Friday, December 7, 2007
Update...
My hard-drive has been fried, so the blog won't be updated until after the holidays. I look forward to getting a laptop finally!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Off-line for a Few Days!
My computer is kaput for awhile, and it's going to take a few more days to get it fixed!
Just link onto my favorite links, and check out my reading list until I can update the blog on a more regular basis! ~Dawn
Just link onto my favorite links, and check out my reading list until I can update the blog on a more regular basis! ~Dawn
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The Jena 6... What Happened to the Donations?
Just weeks after some 20,000 demonstrators protested what they decried as unequal justice aimed at six black teenagers in the Louisiana town of Jena, controversy is growing over the accounting and disbursing of at least $500,000 donated to pay for the teenagers' legal defense.
Parents of the "Jena 6" teens have refused to publicly account for how they are spending a large portion of the cash, estimated at up to $250,000, that resides in a bank account they control.
Michael Baisden, a nationally syndicated black radio host who is leading a major fundraising drive on behalf of the Jena 6, has declined to reveal how much he has collected. Attorneys for the first defendant to go to trial, Mychal Bell, say they have yet to receive any money from him.
Meanwhile, photos and videos are circulating across the Internet that raise questions about how the donated money is being spent. One photo shows Robert Bailey, one of the Jena 6 defendants, smiling and posing with $100 bills stuffed in his mouth. Another shows defendants Carwin Jones and Bryant Purvis modeling like rap stars at the Black Entertainment Television Hip-Hop music awards last month in Atlanta.
The teenagers' parents have strongly denied that they have misused any of the donated money. Bailey's mother, for example, insisted that the $100 bills shown in the photograph were cash her son had earned as a park maintenance worker.
But civil rights leaders who helped organize support for the youths say they are concerned about the perceptions that are spreading.
"There are definitely questions out there about the money," said Alan Bean, director of a Texas-based group, Friends of Justice, who was the first civil rights activist to investigate the Jena 6 case. "I hate to even address this issue because it inevitably will raise questions as to all of the money that has been raised, and that is going to hurt the defendants."
Only one national civil rights group, Color of Change, has fully disclosed how the $212,000 it collected for the Jena 6 via a massive Internet campaign has been distributed. The grass-roots group, which has nearly 400,000 members, has posted images of canceled checks and other signed documents on its Web site showing that all but $1,230 was paid out in October in roughly equal amounts to attorneys for the Jena youths.
Yet that transparency did not halt acrimony over the fundraising from breaking into public view on Baisden's popular radio show last week, when Baisden invited Bell's father, Marcus Jones, to accuse Color of Change founder James Rucker of misapplying the funds.
Jones offered no evidence for his assertion. But Baisden told his listeners that Rucker "sounds shady to me," before promoting his own fundraiser, scheduled for this weekend, which aims to collect at least $1 million for the Jena 6 and other black defendants nationwide.
On the eve of the Sept. 20 civil rights march, Baisden advertised a book-signing and solicited cash donations for the Jena 6 families at an Alexandria, La., rally, but his business manager, Pamela Exum, declined to specify how much was collected or how the money was distributed.
Color of Change officials call Baisden's broadcast comments slanderous and say they are contemplating legal action.
"We are trying to clear our good name," said Mervyn Marcano, the group's spokesman. "It's distressing that right now the conversation around the Jena 6 is on a 'Jenagate' that doesn't exist, not the actual issues of how justice is administered in that town."
On Friday, after several prominent African-American bloggers criticized Baisden for his comments, the radio host issued a statement apologizing to Color of Change "for not seeking more reliable sources."
Civil rights groups report that donations to the Jena 6 defendants had slowed to a trickle in recent weeks as the story fell out of the headlines.
A spokesman for the NAACP, which collected nearly $20,000, including a $10,000 check from rock star David Bowie, said it is winding down its Jena 6 fund and preparing to distribute the remaining cash to the attorneys for the six youths after deducting some of its expenses.
The case, now a national civil rights touchstone, grew out of a September 2006 incident at the high school in Jena when three white students hung nooses from a tree in the school's courtyard in a warning directed at black students not to try to sit in its shade. School officials dismissed the nooses as a prank, angering black students and their families who regarded the incident as a hate crime.
A series of fights between black and white youths ensued, culminating in a Dec. 4 attack in which the six black students are alleged to have beaten a white student, knocking him briefly unconscious. Although the white student was not hospitalized, the prosecutor initially charged the six teenagers with attempted murder, while declining to charge white youths who had earlier attacked blacks with similarly serious crimes.
The prosecutor, Reed Walters, later reduced the charges against the black teenagers to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. But civil rights groups have denounced the prosecutions as excessive and say they reflect racial injustice in the mostly white town.
Exactly how much money has been collected for the Jena 6 defendants is impossible to know, because many donors did not go through Color of Change, the NAACP or other mainstream groups and instead contributed directly to the defendants' families. Many Internet operators raised money by selling T-shirts or otherwise invoking the Jena 6 cause, but much of that money disappeared without a trace.
Tensions over the money have begun to surface among the Jena 6 families, most of whom are impoverished. Marcus Jones broke with the other families, for example, in criticizing Color of Change.
The largest remaining Jena 6 account, said by some activists close to the families to contain up to $250,000, is under the control of Tina Jones, mother of defendant Purvis.
Jones said her attorney had advised her not to reveal how much was in the account or how it had been disbursed so far. But she said the families recently agreed to transfer the funds into a trust account under the control of an outside trustee, to ensure the money was tracked and distributed properly.
"I think there are a lot of organizations out there collecting money on behalf of the Jena 6 that we didn't give authorization for," Jones said. "So when we're called and asked, 'Did you receive this money?' and we know nothing about it, then it becomes a problem. The finger is being pointed at us. We're not criticizing anybody. We're just trying to get a handle on it."
Story Here
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Expect Less Privacy
As Congress debates new rules for government eavesdropping, a top intelligence official says it is time that people in the United States changed their definition of privacy.
Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial information.
Kerr's comments come as Congress is taking a second look at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Lawmakers hastily changed the 1978 law last summer to allow the government to eavesdrop inside the United States without court permission, so long as one end of the conversation was reasonably believed to be located outside the U.S.
The original law required a court order for any surveillance conducted on U.S. soil, to protect Americans' privacy. The White House argued that the law was obstructing intelligence gathering because, as technology has changed, a growing amount of foreign communications passes through U.S.-based channels.
The most contentious issue in the new legislation is whether to shield telecommunications companies from civil lawsuits for allegedly giving the government access to people's private e-mails and phone calls without a FISA court order between 2001 and 2007.
Some lawmakers, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, appear reluctant to grant immunity. Suits might be the only way to determine how far the government has burrowed into people's privacy without court permission.
The committee is expected to decide this week whether its version of the bill will protect telecommunications companies. About 40 wiretapping suits are pending.
The central witness in a California lawsuit against AT&T says the government is vacuuming up billions of e-mails and phone calls as they pass through an AT&T switching station in San Francisco.
Mark Klein, a retired AT&T technician, helped connect a device in 2003 that he says diverted and copied onto a government supercomputer every call, e-mail, and Internet site access on AT&T lines.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed the class-action suit, claims there are as many as 20 such sites in the U.S.
The White House has promised to veto any bill that does not grant immunity from suits such as this one.
Congressional leaders hope to finish the bill by Thanksgiving. It would replace the FISA update enacted in August that privacy groups and civil libertarians say allows the government to read Americans' e-mails and listen to their phone calls without court oversight.
Kerr said at an October intelligence conference in San Antonio that he finds concerns that the government may be listening in odd when people are "perfectly willing for a green-card holder at an (Internet service provider) who may or may have not have been an illegal entrant to the United States to handle their data."
He noted that government employees face up to five years in prison and $100,000 in fines if convicted of misusing private information.
Millions of people in this country - particularly young people - already have surrendered anonymity to social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, and to Internet commerce. These sites reveal to the public, government and corporations what was once closely guarded information, like personal statistics and credit card numbers.
"Those two generations younger than we are have a very different idea of what is essential privacy, what they would wish to protect about their lives and affairs. And so, it's not for us to inflict one size fits all," said Kerr, 68. "Protecting anonymity isn't a fight that can be won. Anyone that's typed in their name on Google understands that."
Story Here
Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial information.
Kerr's comments come as Congress is taking a second look at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Lawmakers hastily changed the 1978 law last summer to allow the government to eavesdrop inside the United States without court permission, so long as one end of the conversation was reasonably believed to be located outside the U.S.
The original law required a court order for any surveillance conducted on U.S. soil, to protect Americans' privacy. The White House argued that the law was obstructing intelligence gathering because, as technology has changed, a growing amount of foreign communications passes through U.S.-based channels.
The most contentious issue in the new legislation is whether to shield telecommunications companies from civil lawsuits for allegedly giving the government access to people's private e-mails and phone calls without a FISA court order between 2001 and 2007.
Some lawmakers, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, appear reluctant to grant immunity. Suits might be the only way to determine how far the government has burrowed into people's privacy without court permission.
The committee is expected to decide this week whether its version of the bill will protect telecommunications companies. About 40 wiretapping suits are pending.
The central witness in a California lawsuit against AT&T says the government is vacuuming up billions of e-mails and phone calls as they pass through an AT&T switching station in San Francisco.
Mark Klein, a retired AT&T technician, helped connect a device in 2003 that he says diverted and copied onto a government supercomputer every call, e-mail, and Internet site access on AT&T lines.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed the class-action suit, claims there are as many as 20 such sites in the U.S.
The White House has promised to veto any bill that does not grant immunity from suits such as this one.
Congressional leaders hope to finish the bill by Thanksgiving. It would replace the FISA update enacted in August that privacy groups and civil libertarians say allows the government to read Americans' e-mails and listen to their phone calls without court oversight.
Kerr said at an October intelligence conference in San Antonio that he finds concerns that the government may be listening in odd when people are "perfectly willing for a green-card holder at an (Internet service provider) who may or may have not have been an illegal entrant to the United States to handle their data."
He noted that government employees face up to five years in prison and $100,000 in fines if convicted of misusing private information.
Millions of people in this country - particularly young people - already have surrendered anonymity to social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, and to Internet commerce. These sites reveal to the public, government and corporations what was once closely guarded information, like personal statistics and credit card numbers.
"Those two generations younger than we are have a very different idea of what is essential privacy, what they would wish to protect about their lives and affairs. And so, it's not for us to inflict one size fits all," said Kerr, 68. "Protecting anonymity isn't a fight that can be won. Anyone that's typed in their name on Google understands that."
Story Here
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Dennis Slater of ‘No More Invasion’ Brutally Attacked
Published by The Watchdog
Dennis Slater is a friend of mine. He heads the Southern California group No More Invasion. Lately they have been protesting sanctuary churches, but they also protest day labor sites. They do this almost every weekend in an attempt to get people to hire legal workers at temporary employment agencies.
Ironically, this attack occurred on Dennis’ last scheduled protest. He and his fiancee are expecting the birth of their son very soon so he wanted to take a short break.
This Saturday Dennis Slater was ganged up on by a dozen or more day laborers as they were ending their protest. Most of the NMI members had just driven off when the attack occurred. The day laborers threw bicycles, paint cans, and rocks larger than softballs at Dennis until he was on the ground. Then they beat and kicked him. His head was split open by a large rock and it took eleven staples to close the open wound. He lost a lot of blood. His eye was bruised and his arm was cut up badly. They only let up on their attack after Dennis fended them off with pepper spray. They meant to kill him.
Most of the perpetrators are easily identified but so far no one has been arrested. After the attack, the 100+ day laborers in the parking lot ran away. Dennis has a Lawyer working with him already.
Story Here at Immigration Watchdog
The attack on Dennis was lead by the individual seen in this old video spitting on a woman and assaulting several others.
Dennis Slater is a friend of mine. He heads the Southern California group No More Invasion. Lately they have been protesting sanctuary churches, but they also protest day labor sites. They do this almost every weekend in an attempt to get people to hire legal workers at temporary employment agencies.
Ironically, this attack occurred on Dennis’ last scheduled protest. He and his fiancee are expecting the birth of their son very soon so he wanted to take a short break.
This Saturday Dennis Slater was ganged up on by a dozen or more day laborers as they were ending their protest. Most of the NMI members had just driven off when the attack occurred. The day laborers threw bicycles, paint cans, and rocks larger than softballs at Dennis until he was on the ground. Then they beat and kicked him. His head was split open by a large rock and it took eleven staples to close the open wound. He lost a lot of blood. His eye was bruised and his arm was cut up badly. They only let up on their attack after Dennis fended them off with pepper spray. They meant to kill him.
Most of the perpetrators are easily identified but so far no one has been arrested. After the attack, the 100+ day laborers in the parking lot ran away. Dennis has a Lawyer working with him already.
Story Here at Immigration Watchdog
The attack on Dennis was lead by the individual seen in this old video spitting on a woman and assaulting several others.
Urban Law 101
I grew up in a suburb of a large northern city, and had no real contact with blacks until I became a lawyer. After I got my law degree I naively looked forward to a rewarding legal career. Little did I realize that 25 years later I would be a self-employed attorney doing domestic and civil litigation for a clientele that is overwhelmingly black. I didn't plan it that way. I just wanted to do a lot of work in the courtroom, and the best offer I got out of law school was with a small firm that specialized in bankruptcy. Most of its clients were black. Several years later, I set up an independent practice and many of my former clients came to me for domestic work.
Most people do not realize this, but outside the world of corporate or securities law, in any big city the legal profession is to a large degree fueled by the pathologies of blacks and other Third-World people. Of course, whites hire lawyers, but in any city, especially one with a good-sized black population, most of the people who need lawyers are black. In this respect, lawyers are like police officers or social workers — they rarely deal with ordinary white people. To a large degree, I became racially conscious because of my black clients, who eventually destroyed all my preconceived notions about race. My awakening did not come from one or even a few incidents, but from the accumulation of thousands upon thousands of small interactions.
My black clients eventually destroyed all my preconceived notions about race. Day after day my clients continue to amaze me.There is no racial education quite so thorough and convincing as spending time with blacks, and my clients are far from being the poorest and least competent blacks. They are not indigent criminals for whom I am a court-appointed lawyer. They are people who can afford (or think they can afford) a lawyer to get a divorce, contest a custody judgment, beat a traffic ticket, etc. Some are government employees who make $60 to $70 thousand a year, yet even this group is vastly different from whites.
THEY DON'T KNOW
One of the most striking things about my black clients is the things they do not know. Many blacks, for example, do not know their own telephone numbers. They may think they do but they don't, and the problem has gotten worse with the proliferation of cell phones. At least a third of the numbers they leave with my receptionist or on my answering machine are wrong numbers. Often, a potential client will call several times, each time leaving a variation of the same phone number. I keep calling until they get it right. At first I thought I was taking down the numbers incorrectly, but now I know better. With caller ID, it is clear when what the client says does not match the digital display. Some callers don't even leave a number. About a quarter of the messages blacks leave do not include either a name or a number. Needless to say, many calls are not returned.
More than a handful of blacks who have come to my office do not even know their own home address (they move often). Many cannot tell me their own spouse's names. Now I know to tell clients ahead of time that they will need this sort of information when they come in. Otherwise, if I ask for someone's address he may look hurt and say, "If I'd known you were going to ask me that I would have come prepared."
Many black men know their children's names but do not know how to spell them. With the proliferation of unusual names among blacks, I can only guess at how they are spelled. One client who told me he couldn't spell his children's names said I would need an encyclopedia to look them up. Many men have admitted to me they are not even sure how to pronounce their children's names. Black woman, on the other hand, often become incensed if you mispronounce the very unusual names they have given their children.
The most unusual name I ever came across was Iisszzttadda. I have never met a person, white or black, who could pronounce it correctly. To my surprise the name is pronounced, "I seize the day." Iisszzttadda had siblings named Raheem, Utopian, Desiorme, Sid-Timothy, Kizzma, and Larilaril. I have occasionally asked clients the reasons for such unusual names, but the most common answer is "I don't know. It just sounded good." This is the answer I got from a mother who named her child Latrine. (See sidebar for actual names of blacks I have encountered in my practice.) I once had a client in my office who did not know his own name. He had been called by his nickname for so long he couldn't remember his given name. This is not as shocking as it sounds. Some black names, like Phe-anjoy or Quithreaun or JyesahJhnai, are so odd, it would be no surprise if they were never used and eventually forgotten.
Since appointments mean so little to my clients, I decide each day when I am available, and tell everyone to show up at the same time. Names are not the only things blacks do not know. Once when I was filling out a form for a female client I asked if she knew how old her husband was. She told me she didn't know. I asked her the next question on the form, which was her husband's birth date. Amazingly, she knew it — and was genuinely surprised when I told her she could figure out her husband's age from his birth date.
When potential clients call for the first time, often the hardest part is to figure out why they are calling. Usually they begin in the middle of the story. If you let them, they will go on and on, and say nothing. Clients may call about papers they got in the mail, but never have the papers in front of them. They may call for information, but never have a pen or pencil ready to take it down. I have learned to ask direct questions: "What is your name?" "What is the problem?" If a client cannot tell me in three minutes or less what the problem is, I tell him to come to my office and bring a small retainer fee. That way at least I will have to listen to their ramblings only if they are prepared to pay.
Blacks with whom I have already spoken seem to think I should know instantly who they are when they telephone. After I get on the line, a typical conversation may go like this:
"Who am I speaking to?"
"I am your client."
"I have many clients, can you tell me which one?"
"I am your divorce client."
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Rufus."
"Rufus, can you tell me your last name?"
The conversation may go on for some time before I finally figure out who is calling.
I do not take personal injury or product liability cases, but blacks are always asking about bringing suits of this kind: "My vacuum cleaner broke. Can you help me?"
Most of my clients who are not black either show up on time for appointments or call if they must reschedule. Amazing as this may seem, only about five percent of my black clients show up on time, and by that I mean within an hour of the appointed time. Only one in five show up on the appointed day. A few trickle in a day or two later. Most just never show up. Missing an appointment never embarrasses black people. They call repeatedly for new appointments, making four, five or even six appointments and then miss them all. I had one client who called more than 50 times before he finally came to my office. Rarely do I ever get a call from a black client canceling an appointment.
When I first started out as a lawyer I would call clients in advance to remind them of their appointments. They thanked me, but it made them no more likely to show up. Also, I used to call clients and potential clients who missed appointments, and try to have them reschedule. This did very little good. The most common response was, "Why are you calling me?" and it was never their fault that they didn't show up. They had many different excuses, but I never heard, "I forgot," or "I'm sorry I didn't make it."
Since appointments mean so little to my clients, I decide each day when I am available, and tell everyone to show up at the same time. On Saturday afternoons I can have as many as twenty appointments for the same time. Usually it is not a problem because few show up and even fewer show up on time. Only once in the last 20 years did everyone show up.
Some Names of Blacks Encountered in My Practice
Aaja (pronounced Asia), Acacia, Ajeenah, Akai, Aquanita, Aryan White, Baleria, Barbertha, Callie (pronounced Kelly), CaAndi, Chetiqua, Cloteal, Curly Top, Darhies, Dayphine, Debrasharme, Derecio, Dertiteriesa, Dikueria and Dikuria (twins), Dildree, Dishon, Dovanna, Duanita, Dyiamond, Dwendolyn, Effillyne, Elizabeth Taylor, Endrissa, Equandolyn, Esaw, Everage, Floyce, Franshawn, Ghia, Godzilla Pimp, Ivier, Jartavious, JyesahJhnai, Keithen, Kentnilla, Lafondra, La,poo (yes, contains comma), Latronia, Lemonjello and Orangejello (twins), L'Tonya, Machoda, Nau-Quia, Mayima, Minute, Miquel, Nethel, Omnipotence, Ondra (pronounced Andre, Ozro, Padraic, Pecola, Phe-anjoy, Precious Unique, Queen Esther, Quithreaun, Rincesetta, Sanja, Saranus, Shanieja, Sharicus, Shiquipa, SiJourna'i, Silquia, Sinetra, Summer Love, Termicka, Tequilla, Timphanie, Tryphenia, Tywana, Tzaddi and Tzavvi (twins), Ulheric, Undlia, Undrea (pronounced Andre), Wsam, Xiomara, XL, Yaw, Yuvodka Sharice, Wilida, Zaquan, Zufan, Zyneene.
Many of my clients are unable to explain even the most basic facts. Often they must take the witness stand, and no matter how many times we have gone over the testimony in advance, I can be surprised by what they say. Some are simply lying and get tangled up in their lies, but most have such low IQs, they cannot describe even the simplest things. Often they seem to say the first thing that pops into their heads. When they are questioned further they cannot remember what they said previously.
I once had a client whose wife was suing him for child support. In discussions before trial he told me he had two children from a previous marriage. This was favorable for him because it meant he would probably owe his current wife less money. At trial, his wife testified that my client had no children outside of their marriage. When I asked him on the stand how many children he had before he married his current wife, he said he had none. Later I asked him why he had answered that way, when he told me before that he had two other children. "Did I say that?" he asked. I never found out which version was true.
Many of my clients have a hard time following simple directions. Once I appeared in traffic court with a client. In lieu of a conviction he was to see a traffic safety movie. The courtroom was on the second floor of the courthouse, and the traffic safety movie was shown on the first floor. The client was to come back to the courtroom with proof — which would be given him on the firsfloor — that he watched the movie. Both the judge and I explained this to the client. At the designated hour my client did not come back to the courtroom. Later that afternoon I got a call from the judge, who told me my client had completely misunderstood the instructions. He went to the nearest commercial movie house, saw a movie, and brought back his movie ticket stub.
Long ago I stopped asking my clients why they did something. It is not worth the effort. Most don't know. The ones who know usually cannot give a coherent answer. Even if they can give a coherent answer, it usually changes every time you ask.
For example, one of my black divorce clients tried to hide assets from his spouse — this is not uncommon. Through discovery it came to light that he had secretly bought a piece of property after the divorce had begun. He put his wife's name on the title, a very odd thing to do, since he was trying to hide the property from her. I made the mistake of asking him why he did that. True to my previous experiences, he could not give an answer that made sense.
Clients sometimes tell me they knew they were being cheated, but signed the papers anyway. I have given up asking why they signed, because I know I will not get an intelligible answer.
My clients make mistakes in written and spoken English that are often comical. One client in a criminal case told me he was telling the truth, and was willing to take a "polyester test" to prove it. Another told me he desperately wanted to see me, and needed an appointment "between Tuesday and Wednesday." One who bounced a check told me the problem was "insignificant funds" in his account. I have had clients who have "profiteering" plans at work, want an "uncontestable" divorce (or a "detested" divorce, or an "untested" divorce), had "insects" (incest) in the family, need an "annoyment" (annulment), want a free "flirtation" (consultation), ask about my "container" (retainer), want to "consultate" about a divorce, or had to meet with "media people" (mediation counselors). One man told me, "I own a car but it is not mine," and one who was accused of indecent exposure insisted, "I didn't take my stuff out of my pants."
It took me some time to understand certain kinds of black slang. Within the first month of my independent practice a man called to ask if I could "put a suitcase on a cat." After much inquiry I realized he wanted to know if I could file a law suit against someone. Within the week I got another call asking if I "did luggage." Since I now knew about suitcases, I said yes, I do luggage. I pride myself on doing good work for my clients, but I cannot remember even once being thanked or complimented by a black client. They do not observe even the most common courtesies. Also, with rare exceptions, blacks will never admit they made a mistake. When things go wrong, as they inevitably do, it is always someone else's fault. The most common excuse blacks give is, "They are putting me through the changes." I have yet to figure out exactly what that means.
Most people tell lies because they think a lie will help them. I have come to the conclusion that most of my clients cannot distinguish between a plausible lie and a wild fairy tale. They are convinced people will believe anything they say. Clients often tell me some fantastic story I cannot possibly defend in court. If I tell them what they are saying is unbelievable the usual reaction is anger and screaming. Typically, they will add, "I'm paying you. You have to believe what I say."
One client was willing to take a "polyester test" to prove he was telling the truth. Sometimes, despite my warnings, clients will get on the stand and tell obvious, outright lies. The judge may interrupt the testimony and tell me to go outside with my client to "get your story straight." They are not going to sit in court and listen to fairy tales. I take my client outside and tell him he has got to tell the truth, or at least say something believable. My client then starts screaming. "Why are you talking to me this way? You're supposed to be on my side."
I once had a client testify about his assets in a divorce case, in which the court was to determine whether he should pay his estranged wife temporary support. My client was a store-front preacher, and testified that he lived in the marital residence with his wife, though in separate quarters. His wife testified that he was out living with his "ho." My client went on and on about how this was impossible because he was a Man of God. I thought he was lying. The judge ruled that if my client was living with his wife he should share household expenses, which he was not currently paying. At this point, my client realized there was a cost to pretending to be a Man of God living with his lawful wife, and changed his tune. "Judge why are you believing me?" he said. "Believe my wife. I am nothing but an old lying nigger." No one in the courtroom could stop laughing.
OUTSIDE KIDS
"Outside kid" cases are one of my specialties. For those not in the know, blacks call any child born out of wedlock an outside kid. Black men are good at making children but not at supporting them, and this can be a terrible burden under laws written with white people in mind.
In my state, the parent who does not have custody — almost always the father — pays a percentage of net income to the parent with custody — almost always the mother. The mother gets 20 percent of the father's net income for the first child, 25 percent for two children, and up to 50 percent for five or more children. What if a man has children by several women? Each mother gets 20 percent for the first child, so a man with five children by five different women is supposed to be paying 100 percent of his income in child support. I once had a client who had 12 different children by 10 different women. Theoretically, he owed 250 percent of his income. These laws simply don't make sense for blacks. Judges have to decide each case as best they can.
Not surprisingly, the average black client will not pay child support unless it is deducted from his paycheck. Many refuse to work, or leave a job to avoid paying. Job turnover is very high among blacks, and the court system has a hard time keeping up with them. Some blacks quit on purpose, and move to another job so as to keep one step ahead of the collections.
Whenever I ask a potential client whether he has paid court-ordered child support he will almost invariably answer with one or more of the following: "I always helps my kids." "I gives the mother money whenever she asks." "I am always there for my kids." "I buys my kids whatever they needs." It almost always turns out they have paid no support, haven't seen their children in years, and at best may have paid for some basketball shoes.
Children do not always seem to have the same importance for blacks that they do for whites. I was in bankruptcy court once waiting for my client's case to be called. A black debtor — not my client — was before the judge trying to convince him to approve his bankruptcy repayment plan. The judge told him he could not afford both his Cadillac and his children, and had to give up one or the other. The debtor immediately said he could not give up his car, and therefore the judge would have to take his kids. The judge threw up his hands and walked off the bench. On another occasion, the same bankruptcy judge told a black debtor he could not afford both his Cadillac and his house. The debtor replied, "You can live in your car but you can't drive your house. Take my house." This was many years ago and tastes in cars may have changed, but I learned how important Cadillacs were to blacks.
In one respect my job is very different from that of a policeman or social worker: I have to make sure I am paid. I try to get paid in full before I agree to represent a client. If I am not paid in full before the case is over I know I will never get any more money. Clients have a hard time understanding they are paying for an attorney's time. Invariably, if a client drops a case before it is over he asks for a full refund. Their reasoning goes something like this: "I paid for a divorce and I didn't get one, so I should get all my money back."
Once I sued a client who didn't pay me.Ifinallygarnishedhiswagesandwas paid in full. About six months later he called to ask me to take his next case. I told him I didn't want a client that doesn't pay his bills. He became indignant. He said I got all my money, so what did I have to complain about.
To hear my clients tell it, banks are constantly "messing" with their checking accounts. At least that is what they tell me when their checks bounce. Most of my clients do not have checking accounts, and pay cash. The ones who do have accounts have no idea how much money is in them. Many clients have written me checks on accounts that were closed.
Black clients yell and scream at me every day; I have learned that this is normal. They are like young children who don't get their way. I usually ignore these outbursts, though screaming back at them is usually more effective. I have been threatened with physical violence only twice, and once I had to call the police to escort a client out of my office.
My experience is hardly unique. Most of the lawyers I know have practices similar to mine. Most lawyers therefore are racial realists even if they do not admit it openly. Their actions and comments are no different from mine. People who have daily contact with minorities, who know first-hand that there are racial differences, are likely to be the best prospects for any movement that promotes racial consciousness. They don't like dealing with blacks, but that is simply part of the business. If they can't take it anymore they get into some other line of work.
One lawyer I know moved to the country so he would have white clients. He had lived in the big city all his live, but was willing to pull up all his roots to get a different clientele.
Recently the supreme court in my state ruled that a lawyer can be disciplined for communications that racially denigrate litigants. For that reason I cannot write this article under my own name, much as I would like to. I must hide behind a pseudonym for fear of falling victim to our politically-correct supreme court.
Donald Williamson practices law in the Midwest.
Story Here
Friday, November 9, 2007
Oh Yeah.....
Wolves
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Illegal Aliens Linked to Gang-Rape Wave
A wave of illegal-immigrant gang rapes is sweeping the U.S. while public officials and law-enforcement authorities fear drawing the link, experts say.
Deborah Schurman-Kauflin, a Ph.D. researcher of violent crimes, told WorldNetDaily, "It appears as if there is a fear that if this is honestly discussed, people will hate all illegal immigrants. So there is silence. … But in being silent about the rapes and murders, it is as if the victims never even existed."
Schurman-Kauflin, who runs the Violent Crimes Institute in Atlanta, participated in a 12-month, in-depth study of illegal immigrants who committed sex crimes and murders from January 1999 through April 2006. The study found approximately 240,000 illegal-immigrant sex offenders reside in the United States – while 93 sex offenders and 12 serial sexual offenders come across U.S. borders illegally every day.
Schurman-Kauflin said, "Gang rapes by illegal immigrants appear to be gang related. Many of the cases I reviewed involved gang members. As part of being a cohesive group, they offend together. Inflicting brutal gang rapes brings them closer together as a group. It is a way to demonstrate their power. And it sends a message to anyone who dares to cross them."
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC told WND it now is tracking 12 gang rapes by illegal aliens within America's borders since Oct. 2004.
ALIPAC's president, William Gheen, said, "These are just the ones we know of. The real number is much higher."
Gheen told WND he believes the number of gang rapes is increasing as the population of illegal aliens in the U.S. increases.
"Many illegal aliens have a rape and pillage mentality toward America," he said. "The government has shown them they can break our laws on many levels without much fear of enforcement. Why should they think of rape or gang rape any differently?"
Gheen said, "Illegal aliens are more likely to engage in these crimes because rapes and gang rapes are much more common in the gang-rule Third World areas they come from."
MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, a highly organized and well-funded Central American gang, is infiltrating at least 33 states across the U.S., according to law-enforcement authorities. The gang is well-known in Los Angeles, Houston, New York and Washington, D.C., for excessive brutality. Any person suspected of cooperating with authorities is hunted down, tortured and killed. Initiation rites include kickings, beatings and gang rapes.
Gheen said, "These gangs are forcing new female gang members to undergo gang rape to enter the gang and they are asking their male initiates to gang rape American women to become an official member of the gang."
MS-13 relies on metropolitan areas with highly concentrated populations of illegal aliens to boost its spreading membership. Chapters require that initiates perform random acts of violence, such as participating in gang rapes, to gain acceptance, confirm law-enforcement officials.
Three MS-13 gang members were charged in the brutal rapes of two deaf girls, one 14, the other 17, in a Massachusetts park in 2002. One victim, who also suffered from cerebral palsy, was pushed out of her wheelchair before being raped repeatedly.
Illegal alien rapists often maintain several aliases, making escaping justice easier.
Jorge Villa-Gutierrez, 25, is in prison for the gang rape of an 18-year-old Douglas County, Colorado woman. He claimed to have paid only $100 for a fake ID and Social Security number.
Manuel Cantu, 28, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court February 2005 in Cambridge, Mass., to six counts of rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 years old. Cantu also went by the aliases Angel Meza and Angel M. Salvador, according to court documents.
Gheen said, "Illegal aliens have been walking out of American prisons after serving their time at taxpayer expense without being deported. Our government can't or won't find the hundreds of thousands of known felon illegal aliens walking America's streets tonight much less stop the new felons coming in tonight across our unsecured borders."
The Violent Crimes Institute study established a pattern of escalating offenses among illegal aliens, whose first offense was illegally entering the U.S.
Schurman-Kauflin told WND, "Illegal immigrants who commit sex crimes first cross the U.S. border illegally, then gradually commit worse crimes and are continually released back into society or deported. Those who were deported simply returned illegally again. There is a clear pattern of criminal escalation. From misdemeanors such as assault or DUI, to drug offenses, illegal immigrants who commit sex crimes break U.S. laws repeatedly."
Most of the offenders reported in the study were located in states with the highest numbers of illegal immigrants. California was No. 1, followed by Texas, Arizona, New Jersey, New York and Florida. The 1,500 offenders studied had a total of 5,999 victims – averaging four victims each. Of those studied, 525, or 35 percent, were child molestations, 358, or 24 percent, were rapes, and 617, or 41 percent, were sexual homicides and serial murders.
Schurman-Kauflin said, "We need to know who is coming into this country. It is a matter of security, life and death. … Our borders should be secured so that those with evil intentions cannot enter. We need more Border Patrol agents, more training for these agents and a commitment that we will not tolerate predators coming into this country. There must be security and a return to the rule of law."
Last year, officials of the House Judiciary Committee said that U.S. immigration officers and police are not always on the same page. Police do not always inform immigration authorities about arrests of undocumented aliens, and immigration officers are often too late to identify the aliens before they are released on bail.
New York's arm of the Department of Homeland Security is only interviewing 40 percent of foreign-born inmates at Rikers Island – "a failure that puts criminal aliens back on the streets instead of deporting them," according to the New York Post.
"Gang rape is a form of terrorism. It has been used throughout history as a weapon of terror," Gheen said. "Most Americans do not see the war that is already upon us in our communities and neighborhoods."
Some high-profile gang rapes by illegal immigrants include:
December 2002 – In New York, several criminal aliens, who had passed in and out of Rikers and other jails without being detected by immigration officials, brutally beat and gang-raped a Queens mother of two near Shea Stadium. Three of the five rapists were illegal Mexican aliens with multiple prior arrests for crimes including assault, weapon possession and armed robbery.
January 2004 РFour illegal aliens were among the five men who brutally gang-raped a New York City woman. "They punched me so hard that I was knocked to the floor," the 43-year-old victim wrote before Supreme Court Justice Randall Eng sentenced one of her attackers, Victor Cruz, to 21 years in prison. Cruz, Luis Carmona, Carlos Rodriguez, Armando Juvenal and Jos̩ Hernandez pleaded guilty in December to rape and kidnapping charges in exchange for sentences of 20 to 23 years.
October 2004 – a 37-year-old North Carolina woman was gang raped by at least seven illegal aliens in Huntersville, N.C.
Oct. 4, 2005 – In Immokalee, Fla., 14 field laborers, ranging in age from 18 to 56, broke into an 18-year-old woman's home, dragged her across the street and then took turns raping her. The victim said the men choked and hit her until she became unconscious. When she awoke, a man poured alcohol in her mouth. The men removed her clothing and each one raped her.
June 28, 2006 – Texas' Waco Tribune Herald reported illegal immigrants Javier Guzman Martinez, 18, and Noel Darwin Hernandez, 22, have been charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated sexual assault of an 18-year-old Tehuacana woman. The girl had been cut with a piece of glass or "other unknown object."
July 10 – In Sayre, Pa., the Evening Times reported "Gasper Almilcar Guzman" was among a group of men who were found July 10 to be in this country illegally following a routine traffic stop in Athens Township. Guzman had been convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl in Alabama in 2005. Guzman was deported before he could begin serving his five-year sentence.
July 13 -- In Noblesville, Ind., an illegal alien named Miguel Gutierrez, 20, faces two counts of rape for taking a 14-year-old into a garage and participating in a four-man gang rape on the girl. Following the gang rape, the girl was forced into a car and raped again, according to news reports.
July 17 – In Greenville, N.C., Fernando Cruz, 41, Walter Ramires, 26, Luis Morales, 24, and Pedro Vasques, 27, were charged with first-degree rape and first-degree kidnapping of a woman. They drove the woman to a field path on the edge of town and took turns raping her.
July 21 – Sinoe Salgado Garcia, a 28-year-old Fontana, Calif., man convicted of kidnapping and raping a 4-year-old girl, was sentenced to a 30-year-to-life prison term, according to the Riverside Press Enterprise. The child was found hours later inside a shed, thrown over a 6-foot-tall block wall, investigators said. She underwent surgery to repair damage caused by the rape and sodomy, court records show. The site reported that she also suffered three facial fractures.
Aug. 3 – Two young illegal aliens living in Charlotte, N.C., were charged with gang raping an Asheville teenager at the Red Roof Inn. They are 22-year-old Pablo Vasquez Osorio and 23-year-old Marcos Guerrero Fuentes. Both were charged with first-degree rape and kidnapping of a 17-year-old Asheville girl at a Red Roof Inn.
Story Here
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Snowboarding
I Have to re-adjust my bindings, and I'll need new boots this year, but I love the preparation. The waxing, the ironing, the scraping, the buffing..... Good times, can't wait!
And just because he's cool.... Rodney Mullen, the KING of skateboarding.
And just because he's cool.... Rodney Mullen, the KING of skateboarding.
L.A. Official Proposes Ban on 'N-word'
I wonder which 'N' word? Nigger or Nigga?
Perhaps we need a panel discussion. *eye roll*
L.A. Official Proposes Ban on 'N-word'
A city councilman and former police chief on Tuesday introduced a symbolic resolution calling on residents of the nation's second-largest city not to use a common racial slur.
City Councilman Bernard Parks, who is black, said he proposed the measure partly because of recent situations carrying racial overtones, including noose-hanging incidents.
The N-word "connotes a lazy person with no self-respect or regard for family, a person who is ignorant, stupid, slow moving, does not speak proper English and has childlike qualities," Parks wrote in the resolution.
The non-binding resolution calls on residents to stop using the slur "and to encourage all others whom they may encounter in their daily routine to cease from using the word as well."
The City Council was scheduled to vote on it Friday.
Story Here
Perhaps we need a panel discussion. *eye roll*
A city councilman and former police chief on Tuesday introduced a symbolic resolution calling on residents of the nation's second-largest city not to use a common racial slur.
City Councilman Bernard Parks, who is black, said he proposed the measure partly because of recent situations carrying racial overtones, including noose-hanging incidents.
The N-word "connotes a lazy person with no self-respect or regard for family, a person who is ignorant, stupid, slow moving, does not speak proper English and has childlike qualities," Parks wrote in the resolution.
The non-binding resolution calls on residents to stop using the slur "and to encourage all others whom they may encounter in their daily routine to cease from using the word as well."
The City Council was scheduled to vote on it Friday.
Story Here
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Friday Black Out
Oh no! They won’t use their food stamps on Friday? They won’t spend their welfare money on Friday? Oh dear, whatever will we do without them?
Radio Host Rallies Blacks for Friday Boycott
A nationally syndicated radio host is urging black Americans to refrain from spending money Friday, and his efforts are garnering support from some of the civil rights movement's heaviest hitters.
Radio host and organizer Warren Ballentine hopes a "national blackout" of businesses will send Washington a message that blacks are fed up with racism and injustice, and he rejects criticism that his campaign is un-American.
"The history of our country is about what I'm calling for," Ballentine said. "If the federal government is not doing what it's supposed to do, we protest. There's nothing more American than what I'm calling for."
The inspirations for the boycott are many: a flurry of nooses hung in public places; the case of six teens charged as adults with attempted murder in Jena, Louisiana, after a racially charged school fight; the conviction of Genarlow Wilson, a black teen charged with child molestation after having consensual oral sex with another teen; and the rape and torture of Megan Williams, a West Virginia woman forced to eat animal feces by six whites who berated her with racial slurs.
Ballentine's hope is that if elected officials aren't hearing the voice of black America, maybe they'll listen when money talks. His efforts have drawn the support of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network and several other groups.
By some estimates, the U.S. economy could lose millions of dollars if the more than 40 million African-Americans keep their wallets in their purses and pockets Friday. But it's difficult to pin down the boycott's impact because it depends on who takes part and to what extent.
A study by the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth says blacks are expected to spend about $845 billion after taxes this year, or more than $2.3 billion a day -- but using that number to gauge the boycott's effectiveness presupposes that every African-American participates and that no other races join in.
The number is skewed, too, because it doesn't account for expenditures such as mortgage payments and utility bills, said Selig Center Director Jeffrey Humphreys. Housing-related expenditures, which account for 36 percent of money doled out by black consumers, are "unlikely to be affected by a one-day boycott," he said.
Dr. Claud Anderson, president of the Harvest Institute, a Washington-based think tank devoted to black empowerment, applauds the idea of "group economics."
Asians, Arabs, Hispanics, Jews and whites in the United States generally spend money among themselves, "bouncing" dollars an average of six to 18 times before the money leaves the communities, he said.
"The black dollar does not bounce, not one time in America," Anderson said. "The only way to eradicate these problems in the black community is to help these people do what everyone else does."
Racism, Anderson said, is more about socioeconomics and controlling resources than about bigotry. Blacks must resolve to bounce dollars eight to 10 times in their communities to build them up and fix them from within, he said, adding that he's skeptical of the efficacy of a one-day boycott.
"It's grabbing for a symbol and a gesture, but I guess that's better than nothing," Anderson said. "I guess one step forward's better than a step backwards."
Though the potential impact is uncertain, several civil rights icons and organizations are backing the blackout -- including Martin Luther King III and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference -- all of whom say "the system" is failing the U.S. The groups also are trying to rally protesters for a November 16 march on the Justice Department in Washington.
Sharpton said in a statement that until recently the federal government had a good record of combating racism over the past 50 years.
President Eisenhower defended the Little Rock Nine, President Kennedy protected the Freedom Riders and President Johnson stood up for voting rights, "but this federal government has done nothing for the Jena 6 or to stem the rising tide of hate that includes a proliferation of nooses and swastikas," Sharpton said.
Ballentine, who goes by the radio handle "the people's attorney," said he also is dismayed by issues like shoddy imports from China, the outsourcing of jobs overseas, the housing market's flood of foreclosures and President Bush's request for $196 billion in war spending and his veto of a children's health insurance bill.
The latter two issues are particularly disappointing, Ballentine said, because they send a message that the U.S. doesn't care about its next generation.
"I think it's almost embarrassing that Congress puts together a bill that's already funded and [Bush] says, 'No, that's too much for our children,' " Ballentine said. "In the same breath, you ask for $190 billion for a war?"
Though the endeavor predominantly targets the black community, Ballentine said injustice is colorblind and he is "appealing to anybody who's humanitarian, anyone who believes in justice."
Ballentine said he realizes it will be impossible for everyone to make it through the day without spending a dime. If you have to spend money, Ballentine said, be conscious of where it's going.
"Spend it with people or organizations that are actually doing things to help us and our community," he said. "My hope is that we can all come together. Part of our healing is working together."
Story Here
A nationally syndicated radio host is urging black Americans to refrain from spending money Friday, and his efforts are garnering support from some of the civil rights movement's heaviest hitters.
Radio host and organizer Warren Ballentine hopes a "national blackout" of businesses will send Washington a message that blacks are fed up with racism and injustice, and he rejects criticism that his campaign is un-American.
"The history of our country is about what I'm calling for," Ballentine said. "If the federal government is not doing what it's supposed to do, we protest. There's nothing more American than what I'm calling for."
The inspirations for the boycott are many: a flurry of nooses hung in public places; the case of six teens charged as adults with attempted murder in Jena, Louisiana, after a racially charged school fight; the conviction of Genarlow Wilson, a black teen charged with child molestation after having consensual oral sex with another teen; and the rape and torture of Megan Williams, a West Virginia woman forced to eat animal feces by six whites who berated her with racial slurs.
Ballentine's hope is that if elected officials aren't hearing the voice of black America, maybe they'll listen when money talks. His efforts have drawn the support of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network and several other groups.
By some estimates, the U.S. economy could lose millions of dollars if the more than 40 million African-Americans keep their wallets in their purses and pockets Friday. But it's difficult to pin down the boycott's impact because it depends on who takes part and to what extent.
A study by the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth says blacks are expected to spend about $845 billion after taxes this year, or more than $2.3 billion a day -- but using that number to gauge the boycott's effectiveness presupposes that every African-American participates and that no other races join in.
The number is skewed, too, because it doesn't account for expenditures such as mortgage payments and utility bills, said Selig Center Director Jeffrey Humphreys. Housing-related expenditures, which account for 36 percent of money doled out by black consumers, are "unlikely to be affected by a one-day boycott," he said.
Dr. Claud Anderson, president of the Harvest Institute, a Washington-based think tank devoted to black empowerment, applauds the idea of "group economics."
Asians, Arabs, Hispanics, Jews and whites in the United States generally spend money among themselves, "bouncing" dollars an average of six to 18 times before the money leaves the communities, he said.
"The black dollar does not bounce, not one time in America," Anderson said. "The only way to eradicate these problems in the black community is to help these people do what everyone else does."
Racism, Anderson said, is more about socioeconomics and controlling resources than about bigotry. Blacks must resolve to bounce dollars eight to 10 times in their communities to build them up and fix them from within, he said, adding that he's skeptical of the efficacy of a one-day boycott.
"It's grabbing for a symbol and a gesture, but I guess that's better than nothing," Anderson said. "I guess one step forward's better than a step backwards."
Though the potential impact is uncertain, several civil rights icons and organizations are backing the blackout -- including Martin Luther King III and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference -- all of whom say "the system" is failing the U.S. The groups also are trying to rally protesters for a November 16 march on the Justice Department in Washington.
Sharpton said in a statement that until recently the federal government had a good record of combating racism over the past 50 years.
President Eisenhower defended the Little Rock Nine, President Kennedy protected the Freedom Riders and President Johnson stood up for voting rights, "but this federal government has done nothing for the Jena 6 or to stem the rising tide of hate that includes a proliferation of nooses and swastikas," Sharpton said.
Ballentine, who goes by the radio handle "the people's attorney," said he also is dismayed by issues like shoddy imports from China, the outsourcing of jobs overseas, the housing market's flood of foreclosures and President Bush's request for $196 billion in war spending and his veto of a children's health insurance bill.
The latter two issues are particularly disappointing, Ballentine said, because they send a message that the U.S. doesn't care about its next generation.
"I think it's almost embarrassing that Congress puts together a bill that's already funded and [Bush] says, 'No, that's too much for our children,' " Ballentine said. "In the same breath, you ask for $190 billion for a war?"
Though the endeavor predominantly targets the black community, Ballentine said injustice is colorblind and he is "appealing to anybody who's humanitarian, anyone who believes in justice."
Ballentine said he realizes it will be impossible for everyone to make it through the day without spending a dime. If you have to spend money, Ballentine said, be conscious of where it's going.
"Spend it with people or organizations that are actually doing things to help us and our community," he said. "My hope is that we can all come together. Part of our healing is working together."
Story Here
Thousands Mistakenly Allowed Past U.S. Border
Government watchdogs have found that thousands of people who shouldn't have been admitted to the United States were mistakenly allowed in last year because of security lapses at legal border crossings.
The number of inadmissible aliens who managed to enter through official ports of entry in 2006 was not disclosed in Monday's report from the Government Accountability Office.
However, a source who has seen a full version of the report, in which those statistics were included, put the total at 21,000.
The author of the GAO report, Richard Stana, said most of those who were wrongly allowed to enter were economic migrants who did not present a security risk.
"But as we saw in the recent past, it doesn't take too many people getting through the ports of entry to cause some real trouble," he said. "And not everyone who comes in and is a danger needs to be a terrorist. It could be someone connected with a criminal enterprise."
Understaffing and turnover at Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees the nation's 326 land, sea and air ports of entry, has contributed to the problem, according to the GAO report. However, investigators also cited weak management controls and complacency and inattentiveness by some officers.
GAO investigators arriving at one point of entry found no border agents in the inspection booth, while at other locations, agents didn't ask for travel documents, according to the report.
"Supervisors aren't demanding that the agents do their jobs and ask the right questions and look at the right documents," Stana said. "It's because they can't get people trained properly, and it's because staffing is short."
The Customs and Border Protection's stance is that at busy border crossings, it has to balance security with commerce.
As a result of its own earlier investigations, Customs and Border Protection issued new policies and procedures to tighten security at ports of entry, but, months later, GAO inspectors found that many of the same weaknesses persisted.
In July, Customs and Border Protection issued new procedures for conducting inspections at border crossings. However, GAO investigators concluded the agency has not put the management structure in place to make sure those procedures are consistently implemented at all of the crossings.
Monday's report "confirms that Customs and Border Protection must do a better job of recruiting new officers and retaining and training those already on the job," said Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
"Employee retention and recruitment problems at CBP may be indicative of larger morale and vacancy problems at the Department (of Homeland Security), but that's no excuse," he said in a statement. "While this administration pumps millions of dollars into hundreds of miles of real and virtual fences, it must not ignore critical vulnerabilities at our ports of entry."
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 17,600 Customs and Border Protection officers manning ports of entry, said the agency is understaffed and poorly managed and officers are overworked and not adequately trained.
About 400 million people enter the U.S. through legal checkpoints every year, according to The Associated Press.
"It is clear that CBP needs thousands more front-line employees, not just to do the job the nation has a right to expect but to provide enough manpower to staff ports of entry while critically necessary training is provided," said Colleen Kelley, the union's president, in a statement.
Story Here
Monday, November 5, 2007
Jewish Student Admits Putting Swastikas On Her Door
George Washington University officials said a Jewish student who complained about swastikas showing up on her door put them there herself.
The student lives in Mitchell Hall, where half a dozen swastikas had shown up on her dorm room door in the past several weeks.
University police set up a hidden camera. They said the girl admitted responsibility Monday.
News 4 interviewed the student last week after the fifth swastika was discovered. She did not want to be identified.
"It's a big story," said Jake Sherman, GW Hatchet editor. "Thirty percent of GW students are Jewish"
Reporters at the GW Hatchet newspaper have been following the story since it began. They said they learned on Monday morning that the alleged victim would likely be implicated.
They said they spoke to her twice by phone.
According to reporters at the newspaper, the student said, "I wasn't looking to create this sort of insanity. I wasn't looking to become a media darling. I was just looking for acknowledgment from the university that someone drew a swastika on the door."
The student now faces disciplinary action from the school and could face criminal charges.
Story Here
A Colony of Ants Take on a Bear
A colony of ants take on a bear, an entire bee hive and own the forest where they live. These ants consume more meat than Lions, Tigers and Wolves combined. They also eat more than 10 million insects a year. That is the consumption of just one colony.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Chicken-Plant Workers Test Positive for TB
Alabama health officials have identified 212 workers who have tested positive for tuberculosis at a single poultry plant owned by one of the largest processors in the U.S.
In two batteries of skin tests last month, given to 765 fresh processing employees at the Decatur, Ala., plant owned by Wayne Farms LLC by the State Department of Public Health's Tuberculosis Control Division, 28 percent were found to be infected, including one with active tuberculosis disease, which is contagious. Doctors have yet to evaluate X-rays for 165 current workers who tested positive to determine if any more are contagious.
The testing was prompted by an earlier active TB case – a former Wayne Farms worker.
Both employees with active TB are Hispanics born in countries where the disease is prevalent, heath officials said.
When the disease is latent, those with TB are not contagious, but the TB bacteria remains in the body for life unless it is treated. Once it becomes active it may cause permanent damage to the lungs and other organs and the airborne bacteria is easily spread by coughing, laughing or even talking. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 50 percent of those who have close contact with someone with active TB for 15 minutes will become infected.
Accompanied by the rise in illegal immigration, tuberculosis is making a comeback in the U.S., often eluding diagnosis by doctors who are unfamiliar with the disease.
Last year, WND reported more than three-quarters of the 2,903 cases in California in 2005 were among foreign natives, with a total of 14,093 cases nationwide.
Scott Jones, interim director of the Tuberculosis Control Division told the Decatur Daily he was not surprised at the large number of employees who tested positive.
"The majority of the folks that we're dealing with in this situation are foreign born," Jones said. "I would expect about 30 percent of them to test positive."
Of particular concern to public health officials are emerging strains of drug-resistant TB brought to the U.S. by illegal aliens who bypass the screening regularly done with legal immigrants.
The drug-resistant TB recently killed more than 50 people in South Africa. It has been found in limited numbers in the U.S. – 74 reported cases since 1993. The strain is nearly impossible to cure because it is immune to the best first- and second-line TB drugs. It is as easily transmitted through the air as the old TB.
There is another form of TB concerning U.S. health officials. It is called "multi-drug resistant." It responds to more treatments but can cost up to $250,000 and take two years to cure. This is the strain increasingly common throughout the world – rising more than 50 percent from about 273,000 in 2000 to 425,000 in 2004, according to a study published in August in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
In the U.S., 128 people were found to have it in 2004, a 13 percent increase from the previous year.
Stan Hayman, sales and marketing director for Wayne Farms, told the Decatur Daily the company had offered to reimburse the state for the measures taken at the plant.
Jones, who noted his office has only two X-ray technicians in the Division of TB Control to cover the entire state, said the offer was appreciated, but "if Wayne Farms is interested in investing something, my recommendation to them would be to invest within their own facility to establish a pre-employment screening routine.
"If their intent is to invest, I wish they'd think about ways they can invest toward the future as opposed to reimbursing for a one-time event."
Hayman earlier told Huntsville's WHNT-TV News the company was looking for ways to pre-test employees before they're hired but said the law imposed limits on what could be done.
"The laws today don't truly allow for pre-employment screening. You know HIV and all of these over the years have built cases where personal information is very guarded," he said. "So we struggle a little bit with the laws today to say can we truly implement a pre-screening, pre-employment process."
Hayman also said, despite the large number of foreign-born Hispanic employees working at the Decatur facility, all have been verified as legally working in the U.S.
"When we offer application of employment to an individual we use what's called the pilot program," Hayman told WHNT-TV.
The pilot program checks Social Security numbers. Wayne Farms requires job applicants to fill out an I-9 form confirming their identity and right to work in the U.S. and to provide their Social Security number.
"The system will give you a go, no-go at that point when you put that information into it," said Hayman. "So we don't allow those people that come back with non compliant to ever start work for us without contesting it or giving us additional information on really who they are."
The two Hispanic workers with active TB went through the same Wayne Farms hiring process.
"They all went through that process. They all came back verified the information came back compliant. It was in the system. So they all went through the exact process we are talking about," said Hayman.
According to the company website, "Wayne Farms LLC is one of the top six fully integrated poultry processors in the United States. With a focus on quality every step of the way, 'from farm to fork,' more than 250 million chickens or 1.8 billion pounds of poultry are processed annually in our 13 facilities."
Humans cannot become infected with TB bacteria from chickens, and it cannot be transmitted through chicken meat.
Story Here
Should you wish to contact Wayne Farms, to let them know how you feel about their hiring and screening procedures of 'employees' (*cough* mexicans *cough*), please give a call or write:
Wayne Farms LLC
4110 Continental Drive
Oakwood, Georgia 30566
678-450-3100 or 1-800-392-0844
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Murder of Two Whites in Nashville
And the national media is silent, again. Typical hush crime you’ll NEVER hear about on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, ect. Two blacks, one a female, rob and murder, execution style, two whites. Watch the video HERE and see how the jewish media seeks to mitigate what this female savage did, i.e. 'she was nice,' 'She was quiet,' 'I’m SHOCKED that she was involved,' ect.
'Classmates Describe Suspect In Bellacino’s Slayings As Quiet, Nice' The jewish media always does this. It’s known as media mitigation and whenever a black person murders a white it’s the first thing the media does in an effort to soothe the unhappiness of whites that are beginning to conclude the obvious, blacks are out of control and need to be controlled in one way or another.
Candlelight Vigil For Slain Teenager
A judge postponed the court hearing Friday of two people police believe were responsible killing two Bellacino’s Pizza employees.Jason Bobo, a former employee and Crystle Rutherford were charged with fatally shooting Chris Caris and Joshua Cole at the West Nashville business.
Cole’s relatives and friends gathered outside the business a week after the shootings.
They placed flowers, letters and candles o the pavement to honor the 18-year-old who worked there to earn extra money.
A family’s vigil was the only chance to speak out about the crime because their chance was taken away earlier in the day in court.
“It enrages me that my family is going to have to wait another 30 days to start this process,” his mother Tina Cole.
The first court hearing was pushed back.
“When she walked in that room at Bellacino’s with a gun in her hand and had it on my son while he lay there helplessly,” Cole said.
The crime was caught on tape. It still leaves many questions. Cole’s family is disappointed about another delay in their quest to find answers.
Cole’s family questions whether the crime was a robbery attempted, as police called it.
“My son had money in his wallet,” Cole said. I do not see that as a robbery. We went and picked up his belongings. He had $208 in his wallet that was never touched
One relative said he thought it was a hate crime.
“Our nights have been sleepless, wondering how these people can go and do what they’re doing,” Cole said.
Bobo told police he targeted the business for robbery because he knew the layout.
Police said Rutherford also confessed. Her father said Bobo forced her to participate.
Both will be in court at the end of the month.
Police said Bobo told them he killed Caris because the pair worked together and he feared Caris would be able to identify him to police.
Story Here
Murder Suspects Jason Bobo and Crystle Rutherford
'Classmates Describe Suspect In Bellacino’s Slayings As Quiet, Nice' The jewish media always does this. It’s known as media mitigation and whenever a black person murders a white it’s the first thing the media does in an effort to soothe the unhappiness of whites that are beginning to conclude the obvious, blacks are out of control and need to be controlled in one way or another.
A judge postponed the court hearing Friday of two people police believe were responsible killing two Bellacino’s Pizza employees.Jason Bobo, a former employee and Crystle Rutherford were charged with fatally shooting Chris Caris and Joshua Cole at the West Nashville business.
Cole’s relatives and friends gathered outside the business a week after the shootings.
They placed flowers, letters and candles o the pavement to honor the 18-year-old who worked there to earn extra money.
A family’s vigil was the only chance to speak out about the crime because their chance was taken away earlier in the day in court.
“It enrages me that my family is going to have to wait another 30 days to start this process,” his mother Tina Cole.
The first court hearing was pushed back.
“When she walked in that room at Bellacino’s with a gun in her hand and had it on my son while he lay there helplessly,” Cole said.
The crime was caught on tape. It still leaves many questions. Cole’s family is disappointed about another delay in their quest to find answers.
Cole’s family questions whether the crime was a robbery attempted, as police called it.
“My son had money in his wallet,” Cole said. I do not see that as a robbery. We went and picked up his belongings. He had $208 in his wallet that was never touched
One relative said he thought it was a hate crime.
“Our nights have been sleepless, wondering how these people can go and do what they’re doing,” Cole said.
Bobo told police he targeted the business for robbery because he knew the layout.
Police said Rutherford also confessed. Her father said Bobo forced her to participate.
Both will be in court at the end of the month.
Police said Bobo told them he killed Caris because the pair worked together and he feared Caris would be able to identify him to police.
Story Here
Thursday, November 1, 2007
The Century of Self
"This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy." -Adam Curtis (Narrator)
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
NYC Declares Day Against Hate Crimes
Proclaiming New York "a city of tolerance," the City Council speaker declared a day against hate to counter a spate of bias crimes, including the discoveries of a swastika and a noose on the doors of two university professors.
"We're here as religious leaders, as community leaders, as government leaders to send a message: that we will not tolerate hate of any kind in our city," the speaker, Christine Quinn, said at a news conference Thursday.
Joined by New York's borough presidents, City Council members and civic leaders, she announced that Nov. 29 will be the city's "Day Out Against Hate."
The day is to begin with an interfaith prayer breakfast and feature encounters between Holocaust survivors and teenagers and discussions involving senior citizen centers, schools and youth programs.
Some activities will include the Columbia University campus, where a Jewish professor discovered a swastika painted on her office door on Wednesday. Last month, a black professor at Columbia's graduate school of education found a noose on her office door.
Several other nooses have recently popped up around the city, racist graffiti has been found in two public high schools, and synagogues and homes have been defaced with swastikas. A black high school principal in Brooklyn received a letter that read, "White Power Forever," and a noose was discovered outside a post office near ground zero.
Story Here
"We're here as religious leaders, as community leaders, as government leaders to send a message: that we will not tolerate hate of any kind in our city," the speaker, Christine Quinn, said at a news conference Thursday.
Joined by New York's borough presidents, City Council members and civic leaders, she announced that Nov. 29 will be the city's "Day Out Against Hate."
The day is to begin with an interfaith prayer breakfast and feature encounters between Holocaust survivors and teenagers and discussions involving senior citizen centers, schools and youth programs.
Some activities will include the Columbia University campus, where a Jewish professor discovered a swastika painted on her office door on Wednesday. Last month, a black professor at Columbia's graduate school of education found a noose on her office door.
Several other nooses have recently popped up around the city, racist graffiti has been found in two public high schools, and synagogues and homes have been defaced with swastikas. A black high school principal in Brooklyn received a letter that read, "White Power Forever," and a noose was discovered outside a post office near ground zero.
Story Here
Reining - A Near Perfect Slide Stop
Gorgeous animal! His name is Jacs Wonder Who, a World Champion reiner at 2 years old. Our horse Rebel was a Champion reiner in his younger years (not a World Champ though :P)and I really love the athletic ability of these Quarter Horses.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Zimbabwe's millionaires worth only $1
Zimbabwe’s currency has fallen to record levels, with one million Zimbabwean dollars buying a single US dollar (48p) and inflation reaching 8,000 per cent.
The bleak data was announced as people in the capital Harare struggled to cope without electricity for the third day. “We closed our business today,” said a woman who helps to run a major petrol supplier. “We just can’t operate like this.”
The National Blood Transfusion Services said that it had been unable to test blood since Tuesday. “We are in serious trouble,” said a doctor.
At independence in 1980, the Zimbabwean dollar held parity with the US dollar but the currency has suffered from the recent economic policies of President Mugabe; at the beginning of this year it was $Z2,800 to one US dollar and ten days ago $Z500,000.
President Mugabe has struggled to keep inflation under control and in July ordered businesses to halve their prices to alleviate the country’s woes. The order resulted in the arrest of about 10,000 business people as thousands of police officers raided companies, shopping malls and markets to take goods marked above price control levels. Now the supermarkets are bare and it is almost impossible to buy food.
Although the inflation rate slowed marginally in August it rose to 7,982 last month, according to official statistics, which are regarded as highly conservative. “It shows the lunacy of their belief they can legislate against inflation and bring it down at the barrel of a gun,” said Rob Davies, an economist.
Officials in Mr Mugabe’s ruling party reportedly expect him to sign a law that will force all foreign-owned companies, including local subsidiaries of Barclays and Standard Chartered, to sell 51 per cent of their equity to black Zimbabweans.
Story Here
My Celebrity Look-a-Likes
Me and Stephanie were playing around with some look-a-like software. She's devasted because one of her matches was Brad Pitt! LOL... 'If Brad were a girl, he'd be a pretty girl', I tried to tell her. We consoled ourselves with mini snickers bars. It's Halloween afterall. :P
University to Students: All Whites are Racist
Mandatory program 'treats' politically incorrect attitudes.
A mandatory University of Delaware program requires residence hall students to acknowledge that "all whites are racist" and offers them "treatment" for any incorrect attitudes regarding class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality they might hold upon entering the school, according to a civil rights group.
"Somehow, the University of Delaware seems terrifyingly unaware that a state-sponsored institution of higher education in the United States does not have the legal right to engage in a program of systematic thought reform. The First Amendment protects the right to freedom of conscience – the right to keep our innermost thoughts free from governmental intrusion. It also protects the right to be free from compelled speech," said a letter from Samantha Harris, director of legal and public advocacy for The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education to university President Patrick Harker.
The organization cited excerpts from the university's Office of Residence Life Diversity Education Training documents, including the statement:
"A RACIST: A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. 'The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality. By this definition, people of color cannot be racists, because as peoples within the U.S. system, they do not have the power to back up their prejudices, hostilities, or acts of discrimination….'"
The education program also notes that "reverse racism" is "a term created and used by white people to deny their white privilege." And "a non-racist" is called "a non-term," because, the program explains, "The term was created by whites to deny responsibility for systemic racism, to maintain an aura of innocence in the face of racial oppression, and to shift the responsibility for that oppression from whites to people of color (called 'blaming the victim')."
The "education" regarding racism is just one of the subjects that students are required to adopt as part of their University of Delaware experience, too, FIRE noted.
The "shocking program of ideological reeducation," which the school itself defines as a "treatment" for students' incorrect attitudes and beliefs, is nothing less than "Orwellian," FIRE said.
The school requires its approximately 7,000 residence hall students "to adopt highly specific university-approved views on issues ranging from politics to race, sexuality, sociology, moral philosophy and environmentalism."
"FIRE is calling for the total dismantling of the program, which is a flagrant violation of students' rights to freedom of conscience and freedom from compelled speech," the organization said.
On a foundation blog, a student noted that one residence assistant told students, "Not to scare anyone or anything, but these are MANDATORY!!" And the training program for those who indoctrinate students includes the order: "A researcher must document that the treatment/intervention was faithfully applied (ex: specific lesson plans were delivered to every student, etc.)."
Further, the school requires "a systemic change" as a result of the program, FIRE noted. As one RA told students: "Like it or not, you all are the future Leaders, and the world is Diverse, so learning to Embrace and Appreciate that diversity is ESSENTIAL."
"The University of Delaware's residence life education program is a grave intrusion into students' private beliefs," FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. "The university has decided that it is not enough to expose its students to the values it considers important; instead, it must coerce its students into accepting those values as their own. At a public university like Delaware, this is both unconscionable and unconstitutional."
According to university materials, RAs are instructed to ask students during one-on-one sessions questions such as: "When did you discover your sexual identity?" "When were you first made aware of your race?" and "Who taught you a lesson in regard to some sort of diversity awarness? What was the lesson?"
"Students who express discomfort with this type of questioning often meet with disapproval from their RAs, who write reports on these one-on-one sessions and deliver these reports to their superiors. One student identified in a write-up as an RA's 'worst' one-on-one session was a young woman who stated that she was tired of having 'diversity shoved down her throat,'" FIRE said.
This particular student responded to the question, "When did you discover your sexual identity?" with the terse: "That is none of your damn business," FIRE said.
Requirements for students include: "Students will recognize that systemic oppression exists in our society," "Students will recognize the benefits of dismantling systems of oppression," and "Students will be able to utilize their knowledge of sustainability to change their daily habits and consumer mentality," FIRE said.
The foundation said students even are "pressured or even required" to make social statements that meet with the school's approval.
"The fact that the university views its students as patients in need of treatment for some sort of moral sickness betrays a total lack of respect not only for students' basic rights, but for students themselves," Lukianoff said. "The University of Delaware has both a legal and a moral obligation to immediately dismantle this program, and FIRE will not rest until it has."
A spokesman for the school, contacted by WND, said he was not ready to make a statement about the situation right away.
But the foundation's letter to Harker noted, "we have never encountered a more systematic assault upon the individual liberty, dignity, privacy, and autonomy of university students than this program," which "requires students to adopt highly specific university-approved views on issues."
"Such utter contempt for the autonomy and free agency of others is the hallmark of totalitarianism and has no place in any free society, let alone at a public university in the state of Delaware," the letter said.
Especially alarming, Harris told WND, is that the school defines learning specifically as "attitudinal or behavioral changes," not acquiring any sort of knowledge and ability.
Such thinking "represents a distorted idea of 'education' that one would more easily associate with a Soviet prison camp than with an American institution of higher education," FIRE said. "As another example, after an investigation showed that males demonstrated 'a higher degree of resistance to educational efforts,' the Rodney complex chose to hire 'strong male RAs.' Each such RA 'combats male residents' concepts of traditional male identity,' in order to 'ensure the delivery of the curriculum at the same level as in the female floors.' This language is disturbingly reminiscent of a pivotal scene from George Orwell's '1984,' in which the protagonist's captors tell him that 'The Party is not interested in the overt act: the thought is all we care about. We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them.'"
No small danger, FIRE noted, is being presented to the university through such apparent constitutional violations. "Simply put, the residence life education program is a legal minefield," the group said.
One student reacted to the indoctrination with rebellion. On the FIRE blog, he wrote:
"Take the issue of homosexuality, and the rights that should or should not be associated with it. As a Christian, I believe that the Bible says homosexuality is wrong, and is a sin against God. As such, I cannot accept it as a legitimate lifestyle. While I accept homosexuals as people, I do not accept their choice as right, and subsequently I do not think that homosexual couples should be given marital rights. I accept that others do not hold the same views as me. But it is wrong that under the Residence Life curriculum and school mandated curriculum that I should made to feel guilty for my views. … It is not the school's right to try to convince me to embrace the values that Residence Life has chosen. Essentially, if I do not change my views, I will be labeled by my RA as not embracing diversity, and not accepting of certain groups, and thus my RA will try all the harder to change me. This is not the school's job, or right."
Story Here
A mandatory University of Delaware program requires residence hall students to acknowledge that "all whites are racist" and offers them "treatment" for any incorrect attitudes regarding class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality they might hold upon entering the school, according to a civil rights group.
"Somehow, the University of Delaware seems terrifyingly unaware that a state-sponsored institution of higher education in the United States does not have the legal right to engage in a program of systematic thought reform. The First Amendment protects the right to freedom of conscience – the right to keep our innermost thoughts free from governmental intrusion. It also protects the right to be free from compelled speech," said a letter from Samantha Harris, director of legal and public advocacy for The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education to university President Patrick Harker.
The organization cited excerpts from the university's Office of Residence Life Diversity Education Training documents, including the statement:
"A RACIST: A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. 'The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality. By this definition, people of color cannot be racists, because as peoples within the U.S. system, they do not have the power to back up their prejudices, hostilities, or acts of discrimination….'"
The education program also notes that "reverse racism" is "a term created and used by white people to deny their white privilege." And "a non-racist" is called "a non-term," because, the program explains, "The term was created by whites to deny responsibility for systemic racism, to maintain an aura of innocence in the face of racial oppression, and to shift the responsibility for that oppression from whites to people of color (called 'blaming the victim')."
The "education" regarding racism is just one of the subjects that students are required to adopt as part of their University of Delaware experience, too, FIRE noted.
The "shocking program of ideological reeducation," which the school itself defines as a "treatment" for students' incorrect attitudes and beliefs, is nothing less than "Orwellian," FIRE said.
The school requires its approximately 7,000 residence hall students "to adopt highly specific university-approved views on issues ranging from politics to race, sexuality, sociology, moral philosophy and environmentalism."
"FIRE is calling for the total dismantling of the program, which is a flagrant violation of students' rights to freedom of conscience and freedom from compelled speech," the organization said.
On a foundation blog, a student noted that one residence assistant told students, "Not to scare anyone or anything, but these are MANDATORY!!" And the training program for those who indoctrinate students includes the order: "A researcher must document that the treatment/intervention was faithfully applied (ex: specific lesson plans were delivered to every student, etc.)."
Further, the school requires "a systemic change" as a result of the program, FIRE noted. As one RA told students: "Like it or not, you all are the future Leaders, and the world is Diverse, so learning to Embrace and Appreciate that diversity is ESSENTIAL."
"The University of Delaware's residence life education program is a grave intrusion into students' private beliefs," FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. "The university has decided that it is not enough to expose its students to the values it considers important; instead, it must coerce its students into accepting those values as their own. At a public university like Delaware, this is both unconscionable and unconstitutional."
According to university materials, RAs are instructed to ask students during one-on-one sessions questions such as: "When did you discover your sexual identity?" "When were you first made aware of your race?" and "Who taught you a lesson in regard to some sort of diversity awarness? What was the lesson?"
"Students who express discomfort with this type of questioning often meet with disapproval from their RAs, who write reports on these one-on-one sessions and deliver these reports to their superiors. One student identified in a write-up as an RA's 'worst' one-on-one session was a young woman who stated that she was tired of having 'diversity shoved down her throat,'" FIRE said.
This particular student responded to the question, "When did you discover your sexual identity?" with the terse: "That is none of your damn business," FIRE said.
Requirements for students include: "Students will recognize that systemic oppression exists in our society," "Students will recognize the benefits of dismantling systems of oppression," and "Students will be able to utilize their knowledge of sustainability to change their daily habits and consumer mentality," FIRE said.
The foundation said students even are "pressured or even required" to make social statements that meet with the school's approval.
"The fact that the university views its students as patients in need of treatment for some sort of moral sickness betrays a total lack of respect not only for students' basic rights, but for students themselves," Lukianoff said. "The University of Delaware has both a legal and a moral obligation to immediately dismantle this program, and FIRE will not rest until it has."
A spokesman for the school, contacted by WND, said he was not ready to make a statement about the situation right away.
But the foundation's letter to Harker noted, "we have never encountered a more systematic assault upon the individual liberty, dignity, privacy, and autonomy of university students than this program," which "requires students to adopt highly specific university-approved views on issues."
"Such utter contempt for the autonomy and free agency of others is the hallmark of totalitarianism and has no place in any free society, let alone at a public university in the state of Delaware," the letter said.
Especially alarming, Harris told WND, is that the school defines learning specifically as "attitudinal or behavioral changes," not acquiring any sort of knowledge and ability.
Such thinking "represents a distorted idea of 'education' that one would more easily associate with a Soviet prison camp than with an American institution of higher education," FIRE said. "As another example, after an investigation showed that males demonstrated 'a higher degree of resistance to educational efforts,' the Rodney complex chose to hire 'strong male RAs.' Each such RA 'combats male residents' concepts of traditional male identity,' in order to 'ensure the delivery of the curriculum at the same level as in the female floors.' This language is disturbingly reminiscent of a pivotal scene from George Orwell's '1984,' in which the protagonist's captors tell him that 'The Party is not interested in the overt act: the thought is all we care about. We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them.'"
No small danger, FIRE noted, is being presented to the university through such apparent constitutional violations. "Simply put, the residence life education program is a legal minefield," the group said.
One student reacted to the indoctrination with rebellion. On the FIRE blog, he wrote:
"Take the issue of homosexuality, and the rights that should or should not be associated with it. As a Christian, I believe that the Bible says homosexuality is wrong, and is a sin against God. As such, I cannot accept it as a legitimate lifestyle. While I accept homosexuals as people, I do not accept their choice as right, and subsequently I do not think that homosexual couples should be given marital rights. I accept that others do not hold the same views as me. But it is wrong that under the Residence Life curriculum and school mandated curriculum that I should made to feel guilty for my views. … It is not the school's right to try to convince me to embrace the values that Residence Life has chosen. Essentially, if I do not change my views, I will be labeled by my RA as not embracing diversity, and not accepting of certain groups, and thus my RA will try all the harder to change me. This is not the school's job, or right."
Story Here
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Happy Halloween!
Baked some cookies and banana bread this afternoon for the Halloween party tomorrow. Should be a good time, with lots of little kids on their sugar highs!
Defensive Frog
Budgett frogs look like they're from another planet!
The round squat body jiggles like a bag of water when the frog moves, and the eyes sit atop the head like a pair of tiny ping pong balls.
When this frog is frightened it opens its huge mouth, screams like a cat in pain and lunges toward an aggressor. With two large tooth-like projections, the frog is known to bite and is capable of drawing blood.
Regardless, they'd still eat him up in China!
The round squat body jiggles like a bag of water when the frog moves, and the eyes sit atop the head like a pair of tiny ping pong balls.
When this frog is frightened it opens its huge mouth, screams like a cat in pain and lunges toward an aggressor. With two large tooth-like projections, the frog is known to bite and is capable of drawing blood.
Regardless, they'd still eat him up in China!
Monday, October 29, 2007
FreeTalk Live Sunday Broadcast
Please download, and pass along this most awesome broadcast of FTL Sunday (Originally aired October 28, 2007)
Hosted by Mark Faust, with Mishko Novosel.
Listen Here:White Education 101
Jewish Media Control: All about the companies and Jews who own and control the world's media.
Government Facts and Numbers: How many Jews are in congress? How many Blacks? How many Mestizos? Who is who's adviser? Who owns what? Who are the top ten shareholders of the Federal Reserve??
Crime By Race Stats: Straight from the ZOG's very own FBI web site. Always a great way to shut up those poisoned lemmings.
Illegal Alien Stats: Back by popular demand! We will take a look into how many American Lives are lost due to our filthy Southern invaders, How many of our women and children are raped, and of course how much money it costs all of us to play host to these scumbags.
Racist Hoaxes Against Whites, NON WHITES BUSTED!: We will take a look into how Jews, Blacks, and other non-Whites are blaming us for their bad behavior by painting reversed swastikas and other such failed tactics.
This show was so good, and so informative that it put Rabbi Preciousmetalstein back into the hospital.
Rabbi Preciousmetalstein back in hospital
Oct. 28, 2004
Saul Slopberg - AP
Doctors say it's a relapse
New York City's leading Rabbi has been stricken with an acute attack of impacted bowels once again. Rabbi Phlegm Preciousmetalstein was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital on 5th Ave at 7:30 PM on Sunday. His wife said that a little bird told him that VNN's Free Talk Live was back on the air and suddenly the Rabbi clutched his lower gut, and yelled something unintelligible and then passed out on the kitchen floor. Mrs. Preciousmetalstein said that her husband was an Auschwitz Concentration camp survivor and that Hitler, himself, cut out the lower half of the Rabbi's intestine with a carpet knife, and since 1944 he's been prone to these attacks whenever he senses that there might be hateful Nazis on the radio.
Hosted by Mark Faust, with Mishko Novosel.
Listen Here:White Education 101
Jewish Media Control: All about the companies and Jews who own and control the world's media.
Government Facts and Numbers: How many Jews are in congress? How many Blacks? How many Mestizos? Who is who's adviser? Who owns what? Who are the top ten shareholders of the Federal Reserve??
Crime By Race Stats: Straight from the ZOG's very own FBI web site. Always a great way to shut up those poisoned lemmings.
Illegal Alien Stats: Back by popular demand! We will take a look into how many American Lives are lost due to our filthy Southern invaders, How many of our women and children are raped, and of course how much money it costs all of us to play host to these scumbags.
Racist Hoaxes Against Whites, NON WHITES BUSTED!: We will take a look into how Jews, Blacks, and other non-Whites are blaming us for their bad behavior by painting reversed swastikas and other such failed tactics.
This show was so good, and so informative that it put Rabbi Preciousmetalstein back into the hospital.
Oct. 28, 2004
Saul Slopberg - AP
Doctors say it's a relapse
New York City's leading Rabbi has been stricken with an acute attack of impacted bowels once again. Rabbi Phlegm Preciousmetalstein was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital on 5th Ave at 7:30 PM on Sunday. His wife said that a little bird told him that VNN's Free Talk Live was back on the air and suddenly the Rabbi clutched his lower gut, and yelled something unintelligible and then passed out on the kitchen floor. Mrs. Preciousmetalstein said that her husband was an Auschwitz Concentration camp survivor and that Hitler, himself, cut out the lower half of the Rabbi's intestine with a carpet knife, and since 1944 he's been prone to these attacks whenever he senses that there might be hateful Nazis on the radio.
Wii Golf.... the Funniest Game on the Planet
This is quite possibly, the cutest baby I have ever seen.
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