Hate speech from Democrat mayor against conservative black clergyman Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes is standing as the GOP candidate against black hustler Jesse Jackson in Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District next November and (black) Mayor Alvin McCowan of the Illinois town of University Park doesn't like it. He recently rushed into a private campaign meeting at a city-owned facility to order Hayes out. Hayes has issued the following statement about the matter (excerpt):

"I am saddened by the hate speech from a sitting Mayor who is more interested in the politics of personal destruction than apologizing for leaving his meeting to interfere in a unrelated, private event. Racial slurs such as “sellout” and “another Alan Keyes” have no place in the public discourse. This only reinforces my complaint that I was discriminated against because of my political views.

“My campaign continues to receive apologies from University Park village officials and support from the Mayor’s very own constituents. Both groups communicate their lack of surprise in his behavior, because they have also dealt with his thuggery.

“Out of respect to Congressman Jackson, I afforded him an entire weekend to denounce the actions of one of his major campaign contributors. Unfortunately, he has chosen to silently endorse political discrimination and, now, blatant racism.

Source

Details of exactly what happened when candidate Hayes was expelled from the campaign meeting (to which he had specifically been invited) here. Another account HERE

The Hayes campaign slogan is "Isaac for honesty". No wonder he does not go down well among the Illinois establishment! There is not much honesty in Illinois politics. And Hayes grew up on the South Side of Chicago so he knows all about it.


Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Banning the Word "Obese" Planned

(Liverpool, England) After consulting with children aged 9 through 11 in the "Schools Parliament," the Liverpool City Council is proposing to ban the word "obese" to avoid stigmatizing the youngsters. According to the council, at least 40 percent of all 11-year-olds are overweight and referring to them as obese apparently discourages them from eating healthy.

The Liverpool wordsmiths plan an official strategy to educate the excessively overweight kids while using the term "unhealthy weight" instead of "obese."

Frankly, banning the word is not only a poor idea, it's wrong. It's simply inaccurate to replace "obese" with "unhealthy weight." Sure "obese" means excessively fat and meets the definition of unhealthy weight. However, neither anorexics nor bulimics are excessively fat but both are potentially unhealthy in weight. Unhealthy weight is not synonymous with obese.

Remember, if something looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, no amount of official name changes will make it not a duck. Also, the city council shouldn't go around and kiss every boo-boo kids get. Let them grow up realizing that people will call them names, whether they are obese or not. It's part of life.

Lastly, the fat kids know they're fat and I contend that the word "obese" troubles them considerably less than being called "Fatso" or "Lardass" or "Pigbutt" while on the playground.

Coma Learning?

(Knin, Croatia) A Croatian girl apparently learned to speak fluent German while comatose.

The girl, from the southern town of Knin, had only just started studying German at school and had been reading German books and watching German TV to become better, but was by no means fluent, according to her parents.

Since waking up from her 24 hour coma, however, she has been unable to speak Croatian, but is able to communicate perfectly in German.

Experts are analyzing this odd case.

Muslim hate crimes must be appeased

This was an actual hate crime, not just speech. The guys below have apparently been offered community service as the only penalty -- and in San Francisco at that. Christians would have been locked up for good. Note that the overwhelming motivation of the prosecutors seems to be to get an "agreement" with the offenders!

"Three Hayward men accused of shooting a San Francisco man they thought was gay with a BB gun in February delayed entering pleas Thursday, and prosecutors indicated that talks are under way to settle the case.

Shafiq Hashemi, 21, Mohammad Habibzada, 24, and Sayed Bassam, 21, are accused of shooting a 27-year-old man from their car at 16th and Guerrero streets in the Mission District on Feb. 26, then driving off. The man was hit in the cheek but not seriously injured.

Police arrested the three nearby and they allegedly confessed that they had come to San Francisco to shoot gay people, according to police.

Prosecutors have charged them with assault with a deadly weapon, negligent discharge of a firearm, hate crimes and attempted mayhem.

Judge Bruce Chan ordered entry of plea delayed until April 19 "to see if there can be some resolution that would meet all the interests of the communities and parties involved." "We've communicated an offer to the defendants, and they're considering it," prosecutor Victor Hwang said after the hearing.

According to Hwang, community service may be part of the settlement, though the final details of the possible plea deal are still being discussed.

Source

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Brit NHS Kisses Muslim Butt

(London, England) The rules of the British National Health Service (NHS) now formally recognize that NHS workers who are Muslims and Sikhs are more equal than those who are Christians.

The Department of Health will allow female Muslim staff to opt out of a strict NHS dress code to cover their arms and protect their modesty.

But campaigners warn that the NHS is putting lives at risk because guidance that all staff should be 'bare below the elbow' was introduced after long sleeves were blamed for spreading MRSA.

The change has been brought in after some female Muslims objected to being forced to bare their arms on wards. The Department of Health has also relaxed its no jewellery rule to let Sikhs wear their Kara bangles as long as they can be pushed up to the elbow when dealing with patients.

The policy is in stark contrast to the treatment of nurse Shirley Chaplin who last week lost her discrimination battle against Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital Trust which claimed the cross she wore round her neck was a 'hazard' in case it scratched patients.

Last night she accused the NHS of 'double standards.' She added: 'What can you say? It seems that life is stacked up against Christians these days.'

So, what's the NHS going to do when the unsterile practices of the Muslims and Sikhs result in death from MRSA infections? I know. They'll blame it on the Christians.

Wiccan Woman Indicted for Murder in Alleged Human Sacrifice

(Albuquerque, New Mexico) A 30-year-old alleged practitioner of witchcraft, Angela Sanford, was indicted last week by a Bernalillo County grand jury for the murder of 52-year-old Joel Leyba in what is believed to have been a human sacrifice.

A detective reviewing Sanford's cell phone said the victim's phone number was actually programmed under the word "sacrifice."

Sanford is accused of killing 52-year-old Joel Leyba last month with a dagger, after inviting him to join her in a Wiccan celebration of spring.

Sanford claimed that she killed Leyba in self-defense although evidence shows she stabbed the man at least twelve times with a ceremonial dagger.

Drug Cartel Threatens Texas Lawmakers - Updated

(Hidalgo County, Texas) South Texas lawmakers are being threatened by drug gangs.

Our source explains increased law enforcement at the border is making it tougher for the Zetas to preserve their drug and weapons smuggling routes into the United States. They don’t want lawmakers to send National Guard troops to the border. Troops would threaten the Zetas’ operations.

The security source tells us the threats are an act of desperation, but they may have the opposite effect the Zetas want. The more threats against lawmakers make it more likely the governor would send the National Guard to the border.

Reportedly, kidnapping is a serious concern.

[Update] According to a local report from Laredo, the FBI was alerted last month by an informant who was asked by the Zetas to identify an elected official or federal judge suitable for abduction.

Rio Grande valley state officials told reporters that they had been briefed by the Texas Department of Public safety about the drug trafficker's plan to abduct US elected officials.

Lawmakers who wanted to remain anonymous say they were asked to take precautions, even offered extra security but while multiple federal law enforcement agencies said the threats had been investigated and discounted, the lawmakers claim they never heard back from authorities.
The claims have been catching the attention of south Texas elected officials some of whom have said they as well as everybody else are still on guard.

Meanwhile, the two-year battle for supremacy in the drug trade has killed more than 5,000 people and "El Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa cartel is being seen as the winner in the drug war.



Joachim "El Chapo" Guzman
Intelligence sources indicate that the Sinaloa cartel has overpowered the Juarez cartel for control of drug flow through Juarez and El Paso, considered ground zero in the drug war. U.S. agents warn that violence will continue as long as the Juarez cartel leader, Carrillo Fuentes, is still alive.

Woman Arrested for Drugs and Sexual Exploitation

(Des Moines, Iowa) A 31-year-old local woman, Tanya Rae Cano, was arrested this past week on drugs and sexual exploitation charges. According to Polk County Jail booking data, Cano faces two charges: (1) sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist and (2) narcotics delivery Schedule II.

Cano was placed into custody at the Polk County Jail with total bond set at $120,000.

Meanwhile, in a seemingly-related report, a woman named Tanya Cano and a 17-year-old youth named Tanor Jimmison were involved in an incident in which a package containing 53 pounds of marijuana was delivered to a residence occupied by Jimmison. However, the package was addressed to Thomas Jefferson. As reported, the package was delivered and then stolen by an armed bandit. Although police were notified, no arrests were reportedly made.

It's suspected that the Tanya Cano booked into jail is the same person who was involved in the marijuana event. Need confirmation and information regarding the charges.

Tip: Jeff

Strongest Beer



From the Scottish Brewdog brewery comes the world's strongest beer. Called Tactical Nuclear Penguin, the beer contains 32 percent alcohol. It can be ordered from the Brewdog website. Going price is reportedly $53 per bottle. Pretty steep for suds, I'd say.

This stuff gives whole new meaning to "I only had two beers, Officer."

Tip: slwlion

County Judge Instructs People to "Arm Themselves"

(Ashtabula, Ohio) The local law enforcement has been cutting manpower due to budget constraints so it's now recommended that people get guns to protect themselves.

Ashtabula County Common Pleas Judge Alfred Mackey has specifically instructed residents to "arm themselves."

The Ashtabula County Jail has confined as many as 140 prisoners. It now houses only 30 because of reductions in the staff of corrections officers.

All told, 700 accused criminals are on a waiting list to serve time in the jail.

Are there dangerous people free among the 700 who cannot be locked up?

"There probably are," Sheriff Johnson said, "but I'm telling you, any known violent criminal, we're housing them. We've got murderers in there."

Although it's rare that citizens are instructed to go and get guns for protection, I suggest it's absolutely bizarre for the corrections department to put convicts on a waiting list for incarceration.

Woman Accused of Sex Crimes with Boys

(Stedman, North Carolina) A 33-year-old local woman, Stacie Leigh McDonald, has been arrested for coercing two boys into performing sex and recording the incident on her cell phone.

She faces charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, exhibiting performances harmful to minors and contributing to the delinquency of juveniles.

McDonald is accused of giving alcohol and cigarettes to the boys, who are 15 and 16, the release said.

In return, they agreed to perform a sex act on each other, the release said. McDonald is accused of recording it on her cell phone, the release said.

McDonald was booked into custody with bond set at $32,500.

Greenies could die of lead poisoning: Australian research

They already drink a lot of birdshit so what's a little lead? In the old days when Australian country people HAD to use tank water, they used it to make tea, which is, of course, boiled first and hence pretty sterile. But even that won't remove lead. But the lead in today's tanks probably comes from city pollution so that was an unlikely problem for them

PEOPLE who drink from their rainwater tanks may be consuming unacceptable levels of lead, a study says. Scientists from the University of Technology, Sydney, assessed the quality of water stored in household tanks around the city and found that five of the 11 tanks contained lead levels exceeding 0.01 milligrams a litre - the amount considered safe in drinking water by the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

They also found the turbidity, or murkiness, of the water exceeded acceptable levels, as did the pH levels in some tanks.

A lead researcher, Benjamin Kus, said the results of their study confirmed past research that had also found rainwater tanks could accumulate higher than acceptable levels of lead and other pollutants.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 16 per cent of households use rainwater tanks, and more than three-quarters of them use the tanks as their main source of drinking water....

According to drinking water guidelines, published by the National Health and Medical Research Council, lead that is absorbed into the body can make its way to the kidney, liver and bone marrow. Lead is a cumulative poison that can severely affect the central nervous system, and can persist in bone for up to 30 years.

The implications of the study are especially relevant to people living outside metropolitan areas, where rainwater tanks are often the principal source of water. More than 30 per cent of non-capital city households use rainwater tanks, according to the Bureau of Statistics.

In NSW there are no restrictions against the use of rainwater for drinking. However, NSW Health recommends that, where available, people should use the public water supply for drinking and cooking because it is filtered, disinfected and generally fluoridated.

Maintenance of tanks is the responsibility of the owner or user of the tank.

More here

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Academics join the tea-party=racism claim

You have to read academic writing carefully. Most people probably would conclude that the following survey is of tea-party members. It is not. It is about attitude to the tea partiers among a rough "sample" of the general public, including 494 whites and 380 blacks -- which shows it was not a random sample. Blacks are only about 12% of the overall population.

What that tells you is anybody's guess. It is more likely to reflect what the media have said about the tea partiers than be the fruit of any actual contact with tea-partiers.

The whole thing is clearly just a feeble attempt to give some patina of academic respectibility to current Democrat propaganda. Being a very experienced survey researcher, I have no doubt that if I looked at the detailed survey protocols I would find much more to laugh at -- but why keep shooting a dead horse?

The tea party movement has gotten much attention in recent months, but aside from decrying big government and excessive spending, who are the supporters and what else do they appear to believe?

A new University of Washington survey found that among whites, southerners are 12 percent more likely to support the tea party than whites in other parts of the U.S., and that conservatives are 28 percent more likely than liberals to support the group.

"The tea party is not just about politics and size of government. The data suggests it may also be about race,"said Christopher Parker, a UW assistant professor of political science who directed the survey. It found that those who are racially resentful, who believe the U.S. government has done too much to support blacks, are 36 percent more likely to support the tea party than those who are not.

Indeed, strong support for the tea party movement results in a 45 percent decline in support for health care reform compared with those who oppose the tea party. "While it's clear that the tea party in one sense is about limited government, it's also clear from the data that people who want limited government don't want certain services for certain kinds of people. Those services include health care,"Parker said.

More HERE

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Don't Store Your Dope in Kid's Backpack

(Menallen Township, Pennsylvania) A 33-year-old man, Ronald Washington, used his son's Elmo backpack to store marijuana and was surprised when the boy took it to kindergarten last Thursday. So Mr. Washington called the school to make sure his son had arrived while mentioning that he had to retrieve something from the boy's Sesame Street-themed backpack.

School authorities then searched the backpack and found four ounces of marijuana. They called the cops who came and arrested Mr. Washington on charges of possession with intent to deliver.

Mr. Washington was booked into custody at the Fayette County Jail with bond set at $100,000.

Typo Prison

(Java, Indonesia) This report demonstrates how they simplest of government bureaucratic errors can ruin lives. Convict Kamjai Khong Thavorn, 53, at the Pasir Putih Penitentiary endured three extra years in prison because of a typo.

Kamjai was due for release in 2007 after a 20-year sentence he received in 1987 for heroin possession, but up until Wednesday, he was still behind bars.

Having spent an extra three years in jail for no fault of his own, Kamjai was promptly released on Thursday after a chance meeting with Justice Minister Patrialis Akbar, who happened to be visiting the prison for an inspection.

“Kamjai was released this morning and taken by immigration officials from Cilacap to the Thai Embassy in Jakarta,” Pasir Putih’s warden, Sutrisman, told the Jakarta Globe.

Kamjai was arrested in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, on Aug. 20, 1987, for possession of 17.76 kilograms of heroin and sentenced to life in prison. His sentence was reduced to 20 years by a presidential decree. However, the decree mistakenly stated his first year in prison as 1997, instead of 1987.

Chances are that there will be no consequences for the government worker or department who screwed up. Chalk it up as just another reason why people should never give the government control over their lives. The government always has the freedom to be incompetent with impunity.

Greenpeace Funded by the Political Class

Far-left advocacy group Greenpeace receives large donations from rich and powerful people, enough to drown the entire notion of political independence and non-partisanship. The mechanism of receiving funding – through foundations – is the same as the opposition “right wing” organizations that it criticizes for funding bias.

Greenpeace is an international conglomerate, composed of corporations in 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Included among Greenpeace’s largest corporate donors are the Rockefeller brothers, Ted Turner and Jane Fonda, and the Macarthurs; as well as a long list of foundations with left-leaning gifting bias.

Since people on the left are generally unfamiliar with religious thought, my guess is that the Greenpeace propagandists are unfamiliar with the rules on casting the first stone. The group’s recent libelous attack against the Koch brothers appears to have had a dual purpose; both obviously connected to the exposure of the global warming scam.

Democrats, including Barack Obama, and politicians world-wide have invested a great deal of political capital in the scheme; pushing hard to put “global governance” in gear. Public awareness that the vast political changes along with exponentially increasing taxes have been proposed on the basis of fraud is harming their political power base.

Greenpeace also profits from smaller donors and operates “efficiently” by not paying volunteer workers. Claims of “saving the Earth” from global warming has been one of their greatest marketing tools for both fund raising and recruiting.

Their website still proclaims as a purpose of their existence: “Catalysing an energy revolution to address the number one threat facing our planet: climate change,” and has a variety of pages dedicated to global warming propaganda; including “Stop climate change,” “Climate change video FAQs,” “Take Action: Write to the oil companies,” “Cool IT Challenge,” “Take Action: Call Koch,” and “Climate blog.”

There is of course, no list of useful Greenpeace inventions or products that would be effective in achieving their stated goals; just calls for action, donations, and volunteers. Being entirely non-productive is one of the key characteristics Greenpeace uses to “grow the brand.”

SOURCE

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Woman Pleads Guilty in Outhouse Sex Case - Updated

(Casper, Wyoming) Forty-year-old mother-of-six Stacy Lee McLaughlin came to terms with the prosecution for a plea agreement.

She was initially charged with one count of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor after the victim told investigators she “sexually violated” him in a bathroom during an August camping trip.

With the agreement, the felony sexual abuse of a minor charge was dropped and McLaughlin pleaded guilty to felony burglary.

The charge applies to the case because Wyoming law states a person is guilty of burglary if he or she enters a building with intent to commit a felony.

On Thursday, that is what she admitted to in Natrona County District Court. “I went into an occupied structure without permission to perform a sexual act on a minor,” she said through tears after pleading guilty.

Burglary carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years behind bars. Public defender Kurt Infanger told Judge Scott Skavdahl, however, that the agreement is for a “sentence of straight probation” and a suspended jail term.

So, it appears that McLaughlin skates on a child sex abuse charge by admitting to a burglary charge for entering the men's room to commit child sex abuse. Frankly, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

She remains free on $5,000 bond until a sentencing date which awaits scheduling.

* * * * *
Woman Accused of Outhouse Sex
[Previous 1/18/10 post]
(Casper, Wyoming) In the summer of 2009, a 40-year-old Montana mom, Stacy Lee McLaughlin, was accused of engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy. She was arrested in October after a two-month investigation.

Authorities say McLaughlin was with a group of people on an Alcova Lake camping trip when the crime is alleged to have occurred shortly after midnight on Aug. 7. The victim told investigators his parents had gone to bed when McLaughlin began "French kissing" him and touching him inappropriately.

Later, she took him to an outhouse, went inside, locked the door and performed a sex act on him, according to an affidavit from the case.

An adult, family friend of the victim who was also part of the camping trip told investigators she became concerned about the victim's whereabouts and went looking for him.

While using the female side of the outhouse, the woman heard "a belt clicking and a zipper and clothing rustling" from the male side, according to the affidavit.

The woman told investigators that after seeing the boy walk out of the outhouse, she looked inside and saw McLaughlin, who later claimed she and the boy "were only making out," according to court documents.

Last week, McLaughlin pleaded not guilty in Natrona County District Court to second-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

A mother-of-six children, McLaughlin is free on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond. A trial date has yet to be scheduled.

Teacher Gets Probation for Child Abuse

(Gallatin, Tennessee) Last year, a special education teacher at Station Camp Elementary School, Donna Weidenbenner, was indicted for alleged serious abuse of six special-needs children. The alleged abuse reportedly occurred during the 2008-2009 school year.

This week, 48-year-old Weidenbenner pleaded no contest to three counts of child abuse of children aged 6 and under.

Weidenbenner was sentenced to two years probation at 30 percent for each count, which is to be served consecutively for a total of six years at 30 percent.

Also, she must surrender her teaching license and may not teach in public or private schools, nor may she work in daycares or other professions involving children.

Weidenbenner also faces lawsuits filed in federal court by parents of allegedly abused children.

Israel the Strong Horse

Just finished reading an informative piece by Caroline Glick regarding the Israeli-Arab conflict which details the thinking of many political leaders in the Middle East.

For those who would attempt to understand the life-or-death chess game in the Middle East, I'd recommend checking out the post. I'm going to take another look at it right now to see if I missed anything.

Teacher's Aide Guilty of Statutory Rape of Boys

(Jefferson County, Tennessee) A teacher's aide at Jefferson County High School, Margaret L. Holt, 37, was convicted this week of statutory rape of two male students between the ages of 14 and 16.

The incidents, which occurred in the fall of 2008, were both alleged to have taken place off of school grounds. One occurred before school when Ms. Holt picked up the male student and drove to a remote location where the two had intercourse in her vehicle. Detective Mike Kearney of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department led the investigation.

After two days of trial, the jury deliberated for over an hour before returning a verdict finding the defendant guilty on one county of statutory rape by an authority figure and one county of attempted statutory rape by an authority figure. After the verdict was reached, Judge Duane Slone revoked the defendant's bond and placed her into custody.

Sentencing has been scheduled for June 1, 2010.

Michigan Mom Sentenced for Sex with Boy, 13 - Updated

(Oakland County, Michigan) Orion Township mother-of-three Norma Elise Lira, 32, pleaded no contest and was sentenced last week on a charge of third-degree sexual conduct with a person between 13-16 years of age.

Oakland County Circuit Judge Michael D. Warren Jr. imposed a term of two years in prison.

* * * * *
Michigan Mom Accused of Doing Boy, 13
[Previous 2/2/10 post]
(Oakland County, Michigan) A 32-year-old married mother-of-three, Norma Elisa Lira, has been accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy.

Lira faces a charge of 3rd-degree criminal-sexual conduct with a person at least 13 years of age but under 16 years.

Lira's husband alerted the police who launched a month-long investigation. Detectives indicate that Lira allegedly performed fellatio on a 13-year-old boy who was her teenage daughter’s friend.

The alleged incident occurred last year, sometime between August and October, at Lira’s home on Flint Ridge Street, with a Texas youth who was visiting Michigan relatives at the time but was not related to Lira, police said.

The charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said.

Lira was booked into custody at the Oakland County Jail with bond set at $50,000.

Viagra for Rapists

Yes, it's another feature discovered in the ObamaCare legislation once it was actually read by someone.

Viagra for rapists is naturally quite troubling but I'm more concerned about Obama's personal army.

Buy Chicken Feet I Sing Song



(Shanghai, China) This video is a big sensation in China. It shows customers negotiating for chicken feet with the pigtailed shop clerk and part of the deal is the woman sings a song.

She is being compared to popular British singer Susan Boyle. I haven't learned her name yet.

Source

Girls' Coach Accused of Urges

(Wyalusing, Pennsylvania) A 35-year-old softball coach for the Bradford County Blizzards, Crystal Michelle Helms, has been accused of engaging in sexual communications with a 14-year-old girl she coached.

Helms has been charged with felony unlawful contact with a minor and misdemeanor corruption of a minor.

The charge was filed after Helms had numerous conversations with a minor female, some of which were sexual in nature, police said. The conversations took place by cell phone, cell phone texting and Internet chat on computers, between Feb. 1 and March 31, state police said.

The victim told state police that they discussed engaging in sexual activity and that they would have to wait until the victim was 18 years old, police said.

Both Helms and the victim denied that they ever had physical contact with each other, according to the state police.

Helms was booked into the Bradford County Jail with bail set at $10,000.

Tip: Lame

German Islamist Families Joining Jihad



From Der Spiegel:

A wave of Germans traveling to training camps for militant jihadists has alarmed security officials back in Europe. The recruits are quickly becoming radicalized and, in some cases, entire families are departing to hotbeds for terrorism. It is even believed that colonies catering to German Islamists have taken shape in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. […]

In this remote mountain region, a colony of Germans has sprung up -- expats who have severed all roots and found a new homeland in the Hindu Kush. Germany's Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) maintains a list of suspects who have taken off to Afghanistan or Pakistan -- or at least tried to leave -- over the past few years.

The list has nearly 100 names. It's a directory of the third generation of Islamist terrorists after the 9/11 suicide pilots and Germany's so-called "Sauerland Cell". Like their predecessors, they are eager to fight the holy war and die a martyr's death.

Recruiting is done largely over the Internet.

Despite previous governors' refusals, McDonnell issues Confederate history month proclamation

This should stir up the ACLU, the ADL, the SPLC, the NAACP and all the usual suspects

"Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has quietly declared April 2010 Confederate History Month, bringing back a designation in Virginia that his two Democratic predecessors -- Mark Warner and Tim Kaine -- refused to do.

Republican governors George Allen and Jim Gilmore issued similar proclamations. But in 2002, Warner broke with their action, calling such proclamations, a "lightning rod" that does not help bridge divisions between whites and blacks in Virginia.

This year's proclamation was requested by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. A representative of the group said the group has known since it interviewed McDonnell when he was running for attorney general in 2005 that he was likely to respond differently than Warner or Kaine.

Richmond is the former capital of the Confederacy.

Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Richmond) said he was "stunned" to learn of McDonnell's decision and even more stunned that the proclamation did not include any reference to slavery. "It's offensive,'' he said.

Source

Will the SPLC now brand the entire State of Virginia as a "hate group"? They're crazy enough.

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Russia Arming Venezuela

(Moscow, Russia) Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that Venezuela is buying more than $5 billion in Russian arms.

Specifically, Venezuela has already bought 100,000 assault rifles, 24 Su-30MK2 fighter-bombers and 51 helicopters.

In addition, an agreement is in progress to build in Venezuela a plant to manufacture Kalashnikov rifles and another one to make ammunition.

Russian sources say Venezuela now wants to buy three Varshavianka-class diesel submarines, 92 T-72 tanks, several dozen BMP-3 armored vehicles, 10 Mi-28N combat helicopters, Il-114 patrol airplanes and air defense systems.

Caracas is also interested in Mirash patrol boats, Murena-E landing craft and mobile coastal artillery systems capable of sinking vessels up to 130 kilometers (81 miles) away, according to military sources at the Interfax news agency.

Among other offers, Moscow is proposing to Caracas that it buy several dozen An-148 military transport aircraft and Chavez has already announced the acquisition of at least one Be-200 amphibious aircraft to use in putting out forest fires.

With Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez buying so many goodies, it's natural to speculate that he plans on throwing a party with lots of fireworks. I wonder who will be invited.

[marginally-related news note] By the way, regarding Chavez' goodies, even Grandpa Munster showed up to offer praise. It's not surprising since Grandpa Munster, real name Al Lewis, is a die-hard leftist who once ran for governor of New York on a socialist platform.

Attempt to Smuggle Corpse on Airline

(Liverpool, England) A 66-year-old woman, Gitta Jarant, and her 41-year-old daughter, Anke Anusic, were arrested earlier today for attempting to smuggle a dead body through screeners at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.


Gitta Jarant and stepdaughter Anke Anusic
Police determined that the body of Kurt Willi Jarant, 91, had been dead for a day. The two women were arrested for failing to notify the coroner.

The women say they did not know that Mr Jarant - who suffered from Alzheimer’s - had died. They say they had taken him - along with three of Anke’s children - to the airport in a taxi ahead of a family trip to Berlin.

They pushed him in his wheelchair to the easyJet check-in desk. When staff quizzed Gitta and Anke about Mr Jarant - who was wearing a hat and sunglasses - they said he was asleep.

But further investigation revealed the former pilot and German soldier, who is known as Willi, was dead. Anke, of Franklin Close, Oldham, said today: “We haven’t done anything wrong but the police said he had been dead for a day. “The suggestion of this is disgusting and completely ludicrous.

“He came in the taxi with us - he was a bit pale but he was moving. He did not talk much because of his condition but we are certain he was not dead when we started our journey.

The women were booked and released.

Teacher Walks in Foster Kid Sex Case - Updated

(Worcester, Massachusetts) Scheduled for trial this week, middle school teacher Donna Giguere was able to walk free after prosecutors dropped child sexual assault charges.

Assistant District Attorney Cheryl R. Riddle filed a nolle prosequi or nol pros in the case today. A nol pros is an entry in the court record reflecting a prosecutor's decision not to proceed with a criminal case after charges have been lodged.

Judge Peter W. Agnes Jr. discharged Ms. Giguere from her arrest after Ms. Riddle terminated the prosecution of the case.

“The Commonwealth states that despite the Commonwealth's due diligence in securing the attendance of the alleged victim, he has absented himself from the jurisdiction, refused to make his whereabouts known and has expressed via electronic mail his unwillingness to cooperate,” Ms. Riddle said in the nol pros.

Therefore, lack of cooperation from the victim blew the case apart. According to prosecution spokesman Timothy Connolly, "We certainly would have gone forward if we had the victim."

Meanwhile, mother-of-five Giguere said her life has been a living hell. “My life was ruined three years ago.”

* * * * *
Massachusetts Teacher Denies Child Sex Charges
[Previous 4/21/07 post]
(Worcester, Massachusetts) Last January, a 38-year-old English teacher at Frederick Hartnett Middle School, Donna S. Giguere, was charged with repeated sexual assault of a male foster child under the age of 14 who was in her care. The alleged sexual episodes occurred between March 2003 and October 2004 and not on school grounds.

Yesterday in Worcester Superior Court, Assistant District Attorney Cheryl R. Riddle portrayed Giguere as a woman who grooms boys for sex. Defiantly, Giguere shouted "not guilty" to the six child-sex charges filed against her. She was arraigned on two counts of rape of a child, two counts of unnatural rape of a child and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

Giguere remains free on $5,000 bail. Her next court appearance is scheduled for May 18th.

No free speech if you question feminist dogma

American University (AU) is a private United Methodist-affiliated research university in Washington, D.C.

"American University student Alex Knepper certainly has earned a Purple Heart, and perhaps even a Bronze Star with Valor, for his steely and courageous actions in defense of free speech, the First Amendment, academic freedom, and free and open intellectual inquiry. But where, pray tell, have been the American University faculty during this entire brouhaha surrounding Knepper’s “date rape” column?

So far as I can tell, the AU faculty — including the school of communications and law school faculty — have been conspicuously silent and Absent Without Leave (AWOL). Can it be that professionally trained academics, men and women who make their living examining and disseminating ideas, don’t see the danger to free speech posed by AU’s social and cultural jihad against Mr. Knepper’s heretical views?

Mr. Knepper, of course, had published a column in which he made the completely commonsensical point that young college women who get drunk at fraternity parties, and who then escort drunken men to their rooms are, in effect, asking for trouble.

Amazingly, albeit not surprisingly, stating the obvious has gotten Mr. Knepper into hot water with the left-wing campus thought police. But surely, there must be at least a few faculty members who don’t run with the pack, and who believe deeply in free speech and the First Amendment.

Mr. Knepper’s opinion piece has been widely condemned as “hate speech,” which should never have been published. And the student newspaper, the Eagle, after much emotional blackmail and intellectual bullying, has apologized for its supposed lack of editorial judgment.

Source

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

USNavy Submarine Smoking Ban

From the European Edition of Stars and Stripes:

The Navy is considering a ban on smoking aboard submarines, a move to help clear the recycled air for crews who spend months at a time aboard submerged vessels.

The move isn’t yet official, according to Lt. Cmdr. Mark Jones, a spokesman for Submarine Force, but its aim would be to improve the health of the force.

The 2008 Survey of Health Related Behaviors commissioned by the Department of Defense, released in December, indicated a decrease in the military smoking rate from 34 percent in 2002 to 31 percent in 2008.

The Navy also completed a study last year on the effect of second-hand smoke aboard underway subs, but Jones said the results of the study were not available.

Currently, smoking is allowed in designated spaces that “must be well ventilated and not in the vicinity of stationary watch stations,” according to a 2005 Navy policy.

“Berthing spaces, messes, lounges, and exercise areas shall not be designated as smoking areas,” the policy states. “The number of smokers authorized to use a smoking area at one time shall be limited by the clearance capacity of the ventilation system.”

While some submariners think the ban is a good long-term plan, they feel it could make for some trying deployments.

“That will be a real testy sub when it gets underway,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Joshua Auel, currently based in Naples, with Submarine Group 8.

Testy, you bet. After they ban cigarettes, the crew goes through nicotine withdrawal.

Sex Education Contributes to Delinquency

(Juneau County, Wisconsin) Here's a case where the law is at odds with progressive sexual attitudes in schools.

A district attorney is telling Juneau County schools to abandon their sex education courses, saying a new curriculum law could lead to criminal charges against teachers for contributing to the delinquency of minors.

Starting in the fall, the new law requires schools that have sex education programs to tell students how to use condoms and other contraceptives. Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth said such education encourages sex among children, which is illegal, and could lead to charges against teachers.

The new law "promotes the sexualization - and sexual assault - of our children," Southworth wrote in a March 24 letter to officials in five school districts. He urged the districts to suspend their sex education programs and transfer their curriculum on anatomy to a science course.

"Forcing our schools to instruct children on how to utilize contraceptives encourages our children to engage in sexual behavior, whether as a victim or an offender," he wrote. "It is akin to teaching children about alcohol use, then instructing them on how to make mixed alcoholic drinks."

It will be interesting to follow this case. Both sides have legitimate arguments but the law, obviously, has the upper hand. I suspect it will end up in court real soon.

Companion post at EdWatch.

Court Denies Food Stamps for Dog

(Newton, Pennsylvania) A three-judge panel denied a request by 55-year-old James Douris for his service dog to receive food stamps.

For the past year, James Douris, a disabled 55-year-old veteran living in the Philadelphia suburb of Newton, has been fighting to get additional food stamps for him and his dog, and to have his service dog, a boxer, recognized as his dependent.

The court was sympathetic but couldn't honor the request because the dog is not a person.

Gunmen Attack Mexican Army Housing

(Tampico, Mexico) Here's another example of the wide-open violence in Mexico. Cartel thugs seem to like attacking the Mexican soldiers in their barracks.

Suspected cartel gunmen wounded two soldiers in an unprecedented grenade attack on army housing in northern Mexico, the latest sign that drug gangs are increasingly turning to open warfare tactics against the military.

The gunmen fired the grenade from a rifle at a camp where soldiers live with their families outside the Gulf coast city of Tampico, the Defense Department said in a statement Tuesday. The two wounded soldiers were treated, but none of their relatives was harmed in the attack Monday.

The Defense Department reiterated its stance that cartels are acting out of desperation in the face of army successes in the drug war.

"Members of organized crime staged a cowardly attack with a rifle-fired grenade," the department said. "These types of aggressions demonstrate that the structure of organized crime has been eroded, provoking desperate acts like attacking families of the armed forces."

Soldiers pursued the assailants but only found their abandoned car, with five guns and a grenade inside, the statement said.

Army positions have repeatedly come under attack in recent weeks in the northwestern states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, which border Texas. Cartel gunmen have ambushed military patrols on highways and thrown up street blockades in front of army garrisons.

You know that thugs willing to attack soldiers where they live would have no reservations to attacking tourists in their hotel rooms.

Severed Dogs Heads

(Largo, Florida) The severed heads of six dogs were found last week in a dumpster behind a restaurant. Largo Police said there was nothing criminal involved.

The restaurant wasn't identified.

Associated Press Regional Teams

(Chicago, Illinois) The AP has announced the creation of regional investigative teams to provide resources to reporters around the nation. Senior Managing Editor Mike Oreskes sent a memo. Here's part.

In today's world of tweets and sound bites, it's easy to lose sight of journalism's essential role in holding governments and institutions accountable.

In fact, investigative journalism has never been more important or more vital than it is today, a fact repeatedly driven home by the attention and play generated by our best AP Impact enterprise. All of our studies of how our content is used--and this includes text and video and interactives and photos--show that there is a hunger for the exclusive. A desire for news we break!

Today, AP is making a significant commitment to this kind of journalism by creating four regional investigative teams to complement our existing national and Washington based investigative reporting operations. These teams, tapping some of AP's best reporters and editors, will serve as a resource for AP journalists across the country, an engine for producing ground-breaking, exclusive journalism that is important to millions.

The memo continues with a call for all employees to show AP team spirit toward the new regional efforts while specifying that the goal is to do "more of what we are already doing."

Interesting. I'm no expert but it appears that the AP is shaking up its whole operation to address dramatic changes in news reporting caused by the Internet. Either that or the AP managers are feeling budget pressure, like everyone else in the current economic recession, and they want to encourage people to quit by sending them into the boondocks.

Also possible is that the AP is pushing Washington staffers into the hinterlands because they ran out of interesting and important news to report in the nation's capital. Given that Washington is an investigative news candy store, it's ludicrous to think that there are not enough stories worth following. But, we are talking about the AP, right? Liberal administration, liberal town, liberal AP means "No stories here, boss."

Lastly, regarding a statement in Oreskes' memo, "it's easy to lose sight of journalism's essential role in holding governments and institutions accountable," I'd like to congratulate the AP for succeeding. Easy or otherwise, mission accomplished, arguably years ago.

Senators Question Flawed NASA Climate Data

After admitting that the United States' own climate data was worse than the Climategate-tainted University of East Anglia’s, two U.S. Senators are demanding answers from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

“In light of recent revelations and scientific reports, we are contacting you regarding our continued concerns with the apparent declining credibility of United States climate data," wrote Senators John Barraso of Wyoming and Louisiana’s David Vitter in a letter to NASA administrator Charles Bolden. "With almost ten percent unemployment, America cannot afford to base its energy policy on flawed data."

After a series of scandals and blatant errors largely discredited the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that warned of disastrous global warming, the letter explains that policymakers turned to American data as a sort of back up. "Unfortunately, it appears that U.S. data is equally flawed and corrupted by questionable scientific practices," the Senators stated.

The letter refers to information obtained from NASA by the Competitive Enterprise Institute under a Freedom of Information Act request. In the documents, a senior scientist from the space agency advised a reporter that NASA’s climate data is inferior to the Climategate-spoiled records from the UEA’s disgraced Climatic Research Unit — and that NASA’s information is partially derived from the CRU’s flawed data.

More here

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Woman Gets Probation for Sexting with Boy

(Cass County, Minnesota) A 33-year-old local woman, Maria Kremper, has been sentenced for sending sexual text messages to a 15-year-old boy. She was convicted of a felony charge of communication of sexually explicit materials to a child.

According to the criminal complaint, Kremper was texting a boy and last August, the two exchanged about 1600 text messages. Most of them, the court document says, were "sexual in nature." […]

Cass County District Attorney Christopher Strandlie says Kremper pleaded "guilty" in January. Kremper received 15 months in prison.

However, based on state sentencing guidelines, that was stayed and Kremper was put on three years supervised probation. Strandlie says Kremper will serve 60 days in jail or on electronic home monitoring and will need to register as a predatory offender.

Kremper was also prohibited from having contact with males under age 18.

No Songs in Somalia

(Mogadishu, Somalia) It appears the citizenry won't be singing anytime soon in Somalia.

Hizbul-Islam which is one of the armed rival Islamists factions in Somalia, but not as such powerful as Al-Shabab has on late on Saturday instructed that no radio station in Mogadishu can air any sort of song. […]

In a press conference Moalim Hashi Mohammed Farah the regional boss of Hizbul-Islam in Banadir has instructed the entire radio stations operating in Mogadishu to stop airing all kinds of songs be it even a national anthem within a period of 10 days not exceeding.

On the other hand the Hashi has instructed the radio stations not to use the word foreigner for the foreigners who are fighting alongside the Islamists in Somalia, but instead should be called as migrant brother.

Foreigner is apparently a pejorative term to use for people who are not brothers in Islam, like African Union troops.

Burger Tax

(Manchester, England) The Greater Manchester Public Health Unit has developed a strategy to impose a burger tax to fight obesity. The tax will apply to all foods considered to be fattening, as determined by government health bureaucrats.

And the nanny-state train chugs along, past another milestone on the railroad to serfdom.

Drug Lord: Cartels Are Omnipotent

The right-hand man of Mexico's most notorious drug boss says the country's war on the trade is futile.

Ismael "el Mayo" Zambada, the right-hand man of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, said in an interview the illicit business would never be brought down because millions of people were involved.

Zambada says the supply of drugs will continue even if cartel bosses are caught or killed.

He blamed the government for surging drug violence and said president Felipe Calderon was being duped by his advisers into thinking he was making progress.

"One day I will decide to turn myself in to the government so they can shoot me ... they will shoot me and euphoria will break out. But at the end of days we'll all know that nothing changed," Zambada told the investigative news magazine Proceso.

"Millions of people are wrapped up in the narco problem. How can they be overcome? For all the bosses jailed, dead or extradited their replacements are already there."

The U.S. has placed a $5 million bounty on Zambada. Without doubt, he's a bad guy but his words have merit. It's virtually impossible to draw a line between the good guys and the bad guys in Mexico and the narcotics distribution network has a life of its own. It arguably makes little difference who is in charge.

Any rational assessment would likely conclude that Mexico, as a nation, will never be able to arrest the narcotics problem on its own. Intervention is necessary. I volunteer the French. Then France can achieve retaliation for its dismal defeat by the Mexicans at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. Source

Companion post at Diggers Realm.

Killing of white South African farmer due to hate speech?

We read:

"A South African white supremacist leader was bludgeoned to death by two of his farm workers in an apparent wage dispute, police said, but his followers blamed a fiery youth leader for a "hate speech" which they claim led to his killing.

Eugene Terreblanche's violent death on Saturday came amid growing racial tensions in the once white-led country and underscored an ongoing controversy over African National Congress Youth Leader Julius Malema's performance last month of an apartheid-era song that advocates the killing of white farmers.

Terreblanche, 69, was leader of the white supremacist Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging movement, better known as the AWB, that wanted to create three all-white republics within South Africa in which blacks would be allowed only as guest workers.

Andre Nienaber, a member of the group and a relative of Terreblanche, said he believed his death was "as a result of Mr Malema's hate speech and direct orders in the media to 'shoot the Boers dead'".

Boer means white farmers in Afrikaans, the language of descendants of early Dutch settlers, or Afrikaners.

Mr Malema is often in the news for his fiery rhetoric. Last month, he led college students in belting out a song that includes the lyrics "shoot the Boer". Mr Malema did not mention Terreblanche or any other person in his performance.

The song has sparked a legal battle in which the ruling ANC party has challenged a high court which ruled the lyrics were unconstitutional. The ANC insists the song is a valuable part of its cultural heritage and that the lyrics - which also refer to the farmers as thieves and rapists - are not intended literally and are therefore not hate speech.

Source

The irony of this case is that thousands of white farmers in South Africa have been murdered by black gangs in recent years -- with and without any hate speech from black leaders. Blacks in South Africa don't need a song to motivate them to kill vulnerable whites.

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Doctor Shortage in Germany

(Berlin, Germany) When socialized medical systems run into the inevitable scarcity of resources, measures are implemented to lower standards.

To deal with a looming doctor shortage in Germany, Health Minister Philipp Rösler called on Sunday for medical schools to broaden the way they accept students – including less emphasis on school grades.

“I’m asking for an end to restricted admission and for a stronger emphasis on selection interviews,” he told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

So, instead of limiting the medical profession to the demonstrated capable, intelligent and knowledgeable, the German government seeks to include an interview savviness attribute for those whose grades currently indicate they are not the caliber of individuals who should be making life and death medical decisions.

Arguably, the intentional degradation of a health care system typically only happens with socialized medicine. Simple, rational logic would dictate that prudent initiatives in medicine should always be to improve the medical care systems, not degrade them intentionally.

Religion Teacher Accused of Molesting Girl on Prayer Rug

(Dubai, United Arab Emirates) Doesn't it warrant double fires-of-hell afterlife demerits when molesting children on a prayer rug? If not, it should.

A 22-year-old man has been charged with molesting a six-year-old schoolgirl while teaching her how to pray at her home.

Prosecutors accused the Indian, A.B., of partly undressing the girl, also Indian, and molesting her on the prayer mat in the living room.

Records said the girl's 43-year-old father hired the suspect to give Quran and religious lessons to his girl, her seven-year-old sister and their brother.

Jail wardens told Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout that A.B. had not been brought from detention. He was scheduled to appear before the Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday.

Forensic doctors confirmed that the girl had been molested while she had her clothes on. According to the chargesheet, the suspect used to teach the children the Quran and religious practices.

The father testified that his wife informed him of the alleged incident.

"After A.B. left our place, my girl approached me in fear and complained about her teacher's behaviour. She told me that her instructor had asked her to lie on her stomach on the praying mat before he removed her clothes partly and did something indecent to her," the 35-year-old mother said during prosecution questioning.

A court appearance is scheduled for May 2.

Teacher Accused of Hitting Student

(Gastonia, North Carolina) A 31-year-old preschool teacher at the Rankin Head Start Center, Kizzy Clark Corry, has been accused of hitting a 5-year-old girl and shutting her in a closet. The girl told her mommy that the teacher was mean. Mommy alerted authorities.

Corry was arrested Wednesday and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.

The charge applies when a person 16 or older knowingly “caused, encouraged and aid(ed) a juvenile to be in a place and be in a condition whereby that juvenile could be adjudicated abused and/or neglected.”

Corry was booked into custody at the Gaston County Jail and released on $500 bond.

School Counselor Guilty of Reduced Charge - Updated

(Lansing, Michigan) School counselor Carrie Alice Denbow, 34, pleaded no contest in accordance with a plea agreement to one count of inducing a minor to commit a felony. She had been accused of engaging in sex with a 15-year-old male student.

As part of a sentence agreement, Denbow faces up to 30 days in jail and probation.

Denbow had been ordered to stand trial in 2008 on six counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and faced up to 15 years in prison. Those charges were dismissed as part of the plea.

The inducing a minor charge will be dismissed once she completes any potential probation term set by the judge. The charge involves inducing the alleged victim to commit the crime of delivery of marijuana, officials said.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 21.

* * * * *
School Counselor to Stand Trial for Sex with Student
[Previous 9/5/08 post]
(Lansing, Michigan) A 32-year-old counselor at the Hill Center School, Carrie Alice Denbow, is accused of engaging in sex with a 15-year-old male student and, yesterday, District Court Judge Charles Filice ruled that enough evidence exists to go to trial.

During the hearing, the victim, now 18, testified that he had sex throughout 2006 with Denbow at a motel and repeatedly in her office while a class was in session next door.

"We were having sex three to four days a week in that room," the 18-year-old said.

Denbow will stand trial on six counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. A court date wasn't announced.

Teacher Caught Smuggling Drugs into Prison

(Manchester, New Hampshire) A 35-year-old sixth-grade English teacher at Hillside Middle School, Lynn Manning, has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs into the New Hampshire State Prison. Manning was pulled out of class yesterday morning and escorted out of the school.

Reportedly, Manning was caught by corrections officers Wednesday night with a "plug" containing methadone pills.

Prison spokesman Jeff Lyons said correction officers received information that Manning was bringing contraband with her Wednesday to the prison and confronted her when she arrived. She was told to turn out her pockets which turned up the drugs, according to Lyons.

He declined to identify who Manning was visiting, explaining prison officials treat all prisoner visiting lists as confidential information. […]

Manning is charged with three felonies: delivery of article to prisoners, possession of a narcotic drug and possession of a narcotic drug with the intent to distribute.

Manning was booked and released on $30,000 personal recognizance bail. An arraignment date of May 7 has been set.

The Leftist hate never stops



Forgive the obscene photo of "Politically Incorrect" show host Bill Maher, but it serves as a stark visual testimonial to the Left's true nature. Every day, the Left shows us with their own actions that they are exactly what they accuse conservatives and tea partiers of being.

It is astonishing that they have the gall to accuse anyone of anything. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. But then we remember that the smear and the lie are all they have. As a post at Powerline relates, "It is liberals, not conservatives, who rely on ad hominem attacks, outrageous allegations and violent imagery." The accusations of racism and threats of violence put forth by congressional Democrats since Saturday are straight out of the Alinsky playbook. They probably made the calls themselves.

Thank God for talk radio and the internet. Thanks to the New Media, Democrats can no longer do these things with impunity. As Andrew Breitbart says, "The emperor has no clothes." The Left is being exposed for the empty fraud of a movement it is, and as that happens, they are getting increasingly desperate. Yes, we do have to worry about violence. From them. But this is nothing new, either.

Powerline describes the 2008 Republican convention in Minneapolis, where Leftist protesters "... threw bricks through the windows of buses, sending elderly convention delegates to the hospital. They dropped bags of sand off highway overpasses onto vehicles below. Fortunately, no one was killed."

As Noel Sheppard relates, the media were AWOL.

Here is a list of representative Leftist misbehavior:

Much more HERE

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Pig Blood in Cigarette Filters

(Jakarta, Indonesia) Muslims are concerned since learning that pig hemoglobin is used in cigarette filters. The chairman of the Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation, Tulus Abadi, has called for an investigation.

Tulus said that Indonesian cigarette producers were using imported filters because they are not produced locally.

If the claims are true, Tulus said, the government has a stronger case to take a stand against tobacco.

“As the most populous Muslim country, we should be really careful, most smokers in Indonesia are Muslims. How would they feel if they found out that the cigarettes they smoke were made using pig hemoglobin?” he said.

Pig in a cig, eh?

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Severed Mexican Heads

(Apatzingan, Mexico) With a porous border, the U.S. should ominously expect Mexican-style violence to migrate farther and farther north.

Four severed heads were found Wednesday at the feet of an emblematic statue of former Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas in the western city of Apatzingan, sources in the Michoacan state Attorney General’s Office told Efe.

Left along with the heads was a disposable cooler stained with blood and scrawled messages from organized crime groups.

One of the messages was signed “La Resistencia,” the name of a gang thought to be linked to La Familia, a criminal organization that dominates the illegal drug trade in Michoacan.

The heads had bandages across the eyes and belonged to men in their mid-to-late-20s.

A search of the area around the statue failed to turn up the rest of the victims’ bodies.

Apparently the spread of lawlessness is so open that gangs announce their arrival by dropping off severed heads and bloody banners. There's no behind-the-scenes, surreptitious takeover of the power structure with dead-of-night clandestine criminal acts. With Mexican drug-trade lawlessness, it's more like high noon, guns-a-blazin' submit or die overthrow of the local elected authorities.

Nevertheless, the incident at Apatzingan is merely one of many which occur constantly in Mexico, frequently at locations next to the border with the U.S.

The gruesome discovery in Apaztingan followed news of the deaths of 31 people in drug-related violence in northern and central Mexico.

The most serious incident occurred in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, where at least 18 people died Tuesday in clashes between army troops and gunmen, as well as in shootouts involving rival gangs.

Five people died in Valadeces, a town on the border with Texas, in a shootout between rival gunmen, the Tamaulipas state information office, known as the CIO, said.

A fire truck and an ambulance were torched during the shootout, while the town’s police station was sprayed with gunfire.

Three bystanders were wounded during a shootout in the city of Diaz Ordaz, officials said.

A shootout between soldiers and gunmen in Reynosa, also on the Texas border, left six civilians dead, but the CIO did not say whether they were members of the drug cartels that are fighting for control of Tamaulipas.

A clash between army troops and gunmen left three dead in the border city of Rio Bravo, while three young men were gunned down in the Isleta Perez neighborhood of the Gulf city of Tampico, the CIO said.

I contend that the mainstream media are not adequately reporting the frequency, location and intensity of violence in Mexico and along the U.S.-Mexico border. Last year, more than 7700 drug-related murders were committed and the tally this year will likely exceed 10,000. Think about those numbers.

Teacher Acquitted in Cat Snuffing Case - Update

(West Palm Beach, Florida) Middle school teacher Allison Dinsmore, 27, was found not guilty yesterday on two felony counts of animal cruelty after a jury deliberated for five hours. Obviously, the jury was satisfied with her defense.

Dinsmore had testified an ex-boyfriend stalked her and was sometimes violent. So she avoided her Boca Raton apartment.

Eventually Dinsmore said her life became so "consumed" with fear and school, she lost track of time and stopped feeding the animals. A necropsy showed the cats could have been dead for a few weeks.

Outside the courtroom, Allison's father, Robert Dinsmore, was irate and threatened to take some unspecified action against the prosecutor's office.

* * * * *
Teacher Suspended in Cat Snuffing Case - Update
[Previous 4/9/09 post]
(Boca Raton, Florida) In the latest developments, 26-year-old Allison Dinsmore was sent home with pay until further notice by Congress Middle School Principal Kathy Harris. She was instructed to have no contact with students.

Previously, Dinsmore's lawyer, Jordan Lewin of Miami, tried to explain why she left and never returned to care for the cats.

His client was a "victim of an abusive situation in which her former apartment presented a zone of danger that was real and significant." He would not explain why Dinsmore felt that way.

Meanwhile, a group called the People Against Animal Torture and Snuff has started a petition (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/fire-palm-beach-co-fl-cat-snuffing-teacher) to demand that Dinsmore be fired. In the petition, Dinsmore is called a sadist, a monster and a cat snuffer.

Naturally, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and other animal rights and vegetarian groups are closely watching the Dinsmore case.


* * * * *
Teacher Accused of Starving Cats to Death
[Previous 4/1/09 post]
(Boca Raton, Florida) A 26-year-old teacher at Congress Middle School, Allison Dinsmore, was arrested yesterday for allegedly starving her two cats to death in her apartment. Dinsmore faces two counts of felony cruelty to animals.

Dinsmore, who now lives in Miami, is accused of letting her two domestic cats die in her Boca Raton apartment while she said she was busy working and spending time with her boyfriend and family.

Investigators said her cats clawed up the apartment in a frantic search for food as they starved for up to a month before they died.

The corpses then rotted in the filthy apartment about a month before an apartment manager found them.

Dinsmore was booked into custody at the Palm Beach County Jail and later released on $4,500 bond.

Arguably, this is a serious case of neglect by a supposedly responsible teacher and one must wonder whether it's a lapse of judgment or a behavioral trait. Dinsmore allegedly left the cats without food for two months. Let's hope she watches over children more responsibly.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

ND Woman Accused of Sex with Boy

(Fargo, North Dakota) A 33-year-old local woman, Dawn Kirby, has been accused of engaging in sex with the 16-year-old son of a friend. Kirby's friend called the cops.

Kirby told police she had sex with the boy quite a few times over a couple of months.

Kirby is due to have a baby on April 16th, but says she wasn't sure if the boy was the father because she also had sex with the boy's uncle.

Kirby faces a charge of felony sexual assault.

Obama Voters: Go Elsewhere for Health Care



(Mount Dora, Florida) A local doctor has expressed his displeasure with ObamaCare with a sign at the entrance to his practice.

"I'm not turning anybody away — that would be unethical," Dr. Jack Cassell, 56, a Mount Dora urologist and a registered Republican opposed to the health plan, told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday. "But if they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it."

The sign reads: "If you voted for Obama … seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years." […]

Cassell may be walking a thin line between his right to free speech and his professional obligation, said William Allen, professor of bioethics, law and medical professionalism at the University of Florida's College of Medicine.

Allen said doctors cannot refuse patients on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability, but political preference is not one of the legally protected categories specified in civil-rights law. By insisting he does not quiz his patients about their politics and has not turned away patients based on their vote, the doctor is "trying to hold onto the nub of his ethical obligation," Allen said.

Heh, the rub is in the nub.

Tip: slwlion (photo D. Lewis)

Media Layoff Avalanche

Mediabistro is reporting that U.S. News & World Report will soon jettison 30 employees. Some familiar names may be included.

Incidentally, the 'avalanche' term used in the article I believe more appropriately applies to the entire elite media industry rather than one company. Thirty additional names are hardly noticeable in a list containing thousands.

How Should Conservatives Deal with the Left’s Disrespect and Lack of Empathy?

Helen Smith makes some generally reasonable points below but fails to see that hate is what motivates the Left -- so their behaviour is entirely to be explained by that. They hate people who find anything worthwhile in the status quo -- and you don't expect respect or empathy from haters. Revolution is what the Left basically wants but if they cannot have that, they will at least do their best to white-ant the society they live in and which they hate -- all under the cloak of good intentions, of course.

Branding the Left as the haters they are is the only thing that might slow them down. They know that, which is why they do their best to get in first and find something in conservatives that they can brand as hate

I often feel bad for those on the right such as Jeff Goldstein who try to make sense of someone on the left who treats them with disdain and disgust. Goldstein received an email from an old creative writing professor recently saying that he was disturbed by Goldstein’s writings and wanted Goldstein to remove his name from his “about page.” When Goldstein called Brian Kiteley, the professor, up on the phone for clarification, Kiteley called him names:

So I dialed him up and he answered. When I told him who was calling, he let out a forced “laugh” — I presume to show his bemused exasperation with my gall at having contacted him — and, when pressed, he called me a “jerk”.

Initially, Goldstein says he was hurt by his professor’s intolerant attitude, but then, his hurt rightly turned to anger. This professor tolerated free speech only for liberal ideas. But shouldn’t we all have the right to free speech? Apparently, only if it’s left-leaning. And one would think a creative writing professor might be above this. But the problem is, he may have a blind spot when it comes to those on the right.

Jonathan Haidt, a professor at the University of Virginia and author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom, found that conservatives could more readily put themselves in the shoes of liberals and understand morally where they were coming from. The reverse was not true of liberals. They have little understanding of those with opposing views to their own. As Haidt states:

“I think of liberals as colorblind,” he says in a hushed tone that conveys the quiet intensity of a low-key crusader. “We have finely tuned sensors for harm and injustice but are blind to other moral dimensions. Look at the way the word ‘wall’ is used in liberal discourse. It’s almost always related to the idea that we have to knock them down.”

Why are liberals unable to sympathize with conservatives? I offer three possibilities. First, I often wonder if this “blind spot” for conservatives is similar to the psychopath who cannot comprehend the morality of those who are “normal.” At the present time, there is no known cure for treating the psychopath. Trying to get someone on the left to see where a conservative is coming from may be as difficult as trying to change the mind of a psychopath. Perhaps that will happen one day.

I am not saying here that liberals are psychopaths, for this would be incorrect for the most part. What I am saying is that their inability to understand the morality of conservatives makes them unable to understand their point of view, just as a psychopath does not understand the morality of normal people.

So just remember that next time a liberal treats you poorly, it may not be his or her fault. Like the psychopath who has no empathy for his fellow human being, liberals may have a blind spot when it comes to having any empathy or understanding for their conservative brethren. It often makes a psychopath worse to show empathy for him, as he will take advantage of it.

The second possibility is that liberals do have the capacity to empathize with conservatives, but they do not have to do so because of the liberal bubble they mostly live in. Schools, the media, and many of the cities they live in lean left. This means that there is no incentive to understand other ideas and there are no consequences for showing disgust and ugly feelings towards conservatives. Thus, Goldstein’s ex-professor feels free to vent at him — knowing that few will care.

For example, if a Republican vents at a Democrat, he or she will be seen as a “hate-monger.” For an example of this, notice how Eric Cantor can have his office shot at and it is played down with all kinds of excuses, while if the tea partiers are said to have shouted at Democrats without any proof, it is taken as the gospel truth, with no video needed. The left are just “innocent victims.”

So what is the prescription here for those of us who are conservative or libertarian? There may be no way to get the “other side” to understand our views, for they may not have the capacity to do so. Until the lack of empathy for conservatives miraculously changes, we might do better to grow our own ranks, getting more of us involved, rather than trying to rationalize our own views to the other side. Giving in only wastes valuable time that could be put to better use and makes liberals more likely to treat us poorly.

At the same time, we should consider that it could be a lack of consequences that allows liberals to lack empathy or understanding for their fellow right-leaning citizens. Expanding right-leaning media and exposing liberals to ridicule and consequences (e.g., Andrew Breitbart) might then be the correct path to take, for the ease with which they attack may decrease once they realize that they will not get off scott-free as they once did.

Finally, and my third possibility, is it could be lack of education that allows the left to lack empathy. They are not exposed to right-leaning and libertarian ideas. For example, how many classes at school are teaching about the ideas of Hayek, Friedman, and Rand? If kids grow up without this information, they may turn into adults who lack the ability to understand other points of view.

Perhaps a combination of all three is needed: expanding right-leaning media, getting more people involved, and making sure consequences are dealt out to those liberals who lie and treat conservatives with disrespect. Yes, this means all of us speaking up wherever we are when we hear false, inflammatory, or just plain mean remarks made about conservatives. And finally, clamoring for more diverse educational topics and literature in the schools and media would be helpful.

Conservatives shouldn’t back down on any of this, ever. For it is persistence and consistency that will eventually win the day. The left did it for decades and it clearly works. The left’s advantage has been that the right caves and is so worried about appearing moral that they back down, conceding any power. The right’s advantage is that we understand how the other side thinks, while they do not. Keep this in mind when you think about strategies to keep our liberties and freedoms intact.

SOURCE

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Report: More Guns Equal Fewer Gun Deaths

From CNSNews.com:

A new report published by MSNBC.com shows that more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens results in fewer deaths from the use of firearms.

“Firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens prevent 1 million robberies, murders and rapes every year,” John Pierce, a Virginia-based gun-rights activist with opencarry.org, told MSNBC.com.

Alan M. Gottlieb, vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), called the finding "further evidence that everything the gun prohibitionists have been claiming and predicted over the past two decades has been fundamentally fraudulent.” […]

The MSNBC.com report, Record numbers now licensed to pack heat, says that in the 1980s and 1990s, Americans were killed by guns at a rate of about 5.66 per 100,000 population, at the time the concealed-carry movement (carrying a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner, either on one’s person or close proximity) began gaining momentum.

In this decade, the gun-homicide rate has fallen to 4.07 per 100,000, which equates to a 28 percent reduction in homicides with the use of firearms.

Heh.

Blogger Charged for Insulting Dead Sultan

(Seremban, Malaysia) It's not clear how a deceased person can be insulted.

The trial of blogger Khairulnizam Abdul Ghani, who allegedly insulted the late sultan of Johor on his blog, has been set for three days hearing in October.

Sessions Court judge Zamri Bakar fixed three days from Oct 20 for the trial.

Khairulnizam, 29, was charged with insulting the late Sultan Iskandar Sultan Ismail on his blog adukataruna.blogspot.com.my.

He was charged with using a communication network or application service to knowingly upload the posting on his blog, with the intention to hurt the royal institution, between 7.25pm and 9.05pm on Jan 22.

Khairulnizam faces a potential fine of RM50,000 (about $15,000) and a year in jail.

Party Sex with Female Minors

(Trenton, New Jersey) Authorities will seek to prosecute a 15-year-old girl as an adult after learning that she prostituted herself and her 7-year-old stepsister to a group of men and boys at a weekend party.

Trenton police Capt. Joseph Juniak said Wednesday that the older girl started by taking money to have sex with several men at the party of a high-rise apartment. The teen then gave some of the money she had collected to the younger girl to let the men start touching her, Juniak said.

"It went from touching to straight out assault and rape," Juniak said. "They threatened to kill her if she screamed or told anyone."

The child later put on her clothes and left the apartment; her sister stayed. Two women found the child crying outside the apartment and walked her home.

The teen is charged with aggravated sexual assault, promoting prostitution and other crimes. Her name was not released because of her age. She was being held in a juvenile detention facility in Mercer County, but police did not know whether she had an attorney.

The sex assaults took place in Rowan Towers which is close to the New Jersey Statehouse. It's well-known to law enforcers. Police are searching for the men and boys who attended the party.

Tip: slwlion

Housekeeping

I've made a few changes to Interested-Participant and I hope they will be positive.

First, long-term visitors may notice the absence of a monthly Women With Troubles compilation post for March 2010. I initially commenced with chronicling and compiling female teacher stories five years ago when I surmised the problems were more widespread than generally known and there was a need to give the issue greater visibility.

At the time of the March 2005 Women With Boys effort, I was convinced that no other website had undertaken such an endeavor so I felt compelled to do something to raise awareness. Ultimately, I started compiling monthly entries into single posts in mid-2006 and continued through to February 2010.

Unless I change my mind, the monthly compilation posts are history. One reason is that the original intent of raising awareness of female offenders has been largely achieved. I personally played a part with my coverage but the blogosphere, as a whole, deserves credit. There now are literally dozens of non-governmental websites that track sex offenders of every persuasion.

Second, for the time being I intend to continue my reporting of female offenders as I gather empirical data regarding their treatment by the courts. My preliminary assessment based on observation is that courts are exceedingly reluctant to punish women in a manner similar to men. Time and again, I've noticed adult females convicted of offenses against preteens and get away with a wrist slap while adult males convicted of essentially identical offenses would be sent to prison for many years. The project to collect data is ongoing.

Third, later today there will be a small ceremony to celebrate the beginning of my eighth year as a blogger. I confess that in April 2003 I couldn't spell html and surely wouldn't have imagined I would still be doing it now. The ceremony and celebration will be held on a stretch of Lake Erie beach where I will throw seven hands full of sand into the water while I try to sing along with Louis Armstrong.



You're all invited. It's BYOB.

Fourth, I'm looking for new content, one or two additional contributors for Interested-Participant. Send me an email if you're interested.

Lastly, I have added a donate button to the top of the navigation column for the saintly souls who tip the waitress/bartender/piano man whether times are good or times are bad.