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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
 Wed Sep 04, 2002 7:30 am
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Siege as French apocalypse cult plans voyage to Venus
SUSAN BELL In Paris
GENDARMES have surrounded members of a French sect in the western town of Nantes over fears the group may commit mass suicide next month when they believe the end of the world is nigh.
The members of the Neo-Phare sect, including a doctor, a teacher and a tax inspector, follow the teachings of self-proclaimed guru Arnaud Mussy who predicts that Nantes will be consumed by the apocalypse on 24 October.
Mr Mussy has predicted the end of the world on two other occasions this year, once in February and once in July. Having twice got his dates wrong, the guru has settled on 24 October as the definitive day when all life will cease and the earth will be invaded by flying saucers carrying "beings of light".
Investigators, who are keeping the sect under close surveillance, say they fear that "the last voyage to Venus" for which the sect members are reported to be preparing next month is a code for a mass suicide reminiscent of the deaths of 16 members of the Order of the Solar Temple cult, whose charred bodies were found, laid out in a star pattern, in 1995 in an Alpine forest.
Investigators believe two cult members drugged and shot dead the 14 others before setting themselves and the bodies on fire in a forest clearing known as the Well of Hell.
Neo-Phare was created in 1997 by the 36-year-old Mr Mussy, about whom little is known except that he is a former hitchhiker and keen numerologist with a taste for the esoteric. He took control of a banal association called Phare-Ouest and transformed it into his sect, preaching the coming of the apocalypse when only "the apostles of the new world, born out of the final cataclysm, will be spared".
Investigators say that a key feature of the sect’s operations is the creation of a "Divine Family". This entailed the separation of couples judged by Mr Mussy to be "badly matched". New couples were then created under the guru’s guidance.
The sect first came to the attention of authorities in February 2000, when gendarmes in the Maine department noted the presence of some 20-odd people who shared beliefs in the end of the world, the existence of extra-terrestrials and an after-life. Membership is reported to have peaked last year at 63 people according to investigators.
Authorities first became seriously alarmed when members shut themselves up inside a house in a small village in the Loire vineyards. "When we realised that they had been shut up inside for a long time without giving any sign of life, we began to worry, said a local gendarme. It was the first time we had contemplated the possibility of a mass suicide."
Police surveillance annoyed Mr Mussy so much that earlier this year he moved members of his sect to Cellier, another small village on the banks of the River Loire. It was there in July that one member committed suicide by throwing himself under a car and another attempted to kill himself by jumping from the window of a château. He survived the fall. A third sect member was later talked out of the same jump by a passerby.
Mr Mussy moved his sect to a house in Nantes two months ago. "Some believers claim the guru went into a trance and God spoke to him, ordering him to recompose the couples who belong to the sect," an investigator told Le Parisien yesterday.
"Which is what he did. Some could not bear having to leave their spouse for someone else and they decided to commit suicide. Other members say that the most fervent believe so strongly the end of the world is imminent that they want to die immediately."
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=978262002 |
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Ari
Joined: 07 Sep 2002
Posts: 3
Location: Florida |
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Sun Sep 08, 2002 5:19 am
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Sadly, these things are nothing new ... not new at all. This sad state of being too self-absorbed to care started quite a while back. Just one of the early stories follows.
See the story of Kitty Genovese here: http://www.lihistory.com/8/hs818a.htm
And see the great Phil Ochs's lyrics about what happened to her here: http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/lyrics/small-circle-of-friends.html
As for what's wrong . . . There's a massive disconnect in I-Thou relationships.
[Edited for stupidity -- forgetting the links.]
[Edited 1 times, lastly by Ari on 09-07-2002] |
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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
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Sat Sep 21, 2002 4:50 am
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Today: September 20, 2002 at 15:45:14 PDT
Woman Sought in Videotaped Beating
By TOM COYNE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MISHAWAKA, Ind.- Police searched for a mother and her 4-year-old daughter Friday after the woman was captured by a department store security camera punching the girl in the head and shaking her violently.
"We want to get the girl the medical attention she needs," Police Chief Anthony A. Hazen said. "We want to get her to an emergency room and let them examine her.
That's our biggest concern right now."
Police identified the woman as Madelyne Gorman Toogood, age 24 or 25, and the child as her daughter Martha Toogood.
Toogood was charged Friday with battery to a child. Her attorney briefly telephoned police Friday, investigators said.
Police did not know the attorney's location.
"The attorney is aware of the serious nature of this, and we hope that the discussion will lead to the woman turning herself in," St. Joseph County Prosecutor Christopher Toth said.
The video, broadcast nationwide, showed the woman placing her daughter onto the back seat of a sport utility vehicle in the parking lot of a Kohl's store, then pummeling, slapping and shaking the girl for several seconds.
The Sept. 13 episode happened after the woman left the story angry over being refused a cash refund, authorities said.
A doctor who saw the tape said the child could have suffered head, neck and brain injuries, said Mike Samp, a police investigator.
Toogood's sister, 31-year-old Margaret Daley, who authorities say was with her at the store, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse.
Police said relatives of Toogood were not helping with the search.
"They've said they are going to cooperate, but so far they haven't given us any ironclad information or produced the little girl," Hazen said.
He said several locations were under surveillance.
Police received more than 1,000 calls about the video, which was first aired Wednesday night by local stations seeking the identity of the woman and girl.
One person who tipped off police was Lyn Johnson, principal of Walt Disney Elementary School in Mishawaka, where two of Toogood's older children attended school.
Johnson said she recognized the woman immediately and called police. She said that she did not know Toogood but that the pupils were good students.
"They are wonderful children," she said.
The vehicle shown in the video had Texas license plates, and police eventually found it at a Mishawaka apartment complex.
Police said it was not registered to either of the women shown on the tape.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/sep/20/092001646.html
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KrissaTMC2
Joined: 05 Feb 2002
Posts: 472
Location: Greenwich, CT, USA |
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Sat Sep 21, 2002 8:34 pm
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Just give her a few minutes with me is all I ask. There is absolutely no excuse for such behavior.
Today: September 21, 2002 at 10:00:16 PDT
Lawyer: Videotaped Mom to Surrender
By TOM COYNE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MISHAWAKA, Ind.- A weeklong search appears over for a mother who punched, shook and slapped her 4-year-old daughter in a beating captured on a department store videotape and televised around the country.
Madelyne Gorman Toogood, 26, was expected to turn herself in Saturday afternoon, Mishawaka police said. Her lawyer, Steven Rosen, contacted police Friday.
"It was a bad choice, and it was captured on Candid Camera," Rosen said. "She's very remorseful. She regrets it."
Police in Mishawaka, about 85 miles east of Chicago, were to meet Toogood at an undisclosed location and interview her, then bring her to the police station for additional interviews with prosecutors and child protective services, Police Chief Anthony Hazen said Saturday.
"She's worried about losing her child," Hazen said.
The woman was caught on the tape at a department store parking lot Sept. 13 hitting her daughter repeatedly and shaking the child. Authorities feared the girl, Martha Toogood, might have been seriously injured and had been searching for them since then.
An arrest warrant issued Friday charged the mother with battery to a child.
Prosecutor Chris Toth told MSNBC that it wasn't known if the girl would be with her mother Saturday. "Hopefully, it will end up with the little girl being examined by doctors," Toth said.
Rosen said Toogood's extended family members and friends told him the child was fine.
The girl was with her mother Friday night, and the woman's two sons, ages 5 and 6, were in "good, safe hands," he said in Saturday's Chicago Sun-Times.
Toogood grew up as part of a group of Texas-based Irish Travellers, itinerant laborers who often make their living with home-improvement and business-repair work, such as paving, painting and roofing, Rosen said.
Mishawaka authorities said they had no indication Toogood has ever been accused of abuse. However, they said she did have a history of retail store fraud.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Saturday an arrest warrant was issued for her April 9 after she failed to pay a $202 traffic ticket for having no driver's license.
In May, Fort Worth police issued another warrant after she failed to appear in court to face theft charges stemming from an alleged March 27 shoplifting incident at a Kohl's store there.
In the Indiana department store video, she is seen placing her daughter onto the back seat of a sport utility vehicle in the store's parking lot, then hitting the child for several seconds. The episode happened after the woman left the store angry over being refused a cash refund, authorities said.
Toogood's sister, Margaret Daley, who authorities say was with her at the store, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse. Prosecutors later added a charge of assisting a criminal. Daley, 31, was released Friday after posting $2,150 bond.
Police received more than 1,000 calls about the video, which was first aired Wednesday night by local stations seeking the identity of the woman and girl.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/sep/21/092102800.html
quote:
"She's very remorseful. She regrets it."
Tough S***!!!
quote:
"She's worried about losing her child"
I hope she is worried and hope she loses them all!!!
quote:
Rosen said Toogood's extended family members and friends told him the child was fine.
The girl was with her mother Friday night, and the woman's two sons, ages 5 and 6, were in "good, safe hands," he said in Saturday's Chicago Sun-Times.
Yeah Right!!! - Sure!!! - Give me a break!!!
quote:
The episode happened after the woman left the store angry over being refused a cash refund, authorities said.
That's still no excuse for hitting a child!!!
I am shocked that the police are waiting for her to turn herself in!!! - Again I ask " What is wrong with these people?"
And speaking of police... New York's finest are at it again.
Exclusive: Police Brutality Case Caught On Tape
Man In Video Punched, Maced Repeatedly
POSTED: 8:12 p.m. EDT September 19, 2002
UPDATED: 10:16 p.m. EDT September 20, 2002
NEW YORK -- The tape tells the story: A man already in handcuffs was struck and maced by a New York City Police Department officer.
The incident happened in the very same precinct where Abner Louima was brutally attacked. In fact, the officer involved was assigned there right after the Louima torture case to diversify the stationhouse.
Now, that officer is charged with a vicious assault that was all captured on home video.
In the video, one can see 26-year-old Anthony Carty, already in handcuffs, being subdued by at least six police officers.
Many of the onlookers shouted to officers to "ease up," and moments before that, witnesses say Carty was sprayed with pepper spray or mace.
Then, while being escorted to a waiting patrol car and held by three other police officers, Officer Charles Dorcent, a five-year veteran of the NYPD, struck Carty, who was already handcuffed.
The incident then enraged a growing crowd of spectators
According to Carty, the whole incident began as an innocent argument during a softball game here in Prospect Park. While it's still unclear why the officers from the 70th Precinct responded, Carty says several players and officers got into a heated argument. That's when Carty an officer maced a player, and that's when Carty says he intervened.
That's also where the videotape begins.
The man behind the lens of this home video camera provided the tape exclusively to Newschannel 4. Because of the nature of the images, and concern for his safety, he has chosen not to appear on camera even in silhouette.
After the incident, he followed Dorcent to make sure his face, precinct, and even the plate number of officer Dorcent's patrol car were recorded.
While the images of Carty being stuck are disturbing, the person who shot the tape told Newschannel 4 that he was more outraged when Carty was maced at least two more times by another officer before being placed into the backseat of the patrol car.
"This is an obvious and outrageous abuse of police power," said Carty's attorney, Rudolf Silas.
Silas says what officers may not have known at the time is that the macing sent Carty into respiratory distress. Carty has a history of asthma. Silas says while Carty was inside the patrol car, his wife tried to tell officers about her husband's asthmatic condition, only to be arrested herself.
A short time later, police officers did remove Carty from the car, and put him into an ambulance.
"There is no allegation of a weapon being used, no allegation of alcohol or any drugs (being used that would influence) his behavior," Silas said. "From the look of the video it appeared as though he was wobbly, not fully conscious, and certainly not flailing his legs flailing his arms, biting ... not doing anything that might be perceived as provocation."
At the hospital, Carty was treated for several bruises and received eight stitches to his upper lip -- injuries his attorney says are a direct result of the beating at the hands of Dorcent.
On Thursday, in an exclusive interview police Commissioner Ray Kelly agreed to talk about the incident.
"It was an inappropriate use of force," Kelly said. "The officer was immediately suspended. Internal Affairs Bureau investigators took the complainant to the district attorney's office. An investigation with the district attorney's office was conducted, and the officer was ultimately arrested."
Sources tell Newschannel 4 its likely Dorcent may not be the only officer facing possible criminal charges. The incident occurred on Aug. 11. However, law enforcement sources confirm that it was nearly three weeks before any action was taken.
When Newschannel 4 asked the commissioner if his office was concerned that the incident had not been reported to either Internal Affairs, or the district attorney's office until three weeks after the incident, Kelly said the following: "All aspects of this incident -- of the event and the surrounding circumstances of the event -- are under investigation by our Internal Affairs Bureau."
Silas believes without the videotape evidence, this case would have likely been swept under the rug.
"I'm convinced but for this tape ... the tape makes it very clear that this was an unprovoked assault, it takes it out word against word, and it lays it out in an objective fashion for all of us to view and reach their determinations," Silas said.
On the day of the incident, Carty was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and obstruction, and those charges are still pending.
Newschannel 4 contacted the attorney for Dorcent, and he declined comment on the case. Dorcent was arrested by internal affairs, and he was charged with assault, and criminal possession of a weapon.
http://www.wnbc.com/news/1677767/detail.html
[Edited 1 times, lastly by KrissaTMC2 on 09-21-2002] |
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KrissaTMC2
Joined: 05 Feb 2002
Posts: 472
Location: Greenwich, CT, USA |
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Mon Sep 23, 2002 9:41 pm
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Mom Who Beat Child to Plead Innocent
By Tom Coyne
Associated Press Writer
Monday, September 23, 2002; 12:14 PM
MISHAWAKA, Ind. –– A woman caught on videotape beating her 4-year-old daughter in a department store parking lot said Monday that none of her three children have ever been abused before.
"People might think I'm a monster, but I've been a mother for six years, and no harm has come to my children before this, never," Madelyne Gorman Toogood told CNN.
"I'm sorry," she said. "That's all I can say."
Toogood, 25, was charged with felony battery to a child, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison. She planned to plead innocent at her arraignment Monday afternoon, defense lawyer Steven Rosen said, because they had not yet had time to review the prosecutors' case.
"When you don't know the evidence you enter a formality plea of not guilty," Rosen said after meeting with Toogood and prosecutors Monday morning.
Rosen did not say what was discussed at the meeting. Toogood did not speak with reporters afterward.
Toogood's daughter has been in foster care since she was taken by authorities Saturday. Toogood also was to appear at a custody hearing Monday. He said Toogood would have a chance for a supervised visit on Tuesday.
Toogood told reporters Sunday she hit her daughter, Martha, in the head and back and pulled her hair – but did not punch her.
On a surveillance videotape of the Sept. 13 incident, which has been televised nationally, Toogood appears to make punching motions toward her daughter, who is mostly hidden within the sport utility vehicle.
"Martha didn't deserve what she got," Toogood said. "I just lost my temper."
Martha was placed in foster care when her mother turned herself in to authorities, who said the girl had no visible injuries.
Authorities said Toogood left the Kohl's department store in northern Indiana angry because she was denied a cash refund for two pairs of jeans; she denied that the failed refund attempt was connected to the beating.
Rosen said he believed the hitting took place because Martha misbehaved in the store, taking toys out of packages and wandering away, prompting store employees to page Toogood twice.
Toogood said she hopes to be reunited with her daughter and that she, her daughter, and her husband, John, plan to start parenting classes.
"Anything that they want us to do, we will do," Toogood said.
She said her two young sons are staying with family.
Toogood said she and her husband have been living in Mishawaka for about six months. She said they are Irish Travellers – a nomadic group that police say has been linked to fraudulent home repair.
Toogood said her husband, a roofing, paving and power-washing contractor, is a legitimate businessman.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55279-2002Sep23.html
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Today: September 23, 2002 at 11:20:23 PDT
Girl in Video Beating in Foster Care
By TOM COYNE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SOUTH BEND, Ind.- A judge Monday ordered that a 4-year-old girl whose mother was caught on videotape beating her remain in temporary foster care.
St. Joseph Probate Court Judge Peter J. Nemeth gave child-protection officials two weeks to recommend who should care for the girl.
Martha Toogood has been in foster care since Saturday, when her mother turned herself in on a charge of felony battery to a child.
Madelyne Gorman Toogood, 25, planned to plead innocent at her arraignment Monday afternoon, defense lawyer Steven Rosen said, because they had not yet had time to review the prosecutors' case.
"When you don't know the evidence you enter a formality plea of not guilty," Rosen said after meeting with Toogood and prosecutors Monday morning.
Charles Smith, director of the St. Joseph County office of family services, said the agency would prepare recommendations on what Toogood must do to regain custody.
The office also will review a request from her relatives to care for the girl.
"We're going to have to get a feel for that family," Smith said.
Rosen said Toogood would have a chance for a supervised visit Tuesday. Authorities said Martha had no visible injuries.
Authorities said Toogood left a Kohl's department store in northern Indiana angry because she was denied a cash refund for two pairs of jeans; she denied that the failed refund attempt was connected to the beating.
On a surveillance videotape of the Sept. 13 incident, which has been televised nationally, Toogood appears to make punching motions toward her daughter in the parking lot, who is mostly hidden within the sport utility vehicle.
Toogood said she hit her daughter in the head and back and pulled her hair - but did not punch her.
Rosen said he believed the hitting took place because Martha misbehaved in the store, taking toys out of packages and wandering away, prompting store employees to page Toogood twice.
"Martha didn't deserve what she got," Toogood told reporters Sunday. "I just lost my temper."
Toogood told CNN Monday that none of her three children have ever been abused before.
"People might think I'm a monster, but I've been a mother for six years, and no harm has come to my children before this, never," she said.
"I'm sorry," she said. "That's all I can say."
Toogood said she hopes to be reunited with her daughter and that she, her daughter, and her husband, John, plan to start parenting classes.
"Anything that they want us to do, we will do," Toogood said.
She said her two young sons are staying with family.
Toogood said she and her husband have been living in nearby Mishawaka for about six months. She said they are Irish Travellers - a nomadic group that police say has been linked to fraudulent home repair.
Toogood said her husband, a roofing, paving and power-washing contractor, is a legitimate businessman.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/sep/23/092306728.html
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KrissaTMC2
Joined: 05 Feb 2002
Posts: 472
Location: Greenwich, CT, USA |
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Mon Sep 23, 2002 10:05 pm
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Feds Seize Cattle of Nev. Ranchers
By Martin Griffith
Associated Press Writer
Monday, September 23, 2002; 12:16 PM
RENO, Nev. –– As more than 30 armed federal agents stood by, Bureau of Land Management officials seized 227 head of cattle they say two Western Shoshone sisters were grazing illegally on public land.
Mary and Carrie Dann, who have been at odds with federal authorities for nearly three decades over grazing and land ownership, sharply criticized the operation Sunday in Pine Valley in northeast Nevada.
They maintain the Western Shoshone tribe still owns much of Nevada under an 1863 treaty and the BLM has no jurisdiction over their ranching operation.
"It's domestic terrorism," Carrie Dann said. "Our homelands are threatened by the mightiest and most powerful nation in the world. To do this and take away our livelihood is morally and ethically wrong."
But BLM spokeswoman Jo Simpson said the courts have ruled the land in question is owned by the public, not the tribe.
"The courts have extinguished the treaty and directed BLM to manage those lands as public lands," she said. "Certainly, an impoundment is something we don't want to do. But the Danns' continued trespass has resulted in severe overgrazing and degradation of the land."
Simpson warned that the BLM would seize about 800 horses in the same area in the future if the Danns fail to remove them.
In May, the BLM seized and sold 157 head of cattle it says rancher Raymond Yowell and the Te-Moak Band of Western Shoshone were grazing illegally on public land in Elko County.
BLM officials said 99 percent of ranchers comply with terms of federal grazing permits, and they only are cracking down on flagrant violators.
The Danns received a notice last month from the BLM that their grazing privileges were being canceled, and an appeal period expired Sept. 16, said Julie Fishel of the Western Shoshone Defense Project.
The Danns maintain the treaty between the Western Shoshone and United States simply granted the United States limited access – not ownership – to 23.6 million acres. The Western Shoshone tribes live mainly in Nevada, California, Idaho and Utah.
Earlier this year, a preliminary report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous body of the Organization of American States, accused the U.S. government of violating international human rights laws in its treatment of the Danns.
Even though the report made no determination of their legal land rights, it said the United States should provide the Danns an effective remedy to ensure respect for their claims to property rights on ancestral lands.
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On the Net:
Bureau of Land Management-Nevada: http://www.nv.blm.gov/
Western Shoshone: http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/shoshone
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55304-2002Sep23.html
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Today: September 23, 2002 at 8:24:17 PDT
Few Support Confederate Museum
By CAIN BURDEAU
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS- Just around the corner from a towering statue of Robert E. Lee, an aging museum that houses one of the nation's most valuable troves of Confederate flags, uniforms and artifacts is threatened with eviction.
But even in a city that's known for fighting to preserve its history, few people seem willing to take up this cause.
"The silence is deafening," said Dr. Glen Cangelosi, president of the Confederate Memorial Hall Foundation. "I'm flabbergasted when I go around trying to get support for the museum, what a hot potato it is."
That has left museum officials largely to go it alone in their legal battle to retain ownership of the red-brick building that is home to some 5,000 artifacts.
Among the gems: Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard's uniforms; a crown of thorns given to imprisoned Confederate President Jefferson Davis by Pope Pius IX; letters and photos of black Confederates; one of four original, hand-woven Confederate banners.
The building itself is a piece of Confederate history. For 111 years, Confederate veterans, their widows and descendants have been bringing odds and ends to the museum. It is so Romanesque and church-like that it got the name "The Battle Abbey of the South."
In 1893, 60,000 mourners descended on the "abbey" for a second wake of Jefferson Davis. A decade later, 30,000 Confederate veterans and their families flocked there and to New Orleans for the largest reunion ever of Confederates.
And until the last of them died off, Confederate veterans stood guard at the museum's entrance.
But calls to Gov. Mike Foster - who recently expressed support for the museum on his weekly talk show - and other lawmakers have led nowhere. Businesses hem and haw, and back away. State museum officials are noncommittal - sorry but not sad.
"I think our cultural heritage is important, but museums come and go, historically, and they have their own life cycles," said Gordon Mueller, president of the National D-Day Museum across the street.
The museum's struggle comes at a time when New Orleans' blacks have been chipping away at reminders of slavery. George Washington's name was removed from a school because he owned slaves. A pylon celebrating the end of Reconstruction government was moved from a prominent position near the Mississippi River ferry to the back of a parking lot.
But this time around, the Confederate museum - seemingly as nettlesome an issue as the Reconstruction monument - is not inspiring anger on either side of the racial lines. "I wasn't even aware the place existed until I read the newspaper article," said Terry Holden, a New Orleans representative of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
If anything, the outrage seems to come from outside the state.
"To try to get rid of a museum with one of the finest collections of Southern memorabilia is just incredible, unheard of, unthinkable," said Gordon Cotton, director of the Old Court House Museum in Vicksburg, Miss.
The threat of homelessness is real.
In July, a New Orleans judge said that the University of New Orleans Foundation owns the building. The foundation claims it bought the church-like structure for $425,000 from Tulane University.
The Confederate museum claims Frank T. Howard, a philanthropist who put the money up for the building in the late 1880s, explicitly said it was to remain an enshrined repository to Confederate veterans forever. The case is on appeal at the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal.
Part of the issue is location of the collection in a growing area of museums.
In 1976, the Contemporary Arts Center opened in a renovated warehouse. And art galleries and chic restaurants such as Emeril's popped up.
Then in 2000, the University of New Orleans and the state built the multimillion dollar, state-of-the-art D-Day Museum - across the street from the Confederate hall.
It was a hit.
Next came plans for the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.
This time, instead of across the street, developers bought historic buildings on either side of Memorial Hall - and, arguably, the hall itself, with a corridor connecting it all in mind.
Elizabeth Williams, president of the University of New Orleans Foundation, dismissed allegations that she and the foundation board are anti-Confederates.
"The question is what is the right thing to do. And the right thing to do is that that very special collection of Confederate artifacts is protected," Williams said.
Museum vice president James Carriere said that's just spin. He said the truth is their enemies equate the Confederate museum to a repository of Nazi symbols - best kept under wraps.
"Elizabeth Williams has got herself on a hot seat," Carriere said. "It's bad publicity: She's seen as wanting to close the oldest museum in the state and not wanting to have a Confederate museum."
"When Camp Street was overrun with vagrants, no one cared about the Confederate museum. Now that it's a prime real estate area, they want it to be an entrance to their museums."
In the lull between court motions, the Confederates are trying to rally the troops. But they're realistic: If all else fails, they'll retreat, move on out.
Carriere said they are looking at moving to Houston, Richmond, Va., the Mississippi Gulf Coast or Slidell.
"If y'all don't want it, send it on up," said Cotton at the Old Court House Museum in Vicksburg. "Soon there won't be anything left in New Orleans to see except drunks on Bourbon Street. Is there absolutely nothing sacred?"
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On the Net:
Confederate Memorial Hall: http://www.confederatemuseum.com/
The University of New Orleans Foundation: http://www.unofoundation.org/
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/sep/23/092306114.html
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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
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Thu Sep 26, 2002 9:41 pm
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Elderly housewife bashes to death violent husband
SHIRAOI, Hokkaido -- An elderly woman who fatally beat her husband and then lied to police by telling them he had been attacked by youths, has been arrested, police said.
The woman, Hitomi Horikawa, 71, was arrested for inflicting injury resulting in death after her 74-year-old husband died from the wounds he suffered in the beating last Saturday.
Investigators said Horikawa initially told them that her husband had been attacked by high school students.
"My husband said to me, 'Five or six kids that looked like high school students demanded money from me in a nearby park, and when I refused, they beat me,'" police initially quoted Horikawa as saying.
However, when police questioned Horikawa again because there had been no sightings of the youths, she reportedly admitted to beating her husband.
"He had beaten me from when we were young, and I hated him," Horikawa reportedly told police.
Investigators said Horikawa had beaten her husband following an argument that lasted from about 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., last Saturday. Horikawa reportedly called an ambulance after the beating, and her husband was taken to hospital, but he died in the predawn hours of Sunday. (Mainichi Shimbun, Sept. 26, 2002)
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20020926p2a00m0dm005000c.html
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Today: September 26, 2002 at 10:35:18 PDT
200 N.Y. Students Drunk at Dance
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SCARSDALE, N.Y.- School dances at Scarsdale High have been banned after about 200 students turned up drunk a homecoming party. Five of the 600 students at last Friday night's dance were taken to hospitals. All have recovered.
"It was easier to find a drunk kid there than someone who was sober," senior Dave Nambar told The Journal News.
Principal John Klemme, who called police to the party, banned school dances until school officials felt sure that the students in the affluent New York City suburb wouldn't misbehave.
Klemme said several students were suspended, but he did not divulge how many. "You have slightly drunk kids taking care of very drunk kids," police Detective Richard Fatigate said of the party.
"It doesn't make for a very good situation."
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/sep/26/092604202.html |
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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
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Fri Sep 27, 2002 7:51 am
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I'd just thought I'd give you a glimpse of life in Stamford. The first article concerns something that I have been involved with personally as a member and Trustee of the Long Ridge Fire Company. The second article just kind of bothered me a little bit.
Firefighters' suit back on front burner
By Kevin McCallum
Staff Writer
September 26, 2002
STAMFORD -- Mayor Dannel Malloy met with members of his Cabinet and legal staff yesterday to discuss resolving the Long Ridge Fire Company's long-standing lawsuit against the city.
"I believe the parties have a joint and mutual desire to settle the matter," Malloy said of the suit, which has dragged on since 1997.
Spurred by the prospect of additional court hearings next month, the nine paid members of the company submitted a proposed settlement to the city, said Ben Barnes, the city's director of public safety, health and welfare.
The staffing and financial issues at the heart of the suit are complex, but Barnes said he is hopeful the sides can resolve the feud.
"There is more of a possibility now that we could settle this lawsuit than there was several months ago," he said. "We are directed at this point. We know what we need to do to make this decision."
Details of the latest proposal are unclear, but both sides say the fundamental issues underlying the dispute remain essentially the same.
In 1996, Malloy was spearheading an effort to reduce costs and increase fire coverage in the Big 5 fire departments by negotiating to have their paid employees join the city's payroll, pension and health plans.
When the Long Ridge chief complained that the company needed to hire more full-time firefighters, Malloy responded by shifting 16 city firefighters and an engine to Long Ridge's Station No. 2.
The Long Ridge Paid Drivers Association sued in state Superior Court, claiming the mayor's move violated the portion of the city Charter preventing the government from interfering with the administration of the Big 5 fire departments.
In 1998, the firefighters won an injunction against the city and forced the engine and 16 firefighters back downtown. They also forced the city to spend about $150,000 per year to fund two new full-time firefighter positions.
In 2000, the city appealed the injunction, and lost. The city has since filed a motion to have the case dismissed, and hearings are set for next month.
Meanwhile, the four other departments with a mix of paid and volunteer staff -- Springdale, Turn of River, Belltown and Glenbrook -- have reached agreements to have their paid firefighters become city employees and members of Stamford Fire and Rescue.
But attorneys for Long Ridge say they legality of those agreements is questionable.
"If we go to trial, I intend to show the judge that all of what has happened is illegal," attorney Leon Rosenblatt of West Hartford said. "So the ramifications are very big for everybody."
Rosenblatt said he stayed out of the latest round of negotiations to give the talks a better chance to succeed. A settlement is probably better for all sides, he said.
"This is the sort of situation where litigation doesn't really provide many satisfactory answers," he said.
The sides were close to an agreement about two years ago, but the union that represents the city's firefighters, Local 786, voted it down, Barnes said.
The current negotiations have not addressed the union issue, he said.
Rosenblatt said the previous agreement specified the number of paid firefighters at Long Ridge, as well as their union status, job security, wages and benefits. He declined to outline details of that agreement.
He said he hopes a new one can be hammered out soon.
"There a lot of water under the bridge and over the dam, and there's going to be a lot of water to go if we don't resolve this," he said.
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-firestaff5sep26,0,3302289.story?coll=stam%2Dnews%2Dlocal%2Dheadlines
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Man seeks $8,000 from city for towed truck
By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
September 26, 2002
STAMFORD -- A local man who claims his unregistered vehicle was towed and destroyed without his knowledge by the Stamford Police Department is seeking $8,000 in damages.
Dr. William Levine, a local developer and retired dentist, said police ordered his 1978 Chevrolet C70 diesel dump truck towed from Wallenberg Drive in North Stamford and destroyed while he was out of town last month. He filed a claim with the town and city clerk's office last week listing the truck's value at $8,000.
Levine said he owns Wallenberg Drive and that police had no right to enter his private property, take the vehicle and dispose of it.
"There's no reason to tow an unregistered vehicle on private property," said Eric Posmantier of Greenwich, Levine's attorney. "If it was on the road, then maybe they'd have reason to tow."
The truck was parked on the paved road, a cul-de-sac off South Lake Drive near the New York border, when it was towed, the police report states.
Wallenberg Drive is a private road with an application pending to become a city street, said Tom Cassone, the city's acting director of legal affairs. Who owns it is unclear.
"(Levine) may own it, but that doesn't mean he can do what he wants with it," Cassone said.
Whether it is a private road or city street is inconsequential, said Capt. Greg Tomlin, who supervises towing of unregistered vehicles for the police department. He said the city received three complaints about the rusty, abandoned truck last month and that state law gives police authority to tow unregistered vehicles.
The truck's registration expired in April 1994, the police report states.
Photographs taken Aug. 4 after the truck was tagged as an abandoned vehicle show it parked along the curb near the driveway of 2 Wallenberg Drive.
Jed Isaacs, owner of 2 Wallenberg Drive, said it had been left there since July 16 and that Levine had threatened to leave it there indefinitely. Weeds were growing in the idle truck's bed, Isaacs said.
He said he was concerned the truck, which took up a large portion of the narrow road, could be hit by another vehicle because there are no street lights .
Though city records show Levine owns about 10 acres on South Lake Drive, Isaacs said Levine does not live in the neighborhood.
The truck was towed Aug. 12, police records state.
In his claim, Levine said police never informed him his vehicle had been towed, though officers knew it belonged to him. He said police contacted him early last month to inform him neighbors were complaining about the truck, and he declined to move it. Levine said he refused to move it because it was not blocking the road.
When police tow vehicles worth $500 or less, the city has no obligation to hold on to them, Tomlin said. The city has no place to store them and can order them to be destroyed the day they are towed, he said. Abandoned vehicles are tagged with a red sticker at least 24 hours before they are towed, police said.
The city typically is paid $8.65 for each vehicle crushed, Tomlin said, but towing Levine's truck cost taxpayers $200 because the city had to hire a heavy-duty tow truck to remove it.
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-truck4sep26,0,5355612.story?coll=stam%2Dnews%2Dlocal%2Dheadlines |
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KrissaTMC2
Joined: 05 Feb 2002
Posts: 472
Location: Greenwich, CT, USA |
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Wed Oct 02, 2002 2:03 am
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Today: October 01, 2002 at 17:25:19 PDT
Man Brain Dead in Wis. Mob Beating
By MELISSA TRUJILLO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILWAUKEE- A man savagely beaten with rakes, shovels and baseball bats by a child mob died Tuesday as authorities held nine youths in custody, and sought seven more.
The group of children, ages 10 to 18, attacked Charlie Young Jr. late Sunday after a fight that started when one of the children tossed an egg at him, police said.
Young, 36, suffered severe brain injuries and was hospitalized in critical condition after the attack. He died Tuesday, said Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital spokesman Mark McLaughlin.
"It was unhuman what they did," the victim's brother, Keith Young, told WTMJ-TV.
Police Chief Arthur Jones said about 16 to 20 young men who had gathered Sunday night prodded a 10-year-old to throw an egg at Young. The egg hit the Milwaukee man in the shoulder, and he started chasing the boy. But a 14-year-old got between the two, and Young punched him, knocking out a tooth.
Several of the youths then banded together to attack Young, Jones said. They chased him onto the porch of a house on the city's north side and pummeled him, leaving blood spattered from floor to ceiling, police said.
Young managed to briefly escape into the house, but the mob dragged him back outside and beat him until police responded to a neighbor's 911 call, the landlord said.
Young apparently was a random victim, Jones said.
"We have no reason to believe they (the youths) knew this was Mr. Young or they targeted Mr. Young," Jones said.
The nine youths taken into custody likely will be charged Wednesday, Jones said, though he didn't know if they would be charged as adults or juveniles.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/oct/01/100105774.html
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Today: October 01, 2002 at 17:10:14 PDT
No Charges in Butchering Child Case
By BOB ANEZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREAT FALLS, Mont.- Prosecutors said Tuesday they will drop murder and kidnapping charges against a man accused of butchering a child and feeding him to neighbors because the alleged victim's mother believes the boy is alive.
The stunning announcement came after Zachary Ramsay's mother, Rachel Howard, said she was prepared to testify she did not believe Nathaniel Bar-Jonah had killed her son in 1996.
"In light of Rachel Howard's testimony, I don't think there's any way we could win this," prosecutor Brant Light said. He asked a judge to throw out the charges ahead of a trial scheduled to begin next week.
Bar-Jonah, 45, already serving a 130-year prison sentence in Montana for kidnapping and sexual assault in a separate case, was accused of abducting 10-year-old Zachary while he walked to school.
The boy's body was never found, and authorities have said evidence suggests Bar-Jonah killed the boy and disposed of his body in meals served to unsuspecting neighbors.
Searches of Bar-Jonah's house nearly three years ago turned up lists of children's names, including Zachary, and encrypted letters in which Bar-Jonah wrote about such dishes as "little boy stew," "little boy pot pies" and "lunch is served on the patio with roasted child."
But Howard said Tuesday that she believes her son is alive.
In an interview at her attorney's office, she said her belief is based on several things, including a videotape she says shows her son at age 12. She said police did not believe the boy in the video was her son.
"I did not want Bar-Jonah to be convicted of a crime that I did not believe he did," Howard said.
Defense attorney Don Vernay said he was pleased with the prosecutor's decision, but added that he was confident Bar-Jonah would have been acquitted at trial.
Bar-Jonah was convicted earlier this year of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old Great Falls boy, and hanging the boy's 8-year-old cousin from a kitchen ceiling. Those assaults occurred in 1998 and 1999. Bar-Jonah has appealed the verdict.
Bar-Jonah spent 11 years in a Massachusetts mental hospital after one attack in which authorities said he tried to kill two boys. Before that, he had forced an 8-year-old boy into his car and choked him with his belt. Shortly after his release, he assaulted another boy.
Under a 1991 plea agreement with Massachusetts prosecutors, Bar-Jonah was allowed to move to Montana with his mother. Montana authorities were outraged to learn of the deal after Bar-Jonah's arrest.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/oct/01/100105763.html
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Today: October 01, 2002 at 11:45:17 PDT
Man Gets Prison in Fatal Road Rage
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TAMPA, Fla.- A man who killed another motorist with a single punch during a road rage episode was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison as part of a plea agreement.
Gary Durham was also sentenced Monday to an additional five years of probation. He pleaded guilty in July to throwing the punch that killed Timothy Gibbs. Durham had faced up to 30 years on a manslaughter charge because past convictions on theft and other charges led him to be classified as a habitual offender.
Durham, 26, and Timothy Gibbs, 48, got out of their cars and argued angrily after they nearly had a car accident Oct. 24.
Durham punched Gibbs and he fell, hitting his head on the pavement. He died nine days later in a hospital.
Durham turned himself in to authorities and said he threw the punch in self-defense and had not meant to kill Gibbs. But prosecutors said Gibbs' hands were at his side when Durham punched him.
Durham also must serve 300 hours of community service and seek psychological and drug evaluations and anger management counseling.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/oct/01/100105037.html
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Today: October 01, 2002 at 10:37:15 PDT
Attack on Greyhound Bus Kills 2
By KIM BACA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
FRESNO, Calif.- A passenger slashed the throat of a Greyhound bus driver as the bus traveled down a California freeway, causing it to careen out of control, authorities said. The driver survived but two other people died and dozens were injured.
The bus, heading from Los Angeles to San Francisco, flipped on its side Monday evening and slid into a cotton field about 500 feet off Interstate 5 near Fresno, officials said. The bus was carrying 50 passengers.
Officials said the attack was not related to terrorism, and said Tuesday morning they did not know the motive of the suspect, identified as Arturo Tapia Martinez, 27, a transient from the Los Angeles area. He was booked into Fresno County Jail on two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
"He has told us several stories about why he did what he did," said Lt. Margaret Mims of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department. Among the factors being looked at, she said, were whether drugs, alcohol or mental problems played a role.
According to witness accounts, the man rose from his seat shortly before 9 p.m., walked briskly up to the driver and attacked him. The weapon was a pair of scissors, authorities said.
"It happened very quickly. He immediately stabbed the driver, too quickly for the passengers to take action on their own," Mims said. She said the driver "struggled, tried to defend himself and lost control of the bus."
Authorities caught Martinez as he tried to run away.
"I saw a dude walk fast and pull past to the front (of the bus)," said passenger Howard Johnson, who suffered only minor injuries and later was reunited at a community center with his wife. "I'm feeling blessed."
Greyhound Lines spokeswoman Lynn Brown said 26 passengers and the bus driver were taken to hospitals. Three people, including the driver, remained hospitalized Tuesday morning at University Medical Center in Fresno, where they were listed in fair condition. The others were treated at hospitals and released.
Authorities had originally said the driver was one of the two who died, but the Fresno County Sheriff's Department later corrected that.
Alfredo Saravia, a passenger from suburban Los Angeles, said he was awoken by the attack.
"The people in the front, when they saw they tried to stop the guy, but he already had the driver. Everything happened in seconds," said Saravia, who had injuries to his left side and a bruise on his forehead. "The bus started tumbling and went off the road and started flipping."
Almost exactly a year ago, on Oct. 3, 2001, a passenger on a Greyhound bus in Tennessee cut the driver's throat, causing a crash that killed seven.
Two weeks later, passengers on another Greyhound bus were credited with averting disaster in Utah after they helped thwart an alleged hijacker. And in November, a Greyhound passenger angry that he wasn't allowed to smoke scuffled with a driver in Arizona, causing a crash that injured 33.
Congress has included $3.85 billion in an anti-terrorism bill passed this year to augment aviation security. By contrast, it has approved $15 million for security improvements on intercity buses.
Dallas-based Greyhound, the nation's largest bus service with 20,000 daily departures, has hired a private company to screen some passengers with electric wands but has inspectors at only a portion of its terminals.
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EDITOR'S NOTE - Greyhound's toll-free number for friends and relatives of the bus crash passengers is (800) 972-4583.
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http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/oct/01/100104736.html
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KrissaTMC2
Joined: 05 Feb 2002
Posts: 472
Location: Greenwich, CT, USA |
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Wed Oct 02, 2002 2:05 am
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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
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Wed Oct 02, 2002 7:16 am
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Today: October 01, 2002 at 18:25:12 PDT
10 Youths Held in Mob Beating Death
By MELISSA TRUJILLO
ASSOCIATED PRESS MILWAUKEE- A man attacked by a mob of children who savagely beat him with rakes, shovels and bats died Tuesday, as authorities arrested 10 youths and sought six others.
The juveniles, ages 10 to 18, attacked Charlie Young Jr. late Sunday after a fight that started when one of the children tossed an egg at him, police said. Young, 36, suffered severe brain injuries and was hospitalized in critical condition after the beating.
He died Tuesday, said Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital spokesman Mark McLaughlin. "It was unhuman what they did," the victim's brother, Keith Young, told WTMJ-TV.
Police Chief Arthur Jones said as many as 20 young men who had gathered Sunday night prodded a 10-year-old to throw an egg at Young. The egg hit the Milwaukee man in the shoulder, and he started chasing the boy. But a 14-year-old got between the two and Young punched the older boy, knocking out a tooth.
Several of the youths then banded together and chased Young, picking up shovels, rakes, baseball bats, a folding chair and other items to beat him with, Jones said. When they reached the porch of a house, they pummeled him, leaving blood spattered from floor to ceiling, police said.
"They were pounding on him and hollering, 'Hey, let me use that.' It was like a game to them," said Anthony Brown, who lives in the house.
Young managed to briefly escape into the house, but the mob dragged him back outside and beat him until police responded to a neighbor's 911 call, the landlord said.
Residents and police said the neighborhood in Milwaukee's north side is rife with violence.
"Just to come home to trouble every night gets kind of tiresome," said Erinn Payne, 22, who witnessed the attack but walked by, thinking the children were beating an animal. "People are always fighting or arguing, there's always something going on."
Jones said "a large number of our enforcement efforts" are focused on the neighborhood. The chief said Young apparently was a random victim.
"We have no reason to believe they (the youths) knew this was Mr. Young or they targeted Mr. Young," Jones said.
Four teens - three 13-year-olds and a 15-year-old - appeared in court Tuesday evening, where a court commissioner ordered that they be held in a detention facility until they are charged.
All 10 youths taken into custody could face charges as early as Wednesday, though Jones didn't know if they would be charged as adults or juveniles. Authorities continued to search for the six other suspects.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/oct/01/100105918.html
[Edited 1 times, lastly by Dan Rockwell on 10-02-2002] |
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wildwest120
Joined: 29 Sep 2002
Posts: 26
Location: Outside Kansas City,Missouri |
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Sun Oct 06, 2002 4:44 pm
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On bended knee and PRAYING!!!!
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STOP THE SPRAYING
Drought+Death=IT AINT
WORKING |
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emfx13
Joined: 25 May 2002
Posts: 959
Location: Hayward Ca.U.S.A. |
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Mon Oct 07, 2002 5:23 am
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I thought the father and son that beat up the baseball coach was bad,how's this for family value's................ Mother and her twins charged with fatal beating
CONWAY, Arkansas (AP) -- Police charged a mother and her twin 13-year-olds in the fatal beating of a woman on a city street.
Police spokesman Lt. Chip Stokes said the three family members were taken into custody on suspicion of second-degree murder in the death of Altellia Givan, 42, shortly after 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
"From what we have gathered, there was a fight at the residence and the suspects chased her down the street," Stokes said. He said witnesses told police Givan was allegedly beaten with pieces of lumber or tree limbs.
Evelyn Ticey and her twin boy and girl were being held at the Faulkner County Detention Center, a police dispatcher said. Stokes said the prosecutor's office would decide Monday whether the children would be tried as juveniles or as adults.
The investigation was continuing.
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zoobie555
Joined: 02 Jan 2003
Posts: 329
Location: Conroe, Texas, USA |
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Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:46 am
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In reply to the priest/pedophile sex abuse. 0.3 percent would be 1 in 333, not 1 in 33 ("0.3 percent is still too many. 1 out of 33. if you break that down there are likely at least 1-2 in every community.").
That is not to say that 0.3 percent isn't too many, merely an observation.
My apologies if I may have missed a correction as I didn't read every post in this thread.
Of course I don't honestly beleive that "their" assesment of 0.3 percent is anywhere near accurate. I beleive it is much higher and that was an attempt to normalize priestly behavior by comparing it to what would likely be more in line with statistics for the general population (also not saying that this isn't "too many").
While the range of unusual behavior in criminal and rampage/mob mentality acts occuring in recent years seems to be growing, I think that what is most likely happening is not so much an increase in overall occurances of violent behavior*, but more our impression of what is going on due to the wave of media sensationalism that occurs along with it. It's not hard to understand in this day and age when "reality TV" reigns supreme. The media only shows what the people want to see. This is of course also just another personal opinion, call it an un-educated guess if you will.
After all, truth really is stranger than fiction.
* I feel strongly that heavy metal pollution, and an increase in sensory overload due to technology as well as an increase in erratic weather patterns also have some effect on the increase in violent crimes. But probably only a slight increase. Also just my opinion...
You know what else they say... Opinions are like a$$holes...
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