Rouge Forum Dispatch: Holiday Quickie!
We Say Fight Back!
and happy happy merry merry!
Nearly 4,000 DPS students affected by teacher sickout
. Detroit — Nearly 4,000 students at seven Detroit Public Schools buildings didn’t have classes Thursday after teachers staged a sickout, according to the school district.
Schools closed were: Gompers Elementary Middle School, Paul Robeson Malcom X Academy, Ann Arbor Trail Magnet K-8, Bates Academy, Cody Medicine and Community Health, Detroit Collegiate Preparatory at Northwestern and Bagley Elementary School.
Altogether, the affected schools have 3,989 students, DPS spokeswoman Chrystal Wilson said.
This is the second sickout for the district this month as teachers express their disapproval of Gov. Rick Snyder’s school reform plans. The governor has proposed paying off hundreds of millions of DPS debt, which would be left with the existing school district, and creating a new district to educate Detroit schoolchildren. www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2015/12/10/teacher-sickout-closes-several-dps-schools/77083936/
The Nature of Greed
The obsessive emphasis on economic prosperity and development reflects how rooted consumerism became in modern societies, whose chief purpose is reduced to ensuring financial growth even at the cost of well-being of its members. When growth in a country stalls, a daunting apprehension takes over public, newspapers compete to list what went wrong, and government leaders start to give defiant and inspiring speeches to uplift the morale of people as if in war times. In order to stir growth and attract investors from foreign countries, human life is often disregarded by governments, success of which is mostly determined according to their performance in economy. Increasing production and creating a perpetual need to promote consumerism became the only way for countries to have a powerful and healthy economy; therefore, a halt in consumption causes great many problems for the governments around the globe. While the constant deterioration of nature and exploitation of labour stand as a horrible and solid reality before our eyes, it should not be difficult to discern at what expense the much-desired growth is ensured. www.uisio.com/the-nature-of-greed/
The Little Red Box Of Protest Songs is a truly outstanding release. A three CD box-set full of the finest protest folk music from the USA of the early 20th century. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of the first American protest song book,
thefreeonline.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/protest-songs/
Active-shooter training for office workers used to be about hiding. Not anymore.
Spooked by a year of high-profile rampages, hundreds of companies and organizations like NeighborWorks are racing to train their workers how to react to a shooter in their workplaces. And after decades of telling employees to lock down and shelter in place, they are teaching them to fight back if evacuating is not an option.
The idea: Work as a team to disrupt and confuse shooters, opening up a split second to take them down.
The paradigm shift in response — from passive to active — has been endorsed and promoted by the Department of Homeland Security. Last month, it recommended that federal workplaces adopt the training program “Run, Hide, Fight,” …
three dozen employees were taught to throw things at a shooter — chairs, books, purses, pens, phones, anything — and swarm. Those items don’t seem all that threatening compared with an AR-15, but that’s not the point.
“If you can move him from offense to defense, you have changed the outcome of the event,” said Greg Crane, a former SWAT officer whose company, the ALICE Training Institute, taught workers at NeighborWorks as well as at Facebook and Apple. “He’s thinking about what you are doing to him, not what he’s doing to you. Mentally, he’s going through a whole different process.”
Don’t miss ALICE!
The Little Red Schoolhouse
WAPO discovers new book! Inequality has something to do with the “education gap”! It is good to feed kids breakfast and other meals! Rich people have more resources! But capitalist education in the empire really is well-meaning.
Wealthy parents aren’t just able to send their kids to top pre-schools—they can also purchase the latest learning technology and ensure their children experience as many museums, concerts and other cultural experiences as possible. Low-income parents, on the other hand, don’t have that opportunity. Instead, they’re often left to face the reality of sending their kids to schools without having had the chance to provide an edifying experience at home.
That might sound foreboding if not hyperbolic, but it’s a serious and widespread problem in the United States, where poor kids enter school already a year behind the kids of wealthier parents. That deficit is among the largest in the developed world, and it can be extraordinarily difficult to narrow later in life.
This is one of the key takeaways from a new book www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/17/how-your-first-four-years-of-life-affect-the-rest-of-it/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_wb-poorkids-210pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Detroit Grand jury indicts ex-EAA principal, 2 others
A federal grand jury in Detroit has indicted a former Educational Achievement Authority principal and an after-school tutoring vendor on multiple charges, including conspiracy and bribery.
U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade unsealed the five-count indictment on Thursday that alleges Kenyetta Wilbourn-Snapp, former principal of Mumford and Denby high schools, conspired to commit bribery and money laundering from August 2012 through November 2014.
Also charged in the indictment are Glynis Thornton, whose company, Making a Difference Everyday (“M.A.D.E.”), provided after-school tutoring services at Mumford and Denby; and Paulette Horton, who was an independent contractor working for M.A.D.E.
According to the indictment, Wilbourn-Snapp selected M.A.D.E. as the after-school tutoring vendor for both high schools. In exchange, Thornton paid Wilbourn-Snapp kickbacks as a reward for selecting and retaining M.A.D.E. as a vendor, investigators said.
Thornton disguised payments to Wilbourn-Snapp by having checks issued payable to Horton’s company, rather than paying Wilbourn-Snapp directly. Horton would then deposit and withdraw the money and give it to Wilbourn-Snapp, according to the indictment.
The indictment states Wilbourn-Snapp, hired by the EAA in 2012, received 90 percent of the amount of the checks, which totaled $58,0505 in cash kickbacks. www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2015/12/10/detroit-schools-eaa-indictment/77093012/
Corrupt Detroit Principal Tells How She Learned to steal–from other principals and bosses
In one interview in person, Snapp was petulant and subdued and appeared to be stunned by her circumstances. At times forlorn, and at other times incredulous, she seemed not to understand why she was in trouble for doing something she said so many other people were doing.
She said she learned how to cheat from DPS educators.
It all began, she said, with the principal who gave her her first teaching job.
“I was her protégé,” Snapp said. “She would give us gift cards and the best tickets to the Pistons, and we never knew where it came from. And anytime we wanted to buy something that the district denied, she said ‘Here, take a Visa.’ ”
When that principal later died at her home, it was Snapp and her mother who found her body, she said.
“As I’m there . . . I saw gift cards, about $500 worth of gift cards. I used them to help pay for her funeral.”
Snapp described how easy it was to make money. She mentioned one businessperson known as “the preferred vendor.”
“If you spent a certain amount of money with him … you’d get a rebate in points,” she said.
At the end of every transaction, the vendor would say: ‘Well, KC, you have about 500 points. How do you want to use them?’
“I’d say ‘Give me some gift cards,’ and I’d give them to my staff. Or he’d say, ‘It’s that time of year. Do you want Pistons tickets?’ I gave them away.”
It was at Mumford, now an EAA school to which she was assigned in 2013, that Snapp turned vendor spending into an art. www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/rochelle-riley/2015/12/10/eaa-kc-wilbourn-scandal-federal-investigation/76742980/
The San Diego Unified School District was served a warrant Thursday from the District Attorney’s Office for a criminal investigation into trustee Marne Foster — two days after her controversial term as board president came to a close.
Since the warrant is sealed for 10 days, it’s not publicly known exactly what the case entails, but San Diego Unified said the District Attorney’s Office is “seeking information relevant to a criminal investigation they are conducting into the conduct of” Foster.
The school district already had been conducting its own investigation into allegations that Foster was secretly behind a $250,000 claim filed last year against the district — which it rejected — accusing the School of Creative and Performing Arts of sabotaging Foster’s son’s college plans.
When The San Diego Union-Tribune first reported last year that a claim had been filed against the district by John Marsh, the father of Foster’s son, the trustee said she had no part in the complaint.
Since then, Marsh told the Voice of San Diego that Foster pressured him to sign a blank claim form that she later filled out and submitted.
Marsh also told the online news organization that Foster used his email account and posed as him in responding to questions from the Union-Tribune.
The school district investigation also was looking into a fundraiser Foster held in July — attended by district officials and contractors — to help raise money to cover college costs for two of her sons.
Organizers of the “Brothers 2 College” benefit failed to properly register the event — and a prize drawing that was held — with the state. Participants paid $25 at the door or $20 in advance to attend the event at the Neighborhood House Association headquarters, which has a contract with the district. Among the attendees were district employees, trustee John Lee Evans, and San Diego teachers union President Lindsay Burningham.
Following questions about conflicts-of-interest regarding the event, Foster later apologized and promised to return some of the donations.
San Diego Unified announced Thursday it suspended its long-delayed investigation into Foster’s alleged improprieties, which was commissioned Sept. 29 and launched Oct. 2 as a “30-day independent investigation” that would cost no more than $40,000.
“We can’t parallel the DA investigation with our own investigation because it might interfere. We will take a step back and let them do their job,” Donovan said.
In order to serve a warrant, a judge must agree that there is probable cause that a crime has been committed, according to legal experts.
But Donovan said the warrant was required to obtain records that would otherwise be protected under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and which could not be released except pursuant to warrant or subpoena. A subpoena cannot be issued unless charges have been filed or a grand jury is convened, neither of which is required for a warrant, she said.
Foster did not respond to a request for comment.
Neither did Michael McQuary, who was elected board president by trustees during the annual reorganization of officers on Tuesday. The District Attorney’s Office also declined to comment.
Foster also has been accused of forcing the district administration to suspend a counselor and reassign the principal at her son’s school over an unflattering college assessment of Foster’s son. After Foster obtained a copy of the confidential letter — which was included in the common college application — it was replaced with a more-flattering assessment written by another counselor. According to the Foster family’s unsuccessful legal claim, the college assessment resulted in the loss of scholarships and financial aid.
Earlier this year, San Diego Unified released documents and emails intended to explain the personnel decisions that were handed down at the popular magnet school.
Superintendent Cindy Marten has said Foster had a history of attempting to meddle in personnel issues. She went on to say that although Foster called attention to issues at her son’s school, the personnel decisions were not made because of the trustee. Marten said problems at the school had been on the district’s radar going back months, even predating her being named superintendent.
Kim Abagat, the counselor who was suspended without pay for nine days over the college letter, accused the district of retaliation and discrimination in a legal claim filed with the district Nov. 24. The pending complaint, which seeks in excess of $10,000 in damages, is the necessary precursor to a lawsuit.
Attorney Dan Gilleon, who represents Abagat, said the DA’s case could benefit his client if it forces the district “to be more transparent.”
“If Marne Foster is convicted of a crime, her veracity would be called into question in trial,” he said. “That would help my case.” www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/dec/10/da-investigates-school-board-foster/
College sports’ fastest-rising expense: Paying coaches not to work
The University of Illinois paid fired football coach Ron Zook $1.3 million while he spent a year trying a new career in banking and working on his water-skiing in Florida.
The University of California paid Jeff Tedford $1.8 million while he took a year off and vacationed in New Zealand.
The University of Maryland paid Ralph Friedgen $2 million while he tried out retirement, played a lot of golf and cruised the South Carolina coastline in his 24-foot whaler, “Fishing with the Fridge.”
Ron Zook was fired as the football coach at Illinois after the 2011 season but, as in many cases, continued to collect money from the school. (Mark Gail/The Washington Post)
The University of Illinois paid fired football coach Ron Zook $1.3 million while he spent a year trying a new career in banking and working on his water-skiing in Florida.
The University of California paid Jeff Tedford $1.8 million while he took a year off and vacationed in New Zealand.
The University of Maryland paid Ralph Friedgen $2 million while he tried out retirement, played a lot of golf and cruised the South Carolina coastline in his 24-foot whaler, “Fishing with the Fridge.”
These are just a few examples of the golden parachutes that await many newly unemployed coaches in the lucrative world of major college sports, a phenomenon recently retired football coach Steve Spurrier once called “hitting that lottery ticket.” Severance pay is the top-rising expense for athletic departments at some of America’s largest public universities, according to a Washington Post review of thousands of pages of financial records from schools in the five wealthiest conferences in college sports.
In a decade, the total annual amount spent on severance by athletic departments at 48 public universities in the “Power Five” conferences increased from $12.9 million combined in 2004, adjusted for inflation, to $28.5 million in 2014. That 120 percent jump outpaced rises on larger athletic budget items such as facilities spending (89 percent), coaches pay (85 percent) and administrative-staff pay (69 percent). www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/college-sports-fastest-rising-expense-paying-coaches-not-to-work/2015/12/10/ec856b42-9d33-11e5-bce4-708fe33e3288_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_ncaaseverance_1045am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor
Isis Inc: how oil fuels the jihadi terrorists
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b8234932-719b-11e5-ad6d-f4ed76f0900a.html#ixzz3upyzsatX
Oil is the black gold that funds Isis’ black flag — it fuels its war machine, provides electricity and gives the fanatical jihadis critical leverage against their neighbours.
But more than a year after US President Barack Obama launched an international coalition to fight Isis, the bustling trade at al-Omar and at least eight other fields has come to symbolise the dilemma the campaign faces: how to bring down the “caliphate” without destabilising the life of the estimated 10m civilians in areas under Isis control, and punishing the west’s allies?
The resilience of Isis, and the weakness of the US-led campaign, have given Russia a pretext to launch its own, bold intervention in Syria.
Despite all these efforts, dozens of interviews with Syrian traders and oil engineers as well as western intelligence officials and oil experts reveal a sprawling operation almost akin to a state oil company that has grown in size and expertise despite international attempts to destroy it.
Minutely managed, Isis’ oil company actively recruits skilled workers, from engineers to trainers and managers. www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/b8234932-719b-11e5-ad6d-f4ed76f0900a.html?ftcamp=traffic/social_promo/ISIS_Inc_14Oct/facebook_US_Reach/essence_world/auddev&utm_source=facebook_US_Reach&utm_medium=social_promo&utm_term=ISIS_Inc_14Oct&utm_campaign=essence_world#axzz3uiXBXSgV
Pick your Star Wars battle buddy: Military Times poll
You find yourself surrounded by rifle-carrying Tusken Raiders on Banthas. Who has your six? Is it Han Solo and his sharpshooting skills? Or perhaps Obi-Wan and his Jedi Mind Trick?
Maybe you’re one of those Dark Side sympathizers, with mad respect for Darth Vader’s death grip.
We want to know: When things get tough on the battlefield, who from the Star Wars universe would you want to be your battle buddy? ec.militarytimes.com/polls/starwars/index.html
Beefed-up DoD voter education campaign to launch soon
Service members will get their first reminder about registering to vote on Jan. 15, when a Defense Department message will go out to everyone with a dot.mil email address.
The 2016 general election is almost a year away, but the primaries start in February, and the Federal Voting Assistance Program has been gearing up for months to fulfill its mission of helping voters vote.
“I want to make it loud and clear: the Defense Department is ready for election season,” said Matt Boehmer, director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program. “We want to make sure everyone who wants to participate, can.” www.navytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/12/19/beefed-up-dod-voter-education-campaign-launch-soon/77487144/
U.S. Navy plans more South China Sea patrols in 2016
Heading in to 2016, U.S. officials say that more patrols by Navy ships and aircraft are coming. Legal experts say these patrols are the only way to protect freedom of navigation rights disputed by China.
“We need to remind ourselves that [the] U.S. Navy … has been conducting freedom of navigation operations since Jimmy Carter was in office,” said Craig Allen, a professor of marine and environmental affairs at the University of Washington School of Law. “If you simply acquiesce to somebody else’s claims, you could lose your rights.”
The Navy’s 7th Fleet, based in Japan, regularly patrols the South China Sea and other nations, including Japan, are considering joining the patrols. The Singapore-based littoral combat ship Fort Worth could also be tasked with a patrol but Navy officials say that is less likely — the Navy tends to dispatch front-line combatants such as destroyers and cruisers into contested waters. www.navytimes.com/story/military/2015/12/19/south-china-sea-patrols-will-continue-in-2016/77314232/
U.S. Airstrike Killed Iraqis by Accident, Officials Say Oopsie again
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxfyuTG2IDE
An airstrike that mistakenly killed Iraqi troops on Friday was carried out by an American plane, United States officials said on Saturday.
The episode poses a fresh challenge to the Obama administration’s efforts to expand cooperation with the Iraqis in fighting the Islamic State, and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter was quick to call the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, to express his condolences and invite Iraq to participate in an investigation.
Mr. Carter did not offer a detailed explanation for the errant airstrike, which killed nine Iraqi soldiers and one officer, according to Iraq’s defense minister. But Mr. Carter said, “It seemed to be a mistake that involved both sides.”
“These kind of things can happen when you are fighting side by side as we are, on a dynamic battlefield,” Mr. Carter told reporters aboard the Kearsarge, an assault ship deployed in the Persian Gulf.
Another American official, who asked for anonymity to discuss an episode under investigation, said the plane that carried out the attack was a B-1B bomber, which dropped several bombs as it was supporting Iraqi forces battling Islamic State fighters near Falluja. At least one of those bombs, it appears, struck the Iraqi troops. www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/world/middleeast/us-airstrike-killed-iraqis-by-accident-officials-say.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
The International Economic War of the Rich on the Poor
Officials dodge blame for Flint water crisis (video)
As those who’ve watched the the crisis in Flint play out over the last few months know, water flowing into homes and schools in that city had dangerously high levels of lead. That problem stemmed from the switch from Detroit water to water from the Flint River, without the corrosion control chemicals needed to ensure the hazardous metal does not leach into the water supply.
Say what you will about the state and local officials involved in this crisis, but they certainly have their story straight. Though they claim they don’t want to assign blame, they do reserve some culpability for Detroit, which, they say, cut off Flint’s water supply, forcing the beleaguered city to resort to drawing water from the river. It’s a story they have repeated over and over again.
The problem is that the claim is almost certainly a lie. As the ACLU points out, they have obtained a document proving that the city deliberately decided to switch from the Detroit water system to the river.
Listen to “Not Safe to Drink,” a special documentary about the Flint water crisis
michiganradio.org/post/listen-not-safe-drink-special-documentary-about-flint-water-crisis#stream/0
NYTimes: Study Finds DIFFERENCES between Rich and Poor Children!
The lives of children from rich and poor American families look more different than they have in decades.
Well-off families are ruled by calendars, with children enrolled in ballet, soccer and after-school programs, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. There are usually two parents, who spend a lot of time reading to children and worrying about their anxiety levels and hectic schedules.
In poor families, however, children tend to spend their time at home or with extended family, the survey found. They are more likely to grow up in neighborhoods that their parents say aren’t great for raising children, and their parents worry about them getting shot, beaten up or in trouble with the law.
The class differences in child rearing are growing, researchers say — a symptom of widening inequality with far-reaching consequences. Different upbringings set children on different paths and can deepen socioeconomic divisions, especially because education is strongly linked to earnings. Children grow up learning the skills to succeed in their socioeconomic stratum, but not necessarily others.
“Early childhood experiences can be very consequential for children’s long-term social, emotional and cognitive development,” said Sean F. Reardon, professor of poverty and inequality in education at Stanford University. “ www.nytimes.com/2015/12/18/upshot/rich-children-and-poor-ones-are-raised-very-differently.html
The Emergence of Fascism as a Popular Mass Movement
Man Charged With Vincent Chin’s Death Seeks Lien Removed, Still Owes Millions
For years, the estate of Vincent Chin — the man whose death in 1982 galvanized Asian-American activism in the United States — has been seeking payment in a wrongful death claim against Ronald Ebens, the man responsible for the fatal beating of Chin.
Now Ebens, 76, whose prison sentence was overturned on appeal, wants the lien the Chin family’s representatives have placed on his residence in Nevada removed, despite still owing the estate more than $8 million.
Ebens’ attorneys filed the motion to remove the lien in November in Nevada, where Ebens now resides, stating the lien on Ebens’ home is prohibited by Nevada’s Homestead Act and was placed “with malice…to annoy and harass” him. In court documents, Ebens claims he’s been harmed by his inability to sell or refinance his home. The motion also asks for attorney’s fees.
NBC News reached Ebens by phone Friday, but Ebens hung up when asked about the lien. www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/man-convicted-vincent-chins-death-seeks-lien-removed-still-owes-n478766
Nonconformity and Freethinking Now Considered Mental Illnesses
Is nonconformity and freethinking a mental illness? According to the newest addition of the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), it certainly is. The manual identifies a new mental illness called “oppositional defiant disorder” or ODD. Defined as an “ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior,” symptoms include questioning authority, negativity, defiance, argumentativeness, and being easily annoyed.
The DSM-IV is the manual used by psychiatrists to diagnose mental illnesses and, with each new edition, there are scores of new mental illnesses. Are we becoming sicker? Is it getting harder to be mentally healthy? Authors of the DSM-IV say that it’s because they’re better able to identify these illnesses today. Critics charge that it’s because they have too much time on their hands.
New mental illnesses identified by the DSM-IV include arrogance, narcissism, above-average creativity, cynicism, and antisocial behavior. In the past, these were called “personality traits,” but now they’re diseases. And there are treatments available. themindunleashed.org/2013/11/nonconformity-and-freethinking-now.html
Solidarity for Never
Vacillating Reactionary Ravitch, NEA, and Especially AFT love the New Ed law for the Empire ESSA represents a significant course correction acknowledging that more than a decade’s worth of education reforms based on test-and-sanction policies were a failure, and sends a strong signal to states that these failed policies should not be pursued.
We have a lot of work ahead. Join our telephone town hall next Thursday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m. Eastern time to hear more from AFT leaders and a special guest from the White House policy team about what this means for public education. actionnetwork.org/forms/join-the-telephone-town-hall?can_id=a64823b3f6e1b73aab7e3aef8d5afcf8&source=email-we-won-rip-no-child-left-behind&email_referrer=we-won-rip-no-child-left-behind&email_subject=we-won-rip-no-child-left-behind&link_id=0
AFT names administrator for Detroit teachers union
The American Federation of Teachers has named an aide to President Randi Weingarten as administrator of the Detroit teachers union.
Ann Mitchell, the AFT’s assistant to the president for field coordination, will take over operation of the Detroit Federation of Teachers on Tuesday, the AFT said Thursday in a news release.
The AFT executive council voted Monday to accept a request from DFT leaders to put the local under voluntary administratorship.
“My appointment of Ann Mitchell comes at a time when the local and our members are facing internal divisions and external challenges such as austerity, benefit cuts and a threat of widespread charterization and layoffs,” said Weingarten. “The future of Detroit’s public schools is at stake, and our members — despite their tremendous and justified frustrations at the terrible way they have been treated — have been a lifeline for Detroit’s kids and parents.
Mitchell is a former elementary school teacher who directs programs to strengthen AFT locals and build community and political support for the union’s goals.
“This partnership is intended to rebuild the DFT and make it a stronger union for its members,” she said.
The local’s interim president, Ivy Bailey, wrote to Weingarten Oct. 14, asking for help fighting health care cuts and school closures in Detroit Public Schools and Gov. Rick Snyder’s plans to overhaul education in Detroit and split the financially troubled district in two.
The DFT also has faced internal division. The local’s executive board removed then-President Steve Conn and expelled him from the union in August after finding him guilty of internal charges of misconduct. (The Takeover means there cannot be another DFT presidential election, which Conn would win again) www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2015/12/10/detroit-teachers-union-administrator/77114936/
Feds: Union chief extorted funds, financed a wedding
The former top official of the Operating Engineers Local 324 in Detroit was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday on accusations of forcing employees to pay $5,000 per year into an election fund and spending the money for his daughter’s wedding, expensive auto rims and to boost his own salary.
John Hamilton, 61, of Riviera Beach, Fla., was indicted on nine separate charges of extortion, embezzlement, money laundering and conspiracy.
He is accused of forcing business agents and employees of Local 324 to contribute annually to the “Team Hamilton Slate Fund,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit.
Hamilton threatened to fire employees who complained and did fire one employee and orchestrated the termination of a former president, authorities said. The funds were supposed to be used for union election campaign expenses. However, Hamilton used the money for meals, liquor and his daughter’s wedding and a set of rims for his Cadillac DTS that cost $50,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2015/12/16/union-embezzlement-indictment-extortion-operating-engineers-local-324-federal-indictment-labor-union-corruption/77443940/
Spy versus Spy
The Magical Mystery Tour
Priest named in sex-slave prostitute suit
A Catholic priest is accused of embezzling nearly $1 million in church donations to pay a male prostitute and buy a $264,000 home here for the two of them to live in, according to a lawsuit filed by parishioners.
The complaint, filed Thursday in the Supreme Court of New York, alleges the Rev. Peter Miqueli of New York City funneled church money for his personal use, which included paying a prostitute $1,000 a session to act out his “sexual fantasies.” The prostitute, identified as Keith Crist in court papers, engaged in a bondage-sadism-masochism relationship in which he role-played as the “sexual master” and made Miqueli the “slave,” the complaint states.
Miqueli, a pastor at St. Frances De Chantal parish, could not be reached for comment.
The lawsuit also names the Archdioceses of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Crist, and seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. The Archdiocese did not return a request for comment, but a spokesman told the New York Post that it “has … taken these allegations seriously and has been investigating them.” Crist could not be located for comment. www.freep.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/12/11/priest-named-sex-slave-prostitute-suit/77191666/
Archdiocese of St. Paul Settles Civil Complaint on Child Sexual Abuse
The Roman Catholic archdiocese here has reached an agreement with prosecutors in a civil case accusing church officials of failing to protect children from sexual abuse.
The unusual settlement, announced Friday in a Ramsey County courtroom, calls for more transparency when claims of child sexual abuse are raised and would allow prosecutors and courts to monitor the church’s progress on such matters for three years.www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/us/archdiocese-of-st-paul-settles-civil-complaint-on-child-sexual-abuse.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
The Best and Worst Things in the History of the World
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So Long
2015
As We Remember Adam Renner
