Missing mental health records of Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho have been discovered in the home of the university clinic's former director, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Brought them home to do 'research'?
Cho killed 32 people on April 16, 2007, then committed suicide as police closed in. His mental health treatment has been a major issue in the investigation of the shootings.
A memo from Gov. Tim Kaine's chief legal counsel to victims' family members says Cho's records and those of several other Virginia Tech students were found July 18 in the home of Dr. Robert H. Miller. The memo said the records were removed from the Cook Counseling Center on the Virginia Tech campus more than a year before the shootings.
"I appreciate your call, but I'm not making comment at this time," Miller said when reached at a number for his private practice.
The recovery of the records, which eluded a vast criminal investigation two years ago, was first announced by Kaine at a news conference on Wednesday. Kaine said a Virginia State Police criminal investigation into how the records disappeared from the center where Cho was ordered to undergo counseling is under way. Removing records from the center is illegal, he said.
Kaine said he was dismayed that it took two years before they were found by attorneys in a lawsuit brought by families of the victims. "That is part of the investigation that I am very interested in and, of course, I'm very concerned about that," Kaine said.
The state planned to release the records publicly as soon as possible, either by consent from Cho's estate or through a subpoena.
The discovery calls into question the thoroughness of the criminal probe two years ago and the findings of a commission Kaine appointed to review the catastrophe, one victim's relative said.
"Deception comes to my mind in my first response," said Suzanne Grimes, whose son Kevin Sterne was injured in the shootings.
"To say it doesn't make sense is an injustice," she said. "It gives me the impression: 'What else are they hiding?'"
She praised Kaine's willingness to investigate the disappearance of the records and have them released. "Until we get all the answers to what happened on that day and days prior, there's no sense of closure," Grimes said.
While a large part of the shooting investigation focused on how university officials and law enforcement responded following the first reports of deaths in a Virginia Tech dormitory, family members of victims have also inquired how the troubled Cho slipped through the cracks at university counseling.
In April, on the second anniversary of the shootings, families of two slain students sued the state, the school and its counseling center, several top university officials and a local mental health agency, claiming gross negligence in the chain of events that allowed Cho to commit his killing spree. The lawsuits also claim a local health center where Cho had gone to say he felt suicidal did not adequately treat or monitor him. The status of the lawsuit was not immediately known.
Holly Sherman, whose daughter Leslie was among those killed, said in November that she was less concerned with continued analysis of how university officials responded to the massacre and more interested in learning about Cho's mental treatment.
Mike White, whose daughter Nicole was killed, said in November he was concerned about why Cho's mental records went missing.
Andrew Goddard, whose son Colin was shot four times but survived, said there was more work to be done on mental health services. Goddard was appointed last year to the state board of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. I'd be willing to bet that a procedural change or two will soon be made.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A Singaporean Muslim model who drank beer at a nightclub in Malaysia will be caned, press reports said Tuedsay.
A Malaysian religious court sentenced the tearful 22-year-old Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno to six strokes of the cane after she pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol, the English-language New Straits Times newspaper reported.
" The rotan is aimed at making the accused repent and serves as a lesson to Muslims "
Abdul Rahman Yunus, judge
"We feel the sentence is fair after going through the prosecution's argument and since the rotan (cane) is provided for in the law," Pahang Sharia High Court judge Abdul Rahman Yunus said, according to the paper. "The rotan is aimed at making the accused repent and serves as a lesson to Muslims," he added, also fining Kartika 5,000 ringgit ($1,412).
The part-time model said she would appeal the sentence.
She was with her Singaporean husband in a hotel nightclub in the eastern state of Pahang last year when syariah officers raided the lounge, nabbing 20 other Muslims for drinking alcohol, which is forbidden in Islam. Her husband was let off, according to an earlier report in the Times.
Noorazah Baharuddin, believed to be first woman in Malaysia sentenced to caning for drinking alcoholShe told the newspaper before the trial that "it was sheer bad luck" the lounge was raided.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2009 00:00 ||
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I remember being in a Chinese restaurant in Penang during Ramadan, having lunch with a group of about a dozen managers from a factory that my then-employer operated there.
Mid-meal, a restaurant employee came over and summoned away the table the factory lab manager - an ethnic Indian Malaysian woman named Tamayanthi - and escorted her to the restaurant entrance foyer, where several policemen were waiting. She then disappeared outside with them. About ten minutes later, she returned, sat down, and continued eating. I asked her what that was all about - she said that those were the religious police, looking for Muslims who were violating the Ramadan fast. To them, she had appeared to possibly be a Muslim (or - a convert to Islam by marrying a Malay - which was not the case) - so they "challenged" her. She had left her purse locked in her car - so she had to go get it, to display her Malaysian ID card, which stated her Hindu religion. Upon showing it, she was released.
It amazed me - the idea that all persons were not treated the same under law.
All the rubbish about "parallel" systems - Sharia running alongside civil law - is just that - rubbish. The correct term is "Apartheid" - and it should be attacked globally with the same gusto that was applied to South Africa.
#2
I was in Kuala Lumpur in 2001 and was shocked by the newspaper ads advertising for tenants by religion. "No Christians" and suchlike.
A year or two later, I heard about a raid at a club that I had frequented during my unwilling stay there. They hauled off a bunch of people, even foreigners, and gave them breathalyzers and drug tests by their hair.
#5
Good slice of life story, LR, I'm going to remember that one.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/22/2009 7:58 Comments ||
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Yep, they're pretty nuts about their interpretation of Islamic purity over there.
My little brother "enjoyed" dealing with the cops over there for all kinds of bizarre reasons. The funniest one was when I sent him a "care package" consisting of typical USA junk food. Naturally, they had to inspect it before he could get it. Stupid little ol' me figured it would take a day or two, like normal countries. Nope! It literally took them three months to determine that the package of Oreos I sent was halal and ok for him to consume.
Never mind that he was obviously NOT Muslim (his unofficial Malay name was "big white ghost", because what else would you call a 6 footer of European descent, right?), and was living in the Chinese part of Kuching. They had to make sure he wouldn't have gotten a cheap thrill or two by slipping some poor unsuspecting Muslim a cookie.
#7
This is truely a severe punishment. The caning leaves long scars on the person, and probably means the end of a modeling career to the 22 year old woman.
It is interesting that her husband was let off, but she gets the caning. A little sexual sadism perhaps?
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/22/2009 11:35 Comments ||
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The west v islam.
We make drink out of cane sugar.
They can a sugar for drinking.
Thousands of chipmunks carrying potentially fatal diseases which have been spreading westwards across France have now reached Paris, raising the threat they could reach Britain.
French officials have issued warnings about the creatures after swarms of the seemingly cuddly chipmunks were found living in woods around Paris. Sacre maroon! Ze killer chipmunks! Parisians, flee foir your wretched lives!
Officials are concerned that if they get as far west as Calais, they could clamber aboard vehicles heading to Britain without drivers being aware. Carjacking chipmunks--I never thought Alvin and Theodore could be capable of such depravity.
They also fear that misguided tourists, wrongly thinking the animals would make nice pets, will slip the chipmunks into rucksacks or car boots and take them back across the Channel undetected.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/22/2009 16:58 ||
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A few days ago I was watching a video by a guy who said his backyard was infested with chipmunks, but then he noticed a drop in their number. He figured some local cats were poaching them, but when he set up a video cam, it turned out to be blue heron.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/22/2009 18:34 Comments ||
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Al-vin!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/22/2009 18:49 Comments ||
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like ground squirrels, they can carry rabies (infrequently), lyme's (more frequently) and plague (even more frequently) in the wild, primarily in fleas
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/22/2009 18:52 Comments ||
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and no, the rabies isn't in fleas...bad sentence structure...damn
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/22/2009 18:53 Comments ||
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This article gave me pause, enough to add "new flea collars" to this weeks grocery list for all three household pets.
[Maghrebia] Election observers from the African Union (AU), the Arab League, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and other international organisations issued a joint statement on Monday (July 20th) commending Mauritania for its presidential election, Journal Tahalil reported. The statement cited "good functioning of polling sites", correct monitoring procedures and "transparency and rigour of vote-counting" during Saturday's national poll. The international bodies also urged all political forces in the country to respect the results and use legal channels to resolve disputes. Some 320 international observers monitored the presidential election.
If Governor James Earl Carter was there I don't believe them. If not, then I've no idea.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Miscreants gouged out eyes of a BNP activist strapping him to a tree on Aditmari Degree College campus Monday.
The victim is Abdus Samad, 40, son of late Kismat Ali, of Chandimari village in Kamlabari union of the district. Samad is one of the charge-sheeted accused of Awami League leader Suruj killing case, which is under trial with its accused on bail.
Samad lost both his eyes and is now fighting for life at hospital, said his family sources.
According to the victim's family members, a gang of masked men kidnapped Samad as he left home for Durarkuti on some family affairs around 11:40pm. They took him to the college compound on a microbus and tied him to a tree, they added.
They said the criminals inhumanly tortured him before gouging his eyes out with sharp weapon. They then left Samad seriously injured.
Locals recovered seriously injured Samad and rushed him to Aditmari upazila hospital. He was later referred to Rangpur Medical College as his condition deteriorated.
The victim's elder brother Mohammad Ali, also an accused of the Suruj murder case, was tortured the same way allegedly by pro-AL cadres of the upazila eight months ago, said family sources.
They claimed that though a case was lodged in connection with Mohammad Ali's torture accusing some AL activists, police are yet to make any progress in the investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2009 00:00 ||
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Apparently deterred by rising unemployment in the U.S., the number of Mexican immigrants who crossed the border in the past year dropped sharply to the lowest level in a decade, while undocumented workers already here are opting to stay.
The analysis of census data from the U.S. and Mexican governments, being released today by the Pew Hispanic Center, highlights the impact of the economic downturn on Mexican immigrants, many of whom enter the United States illegally.
The study found that immigrants arriving from Mexico fell by 249,000 from March 2008 to March 2009, down nearly 60 percent from the previous year. As a result, the annual inflow of immigrants is now 175,000, having steadily decreased from a peak of 653,000 in 2005, before the bursting of the housing bubble dried up construction and other low-wage jobs.
The total population of Mexican-born immigrants in the U.S. also edged lower in the past year, from 11.6 million to 11.5 million, according to the study by Pew, an independent research group. Up to 85 percent of immigrants are believed to be in the country illegally.
Immigrants already in the U.S. are opting not to return to Mexico. Many of them are betting the economy will improve, as well as perhaps hoping that immigration reform can pave the way for U.S. citizenship, said Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew who co-authored the study.
According to the data, the level of Mexican migrants who return home from the U.S. and other countries each year, about 450,000, has remained largely unchanged.
"There's not a lot in Mexico to go back to because, if anything, the Mexican economy is doing worse," Passel said. "But also, in light of enforcement that has made it more dangerous and expensive to get into the U.S., once people get here, they're reluctant to leave."
Passel said that although the immigration shifts may be temporary depending on the length of the U.S. recession, some of the effects could be longer-lasting. He noted that fewer Hispanics coming to the U.S. could further slow minority-population growth here because higher fertility levels among Hispanics are driving much of the recent increases.
Mexico's population also is graying and its labor force shrinking, which could mean a better job picture in that country due to less worker competition in the next five to 10 years. That could mean reduced immigration levels from Mexico to the United States after the economy recovers, Passel said.
If you cut demand by enforcing the law on employers of those who illegally enter the country then you'd have less illegal immigration.
To mitigate the problems you could also change the tax system so it's on land (impossible to get around) rather than the reward for dishonesty called income taxes. You could also change the benefits system so you pay every citizen, and they make their own provision, rather than bureaucrats deciding what people want.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Honduras' interim government ordered Venezuelan diplomats on Tuesday to leave the country as the international community threatened new sanctions on the Central American nation if negotiations fail to resolve the crisis. Venezuelan Embassy charge d'affaires Ariel Vargas said he received a letter from the Honduran Foreign Ministry ordering his diplomats to leave in 72 hours.
The government of Roberto Micheletti, whom congress swore in as president after the coup, accused Venezuela of meddling in its affairs and of threatening to use its armed forces against Honduras, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Associated Press.
Vargas dismissed the allegations and - holed up in the embassy along with a consular officer also affected by the order - vowed to defy it. "We only have relations with the government of President Manuel Zelaya," Vargas told reporters outside the building. He said the expulsion order "does not exist for us, because the Micheletti government does not exist. It is a usurper government, a coup government, a government that is not recognized by anyone on an international level."
Honduras should get its people out of Venezuela now ...
The Micheletti government did not say if it would take any measures to force the Venezuelans to leave. "We hope that they obey the request," said Marta Lorena Alvarado, assistant foreign affairs minister. She also announced Honduras was withdrawing its embassy staff from Venezuela; both countries pulled their ambassadors soon after the coup.
The European Union, meanwhile, warned Tuesday that if talks to end the crisis fail, it may impose further sanctions against Honduras. The EU announced on Monday that it had already frozen some euro65 million ($92 million) in aid. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt - whose country holds the rotating EU presidency - said the bloc is "considering different ways" to support mediation efforts by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. He did not elaborate.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told Micheletti there would be serious consequences if his government keeps ignoring international calls for Zelaya's return - the key point that led to a stalemate in U.S.-supported negotiations over the weekend.
Micheletti has vowed not to back down, and he sent a team to Washington this week to lobby against economic sanctions by painting the government coup backers as a bulwark against "dictatorship" and "communism."
Appealing to free trade supporters, Micheletti's team hopes to nudge the Obama administration away from its threat to impose sanctions on the impoverished country, where export-assembly factories are dominated by U.S. firms and investors. Business executives say U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens called them into meetings to say Honduras could face tough sanctions if leaders continue to refuse Arias' compromise proposal for Zelaya to return as head of a coalition government. The U.S. Embassy said it would not comment on the meetings.
"Nice factory you got there, guys. Be a shame if anything happened to it ..."
Micheletti has said he will stay in power until a scheduled Nov. 29 presidential vote, which the United States has suggested it may not recognize if it is held under a de facto government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/22/2009 00:00 ||
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"Crisis" now, instead of "Coup"
Changing the word does NOT change the lie.
It was a legal exercise of the courts, and following the laws of the land, Neither "Coup", or "Crisis"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/22/2009 9:10 Comments ||
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The Hondurans should immediately blockade the Venezuelan embassy. Nobody and no supplies in, and anybody who leaves is deported. And especially, no water, no electricity, and no sewage.
#3
No, Anonymoose. If embassies are not respected, the whole system falls apart. The idea that ambassadors and embassies are inviolate goes back to ancient times for a very good reason.
Beijing will use its central bank's international reserves, No. 1 in the world, to accelerate Chinese business expansion overseas, the country's premier said.
"We should hasten the implementation of our 'going out' strategy and combine the utilization of foreign exchange reserves with the 'going out' of our enterprises," Wen Jiabao told Chinese diplomats.
Wen said Beijing also wanted Chinese companies to increase China's share of global exports, The Financial Times reported.
The "going out" strategy is a catchphrase for encouraging investment and acquisitions abroad, particularly by big state-owned industrial groups such as PetroChina Co., owned by China's biggest oil producer; Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd., the country's largest aluminum producer; China Telecom Corp., its largest fixed-line and mobile-phone provider; and Bank of China Ltd, one of China's big four commercial banks.
Wen did not elaborate on how much of the $2.132 trillion in international reserves would be channeled to Chinese enterprises.
HSBC Holdings PLC chief China economist Qu Hongbin said the decision was part of a Chinese strategy to reduce its reliance on the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency.
Given a choice between legalizing alcohol or legalizing pot, I'd take the latter. It seems to me that 99% of crimes associated with pot are associated with its growth and distribution, not violence resulting from its use. Ever heard of an angry stoner?
Proponents of marijuana legalization have advanced plenty of arguments in support of their drug of choice - that marijuana is less dangerous than legal substances like cigarettes and alcohol; that pot has legitimate medical uses; that the money spent prosecuting marijuana offenses would be better used on more pressing public concerns.
While 13 states permit the limited sale of marijuana for medical use, and polls show a steady increase in the number of Americans who favor legalization, federal law still bans the cultivation, sale, or possession of marijuana. In fact, the feds still classify marijuana as a Schedule I drug, one that has no "currently accepted medical use" in the United States.
But supporters of legalization may have been handed their most convincing argument yet: the bummer economy. Advocates argue that if state or local governments could collect a tax on even a fraction of pot sales, it would help rescue cash-strapped communities. Not surprisingly, the idea is getting traction in California, home to both the nation"s largest supply of domestically grown marijuana (worth a estimated $14 billion a year) and to the country"s biggest state budget deficit (more than $26 billion).
On Monday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California legislative leaders a tentative budget agreement to plug the state's deficit, but it would involve making sweeping cuts in education and health services, as well as taking billions from county governments. Democratic state assemblyman Tom Ammiano has introduced legislation that would let California regulate and tax the sale of marijuana. The state's proposed $50 an ounce pot tax would bring in about $1.3 billion a year in additional revenue. Ammiano"s bill was shelved this session but he expects to introduce a revised bill early next year.
If the state legislature doesn"t act, perhaps California voters will. One group is preparing to place a statewide initiative for the November 2010 ballot that would regulate and tax the sale of marijuana for Californians 21 years of age and older. Tellingly, the group spearheading the measure calls itself TaxCannabis2010.org, stressing the revenue advantages of marijuana legalization. The group hopes to collect the required 650,000 voter signatures by January to place the measure on the November 2010 ballot.
"There"s no doubt that the ground is shifting on marijuana," says Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which promotes alternatives to the war on drugs. "The discussion about regulating and taxing marijuana now has an air of legitimacy to it that it didn"t quite have before. And the economy has given the issue a real turbo charge."
The legalization effort is getting serious consideration from surprising quarters. In May, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger publicly called for a large-scale study to determine whether to legalize and tax marijuana.
"I think it"s time for a debate," the governor said at a news conference. "I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs."
In California, medical marijuana sales are already taxed, and some communities are looking for ways to get a bigger slice of the pot pie. Residents Oakland are currently voting in a mail-in special election that includes a measure which would make the city the first in the country to establish a new tax rate for medical marijuana businesses. If the measure passes, Oakland marijuana dispensaries, which are now charged at the general tax rate of $1.20 per $1,000 in receipts, would see that rate raised to $18 per $1,000.
A Field Poll conducted in California this spring showed 56% of the state"s registered voters in support of legalizing and taxing marijuana as a way of offsetting some of the budget deficit. Several national polls have shown that more than 45% of American adults are open to legalizing pot, about double the support a decade ago.
Even the most ardent marijuana advocates aren"t expecting nationwide legalization anytime soon. Instead, any action is likely to come on the state and local level. For now, all eyes are on cash-strapped California, where high taxes could take on an entirely new meaning.
#2
I don't know if legalizing marijuana is the answer to California's budget woes. Most studies say it would generate up to $1.5-$2 billion/year in added tax revenue and that's not much more than a drop in their bucket of debt right now (though I imagine every bit helps). That said, I support the legalization of marijuana and I believe it should be regulated no differently than alcohol. Compared to marijuana, I believe alcohol causes more health problems as well as more alcohol-related injuries and fatalities.
Of course there is the law of unintended consequences, which trumps all other laws. IMO, weighing the pros and cons, costs and benefits here, I think we would be better off if we took a regulatory approach with marijuana that mimics that of alcohol.
Let's be honest here, buying marijuana these days is not much more difficult than buying alcohol, it just may take a little more time in finding a supplier but once you score a "hook up", it's as easy as dialing 911. And in the case of underage users, it's often much easier to acquire than alcohol.
#3
A. No. Getting rid of the Democrat - Union chokehold that is killing CA is.
Sweet irony though, their incompetence has now required offshore drilling. That's big ol' can o' worms the Dems had to swallow. If we can drill of Santa Barbara - why not anywhere?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/22/2009 14:31 Comments ||
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Cops I know prefer arresting potheads over drunks but I think it is dangerous to your health as much as legal alcohol and tobacco. Making them illegal or denying them health care won't make a politician very popular so not likely to happen. Taxing it and allowing it to be grown as a domestic cash crop would allow us to clamp down on all the borders and coasts to keep the more dangerous drugs and other illicit cargo out, including illegal aliens. It would also free up precious prison space, cutting the incarceration cost of $78 pp/day. The tough problem is stopping the opium and cocaine--maybe we should convince the Taliban to grow weed instead of opium? A toke might even pacify them a bit.
#5
There is a fungus to kill cocaine plantations - the Congress won't let it be used by the DEA because fungus is ickky... (or maybe the congress-critters use?)
#6
Legalization and the budget have nothing to do with each other. Solving the budget problem means cutting costs -- starting with the unions.
That said, legalization is a great idea. The way to get less of something is not to criminalize it. That just raises the cost. No, the way to kill something off for good is by taxing it to death.
#11
Personally, I believe the cost of keeping pot illegal far out ways the cost of legalizing it. The catch is, Marijuana is a weed. You can grow it anywhere and easily. Unless the government can figure out a way to keep people from growing, they will collect very little in the way of taxes.
Some people will buy it from legal dealers, but most will continue to buy it from the guys that they know. And it will be cheaper. And no taxes will be collected.
#13
Pot leads to Pyscho problems, long time users become parinoid schzephrenic (sp). Check all the medical studies, they all reach the same conclusion. Yes my friends reefer madness is quite real. That said I see no reason why it should not comfort a terminally ill patient. IMHO there are way too many people with "back" problems that are smoking pot and living on the government dime. True I have not seen a angry stoner, but I have met many that are paranoid.
Workers at French car parts maker New Fabris (its main clients include Renault and Peugeot-Citroen) have voted down immediate plans to explosively send the roof of their plant into the troposphere, as long as talks with aides to Industry Minister Christian Estrosi are in the works. It seems that the workers, part of the CGT union, are demanding higher redundancy payouts as nearly 370 of them have lost their jobs following the collapse of the automotive sector.
Gas canisters had been placed around the factory to facilitate the pending pyrotechnics, but they have since been moved. Christian Paupineau, a delegate of the CGT union, told Reuters that the talks must be forthcoming. "There has to be significant progress. The canisters are being stored and kept under surveillance and they can be re-installed at any time," he added.
The threats to blow up factories is a relatively new tactic for French workers -- employees used to vent frustration by taking their managers hostage (aka "bossnappings") until their demands were met. Union representatives are due to meet with the factory workers on Thursday... assuming nobody blows their lid in the meantime.
Amazing. Expect the factory, and other French factories as a side effect, to quietly lose new business amid unrenewed old contracts. In other words, guys, y'all just threw away your jobs in the near-ish future.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/22/2009 11:07 ||
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So tell them to go ahead and blow it up. And good luck finding another job.
Posted by: ed ||
07/22/2009 12:03 Comments ||
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Take away unemployment and welfare support and watch rationality take hold. When you give people an palatable alternative to work, they play stupid little power games. There a gulf of difference between 'he who will not work' with 'he who can not work'.
#4
Actually, the online comic I like www.girlgeniusonline.com has the perfect punishment for them.
Put them in giant glass jars in town square, allow there to be air exchange though so they won't suffocate but basically let them starve and bake in the sun.
As Agatha put it best "And I'll come every single day while you bake in the sun and starve and claw at the glass and scream as you die slowly like the miserable rats you are!"
#5
You're thinking of the Medieval "Bird Cage", the prisoner was locked inside and left to rot, or be eaten by the birds, no food, no water (Unless it rained) Nothing.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/22/2009 14:52 Comments ||
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#6
Yes, but they were exposed to the weather in crow's cages as they were called. In a nice glass jar, there's no breeze to cool you down.
This has been bothering me for a while. I wandered to this link randomly and it made a lot of sense. You can click through to read the whole encylopedia article, but I'm going to rephrase some of it and see if it makes sense in early 21st century America. I don't know, maybe I'm trying to shoehorn this in.
Most of the revolts were an expression of those below who desired to share in the wealth, status, and well being of those more fortunate. In the end they were almost always defeated and the nobles ruled the day. A new attitude emerged in Europe, that "peasant" was a pejorative concept, it was something separate, and seen in a negative light, from those who had wealth and status. This was an entirely new social stratification from earlier times when society had been based on the three orders, those who work, those who pray, and those who fight, when being a peasant meant being next to God, just as the other orders, now peasants were seen as almost sub-human. How do liberals feel about the millions of Americans who operate cash registers? And backhoe operators? And soldiers? And truck drivers?
There were five main reasons for these mass uprisings including 1) an increasing gap between the wealthy and poor, 2) declining incomes of the wealthy, 3) rising inflation and taxation, 4) the external crises of famine, plague and war, and 5) backlashes against the religious.
The first reason was because the social gap between rich and poor had become more extreme. The origins of this change can be traced to the 12th century and the rise of the concept of nobility. Dress, behaviour, manners, courtesy, speech, diet, education — all became part of the noble class, making them distinct from others. By the 14th century the nobles had indeed become very different in their behaviour, appearance and values from those "beneath". Compare the iPod-wearing liberal to the normal American - dress, behavior, (lack of) manners, (lack of common) courtesy, speech, diet, twisted eduction...the reason that they affect these styles in the first place is to seperate themselves from the rest of us.
The second reason was a crisis for the nobles with declining income. By 1285 inflation had become rampant (in part due to population pressures) and some nobles charged rent based on customary fixed rates, based on the Feudal system, so as the price of goods and services rose (from inflation), the income of those nobles remained stagnant (effectively dropping). To make matters worse, the nobles had become accustomed to a more luxurious lifestyle that required more money. To address this nobles illegally raised rents, cheated, stole, and sometimes resorted to outright violence to take what they wanted. Goldman-Sachs, anyone?
Thirdly, presidents needed money to finance wars and resorted to devaluing currency, by cutting valuable treasury notes with less precious IOUs, which resulted in increased inflation and in the end, increased taxation. Obama's new budget.
Fourth, the 14th century crisis of famine, plague and war put additional pressures on those on the bottom. The plague drastically reduced the numbers of people who were workers and producing the wealth. We don't have these...yet. Modern medicine and modern agriculture have held them off. Wonder why liberals are trying to destroy modern medicine and modern agriculture? Think about how much respect rural people have today versus fifty years ago.
Finally, layered on top of this was a popular ideological view of the time that property, wealth and inequality was against the teachings of God. Or whatever liberals worship as God.
The word peasant, since the 14th century (or even before), has a pejorative meaning and is not a neutral term. However, it was not always that way; peasants were once viewed as pious and seen with respect and pride. Life was hard for peasants, but life was hard for everyone. As nobles increasingly lived better quality lives, there arose a new consciousness of those on top and those on bottom, and the sense that being a peasant was not a position of equality. USA 2009 vs. USA 1959: how is the common man perceived?
Anyway, I've been trying to put this "liberals detest us and regard themselves as nobility, above everyone" into words for a while now, and it just hasn't come. And it doesn't say anything about the heartless Republican plutocrats who think the same way about me as the liberals do.
#1
Just for one comment, The Black Plague was said to have killed so many people in Europe, about a third, that the remaining folks had more land to use--which was prepared--and could command higher wages.
So maybe you should rethink this.
Peasant revolts were, afaik, a matter of sheer desperation but localized, since the circumstances varied locally, and communications were limited.
Still, an old bit of doggerel:
"When Adam dolve and Eve span,
Who was then a gentleman?"
The folks who recited that had something in mind.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
07/22/2009 6:45 Comments ||
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#2
This distinction between the noble classes and the peasants still exists, and is what I call the "Old Europe disease".
Its basis goes way back to the time of the Romans and Roman law. This remained the legal system of the rather ineffectual Holy Roman Empire until its reformation by Bonaparte as the Napoleonic law. Today it dominates international law as the French Code Civil.
During the colonial period, it also migrated to central and South America and the French dominated colonies, and is today responsible for most of their endless political problems, with the wealthy upper classes and the peasantry, punctuated by the lowest order of communist rejection of that structure.
It is night and day with the Common law, whose roots began with the Germanic tribes, and migrated to England and thence to America. It is inherently far more egalitarian, and at least tries to provide the same rules for the wealthy and the poor.
However, they are right that the self-appointed American "elites" admire and want to embrace the Code Civil, and openly despise the American Common law based legal code.
They, like their European counterparts, cannot enjoy their champagne and caviar, unless they can look out the windows of whatever palace, and see it surrounded by starving and hateful peasants.
This is why major international economic conferences are held in cities where unruly mobs fighting police are guaranteed, instead of in isolated castles out in the hinterland. It is also where "Eurotrash" tourist destinations are fenced enclaves surrounded by literally starving people, like Acapulco.
And it is why bandits like Chavez, who are supposedly populists, become dictators and think themselves nobility as soon as they can. Old Europe disease.
#3
The plague drastically reduced the numbers of people who were workers and producing the wealth.
We don't have these...yet. Modern medicine and modern agriculture have held them off.
Wait till health care is rationed and the borders controlled, reducing illegal immigration.
#4
As Solomon said, "there is nothing new under the sun":
President Obama's "science czar," Paul Holdren, once floated the idea of forced abortions, "compulsory sterilization," and the creation of a "Planetary Regime" that would oversee human population levels and control all natural resources as a means of protecting the planet -- controversial ideas his critics say should have been brought up in his Senate confirmation hearings....The 1,000-page course book, which was co-written with environmental activists Paul and Anne Ehrlich, discusses and in one passage seems to advocate totalitarian measures to curb population growth, which it says could cause an environmental catastrophe.
The three authors summarize their guiding principle in a single sentence: "To provide a high quality of life for all, there must be fewer people."
As first reported by FrontPage Magazine, Holdren and his co-authors spend a portion of the book discussing possible government programs that could be used to lower birth rates.
Those plans include forcing single women to abort their babies or put them up for adoption; implanting sterilizing capsules in people when they reach puberty; and spiking water reserves and staple foods with a chemical that would make people sterile.
To help achieve those goals, they formulate a "world government scheme" they call the Planetary Regime, which would administer the world's resources and human growth, and they discuss the development of an "armed international organization, a global analogue of a police force" to which nations would surrender part of their sovereignty.
#5
The Constitution expressly forbids the granting of titles of nobility. That must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but with all these "czars" running around and with Congresscritters holding office for decades, I've begun to think the people would be better served if we just went the whole hog and used European titles for our lords and masters in Washington. At least the pretense would be gone and we could have some fun naming them:
The Duke of Chappaquiddick
The Viscountess Pelosi
etc.
Posted by: Matt ||
07/22/2009 12:46 Comments ||
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#6
I've begun to think the people would be better served if we just went the whole hog and used European titles..
The reason the title Caesar came into use was because the Roman culture couldn't accept reusing the older Etruscan title for king. King was an anathema to nearly all Romans. So, by events and evolution the name of Caesar would become its substitute. Just as we today have people who sit for life and are unaccountable to the people yet issue decrees that do not match the words of our own Constitution. We call them federal judges.
#9
As an interesting parallel to this story, consider the feudal condition of serfdom, where the serf was freeborn but was indentured to the land as a condition of tenancy/use of the land. A step up from slavery, it had restrictions and conditions that limited rights and effectively tied the serf to the land. The fealty due to the leigelord required taxes through actual cash (rare) or a percentage of the crops and other produce of the land. The standard varied, but generally approximated ONE THIRD of the years production of the land and labor.
In other words, the taxed classes in America, roughly 60% of the population, and more particularly the upper 20-25% of taxpayers, are more severely taxed than serfs from the early Middle Ages!
Nothing could be more proof of the frog in the pot on the stove analogy than the sad plight of the American taxpayer, whose upper end tax burden now is TWICE that of a serf, witness to the rise in taxation and size of government from 1917 to today.
This level of theft by force of law is unsustainable.... it is the stuff of revolution and the collapse of public confidence in those who govern them. We have developed a ruling class in America, and they increasingly are coastal, progressive, and deaf to our National culture, character and ideals.
The Senate narrowly rejected a measure to allow people to carry concealed weapons from state to state Wednesday. The vote was 58 to 39. The amendment needed 60 votes to pass.
The measure, which split Democrats, would have required each of the 48 states that allow concealed firearms to honor permits issued in other states.
Supporters of the measure argued it would help deter criminals; opponents claimed it would endanger innocent people by effectively forcing most of the country to conform to regulations in states with the loosest gun ownership standards.
How does that endanger anyone?
Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican who is a co-sponsor of the amendment, argued Wednesday that gun licenses should apply across state lines, like driver's licenses.
"People travel," he said on CNN's American Morning. "We have truck drivers on our roads, people traveling for vacation in their vehicles, and if you have a license... you should be able to use that license in other states. It should apply like a driver's license," he said.
He argued that concealed weapons deter crime.
But Republican Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City and an opponent of the law, said the proposed amendment would trample on states' rights. "Wyoming shouldn't be subject to New York state laws, and we're going in that direction," he said. "What's right for the people of Wyoming isn't necessarily right for the people of New York and vice versa."
Bloomberg insisted that guns do not make people safer. "There's no evidence that if you have a gun, you're safer. Quite the contrary. If you have a gun at home, [you are] something like 20 times more likely to have somebody in your house killed," he said on American Morning.
Old canard, not true.
"We have to protect our policemen, protect our citizens. We can't have all these guns, and it's reasonable to have each state make their own laws," he said.
The issue has blurred Capitol Hill's usual partisan lines. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, is one of several Southern and Western Democrats who supported the measure. Others Democrats opposed it.
The full Senate vote came in the form of an amendment to a larger defense appropriations bill.
For gun control advocates, the fight over the proposal was the latest in a series of unexpected setbacks since the start of the Obama administration. In May, President Obama signed a credit card bill that included a provision allowing people to carry guns in national parks.
Another bill that would have given the District of Columbia's representative in Congress full voting rights stalled earlier in the year after Senate Republicans attached a provision that would have eased tight gun controls in the district.
#1
I read this as "WE ARE NOT LETTING YOU SERFS FREE" and "ONLY COPS CAN KILL PEOPLE"
Bullshit control freaks however you read it.
A further undermining of your Constitutional Right To BEAR (own and keep) Arms
With a good measure of Divide And Conquer.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/22/2009 14:45 Comments ||
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#2
Every time I hear a lefty (and here I must sadly include the current Mayor of New York) go on about states' rights and federalism I look up to see what color the sky is.
Newly analyzed remains suggest that a modern human killed a Neanderthal man in what is now Iraq between 50,000 and 75,000 years ago. The finding is scant but tantalizing evidence for a theory that modern humans helped to kill off the Neanderthals. Wow, this war is really long.
The probable weapon of choice: A thrown spear.
The evidence: A lethal wound on the remains of a Neanderthal skeleton.
The victim: A 40- to 50-year-old male, now called Mohamhead Shanidar 3, with signs of arthritis and a sharp, deep slice in his left ninth rib.
"What we've got is a rib injury, with any number of scenarios that could explain it," said study researcher Steven Churchill, an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University in North Carolina. "We're not suggesting there was a blitzkrieg, with modern humans marching across the land and executing the Neandertals [aka Neanderthals]. I want to say that loud and clear."
But he added, "We think the best explanation for this injury is a projectile weapon, and given who had those and who didn't, that implies at least one act of inter-species aggression."
(The words "Neanderthal" and "Neandertal" refer to the same species, Homo neanderthalensis, which lived on the plains of Europe and parts of Asia as far back as 230,000 years ago. They disappeared from the fossil record more than 20,000 years ago, a few thousand years after modern humans appeared on the scene.) Judging by events today, they apparently didn't get all of them.
Scientists are continuing to refine their understanding of early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, with hopes of also resolving the mystery of how the latter species went extinct while we did not. Past research has yielded conflicting evidence on interbreeding between the two species, but the new study clearly shows the opposite of affection.
In fact, another Neanderthal skeleton dating back some 36,000 years and found in France showed signs of a scalp injury likely caused by a sharp object that may have been delivered by a modern human at the time, Churchill said.
"So if the Shanidar 3 case is also a case of inter-specific violence and if Shandiar 3 overlaps in time with modern humans, we're beginning to get a little bit of a pattern here," Churchill said.
Competition for resources with modern humans, along with religious differences other factors, may have also played a role in the die-off of Neanderthals, the researchers say.
Churchill and his colleagues examined Shanidar 3, one of nine Neanderthals discovered between 1953 and 1960 in a cave in northeastern Iraq's Zagros Mountains. The team also ran experiments with a specially calibrated crossbow, which they used to deliver stone-pointed spears with different forces to simulate a thrusting spear and a long-range projectile weapon like a dart.
The weapons were thrust into pig and other animal carcasses. "Pigs make a pretty good model for Neandertal thoraces," Churchill told LiveScience. "The ribs are about the same stoutness and overall same size. And the musculature and skin thickness and things like that are pretty similar from what we can tell." Hmmm . . . .
Then, the researchers compared the wounds created by the different scenarios, finding the thrusting spears did lots of damage, breaking multiple ribs.
"With the projectile weapon, even though it's traveling faster, it's a lot lighter and it tends to make distinct cut marks in the bones without injuring surrounding bones. That's like what we saw in Shanidar 3," Churchill said.
The analyses also showed the Neanderthal's rib had started to heal before he died. By comparing the wound to medical records of injuries from the American Civil War, a time before modern antibiotics, the researchers figured the Neanderthal likely died within weeks of his injury, perhaps due to associated lung damage from a stabbing or piercing wound. Sepsis, maybe?
As for the spear, since modern humans had developed projectile hunting weapons and Neanderthals hadn't, the researchers deduced the probable suspect - a modern human. And a fed-up one at that.
Modern humans used spear throwers, detachable handles that connected with darts and spears to effectively lengthen a hurler's arm and give the missiles a power boost.
As human weapons technology advanced, Neanderthals continued using long thrusting spears in hunting, which they probably tried - for personal safety - to keep between themselves and their prey instead of hurling them, Churchill added.
In fact, one recent study suggested such Neanderthal hunting tools, including spear tips, were pretty sophisticated.
#1
As for the spear, since modern humans had developed projectile hunting weapons and Neanderthals hadn't, the researchers deduced the probable suspect - a modern human.
Or it could have been one of the earliest R&D failures when trying to steal copy the human design. It's not like, say, the Chinese having a hard time copying modern jet engine technology. Then again, it could have been a Quality Assurance test on the same device. Ugh was just the earliest test dummy. It's all speculation.
#2
Sepsis, or peritonitis, is pretty quick, just a few days. The wounds tend to look like they are healing, then suddenly there is a severe fever and they die.
Oddly enough, .22 rounds are notorious for peritonitis, as they tend to nick internal organs just enough. So unlike other bullet wounds, for an abdominal shot, they will start to pump you full of antibiotics.
#3
I wonder if they were the basis of the Giants, and Ogres in Fiction?
Sounds plausible to me. They fit the description nicely.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/22/2009 17:35 Comments ||
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#4
I'm waiting for the 'One' to apologize for this, too.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/22/2009 18:50 Comments ||
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#5
"Judging by events today, they apparently didn't get all of them."
Snark o' the Day™ leader! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/22/2009 18:53 Comments ||
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#6
HMMMMM, HMMMMM, wehell, ala the infamous CA BIGFOOT = PETERSON FILM Photo, perhaps a sub-specia? of NEANDERTHALS regressed backwards towards [proto]SIMIANISM. IMO the alleged so-called "FEMALE BIGFOOT/SASQUATCH" [breasts?] in the film does bear certain physical similarites or aesthetics wid mainstream, historical Neanderthal images = stereotypes.
Yup. Back on the side of thugs. By the way, NONE of the officials 'quoted' here spoke on the record.
BANGKOK -- On her second trip to Asia as U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton is carrying a no-nonsense message about American intentions. "The United States is back," she declared Tuesday upon arrival in the Thai capital.
By that she means the administration of President Barack Obama thinks it's time to show Asian nations that the United States is not distracted by its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and intends to broaden and deepen its partnerships in this region.
And to ignore human rights in Burma ...
Clinton says she would, as previously announced, sign ASEAN's seminal Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, a commitment to peacefully resolve regional disputes that has already been signed by more than a dozen countries outside the 10-nation bloc. The U.S. signing will be by the executive authority of Obama and does not require congressional ratification, said a senior administration official.
So it's a treaty but it doesn't have to be ratified by the Senate. Um, okay ...
The administration of President George W. Bush had declined to sign the document; Obama sees it as a symbolic underscoring of the U.S. commitment to Asia.
Clearly, President Obama's theory is that Senate ratification is only necessary for treaties which he deems substantive. President Bush held that all treaties are substantive, whether intended to be so or not. But then, his resume contains running a business, not just posturing for the cameras on the courthouse steps and in front of earnest but callow law students.
On her arrival here Tuesday, Clinton reiterated Obama administration concerns that North Korea, already a threat to the U.S. and its neighbors with its history of illicit sales of missiles and nuclear technology, is now developing ties to Myanmar's military dictatorship.
Not that we're doing anything about that ...
Clinton held out the possibility of offering North Korea a new set of incentives to return to negotiating a dismantling of its nuclear program if it shows a "willingness to take a different path." But she admitted there is little immediate chance of that. A Clinton aide said the United States and its allies are looking for a commitment by North Korea that would irreversibly end its nuclear weapons program. The aide said there is no sign that North Korea intends to make such a move, keeping the U.S. focus on enforcing expanded U.N. sanctions.
The Norks have no intention of ending its weapons program. So we're going to keep asking them to do it. Something about the definition of insanity fits here.
In her remarks about a possible Myanmar-North Korea connection, Clinton did not refer explicitly to a nuclear link but made clear that the ties are disconcerting. "We know there are also growing concerns about military cooperation between North Korea and Burma which we take very seriously," she said at a news conference in the Thai capital.
"It would be destabilizing for the region, it would pose a direct threat to Burma's neighbors," she said, adding that as a treaty ally of Thailand, the United States takes the matter seriously.
Later, a senior administration official said that Washington is concerned about the possibility that North Korea could be cooperating with Myanmar on a nuclear weapons program, but he added that U.S. intelligence information on this is incomplete.
No kidding. It's always incomplete.
Clinton spoke to reporters after meeting with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the outset of a three-day visit to Thailand.
Clinton sharply criticized the military rulers of Myanmar for human rights abuses, "particularly violent actions that are attributed to the Burmese military concerning the mistreatment and abuse of young girls."
But we're not going to do anything about it, because the 'Treaty' (which doesn't require Senate ratification, according to Bambi) pledges us to 'non-interference' in the internal affairs of the other signing nations. That means we have to shut up about human rights.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/22/2009 10:55 ||
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Link ||
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#1
HILLARY has her Asian diplomacy duties cut out for her, as below
* WMF [paraph] > JAPANESE MIL OCCUPATION OF THE DAOYUS ISLANDS MEANS CHINA [PLAN] WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEND ITS SHIPS AROUND. Strategic/Sea Denial of PLAN; + PLANNED INTEGRATION OF US, JAPANESE DEFENSE MECHANISMS VIA THE US-JAPAN SECURITY TREATY AND US "NUCLEAR UMBRELLA" [read, GMD-TMD] POSES A STRATEGIC THREAT TO CHINA; + THE CHINESE ARMY [ i.e. PLAN] TWICE CROSSED OVER THE RYUKYUS ISLANDS OF JAPAN [06/19,, 06/25 = OKINOTORI Islands = Islets north of Guam-Marianas NORPAC]. "JAPAN BARRIER" circumvented???
And lastly, SAME > JAPAN IRRITATED AT "FREQUENT ACCESS" OF CHIN PLAN TO "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN"
[ ARTIC > also 2nd CHAIN as both 1st, 2nd Island Chains = "STRING OF PEARLS" include SOVEREIGN JAPANESE ISLANDS/TERRITORY AS BENCHMARKS.
Lest we fergit, CHIN also has RISING TENSIONS wid VIETNAM oer, to wit:
* PROPOSED BASING OF INDIA'S AIRCRAFT CARRIER, OTHER INDIAN NAVAL SHIPS in Vietnam. Read, close to CHINA.
* VIETNAM'S MIL PAN-MODERNIZATION > purchase of top-of-the-line Western milsys.
* "SHELF DIPLOMACY/WARFARE/GEOPOL" = EXTENS OF VIETNAMESE SOVEREIGNTY TO THE LIMITS OF ITS CONTINENTAL SHELF, + DISPUTED CHIN SEAS ISLANDS.
* VIETNAM, WESTERN COOPER on ENERGY, RESOURCES EXPLORATION IN GULF OF TONKIN + CHINA SEAS.
Read, RESOURCES DENIAL to CHINA + INTERNAT MIL PROTECTION OF VIETNAM.
* POSSIBLE DENIAL TO CHINA BY VIETNAM OF RIGHTS TO CAM RANH BAY, ETC. VIET HARBORS [but not other major World Powers].
NUTSHELL > CHINA will have to change its milpol = strategic focii from ASIA-PACIFIC to CENASIA, ME, + EUROZONE [read, NOT ASIA NOR CHINA; sub-read, HUNS + MONGOLS].
The money shot: "The owner of the mall group, Mel Simon, has been a generous contributor to Democratic causes and politicians, including Barack Obama." OK N.C. R-Burgers, time to let the management of Concord Mills Mall and the rest of us, Simon Property Group, know where you are gonna take your $....
Concord Mills Mall website: http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=1239
Local Marketing:
Holly Roberson, Director of Mall Marketing & Business Development
Phone: (704) 979-5000
Email: hroberso@simon.com
Simon Property Group website: https://www.simon.com/about_simon/contact_spg/default.aspx
Corporate Headquarters:
Simon Property Group, Inc.
225 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
(317) 636-1600
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Honduras' interim government ordered Venezuelan diplomats on Tuesday to leave the country as the international community threatened new sanctions on the Central American nation if negotiations fail to resolve the crisis. Venezuelan Embassy charge d'affaires Ariel Vargas said he received a letter from the Honduran Foreign Ministry ordering his diplomats to leave in 72 hours.
... as long as their demands are met
