Insight

Update On Adam Herrman

Here is an age progression of Adam Herrman, the Kansas boy who was taken from his family by the state of Kansas because of minor problems experienced by his family and fostered and adopted in Butler County, Kansas by Doug and Valerie Herrman, who "lost" him in 1999, and never reported him missing. Kansas even continued to send stipends to the Herrmans for Adam for awhile. The court, unlike Child Protective Services, had a problem justifying that, though; so the money stopped and the Herrmans each spent a small amount of time in prison. The photo above is how he might look today, if he is still alive.

Abbie Hoffman Moment

In Case You Skipped Church This Sunday

Kansas Public School Teachers Protest

Governor Brownback, of Kansas, was met by a small group of protesting teachers in Hays one day last week because he recently signed a bill into law that he hopes will help redistribute funding for Kansas public schools more equally among school districts. The bill has some language and clauses that allow tax credits to those of us who do not use local public schools, and strips public school teachers of their tenure and due process if they happen to get fired from their jobs. Normally, I would be inclined to sympathize with the teachers, but not here in Kansas. My children do not attend the local public school, Frankfort, part of USD 380, because a teacher abandoned my fourteen year old daughter four miles away from school, and when he realized she was lost, did nothing to find her. He went home and had dinner, thinking she could find her own way back to Frankfort. No worries about my daughter being slowed down by an accidental injury, a bee sting, asthma, or an unsavory stranger. The school responded by failing to fire this teacher, and failing to make any changes to ensure safety at school. For this reason alone, I find the tax credit for families that home school and removal of tenure for Kansas public school teachers only fair. Another reason why I think public school teachers in Kansas do not deserve tenure is the way some of them treat children and parents. Below is a rather ugly message sent to me by a teacher who thought she could remain anonymous online. She was attempting to pressure me to vote for a candidate she favored in the 2008 presidential election, and in the 2012 presidential election. She also got very angry with me for enlisting the assistance of the ACLU in the enforcement of Abington School District v. Schempp, which gives children the right to learn in school, unhindered by religious pandering.

"Oh Miss Juli! Once again you just crack me up :) If Mitt doesn't win this election you can pretty much kiss the USA goodbye, but then, you would really like that, wouldn't you? You are the type that doesn't really give two shits about the flag, thinks God doesn't belong....ANYWHERE"

Nowhere else have I had interactions with public school teachers who engage, unsolicited, in disagreeable discourse about politics and elections! A post on this site and a bumper sticker revealed my political leanings to this teacher, and she was unable to stop herself from harassing my children and me! This is actually in conflict with the Constitution, which allows me to vote for the candidate of my choice, and for this reason, it pleases me greatly to see teachers a little bit closer to the unemployment office when they fill their salaried hours with activities other than teaching.

Note: Lemme clarify something about my last picture right here; there isn't a problem in bearing a love child. The problem arises when we pretend to be holy, when in fact, we are not.

Hailey Owens Killer Says He's Not Guilty

Craig Michael Woods says he is not guilty of any of the charges against him by the state of Missouri in the kidnapping and murder of ten year old Hailey Owens. Someone who, according to eyewitnesses, looks exactly like Woods, snatched Hailey from the sidewalk and forced her into Woods's truck. Later, she was found deceased in his basement. While no one saw the murder, the kidnapping was actually seen by more than one person, so Woods's attorney definitely has his work cut out for him. When a person is abducted by someone whose intentions are murder, it usually happens with the first three hours of the kidnapping.

What Did You Expect, NYPD?

In a vain effort to improve it's public image, the New York Police Department invited the general public to share any pictures of civilians with New York police officers on Twitter to showcase pictures of law enforcement and civilians acting friendly toward each other. It was assumed that there were people, among the population of New York, who had snapshots of police officers acting friendly, and being normal, regular people. It was assumed incorrectly. All of the pictures that were shared featured police officers abusing their privileges, and police officers abusing people or animals.

We can only wonder what the NYPD expected. Law enforcement answers to the call of privatized prisons, these days. Privatized prisons create a demand for prisoners, just as privatized foster care systems create a demand for foster children. Abuse is an almost assured way to escalate a situation from benign to horrific and squeeze at least a few charges out if it. NYPD, and most other police departments, are guilty of this type of abuse.

On April 25, which is tomorrow, there will be a Facebook and Twitter event, linked here, inviting everyone to flood both mediums with pictures abuse in progress by law enforcement. This is not only to commemorate the abuses of the New York Police Department, but all police departments. If you have a picture of police abuse, or police abusing a person or an animal, or in the act of destroying property, won't you share it with everyone? You community and the world need to see it.

Insight

Writing That Transcends Time And Space

Bagheera to Mowgli:

In the cage my life began; 

Well I know the worth of Man.

By the Broken Lock that freed-

Man-cub, 'ware the Man-cub's breed!

Scenting-dew or starlight pale,

Choose no tangled tree-cat trail,

Pack or council, hunt or den,

Cry no truce with Jackal-Men.

Feed the silence when they say,

"Come with us an easy way."

Feed them silence when they seek

Help of thine to hurt the weak.

Make no bandar's boast of skill;

Hold they peace above the kill

Let not call nor song nor sign

Turn thee from thy hunting-line.

(Morning mist or twilight clear,

Serve him, Wardens of the Deer!)

Wood and Water, Wind and Tree,

Jungle-Favour go with thee!

All the Mowgli Stories; Rudyard Kipling

Abbie Hoffman Moment

Happy Easter Sunday

Yellow Headed Blackbirds

These are some very noisy yellow headed blackbirds. Usually, their migration pattern does not bring them this far east in Kansas, but extends from Mexico in the the winter to the northwestern United States and  Canada during the summer. Sometimes a storm or extreme winds will force them off of their established routes north and south. Mature males have yellow heads and chests, and females and very young males are a very dark brown or black. They have loud, hoarse calls and can empty a bird feeder in a matter of minutes. Before moving to Kansas, I had never seen this type of blackbird. 

Michelle Obama Will Speak In Topeka

How lucky can this year's graduates of Kansas Unified School District 501 get? Michelle Obama will speak at their graduation! Usually, Topeka's high schools have their own graduations, but this year, there will be a joint ceremony for them on May 17. Michelle Obama will speak in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education in Topeka, the landmark court decision forcing schools in Kansas and the rest of the nation to stop racial segregation in schools and allow everyone to attend. 

Something all public school administrators and teachers in Kansas need to remember and discuss more efficiently with students is that the State of Kansas was in the wrong in that lawsuit. A black family decided to challenge the unlawful, racist lifestyle that made all those pink, fluffy, white Topekans very happy back in 1954 and challenge racial segregation in schools. No doubt, if Dean Dalinghaus, principal of Frankfort High School in Frankfort, Kansas had been the defendant, he would have told parents the same thing he told the parents of Frankfort High's valedictorian last year: "We do not encourage the children to learn very much about the Constitution because it's easier to run the school smoothly without teaching it". Yes, a public school principal in Kansas said that, as recently as last year. The comment was made by a pink, blue-eyed, bald, white high school principal, who encourages children to bully any child with a disability, and any child whose parents do not identify with mainstream christian whiteness as enjoined in the Midwest. 

Kansas has resisted a lot of the equality and progress enjoyed by other schools since Brown v. the Board of Education by refusing to consolidate it's public schools and make them all answerable to the State of Kansas, rather than to tiny school boards in "unified districts". The unified districts do not have to follow any state laws, and thumb their noses at federal laws as often as they can get away with it. If schools disbanded the unified districts and consolidated, they would be more organized, and students in Frankfort would have the same opportunities to take drama or a foreign language as students in Topeka. Children who are good writers could take honors English, which is not offered in many smaller Northeast Kansas high schools, instead of being blackballed as "dangerous" for writing  petitions and going door to door for signatures. (Marysville High School, in Kansas, after a student wrote a petition asking for a more challenging curriculum)

Kansas also needs to remember how very welcome Westboro Baptist Church has been over the years, conducting their picketing campaign. Many native Kansans do not think they have anything in common with Westboro Baptist Church, but other christian churches, in Kansas are almost identical, only lacking the publicity enjoyed by Westboro. New Hope Baptist Church in Seneca, Kansas, teaches that law enforcement should shoot anyone who identifies as gay. Teenage church members then attend local public schools and bully any gay child, with Reverend Curtis Knapp's blessing. Also, while discussing discrimination in Kansas, we must not forget that Republican congresspeople in Kansas recently wasted everyone's time passing House Bill 2453, a pathetic attempt to legalize unlawful discrimination. The Senate took one look at it and tossed it in the circular file, but if it had passed, it would have given businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies the right to refuse service to anyone perceived as "different" in some way....using faith and adherence to the christian religion as the basis for the discrimination. A skin complexion or religion seeming somehow "unbiblical" to a Kansas emergency room nurse could grant her the right to turn away a sick child. A pharmacist could refuse to fill the sick child's prescription for antibiotics because the bible says to hate certain minorities. Schools would have the right to turn gay students, black students, and any other student failing to be pink, fluffy, white, and conformist away. So much for Brown v. the Board of Education in Topeka. Kansas is still looking for ways to break the law and stay as vile and prejudiced as it was in 1954.

I wonder what Michelle Obama is going to say....... 

Insight

Siriunsun's Art Gallery

A hummingbird, drawn and embroidered by yours truly. 

Abbie Hoffman Moment

Will The Real Terrorist Please Stand Up?

Anyone do business with these entities? Isn't it interesting that no one ever discusses how Ford, Hugo Boss, Chase, Siemens, and IBM conducted business over the years? Especially when the Nazi party looked incredibly strong. These are companies whose investors thought the Nazis were going to win World War II and played their cards accordingly. No worries about collateral damage during the war, such as civilian deaths. Does it make you want to trust them now?

In Case You Slept Through Church This Sunday

The Troll Simply Won't Give Up

 "I think you are really good at bull shitting your way around the subject. I also think that you are psychotic and need some medication. Because what you think is "right", is not true, and quite frankly, you have no clue what you are talking about and spreading lies about people you really don't know anything about."

Okay, abusive person who doesn't care about children, here's how we can settle this.....Richard Flores and the school board for USD 380 can turn over all of their information about this incident to the county attorney for charges against Tom Schroeder. I will do the same. Since there isn't a statute of limitations on kidnapping, criminal restraint, and many kinds of child abuse, there should be no problem getting the case into court. Indeed, after watching Dean Dalinghaus and some of his et els damn near climb over each other to bear false witness against their neighbor and send him to prison on similar charges, only to be excluded as non-witnesses by the judge; I would be quite satisfied to watch an extremely guilty frankfurter who has already admitted default face the same penalties you people so rabidly attempted to visit upon an innocent man. Once that happens, I will shut up about this whole thing.

The truth is, I am not terribly good at bullshitting. I am naturally shy, and much too nervous to introduce an untruth and remember all the details, so the truth always provides my best opportunity in a conflict. What is your basis for thinking you understand what I think is "right", and that it somehow isn't? Is it because I don't go to your church? Is it because I don't care about Tom Schroeder's misguided career? Is it because I wouldn't testify falsely against an innocent man in order to save my own ass from jail? By the way, I would do it again. I'm not afraid, either. I would much rather spend the rest of my life in prison than bear false witness in court against someone who is innocent. That, I suspect, is another subtle, or not-so-subtle, difference between myself and the population here in Frankfort. But a physician will certainly never prescribe a drug for that.

While I do not spread lies about anyone, even when Laura McNish demands that I do so,  I will concede that I do not know Tom Schroeder, or quite a few of the rest of you, very well. I only know him professionally, and that is the only relationship I ever wanted with any of the teachers at Frankfort Experiment. When I discuss this case, it is only the events of that day, not Tom Schroeder's entire life. And generally, when people are as antisocial as most frankfurters in Kansas, the reason lies in the criminal behaviors they are hiding. The don't want the likes of me to see their cannabis gardens, their kiddie porn, or see them serve beer to minors. Frankfurters also didn't want me to see Tom Schroeder arranging for high school graduates who read at a fifth grade level to attend college. And they shouldn't. I am, indeed, not in favor of such things. Tom Schroeder took my daughter away from school property and left her by herself with no permission to do so from me, which is kidnapping. My daughter, in turn, never thought he would just go home and forget about her, and never call me, her dad, or law enforcement, in the event that something like this happened. His betrayal of her trust is called "criminal restraint" in legal parlance. Also kidnapping. And then there's child abuse. If a parent does the same to his own children, how do you think the law would deal with that? Why should Tom Schroeder get away with it? Is he special? Apparently, he is, because he has essentially gotten away with it! Parents cannot safely send children to a school where teachers present with "specialties" like that!

Psychosis is quite specific in the diagnostic sense, and my perspective on criminal behavior certainly does not qualify as a symptom. Any public rants on the part of any individual that results in the loss of an opportunity or an undue stress in a relationship can and might result in a lawsuit, though. I can talk about Tom, because he admitted default, and because I am telling the truth. But unless you are telling the truth, you do not have the right to rail against me. And seriously, I am someone you know nothing about.

I'll shut up about all this when Marshall County, Kansas charges Tom Schroeder with the same crimes as the defendant in Marshall County Kansas case 2013CR34. The school board has a legal responsibility to turn Tom Schroeder's admission of guilt over to the county attorney. And if that does not happen, I will continue to talk about it, everywhere I go. I promise.

Do physicians ever prescribe medications for people whose children have been kidnapped?

Using A Taxi As A Getaway Car

Fleeing the crime scene in a taxi? And actually getting all the way to Omaha, Nebraska from Lawrence, Kansas before getting arrested? Antonio Gaitan actually tried it, after robbing Truity Credit Union in Lawrence. Fortunately for the driver, police believed him when he said he had no idea he was helping Gaitan abscond with money from a robbery!

Almost equally funny are two Minnesota burglars who accidently butt-dialed 911 while burglarizing a Meineke Car Care in Minneapolis. The dispatcher answered, stayed on the line, and heard the two men discuss the crime in progress from the crime scene! Almost needless to say, police were able to find them. The defense attorneys will probably try to get the phone call barred from evidence......

Naked Woman Ransacks MacDonalds

A naked woman got mad and ransacked a MacDonald's in Florida. Well.....almost naked. Someone called the cops, and they came in and watched, allowing the woman to throw cash registers and ice cream machines around the restaurant until she ran out of energy. These cops were male, by the way. Now we know how to keep the swat team at a safe distance: be a naked woman!

How come no one ever does anything like that when I'm around?

Insight

Why Do People Enable Child Abuse?

"Let's be clear here, if anyone is in a position to be sued, it is you. For slander. Most of this post is a lie. Your daughter wasn't running alone. The cross country kids have always been dropped off in a group. She at least started with the other kids. She wasn't on some desolate road. Tom has always dropped the kids off in the same area, and there are TONS of houses along the way. You also made a little error in your story telling (er... lying) First you say she was dropped off on the side of the highway 4 miles south of town. Then later you say she was wandering around where there were no homes, only corporate farms. Anyone who is familiar with Frankfort at all will know the whole "alone and lost with no houses" will know that your story is total bs." 

I am still amazed by this stupid threat.  A frankfurter from Frankfort Kansas supports a guidance counselor at Frankfort High School and wants me to believe that my actions of protecting children and my request for the removal of a guidance counselor who abandons children in random places during school hours is slander. For the record, Tom Schroeder admitted default and was reportedly disciplined for his actions concerning this incident, so slander would be a very difficult burden for him to prove. Of course, yours truly does not believe that he was actually disciplined, but the superintendent sent letters stating this via snail mail, and those would serve as evidence in court that the incident actually took place. I also signed no contract promising my silence on this matter, and would never do a thing like that, so my detractor (er... troll) is free to shut up and come to jesus on the issue of child endangerment as well as merit in civil cases.

Such a lawsuit would set a very dangerous precedent for children. Most of my communications on this subject have not been on this site. I started with communicating, at the behest of Officer Brian Kenworthy, with the Marshall County Sheriff's Office. I then informed the superintendent of USD 380. I also informed every agency in the state of Kansas that deals with schools, daycares, and child safety, prior to informing publications and organizations around the nation of the incident. This was NOT slander, and such a lawsuit , if won, would position children to become victims of abusive and negligent school employees every day in Kansas, and would disable parents from even calling the police to report children missing when they do not return home from school. Contrary to popular belief in Frankfort, a jury would probably understand this, and rule in favor of the parent, not the guidance counselor. Frankfort Kansas and it's sillyassed school have had past difficulties in predicting logic employed by juries, and it appears that Frankfort has not changed.

In order for me to be guilty of slander, I would have to lie, and the guidance counselor would have to sustain a loss as a result. The problem for this dumbass troll is that I am not lying. Frankfort's guidance counselor admitted default, and the superintendent corresponded in turn with me. I have all of the paperwork connected to this incident. Every time a member of the Frankfort, Kansas community accuses me of lying, I will publicize this incident in more places, to more people. I promise.

Because the school board and the principal of Frankfort High School in Kansas have enabled Tom Schroeder, and he continues to "teach", he has not suffered any losses of any kind because of this incident, or because of my testimony or my daughter's testimony. The school faculty worked very hard to convince my daughter to refrain from complaining, but she knows that if another child is "lost" in the same manner, and is not lucky enough to return home alive, she will never forgive herself.

Now, about these "tons of houses"......they simply are not present. And even if they were, I never told any of my children that they could or should knock on the doors of strangers. That is extremely dangerous. If Schroeder told my daughter to do that, after I taught my daughter never to do that, he should be fired. He should also serve time in prison for putting my daughter in that position. Anyone who does not see that, or understand it and agree with me is a child abuser and a creep. Enabling such individuals is wrong. Why should my daughter knock on the doors of strangers during the school day? What, exactly, did Tom Schroeder have planned?

Suppose my daughter had fallen and gotten hurt during the four hour, or so, period during which she was lost? Suppose a bad person had driven in that area and found her? Republican Congresswoman Sharon Schwartz's husband mistakenly thought that the sparsely populated rural countryside is a better place to be lost than the city, (so much for the "tons of houses" mentioned by my troll) but I reminded him that if someone had wanted to harm my daughter that day, there would have been no eyewitnesses or surveillance cameras anywhere, and I would probably still be searching for her. Not that my heartbreak at such a situation would matter to any of these people.

I am still wondering why Laura McNish, the county prosecutor in Marshall County, Kansas, never bothered to file charges against Tom Schroeder for this. She has made some claims about the evils of child abuse, and has even used past automobile accidents as evidence of bad parenting, in order to justify separating parents from children in Marshall County. If a parent abandoned a child along the highway, how would the law address that? Why does a teacher get away with such abuse? Tom Schroeder did not call me, my ex husband, or the police to let anyone know my daughter was missing. When a kidnapping occurs and is done by a stranger, the first three hours are crucial. If the perpetrator intends to kill the victim, it usually happens within the first three hours. But Tom Schroeder gave up searching by himself and went home and had dinner. Why hasn't Laura McNish charged Tom Schreoder with criminal restraint, child endangerment, and kidnapping? Why hasn't she worried about the safety of other children exposed to his bad judgment?

Abbie Hoffman Moment

Through The Lens Of Siriunsun's Camera

In Case You Missed Church This Sunday

Precedence In Case Law To Allow Strangulation?

I was just informed by a rather persistent troll that because of a recent Kansas court case, one in which yours truly was a witness, there is now a precedent to strangle our relatives, friends, and neighbors. My troll is very, very upset because the defendant demanded his right to a trial, presented his case, and won. The charges were false, as nearly as I could tell, from what I witnessed of the incident. A desire to see an innocent man sent to prison is certainly disturbing, but such tends to be the manner of Christianity in the Midwest. The troll has even proposed hosting a party for such violence, offering that it is now legal. Hopefully, this was not a threat.

Precedence in court cases refers to cases in which existing law is interpreted either in a new way, or cases to which the court determines that existing law applies in situations where it traditionally has not applied in the past. This allows new or expanded interpretations of existing law, and sometimes different resulting actions or court orders. The prevailing decision will set a "precedent". All of this is based upon actual law. The laws, themselves, do not change. Crime does not become legal this way.

A decision by a judge or by a jury that a defendant is not guilty of criminal charges does not set a precedent for that crime to become legal. This is where my troll lacks understanding. In a criminal case, the argument is not about whether or not the crime is legal, but about whether or not the defendant actually committed the crime. A verdict of not guilty only serves to absolve the defendant of any false charges, it does not change the law.

The defendant in this case finds it unusual that certain people who had flown under the banner of "friends", mostly employees at the sorry-assed excuse for a local public school in his town, have not congratulated him because he won his case. Even more nauseating are teachers who continue to tell children, including those in close association with the defendant's children, that he is guilty, in spite of the decision by the court was that he is not guilty. These teachers practically climbed over each other to badmouth the defendant before trial, yet upon acquittal, refuse to apologize or tell all to whom they have unjustly gossiped that they were wrong. The superintendent was unaware of the court's decision until recently. Shouldn't these Christian teachers, who never miss an opportunity to force their religion on others, admit they made a mistake and try to amend all the damage they have done? Or does Jesus only initiate assholes to join his petty and ridicules churches?

To Ruth Malette No Longer A Rader

Hey Malette, did you ever explain what you were doing so close to the Lighthouse on April 27, 2013? It WAS a crime scene, you know; and you were there when it happened. You called me from the location, but failed to tell me the whole story. My phone company keeps excellent records. Oh, by the way, did you tell Laura about your association with this matter before all of your crap with her, this past summer? I don't know, for sure, how low on integrity Laura is from day to day, but if she knew about your crime scene shenanigans in Oregon, she has an obligation to contact authorities and hold you behind bars until they come and get your smelly soma. You freaked when I contacted the Coast Guard, didn't you?

Are incidents like this the reason you do not get on with the rest of your large family in De Tour Village? And did you ask for any help from Laura in returning there? She might have called one of your siblings for you, if you had been honest with her about who you are! Involvement with crime scenes wouldn't be the reason you avoid your old stomping grounds, would it?

Stop using people. The past can make a very interesting story for anyone against whom you have, shall we say, been unsuccessful!

Teaching Science Threatens Business

The governor of Wyoming just signed a bill into law that blocks the teaching of science and ecology from a worldwide standpoint that considers global warming. Public schools, in order to appease the energy business in Wyoming, will not be allowed to teach the same science that the more progressive public schools in the United States and virtually the rest of the world teaches. Wyoming legislators actually stated that they did not want the schools to teach something that contraindicates the state's biggest industry, and that they would rather teach outdated science! How unfortunate for the hopeful college bound student wishing to study science!

Frankfort, Kansas has a public school where social studies and American history are deliberately not taught. Dean Dalinghaus, the principal, stated to a parent that teaching children about the Constitution and how it applies to them makes "running the school smoothly" more difficult. This makes USD 380 in Kansas another example of education taking a back seat to politics.

Insight

Never Be Without A Camera

This video can actually serve as a tutorial for the reporting of abusive police officers. A very polite citizen telephoned the appropriate person for correct information concerning the individuals involved in an incident which, unfortunately, involved law enforcement's abuse of authority. The citizen got the stated his reason for calling, got the information he needed in order to share his video footage with his community, and promised to share it with the police department as soon as it was compiled on the proper website.