tibet today with four other team members.
A decade ago she became the oldest women to reach the top at the age of 63 but today smashed that record.
Ang Tshering of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association in Nepal said that all the team members were in a good condition.
They are now making their way back to the base of the mountain.
Watanabe and her team left the last high altitude camp located at 8,300 meters (27,225 feet) on Friday night and climbed all night before reaching the summit this morning.
Weather conditions have improved throughout the week making the effort possible.
Teams have begun reaching the summit even from the Nepalese side in the southern of the mountain, according to Nepal's mountaineering department.
The first teams from the Nepalese side reached the summit on Friday, and many more made it today.
Weather conditions have been challenging this year, prompting several expeditions to cancel their plans to try to reach the summit.
May is considered the best month to climb Everest, when climbers get about two windows of good weather for their bid for the summit.
The oldest person to climb Everest is a Nepalese man, Min Bahadur Sherchan, who reached the peak in 2008 at the age of 76.
450 POUND CON ARTIST TO TAKE UP SPACE IN PRISON
About the only redeeming factor in this case is that this blimp of a con artist paid his lawyer with a worthless check.
JOSHUA MATTHEW PIERCE: CON MAN’S SHORT, HIGH-FLYING CAREER OVER
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
May 18, 2012
Though his actions were sleazy in the extreme and hurt a lot of people, including some he was ostensibly close to, you've just got to hand it to Joshua Matthew Pierce.
In a Waco federal court yesterday, Pierce, of Houston, pleaded guilty to defrauding a Waco bank, his own son-in-law and another man, two jet-leasing companies and a Waco lawyer.
According to KXXV, it all started last October, when Pierce opened a checking account at the Extraco bank in Waco. After telling them he would be wiring in $10,000 at a later date, he was able to withdraw $550 with a debit card. Pierce never made the promised wire transfer.
A month after that, Pierce took a meeting with two men, including his son-in-law Ken Lewis. (Records state that Pierce is only 30, so we're not sure how that worked unless there's a step- involved, or Pierce had a daughter at 15 who then got married herself at the same age, but anyway...)
Pierce told the men that he owned a prospering business in Kansas City, and he wanted in on a deal wherein the trio would purchase a company called Aurora Aviation at a small airport in the town of McGregor. Though he promised to wire $150,000 to cover his end of the deal, the whole meeting was a charade. Pierce just wanted to get his partners' Social Security numbers, which he used to obtain bogus credit cards.
And the roly-poly con man had only just begun...
Pierce used the fake credit cards to hop around America on corporate jets belonging to jet-leasing companies in Michigan and Arizona. The final tab for those flights came to $30,000.
Once police in the town of Robinson tracked him down, Pierce denied everything. He showed them a letter of credit which later turned out to be worthless.
And then, finally, he hired Waco attorney Guy Cox to defend him in these matters. When Cox sent him a bill, Pierce paid with a fraudulent check.
Court documents say Pierce confessed to one and all of these cases on Leap Day. He will be sentenced on July 11.
A public records search shows that Pierce got into some trouble over bad checks a few years back in Brazoria County.
Meanwhile, on his LinkedIn page, Pierce claims to be a "business consultant / CEO" of his own Pierce Global Logistics Corporation (Web site defunct), whose "aggressive management tools, strategies and practices" help him focus on "progressive techniques that improve quality and roi."
DPS records list Pierce as packing a cool 450 pounds on his six-foot fame in 2006, but on his LinkedIn page he claims to have played soccer and baseball at Ottawa University in Kansas at around the same time.
Okay, there have been some nose tackles who come close to four-and-a-half bills, and some grossly obese DHs and Carlos Lee in the majors, but soccer? Come on...Well, I guess he could be a reasonably effective goalie by just standing there and taking up space.
Which, come to think of it, is what he'll be doing for the next few years...In jail.
JOSHUA MATTHEW PIERCE: CON MAN’S SHORT, HIGH-FLYING CAREER OVER
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
May 18, 2012
Though his actions were sleazy in the extreme and hurt a lot of people, including some he was ostensibly close to, you've just got to hand it to Joshua Matthew Pierce.
In a Waco federal court yesterday, Pierce, of Houston, pleaded guilty to defrauding a Waco bank, his own son-in-law and another man, two jet-leasing companies and a Waco lawyer.
According to KXXV, it all started last October, when Pierce opened a checking account at the Extraco bank in Waco. After telling them he would be wiring in $10,000 at a later date, he was able to withdraw $550 with a debit card. Pierce never made the promised wire transfer.
A month after that, Pierce took a meeting with two men, including his son-in-law Ken Lewis. (Records state that Pierce is only 30, so we're not sure how that worked unless there's a step- involved, or Pierce had a daughter at 15 who then got married herself at the same age, but anyway...)
Pierce told the men that he owned a prospering business in Kansas City, and he wanted in on a deal wherein the trio would purchase a company called Aurora Aviation at a small airport in the town of McGregor. Though he promised to wire $150,000 to cover his end of the deal, the whole meeting was a charade. Pierce just wanted to get his partners' Social Security numbers, which he used to obtain bogus credit cards.
And the roly-poly con man had only just begun...
Pierce used the fake credit cards to hop around America on corporate jets belonging to jet-leasing companies in Michigan and Arizona. The final tab for those flights came to $30,000.
Once police in the town of Robinson tracked him down, Pierce denied everything. He showed them a letter of credit which later turned out to be worthless.
And then, finally, he hired Waco attorney Guy Cox to defend him in these matters. When Cox sent him a bill, Pierce paid with a fraudulent check.
Court documents say Pierce confessed to one and all of these cases on Leap Day. He will be sentenced on July 11.
A public records search shows that Pierce got into some trouble over bad checks a few years back in Brazoria County.
Meanwhile, on his LinkedIn page, Pierce claims to be a "business consultant / CEO" of his own Pierce Global Logistics Corporation (Web site defunct), whose "aggressive management tools, strategies and practices" help him focus on "progressive techniques that improve quality and roi."
DPS records list Pierce as packing a cool 450 pounds on his six-foot fame in 2006, but on his LinkedIn page he claims to have played soccer and baseball at Ottawa University in Kansas at around the same time.
Okay, there have been some nose tackles who come close to four-and-a-half bills, and some grossly obese DHs and Carlos Lee in the majors, but soccer? Come on...Well, I guess he could be a reasonably effective goalie by just standing there and taking up space.
Which, come to think of it, is what he'll be doing for the next few years...In jail.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
FOR A ONE-STATE SOLUTION
A Jewish state ‘from the river to the sea’
The Palestinians have vowed there will be only one state ‘from the (Jordan) river to the (Mediterranean) sea' – a Palestinian state. Congressman Joe Walsh, an Illinois Republican, has come up with a much better solution – a Jewish state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
MYTH OF A TWO-STATE SOLUTION
Palestinians fighting Israel and each other put peace out of reach
By Rep. Joe Walsh
The Washington Times
May 3, 2012
It has been 64 years since the United Nations General Assembly approved the Partition Plan for Palestine and the struggle to implement a “two-state solution” began. Today, we are no closer to that end. That reminds me of the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. By that definition, everyone who continues to cling to the delusion of a two-state solution is insane. There is no such thing as a two-state solution. It cannot work, it has not worked, and it will not work.
The only viable solution for the Middle East is a one-state solution: one contiguous Israeli state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. There will not and cannot be lasting peace in the Middle East until then.
Ever since the Palestinians and Arab countries refused to accept the Mandate for Palestine in the 1920s, the original two-state solution, the international community has been catering to Palestinian and Arab demands for a divided Israel. The Palestinians and Arabs, however, repeatedly have rejected those proposals, including the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan, which they are using to justify their demands for a divided Israel. Enough is enough. Why is the international community continuing to kowtow to these demands when, for 64 years, the Palestinians and Arabs have worked against peace? Israel is the only country in the region that has shown that it wants and will work toward peace. Since 1947, the Palestinians and Arab countries have fought more than five wars against Israel over territory, and at each opportunity, a victorious Israel has returned land it acquired in exchange for peace.
The Palestinians have broken their word again and again. They continue to fire rockets directly at innocent Israeli families and children, and they have betrayed the fundamental tenet of the two-state solution they tout by cutting Israel out of negotiations and going directly to the United Nations. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to incite violence against Israelis. It pays the salaries of imprisoned terrorists convicted of killing Israelis and glorifies suicide bombers at public events. The PA’s magazine Zayzafuna recently presented Hitler as a role model for Palestinian youth because of all the Jews he killed.
Most important, how can a people divided between radically different and violently opposed factions possibly govern a single state overnight? Right now, the Palestinians are divided between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Fatah in the West Bank. Those factions fought a civil war no more than five years ago and are fundamentally irreconcilable. Who would govern a unified Palestinian state?
The two-state solution can never work when one of the domains, the Palestinian state, does not even acknowledge the other state’s (Israel‘s) right to exist and has as its entire purpose in life wiping Israel off the face of the earth. Never will peace come when one side possesses such hate and routinely expresses that hate through violence and blood. It is time to let go of the two-state-solution insanity and adopt the only solution that will bring true peace to the Middle East: a single Israeli state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Israel is the only country in the region dedicated to peace and the only power capable of stable, just and democratic government in the region.
This solution is the best for everyone, especially the Palestinians. They will trade their two corrupt and inept governments and societies for a stable, free and prosperous one. Those Palestinians who wish to may leave their Fatah- and Hamas-created slums and move to the original Palestinian state: Jordan. The British Mandate for Palestine created Jordan as the country for the Palestinians. That is the only justification for its creation. Even now, 75 percent of its population is of Palestinian descent. Those Palestinians who remain behind in Israel will maintain limited voting power but will be awarded all the economic and civil rights of Israeli citizens. They will be free to raise families, start businesses and live in peace, all of which are impossible under current Arab rule.
The two-state solution has failed. Only a one-state solution - a single, undivided Israel - will bring peace, security and prosperity to Israelis and Palestinians alike. It’s time for the United States to lead toward this. For more than 60 years, though peace has been the goal, common sense and basic human morality have been ignored. So peace has never come. We’ve had it backward all these years: The goal should not be peace at all costs. The goal should be a strong, free and prosperous Israel. The United States should not be some honest broker between two sides, but rather should stand publicly with one side - Israel. Then, and only then, will real peace truly come.
The Palestinians have vowed there will be only one state ‘from the (Jordan) river to the (Mediterranean) sea' – a Palestinian state. Congressman Joe Walsh, an Illinois Republican, has come up with a much better solution – a Jewish state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
MYTH OF A TWO-STATE SOLUTION
Palestinians fighting Israel and each other put peace out of reach
By Rep. Joe Walsh
The Washington Times
May 3, 2012
It has been 64 years since the United Nations General Assembly approved the Partition Plan for Palestine and the struggle to implement a “two-state solution” began. Today, we are no closer to that end. That reminds me of the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. By that definition, everyone who continues to cling to the delusion of a two-state solution is insane. There is no such thing as a two-state solution. It cannot work, it has not worked, and it will not work.
The only viable solution for the Middle East is a one-state solution: one contiguous Israeli state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. There will not and cannot be lasting peace in the Middle East until then.
Ever since the Palestinians and Arab countries refused to accept the Mandate for Palestine in the 1920s, the original two-state solution, the international community has been catering to Palestinian and Arab demands for a divided Israel. The Palestinians and Arabs, however, repeatedly have rejected those proposals, including the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan, which they are using to justify their demands for a divided Israel. Enough is enough. Why is the international community continuing to kowtow to these demands when, for 64 years, the Palestinians and Arabs have worked against peace? Israel is the only country in the region that has shown that it wants and will work toward peace. Since 1947, the Palestinians and Arab countries have fought more than five wars against Israel over territory, and at each opportunity, a victorious Israel has returned land it acquired in exchange for peace.
The Palestinians have broken their word again and again. They continue to fire rockets directly at innocent Israeli families and children, and they have betrayed the fundamental tenet of the two-state solution they tout by cutting Israel out of negotiations and going directly to the United Nations. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to incite violence against Israelis. It pays the salaries of imprisoned terrorists convicted of killing Israelis and glorifies suicide bombers at public events. The PA’s magazine Zayzafuna recently presented Hitler as a role model for Palestinian youth because of all the Jews he killed.
Most important, how can a people divided between radically different and violently opposed factions possibly govern a single state overnight? Right now, the Palestinians are divided between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Fatah in the West Bank. Those factions fought a civil war no more than five years ago and are fundamentally irreconcilable. Who would govern a unified Palestinian state?
The two-state solution can never work when one of the domains, the Palestinian state, does not even acknowledge the other state’s (Israel‘s) right to exist and has as its entire purpose in life wiping Israel off the face of the earth. Never will peace come when one side possesses such hate and routinely expresses that hate through violence and blood. It is time to let go of the two-state-solution insanity and adopt the only solution that will bring true peace to the Middle East: a single Israeli state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Israel is the only country in the region dedicated to peace and the only power capable of stable, just and democratic government in the region.
This solution is the best for everyone, especially the Palestinians. They will trade their two corrupt and inept governments and societies for a stable, free and prosperous one. Those Palestinians who wish to may leave their Fatah- and Hamas-created slums and move to the original Palestinian state: Jordan. The British Mandate for Palestine created Jordan as the country for the Palestinians. That is the only justification for its creation. Even now, 75 percent of its population is of Palestinian descent. Those Palestinians who remain behind in Israel will maintain limited voting power but will be awarded all the economic and civil rights of Israeli citizens. They will be free to raise families, start businesses and live in peace, all of which are impossible under current Arab rule.
The two-state solution has failed. Only a one-state solution - a single, undivided Israel - will bring peace, security and prosperity to Israelis and Palestinians alike. It’s time for the United States to lead toward this. For more than 60 years, though peace has been the goal, common sense and basic human morality have been ignored. So peace has never come. We’ve had it backward all these years: The goal should not be peace at all costs. The goal should be a strong, free and prosperous Israel. The United States should not be some honest broker between two sides, but rather should stand publicly with one side - Israel. Then, and only then, will real peace truly come.
NO WONDER OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE FAILING
Hair Balls wonders, WTF? What the fuck is right! Whatever possessed the educated idiots in the Perryton Independent School District to approve its annual "Red Ribbon Day"? Red Ribbon? I suppose that was their version of the yellow Star of David that Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis. If the educated idiots were trying to show their students what the Jews had to go through under Hitler, they failed miserably. The Red Ribbon school exercises can in no way depict the horror Jews faced in the Nazi extermination camps. No wonder our public schools are failing.
WTF? STUDENT SUES OVER TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL’S “NAZI DAY,” SAYS HE WAS INJURED PORTRAYING A JEW
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
May 18, 2012
A former Texas high school student has filed a federal lawsuit saying he was injured while portraying a Jew during a Panhandle school's traditional day of Nazi roleplay.
Perryton High -- located just south of the Oklahoma border -- has an annual "Red Ribbon Day" in which half the students portray Jews in the Nazi era and are forced to obey any commands by students or teachers and be subjected to random discipline, the suit says.
The students playing Jews wear red ribbons.
"[Red ribbon students] must do everything school faculty or other students tell them to, including picking up other students' trash, being taken outside and sprayed with water hoses, bear-crawling across the hot track, carrying other students' books, and even carrying other students," says the suit, filed in federal court by Andrew Yara, 19. "Engaging in this exercise was compulsory, with it constituting 60 percent of a major test grade for students in their World History Class, and any student who did not do everything they were told were receive a failing grade."
Yara says he weighed 100 pounds and was forced to carry a 170-pound student around. He has suffered back injuries and other medical conditions, according to the suit.
Students portraying Jews were also ordered by teachers to stand against a hallway law until one of the Nazi-playing students needed them for something, the suit says.
It seeks unspecified monetary damages and attorney's fees.
We've called the Perryton ISD superintendent but haven't heard back.
Ochiltree County, where Perryton is located, appears to be short on actual Jews, by the way.
WTF? STUDENT SUES OVER TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL’S “NAZI DAY,” SAYS HE WAS INJURED PORTRAYING A JEW
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
May 18, 2012
A former Texas high school student has filed a federal lawsuit saying he was injured while portraying a Jew during a Panhandle school's traditional day of Nazi roleplay.
Perryton High -- located just south of the Oklahoma border -- has an annual "Red Ribbon Day" in which half the students portray Jews in the Nazi era and are forced to obey any commands by students or teachers and be subjected to random discipline, the suit says.
The students playing Jews wear red ribbons.
"[Red ribbon students] must do everything school faculty or other students tell them to, including picking up other students' trash, being taken outside and sprayed with water hoses, bear-crawling across the hot track, carrying other students' books, and even carrying other students," says the suit, filed in federal court by Andrew Yara, 19. "Engaging in this exercise was compulsory, with it constituting 60 percent of a major test grade for students in their World History Class, and any student who did not do everything they were told were receive a failing grade."
Yara says he weighed 100 pounds and was forced to carry a 170-pound student around. He has suffered back injuries and other medical conditions, according to the suit.
Students portraying Jews were also ordered by teachers to stand against a hallway law until one of the Nazi-playing students needed them for something, the suit says.
It seeks unspecified monetary damages and attorney's fees.
We've called the Perryton ISD superintendent but haven't heard back.
Ochiltree County, where Perryton is located, appears to be short on actual Jews, by the way.
LET MURDERER OF SIX SUFFER ON DEATH ROW
The taxpayers should not be expected to spend tens of thousands of dollars for hip replacement surgery for a killer soon (hopefully) to be executed
To hell with replacing a hip for this worthless piece of shit. Let him suffer! He’s been on Kentucky’s death row since 1993. If it wasn’t for numerous appeals, he would not have suffered any pain before his execution.
SHOULD KILLER OF SIX BE GIVEN A NEW HJIP BEFORE EXECUTION?
By Brett Barrouguere
Associated Press
May 17, 2012
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A condemned killer's fight to receive surgery for agonizing hip pain pushed Kentucky officials into an uncomfortable debate over security, politics and even the possibility of inviting scorn from Fox News pundits.
Emails and memos obtained by The Associated Press show corrections officials struggling for a year to reconcile their duty to provide medical care with the political ramifications of spending tens of thousands of dollars for surgery on a man they plan to execute. A key problem would turn out to be security issues that led several hospitals to balk at treating inmate Robert Foley, who still hasn't had the surgery.
"Hip replacement for an inmate who has exhausted all appeals and will soon be executed?" Kentucky State Penitentiary warden Phil Parker wrote in an email on Nov. 22, 2010. "I can see this making Fox News on a slow news day, maybe even on a busy news day. In fact, I bet (Fox News host Bill O'Reilly) would love to put this in his `Pinheads' commentary. Just a thought to consider before it goes too much further."
Prison officials also made contingency plans to call off the surgery if Gov. Steve Beshear set an execution date, and they considered whether to consult with him about the procedure.
"I think it is that important and all this may have political consequences," Parker wrote a year before Beshear's re-election. Ultimately, Beshear's spokeswoman said he wasn't contacted about it.
Foley, 55, was convicted of killing six people in eastern Kentucky in 1989 and 1991, making him the most prolific killer on the state's Death Row. His status as an extremely dangerous prisoner was a key factor in the state's difficulty finding a surgeon and hospital, according to the documents obtained through a public records request and a lawsuit filed by Foley.
Foley still hasn't had the surgery, with Parker lamenting in an email they had no options after an exhaustive search.
State officials deny that politics played a role, and there's no evidence in the documents that political considerations prevented the surgery.
A spokeswoman for the Kentucky Justice Cabinet - which oversees corrections and law enforcement - declined to comment because of the pending lawsuit.
Foley's attorney, Jamesa Drake, said the state needs a way to care for condemned inmates, even those with complex needs. Foley, who has been on Death Row since 1993, is unable to get around without help because he's at risk of a dangerous fall, Drake said.
"If you're on Death Row, it's just like anybody else," Drake said. "If you need a new hip, you need a new hip. It hurts."
The Department of Corrections acknowledged his degenerative hip in a response to the lawsuit, but also said he has been receiving adequate care. The federal lawsuit filed in March is pending.
Corrections Department attorney Brenn Combs wrote to Drake that the Department of Corrections couldn't enter into a legal agreement about the hip surgery because it would impose requirements exceeding "our legal duty regarding inmate health care."
"The Department is not interested in doing that and, like me, nobody else here can see a way that it would help inmate Foley," Combs said in a Nov. 14 email.
It's not unusual for inmates to receive treatment outside of prison, and Foley has twice left Death Row for other surgical procedures.
Foley first complained to prison officials about the persistent pain in his right hip in September 2010, according to the lawsuit.
Foley initially didn't want the surgery and tried to fashion his own hip brace out of "flip flops and other everyday items." Foley said the brace helped with the pain in an affidavit signed in February, but prison officials confiscated it.
After Foley agreed to the surgery, officials searched for a doctor to perform the $56,000 operation. At the time, Foley was under a death warrant signed by Beshear.
"If and when an order is received to execute Foley, I will contact (then-prison medical director Dr. Scott Haas) to try to stop all medical procedures related to his hip replacement," Parker wrote.
No execution date was set, and a judge later halted lethal injections as the state weighs execution procedures. It's not clear when executions could resume.
While looking for a hospital, corrections officials increased Foley's pain medication and looked into the logistics of moving him.
But prison nurse Chanin Hiland wrote in a September 2010 email to Haas that orthopedists in Paducah, Madisonville and Murray had been contacted, and "none of them want any part of this."
"The farther we have to go, the more security will have to be sent with him; although, it is obvious he will not be running anywhere soon," Hiland wrote. Foley's hepatitis C infection was a further risk factor.
In November of that year, Parker and Haas asked Corrections Commissioner LaDonna Thompson for advice on security. Parker also wrote Hass about his concerns about publicity and whether he could be safety housed outside the prison system.
The difficulty in finding a surgeon illustrates the "gray area" between the law's requirement of treatment for inmates and a hospital's ability to turn down those patients, said Rebecca Walker, an associate professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
"Everyone would probably agree he ought to get his care somewhere. It's a collective responsibility," Walker said in a phone interview. "Who does it is the question."
After finding a doctor to perform the surgery, Foley and corrections officials thought they had found a hospital when Frankfort Regional Medical Center initially agreed. Corrections officials and the hospital set the surgery for Feb. 28, 2011, and conducted preoperative testing.
During a meeting between corrections officials and hospital staff on Feb. 22, 2011, hospital CEO Chip Peal said he hadn't been aware the surgery was scheduled for less than a week later. A memo by Parker summarized security measures and noted that Peal needed others' approval.
Peal returned to the meeting after 30 minutes and said the surgery was off.
"CEO Peal stated that they never had a patient at the hospital that required security and that he felt this was too high a profile person to be the first," Parker wrote.
To hell with replacing a hip for this worthless piece of shit. Let him suffer! He’s been on Kentucky’s death row since 1993. If it wasn’t for numerous appeals, he would not have suffered any pain before his execution.
SHOULD KILLER OF SIX BE GIVEN A NEW HJIP BEFORE EXECUTION?
By Brett Barrouguere
Associated Press
May 17, 2012
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A condemned killer's fight to receive surgery for agonizing hip pain pushed Kentucky officials into an uncomfortable debate over security, politics and even the possibility of inviting scorn from Fox News pundits.
Emails and memos obtained by The Associated Press show corrections officials struggling for a year to reconcile their duty to provide medical care with the political ramifications of spending tens of thousands of dollars for surgery on a man they plan to execute. A key problem would turn out to be security issues that led several hospitals to balk at treating inmate Robert Foley, who still hasn't had the surgery.
"Hip replacement for an inmate who has exhausted all appeals and will soon be executed?" Kentucky State Penitentiary warden Phil Parker wrote in an email on Nov. 22, 2010. "I can see this making Fox News on a slow news day, maybe even on a busy news day. In fact, I bet (Fox News host Bill O'Reilly) would love to put this in his `Pinheads' commentary. Just a thought to consider before it goes too much further."
Prison officials also made contingency plans to call off the surgery if Gov. Steve Beshear set an execution date, and they considered whether to consult with him about the procedure.
"I think it is that important and all this may have political consequences," Parker wrote a year before Beshear's re-election. Ultimately, Beshear's spokeswoman said he wasn't contacted about it.
Foley, 55, was convicted of killing six people in eastern Kentucky in 1989 and 1991, making him the most prolific killer on the state's Death Row. His status as an extremely dangerous prisoner was a key factor in the state's difficulty finding a surgeon and hospital, according to the documents obtained through a public records request and a lawsuit filed by Foley.
Foley still hasn't had the surgery, with Parker lamenting in an email they had no options after an exhaustive search.
State officials deny that politics played a role, and there's no evidence in the documents that political considerations prevented the surgery.
A spokeswoman for the Kentucky Justice Cabinet - which oversees corrections and law enforcement - declined to comment because of the pending lawsuit.
Foley's attorney, Jamesa Drake, said the state needs a way to care for condemned inmates, even those with complex needs. Foley, who has been on Death Row since 1993, is unable to get around without help because he's at risk of a dangerous fall, Drake said.
"If you're on Death Row, it's just like anybody else," Drake said. "If you need a new hip, you need a new hip. It hurts."
The Department of Corrections acknowledged his degenerative hip in a response to the lawsuit, but also said he has been receiving adequate care. The federal lawsuit filed in March is pending.
Corrections Department attorney Brenn Combs wrote to Drake that the Department of Corrections couldn't enter into a legal agreement about the hip surgery because it would impose requirements exceeding "our legal duty regarding inmate health care."
"The Department is not interested in doing that and, like me, nobody else here can see a way that it would help inmate Foley," Combs said in a Nov. 14 email.
It's not unusual for inmates to receive treatment outside of prison, and Foley has twice left Death Row for other surgical procedures.
Foley first complained to prison officials about the persistent pain in his right hip in September 2010, according to the lawsuit.
Foley initially didn't want the surgery and tried to fashion his own hip brace out of "flip flops and other everyday items." Foley said the brace helped with the pain in an affidavit signed in February, but prison officials confiscated it.
After Foley agreed to the surgery, officials searched for a doctor to perform the $56,000 operation. At the time, Foley was under a death warrant signed by Beshear.
"If and when an order is received to execute Foley, I will contact (then-prison medical director Dr. Scott Haas) to try to stop all medical procedures related to his hip replacement," Parker wrote.
No execution date was set, and a judge later halted lethal injections as the state weighs execution procedures. It's not clear when executions could resume.
While looking for a hospital, corrections officials increased Foley's pain medication and looked into the logistics of moving him.
But prison nurse Chanin Hiland wrote in a September 2010 email to Haas that orthopedists in Paducah, Madisonville and Murray had been contacted, and "none of them want any part of this."
"The farther we have to go, the more security will have to be sent with him; although, it is obvious he will not be running anywhere soon," Hiland wrote. Foley's hepatitis C infection was a further risk factor.
In November of that year, Parker and Haas asked Corrections Commissioner LaDonna Thompson for advice on security. Parker also wrote Hass about his concerns about publicity and whether he could be safety housed outside the prison system.
The difficulty in finding a surgeon illustrates the "gray area" between the law's requirement of treatment for inmates and a hospital's ability to turn down those patients, said Rebecca Walker, an associate professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
"Everyone would probably agree he ought to get his care somewhere. It's a collective responsibility," Walker said in a phone interview. "Who does it is the question."
After finding a doctor to perform the surgery, Foley and corrections officials thought they had found a hospital when Frankfort Regional Medical Center initially agreed. Corrections officials and the hospital set the surgery for Feb. 28, 2011, and conducted preoperative testing.
During a meeting between corrections officials and hospital staff on Feb. 22, 2011, hospital CEO Chip Peal said he hadn't been aware the surgery was scheduled for less than a week later. A memo by Parker summarized security measures and noted that Peal needed others' approval.
Peal returned to the meeting after 30 minutes and said the surgery was off.
"CEO Peal stated that they never had a patient at the hospital that required security and that he felt this was too high a profile person to be the first," Parker wrote.
NON-LETHAL WEAPONS DANGEROUS WHEN USED IMPROPERLY
Cop’s JPX pepper spray gun severely injured woman and left her permanently blind
While non-lethal weapons like Tasers, pepper spray guns and bean bags have been issued to cops because of allegations that the police resort to deadly force far too often, these devices, when used improperly, have caused serious injuries and even deaths.
I don’t like to prejudge an accused cop when I don’t have all the facts, but based on the grand jury indictments in this case, it sure looks like the cop was on the wrong side of the law by his improper use of a pepper spray gun.
CALIFORNIA COP ON LEAVE PENDING PEPPER SPRAY OUTCOME
Beaumont police Officer Enoch Clark told investigators that he was retreating three feet away from an argumentative woman who may have been driving drunk
By John Asbury
The Press Enterprise
May 18, 2012
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A Beaumont police officer said he feared for his life when he shot a woman in the face with a high-powered pepper spray gun in February, according to Riverside County grand jury transcripts released this week.
Beaumont police Officer Enoch Clark told investigators that he was retreating three feet away from an argumentative woman who may have been driving drunk, despite a dashcam video that shows him shooting pepper spray in her eyes from less than a foot away, the transcripts say.
The pepper spray gun, called a JPX, fires gun powder-propelled pepper spray at speeds of 400 mph, prosecutors said.
Clark, who had been trained not to use the gun at any less than five feet away, fired the device about 10 inches away from the eyes of Monique Christina Hernandez, 32, of Beaumont, according to prosecutors.
The double-barreled shot of pepper spray sliced her right eye in half and fractured her orbital bone. Her left eye's optic nerve was also severely damaged, leaving her permanently blind.
Clark and his attorney were not part of the grand jury proceedings. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and has a tentative trial date set next month.
"This case will come down to perspective and intent," Clark's attorney, Kasey Castillo, said in an email. "The grand jury transcripts contain the unchallenged testimony of only a handful of those involved in this case and for the purpose of garnering a filing decision."
"I am confident that once the trial jury hears all of the facts, Officer Clark's good name and reputation will be restored and he will be found innocent of any wrongdoing," Castillo said.
The criminal grand jury returned an indictment on four felonies last month after three days of testimony. Clark is charged with assault by a police officer, assault with a less-lethal weapon, use of force causing serious bodily injury and assault with a weapon likely to cause great bodily injury.
"There's one person responsible for that. It's not the department of Beaumont. It's not the makers of JPX and it's not Monique either," Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Mike Carney told the grand jury. "People are going to commit misdemeanors and need to be arrested. They don't need to wind up like this."
Clark, a seven-year police officer, is on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the case.
Beaumont police began training officers to use the JPX guns in May 2010. The department removed all of the weapons immediately following the incident with Clark and they are no longer in use, Beaumont police spokeswoman Darvi Mulvihill said.
Hernandez said she cooperated fully and never tried to attack Clark.
"Well instantly it was painful," Hernandez said. "I believe I screamed or cried. I instantly saw a bright white light and I couldn't see. I instantly peed my pants. I felt like I couldn't function or move my body. I just kind of felt stunned, you know, like in shock," according to the transcripts.
A group of Beaumont residents are planning a "solidarity march" for Hernandez on June 2 at Beaumont City Hall.
Much of the evidence may rely on a police car's dashboard video shown to the grand jury, which captured the incident and the attempted arrest. Prosecutors have declined to make the video public, shielding it as evidence in the pending case.
In an interview one week after the incident with Riverside County sheriff's detectives, Clark told authorities that he distanced himself, about three feet, from Hernandez when he fired the pepper spray gun.
He said he was afraid Hernandez was going to "gouge his eyes out" with the handcuffs he was using to arrest her and was afraid that she and her family were going to kill him and his partner.
Hernandez's family stood on their front lawn yelling at police during the arrest, but they obeyed commands and never made any threats, according to testimony.
Clark was initially called to a Beaumont home where residents reported Hernandez and her sister were fighting with her sister's ex-boyfriend. When police arrived, Hernandez had left and the family reported Hernandez may have been driving drunk, Carney said.
Another police officer waited at Hernandez's house until she came home about 9 p.m. He detained Hernandez and her sister while waiting for Clark to arrive, according to testimony.
Clark gave Hernandez a roadside sobriety test outside her home but couldn't get a breath analysis tester to function properly. Instead, he opted to arrest her based on probable cause on suspicion of DUI, Beaumont police officers testified.
Beaumont police have recommended DUI charges, but nothing has been filed. Prosecutors are still reviewing the case.
As Clark handcuffed Hernandez's left arm behind her back, she threw her right arm into the air and turned around trying to ask what her blood alcohol concentration level was. Clark told her repeatedly to "stop resisting," eventually leaning her over the hood of his police car, according to testimony.
While pinned against the patrol car, with both arms held behind her back, police said Hernandez began wiggling and then Clark sprayed her with the gun.
"Now the reason why every time a police officer has to use one of those weapons, he's not charged with anything, is 99.9 percent of the time … they have a legal justification," Carney said. "We're here in this case because what he did on that night to Monique Hernandez was not justified. It was a criminal offense."
While non-lethal weapons like Tasers, pepper spray guns and bean bags have been issued to cops because of allegations that the police resort to deadly force far too often, these devices, when used improperly, have caused serious injuries and even deaths.
I don’t like to prejudge an accused cop when I don’t have all the facts, but based on the grand jury indictments in this case, it sure looks like the cop was on the wrong side of the law by his improper use of a pepper spray gun.
CALIFORNIA COP ON LEAVE PENDING PEPPER SPRAY OUTCOME
Beaumont police Officer Enoch Clark told investigators that he was retreating three feet away from an argumentative woman who may have been driving drunk
By John Asbury
The Press Enterprise
May 18, 2012
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A Beaumont police officer said he feared for his life when he shot a woman in the face with a high-powered pepper spray gun in February, according to Riverside County grand jury transcripts released this week.
Beaumont police Officer Enoch Clark told investigators that he was retreating three feet away from an argumentative woman who may have been driving drunk, despite a dashcam video that shows him shooting pepper spray in her eyes from less than a foot away, the transcripts say.
The pepper spray gun, called a JPX, fires gun powder-propelled pepper spray at speeds of 400 mph, prosecutors said.
Clark, who had been trained not to use the gun at any less than five feet away, fired the device about 10 inches away from the eyes of Monique Christina Hernandez, 32, of Beaumont, according to prosecutors.
The double-barreled shot of pepper spray sliced her right eye in half and fractured her orbital bone. Her left eye's optic nerve was also severely damaged, leaving her permanently blind.
Clark and his attorney were not part of the grand jury proceedings. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and has a tentative trial date set next month.
"This case will come down to perspective and intent," Clark's attorney, Kasey Castillo, said in an email. "The grand jury transcripts contain the unchallenged testimony of only a handful of those involved in this case and for the purpose of garnering a filing decision."
"I am confident that once the trial jury hears all of the facts, Officer Clark's good name and reputation will be restored and he will be found innocent of any wrongdoing," Castillo said.
The criminal grand jury returned an indictment on four felonies last month after three days of testimony. Clark is charged with assault by a police officer, assault with a less-lethal weapon, use of force causing serious bodily injury and assault with a weapon likely to cause great bodily injury.
"There's one person responsible for that. It's not the department of Beaumont. It's not the makers of JPX and it's not Monique either," Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Mike Carney told the grand jury. "People are going to commit misdemeanors and need to be arrested. They don't need to wind up like this."
Clark, a seven-year police officer, is on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the case.
Beaumont police began training officers to use the JPX guns in May 2010. The department removed all of the weapons immediately following the incident with Clark and they are no longer in use, Beaumont police spokeswoman Darvi Mulvihill said.
Hernandez said she cooperated fully and never tried to attack Clark.
"Well instantly it was painful," Hernandez said. "I believe I screamed or cried. I instantly saw a bright white light and I couldn't see. I instantly peed my pants. I felt like I couldn't function or move my body. I just kind of felt stunned, you know, like in shock," according to the transcripts.
A group of Beaumont residents are planning a "solidarity march" for Hernandez on June 2 at Beaumont City Hall.
Much of the evidence may rely on a police car's dashboard video shown to the grand jury, which captured the incident and the attempted arrest. Prosecutors have declined to make the video public, shielding it as evidence in the pending case.
In an interview one week after the incident with Riverside County sheriff's detectives, Clark told authorities that he distanced himself, about three feet, from Hernandez when he fired the pepper spray gun.
He said he was afraid Hernandez was going to "gouge his eyes out" with the handcuffs he was using to arrest her and was afraid that she and her family were going to kill him and his partner.
Hernandez's family stood on their front lawn yelling at police during the arrest, but they obeyed commands and never made any threats, according to testimony.
Clark was initially called to a Beaumont home where residents reported Hernandez and her sister were fighting with her sister's ex-boyfriend. When police arrived, Hernandez had left and the family reported Hernandez may have been driving drunk, Carney said.
Another police officer waited at Hernandez's house until she came home about 9 p.m. He detained Hernandez and her sister while waiting for Clark to arrive, according to testimony.
Clark gave Hernandez a roadside sobriety test outside her home but couldn't get a breath analysis tester to function properly. Instead, he opted to arrest her based on probable cause on suspicion of DUI, Beaumont police officers testified.
Beaumont police have recommended DUI charges, but nothing has been filed. Prosecutors are still reviewing the case.
As Clark handcuffed Hernandez's left arm behind her back, she threw her right arm into the air and turned around trying to ask what her blood alcohol concentration level was. Clark told her repeatedly to "stop resisting," eventually leaning her over the hood of his police car, according to testimony.
While pinned against the patrol car, with both arms held behind her back, police said Hernandez began wiggling and then Clark sprayed her with the gun.
"Now the reason why every time a police officer has to use one of those weapons, he's not charged with anything, is 99.9 percent of the time … they have a legal justification," Carney said. "We're here in this case because what he did on that night to Monique Hernandez was not justified. It was a criminal offense."
Friday, May 18, 2012
SECRET SERVICE AGENT’S SECRET NO LONGER A SECRET
The jerk who refused to pay his Columbian hooker came on to a woman in a Dublin bar while ‘protecting’ Obama during an official visit to Ireland
Arthur Huntington must have figured that since he got laid for free in a New York hotel by a woman he came on to in in Ireland, he should have gotten laid for free in Columbia as well.
NEW WOMAN CLAIMS SECRECT SERVICE AGENT AT CENTER OF COLUMBIAN PROSTITUTE SCANDAL BEDDED HER WHILE HE WAS PROTECTING OBAMA
Single mother claims Arthur Huntington came on to her during President’s official visit to Ireland; told her he was a divorced father-of-two
By Kerry McQueeney
Mail Online
May 16, 2012
The Secret Service agent at the center of the Colombian prostitute scandal has been accused of playing away from home again - by a woman he met while he was protecting President Obama during an official visit to Ireland.
Secret Service Agent Arthur Huntington is alleged to have lied about being divorced to bed a Canadian woman he met in Dublin, where he had been assigned as part of the President's security team during his trip to the Irish capital in May 2011.
The woman, who only agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, said the agent’s wife 'deserves to know' about the liaison because his indiscretions were 'not a one-time thing'.
It wasn't until months later, when news broke of the scandal involving him and a prostitute from Cartegena, she realized he had lied to her, she has claimed.
The 42-year-old woman, a single mother-of-two, claims she felt 'sick' and 'used' when she discovered his dalliance with the hooker - and that he was married and living in Maryland with his wife and children.
She claims she 'never would have gone near him' had she known the truth about the agent, the New York Daily News reported.
She has described in detail the night Huntington allegedly came on to her in a Dublin pub, with the line: 'You're not getting away from me tonight.'
The brunette said while he did not try to bed her that night, 41-year-old Huntington then pursued her by email for months until the pair met in Manhattan for a two-day tryst in August last year.
She claimed Huntington told her he was a divorced father-of-two and he bedded her in the Marriott East Side, on Lexington Avenue in New York.
She told the New York Daily News: 'Why is it the President is the only one that should have morals? The people that are protecting him should be mindful of what they are doing.
'He’s under a microscope now because he’s put himself there. '(His) job is more than a job. It’s a responsibility.
'I feel used. He actively pursued me while he was married - and not only me. How many more others?'
She said she continued to keep in touch with the agent until his Colombia trip last month. Shortly afterwards she discovered the truth.
Huntington sparked the prostitution scandal in Colombia in April, which brought shame on Obama's administration.
The Secret Service Agent spent the night with Dania Suarez while on duty in South America but paid only $28 of his $800 tab,
His encounter with the escort led to police being called to the luxury Hotel Caribe, and subsequently a major Secret Service investigation where nine agents lost their jobs.
The scandal overshadowed Barack Obama's visit to the Summit of the Americas.
The Canadian woman said the only good thing she could say about Huntington was that he paid for her dinners and drinks - in contrast to his actions in Cartegena, she told the New York Daily News.
Arthur Huntington must have figured that since he got laid for free in a New York hotel by a woman he came on to in in Ireland, he should have gotten laid for free in Columbia as well.
NEW WOMAN CLAIMS SECRECT SERVICE AGENT AT CENTER OF COLUMBIAN PROSTITUTE SCANDAL BEDDED HER WHILE HE WAS PROTECTING OBAMA
Single mother claims Arthur Huntington came on to her during President’s official visit to Ireland; told her he was a divorced father-of-two
By Kerry McQueeney
Mail Online
May 16, 2012
The Secret Service agent at the center of the Colombian prostitute scandal has been accused of playing away from home again - by a woman he met while he was protecting President Obama during an official visit to Ireland.
Secret Service Agent Arthur Huntington is alleged to have lied about being divorced to bed a Canadian woman he met in Dublin, where he had been assigned as part of the President's security team during his trip to the Irish capital in May 2011.
The woman, who only agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, said the agent’s wife 'deserves to know' about the liaison because his indiscretions were 'not a one-time thing'.
It wasn't until months later, when news broke of the scandal involving him and a prostitute from Cartegena, she realized he had lied to her, she has claimed.
The 42-year-old woman, a single mother-of-two, claims she felt 'sick' and 'used' when she discovered his dalliance with the hooker - and that he was married and living in Maryland with his wife and children.
She claims she 'never would have gone near him' had she known the truth about the agent, the New York Daily News reported.
She has described in detail the night Huntington allegedly came on to her in a Dublin pub, with the line: 'You're not getting away from me tonight.'
The brunette said while he did not try to bed her that night, 41-year-old Huntington then pursued her by email for months until the pair met in Manhattan for a two-day tryst in August last year.
She claimed Huntington told her he was a divorced father-of-two and he bedded her in the Marriott East Side, on Lexington Avenue in New York.
She told the New York Daily News: 'Why is it the President is the only one that should have morals? The people that are protecting him should be mindful of what they are doing.
'He’s under a microscope now because he’s put himself there. '(His) job is more than a job. It’s a responsibility.
'I feel used. He actively pursued me while he was married - and not only me. How many more others?'
She said she continued to keep in touch with the agent until his Colombia trip last month. Shortly afterwards she discovered the truth.
Huntington sparked the prostitution scandal in Colombia in April, which brought shame on Obama's administration.
The Secret Service Agent spent the night with Dania Suarez while on duty in South America but paid only $28 of his $800 tab,
His encounter with the escort led to police being called to the luxury Hotel Caribe, and subsequently a major Secret Service investigation where nine agents lost their jobs.
The scandal overshadowed Barack Obama's visit to the Summit of the Americas.
The Canadian woman said the only good thing she could say about Huntington was that he paid for her dinners and drinks - in contrast to his actions in Cartegena, she told the New York Daily News.
DON’T DRIVE AND TEXT OR HANDLE ANY OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES WHILE DRIVING
Cop stopped driver for weaving all over the road while setting his GPS; drug sniffing dog scores 30 pounds of pot
The idiot forgot that you’re not supposed to get distracted by operating your electronic devices while driving.
STEVEN COX: THIS CLOSE TO NOT GETTING BUSTED WITH 30 POUNDS OF WEED
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
May 17, 2012
Steven Cox used to be a jailer for Galveston County, but left that job for the greener pastures of working for a Dollar General store.
He's back in the jail business now, but on the other side of the bars. He was arrested for possession of 30 pounds of marijuana in a case where it sounds like he almost got away with nothing but a traffic ticket.
Cox was driving his 2012 Toyota on U.S. 59 near Cleveland last night when a member of the Montgomery County Precinct 4 constable's office noted him weaving and unable to stay in the lane, the Montgomery County Police Reporter says.
No biggie...almost.
"Deputy [Kevin]Cooke determined he was not impaired but apparently distracted with setting a GPS he had on the seat," the MCPR said.
Yessss!!
"As Deputy Cooke was issuing a citation Cox became very nervous," the report continues. "He refused consent to search his vehicle. Cooke then deployed his K-9 and as the dog walked around the car the dog jumped through the drivers window and into the back seat attempting to get into the trunk behind the seat."
Noooo!!
The dog found two suitcases containing 30 pounds of marijuana. Cox had told the deputy he was headed to Chicago to meet a buddy who'd just graduated from the Great Lakes Naval Academy.
That graduation celebration will be a little less celebratory, it seems.
The idiot forgot that you’re not supposed to get distracted by operating your electronic devices while driving.
STEVEN COX: THIS CLOSE TO NOT GETTING BUSTED WITH 30 POUNDS OF WEED
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
May 17, 2012
Steven Cox used to be a jailer for Galveston County, but left that job for the greener pastures of working for a Dollar General store.
He's back in the jail business now, but on the other side of the bars. He was arrested for possession of 30 pounds of marijuana in a case where it sounds like he almost got away with nothing but a traffic ticket.
Cox was driving his 2012 Toyota on U.S. 59 near Cleveland last night when a member of the Montgomery County Precinct 4 constable's office noted him weaving and unable to stay in the lane, the Montgomery County Police Reporter says.
No biggie...almost.
"Deputy [Kevin]Cooke determined he was not impaired but apparently distracted with setting a GPS he had on the seat," the MCPR said.
Yessss!!
"As Deputy Cooke was issuing a citation Cox became very nervous," the report continues. "He refused consent to search his vehicle. Cooke then deployed his K-9 and as the dog walked around the car the dog jumped through the drivers window and into the back seat attempting to get into the trunk behind the seat."
Noooo!!
The dog found two suitcases containing 30 pounds of marijuana. Cox had told the deputy he was headed to Chicago to meet a buddy who'd just graduated from the Great Lakes Naval Academy.
That graduation celebration will be a little less celebratory, it seems.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
PROSECUTOR NOT LIKELY TO BE DETERRED BY ZIMMERMAN INJURIES
George Zimmerman’s family physician examined Trayvon Martin’s shooter on the day after the February 26 incident. The doctor reported that Zimmerman had suffered a "closed fracture" of his nose, two black eyes, two lacerations to the back of his head which did not require any stitches, and a minor back injury.
One would think that this report would deflate an over-zealous prosecutor’s case. Not so. The problem is that the examination was done one day after Martin’s death and was conducted by the family doctor, and not by a jail or hospital physician immediately after Zimmerman’s arrest.
Benjamin Crump, the Martin family's lawyer, told CNN, "What we do know is on February 26, the ER personnel did not believe his injuries were significant enough for him to go to the hospital. They didn't even put a Band-Aid on his head. That's important."
There is just no way that Zimmerman can get a fair trial, what with the threat of ‘Rodney King’ riots breaking out over an acquittal, not just in Florida, but in other parts of the country as well.
What juror is willing to face the prospect of receiving death threats, hate mail and even assault by voting to acquit the demonized Zimmerman? A juror voting for acquittal may have to move away from the community where he lives, get police protection, and pull his kids from their schools.
Angela Corey, the special prosecutor appointed by Florida’s governor to handle this case, has a reputation for overzealousness and for overcharging criminal defendants.
Corey is not the only one after Zimmerman’s ass. Eric Holder’s Justice Department is out to get him too. WFTV, ABC’s affiliate in Orlando, reports that the FBI is considering bringing federal hate-crime charges against Zimmerman, in which case he would face the death penalty.
Special prosecutor Angela Corey, the Martin family, Al Sharpton and his ilk, the black community and white liberal college students are all out for blood and will not be satisfied with anything short of a guilty verdict. Officials in many American cities fear the consequences of an acquittal. When Zimmerman goes to trial, he will be facing a racial and politically fueled judicial lynching.
UPDATE 5-17-12: The Florida State Attorney’s office released hundreds of documents today that appear to back up Zimmerman’s version of the Trayvon Martin Shooting.
The documents note that the confrontation could have been avoided had Zimmerman remained in his car and waited for the police to arrive as instructed by the 911 dispatcher. Now that’s a brilliant observation. Of course the confrontation could have been avoided. The convenience store clerks, who are killed almost daily in this country, would not have been killed had the shooters decided not to rob their stores. Zimmerman was stupid for getting out of his car, but stupidity is not a criminal offense.
One investigator wanted to arrest and charge Zimmerman with manslaughter but the state attorney at the time declined to accept any charges because he believed Zimmerman had immunity under Florida’s stand-your- ground law.
In his police report, Ricardo Ayala, one of the responding officers wrote, "Zimmerman was also bleeding from the nose and the back of his head." Another officer wrote, "I saw that Zimmerman's face was bloodied and it appeared to me that his nose was broken."
One police report about a witness interview read, "He witnesses a black male, wearing a dark colored 'hoodie' on top of a white or Hispanic male and throwing punches 'MMA (mixed martial arts) style. He then heard a pop. He stated that after hearing the pop, he observed the person he had previously observed on top of the other person (the male wearing the hoodie) laid out on the grass." Another witness told the police he saw a man on the ground yelling for help as he was repeatedly punched by another person who was on top of him.
Officer Christopher Serino, the lead investigator, wrote that Zimmerman could be heard "yelling for help as he was being battered by Trayvon Martin."
The police reports also note that after listening to the 911 tapes, Martin’s father told an investigator that the person yelling for help was not his son.
The autopsy report shows that Martin was shot in the heart from a distance of between 1 inch and 18 inches away, thereby backing up Zimmerman’s claim that he shot Trayvon during a struggle. And the autopsy report also shows that Martin had marijuana in his system.
All of these factors won’t make any difference to a pit bull prosecutor determined to get Zimmerman’s ass. Angela Corey had all these facts at hand when she charged him with second-degree murder. And the feds are waiting backstage to get Zimmerman’s ass in the unlikely event that he is acquitted by a state jury.
One would think that this report would deflate an over-zealous prosecutor’s case. Not so. The problem is that the examination was done one day after Martin’s death and was conducted by the family doctor, and not by a jail or hospital physician immediately after Zimmerman’s arrest.
Benjamin Crump, the Martin family's lawyer, told CNN, "What we do know is on February 26, the ER personnel did not believe his injuries were significant enough for him to go to the hospital. They didn't even put a Band-Aid on his head. That's important."
There is just no way that Zimmerman can get a fair trial, what with the threat of ‘Rodney King’ riots breaking out over an acquittal, not just in Florida, but in other parts of the country as well.
What juror is willing to face the prospect of receiving death threats, hate mail and even assault by voting to acquit the demonized Zimmerman? A juror voting for acquittal may have to move away from the community where he lives, get police protection, and pull his kids from their schools.
Angela Corey, the special prosecutor appointed by Florida’s governor to handle this case, has a reputation for overzealousness and for overcharging criminal defendants.
Corey is not the only one after Zimmerman’s ass. Eric Holder’s Justice Department is out to get him too. WFTV, ABC’s affiliate in Orlando, reports that the FBI is considering bringing federal hate-crime charges against Zimmerman, in which case he would face the death penalty.
Special prosecutor Angela Corey, the Martin family, Al Sharpton and his ilk, the black community and white liberal college students are all out for blood and will not be satisfied with anything short of a guilty verdict. Officials in many American cities fear the consequences of an acquittal. When Zimmerman goes to trial, he will be facing a racial and politically fueled judicial lynching.
UPDATE 5-17-12: The Florida State Attorney’s office released hundreds of documents today that appear to back up Zimmerman’s version of the Trayvon Martin Shooting.
The documents note that the confrontation could have been avoided had Zimmerman remained in his car and waited for the police to arrive as instructed by the 911 dispatcher. Now that’s a brilliant observation. Of course the confrontation could have been avoided. The convenience store clerks, who are killed almost daily in this country, would not have been killed had the shooters decided not to rob their stores. Zimmerman was stupid for getting out of his car, but stupidity is not a criminal offense.
One investigator wanted to arrest and charge Zimmerman with manslaughter but the state attorney at the time declined to accept any charges because he believed Zimmerman had immunity under Florida’s stand-your- ground law.
In his police report, Ricardo Ayala, one of the responding officers wrote, "Zimmerman was also bleeding from the nose and the back of his head." Another officer wrote, "I saw that Zimmerman's face was bloodied and it appeared to me that his nose was broken."
One police report about a witness interview read, "He witnesses a black male, wearing a dark colored 'hoodie' on top of a white or Hispanic male and throwing punches 'MMA (mixed martial arts) style. He then heard a pop. He stated that after hearing the pop, he observed the person he had previously observed on top of the other person (the male wearing the hoodie) laid out on the grass." Another witness told the police he saw a man on the ground yelling for help as he was repeatedly punched by another person who was on top of him.
Officer Christopher Serino, the lead investigator, wrote that Zimmerman could be heard "yelling for help as he was being battered by Trayvon Martin."
The police reports also note that after listening to the 911 tapes, Martin’s father told an investigator that the person yelling for help was not his son.
The autopsy report shows that Martin was shot in the heart from a distance of between 1 inch and 18 inches away, thereby backing up Zimmerman’s claim that he shot Trayvon during a struggle. And the autopsy report also shows that Martin had marijuana in his system.
All of these factors won’t make any difference to a pit bull prosecutor determined to get Zimmerman’s ass. Angela Corey had all these facts at hand when she charged him with second-degree murder. And the feds are waiting backstage to get Zimmerman’s ass in the unlikely event that he is acquitted by a state jury.
ISRAEL ACCUSED OF TRAINING SQUIRRELS, RATS, WILD BOARS, SHARKS AND MIGRATORY BIRDS TO ATTACK THE ARABS
Turkish authorities have just uncovered what they believe to be a devious Israeli plot of using migratory birds as spies. Of course, this is not the first time ridiculous accusations have been made that Israel has been training wild animals to attack the Arabs.
In 2007, Iranian intelligence services arrested fourteen squirrels that were suspected of conducting espionage within Iran’s borders. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the squirrels were carrying cameras, GPS equipment and listening devices. The IRNA reported that the squirrels were trained in espionage techniques and were believed to have been sent by Israel.
In 2008, the Palestinian Authority released a report by Dr. Hasan Khater, secretary-general of the Islamic-Christian Front in Jerusalem, which accused Israel of using poison-resistant rats to drive Arab residents of Jerusalem from their homes.
In 2009, the Palestinian Authority’s media outlets accused Israel of using wild boars in an engineered attack to destroy Arab crops in the West Bank.
In 2010, Egyptian authorities noted that numerous shark attacks near the Read Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, were a possible sign that Israel’s Mossad is using the deadly fish as a biological weapon, a means of harming Egypt’s tourist trade. And that same year, Iran again foiled another Israeli plot to use pigeons to spy on its uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.
TURKEY SUSPECTS DEAD BIRD IS ISRAELI SPY
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
May 16, 2012
Turkish media this week reported that local authorities have been inspecting the carcass of a dead bird as a suspected Israeli spy. Sadly, the story is not satire, but rather another indicator of the worsening relations between Israel and Turkey, which is today prepared to believe even the most ludicrous allegations against its former regional ally.
Israel's Yediot Ahronot picked up the story on Tuesday, reporting that the bird was found dead by a Turkish farmer, who became suspicious after discovering it was wearing a leg band inscribed with the word "Israel." Of course, ornithologists regularly attach leg bands to migrating birds. And with Israel sitting right in the middle of the main Europe-Africa migration paths, such research is commonplace in the Jewish state.
According to Turkish media, the bird carcass was taken by Turkish security services, who paid special attention to the fact that one of the nostrils was larger than the other. They apparently believed the enlarged nostril was potential evidence of Mossad tampering.
Not too many years ago, such a claim would have been dismissed long before reaching official levels, let alone Turkish national media. But of late, the current Turkish regime has been conditioning its people to view Israel in the same light as many of the regional Arab states, which have been taken in by ever more bizarre conspiracy theories regarding Israel, its capabilities and its designs on the Middle East.
In 2007, Iranian intelligence services arrested fourteen squirrels that were suspected of conducting espionage within Iran’s borders. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the squirrels were carrying cameras, GPS equipment and listening devices. The IRNA reported that the squirrels were trained in espionage techniques and were believed to have been sent by Israel.
In 2008, the Palestinian Authority released a report by Dr. Hasan Khater, secretary-general of the Islamic-Christian Front in Jerusalem, which accused Israel of using poison-resistant rats to drive Arab residents of Jerusalem from their homes.
In 2009, the Palestinian Authority’s media outlets accused Israel of using wild boars in an engineered attack to destroy Arab crops in the West Bank.
In 2010, Egyptian authorities noted that numerous shark attacks near the Read Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, were a possible sign that Israel’s Mossad is using the deadly fish as a biological weapon, a means of harming Egypt’s tourist trade. And that same year, Iran again foiled another Israeli plot to use pigeons to spy on its uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.
TURKEY SUSPECTS DEAD BIRD IS ISRAELI SPY
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
May 16, 2012
Turkish media this week reported that local authorities have been inspecting the carcass of a dead bird as a suspected Israeli spy. Sadly, the story is not satire, but rather another indicator of the worsening relations between Israel and Turkey, which is today prepared to believe even the most ludicrous allegations against its former regional ally.
Israel's Yediot Ahronot picked up the story on Tuesday, reporting that the bird was found dead by a Turkish farmer, who became suspicious after discovering it was wearing a leg band inscribed with the word "Israel." Of course, ornithologists regularly attach leg bands to migrating birds. And with Israel sitting right in the middle of the main Europe-Africa migration paths, such research is commonplace in the Jewish state.
According to Turkish media, the bird carcass was taken by Turkish security services, who paid special attention to the fact that one of the nostrils was larger than the other. They apparently believed the enlarged nostril was potential evidence of Mossad tampering.
Not too many years ago, such a claim would have been dismissed long before reaching official levels, let alone Turkish national media. But of late, the current Turkish regime has been conditioning its people to view Israel in the same light as many of the regional Arab states, which have been taken in by ever more bizarre conspiracy theories regarding Israel, its capabilities and its designs on the Middle East.
CROOKED COP GOT PROMOTED, HONEST COP GOT PERSECUTED
It’s the same old story of let's kill the messenger. But this time it cost the City of Los Angeles a million bucks.
CITY MUST PAY COP $1 MILLION IN RETALIATION CASE
By Andrew Blankstein
Los Angeles Times
May 15, 2012
The city of Los Angeles was ordered to pay just over $1 million in damages Tuesday after a jury found that LAPD officials retaliated against a sergeant who reported a superior officer for allegedly evading tolls for several months on the 91 Freeway.
Gregory W. Smith, the attorney representing Sgt. James Abbate, successfully argued that his client was subjected to retaliation and neglect-of-duty complaints after reporting the alleged violations by Ruben De La Torre, who worked in the LAPD's media relations office before being promoted to captain of the West Los Angeles Division.
De La Torre, who abruptly resigned last year in the midst of an LAPD internal affairs probe, was accused of repeatedly failing to pay proper tolls during commutes from his Inland Empire home to West Los Angeles.
In court, Smith presented evidence that De La Torre evaded tolls between March 2009 to January 2010, although he did not specify to jurors exactly how many of the alleged violations took place.
He also presented evidence that the former LAPD captain tried to cover up his alleged misdeeds by removing one of his license plates and taping over another. He was also accused of lying to LAPD investigators about the alleged misconduct.
Abbate, a 28-year-veteran, who had no history of prior personnel complaints, first raised concerns about De La Torre to his superiors in September 2009, according to Smith. De La Torre's alleged conduct was not addressed, but Abbate became the subject of two neglect-of-duty complaints, including an alleged failure to quickly send a squad car to the Getty Center-Malibu and take a domestic violence complaint.
Abbate was cleared of any wrongdoing, but Smith said De La Torre changed those findings to sustain the complaints against his client.
The Los Angeles County Superior Court jury, which voted 12-0 in favor of Abbate, reached its verdict in about four hours. The damages totaled just over $1 million and included $111,224 for future economic damages as well as past, non-economic damages of $475,000. In addition, the jury found future non-economic damages of $434,000.
The LAPD and the city attorney's office declined comment, citing a possible appeal in the case.
Smith, who has declared candidacy for Los Angeles city attorney, said the verdict was the latest in a string of victories for his clients who have sued the LAPD for retaliation.
"Despite numerous policies at the LAPD, attempts to stop retaliation [against whistleblowers] has failed," Smith said. "The policies aren't going to stop retaliation; it will require a change in culture from the rank of captain and above."
CITY MUST PAY COP $1 MILLION IN RETALIATION CASE
By Andrew Blankstein
Los Angeles Times
May 15, 2012
The city of Los Angeles was ordered to pay just over $1 million in damages Tuesday after a jury found that LAPD officials retaliated against a sergeant who reported a superior officer for allegedly evading tolls for several months on the 91 Freeway.
Gregory W. Smith, the attorney representing Sgt. James Abbate, successfully argued that his client was subjected to retaliation and neglect-of-duty complaints after reporting the alleged violations by Ruben De La Torre, who worked in the LAPD's media relations office before being promoted to captain of the West Los Angeles Division.
De La Torre, who abruptly resigned last year in the midst of an LAPD internal affairs probe, was accused of repeatedly failing to pay proper tolls during commutes from his Inland Empire home to West Los Angeles.
In court, Smith presented evidence that De La Torre evaded tolls between March 2009 to January 2010, although he did not specify to jurors exactly how many of the alleged violations took place.
He also presented evidence that the former LAPD captain tried to cover up his alleged misdeeds by removing one of his license plates and taping over another. He was also accused of lying to LAPD investigators about the alleged misconduct.
Abbate, a 28-year-veteran, who had no history of prior personnel complaints, first raised concerns about De La Torre to his superiors in September 2009, according to Smith. De La Torre's alleged conduct was not addressed, but Abbate became the subject of two neglect-of-duty complaints, including an alleged failure to quickly send a squad car to the Getty Center-Malibu and take a domestic violence complaint.
Abbate was cleared of any wrongdoing, but Smith said De La Torre changed those findings to sustain the complaints against his client.
The Los Angeles County Superior Court jury, which voted 12-0 in favor of Abbate, reached its verdict in about four hours. The damages totaled just over $1 million and included $111,224 for future economic damages as well as past, non-economic damages of $475,000. In addition, the jury found future non-economic damages of $434,000.
The LAPD and the city attorney's office declined comment, citing a possible appeal in the case.
Smith, who has declared candidacy for Los Angeles city attorney, said the verdict was the latest in a string of victories for his clients who have sued the LAPD for retaliation.
"Despite numerous policies at the LAPD, attempts to stop retaliation [against whistleblowers] has failed," Smith said. "The policies aren't going to stop retaliation; it will require a change in culture from the rank of captain and above."
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
TSA: 89-YEAR-OLD HENRY KISSINGER FITS THE PROFILE OF A PLANE HIJACKER
Former Secretary of State arrived at LaGuardia security checkpoint in a wheelchair
Apparently none of the dumbass TSA screeners recognized the prominent former Secretary of State. Kissinger joins 4-year-old Isabella Brademeyer who also got a full pat-down at the Wichita, Kansas airport last April. The TSA has been roundly criticized for searching children and grannies. TSA justifies its searches by claiming that it has found numerous weapons through its searches.
According to the Los Angeles Times, last week at T.F. Green International Airport in Warwick, R.I., TSA agents discovered gun parts hidden inside three stuffed animals. A man traveling with his 4-year-old son claimed that he didn't know the gun parts were in his son's toys. Also last week, TSA agents at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey found a knife mounted on a metal walker that an elderly passenger tried to bring on a plane.
Nevertheless, the searching of children and the elderly by TSA - something Israeli airport security officials do not do unless prior intelligence requires it - is a ridiculous and worthless practice designed to make the flying public feel safer.
HENRY KISSINGER GIVEN ‘FULL PAT-DOWN’ BY TSA AGENTS
by Nina Mandell
New York Daily News
May 15, 2012
Apparently someone didn’t pay attention in their high school Civic’s class.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was patted down by the TSA on his flight from New York’s LaGuardia airport to Toronto, a witness told The Washington Post.
Kissinger, who won a Nobel Prize for his role in ending the Vietnam War, was directed to the pat-down line after arriving at security in a wheelchair, the newspaper reported.
“He stood with his suit jacket off, and he was wearing suspenders,” Matthew Cole, a freelance reporter, told the Post. “They gave him the full pat-down. None of the agents seemed to know who he was.”
The 89-year-old was reportedly traveling with an aide and remained in good spirits through the security check.
Kissinger follows in a long line of politicans and other noteworthy figures to receive pat-downs at TSA security lines.
Congressman Rand Paul and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have both been stopped by officials on their way to the friendly skies.
The TSA did not immediately return a request for comment.
Apparently none of the dumbass TSA screeners recognized the prominent former Secretary of State. Kissinger joins 4-year-old Isabella Brademeyer who also got a full pat-down at the Wichita, Kansas airport last April. The TSA has been roundly criticized for searching children and grannies. TSA justifies its searches by claiming that it has found numerous weapons through its searches.
According to the Los Angeles Times, last week at T.F. Green International Airport in Warwick, R.I., TSA agents discovered gun parts hidden inside three stuffed animals. A man traveling with his 4-year-old son claimed that he didn't know the gun parts were in his son's toys. Also last week, TSA agents at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey found a knife mounted on a metal walker that an elderly passenger tried to bring on a plane.
Nevertheless, the searching of children and the elderly by TSA - something Israeli airport security officials do not do unless prior intelligence requires it - is a ridiculous and worthless practice designed to make the flying public feel safer.
HENRY KISSINGER GIVEN ‘FULL PAT-DOWN’ BY TSA AGENTS
by Nina Mandell
New York Daily News
May 15, 2012
Apparently someone didn’t pay attention in their high school Civic’s class.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was patted down by the TSA on his flight from New York’s LaGuardia airport to Toronto, a witness told The Washington Post.
Kissinger, who won a Nobel Prize for his role in ending the Vietnam War, was directed to the pat-down line after arriving at security in a wheelchair, the newspaper reported.
“He stood with his suit jacket off, and he was wearing suspenders,” Matthew Cole, a freelance reporter, told the Post. “They gave him the full pat-down. None of the agents seemed to know who he was.”
The 89-year-old was reportedly traveling with an aide and remained in good spirits through the security check.
Kissinger follows in a long line of politicans and other noteworthy figures to receive pat-downs at TSA security lines.
Congressman Rand Paul and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have both been stopped by officials on their way to the friendly skies.
The TSA did not immediately return a request for comment.
HEY, THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR
You can’t ask for a better friend than this.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF FRIENDLY FIRE?
WWNY TV 7
May 14, 2012
STOCKHOLM, N.Y. -- A 25 year old St. Lawrence County man is accused of shooting his buddy in the leg because his friend wanted to know what it feels like to be shot.
State police charged Shawn Mossow of Norfolk with first-degree reckless endangerment.
According to police, the shooting happened Monday at approximately 5 p.m. off Southville-West Stockholm Road in the town of Stockholm.
Police said their investigation showed that the 24 year old male victim, also from Norfolk, had had been asking Mossow if he would shoot him in the leg so he would know what it feels like.
Mossow reportedly told police that he finally gave in and shot his friend once in the right leg with a .22 caliber rifle.
The victim was treated at Canton-Potsdam Hospital and then transferred to Fletcher Allen Hospital in Burlington, Vermont, for treatment of a non-life threatening gunshot wound, police said.
According to police, the unidentified man is expected to make a full recovery.
Mossow was arraigned in Stockholm Town Court and sent to the county jail in lieu of $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF FRIENDLY FIRE?
WWNY TV 7
May 14, 2012
STOCKHOLM, N.Y. -- A 25 year old St. Lawrence County man is accused of shooting his buddy in the leg because his friend wanted to know what it feels like to be shot.
State police charged Shawn Mossow of Norfolk with first-degree reckless endangerment.
According to police, the shooting happened Monday at approximately 5 p.m. off Southville-West Stockholm Road in the town of Stockholm.
Police said their investigation showed that the 24 year old male victim, also from Norfolk, had had been asking Mossow if he would shoot him in the leg so he would know what it feels like.
Mossow reportedly told police that he finally gave in and shot his friend once in the right leg with a .22 caliber rifle.
The victim was treated at Canton-Potsdam Hospital and then transferred to Fletcher Allen Hospital in Burlington, Vermont, for treatment of a non-life threatening gunshot wound, police said.
According to police, the unidentified man is expected to make a full recovery.
Mossow was arraigned in Stockholm Town Court and sent to the county jail in lieu of $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond.
EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT JESUS AND MUCH MORE
Teacher informs class she is married to Jesus and reveals she is the reincarnated Mary Magdalene
This teacher’s revelation will require a major revision of the New Testament.
SAN BENITO TEACHER REPLACED AFTER BIZARRE CLASSROOM RANT ABOUT JESUS, MARY MAGDALENE, UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS AND THE APOCALYPSE
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
May 15, 2012
A ninth-grade teacher at San Benito's Veterans Memorial High School has been replaced for the remainder of the year after her lesson plan went badly awry last Tuesday and her 12-minute rant was filmed by a student and uploaded to YouTube.
Before the teacher was done, she told a roomful of alternately jeering and frightened public school students that Jesus Christ impregnated Mary Magdalene just before his crucifixion. Then she switched to Spanish and over the objections of her students, elaborated at great length on her beliefs.
She told the class that Jesus fell in love with Mary Magdalene when he was 12. They met while he was piloting a boat across the sea. Mary was on the shore, weeping after a bad breakup, the teacher continued, and Jesus saw her and invited her aboard. Mary soon fell in love with Jesus' eyes, and he kissed her. After that, she says, they were seen together at parks and parties, according to a bilingual commenter's line-by-line translation at valleycentral.com.
And there's much, much more...
She said that an army of God was coming to destroy this world on December 21, 2012, but not to worry, because Jesus had created another planet that was more beautiful than this one, a Utopia full of waterfalls where everybody was always 25 years old, where money does not exist, but Christmas does, complete with Santa Claus.
After telling the class that Jesus had written Mary many letters after his death, promising continually to return for her, the teacher then asks the class if they know where Jesus is and if they believe that he will return for Mary. ("Ask him to text me!" one of the kids says in English.)
The teacher ignores that wise-ass remark and tells the class that she is the reincarnated Mary Magdalene. She says that she loves Jesus and that they will be getting married one day and that she will give birth to their child once she gets to heaven. She says that though she has never met Jesus, the two of them spoke daily and he kept her up all night with his conversation.
One of the students claimed to have known the teacher's husband, but the teacher said she knew no husband except for Jesus. She said that heavenly preparations were being made in the Great Beyond for their wedding parties even at that very moment.
And then there was something about volcanoes, God as an extraterrestrial, and an armada of flying saucers including one piloted by the Virgin Mary.
She closes by telling her shocked students that she can perform a miracle right there in front of them. She says that if her students will look deeply into her eyes, they will see that only one was hers, and the other belonged to Jesus. She says that he put his eye in her head so he could be with her always and see what she saw. After two kids tentatively try to take her up on her offer and retreat in fear, the teacher takes off her shoes and repeats the offer. As a brave girl starts to approach her, the teacher walks over to a stereo and plays some truly weird music.
"I never had a possessed teacher before," one of the students says, in English.
Meanwhile, some other students slipped out of the room to get help. And finally, after more than ten minutes, the help came, and she was silenced and taken from the classroom.
After the video hit the Web, San Benito school superintendent Antonio Limon told the Brownsville Herald that the teacher had a bad reaction to her medications, and San Benito ISD released a statement claiming that the incident is "under review." The statement went on to say that a replacement teacher has been hired for the last few weeks of the year. Claiming that the incident was a "personnel matter," the district declined to name the woman or release any more details.
According to the San Benito News, the same educator, a former San Benito ISD Teacher of the Year, was at the center of a similar outburst last December.
Incidentally, the News is not buying the medications alibi. As their reporter wrote two days ago:
__Although the incident was initially attributed to a bad reaction to medication by a trusted source involved in the matter, [the teacher] displayed similar behavior when asked why she had made such comments. "Because it's true," she replied.
__Once clear she was not fit to conduct an interview, the News asked her husband [Hair Balls Note: the earthly one, not Jesus Christ] to speak on her behalf. He said, "I feel that my wife does care a lot about her students, and she loves working in San Benito. There's really nothing else to say except to please respect my family's privacy."
This teacher’s revelation will require a major revision of the New Testament.
SAN BENITO TEACHER REPLACED AFTER BIZARRE CLASSROOM RANT ABOUT JESUS, MARY MAGDALENE, UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS AND THE APOCALYPSE
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
May 15, 2012
A ninth-grade teacher at San Benito's Veterans Memorial High School has been replaced for the remainder of the year after her lesson plan went badly awry last Tuesday and her 12-minute rant was filmed by a student and uploaded to YouTube.
Before the teacher was done, she told a roomful of alternately jeering and frightened public school students that Jesus Christ impregnated Mary Magdalene just before his crucifixion. Then she switched to Spanish and over the objections of her students, elaborated at great length on her beliefs.
She told the class that Jesus fell in love with Mary Magdalene when he was 12. They met while he was piloting a boat across the sea. Mary was on the shore, weeping after a bad breakup, the teacher continued, and Jesus saw her and invited her aboard. Mary soon fell in love with Jesus' eyes, and he kissed her. After that, she says, they were seen together at parks and parties, according to a bilingual commenter's line-by-line translation at valleycentral.com.
And there's much, much more...
She said that an army of God was coming to destroy this world on December 21, 2012, but not to worry, because Jesus had created another planet that was more beautiful than this one, a Utopia full of waterfalls where everybody was always 25 years old, where money does not exist, but Christmas does, complete with Santa Claus.
After telling the class that Jesus had written Mary many letters after his death, promising continually to return for her, the teacher then asks the class if they know where Jesus is and if they believe that he will return for Mary. ("Ask him to text me!" one of the kids says in English.)
The teacher ignores that wise-ass remark and tells the class that she is the reincarnated Mary Magdalene. She says that she loves Jesus and that they will be getting married one day and that she will give birth to their child once she gets to heaven. She says that though she has never met Jesus, the two of them spoke daily and he kept her up all night with his conversation.
One of the students claimed to have known the teacher's husband, but the teacher said she knew no husband except for Jesus. She said that heavenly preparations were being made in the Great Beyond for their wedding parties even at that very moment.
And then there was something about volcanoes, God as an extraterrestrial, and an armada of flying saucers including one piloted by the Virgin Mary.
She closes by telling her shocked students that she can perform a miracle right there in front of them. She says that if her students will look deeply into her eyes, they will see that only one was hers, and the other belonged to Jesus. She says that he put his eye in her head so he could be with her always and see what she saw. After two kids tentatively try to take her up on her offer and retreat in fear, the teacher takes off her shoes and repeats the offer. As a brave girl starts to approach her, the teacher walks over to a stereo and plays some truly weird music.
"I never had a possessed teacher before," one of the students says, in English.
Meanwhile, some other students slipped out of the room to get help. And finally, after more than ten minutes, the help came, and she was silenced and taken from the classroom.
After the video hit the Web, San Benito school superintendent Antonio Limon told the Brownsville Herald that the teacher had a bad reaction to her medications, and San Benito ISD released a statement claiming that the incident is "under review." The statement went on to say that a replacement teacher has been hired for the last few weeks of the year. Claiming that the incident was a "personnel matter," the district declined to name the woman or release any more details.
According to the San Benito News, the same educator, a former San Benito ISD Teacher of the Year, was at the center of a similar outburst last December.
Incidentally, the News is not buying the medications alibi. As their reporter wrote two days ago:
__Although the incident was initially attributed to a bad reaction to medication by a trusted source involved in the matter, [the teacher] displayed similar behavior when asked why she had made such comments. "Because it's true," she replied.
__Once clear she was not fit to conduct an interview, the News asked her husband [Hair Balls Note: the earthly one, not Jesus Christ] to speak on her behalf. He said, "I feel that my wife does care a lot about her students, and she loves working in San Benito. There's really nothing else to say except to please respect my family's privacy."
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