Sunday, April 20, 2014

William Harasym fundraising for Ukraine Unchained!

Howdy You all,
My campaign: "William Harasym fundraising for Ukraine Unchained" is underway and in order to reach my goal I need your contribution.
How your donation will help: Remember
1930's Germany? The Ukraine needs our help now as Russia and Putin try
and destroy her! We can't sit silent and do nothing, as that's what real
humans don't do.
Making a donation is super easy! Simply visit my campaign page and click donate. Any amount makes a difference!

Sincerely,
William H. Ukrainian American

Friday, April 18, 2014

"Keystone XL announcement met with predictable oily response!"

Keystone XL announcement met with The Predictable Oily Response!

By: David Turnbull, April 18, 2014

The State Department announced a delay in their Keystone XL review
process today, as they wade through 2.5 million public comments, as well
as work to get a handle on the fact that thanks to a Nebraska Supreme
Court ruling, there is currently no legal route through Nebraska.

This announcement is a good thing, from a climate perspective. Every
day that the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline remains unbuilt is a day
that it is not pumping hundreds of thousands of barrels of the dirtiest
oil on the planet through our heartland to be shipped abroad. That’s a
good thing, to be sure.

But what would be even better is if this project was rejected once
and for all. Such a decision would show our future won’t be dictated by
Big Oil’s bullying, and would reflect a true understanding that we must
move quickly in a new direction if we are to avert a true climate
catastrophe.

You can read our full response here… But it’s also easily summed up by this graphic:

Of course, some members of Congress were quick to respond as well…and
their responses may as well have been scripted by the oil industry
itself.

Senator Mary Landrieu, possibly Big Oil’s favorite Democrat, was
quick out of the gate, vowing to take ”decisive action” to circumvent
the legal process and push approval of the pipeline as Chair of the
Senate’s Energy Committee. Of course, this should come as no surprise
given the $1.1 million in campaign contributions she has received from the oil industry.

Not to be outdone, the leaders of the Republican caucuses in the
House and Senate both quickly put out statements as well…Senator
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell cited inflated oil industry jobs claims
while Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner repeated the industry’s
oft-refuted claim that the pipeline would help with the Ukraine crisis. Rep. Boehner’s Big Oil campaign receipts? Over $1 million. Sen. McConnell’s? Over $1.2 million from the oil industry alone.

In the Senate, statements from other usual suspects swimming in Big
Oil cash joined Senators McConnell and Landrieu’s pro-Keystone XL
statements:

Senator John Thune (R-SD) : $650,000 in Big Oil cash
Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND): Over $100,000 from Big Oil IN ONE ELECTION CYCLE. In North Dakota, no less.
Senator John Hoeven (R-ND): $285,000 in oil money, also in sparsely populated North Dakota.
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): $750,000 in Big Oil cash

And finally, TransCanada’s biggest cheerleader, Nebraska Representative Lee
Terry continued his defense of Big Oil at the expense of his constituents. It seems he’s chosen to listen to the $560,000 in Dirty Energy Money over the voices Nebraskans across the state calling for rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline.

All told, members of Congress defending the Keystone XL pipeline today account for over $4 million in Big Oil campaign contributions. It’s no wonder they continue to parrot the industry’s talking points.

Today’s announcement by the Obama administration to delay the review
process was spurred by the fact that the route through Nebraska remains
in question. That reality makes next week’s Reject and Protect
encampment in Washington, DC all the more timely. Throughout the coming
week, Native Americans from along the proposed pipeline route will be
riding side-by-side with ranchers, farmers, and landowners from the
Heartland to call, once again, for the complete and final rejection of
the Keystone XL pipeline.

The question remains: Will Secretary Kerry and President Obama choose
to bow to the demands of the oil industry as too many members of
Congress have done? Or will they listen to the actual constituents they
are meant to represent who are demanding loud and clear that their lands
and climate be protected from this dirty tar sands disaster?

Originally posted at Oil Change International: http://priceofoil.org/2014/04/18/keystone-xl-announcement-met-oily-response/

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Again, the victim gets blamed- Are You people idiots?

School Officials Bully Student into Deleting Recording of Bullying, Threaten him with Felony Wiretapping!

A high school sophomore in Pennsylvania who had been bullied all year by classmates with no help from his teacher decided to audio record the bullying on his iPad as evidence.

But instead of disciplining the bullies, school officials called police on him, threatening to have him arrested for felony wiretapping.

By the time the cops arrived at South Fayette High School in McDonald, school administrators had already forced the 15-year-old boy to delete the audio clip.

So police charged him with disorderly conduct instead, a charge he was convicted of last month.

Meanwhile, the bullies and the teacher who allowed the bullying – not to mention the administrators who intimidated him into deleting the audio – have yet to be disciplined.

Here's hoping karma catches up to all of them, including Judge Maureen McGraw-Desmet, who convicted the child because, she said, he went to the "extreme" of recording the bullying rather than "let the school handle it."

But the boy's mother, Shea Love, had transcribed the recording the night before he took it to the principal, indicating the school's way of handling it was simply to ignore it.

According to Ben Swann:

The student and his mother, Shea Love, testified before the magistrate that the boy has been repeatedly shoved and tripped at school, and that a fellow student had even attempted to burn him with a cigarette lighter. The defendant is, according to school records, a well-behaved student with no history of disciplinary action. He was, however, previously diagnosed with a comprehension delay disorder, which is a slower processing speed for information than is normal, ADHD, and an anxiety disorder. He says the bullying treatment is especially harsh and academically disruptive during his special education math class, in which students with behavioral problems are also placed. Last month, after doing research on several anti-bullying websites, he used his school approved personal iPad to make a seven-minute audio recording of his classroom experience. He played the recording at home for his mother. Outraged, Love, a former Air Force Morse code operator, transcribed the audio before calling school administrators.

According to Love, as the teacher is heard attempting to help her son with a math problem, a student says, "You should pull his pants down!" Another student replies, "No, man. Imagine how bad that (c**t) smells! No one wants to smell that (t**t)." As the recording continues, the teacher instructs the classroom that they may only talk if it pertains to math. Shortly thereafter, a loud noise is heard on the recording, which her son explained was a book being slammed down next to him after a student pretended to hit him in the head with it. When the teacher yells, the student exclaims, "What? I was just trying to scare him!" A group of boys are heard laughing.

Love says that upon fielding her complaint, Principal Scott Milburn called South Fayette Township police Lieutenant Robert Kurta to the school to interrogate her son in the presence of Associate Principal Aaron Skrbin and Dean of Students Joseph Silhanek. The defendant testified before Judge McGraw-Desmet that he was forced to play the audio for the group and then delete it. Love says by the time she arrived at the school, her son was surrounded by school officials and the police officer and was visibly distraught. She says

Principal Milburn advised her that her son was "facing felony wiretapping charges" because he made a recording in a place with an expectation of privacy, and that Officer Kurta agreed. Milburn defended the teacher's response to the classroom disturbance.

The following is Judge McGraw-Desmet's full, almost incoherent, statement:

"Normally, if there is — I certainly have a big problem with any kind of bullying at school. But normally, you know, I would expect a parent would let the school know about it, because it's not tolerated. I know that, and that you guys [school administrators] would handle that, you know. To go to this extreme, you know, it was the only alternative or something like that, but you weren't made aware of that and that was kind of what I was curious about. Because it's not tolerated, but you need to go through — let the school handle it. And I know from experience with South Fayette School that, you know, it always is. And if there is a problem and it continues, then it is usually brought in front of me."

You wonder who would elect such a judge?

The judge herself admitted to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in 2009 she won because her mother sat on the bench for decades before retiring.

McGraw-Desmet conceded that name recognition helped her win 37 percent of the 2,536 votes cast in the Democratic primary last month and 30 percent of the 1,337 votes in the Republican primary. . . . "Undoubtedly, my mother's good reputation as district judge went a long way toward helping me win."

So it's obvious the judge is part of the establishment in this sparsely populated region of the state, which is why she would never take a stand for justice if it means embarrassing her peers.

For all it's worth, here is a site where you leave a review for the judge. The number to the courthouse is (412) 221-3353. And the address is: 295 Millers Run Road, Bridgeville, PA 15017 phone: 412-221-3353 & fax: 412-221-0908

Principal Scott Milburn, who ordered the deletion of the audio and should be criminally charged with tampering with evidence, can be reached at (412) 221-4542 extension 265. Or email him at smilburn@southfayette.org.

Contact the South Fayette Township Police Department, who charged the kid with disorderly conduct, at (412) 279-6911.

Send stories, tips and videos to Carlos Miller.