Perhaps someone can explain a sentence from this article.
Devon M. Smith, 17, of 26 Cherry Street, was arrested after she punched a fellow student, despite the fact the victim has an order of protection that barred Smith from having assaultive contact with her, police said.
I'm not a legal expert but doesn't the law bar everyone from having assaultive contact with anyone else?
Friday, November 30, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Former Iraq commander calls for withdrawal
So now retired Lt. Gen Ricardo Sanchez has called for US troops in Iraq to be withdrawn within a year.
Sanchez's comments in support of Congressional legislation are all the more damning considering that he was actually the commander of US occupation forces in Iraq from 2003-04.
He condemned Iraqi politicians for their failure to show any leadership. "The improvements in security produced by the courage and blood of our troops have not been matched by a willingness on the part of Iraqi leaders to make the hard choices necessary to bring peace to their country," he said.
If a Bush appointee who implemented Bush's policies and who knows the military situation in Iraq better than nearly any other American has come to this conclusion, when will Congressional Democrats finally grow a spine?
If our former top soldier in Iraq can't provide the craven Democrats enough political cover to do what's right, then clearly they have no business running the Congress.
It makes you wonder when well-meaning liberals will finally figure out that the corporate-controlled Democratic Party is either unwilling or unable to implement a progressive agenda and, therefore, they ought to hitch their cart to another horse.
Sanchez's comments in support of Congressional legislation are all the more damning considering that he was actually the commander of US occupation forces in Iraq from 2003-04.
He condemned Iraqi politicians for their failure to show any leadership. "The improvements in security produced by the courage and blood of our troops have not been matched by a willingness on the part of Iraqi leaders to make the hard choices necessary to bring peace to their country," he said.
If a Bush appointee who implemented Bush's policies and who knows the military situation in Iraq better than nearly any other American has come to this conclusion, when will Congressional Democrats finally grow a spine?
If our former top soldier in Iraq can't provide the craven Democrats enough political cover to do what's right, then clearly they have no business running the Congress.
It makes you wonder when well-meaning liberals will finally figure out that the corporate-controlled Democratic Party is either unwilling or unable to implement a progressive agenda and, therefore, they ought to hitch their cart to another horse.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Belgium's breakup imminent?
This essay is part of an occasional feature on this blog that presents interesting stories from elsewhere in the world, particularly Africa, that are little reported in the American media. It's part of my campaign to get people to realize there is a lot going on in the world outside the US, Israel, Iraq, North Korea and Iran.
The Guardian has a look at the political crisis in Belgium. The country has been without a government for five and a half months.
The country essentially split between Flemish (a dialect of Dutch) speakers in the north and Walloon (a dialect of French) in the south. Some argue has been held together by string and duct tape for decades, but the latent discomfort has been brought to ahead this year with parliament's failure to choose a prime minister and cabinet.
National identity has been at the forefront of Belgium politics for much of the year. On April 1, state television rather a somewhat tasteless April Fools' Joke by airing a spoof news report on the breakup of the country. The joke was not particularly well-received by the public.
However, the potential breakup of Belgium is a troubling idea. The whole concept of both globalization and the European Union is that smaller states united to form a more economically and politically powerful bloc. Belgium's disintegration would result in the opposite... ironic since most of the EU's institutions are located in Belgium's capital Brussels.
(Another idea floated is that Flanders would join the Netherlands and Wallonia would become part of France)
The breakup is also troubling for the same reason as Québec's potential secession from Canada. If prosperous, democratic, vibrant multiethnic states like Belgium and Canada can't survive, then what hope is there for any kind of real progress in places like the Balkans, Rwanda and Liberia?
The Guardian has a look at the political crisis in Belgium. The country has been without a government for five and a half months.
The country essentially split between Flemish (a dialect of Dutch) speakers in the north and Walloon (a dialect of French) in the south. Some argue has been held together by string and duct tape for decades, but the latent discomfort has been brought to ahead this year with parliament's failure to choose a prime minister and cabinet.
National identity has been at the forefront of Belgium politics for much of the year. On April 1, state television rather a somewhat tasteless April Fools' Joke by airing a spoof news report on the breakup of the country. The joke was not particularly well-received by the public.
However, the potential breakup of Belgium is a troubling idea. The whole concept of both globalization and the European Union is that smaller states united to form a more economically and politically powerful bloc. Belgium's disintegration would result in the opposite... ironic since most of the EU's institutions are located in Belgium's capital Brussels.
(Another idea floated is that Flanders would join the Netherlands and Wallonia would become part of France)
The breakup is also troubling for the same reason as Québec's potential secession from Canada. If prosperous, democratic, vibrant multiethnic states like Belgium and Canada can't survive, then what hope is there for any kind of real progress in places like the Balkans, Rwanda and Liberia?
Friday, November 23, 2007
Aid to Africa wiped out by war
This essay is part of a (more or less) weekly feature on this blog that presents interesting stories from elsewhere in the world, particularly Africa, that are little reported in the American media. It's part of my campaign to get people to realize there is a lot going on in the world outside the US, Israel, Iraq, North Korea and Iran.
I hate to succomb to Afro-pessimism. And I hate even more to write something that risks perpetuating crude western stereotypes about the continent. But at the same time, I can't read the news and be disingenuous about my reaction.
Pessimism in general is not in my nature. And having lived in West Africa, I know that the place has some of the most in innovative and resilient people in the world. I love the continent and its people and that's why events piss me off so much. I can't simply shrug my shoulders and say, "Ah, that's just the way people are there" because I know it's not true. At least not of the vast majority.
I am convinced that if the continent's post-colonial leaders had been just mediocre, if its leaders had simply stayed out of the way, then Africa would be in far better shape than it is now. Instead, it's been cursed with morons, megalomaniacs, gangsters, psychopaths and, at the best, mere crooks.
In recent weeks, I've read stories like this...
-Sudanese strongman Gen. Omar al-Bashir is preparing for a return to war in the south of the country. Perhaps the general is trying to prove his grim multitasking abilities by conducting a war and a genocide simultaneously;
-Renewed conflict in Somalia, primarily Mogadishu, has caused the homelessness of some one million people;
-The head of the DR Congo's army insists that a return to all-out war is the only solution to the crisis in the east of the country;
-There are rumbles that Ethiopia and Eritrea may start another installment of the 'world's stupidest war';
-The Nigerian parliament is trying to reverse the handover of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon. The handover was agreed by former president Olesegun Obasanjo after the International Court of Justice ruled that the land belonged to Cameroon;
-As usual, Zimbabwe's collapsing dictatorship is whipping up hysteria, this time by accusing Britain of preparing to invade the country. This wouldn't be a surprise. After all, the UK already stands accused by the regime of manipulating the weather.
All this comes in the wake of a report showing how armed conflict has cost Africa nearly $300 billion during the period 1990-2005.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) Oxfam says the cost of conflict was equal to the amount of money received in aid during the same period.
Being on the board of an NGO, I follow development issues pretty closely and receive a lot of news from and about the NGO world. I always read about this or that charity damning the western world for not giving enough in development aid. They use words like 'shame' and 'disgrace' and 'pitiful.'
Incidentally, African leaders tend to be more focused on securing fairer trade deals that getting more western handouts.
I understand the tactic. NGOs are trying to appeal to liberal western guilt to get more money.
But the biggest problem isn't western 'stinginess' but a small minority of armed African thugs who hold the majority hostage.
There are many reasons aid hasn't improved things in Africa. Africans like to point to things like neo-colonialism, like foreign exploitation of natural resources, like unfair trade deals. And all of these are legitimate complaints.
But one of the biggest can't be addressed by blaming others.
Aid isn't contributing to African economies. It's merely replacing the money that's being lost because of insane wars. So the continent is staying stagnant in absolute terms and regressing in relative terms.
Africa's so-called intelligentsia likes blaming everything on Europe and the United States. And these parties hardly have clean hands on the continent. After all, where do the arms for all these armed conflicts come from?
However, the result is that anyone who ever was an anti-colonial freedom fighter (Zimbabwe's Mugabe, Ethiopia's Meles, Eritrea's Isaias) seems to get a free pass... no matter how gravely they've betrayed the ideas of their own 'liberation' struggles... no matter how much they've destroyed their own countries or their neighbor's.
The US government spent 'only' 0.14 percent of GNP (in 2003) on international development assistance. Bear in mind that this 'mere' 0.14 percent translated to $15.7 billion, by far the biggest of any country... and that PRIVATE donations by Americans accounts for another $15 billion.
People aren't being killed in the Central African Republic because the US provided 'only' $30.7 billion in aid instead of, say, $35 billion or $50 billion. Europeans aren't killing Sudanese in Darfur. Americans aren't killing Congolese in Kivu. Canadians aren't starving people in Bulawayo or making them homeless in Harare.
Ending all armed conflict won't instantaneously eradicate all poverty in Africa. But if you want to get out of a hole, the first step is to stop digging.
I hate to succomb to Afro-pessimism. And I hate even more to write something that risks perpetuating crude western stereotypes about the continent. But at the same time, I can't read the news and be disingenuous about my reaction.
Pessimism in general is not in my nature. And having lived in West Africa, I know that the place has some of the most in innovative and resilient people in the world. I love the continent and its people and that's why events piss me off so much. I can't simply shrug my shoulders and say, "Ah, that's just the way people are there" because I know it's not true. At least not of the vast majority.
I am convinced that if the continent's post-colonial leaders had been just mediocre, if its leaders had simply stayed out of the way, then Africa would be in far better shape than it is now. Instead, it's been cursed with morons, megalomaniacs, gangsters, psychopaths and, at the best, mere crooks.
In recent weeks, I've read stories like this...
-Sudanese strongman Gen. Omar al-Bashir is preparing for a return to war in the south of the country. Perhaps the general is trying to prove his grim multitasking abilities by conducting a war and a genocide simultaneously;
-Renewed conflict in Somalia, primarily Mogadishu, has caused the homelessness of some one million people;
-The head of the DR Congo's army insists that a return to all-out war is the only solution to the crisis in the east of the country;
-There are rumbles that Ethiopia and Eritrea may start another installment of the 'world's stupidest war';
-The Nigerian parliament is trying to reverse the handover of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon. The handover was agreed by former president Olesegun Obasanjo after the International Court of Justice ruled that the land belonged to Cameroon;
-As usual, Zimbabwe's collapsing dictatorship is whipping up hysteria, this time by accusing Britain of preparing to invade the country. This wouldn't be a surprise. After all, the UK already stands accused by the regime of manipulating the weather.
All this comes in the wake of a report showing how armed conflict has cost Africa nearly $300 billion during the period 1990-2005.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) Oxfam says the cost of conflict was equal to the amount of money received in aid during the same period.
Being on the board of an NGO, I follow development issues pretty closely and receive a lot of news from and about the NGO world. I always read about this or that charity damning the western world for not giving enough in development aid. They use words like 'shame' and 'disgrace' and 'pitiful.'
Incidentally, African leaders tend to be more focused on securing fairer trade deals that getting more western handouts.
I understand the tactic. NGOs are trying to appeal to liberal western guilt to get more money.
But the biggest problem isn't western 'stinginess' but a small minority of armed African thugs who hold the majority hostage.
There are many reasons aid hasn't improved things in Africa. Africans like to point to things like neo-colonialism, like foreign exploitation of natural resources, like unfair trade deals. And all of these are legitimate complaints.
But one of the biggest can't be addressed by blaming others.
Aid isn't contributing to African economies. It's merely replacing the money that's being lost because of insane wars. So the continent is staying stagnant in absolute terms and regressing in relative terms.
Africa's so-called intelligentsia likes blaming everything on Europe and the United States. And these parties hardly have clean hands on the continent. After all, where do the arms for all these armed conflicts come from?
However, the result is that anyone who ever was an anti-colonial freedom fighter (Zimbabwe's Mugabe, Ethiopia's Meles, Eritrea's Isaias) seems to get a free pass... no matter how gravely they've betrayed the ideas of their own 'liberation' struggles... no matter how much they've destroyed their own countries or their neighbor's.
The US government spent 'only' 0.14 percent of GNP (in 2003) on international development assistance. Bear in mind that this 'mere' 0.14 percent translated to $15.7 billion, by far the biggest of any country... and that PRIVATE donations by Americans accounts for another $15 billion.
People aren't being killed in the Central African Republic because the US provided 'only' $30.7 billion in aid instead of, say, $35 billion or $50 billion. Europeans aren't killing Sudanese in Darfur. Americans aren't killing Congolese in Kivu. Canadians aren't starving people in Bulawayo or making them homeless in Harare.
Ending all armed conflict won't instantaneously eradicate all poverty in Africa. But if you want to get out of a hole, the first step is to stop digging.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
On Thanksgiving
I heard a recent radio essay about Thanksgiving. The commentator talked about how the holiday, or at least its myth, represented a shining example of a group of natives welcoming illegal immigrants and how it's an example from which open-minded people should take inspiration.
I heard somewhere that it's estimated that something like 90 percent of all Native Americans in North America had already died before the Pilgrims landed due primarily to disease by previous European settlers.
Of course, this was even before the 19th century's messianic Manifest Destiny and its genocidal destruction of the 10 percent that remained.
This is how the natives were thanked for their hospitality at that mythical dinner.
Let's hope that the Mexicans who come to this country are more civilized than their predecessors.
I heard somewhere that it's estimated that something like 90 percent of all Native Americans in North America had already died before the Pilgrims landed due primarily to disease by previous European settlers.
Of course, this was even before the 19th century's messianic Manifest Destiny and its genocidal destruction of the 10 percent that remained.
This is how the natives were thanked for their hospitality at that mythical dinner.
Let's hope that the Mexicans who come to this country are more civilized than their predecessors.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Scum murders baby
I don't usually write essays about police blotter, unless it's humorous. But a recent story is just so appalling, I can't ignore it.
Glens Falls, my hometown, is not a violent place. I don't believe there was a murder in Glens Falls during the entire decade of the 1980s. So any time someone is killed, it's big news. But when the dead is a baby, it's even more shocking.
A 23 year old piece of crap named Michael D. Flint killed the 7 month old son of his girlfriend.
He was 'taking care' of the baby while the mother was at work.
Now, this wasn't a shaken baby case like you read in the news sometimes. It wasn't a case of accidental death, of him simply being reckless and clueless. There was something savage about it.
During Flint's arraignment in City Court on Wednesday afternoon, [Warren County District Attorney Kate] Hogan said that Flint admitted beating, biting and choking the infant to the point of unconsciousness Tuesday night. She said he estimated he choked the child for 20 to 30 seconds.
How demented does a so-called man have to be to beat, bike and choke a 7 month old?
But this is not the first time this coward has had trouble with the law. He had 10 prior criminal convictions, according to The Post-Star.
Some of them give a clue to exactly how screwed up this so-called man was.
Most recently, he was arrested in July for brutally beating a 5-month-old puppy, breaking its teeth and hurting it to the point a neighbor who called police reported the dog was "screaming."
[...]
Flint pleaded guilty to felony criminal contempt in September 2006 and was sentenced to 5 years on probation, but violated that probation within weeks by getting arrested again for violating the order of protection by confronting and shoving the ex-girlfriend in the parking lot of Glens Falls Hospital, according to court records.
He also refused to complete anger management counseling through the Men's Opportunity Program, court records show.
Flint was then charged with violating his probation and sentenced to a year in Warren County Jail. He served about 8 months of that term, with the statutorily required four months off for good behavior.
Court records show Flint also has misdemeanor convictions for petit larceny, criminal mischief and aggravated harassment.
This begs the question why exactly he was a free man. It's one thing to give someone a second chance. But this piece of garbage showed a consistent pattern of having no clue how to act like a civlized human being. Let's be honest... if you knew someone who stalked an ex-girlfriend, assaulted her, refused to seek anger management help and brutalized a puppy, is it really that shocking that he'd beat to death an infant?
This prick should have been in prison long before he murdered that innocent baby. At least if he tried beat the crap out of someone in prison, it would have to be a man who could defend himself, not a helpless infant.
Flint has a long criminal record. But hopefully it will be at least several decades, preferably the rest of his life, before it gets any longer.
He told a reporter as he was leaving court, "I should die for what I did."
I don't support state murder, or the death penalty as it's more commonly called. But I'm sure many other residents would hope he gets his wish.
Glens Falls, my hometown, is not a violent place. I don't believe there was a murder in Glens Falls during the entire decade of the 1980s. So any time someone is killed, it's big news. But when the dead is a baby, it's even more shocking.
A 23 year old piece of crap named Michael D. Flint killed the 7 month old son of his girlfriend.
He was 'taking care' of the baby while the mother was at work.
Now, this wasn't a shaken baby case like you read in the news sometimes. It wasn't a case of accidental death, of him simply being reckless and clueless. There was something savage about it.
During Flint's arraignment in City Court on Wednesday afternoon, [Warren County District Attorney Kate] Hogan said that Flint admitted beating, biting and choking the infant to the point of unconsciousness Tuesday night. She said he estimated he choked the child for 20 to 30 seconds.
How demented does a so-called man have to be to beat, bike and choke a 7 month old?
But this is not the first time this coward has had trouble with the law. He had 10 prior criminal convictions, according to The Post-Star.
Some of them give a clue to exactly how screwed up this so-called man was.
Most recently, he was arrested in July for brutally beating a 5-month-old puppy, breaking its teeth and hurting it to the point a neighbor who called police reported the dog was "screaming."
[...]
Flint pleaded guilty to felony criminal contempt in September 2006 and was sentenced to 5 years on probation, but violated that probation within weeks by getting arrested again for violating the order of protection by confronting and shoving the ex-girlfriend in the parking lot of Glens Falls Hospital, according to court records.
He also refused to complete anger management counseling through the Men's Opportunity Program, court records show.
Flint was then charged with violating his probation and sentenced to a year in Warren County Jail. He served about 8 months of that term, with the statutorily required four months off for good behavior.
Court records show Flint also has misdemeanor convictions for petit larceny, criminal mischief and aggravated harassment.
This begs the question why exactly he was a free man. It's one thing to give someone a second chance. But this piece of garbage showed a consistent pattern of having no clue how to act like a civlized human being. Let's be honest... if you knew someone who stalked an ex-girlfriend, assaulted her, refused to seek anger management help and brutalized a puppy, is it really that shocking that he'd beat to death an infant?
This prick should have been in prison long before he murdered that innocent baby. At least if he tried beat the crap out of someone in prison, it would have to be a man who could defend himself, not a helpless infant.
Flint has a long criminal record. But hopefully it will be at least several decades, preferably the rest of his life, before it gets any longer.
He told a reporter as he was leaving court, "I should die for what I did."
I don't support state murder, or the death penalty as it's more commonly called. But I'm sure many other residents would hope he gets his wish.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Speechless
When I work late, I usually stop at Cumberland Farms on Bay St. around 11:00 PM on my way home. It has a very strange atmosphere late at night. Think I'm kidding? Check this out.
Stanlee F. Urbanowicz, 42, of Glens Falls was arrested at 12:40 a.m. after city police got a call from the Cumberland Farms store on Bay Street, said Glens Falls Police Sgt. Keith Knoop.
Store staff told police he had eaten $1.50 worth of food in the store, but refused to pay, Knoop said.
"The store employees said they didn't want him arrest, that they just wanted him to pay," he said. "He had $500 but just wouldn't pay."
Some things just defy comment.
Stanlee F. Urbanowicz, 42, of Glens Falls was arrested at 12:40 a.m. after city police got a call from the Cumberland Farms store on Bay Street, said Glens Falls Police Sgt. Keith Knoop.
Store staff told police he had eaten $1.50 worth of food in the store, but refused to pay, Knoop said.
"The store employees said they didn't want him arrest, that they just wanted him to pay," he said. "He had $500 but just wouldn't pay."
Some things just defy comment.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Democrat hypocrisy torturing America
This op-ed in The Los Angeles Times contends that the 'legality of torture takes over as the political litmus test in campaigns and confirmation hearings.'
And the author argues that this is not a bad thing.
Far more than the abortion debate ever did, the debate about torture goes to the very heart of what (if anything) this country stands for. Do we want to be the nation imagined by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, a nation with "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind," committed to a vision of human dignity and unalienable rights, limited government and the rule of law?
Or would we rather bring back the methods of the Spanish Inquisition?
As litmus tests go, that's not such a bad one.
And as such, it's a test that the Democratic Senate failed.
During his confirmation hearings for attorney general, Michael Mukasey waffled on the question of whether waterboarding was torture.
He said he found it personally 'repugnant' but that he'd have to wait until he received secret briefings to determine whether it was legal.
No secret briefing should be necessary.
The US military has already banned its use.
And more to the point, waterboarding has been prosecuted in U.S. courts since the late 1800s and was regarded by every U.S. administration before this one as torture.
But it's a tactic that the CIA still uses, which is why Mukasey was quizzed about it.
The UK Independent reported that a former anti-terrorism advisor to President Bush, Malcolm Nance, denounced the practice and stated categorically, "waterboarding is a torture technique – period".
While US media reports typically state that waterboarding involves "simulated drowning", Mr Nance explained that "since the lungs are actually filling with water", there is nothing simulated about it. "Waterboarding," he said, "is slow-motion suffocation with enough time to contemplate the inevitability of blackout and expiration. When done right, it is controlled death."
Michael Mukasey can't figure out whether this Inquisition tactic is legal or not.
But this didn't seem to bother the Democratic-controlled US Senate.
Only 40 of its members were repelled by Mukasey's equivocation on torture and war crimes enough to vote against him.
When the Democrats gained control of Congress, they had us believe that everything would change. Yet when pro-torture attorney general Alberto Gonzales resigned, the Democratic-controlled Congress approved a pro-torture successor.
NY Sen. Charles Schumer called on Gonzales to resign for failing to uphold the rule of law and the Constitution.
Schumer not only voted for Mukasey to be attorney general, the New York senator actually recommended him to Bush in the first place.
The Democrats spent six years pissing and moaning about how terrible that fascist George W. Bush is. But when they have a chance to actually stop him, to make an important stand in favor of American values, they cave yet again.
The Democrats are clearly unwilling or unable to take a clear stand against torture and militarism. This is yet another example of why The Greens are the best choice for those who want to advance a progressive agenda.
And the author argues that this is not a bad thing.
Far more than the abortion debate ever did, the debate about torture goes to the very heart of what (if anything) this country stands for. Do we want to be the nation imagined by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, a nation with "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind," committed to a vision of human dignity and unalienable rights, limited government and the rule of law?
Or would we rather bring back the methods of the Spanish Inquisition?
As litmus tests go, that's not such a bad one.
And as such, it's a test that the Democratic Senate failed.
During his confirmation hearings for attorney general, Michael Mukasey waffled on the question of whether waterboarding was torture.
He said he found it personally 'repugnant' but that he'd have to wait until he received secret briefings to determine whether it was legal.
No secret briefing should be necessary.
The US military has already banned its use.
And more to the point, waterboarding has been prosecuted in U.S. courts since the late 1800s and was regarded by every U.S. administration before this one as torture.
But it's a tactic that the CIA still uses, which is why Mukasey was quizzed about it.
The UK Independent reported that a former anti-terrorism advisor to President Bush, Malcolm Nance, denounced the practice and stated categorically, "waterboarding is a torture technique – period".
While US media reports typically state that waterboarding involves "simulated drowning", Mr Nance explained that "since the lungs are actually filling with water", there is nothing simulated about it. "Waterboarding," he said, "is slow-motion suffocation with enough time to contemplate the inevitability of blackout and expiration. When done right, it is controlled death."
Michael Mukasey can't figure out whether this Inquisition tactic is legal or not.
But this didn't seem to bother the Democratic-controlled US Senate.
Only 40 of its members were repelled by Mukasey's equivocation on torture and war crimes enough to vote against him.
When the Democrats gained control of Congress, they had us believe that everything would change. Yet when pro-torture attorney general Alberto Gonzales resigned, the Democratic-controlled Congress approved a pro-torture successor.
NY Sen. Charles Schumer called on Gonzales to resign for failing to uphold the rule of law and the Constitution.
Schumer not only voted for Mukasey to be attorney general, the New York senator actually recommended him to Bush in the first place.
The Democrats spent six years pissing and moaning about how terrible that fascist George W. Bush is. But when they have a chance to actually stop him, to make an important stand in favor of American values, they cave yet again.
The Democrats are clearly unwilling or unable to take a clear stand against torture and militarism. This is yet another example of why The Greens are the best choice for those who want to advance a progressive agenda.
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