Saturday, October 31, 2015

Those 'Crazy' Conspiracy Theorists

"New Studies: ‘Conspiracy Theorists’ Sane; Government Dupes Crazy, Hostile
Source: www.presstv.com
Original Post Date: July 12, 2013 –

new-studies-conspiracy-theorists-sane-government-dupes-crazy-hostile

Recent studies by psychologists and social scientists in the US and UK suggest that contrary to mainstream media stereotypes, those labeled “conspiracy theorists” appear to be saner than those who accept the official versions of contested events.

The most recent study was published on July 8th by psychologists Michael J. Wood and Karen M. Douglas of the University of Kent (UK). Entitled “What about Building 7? A social psychological study of online discussion of 9/11 conspiracy theories,” the study compared “conspiracist” (pro-conspiracy theory) and “conventionalist” (anti-conspiracy) comments at news websites.

The authors were surprised to discover that it is now more conventional to leave so-called conspiracist comments than conventionalist ones: “Of the 2174 comments collected, 1459 were coded as conspiracist and 715 as conventionalist.” In other words, among people who comment on news articles, those who disbelieve government accounts of such events as 9/11 and the JFK assassination outnumber believers by more than two to one. That means it is the pro-conspiracy commenters who are expressing what is now the conventional wisdom, while the anti-conspiracy commenters are becoming a small, beleaguered minority.

Perhaps because their supposedly mainstream views no longer represent the majority, the anti-conspiracy commenters often displayed anger and hostility: “The research… showed that people who favoured the official account of 9/11 were generally more hostile when trying to persuade their rivals.”

Additionally, it turned out that the anti-conspiracy people were not only hostile, but fanatically attached to their own conspiracy theories as well. According to them, their own theory of 9/11 – a conspiracy theory holding that 19 Arabs, none of whom could fly planes with any proficiency, pulled off the crime of the century under the direction of a guy on dialysis in a cave in Afghanistan – was indisputably true. The so-called conspiracists, on the other hand, did not pretend to have a theory that completely explained the events of 9/11: “For people who think 9/11 was a government conspiracy, the focus is not on promoting a specific rival theory, but in trying to debunk the official account.”

In short, the new study by Wood and Douglas suggests that the negative stereotype of the conspiracy theorist – a hostile fanatic wedded to the truth of his own fringe theory – accurately describes the people who defend the official account of 9/11, not those who dispute it.

Additionally, the study found that so-called conspiracists discuss historical context (such as viewing the JFK assassination as a precedent for 9/11) more than anti-conspiracists. It also found that the so-called conspiracists to not like to be called “conspiracists” or “conspiracy theorists.”

Both of these findings are amplified in the new book Conspiracy Theory in America by political scientist Lance deHaven-Smith, published earlier this year by the University of Texas Press. Professor deHaven-Smith explains why people don’t like being called “conspiracy theorists”: The term was invented and put into wide circulation by the CIA to smear and defame people questioning the JFK assassination! “The CIA’s campaign to popularize the term ‘conspiracy theory’ and make conspiracy belief a target of ridicule and hostility must be credited, unfortunately, with being one of the most successful propaganda initiatives of all time.”

In other words, people who use the terms “conspiracy theory” and “conspiracy theorist” as an insult are doing so as the result of a well-documented, undisputed, historically-real conspiracy by the CIA to cover up the JFK assassination. That campaign, by the way, was completely illegal, and the CIA officers involved were criminals; the CIA is barred from all domestic activities, yet routinely breaks the law to conduct domestic operations ranging from propaganda to assassinations.

DeHaven-Smith also explains why those who doubt official explanations of high crimes are eager to discuss historical context. He points out that a very large number of conspiracy claims have turned out to be true, and that there appear to be strong relationships between many as-yet-unsolved “state crimes against democracy.” An obvious example is the link between the JFK and RFK assassinations, which both paved the way for presidencies that continued the Vietnam War. According to DeHaven-Smith, we should always discuss the “Kennedy assassinations” in the plural, because the two killings appear to have been aspects of the same larger crime.

Psychologist Laurie Manwell of the University of Guelph agrees that the CIA-designed “conspiracy theory” label impedes cognitive function. She points out, in an article published in American Behavioral Scientist (2010), that anti-conspiracy people are unable to think clearly about such apparent state crimes against democracy as 9/11 due to their inability to process information that conflicts with pre-existing belief.

In the same issue of ABS, University of Buffalo professor Steven Hoffman adds that anti-conspiracy people are typically prey to strong “confirmation bias” – that is, they seek out information that confirms their pre-existing beliefs, while using irrational mechanisms (such as the “conspiracy theory” label) to avoid conflicting information.

The extreme irrationality of those who attack “conspiracy theories” has been ably exposed by Communications professors Ginna Husting and Martin Orr of Boise State University. In a 2007 peer-reviewed article entitled “Dangerous Machinery: ‘Conspiracy Theorist’ as a Transpersonal Strategy of Exclusion,” they wrote:
“If I call you a conspiracy theorist, it matters little whether you have actually claimed that a conspiracy exists or whether you have simply raised an issue that I would rather avoid… By labeling you, I strategically exclude you from the sphere where public speech, debate, and conflict occur.”
But now, thanks to the internet, people who doubt official stories are no longer excluded from public conversation; the CIA’s 44-year-old campaign to stifle debate using the “conspiracy theory” smear is nearly worn-out. In academic studies, as in comments on news articles, pro-conspiracy voices are now more numerous – and more rational – than anti-conspiracy ones.

No wonder the anti-conspiracy people are sounding more and more like a bunch of hostile, paranoid cranks.

--MORE--"

Scary Saturday Specials

Seeing as Blogger is hiding my titles with every new post I'm forced to become more economical with the pieces of sh** spewed forth from the Bo$ton Globe, so here goes today's Halloween slop.

Everyone needs a co$tume:

City employee awarded $10.9m in discrimination case

Oh, don't you look good in your city $uit! Can you imagine, discrimination in Bo$ton city government.  

Now you know why school budgets are being cut (commensurate with school closures) and drug addiction treatment facilities closed while real estate developers are getting tax loot to develop the $eaport (despite rising sea levels, no one has much concern. If that doesn't expose the fraud).

Pilots in deadly helicopter crash disobeyed orders, report says 

Right. Blame it on weather, blame it on the dead pilots. Now ask why would anyone have wanted to silence them?

Mass. gets extension on airport ID rules
1 seriously injured after plane catches fire at Florida airport
On-the-loose Army blimp leaves outages in wake

Don't worry, kids, we's walking for Halloween (no $en$e taking Uber anymore, either).

"In Melrose, Halloween means front-yard ‘Tunnel of Terror’" by Peter Schworm Globe Staff  October 31, 2015

MELROSE — “Clara’s Tunnel of Terror” is a holiday tradition that may draw more than 1,000 trick-or-treaters by late Saturday night. And this year, it’s bigger and better than ever, 100 feet of haunted, heart-in-your-throat thrills. All in his suburban front yard.

“We cram a lot of fear into a little space,” Scott Moss quipped as he put the finishing touches on the Washington Street display Friday morning.

With scary music, too.

Most communities seem to have someone like Moss, who will go all-out for the holidays and transform their homes into destinations.

So what makes a mild-mannered father of three want to scare the bejesus out of this small city just north of Boston? It goes back to his childhood.

Moss grew up loving Halloween, following his mother’s example. She delighted in the day, going out of her way to give the neighborhood kids a fright.

“She was the instigator,” he recalled....

Yeah, blame the mother.

--more--"

You know, speaking of instigators and the like:

"Man charged in St. Louis church fires" by Jim Salter Associated Press  October 31, 2015

ST. LOUIS — Authorities charged a 35-year-old black man with arson for two of the seven church fires in a predominantly African-American part of the St. Louis area, and federal investigators said there is no evidence of a hate crime.

David Lopez Jackson of St. Louis was charged Friday in St. Louis Circuit Court with two counts of second-degree arson. The fires were set between Oct. 8 and Oct. 22. Five of the congregations are predominantly black, one is racially mixed, and one is mostly white.

The fires spurred a hate-crime investigation to determine whether the attacks were motivated by race or religion. But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives downplayed that possibility in a statement Friday. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson gave no alternative explanation for the attacks, saying investigators “are still trying to understand” the motive.

Meaning this patsy was doing government work. 

The region is still recovering from the events surrounding last year’s police shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb, and a grand jury’s subsequent decision not to charge the officer who shot him. Brown was black and unarmed when he was shot by white officer Darren Wilson in a case that helped spur the national “Black Lives Matter” movement, and it renewed concern about the treatment of minorities in and around St. Louis.

Most of the fires were during the night when churches were unoccupied, although one at a Catholic church was during the day when a priest was there.

No one was hurt in any of the incidents. Damage was mostly minimal, but.... 

The hallmarks of a government-sponsored false flag meant to sow division. We have been seeing this since the '60s!

--more--" 

The guy apparently likes DraftKings (I wonder what team and players he is playing this week; even the state has fielded a team this week), and it's just what I predicted a week ago!

FBI Director James Comey damages his credibility

Globe agrees with South Carolina, as if Comey or his organization had any, and you just ignore the hypocrite-in-chief and mass-murdering war criminal (certain horrors go with that getup, too, tired of talking about it) responsible for dead children being waved at us once again (or not) while he is looking to start more wars (all based on lies!).

"Senate OK’s budget; Obama says he’ll sign; Bipartisan agreement expected to increase spending and debt ceiling, but also seeks cuts in Medicare payments" by David M. Herszenhorn New York Times  October 31, 2015

WASHINGTON — The Senate vote, held in the dead of night, was perhaps a fitting cap on a deal would increase spending by $80 billion over two years and raise the federal debt ceiling, averting a default that the Treasury had warned would happen early next week. It was approved in the House on Wednesday with the overwhelming support of Democrats, but with less than one-third of Republicans backing it.

The measure calls for corresponding budget cuts to avoid increasing the deficit, including reductions in Medicare payments to doctors and other health-care providers.

It also envisions savings from tighter eligibility requirements and other changes to a Social Security disability program.

But he will be passing out Pell Grants to people. 

The Republicans might have taken the Democrats here; Democrats in favor of cutting those programs tend to lose votes even if the other guy is worse.

Modest in scope, especially in the context of the nearly $4 trillion annual budget, the accord represents a significant breakthrough.

The rare overnight voting, beginning with a 1 a.m. procedural measure and ending with final passage shortly after 3 a.m., was a consequence of the bitter disagreement among Republicans.

The critics said that many of the cuts were gimmicks and that the package overall would add to the nation’s debt. 

It will and it does. But everyone in Washington is happy, so....

They also said that it would breach spending-cap agreements they considered a much-needed step toward responsible cost controls. Democrats have long called for lifting the caps, which they say have put a drag on the economy and blocked needed investments in infrastructure and other programs....

It's all sleight of hand tricks as it piles on more debt and the i$$ue of spending is removed for the election year.

--more--"

Oh, look what he's dressed up as, kids! That is $cary!

At least we are all safe thanks to the security services:

"This Halloween, police will be vigilant for tricks" by Laura Crimaldi Globe Staff  October 31, 2015

Halloween this year falls on a Saturday, just four days after a full moon, but such an ideal confluence of calendar and conditions could also mean greater opportunity for mischief. 

What does Israel have planned for over the weekend when no one is watching?

So, officials from across the state, and especially in the traditional Halloween destination of Salem, said more police will be on patrol during the witching hours.

Trick-or-treaters are asked not to bring weapons, even if they are part of a costume, according to the mayor and police. Officers plan to confiscate all weapons, though ones incorporated into costumes will be returned after Halloween, said Salem police Lieutenant Conrad Prosniewski.

Can I keep my plastic light saber?

“If someone decides to dress as a knight in shining armor and wears a sword, that sword will be ours until the event is over,” Prosniewski said. Every year, officers confiscate between 50 and 100 weapons on Halloween, he said.

That might put kids in trouble, but maybe you should dress up as an astronaut just in case.

Prosniewski estimated that more than 300 officers will be patrolling downtown, including representatives from nearby police departments and the Essex County Sheriff’s Department.

Stay away from downtown Salem!

Members of the State Police bomb squad will be nearby to respond to reports of suspicious packages, and other troopers are assigned to patrol state highways in the area so that they can get to Salem quickly if necessary, said spokesman David Procopio.

As if they were suspecting something or running a drill.

Road closures and parking restrictions are planned across downtown Salem, and visitors are encouraged to take the train or ferry. Transit Police will monitor passengers as they exit trains, and if they appear to be intoxicated, Prosniewski said, they will be taken into protective custody or sent home.

Yeah, stay away from Salem, have a brew or two (shut off already?), avoid the hard stuff, and let's hope you don't get all wet returning home.

In Boston, Police Commissioner William B. Evans wrote a letter to college students informing them that patrols will be increased significantly around college campuses and that extra officers will be dispatched citywide.

The additional staffing was scheduled to begin Friday afternoon and continue through Sunday, said Detective Lieutenant Michael McCarthy, a department spokesman.

Thank God the Sox aren't in the Series.

He said calls to police increase on Halloween, as does crime.

He sounds as bad as Comey! 

Meanwhile, out this way:

At UMass Amherst, Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, spokesman for the University of Massachusetts Amherst where students living on campus are limited to four guests at residence halls through Sunday to control the number of people on school grounds, said Halloween traditionally has not posed a real problem. Still, he said, extra campus police officers are expected to work, and town police have indicated they plan to increase patrols.

I won't be going anywhere near Amherst.

The Verge Campus Tour will perform music for students, and there’s also a lobster and steak dinner, comedy show, and movies on campus, he said....

Steak and lobster, huh?

Think I'll just stay in with the lights off (they really $helled out for it, didn't they?) and forgo the fun.

--more--"

Well, maybe not all of us, but the nuclear reactor isn't as scary as you think although the Somerville soccer game may make you sick and stress you out (or put a charge into you). The other item just makes one sad. Some houses are truly haunted, and the cops may not be whom they appear. The Polish situation makes one want to puke, and I'm not talking politics or coverage thereof (poor Jewish pervert Polanski, huh?).

There is the headless horseman story to tell around the fire back at camp, and then there are the real horror stories (with happy ending, of course).

Teen in ICU with bubonic plague; Oregon officials link case to flea bite

Already killed a kid in Utah and it's spreading like a viru$

You might want to skip the shot because it could undermine the effectiveness of the cholesterol drug(?).

First cholesterol, now fatty foods

Yes, we would all be "healthier [if we] ignore the government’s advice" and that goes for everything.

Sneeze Can Give You AIDS

Must be why the school was evacuated even though they told the kids it was a fire drill.

A trip to the drug store couldn't hurt, I $uppo$e. Give me one second to check the weather and then we'll be off.

Trick or Treat!?!

Did you see who showed up at Hillary's door?

****************************

Time to divvy up the Globe goodies.

"Equity crowdfunding entails high risk, given that a majority of startups fail. Some critics also warn that investment crowdfunding is ripe for fraud. “You have to be much more careful with what you say and how you say it.”

That's in China, right? 

"My love for processed meats is all-consuming — now here comes the World Health Organization to ruin my life."

How did they do that?

That'll kill you.

And look who got the biggest pot of candy (more than half-a-billion bucks worth). 

Well, the time has come to wish you nothing but the Good Life and a Happy Halloween.  I will not be here tomorrow (no tricks this time), not even with the fallback hour (not good advice). I have a basketball game to play in the morning and Sunday afternoons are dedicated to socializing and football (thank God). 

While not wanting to make a fuss over it, there may be a change in plans and nothing here in November. I had intended to run a roll of projects, but this blog may go silent instead, what with Blogger hiding my titles and all. I know that may make some of you unhappy; however, I've neglected my physical and financial health for far too long doing this. It's something I've avoided due to my addiction, and the time is ripe for reflection. It's a scary thought, but blogging about the Bo$ton Globe has outlived its usefulness (at least the NYT made a profit, even if revenue was down again). 

I really don't know what to do. On the one hand I have what I feel I was meant to do, and on the other is what I need to do. Doing one means not doing the other. This literally sucks.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Fussing Over the Fed

I'm not going to make much of one over this:

"Plunging crude oil prices and a stronger dollar are helping consumers, making gas and imported goods cheaper, but they are hurting energy companies and US manufacturers, whose goods have become more expensive overseas. These industries have cut thousands of jobs over the past few months."

That is not what I've been told. We have been told here that the job market has been great because of those industries.

Rather ominous way to begin, isn't it, what with the mixed me$$ages and everything?

"Seeing signs of a slowing economy, investors are increasingly discounting the chances of a December rate increase, in part because of a widespread perception that the Fed continues to be too optimistic in its outlook. Several crucial economic reports in the coming weeks could determine relatively quickly whether December remains a plausible option. The government is scheduled to release an initial estimate of third-quarter growth on Thursday, followed next week by an even more important indicator, the estimate of October job growth."

So some more government lies can be put forth, fully promulgated by the propaganda pre$$, then the numbers can be revised down later after the rate hike. Amazing what you can do when you live in a bubble of $elf-ju$tification.

"What will the Fed do on interest rates?; It’s anybody’s guess for now, say investment professionals" by Beth Healy Globe Staff  October 23, 2015

Dan Fuss, the famous Boston bond manager, said Thursday that he has no idea [on how] “to deal with the headache our central bank has right now.”

Awww, the poor central bank (wretch)!

Central bankers are charged with maintaining a delicate balance. If the Fed holds rates too low for too long, it risks sparking inflation and creating bubbles. If it raises them too high, too quickly, it could push the economy into recession.

Inflation has been running below the Fed’s target of 2 percent, and central bankers have indicated that they want to see it climb nearer that level before raising rates. Rick Rieder, chief investment officer for bonds at BlackRock Inc. in New York., however, called 2 percent “ridiculous.” A more realistic target is 1-to-1.5 percent, he said, in part because new technologies help the economy grow without adding costs.

Fuss said he worries about some things at least as much as the Fed, like disorder in Congress. The threat of the Republican-controlled Congress failing to raise the nation’s debt limit and technically defaulting is “clearly hurting our credibility” overseas, Fuss said.

Won't be able to blame that now.

He singled out peace as the single best thing that could happen for markets.

Woa, woa, woa, WHAT?!!??

With conflicts raging in the Middle East and “an underlying trend that involves the military,’’ he said, “that, just point-blank, is not good.”

He said international matters — good and bad — preoccupy the central bank more than in the past.

One reason being because the world is moving away from the petrodollar.

That came into focus in September, when the Fed delayed raising rates in part due to turmoil in global financial markets, spurred by concerns of slower growth in China.

This eye on foreign affairs is contributing to the Fed’s indecision, Fuss suggested. Although the Fed’s mission is help the economy while keeping a lid on inflation, the central bank is now figuring the impact of international conditions into the equation....

Yeah, right, the wars the government initiated at behest of the bankers (and Israel) IS the problem.

--more--"

And in their defense:

"America’s innate fear of the Fed" by Roger Lowenstein   October 21, 2015

.... Since Thomas Jefferson’s time, Americans have distrusted central power. That distrust has spawned a sorry legacy — an obsessive and excessive fear of central authority manifest from the beginning, when the new Republic was hidebound by the Articles of Confederation.

Yeah, well, sorry if you think we will be trusting this bank and its enforcer government ever again. That ship has $ailed!

And no sooner was the Constitution launched than minirebellions against federalism blossomed. Alexis de Tocqueville, who famously visited America in the 1830s, could not believe the vitriol that Americans felt for the (modest) central government. Americans, he wrote, were “preoccupied by one great fear,” the fear of “centralization.”

Rightly so. Anthropologists will tell you societies declined when bureaucracy increased, and what is central authorities solution to the problem? Another layer of bureaucracy.

The byproduct of this Jeffersonian legacy has been a misbegotten faith in “originalism,” the peculiarly American belief that anything that didn’t exist in 1776 shouldn’t be created or legislated now. Reforms that in other nations are accepted as a matter of course (i.e., national health care) are controversial here.

Whereas other nations accept that conditions change, societies evolve, and therefore so must civic responses to them, Americans cling to a myth of Edenic purity.

We are living in a world full of them, from WMD to 9/11 to all history.

Thus, constitutional scholars debate the meaning of a comma in the Second Amendment, oblivious to the homicidal power of modern weaponry.

No, that was a well-reasoned amendment meant to arm the people against tyrannical government and it is just as relevant today. More so, in fact.

Then, too, foes of a central bank yearn for a second coming of the gold standard, gold having cast a religious spell on the ancients.

Now we get into it, and I don't. Americans would be destitute if we went back to the gold standard. Who do you think owns and controls all of that anyway? Same guys running the printing presses.

Alas, a monetary system based on mineral extraction is wholly insufficient for the vigorous and complex commerce of the 21st century.

We agree (except now it is oil that undergirds it)!

Even in the early decades of the 20th century, allegiance to the gold standard provoked or accentuated severe depressions in both Britain and the United States.

No, that is when the private central bank was established. That's what caused those.

The most visible current manifestation of anticentralism is the populist outcry against government in the banking system. This, too, has Jeffersonian roots; the sage of Monticello famously mistrusted bankers.

A true giant in the pantheon of history then. Of course, it was those families they were escaping from by coming here and fighting for independence. They don't teach you that in school.

In Europe, as nations industrialized in the 18th and 19th centuries, each, in turn, adopted central banking to shore up its finances, smooth the vicissitudes of the credit cycle, and provide a lender of last resort. America, by contrast, abolished not one but two national banks early in its history.

Europe was taken over by the Rothschild clan much sooner. That's all that means.

Until the Civil War, the American economy was a disunited polyglot, with hundreds of private banks minting notes, each of which was purportedly a “currency.” Even into the 20th century, the United States remained the only advanced nation without a central bank. Since no central reserve of credit existed, each bank kept its own reserve. In times of stress, each bank tightened — accentuating the general distress and frequently leading to a financial panic.

Reformist bankers argued that this antiquated and disjointed system was holding back the country’s development, and that the United States needed a central bank. But the idea was hugely unpopular.

Still is.

As Jacob Schiff, a Wall Street mogul, remonstrated to reformers, “If you go away from New York City and discuss this subject of a central bank, you will find grave distrust in the proposition.” Schiff, who had emigrated from Germany after the Civil War, declared to the New York Chamber of Commerce in 1906 that the American people “at the time of Andrew Jackson, and more so today, do not want to centralize power.”

Doe$n't that tell you something?

After yet another terrible financial panic and then a painstaking legislative process, in 1913 Congress enacted the Federal Reserve.

One of the darkest days in the history of this nation.

But antipathy to centralism lives on, particularly in areas remote from the Northeast.

And the Northeast. From where do you think I'm writing?

Bizarrely, populists today are angry not because the Fed failed to save the financial system in 2008 but, rather, because it forcefully intervened and did save it.

He loved the bailouts!

Candidates for high office are popular merely because they are not from “Washington.” The political labels are reversed (in 1900, Democrats were the party of laissez-faire; today, Tea Party Republicans are).

How interesting, except they are both the captives of bankers now.

But obsessive anticentralism is just as toxic. Americans would do better to mimic an alternative legacy of the Founding Fathers — faith in a robust federal government, properly tempered by constitutional checks.

Which we no longer have, Congre$$ abdicated.

Roger Lowenstein is the author of “America’s Bank: The Epic Struggle To Create the Federal Reserve.’’

An epic struggle the bankers were able to achieve and which has lasted over 100 years -- and look at the shape this nation is in.

--more--"

Related: All Hail Our New Lord and Master, the Stock Market

Umm, readers, I've kind of hit an epiphany with this apologetic slop so I'm going to  withdraw early today and ponder my next move.

Related: Friday Fire Drill

Looks like I'm going to have to rethink my strategy from now on. This whole blog may damn well be turned upside down!

Friday Fire Drill

They had me rushing around this morning like my hair was on fire:

"Loaded gun seized from Dorchester student after struggle with police" by Felicia Gans Globe Correspondent  October 22, 2015

Boston school police officers seized a loaded gun from a student’s backpack Thursday at TechBoston Academy in Dorchester after a struggle that left one officer with minor injuries.

Police Commissioner Williams Evans said in a statement Thursday he is proud of the officers’ actions to keep other students safe.

“There is never a good reason to bring a gun to school. Illegal guns have no place on our streets and certainly not in the hands of a child,” Evans said. “Thanks to the keen observations and quick actions of the school police officers and administrators, a potential tragedy was avoided and one less gun is on the streets.”

The student was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and resisting arrest.

The 15-year-old student’s backpack was initially searched by the school’s dean of discipline at the main entrance at 10:40 a.m., about three-and-a-half hours after school began.

Richard Weir, a spokesman for Boston Public Schools, said school administrators conduct routine searches of students each morning and use metal detectors at the school’s front entrance until 9:30 a.m.

While the student’s bag was open, an officer looked inside and found a .32 caliber Mauser Waffenfabrik handgun “in plain view,” according to a police report.

While other officers tried to arrest him he put up a fight. He flailed his arms and ran out of the school police office, the report said.

The officer who found the gun caught up with the student and brought him to the ground, according to the report. When the student continued to resist, two other officers put handcuffs on the student “after a brief and violent struggle,” the police report said.

During the struggle, an officer hit his head on a metal locker grate and scraped his face on the bending frame of his glasses.

How is the kid doing?

The officers found one bullet in the chamber. The student told police he “forgot it was in his bag.”

--more--"

Related:

"A Bridgeport Fire Department lieutenant who was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill a Southington High School teacher has been placed on leave. Police said they seized several guns from Gregory Daly’s Southington home. Daly was arrested Tuesday after allegedly sending a threatening text message to the teacher. Police said Daly also sent threatening texts to his wife. Daly is charged with threatening, harassment, and breach of peace. Seven Southington schools were placed in a soft lock-down Tuesday morning, meaning people were not allowed inside the buildings (AP)."

I think he found out someone was having an affair.

Also see:

"Bridgewater State deems rape report ‘unfounded’" by Sarah Roberts Globe Correspondent  October 22, 2015

Bridgewater State University has determined that a report of a sexual assault on campus earlier this week was unfounded.

An 18-year-old student reported that she had been communicating with an unknown male through a messaging app, and set up a meeting with him near the Rondileau Campus Center.

She told police that after she walked across campus to the parking garage Monday night, the unknown male assaulted her. The university had released a sketch of the suspect....

--more--"

The hoax is buried on the bottom of page B8 under the obituaries!

Related: 

Hooked on College
Harvard posts $62 million surplus
Enrollment drops slightly at Mass. public colleges
UMass system must cut $10.9 million from budget

Thank God for the Chinese!

Also see:

School Fire Drills: Stonewall at Stonehill
School Fire Drill in Lexington 

Did you hear the loud jolt (pffft; shoddy construction? How much the school cost?)?

School Fire Drills: Alarms Clanging in Kentucky

School Fire Drills: Oregon Shooting an Obvious Psyop 

What is even odder is the titles are not showing up in the monthly blog roll, in fact, the first half of every month I've checked is gone! Scroll down the titles and click on the last ones to see. This is relatively new for I would have noticed before.

WTF, Blogger?

School Fire Drills: Shooting in South Dakota
School Fire Drills: Giving You a Fitchburg
School Fire Drills: From Winchester to Weymouth
School Fire Drills: Milton and More
School Fire Drills: Sandy Hook Stopwatch
First Day of School
Second Day of School Done
School Fire Drills: Alarm in Millis
No Mystery in Millis
Johnson's Home is a Jail
School Fire Drills: Newtonian Nonsense

Why would they not want you to see such things unless I'm right? 

Time for me to evacuate for a while.

UPDATE: 

Each post I put up knocks another down. What deviousness! 

I even reset the settings and still didn't change it.

I checked the whole year's worth of months and it's the same. Some title lineups cut off after a week, and yet my layout is set for the entire month. 

I guess I've made it, folks. Somebody out there doesn't want you to see my work.

South Carolina Classroom

I hope you kids learn something.

SeeVideo shows school officer tossing student in classroom

"South Carolina video thrusts city into a race debate; Federal probes promised; deputy is on unpaid leave" by Richard Fausset, RIchard Pérez-Peña and Alan Blinder New York Times  October 28, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Videos of a white police officer throwing a black high school girl to the floor of a classroom thrust this city into an unsettling national discussion Tuesday about whether black students are disproportionately punished.

The incident, which the Justice Department said it would investigate, follows national studies showing that black students were far more likely than whites to be disciplined in public schools, even for comparable offenses. That issue was getting intense scrutiny here long before the videos of Monday’s incident were released, prompting the school district to form a task force last year to examine its practices.

Yet this community fits no neat stereotype of racial tension. It has at times been seen as a model of amicable integration. And while some students have called the deputy overly rough or racist, others, of all races, defend his record in the school — if not his behavior on the videos.

The videos showed a deputy assigned to Spring Valley High School struggling with a 16-year-old who had refused to leave her math class after the teacher reportedly caught her using her phone. The deputy, Ben Fields, tipped the girl’s chair and desk backward, lifting her out of her seat and slamming her to the floor, and then dragged her to the front of the classroom, where he cuffed her hands behind her back.

Sheriff Leon Lott of Richland County said that in one video, when the deputy grabbed the girl, she could be seen punching him.

He deflected a question about the role of race, saying Fields has a black girlfriend.

On Monday, the sheriff placed Fields on unpaid leave, and asked for a federal investigation. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the FBI, and the US attorney for South Carolina will look into the episode.

If nothing else it gives them something to do.

James Manning, chairman of the district’s board, said the use of force “appears to me to be excessive and unnecessary.”

Fields has been the subject of two federal lawsuits about his conduct in the past. A jury found in his favor in one, and the other is pending.

In Richland Two, where 59 percent of students are black and 26 percent are white, 77 percent of those suspended at least once in 2011-12 were black, according to figures compiled by the Justice Department, though details to allow a comparison of the offenses involved were not readily available. And South Carolina, including Richland, relies much more on suspension than the nation as a whole; 24 percent of public school students in the state were suspended at least once that year, compared with 13 percent nationwide.

Black parents have complained that school discipline is arbitrary and disproportionately affects black students, said Stephen Gilchrist, a founder of Richland Two Black Parents Association.

When the altercation occurred, students stood up, confused about what was happening, but the deputy told them, “sit down, or you all will be next,” said one student, Charles Scarborough, 16.

Adding to the confusion, several students said, was that the girl was usually quiet and not a troublemaker....

That's because her head was in her phone all the time.

--more--"

"South Carolina officer fired after classroom arrest; Videos depicted S.C. girl tossed across floor" by Meg Kinnard Associated Press  October 29, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said, ‘‘Police officers make mistakes too. They’re human and they need to be held accountable.’’

Civil rights groups praised the swift action against Deputy Ben Fields, a veteran school resource officer and football coach at Spring Valley High School. Outrage spread quickly after videos of the white officer arresting the black teenager on Monday appeared on the Internet.

I've come to not believe videos cited by the agenda-pushing propaganda pre$$ so you will have to make up your own mind as to whether this was real or another mind-bending psyop script complete with crisis actors.

Lott thanked the FBI for investigating for civil rights violations.

Who does that?

The sheriff also had stern words for the student who started the confrontation by refusing to hand over her cellphone after her math teacher saw her texting in class — a violation of school policy.

I knew it would be her fault at some point.

Both she and another student who verbally challenged the officer’s actions during the arrest still face misdemeanor charges.

LESSON LEARNED! NEVER STAND UP to AUTHORITY!

‘‘The student was not allowing the teacher to teach and not allowing the students to learn. She was very disrespectful and she started this whole incident,’’ Lott said. ‘‘It doesn’t justify his actions. But again, she needs to be held responsible for what she did.’’

You lost me at BUT!

Lott also praised the students whose videos put such an intense spotlight on his deputy’s actions. ‘‘Our citizens should police us,’’ he said.

Most police departments don't feel that way and threaten people who record incidents.

‘‘She wasn’t a danger at that point; she was just being non-compliant and disrespectful. You try to deescalate a situation,” Lott said. “And when you do have to put your hands on someone, there are other techniques we use.’’

She was doing a Gandhi, and that draws violence from authority. Always has.

The girl in the videos remains unidentified, but she has obtained a prominent attorney — Todd Rutherford, who also serves as House minority leader in South Carolina’s legislature.... 

Uh-oh, coppers!

--more--"

"Officials split over how videos have influenced police work" by Juliet Linderman and Meg Kinnard Associated Press  October 30, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. — When FBI Director James Comey told a national gathering of law enforcement leaders that officers might be easing up for fear of being caught on camera, the conference attendees included a South Carolina sheriff whose deputy was about to be in the nation’s next viral police video. 

See: The Ferguson Effect

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott returned home to an uproar over images of a school resource officer flipping a 16-year-old girl out of her desk and dragging her across the floor of her math class Monday at a high school in Columbia. In announcing the deputy’s firing two days later, Lott called on the public to shoot more video, not less.

‘‘I would hope that every citizen that has a cellphone that has a camera on it, if they see something that’s going on and they have questions about it, they need to film it,’’ Lott said Wednesday. ‘‘Our citizens should police the police. That’s their job, too.’’

Comey’s and Lott’s comments — one questioning whether video is causing a chilling effect, the other saying it can only help — are the latest contributions to an intensifying debate over the role of cellphones in policing.

Look how the debate is evolving, and no BlackLives in sight!

They come at a moment when departments are trying to both clamp down on violent crime and repair fractured trust with the public. And they hint at a possible disconnect between beat officers and the brass on the impact of such footage.

The US Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation into the South Carolina school video, the most recent example of how citizen-shot footage of police encounters is inspiring not just outrage but criminal investigations.

After which the cop is cleared. Everybody happy now?

In June, Officer Michael Slager in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder after a witness captured video of him shooting Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, in the back as Scott was running away.

Was that another hoax?

In July, a University of Cincinnati Police officer was charged with murder after he was caught on video fatally shooting Samuel Dubose, an unarmed black man, during a traffic stop over a missing license plate.

See: Cincinnati College Cop Disposed of Dubose

And on Monday, Baltimore’s top prosecutor announced assault charges against a police officer who was seen on video spitting on a detainee who was handcuffed on the floor.

What is it about Maryland, huh?

Addressing a law enforcement conference last Friday in Chicago, Comey suggested the possibility that the pervasiveness of smartphones could be inhibiting officers’ ability, or at least their willingness, to fight crime: Those who feel as if they’re constantly being watched could be less aggressive and less likely to walk their beats, engage with the public, and use force when necessary.

I'm sorry; no sympathy for the cops after the public is being constantly watched with their data collected.

‘‘In today’s YouTube world, are officers reluctant to get out of their cars and do the work that controls violent crime? Are officers answering 911 calls but avoiding the informal contact that keeps bad guys from standing around, especially with guns?’’ he said. ‘‘I don’t know.’’

Rich Roberts, a spokesman for the International Union of Police Associations, said the climate surrounding police, including ubiquitous cellphone recording, is certainly affecting how officers do their jobs.

‘‘They are under more subjective emotional scrutiny than they’ve ever been,’’ he said. ‘‘They’re dealing with a more hostile public. Officers will be more cautious in their approach, and that’s not necessarily good police work.’’

Yeah, cracking skulls and executing bad guys with impunity always worked a lot better.

--more--"

Of course, such things could never happen up here:

"The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is calling on schools with resource officers to reevaluate how they are used, following an incident at a Pawtucket high school. Police are investigating how a resource officer at Tolman High School handled a 14-year-old student last week. A video that purportedly shows the officer taking the student down prompted a protest. Pawtucket’s superintendent told WJAR-TV she would not recommend that Officer Jared Boudreault return to the school, even if he is cleared of wrongdoing. The ACLU urged in a letter that school officials reexamine the use of resource officers and their agreement with local police departments (AP)."

The cop was injured, too:

"An officer suffered minor injuries during a standoff with an armed 33-year-old man who had barricaded himself in his Woonsocket apartment on Wednesday, police said. The incident began at the apartment when the man was reported acting erratically and waving a gun. Officers made initial contact with him through a doorway at about 2:30 p.m. Police tried to enter after the man cut off communication at about 5:15 p.m., but had trouble. The Woonsocket Call reported an officer fired his weapon into the doorway opening, which resulted in debris striking another officer in the arm. Police entered the residence and arrested the man (AP)."

Back down there:

"Feds investigate friend of Charleston shooting suspect" by Meg Kinnard and Jeffrey Collins Associated Press  September 17, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A friend of the suspect in the Charleston church shooting is being investigated for lying to police and not reporting everything he may have known about the crime, according to a federal law enforcement official.

Sign this confession backing up the staged and scripted psyop cover story -- or else!

Separately, a judge said he will reconsider his ban on publication of some of the documents related to the case.

Joey Meek, 21, of Lexington, S.C., was notified by a so-called target letter that he is under investigation for lying to police and for knowing about a crime before or after it was committed but failing to report it, the official said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation and requested anonymity. The disclosure was first reported by The State newspaper.

I'll bet he gets a Meek defense.

Meek has said that Dylann Roof occasionally stayed with him at a mobile home in Red Bank, about 20 miles from Columbia, before the June 17 shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Meek said he and Roof were school friends but went their separate ways. Then, just weeks before the shooting, Roof started coming around again.

Meek also described how Roof, while drunk on vodka, complained that ‘‘blacks were taking over the world’’ and that ‘‘someone needed to do something about it for the white race’’ before he passed out in the yard. Meek said he took away Roof’s gun the night of his rant but gave it back when he sobered up.

Meek said he called authorities after recognizing Roof from surveillance footage from the church. He also said Roof said he used birthday money from his parents to buy a .45-caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun.

--more--"

Meanwhile, over the state line:

"N.C. official ousted over Facebook posts" Associated Press  October 16, 2015

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s elections board has dismissed a local official who made racially tinged Facebook posts praising the Confederacy and suggesting that blacks who protested against Republican policies weren’t ‘‘productive good citizens’’ with jobs.

The State Board of Elections voted 3-2 to dismiss Rowan County Elections Chairman Malcolm Butner, whose social media accounts also expressed support for individual candidates in violation of state law. Butner’s case marks the first time the state board has removed an elections official over social media postings.

Butner told the board in a letter that he did nothing wrong, but said he couldn’t respond fully due to medical problems. He did not attend the hearing or respond to messages seeking comment.

Butner has a long record of ‘‘intemperate’’ remarks that makes him unsuited for a role that doesn’t allow political expressions such as campaign bumper stickers on cars, said board chairman Josh Howard, a Republican who sided with the board’s two Democrats to oust Butner.

‘‘If you’re in charge of counting the votes, everybody should be confident that you’re going to count everyone’s vote equal,’’ Howard said.

Butner made national news last year for Facebook postings extolling the Confederacy, denouncing gays, and blasting demonstrators protesting the priorities of Republican legislative leaders and Governor Pat McCrory."

You are not supposed to be checking that in class! 

Good thing the bell just rang!

Savannah Censors History

The term Southern Idiot takes new meaning:

"Savannah may drop history test for tour guides" by Russ Bynum Associated Press  October 15, 2015

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Savannah fell to British troops in the American Revolution and surrendered to the Union Army during the Civil War. Now Georgia’s oldest city is preparing to retreat from a law that for decades has required tour guides to prove to City Hall that they know history.

The City Council is scheduled to vote Thursday on a proposed repeal of tour guide regulations — in place since 1978 — that require all guides to earn a city license by passing a history test before they can take paying customers sightseeing. The repeal is expected to pass as the city faces litigation by tour guides who sued in federal court.

Attorney W. Brooks Stillwell, who represents the city, has advised council members to scrap the regulations before a federal judge decides the lawsuit.

‘‘I’m disappointed,’’ said Councilor Van Johnson. ‘‘But I also realize that when you come up against the US Constitution, you lose.’’

A small group of local tour guides sued City Hall in US District Court last November, saying Savannah’s licensing ordinance violates the free-speech protections guaranteed by the First Amendment by unfairly singling out tourism workers who talk for a living. To earn a license, guides must pass a 100-question test covering topics from Savannah’s 1820 yellow fever outbreak to the architects of its historic homes. The study guide for the test is a 111-page book produced by City Hall.

Decisions by other federal courts in similar cases have been divided. In Washington, D.C., an appellate court threw out licensing rules for tour guides. But another appeals court upheld similar rules in New Orleans.

Robert McNamara, an attorney for the Virginia-based Institute for Justice, which represents the tour guides, said he was confident the council was headed toward repeal.

‘‘This is, in no uncertain terms, a surrender on their part,’’ he said.

But Michelle Freenor, owner of Savannah Belle Walking Tours and one of the tour guides who sued the city, said she won’t declare victory just yet.

‘‘It sounds like it’s headed in the right direction,’’ Freenor said. ‘‘It’s sad it took suing the city to get them to listen to us.’’

City attorneys for months insisted that licensing tour guides was a perfectly legal use of the local government’s ‘‘police power to regulate business.’’ They also argued that deciding who’s qualified to give sightseeing tours is vital to protecting Savannah’s $2.29 billion annual tourism economy. The city has about 330 licensed guides.

‘‘We don’t want people who don’t know what they’re doing out there conducting tour services,’’ Stillwell said. ‘‘We do not regulate what they talk about or what they say. But we want to make sure they know what they’re talking about.’’

The city attorney told council members at their last meeting Oct. 1 that the lawsuit prompted the city’s staff to take a closer look at the tour guide ordinance and recommend changes that would take ‘‘some of the issues off the table.’’

‘‘We believe the private sector can do a better job of training and certifying tour guides, but without the government having a role in it,’’ Stillwell said.

--more--"

I don't like the suit.

"Confederate flag carriers indicted for disturbance at Ga. party" by Richard Fausset New York Times  October 13, 2015

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — In an unusual legal maneuver, a Georgia district attorney has won indictments against 15 supporters of the Confederate battle flag, accusing them of violating the state’s antistreet-gang ordinance during a confrontation with black partygoers in July.

Douglas County District Attorney Brian Fortner, a white Republican elected to the office in 2014, announced the indictments in a news conference Monday. Each of the 15 was indicted on one count of making terroristic threats, and a second count of unlawfully participating in “criminal gang activity.”

Prosecutors say members of the group, which calls itself “Respect the Flag,” threatened a group of African-Americans participating in an outdoor party on July 25.

A cellphone video of part of the episode shows several white men driving away from the party in a convoy of pickup trucks with the Confederate battle flag and other banners, including American flags, fluttering from the truck beds.

The partygoers contend that members of the flag group yelled racial slurs and displayed a crowbar, a knife, and either a rifle or a shotgun, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights group in Montgomery, Ala., that is representing some of the accusers.

This is now looking like a completely staged and scripted false flag provocation for purposes of division and censorship of free speech.

Similarly adorned pickup trucks have become a regular sight in many parts of the South since June, when a white gunman, apparently influenced by racist doctrine, massacred nine black worshipers at a Charleston, S.C., church.

They were there before, but forget that and focus on the narrative.

A subsequent effort by some elected officials in the region to remove Confederate symbols from public spaces has provoked a strong negative reaction from some white Southerners, who argue that the symbols are a part of their history and heritage.

The indictments were handed up Friday by a grand jury in Douglas County, a fast-growing county a few miles west of Atlanta that is about 52 percent white and 44 percent black.

In 1990, blacks made up only about 8 percent of the population, according to census figures.

Fortner said the Georgia statute upon which the second charge is based, the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, is “worded very broadly to deal with any type of activity that occurs with a group that’s organized that commits a crime.”

“We respect the rights of all citizens to exercise their First Amendment right,” he said. “But we’re going to require them, when doing that, to respect the rights of all of the citizens to feel safe and secure.”

Tyranny is always introduced in that way, for who would stand against it?

Morris Dees, the founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center and its chief trial lawyer, could not recall seeing an antigang statute used against this kind of group in the past. But he said it was “a very good use” of the statute.

See: Is the SPLC An American Arm of the Mossad? 

And yet the name sounds so benign and benevolent, doesn't it?

Fortner said that some of the men involved in the episode had been arrested, and others would be arrested soon.

In a July 27 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a member of the group who was named in the indictments, Levi Bush, said that the partygoers yelled at some members of his group as they drove by. Partygoers then threw rocks at his truck, he said. 

Jwho names their kid Levi?

Natalie Lyons, a staff lawyer with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Monday that the use of the antigang law was an “apropos application.” The people indicted in the case, she said, “were traveling together as a group, intimidating and terrorizing people.”

Please apply that to the militant Zionist zealots running Israel. Thank you!

--more--"

Let the erasures begin:

"The University of Mississippi quietly took down the state flag on Monday, heeding the calls of those who say its divisive Confederate battle emblem is harming the school’s future in an age of diversity."

Little Rock officials weigh renaming Confederate Boulevard

Boy, 11, accused of killing 8-year-old neighbor with shotgun

Was a Tennessee boy and he did it because the girl wouldn’t let him see her puppy.

Thank God we don't have such problems up Nawth:

Vermont high school to keep ‘rebel’ nickname

Historical society seeks information about slavery

Okay:

The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews

Jewish Involvement in Black Slave Trade to the Americas


I've come to find history is pretty much the opposite of everything I have been taught and told.

Obama the Hypocrite Hosts Cops in Chicago

The side of the mouth he speaks out of is dependent on what audience is before him:

"Obama calls police wrongly ‘scapegoated’ for society’s failings; Society’s ills not responsibility of officers, he says" by Darlene Superville Associated Press  October 28, 2015

CHICAGO — President Obama, in remarks to the International Association of Chief of Police, which held its annual meeting in the president’s Chicago hometown, blamed the news media’s tendency ‘‘to focus on the sensational’’ for helping to drive a wedge between police officers and a public they take an oath to protect and serve. 

Yup, it's not the beatings and the killings that are covered up and enabled by the pre$$ with fantastical scenarios that are on the edge of believability. It's the mouthpiece media. That is not to say they share no blame because the government and pre$$ are hand-in-glove.

He called for rebuilding the trust that once existed between them.

Too late. Once you break it.... it never comes back.

Obama delivered his speech amid a roiling national debate about officers’ treatment of potential criminal suspects following the deaths of unarmed black men in New York, Missouri, and elsewhere by police. 

Never mind that whitey blown away last night. No protests or Lives Matter campaign for Johnny Cracker.

‘‘Too often, law enforcement gets scapegoated for the broader failures of our society and criminal justice system,’’ the president said. ‘‘I reject any narrative that seeks to divide police and the communities that they serve — I reject the story line that says, when it comes to public safety, there’s an ‘us’ and ‘them,’ ’’ Obama said. He said it’s a ‘‘narrative that too often gets served up to us by news stations seeking ratings, or tweets seeking retweets, or political candidates seeking some attention.’’ 

Can you believe the war-maker in chief is plating such steaming swirl?

Obama opened his remarks with a tribute to slain New York City police Officer Randolph Holder as hundreds of officers streamed into his wake.

Holder, 33, died last week after being shot in the head by a man he and his partner were chasing. The officers had responded to a call of shots fired and a bicycle stolen at gunpoint. A suspect is in custody on charges of murder and robbery in Holder’s killing.

Obama praised the Guyana native as emblematic of many US police officers who put their lives on the line every day....

The strange thing is the death rate is declining and leveling off.

--more--"

RelatedObama defends Black Lives Matter movement

That was less than a week ago!

Obama Supports Police Brutality 

Yes, the TORTURE CENTERS of CHICAGO are mentioned, as is the irony of the police chiefs from all over the world meeting there.

Call it the Ferguson effect, I guess.

So what sign will he be waving today?

"Thousands “disappeared” at Chicago Police Homan Square black site" by George Marlowe 29 October 2015

According to recent revelations, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) has “disappeared” more than 7,000 people at a converted Sears warehouse in Homan Square over the last decade.

A report last week in the Guardian showed that the number of people illegally detained at the department’s secretive interrogation center is more than double what was previously disclosed earlier this year.

The detention center located in the highly impoverished Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago has all the hallmarks of a paramilitary facility, referred to by reporters and lawyers as the domestic equivalent of a CIA “black site.” The drab and imposing red-brick warehouse is equipped with floodlights, cameras and razor-wire fences and has a heavy police presence. Many of those detained at the secretive facility have previously alleged that they were tortured, sexually assaulted and provided no access to legal representation.

Significantly, more than 65 percent of the arrests and detentions in Homan Square in the last decade occurred under the administration of Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the former chief of staff for President Barack Obama. Indeed, the city has a long history of police violence and torture, with the full backing of the Democratic Party. The most notorious cases of torture occurred under former police detective and commander Jon Burge between 1972 and 1991, with the full complicity of the then Attorney General and eventual Democratic mayor, Richard Daley....

--MORE--"

The $icke$t thing of all? 

He's getting a pension

That is why they can't pay your lottery winnings!

"Illinois budget woes delay lottery payouts" AP  October 16, 2015

CHICAGO — People who win more than $600 in the Illinois Lottery won’t get their money right away because of the ongoing state budget impasse, as officials said Thursday that the agency coffers had run out of money.

What a BETRAYAL! This is WHY the STATE took the numbers away from the MOB (that and the pile of ca$h they $melt; think fantasy football, kids). 

And now THEY CAN'T PAY!! Then what frikkin' good are they?

Last month, the Illinois comptroller’s office said that without a budget for the current fiscal year, the office didn’t have the authority to write checks of more than $25,000 and payments would be delayed.

I'll bet the tax loot to corporations and debt interest payments to banks is still flowing.

Lottery officials said Wednesday that they anticipated the agency’s check writing account would be exhausted the next day and that there was no legal authority to replenish it. As of Thursday morning the account — which is used to pay winnings between $601 and $24,999 — was empty, officials said.

Are you tired of the goddamn excuses of looting leaders, America? 

And this a Democrat $tronghold!

Prizes $600 and below are paid by retailers using money from ticket sales.

‘‘Once a budget is passed in Springfield, all outstanding claims will be paid,’’ according to statement released by lottery officials.

Two winners have filed a federal lawsuit against the lottery for stopping payouts of prizes above $25,000 because of the budget impasse. The lawsuit seeks to force the lottery to pay winners of more than $25,000 with 5 percent interest and asks that the lottery be barred from paying administrative or operational costs until all winners receive prizes. The lawsuit alleges dozens of people are awaiting $288 million in prizes.

Wednesday’s announcement came the same day that state Comptroller Leslie Munger said the budget impasse means next month’s $560 million payment to the Illinois pension system will be delayed.

So much for what the courts ruled then. Fa$ci$m right before your eyes! 

She said retirees will still receive benefit checks as scheduled. But the impasse has led to a cash shortage, altering the way her office will dole out payments.

Yeah, don't want them protesting in the streets.

--more--" 

Related: Illinois Court Boosts Pensions

It's all a $cam.

"Chicagoans get hefty property tax hike" Associated Press  October 28, 2015

All a last resort, huh?

CHICAGO — Chicago’s City Council easily approved a budget plan Wednesday that includes a massive property tax hike and other fees to help close a shortfall and improve the city’s underfunded pension system, votes many aldermen called the most difficult of their political careers.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed an incremental $543 million property tax increase for police and fire pensions, along with a separate $45 million property tax hike for school construction, a $9.50 monthly household garbage pickup charge, and other fees.

While much of the debate before Wednesday’s 36-14 vote on the $7.8 billion budget was supportive, many aldermen said the revenue measures were a last resort.

‘‘None of this is easy,’’ said South Side Alderwoman Carrie Austin who voted in favor.

Chicago has the worst-funded pension system of any major American city, along with a school system that’s drowning in debt.

All despite a flowering U.S. economic recovery. There must not be a stock market exchange in Chicago.

--more--"

I'll bet somehow nothing is solved and that loot disappears -- with inferior buildings and such should any be left standing after the loot is gone.