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| Blog and Media Roundup - Friday, November 6, 2009; News Roundup | |
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| Topic Started: Nov 6 2009, 05:17 AM (288 Views) | |
| abb | Nov 6 2009, 05:17 AM Post #1 |
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http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-In+seeming+reversal-+UNC-CH+welcomes+clash+of+ideas%20&id=4345995-In+seeming+reversal-+UNC-CH+welcomes+clash+of+ideas&instance=columnists In seeming reversal, UNC-CH welcomes clash of ideas 11.05.09 - 05:39 pm By Jay Schalin Guest columnist Last April, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill appeared to the nation as an affront to freedom and civil society. YouTube videos showed an angry crowd of protesters overcrowding a small lecture hall to shout down former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, calling him a racist for his stance against illegal immigration, and chasing him from the podium. Writers described how the jubilant protesters issued a chilling threat to the student group that invited Tancredo to campus, chanting, "We know where you sleep at night." The leftist mob ruled the campus, or so it seemed. And there had been other incidents that suggested that alternative opinions, particularly conservative opinions, were not welcome on the Chapel Hill campus. Yet half a year later, Chapel Hill seems more like a shining beacon of free speech than a repressive state imposing an extreme version of political correctness. In a recent two-week period, student groups and faculty supporters of free speech brought to campus a veritable feast of alternative views. First up, on Sept. 28, was conservative author and National Review Online editor Jonah Goldberg, brought by the College Republican Club. Goldberg drew approximately 300 people to hear his lecture on the subject of his book "Liberal Fascism," in which he argued that fascism, long assumed to be an ideology of the right, is actually an ideology of the left. Then came First Amendment Day -- Oct. 1 -- produced by the Center for Media Law and Policy (a joint venture of the School of Law and School of Journalism). The event was conceived last spring when UNC-CH's Media Law Center was contacted by the Liberty Tree Initiative, a coalition of media professionals and academics who seek to promote awareness of free speech, according to journalism professor Cathy Packer, who was in charge of the day-long event. "This seems like a good idea generally," she said of the Initiative's promotion of First Amendment awareness, "and the Tancredo incident had just occurred, so we thought students would be especially interested in free speech issues." Greg Lukianoff, the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, was the keynote speaker, which drew several hundred people. Another highlight was a panel "debate" featuring the only student arrested for the Tancredo protest, Haley Koch, and the current president of the group that invited Tancredo, Youth for Western Civilization (YWC), Nikhil Patel. During the discussion, Koch openly rejected the right to free speech of those with whom she disagreed, drawing a negative reaction from both the audience and fellow panel members. On Oct. 7, the Christian Apologetics Club held a debate between conservative author (and Christian) Dinesh D'Souza and liberal religion professor (and an agnostic) Bart Ehrman. It was sold out long before the curtain rose at UNC-CH's 1,400-seat Memorial Hall -- for a scholarly campus debate entitled "God and the Problem of Suffering." And despite the weighty topic, Ehrman's and D'Souza's comments were frequently punctuated with appreciative applause. The two men were genial toward one another, even as they argued about perhaps the single most divisive and emotional issue there is -- whether God exists. There was considerable apprehension before former U.S. Treasurer Bay Buchanan's Oct. 8 campus appearance. The YWC were again the sponsors of the event, as they had been for Tancredo, and Buchanan was essentially taking Tancredo's place as an anti-illegal immigration spokesperson. Would protesters launch an all-out effort to silence her? After all, Haley Koch had publicly stated on First Amendment Day that Buchanan's appearance would be met with opposition, and suggested that "sometimes things get messy." As it turned out, the new protest fizzled. The effects of the administration's precautions, the media attention and First Amendment Day had taken their toll on the dwindling ranks of the protesters -- there were no more than a dozen or so at the Buchanan event. Finally, on Oct. 13, the Carolina Students for Life presented another debate, this time on the abortion issue. Nadine Strossen, the former president of the ACLU, squared off against pro-life activist Scott Klusendorf. The event drew approximately 100 people. While other major universities around the country continue to garner attention for their inhospitality to conservative speakers, the Chapel Hill campus is instead opening itself up to them, and students are coming out to hear them in large numbers. Jay Schalin is a senior writer with the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy. A longer version of this article, which is reprinted with permission, originally appeared on the center's Web site, popecenter.org. |
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| abb | Nov 6 2009, 05:24 AM Post #2 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/177201.html Published Fri, Nov 06, 2009 02:00 AM Modified Thu, Nov 05, 2009 09:15 PM Duke cuts 400 jobs; more possible DURHAM Duke University has culled its payroll by about 400 employees thus far, but layoffs are still a possibility, officials said during an employee meeting this week. Many of those who left took advantage of a retirement incentive program offered to biweekly paid staff, Duke officials say. The incentive was one of several university efforts to reduce expenses and close a $125 million budget shortfall. |
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| abb | Nov 6 2009, 05:26 AM Post #3 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/counties/chatham_county/story/153977.html Published Fri, Oct 23, 2009 05:25 AM Modified Thu, Oct 22, 2009 09:42 PM Lawyer sues two judges, N.C. Bar RALEIGH A Chapel Hill-based lawyer who ran an unsuccessful campaign last fall to be a District Court judge in Orange and Chatham counties sued Thursday in Wake County Superior Court, listing two District Court judges as defendants. Betsy Wolfenden, a lawyer since 2000, accuses Joe Buckner and Lunsford Long, District Court judges in Orange and Chatham, with taking part in a conspiracy to ruin her professional reputation and inflict emotional distress. The lawsuit also lists the N.C. State Bar and lawyers Donna Amber Davis and Leigh A. Peek as defendants. Wolfenden is scheduled to go before a State Bar disciplinary hearing panel in January. The bar filed a 13-page complaint this year alleging that Wolfenden has been combative, disruptive and erratic in court during the past two years, displaying paranoid behavior that includes frivolous claims and personal attacks on opposing counsel. It alleges she suffers from a mental condition that impairs her judgment and ability to practice law in a professional manner. Earlier this month, Wolfenden said the bar dismissed the claim that she was mentally ill after she underwent a psychological exam. No notice of that dismissal has been posted on the State Bar site, according to Wolfenden. In the lawsuit filed Thursday, Wolfenden not only seeks compensatory damages from the five defendants; she also seeks the removal of Buckner and Long from the bench "for corrupt and malicious acts." It was unclear Thursday what impact the suit filed this week would have on the scheduling of the disciplinary hearing. anne.blythe@newsobserver.com or 919 932-8741 |
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| abb | Nov 6 2009, 05:33 AM Post #4 |
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http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/federal-air-marshal-on-trial-for-hotel-rape-in-uk/?print=1 Federal Air Marshal on Trial for Rape in UK Posted By Annie Jacobsen On November 5, 2009 @ 12:00 am In . Column2 06, Europe, Homeland Security, US News, World News | 31 Comments A 42-year-old federal air marshal, identified only by the initials “JGB,” is standing trial in England for raping a 23-year-old, intoxicated woman whom he met in a hotel bar just hours after completing a mission flight. The hotel room that the air marshal was staying in was paid for by the Federal Air Marshal Service. The woman worked for the British Royal Navy. According to internal TSA documents obtained by the author, “the criminal charge is the result of a year-long investigation conducted by London Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution in cooperation with the DHS Office of Inspector General.” The air marshal’s defense is that the act was not rape but consensual sex. On Monday, the Telegraph [1] broke the story, reporting that during the trial prosecutors showed that consensual sex between the air marshal and the woman was physically impossible. The woman was so drunk she had “only ten milligrams short of a fatal amount” of alcohol in her blood. “She would have been unconscious … or in a coma” during sex, the Telegraph says the jury was told. Further complicating matters, the barrister prosecuting the case told the court that the woman “did not make the allegation.” This is highly unusual in any rape charge. “She does not remember the sexual encounter at all,” the barrister told the jury. Instead, according to the Telegraph, “hotel staff called police after seeing marks on [the woman’s] arms.” What else did the hotel staff see? I’ve been following this case, behind the scenes, for over a year. There is a lot more that readers are not being told. Immediately after the incident, several air marshals provided me with details which I found both shocking and unverifiable. TSA, which oversees the Federal Air Marshal Service, refused to return calls. With news that the DHS inspector general is involved, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests will likely follow. Transparency will reveal details which the agency has worked hard to conceal. With good reason, Robert S. Bray [2], the director of the Federal Air Marshal Service, is concerned about the agency’s viable future. Hours after the Telegraph broke the story, Bray sent a letter to air marshals — a copy of which was obtained by the author. In it Bray wrote, “The impact of these charges on the reputation and operations of the Federal Air Marshal Service is serious. It is likely that sustained negative publicity could result in host country reviews of our procedures, not only in the United Kingdom but very possibly by other host governments.” On Tuesday, the Daily Mail [3] filed a story about the trial, one that offered troubling new clues: [The Air Marshal] was there with five other American air marshals who travel under cover on flights to and from the U.S. as a counter-terrorism measure. They were due to leave the next morning. They asked the woman, who was on her own, to join them. The Old Bailey heard that she became so drunk she repeatedly stumbled, falling over twice. Eventually she was escorted to her room by one of the men, and then left in the care of JGB. The prosecution says that after the woman had been escorted back to her room, JGB was alone with her there for an hour and a quarter. Then he left her door on the latch while he went to meet other colleagues for a drink. He returned to her room for another half an hour and sexually assaulted her. Air Marshals are law enforcement officers who work under a federal oath that requires them to protect people. Six federal air marshals were in a bar with a visibly intoxicated young woman who was alone. Four of these air marshals felt the correct thing to do was to let two of their colleagues escort the woman to her room. One of these two law enforcement officers then felt the correct thing to do was to leave the other man alone in a room with a young woman too drunk to stand — for 75 minutes. What did that air marshal tell his colleagues that he was doing for so long alone with a woman too drunk to stand after he returned to the hotel bar? And how was it that in a group of federal air marshals, not one of these trusted public servants made sure the man did not again return to the woman’s room? Apparently, the British government wants the answers. And they are willing to invest top dollar to prosecute this case. The prosecutor, Kalyani Kaul, is one of the highest paid barristers [4] in Britain. In 2005, she earned 766,000 British pounds, more than 1.25 million dollars. More will be revealed. |
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| abb | Nov 6 2009, 05:39 AM Post #5 |
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http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/nov/06/take-a-long-hard-look-at-reducing-crime/ Editorial: Take a long hard look at reducing crime By Staff Reports Friday, November 6, 2009 For the record, we believe Letalvis Cobbins, who was convicted in August in the 2007 murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, should be locked in one of the most secure prisons in the state. For the record, we also believe that Tennessee lawmakers should allow state departments to be run professionally by their commissioners. No one on the record is accusing state Sen. Tim Burchett of using political influence in the assignment of Cobbins to a maximum-security prison. But a call from a senator does spark attention. Burchett last week called Correction Commissioner George Little after speaking to Christian's father and learning that Cobbins was being held at a medium-security facility. Why Cobbins was not in a maximum-security prison was a legitimate question for the parents. And Burchett certainly was correct to convey their concerns. Cobbins now has been relocated to a maximum-security prison. The call from the senator and "more importantly, the concerns of the victim's family" as relayed by Burchett, Little said, were factors in the relocation. Cobbins also is in the maximum-security prison because death threats were made against him. Little said relocation was considered before Burchett called. Thus, the question about where Cobbins is spending the first days of the rest of his life might be moot, except that Little had a reasonable explanation about prisoners' status, and Burchett says he will propose a bill to require all inmates convicted of first-degree murder to be kept in maximum security. First, the explanation. Little said the current classification system is based on a national model and has worked well for 20 years. Tennessee currently has about 900 maximum security units, while there are about 4,700 murderers in prisons statewide. Putting all murderers into maximum security, the commissioner said, would require millions of dollars to build new facilities or modify existing ones, including hiring extra guards - this amid possible severe state budget cuts. Secondly, Burchett appeared undaunted by the explanation. He said, "Is it ball parks and fences around the ball parks or protecting the citizens?" That is a false choice, and Burchett should know it. The bleak budget outlook for 2010 would indicate that Tennessee will have neither new maximum-security prisons nor new ball parks with fences. Lawmakers might not consider costs regarding such an emotional issue while the Legislature is not in session, but you can bet they will in January. What they should consider instead are the proposals offered each year by the Tennessee Public Safety Coalition that, if implemented, really would help reduce crime. These are items like stiffer penalties for gang-related violence, aggravated robbery and using a deadly weapon in a crime. They also have asked for more prosecutors. Each year, there is a fiscal note attached to the bills that frightens lawmakers into accepting the status quo, which the coalition says means Tennessee ranks second in the nation for violent crimes per capita. If Burchett and other lawmakers are serious about the safety of the state's citizens, they will take a long, hard look at the bigger picture of crime in this state. |
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| ~J~ is in Wonderland | Nov 6 2009, 08:29 AM Post #6 |
~J~ is in Wonderland
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/177501.html Sex toy research causes a stir at Duke - At Duke University, a school that likes to tout its cutting-edge research, a sex toy study being conducted by a behavioral economist and student health workers has roused criticism. For much of October, researchers recruited female Duke students to take part in a "sexually explicit" study on Tupperware-style parties in which sex toys, not kitchenware, are the draw. The ads, which were posted around campus and on a research study Web site, sought female students at least 18 years old to "view sex toys and engage in sexually explicit conversation with other female Duke students." Participants will be asked to complete online questionnaires about their sexual attitudes and behaviors and visit the lab for a "one-hour party" with seven or eight women. Not only will the students be asked to complete a second questionnaire a couple of months later, they will receive a gift bag and be given the opportunity to purchase items at a significantly reduced rate, according to the ad. Father Joe Vetter, director of the Duke Catholic Center, was so troubled by the ads that he contacted researchers at Duke student health services and Dan Ariely, the professor of behavioral economics at the Duke business school and senior fellow at the Duke Kenan Institute for Ethics involved in the study. "My understanding is there is a concern on campus about promiscuity," Vetter said. In recent years, some university health centers have touted sex toys as alternatives to risky sexual behavior and serial promiscuity. The study, Vetter said, was designed by health care workers to see whether such approaches work. "I'm concerned about promiscuity also," Vetter said. "And to be honest, I don't have the solution. ... My concern is these students are in this developmental phase, and I don't think it's a good developmental practice to just tell somebody to just sit around and masturbate. I don't think that promotes relationships." Vetter hopes to take up the topic on Sunday with students. He wrote for the Sunday bulletin: "Can We Talk About Sex in Church?" Efforts to reach Ariely and others in charge of the research project were unsuccessful Thursday. The ad no longer appears on the Web site, Duke officials say, because the study is filled. Michael Schoenfeld, Duke's vice president for public affairs, said that all kinds of research are important on university campuses and that the sex toy party project went through a peer review process before any students were sought. "Not all research will make people comfortable," Schoenfeld said. |
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| chatham | Nov 6 2009, 08:37 AM Post #7 |
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Heard on the radio this am The triangle business journal reported that DUHS made over 2 billion last year. Their endowment which they said was at 1.5 billion at the beginning of the year lost about 490 million. I have not been able to confirm this at the triangle business journal online yet. |
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| chatham | Nov 6 2009, 08:43 AM Post #8 |
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Unemployment up to 10.2% http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Jobless-rate-tops-10-pct-for-apf-563122944.html?x=0&.v=8 Jobless rate tops 10 pct. for first time since '83 Unemployment rate tops 10 percent for first time since 1983; 190,000 jobs lost in October Edited by chatham, Nov 6 2009, 08:44 AM.
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| Quasimodo | Nov 6 2009, 08:49 AM Post #9 |
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All the lax team needed to do was say they were hiring a stripper for research purposes... |
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| chatham | Nov 6 2009, 11:57 AM Post #10 |
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http://hotair.com/archives/2009/11/06/breaking-hoyer-admits-dems-dont-have-the-votes-for-pelosi-plan/ Breaking: Hoyer admits Dems don’t have the votes for Pelosi Plan |
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| ~J~ is in Wonderland | Nov 6 2009, 02:48 PM Post #11 |
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~J~ is in Wonderland
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/177357.html Pool of military recruits increasingly unfit The biggest long-term threat to U.S. national security might not be terrorists or weapons of mass destruction. According to a group of military leaders, it's homegrown obesity, ignorance and criminality, which together make seven of 10 target-age recruits ineligible to serve in the American armed forces. "It's not just disturbing. It's a call to action," James A. Kelly, former deputy assistant secretary of defense, said Thursday during a telephone news conference from Washington. Kelly is one of nearly 100 former and current military leaders who came together last year to form an organization called Mission: Readiness to draw attention to the status of potential recruits. In a study it calls "Ready, Willing and Unable to Serve," the group says Pentagon analysts have concluded that 75 percent of people ages 17 to 24 could not qualify for military service because they are obese or have some other health problem, lack a high school diploma or have a serious criminal history. snip- |
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| ~J~ is in Wonderland | Nov 6 2009, 02:54 PM Post #12 |
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~J~ is in Wonderland
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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/78443.html Afghan insurgents learn to destroy key U.S. armored vehicle Taliban-led insurgents in Afghanistan have devised ways to cripple and even destroy the expensive armored vehicles that offer U.S. forces the best protection against roadside bombs by using increasingly large explosive charges and rocket-propelled grenades, according to U.S. soldiers and defense officials. At least eight American troops have been killed this year in attacks on so-called Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, and 40 more have been wounded, said a senior U.S. military official who, like others interviewed on the issue, declined to be further identified because of the issue's sensitivity. The insurgents' success in attacking the hulking machines, which can cost as much as $1 million each, underscores their ability to counter the advanced hardware that the U.S. military and its allies are deploying in their struggle to gain the upper hand in the war, which entered its ninth year last month. The attacks also raise questions about how vulnerable a new, lighter MRAP, the M-ATV, which is now being shipped to Afghanistan, are to the massive explosive charges that Taliban-led insurgents have been using against its bigger cousin. The insurgents are also hitting MRAPs with rocket-propelled grenades that can penetrate their steel armor, according to U.S troops in Afghanistan, several of whom showed McClatchy a photograph of a hole that one of the projectiles had punched in the hull of an MRAP. The Pentagon has spent more than $26.8 billion to develop and build three versions of the largest MRAPs, totaling some 16,000 vehicles, mostly for the Army and Marine Corps, according to an August report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Another $5.4 billion is being spent to produce 5,244 M-ATVs, the smaller version that U.S. defense officials contend offers as much protection as the large models do, but is more maneuverable and better suited to Afghanistan's dirt tracks and narrow mountain roads. "The traditional MRAP was having real problems . . . off road in Afghanistan," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell. "And clearly we have to do a lot of work off-road. And these new vehicles will provide our forces the ability to travel more safely off road — certainly off paved roads — than they would have been able to do with other vehicles." Defense officials acknowledged the growing problem of successful attacks on MRAPs, and said the U.S. military is constantly developing improvements for the vehicle that include better sensors and tactics. "It's not all about the armor. We can't build something that is impervious to everything," said Navy Capt. Jack Henzlik, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We are using a comprehensive strategy to try to provide for the protection of our forces." The issue was the subject of a high-level meeting convened on Wednesday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who made the production of MRAPs his highest priority in 2007 as U.S. troops in Iraq were suffering massive casualties from roadside bomb attacks. The use of powerful explosive charges against MRAPs "is a problem that he (Gates) is keenly aware of, very concerned about, and is determined to make sure this building is doing everything it can to combat," Morrell said. "We have never advertised MRAPs or M-ATVs as a silver bullet for the IED (improvised explosive device) problem. This is but one element of a vast array of capabilities that we need to bring to bear to protect our forces." However, retired Army Col. Douglas A. MacGregor, a former armored cavalry commander and combat veteran and an expert on armor warfare, said that vehicles such as the MRAP have "very limited utility" in a war against a guerrilla group such as the Taliban. "The notion of a wheeled armored constabulary force as a prescription for a close combat situation is nonsense," he said. U.S. troops rely on the MRAP's V-shaped hull, which is designed to deflect explosive blasts, and heavy armored plating to protect them against the landmines and IEDs that are causing most American combat deaths in Afghanistan. October was the deadliest month for U.S. troops since the 2001 U.S. invasion. At least 59 were killed, bringing the total for the year to at least 272 dead, according to the Internet site iCasualties. At least 139 of those troops died in IED blasts, according to the Pentagon. "Pentagon officials note that insurgents are building larger IEDs and are finding better ways to conceal them," the Congressional Research Service report said. "The biggest question is what took them so long," said a senior Pentagon official with extensive experience with the MRAP program and familiarity with the weapons and techniques that the militants in Afghanistan have developed to "compromise" the vehicle. The fact that the large MRAPs — which range from 7 tons to 24 tons depending on the model — often are confined to narrow mountain roads and valleys in Afghanistan has made it easier for insurgents to prepare ambushes using anti-tank mines, IEDs or rocket-propelled grenades capable of penetrating armor, the official said. U.S. defense officials insisted that many more U.S. troops would be killed and injured in Afghanistan and in Iraq if they'd been equipped with vehicles other than MRAPs. "KIA (killed in action) rates in particular are noticeably reduced in MRAPs," said Irene Smith, a spokeswoman for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, the Pentagon agency created to develop defenses against roadside bombs. U.S. defense officials in Washington and Kabul declined to reveal the number of MRAPs that have been crippled or destroyed since the first vehicles were deployed in Afghanistan in 2003, saying they didn't want to provide the Taliban with information on the effectiveness of their tactics. McClatchy is voluntarily withholding some U.S. soldiers' descriptions of insurgent tactics out of concern that they may not be known by all of those fighting U.S.-led forces. The soldiers spoke out of what they said was a heightened concern about the vehicles' vulnerability to ambushes, especially on mountain roads where there's no room for the vehicles to turn around. |
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| Kerri P. | Nov 6 2009, 08:12 PM Post #13 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/6365808/ Raleigh teen accused of embezzlement Posted: Today at 5:07 p.m. Raleigh, N.C. — A Raleigh teen is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from Cappi’s Exxon Deli and Bakery in Cary. Kevin Castillo-Cardova, 17, worked as a clerk at the deli at 2700 Regency Parkway. Cardova is accused of embezzling $25,000 from the restaurant, according an arrest warrant. Cardova’s next court appearance is Monday. |
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| Kerri P. | Nov 6 2009, 08:13 PM Post #14 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/6366656/ Mecklenburg County judge resigns Posted: Today at 7:10 p.m. RALEIGH, N.C. — Mecklenburg County District Judge Bill Belk resigned on Friday after allegations that he made disparaging comments about two judicial colleagues, according to Dick Ellis, a spokesman for the North Carolina Administrative Office of Courts. A copy of Belk’s resignation later was not immediately available. Belk was also under scrutiny for his position on the board of Sonic Automotive Inc., a Charlotte-based chain of car dealerships. A series of Judicial Standards Commission hearings were held in September addressing the issues. |
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| Quasimodo | Nov 6 2009, 08:39 PM Post #15 |
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He stole $25,000 and nobody noticed it was missing? The owner didn't check the books? He didn't notice he was making less money than before? (This kid could give Kim Roberts some lessons...) |
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9:45 AM Nov 30
