Christian Violence

Who says that Muslims have a monopoly on violence? Violence is the province of any belief system that holds it alone is in possession of absolute truth.

clipped from news.yahoo.com Masked and hooded Belfast Catholics hurled gasoline bombs, fireworks and other makeshift weapons at police into the night as the most bitterly divisive day on the Northern Ireland calendar reached an ugly end. Several rioters and at least nine officers were injured, none seriously, when Irish nationalists in Ardoyne, a militant Catholic enclave of north Belfast, tried to block a parade Monday by the Orange Order, Northern Ireland's major Protestant brotherhood. Tens of thousands of Orangemen spent Monday mounting hundreds of similar parades in an annual stress test for the province's fragile peace. Most passed peacefully, but a handful attracted violent protests that Catholic leaders blamed on Irish Republican Army dissidents opposed to Northern Ireland's joint Catholic-Protestant government. At one point, masked Catholic rioters on store rooftops directed a deluge of Molotov cocktails, bricks and golf balls on riot police below

Obama Orders Investigation of Alleged War Crimes in Afghanistan

It's important to give credit where credit is due. I can't imagine the Bush administration investigating possible war crimes committed by our allies that we might have supported in some way:

President Barack Obama has ordered his national security team to investigate reports that U.S. allies were responsible for the deaths of as many as 2,000 Taliban prisoners of war during the opening days of the war in Afghanistan.

Obama told CNN in an interview that aired Sunday that he doesn't know what how the U.S.-allied Northern Alliance behaved in November 2001, but he wants a full accounting before deciding how to move forward.

"I think that, you know, there are responsibilities that all nations have even in war," Obama said during an interview at the end of a six-day trip to Russia, Italy and Ghana.

"And if it appears that our conduct in some way supported violations of the laws of war, then I think that, you know, we have to know about that." …

The mass deaths were brought up anew Friday in a report by The New York Times. It quoted government and human rights officials accusing the Bush administration of failing to investigate the executions of hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of prisoners.

The alleged crimes are horrifying:

Witnesses have claimed that forces with the U.S.-allied Northern Alliance placed the prisoners in sealed cargo containers over the two-day voyage to Sheberghan Prison, suffocating them and then burying them en masse, using bulldozers to move the bodies, according to the State Department report. Some Northern Alliance soldiers have said that some of their troops opened fire on the containers, killing those within.

Obama's determination to investigate the crimes vetoes the position taken by his own administration:

The president's comments seem to reverse officials' statements from Friday, when they said they had no grounds to investigate the 2001 deaths of Taliban prisoners of war who human rights groups allege were killed by U.S.-backed forces….

U.S. officials said Friday they did not have legal grounds to investigate the deaths because only foreigners were involved and the alleged killings occurred in a foreign country.

But there is an element of hedging in Obama's decision to investigate these alleged crimes:

But Obama's direction — discussed as he toured a former slave castle on Ghana's coast — does not guarantee action.

"We'll probably make a decision in terms of how to approach it once we have all the facts gathered up," Obama said.

It's hard to imagine why the direction to be taken can't be foreseen in advance. If the alleged war crimes occurred, then those responsible should be prosecuted. That's a no brainer.

"I Hate You Because You're Different from Me"

Want to see what extremism about religion and ethnicity can lead to?  Then check out this film of the violence between the Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese.  Warning: the film shows dead bodies.

Last Week and Part of This Week

Forgive the inactivity on Delaware Watch lately.  My daughter got married on Thursday and I have many relatives from out of town visiting and staying over.  Once my family obligations are over, I'll be back at it blogging again.

Like Bush Obama Purports He Can Disobey the Law

The rule of law should be a cornerstone of every government. Yet President Obama has signed a law and issued a "signing statement" purporting that he doesn't need to obey portions of the law. Liberals and progressive criticized this practice by President Bush. It's not acceptable simply because President Obama has done it.

Here is the text of the statement and below it is a story about it:

However, provisions of this bill within sections 1110 to 1112 of title XI, and sections 1403 and 1404 of title XIV, would interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations by directing the Executive to take certain positions in negotiations or discussions with international organizations and foreign governments, or by requiring consultation with the Congress prior to such negotiations or discussions. I will not treat these provisions as limiting my ability to engage in foreign diplomacy or negotiations.

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com On Friday, President Obama signed a new war spending bill into law, but "not without taking a page from his predecessor and ignoring a few elements in the legislation," the Hill reports. Obama included a five-paragraph signing statement with the bill, including a final paragraph that outlined his objections to at least four areas of the bill. President George W. Bush was heavily criticized for his use of signing statements, declaring he'd ignore some elements of legislation by invoking presidential prerogative. The Obama administration announced in the statement it would disregard provisions of the legislation that, among other things, would compel the Obama administration to pressure the World Bank to strengthen labor and environmental standards and require the Treasury department to report to Congress on the activities of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Health Insurers Con Billions of Dollars from their Customers

Here is a story one isn't likely to hear about from our conservative and Libertarian friends and other private sector fetishists:

Health insurers have forced consumers to pay billions of dollars in medical bills that the insurers themselves should have paid, according to a report released yesterday by the staff of the Senate Commerce Committee.

The report was part of a multi-pronged assault on the credibility of private insurers by Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.). It came at a time when Rockefeller, President Obama and others are seeking to offer a public alternative to private health plans as part of broad health-care reform legislation. Health insurers are doing everything they can to block the public option.

How do insurance companies "avoid responsibility for sick people?" According to the article, by:

• "Us[ing] deliberately incomprehensible documents to mislead consumers about their benefits"
  
• "Sell[ing] "junk" policies that do not cover needed care"
  
• "Mak[ing] paperwork confusing because '[insurance companies] realize that people will just simply give up and not pursue it' if they think they have been shortchanged."
  

One particularly clever way that some insurers cheated their customers was uncovered by New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo:

Cuomo described it last year as "a scheme by health insurers to defraud consumers by manipulating reimbursement rates."

Many Americans pay higher premiums for the freedom to go outside an insurer's network of doctors and hospitals. When they do, insurers typically pay a percentage of what they call the "usual and customary" rates for the services. How insurers determine the usual rates had long been opaque to consumers and difficult if not impossible for them to challenge.

As it turns out, insurers typically used numbers from Ingenix, a wholly owned subsidiary of the big insurer UnitedHealth Group. Ingenix had an incentive to produce benchmarks that low-balled usual and customary rates and shifted costs from insurers to their customers, the report said.

Ingenix got its data from the same insurers that bought its benchmark information, the report said. Insurers that contributed information to Ingenix often "scrubbed" their data to remove high charges, and Ingenix further manipulated the numbers, removing valid high charges from its calculations, the report said.

Cuomo found that insurers under-reimbursed New York consumers by up to 28 percent….

Remember these systemic abuses in the private sector when you hear all the doctrinaire whining about how a government health care plan cannot be trusted. Trusting the private sector to take care of the health care needs of the American populace is the functional equivalent of trusting a known con man.

Tonight on Progressive Voices: Al Mascitti

Listen to “Progressive Voices” every Monday evening on WVUD, 91.3 FM from the University of Delaware in Newark, DE.

Tonight’s host: Marion Peleski and Dana Garrett

Note: Monday’s show starts at 6:30 p.m. and ends at 7:00. Listen from anywhere in the world you at http://www.wvud.org/listen_online.htm

* * *

Tonight I will talk to WDEL talk show host Al Mascitti. We will discuss local and national events and news.

Where is the Money for Violent Crimes Compensation Board Going?

When the Delaware Legislature's Joint Sunset Committee heard testimony that Delaware's Violent Crimes Compensation Board (VCCB) was stingy in compensating the victims of violent crimes, I wasn't surprised. Although I never had any direct evidence verifying the claim, I had heard similar reports during the years I worked in Delaware's Family Court.

According to the News Journal, Rep. John Kowalko, a member of the Joint Sunset Committee,

became concerned about the Violent Crimes Compensation Board when he heard it wasn't coming close to giving out the funds allocated for victims. (link)

Given that the VCCB hasn't even come close to allocating the $6 million it has been given by the state for victims, the question naturally arises: where is the money going?

I have received information from two sources that have been in a position to know how some members of the VCCB have spent the agencies resources in the past. One source wishes to remain anonymous and the other is willing to divulge his identity. The latter's name is Fran Scholl. Mr. Scholl retired from the Wilmington Police force in 1994 and worked for the VCCB from 2000 – 2004.

Both of these sources made the following allegations:

• The Board members would routinely meet at a restaurant either prior or subsequent to a VCCB meeting and buy meals at the agency's expense (i.e., the taxpayers' expense).
  
• They also reimbursed themselves for their mileage to the VCCB meetings at the agency's expense.
  
• Some of the Board members signed up for 3-5 trips per year to conferences and conventions and "bragged" they had visited most of the 50 states on these trips. All travel related expenses (airfare, room, board, food, conference fees, etc.) were paid for by the agency (again, from taxpayer money).
  
• During these trips, the Board members were supposed to attend workshops and seminars but often they did not. Instead, "they signed up for tours and excursions."
  
• Mr. Scholl went on one of these trips to Colorado. Although he attended the seminars he signed up for, he never once saw any of the Board members attend the seminars they signed up for. They were "out on sightseeing tours," he said.
  
• After the Colorado trip, the Board members encouraged the trip goers to take a $65.00 per diem expense reimbursement even though the state maximum per diem expense reimbursement was less than that ($35.00 per diem, as Mr. Scholl recalled).
  

Readers should bear in mind that the Board members of the VCCB are additionally paid an annual salary for very part time work. The salary is $10,000 per year. Also, Board members participate in the pension plan for state employees.

The current Board members are:

• Thomas Castaldi, Chairman
  
• Leah W. Betts, Vice Chairman (Milton city councilwoman and former vice chairwoman of the state Democratic Party)
  
• V. Lynn Gregory, Commissioner (wife of Wilmington Democratic Committee Chairman and former City Councilman Theo Gregory)
  
• Thaddeus Koston, Commissioner
  
• Stephanie I. Liguori, Commissioner (link)
  

If the allegations made by my sources are true, then serious questions can be raised about the VCCB's stewardship of the taxpayer funds given to them. Although I think occasional conference trips are important for some state employees to attend, a pattern of 3-5 trips per year strikes me as excessive. I believe that State Auditor Tom Wagner should look into these allegations and investigate the activities of the VCCB and how those activities are funded.

There are more dimensions to the issues raised in the News Journal article about the VCCB and other allegations made by my sources that I will explore in future posts here on Delaware Watch.

US Senate passes apology for slavery, segregation

It's about time!

clipped from news.yahoo.com The Senate has unanimously passed a resolution apologizing for slavery and racial segregation and sent the measure to the House. Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin first introduced the measure years ago but wanted it passed Thursday on the eve of Juneteenth - a day of celebration commemorating the end of the Civil War and the release of African Americans from slavery. He said the House is to take it up soon and that a formal celebration will be held next month in the Capitol Rotunda. The resolution passed Thursday includes a disclaimer saying that nothing in it supports or authorizes reparations by the United States.

Pop Goes the Myth of the Superiority of Charter Schools

This will cause hand-wringing, weeping, wailing, and angry and sophistical comments:

On average, charter schools are not performing as well as their traditional public-school peers, according to a new study that is being called the first national assessment of these school-choice options. The study, conducted by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University, compared the reading and math state achievement test scores of students in charter schools in 15 states and the District of Columbia—amounting to 70 percent of U.S. charter school students—to those of their virtual "twins" in regular schools who shared with them certain characteristics.

I interrupted the flow of the findings so I could interject this comment: these results should surprise no one. There really isn't a rational reason to think that quasi-private schools should perform better than public schools. It's only a bunch of mystical market mumbo jumbo that makes people think so. So, read this and weep all you who tacitly root for the failure of the public school system:

The research found that 37 percent of charter schools posted math gains that were significantly below what students would have seen if they had enrolled in local traditional public schools. And 46 percent of charter schools posted math gains that were statistically indistinguishable from the average growth among their traditional public-school companions. That means that only 17 percent of charter schools have growth in math scores that exceeds that of their traditional public-school equivalents by a significant amount.

In reading, charter students on average realized a growth that was less than their public-school counterparts but was not as statistically significant as differences in math achievement, researchers said.

Here's the assessment of a weeper:

"We are worried by these results," Margaret Raymond, director of CREDO and lead author of the report, Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States, said at a news conference. "This study shows that we've got a 2-to-1 margin of bad charters to good charters."

Haters of public schools and teachers' unions, editorialists and radio talk show hosts who naively think that charter schools walk on water—I confess, I am laughing at you. Vindication feels so good.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Saying No To Vouchers (takepart.com)
• Obama Calls for Overhaul of Education System (nytimes.com)
• Urban Schools Need Better Teachers, Not Excuses, to Close the Education Gap (usnews.com)
• The Nature of Charter Schools Questioned in Illinois (delawarewatch.blogspot.com)

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The study can be found here.

I Love the Iranian People

I love the Iranian people. This video depicts why.