The United States Wants Edward Snowden Arrested Immediately

This past week, Edward Snowden was invited to Norway to receive the Bjornson Prize, by the Bjornstjern Bjornson Acadamy for freedom of expression. In their own words, the award is being presented for "work protecting privacy and shining a critical light on U.S. surveillance of its citizens and others." Snowden did not appear in person. Why? Because the United States sent them a memo, demanding the immediate arrest of Snowden and confiscation of his computers, cell phones, and any other electronic trappings found on his person or in his luggage.

Since a Norwegian institution has offered an award to Snowden for the very act for which the United States has issued an arrest warrant, it seems unlikely that anyone in Norway will request any of Snowden's time for anything besides getting an autograph from him. In fact, Norway's Department of Justice reassures us all that, "What Norway has done is to inform the American authorities how the Norwegian justice system works. If they request an extradition, the prosecuting authorities will decide if the case should be brought before the courts. And the court will decide if the terms for extradition are fulfilled." Imagine that! The United States does not get its own way when hounding a citizen in the civilized world! The CIA and the FBI have also pressured other countries to arrest Snowden on sight. America has even threatened to alter diplomatic relations with other countries over imminent refusals to bully and falsely arrest Snowden. He is not their problem; he is America's problem, and many people in America are not particularly troubled by Snowden.

Why hasn't the Department of Justice, here in the United States, looked a little harder at Booz, Allen, Hamilton because of the security leak involving Edward Snowden? They are, after all, the company that was responsible for the "government data" that was revealed to the public. Wasn't it their responsibility to conduct a background check and insure that everyone they trusted with the government's "private" information was worthy of a security clearance? Booz/Allen/Hamilton are really the ones who should answer for Snowden's actions. The government does, indeed, have a civil claim against them, but as other countries see it, not so much against Snowden. If Snowden were wanted for kidnapping, human trafficking, or murder; or even for nonpayment of child support, Norwegian officials might be more sympathetic. At this point, it is a surprise that the United States government even thought that asking for the arrest of Edward Snowden was worth the time it would take to make the request.

Speaking of human trafficking, the government of Guatemala has, since 2012, been demanding the return of a kidnapping victim by the name of Anyeli Hernandez Rodriguez, who was bought by Dr. Timothy Monahan and and his wife, Jennifer, from a kidnapping ring in 2008. Because the Monahans feel that the trafficked child became their personal property upon receipt of payment, they refuse to give her back to her parents and her siblings. In 2012, the State Department announced that it would not require the distinguished customers of human traffickers in Missouri to give the little girl back. "So sorry, Guatemala, we know she was trafficked; it's just that you had not yet signed the Hague Convention, so why should we care about a crime that was committed against one of your citizens?" Or something like that. The point is, if the United States government wants the respect of other governments, human trafficking victims should not be held hostage with the blessing of the State Department.

 

Anyeli Hernandez Rodgriguez, aka Karen Monahan

Abbie Hoffman Moment

Through The Lens Of Siriunsun's Camera

 Fountain in Catalunya, Spain

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Abbie Hoffman Moment

Foo Fighters Rickroll Westboro Baptist Church

Lol! Westboro Baptist Church decided to picket a Foo Fighter concert in Kansas City, but the band rode by on the back of a pick-up truck blasting Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up", hence the term "rickrolling", thereby completely upstaging them! Foo Fighters did something similar in 2011, when Westboro Baptist Church picketed them in Topeka. They dressed up in wigs and played "Keep It Clean" for Westboro.

Facebook Strikes Again

A Flint, Michigan police officer by the name of Rob Garceau was recently fired because of something he posted on Facebook. The statement he made relates to the investigation of two homicides, and what he wrote is, "Keep purging society of the maggots. 2 less welfare, food stamp people. Keep it up."

Garceau's attorney is running a media campaign against the police department in Flint because he is convinced that Garceau has the right, via the First Amendment, to post such statements as long as he is not on duty. There are several problems with that, beginning with the fact that Garceau is a cop, and cops are trusted to enforce the law. Murder is against the law, yet the police department in Flint had an officer whose public statements technically encourage murder. He may not have meant it literally, but the words still set a terrible example: Garceau essentially told anyone who happens to read his post that murder is behaviorally acceptable. Next, it appears, from Garceau's Facebook post that he believes that anyone who receives public assistance or charity should not have the same protections from law enforcement as the rest of the population. Is a child who qualifies for reduced lunches at school in more danger when Garceau is on duty? Most food stamp recipients are, after all, children. If policemen really think that it is sufficient to allow anyone who might be receiving government assistance to become victims of crime, how can they possibly discourage and fight crime? There is also the reality that a police officer, unless clairvoyant, is not likely to have the ability to determine who is on welfare and who isn't, while on duty. Are we to assume that anyone who the cops think is needy enough for charity will not merit protection from law enforcement? So much for public trust! I do not blame the police department one bit for giving Garceau his walking papers.

Something else Garceau's attorney should think about is the murder case, itself. If the case is still under investigation, chances are quite strong that the prosecutor does not need public comments made about it by a police officer. Not only is there an outside chance of influencing or intimidating witnesses, thereby perverting justice; it shows an officer who does not work well with the court system. I think getting Garceau off the force was a good idea.

Insight

Terri Horman And Cold Cases And Lies

So very interesting. Forty years after one of the most heinous crimes committed in Maryland, that of the kidnap and murder of Sheila and Katherine Lyon, ten and twelve year old Montgomery County girls, a man named Lloyd Lee Welch is charged with two counts of murder. This involves two states; Maryland and Virginia. After much evidence gathering and testimony from witnesses and potential witnesses, one man, so far, has been charged in this case. There is even a multi-state grand jury meeting at least once a month to go over evidence. Many Marylanders, who remember this case from 1975, doubted that it would ever be resolved.

What does this have to do with Terri Horman and her gang of merry scofflaws? She is the sometime step parent of another missing child, Kyron Horman. Kyron was seven years old when he was last seen leaving his school in Portland, Oregon with Terri Horman in June of 2010. This happened just as school commenced for the day, around 9:00 AM, and no one, least of all, Terri, reported him missing until after 3:00 PM. Days have stretched into weeks and months, which, in turn, have stretched into years...five years. There is also a grand jury that convenes for Kyron every once in a while, to review any new tips and go over existing evidence.

Terri Horman, her parents, and her friends and other et els do not appear to take the search and investigation for Kyron Horman very seriously. A few of them have been subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury to answer questions about the case. Rather than assist in the investigation, they stall and assert fifth amendment rights, claiming that they will incriminate themselves if they answer simple questions about the day Kyron disappeared. A certain amount of misinformation has been deliberately generated by this crowd, too.

The case of the Lyon sisters, mentioned above, also involves people who covered for each other, over the years, and lied to the grand jury when it convened. A major difference, however; is that forty years went by prior to the culmination of the investigation and the charging of the individual thought to be primarily responsible for the disappearance and subsequent deaths of those two girls. Yet the truth is just as esteemed by investigators and the rest of the population as it was forty years ago; but this came as a surprise to those asked for the truth. They thought that because so many years had passed, no one would care about Sheila and Katherine Lyon anymore. They also thought that the passage of time somehow erased the need for accountability. So they went to court, when summoned by the grand jury, and lied their asses off. In December of last year, Patricia Welch was arrested after one such lie, and is due in court in October. Last week, her brother, Leslie Engleking, her grandchild, Amy Welch Johnson, and her husband's sister, Gladys Stangee, were also arrested for lying and attempting to hide the truth. Amy Welch Johnson was not even born in 1975, when the crime occurred, so the reader should be able to grasp the importance of the truth, here, during a criminal investigation. What does all this have to do with Terri Horman and her gang of merry scofflaws? They should study this case carefully, and take note of the precedent set by a multi-state grand jury of holding anyone who obstructs justice accountable. Because the Lyon sisters' case involves two different states, the precedent set reaches the federal level, and can be used in Oregon, as well. Virginia is now trying a criminal case for obstruction of justice against a person who was not even born when the crime under investigation was committed. This should send a very clear message to those who would cover for Terri Horman: the truth is important enough to lock up a liar, even after forty years. The truth is even important enough to lock up someone who wasn't yet born at the time of the crime, but knows about it, nonetheless. Are you paying attention, Terri Horman?

Abbie Hoffman Moment

First Day Of School In Frankfort, Kansas

 

It's that time of year again in Frankfort, Kansas, and this story will appear once again on this site, because the school here in Frankfort has not seen fit to come into compliance with safety standards observed by schools in other parts of Kansas, and has not come into compliance with federal law concerning the presence of weapons on school property, bullying, or student safety. The only change made is that credit shall be granted where it is due: the name of the errant and uncorrected guidance counselor who has been granted carte blanche to endanger children is Tom Schroeder.

Anyone who's listening, I will tell you a story. It's a true story, and it happened in October of 2009. Thankfully, it had a happy ending.

My oldest daughter used to be quite the avid cross country buff when she was thirteen years old. She was good at it, too. But one day, while she was at practice, and I was at home, just assuming that all was well, her coach drove past my house, stopping to talk to my eight year old son. Mr. Coach wanted to know if Mr. Eight Year Old had seen his older sister. Mr. Eight Year Old had not. No one had seen my daughter in over two hours. She was lost. Why was she lost? Because her coach had dropped her off by the side of a highway, four miles south of the town we live in, by herself, and just left her. It was part of cross country practice. No supervision. If she had been stung by a bee, had tripped and hurt herself, or had some other medical emergency, no one would have been there to help her. (at this juncture, you should know that I offered to volunteer to help with cross country, but since I do not attend a Christian church, my offer was rejected. The school staff thought it better to take chances with a child's safety in the way I just described) When my daughter realized that she did not know her way back, she started to wander on a side road, hoping it would bring her to a house, or another person. This area has a lot of commercial farms, and there were no houses or places my daughter could go to for help.

Back to my eight year old son.......Twenty minutes went by. While he did not realize the signifigance of his conversation with Mr. Cross County Coach, (also Mr. Guidance Counselor) he did realize that no one knew where his sister was, and it was getting later and later, and no one was looking for her. So he told me about it. I looked all over town, called all her friends, searched the school (why was the school left unlocked after everyone had gone home?) and finally started home to call the police, when a couple of senior boys drove up with my crying daughter in their car. It was still within a few minutes of when I found out she was missing, but this cross country coach had known all afternoon, and had not called the police, or spoken to me. Why? I guess whatever he cared about, it WASN'T my daughter. Well.........I actually DO care about my daughter. Nowhere else have I met a teacher that did NOT care, at least a little, about the children he teaches, but I think that is what the problem is with Mr. Cross Country Coach/ Guidance Counselor.

Suppose it was not young men from her school who found her, but a dangerous person? I have been told time and time again by the people who live in this small Kansas town that "those things don't happen here", and "there ARE no dangerous people here", but there was a sex offender whose address was within half a mile of where my daughter was abandoned. The police were quick to point that out, but the principal only argued his harmlessness as a sex offender with them and the school board is not worried about the incident.

My children no longer participate in cross country at their school. It isn't safe.

New Moon Promise

 

Remember this the next time you decide to screw around with my family, or with me.

Insight

Abbie Hoffman Moment

Kansas Public Schools Charge Tuition

Some of the public schools in Kansas have taken to the unlawful practice of charging "enrollment fees". This is against federal law, and every time a case concerning enrollment fees has gone to court, brought by either the school or parents, the parents have won because the practice of charging for public education is unlawful. The American Civil Liberties Union has gotten involved in a few cases involving this issue, as well.

It appears that the (ahem) school, and I use the word "school" very loosely here, in Frankfort, Kansas is up to their usual unlawful stunts again in regard to extorting money from parents. The "tuition" charged this year for each student is $50.00. This does not include activity fees. There is no information revealing the purpose of the fee, or what is actually covered by it. Frankfort does, after all, garner state and federal dollars, in order to pay staff to yak on their cell phones most of the day, or surf the internet. Why is it all-encompassing to charge money that is legally not allowed to be charged?

In the past, when yours truly sent children to school in Frankfort, she refused to pay the "enrollment fees", stating emphatically that her "fees" were already covered by the mill levy and property taxes she pays each year. This would naturally bring on threats from the principal, promising everything from refusal to admit students to crying to a collection agency. The principal discovered that he cannot refuse to enroll any student in his district, regardless of fees; and that legitimate collection agencies are loth to intervene in matters wherein the so-called obligor owes nothing.

Siriunsun's Art Gallery

Psychedelic Cow; by Deanna

Feast Of Lugh

Lughnasadh is generally celebrated on August 1, or during the first full moon of Leo, depending upon the Pagan tradition involved. In prehistoric times, it was a Gaelic festival that marked the beginning of harvest season. Lammas is another name for it, and it is also referred to as the "first harvest", the second harvest is the autumnal equinox and the third is Halloween. Our ancestors had festivals and carnivals back in the day, to celebrate a great harvest and to trade. The practice of holding fairs and carnivals late in the summer came from Lammas festivals. The celebrated God is Lugh, whose name literally means "light", and friendly competitions and mock battles symbolized Lugh, or light, triumphing over barrenness and darkness.

Hope you had a very happy Feast of Lugh!

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Abbie Hoffman Moment

Through The Lens Of Siriunsun's Camera

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Spain