Reducing Accountability at University of California

Considering that the current UC president is a former government bureaucrat, it is no surprise that accountability is offensive to her. Consolidation of power is always good for bureaucratic incompetents. 

[From article]
Proposed changes in the governance of the University of California System would empower its president, former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, with greatly enhanced autonomy by hamstringing the principal check on her power, the Regents. Regents of the University of California are entrusted with the supervision of a vast enterprise with an annual budget of over $25 billion, comprising 10 campuses, and employing almost 20,000 professors and 135,900 support staff, all ultimately reporting to Napolitano.
University of California Regents begin their terms with an oath to serve as fiduciaries -- legally obligated to act solely in the best interests of the people of California. Preserving the Regents’ authority to protect the University is even more important now that the State of California contributes only a small fraction of UC’s budget.
[. . .]
At the July 2016 Regents Meeting, they will vote whether to change the Regents’ Board governance procedures in ways that would diminish the power of the Regents relative to UC President Janet Napolitano’s administration. Napolitano already has demonstrated a reluctance to consult the Academic Senate on issues such as pension reform and disciplining UC Davis Chancellor Katehi, and, according to Regent Rodney Davis, failed to inform Regents of Katehi’s response to Napolitano’s allegations.
[. . .]
A major change would rescind the longstanding authority of an individual Regent to place any item on the Regents’ meeting agenda. This authority proved an important bargaining tool when certain Regents balked at the Administration’s proposed UC Statement of Principles Against Intolerance, enabling Regents to craft a statement acceptable to civil libertarians from both the left and right of the political spectrum.
[. . .]
Some Regents argue that the proposed governance changes could be tried for a year, and then reconsidered. Once implemented, however, it likely would be impossible for now less-powerful Regents to regain their lost authority.
As they did with the proposed Intolerance Principles, the UC Regents should call time out to consider governance changes, and concentrate on enhancing their role as fiduciaries. Included in these considerations should be whether to rescind the relatively recent change to have the General Counsel report not only to the Board but also to the UC President. The General Counsel cannot properly serve two masters. Another consideration should be whether, like UC Academic Senate members who choose to remain non-voting members, the UC President’s Board membership should be changed to a non-voting member. In almost all public university boards, the president is a non-voting, ex-officio (serving while holding the office) member. The UC President reports to the Board, after all.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/06/gutting_accountability_at_the_university_of_california_.html

June 30, 2016
Gutting Accountability at the University of California
By Velma Montoya

Iceland Elects History Professor President, in Anti Establishment Vote

President elect Gudni Johannesson (L) speaks next to his wife Eliza Reid at an election party in Reykjavik, on June 25, 2016 

(AFP Photo/Halldor Kolbeins)

[From article]

History professor Gudni Johannesson won Iceland's presidential election after riding a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, final results showed Sunday, although the vote was eclipsed by the country's eagerly-anticipated Euro football match.
The political newcomer, who won with 39.1 percent of votes, was trailed by businesswoman Halla Tomasdottir, also without party affiliation, who took 29.4 percent, according to results announced on public television channel RUV.
Johannesson only decided to run for the presidency after the so-called Panama Papers leak in April which detailed offshore accounts and implicated several senior Icelandic politicians, including the prime minister who was forced to resign.
Throughout the campaign, Johannesson emphasised his non-partisan vision of the presidency, and vowed to restore faith in the political system after years of public anger toward politicians over scandals and financial woes.
The victory was especially sweet for the history professor and political commentator, who has never held public office and has no party affiliation, as he celebrated his 48th birthday Sunday.
David Oddsson, a former conservative prime minister who had been Johannesson's closest rival throughout most of the campaign, garnered just 13 percent of votes.
"The representative of the old era... has been rejected, people are looking to the future," University of Akureyri political science professor Gretar Eythorsson told AFP.
The president in Iceland holds a largely ceremonial position. More important legislative elections are due in the autumn.
[. . .]
Britain's vote to leave the European Union also headlined the news on the eve of the election in Iceland, which itself had applied for EU membership in 2009 after suffering a devastating financial crisis in 2008, but abandoned the bid six years later.
Like most of Iceland's voters, Johannesson is opposed to EU membership.
In a final debate on Friday, he said Brexit changes "much for the better for us Icelanders," suggesting the European Economic Area agreement that non-EU members Norway and Iceland have with the EU could play a more important role with Britain on board.
[. . .]
Current president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, 73, is stepping down after five straight terms spanning 20 years.
"I think we will see a different kind of president. Johannesson is not likely to be as political as Grimsson sometimes was," Eythorsson said.
Grimsson is the only Icelandic president to have exercised his right to veto bills in parliament, doing so three times over two decades.
Johannesson was until recently known to Icelanders as one of the country's most prominent political commentators from the University of Iceland.
In a nation basking in a strong economy, low unemployment and robust purchasing power, Johannesson's views are generally seen as moderate and centrist.
Casting his ballot Saturday, Johannesson told AFP he was satisfied he had "managed to present to the people my vision of the presidency".
[. . .]
Turnout in the election was also higher than in the last vote four years ago, at nearly 76 percent.
Johannesson officially takes over the post on August 1.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/johannesson-leads-icelands-presidential-vote-partial-result-000003789.html?ref=gs

Political novice wins Iceland presidency with 39 percent
Haukur Holm
June 26, 2016

University President Salaries Skyrocket

Columbia University President's Salary, $4.6 million

[From article]
In his last year as the head of public markets for the Harvard Management Company, Stephen Blyth—now the CEO of Harvard’s investment arm—earned $3 million less than he did the year before, making about $8.3 million in the 2014 calendar year compared to $11.5 million in 2013.
University President Drew G. Faust saw a pay increase—though her compensation was again dwarfed by those of top HMC executives—taking home $1.2 million over the course of the year, roughly $91,000 more than she received in the previous year. The figure includes $810,884 in salary and $153,460 in benefits such as her residence at 33 Elmwood Ave. in Cambridge, according to recent Internal Revenue Service tax filings. Still, the presidents of other peer institutions often make much more than Faust; Lee C. Bollinger, the president of Columbia University, made $4.6 million in 2013, according to a Chronicle of Higher Education database. Amy Gutmann ’71, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, made more than $3 million that year.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/5/15/executive-compensation-2014/

Faust Made $1.2 Million in 2014
Stephen Blyth, then head of public markets for HMC, made $8.3 million in calendar year 2014
By ANDREW M. DUEHREN and DAPHNE C. THOMPSON
May 15, 2016

UPDATED: May 15, 2016, at 6:57 p.m.

Harvard University President Defends $37 billion Endowment Before Money Worshippers In United States Congress

Currently (April 2016) it stands at over $37 billion

No need to visit Beacon Hill, or City Hall to defend a $37 billion endowment. Harvard University controls those two governments. In 2001 my bill in the MA legislature removed tax exemptions from non profits with more than $500,000 in funds. At the hearing Committee Chairman State Senator Marian Walsh was concerned about the Catholic Church. That was before the child abuse scandal was revealed.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/4/22/faust-visit-dc/

Faust Defends Tax-Exempt Endowment In D.C.
By ANDREW M. DUEHREN ,

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
April 22, 2016

President Has Duty. Not Senate. Lawsuit Cannot Compel Senate To Act

Is this a SNL routine proposal? Is it about lawsuits, revenge, made up duties? Evans does not say. There are several US legal actions pending regarding the ACA. Article II, Section 2 of Constitution provides a duty for the President, not for the Senate. Read it and weep. Misguided argument would make some sense if the White House did not ignore regularly the Constitution and his duties, in other areas. Why not encourage the President to use executive orders to make SCOTUS appointments? Both President and Vice President argued against making such nominations/appointments during elections and recesses of the Senate. How did Democratic Senators treat the nominations of Judge Robert Bork and Judge Clarence Thomas? Talk about "impoliteness, discourtesy, and political grandstanding." Teehee. BTW a lawsuit cannot compel the Senate to act. This professor emeritus needs to read some law and the Constitution.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20160324/guest-commentary-taste-of-their-own-medicine

Guest commentary: A taste of their own medicine
By Martin G. Evans
Posted Mar. 24, 2016 at 3:06 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Czech President Calls Middle East Migrants An Invasion

Milos Zeman, the Czech president, said he intended to pay tribute to the soldiers of the Russian Liberation Army 

Photo: Axel Schmidt/Getty Images

[From article]
Czech President Milos Zeman has called the current wave of refugees to Europe "an organised invasion", adding young men from Syria and Iraq should instead "take up arms" against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) group.
"I am profoundly convinced that we are facing an organised invasion and not a spontaneous movement of refugees," said Zeman in his Christmas message to the Czech Republic released on Saturday.
He went on to say that compassion was "possible" for refugees who are old or sick and for children, but not for young men who in his view should be back home fighting against jihadists.
"A large majority of the illegal migrants are young men in good health, and single. I wonder why these men are not taking up arms to go fight for the freedom of their countries against the Islamic State," said Zeman, who was elected Czech president in early 2013.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/czechrepublic/12070377/Wave-of-refugees-to-Europe-an-organised-invasion-says-Czech-PM.html

Wave of refugees to Europe an "organised invasion" says Czech PM
Milos Zeman urges young Iraqis ad Syrians to take up arms against Isil
By AFP
2:28AM GMT 27 Dec 2015

OK Wesleyan University President, Reveals To Students, "This is not daycare."

 
Dr. Everett Piper, President Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Administrators and faculty at many universities including but not limited to Harvard, Yale and Columbia might benefit from reading this university president's letter.

[From letter]
This past week, I actually had a student come forward after a university chapel service and complain because he felt “victimized” by a sermon on the topic of 1 Corinthians 13. It appears this young scholar felt offended because a homily on love made him feel bad for not showing love. In his mind, the speaker was wrong for making him, and his peers, feel uncomfortable.
I’m not making this up. Our culture has actually taught our kids to be this self-absorbed and narcissistic. Any time their feelings are hurt, they are the victims. Anyone who dares challenge them and, thus, makes them “feel bad” about themselves, is a “hater,” a “bigot,” an “oppressor,” and a “victimizer.”
I have a message for this young man and all others who care to listen. That feeling of discomfort you have after listening to a sermon is called a conscience. An altar call is supposed to make you feel bad. It is supposed to make you feel guilty. The goal of many a good sermon is to get you to confess your sins—not coddle you in your selfishness. The primary objective of the Church and the Christian faith is your confession, not your self-actualization.
So here’s my advice:
[. . .]



If you’re more interested in playing the “hater” card than you are in confessing your own hate; if you want to arrogantly lecture, rather than humbly learn; if you don’t want to feel guilt in your soul when you are guilty of sin; if you want to be enabled rather than confronted, there are many universities across the land (in Missouri and elsewhere) that will give you exactly what you want, but Oklahoma Wesleyan isn’t one of them.
At OKWU, we teach you to be selfless rather than self-centered. We are more interested in you practicing personal forgiveness than political revenge. We want you to model interpersonal reconciliation rather than foment personal conflict. We believe the content of your character is more important than the color of your skin. We don’t believe that you have been victimized every time you feel guilty and we don’t issue “trigger warnings” before altar calls.
Oklahoma Wesleyan is not a “safe place”, but rather, a place to learn: to learn that life isn’t about you, but about others; that the bad feeling you have while listening to a sermon is called guilt; that the way to address it is to repent of everything that’s wrong with you rather than blame others for everything that’s wrong with them. This is a place where you will quickly learn that you need to grow up.
This is not a day care. This is a university.

http://www.okwu.edu/blog/2015/11/this-is-not-a-day-care-its-a-university/

This is Not a Day Care. It’s a University!
Dr. Everett Piper, President
Oklahoma Wesleyan University
November 2015

Ex-United Nations President, Four Others Charged With Major Bribery

John Ashe walks at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial after paying flower tribute at Rajghat in New Delhi in this March 21, 2014 file photo. Reuters/Adnan Abidi/Files

[From article]

U.S. authorities charged a former president of the United Nations General Assembly, a billionaire Macau real estate developer and four others on Tuesday for engaging in a wide-ranging corruption scheme.
John Ashe, a former U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda who was general assembly president from 2013 to 2014, was accused in a complaint filed in federal court in New York of taking more than $1.3 million in bribes from Chinese businessmen, including developer Ng Lap Seng.
[. . .]

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is "shocked and deeply troubled" by the allegations, said his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. The U.N. had not previously been informed of the probe, Dujarric said, but would cooperate if contacted.
The case followed the Sept. 19 arrest of Ng, 68, and an assistant, Jeff Yin, 29, for falsely claiming that $4.5 million they brought into the United States from China from 2013 to 2015 was meant for gambling or buying art, antiques or real estate.
[. . .]


David Ng (Ng Lap Seng), Chairman of the Sun Kian IP Group Foundation sits at the High-level Multi-Stakeholder Strategy Forum in Macau, China in this handout photo taken on August 25, 2015, provided by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation. 
Reuters/United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation/Handout via Reuters

According to the complaint, Ng, through intermediaries, paid Ashe more than $500,000 for telling the U.N. secretary general that a yet-to-be built multibillion-dollar U.N.-sponsored conference center in Macau was needed.
[. . .]

The unnamed non-profit matches the description of the Global Sustainability Foundation. And while the complaint did not name the prime minister, Baldwin Spencer held the post at the time.
The foundation and Antigua and Barbuda's mission to the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment. Spencer could not be reached.
The complaint said Ashe solicited bribes in various forms, including payments to cover a family vacation to New Orleans and the construction of a $30,000 basketball court at his house in Dobbs Ferry, New York, the complaint said.
From 2012 to 2014, more than $3 million from foreign governments and individuals was deposited in bank accounts controlled by Ashe, who spent the money on his mortgage, BMW lease payments and Rolex watches, the complaint said.
The complaint only charged Ashe with tax offenses, which it said are not covered by any diplomatic immunity he enjoys.

[. . .]
Ng's name previously surfaced in U.S. investigations into how foreign money might have been funneled into the Democratic National Committee before the 1996 elections, when it was working to re-elect President Bill Clinton.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/06/us-usa-crime-macau-idUSKCN0S01CG20151006

Tue Oct 6, 2015 2:31pm EDT
Ex-U.N. General Assembly president, five others charged in U.S. in bribe scheme
NEW YORK
BY NATE RAYMOND AND JOSEPH AX

Updated: Guatemala's Congress Votes 132-0 to Remove Immunity From Their President, Who Resigns Facing Arrest

Posted September 2, 2015 9:24 PM ET; Last updated September 3, 2015 9:11 PM ET



Even if the United Nations investigated the White House today, there is no will in the Congress to prosecute the President of the US. They fear being called racists, haters. No spines among elected officials. Is that why Donald Trump is popular? 

[From article]
Guatemalan President Otto Perez on Thursday said he was resigning, after Congress stripped him of immunity over corruption allegations and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The embattled conservative leader, in power since 2012, took the decision to step down to confront "individually the proceedings against him," his spokesman Jorge Ortega said, hours after the arrest warrant was issued.
A judge issued the arrest warrant Wednesday for Mr Perez, who faces prosecution for allegedly masterminding a huge fraud scheme.
[. . .]
Under Guatemalan law, Mr Perez will be automatically removed from office if remanded in custody by a criminal court.
Guatemala's attorney general also said Wednesday she is confident embattled Mr Perez will be convicted of corruption, as the country's top court rejected his challenge to prosecutors' moves to try him.
[. . .]
Mr Perez is the first president in the Central American country's history to be stripped of his immunity, a decision that caused exasperated Guatemalans to burst into celebration Tuesday night after months of unprecedented protests.
A judge subsequently barred the 64-year-old retired general from leaving the country.
[. . .]
The scandal, which has already felled his former vice president and a string of top officials, comes as Guatemala prepares for elections Sunday to choose his successor.
Mr Perez, in power since 2012, is constitutionally barred from running for re-election. His term ends on January 14.
The president has been left increasingly isolated by the scandal.
Six of his 14 ministers have resigned in recent days, along with several other top officials.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/679644/arrest-warrant-issued-for-guatemala-president

Guatemalan president facing arrest resigns
3 Sep 2015 at 14:53
AFP
* * *

[From article]
Guatemala’s Congress voted on Tuesday to strip President Otto Pérez Molina of his immunity from prosecution, a unanimous decision that acknowledged the outpouring of citizen demands for an end to entrenched impunity.
The 132-0 vote was the culmination of a tumultuous five months since prosecutors revealed the existence of a customs fraud ring in April, describing how officials received bribes in exchange for discounted tariffs, a scheme that effectively stole millions from the treasury.
[. . .]
The case ignited a flood of protest from ordinary Guatemalans, who began staging weekly protests in Guatemala City’s central plaza, demanding the president’s resignation, although he had yet to be linked directly to the scheme.
But it was not until Aug. 21, when prosecutors announced that their evidence pointed to Mr. Pérez Molina as one of the scheme’s ringleaders, that Guatemala’s elite joined the calls for Mr. Pérez Molina to step down.
[. . .]
But removing the president’s immunity has enormous symbolism in a country long divided by class and race and where impunity for the powerful was the rule in a system fueled by corruption.
“It sends a very powerful message both to Guatemalans and to other countries in the region,”
[. . .]
The case against Mr. Pérez Molina, which forced the resignation of his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, in May, was brought by a United Nations-backed commission of independent prosecutors that has been working alongside the Guatemalan attorney general’s office for almost a decade. The commission has brought down a series of corrupt officials, developing complex cases using wiretaps and other evidence.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/world/americas/guatemala-votes-to-strip-its-president-of-immunity.html

President Otto Pérez Molina Is Stripped of Immunity in Guatemala
By ELISABETH MALKIN and AZAM AHMED

SEPT. 1, 2015

President Jimmy Carter Says He Has Cancer

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter

[From article]
Former President Jimmy Carter, who at age 90 still travels the world supporting the humanitarian endeavors that have consumed his time in the decades since he left office, announced Wednesday he has cancer that has spread to other parts of his body.
"Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body," Carter said in the statement released by the Carter Center. "I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment by physicians at Emory Healthcare."
The statement makes clear that Carter's cancer is widely spread but not where it originated, or even if that is known at this point. The liver is often a place where cancer spreads and less commonly is the primary source of it. The statement said further information will be provided when more facts are known, "possibly next week."
[. . .]
Carter was the nation's 39th president, defeating Gerald Ford in 1976 with a pledge to always be honest.
Before his career in politics, Carter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served seven years in the Navy submarine force.
A Georgia peanut farmer who had been a state senator and governor of Georgia for a single term before running for president, Carter ended up seeing his second term for president doomed by a number of foreign policy conflicts, most especially the Iran hostage crisis — losing in a landslide to Ronald Reagan in 1980.
He spent the decades since carving out a reputation for promoting such global issues as health care and democracy, often with his wife Rosalynn by his side. He joined the staff of Emory University and in 1982 established the Carter Center to promote those issues.
[. . .]
Age by itself does not preclude successful cancer treatment, said Dr. Lodovico Balducci, a specialist on treating cancer in the elderly at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. Much depends on the patient's "biological" age versus his actual years, he said.
"A man 90 years old normally would have a life expectancy of two or three years, but Jimmy Carter is probably much younger than that" in terms of his function, Balducci said. "If he tolerated liver surgery I imagine he has a relatively good tolerance" to other treatments that might be tried. For example, Moffitt has developed a scoring system to estimate how well an older person would tolerate chemotherapy, and the risk of serious side effects.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/08/12/jimmy-carter-says-has-cancer-revealed-by-recent-surgery/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fmost-popular+%28Internal+-+Most+Popular+Content%29

Jimmy Carter says he has cancer, revealed by recent surgery
Published August 12, 2015

Associated Press
Fox News

* * *

Jeb Bush's Big Government Blindside

[From article]
Similarly, after a 40-year-old Arizonan decided to try politics as a candidate for the Phoenix City Council in 1949, he said: "It ain't for life and it might be fun." Barry Goldwater was right: Politics is supposed to be fun, and done right it is.
[. . .]
Bush was, however, inscrutable when he recently mused about the possibility of a presidential campaign that would "lose the primary to win the general." This sounds like a baseball strategy that requires stealing first base. There is a reason this has not been tried: the rules of the game.
Still, it is bracing that Bush might bring to nomination politics the spirit of another son of a president, John Quincy Adams, who said America's leaders should not be "palsied by the will of our constituents."
[. . .]
has he not noticed what the federal government is doing, using Title IX as a pretext?
It simply states that no person "shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." Based on those 31 words, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has stripped colleges and universities of a crucial component of self-government. Using ludicrous statistics based on flimsy social science to manufacture hysteria about a "rape epidemic" on campuses, the federal government is mandating the overthrow of due process in adjudicating accusations of sexual assault. Title IX's 31 words beget hundreds of pages of minute stipulations and mandates.
This crusade against a chimerical "epidemic" is rapidly collapsing under the weight of its absurdities and of the frauds (hello, Rolling Stone) that moralistic frenzy begets.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/will122714.php3

Jeb's hurdles
By George Will
Published December 27, 2014

Egypt's Former President Morsi Sentenced To Death

Egypt banned Muslim Brotherhood, but not the United States? Why is that?

[From article]
Morsi is already serving a 20-year prison term for ordering the arrest and torture of protesters while in power.
Egypt's religious authorities will now have to give their opinion before the sentence can be carried out.
Morsi's supporters from his Muslim Brotherhood movement have described the charges against him as "farcical".
He was deposed by the military in July 2013 following mass street protests against his rule.
Since then, the authorities have banned the Muslim Brotherhood and arrested thousands of his supporters.
[. . .]
The judge's request for the death sentence in connection with the jailbreak case was referred to the grand mufti, a high religious cleric, for ratification.
However, the mufti's recommendation is not binding. Even if he advises against the death sentence, the judge can still go ahead with it.
[. . .]
Many of his 104 co-defendants were Palestinians accused of being members of militant group Hamas, and were charged in absentia.
The court also issued rulings on another case, sentencing 16 Muslim Brotherhood members, including deputy leader Khairat al-Shater, to death on spying charges.
Morsi, who also faces espionage charges, will be issued a verdict in that case at a later date.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32763215

Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's ex-leader, sentenced to death
May 16, 2015
BBC

Prosecutor Due To Accuse President of Argentina, Found Dead, Journalist Missing

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner claimed that prosecutor Alberto Nisman (above), who died a day before he was due to accuse her of covering up a Jewish bombing in 1994, was murdered to 'implicate' her.

[From article]
An Argentine prosecutor who died mysteriously last week told a reporter prior to his death that he had evidence tying Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
The Washington Free Beacon first reported that Rouhani was part of the secretive Iranian government committee that approved the AMIA bombing, according to witness testimony included in a 500-page indictment written by the late Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was appointed to investigate the attack.
The bombing, which killed 85 and injured hundreds, is believed to have been authorized by Iran and carried out by its terror proxy Hezbollah. Nisman’s indictment implicated numerous high-profile Iranian officials in the attack and prompted Interpol to issue “red notices” for their arrests.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/argentine-prosecutor-rouhani-involved-in-amia-bombing-decision/

Argentine Prosecutor: Rouhani Involved in AMIA Bombing Decision
Said privately he had evidence Rouhani was involved in decision to authorize bombing
BY: Alana Goodman
Follow @alanagoodman
January 26, 2015 11:10 am

* * *

[From article]
An Argentine prosecutor found dead shortly before he was about to make explosive allegations about President Cristina Kirchner took a bullet point-blank
to his forehead, justice officials said Saturday.
Authorities said Diego Lagomarsino, a computer expert and colleague who said he had brought prosecutor Alberto Nisman a handgun Saturday night at his request, has been barred from leaving Argentina.
Nisman was found dead with a bullet to the head in his Buenos Aires home on Sunday, just before he was set to go before a congressional hearing to accuse Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman of shielding Iranian officials implicated in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people.
It was Argentina's worst terror attack in modern history. It has never gone to trial fully. Several pretrials were cancelled amid serious irregularities involving judges and Argentine intelligence staff.
Investigators, who initially said Nisman appeared to have committed suicide, have not ruled out homicide or "induced suicide."
[. . .]

http://news.yahoo.com/colleague-slain-prosecutor-barred-leaving-argentina-215640674.html;_ylt=AwrTWf0KR8RUDUYAlBXQtDMD

Argentine prosecutor shot point blank in forehead: official
January 24, 2015

Yahoo News

* * *

Firefighters and rescue workers search through the rubble of the Buenos Aires Jewish Community centre in this July 18, 1994 picture after a car bomb rocked the building, killing 84 people and injuring 300 others.

[From article] The journalist credited with being the first to to report the shooting dead of Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman has vanished.


Missing: Damian Pachter told his employer on Friday he was followed by unknown people and feared for his safety.
Damian Pachter, of the English-language Buenos Aires Herald, reported on Friday he was followed by unknown people and feared for his safety but did not elaborate, his employer said.
Mr Nisman was found dead last Sunday, the day before he was to testify before congress about his explosive allegations that President Cristina Kirchner shielded Iranian officials wanted in the South American country's biggest terrorist attack.
The official in charge of investigating his death said last night that he appeared to have been shot at point blank range but added that there was no firm evidence that anyone else was involved.
[. . .]

Sara Garfunkel, mother of late prosecutor Alberto Nisman, leaves the office of prosecutor Viviana Fein, who is investigating Nisman's death, on Thursday.

Kirchner argued that Alberto Nisman did not commit suicide, but was instead killed in an 'operation' against her government.
Mr Nisman, the lead prosecutor in the case, was found dead under suspicious circumstance with a gunshot to his head at his home.
Prosecutor Viviana Fein, who is leading the investigation into his death, said yesterday that the shot had been fired 'from a distance no greater than a centimetre'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2925205/Journalist-reported-suspicious-death-prosecutor-set-accuse-Argentine-president-bombing-cover-vanishes-saying-feared-safety.html

Journalist who reported suspicious death of prosecutor found shot at point blank range and set to accuse Argentine president of bombing cover-up 'vanishes' after saying he feared for his safety
Damian Pachter is believed to be first to report Alberto Nisman's death
Journalist told employer he was followed and feared for his safety
Prosecutor was found dead at his home with a gunshot wound to his head
Officials say that he was apparently shot from point blank range
He was to accuse the president of shielding Iranians implicated in bombing
Investigators suspect Nisman killed himself, but have not ruled out murder
By JENNY STANTON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 21:18 EST, 24 January 2015 | UPDATED: 08:59 EST, 25 January 2015

President of University Of Maryland Leaps Into Action To Hunt Down Hate Speech, In Between Fund Raisers

Continuing the hate speech witch hunt, the word racism remains undefined. University Presidents, who are mostly weak with relaxed rectitude these days, remain focused on fundraising and not offending any potential donor. The notion of unpopular speech has moved into the prohibited zone. That suggests that the purpose of the First Amendment was forgotten and is now an anomaly. That this happens on university campuses which were set up with protections encouraging free inquiry is sad. No one suggests that expressing hatred is proper. But it is protected speech under the US and state constitutions. Intimidating a person in the free exercise of a constitutionally protected right is a felony in Massachusetts. But like other race neutral laws that law is seldom enforced. Under the Obama-Holder doctrine inconvenient laws may be ignored by selected persons. University presidents are among the elite so entitled. The source of this strict politically correct speech restriction comes from the feminist therapeutic state promoters. Feeling good is elevated over speech, expression, and inquiry. Tell them what they want to hear. Where have I heard that before?

[From article]
University president Wallace Loh said in a statement Thursday that the school became aware of the 15-month-old email containing vulgar language and reprehensible views on Tuesday. Loh says officials met with the person involved, and an investigation is under way.

http://nypost.com/2015/03/13/university-of-maryland-frat-investigating-racist-sexist-email/

University of Maryland, frat investigating racist, sexist email
By Associated Press
New York Post
March 13, 2015 | 10:05am

Son of Suriname President Dési Bouterse, Sentenced To 16 Years For Terrorism, Father Convicted Of Drug Trafficking

President Desi Bouterse and son Dino, head of the country’s anti-terrorist unit 

(Pic Reuter)
[From article]

The son of Suriname President Dési Bouterse got a big break from a sympathetic judge Tuesday when he was sentenced to 16 ¼ years in prison for attempting to assist the terrorist group Hezbollah in planning attacks on the US and conspiring to import cocaine.
With the government seeking at least 30 years to life in prison for Dino Bouterse — whose father Desi Bouterse is the drug-trafficking president of Suriname – Manhattan federal Judge Shira Scheindlin decided to go light on the defendant. The judge – who’s best known for infuriating the NYPD by ordering an overhaul of its stop-and-frisks procedures — agreed with Bouterse’s lawyers that there is no proof a threat to the US was imminent despite their client getting caught in an undercover federal sting operation agreeing to help Hezbollah set up terror training camps in his
country in exchange for $2 million.
[. . .]
Bouterse was recorded in Europe telling confidential sources and undercover DEA agents that he wanted to host 30 to 60 Hezbollah members in Suriname for training and operations, the indictment says. He also said he wanted a Hezbollah cell there — in part to serve as his personal armed forces.
In one conversation, a confidential source told Bouterse, “from what I heard, … there is not much love between you and the Americans.”
Bouterse responded, “We have a problem with the Dutch. And Americans.”
His father, President Dési Bouterse, was convicted in absentia by a Netherlands court in 1999 of smuggling over 1,000 pounds of cocaine into the country — but never served any prison time.
The elder Bouterse is a former military dictator accused of human-rights violations, including the killings of 15 political opponents in December 1982. He ruled the tiny country from 1980 to 1987 and regained power in 2010.

http://nypost.com/2015/03/10/son-of-drug-trafficking-president-gets-16-years-in-terror-case/

Son of drug-trafficking president gets 16 years in terror case
By Rich Calder
New York Post
March 10, 2015 | 7:14pm

University Presidents Share Qualities of Politicians

Roger Morris, in his book, Partners in Power, about the Clintons, suggests that the preferred leader is  weak with relaxed rectitude. It applies to the public, private and academic communities. 

[From article]
University presidents love to form study committees -- they embrace them almost with the same glee exhibited by Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland rushing into the barn to form a band: "Let's form a (band) committee". Bureaucracy at its best. But nowhere is there a word about addressing the pertinent issue here: false rape accusations. (Nor, to sharpen the point, a syllable about protecting the actual victims -- the falsely accused. That isn't part of the PC agenda.)

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/12/whats_wrong_with_our_university_presidents.html

December 9, 2014
What's Wrong With Our University Presidents?
By R.B. Parrish

University of Texas President Charged With Admissions Abuses

[From article]
Earlier this week, as an investigation was being launched into allegations that under-qualified students were being admitted into Texas’ flagship institution based on their political ties and relationships, the director of admissions announced she was leaving her job. This new investigation by Cigarroa comes on the heels of a cursory review by the UT System which found examples of inappropriate swaying the admissions process at the Austin campus.
Those allegations have been at the center of an unprecedented impeachment effort -- with lawmakers trying to silence the regent who first brought the problems to light. UT Regent Wallace Hall, an appointee of Gov. Rick Perry, has been under fire from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Speaker Straus and other lawmakers friendly with Powers. They are upset that he has been conducting an investigation into legislative clout being used to sway the admissions process and other issues with UT's governance.
According to two sources familiar with the events, a whistleblower from within the university has stepped forward early this week with information that appears to have tipped the scales against Powers.
[. . .]
Up until now most of the public allegations of clout abuse have centered around admissions at the UT Law School (of which Powers was once the dean), yet Cigarroa’s call for a more expansive investigation would indicate a more wide-spread problem.
Reporter Jon Cassidy of the non-profit news site watchdog.org has also done a great deal of original investigative reporting on the law school admissions. Cassidy has found that several children and staff of legislators were admitted to the law school but took three or more times to pass the state bar exam — a highly unusual circumstance.

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/07/04/Sources-Whistleblowers-Forcing-Out-UT-President

SOURCES: WHISTLEBLOWER FORCING OUT UT PRESIDENT
by MICHAEL QUINN SULLIVAN

4 Jul 2014

George Washington's Birthday

My Timid Eternity

 

I am thinking how lonesome it will be in Heaven

with only George Washington and me there. 

I suppose we will recite the Beatitudes

and wonder when they are coming---

the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers,

those who are pure in heart. 

Roasting marshmallows in the evening

I will broach the subject of lies. 

He will hand me a wig

and some leeches, which I will decline,

still thinking about the others---

if they went to the Babies Camp by mistake

we could maybe get a letter out.

Heaven should not be full of worry

but if anyone knows more about it than this, 

if you have your own version---

leafy, airy, full, fountainous---

bless you, you are more lonesome 

than either the General or I. 

 

Mary Ruefle

Selected Poems

Wave Books, 2011

Brazil's President Condemns NSA Spying

[From article]
“Without the right of privacy, there is no real freedom of speech or freedom of opinion, and so there is no actual democracy,” Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/brazils-president-condemns-nsa-spying/2013/09/24/fe1f78ee-2525-11e3-b75d-5b7f66349852_print.html

Brazil’s president condemns NSA spying
By Colum Lynch,
Tuesday, September 24, 10:50 AM

Doing It Backwards

[From article]
Remember the “contrary” Sioux warrior from Little Big Man? He did everything backwards––said “hello” for “goodbye,” washed in sand instead of water. Our president is the foreign policy contrary. He has gotten backwards every maxim of proven wisdom for dealing with the rest of the world. Teddy Roosevelt counseled, “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” but Obama has spoken loudly and carried a little stick. Churchill said, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing—after they’ve tried everything else.” Obama can be always counted on to do the wrong thing––before he’s tried anything else. The Roman general Sulla was “no better friend, and no worse enemy.” Obama has been no better enemy, and no worse friend.
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/bruce-thornton/our-contrare-president-2/

Our Contrary President
August 28, 2013
By Bruce Thornton