tagged w/ Kentucky
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Pleas Lucian Kavanaugh has been found not guilty in the assault case that took place on October 24, 2009. The alleged assault took place at 112 W. High St after 1AM. Many suspicious facts caught my attention after Mr. Kavanaugh contacted me and asked that I investigate and write about his case.
I wrote my first article about this case on August 13, 2010. Since then I have written several other articles detailing the shady tactics used by prosecutor Bobby Gullette and Officer Elizabeth Adams. Some of their actions took place prior to Kavanaugh's arrest and some have taken place in the courtrooms. Those articles are linked at the bottom if you'd like to follow the entire story.
Pleas' trial began on Wednesday and ended yesterday with a not guilty verdict by 1 PM.
The victim was Morgan Louise Persely and is the daughter of the partner of Officer Elizabeth Adams. During the trial Ms. Persely's story changed and made little sense. Her story differed from details she gave to the grand jury and changed again from statements given during evidentiary hearing 1 and evidentiary hearing 2.
Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-lexington/not-guilty-pleas-lucian-kavanaugh-found-innocent-of-chargesPleas Lucian Kavanaugh has been found not guilty in the assault case that took place... more
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The accents and humidity are becoming thicker. Words are becoming both shorter and more drawn out. Odd stares have led me to believe my vegetarian habits are becoming less common. We are approaching the South.The accents and humidity are becoming thicker. Words are becoming both shorter and... more
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Chandler said he was aware of the incident. I asked him if this was normal; using the Bible to refuse access to city owned resources. He said, "I can't say anything about it. I didn't have anything to do with that. Ya gotta call city hall or one of those people down there." I called the city manager and...Chandler said he was aware of the incident. I asked him if this was normal; using the... more
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by Jeff Biggers
Almost ninety years ago, an emergency crisis of unconscionable human suffering, government neglect and coal company lawlessness compelled thousands of coal miners and impoverished World War I veterans to tramp through the back roads of West Virginia and attempt to liberate terrorized mining camps that had been denied any right to union organizing.
While it took another 12 years of tragic deprivation in the coalfields for President Franklin D. Roosevelt to sign the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, granting all coal miners and laborers the legal right to join a union without repercussions, a group of besieged residents from the central Appalachian coalfields is holding a press conference in Washington, DC today to deliver a similarly urgent message of an emergency crisis of unconscionable human suffering, government neglect and coal company lawlessness to the Obama administration and the US Congress:
If the safety, health and civil rights of all Americans are protected by the same laws, then our nation's President and lawmakers are obliged by the staggering health and human rights crises and mounting deathtoll in the central Appalachian coalfields to call for an immediate moratorium on all mountaintop removal operations.
With that same Blair Mountain battlefield area now threatened by strip-mining destruction, hundreds of marchers are peacefully re-enacting the historic March on Blair Mountain this week in a nonviolent celebration to remind the nation that the safety and health of coal miners and coal mining communities must be placed above the profit interests of union-busting absentee coal companies.
It's time to bring the mountaintop removal war on Appalachia to an end.
While providing less than 5-8 percent of our national coal production, the millions of pounds of daily explosives detonated for mountaintop removal operations in West Virginia, Kentucky, southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee account for the most egregious human rights and environmental violations in our nation--and the unrecognized reality of regulated manslaughter.
While EPA administrator Lisa Jackson has openly acknowledged the unacceptable health consequences of mountaintop removal, the Obama administration has chosen to follow an admittedly failed compliance policy and 40-year rap sheet of criminally neglectful regulatory practices that have left central Appalachian communities in desperate ruin.
"Mountaintop removal is a serious threat to America's water supply," says Coal River Valley resident and Vietnam veteran Bo Webb. Living under the fallout of lethal silica and coal dust explosions, Webb has called for mandated health surveys to measure the impact of strip-mining operations on affected residents prior to any blasting. Webb adds: "Mountaintop removal eliminates jobs. It eliminates entire mountain communities in Appalachia. It is killing real people. In the interest of public health, it is the duty of every member of Congress to end this horrific crime."
The tombstone of 22-year-old Joshua McCormick -- who succumbed to kidney cancer in 2009 in the Prenter Hollow area in West Virginia, one of the most lethal coal slurry-contaminated and Clean Water Act-violated places in the nation -- remains a landmark no less important than Blair Mountain in the government's failure to enforce the Clean Water Act.
As a survivor of the Martin County, Kentucky coal slurry impoundment break in 2000, one of the worst environmental crime coverups in modern history, Mickey McCoy watched 300 million gallons of toxic coal sludge drown his area's waterways and settlements. With violation-ridden mountaintop removal blasting legally taking place near similar faulty slurry impoundments across the region, threatening the lives of thousands of residents like irresponsible accidents waiting to happen, McCoy simply concludes: "Mountaintop removal is annihilating an entire culture, and politicians who support this genocide need to be charged as accessories to murder."
Exaggerated claims? In memory of Jeremy Davidson, who was crushed to death by a boulder dislodged by a mountaintop removal operation in Virginia in 2004, McCoy's fellow Kentuckians and children have written poems begging for the coal companies and government regulators "to show mercy on the culture we love."
With nearly 1.5 million acres of American geography erased from our maps by mountaintop removal operations, Appalachia is dealing with an emergency situation of historic proportions.
Will it take a catastrophic disaster and display of dead bodies for the nation to deal with the mountaintop removal crisis?
As the forced removal of citizens from Twilight and Lindytown in West Virginia and scores of historic coal-rich settlements across Appalachia and the nation testify -- -as the largest forced removal of American citizens since the mid-19th century -- McCoy's charges of historicide and oblivion can be verified by the ruins of razed and abandoned communities.
This is why the protection of Blair Mountain's history is so critical: War veterans and coal miners died on that battlefield in 1921 to protect our nation's most sacred rights of life, liberty and true democracy. After shameless political machinations, the return of the Blair Mountain battlefield to the National Registry must be accompanied by an immediate moratorium of all mountaintop removal operations until the health and safety and human rights of affected citizens today -- like the afflicted coal miners in 1921 -- are guaranteed.
"For generations," says West Virginia filmmaker Mari-Lynn Evans, "Appalachians have been enslaved by the coal industry and their political allies. Our ancient mountains are being destroyed and our people are being sacrificed for corporate greed and political ambition. Our very survival as a culture depends on the EPA. We are here today to call upon them to regulate this rogue industry and save our home -- Appalachia."
Jeff Biggers
article : http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/08-5
Jeff Biggers is the author of The United States of Appalachia, and more recently, Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland (The Nation/Basic Books).
http://marchonblairmountain.org/by Jeff Biggers
Almost ninety years ago, an emergency crisis of unconscionable... more
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Why isn't Americans more concerned about what is going on here???? Tornados and now these Floods.........total devastation!!!!!!!!!!!! Do we care???? Are we helping all we can??? Is the Media giving this the coverage it deserves to have?Why isn't Americans more concerned about what is going on here???? Tornados and... more
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Law enforcement officials and prosecutors are concerned that a recent Mass. Supreme Court decision will hamper efforts to prosecute people for driving under the influence of drugs. Another concern is that marijuana drug busts will be harder to justify.
Defense lawyers, however, agree with the Supreme Court decision. Massachusetts, like Kentucky, passed a state ballot in 2008 decriminalizing possession of one ounce or less of marijuana. The court ruled the police need more cause than marijuana odor to order someone to exit a car. The odor of marijuana, the court found, is not indicative of criminal activity.
Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said, “If a police officer smells the distinctive odor of marijuana, if their training and experience tells them something else is going on, they should be able to do their jobs.”
Continue reading on Examiner.com: What effect will Massachusetts Supreme Court pot ruling have in Kentucky? - Lexington courts | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-lexington/what-effect-will-massachusetts-supreme-court-pot-ruling-have-kentucky#ixzz1KvjkYfcTLaw enforcement officials and prosecutors are concerned that a recent Mass. Supreme... more
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This April 29th will be the one year anniversary of Officer Bryan Durman's tragic death in Lexington. Lexingtonians, friends, family and officers around the country will be honoring this young man on Friday.
The Officer Down Memorial Page describes the incident:
"Officer Bryan J. Durman was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver at the intersection of Limestone and Alabama Streets.
He was investigating a noise ordinance violation at approximately 10:00 pm. He had responded to the location to locate the driver of a vehicle that had been playing music too loudly.
After striking Officer Durman, the driver of the SUV fled to a nearby apartment, where he was taken into custody by members of the agency's ERU team. He was charged with murder and numerous additional charges in connection with the collision and previous warrants.
Officer Durman had served with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Police Department for 2 ½ years."
I've discussed the case and the murder charge in previous articles but today is about Officer Durman.
Officer Durman was a family man, a friend, a son, a brother to his fellow officers and a good officer with a spotless career. Lexington will miss the service and fellowship of this young police officer.
Join others in honoring Officer Durman by joining the Facebook event, Honor Fallen Ofc. Bryan Durman and by changing your Facebook picture to Officer Durman's badge, available at the page, for Friday April 29, 2011.
Copyright ©Christopher Hignite 2010 All Rights Reserved.
Continue reading on Examiner.com: Lexingtonians Honor Fallen Officer Bryan Durman on April 29, 2011 - Lexington courts | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-lexington/lexingtonians-honor-fallen-officer-bryan-durman-on-april-29-2011#ixzz1Ktjmq2mNThis April 29th will be the one year anniversary of Officer Bryan Durman's tragic... more
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Ongoing Fake War on Terrorism is expanding to apps for your iPhone.
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Kentuckians, use your iPhones to submit real-time tips to the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security if you see any suspicious criminal or terrorist activity. You can choose whether or not to submit a tip anonymously.Ongoing Fake War on Terrorism is expanding to apps for your iPhone.
***... more
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So far we've dealt with some of the politicians, prostitutes and police officers that are involved in Lexington's sex trafficking industry. I've detailed my history and how I got involved in solving the murder of Deborah Wardlaw. Just prior to becoming an Examiner, I ran for city council in 2010 to bring attention to the corruption and government ties to the human trafficking industry. My campaign wound up being a catalyst to more information filling in the pieces of the puzzle. I will now introduce you to the members, the enablers and the customers of the Big Blue Mafia....
Let's re-cap.
* I made claims that the Lexington Police take payoffs from prostitutes and Deborah Wardlaw was murdered to cover this up.
* Deborah Wardlaw herself made these claims days before her murder and named individuals involved. The individuals named are placed on her case to investigate it.
* Those same officers are either convicted or proven to be corrupt in at least three cases around the same time.
* Those very individuals, the mayor, county attorney, and others at the time of the Wardlaw murder are implicated in covering up the pedophile case of Ron Berry and the Micro-City government.
* One defendant, when asked about the case, hurls a veiled threat in my direction.
* Finally, a city council member refuses to investigate the murder of Deborah Wardlaw.
* Then, he admits to not only being close friends but helping out legally a former escort agency owner with ties to local government.
* This former escort agency owner ran for mayor when he owned the prostitution based company and was currently running for mayor when this statement was made.
Some of the victims suing Micro-City Government allege Lexington Fayette Urban County Government Officials & Mayors ran a child sex-ring. The victims allege racketeering, interstate transport of minors for sex, etc.
This was the three judge panel's summary:
From 1969 until 2000, Lexington Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) provided funding for
Micro-City Government, a summer program founded by Ronald Berry. The purpose of the program was to
provide part-time summer employment for disadvantaged area youth.
According to many of the program’s participants, however, Berry physically, mentally, and sexually
abused them, with the latest acts of abuse occurring in May of 1995. Berry was subsequently convicted on 12
counts of sodomy and abuse of minors in criminal proceedings brought by the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The plaintiffs in the present case, 96 former Micro-City Government participants, claim that LFUCG
knowingly concealed and facilitated the abuse. Specifically, they allege that LFUCG officials were informed
of the abuse on a number of occasions, and that at least one LFUCG official actually witnessed “one of Berry’s
sexual outings.”
Nevertheless, LFUCG continued to fund Micro-City Government and is alleged to have actively
concealed Berry’s behavior. The plaintiffs further allege that LFUCG retained Berry as the director of the
program even after LFUCG officials were aware of the abuse, and that at least one Mayor of Lexington refused
to cut off funding or expose Berry because doing so would not have been “politically sustainable.”....
This latest news is the result of a two-year long federal investigation into the Jesters for prostitution, sex trafficking and child sex tourism after three Jesters pleaded guilty to violating or conspiring to violate the Mann Act for taking an illegal alien prostitute from Buffalo to a Jester weekend party in Kentucky. Former NY State Supreme Court Judge Ronald Tills admitted in his plea agreement to working with national Jester officers to make arrangements to transport the prostitutes from Buffalo to Ontario for a national Jester meeting.
Herbeck also reported today that an FBI agent wrote "Tills delegated that duty to Michael Lesinski, a member of the [Jesters] and then an active deputy sheriff with the Erie County Sheriff's Department."
Tills was sentenced in August, 2009 to a year and a half in federal prison for either transporting or arranging for the transportation of prostitutes to Jester meetings in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York and Canada. He’s currently incarcerated at federal facilities in Lexington, Kentucky.
Tills and two other Jesters were caught in March, 2008 by the FBI in a human trafficking sting that targeted four massage parlors that were fronts for the prostitution of illegal alien Asian women.
As a result, Tills and retired police captain John Trowbridge pleaded guilty to violating the Mann Act. Tills' law clerk, Michael Stebick, admitted to driving the motor home that transported an illegal alien prostitute from Buffalo, NY to a Jester meeting in Lexington, Kentucky, and pleaded guilty to what Lesinski has been charged with, conspiring to violate the Mann Act.
Members of the Royal Order of Jesters are secretly invited Shriners, best known for their red fezzes and operating a network of 21 hospitals that provide free medical care to burned and crippled children.
This was also detailed in the Buffalo News.
Escort agencies, like Fantasy's Escorts, that are involved with the Masons will put Masonic symbols on their websites...
Much more to the story at the link:
http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-lexington/big-blue-mafia-part-2-on-human-trafficking-lexingtonSo far we've dealt with some of the politicians, prostitutes and police officers... more
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A few days after my most recent article; Politicians, prostitutes, priest and pedophiles: The Lexington Connection was published on Examiner.com it was referenced on another news site. A reader on that site pointed out an interesting fact. Googling Deborah Wardlaw only pulls up the articles that I have written about her. She does not appear on newspaper sites, cold case files for the Lexington police, Fayette County Attorney or the Kentucky State Police websites.
"Very engrossing article. I have a couple questions: was this written by your brother and, if so, can I please be linked to a newspaper article or something similar that chronicles the death of Deborah Wardlaw? I can only find articles involving the accused connection of corrupt cops and, ironically, a website for a shooting range owned by one Deborah Wardlaw. I would like to independently verify that she was indeed murdered."
I decided to click on the contact link for the Lexington Police Cold Case website and inquire about this:
From:calanphoto@aol.com [mailto:calanphoto@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 3:06 AM
To: Detective
Subject: Unsolved murders
I am curious as to why the Deborah Wardlaw murder does not appear on this or the Commonwealth Attorney's cold case or unsolved files. If she is listed somewhere, could you please provide me a link to this information.
Sincerely,
Christopher Hignite
Lexington Courts Examiner
Examiner.com
The contact link was connected to Lieutenant James Curless. This was his response:
RE: Unsolved murdersFrom:James Curless To:calanphoto Date:Wed, Mar 23, 2011 10:15 am
Mr. Hignite,
We have just over 50 unsolved homicides from the past 35 years in Lexington. We do not post all of the unsolved homicide cases on our website; however, we do periodically rotate the unsolved homicide cases on our website. Most of our unsolved homicides, including the homicide of Ms. Deborah Wardlaw, are highlighted on our Cold Case Playing Cards which have been distributed to our local jail and state correctional facilities. Presently, there is no “link” to this case.
Unfortunately I can not answer your question as it pertains to the Commonwealth Attorney’s website. However, you may contact Mr. Ray Larson, Fayette County Commonwealth Attorney at telephone number 859-246-2060 for inquiry.
Sincerely,
Lieutenant James Curless
Lexington Police Department
150 East Main Street
Lexington, KY 40507
Office: 859.258.3743
FAX: 859.258.3781
E-Mail: jcurless@lexingtonky.gov
I then responded with:
From:calanphoto@aol.com [mailto:calanphoto@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 4:33 AM
To: James Curless
Subject: RE: Unsolved murders
Officer Curless,
Thank you for your quick reply. You mention that Deborah is on the unsolved crimes deck of cards. I checked the website, http://www.kentuckystatepolice.org/unsolved_cases.htm, and couldn't find her on the cards. Is there any where that I might obtain a copy of these cards, preferably the issue with her case? If they're not available to public would I be able to obtain one with an open records request?
My interest in her case is explained in my most recent article for the Examiner:
http://current.com/shows/upstream/93091658_politicians-prostitutes-priests-and-pedophiles-the-lexington-connection-lexington-courts-examiner-com.htm#93097750
The video attached to the article has a recording of Deborah Wardlaw naming six Lexington officers as threatening her life just days before her murder. Even with the victim's personal accusation, I have not been able to get the guns of these officers compared to the ballistics of the bullet found during the murder. The officers she mentioned were placed on the case to investigate it. Should her accusation be correct, the perpetrators of the murder were trusted to investigate the murder. In this case, it would be no wonder that the case has never made any progress.
I have been in contact with several current and former officers that have given me information in confidence that this particular group has a reputation for organized crime. (Section re-dacted due to the confidential nature and ongoing investigation) I have recorded admissions from three escort agency owners from the 90s, again fingering the same crew for taking payoffs from prostitutes.
Advertisement
My recording has been promoted and on YouTube since 2000 and I've written letters since 1997 making these claims prior to Deborah's murder and continuing until now. I made the recording an issue during the 2010 city council race and the local media mentioned it. Despite the recording not even a ballistics tests of the officers guns' who were mentioned has been done.
All of that considered. I have one question. Why haven't these officers been investigated for the murder of Deborah Wardlaw?
Sincerely,
Christopher Hignite
Lexington Courts Examiner
PS: You have been very helpful and my investigations in no way should be taken as an opinion on yourself or the department.
Lt. Curless was, again, quick to respond:
Unsolved murdersFrom:James Curless To:calanphoto Date:Fri, Mar 25, 2011 9:10 pm
Mr. Hignite,
I certainly appreciate your concern for this investigation. Typically we only discuss open homicide investigations with the public or media in very general and broad terms. As such, I will afford the same courtesy to you and respond to your points and questions from your email.
1: The Lexington Police Department produced and distributed cold case playing cards in 2009 which featured Ms. Wardlaw. On January 15, 2010 we held a press conference with our local media outlets and distributed cards to them. Although you may not have been at this event, if you provide an address I will mail a deck to you. With the assistance of the Department of Criminal Justice and the Lexington Police Department, the KY State Police were able to produce and distribute their cold case playing cards in December 2010. Their deck featured some of our cases; however, Ms. Wardlaw was not one of them.
2: In May 2010, we thoroughly reviewed the information you brought forward concerning the Deborah Wardlaw homicide investigation. As you know, these facts or the investigative follow-up information are not a matter for public disclosure. All the information you brought forward has appropriately been reviewed and investigated. Furthermore, this information has been incorporated into the Deborah Wardlaw Homicide Case File.
I assure you that our primary goal in this investigation is to place criminal charges against the culprit of this crime and provide some type of resolution to the Wardlaw family.
Lieutenant James Curless
Lexington Police Department
150 East Main Street
Lexington, KY 40507
Office: 859.258.3743
FAX: 859.258.3781
E-Mail: jcurless@lexingtonky.gov
You will note that even though I have been bringing these accusations since December 1999, the police department did not review my information or add it to the file until May of 2010.
How many people are involved? How far up the ladder does the conspiracy and the cover-up go? Why would the police, the city government, the local newspaper, politicians and even state government agencies ignore the information and turn a blind eye?
I will evaluate this information and show why the Big Blue Nation is the home of the Big Blue Mafia in Part 2 of this series on human trafficking, politicians and police departments.
Follow along and I'll explain in Part 3 how misplaced male misogyny, especially among the male elite, fuels this industry.
More at the link:
Copyright ©Christopher Hignite 2010 All Rights Reserved.A few days after my most recent article; Politicians, prostitutes, priest and... more
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Kentucky becomes the latest state to reign in corrections costs by enacting sentencing reforms. Not to be outdone, a Texas county has gotten creative with drug sentencing in the case of Willie Nelson.
Governor Steve Beshear signed Kentucky's HB 463 into law on March 3. "This overhaul of Kentucky's penal code is the result of a multi-year effort involving members of the executive, legislative and judicial branches," said Gov. Beshear. "Over the last three years, we've made headway with aggressive efforts to bring common sense to Kentucky's penal code, and our prison population has dropped each of the past three years. House Bill 463 helps us be tough on crime, while being smart on crime."
Kentucky's law calls for probation for small time drug possession charges. It also calls for drug treatment to be mad available. The law reduces penalties for small time drug dealing while increasing penalties for large-scale trafficking. It also decreases the drug free zone from 1000 yards to 1000 feet.
"Today, if you sell half a gram of rock cocaine, that's a Class C felony," said Van Ingram, director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy. "When the new law goes into effect in 90 days, you will have to sell more than four grams to get Class C. That means instead of a five-to-ten-year sentence, you'll be looking at one-to-five," he told the Chronicle.
The new law lowers possession of less than an ounce of marijuana from a Class A misdemeanor worth up to a year in jail to a Class B misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of 45 days in jail, if any jail sentence is imposed.
In November, Willie Nelson was pulled over at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Hudspeth County, Texas. Officers smelled marijuana and when a search of the tour bus was performed, they found 6.2 ounces of weed.
According to the Big Bend Sentinel, the case is about to be resolved in a very creative way. The Hudspeth County attorney has decided to make a plea deal with Willie.
“I’m gonna let him plead, pay a small fine and he’s gotta sing “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” with his guitar right there in the courtroom,” County Attorney Kit Bramblett said this week. “You bet your ass I ain’t gonna be mean to Willie Nelson.”
Bramblett oversees 10 to 12 personal use case per month. The 6.24 ounces that Willie Nelson was caught with is above the amount Bramblett can handle in his jurisdiction. Bramblett has found a way around this...
“Between me and the sheriff, we threw out enough of it or smoked enough so that there’s only three ounces, which is within my jurisdiction,” Bramblett said.
I'm not sure how much of that was a joke or not but I know that our overcrowded prisons are no laughing matter. Kentucky's prison population has increased fourfold in the past two decades, from 5,000 in 1990 to more than 20,000 now. Drug offenders account for 25% of the prison population, but 38% of inmates admitted since 2000.
Maybe Gatewood Galbraith could represent Willie Nelson in Lexington and we'll all get treated to a duo of "The Green, Green Grass of Home". That's one concert I wouldn't want to miss.
Read more at the link: http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-lexington/kentucky-passes-hb-463-and-texas-passes-one-to-willie
Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved. Christopher HigniteKentucky becomes the latest state to reign in corrections costs by enacting sentencing... more
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Have you seen me? That is the question posed by the missing children ads on milk cartons and on the walls of the post office. Have you ever stopped, read one of those ads and wondered, "What happened to this child?" We know that some are taken by non-custodial parents and others by criminals. What most people do not realize is that many children who disappear are victims of their very own government. This series of articles will take you around the world and end in your own back yard. From politicians to priests and from the Philippines to Philadelphia, I will show how the world of sexual slavery and politics go hand in hand.
Read more at the link:
http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-lexington/politicians-prostitutes-priests-and-pedophiles-the-lexington-connectionHave you seen me? That is the question posed by the missing children ads on milk... more
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It was a cold, overcast and rainy day in Lexington, Kentucky for the MoveOn.Org "Defend the Dream" rally. I couldn't help but thinking that it matched the mood of America and the World right now. The entire Middle-East is in turmoil, tens of thousands have rallied for worker's rights in Wisconsin and around the country in support of public workers' unions. If that wasn't enough, Japan has had an earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption and now six nuclear reactors are on the verge of meltdown. It seems that change is in the air and it's not the kind Obama promised just a few years ago.
Attendance at Lexington's "Defend the Dream" rally mirrored the weather and the mood of the World. The attendance was, in one word, depressing. You can see by the photos that only about 30-40 people attended during the peak of the rally. Some of those were transients and undercover police officers. I know this because my cameraman witnessed several of them sneaking off to report to bicycle officers and then return to the crowd dressed as homeless people.
MoveOn.Org sent out this message days before the event:
Republican attacks on workers and public programs are escalating in Wisconsin and in Washington, D.C. We have to stand up to Defend the Dream! So on Tuesday, we're getting together in Lexington. At the event, we'll stand in solidarity by wearing Wisconsin red and white, hear from local speakers impacted by Republican attacks, and be a show of community force to stop this onslaught on the American Dream. A big crowd is crucial please join us on Tuesday!
I don't believe in taking sides in American politics. It is my opinion that it is the middle class at war with the bankers and the corporations who control our politicians. These bankers and politicians keep us divided between Democrat and Republican lines in order to keep us arguing and divided. While we are distracted, both sides of the political isle do the bidding of the corporations and the banks who have stolen our country and replaced the Constitution with a Supreme Court that is bought and paid for.
"United we stand, Divided we fall" is a phrase that has been used in mottos, from nations and states to songs. The basic concept is that unless the people are united, it is easy to destroy them. This is a counter to the maxim divide and rule.
Wikipedia states:
Patrick Henry used the phrase in his last public speech, given in March 1799, in which he denounced The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. Clasping his hands and swaying unsteadily, Henry declaimed, “Let us trust God, and our better judgment to set us right hereafter. United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.” At the end of his oration, Henry fell into the arms of bystanders and was carried almost lifeless into a nearby tavern. Two months afterward, he had died.
Kentucky's second governor, Isaac Shelby, was particularly fond of the stanza from the Liberty Song. Since 1942, this phrase is the official non-Latin state motto of Kentucky. (In 2002, the Kentucky legislature approved an official Latin motto, Deo gratiam habeamus, "Let us be grateful to God").
Kentucky, of all places, should know the meaning of this phrase. Kentucky, of all places, should stand together and "Defend the Dream". Where were the Kentuckians today when so much is at stake? Where were the Kentuckians today that agree with today's rally? Where were the Kentuckians today that disagree with the rally's points? When all of the World is either standing up for what they believe or for those in need, where were the Kentuckians today?
Rikka Wallin has tirelessly sponsored these events for MoveOn.Org. Some of the other Kentuckians that braved the cold were Melissa Jan Williamson, Vice President for KASE, David Smith, President KASE, Kathy Green who works for the state and Dr. Preston Elrod who also spoke at the event.
These Americans got involved along with a crowd of about 30 other patriotic people to "Defend the Dream". Where were you? Agree or disagree, it need not matter. Democracy requires the involvement of the people or it doesn't work.
In the early Twentieth Century Freud and his grandson, Edward Bernays, worked with politicians to use propaganda, the media, psychology and Pavlovian techniques to 'train' the American and European people into becoming ultra-consumers. These techniques have been continued and perfected over the years creating a society that is easily controlled by keeping our incomes low and our desires high.
From Wikipedia:
Edward Louis Bernays (November 22, 1891 – March 9, 1995), was an American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda along with Ivy Lee, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations".[1] Combining the ideas of Gustave Le Bon and Wilfred Trotter on crowd psychology with the psychoanalytical ideas of his uncle, Dr. Sigmund Freud, Bernays was one of the first to attempt to manipulate public opinion using the subconscious.
He felt this manipulation was necessary in society, which he regarded as irrational and dangerous as a result of the 'herd instinct' that Trotter had described.[citation needed] Adam Curtis's award-winning 2002 documentary for the BBC, The Century of the Self, pinpoints Bernays as the originator of modern public relations, and Bernays was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine.[2]
America needs hippies. Yes, I said it, hippies, or at least the passion that drove the movement. We need a movement of people that refuse to be lab rats for Pennsylvania Avenue. We could also use some of the love, compassion and ideas of connectivity that drove the movement. What will it take to bring back the passion to America that brought our parents and grandparents into the streets?
I hope something happens soon in America because the turnout in Lexington proves Mark Twain to be right when he said, "I want to be in Kentucky when the end of the world comes, because it's always 20 years behind."
Of course, with the events around the World, that might not be such a bad thing.
Copyright ©Christopher Hignite 2010 All Rights Reserved.
Continue reading on Examiner.com: Kentuckians "Defend the Dream" at Lexington's Phoenix Park - Lexington courts | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-lexington/kentuckians-defend-the-dream-at-lexington-s-phoenix-park#ixzz1Gozpi1AoIt was a cold, overcast and rainy day in Lexington, Kentucky for the MoveOn.Org... more
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Whitney Duncan is an American country music artist and was born in 1984 in Scotts Hill, Tennessee. He was a fifth place finalist on the fifth season of Nashville Star. She has released one studio album which has charted on the United States country single charts. She was songs When I Said I Would and Skinny Dippin. She also sung a Christmas single and made a guest appearance in Kenny Rogers single before appearing in Nashville Star’s fifth Season.Whitney Duncan is an American country music artist and was born in 1984 in Scotts... more
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(Watch the video above for more details)
"We support Wisconsin!" and other signs showed Kentuckians solidarity with Wisconsin union workers. MoveOn.Org organized the nationwide rally to stand up for worker's rights, collective bargaining, attacks on unions and cuts to social programs.
Crowds were gathered at state capitols around the country to show their support for protestors fighting Wisconsin Governor SCott Walker's attempt to strip state employee's of their right to collectively bargain. State legislators passed the bill on Friday, however, Democrats have left the state blocking the vote.
Governors all across the country are facing budget deficits and many plan to follow Walker's lead should he succeed.
"On Monday night we were watching what was happening in Wisconsin and realizing that this was a crucial movement for the whole country." says MoveOn.Org Executive Director Justin Ruben. "What happens in Wisconsin will have an impact on people everywhere. The same dynamic is playing out in other states and in Washington, where Republicans are so intent on giving tax breaks to the rich and powerful that they are willing to destroy unions and kick the middle class in the teeth to do it."
"I think a lot of progressives have been watching with growing horror." says MoveOn.Org Executive Director Justin Ruben. "Republicans so dominate the debate over the economy that it's becoming a discussion of whether we should have massive cuts to vital services and massive lay offs or not so massive cuts and layoffs. And people are saying, where is the common sense?" This isn't the time to cut the services that people depend on and that create jobs. We need more that. We're seeing huge tax breaks go to the top 2% of Americans, and then the resulting worsening fiscal situation being used to justify draconian cuts--it's just too much."
"Honestly, Democrats haven't figured out a way to stand up to it," says Ruben. "And people realized, well we better show them how or we're dead. Progressives as a movement have been slow to articulate an alternative vision over the last couple years. Now it's happening, it's overdue, and it's essential."
The rally in Frankfort drew a crowd of about 150 to 200 people. This is relatively small compare to the 3100 reported by the New Jersery Star-Ledger in Trenton on Friday and the estimated thousands in New York, 2000 in both Chicago and Los Angeles and a thousand in Washington, D.C. Braving cold temperatures, those that did show for the rally were loud, energetic and showed signs of the frustration seen around the world. "We're not going to take it anymore" seemed to be a recurring theme.
Some of the people I questioned were not sure exactly what the issues were but knew it had to do with a bill in Wisconsin to bust the unions. Others thought it was about cuts to social services. One thing everyone agreed on was the sentiment that the Republicans and the Tea Party were coming for their money. There was also much talk of Governor Walker being a pawn for the Koch brothers and corporations. I met one young junior high student that explained tax cuts for the rich and military spending should be cut before social services and education.
Keith and Kelly Rouda hosted and emceed the event with Rikka Wallin. Several scheduled speakers and entertainers joined the event with the addition of some last minute guests.
* Melissa Williamson and David Smith - Working Class Poor - KY Association of State Employees
* Grant Short - Millennium generatino working in KY today without collective bargaining, first generation to make less than their parents.
* Dick Levine - Who are we standing with? United We Stand-Divided We Fall
* Andy Blyth - Union songs and group songs (Sing-alongs)
* David Davila - Why we need unions
* Charles Wheatley
* Jeanette Westbrook - We Shall Overcome (Song)
* Max Thomas - The importance of voting and what happens when we don't
* Larry Hujo - Last minute addition from the Indiana/Kentucky Carpenter's Union
* Representative Kathy Stein
"The more than 50,000 people who came out from coast-to-coast in every state today showed that the protests that started in Madison have now spread nationwide and that the Republican assault on the middle class has energized and mobilized progressives in a way not seen since the 2008 election." according to a statement released by MoveOn.Org. "The progressive movement has not seen coordinated rallies this size on this issue since the height of the anti-war movement during the Iraq war."
I went there expecting scenes like in Cairo, Tripoli and even in Wisconsin. While the crowds may not have been as large, the sentiment was the same. The middle class is hurting, they claim, and American workers will fight cuts to social programs and attacks on unions.
Continue reading on Examiner.com: Kentuckians support Wisconsin at Rally for the American Dream - Lexington courts | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-lexington/kentuckians-support-wisconsin-at-rally-to-save-the-american-dream#ixzz1FIYTrXPt(Watch the video above for more details)
"We support Wisconsin!" and... more
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We've all heard it over and over again, "September 11th changed everything". The turmoil in the Middle East is about to make us eat those words. From that day forward America has been spiraling down a path of self destruction and "our chickens are coming home to roost". Wars that we entered over lies, taking from the poor and giving to the rich, psy-ops and propaganda on American citizens and dignitaries, mercenaries for hire and more wars that create more wars. All across the world people are saying "we've had enough". Protests and regime changes are happening all across the Middle East and now we're seeing the unrest in America. Gas prices will rise and as they rise so will the price of eveything else and so will the crime rates.
When we invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq we opened up a hornet's nest that is proving impossible to exterminate. Like dominoes, American and CIA supported dictators are toppling one after another. This is due to a combination of factors. First, our prescence alone and every insurgent or civilian death just creates more anger and more terrorism. Second, the expense of these wars caused the destruction of the American economy which then destroyed the World's economy. Greed is the reason for all of this.
In April 2010 I was hired as a roaming photographer for a J.P. Morgan Chase high roller meeting at Keeneland Race Track in Lexington. I was just supposed to take some pictures of the event. The decorations and then each person separatedly for a take home souvenir was supplied. None of the staff could speak English except for the bankers and their hosts.
I'm not sure if I was supposed to come in during the lecture but I stood in the back of the room and nobody seemed to pay any attention to me. Besides, I don't think they expected the photographer to understand what they were talking about. A man named Stu Schweitzer was the guest speaker for the day.
Mr. Schweitzer spoke for about an hour but the parts you'll be interested in will make you mad. He claimed that the bailout was unnecessary because the banks weren't in need of money. We took from the poor and gave to the rich. The "crash" was by design, he said, and the crowd all laughed. He also stated that the reason they are calling it a "jobless recovery" was that the banks were fine but the jobs would not return. Again, the room filled with laughter. He then asked a Texas banker to explain to everyone how his branch was now turning to large corporate loans because housing loans and the middle class would not return. You got it, plenty of laughter. He then talked about the yearly retreat and explained how it had to be moved from the normal five star resort out west to a hotel in Times Square. This was done so the American public wouldn't know they had been deceived, he stated. He noted, however, that it was still a five star hotel. This gained him the most laughter of the night.
Wiki-leaks recently announced that Saudi Arabia may have overstated their oil reserves by 40%. This caused an immediate rise in oil prices.
Yesterday, America announced that, after discussions with NATO, sanctions would be enforced on Libya. Again, prices of oil are spiking.
These higher gas prices will hamper the global economy. A bad economy doesn't always mean higher crime rates. The San Fernando Valley and others have seen some of the lowest crime rates in decades. Crime rates fell about one third between 1934 and 1938 while the nation was struggling to emerge from the Great Depression and weathering another severe economic downturn in 1937 and 1938. However, we are facing a tsunami of issues beyond gas prices, high food prices and the failing economy.
Read the rest of the story at the link: http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-lexington/turmoil-libya-will-increase-crime-rates-lexington-ky-and-more
MonkeyFilms aka Christopher HigniteWe've all heard it over and over again, "September 11th changed... more
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FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Bible classes could be taught in Kentucky public schools under a bill that's made it halfway through the legislature.
State Senator Joe Bowen wants Kentucky public school students to have an opportunity to take classes about the bible.
"No doubt about it, the most important book ever written and obviously, it's had so much influence on our society and all of western civilization," Bowen said.
Last year, former State Senator David Boswell introduced the same bill. It passed the Senate, but died in the house.
Bowen defeated Boswell last November.
Now he, too, has passed the same bill out of the Senate, even though Bowen admits there's nothing preventing Kentucky public schools from teaching bible classes now.
"There's not, but this provides a road map, OK, this sets the foundation," he said.
Last year, when Boswell introduced the bill, State Senator Tim Shaughnessy voted for it. This year, Republican Bowen introduced it, Shaughnessy didn't vote on it.
"I didn't read it as closely as I should have," Shaughnessy said. "I spent a little more time looking into it."
Shaughnessy specifically said a provision allowing students to substitute their own text for the course throws academic credibility out the window.
State Rep. Reggie Meeks has a harsher view of the bill – he believes the Senate, with its 34-1 vote in favor of the measure, is pandering to Kentucky's Christian voters.
"It's like waving meat in front of a dog, OK? You give them what they want," Meeks said.
"What this bill provides for is a social studies course. It's education, it's not indoctrination," Bowen said.
"I suspect it will not make it out of the house this year, either," Meeks said.
"We know that was an obstacle," Bowen said.http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs44/f/2009/135/7/d/Atheist_Quotes_by_Unikraken.png... more
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A battle that took place last week in a Kentucky courtroom shined a spotlight on the cozy relationship between the coal industry and the state -- and will help decide whether citizens have the right to intervene in an environmental enforcement case that's been mishandled by regulators.
On Thursday, Jan. 27, clean water advocates appeared at a circuit court hearing in Frankfort, Ky. to argue for their motion that they should be allowed to intervene in the state's case against International Coal Group and Frasure Creek Mining over massive clean water violations at mining operations in eastern Kentucky.
The case stems from a legal action that a coalition of environmental groups launched back in October 2010 charging the companies with committing more than 20,000 violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, Appalachian Voices, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Riverkeeper and the Waterkeeper Alliance filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue, citing research that found the companies engaged in misdeeds including exceeding pollution discharge limits set by state permits, failing to conduct required monitoring of discharges, and submitting false monitoring data to state agencies.
Among the claims was that the companies' monitoring reports filed with state regulators showed exactly the same discharge data over time, indicating the companies were re-filing previously submitted reports under a different signature and date. In some cases company officials simply scratched out the old date and wrote in another -- a criminal act that can bring jail time.
On the 59th day of the 60-day response period, Kentucky officials announced a settlement agreement including a total of $660,000 in fines against the two coal companies -- an amount that represents less than 1 percent of the maximum that could be imposed under the Clean Water Act. The state also dismissed evidence of fraud, attributing the data discrepancies to clerical errors. Kentucky's action pre-empted the advocates' legal case.
But then last month, the environmentalists filed a motion to intervene in the settlement -- a move that could force the state and mining companies to release documents related to the enforcement action and give the advocates a say regarding fines and other enforcement actions.
Kentucky doesn't want the environmental groups involved, though, calling their involvement an "unwarranted burden." However, a state judge granted the groups permission to file a brief in support of their motion to intervene and ordered the state to post the full complaint and judgment on the web for a 30-day public comment period.
Appalachian Voices and the Kentucky Riverkeeper responded by submitting public comments [pdf] that detailed even more evidence of fraud and cast doubt on the state's assertion that these were mere clerical errors.
Last week's hearing came at the close of the comment period, with the environmental groups facing off against the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet and the coal companies. Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd heard two hours of testimony from attorneys representing the environmentalists, the state and the coal companies.
"I think you are entitled to your day in court, whether it's here or someplace else," he told the environmentalists -- suggesting that a federal court might be the proper venue for their case. Shepherd said he faces difficult legal issues but expects to issue a ruling soon.
Donna Lisenby, the Upper Watauga Riverkeeper with Appalachian Voices, shot a short video in the court room prior to the start of the proceedings discussing the background on the case and introducing some of the players. You can watch it here:A battle that took place last week in a Kentucky courtroom shined a spotlight on the... more
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