Don’t screw with Joe Biden! Pass the Jobs Bill

MoonHowler

 Joe Biden should be huffy.  This young pup questions the use of the language?   To answer his question, YES. 

Crime incidence is clearly and measurably linked to number of available police officers.  The more trained officers, the lower the crime rate is shown in case after case, in community after community throughout the United States. 

According to the Huffington Post

WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden doubled down Wednesday on his charge that rape and murder will rise if Congress fails to pass the American Jobs Act.

Minutes after addressing a firefighters rally in a Senate office building to push for passage of (at least) a $35 billion provision that would pay for the hiring of hundreds of thousands of police officers, teachers and firefighters, Biden was challenged by a reporter over his crime claims.

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Thieves amongst us

MoonHowler

Sentencing has been postponed for one Maneesh Gupta, age 47 for embezzling millions of dollars from Prince William County while he was the head of the IT Department in Prince William County government.

Insidenova.com:

Gupta was set to be sentenced Thursday, but the sentencing was continued to Nov. 3.

At Thursday’s hearing, Prince William Circuit Court Judge Richard B. Potter formally accepted a plea agreement in the case.

According to the terms of the agreement, Gupta will be sentenced to serve three years in prison, with another 48 years suspended and 10 years of probation and to repay $3.7 million the county lost in the scheme.

Prosecutors said Gupta and three other men created a company and arranged for most of the OIT office’s bids to be awarded to that company, between 2004 and April 2009.

I am offended.  3 years?  48 suspended?  Why?  $3.7 million bucks is a lot of money.  How about 20 years for being a thief and if his relatives repay the money he took, then he gets to come out after 20 years.  I think he got slapped on the wrist.  How long does he have to repay the money he took?  What happens if he doesn’t?  Will he go back to prison?

This dude has always managed to find a way to find a short cut.  I feel confident he will find a way to never repay that money. I hope the County has a back up plan.

 

Devil went down to Georgia and said no clemency for Troy Davis

MoonHowler

Convicted cop killer Troy Davis is slated to be executed at 7 pm tonight after being denied clemency from a Georgia pardons board.  Denial of clemency has been described as routine.

This execution has been troublesome for many people including proponents of the death penalty.  7 out of 9 of the witnesses in the trial have recanted their statements.  At least one has said that he was young when he said what he gave them what they wanted to hear. 

CBS News reports the following:

CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen described the denial of clemency as “routine.”

 “Parole boards almost never grant clemency, so this is not a surprise,” Cohen said. “Now if Wednesday’s execution is going to be halted it’s going to have to come from the federal courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court in particular, which last week halted a Texas execution.”

 Davis has gotten support from hundreds of thousands of people, including a former FBI director, former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI, and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling gave him an unusual opportunity to prove his innocence last year. State and federal courts, however, repeatedly upheld his conviction for the 1989 killing of Mark MacPhail, an off-duty police officer who was working as a security guard in Savannah when he was shot dead rushing to help a homeless man who was being attacked.

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Evil

MoonHowler

From the Huffington Post:

OSLO, July 23 (Reuters) – A suspected right-wing fanatic accused of killing at least 92 people deemed his acts “atrocious” yet “necessary” as Norway mourned victims of the nation’s worst attacks since World War Two.

Police were hunting on Sunday to see if a possible second gunman took part in the shooting massacre and bomb attack on Friday that traumatized a normally peaceful Nordic country.

In his first comment via a lawyer since he was arrested, 32-year-old Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik expressed willingness to explain himself in court at a hearing likely to be held on Monday about extending protective custody.Read More

Sean Hoare, whistleblower, found dead

MoonHowler

From the Washington Post:

The Guardian reports that Sean Hoare, the former News of the World reporter who first claimed that Andy Coulson knew of phone hacking by his staff, has been found dead at his home. The police told the Guardian that they do not know how Hoare died, but do not believe the cause of death to be suspicious.

Hoare gave an interview to the New York Times in 2010 that bolstered allegations the phone hacking was a widespread and accepted practice at the tabloid. He also said that Coulson encouraged the practice. Hoare was let go from the News of the World for problems related to drinking and drugs.

Hoare had been in contact with the Guardian and the New York Times only last week, stating that the News of the World staff used police technology to track phones.

Here is the 2010 BBC interview with Hoare speaking about the phone hacking.

So why do people just die but nothing is suspicious?  The guy doesn’t look old enough for it to have been from natural causes.  In fact, he looks downright chipper.  The more that is turned up, the more suspicious all of this story is beginning to sound. 

It can’t all be about phone hacking.  As nasty of a habit as that might be, it isn’t worth the head of Scotland Yard resigning and the Prime Minister (or 2 or 3) ducking and heading for cover.  Was Sean murdered to protect some big muckety muck in England?  Will the Murdoch scandal cross the Big Pond?  Will Steve Doocy continue to make up excuses and exclaim that the media is ‘piling on’ poor Rupert Murdoch?  Are the friends at Faux News getting a little nervous over their jobs?  If Murdoch crumbles, can their godfather be far behind?

Inquiring minds want to know. 

Where does the buck stop, Murdoch?

MoonHowler
Murdoch's desk?

As the tale of the  tabloid, the News of the World implodes over scandal, law-breaking, dead girls, hacking, and other disreputable acts not worthy of the name journalism, it will take a long time to sort it all out.  NOTW will go to press for the last time on Sunday.  Robert Murdoch, owner, has pulled the plug.  Murdoch has even more influence in the UK than he does in the United States.  He has refused to comment. 

Should we be surprised?  Faux News certainly has done things for years that are questionable in the ethnics department.  They seem to make up their own rules, all while pointing fingers at everyone else.  The buck has to stop with Robert Murdoch.  Maybe his world will come crumbling down.  Maybe he will decide there is more to journalism than making money.  The American press has always seemed like a gentle, well-mannered giant compared to the irreverent junk-yard dog habits of the British press.  Faux News continually pushes the envelope.  This would be a good time for American journalists to re-evaluate what the word professionalism means and perhaps do a little house cleaning of their own.  Meanwhile, Faux News needs to do a lot of damage control before I call them by their rightful name. 

The buck stops at Robert Murdoch’s desk. 

After Casey Anthony–What next?

MoonHowler

By now, nearly everyone has heard that Casey Anthony was found not guilty of the murder of her little girl, Caylee Anthony. Not since the O.J.  Simpson trial has America been more united in a collective agreement of guilty. Yet the jury acquitted her of all charges except providing false information to law enforcement. The American public is furious.

Marcia Clark, one of the chief prosecutors in the O.J.  trial said, in a column in the Daily Beast on Wednesday, that the Anthony case is even worse than the O.J. trial because Anthony didn’t have the star power that OJ did. The public hadn’t been wowed with  the athletic prowess,   movies and star power  of O.J. before hand. There were no surprises and there were no racial overtones that people wanted to avoid. She simply was not found guilty despite all the unanswered questions. Read More

Strauss-Kahn case disintegrating

MoonHowler

New York Times:

The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is on the verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper who charged that he attacked her in his Manhattan hotel suite in May, according to two well-placed law enforcement officials.

Although forensic tests found unambiguous evidence of a sexual encounter between Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a French politician, and the woman, prosecutors now do not believe much of what the accuser has told them about the circumstances or about herself.

Since her initial allegation on May 14, the accuser has repeatedly lied, one of the law enforcement officials said.

The accuser has not been seen by the public.  She is in protection.  She has been caught in one lie after another.  She has told authorities that 2 witnesses to her encounter were Moses and John Lennon.  While Strauss-Kahn might have a few problems with morals or scruples, there is something very disturbing about this case. 

Strauss-Kahn  has lost his  job and reputation.   Is it possible for someone to lose their lifetime achievements over a case like this that ends up with its chief witnesses being Lennon and Moses?  He was considered a serious contender for the French presidency.   Now he is being held on in the United States with a forfeited passport and is under strict house arrest. Read More

Former PWC IT chief pleads guilty to 49 felony charges

MoonHowler

Former PWC IT chief, Maneesh Gupta,  plead guilty to 49 felony charges related to a bid rigging scheme.  Gupta is the former head of Prince William County’s Office of Information Technology.   According to insidenova.com:

Maneesh Gupta, 47, the former OIT systems division chief, pleaded guilty to charges of public fraud, combination to rig bids, conspiracy to commit forgery, uttering and obtaining money by false pretenses.

The public fraud charge was amended from a charge of racketeering. Prosecutors dropped a charge of money laundering.

Prosecutors offered Gupta a plea agreement, but Prince William Circuit Court Judge Richard B. Potter said he would defer his decision on whether or not to accept it until Gupta’s sentencing hearing on Oct. 6.

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13-year old sexually assaults 7 year old in Westgate

MoonHowler

Buried deep within insidenova.com under many other crime stories:

Teen charged with sexually assaulting 7-year-old girl

A 13-year-old Manassas boy has been charged with sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl on Friday, police said.

The victim told police that the boy assaulted her multiple times — at least once in the 9900 block of King George Drive, in the West Gate of Lomond neighborhood — for about a year, Prince William police spokesman Jonathan Perok said.

The boy was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual battery and two counts of indecent liberties by a child, Perok said.

The boy’s court date and bond information were not immediately available.

Police did not release the identity of either kid due to their age.

Here we go again.  Once more we have children sexually assaulting  younger children and no one knows who the child who assaults even is.  I am having a bad flash back. 

 I remember almost 35 years ago coming home from work to face a tragic story about our little 3-year old neighbor being abducted and taken across the road into what was then Barrett Field.  She was  assaulted.  Was she raped?  No, but only because she was so young and it wasn’t for lack of effort on the part of the 16 year old perp.  

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Time for this crap to stop!

MoonHowler

From insidenova.com:

MANASSAS, Va. —

A Stonewall Jackson High School attendance officer and girls’ basketball coach was charged Tuesday with having sex with a former student, police said.

 The victim told police that she and Nsonji White had performed “sexual acts” when she was a 17-year-old student at the school in 2004 and 2005, Prince William police spokesman Jonathan Perok said.

 Perok said the alleged assaults occurred at different locations within Prince William County – some in the school.

 White, 38, of the 10100 block of Woodbury Drive, in the Bannerwood neighborhood near Manassas, was charged with five counts of crimes against nature and five counts of indecent liberties by a custodian, Perok said.

 White was held without bond

Yesterday the paper reported that an 18 year old student sexually assaulted a 14 year old in the stairwell. 

What is going on?  I know this kind of crap didn’t go on to this degree when I was a kid.  It was a rarity, not an every day occurrence. 

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Stonewall Student Arrested for Sexual Assault

MoonHowler

From insidenova.com:

An 18-year-old Stonewall Jackson High School student was charged Thursday with sexual assault, police said.

A 14-year-old student at the school told police that Phillip Andrew McNuss, 18, a person she knows, sexually assaulted her in a stairwell inside the school, which is located at 8820 Rixlew Lane, more than one time between April 11 and April 15, Prince William police spokesman Jonathan Perok said.

Perok said the victim reported the incidents on Wednesday afternoon to school authorities, who then contacted police.

McNuss, of the 10200 block of Jamaica Lane, in the Townes of Ashleigh neighborhood, was charged with sexual battery, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and carnal knowledge, Perok said.

McNuss was held without bond.  Police did not have his court date immediately available.

We don’t usually cover crime.  However, this story affects many of our readers.  Maybe it’s time for some of the curtains to come down.  A 14 year old is  sexually assaulted, (whatever that means) inside the school in a stairwell during school hours?  Where were others?   Teachers, students and administrators?  Were  both students out of class?  What about security cameras?  Don’t they have those in stairwells?   How does something like this happen?

The alleged attacker lives off of Williamson Blvd.  That is a little too close for comfort.  Additionally, this is certainly not the first time that a student has been viciously attacked at SJHS.   If this kind of illegality is going on at Stonewall then security must be upgraded.  Prince William County citizens don’t send their daughters, sisters, granddaughters, and nieces to school to be sexually assaulted any more than they send their sons, nephews, brothers and grandsons to school to be brutally attacked. 

Hopefully the school will have some explanation of how this was allowed to happen on their watch. 

And if  someone is accused of sexual battery and they go to school with my family members, then I guess they should know I will plaster their  face on my blog: 

Reminder: (mainly for Moon)  Everyone is innocent until convicted by a jury of their peers. 

 

Has the war on drugs failed?

MoonHowler

From Reuters via the Daily Beast cheat sheet:

The Global Commission on Drug Policy has declared the international war on drugs a failure and urges a new approach. The commission said the practice of criminalizing drugs and incarcerating users has had “devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.” Instead, the panel recommended replacing incarceration of non-violent drug users with health treatment services. It also recommended governments to consider legalizing marijuana and other illicit drugs “to undermine the power of organized crime and safeguard the health and security of their citizens. The panel consisted of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, businessman Richard Branson, former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, and 16 other members.

So, there you have it.  Should we, as a nation, just give up and legalize some drugs, in particular, cannabis?  How much a year do we spend incarcerating drug users?  How much crime goes on because of turf wars over drugs? 

Should drugs be sold by states and taxes collected?  Would we decriminalize or legalize?  Would more people do drugs because they were legal? 

What direction should the United States take?

Would border issues with Mexico reduce if some of the drugs being smuggled in could be bought here?

The report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy seems to pose more questions than it answers. 

WI Man Arrested for Abortion Clinic Massacre Plot

MoonHowler

A man has been arrested in Madison, Wisconsin for plotting to kill abortion providers at Planned Parenthood.  According to Little Green Footballs:

 

 

 

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Marshfield man who planned to kill abortion providers in Madison this week was thwarted on the eve of the intended attack when his gun accidentally fired in a motel room, leading to his arrest for reckless endangerment, according to a federal complaint filed Thursday.

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Bunny Money??

MoonHowler

 

It appears that John Edwards will be indicted per the green light from DOJ.   At issue is his use of campaign money to finance his pay-off to his mistress, Rielle Hunter. According to Huffington Post, much of the pay-off money came from a 99 year old heiress, Bunny Mellon. The Daily Beast reports:

You’d assume Rachel Lowe Lambert Lloyd Mellon—who, just shy of 100 years old, is probably the last surviving member of the old-money aristocracy that once lorded it over America—would be mortified by her involvement in a tabloid-ready sex scandal.

Hardly.

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