DOUBLE PUNISHMENT

While the Constitution prohibits Double Jeopardy, it apparently does not prohibit punishment of sex offenders after they have completed their sentence

According to The New York Times, Orange County in California has some of the nation’s most severe sex offender restrictions. In Huntington Beach, convicted sex offenders are barred from surfing at the city’s famous pier. In Dana Point, they are prohibited from casting a fishing line in the harbor. And in Mission Viejo, they could be shipped back to jail for six months if they wander into a public park.

In many cities across this nation, sex offenders are prohibited from residing within 2,500 feet of any place where children might congregate. That makes it impossible for them to live anywhere within the city. That’s completely unreasonable! City ordinances with such restrictions are designed as ‘feel-good’ legislation and they do little, if anything, to protect children from sexual predators.

While the Constitution prohibits double jeopardy, it apparently does NOT prohibit DOUBLE PUNISHMENT – (1) confinement in prison and (2) the additional punishment of residence restrictions and prohibited access to public places after completion of the sentence meted out by the court.

And it should be noted that many ‘sex offenders’ were convicted of offenses that never involved any children. The drunk who peed in the street, if convicted of exposing his person in public, will be required to register as a sex offender - with the attendant residence restrictions - in many jurisdictions. The same goes for persons convicted of having CONSENSUAL sex with minors. The women school teachers convicted of laying a lucky student are required to register as sex offenders.

Before proceeding any further, I want to make it crystal clear that Bob Walsh, Jeff Doyle and I believe that sexual predators belong in prison and not on the streets. But since the law sees fit to release them from prison, they should have the right to live as normal citizens once they have completed their sentences.

Bob Walsh says,” How the hell can you legally bar a citizen from ‘all public places.’ I foresee some serious constitutional issues there.”

And here is Jeff ‘Paco’ Doyle’s take on sex offender restrictions:

PARIAH LAWS OFFEND CONSTITUTION
By Jeff Doyle

PACOVILLA Corrections blog
May 30, 2012

Notwithstanding the dearth of sympathy for the plight of the pariahs we call sex offenders, the Bill of Rights contains no exemptions. Therefore, even though the children of Dana Point are undoubtedly safer because sex offenders aren’t permitted to fish in the ocean, the prohibition offends our foundational document.

Sadly, a majority appear to find this particular unconstitutional matter a non-issue–It’s OK to deprive sex offenders of their Constitutional Rights. Paco understands and sympathizes with the sentiment. Even so, the Constitution either applies to us all or it applies to no one…eventually.

To reiterate Paco’s position on the matter of registered sex offenders:

__Many sex offenders are not sex offenders at all. Sex offender rolls include countless offenders who present no threat whatsoever to children or others. Until last week, this included Brian Banks who was falsely accused and convicted of rape a decade ago. It also includes folks convicted of public urination, public nudity etc.

__While registration has been held Constitutional, on their face such laws acknowledge and underscore the paucity of sentences for actual child predation and predatory rape. Which is to say, true predators belong in prison–Registration exists because lawmakers lack the stones to set life terms for lifelong sex offenders.

__No studies or statistics have ever established a nexus establishing sex offenders commit offenses at schools or parks near their residence of record. Yet, many jurisdiction in the nation bar sex offenders from residing near those sites, libraries, movie theaters…

__Gangs are an imminent threat both in public parks and schools–Children are frequently shot at those places, caught in a crossfire. Where are the signs prohibiting gang members from public parks?

Paco says lock up ACTUAL predatory sex offenders and keep them there. AND, like it or not, people who have served their time are NOT 2nd class citizens–They are citizens, entitled to the same rights as everyone else.

Barring that, let’s be honest and change the Constitution to sanction a 2nd class of citizen whose rights are forfeit: the Pariah.
__________

And I would add that Jeff brought up a most interesting point. If we want to protect our children, why are gang members NOT prohibited from public parks?

COPS KILL NAKED CANNIBAL (2)

Those who are upset about a cop killing an unarmed naked man, might sing a different tune if they considered this a case for what it was - a vicious animal attacking a poor human being.

I see where the cannibalistic perp had been arrested for multiple misdemeanors, mostly marijuana-related charges. Hmmm, I wonder if his brain was addled by the use of that harmless funny tobacco product?

EVEN POLICE SHOCKED BY GORE IN FLORIDA FACE-MAULING ATTACK
Victim has been identified as 65-year-old homeless man

By Jennifer Kay

Associated Press
May 30, 2012

MIAMI — It is being called one of this city's goriest crimes: A naked man was on top of another nude man along a busy highway, biting into the man's face, tearing it to pieces. A police officer arrived to help, but the mauler growled at him and continued to chew away, stopping only when he was shot to death.

Miami police said little Tuesday about the attack, which took place Saturday afternoon in the shadow of The Miami Herald headquarters. Surveillance video from the newspaper's security camera showed cars, motorcycles, pedestrians and bicyclists passing by.

The victim, identified as 65-year-old Ronald Poppo, a homeless man who lived under the causeway, was in critical condition.

"He had his face eaten down to his goatee. The forehead was just bone. No nose, no mouth," said Sgt. Armando Aguilar, president of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police. "In my opinion, he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Sgt. Javier Ortiz, vice president of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, said it was one of the bloodiest "and goriest scenes I've ever been to."

"It was not only grotesque, it was just very sad, the amount of blood. It was very sad to see what happened to this gentleman that had his face eaten," Ortiz said.

It's not clear what led Rudy Eugene, 31, to attack Poppo. Eugene's ex-wife, Jenny Ductant, told WPLG-TV, said he was somewhat paranoid.

"I wouldn't say he had mental problem but he always felt like people was against him ... No one was for him, everyone was against him," she told the station. She and Eugene's mother declined comment when reached by The Associated Press.

Larry Vega was riding his bicycle off the causeway, which connects downtown Miami with Miami Beach, when he saw the attack.

"The guy was, like, tearing him to pieces with his mouth, so I told him, `Get off!'" Vega told Miami television station WSVN. "The guy just kept eating the other guy away, like, ripping his skin."

Vega flagged down the Miami police officer, who can be seen exiting his car on the Herald video. Vega said the officer repeatedly ordered the attacker to get off. Eugene just picked his head up and growled at the officer before continuing to maul his victim, Vega said.

The officer shot Eugene, but he just kept chewing, Vega said. The officer fired again, killing Eugene.

Vega refused to comment when reached by The Associated Press, saying he wanted to put what he witnessed behind him.

Detective William Moreno would not release details about the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation. The Miami-Dade County medical examiner declined to provide any information until after the autopsy, which was scheduled for Tuesday. Police have not released details from the autopsy and it could be weeks before the results of toxicology tests are available.

Ortiz said the officer, who is part of a crisis intervention team and trained to deal with the mentally ill, had no choice but to fire.

"He's clearly shaken up," Ortiz said, adding that the officer had been administratively reassigned pending an investigation, as is standard after an officer-involved shooting.

After the shooting, the Herald's video zooms in on the scene. Most of it is blocked by an overpass, but two sets of uncovered legs can be seen. One set never moves, while the other twists and turns as if the person is in pain.

"It was just a blob of blood," Vega said. "You couldn't really see, it was just blood all over the place."

Court records show that Poppo has several arrests for public intoxication.

According to Miami-Dade court records, Eugene had been arrested for multiple misdemeanors, mostly marijuana-related charges. The most recent arrest was in 2009. The Herald reported that he played football at a Miami area high school in the late 1990s.

Ives Eugene, who identified himself as Rudy Eugene's uncle, described his nephew as a "nice and hard-working" man who washed cars at a local dealership.

He said his nephew had asked his girlfriend to borrow her car, but she said no. "So he rode the bicycle, and he never came back home," he said.

FOUNDER’S ‘HOT PANTS’ ALMOST SUNK ADMIRABLE PRISON PROGRAM

It appears that Catherine Rohr succumbed to the teacher-student sex syndrome. Her PEP organization has probably helped some prison inmates make it on the outside once they are released.

CATHERINE ROHR FINDS LIFE AFTER PEP

Grits for Breakfast
May 29, 2012

Inc. magazine has a profile of Catherine Rohr, the founder of Texas' Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) who left in disgrace when she revealed having had sexual affairs with program graduates following her divorce. As folks in Texas' prison milieu will surely recall:

__The media, which had frequently celebrated Rohr's efforts to reform prisoners, pounced on the story of her downfall. The scandal became news as far away as China. "Prisons Ban Founder for 'Improper Relationships,'" read the headline in the Austin American-Statesman. That particular story attracted more than 60 online comments, most of them negative. "Let me guess, the greater the crime committed by the ex-convict, the dirtier the sex?" wrote one commenter. Others claimed to have knowledge of more than four affairs. "I was just bawling my eyes out," says Rohr. "They wrote untrue things—all sorts of uninformed comments. I didn't want to live anymore. I thought that I would live my whole life covered in shame."

__Before the scandal, Rohr often spoke at churches and conferences about the prison program. She would always ask the crowd, "What would it be like if you were known for the worst thing that you ever did in your life?" Now, she was in that very situation.

The scandal nearly destroyed the organization. "We came very close to having the doors locked," says PEP CEO Bert Smith. "There were a number of people who were convinced that without Catherine Rohr, PEP would fail. I'm happy to say that it didn't."

Rohr is an impressive, charismatic figure who had been the subject of a number of near-hagiographic profiles for her work to turn prisoners into entrepreneurs. Grits always thought this to be a particularly smart approach. So few employers will hire an ex-con, why not start small businesses themselves if that's in any way an option? If a job doesn't exist, create one by marketing a product, service or skill. PEP gives ex-offenders tools to approach their dilemma with that kind of can-do, entrepreneurial attitude and at least a reasonable chance of success. Though I've never seen long-term success rates for PEP (and indeed, success rates aren't terrific for new startups in general), in theory, the approach makes a whole lot of sense.

As for Rohr, after a bout of moping and self pity, she regrouped, decamped, and launched another, similar program in the Empire State:

__She dyed her auburn hair back to its naturally darker shade and moved back to New York City, hoping that the city's energy would help jolt her back to life. She entertained a job offer from a VC firm before finally giving in to what her heart was telling her to create: a new nonprofit. She would create a version of PEP that operated outside the prison system....

__Defy Ventures has raised more than $1.5 million in donations and pledges from VC firms, hedge funds, businesses, and private foundations. Last fall, Rohr began accepting applications for the first class. After requesting referrals from the New York parole and probation departments and about 25 prisoner rehabilitation programs, Defy received more than 180 applications from former inmates interested in the free classes. Rohr looked for candidates who had high school diplomas or GEDs, who owned up to their crimes, and who were motivated to change their lives.

__Today, when Rohr stands before a classroom of ex-cons and future entrepreneurs, everyone understands that the group shares a common story of failure—separated by degrees, of course. A few weeks after the program began, she told them all about what happened in Texas. "I was very hesitant to step foot in the classroom again," says Rohr. "I was concerned about how would these guys look at me. But I've never felt that. They are so respectful. I think that I'm able to be a better leader now that, in a way, we have a shared experience. I know what it feels like to let people down."

Good for her! While like everyone I was disappointed when Rohr's alleged sins wounded prospects (happily, not mortally) for a promising program, Grits personally was much more aggrieved at the two-faced media who lept onto her situation with even greater fervor than they'd heralded her accomplishments, trashing her seemingly that much harder to make up for the fact that they could find no fault in their prior reports. Before the scandal, reporters were happy to hype Rohr's program six ways from Sunday because she is young, attractive, smart, religious, well-spoken, and an unlikely prison reformer who carved out her own quirky but visionary path.

Those same reporters, though, not to mention more than a few criminal-justice reformers, were as a group exceptionally eager to tear her down for the same reasons. The media frenzy she endured was vicious and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Everyone's your friend on the way up in politics and public life; if you're looking for a friend on the way down, get a dog. It's why Grits has three.

THE SOLID GOLD URINAL

The Schalotte
May 30, 2012

Before the 2001 inauguration of George Bush, he was invited to a get acquainted tour of the White House.

After drinking several glasses of iced tea, he asked outgoing President Bill Clinton if he could use his personal bathroom.

When he entered Clinton's private toilet, he was astonished to see that President Clinton had a solid gold urinal!

That afternoon, George told his wife, Laura, about the urinal. “Just think,” he said, “when I am President, I too could have a gold urinal. But I wouldn't do something so self-indulgent!”

Later, when Laura had lunch with Hillary at her tour of the White House, she told Hillary how impressed George had been at his discovery of the fact that, in his private bathroom, the President had a solid gold urinal.

That evening, when Bill and Hillary were getting ready for bed, Hillary smiled, and said to Bill, “I found out who pissed in your saxophone.”

MOST AMERICAN MUSLIMS ARE GOOD AND LOYAL AMERICANS

Emails and blogs to the contrary are nothing more than messages of hate

A couple of days ago, a friend forwarded me a disgusting and hateful email which asked the question, “Can a good Muslim be a good American?” The email then lists reasons under theological, religious, scriptural and seven other categories why Muslims owe their allegiance to Allah, to ‘the five Pillars of Islam’, to the Quran and to Mecca, all this according to someone “who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years.”

The writer concludes that “They obviously cannot be both ‘good’ Muslims and ‘good’ Americans.” And the email ends with: “THE MARINES WANT THIS TO ROLL ALL OVER THE U.S. Please don’t delete this until you send it on.”

Well, I certainly did not send it on. Instead, here is the reply I made to my friend:

J.T., this is downright disgusting! I'm sorry you forwarded this crap, and that's what it is - CRAP!

There are all kinds of Muslims, just like there are all kinds of Christians and Jews. While this crapola holds true for the fundamentalists of Islam - like the Saudis - it does not hold true for most American Muslims who are loyal and productive citizens. Both of my doctors are Muslims and so is one of wife's. These doctors are not only outstanding physicians, but they are loyal Americans as well. That crapola is an insult to those doctors, as well as to all the other loyal Americans who are Muslims.

Yes, we do have some dangerous and treacherous Islamists in this country, but only a small minority of American Muslims fit the description put forth in that hateful message.

The message you forwarded reminds me of the time Jack Kennedy was running for president and his opponents claimed he owed his allegiance to the Vatican, and not to our country, because he was a Catholic. Kennedy was first and foremost a loyal American, and a war hero at that.

And let us not forget that right after Pearl Harbor, we uprooted and shipped off the Japanese-American families who lived on the west coast and interned them in concentration camps because some stupid bigots in our government thought they owed their allegiance to Japan. By doing that, all we did was to give ‘loyal’ Americans the opportunity to steal the property and businesses of people who had been hard working loyal Americans.

At the end of this shit it says, "The Marines want this to roll all over the U.S." That's an insult to the United States Marine Corps. The bigots among the Marines who are involved with this message of hate, do not represent their fellow Marines any more than Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, represented his fellow Christians.

I'm sure you sent this crap to a whole bunch of people. As your friend, I'm asking you to forward my comments forthwith to everyone you sent this shitload of hate to, but I doubt that you will do so.

EDITOR’S NOTE: J.T. did go ahead and do the decent thing. He sent out this message: “There are some very good American Muslims. Howie is right. I was wrong in putting this out.”

I just wish he had said ‘the majority’ instead of ‘some.’

WHATEVER POSSESSED GERMANY TO PROTECT A DUTCH WAR CRIMINAL?

I am puzzled. The Germans have been trying their own Nazi war criminals but refused to extradite a Dutch war criminal who escaped from prison in the Netherlands after having been convicted of killing at least 11 people at a staging post for Dutch Jews being taken to concentration camps.

It is hard for me to fathom why Germany passed a law that prevented the extradition of German nationals for war crimes.

NAZI HUNTERS’ SECOND MOST WANTED WAR CRIMIAAL DIES 60 YEARS AFTER ESCAPING FROM PRISON TO LIVE AS A FUGITIVE IN GERMANY
90-year old was facing ‘imminent’ extradition case but died shortly before he was due to be detained

By Leon Watson

Mail Online
May 29, 2012

A Nazi war criminal who escaped from a Dutch jail and lived as a fugitive in Germany for 60 years has died at the age of 90.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre revealed the death of Klaas Carel Faber, number two on its list of most wanted Nazi criminals, yesterday.

Faber was sentenced to death in 1947 in the Netherlands for killing at least 11 people at a staging post for Dutch Jews being taken to concentration camps.

His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment but he escaped in 1952 and fled to Germany, where he became a citizen and had lived since 1961 in the Bavarian town of Ingolstadt.

He had long resisted attempts by his native Netherlands to extradite him and died shortly before prosecutors in Ingolstadt were preparing to detain him, said Efraim Zuroff, head of the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Nazi-hunting group.

'The decision was imminent. We know the state prosecutors in Ingolstadt supported sending Faber to jail to serve the rest of his life sentence,' Mr Zuroff said.

It was the second death this year of a top Nazi criminal. John Demjanjuk, a retired U.S. engine mechanic, died in March aged 91 in Germany.

A Munich court convicted him in 2011 for his role in the killing of 28,000 Jews as a Nazi death camp guard.

Mr Zuroff said Faber, a member of the Dutch SS, had killed at least 24 people, many of them at the Westerbork transit camp, from where Dutch Jews were taken to concentration camps in the Netherlands, Poland and Germany.

Victims included Jews and Dutch citizens who had tried to hide and protect them, he said.

Faber's older brother Piet, also a member of the SS, was shot by a firing squad after the war.

Dutch efforts to extradite Faber were frustrated by a German law from 1943 that prevented extradition of German nationals for war crimes.

A state court in Dusseldorf ruled in 1957 that it had insufficient evidence to try Faber. But following the high-profile Demjanjuk trial, German prosecutors reopened investigations of Nazi-era crimes.

Local media reported that Faber died in a hospital in Ingolstadt on Thursday.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center's most wanted Nazi war criminal is Hungarian Laszlo Csatary, 95, who is accused of helping organise the deportation of more than 15,000 Jews to the Auschwitz concentration camp from the Slovakian city of Kosice in 1944.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY HAS GONE BERSERK (2)

Here is Hair Balls’ take about the words being monitored on the internet by Janet Napolitano’s DHS morons.

TEN OF THE STRANGER WORDS ON THE HOMELAND SECURITY WATCH LIST
By Jeff Balke

Houston Press Hair Balls
May 29, 2012

The Internet is buzzing today over the story from the UK Daily Mail revealing a long list of words that the Department of Homeland Security monitors on social media and online media for signs of terrorist activity. As you might expect, the list contains words that are not surprising -- bomb, hostage, anthrax -- and some that might be. It has led to speculation among nerds that the government is clearly watching just about everyone.

Who is surprised by this? Raise your hand. If you raised it, we would like to offer you a way to make a million dollars through a West African prince. Seriously!

When perusing the list, there were a number that caught my attention, but here are the ten I found to be the most odd.

10. Cloud
Next time you think to post about a shape you saw in the clouds or, God help you, a photo of said clouds, think twice, buster.

9. Wave
One can only assume they mean some sort of tsunami and not the horrible, now defunct Google Wave, because that would be truly scary.

8. San Diego
I get that it is right across the border from drug cartels, but it's funny to think of a city as relatively harmless-seeming as San Diego on a terrorist word watch list. It's like claiming Madison, Wisconsin, is a danger.

7. Canceled
Guess my angry rant about the cancellation of Alcatraz got me the evil eye recently.

6. Plot
The only plot I see most people posting about on Facebook is the kind that is preceded by "SPOILER ALERT!"

5. Smart
What this list appears to not be.

4. Pork
Also, "swine" made the list. The only consolation is that foodies must rank way up on the most-watched list.

3. Sleet
Snow, ice and even hail, I get. But is there any precipitation less threatening than sleet?

2. Help
If you need it, don't ask the government. Also, don't talk about the Beatles.

1. Social Media
Maybe the best word on the list if it means people stop using it.

COP KILLS NAKED CANNIBAL

While the Fraternal Order of Police may see this cop as a life-saving hero, I’ll bet the civil libertarians do not see it that way – they’ll be screaming bloody murder for the killing of an unarmed naked man and it won’t be long before his family files a hefty lawsuit against the City of Miami.

FLORIDA OFFICER SHOOTS, KILLS NAKED ATTACKER CHEWING ON MAN’S FACE
Fraternal Order of Police spokesman says officer is hero, saved a life

Associated Press
May 27, 2012

MIAMI — A Miami police officer on Saturday fatally shot a naked man who was chewing on the face of another man on a downtown causeway off-ramp, police and witnesses said.

The Miami Herald reports that gunshots were heard at about 2 p.m. on the MacArthur Causeway off-ramp, which is near the newspaper's offices. Witnesses said that a woman saw two men fighting and flagged down a police officer, who came upon a naked man mauling the other man. The newspaper quoted witnesses as saying that the officer ordered the naked man to back away, and when he ignored the demand, the officer shot him. Witnesses said that the naked man continued his attack after being shot once, and the officer shot him several more times.

Police said the other man was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital Ryder Trauma Center. The newspaper said he had suffered critical injuries.

The police department confirmed in a news release that there was an officer-related shooting, but did not include many details provided by witnesses to the newspaper.

A police spokesman couldn't be reached for comment by The Associated Press on Saturday evening.

The police news release said the identities of the two men were not known.

A photograph posted on The Herald's website shows an officer standing watch on the ramp next to two police cruisers, with a body lying on a pedestrian walkway. Police requested the newspaper's video surveillance tapes.

The shooting and investigation tied up causeway traffic as crowds were arriving at South Beach for an annual hip-hop festival.

Javier Ortiz, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police in Miami, said that based on information he's received, the officer who fired the shots "is a hero and saved a life."

FEMINISM MEXICAN STYLE

The drug cartels are becoming more difficult to fight because female bosses are acting smarter than their male counterparts

In the U.S., feminists are best known for their hatred of men. In Mexico they are best known as assassins for the drug cartels, and now for taking over positions left open when cartel bosses are killed.

WOMEN ON THE RISE IN MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS

AFP
May 27, 2012

The high mortality rate in Mexico’s drug war has seen women progress quickly in the shadowy underworld of the cartels and they are increasingly taking on key management roles, a new book says.

"Female Bosses of Narco-Traffic," by Arturo Santamaria, a researcher at the Autonomous University of the State of Sinaloa, traces the ascent of women in drug trafficking organizations.

"The narco-traffickers will become stronger as a result of this," wrote Santamaria. "They will be more difficult to fight because the women appear to be acting smarter."

An estimated 50,000 people have been killed since 2006 in a government crackdown on organized crime that has set off turf wars among rival groups even as they fight off the Mexican military’s counter-narcotics units.

Santamaria said the dead have been mainly males belonging to the cartels, which has led to a changing of the guard with younger men and women rising to the top of drug trafficking organizations.

"Widows, daughters, lovers and girlfriends of the men, who are part of the same criminal families," have had to lend a hand, he said.

Interviews with researchers and journalists reproduced in the book tell their story.
"After they killed my father, my brother remained," recalls one of these women. "But he was gunned down in the most recent shootout, and now I have taken the reins."

In the northwestern state of Sinaloa, Mexico’s main poppy and marijuana producing region and home to leading drug lords, many young women grew up around the business.

"They absorbed it from the time they were girls. They know what it is and how it works," said Santamaria.

Women were initially recruited into the business to extract juice from poppy, a delicate process requiring gentle handling.

"After that, they started transporting drugs, laundering money and engaging in so-called narco-diplomacy," using their charms to corrupt government or police officials, said Santamaria.

"Later, they started getting involved in operations," he said.

They learned how to manage people, run operations and move money, skills that ultimately prepared them to take over entire operations.

As of October last year, 46 female cartel leaders have been arrested by Mexican authorities, according to the country’s attorney general’s office.

In the United States, 2,143 Mexican women have been arrested over the past decade for involvement in drug trafficking.

Santamaria said women act with more caution and use deadly force more sparingly than men.

"Maybe this is because they are mothers and have children," argued the researcher, while cautioning that younger women were apt to be as bloodthirsty as men.

Zetas, the dominant cartel in western Mexico, has recruited women as hired killers more actively than other cartels. Unlike the Sinaloa cartel, which prefers to stick within known families, the Zetas hire all over the country.

Manuel Clouthier, a businessman and politician from Sinaloa, said he believed women in the drug trafficking business were more responsible, more loyal and, therefore, more effective.

And he warned that the rise of women augurs ill for the war on drugs.

"It used to be that mothers told their sons and husbands to leave the business or not get involved in it," said Clouthier. "But if the mother is the one who is already involved, she’s not likely to be the one to tell a son: Don’t get involved!"

ISLAMISTS NOT GAGA OVER LADY GAGA

This just goes to show that Islamists share some traditional values with Christians. And they know trash when they see it.

‘THANKS TO GOD FOR PROTECTING US FROM A KIND OF DEVIL’: LADY GAGA FORCED TO CANCEL INDONESIA CONCERT AMID PROTESTS BY HARD-LINE MUSLIMS

Associated Press
May 27, 2012

Lady Gaga cancelled her sold-out show in Indonesia after Islamist hard-liners threatened violence, claiming her sexy clothes and provocative dance moves would corrupt the youth.

The controversy was a blow to the predominantly Muslim country's reputation for combining free speech and democracy with a mostly moderate brand of the faith.

Fans were devastated, despite the promoter's offer of full refunds.

Some accused police - who refused to issue a permit over concerns about security - of buckling to the will of a small group of thugs.

The planned 'Born This Way Ball' concert has been on-again-off-again from the start.

But on Sunday, it was final, said Minola Sebayang, a lawyer for Big Daddy, the promoter of the June 3 show.

'It's unfortunate,' he said. 'But with threats if the concert goes ahead, Lady Gaga's side is calling it off. This is not only about Lady Gaga's security, but extends to those who will be watching her.'

On Sunday, she tweeted: 'We had to cancel the concert in Indonesia. I'm so very sorry to the fans & [I am] just as devastated as you if not more. You are everything to me.'

Indonesia, a secular nation of 240 million, is often held up by the U.S. and others an example of how democracy and Islam and can coexist. In many ways they are right.

Since emerging from dictatorship just over a decade ago, sweeping reforms have resulted in direct elections, while vastly improving human rights and freeing up the media.

But a small extremist fringe has become more vocal - and violent - in recent years, attacking Christians and members of other religious minorities, transvestites, atheists and anyone else deemed 'immoral.'

The most notorious group, Islamic Defenders Front, called Lady Gaga a 'messenger of the devil' and vowed to turn out at the airport by the thousands if she tried to step off the plane.

Others said they bought tickets so they could wreak havoc from inside the 52,000-seat stadium in the capital, Jakarta.

Police responded by denying the necessary permits. Then, after public outcry, they said they'd reconsider - but only if Lady Gaga agreed to tone down her act.

Instead, she pulled the plug on what was supposed to be the biggest stop on her Asian tour.

Michael Rusli, head of Big Daddy, promised 'Little Monster' fans full refunds.

But that provided little consolation to people like 25-year-old Johnny Purba.

'This only shows to the world how weak security forces are in this country, how police are afraid of a bunch of hard-liners,' he said.

'Gaga's two-hour show will not hurt Indonesian Muslims. For God's sake, she is not a terrorist!'

Around 50 others, dressed up like the pop diva, performed a mob flash dance at a shopping mall in the capital, Jakarta, to some of her biggest hits.

Hard-liners, however, were ecstatic.

'This is a victory for Indonesian Muslims,' said Salim Alatas, one of the leaders of the Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI. 'Thanks to God for protecting us from a kind of devil.'

Earlier, Murhali Barda, a spokesman for the group, said supporters had purchased more than 150 tickets to the concert.

He'd posted a picture on his Facebook page of a man hiding his identity with a turban and sunglasses and holding a $50 ticket to the 'Ball.'

'We have gotten Lady Gaga tickets,' the caption said. 'Not to watch but for us to enter.'

'Our target is to stop the concert,' he wrote, providing little more detail. 'We would force them off the stage but not harm the audience.'

MARTIN SCORSESE ANNOUNCES HE WILL FILM CONTEMPORARY VERSION OF ROMEO AND JULIET

By Pamela Putz

The Schalotte
May 28, 2012

Legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese has just announced that he is making plans to film a contemporary version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Scorsese, noted for such films as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino and The Departed, has already landed his longtime friend Robert De Niro for the role of Juliet’s father, Sharon Tate as her mother, Danny Glover as Romeo’s father and Queen Latifah as his mother. Scorsese is searching for a young black actor to play the role of Romeo Washington and a young white actress for the role of Juliet O’Malley.

The story will be set in Los Angeles. Romeo Washington and Juliet O’Malley are seniors in an LA high school. Romeo is a member of the notorious Bloods while Juliet is the daughter of a prominent LA commercial realtor. The two fall in love but her parents are determined that no daughter of theirs will ever marry an African-American. Romeo gets Juliet pregnant. Her father orders her to get an abortion and forbids her from seeing Romeo again. Juliet then overdoses on heroin. Romeo finds Juliet and thinks she’s dead. He blows his brains out with the handgun he's been carrying. Juliet awakens to find Romeo’s brains splattered all over her. She pries the gun out of his hand and blows her own brains out.

“Romeo oh Romeo, where the fuck are you?” will replace the famous line, “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

TOTAL DISREGARD FOR THE LAW BY THE FUTURE PRESIDENT

Obama’s heavy pot smoking as a member of the “Choom Gang” tells me that the future president had a serious character flaw and a total disregard for the law while in high school. A new biography indicates that Obama’s use of marijuana far exceeded the extent he revealed in his 1995 book, “Dreams of My Father.”

Sorry, even though that blatant disregard for the law was back in his high school days, this is NOT the type of person I want to have as leader of our country!

NEW OBAMA BIOGRAPHY CHRONICLES HIS MARIJUANA SMOKING

Newsmax
May 25, 2012

A soon-to-be released biography of President Barack Obama gives plenty of detail about his marijuana smoking days in high school.

The book is titled “Barack Obama: The Story” and written by acclaimed biographer David Maraniss. The book fills in the particulars for a story that is already known. In his 1995 memoir “Dreams of My Father,” Obama admitted to smoking pot everywhere from a “white classmate’s sparkling new van,” to “the dorm room of some brother,” to “the beach with a couple of Hawaiian kids,” ABC News reports.

As for the Maraniss book, it says Obama and his pot-smoking high school buddies called themselves the “the Choom Gang.” Choom was slang for smoking marijuana.

Whatever his deficiencies making policy in the White House, “as a member of the Choom Gang, Barry Obama was known for starting a few pot-smoking trends,” Maraniss writes.

One was total absorption, or TA. “TA was the opposite of Bill Clinton’s claim that as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford he smoked dope but never inhaled,” Maraniss writes. If you exhaled early as part of the Choom Gang, “you were assessed a penalty and your turn was skipped the next time the joint came around.”

Another Obama idea was roof hits. “When they were chooming in a car, all the windows had to be rolled up so no smoke blew out and went to waste,” Maraniss writes. “When the pot was gone, they tilted their heads back and sucked in the last bit of smoke from the ceiling.”

Obama also established the concept of interceptions. “When a joint was making the rounds, he often elbowed his way in, out of turn, shouted ‘Intercepted,’ and took an extra hit,” Maraniss writes.

He says Obama and his friends didn’t fit the stereotype of many high school potheads – slackers who do little outside of smoking.

“In fact, most members of the Choom Gang were decent students and athletes who went on to successful and productive lawyers, writers and businessmen,” Maraniss writes.

MEXICANS BELIEVE THE WAR ON DRUGS IS WORTHWHILE

Much has been made by the media about Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and other groups opposed to the war on drugs. In Mexico however, the people are solidly behind that war, despite the fact that it has resulted in 50,000 deaths at the hands of the cartels since 2006 and has led to government corruption at the highest levels.

SURVEY: 8 OUT OF 10 MEXICANS WANT TO MAINTAIN OR INCREASE DRUG WAR

Milenio
May 27, 2012

A survey by the Office of Strategic Communications showed that 78 percent of people in Mexico, wants to increase or maintain the fight against organized crime, while 13 percent considered it necessary to suspend it, and another 9 percent did not answer.

Meanwhile, the question "Do you think that violence could be reduced if a ceasefire wre agreed on with the drug dealers?" 45 percent believe that it could decrease, while 48 percent say violence would not be reduced in the country and 7 percent did not answer.

... The telephone survey, carried out on May 22, included 800 adults, who reside throughout the Mexican Republic. The study has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of + / -3.46.

HUNGARIAN CHERRY SOUP

I just ran across this recipe on IsraelNationalNews.com. I remember savoring this soup as a little boy in Germany. I’ve only had it a few time since I’ve been in the U.S. Chilled cherry soup will make an excellent first course for any dinner. I’m posting the recipe because it you’ll try it, I know you will like it.

RECIPE: CHILLED CHERRY SOUP
By Sima Herzfeld

Ingredients:

2 cans pitted sour cherries, with their juice. (1.5 kilo).

1 tsp cinnamon or allspice

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 container of cream, 15% (or 1 cup soy milk)

1/4 cup Emerald Riesling white wine (optional)

Add the wine and the jars of cherries, with their juice, to a soup tureen. In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and 1⁄4 cup of cherry liquid and the spices. Chill the soup. Serve cold.

Tip: Refrigerate the jars of cherries and then combine the ingredients just before serving.

Serves 4 – 6.

Enjoy!

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY HAS GONE BERSERK

Use certain words on the internet and you may get put on the DHS terrorism watch list

Janet Napolitano’s bureaucracy has gone berserk. DHS employees not only pat down little old ladies and small children at airport security checkpoints, but they’re also monitoring the internet for hundreds of ‘trigger words’ that could get you put on the DHS terrorism watch list if you use any of them on Facebook, Twitter or on blogs like mine.

I’m not into social networking, so I don’t participate in Facebook or Twitter, but I use many of those trigger words every day on my blog. Now that I may be on the DHS terrorism watch list, don’t you feel much safer?

REVEALED: HUNDREDS OF WORDS TO AVOID USING ONLINE IF YOU DON’T WANT THE GOVERNMENT SPYING ON YOU (AND THEY INCLUDE ‘PORK’, ‘CLOUD’ AND ‘MEXICO’)
Department of Homeland Security insists it only looks for evidence of genuine threats to the U.S. and not for signs of of general dissent

By Daniel Miller

Mail Online
May 26, 2012

The Department of Homeland Security has been forced to release a list of keywords and phrases it uses to monitor social networking sites and online media for signs of terrorist or other threats against the U.S.

The intriguing the list includes obvious choices such as 'attack', 'Al Qaeda', 'terrorism' and 'dirty bomb' alongside dozens of seemingly innocent words like 'pork', 'cloud', 'team' and 'Mexico'.

Released under a freedom of information request, the information sheds new light on how government analysts are instructed to patrol the internet searching for domestic and external threats.

The words are included in the department's 2011 'Analyst's Desktop Binder' used by workers at their National Operations Center which instructs workers to identify 'media reports that reflect adversely on DHS and response activities'.

Department chiefs were forced to release the manual following a House hearing over documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit which revealed how analysts monitor social networks and media organisations for comments that 'reflect adversely' on the government.

However they insisted the practice was aimed not at policing the internet for disparaging remarks about the government and signs of general dissent, but to provide awareness of any potential threats.

As well as terrorism, analysts are instructed to search for evidence of unfolding natural disasters, public health threats and serious crimes such as mall/school shootings, major drug busts, illegal immigrant busts.

The list has been posted online by the Electronic Privacy Information Center - a privacy watchdog group who filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act before suing to obtain the release of the documents.

In a letter to the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counter-terrorism and Intelligence, the centre described the choice of words as 'broad, vague and ambiguous'.

They point out that it includes 'vast amounts of First Amendment protected speech that is entirely unrelated to the Department of Homeland Security mission to protect the public against terrorism and disasters.'

A senior Homeland Security official told the Huffington Post that the manual 'is a starting point, not the endgame' in maintaining situational awareness of natural and man-made threats and denied that the government was monitoring signs of dissent.

However the agency admitted that the language used was vague and in need of updating.

Spokesman Matthew Chandler told website: 'To ensure clarity, as part of ... routine compliance review, DHS will review the language contained in all materials to clearly and accurately convey the parameters and intention of the program.'

MIND YOUR LANGUAGE: THE LIST OF ‘TRIGGER WORDS’ IN FULL

DOMESTIC SECURITY
Assassination
Attack
Domestic security
Drill
Exercise
Cops
Law enforcement
Authorities
Disaster assistance
Disaster management
DNDO (Domestic Nuclear
Detection Office)
National preparedness
Mitigation
Prevention
Response
Recovery
Dirty bomb
Domestic nuclear detection Emergency management
Emergency response
First responder
Homeland security
Maritime domain awareness
(MDA)
National preparedness
initiative
Militia
Shooting
Shots fired
Evacuation
Deaths
Hostage
Explosion (explosive)
Police
Disaster medical assistance
team (DMAT)
Organized crime Gangs
National security
State of emergency
Security
Breach
Threat
Standoff
SWAT
Screening
Lockdown
Bomb (squad or threat)
Crash
Looting
Riot
Emergency Landing
Pipe bomb
Incident
Facility

HAZMAT & NUCLEAR
Hazmat
Nuclear
Chemical spill
Suspicious package/device
Toxic
National laboratory
Nuclear facility
Nuclear threat
Cloud
Plume
Radiation
Radioactive Leak
Biological infection (or
event)
Chemical
Chemical burn
Biological
Epidemic
Hazardous
Hazardous material incident
Industrial spill
Infection
Powder (white) Gas
Spillover
Anthrax
Blister agent
Chemical agent
Exposure
Burn
Nerve agent
Ricin
Sarin
North Korea

HEALTH CONCERN + H1N1
Outbreak
Contamination
Exposure
Virus
Evacuation
Bacteria
Recall
Ebola
Food Poisoning
Foot and Mouth (FMD)
H5N1
Avian
Flu
Strain
Quarantine
H1N1
Vaccine Salmonella
Small Pox
Plague
Human to human
Human to Animal
Influenza
Center for Disease Control
(CDC)
Drug Administration (FDA)
Public Health
Toxic
Agro Terror
Tuberculosis (TB)
Tamiflu
Norvo Virus
Epidemic Agriculture
Listeria
Symptoms
Mutation
Resistant
Antiviral
Wave
Pandemic
Infection
Water/air borne
Sick
Swine
Pork World Health Organization
(WHO) (and components)
Viral Hemorrhagic Fever
E. Coli

INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY
Airport
CIKR (Critical Infrastructure
& Key Resources)
AMTRAK
Collapse
Computer infrastructure
Communications
infrastructure
Telecommunications
Critical infrastructure
National infrastructure
Metro
WMATA Airplane (and derivatives)
Chemical fire
Subway
BART
MARTA
Port Authority
NBIC (National
Biosurveillance Integration
Center)
Transportation security
Grid
Power
Smart
Body scanner Electric
Failure or outage
Black out
Brown out
Port
Dock
Bridge
Cancelled
Delays
Service disruption
Power lines

SOUTHWEST BORDER VIOLENCE
Drug cartel
Violence
Gang
Drug
Narcotics
Cocaine
Marijuana
Heroin
Border
Mexico
Cartel
Southwest
Juarez
Sinaloa
Tijuana
Torreon
Yuma
Tucson
Decapitated
U.S. Consulate
Consular
El Paso Fort Hancock
San Diego
Ciudad Juarez
Nogales
Sonora
Colombia
Mara salvatrucha
MS13 or MS-13
Drug war
Mexican army
Methamphetamine
Cartel de Golfo
Gulf Cartel
La Familia
Reynosa
Nuevo Leon
Narcos
Narco banners (Spanish
equivalents)
Los Zetas
Shootout
Execution Gunfight
Trafficking
Kidnap
Calderon
Reyosa
Bust
Tamaulipas
Meth Lab
Drug trade
Illegal immigrants
Smuggling (smugglers)
Matamoros
Michoacana
Guzman
Arellano-Felix
Beltran-Leyva
Barrio Azteca
Artistic Assassins
Mexicles
New Federation

TERRORISM
Al Qaeda (all spellings)
Terror
Attack
Iraq
Afghanistan
Iran
Pakistan
Agro
Environmental terrorist
Eco terrorism
Conventional weapon
Target
Weapons grade
Dirty bomb
Enriched
Nuclear
Chemical weapon
Biological weapon
Ammonium nitrate
Improvised explosive device IED (Improvised Explosive
Device)
Abu Sayyaf
Hamas
FARC (Armed Revolutionary
Forces Colombia)
IRA (Irish Republican Army)
ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna)
Basque Separatists
Hezbollah
Tamil Tigers
PLF (Palestine Liberation
Front)
PLO (Palestine Liberation
Organization
Car bomb
Jihad
Taliban
Weapons cache
Suicide bomber
Suicide attack Suspicious substance
AQAP (AL Qaeda Arabian
Peninsula)
AQIM (Al Qaeda in the
Islamic Maghreb)
TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban
Pakistan)
Yemen
Pirates
Extremism
Somalia
Nigeria
Radicals
Al-Shabaab
Home grown
Plot
Nationalist
Recruitment
Fundamentalism
Islamist

WEATHER/DISASTER/EMERGENCY
Emergency
Hurricane
Tornado
Twister
Tsunami
Earthquake
Tremor
Flood
Storm
Crest
Temblor
Extreme weather
Forest fire
Brush fire Ice
Stranded/Stuck
Help
Hail
Wildfire
Tsunami Warning Center
Magnitude
Avalanche
Typhoon
Shelter-in-place
Disaster
Snow
Blizzard
Sleet Mud slide or Mudslide
Erosion
Power outage
Brown out
Warning
Watch
Lightening
Aid
Relief
Closure
Interstate
Burst
Emergency Broadcast System

CYBER SECURITY
Botnet
DDOS (dedicated denial of
service)
Denial of service
Malware
Virus
Trojan
Keylogger
Cyber Command 2600
Spammer
Phishing
Rootkit
Phreaking
Cain and abel
Brute forcing
Mysql injection
Cyber attack
Cyber terror Hacker
China
Conficker
Worm
Scammers
Social media

KENNEDY FAMILY RELEASES LIST OF TRAGIC WAYS REMAINING MEMBERS COULD DIE

The Onion
May 23, 2012

HYANNIS PORT, MA—Following last week's tragic loss of yet another family member, the grieving Kennedys released a list of numerous heartbreaking ways the dynasty's remaining living relatives could die, sources confirmed Tuesday.

This list, which is formatted very simply with the name of a family member followed by 10 to 15 upsetting ways that each specific person could die, was faxed to all major news outlets, and includes such methods of death as "car crash, pill overdose, murder, and water-skiing accident."

According to the Kennedys, all family members could potentially die in a private plane crash.

"Robert F. Kennedy Jr." the document read in part: "Deadly fall, drowning in Martha's Vineyard, brain aneurysm during a speech in front of a large crowd of people, boating accident, carbon-monoxide poisoning, assassination at the hands of Sirhan Sirhan Jr., heart attack during some kind of humiliating sexual experience, house fire, reported missing and then later found decapitated in the woods, stroke."

"Crushed by large wooden beam," Kennedy's section concluded.

While the original list was sent at 11:40 p.m. Tuesday, sources have speculated that the Kennedy family felt it was incomplete, because at 12:40 a.m. an addendum to the document was released, adding "mutilation of some kind" to 84-year-old Jean Kennedy Smith's list of potential ways she could die, accidental self-strangulation to 27-year-old Kyle Francis Kennedy's section, and SIDS to the myriad ways 5-week-old Owen Patrick Kennedy might unexpectedly and tragically be killed.

"I see this list as a self-coping mechanism on the part of the Kennedys, and a way to emotionally prepare themselves for the inevitable sudden deaths of their relatives," University of Pennsylvania psychology professor David Claflin told reporters. "This way, if Rory Kennedy dies after a bout of anorexia, or is found with a broken neck at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, nobody in the family will be surprised because it's on the list."

At press time, Edward Moore Kennedy Jr., 50, was driving 20 mph over the speed limit on a very windy road in Nashua, NH.

JAMIE’S STORY

The Schalotte
May 26, 2012

The teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment: Get their parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it. The next day, the kids came back and, one by one, began to tell their stories.

There were all the regular types of stuff: Spilled milk and pennies saved. But then the teacher realized, much to her dismay, that only Jamie was left.

"Jamie, do you have a story to share?"

“Yes ma'am. My daddy told me a story about my Mommy. She was a Marine pilot in Desert Storm, and her plane got hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory, and all she had was a flask of whiskey, a pistol, and a survival knife. She drank the whiskey on the way down so the bottle wouldn't break, and then she parachuted right into the middle of 20 Iraqi troops. She shot 15 of them with the pistol, until she ran out of bullets, killed four more with the knife, till the blade broke, and then she killed the last Iraqi with her bare hands."

''Good Heavens,” said the horrified teacher. “What did your Daddy tell you was the moral to this horrible story?"

"Don't Fuck with Mommy when she's been drinking."

A SENSIBLE SUPREME COURT DECISION

Naturally, the three liberal women Justices dissented

In a 6-3 decision, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan dissented. God help us if Obama is reelected and gets to appoint more liberal Justices to the Supreme Court.

SUPREME COURT LIMITS PROTECTION AGAINST DOUBLE JEOPARDY
By David G. Savage

Jewish World Review
May 25, 2012

WASHINGTON— The Supreme Court Thursday limited the Constitution's protection against double jeopardy in cases involving multiple charges and deadlocked juries.

The 6-3 decision holds that a jury's unanimous but tentative vote to acquit a defendant on some charges does not count as a verdict.

It came in the case of an Arkansas man who in 2009 was tried for murder and manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend's 1-year-old baby. The jury voted unanimously against the murder charge, but the foreman said they were "hopelessly deadlocked" on whether he was guilty of manslaughter. The judge declared a mistrial.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, writing for the court majority, said the constitutional protection against being tried more than once for the same crime did not prevent the man from being retried for murder. Only a "final decision" of the jury and a "formal verdict" triggers the double jeopardy protection. A jury foreman's report on the deliberations does not count as a verdict, he said.

The ruling means that Alex Blueford can be retried for murder as well as manslaughter and negligent homicide in the death of the baby. Prosecutors said Blueford threw the child to the floor. He said the child fell in an accident.

Blueford argued in his appeal to the Supreme Court that the state's plan to retry him for murder violated his Fifth Amendment protection against being "twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ... for the same offense." He agreed he could be tried again for manslaughter and negligent homicide.

Lawyers involved in the case doubted the ruling would have a broad impact. In most states, trial judges can poll jurors who are having trouble reaching a verdict and issue a partial verdict on those charges where they are unanimous. Once the jury and judge reach a verdict on some charges, a defendant could not be retried for those same offenses.

The trial judge in Blueford's case could have polled the jurors and issued a partial verdict acquitting him on the murder counts, but he chose to allow the deliberations to continue.

In Blueford v. Arkansas, Roberts agreed with the state that jurors can change their minds during deliberations.

"The jury in this case did not convict Blueford of any offense, but it did not acquit him of any either," Roberts said. "As a consequence, the double jeopardy clause does not stand in the way of a second trial on the same offenses."

Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Stephen G. Breyer and Samuel A. Alito Jr. agreed.

In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor faulted the court for weakening the historic protection against double jeopardy. The rule "unequivocally prohibits a second trial following an acquittal," and the trial judge in Blueford's case should have ruled he had been unanimously acquitted on the murder charges, she said.

"This case demonstrates that the threat to individual freedom from re-prosecutions that favor states and unfairly rescue them from weak cases has not waned with time. Only this court's vigilance has," she wrote.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan agreed with her.

TEX WATSON MAY HAVE TOLD ATTORNEY ABOUT OTHER MANSON FAMILY MURDERS

Even if LAPD were to uncover unsolved murders from the audio recordings of Watson and his lawyer, the question is, would the district attorney be able to prosecute anyone in view of the attorney-client privilege?

NEW EVIDENCE POSSIBLE IN MANSON FAMILY MURDERS
LAPD requests audio recordings of attorney Bill Boyd talking to his then-client Charles ‘Tex’ Watson

By Olsen Ebright and Patrick Healy

NBC4
May 25, 2012

Eight hours of audio never before heard by law enforcement has been requested by the Los Angeles Police Department, and it could link followers of the Manson Family to unsolved murders.

In a letter dated March 19, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck requested "eight hours or so" of audio recordings between attorney Bill Boyd and his then-client Charles "Tex" Watson, according to a U.S. bankruptcy filing.

Watson, the former right-hand man of Charles Manson, is currently serving a life sentence for his involvement in the 1969 Manson Family murders.

Although the LAPD has yet to receive the recordings, police believe the interviews could contain information about unsolved murders.

"The LAPD has information that Mr. Watson discussed additional unsolved murders committed by followers of Charles Manson," Beck wrote in a request to a trustee with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The LAPD's request corresponds to the liquidation of Boyd's Texas-based law firm as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. Boyd, who died in 2009, represented Watson beginning in 1969 and "for some time thereafter," according to Beck.

"It is requested that the original recordings be given to the LAPD in order to determine if information regarding unsolved murders was included in the recordings. The LAPD, Robbery-Homicide Division will be investigating Mr. Watson's recordings…" wrote Beck.

A bankruptcy court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in Plano, Texas, to determine if the audio will be given to police.

The recordings remained private until September 1976 when Watson authorized their sale to author Chaplain Ray Hoekstra to help cover unpaid legal fees. Hoekstra used the material for his 1978 book "Will You Die For Me?"

Watson was sentenced to death for the murders of Abigail Ann Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Thomas Jay Sebring, Steven Earl Parent, and Sharon Tate Polanski. California temporarily suspended the death penalty in 1972, and Watson has been serving a life sentence ever since. He was most recently denied parole last November.

LEADING MEMBERS OF THE GERMAN MEDICAL COMMUNITY COMMITTED ATROCITIES DURING THE NAZI ERA

Dr. Josef Mengele was just one of many doctors who performed pseudo-scientific experiments on concentration camp inmates and sterilized or euthanized the mentally ill or others deemed ‘unworthy of life’

During those unspeakable experiments, the victims were subjected to excruciating pain as doctors were trying to determine the amount of pain German soldiers would be able to withstand before it killed them. Doctors also inflicted all kinds of wounds on concentration camp inmates to learn which injuries German soldiers would be unable to survive.

I suppose an apology after almost 70 years is better late than never.

GERMANY’S MEDICAL ASSOCIATION APOLOGIZES OVER NAZI-ERA EXPERICMENTS
Association issues official apology over experiments on concentration camp inmates, as well as doctors’ role in sterilization, euthanasia programs

Associated Press
May 25, 2012

Germany's medical association earlier this week adopted a declaration apologizing for experiments and other actions of doctors under the Nazi regime.

In the statement in Nuremberg, the association said many doctors under the Nazis were "guilty, contrary to their mission to heal, of scores of human rights violations and we ask the forgiveness of their victims, living and deceased, and of their descendants."

In addition to performing pseudo-scientific experiments on concentration camp inmates, German doctors also were key to the Nazi's program of forced sterilization or euthanasia of the mentally ill or others deemed "unworthy of life."

The medical association says "these crimes were not the actions of individual doctors but involved leading members of the medical community" and should be taken as a warning for the future.

In April, on Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day, Norway issued an apology for the arrests and deportation of Jews during World War II. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg expressed “deep regret” that this acts occurred in German-occupied Norway.

WHAT MEMORIAL DAY IS ALL ABOUT

When Americans celebrate Memorial Day, do they really know what the significance of this holiday is all about? I doubt it. I suspect that most Americans only have a vague notion of what the veterans who lost their lives in the service of this nation have done for us. I’ll bet that for many Americans, Memorial Day is nothing more than a day off from work for a backyard barbeque or a family reunion with a softball game and picnic in the park. And if Memorial Day stands for nothing more, that’s a damn shame!

TRIBUTE TO OUR VETERANS

Car Pro
May 24, 2012

Please remember that Memorial Day is not a holiday about being off work or picnics. It is a day to remember those who died serving our country. So in honor of them, keep these things in mind.

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN, not the politician, Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN, who salutes the Flag,

It is the VETERAN, who serves under the Flag.

Eternal rest grant them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. God Bless them all.

THOSE BIG MACS, DOUBLE WHOPPERS, AND KFC WINGS CAN BE VERY EXPENSIVE, EVEN DEADLY

Eating while driving is just as dangerous as texting while driving and can lead to getting a traffic ticket and to serious accidents. Of course we all know that. But then why do we keep doing it?

EATING WHILE DR9IVING IS COSTLY
Would you pay $500 for a chicken dinner you had to eat in your car?

by Jerry Reynolds

Car Pro News
May 23, 2012

That’s just what an Ottawa, Canada man ended up paying earlier this month when police pulled him over and ticketed the greasy-fingered Canuck for attempting to eat an entire rotisserie chicken while driving.

Ontario police pulled the 58-year old driver over after observing him weaving all over the road as he was clearly reaching down for something on the seat. The police also reported he was driving with his knees.

For all that we hear about the dangers of texting while driving, statistics show that drivers, including Americans, are far more frequently distracted by eating while driving than by smartphone use.

All those cup holders auto makers keep putting in our vehicles, it turns out, can be bad for us. Even if they keep hot coffee and giant sodas out of our hands, having food and drink in the car still takes our eyes away from the task at hand — safe driving.

According to a PEMCO Insurance poll, eating was the distraction that drivers cop to the most — 65%. Fifty-eight percent said they talk on a cellphone while driving. Six-percent admitted to reading a magazine or book while driving, and we aren’t talking audio books!

SmartDrive Systems, a company that conducts research and training for companies that operate large fleets of vehicles, also reports that consuming food and beverages far out-paces cell-phone use as a distraction based on examining data from 34 million risky driving incidents.
The hazards of eating and drinking should be obvious. Spills of drinks or messy foods like hamburgers, pizza, sub sandwiches, french fries, and yes…whole chickens make us want to stop watching the road to find napkins and look at how bad the damage is.

Eating in cars is a phenomenon that began in the U.S. For years, cup-holders in European cars like Volkswagens and BMWs were awful and mis-sized. That’s because Germans, culturally, don’t do much eating and drinking in cars, and drive-through fast-food places are still hard to find in that country.

UNLIKE OTHER COPS BEFORE THEM, THESE COPS DID NOT LIKE PUNK ROCK

While the Bad Drugs punk rock band may have violated Houston’s anti-noise ordinance, I wonder if the cops in this case couldn’t have handled their contact with the group in a less confrontational way.

JOHN HARRIS: PLAYS MUSIC IN HIS FRONT LAWN, GETS A DOUBLE DOSE OF TASER
By Steve Jansen

Houston Press Hair Balls
May 24, 2012

The Bad Drugs, fresh off a rollicking performance at Big Star Bar, were too pumped to let the night end on Saturday, May 5.

After leaving the Heights-area drinkery, the band headed to the drummer's house on Washington Avenue, where the garage-punk group would play an encore performance...in the front yard.

This open-air hoedown wasn't out of the ordinary, says Bad Drugs drummer John Harris, who dwells in a house that's flanked by the old Walter's and catawampus to Pearl Bar.

If that is par for the course, what happened 15 minutes later was a freaking disqualification.

A few songs into their impromptu set around 10:30 p.m., band members noticed a Houston Police Department squad car parked nearby so they stopped playing. When Harris went inside his house, he didn't notice that two police officers had approached two of his bandmates and requested Harris's presence outside.

Unsatisfied with the amount of time it took, one officer intercepted Harris, who had walked to the front steps of the house. "He wanted to see my ID," Harris recalls. "I told him I didn't have to because he was on private property."

That's when, Harris says, the officer came at him with a Taser.

Harris says, "I panicked so I jumped back. That's when I got tased twice. Somehow, it didn't incapacitate me so I got back up and slammed the door as hard as I could. That's when I saw that the officer's arm had been caught in the door.

"When I realized, 'Oh my God, I just assaulted an officer,' I surrendered."

Harris would be arrested and charged with assault and bodily injury to a public servant, a third-degree felony. Citing too much evidence against him (i.e., an officer's front-door-slammed limb), Harris accepted deferred adjudication and received two years of felony probation.

Harris's roommate was also arrested (and later let go) for violating the noise ordinance, which has caused quite a hubbub in Houston since the law was overhauled last October.

Harris feels like the insanity shouldn't have happened in the first place.

"We've had music inside and outside of the house plenty of times," says Harris. "The cops had never stopped by before. I'm not sure why things happened the way that it did."

RETIREE PASSES TIME AMUSING HIMSELF AT WALLY WORLD

LETTER TO PAM

The Schalotte
May 24, 2012

Dear Pam

A few days ago my best friend from High School sent me a 'Viet Nam Veteran' hat. I never had one of these before and I was pretty hyped about it, especially because my friend was considerate enough to take the time to give it to me.

Yesterday, I wore it when I went to Walmart. There was nothing in particular that I needed at the world's largest retailer but, since I retired, trips to Wally World to look at the Walmartians is always good for some comic relief. Besides, I always feel pretty normal after seeing some of the people that frequent the establishment. But, enough of my psychological fixes.

While standing in line to check out, the guy in front of me, probably in his early thirties, asked, "Are you a Vet Nam Vet?" "No" I replied. "Then why are you wearing that hat?" "Because I couldn't find my one for the War of 1812." I thought it was a snappy retort.

"The War of 1812 huh." the Walmartian queried, "When was that?" God forgive me but, I couldn't pass up such an opportunity. "1936"

He pondered my response for a moment and responded, "Why do they call it the War of 1812 if it was in 1936?"

"It was a Black Op. No one is supposed to know about it." This was beginning to be way fun.

"Dude! Really!" he exclaimed. "How did you get to do something that COOOOL?"

I glanced furtively around me for effect, leaned toward the guy and in a low voice said, "I'm not sure. I was the only Caucasian on the mission."

"Dude!", he was really getting excited about what he was hearing. "That is seriously Awesome! But, didn't you kind of stand out?"

"Not really. The other guys were wearing white camouflage." The moron nodded knowingly.

"Listen man," I said in a very serious tone, "You can't tell anyone about this. It's still Top Secret and I shouldn't have said anything."

"Oh yeah." he gave me the "don't threaten me" look. "Like, what's gonna happen if I do?"

With a really hard look I said, "You have a family don't you? We wouldn't want anything to happen to them would we?" The guy gulped, left his basket where it was and fled through the door. By this time the lady behind me was about to have a heart attack she was laughing so hard. I just grinned at her.

After checking out and going to the parking lot I saw dimwit leaning in a car window talking to a young woman. Upon catching sight of me he started pointing excitedly in my direction. Giving him another 'deadly' serious look, I made the "I see you" gesture. He turned kind of pale, jumped in the
car and sped out of the parking lot.

What a great time! Tomorrow I'm going back with a Homeland Security hat.

Whoever said retirement is boring just needs the right kind of hat..

FEDERAL JUDGE RULES THAT TEXAS PAROLE OFFICIALS CAN BE SUED

Parolees are entitled to rights at the cost of public safety

Friday in Austin, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel ruled that Texas parole officials can be held personally liable by inmates suing over restrictive sex-offender conditions required of them, even though they were never convicted of a sex crime. The judge excoriated state officials for their persistent refusal to provide due process hearings before imposing the sex-offender restrictions. Yeakel brushed off arguments by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and the Texas Board of Criminal Justice that the state can unilaterally impose the restrictions without a hearing to ensure public safety.

I have always contended that the purpose of parole was first and foremost the protection of the public, rather than all that social work gobbledygook about rehabilitating the offender. Unfortunately, some courts – and even parole officials – are more concerned with the rights of parolees than with the right of the law abiding public to be protected from crime and criminals.

Back when I was a parole agent, the state and federal courts agreed that as long as they were in prison and on parole, felons were not entitled to the civil rights - other than protection against cruel and unusual punishment - guaranteed to citizens in the Bill of Rights. Obviously that has all changed during the intervening years.

EDITOR'S NOTE: On protection of the public, Bob Walsh said, "You are an old fuddy-duddy with that protection of the public crap. Everybody knows that parole is now a housing and employment agency for ex-offenders, and a social engineering exercise for liberal academics. Public safety is ancient history."

CARJACKERS WERE DISSATISFIED WITH A CHURCH TAXI SERVICE

They were in a rush to visit a buddy in jail

Bob Walsh says, “There’s stupid, and there’s really stupid, and then there’s felony stupid” and wonders if the two idiots got to see their jailhouse buddy during dinner?

PAIR ARRESTED ON WAY TO JAIL VISIT
By Jordan Guinn

Stockton Record
May 23, 2012

STOCKTON - Two carjacking suspects drove themselves to jail, Stockton police reported.

The two men had intended to go to the jail about 10 a.m. Tuesday, but only to visit a friend who is behind bars.

Instead, they grew impatient while waiting for their turn as passengers in a church-owned car sent to ferry people around town and took matters into their own hands, police said.

One punched the 50-year-old driver before they headed for the lockup, according to police.

By the time they arrived at the San Joaquin County Jail - about six miles from where they started in the 500 block of West Worth Street - authorities were waiting for them with orange jumpsuits at the ready, police said. Officers would not disclose who the pair were attempting to see.

Cortez Craig, 55, and Cornell Moses, 31, are the men in custody on suspicion of carjacking and conspiracy, police said.

Officers said Moses instigated the attack by punching the driver several times before he and Craig took off.

"Obviously, these two suspects could not wait patiently for a ride to see their friend," Police Department spokesman Officer Joe Silva said. "But now, since they've committed a carjacking, they can visit him while in jail."

THE FAMILY THAT DEALS DOPE TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER

Back in the old days, it used to be moonshining families in the piney woods of deep East Texas, but now it’s dope dealing families.

EAST TEXAS FAMILY PEDDLES DRUGS TOGETHER AND GOES TO JAIL TOGETHER
By John Nova Lomax

Houston Press Hair Balls
May 23, 2012

Three members representing as many generations of an Angelina County family are behind bars there after the local sheriff's office caught them peddling pills, authorities say.

According to a Lufkin Daily News report, a six-months-long investigation culminated in a raid on a home in Zavalla and the arrests of 75-year-old Billie Maxine Houston and her 60-year-old brother-in-law Bobby Glynn Jordy. A warrant was also issued for Houston's grandson, 31-year-old Daniel Cole Houston.

Billie Houston and Jordy reportedly sold synthetic morphine to a confidential informant working for the Angelina County Sheriff's Office.

One wonders who was influencing who in this tawdry family affair.

The younger Houston is the only one of this trio of country kinfolk with a prior record involving illegal drugs: He was placed on three years' probation in 2008 for possession of less than a gram of an unspecified substance. He has also been accused of being a deadbeat dad and of numerous driving offenses and is now wanted for selling weed and for aggravated assault.

His grandma has been busted for credit card abuse. Unless something is missing from the records available online, she began her life in crime only three years ago, when she was 72. Now she faces a second-degree felony charge of delivery of a controlled substance and Jordy faces a lesser state jail felony charge.

IT’S HARD TO DISGUISE YOURSELF AS A WOMAN OVER 70 WHEN YOU’RE A 51-YEAR-OLD MAN

As with most devious schemes, sooner or later they’re going to go kaput.

THE WIG WASN’T ENOUGH: MAN GETS 13 YEARS FOR POSING AS HIS DEAD MOM
By Tina Susman

Jewish World Review
May 23, 2012

NEW YORK — Perhaps it was the hands — too big for the apparently frail woman in the poofy blond wig. Perhaps it was the dubious expression on the face of the temporary home health aide. But the video that was supposed to help Thomas Parkin prove his elderly mother was alive only sent a jury into giggles. Now Parkin faces at least 13 years in prison for donning the strange disguise in a scheme to reap his dead mom's money.

If he gets out after serving the minimum of 13 2/3 to 41 years handed down this week, Parkin, 51, still will be younger than the mother, Irene Prusik, whom he impersonated for six years. A judge announced the punishment Monday, two weeks after a Brooklyn jury convicted Parkin of grand larceny and mortgage fraud that allegedly began in 2003.

That's when Prusik died at age 73, leaving behind a brownstone in the upscale Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope that was valued at about $2.2 million. Prosecutors said Parkin could not afford to maintain payments on the building, so he came up with the plan to dress as his mother and begin cashing her Social Security checks.

A co-defendant, Mhilton Rimolo, 49, who pretended to be a relative, was arrested in 2010 and charged with grand larceny. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

Parkin never denied dressing as his mother, but he insisted he was doing nothing wrong by living life as a seventy-something woman with a walker, oversized dark glasses and a bad wig.

Investigators had been suspicious of Parkin for a while but got their big break in March 2009 when he and Rimolo walked into the Brooklyn district attorney's office to claim that the new owners of Prusik's home — which had fallen into foreclosure — were there illegally. They claimed she was alive and wanted to sue.

"To the investigators' surprise, Rimolo and Parkin agreed to arrange a meeting with Prusik at the home," according to a statement from the DA's office issued after the May 3 conviction. "When investigators arrived, they found Parkin dressed as his . . . mother, wearing a red cardigan, lipstick, manicured nails and breathing through an oxygen tank."

PROBATION AND PAROLE WORK - ESPECIALLY PAROLE WORK - IS NOT FOR SISSIES OR SOCIAL WORKERS

Probation and parole work can be dangerous and is not for sissies or social workers. Parole work is especially dangerous because parole officers deal exclusively with felons, many of them having been involved in acts of violence. It takes a lot of guts to adequately supervise parolees in the field, often in high crime neighborhoods. Since many parole agencies prefer to hire gutless applicants with MSW (Master of Social Work) degrees, parolees are not getting the supervision required to protect the public from criminals.

KILLING HIGHLIGHTS DANGERS OKLAHOMA PAROLE OFFICERS FACE
The probation and parole community is calling for safety improvements in the days following the shooting of Jeff McCoy, 32, a parole officer slain Friday in Midwest City

By Juliana Keeping

NewsOK
May 22, 2012

Probation and parole officers are calling for safer working conditions in the days after the death of one of their own.

Jeff McCoy, 32, of Norman, was assaulted and shot to death Friday while on the job, Midwest City police said.

John Roberts, who worked in the field for 25 years, said better radios and communication, availability of Tasers and a partner could have saved McCoy’s life.

McCoy had come to visit an offender living at 1440 Maple Drive in Midwest City, but encountered Lester Kinchion, 21, instead, police said.

Witnesses told police Kinchion pushed McCoy off the porch.

A fight that spilled into the street ended with McCoy shot to death.

Authorities Monday took Kinchion to the Oklahoma County jail, where he is being held on a murder complaint, Assistant Chief Sid Porter said.

When police arrived at the scene about noon Friday, Kinchion shot at them, causing a brief standoff, authorities said.

They called a special tactics team, but Kinchion walked out of the house before the team arrived.

Police used a Taser on Kinchion after he refused to follow their orders, authorities said.

Parole officers need Tasers, too, said Roberts, the past president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 147 for probation and parole officers.

“Probation officers don’t have those kinds of safety features available to them. They deal with 100 percent felons.”

Jerry Massie, spokesman for the state Corrections Department, said McCoy probably carried a collapsible baton, pepper spray, handcuffs and a gun at the time of his slaying.

It wasn’t immediately known if he was wearing a bulletproof vest, Massie said.

Witnesses told police McCoy was bleeding profusely from the head following the shooting.

It was McCoy’s first visit to the home after an initial address check, Massie said.

Probation and parole officers are issued radios, but they are not connected to any law enforcement frequency and essentially function like walkie-talkies Massie said.

They also carry cellphones.

Massie said probation and parole officers are encouraged to go out in twos, “but it’s not an absolute requirement.”

He said parole officers provide an itinerary to team supervisors before going out into the field.

Massie agreed that being a parole officer can be dangerous work.

“There is the potential for danger obviously when you’re in law enforcement, dealing with the kind of people they deal with, much like police officers on the street,” Massie said.

MISCONDUCT? IT’S WHAT REAL MEN DO WHEN FAR AWAY FROM HOME

The allure of beautiful South American prostitutes is hard to resist when you’re a long ways from home.

How is Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano going to explain her crap about the Secret Service sex scandal being an isolated incident. She is too naïve to be in charge of homeland security if she didn’t lie when she made that statement.

NOW THREE DEA AGENTS INVESTIGATED FOR HIRING PROSTITUTES IN COLUMBIA IN SCANDAL UNRELATED TO SECRET SERVICE DEBACLE
Misdeeds involving prostitutes comes one month after Secret Service prostitution scandal in the same place

Mail Online
May 21, 2012

A new investigation may reveal that the Secret Service isn’t the only government agency that has hired prostitutes for Colombian sex romps.

The Justice Department Inspector General's office said Monday it is investigating possible misconduct by three Drug Enforcement Administration workers in Colombia unrelated to the Secret Service incident with prostitutes at a Cartagena hotel that erupted last month.

The agency said the probe began based on info provided by the Secret Service and that the DEA is making its employees available for interviews by the Department of Justice Inspector General's investigators.

CBS News reported that three DEA agents were under investigation for allegedly hiring prostitutes in Cartagena.

In a statement to the network, Justice Department spokesman Jay Lerner said: 'The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General is investigating allegations about potential misconduct by Drug Enforcement Administration personnel in Colombia, unrelated to the Cartagena hotel Secret Service incident.'

The IG said it is receiving full cooperation from the DEA and that the IG is coordinating the investigation with the Homeland Security Department's inspector general, the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service and the Secret Service.

The DEA, which enforces U.S. controlled-substance laws, has permanent offices in Colombia.

The Bogota-based DEA regional director, who oversees the Cartagena office, did not immediately return email or cellphone messages.

A statement to CBS from the DEA said: "DEA takes allegations of misconduct very seriously and will take appropriate personnel action, if warranted, upon the conclusion of the OIG investigation."

A dozen Secret Service officers and supervisors and 12 other U.S. military personnel have been implicated in the April 12 incident, which took place before President Obama's visit to the Summit of the Americas.

Eight people with the Secret Service, including two supervisors, have been axed from their posts as a result of their involvement.

The Secret Service is moving to permanently revoke the security clearance for one other employee, and three others have been cleared of serious wrongdoing.

Prostitution is legal in Colombia.

HAMAS CAN’T TAKE A JOKE

Outrage over movie spoof depicting Hamas chief drinking in Dubai bar prior to assassination

Relatives are proud that Mahmud al-Mabhuh was a terrorist, but infuriated that he was depicted drinking in a bar.

RELATIVES OUTRAGED OVER SPOOF ON HAMAS CHIEF’S KILLING

Agence France-Presse (AFP)
May 21, 2012

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories -- Relatives of a Hamas leader allegedly slain by a Mossad hit squad are looking to block the release of an Israeli-French spoof on the raid -- not because it portrays him as a "terrorist" but because it shows him drinking in a hotel bar.

The film, which parodies the 2010 killing of Hamas commander Mahmud al-Mabhuh in his Dubai hotel room in January 2010, stars Israeli supermodel Bar Rafaeli, French actor Tomer Sisley and Israel's Shlomo Bar-Abba, star of the Oscar-nominated "Footnote."

"The film undermines the image of our brother, showing him drinking alcohol and meeting in a bar with an Israeli model who seduces him and sets the trap for his assassination," Fayaq al-Mabhuh told AFP in Gaza.

He said his family was planning to sue the producers in the Israeli courts on grounds the film "soils the image of the martyr Mahmud al-Mabhuh."

"We are a conservative, religious family and we respect the reputation of the dead, especially since our brother is an honourable symbol of resistance," he added.

The film's working title is "Kidon" or "Javelin" -- the codename given to the fictional Israeli operation, Israel's Haaretz newspaper said.

Filming is currently under way in the Red Sea resort of Eilat with the picture due for release next year.

Dubai police attributed the killing to Israel's Mossad spy agency and said it involved 27 people who used false passports from Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and Australia.

Israel has never confirmed its involvement in the assassination, but it came under fire from the countries whose passports were allegedly used in the operation.

WORLD WAR II: THE GREAT ESCAPE

Sealed by the Nazis 67 years ago, excavated tunnel reveals scope of the escape plans; of the 76 escaped Allied airmen, only three reached Britain, 50 were executed

This story about one of the tunnels used in ‘The Great Escape’ from Stalag Luft III was just forwarded to me by my good friend, Houston commercial realtor Jay Wall. Although the story was reported by the Daily Mail back in November of last year, I thought it was well worth posting on BarkGrowlBite.

TUNNEL BACK IN TIME: REVEALED AFTER 67 YEARS, THE PASSAGE USED IN GREAT ESCAPE
By Andrew Levy

Mail Online
November 20, 2011

Untouched for almost seven decades, the tunnel used in the Great Escape has finally been unearthed.

The 111-yard passage nicknamed ‘Harry’ by Allied prisoners was sealed by the Germans after the audacious break-out from the PoW camp Stalag Luft III in western Poland.

Despite huge interest in the subject, encouraged by the film starring Steve McQueen, the tunnel remained undisturbed over the decades because it was behind the Iron Curtain and the Soviet authorities had no interest in its significance.

But at last British archaeologists have excavated it, and discovered its remarkable secrets.

Many of the bed boards which had been joined together to stop it collapsing were still in position. And the ventilation shaft, ingeniously crafted from used powdered milk containers known as Klim Tins, remained in working order. Scattered throughout the tunnel, which is 30ft below ground, were bits of old metal buckets, hammers and crowbars which were used to hollow out the route.

A total of 600 prisoners worked on three tunnels at the same time. They were nicknamed Tom, Dick and Harry and were just 2ft square for most of their length.

It was on the night of March 24 and 25, 1944, that 76 Allied airmen escaped through Harry. Barely a third of the 200 prisoners – many in fake German uniforms and civilian outfits and carrying false identity papers – who were meant to slip away managed to leave before the alarm was raised when escapee number 77 was spotted.

Only three made it back to Britain. Another 50 were executed by firing squad on the orders of Adolf Hitler, who was furious after learning of the breach of security.

In all, 90 boards from bunk beds, 62 tables, 34 chairs and 76 benches, as well as thousands of items including knives, spoons, forks, towels and blankets, were squirrelled away by the Allied prisoners to aid the escape plan under the noses of their captors.

Although the movie might suggest otherwise, no Americans were involved in the actual operation. Most were British and the others were from countries including Canada, Poland and Australia.

The latest dig, over three weeks in August, located the entrance to Harry, which was originally concealed under a stove in Hut 104. The team also found another tunnel, called George, whose exact position had not been charted. It was never used as the 2,000 prisoners were forced to march to other camps as the Red Army approached in January 1945. Watching the excavation was Gordie King, 91, an RAF radio operator, who was 140th in line to use Harry and therefore missed out. ‘This brings back such bitter-sweet memories,’ he said as he wiped away tears. ‘I’m amazed by what they’ve found.’

'TWO BAGS' RICK: BANANAS TASTE ABOUT THE SAME COMING UP AS THEY DO GOING DOWN

My longtime friend, retired Riverside County Undersheriff Ralph Woodworth, just forwarded me this 1999 Sports Illustrated article by sportswriter Rick Reilly about his flight in a Navy F-14 Tomcat. Even though it was written 13 years ago, I want to share it with you because, as Ralph noted, “If you aren’t laughing out loud by the time you get to ‘Milk Duds’, your sense of humor is seriously broken.”

ON A WING AND A PRAYER
By Rick Reilly

Sports Illustrated
September 14, 1999

Now this message for America's most famous athletes: Someday you may be invited to fly in the backseat of one of your country's most powerful fighter jets. Many of you already have -- John Elway, John Stockton, Tiger Woods to name a few. If you get this opportunity, let me urge you, with the greatest sincerity....

Move to Guam. Change your name. Fake your own death. Whatever you do, do not go. I know. The U.S. Navy invited me to try it. I was thrilled. I was pumped. I was toast!

I should've known when they told me my pilot would be Chip (Biff) King of Fighter Squadron 213 at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. Whatever you're thinking a Top Gun named Chip (Biff) King looks like, triple it. He's about six-foot, tan, ice-blue eyes, wavy surfer hair, finger-crippling handshake -- the kind of man who wrestles dyspeptic alligators in his leisure time. If you see this man, run the other way. Fast.

Biff King was born to fly. His father, Jack King, was for years the voice of NASA missions. ("T-minus 15 seconds and counting...." Remember?) Chip would charge neighborhood kids a quarter each to hear his dad. Jack would wake up from naps surrounded by nine-year-olds waiting for him to say, "We have a liftoff."

Biff was to fly me in an F-14D Tomcat, a ridiculously powerful $60 million weapon with nearly as much thrust as weight, not unlike Colin Montgomerie. I was worried about getting airsick, so the night before the flight I asked Biff if there was something I should eat the next morning.

"Bananas," he said.

"For the potassium?" I asked.

"No," Biff said, "because they taste about the same coming up as they do going down."

The next morning, out on the tarmac, I had on my flight suit with my name sewn over the left breast. (No call sign -- like Crash or Sticky or Leadfoot -- but, still, very cool.) I carried my helmet in the crook of my arm, as Biff had instructed. If ever in my life I had a chance to nail Nicole Kidman, that was it.

A fighter pilot named Psycho gave me a safety briefing and then fastened me into my ejection seat, which, when employed, would "egress" me out of the plane at such a velocity that I would be immediately knocked unconscious.

Just as I was thinking about aborting the flight, the canopy closed over me, and Biff gave the ground crew a thumbs-up. In minutes we were firing nose up at 600 mph. We leveled out and then canopy-rolled over another F-14. Those 20 minutes were the rush of my life. Unfortunately, the ride lasted 80.

It was like being on the roller coaster at Six Flags Over Hell. Only without rails. We did barrel rolls, sap rolls, loops, yanks and banks. We dived, rose and dived again, sometimes with a vertical velocity of 10,000 feet per minute. We chased another F-14, and it chased us. We broke the speed of sound. Sea was sky and sky was sea. Flying at 200 feet we did 90-degree turns at 550 mph, creating a G force of 6.5, which is to say I felt as if 6.5 times my body weight was smashing against me, thereby approximating life as Mrs. Colin Montgomerie.

And I egressed the bananas. I egressed the pizza from the night before. And the lunch before that. I egressed a box of Milk Duds from the sixth grade. I made Linda Blair look polite. Because of the G's, I was egressing stuff that did not even want to be egressed. I went through not one airsick bag, but two. Biff said I passed out. Twice.

I was coated in sweat. At one point, as we were coming in upside down in a banked curve on a mock bombing target and the G's were flattening me like a tortilla and I was in and out of consciousness, I realized I was the first person in history to throw down.

I used to know cool. Cool was Elway throwing a touchdown pass, or Norman making a five-iron bite. But now I really know cool. Cool is guys like Biff, men with cast-iron stomachs and Freon nerves. I wouldn't go up there again for Derek Jeter's black book, but I'm glad Biff does every day, and for less a year than a rookie reliever makes in a home stand.

A week later, when the spins finally stopped, Biff called. He said he and the fighters had the perfect call sign for me. Said he'd send it on a patch for my flight suit.

What is it? I asked.

"Two Bags."

Don't you dare tell Nicole.

NOT EXACTLY ACCEPTED AS PROPER POLICE PROCEDURE

I think this police sergeant is in trouble and so are the two plainclothes cops that were with him. But I also think that the New York Post made this incident look a lot worse than it really was and I don’t believe the sergeant was condoning any serious criminal behavior.

As for his obscenities, when I was a cop, and later as a parole agent, I too used language that was common to the people I was dealing with, Language that they clearly understood. They don’t teach that in police academies or college classrooms. Many have said that I was only lowering myself to their level. I say horseshit! Communication is the name of the game, and if it takes the repetitive use of ‘mother fucker’ to get the point across, so be it.

NYPD OFFICER RANTS AT LOITERERS
Sgt. Lesly Charles told a group of Brooklyn men to pay him proper respect

By Kirstan Conley

The New York Post
May 21, 2012

NEW YORK — A uniformed NYPD sergeant was caught on video unleashing a vulgar tirade against a group of Brooklyn men — threatening them with his gun even while condoning their criminal behavior, The Post has learned.

Sgt. Lesly Charles even indicated that some criminal activity is apparently OK on his beat — as long as he's paid proper respect.

"You guys are hustling or whatever, I ain't got no problem with that. Listen . . . do your thing," Charles barked during the April 28 diatribe, which is now being investigated by the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board. "But when I come around and I speak, you ¬fucking listen. Tell your boys."

The surly sergeant apparently was angry over a car that was illegally parked on Ditmas Avenue in the Kensington section.

His rant against the men was recorded on a 20-minute cellphone video obtained exclusively by The Post.

The footage includes Charles berating a young man in the roadway near a silver BMW, telling him: "This is my street. All right? If you got to play tough, that's your problem . . . I do whatever the fuck I want."

A short time later, Charles followed the group into the nearby No. 1 Chinese Food restaurant, flanked by two plainclothes cops.

"I have the long dick. You don't," the cop bragged.

"Your pretty face — I like it very much. My dick will go in your mouth and come out your ear. Don't fuck with me. All right?"

After the target of his tirade insisted, "I didn't do anything," Charles retorted, "Listen to me. When you see me, you look the other way. Tell your boys, I don't fuck around. All right?"

"I'll take my gun and put it up your ass and then I'll call your mother afterwards. You understand that?"

For good measure, the sergeant added: "And I'll put your shit in your own mouth."

Charles added, "I'm here every fucking day. I don't go home. I have no life. No kids. I do what I do."

The 21-year-old man who shot the video — and provided it to The Post on the condition of anonymity — was arrested that night and charged with disorderly conduct, which court records show was for ignoring the cops' orders to leave.

Police sources said he has been arrested more than 20 times, including for petit larceny and weapons and pot possession.

An NYPD spokeswoman said the department is investigating the incident.

The man's lawyer, David Zelman, said it was troubling that "there were other cops by [Charles'] side, and they seemed to take it in stride."

Charles, reached at home yesterday, said, "I'm just doing God's work. You know I can't comment . . . Have a blessed day."

A source close to the sergeant said that in the past, "all efforts at civility failed" in dealing with the men. They are known to loiter and play loud music, prompting complaints from local businesses, law-enforcement sources said.

"The sergeant was trying to get the message across in a way they could understand," the source said.