Monday, July 07, 2008

British sniffer dogs to wear `Muslim' bootees

Police sniffer dogs will have to wear bootees when searching the homes of Muslims so as not to cause offence. Guidelines being drawn up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) urge awareness of religious sensitivities when using dogs to search for drugs and explosives. The guidelines, to be published this year, were designed to cover mosques but have been extended to include other buildings.

Where Muslims object, officers will be obliged to use sniffer dogs only in exceptional cases. Where dogs are used, they will have to wear bootees with rubber soles. "We are trying to ensure that police forces are aware of sensitivities that people can have with the dogs to make sure they are not going against any religious or cultural element within people's homes. It is being addressed and forces are working towards doing it," Acpo said.

Problems faced by the use of sniffer dogs were highlighted last week when Tayside police were forced to apologise for a crime prevention poster featuring a german shepherd puppy, in response to a complaint by a Muslim councillor. Islamic injunctions warn Muslims against contact with dogs, which are regarded as "unclean".

Police dogs at present are issued with footwear only at scenes of explosions to prevent them injuring their paws on broken glass.

Ibrahim Mogra, one of Britain's leading imams, said the measures were unnecessary: "In Islamic law the dog is not regarded as impure, only its saliva is. Most Islamic schools of law agree on that. If security measures require to send a dog into a house, then it has to be done. I think Acpo needs to consult better and more widely. "I know in the Muslim community there is a hang-up against dogs, but this is cultural. Also, we know the British like dogs; we Muslims should do our bit to change our attitudes."

John Midgley, co-founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said: "The police are in effect being overly sensitive to potential criminals and not being sensitive enough to the public at large who need to be protected. These sort of things have a counter-productive effect because they cause huge friction between different communities." Caroline Kisko, of the Kennel Club, said: "We would not condone any attempt to make search dogs wear special clothing, which could cause them distress."

Source



A grassroots complaint from Georgia

Am I the only one who has had his fill of the garbage put out there from the NAACP? I doubt it. There is a problem between many black and whites. And the "R word" is the reason we are having problems, but it is not racism, it's resentment. What could white people resent about black people? Here is a partial list: affirmative action, O.J. Simpson, 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Jeremiah Wright, black racism, Duke lacrosse scandal, Al Sharpton, class warfare, Don Imus, Jesse Jackson, the N word, and Presidential voting conclusions.

Affirmative action is a big one. It is supposed to make up for poor treatment in the past. But is it fair? If your grandfather stole something from my grandfather 50 years ago, should you be put in jail today? If someone stole your car, does that give you the right to steal mine? Do two wrongs make a right? If you give something to someone who did not earn it, you have taken it away from someone who did. Racial discrimination is wrong whether it is black racism or white racism. Both are unconstitutional.

Everybody, black or white, knows that O.J. Simpson killed two people, but a black jury set him free. His trial began a period, which still exists today, where black people are justified for whatever they do or are judged to be innocent simply because they are black, i.e., racism.

If a white person said what the Rev. Wright said, only about black people, we would have seen march after march in front of his church by Al Sharpton and other black "leaders." Don Imus said three words in a poor attempt at humor, not racism, and Sharpton gets him fired. Imus could not have been more contrite and apologetic, but he loses his job. Wright continues to unrepentantly spew racial hatred and Sharpton defends and justifies him. Unbelievable. If you are black (or a Democrat) you not only get a pass, but are vigorously defended. If not, there are no excuses and you must be severely punished.

The Rev. Sharpton, by the way, is not a problem solver. He is a flame fanner. He and others are in the race business. If he does not find racism he is out of business. He has yet to complain how a white person has been treated. He does not care about people. He cares about black people.

In the primaries, 94 percent of black people voted for Obama, but if 94 percent of white voters voted for John McCain in the November election, every black person in the country would scream racism. How does racism only work one way?

Incidentally, not even black people can criticize black people. I have been listening to Tom Joyner for almost 12 years, but not as long as Tavis Smiley has been on the program. He criticized Obama for not going to Memphis on the 40-year anniversary of MLK's death. He was universally castigated by black people to the point that he submitted his resignation from the TJMS. We all know the scolding Bill Cosby has received for contending that black people are causing their own problems. Same lesson: black people are untouchable.

Ninety-four percent of Clark Atlanta University is black, but UGA needs to admit more blacks for diversity? Where is the needed diversity at CAU? There is a 100 Black Men of Atlanta group, but if someone started 100 White Men of Atlanta we would have Sharpton back in town screaming that day.

The hypocrisy and double standards are mind numbing, yet never addressed. You can't complain about being treated differently if you, in turn, are treating people differently.

Class warfare is used to promote an "us against them" sentiment. Why are so many black people poor? The two most obvious reasons: 69 percent of black children are born to single moms and 50 percent of black teenagers do not graduate from high school. Two quick fixes are in the statistics. Black women college graduates make more money than white women graduates and married black men have the same employment/unemployment rate as married white men.

Any objective eye can see that the above two things and black-on-black crime are the three biggest problems facing the black community. Yet black "leaders" turn a blind eye. People will march for the Jena 6, but where was the outrage when, on July 26, 2007, an Atlanta 9-year-old girl was shot and killed while sitting at her computer by a stray bullet from a gang member? Sharpton could not care less because the shooter would have been black.

John Jones, of the Fayette County NAACP, had the predictable interpretation of what went on in court with DFCS supervisor Cylenthia Clark's case. It's all about racism, blah, blah blah. Exactly what we would expect NAACP court observers to find. The NAACP is the modern day version of the old crying wolf story. The boy cried wolf for no reason so often that the villagers stopped taking him seriously. Nobody takes the "racism" cry seriously for exactly the same reason. Time to give it a rest.

Some might try to discount me as racist, but nothing could be further from the truth. I have four adopted daughters, two Korean and two black. When you have met that standard of acceptance, we can talk about me being racist. The latter two have only experienced racism from the dark-skin black girls intolerant of their light skin and how they talked white (like their parents). After one daughter was pushed down a flight of stairs by two of her persecutors, we had to switch high schools. The only ones who took exception to their skin color were people of the same color, only of a different shade.

Bottom line, Mr. Jones: if my job is loading trucks, I will load trucks. If my job is finding racism, I will find racism. The day we no longer have people whose job it is to find racism is the day racism will have virtually disappeared from sight. Wise up.

Source



THE NEW RACE WAR: Black, Hispanic gangs kill each other over turf

Innocents caught in crossfire in cities from coast to coast

Latino gang members were hunting for black people in the Harbor Gateway community of Los Angeles. Age was not a factor. Neither was gender. Cheryl Green, 14, was on her scooter, talking to friends when a hail of bullets killed the 8th-grader and injured several other black youngsters. That was December 2006. But the race-motivated carnage has only increased since then, say law-enforcement authorities from coast to coast - with Hispanic gangs targeting blacks and black gang reciprocating as their communities are increasing surrounded by the exploding population of Hispanics, much of it fueled by illegal immigration. In Harbor Gateway, the dividing line is 206th Street. Blacks understand it is not safe to cross over to the Hispanic side and Hispanics know it is not safe to cross over to the black side.

Federal prosecutors last year charged members of a Latino gang with conducting a violent campaign to drive blacks out of the Florence-Firestone neighborhood in L.A. County, which resulted in some 20 homicides over several years. L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca wrote in a newspaper editorial that "some of L.A.'s so-called gangs are really no more than loose-knit bands of blacks or Latinos roaming the streets looking for people of the other color to shoot."

Perhaps the highest profile example of what some believe to be a racial hate crime was the shooting death of Jamiel Shaw II, a promising high school football player killed near his Los Angeles home in March. Pedro Espinoza, 19, a Latino gang member and illegal immigrant, stands accused of the homicide. He sports a large "18" tattoo on his back, signifying him as a member of the 18th Street gang. He also has a smaller 18 tattooed near his left eye and the letters BK tattooed behind his left ear. Gang experts say BK stands for "Blood Killer." Though Espinoza has pleaded not guilty to the charge, a witness quotes him as saying days after the shooting: "BK all day. I'm going to wipe all the Bloods out."

"We have domestic terrorists right here," said California Attorney General Jerry Brown at a recent gang summit in L.A. County. "Gangs are like a disease, like a cancer in a community. We have to do more." Brown compared what is happening in the streets of his state to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also called on the entertainment industry stop glorifying the violent gang lifestyle in music and movies. "I think Denzel Washington and [Robert] De Niro and anyone who has made money glamorizing gang members should contribute [to programs to help kids out of gangs]," said Constance Rice, co-director and co-founder of the Advancement Project in Los Angeles, at the summit.

In May, racial tensions between blacks and Hispanics erupted at Dominguez High School in Compton, Calif. At least eight students were suspended and one arrested after a race riot broke out.

In 2003, 5,570 young people, age 10-24, were murdered - an average of 15 each day. Most were black. While statistics show most of the violence in minority communities is black on black or Hispanic on Hispanic, the trend is shifting, according to many law enforcement officials who say they see an upsurge in racial violence. Among 10- to 24-year olds, homicide is the leading cause of death for blacks and the second leading cause of death for Hispanics. The Justice Department reported that in 2005, the homicide rate for black males, 18-25, was just over 102 per 100,000, and only 12.5 deaths per 100,000 for their white counterparts.

In Coatesville, Penn., near Philadelphia, the police department is expressing concern about widespread reports of black city residents victimizing Hispanics - mostly illegal immigrants. Police Chief William Matthews says the reports include robberies, assaults and rapes. He warns if the attacks are not contained, they could trigger the formation of violent Hispanic gangs. The city has long been home to a large black community. It is now attracting a growing illegal immigrant population that is largely Hispanic. "It's not long before you have black-on-brown crime," said Matthews. "And we're seeing the beginning of that."

Matthews said African Americans are targeting Hispanics who are vulnerable because they do not speak English and often do not report crimes to the police out of fear their immigration status will be questioned, he said. Blacks are responsible for robbing, assaulting and raping Hispanics, as well as invading their homes, Matthews said. "A segment of our community - the African American community - is preying on them," he said.

Matthews said some immigrants do not trust the police in their home countries and the mindset travels with them here. "They view police as a criminal gang and rightfully so. And they're afraid if they call the police, someone in their family will be deported," Matthews said. The fear causes crime victims to keep quiet. Therefore, Matthews said, police only know about a fraction of the crimes against Hispanics. If the issue is not dealt with soon, Matthews said, the city could face the worst crime it has ever seen when Hispanic victims or their relatives resort to forming notoriously violent gangs, like MS-13, to defend their community. "If we don't get our arms around this problem, organized gangs will fill the vacancies," Matthews said. "There is no violence that's happened in this city that can compare to the violence that could take its place."

Aida Garcia, director of social services for nonprofit La Comunidad Hispana, said she was not surprised to hear about the activity in Coatesville. "I think this is happening all over right now - all over the county," Garcia said. "This has been happening for a while, except people haven't been talking because they were afraid. This is nothing new."

Meanwhile, last week in North Carolina, the head of the Latin Kings gang held a news conference to call on other gang members to stop the violence. "I'm asking for all Bloods, Crips, MS-13, everybody out there that represents something, to put your weapons down and let's come to a table so we can talk peace," said Jorge Cornell. He wants gang leaders to get together for a discussion on how to end violence. "What I'm asking these leaders to do is if you've got one that's going to start trouble with the other, don't let those two, you know, let it get physical," Cornell urged. "And if it does, don't let it cause a war. Let's bring it to the attention of those leaders and let those leaders deal with their own."

Source



End the Judgeocracy

I think we opponents of expanded judicial power are missing an opportunity in the wake of the D.C. handgun case and a couple of others that we approve of, but the Left does not (the Medellin and voter-ID cases, for instance). The discussion usually focuses on who voted which way, the illogic of much of the reasoning, the likely consequences of November's election on the makeup of the Court, etc. (NRO's own Bench Memos, of course, is always on the case; also, post-mortems in the Post and the Times.) This is all important stuff, but if we're ever going to have a chance of ending the Judgeocracy, we need to change the game altogether, to rein in the institution of the federal judiciary itself, not just try to get better judges and justices (as important as that is). And, since the Left usually likes what the judges come up with, we need to be prepared to pounce when there are high-profile decisions the Left hates, to find allies for institutional reforms.

I'd love to repeal the 17th Amendment, for instance, something one of Jonah's readers pointed to as a cause of the expanded power of the Court, though I'm afraid that's an indirect remedy, at best. A more radical re-assertion of elected officials' authority over interpretation of the Constitution would be to follow Hadley Arkes's advice echoing Lincoln's reaction to Dred Scott, to respect any unconstitutional decision by the Court, "but only as it bore on the litigants of that case" - in other words, reject the Court's authority to establish as precedent principles which the president considers unconstitutional. For a Republican president to be able to do this without being impeached it would require careful selection of a case where the principle underlying the Court's decision is anathema to the Left, as a way of re-establishing the political concept that the Constitution really is not whatever the Court says it is.

Perhaps most feasible would be term limits for all federal judges - a single non-renewable term of, say, 11 or 13 or 15 years, then out. This would drain much of the poison from judicial nomination process, because it would no longer be for a lifetime appointment. Larry Sabato, no conservative, is only the most recent to suggest this, and if it could pass Congress, I think it would have a good chance in the state legislatures. But it could only get out of Congress if we have something ready to go, and we push it in the wake of decisions that we approve of -an argument against interest, as it were, at least superficially.

Source

*************************

Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of other countries. The only real difference, however, is how much power they have. In America, their power is limited by democracy. To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges. They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did: None. So look to the colleges to see what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way. It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Pages are here or here or here. Email me (John Ray) here. For times when blogger.com is playing up, there are mirrors of this site here and here.

***************************

No comments: