Jilly_in_VA
Jilly_in_VA's Journal3 Maryland middle-schoolers charged with antisemitic hate crime
Three students at a southern Maryland middle school have been charged with hate-crime violations in connection with acts that included Nazi salutes, the Calvert County state’s attorney said.
The students, all 13 years old, attend Plum Point Middle School in Calvert, according to a statement posted by the office of the prosecutor, Robert Harvey.
The statement said they have also been charged with harassment.
The students “displayed swastikas, made Nazi salutes, and directed offensive comments to a classmate because of the classmate’s religious beliefs,” the prosecutor’s statement said, quoting charging documents.
The students were charged as juveniles and were not named, the prosecutor’s office said. The offensive comments were not describedThe statement said they have also been charged with harassment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/25/maryland-students-charged-hate-crime/
"You've got to be carefully taught..."
North Carolina schools candidate who called for Obama's death put on the spot
The far-right Republican candidate running to oversee public schools in North Carolina decried “extreme agendas that threaten our children’s future”, after being confronted by reporters over tweets in which she called for the executions of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
“Don’t let extreme agendas threaten our children’s future,” Michele Morrow said on social media on Thursday, posting an address in which she said she was “facing the most radical extremist Democrats [that] have ever run for superintendent in the history of North Carolina”.
But Morrow, who is running for superintendent of public instruction, also had to respond to a CNN crew who confronted her about posts, unearthed by the same network, in which she advocated violence against leading Democrats.
Comments made by Morrow between 2019 and 2021 and reported by CNN included a May 2020 tweet in which Morrow said Obama should be the subject of “a Pay Per View of him in front of a firing squad”, adding: “I do not want to waste another dime on supporting his life. We could make some money back from televising his death.”
In December 2020, when Biden, as president-elect, said he would ask Americans to wear masks against Covid-19 for 100 days, Morrow – a nurse – wrote: “Never. We need to follow the constitution’s advice and KILL all TRAITORS!!!”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/21/north-carolina-gop-michele-morrow
"No, I never sid that, I only TWEETED it!" Yeah, no.
Judge appoints special master to oversee California federal women's prison after rampant abuse
A judge on Friday appointed a special master to oversee a troubled federal women’s prison in California known for rampant sexual abuse against inmates, marking the first time the federal Bureau of Prisons has been subject to such oversight.
The judge’s scathing order encompasses the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, located about 21 miles (34 kilometers) east of Oakland.
A 2021 Associated Press investigation that found a culture of abuse and cover-ups at the prison brought increased scrutiny from Congress and the federal Bureau of Prisons.
The order is part of a federal lawsuit filed in August by eight inmates and the advocacy group California Coalition for Women Prisoners. They allege that sexual abuse and exploitation has not stopped despite the prosecution of the former warden and several former officers.
The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on the special master appointment.
https://apnews.com/article/california-prison-sexual-abuse-special-master-42bb640f681d1d0a83b7b1892fd4a4c5
All of this kind of activity between guards etc,. and prisoners is illegal, and there is no scenario in which a prisoner can give consent.
Diaba Konat loves France. But a hijab ruling stops her playing there
The energy radiating from Diaba Konaté is palpable, even over our transatlantic Zoom chat. The wide-smiling college star has dreamed of playing basketball in the States ever since she was a young girl. She moved to the US from France in December 2018 on a full scholarship from Idaho State University, later transferring as a junior to the University of California, Irvine.
The 23-year-old point guard’s collegiate highlights include averaging 8.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game as a junior, ranking among the top-30 in the nation with her free-throw percentage, and tying eighth in single-season school history with 63 steals. She also reached 1,000 points in her collegiate career after dropping a season-high 20 against UC Santa Barbara in February 2023.
Diaba’s journey began aged 11 when a teacher recognised her potential at school in Paris, and she soon joined the French youth team set-up, going on to win medals with the under-18 and under-23 teams. “France taught me basketball,” she tells me, her French accent delicately skimming her fluent English. You can sense deep affection and pride when she speaks of home, but there’s one major glitch – she is banned from playing in her own country simply because she wears a hijab.
The French Federation of Basketball (FFBB) prohibits the wearing of “any equipment with a religious or political connotation”, which discriminates against Muslim women in headgear. Secularism in France, or ‘laïcité’, has restricted those wearing religious attire from entering many official public institutions, including the sporting arena, in a continual drive to separate religion and state. With the Paris Games starting in July, the FFBB’s ruling has drawn fire from around the world, with critics saying that it goes against the spirit of the Olympics, and sports in general.
Diaba says she is “heartbroken” at the ban in France, which prevents her from playing in public arenas in her hijab. “It’s like a two people relationship. I want to step towards them, but they’re backing up. I love my home country, but I feel like America loves me more.”
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/mar/15/diaba-konate-loves-france-but-a-hijab-ruling-stops-her-playing-there
I don't think (correct me if I'm wrong) that France prohibits nuns from wearing their habits. So this is stupid. Just stupid. Let the women play!
Former Mormon bishop highlighted in AP investigation arrested on felony child sex abuse charges
A former bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was featured in an Associated Press investigation into how the church protects itself from allegations of sexual abuse was arrested by police in Virginia this week after being indicted on charges he sexually abused his daughter while accompanying her on a school trip when she was a child, according to court filings.
Police and federal authorities had been searching for John Goodrich after a grand jury in Williamsburg on Jan. 17 found probable cause that he committed four felonies, including rape by force, threat or intimidation, forcible sodomy, and two counts of felony aggravated sexual battery by a parent of a child.
Those charges were filed weeks after the AP investigation revealed how a representative of the church, widely known as the Mormon church, employed a risk management playbook that has helped it keep child sexual abuse cases secret after allegations surfaced that Goodrich abused his daughter Chelsea, now in her 30s, at their home in Idaho as well as on a school field trip to the Washington, D.C., area 20 years ago.
“I hope this case will finally bring justice for my childhood sexual abuse,” Chelsea Goodrich said in a statement to the AP. “I’m grateful it appears that the Commonwealth of Virginia is taking one event of child sexual assault more seriously than years of repeated assaults were treated in Idaho.”
https://apnews.com/article/mormon-church-investigation-child-sex-abuse-aedc8cfc9175ebadb18420ec25a5f99c
Brett Kavanaugh knows truth of alleged sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford says in book
The US supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh is not a “consummately honest person” and “must know” what really happened on the night more than 40 years ago when he allegedly sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford, his accuser writes in an eagerly awaited memoir.
A research psychologist from northern California, Ford was thrust into the spotlight in September 2018 as Kavanaugh, a Bush aide turned federal judge, became Donald Trump’s second conservative court nominee. Her allegations almost derailed Kavanaugh’s appointment and created headlines around the world.
Ford’s memoir, One Way Back, will be published next week. The Guardian obtained a copy.
“The fact is, he was there in the room with me that night in 1982,” Ford writes. “And I believe he knows what happened. Even if it’s hazy from the alcohol, I believe he must know.
“Once he categorically denied my allegations as well as any bad behavior from his past during a Fox News interview, I felt more certainty than ever that after my experience with him, he had not gone on to become the consummately honest person befitting a supreme court justice.”
Kavanaugh’s nomination became mired in controversy after a Washington Post interview in which Ford said Kavanaugh, while drunk, sexually assaulted her at a party in Montgomery county, Maryland, when they were both in high school.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/13/christine-blasey-ford-book-supreme-court-brett-kavanaugh-sexual-assault
He knows. He just prefers not to say.
'The rats are ... all high,' NOPD chief says of vermin-infested HQ, evidence room
Heavy mold and deteriorating elevators, HVAC units and plumbing are some of the issues that have been plaguing New Orleans Police Department headquarters.
But those aren't the only problems at aging police facilities around the criminal justice complex near Tulane Avenue and South Broad Street. Don't forget the vermin, NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told the City Council's Criminal Justice Committee on Monday.
"The rats are eating our marijuana," Kirkpatrick said. "They're all high."
Rodents have infested police headquarters, scattering feces across desks and feasting on narcotics in the department's evidence room, she said. Cockroaches are also abundant.
"It is not just at police headquarters. It is all the districts. The uncleanliness is off the charts," Kirkpatrick said. "The janitorial cleaning (team) deserves an award trying to clean what is uncleanable."
https://www.nola.com/news/crime
This one made me LOL. Stoned rats? And probably roaches too? Well, that's NOLA for ya!
Katie Britt Blames Everyone but Herself in Fundraising Plea
After a State of the Union rebuttal that even some in her own party felt embarrassed by, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) is trying to use that backlash to her advantage, writing in a fundraising email Tuesday that her “heart is broken” for those she said she was speaking on behalf of.
“Following my speech, the far-left media didn’t waste a second flooding the airwaves with despicable, disgusting messages about me,” the email read. “They attacked my character.
They attacked my faith. They attacked my identity as a mother and a wife.”
Britt’s stunted delivery earned mockery from The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, and even Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel. On Fox News, one host took a different view, insisting Britt did a “great job” and was “natural.” But that wasn’t enough to prevent her from writing that her “heart is broken.”
“Not for myself, but for my children, your children and the ENTIRE next generation of Americans. Why? Because I didn’t prepare a 20 minute speech and stand up to Biden in front of millions of Americans for ME. I did it for them, for YOU and for your children, Friend!” she wrote.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/katie-britt-blames-everyone-but-herself-in-shameless-fundraising-plea
NAACP calls on Black student-athletes to boycott Florida public colleges over anti-DEI policy
The head of the NAACP is calling on Black student-athletes to reconsider their decisions to attend public colleges and universities in Florida, challenging a new state policy that bars those institutions from using government funds on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
In a letter sent Monday to current and future student-athletes of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NAACP leader Derrick Johnson implored college-bound Black athletes to “choose wisely.”
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion are paramount to ensuring equitable and effective educational outcomes,” Johnson said in a statement accompanying the letter, which was first reported by NBC News. “The value Black and other college athletes bring to large universities is unmatched.”
“If these institutions are unable to completely invest in those athletes, it’s time they take their talents elsewhere,” said Johnson, the civil rights organization’s president and chief executive.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/naacp-boycott-florida-colleges-black-athletes-dei-policy-rcna142549
There's a whole lot of schools down there besides Florida and Florida State, too......
Girl Scouts were told to stop bracelet-making fundraiser for kids in Gaza. Now they can't keep up
Missouri Girl Scout leaders threatened legal action against a troop that made bracelets to raise funds for starving children in Gaza, provoking outrage and ridicule from the girls’ supporters and advocates for people trapped in the Palestinian territory by the latest humanitarian crisis.
Girl Scouts of the USA said its eastern Missouri chapter had only been following fundraising rules, but that it was “disappointed and disheartened by the tone” of the communication with the troop in St. Louis.
“We felt like we were targeted, unfairly belittled and unheard,” said Nawal Abuhamdeh, a first generation Palestinian Muslim American and the leader of Troop 149 in St. Louis, which has since disbanded from the Girl Scouts.
Tasneem Manjra, a troop leader in California, said it looks like the Girl Scouts are backtracking because they were called out.
“I think that’s a load of Thin Mints,” said Manjra. “They were way too heavy-handed in their response to Nawal and her troop.”
Abuhamdeh said the fundraising effort began because the girls in her troop were uncomfortable selling Girl Scout Cookies while people are starving in Gaza. During one meeting, the girls — who are of Pakistani, Indian, Somali, Syrian, Palestinian and Jordanian heritage — cried and said they felt hopeless.
https://apnews.com/article/girl-scouts-gaza-bracelets-ae0d36cf651a0e995243a85084fbd016
Organizations run by adults getting in the way of kids again....
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