Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, announced his retirement from Congress after 16 terms in office. While I’ve disagreed with many of his positions, I do believe that he was a positive force in Congress.
In announcing his retirement, Frank said that “One of the advantages to me of not running for office is I don’t even have to pretend to try to be nice to people I don’t like,”
Barney sure hit the nail on the head with that quip. I’ve always been bemused by the phoniness of Senators and House members in how polite they are to each other during TV interviews when in fact it’s obvious that they really can’t stand each other.
Monday, December 05, 2011
ANTI-SEMITISM: IF NOT THE JEWS, BLAME ISRAEL
Gutman was rewarded with his appointment as ambassador to Belgium for having been a major fund raiser for Obama’s election campaign. His statement shows that he is one of many liberal American Israel-hating Jews.
Gutman is completely wrong. The Middle Eastern and North Afreican Muslims strong hatred of Jews goes back to way before there ever was a State of Israel. And the European Jew-hating Muslims immigrated to Europe from Middle Eastern and North African countries.
JEWISH GROUPS DEMAND OBAMA ACTION OVER BELGIUM ENVOY’S ANTI-SEMITISM REMARKS
U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman said Muslim anti-Semitism stems from Israeli-Palestinian conflict; White House issues statement condemning all forms of anti-Semitism
By Danna Harman
Haaretz.com
December 4, 2011
Some Jewish groups and others were demanding Sunday that United States President Barak Obama take action against his ambassador to Belgium, following comments the envoy made to the effect that Israel’s political positions serve as some sort of explanation for anti-Semitism amongst Muslims.
Ambassador Howard Gutman, who is Jewish, made the controversial remarks at a conference on anti-Semitism organized by the European Jewish Union in Brussels last week.
“A distinction should be made between traditional anti-Semitism, which should be condemned, and Muslim hatred for Jews, which stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians,” Gutman reportedly told those gathered, going on to argue that “…an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will significantly diminish Muslim anti-Semitism.”
In reaction to the comments, and the subsequent uproar they caused, the White House released a statement distancing itself from Gutman's words: "We condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms, and that there is never any justification for prejudice against the Jewish people or Israel," read the statement, which was sent out over the weekend to Jewish leaders.
But Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich joined those arguing that a verbal rebuke was not enough. "Pres Obama should fire his ambassador to Brussels for being so wrong about anti-Semitism," Gingrich tweeted on his account.
Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matthew Brooks echoed these sentiments, adding that: "The linkage in the ambassador's remarks, blaming Israel for anti-Semitism, is a short step from the linkage that President Obama has expressed several times himself, that Israel is to blame for the unrest and instability in the Middle East. Both forms of linkage are fundamentally wrong.”
Gutman, a lawyer by profession, was appointed ambassador to Belgium after raising major funds for Obama’s 2008 elections campaign.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Gutman is not the only Obama administration official on the Blame Israel rant. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta deliberately ignores the oft and continuing declarations by President Abbas and other ‘moderate’ Palestinian leaders to wipe the Jewish state off the map: “There will be only one [Palestinian] state from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea.”
PANETTA: IT’S ISRAEL’S FAULT
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
December 4, 2011
American Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at the weekend suggested that all of Israel's problems in the region can be traced back to its own behavior.
"Just get to the damn [negotiating] table," Panetta told Israel during a briefing at the Brookings Institute. Panetta insisted that Israel needs to be more flexible in order to "reach out and mend fences" with the Arabs, or risk facing even greater isolation.
Panetta's outburst was typical of American foreign policy when it comes to Israel in that it completely ignored the dealings of the past several years.
Panetta failed to recognize that it was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who had been waiting at the negotiating table all along, and publicly urging Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to join him. For the past two years, Abbas has been explicitly refusing to negotiate with Israel until the Jewish state met preconditions that were never part of currently signed peace deals.
Panetta's claim that Israel should make risky political gestures even if the Arabs are not sincere in order to unmask its enemies similarly displayed a very short-term memory.
"If the gestures are rebuked, the world will see those rebukes for what they are, and Israel's moral standing will grow even higher," Panetta said, presumably in all seriousness.
Of course, that is precisely what Israel was told before it uprooted 10,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip, before it handed over the ancient Jewish capital of Hebron and before it signed a peace agreement with terrorist mass-murderer Yasser Arafat. Ongoing anti-Israel terrorism and incitement following all of those gestures failed to win Israel any moral standing in the eyes of the international community.
Continuing the emulation of his predecessors, Panetta finished by warning that Israel would increasingly find itself all alone if it did not heed his advice. "We have seen Israel's isolation from its traditional security partners in the region grow," said Panetta.
It's almost as though each successive American administration does a foreign policy reset, and totally wipes its memory of anything that happened before it was elected. Otherwise, how could Panetta claim with a straight face that Israel has any "traditional" security partners in the region?
Sure, Egypt and Jordan have for years been at peace with Israel, and even cooperated to some small degree in security matters. But neither is a "traditional" security partner. In fact, until just a few decades ago, Egypt was the country that most often went to war against Israel, with Jordan not far behind. While regrettable, a return to that situation would not be something new, and certainly would not be the result of any adjustment in Israel's behavior.
Unfortunately, Panetta's failed attempt at reading the Israeli-Arab situation received far less coverage than it should after being overshadowed by another Obama Administration appointee blaming the Jews for Muslim anti-Semitism.
Speaking at a conference of European Jewish leaders in Brussels on Wednesday, US Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman said there should be a distinction between traditional anti-Semitism and Muslim hatred for the Jews, as the latter is the direct (apparently legitimate) result of the ongoing Israeli conflict with the Palestinians.
Gutman was taken to task by several of the speakers who followed him, and many American Jewish leaders called for his removal.
Gutman is completely wrong. The Middle Eastern and North Afreican Muslims strong hatred of Jews goes back to way before there ever was a State of Israel. And the European Jew-hating Muslims immigrated to Europe from Middle Eastern and North African countries.
JEWISH GROUPS DEMAND OBAMA ACTION OVER BELGIUM ENVOY’S ANTI-SEMITISM REMARKS
U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman said Muslim anti-Semitism stems from Israeli-Palestinian conflict; White House issues statement condemning all forms of anti-Semitism
By Danna Harman
Haaretz.com
December 4, 2011
Some Jewish groups and others were demanding Sunday that United States President Barak Obama take action against his ambassador to Belgium, following comments the envoy made to the effect that Israel’s political positions serve as some sort of explanation for anti-Semitism amongst Muslims.
Ambassador Howard Gutman, who is Jewish, made the controversial remarks at a conference on anti-Semitism organized by the European Jewish Union in Brussels last week.
“A distinction should be made between traditional anti-Semitism, which should be condemned, and Muslim hatred for Jews, which stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians,” Gutman reportedly told those gathered, going on to argue that “…an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will significantly diminish Muslim anti-Semitism.”
In reaction to the comments, and the subsequent uproar they caused, the White House released a statement distancing itself from Gutman's words: "We condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms, and that there is never any justification for prejudice against the Jewish people or Israel," read the statement, which was sent out over the weekend to Jewish leaders.
But Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich joined those arguing that a verbal rebuke was not enough. "Pres Obama should fire his ambassador to Brussels for being so wrong about anti-Semitism," Gingrich tweeted on his account.
Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matthew Brooks echoed these sentiments, adding that: "The linkage in the ambassador's remarks, blaming Israel for anti-Semitism, is a short step from the linkage that President Obama has expressed several times himself, that Israel is to blame for the unrest and instability in the Middle East. Both forms of linkage are fundamentally wrong.”
Gutman, a lawyer by profession, was appointed ambassador to Belgium after raising major funds for Obama’s 2008 elections campaign.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Gutman is not the only Obama administration official on the Blame Israel rant. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta deliberately ignores the oft and continuing declarations by President Abbas and other ‘moderate’ Palestinian leaders to wipe the Jewish state off the map: “There will be only one [Palestinian] state from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea.”
PANETTA: IT’S ISRAEL’S FAULT
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
December 4, 2011
American Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at the weekend suggested that all of Israel's problems in the region can be traced back to its own behavior.
"Just get to the damn [negotiating] table," Panetta told Israel during a briefing at the Brookings Institute. Panetta insisted that Israel needs to be more flexible in order to "reach out and mend fences" with the Arabs, or risk facing even greater isolation.
Panetta's outburst was typical of American foreign policy when it comes to Israel in that it completely ignored the dealings of the past several years.
Panetta failed to recognize that it was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who had been waiting at the negotiating table all along, and publicly urging Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to join him. For the past two years, Abbas has been explicitly refusing to negotiate with Israel until the Jewish state met preconditions that were never part of currently signed peace deals.
Panetta's claim that Israel should make risky political gestures even if the Arabs are not sincere in order to unmask its enemies similarly displayed a very short-term memory.
"If the gestures are rebuked, the world will see those rebukes for what they are, and Israel's moral standing will grow even higher," Panetta said, presumably in all seriousness.
Of course, that is precisely what Israel was told before it uprooted 10,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip, before it handed over the ancient Jewish capital of Hebron and before it signed a peace agreement with terrorist mass-murderer Yasser Arafat. Ongoing anti-Israel terrorism and incitement following all of those gestures failed to win Israel any moral standing in the eyes of the international community.
Continuing the emulation of his predecessors, Panetta finished by warning that Israel would increasingly find itself all alone if it did not heed his advice. "We have seen Israel's isolation from its traditional security partners in the region grow," said Panetta.
It's almost as though each successive American administration does a foreign policy reset, and totally wipes its memory of anything that happened before it was elected. Otherwise, how could Panetta claim with a straight face that Israel has any "traditional" security partners in the region?
Sure, Egypt and Jordan have for years been at peace with Israel, and even cooperated to some small degree in security matters. But neither is a "traditional" security partner. In fact, until just a few decades ago, Egypt was the country that most often went to war against Israel, with Jordan not far behind. While regrettable, a return to that situation would not be something new, and certainly would not be the result of any adjustment in Israel's behavior.
Unfortunately, Panetta's failed attempt at reading the Israeli-Arab situation received far less coverage than it should after being overshadowed by another Obama Administration appointee blaming the Jews for Muslim anti-Semitism.
Speaking at a conference of European Jewish leaders in Brussels on Wednesday, US Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman said there should be a distinction between traditional anti-Semitism and Muslim hatred for the Jews, as the latter is the direct (apparently legitimate) result of the ongoing Israeli conflict with the Palestinians.
Gutman was taken to task by several of the speakers who followed him, and many American Jewish leaders called for his removal.
FROM 9-9-9 TO NEIN, NEIN, NEIN
Editorial / The Schalotte / December 5, 2011
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain went from telling us about ‘9-9-9’, his oversimplified solution to our economic woes, to telling us and his wife Gloria, ‘Nein, Nein, Nein’ when responding to allegations of sexual harassment and a longtime affair.
Was Cain telling the truth when he called his accusers liars for claiming that he sexually harassed them? He could be telling the truth here because sexual harassment is sometimes seen in the eye of the beholder. The publisher of The Schalotte was once accused of sexual harassment for having a Rigid tools girlie calendar hanging on the wall of his office.
Was he telling the truth when he denied business woman Ginger White’s allegation that she had a 13-year-long affair with Cain? In this case, The Schalotte believes Herman is a liar!
White has publicly stated that her relationship with Cain “wasn’t a love affair, it was a sexual affair.” Cain denies having had a sexual affair with White while admitting that he knew her, but only as a friend.
But here is why the Schalotte believes he is lying. Cain also admitted that he gave White money from time to time to help his financially troubled ‘friend.’ Come on now, does anyone in their right mind really believe that Herman gave his friend money purely out of the kindness of his heart, and that was all there was to it? Not likely.
Maybe, and that’s a big maybe, he was able to persuade his wife that was all there was to it. But the American people should be offended that Herman would think they were so stupid as to believe he gave some woman money off and on for 13 years without obtaining sexual favors in return. Even an Orangutan wouldn’t believe that.
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain went from telling us about ‘9-9-9’, his oversimplified solution to our economic woes, to telling us and his wife Gloria, ‘Nein, Nein, Nein’ when responding to allegations of sexual harassment and a longtime affair.
Was Cain telling the truth when he called his accusers liars for claiming that he sexually harassed them? He could be telling the truth here because sexual harassment is sometimes seen in the eye of the beholder. The publisher of The Schalotte was once accused of sexual harassment for having a Rigid tools girlie calendar hanging on the wall of his office.
Was he telling the truth when he denied business woman Ginger White’s allegation that she had a 13-year-long affair with Cain? In this case, The Schalotte believes Herman is a liar!
White has publicly stated that her relationship with Cain “wasn’t a love affair, it was a sexual affair.” Cain denies having had a sexual affair with White while admitting that he knew her, but only as a friend.
But here is why the Schalotte believes he is lying. Cain also admitted that he gave White money from time to time to help his financially troubled ‘friend.’ Come on now, does anyone in their right mind really believe that Herman gave his friend money purely out of the kindness of his heart, and that was all there was to it? Not likely.
Maybe, and that’s a big maybe, he was able to persuade his wife that was all there was to it. But the American people should be offended that Herman would think they were so stupid as to believe he gave some woman money off and on for 13 years without obtaining sexual favors in return. Even an Orangutan wouldn’t believe that.
Sunday, December 04, 2011
DO-GOODERS BUSTED FOR SCAM THAT PREYED ON PEOPLE IN NEED
Did they use the group they founded as a cover for the scam they were committing?
ANTI-VIOLENCE GROUP LEADERS FACE CHARGES
State prosecutors allege trio ran foreclosure scam
By Jordan Guinn
The Stockton Record
December 2, 2011
SACRAMENTO - Three women coordinating an anti-gang violence movement in Stockton have been arrested in an alleged foreclosure scam, according to the state attorney general.
Magdalena Salas, 42, Angelina Mireles, 42, and Julissa Garcia, 36, who started Mothers Against Violence earlier this month, were arrested Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy, grand theft and false advertising.
The three are the top officials of a Stockton real estate company authorities allege took thousands of dollars in up-front loan modification fees and made false promises to lower the mortgage payments of homeowners in the Central Valley.
Former Stockton Councilman Ralph White, who attended Mothers Against Violence's Nov. 22 afternoon rally, said the arrest does not diminish the women's intention to reduce gang violence in the city.
"Their effort to stop violence is real; I don't care who it is, I support those who want to stop the killing," he said.
White added that complaints against people offering to help modify home loans or avoid foreclosure are common throughout the country.
An official who investigated Legacy Home Loans and Real Estate said the trio preyed on people in need.
"This operation was nothing more than a scam," Christy Romero, Deputy Special Inspector General for the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said in a prepared statement. "Salas, Mireles, and Garcia lined their pockets with up-front fees while making false promises to homeowners of lowering their mortgage payments."
Garcia, Mireles and Salas took upfront fees of $5,000 from dozens of homeowners in the area for loan modification services that were never performed, according to the Attorney General's Office.
The allegations stem from incidents from November, 2009, to August, in which the company issued fliers in English and Spanish promising to save homes and lower mortgage payments, authorities said.
All three are being held in the San Joaquin County Jail on $100,00 bonds.
ANTI-VIOLENCE GROUP LEADERS FACE CHARGES
State prosecutors allege trio ran foreclosure scam
By Jordan Guinn
The Stockton Record
December 2, 2011
SACRAMENTO - Three women coordinating an anti-gang violence movement in Stockton have been arrested in an alleged foreclosure scam, according to the state attorney general.
Magdalena Salas, 42, Angelina Mireles, 42, and Julissa Garcia, 36, who started Mothers Against Violence earlier this month, were arrested Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy, grand theft and false advertising.
The three are the top officials of a Stockton real estate company authorities allege took thousands of dollars in up-front loan modification fees and made false promises to lower the mortgage payments of homeowners in the Central Valley.
Former Stockton Councilman Ralph White, who attended Mothers Against Violence's Nov. 22 afternoon rally, said the arrest does not diminish the women's intention to reduce gang violence in the city.
"Their effort to stop violence is real; I don't care who it is, I support those who want to stop the killing," he said.
White added that complaints against people offering to help modify home loans or avoid foreclosure are common throughout the country.
An official who investigated Legacy Home Loans and Real Estate said the trio preyed on people in need.
"This operation was nothing more than a scam," Christy Romero, Deputy Special Inspector General for the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said in a prepared statement. "Salas, Mireles, and Garcia lined their pockets with up-front fees while making false promises to homeowners of lowering their mortgage payments."
Garcia, Mireles and Salas took upfront fees of $5,000 from dozens of homeowners in the area for loan modification services that were never performed, according to the Attorney General's Office.
The allegations stem from incidents from November, 2009, to August, in which the company issued fliers in English and Spanish promising to save homes and lower mortgage payments, authorities said.
All three are being held in the San Joaquin County Jail on $100,00 bonds.
AN EXAMPLE OF WHY OUR SCHOOLS ARE FAILING
Busted for burping? Had he farted instead, they probably would have called in the FBI and had the kid charged with committing an act of terrorism.
When we have teachers who react to a student’s burp like this one did, then our schools are up the creek without a paddle.
STUDENT ARRESTED FOR BURPING DURING CLASS
abc NEWS
December 2, 2011
A 13-year-old student in Albuquerque, N.M., was allegedly arrested for burping during class.
According to his lawsuit, after he “burped audibly” his teacher called the school resource officer, who in turn called the authorities to have him arrested for “interfering with public education.”
“They are using petty misdemeanor charges to arrest children in New Mexico,” said Shannon Kennedy, the boy’s attorney.
A seventh-grader at Cleveland Middle school, he names his teacher, principal and a police officer in his civil rights lawsuit.
The lawsuit also claims that school authorities transported the boy from the school to the detention facility without notifying his parents.
Additionally, it describes an incident that took place in early November in which the same boy was allegedly strip searched on suspicion of selling marijuana. He was never charged.
According to Kennedy, after a minor is booked at the juvenile detention center for a nonviolent offense, a referral is sent to the Juvenile Justice Department for a counseling appointment. She says the arrest was unnecessary because the referral to the Justice Department could have been faxed directly from the school resource officer. The student did not need to be subjected to the traumatizing booking process.
The same day this lawsuit was filed, a similar suit was filed on behalf of a 7-year-old autistic boy alleging he was hand cuffed to a chair for acting out.
Last year Kennedy said she settled a class action against the City of Albuquerque Police Department for arresting children for nonviolent crimes.
“This suit was started by a girl who was arrested for not wanting to sit next to the stinky boy in class. We settled the damages claims for a confidential amount that is sealed,” said Kennedy.
A spokesman for Albuquerque Public Schools said they would not comment on pending litigation.
When we have teachers who react to a student’s burp like this one did, then our schools are up the creek without a paddle.
STUDENT ARRESTED FOR BURPING DURING CLASS
abc NEWS
December 2, 2011
A 13-year-old student in Albuquerque, N.M., was allegedly arrested for burping during class.
According to his lawsuit, after he “burped audibly” his teacher called the school resource officer, who in turn called the authorities to have him arrested for “interfering with public education.”
“They are using petty misdemeanor charges to arrest children in New Mexico,” said Shannon Kennedy, the boy’s attorney.
A seventh-grader at Cleveland Middle school, he names his teacher, principal and a police officer in his civil rights lawsuit.
The lawsuit also claims that school authorities transported the boy from the school to the detention facility without notifying his parents.
Additionally, it describes an incident that took place in early November in which the same boy was allegedly strip searched on suspicion of selling marijuana. He was never charged.
According to Kennedy, after a minor is booked at the juvenile detention center for a nonviolent offense, a referral is sent to the Juvenile Justice Department for a counseling appointment. She says the arrest was unnecessary because the referral to the Justice Department could have been faxed directly from the school resource officer. The student did not need to be subjected to the traumatizing booking process.
The same day this lawsuit was filed, a similar suit was filed on behalf of a 7-year-old autistic boy alleging he was hand cuffed to a chair for acting out.
Last year Kennedy said she settled a class action against the City of Albuquerque Police Department for arresting children for nonviolent crimes.
“This suit was started by a girl who was arrested for not wanting to sit next to the stinky boy in class. We settled the damages claims for a confidential amount that is sealed,” said Kennedy.
A spokesman for Albuquerque Public Schools said they would not comment on pending litigation.
Z-40: 'NOT THE ARMY, NOT THE MARINES NOR THE SECURITY AND ANTI-DRUG AGENCIES OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CAN RESIST US'
From Borderland Beat:
ZETAS ISSUE OPEN CHALLENGE TO U.S. AND MEXICO GOVERNMENTS
By Andrew O'Reilly
Fox News Latino
December 2, 2011
Mexico's ultra-violent Zetas drug cartel released a communique challenging Mexico and the United States.
"Message to the nation, the government, and all of Mexico and to public opinion: The special forces of Los Zetas challenges the government of Mexico and its federal forces," said the communique, which was signed by Zetas leader Miguel Angel Treviño Morales, also known as Z-40.
The Zetas were formed in 1999 Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, known as "El Lazca," who along with three other soldiers deserted an elite special operations unit within the Mexican army to become the armed wing of the Gulf drug cartel.
The Zetas are now one of the most violent and powerful cartels operating in Mexico. The former paramilitary group is considered to be one of two dominant cartels in Mexico, along with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's Sinaloa cartel.
The group is believed to be responsible for the attack on a casino in Monterrey earlier this year that left 52 people dead.
"Not the Army, not the Marines nor the security and anti-drug agencies of the United States government can resist us. Mexico lives and will continue under the regime of Los Zetas," the communique went on to state.
While most of the violence related to the Zetas has remained in Mexico, the group has made headway into the U.S. with recent attacks and the capture of cartel members highlighting this infiltration. Last month, a botched drug bust outside of Houston left a U.S. secret operative dead and a sheriff's deputy injured after Zetas gunmen surprised the operation.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents also deported last week Donis Ruiz a suspected Zetas member wanted for kidnappings in Mexico.
"Let it be clear that we are in control here and although the federal government controls other cartels, they cannot take our plazas. You want proof?" the communique asked. "Look at what happened in Sinaloa and Guadalajara. If we can get all the way into their kitchen we are not going to lose control of our territory."
The Zetas are considered the second most powerful cartel in Mexico behind Guzmán's Sinaloa cartel, with one or the other group present in almost every Mexican state.As they battle for lucrative smuggling routes, the two cartels have recently ramped up attacks on one another.
Back in September in the Gulf coast city of Veracruz, Mexican authorities discovered the bound and tortured bodies of 35 alleged Zetas members dumped by the Sinaloa cartel onto a main thoroughfare in the city. In May, over two dozen people, most of them Zetas, were killed as they attempted to infiltrate the Sinaloa cartel's territory in the state of Nayarit.
Since President Felipe Calderón declared war on the country's drug cartels shortly after taking office in 2006, an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 people have been killed in Mexico's ensuring violence.
ZETAS ISSUE OPEN CHALLENGE TO U.S. AND MEXICO GOVERNMENTS
By Andrew O'Reilly
Fox News Latino
December 2, 2011
Mexico's ultra-violent Zetas drug cartel released a communique challenging Mexico and the United States.
"Message to the nation, the government, and all of Mexico and to public opinion: The special forces of Los Zetas challenges the government of Mexico and its federal forces," said the communique, which was signed by Zetas leader Miguel Angel Treviño Morales, also known as Z-40.
The Zetas were formed in 1999 Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, known as "El Lazca," who along with three other soldiers deserted an elite special operations unit within the Mexican army to become the armed wing of the Gulf drug cartel.
The Zetas are now one of the most violent and powerful cartels operating in Mexico. The former paramilitary group is considered to be one of two dominant cartels in Mexico, along with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's Sinaloa cartel.
The group is believed to be responsible for the attack on a casino in Monterrey earlier this year that left 52 people dead.
"Not the Army, not the Marines nor the security and anti-drug agencies of the United States government can resist us. Mexico lives and will continue under the regime of Los Zetas," the communique went on to state.
While most of the violence related to the Zetas has remained in Mexico, the group has made headway into the U.S. with recent attacks and the capture of cartel members highlighting this infiltration. Last month, a botched drug bust outside of Houston left a U.S. secret operative dead and a sheriff's deputy injured after Zetas gunmen surprised the operation.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents also deported last week Donis Ruiz a suspected Zetas member wanted for kidnappings in Mexico.
"Let it be clear that we are in control here and although the federal government controls other cartels, they cannot take our plazas. You want proof?" the communique asked. "Look at what happened in Sinaloa and Guadalajara. If we can get all the way into their kitchen we are not going to lose control of our territory."
The Zetas are considered the second most powerful cartel in Mexico behind Guzmán's Sinaloa cartel, with one or the other group present in almost every Mexican state.As they battle for lucrative smuggling routes, the two cartels have recently ramped up attacks on one another.
Back in September in the Gulf coast city of Veracruz, Mexican authorities discovered the bound and tortured bodies of 35 alleged Zetas members dumped by the Sinaloa cartel onto a main thoroughfare in the city. In May, over two dozen people, most of them Zetas, were killed as they attempted to infiltrate the Sinaloa cartel's territory in the state of Nayarit.
Since President Felipe Calderón declared war on the country's drug cartels shortly after taking office in 2006, an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 people have been killed in Mexico's ensuring violence.
Saturday, December 03, 2011
THE DEA SHOULD NOT RECLASSIFY MARIJUANA
In order to accommodate the medical marijuana laws enacted by 16 states, Governors Chris Gregoire of Washington and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island have called on DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart to reclassify Marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II drug. I hope that Ms. Leonhart rejects their request, sticks to her guns and maintains Marijuana as a Schedule I drug.
The use of marijuana for medical purposes is controversial and even though the American Medical Association has been conned into approving it for glaucoma, cancer and AIDS patients, many physicians know better and refuse to prescribe it. I am sure that getting stoned on pot does alleviate the suffering of glaucoma, cancer and AIDS patients, but so will a good dose of Jack Daniel’s or Jim Beam.
The medical marijuana laws are a fraud perpetrated by those who expected to get rich and are getting filthy rich off the growing and distribution of ‘medical’ pot. The legalization of marijuana for medical purposes has been perverted into a de facto legalization of pot in California, Colorado and other states.
It is a sad indictment of the medical profession when almost anyone can walk into many a California doctor’s office and obtain a marijuana prescription for headaches, backaches, hair loss, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, depression, ingrown toenails, constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel, hemorrhoids, and you name it. Those doctors are also getting rich while knowing that their ‘patients’ are faking it.
In a letter last July, DEA Administrator Leonhart declared that marijuana "has a high potential for abuse," "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" and "lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision." The letter and 37 pages of supporting documents were published in the Federal Register.
Marijuana should remain a Schedule I drug. It is the gateway drug to heroin, cocaine, meth and other dangerous drugs. I am sure that drivers stoned on pot are killing many innocent drivers on our nation’s roadways and highways. The use of pot can have many other debilitating effects on chronic users.
The medical marijuana laws violate the federal laws against the possession, manufacture and distribution of pot. I hope the DEA goes after the for-profit growers of ‘medical’ marijuana and the operators of pot dispensaries of which there are almost 400 in Los Angeles alone.
The use of marijuana for medical purposes is controversial and even though the American Medical Association has been conned into approving it for glaucoma, cancer and AIDS patients, many physicians know better and refuse to prescribe it. I am sure that getting stoned on pot does alleviate the suffering of glaucoma, cancer and AIDS patients, but so will a good dose of Jack Daniel’s or Jim Beam.
The medical marijuana laws are a fraud perpetrated by those who expected to get rich and are getting filthy rich off the growing and distribution of ‘medical’ pot. The legalization of marijuana for medical purposes has been perverted into a de facto legalization of pot in California, Colorado and other states.
It is a sad indictment of the medical profession when almost anyone can walk into many a California doctor’s office and obtain a marijuana prescription for headaches, backaches, hair loss, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, depression, ingrown toenails, constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel, hemorrhoids, and you name it. Those doctors are also getting rich while knowing that their ‘patients’ are faking it.
In a letter last July, DEA Administrator Leonhart declared that marijuana "has a high potential for abuse," "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" and "lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision." The letter and 37 pages of supporting documents were published in the Federal Register.
Marijuana should remain a Schedule I drug. It is the gateway drug to heroin, cocaine, meth and other dangerous drugs. I am sure that drivers stoned on pot are killing many innocent drivers on our nation’s roadways and highways. The use of pot can have many other debilitating effects on chronic users.
The medical marijuana laws violate the federal laws against the possession, manufacture and distribution of pot. I hope the DEA goes after the for-profit growers of ‘medical’ marijuana and the operators of pot dispensaries of which there are almost 400 in Los Angeles alone.
COMPETITION FOR THE DRUG CARTELS
Maybe the Zetas will close the pot dispensaries if the DEA doesn’t.
372 MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOPS FILE L.A. BUSINESS TAX PAPERWORK
LAPPL NewsWatch
December 2, 2011
Los Angeles is home to more medical marijuana shops than any other city. That much is certain. And more are still opening. But how many there are is usually a guessing game. Now, however, the city has a new number: 372. That's how many filed forms with the city's office of finance by the Oct. 31 deadline in preparation for paying the new pot tax.
372 MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOPS FILE L.A. BUSINESS TAX PAPERWORK
LAPPL NewsWatch
December 2, 2011
Los Angeles is home to more medical marijuana shops than any other city. That much is certain. And more are still opening. But how many there are is usually a guessing game. Now, however, the city has a new number: 372. That's how many filed forms with the city's office of finance by the Oct. 31 deadline in preparation for paying the new pot tax.
PRIVATIZATION AS CRIME?
Peacemaking is an interesting blog published by Harold E. Pepinsky, PhD, Professor Emeritus (Criminology), University of Indiana. While I disagree with much of what Dr. Pepinsky says in this post, I do agree that in some cases the selling off of state assets does not serve the public well.
My state of Texas is cash-strapped like all the other states and is trying to sell off some public lands to private developers. I think that the sale of public lands for private development is a really bad idea, but other sales of some state assets may well be justified.
As for class warfare, it needs to be vilified because it is simply playing the have-nots against the haves for political purposes while doing really nothing to help the less fortunate in this country.
THE MOVEMENT TO PRIVATIZE
By Hal Pepinsky
Peacemaking
December 2, 2011
The movement to sell off state assets to for-profit corporations at bargain basement prices took hold when Margaret Thatcher became British prime minister in 1979. I ask my criminological self how to label this privatization movement, and I call it criminal in its real world effects.
From my own Anglo legal tradition, this movement constitutes organized robbery of state resources. That is, politicians force sale of public assets with threats that unless public services are sold to private investors, no one will feed and satiate the political appetite of youth who compete for jobs with their elders. And so prevailing politicians from Ms. Thatcher forward have accelerated global ripoffs of state services.
When I lived in Magomeni Makuti on the outskirts of Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam in 1990, young girls walked community streets during the day because their families could not afford the school uniforms required by the International Monetary Fund to secure IMF loans. Now in my country and in Europe in particular, financial “technocrats” are requiring Greeks and Spaniards and Italians and Portuguese and Irish to sell off state assets and workers to whatever private corporate bidder comes along to reduce this or that national debt. What a racket!
I don’t believe in personal blame or punishment. How many of us who can afford it invest in Wall Street to pay for our retirement? Privatization is steeped in innocence and “best evidence” of how to achieve “stability” in our ever-changing world. Still, privatization is a crime.
“Socialism” and “class warfare” have been politically vilified in my country since before Karl Marx started writing. During the Cold War in my country politicians pointed to the Soviet Union as a drab and intrusive alternative to “neoliberalism.” Now when in my part of the world public sector workers are singled out for privatization (as in public schooling), I seek appreciation of public ownership of social assets.
My state of Texas is cash-strapped like all the other states and is trying to sell off some public lands to private developers. I think that the sale of public lands for private development is a really bad idea, but other sales of some state assets may well be justified.
As for class warfare, it needs to be vilified because it is simply playing the have-nots against the haves for political purposes while doing really nothing to help the less fortunate in this country.
THE MOVEMENT TO PRIVATIZE
By Hal Pepinsky
Peacemaking
December 2, 2011
The movement to sell off state assets to for-profit corporations at bargain basement prices took hold when Margaret Thatcher became British prime minister in 1979. I ask my criminological self how to label this privatization movement, and I call it criminal in its real world effects.
From my own Anglo legal tradition, this movement constitutes organized robbery of state resources. That is, politicians force sale of public assets with threats that unless public services are sold to private investors, no one will feed and satiate the political appetite of youth who compete for jobs with their elders. And so prevailing politicians from Ms. Thatcher forward have accelerated global ripoffs of state services.
When I lived in Magomeni Makuti on the outskirts of Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam in 1990, young girls walked community streets during the day because their families could not afford the school uniforms required by the International Monetary Fund to secure IMF loans. Now in my country and in Europe in particular, financial “technocrats” are requiring Greeks and Spaniards and Italians and Portuguese and Irish to sell off state assets and workers to whatever private corporate bidder comes along to reduce this or that national debt. What a racket!
I don’t believe in personal blame or punishment. How many of us who can afford it invest in Wall Street to pay for our retirement? Privatization is steeped in innocence and “best evidence” of how to achieve “stability” in our ever-changing world. Still, privatization is a crime.
“Socialism” and “class warfare” have been politically vilified in my country since before Karl Marx started writing. During the Cold War in my country politicians pointed to the Soviet Union as a drab and intrusive alternative to “neoliberalism.” Now when in my part of the world public sector workers are singled out for privatization (as in public schooling), I seek appreciation of public ownership of social assets.
EXCRETORY ETIQUETTE
Attention men: When you whip it out, don’t aim that yellow stream in the direction of Mecca!
LATRINE DIRECTIVE ANOTHER STEP ON PATH TO ISLAMIFICATION
By Diana West
Jewish World Review
December 2, 2011
Having written countless columns and blog posts arguing that the see-no-Islam counterinsurgency strategy (COIN) has led to failure in two wars in the umma (Muslim world) and the dhimmification of the U.S. military, it's almost funny to see the debate more or less officially joined over my recent column on what appears to be simply the gross-out, PG-13 movie topic of peeing toward Mecca. Or, rather, not peeing toward Mecca.
The latter is the lesson that an Afghan Muslim contractor has been teaching Marines before they deploy to Afghanistan, in accordance with an Islamic canonical hadith called "The Prohibition of Facing the Qiblah When Relieving Oneself." But maybe the debate had to take this excretory turn with the Pentagon awash in the phony fundamentals of Greg Mortenson's discredited "Three Cups of Tea."
Scatological or not, what we are talking about here is an untenable invasion of privacy of American citizens in uniform via religious dictate as taught by the U.S. Marine Corps.
The Nov. 28 print edition of Marine Corps Times carries both an article and a lead editorial on what the paper is politely calling "excretory etiquette" regarding Marines and Mecca -- which, incidentally, is about 2,000 miles from Afghanistan. But this isn't just about etiquette. Given its Islamic religious derivation, the Marines' excretory instruction strikes me as a violation of religious freedom. Who is the U.S. Marine Corps to instruct American citizens to bring their personal hygiene practices into accord with Islamic law? The Corps in this case is acting as a vehicle of Islamic law, which comprehensively rules on all manner of personal habits, as well as on civil and legal affairs.
Needless to say, the Marine Corps doesn't see it that way. Its spokesmen have contended narrowly that this lesson taught by a contractor (hired by the Corps) isn't "formal Marine Corps doctrine," as the Marine Corps Times editorial puts it. Formal or not, the editors also don't think this Marine Shariah (Islamic law) is a bad idea. Headlined "Respect differences," the editorial states: "Thing is, there's value to this sort of insight." Perhaps in the name of respecting "differences"?
Heavens, no. This is all about respecting Islam, not "differences." After all, if it were about "differences," the respect in question would extend to the non-Islamic belief that not all bodily functions taking place on planet Earth must key off the location of a town in Saudi Arabia. To each his own.
That's not the editorial's subject. The value, it says, comes "in light of the tense conditions under which both groups must coexist."
Tense conditions -- as in border firefights? Roadside bombs? No, again. The editorial refers to tensions between Muslims and infidels inside the wire. "Consider that in the last four years," the editorial continues, "nearly 60 coalition troops have been killed by their Afghan counterparts."
So "respecting differences" here means pee straight or die. That's the lesson the military wants to teach young Americans heading into the war zone -- again, inside the wire. The only way it knows to increase their safety while on their own bases or when "partnering" with Afghans is to school them in the practice of Islamic law. In effect, then, collaboration with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan requires the United States of America to Islamify its infidel forces, just a little, just to keep those religious crazies in the Afghan ranks from popping off.
More guidelines for U.S. forces: "If you must pass a man praying, pass at a respectful distance. Do not walk between a man praying and Mecca -- always walk behind him. ... Do not touch Qurans or prayer rugs." To be fair to the Marines, those rules come from the Center for Army Lessons Learned. But it's all of a Pentagon piece. And guess where such "safety" education -- the dhimmi rules of Shariah -- will be taught next?
I bet it would surprise the brass at the Pentagon to learn that Islam means "submission," and that the age-old choice Islam has offered infidels is to submit or die. Still, they seem to have learned, as the editorial puts it, that "certain behavior that wouldn't get a second look stateside could lead to problems at a patrol base in Helmand province."
"Problems." What a way to invoke shootings of our people by Afghan forces -- the spurting, flaring jihad none dares name. "Counseling Marines to aim east ultimately may head off trouble," the editorial concludes. Submission always does.
LATRINE DIRECTIVE ANOTHER STEP ON PATH TO ISLAMIFICATION
By Diana West
Jewish World Review
December 2, 2011
Having written countless columns and blog posts arguing that the see-no-Islam counterinsurgency strategy (COIN) has led to failure in two wars in the umma (Muslim world) and the dhimmification of the U.S. military, it's almost funny to see the debate more or less officially joined over my recent column on what appears to be simply the gross-out, PG-13 movie topic of peeing toward Mecca. Or, rather, not peeing toward Mecca.
The latter is the lesson that an Afghan Muslim contractor has been teaching Marines before they deploy to Afghanistan, in accordance with an Islamic canonical hadith called "The Prohibition of Facing the Qiblah When Relieving Oneself." But maybe the debate had to take this excretory turn with the Pentagon awash in the phony fundamentals of Greg Mortenson's discredited "Three Cups of Tea."
Scatological or not, what we are talking about here is an untenable invasion of privacy of American citizens in uniform via religious dictate as taught by the U.S. Marine Corps.
The Nov. 28 print edition of Marine Corps Times carries both an article and a lead editorial on what the paper is politely calling "excretory etiquette" regarding Marines and Mecca -- which, incidentally, is about 2,000 miles from Afghanistan. But this isn't just about etiquette. Given its Islamic religious derivation, the Marines' excretory instruction strikes me as a violation of religious freedom. Who is the U.S. Marine Corps to instruct American citizens to bring their personal hygiene practices into accord with Islamic law? The Corps in this case is acting as a vehicle of Islamic law, which comprehensively rules on all manner of personal habits, as well as on civil and legal affairs.
Needless to say, the Marine Corps doesn't see it that way. Its spokesmen have contended narrowly that this lesson taught by a contractor (hired by the Corps) isn't "formal Marine Corps doctrine," as the Marine Corps Times editorial puts it. Formal or not, the editors also don't think this Marine Shariah (Islamic law) is a bad idea. Headlined "Respect differences," the editorial states: "Thing is, there's value to this sort of insight." Perhaps in the name of respecting "differences"?
Heavens, no. This is all about respecting Islam, not "differences." After all, if it were about "differences," the respect in question would extend to the non-Islamic belief that not all bodily functions taking place on planet Earth must key off the location of a town in Saudi Arabia. To each his own.
That's not the editorial's subject. The value, it says, comes "in light of the tense conditions under which both groups must coexist."
Tense conditions -- as in border firefights? Roadside bombs? No, again. The editorial refers to tensions between Muslims and infidels inside the wire. "Consider that in the last four years," the editorial continues, "nearly 60 coalition troops have been killed by their Afghan counterparts."
So "respecting differences" here means pee straight or die. That's the lesson the military wants to teach young Americans heading into the war zone -- again, inside the wire. The only way it knows to increase their safety while on their own bases or when "partnering" with Afghans is to school them in the practice of Islamic law. In effect, then, collaboration with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan requires the United States of America to Islamify its infidel forces, just a little, just to keep those religious crazies in the Afghan ranks from popping off.
More guidelines for U.S. forces: "If you must pass a man praying, pass at a respectful distance. Do not walk between a man praying and Mecca -- always walk behind him. ... Do not touch Qurans or prayer rugs." To be fair to the Marines, those rules come from the Center for Army Lessons Learned. But it's all of a Pentagon piece. And guess where such "safety" education -- the dhimmi rules of Shariah -- will be taught next?
I bet it would surprise the brass at the Pentagon to learn that Islam means "submission," and that the age-old choice Islam has offered infidels is to submit or die. Still, they seem to have learned, as the editorial puts it, that "certain behavior that wouldn't get a second look stateside could lead to problems at a patrol base in Helmand province."
"Problems." What a way to invoke shootings of our people by Afghan forces -- the spurting, flaring jihad none dares name. "Counseling Marines to aim east ultimately may head off trouble," the editorial concludes. Submission always does.
VISITING BABES GET TOPLESS AND TOUCHED AT CLUB FED
This must be part of the prison reform that criminologists and prisoner-rights groups keep advocating.
REPORT: FAKE PARALEGALS STRIP FOR MIAMI INMATES
Wealthy drug lords are reportedly hiring lawyers who smuggle women inside Miami’s Federal Detention Center
PoliceOne.com
December 1, 2011
MIAMI — Pole dancers posing as legal assistants regularly strip for inmates at the maximum-security Federal Detention Center in Miami, according to reports.
Attorneys originally quoted by The Miami New Times say that wealthy drug lords inside the prison bring the women inside by hiring lawyers who falsely identify them as paralegals.
"Any lawyer can sign a form and designate a legal assistant. There is no way of verifying it," veteran defense attorney Hugo Rodriguez said. Rodriguez added that once inside, the women "take off their tops and let the guys touch them."
Officials at the center did not comment on the accusations and declined to provide paperwork about any specific incidents, according to USA Today, but several officials quoted insist the practice has become routine.
"Everyone knows about it," an unnamed private investigator said. "They are making a mockery out of the prison system here."
REPORT: FAKE PARALEGALS STRIP FOR MIAMI INMATES
Wealthy drug lords are reportedly hiring lawyers who smuggle women inside Miami’s Federal Detention Center
PoliceOne.com
December 1, 2011
MIAMI — Pole dancers posing as legal assistants regularly strip for inmates at the maximum-security Federal Detention Center in Miami, according to reports.
Attorneys originally quoted by The Miami New Times say that wealthy drug lords inside the prison bring the women inside by hiring lawyers who falsely identify them as paralegals.
"Any lawyer can sign a form and designate a legal assistant. There is no way of verifying it," veteran defense attorney Hugo Rodriguez said. Rodriguez added that once inside, the women "take off their tops and let the guys touch them."
Officials at the center did not comment on the accusations and declined to provide paperwork about any specific incidents, according to USA Today, but several officials quoted insist the practice has become routine.
"Everyone knows about it," an unnamed private investigator said. "They are making a mockery out of the prison system here."
Friday, December 02, 2011
NYPD: MANIPULATION OF CRIME STATISTICS 'UNDERMINE ANY EFFORTS TO CREATE A CULTURE OF INTEGRITY'
Criminologists Eli Silverman, of John Jay College, and John Eterno, of Molloy College, offer one of their periodic opinion pieces about the NYPD. This one is about the intersection between the recent police corruption scandals and what they call the "distorted use of and lack of transparency of Compstat."
__Graham Rayman, The Village Voice
NYPD’S CRIME STAT MANIPULATION A FACTOR IN RECENT CORRUPTION SCANDALS
by Eli B. Silverman, Ph.D. and John A. Eterno, Ph.D.
The Village Voice
November 29 2011
Recent NYPD corruption, ticket fixing, and other scandals have cast doubt on the ability of the department to police itself. This has re-kindled numerous governmental, political, and media calls for external monitoring and oversight of the department's anti-corruption efforts.
Independent oversight and monitoring is necessary but by no means sufficient. It will not, by itself, solve the problem since it ignores the core of the trouble - the distorted use of and lack of transparency of Compstat-the NYPD's crime strategy performance management system and its manipulated crime statistics.
When the Mayor's Commission to Combat Police Corruption was rebuffed in its efforts to investigate crime statistics in 2005, the Police Commissioner maintained that this was outside the Commission's jurisdiction, the Mayor agreed and the panel chairman resigned shortly thereafter.
This defensive support of a warped version of Compstat has major consequences for the NYPD's ability to reform itself. One upshot is a virtually exclusive focus on crime statistics regardless of how it is achieved as revealed in recordings made by Police Officer Adrian Schoolcraft and other police officers. When crime control becomes the be all and end all, then the ends justifies the means. This entails headquarters' quotas for summonses, arrests and others enforcement activities. It also means almost 700,000 stop and frisks in predominantly minority neighborhoods in this year alone.
An ends justifies the means crime statistics outlook easily spills over into other areas. The manipulation of crime statistics can contribute to a culture of cynicism in the department. When supervisors are playing games with the crime data whether outright fraud or manipulation that falls into a gray area of legality, this can undermine any efforts to create a culture of integrity.
Is it any wonder that cops may view ticket fixing within the ethical framework of a "courtesy?" This view is consistent with our survey findings that commanders perceived lesser pressure for integrity of crime data once Compstat began.
This survey of retired NYPD Commanders, first reported in February 2010, revealed that since 1995, the first full year of Compstat's operations, commanders felt pressure to downgrade felonies to misdemeanors. Others have also attested to manipulation of crime figures.
Additionally, and equally important, when crime micromanagement dominates the daily agenda, corruption control and other non crime control police responsibilities barely enter the NYPD's radar screen. As political and police leadership only measure themselves by publicly reported crime statistics, any outside attempts to examine leadership operations are rebuffed.
As far as the NYPD is concerned, there is only one center stage; its name is Compstat and other activities are relegated to a side show requiring attention only when transgressions are revealed. Crime control is virtually exclusive; corruption control is a reclusive appendage.
As such, the NYPD is almost completely reactive in its fight against internal corruption allowing little, if any, true outside scrutiny. Yet, at the same time, it expects communities to acquiesce and be open to its patently proactive fight against crime as they forcibly stop, question, arrest, investigate, summons, poke and prod countless people under what may be questionable legal circumstances. Such double standards cannot stand.
What began in1994 as a valuable and innovative crime tracking and managerial accountability system, Compstat has morphed into a centralized top down numbers dominated system which places unrelenting pressure on commanders to produce favorable crime statistics, summonses, arrests, stop and frisks, and other activity. A recent Operations Order by the NYPD confirms these pressures which
reflect long-standing practices that we helped expose.
Therefore transparency and external oversight reforms must examine Compstat's underbelly --the centrally controlled management system that demands favorable crime statistics and leaves little room for lower levels to practice responsible democratic policing NYPD leaders need to set an example and open the Compstat doors to independent outside scrutiny. Just as they expect citizens to subject themselves to their intense scrutiny, they too need to open up and allow complete outside examination.
__________
Silverman and Eterno are the coauthors of The Crime Numbers Game: Management by Manipulation, forthcoming CRC Press, Taylor and Francis.
__Graham Rayman, The Village Voice
NYPD’S CRIME STAT MANIPULATION A FACTOR IN RECENT CORRUPTION SCANDALS
by Eli B. Silverman, Ph.D. and John A. Eterno, Ph.D.
The Village Voice
November 29 2011
Recent NYPD corruption, ticket fixing, and other scandals have cast doubt on the ability of the department to police itself. This has re-kindled numerous governmental, political, and media calls for external monitoring and oversight of the department's anti-corruption efforts.
Independent oversight and monitoring is necessary but by no means sufficient. It will not, by itself, solve the problem since it ignores the core of the trouble - the distorted use of and lack of transparency of Compstat-the NYPD's crime strategy performance management system and its manipulated crime statistics.
When the Mayor's Commission to Combat Police Corruption was rebuffed in its efforts to investigate crime statistics in 2005, the Police Commissioner maintained that this was outside the Commission's jurisdiction, the Mayor agreed and the panel chairman resigned shortly thereafter.
This defensive support of a warped version of Compstat has major consequences for the NYPD's ability to reform itself. One upshot is a virtually exclusive focus on crime statistics regardless of how it is achieved as revealed in recordings made by Police Officer Adrian Schoolcraft and other police officers. When crime control becomes the be all and end all, then the ends justifies the means. This entails headquarters' quotas for summonses, arrests and others enforcement activities. It also means almost 700,000 stop and frisks in predominantly minority neighborhoods in this year alone.
An ends justifies the means crime statistics outlook easily spills over into other areas. The manipulation of crime statistics can contribute to a culture of cynicism in the department. When supervisors are playing games with the crime data whether outright fraud or manipulation that falls into a gray area of legality, this can undermine any efforts to create a culture of integrity.
Is it any wonder that cops may view ticket fixing within the ethical framework of a "courtesy?" This view is consistent with our survey findings that commanders perceived lesser pressure for integrity of crime data once Compstat began.
This survey of retired NYPD Commanders, first reported in February 2010, revealed that since 1995, the first full year of Compstat's operations, commanders felt pressure to downgrade felonies to misdemeanors. Others have also attested to manipulation of crime figures.
Additionally, and equally important, when crime micromanagement dominates the daily agenda, corruption control and other non crime control police responsibilities barely enter the NYPD's radar screen. As political and police leadership only measure themselves by publicly reported crime statistics, any outside attempts to examine leadership operations are rebuffed.
As far as the NYPD is concerned, there is only one center stage; its name is Compstat and other activities are relegated to a side show requiring attention only when transgressions are revealed. Crime control is virtually exclusive; corruption control is a reclusive appendage.
As such, the NYPD is almost completely reactive in its fight against internal corruption allowing little, if any, true outside scrutiny. Yet, at the same time, it expects communities to acquiesce and be open to its patently proactive fight against crime as they forcibly stop, question, arrest, investigate, summons, poke and prod countless people under what may be questionable legal circumstances. Such double standards cannot stand.
What began in1994 as a valuable and innovative crime tracking and managerial accountability system, Compstat has morphed into a centralized top down numbers dominated system which places unrelenting pressure on commanders to produce favorable crime statistics, summonses, arrests, stop and frisks, and other activity. A recent Operations Order by the NYPD confirms these pressures which
reflect long-standing practices that we helped expose.
Therefore transparency and external oversight reforms must examine Compstat's underbelly --the centrally controlled management system that demands favorable crime statistics and leaves little room for lower levels to practice responsible democratic policing NYPD leaders need to set an example and open the Compstat doors to independent outside scrutiny. Just as they expect citizens to subject themselves to their intense scrutiny, they too need to open up and allow complete outside examination.
__________
Silverman and Eterno are the coauthors of The Crime Numbers Game: Management by Manipulation, forthcoming CRC Press, Taylor and Francis.
A POX ON ROBERT ALAN EUSTACE, NICHOLAS PRITZKER, REED HASTINGS AND THE ACLU
Obviously none of these wealthy contributors have ever had a loved one brutally murdered. I hope the people of California have the good sense to vote down the proposed death penalty repeal measure if it does get on the ballot.
The shopworn argument that by abolishing the death penalty, the states would save millions of dollars is not true. If you compare the cost of keeping a condemned inmate on death row for 10 years - most of that cost coming from fighting endless appeals – to the cost of keeping him locked up for life, you will find that it cost the state more money to keep him locked up for, let’s say 30 years. Oh by the way - surprise, surprise - the costs of confining inmates keep going up and up as they age.
CAMPAIGN TO REPEAL CALIFORNIA DEATH PENALTY NETS NEARLY $1.2 MILLION
by Torey Van Oot
The Sacramento Bee
November 20, 2011
A group seeking to ask California voters to repeal the death penalty has netted nearly $1.2 million in recent weeks to aid its drive to qualify for the 2012 ballot.
The contributions, made to a committee created to fund the proposed ballot measure, were reported this week in campaign finance filings posted on the secretary of state website.
Major donors listed in the report include several California branches of the American Civil Liberties Union ($41,770), Google executive Robert Alan Eustace ($125,000), Hyatt Development Corporation CEO Nicholas Pritzker ($500,000), and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings ($125,000).
Supporters of the proposed measure, which would replace the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole, must collect 504,760 valid voter signatures by March 19 to secure a spot on the November ballot. They've argued that the change, which would apply retroactively to inmates currently on death row, would free up tens of millions of dollars that could be used for law enforcement, education and other state spending needs.
The shopworn argument that by abolishing the death penalty, the states would save millions of dollars is not true. If you compare the cost of keeping a condemned inmate on death row for 10 years - most of that cost coming from fighting endless appeals – to the cost of keeping him locked up for life, you will find that it cost the state more money to keep him locked up for, let’s say 30 years. Oh by the way - surprise, surprise - the costs of confining inmates keep going up and up as they age.
CAMPAIGN TO REPEAL CALIFORNIA DEATH PENALTY NETS NEARLY $1.2 MILLION
by Torey Van Oot
The Sacramento Bee
November 20, 2011
A group seeking to ask California voters to repeal the death penalty has netted nearly $1.2 million in recent weeks to aid its drive to qualify for the 2012 ballot.
The contributions, made to a committee created to fund the proposed ballot measure, were reported this week in campaign finance filings posted on the secretary of state website.
Major donors listed in the report include several California branches of the American Civil Liberties Union ($41,770), Google executive Robert Alan Eustace ($125,000), Hyatt Development Corporation CEO Nicholas Pritzker ($500,000), and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings ($125,000).
Supporters of the proposed measure, which would replace the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole, must collect 504,760 valid voter signatures by March 19 to secure a spot on the November ballot. They've argued that the change, which would apply retroactively to inmates currently on death row, would free up tens of millions of dollars that could be used for law enforcement, education and other state spending needs.
NO HONOR AMONG THIEVES
Training to become a certified trucker? Now that’s a real funny joke Your Honor, or don’t you know that this fucker can’t get a job as a trucker, what with his criminal record.
PAROLEE TARGETED JAIL’S INMATE FUND IN CHECK SCHEME
Judge to ask the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to offer him training that would allow him to become a certified trucker upon release.
By Jamie Satterfield
Knoxnews.com
November 29, 2011
GREENEVILLE, TENN. — Rebuffed in his efforts to find legitimate work, a parolee with a quarter-century of criminal convictions decided to rip off the folks he knew best — inmates.
"I just got tired of being homeless and not being able to support myself," Eric Wayne Cureton said of his decision to mastermind an effort to bilk the Washington County Sheriff's Department's Inmate Trust Fund.
Cureton earlier this year pleaded guilty to charges he headed up a counterfeit check cashing scheme involving an account administered by Washington County authorities on behalf of inmates whose family and friends deposit money to cover purchases inside the jail there, including toiletries, paper and pens.
Prior court testimony and records show Cureton obtained a check from the fund, scanned it into a laptop rented by a cohort and used software to create counterfeit copies. Cureton then recruited others to cash the bogus checks, collecting a bounty of the proceeds for himself.
Cureton, 42, insisted at a sentencing hearing Monday that he tried to go straight after he was paroled from a Tennessee prison in September 2010. Just five months later, however, he hatched the counterfeit check scheme.
"At the time I got released, there was literally no place to go," Cureton said. "My intention was to try to find a job. Nobody would call me back."
U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer was sympathetic — to a point.
"I certainly understand your circumstance but none of that justifies taking from somebody else," he said.
Greer noted Cureton gave up too soon in his efforts to find legitimate employment.
"You can put in more applications," Greer said. "You can knock on doors."
"Your honor, I've done that," Cureton replied.
"You've got to keep doing it," Greer said. "That's my point. Don't get involved in some counterfeit ring. Just keep knocking."
Greer sentenced Cureton to 21 months in federal prison but promised to ask the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to offer Cureton training that would allow him to become a certified trucker upon release.
"You've reached a point in life, Mr. Cureton, where you've got a decision to make, and the decision for you is whether you're going to have a chance at being a productive citizen or whether you're going to spend the rest of your life in prison."
PAROLEE TARGETED JAIL’S INMATE FUND IN CHECK SCHEME
Judge to ask the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to offer him training that would allow him to become a certified trucker upon release.
By Jamie Satterfield
Knoxnews.com
November 29, 2011
GREENEVILLE, TENN. — Rebuffed in his efforts to find legitimate work, a parolee with a quarter-century of criminal convictions decided to rip off the folks he knew best — inmates.
"I just got tired of being homeless and not being able to support myself," Eric Wayne Cureton said of his decision to mastermind an effort to bilk the Washington County Sheriff's Department's Inmate Trust Fund.
Cureton earlier this year pleaded guilty to charges he headed up a counterfeit check cashing scheme involving an account administered by Washington County authorities on behalf of inmates whose family and friends deposit money to cover purchases inside the jail there, including toiletries, paper and pens.
Prior court testimony and records show Cureton obtained a check from the fund, scanned it into a laptop rented by a cohort and used software to create counterfeit copies. Cureton then recruited others to cash the bogus checks, collecting a bounty of the proceeds for himself.
Cureton, 42, insisted at a sentencing hearing Monday that he tried to go straight after he was paroled from a Tennessee prison in September 2010. Just five months later, however, he hatched the counterfeit check scheme.
"At the time I got released, there was literally no place to go," Cureton said. "My intention was to try to find a job. Nobody would call me back."
U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer was sympathetic — to a point.
"I certainly understand your circumstance but none of that justifies taking from somebody else," he said.
Greer noted Cureton gave up too soon in his efforts to find legitimate employment.
"You can put in more applications," Greer said. "You can knock on doors."
"Your honor, I've done that," Cureton replied.
"You've got to keep doing it," Greer said. "That's my point. Don't get involved in some counterfeit ring. Just keep knocking."
Greer sentenced Cureton to 21 months in federal prison but promised to ask the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to offer Cureton training that would allow him to become a certified trucker upon release.
"You've reached a point in life, Mr. Cureton, where you've got a decision to make, and the decision for you is whether you're going to have a chance at being a productive citizen or whether you're going to spend the rest of your life in prison."
EGYPT ON ROAD TO BECOMING A NEW IRAN
Obama and Hillary Clinton ignored the old adage: Be careful what you wish for. They supported the Arab Spring revolutions and this is what they’re getting. And now they’re praising the elections that could turn Egypt against us.
EGYPT: THE NEXT ISLAMIC REPUBLIC?
Ryan Jones
Israel Today
December 1, 2011
Preliminary results from Egypt's first democratic election since the fall of former dictator Hosni Mubarak began rolling in on Thursday, and they are not positive for those who had hoped the Arab Spring would lead to a more open and free Middle East.
While this week's vote was only the first in a three-phase election scheduled to last until early January, it did encompass most of Egypt's most populous regions, and so provides a fairly clear picture of what the next Egyptian government will look like.
According to unofficial results two days after the vote, the Muslim Brotherhood will control 40-50 percent of the parliament. That wouldn't necessarily be the end of the world if the other half was controlled by "moderate" parties. But it won't be. According to the same results, the second place party in most of the reporting districts is al-Nour, a Salafi Muslim party that is at least as radical as the Muslim Brotherhood.
The liberal Freedom Party and the secular Wafd party placed a distant third in various districts, reported Egypt's Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.
A leading Egyptian political analyst told the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram that by the time official results are announced in early January, she expects the Islamists to be in control of around 65 percent of the Egyptian parliament.
Earlier this week, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani, told a gathering of 50,000 soldiers that "Egypt is a new Iran, whether you (the US-led West) accept it or not." Soleimani also noted that other "Arab Spring" countries like Libya and Yemen are headed in a similar direction.
The Muslim Brotherhood has long vowed that if it ever came to power, it would work to reverse or outright nullify the Camp David Accord and end the official state of peace with Israel. The Brotherhood also advocates Sharia Law and the eventual establishment of a global Islamic caliphate - much like the rulers of Iran.
EGYPT: THE NEXT ISLAMIC REPUBLIC?
Ryan Jones
Israel Today
December 1, 2011
Preliminary results from Egypt's first democratic election since the fall of former dictator Hosni Mubarak began rolling in on Thursday, and they are not positive for those who had hoped the Arab Spring would lead to a more open and free Middle East.
While this week's vote was only the first in a three-phase election scheduled to last until early January, it did encompass most of Egypt's most populous regions, and so provides a fairly clear picture of what the next Egyptian government will look like.
According to unofficial results two days after the vote, the Muslim Brotherhood will control 40-50 percent of the parliament. That wouldn't necessarily be the end of the world if the other half was controlled by "moderate" parties. But it won't be. According to the same results, the second place party in most of the reporting districts is al-Nour, a Salafi Muslim party that is at least as radical as the Muslim Brotherhood.
The liberal Freedom Party and the secular Wafd party placed a distant third in various districts, reported Egypt's Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.
A leading Egyptian political analyst told the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram that by the time official results are announced in early January, she expects the Islamists to be in control of around 65 percent of the Egyptian parliament.
Earlier this week, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani, told a gathering of 50,000 soldiers that "Egypt is a new Iran, whether you (the US-led West) accept it or not." Soleimani also noted that other "Arab Spring" countries like Libya and Yemen are headed in a similar direction.
The Muslim Brotherhood has long vowed that if it ever came to power, it would work to reverse or outright nullify the Camp David Accord and end the official state of peace with Israel. The Brotherhood also advocates Sharia Law and the eventual establishment of a global Islamic caliphate - much like the rulers of Iran.
'RAVENOUS WOLF' SENTENCED TO DEATH
Another poster boy for the death penalty.
JOY FOR RELATIVES OF BASELINE KILLER’S VICTIMS AS HE IS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR NINE MURDERS, KIDNAPPING AND RAPE
He had asked jurors for mercy that he never himself showed
By Jessica Satherley
Mail Online
December 1, 2011
A man convicted of being the Phoenix area's Baseline Killer has been sentenced to death.
Jurors in Arizona reached the verdict, about a month after finding 47-year-old Mark Goudeau guilty of the nine murders and 58 other charges, including kidnapping and rape.
Goudeau had been serving a 438-year sentence in a 2005 sexual assault case tied to the Baseline Killer attacks but only recently became eligible for the death penalty after the murder convictions.
Police named the series of killings and other crimes after Baseline Road in south Phoenix where many of the earliest attacks happened.
Prosecutors argued that the murders were especially cruel, saying that the victims suffered unimaginable terror and anguish in the moments leading up to their deaths.
Goudeau was accused of attacking his victims as they went about daily activities.
'It's a relief that it's over,' said Maria Nunez, the mother of murder victim Sofia Nunez. However, she said she didn't know if the sentence could bring her any real comfort.
'It's not going to bring Sofia back,' she said.
Goudeau didn't want to be in the courtroom when verdicts were read, but Judge Warren Granville forced him to stay. He sat quietly and didn't flinch as the verdicts were read.
Prosecutors had argued that Goudeau was a 'ravenous wolf' driven by a hunger to rape women and kill those who didn't cooperate with his demands, and that the murders were especially cruel because the victims suffered unimaginable terror and anguish in the moments leading up to their deaths.
'He enjoyed the power and dominion he exercised over these victims,' prosecutor Patricia Stevens told jurors. 'He enjoyed the threats of force, the threats of death.'
Stevens said that each of the eight female victims was forced to agonise over whether they would be raped or killed in the moments before they were shot, and that two of them were forced to watch Goudeau kill another person before he turned the gun on them, prolonging and intensifying their own terror.
The sole male victim was killed before prosecutors say Goudeau attacked his female co-worker.
Two weeks ago, Goudeau forced his lawyers to stop calling on witnesses in support of a life sentence after a psychologist implied that Goudeau struggled with impotence and insecurity.
He opted instead to address jurors himself against his lawyers' wishes, telling them to follow their hearts when they decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison.
'I am no monster,' he told them. 'I could look in each and every one of your eyes today and tell you Mark Goudeau is no wolf in sheep's clothing ... I do pray that one day you guys learn the truth about this case.'
Stevens pointed out to jurors that Goudeau offered no apologies to any of the victims in the case or their families and that they must ask themselves whether Goudeau deserved to be shown any mercy at all.
'He and he alone decided how each of these nine would leave this world, what their last few minutes on this Earth would be like,' she said.
'He put them through unspeakable terror, and he ended each and every one of these lives by putting a gun to their head and executing them, and now he asks you for mercy. He asks you for mercy that he never himself showed.'
JOY FOR RELATIVES OF BASELINE KILLER’S VICTIMS AS HE IS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR NINE MURDERS, KIDNAPPING AND RAPE
He had asked jurors for mercy that he never himself showed
By Jessica Satherley
Mail Online
December 1, 2011
A man convicted of being the Phoenix area's Baseline Killer has been sentenced to death.
Jurors in Arizona reached the verdict, about a month after finding 47-year-old Mark Goudeau guilty of the nine murders and 58 other charges, including kidnapping and rape.
Goudeau had been serving a 438-year sentence in a 2005 sexual assault case tied to the Baseline Killer attacks but only recently became eligible for the death penalty after the murder convictions.
Police named the series of killings and other crimes after Baseline Road in south Phoenix where many of the earliest attacks happened.
Prosecutors argued that the murders were especially cruel, saying that the victims suffered unimaginable terror and anguish in the moments leading up to their deaths.
Goudeau was accused of attacking his victims as they went about daily activities.
'It's a relief that it's over,' said Maria Nunez, the mother of murder victim Sofia Nunez. However, she said she didn't know if the sentence could bring her any real comfort.
'It's not going to bring Sofia back,' she said.
Goudeau didn't want to be in the courtroom when verdicts were read, but Judge Warren Granville forced him to stay. He sat quietly and didn't flinch as the verdicts were read.
Prosecutors had argued that Goudeau was a 'ravenous wolf' driven by a hunger to rape women and kill those who didn't cooperate with his demands, and that the murders were especially cruel because the victims suffered unimaginable terror and anguish in the moments leading up to their deaths.
'He enjoyed the power and dominion he exercised over these victims,' prosecutor Patricia Stevens told jurors. 'He enjoyed the threats of force, the threats of death.'
Stevens said that each of the eight female victims was forced to agonise over whether they would be raped or killed in the moments before they were shot, and that two of them were forced to watch Goudeau kill another person before he turned the gun on them, prolonging and intensifying their own terror.
The sole male victim was killed before prosecutors say Goudeau attacked his female co-worker.
Two weeks ago, Goudeau forced his lawyers to stop calling on witnesses in support of a life sentence after a psychologist implied that Goudeau struggled with impotence and insecurity.
He opted instead to address jurors himself against his lawyers' wishes, telling them to follow their hearts when they decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison.
'I am no monster,' he told them. 'I could look in each and every one of your eyes today and tell you Mark Goudeau is no wolf in sheep's clothing ... I do pray that one day you guys learn the truth about this case.'
Stevens pointed out to jurors that Goudeau offered no apologies to any of the victims in the case or their families and that they must ask themselves whether Goudeau deserved to be shown any mercy at all.
'He and he alone decided how each of these nine would leave this world, what their last few minutes on this Earth would be like,' she said.
'He put them through unspeakable terror, and he ended each and every one of these lives by putting a gun to their head and executing them, and now he asks you for mercy. He asks you for mercy that he never himself showed.'
Thursday, December 01, 2011
THEY DON'T NEED BRATTON TO TELL THEM WHAT WENT WRONG
The author of The New Centurions, The Onion Field and several other best sellers at his very best with this op-ed:
JOSEPH WAMBAUGH SOLVES THE GREAT UC DAVIS PEPPER-SPRAYING INCIDENT
Forget hiring Bill Bratton. You can learn all you need to know by reading the papers.
By Joseph Wambaugh
Los Angeles Times
November 27, 2011
In light of the terrible financial crisis at our California universities, I feel the need to rescue UC Davis, whose administrators are, according to The Times, negotiating a price with the Kroll security firm in New York for none other than former LAPD Chief Bill Bratton to fly West and tell us what went wrong on the day that students were pepper sprayed. I can save the university a hefty Kroll consulting fee by suggesting that the administrators carefully peruse a few of the newspaper articles of the past week and all will be revealed to them.
They might start with Wednesday's hilarious Times photo of a student in a porkpie hat and bandanna mask mau-mauing the earnest but obviously flummoxed UC Davis chancellor, Linda Katehi, who actually seems to be recording the lad's rant. The bandanna mask suggests he's in full-on guerrilla mode and fears being seized and waterboarded by hooded men in a dank police station basement.
An assistant professor of English at UC Davis was quoted in The Times as saying that the pepper-spray incident was simply the latest example of "the systematic use of police brutality by UC chancellors" to suppress protests. Well, when I was an LAPD cop, I majored in English at Cal State L.A., and I can affirm that assistant professors of English claim all sorts of weird things after having been driven loopy by too much Elizabethan poetry. The UC Davis campus cops as serial brutes? I thought they just wrote tickets and attached wheel locks to illegally parked cars.
The Times also quoted a 23-year-old student (who probably majored in English) excitedly recounting his battlefield skirmish and proclaiming that the action of the campus cops was an example of police brutality that is even more "rampant" against "minority groups and women" in the world outside of UC Davis. I think the kid must be experiencing Revolutionary Overload. Allegations of excessive force against minorities have long been an issue with law enforcement critics, but police brutality against women? When did that start? I know quite a bit about police officers, and I can tell you that most of the male cops I've met like women. Really like them. A lot.
So, my message to UC Davis is to forgo Bratton (whose every fantasy involves his face on Mt. Rushmore) and save the suffering taxpayers a hefty tab from Kroll. Here's what I'm betting happened on the Day of the Gas: A campus cop — one of the 99% that the Occupy protesters are championing — looked at a bunch of envious kids who'd missed the great era of protests and Woodstock that their forebears experienced. All they've got at UC Davis is a pitiful little sit-in, but they're arm-locked and caterwauling and making the most of it.
After watching the scene for several hours, something like this goes through the campus cop's head: "I'm not busting my hump trying to untangle these entitled little twits and hauling their butts away for a few hours, which will only make their day and bring them back feistier tomorrow. My sciatica is killing me and I can already feel the arthritis in my hip and I don't get paid enough for this kind of truss-busting crap, so I'm gonna give them a taste of Come-to-Jesus juice. And if that doesn't make them go home, screw it." Then he casually strolled along the seated row and let them have it.
The loyal boss of the campus cops, Chief Annette Spicuzza, tried to tactically defend the indefensible with a statement about her cops feeling "surrounded," instead of doing what most chiefs routinely do (including Bratton) and issuing a pension-saving CYA statement throwing her cops under the bus. That loyalty will probably cost the chief her job. The campus cop who did the deed was placed on leave and will probably go the way of his boss.
The upside to all of this is that the kids now have a cherished memory that will be a hot topic at every rave and beer bash for the rest of their college lives and beyond:
"Where were you on the day we took poison gas?"
"I was writhing in pain, bro!"
"Like broken glass in my eyes!"
"My whole body was on fire, man!"
"Why oh why did I pick that day to go surfing?"
"You missed a blast, dude. It was awesome!"
Now that I've enlightened our UC leaders about what transpired that day, let's prevail on them to save us taxpayers some bucks and cancel Bratton's plane ticket. If they refuse, we should insist. Or, we could consider bringing the campus cop back from leave — and pepper spray them.
JOSEPH WAMBAUGH SOLVES THE GREAT UC DAVIS PEPPER-SPRAYING INCIDENT
Forget hiring Bill Bratton. You can learn all you need to know by reading the papers.
By Joseph Wambaugh
Los Angeles Times
November 27, 2011
In light of the terrible financial crisis at our California universities, I feel the need to rescue UC Davis, whose administrators are, according to The Times, negotiating a price with the Kroll security firm in New York for none other than former LAPD Chief Bill Bratton to fly West and tell us what went wrong on the day that students were pepper sprayed. I can save the university a hefty Kroll consulting fee by suggesting that the administrators carefully peruse a few of the newspaper articles of the past week and all will be revealed to them.
They might start with Wednesday's hilarious Times photo of a student in a porkpie hat and bandanna mask mau-mauing the earnest but obviously flummoxed UC Davis chancellor, Linda Katehi, who actually seems to be recording the lad's rant. The bandanna mask suggests he's in full-on guerrilla mode and fears being seized and waterboarded by hooded men in a dank police station basement.
An assistant professor of English at UC Davis was quoted in The Times as saying that the pepper-spray incident was simply the latest example of "the systematic use of police brutality by UC chancellors" to suppress protests. Well, when I was an LAPD cop, I majored in English at Cal State L.A., and I can affirm that assistant professors of English claim all sorts of weird things after having been driven loopy by too much Elizabethan poetry. The UC Davis campus cops as serial brutes? I thought they just wrote tickets and attached wheel locks to illegally parked cars.
The Times also quoted a 23-year-old student (who probably majored in English) excitedly recounting his battlefield skirmish and proclaiming that the action of the campus cops was an example of police brutality that is even more "rampant" against "minority groups and women" in the world outside of UC Davis. I think the kid must be experiencing Revolutionary Overload. Allegations of excessive force against minorities have long been an issue with law enforcement critics, but police brutality against women? When did that start? I know quite a bit about police officers, and I can tell you that most of the male cops I've met like women. Really like them. A lot.
So, my message to UC Davis is to forgo Bratton (whose every fantasy involves his face on Mt. Rushmore) and save the suffering taxpayers a hefty tab from Kroll. Here's what I'm betting happened on the Day of the Gas: A campus cop — one of the 99% that the Occupy protesters are championing — looked at a bunch of envious kids who'd missed the great era of protests and Woodstock that their forebears experienced. All they've got at UC Davis is a pitiful little sit-in, but they're arm-locked and caterwauling and making the most of it.
After watching the scene for several hours, something like this goes through the campus cop's head: "I'm not busting my hump trying to untangle these entitled little twits and hauling their butts away for a few hours, which will only make their day and bring them back feistier tomorrow. My sciatica is killing me and I can already feel the arthritis in my hip and I don't get paid enough for this kind of truss-busting crap, so I'm gonna give them a taste of Come-to-Jesus juice. And if that doesn't make them go home, screw it." Then he casually strolled along the seated row and let them have it.
The loyal boss of the campus cops, Chief Annette Spicuzza, tried to tactically defend the indefensible with a statement about her cops feeling "surrounded," instead of doing what most chiefs routinely do (including Bratton) and issuing a pension-saving CYA statement throwing her cops under the bus. That loyalty will probably cost the chief her job. The campus cop who did the deed was placed on leave and will probably go the way of his boss.
The upside to all of this is that the kids now have a cherished memory that will be a hot topic at every rave and beer bash for the rest of their college lives and beyond:
"Where were you on the day we took poison gas?"
"I was writhing in pain, bro!"
"Like broken glass in my eyes!"
"My whole body was on fire, man!"
"Why oh why did I pick that day to go surfing?"
"You missed a blast, dude. It was awesome!"
Now that I've enlightened our UC leaders about what transpired that day, let's prevail on them to save us taxpayers some bucks and cancel Bratton's plane ticket. If they refuse, we should insist. Or, we could consider bringing the campus cop back from leave — and pepper spray them.
GENDER DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST SIN CITY PLAYBOY CLUB AND PLAYBOY MAGAZINE
By Pamela Putz
The Schalotte
December 1, 2011
LOS ANGELES – A Las Vegas man who won last year’s Mr. Europe beauty contest in Barcelona, Spain has filed suit in Federal Court against the Las Vegas Playboy Club, accusing the management of gender discrimination because they refused to hire him as a Playboy Bunny. He also filed a co-joined suit against Playboy Enterprises because the editors refused to consider him for a nude centerfold in Playboy Magazine. Hugh Hefner is named as one of the defendants.
Antonio ‘Tony’ Bastardo, 26, originally from Rome, is represented by the prestigious Los Angeles law firm of Schuster, Schuster, Schuster, Schuster and Sons.
John Schuster, IV, speaking on behalf of the law firm said he thought Bastardo had a good case. He expects to win substantial damages and open the Playboy Club to male bunnies. Schuster IV also believes that the suit will lead to nude pictures of men and the coveted center fold in Playboy Magazine.
According to the suit, Bastardo tried on four occasions to obtain employment as a Playboy Bunny in the Playboy Club at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. On each occasion he was informed that only females qualified to be Playboy Bunnies. Schuster IV says that Bastardo has been judged as a ‘very well endowed handsome hunk of a man’ and, as such, he should qualify as a Playboy Bunny.
On seven occasions, Bastardo met with Playboy Magazine editors requesting that they let him pose nude for the magazine’s photographers, that those nude photos be published in a forthcoming issue of Playboy Magazine, and that one of those pictures be used as a Playmate centerfold. The editors rejected his requests because they accepted only women’s nude photos and only women qualified as Playmates. Bastardo tried without success to convince the editors that Playboy Magazine’s women readers would love to see pictures of him in the nude.
Schuster IV says that the Playboy Club and Playboy (Magazine) Enterprises are clearly violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits ‘discrimination by covered employers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin’ (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2). The lawyer said that, “Since the magazine is sold nationwide and Playboy Clubs are located in several U.S. cities, their managers are clearly considered ‘covered employers’ under Title VII.
Rudy Greenberg of Greenberg and Greenberg, a prominent Las Vegas law firm that represents the Las Vegas Playboy Club, said the lawsuit is without merit, is frivolous and is a waste of the Federal Court’s time. “Does anyone really expect to see a male Playboy Bunny?,” Greenberg asked. “Come on, that’s simply ridiculous!”
Bernard Schmutz of Drech, Schmutz and Goodman, a high-powered New York law firm that represents Playboy Enterprises, echoed Greenberg. “Are you crazy?! A nude male centerfold in a men’s magazine? No judge in this country is going to rule against our client, and you can take that to the bank!”
The Schalotte cornered Hugh Hefner after he had just been served with Bastardo’s lawsuit. In response to our questions, Hefner said: “I can’t believe this! Some guy wants to be a Playboy Bunny? A Playmate centerfold? Holy shit! Unless they’re gay, men don’t want to see some guy’s loins. They want to enjoy seeing a pretty woman’s boobs and vag. Look young lady, this is a men’s magazine.”
Hefner then looked me all over and said, “By the way … Pamela, isn’t it? … how would you like to pose for Playboy Magazine? I would say that with your good looks you’d make a terrific Playmate centerfold. Here, please take this open invitation [He handed me an engraved card] to my Playboy Mansion parties.”
John Schuster, IV, said that Bastardo is considering filing a similar lawsuit against Hooters because his application as a server had been turned down by at least a dozen of the restaurants.
The Schalotte
December 1, 2011
LOS ANGELES – A Las Vegas man who won last year’s Mr. Europe beauty contest in Barcelona, Spain has filed suit in Federal Court against the Las Vegas Playboy Club, accusing the management of gender discrimination because they refused to hire him as a Playboy Bunny. He also filed a co-joined suit against Playboy Enterprises because the editors refused to consider him for a nude centerfold in Playboy Magazine. Hugh Hefner is named as one of the defendants.
Antonio ‘Tony’ Bastardo, 26, originally from Rome, is represented by the prestigious Los Angeles law firm of Schuster, Schuster, Schuster, Schuster and Sons.
John Schuster, IV, speaking on behalf of the law firm said he thought Bastardo had a good case. He expects to win substantial damages and open the Playboy Club to male bunnies. Schuster IV also believes that the suit will lead to nude pictures of men and the coveted center fold in Playboy Magazine.
According to the suit, Bastardo tried on four occasions to obtain employment as a Playboy Bunny in the Playboy Club at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. On each occasion he was informed that only females qualified to be Playboy Bunnies. Schuster IV says that Bastardo has been judged as a ‘very well endowed handsome hunk of a man’ and, as such, he should qualify as a Playboy Bunny.
On seven occasions, Bastardo met with Playboy Magazine editors requesting that they let him pose nude for the magazine’s photographers, that those nude photos be published in a forthcoming issue of Playboy Magazine, and that one of those pictures be used as a Playmate centerfold. The editors rejected his requests because they accepted only women’s nude photos and only women qualified as Playmates. Bastardo tried without success to convince the editors that Playboy Magazine’s women readers would love to see pictures of him in the nude.
Schuster IV says that the Playboy Club and Playboy (Magazine) Enterprises are clearly violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits ‘discrimination by covered employers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin’ (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2). The lawyer said that, “Since the magazine is sold nationwide and Playboy Clubs are located in several U.S. cities, their managers are clearly considered ‘covered employers’ under Title VII.
Rudy Greenberg of Greenberg and Greenberg, a prominent Las Vegas law firm that represents the Las Vegas Playboy Club, said the lawsuit is without merit, is frivolous and is a waste of the Federal Court’s time. “Does anyone really expect to see a male Playboy Bunny?,” Greenberg asked. “Come on, that’s simply ridiculous!”
Bernard Schmutz of Drech, Schmutz and Goodman, a high-powered New York law firm that represents Playboy Enterprises, echoed Greenberg. “Are you crazy?! A nude male centerfold in a men’s magazine? No judge in this country is going to rule against our client, and you can take that to the bank!”
The Schalotte cornered Hugh Hefner after he had just been served with Bastardo’s lawsuit. In response to our questions, Hefner said: “I can’t believe this! Some guy wants to be a Playboy Bunny? A Playmate centerfold? Holy shit! Unless they’re gay, men don’t want to see some guy’s loins. They want to enjoy seeing a pretty woman’s boobs and vag. Look young lady, this is a men’s magazine.”
Hefner then looked me all over and said, “By the way … Pamela, isn’t it? … how would you like to pose for Playboy Magazine? I would say that with your good looks you’d make a terrific Playmate centerfold. Here, please take this open invitation [He handed me an engraved card] to my Playboy Mansion parties.”
John Schuster, IV, said that Bastardo is considering filing a similar lawsuit against Hooters because his application as a server had been turned down by at least a dozen of the restaurants.
THIS IS WHAT A MAN LOOKS LIKE AFTER ..........
A man was walking down the street when he was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless man who asked him for a couple of dollars for dinner.
The man took out his wallet, extracted ten dollars and asked, "If I give you this money, will you buy some beer with it instead of dinner?"
"No, I had to stop drinking years ago," the homeless man replied.
"Will you use it to go fishing instead of buying food?" the man asked.
"No, I don't waste time fishing," the homeless man said. "I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive."
"Will you spend this on greens' fees at a golf course instead of food?" the man asked.
"Are you NUTS!" replied the homeless man. "I haven't played golf in 20 years!"
"Will you spend the money on a woman in the red light district instead of food?" the man asked.
"What disease would I get for ten lousy bucks?" exclaimed the homeless man.
"Well," said the man, "I'm not going to give you the money. Instead, I'm going to take you home for a terrific dinner cooked by my wife."
The homeless man was astounded. "Won't your wife be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty and I probably smell pretty disgusting."
The man replied, "That's okay. It's important for her to see what a man looks like after he has given up beer, fishing, golf and sex."
The man took out his wallet, extracted ten dollars and asked, "If I give you this money, will you buy some beer with it instead of dinner?"
"No, I had to stop drinking years ago," the homeless man replied.
"Will you use it to go fishing instead of buying food?" the man asked.
"No, I don't waste time fishing," the homeless man said. "I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive."
"Will you spend this on greens' fees at a golf course instead of food?" the man asked.
"Are you NUTS!" replied the homeless man. "I haven't played golf in 20 years!"
"Will you spend the money on a woman in the red light district instead of food?" the man asked.
"What disease would I get for ten lousy bucks?" exclaimed the homeless man.
"Well," said the man, "I'm not going to give you the money. Instead, I'm going to take you home for a terrific dinner cooked by my wife."
The homeless man was astounded. "Won't your wife be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty and I probably smell pretty disgusting."
The man replied, "That's okay. It's important for her to see what a man looks like after he has given up beer, fishing, golf and sex."
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
AB 1936: CALIFORNIA CAMPUS COPS TO BE DISARMED, MSW DEGREE REQUIRED
By Ima Schmuck
The Schalotte
November 30, 2011
Reacting to the pepper spraying of students on the UC Davis campus, California State Assemblywoman Sheila Washington-Jackson, D-Berkeley, whose son Emanuel was one of the students, said she would introduce legislation that will prohibit campus cops from carrying any type of weapon.” True to her word, Washington-Jackson has introduced Assembly Bill 1936 that will prohibit California’s campus police from being armed with any type of weapon.
But AB 1936 goes far beyond the disarming of campus cops. Washington-Jackson’s bill will require that all new campus police hires possess a Master of Social Work Degree (MSW) and that all current campus cops must obtain an MSW degree within four years of the bill’s inception. AB 1936 has nine co-sponsors, all Democrats.
Washington-Jackson told reporters that college students are our children, not hardened street thugs and career criminals. “If they are breaking any rules, they need to be counseled, not pepper sprayed or clubbed by the police,” she said. "Police officers with MSW degrees will be better positioned to fulfill their role as campus peace officers.”
Gary Schmidtlap, president of the California Campus Police Association (CCPA) was quick to respond. “Is it any wonder that police officers vote overwhelmingly Republican,” he said. “This woman [Washington-Jackson] is nuts! We have robberies and rapes occurring on our campuses and our officers often have to grapple with steroid pumped-up drunken 320 pound football tackles and 230 pound 6-10 basket ball players. I suppose Assemblywoman Washington-Jackson and her co-sponsoring Democrats expect us to subdue those drunks by rolling up those MSW degrees and shooting spit wads at them.”
Schmidtlap added that “I’m surprised AB 1936 does not require us to have long hair and beards and to wear uniforms of tattered jeans and ‘Down With Capitalism!’ silk-screened T-shirts.”
UC Riverside sociology professor Samuel Bernstein praised Washington-Jackson for introducing AB 1936. Bernstein, whose daughter was one of the pepper sprayed students, had called on his fellow faculty members to support the disarming of all UC System campus cops. “When our children stand up for the 99% that are being oppressed and exploited by the 1%, they deserve better than to become the victims of police brutality,” Bernstein said.
UC Berkeley sociology/criminology professor David Smith also praised Washington-Jackson’s bill. “We finally have a lawmaker who understands the sociology of the college community,” he said. “Colleges and Universities are institutions of higher education where the police should not be allowed to interfere in the teaching-learning experience. Student protests are part of that experience. There is no reason to have armed storm troopers on campus and unarmed MSW cops can become a part of that teaching-learning experience.”
Legislative observers do not believe that the disarming of campus police can pass in both houses of the legislature. However, they do think that the MSW requirement has a good chance of becoming California law.
The Schalotte
November 30, 2011
Reacting to the pepper spraying of students on the UC Davis campus, California State Assemblywoman Sheila Washington-Jackson, D-Berkeley, whose son Emanuel was one of the students, said she would introduce legislation that will prohibit campus cops from carrying any type of weapon.” True to her word, Washington-Jackson has introduced Assembly Bill 1936 that will prohibit California’s campus police from being armed with any type of weapon.
But AB 1936 goes far beyond the disarming of campus cops. Washington-Jackson’s bill will require that all new campus police hires possess a Master of Social Work Degree (MSW) and that all current campus cops must obtain an MSW degree within four years of the bill’s inception. AB 1936 has nine co-sponsors, all Democrats.
Washington-Jackson told reporters that college students are our children, not hardened street thugs and career criminals. “If they are breaking any rules, they need to be counseled, not pepper sprayed or clubbed by the police,” she said. "Police officers with MSW degrees will be better positioned to fulfill their role as campus peace officers.”
Gary Schmidtlap, president of the California Campus Police Association (CCPA) was quick to respond. “Is it any wonder that police officers vote overwhelmingly Republican,” he said. “This woman [Washington-Jackson] is nuts! We have robberies and rapes occurring on our campuses and our officers often have to grapple with steroid pumped-up drunken 320 pound football tackles and 230 pound 6-10 basket ball players. I suppose Assemblywoman Washington-Jackson and her co-sponsoring Democrats expect us to subdue those drunks by rolling up those MSW degrees and shooting spit wads at them.”
Schmidtlap added that “I’m surprised AB 1936 does not require us to have long hair and beards and to wear uniforms of tattered jeans and ‘Down With Capitalism!’ silk-screened T-shirts.”
UC Riverside sociology professor Samuel Bernstein praised Washington-Jackson for introducing AB 1936. Bernstein, whose daughter was one of the pepper sprayed students, had called on his fellow faculty members to support the disarming of all UC System campus cops. “When our children stand up for the 99% that are being oppressed and exploited by the 1%, they deserve better than to become the victims of police brutality,” Bernstein said.
UC Berkeley sociology/criminology professor David Smith also praised Washington-Jackson’s bill. “We finally have a lawmaker who understands the sociology of the college community,” he said. “Colleges and Universities are institutions of higher education where the police should not be allowed to interfere in the teaching-learning experience. Student protests are part of that experience. There is no reason to have armed storm troopers on campus and unarmed MSW cops can become a part of that teaching-learning experience.”
Legislative observers do not believe that the disarming of campus police can pass in both houses of the legislature. However, they do think that the MSW requirement has a good chance of becoming California law.
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