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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The HIgh Cost to Society of Attacking the Police

The stories below show what happens when politicians and rabble rousers attack the police.

Arrests Plummett 66% with NYPD in Virtual Work Stoppage
from New York Post
It’s not a slowdown — it’s a virtual work stoppage.
NYPD traffic tickets and summonses for minor offenses have dropped off by a staggering 94 percent following the execution of two cops — as officers feel betrayed by the mayor and fear for their safety, The Post has learned.

And here's what happens when the laws aren't enforced:

BLACK TEEN GIRLS RIOT IN PITTSBURGH MALL, FORCE CLOSURE
In a brawl apparently instigated using social media, a thousand or more young teen black girls descended on Monroeville Mall outside Pittsburgh Friday night, resulting in the mall being closed as a massive brawl broke out. An investigation is ongoing, including via social media, although no arrests were reportedly made at the time.

Allen West has a link on his blog to a brutally honest article by a public defender about the black defendants he represents. He includes a couple of pictures to help make his points:



Here are a few excerpts:

Michael Smith, American Renaissance, May 9, 2014
I am a public defender in a large southern metropolitan area. Fewer than ten percent of the people in the area I serve are black but over 90 per cent of my clients are black. The remaining ten percent are mainly Hispanics but there are a few whites.

I have no explanation for why this is, but crime has racial patterns. Hispanics usually commit two kinds of crime: sexual assault on children and driving under the influence. Blacks commit many violent crimes but very few sex crimes. The handful of whites I see commit all kinds of crimes. In my many years as a public defender I have represented only three Asians, and one was half black.

As a young lawyer, I believed the official story that blacks are law abiding, intelligent, family-oriented people, but are so poor they must turn to crime to survive. Actual black behavior was a shock to me.

From time to time the media report that although blacks are 12 percent of the population they are 40 percent of the prison population. This is supposed to be an outrage that results from unfair treatment by the criminal justice system. What the media only hint at is another staggering reality: recidivism. Black men are arrested and convicted over and over. It is typical for a black man to have five felony convictions before the age of 30. This kind of record is rare among whites and Hispanics, and probably even rarer among Asians.

At one time our office was looking for a motto that defined our philosophy. Someone joked that it should be: “Doesn’t everyone deserve an eleventh chance?”

However, my experience has also taught me that blacks are different by almost any measure to all other people. They cannot reason as well. They cannot communicate as well. They cannot control their impulses as well. They are a threat to all who cross their paths, black and non-black alike.
I do not know the solution to this problem. I do know that it is wrong to deceive the public. Whatever solutions we seek should be based on the truth rather than what we would prefer was the truth. As for myself, I will continue do my duty to protect the rights of all who need me.

This article has drawn over 1,600 comments.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Some thoughts on DeBlasio and NYPD


We all saw the pictures of hundreds of police officers turning their backs to NYC mayor DeBlasio at the funeral for the two officers who were murdered in  cold blood. One thing I didn't see the media remark on was that a good number of them were black. Of course, the two murdered cops (see below for comments on use of this word) were not strictly white. Rafael Ramos was Puerto Rican, and Wenjian Liu was Chinese. They were both Americans, with families who loved them. They were also part of the thin blue line that protects us from the forces of anarchy.

I know what it's like to live in a place where the criminal element is not under control. I moved to Houston in 1981, and that year the city had over 300 murders. One of the victims was the wife of Bill Ham, ZZ Top's manager. She went into a Walgreens about a mile from my house, and an ex-con just off the bus from Huntsville ambushed her, kidnapped her and murdered her, for her red Cadillac. Bob Lanier ran for mayor on the issue of crime. He won and beefed up the police and order returned.

I am a lawyer who represents people charged with criminal offenses. Part of my job is to review all th evidence and identify problems with the investigation. 90% of the time, the cops get it right.

Kerrville is a safe place, in large part because it has a professional police force. I've been stopped for speeding a few times, and the officers have always been professional and respectful. I've had to call 911 two or three times, once to get a coked up nut out of my office, another when a gang of drunk teenagers were causing trouble, in San Antonio when my car was broken into and a pistol was stolen, and years ago in Houston, when a thug tried to rob me. Every time, the police were courteous and helpful.

The verbal attacks on police by Obama, Sharpton, DeBlasio, and all the other scumbags, and the street thugs shouting death the the police and the physical attacks, are not really about black oppression. They're part of the left's campaign to undermine authority and order.

Remember 9/11, when firemen and cops were running into the buildings.

On Deblasio and NYPD - from New York Post
by Michael Goodwin

To believe that, you now have to erase two sets of facts. One, the fact that violent crime in New York is overwhelmingly the province of nonwhite males, both as victims and perpetrators. Two, you have to disregard that police shot at only 40 suspects last year, reaching, like crime, a historic low.
Cops fired their guns in just 81 incidents in 2013 — including 19 times at dogs. The incidents include six police suicides, as against eight armed suspects the police shot and killed.
There is more, but you get the point. The list of facts you have to ignore to defend the violent and disruptive crowds is so long that something else is going on here, something far more sinister.
It’s only by peeling back the layers of pretend that we get to the naked truth: The whole narrative of widespread police brutality is a big fat lie.
It’s a lie that turns truth on its head, meaning the movement the mayor praises as “organic” and says is raising legitimate concerns is a scam foisted on the public for the sole purpose of advancing a far-left political agenda.
Tearing down trust for the cops is essential to opening the door for an erosion of law enforcement. “Broken windows” policing will be shattered, meaning a lower quality of life in most neighborhoods.

I want to talk to you cop to cop. I have the civilian title of police commissioner, and I’m proud for the second time to lead this great organization,” Bratton said. “In my heart and in my soul, I will always be a cop.”

He went on, “There are those that would seek to use that term [cop] in a derogatory fashion, but I always use it with pride. It denotes something more than being a police officer. It denotes the person that puts on the badge, puts on the blue uniform, and goes into the streets to put their life at risk. So, it is a name of distinction, a name of honor. For 44 years, I’m privileged to call myself a cop.”

RESIDENT SHOOTS MASTURBATING DOG THIEF
from Breitbart
On December 28, a Bucks County, Pennsylvania, burglar, who masturbated on one resident’s neck before stealing her dog, was shot and critically wounded after breaking into a second apartment. After leaving that apartment, Medero broke into a first floor apartment and fought with two residents inside. One resident retrieved a gun and shot Medero twice, yet he continued fighting until police arrived to subdue him.

I like one of the comments: "Twice? Did he run out of ammo? Buy more ammo and keep shooting until the $cum is finished."

Friday, December 26, 2014

Young Lawyers and Hero Worship

The new edition of Texas Monthly has a fawning puff piece about Joe Jamail, The Greatest Lawyer Who Ever Lived, Or So Says Joe Jamail. 
In fairness, the subtitle lets the reader know that Jamail is a foul mouth egotistical bully: "At the age of 89 the state's most famous attorney - and one of the wealthiest - is still dropping F-bombs and crushing opposing counsel. Can someone get this man another scotch?"

The main takeaway from the article is that Jamail is a charismatic, brilliant lawyer who hangs out with other celebrities like Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, Darrell Royal, and gives millions of dollars to the University of Texas. Sure, he curses and insults opposing lawyers and witnesses, but hey, that's just being colorful.

I was a young lawyer starting out in Houston when Jamail tried the Pennzoil case. Another celebrity lawyer was also in the news, Gerry Spence, the cowboy lawyer from Wyoming. He also liked to intimidate his opponents, every goosing them in the courtroom.

I looked up to Jamail and Spence. But I soon learned that if most lawyers acted like they did, karma had a way of showing you the error of your ways. They are great lawyers, yes, but they are also like Frankenstein monsters. Judges let them get away with conduct that they would lock most lawyers up for. They fawn over them, and the juries pick up on it.

Maybe the most telling anecdote in the Texas Monthly article is the one where Jamail laughs about getting a $16MM verdict for a drunk driver injured in a one car wreck. Some witness claimed that a big truck, owned by the defendant, ran him off the road. How lucky to have an eyewitness like that.



Monday, December 22, 2014

BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS - OBAMA/HOLDER/DEBLASIO/SHARPTON AND THE NYC POLICE OFFICER MURDERS



The usually liberal/leftist online rag Daily Beast has a powerfully written (with a couple of exceptions) piece by Mike Barnicle about the cold blooded murders of two NYC police officers:

NY OUTRAGE OUT THERE FOR RAMOS AND LIU, PROTESTERS?
WILL THOSE WHO PROTESTED ERIC GARNER’S DEATH RUSH TO THE SIDE OF RAFAEL RAMOS’ TWO SONS, OR WENJIAN LIU’S WIDOW, MARRIED ONLY TWO MONTHS?
Now, in New York City, where tourists are often surprised by the relative sense of safety on streets and subways, it is Officer Rafael Ramos, 40 years old, and his partner, Wenjian Liu, 32, who cannot breathe. They are dead, executed for the clothing they wore to work on a Saturday in December, four days before Christmas.

So who will hit the streets to galvanize support and express rage over the execution of two young men killed because of who they were and what they did for work? How many of those who protested will rush to the side of Rafael Ramos’ two sons? How many will be there for the young widow of Wenjian Liu, married only two months?

Saturday, when Ramos and Liu began their tour of duty, neither man expected it to end in their death. They were where they were because they stood, like so many others in uniform, as a blue line between order taken for granted and the potential disorder always there.

Because I am a criminal defense lawyer, and I exposed the corruption in the old 198th District Attorney Office and Kimble County law enforcement, people seem surprised when I have anything good to say about the police. Also, I sued the Kerrville PD a few years ago when one of its officers shot a young Hispanic man holding a .22 pistol. I lost that one at the Fifth Circuit, and frankly, I believe the court was right in deciding that judges and juries can't Monday morning quarterback officers who have to make split second life and death decisions. Michael Brown of Ferguson infamy was a violent thug who got shot when he attacked a cop. Eric Garner, the black man who died in a struggle with three NYC cops, was not murdered and the cop didn't use a chokehold. Garner was morbidly obese and had heart and lung problems. He didn't deserve to die for selling loose cigarettes, but the officers were just enforcing a dumb ass law. BTW, the videos don't show that the senior cop on scene was a black woman. 

Meanwhile, Obama and Holder have announced that maybe grand juries are the best vehicle for investigating when police kill black men. Setting aside the issue of why black men get preferential treatment (14th Amendment?), once again these frauds ignore the Constitution. 

The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

from Above the Law
Stella Mednik, a 2002 graduate of Brooklyn Law School who worked as a contract attorney at Cleary Gottlieb for a time, stands accused of hitting 5 people. Everyone who was struck by Mednik’s car sustained severe injuries. Police said the chaos began when Mednik, who was driving a Ford Mustang, rear-ended another vehicle on 34th Street. She then backed up and tried to go around that car to keep going east in westbound traffic….

She hit another car, according to police. She then swerved back into the eastbound lanes, and at that point, witnesses saw her car go over the curb and plow into pedestrian.

Border Patrol Agent Busted from Breitbart
BROWNSVILLE, Texas  — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer accused of taking money from Mexican drug traffickers and possibly stashing tens of thousands of dollars in Mexico will remain jailed until his trial date Next year.

On Thursday afternoon, Jose Luis “Pepe” Zavala wore a shackles and a prison uniform as he went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Morgan for a bond hearing. During the hearing prosecutors alleged that Zavala’s bank account only had $1,000 and they believe that he had stashed tens of thousands in bribe money somewhere in Mexico.

Exposed: The Gay-Bashing Pastor’s Same-Sex Assault
from Daily Beast

Pastor Gaylord Williams preached against homosexuality on Sundays—and forced himself on young men during the week.

Blackrock exec loses career for dodging fares
from CNN
A former managing director at Blackrock has been banned from the industry for life by U.K. regulators. His crime: dodging rail fares on his commute to work. The Financial Conduct Authority said the crime showed Burrows lacked honesty and integrity, and was therefore not a "fit and proper" person to work in financial services.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Bizarro SCOTUS brief; San Angelo - a best place to live?



Biglaw Partner Could Get Supreme Spanking For Bizarre Filing
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in the case of Sigram Schindler Beteiligungsgesellschaft MBH v. Lee (aka “thank God for copy/paste”). No big deal; SCOTUS denies the vast majority of cases that people want it to hear.

But the Court simultaneously issued a very unusual order in connection with the case (via Josh Blackman):

Howard Neil Shipley, of Washington, D.C., is ordered to show cause, within 40 days, why he should not be sanctioned for his conduct as a member of the Bar of this Court in connection with the petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 14-424, Sigram Schindler Beteiligungsgesellschaft MBH v. Lee.

The petition, posted online Monday night by blogger Josh Blackman, is unorthodox in style, replete with technical jargon, acronyms and unusual typography. For example, the “question presented,” the first opportunity for a petitioner to get the court’s attention, reads this way:

Does the US Constitution, in legal decisions based on 35 USC §§ 101/102/103/112, • require instantly avoiding the inevitable legal errors in construing incomplete and vague classical claim constructions – especially for “emerging technology claim(ed invention)s, ET CIs”—by construing for them the complete/concise refined claim constructions of the Supreme Court’s KSR/Bilski/Mayo/Myriad/Biosig/Alice line of unanimous precedents framework, or does the US Constitution for such decisions • entitle any public institution to refrain, for ET CIs, for a time it feels feasible, from proceeding as these Supreme Court precedents require—or meeting its requirements just by some lip-service—and in the meantime to construe incomplete classical claim constructions, notwithstanding their implied legal errors?

Four Texas cities on Forbes best places to retire list -
I agree wholeheartedly on Austin and Fredericksburg. But San Angelo and Abilene, as Bob Dylan said, is this some kind of joke?

More humor: 

Kentucky - 5 million people, 15 last names.

I'm not racist - I hate Obama's white half too.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

The Judge Defense to DWI - Nora Longoria gets a pass

From Breitbart:
BADGE FLASHING TEXAS BORDER JUDGE BEATS DWI CHARGE, VIDEO SHOWS HER STUMBLING

MCALLEN, Texas -- A Texas high court judge was able to beat the system when the DWI charges filed against her got dismissed even though police video shows the woman struggling to keep her balance and failing a field sobriety test.
Nora Lydia Longoria, a Justice with the 13th Court of Appeals was initially arrested in July when a McAllen Police Officer clocked her doing 69 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone in the northern part of the city, court records obtained by Breitbart Texas show.

“You are going to ruin my life. I worked hard for 25 years to be where I am today,” Longoria is quoted in the police report where the officer also noted that the judge refused to be handcuffed and said they would have to drag her to the patrol car. Longoria refused to take a breathalyzer exam and no blood was drawn to document the amount of alcohol in her system.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

The Coming Anarchy? More Thoughts on Ferguson


One of my favorite poems is William Bulter Yeats the Second Coming, which begins:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre  
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere  
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst   
Are full of passionate intensity.

Some educated fool at Georgetown Univ. wrote this self-hating foolishness:
Oliver Friedfeld, a Georgetown University (GU) senior, penned an oped last week in which he argued that he deserved to be robbed at gunpoint due to his "privilege." Friedfeld is a student at the university's School of Foreign Service, a top-ranking entry point to the U.S. State Department -- many may find this fact worrisome.

When I read about the Episcopal Church letting Muslims hold services in the National Cathedral, ordaining gays and making them bishops and conducting gay marriages, it makes me think that the establishment that founded this country and the elites don't have the will to defend it any more. Meanwhile, feral blacks, which the media invariably refuses to identify by race and calls "teens," are allowed to attack and murder whites and Asians with impunity. If a police officer tries to enforce the law, he risks getting lynched by the mob. Consider:




FERGUSON RIOT IN SAN FRANCISCO COULD LEAVE OFFICER PERMANENTLY DISFIGURED
A violent Friday night riot by Ferguson protesters in San Francisco, who attempted to block Black Friday shopping, resulted in five police officers being badly injured and damaged one officer's face so badly that he could be permanently disfigured.

Here's a refreshing, honest view from a black police chief:

A Black Cop’s Tough Words for Mike Brown

The father of two young men, Willingham said he is pained by the unarmed youngster’s death. In no way, he said, did Brown deserve to die for what began as petty theft. As a black man, he felt conflicted about what he came to came to view, at least from a cop’s perspective, as the right grand jury decision.
“What happened to Brown far outweighed what he did. But what he did set in motion a series of events that ended in his life being lost. If he doesn’t do that, the officer doesn’t have to respond, they don’t cross paths. If you’re a young black man in America, and you go down to the corner store and snatch things that don’t belong to you, and now somebody calls the police on you, you’ve just set in process a chain of events that, God only knows how will turn out.

“So to see this thing magnified from a racial aspect, I feel like we’re doing an injustice to all the young black men in America who are watching this unfold. We need to reinforce the message that decision-making, the power of choices, is also important. In an instant that officer made a choice, just like Brown made a choice.”

Meanwhile, on another note, a South Texas judge gets probation for dealing with drug thugs:

TEXAS BORDER JUDGE PLEADS GUILTY TO BRIBERY
MCALLEN, Texas -- A corrupt Texas Justice of the Peace has pleaded guilty to taking money from a convicted drug trafficker who worked for a bail bondsman in a bond rigging scheme.
On Monday morning, former Justice of the Peace Ismael “Melo” Ochoa pleaded guilty to two counts of bribery and one count of money laundering. Ochoa took a plea deal which resulted in a 10-year probation sentence, a $10,000 fine and $5,000 in reparations to the county.

'

Monday, December 1, 2014

More on Ferguson MO

I wish the MSM would report more stories like these about blacks who obey the law, have good morals and values and are working hard to support their families:


A group of black Ferguson residents armed with AR-15s and other weapons stood guard around a Conoco station, owned by a white man, and saved it from being burned after looters began wreaking havoc on November 24.

Because of the armed citizens, the Conoco was not only spared, but the owner did not even have to board up the station's windows.
According to Reuters, one of the men guarding the station was 37-year-old "Derrick Jordan--'Stretch,' as his friends call him." He arrived in front of the Conoco, pulled out an AR-15, and stood guard at the store's entrance. He was joined by three other black residents on November 25--all of whom had "pistols tucked into their waistbands" and all of whom took up positions around the Conoco.
Jordan and the others said they did not get paid to stand guard. Rather, they did it because Merello had "employed many of them over the years and treats them with respect."

"I gotta go to Ross right now, homie," Tyree Landrum told ABC 10News San Diego in the video. "If I don't get there, I'm gonna get fired. I got six f***ing kids to feed, I gotta get this car off the... Day goes on homie. M*****f***ers get shot every f***ing day. Deal with it the right f***ing way, not like this."
Landrum can then be seen in the video confronting a protester, yelling, "I'm about to lose my f***ing job, and you guys are f***ing out here protesting?"

Why I am not Episcoplian:

Prince Charles's coronation should include a reading from the Koran, a Church of England Bishop has said. Lord Harries of Pentregarth, a retired Bishop of Oxford, said that such a gesture at the traditionally Anglican service would be "creative" and make Muslims feel "embraced" by the nation.
Speaking in the House of Lords yesterday, the retired bishop, who continues to serve as an assistant in the Anglican diocese of Southwark, said that the Church of England should be "exercising its historic position in a hospitable way."

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Thoughts on Ferguson - Police and Deadly Force

Here are my thoughts on the events in Ferguson, MO. The grand jury got it right in no-billing Officer Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown shooting. I commend them for their courage in not bucking under to the combined pressure of the Obama-Holder regime, mainstream media, and the mob.

Let's set aside the fact that Brown was black and Wilson was white. Brown was 6'6'' and 300 pounds. H and his thug companion had just robbed a liquor store. When the owner, an Asian man who looked about 5' tall, tried to stop them, Brown grabbed and pushed him like a rag doll. Brown obviously thought that he could break the law with impunity. So, when Officer Wilson ordered him and his friend to get out of the street, they probably refused to comply and mouthed off to him. Cops are charged with maintaining peace and order. Apparently Wilson started to drive off, then realized that Brown and his buddy were the two hoodlums who had just robbed the liquor store. Brown didn't believe he had to follow the rules like the rest of us, and assaulted Wilson and tried to take his gun.

 I've mentioned before the book White Girl Bleed a Lot: the Return of Racial Violence to America and How the Media Ignore it, by Colin Flaherty. There is a subclass of blacks who are heavy into thug culture, and assault whites, who are supposed to just take it. If whites defend themselves, they may well end up on trial for murder, like George Zimmerman did. The so called civil rights leaders like the repulsive tax cheat Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Obama, Holder et al. pile on.

Aside from my personal opinions, the grand jury got it right. I'll cite the Texas Penal Code, which  I believe is similar to Missouri's, which are both based on centuries of English common law. PC 9.31 and 9.32 states any person is justified in using deadly force against another when and to the degree he reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary to protect himself against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force. If Brown struck Officer Wilson in the face and tried to take his gun, Wilson had the right to shoot.

Brown's defenders argue that once he left the side of the car that Wilson should have done nothing. This is crap. Under Code of Crim. P. 2.13, a peace officer has the duty to preserve the peace within the officer's jurisdiction. He has the authority to arrest offenders without a warrant in every case where the officer is authorized by law. He may arrest without a warrant when a felony or an offense against the public peace. CCP 14.01.

So it seems that Officer Wilson was doing his job, and Brown charged him like a bull. He had already tried to take his gun, so Wilson had good reason to fear for his life. And the idea that he should have shot him in the leg or something is ludicrous. When someone is trying to kill you, you do what you have to do to stop them. If you want to know what damage a determined man with a bullet or multiple bullets can do, look up the Miami FBI gunfight, say at 5 Gunfights That Changed Law Enforcement .

And the Supreme Court comes down on the police officer's side. See Plumhoff v. Rickard ___ U.S. ____
No. 12–1117. Argued March 4, 2014—Decided May 27, 2014
ALITO, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and SCALIA, KENNEDY, THOMAS, SOTOMAYOR, and KAGAN, JJ., joined, in which GINSBURG, J., joined as to the judgment and Parts I, II, and III– C, and in which BREYER, J., joined except as to Part III–B–2.

Donald Rickard led police officers on a high-speed car chase that came to a temporary halt when Rickard spun out into a parking lot. Rick- ard resumed maneuvering his car, and as he continued to use the ac- celerator even though his bumper was flush against a patrol car, an officer fired three shots into Rickard’s car. Rickard managed to drive away, almost hitting an officer in the process. Officers fired 12 more shots as Rickard sped away, striking him and his passenger, both of whom died from some combination of gunshot wounds and injuries suffered when the car eventually crashed.
Respondent, Rickard’s minor daughter, filed a 42 U. S. C. §1983 action, alleging that the officers used excessive force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.

The officers acted reasonably in using deadly force. A “po- lice officer’s attempt to terminate a dangerous high-speed car chase that threatens the lives of innocent bystanders does not violate the Fourth Amendment, even when it places the fleeing motorist at risk of serious injury or death.” Scott, supra, at 385. Rickard’s outrageously reckless driving—which lasted more than five minutes, ex- ceeded 100 miles per hour, and included the passing of more than two dozen other motorists—posed a grave public safety risk, and the rec- ord conclusively disproves that the chase was over when Rickard’s car came to a temporary standstill and officers began shooting. Un- der the circumstances when the shots were fired, all that a reasona- ble officer could have concluded from Rickard’s conduct was that he was intent on resuming his flight, which would again pose a threat to others on the road.
Petitioners did not fire more shots than necessary to end the public safety risk. It makes sense that, if officers are justified in firing at a suspect in order to end a severe threat to public safety, they need not stop shooting until the threat has ended. Here, during the 10-second span when all the shots were fired, Rickard never abandoned his attempt to flee and eventually managed to drive away.

We now consider respondent’s contention that, even if the use of deadly force was permissible, petitioners acted unreasonably in firing a total of 15 shots. We reject that argument. It stands to reason that, if police officers are justified in firing at a suspect in order to end a severe threat to public safety, the officers need not stop shooting until the threat has ended. As petitioners noted below, “if lethal force is justified, officers are taught to keep shooting until the threat is over.”
Even if the officers’ conduct had violated the Fourth Amend- ment, petitioners would still be entitled to summary judgment based on qualified immunity. An official sued under §1983 is entitled to qualified immunity unless it is shown that the official violated a statutory or constitutional right that was “‘clearly established’” at the time of the challenged conduct. Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 563 U. S. ___, ___. Brosseau v. Haugen, 543 U. S. 194, 201, where an officer shot at a fleeing vehicle to prevent possible harm, makes plain that no clearly established law precluded the officer’s conduct there. Thus, to pre- vail, respondent must meaningfully distinguish Brosseau or point to any “controlling authority” or “robust ‘consensus of cases of persua- sive authority,’” al-Kidd, supra, at ___, that emerged between the events there and those here that would alter the qualified-immunity analysis.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

CIA and Mexican Cartels, Mexican Students Murdered

Unholy Alliance - U.S. Govt., CIA, Mexican Government and Cartels ?
Charles Bowden was on of our greatest contemporary writers and I was proud to be his friend. He died a couple of months ago, and it is a big loss to those who appreciate good writing, and especially of writing the truth about the so-called War on Drugs and who really benefits. Blood on the Corn, his last article is available online he current edition Medium.com, and it's a masterpiece, coauthored by Molly Malloy. It's the true story of how DEA agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camerena was kidnapped in the mid-80's by Mexican federal agents working for the cartel, taken to a house and tortured for information until he died. That's all disturbing enough, but what is really upsetting is that multiple, credible witnesses testified that it was orchestrated by CIA agents involved in the Iran-Contra fiasco.

And the people of Mexico continue to descend into hell:

MEXICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: 43 STUDENTS WERE EXECUTED AND BODIES BURNED
MCALLEN, Texas -- Mexican authorities have announced that the 43 students that had been kidnapped by police were executed, their bodies set on fire and the remains dumped in river.
The revelation was made Friday by Mexico’s Attorney General Jose Murillo Karam when he gave an update on the investigation into missing students from Ayotzinapa in the Mexican State of Guerrero.
The municipal police from the rural towns Iguala and Cocula had kidnapped the students on September 26 as they made their way to Iguala to protest an event held by the mayor’s wife.
Under the orders of Iguala’s Mayor Jose Luis Abarca the cops kidnapped the students and then turned them over to hitmen from the Guerrero’s Unidos drug cartel.

POLICE ID MICHAEL BROWN'S MOTHER AS ALLEGED ROBBERY ATTACKER
The Smoking Gun website posted a police report describing a brawl among members of Michael Brown’s family regarding the sale of commemorative t-shirts.
The report says that Pearlie Gordon, 54, and two men were selling “Justice for Mike Brown” shirts on a Saturday when “a large group of about 20-30 subjects ‘jumped out of vehicles and rushed them.’” Gordon is the mother-in-law of Michael Brown Sr., McSpadden's ex-husband.
Gordon told law enforcement that McSpadden, 34, told her, “You can’t sell this shit.” Gordon then replied, according to the report, that “unless McSpadden could produce documentation saying that she had a patent on her son’s name she (Gordon) was going to continue to sell her merchandise.”
At that point, McSpadden’s mother, Desureia Harris, began tearing down t-shirts that were hanging on a line, Gordon told officers. Then, Gordon explained, other members of the group started “tearing her booth apart.” As the rush ensued, Gordon said she was repeatedly hit in the head and knocked on the ground.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Massey Coal ex prez indicted; Pervert Lawyer Hypnotizes Victims; Demo Gay Rights Leader Busted for Child Molesting

Ex-Massey Coal CEO Indicted in 2010 Mine Blast
from ABC News
Coal boss Don Blankenship pleaded not guilty in court today to a raft of charges stemming from the 2010 coal mine blast that took 29 lives, according to The Associated Press.

Once a larger-than-life figure in Appalachia, whose iron-fisted leadership of a giant coal conglomerate made him both famous and feared, Blankenship now faces up to 31 years in prison on federal charges of conspiracy, fraud and making false statements.

A federal grand jury returned the indictment against Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy, last week alleging that leading up to the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in April 2010, Blankenship took short cuts on safety in order to maximize profits, including failing to properly ventilate the mine. Investigators believe a buildup of methane and coal dust caused the deadly blas

Attorney Probed For Hypnotizing Female Clients
Ohioan, 57, directed woman to perform sex acts
NOVEMBER 19--An Ohio lawyer is under criminal investigation for hypnotizing a female client during meetings and directing her to engage in a series of sexual activities while in a trance and under his control, police report.

Democrat Activist and Donor Indicted for Having Sex with 15-Year-Old Boy
Read more at http://godfatherpolitics.com/18632/democrat-activist-donor-indicted-sex-15-year-old-boy/#7bWXVkI9T7qOMcpo.99
Now we’re learning that a prominent Democrat activist and donor was indicted for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old boy. He is 66-year-old Terrence Patrick Bean, the co-founder of Human Rights Campaign.” Who would suspect someone who is for Human Rights to do such a thing? Matt Barber writes:
“Yet another high profile ‘gay’ activist has been arrested for homosexual assault on a child. This time authorities caught one of the big fish (a rainbow trout?). Terrance Patrick Bean founded the ‘Human Rights Campaign’ (HRC), which is one of the world’s largest, wealthiest and most powerful anti-Christian organizations. To this day he remains on the board of directors. HRC was developed for the sole purpose of pushing the extremist homosexual political agenda. Bean is also a major player for the DNC and a big Obama supporter.”

Kacey Musgraves’ Gay-Affirming Song “Follow Your Arrow” Wins Country Song of the Year
from Slate
I can't stand what is sold these days as country music. Most of it is watered down rock n' roll, and has to have drunk rednecks driving mud covered pickups to the river for a bonfire with their fine assed girls in painted on cut off jeans. Maybe it's schizophrenic, because on the other extreme we have sensitive songs about gay love. Alan Jackson nailed it a few years ago with his song "Gone Country," about Vegas crooners, L.A. pop songsters, and has been divas moving to Nashville. Ray Wylie Hubbard skewered it with "Redneck Mother." So did David Allen Coe with "You Never Even Called Me By My Name."

And BTW, what does "Follow Your Arrow" mean in this context?

Alabama Voters Pass Sharia Law Ban

WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - While Maine voters were asked to weigh in on bear hunting regulations in Tuesday's U.S. elections, voters in Alabama were given the chance to insure that state courts never rule according to sharia law.
Such was the case in Alabama where voters passed Foreign Laws in Court Amendment 1, which was added to the ballot by the state's legislature in an effort to put a controversial bill in the hands of voters.
Unlike codified Western law, sharia is a loosely defined set of moral and legal guidelines based on the Koran, the sayings of Prophet Mohammad and Muslim traditions. Its rules and advice cover everything from prayers to personal hygiene.

Libyan Troops Go Wild in England
They were supposed to be the ‘new’ Libyan army. Instead they allegedly went crazy in the streets of Cambridge, assaulting strangers and brutally raping one young man.
the British Ministry of Defense announced that all 300 trainees would be sent home early after a string of sexual assaults were perpetrated against the residents of Cambridgeshire, culminating in the alleged gang rape of a young man.
Libyan Army cadets stationed at Bassingbourn barracks are alleged to have left the military camp on raids into the nearby university town of Cambridge, where a spate of sexual attacks were reported on the cobbled streets around the ancient college buildings.

Two of the recruits have admitted to two sexual assaults and a bicycle theft in Market Square right at the center of the old town. They also pleaded guilty to threatening a police office. Another cadet, aged 18, has been charged with three sexual assaults.

Growing Number Of Victims In Case Of Oklahoma City Cop Accused Of Sex Crimes
New charges filed Tuesday against an ex-Oklahoma City police officer raise the number of women and girls who accuse him of rape, sodomy and other sex crimes.
Oklahoma County prosecutors filed six new counts against Daniel Holtzclaw after three, new alleged victims, including a 17-year-old girl, joined 10 others who've said they were attacked while the former cop was on duty.

Charges against Holtzclaw, 27, have piled up and up since he first faced accusations in August of assaulting at least six women while he was on duty.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Pervert Roundup - Judges, Preachers

Hey - I think Daily Beast stole my blog title. It has a good article today titled Judges Behaving Badly: A Great American Tradition
From sending pornographic emails to cyber-ogling Charlize Theron to penis pumping, jurists find novel ways to bring dishonor to the bench.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday suspended one of its members over his participation in a state government pornographic email scandal that involved employees of the attorney general's office.


The court justices issued an order saying Justice Seamus McCaffery may not perform any judicial or administrative duties while the matter is reviewed by the Judicial Conduct Board, which investigates allegations of judicial misconduct.

The main order also noted allegations about McCaffery's actions related to a traffic citation received by his wife, who is a lawyer, and referral fees she obtained while working for him as an administrative assistant. It also noted he "may have attempted to exert influence over a judicial assignment" in Philadelphia.

Texas pastor arrested for soliciting prostitute: Christ’s love allowed me to get caught
A pastor at an Amarillo church could face up to six months in prison after getting caught with a prostitute in a Motel 6. Texas Department of Public Safety officers arrested Cameron Tate Reeves, a 34-year-old pastor at Hillside Christian Church's Hillside Canyon campus since 2009, on Thursday at the hotel at 2032 Paramount Blvd. in Amarillo, Myhighplains.com reported. Reeves also admitted to having a pornography addiction for the last 25 years in the letter.

Yes to LGB, No to T: The Pentagon Still Has a Transgender Ban
from Daily Beast
The end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell let gays, lesbians, and bisexuals serve openly in the military. But transgender individuals remain excluded. A conference Monday examined that policy
But any possible doubt about the suitability of transgender individuals for military service wouldn’t survive a meeting with Kristin Beck.

Beck spent 20 years in military special operations, enduring 13 deployments and earning a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, and a SEAL Trident. She worked with SEAL Team Six and retired with the rank of senior chief.

She’s also a transgender veteran who transitioned after she left military service.

“I was in the middle of the toughest of the tough as a Navy SEAL. And I could still do that today, as a female,” she said Monday, speaking deliberately and stirringly. “Females are strong. Females chew tobacco and smoke cigars. They lift weights.”

She let a moment of silence slip by. “I still have the ability to kick ass.”

GRANDFATHER SHOOTS HOME INVADER, STOPS ATTEMPTED GANG RAPE OF GRANDDAUGHTER

On October 19 a Lumberton, North Carolina, grandfather shot three armed home invaders, all of whom were allegedly "well-armed" and trying to rape the man's 19-year-old granddaughter.
The grandfather was also shot during the attack, but he still managed to fatally wound one of the three suspects.


TAR HEELS CHEATED WAY TO 10 BOWL GAMES AND 3 NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS


HOLDER: FAILURE TO PASS GUN CONTROL IS MY BIGGEST FAILURE




Friday, October 17, 2014

Mayor Annus Parker Raises Houston City Attorney's Salary to $350,000; They Subpoena Pastors' Sermons to Crack Down on Anti-Gay Policies

Worm of the Week: David Feldman

Okay, the title is a little misleading as this happened in January. Anise Parker, Houston's loud and proud lesbian mayor, gave the city attorney a 43% raise to $350,000. From Houston Chronicle:

'Houston Mayor Annise Parker gave City Attorney David Feldman a hefty pay raise last week, making him the second highest-paid municipal employee in Texas and the second highest-paid city attorney in the country, according to a memo from the city controller's office.
'In the memo, City Controller Ron Green, Houston's elected financial watchdog, questioned Feldman's 43 percent raise to $350,000.'

These are the same people who sneaked an ordinance through that criminalizes businesses from requiring men to use the mens' room, that is, if the men are wearing dresses or claim to be transsexuals or transgendered or a woman in a man's body. When some of the churches protested and submitted a petition for a referendum, Feldman and Parker rejected it for alleged failure to follow procedure. The preachers filed a lawsuit, then Parker and Feldman subpoenaed their sermons. How they think they can get around the First Amendment is a mystery, unless they are just as arrogant as Obama, who has publicly bemoaned the inconvenience of the Constitution's separation of powers.

On the subject of churches and the gay/lesbian/transsexual/transgender/man-in-a-woman's body movement, the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) this year decided to sanction gay marriage and gay  pastors. The denomination has been losing members for decades and this has accelerated. Grace Presbyterian Church, one of the largest, most affluent Presbyterian churches in the nation, voted in June to leave PCUSA. Grace Presbyterian Church votes to leave PCUSA, join ECO. My wife and I were members there for over 10 years and our daughter was baptized there. I'm proud of the members who voted to leave PCUSA. Highland Park Presbyterian in Dallas did it too.

The whole gay marriage and gay ordination campaign and so called let men in dresses use the girls bathroom campaign is part of the larger movement to undermine the foundations of Western culture and morality. That's not just my opinion. Tammy Bruce, a writer, musician and radio talk show host, lays it out in her book The Death of Right and Wrong: Exposing the Left's Assault on Our Culture and Values. And by the way, she happens to be a lesbian.

Here's a question - what if little Johnny decides he's really a Joan or Jeannie and has his penis and testicles removed and breasts and a vagina installed, but then decides he made a mistake? It's not exactly like getting a tattoo you can remove.

Johns Hopkins Psychiatrist: Transgender is ‘Mental Disorder;' Sex Change ‘Biologically Impossible’
(CNSNews.com) --  Dr. Paul R. McHugh, the former psychiatrist-in-chief for Johns Hopkins Hospital and its current Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry, said that transgenderism is a “mental disorder” that merits treatment, that sex change is “biologically impossible,” and that people who promote sexual reassignment surgery are collaborating with and promoting a mental disorder.
He also reported on a new study showing that the suicide rate among transgendered people who had reassignment surgery is 20 times higher than the suicide rate among non-transgender people. Dr. McHugh further noted studies from Vanderbilt University and London’s Portman Clinic of children who had expressed transgender feelings but for whom, over time, 70%-80% “spontaneously lost those feelings.”


Thursday, October 16, 2014

Worm of the Week - Houston City Attorney David Feldman Tramples First Amendment

Yearlong investigation nets alleged drug ring in Texas including two Austin lawyers
More than 30 people, including two Austin lawyers, were arrested in Central and South Texas this week for their alleged roles in a drug distribution ring, according to federal officials.

Richard Patrick Fagerberg, 45, and David Ramos, 39, both lawyers in Austin, and the 34 other  defendants have allegedly participated in a conspiracy to distribute various amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine since May 2013, according to United States Attorney Robert Pitman and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division.


Worm of the Week
ABBOTT SOLICITS HOUSTON CITY ATTORNEY TO WITHDRAW SUBPOENAS TO PASTORS
The worm I refer to is not Gregg Abbott. It's worm is the Houston City Attorney, one David Feldman, who subpoenaed sermons of pastors in Houston who might have preached against sodomy. It's all part of a lawsuit arising out of the Houston City Council's, led by openly gay Mayor Anise Parker, to make it a crime for businesses to segregate the sexes in bathrooms. This means, that my daughter, who lives in Houston, could be in the ladies room and have a 6'6 transvestite, or a rapist pretending to be a trannie, walk in on her. Or it could be a 12 year old girl. Texas sends people to prison for a minimum of 25 years for sexually molesting young girls, but now we're going to force them to share bathrooms with men. And I suppose school showers.

Where is the ACLU? If the city were trying to subpoena sermons of mullahs preaching bomb attacks on the United States, the ACLU would be crying First Amendment! First Amendment! I guess when the targets are Christians, they have no rights. I watched CBS Nightly News last night, and they had not a word on this outrage. The MSM media is doing its best to avoid telling the truth (what's new?).

Gregg Abbott wrote the  Mayor and City Attorney,  "In good faith, I hope you merely failed to anticipate how inappropriately aggressive your lawyers would be," Abbott said in the letter. "Many, however, believe your actions reflect the city government's hostility to religious beliefs that do not align with city policies."
Maybe a better word for the City Attorney is weasel. The intent of the subpoena, Feldman said, simply was to gather all communications between pastors about the signature-gathering instructions, a potentially key point in the lawsuit opponents have brought against the city.
The use of the word "sermons" was a distraction from that, Feldman said.
"I wouldn't have worded it that way myself," the city attorney said. "It's unfortunate that it has been construed as some effort to infringe upon religious liberty." Hey Worm, did you sign it? Or did some associate working for you sign it? Then you own it. 
More weasel words: On Tuesday, however, Feldman said the sermons were relevant because the pastors were injecting politics into religion.
"If someone is speaking from the pulpit and it's political speech, then it's not going to be protected," Feldman said. Holy shit, where did this fool go to law school? How did he pass the bar exam?
The subpoenas were issued to five local pastors or religious leaders, none of whom is party to the lawsuit: Dave Welch, Hernan Castano, Magda Hermida, Khanh Huynh and Steve Riggle. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal organization known for its role in defending same-sex marriage bans, is representing the pastors in an attempt to quash the request.

Here's more on the ordinance:  Houston Approves Equal Rights Ordinance With LGBT Protections The ordinance will prohibit discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, and public accommodations in the city. he Houston City Council, led by out Mayor Annise Parker, passed an ordinance Wednesday that prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Sec. 17-51. Prohibition against discrimination in public accommodations.permanent link to this piece of content (a) It shall be unlawful for any place of public accommodation or any employee or agent thereof to intentionally discriminate against any person on the basis of any protected characteristic, except as required by federal or state law or court order.
Definitions 17.2 Protected characteristic means an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity or pregnancy.
This is a bizarre, tragic story.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Prosecutor Duties




Rule 3.09. Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor
(c) not initiate or encourage efforts to obtain from an unrepresented accused a waiver of important pre-trial, trial or post-trial rights;

county court practice?

Friday, October 10, 2014

Thomas Sowell - the Monstrous Possibility of a Perfidious Presidency

Perfidious - deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful; traitorous.

Thomas Sowell Compares Obama to Benedict Arnold

I’ve been reading a fascinating book that has some eerie parallels to current events. In A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, Ben Macintyre and John Le Carre tell the true story of how the son of an aristocratic English family was recruited to be a Soviet agent when he was a student at Cambridge University. Philby wasn’t the only one - Cambridge was apparently a hotbed of socialists in the 30’s, and produced a whole ring of young men from wealthy families who betrayed their country to the communists.

Philby was recruited by MI-6, the British equivalent of the CIA, and rose to become the chief of counter-intelligence. The signs that he was a traitor were there for anyone to see, but even after he was accused of being a communist spy his friends in the agency protected him and even sent him to Washington, D.C. as the liason to American intelligence.

The CIA’s top counter-intelligence officer, James Jesus Angleton, was one of Philby’s best friends and staunchest supporters. The old saying that, before they set out to deceive others they went to extraordinary lengths to deceive themselves comes to mind. Philby did incalculable damage and caused the capture and death of hundreds of people helping the West in communist countries. One of his closest friends, who even lived with him and his family for a time, was an alcoholic, flamboyant homosexual who was also a Soviet mole in British intelligence. He was allowed to “escape” to Russia, probably because the British “intelligence” agencies wanted to avoid a public airing of their recklessness.

What is so frightening is the parallel with Barack Obama. All the signs were there when he was elected, but the voters, in their fever to elect the nation’s “first black president,” wantonly disregarded them.

Investors Business Daily this week ran an article by Thomas Sowell titled The Monstrous Possibility of a Perfidious Presidency. Reviewing just some of Obama's actions that are harmful to America (open borders, allowing Ebola infected people in, sending troops to Liberia to do a Red Cross gig, while the Islamofacists rape, torture and behead, etc.). Sowell writes Obama "takes his conception of himself a a citizen of the world more seriously than he takes his role as president of the United States. At worst, he may consider Americans' interest expendable in the grand scheme of things internationally."
"Those critic who have been citing Obama's foreign policy fiascos and disasters as evidence that he is incompeent may be overlooking the possibility that he has different priorities than the protection of the American people and America's interest as a nation. This is a monstrous possibility."




from Daily Beast
What It’s Like to Be Snatched by the Delta Force
Michael Daly
Swarmed, Tasered, and trundled into a vehicle blindfolded—and that was just the beginning for alleged al Qaeda member Abu Anas al-Liby. Now he’s complaining about his treatment.

from Breitbart.com
U.S. GENERAL: AL QAEDA WORKING WITH LATIN AMERICAN DRUG CARTELS
The commander of the U.S. Southern Command said al Qaeda raises “a lot of money” by allowing Latin American drug cartels to traffic cocaine into Europe through West Africa, explicitly associating the two enterprises.
“We know that the cocaine that flows out of Bolivia and Peru, the number one and number two producer, feeds the cocaine habit around the world,” said U.S. Marine Gen. John Kelly, commander of Southcom, during an October 7 speech delivered to an audience at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

More Pervert Preachers

from Daily Beast:
Pastor Has AIDS, Slept With Congregants

Juan Demetrius McFarland, the now-former pastor of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, recently admitted from the pulpit that he has AIDS and has slept with church members. He did not reveal to those women that he was infected. McFarland said he contracted HIV in 2003, and in 2008 discovered it had progressed to AIDS. He had been pastor for 23 years. “He concealed from the church that he had knowingly engaged in adultery in the church building with female members of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church while knowingly having AIDS,” said church deacon Nathan Williams Jr. McFarland has also admitted to drug use and mishandling church funds.

‘7th Heaven’ Dad Stephen Collins and the Christian Right’s Real Morality Tale
by Amanda Marcotte
He's not really a preacher but he played one on t.v.

A man who allegedly touched little girls was the warm, smiling face of an effort to make the rest of us feel guilty about our non-abusive, consensual sex lives.
A mere month after releasing the security video footage showing Ray Rice committing a horrific act of domestic violence, TMZ has outed another celebrity who would rather keep his abusive behavior secret. The tabloid website released the purported audio of Stephen Collins, a long-time actor most famous for his role as the pastor-dad on the WB show 7th Heaven, confessing to his wife during therapy his repeated sexual abuse of underage girls. The NYPD is investigating and at least one woman, the daughter of his first wife, is coming forward with accusations.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Pervert Roundup


Here are a couple of items to illustrate that even Episcopalian Rotary Club presidents can be perverts and murderers.

From Daily Beast
A Murder in Detroit’s Sexual Underworld
Bob Bashara was a married Rotary Club president who lived in a ritzy Detroit suburb. He also had a secret love for BDSM—and prosecutors say he had his wife killed over it.

Bashara led a double life, prosecutors say, filled with sexual trysts with several paramours, a full-time girlfriend, and an online identity as Master Bob, a dominator in the world of BDSM.

“Wow, Mr. Bashara, you’re looking good today,” Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans said to the defendant when he walked into the courtroom Tuesday morning, the first day of jury selection process.

While such a public compliment by a judge of a man accused of murdering his wife is odd, Bashara, 56, is accustomed to such respect.

The son of a state appellate judge, he was living in an upscale Detroit suburb when Jane Bashara was found dead on January 25, 2012.

Bob Bashara was head of the Rotary Club, a deacon at the Episcopal church, and a booster of the local country club, a scion of power in the community of Grosse Pointe Park.

The state contends he hired Joe Gentz, 50, a local roustabout, to kill his wife of 26 years.

Despite the protests of the defense, there’s no doubt the trial will include talk of the Blue Velvet-esque cubbyhole beneath one of Bashara’s commercial rental buildings, a place he called the dungeon, where he brought his extramarital partners.

“It was really nice,” marvels one of those women.

It was a windowless, narrow room with a bed in the far left corner. He kept a series of lamps, some with medieval design, on the floor and axes and swords around the room. Hooks on the ceiling were used for binding. A small wooden cabinet with two butterfly doors held ropes and chains, candles, and sex toys.

From Huffington Post
'7th Heaven' Star Stephen Collins Reportedly Confesses To Child Molestation On Tape
Former "7th Heaven" star Stephen Collins confessing to his estranged wife, actress Faye Grant, that he molested and exposed himself to at least three young girls.
Collins played a father knows best/preacher in the popular show.

He's not a preacher but he plays one on t.v.
From Daily Beast
Ex-Headmaster Charged With Child Porn
Christopher Wheeler, ex-headmaster at Tower Hill School, an elite Delaware prep school, has been charged with 25 counts of dealing in child pornography and faces at least 50 years in prison if convicted on all counts. The 54-year-old is on trial before Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, whom he has elected to decide his fate. The case began after a Pennsylvania man and his younger brother made child sexual-abuse allegations against Wheeler. Prompted by the allegations, Delaware investigators searched Wheeler’s home and office and found some 2,000 images of child pornography, according to police. Wheeler was paid more than $300,000 a year at Tower Hill, where tuition exceeds $25,000 a year, and which was founded by members of the du Pont family. He has remained in custody since his arrest last fall, unable to post $1.5 million cash bail.

From Daily Beast again
Lesbian Couple Pissed Off at Sperm Bank for Giving Them Semen of Black Man
I love this bloviated essay by a black woman at Daily Beast:

America’s sex and race failure: Why Raven-Symone and an Ohio couple are struggling
How a TV star shunning labels, and a lesbian couple with a Black baby illustrate the fight to assert one's humanity
"This kind of rhetorical move is also salient coming on the heels of recent reports of an Ohio lesbian couple opting to sue their sperm bank for erroneously giving them black donor sperm.  I get suing for negligence and shoddy service. But for this queer couple, the presence of their Black daughter disrupts their ability to exist comfortably in the space of whiteness that defines their community, a community that they admit is deeply homophobic. Having chosen to be a queer family in the midst of a heteronormative white universe in Ohio, their Black child has now disrupted their access to white power and privilege. This biracial black girl is growing up with distraught, devastated queer parents who love her despite her blackness. Having internalized antiblackness, they note their discomfort with taking her to a black neighborhood for haircuts and their fear of the racist reprisal of neighbors and family members.

Just a few shades lighter than Raven-Symoné,  their daughter’s connections to blackness and queerness will not so easily be thrown aside. She is a Black girl, and is understood as such by her family and community. Her blackness has been disruptive, inconvenient, and stigmatizing – for her white mothers. But what her queer parents share in common with Raven-Symoné is an internalization of anti-blackness and a tortured attempt to grasp on to some notion of the American dream, that blackness seems to be preventing."




Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Update on the Arcadia Theatre Hagi-Huser Feud


I missed seeing this when it came out. The San Antonio Express ran a good article on Oct. 1 by Zeke MacCormack: 
Here are a few highlights from the article: 
Huser's counterclaim accuses Hagigholam and Thomas Myers, a co-owner of the restaurant chain who once was a partner with Huser and Hagigholam in the theater venture, of breaches of contract, fiduciary duty and implied duty to Huser and his firm.

It also accuses Myers and Hagigholam of receiving payments from a $670,000 loan secured by their partnership, called Mamacitas Holding Co.-Arcadia Theater LLC, as reimbursements for alleged project costs, which Huser says were inflated, and for work that he contends never occurred.

“Discovery is ongoing to determine how much money was wrongfully diverted,” said the counterclaim by Huser, whose firm in 2012 built the new City Hall, among other major public projects.

Alas for the people of Kerrville who wanted to see the old building restored, Hagi has apparently abandoned his dream of developing it into a nightclub with a New York City skyline theme, just what we need in the middle of Texas. 

“We did some work on it, but I decided I didn't want to do it anymore,” Hagigholam said last March. “I cannot take more time out of the restaurants.”

Arcadia Theatre Saga; Texas Judge exposes daughter to ebola; NYT thinks sex offender laws too hard

A few weeks ago the online satirical newspaper The Onion had a story about the citizens of a small town trying to restore an historic old theatre. The accompanying picture looked almost exactly like Kerrville's own Arcadia Theatre:
After a week or two of enthusiasm, the fictional preservationists in the Onion story lost interest. That seems to be what happened with the Arcadia project, judging from a counterclaim filed by Stephen Huser and his company against Hussein 'Hagi' Hagiholam and his partner Tom Myers.

Huser's counterclaim alleges that it was instructed by Myers to stop all work in July 2011. For a time, Stephen Huser was a partner in the Arcadia project, and he alleges Hagi and Myers breached the contract and fiduciary duties owed to Huser as a partner.


BREITBART: CPS COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST TEXAS JUDGE OVER DAUGHTER AND POTENTIAL EBOLA EXPOSURE

From London Daily Mail: The terrible truth about cannabis: Expert's devastating 20-year study finally demolishes claims that smoking pot is harmless
One in six teenagers who regularly smoke the drug become dependent
It doubles risk of developing psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia
Heavy use in adolescence appears to impair intellectual development
Driving after smoking cannabis doubles risk of having a car crash
Study's author said: 'If cannabis is not addictive then neither is heroin'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2782906/The-terrible-truth-cannabis-British-expert-s-devastating-20-year-study-finally-demolishes-claims-smoking-pot-harmless.html#ixzz3FST6Nh3M
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

From World News Daily: PEDOPHILIA DESERVES CIVIL RIGHTS, SAYS NYT'S OP-ED
'Trying to turn the basest of predators into victims ... is repugnant'
The nation’s tough anti-pedophilia laws are unfair to pedophiles, according to an op-ed published by The New York Times’ editors.
“One can live with pedophilia and not act on it,” says Margo Kaplan, an entrepreneurial assistant law professor at Rutgers University, and a former lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union.


Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/10/pedophilia-deserves-civil-rights-says-nyts-op-ed/#6u68zgkH0GP5FBcV.99

From U.S. News: The Orthodox Sex Abuse Crackdown That Wasn’t
Brooklyn DA Kenneth Thompson ran on the promise that he’d clean up the office’s problems with prosecuting ultra-Orthodox sex offenders who preyed on children—but so far he appears just as lax as his predecessor.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Delay Conviction Thrown Out by CCA, Lesbians sue for breach of warranty for giving them sperm from black donor

Here's a story in the Washington Post that could be the basis for an essay exam in an ethics or law class about a couple of lesbians on the warpath because a sperm bank inseminated one of them with sperm from a black donor:
White Ohio woman sues over sperm from black donor

In this undated family photo provided by Jennifer Cramblett shows her daughter, Payton. Cramblett and her partner, Amanda Zinkon, are suing Midwest Sperm Bank after she became pregnant with sperm donated by a black man instead of a white man, as they had intended. Cramblett was pregnant with Payton, now 2-years-old, when the mistake was discovered. (Courtesy of Jennifer Cramblett/Associated Press).
Cramblett said they had chosen sperm from a man known as No. 380, a white donor. The sperm used for insemination came from No. 330, a black donor, she said. “How could they make a mistake that was so personal?” Cramblett said during a telephone interview on Wednesday. According to the lawsuit, her excitement about the pending birth was replaced with “anger, disappointment and fear.”

Here are a few questions I would ask the student to answer: was there an express or implied warranty that the donor would be white? Or a disclaimer of warranty? Was it in bold, prominent print? Is it effective?
Can the lesbian mothers recover mental anguish damages? How about punitive damages? Does the Deceptive Trade Practices Act apply, and if so, can they get treble damages? Is a human being, or sperm a "good" as defined by the DTPA? Can they rescind the contract and return the child as a nonconforming good under the UCC? Can the sperm bank counterclaim for a frivolous lawsuit and get sanctions?
You are a community organizer or lawyer for the ACLU. How do you decide which oppressed group to represent - gays and lesbians who want the right to marry and adopt children, or blacks, who have been discriminated against for centuries?
Seriously, as a father who for years thought he and his wife (female by the way) would never have children, we would have adopted this precious little girl in a heartbeat. If these bitches, and that's what they are, don't want her, there are countless couples who would adopt her and give her a loving home. I can't imagine the emotional damage these two ingrates will inflict on this child with this absurd lawsuit.

Tom Delay's Money Laundering Conviction Thrown Out by CCA
This one proves the old adage that when you get indicted it's front page news but when you're acquitted or the conviction is thrown out it's on page B-6. I didn't know that Tom Delay's conviction was reversed by the CCA this week until I read it at Grits for Breakfast, here.

From Grits for Breakfast: Deputy seeks sex offender dick pics

A Wise County Sheriff’s officer was arrested Friday morning for improper photography related to sex offenders who had been jailed. Sgt. Chad Hightower was charged with improper photography or visual recording. He posted $25,000 bond and was released. The investigation began from a complaint by a man who was registering as a sex offender. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Hightower told the man a new state law required him to take photos of offenders in the nude. The complainant was photographed naked twice, the second time in an office at the county’s impound yard. The investigation revealed nude photos of other men as well, according to the affidavit. Look for a full story in the weekend Wise County Messenger.