BERLIN - Members of a far-right German party boycotted a moment of silence at a state parliament held in honor of Nazi victims Wednesday, the 75th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's elevation to German chancellor.
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The six lawmakers of the far-right National Democratic Party from the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania refused to rise from their seats during a moment of silence.
Lawmakers from other parties said they were disgusted with the boycott, causing the parliamentary session to be temporarily interrupted.
The NPD leader for the state said his party was not willing to participate in a memorial that only honored victims of the Nazis and not Germans who died as well.
Hitler's accession to chancellor on Jan. 30, 1933, gave the Nazi party its "in" to eventually consolidate absolute control over the country in the months soon after, setting it on the path to World War II and the Holocaust that left millions of people dead.
The day is not largely marked in Germany, although schools planned extra lessons on the event nationwide.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
San Diego Gang-Rape Case Coverage Colorless–Except When “Racism” Is In Question.
This story, which is about the forcible rape of white female college students by black criminals, does not contain the words black or white. I guess they just don’t think anyone would be interested in facts like that.
A group of college students was hanging out at a Mission Beach condominium in 2006 when they were attacked by several men who entered through an unlocked door, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
The University of San Diego students – two women and two men – were terrified by the intruders, who forced them to participate in sexual acts and stole items from the two-story condo.
Given the names of the alleged rapists, (Willie Louis Watkins, 32, Donald Duante Smith, 20, and Antonio Washington, 19) we might make a shrewd guess, based on our knowledge of differential naming conventions, at the race of the suspects, but reporter Dana Littlefield [Email him] and the Editors of the San Diego Union-Tribune [Email their readers representive] don’t want us to know.
But here’s a story that does contain this information, (and a photograph of the alleged rapists) because the judge is asking jurors if they’re able to be impartial in a case like this:
Fifty [prospective] jurors were being questioned at the San Diego County Courthouse on Thursday. Judge John Einhorn addressed the juror pool, saying that race is an issue because the defendants are black and the victims are white. The judge has been asking jurors if that would affect their ability to be fair and impartial in the case — can they concentrate on the evidence, not skin color. [Judge: Race An Issue In Mission Beach Rape Case, NBCSanDiego.com, January 24, 2008]
By the way, even when the Judge isn’t channeling To Kill A Mockingbird, it frequently happens that local TV stations are the place to go for the information that the AP Stylebook says isn’t pertinent. Even if they wanted to ignore the issue, they can’t–they always have photographs of the suspects.
A group of college students was hanging out at a Mission Beach condominium in 2006 when they were attacked by several men who entered through an unlocked door, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
The University of San Diego students – two women and two men – were terrified by the intruders, who forced them to participate in sexual acts and stole items from the two-story condo.
Given the names of the alleged rapists, (Willie Louis Watkins, 32, Donald Duante Smith, 20, and Antonio Washington, 19) we might make a shrewd guess, based on our knowledge of differential naming conventions, at the race of the suspects, but reporter Dana Littlefield [Email him] and the Editors of the San Diego Union-Tribune [Email their readers representive] don’t want us to know.
But here’s a story that does contain this information, (and a photograph of the alleged rapists) because the judge is asking jurors if they’re able to be impartial in a case like this:
Fifty [prospective] jurors were being questioned at the San Diego County Courthouse on Thursday. Judge John Einhorn addressed the juror pool, saying that race is an issue because the defendants are black and the victims are white. The judge has been asking jurors if that would affect their ability to be fair and impartial in the case — can they concentrate on the evidence, not skin color. [Judge: Race An Issue In Mission Beach Rape Case, NBCSanDiego.com, January 24, 2008]
By the way, even when the Judge isn’t channeling To Kill A Mockingbird, it frequently happens that local TV stations are the place to go for the information that the AP Stylebook says isn’t pertinent. Even if they wanted to ignore the issue, they can’t–they always have photographs of the suspects.
How Teenage Rebellion Has Become a Mental Illness
For a generation now, disruptive young Americans who rebel against authority figures have been increasingly diagnosed with mental illnesses and medicated with psychiatric (psychotropic) drugs.
Disruptive young people who are medicated with Ritalin, Adderall and other amphetamines routinely report that these drugs make them "care less" about their boredom, resentments and other negative emotions, thus making them more compliant and manageable. And so-called atypical antipsychotics such as Risperdal and Zyprexa -- powerful tranquilizing drugs -- are increasingly prescribed to disruptive young Americans, even though in most cases they are not displaying any psychotic symptoms.
Many talk show hosts think I'm kidding when I mention oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). After I assure them that ODD is in fact an official mental illness -- an increasingly popular diagnosis for children and teenagers -- they often guess that ODD is simply a new term for juvenile delinquency. But that is not the case.
Young people diagnosed with ODD, by definition, are doing nothing illegal (illegal behaviors are a symptom of another mental illness called conduct disorder). In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) created oppositional defiant disorder, defining it as "a pattern of negativistic, hostile and defiant behavior." The official symptoms of ODD include "often actively defies or refuses to comply with adult requests or rules" and "often argues with adults." While ODD-diagnosed young people are obnoxious with adults they don't respect, these kids can be a delight with adults they do respect; yet many of them are medicated with psychotropic drugs.
An even more common reaction to oppressive authorities than overt defiance is some type of passive defiance.
John Holt, the late school critic, described passive-aggressive strategies employed by prisoners in concentration camps and slaves on plantations, as well as some children in classrooms. Holt pointed out that subjects may attempt to appease their rulers while still satisfying some part of their own desire for dignity "by putting on a mask, by acting much more stupid and incompetent than they really are, by denying their rulers the full use of their intelligence and ability, by declaring their minds and spirits free of their enslaved bodies."
Holt observed that by "going stupid" in a classroom, children frustrate authorities through withdrawing the most intelligent and creative parts of their minds from the scene, thus achieving some sense of potency.
Going stupid -- or passive aggression -- is one of many nondisease explanations for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Studies show that virtually all ADHD-diagnosed children will pay attention to activities that they enjoy or that they have chosen. In other words, when ADHD-labeled kids are having a good time and in control, the "disease" goes away.
There are other passive rebellions against authority that have been medicalized by mental health authorities. I have talked to many people who earlier in their lives had been diagnosed with substance abuse, depression and even schizophrenia but believe that their "symptoms" had in fact been a kind of resistance to the demands of an oppressive environment. Some of these people now call themselves psychiatric survivors.
While there are several reasons for behavioral disruptiveness and emotional difficulties, rebellion against an oppressive environment is one common reason that is routinely not even considered by many mental health professionals. Why? It is my experience that many mental health professionals are unaware of how extremely obedient they are to authorities. Acceptance into medical school and graduate school and achieving a Ph.D. or M.D. means jumping through many meaningless hoops, all of which require much behavioral, attentional and emotional compliance to authorities -- even disrespected ones. When compliant M.D.s and Ph.D.s begin seeing noncompliant patients, many of these doctors become anxious, sometimes even ashamed of their own excessive compliance, and this anxiety and shame can be fuel for diseasing normal human reactions.
Two ways of subduing defiance are to criminalize it and to pathologize it, and U.S. history is replete with examples of both. In the same era that John Adams' Sedition Act criminalized criticism of U.S. governmental policy, Dr. Benjamin Rush, the father of American psychiatry (his image adorns the APA seal), pathologized anti-authoritarianism. Rush diagnosed those rebelling against a centralized federal authority as having an "excess of the passion for liberty" that "constituted a form of insanity." He labeled this illness "anarchia."
Throughout American history, both direct and indirect resistance to authority has been diseased. In an 1851 article in the New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal, Louisiana physician Samuel Cartwright reported his discovery of "drapetomania," the disease that caused slaves to flee captivity. Cartwright also reported his discovery of "dysaesthesia aethiopis," the disease that caused slaves to pay insufficient attention to the master's needs. Early versions of ODD and ADHD?
In Rush's lifetime, few Americans took anarchia seriously, nor was drapetomania or dysaesthesia aethiopis taken seriously in Cartwright's lifetime. But these were eras before the diseasing of defiance had a powerful financial ally in Big Pharma.
In every generation there will be authoritarians. There will also be the "bohemian bourgeois" who may enjoy anti-authoritarian books, music, and movies but don't act on them. And there will be genuine anti-authoritarians, who are so pained by exploitive hierarchies that they take action. Only occasionally in American history do these genuine anti-authoritarians actually take effective direct action that inspires others to successfully revolt, but every once in a while a Tom Paine comes along. So authoritarians take no chances, and the state-corporate partnership criminalizes anti-authoritarianism, pathologizes it, markets drugs to "cure" it and financially intimidates those who might buck the system.
It would certainly be a dream of Big Pharma and those who favor an authoritarian society if every would-be Tom Paine -- or Crazy Horse, Tecumseh, Emma Goldman or Malcolm X -- were diagnosed as a youngster with mental illness and quieted with a lifelong regimen of chill pills. The question is: Has this dream become reality?
Disruptive young people who are medicated with Ritalin, Adderall and other amphetamines routinely report that these drugs make them "care less" about their boredom, resentments and other negative emotions, thus making them more compliant and manageable. And so-called atypical antipsychotics such as Risperdal and Zyprexa -- powerful tranquilizing drugs -- are increasingly prescribed to disruptive young Americans, even though in most cases they are not displaying any psychotic symptoms.
Many talk show hosts think I'm kidding when I mention oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). After I assure them that ODD is in fact an official mental illness -- an increasingly popular diagnosis for children and teenagers -- they often guess that ODD is simply a new term for juvenile delinquency. But that is not the case.
Young people diagnosed with ODD, by definition, are doing nothing illegal (illegal behaviors are a symptom of another mental illness called conduct disorder). In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) created oppositional defiant disorder, defining it as "a pattern of negativistic, hostile and defiant behavior." The official symptoms of ODD include "often actively defies or refuses to comply with adult requests or rules" and "often argues with adults." While ODD-diagnosed young people are obnoxious with adults they don't respect, these kids can be a delight with adults they do respect; yet many of them are medicated with psychotropic drugs.
An even more common reaction to oppressive authorities than overt defiance is some type of passive defiance.
John Holt, the late school critic, described passive-aggressive strategies employed by prisoners in concentration camps and slaves on plantations, as well as some children in classrooms. Holt pointed out that subjects may attempt to appease their rulers while still satisfying some part of their own desire for dignity "by putting on a mask, by acting much more stupid and incompetent than they really are, by denying their rulers the full use of their intelligence and ability, by declaring their minds and spirits free of their enslaved bodies."
Holt observed that by "going stupid" in a classroom, children frustrate authorities through withdrawing the most intelligent and creative parts of their minds from the scene, thus achieving some sense of potency.
Going stupid -- or passive aggression -- is one of many nondisease explanations for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Studies show that virtually all ADHD-diagnosed children will pay attention to activities that they enjoy or that they have chosen. In other words, when ADHD-labeled kids are having a good time and in control, the "disease" goes away.
There are other passive rebellions against authority that have been medicalized by mental health authorities. I have talked to many people who earlier in their lives had been diagnosed with substance abuse, depression and even schizophrenia but believe that their "symptoms" had in fact been a kind of resistance to the demands of an oppressive environment. Some of these people now call themselves psychiatric survivors.
While there are several reasons for behavioral disruptiveness and emotional difficulties, rebellion against an oppressive environment is one common reason that is routinely not even considered by many mental health professionals. Why? It is my experience that many mental health professionals are unaware of how extremely obedient they are to authorities. Acceptance into medical school and graduate school and achieving a Ph.D. or M.D. means jumping through many meaningless hoops, all of which require much behavioral, attentional and emotional compliance to authorities -- even disrespected ones. When compliant M.D.s and Ph.D.s begin seeing noncompliant patients, many of these doctors become anxious, sometimes even ashamed of their own excessive compliance, and this anxiety and shame can be fuel for diseasing normal human reactions.
Two ways of subduing defiance are to criminalize it and to pathologize it, and U.S. history is replete with examples of both. In the same era that John Adams' Sedition Act criminalized criticism of U.S. governmental policy, Dr. Benjamin Rush, the father of American psychiatry (his image adorns the APA seal), pathologized anti-authoritarianism. Rush diagnosed those rebelling against a centralized federal authority as having an "excess of the passion for liberty" that "constituted a form of insanity." He labeled this illness "anarchia."
Throughout American history, both direct and indirect resistance to authority has been diseased. In an 1851 article in the New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal, Louisiana physician Samuel Cartwright reported his discovery of "drapetomania," the disease that caused slaves to flee captivity. Cartwright also reported his discovery of "dysaesthesia aethiopis," the disease that caused slaves to pay insufficient attention to the master's needs. Early versions of ODD and ADHD?
In Rush's lifetime, few Americans took anarchia seriously, nor was drapetomania or dysaesthesia aethiopis taken seriously in Cartwright's lifetime. But these were eras before the diseasing of defiance had a powerful financial ally in Big Pharma.
In every generation there will be authoritarians. There will also be the "bohemian bourgeois" who may enjoy anti-authoritarian books, music, and movies but don't act on them. And there will be genuine anti-authoritarians, who are so pained by exploitive hierarchies that they take action. Only occasionally in American history do these genuine anti-authoritarians actually take effective direct action that inspires others to successfully revolt, but every once in a while a Tom Paine comes along. So authoritarians take no chances, and the state-corporate partnership criminalizes anti-authoritarianism, pathologizes it, markets drugs to "cure" it and financially intimidates those who might buck the system.
It would certainly be a dream of Big Pharma and those who favor an authoritarian society if every would-be Tom Paine -- or Crazy Horse, Tecumseh, Emma Goldman or Malcolm X -- were diagnosed as a youngster with mental illness and quieted with a lifelong regimen of chill pills. The question is: Has this dream become reality?
Black Men Have Highest Rate Of HIV Infection
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About one-half of one percent of young adults living in homes in the United States are infected with the AIDS virus, around 600,000 people, the National Center for Health Statistics reported on Tuesday.
The agency's snapshot of HIV infection in the United States shows the rate continues to be stable and confirms other surveys that show black men are far more likely than other Americans to be infected.
The report covers adults aged 18 to 49 and only people living in households -- not prisoners, the homeless or patients in institutions, said Gerry McQuillan, who led the study.
The data comes from people taking part in the federal government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, who volunteer to have their blood tested for everything from cholesterol to AIDS and herpes, as well as undergo full physical exams.
"What we have done is taken data from our surveys in 1999 to 2006 because HIV has a very low prevalence. You have to combine all the years," Gerry McQuillan, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.
"In 1999 to 2006, the prevalence of HIV infection among adults aged 18-49 years in the civilian noninstitutionalized household population of the United States was 0.47 percent," the report reads.
That works out to anywhere between 447,000 people and 841,000 people, with 618,000 the middle number, McQuillan said.
Men were more likely to be infected (0.7 percent) than women (0.2 percent). People infected with the herpes simplex type 2 virus, known as genital herpes, were 15 times more likely to also be infected with HIV, according to the report, available at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db04.pdf.
Black men aged 40 to 49 had the highest rate of infection, at close to 4 percent, the survey found.
The National Center for Health Statistics, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, included 11,928 adults in the survey. These numbers can be extrapolated to the full population.
"We do see the disparities by race/ethnicity," McQuillan said. "We can say the prevalence is basically stable in this U.S., household-based population."
The report does not include data on how many people are newly infected with HIV.
These numbers have not been released but AIDS advocacy groups say the new figures will put the number of Americans infected with the AIDS virus each year close to 50 percent higher than previous estimates, at 55,000 instead of 40,000.
The CDC has estimated in the past that more than 1 million Americans in total are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.
Globally, 33 million people are infected and 25 million have died from the fatal and incurable virus.
The agency's snapshot of HIV infection in the United States shows the rate continues to be stable and confirms other surveys that show black men are far more likely than other Americans to be infected.
The report covers adults aged 18 to 49 and only people living in households -- not prisoners, the homeless or patients in institutions, said Gerry McQuillan, who led the study.
The data comes from people taking part in the federal government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, who volunteer to have their blood tested for everything from cholesterol to AIDS and herpes, as well as undergo full physical exams.
"What we have done is taken data from our surveys in 1999 to 2006 because HIV has a very low prevalence. You have to combine all the years," Gerry McQuillan, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.
"In 1999 to 2006, the prevalence of HIV infection among adults aged 18-49 years in the civilian noninstitutionalized household population of the United States was 0.47 percent," the report reads.
That works out to anywhere between 447,000 people and 841,000 people, with 618,000 the middle number, McQuillan said.
Men were more likely to be infected (0.7 percent) than women (0.2 percent). People infected with the herpes simplex type 2 virus, known as genital herpes, were 15 times more likely to also be infected with HIV, according to the report, available at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db04.pdf.
Black men aged 40 to 49 had the highest rate of infection, at close to 4 percent, the survey found.
The National Center for Health Statistics, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, included 11,928 adults in the survey. These numbers can be extrapolated to the full population.
"We do see the disparities by race/ethnicity," McQuillan said. "We can say the prevalence is basically stable in this U.S., household-based population."
The report does not include data on how many people are newly infected with HIV.
These numbers have not been released but AIDS advocacy groups say the new figures will put the number of Americans infected with the AIDS virus each year close to 50 percent higher than previous estimates, at 55,000 instead of 40,000.
The CDC has estimated in the past that more than 1 million Americans in total are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.
Globally, 33 million people are infected and 25 million have died from the fatal and incurable virus.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Another Hate-Crime Hoax. Jew Behind Anti-Jewish Vandalism
Weapons Trove Suspect Is Linked to Hate Crimes
By FERNANDA SANTOS & KAREEM FAHIM
The New York Times Tuesday, 22 January 2008
NEW YORK — It all happened in less than three hours on a cool
September night — a prolific spurt of anti-Jewish vandalism at
more than a dozen locations in the heart of Brooklyn Heights.
On Monday, the police caught a break, arresting a man who they
said had a trove of weapons inside a stately apartment building
in the neighborhood. The man, Ivaylo Ivanov, admitted under
videotaped questioning that he was behind the spree, which had
mystified investigators for months, the police said.
And later Monday evening, after Mr. Ivanov’s arraignment in
Brooklyn Criminal Court, his lawyer surprised reporters with his
own announcement: Mr. Ivanov is himself Jewish.
The revelation was the latest twist in a bizarre story that features
a man who, police said, shot his own finger; a sizable weapons
collection, including pipe bombs and a sawed-off shotgun, found
in an apartment in one of Brooklyn’s most exclusive neighborhoods;
and a prominent HIV/AIDS researcher and medical anthropologist,
who owns the apartment.
The hate crimes had unsettled local residents, many of whom awoke
on the morning of Sept. 25 to find Swastikas and other slurs scratched,
scrawled and spray-painted on cars, playgrounds, synagogues and
building facades. Crude fliers reading “Kill All Jews” were strewn about.
By FERNANDA SANTOS & KAREEM FAHIM
The New York Times Tuesday, 22 January 2008
NEW YORK — It all happened in less than three hours on a cool
September night — a prolific spurt of anti-Jewish vandalism at
more than a dozen locations in the heart of Brooklyn Heights.
On Monday, the police caught a break, arresting a man who they
said had a trove of weapons inside a stately apartment building
in the neighborhood. The man, Ivaylo Ivanov, admitted under
videotaped questioning that he was behind the spree, which had
mystified investigators for months, the police said.
And later Monday evening, after Mr. Ivanov’s arraignment in
Brooklyn Criminal Court, his lawyer surprised reporters with his
own announcement: Mr. Ivanov is himself Jewish.
The revelation was the latest twist in a bizarre story that features
a man who, police said, shot his own finger; a sizable weapons
collection, including pipe bombs and a sawed-off shotgun, found
in an apartment in one of Brooklyn’s most exclusive neighborhoods;
and a prominent HIV/AIDS researcher and medical anthropologist,
who owns the apartment.
The hate crimes had unsettled local residents, many of whom awoke
on the morning of Sept. 25 to find Swastikas and other slurs scratched,
scrawled and spray-painted on cars, playgrounds, synagogues and
building facades. Crude fliers reading “Kill All Jews” were strewn about.
Campus Stunned By Wave Of Hate, Swastikas
White Cloud' Moniker Stings
ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Bisharo Iman hoped college in St. Cloud would be different than attending high school there - no more taunts of "Go back to your country" aimed at her Somali dress, no more being slammed into lockers.
"I did get away from it - for a while," said Iman, a junior business major at St. Cloud State University.
That was before a frightening six-week stretch in November and December when vandals carved or scrawled more than a dozen swastikas and other racist images on campus walls, elevators and bathroom stalls.
The spate came as a setback to this central Minnesota university, which has spent more than $1 million, thousands of hours and untold energy in recent years trying to undo its reputation as hostile toward racial and ethnic minorities, an image so entrenched that some refer to the surrounding town as "White Cloud."
"Do I groan and say, 'Goodness, not again?' Of course I do," said Earl Potter, president of the school situated in a quiet, overwhelmingly white city of about 60,000 on the Mississippi River that has seen an influx of Somali immigrants. "But you have to look at our country, and how we still struggle with some of our more unfortunate legacies. These are complicated issues for everyone."
As a new term starts, St. Cloud State has responded with a series of new initiatives, including an all-day unity rally, aimed at reassuring minority students that they are safe and easing the concerns of faculty, donors and potential students.
The first two swastikas appeared in mid-November, carved into the wall of a computer lab in the Student Cultural Center, a popular gathering place for minorities among the 17,000 students at the university, the state's second-largest.
"The fact they did it here, you feel more targeted," Iman said, reclining on a couch with friends in the bustling center.
About a dozen reports followed, including several more drawings of swastikas, a Ku Klux Klan hood and a burning cross. Some of the more disturbing allegations came from a minority student who said a group of young white men spit at her and another gave her a Nazi salute.
St. Cloud police are investigating, but Sgt. Jerry Edblad said there are no suspects and that such cases are tough to crack without direct information from witnesses.
Many of the later images turned up in dormitories, leading investigators to think they were the work of students. Investigators also believe some of the later vandalism was committed by copycats.
The school has plastered over the swastikas in the Student Cultural Center, but their effects linger.
"What I would hope is that people would connect the dots," said Myrle Cooper, a retired St. Cloud State professor who is black. "This is hardly a rare occasion."
In 2002, Cooper and another black professor sent letters to several dozen high schools and churches in the Twin Cities urging minority students not to attend St. Cloud State, warning of a "long and sordid record of racism." He said he'd do the same today.
About the same time as Cooper and his colleague were writing their letters, St. Cloud State settled a federal class action lawsuit filed by current and former faculty members who alleged that school officials had discriminated against Jews and other minority groups for years. As part of the settlement, the school established a Jewish Studies and Resource Center, increased campus security, upped diversity training and reformed discrimination-complaint procedures.
Yet the problems persisted. An anonymous survey of faculty members contained anti-Semitic remarks. The university's neighbors found anti-Semitic and racist fliers on their cars.
The most common explanation as to why St. Cloud State seems to have had more racial trouble than other universities in historically liberal-minded Minnesota is summarized by Rabbi Joseph Edelheit, who came to campus after the 2002 settlement to lead the Jewish Studies program.
"This is central, rural Minnesota. When my classes start tomorrow, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, there will be people who walk in who've never met a Jew before," Edelheit said.
"There is some reality to the reputation of St. Cloud as a place that struggles with diversity," conceded Potter, the president.
Campus leaders speak of wanting to lead the way for the surrounding community, and minority enrollment has risen from 6.2 percent in fall 2006 to 6.8 percent in fall 2007.
It remains a circular problem, however. That student body studies at the feet of many faculty members, including Edelheit, who commute 75 miles from the Twin Cities, a choice some of the teachers make because of St. Cloud's image.
"I live in the Cities because I need a larger Jewish community," Edelheit said. "I live in the Cities because I can't imagine living in a community that cannot support its own synagogue.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Bisharo Iman hoped college in St. Cloud would be different than attending high school there - no more taunts of "Go back to your country" aimed at her Somali dress, no more being slammed into lockers.
"I did get away from it - for a while," said Iman, a junior business major at St. Cloud State University.
That was before a frightening six-week stretch in November and December when vandals carved or scrawled more than a dozen swastikas and other racist images on campus walls, elevators and bathroom stalls.
The spate came as a setback to this central Minnesota university, which has spent more than $1 million, thousands of hours and untold energy in recent years trying to undo its reputation as hostile toward racial and ethnic minorities, an image so entrenched that some refer to the surrounding town as "White Cloud."
"Do I groan and say, 'Goodness, not again?' Of course I do," said Earl Potter, president of the school situated in a quiet, overwhelmingly white city of about 60,000 on the Mississippi River that has seen an influx of Somali immigrants. "But you have to look at our country, and how we still struggle with some of our more unfortunate legacies. These are complicated issues for everyone."
As a new term starts, St. Cloud State has responded with a series of new initiatives, including an all-day unity rally, aimed at reassuring minority students that they are safe and easing the concerns of faculty, donors and potential students.
The first two swastikas appeared in mid-November, carved into the wall of a computer lab in the Student Cultural Center, a popular gathering place for minorities among the 17,000 students at the university, the state's second-largest.
"The fact they did it here, you feel more targeted," Iman said, reclining on a couch with friends in the bustling center.
About a dozen reports followed, including several more drawings of swastikas, a Ku Klux Klan hood and a burning cross. Some of the more disturbing allegations came from a minority student who said a group of young white men spit at her and another gave her a Nazi salute.
St. Cloud police are investigating, but Sgt. Jerry Edblad said there are no suspects and that such cases are tough to crack without direct information from witnesses.
Many of the later images turned up in dormitories, leading investigators to think they were the work of students. Investigators also believe some of the later vandalism was committed by copycats.
The school has plastered over the swastikas in the Student Cultural Center, but their effects linger.
"What I would hope is that people would connect the dots," said Myrle Cooper, a retired St. Cloud State professor who is black. "This is hardly a rare occasion."
In 2002, Cooper and another black professor sent letters to several dozen high schools and churches in the Twin Cities urging minority students not to attend St. Cloud State, warning of a "long and sordid record of racism." He said he'd do the same today.
About the same time as Cooper and his colleague were writing their letters, St. Cloud State settled a federal class action lawsuit filed by current and former faculty members who alleged that school officials had discriminated against Jews and other minority groups for years. As part of the settlement, the school established a Jewish Studies and Resource Center, increased campus security, upped diversity training and reformed discrimination-complaint procedures.
Yet the problems persisted. An anonymous survey of faculty members contained anti-Semitic remarks. The university's neighbors found anti-Semitic and racist fliers on their cars.
The most common explanation as to why St. Cloud State seems to have had more racial trouble than other universities in historically liberal-minded Minnesota is summarized by Rabbi Joseph Edelheit, who came to campus after the 2002 settlement to lead the Jewish Studies program.
"This is central, rural Minnesota. When my classes start tomorrow, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, there will be people who walk in who've never met a Jew before," Edelheit said.
"There is some reality to the reputation of St. Cloud as a place that struggles with diversity," conceded Potter, the president.
Campus leaders speak of wanting to lead the way for the surrounding community, and minority enrollment has risen from 6.2 percent in fall 2006 to 6.8 percent in fall 2007.
It remains a circular problem, however. That student body studies at the feet of many faculty members, including Edelheit, who commute 75 miles from the Twin Cities, a choice some of the teachers make because of St. Cloud's image.
"I live in the Cities because I need a larger Jewish community," Edelheit said. "I live in the Cities because I can't imagine living in a community that cannot support its own synagogue.
Funniest Arrest Photo EVER!
Allentown police had suspected William Torres of dealing drugs in the city. But an undercover narcotics investigation yielded much more, and resulted in Torres, 21, being charged early Saturday with two counts of homicide.
Police said Torres, whose last known address was 436 Turner St., Allentown, gunned down two men at Fourth and Allen streets last month. According to court documents, Torres admitted killing the men.
Torres was driving on Turner Street Friday afternoon when he was pulled over by police and arrested. He was wearing a hooded sweartshirt with a skull-head pattern on it, pajama bottoms and fuzzy lion-faced slippers at the time. He was still wearing the get-up when he was arraigned after midnight at Lehigh County prison.
He is being held without bail on the homicide charges and two charges of conspiracy to commit homicide.
In a separate matter, he was charged Saturday with two counts of possession of a controlled substance, two counts of possession with intent to deliver and conspiracy.
Police said the drug charges stem from an undercover investigation in which police made controlled buys at 615 Gordon St. and kept the house under surveillance. Four people, including Torres, were selling cocaine and heroin out of the home, according to court documents.
Police have not said how they came to suspect Torres in the shooting deaths of Carlos Collazo, 32, and Jorge Camacho, 36, both of Allentown. But in an affidavit filed in court, police said Torres told them that he and another man had been looking for Collazo and Camacho, and that Torres admitted to killing both. The other man has not been charged in the homicides.
Camacho, who was a mechanic, and Collazo, were found in the 500 block of N. Fourth St. on Dec. 12. Residents reported hearing four or five shots and seeing a car speeding away at about 7:50 p.m. Police at the time said they were looking for a dark-colored vehicle and two men.
‘Evil Racism’ still lurks
Many of the region's minority leaders say North Central Massachusetts still has a long way to go when it comes to giving minorities the same opportunities that whites already have.
"Racism is alive and well." said Adrian L. Ford of Fitchburg, administrator for the North Central Massachusetts Minority Council. "Racism separates us and divides us and causes wasted talent and despair."
Ford sees racial inequality as a major part of everyday life in North Central Massachusetts, despite the recent election victories of Gov. Deval Patrick and Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong.
"Of course that's progress," Ford said. "But they are stars, the kind of people who can make it in America, not everyone else can.
"There are still a lot of regular folks who are dealing with racial disparities," he added.
Ford, who along with several other minority leaders spoke about race relations following the recent celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, says he sees a "soft" segregation existing in the region, forcing minorities out of the mainstream.
"Our communities are still very much segregated, even through we work together and even though the laws (such as Jim Crow segregation laws) have been lifted," he said.
There are disparities in health care, education, employment and how people are treated in the criminal justice system, he said.
Much of the problem lies with the fact white people are always in power, Ford said.
"It's normal to go to a meeting and everyone in charge and making decisions are white," Ford said. "Why is that normal when one third of Americans are ethnic or racial minorities?"
Sergio Paez, a Leominster resident and member of the Twin Cities Latino Coalition, said the problems of race relations come from a lop-sided power structure.
"We are talking about people who are not being represented within their communities," Paez said.
A lack of representation, at local and state levels, keeps minorities from obtaining the American Dream, Paez said.
Paez is the director for English language services for the Worcester School District, a position he held in Leominster.
"We're still very far from where we need to go," Paez said.
A lack of representation
He said a lack of representation within government leads to a lack of opportunities.
"The city government and the councilors are very nice people, but they don't represent the voice of minority people," Paez said. "We need more access to the decision-making process, access to what they want to improve their lives."
Paez wants new benchmarks for measuring progress for racial equality. A good indicator would be to look at how many minorities are able to get advanced degrees and then find employment within their own communities.
Building a professional class within minority communities will give them access to the American Dream, Paez said.
Getting to that professional class will mean making sure minority students get the same education and chances to go to college and graduate that their white counterparts have, Paez said.
"If you are being deprived of an education you are being deprived of a better economic life," Paez said.
Former Fitchburg City Councilor Jay Cruz said minority communities need to band together and take a greater role in government.
"The government is not its own body, the people are the government," he said.
The more minorities who vote and participate in government, the better representation they'll receive, Cruz said.
Fitchburg's new mayor, Lisa Wong, the state's first Asian-American female mayor, said the changing demographics of Fitchburg's schools are a harbinger of big changes to come.
"Our schools are now 50 percent minority," she said. "We need to make sure there are opportunities for the people entering the workforce."
Wong acknowledges she is now a role model for many minorities in the city, and said she is proud to serve as one.
"We certainly want to make sure there are positive role models out there and show that there is progress being made," Wong said.
Wong said she wants to encourage and foster minority involvement, not just politically, but economically.
She said minorities can make progress and gain representation through buying a house or starting a business in their communities.
"I want to make sure those kinds of opportunities are open to everyone," she said.
"Racism is alive and well." said Adrian L. Ford of Fitchburg, administrator for the North Central Massachusetts Minority Council. "Racism separates us and divides us and causes wasted talent and despair."
Ford sees racial inequality as a major part of everyday life in North Central Massachusetts, despite the recent election victories of Gov. Deval Patrick and Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong.
"Of course that's progress," Ford said. "But they are stars, the kind of people who can make it in America, not everyone else can.
"There are still a lot of regular folks who are dealing with racial disparities," he added.
Ford, who along with several other minority leaders spoke about race relations following the recent celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, says he sees a "soft" segregation existing in the region, forcing minorities out of the mainstream.
"Our communities are still very much segregated, even through we work together and even though the laws (such as Jim Crow segregation laws) have been lifted," he said.
There are disparities in health care, education, employment and how people are treated in the criminal justice system, he said.
Much of the problem lies with the fact white people are always in power, Ford said.
"It's normal to go to a meeting and everyone in charge and making decisions are white," Ford said. "Why is that normal when one third of Americans are ethnic or racial minorities?"
Sergio Paez, a Leominster resident and member of the Twin Cities Latino Coalition, said the problems of race relations come from a lop-sided power structure.
"We are talking about people who are not being represented within their communities," Paez said.
A lack of representation, at local and state levels, keeps minorities from obtaining the American Dream, Paez said.
Paez is the director for English language services for the Worcester School District, a position he held in Leominster.
"We're still very far from where we need to go," Paez said.
A lack of representation
He said a lack of representation within government leads to a lack of opportunities.
"The city government and the councilors are very nice people, but they don't represent the voice of minority people," Paez said. "We need more access to the decision-making process, access to what they want to improve their lives."
Paez wants new benchmarks for measuring progress for racial equality. A good indicator would be to look at how many minorities are able to get advanced degrees and then find employment within their own communities.
Building a professional class within minority communities will give them access to the American Dream, Paez said.
Getting to that professional class will mean making sure minority students get the same education and chances to go to college and graduate that their white counterparts have, Paez said.
"If you are being deprived of an education you are being deprived of a better economic life," Paez said.
Former Fitchburg City Councilor Jay Cruz said minority communities need to band together and take a greater role in government.
"The government is not its own body, the people are the government," he said.
The more minorities who vote and participate in government, the better representation they'll receive, Cruz said.
Fitchburg's new mayor, Lisa Wong, the state's first Asian-American female mayor, said the changing demographics of Fitchburg's schools are a harbinger of big changes to come.
"Our schools are now 50 percent minority," she said. "We need to make sure there are opportunities for the people entering the workforce."
Wong acknowledges she is now a role model for many minorities in the city, and said she is proud to serve as one.
"We certainly want to make sure there are positive role models out there and show that there is progress being made," Wong said.
Wong said she wants to encourage and foster minority involvement, not just politically, but economically.
She said minorities can make progress and gain representation through buying a house or starting a business in their communities.
"I want to make sure those kinds of opportunities are open to everyone," she said.
Attorney Claims Bloggers Have Prejudiced Channon Christian Case
By GRAHAM GREIG
BRUTAL, unprovoked and pointless murders have always generated public response. Revulsion at the crime draws on the well of primitive responses that include fear, anger and fascination. The person accused can expect little respite from outrage from the moment he or she is identified as a suspect. The worse the crime the less reality there is in the public mind to the legalistic concept of presumption of innocence.
For most of the 20th century, newspapers understood sales could be built on extensive reporting of court cases. So most of the 20th century also saw a steady extension of the restrictions on reporting that might prejudice prospective jurors or influence the evidence of witnesses when a case came to trial.
Trainee journalists were required to learn the detail of the law on contempt of court. Judges liked to summon an editor from time to time and threaten him with a spell in the cells pour encourager les autres. The editors didn't like that, as a careless reporter would learn when the boss got back to the office.
In the last 20 years, the mainstream media – newspapers and television – have largely tired of the old style of verbatim court reporting. The press benches in most courtrooms are entirely unoccupied. They came to prefer taking part in the investigation or second-guessing the outcome: shadowing the police, taking pride in getting to witnesses and identifying suspects. National news editors press their reporters to analyse a trial in advance. Only the most notorious trials warrant daily reports on the evidence as it unfolds. The contempt of court defences are daily probed.
Among the tabloids, the criminal justice system itself often appears to be on trial. As for defence lawyers, they may get credit in TV dramas for snatching the innocent from the jaws of punishment but, in the real world, their standing is in the basement of public esteem, with traffic wardens and politicians.
Even that change in the style of mainstream media reportage has been overtaken by the unregulated content on the internet, where material that is prejudicial by any definition appears on countless sites, hit by millions of visitors. The dividing lines between fact, allegation, rumour, fiction and deliberate fabrication are completely blurred. The courts seem paralysed and unable to acknowledge the internet is in danger of overwhelming the old defences against publication of prejudicial material.
In December, in the first case of its kind, a defence lawyer in Tennessee attempted to have the venue for the imminent trial of his client moved because false and fabricated accounts of the facts of the case on YouTube and blogs may have prejudiced prospective jurors and witnesses. Attorney Philip Lomonaco of Knoxville, Tennessee, had his first application to the Eastern District Court dismissed. The appeal outcome is awaited.
The case is connected to an appalling murder of Hugh Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian in Knoxville on 7 January 2007. The young couple were apparently carjacked, abducted and both were beaten and raped before being murdered. Christian was strangled and Newsom was shot.
Three men and a woman have been arrested in connection with the rape, assault and murder and await trial later this year. Lomonaco's client is Eric deWayne Boyd, who was not involved in the initial crime but is accused of subsequently attempting to hide one of the accused.
The crimes generated understandable public outrage and considerable media coverage. They also provoked an explosion of internet attention with hundreds of blogs passing off rumour and deliberate falsehood as fact. The fact the victims were white and the suspects were black led to various white supremacist groups holding rallies at which the crowds were told gruesome but entirely false stories about mutilations of the victims. The speeches were filmed and dozens of clips uploaded onto YouTube.
Lomonaco says: "The blogs spread lies and helped create an urban legend surrounding the details of the final state of the victims' bodies – details meant to outrage and taint any jury pool. These untruths have created a fog of prejudicial publicity."
Lomonaco acknowledges the internet is accessible from anywhere but says the crucial fact is Knoxville, with a population 130,000, is too small to allow a reasonable chance of finding jurors whose views have not already been formed on the facts of the case. He would prefer the case to be relocated to Memphis.
While there have been no such attempts in the UK to claim mistrial on the basis of prejudicial internet material, the time may not be far off. In Scotland, Donald Findlay QC is disturbed at the reluctance of legal authorities to acknowledge the serious problem that arises not only in high profile trials but in mundane cases where a Google search will produce assertions about key evidence that the jury will have to decide in court.
"The establishment position is based on what might be the case in the old-style media: that it would be open to any individual prospective witness or juror to go along to The Mitchell Library and read up back copies," he says. "They say the internet is no more than an extension of that. This misrepresentation is combined with steadfast insistence that the juries are able to do what they are instructed by the trial judge when he tells them to disregard all other accounts they may have heard.
"I don't think that's good enough. Prejudicial publicity is our real problem in the criminal courts these days. It's very serious. And the biggest part of the problem is the internet. For example the courts go to great lengths to excise any material that may refer to previous convictions of the accused. But it's not the rare obsessive going to the Mitchell Library that makes a mockery of that. The fact is anyone can put the name of the accused into Google and come up with a complete history of the investigation and all the accused's previous convictions in a second. Don't tell me jurors don't do it when they get home after the first day of a trial."
Findlay has been involved in many of the trials following the most notorious crimes in Scotland for quarter of a century. One of the grounds of the Luke Mitchell appeal to be heard next month cites the refusal to move the trial away from Edinburgh. Findlay is not impressed by the reluctance of the courts to admit there is a problem.
"They use the slippery slope argument," he says. "Once it is acknowledged juries may form views about a case based on information that is not led in court then where will it all end? But that leads to the nonsense that if the editor of a newspaper published on the morning of a trial the name of the accused with a list of previous conv
ictions and suggestions for other nefarious activities he may have been involved in then the editor would go to jail. But if someone puts the material on the internet then nothing happens."
Lomonaco also draws attention to the difference between the internet and mainstream media. Printed newspaper stories, even with inaccurate or prejudicial content, have a short currency.
Is there an obvious answer? Findlay's view is robust: "People have been saying they're 'looking into it' for years now. But that's like me looking into a hole in the road outside my house. What I really want is for someone to come and fill it in.
"I don't have an easy answer but I do think if we accept we can't control or stop the internet then maybe we have to think again about how we manage juries. Jury vetting. What I do know is pretending the internet doesn't exist won't serve the interests of justice."
BRUTAL, unprovoked and pointless murders have always generated public response. Revulsion at the crime draws on the well of primitive responses that include fear, anger and fascination. The person accused can expect little respite from outrage from the moment he or she is identified as a suspect. The worse the crime the less reality there is in the public mind to the legalistic concept of presumption of innocence.
For most of the 20th century, newspapers understood sales could be built on extensive reporting of court cases. So most of the 20th century also saw a steady extension of the restrictions on reporting that might prejudice prospective jurors or influence the evidence of witnesses when a case came to trial.
Trainee journalists were required to learn the detail of the law on contempt of court. Judges liked to summon an editor from time to time and threaten him with a spell in the cells pour encourager les autres. The editors didn't like that, as a careless reporter would learn when the boss got back to the office.
In the last 20 years, the mainstream media – newspapers and television – have largely tired of the old style of verbatim court reporting. The press benches in most courtrooms are entirely unoccupied. They came to prefer taking part in the investigation or second-guessing the outcome: shadowing the police, taking pride in getting to witnesses and identifying suspects. National news editors press their reporters to analyse a trial in advance. Only the most notorious trials warrant daily reports on the evidence as it unfolds. The contempt of court defences are daily probed.
Among the tabloids, the criminal justice system itself often appears to be on trial. As for defence lawyers, they may get credit in TV dramas for snatching the innocent from the jaws of punishment but, in the real world, their standing is in the basement of public esteem, with traffic wardens and politicians.
Even that change in the style of mainstream media reportage has been overtaken by the unregulated content on the internet, where material that is prejudicial by any definition appears on countless sites, hit by millions of visitors. The dividing lines between fact, allegation, rumour, fiction and deliberate fabrication are completely blurred. The courts seem paralysed and unable to acknowledge the internet is in danger of overwhelming the old defences against publication of prejudicial material.
In December, in the first case of its kind, a defence lawyer in Tennessee attempted to have the venue for the imminent trial of his client moved because false and fabricated accounts of the facts of the case on YouTube and blogs may have prejudiced prospective jurors and witnesses. Attorney Philip Lomonaco of Knoxville, Tennessee, had his first application to the Eastern District Court dismissed. The appeal outcome is awaited.
The case is connected to an appalling murder of Hugh Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian in Knoxville on 7 January 2007. The young couple were apparently carjacked, abducted and both were beaten and raped before being murdered. Christian was strangled and Newsom was shot.
Three men and a woman have been arrested in connection with the rape, assault and murder and await trial later this year. Lomonaco's client is Eric deWayne Boyd, who was not involved in the initial crime but is accused of subsequently attempting to hide one of the accused.
The crimes generated understandable public outrage and considerable media coverage. They also provoked an explosion of internet attention with hundreds of blogs passing off rumour and deliberate falsehood as fact. The fact the victims were white and the suspects were black led to various white supremacist groups holding rallies at which the crowds were told gruesome but entirely false stories about mutilations of the victims. The speeches were filmed and dozens of clips uploaded onto YouTube.
Lomonaco says: "The blogs spread lies and helped create an urban legend surrounding the details of the final state of the victims' bodies – details meant to outrage and taint any jury pool. These untruths have created a fog of prejudicial publicity."
Lomonaco acknowledges the internet is accessible from anywhere but says the crucial fact is Knoxville, with a population 130,000, is too small to allow a reasonable chance of finding jurors whose views have not already been formed on the facts of the case. He would prefer the case to be relocated to Memphis.
While there have been no such attempts in the UK to claim mistrial on the basis of prejudicial internet material, the time may not be far off. In Scotland, Donald Findlay QC is disturbed at the reluctance of legal authorities to acknowledge the serious problem that arises not only in high profile trials but in mundane cases where a Google search will produce assertions about key evidence that the jury will have to decide in court.
"The establishment position is based on what might be the case in the old-style media: that it would be open to any individual prospective witness or juror to go along to The Mitchell Library and read up back copies," he says. "They say the internet is no more than an extension of that. This misrepresentation is combined with steadfast insistence that the juries are able to do what they are instructed by the trial judge when he tells them to disregard all other accounts they may have heard.
"I don't think that's good enough. Prejudicial publicity is our real problem in the criminal courts these days. It's very serious. And the biggest part of the problem is the internet. For example the courts go to great lengths to excise any material that may refer to previous convictions of the accused. But it's not the rare obsessive going to the Mitchell Library that makes a mockery of that. The fact is anyone can put the name of the accused into Google and come up with a complete history of the investigation and all the accused's previous convictions in a second. Don't tell me jurors don't do it when they get home after the first day of a trial."
Findlay has been involved in many of the trials following the most notorious crimes in Scotland for quarter of a century. One of the grounds of the Luke Mitchell appeal to be heard next month cites the refusal to move the trial away from Edinburgh. Findlay is not impressed by the reluctance of the courts to admit there is a problem.
"They use the slippery slope argument," he says. "Once it is acknowledged juries may form views about a case based on information that is not led in court then where will it all end? But that leads to the nonsense that if the editor of a newspaper published on the morning of a trial the name of the accused with a list of previous conv
ictions and suggestions for other nefarious activities he may have been involved in then the editor would go to jail. But if someone puts the material on the internet then nothing happens."
Lomonaco also draws attention to the difference between the internet and mainstream media. Printed newspaper stories, even with inaccurate or prejudicial content, have a short currency.
Is there an obvious answer? Findlay's view is robust: "People have been saying they're 'looking into it' for years now. But that's like me looking into a hole in the road outside my house. What I really want is for someone to come and fill it in.
"I don't have an easy answer but I do think if we accept we can't control or stop the internet then maybe we have to think again about how we manage juries. Jury vetting. What I do know is pretending the internet doesn't exist won't serve the interests of justice."
Truth In Knoxville.
Remember when elements of the liberal media were claiming that “racists” were exaggerating the horrific Christian & Newsom murders? Remember when they said that claims of sexual torture and mutilation were false and invented by “racist websites,? Remember when the left-wing media outlets universally claimed that it was simply a carjacking gone wrong and not racially motivated?
How much, in a prosecutor's view, does a suspect in the fatal carjacking of a Knox County couple deserve death?
Knox County District Attorney General Randy Nichols is counting the ways - eight of them, to be exact.
Nichols' office on Friday filed a notice of the state's intent to seek the death penalty if Letalvis "Rome" Cobbins, 25, is convicted in the January slayings of University of Tennessee student Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, 23.
Cobbins is the first of four suspects in the killings to face trial, the likely explanation for why he is the first to draw a death notice. For now, prosecutors are keeping mum on the possible sentencing fate of Cobbins' alleged conspirators in the fatal carjacking, including alleged ringleader Lemaricus "Slim" Davidson, who is Cobbins' brother.
John Gill, special counsel to Nichols, declined to comment on when, or if, the remaining three suspects will be placed on notice that the state will demand their lives upon conviction.
Cobbins' attorney, Kimberly Parton, could not be reached immediately for comment late Friday afternoon. The death notice automatically will garner her a legal sidekick, slightly increase the amount of money she will be paid by taxpayers to defend the indigent Cobbins and provide some money for the services of expert witnesses and independent forensic testing and investigation.
It also could delay the May 12 trial date currently set for Cobbins.
The state needed only to allege one legal factor for designating the allegations against Cobbins as a capital murder case. Nichols cited eight, however.
The grounds he cited:
# Cobbins was a violent criminal before the carjacking turned kidnapping, rape and slaying, having racked up "one or more felonies" involving "the use of violence to the person," the notice stated.
# Newsom was tortured.
# Christian was tortured.
# Newsom was slain to cover up Cobbins' alleged role in the carjacking, kidnapping, rape and robbery.
# Christian was slain to cover up Cobbins' alleged role in the carjacking, kidnapping, rape and robbery.
# Newsom's slaying came during the commission of crimes against Christian.
# Christian's killing came during and after the commission of crimes against Newsom.
# Cobbins' allegedly "mutilated the body of Chris Newsom after death," the notice stated. Newsom's body was set afire after he was shot to death.
Christian and Newsom had been out on a date when they encountered armed carjackers who wound up taking the couple along with Christian's Toyota 4-Runner. Authorities said the pair were robbed and taken at gunpoint to a house on Chipman Street where Davidson had been living.
The couple was beaten, tortured and repeatedly raped, according to authorities. Newsom was slain first, with Christian held and victimized several more hours before she was strangled and her body discarded in a large trash can inside the house.
Newsom's body, dumped alongside railroad tracks, was found less than 24 hours after the couple was reporting missing. It would be another two days, however, before Christian's body was discovered.
It's not clear why Cobbins is being tried first. Assistant District Attorney General Leland Price announced the trial lineup earlier this year. In any case involving more than one suspect, the order of separate trials is typically a trial strategy in and of itself.
Cobbins' girlfriend - Vanessa Coleman, the lone female suspect in the case - is being tried second. Davidson is third, followed by George "Detroit" Thomas.
Before any of those suspects faces a state court jury, however, a federal jury will get the first glimpse at a case where details have been kept tightly under wraps. That's because an alleged accessory to the carjacking, Eric Dewayne "E" Boyd, is set to stand trial in U.S. District Court in February for allegedly helping hide out Davidson after the slayings.
Federal prosecutors David Jennings and Tracy Stone have said that to convict Boyd as an accessory, they first must prove Davidson's role in the fatal carjacking. Boyd faces a maximum 15-year prison term if convicted as an accessory. He is not accused in the fatal carjacking itself.
How much, in a prosecutor's view, does a suspect in the fatal carjacking of a Knox County couple deserve death?
Knox County District Attorney General Randy Nichols is counting the ways - eight of them, to be exact.
Nichols' office on Friday filed a notice of the state's intent to seek the death penalty if Letalvis "Rome" Cobbins, 25, is convicted in the January slayings of University of Tennessee student Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, 23.
Cobbins is the first of four suspects in the killings to face trial, the likely explanation for why he is the first to draw a death notice. For now, prosecutors are keeping mum on the possible sentencing fate of Cobbins' alleged conspirators in the fatal carjacking, including alleged ringleader Lemaricus "Slim" Davidson, who is Cobbins' brother.
John Gill, special counsel to Nichols, declined to comment on when, or if, the remaining three suspects will be placed on notice that the state will demand their lives upon conviction.
Cobbins' attorney, Kimberly Parton, could not be reached immediately for comment late Friday afternoon. The death notice automatically will garner her a legal sidekick, slightly increase the amount of money she will be paid by taxpayers to defend the indigent Cobbins and provide some money for the services of expert witnesses and independent forensic testing and investigation.
It also could delay the May 12 trial date currently set for Cobbins.
The state needed only to allege one legal factor for designating the allegations against Cobbins as a capital murder case. Nichols cited eight, however.
The grounds he cited:
# Cobbins was a violent criminal before the carjacking turned kidnapping, rape and slaying, having racked up "one or more felonies" involving "the use of violence to the person," the notice stated.
# Newsom was tortured.
# Christian was tortured.
# Newsom was slain to cover up Cobbins' alleged role in the carjacking, kidnapping, rape and robbery.
# Christian was slain to cover up Cobbins' alleged role in the carjacking, kidnapping, rape and robbery.
# Newsom's slaying came during the commission of crimes against Christian.
# Christian's killing came during and after the commission of crimes against Newsom.
# Cobbins' allegedly "mutilated the body of Chris Newsom after death," the notice stated. Newsom's body was set afire after he was shot to death.
Christian and Newsom had been out on a date when they encountered armed carjackers who wound up taking the couple along with Christian's Toyota 4-Runner. Authorities said the pair were robbed and taken at gunpoint to a house on Chipman Street where Davidson had been living.
The couple was beaten, tortured and repeatedly raped, according to authorities. Newsom was slain first, with Christian held and victimized several more hours before she was strangled and her body discarded in a large trash can inside the house.
Newsom's body, dumped alongside railroad tracks, was found less than 24 hours after the couple was reporting missing. It would be another two days, however, before Christian's body was discovered.
It's not clear why Cobbins is being tried first. Assistant District Attorney General Leland Price announced the trial lineup earlier this year. In any case involving more than one suspect, the order of separate trials is typically a trial strategy in and of itself.
Cobbins' girlfriend - Vanessa Coleman, the lone female suspect in the case - is being tried second. Davidson is third, followed by George "Detroit" Thomas.
Before any of those suspects faces a state court jury, however, a federal jury will get the first glimpse at a case where details have been kept tightly under wraps. That's because an alleged accessory to the carjacking, Eric Dewayne "E" Boyd, is set to stand trial in U.S. District Court in February for allegedly helping hide out Davidson after the slayings.
Federal prosecutors David Jennings and Tracy Stone have said that to convict Boyd as an accessory, they first must prove Davidson's role in the fatal carjacking. Boyd faces a maximum 15-year prison term if convicted as an accessory. He is not accused in the fatal carjacking itself.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Jewish Rabbi Resigns Amid Sex Scandal
The rabbi of the largest Conservative congregation in Buffalo, N.Y., is stepping down in the face of an allegation that he had an inappropriate relationship with a congregant. His resignation comes nine years after the same congregation voted to retain him despite findings of sexual misconduct.
Rabbi Arthur Charles Shalman submitted a letter of resignation last week as rabbi of Temple Shaarey Zedek, a Conservative congregation just outside Buffalo. The resignation came after one of Shalman’s male congregants filed a complaint with the Rabbinical Assembly, the international union of Conservative rabbis, alleging that Shalman had an inappropriate relationship with the man’s wife.
The R.A. investigated Shalman in 1999, and its ethics committee found that Shalman had violated principles of rabbinic conduct on several counts, including “improper touching” and “improper suggestions.” But both the synagogue’s board and its membership at large voted overwhelmingly to keep Shalman. As the Forward reported at the time, the assembly deferred to the synagogue and agreed to Shalman remaining in his post, subject to certain restrictions.
Now, it appears that this decision has come back to haunt both the synagogue and the R.A. The scandal has been an emotional blow for the congregation, which has been aging and shrinking in the face of Buffalo’s decades of demographic decline.
“It’s a shock to most people in the congregation,” said Shaarey Zedek’s president, Iris Zackheim. “A lot of people are devastated.”
Zackheim released a statement saying that Shalman was resigning for “personal reasons” and that neither the officers nor the board asked him to resign. She told the Forward, however, that the resignation came after she and Shalman learned of the complaint that was filed with the assembly.
The R.A. did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
According to Zackheim, who, as synagogue president, was informed of the complaint, an inappropriate emotional relationship had been alleged. She said she did not know of Shalman engaging in any sexual misconduct.
At least some see the current scandal as fallout from the congregation’s failure to fire Shalman nine years ago, when a number of women in the congregation came forward and accused him of touching them inappropriately and of making inappropriate suggestions.
“I thought it was not handled at all; it was very badly handled,” said Charlotte Schwab, a psychotherapist who has written and lectured about rabbinic abuse, including her own experiences.
“The women who called me for help were despondent,” Schwab added. “They were the ones who were vilified and blamed and ostracized.” Schwab, though not a member of the synagogue, was in contact with several congregants from Shaarey Zedek when the first set of allegations was brought against Shalman.
The allegations led to an emotional and public dispute that made its way into the local newspapers and onto television stations.
The assembly’s ethics committee investigated and found Shalman guilty of wrongdoing. In a letter to Shalman summarizing its findings, the ethics committee wrote, “[I]t is painfully clear that you have violated several principles of rabbinic conduct which have caused harm to certain of the women counseled or taught by you.” The R.A. ordered Shalman to work with a therapist and a rabbinical mentor, and told him that it would not place him in a position to teach or counsel women without the ethics committee’s written consent.
But the R.A. did not expel Shalman from its ranks, nor attempt to remove him from his pulpit. Both the synagogue’s board and the members at large voted overwhelmingly to retain Shalman, and the assembly said it would defer to the congregation.
Schwab said that because of their emotional attachment to their rabbis, congregants are often reluctant to fire them, even in the face of serious allegations of misconduct.
“People are very misguided,” Schwab said. “They think that because — people told me that, oh, he buried my mother, he married my daughter. Because of these things, they seem to give total allegiance to these men. And so, they keep them.”
Dozens of congregants subsequently left Shaarey Zedek, including the president. Others stayed but remained bitter.
Despite the ethical allegations against him, Shalman was an accomplished and popular rabbi. He led outreach programs for the elderly and disabled, taught services for major holidays and helped start a minyan café. Shalman was also prominent in the Buffalo community, He taught at the local Kadimah day school, once served as president of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis and gave public talks on Jewish topics. (He has since resigned from the day school, at the school’s request, according to Zackheim. The school did not respond to a request for comment.)
“Rabbi Shalman is probably one of the best pulpit rabbis that you could ever imagine,” said Ed Drozen, president of Temple Beth El and a former president of Shaarey Zedek. “He was very charismatic, he was very caring, he helped a lot of people through crises. He did a great deal in that regard, and many people were willing to give him another chance.”
Board Chairman Mark Richheimer, who joined Shaarey Zedek after the dispute had passed, said that Shalman had proved himself as a rabbi and that but for the after-effects of the previous allegations, Shalman might have weathered the current storm.
Now that Shalman is leaving, congregants said that reactions in the synagogue have ranged from anger and betrayal to sadness and even sympathy for the rabbi. Shalman is married and a father of four children.
“I’m disappointed in him,” Zackheim said. “I’m not sorry I voted for him. I’m just so disappointed it’s come to this.
Rabbi Arthur Charles Shalman submitted a letter of resignation last week as rabbi of Temple Shaarey Zedek, a Conservative congregation just outside Buffalo. The resignation came after one of Shalman’s male congregants filed a complaint with the Rabbinical Assembly, the international union of Conservative rabbis, alleging that Shalman had an inappropriate relationship with the man’s wife.
The R.A. investigated Shalman in 1999, and its ethics committee found that Shalman had violated principles of rabbinic conduct on several counts, including “improper touching” and “improper suggestions.” But both the synagogue’s board and its membership at large voted overwhelmingly to keep Shalman. As the Forward reported at the time, the assembly deferred to the synagogue and agreed to Shalman remaining in his post, subject to certain restrictions.
Now, it appears that this decision has come back to haunt both the synagogue and the R.A. The scandal has been an emotional blow for the congregation, which has been aging and shrinking in the face of Buffalo’s decades of demographic decline.
“It’s a shock to most people in the congregation,” said Shaarey Zedek’s president, Iris Zackheim. “A lot of people are devastated.”
Zackheim released a statement saying that Shalman was resigning for “personal reasons” and that neither the officers nor the board asked him to resign. She told the Forward, however, that the resignation came after she and Shalman learned of the complaint that was filed with the assembly.
The R.A. did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
According to Zackheim, who, as synagogue president, was informed of the complaint, an inappropriate emotional relationship had been alleged. She said she did not know of Shalman engaging in any sexual misconduct.
At least some see the current scandal as fallout from the congregation’s failure to fire Shalman nine years ago, when a number of women in the congregation came forward and accused him of touching them inappropriately and of making inappropriate suggestions.
“I thought it was not handled at all; it was very badly handled,” said Charlotte Schwab, a psychotherapist who has written and lectured about rabbinic abuse, including her own experiences.
“The women who called me for help were despondent,” Schwab added. “They were the ones who were vilified and blamed and ostracized.” Schwab, though not a member of the synagogue, was in contact with several congregants from Shaarey Zedek when the first set of allegations was brought against Shalman.
The allegations led to an emotional and public dispute that made its way into the local newspapers and onto television stations.
The assembly’s ethics committee investigated and found Shalman guilty of wrongdoing. In a letter to Shalman summarizing its findings, the ethics committee wrote, “[I]t is painfully clear that you have violated several principles of rabbinic conduct which have caused harm to certain of the women counseled or taught by you.” The R.A. ordered Shalman to work with a therapist and a rabbinical mentor, and told him that it would not place him in a position to teach or counsel women without the ethics committee’s written consent.
But the R.A. did not expel Shalman from its ranks, nor attempt to remove him from his pulpit. Both the synagogue’s board and the members at large voted overwhelmingly to retain Shalman, and the assembly said it would defer to the congregation.
Schwab said that because of their emotional attachment to their rabbis, congregants are often reluctant to fire them, even in the face of serious allegations of misconduct.
“People are very misguided,” Schwab said. “They think that because — people told me that, oh, he buried my mother, he married my daughter. Because of these things, they seem to give total allegiance to these men. And so, they keep them.”
Dozens of congregants subsequently left Shaarey Zedek, including the president. Others stayed but remained bitter.
Despite the ethical allegations against him, Shalman was an accomplished and popular rabbi. He led outreach programs for the elderly and disabled, taught services for major holidays and helped start a minyan café. Shalman was also prominent in the Buffalo community, He taught at the local Kadimah day school, once served as president of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis and gave public talks on Jewish topics. (He has since resigned from the day school, at the school’s request, according to Zackheim. The school did not respond to a request for comment.)
“Rabbi Shalman is probably one of the best pulpit rabbis that you could ever imagine,” said Ed Drozen, president of Temple Beth El and a former president of Shaarey Zedek. “He was very charismatic, he was very caring, he helped a lot of people through crises. He did a great deal in that regard, and many people were willing to give him another chance.”
Board Chairman Mark Richheimer, who joined Shaarey Zedek after the dispute had passed, said that Shalman had proved himself as a rabbi and that but for the after-effects of the previous allegations, Shalman might have weathered the current storm.
Now that Shalman is leaving, congregants said that reactions in the synagogue have ranged from anger and betrayal to sadness and even sympathy for the rabbi. Shalman is married and a father of four children.
“I’m disappointed in him,” Zackheim said. “I’m not sorry I voted for him. I’m just so disappointed it’s come to this.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Tree actually growing in rotting paper at Detroit Public Schools book depository.
This is what blacks do with books.
The Weather Underground
No mention of the support and funding The Weather Underground received from communist governments, including North Vietnamese, who at this time were murdering more than 100 Americans each day.
Another ‘hate crime’ hoax
ODENTON, Md. -- An Anne Arundel County woman said she woke up to an upsetting sight last weekend -- racial and sexual slurs written all over the outside of her house.
Virginia Trotter lives in the 2000 block of Brigadier Boulevard in Odenton. She said that last Sunday, her neighbors told her that there was offensive writing all over her house.
"This is awful. It's terrible," she said. "I didn’t think I had neighbors in the area that would do such a thing."
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Trotter said that she has lived at the home for 17 years and said she'd never had problems before.
Sexual images and racial slurs were written all over her home. But police said the incident is not being investigated as a hate crime because both the victim and the alleged suspects are black.
A female witness told police that she saw four black teens fleeing the scene. Police said they believe neighborhood rivalries were the reason behind it and said because of that, it's being considered vandalism and not a hate crime.
But Trotter disagreed. She said she thought hate crimes were defined by what crime was committed, not by which color the culprits were.
"Red, green, orange -- I don't care what color. I think they should be prosecuted for it," she said. "I take it very personal."
Trotter's home was one of several hit in the neighborhood, police said. Investigators are still looking for the culprits.
Blacks Demand 'Hanging' For White Kid
Swartruggens - Skielik murder accused Johan Nel was driven away from the Swartruggens courthouse at around 10:30 on Thursday as protesters threw stones and cans at the armoured police vehicle he was in.
Minutes earlier the crowd which had gathered outside the courthouse broke down the main gate and were forcefully pushed aside by riot police.
They were chanting: "We want Nel!"
Nel appeared in court briefly in connection with the murder of four people and the attempted murder of six others in a shooting incident in the Skielik informal settlement last Monday.
The case was postponed to February 12.
It is alleged that Nel left a Swartruggens farm last Monday and drove 10km out of town to the Skielik informal settlement. There he allegedly gunned down 10 people, killing four. Two of the victims were children aged 10 years and three months.
Speaking outside the court, North West safety and security MEC Phenye Vilakazi said the murders were racially motivated. He said there was "no other explanation".
Earlier Magistrate Andre Kleynhans appealed to the families of the victims to "keep a level head".
"I wish to appeal to people to let justice run its course and let the court do its work."
Friday, January 25, 2008
Jewish Gangsters Raped, Killed Children As Young As 2 On Film
Rome, Italy -- Italian and Russian police, working together, broke up a ring of Jewish gangsters who had been involved in the manufacture of child rape and snuff pornography.
Three Russian Jews and eight Italian Jews were arrested after police discovered they had been kidnapping non-Jewish children between the ages of two and five years old from Russian orphanges, raping the children, and then murdering them on film. Mostly non-Jewish customers, including 1700 nationwide, 600 in Italy, and and unknown number in the United States, paid as much as $20,000 per film to watch little children being raped and murdered.
Jewish officials in a major Italian news agency tried to cover the story up, but were circumvented by Italisn news reporters, who broadcasts scenes from the films live at prime time on Italisn television to more than 11 million Italian viewers. Jewish officials then fired the executives responsible, claiming they were spreading "blood libel."
Throughout history, various groups have accused sects of Jews of ritually murdering small children. One such account, that of Hugh of Lincoln, led to the expulsion of all Jews from Britain in the 13th Century. Such accounts have generally been discounted, but are so wide spread that Jewish organizations have developed a name for them -- "blood libel".
The American group the ADL was founded to defend a Jew, Leo Frank, accused of raping and murdering a five year old girl, Mary Fagan, in his Atlanta pencil factory in 1913. The ADL claims he was innocent. A mob lynched him after the governor commuted his death sentence to life in prison.
Though AP and Reuters both ran stories on the episode, US media conglomerates refused to carry the story on television news, again saying the story would prejudice Americans against Jews.
Jewish gangsters in Russia have become increasingly linked to traffic in "white slaves" and prostitutes through Israel, according to a recent report in the Jerusalem Post. Israel turns an official blind eye to forced prostitution, and does not punish Israeli citizens who choose to own "sex slaves", as long as the slaves are foreign and non-Jews.
Special Investigation
British link to 'snuff' videos
Jason Burke in London, Amelia Gentleman in Moscow, Philip Willan in Rome
Observer - Sunday October 1, 2000
Britain is a key link in the biggest ever international investigation into the production and supply of paedophile 'snuff' movies - in which children are murdered on film - an Observer investigation can reveal.
The key suspect in the inquiry, a Russian who was arrested last week in Moscow for distribution of thousands of sadistic child porn videos and pictures, was traced following the seizure of his products from British paedophiles.
Dmitri Vladimirovich Kuznetsov, a 30-year-old former car mechanic in Moscow, was identified after British Customs and police traced the origin of violent child porn videos found in the UK back to Russia.
Last week Italian police seized 3,000 of Kuznetsov's videos on their way to clients in Italy, sparking an international hunt for paedophiles who have bought his products. The Italian investigators say the material includes footage of children dying during abuse. Prosecutors in Naples are considering charging those who have bought the videos with complicity in murder. They say some may have specifically requested films of killings.
British authorities yesterday confirmed that scores of Kuznetsov's videos, produced in his small flat in Moscow's rundown Vykhino district, have been found in the UK. They are concerned that 'snuff' movies in which children are killed may have also been imported.
Around a dozen British men have already been arrested and charged with offences alleged to be connected to the Russian tapes. A second Russian child porn ring, which allegedly had a British distributor, was broken up earlier this year. The investigation into the importing of violent Russian child porn which led to the identification and subsequent imprisonment of Kuznetsov started about 15 months ago after Customs seized material coming into the country. Since then there have been dozens of other finds.
'We have seen some very, very nasty stuff involving sadistic abuse of very young children, but actual deaths on film takes it a whole step further. That is very worrying,' said one senior customs officer this weekend.
British paedophiles were paying between £50 and £100 for Kuznetsov's tapes, the officer said. Further fees were paid for access to a website that features pictures of extremely violent abuse.
Though two men arrested with Kuznetsov have also been imprisoned by Moscow authorities, only one of the three remains behind bars. Dmitri Ivanov was sentenced to 11 years for actually participating in the abuse that was being filmed. The others were released under an amnesty aimed at clearing Russia's overcrowded prisons.
When officers from the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department raided Kuznetsov's flat they found two boys in a makeshift studio. They seized a huge quantity of films and other pornographic material as well as lists of clients in Italy, Germany, America and Britain.
Last week Italian detectives moved in, following months of inquiries, and arrested eight people. The police searched more than 600 homes and say they now have evidence against about 500 people. Among the suspects were businessmen, public employees and a university student. Several of them were married, with children of their own. Hundreds of people are also under investigation in Germany.
The Russian videos, which had been ordered over the internet, were intercepted when they came into Italy by post, repackaged and then delivered by undercover police officers. They cost between £300 and £4,000, depending on what type of film was ordered.
Covert film of young children naked or undressing was known as a 'SNIPE' video. The most appalling category was code-named 'Necros Pedo' in which children were raped and tortured until they died.
Police in Russia and the UK believe that Kuznetsov and his associates have been in business for more than two years in which time they are believed to have recruited around 100 boys - aged between nine and 15 - to be filmed.
'Most of the children were rounded up from railway stations. A lot of them came from the suburbs, or surrounding regions and were from deprived, problem families,' said Kiril Mazurin, a police spokesman.
'Usually when children like this arrive in the capital, they've got no idea where to go and hang around in the station. It's very easy to entice this kind of teenager - with a promise of a warm bed or a trip to the cinema.'
Many were lured away from orphanages. 'Children are not locked in,' said Mazurin. 'Anyone can come along and promise them a meal at McDonalds. It doesn't take any more than that."
Some children were paid a commission to find other boys willing to be filmed, according to reports in the Russian press, for a fee of between 100 and 300 roubles (£2.50 - £7).
Kuznetsov had given up his job in 1998 to devote himself to the lucrative pornography industry. A self-taught computer expert, he was in the process of upgrading his equipment to allow him to e-mail videos directly to clients when police raided him.
Many customers repeatedly ordered videos from him. The Naples newspaper Il Mattino published a transcript of an alleged email exchange between a prospective client and the Russian vendors.
'Promise me you're not ripping me off,' says the Italian.
'Relax, I can assure you this one really dies,' the Jew responds.
'The last time I paid and I didn't get what I wanted.'
'What do you want?'
'To see them die.'
Three Russian Jews and eight Italian Jews were arrested after police discovered they had been kidnapping non-Jewish children between the ages of two and five years old from Russian orphanges, raping the children, and then murdering them on film. Mostly non-Jewish customers, including 1700 nationwide, 600 in Italy, and and unknown number in the United States, paid as much as $20,000 per film to watch little children being raped and murdered.
Jewish officials in a major Italian news agency tried to cover the story up, but were circumvented by Italisn news reporters, who broadcasts scenes from the films live at prime time on Italisn television to more than 11 million Italian viewers. Jewish officials then fired the executives responsible, claiming they were spreading "blood libel."
Throughout history, various groups have accused sects of Jews of ritually murdering small children. One such account, that of Hugh of Lincoln, led to the expulsion of all Jews from Britain in the 13th Century. Such accounts have generally been discounted, but are so wide spread that Jewish organizations have developed a name for them -- "blood libel".
The American group the ADL was founded to defend a Jew, Leo Frank, accused of raping and murdering a five year old girl, Mary Fagan, in his Atlanta pencil factory in 1913. The ADL claims he was innocent. A mob lynched him after the governor commuted his death sentence to life in prison.
Though AP and Reuters both ran stories on the episode, US media conglomerates refused to carry the story on television news, again saying the story would prejudice Americans against Jews.
Jewish gangsters in Russia have become increasingly linked to traffic in "white slaves" and prostitutes through Israel, according to a recent report in the Jerusalem Post. Israel turns an official blind eye to forced prostitution, and does not punish Israeli citizens who choose to own "sex slaves", as long as the slaves are foreign and non-Jews.
Special Investigation
British link to 'snuff' videos
Jason Burke in London, Amelia Gentleman in Moscow, Philip Willan in Rome
Observer - Sunday October 1, 2000
Britain is a key link in the biggest ever international investigation into the production and supply of paedophile 'snuff' movies - in which children are murdered on film - an Observer investigation can reveal.
The key suspect in the inquiry, a Russian who was arrested last week in Moscow for distribution of thousands of sadistic child porn videos and pictures, was traced following the seizure of his products from British paedophiles.
Dmitri Vladimirovich Kuznetsov, a 30-year-old former car mechanic in Moscow, was identified after British Customs and police traced the origin of violent child porn videos found in the UK back to Russia.
Last week Italian police seized 3,000 of Kuznetsov's videos on their way to clients in Italy, sparking an international hunt for paedophiles who have bought his products. The Italian investigators say the material includes footage of children dying during abuse. Prosecutors in Naples are considering charging those who have bought the videos with complicity in murder. They say some may have specifically requested films of killings.
British authorities yesterday confirmed that scores of Kuznetsov's videos, produced in his small flat in Moscow's rundown Vykhino district, have been found in the UK. They are concerned that 'snuff' movies in which children are killed may have also been imported.
Around a dozen British men have already been arrested and charged with offences alleged to be connected to the Russian tapes. A second Russian child porn ring, which allegedly had a British distributor, was broken up earlier this year. The investigation into the importing of violent Russian child porn which led to the identification and subsequent imprisonment of Kuznetsov started about 15 months ago after Customs seized material coming into the country. Since then there have been dozens of other finds.
'We have seen some very, very nasty stuff involving sadistic abuse of very young children, but actual deaths on film takes it a whole step further. That is very worrying,' said one senior customs officer this weekend.
British paedophiles were paying between £50 and £100 for Kuznetsov's tapes, the officer said. Further fees were paid for access to a website that features pictures of extremely violent abuse.
Though two men arrested with Kuznetsov have also been imprisoned by Moscow authorities, only one of the three remains behind bars. Dmitri Ivanov was sentenced to 11 years for actually participating in the abuse that was being filmed. The others were released under an amnesty aimed at clearing Russia's overcrowded prisons.
When officers from the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department raided Kuznetsov's flat they found two boys in a makeshift studio. They seized a huge quantity of films and other pornographic material as well as lists of clients in Italy, Germany, America and Britain.
Last week Italian detectives moved in, following months of inquiries, and arrested eight people. The police searched more than 600 homes and say they now have evidence against about 500 people. Among the suspects were businessmen, public employees and a university student. Several of them were married, with children of their own. Hundreds of people are also under investigation in Germany.
The Russian videos, which had been ordered over the internet, were intercepted when they came into Italy by post, repackaged and then delivered by undercover police officers. They cost between £300 and £4,000, depending on what type of film was ordered.
Covert film of young children naked or undressing was known as a 'SNIPE' video. The most appalling category was code-named 'Necros Pedo' in which children were raped and tortured until they died.
Police in Russia and the UK believe that Kuznetsov and his associates have been in business for more than two years in which time they are believed to have recruited around 100 boys - aged between nine and 15 - to be filmed.
'Most of the children were rounded up from railway stations. A lot of them came from the suburbs, or surrounding regions and were from deprived, problem families,' said Kiril Mazurin, a police spokesman.
'Usually when children like this arrive in the capital, they've got no idea where to go and hang around in the station. It's very easy to entice this kind of teenager - with a promise of a warm bed or a trip to the cinema.'
Many were lured away from orphanages. 'Children are not locked in,' said Mazurin. 'Anyone can come along and promise them a meal at McDonalds. It doesn't take any more than that."
Some children were paid a commission to find other boys willing to be filmed, according to reports in the Russian press, for a fee of between 100 and 300 roubles (£2.50 - £7).
Kuznetsov had given up his job in 1998 to devote himself to the lucrative pornography industry. A self-taught computer expert, he was in the process of upgrading his equipment to allow him to e-mail videos directly to clients when police raided him.
Many customers repeatedly ordered videos from him. The Naples newspaper Il Mattino published a transcript of an alleged email exchange between a prospective client and the Russian vendors.
'Promise me you're not ripping me off,' says the Italian.
'Relax, I can assure you this one really dies,' the Jew responds.
'The last time I paid and I didn't get what I wanted.'
'What do you want?'
'To see them die.'
Iran squares off with US & Israel
DAVOS, Switzerland - Iran's foreign minister on Friday urged the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council to "correct their past mistakes" and draw up a a resolution ending council involvement in his country's nuclear affairs.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also said that — while it makes sense to talk with Washington over common interests such as Iraq — he could not imagine substantially improved ties with the United States even after a change in U.S. administrations.
Mottaki spoke to The Associated Press on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, the Davos gathering of world political and economic leaders, whose focus on areas of international concern include the Mideast.
Earlier in the week, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged Davos attendees to take a personal stand against Iran's leadership by ending business ties with the country.
"Iran exports terrorism, destabilizes the region, denies the Holocaust and threatens to wipe Israel, my home, off the map," said Livni, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's frequent calls for the elimination of Jewish state.
Mottaki's call for an end to a Security Council role in trying to pressure Iran comes amid indications that the council is moving precisely in the other direction and is ready to pass a third round of sanctions for Tehran's refusal to mothball uranium enrichment and meet related demands.
Elements of a new U.N. resolution obtained Friday by the AP outlined new sanction proposals against Iran, including bans on travel, and stepped up monitoring of Tehran's financial institutions.
Asked what his message to the council was, Mottaki said, "it was time now to correct their previous mistakes" — involving itself in Tehran's nuclear program and passing the two sanctions resolutions.
At the minimum, said Mottaki, the council should wait until the International Atomic Energy Agency completes its probe of Iran's past nuclear activities, at the latest in early March.
If that report shows no attempt by Iran to make nuclear weapons — as claimed by the U.S. — council members "should ... pass a new resolution" formally washing their hands of Iran's nuclear activities, he said.
The investigation of the Islamic Republic's former nuclear program that started last year is in its final stage, with diplomats telling the AP that Tehran has started providing some information about activities that the Americans say appear to make sense only in the context of an attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
A U.S. intelligence estimate published last month said that Iran stopped efforts to make such arms four years ago. But American officials have demanded that Tehran "confess" to such past attempts to make their cooperation with the IAEA probe credible. And Washington and its allies say that — if Iran continues to develop its enrichment program, a possible pathway to nuclear arms — even such an admission will not be enough to prevent further U.N. sanctions.
But Mottaki said such a confession would not be forthcoming, asserting there was neither "political will" nor "any practical step for nuclear weapons in my country" even before 2003.
And he said he saw no room for improved relations between Tehran and Washington, even past the approaching change of U.S. administrations. Formal bilateral ties were cut in the wake of the 1979 Iranian hostage taking of U.S. Embassy personnel.
"Usually we do not look to the individuals in the United States or even to the (political) parties — we look to policies," he said.
"Being a realist ... I have to say that I do not see room for the time being for the (establishment) of relations between the Iran and the United States," he added, while acknowledging the sense of bilateral talks on the situation in Iraq.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also said that — while it makes sense to talk with Washington over common interests such as Iraq — he could not imagine substantially improved ties with the United States even after a change in U.S. administrations.
Mottaki spoke to The Associated Press on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, the Davos gathering of world political and economic leaders, whose focus on areas of international concern include the Mideast.
Earlier in the week, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged Davos attendees to take a personal stand against Iran's leadership by ending business ties with the country.
"Iran exports terrorism, destabilizes the region, denies the Holocaust and threatens to wipe Israel, my home, off the map," said Livni, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's frequent calls for the elimination of Jewish state.
Mottaki's call for an end to a Security Council role in trying to pressure Iran comes amid indications that the council is moving precisely in the other direction and is ready to pass a third round of sanctions for Tehran's refusal to mothball uranium enrichment and meet related demands.
Elements of a new U.N. resolution obtained Friday by the AP outlined new sanction proposals against Iran, including bans on travel, and stepped up monitoring of Tehran's financial institutions.
Asked what his message to the council was, Mottaki said, "it was time now to correct their previous mistakes" — involving itself in Tehran's nuclear program and passing the two sanctions resolutions.
At the minimum, said Mottaki, the council should wait until the International Atomic Energy Agency completes its probe of Iran's past nuclear activities, at the latest in early March.
If that report shows no attempt by Iran to make nuclear weapons — as claimed by the U.S. — council members "should ... pass a new resolution" formally washing their hands of Iran's nuclear activities, he said.
The investigation of the Islamic Republic's former nuclear program that started last year is in its final stage, with diplomats telling the AP that Tehran has started providing some information about activities that the Americans say appear to make sense only in the context of an attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
A U.S. intelligence estimate published last month said that Iran stopped efforts to make such arms four years ago. But American officials have demanded that Tehran "confess" to such past attempts to make their cooperation with the IAEA probe credible. And Washington and its allies say that — if Iran continues to develop its enrichment program, a possible pathway to nuclear arms — even such an admission will not be enough to prevent further U.N. sanctions.
But Mottaki said such a confession would not be forthcoming, asserting there was neither "political will" nor "any practical step for nuclear weapons in my country" even before 2003.
And he said he saw no room for improved relations between Tehran and Washington, even past the approaching change of U.S. administrations. Formal bilateral ties were cut in the wake of the 1979 Iranian hostage taking of U.S. Embassy personnel.
"Usually we do not look to the individuals in the United States or even to the (political) parties — we look to policies," he said.
"Being a realist ... I have to say that I do not see room for the time being for the (establishment) of relations between the Iran and the United States," he added, while acknowledging the sense of bilateral talks on the situation in Iraq.
Jewish Sex Criminals
Case of Shlomo Aviner (Rosh Yeshiva, Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva, Rabbi of Beit El, Israel)
Case of Rabbi Lewis Brenner (Convicted of child molestation. The original charges included 14 counts of sodomy, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. He agreed to plead guilty to one count of sodomy in the third degree, a Class E felony, in exchange for a sentence of five years' probation.)
Case of Rabbi Ephraim Bryks (Accusations about sexual inappropriate behavior with children started surfacing in the 1980's. Rabbi Bryks is currently a member of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens. The Vaad is a Rabbinical committee that makes important decisions within an orthodox community.)
Case of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (Accused of several cases of child molestation, and sexual assault of young women)
Case Rabbi Perry Ian Cohen - Montreal and Toronto Canada (Accused of sexual abuse of a seventeen year old. Fired for sexual impropriety with congregants)
Case of Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen (Accused of sexually harassing students at Bar-Ilan University)
Case of Rabbi Ephraim Goldberg - Boca Raton, Flordia (Pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of exposure of sexual organs in a washroom at a Palm Beach Mall.)
Case of Rabbi/Cantor Sidney Goldenberg (Convicted of molesting children. The first complaints came in 1971. He was finally convicted in 1997.)
Case of Cantor Joel Gordon (Convicted of having keeping a house of prostitution and involvement in a prostitution ring.)
Case of Rabbi Israel Grunwald (Accused of molesting a 15 year old on a 1995 plane flight from Australia to LA. The charge against him were dropped after agreeing to perform 500 hours of community service and to seek counseling. Grunwald was the chief rabbi of an Hungarian Hasidic congregation in Brooklyn, known as the Pupas).
Case of The State of Israel Vs. Sex Offender (Convicted of repeated rape and forced molestation of his graddaughter.)
Case of Yehudah Friedlander - Rabbi 's Assistant (Accused of molesting a 15 year old on a 1995 plane flight from Australia to LA. Friedlander was the assistant to the chief rabbi of an Hungarian Hasidic congregation in Brooklyn, known as the Pupas)
Case of the Rabbi at Hillel Torah, Chicago, IL (A teacher at the Chicago school was accused of child molestation. His name was not released. The school did everything correctly in attempting to keep the children safe once accusations were made.)
Case of Rabbi Solomon Hafner (Accused of sexually abusing a developmentally disabled boy)
Case of Rabbi (Alan J.) Shneur Horowitz (Convicted and sentenced to 10 - 20 years in prison for sodomizing a nine-year-old psychiatric patient. Allegedly, he has assaulted a string of children from California to Israel to New York in the past twenty years. Alan J. Horowitz is an Orthodox rabbi, magna cum laude, M.D., Ph.D. A graduate of Duke University, and was a writer for NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association).
Case of Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement (Accused of cultic type practices and sexual offenses)
Case of Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum (Accused of child pornography on the internet)
Case of Rabbi Robert Kirschner (Accused of sexually exploited or harassing three congregants and a synagogue employee)
Case of Rabbi Ze'ev Kopolevitch (Convicted of molesting students at Rosh Yeshiva, Netiv Meir yeshiva high school)
Case of Rabbi Baruch Lanner (Convicted - child molestation.)
Case of Rabbi Jerrold Martin Levy (Convicted of two counts of soliciting sex through the Internet and two counts of child pornography. He was sentenced to six years and sex in prison. He was caught in the "Candyman" year-long sting operation by the US government.)
Case of Rabbi Pinchas Lew (Accused of exposed himself to a woman.)
Case of Rabbi/Psychologist Mordecai Magencey (lost his license to practice in the State of Missouri because of his sexual misconduct with his patients.)
Case of Rabbi Richard Marcovitz (Convicted of indecent or lewd acts with a child, and sexual battery)
Case of Rabbi Juda Mintz (Convicted - internet sting on child pornography)
Rabbi Yona Metzger (Accused of sexually misconduct with four men)
Case of Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz (Accused of two counts of sex abuse with boys at a special education school in New York)
Case of Cantor Howard Nevison (Accused of molesting his nephew)
Case of Rabbi Michael Ozair (Accused of sexual molestation of a then-14-year-old girl)
Case of Cantor Stanley Rosenfeld (Convicted of molesting a 12-year-old boy he was tutoring.)
Case of Rabbi Charles Shalman (Accused of sexual misconduct toward female congregational members)
Case of Cantor Robert Shapiro (Accused of three counts of rape and four counts of indecent assault and battery to a mentally retarded woman)
Case of Cantor Michael Segelstein (Accused of attempted rape; Chabad - Las Vegas, Nevada)
Case of Rabbi Ze'ev Sultanovitch (Accused of sexually molesting a number of adult yeshiva students at the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva)
Case of Rabbi Melvin Teitelbaum (Accused of three counts of sex crimes against two boys under the age of 14, and one count of assault with intent to commit rape against one boy's mother. The charges were dropped for lack of evidenced)
Case of Rabbi Isadore Trachtman (Accused of cultic type practices and sexual offenses)
Case of Rabbi Hirsch Travis (Rabbi in Monsey, accused of posing as a Brooklyn doctor specializing in infertility problems, and allegedly sexually abusing and assaulting a patient.)
Case of Rabbi Matis Weinberg (Accused of cultic type practices and sexual offenses)
Case of Rabbi Yaakov Weiner (Accused of molesting boy at Camp Mogen Avraham, New York)
Case of Rabbi Don Well
Case of Cantor Phillip Wittlin (Convicted of molesting two girls)
Case of Rabbi Mordechai Yomtov (Convicted of sexual abuse and committing lewd acts against three boys)
Case of Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman (Violated guidelines concerning "sexual ethics and sexual boundaries," )
Case of Rabbi Max Zucker (Accused by three women of improperly touching)
And Other Trusted Officals (Parents, Teachers, Camp Counselors, etc.)
Case of Arie Adler and Marisa Rimland, NY (Arie Adler was accused of molesting his daughter. Marisa Rimland murdered her daughter, and then committed suicide).
Case of Simcha Adler - Ohel Counselor, NY (Plea-bargained charges of sodomy, sexual abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child down to attempted sodomy.)
Case of Eugene Loub Aronin - School Counselor, TX (Convicted in 1984 of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy)
Case of B'Nai Torah Congegation - Hillel Community Day School janitor, Boca Raton, FL (Accused of child molestation)
Case of Chaim Ciment (Accused and charged with first-degree sexual abuse, after allegations were made that he fondled a 17 year old girl in an elevator).
Case of James A. Cohen - Jewish Youth Group Leader (Convicted child molester, sentenced to 9 years for assaulting 4 boys)
Case of Larry Cohen - Soccer Coach, Lake Oswego, OR (Accused of molesting two individuals.)
Case of Lawrence Cohen - School Teacher, NJ (Convicted and sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for transmitting child pornography through his home computer).
Case of Phillip "Eli" Cohen, London, England (Accused of 13 charges of indecently assaulting a boy and four offences of indecently assaulting a girl)
Case of Stuart Cooperman, MD - Pediatrican, Merrick, New York (Accused of molesting six female patience).
Case of Delaware Family (Father accused of alleged child molestation)
Case of Mordechai (Morton) Ehrman - Simcha's Play Group, Brooklyn, NY (Accused of molesting dozens of students).
Case of Hbrandon Lee Flagner (Convicted of the kidnapping and aggravated murder of Tiffany Jennifer Papesh a 8-year-old girl. Flagner also claimed to have molested hundreds of girls during his life. While in prison, Flagner convert to Judaism by an Chasidic rabbi.)
Case of Arnold and Jesse Friedman (Capturing the Friedmans) (Convicted sex offender)
Case of Richard "Steve" Goldberg (Allegedly engaging in sex acts with several girls under 10 in California. He is on the FBI's ten most wanted fugitives list)
Case of Ross Goldstein (Convicting of sodomy in the first degree (three counts) and use of a child in a sexual performance. He was Sentenced to four concurrent indeterminated terms of 2 to 6 years imprisonment. Also see: Case of Arnold and Jesse Friedman)
Case of Several Child Sex Offenders in Har Nof 0 Jerusalem, Israel (Outlines several cases of alleged child sex offenders in the charedi town of Har Nof)
Case of David B. Harrington - School Principal / Big Brother, Rockville, MD (Convicted sex offender. Cases from the 1960's - 1980's.)
Case of State of Israel Vs. a Sex Offender (Convicted - 68 year old Israeli religious man pled guilty to repeated molestation of his granddaughter, was sentenced to 19 years in jail.
Case of Eric Hindin - Jewish Big Brother Volunteer, Newton, MA (Convicted of 35 counts of child rape. He was sentenced to 20-22 years in prison).
Case of Judge Ronald Kline, CA (Accused of possessing child pornography and for allegedly molesting a neighborhood boy 25 years ago).
Case of the Kosher Butcher in Chicago (Accused of molesting children for over 30 years)
Case of Lawrence Nevison - (Convicted of molesting his nephew. He is the brother of Cantor Howard Nevison)
Case of Stuart Nevison - (Convicted of molesting his cousin. He is the brother of Cantor Howard Nevison)
The Case of the Students of Ner Israel Yeshiva in the 1950's (Students accused of sexually molesting a younger student)
Case of the New York Society for the Deaf's Home (Accused of treating disabled patients ``like animals,'' beaten, drugged and robbed of their government checks).
Case of Ozzie Orbach, M.D. (Accused of molesting his daughter)
Case of the Rogers Park JCC, Chicago Illinois (This was the first case of alleged mass molestation recorded in Illinois to involve accusations of sexual abuse by a group of adults, consists of 246 allegations that staff members abused children enrolled at the center, according to the Illinois Department of children and Family Services).
Case of Jonathan Rosenthal - Community Police Liason, London, England (Acquitted of sexually assaulting a few children, after a jury used ancient common law right, deciding evidence wasn't strong enough.)
Case of Adam Theodore Rubin - Teacher, Coach and Girl Scout Coordinator (Accused of using a computer to solicit sex with a minor, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of drug paraphernalia).
Case of Georges Schteinberg - Teacher, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Accused of possession of child pornography. Charges dropped when Schteinberg fled the country).
Case of Aryeh Scher - Israeli vice-consul, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Accused of possession of child pornography. Charges dropped when Scher fled the country).
Case of David Schwartz - Camp Counselor, Culver City, CA (Convicted and sentenced to one year in residential treatment and five years' probation for molesting a 4-year-old boy in his care at summer camp. A six-year prison sentence was suspended).
Case of Jerrold Schwartz - Scoutmaster, NY (Convicted and sentanced to 8 years in prison for multiple counts of sodomizing his former scout ).
Case of Irwin Silverman - Chief Counsel to U.S. secretary of interior 1933-53 (Accused of molesting his daughter Sue William Silverman. )
Case of Paul Slifer - Teacher (Accused of sexually assaulting a several students, and impersonating a doctor. )
Case of Ari Sorkin - Synagogue Youth Worker, Elkins Park, PA (Accused of molesting a 16 yr. old girl)
Case of Tel Aviv Arts School, Tel Aviv, Israel
Case of Dr. Saul and Judith Wasserman (Accused of molesting their daughter)
Case of David Douglas Webber - Mashgiach (Kashrut Supervisor), Canada (Convicted and sentenced to six years for possessing child pornography and molesting seven boys over the past eight years).
Case of Rabbi Lewis Brenner (Convicted of child molestation. The original charges included 14 counts of sodomy, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. He agreed to plead guilty to one count of sodomy in the third degree, a Class E felony, in exchange for a sentence of five years' probation.)
Case of Rabbi Ephraim Bryks (Accusations about sexual inappropriate behavior with children started surfacing in the 1980's. Rabbi Bryks is currently a member of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens. The Vaad is a Rabbinical committee that makes important decisions within an orthodox community.)
Case of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (Accused of several cases of child molestation, and sexual assault of young women)
Case Rabbi Perry Ian Cohen - Montreal and Toronto Canada (Accused of sexual abuse of a seventeen year old. Fired for sexual impropriety with congregants)
Case of Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen (Accused of sexually harassing students at Bar-Ilan University)
Case of Rabbi Ephraim Goldberg - Boca Raton, Flordia (Pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of exposure of sexual organs in a washroom at a Palm Beach Mall.)
Case of Rabbi/Cantor Sidney Goldenberg (Convicted of molesting children. The first complaints came in 1971. He was finally convicted in 1997.)
Case of Cantor Joel Gordon (Convicted of having keeping a house of prostitution and involvement in a prostitution ring.)
Case of Rabbi Israel Grunwald (Accused of molesting a 15 year old on a 1995 plane flight from Australia to LA. The charge against him were dropped after agreeing to perform 500 hours of community service and to seek counseling. Grunwald was the chief rabbi of an Hungarian Hasidic congregation in Brooklyn, known as the Pupas).
Case of The State of Israel Vs. Sex Offender (Convicted of repeated rape and forced molestation of his graddaughter.)
Case of Yehudah Friedlander - Rabbi 's Assistant (Accused of molesting a 15 year old on a 1995 plane flight from Australia to LA. Friedlander was the assistant to the chief rabbi of an Hungarian Hasidic congregation in Brooklyn, known as the Pupas)
Case of the Rabbi at Hillel Torah, Chicago, IL (A teacher at the Chicago school was accused of child molestation. His name was not released. The school did everything correctly in attempting to keep the children safe once accusations were made.)
Case of Rabbi Solomon Hafner (Accused of sexually abusing a developmentally disabled boy)
Case of Rabbi (Alan J.) Shneur Horowitz (Convicted and sentenced to 10 - 20 years in prison for sodomizing a nine-year-old psychiatric patient. Allegedly, he has assaulted a string of children from California to Israel to New York in the past twenty years. Alan J. Horowitz is an Orthodox rabbi, magna cum laude, M.D., Ph.D. A graduate of Duke University, and was a writer for NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association).
Case of Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement (Accused of cultic type practices and sexual offenses)
Case of Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum (Accused of child pornography on the internet)
Case of Rabbi Robert Kirschner (Accused of sexually exploited or harassing three congregants and a synagogue employee)
Case of Rabbi Ze'ev Kopolevitch (Convicted of molesting students at Rosh Yeshiva, Netiv Meir yeshiva high school)
Case of Rabbi Baruch Lanner (Convicted - child molestation.)
Case of Rabbi Jerrold Martin Levy (Convicted of two counts of soliciting sex through the Internet and two counts of child pornography. He was sentenced to six years and sex in prison. He was caught in the "Candyman" year-long sting operation by the US government.)
Case of Rabbi Pinchas Lew (Accused of exposed himself to a woman.)
Case of Rabbi/Psychologist Mordecai Magencey (lost his license to practice in the State of Missouri because of his sexual misconduct with his patients.)
Case of Rabbi Richard Marcovitz (Convicted of indecent or lewd acts with a child, and sexual battery)
Case of Rabbi Juda Mintz (Convicted - internet sting on child pornography)
Rabbi Yona Metzger (Accused of sexually misconduct with four men)
Case of Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz (Accused of two counts of sex abuse with boys at a special education school in New York)
Case of Cantor Howard Nevison (Accused of molesting his nephew)
Case of Rabbi Michael Ozair (Accused of sexual molestation of a then-14-year-old girl)
Case of Cantor Stanley Rosenfeld (Convicted of molesting a 12-year-old boy he was tutoring.)
Case of Rabbi Charles Shalman (Accused of sexual misconduct toward female congregational members)
Case of Cantor Robert Shapiro (Accused of three counts of rape and four counts of indecent assault and battery to a mentally retarded woman)
Case of Cantor Michael Segelstein (Accused of attempted rape; Chabad - Las Vegas, Nevada)
Case of Rabbi Ze'ev Sultanovitch (Accused of sexually molesting a number of adult yeshiva students at the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva)
Case of Rabbi Melvin Teitelbaum (Accused of three counts of sex crimes against two boys under the age of 14, and one count of assault with intent to commit rape against one boy's mother. The charges were dropped for lack of evidenced)
Case of Rabbi Isadore Trachtman (Accused of cultic type practices and sexual offenses)
Case of Rabbi Hirsch Travis (Rabbi in Monsey, accused of posing as a Brooklyn doctor specializing in infertility problems, and allegedly sexually abusing and assaulting a patient.)
Case of Rabbi Matis Weinberg (Accused of cultic type practices and sexual offenses)
Case of Rabbi Yaakov Weiner (Accused of molesting boy at Camp Mogen Avraham, New York)
Case of Rabbi Don Well
Case of Cantor Phillip Wittlin (Convicted of molesting two girls)
Case of Rabbi Mordechai Yomtov (Convicted of sexual abuse and committing lewd acts against three boys)
Case of Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman (Violated guidelines concerning "sexual ethics and sexual boundaries," )
Case of Rabbi Max Zucker (Accused by three women of improperly touching)
And Other Trusted Officals (Parents, Teachers, Camp Counselors, etc.)
Case of Arie Adler and Marisa Rimland, NY (Arie Adler was accused of molesting his daughter. Marisa Rimland murdered her daughter, and then committed suicide).
Case of Simcha Adler - Ohel Counselor, NY (Plea-bargained charges of sodomy, sexual abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child down to attempted sodomy.)
Case of Eugene Loub Aronin - School Counselor, TX (Convicted in 1984 of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy)
Case of B'Nai Torah Congegation - Hillel Community Day School janitor, Boca Raton, FL (Accused of child molestation)
Case of Chaim Ciment (Accused and charged with first-degree sexual abuse, after allegations were made that he fondled a 17 year old girl in an elevator).
Case of James A. Cohen - Jewish Youth Group Leader (Convicted child molester, sentenced to 9 years for assaulting 4 boys)
Case of Larry Cohen - Soccer Coach, Lake Oswego, OR (Accused of molesting two individuals.)
Case of Lawrence Cohen - School Teacher, NJ (Convicted and sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for transmitting child pornography through his home computer).
Case of Phillip "Eli" Cohen, London, England (Accused of 13 charges of indecently assaulting a boy and four offences of indecently assaulting a girl)
Case of Stuart Cooperman, MD - Pediatrican, Merrick, New York (Accused of molesting six female patience).
Case of Delaware Family (Father accused of alleged child molestation)
Case of Mordechai (Morton) Ehrman - Simcha's Play Group, Brooklyn, NY (Accused of molesting dozens of students).
Case of Hbrandon Lee Flagner (Convicted of the kidnapping and aggravated murder of Tiffany Jennifer Papesh a 8-year-old girl. Flagner also claimed to have molested hundreds of girls during his life. While in prison, Flagner convert to Judaism by an Chasidic rabbi.)
Case of Arnold and Jesse Friedman (Capturing the Friedmans) (Convicted sex offender)
Case of Richard "Steve" Goldberg (Allegedly engaging in sex acts with several girls under 10 in California. He is on the FBI's ten most wanted fugitives list)
Case of Ross Goldstein (Convicting of sodomy in the first degree (three counts) and use of a child in a sexual performance. He was Sentenced to four concurrent indeterminated terms of 2 to 6 years imprisonment. Also see: Case of Arnold and Jesse Friedman)
Case of Several Child Sex Offenders in Har Nof 0 Jerusalem, Israel (Outlines several cases of alleged child sex offenders in the charedi town of Har Nof)
Case of David B. Harrington - School Principal / Big Brother, Rockville, MD (Convicted sex offender. Cases from the 1960's - 1980's.)
Case of State of Israel Vs. a Sex Offender (Convicted - 68 year old Israeli religious man pled guilty to repeated molestation of his granddaughter, was sentenced to 19 years in jail.
Case of Eric Hindin - Jewish Big Brother Volunteer, Newton, MA (Convicted of 35 counts of child rape. He was sentenced to 20-22 years in prison).
Case of Judge Ronald Kline, CA (Accused of possessing child pornography and for allegedly molesting a neighborhood boy 25 years ago).
Case of the Kosher Butcher in Chicago (Accused of molesting children for over 30 years)
Case of Lawrence Nevison - (Convicted of molesting his nephew. He is the brother of Cantor Howard Nevison)
Case of Stuart Nevison - (Convicted of molesting his cousin. He is the brother of Cantor Howard Nevison)
The Case of the Students of Ner Israel Yeshiva in the 1950's (Students accused of sexually molesting a younger student)
Case of the New York Society for the Deaf's Home (Accused of treating disabled patients ``like animals,'' beaten, drugged and robbed of their government checks).
Case of Ozzie Orbach, M.D. (Accused of molesting his daughter)
Case of the Rogers Park JCC, Chicago Illinois (This was the first case of alleged mass molestation recorded in Illinois to involve accusations of sexual abuse by a group of adults, consists of 246 allegations that staff members abused children enrolled at the center, according to the Illinois Department of children and Family Services).
Case of Jonathan Rosenthal - Community Police Liason, London, England (Acquitted of sexually assaulting a few children, after a jury used ancient common law right, deciding evidence wasn't strong enough.)
Case of Adam Theodore Rubin - Teacher, Coach and Girl Scout Coordinator (Accused of using a computer to solicit sex with a minor, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of drug paraphernalia).
Case of Georges Schteinberg - Teacher, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Accused of possession of child pornography. Charges dropped when Schteinberg fled the country).
Case of Aryeh Scher - Israeli vice-consul, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Accused of possession of child pornography. Charges dropped when Scher fled the country).
Case of David Schwartz - Camp Counselor, Culver City, CA (Convicted and sentenced to one year in residential treatment and five years' probation for molesting a 4-year-old boy in his care at summer camp. A six-year prison sentence was suspended).
Case of Jerrold Schwartz - Scoutmaster, NY (Convicted and sentanced to 8 years in prison for multiple counts of sodomizing his former scout ).
Case of Irwin Silverman - Chief Counsel to U.S. secretary of interior 1933-53 (Accused of molesting his daughter Sue William Silverman. )
Case of Paul Slifer - Teacher (Accused of sexually assaulting a several students, and impersonating a doctor. )
Case of Ari Sorkin - Synagogue Youth Worker, Elkins Park, PA (Accused of molesting a 16 yr. old girl)
Case of Tel Aviv Arts School, Tel Aviv, Israel
Case of Dr. Saul and Judith Wasserman (Accused of molesting their daughter)
Case of David Douglas Webber - Mashgiach (Kashrut Supervisor), Canada (Convicted and sentenced to six years for possessing child pornography and molesting seven boys over the past eight years).
Three Pigs Story Ruled ‘Offensive to Muslims’
A children’s story based on the tale of the Three Little Pigs was rejected for an award after judges became concerned that it would offend Muslims.
The animated virtual book for primary school children, The Three Little Cowboy Builders, was also criticised for its potential to offend builders.
The row centred on the Bett awards, which were supported by Becta, the Government’s technology agency for schools. The judges’ remarks, reported on the education technology website Merlin John Online, included: “Is it true that all builders are cowboys, builders get their work blown down, and builders are like pigs?
“The idea of taking a traditional tale and retelling a story is fine, but it should not alienate parts of the workforce. Judges would not recommend this product to the Muslim community in particular.”
Ann Curtis, whose company, Shoo Fly Publishing, produced the CD-Rom, said the criticisms were unjustified and could even “propagate a racist stance”. She said: “I felt disbelief, to be honest. As a small company, we have a strong ethical and moral grounding. We support the rights of all children in the world to have access to education.
“To be told that we cynically set out to alienate minority groups is a very narrow-minded view.” She said the group had had messages of support from the local community, including Muslims. The book had already won an award in a separate competition.
But the Bett award’s backers—Becta, the Besa trade association and Emap Education—said that the book was rejected for a range of reasons. In a joint statement, they said: “The reason The Three Little Cowboy Builders was not shortlisted was that it failed to reach the required standard across a number of criteria. The . . . issues highlighted were a small selection from a much broader range of comments.
“In particular, the product was not sufficiently convincing on curriculum and innovation grounds to be shortlisted.”
The statement said the competition aimed to “reward inclusive and accessible designs” and was judged by a panel of 70 people, including many teachers.
The animated virtual book for primary school children, The Three Little Cowboy Builders, was also criticised for its potential to offend builders.
The row centred on the Bett awards, which were supported by Becta, the Government’s technology agency for schools. The judges’ remarks, reported on the education technology website Merlin John Online, included: “Is it true that all builders are cowboys, builders get their work blown down, and builders are like pigs?
“The idea of taking a traditional tale and retelling a story is fine, but it should not alienate parts of the workforce. Judges would not recommend this product to the Muslim community in particular.”
Ann Curtis, whose company, Shoo Fly Publishing, produced the CD-Rom, said the criticisms were unjustified and could even “propagate a racist stance”. She said: “I felt disbelief, to be honest. As a small company, we have a strong ethical and moral grounding. We support the rights of all children in the world to have access to education.
“To be told that we cynically set out to alienate minority groups is a very narrow-minded view.” She said the group had had messages of support from the local community, including Muslims. The book had already won an award in a separate competition.
But the Bett award’s backers—Becta, the Besa trade association and Emap Education—said that the book was rejected for a range of reasons. In a joint statement, they said: “The reason The Three Little Cowboy Builders was not shortlisted was that it failed to reach the required standard across a number of criteria. The . . . issues highlighted were a small selection from a much broader range of comments.
“In particular, the product was not sufficiently convincing on curriculum and innovation grounds to be shortlisted.”
The statement said the competition aimed to “reward inclusive and accessible designs” and was judged by a panel of 70 people, including many teachers.
18-year-old indicted for hate crime
An 18-year-old Colfax man accused of hanging nooses from the back of his truck and driving past Jena Six marchers in Alexandria in September has been indicted on a federal hate crime.
Jeremiah Munsen faces up to 11 years in prison and a fine of $350,000 if convicted on the hate crime and civil rights conspiracy violation, according to the United States Department of Justice.
“This indictment accuses the defendant of conduct that constitutes a federal civil rights conspiracy violation and a federal hate crime,” said United States Attorney Donald Washington on Thursday. “It is a violation of federal law to intimidate, oppress, injure or threaten people because of their race and because those people are exercising and enjoying rights guaranteed and protected by the laws and Constitution of the United States. Our civil rights laws protect the civil rights of all Americans, and they remind us that we are all members of one particular race -- the human race.”
On Sept. 20, thousands of people from across the country came to Alexandria and to Jena for a march in support of six high school students known as the Jena Six.
The six Jena High School students were arrested accused of attacking a fellow classmate, Justin Barker. The six arrested are black and Barker is white.
The arrest and case garnered nationwide attention after the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson made visits to Jena, claiming the treatment of the six teens was unfair.
One of the six has pleaded guilty in the attack. Others are awaiting trial.
Following the marches in Jena, many of the marchers came to Alexandria and gathered in downtown.
According to the indictment, Munsen and a 16-year-old boy, who has not been identified, conspired to threaten and intimidate the African Americans gathered in downtown Alexandria.
The indictment alleges the two fashioned nooses out of extension cords while talking about the Ku Klux Klan and the Jena Six rally then tied the nooses onto a truck.
They came to Alexandria where they allegedly drove slowly past a group of marchers waiting for buses to return to Tennessee, according to the Department of Justice.
Alexandria police arrested Munsen, who was driving, on charges of driving while intoxicated, inciting to riot and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, according to the police report.
The 16-year-old passenger was arrested on charges of underage drinking and probation violation, Alexandria Police Chief Daren Coutee said.
According to the police report, the 16-year-old told police he had a “KKK” tattoo on his chest and he had relatives who are members of the Klan.
According to Alexandria police, an unloaded gun was found in the vehicle and a set of brass knuckles.
The case is being prosecuted by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office.
Jeremiah Munsen faces up to 11 years in prison and a fine of $350,000 if convicted on the hate crime and civil rights conspiracy violation, according to the United States Department of Justice.
“This indictment accuses the defendant of conduct that constitutes a federal civil rights conspiracy violation and a federal hate crime,” said United States Attorney Donald Washington on Thursday. “It is a violation of federal law to intimidate, oppress, injure or threaten people because of their race and because those people are exercising and enjoying rights guaranteed and protected by the laws and Constitution of the United States. Our civil rights laws protect the civil rights of all Americans, and they remind us that we are all members of one particular race -- the human race.”
On Sept. 20, thousands of people from across the country came to Alexandria and to Jena for a march in support of six high school students known as the Jena Six.
The six Jena High School students were arrested accused of attacking a fellow classmate, Justin Barker. The six arrested are black and Barker is white.
The arrest and case garnered nationwide attention after the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson made visits to Jena, claiming the treatment of the six teens was unfair.
One of the six has pleaded guilty in the attack. Others are awaiting trial.
Following the marches in Jena, many of the marchers came to Alexandria and gathered in downtown.
According to the indictment, Munsen and a 16-year-old boy, who has not been identified, conspired to threaten and intimidate the African Americans gathered in downtown Alexandria.
The indictment alleges the two fashioned nooses out of extension cords while talking about the Ku Klux Klan and the Jena Six rally then tied the nooses onto a truck.
They came to Alexandria where they allegedly drove slowly past a group of marchers waiting for buses to return to Tennessee, according to the Department of Justice.
Alexandria police arrested Munsen, who was driving, on charges of driving while intoxicated, inciting to riot and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, according to the police report.
The 16-year-old passenger was arrested on charges of underage drinking and probation violation, Alexandria Police Chief Daren Coutee said.
According to the police report, the 16-year-old told police he had a “KKK” tattoo on his chest and he had relatives who are members of the Klan.
According to Alexandria police, an unloaded gun was found in the vehicle and a set of brass knuckles.
The case is being prosecuted by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office.
Monday, January 14, 2008
ADL To Supreme Court: States Should Regulate Firearms
I Guess the ADL isn't concerned so much about keeping guns out of the hands of black criminals and illegal immigrants.
New York, NY, January 11, 2008 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on the United States Supreme Court to continue to allow states to protect their citizens' lives, liberty and property by regulating the purchase and possession of firearms. The League urged the Court to ensure that states retain the ability to keep guns out of the hands of "violent bigots."
Glen S. Lewy, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:
This case is about allowing states to protect their citizens' lives, liberty and property by regulating the purchase and possession of firearms.
Gun violence and the caching of dangerous weapons are commonplace among extremists. If states lose the right to regulate firearm ownership, it would help violent bigots in their efforts to create an America based on hate and intolerance. We urge the Supreme Court to ensure that states have the tools to counter these agents of hate.
We are also deeply concerned about the possession and use of firearms by children. The Court must permit states to keep guns out of the hands of those who would bring violence to our schools.
The regulation of firearms is a rational response to these twin evils and is consistent with the Second Amendment's call for a well-regulated militia.
This case, District of Columbia v Heller, will determine – for the first time in over 60 years – whether the Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to firearms for private use.
ADL joined a coalition in filing a "friend-of-the-court" brief (.pdf) to the Court, contending that the Second Amendment should not be interpreted as limiting a state's authority to regulate firearms when it seeks to protect the life, liberty and property of its citizens. Rather, the brief argues, the language of the Amendment can only be reasonably read to prohibit the federal government from interfering with such state regulation.
Jeffrey A. Lamken of Baker Botts L.L.P was the principal author of the coalition brief.
New York, NY, January 11, 2008 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on the United States Supreme Court to continue to allow states to protect their citizens' lives, liberty and property by regulating the purchase and possession of firearms. The League urged the Court to ensure that states retain the ability to keep guns out of the hands of "violent bigots."
Glen S. Lewy, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:
This case is about allowing states to protect their citizens' lives, liberty and property by regulating the purchase and possession of firearms.
Gun violence and the caching of dangerous weapons are commonplace among extremists. If states lose the right to regulate firearm ownership, it would help violent bigots in their efforts to create an America based on hate and intolerance. We urge the Supreme Court to ensure that states have the tools to counter these agents of hate.
We are also deeply concerned about the possession and use of firearms by children. The Court must permit states to keep guns out of the hands of those who would bring violence to our schools.
The regulation of firearms is a rational response to these twin evils and is consistent with the Second Amendment's call for a well-regulated militia.
This case, District of Columbia v Heller, will determine – for the first time in over 60 years – whether the Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to firearms for private use.
ADL joined a coalition in filing a "friend-of-the-court" brief (.pdf) to the Court, contending that the Second Amendment should not be interpreted as limiting a state's authority to regulate firearms when it seeks to protect the life, liberty and property of its citizens. Rather, the brief argues, the language of the Amendment can only be reasonably read to prohibit the federal government from interfering with such state regulation.
Jeffrey A. Lamken of Baker Botts L.L.P was the principal author of the coalition brief.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Bush Shakes Hand With An Enemy Of America
JERUSALEM (AFP) — US President George W. Bush on Thursday shook the hand of an Israeli minister barred from entering the United States over his role in a high-profile spy case at an official dinner party.
Bush, together with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top White House officials all met with Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan at a dinner party hosted by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in his Jerusalem residence, according to TV footage.
All the top ministers in Olmert's coalition government were also present at the event.
Olmert introduced Eitan to the president, although they were not shown talking. Eitan was then seen shaking hands with Rice alongside Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
The president will on Thursday end a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories aimed at boosting the Middle East peace talks that were relaunched last November.
Eitan, a member of Israel's security cabinet, was the old Mossad handler for Jonathan Pollard, an American Jew sentenced to life in prison for spying on Israel.
Pollard had passed thousands of secret documents about US spy activities in the Arab world to Israel between May 1984 and his arrest in November 1985.
The issue of Pollard, a US-born Jew who has taken Israeli citizenship while in prison, has been a thorn in the side of relations between Israel and its main ally Washington for years.
At the time of the affair, Eitan was head of the Bureau of Scientific Relations, an Israeli secret service which was later broken up.
When he was found out, Pollard sought the protection of the Israeli embassy in Washington, but was refused access and later arrested by the FBI.
Israel's Trade and Industry Minister Eli Yishai said he intended to petition Bush during his visit for the release of Pollard, considered a national hero by most Israelis.
Israel has repeatedly tried in vain to secure Pollard's release.
Pollard's wife Esther told the Jerusalem Post that her husband was "shocked and disgusted" by the fact that Eitan was invited to the president's dinner while he sat in jail.
Bush, together with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top White House officials all met with Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan at a dinner party hosted by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in his Jerusalem residence, according to TV footage.
All the top ministers in Olmert's coalition government were also present at the event.
Olmert introduced Eitan to the president, although they were not shown talking. Eitan was then seen shaking hands with Rice alongside Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
The president will on Thursday end a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories aimed at boosting the Middle East peace talks that were relaunched last November.
Eitan, a member of Israel's security cabinet, was the old Mossad handler for Jonathan Pollard, an American Jew sentenced to life in prison for spying on Israel.
Pollard had passed thousands of secret documents about US spy activities in the Arab world to Israel between May 1984 and his arrest in November 1985.
The issue of Pollard, a US-born Jew who has taken Israeli citizenship while in prison, has been a thorn in the side of relations between Israel and its main ally Washington for years.
At the time of the affair, Eitan was head of the Bureau of Scientific Relations, an Israeli secret service which was later broken up.
When he was found out, Pollard sought the protection of the Israeli embassy in Washington, but was refused access and later arrested by the FBI.
Israel's Trade and Industry Minister Eli Yishai said he intended to petition Bush during his visit for the release of Pollard, considered a national hero by most Israelis.
Israel has repeatedly tried in vain to secure Pollard's release.
Pollard's wife Esther told the Jerusalem Post that her husband was "shocked and disgusted" by the fact that Eitan was invited to the president's dinner while he sat in jail.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Murdered By Mumia By Maureen Faulkner
Cheers to Maureen Faulkner. She's dedicated her life to fighting the lies and insanity spread by the communistic Pro-Mumia Movement. She's documented the facts and confirms what many of us have so long suspected. "Free Mumia" is nothing more than Marxist sloganeering and Mumia is nothing more than a symbol of anarchy and chaos for those who have taken up a crusade against everything white and civilized. Buy this book.
Danny Faulkner:R.I.P.
Danny Faulkner:R.I.P.
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