Monday, July 25, 2011
Political Camps?? Who does this?
According to Glenn Beck, It's apparently okay for Tea Partiers to have a Political Camp for 8 to 12 year olds but not for others to have a political camp for people that can actually vote or vote in a couple of years.
From the July 25 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:
INTERESTING THAT GLENN BECK WOULD SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS WHEN THIS ARTICLE Tea Party summer camps for 8 year-olds to learn about defending economic liberty - Telegraph
From the July 25 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:
Then their was a shooting at a political camp which sounds a little like, you know, the Hitler youth, or whatever. I mean: Who does a camp for kids that is all about politics - disturbing.
INTERESTING THAT GLENN BECK WOULD SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS WHEN THIS ARTICLE Tea Party summer camps for 8 year-olds to learn about defending economic liberty - Telegraph
SAYS:
Now American children as young as eight are being raised as the Tea Party's next generation, at summer camps where they are taught about God, the constitution, and how to defend their economic liberty. Across the US, hundreds of youngsters are paying up to $15 (£10) for a week of classes that compensate for what their parents call an anti-religious liberal bias in the public school system. Activists in Florida, Missouri and Ohio told The Daily Telegraph how they use elaborate role-playing games to teach a Tea Party-endorsed curriculum to young pupils at the "vacation liberty schools". The schools' organizers met over the internet, typically via "9/12" networks inspired by the conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck, which seek to recapture the spirit of "the day after America was attacked".
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Collective Punishment - Works on Palestinians so only fair that Israelis experience it too.
I wish more people could do this.
3 Israelis evicted from paradise | | Gaza TV News
Three Israeli backpackers were evicted from Fiji after an immigration officer ruled that they had humiliated Palestinians during their military service in the territories.
The three – Amit Ronen, Eldar Avracohen, and Nimrod Lahav – left Israel in February for a tour in Australia.
In July they decided to spend a week in Fiji. On July 13 they arrived at Fiji airport where a surprise awaited them.
“We gave our passports to the officer, and when she saw we are Israelis she asked for ID cards. We told her we don’t understand why we need ID cards and she responded shouting: ‘You know very well how to ask Palestinians for IDs and humiliate them for three years.”
That’s what Avracohen wrote in a complaint letter he sent to Israel’s Ambassador to Australia Nati Tamir.
The three were held at Fiji airport for six hours and officials rebuked their pleas to be allowed to make a phone call.
Armed policemen took them to a cell at the airport where they spent the night before being sent back to Australia.
“I don’t look like a terrorist and there is no reason to point a gun at me,” Nimrod Lahav wrote in a letter to ambassador Tamir.
Avracohen wrote that the incident was the most humiliating experience he had ever gone through.The Foreign Ministry said the matter is being dealt with.
Itamar Eichner
Ynet
Thursday, July 21, 2011
In Pictures: The space shuttle era - In Pictures - Al Jazeera English
What a wonderful assortment of photos about the Space Shuttle!!! It was difficult but this is my favorite:
Okay, I couldn't just choose one!
See the other Amazing Photos here.
See the other Amazing Photos here.
835 Palestinian Children arrested and put in Jail for Throwing Rocks
Look at any of these videos... Do you see one, just one of the Israeli children being arrested. Here in America, our media doesn't show Israeli children harassing or throwing stones. I use to wonder why the poor tortured Israeli's don't let the UN or some other peace keepers come in and tell the world about the really bad Palestinians. With these kinds of videos coming out - NOW I KNOW WHY ISRAEL DIDN'T WANT INTERN'L EYES INSIDE. We would all see that Israel is the aggressor and the Palestinians are the ones that have no freedom. In the last video below you hear an adult say his phone is not working and that he can't stop the "Israeli" boy from throwing rocks.
In the West Bank, there is no justice, even for children
Hundreds of Palestinian minors were arrested for weeks and even months by Israel in the last five years. Those children – including 34 of them under the age of 14 – were tried in military courts. Only one was acquitted.
The military justice system is biased against its detainees even more than the Israeli one. Minors suspected of throwing stones are, as a rule, detained until the end of the process, which can last two years. The minors and their lawyers – some of them, B’tselem found, show a distinct lack of interest in their clients – face a dilemma: Most trials, as in Israel, end in a plea bargain. A minor who pleads guilty, even if he did not commit the crime, will be out of prison faster than if he insists on trial and manages to clear himself; Choosing the bargain may lead to his release on the same day. Rashid ‘Awadi, aged 15, received an offer he couldn’t refuse from his lawyer: Plead, and get a reduced sentence. The prosecution claimed it could produce a soldier who saw ‘Awadi throwing stones, but finding the soldier and dragging him to the witness bench would take eight months, which ‘Awadi would spend in prison. ‘Awadi pled guilty, and was out in a month.
In one extraordinary case, extraordinary in that there was an actual trial and in that the minors involved were released on bail after “only” 27 days in custody, the military prosecution retracted an indictment against eight boys. This happened after their lawyer proved that the soldiers testifying against them lied. The soldiers claimed they arrested the boys near a road, but the lawyer threatened to bring forth witnesses who will prove they were arrested within their school, and that they were in class when the stones were allegedly thrown. The prosecution retracted the indictment, which was bit too late for grown man who was already convicted on the false testimony of the same soldiers, and who spent eight months in prison.
The trials are held in Hebrew, which neither the accused nor their family understands; they are forced to rely on interpreters, whose work is sometimes shoddy. In a large number of cases, when minors are brought before a judge for their bail hearing, they don’t know they are entitled to lawyer. In rare cases, the court appoints them one – which is standard practice in any self-respecting justice system. Not that bail is likely; Most motions are denied. DCI, which represents Palestinian detainees, found that the rate of accepted bail motions is 23% among minors. Even in such cases, some minors were not discharged, since they could not post bail. Anyone denied bail is detained until the end of process. Unless, of course, they confess.
B’tselem also found that, contrary to law, the IDF detained two minors younger than 12, which is the age of criminal responsibility. These two cases were documented by B’tselem volunteers, so there may be others. In one of those cases, that of nine-year old Mahmoud ‘Alameh, the officer who arrested him and drove him from the place, handcuffed and blindfolded, informed the people of his village the child will be released only if stone throwing from that village ends. In clearer words, an IDF officer kidnapped a nine-year old child and held him hostage. ‘Alameh was held by the IDF gunmen for five hours, without any contact with his parents, even though his father was nearby and begged to see him. The incident may well have lasted longer, if not for the heavy pressure brought to bear by B’tselem.
In a majority of the cases – 30 out of 50 minors interviewed by B’tselem – the arrest is carried out, contrary to regulation, at night. You may note that there are precious few stone-throwing incidents at night, so the forces are not in any immediate danger. The minors are routinely handcuffed and blindfolded, though they do not show resistance. (Myself, I always wondered about the blindfolding: We were told it was for “field security” reasons, but there are very few Palestinians who do not know where the local military base is). Contrary to Israeli regulations, which stipulate that a minor will not be interrogated unless a parent or another adult known to the minor is present, this is not the case in most arrests in the West Bank. The psychological effect on a child, who was just abducted from his house by sometimes-hooded gunmen, is easy to imagine.
In the West Bank, there is no justice, even for children
The military justice system is biased against its detainees even more than the Israeli one. Minors suspected of throwing stones are, as a rule, detained until the end of the process, which can last two years. The minors and their lawyers – some of them, B’tselem found, show a distinct lack of interest in their clients – face a dilemma: Most trials, as in Israel, end in a plea bargain. A minor who pleads guilty, even if he did not commit the crime, will be out of prison faster than if he insists on trial and manages to clear himself; Choosing the bargain may lead to his release on the same day. Rashid ‘Awadi, aged 15, received an offer he couldn’t refuse from his lawyer: Plead, and get a reduced sentence. The prosecution claimed it could produce a soldier who saw ‘Awadi throwing stones, but finding the soldier and dragging him to the witness bench would take eight months, which ‘Awadi would spend in prison. ‘Awadi pled guilty, and was out in a month.
In one extraordinary case, extraordinary in that there was an actual trial and in that the minors involved were released on bail after “only” 27 days in custody, the military prosecution retracted an indictment against eight boys. This happened after their lawyer proved that the soldiers testifying against them lied. The soldiers claimed they arrested the boys near a road, but the lawyer threatened to bring forth witnesses who will prove they were arrested within their school, and that they were in class when the stones were allegedly thrown. The prosecution retracted the indictment, which was bit too late for grown man who was already convicted on the false testimony of the same soldiers, and who spent eight months in prison.
The trials are held in Hebrew, which neither the accused nor their family understands; they are forced to rely on interpreters, whose work is sometimes shoddy. In a large number of cases, when minors are brought before a judge for their bail hearing, they don’t know they are entitled to lawyer. In rare cases, the court appoints them one – which is standard practice in any self-respecting justice system. Not that bail is likely; Most motions are denied. DCI, which represents Palestinian detainees, found that the rate of accepted bail motions is 23% among minors. Even in such cases, some minors were not discharged, since they could not post bail. Anyone denied bail is detained until the end of process. Unless, of course, they confess.
B’tselem also found that, contrary to law, the IDF detained two minors younger than 12, which is the age of criminal responsibility. These two cases were documented by B’tselem volunteers, so there may be others. In one of those cases, that of nine-year old Mahmoud ‘Alameh, the officer who arrested him and drove him from the place, handcuffed and blindfolded, informed the people of his village the child will be released only if stone throwing from that village ends. In clearer words, an IDF officer kidnapped a nine-year old child and held him hostage. ‘Alameh was held by the IDF gunmen for five hours, without any contact with his parents, even though his father was nearby and begged to see him. The incident may well have lasted longer, if not for the heavy pressure brought to bear by B’tselem.
In a majority of the cases – 30 out of 50 minors interviewed by B’tselem – the arrest is carried out, contrary to regulation, at night. You may note that there are precious few stone-throwing incidents at night, so the forces are not in any immediate danger. The minors are routinely handcuffed and blindfolded, though they do not show resistance. (Myself, I always wondered about the blindfolding: We were told it was for “field security” reasons, but there are very few Palestinians who do not know where the local military base is). Contrary to Israeli regulations, which stipulate that a minor will not be interrogated unless a parent or another adult known to the minor is present, this is not the case in most arrests in the West Bank. The psychological effect on a child, who was just abducted from his house by sometimes-hooded gunmen, is easy to imagine.
In the West Bank, there is no justice, even for children
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
POLITICS Number 1 Concern in Florida - NOT CHILDREN!!!
Florida GOP Rejects Money To Fight Child Abuse And Neglect | ThinkProgress
"Healthy Families is a program to help prevent child abuse with education and early intervention. They support at risk families thereby helping families stay together and keep children out of child protection custody. A five year study shows that 98% of the children in the program are abuse free. A child in child protection costs taxpayers around $64,377 a year, while the Healthy Families only costs about "$1,671 a year per child, saving taxpayers millions of dollars."
Florida has turned down up to "$52 million in federal funding — $3.4 million of which Scott (R-FL) turned down this year and millions more in grants available under Section 2951 of the Affordable Care Act for home health visits. The money is sorely needed. In 2010, the state legislature cut a staggering 43 percent of the budget for its Healthy Families Florida program, which provides home visitation services to both expecting parents and parents with newborn children in order to prevent future instances of abuse. As a result, Healthy Families was forced to scale back, dropping services for 5,800 children in 3,500 high-risk families.
"Healthy Families is a program to help prevent child abuse with education and early intervention. They support at risk families thereby helping families stay together and keep children out of child protection custody. A five year study shows that 98% of the children in the program are abuse free. A child in child protection costs taxpayers around $64,377 a year, while the Healthy Families only costs about "$1,671 a year per child, saving taxpayers millions of dollars."
Florida has turned down up to "$52 million in federal funding — $3.4 million of which Scott (R-FL) turned down this year and millions more in grants available under Section 2951 of the Affordable Care Act for home health visits. The money is sorely needed. In 2010, the state legislature cut a staggering 43 percent of the budget for its Healthy Families Florida program, which provides home visitation services to both expecting parents and parents with newborn children in order to prevent future instances of abuse. As a result, Healthy Families was forced to scale back, dropping services for 5,800 children in 3,500 high-risk families.
By refusing to provide, pursue, or even accept funding for child-abuse prevention programs, Scott and his GOP allies are sacrificing Florida’s children in order to cling to a partisan talking point.
– Sarah Bufkin
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