http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2006/01/did_i_laugh.html Best. Blonde. Joke. Ever.

(Thanks, Stex!)

I worked in a military correctional facility for several years, so I understand how prisoners filing frivolous claims/complaints is a normal thing, but this is downright silly.

Doesn’t it make sense that, in order to have a violation, the victim would have to be human? I’d be happy to see an international agreement that determines such vile individuals have effectively given up their humanity through their heinous actions. Rabid animals are shot. Rabid people are stored in semi-secure containers. This makes no sense to me.

At least the “European Court of Human Rights” found no merit in Carlos’ complaints - although the slim margin is a bit frightening.

European Court of Human Rights - Hearings in January 2006

The applicant, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as “Carlos the Jackal”, is a Venezuelan national who was born in 1949. He is currently detained in Fleury Merogis Prison.

The applicant was placed under investigation in connection with a series of terrorist attacks carried out in France and sentenced to life imprisonment on 25 December 1997 for the murder of three police officers in 1975.

For eight years and two months - from his detention in Sante’ Prison on 15 August 1994 until his transfer to Saint-Maur Prison on 17 October 2002 - the applicant was held in solitary confinement. The reasons generally given to justify the decisions to prolong his detention in solitary confinement were his dangerousness, the need to maintain order and security in the prison and the risk of his absconding. On each occasion, the applicant underwent medical examinations to determine his fitness for solitary confinement.

This regime meant that the applicant was detained alone in a cell measuring 6.84 square metres, which, he said, was dilapidated and poorly insulated. He had no contact with other prisoners or prison warders and was authorised to leave his cell only for a two-hour daily walk. The applicant further alleged that his only recreation was provided by newspapers and a rented television, and that he received no visits other than from his lawyers and, once a month, a cleric.

The applicant complains that his prolonged solitary confinement from 15 August 1994 to 17 October 2002 violated Article 3 of the Convention (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment). The applicant also alleges that the authorities did not follow the correct procedure for prolonging his solitary confinement, in breach of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).

In a judgment of 27 January 2005, a Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held by four votes to three that there had been no violation of Article 3 and unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 13.

I received this today in my daily ration of “office spam”, and couldn’t resist the idea of sharing it with all of you. Microsoft, in their neverending effort to create the perfect software for everyone presents: Microsoft Word… For Blondes! (click image for full size view)

“anger doesn’t solve anything”

What the hell?

It’s more important to get this sick bastard counselling than it is to remove him from society and the proximity of the child he sexually abused for YEARS?

Judge sentences man to 60 days for sexual assault on young girl

A Williston man who admitted repeatedly sexually assaulting a young girl for four years was sentenced Wednesday to spend 60 days in prison — a punishment that angered the victim’s family but was defended by the judge as the only way to provide counseling for the perpetrator.
[...]
“We feed on anger,” the judge said. “That’s not my job. I’ve got to do something that solves problems. The one message I want to get through is, anger doesn’t solve anything.”

Yes, I’m a little late getting to this one… read more http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1558009/posts here, http://www.protect.org/ here, and http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/NEWS03/301130008/1039/POLITICS01&theme= here.

Remember http://jonathanmurray.com/greymatter/archives/00000799.htm Joshua Sparling?

It looks like his recovery is progressing nicely - and the nasty little Christmas card incident is well behind him. I received this update via email today (thanks, Tony in Boulder!)

A week ago Joshua underwent his 19th surgery where a halo device was attached to his leg to stablize it and give him some mobility. The doctors at Walter Reed are now 90% sure that his leg will be saved and Joshua sounded really upbeat about that news. He took his first steps since this injury, walking (hopping) 12 feet to the door and 10 feet back to the chair to sit down. He will be on crutches for about one year from today.

Joshua also was very thankful to everyone who has sent him cards, gifts and wishes of a speedy recovery. He is giving 99% of all gifts and cards to other recovering soldiers.

It’s often amusing to watch someone execute their public life a word at a time, but shouldn’t this moron have been euthanized by now? Maybe he’s trying to draw attention away from the http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/9/14/201055.shtml conspiracy theories with even more ignorant statements?

‘God mad at America’

MAYOR RAY Nagin suggested yesterday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that “God is mad at America” and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting.
[...]
Nagin also promised that New Orleans will be a “chocolate” city again. Many of the city’s black neighbourhoods were heavily damaged by Katrina.

Then again, maybe the walking failure that is Ray Nagin is so desperate to regain some semblance of respect that he’s resorted to blaming god for all his woes.

Murder jury views video of frantic effort to save priest

WORCESTER, MASS. - Jurors saw dramatic video Thursday of prison guards frantically trying to open the cell door of John Geoghan, then dragging another inmate out after he strangled the child-molesting former priest.
[...]
Geoghan, 68 when he died in August 2003, was serving a nine- to 10-year sentence for groping a 10-year-old boy but had been accused in lawsuits of molesting 150 youngsters.

Prison justice is often the quickest and most ruthless. This seems to be a nice statement on the value of even the worst of criminals. Mr. Druce deserves a footnote in the history books right next to the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Scarver fellow who took care of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer Jeffery Dallmer.

” ‘I killed the child molester. He won’t touch any more kids,’ ” Hammond said Druce boasted.

Incidents like this, while not exactly judicially sound, should serve as a fine warning for potential child-molesters everywhere. Justice served, problem solved.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/13/AR2006011301004.html Addendum: “Geoghan Slay Suspect Saw Himself As Savior”

WORCESTER, Mass. — The inmate on trial for strangling a child-molesting defrocked priest, John Geoghan, considered himself a savior of abused youngsters, an investigator testified Friday.

I’ve always been a proponent of public education and better salaries for teachers. Today that stance has been dealt a severe blow.

I still think teachers deserve better pay, especially those whose classrooms more resemble daycare centers (k-3rd grade, roughly), and those teaching in areas where it’s literally dangerous for them to show up for work each day. However, it would appear from the linked article that teachers need first to get back some of their union dues, and a hefty settlement against the fraudulent organization that claims to represent them. I’m sure any working teacher in the country would happily accept a fair portion of the $65 million wasted on the likes of Jesse Jackson, et. al.

The problem here is that organizations such as the NEA have lost any interest they may have had in supporting their members, and have turned into a politically driven sideshow.

No wonder the liberals hate the Bush Whitehouse so much. As long as the President keeps appointing people like http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/chao-bio.html Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao to his cabinet, their little shell game becomes more and more exposed.

OpinionJournal - Featured Article

If we told you that an organization gave away more than $65 million last year to Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Amnesty International, AIDS Walk Washington and dozens of other such advocacy groups, you’d probably assume we were describing a liberal philanthropy. In fact, those expenditures have all turned up on the financial disclosure report of the National Education Association, the country’s largest teachers union.

Under new federal rules pushed through by Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, large unions must now disclose in much more detail how they spend members’ dues money. Big Labor fought hard (if unsuccessfully) against the new accountability standards, and even a cursory glance at the NEA’s recent filings–the first under the new rules–helps explain why. They expose the union as a honey pot for left-wing political causes that have nothing to do with teachers, much less students.
[...]
When George Soros does this sort of thing, at least he’s spending his own money. The NEA is spending the mandatory dues paid by members who are told their money will be used to gain better wages, benefits and working conditions. According to the latest filing, member dues accounted for $295 million of the NEA’s $341 million in total receipts last year. But the union spent $25 million of that on “political activities and lobbying” and another $65.5 million on “contributions, gifts and grants” that seemed designed to further those hyper-liberal political goals.