You’re about to find why they call prison the pokey
Here are the lyrics to Prison Bitch by Rodney Carrington:
they say our love is taboo
that what were doing is wrong
but i dont care what they say cause my love is so strong
they tell us we should be ashamed
were not husband and wife
but i cherish each moment with you
im so glad your in my life
verse:
your my prison bitch
my prison bitch your not like other men
i’m glad we share a prison cell when lights go out at ten
i cant escape the way i feel now that well be a crime
as long as i am doing you i dont mind doing time
cause your my
prison bitch
my prison bitch
and i have no regrets, i got you for a candy bar and a pack of cigarettes
at first you were resistant but now you are my friend
i knew that i would get you in the end
chorus:
prison bitch
prison bitch
i guess that you were sent from up-above
yeah!
prison bitch
prison bitch
and now you are my prisoner of love
(verse 2:prison bitch)
im your prison bitch
your prison bitch
and your a sex machine
i only had but one request
how bout some vasaline(shut up!!!)
im tired of this prison cell
i need to get away, they sentence me to seven years
not seven times a day
im your prison bitch
your prison bitch
you nympho-maniac(come here!)
i really hate these knockers that you tattoo’d on my back
i fought that i could break away
but now im loosing hope
and god im tired of picking up the soap
bend over prison bitch!!(oo ooh oo)
prison bitch!(doo ooh oo)
turn out the lights cause i can hardly wait
prison bitch!(doo ooh oo)
prison bitch!(doo ooh oo)
when i get out im ready to go straight!
(verse 3:)
your my prison bitch
my prison bitch
I’ll never say goodbye
your not like all the others
to bad they had to die…
prison bitch:
on second thought i think ill stay if you want me to-ooo
your prison bitch is never leaving you!
outro:
at first you were my cell mate but now your my soul mate
come here come here baby!!come here!
(bitch:)o no not again (rrr)
now i know why they call you a “HARDENED” criminal
hang on you’re about to find why they call this the pokey!!!
oooooooo
Saturday, May 31, 2014
GEORGIA COPS CRITICALLY INJURE TODDLER IN PLAY PEN WITH FLASH-BANG GRENADE
The toddler’s family says the cops are ‘flat-out’ lying when they claim the play pen was pushed up against the front door
This is an extremely tragic situation. You can expect a big lawsuit will follow. I’ll bet the case will never go to trial as the city and county will in all likelihood want to settle out of court.
While flash-bang grenades have undoubtedly saved the lives of police officers, they have also injured and killed the occupants of houses and they have also burned down some homes.
TODDLER CRITICALLY BURNED IN GEORGIA DRUG RAID
Associated Press
May 30, 2014
ATLANTA (AP) — Officers raiding a Georgia home in search of a drug suspect used a flash grenade not knowing children were inside, severely burning a toddler who was sleeping just inside the door, authorities and the boy's family said.
Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell said the officers were looking for a suspect who may have been armed and followed proper procedure by using the device, which creates a bright flash and loud bang to distract suspects. A lawyer for the family said he believes the officers acted improperly and he would like to see them prosecuted.
"It's a tragic incident," Terrell said. "The baby didn't deserve this."
Alecia Phonesavanh told local media her son was sleeping in his playpen when the raid began Wednesday morning.
"The cops threw that grenade in the door without looking first, and it landed right in the playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face," Phonesavanh told WSB-TV.
Phonesavanh said the boy's face was severely burned, and he was in a medically induced coma in a hospital. She said her family had been visiting from out of town and were all sleeping at the house in Cornelia, about 80 miles northeast of Atlanta, when the raid happened around 3 a.m.
The toddler's family was staying with family in Georgia after their home in Wisconsin recently burned down, Terrell said. In an interview with investigators, the toddler's mother said she knew methamphetamine was being sold out of the home and tried to keep her four children away from any drugs or drug activity, Terrell said.
If there had been any indication that there were children in the house, the officers would have used a different door and would not have used the flash grenade, Terrell said.
The officers were looking for Wanis Thonetheva, 30, who lives at the home with his mother and had recently sold drugs to an informant at the house, the sheriff said. A judge granted them a no-knock warrant because Thonetheva had a recent prior arrest involving a gun and drugs, Terrell said.
When the officers arrived at the home, they found the door locked and used a ram to get it open enough to toss in the flash grenade, Terrell said.
The officers then pushed their way in and found the injured child in a playpen that had been pushed up against the door, Terrell said. A medic with the team took the child, who was taken to Atlanta for treatment.
Thonetheva was not at the home, but officers found methamphetamine residue and drug paraphernalia in his room, Terrell said. Thonetheva was arrested a few hours later at another location and charged with distribution of methamphetamine. He was being held Friday on $15,000 bond, and it wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer.
The officers involved are very upset and they and their families have been receiving death threats, Terrell said. There is no continuing investigation, and the officers involved are still on duty, he said. It will be up to the local prosecutor to decide whether the case merits further investigation, the sheriff said.
The family disputes the sheriff's claim that the playpen was pushed against the door, said lawyer Mawuli Mel Davis, who's representing them.
"That's a flat out lie," he said, adding that the playpen was six or seven feet from the door. "It's not even logical for them to block the door with a playpen with their son in it."
A lawsuit is possible, Davis said, but right now the family is focusing on doing everything possible to encourage further investigation and to push for criminal prosecution of the officers.
"It's unbelievable those officers continue to be on the street and continue to be employed after the way the family was treated and the son was injured," Davis said.
Cornelia Police Chief Rick Darby, whose officers were also involved in the raid, didn't immediately return a call from The Associated Press Friday. He told WSB-TV that officers were distraught over what happened.
"You're trying to minimize anything that could go wrong and in this case the greatest thing went wrong," Darby told the station. "Is it going to make us be more careful in the next one? Yes ma'am, it is. It's gonna make us double question."
This is an extremely tragic situation. You can expect a big lawsuit will follow. I’ll bet the case will never go to trial as the city and county will in all likelihood want to settle out of court.
While flash-bang grenades have undoubtedly saved the lives of police officers, they have also injured and killed the occupants of houses and they have also burned down some homes.
TODDLER CRITICALLY BURNED IN GEORGIA DRUG RAID
Associated Press
May 30, 2014
ATLANTA (AP) — Officers raiding a Georgia home in search of a drug suspect used a flash grenade not knowing children were inside, severely burning a toddler who was sleeping just inside the door, authorities and the boy's family said.
Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell said the officers were looking for a suspect who may have been armed and followed proper procedure by using the device, which creates a bright flash and loud bang to distract suspects. A lawyer for the family said he believes the officers acted improperly and he would like to see them prosecuted.
"It's a tragic incident," Terrell said. "The baby didn't deserve this."
Alecia Phonesavanh told local media her son was sleeping in his playpen when the raid began Wednesday morning.
"The cops threw that grenade in the door without looking first, and it landed right in the playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face," Phonesavanh told WSB-TV.
Phonesavanh said the boy's face was severely burned, and he was in a medically induced coma in a hospital. She said her family had been visiting from out of town and were all sleeping at the house in Cornelia, about 80 miles northeast of Atlanta, when the raid happened around 3 a.m.
The toddler's family was staying with family in Georgia after their home in Wisconsin recently burned down, Terrell said. In an interview with investigators, the toddler's mother said she knew methamphetamine was being sold out of the home and tried to keep her four children away from any drugs or drug activity, Terrell said.
If there had been any indication that there were children in the house, the officers would have used a different door and would not have used the flash grenade, Terrell said.
The officers were looking for Wanis Thonetheva, 30, who lives at the home with his mother and had recently sold drugs to an informant at the house, the sheriff said. A judge granted them a no-knock warrant because Thonetheva had a recent prior arrest involving a gun and drugs, Terrell said.
When the officers arrived at the home, they found the door locked and used a ram to get it open enough to toss in the flash grenade, Terrell said.
The officers then pushed their way in and found the injured child in a playpen that had been pushed up against the door, Terrell said. A medic with the team took the child, who was taken to Atlanta for treatment.
Thonetheva was not at the home, but officers found methamphetamine residue and drug paraphernalia in his room, Terrell said. Thonetheva was arrested a few hours later at another location and charged with distribution of methamphetamine. He was being held Friday on $15,000 bond, and it wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer.
The officers involved are very upset and they and their families have been receiving death threats, Terrell said. There is no continuing investigation, and the officers involved are still on duty, he said. It will be up to the local prosecutor to decide whether the case merits further investigation, the sheriff said.
The family disputes the sheriff's claim that the playpen was pushed against the door, said lawyer Mawuli Mel Davis, who's representing them.
"That's a flat out lie," he said, adding that the playpen was six or seven feet from the door. "It's not even logical for them to block the door with a playpen with their son in it."
A lawsuit is possible, Davis said, but right now the family is focusing on doing everything possible to encourage further investigation and to push for criminal prosecution of the officers.
"It's unbelievable those officers continue to be on the street and continue to be employed after the way the family was treated and the son was injured," Davis said.
Cornelia Police Chief Rick Darby, whose officers were also involved in the raid, didn't immediately return a call from The Associated Press Friday. He told WSB-TV that officers were distraught over what happened.
"You're trying to minimize anything that could go wrong and in this case the greatest thing went wrong," Darby told the station. "Is it going to make us be more careful in the next one? Yes ma'am, it is. It's gonna make us double question."
WHY NEW YORK NEEDS TO RESTORE THE DEATH PENALTY
A driver who deliberately ran down and killed a NY state trooper while he was standing outside his patrol car during a traffic stop cannot be executed because New York no longer has the death penalty
Almond Upton, 60, of Melrose, Florida was driving his pickup truck to visit his mother in Connecticut. He was going along Interstate 81 on Thursday in the vicinity of Binghamton, NY, when he sideswiped two cars. He proceeded on until he spotted State Trooper Christopher Skinner, 42, standing outside his patrol car during a traffic stop. Upton deliberately swerved into the emergency lane to strike Trooper Skinner, instantly killing the 13-year veteran and father of two teenage children. Upton also sideswiped the car Skinner had stopped. He drove on a short ways before abandoning his truck and bolting into some woods. He was found hiding naked about an hour later with the help of a police tracking dog.
Upton was charged with murder and is being held without bail. The arresting officers say that Upton did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The sorry-ass scumbag readily admitted he intentionally ran down the trooper, but he did not give the police a motive for his unconscionable act.
Upton is just one more poster boy for the death penalty. Unfortunately he cannot be executed because the liberals in New York saw fit to do away with the death penalty.
Almond Upton, 60, of Melrose, Florida was driving his pickup truck to visit his mother in Connecticut. He was going along Interstate 81 on Thursday in the vicinity of Binghamton, NY, when he sideswiped two cars. He proceeded on until he spotted State Trooper Christopher Skinner, 42, standing outside his patrol car during a traffic stop. Upton deliberately swerved into the emergency lane to strike Trooper Skinner, instantly killing the 13-year veteran and father of two teenage children. Upton also sideswiped the car Skinner had stopped. He drove on a short ways before abandoning his truck and bolting into some woods. He was found hiding naked about an hour later with the help of a police tracking dog.
Upton was charged with murder and is being held without bail. The arresting officers say that Upton did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The sorry-ass scumbag readily admitted he intentionally ran down the trooper, but he did not give the police a motive for his unconscionable act.
Upton is just one more poster boy for the death penalty. Unfortunately he cannot be executed because the liberals in New York saw fit to do away with the death penalty.
LOW-DOWN CEMETARY FLAG THIEF CAUGHT IN THE ACT
Good police work catches culprit who stole flags from 31 veterans’ graves
Placing small flags on the graves of military veterans around Memorial Day is a longtime tradition in this country. That holds just as true for small sections set aside for veterans at local cemeteries as it does for the more than 300,000 graves at Arlington National Cemetery. And every year vandals and thieves either pull up the flags or steal them outright. The culprits, if caught, are usually smartass teenagers.
Several days ago, the parents of a veteran buried in the veterans’ section of the Cold Springs Cemetery in Lockport, NY called news reporters to complain that flags were being damaged in that burial place. Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour sent a deputy to investigate. He learned from the cemetery groundskeeper that 31 flags were missing from the graves of veterans.
The deputy staked out the cemetery and succeeded in catching the low-down flag thief in the act. Did the culprit turn out to be a teenager? Nope. The thief turned out to be a groundhog. The deputy watched in amazement as the little rascal broke the flags with his front paws and scurried off with the poles into his den.
Of course, this is not the first time that groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, have been caught stealing cemetery flags. For the past two years around July 4, flags that were placed on the graves of veterans at the Cedar Park Cemetery in Hudson, NY have been disappearing. Last year the missing flags had been set on the graves of Jewish soldiers and this year they were on the graves of black soldiers. Surveillance cameras set up by the cops revealed that the culprits were groundhogs.
At least the groundhog in Lockport was no bigot. Last year the groundhogs in Hudson were anti-Semitic and this year they were racists. I wonder if the flag thefts in Hudson will be classified as hate crimes.
Placing small flags on the graves of military veterans around Memorial Day is a longtime tradition in this country. That holds just as true for small sections set aside for veterans at local cemeteries as it does for the more than 300,000 graves at Arlington National Cemetery. And every year vandals and thieves either pull up the flags or steal them outright. The culprits, if caught, are usually smartass teenagers.
Several days ago, the parents of a veteran buried in the veterans’ section of the Cold Springs Cemetery in Lockport, NY called news reporters to complain that flags were being damaged in that burial place. Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour sent a deputy to investigate. He learned from the cemetery groundskeeper that 31 flags were missing from the graves of veterans.
The deputy staked out the cemetery and succeeded in catching the low-down flag thief in the act. Did the culprit turn out to be a teenager? Nope. The thief turned out to be a groundhog. The deputy watched in amazement as the little rascal broke the flags with his front paws and scurried off with the poles into his den.
Of course, this is not the first time that groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, have been caught stealing cemetery flags. For the past two years around July 4, flags that were placed on the graves of veterans at the Cedar Park Cemetery in Hudson, NY have been disappearing. Last year the missing flags had been set on the graves of Jewish soldiers and this year they were on the graves of black soldiers. Surveillance cameras set up by the cops revealed that the culprits were groundhogs.
At least the groundhog in Lockport was no bigot. Last year the groundhogs in Hudson were anti-Semitic and this year they were racists. I wonder if the flag thefts in Hudson will be classified as hate crimes.
SAN JOSE POT HEADS PLAN TO HAND OUT FREE POT TO GET VOTERS TO CAST THEIR BALLOTS ON ELECTION DAY TUESDAY
If you’re scratching your head, remember it’s Kookfornia where nothing should surprise us. My question is: Are the cops going to stand idly by and do nothing about this flagrant in-your-face criminal activity?
At least there is some sanity among members of the San Jose city council who are contemplating an ordinance that would require pot shops to maintain a distance of 1,000 feet from churches, schools, parks, libraries, community and daycare centers. Dispensaries would also need to be 500 feet from drug rehabilitation centers and 150 feet from private homes. That would effectively keep pot shops out of the city. Fat chance of that passing.
SAN JOSE POT CLUBS TO OFFER FREE WEED ON CALIFORNIA PRIMARY DAY
Thomson/Reuters
May 30, 2014
California voters can expect to receive free weed from some pot clubs in the Bay Area city of San Jose for casting ballots in state primary elections next Tuesday that include local races and battles for governor and secretary of state.
The city's cannabis collectives, which have also offered up a voter guide to the races, are offering free marijuana and discounts when members show a ballot stub or an "I Voted" sticker on June 3.
"Primary elections tend to have much lower turnout because people don't even know there's a vote that day," said Dave Hodges, a cannabis club owner and member of the Silicon Valley Cannabis Coalition. "We want to help people know when to vote and who to vote for."
A spokesman for San Jose, David Vossbrink, said that the offer appeared to be illegal under federal law, which he said bars inducing voters to register or vote in elections that include a federal contest. Tuesday's election includes U.S. Congressional primaries.
The group's voter guide, which focuses mostly on local races and backs Democratic candidates, promotes politicians who director John Lee describes as "friendly to the cannabis movement or at least better than the alternatives."
The city of San Jose estimates there are about 80 cannabis clubs operating in the city, and the organizers of the "Weed for Votes" effort said about a dozen of the 40 shops in the collective had already agreed to participate.
How much marijuana might be distributed and in what form is a matter for individual clubs to decide, said Lee. Only existing club members would be eligible for the promotion.
The pot clubs are also encouraging voters to attend a San Jose City Council meeting on Tuesday that is expected to debate proposed new regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries that they say amount to an effective ban on pot collectives. It was not immediately clear if the matter would be brought to a vote on Tuesday.
The regulations would prevent collectives from working together to sell products, require them to only accept state medical marijuana cards, bar cash transactions and require all marijuana to be grown indoors at one location.
Storefronts would need to maintain a distance of 1,000 feet from churches, schools, parks, libraries, community and daycare centers. Dispensaries would also need to be 500 feet from drug rehabilitation centers and 150 feet from private homes.
At least there is some sanity among members of the San Jose city council who are contemplating an ordinance that would require pot shops to maintain a distance of 1,000 feet from churches, schools, parks, libraries, community and daycare centers. Dispensaries would also need to be 500 feet from drug rehabilitation centers and 150 feet from private homes. That would effectively keep pot shops out of the city. Fat chance of that passing.
SAN JOSE POT CLUBS TO OFFER FREE WEED ON CALIFORNIA PRIMARY DAY
Thomson/Reuters
May 30, 2014
California voters can expect to receive free weed from some pot clubs in the Bay Area city of San Jose for casting ballots in state primary elections next Tuesday that include local races and battles for governor and secretary of state.
The city's cannabis collectives, which have also offered up a voter guide to the races, are offering free marijuana and discounts when members show a ballot stub or an "I Voted" sticker on June 3.
"Primary elections tend to have much lower turnout because people don't even know there's a vote that day," said Dave Hodges, a cannabis club owner and member of the Silicon Valley Cannabis Coalition. "We want to help people know when to vote and who to vote for."
A spokesman for San Jose, David Vossbrink, said that the offer appeared to be illegal under federal law, which he said bars inducing voters to register or vote in elections that include a federal contest. Tuesday's election includes U.S. Congressional primaries.
The group's voter guide, which focuses mostly on local races and backs Democratic candidates, promotes politicians who director John Lee describes as "friendly to the cannabis movement or at least better than the alternatives."
The city of San Jose estimates there are about 80 cannabis clubs operating in the city, and the organizers of the "Weed for Votes" effort said about a dozen of the 40 shops in the collective had already agreed to participate.
How much marijuana might be distributed and in what form is a matter for individual clubs to decide, said Lee. Only existing club members would be eligible for the promotion.
The pot clubs are also encouraging voters to attend a San Jose City Council meeting on Tuesday that is expected to debate proposed new regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries that they say amount to an effective ban on pot collectives. It was not immediately clear if the matter would be brought to a vote on Tuesday.
The regulations would prevent collectives from working together to sell products, require them to only accept state medical marijuana cards, bar cash transactions and require all marijuana to be grown indoors at one location.
Storefronts would need to maintain a distance of 1,000 feet from churches, schools, parks, libraries, community and daycare centers. Dispensaries would also need to be 500 feet from drug rehabilitation centers and 150 feet from private homes.
MURDEROUS BABY THROWER GETS LIFE
Justice failed the baby because New Jersey does not have the death penalty
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
May 28, 2014
Arthur Morgan III is an asshole. In November of 2011 he took his 2-year old daughter, still in her car seat, added a car jack to the seat, and tossed her into a Wall Township creek where she drowned.
The asshole apologized to his wife in court, but not for killing their child. He apologized for the breakdown of their relationship, which of course he insists was not his fault.
New Jersey does not have the death penalty so they cannot (legally) skrag the sonofabitch.
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
May 28, 2014
Arthur Morgan III is an asshole. In November of 2011 he took his 2-year old daughter, still in her car seat, added a car jack to the seat, and tossed her into a Wall Township creek where she drowned.
The asshole apologized to his wife in court, but not for killing their child. He apologized for the breakdown of their relationship, which of course he insists was not his fault.
New Jersey does not have the death penalty so they cannot (legally) skrag the sonofabitch.
Friday, May 30, 2014
MISSOURI AG PROPOSES STATE ESTABLISH ITS OWN COMPOUNDING PHARMACY TO ENSURE LETHAL DRUG SUPPLY
Proposal would not only ensure a steady supply of lethal drugs but it would also eliminate the secrecy of who is supplying the state with execution drugs
Thomson/Reuters reports that Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster wants the state to fund and operate its own compounding pharmacy to ensure it has a steady supply of execution drugs. His proposal would also eliminate the need to identify outside drug suppliers as demanded by attorneys for the condemned and the opponents of capital punishment.
The Europeans have cut off the supply of execution drugs and many American pharmaceutical companies and compounding pharmacies have been intimidated into refusing to furnish lethal drugs to the states.
Koster made his proposal Thursday in a speech delivered to the Metropolitan St. Louis bar association. Here is what he said:
As a matter of policy, Missouri should not be reliant on merchants whose identities must be shielded from public view or who can exercise unacceptable leverage over this profound state act.
Eliminating outside business interests from Missouri's execution protocol would improve the high level of public transparency that is demanded in the exercise of this extraordinary state power.
Koster also said that even though it is legal to keep the identity of compounding pharmacies secret, "it may not be prudent."
It’s a great idea, but how will they justify hiring one or more pharmacists to compound drugs that are only used occasionally. It’s either part-time employment or a full-time job if the pharmacists compound the drugs used by prison medical facilities. That would run headlong into opposition by established pharmaceutical companies. And the attorneys for the condemned would still raise the issue of pain and suffering by their clients.
Thomson/Reuters reports that Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster wants the state to fund and operate its own compounding pharmacy to ensure it has a steady supply of execution drugs. His proposal would also eliminate the need to identify outside drug suppliers as demanded by attorneys for the condemned and the opponents of capital punishment.
The Europeans have cut off the supply of execution drugs and many American pharmaceutical companies and compounding pharmacies have been intimidated into refusing to furnish lethal drugs to the states.
Koster made his proposal Thursday in a speech delivered to the Metropolitan St. Louis bar association. Here is what he said:
As a matter of policy, Missouri should not be reliant on merchants whose identities must be shielded from public view or who can exercise unacceptable leverage over this profound state act.
Eliminating outside business interests from Missouri's execution protocol would improve the high level of public transparency that is demanded in the exercise of this extraordinary state power.
Koster also said that even though it is legal to keep the identity of compounding pharmacies secret, "it may not be prudent."
It’s a great idea, but how will they justify hiring one or more pharmacists to compound drugs that are only used occasionally. It’s either part-time employment or a full-time job if the pharmacists compound the drugs used by prison medical facilities. That would run headlong into opposition by established pharmaceutical companies. And the attorneys for the condemned would still raise the issue of pain and suffering by their clients.
GEORGIA CORRECTIONAL OFFICER AND CONVICT RAN PHONE SCAM THAT TARGETED VICTIMS IN 12 STATES
Investigators from New Jersey’s Bergen County Sheriff’s office traced the scam to Georgia’s correctional system
Crooks posing as cops over the phone threatened to bust victims if they did not fork over money for failing to appear for jury duty when, in fact, they were never issued any notices to appear for jury duty. One sucker in Hackensack forked over $1,000.
BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF: PHONE SCAM TRACED TO GEORGIA PRISON
CBS New York
May 20, 2014
HACKENSACK, N.J. -- A correction officer and an inmate in Georgia targeted Bergen County residents in a phone scam, convincing them they needed to pay fines for missing jury duty or having an outstanding arrest warrant, police said.
Starting in March, a person claiming in several incidents to be a Bergen County Sheriff’s Office official began calling residents, telling them they would be arrested unless they provided their credit card number or loaded money from their accounts onto a prepaid debit card.
“Victims were being told that they had to pay a fine for missing jury duty,” said Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino. “Individuals making the fraudulent calls were using a prepaid phone… with a 201 area code to make it seem like the call was coming from Bergen County.”
Saudino said some of the victims reported receiving a call from a “major” in his office — a title that does not exist there, 1010 WINS’ Sonia Rincon reported.
“The runners would take a portion of the proceeds for themselves, and transfer the rest of the balance to the inmate’s commissary account,” Saudino explained.
That commissary account is what inmates use to buy items such as toothpaste and potato chips. Saudino said investigators found one inmate’s account with $300,000 in it.
At least one person in Hackensack was duped into forking over $1,000, Saudino said.
Police arrested Clarinda Carter, a corrections officer at Wheeler State Prison in Alamo, Georgia, and Covian Camp, an inmate at Autry State Prison near Pelham, Georgia. They are both charged with theft by extortion and impersonating an officer.
“These two suspects initially met at this private correctional facility, where Calinda Carter worked, and developed a relationship together,” Saudino said.
Officials said a cellphone was found in Camp’s cellblock.
The sheriff believes more arrests will follow. Meanwhile, officials from 11 other states are lining up to charge Carter and Camp, too, Rincon reported.
“Even if they identify themselves as a police officer, don’t give any money over the phone,” Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said to Gainer.
Crooks posing as cops over the phone threatened to bust victims if they did not fork over money for failing to appear for jury duty when, in fact, they were never issued any notices to appear for jury duty. One sucker in Hackensack forked over $1,000.
BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF: PHONE SCAM TRACED TO GEORGIA PRISON
CBS New York
May 20, 2014
HACKENSACK, N.J. -- A correction officer and an inmate in Georgia targeted Bergen County residents in a phone scam, convincing them they needed to pay fines for missing jury duty or having an outstanding arrest warrant, police said.
Starting in March, a person claiming in several incidents to be a Bergen County Sheriff’s Office official began calling residents, telling them they would be arrested unless they provided their credit card number or loaded money from their accounts onto a prepaid debit card.
“Victims were being told that they had to pay a fine for missing jury duty,” said Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino. “Individuals making the fraudulent calls were using a prepaid phone… with a 201 area code to make it seem like the call was coming from Bergen County.”
Saudino said some of the victims reported receiving a call from a “major” in his office — a title that does not exist there, 1010 WINS’ Sonia Rincon reported.
“The runners would take a portion of the proceeds for themselves, and transfer the rest of the balance to the inmate’s commissary account,” Saudino explained.
That commissary account is what inmates use to buy items such as toothpaste and potato chips. Saudino said investigators found one inmate’s account with $300,000 in it.
At least one person in Hackensack was duped into forking over $1,000, Saudino said.
Police arrested Clarinda Carter, a corrections officer at Wheeler State Prison in Alamo, Georgia, and Covian Camp, an inmate at Autry State Prison near Pelham, Georgia. They are both charged with theft by extortion and impersonating an officer.
“These two suspects initially met at this private correctional facility, where Calinda Carter worked, and developed a relationship together,” Saudino said.
Officials said a cellphone was found in Camp’s cellblock.
The sheriff believes more arrests will follow. Meanwhile, officials from 11 other states are lining up to charge Carter and Camp, too, Rincon reported.
“Even if they identify themselves as a police officer, don’t give any money over the phone,” Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said to Gainer.
SEATTLE COPS CLAIM FORCE POLICIES LIMIT THEIR ABILITY TO DEFEND THEMSELVES
Lawsuit filed over the use-of-force policies against Seattle’s mayor and city attorney, and against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
I’ve always maintained that excessive force is in the eye of the beholder. Admittedly, there are too may incidents in which police officers used force far beyond what was necessary to bring a situation under control. But the vast majority of complaints against cops using excessive force, including deadly force, are not justified. Yet city politicians cave into civil rights complaints, usually by minorities, by inviting the Justice Department to oversee their police departments. The justice monitor then imposes policies that restrict the ability of officers to defend themselves.
SEATTLE POLICE OFFICERS FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST USE-OF-FORCE POLICIES
Officers have filed a federal civil rights complaint against city and federal officials, saying use-of-force polices restrict their rights to protect themselves
Associated Press
May 28, 2014
SEATTLE — Dozens of Seattle police officers have filed a federal civil rights complaint against city and federal officials, saying use-of-force polices are restricting their constitutional rights to protect themselves.
In 2012 Seattle officials agreed to an independent monitor and court oversight of the city's police department as part of a deal with the U.S. Justice Department following a report that found officers routinely used excessive force.
KIRO reports that the officers' complaint, filed Wednesday afternoon, says the use-of-force policies "unreasonably restrict and burden their right to protect themselves and others in violation of the Second, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution"
Among those named in the lawsuit are Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, City Attorney Pete Holmes and the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
The Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation of the Seattle department in 2011 after the fatal shooting of a homeless Native American woodcarver and other incidents involving force used against minority suspects. A Justice Department report later found officers were too quick to reach for weapons, such as flashlights and batons, even when arresting people for minor offenses.
The findings upset some of the department's top officials, but several have since left, and the department has been working to change under a settlement with federal authorities. It has adopted new policies on virtually everything officers do, including stops and detentions, using force, data collection and crisis intervention.
Last week Murray nominated Kathleen O'Toole, a one-time Boston police commissioner and former inspector general for Ireland's national police force, to be the city's next police chief.
If approved by the City Council, O'Toole would take over a department of about 1,300 officers.
In a statement late Wednesday, Murray said O'Toole's top priority would be meeting the requirements of the federal court order concerning the police department.
"The police department will comply with that court order. The City of Seattle will not fight the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. This is not the 1960s," Murray said.
I’ve always maintained that excessive force is in the eye of the beholder. Admittedly, there are too may incidents in which police officers used force far beyond what was necessary to bring a situation under control. But the vast majority of complaints against cops using excessive force, including deadly force, are not justified. Yet city politicians cave into civil rights complaints, usually by minorities, by inviting the Justice Department to oversee their police departments. The justice monitor then imposes policies that restrict the ability of officers to defend themselves.
SEATTLE POLICE OFFICERS FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST USE-OF-FORCE POLICIES
Officers have filed a federal civil rights complaint against city and federal officials, saying use-of-force polices restrict their rights to protect themselves
Associated Press
May 28, 2014
SEATTLE — Dozens of Seattle police officers have filed a federal civil rights complaint against city and federal officials, saying use-of-force polices are restricting their constitutional rights to protect themselves.
In 2012 Seattle officials agreed to an independent monitor and court oversight of the city's police department as part of a deal with the U.S. Justice Department following a report that found officers routinely used excessive force.
KIRO reports that the officers' complaint, filed Wednesday afternoon, says the use-of-force policies "unreasonably restrict and burden their right to protect themselves and others in violation of the Second, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution"
Among those named in the lawsuit are Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, City Attorney Pete Holmes and the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
The Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation of the Seattle department in 2011 after the fatal shooting of a homeless Native American woodcarver and other incidents involving force used against minority suspects. A Justice Department report later found officers were too quick to reach for weapons, such as flashlights and batons, even when arresting people for minor offenses.
The findings upset some of the department's top officials, but several have since left, and the department has been working to change under a settlement with federal authorities. It has adopted new policies on virtually everything officers do, including stops and detentions, using force, data collection and crisis intervention.
Last week Murray nominated Kathleen O'Toole, a one-time Boston police commissioner and former inspector general for Ireland's national police force, to be the city's next police chief.
If approved by the City Council, O'Toole would take over a department of about 1,300 officers.
In a statement late Wednesday, Murray said O'Toole's top priority would be meeting the requirements of the federal court order concerning the police department.
"The police department will comply with that court order. The City of Seattle will not fight the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. This is not the 1960s," Murray said.
PHILADELPHIA DRIVERS COLLIDED WITH ‘DEER’ RESULTING IN DAMAGES OF $5 MILLION
41 people, including an auto body shop owner and his family, several insurance adjusters, tow truck drivers, a city official and a cop are charged in an elaborate insurance fraud scheme that used dead deer to fake car accidents
I’m surprised that it took the insurance companies and authorities so long before they came to the realization that there weren’t that many deer in the City of Brotherly Love.
41 CHARGED WITH INSRUANCE FRAUD USING DEAD DEER
Associated Press
May 29, 2014
Forty-one people in Philadelphia are facing charges in what prosecutors call an elaborate insurance fraud scheme that used dead deer to fake car accidents.
Ronald Galati Sr. is accused of running a $5 million scam out of his auto body shop.
District Attorney Seth Williams said Wednesday that Galati coached customers to claim they'd struck a deer rather than a car. That way, insurance companies would consider them "no fault" accidents and pay the claims without raising the customers' premiums.
Investigators say Galati stored deer carcasses, blood and fur in the back of his shop to use as props.
Also charged are Galati's wife, son and daughter, several insurance adjusters, tow truck drivers, a city official and a police officer.
Defense attorney Anthony Voci said he couldn't comment specifically on the charges because he hadn't seen the grand jury presentment but that his client is innocent until proven guilty.
I’m surprised that it took the insurance companies and authorities so long before they came to the realization that there weren’t that many deer in the City of Brotherly Love.
41 CHARGED WITH INSRUANCE FRAUD USING DEAD DEER
Associated Press
May 29, 2014
Forty-one people in Philadelphia are facing charges in what prosecutors call an elaborate insurance fraud scheme that used dead deer to fake car accidents.
Ronald Galati Sr. is accused of running a $5 million scam out of his auto body shop.
District Attorney Seth Williams said Wednesday that Galati coached customers to claim they'd struck a deer rather than a car. That way, insurance companies would consider them "no fault" accidents and pay the claims without raising the customers' premiums.
Investigators say Galati stored deer carcasses, blood and fur in the back of his shop to use as props.
Also charged are Galati's wife, son and daughter, several insurance adjusters, tow truck drivers, a city official and a police officer.
Defense attorney Anthony Voci said he couldn't comment specifically on the charges because he hadn't seen the grand jury presentment but that his client is innocent until proven guilty.
CHICAGO MAYOR GOES BERSERK ON GUN CONTROL
Rahm Emanuel proposes city ordinance that would prohibit gun stores within 500 feet of a school or park, thereby limiting gun store locations to less than 0.5 percent of the city
Emanuel’s proposal would effectively end the sales of guns in Chicago, which is exactly what he wants. Look for the all-Democratic city council to pass his proposed ordinance. Don’t those fools realize that gun buyers will simply buy their firearms from gun stores outside the city?
CHICAGO MAYOR WANTS ALL GUN SALES VIDEOTAPED
By Elliot Jager
Newsmax
May 29, 2014
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed requiring anyone who buys a gun in the city to be videotaped, Fox News reported.
Emanuel was reacting to a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Edmond Chang that Chicago's ordinance proscribing gun sales "goes too far in outright banning legal buyers and legal dealers from engaging in lawful acquisitions and lawful sales of firearms," according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
City officials countered that Chicago police confiscate more illegal weapons than cops in any other city. They blamed the influx of illegal weapons on lax laws in surrounding areas.
The city needed tighter laws "not increased access to firearms" officials asserted, according to the Sun-Times.
The judge gave Chicago until July 14 to implement a plan that would allow gun sales in the city. The all-Democratic city council has not yet scheduled a vote on Emanuel's proposed ordinance.
Besides videotaping buyers, the ordinance would impose a 72-hour waiting period for handgun purchases and a 24-hour cooling off period for rifles. Dealers would be limited to selling one handgun a month to any single buyer.
The city would also require a series of measures including surveillance cameras, alarms, and secure storage for guns and ammunition. Workers would need to undergo background checks, fingerprinting, and take a training course on how to spot gun traffickers, Fox News reported.
Other restrictions would limit where stores could be located. No gun store could open within 500 feet of a school or park. In practice, that would restrict gun sales to an area covering less than 0.5 percent of the city, CBS radio reported.
Emanuel characterized the proposed ordinance as "a smart, tough and enforceable way to prevent illegal guns in the city of Chicago," the Chicago Tribune reported.
The Chicago-born Democratic mayor, who was elected in 2011, was formerly President Barack Obama's chief of staff. He also served three terms in the House of Representatives until 2009.
Emanuel’s proposal would effectively end the sales of guns in Chicago, which is exactly what he wants. Look for the all-Democratic city council to pass his proposed ordinance. Don’t those fools realize that gun buyers will simply buy their firearms from gun stores outside the city?
CHICAGO MAYOR WANTS ALL GUN SALES VIDEOTAPED
By Elliot Jager
Newsmax
May 29, 2014
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed requiring anyone who buys a gun in the city to be videotaped, Fox News reported.
Emanuel was reacting to a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Edmond Chang that Chicago's ordinance proscribing gun sales "goes too far in outright banning legal buyers and legal dealers from engaging in lawful acquisitions and lawful sales of firearms," according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
City officials countered that Chicago police confiscate more illegal weapons than cops in any other city. They blamed the influx of illegal weapons on lax laws in surrounding areas.
The city needed tighter laws "not increased access to firearms" officials asserted, according to the Sun-Times.
The judge gave Chicago until July 14 to implement a plan that would allow gun sales in the city. The all-Democratic city council has not yet scheduled a vote on Emanuel's proposed ordinance.
Besides videotaping buyers, the ordinance would impose a 72-hour waiting period for handgun purchases and a 24-hour cooling off period for rifles. Dealers would be limited to selling one handgun a month to any single buyer.
The city would also require a series of measures including surveillance cameras, alarms, and secure storage for guns and ammunition. Workers would need to undergo background checks, fingerprinting, and take a training course on how to spot gun traffickers, Fox News reported.
Other restrictions would limit where stores could be located. No gun store could open within 500 feet of a school or park. In practice, that would restrict gun sales to an area covering less than 0.5 percent of the city, CBS radio reported.
Emanuel characterized the proposed ordinance as "a smart, tough and enforceable way to prevent illegal guns in the city of Chicago," the Chicago Tribune reported.
The Chicago-born Democratic mayor, who was elected in 2011, was formerly President Barack Obama's chief of staff. He also served three terms in the House of Representatives until 2009.
EUROPEAN UNION’S MALAISE EMPOWERS THE FAR-RIGHT
Years of unemployment and stagnating growth across much of the continent has led to shocking electoral victories by far-right political parties
Paul Krugman, in his recent op-ed ‘Europe’s Secret Success,’ claimed that Northern Europe had been very successful in job creation. He must have been smoking some funny tobacco when he made that claim because all of Europe has been stuck in a malaise of unemployment and stagnating growth that gave the far-right election victories in France, the U.K., Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria.
EUROPE’S POLITICAL MAINSTREAM GETS A WAKE-UP CALL
Stratfor Global Intelligence
May 29, 2014
The resounding gains made by the anti-EU parties in last week's European parliamentary elections have alerted Europe's mainstream leadership to its fundamentally precarious position. This a warning Stratfor sounded more than two years ago when we predicted the rise of the far right and cautioned that these fringe groups should not be underestimated, precisely because they were tapping into very real and deepening sentiments that emerged from the economic and social malaise that has developed since 2008.
The highest levels of European leadership are finally and unequivocally feeling the political consequences of years of unemployment and stagnating growth across much of the continent. The dismal election results for many of the mainstream European parties (particularly in France, Spain and the United Kingdom) overshadowed the small but much-lauded gross domestic product growth figures for the year to date that dominated headlines until last week.
The current European leadership sees the rapid rise of Euroskeptical parties as an existential threat to the postwar order in Europe. This is not only because of old specters of Europe's bloody nationalist past, but also because the economic and financial stability of the continent has been rigged (sometimes haphazardly) around the open market and common currency that these Euroskeptical parties want to recuse.
Reversing the trend of growing popularity for Euroskeptical radical parties will therefore become even more of a priority for Europe's leadership. On a tactical level, mainstream parties will have to co-opt some of the more palatable platforms of their fringe counterparts to try to draw back in a wider majority of voters -- including restarting debates on immigration and the welfare state. The problem, of course, is that doing so will only accentuate the divisions and clashes among EU members rather than harmonizing their very different solutions to very different problems.
In fact, the only avenue for hope for the European project lies at the supranational level, with Germany being able to rally enough support from its European peers to lead radical reforms and drive further integration among its members. Berlin has understood this very well for some time. However, constrained by an electorate that would balk at the idea of sacrificing Germany's welfare for that of a financially distressed neighbor, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has walked the line very carefully so far.
The victory of the anti-EU parties may be a catalyst for Berlin and its other mainstream political allies to accelerate the fundamental reforms needed to return to growth while they still have the political capital to do so. This shorter-than-expected timeline adds urgency to controversial structural reforms designed to deepen integration and ultimately give the creditors -- Germany – more of a say in how Eurozone countries manage their banks and budgets.
The question is: Does Germany have that kind of time? Growth remains stagnant and unemployment is high. Moreover, there are still major outstanding issues on how to enforce bank lending across highly varied eurozone economies, how to enforce deficit targets, who decides which banks survive and fail, and myriad others.
While Berlin and its allies can try to accelerate the reforms while they still have the votes, they risk creating much deeper political divisions at home. The already growing Euroskepticism and other fringe parties will benefit from the unavoidable period of pain that would accompany the early stages of these wide-ranging reforms. Even if the end results of these reforms were guaranteed to be spectacular (which they are not), there is a risk that a changing European political landscape will deny them a real opportunity to work.
On a practical level, the EU Parliament elections will bring little visible short-term change. But even as the sting of defeat for the mainstream parties disappears from the headlines, plans and strategies are being set into motion by a very desperate European political elite that worries it may not get enough time to act before it is too late.
Paul Krugman, in his recent op-ed ‘Europe’s Secret Success,’ claimed that Northern Europe had been very successful in job creation. He must have been smoking some funny tobacco when he made that claim because all of Europe has been stuck in a malaise of unemployment and stagnating growth that gave the far-right election victories in France, the U.K., Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria.
EUROPE’S POLITICAL MAINSTREAM GETS A WAKE-UP CALL
Stratfor Global Intelligence
May 29, 2014
The resounding gains made by the anti-EU parties in last week's European parliamentary elections have alerted Europe's mainstream leadership to its fundamentally precarious position. This a warning Stratfor sounded more than two years ago when we predicted the rise of the far right and cautioned that these fringe groups should not be underestimated, precisely because they were tapping into very real and deepening sentiments that emerged from the economic and social malaise that has developed since 2008.
The highest levels of European leadership are finally and unequivocally feeling the political consequences of years of unemployment and stagnating growth across much of the continent. The dismal election results for many of the mainstream European parties (particularly in France, Spain and the United Kingdom) overshadowed the small but much-lauded gross domestic product growth figures for the year to date that dominated headlines until last week.
The current European leadership sees the rapid rise of Euroskeptical parties as an existential threat to the postwar order in Europe. This is not only because of old specters of Europe's bloody nationalist past, but also because the economic and financial stability of the continent has been rigged (sometimes haphazardly) around the open market and common currency that these Euroskeptical parties want to recuse.
Reversing the trend of growing popularity for Euroskeptical radical parties will therefore become even more of a priority for Europe's leadership. On a tactical level, mainstream parties will have to co-opt some of the more palatable platforms of their fringe counterparts to try to draw back in a wider majority of voters -- including restarting debates on immigration and the welfare state. The problem, of course, is that doing so will only accentuate the divisions and clashes among EU members rather than harmonizing their very different solutions to very different problems.
In fact, the only avenue for hope for the European project lies at the supranational level, with Germany being able to rally enough support from its European peers to lead radical reforms and drive further integration among its members. Berlin has understood this very well for some time. However, constrained by an electorate that would balk at the idea of sacrificing Germany's welfare for that of a financially distressed neighbor, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has walked the line very carefully so far.
The victory of the anti-EU parties may be a catalyst for Berlin and its other mainstream political allies to accelerate the fundamental reforms needed to return to growth while they still have the political capital to do so. This shorter-than-expected timeline adds urgency to controversial structural reforms designed to deepen integration and ultimately give the creditors -- Germany – more of a say in how Eurozone countries manage their banks and budgets.
The question is: Does Germany have that kind of time? Growth remains stagnant and unemployment is high. Moreover, there are still major outstanding issues on how to enforce bank lending across highly varied eurozone economies, how to enforce deficit targets, who decides which banks survive and fail, and myriad others.
While Berlin and its allies can try to accelerate the reforms while they still have the votes, they risk creating much deeper political divisions at home. The already growing Euroskepticism and other fringe parties will benefit from the unavoidable period of pain that would accompany the early stages of these wide-ranging reforms. Even if the end results of these reforms were guaranteed to be spectacular (which they are not), there is a risk that a changing European political landscape will deny them a real opportunity to work.
On a practical level, the EU Parliament elections will bring little visible short-term change. But even as the sting of defeat for the mainstream parties disappears from the headlines, plans and strategies are being set into motion by a very desperate European political elite that worries it may not get enough time to act before it is too late.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
OBAMA HATERS KNOW NO BOUNDS
The internet is inundated daily with derogatory and critical messages about Obama, with the vast majority lacking an ounce of truth
There is hardly a day goes by that I do not receive one or more emails containing derogatory information about President Obama. Every so often I also get derogatory messages about Michelle Obama. A few of these messages are true, some are made up of half-truths at best, but the vast majority of them are completely false.
These derogatory materials originate with people who hate Obama. What is so sad is that people I consider friends dislike the president so much that they are eager to believe the worst about him and will forward those messages without first checking out Snopes.com or TruthOrFiction.com to see if they are true or not. You can bet that messages about Obama ending with “Be sure to pass this on to everyone on your mailing list” are as phony as a nine dollar bill.
One of my fellow volunteers at the nature center readily admits he hates Obama, and he does so with a purple passion. He is a very intelligent man, a retired NASA engineer. Whenever I reply to his numerous emails about Obama by informing him they are false, he gets pissed off at me.
The other day, one of my best friends sent me an email containing 15 photos of Obama with his feet on various pieces of White House furniture. One of these pieces was a “desk, built from timbers of the HMS Resolute and a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes Is considered a national treasure and icon of the presidency.” The email ended with the following message:
SO, HERE'S A MESSAGE FROM THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA : Mr. Obama, you're not in a hut in Kenya or Indonesia, or in Chicago public housing. You're in the White House, Barry..... Property of the people of the United States.
Here is how I replied to my friend:
What a crock of supreme shit! So he puts his feet on the furniture. So do I!
Can't the Obama haters find something better to slam him with?
There has been a lot of criticism about Michelle Obama’s vacations with her daughters and her mother. Some of the accommodations for the family appear to have been quite extravagant. However, what the Obama-hating critics fail to mention is that prior first ladies also took expensive vacations and that the greatest part of those expenses involves the cost of transporting and housing a significant number of Secret Service agents. And the salaries of the agents are figured into the total cost of those vacations.
Some of the Obama haters are just simply racists who cannot stand the fact that our President is black. Most of them probably hate him because they think he’s been a lousy president who has hurt the U.S. internationally or who is intent on turning the U.S. into a socialist country. Obama haters know no bounds. I’m surprised that none of them have thus far criticized Obama for the way he wipes his ass when he’s on the shitter.
I do not hate Obama. I simply do not like many of his policies, especially those dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I believe Obama is one of the worst presidents ever, but he is our president. To the Obama haters I say: Get over it, he’ll be our president until his second term expires. Criticize him if you will, but do it with facts that are true, not with a pack of out-and-out lies!
There is hardly a day goes by that I do not receive one or more emails containing derogatory information about President Obama. Every so often I also get derogatory messages about Michelle Obama. A few of these messages are true, some are made up of half-truths at best, but the vast majority of them are completely false.
These derogatory materials originate with people who hate Obama. What is so sad is that people I consider friends dislike the president so much that they are eager to believe the worst about him and will forward those messages without first checking out Snopes.com or TruthOrFiction.com to see if they are true or not. You can bet that messages about Obama ending with “Be sure to pass this on to everyone on your mailing list” are as phony as a nine dollar bill.
One of my fellow volunteers at the nature center readily admits he hates Obama, and he does so with a purple passion. He is a very intelligent man, a retired NASA engineer. Whenever I reply to his numerous emails about Obama by informing him they are false, he gets pissed off at me.
The other day, one of my best friends sent me an email containing 15 photos of Obama with his feet on various pieces of White House furniture. One of these pieces was a “desk, built from timbers of the HMS Resolute and a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes Is considered a national treasure and icon of the presidency.” The email ended with the following message:
SO, HERE'S A MESSAGE FROM THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA : Mr. Obama, you're not in a hut in Kenya or Indonesia, or in Chicago public housing. You're in the White House, Barry..... Property of the people of the United States.
Here is how I replied to my friend:
What a crock of supreme shit! So he puts his feet on the furniture. So do I!
Can't the Obama haters find something better to slam him with?
There has been a lot of criticism about Michelle Obama’s vacations with her daughters and her mother. Some of the accommodations for the family appear to have been quite extravagant. However, what the Obama-hating critics fail to mention is that prior first ladies also took expensive vacations and that the greatest part of those expenses involves the cost of transporting and housing a significant number of Secret Service agents. And the salaries of the agents are figured into the total cost of those vacations.
Some of the Obama haters are just simply racists who cannot stand the fact that our President is black. Most of them probably hate him because they think he’s been a lousy president who has hurt the U.S. internationally or who is intent on turning the U.S. into a socialist country. Obama haters know no bounds. I’m surprised that none of them have thus far criticized Obama for the way he wipes his ass when he’s on the shitter.
I do not hate Obama. I simply do not like many of his policies, especially those dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I believe Obama is one of the worst presidents ever, but he is our president. To the Obama haters I say: Get over it, he’ll be our president until his second term expires. Criticize him if you will, but do it with facts that are true, not with a pack of out-and-out lies!
SCOTUS: SCORE ONE FOR THE COPS
By a unanimous decision Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the police can shoot to kill a motorist who leads them on a reckless, high speed chase, even after they have cornered him if he tries to drive off again
In 2004, after a traffic stop by West Memphis, Arkansas police, Donald Rickard sped off and led the cops on a chase across the bridge over the Mississippi River into Memphis, Tennessee. At times the speed exceeded 100 mph. West Memphis Sgt. Vance Plumhoff led the chase and collided with Rickard, sending his car spinning into a parking lot. Although cornered, Rickard put his car into reverse and tried to get away. Sgt. Plumhoff fired three shots at him. When his car spun away, other officers fired more shots at Rickard, killing him and his passenger.
Rickard’s daughter sued the cops, charging them with using excessive force. A U.S. District Judge and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a jury should decide the case, but, by a unanimous decision Tuesday, the Supreme Court decided otherwise.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the decision as reported by the Los Angeles Times:
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said the officers were justified in shooting the motorist because he continued to maneuver his car after he had been temporarily stopped by a squad car. As the motorist, Donald Rickard, tried to drive away, police fired 15 shots in all, killing him and a passenger.
Alito also said officers deserve the benefit of the doubt when they are engaged in a high-speed pursuit. "We analyze this question from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight," he wrote in Plumhoff v. Rickard.
A unanimous decision? I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. The four liberal justices actually agreed the officers had a right to shoot Rickard. I never thought I’d live to see the day when that would happen.
In 2004, after a traffic stop by West Memphis, Arkansas police, Donald Rickard sped off and led the cops on a chase across the bridge over the Mississippi River into Memphis, Tennessee. At times the speed exceeded 100 mph. West Memphis Sgt. Vance Plumhoff led the chase and collided with Rickard, sending his car spinning into a parking lot. Although cornered, Rickard put his car into reverse and tried to get away. Sgt. Plumhoff fired three shots at him. When his car spun away, other officers fired more shots at Rickard, killing him and his passenger.
Rickard’s daughter sued the cops, charging them with using excessive force. A U.S. District Judge and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a jury should decide the case, but, by a unanimous decision Tuesday, the Supreme Court decided otherwise.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the decision as reported by the Los Angeles Times:
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said the officers were justified in shooting the motorist because he continued to maneuver his car after he had been temporarily stopped by a squad car. As the motorist, Donald Rickard, tried to drive away, police fired 15 shots in all, killing him and a passenger.
Alito also said officers deserve the benefit of the doubt when they are engaged in a high-speed pursuit. "We analyze this question from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight," he wrote in Plumhoff v. Rickard.
A unanimous decision? I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. The four liberal justices actually agreed the officers had a right to shoot Rickard. I never thought I’d live to see the day when that would happen.
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION COZIES UP TO MUSLIM ORGANIZATION THAT CALLS FOR THE KILLING OF JEWS
America’s liberal Jews should flog themselves for supporting a president whose administration wants to make nice with a Jew-hating organization.
STATE DEPARTMENT RETWEETS IMAM LINKED TO TERRORIST FATWAS, HITLER DEFENSE
By Joel Himelfarb
Newsmax
May 27, 2014
State Department counterterrorism officials last week promoted the work of Sheik Abdullah bin Bayyah, vice president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, an organization whose senior officials have endorsed Hamas, backed the murder of U.S. soldiers, and praised Hitler’s “divine punishment” of European Jews.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that State’s Counterterrorism Bureau tweeted a link to bin Bayyah’s website after he condemned the kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram.
Bin Bayyah is vice president of the scholars’ union, founded by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a popular Muslim cleric sometimes described as the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader. Although he has been depicted in some circles as a moderate, Qaradawi and his organization have a long record of advocating violence against Americans, Jews and others they deem enemies of Islam.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism reported that in a January 2009 speech on Al-Jazeera, Qaradawi called on Muslims to put Jews “in their place” and praised Hitler.
“This was divine punishment for them,” he said. “Allah willing, the next time will be at the hands of the believers.”
On other occasions, Qaradawi has praised Palestinian suicide bombings; declared that Muslims were permitted to kill Israeli women; prayed for the opportunity to kill a Jew before he dies; and endorsed Muslims acquiring nuclear weapons “to terrorize thereby the enemy of God and your enemy.”
In the wake of those and other inflammatory comments, Qaradawi is barred from entering the United States. But that has not prevented bin Bayyah, his deputy, from gaining high-level access to Obama administration officials.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism reported that the White House last June sought a meeting with bin Bayyah, who has refused to label the actions of groups like Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as terrorism,.
In an Arabic-language post on his website, bin Bayyah quoted Obama National Security Council official Gayle Smith as stating that: “We asked for this meeting to learn from you and we need to be looking for new mechanisms to communicate with you and the Association of Muslim Scholars [another name for Bayyah’s organization].”
It was accompanied by a picture appearing to show bin Bayyah at a table in the White House with U.S. officials. He reportedly urged the administration to aid Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad.
The post also quoted Smith as thanking bin Bayyah for “his efforts to bring more understanding amongst humanity.”
Administration critics claim that bin Bayyah and International Union of Muslim Scholars have long records of advocating terrorism and violence that should disqualify them from such White House access.
A 2004 fatwa issued by scholars’ union declared that “resisting occupation troops” in Iraq was a “duty” for able-bodied Muslims “in and outside Iraq.”
In 2009, the organization declared that all economic, political and cultural dealings with Israel “are considered a form of loyalty to the enemy” and are religiously forbidden.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism reported that during a 2010 appearance on al-Jazeera, bin Bayyah declared that Palestinian violence was acceptable under international law and Islamic law.
In a 2011 Arabic-language posting on his website, bin Bayyah criticized the United States for treating Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as terrorist groups like al-Qaida, declaring this “is not based on any moral principal” and would damage “the fight against terrorism.”
In 2012, the Islamic scholars welcomed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh onto its board of directors.
A few weeks before bin Bayyah’s reported meeting at the White House last year, a cleric affiliated with the Islamic scholars invoked the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious anti-Semitic forgery, on Egyptian television as evidence that the United States and Israel were conspiring against the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government that was then governing Egypt.
The cleric, Khaled Kholif, said the Protocols quoted Jews as vowing “to undermine security in the lands of the Gentiles, through reckless revolutions led by the brainless.”
“It says so in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” Kholif added, urging viewers to read the tract.
STATE DEPARTMENT RETWEETS IMAM LINKED TO TERRORIST FATWAS, HITLER DEFENSE
By Joel Himelfarb
Newsmax
May 27, 2014
State Department counterterrorism officials last week promoted the work of Sheik Abdullah bin Bayyah, vice president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, an organization whose senior officials have endorsed Hamas, backed the murder of U.S. soldiers, and praised Hitler’s “divine punishment” of European Jews.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that State’s Counterterrorism Bureau tweeted a link to bin Bayyah’s website after he condemned the kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram.
Bin Bayyah is vice president of the scholars’ union, founded by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a popular Muslim cleric sometimes described as the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader. Although he has been depicted in some circles as a moderate, Qaradawi and his organization have a long record of advocating violence against Americans, Jews and others they deem enemies of Islam.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism reported that in a January 2009 speech on Al-Jazeera, Qaradawi called on Muslims to put Jews “in their place” and praised Hitler.
“This was divine punishment for them,” he said. “Allah willing, the next time will be at the hands of the believers.”
On other occasions, Qaradawi has praised Palestinian suicide bombings; declared that Muslims were permitted to kill Israeli women; prayed for the opportunity to kill a Jew before he dies; and endorsed Muslims acquiring nuclear weapons “to terrorize thereby the enemy of God and your enemy.”
In the wake of those and other inflammatory comments, Qaradawi is barred from entering the United States. But that has not prevented bin Bayyah, his deputy, from gaining high-level access to Obama administration officials.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism reported that the White House last June sought a meeting with bin Bayyah, who has refused to label the actions of groups like Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as terrorism,.
In an Arabic-language post on his website, bin Bayyah quoted Obama National Security Council official Gayle Smith as stating that: “We asked for this meeting to learn from you and we need to be looking for new mechanisms to communicate with you and the Association of Muslim Scholars [another name for Bayyah’s organization].”
It was accompanied by a picture appearing to show bin Bayyah at a table in the White House with U.S. officials. He reportedly urged the administration to aid Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad.
The post also quoted Smith as thanking bin Bayyah for “his efforts to bring more understanding amongst humanity.”
Administration critics claim that bin Bayyah and International Union of Muslim Scholars have long records of advocating terrorism and violence that should disqualify them from such White House access.
A 2004 fatwa issued by scholars’ union declared that “resisting occupation troops” in Iraq was a “duty” for able-bodied Muslims “in and outside Iraq.”
In 2009, the organization declared that all economic, political and cultural dealings with Israel “are considered a form of loyalty to the enemy” and are religiously forbidden.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism reported that during a 2010 appearance on al-Jazeera, bin Bayyah declared that Palestinian violence was acceptable under international law and Islamic law.
In a 2011 Arabic-language posting on his website, bin Bayyah criticized the United States for treating Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as terrorist groups like al-Qaida, declaring this “is not based on any moral principal” and would damage “the fight against terrorism.”
In 2012, the Islamic scholars welcomed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh onto its board of directors.
A few weeks before bin Bayyah’s reported meeting at the White House last year, a cleric affiliated with the Islamic scholars invoked the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious anti-Semitic forgery, on Egyptian television as evidence that the United States and Israel were conspiring against the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government that was then governing Egypt.
The cleric, Khaled Kholif, said the Protocols quoted Jews as vowing “to undermine security in the lands of the Gentiles, through reckless revolutions led by the brainless.”
“It says so in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” Kholif added, urging viewers to read the tract.
THREE JUDGES IN FLORIDA’S BROWARD COUNTY BUSTED FOR DUI
Circuit Judge Lynn Rosenthal, who was arrested for DUI on Tuesday morning in the driveway to the judge's parking lot after smashing into a cop car, is the third Broward County judge to be busted for DUI since November
Judges Rosenthal and Gisele Pollack showed up for court all juiced up. I’d probably get drunk too if I had to listen to a bunch of lying attorneys arguing with each other every day.
FLORIDA JUDGE ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF DUI AFTER SMASHING HER BMW INTO A POLICE CAR ON THE WAY TO COURT
By Paul Thompson
Mail Online
May 28, 2014
A Florida judge was arrested on suspicion of DUI after smashing into a police patrol car at a courthouse as she arrived for work.
Judge Lynn Rosenthal is also alleged to have repeatedly hit the gate of the judges' parking lot with her BMW car and collided with a concrete median on her way to work.
Deputies at Broward County courthouse arrested Rosenthal at 8.45am.
She is the third judge from the county to face DUI charges.
Rosenthal is alleged to have admitted taking an Ambien pill on Monday night.
Deputies said she did not appear to have been drinking.
Rosenthal, 56, asked the Broward County Sheriff's office not to release her booking photo as she was a sitting judge.
She was booked into the main jail on one count of driving under the influence and one count of driving under the influence and causing property damage, according to jail records.
She was released on a $1,500 bond late Tuesday.
According to an arrest report, Rosenthal struck the parked patrol car with the passenger side of her BMW SUV, then continued toward the security gate of the judges' parking lot.
She struck the gate, put her vehicle in reverse, then struck the gate several more times before a deputy at the scene stopped her, according to the report.
Although she was described as unsteady on her feet and was speaking with a slurred voice, deputies said they did not smell alcohol.
Rosenthal volunteered that she had been involved in another crash before she reached the parking lot, according to the report.
She told deputies a truck attempted to run her off the road on Interstate
595 and that she had captured the incident on a cell phone video.
Although she was described as unsteady on her feet and was speaking with a slurred voice, deputies said they did not smell alcohol.
The deputy reviewed the video and determined that there was no truck trying to run her off the road. 'The video did display that [Rosenthal] was unable to maintain a single lane, drove in the breakdown lane and failed to avoid a collision with a concrete wall,' wrote the deputy, Michael Wiley.
Rosenthal submitted to a breath test but declined to give a blood or urine sample to test for the presence of drugs in her system. She failed a field sobriety test.
Rosenthal is the third Broward judge arrested for DUI in the past six months.
Broward Circuit Judge Cynthia Imperato, 57, has a pending DUI case resulting from a November 2013 incident in Boca Raton.
And on Friday, Broward County Judge Gisele Pollack was suspended from the bench pending an inquiry over allegations that she took the bench while intoxicated.
Pollack, 56, was arrested May 1 after a car crash in Plantation. Another driver was injured and Pollack was charged with four counts of DUI and failure to use due care.
Judges Rosenthal and Gisele Pollack showed up for court all juiced up. I’d probably get drunk too if I had to listen to a bunch of lying attorneys arguing with each other every day.
FLORIDA JUDGE ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF DUI AFTER SMASHING HER BMW INTO A POLICE CAR ON THE WAY TO COURT
By Paul Thompson
Mail Online
May 28, 2014
A Florida judge was arrested on suspicion of DUI after smashing into a police patrol car at a courthouse as she arrived for work.
Judge Lynn Rosenthal is also alleged to have repeatedly hit the gate of the judges' parking lot with her BMW car and collided with a concrete median on her way to work.
Deputies at Broward County courthouse arrested Rosenthal at 8.45am.
She is the third judge from the county to face DUI charges.
Rosenthal is alleged to have admitted taking an Ambien pill on Monday night.
Deputies said she did not appear to have been drinking.
Rosenthal, 56, asked the Broward County Sheriff's office not to release her booking photo as she was a sitting judge.
She was booked into the main jail on one count of driving under the influence and one count of driving under the influence and causing property damage, according to jail records.
She was released on a $1,500 bond late Tuesday.
According to an arrest report, Rosenthal struck the parked patrol car with the passenger side of her BMW SUV, then continued toward the security gate of the judges' parking lot.
She struck the gate, put her vehicle in reverse, then struck the gate several more times before a deputy at the scene stopped her, according to the report.
Although she was described as unsteady on her feet and was speaking with a slurred voice, deputies said they did not smell alcohol.
Rosenthal volunteered that she had been involved in another crash before she reached the parking lot, according to the report.
She told deputies a truck attempted to run her off the road on Interstate
595 and that she had captured the incident on a cell phone video.
Although she was described as unsteady on her feet and was speaking with a slurred voice, deputies said they did not smell alcohol.
The deputy reviewed the video and determined that there was no truck trying to run her off the road. 'The video did display that [Rosenthal] was unable to maintain a single lane, drove in the breakdown lane and failed to avoid a collision with a concrete wall,' wrote the deputy, Michael Wiley.
Rosenthal submitted to a breath test but declined to give a blood or urine sample to test for the presence of drugs in her system. She failed a field sobriety test.
Rosenthal is the third Broward judge arrested for DUI in the past six months.
Broward Circuit Judge Cynthia Imperato, 57, has a pending DUI case resulting from a November 2013 incident in Boca Raton.
And on Friday, Broward County Judge Gisele Pollack was suspended from the bench pending an inquiry over allegations that she took the bench while intoxicated.
Pollack, 56, was arrested May 1 after a car crash in Plantation. Another driver was injured and Pollack was charged with four counts of DUI and failure to use due care.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
SCOTUS: INTELLECTUALLY IMPAIRED CAN’T BE EXECUTED
In a 5-4 decision Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled in a Florida case that an IQ test score of 70 as a minimum in determining who's eligible for the death penalty is unconstitutional
On February 21 1978, Freddie Lee Hall and an accomplice were looking to steal a car for use in a robbery. They approached Karol Hurst, 21, in the parking lot of a Leesburg, Florida grocery store and forced her into their car. Hall drove away in one of the cars while his accomplice and Hurst followed in the other car. Hurst, who was seven months pregnant, was taken to a wooded area where she was beaten, raped and shot to death. Later that same day, a convenience store clerk became suspicious of Hall and his accomplice. He called the Hernando County SO which was across the street. Hall and his pal were approached by Deputy Lonnie Coburn and during an ensuing confrontation the deputy was shot dead with his own gun.
Hall was tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Karol Hurst. Florida has a rigid interpretation that anyone with an IQ of 70 or below is intellectually impaired and cannot be executed. Hall had an IQ score of 71. It was that rigid rule which led the Supreme Court to overturn Hall’s death sentence. Hall’s attorneys argued that IQ tests have a standard risk of error. They cited that Hall had been diagnosed as mentally retarded on many occasions.
Justice Anthony Kennedy and the four liberal justices ruled that Florida’s rigid IQ interpretation is unconstitutional. Justice Samuel Alito and his three conservative colleagues disagreed.
NPR’s Nina Totenberg reports that:
Writing , Justice Anthony Kennedy noted that Florida's law means if a prisoner is found to have an IQ above 70, "all further exploration of intellectual disability" is cut off. He said the "rigid rule ... creates an unacceptable risk that persons with intellectual disability will be executed, and thus is unconstitutional."
The justice wrote that "to impose the harshest of punishments on an intellectually disabled person violates his or her inherent dignity as a human being."
"The Florida statute, as interpreted by its courts, misuses IQ score on its own terms," Kennedy wrote, "and this, in turn, bars consideration of evidence that must be considered in determining whether a defendant in a capi¬tal case has intellectual disability. Florida's rule is invalid under the Constitution's Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause."
Justice Alito disagreed, writing in a 20-page dissent that the Supreme Court "fails to grasp that Florida's system already accounts for the risk of testing error by allowing the introduction of multiple test scores."
He added, "Any evaluation of intellectual disability, whether based on objective tests or subjective observations, is 'complicated.' If conducting the proper analysis of multiple scores produces an IQ as reliable as the approach mandated by the Court, there is no basis for rejecting Florida's approach."
Whatever happened to the rule that held if you know the difference between right and wrong you are eligible for the death penalty? As far as those IQ tests are concerned, I have never believed they were all that reliable. For one thing, they can be manipulated by the person being tested. And a person who is not interested in taking that test will always score low. IQ tests aside, even if Freddie Lee Hall was mentally retarded, he surely must have known that robbing, kidnapping, raping and murdering was wrong.
Intellectually impaired? I suppose it never occurred to the five justices that Freddie was smart enough to know that if he did not kill Karol Hurst, she would be able to identify him to the police.
This decision will also affect other states, including Texas.
Score one for the liberal bleeding hearts. Kennedy and the four liberal justices have fucked the family of Karol Hurst and her unborn child, the family of Deputy Lonnie Coburn, and the whole law enforcement community.
On February 21 1978, Freddie Lee Hall and an accomplice were looking to steal a car for use in a robbery. They approached Karol Hurst, 21, in the parking lot of a Leesburg, Florida grocery store and forced her into their car. Hall drove away in one of the cars while his accomplice and Hurst followed in the other car. Hurst, who was seven months pregnant, was taken to a wooded area where she was beaten, raped and shot to death. Later that same day, a convenience store clerk became suspicious of Hall and his accomplice. He called the Hernando County SO which was across the street. Hall and his pal were approached by Deputy Lonnie Coburn and during an ensuing confrontation the deputy was shot dead with his own gun.
Hall was tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Karol Hurst. Florida has a rigid interpretation that anyone with an IQ of 70 or below is intellectually impaired and cannot be executed. Hall had an IQ score of 71. It was that rigid rule which led the Supreme Court to overturn Hall’s death sentence. Hall’s attorneys argued that IQ tests have a standard risk of error. They cited that Hall had been diagnosed as mentally retarded on many occasions.
Justice Anthony Kennedy and the four liberal justices ruled that Florida’s rigid IQ interpretation is unconstitutional. Justice Samuel Alito and his three conservative colleagues disagreed.
NPR’s Nina Totenberg reports that:
Writing , Justice Anthony Kennedy noted that Florida's law means if a prisoner is found to have an IQ above 70, "all further exploration of intellectual disability" is cut off. He said the "rigid rule ... creates an unacceptable risk that persons with intellectual disability will be executed, and thus is unconstitutional."
The justice wrote that "to impose the harshest of punishments on an intellectually disabled person violates his or her inherent dignity as a human being."
"The Florida statute, as interpreted by its courts, misuses IQ score on its own terms," Kennedy wrote, "and this, in turn, bars consideration of evidence that must be considered in determining whether a defendant in a capi¬tal case has intellectual disability. Florida's rule is invalid under the Constitution's Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause."
Justice Alito disagreed, writing in a 20-page dissent that the Supreme Court "fails to grasp that Florida's system already accounts for the risk of testing error by allowing the introduction of multiple test scores."
He added, "Any evaluation of intellectual disability, whether based on objective tests or subjective observations, is 'complicated.' If conducting the proper analysis of multiple scores produces an IQ as reliable as the approach mandated by the Court, there is no basis for rejecting Florida's approach."
Whatever happened to the rule that held if you know the difference between right and wrong you are eligible for the death penalty? As far as those IQ tests are concerned, I have never believed they were all that reliable. For one thing, they can be manipulated by the person being tested. And a person who is not interested in taking that test will always score low. IQ tests aside, even if Freddie Lee Hall was mentally retarded, he surely must have known that robbing, kidnapping, raping and murdering was wrong.
Intellectually impaired? I suppose it never occurred to the five justices that Freddie was smart enough to know that if he did not kill Karol Hurst, she would be able to identify him to the police.
This decision will also affect other states, including Texas.
Score one for the liberal bleeding hearts. Kennedy and the four liberal justices have fucked the family of Karol Hurst and her unborn child, the family of Deputy Lonnie Coburn, and the whole law enforcement community.
MICHELLE OBAMA URGES HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES TO MONITOR THEIR FAMILIES FOR POLITICALLY INCORRECT THOUGHTS
Michelle’s exhortation for high school graduates to be the thought police, reminds me of the Nazis urging students to rat out their parents if they had any politically incorrect (anti-Nazi doctrine) thoughts.
IS AMERICA STARTING TO TARGET THOUGHT CRIME?
By Scott Greer
The Daily Caller
May 26, 2014
Last week, Michelle Obama made headlines when she exhorted graduating high schoolers in a commencement address to monitor their families for politically incorrect thoughts and behaviors.
To one journalist, this was more than an off-hand comment made by the first lady. In the opinion of Cheryl Chumley, a reporter for The Washington Times and the author of “Police State USA,” Michelle Obama’s remark reflects a growing trend in America to target and attack individuals for committing “thought crime.”
“Michelle Obama’s push for kids around the nation to monitor their family members for perceived racist comments is just another way the government seeks to inject itself into an area it doesn’t really belong — the American home,” Chumley told The Daily Caller Monday.
“Having the first lady wag her finger at us and send America’s youth on some sort of quest to scour the homes and backyards of our nation’s families for any mention of a racist joke, slur or slight is nanny-governance run amok — something that belongs in a George Orwell novel, not the White House, Chumley said.”
Chumley sees a troubling growth of America’s most powerful political figures now singling out private individuals for their beliefs, and using government agencies and public denunciations to intimidate opponents into silence.
“Harry Reid attacking the Koch brothers for the crime of giving money to conservative causes is just as bad. President Obama, Joe Biden and the entire cast of the White House, for slamming lawful gun owners for exercising their Second Amendment rights, and for trying to drum up emotional-fueled support to ram through gun control,” Chumley listed off. “The IRS targeting of tea party and patriotic non-profits and our nation’s highest law enforcement official, Eric Holder stonewalling on a special prosecutor appointment — does it get any more police state than that?”
The Washington Times reporter sees the creation of hate crime laws as one of the first steps in our country’s history in the direction of attacking unpopular and politically incorrect thoughts in America.
“What comes to mind when I think of the genesis for this growing trend of government to control Americans’ speech, and by extension, thoughts, is when the notion of hate crime was brought into our criminal prosecution system — as if acts of violence that are committed because of racial divides deserve a different category of ‘extra-special bad,’” Chumley stated.
“Political correctness and pandering politicians have fueled this narrative in recent years. Anybody who throws the race card on a regular basis — think Eric Holder, Al Sharpton, Harry Reid — is guilty to a certain degree of clamping down on free speech, and in turn, making Americans even wary of what they think.”
And it’s not just the government enforcing this new speech code, in Chumley’s opinion — private companies are just as complicit in regulating speech that’s deemed offensive by the government and media.
“Private companies, like A&E with the “Duck Dynasty” debacle, are getting just as bad as government when it comes to clamping down on free speech, especially when religious views are involved — or, of late, the gay rights movement,” Chumley stated. “I’m all for businesses reacting to free market pressures from their customer base — but really, they need to show a little more spine.”
In Chumley’s opinion, Americans growing a backbone and holding firm to their beliefs would be enough to resist this apparent infringement on individual rights.
“When Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A, stood strong in the face of gay rights activists, you didn’t see his business crumble and fold. Rather, you saw those who believe in freedom of speech rise up and stand in Chick-fil-A lines across the nation to support him,” the “Police State USA” author stated. “The only answer is to refuse to be cowed. We’re a nation that’s founded on the belief that rights come from God, not government.”
IS AMERICA STARTING TO TARGET THOUGHT CRIME?
By Scott Greer
The Daily Caller
May 26, 2014
Last week, Michelle Obama made headlines when she exhorted graduating high schoolers in a commencement address to monitor their families for politically incorrect thoughts and behaviors.
To one journalist, this was more than an off-hand comment made by the first lady. In the opinion of Cheryl Chumley, a reporter for The Washington Times and the author of “Police State USA,” Michelle Obama’s remark reflects a growing trend in America to target and attack individuals for committing “thought crime.”
“Michelle Obama’s push for kids around the nation to monitor their family members for perceived racist comments is just another way the government seeks to inject itself into an area it doesn’t really belong — the American home,” Chumley told The Daily Caller Monday.
“Having the first lady wag her finger at us and send America’s youth on some sort of quest to scour the homes and backyards of our nation’s families for any mention of a racist joke, slur or slight is nanny-governance run amok — something that belongs in a George Orwell novel, not the White House, Chumley said.”
Chumley sees a troubling growth of America’s most powerful political figures now singling out private individuals for their beliefs, and using government agencies and public denunciations to intimidate opponents into silence.
“Harry Reid attacking the Koch brothers for the crime of giving money to conservative causes is just as bad. President Obama, Joe Biden and the entire cast of the White House, for slamming lawful gun owners for exercising their Second Amendment rights, and for trying to drum up emotional-fueled support to ram through gun control,” Chumley listed off. “The IRS targeting of tea party and patriotic non-profits and our nation’s highest law enforcement official, Eric Holder stonewalling on a special prosecutor appointment — does it get any more police state than that?”
The Washington Times reporter sees the creation of hate crime laws as one of the first steps in our country’s history in the direction of attacking unpopular and politically incorrect thoughts in America.
“What comes to mind when I think of the genesis for this growing trend of government to control Americans’ speech, and by extension, thoughts, is when the notion of hate crime was brought into our criminal prosecution system — as if acts of violence that are committed because of racial divides deserve a different category of ‘extra-special bad,’” Chumley stated.
“Political correctness and pandering politicians have fueled this narrative in recent years. Anybody who throws the race card on a regular basis — think Eric Holder, Al Sharpton, Harry Reid — is guilty to a certain degree of clamping down on free speech, and in turn, making Americans even wary of what they think.”
And it’s not just the government enforcing this new speech code, in Chumley’s opinion — private companies are just as complicit in regulating speech that’s deemed offensive by the government and media.
“Private companies, like A&E with the “Duck Dynasty” debacle, are getting just as bad as government when it comes to clamping down on free speech, especially when religious views are involved — or, of late, the gay rights movement,” Chumley stated. “I’m all for businesses reacting to free market pressures from their customer base — but really, they need to show a little more spine.”
In Chumley’s opinion, Americans growing a backbone and holding firm to their beliefs would be enough to resist this apparent infringement on individual rights.
“When Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A, stood strong in the face of gay rights activists, you didn’t see his business crumble and fold. Rather, you saw those who believe in freedom of speech rise up and stand in Chick-fil-A lines across the nation to support him,” the “Police State USA” author stated. “The only answer is to refuse to be cowed. We’re a nation that’s founded on the belief that rights come from God, not government.”
CAMARADERIE OF COMBAT
When they return home from fighting a war, soldiers will begin to miss the brotherhood of combat
There is no greater bond than that of soldiers with each other during combat.
SEBASTIAN JUNGER ON WHY SOLDIERS MISS WAR
By Brian Ross, Megan Chuchmach and Mary-Rose Abraham
ABC News
May 26, 2014
“The soldier’s experience in war is inherently powerful.”
It was to capture that experience that journalist Sebastian Junger embedded for a year with a platoon of U.S. soldiers in one of the most remote and dangerous outposts in Afghanistan. Together with the late photojournalist Tim Hetherington, Junger directed the Oscar-nominated 2010 documentary Restrepo with the intention of giving viewers a firsthand look at the war. The follow-up is Korengal, releasing on May 30, a film which goes even deeper into the war experience, capturing the psychology of the soldiers, especially why they would miss war.
“They come home, and of course they don't miss getting shot at, they don't miss having to shoot at people,” Junger explained. “But what they do miss is that brotherhood of combat. It's not replaceable back home and I think that's the sort of secret to understanding why soldiers can miss something as terrible as war is.”
While he and Hetherington were embedded with the soldiers in the Korengal Valley, Junger found that combat is both very intoxicating and exciting, but also profoundly disturbing. He said he felt the same fear and the adrenaline rush which the soldiers felt. It was this shared experience of becoming part of the platoon, including injuries – Hetherington broke his leg; Junger was injured by an IED – that Junger believed is why the soldiers were so open and honest with him.
“The toughest guys had to fight their tears out there, had to fight their feelings,” Junger said. “The toughest guys. And they were all, we were all, scared. Everyone out there was grieving the loss of somebody. And I feel really honored that they didn't just put up a front with me. I'd like to think we earned it but I'm really honored they trusted us with their feelings.”
Junger felt loss especially hard when Hetherington was killed in 2011 while covering the fighting in Libya. Junger was 5,000 miles away but said he somehow believed it was his fault that his friend died.
“I twisted it around in my head, like I should've been there to help him save his life or protect him,” Junger said. “It's not even rational. An enormous component of PTSD is survivor guilt. And you can have survivor guilt and not be anywhere near the tragedy. That's the weird thing.”
It helped him to understand why many of the soldiers he was interviewing would feel guilty when another was killed. Within an hour of Hetherington’s death, Junger decided he would no longer cover combat.
“It made me a much more emotional person and some men have trouble being emotional and I was one of them,” Junger said. “Trauma also deepens you emotionally and that's a good thing and there's a real growth there. And so with the trauma you also get the growth. And that to me was a really profound experience actually.”
There is no greater bond than that of soldiers with each other during combat.
SEBASTIAN JUNGER ON WHY SOLDIERS MISS WAR
By Brian Ross, Megan Chuchmach and Mary-Rose Abraham
ABC News
May 26, 2014
“The soldier’s experience in war is inherently powerful.”
It was to capture that experience that journalist Sebastian Junger embedded for a year with a platoon of U.S. soldiers in one of the most remote and dangerous outposts in Afghanistan. Together with the late photojournalist Tim Hetherington, Junger directed the Oscar-nominated 2010 documentary Restrepo with the intention of giving viewers a firsthand look at the war. The follow-up is Korengal, releasing on May 30, a film which goes even deeper into the war experience, capturing the psychology of the soldiers, especially why they would miss war.
“They come home, and of course they don't miss getting shot at, they don't miss having to shoot at people,” Junger explained. “But what they do miss is that brotherhood of combat. It's not replaceable back home and I think that's the sort of secret to understanding why soldiers can miss something as terrible as war is.”
While he and Hetherington were embedded with the soldiers in the Korengal Valley, Junger found that combat is both very intoxicating and exciting, but also profoundly disturbing. He said he felt the same fear and the adrenaline rush which the soldiers felt. It was this shared experience of becoming part of the platoon, including injuries – Hetherington broke his leg; Junger was injured by an IED – that Junger believed is why the soldiers were so open and honest with him.
“The toughest guys had to fight their tears out there, had to fight their feelings,” Junger said. “The toughest guys. And they were all, we were all, scared. Everyone out there was grieving the loss of somebody. And I feel really honored that they didn't just put up a front with me. I'd like to think we earned it but I'm really honored they trusted us with their feelings.”
Junger felt loss especially hard when Hetherington was killed in 2011 while covering the fighting in Libya. Junger was 5,000 miles away but said he somehow believed it was his fault that his friend died.
“I twisted it around in my head, like I should've been there to help him save his life or protect him,” Junger said. “It's not even rational. An enormous component of PTSD is survivor guilt. And you can have survivor guilt and not be anywhere near the tragedy. That's the weird thing.”
It helped him to understand why many of the soldiers he was interviewing would feel guilty when another was killed. Within an hour of Hetherington’s death, Junger decided he would no longer cover combat.
“It made me a much more emotional person and some men have trouble being emotional and I was one of them,” Junger said. “Trauma also deepens you emotionally and that's a good thing and there's a real growth there. And so with the trauma you also get the growth. And that to me was a really profound experience actually.”
NONSENSE: GINGRICH BRANDS CORRECTIONS A FAILURE
For Mr. Gingrich’s edification, our prisons exists for the sole purpose of keeping convicted felons locked up for the term prescribed by law, and since they do that, corrections is not a failure
By Jeff ‘Paco’ Doyle
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
May 27, 2014
“Our corrections system is not correcting. Within three years of being released from prison, nearly half of prisoners are convicted of another crime with one out of every four ending up back in prison.
When a typical bureaucracy does its job this badly, it wastes money, time and paper. The corrections bureaucracy, in failing to correct the large majority of inmates in its charge, not only wastes money but also wastes lives, families and entire cities.”
So says disgraced former Speaker Newt Gingrich and his self-avowed communist CNN co-host, Van Jones.
In an Op-Ed published by CNN last week “Prison System is Failing in America”, the delirious duo predictably repeat verbatim every recidivism statistic available, lament the continuing criminality of criminals and come to the inane conclusion corrections is not “correcting.”
Surely, applying the same logic and literal-ism, Gingrich must believe the constant growth of bacteria means “Our sanitation system is not sanitizing.” Which is to say, Sanitation is (more-or-less) a euphemism for keeping the sewage moving along and minimizing its bacterial content.
Similarly, corrections is a euphemism and the smartest man in the World ought to know it. Corrections does what it supposed to do: Provide a secure environment to house offenders (PERIOD).
For Mr. Gingrich’s edification, “correction” takes place when the prison system takes custody of a lawfully convicted felon and maintains custody until the lawfully imposed term has been satisfied. Thus, the criminal justice system corrected the situation by punishing, as in segregating, the offender as prescribed by law.
An alleged failure to rehabilitate prisoners is what Gingrich means to lament but, surely, that massive brain of his must know concentrated populations of criminals will NEVER be amenable to mass rehabilitation. Rehabilitation, or redemption, is a personal path, not a freeway.
The record will show Paco favors making meaningful programs available to all offenders who demonstrate amenability to perform and change. That said, the very recidivism rates cited by the former Speaker support the premise a VERY small percentage are so willing at any given time. Yet, Gingrich and Company would have us spend untold billions providing mammoth programs designed to “correct” the millions of ne’er-do-wells populating our jails and prisons.
They know naught of which they speak.
A lettered historian and Constitutional scholar, Newt Gingrich knows the type of system needed to accomplish “correction” is viable and effective in countries unencumbered by the Constitution. Japan, China, North Korea and and a good many other nations employ techniques which break the human spirit, producing compliant, docile “corrected” offenders. We can’t do what they do to prisoners, nor should we want to.
Our corrections system, as my first sergeant often said, “exists for the sole purpose of keeping convicted mother fuckers locked up for the term prescribed by law. No more, no less.”
In that context, Mr. Gingrich, corrections is HUGELY successful, with a historically minuscule number of escapes and errors.
Perhaps the profession should reconsider the term correction, err on the side of honesty, and follow the State of Arkansas’ example. There, the parole authority is the State of Arkansas Department of Community Punishment and Parole. I like that–No ambiguity there.
No matter what we call the prison system, it will NEVER correct offenders because, in this country at least, it cannot. Smart idiots like Newt Gingrich and Van Jones know it. However, you can’t blame a pair of has-beens at a failing “news network” for trying to stir things up…even when they know better.
By Jeff ‘Paco’ Doyle
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
May 27, 2014
“Our corrections system is not correcting. Within three years of being released from prison, nearly half of prisoners are convicted of another crime with one out of every four ending up back in prison.
When a typical bureaucracy does its job this badly, it wastes money, time and paper. The corrections bureaucracy, in failing to correct the large majority of inmates in its charge, not only wastes money but also wastes lives, families and entire cities.”
So says disgraced former Speaker Newt Gingrich and his self-avowed communist CNN co-host, Van Jones.
In an Op-Ed published by CNN last week “Prison System is Failing in America”, the delirious duo predictably repeat verbatim every recidivism statistic available, lament the continuing criminality of criminals and come to the inane conclusion corrections is not “correcting.”
Surely, applying the same logic and literal-ism, Gingrich must believe the constant growth of bacteria means “Our sanitation system is not sanitizing.” Which is to say, Sanitation is (more-or-less) a euphemism for keeping the sewage moving along and minimizing its bacterial content.
Similarly, corrections is a euphemism and the smartest man in the World ought to know it. Corrections does what it supposed to do: Provide a secure environment to house offenders (PERIOD).
For Mr. Gingrich’s edification, “correction” takes place when the prison system takes custody of a lawfully convicted felon and maintains custody until the lawfully imposed term has been satisfied. Thus, the criminal justice system corrected the situation by punishing, as in segregating, the offender as prescribed by law.
An alleged failure to rehabilitate prisoners is what Gingrich means to lament but, surely, that massive brain of his must know concentrated populations of criminals will NEVER be amenable to mass rehabilitation. Rehabilitation, or redemption, is a personal path, not a freeway.
The record will show Paco favors making meaningful programs available to all offenders who demonstrate amenability to perform and change. That said, the very recidivism rates cited by the former Speaker support the premise a VERY small percentage are so willing at any given time. Yet, Gingrich and Company would have us spend untold billions providing mammoth programs designed to “correct” the millions of ne’er-do-wells populating our jails and prisons.
They know naught of which they speak.
A lettered historian and Constitutional scholar, Newt Gingrich knows the type of system needed to accomplish “correction” is viable and effective in countries unencumbered by the Constitution. Japan, China, North Korea and and a good many other nations employ techniques which break the human spirit, producing compliant, docile “corrected” offenders. We can’t do what they do to prisoners, nor should we want to.
Our corrections system, as my first sergeant often said, “exists for the sole purpose of keeping convicted mother fuckers locked up for the term prescribed by law. No more, no less.”
In that context, Mr. Gingrich, corrections is HUGELY successful, with a historically minuscule number of escapes and errors.
Perhaps the profession should reconsider the term correction, err on the side of honesty, and follow the State of Arkansas’ example. There, the parole authority is the State of Arkansas Department of Community Punishment and Parole. I like that–No ambiguity there.
No matter what we call the prison system, it will NEVER correct offenders because, in this country at least, it cannot. Smart idiots like Newt Gingrich and Van Jones know it. However, you can’t blame a pair of has-beens at a failing “news network” for trying to stir things up…even when they know better.
WHAT’S IT SIHABOUT, KHOUNLAT?
Dangerous jerk self-rehabilitates
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
May 26, 2014
About 11 months ago Khounlat Sihabout, 35, was arrested after he stabbed his wife and his sister. He was separated from his wife - I can’t imagine why - and he didn’t like that. Since his arrest he has been a guest of Sacramento County, being held on charges of attempted murder, child abuse and ADW.
It seems that Sihabout self-rehabilitated about 1000 hours on Sunday in his one-man cell in the isolation unit.
Too bad, so sad (not). Looks like he saved the county the cost of a trial. Way to go dude.
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
May 26, 2014
About 11 months ago Khounlat Sihabout, 35, was arrested after he stabbed his wife and his sister. He was separated from his wife - I can’t imagine why - and he didn’t like that. Since his arrest he has been a guest of Sacramento County, being held on charges of attempted murder, child abuse and ADW.
It seems that Sihabout self-rehabilitated about 1000 hours on Sunday in his one-man cell in the isolation unit.
Too bad, so sad (not). Looks like he saved the county the cost of a trial. Way to go dude.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
JUDGE DECLARES HEAT ON DEATH ROW CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT
Federal Judge Brian Jackson has ordered Louisiana to air condition its death row at the Angola prison
The Advocate reports that last summer Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson toured Louisiana’s Angola prison and found the heat indexes in the prison’s death row so high that in December he ruled the heat constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Jackson ordered that heat indexes (how hot it actually feels) were not to exceed 88 degrees.
In response to Jackson’s order, the state proposed a plan in February to cool its death row down by adding air conditioning, providing chests filled with ice, and letting inmate have as once-daily cold shower.
On Friday the judge ordered the immediate implementation of the state’s plan and required the state to record temperature, humidity and heat index data from each death-row tier every two hours from June 1 through Oct. 31. Jackson appointed Lafayette civil lawyer Paul J. Hebert as special master to oversee the plan’s implementation and to monitor the conditions on death row. Herbert must report his findings every 30 days starting July 1.
The state is appealing Jackson’s order and asking for a stay because “Given the significant issues involved in this litigation which have far-reaching effects on many correctional institutions in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, the department intends to seek a thorough review of the trial court’s decision with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.”
I must congratulate and commend Judge Jackson for his kindhearted ‘hug a convict’ ruling. After all, those poor souls on death row are not there for a short period of time. Some have been roosting there more than 20 years and most will be there for at least 10 years. I am so grateful that Jackson will not allow those misfortunate death row inmates to suffer any longer.
The Advocate reports that last summer Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson toured Louisiana’s Angola prison and found the heat indexes in the prison’s death row so high that in December he ruled the heat constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Jackson ordered that heat indexes (how hot it actually feels) were not to exceed 88 degrees.
In response to Jackson’s order, the state proposed a plan in February to cool its death row down by adding air conditioning, providing chests filled with ice, and letting inmate have as once-daily cold shower.
On Friday the judge ordered the immediate implementation of the state’s plan and required the state to record temperature, humidity and heat index data from each death-row tier every two hours from June 1 through Oct. 31. Jackson appointed Lafayette civil lawyer Paul J. Hebert as special master to oversee the plan’s implementation and to monitor the conditions on death row. Herbert must report his findings every 30 days starting July 1.
The state is appealing Jackson’s order and asking for a stay because “Given the significant issues involved in this litigation which have far-reaching effects on many correctional institutions in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, the department intends to seek a thorough review of the trial court’s decision with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.”
I must congratulate and commend Judge Jackson for his kindhearted ‘hug a convict’ ruling. After all, those poor souls on death row are not there for a short period of time. Some have been roosting there more than 20 years and most will be there for at least 10 years. I am so grateful that Jackson will not allow those misfortunate death row inmates to suffer any longer.
NETANYAHU’S GREETING TO POPE FRANCIS AT BEN-GURION INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Here are the remarks of Prime Minister Netanyahu as he greeted the arrival of Pope Francis in Israel:
"Your Holiness Pope Francis, welcome to our land, the Land of Israel, the Holy Land. You bring with you the spirit of reconciliation, faith and peace of millions of Christians worldwide, and also of many who are not Christian who are caught up in the spirit of love for humanity which you embody. Your visit is an important chapter in the history of the relations between Christians and Jews, a bond which has lasted for 2,000 years.
"These relations are anchored in the Bible, which is the moral, historic and religious keystone on which Judaism rests, and from which Christianity grew. … It is against the backdrop of the suffering of the past that I welcome the good relations between the Holy See and the Jewish people and Jewish state that have been built during our generation.
"Your Holiness, despite all the incitement and disturbances and pogroms against our people, we regained our independence in our ancestral homeland, to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem. Your visit here is an opportunity to show you the real Israel -- a democratic, advanced, prosperous country.
"Your Holiness, in the heart of the Middle East, the turbulent and violent Middle East, where Christians are often persecuted, Israel is an island of tolerance. We safeguard the rights of all faiths. We guarantee freedom of worship for all and we are committed to maintaining the status quo at the Holy sites of Christians, Muslims and Jews."
"Your Holiness Pope Francis, welcome to our land, the Land of Israel, the Holy Land. You bring with you the spirit of reconciliation, faith and peace of millions of Christians worldwide, and also of many who are not Christian who are caught up in the spirit of love for humanity which you embody. Your visit is an important chapter in the history of the relations between Christians and Jews, a bond which has lasted for 2,000 years.
"These relations are anchored in the Bible, which is the moral, historic and religious keystone on which Judaism rests, and from which Christianity grew. … It is against the backdrop of the suffering of the past that I welcome the good relations between the Holy See and the Jewish people and Jewish state that have been built during our generation.
"Your Holiness, despite all the incitement and disturbances and pogroms against our people, we regained our independence in our ancestral homeland, to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem. Your visit here is an opportunity to show you the real Israel -- a democratic, advanced, prosperous country.
"Your Holiness, in the heart of the Middle East, the turbulent and violent Middle East, where Christians are often persecuted, Israel is an island of tolerance. We safeguard the rights of all faiths. We guarantee freedom of worship for all and we are committed to maintaining the status quo at the Holy sites of Christians, Muslims and Jews."
POPE TRIED TO PLEASE BOTH SIDES IN ISARELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
After praying at the wall that keeps Palestinian terrorists out of Israel, Francis prayed at the Israeli memorial to civilians killed by Palestinian terrorists
It remains to be seen whether the Pope’s efforts at peacemaking will bear any fruit. I doubt that Francis will be any more successful than John Kerry.
POPE WRAPS UP DELICATE MIDEAST PILGRIMAGE
Associated Press
May 26, 2014
Pope Francis wrapped up his Mideast pilgrimage Monday with a balancing act of symbolic and sometimes spontaneous gestures to press his call for peace between Israel and the Palestinians and friendship between Jews and Muslims in the land of Jesus' birth.
A day after he boosted Palestinian aspirations by praying at Israel's security barrier surrounding Bethlehem, Francis honored Holocaust victims by kissing the hands of several survivors, and accepted Israel's last-minute request to pray at a memorial to victims of suicide bombings and other attacks.
But the image that the Vatican hopes will define the trip, and perhaps Francis' young papacy, was another: that of the leader of the 1.2 billion strong Roman Catholic Church embracing his Argentine friends, a rabbi and a Muslim, in front of the Western Wall, adjacent to the disputed hilltop compound that lies at the heart of decades of Israel-Arab tensions.
After visiting the golden-topped Dome of the Rock shrine on the compound on Monday morning, Francis prayed at the nearby Western Wall, leaving a hand-written note with the "Our Father" prayer written in his native Spanish in between the cracks of stone.
When he finished, a visibly emotional Francis embraced Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Omar Abboud, a leader of Argentina's Muslim community, both of whom joined Francis on his official delegation in a potent symbol of interfaith friendship.
"I think this was the real answer to such problems that come from very long and profound difficulties," the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said of the embrace. "What can we do? We can pray. We can ask God to help us. We can love mutually and then embrace."
That logic lies at the heart of Francis' surprise invitation to the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to come to the Vatican next month to pray for peace. The invitation was a dramatic — but very Franciscan — initiative that confirmed that the pope who named himself after the peace-loving St. Francis of Assisi feels free and even obliged to pursue any initiative that might benefit peace.
Francis made a similar foray into world diplomacy last year when he rallied millions of people to fast and pray for a peaceful resolution to threatened U.S.-led military strikes on Syria. More recently, the Vatican has intervened directly in Venezuela's unrest by participating in talks between the government and the opposition.
In the case of the Vatican prayer meeting, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres readily accepted the invitation, and Peres and Francis discussed the encounter during a lengthy meeting at the president's office.
"The humility in your nature and the power in your spirit raised a spiritual elation and a thirst for peace," Peres told him at a ceremony in the garden of the presidential residence.
The prospects of a breakthrough at the Vatican meeting next month are slim. Peres, a 90-year-old Nobel peace laureate, holds a largely ceremonial office and is set to step down this summer. But the pope's gesture seemed to send a powerful message to the region's leaders not to give up, weeks after the latest round of peace talks collapsed.
The atmosphere was starkly different in Francis' one-on-one with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has expressed anger with politicians who have reached out to Abbas at a time when the Palestinian leader is reconciling with the Islamic militant group Hamas. Israel considers Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, a terrorist group.
In his talks with Francis, Netanyahu lauded Israel's treatment of Christians and defended its West Bank separation barrier. Israel says the structure is a security measure. The Palestinians say it has gobbled up their land and stifled their economy.
"When incitement and terror against Israel stops, there won't be the need for the security fence which has saved thousands of lives," Netanyahu said.
The conversation turned awkward after Netanyahu told the pope that Jesus spoke Hebrew.
"He was speaking Aramaic," the pope replied with a smile. "He spoke Aramaic, and he also knew Hebrew," Netanyahu said.
After Francis made an unscheduled stop at the massive concrete barrier on Sunday, Netanyahu asked Francis to deviate from his whirlwind itinerary to pray at Jerusalem's Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial, which includes the names of hundreds of civilians killed in Palestinian and Arab attacks since 1851, Lombardi and Netanyahu's office said.
As he did at the separation barrier and the Western Wall, Francis bowed his head in prayer and placed his hand on the stone. Lombardi said he then delivered a sweeping denunciation of terrorism in all its forms.
At Yad Vashem, the pope prayed before a crypt with ashes of Holocaust victims and laid a wreath of yellow and white flowers in the "Hall of Remembrance."
Upon his arrival in Israel after visiting the West Bank, Francis clearly condemned the slaughter of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, making up for what many Jews felt was a tepid speech from the German Pope Benedict XVI during his 2009 visit to Yad Vashem.
On Monday, his actions almost spoke louder than his words. In one of the most poignant moments of the trip, Francis kissed the hands of six Holocaust survivors as he heard their stories.
"Never again, Lord, never again!" Francis said. "Here we are, Lord, shamed by what man — created in your own image and likeness — was capable of doing." He repeated that phrase in writing in the memorial's guest book.
Joseph Gottdenker, born in Poland in 1942, said he briefly told the pope how he was saved as a boy by Catholics who hid him during the Holocaust. Gottdenker, who now lives in Canada, said the meeting was more emotional than he expected.
"The Catholic people who saved me and risked the lives of their whole families to save me, they are looking down today and proud to see me meet the leader of their faith," Gottdenker said.
Yisca Harani, an expert on Christianity in the Holy Land, said she was disappointed with the visit. While the pope arrived to celebrate peace, he was instead greeted by two angry parties who tried to pull him in their direction.
"I expected someone stronger. I expected some strong words of encouragement or a real push," she said. "I found a frail pope. There were very few moments when I saw his face lit up. From the moment he landed he looked afraid."
It remains to be seen whether the Pope’s efforts at peacemaking will bear any fruit. I doubt that Francis will be any more successful than John Kerry.
POPE WRAPS UP DELICATE MIDEAST PILGRIMAGE
Associated Press
May 26, 2014
Pope Francis wrapped up his Mideast pilgrimage Monday with a balancing act of symbolic and sometimes spontaneous gestures to press his call for peace between Israel and the Palestinians and friendship between Jews and Muslims in the land of Jesus' birth.
A day after he boosted Palestinian aspirations by praying at Israel's security barrier surrounding Bethlehem, Francis honored Holocaust victims by kissing the hands of several survivors, and accepted Israel's last-minute request to pray at a memorial to victims of suicide bombings and other attacks.
But the image that the Vatican hopes will define the trip, and perhaps Francis' young papacy, was another: that of the leader of the 1.2 billion strong Roman Catholic Church embracing his Argentine friends, a rabbi and a Muslim, in front of the Western Wall, adjacent to the disputed hilltop compound that lies at the heart of decades of Israel-Arab tensions.
After visiting the golden-topped Dome of the Rock shrine on the compound on Monday morning, Francis prayed at the nearby Western Wall, leaving a hand-written note with the "Our Father" prayer written in his native Spanish in between the cracks of stone.
When he finished, a visibly emotional Francis embraced Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Omar Abboud, a leader of Argentina's Muslim community, both of whom joined Francis on his official delegation in a potent symbol of interfaith friendship.
"I think this was the real answer to such problems that come from very long and profound difficulties," the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said of the embrace. "What can we do? We can pray. We can ask God to help us. We can love mutually and then embrace."
That logic lies at the heart of Francis' surprise invitation to the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to come to the Vatican next month to pray for peace. The invitation was a dramatic — but very Franciscan — initiative that confirmed that the pope who named himself after the peace-loving St. Francis of Assisi feels free and even obliged to pursue any initiative that might benefit peace.
Francis made a similar foray into world diplomacy last year when he rallied millions of people to fast and pray for a peaceful resolution to threatened U.S.-led military strikes on Syria. More recently, the Vatican has intervened directly in Venezuela's unrest by participating in talks between the government and the opposition.
In the case of the Vatican prayer meeting, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres readily accepted the invitation, and Peres and Francis discussed the encounter during a lengthy meeting at the president's office.
"The humility in your nature and the power in your spirit raised a spiritual elation and a thirst for peace," Peres told him at a ceremony in the garden of the presidential residence.
The prospects of a breakthrough at the Vatican meeting next month are slim. Peres, a 90-year-old Nobel peace laureate, holds a largely ceremonial office and is set to step down this summer. But the pope's gesture seemed to send a powerful message to the region's leaders not to give up, weeks after the latest round of peace talks collapsed.
The atmosphere was starkly different in Francis' one-on-one with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has expressed anger with politicians who have reached out to Abbas at a time when the Palestinian leader is reconciling with the Islamic militant group Hamas. Israel considers Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, a terrorist group.
In his talks with Francis, Netanyahu lauded Israel's treatment of Christians and defended its West Bank separation barrier. Israel says the structure is a security measure. The Palestinians say it has gobbled up their land and stifled their economy.
"When incitement and terror against Israel stops, there won't be the need for the security fence which has saved thousands of lives," Netanyahu said.
The conversation turned awkward after Netanyahu told the pope that Jesus spoke Hebrew.
"He was speaking Aramaic," the pope replied with a smile. "He spoke Aramaic, and he also knew Hebrew," Netanyahu said.
After Francis made an unscheduled stop at the massive concrete barrier on Sunday, Netanyahu asked Francis to deviate from his whirlwind itinerary to pray at Jerusalem's Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial, which includes the names of hundreds of civilians killed in Palestinian and Arab attacks since 1851, Lombardi and Netanyahu's office said.
As he did at the separation barrier and the Western Wall, Francis bowed his head in prayer and placed his hand on the stone. Lombardi said he then delivered a sweeping denunciation of terrorism in all its forms.
At Yad Vashem, the pope prayed before a crypt with ashes of Holocaust victims and laid a wreath of yellow and white flowers in the "Hall of Remembrance."
Upon his arrival in Israel after visiting the West Bank, Francis clearly condemned the slaughter of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, making up for what many Jews felt was a tepid speech from the German Pope Benedict XVI during his 2009 visit to Yad Vashem.
On Monday, his actions almost spoke louder than his words. In one of the most poignant moments of the trip, Francis kissed the hands of six Holocaust survivors as he heard their stories.
"Never again, Lord, never again!" Francis said. "Here we are, Lord, shamed by what man — created in your own image and likeness — was capable of doing." He repeated that phrase in writing in the memorial's guest book.
Joseph Gottdenker, born in Poland in 1942, said he briefly told the pope how he was saved as a boy by Catholics who hid him during the Holocaust. Gottdenker, who now lives in Canada, said the meeting was more emotional than he expected.
"The Catholic people who saved me and risked the lives of their whole families to save me, they are looking down today and proud to see me meet the leader of their faith," Gottdenker said.
Yisca Harani, an expert on Christianity in the Holy Land, said she was disappointed with the visit. While the pope arrived to celebrate peace, he was instead greeted by two angry parties who tried to pull him in their direction.
"I expected someone stronger. I expected some strong words of encouragement or a real push," she said. "I found a frail pope. There were very few moments when I saw his face lit up. From the moment he landed he looked afraid."
IT’S IN THE QURAN: ISLAMIC JEW-HATRED
20 D.C. Metro buses will carry ads featuring a picture of Adolf Hitler schmoozing with Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem during WWII
The ads carry this message: "Islamic Jew-hatred: It's in the Quran. Two-thirds of all US aid goes to Islamic countries. Stop racism. End all aid to Islamic countries.” The ads have raised the ire of America’s Islamic organizations.
Al-Husseini has become a bright beacon for the hatred of Jews in the Arab world. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called al-Husseini “My hero” and praised the Grand Mufti’s ‘legacy’ of hatred for Jews.
CONTROVERSIAL BUS ADS COMPARE ISLAM WITH NAZISM
Washington, DC Metro features ads urging US to 'stop funding racism' - prompting debate about free speech
AFP
May 23, 2014
Bus ads linking Islam with Nazism are circulating through Washington, DC - sparking a furious debate about the role of free speech.
"Islamic Jew-hatred: It's in the Quran. Two-thirds of all US aid goes to Islamic countries. Stop racism. End all aid to Islamic countries," the ad states, over a fine-print disclaimer from the Metro transit authority.
The ads, which are featured on twenty Metro buses, feature a photo of Adolf Hitler in conversation with "his staunch ally" Haj Amin al-Husseini, the grand mufti of Jerusalem during World War II.
Al-Husseini has become an important figurehead for anti-Semitism in the Arab world; in 2013, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called the Mufti "his hero" and spoke glowingly of his "legacy" of hatred.
The American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) funded the ads, which are to run until mid-June. The group aims to "raise awareness of the depredations of Islamic supremacism," according to its website.
AFDI co-founder Pamela Geller called the campaign a direct response to like-sized Washington bus ads placed in April by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) which read, "Stop US aid to Israel's occupation."
"So many folks are unaware of Islamic history and the role of Muslim world during the Holocaust... Let's buy more ads," she said. The campaign hopes to raise $20,000 by Friday via an online crowd-sourcing website.
The campaign has sparked backlash - specifically from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which insists that they intend "to promote hatred of Islam and Muslims." Spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told AFP that CAIR is developing on its own bus ads "to promote mutual understanding as a response to Geller's hate ad" - and giving away free Korans.
Former FBI Counterterrorism expert John Guandolo revealed to Arutz Sheva in March that he has information showing CAIR is a front for the terrorist organization Hamas.
Regardless of opposition, the ads will stay according to Metro representatives, as they are upheld by US laws mandating freedom of speech.
"We're not able to refuse ads on the basis of content," a spokeswoman for Metro told AFP, citing a 2012 court case that allowed another AFDI bus ad on the grounds that it was free speech protected by the US Constitution.
The ads carry this message: "Islamic Jew-hatred: It's in the Quran. Two-thirds of all US aid goes to Islamic countries. Stop racism. End all aid to Islamic countries.” The ads have raised the ire of America’s Islamic organizations.
Al-Husseini has become a bright beacon for the hatred of Jews in the Arab world. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called al-Husseini “My hero” and praised the Grand Mufti’s ‘legacy’ of hatred for Jews.
CONTROVERSIAL BUS ADS COMPARE ISLAM WITH NAZISM
Washington, DC Metro features ads urging US to 'stop funding racism' - prompting debate about free speech
AFP
May 23, 2014
Bus ads linking Islam with Nazism are circulating through Washington, DC - sparking a furious debate about the role of free speech.
"Islamic Jew-hatred: It's in the Quran. Two-thirds of all US aid goes to Islamic countries. Stop racism. End all aid to Islamic countries," the ad states, over a fine-print disclaimer from the Metro transit authority.
The ads, which are featured on twenty Metro buses, feature a photo of Adolf Hitler in conversation with "his staunch ally" Haj Amin al-Husseini, the grand mufti of Jerusalem during World War II.
Al-Husseini has become an important figurehead for anti-Semitism in the Arab world; in 2013, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called the Mufti "his hero" and spoke glowingly of his "legacy" of hatred.
The American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) funded the ads, which are to run until mid-June. The group aims to "raise awareness of the depredations of Islamic supremacism," according to its website.
AFDI co-founder Pamela Geller called the campaign a direct response to like-sized Washington bus ads placed in April by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) which read, "Stop US aid to Israel's occupation."
"So many folks are unaware of Islamic history and the role of Muslim world during the Holocaust... Let's buy more ads," she said. The campaign hopes to raise $20,000 by Friday via an online crowd-sourcing website.
The campaign has sparked backlash - specifically from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which insists that they intend "to promote hatred of Islam and Muslims." Spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told AFP that CAIR is developing on its own bus ads "to promote mutual understanding as a response to Geller's hate ad" - and giving away free Korans.
Former FBI Counterterrorism expert John Guandolo revealed to Arutz Sheva in March that he has information showing CAIR is a front for the terrorist organization Hamas.
Regardless of opposition, the ads will stay according to Metro representatives, as they are upheld by US laws mandating freedom of speech.
"We're not able to refuse ads on the basis of content," a spokeswoman for Metro told AFP, citing a 2012 court case that allowed another AFDI bus ad on the grounds that it was free speech protected by the US Constitution.
TACO BELL WARNS EMPLOYEES AGAINST DIRECTLY EXPOSING SKIN TO FOOD
Taco Bell’s new employee safety handbook details numerous preventative measures employees should follow to avoid compromising their health, such as limiting their kitchen shifts to three hours, and it urges workers to take their breaks outdoors in fresh air at least 100 feet away from any Doritos Locos Taco
The Onion
May 23, 2014
IRVINE, CA—In a new handbook distributed Friday to employees at all 6,500 of its locations worldwide, fast food chain Taco Bell has issued an updated set of safety protocols that warns workers against directly exposing their skin to any of its food products.
The company’s revised food-handling directives, which apply to every item on the restaurant’s Tex-Mex–inspired menu, require employees to notify their shift manager immediately if Taco Bell ingredients make even brief surface contact with any part of their body, with the exception of instances when items come in contact with the eyes, in which case all workers are instructed to use the nearest emergency eye wash fountain “without delay.”
“We want our team members to protect themselves from the dangerous complications that result when the skin of one’s hands or face is directly exposed to either a regular menu item or a featured promotional specialty during the food preparation process,” read an excerpt from the 436-page manual, noting that an employee’s first line of defense is to wear chemically impermeable butyl gloves when dispensing the restaurant’s meats, salsa, or three-cheese blends. “The easiest way to ensure safety on the job is to wear an approved Taco Bell long-sleeve work coat and disposable latex shoe covers at all times while in the restaurant’s kitchen, and above all, be mindful when preparing a menu item so that no food or condiment ever touches exposed flesh.”
“However, in the event of epidermal contact with any of our meat fillings, you must immerse the affected area under running water at once and then apply the neutralizing chemical agent found in the wall-mounted dispensers located every five feet above the food preparation counters,” the manual continues.
The new instructional materials detail numerous preventative measures employees should follow to avoid compromising their health, such as limiting their kitchen shifts to three hours in order to prevent prolonged exposure to dollar-menu items or a maximum of 25 minutes if the kitchen’s fume hoods are not functioning. In addition, the handbook urges workers to take their breaks outdoors in fresh air at least 100 feet away from any Doritos Locos Taco.
The guidelines further direct kitchen workers to seal any broken taco shells in specially marked plastic bags and discard the bags in one of the red puncture-resistant waste disposal containers located throughout the kitchen. Employees are also instructed to wear their company-issued safety goggles before entering the burrito assembly area, know the location of the restaurant’s emergency potassium iodide tablets, and submit themselves to periodic testing with a qualified toxicologist.
It is also recommended that any clothing soiled with Zesty Pepper Jack Sauce be disposed of as soon as possible in the industrial furnaces provided at each franchise location for this purpose.
“Under no circumstances should employees remove their lead aprons when in the vicinity of any of our nacho-based menu options,” the manual states. “Furthermore, Taco Bell crew members—especially those who are pregnant or might become pregnant—must always wear aluminized protective coveralls and a military-grade respirator mask in the presence of our refried beans.”
“It is absolutely imperative that the Cheesy Gordita Crunch be assembled behind a pane of protective glass until the moment it is served to customers,” the manual adds. “There can be NO EXCEPTIONS to this rule.”
The instructional booklet goes on to state that if a worker accidentally touches any one of the seven layers in a seven-layer burrito, he or she must quickly take a disinfecting chemical shower, “even if contact occurs during the lunch rush.”
A foreword to the manual written by company CEO Greg Creed assures Taco Bell workers that, as long as they follow the officially delineated standard protocol for food preparation and all internationally accepted guidelines from the National Association of Corrosion Control Engineers, they need not worry about contamination on the job. Creed admitted, however, that accidents have occurred at chain locations from time to time.
“Each Taco Bell location is equipped with sophisticated sensors able to identify and seal off any zone in which airborne concentrations of Border Sauce reach unsafe levels above 12 parts per million,” said Creed, explaining that the system would also react to any guacamole or sour cream spills. “Should the alarm be triggered, decontamination locks will isolate the clean chamber along with all those inside until an appointed Yum! Brands hazmat team arrives from corporate headquarters and is able to ascertain if the scene is salvageable.”
“Of course, our company strives to avoid these sorts of quarantine scenarios whenever possible,” Creed added.
Pressed for comment, Taco Bell representatives noted that during the month of June, customers could upgrade any of their purchases with a delicious, thirst-quenching Mountain Dew Typhoon Freeze for only $1.99.
The Onion
May 23, 2014
IRVINE, CA—In a new handbook distributed Friday to employees at all 6,500 of its locations worldwide, fast food chain Taco Bell has issued an updated set of safety protocols that warns workers against directly exposing their skin to any of its food products.
The company’s revised food-handling directives, which apply to every item on the restaurant’s Tex-Mex–inspired menu, require employees to notify their shift manager immediately if Taco Bell ingredients make even brief surface contact with any part of their body, with the exception of instances when items come in contact with the eyes, in which case all workers are instructed to use the nearest emergency eye wash fountain “without delay.”
“We want our team members to protect themselves from the dangerous complications that result when the skin of one’s hands or face is directly exposed to either a regular menu item or a featured promotional specialty during the food preparation process,” read an excerpt from the 436-page manual, noting that an employee’s first line of defense is to wear chemically impermeable butyl gloves when dispensing the restaurant’s meats, salsa, or three-cheese blends. “The easiest way to ensure safety on the job is to wear an approved Taco Bell long-sleeve work coat and disposable latex shoe covers at all times while in the restaurant’s kitchen, and above all, be mindful when preparing a menu item so that no food or condiment ever touches exposed flesh.”
“However, in the event of epidermal contact with any of our meat fillings, you must immerse the affected area under running water at once and then apply the neutralizing chemical agent found in the wall-mounted dispensers located every five feet above the food preparation counters,” the manual continues.
The new instructional materials detail numerous preventative measures employees should follow to avoid compromising their health, such as limiting their kitchen shifts to three hours in order to prevent prolonged exposure to dollar-menu items or a maximum of 25 minutes if the kitchen’s fume hoods are not functioning. In addition, the handbook urges workers to take their breaks outdoors in fresh air at least 100 feet away from any Doritos Locos Taco.
The guidelines further direct kitchen workers to seal any broken taco shells in specially marked plastic bags and discard the bags in one of the red puncture-resistant waste disposal containers located throughout the kitchen. Employees are also instructed to wear their company-issued safety goggles before entering the burrito assembly area, know the location of the restaurant’s emergency potassium iodide tablets, and submit themselves to periodic testing with a qualified toxicologist.
It is also recommended that any clothing soiled with Zesty Pepper Jack Sauce be disposed of as soon as possible in the industrial furnaces provided at each franchise location for this purpose.
“Under no circumstances should employees remove their lead aprons when in the vicinity of any of our nacho-based menu options,” the manual states. “Furthermore, Taco Bell crew members—especially those who are pregnant or might become pregnant—must always wear aluminized protective coveralls and a military-grade respirator mask in the presence of our refried beans.”
“It is absolutely imperative that the Cheesy Gordita Crunch be assembled behind a pane of protective glass until the moment it is served to customers,” the manual adds. “There can be NO EXCEPTIONS to this rule.”
The instructional booklet goes on to state that if a worker accidentally touches any one of the seven layers in a seven-layer burrito, he or she must quickly take a disinfecting chemical shower, “even if contact occurs during the lunch rush.”
A foreword to the manual written by company CEO Greg Creed assures Taco Bell workers that, as long as they follow the officially delineated standard protocol for food preparation and all internationally accepted guidelines from the National Association of Corrosion Control Engineers, they need not worry about contamination on the job. Creed admitted, however, that accidents have occurred at chain locations from time to time.
“Each Taco Bell location is equipped with sophisticated sensors able to identify and seal off any zone in which airborne concentrations of Border Sauce reach unsafe levels above 12 parts per million,” said Creed, explaining that the system would also react to any guacamole or sour cream spills. “Should the alarm be triggered, decontamination locks will isolate the clean chamber along with all those inside until an appointed Yum! Brands hazmat team arrives from corporate headquarters and is able to ascertain if the scene is salvageable.”
“Of course, our company strives to avoid these sorts of quarantine scenarios whenever possible,” Creed added.
Pressed for comment, Taco Bell representatives noted that during the month of June, customers could upgrade any of their purchases with a delicious, thirst-quenching Mountain Dew Typhoon Freeze for only $1.99.
Monday, May 26, 2014
DIRECTING HIS GRIEF AND ANGER AT THE WRONG PARTIES
“My son's name was Christopher Ross Martinez, he was 20 years old and he died last night. Our family has a message for every parent out there: you don't think it'll happen to your child until it does. Chris was a really great kid, ask anyone who knew him. His death has left our family lost and broken. Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA. They talk about gun rights. What about Chris's right to live? When will this insanity stop? When will enough people say stop this madness? We don't have to live like this. Too many have died. We should say to ourselves: 'Not one more.'”
Thus spoke grief-stricken Richard Martinez after his 20-year-old son Chris was shot dead by Elliot Rodger, 22, in the mass shooting at Santa Barbara, California that left six others dead, including Rodger.
His heart-wrenching words have received worldwide media attention.
I am truly sorry for the loss experienced by the families of Rodger’s victims. While I understand the Martinez family’s grief, I believe Chris’ father is directing his anger at those who are not responsible for the deaths in the Santa Barbara mass shooting. The members of Congress who refused to pass any further gun control laws after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre did not kill Chris and the others. The NRA did not put any guns in the hands of Elliot Rodger.
This and other mass shootings were committed by mentally deranged individuals. The problem is not with the politicians and the NRA. The problem is with identifying the mentally ill so that they cannot obtain or possess any firearms. The laws keeping guns out of their hands are already on the books. The NRA supports those laws. And the defeated legislation proposed by Obama and Biden to restrict the sale of assault rifles would not have made any difference in this case as Rodger used only handguns.
Richard Martinez’s tearful tirade will embolden the gun control advocates, including Obama, Biden and Holder, to renew their efforts to further restrict the availability of firearms. Of course what they and Mr. Martinez really want is to limit gun possession to the police and military only. They believe that will stop those mass shootings and other types of gun deaths. What they refuse to accept is the fact that with millions of guns in circulation, criminals and the insane will still be able to get all the guns they want.
I do not have the answer to mass shootings, but I know that calls to stop the madness by controlling guns is not the solution to that problem. To Mr. Martinez, President Obama, Vice President Biden, Attorney General Holder, Sarah Brady and your ilk: If you succeed in getting the gun controls you seek, it may be harder and costlier for criminals and the mentally deranged to get their hands on guns, but get their hands on guns they will.
Thus spoke grief-stricken Richard Martinez after his 20-year-old son Chris was shot dead by Elliot Rodger, 22, in the mass shooting at Santa Barbara, California that left six others dead, including Rodger.
His heart-wrenching words have received worldwide media attention.
I am truly sorry for the loss experienced by the families of Rodger’s victims. While I understand the Martinez family’s grief, I believe Chris’ father is directing his anger at those who are not responsible for the deaths in the Santa Barbara mass shooting. The members of Congress who refused to pass any further gun control laws after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre did not kill Chris and the others. The NRA did not put any guns in the hands of Elliot Rodger.
This and other mass shootings were committed by mentally deranged individuals. The problem is not with the politicians and the NRA. The problem is with identifying the mentally ill so that they cannot obtain or possess any firearms. The laws keeping guns out of their hands are already on the books. The NRA supports those laws. And the defeated legislation proposed by Obama and Biden to restrict the sale of assault rifles would not have made any difference in this case as Rodger used only handguns.
Richard Martinez’s tearful tirade will embolden the gun control advocates, including Obama, Biden and Holder, to renew their efforts to further restrict the availability of firearms. Of course what they and Mr. Martinez really want is to limit gun possession to the police and military only. They believe that will stop those mass shootings and other types of gun deaths. What they refuse to accept is the fact that with millions of guns in circulation, criminals and the insane will still be able to get all the guns they want.
I do not have the answer to mass shootings, but I know that calls to stop the madness by controlling guns is not the solution to that problem. To Mr. Martinez, President Obama, Vice President Biden, Attorney General Holder, Sarah Brady and your ilk: If you succeed in getting the gun controls you seek, it may be harder and costlier for criminals and the mentally deranged to get their hands on guns, but get their hands on guns they will.
IF CHRIS MARTINEZ HAD BEEN KILLED BY A DRUNK DRIVER, WOULD HIS FATHER HAVE BLAMED BUDWEISER, COORS, JIM BEAM OR JACK DANIELS AND THEIR ADVERTISERS?
A crazy person shot the Santa Barbara victims, but ‘crazy’ is subject to interpretation not only by experts, but also by the government
By ‘kl2008a’
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
May 25. 2014
I can understand a father's grief, but what I do not agree with is who he is placing the blame on for his son's death. Had his son's death resulted from a drunk driver would he be blaming Budweiser, Coors, Jim Beam or Jack Daniels and their advertisers? No, he would probably be blaming the driver. As such, it would lead me to believe that he was against guns before this unfortunate incident occurred.
I think we can all agree that we do not want crazy people having a gun, but we must also take into consideration: 1) Who makes the definition of what "crazy" means. My interpretation of crazy may be different than yours or someone from the mental health field; 2) Who makes the diagnosis of who is "crazy" and the extent of their "craziness"? Is it a professional in the field or some analyst that just checks off categories in the boxes? and 3) What are the overall effects that such a diagnosis have.
Before anyone openly and willingly accepts the idea of wanting more mental health screening before someone can purchase or own a firearm or ammunition we must be vigilant that going further down this road is virtually opening "Pandora's Box" against our Constitutional 2nd Amendment Rights.
Like the State and Fed's defined what THEY (incorrectly) believed is an "assault weapon", they are also looking at redefining the reporting of those that have received help for ANY type of mental illness (including as well as self reporters). When they are done their change will be very broad and the language they want will be overly intrusive into your home, family life, and relationships.
Currently, when you apply to purchase a firearm the questionnaire asks if you have ever been housed (committed) for a psychiatric condition. Sounds pretty simple right? Now the change the Govt wants to make is , "Have you or anyone in your household ever been diagnosed or treated for any mental or psychiatric illness'?" Sounds simple and understandable right? But did you know that would include anyone who suffers, or at one time suffered, from postpartum depression, PTSD, ADHD, or someone who reported to their family doctor that they felt "blue" regardless of how long ago it had been?
The language will also have mandatory reporting of such persons to the Gov't by medical providers, care givers and insurance carriers. If your name, or that of someone who resides in your household, appears on the Gov't list of persons that are currently, or who have in the past, received treatment for ANY mental health condition voluntarily, or involuntarily, you will be restricted from owning a firearm or ammo. Clarification is needed here so for example, when your wife reported to her doctor that she was feeling anxious or depressed after the birth of your child and her doctor wrote in her chart that she was suffering from postpartum depression and prescribed medication for her "condition" her name will appear on the Gov't's restricted list. Even if it was 20 years ago! Or your little Johnny or Janey is daydreaming or "fidgeting" in class and the school says your child's actions are disruptive to the class and tells you the child should get medical help. You take Johnny or Janey to the doctor and he or she diagnoses the child with ADHD and recommends treatment for their "condition". Or maybe your renting a room to your cousin or uncle who served in the military and did a tour in Iraq or Afghanistan, or 'Nam, or even on the beach of Normandy, and was diagnosed by the VA (or other medical professional) as suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). What does this mean to your ability to own a gun or ammo - plenty! If Johnny or Janey or your wife or cousin still resides in your household the Gov't will come to your home and confiscate YOUR legally bought gun(s) without a warrant and without compensation for such loss, as, in their words, the person COULD have access to your guns. Even if you kept them in a well secured gun safe.
By now you're saying "The medical records of mine and my family members are confidential and protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Think again.
While medical personnel may claim to balk at telling the Government your medical condition/s claiming such information is protected under "patient-doctor confidentiality", the insurance companies that pay the doctors fees will gladly give up that information. For example, State Compensation Insurance Fund is a State program that covers a large gaggle of injured government and private sector employees. Then you have the private insurance companies, i.e. - Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Humana, AARP Healthcare, Aetna, Cigna, etc; and government plans like Tri-Care (a health benefit program provided to servicemen and women), Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, or other State, County, or local programs. All of these will freely surrender information to the Government or face severe penalties up to and including having their business license revoked.
Once the Gov't have this information they will use it to deny any law abiding citizen the right to buy, or possess, any ammunition or firearms. In essence, they will use the information about you and anyone who resides in your household to put you on the Gov't's NO BUY or OWN list.
I apologize for this being a little long. When I told people this was going to happen 2 years ago I was laughed at, and believe me when I say THIS is NO laughing matter! It has and currently is happening now!
By ‘kl2008a’
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
May 25. 2014
I can understand a father's grief, but what I do not agree with is who he is placing the blame on for his son's death. Had his son's death resulted from a drunk driver would he be blaming Budweiser, Coors, Jim Beam or Jack Daniels and their advertisers? No, he would probably be blaming the driver. As such, it would lead me to believe that he was against guns before this unfortunate incident occurred.
I think we can all agree that we do not want crazy people having a gun, but we must also take into consideration: 1) Who makes the definition of what "crazy" means. My interpretation of crazy may be different than yours or someone from the mental health field; 2) Who makes the diagnosis of who is "crazy" and the extent of their "craziness"? Is it a professional in the field or some analyst that just checks off categories in the boxes? and 3) What are the overall effects that such a diagnosis have.
Before anyone openly and willingly accepts the idea of wanting more mental health screening before someone can purchase or own a firearm or ammunition we must be vigilant that going further down this road is virtually opening "Pandora's Box" against our Constitutional 2nd Amendment Rights.
Like the State and Fed's defined what THEY (incorrectly) believed is an "assault weapon", they are also looking at redefining the reporting of those that have received help for ANY type of mental illness (including as well as self reporters). When they are done their change will be very broad and the language they want will be overly intrusive into your home, family life, and relationships.
Currently, when you apply to purchase a firearm the questionnaire asks if you have ever been housed (committed) for a psychiatric condition. Sounds pretty simple right? Now the change the Govt wants to make is , "Have you or anyone in your household ever been diagnosed or treated for any mental or psychiatric illness'?" Sounds simple and understandable right? But did you know that would include anyone who suffers, or at one time suffered, from postpartum depression, PTSD, ADHD, or someone who reported to their family doctor that they felt "blue" regardless of how long ago it had been?
The language will also have mandatory reporting of such persons to the Gov't by medical providers, care givers and insurance carriers. If your name, or that of someone who resides in your household, appears on the Gov't list of persons that are currently, or who have in the past, received treatment for ANY mental health condition voluntarily, or involuntarily, you will be restricted from owning a firearm or ammo. Clarification is needed here so for example, when your wife reported to her doctor that she was feeling anxious or depressed after the birth of your child and her doctor wrote in her chart that she was suffering from postpartum depression and prescribed medication for her "condition" her name will appear on the Gov't's restricted list. Even if it was 20 years ago! Or your little Johnny or Janey is daydreaming or "fidgeting" in class and the school says your child's actions are disruptive to the class and tells you the child should get medical help. You take Johnny or Janey to the doctor and he or she diagnoses the child with ADHD and recommends treatment for their "condition". Or maybe your renting a room to your cousin or uncle who served in the military and did a tour in Iraq or Afghanistan, or 'Nam, or even on the beach of Normandy, and was diagnosed by the VA (or other medical professional) as suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). What does this mean to your ability to own a gun or ammo - plenty! If Johnny or Janey or your wife or cousin still resides in your household the Gov't will come to your home and confiscate YOUR legally bought gun(s) without a warrant and without compensation for such loss, as, in their words, the person COULD have access to your guns. Even if you kept them in a well secured gun safe.
By now you're saying "The medical records of mine and my family members are confidential and protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Think again.
While medical personnel may claim to balk at telling the Government your medical condition/s claiming such information is protected under "patient-doctor confidentiality", the insurance companies that pay the doctors fees will gladly give up that information. For example, State Compensation Insurance Fund is a State program that covers a large gaggle of injured government and private sector employees. Then you have the private insurance companies, i.e. - Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Humana, AARP Healthcare, Aetna, Cigna, etc; and government plans like Tri-Care (a health benefit program provided to servicemen and women), Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, or other State, County, or local programs. All of these will freely surrender information to the Government or face severe penalties up to and including having their business license revoked.
Once the Gov't have this information they will use it to deny any law abiding citizen the right to buy, or possess, any ammunition or firearms. In essence, they will use the information about you and anyone who resides in your household to put you on the Gov't's NO BUY or OWN list.
I apologize for this being a little long. When I told people this was going to happen 2 years ago I was laughed at, and believe me when I say THIS is NO laughing matter! It has and currently is happening now!
POPE INVITES WRONG ISRAELI TO VATICAN PEACE CONFAB
Shimon Peres is just a ceremonial president who wields no real power
Pope Francis’ visit to the Middle East was full of political symbolism.
On Sunday, during his visit to the West Bank, Francis recognized the Palestinian territories as the State of Palestine. What does that do for the Palestinians besides giving them something to cheer about? The Pope and the U.N. can recognize Palestine all they want, but the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians can only be settled by the two antagonists, and that is unlikely to happen.
While on the West Bank, the Pope also visited the wall separating the Palestinians from the Israelis. He prayed as he pressed his forehead against the wall. When he finished, he crossed himself slowly before walking away. I take the visit to the wall as the Pope's protest against that separation barrier. Apparently Francis doesn’t get it. The separation barrier has prevented the Palestinian terrorist attacks against innocent Israeli civilians that occurred with regularity before the barrier was built.
Prior to leaving for the Middle East, Francis had announced that the purpose of his trip would be strictly religious, but as soon as his feet hit the ground of the West Bank it turned political. To top it off, he invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres to a peace confab at the Vatican. Both immediately accepted the invitation.
However, the Pope invited the wrong Israeli to the Vatican. While Peres is the President of Israel, his position is largely ceremonial and he wields no real power. Peres has always been a dove who was eager to make peace with those who have sworn to obliterate the Jewish state. The prime minister is the official who wields the power in Israel. Francis should have invited Netanyahu instead of a ribbon cutter.
I doubt Netanyahu would have accepted the invitation to meet with Abbas at the Vatican because the Palestinian president is reuniting with Hamas, the terrorist group that refuses to recognize Israel. Without Netanyahu’s presence, any peace confab at the Vatican will be an exercise in futility.
Pope Francis’ visit to the Middle East was full of political symbolism.
On Sunday, during his visit to the West Bank, Francis recognized the Palestinian territories as the State of Palestine. What does that do for the Palestinians besides giving them something to cheer about? The Pope and the U.N. can recognize Palestine all they want, but the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians can only be settled by the two antagonists, and that is unlikely to happen.
While on the West Bank, the Pope also visited the wall separating the Palestinians from the Israelis. He prayed as he pressed his forehead against the wall. When he finished, he crossed himself slowly before walking away. I take the visit to the wall as the Pope's protest against that separation barrier. Apparently Francis doesn’t get it. The separation barrier has prevented the Palestinian terrorist attacks against innocent Israeli civilians that occurred with regularity before the barrier was built.
Prior to leaving for the Middle East, Francis had announced that the purpose of his trip would be strictly religious, but as soon as his feet hit the ground of the West Bank it turned political. To top it off, he invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres to a peace confab at the Vatican. Both immediately accepted the invitation.
However, the Pope invited the wrong Israeli to the Vatican. While Peres is the President of Israel, his position is largely ceremonial and he wields no real power. Peres has always been a dove who was eager to make peace with those who have sworn to obliterate the Jewish state. The prime minister is the official who wields the power in Israel. Francis should have invited Netanyahu instead of a ribbon cutter.
I doubt Netanyahu would have accepted the invitation to meet with Abbas at the Vatican because the Palestinian president is reuniting with Hamas, the terrorist group that refuses to recognize Israel. Without Netanyahu’s presence, any peace confab at the Vatican will be an exercise in futility.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
A NEW APPEAL BY O.J. SIMPSON
Lawyers argue that O.J. was convicted of robbery because his Nevada jury believed he got away with a double murder in California
Simpson’s lawyers filed a new appeal Wednesday with the Nevada Supreme Court asking for a review of his 2008 robbery conviction. They are seeking his release from a Nevada prison, arguing that his Las Vegas jury was biased against O.J. because he was acquitted in 1995 of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
Simpson is serving a prison term of nine to 33 years for the 2007 robbery of some memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room. O.J. will not be eligible for parole until 2017.
I was convinced from the beginning that O.J. murdered his ex-wife and Goldman. He was acquitted due to the ineptitude of chief prosecutors Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, and the stupidity of Lance Ito, the judge in his Los Angeles murder trial. Those stumblebum prosecutors should never have gotten sucked into letting Simpson try on that glove found at the crime scene. And it didn't help any when Ito, one of the most idiotic judges of all time, allowed the defense to ask LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman if he ever used the ‘N’ word.
The leather glove found by Fuhrman at the crime scene had been traced to Simpson. Between its discovery and the trial, the glove which had been soaked in blood from O.J., Nicole and Goldman, was frozen and unfrozen several times. Anyone with half a brain would have surmised that those factors were likely to have affected the size of the leather glove. But defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran goaded Darden into asking Simpson to put on the glove. The rest is history: ‘If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit!’ Darden’s stupidity gave the nearly all black jury the excuse to acquit Simpson sans any serious deliberations.
Attorneys Patricia Palm, Ozzie Fumo and Tom Pitaro are representing Simpson this time around. I wonder where the money is coming from for their work on this appeal. Either O.J. has a ton of cash stashed where Ron Goldman’s parents can’t find it or he has some fat-cat benefactors shoveling out the dough to speed up his return to a lavish life-style in Florida. Just don’t tell me the lawyers are representing O.J. out of the goodness of their hearts.
I suspect it was quite possible that most, if not all, of the Las Vegas jurors in Simpson's robbery trial believed he got away with murder. Thus the jury may very well have been biased against the murderer of Nicole and Ron. So what! The evidence was overwhelming that Simpson had orchestrated and participated in the robbery. I just hope the Nevada Supreme Court sees it the same way.
Simpson’s lawyers filed a new appeal Wednesday with the Nevada Supreme Court asking for a review of his 2008 robbery conviction. They are seeking his release from a Nevada prison, arguing that his Las Vegas jury was biased against O.J. because he was acquitted in 1995 of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
Simpson is serving a prison term of nine to 33 years for the 2007 robbery of some memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room. O.J. will not be eligible for parole until 2017.
I was convinced from the beginning that O.J. murdered his ex-wife and Goldman. He was acquitted due to the ineptitude of chief prosecutors Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, and the stupidity of Lance Ito, the judge in his Los Angeles murder trial. Those stumblebum prosecutors should never have gotten sucked into letting Simpson try on that glove found at the crime scene. And it didn't help any when Ito, one of the most idiotic judges of all time, allowed the defense to ask LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman if he ever used the ‘N’ word.
The leather glove found by Fuhrman at the crime scene had been traced to Simpson. Between its discovery and the trial, the glove which had been soaked in blood from O.J., Nicole and Goldman, was frozen and unfrozen several times. Anyone with half a brain would have surmised that those factors were likely to have affected the size of the leather glove. But defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran goaded Darden into asking Simpson to put on the glove. The rest is history: ‘If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit!’ Darden’s stupidity gave the nearly all black jury the excuse to acquit Simpson sans any serious deliberations.
Attorneys Patricia Palm, Ozzie Fumo and Tom Pitaro are representing Simpson this time around. I wonder where the money is coming from for their work on this appeal. Either O.J. has a ton of cash stashed where Ron Goldman’s parents can’t find it or he has some fat-cat benefactors shoveling out the dough to speed up his return to a lavish life-style in Florida. Just don’t tell me the lawyers are representing O.J. out of the goodness of their hearts.
I suspect it was quite possible that most, if not all, of the Las Vegas jurors in Simpson's robbery trial believed he got away with murder. Thus the jury may very well have been biased against the murderer of Nicole and Ron. So what! The evidence was overwhelming that Simpson had orchestrated and participated in the robbery. I just hope the Nevada Supreme Court sees it the same way.
COLORADO TEACHER SAW THREAT WHEN 8-YEAR-OLD BOY IMAGINED SEEING GUN IN A CLOUD
The second grade teacher took the little boy to the principal’s office after the class was asked to look at the clouds and draw a picture of what they saw, and he drew a picture of a gun
It looks as though the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings have left teachers and school administrators in a panic mode concerning anything related to a gun, even if it exists in the imagination of a second grader.
Last year a 6-year-old boy at Roscoe R. Nix Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland was suspended for making a hand gesture in the form of a gun toward one of his classmates and saying ‘pow’. All I can say is that school administrators have taken leave of their senses since the Sandy Hook shootings. It’s a wonder they didn’t chop off that 6-year old’s hand to take his gun away.
When I was a young schoolboy, I drew pictures of guns all the time and so did my classmates. And during breaks, we played 'cowboys and Indians' or 'cops and robbers' on the school grounds, using hand gestures in the form of a gun and shouting 'bang bang.' If they found us doing that today, we’d all be in a pile of deep shit. As far as I know, none of my classmates ever shot anyone other than a Jap or Nazi soldier. (My apologies to any Japanese folks who may be offended by the word ‘Jap’.)
SECOND GRADER WRITTEN UP FOR ‘SEEING’ GUN IN THE CLOUDS
By Sandy Fitzgerald
Newsmax
May 24, 2014
An 8-year-old second grader at Talbott Elementary School in Colorado Springs, Colo., is in big trouble for using his imagination after he said a cloud looked like a gun.
His teacher filed a behavioral report against the boy after he drew a picture of a gun, after the teacher told him to look up at the clouds and draw what he saw, reports CBS affiliate KKTV.
“Draw a picture of what you see in the clouds from your imagination,” 8-year-old Kody Smith told the television station about what the teacher has said. "That picture is a gun," he continued, pointing to the gun he drew.
But his teacher, who has not been identified, was not happy with Kody's drawing, and took him to the office before and complained that he was exhibiting behavior disruptive to the school's entire learning community.
While his parents are concerned that the incident will remain on the little boy's permanent record, Widefield School District officials said it will not be.
"Our primary responsibility as a school district is to ensure safety of all staff, students and community," the district said in a press release. "We exercised an age-appropriate reaction to an incident. The student's education was never disrupted nor is this incident on the student's permanent record. Our response was in line with routine procedures focused on school safety.”
But Kody's parents said they are not happy with the action.
"It hurts that he was so scared for being penalized for his imagination," his father, Jeff Smith, told KKTV. His mother, Angel Rivers, told the station she does not believe her son did anything wrong.
“He’s 8 years old," Rivers said. "He was doing exactly what he was told to do for the assignment."
The incident is just one of many occurring nationwide as schools exhibit sensitivity on anything concerning guns, including last year when a 5-year-old Maryland kindergartner was suspended for 10 days for bringing a cowboy-style, orange-tipped cap gun onto his Calvert County, Md., school bus.
In addition to the 10-day suspension, school officials interrogated the boy for approximately two hours, during which time he urinated in his pants, before they called his mother and making her aware of the situation.
It looks as though the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings have left teachers and school administrators in a panic mode concerning anything related to a gun, even if it exists in the imagination of a second grader.
Last year a 6-year-old boy at Roscoe R. Nix Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland was suspended for making a hand gesture in the form of a gun toward one of his classmates and saying ‘pow’. All I can say is that school administrators have taken leave of their senses since the Sandy Hook shootings. It’s a wonder they didn’t chop off that 6-year old’s hand to take his gun away.
When I was a young schoolboy, I drew pictures of guns all the time and so did my classmates. And during breaks, we played 'cowboys and Indians' or 'cops and robbers' on the school grounds, using hand gestures in the form of a gun and shouting 'bang bang.' If they found us doing that today, we’d all be in a pile of deep shit. As far as I know, none of my classmates ever shot anyone other than a Jap or Nazi soldier. (My apologies to any Japanese folks who may be offended by the word ‘Jap’.)
SECOND GRADER WRITTEN UP FOR ‘SEEING’ GUN IN THE CLOUDS
By Sandy Fitzgerald
Newsmax
May 24, 2014
An 8-year-old second grader at Talbott Elementary School in Colorado Springs, Colo., is in big trouble for using his imagination after he said a cloud looked like a gun.
His teacher filed a behavioral report against the boy after he drew a picture of a gun, after the teacher told him to look up at the clouds and draw what he saw, reports CBS affiliate KKTV.
“Draw a picture of what you see in the clouds from your imagination,” 8-year-old Kody Smith told the television station about what the teacher has said. "That picture is a gun," he continued, pointing to the gun he drew.
But his teacher, who has not been identified, was not happy with Kody's drawing, and took him to the office before and complained that he was exhibiting behavior disruptive to the school's entire learning community.
While his parents are concerned that the incident will remain on the little boy's permanent record, Widefield School District officials said it will not be.
"Our primary responsibility as a school district is to ensure safety of all staff, students and community," the district said in a press release. "We exercised an age-appropriate reaction to an incident. The student's education was never disrupted nor is this incident on the student's permanent record. Our response was in line with routine procedures focused on school safety.”
But Kody's parents said they are not happy with the action.
"It hurts that he was so scared for being penalized for his imagination," his father, Jeff Smith, told KKTV. His mother, Angel Rivers, told the station she does not believe her son did anything wrong.
“He’s 8 years old," Rivers said. "He was doing exactly what he was told to do for the assignment."
The incident is just one of many occurring nationwide as schools exhibit sensitivity on anything concerning guns, including last year when a 5-year-old Maryland kindergartner was suspended for 10 days for bringing a cowboy-style, orange-tipped cap gun onto his Calvert County, Md., school bus.
In addition to the 10-day suspension, school officials interrogated the boy for approximately two hours, during which time he urinated in his pants, before they called his mother and making her aware of the situation.
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