Racist or Innocent Vanity Tag

Richard Macaulay of Muskegon, Michigan is a Harley-Davidson lover. He takes pride in his Harley-Davidson Dyna Wide Glide motorcycle, which he keeps in immaculate condition. His other love is the Harley-Davidson Soft Tail Springer.

7 years ago he ordered vanity plates which combined the names of his two favorite bikes: DYNGR.

Macaulay said he was  shocked to receive a letter from the Michigan Secretary of State’s office recently, stating that his personalized license plate of seven years had been revoked. The letter went on to say that a complaint had been received claiming the personalized tag was racially insensitive.

That complaint came from Tiffany Gilmore, who is black. According to Tiffany she was in the Walmart parking lot on Sherman Avenue when she came across a motorcycle with a personalized license plate that sent chills down her spine. She said the license plate included an abbreviation for a racial slur that encourages hatred toward blacks.

Gilmore, of Muskegon Heights, said that at the time she saw the license plate, she “went from awe to disbelief to sadness and then anger because I had my 11-year-old son with me and I had to explain it to him.”

She said she called the Secretary of State’s office in Lansing when she got home. After Gilmore spelled the license plate, the employee responded: “Excuse me? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Kelly Chesney, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State, said her agency conducts extensive screening of applications for personalized license plates. She said a committee reviews the proposed text to avoid offensive language and objectionable content.

The committee includes representatives from ethnic groups and students who know texting lingo. With the evolution of a texting generation that uses abbreviations for almost everything, a license plate with objectionable content occasionally slips through, Chesney said.

After an investigation of Gilmore’s complaint, the Secretary of State’s office decided to pull the license plate, Chesney said. She would not elaborate on whether state officials agreed that the plate was racially insensitive. The plate’s owner has been notified of the decision. The owner has the right to appeal, she said.

After he received the complaint letter, Macaulay said it took him several minutes to figure out what the fuss was about.

“I don’t think that way,” he said. “It took me awhile to figure it out.”

Macaulay's brother-in-law thought it was an abbreviation for “danger.” But, he said, no one ever thought it was racially motivated....Until last month.

“I agree with the lady in one respect, and that is that I don’t know what it’s like to be picked on racially,” Macaulay said. “But she immediately took umbrage without accepting that it could mean something else.”

Upon hearing Macaulay’s explanation Gilmore said she still believes it’s racially motivated.

“When you look at the abbreviation and try to put it together, it doesn’t make sense,” she said. “I’m sorry, it just doesn’t.”

Macaulay said he can’t believe the controversy his license plate has kicked off.

“There are so many other things going on, like the war,” he said. “People have nothing better to do than spend their lives being pissed off.”

Macaulay said he has applied for a new personalized license plate similar to the one that has been recalled. But it lacks the letter “N” so nobody gets confused.

“I would like to apologize to this lady for offending her, but that was not my intention,” Macaulay said of Gilmore. “People who know me know that I’m not a racist. But she didn’t really know what the plate meant. I didn’t ask for any of this, and I wish it would all just go away.”

 

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Where Did That Remote Control Go?

Chinese student, Huang Chen, 19, turned up drunk at Hunan Hangtian Hospital in Changsha, complaining of unexplained pain from his rear end. He had been out drinking with his roommates and had collapsed.

During the examination the drunk Chen turned over on his side and the TV in the room changed channels. This was somewhat of a mystery until the X-rays of Chen came back. They revealed that the teenager had a remote control lodged up his rear end.

According to police, Chen's friends admitted they had played a prank on him while he was unconscious. They somehow managed to get the remote control up his ass.

"We didn't know what it was to start with. There was a little bit of blood but he didn't say anything about a remote control. We couldn't quite believe it when we saw the X-ray," said medic Dr Wei Lung Zhi. "He will be fine in time but the remote was a write off," he added.

I have some personal advice for Huang Chen.....Stop drinking or find some new roommates or both!! It just makes you wonder what else they were doing with him while he was asleep.

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Will Christopher Dudus Coke be Extradited?

One thing is for certain. Christopher Dudus Coke is not an ordinary citizen of Jamaica. He, more than anyone else is a king maker. Without his support Bruce Golding, the current Prime Minister of Jamaica, would not be in that position. He, more than anyone else, is responsible for the relative calm which exists in Tivoli Gardens. He is powerful, influential and has a horde of supporters who are willing to do whatever he says. He is a "Don".

However, the United States, with whom Jamaica has an extradition treaty, considers him to be an international criminal, active in the illegal drugs and weapons trade between the U.S. and Jamaica. In August they made a request for the extradition of Christopher "Dudus" Coke to the U.S. to face these charges. The indictment says in part:

COKE leads an international criminal organization known as the "Shower Posse," with members in Jamaica, the United States, and other countries -- which he has led since the early 1990s. At COKE's direction and under his protection, members of his criminal organization sell marijuana and crack cocaine in the New York area and elsewhere, and send the narcotics proceeds back to COKE and his co-conspirators. COKE and his co-conspirators also arm their organization with illegally trafficked firearms. COKE has been named by the U.S. Department of Justice to the list of Consolidated Priority Organization Targets "CPOTs"), which includes the world's most dangerous narcotics kingpins.

COKE, 40, is charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana and conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms. If convicted on the narcotics charge, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, as well as a fine of up to $4 million or twice the pecuniary gain from the offense. He also faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the firearms trafficking charge, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the pecuniary gain.

The U.S. claims to have a number of eyewitnesses who will testify to the involvement of Coke in these illegal activities. They are requesting that the Jamaican government hand him over for prosecution in the U.S.

To say the least, this request has been a headache for Prime Minister Bruce Golding who represents Tivoli Gardens in parliament. He has been accused of delaying the approval for extradition. However, Mr. Golding - who was answering questions posed by Opposition Member of Parliament Dr Peter Phillips on the issue - said the delay was because the US authorities had not followed proper procedure in issuing the request and were in violation of Jamaican domestic laws.

"Most requests that have been received depend for their process on the provisions of the Extradition Treaty with the particular country and on the Extradition Act," Golding told Parliamentarians. "This particular request is somewhat different in that it also relies for its validity on the provisions of the Mutual Assistance Criminal Matters Act. The Government of Jamaica has raised with the US authorities issues regarding its compliance with that Act."

The Prime Minister, as an example of the cooperation with the U.S., went on to state that a total 31 persons have been extradited from Jamaica between September 2007 when his party took office and now. Of this number, 19 persons were extradited to face drug offence charges, nine for murder, three for fraud and one for assault.

Golding also made it clear that he was not going to engage in discussions about the details of the extradition request concerning Coke. Opposition Members of Parliament continued unsuccessfully to press the Prime Minister for more details. He did however answer a question about when he became aware of the extradition request. He said the security forces informed him on August 24, 2009, that a special team from the US would arrive in Jamaica shortly to deliver the request. They arrived the following day.

The newspaper, the Jamaica Gleaner, in an editorial, also criticised the delay in handing Christopher "Dudus" Coke over to the U.S. authorities:

In the case of Mr Coke, the Government has for five months failed to sign an extradition order so that Mr Coke can have his day in court, locally or in the United States. It has asked the US authorities for more information about his indictment.

Most people see dithering and political delay. It erodes confidence. Perhaps we can look forward to the 'Coke amendment' in the extradition treaty.

The attorney for Christopher Coke is Tom Tavares-Finson. He expects that there will be some resolution to the request sometime early next year:

"You have to understand that the matter is coming to a head. It's been here since August, it cannot take the same period for the resolution to be made. It has to be completed in half that time, or less. So I am looking for a resolution early next year..." Tavares-Finson told the Sunday Observer in an exclusive interview.

Tom Tavares-Finson thinks that the extradition will not be granted, according to what he has seen of the request.

"Based on the allegations that I have seen, there is nothing there to provide a burden of evidence that the warrant for his extradition should be signed," said Tavares-Finson. "In fact, based on the allegations, I am of the view that the US authorities are not really interested in my client. But if anybody knows our attorney general, Dorothy Lightbourne, those persons who went to law school with her will tell you that she is a meticulous person and will examine the evidence based on merit. If it is to be signed, it will be signed. If it is to be denied, it will be denied."

Emphasizing that Dudus is not wanted for any criminal activities in Jamaica and is in fact a respected member of his community, Tavares-Finson said:

"Nobody has heard of him being involved in any criminal activity," Tavares-Finson said of his client. "Nobody has heard that he is involved in any extortion downtown. The police are not saying that. Nobody is saying that he is involved in any narcotics trade in Jamaica. The police are not saying that. Nobody is saying that. Is he involved in murder and 'brucking' of people's house across the island? They (police) are not saying that he is involved in the car racket. Nobody is saying that. But they are painting a picture of this man, who they say is a notorious criminal, why, because essentially he has overseen the transformation of a community riddled with criminality and violence into a place where people can make money."

In fact some prominent legal minds in Jamaica question the legitimacy of the extradition request, in light of the fact that the accusers of Christopher "Dudus" Coke are all anonymous.

Barry Frankson, who has practised law for more than 30 years, thinks that Jamaica should be able to refuse to go along with the request for extradition.

"Once properly tested and established that under our law such a person would not get a fair trial or no offence has been made out under our law, Jamaica should be bold enough to say no."

He added: "We have total confidence in our judicial system to do the right thing ... if the evidence is not sufficient for the extradition order to be made, then our judges should stand up to that.

"Where there are border-line cases, our citizens should get the benefit of it ... in many other jurisdictions the courts have stood up to the US.

Frankson believes that Jamaicans should be concerned about proceedings that are not open to scrutiny, particularly cases that have anonymous witnesses.

"(It's like) fighting in the dark. The witnesses cannot be cross-examined to examine the veracity of the statements made. You are not able to put them under the searchlight of truth," he said.

Dr Paul Ashley disagrees with his colleague. He thinks that it would be dangerous to expose potential witnesses to risk of discovery before a trial and says that "a requesting state is not bound to disclose the identities of its witnesses before the accused appears in their jurisdiction."

"In other words, they won't remain anonymous in the trial ... in the requesting state. The witnesses would be subject to cross-examination and everything else," he said.

Not surprisingly, Tom Tavares-Finson, Christopher "Dudus" Coke's lawyer agrees with Frankson.

"For example, this notion that they can come here and extradite people, which our Court of Appeal has agreed using anonymous witnesses; not even their names they are prepared to tell you.

"They can take you to America out of your country of birth on a piece of paper that say witness 'AB' and witness 'CB' say that on 'X' date you did  call and say 'XY'. You think you could have sent that and give to America? You couldn't do that," argued Tavares-Finson, a criminal lawyer for some three decades.

Frank Phipps agrees with both Frankson and Tavares-Finson:

"Our law says each person who is charged with a criminal offence has the right to cross-examine the witnesses against him. That is our Constitution. Now, you can't cross-examine a piece of paper," quipped the noted litigator.

Phipps, who has been a lawyer since 1957, said requests have been made for witnesses to attend the proceedings in Jamaica but they have fallen on deaf ears. "That can't be right. As much as we are concerned about the security of people ... you don't throw out the baby with the bath water."

So the question remains. What will Jamaica do about Christopher "Dudus" Coke? Is he an international criminal being harbored by Jamaica from the U.S., or is he entitled to the protection of his country from a Super Power bent on prosecuting him for alleged crimes in the U.S.?

Also See: Dudus Wanted and  Dudus Still Wanted <<----

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Parents Sue over Teen Sexting Suicide

Jessica Logan, 18, committed suicide on July, 3, 2008, one month after graduating from high school. Her parents Cynthia and Albert Logan filed suit in the U.S. Distr ict Court, Ohio on 12/2/09 against SYCAMORE COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION, Police Officer PAUL PAYNE, CITY OF MONTGOMERY and five other individuals.

This action challenges the severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive harassment that Sycamore Community Schools and Montgomery Police Officer Paul Payne permitted against high school student Jessica Logan before her death. Jessica was continually harassed by students at Sycamore High School and by the named Defendant students, who maliciously circulated a nude photo of her and tormented her with degrading sexual insults. 

Jessica Logan attended Sycamore High School from 2004 to 2008. She had a boyfriend, Ryan Salyers. During her senior year at school, using her cellphone she took, and sent to Ryan, a picture of herself, naked from the neck down. Shortly afterward she and Ryan broke up.

Ryan Salyers, after the break up, texted the naked picture of Jessica to: Sarah Jane Ramsey, Courtney Richardson, Emily Stachler and a minor known only as "A.R." all of whom distributed the photo widely among their friends at Sycamore High and Loveland High School.

When Jessica learned that her picture was the topic of conversation throughout the school, she was "devastated and humiliated." Accompanied by a friend she went to the school's counselor office. They were told to report the matter to the School Resource Officer, Paul Payne.

Officer Payne spoke to the individuals involved in the texting and asked them to delete the picture. Instead of doing so, they contacted Jessica and let her know that they were going to "escalate the level of harassment" because she reported them. That is exactly what happened.

Students began to refer to Jessica as a whore, slut and skank. She received text messages, phone calls and MySpace messages denigrating her character. She was tormented in school and outside as well. Some students even took to throwing objects at her. She reported all this once again to Officer Payne, who said there was nothing he could do about it.

Jessica began to skip school, prompting the school to send truancy notes to her parents. Her grades suffered and she was in danger of not being able to graduate. She did however manage to complete her studies and graduated on June 1, 2008. The harassment did not stop.

Students threw objects at Jessica during Sycamore’s graduation and at graduation parties, slurred her and hurled sexual epithets at her when she attended graduation parties, and continued to harass her by phone and online.

On July 3, 2008 Jessica attended the funeral of a friend who had committed suicide. When she returned home Jessica hanged herself in her bedroom.

Last fall, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy surveyed teens and young adults about sexting — sending sexually charged material via cell phone text messages — or posting such materials online. The results revealed that 39 percent of teens are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages, and 48 percent reported receiving such messages. 

After her daughter’s death, Cynthia Logan quit her job and was hospitalized for a time with what she described as a mental breakdown. Still grieving over the loss of her daughter, she said she is taking her story public to warn kids about the dangers of sending sexually charged pictures and messages to boyfriends and girlfriends.

“She was vivacious. She was fun. She was artistic. She was compassionate. She was a good kid,” said Cynthia Logan of her deceased daughter.

Cynthia and her husband, Albert, say they are heartbroken and angry. They feel like something should have been done. They question why the five teenagers who continued to spread Jessie's picture and harass her were never charged. Cynthia says the fault doesn't only lie with the police, but also with the school.

"To have a nude photo being disseminated throughout the school of your child, how would you feel as a parent?” she asked. “Wouldn't you want other parents to know? The police department didn't protect her. The school didn't protect her. She had no one,” said Cynthia.

Sexting is a growing problem that has resulted in child pornography charges being filed against some teens across the nation. Montgomery police have charged one teenage boy who sent a racy video to other students. The Warren County prosecutor filed misdemeanor charges against two 15-year-old students at Mason High School, for sending out nude pictures over their cell phones. In Warren county a new law specifically targeting sexting has been proposed.

Why is sexting so popular among teens? One teen explained it this way:

"It's like a digital trophy, proving that you did something or you got someone to show you something personal of theirs and you can parade it around and make sure everyone knows. And it's more satisfying than word of mouth," said one teenager, who did not want to be identified.

In a survey conducted by MTV and the Associated Press more than three-quarters of respondents recognized that digital abuse was a serious problem in the youth culture but at the same time they were only mildly concerned about the risks and consequences from such behavior. Only half of the respondents gave thought to the idea that information or images they posted online could negatively affect them later.

One person who knows first hand how sexting could have a negative effect is Cynthia Logan; it cost her the life of her only child, Jessie Logan.

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Teens Waive Right to Hearing

  

Two 18-year-old teens from Pulaski, Tn., Matthew Wood and William Angel, both waived their right to a preliminary hearing in a Giles County Court appearance on Tuesday Dec. 8th, 2009. They are charged with the murders of Desere Thornton, 38 and her two sons: Jerrod, 16 and Anthony aged 9.

Prosecutors allege that both Wood and Angel had a dispute with Jerrod Thornton over an ex-girlfriend. All three of them attended Richland High School. The dispute escalated to the point where, on Oct. 23, Wood and Angel paid a visit to the Thornton home. They killed all three residents and then burned the house down to cover their crime. See previous post for all the details.

In a surprise move, first Matthew Wood and then William Angel stood before Judge John Damron and voluntarily waived their right to a preliminary hearing. This means that the case will now be handed over to a grand jury which will determine if there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial.

"We are looking forward to seeing the evidence so we can analyze it," Defense attorney William Massey said. "We have a lot of work to do in front of us, as well."

   

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