Friday, September 4, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/how-trump-can-ensure-democratic-dominance-for-generations-213102

How Trump Can Ensure Democratic Dominance for Generations
It happened before, 90 years ago, when the GOP cracked down hard on immigrants. Republicans never recovered.
By Michael Kazin
09/01/15, 08:31 PM EDT


Donald Trump knows the United States will never deport eleven million undocumented immigrants or do away with birthright citizenship. But what if we did—what would be the political impact if Trump and other angry nativists in the GOP actually achieved most or all the changes they desire, cutting immigration back sharply?

We already know, because something very similar happened once before in American history. Ninety years ago, two Republican presidents—Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge—and a Congress dominated by Republicans enacted equally harsh policies against immigrants. Their success helped usher in the longest period of one-party rule in the 20th century. But it was the Democrats, not the GOP, who benefited, in one of the most whopping instances of unintentional consequences in American political history.

During the 1920s, federal lawmakers reversed the traditional policy of welcoming newcomers from nearly every land. Fear of foreigners carrying the bacillus of Bolshevism from Europe and of diluting the purity of the “Nordic” race led them to pass the most sweeping restrictions in U.S. history. By large majorities, Congress enacted quotas that explicitly discriminated against would-be immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and banned all Arabs and all Asians except for Filipinos, who were then U.S. colonial subjects. In supporting the restrictive Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, one senator proudly exclaimed, “Thank God we have in America perhaps the largest percentage of any country in the world of the pure, unadulterated Anglo-Saxon stock … We now have sufficient population in our country for us to shut the door and to breed up a pure, unadulterated American citizenship.”

The new policies were effective: Over 18 million people migrated to the U.S. between 1880 and 1920. From 1930 to 1960, during the new era of highly restricted immigration, only four million made the trip.

But the political backlash from that dramatic shift in demographics was fierce. Immigrants from places like Poland, Italy, and Russia who already lived in the U.S. and their American-born children deeply resented quotas that barred them from bringing over their relatives and friends. Most also despised the prohibition of alcohol, which they viewed as an attack by evangelical Protestants on their cultures and their right to imbibe any beverage they chose.

At the time, big-city Democrats warned that nativists would regret their decision to bar non-“Anglo-Saxons” from the land. “Suppose they had their way,” said Rep. Emmanuel Celler, a Brooklyn Jew, “and we awoke one fine morning and found all our population of foreign origin had departed. There would be no rolls for breakfast, no sugar for the coffee, and no meat for dinner—for practically all workers in foodstuffs are aliens. Milady would have to wear last year’s coat, shoes, and gloves, as most … Apparel factories would be closed.”

Instead of leaving, white ethnics took out their bitterness at the polling booth. In 1928, many voted for the first time, swelling the total for Al Smith, the Catholic Democrat from New York. Amid the prosperity of that decade, Smith lost to Herbert Hoover. But in 1932, during the depths of the Great Depression, their votes swung nearly every big state to Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR didn’t have enough support in Congress to get rid of the quotas (most Southern Democrats favored them). But his party did repeal prohibition and enact programs like the Works Progress Administration and the National Labor Relations Act that helped millions of ethnics find jobs and form unions.

In the decade since the restrictive quotas had been passed, young workers from the kind of ethnic groups that Republicans derided had become increasingly “Americanized.” English was their first language; they had been educated in the U.S., flocked to the same Hollywood movies and danced to the same swing tunes as did other Americans—and they were registered to vote. Despite the Great Depression, they also felt secure enough to question the authority of their employers – most of whom were loyal Republicans, the party in charge when Wall Street crashed and the jobless rate soared to twenty-five percent.

All this made white ethnic workers natural recruits for the new unions established, through sit-down strikes and other forms of pressure, in the steel, auto, longshore, aircraft, and electrical industries during the 1930s and 40s. “Go to hell! You’ve had me long enough. I’m going to be a man on my own now!” an official of the United Electrical Workers told his members. First and second-generation immigrants welcomed the ethnic pluralism of the new labor movement, as did blacks and Mexican-Americans, and claimed American traditions for themselves. In one New England textile town, union organizers compared their bosses to King George III and urged workers to emulate the Pilgrims and the “wise, hardy, and staunch” pioneers in covered wagons who risked everything to attain prosperity for their families. Between 1933 and 1945, unions added nine million new members to their ranks. As it surged, organized labor had become a rainbow coalition—and a mainstay of the Democratic Party.

In four straight elections, FDR crushed his Republican opponents in big cities and factory towns filled with white ethnics and African-Americans. Their votes also turned states like Pennsylvania and Illinois, which had traditionally voted Republican, into Democratic strongholds. The party nominated scores of Jews, Polish Catholics, and Italians to local and state offices. During the height of the Cold War in the 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower and other moderate Republicans won back some of these voters. But in 1960, John Kennedy – running as a Catholic, pro-labor liberal – reassembled much of FDR’s old coalition. He was the first president to owe his victory to a alliance of religious, ethnic, and racial minorities.

Thus, by closing the borders to all but a trickle of newcomers they disliked, Republicans ensured that they would provoke the lasting hostility of millions of immigrants and, just as importantly, their children, all of whom had already crossed those borders. During the 1930s and 40s, Democrats won every single presidential election, even as the foreign-born population decreased from 11.6 percent to just over half that number.

The political dynamics today are not all that different. Latinos and Asian-Americans already voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012—and in the latter year Mitt Romney paid dearly for his harsh stand against America’s 11 million illegal immigrants, when he declared that he would make life so hard for them they would “self-deport” (Romney lost the Hispanic vote to Obama by a stunning 71 percent to 27 percent).

If, in 2016, the GOP nominee campaigns and wins on a platform that vows to curb immigration – both legal and undocumented – he or she could be repeating one of the worst decisions that party ever made. Even if the flow of migrants to the U.S. were cut in half, the number of Americans with family members born abroad will continue to grow as a percentage of the population. And by 2040 or sooner, it is white people who will be the largest minority group, according to census data. Much as happened nearly a century ago, a one-time victory based on a nativist backlash could thus turn into several decades of Democratic supremacy.


Michael Kazin teaches history at Georgetown University. He is author, most recently, of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation (Knopf, 2011).




“In supporting the restrictive Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, one senator proudly exclaimed, “Thank God we have in America perhaps the largest percentage of any country in the world of the pure, unadulterated Anglo-Saxon stock … We now have sufficient population in our country for us to shut the door and to breed up a pure, unadulterated American citizenship.” …. From 1930 to 1960, during the new era of highly restricted immigration, only four million made the trip. But the political backlash from that dramatic shift in demographics was fierce. Immigrants from places like Poland, Italy, and Russia who already lived in the U.S. and their American-born children deeply resented quotas that barred them from bringing over their relatives and friends. Most also despised the prohibition of alcohol, which they viewed as an attack by evangelical Protestants on their cultures and their right to imbibe any beverage they chose. …. Latinos and Asian-Americans already voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012—and in the latter year Mitt Romney paid dearly for his harsh stand against America’s 11 million illegal immigrants, when he declared that he would make life so hard for them they would “self-deport” (Romney lost the Hispanic vote to Obama by a stunning 71 percent to 27 percent). …. Even if the flow of migrants to the U.S. were cut in half, the number of Americans with family members born abroad will continue to grow as a percentage of the population. And by 2040 or sooner, it is white people who will be the largest minority group, according to census data. Much as happened nearly a century ago, a one-time victory based on a nativist backlash could thus turn into several decades of Democratic supremacy.”

“… pure, unadulterated Anglo-Saxon stock” – is a phrase that no politician nowadays would actually say out loud, though the Tea Party group have said similar things. The Republican Party before Reagan, and especially before 9/11, would not have voted en masse for restrictions as harsh as we now have, and which are being promoted loudly by Donald Trump. That is not the only reason why the Republicans were ousted when FDR came on the scene, however. Their economic policies alone had made the wealth divide between the rich, the poor and the middle class extremely harsh, as it has become again since Reagan with his “trickle down” theories came to the forefront of the Republican Party. (Anyone who hasn’t read “The Great Gatsby” should read it, for both its educational value and the beauty of the writing and the realism of the characters he created.)

That conflict between the classes, and especially the races, is why an avowed Socialist like Bernie Sanders is popular now. He has spoken up for racial justice as well as economic security for the masses, and so many whites as well as other races are unable to make it financially now, that we are hungry for such a leader. Poor wages and joblessness have caused the Middle Class to shrink and move to the poverty level in a widespread way. Non-white ethnic and racial groups tend to suffer even more than whites in this time period. Republicans don’t do things that help the ordinary person now, any more than they did in the 1920s, and now since 90% of the population are not wealthy and a huge number are absolutely poor, Sanders’ “natural audience” is waiting for him. The US Census Bureau has a report on those who are “near” the poverty level, but not below it. It’s a touchy place to have to occupy. One serious illness can toss you down to the bottom of the income ranks.

From the Census report below, the statement “there is no legislative mandate or policy directive defining near poverty” specifies the problem we have, I think. Only President Clinton spoke up for “the working poor,” and the lower middle class. Those “near poverty” are barely hanging on as the cost of living goes up and wages haven’t risen, not to mention the rampant joblessness. Sending a child to college, paying for medical bills, and even an occasional vacation are too expensive for all of that group and for many who are considered Middle Class as well. The Lower Middle Class is not much above the “near poverty” group. The American Dream, the basic part of which is to own a home in which the whole family can live, is out of the range of many or all of that group. If they lose their job they can become homeless in a month or two.

The Wikipedia article on the American Middle Class below shows a lack of firm definition of what income level actually defines the Middle Class, and at its lowest level of $25,000 it looks more like “near poverty” to me than the true middle level which should provide basic if modest comfort. Subtract the cost of living from that income and you see why Bernie Sanders is so popular with many Democrats. He is just ten points or so below Hillary Clinton in the polls as of last week. Socialist or not, he is smart, a good speaker, interested in the 90% rather than the 1%, and not afraid to say what he stands for. Lots of Democrats have become too timid for my tastes, and aren’t nearly “liberal” enough.

From Wikipedia on the subject “Middle Class America,” the following statement tells it all. Those on the top layer can afford many leisurely activities, furs, a “good” college, prep school, etc., while the lower group require two incomes to make ends meet. President Clinton was the first president I remember calling them – or rather, us –“the working poor.”

Here is what Wikipedia says: “With the emergence of a two-tier labor market, the economic benefits and life chances of upper middle class professionals have grown considerably compared to those of the lower middle class.[2][5] The lower middle class needs two income earners in order to sustain a comfortable standard of living….” It is that lower group who in 2008 and the next few years afterward have been losing their homes because they couldn’t pay their mortgage or taxes, sometimes because they have lost their jobs and sometimes because they just don’t get paid a good enough wage to meet all the expenses they encounter.

Also, factory jobs used to be plentiful and required no high educational degree to qualify for them. Now there are fewer jobs of any kind, but especially the manufacturing jobs which usually pay a better salary than fast food or retail sales. This is mainly because Congress has allowed the businesses to send their operations overseas to China and similar places with ultra-cheap labor and often unsafe working conditions. While the minimum wage has remained at around $7.00 an hour for the last 20 or more years, as Congress has (again) tamped down on the legal protections for union recruiting and operations, the cost of living has risen considerably. We need a courageous progressive in office again who will bring a number of other real Democrats into the legislature “on his coattails,” as people used to say. That could be Sanders, Clinton, Warren or Biden, or someone who is so far unfamiliar to me. I do hope that those immigrants who have attained citizenship and non-white racial groups who can vote will stick with the Democratic Party and all vote as one, like they did when Obama was elected. They will find us a better party for the worker than the Republicans are. I don’t understand how anyone could look at the history of the US and think otherwise.

See this website http://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p60-248.pdf. “Living in Near Poverty in the United States: 1966–2012,” Current Population Reports, By Charles Hokayem and Misty L. Heggeness1, Issued May 2014.

“The official U.S. poverty thresholds create an explicit boundary that defines who lives in poverty, and the U.S. Census Bureau reports annually on this vulnerable population (DeNavas-Walt, Proctor, and Smith, 2013). Less is known about the low-income population living just above official poverty thresholds. This report describes individuals and families living near poverty—those individuals whose family incomes are close to, but not below, official poverty thresholds.

Unlike the definition of poverty, there is no legislative mandate or policy directive defining near poverty. Historically, the Census Bureau has provided detailed tables of the number and proportion of the population with family income between 100 and 125 percent of the poverty thresholds and referred to this group as near poor. For consistency, this report defines individuals in near poverty in the same way, and it relies on data from the 1967–2013 Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) spanning over 45 years.2. ….

Since federal and state assistance programs are targeted to the low-income population, including those in near poverty, this report also gives assistance program participation rates of those in near poverty. These programs include public assistance, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps), the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the National School Lunch Program.

In 2012, 14.7 million people in the United States had family incomes between 100 and 125 percent of their poverty threshold. The near-poverty rate for individuals decreased from 6.3 percent in 1966 to 4.7 percent in 2012.”



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_middle_class

American middle class
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The American middle class is a social class in the United States.[1][2] While the concept is typically ambiguous in popular opinion and common language use,[3] contemporary social scientists have put forward several more or less congruent theories on the American middle class. Depending on the class model used, the middle class constitutes anywhere from 25% to 66% of households.

One of the first major studies of the middle class in America was White Collar: The American Middle Classes, published in 1951 by sociologist C. Wright Mills. Later sociologists such as Dennis Gilbert of Hamilton College commonly divide the middle class into two sub-groups. Constituting roughly 15% to 20% of households is the upper or professional middle class consisting of highly educated, salaried professionals and managers. Constituting roughly one third of households is the lower middle class consisting mostly of semi-professionals, skilled craftsmen and lower-level management.[2][4] Middle-class persons commonly have a comfortable standard of living, significant economic security, considerable work autonomy and rely on their expertise to sustain themselves.[5]

Members of the middle class belong to diverse groups which overlap with each other. Overall, middle-class persons, especially upper-middle-class individuals, are characterized by conceptualizing, creating and consulting. Thus, college education is one of the main indicators of middle-class status. Largely attributed to the nature of middle-class occupations, middle class values tend to emphasize independence, adherence to intrinsic standards, valuing innovation and respecting non-conformity.[2][5] Politically more active than other demographics, college educated middle class professionals are split between the two major parties.[6]

Income varies considerably from near the national median to well in excess of $100,000.[2][4] Household income figures, however, do not always reflect class status and standard of living, as they are largely influenced by the number of income earners and fail to recognize household size. It is therefore possible for a large, dual-earner, lower middle class household to out-earn a small, one-earner, upper middle class household.[5] The middle classes are very influential, as they encompass the majority of voters, writers, teachers, journalists, and editors.[7] Most societal trends in the US originate within the middle classes.[8]

Scholars have a variety of technical measures of who is middle-class. By contrast public opinion has a variety of implicit measures. The definitions seem to stretch quite a great deal depending on the political cause that is being invoked or defended, as one commentator noted:

Well, it depends on whom you ask. Everyone wants to believe they are middle class. For people on the bottom and the top of the wage scale the phrase connotes a certain Regular Joe cachet. But this eagerness to be part of the group has led the definition to be stretched like a bungee cord - used to defend/attack/describe everything from the Earned Income Tax Credit to the estate (death) tax.[9]

Sub-divisions[edit]
The middle class by one definition consists of an upper middle class, made up of professionals distinguished by exceptionally high educational attainment as well as high economic security; and a lower middle class, consisting of semi-professionals. While the groups overlap, differences between those at the center of both groups are considerable.

The lower middle class has lower educational attainment, considerably less workplace autonomy, and lower incomes than the upper middle class. With the emergence of a two-tier labor market, the economic benefits and life chances of upper middle class professionals have grown considerably compared to those of the lower middle class.[2][5]

The lower middle class needs two income earners in order to sustain a comfortable standard of living, while many upper middle class households can maintain a similar standard of living with just one income earner.[10][11]





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/charges-stand-against-officers-in-freddie-gray-case/

6 officers to be tried separately in death of Freddie Gray
CBS/AP
September 2, 2015

72 Photos -- Photos released by the Baltimore Police Department show the six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. Top row (from left): Officer Garrett Miller, Lt. Brian Rice, Sgt. Alicia White; bottom row (from left): Officer Caesar Goodson, Officer William Porter, Officer Edward Nero BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT
Play VIDEO -- Baltimore on alert for hearing in Freddie Gray case
Play VIDEO -- Protesters make their voices heard at Freddie Gray hearing
Video – Freddie Gray Fallout In Baltimore


BALTIMORE - A Baltimore judge has refused to dismiss charges against six police officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died a week after suffering a critical spinal injury while in custody.

Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams also ruled Wednesday that the six officers were be tried separately.

Defense lawyers had argued for separate trials for each of the six because not all of the evidence applies to each defendant and they argued they do not want jurors prejudiced against their clients based on evidence that was brought into the trial against another defendant, CBS News Justice Reporter Paula Reid reports.

According to Reid, this means more money, more time, more jurors, and ultimately a lesser likelihood of conviction.

Also during the pretrial hearing Wednesday, Williams denied a motion by the defense to recuse State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby and her staff due to what defense attorneys characterized as conflicts of interest.

Defense attorneys had also sought to drop the charges against the officers, citing prosecutorial misconduct on the part Mosby.

Williams said that while he was "troubled" by some of the comments Mosby made during a May 1 news conference, they did not compromise the defendants' right to a fair trial. He said allegations of prosecutorial misconduct must be addressed by the Attorney Grievance Commission.

Williams called the assertion that Mosby's judgment was impacted by the fact that her husband Nick Mosby is a councilman in a district that experienced a disproportionate amount of violence "troubling and condescending."

"Being a councilman is not a reason for recusal," he said.

Andrew Graham, an attorney representing Office Caesar Goodson, unsuccessfully argued that Mosby's comments after filing the charges against the officers were "reckless and unprofessional," and violated the rules of conduct.

Graham likened Mosby's comments on the case to a "pep rally calling for payback."

Journalists and spectators filled most of the approximately 160 seats in the wood-paneled courtroom Wednesday.

Paula Reid reported from inside the courthouse that the defendants were not present, but Mosby was.

Arguments will be heard next week as to whether the officers' trials should be moved out of Baltimore.

The 25-year-old Gray died on April 12, a week after suffering a critical spinal injury in custody. Charged in connection with his death are Officers Edward Nero, Garrett Miller, William Porter and Caesar Goodson, as well as Lt. Brian Rice and Sgt. Alicia White.

Gray's death led to protests in Baltimore and a riot that prompted National Guard intervention and a city-wide curfew.

Prosecutors wanted to try defendants Nero, Goodson and White together and then do separate trials for Rice, Miller and Porter. The strategy being that the grouping could help the prosecution establish a sequence of events and help them increase odds of conviction, Paula Reid reports.

All of the officers face second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office charges. Rice, Porter and White also face manslaughter charges, and Goodson faces an additional charge of second-degree "depraved heart" murder.

Dozens of protesters rallied outside the Baltimore courthouse Wednesday to express their anger and indignation over Gray's death. Many of them then marched in the street to the city's Inner Harbor area, where they blocked a main road briefly. Police lined up behind them, and directed them out of the road.

Police spokesman T.J. Smith said Wednesday afternoon that charges were being filed against a person who was arrested for ignoring warnings to get back on the sidewalk.

The man arrested was identified by witnesses as Kwame Rose, a well-known local activist.

Rose said he was hit by a car and needed medical attention, though some witnesses said he was not struck. Police eventually took Rose away in an ambulance.

Separately, interim Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said a police officer was kicked in the face by a protester during an incident at Inner Harbor.




“Defense lawyers had argued for separate trials for each of the six because not all of the evidence applies to each defendant and they argued they do not want jurors prejudiced against their clients based on evidence that was brought into the trial against another defendant, CBS News Justice Reporter Paula Reid reports. According to Reid, this means more money, more time, more jurors, and ultimately a lesser likelihood of conviction. …. Also during the pretrial hearing Wednesday, Williams denied a motion by the defense to recuse State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby and her staff due to what defense attorneys characterized as conflicts of interest. Defense attorneys had also sought to drop the charges against the officers, citing prosecutorial misconduct on the part Mosby. Williams said that while he was "troubled" by some of the comments Mosby made during a May 1 news conference, they did not compromise the defendants' right to a fair trial. …. All of the officers face second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office charges. Rice, Porter and White also face manslaughter charges, and Goodson faces an additional charge of second-degree "depraved heart" murder.”

http://time.com/3843388/freddie-gray-depraved-heart-murder/, What Is ‘Depraved Heart Murder’?, Lily Rothman @lilyrothman May 1, 2015 -- “One of these variant forms of malice —the analogue of the hour —is that of “the depraved heart.” It is the form that establishes that the willful doing of a dangerous and reckless act with wanton indifference to the consequences and perils involved, is just as blameworthy, and just as worthy of punishment, when the harmful result ensues, as is the express intent to kill itself. This highly blameworthy state of mind is not one of mere negligence (even enough to serve as the predicate for civil tort liability). It is not merely one even of gross criminal negligence (even enough to serve as the predicate for guilt of manslaughter). It involves rather the deliberate perpetration of a knowingly dangerous act with reckless and wanton unconcern and indifference as to whether anyone is harmed or not. The common law treats such a state of mind as just as blameworthy, just as anti-social and, therefore, just as truly murderous as the specific intents to kill and to harm.”

What is “depraved” here is the total lack of human compassion involved. One article at the time this Freddie Gray event occurred stated that officers do this “rough ride” thing specifically to “punish” the suspect. It is intended to be cruel. Read the time.com article above, in which a case is mentioned of a man who was caught “urinating in public.” For that the Baltimore officers “punished” him with a very rough ride. This is a purposeful tactic and not simple carelessness. Police, after all, are not supposed to “punish” anyone, but merely arrest them, and with as little violence of any kind as possible. Punishment is for the court and “a jury of their peers.” Now that’s democracy!

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/05/us/rough-ride-lawsuits-freddie-gray/, is a good article on “rough rides” at the hands of the Baltimore police. Freddie Gray was not the first prisoner of theirs to be thrown around in the back of a police van on purpose. In one case it was because he urinated in public. The driver of the van in this case, Caesar Goodman, is the now officer charged with “depraved heart” murder, as well as with “manslaughter by vehicle.” .… “Charges against the other officers likely reflect their failures to intervene and decisions not to seek timely medical attention.” .… See also this article on the matter: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/charges-freddie-gray-case-rough-ride-expert-article-1.2207604, “Charges in Freddie Gray case look like 'rough ride': law expert”, BY DAVID GRAY SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Saturday, May 2, 2015. To read of other Baltimore PD examples of these “rough rides,” search the term “Baltimore rough rides” under Google. While they are not exactly commonplace, there are articles on Google about other cities as well.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-infiltrates-burning-man-festival-collects-intelligence-documents-show/

FBI infiltrates Burning Man festival, collects intelligence, documents show
By GRAHAM KATES CBS/AP
September 2, 2015

Video -- CBSN Interview
Photograph -- Participant Sandy Candy smiles before the Temple of Grace burns on the last day of the Burning Man 2014 "Caravansary" arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, August 31, 2014. REUTERS


WASHINGTON -- Thousands of revelers are converging this week in Nevada's Black Rock Desert for the Burning Man Festival, where they'll camp, create and observe art and music, and where, perhaps, they'll encounter an undercover FBI agent.

Documents obtained by the journalist Inkoo Kang, and posted to the website MuckRock, reveal that the event has been under FBI surveillance since at least 2010. That is when the agency concluded that Burning Man is "considered a cultural and artisan event, which promote (sic) free expression by the participants."

In one document from 2010 agents conclude that the "greatest known threat in this event is crowd control issues and use of illegal drugs," but in a heavily-redacted report produced less than a month later, the agency's Special Events Management unit seems to note that the event is used to practice intelligence collection and anti-terrorism security.

Rosanne Ziering (L) and Alison Cooper relax on the Playa during the Burning Man 2014 "Caravansary" arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, August 28, 2014. REUTERS

The arts festival, which was first held in San Francisco in 1986, begins each year on the last Monday of August and ends on the first Monday of September. Money is not used at the festival's temporary campsite; instead attendees barter goods.

The FBI declined to comment on the Burning Man files when contacted by 48 Hours Crimesider.

While intelligence gathering at a desert festival most known for its annual effigy of a large wooden man might seem beyond the FBI's purview, it's just the latest in the agency's decades-long pursuit of information about cultural events and celebrities.

In the early 1960s, the agency compiled documents on Marilyn Monroe, noting that she had acquaintances who were sympathetic to communism and that she herself supported the civil rights movement.

In 1964, the FBI investigated the song "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen.

"The popularity of the song and difficulty in discerning the lyrics led some people to suspect the song was obscene," the agency's website explains. The FBI ultimately concluded the song was not obscene.

And a 1969 letter written by the FBI's first director, J. Edgar Hoover, reveals that the after he listened to an album by The Doors, he concluded the music was "repulsive to right-thinking people." Ultimately, Hoover wrote, a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York declined to prosecute.

While the Kingsmen and the Doors were likely unaware of the FBI files, the agency made things particularly difficult for those who were acknowledged communists or Marxists.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the FBI routinely blocked visa applications for famed Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes. At one point the agency sparked an international uproar when the author of "The Death of Artemio Cruz" was detained in Puerto Rico during a transatlantic cruise from Spain to Mexico.

Later, the agency compiled files on musicians who spoke out against the Vietnam War, including the Monkees and John Lennon.

In the 1990s, the agency's attention turned toward rap.

Files on the rapper Russell Jones, who went by the name 'Ol Dirty Bastard and was a founding member of the Wu Tang Clan before he died in 2004, reveal that the FBI sought to build a case against "the WTC organization." The investigation into the rapper covered a series of unsubstantiated claims, including that the group was involved in money laundering and the sale of drugs and guns.

And more recently, in 2011, the FBI labeled fans of the rap group Insane Clown Posse a "loosely-organized hybrid gang." In 2004, the Insane Clown Posse lost a lawsuit against the FBI related to that designation.




“Thousands of revelers are converging this week in Nevada's Black Rock Desert for the Burning Man Festival, where they'll camp, create and observe art and music, and where, perhaps, they'll encounter an undercover FBI agent. Documents obtained by the journalist Inkoo Kang, and posted to the website MuckRock, reveal that the event has been under FBI surveillance since at least 2010. That is when the agency concluded that Burning Man is "considered a cultural and artisan event, which promote (sic) free expression by the participants." …. In one document from 2010 agents conclude that the "greatest known threat in this event is crowd control issues and use of illegal drugs," but in a heavily-redacted report produced less than a month later, the agency's Special Events Management unit seems to note that the event is used to practice intelligence collection and anti-terrorism security. …. The arts festival, which was first held in San Francisco in 1986, begins each year on the last Monday of August and ends on the first Monday of September. Money is not used at the festival's temporary campsite; instead attendees barter goods. …. While intelligence gathering at a desert festival most known for its annual effigy of a large wooden man might seem beyond the FBI's purview, it's just the latest in the agency's decades-long pursuit of information about cultural events and celebrities. In the early 1960s, the agency compiled documents on Marilyn Monroe, noting that she had acquaintances who were sympathetic to communism and that she herself supported the civil rights movement. In 1964, the FBI investigated the song "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen. "The popularity of the song and difficulty in discerning the lyrics led some people to suspect the song was obscene," the agency's website explains. The FBI ultimately concluded the song was not obscene. And a 1969 letter written by the FBI's first director, J. Edgar Hoover, reveals that the after he listened to an album by The Doors, he concluded the music was "repulsive to right-thinking people."

Clearly the “thought police” are involved here, but thank goodness the Supreme Court, and in this case the FBI themselves are pulling back from arresting, torturing or otherwise dealing unfairly and harshly with those who are doing something that is merely annoying or disgusting to the more conservative element in our society. It reminds me of the teenaged boys who love to wear their pants down to their thighs, thus exposing their very brightly colored boxer shorts. They clearly spend a lot of money on those shorts. Likewise there are teenaged girls who purposely wear clothing that shows their bra straps or even the cup of the bra. It looks grotesque, as though they are trying to look ugly. To them it’s just rebellion, but to me it’s obscene. You can tell that I grew up in the South in the 1950s, of course.

Personally, I think a basic decency law should be in place that goes beyond merely precluding full nudity, so that women’s dresses wouldn’t be down to the very limit in front and young boys would not be allowed in school or in a grocery store or anywhere else in public with their arse showing. The fact that I recognize it as a popular racial form of self-expression – they are showing how hostile they feel – doesn’t make it okay to me. They should be fined $200.00 every time they are caught out like that. Their parents would soon get tired of paying out that much money over the matter, and would exercise their parental responsibility toward the upbringing of their kids. Young people might still be poor, but they would be respectable, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! I suspect they would also make better grades in school, learn enough information to make a college-level pass on the College Board test, and present themselves in a neat business suit after or during college with the purpose of getting a job. To me, that isn’t “acting white” or being an “Uncle Tom.”

The activities of the “hippies” and the “Beats” of past days are another example, of course. I remember my brother-in-law, who acknowledged seeing a cross burning when driving down a country road and stopping to watch, said of “hippies” that they were “outlaws.” Now that is a harsh judgment on a small matter. Clearly the KKK who beat people up and kill them aren’t outlaws, right?

The truth is that the people who go to such crowd scenes as the Burning Man Festival are almost always young, immature and high-spirited. Yes, they are “trying to find themselves,” and are pretty rebellious in general. In the old fashioned terminology, they are “sowing wild oats.” Those things are not crimes, but are common to teens and young adults in general. “Outlaws” commit crimes. Not being “right thinking,” as J Edgar Hoover called it, is not in itself immoral, evil or even unethical. It’s a stage of development. Now putting prisoners with handcuffs on their wrists and bouncing them around extensively enough to break their back in a police van is immoral, unethical and even evil, thus the term “depraved heart murder.”





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-union-calls-for-arbys-boycott-after-officer-snubbed-florida/

Police Union calls for Arby's boycott after officer snubbed
CBS NEWS
September 2, 2015

Photograph -- screen-shot-2015-09-02-at-7-36-57-pm.png
Police Officer Jennifer Martin. CBS MIAMI

PEMBROKE PINES -- A South Florida police union is calling for a national boycott of Arby's after police say Police Officer Jennifer Martin was denied service by an employee at the fast-food chain, reports CBS Miami.

According to a police report on the incident, the police officer was told by a manager at the restaurant that an employee did not want to serve her. The manager allegedly said, "He doesn't want to serve you because you are a police officer."

After the uncomfortable encounter, the officer said she was uncertain she wanted to eat at the restaurant. The manager tried to assure her everything was fine, and handed over her food. According to the report, the manager allegedly laughed and said the clerk was allowed to refuse service to the officer.

The officer decided not to eat at Arby's and went inside to ask for a refund.

"I am offended and appalled that an individual within our community would treat a police officer in such a manner. It is unacceptable," said Pembroke Pines Police Department Chief Dan Giustino.

Arby's issued an apology in regards to the incident.

"We take this isolated matter very seriously as we respect and support police officers in our local communities. As soon as the issue was brought to our attention, our CEO spoke with the Police Chief who expressed his gratitude for our quick action and indicated the case is closed. We will be following up with our team members to be sure that our policy of inclusion is understood and adhered to. Further, we will be following through with disciplinary action up to and including termination of the employees involved, as appropriate."

In reaction to the incident, the Dade County Police Benevolent Association is calling for the employees involved to be fired.

"It is beyond comprehension and deeply troubling that a business would deny service to a law enforcement officer just for being a law enforcement officer," said Florida and Dade County PBA president John Rivera in part. "In this case, after the clerk refused to serve the officer, the manager came up to the window laughing and said that the clerk had the right to refuse service to the officer. This is yet another example of the hostile treatment of our brave men and women simply because they wear a badge."

CBS Miami reports that the incident is considered to be isolated.

"We are very proud of the partnerships we have built within our city, and for an incident like this to have happened is very disappointing for everyone," said Chief Giustino.

It was Chief Giustino who contacted the corporation after the incident.

CBS Miami reports that according to police, the Arby's Chief Executive Officer Paul Brown and Senior Vice President of Operations Scott Boatwright apologized on behalf of the organization. Both men assured the chief, "The employee's behavior was unacceptable and not representative of the company's values."




“A South Florida police union is calling for a national boycott of Arby's after police say Police Officer Jennifer Martin was denied service by an employee at the fast-food chain, reports CBS Miami. According to a police report on the incident, the police officer was told by a manager at the restaurant that an employee did not want to serve her. The manager allegedly said, "He doesn't want to serve you because you are a police officer." After the uncomfortable encounter, the officer said she was uncertain she wanted to eat at the restaurant. The manager tried to assure her everything was fine, and handed over her food. According to the report, the manager allegedly laughed and said the clerk was allowed to refuse service to the officer. …. "We take this isolated matter very seriously as we respect and support police officers in our local communities. As soon as the issue was brought to our attention, our CEO spoke with the Police Chief who expressed his gratitude for our quick action and indicated the case is closed. We will be following up with our team members to be sure that our policy of inclusion is understood and adhered to. …. Further, we will be following through with disciplinary action up to and including termination of the employees involved, as appropriate." …. CBS Miami reports that the incident is considered to be isolated. "We are very proud of the partnerships we have built within our city, and for an incident like this to have happened is very disappointing for everyone," said Chief Giustino.”

I must say, this kind of thing is never helpful nor excusable. It is even more shocking that the manager actually backed up the worker in his unethical action, saying that he “had a right to refuse service.” He’s clearly not qualified to be manager. Why do I think it is unethical? He has been hired to sell sandwiches and that’s what he should do, and without cheating people or abusing anyone. Just because blacks themselves have been treated in that same bad way in many white restaurants under Jim Crow, vengeance as a way of life is not intelligent, ethical or productive. Besides, not all police officers are bad, and those who wear the badge should be approached respectfully and with the assumption of a positive encounter and good will, as they in turn should deal with the communities they serve with equal care. If everybody weren’t walking around “with a chip on their shoulders” we would have a lot more peace – less need for police, and more importantly, no excuse for the bad behavior of some cops! I live in a primarily black building and I have had only two or three unpleasant incidents with anyone. That is partly because I smile and speak to everybody.




GAY MARRIAGE LICENCES – TWO ARTICLES


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/kentucky-clerks-to-license-marriages-as-their-boss-is-jailed/ar-AAdUq1U

Kentucky clerks to license marriages as their boss is jailed
ADAM BEAM, Associated Press
September 3, 2015

Photograph -- AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley Edgar Orea, left, and Dwayne D. Beebe-Franqui argue on the steps of the Carl D. Perkins Federal Building in Ashland, Ky., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015.
AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley A protester waives a rainbow flag outside the Carl D. Perkins Federal Building in Ashland, Ky., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015.


ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) — A defiant county clerk went to jail Thursday for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, but five of her deputies agreed to issue the licenses themselves, potentially ending the church-state standoff in Rowan County, Kentucky.

U.S. District Judge David Bunning said he had no choice but to jail Kim Davis for contempt after she insisted that her "conscience will not allow" her to follow federal court rulings on gay marriage.

"God's moral law conflicts with my job duties," Davis told the judge before she was taken away by a U.S. marshal. "You can't be separated from something that's in your heart and in your soul."

Bunning offered to release Davis if she would promise not to interfere with her employees issuing marriage licenses on Friday morning. But Davis, through her attorneys, rejected that offer and chose to stay in jail.

This Thursday, Aug. 3, 2015 photo made available by the Carter County Detention Center shows Kim Davis. The Rowan County, Ky. clerk went to jail Thursday for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, but five of her deputies agreed to comply with the law, ending a two-month standoff.

Gay and lesbian couples vowed to appear at the Rowan County clerk's office for the fifth time on Friday to see if the deputy clerks would keep their promises.

"We're going to the courthouse tomorrow to get our marriage license and we're very excited about that," said April Miller, who has been engaged to Karen Roberts for 11 years.

As word of Davis' jailing spread outside the federal courthouse, hundreds of people chanted and screamed, "Love wins! Love wins!" while Davis' supporters booed.

Davis' lawyer, Roger Gannam, said it was the first time in history an American citizen has been jailed for believing that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. He compared her willingness to accept imprisonment to what Martin Luther King Jr. did to advance civil rights.

"Kim Davis represents the best of us and everyone should lament and mourn the fact that her freedom has been taken away for what she believes," Gannam said.

Laura Landenwich, an attorney for the plaintiffs, rejected the comparison.

"Ms. Davis is in an unfortunate situation of her own creation. She is not a martyr. No one created a martyr today," Landenwich said, adding "she holds the keys to her jail cell."

Speaking earlier from the bench, Bunning said it would set up a "slippery slope" to allow an individual's ideas to supersede the courts' authority.

"Her good faith belief is simply not a viable defense," Bunning said. "I myself have genuinely held religious beliefs ... but I took an oath."

"Mrs. Davis took an oath," he added. "Oaths mean things."

Davis is represented by the Liberty Counsel, which advocates in court for religious freedom. Before she was led away, Davis said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide conflicts with the vows she made when she became a born-again Christian.

"I promised to love Him with all my heart, mind and soul because I wanted to make heaven my home," Davis said.

Miller and Roberts were denied a marriage license four times by Davis or her deputies since the June ruling. Miller testified that one of the deputy clerks told her to apply in another county. "That's kind of like saying we don't want gays or lesbians here. We don't think you are valuable," she said.

Rather than be fined, jailed or lose their jobs, five of the clerks told the judge they would issue the licenses. Her son, Nathan Davis, refused, but the judge said that wouldn't matter and he wouldn't be punished, as long as the others complied.

"I don't really want to, but I will comply with the law," said one, Melissa Thompson. "I'm a preacher's daughter and this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life," she added. "I don't hate anybody ... None of us do."

Davis, an Apostolic Christian whose critics mock her for being on her fourth marriage, stopped serving all couples after the Supreme Court ruling in June. Many supporters and even some Republican presidential candidates have rallied behind her.

"People are calling the office all the time asking to send money," she testified. "I myself have not solicited any money."

Davis said she hopes the Legislature will change Kentucky laws to find some way for her to keep her job while following her conscience. But unless the governor convenes a costly special session, they won't meet until January. "Hopefully our legislature will get something taken care of," she told the judge.

Until then, the judge said, he has no alternative but to keep her behind bars. Davis stood and thanked Bunning, pausing briefly to search the crowded courtroom for familiar faces before she was led away.

Later photos showed Davis being escorted from the courthouse in what appeared to be handcuffs with a towel draped over her hands. She was taken to the Carter County Detention Center in a white, windowless van.

It's unclear exactly how long she'll remain in jail. Davis' attorneys said the judge's order would keep her in jail indefinitely. But Bunning indicated he would revisit his decision in a week, giving the deputy clerks time to comply with his order.

"The legislative and executive branches do have the ability to make changes," Bunning said earlier in the hearing. "It's not this court's job to make changes. I don't write law."

Davis served as her mother's deputy in the clerk's office for 27 years before she was elected as a Democrat to succeed her mother in November. As an elected official, she can be removed only if the Legislature impeaches her, which is unlikely in a deeply conservative state.

Former Republican President George W. Bush nominated David Bunning for a lifetime position as a federal judge in 2001 when he was just 35 years old, halfway through his father's first term in the Senate. But Bunning has been anything but a sure thing for conservative causes, ruling against a partial-birth abortion ban and in favor of a Gay-Straight high school club.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kentucky-same-sex-marriage-cheers-and-insults-as-gay-couples-get-first-marriage-licenses/

Cheers and insults as Ky. same-sex couples get marriage licenses
CBS/AP
September 4, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Judge orders defiant Kentucky clerk to jail
The lone holdout from the office was Davis' son, Nathan Davis. Her office was dark Friday morning as the license was issued to Yates and Smith, with a sheriff's deputy standing guard in front of it.
Photograph -- kimberlydavismug.jpg
Rowan County, Ky. Clerk Kimberly Davis was jailed by a federal judge Thursday for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. CARTER COUNTY DETENTION CENTER



MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Gay couples emerged from a Kentucky county clerk's office with marriage licenses in hand Friday morning, with one pair embracing and crying as the defiant clerk who runs the office remained jailed for her refusal to issue the licenses because she opposed same-sex marriage.

William Smith Jr. and James Yates, a couple for nearly a decade, were the first to receive a marriage license Friday morning in Rowan County. Deputy clerk Brian Mason issued the license, congratulating the couple and shaking their hands as he smiled. After they paid the license fee of $35.50, James Yates rushed across the steps of the courthouse to hug his mom as both cried.

"This means at least for this area that civil rights are civil rights and they are not subject to belief," said Yates, who had been denied a license five times previously. He said he and Smith were optimistic they would get a license when they arrived, in part because the deputy clerk, Mason, had always been respectful when they came previously.

Dozen of protesters gathered outside the Kentucky clerk's office. In a heated exchange, supporters of Kim Davis yelled "I'm telling you the truth because I love you" while opponents yelled back that "Jesus loves everyone."

A crowd of supporters cheered outside as the couple left, while a street preacher rained down words of condemnation. Yates and Smith said they are trying to choose between two wedding dates and plan a small ceremony at the home of Yates' parents.

A second couple, Timothy and Michael Long, also were issued a license about an hour after Yates and Smith. When the couple got inside the office Friday, a man harassed them and said, "More sodomites getting married?" The Longs did not respond, and a worker told the man to leave.

Several couples are expected to show up at the Rowan County office after five out of six deputy clerks told the judge they will distribute the certificates, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.

"I just want the licenses given out. I don't want her in jail. No one wanted her in jail," Yates said.

One couple, April Miller and Karen Roberts, told Reynolds that they plan to apply for a marriage license in Rowan County for a fourth time.

"As a couple, it will be a very important day in our lives," April said.

During a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Bunning had offered to release Davis if she promised not to interfere with her employees issuing licenses, but she refused, citing her Christian beliefs.

Speaking to reporters Friday morning, Davis' husband, Joe Davis, held a sign saying "Welcome to Sodom and Gomorrah" and said his wife was in good spirits after her first night in jail.

When asked if she would resign, he said, "Oh, God no. She's not going to resign at all. It's a matter of telling Bunning he ain't the boss."

Kim Davis and Joe Davis still support her employees, who he called "good people" and "good workers." He said he ate with the other deputy clerks on Thursday at an Applebee's restaurant and told them "I loved them and I was proud of them."

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Friday that he plans to meet with Davis next week and hold a rally in support of her.

Davis' son supported his mother and was warned by the judge Thursday not to interfere with his fellow employees. The judge said he did not want "any shenanigans," like the staff closing the office for computer upgrades as they did briefly last week.

"That would show a level of disrespect for the court's order," Bunning said. He added: "I'm hoping that cooler heads will prevail."

Davis' son sat stoically as the judge questioned the clerks Thursday, some of whom were reluctant.

"I don't really want to, but I will comply with the law," deputy clerk Melissa Thompson said, weeping while she stood before the packed courtroom. "I'm a preacher's daughter and this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life."

"I don't hate anybody," she added. "None of us do."

Bunning indicated Kim Davis would remain in jail at least a week, saying he would revisit his decision after the deputy clerks have had time to comply with his order.

Davis said she hopes the Legislature will change Kentucky laws to find some way for her to keep her job while following her conscience. But Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear again refused to call a special session of the legislature on Thursday. State lawmakers will not meet until January.

Davis, an Apostolic Christian, wept during her testimony in federal court Thursday, telling the judge she was "always a good person" but that she gave her heart to the Lord in 2011 and "promised to love Him with all my heart, mind and soul because I wanted to make heaven my home."

"God's moral law conflicts with my job duties," Davis told the judge before she was taken away by a U.S. marshal. "You can't be separated from something that's in your heart and in your soul."




“A defiant county clerk went to jail Thursday for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, but five of her deputies agreed to issue the licenses themselves, potentially ending the church-state standoff in Rowan County, Kentucky. …. Bunning offered to release Davis if she would promise not to interfere with her employees issuing marriage licenses on Friday morning. But Davis, through her attorneys, rejected that offer and chose to stay in jail. …. Speaking earlier from the bench, Bunning said it would set up a "slippery slope" to allow an individual's ideas to supersede the courts' authority. "Her good faith belief is simply not a viable defense," Bunning said. "I myself have genuinely held religious beliefs ... but I took an oath." "Mrs. Davis took an oath," he added. "Oaths mean things." …. “Gay and lesbian couples vowed to appear at the Rowan County clerk's office for the fifth time on Friday to see if the deputy clerks would keep their promises. "We're going to the courthouse tomorrow to get our marriage license and we're very excited about that," said April Miller, who has been engaged to Karen Roberts for 11 years. As word of Davis' jailing spread outside the federal courthouse, hundreds of people chanted and screamed, "Love wins! Love wins!" while Davis' supporters booed.”

This is the type of scene that occurs frequently in the US, because in addition to Davis herself having the right to sit in jail if she wants to, and gays and lesbians have the right to formalize their love bonds together, the populace in general has the right to protest in a reasonably unruly manner. Democracy, which to me is always a work in progress rather than a rigid and static set of rules, is at work in Kentucky. I am pleased to see that the courthouse workers in general are obeying the law.





http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israel-recovers-ancient-sarcophagus-hidden-by-contractors/ar-AAdV7Y3

Israel recovers ancient sarcophagus hidden by contractors
AFP Menahem Kahana
September 3, 2015

Photograph -- Baz Ratner/Reuters A recently recovered sarcophagus near Beit Shemesh, Israel, September 3, 2015.


Israeli authorities have recovered a Roman-era sarcophagus that construction workers sought to hide after digging it up at a building site, officials said Thursday.

The limestone coffin, estimated at 1,800 years old and discovered last week during work on a new neighbourhood in coastal city Ashkelon, was described as "unique" by Gabi Mazor, a retired Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist and expert on the era.

The contractors who encountered the find opted to extract it themselves with a tractor, damaging it before hiding it beneath a stack of metal sheets and boards, according to the authority.

Police have questioned the contractors on suspicion of not reporting their find and of damaging it, and the authority pledged that legal proceedings would be pursued against those involved.

An authority spokeswoman said they did not know why the contractors had attempted to conceal the find.

Mazor said the decorations on the sarcophagus were particularly noteworthy.

"All its sides are decorated, with very impressive and beautiful decorations. Quite a few sarcophagi are found in Israel, but nearly none of them are decorated, and those that are usually have wreaths and other floral themes" and not much more, he said.

The lid of the sarcophagus has an image of a man -- apparently representing the deceased -- leaning on his left arm, wearing a short embroidered shirt, with Roman-style curls and no beard, implying he was young.

Around the coffin are engraved images of "bulls' heads, naked Cupids, and the head of the monstrous female figure Medusa which includes remains of hair together with snakes, part of a commonly held belief in the Roman period that she protects the deceased," Mazor said.

Ashkelon was at the time a mixed city, comprised of pagan Romans and Jews, as well as Samaritans, but Mazor said the decorations leave little doubt the sarcophagus belonged to a Roman.

The presence of the two-tonne, 2.5-metre (eight-foot) long sarcophagus at the construction site suggested there may be a mausoleum and other coffins at the site.




“Israeli authorities have recovered a Roman-era sarcophagus that construction workers sought to hide after digging it up at a building site, officials said Thursday. The limestone coffin, estimated at 1,800 years old and discovered last week during work on a new neighbourhood in coastal city Ashkelon, was described as "unique" by Gabi Mazor, a retired Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist and expert on the era. The contractors who encountered the find opted to extract it themselves with a tractor, damaging it before hiding it beneath a stack of metal sheets and boards, according to the authority. Police have questioned the contractors on suspicion of not reporting their find and of damaging it, and the authority pledged that legal proceedings would be pursued against those involved. …. "All its sides are decorated, with very impressive and beautiful decorations. Quite a few sarcophagi are found in Israel, but nearly none of them are decorated, and those that are usually have wreaths and other floral themes" and not much more, he said. The lid of the sarcophagus has an image of a man -- apparently representing the deceased -- leaning on his left arm, wearing a short embroidered shirt, with Roman-style curls and no beard, implying he was young. Around the coffin are engraved images of "bulls' heads, naked Cupids, and the head of the monstrous female figure Medusa which includes remains of hair together with snakes, part of a commonly held belief in the Roman period that she protects the deceased," Mazor said.”

This article truly is intriguing. I would love to know exactly why the sarcophagus was hidden from authorities and not reported. I know in the US if a find of that sort emerges all construction on the site must stop until a crew of archaeologists are allowed to come in and study the site. Workers may have feared losing the wages for their work, or probably more likely, they may have wanted to find a black market buyer and make some extra money by selling it. At least they didn’t destroy it like the ISIS groups in Iraq and Syria have done a number of times now for the sole purpose of making war on the earlier religions in the area. Unfortunately many ancient works of monumental art have been defaced purposely in this way. The Egyptian Pharoah Akhenaten (see Wikipedia) was hated apparently for abandoning the polytheistic worship form in favor of monotheism. Almost all of his statues were defaced or broken up altogether when a rival religion went back to the multiple gods.

This is from the Wikipedia article: He "was a pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is especially noted for abandoning traditional Egyptian polytheism and introducing worship centered on the Aten, which is sometimes described as monotheistic or henotheistic. An early inscription likens the Aten to the sun as compared to stars, and later official language avoids calling the Aten a god, giving the solar deity a status above mere gods." Henotheism is a worship of only one god, while the "existence" of others in the surrounding area is acknowledged. Good old Google. I can look almost anything up and find it there! Judaism is, I believe, the only other early example of monotheism, or the only one I've ever encountered in lots of years of reading about exciting subjects like that. Assuming that the stories placing the Jews as slaves in Egypt are at least partially accurate, this could perhaps have been a precursor for their faith in just one god. Interesting, no?? In my Literature of the Bible course in college, the professor stated that in their early days there were references in the literature implying the "worship of idols," in other words, the Canaanite gods other than Yahweh.

There was little if any religious tolerance in early society. People in those days took their religion very seriously, and sometimes hated all emblems from a rival faith. They also tended to be highly superstitious, regarding a sun disk (the Aten) as holding real and dangerous magical power. "Sun disks" are objects found by archaeologists in Celtic remains from a later era in Europe as well, apparently, in Egypt. They may therefore have been widespread in world religions. Both the Greeks and Romans worshiped a sun god or "sky god" as well as an earth goddess. The religious rituals were fertility oriented, with the belief that the union of the deities would cause their crops to grow better. I wish I could say that we have departed from that antagonism between religions in our cultural stance in the last century, but clearly we haven't. If it was gone for a very few decades during the 1900s it is back again, with anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic and anti-Islamic hatred again on the rise and causing societal strains of a type that I fear and hate. It has repeatedly gotten out of hand across Europe, the US and the rest of the world, and threatens to endanger our civil government again right now in the form of Dominionism.

Religion is fascinating in many ways, and leads -- at its best -- to enlightened thought, but it so often is espoused in a highly emotional and irrational way, causing great strife. I do hope we are not going back to that kind of thing here in the US. I have loved living here during our "golden age" of the 1950s to the 1980s, but I don't like some of the things I keep seeing in the news this last year or two. NeoNazism emerges every now and then in the news. Why can't people just turn firmly away from things which to me are clearly evil? What is its' appeal?







TRUMP TODAY – THREE ARTICLES


http://www.nytimes.com/?partner=msft_msn

Donald Trump Stumbles and Bristles During Foreign Policy Interview
The New York Times
By MICHAEL BARBARO
September 4, 2015

Photograph -- Michael Appleton for The New York Times Donald J. Trump held a news conference in New York on Thursday.


Donald J. Trump revealed gaps in his mastery of international affairs during a radio interview on Thursday, appearing to mistake the Quds Force, an Iranian military group, for the Kurds, a Middle Eastern people, and growing testy over questions about foreign leaders.

“You’re asking me names that — I think it’s somewhat ridiculous,” Mr. Trump told Hugh Hewitt, a popular conservative radio show host. “As far as the individual players, of course I don’t know them. I’ve never met them. I haven’t been, you know, in a position to meet them.”

At one point, Mr. Hewitt asked Mr. Trump if he was familiar with Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the shadowy commander of Iran’s paramilitary Quds Force.

“Yes, but go ahead, give me a little, go ahead, tell me,” Mr. Trump replied.

“He runs the Quds Forces,” Mr. Hewitt said.

“Yes, O.K., right,” Mr. Trump said.

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But Mr. Trump seemed to think Mr. Hewitt was referring to the Kurds, a group with its own language and culture.

Mr. Trump asserted that “the Kurds, by the way, have been horribly mistreated.”

Mr. Hewitt interrupted. “No, not the Kurds, the Quds Forces, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Forces.”

Mr. Trump tried to recover from the live, on-air tutorial. “Yes, yes,” he said.

He added, “Oh, I thought you said Kurds, Kurds.”

Mr. Trump, a real estate developer and brand manager who has never worked in government, has relatively little experience dealing with foreign governments. But he has boasted of his global reach and international experience as a businessman.

Mr. Hewitt said he was not interested in “gotcha” questions but wanted to be sure Mr. Trump had a baseline of knowledge about foreign leaders.

“On the front of Islamist terrorism, I’m looking for the next commander in chief to know who Hassan Nasrallah is, and Zawahiri, and al-Julani, and al-Baghdadi. Do you know the players without a scorecard, yet, Donald Trump?” Mr. Hewitt asked.

Mr. Trump’s answer was strikingly dismissive. “No, you know, I’ll tell you honestly, I think by the time we get to office, they’ll all be changed. They’ll be all gone.”

Making matters worse, Mr. Hewitt asked similar questions on Thursday to Carly Fiorina, a fellow Republican presidential candidate who, like Mr. Trump, has never served in elected office.

But Mrs. Fiorina sounded confident, patient and informed as she discussed the Quds Force, among other subjects.

Asked if she knew the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah, she explained that “Hamas is focused in Palestinian territories. Hezbollah focuses in Beirut and other places, but the truth is, both of them are proxies of Iran. Both of them threaten Israel.”

Mr. Hewitt signaled his approval. “That’s exactly right,” he said.

On the topic of international leaders, Mr. Trump concluded his interview with a touch of his trademark bravado, promising to become an authority on their names as president.

“If they’re still there, which is unlikely in many cases, but if they’re still there, I will know them better than I know you.”

He added, “I will be so good at the military, your head will spin.”



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/election-2016-donald-trump-carly-fiorina-on-foreign-policy-hugh-hewitt/

A tale of two interviews: Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina on foreign policy
By JAKE MILLER CBS NEWS
September 4, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Carly Fiorina: Women "horrified" by Trump's Megyn Kelly comments
Play VIDEO -- Trump unhappy with "gotcha questions" on Middle East


After Donald Trump struggled through a foreign policy interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, the 2016 Republican frontrunner accused Hewitt of asking "gotcha" questions and later criticized the host as a "third-rate radio announcer."

But one of Trump's competitors for the 2016 nomination, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, faced a similar set of questions from Hewitt later on Thursday - and though she conceded she has some studying up to do, she didn't lash out at Hewitt about it.

The host began by asking each candidate about General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iran Revolutionary Guard's Quds forces, and how the Iranian nuclear deal would affect Iran's militant proxies.

Trump began his answer by discussing the Kurds, an ethnic group in the region. When Hewitt clarified that he said "Quds," Trump replied, "Oh, I thought you said Kurds."

On General Soleimani, Trump asked Hewitt, "Is he the gentleman that was going back and forth with Russia and meeting with Putin? I read something....Not good for us. And what it shows is a total lack of respect, I mean, that the other countries would even be entertaining him, and they're entertaining him big league."

Fiorina, by contrast, launched into a lucid argument that the nuclear deal would empower Iran's armed proxies in the region. "We know that the general of the Quds force has been a powerful tool of the Iranian regime to sow conflict," she explained. "The Iranian deal - which sadly, has just been approved by Congress - starts a massive flow of money, and that money is going to be used not only to build up an Iranian nuclear weapon - which they have been hell-bent on getting for thirty years - that money is also going to go to the Quds forces, going to go Hezbollah. It's going to go to all of Iran's proxies, which is why I've said to you on other occasions, Hugh, that we have to stop the money flow."

Hewitt then asked each candidate whether they're familiar with the main players among the network of terrorist syndicates in the Middle East.

"No, you know, I'll tell you honestly, I think by the time we get to office, they'll all be changed. They'll be all gone," Trump replied. "Those are like history questions. Do you know this one, do you know that one...as far as the individual players, of course I don't know them. I've never met them. I haven't been, you know, in a position to meet them."

When Hewitt insisted he wasn't trying to play "gotcha" with Trump, the candidate didn't buy it.

"Well, that is a gotcha question, though," he said. "I will be so good at the military, your head will spin. But obviously, I'm not meeting these people. I'm not seeing these people... it sounded like gotcha. You're asking me names that, I think it's somewhat ridiculous, but that's okay."

Fiorina, facing a similar line of questioning, acknowledged she could bone up a bit on the issue. "I have to be very honest with you and say that sometimes I can get confused a bit between the name and group because they sound a bit alike sometimes, so I have to pause and think sometimes," she admitted. "But, I certainly know all those names both of the individual leaders and of the terrorist groups. I certainly understand where these terrorists are in play. I certainly understand that one of the most dangerous things that is going on right now is competition among these leaders and among their terrorist groups."

Fiorina closed the interview with Hewitt by defending the host from Trump's criticism. "I don't think they're 'gotcha questions' at all," she said. "The questions you're asking are at the heart of the threat that we face, that our ally, Israel, faces, that the world faces. It is critically important that America lead again in the world. It is critically important that we have a leader in the White House who understands the world and who's in it and how it works."

During a Friday appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Trump, as he often does when he faces tough questions from the media, lashed out again at Hewitt.

"You do have it right, and when you say Quds vs. Kurds, I thought he said Kurds," Trump said. "This is like a third rate radio announcer, that I did his show, it was gotcha gotcha, do I know this one and that one, he worked hard on that, I thought he said Kurds."




“You’re asking me names that — I think it’s somewhat ridiculous,” Mr. Trump told Hugh Hewitt, a popular conservative radio show host. “As far as the individual players, of course I don’t know them. I’ve never met them. I haven’t been, you know, in a position to meet them.” …. But Mr. Trump seemed to think Mr. Hewitt was referring to the Kurds, a group with its own language and culture. Mr. Trump asserted that “the Kurds, by the way, have been horribly mistreated.” Mr. Hewitt interrupted. “No, not the Kurds, the Quds Forces, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Forces.” Mr. Trump tried to recover from the live, on-air tutorial. “Yes, yes,” he said. He added, “Oh, I thought you said Kurds, Kurds.” …. But he has boasted of his global reach and international experience as a businessman. Mr. Hewitt said he was not interested in “gotcha” questions but wanted to be sure Mr. Trump had a baseline of knowledge about foreign leaders. “On the front of Islamist terrorism, I’m looking for the next commander in chief to know who Hassan Nasrallah is, and Zawahiri, and al-Julani, and al-Baghdadi. Do you know the players without a scorecard, yet, Donald Trump?” Mr. Hewitt asked. Mr. Trump’s answer was strikingly dismissive. “No, you know, I’ll tell you honestly, I think by the time we get to office, they’ll all be changed. They’ll be all gone.”

“If they’re still there, which is unlikely in many cases, but if they’re still there, I will know them better than I know you.” He added, “I will be so good at the military, your head will spin.” It is a fact that all presidents depend on their cabinet members and advisors on a daily basis to alert them of changes, but I think a candidate who is not already well versed in the world political situation will be constantly “playing catch up.” He thinks he’s such a clever and strong manager in his business dealings that he will be an ace in governing the US affairs of any and all types. It is interesting that the female contestant Fiorina did considerably better at answering the same questions. “Mr. Hewitt asked similar questions on Thursday to Carly Fiorina, a fellow Republican presidential candidate who, like Mr. Trump, has never served in elected office. But Mrs. Fiorina sounded confident, patient and informed as she discussed the Quds Force, among other subjects. Asked if she knew the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah, she explained that “Hamas is focused in Palestinian territories. Hezbollah focuses in Beirut and other places, but the truth is, both of them are proxies of Iran. Both of them threaten Israel.” Mr. Hewitt signaled his approval. “That’s exactly right,” he said.” As for his comment that by the time he gets to office in 20 16 and has to learn all about the international leaders, “They’ll be all gone.” That is the kind of Ugly American arrogance that has turned many foreigners against us.

See Wikipedia on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ugly_American.

“The Ugly American is a 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer. The book depicts the failures of the U.S. diplomatic corps, whose insensitivity to local language and customs was in marked contrast to the polished abilities of East bloc (primarily Soviet) diplomacy and led to Communist diplomatic success overseas.[1] The book caused a sensation in diplomatic circles. John F. Kennedy was so impressed with the book that he sent a copy to each of his colleagues in the United States Senate. The book was one of the biggest bestsellers in the country, has been in print continuously since it appeared and is one of the most politically influential novels in all of American literature.

The book is a quasi-roman à clef which presents the experience of American diplomats and others in the fictional nation of Sarkkan as a stand-in for Southeast Asia and allegedly portrays several real people using pseudonyms.” While it is fiction, it was very good reading, and enough like real diplomatic interactions to be both believable and frightening.





http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-is-breaking-one-of-politics%e2%80%99-unspoken-rules%e2%80%94and-it%e2%80%99s-working/ar-AAdVrDM?ocid=iehp

Trump is breaking one of politics’ unspoken rules—and it’s working
The Washington Post
Lillian Cunningham
September 4, 2015

Photograph -- Trump speaking, Provided by Washington Post


If you’re a presidential candidate who attended an Ivy League university, here’s the advice you tend to get from campaign strategists: Play down that highfalutin education. Sure, be smart and accomplished. But also seem modest, salt of the earth.

Whatever you do, just don’t be labelled “elitist.”

Trump, who on the campaign trail has paraded the fact that he graduated from Wharton—the University of Pennsylvania’s business program—has tacked the opposite way.

“If you look at all the different alumni, there probably has been nobody over the years who’s boasted about their affiliation with Wharton as much as he does,” said Sherman Ragland, former president of the business school’s alumni club in Washington. And that has left both administrators at Wharton and political campaign strategists in unknown territory this election cycle.

Trump’s frequent references to his alma mater tend to sound like this one, from a speech he gave in Phoenix earlier this summer: “I went to the Wharton School of Business. I’m, like, a really smart person.”

And they have become part of the larger question Trump’s ascendency in the presidential race has raised: Can elitism be a path to likability after all?

The idea that modesty is a virtue took root in the Victorian era and has mostly stayed around ever since, says Gautam Mukunda, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School who studies presidential leadership. “The accepted approach for political candidates is to say, ‘We’re just folks.’ People from very elite backgrounds downplay it.”

Yet to the surprise of scholars like Mukunda, Trump’s academic namedropping appears to be working just fine as a campaign tactic. The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Trump currently leading the Republican field. “For a long time, we had this idea that presidents shouldn’t talk like that,” Mukunda said. “We didn’t know you could get away with this until somebody did.”

[The most Trump thing Trump has ever said about leadership]

Normally, schools go into quiet mode during an election year, when reporters try to dig up transcripts and political opponents attempt to smear candidates for their wealth and connections. What these institutions are not as used to is a candidate who appears intent on being seen as elite, and who brandishes the school’s name all on his own.

This has left Wharton in a particularly strong communications lockdown. This summer, the school sent a message to its staff and faculty that they not talk to the press about Trump, and even its communications department has declined multiple news outlets’ requests for official comment. While it is typical for academic institutions to keep mum about the personal details of former students, the level of orchestrated silence seems abnormal for a school that otherwise encourages its professors to be expert resources.

“Not all publicity is good publicity,” said Kristen Rozansky, a former director of donor relations at Wharton. “They’re probably in the listening and monitoring stage.”

After two years at New York’s Fordham University in the Bronx, Trump transferred to Wharton’s undergraduate program, graduating in 1968. Though he has talked up his academic performance, his grades have not been disclosed. And some former classmates have publicly characterized his time there as unremarkable.

He has, however, been something of an active alumnus. Though Trump told the Boston Globe that he has not made a “very substantial” donation to Wharton, he has been the recipient of several alumni honors. He was named the school’s entrepreneur of the year in 1984 and was honored last fall by Wharton’s Washington alumni club, when he brought in about four times the normal attendance for the club’s annual dinner.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story, yet Trump did offer an explanation for his many Wharton references in a July campaign speech in South Carolina. “If I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I'm one of the smartest people anywhere in the world—it’s true!—but when you're a conservative Republican they try—oh, do they do a number. That’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune. You know I have to give my, like, credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged.”

Perhaps there is something about the Wharton brand in particular—which the school describes as “aspirational, confident, smart, engaging”—that Trump deeply associates with himself. According to Harvard’s Mukunda, however, the rationale behind his eagerness to tout those two years of his life may be much simpler.

“He will use every tool he has to tell you how special he is,” Mukunda said. “Wharton is something he did that he knows people attach meaning to.”

For Ragland, who has come to know Trump over the years through their mutual Wharton connection and through Ragland’s operation of the private jet terminal at Reagan National Airport, Trump’s pride in his alma mater speaks to something more fundamental about his upbringing. Despite becoming wealthy from building middle-class real estate, his father, Fred C. Trump, was the son and husband of immigrants, frugal and had little formal education.

Unlike his father, Ragland said, Trump has always wanted to cater his business to, and personally be part of, a more elite crowd. “I think in his mind, simply working hard wasn’t enough. I think he wanted something that said: You’ve arrived,” Ragland said. “Getting into an Ivy League institution was sort of a stamp of approval on who he saw himself becoming.”

According to Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Stanford professor who studies power, the fact that Trump holds a lead among Republican candidates is evidence of something that has been true for a long time but that has not been politically correct to embrace. Though Americans often talk of modesty as a virtue, Pfeffer says, “we don’t actually want people who are modest.”

Researchers have found that those selected for leadership roles are in fact more likely to be immodest, and that those holding the American presidency, in particular, have exhibited higher and higher degrees of narcissism over time.

“But if George W. Bush went around saying he went to Yale and Harvard, would that have worked for him?” Mukunda said. “I don’t know.”

Read also:
Trump signs GOP loyalty pledge
The most Trump thing Trump has ever said about leadership




"Whatever you do, just don’t be labelled “elitist.” Trump, who on the campaign trail has paraded the fact that he graduated from Wharton—the University of Pennsylvania’s business program—has tacked the opposite way. “If you look at all the different alumni, there probably has been nobody over the years who’s boasted about their affiliation with Wharton as much as he does,” said Sherman Ragland, former president of the business school’s alumni club in Washington. And that has left both administrators at Wharton and political campaign strategists in unknown territory this election cycle. Trump’s frequent references to his alma mater tend to sound like this one, from a speech he gave in Phoenix earlier this summer: “I went to the Wharton School of Business. I’m, like, a really smart person.” …. “According to Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Stanford professor who studies power, the fact that Trump holds a lead among Republican candidates is evidence of something that has been true for a long time but that has not been politically correct to embrace. Though Americans often talk of modesty as a virtue, Pfeffer says, “we don’t actually want people who are modest.” Researchers have found that those selected for leadership roles are in fact more likely to be immodest, and that those holding the American presidency, in particular, have exhibited higher and higher degrees of narcissism over time. …. “Not all publicity is good publicity,” said Kristen Rozansky, a former director of donor relations at Wharton. “They’re probably in the listening and monitoring stage.” After two years at New York’s Fordham University in the Bronx, Trump transferred to Wharton’s undergraduate program, graduating in 1968. Though he has talked up his academic performance, his grades have not been disclosed. And some former classmates have publicly characterized his time there as unremarkable. …. Perhaps there is something about the Wharton brand in particular—which the school describes as “aspirational, confident, smart, engaging”—that Trump deeply associates with himself. According to Harvard’s Mukunda, however, the rationale behind his eagerness to tout those two years of his life may be much simpler. “He will use every tool he has to tell you how special he is,” Mukunda said. “Wharton is something he did that he knows people attach meaning to.” …. Despite becoming wealthy from building middle-class real estate, his father, Fred C. Trump, was the son and husband of immigrants, frugal and had little formal education. Unlike his father, Ragland said, Trump has always wanted to cater his business to, and personally be part of, a more elite crowd. “I think in his mind, simply working hard wasn’t enough. I think he wanted something that said: You’ve arrived,” Ragland said. “Getting into an Ivy League institution was sort of a stamp of approval on who he saw himself becoming.”

I’m sure this is why those who strut around in their fine feathers feel that they constantly must defend their elevated status. I am reminded of the crow who took peacock feathers and attached them to his tail. Trump’s humble background is almost certainly his spur toward greater and greater economic and political power as an adult. This is not an uncommon story in US life, and while I understand it, I don’t like being around those who work so hard to become a part of the elite of society. That’s why membership at a Country Club, a million dollar house, a fast and expensive foreign sports car, fingers covered in gemstones, etc., etc., etc. are occasionally pursued as a goal here, even when we all know it’s a sign of inner insecurity.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bird_in_Borrowed_Feathers

The Bird in Borrowed Feathers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Bird in Borrowed Feathers is a fable of Classical Greek origin usually ascribed to Aesop. It has existed in numerous different versions between that time and the Middle Ages, going by various titles and generally involving members of the corvid family. The lesson to be learned from it has also varied, depending on the context in which it was told. Several idioms derive from the fable.

While the details of the fable have always been varied,[1] two main versions have been transmitted to European cultures in modern times. The first of these is mostly found in Greek sources and numbered 101 in the Perry Index.[2] It concerns a daw or crow that dresses itself in the feathers of other birds before competing against them, only to have them recognised and stripped away by their owners; in some versions all its own feathers are also torn away. The lesson to be learned is that borrowed finery brings humiliation.

The second version stems from the Latin collection of Phaedrus and is numbered 472 in the Perry Index.[3] In this a jackdaw (or jay in Caxton's telling) that has found some peacock feathers and stuck them among its own, looks down on its kind and joins the peacocks. When they realise the intruder is not one of themselves, they attack it, stripping away the borrowed finery and leaving its so dishevelled that it is afterwards rejected by its fellows. The moral of the story is not to reach above one's station.

Some mediaeval versions have different details. In Odo of Cheriton's telling the crow is ashamed of its ugliness and is advised by the eagle to borrow feathers from the other birds, but when it starts to insult them the eagle suggests that the birds reclaim their feathers.[4] Froissart's Chronicles have a certain Friar John advising church leaders that their possessions depend on temporal rulers and illustrating the lesson with a story of a bird that is born featherless until all the other birds decide to furnish it with some of their own. When it starts to act too proudly, they threaten to take their feathers back.[5]

Such stories addressed themselves to various kinds of pride and had given rise to the Latin idomatic phrase esopus graculus (Aesop’s jackdaw) that Erasmus recorded in his Adagia.[6] But the story has also been used to satirise literary plagiarists in Classical times. In one of his Epistles, the Roman poet Horace alludes to the Greek version of the fable when referring to the poet Celsus, who is advised not to borrow from others ‘lest, if it chance that the flock of birds should some time or other come to demand their feathers, he, like the daw stripped of his stolen colors, be exposed to ridicule.’[7] It was in this sense too that the young William Shakespeare was attacked by the elder playwright Robert Greene as ‘an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers’.[8]





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chicago-area-police-officer-shot-sparking-manhunt/

Police hunt for 3 suspects after Illinois officer killed
CBS NEWS
September 1, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Illinois cop shot and killed after traffic stop


CHICAGO -- A manhunt was underway in far north suburban Fox Lake, after a police officer was shot and killed while chasing three suspects on foot, CBS Chicago reports.

Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Cmdr. George Filenko said the officer was shot Tuesday morning near Rollins Road and Route 59.

At a late-morning news conference, Lake County Sheriff's Det. Chris Covelli said, around 7:50 a.m., the officer radioed he was pursuing three suspects, after looking into their "suspicious activity." Police lost radio contact with the officer, who was later found with a gunshot wound. Shortly after the news conference, Covelli confirmed that the officer died.

In the afternoon, Covelli identified the officer as Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, a 30-year police veteran who was known as "G.I. Joe."

Fox Lake Mayor Donny Schmidt said the 52-year-old Gliniewicz was a "dear friend" who was married and the father of four boys. He described Gliniewicz as "a decorated police officer, a family man, and a dear friend for the entire village of Fox Lake."

"Understandably, our officers are having a very difficult day," Schmidt said.

Covelli said police were conducting a ground and air search for three suspects -- two white males and a black male. Unconfirmed dispatch reports indicated the suspects might have taken the officer's gun and pepper spray. Police did not provide a more detailed description of the suspects.

The FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and ATF are now assisting in the investigation, CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton reports.

People in the area were being told to stay inside, and to report any suspicious activity to 911.

Helicopters were to fly overnight and about 100 officers would be searching in and around Fox Lake for the suspects, Covelli said late Tuesday night.

Grant Community High School in Fox Lake and St. Bede School in neighboring Ingleside were placed on lock down at the request of Fox Lake Police as police searched for the suspects.

Gavin School District 57 said Gavin South Middle School and Gavin Central Elementary School -- both in Ingleside -- were on soft lockdown. McHenry School District 15 said all of its schools -- six elementary schools and two high schools -- also were on soft lock down due to the manhunt.

Several school districts in the area announced classes Wednesday were canceled because of the search.

The manhunt appeared to be centered on a marshy area off Rainier Way and Rollins Road. Police officers from at least a half dozen different agencies - many heavily armed and wearing body armor - have scattered throughout the area. Several law enforcement vehicles, including armored trucks, were lining U.S. Route 12 in Fox Lake.

K-9 units and helicopters also have been brought in, and according to unconfirmed dispatch reports, picked up a scent in that swampy area.

Less than an hour's drive from Chicago, the area is popular with boaters and for other outdoor pursuits because of its forest preserves and a chain of lakes that partly encircles Fox Lake. Some longtime city dwellers move to the region for what is normally a quieter lifestyle.

The manhunt also has affected trains on the Milwaukee District/North Line, which ends in Fox Lake. At least one train has been stopped due to the police activity, and the Ingleside station has been closed. Passengers on one train from Fox Lake to downtown Chicago will be bused to the Long Lake station.

Service disruptions on the Milwaukee District/North Line were likely until the manhunt ends.

Gliniewicz's death is the third law enforcement fatality in Illinois this year, according to the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. It says firearms-related deaths in the U.S. are down 13 percent this year compared to the same period last year, Jan. 1. to Sept. 1; there were 30 last year and 26 this year.

Around Fox Lake, residents expressed their own sorrow over the death of the immensely popular Gliniewicz.

"This particular officer is a pillar in my community and definitely going to be missed, and (he) touched so many lives," said Gina Maria, a 40-year-old teacher who lives in the community.




“At a late-morning news conference, Lake County Sheriff's Det. Chris Covelli said, around 7:50 a.m., the officer radioed he was pursuing three suspects, after looking into their "suspicious activity." Police lost radio contact with the officer, who was later found with a gunshot wound. Shortly after the news conference, Covelli confirmed that the officer died. In the afternoon, Covelli identified the officer as Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, a 30-year police veteran who was known as "G.I. Joe." …. Covelli said police were conducting a ground and air search for three suspects -- two white males and a black male. Unconfirmed dispatch reports indicated the suspects might have taken the officer's gun and pepper spray. Police did not provide a more detailed description of the suspects. …. The FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and ATF are now assisting in the investigation, CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton reports. People in the area were being told to stay inside, and to report any suspicious activity to 911. …. The manhunt appeared to be centered on a marshy area off Rainier Way and Rollins Road. Police officers from at least a half dozen different agencies - many heavily armed and wearing body armor - have scattered throughout the area. Several law enforcement vehicles, including armored trucks, were lining U.S. Route 12 in Fox Lake.”

“K-9 units and helicopters also have been brought in, and according to unconfirmed dispatch reports, picked up a scent in that swampy area.” I hope this means that the criminals will be tracked down and caught. Two white men and one black man sounds more like an Islamic group than a more ordinary group. I think a gang would probably be either all black or all white. I hope to find more articles on this as time goes by. This officer was well-respected by the people of the area, apparently, and therefore probably not an overbearing, aggressive person like some of the “bad apple” cops who have been in the news. I am somewhat concerned that this is the second or third police killing since Ferguson blew up in the news media and aroused my attention. I wouldn’t want to see an organized attempt to punish any and all police officers for what only some of them do. Vengeance is not justice. We don't need a modern-day group similar to the Molly Maguires here in this country. See the following Wikipedia article.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Maguires

Molly Maguires
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



The Molly Maguires was an Irish 19th century secret society active in Ireland, Liverpool and United States.

The "Mollies" are mostly known for their activism amongst Irish American coal miners in Pennsylvania. After a series of often violent conflicts, twenty suspected members of the Molly Maguires were convicted of murder and other crimes and were executed by hanging in 1877 and 1878. This history remains part of local Pennsylvania lore.