truesee's Blog

Video released showing Marion teacher ‘creeping’ though locker room

2:26 p.m. EDT

April 30, 2010

LINK TO VIDEO:

 http://www.orlandosentinel.com/videobeta/93f82e5e-b8aa-4f2a-b3b5-1bfa35467ad9/News/Marion-County-teacher-accused-of-swiping-cash-from-students-lockers

Wendy Button

April 30, 2010 11:05 AM

There is no other time than the night of The White House Correspondents Dinner when Washington is more out of touch with the country it guides and informs.

With the black ties and dresses, shiny hair and sparkling diamonds, bad jokes and back-slapping, it would be hard to tell that more than 37 million Americans live in poverty every day and millions more at the razor's edge or that more than 508,000 Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans have sought care from a Veterans Affairs facility because some of the people at that dinner sent them off to war. That contrast of clashing Americas has always seemed unseemly like the Pope wearing fancy red shoes.

A few years ago, Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro made the documentary, Body of War, about an Iraq War veteran, Tomas Young. Tomas enlisted right after the attacks on September 11th and five days after he arrived in Iraq, he was shot in the chest and paralyzed. Tomas came home to a country completely unprepared to care for its veterans. His frustration led to action and he was one of the first veterans to start speaking truth to power about the lies that led us to war.

During one scene in the movie, Tomas is in his wheel chair watching The White House Correspondents Dinner. In the glow of the television, he sees the sea of tuxedos and dresses, Republicans and Democrats and their laughter and clapter as jokes are made about missing weapons of mass destruction. It is a chilling, heart breaking, moment of disconnect between the decision makers and those who decided to serve.

We forget that we are -- like it or not, for it or not -- a nation at war and we rarely act like it. Most Americans don't serve. Most Americans don't know that 2 million men and women have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan; the suicide rate for active duty soldiers has more than doubled since these wars began; nearly 15 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are unemployed, and their families have to fight to get a wheel chair or surgery or help with a creeping traumatic brain injury.

At tomorrow night's high profile dinner, our national press corps could begin to change all of this for our veterans. 

Since the wars began, the press has used incomplete numbers about the non-fatal casualties from the Iraq and Afghanistan combat zones. Most of the time on the news and in the papers, reporters use one set of numbers issued every week by the Department of Defense which are limited to those killed and wounded in action.  As of April 29, 2010, the report states that in Iraq 31,790 have been wounded and 4,397 have been killed and in Afghanistan, 5,677 have been wounded and 1,043 killed.

What is interesting about that report is that it includes every death, as it should. Every service member killed because of a bullet, shrapnel, or by suicide is counted, honored, in that weekly report. But the wounded in action number is incomplete. It excludes everyone who was medically evacuated because of a serious injury or illness. Those numbers are released in another monthly report, the last one issued April 3, 2010.

For those who don't want to look and add, the total number of non-fatal casualties that includes those wounded in action and those medically evacuated for injuries and illness, that number in Iraq is 70,615 and in Afghanistan, it is 14,936. These complete numbers have been hiding in plain sight. Why won't the press use them? They show why so many of our veterans are struggling and when all are added up, the total number of battlefield casualties is 90,925. That number is arresting in its size and the American people need to know it.

These injuries and illnesses requiring evacuation aren't inconsequential either. The injuries often include lost limbs, serious cases of Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the signature medical conditions from the two wars.

The press has a chance to make these numbers known to the American people tomorrow night. Imagine a room with all that power? Why not put that audience to good use for those who defend our country?

There will be several opportunities for prominent journalists to issue this correction and call on their colleagues to use the complete numbers: when Ed Chen, president of The White House Correspondents' Association greets the guests, and when Ben Feller, Jake Tapper, Mark Knoller, Suzanne Bohan, and Sandy Kleffman receive their awards. Why not build on that journalistic spirit and fix a fact? Why not use that room and all the power in it to issue an important correction not on the back pages or during the credits, but right there in front of the president, vice president, cabinet members, leaders in Congress, editors, network anchors, leading artists, and the world. This could be a chance for the press to restore some of its good will with the American people by speaking truth to power and at the dinners to follow.

There are more than 1 million veterans from these wars and that means there is a great chance that another veteran like Tomas Young will be watching the dinner in a daze of disbelief from their home. Will our veterans see another night of disconnect and jokes or will they hear something different? Will the truth -- 90,925 battlefield casualties -- pierce through the bubble and let everyone know in the words of the mighty Marvin Gaye, "What's Going On" with our Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans.

Teen Charged with Theft of Foot from Corpse

Man said he wanted "Jew girl's" foot

FRANK HEINZ

Updated 2:10 PM CDT, Fri, Apr 30, 2010

An 18-year-old Dallas man was arrested early Friday morning with a detached human foot.

The man, later identified as Daniel Wayne Stanley, approached officers at about 3:30 a.m. along the 2100 block of South Buckner Boulevard and told them that he had some skin and a human foot in his bag.  He then showed the officers the foot and took them to the grave where he had dug up and removed the body part.

The man told officers that the foot belonged to a "Jew girl" and that he had dug it up because he wanted the foot. 

Officers also found a small hatchet and some fragments from the foot in his bag.

The man was arrested and charged with theft from a human corpse/grave. The foot was turned over to the Dallas County medical examiner's office.

First Published: Apr 30, 2010 12:33 PM CDT

Daniel Stanley

Facebook Group 'Praying' For President Obama's Death Passes One Million Members

Huffington Post   

Bianca Bosker

First Posted: 04-28-10 11:39 AM   

Updated: 04-30-10 01:00 AM

A Facebook group accused of "praying" for the death of President Barack Obama has raised controversy online, with many calling for Facebook to remove the group as "offensive speech."

The group, which lists its location as "Marysville, OH, 43040," currently has over 1 million members--Facebook users who say they "like" the group. It includes an album of anti-Obama imagery uploaded by the group's members--what Facebook labels "fan photos--that show the president against a communist flag, juxtaposed with insulting and derisive captions, or even a cartoon "associating Obama to Hitler."

The group is called, "DEAR LORD, THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR, PATRICK SWAYZIE. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS, FARAH FAWCETT. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER, MICHAEL JACKSON. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA. AMEN."

Geekosystem notes that the title is "likely a riff on a letter circulating New Jersey teachers' unions earlier this month that employed similar language with respect to (Republican) governor Chris Christie. The president of the New Jersey Education Association went on to issue a formal apology for the email."

Another group, "Petition to remove Facebook group praying for President Obama's death," has been created to denounce the anti-Obama group and advocate for its removal. The group, which has just over 650,000 members, is asking users to "Please act to encourage facebook to remove the page praying for the death of President Obama," and lists three steps Facebook users can take.

Facebook has repeatedly come under fire for hosting Facebook pages many find inappropriate and offensive.

Geekosystem observes,

Facebook's procedure for dealing with potentially offensive groups is pretty murky. Facebook has stated in the past that it takes seriously the free speech of its groups, even potentially offensive ones: A number of Facebook groups praising Joe Stack, the man who crashed a small plane into a government building in February, are still alive and well.

Facebook's terms of use ban members from posting "content that is hateful, threatening, pornographic, or that contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence." To many, such as the blog AllFacebook.com, the anti-Obama group is in clear violations of Facebook's rules, and should be removed.

Controversy erupted in September 2009 after users discovered a Facebook poll that asked whether President Obama should be killed.

Arizona Ethnic Studies Classes Banned, Teachers With Accents Can No Longer Teach English

First Posted: 04-30-10 12:38 PM   |   Updated: 04-30-10 01:45 PM

Arizona's new immigration law is just about crime, its supporters say, but given that the state's new education policy equates ethnic studies programs with high treason, they may not be using the commonly accepted definition of "crime."

Under the ban, sent to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer by the state legislature Thursday, schools will lose state funding if they offer any courses that "promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment of a particular race or class of people, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

As ThinkProgress notes, the Tucson Unified School District's popular Mexican-American studies department is the target here. The state superintendent charges that the program exhibits "ethnic chauvinism."

Meanwhile, in a move that was more covert until the Wall Street Journal uncovered it, the Arizona Department of Education has told schools that teachers with "heavy" or "ungrammatical" accents are no longer allowed to teach English classes.

As outlined by the Journal, Arizona's recent pattern of discriminatory education policies is ironic -- and is likely a function of No Child Left Behind funding requirements -- given that the state spent a decade recruiting teachers for whom English was a second language.

In the 1990s, Arizona hired hundreds of teachers whose first language was Spanish as part of a broad bilingual-education program. Many were recruited from Latin America.

Then in 2000, voters passed a ballot measure stipulating that instruction be offered only in English. Bilingual teachers who had been instructing in Spanish switched to English.

Teachers who don't meet the new fluency standards have the option of taking classes to improve their English, the Journal reports, but if they fail to reach the state's targets would be fired or reassigned.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Incestuous-Grandmother-Pearl-Carter-Having-Baby-With-Grandson-Phil-Bailey-In-Indiana-USA/Article/201004415623115?f=rss

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/30/duncan-hunter-deport-ille_n_558137.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/29/louisiana-oil-spill-gets_n_556444.html

HermèsKnown for the classic Birkin bag, Hermès took second place on the list.

Gucci/handoutGucci rounds out the top three of most powerful luxury brands.

We’ve heard it all about the recession. Consumers are employing new tactics for saving money in tough economic times. They’re also cutting back on excessive spending and looking for more deals when making purchases.

But where does that leave the luxury brands – Prada, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, to name a few? Can people still justify those expensive purses and designer footwear when the economy is in a state of turmoil?

In short, yes. Though the luxury industry has fallen by 3% as a whole, some brands have rallied by adopting unique strategies to make sure they stay on top.  Some turned to online advertising, others chose to concentrate on investment pieces that people could use to supplement their wardrobe, and still others tried more innovative approaches for their brands.

Global brand strategy and financial consultancy firm Millward Brown Optimor ranked the world’s most powerful luxury brands from an economic angle, taking into consideration both their current value and demand which will lead to future profit.
1. Louis Vuitton – Taking the No. 1 spot again, Vuitton’s value rose 2% to $19.78 billion. The company focused on heritage travel pieces last year, appealing to those already committed to the brand.

2. Hermès – Hermès stayed at No. 2 from last year and rose 8% in 2009 to $8.46 billion. It's 71% family-owned, which means there is strong control over the brand and it’s only sold in the company’s own stores.

3. Gucci – Rounding out the top three and keeping its spot from last year, Gucci’s value rose to $7.59 billion, a gain of 2%. In a bid to get a hold of the secondhand market, it entered a partnership with Christie’s to have the auction house appraise vintage products.

4. Chanel – Chanel also kept its spot from last year, despite an 11% drop in value to $5.55 billion. Though people still bought bags and fragrances, the loss could be attributed to a drop in sales of ready-to-wear items.

5. Hennessy – Hennessy rose one spot on the list, losing only 1% of value and coming in at $5.37 billion. The cognac company is popular in countries such as China.

6. Rolex – As people bought less expensive jewelry, the luxury watch company suffered last year. It only dropped one spot on the list, but is now valued at $4.74 billion, a 14% loss.

7. Moët & Chandon – Moët & Chandon went down 12% in value to $4.28 billion, but rose a spot on the list and is still the best-selling champagne brand.

8. Cartier – Another jewelry retailer to suffer, Cartier dropped a list spot and 19% of its value. Now estimated at $3.96 billion, the company lost money both in its own stores and at third-party shops.

9. Fendi – Fendi lost 8% of value to $3.20 billion, but kept its ninth-ranked position. The company looked to the worldwide market to increase sales. In the U.S., Fendi is known for its purses, but the ready-to-wear line is superpopular in Asia.

10. Tiffany and Co. – The only new entry on the list, Tiffany and Co. managed to rise to $2.38 billion, a 6% gain. It looked more toward the world market, but the company’s success is also down to not offering discount prices. 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/04/29/2010-04-29_vuitton_herms_gucci_the_top_ten_luxury_brands.html#ixzz0mXloy7qp

National ID Card Included In Democratic Immigration Bill

First Posted: 04-29-10 06:12 PM   

Updated: 04-29-10 07:05 PM

Democrats pushed forward on an immigration overhaul on Thursday evening with no Republican support, as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) continues to hold out, arguing that the divisive issue will make progress on climate change legislation impossible.

The Senate is also in the middle of debating Wall Street reform, which is expected to take up the next few weeks of floor time. Reid, however, said that the chamber would be able to handle the task. "We can do more than one thing at once," he said.

The Democratic proposal includes increased money for border patrol and drug war agents, equipment, helicopters and unmanned drones. It would create a national ID -- which is dubbed a "biometric social security card." Though Democrats insist that it is not an ID card and can only be used for employment purposes.

The proposal would also include a crackdown on employers who hire undocumented workers. It works to deport some immigrants who are not in the country legally and creates a limited pathway to citizenship for others.

Democrats brought out their heavy hitters for the announcement: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.); Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.); Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who's been leading the push for immigration reform; Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.); Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) and Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

The crackdown on employers relies on the creation of national identity cards. "These cards will be fraud-resistant, tamper-resistant, wear resistant, and machine-readable social security cards containing a photograph and an electronically coded micro-processing chip which possesses a unique biometric identifier for the authorized card-bearer," reads the bill summary.

Broadly, the proposal includes:

1. More Border Patrol officers
2. More Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, worksite inspectors, document fraud investigators and drug-war agents
3. The "installation of high-tech ground sensors throughout the southern border and for equipping all border patrol officers with the technological capability to respond to activation of the ground sensors in the area they are patrolling."
4. More prosecution of drug smuggling, human trafficking and unauthorized border crossing
5. "[I]ncreases in the number of sport utility vehicles, helicopters, power boats, river boats, portable computers to track illegal immigrants and drug smugglers while inside of a border patrol vehicle, night vision equipment, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), Remote Video Surveillance Systems (RVSS), scope trucks, and Mobile Surveillance Systems (MSS)."
6. All prisoners will be checked for immigration status and deported if found to lack documentation.
7. DHS will "identify, investigate, and initiate removal proceedings" against folks who came here legally but didn't leave.
8. The bill would create "a broad-based registration program that requires all illegal immigrants living in the U.S. to come forward to register, be screened, and, if eligible, complete other requirements to earn legal status, including paying taxes."

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/29/1603473/why-dont-they-come-legally-they.html

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/alabama-gubernatorial-candidate-tim-james-this-is-alabama-we-speak-english/19456080

Smith for News

Mayor Bloomberg calls on President Obama to fight against the nation's immigration rules.

A fired-up Mayor Bloomberg warned the U.S. "is committing national suicide" by passing the buck on implementing comprehensive immigration reform.

Hizzoner delivered the blunt message Wednesday as he criticized Arizona's harsh new anti-immigrant law.

"This is not good for the country. I don't agree with it," he said. "We love immigrants here."

Bloomberg said that because federal lawmakers have failed to tackle the thorny issue, lawmakers in states like Arizona have taken matters into their own hands.

"This country is committing national suicide," Bloomberg said.

The Arizona law allows cops to stop anyone they think is in the country illegally and arrest folks who can't prove their immigration status or citizenship.

Bloomberg deemed it an invitation to harassment.

"We have to get real about the 12 million undocumented here," the mayor said. "We're not going to deport them. Give them permanent status. Don't make them citizens unless they can qualify, but give them permanent status and let's get on with this."

Bloomberg spoke as he thanked volunteers at the "Citizenship Now!" hotline sponsored by the Daily News and City University of New York, which helps callers who want to know how to become citizens.

He called on President Obama to lead the fight to overhaul the nation's immigration rules. "I will be there behind him supporting him 100%," he said.

Bloomberg long has been a supporter of immigration reform, saying current law deters international companies from sending employees through border hassles to work in the U.S. - and freezes out the highly skilled immigrants America needs. 

"We don't have doctors, and we're not allowing people who want to come here and be doctors to come here," the mayor said. "This is just craziness."

"People are developing new drugs in India, rather than here. They're going to win the next Nobel Prize in China or in Europe, not here. If we want to have a future, we need to have more immigrants here."

Dems raffle dinner with Obama, Pelosi

Eric Zimmermann

The Hill

04/28/10 12:33 PM ET

Democrats are raffling off the opportunity to dinner privately with President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Pelosi announced the opportunity in a fundraising letter for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

"Since America's progress would not be possible without grassroots Democrats like you, I wanted to give you and a guest the opportunity to have dinner with myself and President Obama the evening of May 13th in New York City," Pelosi wrote.

Supporters are asked to donate to the DCCC to automatically qualify for the drawing, but the fine print makes clear that no donation is required.

The winner will be allowed to bring one guest. No word on where the dinner will take place.