Iraquis Vote: What you're not hearing on the local airwaves

Acts of Bravery
  By Bob Herbert
  The New York Times

  Monday 31 January 2005

  You'd have to be pretty hardhearted not to be moved by the courage of the millions of Iraqis who insisted on turning out to vote yesterday despite the very real threat that they would be walking into mayhem and violent death at the polls.

  At polling stations across the country there were women in veils holding the hands of children, and men on crutches, and people who had been maimed during the terrible years of Saddam, and old people. Among those lined up to vote in Baghdad was Samir Hassan, a 32-year-old man who lost a leg in the blast of a car bomb last year. He told a reporter, "I would have crawled here if I had to."

  In a war with very few feel-good moments, yesterday's election would qualify as one. But as with any positive development in Iraq, this one was riddled with caveats. For one thing, dozens of people were, in fact, killed in election day attacks. And shortly after the polls closed, a British military transport plane crashed northwest of Baghdad.

  So there was no respite from the carnage.

  And we should keep in mind that despite the feelings of pride and accomplishment experienced by so many of the voters, yesterday's election was hardly a textbook example of democracy in action. A real democracy requires an informed electorate. What we saw yesterday was an uncommonly brave electorate. But it was woefully uninformed.

  Much of the electorate was voting blind. Half or more of those who went to the polls believed they were voting for a president. They weren't. They were electing a transitional national assembly that will have as its primary task the drafting of a constitution. The Washington Post noted that because of the extreme violence that preceded the election "almost none of the 7,700 candidates for the National Assembly campaigned publicly or even announced their names."

  As John F. Burns put it in The Times yesterday:

  "Half a dozen candidates have been assassinated. As a result, the names of all others have not been made public; they were available in the last days of the campaign on Web sites inaccessible to most Iraqis, few of whom own computers."

  "Democracy," according to "The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World," "refers to a form of government in which, in contradistinction to monarchies and aristocracies, the people rule."

  That is not the case in Iraq and is not likely to be the case soon. In much of Iraq the people exist in a kind of hell on earth, at the mercy of American forces on the one hand and a variety of enraged insurgents on the other. Despite the pretty words coming out of the Bush administration, the goals of the U.S. and the goals of most ordinary Iraqis are not, by a long stretch, the same.

  The desire of the U.S., as embodied by the Bush administration, is to exercise as much control as possible over the Middle East and its crucial oil reserves. There is very little concern here about the plight of ordinary Iraqis, which is why the horrendous casualties being suffered by Iraqi civilians, including women and children, get so little attention.

  What most ordinary Iraqis have been expressing, not surprisingly, is a desire for a reasonably decent quality of life. They are a long way from that.

  In large swaths of the country, death at the hands of insurgents seems always just moments away. It's also extremely easy for innocent Iraqis to get blown away by Americans. That can occur if drivers get too close - or try to pass - an American military convoy. Or if confusion arising from language barriers, or ignorance of the rules, or just plain nervousness results in an unfortunate move by a vehicle at a checkpoint. Or if someone objects too vociferously to degrading treatment by U.S. forces. Or if someone is simply suspected, wrongly, of being an insurgent.

  Crime in many areas is completely out of control. Kidnapping for ransom, including the kidnapping of children, is ubiquitous. Carjackings are commonplace. Rape and murder are widespread.

  In a country with the second-largest oil reserves in the world, drivers have to wait in line for hours at a time for gasoline. Electric power is available just a handful of hours a day. Unemployment rates are sky high. With many women destitute, prostitution is a growth industry.

  Iraqis may have voted yesterday. But they live in occupied territory, and the occupiers have other things on their minds than the basic wishes of the Iraqi people. That's not democracy. That's a recipe for more war.

source:http://truthout.org/docs_2005/013105E.shtml

Not Being Played on Brownwood Airwaves

I Ain't Afraid

By Holly Near

I ain't afraid of your Yahweh
I ain't afraid of your Allah
I ain't afraid of your Jesus
I'm afraid of what you do in the name of your god

I ain't afraid of your churches
I ain't afraid of your temples
I ain't afraid of your praying
I'm afraid of what you do in the name of your god

Rise up to your higher power
Free up from fear, it will devour you
Watch out for the ego of the hour
The ones who say they know it
Are the ones who will impose it on you

Rise up, and see a higher story
Free up from the gods of war and glory
Watch out for the threats of purgatory
The spirit of the wind won’t make a killing off of sin and satan

I aint afraid of the Bible
I aint afraid of theTorah
I aint afraid of the Koran
Dont let the letter of the law
Obscure the spirit of your love it's killing us

I aint afraid of your money
I aint afraid of your culture
I aint afraid of your choices

I aint afraid of your Sunday
I aint afraid of your Spirit
I aint afraid of your teachers

I aint afraid of your sabbath
I aint afraid of your borders
I aint afraid of your dances
I'm afraid of what you do
in the name of your god

Brownwood Feels Like Home

Brownwood TX Crime Statistics

to see how we compare visit: http://brownwood.areaconnect.com/crime1.htm

Brownwood - Senfronia Thompson - Hate Crime Legislation Author

Legislation relates to treatment of sexual assault victims
1/31/2005 2:19 PM
By: GalleryWatch.com

Concerned that there is no legislation in place detailing how sexual assault survivors should be treated in Texas hospital emergency rooms, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, held a press conference Monday to announce two new bills to create a standard of care for rape victims and to ensure access to emergency contraception.

"Sexual assault is a violent crime," said Thompson. "I'm trying to give those persons who are victims of rape an opportunity to be treated, counseled and have a chance to prevent pregnancy by taking emergency contraception."

She emphasized that, unlike the controversial RU486 pill, emergency contraception does not cause an abortion but prevents a pregnancy from taking place. "It slows down the process of the sperm being able to penetrate the egg," said Thompson. "It reduces the speed from 55 miles per hour to maybe 20."

Thompson's bills include HB 677, which is designed to give rape victims the opportunity to be treated in a private room once administered to a hospital.

"Rape is a very traumatic experience," she said, noting that a private room would allow the person to have forensic work done, talk with counselors and be visited by the same nurse. HB 676 allows a rape victim to obtain a prescription for emergency contraception. Emergency contraception does not eliminate a pregnancy, should a rape victim get pregnant, Thompson emphasized. "If you're pregnant, you're going to stay pregnant."

Mary Levy, a Travis County nurse specializing in treatment of sexual assault survivors, said she administers 30 to 35 sexual assault exams each month. The women and men who come in "are very, very traumatized," she said. Rape victims should be able "at the very least, as a minimum standard of care, to get emergency contraception. There is no reason to re-traumatize these women with a fear of pregnancy after sexual assault."

Dr. Diana Wise, who has been an OB/GYN doctor in Austin for 19 years, outlined the three preventive aspects of emergency contraception: it prevents ovulation, slows tubal motility and prevents implantation of the egg in the uterus. The safety of such medicine has "been well-documented," said Wise, noting that it is supported by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She added that emergency contraception prevents abortions.

Under Thompson's bills, hospitals would be required to provide emergency contraception upon request. "They don't all do that now," she said, noting that some Catholic hospitals are reluctant to provide emergency contraception because they believe conception may have taken place. "We don't believe it does," said Thompson. "When the pill is taken, it just stops the egg in the name of sexual assault. 'Don't move.'"

Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, said the Catholic Hospital system says in its mission statement that it does not provide any contraception because it is in conflict with their religious beliefs. Thompson's legislation would apply to them, she said. "A narrow, religious definition has overtaken science and medicine where women's health care is concerned," she said. "That is the reality of health care climate we're in today."

"Can you imagine someone being raped and asking for help, getting a forensic exam and the nurse saying, 'Sorry, we can't give you a prescription because if you're pregnant, we don't want you to have the opportunity to avoid this?'" asked Thompson. When asked if she thought the emergency contraception bill might be stalled by staunch pro-life colleagues in the House, Thompson replied, "I'm hoping we will be able to educate them better this session" on the differences between abortion-inducing medications and emergency contraception.

When asked how a bill filed by Rep. Frank Corte, R-San Antonio, enabling pharmacists to deny patients prescriptions they are morally opposed to relates to Thompson's legislation, Thompson said Corte's bill would deny a potential rape victim the right to have a prescription filled for emergency contraception. "I can't see consciously how a person would avoid helping women traumatized by rape and not allow her to do something to protect herself and her health," she said.

source: http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=130260&SecID=2

BISD, CSI, Brownwood Schools, Opinions, etc.

For the last several weeks I have been wavering on whether to support the bond package being proposed for Brownwood Schools or to support those who have expressed valid concerns. Both sides have expressed valid arguments and valid points. The " outsiders or newcomers " views (like found below) of our school facilities is one of the main reasons I will support this bond proposal.

Sunday January 30, 2005
Lifestyles: Candace Cooksey Fulton

Yes, I voted yes ... and here's why -- Candace Cooksey Fulton

Last week I voted in favor of the Brownwood Independent School District bond. I voted yes in spite of the reasoning against the bond published in this paper in recent weeks. And while I've found myself agreeing with most everything said in favor of the bond and the school improvements, nothing that was said since the Committee for School Improvements formed months ago fashioned my decision.

My decision was made nearly three years ago, when I brought my sons to Brownwood High School to take a tour of the facilities. That was the spring of 2002, and they were attending brand new, state-of-the-art schools in San Angelo. But our family's move was imminent, and so a school tour seemed like the proper step for us to take.
I am sorry to say, and this isn't necessarily just my fault or a compliment to the BISD, but at the time, all I knew about the Brownwood schools was how many times their football team had won state.
The three of us were horrified that day at what we saw. The run-down, poorly laid-out, dark and dreary facility was enough to send my boys packing. But the most depressing moment for me came when our guide, Larry Mathis, told us there was little hope for improvement of the facility since just a few months before the bond had failed.
Fast forward to now, and I'm reminded of one of those little paper signs you used to see now and again on people's office bulletin boards. The one that says, "We have done so much with so little for so long that we now can do anything with nothing."
My children's experience at Brownwood High School has been excellent. Despite the almost deplorable conditions of the school's theater, the 19-year-old got to be involved in some wonderful productions at BHS, and is attending college on a number of scholarships, the most generous of which is in theater arts.
The youngest is a junior at BHS, and so, the bond's passing will do nothing to benefit him.
As a relative newcomer to this community, I want to make it perfectly clear how much and how often I've appreciated the faculty and staff at the high school. Their attitude, compassion and dedication to the education of my children have been unequalled and we consider ourselves blessed.
Generally, I think we do our children a sad disservice by undervaluing education in their presence. We talk about "Well, when I was in school ..." We criticize the teachers, the rules and the systems. We argue over money. We tell our kids it's OK if they're too tired to do their homework because they had to work after school, and anyway, we say, "It's a stupid assignment."
Why should they value and appreciate something we obviously don't?
I think we've done a terrible thing to them in the last few weeks, letting them hear our discussions of whether or not they're worth the cost (notice I didn't say price) of improving to code and standard the schools they attend.
I wince each time a letter to the editor gives the analogy of wanting to drive a luxury car, but only being able to afford a pickup, or whatever. Hear this from a woman whose family caravan includes three older model vehicles, I can barely afford. That is my choice. What isn't my choice, but has to be also budgeted, and is the most expensive part of owning three cars, is the $514 a month car insurance I pay.
I look at our schools' needs as I look at car and health insurance (another $400 a month), going to the dentist or doctor or buying eyeglasses. They aren't frills. They are necessities for which the frills are sometimes sacrificed. Even the things we need very badly often have to be delayed until a three paycheck "flush" month.
But don't we all know the sooner a problem can be attended to, the cheaper it is to fix? A car maintenance tuneup costs about $100. A new engine costs several thousand dollars.
The Brown County schools where my grandmother and her siblings taught in the early 1900s didn't have indoor plumbing. When I hear the argument against air-conditioning the gyms, I wonder if those same nay-sayers have considered how much cheaper our schools could be if we didn't have indoor plumbing. (Amazingly enough, that was a cost-cutting answer when the band hall and art buildings were added at the high school. Bathrooms weren't included and it's been a problem ever since.)
We must accept that applying old standards to current situations will always skew the equation, and never solve the problem. Saying how things used to be does nothing but detract from the current concerns. I don't deny things were wonderful back when. Our goal, however is to prepare students to cope and function in a world of the future, that frankly, we can hardly imagine.
Who among us has anything more important to spend our money on than the next generation? The wisdom of the ages is, all that is certain in life is death and taxes. I believe those who think we're better served by not voting for this bond will wake up in 20 years with no money to prove their savings and school facilities that cannot be repaired or salvaged. Our children need to believe they are worth our time and money.
I voted yes because I believe that giving our youth the support and environment to be educated is the mature, rational and (really) only logical thing to do.

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2005/01/30/lifestyles/candace%20cooksey%20fulton/ccf.txt

What's Being Written - Waco Tribune Herald

Johnson: Living under 1-party rule

HARLEY JOHNSON Board of Contributors

Monday, January 31, 2005

HILLSBORO – Under our noses, for those who weren't duly concerned, our "checks and balances" system has given way to one-party rule.

A Congress controlled by the Republican Party and Republican judges falls in line behind a corporate-controlled administrative branch. I hasten to add that one-party control also describes our state government.

I also must add in this analysis that many Democrats have contributed to this worrisome trend.

The most dangerous tendency by Congress in recent years has been to give the president virtually unlimited power to make war. The Constitution vests that power only in Congress.

Ah, but under today's alignment, the presidency is more like a monarchy. (And under this president, the title of emperor would be wholly appropriate).

The news media have failed us. There are so many issues which need close scrutiny and exhaustive reporting. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are horribly under-reported (do you remember the hunt for bin Laden?) Enron and "Kenny Boy" Lay and all the influence they bought just sort of came and went. And was that investigation into the anthrax attacks shelved?

Instead, on what do the consumers of news dine? On sensational murder trials. On the Michael Jackson saga. And with so much to debate about governance prior to the national elections, somehow the issue of gay marriage became all-consuming.

Now we learn of elaborate taxpayer-funded propaganda efforts by the Education Department and even the Social Security Administration to push the empire's agenda.

We are on a fast track to losing America as we have known it. One-party domination? Be careful, voters.

Communist Russia had a one-party system. The Communists made a big deal of elections. It was curious how they always managed to win.

In Germany, Hitler used times of crisis to gain ironclad control. He suspended the German constitution, permitting the arrest of persons suspected of being enemies of the state. Citing a national crisis, he sanctioned torture to gain information for the state.

Germany attacked a third-rate nation that posed no threat to it. With the help of propaganda and fear, Hitler convinced the people that it was necessary to protect them.

Possibly, we should post the Constitution in public buildings rather than the Ten Commandments that some people demand. For so long as we have a constitutional government as established by our founders, we can freely read the Ten Commandments and basically anything else we wish. Without it, we face the very thing against which President Bush warned us about on inauguration day: tyranny.

Harley Johnson is a member of the Board of Contributors, Central Texans who write columns regularly for the Tribune-Herald . He is superintendent of Penelope Independent School District.

Who are The Brownwood Brownshirts ?

October 15, 2004

Where Did These Conservatives Come From ?

The Brownshirting of America

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

" Show hosts, who advertise themselves as truth-tellers in a no-spin zone, quickly figured out that success depends upon constantly confronting listeners with bogymen to be exposed and denounced: war protesters and America-bashers, the French, marrying homosexuals, the liberal media, turncoats, Democrats, and the ACLU.

Talk radio's "news stories" do not need to be true. Their importance lies in inflaming resentments and confirming that America's implacable enemies are working resolutely to destroy us."

source: http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts10152004.html

Brownwood Unsolved Murder Vicitms

Leon Laureles, Donna Mae Enlow, Bobby McBride, Amanda Goodman, Lawrence Earl Jackson ( Brownwood's James Byrd Jr ? ), and more

Brownwood Meth

East Texas in the grip of meth
Henderson County has trained its sights on drug plague, but there's been no end to the devastation

09:41 PM CST on Saturday, March 26, 2005
By LEE HANCOCK / The Dallas Morning News
ATHENS, Texas – Meth horror stories are all too easy to find in Henderson County.
At the hospital, emergency room doctor Dan Bywaters is haunted by the abandoned toddler who vomited uncontrollably after eating methamphetamine.
At the jail, Sheriff J.R. "Ronny" Brownlow has scabby prisoners tell him to his face that they'll go back on meth the day they go free.
At the court building, state district Judge Carter Tarrance jokes about running a full-time meth court.

At Cedar Creek Lake, army retiree Al Gusner tells war stories about twitchy neighbors who rammed his car and held a knife to his throat for trying to chase meth users and labs from his neighborhood.
The drug known as "white-trash crack" has stalked the back roads of Henderson County, fueling child abuse, violence and misery for the last four years.
"Epidemic is almost not strong enough a word, because it doesn't go away," said Dr. Bywaters, the ER medical director at East Texas Medical Center-Athens, the county's only hospital. "It's hard to believe the scope of the problem, to be honest."
The problem is hardly isolated to Henderson County.
The drug is so easy to make, and so many labs have been discovered across the northern half of Texas since 2000, that the area stretching from the Panhandle, through Dallas, to the Louisiana-Arkansas line has become the state's meth belt.
Meth made up 54 percent of all confiscated items sent to the Department of Public Safety regional crime lab in Abilene last year. At Amarillo's regional DPS lab, it was 41 percent. At the Dallas and Tyler labs, meth accounted for about a third last year.
Among those nabbed across the region for using, making or selling the drug: schoolteachers, more than one state prosecutor, small-town police officers, a University of North Texas professor and a retired homicide cop in Houston.
Jane Marshall, a University of Texas professor who studies drug-abuse trends, said the problem has hit rural areas the hardest, "and it is exacting a huge price on local communities."
This is the story of a rural Texas county drowning in meth. Authorities have been on the offensive for two years; drug arrests have doubled, and crime has dropped. Still, the sheriff and others are pessimistic about ever getting the upper hand.
Said Judge Tarrance: "I feel like I'm bailing the ocean."

Consumed in a hurry
Meth has afflicted rural Texas for the same reason it has ravaged much of the nation's heartland: Anyone with inclination, a few hours and an Internet recipe can turn a vile brew of over-the-counter cold medicines, hardware-store solvents and farm chemicals into methamphetamine.

Experts say that the drug's psychological hook is more powerful than crack cocaine. One "bump" smoked, swallowed or injected induces a long, manic high that ends with an equally intense crash and craving for more. Paranoia is common, and regular users can suffer temporary psychosis and permanent brain damage.
And it has infested Henderson County with particular intensity.
Child-welfare workers, judges, doctors and cops talk about meth's impact with the weariness of combat veterans: babies born weekly with meth in their bloodstreams; 10- and 12-year-olds using meth; girls barely in their teens prostituted to support parents' habits; a cheerleader and homecoming princess coping with a mother on meth.
Arrests for drugs and violent crime in Henderson County have nearly doubled in the last seven years, even as statistics indicate such arrests have dropped in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. For the last two years, property thefts reported to the Sheriff's Department have averaged $250,000 a month.
"It's behind the assaults, the child abuse," said Judge Tarrance, adding that the drug has fueled an outlaw economy reminiscent of the moonshine era. He said meth and its users are behind "90 percent" of all felony cases that come before him.
"They're burglarizing. They're writing hot checks. You see women with multiple cases of forgery, and it's a meth problem."
Though many users are blue-collar, meth has claimed businesswomen, an $80,000-a-year construction manager, little league moms and entrepreneurs. The biggest lab busted in the county was in a quarter-million-dollar lake house.
Probation officers say they find used needles every time they check the county court parking lot, and addicts regularly show up high for court even though their freedom and even keeping their kids hinges on staying clean.
State-funded treatment of the county's meth users has jumped sevenfold since 1999, outstripping rehab admissions for alcoholism for the last several years.
Dr. Bywaters said he was stunned when he came to the Athens hospital from a Denver suburb in 2001 and saw that at least half a dozen emergency-room patients a day tested positive for meth or showed clear signs of meth abuse. That has gone up, he said, and meth users now account for about 10 percent of the hospital's 80 to 90 emergency patients each day.
"It permeates every facet of the community," he said.
Just before Dr. Bywaters moved to town, he said, the county had a rash of poisonings and at least one death related to the drug. A meth cook had cut a batch with fire ant bait.

A paradise lost


Sheriff Brownlow said the drug hit hard in 2001, as he became a second-generation member of his family to serve as Henderson County's top lawman.
The county had a handful of old-time meth cooks who knew the black art of making meth in "P2P" labs, a complex, lengthy and dangerous process that waned in the 1990s after federal laws restricted sales of necessary chemicals and equipment.
But "almost overnight," a new kind of speed seemed to be everywhere, the sheriff said. Almost anyone could make it, with Sudafed or other cold remedies based on pseudoephedrine.
"I'd get seven, eight calls a day, people frustrated with their drug-dealing, drug-manufacturing neighbors," said the sheriff, a retired Texas Ranger. "We were just overrun."
Drug blight and crime began appearing in remotest corners of the county.
One hot spot was Cedar Creek Lake, on the county's west side. There, isolated subdivisions became havens for meth users and labs. Lake Palestine, on the county's eastern border, was another magnet, drawing cooks and users from the Dallas-Fort Worth area and locals who learned to brew the drug.
"These crooks know that we're very limited in manpower," the sheriff said. "They don't have to spend much time around here, in those subdivisions and lake areas, to realize that they don't see us very often."
Retired urbanites who'd been drawn to the county's sleepy lakefronts said they felt under siege. Along the quietest back roads, weird nocturnal gatherings and strange smells prompted a run on concealed-gun licenses and burglar alarms.
Mr. Gusner, 69, had come to Cedar Creek Lake to fish, putter and work on his ambition of being a boot-and-bolo-wearing Texan after a career in the Army National Guard.
The native Nebraskan said his plans evaporated as soon as he became president of his subdivision's garden club.
He learned how to spot meth-addled areas while trying to organize an attack on illegal dumping and blight in the aging, unincorporated clusters of weekend getaways and retirement homes that encircle the lake. "Wherever there's trash, there's meth," he said.
Meth cooks burned heaps of garbage to conceal the odor of their labs. Often, users were too strung out to keep up the rundown property they rented or squatted on.
In one of the worst-infested areas, a fetid backwater known as "the cut," meth heads squatted in some trailers and carted off all the metal they could pry from others to sell for scrap. Druggies cooked meth on boats and party barges in the middle of the lake, tipping the toxic chemicals into the water if strangers got too close.
Mr. Gusner and other lakefront retirees banded together with longtime residents and parents desperate to rescue their children from the drug. He got certified as a state environmental investigator, and Sandra Mallie, a school janitor, went to a state training program to learn how to deal with the toxic mess created by labs.
"It became an obsession," Mr. Gusner said.
The sheriff went to Austin and pleaded for grant money to beef up his one-and-a-half narcotics force. When that initially got nowhere, he and chiefs of the county's 14 small-town police departments formed a task force of five investigators in the spring of 2003.
The new group took down labs in homes, in moving vehicles and even a backyard tent. They busted a group gathered in a trailer for paid drug-cooking lessons. They caught one user peddling suitcases filled with cold medications and everything else needed for a lab. One lab burned part of a Lake Palestine motel; another nearly blew up several officers after a cook set fire to it during a bust.
The investigators also repeatedly found children in squalid drug houses, exposed to toxic fumes from their parents' meth labs. Kids were using the drug. Some were being traded for meth to boyfriends or even strangers.

Smallest victims


Child Protective Services workers in Athens say almost all of the county's abused and neglected kids have been touched by meth.
"It's all-consuming," said LeeAnn Millender, director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of the Trinity Valley, a group that assists children brought in the courts. "There's more sexual abuse, more neglect, more extremes of neglect."
According to Child Protective Services data, the number of confirmed child-abuse victims in the county more than tripled from fiscal 1997 to fiscal 2004 – far outstripping the state increase.
CPS Supervisor Shelly Allen said the children coming into the system are more disturbed – and more expensive to care for – because of meth. CPS records indicate agency foster care expenditures in the county jumped from $548,000 in fiscal 1997 to $1.56 million last year.
Vickie Sussen, a CASA of Trinity Valley supervisor, said she has repeatedly seen babies exposed to methamphetamine in the womb develop such behavioral problems by the time they're toddlers that "foster parents say they can't handle this kid."
"I have one little girl, she's been in five foster homes already. And she's 4," Ms. Sussen said.
Ms. Allen said the agency is also getting children whose parents and grandparents are using the drug; that leaves nowhere for the kids to go but state foster care.
The agency is so swamped that many children aren't referred for help, such as family counseling, until abuse or neglect is too severe to avoid removing the child, CPS supervisor Ann Perry said.
Ultimately, officials say, virtually all the meth users who fall into the system end up losing their kids.
"We have lots of cases that we need to open for services," Ms. Perry said, "but we can't."

Progress, but little hope
Even so, Ms. Perry and other local social services workers say the countywide offensive has kept the area's meth crisis from getting worse.
The number of labs seized last year was half that of 2003, even as the number of drug arrests – mostly for meth – doubled to 338. Athens police say they saw assaults and other violent crime drop by more than half.
"They've kicked butt," Sheriff Brownlow said.
He and other law enforcement officials say they have high hopes for pending federal and state legislation that would regulate sales of cold products with pseudoephedrine, much like a law passed in Oklahoma last year. The law is credited with reducing lab seizures by 80 percent.
Another bill would expand a program, MethWatch, that members of Mr. Gusner's citizens group recently brought to East Texas. The program encourages retailers to post signs warning that they monitor and report suspicious purchases of products that can be used in meth labs.
Gov. Rick Perry launched MethWatch in 23 East Texas counties after Ms. Mallie, whose oldest son spent several years taking and making meth, did her own research and persuaded the governor to set it up.
But the sheriff and his task force remain pessimistic.
Meth is the cockroach of illicit drugs. Authorities say pressure in Henderson County has sent cooks scurrying to neighboring counties. Purchase limits imposed on cold medications at chain stores like Wal-Mart have sent meth heads piling into beater cars for buying runs in Dallas and Houston.
Even users who want help face big hurdles. Henderson County has no publicly funded treatment programs, and those available in neighboring counties have waiting lists.
Treatment programs statewide have become progressively shorter in recent years despite expert consensus that meth users need more intensive, longer-term help than other substance abusers. County officials say that increases the odds of failure for users who want to get clean.
"I don't think we're ever gonna put it down," said the sheriff, who laughs at his own mention of the anti-drug slogan "just say no."
The sheriff says he'll talk to any inmate who wants to kick the drug, and he urges all who will listen to turn to Jesus. Among those he has counseled is the daughter of a man at his church. He didn't make the connection until the father stood in tears one morning before their Baptist Sunday school class and asked those gathered to pray for his jailed, drug-addicted child.
"The approach that we're taking is not gonna work," the sheriff said.
Both the sheriff and the judge said they need more drug courts and treatment options, as well as more mental assistance for chronic users who cycle repeatedly through the legal system.
"They're talking about building a new jail," Judge Tarrance said. "I don't think the citizens understand. You'll fill that jail up."


Several bills have been filed in the Texas Legislature to crack down on methamphetamine. They include:
A bill by Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, would stiffen penalties for possessing, delivering or manufacturing the drug. Meth crimes would be punished more harshly than those involving other drugs, and possessing a large amount could result in life imprisonment. Pseudoephedrine sales would be restricted to licensed pharmacies, and the product would have to be out of customers' reach. The bill is awaiting a hearing in a House committee. A Senate version, filed by Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, is awaiting a committee hearing.
A bill by Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, would increase penalties if meth is made in the presence of a child. The measure is scheduled for a House subcommittee hearing Thursday. Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, has filed a version in the Senate.
Measures by Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, would create meth awareness programs for retailers and for schools. Both bills await a committee hearing; one is scheduled for Tuesday.

The Texas Alliance for Drug Endangered Children will hold a statewide conference April 19-20 on communitywide responses to meth and other drugs. The conference will bring together legal experts, police, educators, child advocates and protective services workers, and medical and mental health professionals at the Hilton DFW Lakes Hotel in Grapevine. Visit www.dec.org .

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/032705dntexmeth.a924a.html

Brownwood History & Feels Like Home

BROWNWOOD TEXAS
Tuesday May 30, 2000
Old building spurs new controversy; Brownwood's plans for post office stalled
By Bill Hanna
Fort worth Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Don't ask Brownwood Mayor Bert Massey about the importance of historic
preservation. Given his choice of saving the 50-plus-year-old Montgomery Ward building or tearing it down for a new downtown post office, Massey wouldn't think twice.
"We don't care whether the building is saved or not,” the mayor said. "If they can't make the building part of the post office's plans, the building ought to come down, in our opinion."
But this month, the Postal Service backed off using the site and has begun looking for another downtown location.
That move has set off a war of words in this city of 20,000, about 120 miles
southwest of Fort Worth. Even Gordon Wood, Brownwood's legendary retired high school football coach, ventured into the fray, criticizing two locals who opposed demolition, as well as Larry Oaks, the executive director of the TexasHistorical Commission, for sticking his nose into Brownwood's business.
"It is ludicrous to me to believe that one man, single- handedly could stop the
construction of a beautiful new post office," Wood said in a letter to the editor in
the `Brownwood Bulletin' newspaper.
"... Mr. Oaks is a political appointee who came here from Pennsylvania to head
the [commission]," said the former coach, who led the Brownwood High Lions to seven state titles. "How could he possibly make such a unilateral decision?"
Oaks, who toured the 3- story, glazed terra cotta Montgomery Ward building
Wednesday with Massey, said he has been to Brownwood several times and calls the attacks a misunderstanding.
"Because the post office spent a year going into this scenario of tearing
everything down without mentioning anything to us, we're at a tremendous
disadvantage," Oaks said in an interview from Austin. "That's all people in town
have heard."
Oaks contends that Postal Service officials reneged on a promise in March to
conduct a feasibility study on using the site. Moreover, he said it did not follow
the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act, which instructs agencies to "avoid
sites with historic buildings or to plan on their reuse."
McKinney Boyd, a Postal Service spokesman, disputes Oaks' assertions.
The Postal Service followed the law, informed the historical commission about the site early in the project and has conducted a feasibility study, Boyd said.
Because of some local opposition to converting the site, the Postal Service is
looking at other downtown sites, which could take 90 to 120 days, Boyd said.
Oaks called the Montgomery Ward structure "one of the finer buildings
in Brownwood" and said it is eligible for the National Register because it is
more than 50 years old, has a nice architectural design and contributes to the streetscape.
It has "exceptional decorative treatment" on the front, including elaborate
cornices, fruit-and-flower-filled urns on the roofline and a third-floor depiction of
a goddess holding a laurel wreath.
"The pattern was used around the country," Oaks said, adding, "There are not a
lot of them left."
Steve Harris, who co-owns a restaurant across the street from the old building,
has been castigated by local leaders for espousing historic preservation. Harris
said he filed a police report after receiving what he perceived as a threat. And
some angry residents have promised to boycott his eatery, Steve's Market and
Deli, he said.
"I think the attitude of city leaders is: `Do not say anything. If you do, we will boycott you and we will run you out of town,' " said Harris, 39.
"But I think the majority of the community is willing to look at other locations to
save the building. We just don't have the leadership that has the mentality to
preserve things."
Groner Pitts, a retired undertaker famous for his pranks and known as "Mr.
Brownwood" because of his civic involvement, asserted that "99.9 percent" of
residents would like to see the Montgomery Ward building torn down.
"How silly can those Historical Commission folks get?" asked Pitts, 75. "They're just wasting the taxpayers' money. We're going to get it torn down. It may take a little longer, but we will."
Regardless of what happens on the post office issue, Oaks said Brownwood
has a tremendous opportunity to save its historic downtown structures.
"What comes to mind is downtown Galveston, Oaks said. "I would venture to say there are 80 to 85 buildings from the late 19th century and early 20th century.
We certainly don't want to be spoilers; these buildings are ripe for a rebirth."
Massey said Brownwood doesn't have anyone like Fort Worth's wealthy Bass
brothers or an economic base like some other cities to rehabilitate all of its old
buildings.
"The Montgomery Ward's building has an interesting facade, a lot of pine floors
and pressed-tin ceilings," Massey said. "It could be preserved; it would be nice,
but there's not a whole lot of demand for it in Brownwood, Texas."
The mayor said he doesn't oppose historic preservation in principle.
"We're not going to turn Brownwood into Granbury," Massey said. "We're not going to turn Brownwood into Fredericksburg. We're going to do what's appropriate for here."
------------------------------------------
AUSTIN CHRONICLE
Day Trips
BY GERALD E. MCLEOD

July 7, 2000: The old Montgomery Wards building in Brownwood is
about as unlikely a center of controversy as any building could be. Not particularly
attractive or historically significant, it symbolizes the consequences of unchecked
urban renewal that is changing the look and feel of small towns around the state.
At issue is the U.S. Postal Service's consideration of expanding their offices across
the street into the block that includes the building and several other remnants of a
once-thriving business district. "Nobody ever drove a hundred miles to see a new
post office," says Steve Harris, a local restaurateur and champion for the
50-plus-year-old building.

Unfortunately, it has been a number of years since anyone drove very far to visit
downtown Brownwood. Encompassing an area about five blocks wide and 10
blocks long, what was once the central business district is now filled with empty
buildings that greatly outnumber the ones that attract clientele. Most of the
businesses have moved to the strip malls along Highway 67.

It wasn't always so.

Brownwood has seen its share of booms since it was founded in 1858 as the county
seat. The town became the largest cotton-buying center west of Fort Worth in 1920.
During the oil boom of the 1920s it was an industrial center. The population swelled
to more than 50,000 during World War II. By 1950, the population had dropped to
20,000. Current estimates put the number of citizens around 17,000 and declining.

With a collection of architecture that spans more than 140 years, the city could
capitalize on this wealth instead of letting it be destroyed. Towering above the
eclectic collection of buildings is the once-grand Brownwood Hotel, an
early-20th-century luxury hotel that now stands vacant.

The owner of the old hotel, Virginia businessman and former Brownwood resident
Mitchell Phelps, was recently fined more than $13,000 after the 11-story building
was cited for numerous safety violations. Phelps is also the owner of 60% of the
block that includes the Montgomery Wards building.

A war of words began to heat up when the State Historical Commission's executive
director, Larry Oaks, came to town and took the position that the building should be
saved. This angered the mayor, half the citizens, and even Gordon Wood,
Brownwood's legendary high school football coach who wrote an angry letter to the
Brownwood Bulletin newspaper about outsiders sticking their noses in the town's
business.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Oaks called the building "one of the
finer buildings in Brownwood." The three-story structure has a faux block exterior
capped by an ornate roof line with decorative urns filled with cement flowers and
fruit. Still structurally sound, inside the floors are thick pine with pressed tin
ceilings. Probably the most impressive part of the building is a depiction of a
goddess holding a torch and standing on top of a globe on the front façade. "The
pattern was used around the country," Oaks told the Star-Telegram. "There are not
a lot of them left."

Harris, whose restaurant is around the corner from the buildings on Center Street,
worries that the destruction will continue. "We've already lost 20 buildings in the
downtown area," he says, "Where will it stop?" For his troubles, Harris has
received a death threat and a boycott of his business. He says he's lost a few
customers and gained a few new ones because of the controversy.

Celinda Emison, who has covered the story for the Bulletin, says the town is split
about 50-50 on saving the old store fronts. "The amazing thing is that it seems to be
the young people and the newer residents who are in favor of saving the buildings,"
she says.

"We're not going to turn Brownwood into another Fredericksburg," the mayor, Burt
Massey, was quoted as saying. This is the same man who, after more than 20 years
on the council, concluded a letter to Harris saying, "For many years the council and
I have wanted to look at the future of our city, but have been unable to find the time
to do so."

In the meantime, the Postal Service has backed away from the Montgomery Wards
building because of the controversy. Not surprisingly, they're not divulging what
other sites they're considering.

"It's all small-town politics," Harris says with an exasperated sigh. While the
decision on the location for the new post office should be made locally, the rest of us
can let the town know what we consider to be acceptable behavior. Once historic
neighborhoods are demolished, they're lost forever and all Texans are the poorer for
the loss.

Steve's Market and Deli is at 110 E. Chandler off of Center Avenue in a red brick
building that once housed a family grocery store. Texas Monthly recognized the
cafe as one of the best small-town eateries in the state in the March 1999 issue.
They serve a nice mix of salads and sandwiches Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-3pm.
A special dinner is served Friday 7pm-9pm by reservation, 915/646-5576.

While it is not a Fredericksburg, Brownwood does have a few interesting sites. The
Brown County Museum across the street from the county courthouse opens on
Wednesday and Saturday afternoons in the old castlelike jail and has a neat
collection of historical items.

The town is also home of Howard Payne University and the Douglas MacArthur
Academy of Freedom at Austin Avenue and Coggin Street, with its unique collection
of MacArthur personal souvenirs and historical items. To enjoy the outdoors, visit
Lake Brownwood State Park northwest of town. For area information, stop by the
chamber of commerce in the beautifully renovated railroad depot at 600 Depot St.,
915/646-9535 or www.brownwoodchamber.org.
-------------------------------------

Outside Media Exposes Brownwood & Local Discussions and then News Stories Like those found below are developed along with the “Feels Like Home” Marketing
Campaign ! The Brownwood Human Rights Committee was created in part due to Brownwood Attitudes that were exposed as a result of issues related to this community debate.

Madcap Mob
Brownwood Mafia renowned for its pranks and civic pride
Date June 24, 2001
Source Mike CochranStar-Telegram Staff Writer
Section METRO
-----------------------------------
New generation of activists is waiting quietly in the wings
Date June 24, 2001
Source Mike Cochran Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Section METRO
Edition FINAL

Can a shadow organization cast a shadow?
That appears to be the question with the Brownwood Mafia, a group of grand old lions who've grown a bit older and less active,
foxy and furtive over the years.
But younger, community-inspired activists are looming quietly in the wings, vowing to carry on the Mafia tradition, if maybe not
the Mafia itself.
Already the whole town is behind a high-powered promotional project orchestrated by native son Roy Spence, whose Austin-based
agency, GSD&M, has become one of the leading advertising companies in America.
"That [Mafia] spirit of cooperation and promotion is alive, and people will do whatever it takes to keep that spirit going," said
Richard Porter, a Brownwood insurance agent.
As for the Mafia itself, Porter, 50, said that will always be characterized by the older generation, "and you can't replace that."
Beer distributor Stuart Coleman, whom some describe as Groner Pitts' "straight man" and "getaway driver," believes that the
Mafia has a future.
"It won't fade away," he predicted. "We've got some young ones who will keep it alive."
The younger element includes Porter, eye specialist Stephen Kelly and, heaven help us, a young funeral director and potential
Groner Pitts protege named Brandon Blaylock.
Is young Brandon following in Groner's footsteps?
"Those are mammoth-size footsteps," he smiled, dodging the question.
-------------------------------------
The Texas Observer
Political Intelligence: 6/22/2001
Karen Olsen
Flip-Flops All Over the Place
GOOD MORNING, BROWNWOOD. The year is 2001


THE TEXAS OBSERVER
Dateline Texas: 9/14/2001
Pineapples vs. Chicken-Fried Steak.
A Multi-Purpose Activist in Brownwood
BY DAVID GREENFIELD


------------------------------------------

THE TEXAS TRIANGLE NEWSMAGAZINE
OCTOBER 20, 2000
State News
Brown County: "We Don't Have Hate Crimes"
By Matt Lum

BROWNWOOD, Texas - Some gay and lesbian residents in Brown County, located 130 miles west of Waco, have expressed concern in recent weeks about a number of unsolved crimes committed in the area as the number of homophobic threats increases and town officials continue to deny any problem with crimes motivated by sexual orientation.
-----------------------------------------

THE TEXAS TRIANGLE
Jan. 25, 2002
Deep in the Heart of Texas

But just how much has changed since local law enforcement offered free six-packs of beer to any redneck volunteer that would work to keep the 'fags from Dallas' out of town when Anita Bryant blew through Brownwood in her 1977 anti-gay crusade?
---------------
These "acts of intimidation," according to Harris, are even more
threatening when one considers the history of Brownwood as far back as 25 years ago. It was then that Anita Bryant brought her anti-gay rhetoric from Florida to small towns across Texas.
The Forth of July celebration in Brownwood was called "Freedom Night ‘77," and Ms. Bryant was the headliner. A rumor in the late afternoon that a group of gays would be coming in to protest Bryant's visit prompted the assembly of enough law enforcement officials to "quell the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago," according to press reports at the time.
Among the myriad of law enforcement officers was a 35-member
Sheriff's posse dressed in white Stetsons, and a CB radio club the same size on standby.
According to the Dallas Times Herald, one CB'er, Bobby Jones, said "If any homosexuals arrived, ever' one of them would go back with a dent in his head."

The same article indicated that Groner Pitts, organizer of Freedom Night '77, and known by locals to be a member of the Brownwood Mafia, pledged to provide free beer to the region's cowboys if they would stand guard on all highways leading into Brownwood to stop homosexuals from getting in.
No gays or lesbians showed up to protest that day, but the Dallas Gay Alliance took out a full-page ad in that Sunday's Brownwood Bulletin as no to be silent on the issue.
"How sad that the lady of with the microphone has in the name of
Christ entered into a crusade of persecution and discrimination," the ad said in part.
In 1977, a teacher at Brownwood High School was asked if there were any homosexuals where she taught.
"There are some very hostile cowboys that would never allow that," she responded.
----------------
"Hurtfulness, in my opinion, is a community that has allowed hate to continue without acknowledgement and preventative action," Harris said. "I firmly believe a man's character is called into question when he knows of injustice but does nothing to prevent such acts in the future."
And in that spirit, Harris has organized Brownwood's first ever Human Rights Committee.
"We promote compassion,understanding, education, and tolerance and we stand against hatred found in any form," says the group's mission statement.
Well over 40 residents have become members in less than a week of publicity.
"The majority of this town is not bad, just silent," Harris contends.
"Intimidation over the years has kept people from speaking out and no one wants to be the first. Now is the time to put the last 25 years to rest and demand a more welcoming city. It's time to stand up and admit we have this problem before it's too late."
Harris says city officials hesitate to admit such a problem exists
because doing so would necessitate the search for a solution - a venture current elected officials are reluctant to undertake.
Brownwood's new Human Rights Committee will meet at Steves'
Market and Deli on a regular basis. "There will be no set agenda,"
according to Harris, "just an opportunity for folks to talk. We will not remain silent."
---------------------
Brownwood radio host’s epithet draws complaints
Host apologizes after some listeners, advertisers object to use of anti-gay term; City Councilman also criticized for joking response to incident

By Gary Barlow
Staff Reporter - The Dallas Voice
A Brownwood radio talk show host’s use of the word “fag” last week drew a rebuke from the station’s owner and an apology from the host after some listeners and advertisers complained.
Talk show host Mikey Wayne of KXYL-FM, during a discussion about the Boy Scouts during his morning show on June 6, reportedly said, “Why don’t they just have a fag scouts group,” according to several listeners who objected to the comment.
A number of listeners were further angered when Brownwood City Councilman Ed McMillian called in to the show the next day to say that he had won a six-pack on a bet that Brownwood restaurant owner Steve Harris would call the station to complain about the “fag” remark. McMillian called after he heard Harris call in, then called and also asked the talk show host to use the word again so he could win another bet.
“This is not going to be tolerated,” Harris said on Tuesday. “You don’t have to be gay to be offended by this.They would never use the N-word to refer to blacks. They wouldn’t refer to Asians as ‘gooks.’”
The station is owned by Watts Communications, which also operates three other radio stations in the area. Company owner Phil Watts said that he chided Wayne after the incident.
“He made a mistake and said he was sorry,” Watts said. “We told him, ‘We’re not asking you to compromise your beliefs. We’re just asking you not to use that terminology anymore,’ and he agreed.”
Watts added that Wayne has since apologized on the air for using the anti-gay epithet.
But Councilman McMillian was unrepentant about his role, which he claimed was misinterpreted.
“I made a bet, but it wasn’t against them, the homosexuals,” McMillian said. “This whole little incident got blown out of proportion. I’m a plumber, and how many jokes and ads do you see about the ‘plumbers’ crack?’ I don’t get bent out of shape about that.”
But Harris and Jason Snediger, a Dallas resident with ties in Brownwood, said that the incident is symptomatic of the depth of the homophobia still prevalent in many places in Texas.
The central Texas town is no stranger to controversy over gays, having hosted Anita Bryant during her crusade against gay rights 24 years ago. Brownwood was also the setting for a still-unsolved 1996 murder that activists strongly believe was an anti-gay hate crime.
“It’s been an ongoing deal there as far as racial stuff and homophobia,” Snediger said.
In 1977, Bryant, who turned her objections over an equal rights ordinance in Dade County, Fla., into a national crusade, was brought to Brownwood for what was billed as Freedom Night ’77. Brownwood officials summoned all the law enforcement officers and volunteers they could round up to meet possible gay demonstrators from Dallas and elsewhere.
Prior to her appearance, one member of the law enforcement contingent at the Bryant event told the now-defunct Dallas Times-Herald that if any gays came to the event, “Ever’ one of them would go back with a dent in his head.”
Harris said that Brownwood has changed since those days, but not enough to suit him and many other residents.
“This city’s trying to rebuild itself, and this is not going to attract outsiders,” Harris said.
“I’m trying to promote a community that’s accepting of all people. I don’t want the rest of Texas to hear that kind of thing and think that all Brownwoodians are like that.”
Harris and Snediger weren’t the only people in Brownwood offended by the remark. Watts acknowledged that at least three advertisers canceled advertising on KXYL following last week’s events. “I made them take all our commercials off that station,” said Charlotte Parrack, manager of the Heartland Mall in Brownwood. “I plan to keep all our ads off there as long as I’m alive and breathing. I don’t want to be associated with a radio station that takes political stands like that.”
Parrack said that she’s sure Wayne regrets the incident, but said she wants the station’s owner to realize how seriously she and others in the community feel about the issue.
“I’m satisfied that the DJ made an off-the-cuff remark that wasn’t appropriate,” Parrack said. “I think he realized that he shouldn’t have. I think he regrets it.”
Nevertheless, she said, “Our ads will never run on that station.”
Watts said that as owner of the station, he told Wayne that while he’s free to express his opinion on the talk show, he can do it without insulting people.
“I had a serious talk with him about it,” Watts said. “I very much regret him doing it. We don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Brownwood NAACP / Racism / State Fair Of Texas

“ It was left to an NAACP chapter in faraway Brownwood to sue and force final desegregation of the midway and eating establishments. “

Laff in the Dark
For Dallas, for the city council, for now, this was good
BY JIM SCHUTZE
jimschutze@mindspring.com
Steve Satterwhite
Council members Leo Chaney, left, and Gary Griffith retired to a corner of the chamber where they worked out a separate peace.  

Wouldn't you know. All the time I criticize the Dallas City Council and say they've screwed up, and they get mad at me because they think they're doing such a damn stellar job. So last week I walk out of a city council session thinking for once they really did do a great job. And they're mad at me, calling me an idiot because they say they screwed up.

I'm going to see a doctor. They must have put my head on just before a major holiday. I just can't possibly be this wrong all the time.

But I thought they were wonderful. It was a heart-warming show. I walked out humming the overture. It was that good. I think. I haven't seen the doctor yet.

The debate was whether to pay one big subsidy to two white schools and another one to two traditionally black colleges in order to keep two popular football games at the Cotton Bowl. According to my digital recorder, the Dallas City Council devoted two hours, eight minutes and 13.5 seconds to this matter.

During that time they accused each other of infamous perfidy, scurrilous villainy, racism, fraud, parliamentary infraction, legislative inaction, mental inelasticity, patronizing didacticity and being dumb. Then they joined hands and voted unanimously in favor of the subsidies.

Wonderful speeches were made--heartfelt, from the gut, sharp, moving, to the quick. They threatened. They pleaded. They grudgingly gave in.

I will fill you in, of course, on the details. But we need two important pieces of background. The first has to do with the history of the State Fair of Texas as a sharp stick in the eye of black Dallas.

Anybody black in Dallas whose family has been here more than 50 years knows all about "Nigger Day." Throughout the 1930s and '40s, that was the one day African-American families were allowed to attend the State Fair of Texas. And that's what it was called.

Even though it was the "state" fair, the fair was tightly dominated by the white Dallas hierarchy. Black leaders from all over Texas brought pressure on the Dallas white leadership to eliminate the ugly practice of Nigger Day.

In the early 1950s, Dallas leaders, always trying to cut a deal, renamed it "Negro Achievement Day." Didn't wash. Black people continued to bring pressure for open admissions to the fair.

In 1953 Dallas white leaders offered a new deal: open admissions during the full run of the fair, except that black people were barred from the midway and restaurants except on Negro Achievement Day.

Dallas black leaders thought this was an adequate deal. It was left to an NAACP chapter in faraway Brownwood to sue and force final desegregation of the midway and eating establishments.

But even when black people finally were admitted to the midway and restaurants, Dallas leaders, headed by banker R.L. Thornton, insisted that two particular rides on the midway--"Laff in the Dark" and "Dodge 'em Scooter"--could never be and would never be desegregated. Those two rides involved the possibility of actual bodily contact between white and black persons. The two rides stayed segregated at least through the 1960s, possibly into the 1970s.

So we think what? Black people are going to forget this stuff? If anything, the politics and culture of old Dallas, black and white, is a contorted tangle of all those strange "Laff in the Dark" and "Dodge 'em Scooter" memories. The white folks and black folks who have been around Dallas all that time have one thing in common: Neither side can make up its mind if desegregation was a good thing. It's all painful and unresolved.

Witness this fact: Last week's council session began with a long, emotional tribute to former school board member Kathlyn Gilliam, who is black. Gilliam was lauded by African-American city Councilman Leo Chaney as the woman who defeated school busing in Dallas.

Ummm, maybe take a sec' on that one. Black leader. Longtime activist. Honored for defeating busing. Now she's getting a plaque for it. And no one prouder of her than the black community.

Just in from Chicago? My advice: Forget trying to figure this out. It's Dallas. It's weird. Just be careful what you say.

The matter of Mr. Chaney brings us to the other key element of background I need to fill you in on. In the weeks leading up to last week's battle over subsidies for the football games at the State Fair, Chaney, it seems, ran a serious scam on the rest of the council--the white and Latino members, anyway.

And, by the way, I have tried for two weeks to get Chaney to return my calls on this, and he won't do it. I'm disappointed. He has always called me in the past. I'm sure he has his own version. I like him. But in the absence of a rebuttal and after running this by several of his colleagues on the council, I have to say he comes across in this chapter as scam artist of the month.

The city council had agreed months ago to pay out $1.25 million in subsidies to the University of Texas and Oklahoma University in order to keep the annual Texas-OU game at the Cotton Bowl during the fair. Chaney argued that if the city was going to pay a subsidy for a white football game, it needed to pay one for a black game played at the fair also. He said he wanted the city to pay a $250,000 subsidy to support the Prairie View-Grambling State Fair Classic.

A whole lot of complete nonsense has been uttered recently, both on the council and in The Dallas Morning News letters column and elsewhere, about the relative economic values of these two games, Texas-OU and Prairie View-Grambling.

Look: Nobody has any idea how much either game contributes to the local economy. This is not a business deal; it's not an economic issue; it's all about prestige and culture; this is still basically a separate but equal city; and if the white people get a big football game at the fair, the black people get a big football game at the fair, too.

Remember, now. It's that, or we'll have to integrate! We always have a deal in Dallas. Remember "Dodge 'em Scooter."

Anyway, because of various contract issues and so on, the two subsidies only recently came up for a vote. At that point, Chaney and council member Dr. Maxine Thornton-Reese, who is black, began brow-beating the rest of the council and race-carding the hell out of them, especially Mayor Laura Miller.

What Chaney did not mention to his colleagues was that he had already negotiated a $225,000 subsidy for the black game from a group of State Fair concessionaires. The only reason anybody even found out about the extra $225,000 in payola was that the mayor, former investigateuse that she is, sniffed around and found out about it from Errol McKoy, president of the fair.

Even then, Chaney tried to pretend for a while that he was shocked! shocked! to hear about this extra money for the black game. But then Miller was able to establish that it was Chaney who had negotiated it. Oops! About that time, Chaney stopped taking calls from me and even managed to dodge me the one time I almost caught up with him in a City Hall corridor.

For a large man, he's got moves.

Now, where does all this background leave us, you may ask? Here. Finally last week, the Dallas City Council had to hammer all of this out. And hammer, they did. Hammer and tongs.

The chambers were brimming with black supporters, including Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and state Senator Royce West, both of whom made stirring speeches.

White council member Gary Griffith offered an amendment to pay the black subsidy out of a fund other than the city's general fund, which actually made sense, but his amendment aroused strong opposition from the black council members.

The black members were civil and self-controlled. Chaney begged Griffith to withdraw his amendment. Griffith, swallowing hard, did so.

Councilman Bill Blaydes, who is white, and Councilman James Fantroy, who is black, traded frank words about their innermost feelings on race. I got the feeling I was listening to two guys who really are friends, struggling with a tough issue and having to do it in front of seven television camera crews.

The mayor never got to talk, which obviously ticked her off. She begged Councilman Steve Salazar, who is Latino, not to "call the question," a parliamentary move that cuts off debate, before she had a chance to speak. Salazar did it anyway. He probably thought he was doing her a favor.

Then the mayor, who obviously thought all of this stank to high heaven, swallowed hard, too. She joined the rest of the members present in voting unanimously for both subsidies, for the white game and the black game, too.

Here's my point. Given the history here, you and I could find a million reasons to pull all of this apart. We could defeat any and every effort at consensus. We could produce total gridlock without ever getting out of bed.

That's easy in Dallas.

But the council, weird and blemished and screwed up as it may be, deserves huge credit for finding its way to some kind of an agreement. I mean it.

As I say, when I button-holed people on their ways to their cars in the parking garage and told them I thought it was "marvelous, just marvelous the way you people pulled together in the end," they all gave me looks like, "Oh, gag a maggot, you weenie.

"You're gonna wake up one night, and we'll be standing over you with an ax, Schutze!"

But that's as it should be. The point is that they rose above it, came together and did something good. In spite of.

OK, I'm off to see the doc about my mind.

dallasobserver.com | originally published: September 9, 2004

source:
http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2004-09-09/schutze.html

Posted for BISD, Brownwood Law Enforcement & Brownwood Media (see note at end of post)

“ Sondra Hegstrom, who said she had had classes with Weise, said he was quiet and "never said anything." He was teased -- "terrorized," she said -- by people who thought he was weird. ”
---------------------------
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 · Last updated 1:24 p.m. PT
Communication often security gap at school
By BEN FELLER
AP EDUCATION WRITER
 WASHINGTON -- Bill Bond was the principal at Heath High School in western Kentucky when a freshman opened fire in 1997, shooting eight students and killing three of them. That was before the Columbine High School massacre of 1999, when two students in Colorado went on a rampage that stunned the nation and prompted a wave of stronger school security.
Yet on Tuesday, Bond was again counseling a peer in the middle of a horror story: Chris Dunshee, principal at Red Lake High School in northern Minnesota. One of Dunshee's students killed himself Monday after committing the worst school shooting spree since Columbine.
"People want to have metal detectors and security guards and all of this, but the real thing that makes a difference is working with the kids and adjusting to the kids," said Bond, now a national consultant for principals on preventing bullying and other violence.
"These kinds of situations are just like terrorist situations," he said. "When people have so much hate in them that they don't mind dying, you don't have any deterrents left."
School violence experts said Tuesday that the country improved campus safety after the Columbine shootings, most notably by restricting access to schools, increasing the number of school police officers, developing emergency plans and adding phones and radios in schools.
But much of the momentum for such safety measures has been lost over the last couple years, as public attention wanes and budget cuts erode staffing and training, experts said.
"People always ask, 'Is this a wake-up call?'" said Kenneth Trump, a school safety consultant who has worked with school leaders in 44 states. "The question isn't whether this is a wake-up call - it's whether we're going to hit the snooze button and go to sleep again."
In the Minnesota case, police say a student shot his grandfather and the grandfather's companion before heading to school and killing five students, a teacher, an unarmed guard and himself.
There have been 29 deaths on school campuses or otherwise associated with schools this academic year, said Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services. Last year, he tallied 49, more than in any recent year, including the year of the Columbine shootings.
"In almost every school safety assessment we do across the country," Trump said, "we find staff awareness is down, the vigilance is not there, the emergency plan content is questionable, and people have not practiced what would work in a real emergency."
Federal government figures show violent crime against students in school fell significantly between 1992 and 2002. But critics say such self-reported data is dated and often doesn't reflect the scope of trouble in schools.
More broadly, the numbers don't capture what school safety specialists say is the most critical goal: changing school culture. That means adults who model appropriate behavior, monitor warning signs of violence and even train students to help stop peers from bullying.
"It's not a problem that can be fixed with money," Bond said. "It's a problem that can only be fixed with courage. And if you think money is in short supply, try finding courage."
Money, however, is an issue, too, said Curt Lavarello, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers. Federal budget cuts have forced schools to drop the police who are trained to talk to kids and pick up on signs of impending violence, he said.
The Columbine shootings created an awareness that led to more physically secure buildings, said William Lassiter, school safety specialist at the Center for the Prevention of School Violence in Raleigh, N.C.
"What's missing is we need to make sure that students feel connected to their community and to their school," Lassiter said. "We must make sure they have a trusted adult."
After Columbine, the National Education Association, the largest teachers union, created a video program to help faculty and students recognize underlying signs of violence. Its premise is that ignorance and fear lead to hatred - and potential tragedy. Said Jerald Newberry, who oversees health and safety for the NEA: "Our goal is to stop that chain."
On the Net:
Center for the Prevention of School Violence: http://www.ncdjjdp.org/cpsv/
National Association of School Resource Officers: http://www.nasro.org
National School Safety and Security Services: http://www.schoolsecurity.org

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Shooting%20Protecting%20Schools
------------------
A neo-Nazi teenager who called himself the Angel of Death went on a shooting rampage on a remote US Indian reservation yesterday, killing his grandparents and then seven people at his school, grinning and waving as he fired.
Jeff Weise, 17, who openly admired Adolf Hitler and had been questioned before about threats at his Minnesota school, killed himself after exchanging gunfire with police.
It was the worst school shooting in the US since the Columbine massacre in 1999 that killed 13 people.
One student said her classmates pleaded with Weise to stop shooting.
“You could hear a girl saying, ‘No, Jeff, quit, quit. Leave me alone. What are you doing?”’ said student Sondra Hegstrom.
He asked one of his victims whether he believed in God, witnesses said.
Reggie Graves, a student at Red Lake High School, said he was watching a film about Shakespeare in class when he heard the gunman blast his way past the metal detector at the school’s entrance, killing a guard.
Then, in a nearby classroom, he heard the gunman say something to his friend Ryan: “He asked Ryan if he believed in God,” Graves said. “And then he shot him.”
The victims included the gunman’s grandfather; the grandfather’s wife; a school security guard; a teacher; and five other students. At least 14 others were wounded, officials said.
“There’s not a soul that will go untouched by the tragic loss that we’ve experienced here,” said Floyd Jourdain, chairman of the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe,.
Police said the Weise killed himself after exchanging fire with officers. Red Lake Fire Chief Roman Stately said the gunman had two handguns and a shotgun.
“We ask Minnesotans to help comfort the families and friends of the victims who are suffering unimaginable pain by extending prayers and expressions of support,” state Governor Tim Pawlenty said.
Weise had been placed in the school’s Homebound programme for some violation of policy, said school board member Kathryn Beaulieu.
Students in that programme stay at home and are taught by a travelling teacher.
During the rampage, teachers herded students from one room to another, trying to move away from the sound of the shooting, said Graves, 14. He said some students crouched under desks.
Student Ashley Morrison said she heard shots, then saw the gunman’s face peering though a door window of a classroom where she was hiding with several other students. After banging at the door, the gunman walked away and she heard more shots, she said.
“I can’t even count how many gunshots you heard, there was over 20. ... There were people screaming, and they made us get behind the desk,” she said.
FBI spokesman Paul McCabe said the gunman exchanged gunfire with Red Lake police in a hallway, then retreated to a classroom, where he was believed to have shot himself.
All of the dead students, including the killer, were found in one room
Relatives said Weise was a loner who usually wore black and was teased by other kids.
They said his father committed suicide four years ago, and his mother was nursing home after suffering brain injuries in a car accident.
Weise admired German dictator Adolf Hitler and was a suspect following threats made at his school last year, he revealed in an internet forum frequented by neo-Nazis.
“I guess I’ve always carried a natural admiration for Hitler and his ideals, and his courage to take on larger nations,” Weise wrote on the website.
He said he was interested in finding like-minded Indians, a goal other messages on the website encouraged. He also admitted he was a suspect in a threat at school.
“Once I commit myself to something, I stay until the end,” he wrote.
In a message on a website last year that foreshadowed yesterday’s events, Weise said he had been questioned by police in connection with an alleged threat at the school.
“By the way, I’m being blamed for a threat on the school I attend because someone said they were going to shoot up the school on 4/20, Hitlers birthday, and just because I claim being a National Socialist, guess whom they’ve pinned,” he wrote in comments posted at 11:41 p.m. on April 19, 2004.
Five weeks later, he wrote that “the school threat passed and I was cleared as a suspect, I’m glad for that. I don’t much care for jail, I’ve never been there and I don’t plan on it.”
Alternately using the online pen names Todesengel -German for Angel of Death - and NativeNazi, Weise wrote several messages in which he said he believed Hitler and the Nazi movement that embroiled the world in war and caused millions of deaths got a bad rap.
“When I was growing up, I was taught (like others) that Nazi’s were evil and that Hitler was a very evil man ect,” he wrote in one posting replete with misspellings.
“Of course, not for a second did I believe this. Upon reading up on his actions, the ideals and issues the German Third Reich addressed, I began to see how much of a like had been painted about them. They truly were doing it for the better.”
In other messages, he wrote that he believed a National Socialist movement could work on his reservation and planned on trying to recruit some members at school when it started up last fall.
“The only ones who oppose my views are the teachers at the high school, and a large portion of the student body who think a Nazi is a Klansman, or a White Supremacist thug. Most of the Natives I know have been poisoned by what they were taught in school.”
The public school system, he wrote, “has done more harm than good, and as a result it has left many on this reservation misled and misinformed.”
He wrote that when he talked in school about maintaining the tribe’s ethnic purity by not marrying outside the bloodline, “I get the same old argument which seems to be so common around here. ‘We need to mix all the races, to combine all the strengths.’
“They (teachers) don’t openly say that racial purity is wrong, yet when you speak your mind on the subject you get ‘silenced’ real quick by the teachers and likeminded school officials,” he wrote.
It was the second fatal school shooting in Minnesota in 18 months. Two students were killed at Rocori High School in Cold Spring in September 2003. Student John Jason McLaughlin, who was 15 at the time, awaits trial in the case.
Red Lake High School has about 300 students, according to its Web site.
The reservation is about 240 miles north of Minneapolis. It is home to the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe, one of the poorest in the state. According to the 2000 census, 5,162 people lived on the reservation, and all but 91 were Indians.

source: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=113001400&p=yy3xxy98x
-------------------------------------

And then there's the whole Minnesota school shooting
A Leader's Guide to the Struggle to Be Strong: How to Foster Resilience in Teens (Teen-Focused Coping Skills)
Sean Chambers
Book from Free Spirit Publishing
Release date: 01 May, 2000
Yesterday 17-year-old Jeff Weise, a student at the 300-student Red Lake High School in Red Lake, Minn. killed his grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend, five students, a teacher and a guard. (There was a metal detector)
He also killed himself at the school, which is on the Red Lake Indian Reservation.
Washington Post: The reservation has seen violence before.
In January 2004, locals raked police buildings with gunfire, prompting a crackdown by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Three years ago, the Justice Department launched a major crackdown on drugs and guns on the reservation, which has a population of about 9,000 people. Officials found evidence of executions, drive-by shootings and ritualistic violence.
Local residents blamed poverty, discrimination, and endless cycles of drug and alcohol abuse. They said gangs often offered the only refuge for aimless youngsters.
As early as 1979, FBI agents had to be sent into the reservation to investigate widespread rioting and looting triggered by internal politics and dissatisfaction with the management style of the BIA. Several dozen Indians stormed the jails, locked up police officers and damaged property.
Red Lake is a closed reservation, meaning it is owned entirely by tribes, in this case the Chippewa Indians.
When this school schooting, which happened yesterday in case you hadn't heard, is mentioned at all it's compared to 1999's Columbine High School shootings (And I thought more than 12 people were killed there). It's not like Columbine you sorry excuse for a news outlet. I'm sure the Littleton students, too, will be interviewed about their reactions.
Weise also was not a "gunman" but a killer or a boy. We shall learn more about him. I wonder what we'll do with that information?

More fine reading at Blogcritics.org. Scroll down to read comments on this story and/or add one of your own. Support Blogcritics.org by shopping at Amazon.com from this page.

Comment 2 posted by Phillip Winn on March 22, 2005 11:46 AM:

Similar to the Littleton spree, the news reports I've heard have mentioned that the person in question was teased heavily by his peers.

And yeah, they also mentioned that he dressed in black, which is an interesting common thread but by no means definitive. Correlative, not causative.

Comment 3 posted by DPitzer on March 22, 2005 01:32 PM:

Wonderful about how the interviewee that got printed talking was the one who linked him to Goths.

But, as a country, I think it's about time we straightened our act out, anyway. We've got a government that's letting religion into state matters...well, how about that part for Christianity that preaches love and tolerance for everyone? If our children had that pounded into their heads from an early age. I have my doubts that we would have so many bullies in school. But our children seem to learn to be intolerant before they learn tolerance. It's a shame, because backing someone into a corner sometimes causes them to strike out. Back someone dangerously unstable into a corner, and you can guarantee they'll strike out.
People need to learn to treat each other better, and I can almost certainly guarantee that things like this will become a thing of the past.

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/03/22/100745.php

Copyright © 2003-2005 Red Lake Net News
----------------------------------
Jeff Weise: A mystery in a life full of hardship
 
By Chuck Haga/Howie Padilla/Richard Meryhew
Star Tribune
RED LAKE, MINN. -- Even as a member of a loose confederacy of loners, Jeff Weise seemed to be an afterthought.
"He was a goth," said Allan Mosay, 14, who saw Weise occasionally on the Red Lake Reservation but didn't really know the 16-year-old, who affected the black fashion, musical tastes and often dark moods of the outsider subculture.
"He had no friends," Mosay said. "He didn't communicate."
On a sparsely populated reservation where everybody knows everybody, few seemed to know Weise and fewer still claimed to know him well.
"I knew Jeff when he was 4 or 5 years old," said Delan Steven Omen, 42, who said he was the best man at the wedding of Weise's parents. "His family used to live in the neighborhood where I lived. But I haven't really seen him since then."
Sharon Garrigan, 62, a Head Start teacher on the reservation for 39 years, smiles at adults on the reservation and remembers when they were little. "But I can't remember him," she said of Weise.
"He was having a little problem, I heard," said Alicia Meadow, a Red Lake High School student who may have avoided being shot Monday by skipping her last-period class. She heard the gunfire grow close as she and other students huddled in a classroom that Weise apparently passed.
"He seemed like a pretty good guy," she said. "Whenever I talked with him, he seemed all friendly. I never thought that anything like that would come from him."
FBI officials said Tuesday that they had no information about Weise's motive, but "the nature of the activities would indicate there was some planning," said Michael Tabman, special agent in charge.

Talk of death
In the hours after the shootings, witnesses told of students pleading with Weise by name -- "No, Jeff, no!"
Sondra Hegstrom, who said she had had classes with Weise, said he was quiet and "never said anything." He was teased -- "terrorized," she said -- by people who thought he was weird.
He often wore "a big old black trench coat," she said, and drew pictures of skeletons. "He talked about death all the time."
A couple of his friends had said he was suicidal, she said. They quoted him as saying once, "That would be cool if I shot up the school."
The friends dismissed it as talk, Hegstrom said.
But Willy May, 18, who knew Weise from school, said people shouldn't have been surprised.
"He fits the profile of a Columbine shooter, man," he said.
May said Weise always wore combat boots "with red shoelaces," similar to those of the shooters at Columbine High School.
He said that Weise "always had stacks of drawings, disturbed drawings." Some, he said, would show people with bullets going through their skulls.
May also said that "a while back," Weise "got blamed" for phoning in bomb threats at the school. "I'm not sure if it was him or not, but he got blamed," May said.
Joey Johnson, 18, who also knew Weise from school, saw a different side to the teen.
"He's a pretty bright kid, man," Johnson said. "I thought he was going to make it. He was smart."
Recently, school officials relegated Weise to a home tutoring program. He was known to post messages on a Nazi website.
Using the screen name Native Nazi, Weise wrote: "As a result of cultural dominance and interracial mixing there are barely any full blooded Natives left. ... It's hard though, being a Native American National Socialist; people are so misinformed, ignorant, and closed-minded it makes your life a living hell."
Posting under the name "Blades11," Weise appeared to be a regular contributor to fiction websites. On one, Weise wrote, "I'm a fan of zombie films, have been for years, as well as fan of horror movies in general," he wrote. "I like to write horror stories, read about Nazi Germany and history, and someday plan on moving out of the [United States]."
Family member Lorene Gurneau said that despite those issues, there were no harbingers of Monday's horror. "I've talked to other relatives, and everyone is just in shock," she said.
Family life
As she spoke about Weise, she remembered a young boy raised in Minneapolis who played alone. When Gurneau and her children -- who were about six years older than Weise -- would visit the boy and his mother, Joanne, he would close himself in his room.
It's similar to the teen she saw daily as of late, she said.
"He would always wear that long dark coat and those baggy pants," she said. "I couldn't even tell you what shoes he ever wore because of those clothes."
Gurneau attributes some of Weise's troubles to his beleaguered life. His father, Daryl Lussier Jr., known to relatives as "Baby Dash," committed suicide in July 1997 following a police standoff that lasted for more than a day, Gurneau said. Not even Lussier's father, Red Lake officer Daryl Lussier, could negotiate a peaceful ending. The senior Lussier was one of Weise's first victims Monday.
Years later, Joanne Weise suffered brain damage in a car accident after she and a friend had been drinking, Gurneau said.
At 6 feet and 250 pounds, Jeff Weise also was the target of constant razzing. "Plus he was held back a couple of grades," Gurneau said.
Tribal police and the FBI haven't said that Weise was high on their radar prior to Monday.
Though school officials refused to comment on Weise's student status, he apparently left school last year for unspecified medical reasons. Since his mother's accident, he had lived with his paternal grandmother.
"This was a young man with a tragic history," said Audrey Thayer, who works on the reservation as part of the Greater Minnesota Racial Justice Project. "There is a lot of that kind of loss and devastation [at Red Lake]."

http://www.rlnn.com/ArtMar05/JeffWeiseMystFullHardship.html
Staff writer Bob von Sternberg contributed to this report.
http://www.rlnn.com/ArtMar05/JeffWeiseMystFullHardship.htmlJeff Weise at age 9
nPioneer Editorial: Grief and pain are universal
 
Shock, grief, incomprehension - soon we will move into anger.
The events Monday at Red Lake High School, taking the lives of nine unsuspecting people, and damaging seven more, will live as a day of incredible sorrow on the Red Lake Reservation. A 16-year-old boy, for reasons no one understands, stole his police sergeant grandfather’s guns and squad car, killed the elder and his companion in their home and went on a rampage of random shooting at the his school.
After the initial trauma, we weep. Now, we ask questions that may never have answers. What was the motive? Or was there no motive? Was there just a deranged youngster playing out some hallucinatory drama comprehensible only to his own twisted mind? We may never know, much less figure out how to short circuit another such act.
We will soon have 10 wakes, 10 funerals, 10 burials to attend. No words of comfort can console the families and friends of the victims. And almost everyone in the small community of Red Lake has a connection with the murdered and the maimed.
An Ojibwe custom is to silence the name of the deceased loved one for a year after the funeral. Pictures and other mementoes of the lost life are put away. When the cycle of seasons turns once more, then families can hold a give-away or feast or publish a memorial to celebrate the loved one’s life.
It hardly seems as if that tradition can be honored with so many questions swarming around Jeff Weise’s 10-minute swath of devastation, gunning down a security guard, a teacher and students at his school. Granted, as with any community, acts of violence happen at Red Lake. But never a mass shooting, never a crime attracting worldwide media attention.
Nevertheless, we have to respect the privacy and need for grief of those closest to the tragedy. Those of us inclined to prayer will pray for the bereaved. Those trained in counseling will provide sounding boards. Others will offer condolences. And some of us won’t have a channel for outreach.
The media frenzy will die down, the mobile broadcast vehicles will wind up their cables and move on and the surveillance helicopters will fly away. The 20,000 hits per day on the Red Lake Nation Web cite will diminish to the normal local interest. The phone calls from Australia, England, Canada and states east and west will dry up. Another crisis will receive public attention.
But treasured children will never grow up to reach their potential. As Dennis Banks, an elder, said during Tuesday’s prayer vigil at North Country Regional Hospital, the deaths of the students stripped the community of people who might one day have been its leaders.
The loss reminds us of another piece of wisdom offered at the prayer service by another elder, George Whipple. “We are all together. We are all born under one heart.”
Grief and pain are universal.
http://www.rlnn.com/ArtMar05/EDGriefPainUnversial.html
----------------------
http://www.thetrenchcoat.com/
http://www.redlakenation.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=52
http://www.livejournal.com/users/weise/
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0323051weise1.html
----------------------
note: This information is made available to those in the community who have been heard on KXYL saying they just can't get their head around why someone would do such a thing. Terrorists are created and as President Bush agrees, enviromental issues do play a role in the equation. Unfortunately Brownwood Talking Heads don't get it and would rather spend their airtime bashing the ACLU, PETA or gays ! Can't believe they are soooooooooo concerned with the Easter Bunny (secular symbol) being removed from Shopping Malls (they call this an attack on Christianity! ).

rest of story...

Brownwood Black History & Brownwood Airline Subsidies

From: "Gary Butts"
Date: Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:01:36 AM US/Central
To: "'Steve Harris and Steve Puckett'"
Subject: RE: BHRC Request for Black History Proclamation

I'll place it on the agenda......GB

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Harris and Steve Puckett [mailto:steve_squared@verizon.net]
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 11:59 AM
To: gbutts@ci.brownwood.tx.us
Cc: emisonc@reporternews.com; candace.fulton@brownwoodbulletin.com
Subject: BHRC Request for Black History Proclamation

Gary, The Brownwood Human Rights Committee would like to request the
City Of Brownwood proclaim February 2005 as Black History Month. We
want to express our appreciation to the city and council for honoring
our requests of the proclamation in the recent years.

Regards,

Steve Harris
Steves' Market and Deli
Brownwood Human Rights Committee

----------------
City should do 'whatever it takes' to get air service
By Steve Nash -- Brownwood Bulletin
 
Brownwood City Manager Gary Butts told city council members Tuesday he will recommend the appointment of a committee that will identify options to pursue to try to restore airline service.

Butts said he will recommend that Mayor Bert Massey appoint a transportation committee consisting of council members and city staff. "We need to move forward in investigating any possible alternatives we might have," Butts said. "We need to get on this right away ... (and do) whatever it takes to get air service."
He said options might include trying to persuade other airlines to consider adding Brownwood to their routes, or seeking an airline that operates single-engine planes that have lower expenses. Butts also said the city can apply for a DOT aviation grant of up to $350,000 a year for three years to assist with a new airline.
The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced it is eliminating Brownwood from the Essential Air Service subsidy program. Brownwood officials anticipate that Mesa Airlines will quit flying the Brownwood-Dallas/Fort Worth route, although it is uncertain when that will happen.
The DOT has said it wants Mesa to continue flying the Brownwood-DFW route until Great Lakes Aviation takes over routes in Ponca City and Enid, Okla., two communities that are currently served by Mesa. The DOT recently awarded the Oklahoma routes to Great Lakes.
"We're at the mercy of those two airlines working out a transfer date," airport manager Mike Wilson told council members.
Massey said he will continue to explore legislative options regarding airline service, although he said success there is a "long shot."
In other business Tuesday, council members approved the city's street maintenance project for fiscal year 2004-'05. The council budgeted $330,000 for street maintenance in the 2004-'05 budget.


* Approved a mayoral proclamation for the month of February as Black History Month.

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2005/01/26/news/news02.txt

Mainstream Media & Civil Rights History: What's left out of the picture is often most important to the true History !

History from a unique angle
Photographer's collection offers candid look at Dallas during civil rights movement

07:44 AM CST on Monday, January 17, 2005
By MICHAEL E. YOUNG / The Dallas Morning News
In a photo dated January 1963, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. shares an easy moment with three Dallas civil rights leaders, everyone smiling, relaxed and open.
Barely an arm's length away, Marion Butts captured the flash of intimacy on his big, bulky press camera.

FILE 1998/Staff Photo
Marion Butts, who died in 2002, left a legacy of 58,000 photo negatives from his decades of work.
Five years later, on a bright and tragic spring day, Mr. Butts stood on the patchy grass beside a serpentine walkway as hundreds of people walked toward the Bishop College chapel to mourn Dr. King's death.
In his career of almost 60 years, few events of import occurred in Dallas' African-American neighborhoods that Mr. Butts, who died in 2002, didn't photograph. His legacy, 58,000 photo negatives carefully arranged in alphabetical order, shows a different view of the city's history.
"Mr. Butts was covering a side of life the mainstream press in Dallas wasn't covering," said Carol Roark, manager of the Texas/Dallas History and Archives division of the Dallas Public Library.
That alone makes his work, which arrived last week, an invaluable addition to the library's collection, she said.
But Mr. Butts' photos also tie in neatly with the library's collection of pictures from the estate of former City Council member and civil rights leader Juanita Craft.
"Here's a photo Mr. Butts took of Thurgood Marshall [then chief counsel of the NAACP] that meshes nicely with the Juanita Craft collection," Ms. Roark said.
Mostly, though, Mr. Butts' photos stand as skillful depictions of the people and places of black Dallas in a period that seems impossibly long ago yet fell in very recent history. And he had a knack for finding history in the making.
The 1963 photo of Dr. King marked the second of his several visits to Dallas, this time to lend his voice to efforts to overturn the poll tax that prevented many minorities from voting.
Seven months later, outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Dr. King cemented his role as the nation's leading civil rights figure with his "I Have a Dream" speech.
Less than 90 days after that, the country's attention fell on Dallas again, and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
And another of the men in Mr. Butts' 1963 photo would emerge. Rabbi Levi Olan of Temple Emanu-El became known as "the conscience of Dallas" when he stood eight hours after the president's death and spoke of the "shame of a city" that had permitted extremism to fester.
The job of presenting that part of history now falls to library staff.
"Our role now is to sit down and put all of his identifications into a database with numbers so we can easily find photos," Ms. Roark said. "And we've started scanning these into our computer system so people will soon be able to look at them."
But given the collection's size, that will be a big undertaking.
"I bet we'll end up getting 4,000 to 5,000 photos into the online catalog," Ms. Roark said. "I think that'll be a pretty good representation of what's in there."

Marion Butts
Photos that Mr. Butts shot, such as the 1968 memorial for Martin Luther King Jr. at Dallas' Bishop College, were far different from what ran in the city's large newspapers.
For students and scholars, and even for people with a modest interest in history, the collection brings the past to life.
Certainly the big newspapers in town – The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times Herald –covered the growing civil rights movement in the 1950s and '60s, Ms. Roark said, but often with a point of view mirroring that of their mostly white readers.
"We've been scanning all of the Morning News microfilm into our system – eventually we'll have everything from 1885 to 1977 – and I looked up the protests against the segregated lunchroom at the H.L. Green department store," Ms. Roark said. "There were a couple of little articles, but no photos.
"Mr. Butts took this," she said, pointing to a scan of a single protester carrying his sign outside the downtown store as the rest of Dallas scurried past.
Eventually, she said, the library hopes to put on a major exhibit of Mr. Butts' work, "to document his career as a major photographer of Dallas."
At the same time, she said, the library hopes to fulfill one of Mr. Butts' dreams by producing a book of his photos.
E-mail myoung@dallasnews.com

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/011705dnmetmlkphotos.34489.html

What's Being Written

Moral America

January 25, 2005

All my life, I have looked at the double standard with righteous suspicion. Say, double lie? If I said anything or asked a question, from those I thought ''ought to know,'' I was rebuked, such as, ''It's just human,'' sort of like boys will be boys? I never liked that one, either.

At my age, lots of living, observing and research/reading. I have delegated myself as an ''ought to know'' person.

I say: Society has reached its peak as the Golden Age of Hypocrisy.

The reason I thought about this, I ran across the following letter, which I wanted to share:

''All I can say is, thank God the Republicans saved us from the gays. Like millions of Americans, I was terrified that they were going to take over our churches, our chapels, our very souls, if we didn't squash them like bugs. Thank God for fearless, moral men like Karl Rove, who masterfully fueled fears to defend us from millions of those evil gays. Thank God I finally can say I live in a moral America, despite the unemployment, the huge deficit, the unaffordable health care, the stream of body bags from Iraq. We're safe from the gays now, thank God, and that's all that matters, isn't it?''

Barbara Eldred
Brownwood

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If God sent us Bush, is it truly a blessing?

January 25, 2005

Watching the presidential inauguration, I was surprised to hear several religious friends (with great reverence in their voices) make this remark: ''God has placed President Bush in the White House.'' I was confused. I had assumed Mr. Bush was placed there by voters who share his vision of how to increase world peace. My curiosity, therefore, was aroused. So I bought a Bible. It was not an inexpensive Bible, but it did contain what's called a ''concordance.'' Checking this topical index, I discovered some impressive facts. If a person believes in the God of the Bible, he can easily conceive that this Supernatural Being has, in fact, placed our leader in the Capitol. When the Lord wishes to shame a nation, I discovered, he sends it a ruler of childlike incompetence (Isaiah 3:4). When the Lord wishes to chastise a nation, I found, he sends it a ruler who vainly surrounds himself with flatterers (I Kings 22:1-6), with people willing to violate established law in order to fulfill their chief's egotistical impulses (I Kings 21:1-19). Don't misunderstand me. I don't necessarily share my religious friends' confidence that our President is a God-sent ruler. But I suppose it's possible.


Steve Weathers
Abilene

Get serious

January 25, 2005

I am absolutely fed up with the Iraqi young people who are so happy with every instance of injury and death to our troops and the troops of the coalition that they jump, shout and wave their arms like the crazy people they are.

It is high time we stop this failed business of trying to ''win the hearts and minds'' of these particular people and start turning them into garbage, which is what they are. It is past time that we turn all the firepower we have directly into the demonstrating crowds. We won't need to do this very many times before these poor excuses for humanity cease this cowardly demonstration of their lack of respect.

And, another thing: Let's skip sending many more combat troops into Iraq. We just need to pour through troubled areas with all the firepower we have. Let's let them know they cannot show anything, but abject respect for our troops. If they raise their arms or their voices, shoot them. If they bring a firearm into a mosque, blow it to hell. And, if they even look bad, shoot them. This business of trying to be ''Mr. Nice Guy'' has produced way too many body bags. It's time to let them know we mean business!

Wm. G. Cook
Early

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/opinion/0,1874,ABIL_7985,00.html

Brownwood Texas " Feels Like Home " ?

''I think we are being discriminatory. It looks like anything we fear, we are going to keep as far away as possible.''

Brownwood City Councilman Dave Fair

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_2843110,00.html

These attitudes begin locally !

Tempering Evangelism: Tsunami missionaries should put aid first

06:30 PM CST on Monday, January 24, 2005

Zeal for converting non-Christians sets evangelical Christianity apart from other expressions of the Christian faith. You will find evangelicals all over the world, teaching, preaching and healing broken bodies and broken lives. They do much good.
But sometimes they go too far. We are dismayed at the furor ignited by members of Waco's Antioch Community Church, which sent a relief team into tsunami-stricken Sri Lanka. According to The New York Times, the Waco evangelicals have outraged Sri Lankan Christians and non-Christians by aggressively proselytizing among the country's Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists. Some native pastors complain that the Texans are putting all the country's Christians in peril from militant Buddhist factions.
The Rev. Duleep Fernando, a Sri Lankan Methodist, told The Times that the Texans induced him to bring them into a refugee camp, pretending to be merely a humanitarian group. "We have told them this is not right, but now we don't have any control over them," the sadder-but-wiser pastor says now.
Aid to the poor and oppressed is a central tenet of Christianity, and missionary efforts over the centuries have often mixed material aid with subtle or not-so-subtle invitations to convert. It is difficult to draw a bright line between what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
But deception – hiding one's evangelical aims – is wrong. And so is imperiling the lives of Christians who can't hop a plane bound for D/FW if non-Christian militants turn violent.
Even absent that, the internal damage to a society can be profound. "Soupers" in Ireland and "rice Christians" in Asia are some of the epithets that reflect the bitter resentment toward people who are perceived to have abandoned their historical faith in return for handouts from proselytizing sects.
That's why many Christian aid organizations today try to separate humanitarian efforts from evangelism outreach. But the Waco church explicitly rejects that strategy. One paralyzed Buddhist fisherman told The Times he believes the Waco team is trying to convert him, but that he is "in a helpless situation," and feels he has no choice but to submit to their ministrations. How can Christians be proud of that?

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/012505dnedievangelists.d7421.html
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Brownwood: Beware the Wolves in Sheeps Clothing.....

Pastor convicted of soliciting sex from teenager
Associated Press

WEST CHESTER, Pa. - A Philadelphia pastor who has condemned homosexuality and was known for using a bullhorn to preach to passers-by at colleges was convicted Wednesday of soliciting sex from a teenager.
Jurors deliberated for 3 1/2 hours before convicting the Rev. Craig Stephen White of criminal solicitation to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and related offenses.
White, 40, who faces a minimum of three years on the most serious charge, showed no reaction, and neither did his wife. His mother wept and said, "He's innocent; he's innocent."
Chester County Judge Anthony A. Sarcione revoked White's $20,000 bail and sent him to Chester County Prison.
"He's a preacher, and he has access to children," Sarcione said. "This jury has spoken. He has been convicted of attempting to lure a child into a vehicle" for sexual gratification.
Defense attorney Robert J. Donatoni said he was "disappointed but not surprised." "This was a very difficult case for everyone," said Donatoni, who suggested that the teenager was mistaken, confused or just seeking attention.
On June 26, White, who was driving a Ford minivan, stopped in West Chester and asked a 14-year-old boy for directions.
The boy said White also asked about strip clubs or adult book or video stores, asked him to get in and help the driver find the regular video store, and later came back and offered him $20 for taking part in sexual activity.
White denied that he made any sexual proposition and said he asked directions to a video store because he wanted to buy the movie "Shrek" for his children.
White, who moved to Philadelphia in 1991, started a Temple University campus group called Soldiers for Christ, worked at a youth ministry in Gloucester County, N.J., and began the Philadelphia Gospel Outreach Center in North Philadelphia.
He was a fixture on the University of Pennsylvania campus and preached to passers-by at other campuses in the Philadelphia area. He was a prominent enough figure at Penn that the chaplain's office held a panel discussion about his methods in 1998.
White preached against homosexuality and atheists, using a bullhorn to rile at students and faculty about "fornicators," "whores" and "sodomites."
Assistant District Attorney Kimberly A. Callahan called White a threat to society. "I'm relieved the jury believed the victim and understood the seriousness of the case," she said.
White supporter Michael A. Marcavage called the verdict "an outrageous travesty" and said the community should be alarmed. "Citizens should be concerned about how a man can be tried and convicted on the testimony of a 14-year-old," he said.
Pat Noordewier said she worked with White and a youth group for years and that he often stayed at her home. "This man is innocent," she said. "His ministry is kids."
source: http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/7717427.htm
------------------
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, January 14, 2005
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/10640442.htm
Flaunting his faith, bullhorn in hand
Michael Marcavage's tactics have brought the Lansdowne evangelist some legal
scrapes - and national attention.

By Kathy Boccella, Inquirer Staff Writer
The video shows a young man with a bullhorn and guitar surrounded by pink-T-shirted marchers blocking his way with large pink banners. The man presses on, negotiating with police as to where he and his followers can go. Finally, he lies down on the ground. "If they're going to eject us, they're going to work for it," Michael Marcavage, of Lansdowne, said with a laugh while watching a video of the Oct. 10 ruckus at Outfest in Center City.
The high-profile case has put Marcavage, a 25-year-old who looks like a baby-faced Keanu Reeves, on the national evangelical Christian radar. He's as in-demand for interviews, including Fox's O'Reilly Factor and ABC's Good Morning America, as a televangelist with a tell-all book. As founder of Repent America, a conservative Christian organization, Marcavage
has clashed with many different groups, including homosexuals, non-Christians, and his own family. "There's always a battle between darkness and light," he said in an interview this week in the spacious home where he lives alone.
That battle has defined his life so far - and may get him a lengthy prison term if he is convicted of criminal charges from the gay-pride event. It's also, he believes, how he'll get into heaven. But others say he is spreading hate, not the word of God.
"Hate has many faces," said Kevin Lee, an openly gay Lansdowne Borough councilman who has faced off with Marcavage.
•
Marcavage founded Repent America after graduating from Temple University with a degree in broadcast journalism in 2001. But the seeds of his ministry began long before that. He grew up in Simpson, a blue-collar town near Scranton. His mother died when
he was 3, an event that "propelled me to search for meaning in my life." That search took him from Catholicism to more fundamentalist beliefs while he was still in high school, where he was involved in theater, Boy Scouts and community service.
As a senior he created such a stir when a teacher wanted to show the groundbreaking episode of the sitcom Ellen, in which the main character says she is a lesbian, that the principal was quoted in the local paper calling him a"religious zealot."
Then in college, when the theater department staged Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi, which depicts a gay Jesus figure, Temple officials said Marcavage became so distraught during a Nov. 2, 1999, meeting with a university vice president that they ordered a psychiatric evaluation. Marcavage maintains that he was calm and has a doctor's report to prove it, and he has sued the vice president and a campus security official for unlawfully restraining him. During college he switched career paths, from journalism to religious ministry, and now sees himself going into politics or starting a church. He runs Repent America from his home with income from three rental properties and donations from Christian groups. In a short time, Marcavage's free-floating outrage has resulted in nearly as many lawsuits and confrontations as a rosary has beads. In San Francisco, he was arrested for protesting same-sex marriage. In Bridgeport, Conn., he sued police after they stopped him for driving a truck plastered with pictures of fetuses.
In Springfield, Delaware County, he scuffled with police at an abortion rally and won a $2,500 settlement from the township.
Chris Purdom, of Philadelphia, remembers Marcavage shouting into a bullhorn, setting off sirens, and asking personal, sexual questions at a gay Christian event in August at Holy Trinity Church on Rittenhouse Square. "He yells at people at Christian services, and he's now claiming he's being persecuted for being a Christian," said Purdom, a Presbyterian elder. That's not what happened, Marcavage said. "I was simply preaching the Gospel." He says he did turn on sirens to get people's attention.
Brian Fahling of the American Family Association, which provides free legal services, said Marcavage "takes the First Amendment seriously and also takes being a law-abiding citizen seriously." And his friend, Jason Storm, a fellow evangelist, said that Marcavage is "a good man" who once took in a homeless man for a week and got him a job. Most people react negatively to his preaching, Marcavage acknowledged, but once in a while someone sees the light. On a mantle in his living room is a framed
letter from a woman thanking him for preaching in the parking lot of a strip club near Scranton. He's had less success in his current hometown. When he moved to Landsowne three years ago, he didn't know it had a growing gay and lesbian community.
"God's providence" brought him there, he said. "There's a lot to do in that town." Part of that work is keeping out more homosexuals. At a Borough Council meeting in July, he brought the issue up and began reading from the Bible. The council president adjourned the meeting, and Marcavage was later arrested for refusing to leave the building. Said Lansdowne Councilman Lee: "The Bible is a beautiful and complicated document, and it can be interpreted any way you want. I don't know who christened him the one to do that for all of us." Marcavage also has had run-ins with residents. When John Kerry visited a Lansdowne home during his presidential campaign, Marcavage got into a scrap with the homeowner's daughter, who squirted him with a hose. He's suing.
And he got kicked by a woman at a Methodist Church for denouncing the then-pastor's "false teachings." "It's such an unconscionable, unethical way to live," said the Rev. Timothy Thomson-Hohl, the new pastor of Trinity Lansdowne United Methodist Church. "For someone who's supposed to be Christian, it's appalling." One minister whom Marcavage is in accord with is the Rev. Craig Stephen White, a fiery Philadelphia street preacher who was convicted in March of trying to
solicit sex from a West Chester teenager. Marcavage put up his house as collateral for White's bail, testified as a
character witness, and offered a reward on his Web site for information leading to White's acquittal.
"I believe he's innocent," said Marcavage, who met White at Temple. "I've been charged with many crimes, and I've been acquitted later on."
. Next week, Repent America will take its antiabortion road show to Washington, hoping to steal some of the spotlight from the inauguration. It won't come as a surprise if there's a dust-up, an arrest, a lawsuit. It may or may not save souls, but it's a great way to stoke a ministry or start a political career. "People are headed to eternal damnation. I'm out there warning them that there
are consequences," Marcavage said. "We're all going to stand judgment before God."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Kathy Boccella at kboccella@phillynews.com or
610-313-8123.Posted on Thu, Jan. 15, 2004

Project will draw Visitors to Brownwood

Railroad museum takes shape
Brownwood officials excited about facility

By Celinda Emison / Reporter-News Staff Writer
January 26, 2005

BROWNWOOD - The wheels were officially set in motion Tuesday for the construction of the Martin and Frances Lehnis Railroad Museum.

Officials from the Texas Department of Transportation, the city of Brownwood and representatives of the Lehnis family attended the groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday afternoon.

''This will be one of the great projects of our community,'' said Brownwood Mayor Bert Massey.

The 18,800-square-foot museum, estimated to cost almost $2 million, will include a display area for a Pullman car, caboose and train depot from the town of Kress.

Like the Frontier Texas! visitors center in Abilene, the Martin and Frances Lehnis Railroad Museum received federal funds through the Transportation Enhancement Act. The funds are distributed through the Texas Department of Transportation, which approved a grant for $1.8 million in 2003 for the project.

Under the grant program, the city must provide $180,000 in local funds to pay the rest of the construction costs. Construction will take about one year, said City Manager Gary Butts on Tuesday.

Although the grant was awarded almost two years ago, there have been some delays in getting the project rolling due to bids coming in about $400,000 over budget last spring.

''We trimmed the project and the city will be doing some in-kind work, so that brought the costs back down,'' Butts said. ''This enabled us to get the project off the ground.''

Halff and Associates of Dallas is the architectural firm and Waldrop Construction of Brownwood will be the contractor for the project.

The Lehnis Museum is part of a larger project in Brownwood called The Great State of Texas Historical Transportation Complex. Butts said the Lehnis Museum must be fully operational before the city completes the rest of the project. Total cost for the project has been estimated at $11.9 million.

The items are owned by Martin Lehnis, 89, of Early. The items for the museum comprise a lifelong collection of railroad memorabilia by Martin and his wife, Frances, who died in November.

Marilyn Lehnis of San Antonio, daughter-in-law of Martin Lehnis, said the family is very happy to see the project under way.

''It was their dream to have this museum. ...,'' she said.

The city has cleared the lot at Depot and Washington streets, about a block north of the Depot Civic and Cultural Center, for museum construction.

Contact Brownwood Staff Writer Celinda Emison at (915) 641-8804 or emisonc@reporternews.com.

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_3498269,00.html

Horsley: The Good Book presents a good question

By David Horsley Opinion - Amarillo Globe News

I'm not sure what "the homosexual agenda" is, but I'm probably part of it - whatever it is.

I believe that homosexuals ought to enjoy the same rights and privileges in a free society as heterosexuals.

I'm not sure what the "culture war" is (Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia referred to it in his dissent to last week's landmark decision), but - whatever it is - it's already been lost by Scalia's side.

I'm not sure what it is about Rep. Warren Chisum and his moral pronouncements that makes me want to roll my eyes, but I have to keep reminding myself that he's in the majority - for whatever that's worth - and I'm not, and neither were the six Supreme Court Justices who voted to strike down Warren Chisum's sodomy law.

Week before last, the U.S. Supreme Court said that government can't intrude into people's bedrooms and arrest citizens for giving and receiving certain types of pleasure.

It seems like a conservative idea to limit government this way, but conservatives are on the other side of the issue.

They want government to monitor the bedrooms of America.

Last week Wal-Mart announced it has added language to internal policy statements to ensure that gay employees aren't discriminated against.

I guess Wal-Mart is part of "the homosexual agenda" too.

Sooner or later - probably later - gays will get everything they want, and this is the way it should be.

Full protection against discrimination, equal rights under the law, the ability to marry each other and form durable, legal relationships - whatever I can do to hasten these things, sign me up.

As a heterosexual Christian man, I've always believed the church was on the wrong side of the gay issue.


Recently the Southern Baptist Convention announced a new initiative aimed at helping gays to convert to heterosexuality.

I'm a firm believer in the right of any homosexual to pursue all avenues to become hetero. I'm moderately skeptical that it will work, but people ought to be free to try.

Reports I've read about gays trying to become straight seem mixed. A few gay men seem to have achieved a satisfactory level of heterosexual functioning.

I don't know if they're officially hetero now, or bisexual, or just pretending.

Some have admitted that they want so badly to be straight that they've fooled themselves into believing they are.

Others, it seems, have actually managed to become heterosexuals - at least in the short run.

Here's my question: What if gays try to convert and fail?

Will the Southern Baptist Convention still be their friend?

Will it bless them for who they are, if who they are is homosexual?

Of course not.

It took the Southern Baptist Convention a hundred years to get around to apologizing for slavery.

So gays ought to look for an apology from the SBC in the year 2103 or so, give or take a few decades. I wouldn't hold my breath until the SBC gets friendly with gays.

Some of the traditional arguments against homosexuality are based in Scripture, which is why the SBC holds so tenaciously to them.

Baptists take the Bible seriously.

But what if we tried to build a case for or against slavery based on biblical statements?

I suspect we'd conclude that slavery is sanctioned by God.

Obviously, during the centuries since the Bible was written, the human community has learned a thing or two about slavery and has come to different conclusions.

We now see biblical statements about slavery within the context of ancient cultures and do not feel bound to uphold statements such as "Slaves, obey your masters."

Similarly, a modern view of homosexuality transcends the ancient cultural mind-set of biblical authors.

The real question becomes: How does a thoughtful Christian faithfully respond to Scripture and decide which ideas are divine and which merely cultural influence?

That's a question about which I'd enjoy hearing from Rep. Warren Chisum or Justice Antonin Scalia or the Southern Baptist Convention.

source: http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/070703/opi_dhorsley.shtml

Authors Bio: David Horsley

David Horsley received a Master of Divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and an M.A. in English from West Texas A&M University. He served as a hospital chaplain for nine years, most of them in Houston, before moving to Amarillo with his attorney wife and their two children. He teaches at Amarillo College and writes a popular column for the Amarillo Globe-News.

source: http://www.winedalebooks.com/books/horsley.html

Glass Closets and Throwing Stones !

Jeff Gannon connected to male military escort service?
Posted by Clark2008
Added to homepage Wed Feb 09th 2005, 08:31 AM ET

Forgive me if this has been posted. I can't begin to read all the threads here, but I know that someone was looking for information on Jeff Gannon last night.
I hope they've found this:
Holy crap
by John in DC - 2/8/2005 07:03:16 PM
Let me say again, holy crap.
The blogosphere has dug up some really really really creepy stuff about that pseudo-reporter with the pseudonym who the White House lets ask all the softball questions about their briefings. His pseudonym is Jeff Gannon, and well, the folks at DailyKos, and Eschaton, have been doing a little digging around on him.
It's a long and sordid tale, but let me give it to you in a nutshell. Mr. Gannon's home page is JeffGannon.com. Well, JeffGannon.com is owned by a person and company that owns the following Web addresses as well:
Hotmilitarystud.com
Militaryescorts.com
Militaryescortsm4m.com
And for those of you who are really straight or really clueless, "m4m" is a gay online term for men who are looking to have sex with other men, and "escort" means prostitute. And being a military escort is also against the Uniform Code of Military Justice in at least two different ways, if not more.
Now, I'm not one to judge how folks like to get their jollies (assuming no children are involved and it's consensual), but then again, I don't suck up to the family values agenda like Mr. Gannon does. I've been through Gannon's archives, and it's a horrendous accumulation of religious right suck-up pieces on gay issues. Some are concerned that perhaps it's not fair to hit him with the gay card, if he is gay. Well, take a look at some of the stories from Gannon's Talon News Service: here, here, here Talon is promoting "ex-gays," defending Bush on gay marriage, and Gannon himself writing a story defending Santorum on his man-dog-sex commments about gays. There are lots more, you get the picture.
Oh, and speaking of pictures, they found photos too.
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/holy-crap_08.ht...

Rep. Slaughter Writes Bush, Calls for Investigation of "Jeff Gannon" scandal
Posted by Stephanie
Added to homepage Wed Feb 09th 2005, 01:58 PM ET

Wednesday, February 9, 2005
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
In light of the mounting evidence that your Administration has, on several occasions, paid members of the media to advocate in favor of Administration policies, I feel compelled to ask you to address a matter brought to my attention by the Niagara Falls Reporter (article attached), a local newspaper in my district, regarding James "JD" Guckert (AKA Jeff Gannon) of Talon News.
According to several credible reports, "Mr. Gannon" has been repeatedly credentialed as a member of the White House press corps by your office and has been regularly called upon in White House press briefings by your Press Secretary Scott McClellan, despite the fact evidence shows that "Mr. Gannon" is a Republican political operative, uses a false name, has phony or questionable journalistic credentials, is known for plagiarizing much of the "news" he reports, and according to several web reports, may have ties to the promotion of the prostitution of military personnel.
Several weeks ago when it was revealed that radio/TV host Armstrong Williams had received payment from your Administration in exchange for his vocal support of the 'No Child Left Behind' initiative, I was stunned. For years now I have been leading the fight in Congress for fairness and accountability in the media; the Williams revelation only underscored the need for a media that has integrity, is balanced and expresses the local interests and concerns of its consumers.
Since that time, two more members of the media have been found to have received money from your Administration in exchange for their vocal, yet undisclosed support of Administration policies.
And just this morning we have learned that "Mr. Gannon" has resigned his post at the, so called, Talon News amid growing concerns over his controversial background and falsified qualifications. In fact, it appears that "Mr. Gannon's" presence in the White House press corps was merely as a tool of propaganda for your Administration.
Mr. President, I am sure we both agree the White House Press Corps is an honored institution in America that should be beyond the scope of partisan meddling, and that a free and independent media is the cornerstone of our success as a democracy. Likewise, I am sure we can both agree the American people have the right to expect that journalists who question their President everyday are experienced, independent, and perhaps most importantly, unbiased in their approach.
I was already concerned about what appears to be an organized campaign to mask partisan propaganda as legitimate news by your Administration. That we have now learned this same type of deception is occurring inside the White House briefing room itself is even more disturbing.
That is why I am asking you to please explain to the Congress and to the American people how and why the individual known as "Mr. Gannon" was repeatedly cleared by your staff to join the legitimate White House press corps?
Mr. President, your Administration has driven the so-called "values" debate in this country. But the most important value for those of us in public service should always be honesty and integrity, particularly when considering the manner in which we conduct our affairs of state.
I would appreciate your prompt response on this matter.
Respectfully,
/LMS
Louise M. Slaughter
Ranking Member, House Committee on Rules
http://www.louise.house.gov/HoR/Louise/News/Press+Relea...
Discuss this topic (39 responses)

Jeff Gannon QUITS!
Posted by DoveTurnedHawk
Added to homepage Wed Feb 09th 2005, 08:37 AM ET

Jeff Gannon
A Voice of the New Media
The voice goes silent.
Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life.
Thank you to all those who supported me.
http://www.jeffgannon.com
--------------------
Online Nude Photos Are Latest Chapter In Jeff Gannon Saga

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 16, 2005; Page C01

The Jeff Gannon story is still bouncing around the Internet, and now there are pictures.

The kind you shouldn't open up in the office.

The X-rated twist has made for a lot of clandestine clicking in a town where Deep Throat conjures images not of a porn star but of a man in a parking garage. But it has also deepened the debate over blogging and the tactics used to drive a conservative reporter from his job as White House correspondent for two Web sites owned by a Republican activist.

In most Beltway melodramas, the resignation ends the story. The problem for Gannon, whose real name is James Dale Guckert, is that he told The Washington Post and CNN's Wolf Blitzer last week that he never launched the Web sites whose provocative names he had registered, such as hotmilitarystud.com. But a Web designer in California said yesterday that he had designed a gay escort site for Gannon and had posted naked pictures of Gannon at the client's request.

The latest developments were first reported by John Aravosis, a liberal political consultant and gay activist who has a Web site called americablog.org. "What struck me initially was the hypocrisy angle," Aravosis said. He said he was offended by what he called Gannon's "antigay" writing.

Gannon became a target of liberal bloggers after he asked President Bush at a news conference last month a loaded and inaccurate question about how he could deal with Senate Democrats "who seem to have divorced themselves from reality." They pointed to articles such as one last year in which Gannon wrote that John Kerry "might someday be known as 'the first gay president' " because he "has enjoyed a 100 percent rating from the homosexual advocacy group, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), since 1995 in recognition of his support for the pro-gay agenda." Saying his family was being harassed, the reporter quit last week after online critics began digging into his background.

Gannon, who worked for Talon News and GOPUSA, denied any antigay writing last week, but did not return calls for comment yesterday and has told other journalists he will not comment on the racy Web sites. The contretemps sparked questions about why the White House had regularly cleared him for briefings, especially since he had been denied a press pass on Capitol Hill, where reporters control the credentialing process.

Ana Marie Cox, who has been joking about the Gannon photos on her satirical site, wonkette.com, said they are creating a buzz because "obviously pictures of naked people are titillating." But, she added, "bloggers are wrong to bring that into the mix of things of why he shouldn't be a White House correspondent. Aren't we bloggers in favor of a lower bar of access, not a higher one?

"I'd like to be able to go to the White House briefing room, and I haven't even posed naked -- just been asked."

Paul Leddy, the Web designer, said Gannon contacted him in an America Online chat room in 1999 and wound up paying him $200, plus $50 in monthly maintenance, into the following year to create a gay escort site. He said the checks came from Bedrock Corp., which Gannon has confirmed that he worked for at the time. Leddy, who has helped design a variety of Web sites, including porn sites, provided Microsoft Word files of several of his invoices to Bedrock, a Delaware-based company. At first, Leddy said, Gannon sent him nude pictures with the heads cropped out, or asked him not to post the faces. He said he had no doubt, after seeing Gannon in the news recently, that the explicit pictures were of the same man. Leddy said Gannon's postings later moved to another gay escort site, which Aravosis says remained active until March 2003, or shortly before Gannon began covering the White House.

In one of the Web sites found by Aravosis, a man who Leddy said is Gannon was offering his escort services for $200 an hour, or $1,200 a weekend. Another describes him as "military, muscular, masculine and discrete [sic]" and provides an America Online e-mail address that matches the initials on a logo used by Gannon on several of the sites, including the one Leddy said he designed. Bedrock, Gannon's company, is listed as the owner of JeffGannon.com, as well as three sites with such names as hotmilitarystud.com. Aravosis posted the pictures with strategically placed gray boxes, although he provided links to the unexpurgated versions.

Gannon is also embroiled in the Valerie Plame story. In 2003 he interviewed Plame's husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, after unnamed administration officials leaked her role as a CIA operative to columnist Robert Novak. According to his Talon News story, Gannon asked Wilson about "an internal government memo prepared by U.S. intelligence personnel [detailing] a meeting in early 2002 where your wife, a member of the agency for clandestine service working on Iraqi weapons issues, suggested that you could be sent to investigate the reports."

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) this week questioned how Gannon got access to the documents and asked the special prosecutor investigating the Plame leak to include Gannon in his probe.

To top things off, the Wilmington News-Journal, citing court records, reported Saturday that Gannon -- or Guckert actually -- failed to pay Delaware more than $20,700 in personal income tax from 1991 through 1994.

More than anything, though, it is Gannon's personal online activities that has kept the story churning. Cliff Kincaid, editor of the Accuracy in Media report, wrote on the conservative group's Web site: "The Gannon 'scandal' would be laughable, were it not for the fact that Gannon's personal privacy has been invaded and his mother, in her 70s, had to endure harassing telephone calls from those on the political left trying to dig up dirt. The campaign against Gannon demonstrates the paranoid mentality and mean-spirited nature of the political left."

But Aravosis said: "If you were just looking at this as a matter of his hypocrisy, the story's over now that he's gone. The larger issue is how did someone like this get access to the White House."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan told the trade publication Editor & Publisher that he didn't know Gannon was using a pseudonym until recent weeks and that he was cleared into the White House on a daily basis using his real name. "People use aliases all the time in life, from journalists to actors," McClellan said. He said he has discussed the Gannon matter only "briefly" with the president.

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27730-2005Feb15.html
-------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, February 16, 2005

I'm on Court TV at 5:25PM EST or so
by John in DC - 2/16/2005 04:19:00 PM
With Catherine Crier.
PS Rumor has it we may have raised the terror alert to threat level pink.


Sanctimonious bullshit for the Hotline
by John in DC - 2/16/2005 03:59:00 PM
The Hotline is a big inside-the-beltway publication read by all.

Amid the semi-hysteria over the blogosphere's growing influence, one important question has been left largely unanswered: Does anything go? -- Bloggers have claimed credit for at least helping to bring down several journos in recent months -- Dan Rather and Mary Mapes at CBS, CNN's Eason Jordan and conservative WH reporter James "Jeff Gannon" Guckert. All three episodes featured ideological bloggers either uncovering new facts about these folks or raising questions about their work. But the Guckert episode alone has included a focus on his personal life. -- The cry from bloggers and voices on the left is: How does an (apparent) gay prostitute get (alleged) access to classified gov't documents? (Wouldn't Bob Barr have already called for a special prosecutor if this were 1997?) But if Guckert's personal life is an issue, are the private lives of all reporters now fair game? Aside from issues like Guckerts, legal records, financial matters and even pure gossip could offer a wealth of targets for those web warriors with a grudge. Where does it end, and who's next? Does this mean reporters now know what life's like for a political candidate?
More blah blah blah about Jeff Gannon's private life being offlimits. Let's all say it again, loud and clear. Jeff's previous job, and apparently current job since the Web sites are still live, is not his private life any more than outing Hotline reporters as, well, Hotline reporters is their private life. Whether they like or not, whether I like it or not, running a prostitution service goes against every family value that this administration and Guckert supposedly stand for.
Where was the high-and-mighty Hotline when George Bush, with the help of buddies like Guckert, tried to write me and 20 million of my friends out of the Constitution last year? Where was Accuracy in Media, the conservative bloggers, and everyone else who is defending Guckert's "private life" when my private life was going to singled out and savaged in our nation's most sacred document simply to get a few votes?
You've got a lot of nerve, Hotline. The entire GOP and its mainstream media sympathizers have a lot of nerve. We're talking about a hooker getting special access to the White House, the president, and intelligence information, and somehow everyone has suddenly discovered a conscience about homosexuals and hookers. Oh how I wish that conscience were real. But it's not. Bash a fag, bash a whore, and the GOP eats it all up. They throw us to their hateful, bigoted religious right buddies for votes with glee, while Mary Cheney cowers in the corner and Ken Mehlman runs for the shelter of the off-the-record quote.
Well newsflash Washington. The GOP is the one that rose gay-bashing and gay-baiting and sex-baiting to an art, and JeffJimGuckertGannon willingly joined the family values parade in print and in passion. They're trying to ban condoms, pornography, AIDS education. They take children away from gays, and want to make our very lives a crime. GOP Senators compare us to kleptomaniacs, alcoholics, and man-dog sex. And they can't even handle a bronze breast on a statue.
And we're the ones picking a fight over sex.
Spare me your sanctimonious bullshit now that those of us in the gay community and on the left have finally - finally - started to fight fire with fire by simply holding you to the very standards you legislate over us. We are simply giving the GOP the sex-less utopia it's always wanted. How does it feel?
Oh, gee, the Hotline warns, this might establish a precedent. Really? You mean the GOP might respond by using our sex lives against us as a weapon to destroy us and curry votes with bigots?
I don't like this battle, I don't enjoy this battle. I hate this battle. But the battle began years ago, and until now, we sat back and watched and waited and hoped it would go away. Well it's not going away. We have a choice. We can sit back and watch the GOP sex police destroy us. Or we can fight back. And I can think of nothing more poetic, nothing more just, than fighting back by simply holding them to their own standards.
PS And don't even get me started on Valerie Plame.

source: http://www.americablog.org/

Now they're burning library books in Colorado?

“ Fire and human hatred have always been the ultimate enemy of books. ”

NEW YORK TIMES
September 19, 2003
So It Is Written: Books Are Memory
By JONATHAN ROSEN
----------------------------------------------------------------
Now they're burning library books in Colorado?
Posted by JohnnyRingo
Added to homepage Tue Feb 08th 2005, 05:11 PM ET

“Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.” Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart-1966.
Recently a book that was being used as part of an English assignment was confiscated from freshmen at Norwood High School due to references of paganism and an alleged magnitude of profanity.
Here in Norwood, a small group of parents sent letters to Superintendent Bob Conder, expressing their concern over, "Bless Me, Ultima," a book being used in the classroom as a literature book. Conder said the books, about 2 dozen in total costing $6.99 each, were pulled from the classroom, and designated to be destroyed. The parents approached the superintendent and asked that they be able to burn the books instead of the school janitor destroying them.
Conder granted them their request, as he has the right to dispose of them. Conder informed the School Board in a letter after the fact. He further stated, “I can’t dictate morality, but my job is to protect the kids. The books should have never been purchased, and were not properly disclosed for approval.”
Entire Article Here:

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/nor...

Parents censor high school literature and are allowed to burn books they find offensive

By Margo L. Roberts

“Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.” Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart-1966.

Recently [story posted Thursday, February 3, 2005] a book that was being used as part of an English assignment was confiscated from freshmen at Norwood [Colorado] High School due to references of paganism and an alleged magnitude of profanity.

Here in Norwood, a small group of parents sent letters to Superintendent Bob Conder, expressing their concern over, "Bless Me, Ultima," a book being used in the classroom as a literature book. Conder said the books, about 2 dozen in total costing $6.99 each, were pulled from the classroom, and designated to be destroyed. The parents approached the superintendent and asked that they be able to burn the books instead of the school janitor destroying them.

Conder granted them their request, as he has the right to dispose of them. Conder informed the School Board in a letter after the fact. He further stated, “I can’t dictate morality, but my job is to protect the kids. The books should have never been purchased, and were not properly disclosed for approval.”

The author, Rudolfo Anaya, said in a phone interview, “Freedom of democracy is learned in our school systems.” Anaya, who started teaching in a one-room school house in New Mexico further stated, “Parents have the right to monitor what their children read, however they do not have the right to tell others what they can read. That is un-American, un-democratic and un-educational.”

Conder said the books were not sold to recoup some of the cost or donated to a library elsewhere because, “I would not feel comfortable with those books possibly falling into another child’s hands, and the return would not be more than 50 cents to a dollar a piece”. When asked if the teacher who introduced the book to the students was in danger of being terminated, Conder said, “No, she was truly sorry for her lack of judgment.”

An individual, who did not wish to be identified, felt this was reminiscent of the Nazi regime, and feared their job as a teacher was in jeopardy if parents could dictate the curriculum in such a manner. “Our kids already receive a limited exposure to knowledge because of our location, why limit them further.” The individual stated they were familiar with the book, and that the profanity was limited. They added “There are many classic novels with a varying levels of profanity that can be found in the school’s library; it all depends on the connotation and frequency of the words used.”

Rudolfo Anaya, a professor emeritus of English at the University of New Mexico, wrote “Bless Me Ultima” in 1972. It explores the difficulty of reconciling conflicting cultural traditions. The main character, a young boy growing up in New Mexico during World War II, struggles with the complexities of his religion. He becomes increasingly frustrated by the failure of the Catholic Church to explain the most pressing questions about morality and human experience and is frustrated by his failure to find a forgiving god, and then finds an unlikely mentor in a local “healer” who comes to live with his family.

Many of the characters in the book are limited by their cultural prejudices and never learn to look beyond their own assumptions. Meanwhile the main character grows to understand that his experiences are lessons about life, and he knows that he must take life’s lessons to heart, even when they are difficult, painful, or disappointing. Learning the importance of tolerance marks his growth, especially as he begins to realize that some religions may be better suited to some people than to others.

The same book was chosen by other Colorado communities, such as Fort Collins, Boulder, and most recently Grand Junction at Mesa State College as the book of choice to be read as a community. Anaya commented, “The book should be judged in its entirety. There is some strong language in strong situations, but there is no flippant use of profanity.”

The author was also aware that this same book had met with opposition in cities in Calif., Texas and New York. However the students in New York had the ban overridden by approaching the school board.

“Bless Me, Ultima” is currently on the Montrose High School’s approved reading list for the sophomore class, according to Jeff Black of the MHS English Department.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Permission granted by the editor of The Daily Planet (Telluride, Colorado) to mount this article.

  
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
50 E. Huron Chicago, IL 60611 Call Us Toll Free 1-800-545-2433

Brownwood SpongeBob: What would the Brownwood #'s be ?

rest of story...

Just bought SpongeBob SquarePants Cookies @ Brookshires. Thanks Dr Dobson !

rest of story...

KXYL's Connie Carmichael calls for violence against Federal Judge

Note: Connie Carmichael of KXYL Brownwood Texas on Friday Morning went on a tirade against this case and the Federal Judge and his ruling and commented " I'd like to take this Judges head and bang it on the concrete sidewalk and see if there are any brains in there. " Read below for "the rest of the story" of which talking heads failed to mention ! Propoganda ?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Florida child custody dispute comes to head
Toddler goes home with biological mother

Inside Bay Area
By Ron Word

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — The adoptive mother of a 31/2-year-old boy at the center of a custody dispute tearfully handed the boy to his biological mother on Saturday, then dropped to the ground and repeatedly screamed: "How can they do this to a little boy?"

Evan, bundled in a blue jacket and sucking on a pacifier, was carried outside by Dawn Scott, who along with her husband, Gene, cared for the child for most of his life. The couple appealed a judge's ruling transferring custody to the biological mother, Amanda Hopkins.

News crews gathered around the Scotts' home Saturday morning in anticipation of the meeting, and the child's biological father and grandfather pushed a television cameraman out of the way.

Evan, who could be heard wailing inside the home, appeared calm after he was placed in a car seat in a van driven by Hopkins' husband, Michael.

Amanda Hopkins scolded photographers taking pictures of the child: "Leave him alone. He's just a little boy."

Hopkins, a member of the U.S. Navy, lives in Illinois with her husband and infant daughter, but their hometown has been kept sealed.

Evan was quickly whisked away, and Dawn Scott then dropped to the ground in an emotional outburst.

Gene Scott called it a "very emotional, traumatic situation" and said the family would continue their legal fight.


The Scotts appealed Friday to the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, asking to keep the child. But their attorney, Susan Pniewski, said the court never acted.

The case began about 31/2 years ago when the childless Scotts met Hopkins, who was pregnant. She agreed to a private adoption, according to court files.

The Scotts watched Evan's birth in May 2001, and he was placed with them two days later.

The adoption was supposed to be final in August 2001. But a month before that, the boy's biological father, Stephen White, filed a motion demanding custody. The Scotts claimed White should not be able to block the adoption, but a judge disagreed.

Hopkins supported the adoption until it appeared the court might grant White's request for custody. Last month, she was awarded custody and White was given liberal visitation rights.


Calls to attorneys representing Hopkins and White were not immediately returned Saturday.

Carl Moodispaugh, 37, who lives in the Scotts' cul-de-sac, said his 8-year-old stepson, Christopher, often played "Hot Wheels" with Evan, and the youngster was like a little brother to his son.

"It is like one of our kids being ripped from us," Moodispaugh said.

source: http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/news/ci_2527454
--------------------------------
Governor Says He Can't Get Involved In Adoption Case

POSTED: 7:17 am EST January 18, 2005

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday he cannot get involved in the case of a 31⁄2-year-old boy at the center of a disputed adoption in Atlantic Beach.

The only parents Evan has ever known, Dawn and Gene Scott, strap Evan into a seat of Amanda Hopkins' car for the trip to his new home in Illinois.Evan Scott was taken from his foster parents Saturday and given to his birth mother, Amanda Hopkins, after judge has awarded her full custody of the boy at at hearing in December.


Since before Christmas, Bush has received appeals from state lawmakers and friends of the foster parents to get involved in the case, but Bush said the judiciary has the legal authority in the case and the governor cannot intervene.


Hopkins said Monday that Evan is happy in his new Illinois home, heading first for his Hot Wheels.

The Scotts said they are moving ahead with an appeal.

Previous Stories:

* January 15, 2005: Evan Returns To Birth Mother
* January 11, 2005: Couple Plans Suit To Block Transfer Of Boy Back To Birth Mom
* January 7, 2005: Judge Unseals Records In Toddler Custody Case
* December 30, 2004: Evan Scott Headed To Illinois
* December 28, 2004: Transitional Visits In Bitter Custody Battle To Begin Soon
* December 27, 2004: Judge Gives Family More Time With Adopted Son
* December 23, 2004: Family Files Emergency Motion In Custody Case
* December 22, 2004: Family To Lose Adopted Son Day After Christmas

Source: http://www.news4jax.com/news/4102605/detail.html

Connie & Her Co-horts call for violence....see the pattern ?

A judge's family is brutally murdered, and the religious right spews crap like this
by John in DC - 3/4/2005 06:51:00 PM
Yesterday, a Chicago judge's mother and husband were brutally murdered, excecution style. White supremacists are suspected. It got me wondering why people would so hate judges.
Then, today, I received this email from the religious right propaganda organ AgapePress:
Judie Brown of the American Life League says the court-ordered starvation of the brain-injured Terri Schiavo is the latest evidence that liberal judges are trying to take on the role of God. "The problem with the court system is that they are moving closer and closer to condemning severely disabled Americans, as a group, to death," she says, "and that ought to frighten everyone."
That got me wondering. I knew the religious right regularly went out of its way to dehumanize gays and lesbians to the point where Katie Couric, our own Dorothy in real life, asked in the days following Matthew Shepard's murder whether the religious right's anti-gay rhetoric didn't add to a climate of hate that overall helps encourge violence against gays.
That then got me wondering what else the religious right has publicly said about judges, and whether a climate of hate against judges is being created in America. Here's what I found doing just a cursory look.
Gary Bauer:
'A radical political agenda is being forced on the American people by un-elected, left-wing judges who are intent on remaking our country,' he says.
AgapePress:
"A conservative Christian activist says a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is proof that many of this nation's judges are on a quest for a religion-free America. Earlier this week, the high court refused to consider the appeal of a judicial ban on cadet-led mealtime prayers at Virginia Military Institute.... Vision America president Rick Scarborough says the effects of the VMI ruling will be far-reaching. For one thing, he fears the nation is in danger of raising up a generation of military officers without religious values. And he believes by such rulings, the United States is pitting itself against God."
Family Research Council:
Gay Activists and Liberal Judges are Trashing Democracy to Redefine Marriage.... same-sex marriage would logically lead to marriages based on polygamy, incest, and pedophilia."
FRC email 10/22/03:
This is how important the fight for America's judiciary has become: we're now dealing with activist judges who are determining who among us is permitted to live, and who will be left to die.... The time to take back our judiciary has come. Innocent lives are depending on us.
Jerry Falwell email, November 20, 2003:
"militant jurists"
American Center for Law and Justice email, 3/13/03:
They want to see activist judges appointed - and confirmed - who will re-interpret the law to fit their own political agenda. It's an aggressive campaign ... and it's one of the most outrageous and dangerous I've seen in many years!
ACLJ email, 3/3/04:
It is clear that existing state and federal laws may not keep activist judges and local officials from marrying same-sex couples ... even if it means they are committing a CRIME!
AgapePress:
The Christian Defense Coalition spokesman points out that the decision by activist judges that the most innocent of all life is not protected has resulted in the ongoing, legalized murder of 3,000 unborn babies in the U.S. each day.
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., chief sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment:
"Our nation has a set of activist judges in Massachusetts and a rogue mayor in San Francisco. It is evident that they will openly aid and abet the homosexual lobby. These events over the past week clearly show that gay activists will skirt the law to create a new privilege that has never existed in this country."
Republican National Committee:
In an e-mail message, Christine Iverson, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, confirmed that the party had sent the mailings. "When the Massachusetts Supreme Court sanctioned same-sex marriage and people in other states realized they could be compelled to recognize those laws, same-sex marriage became an issue,'' Ms. Iverson said. "These same activist judges also want to remove the words 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance.
Stephen Bennett, "ex"-gay and spokesman for Concerned Women for America, email:
four tyrannical judges have taken MA -- as well as America -- hostage and their immoral ruling may change the course of history of our great country - forever. The destructive impact that "gay" marriage will have on the entire nation is unimaginable.... The Bible talks of tumultuous times past - and future - when governments directly opposes the law of God. As the apostles said, "We should obey God rather than man." We are at such a time in America.

rest of story...

As it relates to Connie Carmichaels Comments

March 01, 2005
TURNING POINT?
Of all the forms of murder that rip the fabric of society, an organized political assassination is by far the worst.
Obviously, this thought is prompted by Monday's murder of U.S. Judge Joan H. Lefkow's husband and mother in her family's North Side home. Yet just as obviously it's important to add that police haven't linked those slayings to followers of imprisoned white supremacist leader Matthew Hale, who was convicted last year of soliciting Judge Lefkow's murder.
We don't yet know why attorney Michael F. Lefkow 64, and Donna Grace Humphrey, 89, were shot multiple times in the family's basement. Among other possibilities, they may have been victims of a wandering sociopath, a startled or murderous home invader or a killer with a grudge against the family unrelated to Judge Lefkow's position.
What we do know is that the ability of judges and other public officials to make decisions without fearing for their lives or, worse, the lives of their loved ones is key to our way of life.
We know that fear is corrupting, corrosive, malignant, metastatic. It's toxic to freedom, the enemy of justice.
We see more than our share of mayhem in this country-random, predatory; purposeful, senseless. But what we don't see, or haven't seen in a long time, are orchestrated hits on key government, law enforcement and business officials of the sort we associate with third-world thugocracies and nations nearly paralyzed by terrorism.
American assassins and would-be assassins of the last several decades have tended to be lone nuts - your loopy John Hinkleys, pathetic Mark David Chapmans and deluded Squeaky Frommes - and not particularly threatening to others.
The few and isolated exceptions prove the rule: The November, 1973 assassination of Oakland's Public Schools superintendent Marcus Foster by the radical Symbionese Liberation Army and the June, 1984, planned slaying of liberal talk-show host Alan Berg by three members of a white supremacist group are two that come to mind.

rest of story...

Connie Carmichael

While I disagree with this Judges decision, I do not call for “ beating his head on the concrete ” (see our post) !
Wonder what KXYL’s Connie Carmichael thinks of this ?

Judge: Schlosser can raise kids alone
04:41 PM CST on Friday, February 11, 2005
By TIARA M. ELLIS / The Dallas Morning News
John Schlosser
McKINNEY – A judge ruled this morning that the man whose wife admitted cutting off their baby's arms can parent his children alone.
John Schlosser's sister has been living with him and his two daughters, ages 6 and 9, since they left foster care last month.
Dena Schlosser, who turns 36 today, was charged with capital murder after the Nov. 22 death of her daughter, Margaret "Maggie" Schlosser. She was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis after her daughter's birth last January.
His sister, Aleta Schlosser, will leave Feb. 17 but will keep in daily phone contact with the children. Ms. Schlosser lives in New York. Judge Cynthia Wheless also issued a gag order in the case.
Also Online
Dad's 'lack of emotion' in baby's death cited in psychiatric report
She also said the children must continue individual counseling, Mr. Schlosser should continue parenting classes and all three must continue family counseling.
Child Protective Services will continue to monitor the situation.

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/021105dnmetschlosserupdate.99c47cec.html

Dad's 'lack of emotion' in baby's death cited in psychiatric report

Man has grieved over loss and couldn't have predicted infant's death, attorney says

09:44 AM CST on Friday, February 11, 2005
By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News
The night before Dena Schlosser admitted cutting off her baby's arms, her husband "spanked" his wife with a wooden spoon, their school-age daughter told authorities.
The 6-year-old girl said John Schlosser hit her mother for not listening to him after they argued in a church parking lot.


John Schlosser
The incident is among new details revealed in a psychiatric evaluation of Mr. Schlosser completed to help determine whether his surviving daughters should live with him. The evaluation, performed by psychologist Jana R. Long less than a month after 10-month-old Margaret Schlosser died, was obtained by The Dallas Morning News this week.
The report describes Mr. Schlosser's "lack of emotion" after the tragic events in his life and echoes concern by Child Protective Services that Mr. Schlosser, 35, could have done more to protect his youngest daughter from his wife's "violent, psychotic" behavior.
Mr. Schlosser has declined to comment. His attorney, Howard Shapiro, said his client is a fit parent who could not have predicted what happened to his daughter. He said the report should not be made public.
"If you think that John Schlosser hasn't grieved, you'd be wrong," Mr. Shapiro said. "Maybe he hasn't cried openly on TV. Maybe he hasn't jumped up and down and ripped his clothes off, but he's grieved."
State District Judge Cynthia Wheless sealed the report last month for the best interest of the children, according to a notation in the court file.
Details from the report, medical records, and family members, shed new light on a family that relied heavily on prayer to solve their problems, even as Mrs. Schlosser declined from a loving mother of three to a woman accused of killing her baby girl.
Born and died at home
Margaret "Maggie" Elizabeth Schlosser was born at home with the help of a midwife last January. The next day, her mother attempted suicide by slashing her wrist. Days later, she was found running down the street screaming, saying a spirit was in the apartment, according to medical records. She left Margaret alone. Mrs. Schlosser's family says this was her first run-in with mental illness, postpartum psychosis and the antipsychotic drug Haldol.

Schlosser family photo
Margaret Elizabeth Schlosser was born at home with the help of a midwife.
Paramedics took Mrs. Schlosser to the hospital, where Mr. Schlosser begged doctors to send his wife home, according to medical records. He was worried their religious beliefs would be confused with psychosis, the records show. In 24 hours, doctors at three hospitals diagnosed his wife with just that.
Child Protective Services investigated Mrs. Schlosser for neglect because she left Maggie alone. Because Mrs. Schlosser could not be alone with the children, Mr. Schlosser's mother stayed with the family for six weeks, the psychiatric report said.
Instead of following up with doctors, Mr. Schlosser said he and his wife prayed, according to the psychiatric report. He thought her problems were over.
From Al Dia
En duda, estabilidad del padre de bebé fallecida

"Mr. Schlosser indicated at the time of Mrs. Schlosser's suicide attempt, she believed she was not doing God's will, and she needed to hurt herself to see if God would heal her," the psychiatric report says.
The report cites CPS records that document Mr. Schlosser's "lack of emotion at the time. He's described as being 'extremely calm ... he doesn't seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation ... ' He repeatedly told the caseworker that the situation was in God's hands and everything would work out."
But in March, Mrs. Schlosser was back in the hospital and once again on Haldol, according to her parents and the psychiatric report. She left the Schlossers' apartment in the middle of the night and went to a nearby hospital, where she was found lying on the bathroom floor screaming, Mrs. Schlosser's stepfather, Mick Macaulay, said. Further details of the hospitalization and any follow-ups are unclear.
CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said there is nothing about the March hospitalization in the agency's records that are open to the public, and she could not comment on the March hospital stay.
Mrs. Schlosser was weaned off Haldol in June, and her psychiatrist terminated treatment in July, according to the psychiatric report and CPS officials.
CPS closed the case in August and had no further contact until Maggie's Nov. 22 death.
Dealings with minister
Dena Schlosser's family said she was obsessed with Water of Life Church and its charismatic minister, Doyle Davidson. Mr. Davidson, a self-proclaimed prophet, preaches that women have "jezebel spirit" and must submit to their husbands. He claims to heal people by laying hands on them and says doctors are unnecessary for those with enough faith.
In the days before Maggie's death, the Schlossers were arguing about an incident involving Mr. Davidson and a different church member, said Mr. Macaulay, who lives in Canada.

AP
John Schlosser said he and his wife consulted minister Doyle Davidson (above) the night before Margaret was killed, but the leader of Water of Life Church says they talked only briefly.
Mr. Davidson had recently been arrested over the incident and paid a fine for public intoxication. He denies the charge and said he was trying to drive the devil out of a woman who had strayed from the church.
Mrs. Schlosser wanted to confront Plano police about the arrest, her family said. Mr. Schlosser did not want his wife to get involved.
On the Friday before the tragedy, Mr. Schlosser took Mrs. Schlosser and baby to work with him, according to her parents and the legal assistant to her attorney David Haynes.
At church that Sunday, the Schlossers argued in the parking lot because Mrs. Schlosser wanted to give their youngest daughter "to God," according to the psychiatric report and CPS officials.
The couple talked about a Bible passage in which a woman promises her baby to God and how their lives were different, according to the report. Mr. Schlosser told Dr. Long the conversation was not unusual because his wife is "very religious but often misinterprets Scriptures."
Again, the couple prayed about it and consulted their minister, who told Mrs. Schlosser she was misinterpreting the Bible, the report said. Mr. Schlosser said he thought the problem was solved.
But Mr. Davidson, who said he does not know the couple well, said he never talked with them about Mrs. Schlosser's interpretation of the Bible. He said they talked for two or three minutes about her desire to defend him.
"I told her you didn't need to defend me. God is my defense," Mr. Davidson said.
Mr. Macaulay said he's "puzzled" that Mr. Davidson would say he doesn't know the Schlossers well when he counseled them the night before Maggie's death.
Dr. Long noted that when the Schlossers returned home, Mr. Schlosser "spanked" his wife with a wooden spoon, one of the girls told CPS. No other details of the incident were included in the report.
Father defended
On Monday, the day Maggie died, Mr. Schlosser went to work alone, and the older girls attended elementary school. Mr. Schlosser said he called his wife several times without an answer that morning, according to the report. Finally, she picked up the phone and told him she had cut off Maggie's arms. Mr. Schlosser said his wife seemed disoriented and "not in her right mind."
When emergency personnel arrived, Mrs. Schlosser answered the door wearing a green blouse and blue jeans, court records show. A kitchen knife with a 9-inch blade was tucked into her shirt. She looked dazed and was covered in blood.


Dena Schlosser
The hymn "He Touched Me" played in the background as Officer David Tilley took the knife and ran down the hall to where Maggie lay in her crib.
The baby was not breathing, and the sheets were covered with blood.
"I felt like I had to," Mrs. Schlosser told Officer Tilley when he asked why she hurt Maggie, court records show.
The psychiatric report and CPS officials say Mr. Schlosser could have done more to protect Maggie, but Mr. Shapiro asked how his client could have known.
"Sure he was worried. She wasn't acting right. And he took her to work. But does that mean he thought one of his children" would die? Mr. Shapiro said. "He certainly didn't think anything that Dena had done should have tipped John off that she was going to do some sort of human sacrifice."
Mr. Haynes, Mrs. Schlosser's attorney, declined to comment.
'Lack of emotion'
Mr. Schlosser told Dr. Long in December he was angry about not having his older children with him. But he was "trusting in God" and knew everything would work out.
The girls, ages 6 and 9, are now living at home after about two months in foster care, under the condition that Mr. Schlosser's sister lives with the family. The court will examine the arrangement today.
Dr. Long wrote in her report that Mr. Schlosser's responses to the tragedy in his life are unusual and said he has narcissistic personality traits.
"His lack of emotion given the traumatic nature of recent events is disturbing," she wrote. "This absence of grief is either an immature denial of normal human emotions that hover under the surface of his controlled veneer or indicates a true lack of emotion."
Mr. Schlosser told her he felt "a little melancholy" about Maggie's death, but he finds comfort that she is "praising God" in heaven. He said he was "almost done being very sad when I buried her."
Initially, he said he was "angry, disappointed" with his wife. "I need to forgive her ... I don't have a lot to say to her. She's still my wife, but she's no longer in my house."
Mr. Schlosser should have sought ongoing psychiatric treatment for his wife instead of relying on prayer and conversations with their minister, Dr. Long's report says.
Dr. Long wrote that Mr. Schlosser has good problem-solving abilities, is financially able to provide for his kids and could benefit from education regarding parenting young and adolescent children. She wrote that he scored within normal limits on a parenting test.
However, she expressed concern that Mr. Schlosser's lack of understanding about mental illness and his wife's condition "will negatively impact his daughters."
She noted that his responses to his daughters' questions during supervised visits focus on "his own coping rather than his daughters." The report gave a few examples.
When the older girl asked about her mother, Mr. Schlosser told her, "Mommy put herself in this position for what she did."
Later, during the same visit, the girl asked what kind of knife her mother used.
"Does it really matter?" he told her. "I am trying not to think about it."
E-mail jemily@dallasnews.com

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/021105dnccoschlosser.4c3a6.html

BROWNWOOD, THE LAST PICUTRE SHOW ?

http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=254

Day Trips
BY GERALD E. MCLEOD

July 7, 2000: The old Montgomery Wards building in Brownwood is about as unlikely a center of controversy as any building could be. Not particularly attractive or historically significant, it symbolizes the consequences of unchecked urban renewal that is changing the look and feel of small towns around the state.

At issue is the U.S. Postal Service's consideration of expanding their offices across the street into the block that includes the building and several other remnants of a once-thriving business district. "Nobody ever drove a hundred miles to see a new post office," says Steve Harris, a local restaurateur and champion for the 50-plus-year-old building.

Unfortunately, it has been a number of years since anyone drove very far to visit downtown Brownwood. Encompassing an area about five blocks wide and 10 blocks long, what was once the central business district is now filled with empty buildings that greatly outnumber the ones that attract clientele. Most of the businesses have moved to the strip malls along Highway 67.

It wasn't always so.

Brownwood has seen its share of booms since it was founded in 1858 as the county seat. The town became the largest cotton-buying center west of Fort Worth in 1920. During the oil boom of the 1920s it was an industrial center. The population swelled to more than 50,000 during World War II. By 1950, the population had dropped to 20,000. Current estimates put the number of citizens around 17,000 and declining.

With a collection of architecture that spans more than 140 years, the city could capitalize on this wealth instead of letting it be destroyed. Towering above the eclectic collection of buildings is the once-grand Brownwood Hotel, an early-20th-century luxury hotel that now stands vacant.

The owner of the old hotel, Virginia businessman and former Brownwood resident Mitchell Phelps, was recently fined more than $13,000 after the 11-story building was cited for numerous safety violations. Phelps is also the owner of 60% of the block that includes the Montgomery Wards building.

A war of words began to heat up when the State Historical Commission's executive director, Larry Oaks, came to town and took the position that the building should be saved. This angered the mayor, half the citizens, and even Gordon Wood, Brownwood's legendary high school football coach who wrote an angry letter to the Brownwood Bulletin newspaper about outsiders sticking their noses in the town's business.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Oaks called the building "one of the finer buildings in Brownwood." The three-story structure has a faux block exterior capped by an ornate roof line with decorative urns filled with cement flowers and fruit. Still structurally sound, inside the floors are thick pine with pressed tin ceilings. Probably the most impressive part of the building is a depiction of a goddess holding a torch and standing on top of a globe on the front façade. "The pattern was used around the country," Oaks told the Star-Telegram. "There are not a lot of them left."

Harris, whose restaurant is around the corner from the buildings on Center Street, worries that the destruction will continue. "We've already lost 20 buildings in the downtown area," he says, "Where will it stop?" For his troubles, Harris has received a death threat and a boycott of his business. He says he's lost a few customers and gained a few new ones because of the controversy.

Celinda Emison, who has covered the story for the Bulletin, says the town is split about 50-50 on saving the old store fronts. "The amazing thing is that it seems to be the young people and the newer residents who are in favor of saving the buildings," she says.

"We're not going to turn Brownwood into another Fredericksburg," the mayor, Burt Massey, was quoted as saying. This is the same man who, after more than 20 years on the council, concluded a letter to Harris saying, "For many years the council and I have wanted to look at the future of our city, but have been unable to find the time to do so."

In the meantime, the Postal Service has backed away from the Montgomery Wards building because of the controversy. Not surprisingly, they're not divulging what other sites they're considering.

"It's all small-town politics," Harris says with an exasperated sigh. While the decision on the location for the new post office should be made locally, the rest of us can let the town know what we consider to be acceptable behavior. Once historic neighborhoods are demolished, they're lost forever and all Texans are the poorer for the loss.

Steve's Market and Deli is at 110 E. Chandler off of Center Avenue in a red brick building that once housed a family grocery store. Texas Monthly recognized the cafe as one of the best small-town eateries in the state in the March 1999 issue. They serve a nice mix of salads and sandwiches Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-3pm. A special dinner is served Friday 7pm-9pm by reservation, 915/646-5576.

While it is not a Fredericksburg, Brownwood does have a few interesting sites. The Brown County Museum across the street from the county courthouse opens on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons in the old castlelike jail and has a neat collection of historical items.

The town is also home of Howard Payne University and the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom at Austin Avenue and Coggin Street, with its unique collection of MacArthur personal souvenirs and historical items. To enjoy the outdoors, visit Lake Brownwood State Park northwest of town. For area information, stop by the chamber of commerce in the beautifully renovated railroad depot at 600 Depot St., 915/646-9535 or www.brownwoodchamber.org.

source:
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2000-07-07/cols_daytrips.html

KXYL Sounding SpongeBob Squarepants Alert

The conversation that the locals won't hear on KXYL's airwaves !

rest of story...

----------------

rest of story...

KXYL-Connie Carmichael's Propoganda: " There is no audience for liberal talk radio " !

LATEST NEWS
August 30, 2004

Clear Channel brings Air America to Albuquerque airwaves

NMBW Staff

Clear Channel Radio has announced it will launch a new "Progressive Talk Station" in Albuquerque this month.


The station's new format, featuring Air America Radio Network programming, starts today, August 30, on KABQ AM 1350.

The new, "progressive" talk format is "radical" in the Albuquerque radio market, a release from KABQ says.

"Albuquerque has been clamoring for a new talk radio station like this and with some of Air America Radio's personalities, like Al Franken and other progressive talk show hosts, we will satisfy that need," says Bill May, program director, KABQ AM 1350.

Weekday programming on the show includes: "Morning Sedition," "The Al Franken Show," and "Majority Report with Janeane Garofalo," along with five others.

"The types of guests we'll have include independent film maker Michael Moore and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. We'll also have a 'people's version' of the events at the Republican National Convention in New York," says Lupe Todd, spokesperson with Air America Radio Network.

The new station was initiated in response to local demand, discovered through "fairly extensive research, nationally and at the state level," says Jon Sinton, president of Air America radio. "We've been gratified to find significant demand for this format in a number of markets, including Albuquerque and New Mexico. Ultimately, I'm sure we'll be in Santa Fe, too, and I've had some conversations with Ruidoso and El Paso. So we will be statewide eventually."

Sinton says he doesn't know what percentage of the market the station will attract, but he's optimistic.

"What does it take for us to have economic success? Only 1.5 percent of the 25 to 54-year-old audience. I'd guess that within a year or less, we'll be among the top ten radio stations."

source: http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2004/08/30/daily5.html

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Index • «Previous • Next»

07/31/2004
A Real Imbalance
Newsweek on-line interview with Ed Schultz.
A Real Imbalance
Talk-show host Ed Schultz discusses why the nation needs more liberal voices on the radio

By Jennifer Barrett Ozols
Newsweek
Updated: 12:11 p.m. ET July 31, 2004
July 30 -

Ed Schultz may have the fastest-growing liberal radio talk show in the country, but outside of the Midwest many listeners have yet to hear of the North Dakota-based host. His new three-hour syndicated "Ed Schultz Show" airs on 38 stations (as well as Sirius and XM satellite radio), but talk radio is still dominated by conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, who pulls in millions of listeners each afternoon. This week, Schultz moved his show to the Fleet Center in Boston to cover the Democratic National Convention. There he found himself surrounded on "radio row" by conservative colleagues and overlooked by many of the big-name Democratic speakers and supporters. But that may soon change. At the rate that Schultz has been adding new stations (about one a week) since his syndicated show made its debut in early January, the man Limbaugh reportedly called "the poor little guy from North Dakota" seems well on his way to becoming a big presence on the radio.

NEWSWEEK's Jennifer Barrett Ozols spoke with Schultz from Boston about the challenge˘and the need˘of getting more left-leaning voices on the radio. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: You broadcast live from the Democratic National Convention this week. Did you have a chance to interact with many of the politicians whose politics you espouse on your show?
Ed Schultz: When it comes to radio, the Democrats don't quite get it yet. All the speakers that have been up at podium, none of them˘to my knowledge˘have worked talkers' [radio] row. Where is Dick Gephardt? Reverend Al Sharpton? Bob Graham? Though he has been good in the past. [Pennsylvania Gov.] Ed Rendell? Hillary [Clinton] gets it. She knows how to communicate on the radio. But the Democrats need to go on the offensive ˘ and a three to five minute interview once every couple of weeks is not going to get their message out anymore. They need to make this (radio) part of their communications strategy.

Do you think the Democrats did a good job of delivering their message at the convention?
I think they have done a good job on the podium of presenting a positive message about who they are and what they stand for and what they believe.
But is the message getting out? Even the networks only aired an hour or so of programming a night.
And even when the networks do broadcast, what are they saying? There's no one talking-head show going on the offensive for the Democrats. CNN even interviewed Ralph Reed last night as soon as the Edwards speech was over. He was just taking it (the speech) and the Democrats apart, and there was no counterpunching at all. I think CNN is running scared because they see Fox˘s success and they want to tap into that conservative base. The Cowardly News Network that's what I call CNN. I think the Democrats have done a good job of presentation at the podium. I think Al Sharpton and John Edwards were absolutely spectacular. But radio row too is nothing but a bunch of right-wing talkers making fun of the Democrats.


Maybe that's why some of the speakers were afraid to go to radio row?
Well they need to ˘ There˘s a real imbalance on what's going out on the airwaves these days.
Do you think that might affect the election outcome?
I think that talk radio has had a very profound effect on the nation˘on local and regional elections, and it has the potential˘no, I˘d say it has actually affected˘some national elections. Fewer people are reading newspapers or researching information now. The audio culture is very prominent. We live in a quick-fix society: give it to me quick and don't bore me with details and let's get on to the next subject. That's just where America is at this moment.
You've been picking up about a station a week since you launched your syndicated show in January. Do you feel like stations are more receptive to liberal voices on the radio now?
I think people are just tired of homogenized radio. They want diversity. More than half the country voted for Gore in 2000. Are you going to tell me that they don't listen to radio? The industry's got it wrong. When we first started this, we had industry experts telling us that liberal radio would never work, that an integrated program wouldn˘t work˘you can't have a liberal, then a conservative, then a liberal.
I've heard it compared to mixing hip-hop and country on the same radio station.
That is not true. That is a lame excuse to beat down the progressive movement in this country. Good radio is good radio. You˘ve got to have pace. You've got to have activity. You've got to have communication and you've got to have entertainment. If you lose any one of those elements, you lose ratings ˘ Getting ratings is not a hard thing to do, it˘s getting the opportunity ˘ Where we˘ve gotten the opportunity, the show has been a tremendous success.


I understand you˘ve now got the top-rated afternoon radio program in Portland, Ore. How many other stations are you on now?
We˘re carried on 38 stations now. We just picked up Miami, and we˘ll start in Phoenix on Monday. There are other stations in big markets on the verge of making a decision. But you have to understand where this started, where we are, and what our potential is. We started on two stations on Jan. 5 of this year: in Needles, Calif., and Langdon, N.D.˘right on the Canadian border. So, actually, I was almost out of the country on one end and almost out of the country down on the other end, too.
Well, you could honestly say, "broadcasting from one border to the other."
(Laughs.) Yeah, well we knew we had a whole bunch of dots to connect.


Do you think you˘or any liberal radio talk-show host˘will be pulling in as many listeners as Rush Limbaugh does in the near future?
Rush Limbaugh was on 56 stations his first year of syndication. And we're on 38, and we've been in business for seven months. That's the exciting thing about this. We don't know where it is going. Rush Limbaugh called me "the poor little guy from North Dakota." Sean Hannity said my show would not work and that I was funded by the DNC˘which is a lie. And Ann Coulter said on the (Joe) Scarborough show that 11 liberal talk-show hosts have failed and that I'd be another.


What do you say to them now?
They don't know what they are talking about. There˘s no magic to this. It˘s all about good radio and good ratings. Only 10 percent of listeners listen to radio based on their political beliefs anyway.
Where did you get that figure?
That's a longtime industry figure. People listen because they want information, they want to be entertained, they want to have fun.
Why has it taken so long to get a liberal presence on talk radio?
I have a theory. Rush Limbaugh deserves a lot of credit. If you're in business and you make a product and it works, what are you going to do? You're going to make more of it. Rush had some success and so people on the local and regional level looked for people to do similar kinds of programming. The only reason there hasn't been any liberal or progressive talk is that there hasn't been a need for it.


No need for it?
Not an industry need. They've been making money from conservative talk radio. From a business standpoint, they haven't needed to try anything different. This is about business. Are there really people out there that want to listen to something different and will they support it? Will advertisers come to this program? I know they will, and they have. You've just got to get audience and ratings.


˘ 2004 Newsweek, Inc.


source: http://www.wegoted.com/news.view.html?newsItemId=1329

BROWNWOOD: God Is Still Speaking @ http://www.stillspeaking.com

About the UCC
Intelligent dialogue and a strong independent streak sometimes cause the United Church of Christ (UCC) and its 1.4 million members to be called a “heady and exasperating mix.” The UCC tends to be a mostly progressive denomination that unabashedly engages heart and mind. And yet, the UCC somehow manages to balance congregational autonomy with a strong commitment to unity among its 6,000 congregations—despite wide differences among many local congregations on a variety of issues.

While preserving relevant portions of heritage and history dating back to the 16th century, the UCC and its forebears have proven themselves capable of moving forward, tying faith to social justice and shaping cutting edge theology and service in an ever-changing world.

The UCC affirms the responsibility of the church in each generation and community to make faith its own in reality of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God. It looks to the Word of God in the Scriptures, and to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to prosper its creative and redemptive work in the world. One of the UCC’s distinguishing characteristics is its penchant to believe that ... God is still speaking, ... even when it puts us out there alone. History has shown that, most often, we’re only alone for a while. Besides, we receive so many gifts from our ecumenical partners, being “early” seems to be one of ours.

The UCC recognizes two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion.

Want to know more? Check out the answers to "Why", "What", and "Where"...

Discover even more in-depth information and the rich history of the UCC on ucc.org.

 Rev. John H. Thomas  

Our Core Identity

Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 20, 2004
Galatians 3:23-29

From the time of our founding, the United Church of Christ has struggled to articulate its identity. The names of predecessor denominations identify important elements: Evangelical suggests a piety shaped by personal encounter with the Gospel. Congregational reminds us of the centrality of the local church for discipleship and mission. Reformed teaches us that church and society are subject to sin and must therefore be reshaped by the prophetic word. Christian connects us to those who cherish the simplicity of a commitment to Jesus who invites all to the Table.

Since 1957 other phrases have helped us articulate our distinctive vocation: We are a "united and uniting" church seeking renewal through the vision of Christ's prayer "that they may all be one that the world might believe." We are a "just peace" church committed to overcoming violence and oppression. We are a "multi-racial, multi-cultural church" yearning for the day when our congregations more fully reflect the vision of Pentecost. We are an "open and affirming" church where no one's baptismal identity can be denied because of his or her sexual identity. We are an "accessible" church cherishing the gifts of all regardless of physical or mental abilities. More recently we have been thinking about what it means to call ourselves "the church of the still speaking God," a church that believes God has yet more light and truth to break forth from the Word.

Each of these phrases captures an important dimension of our life together. But Paul also tells that our core identity transcends human categories. In Christ we are all children of God through faith, heirs according to God's promise. In the end identity is about belonging, and it is to Christ that we belong before any party or agenda. As we celebrate the birthday of the United Church of Christ this week, we give thanks for those distinctive gifts that mark our unique contribution to the Christian witness in the world. But even more, we give thanks that through this church we have received our inheritance with all others who are one in Jesus Christ.

Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

Federal Judge Rules in this case

Local lawyer sues Post Office, business owners
Brownwood Bulletin Brownwood attorney and developer Bill Ruth believes David and Mary Stanley improperly interfered with a land deal that would have led to a new $4.5 million post office on Center Avenue. Mary Stanley believes Ruth A Dallas attorney ...
3.5K - Feb. 27, 2002; scored 829.0

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/shared-content/search/index.php?search=go&o=0&l=20&s=relevance&r=Subject%2CAuthor%2CContent&d1=01-06-2000&d2=01-20-2005&q=bill+ruth



Where is the local media on this ?

Bush's Inauguration

Inauguration: Lifestyles of the Rich and Heartless
  By Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin with
  Nico Pitney and Mipe Okunseinde
  The Progress Report

  Thursday 20 January 2005

  Due to $17 million worth of inaugural security - paid for by the city of Washington, D.C. - the Progress Report is unable to access its office. Never fear - it takes a lot more than that to keep us down. We put this list together for you ahead of time. Your regularly scheduled Progress Report returns tomorrow.

  A look at this week's festivities by the numbers:


  $40 million: Cost of Bush inaugural ball festivities, not counting security costs.

  $2,000: Amount FDR spent on the inaugural in 1945 - about $20,000 in today's dollars.

  $20,000: Cost of yellow roses purchased for inaugural festivities by D.C.'s Ritz Carlton.

  200: Number of Humvees outfitted with top-of-the-line armor for troops in Iraq that could have been purchased with the amount of money blown on the inauguration.

  $10,000: Price of an inaugural package at the Fairmont Hotel, which includes a Beluga caviar and Dom Perignon reception, a chauffeured Rolls Royce and two actors posing as "faux" Secret Service agents, complete with black sunglasses and cufflink walkie-talkies.

  400: Pounds of lobster provided for "inaugural feeding frenzy" at the exclusive Mandarin Oriental hotel.

  3,000: Number of "Laura Bush Cowboy cookies" provided for "inaugural feeding frenzy" at the Mandarin hotel.

  $1: Amount per guest President Carter spent on snacks for guests at his inaugural parties. To stick to a tight budget, he served pretzels, peanuts, crackers and cheese and had cash bars.

  22 million: Number of children in regions devastated by the tsunami who could have received vaccinations and preventive health care with the amount of money spent on the inauguration.

  1,160,000: Number of girls who could be sent to school for a year in Afghanistan with the amount of money lavished on the inauguration.

  $15,000: The down payment to rent a fur coat paid by one gala attendee who didn't want the hassle of schlepping her own through the airport.

  $200,500: Price of a room package at D.C.'s Mandarin Oriental, including presidential suite, chauffeured Mercedes limo and outfits from Neiman Marcus.

  2,500: Number of U.S. troops used to stand guard as President Bush takes his oath of office

  26,000: Number of Kevlar vests for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan that could be purchased for $40 million.

  $290: Bonus that could go to each American solider serving in Iraq, if inauguration funds were used for that purpose.

  $6.3 million: Amount contributed by the finance and investment industry, which works out to be 25 percent of all the money collected.

  $17 million: Amount of money the White House is forcing the cash-strapped city of Washington, D.C., to pony up for inauguration security.

  9: Percentage of D.C. residents who voted for Bush in 2004.

  66: Percentage of Americans who think this over-the-top inauguration should have been scaled back.

source: http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012105Y.shtml

DearDrDobson

rest of story...

God's Politics : Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It

Since when did believing in God and having moral values make you pro-war, pro-rich, and pro-Republican? And since when did promoting and pursuing a progressive social agenda with a concern for economic security, health care, and educational opportunity mean you had to put faith in God aside?

God's Politics offers a clarion call to make both our religious communities and our government more accountable to key values of the prophetic religious tradition - that is, make them pro-justice, pro-peace, pro-environment, pro-equality, pro-consistent ethic of life (beyond single issue voting), and pro-family (without making scapegoats of single mothers or gays and lesbians). These are the values of love and justice, reconciliation, and community that Jesus taught and that are at the core of what many of us believe, Christian or not.

About Jim Wallis

Jim Wallis is a Christian leader for social change. He is a speaker, author, activist, and international commentator on ethics and public life. Wallis was a founder of Sojourners - Christians for justice and peace - more than 30 years ago and continues to serve as the editor of Sojourners magazine, covering faith, politics and culture. In 1995, Wallis was instrumental in forming Call to Renewal, a national federation of churches, denominations, and faith-based organizations from across the theological and political spectrum working to overcome poverty.

Wallis speaks at more than 200 events a year and his columns appear in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and other major newspapers. His most recent book is God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (Harper Collins, 2005). He offers regular commentary and analysis for radio and television and teaches a course at Harvard University on "Faith, Politics, and Society."

In the last several years, Wallis has led more than 250 town meetings, bringing together pastors, civic and business leaders, and elected officials in the cause of social justice and moral politics. Under Wallis' leadership, Call to Renewal has hosted annual Roundtables on Poverty for national religious leaders and successful National Summits. Endorsed initially by a broad cross-section of Christian leaders, Call To Renewal's Covenant and Campaign to Overcome Poverty now has tens of thousands of supporters around the United States.

Jim Wallis was raised in a Midwest evangelical family. As a teenager, his questioning of the racial segregation in his church and community led him to the black churches and neighborhoods of inner-city Detroit. He spent his student years involved in the civil rights and antiwar movements. While at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, Jim and several other students started a small magazine and community with a Christian commitment to social justice which has now grown into Sojourners whose combined print and electronic media have a readership of more than 100,000 people.

In 1979, Time magazine named Wallis one of the "50 Faces for America's Future." His books include Faith Works (2000), The Soul of Politics: A Practical and Prophetic Vision for Change (1994), Who Speaks for God? A New Politics of Compassion, Community, and Civility (1996), Call to Conversion (1981).

Jim lives in inner-city Washington, D.C. with his wife, Joy, and their sons, Luke and Jack.

Jim Wallis will be visiting the following cities in the coming months on behalf of Sojourners and Call to Renewal.

Book Tour: Texas Locations & Date
Feb. 1-2, 2005 Waco, TX

Mission Waco Urbanquet and Baylor University Chapel
Mission Waco and Baylor University
Contact: Jimmy Dorrell
Tel: 254-753-4900
Jimmy_Dorrell@baylor.edu

Feb. 2, 2005 Austin, TX Book Signing
BookPeople (7:00 pm)
Contact: Erin Kelly
603 Lamar Blvd. 78703
Tel: 512-472-4288, x404

Mission Statement

Sojourners, www.sojo.net, is a Christian ministry whose mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice.

In response to this call, we offer a vision for faith in public life by:

* publishing Sojourners magazine, SojoMail and other resources that address issues of faith, politics, and culture from a biblical perspective;
* preaching, teaching, organizing, and public witness;
* nurturing community by bringing together people from the various traditions and streams of the church;
* hosting an annual program of voluntary service for education, ministry, and discipleship.

In our lives and in our work, we seek to be guided by the biblical principles of justice, mercy, and humility.

History

Sojourners ministries grew out of the Sojourners Community, located in Southern Columbia Heights, an inner-city neighborhood in Washington, D.C. The community began at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, in the early 1970s when a handful of students began meeting to discuss the relationship between their faith and political issues, particularly the Vietnam War. In 1971, the group decided to create a publication that would express their convictions and test whether other people of faith had similar beliefs.

Over the years, however, Sojourners went through a variety of transitions. Slowly, the household communities gave way to an intentional community (with a common rule of life). Today, the community context has shifted away from an intentional model; rather we are a committed group of Christians who work together to live a gospel life that integrates spiritual renewal and social justice. However, the principles and values laid out in "Our Life at the Foot of the Mountain," the Sojourners Community Statement of Faith, still fuel our faith and our vision.

Contact Us
Sojourners2401 15th Street NW
Washington DC 20009
Phone: 202-328-8842 or 1-800-714-7474
Fax: 202-328-8757
E-mail: sojourners@sojo.net
Web Questions: webmaster@sojo.net

The Brownwood Talking Heads Silence !

Panhandle DA pleads not guilty
Man facing drug, gun charges to check into rehab program
08:37 PM CST on Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Associated Press

AMARILLO – A West Texas district attorney pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal drug and firearms charges, and his attorney agreed to place him in an inpatient drug-rehabilitation program indefinitely.

Rick Roach, 55, was arrested Jan. 11 at the Gray County Courthouse. The two-term Republican has been jailed since his arrest last week on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of 1 ounce each of methamphetamine and cocaine with intent to distribute, and unlawful possession of weapons by a drug addict.

If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 51 years in prison and $2.5 million in fines. He declined to comment while being led from court Tuesday.

"We're looking forward to trying to get this entire situation resolved as quickly as possible," his attorney, Bill Kelly, said after the hearing.

Mr. Roach, who appeared in court in leg shackles with his wife and sons looking on from the gallery, will be released from federal custody after a treatment center is approved by the court. He must remain there until the court decides he can be released. Should that occur, he must remain in Potter County and is not to talk to any witnesses in the case.

According to an affidavit for his arrest unsealed Tuesday, Mr. Roach told a witness Jan. 5 that he had used methamphetamine several months earlier and "was now a regular user."

In August, he personally brought a court order to a Department of Public Safety lab in Amarillo to check out two pounds of methamphetamine he said would be used for training drug dogs, though dog handlers train with smaller amounts. As of Jan. 4, none of the drugs Mr. Roach obtained had been returned to the lab.

Some interviewed by the FBI indicated that Mr. Roach was taking drugs from evidence, and others said he was getting it from defendants.

In January 2002, Mr. Roach offered Rolex watches and money to two DPS troopers, allegedly to motivate other troopers in his area to make more money seizures, the affidavit states. Mr. Roach also told the troopers that he could pay them with interest from seized funds and that no one would know.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/011905dntexda.341c7.html


note for Brownwood's Talking Heads and their mindless followers (ie:sheeple):
http://feloniouselephant.blogspot.com/2004_01_01_feloniouselephant_archive.html

Published on Sunday, January 16, 2005 by The Nation
MLK's Moral Values
by John Nichols
 

The anniversary of the birth of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. falls just five days before the second inauguration of a president who has broken faith with most of the civil rights leader's legacy -- at home and abroad.

But, while today's leaders are out of touch with King's legacy, Americans who still hold out hope that their country might truly embrace a higher and better morality than that of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice must keep in touch.

Amid our celebrations of King's monumental contribution to the struggle for racial and economic justice in the United States, we must also celebrate his commitment to peace – and to the humane foreign policies that ultimately provide the best defense against threats and violence.

Thus it will be appropriate over these next few days, as we honor King's memory, that we recall what the slain civil rights champion had to say about a subject that is much in the news these days: moral values.

"A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: ‘This is not just.' It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America and say: ‘This is not just.' The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just," King explained in his April 4, 1967, address at Manhattan's Riverside Church.

King explained that robbing the nation's treasury to fund military misadventures abroad did not fit into any definition he knew of "moral values." Indeed, he suggested, morality called Americans to oppose presidents who embarked upon careers of empire -- for the sake not just of victimized nations on the other side of the planet, but for the sake of America.

"A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: 'This way of settling differences is not just.' This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

We honor King best by following his teachings. And, while he taught us much about how to live with one another, he taught us even more about how to live in peace with the rest of the world. It is that lesson that we must carry into what the Bush administration and the pliant press will portray as a festive week of celebration.

For those who are not celebrating with the Bushes and Cheneys, however, it is important to remember that King would not have settled for the excuse of "necessity" that the president will peddle. America, King told the crowd at Riverside Church on that April evening, could change.

"America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values," the Nobel Peace Prize winner explained. "There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood."

Copyright © 2005 The Nation

source: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0116-07.htm

Of local interest regarding The Brownwood Human Rights Committee's annual request for February being recognized as Black History Month by the Brownwood City Council.

From: "Gary Butts"
Date: Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:01:36 AM US/Central
To: "'Steve Harris and Steve Puckett'"
Subject: RE: BHRC Request for Black History Proclamation

I'll place it on the agenda......GB

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Harris and Steve Puckett [mailto:steve_squared@verizon.net]
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 11:59 AM
To: gbutts@ci.brownwood.tx.us
Cc: emisonc@reporternews.com; candace.fulton@brownwoodbulletin.com
Subject: BHRC Request for Black History Proclamation

Gary, The Brownwood Human Rights Committee would like to request the
City Of Brownwood proclaim February 2005 as Black History Month. We
want to express our appreciation to the city and council for honoring
our requests of the proclamation in the recent years.

Regards,

Steve Harris
Steves' Market and Deli
Brownwood Human Rights Committee

Brownwood Propoganda Minister Keeps Ed Schultz At Bay

What are the Brownwood "Neo-con Republicans" afraid of ? Are they afraid to present a fair and balanced talk radio station for their community members ? Of course they are afraid ! Thank God for Sattelite Radio ! Read on...............

From: D________ H________
Date: Fri May 21, 2004 09:26:10 AM US/Central
To: 'Steve Harris and Steve Puckett'
Subject: RE: brownwood's kxyl and ed 's show

Hi Steve,

Phil called me and said he wanted to add the Ed Schultz show. We spoke and
he asked me to follow up with him the following week. I did and the
receptionist said he would call me back. He never did. I've call a few
times and still no response. So, I'm not sure what his plans are...to add
or not to add. I tried to open your attachment and was unable to. Can you
re-send in a word doc? We're closing on the 26th station and KXYL could be
#27. If Phil decides to add. Great hearing from you.

D_____________

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Harris and Steve Puckett [mailto:steve_squared@verizon.net]
Sent: Friday, May 21, 2004 8:09 AM
To:D________H_______
Cc: Steve Harris and Steve Puckett
Subject: Re: brownwood's kxyl and ed 's show


Morning _________, With all the silence from Phil (KXYL- Brownwood)
regarding carrying Ed's show, was just wondering what your thoughts
are. I've been listening to Ed's show daily and have noticed all the
Texas callers. I guess when fair and balanced voices are kept out by
the "powers that be" folks will seek out on their own to hear and
support shows like Ed's. Any help or strategies we can work on to get
Ed on in this area (maybe an Abilene station ?), let us know. I also
have a favor, would you please get the attachment to Ed and any other
person in the media that you feel could use this letter to the editor
that ran in our paper yesterday.

Regards, Steve Harris
----------------------------------
Posted on Sat, Feb. 07, 2004
ENTERTAINMENT: Meet talk radio's 'gun-toting, meat-eating lefty'

You probably know him better as Ed Schultz, former voice of Sioux and Bison
By Stephanie Simon
Los Angeles Times

FARGO - It may well have been the bologna sandwich that spun Big Eddie "the Redhead" Schultz down the path of self-enlightenment, transforming him from a bull-neck, bombastic conservative into a bull-neck, bombastic liberal just itching to grab his talk-radio mike and give Rush Limbaugh hell. But that story will have to wait.

"The Ed Schultz Show" is about to air.

Schultz swings into his seat as his producer counts down 10 seconds until the live broadcast opens. He clamps on his headphones as the taped introduction rolls: "From high above the North American continent, democracy has a new voice. Powerful. Passionate. Persistent."

Schultz lets out an enormous yawn, then swings the microphone toward himself. He's on.

"Lock and load, baby," he booms. "If it's got mad cow, I love beef so much I'll still eat it."

He's still chortling at his own quip as he introduces his first guest: conservative commentator Pat Buchanan.

Democrat mission

For this, Democratic politicians helped solicit $1.8 million from private donors, enough cash to keep the brand-new "Ed Schultz Show" on the air for at least two years. It's not a whim. It's a mission. Democrats are counting on Schultz - a one-time sportscaster who used to mock the homeless on the air - to anchor the AM dial nationwide as the provocative new voice of the left.

Well, maybe not exactly the left. Schultz, 49, has voted for only one Democrat that he can recall, a local congressman. He's opposed to abortion in all circumstances. He considers Buchanan a friend. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, he says, gives him "the willies."

He's prone to say such things as: "I'd like to see the president get all the illegals out of the country, so we can start all over again."

And yet, thanks to that bologna sandwich, Schultz considers himself "a gun-toting, meat-eating lefty."

The anti-Rush

While Limbaugh was calling former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill "childish" for criticizing President Bush in a new book, Schultz was gleefully trumpeting O'Neill's harshest comments. While Limbaugh was mocking O'Neill as deaf and blind to reality - "the Helen Keller of the Cabinet" - Schultz was dredging out clips of the president praising his Treasury secretary as a "straight shooter."

"By God, Ed, you're doing good stuff, trying to get the truth out," Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa told him on the air.

Limbaugh's comments, of course, commanded a much larger audience. He draws 15 million listeners a week, on 600 stations nationwide.

Schultz's show, which premiered Jan. 5, airs on just a dozen stations, mostly in small towns such as Steamboat Springs, Colo., Brownwood, Texas, and Needles, Calif. Its biggest market is Oklahoma City. (It's also broadcast live on XM satellite radio and online, although the server crashes often, at www.bigeddieradio.com.)

Ratings won't be available for several months. Still, Schultz's backers say they're confident his show will take off. "Democracy is best served," said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, D-N.D., "by having many voices on the air."

QB days

A much-loved (and much-hated) sportscaster famed for his raucous play-by-play of North Dakota college football, Schultz grew up in Virginia but moved to the Midwest to study - and play quarterback - at Minnesota State University Moorhead. His passing skills earned him tryouts with the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets. When he didn't make the cut, he switched to reporting on games from the sideline. He still has a football player's brawny build, but his red hair is thinning.

After two decades of sports reporting, Schultz launched a 21⁄2-hour regional talk show in 1996.

The show, which he continues to host, blends interviews with local officials and sharp-edged banter with callers, spiced up with Big Eddie's rants about national affairs. He might report on a local school board meeting, break for the latest on pork-belly futures, then swerve into acid commentary on the presidential primaries. The broadcast area reaches into South Dakota and Minnesota; on any given morning, nearly 30 percent of radio listeners in the region are tuned in.

Conservative years

For years, Schultz's patter on the regional show was conservative. He scoffed at the homeless for complaining about the cold. "How about getting a job?" he'd say. He sneered at the three Democrats who represent him in Congress, nicknaming them the Three Stooges.

"I lined up with the Republicans because they were anti-tax, and I wanted to make a lot of money," Schultz said.

About two years ago, listeners began to hear a softer tone.

Schultz had once derided farmers for relying on government subsidies. Now, he was pounding Bush for not offering extra aid during a drought. He was calling for universal health insurance. And more services for homeless veterans.

Some dismayed fans suspected a cynical motive. "My own opinion is, he knew he would never go national if he stayed on the right or in the middle. I truly believe he moved to the left because he thought that's where his career would get the biggest boost," said Ron Gilmore, 42, who runs a cleaning business in Fargo. "You don't change your politics overnight like he did without a goal in mind."

That sandwich

Schultz insists his transformation was genuine. It all started, he says, with the bologna sandwich.

In 1998, Schultz met Wendy Noack, a psychiatric nurse, at a party. She agreed to a lunch date but told him they'd have to meet at the Salvation Army cafeteria next to the homeless shelter where she worked.

"You should have seen his face as he was moving along the line with his tray, getting his bologna sandwich and his cup of Campbell's soup. He was appalled," said Wendy, now his wife.

One of the homeless men eating there recognized Schultz from his TV sportscasts and called him over. Schultz had always written off the homeless as lazy. But as he talked to the man, he says, he started to realize that was too simplistic. On future dates - over better food - he and Wendy talked about the men in the shelter. Hearing their stories, he regretted dismissing them all as bums.

Those conversations started him thinking. But Schultz's political outlook did not swing fully around until 2001, when he took his regional show on the road. In their 38-foot Winnebago, Schultz traveled North Dakota with Wendy, broadcasting from small towns and ranches.

For the first time, he sat down to talk with farmers, with teachers, with mothers who couldn't afford to take their kids to the doctor.

"I saw suffering," he said. And he aired it, opening his mike to ordinary people and their stories of struggle. The more he listened, he said, the more he came to believe that Democrats were doing more for "the little guy."

Schultz knows his critics view him as an opportunist.

"I just ask 'em, 'Do you want me to go back to the other side?'" he said.

"Isn't it great, though," he added, serious now, "that people can change?"

Hillary's friend

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., agrees. Although his views may not line up with hers on every issue, the former first lady considers Schultz a friend of the Democratic Party because he takes on the Bush White House with gusto.

"I believe in redemption," said Clinton, who twice this month has made time for Schultz to interview her on air. In the national show's first few days, Schultz interviewed Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and a dozen other top politicians.

The market

Although Schultz has proved he can land interviews with big-name Democrats, skeptics wonder whether listeners want to hear them.

Conservative hosts say their fans turn to talk radio for views they can't find in the rest of the media. "Network TV and The New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times axis is totally dominated by the left," said G. Gordon Liddy, whose talk show is broadcast on 178 stations.

"Now the left, never satisfied with nine-tenths of the pie, has gotten its knickers in a twist about talk radio. It's a free country. They're certainly welcome to try," Liddy said. "But I'm inclined to think ... listeners will say, 'Look, we can get all that stuff already.'"

Many station managers apparently agree. Nearly all the top national hosts are conservative: Limbaugh, Liddy, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham and others. Programmers are reluctant to tamper with that formula.

Even KFGO, the AM station out of Fargo that broadcasts Schultz's regional show, has not picked up the national program.

KTOX in Needles did take the risk. Station manager David Hayes bumped Dr. Laura Schlessinger, who's rated third in the nation, to run Schultz live. He's received close to 60 calls, he said, and they're running 2-to-1 in favor of Schultz.

Schultz plays up his man-of-the-people persona, calling himself the voice of the "working stiff."

"The average commercial radio listener in America is not looking for lofty, intellectual subjects," Schultz said. "This isn't brain surgery. It's about striking the passion of the people."

At the same time, Schultz makes clear that his goal is to win ratings, not woo converts to the liberal cause. He wants listeners to tune in because they enjoy his commentary and laugh along with his braying "heh heh heh heh!" If he convinces them that he's right, great. But his main motivation for doing the show, he said, is "to be successful, to go as far in my career as I can."

Later, he lets himself daydream about taking the Winnebago on the road for his national show, inviting fans in state after state to the mike.

"Do you know how cool it's going to be when we get on a bunch of stations and we can go do the show from a small town in Middle America?" he said. "People are going to think, 'This guy really cares.'"

Big Eddie grinned. "And I do."

source: http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/local/7897092.htm

02/23/2004
North Dakota 'Liberal' Starts Radio Show
Ed Schultz was set to make his debut on his own national radio show when he suddenly got a nosebleed. Unfazed, he turned the blood into a prop.
The Mercury News

DAVE KOLPACK - Associated Press

FARGO, N.D. - "I'm so mean, there's blood on my sheets of paper," Schultz told his listeners, kicking off a project last month that some Democrats and other supporters have billed as a liberal alternative to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

Schultz might be considered a liberal in Fargo, but they wouldn't know what to make of him in, say, Berkeley, Calif., or Cambridge, Mass.

He is anti-abortion and pro-guns. In his opening monologue, Schultz, an avid hunter, told listeners in his typically loud and bellicose style: "I'm a gun-totin', red meat-eatin' liberal."

In fact, Schultz began his talk show career in the early 1990s as a conservative, imitating Limbaugh by telling listeners he was broadcasting from "high atop" the studios of a Fargo radio station.

Somewhere along the line - around 2000, he said - he switched sides, much to the delight of Democrats he once vilified and the chagrin of Republicans he once supported.

"The Ed Schultz Show" promises "straight talk from the heartland" - meaning, not from those out-of-touch-with-the-common-man liberals in Los Angeles or New York.

Schultz was recruited for the afternoon program after more than a decade as host of a talk show on Fargo's KFGO.

About a dozen stations are carrying the national show, mostly in smaller markets like Hardin, Mont., Brownwood, Texas, and Lisbon, N.D., but also in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Jones Radio Network, the programming company that produces the show, said it is looking to get the program on 40 stations by year's end.

Schultz, 49, a former college quarterback and sports broadcaster, likes to be known as a fighter. He once bolted out of the broadcast booth while doing play-by-play for a college football game to chase down a fan who threw a whiskey bottle at him. He once threatened to "bop" a "bozo" who was harassing him during a broadcast of a college hockey game.

Some listeners have accused him of opportunism, saying he made the right-to-left switch for the chance to make more money.

"You can't believe anything Schultz says because you don't know what his core beliefs are," said Larry Astrup of Fargo, a former listener who describes himself as "so conservative I'm mad at Bush."

Schultz, a native of Norfolk, Va., said his transformation from Republican to Democrat was genuine, and started when his wife-to-be, Wendy, asked him to meet her for lunch at a Salvation Army cafeteria - an experience that made him feel guilty about poking fun at homeless people.

He said it was not until he took the show on the road to rural North Dakota in a 38-foot motor home that he realized his views had become more aligned with those of the Democrats.

"I saw that we were gutting the infrastructure of the country," he said. "People in rural America are suffering and I'm really concerned for the country."

He considers himself in line with the Democratic Party on such issues as farm policy, education, veterans and the homeless. Among the first guests on his national program were Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

"They are probably the two most vilified people on conservative talk radio in America," Schultz said. "This program, from time to time, is going to give those folks an opportunity to fight back."

State Democrats had once considered Schultz a possible candidate to run against Republican Gov. John Hoeven, a man Schultz often derides as an "empty suit." But the national radio opportunity came up, and Schultz said he figured "I can fry more fish and help more people have more of an impact if this goes."

Michael Harrison, editor and publisher of Talkers Magazine, said Schultz's show can work because he is entertaining, not because of any lack of liberal politics on the air.

"There are other liberals on the radio, but you need a host who's funny, engaging, talented and charismatic," Harrison said. "Ed Schultz is known around the country, even though he's basically in a small market, one that's off the beaten path. That says a lot for the guy."

David Campbell of Elizabeth City, N.C., a trucker who listens to Schultz on XM satellite radio, said he likes the contrast between Schultz and another one of Campbell's favorite talk show hosts, Michael Savage.

"I'm more of an independent, really," Campbell said. "The difference between Ed and Michael Savage is like Mars and Earth. You listen to Michael and you're afraid he's going to have an aneurysm, and Ed is more low-key."

Schultz said many conservative talk show hosts have "this big political engine" buying advertising to get them onto stations, making it difficult for him to break into bigger markets.

"I know I'm climbing a pretty tall mountain," he said. "I also know the conservative hard-right attack is coming. I know they're going to go after me any way they possibly can. My feet are on the ground. I'm ready for it."
Related Link

source: http://www.bigeddieradio.com/news.view.html?newsItemId=1328

Social Security Debate - Stop The Bleeding

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

STOP THE BLEEDING
FOR REAL SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM

By: Ed Henry

If you are confronted with a crisis, the very first thing to do is to stop the bleeding. You don’t stand around doing nothing, arguing about what caused it, debating why it happened, who is to blame or how we might prevent it in the future. These are all things to discuss, argue, settle, and perhaps even improve later.

Your very first task is to keep the victim alive and treat the injuries with first aid. If you can’t handle that, get someone competent who can and get them fast. Call 911.

Applying this to Social Security reform, we are immediately confronted with one very stunning obstacle – emergency response lies in the hands of the very people who inflicted the wound, the same body of people who caused the bleeding – Congress and the federal bureaucrats.

How can we possibly stem the flow of the system’s life blood when the people in charge of the victim are happy with the situation and have no intention of applying a tourniquet or pressure that might even slow the bleeding? Instead, they have encouraged a form of medieval medicine that involves leeches.

Like a band of savages that believe drinking the victim’s blood will add to their own strength, these vultures have inflicted a wound on a very healthy insurance program that actually does strengthen them because what’s flowing is money, the life blood of capitalism.

In the last five years, Congress and the administration have bled off $94.5 billion in fiscal 2000, a high of $98.7 billion in 2001, $89 billion in 2002, $81.8 billion in 2003 and $71 billion last year, 2004, in a troubled economy. These are the figures dutifully reported year-by-year by the U.S. Treasury. Denial is not a river in Egypt.

This isn't something that's going to happen in the future. It isn't something we should prepare for like the "baby boomers." It's happening right now, right before your eyes, and it has been happening since at least 1983 when payroll taxes were, over a seven year period, raised way beyond what was necessary. And the victim has been bleeding all over the place while no one did a thing to stop the bleeding.

I can't help it if the younger generation believes that Social Security is not going to be there for them, that they've got a better chance of meeting an alien from outer space than receiving retirement benefits. Blame that on the educational system and the color blind newshounds that can't see the bleeding or ask the right questions, people that must think $71 billion taken away last year alone or nearly one half trillion over the last five years is chicken feed.

I can't help it if Congress spent years debating "lock boxes" when real trust funds are supposed to be effective lock boxes, what was nothing more than a feeble attempt to cleanse their souls without accepting responsibility, to weasel out of a criminal situation.

By itself, this is sufficient reason for sensible people to start thinking about taking the very healthy Social Security system completely out of the hands of government, out of the hands of a not-for-profit organization that shouldn’t be engaged in free enterprise or the insurance business in the first place, and placing it in the hands of the private sector – “privatizing” it.

For various reasons, this is somewhat like throwing the baby out with the bathwater rather than directly addressing the bleeding, especially since there is no private sector entity with the authority to force premium payments.

Now we have President Bush pushing hard for what he calls “partial privatization” through “ownership” accounts for younger generations of entry level workers who pay the least in payroll taxes. A plan that is suddenly on the front burner and involves various options for investing portions of payroll taxes somehow at the participants choice.


Considering the surplus/profits being generated by Social Security and stolen by the government, such a plan is certainly feasible as long as it’s restricted to stopping the bleeding that’s been going on for ages.

Yet, the advocates of this new plan are saying things that simply don’t make any sense and lead to suspicions of being nothing more than another convoluted plan like “lock boxes” or promises not to touch Social Security’s money. In particular, they’re talking about “transition costs" that will run as high as one or two trillion dollars over the next decade.

This brings us to the heart of the matter.

It costs virtually nothing to set up a real trust fund and put the profits in it. If such a trust fund did nothing but draw simple interest in some bank, or if the money wasn’t invested anywhere at all, we would still be one hundred percent better off than we are now with the government running off with the profits.

In other words, stop the bleeding by taking the profits away from the government that has used them as their greatest slush fund for “off budget” revenue. Privatize the profits. Leave everything else in place as is. Deal with what to do with these profits later, including the idea of giving them back to America ’s workers or cutting payroll taxes.

Knowing full well that they should not be using these funds as general income, spending them as fast as the money came in, the Beltway Bandits have set up one of the most elaborate financial scams in history. They deliberately set up a myth that asks us to believe that it’s possible to both spend and save the same money. And they used the idea of “trust funds” to do this, but only the idea.

For years, they all pretended that they merely “borrowed” or “invested” Social Security’s profits. As they were spending this money, they were also issuing certificates of obligation to so-called entitlement trust funds, certificates that they periodically roll over into “special obligation” nonmarketable Treasury securities, bonds.

As such, the two Social Security trust funds that we normally think of as one, the Federal Old Age & Survivors Insurance trust and the Federal Disability Insurance trust, now hold more than 22 percent of the national debt and stand at more than $1.6 trillion, none of it in real assets. It’s what the pirates themselves refer to as an “unfunded liability.”

The hooker is that only taxpayer dollars can redeem this debt. The pirates will try to convince you that the “Intragovernmental Holdings” portion of the national debt is money that the government owes itself or one department owes another, but the truth is that this debt can be reduced only with taxpayer dollars. It’s a system of double taxation plus interest.

It’s also a form of self feeding fraud because to carry out the fiction of having borrowed the money the bandits add annual interest to the tab without money involved. They simply hand the phony trust funds more bogus bonds, increasing public indebtedness and, in their false logic, extending the life of Social Security. Ironically, the more they steal and the more interest they award, the longer they claim Social Security’s life is extended.  

In conclusion

Just remember that when you listen to politicians describing things like “transition costs,” you are listening to the people who have been robbing Social Security for years and who understand very little about actuarial data or the inner workings of a highly efficient insurance company that operates on less than one percent of its annual revenue, maintains offices in almost every major city, and has never failed to deliver benefits precisely on time.

In all likelihood, they are talking about money/profits that they feel belong to them, funds they feel they’ve earned and deserve, and if you try to take these away from them they will be forced to borrow by running up the national debt even more than they’ve already run it up to preposterous levels. They are telling you that they’ll do this rather than curtail spending.

Secondly, the President’s plan for personal investment accounts is not first aid; it’s a diagnosis that would be a disaster and misdirection for Social Security, a program that came into being because individual Americans could not save sufficiently for an extended depression and still can’t do so today. If imitating the government’s own Thrift Savings Plan had any merit, it would be applicable to everyone, not merely youngsters just entering the labor market, and not forcing inflation by making employers report each member separately.

Every excuse the Beltway Bandits have for stealing Social Security’s profits is belied by the fact that they do exactly the same thing to Medicare, the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), Military Retirement, Veteran’s benefits and at least twenty entitlements in total. Social Security is just the largest fund they plunder.

And just what do you think will happen when the foreign nations that have been loaning us hundreds of billions are going to do when they find out that our government has been cheating the very people responsible for paying back those loans?


source: http://www.etherzone.com/2004/henr121704.shtml

Brownwood Airport - NTSB Report

NTSB Identification: DFW05FA059
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, January 22, 2005 in Brownwood, TX
Aircraft: Beech BE-36, registration: N1750A
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.
On January 22, 2005, approximately 0649 central standard time, a Beech BE-36 single engine airplane, N1750A, registered to and operated by a private individual, was destroyed after it impacted electrical wires, trees, and the ground while on a visual approach to runway 35 at the Brownwood Regional Airport (BWD), near Brownwood, Texas. The instrument-rated private pilot and one passenger sustained fatal injuries. Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The cross-country flight originated at 0600 from the Dallas Executive Airport (RBD), near Dallas, Texas, with BWD as its intended destination.
According to recorded information obtained from air traffic control (ATC) facilities, the airplane departed from Dallas at 0600. All communications between ATC and the pilot were normal, and after an uneventful en route flight from Dallas, the pilot was cleared for a visual approach to runway 35 at 0642. In an interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC), a witness, who was located 2.82 miles south of the accident site, and standing outside in his driveway at 0645 in the morning, stated that it was dark, the wind was calm, and the sky was clear. He observed the airplane in-flight overhead flying at a "high speed" at an altitude of about 500 feet above the ground (agl), heading north. He further reported that he saw the airplane's navigational lights illuminated, and that the airplane's engine sounded "normal" and was "loud."
Residents, who were in their homes in close proximity to the accident site, reported that they heard the airplane overhead, followed by a "loud" explosion. One of the residents went outside, saw flames shooting in the air, and called "911" at 0649.
The accident site was located approximately 4,850 feet south of the approach end of runway 35 in a rural area, sparsely populated by small houses, cow pastures, and 20 to 30-foot high mesquite trees. Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates at the accident site were Latitude 31 degrees 46.424 minutes North and Longitude 98 degrees 57.280 minutes West, at a GPS elevation of 1,370 feet mean sea level (msl).
The published elevation for the approach end of runway 35 was 1,370.1 msl. The published elevation at BWD (mid-field) was 1,387 feet mean sea level. Runway 35 was 5,599 feet long x 150 feet wide and did not have (nor was it required by FAA regulation to have) visual slope indicator lights, PAPI, or approach lights. All available airport lighting was functional at the time of the accident.
Local authorities reported that electrical service to nearby residences was interrupted coincident with the accident time. Evidence at the accident site revealed that the airplane initially struck two 40-foot high electrical lines that were perpendicular to the flight path. The electrical lines were found separated and lying on the ground near their support poles. From the initial wire strike, fragments of airplane debris, along with broken tree limbs, were found along a 246-foot linear energy path bearing 350 degrees magnetic.
The main wreckage was consumed by post-impact fire. Flight control cable continuities from the cockpit to the ailerons, elevators, and rudder flight control surfaces were confirmed. The right flap was in a retracted position. The left flap actuator was consumed by the postimpact fire. The flap drive from each actuator was observed to be intact and attached to the flap motor assembly. The landing gear actuator was found in a position consistent with landing gear "extended." The right main landing gear was found in the extended position and attached to the right wing landing gear support structure. The cabin door upper latch bolt was found separated. The fuselage utility doors latch handle was found in the closed position.
At 0645, the automated surface observing system at BWD reported wind from 360 degrees at 9 knots, visibility 10statute miles, clear sky, temperature 14 degrees Celsius, dew point 07 degrees Celsius, and an altimeter setting of 30.08 inches of Mercury. Additionally, several residents near the accident site, reported that the sky was "clear" and the wind was "calm" at the time of the accident.
According to data from the U.S Naval Observatory, the following information was provided for Brownwood, Brown County, Texas, on January 22, 2005.
Begin Civil Twilight: 0708
Sunrise: 0734
Moonrise: 1535
Moonset: 0637

rest of story...

Brownwood Crash Kills Dallas Doctors

Note: Thank GOD the Brownwood "Outsider & Immigrant Bashers" heard on KXYL were not controlling the airport runway lights by airplane MIC or by manual methods !
-----------------------
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 10, 2005 Last modified: Friday, January 28, 2005 4:48 PM CST
Pilot recalls crash that killed transplant doctors
By STEVE NASH Brownwood Bulletin
BROWNWOOD - Flying his single-engine Cessna early Saturday morning, Lake Hite of Mullin heard the heavily accented, but easily understood and proficient radio transmissions the pilot of an oncoming plane made to air traffic controllers.
Hite had just taken off from the Brownwood airport in the Cessna 210 and was headed northeast to Dallas. The weather was "beautiful," Hite said, with light winds.
Controllers radioed Hite that the other plane, a Beechcraft Bonanza that was flying from Dallas to Brownwood, was at his "twelve o'clock" position. Hite looked into the still-dark sky, searching for the other plane to make sure the two didn't collide.
"I saw his lights," Hite said. He radioed controllers that he had the plane in sight and flashed the Cessna's bright, white landing light to make it easier for the other pilot to see him. Hite watched as the Bonanza descended, then zipped by from the opposite direction, its altitude lower than that of Hite's Cessna.
Hite thought that the accent of the other pilot, Dr. Paulose Mathai of Dallas, was from India or a similar region. He heard no hint of trouble in Mathai's radio calls.
"He talked like he knew what he was doing," Hite said, noting that Mathai was on an instrument flight plan. "The last thing I heard him say to (controllers) was that he was going to make a visual approach" to the Brownwood airport. "There was no indication he was having any problem at all."
A few minutes later, the Bonanza crashed, killing Mathai, 58, and another doctor, Karl Brinker, 50, also of Dallas. Mathai was preparing to land on the northbound runway, but the Bonanza clipped a power line about a mile south of the airport at 6:50 a.m., authorities said.
It hit some trees, then crashed into a pasture and burned.
The two Dallas doctors were experts in organ transplants. The two practiced at Methodist Health System where Mathai was a lung specialist and Brinker a kidney specialist, according to the wire service.
Hite didn't learn about the crash until he returned to Brownwood. "I was really surprised," he said. "I can't tell you" what happened. "It's so hard to speculate. We may never know. It's a shame."
Hite said he would expect a plane to be at least 300 feet above the ground on a one-mile final approach. Hite and other local pilots said they simply can't imagine why the plane was low enough to hit a power line.
Mathai and Brinker took off earlier Saturday morning from Dallas' Executive Airport, and two shotguns were found in the wreckage, leaving authorities to speculate the two were planning to hunt.
Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, reached by phone Monday, said the investigation is ongoing but they offered no new details.
An NTSB official said the agency will likely release a preliminary report later this week that will contain the facts, but not the cause of the crash. An expanded report will be released in six to nine months, and a probably cause report will be released at some point, although there is no time line for that report, the official said.
Brownwood airport manager Mike Wilson said he couldn't remember ever having met Mathai and Brinker. He said even if the men weren't known around the Brownwood airport, the flying community feels the loss.
"Flying is like being in one big family," Wilson said. "It's like losing a couple of brothers. It affects most all the pilots here. Even though we didn't know them personally, it still hurts."
The last fatal plane crash near the Brownwood airport was in 1985, Wilson said.
Ironically, Hite had taken off from Brownwood a few minutes before the 1985 crash, and he heard the other pilot on the radio before the crash. Bad weather was a factor in that crash, Hite and Wilson said.
and flashed the Cessna's bright, white landing light to make it easier for the other pilot to see him. Hite watched as the Bonanza descended, then zipped by from the opposite direction, its altitude lower than that of Hite's Cessna.
Hite thought that the accent of the other pilot, Dr. Paulose Mathai of Dallas, was from India or a similar region. He heard no hint of trouble in Mathai's radio calls.
"He talked like he knew what he was doing," Hite said, noting that Mathai was on an instrument flight plan. "The last thing I heard him say to (controllers) was that he was going to make a visual approach" to the Brownwood airport. "There was no indication he was having any problem at all."
A few minutes later, the Bonanza crashed, killing Mathai, 58, and another doctor, Karl Brinker, 50, also of Dallas. Mathai was preparing to land on the northbound runway, but the Bonanza clipped a power line about a mile south of the airport at 6:50 a.m., authorities said.
It hit some trees, then crashed into a pasture and burned.
The two Dallas doctors were experts in organ transplants. The two practiced at Methodist Health System where Mathai was a lung specialist and Brinker a kidney specialist, according to the wire service.
Hite didn't learn about the crash until he returned to Brownwood. "I was really surprised," he said. "I can't tell you" what happened. "It's so hard to speculate. We may never know. It's a shame."
Hite said he would expect a plane to be at least 300 feet above the ground on a one-mile final approach. Hite and other local pilots said they simply can't imagine why the plane was low enough to hit a power line.
Mathai and Brinker took off earlier Saturday morning from Dallas' Executive Airport, and two shotguns were found in the wreckage, leaving authorities to speculate the two were planning to hunt.
Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, reached by phone Monday, said the investigation is ongoing but they offered no new details.
An NTSB official said the agency will likely release a preliminary report later this week that will contain the facts, but not the cause of the crash. An expanded report will be released in six to nine months, and a probably cause report will be released at some point, although there is no time line for that report, the official said.
Brownwood airport manager Mike Wilson said he couldn't remember ever having met Mathai and Brinker. He said even if the men weren't known around the Brownwood airport, the flying community feels the loss.
"Flying is like being in one big family," Wilson said. "It's like losing a couple of brothers. It affects most all the pilots here. Even though we didn't know them personally, it still hurts."
The last fatal plane crash near the Brownwood airport was in 1985, Wilson said.
Ironically, Hite had taken off from Brownwood a few minutes before the 1985 crash, and he heard the other pilot on the radio before the crash. Bad weather was a factor in that crash, Hite and Wilson said.
Steve Nash works for the Brownwood Bulletin, a sister paper of the Daily Light also owned by American Consolidated Media.

rest of story...

Was lighting a key factor in this crash ? We're the runway lights "Mic'd" up or down upon his approach ?
Was he attempting to land on the Old May road ? Lighting, was it a factor in the approach and the ultimate crash ?

rest of story...

What's being written.......

Praying priorities
January 13, 2005

Governors and presidents seem to feel a need to declare a day or a year of prayer. It is apparent that they mean ''Christian Prayer.'' They do not intend to encourage any other religion to get rewards from prayer. They also issue proclamations concerning reading the Christian Bible, but never recommend that people read any other ''sacred book'' of any other religion. In other words, they are establishing fundamentalist religion by executive orders and legislative acts strongly commending Christian slogans, icons, symbols and external items to be placed in all possible public areas.

All religions believe theirs is the true religion, as their God is the only true God. Christianity is no different in that belief. However, Christianity differs in that it belittles all other religions. Christians are atheists toward all religions but their own. They want to start by having everybody pray to their God. Their God will be pleased at their efforts that he will bring on the Apocalypse for them, and True Believers will go to a non-specific place for harpsichordists, while Non-believers will go to a very nasty place where they will eternally regret not listening to Billy Graham or Jerry Falwell.

Sadly, people tell me that they will pray for me. Please don't pray for me. Pray for the end of the war in Iraq. Pray for a cure for aids. Pray for the children being sexually abused and beaten. Pray for no more hunger in the world.

Bob Foley
Abilene

No rapture
January 13, 2005

I would like to take a moment and address the letter sent by Lyndon Gathright titled, ''Not the last disaster.'' Mr. Gathright has his ''facts'' wrong in several instances. First of all, this tsunami is not the ''deadliest disaster in history, thus far.'' There have been several disasters that have been worse in the past. An earthquake struck China, and an estimated 830,000 people are believed to have perished. What about the global flood in the days of Noah? Some have estimated the Earth's population at that time to have been several million, and others have even estimated that the population could have been between 1 and 5 billion. Yet, all of these perished except for eight souls (1 Peter 3:20).

Not only does Mr. Gathright have his facts wrongs about disasters, his own assertions about the ''Rapture'' are disastrous in themselves. You can search the Bible from cover to cover, and you will not find the word ''rapture'' anywhere. Also, we need only to read the opening words of Revelation to understand that John was writing about events that would transpire in their lifetime, and not ours. ''The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass ...'' (Revelation 1:1).

The truth is that the doctrine of the ''rapture'' is not taught in the Bible. It is the figment of man's overactive imagination.

Kerry Clark
Abilene

source:
http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_letters_editor/0,1874,ABIL_7984,00.html

Cowin: " Very Shocked " : Does any of this really shock you ? It doesn't me !

" The criminal justice system in Texas is so cracked it makes an armadillo look smooth." Dallas Morning News Editorial
source: http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~archives/ABOLISH/rick-halperin/apr03/0184.html
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Thursday January 13, 2005
News
Brownwood police officer is indicted
By Steve Nash -- Brownwood Bulletin
 
A Brownwood police officer has been indicted for tampering with government records, authorities said this morning.

Patrolman Larry Robison, 36, a nine-year veteran of the Brownwood department, was arrested Tuesday on a sealed indictment and released on $10,000 bond, jail records show.
Brownwood Police Chief Virgil Cowin released copies of letters this morning stating that Robison has been suspended without pay. According to one of the letters, dated Nov. 9 and penned by Capt. Garry Page, a complaint against Robison is "based upon alterations and deletions of an offense report ... which I ... and (Chief Cowin) told you were not authorized. The complaint will be investigated by Vance Hill, 35th District Attorney investigator."
Robison was initially placed on suspension with pay, but his status was changed to non-paid suspension after grand jurors returned the sealed indictment last week, a Jan. 11 letter written by Cowin states.
"This suspension is not intended to reflect an opinion on the merits of the indictment or complaint," the letter states.
Cowin declined to comment on the specifics of the complaint and referred questions to Hill.
"The DA's investigator is in charge of the investigation, and the Brownwood Police Department will cooperate in any way that we can and assist the DA's office," Cowin said.
When asked for his reaction to one of his officers being indicted, Cowin said he was "very shocked. Very disappointed, very shocked." Posted on Tue, Jan. 11, 2005
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2005/01/13/news/news01.txt

UPDATE......
Thursday March 23, 2006
News

Jury returns guilty verdict on Robison
By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

Brownwood police officer Larry Robison was convicted in 35th District Court Wednesday of two counts of tampering with a government record.
District Judge Steve Ellis said a punishment hearing will be scheduled later and will probably occur in about two weeks. Ellis also said that although the case was indicted as a third-degree felony, the punishment range will be that of a Class A misdemeanor because there was no evidence that Robison had intended to harm anyone.
Robison could face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of up to $4,000, or probation, according to the Texas penal code. Had he faced punishment for a third-degree felony, he could have been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison or probation.
The state alleges that Robison altered another officer’s computerized offense report that names Robison as the suspect, and his girlfriend as the victim, in a domestic abuse case in January 2002. The case was never prosecuted because the victim withdrew her complaint, testimony showed.
Police officials testified that they learned in November 2004 that the report had been changed to reflect an animal problem, with the narrative altered and Robison’s name deleted as a suspect.
Jurors returned the guilty verdict after deliberating for an hour and 15 minutes.
“I do believe it’s the appropriate punishment range for the charge,” Assistant District Attorney Perry Sims said.
Robison, 37, has been on unpaid suspension from the Brownwood Police Department since he was indicted in January 2005. His future in law enforcement was unclear late Wednesday.
Police Chief Virgil Cowin, speaking by phone from his home Wednesday night, said it was too early to assess Robison’s status but that “it’s possible” he will be terminated.
Cowin said he will consult today with his administration and with Brownwood City Attorney Pat Chesser on Robison’s status.
“We’ll do what the law will allow us to dow,” Cowin said.
“Any time an incident like this happens, everybody suffers,” he said. “With the evidence I knew of, I felt like a conviction on both charges was inevitable. Yeah, it hurts. It hurts the whole department.”
Robison's attorney, Jim Lane, said after the trial that his client would have no comment. Lane also said, “When you choose to try cases, you rely on the wisdom of the jury.”
Lane said that Brownwood has “one heck of a fine judge and a very honorable district attorney’s office.”
As the two-day trial wound down Wednesday, Robison, taking a cue from his attorney, angled the witness chair toward the jury box and told jurors he did not alter the 2002 police report.
“No, I did not,” Robison in response to Lane’s questioning. “I did not do it. I don’t know anything about it.”
Earlier Wednesday, two of Robison’s brothers, who are lawmen with other agencies, and two Brownwood police officers were among defense witnesses who testified that Robison is a truthful officer.
“He’s very honest. He’s the reason I’m in law enforcement,” his brother Jimmy Robison, an Early police officer, testified. “My brother is not a liar. He never has. I respect him.”
Brownwood officer Bryan Bell testified that Robison “is truthful and honest and I’ve placed my life in his hands many times.”
Trial testimony showed that the case against Robison was triggered by a pretrial hearing in September 2004 in an unrelated matter. Robison testified as a prosecution witness. The defendant in that case was charged with assault on a peace officer, the defendant’s attorney, Rudy Taylor, said.
Taylor has said in interviews that he did not believe Robison had testified truthfully at the hearing. Taylor filed an open records request with the Brownwood Police Department seeking records in several categories related to Robison.
Those categories included “use of force” incidents involving Robison and offense reports involving assault on a police officer, Taylor said in interviews. Taylor said that he sought the information to attempt to discredit Robison’s testimony in future hearings.
Taylor said, though, that he knew nothing at that time of the 2002 assault that named Robison as a suspect.
According to trial testimony, police officials began gathering documents to honor Taylor’s request. Police Capt. Garry Page noticed that the 2002 report was missing.
Police officials investigated the matter and determined that someone had made alterations to the report over a two-day period in October 2004, testimony showed. Computer records showed that on one of the days, the alteration was made on Robison’s log-in, testimony showed. On the other day, the alteration was made on City Marshal Butch Dempsey’s log-in.
Dempsey testified that he had not logged off of his computer that day after finishing a report. He testified that he was unaware at that time of the 2002 report and that he did not know how to make the kind of alterations that were made to the report.
Sims told jurors in his closing argument that the case was about “motive and opportunity.”
After the 2002 assault involving Robison and his girlfriend, Robison was given a letter of suspension with pay, according to documents Taylor obtained in his open records request.
Cowin said he isn’t sure if Robison actually served any suspension then because the victim withdrew her complaint.
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/03/23/news/news01.txt
------------------
Panhandle prosecutor faces drug charges
Associated Press

PAMPA, Texas - A Panhandle district attorney was arrested while in a courtroom Tuesday on a federal charge of misdemeanor methamphetamine possession.
Rick Roach, district attorney for Gray, Hemphill, Lipscomb, Roberts and Wheeler counties, was charged in a federal warrant for knowingly and intentionally possessing methamphetamine, said Kathy Colvin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office Northern District of Texas.
FBI agents arrested Roach about 8:30 a.m. in the Gray County Courthouse. He was in federal custody Tuesday and was scheduled for an initial court appearance in Lubbock on Wednesday, Colvin said.
"The investigation is ongoing," she told the Pampa News. "We have 30 days to present evidence to a grand jury."
She said she could not comment further on the case.
Assistant District Attorney Lynn Switzer said she had no comment, as did Pampa Police Chief Trevlyn Pitner and Gray County Sheriff Don Copeland.
Roach was 11 days into his second four-year term as district attorney. He has been a licensed attorney for 25 years, and was Roberts County attorney for 10 years before being elected district attorney.
If convicted, Roach faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/10620479.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Web-posted Thursday, January 13, 2005
Pampa residents recollect DA's tough stance of drugs

By BETH WILSON
beth.wilson@amarillo.com
Amarillo Globe-News
PAMPA - The same man who helped put Harley Knutson's son behind bars may be facing a similar fate.
"I can't believe it. I would never have dreamed it would have happened," Knutson said Wednesday, a day after 31st District Attorney Rick Roach was arrested on charges of methamphetamine and cocaine possession.
Federal agents arrested Roach on Tuesday morning at the Gray County Courthouse. He was booked into Randall County Jail, where federal arrestees are held, and arraigned Wednesday in Lubbock on a four-count indictment.
Knutson said Roach prosecuted his son seven months ago.
"He was cleaning up Gray County and my son was part of the problem," Knutson said.
But Knutson's son was one of the luckier ones. He received 10 years, while several other drug cases Roach prosecuted received much longer sentences, some up to 99 years.
Wednesday, Pampa residents were recalling Roach's first campaign for DA in 2000. He said he was tough on drugs and it went over well with voters.
Connie Diaz at the Coney Island Cafe said the irony of Tuesday's arrest isn't lost on diners.
"He campaigned as tough on drugs," she said. "People are just shocked."
They also want more information. Copies of The Pampa News were sold out at several places, and some people were reserving comment until they knew more of the evidence.
Not the Rev. Walker Kyle.
"This man has been here in this community a long time and everybody brags about him, but he goes and does this," Kyle said. "As crooked as this city is, I do think he did it."
Kyle said Roach had better not get special treatment because of his position.
Others also expressed concern about how Roach's position would play into this case.
"Being a type of government employee, he's more than likely to get off easier than the average Joe," Larry Goodrum said.
But Shamrock defense attorney Jim Fling said it may be harder for Roach to get fair treatment.
"It's very unusual that the FBI arrested him at a public docket call and not at his house, which leads me to think that it's politically motivated," Fling said. "He's been arrested and charged. He's not convicted. As a defense lawyer, I believe in that."
Fling spoke out last year against Roach's hard-line stance against drugs, saying excessive punishments could lead to an erosion of constitutional rights.
That hard stance could come back to hit Roach now.
"Like a slap in the face," said Pampa resident Danny Stokes.
Roach spoke with the Globe-News about his harsh stance for a July 6, 2003, article. He emphasized getting sentences of 36 years, 38 years, 40 years, 60 years and 75 years.
"I think it's quite clear that the good citizens of this district are fed up with drugs," Roach said then. "A lot of these folks have children and grandchildren. They are smart, and they understand the effect drugs have on families and communities."
source: http://www.amarillo.com/stories/011305/new_1021213.shtml
---------------
Three more charges levied against DA
Posted: Thursday, Jan 13, 2005 - 01:52:35 pm CST
By MARILYN POWERS
Staff Writer
Three additional counts involving firearms and narcotics violations have been added to a federal indictment against Rick Roach, 31st and 223rd District Attorney.
William E. Kelly III, an Amarillo attorney, has agreed to represent Roach, Kelly confirmed by telephone today.
"I've known him, just primarily through the legal profession, for quite a few years," Kelly said. Roach approached him about the representation, he said.
Count 1 of the federal indictment charges that Roach, allegedly being "an unlawful user and then being addicted to a controlled substance," "did knowingly and intentionally possess firearms, to wit: a Beretta .380 caliber, semi-automatic pistol . . . and a Smith & Wesson, model 915, 9mm pistol . . . that had been shipped or transported in interstate commerce."

source: http://www.thepampanews.com/articles/2005/01/13/news/2news.txt
----------------
DNA clears Texas man of rape conviction after 18 years in prison

Canadian Press
Published: Tuesday, March 21, 2006

DALLAS (AP) - A man who spent 18 years behind bars for allegedly attacking a woman in her home has been released after DNA testing excluded him as the attacker.
"I don't know how to apologize. I don't know where to start, but I'll start with me and 'I'm sorry,"' District Judge John Creuzot said Monday as he released Gregory Wallis, now 47. Creuzot was not involved in the original trial.
Wallis was a 29-year-old warehouse worker when he was convicted in 1988 of burglary with intent to commit sexual assault and sentenced to 50 years in prison.
The case was closed until Willis' 2004 request for post-conviction DNA analysis led to tests that found his didn't match the DNA from the crime scene.
The victim had picked Wallis' photo out of a lineup after police received a tip that he was involved. She described her attacker as having a tattoo, similar to one Wallis had.
"I don't know how she picked me," Wallis said. "I was sitting at home, and they came and arrested me. The next thing I know, I'm standing trial."
An initial test released in December could not entirely exclude Wallis as a suspect. His lawyer then requested a newer and more sophisticated test, which found no match with Wallis' DNA.
Like others wrongly convicted in Texas, Wallis is eligible for up to $250,000 US in compensation for the years he spent behind bars. He said he was looking forward to enjoying a steak dinner and going fishing.
source: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=b119fa42-8651-4dda-bc1c-7fe0a949df84&k=73845
----------------------
What do you know about Innocence/Wrongful Convictions ?

http://www.nysda.org/NYSDA_Resources/Innocence_Wrongful_Convictions/innocence_wrongful_convictions.html

Brownwood - Moral Values

Friday January 28, 2005
Op Ed: Columnists
Politically correct moral values or handy slogans? -- Britt Towery

Anyone who has read my musing over the last few years knows my deep skepticism regarding going to war in Iraq. Nothing in the last three years has convinced me it was a very wise or necessary thing to do.

No facts have come forward to prove war was the only way to help the Iraqi peoples. But it seems to have been the only thing given serious consideration. Even President Bush's own Methodist ministers were not given a chance to suggest another way. He did talk to some Protestants about the war, but they were of the fundamentalist war-like type. The fundamentalists (like Jerry Falwell and the present leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention) told Mr. Bush what he wanted to hear. They are convinced, as are the "Left Behind" authors, that there must be a great war in the Middle East so Bible prophecy can be accomplished. When I write such things it is not to disparage the Bible, but the extreme literal and sometimes weird interpretations some preachers put on prophecy -- which is a minor part of the sacred book -- and beyond my understanding. The Bible is not a road map, it is not a key to the future. It is an attempt to point us toward God, to better understand Him and become light and salt to our world.
Christian history is too full of war and hate. Nothing makes a man's blood boil to the degree religion does. This is a perversion of the faith and has the opposite result of true religion. This is not the Lord Jesus' fault, but the error of his followers in every age. And yet the people for the war are the ones proclaiming the need for "moral values." The Puritans did their best to kill off the Indians rather than try to convert them. The First Thanksgiving legend has blinded us to how the Puritans tried to set up a theocracy and did not allow any other view but theirs. No dissent was tolerated. (They also made it a crime to celebrate Christmas!) Fortunately, there were those who strove for liberty like Roger Williams. He made friends of the Indians rather than kill them. Roger Williams and later men like Isaac Backus and John Leland with Jefferson and Madison made sure the Constitution had a Bill of Rights. These men knew what moral values were. Many had suffered in prison and died for such values as the freedom of speech and religion.
"Moral values" are what many voters claim as their reason for keeping President Bush in power. War is against all moral values. War is the very opposite of good morals and common sense (especially when the "enemy" was no threat to us). Moral values includes more than a stand on abortion or single-sex marriage. (Single-sex marriage will not destroy America as much as lightly treated and even encouraged adulterous behavior.) Moral values are clearly listed in the New Testament: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). These moral values are not getting much publicity these days. Moral values are how we treat the homeless, the poor, the disenfranchised and caring about those we might not want to associate with. When we help someone who can do absolutely nothing for us, that is what I consider a good deed. Only doing what is in our own best interest can grow a very selfish life or nation. This war of our very wealthy nation against a poor and dying country is possibly the lowest point in American history. It has been entered into and continues to be led by misguided and at worst, deeply wrong-thinking people. To cry for moral values, the whole scope of morals needs to be included -- not just a few pet peeves and politically correct slogans of sincere but history-illiterate fanatics.
Britt Towery's opinions appear Fridays on the Viewpoints page. His e-mail is: britt.tao@verizon.net

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2005/01/28/op_ed/columnists/opinion07.txt

Ben & Jerry's and Brownwood Scoop Shop ?

Posted on Thu, Jan. 06, 2005
Philanthropy never tasted so sweet

By Bud Kennedy
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

This isn't the best day to tell you about a new ice cream shop.

But a Ben & Jerry's is coming to Fort Worth, and there's more to the scoop.

The first local dip of Cherry Garcia will come in a swirl with needed dollars for one of the oldest women's charities in Texas.

When it opens -- probably in May -- the first local Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop will be owned by the YWCA of Fort Worth and Tarrant County.

In the chapter's 99th year, the women of the local YWCA are teaming up with the two most famous men in the ice cream business.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Vermont entrepreneurs, started giving away a few franchises 15 years ago to established charities that would promise to train teen-agers from poor neighborhoods for jobs and careers.

Two years ago, local YWCA Director Judi Bishop lay awake one night. She finally gave up on the idea of sleeping, thumbed through that day's Star-Telegram and flipped the radio to NPR.

She doesn't remember the show or the guests. But she remembers hearing about corporate social involvement and Ben & Jerry's PartnerShop franchises -- charity shops that pay no franchise fee or royalties.

A board officer, Kathy Jackson, helped oversee the franchise application and choose the location on Camp Bowie Boulevard in the Ridglea neighborhood next door to a busy Starbucks Coffee.

"Very few people really understand what the YWCA does," Jackson said. "I hope the shop brings us more attention."

What's even sweeter is that the YWCA expects to raise about $40,000 a year or more off ice cream sales. Every cone will help cover the agency's $3.2 million annual budget, funding job training and services for 1,400 young women and teen-agers.

Like other charities, the YWCA also operates a resale thrift shop, farther west on the same boulevard. Some charities also ask for old cars for resale, but the tax incentive for those gifts vanished Dec. 31.

Somehow, the idea of a charity ice cream shop sounds much more fun.

I can see the ads now.

Instead of "Write off the car -- not the kid," the YWCA's pitch could be "Write off the carbs -- not the kid."

Under a special Ben & Jerry's franchise arrangement, the shop will train teen-agers and young adults ages 16 to 21 from low-income families or state foster care. The young workers are taught not only how to top a banana split but also management skills and entrepreneurship.

The shop is the first charity Ben & Jerry's in Texas. The first for-profit area Scoop Shop opened a few weeks ago in Plano. Corporate officials -- the company is now owned by Unilever, although Ben and Jerry still promote the shops -- were away at an annual meeting Wednesday, so I couldn't ask them about the new Texas shops.

Bishop said the YWCA expects other investors to open Ben & Jerry's shops elsewhere in Fort Worth. The Camp Bowie location was chosen not only for the neighborhood but also for the city bus stop nearby, she said.

The YWCA had to raise $240,000 for shop construction and startup costs. The agency has been working on the project for two years and had announced it on the local YWCA Web site, www.ywcafortworth.org.

The shop is worth the cost, and the agency has planned carefully, Bishop said.

"We've been conservative about the money, because Ben & Jerry's is still pretty new to Texas," she said. "We really don't know how well we'll do here. But this will give us a tremendous amount of visibility and help a lot with fund raising."

If you think Ben & Jerry's is some mushy social-cause company led by do-gooders in Birkenstocks, think again, Jackson said.

"When we went up to Vermont to negotiate, we thought they had to convince us why we should run their shop," she said. "But they really grilled us about the YWCA. They have the image, but they treated this strictly as serious business."

Other Scoop Shop PartnerShops are run by a Chicago children's choir, youth agencies in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and the Common Ground agency, which serves the homeless.

One of the most successful PartnerShops is on Chestnut Street in San Francisco, Bishop said. The same youth agency that owns that shop also sells all the Ben & Jerry's ice cream at Bay Area sports parks.

Cohen or Greenfield may come for the grand opening, Jackson said. The shop also plans local "celebrity dippers" and flavors.

The local YWCA board president, Constance Langston, already has a suggestion.

"Something like, say, Mayor Moncrief Marshmallow," she said.

If I know Mike Moncrief, he's not the marshmallow type. I suggested Mayor Moncrief Mocha.

But all of Fort Worth will definitely have a soft spot for the YWCA and Ben & Jerry's.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bud Kennedy's column appears uesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. (817) 390-7538 bud@budkennedy.com

source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/columnists/bud_kennedy/10579492.htm

BURLINGTON, VT—Ben & Jerry's, the Vermont-based ice-cream manufacturer known for its progressive social mission, held a press conference Monday to introduce a new flavor celebrating Academy Award winner Michael Moore.
"I'm really excited to announce the newest Ben & Jerry's ice-cream flavor," said Chrystie Heimert, Ben & Jerry's director of public relations. "In the spirit of Michael Moore's tasteful, playful calls for justice, we have created a tasteful, playful flavor: The Waffle Truth."
The Waffle Truth will honor the dynamic visionary by combining premium vanilla ice cream with strawberries, chocolate-covered waffle-cone bits, and a hint of cinnamon. The ice cream will be available in Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops Friday, followed by a retail rollout in March.
"Making an ice-cream flavor that would do justice to such an important author and filmmaker wasn't easy," Heimert said. "We knew we'd be using ingredients bought at fair-market prices, but exactly what those ingredients would be was a source of a lot of good old-fashioned, honest, open debate."
Heimert said developers experimented with a host of possible ice-cream tributes to the best-selling author, including Stupid White Chocolate, Green Tea Nation, and Dude, Where's My Coconut?
Even after Ben & Jerry's decided what the new flavor would contain, developers struggled to perfect the name.
"We thought about calling it Cherry-heit 9-11, but we already have Cherry Garcia," Heimert said. "Fahrenheit 31.1 was the next choice, but we didn't think everyone would make the connection between the proper temperature for storing ice cream and the film that broke the theatrical documentary box-office record by seamlessly blending comedy with hard-hitting fact."
"We also considered a name reminiscent of our our popular Chubby Hubby flavor," Heimert said. "But in the end, we decided The Waffle Truth would be more respectful to Moore's achievements than a flavor called Hefty Lefty."
Ben & Jerry's has previously honored pop-culture icons Phish and Jerry Garcia, as well as the TV show Seinfeld. This is the first time that the company has honored a director.
Above: Sean Hannity blasts The Waffle Truth as "candy-coated, liberal fluff."
"Michael Moore's David-and-Goliath commentaries cut conservative bigwigs down to size,"Heimert said. "He follows the beat of his own drummer and works in his own unique way to improve the average American's life. Our choice was a natural—just like our ice cream: We use only fresh milk and cream bought from farmers that have pledged never to use recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone."
Added Heimert: "We believe that Michael will remain an important voice in American politics, and that we will find no need to discontinue The Waffle Truth, as we did Wavy Gravy, Doonesberry Sorbet, and Dilbert's World Totally Nuts."
The Emmy Award winner made a surprise appearance at the Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop in Times Square to support the product.
"I'm honored Ben & Jerry's decided to dedicate an ice cream to me," Moore told the excited crowd. "It's a fantastic company with a great track record of treating their employees fairly and using only ethically produced ingredients."
"Plus, a lifetime supply of ice cream sounds pretty good," Moore added, patting his stomach with a self-deprecating laugh.
According to Ben & Jerry's press materials, The Waffle Truth rollout will include a nationwide tour by the company's promotional ice-cream wagon. The tour will begin its journey in Flint, MI and continue south to distribute free pints of ice cream in 14 Rust Belt cities suffering from post-industrial decline.
Other Ben & Jerry's flavors slated for introduction in 2005 are Praline Kael, Noam ChompChompsky Crunch, Ché Guava, and Nelson Vanilla, an anti-apartheid flavor that consists of a dark-chocolate sorbet swirled in an equal amount of vanilla ice cream.

source: http://onion.com/news/index.php?issue=4044&n=1

Steve Nash Reports: Bush, Brownwoodians, & Balls and What's Being Written

Brownwoodians in Attendance !

Area residents to attend inauguration
Brad Locker, chairman of the Brown County Republican Party, answered a call to his cell phone Tuesday afternoon. He said he couldn't talk long, as he'd just boarded an airliner with his wife, Ginger, at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and he'...
1.4K - Jan. 19, 2005; scored 1000.0

source: brownwoodbulletin.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published on Thursday, January 20, 2005 by Star Tribune / Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Inaugural Ball: Dancing with Wolves
by Susan Lenfestey
 
It's time to party.

As the families of bomb-flattened Fallujah huddle in make-shift refugee camps, drinking from sewage-filled streams, Iraqi policy mastermind Paul Wolfowitz fastens the last stud into his starched collar.

As the Iraq Survey Group ends its search for WMD, concluding that there was no imminent mushroom cloud or even a smoking gun, Condi Rice draws herself a hot bath.

As Sgt. Kevin Benderman, an Army mechanic with nine years of service, refuses a second deployment to Iraq, saying "you just don't know how bad it is," Colin Powell pours himself a drink.

As Specialist Charles A. Graner, miscreant and major-domo of Abu Ghraib, shuffles off to prison, Donald Rumsfeld straightens the black tie of his tux.

As the 9/11 widow tucks her children into bed, wondering why the recommendations made in the 9/11 Commission Report weren't implemented, Tom Ridge tightens his cummerbund.

As prisoners charged with no crimes, and given no recourse, languish in the hellhole of Guantanamo Bay, torture apologist Alberto Gonzales clicks his cufflinks into place.

As Dan Rather retires in disgrace over forged documents, former CIA Director George Tenet, proponent of forged documents about Iraq's nonexistent nuclear program, adjusts the Medal of Freedom around his neck.

As the working mother in Chicago wonders how to keep her child from being left behind now that her special-ed program has been cut, Armstrong Williams polishes his shoes.

As Valerie Plame walks away from a distinguished career as a CIA "operative," destroyed when her identity was revealed by columnist Robert Novak, Mr. Novak walks to his limo.

As Osama bin Laden chuckles in his cave to see America's fortunes sink in the morass of Iraq and as fresh recruits to his cause multiply like flies, Dick Cheney pops the cork on a bottle of Dom Perignon.

As America's trade gap surges and the red ink in the national debt bleeds to a record level, Treasury Secretary John Snow finishes shaving and dabs at a spot of blood on his chin.

As the Republican Congress gets ready to underfund everything from Head Start to veterans' benefits, Speaker Dennis Hastert checks his profile in the mirror.

As Pfc. Francis Obaji, oldest son of an immigrant Nigerian family, is zipped into a body bag for the sad journey home, Laura Bush zips up her Oscar de la Renta gown.

And as his corporate pals, forgetting for a moment the bottom line that forces them to ship jobs overseas, slide their millions across the table to dance at his ball, George W. Bush pulls on his snakeskin boots.

Susan Lenfestey (SooLen@aol.com) is a Minneapolis writer.

© 2005 Star Tribune

source: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0120-23.htm

Colorado Cousins !

Colorado Cousins (Gosar Ranch)
Originally uploaded by photosteve.

Gosar Ranch - Monte Vista Colorado
Silverstreak Clipper & Airstream


Further south outside of Monte Vista is Gosar Ranch. Greg Gosar raises organic wheat and beef.  He operates Manna Milling, a source of organic whole wheat flours.  He also offers natural ground beef, steaks and roasts, in addition to a variety of chicken sausages.  His cattle are organically fed without any additives or stimulants.  Greg’s products are sold to restaurants and stores throughout the Southwest. He also sells to national distributors and his products can be found as far away as Florida. Of course you can buy direct. Call (719) 855-2133.

source: http://www.saguache.org/area/organic.html

See Our August 3rd Blog Post To Compare

Stigma surrounding mental-health care lessens

Local officials say getting mental health help is vital

By Melissa Borden / Reporter-News Staff Writer
January 8, 2005

Mental health is on the minds of many people who are taken aback the recent court ruling to overturn Andrea Yates' 2002 conviction for killing three of her five children.

A three-judge panel on Thursday agreed with Yates' lawyers, who claimed false testimony from a prosecution expert witness contributed to the conviction. The Houston mother, who was not tried in the deaths of her other two children, is serving a life sentence in a psychiatric prison.

Despite the overturned conviction, Yates' attorney has said the woman still needs medical help.

Yates reportedly was seen by a mental health professional and did not stick with the antidepressant drugs she was prescribed.

If she had, the death of her children may not have occurred, said Patricia Dodson, director of adult services at the Abilene Psychiatric Center. Dodson is a licensed clinical social worker and a certified addiction specialist and has been in the mental health-care field for more than 15 years. Dodson, who is familiar with the case from having followed it in the media, said she believes it's possible that Yates might not have killed her children if she had gotten mental-health care and stayed with it.

It's a decision many face today - seeking treatment for mental illness is an important decision that needs to be made early, mental health professionals say, to prevent further brain damage, psychological problems and even crime.

''There's a tremendous consequence for not getting treatment,'' said Dr. G. Paul Kula, Abilene Psychiatric Associates' staff psychiatrist. ''Drinking, divorce, estranged relationships with children, criminal activity - a great percentage of the population of prisons have mental illness. Because they've never been treated, they failed in school, can't make it in society, etc.''

Becoming educated about the symptoms, signs and types of depression is important to ensuring mental health, Dodson said.

n Situational depression occurs after a specific event, such as the holidays, death of a loved one, or divorce. It's a process that people need to work through, Dodson said - one that could take up to a year.

* Clinical depression is a biochemical disease and can be genetic.

- Dysthymia, a form of clinical depression, is a chronic, mild to moderate underlying depression that could be made worse by a situation.

- Major depression, another form of clinical depression, can improve with time or may require medication. It also can be debilitating to the patient and family.

* Bipolar disorder is a genetic disorder that causes distorted, rapid thinking. Sometimes called manic depression, the disorder caused extreme highs and lows, but some patients can be treated with medicine.

It was a combination of these types of depression that led Yates to kill her children, Dodson said. Yates had a family history of depression, she was suffering from post-partum and situational depression, and Yates neglected treatment. All of these factors exacerbated her depression to a state of hallucinations and violence.

''It's a lot different feeling really sad after a death or divorce and thinking about hurting yourself'' or others, Dodson said.

It's at that point, she said, that people need to seek immediate attention.

''There was a buildup in Andrea ... holding a knife to her throat, thinking about hurting her newborn son,'' Dodson said. ''It's the individual's responsibility to notice symptoms in themselves and seek help. Family members may need to intervene as someone sinks down.''

Watching for signs of mental instability is especially important now, said Kermit Klaerner, director of the local Mental Health Association. The Mental Health Association is an advocacy group that also handles a crisis hot line. Klaerner said the hotline's busiest months are January and February.

''The trend is that usually after the holidays, depression is more prevalent,'' he said. ''People become more depressed after the holidays because they get that holiday high, and then once it's over, depression and loneliness can set in.''

Loneliness and isolation are the most-common signs of depression, Klaerner said.

''The blues is usually temporary. Everybody gets the blues,'' he said. ''I'd say if it lasts more than a week and, especially, goes into two weeks, you should get help. One of the worst mistakes you can make is if they sit in the house, the doors and windows closed and just want to be alone.''

The first step once someone recognizes symptoms of depression is to get a professional assessment, Klaerner said.

A family doctor, a licensed therapist or counselor, a psychologist or a psychiatrist can conduct the assessment, Dodson said, and tell where someone falls on the scale of depression based on the intensity of symptoms. Situational depression can be treated with counseling alone. Clinical depression may require medication. Only a medical doctor or psychiatrist can prescribe medication.

Hospitalization occurs in extreme cases, but the majority of depressed people are treated on an outpatient basis. The Abilene Psychiatric Center houses patients needing short-term psychiatric intervention.

''The people we usually see are the people that waited until they were very ill or are not responding to medication on the outside,'' Dodson said.

Antidepressants may be needed for a short time if the depression is situational. If it's genetic, a patient may have to take drugs continually.

''I compare it to diabetes,'' Dodson said. ''Some people can control it with diet, and some people require insulin shots to control diabetes.''

Maintaining mental health requires adequate sleep, food and exercise and staying on course if medicated.

''Once there seems to be a pattern,'' Dodson said, ''it's important to keep on the medication.''

Contact staff writer Melissa Borden at bordenm@reporternews.com or 676-6736.

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_3455451,00.html

Religious Extremist’s of all Stripes (Our Neighbors)

The Rest of the Story. What KXYL’s Connie failed to mention ( expand your sources to more
than WND and get the rest of the story ! ) :

GLOBAL JIHAD
Islamists threaten U.S. Christian worker
Website lists address, photo, prayer for delivery of 'fatty neck'
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: February 8, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

A Christian aid worker who writes for an evangelical news service apparently has been targeted for death by contributors to an Islamist website.

Posting on the Houston-based site Al Ansar, the Islamists blamed Jeremy Reynalds, director of Joy Junction in New Mexico, for the demise of another website, mawsuat.com, and asked if anyone else had more information on him, according to Internet Haganah.

Internet Haganah describes itself as a "global open-source intelligence network dedicated to confronting Internet use by Islamist terrorist organizations, their supporters, enablers and apologists."

In the subsequent discussion thread on Al Ansar, the Islamists posted Reynalds' home address so he would be "visited" and then a photograph with the wish that his ribs would be broken.

Another offered prayers to Allah that Reynalds' "fatty neck" would be delivered to them, a reference to Islamists' common method of decapitation.

"The thread closes with a heartfelt 'amen,'" Internet Haganah said.

Reynalds' emergency homeless shelter is the largest in New Mexico. He also is a freelance writer who has covered topics related to Islam and terrorism.

He wrote about the demise of the website mawsuat.com in a January article.

When informed by Internet Haganah of the threat, Reynalds said said he has no intention of backing down.

"He is more determined than ever to help drive Internet terrorism right where it belongs – into the pit of hell!" Internet Haganah said.

Meanwhile, relatives of Hossam Armanious, an immigrant from Egypt slain Jan. 14 with his wife and two daughters, suspect Islamic radicals who issued death threats via an Internet chat service are responsible.

The New York Sun reported last week that Armanious was just one of a number of Christians systematically tracked by a radical Islamic website because they debate Muslims on the popular Internet chat service PalTalk.com.

Barsomyat.com features photographs and information about Christians who actively debate on PalTalk, including a group of photographs of a Syrian Christian, "Joseph," who now lives in Canada. One comment warns: "Know, oh Christian, that you are not far from us and you are under our watchful eyes!"

The Islamic website's banner displays lamb with its throat being slit and a crucifix crossed out by a violent red "X." The main heading, in Arabic, says "Christians: Revealing the Truth Behind Our Belief."

The FBI reportedly is investigating Barsomyat.com

Related story:
Christians stalked on Islamic website
source: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42757
---------------------------------
and now the Christian Terrorists (Insurgents ?) Note same tactics !

'Right to Life', but Not for the Living
Copyright © 1998, 2003 by David E. Ross

Once again, the "Right to Life" movement demonstrates its lack of interest in life for the living. Their agenda ends at birth. Dr. Barnett Slepian was murdered this weekend because he performs abortions. Since Dr. David Gunn was shot in 1993, a total of three doctors and four other individuals associated with abortion clinics have been murdered by gunshots or bombs. What happened to their rights to life?

*** Begin Right Sidebar ***No, I will not publish the link to the "Christian Gallery" Web site. I will not waste my time trying to locate it. And if I already had the URL, I would not extend further publicity to their terrorist agenda by posting it. *** End Right Sidebar ***Immediately after the news about Dr. Slepian broke, several "Right to Life" leaders fell over themselves denouncing the murders. Hypocrites! Their rantings about "baby killers" and "murderers" encourage violence against those doctors and other health-care workers who help women end their pregnancies. This is no different from how the homophobic hatred spewed by such "moral" leaders as Senator Lott, James Dobson, and the Southern Baptist Convention fomented the murder of Matthew Shepard. No, the "Right to Life" leadership might not have supplied the rifle or pulled the trigger in the death of Dr. Slepian; but when you preach hatred, you reap the rewards of hatred, which are generally violent. In any case, the denunciations of the actual murders sound false when you consider the lack of any denunciation of the "Christian Gallery" Web site and its list of doctors targeted for violence or death.

(Alert: Religious dogma ahead!)

Claiming to protect human lives by stopping abortion, the "Right to Life" movement has it backwards. Health-care workers who help women end their pregnancies are humans, but the fetuses about which the "Right to Life" movement cares so much are merely potentially human. Until it receives a soul with its first breath of air, a fetus is incomplete and cannot be human. The doctors who perform abortions — breathing and thinking — have souls and thus higher priority for their rights to life than any fetus. Yes, I know this is only the belief of my own religion; but the idea that a mass of undifferentiated cells shortly after conception has a soul and is a truly human life is also a narrow belief of certain religions that is not universally shared with all religions. How dare the "Right to Life" movement insist that I follow their religion and not my own!

25 October 1998
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Slepian believed in life. As an obstetrician, he delivered many healthy babies to women who wanted to be mothers. He claimed that he performed abortions because he wanted to protect the lives of women who would otherwise risk death at the hands of "back-alley butchers". By giving those women safe, competent abortions, he assured them that they would survive to have children later. He did indeed choose life.

In the meantime, Dr. Slepian's murderer is a coward, who shot his victim in the back.

26 October 1998
------------------------------------------------------------------------

James Kopp was sentenced in May of this year to 25 years to life in prison for murdering Dr. Slepian. He was tried after being extradited from France, which delayed extradition until receiving official assurance from the U.S. that Kopp would not face capital punishment.

Loretta Marra and Dennis Malvasi, who hid Kopp from arrest, were freed from jail after being held more than two years waiting for trial on federal charges of conspiracy to harbor a known fugitive. The two pleaded guilty and were sentenced to time served.

7 November 2003

source: http://www.rossde.com/editorials/edtl_abtn_dr_killed.html
---------------------------
Issue#73:
The Limits of Free Speech

Spring 1999

February 11, 1999
Published in intellectualcapital.com

Radical protest groups that advocate or condone violence inevitably test the limits of free speech. The First Amendment rights of all Americans have been defined, in part, by Supreme Court cases protecting the rights of Klan members, Communists, and other malcontents. Anti-abortion activists who applaud or excuse violence against abortion providers appeal to our constitutional tradition of tolerance for dissident speech, no matter how ugly or outre. And, in general, when they rally outside abortion clinics screaming epithets at patients and clinicians, they are indeed exercising their First Amendment rights (so long as they do not prevent people from entering the buildings.) But the constitutional right to outrage, deeply offend, or verbally abuse your opponents does not include a right to threaten them. When does intimidating, angry speech constitute an unprotected threat of harm? That was the hard question recently answered by a jury in Portland, Oregon when it leveled a $100 million damage award against anti-abortion activists on the violent fringe of their movement.

Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life Activists is a civil action brought by Planned Parenthood, the Portland Feminist Women's Health Center, and five individual doctors against fourteen individuals and two anti-abortion groups, including the American Coalition of Life Activists. The ACLA is a splinter group that condones violence against abortion providers. The suit was brought under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Law ( RICO) and the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (the FACE Act.)

Defendants were charged with unlawfully threatening abortion doctors, by featuring them on wanted posters and by contributing to a controversial web site, "The Nuremberg Files." It posted pictures of abortion doctors (labeled "baby butchers") and accused them of crimes against humanity, listing their names, addresses, license plate numbers, and their spouses and children's names, when available. Three doctors on the list have been killed: their names were crossed out. The names of those wounded were listed in gray.

The RICO charge against defendants is lamentable. RICO was aimed at organized crime's infiltration of legitimate businesses and should not be used against political groups. But the FACE charge deserved to be heard by a jury. The Face Act expressly prohibits using "threat of force" to "intimidate" or "interfere" with abortion providers or patients. Planned Parenthood v. ACLA thus raised two questions: how should this prohibition on threats or intimidation be construed consistent with the First Amendment? Did the wanted posters and Web site qualify as threats?

Federal courts have held that, in principle, threatening someone with death or serious injury is not protected speech. Like many simple legal principles, however, this one is difficult to apply, in fact. In 1969, in Watts v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law prohibiting the issuance of threats against the President. But the Court stressed that "true" threats do not include political hyperbole - without exactly explaining how to distinguish the two. (Hyperbole, perhaps, is like obscenity: judges supposedly know it when they see it.)

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, however, has defined "true threats." In 1996, in Lovell v. Poway Unified School District, it held that threatening speech is unprotected when a "reasonable person" would forsee the speech would be perceived as a "serious expression of intent to harm or assault." In making this judgment, the Court added, fact finders should consider the context of the speech, "including the surrounding events and the reaction of the listeners." (Lovell upheld the suspension of a high school student who, in a moment of pique, allegedly threatened to shoot her guidance counsellor.)

The rule enunciated in Lovell was applied by federal District Court Judge Robert E. Jones in the Nuremberg Files case. Judge Jones instructed jurors that the wanted posters and Web Site were actionable threats if anti-abortion activists should have known that they would be considered truly threatening, given the circumstances (a history of violence against abortion providers.) As the judge explained to the jury, this is an "objective standard" "that of a reasonable person." Jurors were not required to make any findings regarding the actual subjective intent of defendants. The question before them was under the circumstances, "would a reasonable person know that their statements would be threatening," not "did these particular defendants intend to issue threats?"

Whether or not this objective rule satisfies the First Amendment is likely to be an issue on appeal. A rule requiring jurors to consider a defendant's actual state of mind is more protective of speech, appropriately: people should not be held liable for threats they did not actually intend to make. It seems clear, however, that in this case, the defendants would have been found liable under a higher standard. Indeed, the jury found malice or ill intent on their part when it awarded punative damages.

First Amendment advocates are divided over the justice of this verdict. The wanted posters and the Nuremberg Files web site straddle the line between protected political rhetoric and threats to murder. No explicit threats were issued, but, considering the context and a recent history of violence, including the murders of three doctors who had been the subject of wanted posters, the implicit threats were clear. In fact, the FBI offered doctors targeted by the Nuremberg Files round the clock protection and advised them to wear bulletproof vests. One defendant testified that "If I was an abortionist, I would be afraid."

There was no proof of a direct, causal link between the speech and violence against abortion providers; but incitement to violence was not exactly at issue in this case. Whether or not defendants' speech incited violence, it greatly threatened targeted abortion providers. The verdict in this case suggests, in part, that people have a right not to be terrorized, (especially when engaged in constitutionally protected activity), and that the right not to be terrorized may sometimes trump the right to speak. That is a controversial idea but not exactly a novel one: it is reflected in efforts to prohibit stalking. The Nuremberg Files web site and wanted posters might, in fact, be analogized to stalking, because they explicitly targeted individual doctors.

The identification and targeting of individuals also put privacy rights at stake in this case. It is another reminder of the threats to privacy posed by the Internet. When, if ever, should your right to privacy trump my right to disseminate personal information about you on the Net?

Should the Nuremberg Files be shut down? The question is moot. Judge Jones has no power to order the site off the web, since, its operator, Neil Horsely, is not a defendant in this case. But two days after the verdict in Planned Parenthood v. ACLA, Horsely's ISP "inactivated" his account, claiming that he had violated the company's "Appropriate Use Policy." Horsely reported that he was seeking a "bolder and more principled ISP" to host his site. It's worth noting that the Nuremberg Files was only one part of a Christian web site (christiangallery.com), which (as far as I could tell), consisted largely of protected speech.

Should the defendants be shut up? Of course not, although they may be edited. Defendants must retain their right to condemn "baby butchers," in the strongest language they can muster. But that may only include a right to condemn them in general, without targeting individuals and demanding they be brought to justice. In this case, the difference between general and particular attacks on abortion providers may be the difference between protected speech and vigilantiism.

© Wendy Kaminer
Wendy Kaminer is a public policy fellow at Radcliffe College and president of the National Coalition Against Censorship.

source: http://www.ncac.org/cen_news/cn73kaminer.html
--------------------------------------------
Anti-Abortion Web Site Shut Down in Civil Suit
26-Feb-1999 | Jonathan Wallace, Editor of The Ethical Spectacle

The defendants in the 'Nuremberg Files' case were recently fined US$107 million by a US court and their website was later removed by the Internet Service Provider 'Mindspring'. The 'Nuremberg Files' was an anti-abortion site.

The controversy has re-opened with the mirroring of the site by a Dutch free speech advocate. Whilst opposed to any restrictions on abortion rights, Internet Freedom is completely opposed to the site's closure. To help clarify why, we are redistributing an article by Jonathan Wallace, free speech advocate and publisher of The Ethical Spectacle (http://www.spectacle.org). The article originally appeared as a SLAC bulletin.

In an Oregon case, a jury returned a verdict for substantial damages against the publisher of the Nuremberg Files website, which published lists of abortion doctors with their home addresses. When a physician on the list was murdered, a line was placed through the name; when a doctor was wounded, the name was listed in gray. Though the anti-abortion focus of the site was clear, nothing on the site specifically advocated violence against the doctors.

After the verdict, the ISP hosting the site closed it down, claiming a terms of service violation.

The verdict, which will likely be reversed on First Amendment grounds if appealed, acutely illustrates the way society blurs the distinction between morality and legality. Not everything which we find shockingly immoral is, or should be, illegal. In the case of a decision assigning liability for pure speech---for that is all a web page is---more consideration should have been given to the goals of the first amendment, and the precedents already established in free speech law.

Decades of Supreme Court decisions, long preceding the Internet, have established that even the explicit advocacy of violence is protected except in the small subset of cases in which the speech is capable of inspiring immediate action against a victim. A book, pamphlet or web page calling for the murder of a group of people, repulsive as it is, is not illegal under this rule. Standing on the proposed victim's doorstep, addressing an angry armed mob, would be.

One Supreme Court precedent involved a speech given at an isolated farm to a racist group. The advocacy of violence was not aimed at specific individuals, but at members of a race who were not present. In another case, a dissident said that if he were drafted, the first person he would point his rifle at would be President Johnson. The Court held that this statement was too conditional to constitute an immediate threat of action.

The lawsuit was brought under a 1994 law, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The name of the law itself indicates that it was brought to address actions taken on the front steps of the targeted location, not on a web page.

The act creates a criminal penalty and a civil remedy against "whoever.....by threat of force.....intimidates or interferes with, or attempts to interfere with" any user or provider of reproductive health services. Congress did not have the authority, in passing this act, to expand the limits of the Supreme Court definition of a threat. It could only target a particular type of threat meeting the Supreme Court criteria. The Nuremberg Files web site did not meet the Supreme Court standard, and the judge should never have permitted the case to be submitted to a jury.

Thus, the Nuremberg Files web site could have legally called for the murder of abortion doctors. Unlike speech on a doctor's doorstep intended to inflame an armed mob, it is very unlikely that a court will find that speech on the web is sufficiently immediate to constitute an illegal advocacy of violence under the Supreme Court rule. The jury's verdict was based on shock and rage at the defendant's ideas. But it is very dangerous to jump from the reaction that an idea is shocking to the presumption that it is illegal or should give rise to civil liability.

An interesting question is whether the behavior of the Nuremberg Files webmaster would be illegal even if performed on a doctor's doorstep. Holding up a piece of paper with the proposed victim's name and drawing a line through it might not constitute the kind of immediate inflammatory speech which could be prosecuted even in that context---not in the same way as shouting "Kill him now!" to an angry mob.

Once you clear away the fog of rage, it is hard to find the illegal activity in the morally horrifying Nuremberg Files page. The site reprinted publicly available information. In order to turn this activity into a crime, we would need privacy laws which don't currently exist, providing civil liability for revealing the identity or address of a person who doesn't want this information known. Even then, there would be a strong free speech issue concerning the circumstances under which the newsworthiness of a person's identity overrides his desire for privacy.

Once we acknowledge that the first amendment protects the communication of a person's name and address, we are forced to look for nuances to make the behavior which shocks us illegal. Suppose I print the names and addresses of the congress people who voted to impeach the president on a website where other language leads you to infer that I want you to write and thank them. You print the same information on a website where certain prose leads the reader to infer you are very angry at them. How much nuance in your writing does it require for a jury to find that you are advocating violence against the congressfolk? Once juries or courts get involved looking for nuances in pure speech, we are all at risk.

When we make speech like the Nuremberg Files site illegal, the temptation is then to keep drawing the circle further out. At some point it becomes illegal to make statements like "the world would be better off if no doctors performed abortion" or to write a novel involving the killing of abortion doctors. Then we have to get involved in very fine distinctions: is the novel by someone well-known in the mainstream, like John Grisham, or by a fringe figure who belongs to an anti-abortion group? For the purposes of the first amendment, there is no distinction, and cannot be any, between A Time to Kill and The Turner Diaries. Of course, it is frequently debatable whether a depiction advocates the acts of violence it describes-- shades of the centuries old debate as to whether The Merchant of Venice is an anti-semitic work (I believe it is, by the way). The next step is to take similar or practically identical speech and decide whether it is acceptable based on the identity of the speaker. In the sixties, Roy Rogers appeared on television wearing an American flag shirt, but Abbie Hoffman was blacked out when he tried to do the same.

Abortion is legal and constitutionally protected in the US. The key to protecting the right to abortion is to guard the people who deliver the service and prosecute the people who physically attempt to harm them. This does not and should not extend to silencing those who oppose abortion, no matter how virulent their speech.

source: http://www.netfreedom.org/news.asp?item=58

Heard on Brownwood Hate Radio Airwaves

Quote of the week:

"I wouldn't call it a tragedy. ... We shouldn't be spending a nickel on this."
-- Radio host Michael Savage, on the December 26 tsunami resulting from an earthquake in Southeast Asia.

source: http://mediamatters.org/

Bush Administration Propoganda ? Brownwood's Talking Heads are silent on this one !

The Conservative Marketing Machine
    By Laurie Spivak
    AlterNet.org

    Tuesday 11 January 2005

Armstrong Williams being paid to promote Bush administration policies in his columns is just one part of the behemoth marketing effort that the right wing has perfected.

    The Armstrong Williams story that surfaced last week is unquestionably a juicy one: the conservative, African-American commentator was paid a sweet $240,000 (in taxpayer dollars), by the Department of Education to promote President Bush's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. Ketchum, a public relations firm, served as the intermediary, contracting with Williams to promote the controversial law in op/ed pieces and on his nationally syndicated television show "The Right Side," to urge other black journalists and producers to "periodically address" NCLB, and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for radio and television spots promoting the legislation.

    Does Ketchum PR sound familiar? If it does, it's because these are the good folks who brought America Karen Ryan last year. Remember Karen? "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting." She was the PR hack who posed as a reporter back in early 2004 to tout President Bush's Medicare reform plan in fake news spots paid for by taxpayer dollars. In May, 2004, the nonpartisan General Accounting Office investigated the Medicare spots and determined that they were illegal because they violated a ban on publicly funded "covert propaganda." Lest a little thing like legality stop this administration, Karen Ryan surfaced again in October in her latest fake news story touting another of President Bush's programs just in time for the election - you guessed it - No Child Left Behind.

    In looking at the Williams scandal, there is certainly no shortage of story angles to choose from. There is the classic hypocrisy angle, on full display in one of Williams' articles dated May 24, 2004, with the headline "The Big Education Sell Out" next to a grinning photo of the journalist. In the article, Williams - incidentally, a former aide to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas - criticizes the National Education Association (NEA) for caring more about "massaging the perception" of the public than about kids because of the union's opposition to No Child Left Behind. Classically satirical stuff from a guy who was paid a cool quarter million to massage public perception on the highly contentious NCLB legislation, while his own web site promotes him as both "independent" and "a principled voice for conservatives."

    Of course, pundits and journalists tend to favor the "breach of journalistic ethics" angle. Williams, who regularly appears as a commentator on CNN and CNBC failed to disclose his $240,000 payoff to either news producers or audiences when touting the failing NCLB program as a sign of President Bush's unwavering support of the black community. While a CNN spokesperson said, "we will seriously consider this before booking him again," Tribune Media Services (TMS), the syndication service that distributed Williams columns to newspapers nationwide, went a step further and terminated its contract with Williams last Friday. According to TMS, Williams wrote at least four newspaper columns on NCLB in 2004, but never disclosed that he was on the Department of Education's payroll. How did Williams explain this egregious breach of ethics? "I am a pure entrepreneur and I made a business decision. I didn't think about my dual role as media pundit and entrepreneur." Williams now plans to self-syndicate adding, "I always feel I can sell my product better than anyone else."

    Still, as appealing as these angles are, it's hard to ignore the "misuse of public funds" angle. A program called "No Child Left Behind" under-funded to the tune of about $7 billion a year - in effect leaving more than four million children behind - allocates a quarter of a million dollars in program funds (read taxpayer dollars) to pay a pundit to promote the failing program. Congressman George Miller, the top Democrat on the House Education Committee and co-author of NCLB, characterized the contract with Williams as "a very questionable use of taxpayers' money" that is "probably illegal," due to that pesky ban on using public funds for propaganda. What was the official response? The administration blamed the Department of Education, whose spokesman John Gibbons said that the contract followed standard government procedures, but added there were no plans for "similar outreach." So what's the moral of the story? One man's illegal covert propaganda is another man's outreach.

    While each of these angles certainly makes for a tasty scandal story, they are all pieces of a much bigger story, one that is decidedly less delicious, and one that the mainstream media has consistently missed. This isn't just a story about a self-serving pundit "entrepreneur," or the erosion of public trust in the media, or hypocrisy, or using covert propaganda to sell controversial Bush programs like Medicare reform and NCLB, or the misuse of taxpayer dollars, or the undermining of the American people's trust in the public sector.

    It is the story of the conservative movement and its well-oiled marketing machine; a packaging and distribution system of ideas that has been shaping American public opinion for more than a quarter century. It is also one of the most important stories behind the 2004 election.

    While Democrats are still debating whether John Kerry was likeable enough or whether the Party ought to change its position on gay marriage and gun control, they are failing to see the big picture. What they were up against wasn't a poor debater, his Machiavellian consultant, and a portfolio of privatization policies, but a well-established, conservative movement with media outlets, think tanks, foundations and advocacy organizations as well as a host of pundits, journalists, consultants, and politicians all working collaboratively to advance their right-wing agenda (and many of the latter, like Williams, working the double shift as "entrepreneurs" and getting mighty rich).

    While the leaders of the conservative movement like to boast that the power of their movement lies in the power of its ideas, the ideas of today's conservative movement are the same old failed policies from years gone by, spit-shined and with user-friendly names. The power of the conservative movement is not in its ideas, rather it is in the marketing of these ideas, primarily through effective packaging, promotion and distribution.

    Take for example the Heritage Foundation, the foremost conservative think tank in America today. Paul Weyrich, Heritage's founder, attributes the ascendancy of the conservative movement to what he calls "the four M's: mission, money, management and marketing." The former director of Heritage's Academic Bank, Willa Johnson, explained: "Dealing with the academic community can be frustrating ... This community lacks marketing. We do that. They have an expertise and they don't know how to get it into channels. Heritage is an institution by which they can do that." What channels? According to Heritage's president Edwin Feulner, "We stress an efficient and effective delivery system [of ideas]. Production is one side; marketing is equally important ... Our targets are the policy-makers and the opinion-making elite ... the public gets it from them."

    Indeed, according to the Heritage Foundation's annual report, in the first quarter of 2002, Heritage Foundation "policy experts" briefed three Cabinet secretaries, 33 senators, 48 members of Congress and 164 senior administration officials. That's almost 250 senior policymakers in just three months time. In terms of reaching the "opinion-making elite," as many of Heritage's spokespersons were seen on television in 2002 alone as during the entire 1990s. They appeared on more than 600 television broadcasts, more than 1,000 radio broadcasts, and in approximately 8,000 articles and editorials.

    But it's not just the Heritage Foundation that markets conservative policies. William Baroody of the American Enterprise Institute, the first conservative think tank and the second most prominent in the nation, said, "I make no bones about marketing. We pay as much attention to the dissemination of product as to the content." What's more, today with distribution channels like Fox News, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and Clear Channel, conservatives are increasingly marketing their ideas directly to the public.

    Armstrong Williams, Karen Ryan and Ketchum PR are all bit players in what is a big budget, major studio production. Even George W. Bush is just one of the actors in this production. The real story here is about the conservative movement and the ways that that movement - primarily through the marketing of conservative ideas - has molded and continues to mold public opinion in America. Conservatives are beating progressives with an effective marketing machine. However, no such infrastructure exists on the left.

    While clearly conservatives' tactics (i.e., bribing pundit entrepreneurs and faking news spots) are deplorable, progressives can learn from their overarching marketing strategy. Progressives must frame their ideas in ways that resonate with the American public and disseminate those ideas through a variety of diverse channels in a coordinated effort.

    The hopes of the Democratic Party in 2008 rest on one key question: will progressives spend the next four years viewing the world through the same narrow scope of the past, or will they embrace the big picture and see that in order to change the direction of the country, they must effectively counter the conservative movement?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armstrong Williams: I Am Not Alone
    By David Corn
    The Nation

    Monday 10 January 2005

    It was a rare moment of talk-show unanimity. On the set of the Fox News Washington bureau, host Tony Snow, fellow guest Linda Chavez (a conservative pundit), and I were slamming Armstrong Williams, a rightwing columnist and talk show host. USA Today had reported - as you probably know - that Williams had been paid nearly a quarter of a million dollars by the Bush administration to promote its No Child Left Behind education bill. And Williams, who supported the legislation in his column and as a cable news talking head, had not bothered to inform his audiences or the folks who book him at CNN, Fox, and MSNBC that he was a shill on the Bush payroll.

    Snow was shaking his head at Williams' indiscretion, and Chavez was upset and joked that she had received bupkis from the White House. Prior to going on air, she had complained that ArmstrongGate had caused some people to assume that she and other conservative commentators were also riding this gravy train. Since the story broke on Friday, she said, several people had asked her how much she had received from the Bush administration. She was pissed at Williams for conduct that was raising questions about the whole cadre of rightwing pundits. During our non-debate on Williams, I noted that it was a waste of taxpayer money to pay Williams for supporting the Bush administration, which he seemed quite willing to do for free. And I wondered aloud how this contract had come to be.

    After our segment finished, Chavez and I headed to the green room, and there he was: Armstrong Williams. He was waiting to go on air to defend himself. I've known him a long time; we've often sparred, in friendly fashion, on these shouting-head shows. I shook my head and said, "Armstrong, Armstrong, Armstrong...." He was quick with his main talking point: "It was bad judgment, Dave. Bad judgment." His phone rang. He answered it, said hello, and then told the person on the other end, "It was bad judgment. You know, just bad judgment." I was reminded that in addition to being a pundit, Williams, a leading African-American conservative and Clarence Thomas protégé, is a PR specialist with his own firm. Not too long ago, Michael Jackson called him for advice. Now he had himself for a client, and, heeding conventional crisis-management strategy, he was practicing strict message discipline: bad judgment, bad judgment, bad judgment.

    As we chatted, Chavez politely expressed her anger at Williams. This scandal, she noted, would provide ammunition to those who dismiss minority conservatives as race sellouts who have been bought off by the Republicans. (She is Mexican-American.) Williams absorbed her point, acting contrite.

    I asked if Williams had yet been conducted by the inspector general at the Education Department, the agency that had awarded the contract that supplied him $241,000 for promoting the NCLB measure within the African-American community. Representative George Miller, the ranking Democrat on the education committee, and other House Democrats had already called for an investigation. Why should the IG contact me? Williams replied, noting he had been merely a subcontractor. Any thorough investigation, I remarked, would include questioning the subcontractor. He scratched his head. "Funny," he said. "I thought this [contract] was a blessing at the time."

    And then Williams violated a PR rule: he got off-point. "This happens all the time," he told me. "There are others." Really? I said. Other conservative commentators accept money from the Bush administration? I asked Williams for names. "I'm not going to defend myself that way," he said. The issue right now, he explained, was his own mistake. Well, I said, what if I call you up in a few weeks, after this blows over, and then ask you? No, he said.

    Does Williams really know something about other rightwing pundits? Or was he only trying to minimize his own screw-up with a momentary embrace of a trumped-up everybody-does-it defense? I could not tell. But if the IG at the Department of Education or any other official questions Williams, I suggest he or she ask what Williams meant by this comment. And if Williams is really sorry for this act of "bad judgment" and for besmirching the profession of rightwing punditry, shouldn't he do what he can to guarantee that those who watch pundits on the cable news networks and read political columnists receive conservative views that are independent and untainted by payoffs from the Bush administration or other political outfits?

    Armstrong, please, help us all protect the independence of the conservative commentariat. If you are not alone, tell us who else has yielded to bad judgment.

source: http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/011205F.shtml
------------------
source: http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/ftn/main3460.shtml
Face The Nation - Sunday - January 8, 2005

SCHIEFFER: “ Finally today, news that the Department of Education paid talk show host Armstrong Williams what amounts to a $ 240,000 bribe to promote its No Child Left Behind legislation is so outrageous it borders on laughable. Except I am not amused when the government uses my money, tax dollars, to try to con me. Every large organization including CBS has a few stupid people around and on occasion they do stupid things. But what I don’t understand is why all this caused hardly a ripple at the White House. The only response from there that I could find in yesterday’s papers was that a spokesman referred all questions to the Department of Education. Well, why go there for answers where the whole loony idea originated, the same department that had earlier spent some $ 700,000 on a survey to find out which reporters favored No Child Left Behind and which opposed it ?

I cannot imagine that the president or anyone else with half a brain thought this was a good idea. But wouldn’t you think the White House would want us to know that ? Has the administration become so convinced of its own righteousness that it refuses to denounce even this sort of thing ? Did they think we wouldn’t notice ? Forget the details. Trying to corrupt the news media with bribes is wrong. If the Department of Education people haven’t figured that out, then the presidnet should educate them. A good lesson plan might include firing those responsible. Then he should promise the rest of us it will never happen again.

That’s it for us. We’ll see you next week right here on Face The Nation “
---------------------
Letter from David Brock, RE: Armstrong Williams
January 7, 2005

Kevin Klose
President and Chief Executive
National Public Radio
635 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

David D. Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Sinclair Broadcasting Group, Inc.
10706 Beaver Dam Road
Hunt Valley, MD 21030

Roger E. Ailes
Chairman and CEO
FOX News Channel
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Jonathan Rodgers
CEO
TV One
101 Wayne Avenue, 10th floor
Silver Spring, MD 20910

David D. Williams
President and CEO
Tribune Media Services
435 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611

Dear Sirs:

I'm writing today to bring to your attention a report in the January 7 edition of USA Today that conservative commentator Armstrong Williams was paid $240,000 by the U.S. government to promote a Bush administration education initiative -- a financial relationship he failed to disclose to readers, listeners, and viewers.

If the facts as reported by USA Today are correct, Mr. Williams was being secretly paid by the Bush administration to promote government policies at the same time that he was participating in public debate on those policies. I presume that you are as troubled by this gross conflict of interest as I am. I respectfully ask that you immediately review your professional relationship with Mr. Williams and take whatever actions you may deem appropriate, including severing that relationship, on the grounds that Mr. Williams's integrity has been irrevocably damaged by taking money to influence the public debate without disclosing those payments.

In my view, the payments, if made -- as well as Mr. Williams's failure to disclose the payments -- would disqualify Mr. Williams from appearing in the media as an independent commentator.

Yours,

David Brock
President and CEO
Media Matters for America

source: http://mediamatters.org/items/200501070009
--------------------
Fake news coupled with deception is a disgraceful use of taxpayers' money
By Asheville Citizen-Times
Jan. 7, 2005 6:19 p.m.

"Congress has prohibited propaganda. . And it's propaganda.'' - Melanie Sloan, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.

USA Today reported Friday that Armstrong Williams, a well- known commentator, was being paid for his opinions by, well, by us, the American taxpayers.

The newspaper reported Williams, one of those modern media creations who appears in print and is omnipresent on radio and television, is being paid by the Bush administration to the tune of $240,000 to promote the No Child Left Behind program.

Williams said he saw how people could think the deal was unethical, but told USA Today, "I wanted to do it because it's something I believe in.''

Frankly, most people could believe in the Tooth Fairy for $240,000.

We'll say this for Williams: He held his end of the bargain, tirelessly promoting NCLB.

About the nicest thing you can say of this affair is that Williams is like the old definition of an honest politician: "one who, when he is bought, will stay bought.''

One of the requirements was for Williams to interview Rod Paige, Education Secretary. Williams went the extra mile, even penning a column praising Paige for calling the National Education Association a terrorist group.

Let's be blunt: what Williams has done is unethical and quite possibly illegal. It's the latest in a round of disingenuous approaches toward molding public opinion hatched by this administration.

The deal was part of an arrangement with the Ketchum public relations firm, which among other things has produced fake new reports ("video news releases") for distribution to local television stations to pitch its Medicare drug prescription plan.

Another recently disclosed "news report'' by the Office of National Drug Control Policy featured a pitch called "Urging Parents to Get the Facts Straight on Teen Marijuana Use,'' by "reporter'' Mike Morris. The Medicare and drug pieces were distributed for use by local television stations, which is fine. They didn't disclose that they were essentially government press releases.

Now, the government should provide information on public health and its policy initiatives. But if it's a good idea you shouldn't have to be deceptive about it. Public relations should be labeled as such, not hidden as legitimate reporting. What Williams has done would get him fired immediately at this newspaper. We're talking fired with extreme prejudice. Fired like, if fired out of a cannon, he'd break free of earth's orbit.

If it's fake news in fun, it's called parody. Leave that to Jon Stewart.

If it's fake news and it's deceptive, it's called propaganda. Leave that to Pravda.

We, as citizens and taxpayers, should demand it end immediately.

And as taxpayers, we should also demand our money back.

source: http://www.citizen-times.com/cache/article/editorial/73446.shtml

----------------------
Read his past colums at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/armstrongwilliams/archive.shtml

My apology
Armstrong Williams (back to web version) | Send

January 10, 2005
Dear readers:

In 2003, I agreed to run a paid ad on my syndicated television show, promoting the Department of Education’s No Child Left Behind Act. I subsequently used my column space to support that legislation. This represents an obvious conflict of interests. People have used this conflict of interests to portray my column as being paid for by the Bush Administration.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

At the same time, I understand that I exercised bad judgment in running paid advertising  for an issue that I frequently write about in my column. People need to know that my column is uncorrupted by any outside influences. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for my bad judgment, and to better explain the circumstances.

In 2003 Ketchum Communications contacted a small PR firm that I own, Graham Williams Group, to buy ad space on a television show that I own and host. The ad was to promote The Department of Education’s  “No Child Left Behind” plan. I have long felt that school vouchers hold the greatest promise of ending the racial education gap in this country. We need to hold schools accountable for their failures and create incentives to change. That is why I have vigorously supported school vouchers for the past decade—in print, on TV, during media appearances and in lectures.  I believe that school vouchers represent the greatest chance of stimulating hope for young, inner city school children—often of color.  In fact, I am a board member of Black Americans for Educational Options (BAEO), because I feel that school choice plans hold the promise of a new civil rights movement. 
 
In the past I have used my column space to convey the promise of school options. I continued to do so, even after receiving money to run a series of ads on my television show promoting the “No Child Left Behind” act. I now realize that I exercised poor judgment in continuing to write about a topic which my PR firm was being paid to promote.

The fact is, I run a small business. I am CEO and manage the syndication and advertising for my television show. In between juggling my commentaries and media appearances, I stepped over the line. This has never happened before. In fact, my company has never worked on a government contract. Nor have we ever received compensation for an issue that I subsequently reported on. This will never happen again.  I now realize that I have to create inseparable boundaries between my role as a small businessman and my role as an independent commentator.

I also understand that people must be able to trust that my commentary is unbiased. Please know that I supported school vouchers long before the Department of Education ran a single ad on my TV Show.  I did not change my views just because my PR firm was receiving paid advertising promoting the No Child Left Behind Act. I did however exercise bad judgment by accepting advertising for an issue that I frequently write about in my column. I apologize for this bad judgment, for  creating questions in people’s minds as to whether my commentary was sincere, and for bringing shame and embarrassment to the newspapers that run my commentary.

I accept full responsibility for my lack of good judgment. I am paying the price. Tribune Media has cancelled my column. And I have learned a valuable lesson. I just want to assure you that this will never happen again, and to ask for your forgiveness.

I hope that we can put this mistake behind us, and that I can continue to bring the same unique and impassioned perspective that I brought to this space in the past.

Sincerely,
Armstrong Williams
source: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/Armstrongwilliams/printaw20050110.shtml

---------------------

This just in for KXYL's James Williamson who tried like hell to spin this story down on todays show:

Conservative columnist who took $240k from Bush criticized NAACP for sexual harassment and economic “improprieties” after settling his own sexual harassment suit

Armstrong Williams lashed out at NAACP for sex harassment after settling harassment suit himself

By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor

The conservative columnist who was fired after accepting $240,000 to promote Bush’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ law rebuked the NAACP for “charges of sexual harassment and economic improprieties” after settling a sexual harassment suit himself, RAW STORY has learned.

Just last month, in an article discussing Kweisi Mfume’s resignation from the nation’s largest civil rights lobby, Williams said the NAACP was “foundering amidst charges of sexual harassment and economic improprieties” when Mfume was hired.

Mfume, he asserted, righted the ship–cleaning up the organization’s debt and concurrently issuing overtures to Republicans. But their veteran leader, Julian Bond, who in Williams’ piece was equated with an organization plagued by harassment, economic scandal and stridently anti-Bush messages–forced him out.

Williams, RAW STORY has discovered, settled accounts for the same misdeeds himself.

In 1997, Williams was sued in a massive $200,000 50-charge sexual harassment suit for repeatedly kissing his once male trainer Stephen Gregory who he had promoted repeatedly into his talk-show staff. Gregory claimed Williams had also grabbed his buttocks and genitals and climbed into bed with him on business trips. After rebuffing him, Gregory alleged, the pundit retaliated by reducing his pay and subsequently firing him.

At the time, the Williams had just teased an explosive quote from then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott who said that gays should be treated like those who have a problem with “alcohol … or sex addiction … or kleptomaniacs.”

Williams roundly supported this view.

Gregory’s attorney, Mickey Wheatley, a former lawyer with the Lamda Legal Defense Fund, a gay civil rights group, told the San Francisco Chronicle he thought it “ironic for Trent Lott to be making these offensive pronouncements when he’s sitting across from somebody who’s been accused of the most abusive kind of conduct of a homosexual nature.'’

Wheatley added: Williams “believes that (homosexuality) to be a sin, and so he must be in great pain over it, but he’s inflicting pain on others with his pronouncements. The way he treated my client would be indicative of what happens when you try to repress something as basic about yourself as your sexuality. My advice to him would be to get a boyfriend and leave his employees alone.'’

Williams failed to get the suit dismissed in 1998. His once-trainer presented an affidavit from a man who claimed Armstrong propositioned him in 1996 and also had testimony from an ex-intern who said he had brushed off Williams’ advances his first day on the job.

“The whole thing is an attempt to embarrass and humiliate Mr. Williams,'’ his attorney, Peter Axelrad, told the Chronicle. “We deny it. We deny all of it. We have full confidence that my client will be vindicated.'’

The columnist settled the case out of court in early 1999.

source: http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=536

What you won't hear from Brownwood Hate Radio Talking Heads !

10,000 gather at ceremony of hope, healing
By Donna Leinwand
PHUKET, Thailand — More than 10,000 people dressed in white converged on a soccer stadium Wednesday to mourn the tragedy that has consumed this country since the Dec. 26 tsunami killed more than 5,000 people.

People of differing races and religious creeds came together in a ceremony held at the Saphanhin Sports Stadium in Phuket, Wednesday.

As the Buddhist-themed memorial drew to a close, mourners released hundreds of white lanterns, powered by hot air, which rose from the stadium and floated overhead, symbolizing the release of the spirit.

Thai Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula, who led the sunset ceremony, said in an interview that the country was ready to repair the damage inflicted by the tsunami. Of the four provinces most affected by the tsunami, three had concluded their search-and-rescue operations, recovery of the dead and disease-prevention measures and were ready to begin reconstruction, he said. In the fourth province, more than 5,000 people continued to search for bodies.

Bhalakula said if Phuket, one of Thailand's major resort areas, recovers quickly, the other stricken areas will follow. Business owners have told him that they are competing with one another to see who can reopen first.

The people here "have a strong heart," he said.

The tsunami, which devastated Thailand and the surrounding Indian Ocean region, killed 5,288 people and injured 8,457 others in Thailand alone. The Thai government says it is still searching for more than 3,700 people reported missing.

U.S. Embassy officials have confirmed that eight Americans died here, and they have strong evidence 13 others were in the area when the tsunami struck and are missing, spokesman Ken Foster said.

The embassy has fielded 20,000 inquiries about people who were thought to be in the region and could not be located. The embassy is still trying to determine whether 4,000 of those people were in the tsunami-hit area.

"It hurts, it hurts badly," said Apiradee Tantiwit, 42, of Phuket, who volunteered to greet people as they entered Saphan Hin stadium for the ceremony.

"We've never had this type of disaster," Tantiwit said. "I know friends who died. Many friends are lost. Many others have their lives, but have lost their businesses."

The memorial, called a "Merit performing ceremony for the victims both foreign and Thai," was meant to provide some comfort to those who were grieving, she said. The ceremony was primarily Buddhist, but included prayers from Christian and Muslim clerics.

In the merit ceremony, people dedicate their own good deeds to those who have died suddenly to ensure them a good afterlife, Tantiwit said. The white clothing, she said, conveys a feeling of calm and peace. Candles are lit to chase away spiritual darkness.

"So much has been lost," said Pachongsak Padamasankh, an attorney from Bangkok. "This is moral support for those who are still living."

During the ceremony, 1,200 Buddhist monks, who traveled from 14 provinces, chanted prayers for the dead and lit orange candles inside glass globes. Lighted incense sticks were then passed through the crowd of people sitting cross-legged before 10,000 lanterns that had been set out on the field. The lanterns were lit with the incense sticks as the monks chanted prayers and sang a joyful song.

"Light kills the darkness within all of us," Padamasankh said. "When we come together, it shows unity."

Debbie Brophy, a native of Ireland, came to the stadium Wednesday with her husband and four children because they wanted to pay their respects to friends and neighbors who died in the tsunami. Brophy, who lives on the beach on the eastern side of Phuket, said a local lady known for feeding the stray dogs on the beach was carried away by the water as she tried to save others.

Brophy's husband had walked on the beach that morning and came home to tell the family that the sea had just disappeared. Not knowing anything about tsunamis, the Brophys watched the phenomenon from their garden. When the tsunami struck, the water went as far as their garden but did not overtake the house.

"We were very lucky," she said. Her sons had just gotten boogie boards for Christmas and they had planned to spend part of the day at the beach.

The ceremony, she said, "represents some sort of closure, not that I'll ever forget what happened."

source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-01-05-ceremony-phuket_x.htm

Brownwood: Does Hate Radio " Feel Like Home " ?

Preachers of Hate & Intolerance

They say their preaching God's word, but, what God teaches us Hate and Intolerance?
Their abuse and misinterpretation the Bible, God's Word and Teachings, to justify, support
and promote their own belief of bigotry, intolerance and hatred of others is reprehensible.
Earning them a place in history, forever known as a Hate Monger and place on this page.
"Keep your Friends close by your side and Enemies even closer, "Know Thine Enemy.

Hear their own words: http://www.tampabaycoalition.com/robfal.html

You have to read it for yourself !

Some See God’s Hand in Remade Landscape

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=80469

Home » Blogs » I Hate Pat Robertson
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Jammin’ With Jesus
I Hate Pat Robertson (15 hours ago)

So, I was bored last night and I figured I'd take advantage of my acceptance to the iTunes Affiliate Program. I created an I Hate Pat Robertson Official Album. It's got 21 songs from liberal artists that anyone with good taste in music should enjoy: American Jesus - Bad Religion The Empire ... (read more)

Tom DeLay Blames Tsunami on God
I Hate Pat Robertson (19 hours ago)

Tom DeLay, Senate Majority Leader, has joined religious fanatics in saying God caused the tsunami. I was surprised when Mike Savage said it, having the senate Majority Leader say it is absolutely disgusting. "A reading of the Gospel, in Matthew 7:21 through 27. Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' ... (read more)


Privatizing Jesus
I Hate Pat Robertson (20 hours ago)

This time God isn't speaking to Pat Robertson, Pat is just pulling stuff out of his ass. "ROBERTSON: Now, the president must get through these privatization programs, so that younger workers can put a portion of their Social Security money into compulsory private accounts...here is a problem -- in about 15 ... (read more)


“It’s God’s Will.”
I Hate Pat Robertson (1 day ago)

Mike Savage, conservative talk show host and established racist, has again crossed a line. I didn't think there where many people out there willing to say that God caused the tsunami, especially a best-selling author, but I was wrong. At the beginning of the his December 31st, 2004 show, Savage ... (read more)


Homos in Montana
I Hate Pat Robertson (2 days ago)

Earlier this week the Montana Supreme Court, of all places said that gays deserved equal benifits. As one would expect, the Right is going after them. The nuts of Westboro Church, the same people who said gays caused the tsunami, are going to protest. Here's what Reverend Fred Phelps, leader of ... (read more)


Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter 2005
I Hate Pat Robertson (2 days ago)

God has spoken to Pat Robertson, again. As usual, the results are scary. On last night's 700 Club, Pat said God told him the following while he was praying: "I will remove judges from the Supreme Court quickly, and their successors will refuse to sanction the attacks on religious faith." -Yahweh This isn't ... (read more)


Dear George
I Hate Pat Robertson (2 days ago)

In the Pope's World Peace Day address, he made a nice little jab at George Bush: "Do Not Be Overcome by Evil, but Overcome Evil with Good...In the face of the many manifestations of evil, which unfortunately afflict the human family, the high-priority demand is to promote peace, using consistent means, ... (read more)


Fair & Balanced
I Hate Pat Robertson (2 days ago)

Last night I watched Special Report with Brit Hume. He decided to discuss some of the odder theories on why the tsunamis occurred. I expected him to talk about the Christian right's accusations that God caused this as judgment, then I remembered I was watching Fox. He started off by quoting ... (read more)


The End is Near
I Hate Pat Robertson (2 days ago)

"Fall to your knees before thine God! The end is nigh, my children! Arm thineself and thine children and meet me in the bunker." This nuttiness seems to be plaguing the Christian right's media and conversation in the days since the tsunami. One preacher in Australia, Phillip Jensen, stated that the ... (read more)


Queer Eye for the Straight Wave
I Hate Pat Robertson (4 days ago)

In an ever-so predictable move the Religious Right is blaming the tsunami on gay people. Westboro Baptist Church, the GodHatesFags.com nuts, are thanking God for the Tsunamis and the resulting death of Swedes and Americans. "Sweden, who recently jailed a Gospel preacher for a month because he preached Bible verses and ... (read more)


source: http://www.findory.com/source?source=I%20Hate%20Pat%20Robertson&ib=1

40 MILLION Dollar Presidential Inauguration !

Some Now Question Cost of Inauguration

Thu Jan 13,11:32 PM ET

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites)'s second inauguration will cost tens of millions of dollars — $40 million alone in private donations for the balls, parade and other invitation-only parties. With that kind of money, what could you buy?

 

_200 armored Humvees with the best armor for troops in Iraq (news - web sites).


_Vaccinations and preventive health care for 22 million children in regions devastated by the tsunami.


_A down payment on the nation's deficit, which hit a record-breaking $412 billion last year.


_Two years' salary for the Mets' new center fielder Carlos Beltran, or all of pitcher Randy Johnson's contract extension with the New York Yankees.


Weeks ago, the inauguration and its accompanying costs were considered a given, an historic ceremony with all the pomp, pageantry and celebrations that the nation had come to expect every four years.


But a recent confluence of events — the tsunami natural disaster, Bush's warning about Social Security (news - web sites) finances and the $5 billion-a-month price tag for the war in Iraq — have many Americans now wondering why spend the money the second time around.


While the Presidential Inaugural Committee hopes to raise $40 million in private donations for the balls, parades and candlelight dinners for high-roller donors, millions of government dollars will be spent on construction of the platform and stands at the Capitol, police overtime, military personnel and the tightest security for the first post-Sept. 11 inaugural.


The questions have come from Bush supporters and opponents: Do we need to spend this money on what seems so extravagant?


New York Rep. Anthony Weiner (news, bio, voting record), a Democrat, suggested inaugural parties should be scaled back, citing as a precedent Roosevelt's inauguration during World War II.


"President Roosevelt held his 1945 inaugural at the White House, making a short speech and serving guests cold chicken salad and plain pound cake," according to a letter from Weiner and Rep. Jim McDermott (news, bio, voting record), D-Wash. "During World War I, President Wilson did not have any parties at his 1917 inaugural, saying that such festivities would be undignified."


Lawmakers representing the Washington area have complained to the White House about the District of Columbia not getting enough federal help to cover the estimated $17.3 million security costs of the inaugural.


Organizers of the inaugural defended the celebration.


"The inauguration of a United States president is one of America's greatest traditions, a tradition that transcends partisan politics," said Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. "Our theme is celebrating freedom and honoring service."


She cited the Commander in Chief inaugural ball that offers free tickets to service members back from Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq and their family members. That ball is one of nine; the other eight require a ticket.


"Every inaugural there's a really good reason given why you should spend whatever donors are sending in on something else," said Rich Galen, a veteran Republican activist, saying many of the complaints come from the losers of the election.


Billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, voted for Bush — twice. Cuban knows a thing or two about big spending, once starring in ABC's reality TV show, "The Benefactor," in which 16 contenders tried to pass his test for success and win $1 million.


Cuban questioned spending all that money on the inaugural.

"As a country, we face huge deficits. We face a declining economy. We have service people dying. We face responsibilities to help those suffering from the ... devastation of the tsunamis," he wrote on his blog, a Web journal.

Cuban challenged Bush to set an example: "Start by canceling your inauguration parties and festivities."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: Will Lester covers polling and politics for The Associated Press.

___

On the Net:

Mark Cuban blog: http://www.blogmaverick.com

source: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&u=/ap/20050114/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inaugural_price_tag_3&printer=1

Cuban: Cancel inaugural excess
Mavericks owner calls on Bush to donate funds to tsunami relief

10:20 PM CST on Thursday, January 6, 2005
By COLLEEN McCAIN NELSON / The Dallas Morning News

Dear Mr. President: Please cancel your inaugural festivities and give the money to tsunami victims. Sincerely, Mark Cuban.
The Dallas Mavericks owner is urging readers of his Web log ( blogmaverick.com) to contact politicians and tell them to get their priorities straight. In an emphatic missive on his Web site, Mr. Cuban criticizes Congress for making what he calls frivolous expenditures and chastises everyone involved with elaborate inaugural events.

AP
Security is tight around the Capitol where the inauguration will take place Jan 20.

"Mr. President, it's time to show that leadership. It's time to set an example," wrote Mr. Cuban, who declined to comment further on the subject. "Cancel all but the most basic inauguration requirements."
President Bush will be inaugurated Jan. 20. That week, he will be feted with the customary black-tie balls, a parade and an assortment of star-powered events. The price tag: about $40 million.

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/010705dnnatinaug.dbd5d.html
-----------------------
Published on Sunday, January 9, 2005 by the Guardian/UK

Bush 'The King' Blows $50m on Coronation
President's lavish inauguration is 'obscene' when US troops are dying in Iraq war, say critics

by Paul Harris

 

It will be one of the biggest parties in American history, but half of the country will be left out. With a price tag of up to $50 million, President George W Bush's inauguration in 11 days' time will be an unashamed celebration of Red America's victory over Blue America in last November's election.

It is going to be the most expensive, most security-obsessed event in the history of Washington DC. An army of 10,000 police, secret service officers and FBI agents will patrol the capital for four days of massive celebrations that some critics have derided as reminiscent of the lavish shindigs thrown by Louis XIV, France's extravagant Sun King.

More than 150,000 people, nearly all Republicans whose tickets are a reward for election work, will pack the Mall to hear Bush take his oath of office on 20 January. There will be nine official balls, countless unofficial ones, parades and a concert hosted by Bush's daughters, Jenna and Barbara.

Amid the official pageantry will be many huge parties laid on by companies wishing to win favor with Washington's power players. Anyone who is anyone in Republican circles will be in town. Many Democrats will be leaving. With so many big names in one place, security measures will include road blocks, anti-aircraft guns guarding the skies and sniper teams patrolling the rooftops.

Many observers say it is all too much. 'We have elected a President who seems to have quite a monarchical role. It is a bit of a coronation,' said Larry Haas, a former official in Bill Clinton's White House.

Certainly, Bush's inauguration will be an orgy of gladhanding and partying by the Republican faithful from all over the country. One Washington hotel, the Mandarin Oriental, is offering visitors four nights in its Presidential Suite for $200,000. The price tag includes a 24-hour butler, a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce or Humvee, daily champagne and caviar and a flight to the hotel in a private jet.

One highlight of the bonanza is the Black Tie and Boots Ball organized by Bush's home state of Texas, with the President as star guest. Ten thousand tickets sold out in less than 50 minutes, and are now trading privately at $1,300 each. Another is the Commander-in-Chief's Ball where Bush will honor American soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is billed as the centerpiece of the inauguration, which itself has a theme tinged with the idea of military service.

All the partying is being condemned by many commentators as in poor taste for a nation fighting a bloody war.

Carroll Wilson, editor of the Texas newspaper the Times Record (Wichita Falls Tx.), has called the cost obscene and 'a horrendous waste'. 'There's something inherently embarrassing about spending $50m on a party that will start and end in the blink of a very red eye,' he added.

The fighting in Iraq has provoked calls for the celebrations to be toned down, as they were during the two world wars when some were even canceled. Bush's second inauguration will be the first in wartime since President Richard Nixon took office in 1969 during the Vietnam conflict.

Yet the partying is being intensified. The Commander-in-Chief's Ball is being hailed by organizers as a fitting tribute to American soldiers on active service. More than 2,000 troops and their partners, selected by the Pentagon, will take part. Most have served in Iraq or Afghanistan or are about to go there. The parades will have a stronger than normal military theme.

That angers many anti-war protesters who say the lavish celebration is inappropriate during conflict. Some conservative commentators have even joined the fray, contrasting the spending with a recent scandal over a shortage of armor for American soldiers and their vehicles.

A huge series of demonstrations is now being planned which organizers say will be much larger than the ones that marked Bush's first inauguration after the contested Florida recount in 2000. 'We want our voices to be heard,' said a spokesman for the Answer Coalition, which is co-ordinating the protests.

The huge security presence means there is likely to be little disruption, especially of the oath-taking ceremony itself. More vulnerable may be the corporate events taking place all over the city.

The $50m bill is mostly being paid by private donations from people and firms currying political favor With a strict ban on large single donations to active political campaigns, the inauguration offers a rare chance for companies and individuals to lavish large sums of money on the President and his party simultaneously.

The big donors are split into 'underwriters', who stumped up $250,000 each, and 'sponsors', who merely shelled out $100,000. Both gain access to a variety of events that will be attended by Bush. The donors are a familiar roster of Republican supporters and big business. They include firms in the President's former business, oil, such as Exxon Mobil and ChevronTexaco, former Enron president Richard Kinder and Texas oil baron Boone Pickens, who also gave $500,000 to the anti-John Kerry campaign of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Though the guests will be celebrating Bush's victory, some Washington insiders will also be keeping a keen eye on the jockeying for position that has already begun for the next election.

'The clock to 2008 starts ticking the second after Bush finishes his oath,' Haas said 'At that moment Republicans begin moving into position for that. Bush should enjoy his moment while he can.'

source: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0109-31.htm

Who is Brownwood's "Fred Phelps" ?

Nightline Episode Focusing On Sand Springs Student Airs Wednesday Night
Tuesday January 11, 2005 5:03pm    Posted By: Kevin King
Nightline Focuses On Sand Springs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Topeka Group In Sand Springs For Anti-Gay Protest Tulsa - A Nightline episode that focuses on a gay student in Sand Springs and the support he has seen locally will air Wednesday night.
Michael Shackelford was followed by the Washington Post when the publication did a series of articles about being young and gay in rural America. But, the headlines brought a controversial protest against homosexuality.
In November, Shackelford's former high school and his church were targeted by a controversial group that voices its views against homosexuality.
"I felt like it was my fault because they were coming because I still go here," Michael said. "But, feeling all the support from the church, I wasn't expecting the support. It really opened my eyes."
"What I have seen is a community that has grown in it's compassion and understanding for the kind of persecution that minorities including gays can be the object of," Nightline Producer Dan Morris said.
A Nightline crew spent a weekend in December in Sand Springs. The Nightline episode will air on Wed
source: http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0105/199748.html
----------------------------
Topeka Group In Sand Springs For Anti-Gay Protest
Monday November 08, 2004 10:35am    Posted By: Kevin King

Students Outraged Over Planned Anti-Gay Rally Outside High School Sand Springs - A group from Topeka, Kansas, is in Sand Springs today, bringing what could be a very heated anti-gay rally to Charles Page High School after a gay student was featured in the Washington Post.
The group is led by a pastor from Topeka named Fred Phelps. Some members of his church, Westboro Baptist Church were at Charles Page High School Monday morning. It comes a day after the group, known for their attacks on the gay community, began protesting at area churches.
Outside Cornerstone Church, where the former Charles Page High School student attends, they were protesting with some signs that were so violent, we had to blur some of the words contained on them.
The group Sunday was relatively small -- about ten people. But, that included six children, some as young as six years old.
Last week, the principal at Charles Page said, although he wished the group would not come to town, he would use the protest as a learning opportunity about our rights under the Constitution.
Meanwhile, others in the community are not appreciative of the group exercising that right.
"My thoughts are that I don't want it to be a distraction to us that we might continue to do what we came to do and that is to worship God," says Cornerstone Church Pastor Bill Eubanks.
The Sand Springs Police Department is working to keep the protest a safe and peaceful one.
---------------------------------
More on gay teen in small-town Oklahoma

Sunday, November 14 2004 @ 02:30 PM EST

Stories flagged in oRc last month (here and here) chronicled the life of a young gay man in Oklahoma. Now there are reports that gay-hater Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kansas is taking his campaign to the small Oklahoma town of Sand Springs. However, many in Sand Springs are standing up for Michael Shackelford. "This Westboro outfit thought they could come to this town and break it apart. But it has brought the town together. It has opened some doors to talk." The story chronicles Michael's experience since the articles were published. He's found that some who don't accept him the way he is are willing to support him the way he is -- even if some of them hope that he'll eventually change the way he is.
source: http://www.onreligion.com/article.php?story=20041114143056990&mode=print

Talk Radio & Andrea Yates

Steve Blow
Yates is due nothing but the truth

10:52 PM CST on Thursday, January 6, 2005



The Andrea Yates story broke Thursday morning just about the time I was heading to the office.

As you know, an appeals court overturned her murder conviction in the drowning of her five children.

Well, the timing meant that my drive to work was accompanied by the instant rant of radio talk-show hosts. And I mean this was like pound dogs on a fresh bone.

Oh, the growling and snarling that did ensue.

"Idiocy!" proclaimed KRLD's overwrought Mike Gallagher.

In what sounded like a spray of spittle, he compared Mrs. Yates to Susan Smith, the North Carolina mother who drowned her two kids in a phony car accident so she could hook up with a new guy.

And over on WBAP, well, you just had to hear it to believe it. I'm referring to Mark Davis' impression of a "truly" mentally ill person.
Also Online

Yates still in prison, under treatment

Doctor knew testimony was flawed

Advocates, experts favor Yates ruling

'Law & Order' creator declines comment

Steve Blow: Yates deserves the truth

Opinion: False witness rightly cancels Yates conviction

Read the court ruling (From the First Court of Appeals official Web site)

12/13/04 video: Yates' attorney launches appeal

You Had Your Say: Comments on the Andrea Yates ruling


Not someone a little bit disturbed like Mrs. Yates, mind you.

He was trying to demonstrate just how babbling, bonkers, bark-at-the-moon crazy a woman would have to be before he would absolve her of killing her children.

He sure got my vote for temporary on-air insanity.

But I was struck by how completely off the point all these radio dramatics were.

Now, I didn't sit in my car all morning to listen to the rest of these talk shows. Maybe sooner or later they actually got around to discussing the real issue in Thursday's court ruling.

This wasn't about finding the line between evil and insane. This wasn't about postpartum depression or killing babies. This was about falsehood.

Just a plain old lie, some might say.

In fact, let's try to forget all about Mrs. Yates and her horrible deed for a moment. Instead, imagine that you have been hauled into court and accused of a crime. Any crime.

The real question is: How much false testimony should be allowed against you?

A little bit? A lot? None at all?

I hope the radio talk shows eventually got around to that question. It's a good one.

And I think the appeals court was exactly right in saying that too much false testimony was used against Mrs. Yates – and that she deserves a new trial because of it.

Prosecution psychiatrist Park Dietz testified during the trial that he was a consultant to the television program Law & Order. And he told jurors that shortly before the Yates children were killed, Law & Order featured an episode about a woman with postpartum depression who drowned her children and was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

In fact, there never was such an episode.

Oops, just an honest mistake, the doctor said later, after jurors had convicted Mrs. Yates.

Now, if Dr. Dietz had merely mentioned his TV consultant work and a postpartum episode in passing, that would be one thing. If he had briefly discussed it as part of his professional background, for example, then Thursday's ruling would be far-fetched.

But his testimony was used to very specifically plant the idea with jurors that Mrs. Yates could have gotten her murder plan from the program. Other testimony brought out that she watched Law & Order .

And in his closing argument to jurors, a prosecutor again mentioned the nonexistent episode, implying that Mrs. Yates saw it as a way to get out of her marriage.

There is certainly plenty to discuss on the controversial topics of insanity defenses and mothers killing children. That's good talk-show fodder for another day. But it shouldn't distract us from the issue before the court.

How much false testimony is OK?

I don't know about you, but I'd want to face only the truth and nothing but the truth.

Of course, the radio talk shows used this court ruling to talk again about what a terrible mess our courts and our nation are in.

Talk like that sure comes easy.

With a little deeper reflection, we ought to be celebrating again the wonderful protections built into our justice system.

For me, for you, for Andrea Yates.

E-mail sblow@dallasnews.com
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/sblow/stories/010705dnmetblow.6f1f7.html

This Just In ! Preacher (Christian Terrorist ?) Arrested

First Murder Charge in 1964 Mississippi Civil Rights Slayings

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Mississippi officials announced the first murder charge in the 1964 adduction and killing of three voter-registration workers that helped focus the nation's attention on civil rights, the New York Times reported.

Edgar Ray Killen, 79, was arrested yesterday at his home in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the Times said, citing Neshoba County Sheriff Larry Myers. A grand jury meeting where individuals familiar with the killings gave testimony led police to arrest the preacher and alleged Ku Klux Klan leader, the Associated Press said, without citing a source.

Andrew Goodman, 20, Michael Schwerner, 24, and James Chaney, 21, were volunteering in the Mississippi Summer Project to register black voters when they went to check on a firebombed church. Their bodies were found weeks later in the Olen Burrage dam in Neshoba County, Mississippi.

Seven Klansmen were convicted of charges related to the killings and sentenced to terms of as much as 10 years. Killen was released after there was a deadlock on the all-white jury, the Times said.

The case spawned several books and was dramatized in the 1988 film ``Mississippi Burning'' staring Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe. The case is U.S. versus Cecil Price et al.

Myers wasn't immediately available for comment.

The Neshoba County Sheriff's office, in Philadelphia, Mississippi, said bail for Killen hasn't been set, AP reported. Shannon Winston, a dispatcher at the sheriff's office, declined to say whether Killen had retained a lawyer.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Amy Hellickson in Princeton at ahellickson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Glenn Holdcraft at gholdcraft@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 7, 2005 08:07 EST

source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a62pWdt.lU_M&refer=top_world_news
----------------------------
Prosecutor: Trial of preacher may be town's cure

By James Dao / New York Times News Service
January 8, 2005

PHILADELPHIA, Miss. - For nearly all his life, Mark Duncan has lived under the cloud of one of the nation's most-infamous unresolved crimes, the brutal killing of three civil rights workers near this town 40 years ago.

But on Friday, Duncan, the district attorney for Neshoba and three other counties, took a long step toward lifting that cloud, charging a preacher, Edgar Ray Killen, 79, with the killings.

Standing before a packed courtroom, Duncan read the charges to the stooped, frail-looking defendant. Killen mumbled his answers in a brief interview with the judge - until he was asked how he would plead.

''Not guilty,'' Killen said in a suddenly forceful voice.

The deaths of the three civil rights workers - Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney - and the inability, or unwillingness, of prosecutors to bring charges in the case had left many here wondering whether the town's image would forever be tainted.

Outside court on Friday, Duncan, 45, said he did not push for an indictment because he wanted to heal the town's wound.

''But,'' he added, ''if that's what it does, I'm all for it.''

Killen, whom officials describe as a former Ku Klux Klan leader, runs a sawmill and owns a 20-acre farm outside town. He was being held without bail at the Neshoba County Jail.

Immediately after the arraignment, the courthouse was evacuated because of a bomb threat. As people poured onto the street, Killen's brother knocked down a television cameraman.

''Get all of your shots now,'' the brother, J.D. Killen, said. ''We're going to make sure you're not around for his funeral. My brother's innocent.''

Edgar Killen was among 18 people who were charged in 1967 with federal civil rights violations in the deaths. Seven were convicted, but Killen was released after an all-white jury became deadlocked.

The events were the basis for the 1988 movie ''Mississippi Burning.''

With a new, more integrated generation of residents, Philadelphia, a town of 7,000, is more likely to produce a jury that will convict Killen, some people said. But there were reservations.

At a barber shop near the courthouse, one of the proprietors, Stacy Adkins, called the crime abhorrent. But she wondered about the ethics of prosecuting an aged man with impaired hearing, and she worried that the trial might stir up old passions.

''The South already has a bad reputation,'' said Adkins, 30. ''This isn't going to help us live it down.''

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_nation_world/article/0,1874,ABIL_7961_3455452,00.html
-------------------------


Young reporter saw one side of Killen

Man arrested in civil rights workers' slayings seemed harmless talker

11:37 PM CST on Friday, January 7, 2005

By LOWERY METTS / The Dallas Morning News


I always thought of Edgar Ray Killen as nothing more than a long-winded good ol' boy, an itinerant rural Baptist preacher and a self-described private investigator.

I was young, naïve and, judging by action the state of Mississippi took against Mr. Killen this week, just about as wrong as a person can be.

The state says the man I knew for a few years in the early 1970s played a central role in the slayings of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County, Miss., in 1964.

AP
Edgar Ray Killen (in 1964, left, and in court Friday) never mentioned integration, race or the Klan to reporter Lowery Metts when they knew each other in the 1970s.

The crime, which inspired the film Mississippi Burning, is just about the most infamous incident in state history. Mr. Killen was arrested Thursday and charged with three counts of murder.

It's been long known that the Ku Klux Klan was behind the slayings; seven Klan members were convicted in federal court of civil rights violations, the only crime the FBI could pursue.

It also was known that several other men were suspected of the same crimes by the FBI, including Mr. Killen, but they were either acquitted or jurors were unable to reach a verdict in their cases.

In Edgar Ray Killen's case, the jury deadlocked. He was accused during the 1967 trial of being a recruiter for the Klan, and it was even hinted that he organized and gave instructions to the Klansmen who went to Neshoba County that night of June 21, 1964.

Ten years later, Mr. Killen appeared to be none of that, and I didn't know about his background as we got acquainted.

Basically, the man had the reputation among the people I knew as a lightweight to whom nobody paid much attention. He was just a mild-mannered, uneducated man who liked to talk but who never really said much important.

And he really liked to talk. He could talk for what seemed like hours. He talked so much, about anything, that eventually the listener stopped listening and went on with his business, nodding every now and then.

Most people who knew him in Meridian called him simply "Preacher." That's how he was often referred to by other witnesses in federal court. I always called him "Mr. Killen."

Every reporter has known people like that who bend their ears about any and everything. They tend to see conspiracies around every corner and can become real pests. But most reporters don't want to tell them to get lost on the off-chance that something important might come up some day.

I met Mr. Killen while working at The Meridian Star. I was researching a story about a former Meridian policeman who had disappeared on an 80-mile trip from Jackson. Mr. Killen was introduced to me as someone who was looking into the same case.

Mr. Killen thought the man had been murdered during a card game and his body dumped down a well or in a pond in an area northeast of Meridian. He wouldn't tell me how he knew that, but it appeared to me to be pretty specific information, so I thought he probably knew a witness.

Or maybe he was making it all up. He never found a body (no one else did, either), although he somehow persuaded several people to drain their ponds.

The only time I ever glimpsed another side to Mr. Killen was when we had gone together to a country store near where he said the killing took place.

There were several hard-faced men there, none of whom appeared to take any notice of me at first. Once, though, one glanced my way and I felt a chill. Maybe it was just my overactive imagination, but Edgar Ray Killen seemed right at home with these men, even badgering them for information. He never got any.

I wrote the story and moved on.

But Mr. Killen liked to talk, and he had found someone who would listen. He'd drop by every now and then to talk, mostly about local issues. He never mentioned integration, race, the Klan and certainly not the Neshoba County killings.

There was one time, however. I had since learned about his past and asked him about it. He just said he had been arrested because he knew some of the suspects. Guilt by association, he said. He never mentioned it again.

Seeing his 1970s persona, that was easy to believe.

It's been 30 years, and I still have two vivid impressions of Edgar Ray Killen.

I was talking to him about midnight once outside a theater where I had a part-time job. We had been talking inside the theater for hours, and as I walked outside and locked the doors, I noticed his wife sitting in the car, waiting patiently. I felt sorry for her.

She always seemed to be there on the periphery of his life, waiting. She never said anything.

And there was the fact that Mr. Killen always carried a gun. Legally, he said. It was a snub-nosed revolver, .38-caliber, I think, and he wore it in a holster on his belt. He said he carried it mostly for appearances: It helped, he said, in the sometimes-violent circles in which he moved. I thought he was exaggerating.

I forgot about Edgar Ray Killen until a couple of years ago, when I was back home and read that the state was reinvestigating the 1964 slayings and was taking a new look at "Preacher."

The story quoted a former state investigator who cited a source as saying Mr. Killen had gone to the crime scene the morning after the murders and cleaned up the area – shell casings and such.

The former investigator, who happened to be my cousin, confirmed the report. That was when I realized that my impression of Edgar Ray Killen might be wrong.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/010805dnnatmetts.4bc22.html

This reminds me of modern day reporters who fail to see & document civil right abuses in the communities they serve. Brownwood Texas comes to mind !

Steve Nash, Amber Fry & Oprah

“ Off on a tangent ... I see Scott Peterson's ex-girlfriend Amber Frey is making the TV talk show rounds, boo-hooing as she promotes her book and relishes her victim status. Oh puh-leeze, somebody pass me a mop.
Being a victim has made Frey a celebrity. She must've learned from the Jessica Hahn model, and she's boo-hooing all the way to the bank. How anyone could want to profit from the murders of two people, I'll never know. ”
STEVE NASH's column is featured every Thursday on the Viewpoint page. E-mail him at steve.nash@brownwoodbulletin.com
source:http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2005/01/08/op_ed/columnists/opinion05.txt

Note: After reading Steve Nash’s Column I decided to write him. Here are my observations and his replies.

From: Steve Harris and Steve Puckett
Date: Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:50:29 AM US/Central
To: steve.nash@brownwoodbulletin.com
Subject: FYI-Amber Fry Update

Thought you would want to know that Amber will be on Oprah today. Do you think the prosecution would have gotten a conviction without Amber's help ?

From: Steve Nash
Date: Fri Jan 07, 2005 12:32:12 PM US/Central
To: Steve Harris and Steve Puckett
Subject: Re: FYI-Amber Fry Update

A lot of people think the prosecution would not have won without her. Give her credit for coming forward and being a witness and doing her civic duty. I don't know why she keeps wanting to remind people of the sordid episode she was involved in other than cashing in big time on her sudden celebrity status and crying all the way to the bank.

From: Steve Harris and Steve Puckett
Date: Fri Jan 07, 2005 01:42:30 PM US/Central
To: Steve Nash
Subject: Re: FYI-Amber Fry Update

I do give her credit for helping law enforcement and thus the prosecution. I'll be eager to see how much of the money she makes off the book will be donated to causes that are related to this case. I plan on watching her today. I watched Oprah's show yesterday after reading your column and that's how I knew Amber was scheduled for todays show. Maybe she will answer some of the questions being posed by the media and their readers/viewers !

Regards, Steve Harris

Here’s an intersting blog site discussing this issue:
http://badeagle.com/cgi-bin/blog/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=551

You guys are all SO BLIND! Have you been following the case at all? I don't think you all should open your hearts and mouths on the topic, since you are all so blind to the facts that are right out there! First of all, I do agree that it is somewhat strange that Scott could be given a death sentence, despite no direct evidence that he killed Laci (ie fingerprints, blood, murder weapon etc), but there is no doubt THAT HE IN FACT KILLED HER! I can't believe all you women, who act as if you were in love with Scott without EVEN KNOWING HIM in person. The number one cause of death for pregnant women in America is domestic homicide. Can't you all women realize how easy it would be to kill your own 8 month pregnant, and highly vulnerable wife by smothering her in her sleep, or strangling her. I believe Scott killed Laci when she was lying a sleep in bed on Dec.23rd. That would have given him plenty of time to make sure things were covered up before he took the body to the Marina. Just because there is no evidence of a struggle, or blood at the crime scene, doesn't mean that a crime could not have been committed. If you pay attention to Scott's eyes when he is talking to the media, and his actions after Laci disappeared, it is clear that he shows no remorse, that it was a premeditated act (he had been planning on killing Laci for quite some time), AND he just can't keep his composture. He put himself where he belongs by talking too much, by lying so much and not even knowing HOW to lie without revealing too much. You can tell that Scott is proud of committing this crime that he planned in every detail. The good part is that the police, and the people around this case never gave up looking for clues even though they didn't have a direct cause of death, or a murder weapon. The police did look for other leads and theories, but NOTHING lead anywhere else but RIGHT BACK TO SCOTT HIMSELF. Amber Fry may not have been the reason why Scott killed Laci, but she was a part of his search for freedom from family life and fatherhood. Scott had been unfaithful several times before Amber came in the picture. Amber did a brave thing. Put yourself in the victims' position. Maybe your girlfriend would be killed by her man and there is NO explanation to HOW, or WHY a sweet girl was killed, someone like Laci who was loved by so many people. Now think, all the circumstancial evidence leads to her husband, the police have found evidence of anchors being made, there is a hair in a pair of needlenose pliers that looks like your friend's hair, there are all thee phonecalls to a mistress (even as the search for your friend is on!), the husband wants to sell (get rid of) all that is left of your friend: the house (furnished), the car. The husband stores junk in the baby's room. And can't tell you enough how suspicious this behaviour looks: CAN'T YOU SEE IT. It is written right in front of you. A grieving husband does not act like that PERIOD! Not while your wife and baby is still out there and has not yet been found. After Laci and Connor had been found...maybe...BUT this happened while nobody (but Scott) knew where they were. Scott could have committed the "perfect" murder, but there is no such thing as a perfect murder. The truth usually comes out sooner or later. Scott f**ked it up for himself by blabbing on and on. I am glad there is justice for those women who are victimized by their abusive. husbands
Posted by Patty at January 5, 2005 11:27 AM

Happy New Year !

steves ski trip 2
Originally uploaded by photosteve.

Brownwood Parent Alert: Beware those that “doth protest too much”.

January 16, 2004
HYPOCRISY FILES: TODAY'S EPISODE...

Anti-Gay Pastor Convicted Of Soliciting Sex From Boy

POSTED: 5:00 PM EST January 15, 2004, LOCAL6.COM NEWS

WEST CHESTER, Pa -- He was known to condemn homosexuality -- and even used a bullhorn to preach to passers-by at colleges.

Now, a Philadelphia pastor has been convicted of trying to solicit sex from a 14-year-old boy. A jury in West Chester convicted the Rev. Craig White Wednesday....[*]

- Its just those Catholics have such a homosexuality problem... Wait he's a Protestant...
Posted by cosmici at January 16, 2004 07:41 AM | TrackBack
Comments

There's probably a lot of truth to the old adage "Methinks you protesteth too much"! (Sorry for butchering the quote, it's from memory.) Makes one wonder about all these fundamentalist homophobes, doesn't it?
Posted by: Jerry Martin at January 16, 2004 08:48 AM

source: http://www.cosmiciguana.com/archives/001421.html


January 18, 2004
Anti-gay Pastor solicits sex from boy

Hypocrisy alert. (Well, it may not be hypocrisy exactly, but there's sure a large dollup of irony here.)

WEST CHESTER, Pa -- He was known to condemn homosexuality -- and even used a bullhorn to preach to passers-by at colleges.

Now, a Philadelphia pastor has been convicted of trying to solicit sex from a 14-year-old boy. A jury in West Chester convicted the Rev. Craig White Wednesday.

The 40-year-old pastor is facing a minimum of three years behind bars when he's formally sentenced. He showed no reaction as the verdict was read, and neither did his wife.



Link via Atrios.

UPDATE: Adam actually has memories of this guy from his college days and offers his reminiscences. Small world. Adam's post confirms that the preacher is indeed a sack of shit. Post updated at 7:30 pm Singapore time.
Baked by Richard TPD at 11:37 AM | TrackBack (1)
Comments

Ah. Now if only Fred Phelps would get caught, too.
Posted by: Adam at January 18, 2004 01:05 PM

phelps is a sick bastard; i've had the pleasure of driving by his "commune" in Topeka way too many times. problem is, somehow he's got a bit of power/control and too much money.
Posted by: undertree at January 18, 2004 02:38 PM

He sure knows how to get media attention. Sure, he comes across as a lunatic (like he is) but he gets the cameras rolling.
Posted by: richard at January 18, 2004 06:57 PM

Isn't that the way of it though. Fundamentalist taugh to loath gays, he barks the loudest in an effort to keep the doors of his own closet shut.

My best friend since 6th grade was a hardcore Maranatha Baptist and utterly freaked about gays. The slightest gay reference would send him into hysterics. I honestly thought he was literally going to have a coronary and die during a college history class we had together when a guythat I knew was gay who was sitting in the row behind my friend leaned up and whispered softly into my best friend's ear, "I shaved my butt hair just for you." I can't even describe the ungodly loud shriek that burst from my friends lips.

Well...after not seeing him for about 6 years I visited my hometown and called on him. He introduced me to his "long time companion" or whatever euphamism you prefer. Thankfully, he is much happier with himself and about himself.

As with Mrs. Hamlet, you want to watch out for those who protest too much.
Posted by: Jeff in Korea at January 18, 2004 08:15 PM

Jeff, great post. At least he was able to finally accept it. Others have a much harder time, and even end up harming themselves and/or others.
Posted by: richard at January 18, 2004 08:24 P

source: http://pekingduck.org/archives/000913.php

-

Brownwood: Bush, Religion, Abstience, Sex Education, & STD's

Abstinence programs: lessons in futility?

Classes aren't changing Texas teens' sexual habits, researchers say

09:39 PM CST on Saturday, January 29, 2005
By LAURA BEIL / The Dallas Morning News
Abstinence-only programs – the hallmark of the Bush administration's federal sex education policy – seem to have little impact on the behavior of Texas teenagers.
The first evaluation of programs used throughout the state has found that students in almost all high school grades were more sexually active after abstinence education. Researchers don't believe the programs encouraged teenagers to have sex, only that the abstinence messages did not interfere with the usual trends among adolescents growing up.
"We didn't find what many would like for us to find," said researcher Buzz Pruitt of Texas A&M University. He and his colleagues discussed their data this week with state health authorities in Austin, who sponsored the research.
The study has its flaws, and Dr. Pruitt and others cautioned against overarching conclusions. But scientists welcome the fact that Texas is contributing to a field lacking in solid data. The federal government will spend $131 million this year on a smorgasbord of abstinence-only education programs. Many public health experts are concerned that no one really knows what the government is buying.
Among the findings in the Texas study: About 23 percent of the ninth-grade girls in the study already had sexual intercourse before they received any abstinence education, a figure below the national average. After taking an abstinence course, the number among those same girls rose to 28 percent, a level closer to that of their peers across the state.
Among ninth-grade boys, the percentage who reported sexual intercourse before and after abstinence education remained relatively unchanged. In 10th grade, however, the percentage of boys who had ever had sexual intercourse jumped from 24 percent to 39 percent after participating in an abstinence program.
"We didn't find strong evidence of program effect," said Dr. Pruitt. The results are based on a 10-page questionnaire – that alone the product of two years of preliminary research – filled out anonymously by junior high and high school students. The A&M study, which is still ongoing, examined five programs in more than two dozen schools.
To be funded as abstinence education, programs cannot provide instruction in birth control, outside "factual information about contraceptive methods, such as the failure rates that are associated with the different methods," according to documents from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Among other things, the law also dictates that an abstinence program must have "as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity."
Dr. Pruitt readily acknowledges that studies like his are inherently problematic. For example: the A&M study lacks a comparison group. Ideally, researchers would like to overlay two sets of data: one from students receiving abstinence education and another from a group similar in every other way but with no abstinence education.
Without such direct contrasts, researchers can't say whether the teenagers would have shown an even greater increase in sexual activity had they not had abstinence education. The Texas researchers began with a comparison group, but it fell apart before the study's end. (During the project, the scientists realized too many members of the supposed reference group were hearing the abstinence messages.)
Nonetheless, public health experts say these and other data may eventually help fashion abstinence-only approaches that can make a difference. No-sex-until-marriage has been a major emphasis in Washington, and funding has increased in kind: The $131 million the federal government set aside represents an increase of $30 million over 2004, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Little data to be had


But is the money making a difference? "We're using a bunch of programs, and we don't know what their effectiveness is," said Mike Young of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Abstinence instructors have sprouted up across the country, he said, all claiming, often with scant or no scientific support, that they can successfully influence teenagers facing temptation.
Dr. Young and his colleagues have developed a curriculum called Sex Can Wait, which is one of the most studied abstinence programs in the country, and one of the few that has documented at least a short-term influence on teenage behavior. His program emphasizes abstinence in youth as an integral component of a successful life, and not a goal by itself. Students who can envision the long-term, he believes, are less likely to gamble their futures by engaging in sex.
The program has been recognized five times for Outstanding Work in Community Health Promotion by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But not even the blessing of the federal government has improved the chances of Sex Can Wait getting into Arkansas schools. The state's Department of Health has yet to fund any grants based on this approach, choosing other programs with less scientific merit.

Who gets funding?


"Funding should be contingent on a very solid evaluation program," Dr. Young said, "and future funding should be dependent on past results."
Federal officials say the concerns about funding untested programs are "a fair criticism," said Harry Wilson, associate commissioner of the Family and Youth Services Bureau. Each agency, he says, must balance the cost of funding programs against the cost of study. "How much do we evaluate, and how much public money should go to fix the issue?"
The government is paying for a large, multi-year study of several abstinence programs, which when published will be the most comprehensive evaluation yet. The price: $4.5 million per year. The interim data was supposed to have been released already, but it remains unpublished. Mr. Wilson said the final report will be out by 2006.
Lacking objective information about a program's effectiveness, Mr. Wilson said, the government looks at other barometers, such as community needs, the educators' experience and ties to the community. "You do the best you can with what you know," he said.
Dr. Young and other researchers say they don't want their criticism to be misinterpreted: "I think we need to encourage young people to wait, and I don't think there's anything wrong with the government putting money into those efforts."
What bothers him are self-styled educators who he believes mold their content to meet the official federal definition of "abstinence" and aren't held accountable for accuracy or measurable results. "This combination translates into abstinence education programming which often deliberately provides inaccurate information in a misguided attempt to scare young people into choosing abstinence," he wrote in the current issue of the American Journal of Health Studies, in an article titled "What's Wrong With Abstinence Education."

Charged topic


The field has become so mined with emotion and ideology, many researchers studying abstinence programs fear that science is losing to politics. One Arkansas state legislator upset by Dr. Young's work physically threatened him; an anti-abortion group once labeled the program "Godless" – about the same time Dr. Young was ordained as a deacon in the Southern Baptist Church.
"We need to get over our fear of research," said A&M's Dr. Pruitt. "It does bother me that we don't have the kind of respect for research and evaluation that this area deserves. There seems to be a political fear of the truth."
Scientists have an ally in Dr. Joe McIlhaney. Founder of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health in Austin, Dr. McIlhaney has long championed abstinence-only education for adolescents. Dr. McIlhaney, who retired from a successful practice as an obstetrician/gynecologist, founded the organization in 1992 to combat teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
He said he realizes that some of his fellow supporters of abstinence education have spurned research. He disagrees with them. "I think it's mandatory to do these evaluations," said Dr. McIlhaney. He doesn't believe, however, that abstinence education efforts should stall while scientists hash out the best approach. "For almost any issue you don't wait until you have results to institute a program," he said. "I think it's very important to institute abstinence education programs" while research is under way.
And he warns against hasty conclusions. The Texas study didn't find an effect, he says, but "it'd be a mistake to conclude that this research shows that abstinence programs don't work." Like the researchers themselves, he pointed out the study's lack of comparison group.
Texas has now joined about a dozen other states that have evaluated their abstinence education programs. "By and large they got no changes in behavior," said Debra Hauser, vice president of the non-profit group Advocates for Youth, which has conducted studies that support more comprehensive sex education programs that include contraception.
Research has shown that knowledge and intention alone cannot dissuade teenagers from having sex, and that studies that simply ask teenagers' attitudes are not always meaningful. "If you tell them for five weeks you want them to abstain, and then you ask them if they intend to abstain, they are going to say yes," she said. "Intention is necessary, but it's not sufficient."
Bill Albert of the non-partisan Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy agrees that early research of abstinence education has not been promising but says the value of abstinence education is still unclear. "What we have said now for several years is that the jury is still out on the effectiveness of abstinence only programs," he said. "Most of them won't work, but most programs of any stripe don't work."
Health education researchers are eager to see the federally funded report. Still, that analysis alone will not provide a definitive answer. Dr. Pruitt predicts it may further inflame both sides.
"We need to all get in the same room, and we need to share information and ideas," he said. "We need to engage each other in conversation. We need to talk about kids instead of talking about politics."
E-mail lbeil@dallasnews.com
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/013005dnnatabstinence.a9173.html

A liberal Christian in conservative Lubbock

Sundance's 'Education' tracks student's fight for sex ed

02:08 PM CST on Saturday, January 29, 2005
By CHRIS VOGNAR / The Dallas Morning News
PARK CITY, Utah – Shelby Knox is tired. The 18-year-old Lubbock native just got into Park City for the world premiere of the documentary The Education of Shelby Knox at the Sundance Film Festival. Her hotel room was a bit chilly on her first night, the interviews are starting to pile up, and the sleep deprivation has her seeking a catnap in her publicist's suite.


ERICH SCHLEGEL/DMN
The Education of Shelby Knox, screened at the Sundance festival, chronicles changes in the Lubbock native's beliefs.
But she should be able to handle the grind ahead. Her personal journey of the last few years, chronicled in Education, has steeled her for almost anything.
Just three years ago she was a sophomore and conservative Southern Baptist at Lubbock's Coronado High School, in a district with a strict abstinence-only sex education policy. Now she's a self-described liberal Christian who underwent a baptism of fire by becoming an advocate for comprehensive sex ed in her hometown.
"I was 15, and in my high school I could see it was an issue that was affecting my contemporaries," says Ms. Knox, now a first-year sophomore political science major at the University of Texas in Austin. She has her eyes set on Georgetown law school, is interested in getting into politics and says she'd love to live in New York.
"The people around me were getting sexually transmitted diseases," she says. "Young girls were getting pregnant. I heard all the myths about the different ways you can get pregnant, and I realized that was no education."
She was also called a baby killer when she volunteered for Planned Parenthood. "These protesters thought I was going to abort my child or something," she recalls. "I've never had sex, but they thought I was going to abort my child."
Many people told her she was going to hell. She went through the difficult, soul-searching process of questioning her beliefs. But she's not merely still standing. She's thriving.

A path to adulthood


The Education of Shelby Knox chronicles a teenager's path to adulthood, consciousness and political awakening. It's the story of a family that remains very close and mutually supportive despite vast political and ideological differences. Most of all, it's a story about becoming your own person, even when that means going against everything you've been taught. Or, in this case, everything you weren't taught.
Education, which will kick off the new season of the PBS doc series POV on June 21, begins with a series of bracing facts. Lubbock has one of the highest teen-pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rates in the nation. Teenage gonorrhea rates are twice the national average.
"Lubbock is known for three things," says Ms. Knox. "Buddy Holly, the Dixie Chicks and STDs." (There's also Texas Tech, but you get her drift.)
This reputation is what got Ms. Knox interested in the sex education issue, first as a member of the Lubbock Youth Council, which works with city government, and then on her own. It's also what drew the attention of New York-based filmmakers Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt, who were looking for a sex education story for their next film. They didn't go to Lubbock looking for Shelby, but once they found her, they knew they had an ideal protagonist.
"She's outspoken, and she's a terrific public speaker," says Ms. Lipschutz. "She's really dedicated to the issue that we were working on. She was a conservative Southern Baptist who had pledged abstinence until marriage, and she was involved in a fight for comprehensive sex ed, which is generally perceived as a liberal cause."

Choosing sides


So how did a nice Southern Baptist girl turn into a sex-ed crusader?
"As I came to see the world outside of Lubbock, I realized that my beliefs were more liberal than my parents'," she says. "I didn't make these decisions because I wanted to be the opposite of my parents. I made them because I read about the issues and figured out which side I wanted to be on."
Ms. Knox is still onboard with abstinence. "Kids must be taught that to be completely safe from STDs and teen pregnancy, the only way to do that is to abstain," she says. "However, kids know they can make that decision, and they need to make informed decisions. If they are going to have sex, they need to know the consequences. And they need to know how to protect themselves."
That's not how the Lubbock Independent School District sees it. The district receives federal funding for it's abstinence-only program, which has been in effect since 1995, and school officials would like to see the money continue to flow.
But the abstinence-only policy is not about cash. As depicted in the film, Lubbock is a proudly conservative and Christian city, with many residents and public officials who equate sex education with sexual provocation. The party line is that sex should be saved for marriage. Judging by the STD and pregnancy figures, that doesn't seem to be happening. The abstinence-only policy remains in place.
Among the abstinence-only advocates is Lubbock youth pastor Ed Ainsworth, who conducts "true love waits" abstinence pledge ceremonies with local teens. Ms. Knox took the pledge as a sophomore, but she now says Mr. Ainsworth uses "scare tactics." In the film, we see Mr. Ainsworth warning a room full of teens that STDs can be contracted through shaking hands.
"I talk to teenagers about sexual purity, specifically about abstinence," says Mr. Ainsworth in the film. "The reason I do it is that I'm sick and tired of seeing kids mess up their lives physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and financially."
Mr. Ainsworth, who estimates that he spreads the abstinence message at 200 schools and speaks to 250,000 students every year, has no ax to grind with Ms. Knox.
"She's a good kid," he says by phone. "I disagree with her philosophically and with where she's coming from. But it's America, and that's why we all live here."
However, Mr. Ainsworth, who has yet to see the film, adds that he's disappointed with the filmmakers' decision to make Ms. Knox the protagonist. He recalls that they came to Lubbock to make a film about the issue of comprehensive sex education vs. abstinence, before deciding to focus on Ms. Knox.
"I'm not angry, and I'm not upset with Shelby," he says. "I'm just disappointed."
On a personal level, the sex-ed issue is just one sign of Ms. Knox's political transformation. She's straight, and she strongly supports gay rights, a stance that hastened her resignation from the Youth Council when she felt the organization wasn't reaching out to gay students. Her favorite course at UT is called Women, Gender and Politics. She writes for a collegiate feminist magazine called The F Word. Her parents say she has always rooted for the underdog, and she can't deny it.
And she remains a proud Christian.
"Christians in general are not like what the religious right portrays," she says. "That is just a very vocal side of it. I believe most Christians are loving, caring and tolerant. They believe in civil liberties and civil rights. It's very sad and detrimental to the Christian faith that some people have decided to use it for political advantage.
"I accept everyone. I don't think there's one right answer."
This approach extends to the film's treatment of the city and its people. Festival director Geoffrey Gilmore likes the film, which is in the American documentary competition, largely because it doesn't buy into clichés or caricatures.
"The filmmakers really understand what this story is, and who this person is and the conflicts that are arising. That's one of the things that you don't see in a lot of films about religious or ideological conflicts, where everything is so black and white, with the forces of repression and the forces of tolerance and understanding. It's not played that way."

A family affair


Ms. Knox is firmly aware that her political beliefs have taken a sharp left turn from her family. And she admits to pangs of guilt.
"I think they might feel like they did something wrong," she says. "I feel bad, because in all ways it points to, I should have been a Republican. But my parents are so proud of me, and I love them for that. Everyone they meet in Lubbock, they tell about the film."
Ms. Knox's father, Danny, agrees with his daughter that comprehensive sex education would be beneficial for Lubbock. A conservative Republican, he's not quite as comfortable with some of Shelby's other causes. In the film, he bristles a bit when Shelby teams up with student activists to support gay rights. (In March of last year, a federal judge ruled that the LISD could disallow a Gay/Straight Alliance at Lubbock High School.)
To Mr. Knox's credit, he offers his daughter nothing but love and support.
"We feel like we raised her the right way, even if we see things a little different politically," Mr. Knox says by phone. A car sales rep in Lubbock, he was making plans early last week to bring the whole family, including Shelby's 14-year-old brother Devin, to Park City so they can celebrate with Shelby before the close of the festival today. "We're really proud of her," he says. "She's a great little lady."
Ms. Knox says the festival "has been one of the best experiences of my life. The screenings have been so energetic and wonderful." The film has received two standing ovations, and it received a rave review in the trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter, which says Education has strong possibilities for a theatrical release.
Now, she's ready to get back to school, hit the books and blend back in with the crowd.
"It's been fun being recognized, but I'm looking forward to my classes," she says. "And I'm looking forward to being just one of 50,000 students, instead of the girl from the film."
But "the girl from the film" will always be part of Shelby. When school is out and she comes home for the holidays, she goes into one room and watches CNN, which her dad calls "the Criminal News Network." Her parents sit in the living room, where they watch Fox News – or, as Shelby calls it, "Faux News."
In an age of frequently hostile red state-blue state divisions, the Knoxes could teach us all a thing or two about family values. In their case, blood is much thicker than politics.
E-mail cvognar@dallasnews.com
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/entertainment/stories/013005dnartshelby.d7db8.html
-------------------------
OP-ED COLUMNIST

Bush's Sex Scandal
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: February 16, 2005

I'm sorry to report a sex scandal in the heart of the Bush administration. Worse, it doesn't involve private behavior, but public conduct.

You see, for all the carnage in President Bush's budget, one program is being showered with additional cash - almost three times as much as it got in 2001. It's "abstinence only" sex education, and the best research suggests that it will cost far more lives than the Clinton administration's much more notorious sex scandal.
Advertisement

Mr. Bush means well. But "abstinence only" is a misnomer that in practice is an assault on sex education itself. There's a good deal of evidence that the result will not be more young rosy-cheeked virgins - it will be more pregnancies, abortions, gonorrhea and deaths from AIDS.

Look, I'm all for abstinence education. I support the booming abstinence industry as it peddles panties and boxers decorated with stop signs (at www.abstinence.net), and "Pet Your Dog, Not Your Date" T-shirts.

Abstinence education is great because it helps counteract the peer pressure that often leaves teenagers with broken hearts - and broken health.

For that reason, almost all sex-ed classes in America already encourage abstinence. But abstinence-only education isn't primarily about promoting abstinence - it's about blindly refusing to teach contraception.

To get federal funds, for example, abstinence-only programs are typically barred by law from discussing condoms or other forms of contraception - except to describe how they can fail. So kids in these programs go all through high school without learning anything but abstinence, even though more than 60 percent of American teenagers have sex before age 18.

In the old days, social conservatives simply fought any mention of sex. In 1906, The Ladies' Home Journal published articles about venereal disease - and 75,000 readers canceled their subscriptions. Congress banned the mailing of family planning information, and Margaret Sanger was jailed in 1916 for selling a birth control pamphlet to an undercover policewoman.

But silence about sex only nurtured venereal diseases (one New York doctor, probably exaggerating, claimed in 1904 that 60 percent of American men had syphilis or gonorrhea), so sex education gradually gained ground. Then social conservatives had a brilliant idea: instead of fighting sex ed directly, they campaigned for abstinence-only programs that eviscerated any discussion of contraception.

That shrewd approach succeeded. In 1988, a survey by the Alan Guttmacher Institute found that only 2 percent of sex-ed teachers used an abstinence-only approach. Now, the institute says, a quarter of them do.

Other developed countries focus much more on contraception. The upshot is that while teenagers in the U.S. have about as much sexual activity as teenagers in Canada or Europe, Americans girls are four times as likely as German girls to become pregnant, almost five times as likely as French girls to have a baby, and more than seven times as likely as Dutch girls to have an abortion. Young Americans are five times as likely to have H.I.V. as young Germans, and teenagers' gonorrhea rate is 70 times higher in the U.S. than in the Netherlands or France.

Some studies have claimed that abstinence-only programs work, but researchers criticize the studies for being riddled with flaws. A National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy task force examined the issue and concluded: "There do not currently exist any abstinence-only programs with strong evidence that they either delay sex or reduce teen pregnancy."

Worse, there's some evidence that abstinence-only programs lead to increases in unprotected sex.

Perhaps the most careful study of the issue involved 12,000 young people. It found that those taking virginity pledges had sex 18 months later, on average, than those who had not taken the pledge. But even 88 percent of the pledgers had sex before marriage.

More troubling, the pledgers were much less likely to use contraception when they did have sex - only 40 percent of the males used condoms, compared with 59 percent of those who did not take the pledge.

In contrast, there's plenty of evidence that abstinence-plus programs - which encourage abstinence but also teach contraception - delay sex and increase the use of contraception. So, at a time when we're cutting school and health programs, why should we pour additional tax money into abstinence-only initiatives, which are likely to lead to more pregnancies, more abortions and more kids with AIDS? Now, that's a scandal.

E-mail: nicholas@nytimes.com

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/opinion/16kristof.html?hp

Brownwood: God's Politics

Constitutionalism or Chaos ?
Using Christianity to advance conservatives' agenda

By Dave Haigler
January 30, 2005

There is a strange movement afoot in current right-wing extremism calling itself ''Constitutionalism'' (more correctly known as ''textualism'' or ''strict constructionism,'' according to a Stanford University essay), and this strange movement is actually a proposal for religious chaos in our judicial system.

So-called ''Constitutionalism's'' leading advocate is the right-wing Eagle Forum's ''Court Watch'' project. The ''Court Watch'' newsletter, ''2005: Look Down to Look Ahead,'' says the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, have no business authoritatively stating what the Constitution means. It is difficult to overstate how radical this view is, and how out of line it is with our legal heritage.

The leading case on constitutional law in this country is Marbury v. Madison (1803), in which the Supreme Court set the precedent for itself to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional and authoritatively interpret the Constitution. There is no law or other essay I can find questioning this precedent.

Even more disturbing than the ''Constitutionalist'' dissent from Supreme Court jurisdiction is its prescription for replacing that jurisdiction. Court Watch says the Constitution cannot be properly interpreted without the ''worldview'' of its ''Framers,'' and this ''worldview'' allegedly is the ''Judeo-Christian value system,'' and this value system excludes ''pluralism'' and ''diversity.'' Like Dave Barry, I am not making this up. You can see for yourself at www.eagleforum.org and then click on Court Watch and then their ''Constitutionalist Manifesto.''

Secularists and atheists can have a heyday with this, but even thoughtful Christians such as myself should shudder in horror at it. The Constitution's First Amendment says that no one's religion can be forced on us by the government, yet Eagle Forum's un-elected ''Constitutionalists'' would subject us to constitutional interpretations through the grid of their ''Judeo-Christian value system.''

One of the ''Judeo-Christian value system's'' greatest defenders was W.A. Criswell, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, for a half-century and president of the Southern Baptist Convention, who defended segregation until 1968, even though a supposedly liberal Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education. One of the current generation's greatest defenders of the ''Judeo-Christian value system'' is the Rev. Jerry Falwell, whose views are mostly out of line with mainstream Christianity as well.

Do we want unelected religious leaders such as Dr. Criswell, Dr. Falwell and the Eagle Forum ladies telling us what the Constitution means, based on their so-called ''Judeo-Christian value system,'' or justices appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, according to the Constitution's own terms, doing so? This is a no-brainer. Its defenders don't advocate mainstream Christian values such as loving your neighbor and helping the poor in public policy. The truth is, this so-called ''Judeo-Christian value system'' catchphrase is a smokescreen for extremist Republican policies.

The ''Judeo-Christian value system'' also is no help to interpret the Founding Fathers' original intent in the Constitution, because the concept was not in vogue then. Granted, the Founders were mostly Christians solidly within the Reformation tradition. But this catchphrase only came into vogue in the 20th century, and its adherents are heavily influenced by two other 20th-century belief systems, ''Dispensationalism'' and ''Fundamentalism.''

To those who feel I am being too harsh with fellow Christians, I can only say these ''Constitutionalists'' are leading the sheep astray down a path alien to not only our American heritage, but also to our Christian heritage.

What can be done about this?

1. If you are a Christian who has not been influenced by this so-called ''Constitutionalism,'' pray the ones who have will see the light.

2. If you are a Christian who has been influenced by it, consider its bad roots and fruits and broaden your view of Christian ethics in public policy by checking out something such as ''Sojourners.'' Its editor, Jim Wallis has a recent book, ''God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It.''

3. If you are a secularist or other non-Christian who sees the bad results of ''Constitutionalism,'' then don't criticize all Christians for it. Mainstream Christianity has had a very good effect on the world. Don't attack ''religious nuts'' or make other shotgun appeals against people of faith. Use this article, and others I've written at www.haigler.info/page11.html, to be very precise about what you're opposing. Don't make it easy for those still in such error to feel ''persecuted for their faith.'' Let them know you're opposing them for their error, not for their ''standing up for Jesus.''

Dave Haigler is a lawyer, mediator and NASD arbitrator practicing in Abilene with more than 30 years' legal experience, including defending religious-liberty cases. He and his wife, Becky, a Spanish teacher at Cooper High School, are life-group leaders at Beltway Park Baptist Church. Dave Haigler also serves as a Teen Court Judge and Taylor County Democratic Party chair.

http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_columns/article/0,1874,ABIL_7981_3508482,00.html

Brownwood Dinner Table ?

Discovering an appetite for chatting

Participants want Abilene Dinner Table to continue

By Brye Butler / Reporter-News Staff Writer
January 30, 2005

The dishes are stacked away, leftovers have been eaten - but guests at the city's largest simultaneous dinner party are still talking.

And most want a second helping.

The first Abilene Dinner Table, on Jan. 22, was a gathering of community members - more than 400 who ate at church halls, private homes and public venues - who quickly got acquainted, shared a meal, discussed issues affecting their lives for a few hours and bettered themselves and the community from the experience.

Each table at the event, which was spearheaded by the Abilene Reporter-News' editorial board, had a facilitator to keep the conversation moving. Participants wrote down comments and what they would like to see happen next.

Feedback was given to Reporter-News Editor Terri Burke.

Nearly all the other participants said they would like to attend or host a dinner table again. Now, organizers and participants alike are wondering what's next.

Burke said she hopes a group or organization will step forward to take the lead on Abilene Dinner Table.

Based on participants' positive experience at the ACCESS Learning Center, table host Mike Hernandez said, he would like to see more meetings planned to involve more people.

The main accomplishment at his site was bringing together a variety of people - a good first step, Hernandez said.

Heather Hodges, a participant at Highland Church of Christ, agreed. She suggests quarterly meetings, with different people grouped together, with a specific goal set each time. In between the dinners, the groups can work to accomplish the goals together.

An immediate issue she suggests addressing is minority outreach efforts. Hodges said she would like to see more diversity at the dinner tables.

Although the majority of tables around town were diverse, the people at her table were all white.

Table host Lynda Calcote agreed this would be a good issue to tackle.

''All of us were really disappointed at the low Hispanic turnout,'' Calcote said of the group at Aldersgate United Methodist Church.

She suggested sending personal invitations, rather than soliciting participants through the newspaper, as something for participants to work on together before the next dinner table.

In addition to diversity, topics at dinner tables around town included wages, cultural events, church involvement in the community, youth and education.

Feedback on the event was overwhelmingly positive, according to comment cards and notes taken by table hosts. Participants described the dinner as enjoyable, thought-provoking and a chance to meet fellow Abilenians they would otherwise never encounter.

''I was made aware of my tunnel vision about my community,'' one participant wrote on a comment card. ''I have figured out that I came here with a certain amount of, 'What is there in this for me?' What I'm leaving with is the knowledge that what benefits the community is what benefits me.''

Abilene Dinner Table participant responses

Positives in the community:

* Friendly.
* Overall light traffic.
* Low crime rate.
* Religious.
* Good quality of life.
* Dyess Air Force Base.
* Higher-education institutions.

Areas of concern in the community:

* Not enough job opportunities.
* Appearance - too much litter and blight.
* Not enough youth activities.
* Need stronger minority representation.
* Poor roads.
* Inability to retain university graduates.
* Congested traffic in certain commercial areas.

Participants' suggestions for what's next:

* Continue to meet at regular intervals with different people at different venues.
* Meet with different groups; after two years, have everyone meet together to collaborate.
* Meet for various occasions such as ''Happy Hour.''
* Original dinner table participants meet in one month and bring a guest, who is seated apart; discuss a specific topic each time.
* Meet again with same group to brainstorm community-improvement ideas.
* Future meetings with concrete goals/topics outlined.
* Gather all hosts for a meeting to relay issues, discuss ways to take action.

Comments from participants:

* ''Today (Jan. 22) has been a blessing for my wife and me. x85 Thank you so much for this wonderful evening.'' - Randy Scott
* ''My only regret is that I did not publicize or encourage more of my friends and neighbors to take part.'' - Danyel Rogers
* ''I don't usually like to get out of my comfort zone, but I'm glad that I did.'' - Crystal Sutton
* ''I didn't know what this would be about tonight, but it has been enjoyable, educational and just a pleasant experience.'' - Ruth Scott
* ''I believe a 'seed' was planted within me. I would love to continue.'' - Evelyn Ferguson

Contact nonprofits writer Brye Butler at butlerb@reporternews.com or 676-6765.

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_3509343,00.html

Brownwood Meth

East Texas in the grip of meth
Henderson County has trained its sights on drug plague, but there's been no end to the devastation

09:41 PM CST on Saturday, March 26, 2005
By LEE HANCOCK / The Dallas Morning News
ATHENS, Texas – Meth horror stories are all too easy to find in Henderson County.
At the hospital, emergency room doctor Dan Bywaters is haunted by the abandoned toddler who vomited uncontrollably after eating methamphetamine.
At the jail, Sheriff J.R. "Ronny" Brownlow has scabby prisoners tell him to his face that they'll go back on meth the day they go free.
At the court building, state district Judge Carter Tarrance jokes about running a full-time meth court.

At Cedar Creek Lake, army retiree Al Gusner tells war stories about twitchy neighbors who rammed his car and held a knife to his throat for trying to chase meth users and labs from his neighborhood.
The drug known as "white-trash crack" has stalked the back roads of Henderson County, fueling child abuse, violence and misery for the last four years.
"Epidemic is almost not strong enough a word, because it doesn't go away," said Dr. Bywaters, the ER medical director at East Texas Medical Center-Athens, the county's only hospital. "It's hard to believe the scope of the problem, to be honest."
The problem is hardly isolated to Henderson County.
The drug is so easy to make, and so many labs have been discovered across the northern half of Texas since 2000, that the area stretching from the Panhandle, through Dallas, to the Louisiana-Arkansas line has become the state's meth belt.
Meth made up 54 percent of all confiscated items sent to the Department of Public Safety regional crime lab in Abilene last year. At Amarillo's regional DPS lab, it was 41 percent. At the Dallas and Tyler labs, meth accounted for about a third last year.
Among those nabbed across the region for using, making or selling the drug: schoolteachers, more than one state prosecutor, small-town police officers, a University of North Texas professor and a retired homicide cop in Houston.
Jane Marshall, a University of Texas professor who studies drug-abuse trends, said the problem has hit rural areas the hardest, "and it is exacting a huge price on local communities."
This is the story of a rural Texas county drowning in meth. Authorities have been on the offensive for two years; drug arrests have doubled, and crime has dropped. Still, the sheriff and others are pessimistic about ever getting the upper hand.
Said Judge Tarrance: "I feel like I'm bailing the ocean."

Consumed in a hurry
Meth has afflicted rural Texas for the same reason it has ravaged much of the nation's heartland: Anyone with inclination, a few hours and an Internet recipe can turn a vile brew of over-the-counter cold medicines, hardware-store solvents and farm chemicals into methamphetamine.

Experts say that the drug's psychological hook is more powerful than crack cocaine. One "bump" smoked, swallowed or injected induces a long, manic high that ends with an equally intense crash and craving for more. Paranoia is common, and regular users can suffer temporary psychosis and permanent brain damage.
And it has infested Henderson County with particular intensity.
Child-welfare workers, judges, doctors and cops talk about meth's impact with the weariness of combat veterans: babies born weekly with meth in their bloodstreams; 10- and 12-year-olds using meth; girls barely in their teens prostituted to support parents' habits; a cheerleader and homecoming princess coping with a mother on meth.
Arrests for drugs and violent crime in Henderson County have nearly doubled in the last seven years, even as statistics indicate such arrests have dropped in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. For the last two years, property thefts reported to the Sheriff's Department have averaged $250,000 a month.
"It's behind the assaults, the child abuse," said Judge Tarrance, adding that the drug has fueled an outlaw economy reminiscent of the moonshine era. He said meth and its users are behind "90 percent" of all felony cases that come before him.
"They're burglarizing. They're writing hot checks. You see women with multiple cases of forgery, and it's a meth problem."
Though many users are blue-collar, meth has claimed businesswomen, an $80,000-a-year construction manager, little league moms and entrepreneurs. The biggest lab busted in the county was in a quarter-million-dollar lake house.
Probation officers say they find used needles every time they check the county court parking lot, and addicts regularly show up high for court even though their freedom and even keeping their kids hinges on staying clean.
State-funded treatment of the county's meth users has jumped sevenfold since 1999, outstripping rehab admissions for alcoholism for the last several years.
Dr. Bywaters said he was stunned when he came to the Athens hospital from a Denver suburb in 2001 and saw that at least half a dozen emergency-room patients a day tested positive for meth or showed clear signs of meth abuse. That has gone up, he said, and meth users now account for about 10 percent of the hospital's 80 to 90 emergency patients each day.
"It permeates every facet of the community," he said.
Just before Dr. Bywaters moved to town, he said, the county had a rash of poisonings and at least one death related to the drug. A meth cook had cut a batch with fire ant bait.

A paradise lost


Sheriff Brownlow said the drug hit hard in 2001, as he became a second-generation member of his family to serve as Henderson County's top lawman.
The county had a handful of old-time meth cooks who knew the black art of making meth in "P2P" labs, a complex, lengthy and dangerous process that waned in the 1990s after federal laws restricted sales of necessary chemicals and equipment.
But "almost overnight," a new kind of speed seemed to be everywhere, the sheriff said. Almost anyone could make it, with Sudafed or other cold remedies based on pseudoephedrine.
"I'd get seven, eight calls a day, people frustrated with their drug-dealing, drug-manufacturing neighbors," said the sheriff, a retired Texas Ranger. "We were just overrun."
Drug blight and crime began appearing in remotest corners of the county.
One hot spot was Cedar Creek Lake, on the county's west side. There, isolated subdivisions became havens for meth users and labs. Lake Palestine, on the county's eastern border, was another magnet, drawing cooks and users from the Dallas-Fort Worth area and locals who learned to brew the drug.
"These crooks know that we're very limited in manpower," the sheriff said. "They don't have to spend much time around here, in those subdivisions and lake areas, to realize that they don't see us very often."
Retired urbanites who'd been drawn to the county's sleepy lakefronts said they felt under siege. Along the quietest back roads, weird nocturnal gatherings and strange smells prompted a run on concealed-gun licenses and burglar alarms.
Mr. Gusner, 69, had come to Cedar Creek Lake to fish, putter and work on his ambition of being a boot-and-bolo-wearing Texan after a career in the Army National Guard.
The native Nebraskan said his plans evaporated as soon as he became president of his subdivision's garden club.
He learned how to spot meth-addled areas while trying to organize an attack on illegal dumping and blight in the aging, unincorporated clusters of weekend getaways and retirement homes that encircle the lake. "Wherever there's trash, there's meth," he said.
Meth cooks burned heaps of garbage to conceal the odor of their labs. Often, users were too strung out to keep up the rundown property they rented or squatted on.
In one of the worst-infested areas, a fetid backwater known as "the cut," meth heads squatted in some trailers and carted off all the metal they could pry from others to sell for scrap. Druggies cooked meth on boats and party barges in the middle of the lake, tipping the toxic chemicals into the water if strangers got too close.
Mr. Gusner and other lakefront retirees banded together with longtime residents and parents desperate to rescue their children from the drug. He got certified as a state environmental investigator, and Sandra Mallie, a school janitor, went to a state training program to learn how to deal with the toxic mess created by labs.
"It became an obsession," Mr. Gusner said.
The sheriff went to Austin and pleaded for grant money to beef up his one-and-a-half narcotics force. When that initially got nowhere, he and chiefs of the county's 14 small-town police departments formed a task force of five investigators in the spring of 2003.
The new group took down labs in homes, in moving vehicles and even a backyard tent. They busted a group gathered in a trailer for paid drug-cooking lessons. They caught one user peddling suitcases filled with cold medications and everything else needed for a lab. One lab burned part of a Lake Palestine motel; another nearly blew up several officers after a cook set fire to it during a bust.
The investigators also repeatedly found children in squalid drug houses, exposed to toxic fumes from their parents' meth labs. Kids were using the drug. Some were being traded for meth to boyfriends or even strangers.

Smallest victims


Child Protective Services workers in Athens say almost all of the county's abused and neglected kids have been touched by meth.
"It's all-consuming," said LeeAnn Millender, director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of the Trinity Valley, a group that assists children brought in the courts. "There's more sexual abuse, more neglect, more extremes of neglect."
According to Child Protective Services data, the number of confirmed child-abuse victims in the county more than tripled from fiscal 1997 to fiscal 2004 – far outstripping the state increase.
CPS Supervisor Shelly Allen said the children coming into the system are more disturbed – and more expensive to care for – because of meth. CPS records indicate agency foster care expenditures in the county jumped from $548,000 in fiscal 1997 to $1.56 million last year.
Vickie Sussen, a CASA of Trinity Valley supervisor, said she has repeatedly seen babies exposed to methamphetamine in the womb develop such behavioral problems by the time they're toddlers that "foster parents say they can't handle this kid."
"I have one little girl, she's been in five foster homes already. And she's 4," Ms. Sussen said.
Ms. Allen said the agency is also getting children whose parents and grandparents are using the drug; that leaves nowhere for the kids to go but state foster care.
The agency is so swamped that many children aren't referred for help, such as family counseling, until abuse or neglect is too severe to avoid removing the child, CPS supervisor Ann Perry said.
Ultimately, officials say, virtually all the meth users who fall into the system end up losing their kids.
"We have lots of cases that we need to open for services," Ms. Perry said, "but we can't."

Progress, but little hope
Even so, Ms. Perry and other local social services workers say the countywide offensive has kept the area's meth crisis from getting worse.
The number of labs seized last year was half that of 2003, even as the number of drug arrests – mostly for meth – doubled to 338. Athens police say they saw assaults and other violent crime drop by more than half.
"They've kicked butt," Sheriff Brownlow said.
He and other law enforcement officials say they have high hopes for pending federal and state legislation that would regulate sales of cold products with pseudoephedrine, much like a law passed in Oklahoma last year. The law is credited with reducing lab seizures by 80 percent.
Another bill would expand a program, MethWatch, that members of Mr. Gusner's citizens group recently brought to East Texas. The program encourages retailers to post signs warning that they monitor and report suspicious purchases of products that can be used in meth labs.
Gov. Rick Perry launched MethWatch in 23 East Texas counties after Ms. Mallie, whose oldest son spent several years taking and making meth, did her own research and persuaded the governor to set it up.
But the sheriff and his task force remain pessimistic.
Meth is the cockroach of illicit drugs. Authorities say pressure in Henderson County has sent cooks scurrying to neighboring counties. Purchase limits imposed on cold medications at chain stores like Wal-Mart have sent meth heads piling into beater cars for buying runs in Dallas and Houston.
Even users who want help face big hurdles. Henderson County has no publicly funded treatment programs, and those available in neighboring counties have waiting lists.
Treatment programs statewide have become progressively shorter in recent years despite expert consensus that meth users need more intensive, longer-term help than other substance abusers. County officials say that increases the odds of failure for users who want to get clean.
"I don't think we're ever gonna put it down," said the sheriff, who laughs at his own mention of the anti-drug slogan "just say no."
The sheriff says he'll talk to any inmate who wants to kick the drug, and he urges all who will listen to turn to Jesus. Among those he has counseled is the daughter of a man at his church. He didn't make the connection until the father stood in tears one morning before their Baptist Sunday school class and asked those gathered to pray for his jailed, drug-addicted child.
"The approach that we're taking is not gonna work," the sheriff said.
Both the sheriff and the judge said they need more drug courts and treatment options, as well as more mental assistance for chronic users who cycle repeatedly through the legal system.
"They're talking about building a new jail," Judge Tarrance said. "I don't think the citizens understand. You'll fill that jail up."


Several bills have been filed in the Texas Legislature to crack down on methamphetamine. They include:
A bill by Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, would stiffen penalties for possessing, delivering or manufacturing the drug. Meth crimes would be punished more harshly than those involving other drugs, and possessing a large amount could result in life imprisonment. Pseudoephedrine sales would be restricted to licensed pharmacies, and the product would have to be out of customers' reach. The bill is awaiting a hearing in a House committee. A Senate version, filed by Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, is awaiting a committee hearing.
A bill by Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, would increase penalties if meth is made in the presence of a child. The measure is scheduled for a House subcommittee hearing Thursday. Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, has filed a version in the Senate.
Measures by Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, would create meth awareness programs for retailers and for schools. Both bills await a committee hearing; one is scheduled for Tuesday.

The Texas Alliance for Drug Endangered Children will hold a statewide conference April 19-20 on communitywide responses to meth and other drugs. The conference will bring together legal experts, police, educators, child advocates and protective services workers, and medical and mental health professionals at the Hilton DFW Lakes Hotel in Grapevine. Visit www.dec.org .

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/032705dntexmeth.a924a.html

Brownwood Dinner Table ?

James Ragland
Dinner Table participants break bread and stereotypes

01:37 PM CST on Saturday, January 29, 2005
By JAMES RAGLAND / The Dallas Morning News
Dear Readers: More than 1,100 people participated in this month's fifth annual Dallas Dinner Table, which was held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The Dinner Tables are designed to bring people from diverse backgrounds together over dinner to discuss ways to bridge racial, ethnic and cultural divides.

for the entire article visit: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/texasliving/columnists/all/stories/013005dnlivragland.8ec9.html

-----------------------------

Locals break bread together

Abilene Dinner Table gives chance for 400 to converse

By Brye Butler and Raquel C. Garza / Reporter-News Staff Writers
January 23, 2005

They started out as strangers Saturday night, but after dinner together and a few hours of conversation, many left their Abilene Dinner Table venues as friends.

''I think y'all are going to be like part of my family,'' said Cindy Boyd, one participant.

The Abilene Dinner Table is a gathering of community members all around town who may not know each other. The idea is to share a meal, discuss issues affecting their lives and grow from the experience.

More than 400 area residents - double the number expected - gathered at church halls, museums, public venues and people's homes for the first Abilene Dinner Table. The concept was spearheaded by the Abilene Reporter-News editorial board.

''We were overwhelmed by the response,'' said Terri Burke, editor of the Abilene Reporter-News.

Adults and children gathered to discuss a variety of issues across the Big Country. Participants were racially diverse as well, she said.

''There's really a great cross-section of people hosting as well as participating,'' Burke said. '' ... It's a little bit of everybody.''

At the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature, tables were set up for the adults and for children.

Michelle Coleman, an HSU junior, asked the youth group about prejudice, not only as the word applies to race but to people's feelings for others based on money, their style of dressing and the types of activities people participated in.

''I think all people are equal - poor, rich, black, white,'' said Casper Hove-McGhee, 12.

The group acknowledged that it can be hard to treat people equally, especially when peer pressure is involved.

''We listen more to other people than we listen to ourselves,'' said Michael Chambers, 15.

Madison Moore, 11, didn't like when people were discriminated against for whatever reason.

''They're not opening their mind up to what the world can bring them,'' she said.

Opening first their mouths, then their minds, nearly 20 residents met at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. The group sat at two tables, and each started the evening with introductions and small talk. All had a common goal: to better Abilene through communication.

''If you don't know people, how can you love them?'' said participant Virginia Connally. ''This is an opportunity for us to get to know each other.''

Her table, hosted and facilitated by the Rev. Kelvin Kelley, discussed current events, professions and religion. Conversation was easy, comfortable and abundant - in between bites of food.

Kelley prompted the participants with questions and pictures to stimulate conversation.

Connally, 92, said she wanted to participate to benefit her city.

''I've always said 'yes,''' Connally said. ''Yes opens doors.''

Dinner Table participants were solicited through the Abilene Reporter-News. Table hosts, including members of the Reporter-News editorial board, volunteered. Others were personally asked by Burke, who hosted a table with her husband in their home.

Table hosts met earlier in the week to discuss how to prompt dinner conversation. Diners discussed their expectations of the event and if they were met, Burke said.

At Rob and Linda Carleton's home, the conversation took two different paths - while one table discussed racial issues, the other spent time getting to know one another.

''When we first started to talk about the community, we started to talk about Abilene and how close-knit a community it was,'' said Karen Johnson. ''From there, we started talking about one another.''

Greg Baier, a Wisconsin native, thought this was a great way to get to know his tablemates.

''You don't really establish community by asking 'What's your view?' - that divides people,'' he said. ''I think people would rather talk about one another.''

source: http://www1.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_3491670,00.html

KXYL & www.Worldnetdaily.com

What's funny (& sad at the same time) is to follow the talking heads of the morning show as they use worldnetdaily as their guide for subject matter (without giving credit for their source). I've noticed this takes place on a daily basis. Why not give credit where credit is due ? They often come off as puppets for the Right Wing ! Try a little background information on www.worldnetdaily.com. And James Williamson accuses the D's of having to be told what to think by the DNC !

Your Lyin' Eyes
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Joseph Farah still wants you to believe that WND isn't conservative.
By Terry Krepel
Posted 9/20/2004
Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?
Groucho Marx

WorldNetDaily's Joseph Farah has become Groucho Marx, only not as (intentionally) funny, through his repeated assertions that WND is not a "conservative" news site.

He takes offense yet again in a Sept. 17 column following an appearance on MSNBC's "Scarborough Country," in which Farah corrected Scarborough after the host called WND "conservative."

"That correction has prompted a deluge of derisive letters," Farah writes. "Typically, these writers say they decided to visit WorldNetDaily for the first time after hearing me on the MSNBC show and decided based on their casual, cursory visit that the site is conservative."

Gee, can't imagine why. Could it be WND's continual haranguing of John Kerry and the near-complete lack of similar scrutiny of George W. Bush? Its kneejerk defense of conservatives, even imprisoned ones? The overwhelming conservative slant of the "news" stories it posts and its list of columnists? Its use of a White House "correspondent" who is little more than a partisan conservative shill?

Farah refuses to acknowledge that those "derisive" writers have a point. He offers no evidence that WND isn't conservative other than to recite WND's mission statement, with lofty, inspirational terms such as "watchdog exposing government waste, fraud, corruption and abuse of power" and "uncompromising disseminator of news." Farah presumably believes that answers all questions because the statement doesn't use the word "conservative."

"Yet, WND has been faithful to that mission," Farah writes, which doesn't answer the question of how an "uncompromising disseminator of news" can be so obviously biased.

He then compares said mission statement to that of media watchdog group Media Matters for America, which countered Farah's assertion by noting (as ConWebWatch did) a Sept. 7 WND story trumpeting its latest Alexa.com rankings, including that of top conservative news site (full disclosure: I am an employee of Media Matters for America, but it has no involvement in ConWebWatch), and declares WND's mission more noble.

Farah concludes: "Why is it a big deal to me that I might be misidentified as a 'conservative'? Because it's not accurate. Because it's not true. And, at WorldNetDaily, we actually value accuracy and truth."

Really? Then how does Farah explain WND's reporting on, for example, Teresa Heinz Kerry's charitable contributions? It's not truthful or accurate to refer to "Teresa Heinz Kerry's Tides Center," as Farah has repeatedly done. Nor is it truthful or accurate to insist that Heinz donations to the Tides Center has been earmarked for a laundry list of "radical, anti-American groups," as WND has also insisted. No correction has been forthcoming from WND or Farah. Wouldn't a news organization that values accuracy and truth admit its mistake and correct the record?

Earlier this year, WND ran four stories on infidelity rumors about John Kerry, none of which involved truth or accuracy; they were lifted straight from the Drudge Report, also not known for truth and accuracy. Since Farah has declared that WND values "accuracy and truth," will WND retract those stories and publicly apologize?

Other things a news organization that values accuracy and truth would do that WND hasn't:

* Detail the inconsistencies in the accounts of the anti-Kerry Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to the extent WND has attacked the controversial memos promoted by CBS regarding George W. Bush's National Guard service.
* Covered Bush's National Guard to the extent of its coverage of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. WND has written well over 60 Swift Boat-related news stories compared to a tiny fraction of that about Bush's military service, about which similar questions of truthfulness have arisen (as ConWebWatch has noted).
* Tell its readers of its interest in the subjects it covers (much like I did above); mentions in WND stories of people like, for instance, Jesse Lee Peterson usually fail to mention that he is a member of WND's speakers bureau and WND has published a book he wrote.

Yet the strongest evidence contradicting Farah's words came the same day his column appeared, on WND's own news page. The lead story that morning was a Kerry-bashing story parroting Republican talking points that Kerry is a flip-flopper. The second-highest story that day was the criticism by the Bush campaign of a new MoveOn.org TV ad. And above the nameplate all day was a promotion-disguised-as-a-news-story of a conspiratorial anti-Clinton documentary by Jack Cashill, best known for writing a seven-part series for WND trying to prove that James Kopp didn't kill an doctor who performs abortions (and for being rather silent a few months later when Kopp pleaded guilty to shooting him).

And the lead story on WND the evening of Sept. 17 was an article by Art Moore uncritically describing the latest ad by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Farah doesn't want us to believe our own eyes. We know better. Which brings to mind another Groucho quote that hints at would it might take for Farah to see past his own spin:

A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.

source: http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/2004/wndeyes.html

" The Rest of The Story " ? What JW forgot to mention !

Black Americans suspect HIV plot
Gary Younge in New York
Wednesday January 26 2005
The Guardian

Almost half of all African-Americans believe that HIV, the virus that causes Aids, is man-made, more than a quarter believe it was produced in a government laboratory and one in eight think it was created and spread by the CIA, according to a study released by Rand Corporation and the University of Oregon.

The paper's authors say these views are obstructing efforts to prevent the spread of HIV among African-Americans, the racial group most likely to contract the virus.

"The findings are striking, and a wake-up call to the prevention community," Laura Bogart, a behavioural scientist who co-authored the study, told the Washington Post.

"The prevention community has not addressed conspiracy beliefs in the context of prevention. I think that a lot of people involved in prevention may not be from the community where they are trying to prevent HIV."

African-Americans are 13% of the US population but account for 50% of new HIV infections, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

African-American women constituted 73% of new female HIV cases in 2003.

The study, which was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, also revealed a slight majority believe a cure for Aids is being withheld from the poor; 44% think the people who take the new medicines for HIV are being used as government guinea pigs, and 15% believe Aids is a form of genocide against black people. The responses barely fluctuated according to age, income, gender or education level.

Na'im Akbar, a professor of psychology at Florida State University who specialises in African-American behaviour, stressed that these views are grounded in experience.

Between 1932 and 1972 the federal government conducted experiments on 400 African-Americans in Tuskegee, Alabama. They were told they were being treated for syphilis but were allowed to sicken and die, and in some cases were actively denied treatment, until the experiment was exposed in 1972.

"This is not a bunch of crazy people running around saying they're out to get us," he said.

However, others, including Phil Wilson, executive director of the Black Aids Institute, insist that African-Americans must come to terms with this past if they are to overcome belief in conspiracy theories and the obstacles they present to effective prevention.

"The syphilis study was real, but it happened 40 years ago, and holding on to it is killing us," he said.




Controversial USA Government Activities
from: Douglas Walker
apta@discover.net

A History of Secret U.S. Government Programs

The following is a list of this century's most controversial government activities. It will be updated regularly in order to keep readers abreast of newly declassified materials:
1931
Dr. Cornelius Rhoads, under the auspices of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Investigations, infects human subjects with cancer cells.
He later goes on to establish the U.S. Army Biological Warfare facilities in Maryland, Utah, and Panama, and is named to the U.S.
Atomic Energy Commission. While there, he begins a series of radiation exposure experiments on American soldiers and civilian hospital patients.

1932
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study begins. 200 black men diagnosed with syphilis are never told of their illness, are denied treatment, and instead are used as human guinea pigs in order to follow the progression and symptoms of the disease. They all subsequently die from syphilis, their families never told that they could have been
treated.

1935
The Pellagra Incident. After millions of individuals die from Pellagra over a span of two decades, the U.S. Public Health Service finally acts to stem the disease. The director of the agency admits it had known for at least 20 years that Pellagra is caused by a niacin deficiency but failed to act since most of the deaths occurred within poverty-striken black populations.

1940
Four hundred prisoners in Chicago are infected with Malaria in order to study the effects of new and experimental drugs to combat the disease. Nazi doctors later on trial at Nuremberg cite this American
study to defend their own actions during the Holocaust.

1942
Chemical Warfare Services begins mustard gas experiments on approximately 4,000 servicemen. The experiments continue until 1945 and made use of Seventh Day Adventists who chose to become human guinea pigs rather than serve on active duty.

1943
In response to Japan's full-scale germ warfare program, the U.S. begins research on biological weapons at Fort Detrick, MD.

1944
U.S. Navy uses human subjects to test gas masks and clothing.
Individuals were locked in a gas chamber and exposed to mustard gas and lewisite.

1945
Project Paperclip is initiated. The U.S. State Department, Army intelligence, and the CIA recruit Nazi scientists and offer them immunity and secret identities in exchange for work on top secret
government projects in the United States.

'Program F' is implemented by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission(AEC). This is the most extensive U.S. study of the health effects of fluoride, which was the key chemical component in atomic bomb production. One of the most toxic chemicals known to man, fluoride,it is found, causes marked adverse effects to the central nervous system but much of the information is squelched in the name of national security because of fear that lawsuits would undermine full-scale production of atomic bombs.

1946
Patients in VA hospitals are used as guinea pigs for medical experiments. In order to allay suspicions, the order is given to change the word 'experiments' to 'investigations' or 'observations'whenever reporting a medical study performed in one of the nation's
veteran's hospitals.

1947
Colonel E. E. Kirkpatrick of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission issues a secret document (Document 07075001, January 8, 1947) stating that the agency will begin administering intravenous doses of radioactive
substances to human subjects.

The CIA begins its study of LSD as a potential weapon for use by American intelligence. Human subjects (both civilian and military) are used with and without their knowledge.

1950
Department of Defense begins plans to detonate nuclear weapons in desert areas and monitor downwind residents for medical problems and mortality rates.

In an experiment to determine how susceptible an American city would be to biological attack, the U.S. Navy sprays a cloud of bacteria from ships over San Francisco. Monitoring devices are situated throughout the city in order to test the extent of infection. Many residents become ill with pneumonia-like symptoms.

1951
Department of Defense begins open air tests using disease-producing bacteria and viruses. Tests last through 1969 and there is concern that people in the surrounding areas have been exposed.

1953
U.S. military releases clouds of zinc cadmium sulfide gas over Winnipeg, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Fort Wayne, the Monocacy River
Valley in Maryland, and Leesburg, Virginia. Their intent is to determine how efficiently they could disperse chemical agents.

Joint Army-Navy-CIA experiments are conducted in which tens of thousands of people in New York and San Francisco are exposed to the airborne germs Serratia marcescens and Bacillus glogigii.

CIA initiates Project MKULTRA. This is an eleven year research program designed to produce and test drugs and biological agents that would be used for mind control and behavior modification. Six of the subprojects involved testing the agents on unwitting human beings.

1955
The CIA, in an experiment to test its ability to infect human populations with biological agents, releases a bacteria withdrawn from the Army's biological warfare arsenal over Tampa Bay, Fl.

Army Chemical Corps continues LSD research, studying its potential use as a chemical incapacitating agent. More than 1,000 Americans participate in the tests, which continue until 1958.

1956
U.S. military releases mosquitoes infected with Yellow Fever over Savannah, Ga and Avon Park, Fl. Following each test, Army agents posing as public health officials test victims for effects.

1958
LSD is tested on 95 volunteers at the Army's Chemical Warfare Laboratories for its effect on intelligence.

1960
The Army Assistant Chief-of-Staff for Intelligence (ACSI) authorizes field testing of LSD in Europe and the Far East. Testing of the European population is code named Project THIRD CHANCE; testing of the Asian population is code named Project DERBY HAT.

1965
Project CIA and Department of Defense begin Project MKSEARCH, a program to develop a capability to manipulate human behavior through the use of mind-altering drugs.
>
1965
Prisoners at the Holmesburg State Prison in Philadelphia are subjected to dioxin, the highly toxic chemical component of Agent Orange used in Viet Nam. The men are later studied for development of cancer, which indicates that Agent Orange had been a suspected carcinogen all along.

1966
CIA initiates Project MKOFTEN, a program to test the toxicological effects of certain drugs on humans and animals.
U.S. Army dispenses Bacillus subtilis variant niger throughout the New York City subway system. More than a million civilians are exposed when army scientists drop lightbulbs filled with the bacteria onto ventilation grates.

1967
CIA and Department of Defense implement Project MKNAOMI, successor to MKULTRA and designed to maintain, stockpile and test biological and chemical weapons.

1968
CIA experiments with the possibility of poisoning drinking water by injecting chemicals into the water supply of the FDA in Washington, D.C.

1969
Dr. Robert MacMahan of the Department of Defense requests from congress $10 million to develop, within 5 to 10 years, a synthetic biological agent to which no natural immunity exists.

1970
Funding for the synthetic biological agent is obtained under H.R. 15090. The project, under the supervision of the CIA, is carried out by the Special Operations Division at Fort Detrick, the army's top secret biological weapons facility. Speculation is raised that molecular biology techniques are used to produce AIDS-like retroviruses.

United States intensifies its development of 'ethnic weapons' (Military Review, Nov., 1970), designed to selectively target and eliminate specific ethnic groups who are susceptible due to genetic differences and variations in DNA.

1975
The virus section of Fort Detrick's Center for Biological Warfare Research is renamed the Fredrick Cancer Research Facilities and placed under the supervision of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) . It is here that a special virus cancer program is initiated by the U.S. Navy, purportedly to develop cancer-causing viruses. It is also here that retrovirologists isolate a virus to which no immunity exists. It is later named HTLV (Human T-cell Leukemia Virus).

1977
Senate hearings on Health and Scientific Research confirm that 239 populated areas had been contaminated with biological agents between 1949 and 1969. Some of the areas included San Francisco, Washington,D.C., Key West, Panama City, Minneapolis, and St. Louis.

1978
Experimental Hepatitis B vaccine trials, conducted by the CDC, begin in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Ads for research subjects specifically ask for promiscuous homosexual men.

1981
First cases of AIDS are confirmed in homosexual men in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, triggering speculation that AIDS may have been introduced via the Hepatitis B vaccine

1985
According to the journal Science (227:173-177), HTLV and VISNA, a fatal sheep virus, are very similar, indicating a close taxonomic and evolutionary relationship.

1986
According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences(83:4007-4011), HIV and VISNA are highly similar and share all structural elements, except for a small segment which is nearly identical to HTLV. This leads to speculation that HTLV and VISNA may have been linked to produce a new retrovirus to which no natural
immunity exists.

A report to Congress reveals that the U.S. Government's current generation of biological agents includes: modified viruses, naturally occurring toxins, and agents that are altered through genetic engineering to change immunological character and prevent treatment by all existing vaccines.

1987
Department of Defense admits that, despite a treaty banning research and development of biological agents, it continues to operate research facilities at 127 facilities and universities around the nation.

1990
More than 1500 six-month old black and hispanic babies in Los Angeles are given an 'experimental' measles vaccine that had never been licensed for use in the United States. CDC later admits that parents were never informed that the vaccine being injected to their children was experimental.

1994
With a technique called 'gene tracking', Dr. Garth Nicolson at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX discovers that many returning Desert Storm veterans are infected with an altered strain of
Mycoplasmaincognitus, a microbe commonly used in the production of biological weapons. Incorporated into its molecular structure is 40 percent of the HIV protein coat, indicating that it had been man-made.

Senator John D. Rockefeller issues a report revealing that for at least 50 years the Department of Defense has used hundreds of thousands of military personnel in human experiments and for intentional exposure to dangerous substances. Materials included mustard and nerve gas, ionizing radiation, psychochemicals,hallucinogens, and drugs used during the Gulf War .

1995
U.S. Government admits that it had offered Japanese war criminals and scientists who had performed human medical experiments salaries and immunity from prosecution in exchange for data on biological warfare research.

Dr. Garth Nicolson, uncovers evidence that the biological agents used during the Gulf War had been manufactured in Houston, TX and Boca Raton, Fl and tested on prisoners in the Texas Department of Corrections.

1996
Department of Defense admits that Desert Storm soldiers were exposed to chemical agents.

1997
Eighty-eight members of Congress sign a letter demanding an investigation into bioweapons use & Gulf War Syndrome.


source: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/4809/gov.html

Dr John Dunn makes charge on KXYL (re: Bwd Hate Crime)

Doctor John Dunn made the charge that 4 black men attacked a white disabled man in Brownwood recently and said this would never be considered a hate crime. Hosts Connie & Marion then started their diatribe against hate crime legislation because they see it as "unfair". Dr Dunn also challenged KXYL hosts to ask Brownwood's Republican Jim Keffer why he supported the James Byrd Hate Crime Bill.

FYI - Texas Governor Signs Hate Crimes Bill
Associated Press/May 12, 2001

Austin, Texas -- After refusing for months to say where he stood, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas signed a hate crimes bill today that strengthens the penalties for offenses against minorities, gays and others.

The measure, the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, was named for the East Texas black man who was dragged to his death from a pickup truck in 1998 by three white men. Mr. Perry's predecessor, President Bush, had refused to support the measure two years ago, saying all crimes are hate crimes.

Mr. Perry said today, "This law sends a signal to would-be criminals that if you attack someone because of their religion or race or gender, you face stiffer penalties." As Mr. Perry signed the bill, he was surrounded by Mr. Byrd's parents and lawmakers who had pushed for the legislation.

As recently as Thursday, Mr. Perry said he had not decided whether he would sign the bill and was concerned it would "create new classes of citizens." Mr. Byrd's mother, Stella Byrd, said before the signing that she was "very pleased that he changed his mind and thank God for that, too." "I think he finally realized it was a good bill," Mrs. Byrd said.

Two of the men who killed Mr. Byrd are on death row. The third received a life sentence. The act, which received final legislative approval on Thursday, strengthens penalties for crimes motivated by a victim's race, religion, color, sex, disability, sexual preference, age or national origin.

Texas already has a hate-crimes law that increases penalties if a crime is proven to be "motivated by bias or prejudice," but that law does not list specific categories of people who are protected. Some prosecutors have said it is too vague to enforce.

Two years ago, a bill similar to today's passed the House but died in the Senate after critics complained that it created unnecessary distinctions for gays. Mr. Bush refused to support the measure, and Democrats later criticized him for that in the White House campaign.

source: http://www.rickross.com/reference/hate_groups/hategroups307.html

My response to the above:

From: Steve Harris and Steve Puckett
Date: Wed Jan 26, 2005 08:42:46 AM US/Central
To: emisonc@reporternews.com, burket@reporternews.com, bob.brincefield@brownwoodbulletin.com, djennings@dallasnews.com, sblow@dallasnews.com, bud@budkennedy.com, bobherb@nytimes.com
Subject: Brownwood Texas Dr Dunn & Hate Crime Allegation & my email to our State Rep Jim Keffer

House Membership
Email Jim Keffer
After confirming your information is correct, hit the Send Message button below. Or use the browser's back button to edit.
Name Mr. steve harris  
Address  110 East Chandler  
City Brownwood  
State Tx     ZIP Code 76801  
E-Mail steve_squared@verizon.net   View privacy policy.
Subject  Alledged recent Hate Crime In Brownwood  

Your Message:
Doctor John Dunn made the charge on KXYL (Brownwood Talk Radio) this morning that 4 black men attacked a white disabled man in Brownwood recently and said this would never be considered a hate crime. Hosts Connie & Marion then started their diatribe against hate crime legislation because they see it as ''unfair''. Dr Dunn also challenged KXYL hosts to ask Brownwood's Republican Jim Keffer why he supported the James Byrd Hate Crime Bill. See http://www.stophate.us/victims.html

FYI - Texas Governor Signs Hate Crimes Bill
Associated Press/May 12, 2001

Austin, Texas -- After refusing for months to say where he stood, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas signed a hate crimes bill today that strengthens the penalties for offenses against minorities, gays and others.

The measure, the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, was named for the East Texas black man who was dragged to his death from a pickup truck in 1998 by three white men. Mr. Perry's predecessor, President Bush, had refused to support the measure two years ago, saying all crimes are hate crimes.

Mr. Perry said today, ''This law sends a signal to would-be criminals that if you attack someone because of their religion or race or gender, you face stiffer penalties.'' As Mr. Perry signed the bill, he was surrounded by Mr. Byrd's parents and lawmakers who had pushed for the legislation.

As recently as Thursday, Mr. Perry said he had not decided whether he would sign the bill and was concerned it would ''create new classes of citizens.'' Mr. Byrd's mother, Stella Byrd, said before the signing that she was ''very pleased that he changed his mind and thank God for that, too.'' ''I think he finally realized it was a good bill,'' Mrs. Byrd said.

Two of the men who killed Mr. Byrd are on death row. The third received a life sentence. The act, which received final legislative approval on Thursday, strengthens penalties for crimes motivated by a victim's race, religion, color, sex, disability, sexual preference, age or national origin.

Texas already has a hate-crimes law that increases penalties if a crime is proven to be ''motivated by bias or prejudice,'' but that law does not list specific categories of people who are protected. Some prosecutors have said it is too vague to enforce.

Two years ago, a bill similar to today's passed the House but died in the Senate after critics complained that it created unnecessary distinctions for gays. Mr. Bush refused to support the measure, and Democrats later criticized him for that in the White House campaign.

source: http://www.rickross.com/reference/hate_groups/hategroups307.html


I wanted to make you aware of the charge by Dr Dunn.

Regards,
Steve Harris
Brownwood Human Rights Committee
Steves' market and Deli