He’s facing a long prison term and because he committed a violent crime, he won’t be Moonbeamed to serve his time in a county facility. I don’t think they serve yogurt in the prison chow hall.
SEXUALLY EXPLICIT TATTOO ANGERED PINKBERRY FOUNDER, OFFICIALS SAY
By Andrew Blankstein
Los Angeles Times
January 17, 2012
A founder of the Pinkberry yogurt chain allegedly beat up a homeless man with a tire iron because he found the transient's sexually explicit tattoo offensive, according to L.A. prosecutors.
The incident took place in June 2011 on an off-ramp of the Hollywood Freeway at Vermont Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Young Lee was stopped at a light when he was approached by a man seeking money, police said.
Words were exchanged, and Lee and another man in the car chased the homeless man and "beat him down" with the tire iron, police Capt. Paul Vernon said.
According to a statement by the district attorney's office, Lee felt disrespected by the tattoo. Officials did not provide a detailed description of the tattoo.
Lee is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 8 on charges of assault with a deadly weapon. The charge carries a special enhancement of causing great bodily injury.
"This case is emblematic of how the homeless are among the most vulnerable in our society," said Vernon, commanding officer of the Central Detective Division. The extent of the homeless man's injuries hasn't been disclosed.
Detectives spent several months probing the case against Lee, who was in South Korea for part of that time.
Lee, 47, was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday night by the LAX Fugitive Task Force, which includes LAPD officers and FBI agents. He was booked at the LAPD's Pacific Division station, according to online Sheriff's Department booking records.
A former kick-boxer and later an architect, Lee co-founded Pinkberry with Shelly Hwang in 2005.
The first shop opened that year in West Hollywood and featured a low-calorie yogurt that came in two flavors: plain and green tea. The small shop on Huntley Drive quickly generated a loyal following.
At one point, Pinkberry was drawing 3,000 customers a day and became known as the yogurt shop that spawned 1,000 parking tickets.
The business now has more than 100 locations in the United States, Mexico and the Middle East, according to the company website.
Lee was released Tuesday on $60,000 bail.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
THAT BIG LUMP IN HIS DRAWERS WAS NOT HIS MANHOOD
That thief is lucky he didn’t try to stash a live lobster. Had he done so, he could be singing alto now.
DWAYNE PORTER: TRIES WALKING OUT OF CORPUS H-E-B IN CRUSTACEAN-STUFFED PANTS
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
January 18, 2012
You have to admire the more stylish of our low-end thieves. Late last year we brought you the story of a guy who went on a penniless high-end dining spree in and around downtown, culminating in a steak dinner he refused to pay for at McCormick and Schmick's. He was busted for those shenanigans three times in four weeks.
And now there's Corpus Christi's Dwayne Porter. Police there say that employees of an H-E-B watched as the 53-year-old attempted to leave the store without paying for the lobster tail that was, rather unfortunately for Porter's dinner plans, protruding from his pants.
And that was not all he had down there, lurking in the depths of his britches.
Once police arrived, a seafood counter worker told police that he had prepared Porter a bag of fresh shrimp, and on searching, cops found those little boogers in Porter's drawers too. (Fortunately, there were no crabs.)
Porter subsequently told police he was hungry and couldn't afford the expensive delicacies he yearned for, so he tried to swipe them. Total value of this utterly shellfish thief's catch of the day that got away: $57.91.
Since the lobster tail likely cost $15 or less, that must have been a big ol' bag of shrimp. Maybe he had a date.
H-E-B employees "disposed of" the funky seafood.
DWAYNE PORTER: TRIES WALKING OUT OF CORPUS H-E-B IN CRUSTACEAN-STUFFED PANTS
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
January 18, 2012
You have to admire the more stylish of our low-end thieves. Late last year we brought you the story of a guy who went on a penniless high-end dining spree in and around downtown, culminating in a steak dinner he refused to pay for at McCormick and Schmick's. He was busted for those shenanigans three times in four weeks.
And now there's Corpus Christi's Dwayne Porter. Police there say that employees of an H-E-B watched as the 53-year-old attempted to leave the store without paying for the lobster tail that was, rather unfortunately for Porter's dinner plans, protruding from his pants.
And that was not all he had down there, lurking in the depths of his britches.
Once police arrived, a seafood counter worker told police that he had prepared Porter a bag of fresh shrimp, and on searching, cops found those little boogers in Porter's drawers too. (Fortunately, there were no crabs.)
Porter subsequently told police he was hungry and couldn't afford the expensive delicacies he yearned for, so he tried to swipe them. Total value of this utterly shellfish thief's catch of the day that got away: $57.91.
Since the lobster tail likely cost $15 or less, that must have been a big ol' bag of shrimp. Maybe he had a date.
H-E-B employees "disposed of" the funky seafood.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
OBAMA WANTS DRONE RETURNED, GETS TOY MODEL INSTEAD
Did Obama really think that the Iranians would agree with his request to have the downed RQ-170 Sentinel drone returned to the U.S.? Most likely not. He was probably just going through the motions because once the Iranians released the drone’s photograph he couldn’t just ignore the incident.
A toy model. Who said the Iranians don’t have a sense of humor?
IRAN WILL GIVE U.S. MODEL OF DOWNED STEALTH DRONE, REPORT SAYS
Iranian state radio says gift comes in response to American request to retrieve the RQ-170 Sentinel which Iran says it captured late last year
Associated Press
January 17, 2012
Iranian state radio said Tuesday that Tehran will give the United States a model of the American surveillance drone captured by the Islamic Republic.
The report said the toy model of the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone will be sent to the White House in response to a formal request from Washington last month asking Iran to return the aircraft that went down over Iran in December.
State radio said the model will be one eightieth the size of the original aircraft. The report says the models also will be sold on the Iranian marked for about 70,000 rials, or around $4.
Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama pressed his request that Iran return the U.S. surveillance drone captured by the country's armed forces.
Obama said he would not comment "on intelligence matters that are classified." But, he said during a White House news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the U.S. wants the top-secret aircraft back. "We have asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond," Obama said.
The U.S. president spoke following initial reports, which were later confirmed by American officials, that Iranian experts were in the final stages of recovering data from the RQ-170 Sentinel, which went down in Iran.
A toy model. Who said the Iranians don’t have a sense of humor?
IRAN WILL GIVE U.S. MODEL OF DOWNED STEALTH DRONE, REPORT SAYS
Iranian state radio says gift comes in response to American request to retrieve the RQ-170 Sentinel which Iran says it captured late last year
Associated Press
January 17, 2012
Iranian state radio said Tuesday that Tehran will give the United States a model of the American surveillance drone captured by the Islamic Republic.
The report said the toy model of the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone will be sent to the White House in response to a formal request from Washington last month asking Iran to return the aircraft that went down over Iran in December.
State radio said the model will be one eightieth the size of the original aircraft. The report says the models also will be sold on the Iranian marked for about 70,000 rials, or around $4.
Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama pressed his request that Iran return the U.S. surveillance drone captured by the country's armed forces.
Obama said he would not comment "on intelligence matters that are classified." But, he said during a White House news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the U.S. wants the top-secret aircraft back. "We have asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond," Obama said.
The U.S. president spoke following initial reports, which were later confirmed by American officials, that Iranian experts were in the final stages of recovering data from the RQ-170 Sentinel, which went down in Iran.
0 TO 200 IN 6 SECONDS
Bob was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really upset and felt forgotten.
She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THER !!"
The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.
Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought the box back in the house.
She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Bob has been hospitalized in the intensive care unit since Friday.
She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THER !!"
The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.
Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought the box back in the house.
She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Bob has been hospitalized in the intensive care unit since Friday.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
DON’T PUNISH THOSE MARINES!
On Sunday, Rick Perry ripped into the Obama administration for its over-the-top reaction in condemning the four Marines shown on a video peeing on the dead bodies of some Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. I strongly agree with Gov. Perry.
Once the video was released to the public, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta came before the television cameras to announce that such behavior is not the American way and that the four Marines will be harshly dealt with.
Sen. John McCain piped in by saying that the images could damage the war effort and hurt our standing in the international community. Even though McCain is probably right on both counts, I do not believe that those Marines deserve to be punished.
In every war, soldiers on both sides often desecrate the bodies of enemy fighters. We are quick to point out when the other side does it while we try to cover up our soldiers’ battlefield misconduct. The problem in this case is that someone released a video that got instant widespread coverage on the internet.
I remember in WWII when we propagandized the mass shooting of American prisoners by Nazi SS troops. We also propagandized the cruel treatment afforded our troops by their Japanese captors. We never mentioned that our soldiers often killed surrendering German soldiers and desecrated the bodies of dead Japanese soldiers.
During the Viet Nam War there was the My Lai massacre in which American soldiers killed several hundred Vietnamese villagers, many of them women, children and infants. The Army tried to cover it up and even Colin Powell whitewashed his investigation of the massacre. The only reason that atrocity became public was because Congressman Morris Udall and Senators Barry Goldwater and Edward Brooke launched a congressional investigation after receiving a soldier’s letter describing the massacre.
It should not come as a surprise to anyone that when people are trying to kill each other in the heat of battle there are going to be abhorrent acts committed by some of the combatants.
There are those who say the Marines have to be punished as a lesson to our troops on battlefield decorum. If that’s what it takes, I could go for cancelling their off-base passes for a month and putting them on latrine duty for 30 days, but anything beyond that, including reduction in rank, would be excessive. But that’s not what Panetta and the Pentagon brass have in mind. Those poor bastards are facing prison time. They are going to be served up as sacrificial lambs to those who hate America.
I certainly do not approve of what the four Marines did but I can understand why they did it. What really bothers me is that they were so stupid as to let someone videotape them peeing on those Taliban bodies.
Those four Marines are being scapegoated in order to show the world how righteous America is. To hell with that crap! I say, DO NOT PUNISH THOSE MARINES! If anyone deserves to be punished, it’s the asshole who released that video.
Once the video was released to the public, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta came before the television cameras to announce that such behavior is not the American way and that the four Marines will be harshly dealt with.
Sen. John McCain piped in by saying that the images could damage the war effort and hurt our standing in the international community. Even though McCain is probably right on both counts, I do not believe that those Marines deserve to be punished.
In every war, soldiers on both sides often desecrate the bodies of enemy fighters. We are quick to point out when the other side does it while we try to cover up our soldiers’ battlefield misconduct. The problem in this case is that someone released a video that got instant widespread coverage on the internet.
I remember in WWII when we propagandized the mass shooting of American prisoners by Nazi SS troops. We also propagandized the cruel treatment afforded our troops by their Japanese captors. We never mentioned that our soldiers often killed surrendering German soldiers and desecrated the bodies of dead Japanese soldiers.
During the Viet Nam War there was the My Lai massacre in which American soldiers killed several hundred Vietnamese villagers, many of them women, children and infants. The Army tried to cover it up and even Colin Powell whitewashed his investigation of the massacre. The only reason that atrocity became public was because Congressman Morris Udall and Senators Barry Goldwater and Edward Brooke launched a congressional investigation after receiving a soldier’s letter describing the massacre.
It should not come as a surprise to anyone that when people are trying to kill each other in the heat of battle there are going to be abhorrent acts committed by some of the combatants.
There are those who say the Marines have to be punished as a lesson to our troops on battlefield decorum. If that’s what it takes, I could go for cancelling their off-base passes for a month and putting them on latrine duty for 30 days, but anything beyond that, including reduction in rank, would be excessive. But that’s not what Panetta and the Pentagon brass have in mind. Those poor bastards are facing prison time. They are going to be served up as sacrificial lambs to those who hate America.
I certainly do not approve of what the four Marines did but I can understand why they did it. What really bothers me is that they were so stupid as to let someone videotape them peeing on those Taliban bodies.
Those four Marines are being scapegoated in order to show the world how righteous America is. To hell with that crap! I say, DO NOT PUNISH THOSE MARINES! If anyone deserves to be punished, it’s the asshole who released that video.
300 L.A. POT SHOPS MAY BE SHUT DOWN
L.A. is closing them down for the wrong reasons. They should be banned because the possession, sale and distribution of marijuana is prohibited by federal laws and those laws make no exception for ‘medical’ use.
L.A. MOVES TOWARD BAN OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES
By Rick Orlov
Los Angeles Daily News
January 13, 2012
After years of struggling with the issue, the city of Los Angeles headed down the road Friday to a total ban on medical marijuana shops.
The City Council's Public Safety Committee sent to the Planning Commission a series of recommendations to ban the estimated 300 dispensaries now open until the state Supreme Court decides if the city can regulate pot shops.
Councilman Jose Huizar, whose Eastside district has 47 dispensaries, called for the ban even as he said he supports the right of people to have access to medical marijuana.
"But if there are no tools to control the dispensaries, we have no choice but to ban them until we see what happens in the Supreme Court," Huizar said.
A state appellate court, in what is known as the Pack decision, ruled that federal law banning marijuana pre-empted state and local measures allowing dispensaries to provide medical marijuana. It also banned the lottery system being considered by the city to allow some dispensaries to open.
As a result, city officials said Los Angeles basically has no way to regulate dispensaries, even as it is fighting some 60 lawsuits from pot shop operators against the city's previous attempts to create rules on where pot shops can open.
City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, in a rare appearance before a committee, said the lawsuits have tied up his office staff.
"We have people working nights and weekends to prepare for these cases and we have no choice,"
Trutanich said. "If we aren't prepared to be in court, we will lose these cases. That's why we decided the best course of action is to ban all the dispensaries."
Special Assistant City Attorney Jane Usher said they are proposing a "gentle ban."
"We will continue to allow patients and caregivers to cultivate and have access to marijuana," Usher said.
Kris Hermes, spokesman for the pro-medical marijuana group American for Safe Access, however, said dispensaries aren't giving patients anything that state law doesn't allow.
"The fact is many patients are unable to cultivate their own marijuana and need access to a safe supply," Hermes said.
"The city is being pretty devious in what it is trying to do and they are ignoring other court cases that do allow dispensaries to operate."
Hermes said an organized campaign is being launched with emails asking city officials to find ways to keep dispensaries operating.
"The issue here is whether the vast majority of patients in Los Angeles who need marijuana will have access to it," Hermes said.
Also, he said, the marketplace is helping to determine the number of clinics in operation.
At one point, the city had an estimated 700 to 1,000 dispensaries in operation.
That has fallen in recent years because there was not enough demand to support the operations, he said.
Councilman Mitch Englander, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said the problem he has seen is the effect dispensaries have on neighboring businesses and residents.
"We all know of people who benefit from this, but we also need to look at what it has done to communities," Englander said.
"One of the things they do to communities - not necessarily the operators, but their patrons - is to create problems."
LAPD Capt. Bill Murphy of the Northeast Division, said he has received a number of complaints over the years from residents and others.
"We get complaints about the smells, about teens hanging around to buy the marijuana like they used to do outside liquor stores," Murphy said. "Residents see a problems with people drinking and smoking. We have congestion type issues."
If the measure is approved, Huizar said he would envision the city sending out letters, similar to eviction notices, telling the operators they will need to shut down.
L.A. MOVES TOWARD BAN OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES
By Rick Orlov
Los Angeles Daily News
January 13, 2012
After years of struggling with the issue, the city of Los Angeles headed down the road Friday to a total ban on medical marijuana shops.
The City Council's Public Safety Committee sent to the Planning Commission a series of recommendations to ban the estimated 300 dispensaries now open until the state Supreme Court decides if the city can regulate pot shops.
Councilman Jose Huizar, whose Eastside district has 47 dispensaries, called for the ban even as he said he supports the right of people to have access to medical marijuana.
"But if there are no tools to control the dispensaries, we have no choice but to ban them until we see what happens in the Supreme Court," Huizar said.
A state appellate court, in what is known as the Pack decision, ruled that federal law banning marijuana pre-empted state and local measures allowing dispensaries to provide medical marijuana. It also banned the lottery system being considered by the city to allow some dispensaries to open.
As a result, city officials said Los Angeles basically has no way to regulate dispensaries, even as it is fighting some 60 lawsuits from pot shop operators against the city's previous attempts to create rules on where pot shops can open.
City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, in a rare appearance before a committee, said the lawsuits have tied up his office staff.
"We have people working nights and weekends to prepare for these cases and we have no choice,"
Trutanich said. "If we aren't prepared to be in court, we will lose these cases. That's why we decided the best course of action is to ban all the dispensaries."
Special Assistant City Attorney Jane Usher said they are proposing a "gentle ban."
"We will continue to allow patients and caregivers to cultivate and have access to marijuana," Usher said.
Kris Hermes, spokesman for the pro-medical marijuana group American for Safe Access, however, said dispensaries aren't giving patients anything that state law doesn't allow.
"The fact is many patients are unable to cultivate their own marijuana and need access to a safe supply," Hermes said.
"The city is being pretty devious in what it is trying to do and they are ignoring other court cases that do allow dispensaries to operate."
Hermes said an organized campaign is being launched with emails asking city officials to find ways to keep dispensaries operating.
"The issue here is whether the vast majority of patients in Los Angeles who need marijuana will have access to it," Hermes said.
Also, he said, the marketplace is helping to determine the number of clinics in operation.
At one point, the city had an estimated 700 to 1,000 dispensaries in operation.
That has fallen in recent years because there was not enough demand to support the operations, he said.
Councilman Mitch Englander, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said the problem he has seen is the effect dispensaries have on neighboring businesses and residents.
"We all know of people who benefit from this, but we also need to look at what it has done to communities," Englander said.
"One of the things they do to communities - not necessarily the operators, but their patrons - is to create problems."
LAPD Capt. Bill Murphy of the Northeast Division, said he has received a number of complaints over the years from residents and others.
"We get complaints about the smells, about teens hanging around to buy the marijuana like they used to do outside liquor stores," Murphy said. "Residents see a problems with people drinking and smoking. We have congestion type issues."
If the measure is approved, Huizar said he would envision the city sending out letters, similar to eviction notices, telling the operators they will need to shut down.
DRINKING IS PART OF THE POLICE CULTURE
There is no question but that cops do a lot of drinking off-duty. There is both the camaraderie and the stressfulness of the job. And it is true that as a result there is a lot of alcoholism among cops. However, if there is peer pressure to drink, that pressure comes from within and not from fellow officers. And to call it ‘binge drinking’ is quite a stretch.
While Tanya Eiserer wrote a good story, that doesn't mean she's got all her facts right or that the ones she got right apply to all police agencies. Eiserer's cherry-picking story notwithstanding, cops do not binge drink like those idiot college fraternity and sorority members.
PEER PPESSURE PROMOTING POLICE BINGE DRINKING BEGINS IN ACADEMY
Grits for Breakfast
January 16, 2012
Tanya Eiserer at the Dallas News has a crackerjack story on the hot-button topic of alcoholism and law-enforcement culture ("They drink when they're blue: Stress, peer pressure contribute to police's alcohol culture," Jan. 16, behind paywall):
__Drinking is part of the police culture.
__“They drink a lot, and they drink together,” said John Violanti, a research associate professor at the University at Buffalo and a former New York state trooper who studies police stress and alcohol use. “It’s part of the macho image, part of being a cop.”
__Experts on police, and many officers, say cops drink because of peer pressure and high stress levels. They get into trouble with alcohol because they feel invulnerable and, as society’s helpers, are less likely to show weakness by seeking help. As mores change and technology advances, they’re more likely to get caught and their colleagues less likely to risk assisting them in covering up their problems.
Her article is filled with examples of officers binge drinking with other officers then getting in serious accidents. The story opened with these anecdotes:
__Kelly Beemer drank heavily at a South Dallas bar before hitching a ride home in a squad car, where she fired a gun through the floorboards.
__Rachel Nicely downed margaritas at a Greenville Avenue bar before climbing behind the wheel, hitting a parked car and being arrested for drunken driving.
__Jesus Cisneros had eight beers and four shots at a birthday party and later slammed his city vehicle into another car, killing the driver.
__All were police officers with promising careers. All drank heavily with other off-duty officers on the day they got into trouble.
__Their careers were ruined.
Other tales included an officer who showed up at a SWAT assignment with alcohol on his breath and later, in another incident, was found passed out in a running city vehicle with a can of Foster's in his lap. Despite those lapses, he was allowed to remain on the force eleven more years until another DWI forced his resignation. So some of these issue arises form lax police management giving second and third chances to chronically alcoholic officers, even when they drink on the job.
A treatment provider said that "suppressing trauma and stress" is a root cause of alcoholism in law enforcement, but it's also clear that peer pressure to participate in police drinking culture begins well before officers ever hit the street. According to one expert quoted, "Rookies are indoctrinated into the brotherhood in blue and the culture of alcohol consumption at the police academy." One of the ex-Dallas officers interviewed said that's where her problems started:
__Former Dallas police officer Shelly Pierce said in an interview that she drank a lot while in the academy and afterward. She typically drank, off duty, with other officers and a shared expectation that it was going to be a wild night.
__“When we go out, we’re going out,” said Pierce, who lost her job over a 2006 drunken-driving arrest. “We’re getting drunk. We’re going to be the loudest. All the attention is going to be on us. … It’s because of that whole ‘shock and awe’ thing. I’m going to be the one that shocks.”
__Laura Brodie, a California-based psychologist who worked with the Los Angeles Police Department’s employee assistance program, said she has found a lack of moderation prevalent in the police culture.
__“It’s all or nothing,” she said. “When they get into drinking, they start competing in their drinking.”
First-rate reporting by Eiserer on a seldom-discussed subject. As she'd reported in a 2009 story, roughly 89% of police suicides (which occur far more frequently than deaths in the line of duty) involve alcohol abuse, so this subject not only impacts the safety of the public (nobody wants a drunk in uniform wielding a gun or arrest authority) but also the officers themselves.
While Tanya Eiserer wrote a good story, that doesn't mean she's got all her facts right or that the ones she got right apply to all police agencies. Eiserer's cherry-picking story notwithstanding, cops do not binge drink like those idiot college fraternity and sorority members.
PEER PPESSURE PROMOTING POLICE BINGE DRINKING BEGINS IN ACADEMY
Grits for Breakfast
January 16, 2012
Tanya Eiserer at the Dallas News has a crackerjack story on the hot-button topic of alcoholism and law-enforcement culture ("They drink when they're blue: Stress, peer pressure contribute to police's alcohol culture," Jan. 16, behind paywall):
__Drinking is part of the police culture.
__“They drink a lot, and they drink together,” said John Violanti, a research associate professor at the University at Buffalo and a former New York state trooper who studies police stress and alcohol use. “It’s part of the macho image, part of being a cop.”
__Experts on police, and many officers, say cops drink because of peer pressure and high stress levels. They get into trouble with alcohol because they feel invulnerable and, as society’s helpers, are less likely to show weakness by seeking help. As mores change and technology advances, they’re more likely to get caught and their colleagues less likely to risk assisting them in covering up their problems.
Her article is filled with examples of officers binge drinking with other officers then getting in serious accidents. The story opened with these anecdotes:
__Kelly Beemer drank heavily at a South Dallas bar before hitching a ride home in a squad car, where she fired a gun through the floorboards.
__Rachel Nicely downed margaritas at a Greenville Avenue bar before climbing behind the wheel, hitting a parked car and being arrested for drunken driving.
__Jesus Cisneros had eight beers and four shots at a birthday party and later slammed his city vehicle into another car, killing the driver.
__All were police officers with promising careers. All drank heavily with other off-duty officers on the day they got into trouble.
__Their careers were ruined.
Other tales included an officer who showed up at a SWAT assignment with alcohol on his breath and later, in another incident, was found passed out in a running city vehicle with a can of Foster's in his lap. Despite those lapses, he was allowed to remain on the force eleven more years until another DWI forced his resignation. So some of these issue arises form lax police management giving second and third chances to chronically alcoholic officers, even when they drink on the job.
A treatment provider said that "suppressing trauma and stress" is a root cause of alcoholism in law enforcement, but it's also clear that peer pressure to participate in police drinking culture begins well before officers ever hit the street. According to one expert quoted, "Rookies are indoctrinated into the brotherhood in blue and the culture of alcohol consumption at the police academy." One of the ex-Dallas officers interviewed said that's where her problems started:
__Former Dallas police officer Shelly Pierce said in an interview that she drank a lot while in the academy and afterward. She typically drank, off duty, with other officers and a shared expectation that it was going to be a wild night.
__“When we go out, we’re going out,” said Pierce, who lost her job over a 2006 drunken-driving arrest. “We’re getting drunk. We’re going to be the loudest. All the attention is going to be on us. … It’s because of that whole ‘shock and awe’ thing. I’m going to be the one that shocks.”
__Laura Brodie, a California-based psychologist who worked with the Los Angeles Police Department’s employee assistance program, said she has found a lack of moderation prevalent in the police culture.
__“It’s all or nothing,” she said. “When they get into drinking, they start competing in their drinking.”
First-rate reporting by Eiserer on a seldom-discussed subject. As she'd reported in a 2009 story, roughly 89% of police suicides (which occur far more frequently than deaths in the line of duty) involve alcohol abuse, so this subject not only impacts the safety of the public (nobody wants a drunk in uniform wielding a gun or arrest authority) but also the officers themselves.
THE COSTA CONCORDIA DISASTER
By Adolf der Schweinehund
The Schalotte
January 16, 2012
Francesco Schettino, 52, captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia, and First Officer Ciro Ambrosio have been arrested on suspicion of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship when the cruise liner started to list after it ran aground.
Passengers reported seeing the captain spending much of the evening drinking in the bar with a beautiful woman on his arm before the ship smashed into some rocks, sustaining a 160 foot-long gash in the port-side hull. Passengers also reported they were left to fend for themselves by the ship’s officers and crew who shoved women and children out of the way as they rushed to get into lifeboats.
Schettino was seen wrapped in a blanket on a lifeboat and then standing on shore long before most of the passengers were able to escape from the capsizing ship.
As soon as the Schalotte learned about the accident we flew our chief investigative reporter to the scene. By slipping his jailers a few bucks and several bottles of Ciucciami il Cazzo, we were able to obtain an exclusive interview with Capt. Schettino in his jail cell.
Here is the interview:
Q. Captain, why did you inform the passengers that everything was OK when the ship ran aground and that you were only experiencing a temporary electrical failure?
A. Because the lights went out. That’s why.
Q. No, I mean, why didn’t you inform them of the real problem, that the ship ran aground?
A. Because I didn’t want to worry them needlessly.
Q. Captain, were you drinking in the bar with a beautiful woman much of the evening before the accident?
A. Oh merda! I hope my wife doesn’t hear about this.
Q. Well what about it?
A. You mean about the woman ….. you don’t expect me to spend time trying to seduce an ugly woman, do you?
Q. No, no! Not the woman. I mean how much did you have to drink?
A. Two beers, my good man, only two beers.
Q. Yeah, right. Captain, did you abandon ship before most of the passengers were able to escape?
A. That is a lie! I was one of the last to leave the ship.
Q. Then how can you explain that many passengers, as well as people who live on the island of Giglio, reported seeing you standing on shore while most of the passengers were still on the ship?
A. They did? Oh merda! Well, would you believe that I only left the ship because, as I was trying to help passengers into the lifeboats, all of a sudden the ship listed between 60-70 degrees. I tripped and fell into one of the lifeboats. The next thing I knew was that I was standing on the shore.
Q. No, can’t you come up with a better one than that?
A. Then would you at least believe that I was standing on shore to direct the rescue operations?
Q. Not on your life! Ciao.
A. Well, at least give me credit for turning the ship around after it struck those rocks and beaching it. If I had not beached the ship, it would have sunk in deep water and then hundreds, possibly thousands of passengers would have been lost. Ciao.
The Schalotte also interviewed surviving passenger Martha Foster from Milwaukee. Here is that interview:
Q. Martha, what were conditions like once the ship started to list?
A. It was sheer chaos, sheer chaos! There was no one telling us what to do. Everyone was screaming and running in all directions.
Q. Didn’t crew members give the passengers any directions? Didn’t they try to help you get safely off the ship?
A. Help? Shit! As soon as the ship started to roll over on its side, those sorry gutless spineless fucking bastards were clawing their way topside and shoving the passengers, including little children and old people, out of the way in their haste to escape on the few available lifeboats. They didn’t give a holy fuck about any of us. Excuse my language, but I’m fucking pissed off!
Q. That’s OK Martha, I fully understand. But the cruise line is saying that ….. let me read from their official statement ….. “As we are learning more about the event itself and the evacuation, however, it is becoming clear that the crew of the Costa Concordia acted bravely and swiftly to help evacuate more than 4,000 individuals during a very challenging situation.” What do you make of that statement?
A. Say what?! Now I’m really getting pissed off! The only crew members that stayed to help us were the cooks and waiters and some of the entertainers and, like us passengers, none of them had any idea of what to do. The fucking officers and the rest of the fucking crew abandoned us to save themselves. As I said before, those motherfuckers didn’t give a holy fuck about any of us.
Q. Martha, the cruise line has just announced that all passengers will be awarded a free passage on a future cruise. How do you feel about that?
A. Oh yeah? Well, they can shove that free passage up their fucking spaghetti-bender stinking asses. Fuck ‘em! They’ll be hearing from my lawyer ….. you bet they will!
Q. I’m really glad you’re OK, Martha. Thanks for answering our questions.
A. You’re very welcome. Just be sure to tell everyone about the fucking Captain and his worthless God damn crew!
The Schalotte
January 16, 2012
Francesco Schettino, 52, captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia, and First Officer Ciro Ambrosio have been arrested on suspicion of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship when the cruise liner started to list after it ran aground.
Passengers reported seeing the captain spending much of the evening drinking in the bar with a beautiful woman on his arm before the ship smashed into some rocks, sustaining a 160 foot-long gash in the port-side hull. Passengers also reported they were left to fend for themselves by the ship’s officers and crew who shoved women and children out of the way as they rushed to get into lifeboats.
Schettino was seen wrapped in a blanket on a lifeboat and then standing on shore long before most of the passengers were able to escape from the capsizing ship.
As soon as the Schalotte learned about the accident we flew our chief investigative reporter to the scene. By slipping his jailers a few bucks and several bottles of Ciucciami il Cazzo, we were able to obtain an exclusive interview with Capt. Schettino in his jail cell.
Here is the interview:
Q. Captain, why did you inform the passengers that everything was OK when the ship ran aground and that you were only experiencing a temporary electrical failure?
A. Because the lights went out. That’s why.
Q. No, I mean, why didn’t you inform them of the real problem, that the ship ran aground?
A. Because I didn’t want to worry them needlessly.
Q. Captain, were you drinking in the bar with a beautiful woman much of the evening before the accident?
A. Oh merda! I hope my wife doesn’t hear about this.
Q. Well what about it?
A. You mean about the woman ….. you don’t expect me to spend time trying to seduce an ugly woman, do you?
Q. No, no! Not the woman. I mean how much did you have to drink?
A. Two beers, my good man, only two beers.
Q. Yeah, right. Captain, did you abandon ship before most of the passengers were able to escape?
A. That is a lie! I was one of the last to leave the ship.
Q. Then how can you explain that many passengers, as well as people who live on the island of Giglio, reported seeing you standing on shore while most of the passengers were still on the ship?
A. They did? Oh merda! Well, would you believe that I only left the ship because, as I was trying to help passengers into the lifeboats, all of a sudden the ship listed between 60-70 degrees. I tripped and fell into one of the lifeboats. The next thing I knew was that I was standing on the shore.
Q. No, can’t you come up with a better one than that?
A. Then would you at least believe that I was standing on shore to direct the rescue operations?
Q. Not on your life! Ciao.
A. Well, at least give me credit for turning the ship around after it struck those rocks and beaching it. If I had not beached the ship, it would have sunk in deep water and then hundreds, possibly thousands of passengers would have been lost. Ciao.
The Schalotte also interviewed surviving passenger Martha Foster from Milwaukee. Here is that interview:
Q. Martha, what were conditions like once the ship started to list?
A. It was sheer chaos, sheer chaos! There was no one telling us what to do. Everyone was screaming and running in all directions.
Q. Didn’t crew members give the passengers any directions? Didn’t they try to help you get safely off the ship?
A. Help? Shit! As soon as the ship started to roll over on its side, those sorry gutless spineless fucking bastards were clawing their way topside and shoving the passengers, including little children and old people, out of the way in their haste to escape on the few available lifeboats. They didn’t give a holy fuck about any of us. Excuse my language, but I’m fucking pissed off!
Q. That’s OK Martha, I fully understand. But the cruise line is saying that ….. let me read from their official statement ….. “As we are learning more about the event itself and the evacuation, however, it is becoming clear that the crew of the Costa Concordia acted bravely and swiftly to help evacuate more than 4,000 individuals during a very challenging situation.” What do you make of that statement?
A. Say what?! Now I’m really getting pissed off! The only crew members that stayed to help us were the cooks and waiters and some of the entertainers and, like us passengers, none of them had any idea of what to do. The fucking officers and the rest of the fucking crew abandoned us to save themselves. As I said before, those motherfuckers didn’t give a holy fuck about any of us.
Q. Martha, the cruise line has just announced that all passengers will be awarded a free passage on a future cruise. How do you feel about that?
A. Oh yeah? Well, they can shove that free passage up their fucking spaghetti-bender stinking asses. Fuck ‘em! They’ll be hearing from my lawyer ….. you bet they will!
Q. I’m really glad you’re OK, Martha. Thanks for answering our questions.
A. You’re very welcome. Just be sure to tell everyone about the fucking Captain and his worthless God damn crew!
Monday, January 16, 2012
THE ADVERSARY SYSTEM BREEDS LAWYER MISCONDUCT
Our justice system, both criminal and civil, is based on an adversary system that pits lawyers on one side against the lawyers on the other side. Success is all about one side defeating the other. Justice comes in as a distant second. That leads to a ‘win at all costs’ attitude. It leads lawyers to lie – the only difference between a lawyer and a liar is the spelling – and to suppress evidence that might be helpful to the other side.
In criminal cases, the ‘win at all costs’ adversary system is the root cause of prosecutorial misconduct. And the defendants that get shafted are usually the ones without the means to hire the best law firms, firms that employ high-dollar investigators and expert witnesses.
Although I am a strong law and order advocate, I abhor prosecutors who suppress evidence, use witnesses they know to be lying and otherwise resort to unethical or even illicit tactics in order to defeat the defendant’s lawyers. The prosecutor who is more interested in winning than in seeking justice should not only be barred from prosecuting criminals - he should also be disbarred from the practice of law!
The following editorial is about Texas, but the problem of prosecutorial misconduct is certainly not unique to the Lone Star State.
EVIDENCE HIDDEN?
Another DNA exoneration raises troubling questions that need to be answered
Houston Chronicle Editorial
January 14, 2012
Texas has the distinction of having more convicts exonerated on the basis of DNA evidence than any other state.
Forty-five individuals have been cleared of serious crimes in the last decade, including murder.
One of them is Michael Morton, who was sentenced to life in prison for the beating death of his wife in their Georgetown home in 1986.
Morton had no criminal record. There were no eyewitnesses or physical evidence to link him to the crime.
In 2010 after years of pleading by Morton, a court ordered DNA testing of evidence related to the crime. It connected a felon, Mark Norwood, to the murder of Christine Morton and to the murder of an Austin woman two years later. In October, Morton was released after serving 25 years behind bars.
How was former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson - now a state district judge - able to obtain a conviction? Morton's attorneys claim evidence that would have weakened the prosecution's case was suppressed.
Last month, visiting District Judge Sid Harle of San Antonio formally cleared Morton of the murder charge. Harle has yet to rule on Morton's request that he seek the establishment of a court of inquiry to determine whether evidence was withheld illegally in this case. Harle should rule affirmatively.
Anderson's prosecution resulted not only in a miscarriage of justice against Morton. It was also an injustice for Debra Masters Baker, the Austin woman who Norwood is suspected of killing after prosecutors blindly went after the wrong man and declared the Morton case closed.
The final report of the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions cited evidence that seven of the first 39 DNA exoneration cases in Texas "involved suppression of exculpatory evidence or other prosecutorial misconduct."
Why wasn't exculpatory evidence shared with the defense team or trial judge in the Morton case, as required by law?
Texans deserve to know.
In criminal cases, the ‘win at all costs’ adversary system is the root cause of prosecutorial misconduct. And the defendants that get shafted are usually the ones without the means to hire the best law firms, firms that employ high-dollar investigators and expert witnesses.
Although I am a strong law and order advocate, I abhor prosecutors who suppress evidence, use witnesses they know to be lying and otherwise resort to unethical or even illicit tactics in order to defeat the defendant’s lawyers. The prosecutor who is more interested in winning than in seeking justice should not only be barred from prosecuting criminals - he should also be disbarred from the practice of law!
The following editorial is about Texas, but the problem of prosecutorial misconduct is certainly not unique to the Lone Star State.
EVIDENCE HIDDEN?
Another DNA exoneration raises troubling questions that need to be answered
Houston Chronicle Editorial
January 14, 2012
Texas has the distinction of having more convicts exonerated on the basis of DNA evidence than any other state.
Forty-five individuals have been cleared of serious crimes in the last decade, including murder.
One of them is Michael Morton, who was sentenced to life in prison for the beating death of his wife in their Georgetown home in 1986.
Morton had no criminal record. There were no eyewitnesses or physical evidence to link him to the crime.
In 2010 after years of pleading by Morton, a court ordered DNA testing of evidence related to the crime. It connected a felon, Mark Norwood, to the murder of Christine Morton and to the murder of an Austin woman two years later. In October, Morton was released after serving 25 years behind bars.
How was former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson - now a state district judge - able to obtain a conviction? Morton's attorneys claim evidence that would have weakened the prosecution's case was suppressed.
Last month, visiting District Judge Sid Harle of San Antonio formally cleared Morton of the murder charge. Harle has yet to rule on Morton's request that he seek the establishment of a court of inquiry to determine whether evidence was withheld illegally in this case. Harle should rule affirmatively.
Anderson's prosecution resulted not only in a miscarriage of justice against Morton. It was also an injustice for Debra Masters Baker, the Austin woman who Norwood is suspected of killing after prosecutors blindly went after the wrong man and declared the Morton case closed.
The final report of the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions cited evidence that seven of the first 39 DNA exoneration cases in Texas "involved suppression of exculpatory evidence or other prosecutorial misconduct."
Why wasn't exculpatory evidence shared with the defense team or trial judge in the Morton case, as required by law?
Texans deserve to know.
WORLD HOMICIDE RATES
From Borderland Beat / January 14, 2012:
Juarez is no longer world king of homicides as it drops to second spot, so says a Mexican study group called the Citizens Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice. The findings were released this week that reveals Juarez has lost its number one spot after three years, replaced by San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Homicides rates are predicated by homicides per 100,000 residents. 40 of the 50 most violent cities in the world are in Latin America according to the study.
It is no surprise to learn that Mexico holds 5 of the top 10 spots or 12 in the top 50. What is slightly surprising is that 45 of the 50 top spots are in the Americas and of those 40 in Latin America.
Of the top 50 countries: Mexico tallies at 12, Brazil 14, Colombia 5.
As for the U.S., the most dangerous US city “honors” goes to New Orleans and the city comes in 21st in the world with a murder rate of 58. Detroit ranked 30th with 48, St. Louis 43rd with 35 and Baltimore sliding into the 48th spot with 31 murders per capita.
The top 10 cities:
1. San Pedro Sula, Honduras
KILLINGS: 1,143 | POPULATION: 719,447 | RATE: 158.87
2. Juarez, Mexico
KILLINGS: 1,974 | POPULATION: 1,335,900 | RATE: 147.77
3. Maceió, Brazil
KILLINGS: 1,564 | POPULATION: 1,156,278 | RATE: 135.26
4. Acapulco, Mexico
KILLINGS: 1,029 | POPULATION: 804,412 | RATE: 127.92
5. Central District, Honduras
KILLINGS: 1,123 | POPULATION: 1,126,534 | RATE: 99.69
6. Caracas, Venezuela
KILLINGS: 3,164 | POPULATION: 3,205,463 | RATE: 98.71
7. Torreón, Mexico (metropolitan area)
KILLINGS: 990 | POPULATION: 1,128.152 | RATE: 87.75
8. Chihuahua, Mexico
KILLINGS: 690 | POPULATION: 831,693 | RATE: 82.96
9. Durango, Mexico
KILLINGS: 474 | POPULATION: 593,389 | RATE: 79.55
10. Belém, Brazil
KILLINGS: 1,639 | POPULATION: 2,100,319 | RATE: 78.04
Juarez is no longer world king of homicides as it drops to second spot, so says a Mexican study group called the Citizens Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice. The findings were released this week that reveals Juarez has lost its number one spot after three years, replaced by San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Homicides rates are predicated by homicides per 100,000 residents. 40 of the 50 most violent cities in the world are in Latin America according to the study.
It is no surprise to learn that Mexico holds 5 of the top 10 spots or 12 in the top 50. What is slightly surprising is that 45 of the 50 top spots are in the Americas and of those 40 in Latin America.
Of the top 50 countries: Mexico tallies at 12, Brazil 14, Colombia 5.
As for the U.S., the most dangerous US city “honors” goes to New Orleans and the city comes in 21st in the world with a murder rate of 58. Detroit ranked 30th with 48, St. Louis 43rd with 35 and Baltimore sliding into the 48th spot with 31 murders per capita.
The top 10 cities:
1. San Pedro Sula, Honduras
KILLINGS: 1,143 | POPULATION: 719,447 | RATE: 158.87
2. Juarez, Mexico
KILLINGS: 1,974 | POPULATION: 1,335,900 | RATE: 147.77
3. Maceió, Brazil
KILLINGS: 1,564 | POPULATION: 1,156,278 | RATE: 135.26
4. Acapulco, Mexico
KILLINGS: 1,029 | POPULATION: 804,412 | RATE: 127.92
5. Central District, Honduras
KILLINGS: 1,123 | POPULATION: 1,126,534 | RATE: 99.69
6. Caracas, Venezuela
KILLINGS: 3,164 | POPULATION: 3,205,463 | RATE: 98.71
7. Torreón, Mexico (metropolitan area)
KILLINGS: 990 | POPULATION: 1,128.152 | RATE: 87.75
8. Chihuahua, Mexico
KILLINGS: 690 | POPULATION: 831,693 | RATE: 82.96
9. Durango, Mexico
KILLINGS: 474 | POPULATION: 593,389 | RATE: 79.55
10. Belém, Brazil
KILLINGS: 1,639 | POPULATION: 2,100,319 | RATE: 78.04
Sunday, January 15, 2012
SAYING ‘I LOVE YOU’ CAUSES PAIN THAT HAS NO KNOWN EQUIVALENT Patients in a coma should not be visited by a loved one
The Schalotte
January 15, 2012
The Schalotte is grateful to The Onion for a heads-up on the hazards of visiting a loved one hospitalized in a coma.
STUDY FINDS HEARING LOVED ONE’S VOICE INDUCES EXCRUCIATING PAIN IN COMA PATIENTS
The Onion
January 14, 2012
BALTIMORE—According to a study published Monday in The New England Journal Of Medicine, people in comas experience excruciating, indescribable levels of pain whenever they hear the sound of a loved one's voice.
The Johns Hopkins University study, which used fMRI brain-imaging technology to monitor the cerebral activity of more than 400 coma patients while friends and family members talked soothingly at their hospital bedsides, found that every second a loved one was speaking, subjects felt pain so agonizing that researchers have likened it to the sensation of having one's skin slowly removed with dull scissors before being doused in gasoline and set on fire.
"Whether the patient's sister was reading aloud from a favorite book or a spouse was relating shared happy memories, the data conclusively proved the participant was experiencing wave after wave of pain so torturous that you or I couldn't even begin to imagine it," said Dr. Adam Tyner, lead author of the study. "After hearing a loved one speak, every single coma patient we observed exhibited a huge spike in activity within the pain centers of the brain, at levels comparable to those of someone dropped into a vat of hydrochloric acid and then forced to roll around in salt."
"If you are in any way significant to or loved by a coma patient, it appears visiting that person in the hospital is the absolute worst thing you can do to him or her," Tyner continued. "You have to understand, if these individuals could speak, they would be screaming at their loved ones to please, for the love of all that is good and holy, stop talking."
Tyner said the data also proved that patients were very much cognizant of their surroundings and seemed to know precisely who was causing them the worst pain any human being could possibly experience. He went on to stress that what the subjects were experiencing was not simply emotional pain, but a very real and horrible physical pain, similar to the sensation of being dragged naked behind a truck over miles of jagged lava plains covered with tacks and broken glass.
"During trials in which a young son or daughter urged a parent to please, please just wake up, the pain reached an intensity so severe we can safely hypothesize these patients would gladly have jumped to their deaths from hospital windows cursing their children's names, had they the capacity to do so," Tyner said.
In addition, the study found many other stimuli besides vocalizations that caused immense pain in coma patients. The smell of fresh flowers, the presence of Mylar balloons, or a loved one gently running fingers through the subject's hair all caused pain so extreme it would cause a healthy person to mercifully black out. However, because of their condition coma patients are unable to scream for help, and are instead forced to remain completely silent and aware as they endured a pain 10 times worse than that of a torture victim.
"No stimulus compared to utterances of 'I love you,'" Tyner said. "Those three words resulted in a pain that has no known equivalent, but the closest approximation would be the sensation of hot, rusty needles flowing through one's very blood stream."
Tyner said that the full implications of the study were still not totally clear, but that loved ones could take immediate steps to improve the palliative care of those in comas.
"Don't talk to them, don't gaze upon them lovingly, don't even think about them," Tyner said. "Not surprisingly, the evidence suggests those in comas are so sensitive they can faintly pick up sympathetic thoughts from friends and family, which also causes them terrible, unimaginable pain."
"The best advice I can give is that if you care for these people at all, just leave them completely alone until they either wake up or die," Tyner added.
January 15, 2012
The Schalotte is grateful to The Onion for a heads-up on the hazards of visiting a loved one hospitalized in a coma.
STUDY FINDS HEARING LOVED ONE’S VOICE INDUCES EXCRUCIATING PAIN IN COMA PATIENTS
The Onion
January 14, 2012
BALTIMORE—According to a study published Monday in The New England Journal Of Medicine, people in comas experience excruciating, indescribable levels of pain whenever they hear the sound of a loved one's voice.
The Johns Hopkins University study, which used fMRI brain-imaging technology to monitor the cerebral activity of more than 400 coma patients while friends and family members talked soothingly at their hospital bedsides, found that every second a loved one was speaking, subjects felt pain so agonizing that researchers have likened it to the sensation of having one's skin slowly removed with dull scissors before being doused in gasoline and set on fire.
"Whether the patient's sister was reading aloud from a favorite book or a spouse was relating shared happy memories, the data conclusively proved the participant was experiencing wave after wave of pain so torturous that you or I couldn't even begin to imagine it," said Dr. Adam Tyner, lead author of the study. "After hearing a loved one speak, every single coma patient we observed exhibited a huge spike in activity within the pain centers of the brain, at levels comparable to those of someone dropped into a vat of hydrochloric acid and then forced to roll around in salt."
"If you are in any way significant to or loved by a coma patient, it appears visiting that person in the hospital is the absolute worst thing you can do to him or her," Tyner continued. "You have to understand, if these individuals could speak, they would be screaming at their loved ones to please, for the love of all that is good and holy, stop talking."
Tyner said the data also proved that patients were very much cognizant of their surroundings and seemed to know precisely who was causing them the worst pain any human being could possibly experience. He went on to stress that what the subjects were experiencing was not simply emotional pain, but a very real and horrible physical pain, similar to the sensation of being dragged naked behind a truck over miles of jagged lava plains covered with tacks and broken glass.
"During trials in which a young son or daughter urged a parent to please, please just wake up, the pain reached an intensity so severe we can safely hypothesize these patients would gladly have jumped to their deaths from hospital windows cursing their children's names, had they the capacity to do so," Tyner said.
In addition, the study found many other stimuli besides vocalizations that caused immense pain in coma patients. The smell of fresh flowers, the presence of Mylar balloons, or a loved one gently running fingers through the subject's hair all caused pain so extreme it would cause a healthy person to mercifully black out. However, because of their condition coma patients are unable to scream for help, and are instead forced to remain completely silent and aware as they endured a pain 10 times worse than that of a torture victim.
"No stimulus compared to utterances of 'I love you,'" Tyner said. "Those three words resulted in a pain that has no known equivalent, but the closest approximation would be the sensation of hot, rusty needles flowing through one's very blood stream."
Tyner said that the full implications of the study were still not totally clear, but that loved ones could take immediate steps to improve the palliative care of those in comas.
"Don't talk to them, don't gaze upon them lovingly, don't even think about them," Tyner said. "Not surprisingly, the evidence suggests those in comas are so sensitive they can faintly pick up sympathetic thoughts from friends and family, which also causes them terrible, unimaginable pain."
"The best advice I can give is that if you care for these people at all, just leave them completely alone until they either wake up or die," Tyner added.
SINGING OF THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER
Last night it was Armed Forces Night at the Air Canada Center in Toronto for the New York Rangers – Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey game. Maple Leafs season ticket holders had given up their seats so that 500 Canadian troops and their families could attend the game. (The Rangers won 3 – 0.)
During an impressive pregame ceremony, Canadian soldiers repelled down from the rafters onto the ice. After the introduction at center ice of a general and several military personnel with their children, a Canadian soldier sang the Star Spangled Banner and Oh Canada, the Canadian national anthem. As the camera panned through the huge arena, you could see that every uniformed Canadian trooper, from the general on down, stood smartly at attention and saluted during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.
Which brings me to the singing of our national anthem. I’ve watched many a sporting event in our country where some guest celebrity sang the Star Spangled Banner and butchered up the tune by putting their personal signature on it. I don’t think that is showing the proper respect to our national anthem.
I’ve also watched a lot of hockey games being broadcast from Canadian cities. To the credit of our northern neighbors, the Canadians in the audience always stand up and pay their respect to our anthem, many of them holding their right hand over their hearts.
But best of all, every Canadian singer who has performed the Star Spangled Banner at the arenas has sung our anthem straight forward without deviating from the tune the way it was originally composed. God bless the Canadians! As for America’s celebrity singers who want to make an impression by butchering up the Star Spangled Banner tune, I say shame on you!
During an impressive pregame ceremony, Canadian soldiers repelled down from the rafters onto the ice. After the introduction at center ice of a general and several military personnel with their children, a Canadian soldier sang the Star Spangled Banner and Oh Canada, the Canadian national anthem. As the camera panned through the huge arena, you could see that every uniformed Canadian trooper, from the general on down, stood smartly at attention and saluted during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.
Which brings me to the singing of our national anthem. I’ve watched many a sporting event in our country where some guest celebrity sang the Star Spangled Banner and butchered up the tune by putting their personal signature on it. I don’t think that is showing the proper respect to our national anthem.
I’ve also watched a lot of hockey games being broadcast from Canadian cities. To the credit of our northern neighbors, the Canadians in the audience always stand up and pay their respect to our anthem, many of them holding their right hand over their hearts.
But best of all, every Canadian singer who has performed the Star Spangled Banner at the arenas has sung our anthem straight forward without deviating from the tune the way it was originally composed. God bless the Canadians! As for America’s celebrity singers who want to make an impression by butchering up the Star Spangled Banner tune, I say shame on you!
MORE ON THE DEATH TOLL IN MEXICO’S DRUG WAR
From Borderland Beat:
47,500 VICTIMS IN FIVE YEARS?
Mexico's drug war has claimed more than 47,500 victims in five years, according to a government body count
The Telegraph
January 13, 2012
The figures came as two decapitated bodies were found inside a burning SUV early on Wednesday at the entrance of one of Mexico's most luxurious malls, feeding fears the drug violence is beginning to infiltrate privileged realms previously thought safe.
Police recovered the mutilated bodies before dawn off a toll highway at a shopping mall entrance in the heart of the Santa Fe district that is a haven for international corporations, diplomats and the wealthy. The heads and a threatening message were dumped a few yards away, Mexico City prosecutors said in a statement.
Hours later, the government released the drug war body count figures.
Local media published images of the charred car and reported that a note written on hot pink paper was signed by the drug gang Mano con Ojos, or Hand with Eyes. Mexican police had said the gang was weakened by the arrest of its leader, Oscar Osvaldo Garcia, in August.
The victims, a man and a woman in their 30s, had not been identified, prosecutors said. They said the SUV with license plates from neighbouring Mexico state had been stolen.
Nationwide, 47,515 drug-related killings occurred from December 2006, when President Felipe Calderón deployed thousands of troops to drug hot spots, through September 2011, the Attorney General's Office said Wednesday.
Drug-related killings rose 11 per cent in the first nine months of 2011, when 12,903 people were killed, compared to 11,583 in the same period of 2010, the office said.
The figures indicate that three-quarters of all homicides in Mexico are now linked to the drug war.
The Attorney General's Office found one small consolation: "It's the first year (since 2006) that the homicide rate increase has been lower compared to the previous years."
There was a 70 per cent jumped in drug-related killings for the same nine-month period of 2010 compared to January-September 2009, when 6,815 deaths were recorded.
Prosecutors said the vast majority of last year's killings occurred in eight of Mexico's 32 states.
The Mexican government had been periodically releasing the number of drug war dead, but it stopped a year ago when the number reached nearly 35,000. Mexico's freedom of information agency had said it would ask for an investigation if prosecutors didn't release the data requested by several journalists by Wednesday.
Also Wednesday, Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna said during a conference in Washington D.C. that in the first five years of the offensive against drug cartels, Mexico's federal police had arrested 2,700 gang suspects and 205 gang leaders, had investigated 283,000 extortion complaints and seized 10,000 tons of marijuana, 111 tons of cocaine and seized 136,000 weapons, 11,000 grenades and 13 million rounds of ammunition.
Mr Garcia Luna said Mexico has seized $935 million dollars presumed related to illegal activities.
47,500 VICTIMS IN FIVE YEARS?
Mexico's drug war has claimed more than 47,500 victims in five years, according to a government body count
The Telegraph
January 13, 2012
The figures came as two decapitated bodies were found inside a burning SUV early on Wednesday at the entrance of one of Mexico's most luxurious malls, feeding fears the drug violence is beginning to infiltrate privileged realms previously thought safe.
Police recovered the mutilated bodies before dawn off a toll highway at a shopping mall entrance in the heart of the Santa Fe district that is a haven for international corporations, diplomats and the wealthy. The heads and a threatening message were dumped a few yards away, Mexico City prosecutors said in a statement.
Hours later, the government released the drug war body count figures.
Local media published images of the charred car and reported that a note written on hot pink paper was signed by the drug gang Mano con Ojos, or Hand with Eyes. Mexican police had said the gang was weakened by the arrest of its leader, Oscar Osvaldo Garcia, in August.
The victims, a man and a woman in their 30s, had not been identified, prosecutors said. They said the SUV with license plates from neighbouring Mexico state had been stolen.
Nationwide, 47,515 drug-related killings occurred from December 2006, when President Felipe Calderón deployed thousands of troops to drug hot spots, through September 2011, the Attorney General's Office said Wednesday.
Drug-related killings rose 11 per cent in the first nine months of 2011, when 12,903 people were killed, compared to 11,583 in the same period of 2010, the office said.
The figures indicate that three-quarters of all homicides in Mexico are now linked to the drug war.
The Attorney General's Office found one small consolation: "It's the first year (since 2006) that the homicide rate increase has been lower compared to the previous years."
There was a 70 per cent jumped in drug-related killings for the same nine-month period of 2010 compared to January-September 2009, when 6,815 deaths were recorded.
Prosecutors said the vast majority of last year's killings occurred in eight of Mexico's 32 states.
The Mexican government had been periodically releasing the number of drug war dead, but it stopped a year ago when the number reached nearly 35,000. Mexico's freedom of information agency had said it would ask for an investigation if prosecutors didn't release the data requested by several journalists by Wednesday.
Also Wednesday, Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna said during a conference in Washington D.C. that in the first five years of the offensive against drug cartels, Mexico's federal police had arrested 2,700 gang suspects and 205 gang leaders, had investigated 283,000 extortion complaints and seized 10,000 tons of marijuana, 111 tons of cocaine and seized 136,000 weapons, 11,000 grenades and 13 million rounds of ammunition.
Mr Garcia Luna said Mexico has seized $935 million dollars presumed related to illegal activities.
STRICT ENFORCEMENT AND LONG PRISON SENTENCES WORK TO KEEP CRIMINALS OFF THE STREETS
While some of the crime reduction stats have probably been manipulated and inflated, I’ve always believed that aggressive law enforcement and harsh sentences serve to put criminals behind bars and keep them off the streets.
Here is an interesting op-ed by Mark A. Stelter, a professor of criminal justice at Lone Star College-Montgomery, Texas.
ENFORCEMENT IS BEHIND THE SHARP DROP IN CRIME
By Mark A. Stelter
Houston Chronicle
January 13, 2011
The dramatic decrease in crime is one of the most significant events in our nation's history ("Homicides in Houston take tumble," Page A1, Jan. 1). If the murder rate had remained what it was in 1991, there would have been 600 more murders in Houston last year and an additional 13,000 murders nationwide. This unprecedented drop in homicide has saved more than 100,000 lives since 1991. How did this happen? Surprisingly enough, the consensus among criminal justice experts seems to be: We don't know. But while we may not agree upon the precise causes, we have learned much.
Immediately prior to the great crime decline that began in the 1990s, the vast majority of criminologists predicted a crime increase. Most experts were convinced that crime would not drop until other social maladies were cured, such as poverty and racism. Most academics scoffed at the idea that tougher penalties (such as three-strikes-and-you're-out laws) and stricter enforcement (such as zero-tolerance policies) would reduce crime.
While no one factor explains the dramatic crime decrease, it turns out that the very things scholars believed caused crime (poverty, racism, inadequate education) seem generally unrelated to crime rates, and the very things most scholars ridiculed (tougher sentencing, more effective policing) seem to be among the things that actually work to reduce crime.
When nearly all the professional thinkers in the field so badly miss the mark, it should teach us to be wary of placing too much faith in self-appointed social engineers.
While there is no one reason crime rates fell, the best candidates are the solutions offered by our mothers and not the solutions suggested by scholars. Our great crime decline has generally refuted the supposedly sophisticated view that crime is caused by social problems, ranging from bad schools to unequal distribution of wealth, and has generally supported the more common and obvious view that crime will drop if we rigorously enforce the laws and keep criminals in prison longer. The great crime decline correlates almost perfectly with laws designed to take criminals off the streets and keep them in prison longer. While this common-sense approach may seem obvious, it was anathema to most of the liberal academic establishment - and still is - in spite of strong evidence that it works.
The incredible decrease in crime did not just happen. The steps taken to reduce crime were vigorously championed by such people as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Reagan's crime czar, James Q. Wilson. These men fought against the status quo and their views have been vindicated. The lesson is that some things work.
When we find things that actually work, whether these solutions are liberal or conservative, we should put aside our ideological beliefs and embrace those programs. Doing so has enormous consequences. In the case of crime policy, there are more than 100,000 people who are alive today who would have been dead if we continued the failed policies of the past.
Here is an interesting op-ed by Mark A. Stelter, a professor of criminal justice at Lone Star College-Montgomery, Texas.
ENFORCEMENT IS BEHIND THE SHARP DROP IN CRIME
By Mark A. Stelter
Houston Chronicle
January 13, 2011
The dramatic decrease in crime is one of the most significant events in our nation's history ("Homicides in Houston take tumble," Page A1, Jan. 1). If the murder rate had remained what it was in 1991, there would have been 600 more murders in Houston last year and an additional 13,000 murders nationwide. This unprecedented drop in homicide has saved more than 100,000 lives since 1991. How did this happen? Surprisingly enough, the consensus among criminal justice experts seems to be: We don't know. But while we may not agree upon the precise causes, we have learned much.
Immediately prior to the great crime decline that began in the 1990s, the vast majority of criminologists predicted a crime increase. Most experts were convinced that crime would not drop until other social maladies were cured, such as poverty and racism. Most academics scoffed at the idea that tougher penalties (such as three-strikes-and-you're-out laws) and stricter enforcement (such as zero-tolerance policies) would reduce crime.
While no one factor explains the dramatic crime decrease, it turns out that the very things scholars believed caused crime (poverty, racism, inadequate education) seem generally unrelated to crime rates, and the very things most scholars ridiculed (tougher sentencing, more effective policing) seem to be among the things that actually work to reduce crime.
When nearly all the professional thinkers in the field so badly miss the mark, it should teach us to be wary of placing too much faith in self-appointed social engineers.
While there is no one reason crime rates fell, the best candidates are the solutions offered by our mothers and not the solutions suggested by scholars. Our great crime decline has generally refuted the supposedly sophisticated view that crime is caused by social problems, ranging from bad schools to unequal distribution of wealth, and has generally supported the more common and obvious view that crime will drop if we rigorously enforce the laws and keep criminals in prison longer. The great crime decline correlates almost perfectly with laws designed to take criminals off the streets and keep them in prison longer. While this common-sense approach may seem obvious, it was anathema to most of the liberal academic establishment - and still is - in spite of strong evidence that it works.
The incredible decrease in crime did not just happen. The steps taken to reduce crime were vigorously championed by such people as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Reagan's crime czar, James Q. Wilson. These men fought against the status quo and their views have been vindicated. The lesson is that some things work.
When we find things that actually work, whether these solutions are liberal or conservative, we should put aside our ideological beliefs and embrace those programs. Doing so has enormous consequences. In the case of crime policy, there are more than 100,000 people who are alive today who would have been dead if we continued the failed policies of the past.
LOW-LIFE WHO FATHERED SEVERAL CHILDREN WHILE IN PRISON GETS JUSTICE FROM HIS FELLOW INMATES
New Mexico must have a very liberal conjugal visitation policy.
PRISONERS DO HAVE SOME STANDARDS
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
January 13, 2012
Prisoners as a group are not nice people. Many of them are low-lifes. They do, however, have some standards. Michael Guzman doesn’t meet those standards.
Michael Guzman, 48, is a really not nice person. By most reasonable descriptions he is a quasi-human lump of shit. That is causing the New Mexico DOC some problems in placing him.
Some thirty years ago, at the age of 19, he was convicted of rape, murder and attempted murder and sentenced to death. He kidnapped two girls from the University of New Mexico, raped and murdered one of them and tried to murder the other. She survived multiple stab wounds, dozens of them.
In 1986 Governor Toney Anaya commuted his death sentence to life. After he served 30 years he is now eligible for parole consideration. His first parole hearing was in April of last year.
Guzman has at times confessed to committing the crimes and denied doing so. He has confessed to the murder, but not the rape of the victim. He has the names of the two young women tattooed across his back. He has been married several times in prison and fathered several children while in custody.
Guzman was shipped to the Clayton prison in November due to safety concerns. The New Mexico system keeps track of enemy claims by inmates and considers them in placement. Santa Fe was the only prison in the system where Guzman had no declared enemies. That lasted three days.
Guzman was attacked by about 15 men in the orientation pod and thumped. Pretty thoroughly actually. He was unconscious in a medically induced coma for a month at the University Hospital. On December 8 Guzman recovered to the point that he was moved to a long-term care unit at the Los Lunas prison. He is still trying to beat the original rap, this time claiming that he was drunk at the time and the jury was not informed of that. He maintains they might have found him guilty of second degree murder had they been aware of that.
The inmates who administered impromptu justice to Guzman are under investigation by the Clayton P D and may face prosecution or administrative discipline.
PRISONERS DO HAVE SOME STANDARDS
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
January 13, 2012
Prisoners as a group are not nice people. Many of them are low-lifes. They do, however, have some standards. Michael Guzman doesn’t meet those standards.
Michael Guzman, 48, is a really not nice person. By most reasonable descriptions he is a quasi-human lump of shit. That is causing the New Mexico DOC some problems in placing him.
Some thirty years ago, at the age of 19, he was convicted of rape, murder and attempted murder and sentenced to death. He kidnapped two girls from the University of New Mexico, raped and murdered one of them and tried to murder the other. She survived multiple stab wounds, dozens of them.
In 1986 Governor Toney Anaya commuted his death sentence to life. After he served 30 years he is now eligible for parole consideration. His first parole hearing was in April of last year.
Guzman has at times confessed to committing the crimes and denied doing so. He has confessed to the murder, but not the rape of the victim. He has the names of the two young women tattooed across his back. He has been married several times in prison and fathered several children while in custody.
Guzman was shipped to the Clayton prison in November due to safety concerns. The New Mexico system keeps track of enemy claims by inmates and considers them in placement. Santa Fe was the only prison in the system where Guzman had no declared enemies. That lasted three days.
Guzman was attacked by about 15 men in the orientation pod and thumped. Pretty thoroughly actually. He was unconscious in a medically induced coma for a month at the University Hospital. On December 8 Guzman recovered to the point that he was moved to a long-term care unit at the Los Lunas prison. He is still trying to beat the original rap, this time claiming that he was drunk at the time and the jury was not informed of that. He maintains they might have found him guilty of second degree murder had they been aware of that.
The inmates who administered impromptu justice to Guzman are under investigation by the Clayton P D and may face prosecution or administrative discipline.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
HE KILLED ONE OF MY BEST BUDDIES (2)
Bob Walsh sent a letter in his own unique style to California authorities to stop my good buddy Al Stewart’s killer from being paroled. Let me urge you again to send a letter letting the authorities know that cop killer Gerald Youngberg (B50097) should NEVER EVER be released from prison on any type of parole.
Even if you do not live in California, it is still important that your opposition to Youngberg’s parole be known.
Bob is very well known and respected in California’s correctional community and it expects him to write in his unique style. However, when you write your letter, I would suggest you not resort to Bob’s colorful descriptions.
Your letters should refer to “Penal Code 3550 Parole Hearing for Gerald Youngberg, Inmate Number B50097” and be sent to:
High Desert State Prison
Attn: C&PR/Records Office –Board Desk
475-750 Rice Canyon Road
P.O. Box 750
Susanville, CA 96127
Board of Parole Hearings
Attn: Lifer Scheduling Analysts
PO Box 4036
Sacramento, CA 95812-4036
Here is Bob’s letter:
01-11-2012
High Desert State Prison
C&PR, Board Desk
P O Box 750
Susanville, CA 95127
RE: Gerald Youngberg - B50097
It is my understanding that this quasi-human lump of pond scum is applying for a medical parole. I sincerely hope that the board elects to allow him the privilege of rotting in prison.
Besides the fact that he is not fully disabled and therefore still a threat to society the simple interest of justice demands keeping this murderous asswipe in custody. He executed two law enforcement officers and a private citizen in cold blood for no other reason than they were inconvenient to the continuation of his criminal career. A sane and just society would have turned him into compost 35 years ago. It didn’t go down that way. With luck the board will agree that keeping this crud in prison is the sane, reasonable and just thing to do.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert R. Walsh
_________________ Way
_________________ CA 952__
Even if you do not live in California, it is still important that your opposition to Youngberg’s parole be known.
Bob is very well known and respected in California’s correctional community and it expects him to write in his unique style. However, when you write your letter, I would suggest you not resort to Bob’s colorful descriptions.
Your letters should refer to “Penal Code 3550 Parole Hearing for Gerald Youngberg, Inmate Number B50097” and be sent to:
High Desert State Prison
Attn: C&PR/Records Office –Board Desk
475-750 Rice Canyon Road
P.O. Box 750
Susanville, CA 96127
Board of Parole Hearings
Attn: Lifer Scheduling Analysts
PO Box 4036
Sacramento, CA 95812-4036
Here is Bob’s letter:
01-11-2012
High Desert State Prison
C&PR, Board Desk
P O Box 750
Susanville, CA 95127
RE: Gerald Youngberg - B50097
It is my understanding that this quasi-human lump of pond scum is applying for a medical parole. I sincerely hope that the board elects to allow him the privilege of rotting in prison.
Besides the fact that he is not fully disabled and therefore still a threat to society the simple interest of justice demands keeping this murderous asswipe in custody. He executed two law enforcement officers and a private citizen in cold blood for no other reason than they were inconvenient to the continuation of his criminal career. A sane and just society would have turned him into compost 35 years ago. It didn’t go down that way. With luck the board will agree that keeping this crud in prison is the sane, reasonable and just thing to do.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert R. Walsh
_________________ Way
_________________ CA 952__
LETTER TO PAM
The Schalotte
January 13, 2012
Dear Pam,
My husband and I live in South Florida. He is a successful businessman and we have been married nine years. Our sex life is not good because he is away on so many business trips.
The other day I was relaxing topless by the side of our backyard swimming pool when Rodrigo, the pool serviceman showed up. I immediately covered my breasts with a towel. Rodrigo is quite a hunk. Suddenly I felt a strong urge to ask him to rub some more suntan lotion on my back. Rodrigo said he would be glad to do so.
Rodrigo rubbed the lotion over my back and butt, but when he started to apply it between my legs in my crotch, I began to tingle all over. Without thinking, I rolled over and exposed my breasts to him. He pulled off my bikini bottom and …. well, from then on I had the greatest sex of my life. We had sex in a dozen different positions. I almost went crazy while he was going down on me and I enjoyed giving him several blow jobs too. I lost count of the number of orgasms I experienced. We made love nonstop for over two hours until I was completely exhausted.
My problem is that now I want Rodrigo more than my husband. What should I do?
Singed,
Completely Exhausted
Dear Completely Exhausted,
You’ve gotten yourself into some predicament. Your options are few. You can divorce your husband and sue for spousal support so you can take up with Rodrigo. Or you can change pool service companies and forget that hunk if you can.
If you decide to stay with your husband, let me know the name and telephone number of Rodrigo’s company so I can come down there and rent a vacation home with pool for a week. Then I’ll have Rodrigo service my pool.
The more I think of it, the more I feel that you should stay with your husband. And please be sure to send me Rodrigo's phone number.
Signed,
Pam
January 13, 2012
Dear Pam,
My husband and I live in South Florida. He is a successful businessman and we have been married nine years. Our sex life is not good because he is away on so many business trips.
The other day I was relaxing topless by the side of our backyard swimming pool when Rodrigo, the pool serviceman showed up. I immediately covered my breasts with a towel. Rodrigo is quite a hunk. Suddenly I felt a strong urge to ask him to rub some more suntan lotion on my back. Rodrigo said he would be glad to do so.
Rodrigo rubbed the lotion over my back and butt, but when he started to apply it between my legs in my crotch, I began to tingle all over. Without thinking, I rolled over and exposed my breasts to him. He pulled off my bikini bottom and …. well, from then on I had the greatest sex of my life. We had sex in a dozen different positions. I almost went crazy while he was going down on me and I enjoyed giving him several blow jobs too. I lost count of the number of orgasms I experienced. We made love nonstop for over two hours until I was completely exhausted.
My problem is that now I want Rodrigo more than my husband. What should I do?
Singed,
Completely Exhausted
Dear Completely Exhausted,
You’ve gotten yourself into some predicament. Your options are few. You can divorce your husband and sue for spousal support so you can take up with Rodrigo. Or you can change pool service companies and forget that hunk if you can.
If you decide to stay with your husband, let me know the name and telephone number of Rodrigo’s company so I can come down there and rent a vacation home with pool for a week. Then I’ll have Rodrigo service my pool.
The more I think of it, the more I feel that you should stay with your husband. And please be sure to send me Rodrigo's phone number.
Signed,
Pam
Friday, January 13, 2012
HE KILLED ONE OF MY BEST BUDDIES
Al Stewart was one of my best buddies. We became close friends through working together on a number of narcotics cases.
I would consider it a personal affront if the California Board of Paroles were to release the worthless piece of shit that killed Al. I am herewith urging all of you to please write to the authorities listed at the end of the LAPPL Blog and DEMAND in the interests of justice that Gerald Youngberg NOT EVER be granted any type of parole.
NO PAROLE FOR COP KILLERS – NO EXCEPTIONS
By Los Angeles Police Protective League Board of Directors
LAPPL Blog
January 11, 2012
SB1399 was aimed at saving California millions of dollars in prison health care expenses by allowing the parole of medically incapacitated inmates. It’s unfortunate and outrageous that this law is being used by cop killers like Gerald Youngberg to seek parole.
In 1973, Youngberg took the lives of San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Al Stewart, CHP Officer Larry Wetterling, and gas station attendant Robert Jenkins in execution-style murders. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence (along with hundreds of others’) was overturned in the mid-1970s when the California Supreme Court declared the state’s version of the death penalty unconstitutional.
Since then, Youngberg has applied for parole on 11 occasions and been denied each time. His last denial came in 2010 when he was told he would have to wait five years to reapply. But the enactment of SB1399 has made possible another hearing on Feb. 8, 2012, when Youngberg’s application for a medical parole will be heard by the Board of Parole Hearings at High Desert State Prison in Susanville.
“Although Youngberg is precisely the type of person who was not intended for medical parole, drafting provisions of that law make him eligible for an application,” said Sacramento Lobbyist John Lovell. “Since he has received a certification from the head physician at High Desert State Prison, defeating this effort will be a daunting one. This is true even though the stroke which afflicts Youngberg took place eight years ago, and he is not totally disabled. The only restrictions on his prison activities are that he is confined to a wheel chair and must have a lower bunk in a cell.”
Law enforcement agencies and organizations throughout California strenuously oppose parole of any kind for Youngberg. The League is joining the effort and encourages others to do the same.
Letters opposing Youngberg’s parole should reference “Penal Code 3550 Parole Hearing for Gerald Youngberg, Inmate Number B50097” and be sent to:
High Desert State Prison
Attn: C&PR/Records Office –Board Desk
475-750 Rice Canyon Road
P.O. Box 750
Susanville, CA 96127
Board of Parole Hearings
Attn: Lifer Scheduling Analysts
PO Box 4036
Sacramento, CA 95812-4036
We also wish to take this opportunity to call on SB1399 author Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, to consider amending his legislation to preclude the use of “medical parole” for anyone convicted of murdering a law enforcement officer.
I would consider it a personal affront if the California Board of Paroles were to release the worthless piece of shit that killed Al. I am herewith urging all of you to please write to the authorities listed at the end of the LAPPL Blog and DEMAND in the interests of justice that Gerald Youngberg NOT EVER be granted any type of parole.
NO PAROLE FOR COP KILLERS – NO EXCEPTIONS
By Los Angeles Police Protective League Board of Directors
LAPPL Blog
January 11, 2012
SB1399 was aimed at saving California millions of dollars in prison health care expenses by allowing the parole of medically incapacitated inmates. It’s unfortunate and outrageous that this law is being used by cop killers like Gerald Youngberg to seek parole.
In 1973, Youngberg took the lives of San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Al Stewart, CHP Officer Larry Wetterling, and gas station attendant Robert Jenkins in execution-style murders. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence (along with hundreds of others’) was overturned in the mid-1970s when the California Supreme Court declared the state’s version of the death penalty unconstitutional.
Since then, Youngberg has applied for parole on 11 occasions and been denied each time. His last denial came in 2010 when he was told he would have to wait five years to reapply. But the enactment of SB1399 has made possible another hearing on Feb. 8, 2012, when Youngberg’s application for a medical parole will be heard by the Board of Parole Hearings at High Desert State Prison in Susanville.
“Although Youngberg is precisely the type of person who was not intended for medical parole, drafting provisions of that law make him eligible for an application,” said Sacramento Lobbyist John Lovell. “Since he has received a certification from the head physician at High Desert State Prison, defeating this effort will be a daunting one. This is true even though the stroke which afflicts Youngberg took place eight years ago, and he is not totally disabled. The only restrictions on his prison activities are that he is confined to a wheel chair and must have a lower bunk in a cell.”
Law enforcement agencies and organizations throughout California strenuously oppose parole of any kind for Youngberg. The League is joining the effort and encourages others to do the same.
Letters opposing Youngberg’s parole should reference “Penal Code 3550 Parole Hearing for Gerald Youngberg, Inmate Number B50097” and be sent to:
High Desert State Prison
Attn: C&PR/Records Office –Board Desk
475-750 Rice Canyon Road
P.O. Box 750
Susanville, CA 96127
Board of Parole Hearings
Attn: Lifer Scheduling Analysts
PO Box 4036
Sacramento, CA 95812-4036
We also wish to take this opportunity to call on SB1399 author Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, to consider amending his legislation to preclude the use of “medical parole” for anyone convicted of murdering a law enforcement officer.
PTSD MADE ME DO IT
Yesterday I wrote about the firing of a Canton, Ohio cop and his police union’s claim that the behavior which led to his firing resulted from post-traumatic stress disorder. I noted that his defenders are resorting to the same tactics defense lawyers use every time an Iraq or Afghanistan war veteran is tried for a crime – he did it because he was suffering from PTSD.
Well, here we go again, and this one is a real jewel.
Joran van der Sloot, 24, the primary suspect in the 2005 disappearance in Aruba of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, has been roosting in a Peruvian prison for 19 months awaiting trial for the murder of 21-year-old Peruvian student Stephany Flores.
On Wednesday, van der Sloot pled guilty in a Peruvian courtroom. He could be sentenced for up to 30 years in prison. A Peruvian official says that because of prison overcrowding – where have we heard that before? – he would serve only 7 – 9 years if he received the maximum sentence.
His attorney asked the judges for leniency on the grounds that – now get this – van der Sloot has been suffering from PTSD, the result of having been hounded in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
Come to think of it, that does beat blaming the murder on a troubled childhood.
Well, here we go again, and this one is a real jewel.
Joran van der Sloot, 24, the primary suspect in the 2005 disappearance in Aruba of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, has been roosting in a Peruvian prison for 19 months awaiting trial for the murder of 21-year-old Peruvian student Stephany Flores.
On Wednesday, van der Sloot pled guilty in a Peruvian courtroom. He could be sentenced for up to 30 years in prison. A Peruvian official says that because of prison overcrowding – where have we heard that before? – he would serve only 7 – 9 years if he received the maximum sentence.
His attorney asked the judges for leniency on the grounds that – now get this – van der Sloot has been suffering from PTSD, the result of having been hounded in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
Come to think of it, that does beat blaming the murder on a troubled childhood.
MISSOURI CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR GOT DEGREE IN BAKING COOKIES
The campaign website for Dave Spence, a Republican candidate for governor of Missouri, says he "earned a degree in Economics" from the University of Missouri.
Well not exactly! Oops, Spence forgot to insert one little word - Home – in describing the degree he earned. His degree is actually in Home Economics, not in Economics. So Spence got a degree in baking cookies, rather than one that could help him to grapple with Missouri’s economic problems.
On Monday, Spence told the media that, while at Mizzou, his grades did not meet the threshold to enter the Business School. So he chose a different academic path that would allow him to graduate on time.
"I was not the greatest student in the world," Spence said. "I'll make fun of myself: I was a 60-watt bulb in a 100-watt society.
Now I am sure that the failure to insert the word ‘home’ was just an inadvertent little omission and that candidate Spence had absolutely no intention of deceiving the voters of Missouri.
If Spence succeeds in becoming governor of Missouri, his degree should enable him to serve his constituents freshly baked cookies.
Well not exactly! Oops, Spence forgot to insert one little word - Home – in describing the degree he earned. His degree is actually in Home Economics, not in Economics. So Spence got a degree in baking cookies, rather than one that could help him to grapple with Missouri’s economic problems.
On Monday, Spence told the media that, while at Mizzou, his grades did not meet the threshold to enter the Business School. So he chose a different academic path that would allow him to graduate on time.
"I was not the greatest student in the world," Spence said. "I'll make fun of myself: I was a 60-watt bulb in a 100-watt society.
Now I am sure that the failure to insert the word ‘home’ was just an inadvertent little omission and that candidate Spence had absolutely no intention of deceiving the voters of Missouri.
If Spence succeeds in becoming governor of Missouri, his degree should enable him to serve his constituents freshly baked cookies.
OLDER MOTORISTS DON’T COUNT
The new ‘infotainment’ technologies are leaving us old fogies in the dust.
CD PLAYERS BECOMING EXTINCT
By Jerry Reynolds
The Car Pro Weekly
January 12, 2012
CD players in cars look set to go the same way as the dodo bird, according to a report in industry trade publication Automotive News.
With content and computing power migrating to smartphones, which can now channel music, navigation and other applications to relatively simple and low-cost onboard infotainment systems, CD players are becoming increasingly irrelevant in cars, the report says.
Automakers also want to get rid of optical drives -- that is, CD or DVD players -- because they are expensive and appeal mainly to older motorists, according to the report.
Indeed, the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS, which debuted this week at the Detroit auto show and will go on sale in the United States this summer, features an optional MyLink infotainment system that lets motorists make hands-free phone calls, listen to MP3 music and get route guidance by linking their smartphones to the vehicle's infotainment system, but no CD player, Automotive News said.
"We asked potential Sonic and Spark customers what they were looking for in infotainment," Sara LeBlanc, MyLink's global infotainment program manager, told Automotive News. "They were very worried about cost. They said to us: 'Get rid of the CD player. We don't use it.'"
CD PLAYERS BECOMING EXTINCT
By Jerry Reynolds
The Car Pro Weekly
January 12, 2012
CD players in cars look set to go the same way as the dodo bird, according to a report in industry trade publication Automotive News.
With content and computing power migrating to smartphones, which can now channel music, navigation and other applications to relatively simple and low-cost onboard infotainment systems, CD players are becoming increasingly irrelevant in cars, the report says.
Automakers also want to get rid of optical drives -- that is, CD or DVD players -- because they are expensive and appeal mainly to older motorists, according to the report.
Indeed, the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS, which debuted this week at the Detroit auto show and will go on sale in the United States this summer, features an optional MyLink infotainment system that lets motorists make hands-free phone calls, listen to MP3 music and get route guidance by linking their smartphones to the vehicle's infotainment system, but no CD player, Automotive News said.
"We asked potential Sonic and Spark customers what they were looking for in infotainment," Sara LeBlanc, MyLink's global infotainment program manager, told Automotive News. "They were very worried about cost. They said to us: 'Get rid of the CD player. We don't use it.'"
SUPREME COURT SAYS NO TO NEW RULE ON EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY
By Warren Richey
Jewish World Review
January 12, 2012
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to create a new constitutional rule that would have required judges to test the reliability of eyewitness testimony whenever the witness's observations were made under suggestive circumstances.
In an 8-to-1 decision, the court said various trial protections, including specific jury instructions, are adequate to safeguard the fairness of trials where eyewitness testimony is introduced.
"The fallibility of eyewitness evidence does not ... warrant a due process rule requiring a trial court to screen such evidence for reliability before allowing the jury to assess its creditworthiness," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in the majority opinion.
The issue arose in the case of a New Hampshire man, Barion Perry, who was arrested after a witness told police she had seen him remove a large box from her neighbor's car.
When asked by police to identify the man, she motioned toward the window and said he was standing in the parking lot with a police officer.
A month later, however, the witness was unable to identify the suspect's face in a police photo array.
Mr. Perry's lawyers asked the judge at his trial to exclude the witness's testimony. The judge refused, in part because the suggestive circumstances of Perry's identification had not been orchestrated by police.
Perry was convicted
On appeal to the Supreme Court, Perry's lawyer asked the justices to establish a new rule that would help prevent unreliable eyewitness testimony from being introduced at criminal trials.
Under existing precedent, judges are required to screen witness testimony for reliability whenever police are suspected of using suggestive tactics. Such prescreening has been deemed necessary to preserve the fairness of a trial in the face of suggestive police procedures.
But Perry's lawyer wanted the court to significantly expand that practice to all witnesses whenever an identification was made under suggestive circumstances.
Studies have shown that faulty eyewitness identifications are a big factor leading to wrongful convictions. One study found that eyewitness misidentifications contributed to the wrongful conviction of 76 percent of the first 250 individuals whose cases were overturned with DNA evidence.
Despite that acknowledged danger, the high court refused on Wednesday to establish a new rule.
"We hold that the due process clause does not require a preliminary judicial inquiry into the reliability of an eyewitness identification when the identification was not procured under unnecessarily suggestive circumstances arranged by law enforcement," Justice Ginsburg wrote.
In a statement from the bench, Ginsburg said one reason to exclude eyewitness evidence that had been generated by suggestive police tactics was to deter police from using such tactics. "The aim is to stop law enforcement officers from using improper arrangements, for example, suggestive lineups, showups, or photo arrays," she said.
But she added, "Where there is no improper police conduct, there is nothing to deter."
Many factors, Ginsburg said, may cast doubt on the reliability of eyewitness testimony, including poor vision or a witness with a grudge. But the criminal justice system is designed to help a jury determine the reliability of evidence.
In a lone dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the court's focus was misdirected toward police deterrence rather than the broader goal of witness reliability.
"The court's holding enshrines a murky distinction — between suggestive confrontations intentionally orchestrated by the police and, as here, those inadvertently caused by police actions — that will sow seeds of confusion," she wrote.
The holding, she said, "ignores our precedents' acute sensitivity to the hazards of intentional and unintentional suggestion alike."
The case is Perry v. New Hampshire (10-8974).
Jewish World Review
January 12, 2012
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to create a new constitutional rule that would have required judges to test the reliability of eyewitness testimony whenever the witness's observations were made under suggestive circumstances.
In an 8-to-1 decision, the court said various trial protections, including specific jury instructions, are adequate to safeguard the fairness of trials where eyewitness testimony is introduced.
"The fallibility of eyewitness evidence does not ... warrant a due process rule requiring a trial court to screen such evidence for reliability before allowing the jury to assess its creditworthiness," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in the majority opinion.
The issue arose in the case of a New Hampshire man, Barion Perry, who was arrested after a witness told police she had seen him remove a large box from her neighbor's car.
When asked by police to identify the man, she motioned toward the window and said he was standing in the parking lot with a police officer.
A month later, however, the witness was unable to identify the suspect's face in a police photo array.
Mr. Perry's lawyers asked the judge at his trial to exclude the witness's testimony. The judge refused, in part because the suggestive circumstances of Perry's identification had not been orchestrated by police.
Perry was convicted
On appeal to the Supreme Court, Perry's lawyer asked the justices to establish a new rule that would help prevent unreliable eyewitness testimony from being introduced at criminal trials.
Under existing precedent, judges are required to screen witness testimony for reliability whenever police are suspected of using suggestive tactics. Such prescreening has been deemed necessary to preserve the fairness of a trial in the face of suggestive police procedures.
But Perry's lawyer wanted the court to significantly expand that practice to all witnesses whenever an identification was made under suggestive circumstances.
Studies have shown that faulty eyewitness identifications are a big factor leading to wrongful convictions. One study found that eyewitness misidentifications contributed to the wrongful conviction of 76 percent of the first 250 individuals whose cases were overturned with DNA evidence.
Despite that acknowledged danger, the high court refused on Wednesday to establish a new rule.
"We hold that the due process clause does not require a preliminary judicial inquiry into the reliability of an eyewitness identification when the identification was not procured under unnecessarily suggestive circumstances arranged by law enforcement," Justice Ginsburg wrote.
In a statement from the bench, Ginsburg said one reason to exclude eyewitness evidence that had been generated by suggestive police tactics was to deter police from using such tactics. "The aim is to stop law enforcement officers from using improper arrangements, for example, suggestive lineups, showups, or photo arrays," she said.
But she added, "Where there is no improper police conduct, there is nothing to deter."
Many factors, Ginsburg said, may cast doubt on the reliability of eyewitness testimony, including poor vision or a witness with a grudge. But the criminal justice system is designed to help a jury determine the reliability of evidence.
In a lone dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the court's focus was misdirected toward police deterrence rather than the broader goal of witness reliability.
"The court's holding enshrines a murky distinction — between suggestive confrontations intentionally orchestrated by the police and, as here, those inadvertently caused by police actions — that will sow seeds of confusion," she wrote.
The holding, she said, "ignores our precedents' acute sensitivity to the hazards of intentional and unintentional suggestion alike."
The case is Perry v. New Hampshire (10-8974).
Thursday, January 12, 2012
ANY COP WITH PTSD SHOULD BE TERMINATED ON DISABILTY
Daniel Harless, a Canton, Ohio cop, has been fired for a controversial June 8 traffic stop involving a man with a permit to carry a concealed handgun. The patrol car video shows that Harless unleashed a flurry of profanities at the driver, shouting he should have gunned down the driver for being stupid. The city revealed that Harless has been involved in similar incidents in the past.
The city justified the firing because “It is quite clear that (Harless’) actions represented a pattern of behavior where inappropriate verbal abuse and threats of death or great bodily harm of the various complainants occurred. This escalating pattern of potentially dangerous behavior cannot be justified or excused and clearly illustrates the seriousness of the departmental infractions.”
The police union defended Harless and is opposing his firing on the grounds that the cop has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The head of the union said, “Obviously, it’s an unfortunate set of circumstances that transpired. We feel that due to the fact that (Harless) has PTSD, that nobody realized it for eight-plus years, for it to come to light the way it did ... this is not a way we wanted this to play out. PTSD is obviously a disease.”
The police union claims that his PTSD stems from a 2003 incident in which Harless was involved in a life-and-death struggle with a suspect. “It affects people in different ways. Unfortunately, (Harless) had PTSD, and it wasn’t realized for eight years. Unfortunately, he was fired, and we will address that situation at a later time.”
Here is my take on the firing. It sure looks like Harless and his defenders are resorting to the same tactics defense lawyers use every time an Iraq or Afghanistan war veteran is tried for a crime – he did it because he was suffering from PTSD.
If Harless is suffering from PTSD he has absolutely no business being a police officer. You cannot predict the behavior of someone truly suffering from PTSD and an armed cop with this disorder should be considered a very dangerous person.
The bottom line is that a person with PTSD is not mentally fit to be a cop. It may be cold, but in the interest of public safety, any officer with PTSD should be terminated on disability!
The city justified the firing because “It is quite clear that (Harless’) actions represented a pattern of behavior where inappropriate verbal abuse and threats of death or great bodily harm of the various complainants occurred. This escalating pattern of potentially dangerous behavior cannot be justified or excused and clearly illustrates the seriousness of the departmental infractions.”
The police union defended Harless and is opposing his firing on the grounds that the cop has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The head of the union said, “Obviously, it’s an unfortunate set of circumstances that transpired. We feel that due to the fact that (Harless) has PTSD, that nobody realized it for eight-plus years, for it to come to light the way it did ... this is not a way we wanted this to play out. PTSD is obviously a disease.”
The police union claims that his PTSD stems from a 2003 incident in which Harless was involved in a life-and-death struggle with a suspect. “It affects people in different ways. Unfortunately, (Harless) had PTSD, and it wasn’t realized for eight years. Unfortunately, he was fired, and we will address that situation at a later time.”
Here is my take on the firing. It sure looks like Harless and his defenders are resorting to the same tactics defense lawyers use every time an Iraq or Afghanistan war veteran is tried for a crime – he did it because he was suffering from PTSD.
If Harless is suffering from PTSD he has absolutely no business being a police officer. You cannot predict the behavior of someone truly suffering from PTSD and an armed cop with this disorder should be considered a very dangerous person.
The bottom line is that a person with PTSD is not mentally fit to be a cop. It may be cold, but in the interest of public safety, any officer with PTSD should be terminated on disability!
GATSOS GOTCHA
These devices are not at all like the Red-Light Cameras that have created so much controversy in the U.S.
ISRAELI POLICE TURN TO HIGH-TECH TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT TOOLS
State-of-the-art speed cameras expected to net over a million traffic tickets per year, including tickets for red-light runners
By Daniel Schmil
Haaretz Daily
January 11, 2012
Drive too fast over two metal sensors hidden in the pavement and first you'll see a bright flash in your rearview mirror. Then, within 96 hours, you'll get a traffic ticket in the mail, not only accusing you of speeding but proving it with a photograph. The fine can be anywhere from NIS 250 to NIS 750, depending on how egregiously you broke the law. What are your chances of winning an appeal? Not good.
Barring any additional delays, in two weeks the Israel Police's spanking new speed cameras will come online and the traffic tickets will start to flow. The cameras are called Gatsos, after their Dutch manufacturer, the traffic-enforcement company Gatsometer.
Unlike the traffic cameras we all know and fear, Gatsos don't use radar, lasers or any other form of radiation aimed at cars. The whole system is based on metal strips with sensors hidden in the road. The faster you drive, the less time it takes for the front wheels to pass over the two strips. The cameras are also more advanced. Because of the system's accuracy, its findings will be harder to appeal.
Within three years the police intend to deploy 300 Gatsos nationwide, 100 of them catching errant drivers speeding through intersections, or running red lights. (Think about it: the same technology still applies. In the case of red lights, the speed at which the driver passes over the two sensors doesn't matter: the fact that he passes at all means he's sinning. ) The other 200 Gatsos will be devoted solely to catching speeders.
The cameras' resolution is a hefty 12 megapixels, which means the pictures are all but unassailable. The photos are transmitted immediately to the police, where a human team confirms that a traffic offense has been committed.
Replacing Israel's speed-trap systems wasn't a casual idea. The 300 units cost NIS 147 million, and their operation over ten years will cost another NIS 450 million. The thought, however, is that the Gatsos may return the investment at the same speed with which Israelis take to the highway: extreme.
It's not rocket science. For one thing, each camera can take two photographs per second. Additionally, the police are confident the Gatsos will catch almost all errant drivers. In other words this system alone can produce 1.25 million tickets a year, thereby generating income of about NIS 875 million a year.
Given the almost inconceivably enormous number of tickets and commensurate boost to the state's revenues, one almost overlooks the fact that this blessing depends on drivers misbehaving, and that the ultimate purpose isn't to beef up the state's coffers, it's to reduce the incidence of traffic violations.
So, do the Gatso systems really change bad habits on the road? Or are they just a clever way to squeeze more money out of Yossi Israeli?
"There is no argument over the system's efficacy," says Dr. Shai Sofer, the chief scientist at the National Road Safety Authority. Studies around the world have demonstrated a significant decrease in speeding and accidents thanks to the cameras, he avers. Britain stopped using Gatsos entirely because they worked so well that the investment had been returned and new tickets were slowing, he says. Maybe in Israel, it will be like the campaign against picking rare wildflowers, says Sofer: "There's no need to advertise any more, because nobody picks them."
It is important for the public to see the system as a good thing, says Sofer, which can be done, for instance, by assurance that all money from fines will be used for road-safety purposes.
Shmuel Abuav, chairman of the Or Yarok (Green Light ) association, is worried about the implications if antagonism toward the Gatsos develops. He is also unconvinced that the government won't expropriate the income for other uses, rendering proceeds from the system as just another tax.
Two weeks before the system goes live, neither the Interior Ministry nor the police are revealing where the cameras are. The only information is from drivers who saw a Gatso and told their friends on social networks or through cellular applications such as Waze (a mobile navigation tool for smartphones ).
Nor will the police say at what speeds exactly the cameras swing into action. Right now, informally but very clearly, drivers are given a grace of 10 kilometers per hour over the speed limit. Which means, a cop won't give you a ticket on a highway where the speed limit is 100 kph if you drive at 110 kph. At 115 kph, he will. That isn't because the enforcement authorities have soft, forgiving hearts. It's because of the speed guns' margin of error. If the speed offense falls within the margin of error, it's hard to defend the ticket in court.
What will the policy be regarding the new, highly accurate machines? That remains to be seen.
ISRAELI POLICE TURN TO HIGH-TECH TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT TOOLS
State-of-the-art speed cameras expected to net over a million traffic tickets per year, including tickets for red-light runners
By Daniel Schmil
Haaretz Daily
January 11, 2012
Drive too fast over two metal sensors hidden in the pavement and first you'll see a bright flash in your rearview mirror. Then, within 96 hours, you'll get a traffic ticket in the mail, not only accusing you of speeding but proving it with a photograph. The fine can be anywhere from NIS 250 to NIS 750, depending on how egregiously you broke the law. What are your chances of winning an appeal? Not good.
Barring any additional delays, in two weeks the Israel Police's spanking new speed cameras will come online and the traffic tickets will start to flow. The cameras are called Gatsos, after their Dutch manufacturer, the traffic-enforcement company Gatsometer.
Unlike the traffic cameras we all know and fear, Gatsos don't use radar, lasers or any other form of radiation aimed at cars. The whole system is based on metal strips with sensors hidden in the road. The faster you drive, the less time it takes for the front wheels to pass over the two strips. The cameras are also more advanced. Because of the system's accuracy, its findings will be harder to appeal.
Within three years the police intend to deploy 300 Gatsos nationwide, 100 of them catching errant drivers speeding through intersections, or running red lights. (Think about it: the same technology still applies. In the case of red lights, the speed at which the driver passes over the two sensors doesn't matter: the fact that he passes at all means he's sinning. ) The other 200 Gatsos will be devoted solely to catching speeders.
The cameras' resolution is a hefty 12 megapixels, which means the pictures are all but unassailable. The photos are transmitted immediately to the police, where a human team confirms that a traffic offense has been committed.
Replacing Israel's speed-trap systems wasn't a casual idea. The 300 units cost NIS 147 million, and their operation over ten years will cost another NIS 450 million. The thought, however, is that the Gatsos may return the investment at the same speed with which Israelis take to the highway: extreme.
It's not rocket science. For one thing, each camera can take two photographs per second. Additionally, the police are confident the Gatsos will catch almost all errant drivers. In other words this system alone can produce 1.25 million tickets a year, thereby generating income of about NIS 875 million a year.
Given the almost inconceivably enormous number of tickets and commensurate boost to the state's revenues, one almost overlooks the fact that this blessing depends on drivers misbehaving, and that the ultimate purpose isn't to beef up the state's coffers, it's to reduce the incidence of traffic violations.
So, do the Gatso systems really change bad habits on the road? Or are they just a clever way to squeeze more money out of Yossi Israeli?
"There is no argument over the system's efficacy," says Dr. Shai Sofer, the chief scientist at the National Road Safety Authority. Studies around the world have demonstrated a significant decrease in speeding and accidents thanks to the cameras, he avers. Britain stopped using Gatsos entirely because they worked so well that the investment had been returned and new tickets were slowing, he says. Maybe in Israel, it will be like the campaign against picking rare wildflowers, says Sofer: "There's no need to advertise any more, because nobody picks them."
It is important for the public to see the system as a good thing, says Sofer, which can be done, for instance, by assurance that all money from fines will be used for road-safety purposes.
Shmuel Abuav, chairman of the Or Yarok (Green Light ) association, is worried about the implications if antagonism toward the Gatsos develops. He is also unconvinced that the government won't expropriate the income for other uses, rendering proceeds from the system as just another tax.
Two weeks before the system goes live, neither the Interior Ministry nor the police are revealing where the cameras are. The only information is from drivers who saw a Gatso and told their friends on social networks or through cellular applications such as Waze (a mobile navigation tool for smartphones ).
Nor will the police say at what speeds exactly the cameras swing into action. Right now, informally but very clearly, drivers are given a grace of 10 kilometers per hour over the speed limit. Which means, a cop won't give you a ticket on a highway where the speed limit is 100 kph if you drive at 110 kph. At 115 kph, he will. That isn't because the enforcement authorities have soft, forgiving hearts. It's because of the speed guns' margin of error. If the speed offense falls within the margin of error, it's hard to defend the ticket in court.
What will the policy be regarding the new, highly accurate machines? That remains to be seen.
IF IT’S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE ……….
IT PROBABLY ISN’T. But this hilarious case is true.
HANDCUFFED MAN ESCAPES IN ‘TOWN’S ONLY POLICE CAR’ – THEN RADIOS IN TO ASK FOR THE KEY AND HOW TO USE THE LIGHTER
Fugitive uses police radio to ask how to get his handcuffs off
By Hugo Gye
Mail Online
January 11, 2012
A criminal was on the run this morning after stealing a police car while he was handcuffed inside.
William Blankenship is considered armed and dangerous - because the car he took was full of loaded weapons.
Shortly after escaping with the vehicle in northwest Indiana yesterday, he was heard on the police radio asking for help in finding the car's cigarette lighter and a key to unlock his hands.
It is unclear how the bizarre situation - with the man held in the back of the car managing to take the wheel, eject the officer who arrested him and drive while still in cuffs - took place.
The vehicle is the town's only police car, according to some reports.
Blankenship, 22, had been arrested on drug charges in the small town of Kouts after being stopped for traffic violations.
But he somehow escaped from the back of the squad car and drove off, leaving the officer who had been driving the vehicle behind. The officer is unhurt.
According to the Post-Tribune, he took to police radio and asked officers where he could get the key to the handcuffs and a cigarette lighter.
Police are still looking for the Kouts squad car, a white 2010 Chevrolet Impala with 'Kouts Police' written on the side. It is the only Kouts police car on the road.
Several different agencies are involved in the search, which is being aided by a helicopter borrowed from a neighboring police force.
Anyone who sees the car is asked to call 911 and warned not to approach the suspect.
HANDCUFFED MAN ESCAPES IN ‘TOWN’S ONLY POLICE CAR’ – THEN RADIOS IN TO ASK FOR THE KEY AND HOW TO USE THE LIGHTER
Fugitive uses police radio to ask how to get his handcuffs off
By Hugo Gye
Mail Online
January 11, 2012
A criminal was on the run this morning after stealing a police car while he was handcuffed inside.
William Blankenship is considered armed and dangerous - because the car he took was full of loaded weapons.
Shortly after escaping with the vehicle in northwest Indiana yesterday, he was heard on the police radio asking for help in finding the car's cigarette lighter and a key to unlock his hands.
It is unclear how the bizarre situation - with the man held in the back of the car managing to take the wheel, eject the officer who arrested him and drive while still in cuffs - took place.
The vehicle is the town's only police car, according to some reports.
Blankenship, 22, had been arrested on drug charges in the small town of Kouts after being stopped for traffic violations.
But he somehow escaped from the back of the squad car and drove off, leaving the officer who had been driving the vehicle behind. The officer is unhurt.
According to the Post-Tribune, he took to police radio and asked officers where he could get the key to the handcuffs and a cigarette lighter.
Police are still looking for the Kouts squad car, a white 2010 Chevrolet Impala with 'Kouts Police' written on the side. It is the only Kouts police car on the road.
Several different agencies are involved in the search, which is being aided by a helicopter borrowed from a neighboring police force.
Anyone who sees the car is asked to call 911 and warned not to approach the suspect.
GOVERNOR MOONBBEAM’S REALIGNMENT AT WORK (2)
Moonbeam’s realignment program is designed to save the state lots of money. I’ll predict it will end up costing the taxpayers a lot more than what it saved them in the short term. And you can add to that the countless rapes, robberies, burglaries and murders that are going to be perpetrated as a result of Moonbeam’s ‘non-violent, non-serious’ inmate releases.
In this case one of Moonbeam’s non-violent offenders broke into a home while the victim showered, then robbed and raped the woman, before running away.
REALIGNMENT’S FIRST WILLIE HORTON?
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
January 10, 2012
We all knew it would happen. There is no dead body on this one, but it is nasty. Aaron Suggs, 29, is under arrest for a home invasion, kidnap, rape and robbery in Sacramento. He was caught by the cops with some of the stolen property still on him. He was a realignment inmate, a 3-non [non-violent, non-serious, non-sexual] offender with a 70 page rap sheet including violence. However, since his commitment offense was for a non-violent drug charge he got realigned and out early. Somehow I feel his victim will not be appreciative of the distinction.
In this case one of Moonbeam’s non-violent offenders broke into a home while the victim showered, then robbed and raped the woman, before running away.
REALIGNMENT’S FIRST WILLIE HORTON?
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
January 10, 2012
We all knew it would happen. There is no dead body on this one, but it is nasty. Aaron Suggs, 29, is under arrest for a home invasion, kidnap, rape and robbery in Sacramento. He was caught by the cops with some of the stolen property still on him. He was a realignment inmate, a 3-non [non-violent, non-serious, non-sexual] offender with a 70 page rap sheet including violence. However, since his commitment offense was for a non-violent drug charge he got realigned and out early. Somehow I feel his victim will not be appreciative of the distinction.
POORLY WORDED OKIE AMENDMENT BLOCKED
This amendment was obviously a knee-jerk reaction to 9/11. The amendment probably would have passed muster had it merely required judges to only apply the law of the United States and Oklahoma.
OKLAHOMA’S ISLAMIC LAW AMENDMENT CAN’T GO INTO EFFECT, COURT RULES
By Stephen Ceasar
Jewish World Review
January 11, 2012
A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that blocked the implementation of an Oklahoma law barring judges from considering international or Islamic law in their decisions.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling released Tuesday, affirmed an order by a district court judge in 2010 that halted the law from taking effect. The ruling also allows a Muslim community leader in Oklahoma City to continue his legal challenge of the law's constitutionality.
The measure, known as State Question 755, was approved with 70 percent of the vote in 2010. The law is an amendment to the state constitution and bars courts from considering the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. "Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or Sharia law," the law reads.
The appellate court opinion pointed out that proponents of the law admitted to not knowing of a single instance in which an Oklahoma court applied Shariah law or the legal precepts of other countries.
"This serves as a reminder that these anti-Shariah laws are unconstitutional and that if politicians use fear-mongering and bigotry, the courts won't allow it to last for long," said Muneer Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma. Awad sued to block the law, contending that it infringed on his First Amendment rights.
Proponents of the law argued that it was intended to ban courts from considering all religious laws and that Shariah was simply used as an example. The appeals court, however, disagreed.
"That argument conflicts with the amendment's plain language, which mentions Shariah law in two places," the court opinion read.
Sen. Anthony Sykes, who sponsored the measure in the state Senate, said that the law's goal is simply to require judges to only apply the law of the United States and Oklahoma. "Shariah merges religion and the law. Our constitution is totally different," he said. "I think it is something that competes with our constitution - it just doesn't mesh."
Shariah - which translates roughly to "path" - is intended to guide Muslims to connect with God and is rooted in mercy and compassion, said Salam Al-Marayati, the president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles.
Al-Marayati argues that campaigns to ban Shariah present a distorted view of Islamic law. "They equate it with unjust and abusive practices originated by tyrannical regimes in the Middle East," he said. "They use misconceptions about Muslims to misinform the American public."
OKLAHOMA’S ISLAMIC LAW AMENDMENT CAN’T GO INTO EFFECT, COURT RULES
By Stephen Ceasar
Jewish World Review
January 11, 2012
A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that blocked the implementation of an Oklahoma law barring judges from considering international or Islamic law in their decisions.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling released Tuesday, affirmed an order by a district court judge in 2010 that halted the law from taking effect. The ruling also allows a Muslim community leader in Oklahoma City to continue his legal challenge of the law's constitutionality.
The measure, known as State Question 755, was approved with 70 percent of the vote in 2010. The law is an amendment to the state constitution and bars courts from considering the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. "Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or Sharia law," the law reads.
The appellate court opinion pointed out that proponents of the law admitted to not knowing of a single instance in which an Oklahoma court applied Shariah law or the legal precepts of other countries.
"This serves as a reminder that these anti-Shariah laws are unconstitutional and that if politicians use fear-mongering and bigotry, the courts won't allow it to last for long," said Muneer Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma. Awad sued to block the law, contending that it infringed on his First Amendment rights.
Proponents of the law argued that it was intended to ban courts from considering all religious laws and that Shariah was simply used as an example. The appeals court, however, disagreed.
"That argument conflicts with the amendment's plain language, which mentions Shariah law in two places," the court opinion read.
Sen. Anthony Sykes, who sponsored the measure in the state Senate, said that the law's goal is simply to require judges to only apply the law of the United States and Oklahoma. "Shariah merges religion and the law. Our constitution is totally different," he said. "I think it is something that competes with our constitution - it just doesn't mesh."
Shariah - which translates roughly to "path" - is intended to guide Muslims to connect with God and is rooted in mercy and compassion, said Salam Al-Marayati, the president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles.
Al-Marayati argues that campaigns to ban Shariah present a distorted view of Islamic law. "They equate it with unjust and abusive practices originated by tyrannical regimes in the Middle East," he said. "They use misconceptions about Muslims to misinform the American public."
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
THE NEXT WAR WILL STILL REQUIRE LOTS OF BOOTS ON THE GROUND
If we have to fight another war, the American people want it to be a casualty-free war for our side. Unfortunately though, we will not be able to fight a war using only ships, planes, drones, missiles and robotic weaponry. The next war will still require lots of boots on the ground.
Robert Scales, former commandant of the U.S. Army War College, blasts the Obama administration for repeating the same post-WWII mistakes all previous administrations - with the exception of Ronald Reagan’s - have made in downsizing our military.
Administration officials and the media have made much of the support Obama is getting from the top military brass. Of course the top generals and admirals are going to support the president and Leon Panetta, his secretary of defense – they don’t want to be forced into an early retirement.
REPEATING A MISTAKE BY DOWNSIZING THE ARMY AGAIN
By Retired Major General Robert H. Scales
The Washington Post
January 5, 2012
Here we go again. President Obama made the same mistake Thursday in announcing his new military strategy that virtually all of his predecessors have made since the end of World War II. He said:
“Moreover, we have to remember the lessons of history. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past — after World War II, after Vietnam — when our military was left ill-prepared for the future. As commander in chief, I will not let that happen again. Not on my watch.”
Unfortunately, Obama’s plan does exactly that. It forgets the lessons of history. Some facts: Harry Truman seeking to never repeat the costs of World War II reduced the Army from 8 million soldiers to fewer than half a million. Without the intervention of Congress, he would have eliminated the Marine Corps entirely. The result was the evisceration of both land services in Korea, a war Truman never intended to fight.
With Dwight Eisenhower came the “New Look” strategy that sought to reduce the Army and Marine Corps again to allow the creation of a nuclear delivery force built around the Strategic Air Command. Along came Vietnam, a war that Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson never wanted to fight. But by 1970 our professional Army broke apart and was replaced by a body of amateurs. The result was defeat and 58,000 dead.
After Vietnam, the Nixon administration broke the Army again. I know. I was there to see the drug addiction, murders in the barracks and chronic indiscipline, caused mainly by a dispirited noncommissioned corps that voted with its feet and left. Then came Jimmy Carter’s unique form of neglect that led to the “hollow Army” of the late ’70s, an Army that failed so miserably in its attempt to rescue the American hostages in Iran.
The only exception to this very sad story was the Reagan years, when the land services received enough funding to equip and train themselves to fight so well in Operation Desert Storm. Then tragedy again as the Clinton administration reduced the ground services, intending to rely on “transformation,” a program that paid for more ships and planes by reducing the Army from 16 divisions to 10. In the George W. Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld continued a policy that sought to exploit information technology to replace the human component in war. Had it not been for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Army would have gone down to fewer than eight divisions.
So, here we go again. The Obama administration will reduce its long-service, professional land force to pay for something called “Air Sea Battle,” a strategy that seeks to buy more ships and planes in order to confront China with technology rather than people. This strategy shows a degree of a-historicism that exceeds that of any post-World War II administration. So much for remembering “the lessons of the past.”
Here’s what the lessons of the past 70 years really teach us: We cannot pick our enemies; our enemies will pick us. They will, as they have always done in the past, cede to us dominance in the air, on sea and in space because they do not have the ability to fight us there. Our enemies have observed us closely in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they have learned the lessons taught by Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh and Saddam Hussein: America’s greatest vulnerability is dead Americans. So our future enemy will seek to fight us on the ground, where we have traditionally been poorly prepared. His objective will be to win by not losing, to kill as an end rather than as a means to an end. And we will enter the next war again tragically short of the precious resource that we have neglected for six administrations: our soldiers and Marines.
Robert Scales, former commandant of the U.S. Army War College, blasts the Obama administration for repeating the same post-WWII mistakes all previous administrations - with the exception of Ronald Reagan’s - have made in downsizing our military.
Administration officials and the media have made much of the support Obama is getting from the top military brass. Of course the top generals and admirals are going to support the president and Leon Panetta, his secretary of defense – they don’t want to be forced into an early retirement.
REPEATING A MISTAKE BY DOWNSIZING THE ARMY AGAIN
By Retired Major General Robert H. Scales
The Washington Post
January 5, 2012
Here we go again. President Obama made the same mistake Thursday in announcing his new military strategy that virtually all of his predecessors have made since the end of World War II. He said:
“Moreover, we have to remember the lessons of history. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past — after World War II, after Vietnam — when our military was left ill-prepared for the future. As commander in chief, I will not let that happen again. Not on my watch.”
Unfortunately, Obama’s plan does exactly that. It forgets the lessons of history. Some facts: Harry Truman seeking to never repeat the costs of World War II reduced the Army from 8 million soldiers to fewer than half a million. Without the intervention of Congress, he would have eliminated the Marine Corps entirely. The result was the evisceration of both land services in Korea, a war Truman never intended to fight.
With Dwight Eisenhower came the “New Look” strategy that sought to reduce the Army and Marine Corps again to allow the creation of a nuclear delivery force built around the Strategic Air Command. Along came Vietnam, a war that Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson never wanted to fight. But by 1970 our professional Army broke apart and was replaced by a body of amateurs. The result was defeat and 58,000 dead.
After Vietnam, the Nixon administration broke the Army again. I know. I was there to see the drug addiction, murders in the barracks and chronic indiscipline, caused mainly by a dispirited noncommissioned corps that voted with its feet and left. Then came Jimmy Carter’s unique form of neglect that led to the “hollow Army” of the late ’70s, an Army that failed so miserably in its attempt to rescue the American hostages in Iran.
The only exception to this very sad story was the Reagan years, when the land services received enough funding to equip and train themselves to fight so well in Operation Desert Storm. Then tragedy again as the Clinton administration reduced the ground services, intending to rely on “transformation,” a program that paid for more ships and planes by reducing the Army from 16 divisions to 10. In the George W. Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld continued a policy that sought to exploit information technology to replace the human component in war. Had it not been for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Army would have gone down to fewer than eight divisions.
So, here we go again. The Obama administration will reduce its long-service, professional land force to pay for something called “Air Sea Battle,” a strategy that seeks to buy more ships and planes in order to confront China with technology rather than people. This strategy shows a degree of a-historicism that exceeds that of any post-World War II administration. So much for remembering “the lessons of the past.”
Here’s what the lessons of the past 70 years really teach us: We cannot pick our enemies; our enemies will pick us. They will, as they have always done in the past, cede to us dominance in the air, on sea and in space because they do not have the ability to fight us there. Our enemies have observed us closely in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they have learned the lessons taught by Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh and Saddam Hussein: America’s greatest vulnerability is dead Americans. So our future enemy will seek to fight us on the ground, where we have traditionally been poorly prepared. His objective will be to win by not losing, to kill as an end rather than as a means to an end. And we will enter the next war again tragically short of the precious resource that we have neglected for six administrations: our soldiers and Marines.
SHE PUT HER POLITICALLY INCORRECT MOUTH IN MOTION BEFORE SHE PUT HER POLITICALLY CORRECT BRAIN IN GEAR
Hmm, I wonder how many Aussies agree with the inflammatory statements made by this Member of Parliament?
MP TERESA GAMBARO SORRY FOR SAYING MIGRANTS DON’T KNOW HOW TO WEAR DEODORANT
By Jessica Marszalek
Herald Sun
January 11, 2012
A LIBERAL MP who said migrants should learn how to use deodorant has been reprimanded by her party and ordered to apologize.
Opposition citizenship spokeswoman Teresa Gambaro said lessons on hygiene and common courtesy would make immigrants fit in better in Australia.
Acting Opposition Leader Warren Truss said Ms Gambaro had been left in no doubt she was out of line.
"She obviously went too far in her comments and they're certainly out of step with modern Australian attitudes," he said.
While declining to say who doled out the discipline, Mr Truss said: "Certainly she's been made aware that the comments were inappropriate. They weren't in line with Coalition policy and she's acknowledged that."
Ms Gambaro had said new arrivals should be taught to use deodorant on public transport and not push in when queuing, as well as other lessons like the importance of immunization.
"Without trying to be offensive, we are talking about hygiene and what is an acceptable norm in this country," she said in an interview with The Australian.
The comments sparked a tirade of community anger, followed by a statement in which Ms Gambaro said the comments were "taken out of context".
But she admitted they were inappropriate and did not reflect Coalition policy, and apologized for any offence caused.
Migration groups said the comments were offensive, pointing out that migrants on 457 visas were skilled professionals such as managers, engineers and accountants.
Ms Gambaro's comments caused a backlash on Twitter, with most users saying the remarks "stank".
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the comments were ridiculous in any context and better suited to the 1950s.
"These are a gross stereotyping of migrants," he said.
MP TERESA GAMBARO SORRY FOR SAYING MIGRANTS DON’T KNOW HOW TO WEAR DEODORANT
By Jessica Marszalek
Herald Sun
January 11, 2012
A LIBERAL MP who said migrants should learn how to use deodorant has been reprimanded by her party and ordered to apologize.
Opposition citizenship spokeswoman Teresa Gambaro said lessons on hygiene and common courtesy would make immigrants fit in better in Australia.
Acting Opposition Leader Warren Truss said Ms Gambaro had been left in no doubt she was out of line.
"She obviously went too far in her comments and they're certainly out of step with modern Australian attitudes," he said.
While declining to say who doled out the discipline, Mr Truss said: "Certainly she's been made aware that the comments were inappropriate. They weren't in line with Coalition policy and she's acknowledged that."
Ms Gambaro had said new arrivals should be taught to use deodorant on public transport and not push in when queuing, as well as other lessons like the importance of immunization.
"Without trying to be offensive, we are talking about hygiene and what is an acceptable norm in this country," she said in an interview with The Australian.
The comments sparked a tirade of community anger, followed by a statement in which Ms Gambaro said the comments were "taken out of context".
But she admitted they were inappropriate and did not reflect Coalition policy, and apologized for any offence caused.
Migration groups said the comments were offensive, pointing out that migrants on 457 visas were skilled professionals such as managers, engineers and accountants.
Ms Gambaro's comments caused a backlash on Twitter, with most users saying the remarks "stank".
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the comments were ridiculous in any context and better suited to the 1950s.
"These are a gross stereotyping of migrants," he said.
GOVERNOR MOONBEAM’S REALIGNMENT AT WORK
Californians are going to be in for a wave of crimes committed by felons classified as ‘non-violent, non-serious’ by the prison system’s pundits.
SACRAMENTO’S NEW PRISON REALIGNMENT PLAN IS OFF TO A TERRIBLE START
By Los Angeles Police Protective League Board of Directors
LAPPL Blog
January 9, 2012
State leaders might have seen an ideal budget fix in their new law allowing felons with prison terms of six years or less to be housed in local jails and then supervised by local law enforcement agencies, but the last 48 hours have already given us two examples of just how terribly bad this idea will turn out.
Steven Hoff was paroled from state prison in January 2011, but the parole was suspended in July, which typically means he broke contact with his parole officer, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Parole agents had been looking for him for a parole violation when he allegedly shot and seriously wounded a parole agent on Wednesday. He was apprehended after an hours-long manhunt in Lake View Terrace that forced the closing of the 210 Freeway and lockdown of two schools.
Within hours, details of his violent past began to emerge. Among other things, according to the Times, Hoff was involved in a standoff with LAPD SWAT officers in the same general area nearly a decade ago. On Aug. 21, 2002, he barricaded himself in a Sylmar home to evade police and state parole agents searching for him in connection with a parole violation and the slaying of a motorcycle club member in Kern County.
In the coming years, the Steven Hoffs of the world won’t be supervised and tracked by parole agents. Instead, the state will have turned over the job to local law enforcement agencies. What will happen when they simply abscond to another county to get away from local supervision? Who, exactly, will go look for these dangerous individuals if there is no statewide parole agency?
And speaking of local inmate housing commitments, the first inmate sentenced to local jail in lieu of prison escaped on Wednesday. William Scott Woodin, jailed locally because of the new law, escaped from Orange County’s Theo Lacy maximum-security jail by ‘wiggling through a kitchen window.’ He may be the first inmate to escape from that jail in 20 years, but he is a precursor of problems that will only multiply in the coming years. Jails are built to house pre-trial inmates and low level offenders. They are not equipped – by facility design or in staffing levels – to house inmates for years on end. Woodin was a mostly a thief and drug addict; but what will happen when violent felons like Steven Hoff start filling our local jails on multi-year sentences?
We’ve already seen the death and destruction caused by the state’s now abandoned “low level, non-violent” release program, whose sole aim was to release unsupervised inmates into our communities. This state’s latest effort, placing inmates into county jails and leaving local authorities to supervise them, looks doomed to be just as much of a public safety failure.
SACRAMENTO’S NEW PRISON REALIGNMENT PLAN IS OFF TO A TERRIBLE START
By Los Angeles Police Protective League Board of Directors
LAPPL Blog
January 9, 2012
State leaders might have seen an ideal budget fix in their new law allowing felons with prison terms of six years or less to be housed in local jails and then supervised by local law enforcement agencies, but the last 48 hours have already given us two examples of just how terribly bad this idea will turn out.
Steven Hoff was paroled from state prison in January 2011, but the parole was suspended in July, which typically means he broke contact with his parole officer, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Parole agents had been looking for him for a parole violation when he allegedly shot and seriously wounded a parole agent on Wednesday. He was apprehended after an hours-long manhunt in Lake View Terrace that forced the closing of the 210 Freeway and lockdown of two schools.
Within hours, details of his violent past began to emerge. Among other things, according to the Times, Hoff was involved in a standoff with LAPD SWAT officers in the same general area nearly a decade ago. On Aug. 21, 2002, he barricaded himself in a Sylmar home to evade police and state parole agents searching for him in connection with a parole violation and the slaying of a motorcycle club member in Kern County.
In the coming years, the Steven Hoffs of the world won’t be supervised and tracked by parole agents. Instead, the state will have turned over the job to local law enforcement agencies. What will happen when they simply abscond to another county to get away from local supervision? Who, exactly, will go look for these dangerous individuals if there is no statewide parole agency?
And speaking of local inmate housing commitments, the first inmate sentenced to local jail in lieu of prison escaped on Wednesday. William Scott Woodin, jailed locally because of the new law, escaped from Orange County’s Theo Lacy maximum-security jail by ‘wiggling through a kitchen window.’ He may be the first inmate to escape from that jail in 20 years, but he is a precursor of problems that will only multiply in the coming years. Jails are built to house pre-trial inmates and low level offenders. They are not equipped – by facility design or in staffing levels – to house inmates for years on end. Woodin was a mostly a thief and drug addict; but what will happen when violent felons like Steven Hoff start filling our local jails on multi-year sentences?
We’ve already seen the death and destruction caused by the state’s now abandoned “low level, non-violent” release program, whose sole aim was to release unsupervised inmates into our communities. This state’s latest effort, placing inmates into county jails and leaving local authorities to supervise them, looks doomed to be just as much of a public safety failure.
COP INJURED BY 240 POUNDER GETTING LAID BY HIGH SCHOOLER IN BACK SEAT OF HONDA CIVIC
I have a hard time picturing a 240 pound gal squeezing down onto the back seat of a Honda Civic with her legs spread apart. …. And I thought the Civic was a compact car.
TOMBALL COP’S SHOULDER BROKEN AFTER SHE STOPS BACKSEAT TEEN SEX
Police report morphed ‘fractured scapula’ into ‘fractured scalp’
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
January 10, 2012
Ask a cop about their most dangerous types of calls and you hear about drug raids, boozy domestic disputes and armed robberies. Seldom if ever have we heard of "catching two teenagers bonking in the back seat of a Honda Civic" as the type of call cops dread, but one such incident almost cost a Tomball [Texas] cop her life last Monday.
According to a police report on file in the Harris County courthouse, Tomball cop / detective Kristina Tikal was headed to work from her apartment on January 2 when she noticed something funny about an old blue Honda Civic in the parking lot: the left rear door was wide open and there were a pair of naked legs sticking out, toes pointed toward the ground.
Tikal stopped the car and told the man to pull his pants up, and then saw that there was a 17-year-old woman in the backseat who was also not wearing pants.
A very large young woman, in fact. Court records list the teen as packing 240 pounds on her five-foot-five frame, leading one to wonder if the backseat of a Honda Civic was the best possible venue for the sexual contortions that both the young woman and the man later told the cop were about to ensue.
Tikal reported that she ordered the man and the woman to get dressed and told them that they were being detained. She said that while she was standing between the open door and the backseat, the young woman managed to bound into the driver's seat and start the car. Tikal said she told the woman twice to shut the engine down, but the woman instead threw the Civic into reverse, smashed down on the accelerator and fled the scene.
In doing so, she clipped Tikal's shoulder, hurling her ten feet from the vehicle and causing her to suffer a fractured scapula, injuries to her hip and elbow, and abrasions to her arms and legs.
(UPDATE: Earlier reports that Tikal had fractured her skull were erroneous: in typing up the original report, a police source morphed "fractured scapula" into "fractured scalp.")
The young woman got away, but not without several witnesses giving detailed descriptions of both her and the car to police, and a few days later a tipster told police where the young woman lived, and cops found a damaged blue Honda Civic in the driveway.
Police later went to Tomball High School and talked to the young woman, who matched the description they had been given. The woman and her mother later gave a statement saying that the woman had panicked when Tikal walked up on her. She claimed to have known only that she had hit a truck. She said she had no idea she'd hit a cop.
Tomball cops aren't buying it. The woman has been charged with aggravated assault of a police officer and felony evading arrest. Had she not driven away, all the woman would have faced were charges of either indecent exposure or disorderly conduct.
TOMBALL COP’S SHOULDER BROKEN AFTER SHE STOPS BACKSEAT TEEN SEX
Police report morphed ‘fractured scapula’ into ‘fractured scalp’
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
January 10, 2012
Ask a cop about their most dangerous types of calls and you hear about drug raids, boozy domestic disputes and armed robberies. Seldom if ever have we heard of "catching two teenagers bonking in the back seat of a Honda Civic" as the type of call cops dread, but one such incident almost cost a Tomball [Texas] cop her life last Monday.
According to a police report on file in the Harris County courthouse, Tomball cop / detective Kristina Tikal was headed to work from her apartment on January 2 when she noticed something funny about an old blue Honda Civic in the parking lot: the left rear door was wide open and there were a pair of naked legs sticking out, toes pointed toward the ground.
Tikal stopped the car and told the man to pull his pants up, and then saw that there was a 17-year-old woman in the backseat who was also not wearing pants.
A very large young woman, in fact. Court records list the teen as packing 240 pounds on her five-foot-five frame, leading one to wonder if the backseat of a Honda Civic was the best possible venue for the sexual contortions that both the young woman and the man later told the cop were about to ensue.
Tikal reported that she ordered the man and the woman to get dressed and told them that they were being detained. She said that while she was standing between the open door and the backseat, the young woman managed to bound into the driver's seat and start the car. Tikal said she told the woman twice to shut the engine down, but the woman instead threw the Civic into reverse, smashed down on the accelerator and fled the scene.
In doing so, she clipped Tikal's shoulder, hurling her ten feet from the vehicle and causing her to suffer a fractured scapula, injuries to her hip and elbow, and abrasions to her arms and legs.
(UPDATE: Earlier reports that Tikal had fractured her skull were erroneous: in typing up the original report, a police source morphed "fractured scapula" into "fractured scalp.")
The young woman got away, but not without several witnesses giving detailed descriptions of both her and the car to police, and a few days later a tipster told police where the young woman lived, and cops found a damaged blue Honda Civic in the driveway.
Police later went to Tomball High School and talked to the young woman, who matched the description they had been given. The woman and her mother later gave a statement saying that the woman had panicked when Tikal walked up on her. She claimed to have known only that she had hit a truck. She said she had no idea she'd hit a cop.
Tomball cops aren't buying it. The woman has been charged with aggravated assault of a police officer and felony evading arrest. Had she not driven away, all the woman would have faced were charges of either indecent exposure or disorderly conduct.
LETTER TO PAM
The Schalotte
January 10, 2012
The Schalotte is proud to announce that Pamela Putz has started a ‘Letter to Pam’ advice column for the lovelorn. Here is the first letter Pamela received:
Dear Pam,
My husband has a long record of money problems. He runs up huge credit-card bills and at the end of the month, if I try to pay them off, he shouts at me, saying I am stealing his money. He says pay the minimum and let our kids worry about the rest, but already we can hardly keep up with the interest. Also he has been so arrogant and abusive toward our neighbors that most of them no longer speak to us. The few that do are an odd bunch, to whom he has been giving a lot of expensive gifts, running up our bills even more.
Also, he has gotten religious. One week he hangs out with Catholics and the next with people who say the Pope is the Anti-Christ, and the next he's with Muslims..
Finally, the last straw. He's demanding that before anyone can be in the same room with him, they must sign a loyalty oath. It's just so horribly creepy!
Can you help?
Signed,
Lost
Dear Lost,
Stop whining, Michelle. You're getting to live in the White House for free, travel the world, and have others pay for everything for you.
You can divorce the jerk any time you want. The rest of us are stuck with Barack for at least one more year and maybe for five more years!
Signed,
Pam
January 10, 2012
The Schalotte is proud to announce that Pamela Putz has started a ‘Letter to Pam’ advice column for the lovelorn. Here is the first letter Pamela received:
Dear Pam,
My husband has a long record of money problems. He runs up huge credit-card bills and at the end of the month, if I try to pay them off, he shouts at me, saying I am stealing his money. He says pay the minimum and let our kids worry about the rest, but already we can hardly keep up with the interest. Also he has been so arrogant and abusive toward our neighbors that most of them no longer speak to us. The few that do are an odd bunch, to whom he has been giving a lot of expensive gifts, running up our bills even more.
Also, he has gotten religious. One week he hangs out with Catholics and the next with people who say the Pope is the Anti-Christ, and the next he's with Muslims..
Finally, the last straw. He's demanding that before anyone can be in the same room with him, they must sign a loyalty oath. It's just so horribly creepy!
Can you help?
Signed,
Lost
Dear Lost,
Stop whining, Michelle. You're getting to live in the White House for free, travel the world, and have others pay for everything for you.
You can divorce the jerk any time you want. The rest of us are stuck with Barack for at least one more year and maybe for five more years!
Signed,
Pam
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
MEXICO’S DRUG CARTELS OWE THEIR SUCCESS TO THE POLICE AND TO SOCIETY’S TOLERANCE OF DRUG USE
From Borderland Beat:
INSECURITY: THE CAUSE AND EFFECT OF SYSTEMATIC CRIMINALIZATION
In the final analysis the problem will be addressed by either the willingness of society to live with the drug cartels and tolerate the harmful nature of drugs, or for society to unite behind the better laws and strategies necessary for a frontal assault against the drug cartels
by Carlos Ramirez
Borderland Beat
January 8, 2012
The security offensive the federal government has undertaken from 2007 to 2011 has revealed the role of society and politics in the crisis of violence facing the nation: the existence of organized crime was only possible through the collaboration of society, politicians, institutions and even the State.
Consequently, the irrational violence and the number of deaths has been the effect of a problem of decadence within the political power structure as its cause. The Army itself has seized 106,000 weapons and 41,000 vehicles, which give us an idea of the size of organized crime.
But the magnitude of organized crime is much greater than what those numbers represent. The Army has detained 41,000 criminals and the number of those killed may be up to 60,000, so can estimate that up to 100,000 criminals have been taken out of the game. If we add to those numbers that of the seizure of 10,000 tons of marijuana we can then get a clearer picture of the size of the crisis of insecurity.
The existence of organized crime can is best understood in terms of a dynamic process: the growth of criminal gangs was only possible under the protection of political powers and the State. Following the 1985 kidnapping and assassination of DEA agent Enrique Camarena Salazar by a cartel of Sinaloans headed by Rafael Caro Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca and Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, the U.S. government revealed that the federal police forces, the DFS (Mexico’s former national security police force under Gobernacion, or the Interior Ministry), the Policia Judicial Federal (the disbanded federal judicial police under the PGR, or the Attorney General’s office), and the Mexico City police were responsible for the protection of drug traffickers and their shipments. The administration of the then President Miguel de la Madrid was forced to terminate a slew of police commanders.
The federal police forces were responsible for ensuring the national security of the State in the face of both violent and nonviolent political dissidents and as a result accumulated enormous power (Mexico under the PRI was ruled, in general, as a single party authoritarian state). After the 1982 presidential elections, with political power within the PRI changing hands from a bureaucratic elite to economic technocrats, the federal security apparatus was set adrift with a high degree of autonomy from the political leadership. It was then when the federal police forces changed its raison d’etre from pursuing political dissidents (who had gained some breathing space with political reforms enacted in 1978) to the protection of organized crime.
Another moment forgotten in the shaping of organized crime’s power structure is found in the period between 1981 and 1985 when a government financial crisis forced the administration of President Miguel de la Madrid through clandestine mechanisms to collect and officially launder U.S. currency from drug traffickers to neutralize the bleeding of U.S. dollars used to prop the peso that was resulting in constant devaluations.
The crisis over the official protection of drug traffickers was precipitated, not by a desire by the State to fight criminality at its root, but by the assassination of Camarena. It was not a coincidence that Jose Antonio Zorrilla Perez, the director of the DFS under Interior Minister Manuel Bartlett Diaz and President De la Madrid and at the center of accusations by the U.S. of protecting drug traffickers, was removed from his post and entered as a PRI candidate for a federal congressional seat from the state of Hidalgo. And it was no coincidence that the Interior Minister, Attorney General and Mayor of Mexico City (all three posts whose police forces protected drug cartel kingpins) in 1987 were seen as prospective PRI presidential candidates.
The change in ruling parties with the victory of the PAN in the 2000 Presidential elections marked another phase in the revelations of the harmonious relationship between the drug cartels and the PRI political power structure. However, the PAN’s lack of experience in forging secret agreements with organized crime and the loss of PRI guarantees of protection to drug cartels presented opportunities for the cartels to become relatively autonomous. At that moment the cartels found protection with other international criminal organizations and took full advantage of the space created by the PRI’s departure from the presidency to consolidate their power. Above all, the drug cartels power grew because of the decision of the Vicente Fox administration to look the other way.
The Calderon administration’s security offensive against organized crime is only one phase of the solution to the problem. The other still awaits the greater engagement of society and urgent legislative action to end the drug cartels’ circumventions. This is where the topic of insecurity will be centered in 2012, especially as the Mexican drug cartels form part of an international network the links organized crime from South America to the United States.
In 2012 the nation faces the decisive hour to put into action the final strategy against organized crime or to negotiate an agreement with the criminal organizations; there is no more room for halfway measures. In the final analysis the problem will be addressed by either the willingness of society to live with the drug cartels and tolerate the harmful nature of drugs, or for society to unite behind the better laws and strategies necessary for a frontal assault against the drug cartels.
In the end, the violence is an effect and not the cause.
__Carlos Ramirez is a political analyst and columnist for the newspaper El Financiero
INSECURITY: THE CAUSE AND EFFECT OF SYSTEMATIC CRIMINALIZATION
In the final analysis the problem will be addressed by either the willingness of society to live with the drug cartels and tolerate the harmful nature of drugs, or for society to unite behind the better laws and strategies necessary for a frontal assault against the drug cartels
by Carlos Ramirez
Borderland Beat
January 8, 2012
The security offensive the federal government has undertaken from 2007 to 2011 has revealed the role of society and politics in the crisis of violence facing the nation: the existence of organized crime was only possible through the collaboration of society, politicians, institutions and even the State.
Consequently, the irrational violence and the number of deaths has been the effect of a problem of decadence within the political power structure as its cause. The Army itself has seized 106,000 weapons and 41,000 vehicles, which give us an idea of the size of organized crime.
But the magnitude of organized crime is much greater than what those numbers represent. The Army has detained 41,000 criminals and the number of those killed may be up to 60,000, so can estimate that up to 100,000 criminals have been taken out of the game. If we add to those numbers that of the seizure of 10,000 tons of marijuana we can then get a clearer picture of the size of the crisis of insecurity.
The existence of organized crime can is best understood in terms of a dynamic process: the growth of criminal gangs was only possible under the protection of political powers and the State. Following the 1985 kidnapping and assassination of DEA agent Enrique Camarena Salazar by a cartel of Sinaloans headed by Rafael Caro Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca and Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, the U.S. government revealed that the federal police forces, the DFS (Mexico’s former national security police force under Gobernacion, or the Interior Ministry), the Policia Judicial Federal (the disbanded federal judicial police under the PGR, or the Attorney General’s office), and the Mexico City police were responsible for the protection of drug traffickers and their shipments. The administration of the then President Miguel de la Madrid was forced to terminate a slew of police commanders.
The federal police forces were responsible for ensuring the national security of the State in the face of both violent and nonviolent political dissidents and as a result accumulated enormous power (Mexico under the PRI was ruled, in general, as a single party authoritarian state). After the 1982 presidential elections, with political power within the PRI changing hands from a bureaucratic elite to economic technocrats, the federal security apparatus was set adrift with a high degree of autonomy from the political leadership. It was then when the federal police forces changed its raison d’etre from pursuing political dissidents (who had gained some breathing space with political reforms enacted in 1978) to the protection of organized crime.
Another moment forgotten in the shaping of organized crime’s power structure is found in the period between 1981 and 1985 when a government financial crisis forced the administration of President Miguel de la Madrid through clandestine mechanisms to collect and officially launder U.S. currency from drug traffickers to neutralize the bleeding of U.S. dollars used to prop the peso that was resulting in constant devaluations.
The crisis over the official protection of drug traffickers was precipitated, not by a desire by the State to fight criminality at its root, but by the assassination of Camarena. It was not a coincidence that Jose Antonio Zorrilla Perez, the director of the DFS under Interior Minister Manuel Bartlett Diaz and President De la Madrid and at the center of accusations by the U.S. of protecting drug traffickers, was removed from his post and entered as a PRI candidate for a federal congressional seat from the state of Hidalgo. And it was no coincidence that the Interior Minister, Attorney General and Mayor of Mexico City (all three posts whose police forces protected drug cartel kingpins) in 1987 were seen as prospective PRI presidential candidates.
The change in ruling parties with the victory of the PAN in the 2000 Presidential elections marked another phase in the revelations of the harmonious relationship between the drug cartels and the PRI political power structure. However, the PAN’s lack of experience in forging secret agreements with organized crime and the loss of PRI guarantees of protection to drug cartels presented opportunities for the cartels to become relatively autonomous. At that moment the cartels found protection with other international criminal organizations and took full advantage of the space created by the PRI’s departure from the presidency to consolidate their power. Above all, the drug cartels power grew because of the decision of the Vicente Fox administration to look the other way.
The Calderon administration’s security offensive against organized crime is only one phase of the solution to the problem. The other still awaits the greater engagement of society and urgent legislative action to end the drug cartels’ circumventions. This is where the topic of insecurity will be centered in 2012, especially as the Mexican drug cartels form part of an international network the links organized crime from South America to the United States.
In 2012 the nation faces the decisive hour to put into action the final strategy against organized crime or to negotiate an agreement with the criminal organizations; there is no more room for halfway measures. In the final analysis the problem will be addressed by either the willingness of society to live with the drug cartels and tolerate the harmful nature of drugs, or for society to unite behind the better laws and strategies necessary for a frontal assault against the drug cartels.
In the end, the violence is an effect and not the cause.
__Carlos Ramirez is a political analyst and columnist for the newspaper El Financiero
LAWSUIT IMPLIES THAT ARMED THUGS SHOULD GET TO SHOOT AT COPS FIRST
Bob Walsh says the family of an armed thug shot to death by the Oakland PD has the notion that even though their son was armed with two handguns, one of which had been fired, the cops should not have shot him because he did not shoot at them first. Maybe if they had done a better job of raising the little crud the cops wouldn’t have had occasion to shoot his sorry ass.
FAMILY OF MAN KILLED BY OAKLAND COP SUES CITY
By Henry K. Lee
San Francisco Chronicle
January 8, 2012
The family of an armed man shot dead by Oakland police at the end of a high-speed chase last year has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city.
Martin Flenaugh, 19, of Oakland was a passenger in the car police were chasing Jan. 26, 2011, in connection with a shootout moments earlier. He had a 9mm semiautomatic gun in one hand and a .45-caliber handgun in the other and was shot when he refused to drop the weapons after the car ran a red light, crashed into two vehicles and burst into flames at 85th Avenue and San Leandro Street in East Oakland, police said.
But Flenaugh's mother, Spring Mathews of San Mateo, said in a lawsuit filed Friday in Alameda County Superior Court that "no reports suggest he fired a weapon at the police officers before they shot at him."
The lawsuit also said Flenaugh was "left to bleed and die in the street without being provided early or appropriate medical care."
The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, further said that police failed to "correct the defective communication system" used by the department, citing reports by officers that radio problems during the chase forced them to rely on hand signals and cell phones. The department is now using a new radio system.
Alameda County prosecutors said the officer who shot and killed Flenaugh, Richard McNeely, had acted properly and would not face criminal charges. Deputy District Attorney John Creighton wrote in a report that Flenaugh, who had convictions for burglary and marijuana possession, may have fired a .45-caliber gun at McNeely because a casing was found at the scene.
The incident began when police responded to reports that men in a maroon Infiniti had fired shots on the 7600 block of Lockwood Avenue. No one was hurt. Police found spent 9mm and .45-caliber casings at that location. After the crash, the driver, parolee Jereme Brown, was arrested after he ran to a nearby auto shop.
FAMILY OF MAN KILLED BY OAKLAND COP SUES CITY
By Henry K. Lee
San Francisco Chronicle
January 8, 2012
The family of an armed man shot dead by Oakland police at the end of a high-speed chase last year has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city.
Martin Flenaugh, 19, of Oakland was a passenger in the car police were chasing Jan. 26, 2011, in connection with a shootout moments earlier. He had a 9mm semiautomatic gun in one hand and a .45-caliber handgun in the other and was shot when he refused to drop the weapons after the car ran a red light, crashed into two vehicles and burst into flames at 85th Avenue and San Leandro Street in East Oakland, police said.
But Flenaugh's mother, Spring Mathews of San Mateo, said in a lawsuit filed Friday in Alameda County Superior Court that "no reports suggest he fired a weapon at the police officers before they shot at him."
The lawsuit also said Flenaugh was "left to bleed and die in the street without being provided early or appropriate medical care."
The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, further said that police failed to "correct the defective communication system" used by the department, citing reports by officers that radio problems during the chase forced them to rely on hand signals and cell phones. The department is now using a new radio system.
Alameda County prosecutors said the officer who shot and killed Flenaugh, Richard McNeely, had acted properly and would not face criminal charges. Deputy District Attorney John Creighton wrote in a report that Flenaugh, who had convictions for burglary and marijuana possession, may have fired a .45-caliber gun at McNeely because a casing was found at the scene.
The incident began when police responded to reports that men in a maroon Infiniti had fired shots on the 7600 block of Lockwood Avenue. No one was hurt. Police found spent 9mm and .45-caliber casings at that location. After the crash, the driver, parolee Jereme Brown, was arrested after he ran to a nearby auto shop.
THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AND THE EUROPEANS SEEM EAGER TO GET CONNED BY THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
Here are some excerpts from ‘The land-for- peace hoax,’ an op-ed by Caroline Glick that was published in Monday’s issue of Jewish World Review:
As it has become more apparent that the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist parties will hold an absolute majority in Egypt's democratically elected parliament, Western governments and media outlets have insistently argued that these anti-Western, and anti-Jewish, movements have become moderate and pragmatic. Leading the charge to make the case has been the Obama administration. Its senior officials have eagerly embraced the Muslim Brotherhood. Indeed, the spiritual head of the Muslim Brotherhood Yusuf Qaradawi is reportedly mediating negotiations between the US and the Taliban.
Qaradawi, an Egyptian who has been based in Qatar since 1961, when he was forced to flee Egypt due to his jihadist politics, made a triumphant return to his native land last February following the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak. Speaking to a crowd of an estimated two million people in Cairo's Tahrir Square, Qaradawi led them in a chant calling for them to invade Jerusalem.
Over the years, Qaradawi has issued numerous religious ruling permitting, indeed requiring, the massacre of Jews. In 2009, he called for the Muslim world to complete Hitler's goal of eradicating the Jewish people.
As for the US, in 2003, Qaradawi issued a religious ruling calling for the killing of US forces in Iraq.
Both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists are happy to cater to the propaganda needs of Western journalists and politicians and pretend that they are willing to continue to uphold the peace treaty with Israel. But even as they make conditional statements to eager Americans and Europeans, they consistently tell their own people that they seek the destruction of Israel and the abrogation of the peace deal between Egypt and Israel.
As it has become more apparent that the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist parties will hold an absolute majority in Egypt's democratically elected parliament, Western governments and media outlets have insistently argued that these anti-Western, and anti-Jewish, movements have become moderate and pragmatic. Leading the charge to make the case has been the Obama administration. Its senior officials have eagerly embraced the Muslim Brotherhood. Indeed, the spiritual head of the Muslim Brotherhood Yusuf Qaradawi is reportedly mediating negotiations between the US and the Taliban.
Qaradawi, an Egyptian who has been based in Qatar since 1961, when he was forced to flee Egypt due to his jihadist politics, made a triumphant return to his native land last February following the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak. Speaking to a crowd of an estimated two million people in Cairo's Tahrir Square, Qaradawi led them in a chant calling for them to invade Jerusalem.
Over the years, Qaradawi has issued numerous religious ruling permitting, indeed requiring, the massacre of Jews. In 2009, he called for the Muslim world to complete Hitler's goal of eradicating the Jewish people.
As for the US, in 2003, Qaradawi issued a religious ruling calling for the killing of US forces in Iraq.
Both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists are happy to cater to the propaganda needs of Western journalists and politicians and pretend that they are willing to continue to uphold the peace treaty with Israel. But even as they make conditional statements to eager Americans and Europeans, they consistently tell their own people that they seek the destruction of Israel and the abrogation of the peace deal between Egypt and Israel.
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