By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
November 20, 2011
So, what will the outcome be? A home run, a stand-up double perhaps? A hard-won single? Maybe a pop-up fly or even a strike-out? We will know in a couple of days.
What happens back in DC will have an effect on us, that’s for sure. I am not sure that the ineffectiveness of Congress and the polarization and gridlock under the dome in Sacramento are reflections of each other, but clearly there are some parallels.
There are well-intention people involved. There are greedy and venal ones too. There are strongly felt and honestly held political positions. And there is an unwillingness to bend or compromise. Is that because those involved are so sure that their positions are right or is it because winning the political game is more important to them than doing their job? I wish I knew. (I am betting it won’t be a home run, and a stand-up double is unlikely in the extreme.)
One thing for sure, the longer the crisis goes on the worse it looks to others concerned, and the more it will cost us in the long run.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Not to worry Bob, no problem.
The supercommittee will strike-out. Then the mandatory cuts will occur. But since the cuts will not take effect until 2013, Congress has plenty of time to undo them and put a different set of cuts in place.
The only winner in the deficit reduction impasse is President Obama who can run against a do-nothing Congress and an obstructionist Republican Party. The congressional gridlock and a badly wounded survivor among the ho-hum candidates in the GOP primary campaign will likely let Obama serve a second term.
Now that’s the real problem!
Monday, November 21, 2011
A BUTT FULL OF CEMENT AND FIX-A-FLAT
‘Dr.’ Morris’ beam is grotesquely broad. It looks like she may have given herself that shot of cement and Fix-A-Flat. One look at her grotesque beam should have discouraged anyone with half-a-mind from letting her try to enhance their butt.
FAKE DOCTOR INJECTED CEMENT AND FIX-A-FLAT INTO PATIENT’S BUTT
By Kyle Munzenrieder
Miami New Times
November 18, 2011
"Dr." Oneal Morris has a very literal solution for patients looking to add a little junk to their trunks. She literally injected a woman looking to add a little more oomph to her caboose with a solution made up of cement, super glue, mineral oil, and Fix-A-Flat tire mender. Thirty-year-old Morris was arrested today by Miami Gardens Police.
A patient asked Morris, a transgendered woman who is still legally identified as a man, to give her butt implants, according to NBC Miami. So Morris cut her open and injected the crazy mixture. She then closed the patient's wound with super glue. (These kinds of back-alley plastic surgery procedures are not terribly uncommon in South Florida.)
Needless to say, as a result of the procedure the woman ended up in the hospital being treated for a serious condition by actual doctors.
Morris has now been arrested on charges of practicing medicine without a license, and from her arrest pictures appears to sport some sort of junk in her own rear-end as well.
Police believe that other victims may exist but are too afraid to come forward. Anyone with information is asked to call Miami Gardens Police at 305-474-1420.
This type of back-alley ass-enhancement -- with fatal effects -- isn't novel to South Florida.
Two years ago, we wrote a feature piece about the underground silicon-injection scene in Miami and the fatalities that have resulted from bad injections.
FAKE DOCTOR INJECTED CEMENT AND FIX-A-FLAT INTO PATIENT’S BUTT
By Kyle Munzenrieder
Miami New Times
November 18, 2011
"Dr." Oneal Morris has a very literal solution for patients looking to add a little junk to their trunks. She literally injected a woman looking to add a little more oomph to her caboose with a solution made up of cement, super glue, mineral oil, and Fix-A-Flat tire mender. Thirty-year-old Morris was arrested today by Miami Gardens Police.
A patient asked Morris, a transgendered woman who is still legally identified as a man, to give her butt implants, according to NBC Miami. So Morris cut her open and injected the crazy mixture. She then closed the patient's wound with super glue. (These kinds of back-alley plastic surgery procedures are not terribly uncommon in South Florida.)
Needless to say, as a result of the procedure the woman ended up in the hospital being treated for a serious condition by actual doctors.
Morris has now been arrested on charges of practicing medicine without a license, and from her arrest pictures appears to sport some sort of junk in her own rear-end as well.
Police believe that other victims may exist but are too afraid to come forward. Anyone with information is asked to call Miami Gardens Police at 305-474-1420.
This type of back-alley ass-enhancement -- with fatal effects -- isn't novel to South Florida.
Two years ago, we wrote a feature piece about the underground silicon-injection scene in Miami and the fatalities that have resulted from bad injections.
CAR THIEF MAKES IT CONVENIENT FOR COPS TO BUST HER
She should get a reduced sentence for making it so damn easy for the cops to arrest her and to recover the stolen vehicle.
NY WOMAN TOOK STOLEN CAR TO COURT
The vehicle was parked in the police lot
Associated Press
November 20, 2011
COLONIE, N.Y. — Authorities in upstate New York say a 33-year-old woman drove a stolen car to court and parked in the police parking lot.
Colonie police say they received a call Wednesday from officers in neighboring Albany about a stolen car equipped with a global positioning system. Officers found the car in their department's parking lot at the town's Public Safety Center, which also houses the court.
Police identified the driver as Pamela D. Copes of Albany, who had a court appearance Wednesday for two previous arrests on charges that included fleeing police and reckless driving. She now faces a felony charge of third-degree criminal possession.
Two other men also face charges.
Copes was jailed in lieu of $2,500 bail. It could not be determined if she was assigned a lawyer.
NY WOMAN TOOK STOLEN CAR TO COURT
The vehicle was parked in the police lot
Associated Press
November 20, 2011
COLONIE, N.Y. — Authorities in upstate New York say a 33-year-old woman drove a stolen car to court and parked in the police parking lot.
Colonie police say they received a call Wednesday from officers in neighboring Albany about a stolen car equipped with a global positioning system. Officers found the car in their department's parking lot at the town's Public Safety Center, which also houses the court.
Police identified the driver as Pamela D. Copes of Albany, who had a court appearance Wednesday for two previous arrests on charges that included fleeing police and reckless driving. She now faces a felony charge of third-degree criminal possession.
Two other men also face charges.
Copes was jailed in lieu of $2,500 bail. It could not be determined if she was assigned a lawyer.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
A 'HEALTHY' DOSE OF PEPPER SPRAY
I knew it wouldn’t be long before the 1% would be replaced by the police as the bad guys. Cops have been pepper spraying OWS protesters who refused to leave their illegal squatting and camping grounds after repeated lawful orders to do so.
The media would like for us to believe that the nation is shocked over the ‘healthy’ dose of paper spray a UC Davis campus cop applied to the faces of a long line of squatting student protesters. Well, a lot of us aren’t shocked! As a matter of fact, we applaud the actions of that campus cop and those of cops everywhere who are applying pepper spray against the OWS rabble that refuses to obey a lawful order.
Nothing would make the media happier than if the police resorted to tactics they used against the Vietnam War protesters. When those protesters refused to move, they got their heads strummed by nightsticks and their butts kicked by jack boots. And at Kent State, some students even got shot, although by National Guard troops rather than by the police.
The UC Davis protesters and OWS protesters all over the country are accusing the cops of police brutality and of violating their First Amendment rights of free speech and free assembly. Those 99 percenters apparently didn’t learn their high school history and civic lessons – oh, I forgot, they don’t teach civics any more. It’s been replaced by multi-culture studies. And those history lessons are mostly about American imperialism and our history of racial and ethnic hatred and discrimination.
Well, here is a quick First Amendment rights lesson that the OWS protesters apparently are not aware of. There are limits to free speech and free assembly. You cannot yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater when there is no fire; you cannot incite people to riot; you cannot advocate insurrection; and your free speech cannot interfere with the free speech of others. And the right of free assembly applies only when that assembly does not interfere with the ability of other people to come and go unimpeded to wherever they desire to go.
To our police officers I say, right on guys! If the OWS rabble refuses to obey a lawful order, go right ahead and give them a ‘healthy’ dose of pepper spray! And an occasional kick in the butt might not be such a bad idea after all.
The media would like for us to believe that the nation is shocked over the ‘healthy’ dose of paper spray a UC Davis campus cop applied to the faces of a long line of squatting student protesters. Well, a lot of us aren’t shocked! As a matter of fact, we applaud the actions of that campus cop and those of cops everywhere who are applying pepper spray against the OWS rabble that refuses to obey a lawful order.
Nothing would make the media happier than if the police resorted to tactics they used against the Vietnam War protesters. When those protesters refused to move, they got their heads strummed by nightsticks and their butts kicked by jack boots. And at Kent State, some students even got shot, although by National Guard troops rather than by the police.
The UC Davis protesters and OWS protesters all over the country are accusing the cops of police brutality and of violating their First Amendment rights of free speech and free assembly. Those 99 percenters apparently didn’t learn their high school history and civic lessons – oh, I forgot, they don’t teach civics any more. It’s been replaced by multi-culture studies. And those history lessons are mostly about American imperialism and our history of racial and ethnic hatred and discrimination.
Well, here is a quick First Amendment rights lesson that the OWS protesters apparently are not aware of. There are limits to free speech and free assembly. You cannot yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater when there is no fire; you cannot incite people to riot; you cannot advocate insurrection; and your free speech cannot interfere with the free speech of others. And the right of free assembly applies only when that assembly does not interfere with the ability of other people to come and go unimpeded to wherever they desire to go.
To our police officers I say, right on guys! If the OWS rabble refuses to obey a lawful order, go right ahead and give them a ‘healthy’ dose of pepper spray! And an occasional kick in the butt might not be such a bad idea after all.
A LESSON FOR THE OWS PROTESTERS
In 1979, economist Milton Friedman slammed TV show host Phil Donahue’s contention that capitalism results in the ‘mal-distribution of wealth’ and the desperate plight of the have-nots.
Here is a transcript of the exchange between Friedman and Donahue that would serve as a valuable lesson for the OWS protesters and take the hot air out of their 99% vs. 1% crap:
DONAHUE: When you see around the globe the mal-distribution of wealth, the desperate plight of millions of people in underdeveloped countries, when you see so few haves and so many have-nots, when you see the greed and the concentration of power, did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism and whether greed’s a good idea to run on?
FRIEDMAN: Well, first of all, tell me is there some society you know that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed? Of course none of us are greedy; its only the other fellow who’s greedy.
The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way. In the only cases in which the masses have escaped from the kind of grinding poverty you’re talking about, the only cases in recorded history are where they have had capitalism and largely free trade. If you want to know where the masses are worst off, it’s exactly in the kinds of societies that depart from that. So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear: that there is no alternative way so far discovered of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system.
DONAHUE: But it seems to reward not virtue as much as ability to manipulate the system.
FRIEDMAN: And what does reward virtue? You think the communist commissar rewards virtue? You think a Hitler rewards virtue? You think – excuse me, if you will pardon me – do you think American presidents reward virtue? Do they choose their appointees on the basis of the virtue of the people appointed or on the basis of their political clout? Is it really true that political self interest is nobler somehow than economic self interest? You know I think you are taking a lot of things for granted. Just tell me where in the world you find these angels who are going to organize society for us? Well, I don’t even trust you to do that.
Here is a transcript of the exchange between Friedman and Donahue that would serve as a valuable lesson for the OWS protesters and take the hot air out of their 99% vs. 1% crap:
DONAHUE: When you see around the globe the mal-distribution of wealth, the desperate plight of millions of people in underdeveloped countries, when you see so few haves and so many have-nots, when you see the greed and the concentration of power, did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism and whether greed’s a good idea to run on?
FRIEDMAN: Well, first of all, tell me is there some society you know that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed? Of course none of us are greedy; its only the other fellow who’s greedy.
The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way. In the only cases in which the masses have escaped from the kind of grinding poverty you’re talking about, the only cases in recorded history are where they have had capitalism and largely free trade. If you want to know where the masses are worst off, it’s exactly in the kinds of societies that depart from that. So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear: that there is no alternative way so far discovered of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system.
DONAHUE: But it seems to reward not virtue as much as ability to manipulate the system.
FRIEDMAN: And what does reward virtue? You think the communist commissar rewards virtue? You think a Hitler rewards virtue? You think – excuse me, if you will pardon me – do you think American presidents reward virtue? Do they choose their appointees on the basis of the virtue of the people appointed or on the basis of their political clout? Is it really true that political self interest is nobler somehow than economic self interest? You know I think you are taking a lot of things for granted. Just tell me where in the world you find these angels who are going to organize society for us? Well, I don’t even trust you to do that.
99 PERCENTERS ABANDON OWS TO WORK FOR 1%
Another good news brief from The Onion.
MAGNANIMOUS BANKER HIRES OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTESTERS
‘I Like Your Pluck!’ Says Gracious Plutocrat
The Onion
November 15, 2011
NEW YORK—Saying the recently arrested protesters had just the right kind of tenacity and pluck needed to shake up the financial services industry, magnanimous and benevolent Morgan Stanley banker Hank Billings approached members of the Occupy Wall Street movement Tuesday morning and hired each and every one of them on the spot.
"This is exactly the kind of self-starting, 'won't go home till the job's done' kind of attitude I like to see," said the gracious Billings, claiming that he had grown to admire "the cut of [the activists'] jib" since the movement began in mid-September and that "moxie such as [theirs]" should not go unrewarded. "You all were out there every day, giving it everything you had, and by God if you ever took no for an answer. Sure, you all took some digs at me, but who needs a bunch of yes-men standing around, anyway?"
Billings then reportedly smiled, shook each protester's hand, and said he would see them all in the office "bright and early Monday morning," noting that a personal history of lawbreaking had never hindered anyone's career on Wall Street.
MAGNANIMOUS BANKER HIRES OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTESTERS
‘I Like Your Pluck!’ Says Gracious Plutocrat
The Onion
November 15, 2011
NEW YORK—Saying the recently arrested protesters had just the right kind of tenacity and pluck needed to shake up the financial services industry, magnanimous and benevolent Morgan Stanley banker Hank Billings approached members of the Occupy Wall Street movement Tuesday morning and hired each and every one of them on the spot.
"This is exactly the kind of self-starting, 'won't go home till the job's done' kind of attitude I like to see," said the gracious Billings, claiming that he had grown to admire "the cut of [the activists'] jib" since the movement began in mid-September and that "moxie such as [theirs]" should not go unrewarded. "You all were out there every day, giving it everything you had, and by God if you ever took no for an answer. Sure, you all took some digs at me, but who needs a bunch of yes-men standing around, anyway?"
Billings then reportedly smiled, shook each protester's hand, and said he would see them all in the office "bright and early Monday morning," noting that a personal history of lawbreaking had never hindered anyone's career on Wall Street.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
UNESCO: AN OUTRAGEOUS ABSURDITY
Another example of why the U.S. should get out of the UN and kick the UN out of the U.S. It’s just not Israel that gets demonized by the UN, but the U.S. has often been demonized as well in the UN General Assembly which is dominated by Islamic and third world countries.
PROMOTION OF SYRIA DEMONSTRATES UN’S IRRELEVANCE
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
November 18, 2011
Israeli officials on Wednesday said a decision by the UN Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) to name Syria as the Arab representative to a committee on implementing human rights at a time when the Syrian regime is massacring its own citizens further demonstrates the total irrelevance of the world body.
Israeli media reported on Syria's promotion on Thursday, just one day after the UN had issued a report condemning the massacre of at least 3,500 Syrian pro-democracy activists and other civilians at the hands of Syrian government forces.
"We are talking about an outrageous absurdity," one Israeli official told Israel Radio. "UNESCO is legitimizing Syria [as a human rights champion] even as it is slaughtering its own people."
Other officials noted that this is the same UNESCO that just a week ago summoned the Israeli ambassador to officially complain over a political cartoon in the liberal Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.
The cartoon showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordering an aerial assault on Iran's nuclear facilities, and telling the pilots involved to also bomb the UNESCO office in Ramallah on their way back.
It was a left-wing editorial jab at Netanyahu and Barak for so vocally condemning UNESCO recognition of "Palestine" as a sovereign nation, but UNESCO officials insisted the cartoon "endangers the lives of unarmed diplomats."
UNESCO has been petitioned countless times over cartoons appearing in Arab newspapers that present Israel and the Jews as bloodthirsty and demonic, but the organization has yet to issue any formal complaints in those cases.
The cartoon incident and the promotion of Syria, of all nations, to sit on a human rights advisory committee are, for most Israelis, the final nails in the coffin of the UN's legitimacy and relevance.
Meanwhile, the mainstream international media completely ignored the story of Syria's hypocritical promotion at UNESCO.
PROMOTION OF SYRIA DEMONSTRATES UN’S IRRELEVANCE
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
November 18, 2011
Israeli officials on Wednesday said a decision by the UN Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) to name Syria as the Arab representative to a committee on implementing human rights at a time when the Syrian regime is massacring its own citizens further demonstrates the total irrelevance of the world body.
Israeli media reported on Syria's promotion on Thursday, just one day after the UN had issued a report condemning the massacre of at least 3,500 Syrian pro-democracy activists and other civilians at the hands of Syrian government forces.
"We are talking about an outrageous absurdity," one Israeli official told Israel Radio. "UNESCO is legitimizing Syria [as a human rights champion] even as it is slaughtering its own people."
Other officials noted that this is the same UNESCO that just a week ago summoned the Israeli ambassador to officially complain over a political cartoon in the liberal Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.
The cartoon showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordering an aerial assault on Iran's nuclear facilities, and telling the pilots involved to also bomb the UNESCO office in Ramallah on their way back.
It was a left-wing editorial jab at Netanyahu and Barak for so vocally condemning UNESCO recognition of "Palestine" as a sovereign nation, but UNESCO officials insisted the cartoon "endangers the lives of unarmed diplomats."
UNESCO has been petitioned countless times over cartoons appearing in Arab newspapers that present Israel and the Jews as bloodthirsty and demonic, but the organization has yet to issue any formal complaints in those cases.
The cartoon incident and the promotion of Syria, of all nations, to sit on a human rights advisory committee are, for most Israelis, the final nails in the coffin of the UN's legitimacy and relevance.
Meanwhile, the mainstream international media completely ignored the story of Syria's hypocritical promotion at UNESCO.
A RABBLE ARMY MANIPULATED AND USED BY PEOPLE BEHIND THE SCENES WITH FAR MORE SINISTER MOTIVES THAN THE OWS RABBLE
Here are some excerpts from ‘Walking Along Avenue J(ew),’ an op-ed by Arnold Ahlert that exposes the Occupation Wall Street movement as nothing more than a rabble army being manipulated and used by people with sinister motives. (From Friday’s issue of Jewish World Review):
I am a student of history, and one thing I can tell you is that the surest path to totalitarianism is the one that begins by singling out a specific subset of a nation's population, and blaming them for everything that's going wrong. If that has a familiar ring, maybe it's because the latest incarnation of this strategy, known as the Occupation Wall Street (OWS) movement, is playing itself out, even as I write this.
Understand what the insidiousness of their slogan, the "ninety-nine percent versus the one percent" is really all about: an "enemy" comprised of one percent of the population is easy to identify, easy to scapegoat and, above all, easy to attack, if this movement gets out of hand. Understand who most of the adherents of this movement are: the historical descendants of every useful idiot who's ever been unwittingly conscripted into a rabble army--enabled by people with far more sinister motives than the rabble itself. Understand that those enablers are people who cannot achieve the kind of power they desire by legitimate means, so they must stoke the rabble in order to achieve it.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: At the beginning of this op-ed, Ahlert included 20 anti-Semitic comments he received from OWS supporters. That’s what he is referring to when he writes, “Look again at the comments above .......”]
How easily is the rabble stoked? Look again at the comments above and keep in mind that they have been written by people living in the freest, most prosperous nation in the world. Keep in mind that both the communist and Nazi parties have lent their support to the OWS movement. Keep in mind that the American left, from the man in the street to the man in the Oval Office, is dedicated to dividing Americans by race, religion and most of all by class. Without Us versus Them, all of these self-professed champions of the "little people" would be relegated to the margins of the American experience.
The facade of hope and change has crumbled. In less than four years it has been replaced by the fear and resentment which now represents the most viable path by which our current president and members of his party hope to maintain their power. It was power bestowed upon them by people who were willing to believe the unbelievable, many of whom have had their lofty illusions smashed against the rocks of reality.
Decent Americans should hope that the OWS movement represents, not a new beginning, but the dying gasps of an ideology that, in its most virulent incarnation, has killed more than a hundred million people in a quixotic search for social justice that doesn't exist. Moreover it can't exist: every society which has ever demanded rigid equality has always required an equally rigid enforcement class to maintain it. It is that enforcement class which wishes the OWS movement to succeed.
I am a student of history, and one thing I can tell you is that the surest path to totalitarianism is the one that begins by singling out a specific subset of a nation's population, and blaming them for everything that's going wrong. If that has a familiar ring, maybe it's because the latest incarnation of this strategy, known as the Occupation Wall Street (OWS) movement, is playing itself out, even as I write this.
Understand what the insidiousness of their slogan, the "ninety-nine percent versus the one percent" is really all about: an "enemy" comprised of one percent of the population is easy to identify, easy to scapegoat and, above all, easy to attack, if this movement gets out of hand. Understand who most of the adherents of this movement are: the historical descendants of every useful idiot who's ever been unwittingly conscripted into a rabble army--enabled by people with far more sinister motives than the rabble itself. Understand that those enablers are people who cannot achieve the kind of power they desire by legitimate means, so they must stoke the rabble in order to achieve it.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: At the beginning of this op-ed, Ahlert included 20 anti-Semitic comments he received from OWS supporters. That’s what he is referring to when he writes, “Look again at the comments above .......”]
How easily is the rabble stoked? Look again at the comments above and keep in mind that they have been written by people living in the freest, most prosperous nation in the world. Keep in mind that both the communist and Nazi parties have lent their support to the OWS movement. Keep in mind that the American left, from the man in the street to the man in the Oval Office, is dedicated to dividing Americans by race, religion and most of all by class. Without Us versus Them, all of these self-professed champions of the "little people" would be relegated to the margins of the American experience.
The facade of hope and change has crumbled. In less than four years it has been replaced by the fear and resentment which now represents the most viable path by which our current president and members of his party hope to maintain their power. It was power bestowed upon them by people who were willing to believe the unbelievable, many of whom have had their lofty illusions smashed against the rocks of reality.
Decent Americans should hope that the OWS movement represents, not a new beginning, but the dying gasps of an ideology that, in its most virulent incarnation, has killed more than a hundred million people in a quixotic search for social justice that doesn't exist. Moreover it can't exist: every society which has ever demanded rigid equality has always required an equally rigid enforcement class to maintain it. It is that enforcement class which wishes the OWS movement to succeed.
MURDERER, PRISON ESCAPEE AND AIRLINE HIJACKER REWARDED BY PORTUGAL
The European courts have a nasty habit of rewarding American fugitives from justice. Among others, there was child rapist Roman Polanski and now there is George Wright, a convicted murderer, prison escapee, and Black Liberation Army airline hijacker.
Thanks to Dorina Lisson for the heads-up on this story.
PORTUGAL REFUSES TO EXTRADITE U.S. FUGITIVE
By Barry Hatton
The Sydney Morning Herald
November 18, 2011
A Portuguese court has denied a US request for the extradition of a captured American fugitive who spent 41 years on the run in a journey that took him across three continents, and included the brazen 1972 hijacking of a jet from America to Algeria.
George Wright, 68, told reporters he was "very happy, morally and spiritually," with the decision on Thursday.
He claimed his extradition to serve the rest of a sentence for a fatal New Jersey petrol station robbery in 1962 was not justified because it was his accomplices who fired the shots that killed the owner.
Wright's lawyer, Manuel Luis Ferreira, told The Associated Press that the judge accepted his arguments that Wright is now Portuguese and that the statute of limitations on the killing had expired.
He expects American authorities will appeal the decision, but the judge immediately released Wright from house arrest.
During a press conference in his lawyer's office, Wright admitted the plane hijacking, but said he committed it as a militant member of the Black Liberation Army "to fight for black rights... to support the hopes of black people" but is now a changed man.
"I'm not the person I was then," a relaxed Wright said at the news conference, which was attended by his Portuguese wife and their two adult children.
American authorities were seeking his return to serve the rest of his 15- to 30-year jail sentence.
Wright was captured in Portugal in September after a fingerprint provided by US authorities was matched to his in a national database the country maintains for all citizens and legal residents.
US Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said American officials were "extremely disappointed" with the outcome, calling Wright "a convicted murderer guilty of an extremely serious crime which falls squarely within the terms of our bilateral extradition treaty with Portugal."
Sweeney did not say whether an appeal will be filed, but said American authorities "expect Portugal to abide by its treaty obligations in this case".
Wright spent seven years in a US prison for the New Jersey murder before escaping in 1970, and was on the run for 41 years until his arrest.
Authorities say Wright and three associates had already committed multiple armed robberies on November 23, 1962, when Walter Patterson, a decorated World War II veteran and father of two, was shot dead in his petrol station in Wall, New Jersey.
But Wright insisted on Thursday that he never fired a shot in the holdup and pleaded "no defence" to the murder charge because his lawyer said he should do so to avoid a life sentence or the death penalty.
Wright was captured in the seaside village near Lisbon where he has lived since 1993, and was jailed for about two weeks. But a judge released him about a month ago under house arrest.
Ferreira previously told The AP he would argue Wright is now a Portuguese citizen and should be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence in Portugal, where his wife and children live.
Wright got Portuguese citizenship through his 1991 marriage to a Portuguese woman and after the tiny West African nation Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, gave him the new name of "Jose Luis Jorge dos Santos" complete with fake names for parents and made him a citizen.
The identity from Guinea-Bissau was granted after the country gave Wright political asylum in the 1980s - and he insisted on being addressed with it at the news conference.
It was accepted by Portugal when it granted him citizenship, according to his lawyer.
Wright broke out of Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, New Jersey, on Aug. 19, 1970 and made his way to Detroit, where he joined the Black Liberation Army.
Dressed as a priest, he hijacked a Delta flight to Miami with four others, using handguns they sneaked on the plane.
After releasing the plane's 86 passengers for $US1 million, the hijackers forced the plane to fly to Boston, then to Algeria, where the hijackers sought asylum.
Algeria gave the money and plane back to the US, and Wright and his comrades went underground, settling in France.
The other four were captured and convicted of hijacking in Paris, but Wright managed to avoid the dragnet.
Thanks to Dorina Lisson for the heads-up on this story.
PORTUGAL REFUSES TO EXTRADITE U.S. FUGITIVE
By Barry Hatton
The Sydney Morning Herald
November 18, 2011
A Portuguese court has denied a US request for the extradition of a captured American fugitive who spent 41 years on the run in a journey that took him across three continents, and included the brazen 1972 hijacking of a jet from America to Algeria.
George Wright, 68, told reporters he was "very happy, morally and spiritually," with the decision on Thursday.
He claimed his extradition to serve the rest of a sentence for a fatal New Jersey petrol station robbery in 1962 was not justified because it was his accomplices who fired the shots that killed the owner.
Wright's lawyer, Manuel Luis Ferreira, told The Associated Press that the judge accepted his arguments that Wright is now Portuguese and that the statute of limitations on the killing had expired.
He expects American authorities will appeal the decision, but the judge immediately released Wright from house arrest.
During a press conference in his lawyer's office, Wright admitted the plane hijacking, but said he committed it as a militant member of the Black Liberation Army "to fight for black rights... to support the hopes of black people" but is now a changed man.
"I'm not the person I was then," a relaxed Wright said at the news conference, which was attended by his Portuguese wife and their two adult children.
American authorities were seeking his return to serve the rest of his 15- to 30-year jail sentence.
Wright was captured in Portugal in September after a fingerprint provided by US authorities was matched to his in a national database the country maintains for all citizens and legal residents.
US Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said American officials were "extremely disappointed" with the outcome, calling Wright "a convicted murderer guilty of an extremely serious crime which falls squarely within the terms of our bilateral extradition treaty with Portugal."
Sweeney did not say whether an appeal will be filed, but said American authorities "expect Portugal to abide by its treaty obligations in this case".
Wright spent seven years in a US prison for the New Jersey murder before escaping in 1970, and was on the run for 41 years until his arrest.
Authorities say Wright and three associates had already committed multiple armed robberies on November 23, 1962, when Walter Patterson, a decorated World War II veteran and father of two, was shot dead in his petrol station in Wall, New Jersey.
But Wright insisted on Thursday that he never fired a shot in the holdup and pleaded "no defence" to the murder charge because his lawyer said he should do so to avoid a life sentence or the death penalty.
Wright was captured in the seaside village near Lisbon where he has lived since 1993, and was jailed for about two weeks. But a judge released him about a month ago under house arrest.
Ferreira previously told The AP he would argue Wright is now a Portuguese citizen and should be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence in Portugal, where his wife and children live.
Wright got Portuguese citizenship through his 1991 marriage to a Portuguese woman and after the tiny West African nation Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, gave him the new name of "Jose Luis Jorge dos Santos" complete with fake names for parents and made him a citizen.
The identity from Guinea-Bissau was granted after the country gave Wright political asylum in the 1980s - and he insisted on being addressed with it at the news conference.
It was accepted by Portugal when it granted him citizenship, according to his lawyer.
Wright broke out of Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, New Jersey, on Aug. 19, 1970 and made his way to Detroit, where he joined the Black Liberation Army.
Dressed as a priest, he hijacked a Delta flight to Miami with four others, using handguns they sneaked on the plane.
After releasing the plane's 86 passengers for $US1 million, the hijackers forced the plane to fly to Boston, then to Algeria, where the hijackers sought asylum.
Algeria gave the money and plane back to the US, and Wright and his comrades went underground, settling in France.
The other four were captured and convicted of hijacking in Paris, but Wright managed to avoid the dragnet.
THE DRUG THAT EATS JUNKIES
‘The drug … also rots their brains.’ Their brains must have been rotted to begin with for them to shoot up a concoction of Krokodil.
CURSE OF THE KROKODIL: FEARS AS HOME-MADE HEROIN THAT’S ROTTING RUSSIAN ADDICTS’ FLESH SPREADS ACROSS EUROPE
Majority of addicts die within one year of first hit
By Lee Moran
Mail Online
November 18, 2011
A deadly drug which rots the flesh of users - and kills the majority of addicts within a year of their first hit - is spreading across Europe.
Krokodil originated in Russia but is now reportedly on sale in Germany - where several deaths have been blamed on its use - leading the Czech Republic's national drug agency to warn of its dangers.
Dubbed 'the drug that eats junkies', it rots from the inside, causing such severe damage to tissue that users suffer from gangrenous sores which open all the way to the bone.
The condition can lead to limbs being amputated, but life expectancy for addicts is at the most two to three years, with the majority dying within a year.
Extraordinarily, around 1.2 million Russians are believed to have been ravaged by the narcotic, Time magazine has reported.
The drug, whose name means 'crocodile' - reportedly a reference to the way it turns users' skin scaly - also rots their brains.
Krokodil is a sickening cocktail of over the counter painkillers, paint thinner, acid and phosphorus. In some cases, petrol is also added.
The resulting mixture is called desomorphine - a derivative of morphine - and is extremely addictive.
At just £4 per injection it is a much cheaper alternative to heroin, especially in Russia where the painkillers are available without prescription.
The drug's prevalence in Russia has led to the Czech Republic's national anti-drug agency to warn heroin addicts not to switch to the alternative.
Spokesman Michal Hammer said that although no cases had been reported in the country, its arrival in Germany would eventually see it cross the border.
CURSE OF THE KROKODIL: FEARS AS HOME-MADE HEROIN THAT’S ROTTING RUSSIAN ADDICTS’ FLESH SPREADS ACROSS EUROPE
Majority of addicts die within one year of first hit
By Lee Moran
Mail Online
November 18, 2011
A deadly drug which rots the flesh of users - and kills the majority of addicts within a year of their first hit - is spreading across Europe.
Krokodil originated in Russia but is now reportedly on sale in Germany - where several deaths have been blamed on its use - leading the Czech Republic's national drug agency to warn of its dangers.
Dubbed 'the drug that eats junkies', it rots from the inside, causing such severe damage to tissue that users suffer from gangrenous sores which open all the way to the bone.
The condition can lead to limbs being amputated, but life expectancy for addicts is at the most two to three years, with the majority dying within a year.
Extraordinarily, around 1.2 million Russians are believed to have been ravaged by the narcotic, Time magazine has reported.
The drug, whose name means 'crocodile' - reportedly a reference to the way it turns users' skin scaly - also rots their brains.
Krokodil is a sickening cocktail of over the counter painkillers, paint thinner, acid and phosphorus. In some cases, petrol is also added.
The resulting mixture is called desomorphine - a derivative of morphine - and is extremely addictive.
At just £4 per injection it is a much cheaper alternative to heroin, especially in Russia where the painkillers are available without prescription.
The drug's prevalence in Russia has led to the Czech Republic's national anti-drug agency to warn heroin addicts not to switch to the alternative.
Spokesman Michal Hammer said that although no cases had been reported in the country, its arrival in Germany would eventually see it cross the border.
WINNING BACK THE MIDDLE CLASS
Nancy Pelosi called Harry Reid into her office one day and said, "Harry, I have a plan to win back Middle America in 2012.
"Great Nancy, but how?" asked Harry
"We'll get some cheesy clothes and shoes, like most Middle Class Americans wear, then stop at the pound and pick up a Labrador retriever. Then, we'll go to a nice old country bar in Montana and show them how much admiration and respect we have for the hard working people living there."
So they did, and found just the place they were looking for in Bozeman, Montana. With the dog in tow, they walked inside and stepped up to the bar.
The Bartender took a step back and said, "Hey! Aren't you Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi?" "Yes we are!" said Nancy, "And what a lovely town you have here. We were passing through and Harry suggested we stop and take in some local color."
They ordered a round of bourbon for the whole bar, and started chatting up a storm with anyone who would listen.
A few minutes later, a grizzled old rancher came in, walked up to the Labrador, lifted up its tail, looked underneath, shrugged his shoulders and walked out. A few moments later, in came another old rancher. He walked up to the dog, lifted up its tail, looked underneath, scratched his head and left the bar. For the next hour, another dozen ranchers came in, lifted the dog's tail, and left shaking their heads.
Finally, Nancy asked, "Why did all those old ranchers come in and look under the dog's tail? Is it some sort of custom?"
"Lord no," said the bartender. "Someone's out there running around town, claiming there's a Labrador Retriever in here with two assholes!"
"Great Nancy, but how?" asked Harry
"We'll get some cheesy clothes and shoes, like most Middle Class Americans wear, then stop at the pound and pick up a Labrador retriever. Then, we'll go to a nice old country bar in Montana and show them how much admiration and respect we have for the hard working people living there."
So they did, and found just the place they were looking for in Bozeman, Montana. With the dog in tow, they walked inside and stepped up to the bar.
The Bartender took a step back and said, "Hey! Aren't you Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi?" "Yes we are!" said Nancy, "And what a lovely town you have here. We were passing through and Harry suggested we stop and take in some local color."
They ordered a round of bourbon for the whole bar, and started chatting up a storm with anyone who would listen.
A few minutes later, a grizzled old rancher came in, walked up to the Labrador, lifted up its tail, looked underneath, shrugged his shoulders and walked out. A few moments later, in came another old rancher. He walked up to the dog, lifted up its tail, looked underneath, scratched his head and left the bar. For the next hour, another dozen ranchers came in, lifted the dog's tail, and left shaking their heads.
Finally, Nancy asked, "Why did all those old ranchers come in and look under the dog's tail? Is it some sort of custom?"
"Lord no," said the bartender. "Someone's out there running around town, claiming there's a Labrador Retriever in here with two assholes!"
Friday, November 18, 2011
GOOD RIDDANCE TO A PIECE OF S..T
This piece of shit served the interests of justice in a way that the State of California does not when it fails to carry out the decisions of juries that certain sub-humans should be executed.
DEATH ROW INMATE SELF-REHABILITATES
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
November 17, 2011
A denizen of The Row rehabilitated himself today, thereby saving tax payers a bunch of money.
Brandon Wilson was convicted of murdering a 9-year old boy in a public restroom in a park in Oroville in 1998. He hanged himself in his cell today. Since he was 33 at the time of his not-at-all-unfortunate demise he saved the state a huge amount of money by checking out early.
Wilson stabbed Matthew Cecchi five times in the back and slashed his throat as he stood at a urinal. He was later arrested for knifing a woman in Hollywood. At his arraignment he admitted to the murder. One less quasi-human slug in the world. No loss at all.
EDITOR’S NOTE – ‘uncle ed’, one of Paco’s followers wrote: The funny part is that some random correctional officer with time will be in hot water because he was not there to prevent dude from hanging himself. Administration will find one little discrepancy with a security check or something stupid. He will probably end up in the mail room, lose his job, lose his wife to the Sergeant or Lieutenant who has been tapping it while he works his overtime, lose his home, find a stray dog who will accompany him as he begs for change at the freeway off ramp, regain his job…only to pass out toilet paper and tooth powder to inmates calling him fruity.
DEATH ROW INMATE SELF-REHABILITATES
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
November 17, 2011
A denizen of The Row rehabilitated himself today, thereby saving tax payers a bunch of money.
Brandon Wilson was convicted of murdering a 9-year old boy in a public restroom in a park in Oroville in 1998. He hanged himself in his cell today. Since he was 33 at the time of his not-at-all-unfortunate demise he saved the state a huge amount of money by checking out early.
Wilson stabbed Matthew Cecchi five times in the back and slashed his throat as he stood at a urinal. He was later arrested for knifing a woman in Hollywood. At his arraignment he admitted to the murder. One less quasi-human slug in the world. No loss at all.
EDITOR’S NOTE – ‘uncle ed’, one of Paco’s followers wrote: The funny part is that some random correctional officer with time will be in hot water because he was not there to prevent dude from hanging himself. Administration will find one little discrepancy with a security check or something stupid. He will probably end up in the mail room, lose his job, lose his wife to the Sergeant or Lieutenant who has been tapping it while he works his overtime, lose his home, find a stray dog who will accompany him as he begs for change at the freeway off ramp, regain his job…only to pass out toilet paper and tooth powder to inmates calling him fruity.
THE CAPTAIN DISAPPEARED AND SOMEONE WITH A 'THICK FOREIGN ACCENT' IS TRYING TO GET IN THE COCKPIT
You couldn’t make up a story like this, even if you were a Hollywood screenwriter.
PILOT CAUSES MID-AIR TERROR SCARE BY LOCKING HIMSELF IN TOILET AND THEN SENDING PASSENGER ‘WITH MIDDLE EASTERN ACCENT’ TO COCKPIT FOR HELP
By Laurie Whitwell
Mail Online
November 17, 2011
A pilot inadvertently caused a mid-air terror scare when he accidentally locked himself in the toilet and sent a passenger 'with a Middle Eastern accent' to the cockpit for help.
With the flight not far from landing, a spooked co-pilot refused to let the Good Samaritan in, and instead told the control tower at LaGuardia Airport of his serious concerns that an attack was underway.
The passenger continued to bang on the door for assistance and even offered the password but the co-pilot refused to budge, leading to fighter planes being alerted.
The apparent danger was only averted when the pilot managed to force his way out of the men's lavatory and resume his place behind the controls.
In a cockpit radio recording, obtained by the New York Post, he can be heard telling air traffic control: 'The captain, myself, went back to the lavatory and the door latch broke and I had to fight my way out of it with my body to get the door open.
'There is no issue, no threat.'
The drama took place on a New York-bound Chatauqua Airlines flight from Asheville, North Carolina, and began when the pilot decided to take a bathroom break before landing.
But when he tried to leave the latch broke and he was locked inside at a crucial moment in the flight's journey. The plane was holding pattern above the airport and ready to touch down.
A well-meaning passenger sitting in the front row heard his hammering and rushed to assist, the New York Post reported.
Relieved, the pilot told the passenger to go to the cockpit and tell the crew of his situation, the paper said.
But the co-pilot, already jittery about why his colleague's bathroom break was taking so long, was in no mood to allow a stranger into the highly-secured area, least still one with a Middle Eastern accent, the New York Post reported.
Almost stammering, he swiftly contacted air traffic control.
'We are 180 knots 10,000 [feet] uh, can we leave the frequency for a minute? We are going to try to, uh contact dispatch,' he said in the recording obtained by the New York Post.
'The captain disappeared in the back, and, uh, I have someone with a thick foreign accent trying to access the cockpit.'
The passenger explained through the door what had happened but the co-pilot was still suspicious.
'What I'm being told is he's stuck in the lav, and, uh, someone with a thick foreign accent is giving me a password to access the cockpit,' he said.
'I'm not about to let him in.'
The controller, also scared, advised the pilot to declare an emergency and 'just get on the ground.'
The captain finally managed to bash his way out of the bathroom and told his colleagues everything was fine. At that point fighter planes had already been alerted, although they were never scrambled.
When an air traffic controller called back to check if 'there any level of disturbance on the airplane,' the pilot responded 'negative.'
The FBI and Port Authority officers met the plane when it landed around 6.30pm, the New York Post reported.
A spokesman for Chatauqua said police talked to the passenger and quickly established there had been a big misunderstanding, the New York Post reported.
PILOT CAUSES MID-AIR TERROR SCARE BY LOCKING HIMSELF IN TOILET AND THEN SENDING PASSENGER ‘WITH MIDDLE EASTERN ACCENT’ TO COCKPIT FOR HELP
By Laurie Whitwell
Mail Online
November 17, 2011
A pilot inadvertently caused a mid-air terror scare when he accidentally locked himself in the toilet and sent a passenger 'with a Middle Eastern accent' to the cockpit for help.
With the flight not far from landing, a spooked co-pilot refused to let the Good Samaritan in, and instead told the control tower at LaGuardia Airport of his serious concerns that an attack was underway.
The passenger continued to bang on the door for assistance and even offered the password but the co-pilot refused to budge, leading to fighter planes being alerted.
The apparent danger was only averted when the pilot managed to force his way out of the men's lavatory and resume his place behind the controls.
In a cockpit radio recording, obtained by the New York Post, he can be heard telling air traffic control: 'The captain, myself, went back to the lavatory and the door latch broke and I had to fight my way out of it with my body to get the door open.
'There is no issue, no threat.'
The drama took place on a New York-bound Chatauqua Airlines flight from Asheville, North Carolina, and began when the pilot decided to take a bathroom break before landing.
But when he tried to leave the latch broke and he was locked inside at a crucial moment in the flight's journey. The plane was holding pattern above the airport and ready to touch down.
A well-meaning passenger sitting in the front row heard his hammering and rushed to assist, the New York Post reported.
Relieved, the pilot told the passenger to go to the cockpit and tell the crew of his situation, the paper said.
But the co-pilot, already jittery about why his colleague's bathroom break was taking so long, was in no mood to allow a stranger into the highly-secured area, least still one with a Middle Eastern accent, the New York Post reported.
Almost stammering, he swiftly contacted air traffic control.
'We are 180 knots 10,000 [feet] uh, can we leave the frequency for a minute? We are going to try to, uh contact dispatch,' he said in the recording obtained by the New York Post.
'The captain disappeared in the back, and, uh, I have someone with a thick foreign accent trying to access the cockpit.'
The passenger explained through the door what had happened but the co-pilot was still suspicious.
'What I'm being told is he's stuck in the lav, and, uh, someone with a thick foreign accent is giving me a password to access the cockpit,' he said.
'I'm not about to let him in.'
The controller, also scared, advised the pilot to declare an emergency and 'just get on the ground.'
The captain finally managed to bash his way out of the bathroom and told his colleagues everything was fine. At that point fighter planes had already been alerted, although they were never scrambled.
When an air traffic controller called back to check if 'there any level of disturbance on the airplane,' the pilot responded 'negative.'
The FBI and Port Authority officers met the plane when it landed around 6.30pm, the New York Post reported.
A spokesman for Chatauqua said police talked to the passenger and quickly established there had been a big misunderstanding, the New York Post reported.
THE HELLS ANGELS WILL NEVER GO FOR MOTORCYCLING GREEN
Going green, or is it going brown? The Japanese may buy it, but this will never fly in the U.S. The Hells Angels would rather shit in their pants than carry a shitter on their beloved bikes.
BRIGHT IDEAS
By Chuck Shepherd
Chuck Shepherd’s News of the Weird
November 17, 2011
Basically, "Toto" is to sophisticated toilets in Japan as "Apple" is to consumer electronics in America.
In September, Toto unveiled a prototype motorcycle with a toilet bowl to convert a driver's waste into fuel, not only making it self-gassed-up but contributing to the company's goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent within six years.
The company was launching a monthlong, cross-country publicity tour (presumably featuring a gastro-intestinally robust driver). [Huffington Post, 10-7-2011]
BRIGHT IDEAS
By Chuck Shepherd
Chuck Shepherd’s News of the Weird
November 17, 2011
Basically, "Toto" is to sophisticated toilets in Japan as "Apple" is to consumer electronics in America.
In September, Toto unveiled a prototype motorcycle with a toilet bowl to convert a driver's waste into fuel, not only making it self-gassed-up but contributing to the company's goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent within six years.
The company was launching a monthlong, cross-country publicity tour (presumably featuring a gastro-intestinally robust driver). [Huffington Post, 10-7-2011]
UNCOLLECTABLE FEEL-GOOD FEE
There’s no way this is going to work because you can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip. Restitution to victims, state surcharges, fines and other charges will have to be paid by inmates once they’ve been placed on probation or parole before the county can collect a jail fee. And since most of the inmates cannot afford to pay those charges, it’s a fat chance the county will ever be able to collect its jail fee.
The County Supervisors did nothing more than pass some worthless feel-good legislation.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY SUPERVISORS FINALIZE JAIL FEE
By Duane W. Gang
The Press-Enterprise
November 16, 2011
Anyone convicted of a crime and sentenced to Riverside County jail will soon have to pay for their stays in the lockup.
Riverside County supervisors gave their final approval Tuesday to a measure aimed at recovering the $142.42 per day it costs to keep someone behind bars.
Although authorized by state law, the county ordinance may be the first of its kind in the state and one already being watched closely by other counties, said Curtis J. Hill, a legislative representative with the California State Sheriffs’ Association.
Counties across California are struggling with ways to fund jail operations and house an influx of new inmates as a result of the state’s public-safety realignment plan.
Under the state program, low-level offenders who would normally go to prison now will serve their sentences in county jails.
“We are going to be taking a look at it,” Hill said Wednesday of Riverside County’s ordinance. “It is so important now with realignment that the counties have the necessary funds to keep ongoing, consistent funding.”
Cindy Bachman, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, said officials there also will watch how the Riverside County measure works.
But at this point, San Bernardino County has no plans to seek a similar fee, she said.
“We actually believe it is an impractical mechanism for routine cost recovery,” Bachman said. “Most defendants have a very limited ability to pay.”
Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone, who sponsored the ordinance, said last week that it is important that taxpayers are reimbursed “wherever and whenever permissible.”
“By adopting this ordinance in Riverside County, if you do the crime, you’ll do the time and you’ll pay the dime,” Stone said.
State law allows counties to collect the money as a term of probation, provided a court determines a defendant has the financial ability to pay. The county also can go after the money for the time spent in jail awaiting trial, if the person is later convicted.
The county ordinance takes effect 30 days after Tuesday’s vote.
It is unclear how much money the county can collect. Stone said he hopes for as much as $5 million.
But County Counsel Pamela Walls told supervisors that collecting the money may be difficult.
The county isn’t first in line to get money from inmates, Walls wrote in a memo. Restitution to victims, state surcharges, fines and other charges are ahead of the county.
The County Supervisors did nothing more than pass some worthless feel-good legislation.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY SUPERVISORS FINALIZE JAIL FEE
By Duane W. Gang
The Press-Enterprise
November 16, 2011
Anyone convicted of a crime and sentenced to Riverside County jail will soon have to pay for their stays in the lockup.
Riverside County supervisors gave their final approval Tuesday to a measure aimed at recovering the $142.42 per day it costs to keep someone behind bars.
Although authorized by state law, the county ordinance may be the first of its kind in the state and one already being watched closely by other counties, said Curtis J. Hill, a legislative representative with the California State Sheriffs’ Association.
Counties across California are struggling with ways to fund jail operations and house an influx of new inmates as a result of the state’s public-safety realignment plan.
Under the state program, low-level offenders who would normally go to prison now will serve their sentences in county jails.
“We are going to be taking a look at it,” Hill said Wednesday of Riverside County’s ordinance. “It is so important now with realignment that the counties have the necessary funds to keep ongoing, consistent funding.”
Cindy Bachman, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, said officials there also will watch how the Riverside County measure works.
But at this point, San Bernardino County has no plans to seek a similar fee, she said.
“We actually believe it is an impractical mechanism for routine cost recovery,” Bachman said. “Most defendants have a very limited ability to pay.”
Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone, who sponsored the ordinance, said last week that it is important that taxpayers are reimbursed “wherever and whenever permissible.”
“By adopting this ordinance in Riverside County, if you do the crime, you’ll do the time and you’ll pay the dime,” Stone said.
State law allows counties to collect the money as a term of probation, provided a court determines a defendant has the financial ability to pay. The county also can go after the money for the time spent in jail awaiting trial, if the person is later convicted.
The county ordinance takes effect 30 days after Tuesday’s vote.
It is unclear how much money the county can collect. Stone said he hopes for as much as $5 million.
But County Counsel Pamela Walls told supervisors that collecting the money may be difficult.
The county isn’t first in line to get money from inmates, Walls wrote in a memo. Restitution to victims, state surcharges, fines and other charges are ahead of the county.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
WEENIE-WAVING MEDICAL PAROLEE
I’m surprised that California hasn’t come up with a ‘father in the home’ parole.
Bob Walsh says, "Give them time. The 'paroled mothers law' is not actually gender specific. There is no reason why loving and caring and nurturing fathers who just happen to be predatory criminals can’t apply for parole to go home and take care of their crumbsnatchers. Doesn’t mean they will get it."
MEDICAL PAROLEE MAY BE RETURNED TO PRISON
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
November 16, 2011
A former guest of the state who was freed under the new and wonderful medical parole law was back in custody today and may be returned to prison due to an incident occurring only days after his release.
Peter Post, 33, was released on parole on November 3. He was paroled to a long-term care facility due to his being permanently physically incapacitated. He was rolled up on November 10 for weenie waving and committing a lewd act in front of female nursing staff at the private facility.
Since he is well enough to yank his crank the department has concluded he may still be a risk to society and perhaps should finish out his 31-year sentence for burglary out of Sacramento.
Since January 1, 27 criminals have applied for medical parole. Of that number 24 have been granted.
Bob Walsh says, "Give them time. The 'paroled mothers law' is not actually gender specific. There is no reason why loving and caring and nurturing fathers who just happen to be predatory criminals can’t apply for parole to go home and take care of their crumbsnatchers. Doesn’t mean they will get it."
MEDICAL PAROLEE MAY BE RETURNED TO PRISON
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
November 16, 2011
A former guest of the state who was freed under the new and wonderful medical parole law was back in custody today and may be returned to prison due to an incident occurring only days after his release.
Peter Post, 33, was released on parole on November 3. He was paroled to a long-term care facility due to his being permanently physically incapacitated. He was rolled up on November 10 for weenie waving and committing a lewd act in front of female nursing staff at the private facility.
Since he is well enough to yank his crank the department has concluded he may still be a risk to society and perhaps should finish out his 31-year sentence for burglary out of Sacramento.
Since January 1, 27 criminals have applied for medical parole. Of that number 24 have been granted.
TEXAS, HERE WE COME
Wednesday’s Houston Chronicle reported that according to the U.S. Census, more than 363,000 Californians moved to Texas over the past five years, helping the state to grow more than twice as fast as the nation as a whole since 2000. They left California for jobs and for a lower cost of living.
I just hope those transplanted Californians aren’t going to be like those job seekers who came to Texas from Michigan during an economic downturn in the 1970s. Once they got here all they did was to complain about how awful Texas was. Those people from Michigan were like hemorrhoids – a real pain in the ass after they moved down and the pain didn’t go away until they moved back up north.
I just hope those transplanted Californians aren’t going to be like those job seekers who came to Texas from Michigan during an economic downturn in the 1970s. Once they got here all they did was to complain about how awful Texas was. Those people from Michigan were like hemorrhoids – a real pain in the ass after they moved down and the pain didn’t go away until they moved back up north.
FIVE THINGS PARENTS SHOULD HAVE TAUGHT THE PROTESTERS
I think Marybeth Hicks’ article applies to a good number of the participants in the Occupy Wall Street movement.
SOME BELATED PARENTAL ADVICE TO PROTESTERS
By Marybeth Hicks
Townhall.com
October 20, 2011
Call it an occupational hazard, but I can’t look at the Occupy Wall Street protesters without thinking, “Who parented these people?”
As a culture columnist, I’ve commented on the social and political ramifications of the “movement” - now known as “OWS” - whose fairyland agenda can be summarized by one of their placards: “Everything for everybody.”
Thanks to their pipe-dream platform, it’s clear there are people with serious designs on “transformational” change in America who are using the protesters like bedsprings in a brothel.
Yet it’s not my role as a commentator that prompts my parenting question, but rather the fact that I’m the mother of four teens and young adults. There are some crucial life lessons that the protesters’ moms clearly have not passed along.
Here, then, are five things the OWS protesters’ mothers should have taught their children but obviously didn’t, so I will:
• Life isn’t fair. The concept of justice - that everyone should be treated fairly - is a worthy and worthwhile moral imperative on which our nation was founded. But justice and economic equality are not the same. Or, as Mick Jagger said, “You can’t always get what you want.”
No matter how you try to “level the playing field,” some people have better luck, skills, talents or connections that land them in better places. Some seem to have all the advantages in life but squander them, others play the modest hand they’re dealt and make up the difference in hard work and perseverance, and some find jobs on Wall Street and eventually buy houses in the Hamptons. Is it fair? Stupid question.
• Nothing is “free.” Protesting with signs that seek “free” college degrees and “free” health care make you look like idiots, because colleges and hospitals don’t operate on rainbows and sunshine. There is no magic money machine to tap for your meandering educational careers and “slow paths” to adulthood, and the 53 percent of taxpaying Americans owe you neither a degree nor an annual physical.
While I’m pointing out this obvious fact, here are a few other things that are not free: overtime for police officers and municipal workers, trash hauling, repairs to fixtures and property, condoms, Band-Aids and the food that inexplicably appears on the tables in your makeshift protest kitchens. Real people with real dollars are underwriting your civic temper tantrum.
• Your word is your bond. When you demonstrate to eliminate student loan debt, you are advocating precisely the lack of integrity you decry in others. Loans are made based on solemn promises to repay them. No one forces you to borrow money; you are free to choose educational pursuits that don’t require loans, or to seek technical or vocational training that allows you to support yourself and your ongoing educational goals. Also, for the record, being a college student is not a state of victimization. It’s a privilege that billions of young people around the globe would die for - literally.
• A protest is not a party. On Saturday in New York, while making a mad dash from my cab to the door of my hotel to avoid you, I saw what isn’t evident in the newsreel footage of your demonstrations: Most of you are doing this only for attention and fun. Serious people in a sober pursuit of social and political change don’t dance jigs down Sixth Avenue like attendees of a Renaissance festival. You look foolish, you smell gross, you are clearly high and you don’t seem to realize that all around you are people who deem you irrelevant.
• There are reasons you haven’t found jobs. The truth? Your tattooed necks, gauged ears, facial piercings and dirty dreadlocks are off-putting. Nonconformity for the sake of nonconformity isn’t a virtue. Occupy reality: Only 4 percent of college graduates are out of work. If you are among that 4 percent, find a mirror and face the problem. It’s not them. It’s you.
SOME BELATED PARENTAL ADVICE TO PROTESTERS
By Marybeth Hicks
Townhall.com
October 20, 2011
Call it an occupational hazard, but I can’t look at the Occupy Wall Street protesters without thinking, “Who parented these people?”
As a culture columnist, I’ve commented on the social and political ramifications of the “movement” - now known as “OWS” - whose fairyland agenda can be summarized by one of their placards: “Everything for everybody.”
Thanks to their pipe-dream platform, it’s clear there are people with serious designs on “transformational” change in America who are using the protesters like bedsprings in a brothel.
Yet it’s not my role as a commentator that prompts my parenting question, but rather the fact that I’m the mother of four teens and young adults. There are some crucial life lessons that the protesters’ moms clearly have not passed along.
Here, then, are five things the OWS protesters’ mothers should have taught their children but obviously didn’t, so I will:
• Life isn’t fair. The concept of justice - that everyone should be treated fairly - is a worthy and worthwhile moral imperative on which our nation was founded. But justice and economic equality are not the same. Or, as Mick Jagger said, “You can’t always get what you want.”
No matter how you try to “level the playing field,” some people have better luck, skills, talents or connections that land them in better places. Some seem to have all the advantages in life but squander them, others play the modest hand they’re dealt and make up the difference in hard work and perseverance, and some find jobs on Wall Street and eventually buy houses in the Hamptons. Is it fair? Stupid question.
• Nothing is “free.” Protesting with signs that seek “free” college degrees and “free” health care make you look like idiots, because colleges and hospitals don’t operate on rainbows and sunshine. There is no magic money machine to tap for your meandering educational careers and “slow paths” to adulthood, and the 53 percent of taxpaying Americans owe you neither a degree nor an annual physical.
While I’m pointing out this obvious fact, here are a few other things that are not free: overtime for police officers and municipal workers, trash hauling, repairs to fixtures and property, condoms, Band-Aids and the food that inexplicably appears on the tables in your makeshift protest kitchens. Real people with real dollars are underwriting your civic temper tantrum.
• Your word is your bond. When you demonstrate to eliminate student loan debt, you are advocating precisely the lack of integrity you decry in others. Loans are made based on solemn promises to repay them. No one forces you to borrow money; you are free to choose educational pursuits that don’t require loans, or to seek technical or vocational training that allows you to support yourself and your ongoing educational goals. Also, for the record, being a college student is not a state of victimization. It’s a privilege that billions of young people around the globe would die for - literally.
• A protest is not a party. On Saturday in New York, while making a mad dash from my cab to the door of my hotel to avoid you, I saw what isn’t evident in the newsreel footage of your demonstrations: Most of you are doing this only for attention and fun. Serious people in a sober pursuit of social and political change don’t dance jigs down Sixth Avenue like attendees of a Renaissance festival. You look foolish, you smell gross, you are clearly high and you don’t seem to realize that all around you are people who deem you irrelevant.
• There are reasons you haven’t found jobs. The truth? Your tattooed necks, gauged ears, facial piercings and dirty dreadlocks are off-putting. Nonconformity for the sake of nonconformity isn’t a virtue. Occupy reality: Only 4 percent of college graduates are out of work. If you are among that 4 percent, find a mirror and face the problem. It’s not them. It’s you.
COVER UP BY PENN STATE COPS?
According to the grand jury report in the Penn State child rape scandal, Mike McQueary was putting sneakers into his locker around 9:30 p.m. on March 1, 2002 when he saw Jerry Sandusky having sex with a young boy. He left, “distraught,” and contacted his father and then head coach Joe Paterno. He later met with athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz to describe what he had seen.
Because of that report, I said that Mike McQueary should be charged and indicted for child endangerment because he failed to stop a child rape being committed in his presence and for failing to report the rape of a child to the police. (Just Exactly What Did McQueary Tell JoePa? / 11-14-11)
McQueary contradicts the grand jury report in an email he recently (November 8) sent to a friend in which he said, “I did stop it, not physically ... but made sure it was stopped when I left that locker room ... I did have discussions with police and with the official at the university in charge of police .... no one can imagine my thoughts or wants to be in my shoes for those 30-45 seconds ... trust me.” McQueary also told the friend that he felt he was “getting hammered for handling this the right way ... or what I thought at the time was right ... I had to make tough impacting quick decisions.”
If McQueary is being truthful in his email, then we have an even bigger scandal at Penn State – a police cover up. The failure to arrest Sandusky in March 2002 calls for a thorough investigation of the Penn State administrator in charge of the police and the police officials responsible for failing to bring in a reported child rapist.
It sure looks like there was a conspiracy between the college cops and the university administration to protect the church of football by covering up the forcible rape of a child at the hands of a former Penn State football coach.
Because of that report, I said that Mike McQueary should be charged and indicted for child endangerment because he failed to stop a child rape being committed in his presence and for failing to report the rape of a child to the police. (Just Exactly What Did McQueary Tell JoePa? / 11-14-11)
McQueary contradicts the grand jury report in an email he recently (November 8) sent to a friend in which he said, “I did stop it, not physically ... but made sure it was stopped when I left that locker room ... I did have discussions with police and with the official at the university in charge of police .... no one can imagine my thoughts or wants to be in my shoes for those 30-45 seconds ... trust me.” McQueary also told the friend that he felt he was “getting hammered for handling this the right way ... or what I thought at the time was right ... I had to make tough impacting quick decisions.”
If McQueary is being truthful in his email, then we have an even bigger scandal at Penn State – a police cover up. The failure to arrest Sandusky in March 2002 calls for a thorough investigation of the Penn State administrator in charge of the police and the police officials responsible for failing to bring in a reported child rapist.
It sure looks like there was a conspiracy between the college cops and the university administration to protect the church of football by covering up the forcible rape of a child at the hands of a former Penn State football coach.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
SCANDALOUS COVER UP OF A SCANDAL?
From the Schalotte:
Q&A WITH AN EYEWITNESS TO A CHILD RAPE
By Adolf der Schweinehund
The Schalotte
November 16, 2011
A key witness to the child rape by Jerry Sandusky agreed to answer some questions if I wouldn’t use his name in The Schalotte.
Q: Sir, I appreciate your willingness to answer some questions regarding what you saw on the night of March 1, 2002.
A: Well, I don’t think the attorney I hired would want me to answer any questions, but since your publication is not anything like The New York Times or the Washington Post, I’m willing to have a go at it.
Q: Can you tell me what happened that night?
A: Well, I went to our locker room …
Q: Excuse me for interrupting, but what do you mean by our locker room?
A: That’s the Penn State football team’s locker room.
Q: OK, go ahead …
A: Well I went there to put a pair of sneakers in my locker. When I got to my locker, I think it was around 9:30 p.m. that Friday night, I heard a strange noise coming from the showers. When I took a look see, I …Holy fucking shit! … I saw coach Sandusky holding a kid, I guessed he was between nine and ten, against the wall and … Holy fucking shit! … he was giving that kid a fucking blow job.
Q: Now, the grand jury report said you turned around without doing anything and went to your father’s house.
A: Well, that’s not exactly right. I was in complete shock, I mean Coach Sandusky giving some young kid a fucking blow job! Yeah, I got the hell out of there but it’s not true that I didn’t do anything. I made sure that coach Sandusky saw me, that I saw what he was doing to that poor kid. That made him stop and that’s when I left.
Q: Instead of leaving, why didn’t you kick the shit out of Sandusky and haul him off to the cops?
A: Well, in retrospect, I guess you’re right. I should have kicked the living shit out of that bastard, for sure, and made a citizen’s arrest, or whatever you call it. But you gotta understand, I was in real shock!
Q: Now, you emailed a friend and told him that you stopped the rape in a non-physical way … by that I suppose you meant that you made sure Sandusky saw you … and that you also notified the cops and the Penn State administrator in charge of the police. When did you do that?
A: I think it was the next day, but you know I was still in shock, it could have been the day after that. I went to the campus police station and told the cop on duty what I had seen. He said something like, “Holy fuck, you gotta be kidding me!”
Q: What happened next?
A: Well he called his supervisor. He came to the station and had the same reaction when I told him what I had seen Sandusky doing to that kid. He phoned someone, maybe the campus police chief. After a while, some guy shows up in his pajamas and a bathrobe. I’m not sure, but it I think it was the chief. They had me tell him what I saw and, I kid you not, he almost passed out. When he regained his composure he told me that due to the sensitive nature of this case, I had to keep quiet about it.
Q: Did you, I mean did you keep quiet?
A: Well not exactly. I didn’t much care for the cops’ reaction, telling me to keep quiet and all that. I wasn’t sure what they were going to do, if anything, so I got ahold of the university vice-president in charge of the police and told him what I had seen Sandusky doing.
Q: What did he do?
A: Well, he said he knew all about it because the chief had just told him. He put his arm around me and told me that if word got out, this could destroy Penn State’s football program and have a devastating effect on the whole university. He told me to go home, have a couple of beers, relax and let him figure out how they were going to handle this. And that’s the last I heard about this until I got a summons to testify before the grand jury earlier this year.
Q: The university says that there is no record of your ever contacting the police and the vice-president denies you ever told him what Sandusky had done. What’s the deal?
A: I’m not surprised. All I can tell you is that I did tell them that I saw Sandusky giving that kid a fucking blow job. They’re just trying to cover their asses for not doing anything about it.
Q: I just heard that you’ve been barred from the Penn State campus. Is that right?
A: Yes, that’s right. And I’m sure they’re getting ready to fire me too. You know, it’s the shoot the messenger thing.
Q: OK, one more question. Have you been telling me the absolute truth?
A: Yes sir, I have, so help me God!
Q: So you’re not shitting us?
A: Honestly Mr. Schweinehund … it is Schweinehund, isn’t it? … I’m not shitting you!
Q: Well then, good luck to you and thanks for being so candid with us.
A: That’s OK. I just want to say one more thing. My life has been hell for the last couple of weeks. I’ve been threatened by those who believe I didn’t do anything, didn’t go to the cops. And others, I think they’re alumni, have threatened me because I told the grand jury what I saw … they claim that I am the one who has done irreparable harm to coach Paterno and to the university. Believe me, it’ll take more than just a couple of beers for me to get my peace of mind back.
Q&A WITH AN EYEWITNESS TO A CHILD RAPE
By Adolf der Schweinehund
The Schalotte
November 16, 2011
A key witness to the child rape by Jerry Sandusky agreed to answer some questions if I wouldn’t use his name in The Schalotte.
Q: Sir, I appreciate your willingness to answer some questions regarding what you saw on the night of March 1, 2002.
A: Well, I don’t think the attorney I hired would want me to answer any questions, but since your publication is not anything like The New York Times or the Washington Post, I’m willing to have a go at it.
Q: Can you tell me what happened that night?
A: Well, I went to our locker room …
Q: Excuse me for interrupting, but what do you mean by our locker room?
A: That’s the Penn State football team’s locker room.
Q: OK, go ahead …
A: Well I went there to put a pair of sneakers in my locker. When I got to my locker, I think it was around 9:30 p.m. that Friday night, I heard a strange noise coming from the showers. When I took a look see, I …Holy fucking shit! … I saw coach Sandusky holding a kid, I guessed he was between nine and ten, against the wall and … Holy fucking shit! … he was giving that kid a fucking blow job.
Q: Now, the grand jury report said you turned around without doing anything and went to your father’s house.
A: Well, that’s not exactly right. I was in complete shock, I mean Coach Sandusky giving some young kid a fucking blow job! Yeah, I got the hell out of there but it’s not true that I didn’t do anything. I made sure that coach Sandusky saw me, that I saw what he was doing to that poor kid. That made him stop and that’s when I left.
Q: Instead of leaving, why didn’t you kick the shit out of Sandusky and haul him off to the cops?
A: Well, in retrospect, I guess you’re right. I should have kicked the living shit out of that bastard, for sure, and made a citizen’s arrest, or whatever you call it. But you gotta understand, I was in real shock!
Q: Now, you emailed a friend and told him that you stopped the rape in a non-physical way … by that I suppose you meant that you made sure Sandusky saw you … and that you also notified the cops and the Penn State administrator in charge of the police. When did you do that?
A: I think it was the next day, but you know I was still in shock, it could have been the day after that. I went to the campus police station and told the cop on duty what I had seen. He said something like, “Holy fuck, you gotta be kidding me!”
Q: What happened next?
A: Well he called his supervisor. He came to the station and had the same reaction when I told him what I had seen Sandusky doing to that kid. He phoned someone, maybe the campus police chief. After a while, some guy shows up in his pajamas and a bathrobe. I’m not sure, but it I think it was the chief. They had me tell him what I saw and, I kid you not, he almost passed out. When he regained his composure he told me that due to the sensitive nature of this case, I had to keep quiet about it.
Q: Did you, I mean did you keep quiet?
A: Well not exactly. I didn’t much care for the cops’ reaction, telling me to keep quiet and all that. I wasn’t sure what they were going to do, if anything, so I got ahold of the university vice-president in charge of the police and told him what I had seen Sandusky doing.
Q: What did he do?
A: Well, he said he knew all about it because the chief had just told him. He put his arm around me and told me that if word got out, this could destroy Penn State’s football program and have a devastating effect on the whole university. He told me to go home, have a couple of beers, relax and let him figure out how they were going to handle this. And that’s the last I heard about this until I got a summons to testify before the grand jury earlier this year.
Q: The university says that there is no record of your ever contacting the police and the vice-president denies you ever told him what Sandusky had done. What’s the deal?
A: I’m not surprised. All I can tell you is that I did tell them that I saw Sandusky giving that kid a fucking blow job. They’re just trying to cover their asses for not doing anything about it.
Q: I just heard that you’ve been barred from the Penn State campus. Is that right?
A: Yes, that’s right. And I’m sure they’re getting ready to fire me too. You know, it’s the shoot the messenger thing.
Q: OK, one more question. Have you been telling me the absolute truth?
A: Yes sir, I have, so help me God!
Q: So you’re not shitting us?
A: Honestly Mr. Schweinehund … it is Schweinehund, isn’t it? … I’m not shitting you!
Q: Well then, good luck to you and thanks for being so candid with us.
A: That’s OK. I just want to say one more thing. My life has been hell for the last couple of weeks. I’ve been threatened by those who believe I didn’t do anything, didn’t go to the cops. And others, I think they’re alumni, have threatened me because I told the grand jury what I saw … they claim that I am the one who has done irreparable harm to coach Paterno and to the university. Believe me, it’ll take more than just a couple of beers for me to get my peace of mind back.
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