Saturday, May 19, 2018
FORMER CENTERFOLD DOES STREET PIZZA IMPRESSION WITH 7-YEAR OLD SON'
by Bob Walsh
Yesterday morning ABOUT 8:15 former Playboy centerfold Stephanie Adams, 37, formerly Miss November 1992, jumped from the 25th floor of her NYC hotel along with her 7-year old son. They impacted the landing of the second story of the Gotham Hotel courtyard. The cops are apparently pretty well convinced it was a suicide, or perhaps more properly a murder-suicide.
Ms. Adams and the boy's father, NYC Chiropractor Charles Nicolai, were involved in a nasty custody battle over the boy. The couple were married but currently living apart.
I just can't fathom hating somebody so much you would kill yourself and your kid just to "flip off" the other person. That is really and truly warped.
Yesterday morning ABOUT 8:15 former Playboy centerfold Stephanie Adams, 37, formerly Miss November 1992, jumped from the 25th floor of her NYC hotel along with her 7-year old son. They impacted the landing of the second story of the Gotham Hotel courtyard. The cops are apparently pretty well convinced it was a suicide, or perhaps more properly a murder-suicide.
Ms. Adams and the boy's father, NYC Chiropractor Charles Nicolai, were involved in a nasty custody battle over the boy. The couple were married but currently living apart.
I just can't fathom hating somebody so much you would kill yourself and your kid just to "flip off" the other person. That is really and truly warped.
SCOTUS PUNTS A MAJOR 2A CASE
by Bob Walsh
Alameda County is a decent size county covering much of the East Bay area in California. The county officials HATE guns, and hate people who own or want to own guns. They do their best to make it impossible for person who have the temerity to actually own guns to use them, and to make it impossible to buy new ones. Due to a combination of tax and zoning laws there are ZERO gun stores in Oakland and now unlikely to be any new ones anywhere in Alameda County.
A lawsuit by various 2A groups in the formerly great state of California against Alameda County finally wound it's way to SCOTUS. SCOTUS rejected it, stating, "No historical authority suggests that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to sell a firearm." That leaves the existing ruling form the notorious, psychotic 9th Circuit in place upholding the ordinance.
Various zoning laws, i.e. no new gun stores within 100,000 light years of a K-12 school, have made it functionally impossible to open a new gun store anywhere in unincorporated Alameda County and many of the cities in the county have similar fairly onerous laws to inhibit gun sales.
Alameda County is a decent size county covering much of the East Bay area in California. The county officials HATE guns, and hate people who own or want to own guns. They do their best to make it impossible for person who have the temerity to actually own guns to use them, and to make it impossible to buy new ones. Due to a combination of tax and zoning laws there are ZERO gun stores in Oakland and now unlikely to be any new ones anywhere in Alameda County.
A lawsuit by various 2A groups in the formerly great state of California against Alameda County finally wound it's way to SCOTUS. SCOTUS rejected it, stating, "No historical authority suggests that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to sell a firearm." That leaves the existing ruling form the notorious, psychotic 9th Circuit in place upholding the ordinance.
Various zoning laws, i.e. no new gun stores within 100,000 light years of a K-12 school, have made it functionally impossible to open a new gun store anywhere in unincorporated Alameda County and many of the cities in the county have similar fairly onerous laws to inhibit gun sales.
SO, DO THEY HAVE A CASE?
by Bob Walsh
Two women are suing the Canadian National Railroad and it's American subsidiaries for injuries. It seems their trains regularly block the streets in the teeming metropolis of Waterloo, Iowa for hours. This means people who want to move from one side of the tracks to the other have to either walk a mile to go around, wait a LONG time or climb between the train cars. That is dangerous as they don't know when the trains will start moving.
The two women, age 37 and 67, were injured doing this. They claim at least five other people have lost chunks of their bodies in this fashion at this location.
My first inclination would be to say "Don't Do Dumb Shit. This is dumb." However, if this happens a LOT one would think the locals have a legit beef and maybe the railroad should do something to relieve the situation. Technically they were probably trespassing. That being said sometimes property owners have a duty of care to trespassers.
Two women are suing the Canadian National Railroad and it's American subsidiaries for injuries. It seems their trains regularly block the streets in the teeming metropolis of Waterloo, Iowa for hours. This means people who want to move from one side of the tracks to the other have to either walk a mile to go around, wait a LONG time or climb between the train cars. That is dangerous as they don't know when the trains will start moving.
The two women, age 37 and 67, were injured doing this. They claim at least five other people have lost chunks of their bodies in this fashion at this location.
My first inclination would be to say "Don't Do Dumb Shit. This is dumb." However, if this happens a LOT one would think the locals have a legit beef and maybe the railroad should do something to relieve the situation. Technically they were probably trespassing. That being said sometimes property owners have a duty of care to trespassers.
SPECIES MAY BE SAVED BY TECHNOLOGY
by Bob Walsh
The Northern White Rhino is functionally extinct. There are only two females left as far as we known. That may be able to be changed.
Scientists in San Diego have impregnated a Southern White Rhino thru artificial insemination. Assuming it takes (they have a gestation of 16-18 months) they may use her as a surrogate mother to regenerate the Northern line. (The two remaining Northern White Rhinos, a mother and daughter, are not capable of bearing offspring.)
They would use genetic material from the recently deceased male Northern to inseminate the female Southern.
If all goes well, which is far from a sure thing, scientists hope to develop a genetically stable herd of as many as 15 Northerns to release back into their native habitat.
The Northern White Rhino is functionally extinct. There are only two females left as far as we known. That may be able to be changed.
Scientists in San Diego have impregnated a Southern White Rhino thru artificial insemination. Assuming it takes (they have a gestation of 16-18 months) they may use her as a surrogate mother to regenerate the Northern line. (The two remaining Northern White Rhinos, a mother and daughter, are not capable of bearing offspring.)
They would use genetic material from the recently deceased male Northern to inseminate the female Southern.
If all goes well, which is far from a sure thing, scientists hope to develop a genetically stable herd of as many as 15 Northerns to release back into their native habitat.
REPUBLICANS JOIN DEMOCRATS IN SUPPORT OF CALIFORNIA SANCTUARY LAW
Gov. Brown signs bill preventing disclosure of immigration status in court
By Tatiana Sanchez
The Mercury News
May 17, 2018
Pushing back against mounting criticism of California’s sanctuary policies, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a bill placing strict limits on the disclosure of a person’s immigration status in open court.
Approved in the Senate with bipartisan support last week, Senate Bill 785 was introduced in response to news reports of ICE agents tracking down undocumented immigrants in courthouses across the country. It takes aim at a tactic that advocates say is keeping many immigrants from testifying in court, reporting crimes or simply showing up to pay a ticket.
“Our courthouses should be places of justice, not places where immigrants are threatened with deportation,” said Sen. Scott Wiener, one of the bill’s authors, in a statement Thursday. “This law makes everyone in our community safer by ensuring that witnesses and victims of crime are not afraid to report crimes, go to court, and hold criminals accountable.”
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment.
The law goes into effect immediately and comes as President Trump and Golden State leaders again face off on immigration. During a White House roundtable Wednesday with Southern California leaders who oppose the state’s sanctuary laws, Trump compared some undocumented immigrants to “animals” after a sheriff in the meeting mentioned problems with the gang MS-13 in her jurisdiction.
“We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — we’re stopping a lot of them,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people, these are animals, and we’re taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that’s never happened before.”
Shortly after Trump’s comments spread, Brown took to Twitter to accuse the president of “lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of CA.”
[Here is what Brown tweeted]
@realDonaldTrump is lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of CA. Flying in a dozen Republican politicians to flatter him and praise his reckless policies changes nothing. We, the citizens of the fifth largest economy in the world, are not impressed.
The White House on Thursday defended that characterization of MS-13 members who commit violent crimes.
Wiener’s office said some attorneys have been revealing the immigration status of victims or witnesses who come forward to participate in court cases, even when it’s not relevant, creating a “chilling effect” that can prevent others from coming forward.
In a 2017 letter to U.S. Attorney General and former Department of Homeland Security John Kelly, California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye expressed concern over reports that ICE agents are “stalking undocumented immigrants in our courthouses to make arrests” and asked immigration officials to keep enforcement tactics out of state courts.
“Our courts are the main point of contact for millions of the most vulnerable Californians in times of anxiety, stress and crises in their lives,” she said.
“Enforcement policies that include stalking courthouses and arresting undocumented immigrants, the vast majority of whom pose no risk to public safety, are neither safe nor fair.”
The only group on record that opposed the bill was the California News Publishers Association, which argued it would hurt the public’s interest by making some proceedings secret, hindering reporting.
A directive from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released in January allows immigration agents to enter courthouses to “discreetly” arrest targeted convicted criminals but bars them from detaining anyone else who may be undocumented.
“Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials routinely engage in enforcement activity in courthouses throughout the country because many individuals appearing in courthouses for one matter are wanted for unrelated criminal or civil violations,” the document said. “ICE’s enforcement activities in these same courthouses are wholly consistent with longstanding law enforcement practices, nationwide.”
By Tatiana Sanchez
The Mercury News
May 17, 2018
Pushing back against mounting criticism of California’s sanctuary policies, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a bill placing strict limits on the disclosure of a person’s immigration status in open court.
Approved in the Senate with bipartisan support last week, Senate Bill 785 was introduced in response to news reports of ICE agents tracking down undocumented immigrants in courthouses across the country. It takes aim at a tactic that advocates say is keeping many immigrants from testifying in court, reporting crimes or simply showing up to pay a ticket.
“Our courthouses should be places of justice, not places where immigrants are threatened with deportation,” said Sen. Scott Wiener, one of the bill’s authors, in a statement Thursday. “This law makes everyone in our community safer by ensuring that witnesses and victims of crime are not afraid to report crimes, go to court, and hold criminals accountable.”
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment.
The law goes into effect immediately and comes as President Trump and Golden State leaders again face off on immigration. During a White House roundtable Wednesday with Southern California leaders who oppose the state’s sanctuary laws, Trump compared some undocumented immigrants to “animals” after a sheriff in the meeting mentioned problems with the gang MS-13 in her jurisdiction.
“We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — we’re stopping a lot of them,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people, these are animals, and we’re taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that’s never happened before.”
Shortly after Trump’s comments spread, Brown took to Twitter to accuse the president of “lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of CA.”
[Here is what Brown tweeted]
@realDonaldTrump is lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of CA. Flying in a dozen Republican politicians to flatter him and praise his reckless policies changes nothing. We, the citizens of the fifth largest economy in the world, are not impressed.
The White House on Thursday defended that characterization of MS-13 members who commit violent crimes.
Wiener’s office said some attorneys have been revealing the immigration status of victims or witnesses who come forward to participate in court cases, even when it’s not relevant, creating a “chilling effect” that can prevent others from coming forward.
In a 2017 letter to U.S. Attorney General and former Department of Homeland Security John Kelly, California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye expressed concern over reports that ICE agents are “stalking undocumented immigrants in our courthouses to make arrests” and asked immigration officials to keep enforcement tactics out of state courts.
“Our courts are the main point of contact for millions of the most vulnerable Californians in times of anxiety, stress and crises in their lives,” she said.
“Enforcement policies that include stalking courthouses and arresting undocumented immigrants, the vast majority of whom pose no risk to public safety, are neither safe nor fair.”
The only group on record that opposed the bill was the California News Publishers Association, which argued it would hurt the public’s interest by making some proceedings secret, hindering reporting.
A directive from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released in January allows immigration agents to enter courthouses to “discreetly” arrest targeted convicted criminals but bars them from detaining anyone else who may be undocumented.
“Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials routinely engage in enforcement activity in courthouses throughout the country because many individuals appearing in courthouses for one matter are wanted for unrelated criminal or civil violations,” the document said. “ICE’s enforcement activities in these same courthouses are wholly consistent with longstanding law enforcement practices, nationwide.”
AMERICA’S ALLY TURKEY IS ISRAEL’S ENEMY
ANALYSIS: Israel and Turkey in All-Out Diplomatic War, and It Could Get Worse
By Yochanan Visser
Israel Today
May 17, 2018
Turkish-Israeli relations hit a new low this week after Turkey’s hot-headed dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel “a terror and an apartheid state” that was committing “genocide” in Gaza.
Erdogan also accused Israel Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu of having “the blood of Palestinians on his hands” after 60 Palestinian Arabs died during violent protests and terrorist actions along the Israel-Gaza border on Monday.
“Want a lesson in humanity? Read the 10 Commandments,” the Islamist Turkish tyrant wrote on his Twitter account.
Netanyahu immediately shot back and said he would not take lessons in morality from a leader “whose hands are stained with the blood of countless Kurdish citizens in Turkey and Syria” and “sends thousands of Turkish soldiers to hold the occupation of northern Cyprus and invades Syria.”
The Israeli PM added that he would not accept “preaching” by Erdogan as Israel is trying to defend itself against an “invasion by Hamas.”
Erdogan earlier said he would never recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
“We will never accept the US attempt to move its embassy to Jerusalem and to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital,” the Turkish dictator told reporters after meeting with British PM Theresa May.
After calling Israel “an occupier,” Erdogan then claimed history would never forgive the US for relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“History will not forgive you (US), we will see this reality; history will never forgive Israel, we will see this too,” he claimed.
After this verbal spat, Turkey decided to expel the Israeli ambassador from Ankara on Tuesday, while Erdogan declared three days of mourning in solidarity with the Palestinian Arabs who were killed a day earlier.
Ambassador Eitan Naeh was ordered to go to Israel “for a while” by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the state-controlled news agency Anadolu News reported.
The Israeli diplomat was subsequently humiliated at the airport, where he had to undergo a very strict security screening in front of TV camera crews who were invited to witness the spectacle.
Israel responded by booting Hüsnü Gürcan Türkoğlu, the Turkish consul in Jerusalem who exclusively deals with Palestinian Arabs, a move which triggered a new Turkish reprisal.
Yossi Levy Safri, the Israeli consul-general in Istanbul was ordered home, while thousands of angry demonstrators took the streets of the city chanting anti-Israel slogans and salutes to the “resistance in Gaza.”
The demonstrations against Israel in Turkey have been organized by Islamist leaders with close ties to the Erdogan regime.
Among them is Bülent Yıldırım, the head of the Islamist IHH organization, which was also responsible for the violent confrontation with Israeli naval officers aboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which tried to breach the legal Israeli maritime blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza in May 2010.
The incident in 2010 caused a collapse of Turkish-Israeli relations that lasted until March 2013, when former US President Barack Obama pressed Netanyahu to mend ties with Erdogan’s regime.
Israel has now warned the current crisis could affect Turkey’s ability to deliver aid to Gaza.
The Islamist regime in Ankara is one of the largest sponsors of the Hamas-controlled enclave in southern Israel and also tries to use charity as a means to increase its influence among Jerusalem Arabs.
On Wednesday, evening reports came in that Egypt and Israel were not allowing Turkish planes to use their airports in order to deliver aid to Gaza and to take wounded Palestinian Arabs to Turkish hospitals.
Israel Security Cabinet member Yoav Galant called Erdogan a “dangerous man” who supports Israel’s enemies.
Galant harshly criticized the Turkish regime and suggested Erdogan was behind the botched 2016 coup in Turkey that put tens of thousands of the regime’s supposed opponents behind bars or robbed them off their jobs.
"Erdogan promotes a policy stating that it will bring peace and quiet with Turkey's neighbors, but in reality Turkey has reached a situation of all-out dispute - from Greece to Syria, and with European countries too," the former IDF general said.
Right-wing Israeli lawmakers now contemplate introducing legislation that would recognize Turkey’s genocide in Armenia at the beginning of the last century and would ban Israelis from travelling to Turkey for vacation.
“Go on vacation in the Galilee or Golan. You too play a role,” Education Minister Naftali Bennet, the leader of the Jewish Home Party, advised his fellow Israelis.
Others, however, warn the two countries “have reached the brink of the abyss” and advise both sides “not to jump.”
Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar, meanwhile, admitted the riots on the Israel Gaza border by Palestinian Arabs had nothing to do with “peaceful resistance” as the Turks claim.
“When we talk about ‘peaceful resistance,’ we are deceiving the public,” al-Zahar told al-Jazeerah.
“This is peaceful resistance bolstered by a military force and by security agencies, and enjoying tremendous popular support,” Hamas’ co-founder added.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Before Erdogan assumed power in 2014, Israel and Turkey enjoyed a warm relationship.
By Yochanan Visser
Israel Today
May 17, 2018
Turkish-Israeli relations hit a new low this week after Turkey’s hot-headed dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel “a terror and an apartheid state” that was committing “genocide” in Gaza.
Erdogan also accused Israel Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu of having “the blood of Palestinians on his hands” after 60 Palestinian Arabs died during violent protests and terrorist actions along the Israel-Gaza border on Monday.
“Want a lesson in humanity? Read the 10 Commandments,” the Islamist Turkish tyrant wrote on his Twitter account.
Netanyahu immediately shot back and said he would not take lessons in morality from a leader “whose hands are stained with the blood of countless Kurdish citizens in Turkey and Syria” and “sends thousands of Turkish soldiers to hold the occupation of northern Cyprus and invades Syria.”
The Israeli PM added that he would not accept “preaching” by Erdogan as Israel is trying to defend itself against an “invasion by Hamas.”
Erdogan earlier said he would never recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
“We will never accept the US attempt to move its embassy to Jerusalem and to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital,” the Turkish dictator told reporters after meeting with British PM Theresa May.
After calling Israel “an occupier,” Erdogan then claimed history would never forgive the US for relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“History will not forgive you (US), we will see this reality; history will never forgive Israel, we will see this too,” he claimed.
After this verbal spat, Turkey decided to expel the Israeli ambassador from Ankara on Tuesday, while Erdogan declared three days of mourning in solidarity with the Palestinian Arabs who were killed a day earlier.
Ambassador Eitan Naeh was ordered to go to Israel “for a while” by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the state-controlled news agency Anadolu News reported.
The Israeli diplomat was subsequently humiliated at the airport, where he had to undergo a very strict security screening in front of TV camera crews who were invited to witness the spectacle.
Israel responded by booting Hüsnü Gürcan Türkoğlu, the Turkish consul in Jerusalem who exclusively deals with Palestinian Arabs, a move which triggered a new Turkish reprisal.
Yossi Levy Safri, the Israeli consul-general in Istanbul was ordered home, while thousands of angry demonstrators took the streets of the city chanting anti-Israel slogans and salutes to the “resistance in Gaza.”
The demonstrations against Israel in Turkey have been organized by Islamist leaders with close ties to the Erdogan regime.
Among them is Bülent Yıldırım, the head of the Islamist IHH organization, which was also responsible for the violent confrontation with Israeli naval officers aboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which tried to breach the legal Israeli maritime blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza in May 2010.
The incident in 2010 caused a collapse of Turkish-Israeli relations that lasted until March 2013, when former US President Barack Obama pressed Netanyahu to mend ties with Erdogan’s regime.
Israel has now warned the current crisis could affect Turkey’s ability to deliver aid to Gaza.
The Islamist regime in Ankara is one of the largest sponsors of the Hamas-controlled enclave in southern Israel and also tries to use charity as a means to increase its influence among Jerusalem Arabs.
On Wednesday, evening reports came in that Egypt and Israel were not allowing Turkish planes to use their airports in order to deliver aid to Gaza and to take wounded Palestinian Arabs to Turkish hospitals.
Israel Security Cabinet member Yoav Galant called Erdogan a “dangerous man” who supports Israel’s enemies.
Galant harshly criticized the Turkish regime and suggested Erdogan was behind the botched 2016 coup in Turkey that put tens of thousands of the regime’s supposed opponents behind bars or robbed them off their jobs.
"Erdogan promotes a policy stating that it will bring peace and quiet with Turkey's neighbors, but in reality Turkey has reached a situation of all-out dispute - from Greece to Syria, and with European countries too," the former IDF general said.
Right-wing Israeli lawmakers now contemplate introducing legislation that would recognize Turkey’s genocide in Armenia at the beginning of the last century and would ban Israelis from travelling to Turkey for vacation.
“Go on vacation in the Galilee or Golan. You too play a role,” Education Minister Naftali Bennet, the leader of the Jewish Home Party, advised his fellow Israelis.
Others, however, warn the two countries “have reached the brink of the abyss” and advise both sides “not to jump.”
Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar, meanwhile, admitted the riots on the Israel Gaza border by Palestinian Arabs had nothing to do with “peaceful resistance” as the Turks claim.
“When we talk about ‘peaceful resistance,’ we are deceiving the public,” al-Zahar told al-Jazeerah.
“This is peaceful resistance bolstered by a military force and by security agencies, and enjoying tremendous popular support,” Hamas’ co-founder added.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Before Erdogan assumed power in 2014, Israel and Turkey enjoyed a warm relationship.
4 PHONY SCHOOLS ISSUED IMMIGRATION DOCUMENTS TO ASIANS WHO WERE NOT BONA FIDE STUDENTS
LA Man Sentenced to 4 Months in Jail for Multimillion Dollar 'Pay-to-Stay' Immigration Scam
NBC 4
May 17, 2018
A Los Angeles man was sentenced Thursday to four months behind bars for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar "pay-to-stay" scheme that helped hundreds of foreign nationals remain in the United States by falsely claiming student status.
Hyung Chan "Steve" Moon, 42, pleaded guilty in October 2015 to conspiracy and immigration document fraud in relation to what federal prosecutors called "a sophisticated, extensive, and lucrative fraud scheme that operated for many years in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles."
The scheme -- which may have generated as much as $6 million a year from citizens of South Korea, China and other nations -- operated through Prodee University/Neo-America Language School; Walter Jay M.D. Institute, an Educational Center; and the American College of Forensic Studies. A fourth school in Alhambra, Likie Fashion and Technology College, was also involved in the scheme, which ran for at least six years.
Prodee and the other schools issued immigration documents to foreign nationals who were not bona fide students, had no intention of attending the schools, and sometimes lived outside of California.
As part of the conspiracy, the three defendants created bogus student records, including transcripts, for some of the students for the purpose of deceiving immigration authorities. In exchange for the immigration documents that allowed them to remain in the United States, the purported students made "tuition" payments to enroll and remain at the schools.
The investigation began in 2011 after a compliance team with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, Student and Exchange Visitor Program, paid an unannounced visit to Prodee's main campus on Wilshire Boulevard.
During the visit, the team observed only one English language class with three students in attendance, even though records indicated more than 900 foreign students were enrolled at Prodee's two campuses. That same day, an unannounced visit to the forensic studies college found only one religion class in session with a single student present, even though the school had more than 300 foreign students in active status, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The former owner of the schools -- Hee Sun "Leonard" Shim, 54, of Beverly Hills -- pleaded guilty in 2017 to conspiracy and immigration document fraud and was sentenced in April to 15 months in federal prison. He was also ordered by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu to forfeit to the United States about $500,000 in bank funds and cash seized by investigators.
A third defendant, Eun Young "Jamie" Choi, 38, of Los Angeles pleaded guilty in 2015 to the same charges and is awaiting sentencing.
NBC 4
May 17, 2018
A Los Angeles man was sentenced Thursday to four months behind bars for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar "pay-to-stay" scheme that helped hundreds of foreign nationals remain in the United States by falsely claiming student status.
Hyung Chan "Steve" Moon, 42, pleaded guilty in October 2015 to conspiracy and immigration document fraud in relation to what federal prosecutors called "a sophisticated, extensive, and lucrative fraud scheme that operated for many years in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles."
The scheme -- which may have generated as much as $6 million a year from citizens of South Korea, China and other nations -- operated through Prodee University/Neo-America Language School; Walter Jay M.D. Institute, an Educational Center; and the American College of Forensic Studies. A fourth school in Alhambra, Likie Fashion and Technology College, was also involved in the scheme, which ran for at least six years.
Prodee and the other schools issued immigration documents to foreign nationals who were not bona fide students, had no intention of attending the schools, and sometimes lived outside of California.
As part of the conspiracy, the three defendants created bogus student records, including transcripts, for some of the students for the purpose of deceiving immigration authorities. In exchange for the immigration documents that allowed them to remain in the United States, the purported students made "tuition" payments to enroll and remain at the schools.
The investigation began in 2011 after a compliance team with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, Student and Exchange Visitor Program, paid an unannounced visit to Prodee's main campus on Wilshire Boulevard.
During the visit, the team observed only one English language class with three students in attendance, even though records indicated more than 900 foreign students were enrolled at Prodee's two campuses. That same day, an unannounced visit to the forensic studies college found only one religion class in session with a single student present, even though the school had more than 300 foreign students in active status, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The former owner of the schools -- Hee Sun "Leonard" Shim, 54, of Beverly Hills -- pleaded guilty in 2017 to conspiracy and immigration document fraud and was sentenced in April to 15 months in federal prison. He was also ordered by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu to forfeit to the United States about $500,000 in bank funds and cash seized by investigators.
A third defendant, Eun Young "Jamie" Choi, 38, of Los Angeles pleaded guilty in 2015 to the same charges and is awaiting sentencing.
$100 MILLION IN CASH FLIES OUT OF MINNEAPOLIS A YEAR ….. AND IT’S OUR MONEY
Is This The Worst Scandal In Minnesota History?
by John Hinderaker
American Experiment
May 14, 2018
It is certainly a contender. Fox 9 television uncovers a far-reaching scandal: last year, more than $100 million in cash left the Twin Cities airport in carry-on luggage, bound for the Middle East and Africa:
This story begins at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where mysterious suitcases filled with cash have become a common carry-on.
On the morning of March 15, Fox 9 chased a tip about a man who was leaving the country. Sources said he took a carry-on bag through security that was packed with $1 million in cash. Travelers can do that, as long as they fill out the proper government forms.
Fox 9 learned that these cloak-and-dagger scenarios now happen almost weekly at MSP. The money is usually headed to the Middle East, Dubai and points beyond. Sources said last year alone, more than $100 million in cash left MSP in carry-on luggage.
Where does the money come from, and where is it going?
It was coming from Hawalas, businesses used to courier money to countries that have no official banking system.
Some immigrant communities rely on Hawalas to send funds to help impoverished relatives back home.
[Former Seattle police detective Glen] Kerns discovered some of the money was being funneled to a Hawala in the region of Somalia that is controlled by the al Shabaab terrorist group.
Great. But the real scandal is where the money came from in the first place–welfare fraud:
As Kerns dug deeper, he found that some of the individuals who were sending out tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of remittance payments happened to be on government assistance in this country.
How could they possibly come up with such big bucks to transfer back home?
“We had sources that told us, ‘It’s welfare fraud, it’s all about the daycare,’” said Kerns.
***
Five years ago the Fox 9 Investigators were first to report that daycare fraud was on the rise in Minnesota, exposing how some businesses were gaming the system to steal millions in government subsidies meant to help low-income families with their childcare expenses.
“It’s a great way to make some money,” Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said.
In order for the scheme to work, the daycare centers need to sign up low income families that qualify for child care assistance funding.
Surveillance videos from a case prosecuted by Hennepin County show parents checking their kids into a center, only to leave with them a few minutes later. Sometimes, no children would show up.
Either way, the center would bill the state for a full day of childcare.
Video from that same case shows a man handing out envelopes of what are believed to be kickback payments to parents who are in on the fraud.
Evidently welfare fraud in various forms is widespread in Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community. This is, I think, generally known, but the scale of fraud disclosed here is astonishing:
“We believe that there’s a scope of fraud out there that we really need to get our arms around and ensure that those dollars are going to kids that really need them,” Acting Commissioner for the Department of Human Services Chuck Johnson said.
He told the Fox 9 Investigators his agency has 10 daycares currently under active investigation for fraud.
Fox 9 has learned dozens more are considered suspicious.
Search warrants obtained by the Fox 9 Investigators show each one of the suspect centers has received several million dollars in childcare assistance funds.
According to public records and government sources, most are owned by Somali immigrants.
***
Sources in the Somali community told Fox 9 it is an open secret that starting a daycare center is a license to make money.
The fraud is so widespread they said, that people buy shares of daycare businesses to get a cut of the huge public subsidies that are pouring in.
Government insiders believe this scam is costing the state at least a hundred million dollars a year, half of all child care subsidies.
A friend who saw this news story wrote:
This has me more angry than I’ve been since the 2011 tax increase on the “rich” aka, working families. I can’t put into words how utterly incompetent you must be to not have a checks and balances in place for tax payer funded programs, the tax payer dollars that people like myself and millions others diligently pay quarterly, leaving our children in childcare to work and provide for our families, pay taxes, only to have this hard work fund bogus programs that somehow are funding the same terrorist activities meant to harm our country?!!! Unbelievable. The commissioner and employees responsible for overseeing this mess should pay, every single one of them – they should be fired – they didn’t do their job.
Her outrage is appropriate, but perhaps misguided. I suspect that many of Minnesota’s liberals think that our bureaucrats performed their jobs very well: they siphoned off hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to finance liberal constituencies—the principal purpose of government, according to our lib friends.
So, how dumb are we? Honestly, I think it is impossible to plumb the depths of our stupidity. We need to totally revamp both our immigration policies and our welfare system to protect not only Minnesota taxpayers, but people around the world who are vulnerable to terrorism.
by John Hinderaker
American Experiment
May 14, 2018
It is certainly a contender. Fox 9 television uncovers a far-reaching scandal: last year, more than $100 million in cash left the Twin Cities airport in carry-on luggage, bound for the Middle East and Africa:
This story begins at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where mysterious suitcases filled with cash have become a common carry-on.
On the morning of March 15, Fox 9 chased a tip about a man who was leaving the country. Sources said he took a carry-on bag through security that was packed with $1 million in cash. Travelers can do that, as long as they fill out the proper government forms.
Fox 9 learned that these cloak-and-dagger scenarios now happen almost weekly at MSP. The money is usually headed to the Middle East, Dubai and points beyond. Sources said last year alone, more than $100 million in cash left MSP in carry-on luggage.
Where does the money come from, and where is it going?
It was coming from Hawalas, businesses used to courier money to countries that have no official banking system.
Some immigrant communities rely on Hawalas to send funds to help impoverished relatives back home.
[Former Seattle police detective Glen] Kerns discovered some of the money was being funneled to a Hawala in the region of Somalia that is controlled by the al Shabaab terrorist group.
Great. But the real scandal is where the money came from in the first place–welfare fraud:
As Kerns dug deeper, he found that some of the individuals who were sending out tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of remittance payments happened to be on government assistance in this country.
How could they possibly come up with such big bucks to transfer back home?
“We had sources that told us, ‘It’s welfare fraud, it’s all about the daycare,’” said Kerns.
***
Five years ago the Fox 9 Investigators were first to report that daycare fraud was on the rise in Minnesota, exposing how some businesses were gaming the system to steal millions in government subsidies meant to help low-income families with their childcare expenses.
“It’s a great way to make some money,” Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said.
In order for the scheme to work, the daycare centers need to sign up low income families that qualify for child care assistance funding.
Surveillance videos from a case prosecuted by Hennepin County show parents checking their kids into a center, only to leave with them a few minutes later. Sometimes, no children would show up.
Either way, the center would bill the state for a full day of childcare.
Video from that same case shows a man handing out envelopes of what are believed to be kickback payments to parents who are in on the fraud.
Evidently welfare fraud in various forms is widespread in Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community. This is, I think, generally known, but the scale of fraud disclosed here is astonishing:
“We believe that there’s a scope of fraud out there that we really need to get our arms around and ensure that those dollars are going to kids that really need them,” Acting Commissioner for the Department of Human Services Chuck Johnson said.
He told the Fox 9 Investigators his agency has 10 daycares currently under active investigation for fraud.
Fox 9 has learned dozens more are considered suspicious.
Search warrants obtained by the Fox 9 Investigators show each one of the suspect centers has received several million dollars in childcare assistance funds.
According to public records and government sources, most are owned by Somali immigrants.
***
Sources in the Somali community told Fox 9 it is an open secret that starting a daycare center is a license to make money.
The fraud is so widespread they said, that people buy shares of daycare businesses to get a cut of the huge public subsidies that are pouring in.
Government insiders believe this scam is costing the state at least a hundred million dollars a year, half of all child care subsidies.
A friend who saw this news story wrote:
This has me more angry than I’ve been since the 2011 tax increase on the “rich” aka, working families. I can’t put into words how utterly incompetent you must be to not have a checks and balances in place for tax payer funded programs, the tax payer dollars that people like myself and millions others diligently pay quarterly, leaving our children in childcare to work and provide for our families, pay taxes, only to have this hard work fund bogus programs that somehow are funding the same terrorist activities meant to harm our country?!!! Unbelievable. The commissioner and employees responsible for overseeing this mess should pay, every single one of them – they should be fired – they didn’t do their job.
Her outrage is appropriate, but perhaps misguided. I suspect that many of Minnesota’s liberals think that our bureaucrats performed their jobs very well: they siphoned off hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to finance liberal constituencies—the principal purpose of government, according to our lib friends.
So, how dumb are we? Honestly, I think it is impossible to plumb the depths of our stupidity. We need to totally revamp both our immigration policies and our welfare system to protect not only Minnesota taxpayers, but people around the world who are vulnerable to terrorism.
Friday, May 18, 2018
GINA GOT IT
On Thursday the Senate confirmed Gina Haspel’s nomination as head of the CIA
Thursday was a great day. The U.S. Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Gina Haspel as director of the CIA. The vote to confirm was 54-45. Two Republicans voted against the confirmation and cancer stricken John McCain was not present to cast his vote. But six courageous Democratic senators made up for that by setting aside the waterboarding horseshit to join the rest of the Republicans in voting for Haspel’s confirmation.
Haspel is now set tp become the first woman to lead the CIA. She is highly qualified and is expected to do an outstanding job.
Thursday was a great day. The U.S. Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Gina Haspel as director of the CIA. The vote to confirm was 54-45. Two Republicans voted against the confirmation and cancer stricken John McCain was not present to cast his vote. But six courageous Democratic senators made up for that by setting aside the waterboarding horseshit to join the rest of the Republicans in voting for Haspel’s confirmation.
Haspel is now set tp become the first woman to lead the CIA. She is highly qualified and is expected to do an outstanding job.
SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT THE ROYAL WEDDING
Why would anyone in the U.S. really give a shit about Prince Harry’s wedding?
I’m so sick and tired of hearing about Prince Harry’s wedding and Meghan Markle’s trashy relatives.. The only reason anyone in the U.S. gives a shit about the royal wedding is because it has been so hyped up by the media.
The fucking British royals are merely titular heads of Britain and some of her former colonies and do not exercise any power other than to rubberstamp the appointment of a prime minister. The rest of the time is spent wasting a substantial amount of Britain’s over-taxed taxpayers’ money.
Why in the world Harry ever picked this gold digger to be his wife is beyond belief when he could have had any woman he chose for his bride. Except when he was occupied fighting the Taliban during a couple of combat tours in Afghanistan, Harry was rolling in the hay with several drop-dead gorgeous broads. Meghan Markle must be one helluva fuck. When you look at the beautiful to-die-for babes Harry has been involved with, this can be the only explanation.
I predict this marriage won’t last. It’s just a matter of time before this marriage made-in –heaven will come crashing down to earth. After the divorce, Markle will walk away with a royal title and a pot full of gold. That was all this shiksa was after from the very beginning.
When I got married, my in-laws said it would not last. By God they were right. My beloved wife passed away after we had been married 61 years. So any way you look at it, my prediction that the marriage of Harry and Meghan won’t last will come to pass.
Will I be glad when the wedding will be over and done with. Then I can go back to watching on TV what is really important, like the Stanley Cup playoffs, the weather reports and the latest news on the Stormy-Trump affair.
I’m so sick and tired of hearing about Prince Harry’s wedding and Meghan Markle’s trashy relatives.. The only reason anyone in the U.S. gives a shit about the royal wedding is because it has been so hyped up by the media.
The fucking British royals are merely titular heads of Britain and some of her former colonies and do not exercise any power other than to rubberstamp the appointment of a prime minister. The rest of the time is spent wasting a substantial amount of Britain’s over-taxed taxpayers’ money.
Why in the world Harry ever picked this gold digger to be his wife is beyond belief when he could have had any woman he chose for his bride. Except when he was occupied fighting the Taliban during a couple of combat tours in Afghanistan, Harry was rolling in the hay with several drop-dead gorgeous broads. Meghan Markle must be one helluva fuck. When you look at the beautiful to-die-for babes Harry has been involved with, this can be the only explanation.
I predict this marriage won’t last. It’s just a matter of time before this marriage made-in –heaven will come crashing down to earth. After the divorce, Markle will walk away with a royal title and a pot full of gold. That was all this shiksa was after from the very beginning.
When I got married, my in-laws said it would not last. By God they were right. My beloved wife passed away after we had been married 61 years. So any way you look at it, my prediction that the marriage of Harry and Meghan won’t last will come to pass.
Will I be glad when the wedding will be over and done with. Then I can go back to watching on TV what is really important, like the Stanley Cup playoffs, the weather reports and the latest news on the Stormy-Trump affair.
WOMAN MAULED TO DEATH BY PACK OF...….WEINER DOGS
by Bob Walsh
Yes, it sounds like something out of a bad joke. Trouble is, it is true. Tracy Garcia, 52, was mauled to death in Carter County, Oklahoma, by her neighbor's seven Dachshunds.
One of the dogs was shot by responding police. The other dogs, which were actually Dachshund-Terrier or Dachshund-Border Collie mixes, were captured and put down at the owner's request. The dogs were from one to three years old and were apparently a family pack. The animal control people said that, except for flea and tick infestations common to dogs living in a rural area the dogs were healthy..
Yes, it sounds like something out of a bad joke. Trouble is, it is true. Tracy Garcia, 52, was mauled to death in Carter County, Oklahoma, by her neighbor's seven Dachshunds.
One of the dogs was shot by responding police. The other dogs, which were actually Dachshund-Terrier or Dachshund-Border Collie mixes, were captured and put down at the owner's request. The dogs were from one to three years old and were apparently a family pack. The animal control people said that, except for flea and tick infestations common to dogs living in a rural area the dogs were healthy..
STONER KILLS THREE IN CAR CRASH
by Bob Walsh
Once upon a time, many years ago, when I lived in the Bay Area, a fair number of cars used to sport a bumper sticker that read "PRAY FOR ME, I DRIVE THE NIMITZ." The Nifty Nimitz freeway was an indifferently maintained high speed road, with mostly narrow shoulders and too many morons driving too fast. It used to be called Hwy 17 and is now designated the 880 freeway, at least thru the East Bay.
A 21-year old man, Dang Nguyen Hai Tran of San Jose, was believed to be stoned off his gord on weed when he killed a Manteca woman and her two young children as part of a five-car wreck. Five additional people were injured.
Way too many people seem to believe it is OK to drive stoned now that pot is semi-legal in the formerly great state of California. I understand there is now a reasonably accurate and reliable breathalyzer for THC, but there are no legal guidelines on what is or what is not a legally acceptable THC limit like there is on alcohol.
Once upon a time, many years ago, when I lived in the Bay Area, a fair number of cars used to sport a bumper sticker that read "PRAY FOR ME, I DRIVE THE NIMITZ." The Nifty Nimitz freeway was an indifferently maintained high speed road, with mostly narrow shoulders and too many morons driving too fast. It used to be called Hwy 17 and is now designated the 880 freeway, at least thru the East Bay.
A 21-year old man, Dang Nguyen Hai Tran of San Jose, was believed to be stoned off his gord on weed when he killed a Manteca woman and her two young children as part of a five-car wreck. Five additional people were injured.
Way too many people seem to believe it is OK to drive stoned now that pot is semi-legal in the formerly great state of California. I understand there is now a reasonably accurate and reliable breathalyzer for THC, but there are no legal guidelines on what is or what is not a legally acceptable THC limit like there is on alcohol.
MORON BITES THE (POLITICAL) DUST
by Bob Walsh
Regular readers will remember that I wrote a few days back about Darryl De Sousa, the Police Commissioner of the liberal shithole of Baltimore, MD. This stupid bastard got his ass in a sling for not bothering to file federal income tax for a few years.
Well, Mr. De Sousa is now the third FORMER Police Commissioner in the last three years. He resigned on Tuesday, which interestingly enough was also the deadline the feds placed on the city to supply pay records for De Sousa for 2013, 2014 and 2015.
He had been on the job as Commissioner for about four months, the mayor's hand picked road dog. He is the ninth Police Commissioner in the last 18 years. It is truly remarkable how incredibly ignorant stupid people can be if they think they are protected.
EDITOR'S NOTE: In a fond farewell, the Mayor praised the disgraced ex-police chief.
Regular readers will remember that I wrote a few days back about Darryl De Sousa, the Police Commissioner of the liberal shithole of Baltimore, MD. This stupid bastard got his ass in a sling for not bothering to file federal income tax for a few years.
Well, Mr. De Sousa is now the third FORMER Police Commissioner in the last three years. He resigned on Tuesday, which interestingly enough was also the deadline the feds placed on the city to supply pay records for De Sousa for 2013, 2014 and 2015.
He had been on the job as Commissioner for about four months, the mayor's hand picked road dog. He is the ninth Police Commissioner in the last 18 years. It is truly remarkable how incredibly ignorant stupid people can be if they think they are protected.
EDITOR'S NOTE: In a fond farewell, the Mayor praised the disgraced ex-police chief.
STOP FUCKING WITH LAWMAN STEVEN SEAGAL
D.A.'s Hollywood sex crimes unit weighs charges against Harvey Weinstein, Steven Seagal and others
By Richard Winton
Los Angeles Times
May 16, 2018
A special task force of Los Angeles County prosecutors is determining whether to file various sexual abuse charges against at least a half-dozen Hollywood celebrities, including producer Harvey Weinstein and actors Ed Westwick and Steven Seagal.
It is unclear that any of the cases will result in criminal charges. Some of the investigations by the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Beverly Hills police were turned over to the district attorney's task force focusing on sexual crimes in the entertainment industry nearly six months ago, according to the office. All officials will say publicly is that the investigations are continuing.
Prosecutors have declined to bring charges against producer James Toback, who was accused of misconduct by several women, and agent Adam Venit, who was accused by actor Terry Crews of groping his crotch in February 2016.
Weinstein, the most high-profile target, is the subject of at least 20 investigations by authorities in London, New York, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.
L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey is reviewing two investigations by Beverly Hills police into Weinstein since Dec. 18 and three LAPD investigations of the producer since Feb. 1, including an Italian actress' allegation of rape in 2013.
According to law enforcement sources, detectives believe that case is promising for prosecution because the woman told her story to three people, including a priest, relatively soon after the alleged attack. LAPD detectives also have obtained bills showing the woman was a guest at the Beverly Hills hotel where she claims Weinstein attacked her, said the sources, who were not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Weinstein has denied any involvement with the woman and detectives have been unable to determine that Weinstein was at the hotel.
L.A. County prosecutors are also reviewing two LAPD investigations into British actor Ed Westwick, a star of "Gossip Girl."
According to sources, the district attorney's office has asked the LAPD to further investigate the allegations against Westwick.
Actor/producer Steven Seagal is the subject of at least three LAPD investigations and, according to prosecutors, they received one of those probes in January.
Others whose cases are under review include agent Tyler Grasham, who was fired last October by Beverly Hills-based Agency for Performing Arts amid allegations of abuse and harassment. The LAPD investigated and fowarded one case to prosecutors Jan. 31.
Prosecutors in April began reviewing allegations involving Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey that were investigated by the Sheriff's Department. But the date of the alleged incident falls outside the statute of limitations.
Two LAPD investigations into Dallas Clayton, a children's author and muralist, have been under review since December. The artist's attorney has adamantly denied any wrongdoing.
By Richard Winton
Los Angeles Times
May 16, 2018
A special task force of Los Angeles County prosecutors is determining whether to file various sexual abuse charges against at least a half-dozen Hollywood celebrities, including producer Harvey Weinstein and actors Ed Westwick and Steven Seagal.
It is unclear that any of the cases will result in criminal charges. Some of the investigations by the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Beverly Hills police were turned over to the district attorney's task force focusing on sexual crimes in the entertainment industry nearly six months ago, according to the office. All officials will say publicly is that the investigations are continuing.
Prosecutors have declined to bring charges against producer James Toback, who was accused of misconduct by several women, and agent Adam Venit, who was accused by actor Terry Crews of groping his crotch in February 2016.
Weinstein, the most high-profile target, is the subject of at least 20 investigations by authorities in London, New York, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.
L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey is reviewing two investigations by Beverly Hills police into Weinstein since Dec. 18 and three LAPD investigations of the producer since Feb. 1, including an Italian actress' allegation of rape in 2013.
According to law enforcement sources, detectives believe that case is promising for prosecution because the woman told her story to three people, including a priest, relatively soon after the alleged attack. LAPD detectives also have obtained bills showing the woman was a guest at the Beverly Hills hotel where she claims Weinstein attacked her, said the sources, who were not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Weinstein has denied any involvement with the woman and detectives have been unable to determine that Weinstein was at the hotel.
L.A. County prosecutors are also reviewing two LAPD investigations into British actor Ed Westwick, a star of "Gossip Girl."
According to sources, the district attorney's office has asked the LAPD to further investigate the allegations against Westwick.
Actor/producer Steven Seagal is the subject of at least three LAPD investigations and, according to prosecutors, they received one of those probes in January.
Others whose cases are under review include agent Tyler Grasham, who was fired last October by Beverly Hills-based Agency for Performing Arts amid allegations of abuse and harassment. The LAPD investigated and fowarded one case to prosecutors Jan. 31.
Prosecutors in April began reviewing allegations involving Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey that were investigated by the Sheriff's Department. But the date of the alleged incident falls outside the statute of limitations.
Two LAPD investigations into Dallas Clayton, a children's author and muralist, have been under review since December. The artist's attorney has adamantly denied any wrongdoing.
COW COUNTY SHERIFFS SLAM CALIFORNIA SANCTUARY LAWS IN MEETING WITH TRUMP, BUT GOV. MOONBEAM RESPONDS BY CALLING THE PRESIDENT A LIAR
Sheriff Tells Trump: California Sanctuary City Laws Are a 'Disgrace'
By Franco Ordonez
McClatchy Washington Bureau
May 17, 2018
WASHINGTON — The Fresno, Calif., sheriff looked across the table toward President Donald Trump and asked him for direction and clarity.
Sheriff Margaret Mims told the president that California’s sanctuary laws have put sheriffs like herself in “an untenable position,” caught between conflicting state and federal laws.
“It’s a disgrace,” Mims said about her department’s inability to work with federal agents..
Mims joined a group of more than 15 local law enforcement officials, lawmakers and administration officials from California, including Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson and El Dorado Sheriff John D’Agostini for a roundtable discussion with Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and ICE Director Thomas Homan on their opposition to California’s sanctuary state policies.
In February, the Trump administration filed suit against a California law that restricts how and when state law enforcement can interact with federal immigration authorities. The administration has been highly critical of the state laws describing them as “radical” policies that endanger the lives of local law enforcement and the immigrant communities themselves.
Sessions promised that prosecutions of criminal immigrants would likely double. Homan pushed back against criticism that the administration was hurting immigrant families. Homan said sanctuary laws allow criminal immigrants to return back to immigrant communities where they can prey on the vulnerable.
“You’re not protecting immigrant communities,” Homan said to a roomful of like-minded people. “You’re putting them at greater risk,” he said.
Several of the lawmakers present, including Republicans House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Supervisor Kristin Gaspar of San Diego County — who is vying to replace Rep. Darrell Issa in Congress — took digs at California Gov. Jerry Brown and the California legislature for failing to stand up for the Constitution.
“We’ve created a situation where Governor Brown makes San Diego a great place to commit a crime because you can either be across the border in a matter of minutes and shielded by Mexico or you have the option of staying put,” Gaspar said.
Brown responded to Trump’s roundtable remarks in a tweet.
“Trump is lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of California,” Brown said. “Flying in a dozen Republican politicians to flatter him and praise his reckless policies changes nothing. We, the citizens of the fifth largest economy in the world, are not impressed.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., accused Trump of “fanning the flames of division.”
“The Trump administration is once again attempting to divide Californians and all Americans with today’s White House meeting,” Feinstein said in a statement. “Their decision to convene this meeting is about fueling fear of immigrants and scapegoating entire communities.”
Christianson was the last law enforcement officer to speak. He echoed the sentiments of many of the other public officials, thanking Trump for his work. He said the state’s sanctuary laws are interfering with his deputies’ ability to work with federal agents to keep his community safe. He said he was privileged to live in the Central Valley where agriculture was a multibillion-dollar industry and promised that ICE was not sweeping through the fields grabbing hard working immigrants.
“We’re looking for the people who are criminals,” Christianson said. “Not the people who are seeking a better life in America.”
Responding to Mims’s concerns, Trump emphasized the dangers of immigrant gang members.
“You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are,” Trump said. “These aren’t people. These are animals, and we’re taking them out of the country at a rate that’s never happened before.”
And he assured the sheriff the administration would continue working.
“We’ll take care it, Margaret,” Trump said.
By Franco Ordonez
McClatchy Washington Bureau
May 17, 2018
WASHINGTON — The Fresno, Calif., sheriff looked across the table toward President Donald Trump and asked him for direction and clarity.
Sheriff Margaret Mims told the president that California’s sanctuary laws have put sheriffs like herself in “an untenable position,” caught between conflicting state and federal laws.
“It’s a disgrace,” Mims said about her department’s inability to work with federal agents..
Mims joined a group of more than 15 local law enforcement officials, lawmakers and administration officials from California, including Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson and El Dorado Sheriff John D’Agostini for a roundtable discussion with Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and ICE Director Thomas Homan on their opposition to California’s sanctuary state policies.
In February, the Trump administration filed suit against a California law that restricts how and when state law enforcement can interact with federal immigration authorities. The administration has been highly critical of the state laws describing them as “radical” policies that endanger the lives of local law enforcement and the immigrant communities themselves.
Sessions promised that prosecutions of criminal immigrants would likely double. Homan pushed back against criticism that the administration was hurting immigrant families. Homan said sanctuary laws allow criminal immigrants to return back to immigrant communities where they can prey on the vulnerable.
“You’re not protecting immigrant communities,” Homan said to a roomful of like-minded people. “You’re putting them at greater risk,” he said.
Several of the lawmakers present, including Republicans House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Supervisor Kristin Gaspar of San Diego County — who is vying to replace Rep. Darrell Issa in Congress — took digs at California Gov. Jerry Brown and the California legislature for failing to stand up for the Constitution.
“We’ve created a situation where Governor Brown makes San Diego a great place to commit a crime because you can either be across the border in a matter of minutes and shielded by Mexico or you have the option of staying put,” Gaspar said.
Brown responded to Trump’s roundtable remarks in a tweet.
“Trump is lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of California,” Brown said. “Flying in a dozen Republican politicians to flatter him and praise his reckless policies changes nothing. We, the citizens of the fifth largest economy in the world, are not impressed.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., accused Trump of “fanning the flames of division.”
“The Trump administration is once again attempting to divide Californians and all Americans with today’s White House meeting,” Feinstein said in a statement. “Their decision to convene this meeting is about fueling fear of immigrants and scapegoating entire communities.”
Christianson was the last law enforcement officer to speak. He echoed the sentiments of many of the other public officials, thanking Trump for his work. He said the state’s sanctuary laws are interfering with his deputies’ ability to work with federal agents to keep his community safe. He said he was privileged to live in the Central Valley where agriculture was a multibillion-dollar industry and promised that ICE was not sweeping through the fields grabbing hard working immigrants.
“We’re looking for the people who are criminals,” Christianson said. “Not the people who are seeking a better life in America.”
Responding to Mims’s concerns, Trump emphasized the dangers of immigrant gang members.
“You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are,” Trump said. “These aren’t people. These are animals, and we’re taking them out of the country at a rate that’s never happened before.”
And he assured the sheriff the administration would continue working.
“We’ll take care it, Margaret,” Trump said.
TRUMP SUPPORTING NEW YORK LAWYER WANTS SPANISH-SPEAKING PEOPLE DEPORTED
White man threatens to call ICE on Spanish-speaking workers at Midtown Fresh Kitchen
By Laura Dimon, Edgar Sandoval and Larry McShane
New York Daily News
May 17, 2018
A few words of Spanish unleashed a torrent of hate speech from a racist, ranting Manhattan lawyer.
The Madison Ave. meltdown by attorney Aaron Schlossberg included a threat to sic federal immigration officials on workers at a Midtown restaurant — because they failed to speak English in his presence.
"He heard us speak Spanish and started yelling, 'You motherfuckers!' " recounted Oscar Villanueva, a Honduran immigrant and employee of Fresh Kitchen.
"He said we have to speak English," continued Villanueva. "He started saying a lot of ugly words . . . . We felt really bad, humiliated."
A viral video of the Tuesday lunchtime explosion captured the xenophobic Schlossberg announcing the employees were in "my country" before invoking the threat of deportation.
"My guess is they're not documented," Schlossberg announced loudly about the staff. "So my next call is to ICE to have each one of them kicked out of my country. If they have the balls to come here and live off my money — I pay for their welfare, I pay for their ability to be here — the least they can do is speak English."
Schlossberg, 42, is a registered Republican and 2016 donor of $500 to President Trump's campaign. His company bio claims he is fluent in Spanish and conversational in French.
The bullying barrister's identity was exposed and his reputation trashed less than 24 hours after his nativistic natterings.
He disappeared Wednesday without comment on the mess, although internet trolls unloaded on Schlossberg as his offensive opinions ripped through cyberspace.
Hundreds of posters from across the U.S. whacked his law firm with one-star reviews or posted insulting photos.
"Your (sic) a disgusting piece of shit, hopefully your law firm closes. You deserve to be jobless. America doesnt have room for ignorant racist fucks like u, especially in a court room. Go to hell, i wish you and your firm the worst luck!!!!!" read one post on Yelp.
Former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito tweeted in Spanish that the video "demonstrates how ignorant you are and makes clear you support the politics of Trump to destroy our families."
A Change.org petition demanding his disbarment had 2,100 signatures Wednesday night, while another online petition calling for discipline from the state bar association collected about 1,600 signatures.
Another video that emerged online apparently shows a cursing Schlossberg standing with Trump supporters last year at a rally protesting a Palestinian speaker in Manhattan.
Customer Deena Suazo, 34, a local medical receptionist, said she had just ordered her lunch in Spanish when Schlossberg exploded.
She watched in disbelief as he screamed at a counter worker to "give me my fucking sandwich!" Suazo, who has Puerto Rican roots, was rocked by the hate-fueled outburst.
"It's disgusting to me, in this day and age, that people think it's OK to walk around and be disrespectful and racist," she said. "The United States is made of all cultures and ethnicities."
Schlossberg further demeaned the employees by announcing he was more educated than any of them.
The videotaped portion of Schlossberg's volcanic tirade began with the lawyer lecturing the store manager about bilingual workers speaking in Spanish.
"Your staff is speaking Spanish to customers when they should be speaking English," he barks.
"This is America. Your staff should be speaking English, OK?"
The fuming man then informed the manager that he planned to follow up by contacting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a possible raid on the restaurant.
The manager told the Daily News that Schlossberg, clutching a cell phone, lost his mind after Suazo and the store worker chatted in Spanish.
"It's no big deal," agreed Suazo, a regular at the restaurant. "I speak Spanish and English. And I just might feel more comfortable ordering in Spanish."
The manager said he was infuriated by the customer's remarks but refused to respond in a similar fashion.
"He's a customer, so I had to stay professional and ask him to leave," the manager said. "That's what I did."
The front desk at Schlossberg's Madison Ave. office building shooed away all visitors at his request, and the phones in the office were turned off.
A person answering the phone at his Manhattan residence hung up without a word Wednesday.
An online fund-raiser, launched by a man named Mark Goldberg, collected nearly $800 to rent a mariachi band Thursday to play "La Cucaracha" "to cheer up the staff and attorneys at The Law Office of Aaron M. Schlossberg Esq. . . . after a difficult day."
EDITOR’S NOTE: Schlossberg needs to see his rabbi for some extensive tolerance and sensitivity counseling.
By Laura Dimon, Edgar Sandoval and Larry McShane
New York Daily News
May 17, 2018
A few words of Spanish unleashed a torrent of hate speech from a racist, ranting Manhattan lawyer.
The Madison Ave. meltdown by attorney Aaron Schlossberg included a threat to sic federal immigration officials on workers at a Midtown restaurant — because they failed to speak English in his presence.
"He heard us speak Spanish and started yelling, 'You motherfuckers!' " recounted Oscar Villanueva, a Honduran immigrant and employee of Fresh Kitchen.
"He said we have to speak English," continued Villanueva. "He started saying a lot of ugly words . . . . We felt really bad, humiliated."
A viral video of the Tuesday lunchtime explosion captured the xenophobic Schlossberg announcing the employees were in "my country" before invoking the threat of deportation.
"My guess is they're not documented," Schlossberg announced loudly about the staff. "So my next call is to ICE to have each one of them kicked out of my country. If they have the balls to come here and live off my money — I pay for their welfare, I pay for their ability to be here — the least they can do is speak English."
Schlossberg, 42, is a registered Republican and 2016 donor of $500 to President Trump's campaign. His company bio claims he is fluent in Spanish and conversational in French.
The bullying barrister's identity was exposed and his reputation trashed less than 24 hours after his nativistic natterings.
He disappeared Wednesday without comment on the mess, although internet trolls unloaded on Schlossberg as his offensive opinions ripped through cyberspace.
Hundreds of posters from across the U.S. whacked his law firm with one-star reviews or posted insulting photos.
"Your (sic) a disgusting piece of shit, hopefully your law firm closes. You deserve to be jobless. America doesnt have room for ignorant racist fucks like u, especially in a court room. Go to hell, i wish you and your firm the worst luck!!!!!" read one post on Yelp.
Former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito tweeted in Spanish that the video "demonstrates how ignorant you are and makes clear you support the politics of Trump to destroy our families."
A Change.org petition demanding his disbarment had 2,100 signatures Wednesday night, while another online petition calling for discipline from the state bar association collected about 1,600 signatures.
Another video that emerged online apparently shows a cursing Schlossberg standing with Trump supporters last year at a rally protesting a Palestinian speaker in Manhattan.
Customer Deena Suazo, 34, a local medical receptionist, said she had just ordered her lunch in Spanish when Schlossberg exploded.
She watched in disbelief as he screamed at a counter worker to "give me my fucking sandwich!" Suazo, who has Puerto Rican roots, was rocked by the hate-fueled outburst.
"It's disgusting to me, in this day and age, that people think it's OK to walk around and be disrespectful and racist," she said. "The United States is made of all cultures and ethnicities."
Schlossberg further demeaned the employees by announcing he was more educated than any of them.
The videotaped portion of Schlossberg's volcanic tirade began with the lawyer lecturing the store manager about bilingual workers speaking in Spanish.
"Your staff is speaking Spanish to customers when they should be speaking English," he barks.
"This is America. Your staff should be speaking English, OK?"
The fuming man then informed the manager that he planned to follow up by contacting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a possible raid on the restaurant.
The manager told the Daily News that Schlossberg, clutching a cell phone, lost his mind after Suazo and the store worker chatted in Spanish.
"It's no big deal," agreed Suazo, a regular at the restaurant. "I speak Spanish and English. And I just might feel more comfortable ordering in Spanish."
The manager said he was infuriated by the customer's remarks but refused to respond in a similar fashion.
"He's a customer, so I had to stay professional and ask him to leave," the manager said. "That's what I did."
The front desk at Schlossberg's Madison Ave. office building shooed away all visitors at his request, and the phones in the office were turned off.
A person answering the phone at his Manhattan residence hung up without a word Wednesday.
An online fund-raiser, launched by a man named Mark Goldberg, collected nearly $800 to rent a mariachi band Thursday to play "La Cucaracha" "to cheer up the staff and attorneys at The Law Office of Aaron M. Schlossberg Esq. . . . after a difficult day."
EDITOR’S NOTE: Schlossberg needs to see his rabbi for some extensive tolerance and sensitivity counseling.
PRESIDENT JIMMY MORALES PERSONALLY OPENED THE NEW GUATEMALAN EMBASSY IN JERUSALEM
Guatemala Follows US Lead, Establishes Embassy in Jerusalem
Israel Today
May 16, 2018
Just two days after the US Embassy officially opened in Jerusalem, Guatemala followed suit and opened the doors to its new mission in the Holy City.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, a dedicated Christian, was on hand to personally inaugurate his nation's new embassy at the Malha Technology Park.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the event, showering affection and praise on Morales for having the courage to take a stand that's so unpopular with the international community.
Guatemala was also the second nation after the United States to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital back in December 2017.
In fact, Guatemala has a long history of supporting Israel.
Israel Today
May 16, 2018
Just two days after the US Embassy officially opened in Jerusalem, Guatemala followed suit and opened the doors to its new mission in the Holy City.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, a dedicated Christian, was on hand to personally inaugurate his nation's new embassy at the Malha Technology Park.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the event, showering affection and praise on Morales for having the courage to take a stand that's so unpopular with the international community.
Guatemala was also the second nation after the United States to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital back in December 2017.
In fact, Guatemala has a long history of supporting Israel.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
THE VERY HIGH PRICE OF TOLERATING PERVERTS
by Bob Walsh
Michigan State has just announced they have reached a settlement with 332 of the victims of former sports physician and now prisoner Larry Nassar.
The settlement totaled $500 million. This amount to $425 million for the current named and known victims and the other $75 million in trust for any victims that have yet to surface.
The U. S. Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics and former Olympic coaches Martha and Bela Karoly are still being sued in this matter. The news reports I have read to not indicate whether or not the University is on the hook for this, if they have insurance to cover it, or some combination thereof.
Michigan State has just announced they have reached a settlement with 332 of the victims of former sports physician and now prisoner Larry Nassar.
The settlement totaled $500 million. This amount to $425 million for the current named and known victims and the other $75 million in trust for any victims that have yet to surface.
The U. S. Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics and former Olympic coaches Martha and Bela Karoly are still being sued in this matter. The news reports I have read to not indicate whether or not the University is on the hook for this, if they have insurance to cover it, or some combination thereof.
SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER SHOOTS ARMED ACTIVE SHOOTER
by Bob Walsh
Yes, it is true. Not all school resource officers are hall monitors. Some are cops.
A school resource officer at Dixon High School in Dixon, Illinois engaged a former student who was actively firing at people yesterday morning. The student was shot and is currently in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Nobody else was injured. Just the way things are supposed to go.
Yes, it is true. Not all school resource officers are hall monitors. Some are cops.
A school resource officer at Dixon High School in Dixon, Illinois engaged a former student who was actively firing at people yesterday morning. The student was shot and is currently in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Nobody else was injured. Just the way things are supposed to go.
THE FATHER SHOULD HAVE SHOT HIS FELLOW OFFICER
LAPD officer arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a fellow officer’s 13-year-old daughter
By Alene Tchekmedyian and James Queally
Los Angeles Times
May 15, 2018
A Los Angeles police officer has been accused of assaulting another officer's 13-year-old daughter in her bedroom while staying in their home, officials said.
Kenneth Louis Collard, 51, was charged with three counts of committing a lewd act upon a child and one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
The alleged assault occurred at Collard's friend's home, where he was staying April 4 after an evening of socializing.
At the end of the night, Collard was encouraged not to drive back to his Riverside home and to instead stay with the friend — also an LAPD officer — in Torrance, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.
In the middle of the night, prosecutors said, Collard entered the girl's bedroom and assaulted her. Torrance police launched an investigation, which included the analysis of forensic evidence.
In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Protective League board of directors said it was "sickened by the repugnant" allegations.
"If they are true he should be prosecuted as forcefully as possible," the board said. "As police officers, we are sworn to protect the innocent, not to exploit them. There is absolutely no room in law enforcement or society for anyone who commits such acts, especially on a child."
The LAPD also issued a statement after Collard's arrest, saying the department "is aware of this arrest" and has begun a personnel investigation.
"If the accusations are true, this officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and will face severe repercussions in regards to his employment as well."
Prosecutors are recommending Collard's bail be set at $400,000.
Collard is a 20-plus-year officer who was assigned to the West L.A. station. He has been placed on paid administrative leave.
If convicted, he faces a maximum of 32 years in state prison.
By Alene Tchekmedyian and James Queally
Los Angeles Times
May 15, 2018
A Los Angeles police officer has been accused of assaulting another officer's 13-year-old daughter in her bedroom while staying in their home, officials said.
Kenneth Louis Collard, 51, was charged with three counts of committing a lewd act upon a child and one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
The alleged assault occurred at Collard's friend's home, where he was staying April 4 after an evening of socializing.
At the end of the night, Collard was encouraged not to drive back to his Riverside home and to instead stay with the friend — also an LAPD officer — in Torrance, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.
In the middle of the night, prosecutors said, Collard entered the girl's bedroom and assaulted her. Torrance police launched an investigation, which included the analysis of forensic evidence.
In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Protective League board of directors said it was "sickened by the repugnant" allegations.
"If they are true he should be prosecuted as forcefully as possible," the board said. "As police officers, we are sworn to protect the innocent, not to exploit them. There is absolutely no room in law enforcement or society for anyone who commits such acts, especially on a child."
The LAPD also issued a statement after Collard's arrest, saying the department "is aware of this arrest" and has begun a personnel investigation.
"If the accusations are true, this officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and will face severe repercussions in regards to his employment as well."
Prosecutors are recommending Collard's bail be set at $400,000.
Collard is a 20-plus-year officer who was assigned to the West L.A. station. He has been placed on paid administrative leave.
If convicted, he faces a maximum of 32 years in state prison.
NOT THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF SECURITY WHEN THE SECURITY GUARD IS DRUNK
Intoxicated Hollywood 7-Eleven Security Guard Shoots Man After Dispute
CBS Los Angeles
May 15, 2018
HOLLYWOOD -- Authorities said an intoxicated security guard for a 7-Eleven store in Hollywood shot another man following a dispute early Tuesday morning.
The shooting occurred at about 1:30 a.m. outside a 7-Eleven in the 1800 block of Cahuenga Boulevard. According to Los Angeles police, the two men got into an argument that became physical. The security guard then pulled out his gun and shot the man in the knee.
The victim was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.
Witnesses told police that the security guard and the victim were drinking together prior to the shooting. The suspect later failed a breathalyzer test, police said.
He was taken into custody. His name and the charges he faces were not immediately released.
CBS Los Angeles
May 15, 2018
HOLLYWOOD -- Authorities said an intoxicated security guard for a 7-Eleven store in Hollywood shot another man following a dispute early Tuesday morning.
The shooting occurred at about 1:30 a.m. outside a 7-Eleven in the 1800 block of Cahuenga Boulevard. According to Los Angeles police, the two men got into an argument that became physical. The security guard then pulled out his gun and shot the man in the knee.
The victim was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.
Witnesses told police that the security guard and the victim were drinking together prior to the shooting. The suspect later failed a breathalyzer test, police said.
He was taken into custody. His name and the charges he faces were not immediately released.
FRANKENSTEIN – THAT’S STEEN NOT STEIN - AT WORK IN CHINA
Two surgeons in China developing a method to transplant a human head
By Roni Jacobson
CNBC
May 15, 2018
A jolt of electricity is delivered to a body with bolts attaching its head to its neck. It's a scene straight out of a horror movie, but it is eerily close to Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero and Chinese surgeon Xiaoping Ren's plan to transplant a human head — down to the neck bolts and electricity.
Canavero and Ren recently performed a trial run on two cadavers, prompting outrage from the medical community, which has declared human head transplantation "fake news." An examination by a team of independent scientists published this month, however, suggests that, while fantastical seeming, the scientific and medical advancements necessary for human head transplantation are rapidly approaching plausibility. Nevertheless, major ethical and moral hurdles remain.
Canavero has been talking up his plan for human head transplantation in TED talks and the media for decades, despite producing little in the way of scientific evidence, going so far as to announce in 2015 that he would perform surgery on a human volunteer — a young man with Werdnig-Hoffman disease, a degenerative disease where the muscles waste away — by 2017. The volunteer backed out, and the surgery still hasn't been done on a living human, but Canavero maintains that it is "imminent." Together he and Ren, a surgeon at Harbin Medical University, devised a procedure for head transplantation, which they performed in a handful of animal studies on mice, rats and a dog, all of whom shockingly survived the surgery and even regained some motor function.
Without more animal testing, performing such a surgery on humans would be highly unethical, and Canavero's reputation as a sensationalist among medical professionals is well earned. But as transplant surgery reaches new heights — last month a wounded veteran received the first successful penis transplant — combined with advances in biology and computer science, human head transplantation may not be as far-fetched as once thought.
Still, surgical, immunological, psychological and ethical hurdles remain.
Modern-day Frankenstein
While it sounds outrageous, keeping a detached human head alive is not the main stumbling block, and may even currently be possible. The unconscious head would be kept at a very cold temperature (50 degrees Fahrenheit) to mitigate against brain damage, and be hooked up to two pumps — one supplying continuous blood flow and the other oxygen.
An adhesive called polyethylene glycol will be used to connect the volunteer's head with the spinal cord of the donor's body. The plan is to induce the volunteer into a coma for a month while blood and new nerve networks rebuild in hopes that the body doesn't reject the head — an inherent type of risk in all transplant procedures. In addition to the spine, the head will also have to be reconnected to airways, the esophagus and blood vessels.
The major barrier is fusing the spinal cord of the head to that of the donor body. If not successful, the body would be paralyzed, a medical problem that still has yet to be solved. This is not the obstacle it once was, however.
In December, Canavero and Ren published a study in which they severed the spinal cords of 12 dogs. They then applied polyethylene glycol to the incision of seven dogs and also delivered electrical stimulation. Over the next two months the dogs in the treatment group regained some motor function, while those in the control group did not. In earlier animal studies, Ren performed the complete head transplantation with spinal fusion technique on mice and rats, as well as a dog, all of whom also regained some motor function, although it was jerky and not completely normal.
"We have shown that with this technique, spinal perfusion is possible," Ren said (Canavero did not respond to multiple requests for comment). Ren acknowledges that the project is "controversial," but insists it is necessary to save people with "working brains whose bodies have died," including those with neuromuscular degenerative diseases, end-stage cancer and multiple organ failure.
That said, his focus right now is patients with spinal cord injuries and paralysis due to accidents or other causes. "These patients don't currently have good strategies, their mortality is very very high. So I try to translate this technique to benefit these patients," Ren said. "That is my main strategy in the future."
One of the essential keys to the technique is to use a very sharp, special blade to make as precise a cut as possible. Most spinal cord injury patients, however, have extremely frayed cord endings due to the traumatic nature of the injury, so the procedure will not work for them. What's more, polyethylene glycol is toxic to humans, according to Mark Hardy, an expert on immunosuppresion and a pioneering transplant surgeon at Columbia University, who co-authored the paper examining the scientific grounding of head transplantation. Ren's work in animals is "pretty good science," but it is not translatable to humans, Hardy said.
That said, "there are other ways" of potentially succesfully reattaching the spinal cord, Hardy said. He believes it may be possible "sometime in the next 10 to 12 years."
Stem cells are one avenue. In 2014 a Polish man who was stabbed repeatedly in the neck and had been paraplegic for four years had stem cells taken from his nose seeded at his spinal cord junction. With intense rehabilitation he can now stand and take a few steps. Electrostimulation, like Ren and Canavero are using, has also shown promise in spawning nerve regeneration, though both techniques have had only limited applicability so far.
In addition, Hardy said we may be able to bypass it with computers. "In the future, computers can replace some of these neural connections," he said. Currently, many people who receive artificial limbs also receive neural implants enabling them to move the limb just by thinking about it, as the electrostimulation in the brain triggered by the thought is picked up by the neural implant, which relays the signal to a computer and causes the limb to move. "This sounds totally fantastic and unreal, but it is happening," Hardy said.
Immunology issues
The second major technological barrier is immunology, or how to keep the head from rejecting the body and vice versa. "You have to visualize it where the body is the donor organ and the head is the recipient. It's not a head transplant; its a body transplant," Hardy said.
The body rejecting the head is unlikely because there are few white blood cells, which are produced in bone marrow and make up the immune system. Some of the immunosuppressive drugs that transplant recipients take, including Tacrolimus and Cyclosporine, which target white blood cells, and the steroid prednisone, are toxic to the brain. The brain is protected by the blood brain barrier, however, which should prevent them from entering. That said, the barrier is "leaky and unpredictable," Hardy said.
The main concern is the head rejecting the body. If that happened, individual organs including the heart would shut down and the patient would die, but there are ways to prep the body before surgery to avoid that, like replacing all the bone marrow in the host from that of the head's prior form, tricking it into thinking it is its own immune system.
Using similar tactics, in recent years kidney transplant patients have been able to live for two years without taking immunosuppressive drugs after six months of regular immunosuppressant drug therapy. "Immunosuppression is not going to be the major block 10 to 20 years from now," Hardy said. Still, there is a dearth of research, and the things that could go wrong are multitudinous.
For instance, in Ren's studies in animals, while the mice and rats successfully had their cords reattached and regained partial motor function, they all died after about two weeks due to "intestinal issues."
"The idea that the intestine didn't work is not at all surprising. It was predictable," Hardy said. The brain is the origin point of nerves that branch out from the spinal cord and go all over the body, which make the intestines move, stimulate the heartbeat and trigger all sorts of other functions. "That is one of the reasons Canavero is not ready to do anything right now," Hardy said.
Ren agrees. "Of course, we still need more studies in the laboratory using different animals," he said. He is currently focused on the problem of reattaching the spinal cord. After that, they will move on to tackling other problems, such as the intestinal issues and the central nervous system.
Psychology and ethics
Although technically we may soon be able to perform human head transplant surgery, "Its not so simple," said Allen Furr, a sociologist and ethicist at Auburn University, who also co-authored the May report. "The ethics are complex. Right now my opinion is, we don't know if it will be a good idea in the future. We are simply not ready to do it."
One glaring issue is the psychological repercussions. "We don't know how the brain is going to react to having a different body," Furr said. "Psychologically, we would expect there would be confusion," as the transplant recipient must learn how to control their "new" body. On top of that, "how folks start to understand themselves is going to become complicated," particularly as the percentage of "yourself" that is now "someone else" increases as transplant surgeries become more advanced, Furr said.
"Some folks are predicting catastrophe, that people will go mad," Furr said. Although there undoubtedly would be difficulty adjusting and the need for extensive rehab, Furr doesn't think that outcome is particularly likely. "History would tell us people would really be able to adjust," Furr said. In research on face transplants, one of the surgeries that would seemingly affect one's most intimate personal identity, for example, recipients (about 44 total so far worldwide) report that they have improved mental health, get outside more and quality of life in general post-surgery. In addition, pre-selection will be incredibly important.
__________
"We don't know how the brain is going to react to having a different body." -Allen Furr, sociologist and ethicist at Auburn University
__________
Historically, there was also intense ethical backlash from the scientific community before the first heart transplant and hand transplant occurred, both of which died down. As the procedures became more common, people saw the utility of such surgeries and the "yuck" factor diminished. Still, there remain major moral and ethical quandaries around head transplantation, whether it is even worth pursuing in the first place.
It's an incredibly expensive line of research for which there is a finite amount of dollars. Perhaps more saliently, whereas a body transplant would benefit one recipient, the organs within that body could theoretically benefit up to 20 individual people — a medical version of the trolley problem.
Medical ethicists also worry about informed consent, especially at this early preclinical stage, and taking advantage of desperate people. In addition, animal rights activists raise important concerns about the suffering in animal experiment subjects — a graphic picture of a monkey with Frankensteinian stitches around its neck is especially disturbing.
To the moral question of whether to save one patient versus many in need of individual organs, Ren said it would be about finding the right donor body. A brain-dead donor can save several people, so they would not be a good candidate. "But we can use a different kind of strategy," Ren said. The donor body could serve as a chassis, for instance, implanting the organs of the head's original body, or growing the organs in a lab — something pharmaceutical companies already do, using miniature "organoids" to test certain drugs.
"It's reasonable to think about. Not only against. Think about it!" Ren said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I wonder what would happen if they replaced Stormy Daniels’ head with that of Donald Trump?
By Roni Jacobson
CNBC
May 15, 2018
A jolt of electricity is delivered to a body with bolts attaching its head to its neck. It's a scene straight out of a horror movie, but it is eerily close to Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero and Chinese surgeon Xiaoping Ren's plan to transplant a human head — down to the neck bolts and electricity.
Canavero and Ren recently performed a trial run on two cadavers, prompting outrage from the medical community, which has declared human head transplantation "fake news." An examination by a team of independent scientists published this month, however, suggests that, while fantastical seeming, the scientific and medical advancements necessary for human head transplantation are rapidly approaching plausibility. Nevertheless, major ethical and moral hurdles remain.
Canavero has been talking up his plan for human head transplantation in TED talks and the media for decades, despite producing little in the way of scientific evidence, going so far as to announce in 2015 that he would perform surgery on a human volunteer — a young man with Werdnig-Hoffman disease, a degenerative disease where the muscles waste away — by 2017. The volunteer backed out, and the surgery still hasn't been done on a living human, but Canavero maintains that it is "imminent." Together he and Ren, a surgeon at Harbin Medical University, devised a procedure for head transplantation, which they performed in a handful of animal studies on mice, rats and a dog, all of whom shockingly survived the surgery and even regained some motor function.
Without more animal testing, performing such a surgery on humans would be highly unethical, and Canavero's reputation as a sensationalist among medical professionals is well earned. But as transplant surgery reaches new heights — last month a wounded veteran received the first successful penis transplant — combined with advances in biology and computer science, human head transplantation may not be as far-fetched as once thought.
Still, surgical, immunological, psychological and ethical hurdles remain.
Modern-day Frankenstein
While it sounds outrageous, keeping a detached human head alive is not the main stumbling block, and may even currently be possible. The unconscious head would be kept at a very cold temperature (50 degrees Fahrenheit) to mitigate against brain damage, and be hooked up to two pumps — one supplying continuous blood flow and the other oxygen.
An adhesive called polyethylene glycol will be used to connect the volunteer's head with the spinal cord of the donor's body. The plan is to induce the volunteer into a coma for a month while blood and new nerve networks rebuild in hopes that the body doesn't reject the head — an inherent type of risk in all transplant procedures. In addition to the spine, the head will also have to be reconnected to airways, the esophagus and blood vessels.
The major barrier is fusing the spinal cord of the head to that of the donor body. If not successful, the body would be paralyzed, a medical problem that still has yet to be solved. This is not the obstacle it once was, however.
In December, Canavero and Ren published a study in which they severed the spinal cords of 12 dogs. They then applied polyethylene glycol to the incision of seven dogs and also delivered electrical stimulation. Over the next two months the dogs in the treatment group regained some motor function, while those in the control group did not. In earlier animal studies, Ren performed the complete head transplantation with spinal fusion technique on mice and rats, as well as a dog, all of whom also regained some motor function, although it was jerky and not completely normal.
"We have shown that with this technique, spinal perfusion is possible," Ren said (Canavero did not respond to multiple requests for comment). Ren acknowledges that the project is "controversial," but insists it is necessary to save people with "working brains whose bodies have died," including those with neuromuscular degenerative diseases, end-stage cancer and multiple organ failure.
That said, his focus right now is patients with spinal cord injuries and paralysis due to accidents or other causes. "These patients don't currently have good strategies, their mortality is very very high. So I try to translate this technique to benefit these patients," Ren said. "That is my main strategy in the future."
One of the essential keys to the technique is to use a very sharp, special blade to make as precise a cut as possible. Most spinal cord injury patients, however, have extremely frayed cord endings due to the traumatic nature of the injury, so the procedure will not work for them. What's more, polyethylene glycol is toxic to humans, according to Mark Hardy, an expert on immunosuppresion and a pioneering transplant surgeon at Columbia University, who co-authored the paper examining the scientific grounding of head transplantation. Ren's work in animals is "pretty good science," but it is not translatable to humans, Hardy said.
That said, "there are other ways" of potentially succesfully reattaching the spinal cord, Hardy said. He believes it may be possible "sometime in the next 10 to 12 years."
Stem cells are one avenue. In 2014 a Polish man who was stabbed repeatedly in the neck and had been paraplegic for four years had stem cells taken from his nose seeded at his spinal cord junction. With intense rehabilitation he can now stand and take a few steps. Electrostimulation, like Ren and Canavero are using, has also shown promise in spawning nerve regeneration, though both techniques have had only limited applicability so far.
In addition, Hardy said we may be able to bypass it with computers. "In the future, computers can replace some of these neural connections," he said. Currently, many people who receive artificial limbs also receive neural implants enabling them to move the limb just by thinking about it, as the electrostimulation in the brain triggered by the thought is picked up by the neural implant, which relays the signal to a computer and causes the limb to move. "This sounds totally fantastic and unreal, but it is happening," Hardy said.
Immunology issues
The second major technological barrier is immunology, or how to keep the head from rejecting the body and vice versa. "You have to visualize it where the body is the donor organ and the head is the recipient. It's not a head transplant; its a body transplant," Hardy said.
The body rejecting the head is unlikely because there are few white blood cells, which are produced in bone marrow and make up the immune system. Some of the immunosuppressive drugs that transplant recipients take, including Tacrolimus and Cyclosporine, which target white blood cells, and the steroid prednisone, are toxic to the brain. The brain is protected by the blood brain barrier, however, which should prevent them from entering. That said, the barrier is "leaky and unpredictable," Hardy said.
The main concern is the head rejecting the body. If that happened, individual organs including the heart would shut down and the patient would die, but there are ways to prep the body before surgery to avoid that, like replacing all the bone marrow in the host from that of the head's prior form, tricking it into thinking it is its own immune system.
Using similar tactics, in recent years kidney transplant patients have been able to live for two years without taking immunosuppressive drugs after six months of regular immunosuppressant drug therapy. "Immunosuppression is not going to be the major block 10 to 20 years from now," Hardy said. Still, there is a dearth of research, and the things that could go wrong are multitudinous.
For instance, in Ren's studies in animals, while the mice and rats successfully had their cords reattached and regained partial motor function, they all died after about two weeks due to "intestinal issues."
"The idea that the intestine didn't work is not at all surprising. It was predictable," Hardy said. The brain is the origin point of nerves that branch out from the spinal cord and go all over the body, which make the intestines move, stimulate the heartbeat and trigger all sorts of other functions. "That is one of the reasons Canavero is not ready to do anything right now," Hardy said.
Ren agrees. "Of course, we still need more studies in the laboratory using different animals," he said. He is currently focused on the problem of reattaching the spinal cord. After that, they will move on to tackling other problems, such as the intestinal issues and the central nervous system.
Psychology and ethics
Although technically we may soon be able to perform human head transplant surgery, "Its not so simple," said Allen Furr, a sociologist and ethicist at Auburn University, who also co-authored the May report. "The ethics are complex. Right now my opinion is, we don't know if it will be a good idea in the future. We are simply not ready to do it."
One glaring issue is the psychological repercussions. "We don't know how the brain is going to react to having a different body," Furr said. "Psychologically, we would expect there would be confusion," as the transplant recipient must learn how to control their "new" body. On top of that, "how folks start to understand themselves is going to become complicated," particularly as the percentage of "yourself" that is now "someone else" increases as transplant surgeries become more advanced, Furr said.
"Some folks are predicting catastrophe, that people will go mad," Furr said. Although there undoubtedly would be difficulty adjusting and the need for extensive rehab, Furr doesn't think that outcome is particularly likely. "History would tell us people would really be able to adjust," Furr said. In research on face transplants, one of the surgeries that would seemingly affect one's most intimate personal identity, for example, recipients (about 44 total so far worldwide) report that they have improved mental health, get outside more and quality of life in general post-surgery. In addition, pre-selection will be incredibly important.
__________
"We don't know how the brain is going to react to having a different body." -Allen Furr, sociologist and ethicist at Auburn University
__________
Historically, there was also intense ethical backlash from the scientific community before the first heart transplant and hand transplant occurred, both of which died down. As the procedures became more common, people saw the utility of such surgeries and the "yuck" factor diminished. Still, there remain major moral and ethical quandaries around head transplantation, whether it is even worth pursuing in the first place.
It's an incredibly expensive line of research for which there is a finite amount of dollars. Perhaps more saliently, whereas a body transplant would benefit one recipient, the organs within that body could theoretically benefit up to 20 individual people — a medical version of the trolley problem.
Medical ethicists also worry about informed consent, especially at this early preclinical stage, and taking advantage of desperate people. In addition, animal rights activists raise important concerns about the suffering in animal experiment subjects — a graphic picture of a monkey with Frankensteinian stitches around its neck is especially disturbing.
To the moral question of whether to save one patient versus many in need of individual organs, Ren said it would be about finding the right donor body. A brain-dead donor can save several people, so they would not be a good candidate. "But we can use a different kind of strategy," Ren said. The donor body could serve as a chassis, for instance, implanting the organs of the head's original body, or growing the organs in a lab — something pharmaceutical companies already do, using miniature "organoids" to test certain drugs.
"It's reasonable to think about. Not only against. Think about it!" Ren said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I wonder what would happen if they replaced Stormy Daniels’ head with that of Donald Trump?
WHY A LAWYER GAVE NOTHING TO THE UNITED WAY
The United Way realized that it had never received a donation from the city's most successful lawyer.
So a United Way worker paid the lawyer a visit in his lavish office.
The United Way guy opened the meeting by saying, 'Our research shows that even though your annual income is over two million dollars, you don't give a penny to charity. Wouldn't you like to give something back to your community through the United Way ?'
The lawyer thinks for a minute and says, 'First, did your research also show you that my mother is dying after a long, painful illness and she has huge medical bills that are far beyond her ability to pay?'
Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbles, 'Uh... no, I didn't know that.'
'Secondly,' says the lawyer, 'did it show that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair and is unable to support his wife and four children?
The stricken United Way rep begins to stammer an apology, but is cut off again.
'Thirdly, did your research also show you that my sister's husband died in a dreadful car accident, leaving her penniless with a mortgage and three children, one of whom is disabled and another that has learning disabilities requiring an array of private tutors?'
The humiliated United Way rep, completely beaten, says, 'I'm so sorry. I had no idea.'
And the lawyer says, 'So, if I didn't give any money to them, what makes you think I'd give any to you?
So a United Way worker paid the lawyer a visit in his lavish office.
The United Way guy opened the meeting by saying, 'Our research shows that even though your annual income is over two million dollars, you don't give a penny to charity. Wouldn't you like to give something back to your community through the United Way ?'
The lawyer thinks for a minute and says, 'First, did your research also show you that my mother is dying after a long, painful illness and she has huge medical bills that are far beyond her ability to pay?'
Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbles, 'Uh... no, I didn't know that.'
'Secondly,' says the lawyer, 'did it show that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair and is unable to support his wife and four children?
The stricken United Way rep begins to stammer an apology, but is cut off again.
'Thirdly, did your research also show you that my sister's husband died in a dreadful car accident, leaving her penniless with a mortgage and three children, one of whom is disabled and another that has learning disabilities requiring an array of private tutors?'
The humiliated United Way rep, completely beaten, says, 'I'm so sorry. I had no idea.'
And the lawyer says, 'So, if I didn't give any money to them, what makes you think I'd give any to you?
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
WHAT WAS TRUMP THINKING WHEN HE CHOSE THIS PASTOR TO LEAD THE PRAYER AT EMBASSY INAUGURAL?
Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas preaches that Jews will go to Hell
President Trump has chosen Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, to deliver the inaugural prayer at the opening of the relocated U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. In light of his preaches, Jeffress is about the last person one would choose to lead a prayer in the Jewish state.
Jeffress preaches that:
“Not only do religions like Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism – not only do they lead people away from God, they lead people to an eternity of separation from God in hell. … Hell is not only going to be populated by murderers, and drug dealers, and child molesters; hell is going to be filled with good religious people who have rejected the truth of Christ.
Three greatest Jews in the New Testament" – Jesus, Peter and Paul – had all said that Judaism was not the path to salvation. They all said Judaism won't do it, it's faith in Jesus Christ.”
The Southern Baptist preacher has also called Catholicism the “genius of Satan.” Jeffress has also said that “Hitler was part of God’s plan.” What plan … the extermination of the Jewish people?
Former presidential contender and now a candidate for the senate from Utah, Mitt Romney is pissed off over the appointment of Jeffress because the preacher included Mormons among the groups that are going to Hell. Romney referred to Jeffress as a “religious bigot.”
Choosing a preacher who sermonizes that Jews are going to Hell, to deliver a prayer in the Jewish state defines chutzpah. What in hell was Trump thinking?
President Trump has chosen Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, to deliver the inaugural prayer at the opening of the relocated U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. In light of his preaches, Jeffress is about the last person one would choose to lead a prayer in the Jewish state.
Jeffress preaches that:
“Not only do religions like Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism – not only do they lead people away from God, they lead people to an eternity of separation from God in hell. … Hell is not only going to be populated by murderers, and drug dealers, and child molesters; hell is going to be filled with good religious people who have rejected the truth of Christ.
Three greatest Jews in the New Testament" – Jesus, Peter and Paul – had all said that Judaism was not the path to salvation. They all said Judaism won't do it, it's faith in Jesus Christ.”
The Southern Baptist preacher has also called Catholicism the “genius of Satan.” Jeffress has also said that “Hitler was part of God’s plan.” What plan … the extermination of the Jewish people?
Former presidential contender and now a candidate for the senate from Utah, Mitt Romney is pissed off over the appointment of Jeffress because the preacher included Mormons among the groups that are going to Hell. Romney referred to Jeffress as a “religious bigot.”
Choosing a preacher who sermonizes that Jews are going to Hell, to deliver a prayer in the Jewish state defines chutzpah. What in hell was Trump thinking?
SOME THOUGHTS ON PISSING IN THE SOUP
by Bob Walsh
The City of Seattle, by unanimous vote of the city council, has approved a new "head tax." No, this is not a tax on shitters, it is a tax on employers who actually employ people.
Starting new year Seattle will tax large employers $275 per year for each employee they have. This is down from the initial proposal of $500 per year. It will be levied on large employers. And it is already having a significant negative result.
Amazon is a HUGE employer in Seattle. They WERE going to do a major enlargement of their corporate presence in Seattle. They are no longer going to do that, though they might set up right across the city line.
Assuming that this new tax results in no change in employment, it will raise $47 million per year for homeless assistance. It should be noted that, over recent years, Amazon has voluntarily kicked down $40 million to fight homelessness, and has pledged another $40 million. The tax would cost Amazon $10 million per year at current employment levels.
If you keep kicking people in the nuts, they will eventually get tired of it, tell you to fuck off, and leave. This might not be the final straw, but it isn't going to help.
The City of Seattle, by unanimous vote of the city council, has approved a new "head tax." No, this is not a tax on shitters, it is a tax on employers who actually employ people.
Starting new year Seattle will tax large employers $275 per year for each employee they have. This is down from the initial proposal of $500 per year. It will be levied on large employers. And it is already having a significant negative result.
Amazon is a HUGE employer in Seattle. They WERE going to do a major enlargement of their corporate presence in Seattle. They are no longer going to do that, though they might set up right across the city line.
Assuming that this new tax results in no change in employment, it will raise $47 million per year for homeless assistance. It should be noted that, over recent years, Amazon has voluntarily kicked down $40 million to fight homelessness, and has pledged another $40 million. The tax would cost Amazon $10 million per year at current employment levels.
If you keep kicking people in the nuts, they will eventually get tired of it, tell you to fuck off, and leave. This might not be the final straw, but it isn't going to help.
TECHNOLOGY CAN KILL YOU
by Bob Walsh
Fred Schaub of Florida is one of at least 24 people known to have been killed by blind dependence on technology in recent years.
What happens is that people get fancy new cars with auto starts and key fobs. He died after leaving his RAV4 running in his garage, the carbon monoxide accumulated in his house enough to kill him. The newer cars run so quietly that people sometimes bail out and forget to turn them off. No key to turn off. This oversight has killed a couple of dozen people and left others with permanent brain damage over the last few years.
The exact number is not known as nobody tracks this info. It is bad enough in Florida (lots of retired old farts unused to cars running without humans in them) that some fire departments are giving out free CO detectors.
You need to not have your brain on auto pilot, even after you have put the car in the garage.
Fred Schaub of Florida is one of at least 24 people known to have been killed by blind dependence on technology in recent years.
What happens is that people get fancy new cars with auto starts and key fobs. He died after leaving his RAV4 running in his garage, the carbon monoxide accumulated in his house enough to kill him. The newer cars run so quietly that people sometimes bail out and forget to turn them off. No key to turn off. This oversight has killed a couple of dozen people and left others with permanent brain damage over the last few years.
The exact number is not known as nobody tracks this info. It is bad enough in Florida (lots of retired old farts unused to cars running without humans in them) that some fire departments are giving out free CO detectors.
You need to not have your brain on auto pilot, even after you have put the car in the garage.
OMG, I REALLY AM A DINOSAUR
by Bob Walsh
I am strange, I still carry a pager. I have a cell phone, a dumb phone as opposed to a smart phone. No camera, no GPS, just a phone. I hate to turn it on. It is there for MY convenience. Some months I don't use it once. There are about four people who have that pager number and whenever it goes off, it is bad news. I have had it for maybe 25 or 30 years. I think I have gone thru four of the devices themselves.
My current pager started acting squirrely this weekend. The alarm function started to self-activate and won't deactivate. Mildly irritating. So I called the communications company. They do a lot of other stuff besides pagers apparently, because once I got ahold of a body I found out that I was their very last pager customer and had been for years. I had a very nice, brief chat with the tech I got in touch with.
The front desk lady who actually does the ordering of such things will call me back about ordering a new one. I hope she remembers how to do it.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Although I've never has a pager, I too am a dinosaur. I'm strictly a home phone guy. I do have a simple cell phone like you have. I have it for emergency purposes only. It does have a camera, but this dinosaur doesn't know how to use it. I cannot use a smart phone due to my visual handicap, (I do not have any trouble eying good looking babes.) I suppose that is an advantage because I won't have a wreck driving while texting and I won't get run over by a car when walking while texting.
I am strange, I still carry a pager. I have a cell phone, a dumb phone as opposed to a smart phone. No camera, no GPS, just a phone. I hate to turn it on. It is there for MY convenience. Some months I don't use it once. There are about four people who have that pager number and whenever it goes off, it is bad news. I have had it for maybe 25 or 30 years. I think I have gone thru four of the devices themselves.
My current pager started acting squirrely this weekend. The alarm function started to self-activate and won't deactivate. Mildly irritating. So I called the communications company. They do a lot of other stuff besides pagers apparently, because once I got ahold of a body I found out that I was their very last pager customer and had been for years. I had a very nice, brief chat with the tech I got in touch with.
The front desk lady who actually does the ordering of such things will call me back about ordering a new one. I hope she remembers how to do it.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Although I've never has a pager, I too am a dinosaur. I'm strictly a home phone guy. I do have a simple cell phone like you have. I have it for emergency purposes only. It does have a camera, but this dinosaur doesn't know how to use it. I cannot use a smart phone due to my visual handicap, (I do not have any trouble eying good looking babes.) I suppose that is an advantage because I won't have a wreck driving while texting and I won't get run over by a car when walking while texting.
MOTHERS DAY IN STOCKTON
by Bob Walsh
Five people were shot in a public housing unit in Stockton on Mother's Day. Three died, including a five-year old girl. The dead are Gina Xiong, Joe C. Lor and their daughter, Kayleen. Nine people live in the two story unit.
The local constabulary believes it to be probably gang related. They have no known suspects, and no specific known motive.
Five people were shot in a public housing unit in Stockton on Mother's Day. Three died, including a five-year old girl. The dead are Gina Xiong, Joe C. Lor and their daughter, Kayleen. Nine people live in the two story unit.
The local constabulary believes it to be probably gang related. They have no known suspects, and no specific known motive.
NYC IS THE RAT CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES
These are the most rat-infested apartment buildings in NYC
By Rich Calder, Nick Fugallo and Aaron Feis
New York Post
May 14, 2018
While Mayor Bill de Blasio feebly tries to fight New York’s booming rodent population by warning parkgoers not to feed the vermin, residents need no reminder at three apartment buildings that are winning (or maybe losing) the city’s rat race.
Newly compiled data shared with The Post have identified the rattiest addresses in town, with the “winner” of the dubious top spot filing 318 rat complaints with city hot lines between May 2017 and April 2018.
Rodent-filled 335 E. 148th St., a six-story building in The Bronx, also led the city in rodent complaints in 2016.
The analysis was compiled by Localize.City, which forms neighborhood profiles based on public data — in this case, complaints to 311 about rats.
“We have rats everywhere in this place,” said second-floor resident Shakira Ransom, 31. “They’re out at night more and my children get scared.”
Ground-floor tenant Abigail Cisneros agreed her kids are being held hostage by the critters.
“My kids only play inside for that reason. [Rats are] always by the garbage, especially at night, and I’m afraid they’ll get into the homes,” said Cisneros. “I think they’re disgusting and I want them gone.”
A reporter spotted wide-open garbage cans sitting outside the building on Monday. Health Department signs lined the block, warning of rat poison placed as recently as last week.
At 410 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, which had the second-highest number of complaints, residents said they’d seen as many as three rats at a time rooting through garbage bags.
“I’m scared of them!” shrieked Esmina McDermott, 79, who filed one of the building’s 90 complaints with 311 over the past year.
“You hear them creeping, trying to make holes.”
Back in The Bronx, five-story 2337 Grand Concourse was third, with 85 complaints.
“We get rats every single day and the city needs to do something about this,” fumed Gabby Mendez, 36. “They are a serious health condition to people who already live in bad conditions.”
Of the nearly 28,500 rat-related complaints lodged with the city that always squeaks, Brooklyn led the way with 10,375, followed by Manhattan with 6,037.
Among neighborhoods, Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn is worst, with 1,824 complaints.
The report comes as Blasio has directed Parks Department workers to give New Yorkers advice that’s already obvious: Don’t feed the rats.
The officers were out in force in Manhattan’s Columbus Park on Monday.
“This is unnecessary,” said Gil Ramos, 27, a licensed exterminator who received a talking-to from Parks staff. “People are gonna be people. If their mother didn’t raise them right, a Parks officer can’t change them.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: From what I’ve observed, Houston can’t be too far behind NYC.
Those neighborhoods in NYC that are most rat-infested are also the city’s neighborhoods with the highest crime rates and highest number of homicides.
By Rich Calder, Nick Fugallo and Aaron Feis
New York Post
May 14, 2018
While Mayor Bill de Blasio feebly tries to fight New York’s booming rodent population by warning parkgoers not to feed the vermin, residents need no reminder at three apartment buildings that are winning (or maybe losing) the city’s rat race.
Newly compiled data shared with The Post have identified the rattiest addresses in town, with the “winner” of the dubious top spot filing 318 rat complaints with city hot lines between May 2017 and April 2018.
Rodent-filled 335 E. 148th St., a six-story building in The Bronx, also led the city in rodent complaints in 2016.
The analysis was compiled by Localize.City, which forms neighborhood profiles based on public data — in this case, complaints to 311 about rats.
“We have rats everywhere in this place,” said second-floor resident Shakira Ransom, 31. “They’re out at night more and my children get scared.”
Ground-floor tenant Abigail Cisneros agreed her kids are being held hostage by the critters.
“My kids only play inside for that reason. [Rats are] always by the garbage, especially at night, and I’m afraid they’ll get into the homes,” said Cisneros. “I think they’re disgusting and I want them gone.”
A reporter spotted wide-open garbage cans sitting outside the building on Monday. Health Department signs lined the block, warning of rat poison placed as recently as last week.
At 410 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, which had the second-highest number of complaints, residents said they’d seen as many as three rats at a time rooting through garbage bags.
“I’m scared of them!” shrieked Esmina McDermott, 79, who filed one of the building’s 90 complaints with 311 over the past year.
“You hear them creeping, trying to make holes.”
Back in The Bronx, five-story 2337 Grand Concourse was third, with 85 complaints.
“We get rats every single day and the city needs to do something about this,” fumed Gabby Mendez, 36. “They are a serious health condition to people who already live in bad conditions.”
Of the nearly 28,500 rat-related complaints lodged with the city that always squeaks, Brooklyn led the way with 10,375, followed by Manhattan with 6,037.
Among neighborhoods, Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn is worst, with 1,824 complaints.
The report comes as Blasio has directed Parks Department workers to give New Yorkers advice that’s already obvious: Don’t feed the rats.
The officers were out in force in Manhattan’s Columbus Park on Monday.
“This is unnecessary,” said Gil Ramos, 27, a licensed exterminator who received a talking-to from Parks staff. “People are gonna be people. If their mother didn’t raise them right, a Parks officer can’t change them.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: From what I’ve observed, Houston can’t be too far behind NYC.
Those neighborhoods in NYC that are most rat-infested are also the city’s neighborhoods with the highest crime rates and highest number of homicides.
PREVIOUS PREDICTIONS OF MAFIA’S DEMISE NEVER CAME TRUE
Mobsters will lose ‘core business’ thanks to legal sports betting: experts
By Bruce Golding
New York Post
May 14, 2018
The mob’s gambling racket is about to sleep with the fishes.
The US Supreme Court’s sports-betting ruling dealt a losing hand to organized crime in the New York area, legal experts said Monday.
Gambling and loan-sharking have traditionally been the mob’s “bread and butter,” and the decision will “significantly reduce” its clientele, former federal prosecutor Thomas Seigel said.
“They will definitely lose a regular source of predictable income,” said Seigel, who ran the Organized Crime and Gangs Section of the Brooklyn US Attorney’ s Office.
Defense lawyer John Meringolo, who’s represented John “Junior” Gotti and reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, said legal sports betting “will have a detrimental effect on the mob and anyone who tries to make a living through this type of vice.”
“For what’s left of what they do, this would significantly hurt their bottom line, if not completely destroy it,” said Meringolo, also a Pace Law School professor.
“If there’s no gambling, there’s no core business.”
Seigel — who prosecuted crooked NBA referee Tim Donaghy on gambling charges — said he expected mobsters would come up with new scams, potentially involving crypto-currencies in an “analog to the penny stocks of the ’90s.”
“I wouldn’t fully count them out, because they are resilient, but it is definitely going to be a blow,” he said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: When New York legalized off-track betting, bookies actually saw a significant increase in customers because, unlike the legal betting shops, they took bets on the cuff once they got to know the bettor.
By Bruce Golding
New York Post
May 14, 2018
The mob’s gambling racket is about to sleep with the fishes.
The US Supreme Court’s sports-betting ruling dealt a losing hand to organized crime in the New York area, legal experts said Monday.
Gambling and loan-sharking have traditionally been the mob’s “bread and butter,” and the decision will “significantly reduce” its clientele, former federal prosecutor Thomas Seigel said.
“They will definitely lose a regular source of predictable income,” said Seigel, who ran the Organized Crime and Gangs Section of the Brooklyn US Attorney’ s Office.
Defense lawyer John Meringolo, who’s represented John “Junior” Gotti and reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, said legal sports betting “will have a detrimental effect on the mob and anyone who tries to make a living through this type of vice.”
“For what’s left of what they do, this would significantly hurt their bottom line, if not completely destroy it,” said Meringolo, also a Pace Law School professor.
“If there’s no gambling, there’s no core business.”
Seigel — who prosecuted crooked NBA referee Tim Donaghy on gambling charges — said he expected mobsters would come up with new scams, potentially involving crypto-currencies in an “analog to the penny stocks of the ’90s.”
“I wouldn’t fully count them out, because they are resilient, but it is definitely going to be a blow,” he said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: When New York legalized off-track betting, bookies actually saw a significant increase in customers because, unlike the legal betting shops, they took bets on the cuff once they got to know the bettor.
ARE STEAMED UP CAR WINDOWS OR A WEDDING DRESS BEHIND THIS MURDER?
Teacher, 32, is shot dead in a hail of bullets on her family's driveway six months after being suspended from her job when it was revealed cops found her with a 17-year-old boy in a car with steamed up windows
By Hannah Parry
Daily Mail
May 15, 2018
A Pennsylvania teacher was gunned down on Mother's Day just months after being suspended from her job following a leaked police report stating that officers had found her in a steamed-up parked car with a 17-year-old boy.
Rachael DelTondo, 32, was standing on her mother's Buchanan Street driveway, in Aliquippa, Beaver County, on Sunday when she was killed in a hail of gunfire. She died at the scene.
'I counted six shots that I heard,' a neighbor, Fred Poore, told CBS News.
The death has stunned neighbors in the quiet neighborhood and police are hunting for clues to the identity of the killer.
DelTondo's death comes just six months after the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School teacher was suspended from her job over a leaked police report.
School officials and members of the media received an anonymous email in October 2017, containing the 2016 Aliquippa police incident report which implied she inappropriately met with a 17-year-old boy, Times Online reported.
The report stated that officers were on patrol at around 1.50am on February 6, 2016, when they saw a car parked near the old Aliquippa Hospital.
Police noted that 'the windows were steamed over and the engine was not running.'
Inside was Deltondo and the teen. School records show he was never a registered student at PA Cyber. Cops later found text messages and Snapchat messages which revealed the pair had a 'relationship.'
During the confrontation with officers, Deltondo reportedly told police that she and the teen were 'friends' and that they were 'just talking' because he was 'upset'.
She also said 'she didn't want her fiancé to know that she was here parked because he would get mad.'
No charges were brought against Deltondo over the incident, and police drove the teen home that evening. The report was not public knowledge until the anonymous email was sent in October last year.
The school announced they were suspending her the following month.
The leak prompted a state police investigation of the Aliquippa Police - which DelTondo complied with.
Earlier last year, DelTondo was in the press over a dispute with a bridal shop over her wedding dress.
The teacher was planning a big, elaborate with her Italian-American family, which included a $10,000, custom-made dress from a New York designer, CBS Local reported.
But the wedding was called off expectantly - a few months after DelTondo was caught with the teen, but before the report was made public.
The family, who had already put down a $4,600 non-refundable deposit, told the salon they would like to pay the balance and receive the dress so they could sell it, but said the designer never delivered the gown and refused to refund their deposit.
Eventually, they took the salon to court and got a local investigative reporter involved to pressure the wedding dress maker into doing the right thing. By early 2017, they finally received a check in the mail.
Today, family, neighbors and friends are struggling to come to terms with her sudden death.
'I don't know why that happened. I really don't,' said Dan Casper, a neighbor, who described the 32-year-old as a 'beautiful lady, friendly, knew everybody, talked to everybody.'
DelTondo had just returned from getting ice cream on Sunday evening when she was shot dead.
The Beaver County Coroner's Office has ruled DelTondo's death a homicide.
EDITOR’S NOTE: What a shocking surprise! The coroner ruled her bullet-riddled death a homicide.
UPDATE May 16, 2018: Beaver County prosecutors believe this was a crime of passion. Evidence appeared to show the perpetrator was known to DelTondo. Investigators have been scouring security footage from the neighborhood where the shooting took place and are attempting to access DelTondo's phone.
By Hannah Parry
Daily Mail
May 15, 2018
A Pennsylvania teacher was gunned down on Mother's Day just months after being suspended from her job following a leaked police report stating that officers had found her in a steamed-up parked car with a 17-year-old boy.
Rachael DelTondo, 32, was standing on her mother's Buchanan Street driveway, in Aliquippa, Beaver County, on Sunday when she was killed in a hail of gunfire. She died at the scene.
'I counted six shots that I heard,' a neighbor, Fred Poore, told CBS News.
The death has stunned neighbors in the quiet neighborhood and police are hunting for clues to the identity of the killer.
DelTondo's death comes just six months after the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School teacher was suspended from her job over a leaked police report.
School officials and members of the media received an anonymous email in October 2017, containing the 2016 Aliquippa police incident report which implied she inappropriately met with a 17-year-old boy, Times Online reported.
The report stated that officers were on patrol at around 1.50am on February 6, 2016, when they saw a car parked near the old Aliquippa Hospital.
Police noted that 'the windows were steamed over and the engine was not running.'
Inside was Deltondo and the teen. School records show he was never a registered student at PA Cyber. Cops later found text messages and Snapchat messages which revealed the pair had a 'relationship.'
During the confrontation with officers, Deltondo reportedly told police that she and the teen were 'friends' and that they were 'just talking' because he was 'upset'.
She also said 'she didn't want her fiancé to know that she was here parked because he would get mad.'
No charges were brought against Deltondo over the incident, and police drove the teen home that evening. The report was not public knowledge until the anonymous email was sent in October last year.
The school announced they were suspending her the following month.
The leak prompted a state police investigation of the Aliquippa Police - which DelTondo complied with.
Earlier last year, DelTondo was in the press over a dispute with a bridal shop over her wedding dress.
The teacher was planning a big, elaborate with her Italian-American family, which included a $10,000, custom-made dress from a New York designer, CBS Local reported.
But the wedding was called off expectantly - a few months after DelTondo was caught with the teen, but before the report was made public.
The family, who had already put down a $4,600 non-refundable deposit, told the salon they would like to pay the balance and receive the dress so they could sell it, but said the designer never delivered the gown and refused to refund their deposit.
Eventually, they took the salon to court and got a local investigative reporter involved to pressure the wedding dress maker into doing the right thing. By early 2017, they finally received a check in the mail.
Today, family, neighbors and friends are struggling to come to terms with her sudden death.
'I don't know why that happened. I really don't,' said Dan Casper, a neighbor, who described the 32-year-old as a 'beautiful lady, friendly, knew everybody, talked to everybody.'
DelTondo had just returned from getting ice cream on Sunday evening when she was shot dead.
The Beaver County Coroner's Office has ruled DelTondo's death a homicide.
EDITOR’S NOTE: What a shocking surprise! The coroner ruled her bullet-riddled death a homicide.
UPDATE May 16, 2018: Beaver County prosecutors believe this was a crime of passion. Evidence appeared to show the perpetrator was known to DelTondo. Investigators have been scouring security footage from the neighborhood where the shooting took place and are attempting to access DelTondo's phone.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
FAMOUS, NOTORIOUS ADDICT IN THE SLAMMER AGAIN
by Bob Walsh
Redmond O' Neal, 33, is the son of Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal. He is also a serious substance abuser. He is alleged to have robbed a convenience store in L.A. using a knife as a weapon. He was arrested nearby and the cops recovered a toad sticker matching the description given by the store clerk.
O'Neal has done one stretch as a guest of the state and several others for parole and probation violations.
He has been a junkie pretty much all of his adult life. Even his half-sister, Tatum O'Neal, describes him as at times scary. HE is facing armed robbery charges and, as of this writing, is being held pending a bail hearing.
Redmond O' Neal, 33, is the son of Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal. He is also a serious substance abuser. He is alleged to have robbed a convenience store in L.A. using a knife as a weapon. He was arrested nearby and the cops recovered a toad sticker matching the description given by the store clerk.
O'Neal has done one stretch as a guest of the state and several others for parole and probation violations.
He has been a junkie pretty much all of his adult life. Even his half-sister, Tatum O'Neal, describes him as at times scary. HE is facing armed robbery charges and, as of this writing, is being held pending a bail hearing.
MOTHER OF ALL SURPRISES
EXCLUSIVE: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attended the Jerusalem opening of the relocated U.S. embassy. Former U.S. President Barack Obama also showed up
By Adolf der Schweinehund
The Unconventional Gazette
May 14, 2018
JERUSALEM – The ceremonies Monday for the opening in Jerusalem of the relocated U.S. embassy turned out to be the mother of all surprises. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei .
Among the American officials were Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner who were warmly embraced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu. “Bibi,” she said, “my father regrets that he could not attend this glorious occasion, he’s very occupied with planning for the meeting with Kim Jong-Un in Singapore.”
Netanyahu also embraced “my longtime friend” Abbas who made a surprise appearance despite violent demonstrations against the embassy opening by thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza strip and on the West Bank. “My friend Bibi,” Abbas said, “I’ve come to realize that recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was the right thing to do. Shalom!” Turning to Ivanka, Abbas said “Your father is a wise man. I believe this will restart the peace process between Palestine and Israel.”
Khamenei was protected by a contingent of Israeli troops. He had been secretly whisked to Jerusalem by an Israeli air force plane. The supreme ayatollah also embraced Netanyahu. “We’ve been enemies far too long,” he told Netanyahu. “It is time for Iran to make peace with and to recognize the Zionist entity. May the blessings of Allah be upon you.”
Former President Obama and wife Michelle arrived on George Soro’s private Boing 737. They were warmly hugged by Netanyahu. “My very dear friend Barack,” said Netanyahu, “I am so happy to see you again.” To which Obama replied, “It’s great seeing you too, Bibi my old buddy. We sure had everyone fooled into believing we hated each other.”
With the exception of Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria and Romania, there were no representatives from any European state in attendance. Most European states refuse to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Neither does the UN which has long been hostile toward the Jewish state. Most notably, the leaders of Britain, France and Germany, have loudly condemned Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Netanyahu was overheard to say, “Fuck the British, French and Germans!”
Guatemala, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo are the nations that have supported Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
At the close of the ceremony, with a grinning Obama standing to their left, Abbas, Netanyahu and Khamenei stood side-by-side with their hands raised high and clasped together. Each of them shouted “Shalom!” to the thousands of cheering Israelis who had come to see the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.
Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, had been chosen by President Trump to deliver the prayer at the new embassy inaugural. Rev. Jeffress ended his 8-minute closing prayer thusly: “O Lord, we ask that you get Prime Minister Netanyahu, Ayatollah Khamenei, President Abbas, Mr. Kushner and the thousands of Jews gathered here this day to accept Jesus Christ as their savior, for if they don’t, they will surely all go to Hell. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Of course this did not happen. It’s just my joke. But what is true, is the absence at the embassy ceremony of the British, French, Germans, most of the other Europeans, as well as representatives of the UN. To that I say, fuck them all!
By Adolf der Schweinehund
The Unconventional Gazette
May 14, 2018
JERUSALEM – The ceremonies Monday for the opening in Jerusalem of the relocated U.S. embassy turned out to be the mother of all surprises. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei .
Among the American officials were Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner who were warmly embraced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu. “Bibi,” she said, “my father regrets that he could not attend this glorious occasion, he’s very occupied with planning for the meeting with Kim Jong-Un in Singapore.”
Netanyahu also embraced “my longtime friend” Abbas who made a surprise appearance despite violent demonstrations against the embassy opening by thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza strip and on the West Bank. “My friend Bibi,” Abbas said, “I’ve come to realize that recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was the right thing to do. Shalom!” Turning to Ivanka, Abbas said “Your father is a wise man. I believe this will restart the peace process between Palestine and Israel.”
Khamenei was protected by a contingent of Israeli troops. He had been secretly whisked to Jerusalem by an Israeli air force plane. The supreme ayatollah also embraced Netanyahu. “We’ve been enemies far too long,” he told Netanyahu. “It is time for Iran to make peace with and to recognize the Zionist entity. May the blessings of Allah be upon you.”
Former President Obama and wife Michelle arrived on George Soro’s private Boing 737. They were warmly hugged by Netanyahu. “My very dear friend Barack,” said Netanyahu, “I am so happy to see you again.” To which Obama replied, “It’s great seeing you too, Bibi my old buddy. We sure had everyone fooled into believing we hated each other.”
With the exception of Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria and Romania, there were no representatives from any European state in attendance. Most European states refuse to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Neither does the UN which has long been hostile toward the Jewish state. Most notably, the leaders of Britain, France and Germany, have loudly condemned Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Netanyahu was overheard to say, “Fuck the British, French and Germans!”
Guatemala, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo are the nations that have supported Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
At the close of the ceremony, with a grinning Obama standing to their left, Abbas, Netanyahu and Khamenei stood side-by-side with their hands raised high and clasped together. Each of them shouted “Shalom!” to the thousands of cheering Israelis who had come to see the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.
Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, had been chosen by President Trump to deliver the prayer at the new embassy inaugural. Rev. Jeffress ended his 8-minute closing prayer thusly: “O Lord, we ask that you get Prime Minister Netanyahu, Ayatollah Khamenei, President Abbas, Mr. Kushner and the thousands of Jews gathered here this day to accept Jesus Christ as their savior, for if they don’t, they will surely all go to Hell. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Of course this did not happen. It’s just my joke. But what is true, is the absence at the embassy ceremony of the British, French, Germans, most of the other Europeans, as well as representatives of the UN. To that I say, fuck them all!
ALL IS NOT BLISS IN TNE NEW WEED PARADISE
Gov. Brown Proposes Funding for Investigators to Crack Down on California’s Illicit Weed Market
KTLA 5
May 11, 2018
Gov. Jerry Brown proposed Friday to create five teams in the state attorney general’s office to investigate California’s black market for marijuana after firms that received state licenses complained they are being undercut by the illicit growers and sellers.
Brown allocated $14 million to “target illegal cannabis activity with an emphasis on complex, large-scale financial and tax evasion investigations,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
The teams also will focus on “reducing environmental and other crimes associated with the illegal cannabis market.”
Four investigative teams will be located in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno and San Diego. A fifth team, focusing on interdiction, will be based in Sacramento.
EDITOR’S NOTE: And the pro-pot advocates swore that legalization would kill the black market in marijuana.
KTLA 5
May 11, 2018
Gov. Jerry Brown proposed Friday to create five teams in the state attorney general’s office to investigate California’s black market for marijuana after firms that received state licenses complained they are being undercut by the illicit growers and sellers.
Brown allocated $14 million to “target illegal cannabis activity with an emphasis on complex, large-scale financial and tax evasion investigations,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
The teams also will focus on “reducing environmental and other crimes associated with the illegal cannabis market.”
Four investigative teams will be located in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno and San Diego. A fifth team, focusing on interdiction, will be based in Sacramento.
EDITOR’S NOTE: And the pro-pot advocates swore that legalization would kill the black market in marijuana.
I AM IN DESPERATE NEED OF TAKING ENOUGH OF THESE PILLS TO MAKE ME 60 YEARS YOUNGER!
Could a pill hold the secret to defying age? Scientists say they've foune 'the holy grail' of anti-ageing herald breakthrough technology that makes cells act twenty years younger
By Nicole Pierre
Daily Mail Australia
May 14, 2018
Australian researchers have developed an anti-ageing drug that could delay and even reverse the ageing process.
'We may be able to take a 60-year-old’s cells and make them 40,' Dr Ken O'Byrne told 7 News.
Researchers working tirelessly in the labs at Queensland University's Technology Cancer and Ageing Research Program (CARP) believe they’ve found the fountain of youth.
'We believe we've found the holy grail,' Dr Derek Richard said.
The anti-ageing drug is believed to also stop a range of other incurable health conditions including cancer, Alzheimer's and heart diseases.
'This drug could prevent them all, delay their onset or even reverse it,' 7 News reports.
According to CARP's site, DNA becomes more susceptible to damage as we get older and this unrepaired damage to DNA often leads to diseases such as cancer, dementia and arthritis.
QUT Professor Dr Ken O’Byrne said the discovery gave him 'hairs on the back of my neck.'
Yet the lab requires five million dollars to turn the compound they've created into an everyday pill.
To donate to the laboratory's research, you can head to CARP's website.
By Nicole Pierre
Daily Mail Australia
May 14, 2018
Australian researchers have developed an anti-ageing drug that could delay and even reverse the ageing process.
'We may be able to take a 60-year-old’s cells and make them 40,' Dr Ken O'Byrne told 7 News.
Researchers working tirelessly in the labs at Queensland University's Technology Cancer and Ageing Research Program (CARP) believe they’ve found the fountain of youth.
'We believe we've found the holy grail,' Dr Derek Richard said.
The anti-ageing drug is believed to also stop a range of other incurable health conditions including cancer, Alzheimer's and heart diseases.
'This drug could prevent them all, delay their onset or even reverse it,' 7 News reports.
According to CARP's site, DNA becomes more susceptible to damage as we get older and this unrepaired damage to DNA often leads to diseases such as cancer, dementia and arthritis.
QUT Professor Dr Ken O’Byrne said the discovery gave him 'hairs on the back of my neck.'
Yet the lab requires five million dollars to turn the compound they've created into an everyday pill.
To donate to the laboratory's research, you can head to CARP's website.
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF EVERYONE WHO ILLEGALLY CROSSED THE BORDER AT SAN DIEGO WOULD BE HELD AND PROSECUTED?
Can legal system handle new zero-tolerance crackdown on illegal border crossings?
By Kate Morrissey and Kristina Davis
The San Diego Union-Tribune
May 12, 2018
As the U.S. Attorney’s Office began a crackdown on illegal border crossings this past week, many worried that the already-burdened federal court system would fracture if every person caught crossing in San Diego were charged over the course of a year, with hundreds of millions of dollars in extra detention costs alone.
With other sections of the border seeing much higher numbers of illegal crossings and overcrowded jails adding long-distance transportation costs, implementing a zero-tolerance policy for illegal crossings along the southwest border comes with a hefty price tag.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions promised at San Diego’s Friendship Park on Monday that, going forward, the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security would work together to do just that, prosecute every person who illegally enters the U.S. along the southwest border.
“If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you,” Sessions said in his news conference at the U.S.-Mexico border. “It’s that simple.”
But is it?
“The system is going to buckle, and it’s very expensive,” said Jeremy Warren, a defense attorney in San Diego.
For federal public defenders in San Diego, the first week of the new zero-tolerance policy was rough, said Reuben Cahn, the executive director of the Federal Defenders of San Diego. Attorneys struggled to meet with clients because most are being held hours away due to lack of local detention bed space.
“This is not being implemented smoothly to say the least,” Cahn said.
Prosecutions of illegal entry — a misdemeanor — in San Diego and Imperial counties have ranged widely over the last decade, with 1,511 cases filed in 2008 and eight in 2013, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors have instead traditionally focused more on felony charges against those who re-enter the country, particularly those with a criminal record or a history of numerous illegal crossings.
In the first week of the new policy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed more than 120 cases for misdemeanor illegal entry or felony re-entry, up from roughly 98 cases last week and about 54 the week prior. While greater than usual, that’s still significantly less than what it would take to charge every person who attempted to enter the U.S. undetected.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed roughly 276 cases charging either illegal entry or re-entry in April, according to an analysis by the San Diego Union-Tribune. Border Patrol in the San Diego and El Centro sectors apprehended 6,439 people that month, according to Customs and Border Protection.
If the federal government had prosecuted every person caught crossing the border illegally into California in April, attorneys for the Southern District of California would have had to file 6,163 more cases than they did.
That’s more than 300 extra cases per business day.
In reality, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego will not process everyone. In conversations with the court, the office signaled it would likely file an additional 100 cases per week from San Diego and 50 from El Centro to implement the new policy, according to Cahn.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to discuss the new policy this past week.
Even that extra 600 cases per month may place a huge burden on the system.
Sessions sent 35 extra prosecutors to the southwest border to bolster resources in U.S. Attorney’s Offices there. Eight of those prosecutors will work in California.
The Southern District of California will need more than prosecutors to achieve the attorney general’s goal.
The U.S. Marshals Service will have to find bed space to hold those charged with illegal entry or illegal re-entry while they wait for hearings and sentencing, which typically takes between two weeks and a month for those who take plea deals and “fast track” their cases. Because bed space for federal prisoners in San Diego is already at capacity, the Marshals Service plans to hold additional prisoners charged under the new policy in jails in Santa Ana.
The Santa Ana City Jail charges the Marshals Service $105 per prisoner per day and has a maximum capacity of 375. On Wednesday, the jail held 356 people for the Marshals.
Based on that daily rate, it would have cost the Marshals between $9 million and $16 million to detain the people who crossed the border illegally in April and were not prosecuted, depending on how long they were held. That does not include costs to transport them between Santa Ana and San Diego for court appearances.
Another wrinkle: The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that defendants shouldn’t appear in shackles in court for pretrial hearings, which means that the Marshals have to staff more security per prisoner for court appearances. Adding more people per day to keep cases moving forward will further strain the agency’s staffing resources.
“The Marshals have been in close communication with Justice Department leadership, U.S. attorneys and staff to ensure resources on the southwest border are focused in a manner that allows uninterrupted execution of our mission while fulfilling our responsibilities mandated by the courts,” said Lynne Donahue, spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service.
Beyond detention costs, judges will have to hear the cases, and defense attorneys will have to represent the unauthorized immigrants, with the pro bono Federal Defenders likely picking up the majority of that work.
The district, which serves both San Diego and Imperial counties, has 20 full-time active judges — a combination of district and magistrate seats — plus four vacancies. However, there are also nine judges on senior or part-time status who help with the caseload.
To add more full-time district judge positions requires an act of Congress, while the number of magistrates is determined by the Judicial Conference of the United States. District judges are appointed by the President.
Defense attorneys are concerned that the influx of cases will clog a system that they say was already working at capacity, and they worry that the result will negatively affect due process rights granted in the Constitution to anyone charged with a crime.
Federal Defender Cahn has made requests to the court to help attorneys have better access to clients and is waiting to hear the court’s decision.
“Lawyers have to have reasonable access to their clients and vice versa,” Cahn said. “You can’t respresent somebody unless you can develop a relationship of trust and confidence.”
The Federal Defenders have also seen asylum seekers come through the system this week, part of the policy change. Previously, asylum seekers who cross illegally rather than present themselves at a port of entry would not have been charged and would instead go to immigration detention to begin the process of requesting protection from their home country. Now they will go through the criminal court process before going to immigration court, which follows an administrative law process.
The attorneys have also seen people charged with illegal entry this week who were separated from their children, part of the policy that has drawn much criticism from immigrant rights advocates. Cahn said it can be difficult for attorneys to figure out the children’s location to be able to tell clients how their children are doing.
For border crossers who receive sentences greater than time served, the Bureau of Prisons will transport them to one of its prisons and detain them.
For the misdemeanor illegal entry charge, a Union-Tribune analysis showed that in April, sentences were not generally higher than three months though those sentences can go up to six months. For the illegal re-entry felony charge, sentences can be several years long or more, depending on what other convictions the person has on record.
The potential for more border crossers to serve prison sentences also translates into more money. The cost to hold someone in custody through the Bureau of Prisons in fiscal 2015 ranged from $63.35 per person per day to $184.74, according to a bureau document. Holding someone for a three-month sentence would cost between $5,700 and just over $16,600.
The bureau currently has 183,755 federal inmates, according to its website. Almost half of the prisoners are serving time for drug-related crimes. About seven percent are there for immigration-related sentences.
Peter Nunez, a former U.S. attorney in San Diego who supports stricter immigration enforcement at the border, said that what matters to him is the conviction, not the length of the sentence.
“The whole point of criminal law generally is deterrence,” Nunez said. “Once you start prosecuting people for entering illegally, that will have some additional deterrent effect that I think will be huge in the long run. It puts a kibosh on any future attempt to legally immigrate to the U.S.”
Studies on the issue have backed up that notion, although migrants’ motivations tend to be a factor. Mexicans coming to the U.S. for economic reasons are more likely to be deterred by prosecution than Central Americans who are fleeing crime and political instability, according to a 2017 study by the Migration Policy Institute.
Border areas like Yuma, Ariz., have taken the zero-tolerance approach for years, which has contributed to record decreases in border arrests.
Nunez said the biggest challenges for implementing the new policy would be bed space and U.S. Marshals resources, but that the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be able to handle the caseload. He advocated for implementing court policies that would allow a two-day turnaround on cases.
“The quicker you can dispose of the case, you reduce the impact of that logistical problem,” Nunez said.
In other parts of the border, a program called Operation Streamline has fast-tracked illegal re-entry cases in Arizona and Texas for years by allowing quick plea deals to misdemeanor illegal entry charges with less jail time than the re-entry felony counterpart. Civil rights advocates have criticized that program as unconstitutional for moving cases through the system so quickly that defense attorneys don't have time to have a full meeting with their clients.
Guadalupe Valencia, a criminal defense attorney in San Diego, said he doesn’t think ramping up prosecutions will keep people from crossing the border because it doesn’t address why they are coming.
“You don’t solve problems with the criminal justice system,” Valencia said. “It didn’t work with the war on drugs, and it’s never going to work on immigration. The way to solve it is have people sit down and dicuss it and try to come up with real immigration reform.”
He predicted that as long as people are able to get work in the U.S. without authorization, they will take the risk of jail time and continue to come.
By Kate Morrissey and Kristina Davis
The San Diego Union-Tribune
May 12, 2018
As the U.S. Attorney’s Office began a crackdown on illegal border crossings this past week, many worried that the already-burdened federal court system would fracture if every person caught crossing in San Diego were charged over the course of a year, with hundreds of millions of dollars in extra detention costs alone.
With other sections of the border seeing much higher numbers of illegal crossings and overcrowded jails adding long-distance transportation costs, implementing a zero-tolerance policy for illegal crossings along the southwest border comes with a hefty price tag.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions promised at San Diego’s Friendship Park on Monday that, going forward, the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security would work together to do just that, prosecute every person who illegally enters the U.S. along the southwest border.
“If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you,” Sessions said in his news conference at the U.S.-Mexico border. “It’s that simple.”
But is it?
“The system is going to buckle, and it’s very expensive,” said Jeremy Warren, a defense attorney in San Diego.
For federal public defenders in San Diego, the first week of the new zero-tolerance policy was rough, said Reuben Cahn, the executive director of the Federal Defenders of San Diego. Attorneys struggled to meet with clients because most are being held hours away due to lack of local detention bed space.
“This is not being implemented smoothly to say the least,” Cahn said.
Prosecutions of illegal entry — a misdemeanor — in San Diego and Imperial counties have ranged widely over the last decade, with 1,511 cases filed in 2008 and eight in 2013, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors have instead traditionally focused more on felony charges against those who re-enter the country, particularly those with a criminal record or a history of numerous illegal crossings.
In the first week of the new policy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed more than 120 cases for misdemeanor illegal entry or felony re-entry, up from roughly 98 cases last week and about 54 the week prior. While greater than usual, that’s still significantly less than what it would take to charge every person who attempted to enter the U.S. undetected.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed roughly 276 cases charging either illegal entry or re-entry in April, according to an analysis by the San Diego Union-Tribune. Border Patrol in the San Diego and El Centro sectors apprehended 6,439 people that month, according to Customs and Border Protection.
If the federal government had prosecuted every person caught crossing the border illegally into California in April, attorneys for the Southern District of California would have had to file 6,163 more cases than they did.
That’s more than 300 extra cases per business day.
In reality, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego will not process everyone. In conversations with the court, the office signaled it would likely file an additional 100 cases per week from San Diego and 50 from El Centro to implement the new policy, according to Cahn.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to discuss the new policy this past week.
Even that extra 600 cases per month may place a huge burden on the system.
Sessions sent 35 extra prosecutors to the southwest border to bolster resources in U.S. Attorney’s Offices there. Eight of those prosecutors will work in California.
The Southern District of California will need more than prosecutors to achieve the attorney general’s goal.
The U.S. Marshals Service will have to find bed space to hold those charged with illegal entry or illegal re-entry while they wait for hearings and sentencing, which typically takes between two weeks and a month for those who take plea deals and “fast track” their cases. Because bed space for federal prisoners in San Diego is already at capacity, the Marshals Service plans to hold additional prisoners charged under the new policy in jails in Santa Ana.
The Santa Ana City Jail charges the Marshals Service $105 per prisoner per day and has a maximum capacity of 375. On Wednesday, the jail held 356 people for the Marshals.
Based on that daily rate, it would have cost the Marshals between $9 million and $16 million to detain the people who crossed the border illegally in April and were not prosecuted, depending on how long they were held. That does not include costs to transport them between Santa Ana and San Diego for court appearances.
Another wrinkle: The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that defendants shouldn’t appear in shackles in court for pretrial hearings, which means that the Marshals have to staff more security per prisoner for court appearances. Adding more people per day to keep cases moving forward will further strain the agency’s staffing resources.
“The Marshals have been in close communication with Justice Department leadership, U.S. attorneys and staff to ensure resources on the southwest border are focused in a manner that allows uninterrupted execution of our mission while fulfilling our responsibilities mandated by the courts,” said Lynne Donahue, spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service.
Beyond detention costs, judges will have to hear the cases, and defense attorneys will have to represent the unauthorized immigrants, with the pro bono Federal Defenders likely picking up the majority of that work.
The district, which serves both San Diego and Imperial counties, has 20 full-time active judges — a combination of district and magistrate seats — plus four vacancies. However, there are also nine judges on senior or part-time status who help with the caseload.
To add more full-time district judge positions requires an act of Congress, while the number of magistrates is determined by the Judicial Conference of the United States. District judges are appointed by the President.
Defense attorneys are concerned that the influx of cases will clog a system that they say was already working at capacity, and they worry that the result will negatively affect due process rights granted in the Constitution to anyone charged with a crime.
Federal Defender Cahn has made requests to the court to help attorneys have better access to clients and is waiting to hear the court’s decision.
“Lawyers have to have reasonable access to their clients and vice versa,” Cahn said. “You can’t respresent somebody unless you can develop a relationship of trust and confidence.”
The Federal Defenders have also seen asylum seekers come through the system this week, part of the policy change. Previously, asylum seekers who cross illegally rather than present themselves at a port of entry would not have been charged and would instead go to immigration detention to begin the process of requesting protection from their home country. Now they will go through the criminal court process before going to immigration court, which follows an administrative law process.
The attorneys have also seen people charged with illegal entry this week who were separated from their children, part of the policy that has drawn much criticism from immigrant rights advocates. Cahn said it can be difficult for attorneys to figure out the children’s location to be able to tell clients how their children are doing.
For border crossers who receive sentences greater than time served, the Bureau of Prisons will transport them to one of its prisons and detain them.
For the misdemeanor illegal entry charge, a Union-Tribune analysis showed that in April, sentences were not generally higher than three months though those sentences can go up to six months. For the illegal re-entry felony charge, sentences can be several years long or more, depending on what other convictions the person has on record.
The potential for more border crossers to serve prison sentences also translates into more money. The cost to hold someone in custody through the Bureau of Prisons in fiscal 2015 ranged from $63.35 per person per day to $184.74, according to a bureau document. Holding someone for a three-month sentence would cost between $5,700 and just over $16,600.
The bureau currently has 183,755 federal inmates, according to its website. Almost half of the prisoners are serving time for drug-related crimes. About seven percent are there for immigration-related sentences.
Peter Nunez, a former U.S. attorney in San Diego who supports stricter immigration enforcement at the border, said that what matters to him is the conviction, not the length of the sentence.
“The whole point of criminal law generally is deterrence,” Nunez said. “Once you start prosecuting people for entering illegally, that will have some additional deterrent effect that I think will be huge in the long run. It puts a kibosh on any future attempt to legally immigrate to the U.S.”
Studies on the issue have backed up that notion, although migrants’ motivations tend to be a factor. Mexicans coming to the U.S. for economic reasons are more likely to be deterred by prosecution than Central Americans who are fleeing crime and political instability, according to a 2017 study by the Migration Policy Institute.
Border areas like Yuma, Ariz., have taken the zero-tolerance approach for years, which has contributed to record decreases in border arrests.
Nunez said the biggest challenges for implementing the new policy would be bed space and U.S. Marshals resources, but that the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be able to handle the caseload. He advocated for implementing court policies that would allow a two-day turnaround on cases.
“The quicker you can dispose of the case, you reduce the impact of that logistical problem,” Nunez said.
In other parts of the border, a program called Operation Streamline has fast-tracked illegal re-entry cases in Arizona and Texas for years by allowing quick plea deals to misdemeanor illegal entry charges with less jail time than the re-entry felony counterpart. Civil rights advocates have criticized that program as unconstitutional for moving cases through the system so quickly that defense attorneys don't have time to have a full meeting with their clients.
Guadalupe Valencia, a criminal defense attorney in San Diego, said he doesn’t think ramping up prosecutions will keep people from crossing the border because it doesn’t address why they are coming.
“You don’t solve problems with the criminal justice system,” Valencia said. “It didn’t work with the war on drugs, and it’s never going to work on immigration. The way to solve it is have people sit down and dicuss it and try to come up with real immigration reform.”
He predicted that as long as people are able to get work in the U.S. without authorization, they will take the risk of jail time and continue to come.
Monday, May 14, 2018
TWO COURAGEOUS JOES
Great news! 2 courageous Democratic senators announced they are supporting Gina Haspel‘s nomination to head the CIA
Two courageous Democrats, Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin have announced they will vote to confirm Gina Haspel's nomination as director of the CIA.
With most Democrats are vehemently opposed to her nomination, not because of the waterboarding issue as they claim, but because of their utter hatred of Trump, it took a lot of courage for Senators Donnelly and Manchin to do the right thing by coming out in support of Haspel.
Now Haspel has a fairly good chance of becoming the first woman to head the CIA, even with the opposition of Republicans John McCain and Rand Paul and the stupid mocking of a gravely-ill McCain at the White House.
Three great big cheers for the two courageous Joes!
Two courageous Democrats, Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin have announced they will vote to confirm Gina Haspel's nomination as director of the CIA.
With most Democrats are vehemently opposed to her nomination, not because of the waterboarding issue as they claim, but because of their utter hatred of Trump, it took a lot of courage for Senators Donnelly and Manchin to do the right thing by coming out in support of Haspel.
Now Haspel has a fairly good chance of becoming the first woman to head the CIA, even with the opposition of Republicans John McCain and Rand Paul and the stupid mocking of a gravely-ill McCain at the White House.
Three great big cheers for the two courageous Joes!
SORE-ASS SOROS USING HIS MONEY TO DRIVE LAW-AND-ORDER PROSECUTORS OUT OF OFFICE
George Soros and soft-on-crime PACs To Spend Millions To Elect Prosecutors Who Oppose Mass Incarceration, The War On Drugs And The Death Penalty, And Who Will Hold The Police Accountable For Their Actions
By Matt Ferner
HuffPost
May 12, 2018
A broad progressive coalition is spending millions of dollars to oust hard-line prosecutors around the country and replace them with criminal justice reform advocates.
The allies are hoping to replicate what is already happening in Philadelphia, where new District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) is reshaping the city’s criminal justice system with the goal of ending mass incarceration. Billionaire George Soros, who backed Krasner’s election in 2017 with a $1.45 million donation, is investing in other district attorney races across the nation this cycle. The American Civil Liberties Union, which received grant funding from Soros’ Open Society Foundations in 2014 to support criminal justice reform, is planning voter education and outreach programs in as many as 10 states. And political action committees like Real Justice and Color of Change are directly intervening in key races.
Soros, the ACLU, the two PACs and a constellation of allied state-level groups hope that by organizing activists, educating voters and dumping money into district attorney races across the country, they can slowly start to replace more of the country’s 2,400 top prosecutors with reformers like Krasner. They also aim to change the way the public views elections for district attorneys, who are some of the most powerful people in the criminal justice system. The groups have targeted races in about a dozen counties that collectively contain around 5 percent of the U.S. population.
Real Justice endorsed Krasner in the Philadelphia DA election last year. The group works to elect reform-minded prosecutors around the nation and is hoping to be deeply involved in about 15 races in 2018, activist and writer Shaun King, the group’s co-founder, told HuffPost last week.
This year, Real Justice has raised about $1 million in funding, according to the Federal Election Commission; King said he expects the group to use every dollar and staff member it has in those 15 races. Real Justice has already announced endorsements for six district attorney candidates — four in California and two in Texas. The political action committee arm of Color of Change, the longtime civil rights advocacy group, has raised about $2 million, according to the FEC, and has announced endorsements for three district attorney candidates.
One of the reformers’ favored candidates has already lost. Both Real Justice and Color of Change backed Judge Elizabeth Frizell, who was running for district attorney in Dallas County, Texas. She came in second in the county’s Democratic primary in March, and has since filed a lawsuit alleging that voter fraud cost her the win.
But Tuesday night, two black, reform-minded candidates in North Carolina ― former criminal defense attorney Satana Deberry in Durham County and former Assistant District Attorney Faris Dixon in Pitt County, both of whom are backed by Color of Change ― won their Democratic primary elections.
“We’re starting to send a message. We’re starting to get phone calls from DAs around the country asking us about our demands. We’re getting calls from candidates,” said Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color of Change’s nonprofit civil rights organization and spokesman for the group’s political action committee arm. “And as an organization that couldn’t get DAs to return our calls, this is the power of actually being engaged in the democracy this way.”
The political action committee expects to be involved in five to seven more races in various states this election cycle, Robinson said.
“There’s a lot more to come,” Robinson said. “Part of our work is building the kind of long-term cultural power and conversation around this office so that DAs know that, all over the country, people are watching, and that communities have the power to turn out and kick them out if they aren’t serving them. It’s also an opportunity for DAs who do want to do the right thing, want to be reform-minded, to actually be on the right side of history.”
Real Justice selects candidates to support based on a questionnaire. The first question uses a five-page guidance memo Krasner distributed to his office in February as a litmus test. It asks the candidates to list the policies from that memo they would not implement during their first 100 days in office. The dozens of other questions ask for the candidates’ stances on mass incarceration, the drug war, the death penalty, police accountability and corruption. Color of Change has six national demands it expects district attorneys to support — end money bail, stop putting children in adult jails and prisons, stop unnecessary prosecutions of low-level offenses, stop anti-immigrant prosecutions, hold police accountable and practice transparency about their offices.
But the groups have ambitions far beyond simply endorsing candidates. They want to educate and change minds. Color of Change is doing voter outreach in local communities, telling people about the role a district attorney plays and the records and campaign platforms of various candidates ― all in an effort to get black voters to turn out in DA elections. Real Justice, meanwhile, is in the process of building out regional volunteer teams in all 2,400 districts that elect their top prosecutors. Building that new system out will take a big chunk of this year, King said.
“Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is have a massive educational effort so people know that the DA is really, really important,” King said. “The role of prosecutors is really important. We have to say it over and over again.”
King sees reform of local prosecutor offices as integral to the broader criminal justice reform movement.
“We often think of bad cops, horrible incidents of police brutality, but at the heart of all of it is 2,400 district attorneys,” King said. “Most local people can’t describe their DA or its functions. It’s a system that operates in the shadows. And they have sweeping powers to run the local justice system.”
King is right: Prosecutors are among the most powerful government agents in the American criminal justice system. They have complete and unrivaled access to the evidence that can determine a person’s guilt or innocence. They have broad powers over how seriously to take a charge against an individual and how aggressively they are willing to pursue a case. They can cut deals with witnesses, co-conspirators and defendants, and they can pile on charges to produce sentences to strong-arm someone into taking a plea deal. Prosecutors determine the charges a defendant will ultimately face and set the parameters for the eventual punishment a person might receive.
America’s elected prosecutors do not reflect the diversity of the jurisdictions they serve. Ninety-five percent of elected prosecutors are white, and 79 percent are male. Only 1 percent of prosecutors are women of color. And the majority of prosecutors — 85 percent — run for election unopposed.
Prosecutors are also rarely punished for misconduct. The cases that have led to disbarment, or even criminal charges, are few and far between. And in the end, they are largely shielded from any liability that might result from their actions thanks to a Supreme Court ruling granting them absolute immunity from civil suits.
Progressives’ efforts in 2018 prosecutorial elections could represent a turning point, said Miriam Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor and executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution, a group that works with more than a dozen recently elected reform-minded prosecutors to help them accomplish the goals they campaigned on.
“We’re watching this election season closely because we know that this group of new elected DAs with a different vision for the justice system is likely to expand in number,” Krinsky said.
“We know in the past that most DAs are not just re-elected, they often have no opposition at all ― so there’s not even an airing of critical issues for the public,” she added. “That’s changing. Given the enormously influential role of prosecutors in controlling the front door to the justice system, this degree of scrutiny is helpful, healthy and necessary.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sore-Ass Soros helped elect uber-left, pro-pot and anti-death penalty Kim Ogg district attorney of Harris County (Houston). Sore-ass donated $500,000 to Ogg for her campaign. He could have saved his money because just about anyone could have beaten Ogg’s Republican opponent and Harris County is overwhelmingly Democrat.
By Matt Ferner
HuffPost
May 12, 2018
A broad progressive coalition is spending millions of dollars to oust hard-line prosecutors around the country and replace them with criminal justice reform advocates.
The allies are hoping to replicate what is already happening in Philadelphia, where new District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) is reshaping the city’s criminal justice system with the goal of ending mass incarceration. Billionaire George Soros, who backed Krasner’s election in 2017 with a $1.45 million donation, is investing in other district attorney races across the nation this cycle. The American Civil Liberties Union, which received grant funding from Soros’ Open Society Foundations in 2014 to support criminal justice reform, is planning voter education and outreach programs in as many as 10 states. And political action committees like Real Justice and Color of Change are directly intervening in key races.
Soros, the ACLU, the two PACs and a constellation of allied state-level groups hope that by organizing activists, educating voters and dumping money into district attorney races across the country, they can slowly start to replace more of the country’s 2,400 top prosecutors with reformers like Krasner. They also aim to change the way the public views elections for district attorneys, who are some of the most powerful people in the criminal justice system. The groups have targeted races in about a dozen counties that collectively contain around 5 percent of the U.S. population.
Real Justice endorsed Krasner in the Philadelphia DA election last year. The group works to elect reform-minded prosecutors around the nation and is hoping to be deeply involved in about 15 races in 2018, activist and writer Shaun King, the group’s co-founder, told HuffPost last week.
This year, Real Justice has raised about $1 million in funding, according to the Federal Election Commission; King said he expects the group to use every dollar and staff member it has in those 15 races. Real Justice has already announced endorsements for six district attorney candidates — four in California and two in Texas. The political action committee arm of Color of Change, the longtime civil rights advocacy group, has raised about $2 million, according to the FEC, and has announced endorsements for three district attorney candidates.
One of the reformers’ favored candidates has already lost. Both Real Justice and Color of Change backed Judge Elizabeth Frizell, who was running for district attorney in Dallas County, Texas. She came in second in the county’s Democratic primary in March, and has since filed a lawsuit alleging that voter fraud cost her the win.
But Tuesday night, two black, reform-minded candidates in North Carolina ― former criminal defense attorney Satana Deberry in Durham County and former Assistant District Attorney Faris Dixon in Pitt County, both of whom are backed by Color of Change ― won their Democratic primary elections.
“We’re starting to send a message. We’re starting to get phone calls from DAs around the country asking us about our demands. We’re getting calls from candidates,” said Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color of Change’s nonprofit civil rights organization and spokesman for the group’s political action committee arm. “And as an organization that couldn’t get DAs to return our calls, this is the power of actually being engaged in the democracy this way.”
The political action committee expects to be involved in five to seven more races in various states this election cycle, Robinson said.
“There’s a lot more to come,” Robinson said. “Part of our work is building the kind of long-term cultural power and conversation around this office so that DAs know that, all over the country, people are watching, and that communities have the power to turn out and kick them out if they aren’t serving them. It’s also an opportunity for DAs who do want to do the right thing, want to be reform-minded, to actually be on the right side of history.”
Real Justice selects candidates to support based on a questionnaire. The first question uses a five-page guidance memo Krasner distributed to his office in February as a litmus test. It asks the candidates to list the policies from that memo they would not implement during their first 100 days in office. The dozens of other questions ask for the candidates’ stances on mass incarceration, the drug war, the death penalty, police accountability and corruption. Color of Change has six national demands it expects district attorneys to support — end money bail, stop putting children in adult jails and prisons, stop unnecessary prosecutions of low-level offenses, stop anti-immigrant prosecutions, hold police accountable and practice transparency about their offices.
But the groups have ambitions far beyond simply endorsing candidates. They want to educate and change minds. Color of Change is doing voter outreach in local communities, telling people about the role a district attorney plays and the records and campaign platforms of various candidates ― all in an effort to get black voters to turn out in DA elections. Real Justice, meanwhile, is in the process of building out regional volunteer teams in all 2,400 districts that elect their top prosecutors. Building that new system out will take a big chunk of this year, King said.
“Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is have a massive educational effort so people know that the DA is really, really important,” King said. “The role of prosecutors is really important. We have to say it over and over again.”
King sees reform of local prosecutor offices as integral to the broader criminal justice reform movement.
“We often think of bad cops, horrible incidents of police brutality, but at the heart of all of it is 2,400 district attorneys,” King said. “Most local people can’t describe their DA or its functions. It’s a system that operates in the shadows. And they have sweeping powers to run the local justice system.”
King is right: Prosecutors are among the most powerful government agents in the American criminal justice system. They have complete and unrivaled access to the evidence that can determine a person’s guilt or innocence. They have broad powers over how seriously to take a charge against an individual and how aggressively they are willing to pursue a case. They can cut deals with witnesses, co-conspirators and defendants, and they can pile on charges to produce sentences to strong-arm someone into taking a plea deal. Prosecutors determine the charges a defendant will ultimately face and set the parameters for the eventual punishment a person might receive.
America’s elected prosecutors do not reflect the diversity of the jurisdictions they serve. Ninety-five percent of elected prosecutors are white, and 79 percent are male. Only 1 percent of prosecutors are women of color. And the majority of prosecutors — 85 percent — run for election unopposed.
Prosecutors are also rarely punished for misconduct. The cases that have led to disbarment, or even criminal charges, are few and far between. And in the end, they are largely shielded from any liability that might result from their actions thanks to a Supreme Court ruling granting them absolute immunity from civil suits.
Progressives’ efforts in 2018 prosecutorial elections could represent a turning point, said Miriam Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor and executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution, a group that works with more than a dozen recently elected reform-minded prosecutors to help them accomplish the goals they campaigned on.
“We’re watching this election season closely because we know that this group of new elected DAs with a different vision for the justice system is likely to expand in number,” Krinsky said.
“We know in the past that most DAs are not just re-elected, they often have no opposition at all ― so there’s not even an airing of critical issues for the public,” she added. “That’s changing. Given the enormously influential role of prosecutors in controlling the front door to the justice system, this degree of scrutiny is helpful, healthy and necessary.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sore-Ass Soros helped elect uber-left, pro-pot and anti-death penalty Kim Ogg district attorney of Harris County (Houston). Sore-ass donated $500,000 to Ogg for her campaign. He could have saved his money because just about anyone could have beaten Ogg’s Republican opponent and Harris County is overwhelmingly Democrat.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)