Politics

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Disgusted with NJ Family Court

First and foremost, I would like to apologize in advance for the legnth of my story.  I was asked to write a summary for an attorney.  The following is what I came up with.  It is not the entire story but most of it.  If you have any questions pertaining to any of this information feel free to contact me.

Unsure where to begin, which beginning to a start from? The very beginning when we first started dating? The beginning of the battle back and forth for Tristin? I just don’t know? It seems like I have been waiting for this moment forever, the moment someone actually takes the minute to listen. I have contemplated this opportunity thousands of times in my head, what I would say, what I would do, how I would act.

Now, finally someone wants to hear from me. What happened? How? And Why? I must say for the very first time in my life I am speechless and cannot put a word down on paper. Suddenly, I have drawn a blank. I can’t think of one word to write, or say. I have been sitting here for days trying to think! Nothing wants to come out. It is Sunday June 25, 2006 at 2:26 in the afternoon. D-Day is tomorrow, she wants it by then. And still I am sitting here trying to think of what to write. I am filled with anxiety; I don’t want to forget anything that might be important. I am afraid if I don’t remember every detail it will hurt in the end. So, I guess I am going to do my best and pray.

Adam: Born: November 19, 1974
Tristin: Born: September 8, 1997
Dawn Michelle: Born: October 13, 1969
Melissa: Born: April 1, 1978

From the beginning, Adam and I started dating June 5, 1995. I should have known right from the start to turn and run. But, I didn’t. The relationship was abusive mentally and physically since the beginning. If Adam didn’t get his way with something you were demeaned and hit. A prime example being, if I didn’t agree with him or listen to what he said or wanted done he would throw me to the floor, sit on top of me with his knees on my shoulders, spit on my face and slap me. Adam is about 6’0 and at the time about 218 pounds, and training to become a professional body builder. I am about 5’3 and at the time weighed about 95-100 pounds. We had broken up many times. He always found a way to go back out again.

To jump ahead some. After I became pregnant it slowly became worse. The first thing I was told is that he wanted a son, and if we didn’t have one it was over. Then when he found out it was a boy, he told me that I would never take it away from him. He made that statement several times before Tristin was even born. He told me that if I ever tried to take him away he would kill me. After Tristin was born, things became even worse. The fighting the arguing was on a constant basis. It never ended. Adam, I think was upset because he could no longer be the center of attention. The baby was God he was now on a back burner.

Some time after Tristin had been born, Adam and I had and argument over what should be prepared for dinner, I refused to make what he wanted for dinner, so he decided he was going to slap me around the kitchen, then he punched me in the face and pushed me down the stairs. When his parents came back from their weekend getaway in PA, his mother wanted nothing to do with it. When she saw my face, she said he is my son; I can’t do anything about it. You must have given him a reason. Afraid to do anything, I had to stay. If I called the police once he came back it would just have been worse. I couldn’t go to my parents; he would have just followed me there and made things bad all the way around. There was no where to hide or turn.

I guess now as l look back on most of it, I am not surprised at the way he is, look at his family, there was never a dull moment in that household. The sanest one in the family is his sister. To this day I idolize her. Smart, great head on her shoulders, responsible, funny, great mom. Their Dad however; controlling, bossy, sneaky, never around, showed no respect to the mother, thought he was Gods gift, woman were beneath him, had an affair with a drug addict.

The mother, no self respect or pride, no self esteem, doted on everything the father did, no matter what her children did no wrong. The brother, now he was the best, has a great wife, but it wasn’t enough for him, just days before the wedding he gets caught sleeping with the maid of honor under the pool table, of course this isn’t the first time he strays away and poor wife never knows about it. He was even sleeping with my sister. He has no work ethic, morals, devious, vindictive and will look right at you and stab you in the back, he just like Adam will do whatever it takes to get what they want no matter what needs to be done.

I actually wish I had a tape recorder for half of what went on. This was the most racist family I ever met, excluding the sister. You could never have a conversation with anyone about someone of a different color without hearing a racial slur, and don’t ever think about bringing anyone in the house that wasn’t white. Not unless you wanted them to get chased down the street by a raving lunatic trying to kill them.

Anyway. Then it is decided that we are finally going to move out of Adams parents basement. To a trailer in Jackson. Since Adam co-signed on a house for his brother and wife, his credit was destroyed and he couldn’t get a mortgage for anything else. I must say this did not last long at all. The violence became worse and along with the beatings came nonconsensual sex. It didn’t matter if you said no or not, if he wanted it he was getting it.

Adam never cared for Tristin, in the first year he was born you could count on one hand how many times he bathed and changed Tristin. Everything was a battle. I could never leave the house without taking him, even if it was to grocery shop. No matter what I had to take him. He also managed to get fired from a job he had for a few years making decent money. He chose not to look for more employment. When the money got tight and started to run out if became worse.Then he takes a bouncing job at a gentlemen’s club called Fantasies in Keyport. Which he also got fired from.

On, August 16, 1998, we got into a huge argument. Adam threw me and Tristin out of the trailer. My friends mother came to pick us up. (He would not give me the keys to my vehicle) We stayed at her house for the night. The next day when I went to visit anther friend, Adam showed up at his house escorted by police with a restraining order, and in relief of it he wanted custody.

Adam stated in a previous motion he filed with the court that DYFS granted him initial custody. He also lied when he filled out the paperwork for that. He said on one page he was employed and the next that he wasn’t. He also stated on his paperwork that DYFS had been involved for a court investigation. The Ocean County Court never requested and investigation. In fact, Adam called himself. He cleaned the house and went grocery shopping and made it a point to show the woman the receipt and then laugh about it. “It was easier than I thought.”

I had to fight tooth and nail to get my truck back. He has actually told the courts that it belonged to him. My grandfather gave me that truck! I went to the house several times to get it while he was working. He in fact took went to such great lengths to make sure I wasn’t going to get it either. I went there with the police; he took the distributor and the rotor off of the truck so it wouldn’t start. How much more vindictive can you be? The he found out I was there and called the police and told them he owned the vehicle. He was partially telling the truth. When my grandfather gave me the truck Adam would not give me the money to register it unless I let him go on the title as a lien holder. I fought and finally got it back. With loose valve covers and all. So in no time all the oil came out and I had to buy another car. I guess he thought if he blew up the motor I would have no choice than but to go back to him.

In the meantime, I continued to reside with my grandmother. Adam stated in previously that the Court and DYFS gave him custody. Wrong, Adam had his attorney Mr. Kwasnik from Edison, draw up custody papers. On August 22, 1998, I was told by Adam that if I did not agree to it and sign the papers he would either a) kill me or b) run off to Canada. (Most his family still reside there.) Adam has denied this allegation over and over again. So, I sign the papers. I didn’t know what else to do. I just turned 20, I had no lawyer, no support system, and really other than my grandmothers house I had no where to live. So, then we tried to work it out again. Same things different days. I leave again, this time alone and without my son.

Adam slapped me around and literally through me off the front porch with nothing except what I was wearing. I walked to a neighbors house that let me use the phone. I took a bus to Sayreville and stayed with my friend Mary. After a fight and a struggle I eventually got my vehicle back. My stay with Mary was a short lived dream. After, Adam found out where I was, he would show up at all hours of the night and be harassing. The one night I remember vividly, is I came home from work, Adam was there in the parking lot. I didn’t want a confrontation so I left the parking lot and got back on the highway. Adam followed me and chased me all the way up Route 9 North, when he saw I wasn’t going to stop he kept trying to run me off the road. That wasn’t the first or the last time.It was almost Christmas time; Adam wanted to try to work it out one more time. So, I go to his house for the week. It wasn’t so bad during the day but once bedtime came it was a whole different story. Right back to the same antics. I will take what is mine. He dream was short lived.

After the holiday I went back home and didn’t go back. New Years would be the last time I saw Tristin. Adam would not allow any visitation, or take anymore calls. I gave it a little time then drove down to his home on a Sunday and found it empty. Completely abandoned. I had no one to help me this time. My parents weren’t speaking to me, his family wouldn’t tell me anything.

I was working fulltime and saving my money. At last, I had enough money saved. July of 1999, I went to an attorney who filed custody papers. It had been months since I saw or heard from Adam. I finally found him. He moved to PA. To his parents summer cottage. He was still unemployed and on welfare. The State of NJ made him move back! He moves in with his parents. I didn’t get custody, but I found a start visitation.

Things weren’t bad for a while. No arguing or anything. Adam’s dad helps him get a job at PSE&G. He enrolls Tristin in daycare at the YMCA in Plainfield. I helped him every week with the expense. I started giving him $60.00 a week and giving him money for other things, such as diapers, food, clothes, etc. Then Adam took Tristin out of the YMCA and placed him with a young girl named Stephanie. Who didn’t speak any English and lived behind his parents in the apartments.

A few times we had some indifference about the way that Tristin was treated when it came to Adam and discipline. I didn’t feel it was necessary to discipline Tristin physically. He was a child who would listen when spoken to. I have never in my life seen a child look at a parent with as much fear as Tristin looks at Adam. I have never seen a child become physically ill when disciplined or wet themselves until, Tristin. Adam has stated to the courts a multitude of times including in the best interests evaluation that he has never resorted to physical discipline with Tristin.
2001 Everything goes fine for a while. We even took a vacation to my parents together. We took Tristin out to dinner every once in a while as a family, and Adam started to seem like he was finally calming down. This wasn’t about to last forever either. It was all about to change again, this time for the worst.Adam slips and falls on the ice while at work. So, now he is on workmen’s compensation and a lot of prescription medication. His attitude and demeanor changes with each day. Most days were bad days.

Adam decides that he is going to leave Tristin at my parents house in Virginia for the summer on one of his trips. Because he was going for surgery and would not be able to care for him.

(In the meantime he is so injured he can’t work but he can buy a 700 or so pound motorcycle, take frequent trips out of state. He can’t walk for a living reading meters but he can handle motorcycles and travel?) The best is, you express your concerns to the court, he is addicted to prescription medication, and he is so doped up that her 10 year old is raising my son in their house. Why he is too stoned to get out of bed to take care of the kids, and she lays around depressed and unmediated all day long. They should both be evaluated.

Well, on one of Adams trips there, he becomes angry with Tristin because he wets through his diaper and clothes. He starts yelling, screaming and beating him. Adam removed the diaper and clothes Tristin had on, still yelling and screaming, started beating him while he was bare. My father witnessed this particular incident. He said Tristin kept shouting Daddy stop! My father went to get my mother, afraid what would happen if they called the sheriffs department, my father went back to the family room and grabbed Adam by the arm. He told Adam to get off of Tristin. My parents have both expressed their concerns for Tristin but also feel afraid and unsure what to do. My parents have both noticed the change in Tristin when he is around his father and away. (I didn’t find out about this until a few years later. At which point my father typed and signed an affidavit of the events that occurred.)

In this same summer, Adam meets a married woman with a 10 year old child, on the internet. Who had lived in North Carolina. She came to my parents house to meet him. My parents first impression of the woman was not kind. She behaved and acted inappropriately in front of their children. She went back to North Carolina and he went back to New Jersey. They start a long distance relationship. A few months later they decided that they were going to move in together. She leaves her husband and starts for NJ.

The next big thing that happens is that her family gets a hold of my information and contacts me. They tell me that I want to continue to see my child alive and healthy to get him out of the situation ASAP. Her family gave me her ENTIRE history. They started off by telling me her birthday and social. Then goes into how many times she has been married. Twice to be exact, and neither of them was to her childs father. Rick. Whom she tells her daughter is dead, but he is alive and well in West Virginia. The first time she was married was to a guy named Willie Cox, which last a whopping 6 months. Then to Todd. That lasted two years. I am unsure what the deal was with the first guy, I think he was a drinker or something. The second guy was real nice from what I hear. His parents took a liking to her daughter and loved her like their own.

During the time of their marriage, Michelle went to Daytona Bike Week, (without Todd) and turns up pregnant. No one knows where that baby went. I was told that Michelle was not a hygienic person, did not keep a house, and was abusive to other children. Michelle, bit her 6 year old nephew. She has locked her daughter in her bedroom numerous times, Tristin has complained of being locked in closets by Michelle. Michelle has been noted to be verbally and physically abusive by her family. Tristin complained on a few occasions of being called names and a pain in the balls.

Michelles family informed me that she is BI-POLAR. She was on a medication called EFFEXOR (she decided to stop taking this). She was admitted to the Psychiatric Ward of the Charleston Area Medical Center. Her psychiatrists name was Dr. Gina in West Virginia. Michelle was treated for psychological problems as a child. Michelle’s biological father is BI-POLAR, he takes LITHIUM. Michelle’s brother Leon also suffers from metal problems.

Michelle has denied this to the courts. She was court ordered to receive a BI-POLAR examination. I contacted the Mayo clinic and some reputable psychiatrists who have said that a BI-POLAR examination cannot be done in two 45 minute sessions, weeks apart. They have stated that normally the exam would be conducted under constant 24 hour supervision for at least 7 days, by a psychiatrist not by a clinical psychologist. Adam also has complained of many of the same issues concerning Michelle. He has said that she is extremely moody, unhygienic, insecure, controlling, and mean to the children, does not keep the house cleaned at all, and is constantly crying and having fits of rage. He has said that she will call him almost every 10-15 minutes when he is out of the house.

Adam had gone to visit my mother when she was in NJ and expressed how he knew something was wrong with her. She is always crying, she is very moody, she won’t take care of the house, herself or the kids. And this wasn’t long after he brought her there. I spoke to him briefly about it and he said he had to find a way to send her back to North Carolina. The next thing you knew she was pregnant again. Then supposedly they got married.

Adam became irate with my mother because I had expressed my concerns to the court again about Michelle’s condition. He sent her an email yelling at her about. He told her I told you those things in confidence and you went back and told that bitch! Except what Adam didn’t know, is that HER family was constantly contacting me. Via phone, internet, whatever they could. Michelle’s family has also expressed concerns of both the childrens safety. Michelle’s family has stated that she was molested by her Biological father as a child, and that it became consensual as she became older. They have expressed that Michelle tries to dominate every situation she is in, especially when it comes to a personal relationship. She does not want to feel any intimidation so she will do what it takes to rid of it.

I petitioned the court on December 5, 2001, pleading with them for the safety of Tristin, I begged them to not allow Adam to move in with this woman, or at least give me residential custody. Adam was trying to conceal Tristin once again and lied to me about where he was moving. I compelled the court for him to reveal his true address to me. Everything truly went down hill from here.

Adam moved in with Michelle into his parents house, then into an apartment in Franklin Township. Tristin was forced to share a room with a 10 year old girl. I requested a Best Interest Evaluation be done; the courts did not do that until 2003.I tried to tell the courts how Adam was raising Tristin. For the most part to be a racist. I was amazed at the slurs that Tristin knew.
He had no respect for other people, including law enforcement. Adam had gloated and laughed about being pulled over and Tristin screaming “pig” at the officer. He didn’t think twice to tell him they were bad. I don’t know who he would have told him to look for if he was ever lost or needed help. It was at the point where I had close friends on a local PD come to the home in full uniform and in a police car. They helped us teach Tristin to have respect for law and its officials.
Another incident that I can remember is when Adam took Tristin through the drive-thru at McDonalds, Tristin had become irritated with waiting so he started yelling at the guy in front of them to move. Calling him names such as “bindi” and dot head. I worked a lot with Tristin to teach him how to be respectful towards other people, no matter what they looked like.

Adam, still contacted me on civil terms here and there, and still avidly spoke to my parents.
Adam, continually expressed concerns about the situation. Adam and I constantly argued over the court orders. Each time a petition was filed Adam would call DYFS, falsify information so that they would conduct and investigation.

The first time he did this was in July of 2002, on Sunday July 21, 2002, I had filed for a child support reduction and the hearing was on July 22, the next day. Tristin and I had spent the weekend in Cape May and the beach. Adam called DYFS that evening and told them that I had punched and kicked Tristin in the face. (Ironically, Tristin did not have any bruises. Adam never took him to the doctor for it.) DYFS did not contact me until August concerning the incident, they handled the case terribly, when I called the same case worker because Tristin had come to my home with infected blisters and Bacterial Conjunctivitis and bruises, their worker Kofi told me he did not think it was necessary to go visit Tristin.

There different issues on three different dates, they didn’t do anything. So, documented it with the police and saved the doctor bills. Adam actually called DYFS and told them that I gave Tristin Bacterial Conjunctivitis, in an hours time. When I rushed Tristin to the doctor she told me that he had, had it so long that I didn’t bring him he would have gone blind. (This was all on a Friday at about 7:30 in the evening; I had picked Tristin up at 6:00pm)He even went to such great lengths to include my ex boyfriend in on his sick tirade. JD and his family were so good to Tristin. They all had loved him like he was their own. They all had done something on their part to create happiness for Tristin.

Things had become so horrible that I had to obtain yet another restraining order. After numerous threats from Adam and Michelle I had no other choice. The same evening at about 3 in the morning the window was broken out of one of our cars parked in the street. Of course, Adam denied it. But we had never had that problem before.

Continue Reading Disgusted with NJ Family Court

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Obama’s pick for economic advisor is one of the Chicago Boyz

You know, the purveyors of Friedmanesque orthodoxy that has had genocidal consequences wherever it has been applied.

Chile during the Pinochet regime’s rule would be one of the more notoriously brutal exemplars - those first years of the regime (1973-1976) merit its inclusion in Genocide Watch’s list of genocides since 1945 to the present. That said, the more insidious genocidal features of neoliberalism have largely been organizational and structural in nature: violent in their effects, but not as salient in public discourse as massacres. Subcomandante Marcos referred to NAFTA in a 1994 interview as a “death sentence” for the campesinos in his nation¹. In fact, Marcos went on to say,

“NAFTA sets up competition among farmers, but how can our campesinos - who are mostly illiterate - compete with US and Canadian farmers? And look at this rocky land we have here. How can we compete with the land in California, or in Canada? So the people of Chiapas, as well as the people of Oaxaca, Veracruz, Quintana Roo, Guerrero, and Sonora were the sacrificial lambs of NAFTA.”

Indeed, the subsequent 14 years have borne out his concerns, as imported produce flooded the markets, forcing campesinos to abandon their plots and become among the mass numbers of displaced people (many of whom then risk life and limb attempting to cross the border into the US). Similarly, as I’ve noted, manufacturing laborers also took a severe hit as jobs were outsourced to China. Although the effects of neoliberal orthodoxy have been far less visible in the US, we can note its effects here in the land of milk and honey as well - increased poverty, homelessness, decreased quality of life for all but a relative few multimillionaires and billionaires. Although Obama talks a good game when it comes to “change” - given his choices in Congress and on the current campaign trail, it’s just talk. He’s certainly not about to change nearly three decades of neoliberal orthodoxy that has governed the US in its domestic programs and international relations. Rather, expect more of the same, merely with a happier facade.

1. Benjamin, Medea (1995). Interview: Subcomandante Marcos. In E. Katzenberger (Ed.), First World, Ha Ha Ha! The Zapatista Challenge. San Francisco: City Lights.

Continue Reading Obama’s pick for economic advisor is one of the Chicago Boyz

Sunday, July 01, 2007

my heart goes out to the family of david ritcheson

i had posted this on my own blog, but as my readers consist of me…and, well, me, i thought i’d post it over here as well.  during a time when the immigration issue is flying around like yesterday’s “GAY MARRIAGE causes FLAG BURNING which leads to ABORTION and ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANS” (i’m sure i’ve forgotten something) issues and hate groups are increasing in number spawning more hate crimes… i’m SO deeply saddened by this story…

...I had to face the fact that I had been targeted for violence in a brutal crime because of my ethnicity.  This crime took place in middle-class America in the year 2006. The reality that hate is alive, strong, and thriving in the cities, towns, and cul-de-sacs of Suburbia, America was a surprise to me.  America is the country I love and call home.  However, the hate crime committed against me illustrates that we are still, in some aspects, a house divided.

i almost don’t know what to say.  this is the type of story that just hurts to read.  it brought matthew shepard to mind immediately, though i held out hope for this victim.  he’d survived.

on april 23, 2006, two skinheads, david tuck, 19, and keith turner, 18, brutally attacked a 16 year old hispanic boy.  he’d once been the running back for the football team, the freshman homecoming prince, had a girlfriend.  sent to an alternative school for fighting, he said he’d never really fit in there.  on the night of april 22, he and gus sons, a boy he’d met in the alternative school, met up with david tuck and keith turner and returned to gus sons’ house.  “partying”, they drank vodka, smoked pot, did some coke, took xanax.  while it is believed that the crime was premeditated, they (tuck and turner) used the pretext that they believed the boy had stolen some drugs and tried to kiss gus sons’ 12 year old sister to initiate what would be an hour long, vicious attack.

they dragged the boy outside.  punched him.  kicked him repeatedly in the head with steel toed boots.  stripped him.  burned him 17 times with cigarettes.  tried to carve a swastika into his chest.  poured bleach on his face and body.  yelling ethnic slurs, david tuck kicked an outdoor umbrella pole up into the boy’s rectum, severely damaging his internal organs. 

gus sons never stopped the attack, nor did he call an ambulance.  the boy lay naked, broken and bleeding, in the backyard, until gus sons’ mother called the police hours later.  (gus sons would later apologize, during his testimony against both attackers.)

the boy would spend the next three months and eight days in the hospital, mostly in critical care.  he’d endure 30 surgeries, with even more to come.

he returned to school in the fall of 2006.  at first, he looked forward to being with his friends and returning to a “normal” life, yet he felt overwhelmed by the realization that everyone knew who he was.  he was “the kid”.  in an april 2007 interview with the houston chronicle, he talks about how it was “degrading”, how he can’t say the “s word” (sodomy), and how he’s trying to deal with it “by not thinking about it”.  he’d declined psychological counseling.

on april 17, 2007, david ritcheson, the victim of this brutal hate crime, testified before congress in support of the “local law enforcement hate crimes prevention act”.  under current law, the fbi had no grounds to investigate the attack, because it occurred in a private yard.  to be a “hate crime”, it had to occur in a place of public access.  this is what david wanted changed. 

“I appear before you as a survivor…I am here before you today asking that our government take the lead in deterring individuals like those who attacked me from committing unthinkable and violent crimes against others because of where they are from, the color of their skin, the God they worship, the person they love, or the way they look, talk or act.”

on may 3, 2007, the house voted 237 to 180 in favor of the “local law enforcement hate crimes prevention act”, also known as “the matthew shepard act”.  it will now go on to be voted on by the senate, though president gw bush has indicated that he may veto the bill.

on july 1, 2007, david ritcheson jumped to his death from a carnival cruise ship headed to cozumel.

there are no words to express how saddened i am by david’s death.  may his parents, friends, and community someday find peace.

below, read david ritcheson’s testimony before congress…

Continue Reading my heart goes out to the family of david ritcheson

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Kennedy: Families Pay The Price For Failed System

They apparently name this mess “Operation Return to Sender”. How… cute.

Boston Herald

All over New Bedford on Tuesday, hundreds of women and men woke up, kissed their children goodbye and left for another day of work at Michael Bianco Inc. They knew it would be a grueling day because there was no other kind of day in the sweatshop-like conditions of the factory. But they were willing to work hard and without complaint because they believed in the American Dream, in which hard work creates a hope for a better life - if not for them, then for their children.

What happened next was a tragic example of the desperate state of our current immigration policy. Hundreds of armed police and immigration officers raided the factory, creating panic among the workers. They handcuffed unarmed men and women in the same factory where the workers had already known nothing but indignity at the hands of their employer.

While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was ready with hundreds of officers to subdue a group of frightened workers, they were woefully unprepared to deal with the aftermath of their own raid. The DHS knew that it would be detaining young parents, and yet had no effective plan to identify and help the children who would be left alone. The photographs of bewildered, crying children told with eloquence the story of a government operation distinguished by its callousness.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Turkish Court Blacks Out YouTube

Insulting the country’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, is a crime in Turkey punishable by prison.

ISTANBUL, Turkey—Four college students on Thursday asked a Turkish court to revoke the ban it imposed on YouTube for running videos that prosecutors said insulted the founder of modern Turkey.

The group condemned the videos in question but said blocking access to the Web site violated their rights to free speech, the private Turkish news agency Dogan reported.

“Banning access to the Web site does not punish those who did that (posted the videos) but the citizens of the Turkish republic,” said student Kursat Cetinkoz, reading from a petition the group submitted to the court in Istanbul.

[...]

Turk Telekom, the country’s largest telecommunications provider, immediately began enforcing the ban Wednesday. Those who tried to access the YouTube site from Turkey encountered the message: “Access to this site has been blocked by a court decision!...”

The court—acting on a petition from Turk Telekom—ruled later Wednesday that it would revoke the ban as soon as it ascertained that the offending videos had been removed from YouTube. YouTube is owned by internet search engine giant Google.

From the Chicago Tribune.

I suppose there is a historical reason for the ban on insulting ‘Turkishness’, but I don’t know what it is, or how one could justify punishing the insults with a court case and possible prison time. I know (or at least, I believe I know) that in Germany it is illegal to deny the Holocaust - am not sure if there are prison consequences attached to that, nor am I sure that I agree with the law itself. But, then, I’m not German and that is no doubt a very sensitive issue for them. From what I understand, however, neo Nazi groups flourish in spite of the law.

Anyway, though… the situations are not analogous because in Turkey, it was the Armenians who were the victims of the genocide.

Google/YouTube did take the video down, by the way, after apparently thousands of letters of complaint.

Monday, December 11, 2006

50 Bullets-No Memory; Dancing in Santiago; Israel Blocks Tutu?; Questioning Diamonds

Newsy Bits

The New York Times adds details and layers to this story that is in not going to go away. Unarmed men, a wedding day, and a hail of bullets have combined to make this story something that even those whose common reflex is to blame the victim in police shootings have a hard time justifying.

50 Bullets, One Dead, and Many Questions

A police sergeant who arrived seconds later described the scene this way: The Nissan had crashed into a van in the middle of the street. Smoke was coming from its radiator. The man in the driver’s seat was slumped back. His passenger was lying across his lap with his arms hanging outside the driver’s window.

The sergeant, Michael Wheeler, later told investigators that both men appeared seriously injured and likely to die, according to the records. A plainclothes officer stood close by, his pistol still trained on the two men in the car. A third man lay on the street nearby.

Minutes later, the shooting scene on Liverpool Street in Jamaica, Queens, was choked with patrol cars and the scrum of officials that follows a police shooting. A captain ordered another uniformed sergeant, Donald Kipp, to locate and inspect the weapons of the men involved in the shooting. In all, five plainclothes officers had fired a total of 50 bullets.

But one after another, in conversations with Sergeant Kipp or Sergeant Wheeler, the men said they could not say how many shots they had fired. Two said they were unsure whether they had even fired at all, including a detective who investigators later learned had fired 31 shots, emptying his 9-millimeter Sig Sauer pistol, reloading and emptying it again during the frenzied barrage.

How safe can you feel, even not being a young Black man, with police officers on the streets that can fire 31 one bullets at someone, stopping to reload, and then not remember even doing it?

via P6

   * * * *
From the BBC:

There was dancing in the streets of Santiago - and water cannons

Thousands of Chileans have taken to the streets following the death of the country’s former military ruler, Augusto Pinochet, at the age of 91.

Jubilant opponents danced in the centre of Santiago, Chile’s capital, before clashes broke out. Police used water cannon and tear gas to control crowds.

Supporters mourned Gen Pinochet outside the military hospital where he died.

The general took power in a 1973 coup, and more than 3,000 people were killed or “disappeared” in his 17-year rule.

He was accused of dozens of human rights abuses as well as fraud but poor health meant he never faced trial.

I may not rejoice in the death of any person but, for some, I do not mourn.

Update: via Tapped, Randy Paul of Beautiful Horizons augments the New York Times’ rather thin list of key dates in Pinochet’s career with a few of the “forgotten” items, in Wanted: A Strong Wooden Stake and Several Garlic Bulbs

   * * * *
Also from BBC, this doesn’t look (or sound) too good.

Israel ‘blocks Tutu Gaza mission’

Israel has blocked a UN fact-finding mission to the Gaza Strip that was to be led by South African Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, the UN says.

Mr Tutu’s team would have investigated last month’s killings of 19 civilians in an Israeli artillery barrage in the northern town of Beit Hanoun.

But Israel had not granted the former Archbishop of Cape Town the necessary travel clearance, a UN official said.

The Israeli government said it had not formally denied visas to the UN team.

Mr Tutu’s team was supposed to report its findings to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council by Friday.

Spokeswoman Sonia Bakar said Mr Tutu had other engagements and could not wait any longer for Israeli permission to travel.

“It has been cancelled. We were supposed to go yesterday (Sunday),” she said.

An Israeli government spokesman said it had not made a final decision on whether to grant visas for Mr Tutu’s team.

He said the government did “not have a problem not with the personalities, we had a problem with the institution. We saw a situation whereby the human rights mechanism of the UN was being cynically exploited to advance an anti-Israel agenda”.

[...]

It [the Human Rights Council] asked Mr Tutu to assess the situation of victims, address the needs of survivors and make recommendations on ways to protect Palestinian civilians against further Israeli attacks.

Maybe it’s considered less of a gamble to keep him out completely, than to have him speak and the world listen.

   * * * *
From Canada.com

Some good news -

Diamond trade on the defensive

Betsy Vereckey, The Associated Press
Published: Monday, December 11, 2006

NEW YORK—This holiday season some diamond retailers say they are seeing heightened consumer concern about conflict diamonds, the gems mined in war zones that are sold to fund armed conflict and civil war.

Sales of so-called conflict diamonds have helped finance wars that killed millions in Angola, Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia over the past several decades, and efforts to address the problem have been made within the diamond industry.

But human rights groups are now taking the issue straight to consumers, and with Friday’s release of Warner Bros. Pictures’ new film Blood Diamond, diamond retailers are preparing to face more scrutiny than ever before.

Many large retailers, such as Tiffany & Co. and Zale Corp., say they have enacted policies to help stem the flow of conflict diamonds. And during the all-important holiday season, when at least half of annual jewelry sales are recorded, retailers want their customers to feel they can shop guilt-free.

There is more there, including various sellers of diamonds and jewelry and what measures they are taking to ensure that their diamonds are not drenched in blood.

I’ve never liked diamonds.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Newsy bits - Throw the Bums Out! Lebanon, Mexico… more

That’s our problem here in the US… not enough people out of work.

“We have no work. We have nothing else to do, so we came to overthrow the government.”

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 1 — The official goal was to overthrow the government, but the atmosphere was bizarrely festive today as hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah supporters poured into the center of Beirut, banging drums, chanting slogans, pressing shoulder to shoulder as they surged past army troops seeking to keep order.

Families with little children, old people and young people all heeded the call of Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim party and militia, packing buses and cars all over the country. By nighttime, however, only several thousand demonstrators remained, smoking water pipes, playing music and vowing to stay, some in tents, until the Western-backed government falls.

“We are having fun, yes,” said Hussein Hanoum, 27, of Hermel in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, as he lay across a sidewalk in the midst of a huge crowd. “We have no work. We have nothing else to do, so we came to overthrow the government.”

The mood was light-hearted, but the impressive turnout underscored the challenge this politically divided and fragile country faces as it confronts its most dangerous political crisis since the end of a 15-year civil war in 1990. The government was holed up in the Grand Serail, an Ottoman-era building on a hill overlooking the demonstrations. The prime minister, Fouad Siniora, said that the people could stay in the streets as long as they like, but neither he nor the other ministers would resign.

[....]

Not quite a triumphant and auspicious start to governing, I’d say. Or end, as the case may be.

Mexico Swears In New Leader, Quickly

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 1 — It was not pretty, but Felipe Calderón, the new president of Mexico, managed to take the oath of office in Congress today, while leftist lawmakers whistled and catcalled and the losing leftist candidate staged a huge protest march down the central avenue of the capital.

Mr. Calderón quickly took the oath of office, and Mr. Fox handed over the traditional presidential sash and left the chamber. The entire ceremony lasted four minutes.

All the while, opposition politicians blew whistles and held up banners suggesting Mr. Calderón was “a traitor to democracy.”

Earlier in the day, fisticuffs and pushing matches broke out between right-wing and left-wing lawmakers as they jockeyed for position in the chamber, with leftists trying to obstruct the entranceways and the conservatives ringing the dais and podium.

Never before in modern Mexican history has a president been sworn under such chaotic and divisive conditions.

[...]

Speaking to his supporters, Mr. Lopéz Obrador charged once again that the election was fraudulent and that Mr. Calderón’s victory was engineered by a “neofascist oligarchy.” He claimed the “imposition” of Mr. Calderón as president amounted to a “coup d’etat.”

“We are not rebels without a cause,” he said. “Sometimes they forget the heart of the matter, which is that they robbed us of the election.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Houston Judge Terrified of Peaceful Protesters - Assigns Them Combined $39.1 Million Bond

Houston crackdown on right to peaceful protest, freedom of speech…

44 Janitors Arrested in Non-Violent Civil Disobedience in Houston Held on Combined $39.1 Million Bond

For peaceful protestors charged with Class B misdemeanors, bond for each set at unprecedented $888,888 cash; For Harris County man recently charged with murder, bond set at $30,000

HOUSTON – In an unprecedented transparent attempt to severely limit the right to peaceful protest and freedom of speech of low-wage Houston janitors and their supporters, a Harris County District Attorney has set an extraordinarily high bond of $888,888 cash for each of the 44 peaceful protestors arrested last night. Houston janitors and their supporters, many of them janitors from other cities, were participating in an act of non-violent civil disobedience, protesting in the intersection of Travis at Capitol when they were arrested in downtown Houston Thursday night. They were challenging Houston’s real estate industry to settle the janitors’ strike and agree on a contract that provides the 5,300 janitors in Houston with higher wages and affordable health insurance.

The combined $39.1 million bond for the workers and their supporters is far and above the normal amount of bail set for people accused of even violent crimes in Harris County. While each of the non-violent protestors is being held on $888,888 bail…

For a woman charged with beating her granddaughter to death with a sledgehammer, bail was set at $100,000;

For a woman accused of disconnecting her quadriplegic mother's breathing machine, bail was set at $30,000;

For a man charged with murder for stabbing another man to death in a bar brawl, bail was set at $30,000;

For janitors and protesters charged with Class B misdemeanors for past non-violent protests, standard bail has been set at $500 each.

More than 5,300 Houston janitors are paid $20 a day with no health insurance, among the lowest wages and benefits of any workers in America.

Community activists and leaders expressed concern and dismay today at the police’s use of horses to intimidate and corral janitors participating in the non-violent civil disobedience Thursday night in downtown Houston. The police’s choice to use horses to stop the protest resulted in four people being injured, including an 83-year old female janitor from New York.

In a statement released today prior to the bonds being set, U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee said, “A protest is a sign of freedom in the United States and exercises our basic rights to free speech.”

Photos and video shot by people in the crowd during the incident are available on www.houstonjanitors.org

Background:

More than 1,700 SEIU janitors in Houston have been on strike since October 23 over civil rights abuses and a failure to bargain in good faith by their employers, the five national cleaning companies ABM, OneSource, GCA, Sanitors, and Pritchard.

With five of the most influential players in Houston’s commercial real estate industry refusing to intervene in the dispute, the workers’ strike against five national cleaning firms is increasing in scope and intensity. In the highly competitive market of contract cleaning, it the building landlords that hire the cleaning firms that negotiate and set rates for janitors’ wages and benefits. These five major landlords, Hines, Transwestern, Crescent, Brookfield Properties, and the oil giant Chevron, have the power to settle the strike by directing the cleaning contractors they hire to provide higher wages and health insurance all workers need to support their families.

In every city, the janitors work for many of the same national cleaning firms in buildings owned by the same national commercial landlords. But, while janitors in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and other cities make more than $10 an hour, have health insurance and full-time work, Houston workers are paid an average of $20 a day, with no health insurance for part-time work.

Last fall, 5,300 Houston janitors made the historic choice to form a union with SEIU (Service Employees International Union). Their decision capped one of the largest successful organizing drives by private sector workers ever in the Southern half of the United States. Since forming a union with SEIU, Houston janitors have been seeking a raise to $8.50/hour, more hours, and health insurance in a citywide union contract. For more info, visit houstonjanitors.org

More than 225,000 janitors in 29 cities are members of SEIU.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Oaxaca - News, Background, Action - & It’s a Feminist Matter, Too

Oaxaca, Mexico:

I don't really know enough to write intelligently about this important situation but, luckily, there are many others that do. Here is a brief compilation of news and commentary. I am putting just a few sites here, but there many others who are writing on this situation in depth and from a position of knowledge. There are links to some of these at the sites below.

I'll probably just keep adding to this post as I find things.

An appeal and call to action:

Why feminists must stand against government oppression in Mexico

Although even Indy Media tends to privilege male voices–you can’t help but notice the heavy presence of indigenous women in the pictures/videos and manifestos. Indigenous social justice movements invariably center the entire community within the movement. Wheras (white) feminist movements in the U.S. tend to call for “rights” and “equality,” indigenous women tend to call for the recovering of their communities. That is, their communities have been under a 500 year long attack, and it is through (radical women of color/third world) feminism that indigenous women seek to recover and heal their communities.

Thus, indigenous women are active participants in decision making, rebellions, and protests–and as such, these same women are often targetted by the nation/state for retribution and sexualized violence. Just as it’s not uncommon to see video tape of women shutting down mainstream corporate media’s negative coverage, it’s also not uncommon to have women imprisoned and sexually assaulted as well. Resistance comes at a price–and for indigenous women of Mexico, that price is often the murders of their children and the violent loss of their bodily integrity. But to not resist means poverty, sexual violence and death. As subcomendante Marcos has often noted, indigenous peoples are already dead–resistance just means dying a different way.

All feminists MUST pay attention to what is happening in Oaxaca. Indigenous women are leading the way to female liberation–which means that just as their demands for access to birth control carry the same weight in their actions that their demands for access to community radio do, they are also taking the brunt of the violence liberation often brings. But thier entire community recognizes that they will never have liberation (aka community health, freedom from poverty, clean air to breath, workers rights, sexual freedom, control of the land etc) as long as the nation/state has ultimate control over what happens to their bodies and souls–or as long as violence against women is acceptable in any form. (Lots more there, including action items and more background and reasons why it is important for feminists to participate. read it all.) Also, keep up with current updates by visiting the Women of Color blogs Oaxaca archive.

BBC News -

What are the origins of the crisis?

On 1 May 2006, teachers in Oaxaca handed in a document listing their grievances and demands. They then went on strike, saying they had received no answer from the local authorities.

The crisis reached a new level on 14 June, when local police tried to remove the protesters who had, since 22 May been occupying the centre of the city. Some 750 police officers took part in the operation. Media reports at the time said at least four people had died in the clashes - a claim denied by the local authorities.

What do the teachers want?

They are demanding better pay, as well as a series of measures to help poorer pupils, including: breakfasts for schoolchildren, scholarships, uniforms, shoes, medical services and textbooks. The teachers are also demanding the resignation of the Oaxaca Governor, Ulises Ruiz.

Are other groups supporting the teachers?

Yes. The teachers' movement is backed by an umbrella group known as the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (Appo), formed on 17 June by 365 grassroots organisations including unions, indigenous and peasant groups and women's movements.

The protest movement has also received the backing of Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos and former left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. (Read more at BBC)

BRINGING YOU AN IN-DEPTH PIECE OF BACKGROUND REPORTING on Oaxacan developments, as understood by one Rebecca Barroso. The Unapologetic Mexican cannot place his sterling silver reputation behind all opinions or facts in this piece, as he has not researched them. But he would be negligent in his duty to the underground newsgathering networks were he not to provide it to you for your own consideration.

Teachers, students, and other groups have engaged in increasingly violent demonstrations in and around Oaxaca City for several months, while leaders of social organizations and teacher unions demand the resignation of Ulises Ruiz as governor of Oaxaca.

The conflict has roots in what was allegedly a fraudulent election, when Ulises Ruiz, the candidate for the PRI party, was named victorious over Gabino Cué, the candidate for the Coalición Todos Somos Oaxaca party.

[...]

In short, Oaxaca is experiencing nonconformities via three different groups of people: all those trampled by the fraud at the election process; the heads of the social organizations in charge of keeping the peace who used to live off the public monies now denied to them; and the teachers who are requesting an increase in their salaries. (Read more) - Also, for commentary on the current issues in Oaxaca, here is The Unapologetic Mexican's Oaxaca category archive.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The global local earthling

I am returning to Human Beams after several years.

I remember with excitement the concept of a world without borders that inspired Nanette to come up with Human Beams.

I do see myself as a global citizen. But I must confess that for the last five years I have been more concerned about things that have been happening in India than I have been about my global village.

Why just India? It would be right to say that it’s watching Kolkata become a global city that has attracted my attention.

18 million people live/work in this city. Of course it has it’s own character. As does every city in the world.

What’s interesting is that if you step in to any of its shopping malls I guess you could be in any city in the world. You could certainly get anything the world produces.

Shopping malls, I guess, is one phenomenon that has transcended global barriers. And strangely to make that conquest, the truly multinational brands have had to localise.

Coca-Cola is a campaign running here, “Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola” which will not make any sense to anyone who is not Indian. Yet it is true to the Coke brand.

Pizza Hut has toppings that are so Indian that no Italian would ever believe that it could be used on a pizza.

What is it about us that makes us want to localise every global concept?

Why do we still live in a world with cultural, geographic and political borders?

What makes us search for our own food and music, our own language, even when we should feel at home in another part of our global village?

What will it take for Earth to unite?

An invasion from outer space?

Sumit

Friday, October 13, 2006

Newsy Bits � Iraqis on the move; and 600,000?; Lebanon War; Don’t Think of an Elephant

From the BBC:

Iraqis 'fleeing rising violence'

Thousands of Iraqis are fleeing the country every day, in what the UN's refugee agency describes as a steady, silent exodus.

The number of Iraqis claiming asylum in the West is growing, says the UNHCR.

The agency also says the number of internally displaced is growing, with some 365,000 Iraqis uprooted this year.

Earlier this week the Baghdad government estimated that about 300,000 people had been internally displaced since February.

It was in February this year when Shia Muslim shrines in the town of Samarra were destroyed in bomb attacks blamed on Sunni militants.

[…]

The agency says that last year about 50,000 Iraqis returned from neighbouring countries. This year only 1,000 did.

[…]

Most of those Iraqis who have fled to Syria and Jordan have not registered with the UNHCR, in what the agency calls a "silent exodus".

The UNHCR says that tens of thousands more are moving on to Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, the Gulf States and Europe.

Statistics from the first half of this year show that Iraqis were the biggest single national group claiming asylum in Europe, while the number claiming asylum in industrialised countries had risen by 50% compared to the same period last year.

I remember various human rights and relief organizations setting up refugee camps in preparation for the initial invasion of Iraq... and the crowing from some on the right when they went (mostly) unused. That they are in more use now, along with ever larger numbers of refugees to other countries three years into the occupation of Iraq is just one more sign of what a dismal failure this entire illegal enterprise has been.

One a related note, the Lancet recently come out with a report (pdf) stating:

"We estimate that as of July, 2006, there have been 654 965 (392 979–942 636) excess Iraqi deaths as a consequence of the war, which corresponds to 2·5% of the population in the study area. Of post-invasion deaths, 601 027 (426 369–793 663) were due to violence, the most common cause being gunfire."

A number of people at different sites have been picking it apart, here are just a very few:

Obsidian Wings - Hilzoy
Stayin' Alive - Cervantes
Crooked Timber - Kieran Healy
Crooked Timber - Daniel
Alas, a Blog - here and here - Ampersand

From the Asia Times:

Three part series by Alastair Crooke and Mark Perry, "How Hezbollah Defeated Israel"

The portrait that we give here is also limited. Hezbollah officials will neither speak publicly nor for the record on how they fought the conflict, will not detail their deployments, and will not discuss their future strategy. Even so, the lessons of the war from Hezbollah's perspective are now beginning to emerge and some small lessons are being derived from it by US and Israeli strategic planners. Our conclusions are based on on-the-ground assessments conducted during the course of the war, on interviews with Israeli, American and European military experts, on emerging understandings of the conflict in discussions with military strategists, and on a network of senior officials in the Middle East who were intensively interested in the war's outcome and with whom we have spoken.

PART 1: Winning the intelligence war
PART 2: Winning the ground war
PART 3: The political war

Looks like an interesting series, although I have not read all of it yet.

"Finding out that Pennsylvania didn't actually have a border with Mexico, the ever clever Raj decided that if the border wouldn't come to Raj - Raj would have to go to the border. So off to Texas, Bhakta went."

Go - read the rest - it's hilarious... I can't resist giving a small hint though... :

A few miles from the border, though, somebody always stops you and asks who you are, your citizenship status and other pertinent questions.

Such as, "Where did you get the elephant?"

There is wacky and then there's Republicans.

Might add bits of news as I come across them. Then again, maybe not.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Slated to be Stoned to Death, These Women Need Immediate Help

This is a call for action to do our small part in coming to the assistance of the women in Iran who have been sentenced to death by stoning.

1. Read the background and an explanation of the punishment for stoning to death in Islamic Law.

2. Realize that crimes against chastity in Iran are a pervasive problem by going to the website of one of the leading Iranian-American activists. There you may watch a detailed 48 minute documentary about a woman executed for a crime against chastity.

3. Spread word about this rally in Rome protesting the decisions by the Iranian government.

4. Sign these two petitions which refer to the two of the seven women sentenced. Activists in the US have gotten personal confirmation that Iranian officials were influenced by petitions when they previously ordered stays of executions. The first is for a woman named Kobra. The second is for a woman named Malak.

5. Submit the following letter...

8. If you fail to do any or even some of these, I assure you that you will remember the image of a bunch of stones pinging against a woman�s head cracking open her skull sometime after October 12. You have eight days.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Views of Aceh peace deal, one year later

I know little about this area of the world, but there was quite a bit of hope, after the tsunami, of peace of a sorts in the region. Not surprisingly, there is still a lot of work to do, though.

From the BBC:

One year has passed since the Indonesian government and separatist rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (Gam) signed a peace deal to end nearly three decades of fighting in the province.

Here people from across Aceh give their assessment of the year so far.

Excerpts from a few… read the full comments at the BBC site.
....

M KAHAR, TEACHER IN AN ISLAMIC SCHOOL, BANDA ACEH

Life is very good these days. We are very happy because of the ceasefire and wherever we go now, we feel this happiness.

There is no longer any fear in our region because there is such a thing as peace.

Before the peace agreement of last year, we would be afraid when travelling the roads outside Banda Aceh.

Now, we can go everywhere and the violence we used to see in our district is no more.
....

IRAWAN ABDULLAH, POLITICIAN, ACEH

Promises have not been fulfilled.

The Indonesian government and Gam have different perceptions of the results of the negotiations of last year. Gam was hoping for more powers, more recognition, but they never got it.

After years of war and the tsunami, there was finally hope for Aceh. There was hope that our people could be better educated, would get a chance to progress.

But I see little of that now.

I feel that the government of Indonesia has broken its promises to Aceh.

Aceh has no money, we don’t have enough local power to make decisions about the money that is due to us. We feel that the riches of Aceh are going to be diverted to Jakarta.
...

NASRUDDIN ABU BAKKAR, ADMINISTRATOR, BANDA ACEH

I feel good. Thousands and thousands of people have come to Banda Aceh for a major demonstration.

We are campaigning on the deal about Aceh’s government. Peace has been good but we need more. We feel there are many problems with the deal, many crucial points relating to how government works, relating to authority.

We need to be clear about where the real authority with Aceh lies. The government kept all the authority. Indonesia, Jakarta is the master.

We need change so the balance of authority is given to Aceh.
....