Laissez-faire

Does anyone know anything about “Utilitarianism” ?? I’d never heard of it before, but it must be the richest religion around, because they collect “donations” monthly from everyone I know or threaten to cut off their water, phone, gas or electricity !!

– Unknown

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Hello MN ACLU Chapter ?? Is anyone home ???

MN liberals would be screaming to high heaven if the below story were about a MN Taxpayer-financed Christian school.

Here is their reaction to the below story: _______________

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Source: http://www.startribune.com/featuredColumns/16404541.html

Are taxpayers footing bill for Islamic school in Minnesota?
By KATHERINE KERSTEN, Star Tribune

March 9, 2008

Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) — named for the Muslim general who conquered medieval Spain — is a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove Heights. Its approximately 300 students are mostly the children of low-income Muslim immigrant families, many of them Somalis.

The school is in huge demand, with a waiting list of 1,500. Last fall, it opened a second campus in Blaine.

TIZA uses the language of culture rather than religion to describe its program in public documents. According to its mission statement, the school “recognizes and appreciates the traditions, histories, civilizations and accomplishments of the eastern world (Africa, Asia and Middle East).”

But the line between religion and culture is often blurry. There are strong indications that religion plays a central role at TIZA, which is a public school financed by Minnesota taxpayers. Under the U.S. and state constitutions, a public school can accommodate students’ religious beliefs but cannot encourage or endorse religion.

TIZA raises troubling issues about taxpayer funding of schools that cross that line.

Asad Zaman, TIZA’s principal, declined to allow me to visit the school or grant me an interview. He did not respond to e-mails seeking written replies.

TIZA’s strong religious connections date from its founding in 2003. Its co-founders, Zaman and Hesham Hussein, were both imams, or Muslim religious leaders, as well as leaders of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota (MAS-MN).

Since then, they have played dual roles: Zaman as TIZA’s principal and the current vice-president of MAS-MN, and Hussein as TIZA’s school board chair and president of MAS-MN until his death in a car accident in Saudi Arabia in January.

TIZA shares MAS-MN’s headquarters building, along with a mosque.

MAS-MN came to Minnesotans’ attention in 2006, when it issued a “fatwa,” warning Muslim taxi drivers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport that transporting passengers with alcohol in their baggage is a violation of Islamic law.

Journalists whom Zaman has permitted to visit TIZA have described the school’s Islamic atmosphere and practices.

“A visitor might well mistake Tarek ibn Ziyad for an Islamic school,” reported Minnesota Monthly in 2007. “Head scarves are voluntary, but virtually all the girls wear them.” The school has a central carpeted prayer space, and “vaguely religious-sounding language” is used.

According to the Pioneer Press, TIZA’s student body prays daily and the school’s cafeteria serves halal food (permissible under Islamic law). During Ramadan, all students fast from dawn to dusk, according to a parent quoted in the article.

In fact, TIZA was originally envisioned as a private Islamic school. In 2001, MAS-MN negotiated to buy the current TIZA/MAS-MN building for Al-Amal School, a private religious institution in Fridley, according to Bruce Rimstad of the Inver Grove Heights School District. But many immigrant families can’t afford Al-Amal. In 2002, Islamic Relief — headquartered in California — agreed to sponsor a publicly funded charter school, TIZA, at the same location.

TIZA claims to be non-sectarian, as Minnesota law requires charters to be. But “after-school Islamic learning” takes place on weekdays in the same building under MAS-MN’s auspices, according to the program for MAS-MN’s 2007 convention. At that convention, a TIZA representative at the school’s booth told me that students go directly to “Islamic studies” classes at 3:30, when TIZA’s day ends. There, they learn “Qur’anic recitation, the Sunnah of the Prophet” and other religious subjects, he said.

TIZA’s 2006 Contract Performance Review Report states that students engage in unspecified “electives” after school or do homework.

Publicly, TIZA emphasizes that it uses standard curricular materials like those found in other public schools. But when addressing Muslim audiences, school officials make the link to Islam clear. At MAS-MN’s 2007 convention, for example, the program featured an advertisement for the “Muslim American Society of Minnesota,” superimposed on a picture of a mosque. Under the motto “Establishing Islam in Minnesota,” it asked: “Did you know that MAS-MN … houses a full-time elementary school”? On the adjacent page was an application for TIZA.

In addition to the issues raised by TIZA’s religious elements, there are reasons to be concerned about the organizations with which it is connected.

Group linked to Hamas

Islamic Relief-USA, the school’s sponsor, is compared to the Red Cross in several TIZA documents. In 2006, however, the Israeli government announced that Islamic Relief Worldwide, the organization’s parent group, “provides support and assistance” to Hamas, designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist group.

Meanwhile, MAS-MN offers on its web site “beneficial and enlightening information” about Islam, which includes statements like “Regularly make the intention to go on jihad with the ambition to die as a martyr.”

At its 2007 convention, MAS-MN featured the notorious Shayk Khalid Yasin, who is well-known in Britain and Australia for teaching that husbands can beat disobedient wives, that gays should be executed and that the United States spreads the AIDS virus in Africa through vaccines for tropical diseases.

Yasin’s topic? “Building a Successful Muslim Community in Minnesota.”

TIZA has improved the reading and math performance of its mostly low-income students. That’s commendable, but should Minnesota taxpayers be funding an Islamic public school?

Katherine Kersten • kkersten@startribune.com Join the conversation at my blog, Think Again, which can be found at www.startribune.com/thinkagain.

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– Smitty, 3-16-08

When the police told me that anything I said could be used against me in a court of law, I eagerly shouted, “Fur handcuffs and an ostrich feather!” Hey, who WOULDN’T want to be on the receiving end of that kind of justice ??

– Unknown

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Source: http://www.startribune.com/local/16147867.html

Behind bars, then back behind the wheel

By DAVID SHAFFER and GLENN HOWATT, Star Tribune staff writers

March 3, 2008

James Monroe Crumble shouldn’t get behind the wheel of a car.

Yet that’s exactly where police have found him — 68 times.

He has the most traffic tickets of any Minnesotan for driving without a valid driver’s license. He got his first ticket in 1999, on his 15th birthday, and the latest last Sunday in north Minneapolis.

He is a prime example of a category of drivers who authorities say care little about traffic laws. In Minnesota, 14,091 people have been cited five or more times because they never got a license or have had it withdrawn, according to a Star Tribune analysis of state traffic records. More than 500 have been cited 14 or more times.

Court records show that such illegal drivers stay on the road even after repeated convictions, fines, jail stays and court orders not to drive. Many of them can’t or won’t get auto insurance, and instead drive vehicles registered in others’ names.

“They are coming in over and over again,” said St. Paul City Attorney John Choi, whose office has repeatedly prosecuted Crumble, including five cases since 2002 in which he served up to 81 days in jail.

Minnesota has taken steps to confront and reform such drivers, yet the problem has persisted for years. As a group, these drivers are at least twice as likely to be involved in a fatal accident, experts say.

Last month, a driver with 14 citations for driving after his license was revoked was charged in a hit-and-run accident that killed a pedestrian on University Avenue in St. Paul. He allegedly told a passenger in his car that he fled because he didn’t want to be caught again with no license.

As it turns out, police often catch people who are driving without a license.

Usually they have lost it for some earlier offense, including driving while intoxicated or unpaid traffic tickets. Their cars often are impounded immediately, though police say they sometimes allow a licensed passenger to drive the vehicle away.

In most cases, the penalty is the same whether it’s the first offense or the 68th. The typical fine is about $180, and the driver’s license is revoked — again — usually for a few months. In some cases, offenders get up to 90 days in jail, and serve two thirds of that time if they’re on good behavior.

About 10 percent of the 14,091 scofflaw drivers are considered “inimical to public safety” because of prior drunken-driving offenses, according to the newspaper’s analysis of 1997-2007 tickets. Their licenses have been taken away, and when caught behind the wheel, they face stiffer penalties and up to a year in jail.

Yet, repeat offenders are difficult to keep off the road. In some cases, it appears the only times they aren’t driving is when they are locked up, according to police, court officials and others.

“They just do not care what the courts say,” said Gregory Pye, senior commander for traffic enforcement in the St. Paul Police Department. “They do not care about the norms of society. They see their own needs as paramount.”

Choi, the city attorney, said one-third of cases his office handles are drivers without licenses or insurance or both. For many, it’s a cycle — one ticket causes a revocation, then comes another ticket for driving while revoked, followed by another revocation and another fine, an impounded car, difficulties getting auto insurance and eventually jail time.

Many offenders don’t have much money, so as the fines, reinstatement fees and insurance problems multiply, even people who want to become legal drivers may find it hard to get out of the cycle, he added.

Undoing the legal mess

In Minneapolis, unlicensed drivers with no more than three repeat offenses can opt for community service instead of fines, and be given time to apply for license reinstatement, said Hennepin County District Court Chief Judge Lucy Wieland.

In some southern Minnesota courts, judges will give almost any repeat, unlicensed offender one chance at reinstating his license and clearing fines. One key requirement during the court-supervised process is “if you drive again, you are out of the program and you are going to jail,” said Mower County District Judge Donald E. Rysavy, who co-founded the program nine years ago.

While some offenders don’t care about having a license, Rysavy said that others “weren’t bad people, but they were getting no help at all in trying to clear their past records.” Since the program began, he said, there has been a dramatic decline in no-license driver cases in court.

Many of the successful participants have been Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens or green card holders who became legal drivers, he said. The program doesn’t apply to illegal immigrants, who are not eligible to get a license.

Minnesota has taken more steps than some states to confront the problem, including early intervention with drivers on the verge of cancellation and special plates for some convicted drunk drivers, said Robert Scopatz, director of research for Data Nexus Inc. of College Station, Texas, who has studied the problem for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Some states have imposed progressive penalties for multiple offenses, vehicle forfeiture and other measures, Scopatz said. But such things cost money, and no state has tried them all, he added.

Yet another arrest

When Minneapolis police officer Eric Madson pulled over a car in north Minneapolis last Sunday, he knew nothing of Crumble’s record as Minnesota’s most-ticketed unlicensed driver.

Madson pulled the car over for having windows tinted too darkly.

“He told me right away that he didn’t have a license,” Madson said. “I could smell marijuana coming from the car … so I patted him down and found a bag of weed in his pocket.”

Madson said his squad car computer showed that Crumble, 23, had many prior traffic tickets, but he said he didn’t know the full tally until a reporter called him about it. Madson said he ordered the car towed to an impound lot, and wrote Crumble a ticket for misdemeanor marijuana possession, tinted windows and driving after revocation.

Crumble didn’t land in jail that day, but he still could. He’s been there at least seven times previously, sentenced each time to 90 days, the maximum for misdemeanor unlicensed driving. A state motor vehicles official said Crumble has never had a driver’s license.

The newspaper attempted to contact Crumble repeatedly through people who know him. One woman said he didn’t have a phone. He did not return messages, nor could he be reached at his last reported address in St. Paul.

Though his record is long, it consists entirely of misdemeanor offenses, and no serious crime. He’s been stopped for loud music, watching television while driving and various other violations. His profile on MySpace says he is a computer programming graduate of Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis, which the school confirmed.

He soon will be back in court, and a prosecutor said she will seek another jail sentence.

“This is one of the worst driving records I have ever seen,” said Mary Ellen Heng, assistant Minneapolis city attorney.

dshaffer@startribune.com • 612-673-7090
ghowatt@startribune.com • 612-673-7192

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– Smitty, 3-9-08

I don’t get it. If auto-eroticism is legal, then why is statutory rape a crime ?? What makes sex with a car more morally acceptable than sex with a statue ???

– Unknown

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The judge gives someone who raped a 9 year old (that was in his custody) 27 years which is double the “state guidelines.” BTW who are the “legal experts” who came up with these “state guidelnes” ………. 12 years for raping a child??? In my world, about 27 years would have been the sentencing “floor” for such an act.

Anyone kudos to this judge ……….. but barbs to the original judge who awarded custody of the 9 year old to this guy despite a prior rape conviction “because that crime was 10 years old and probation officials described him as a “success story.”

– Smitty, 3-2-08
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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23196734/

27-year sentence for rape of girl, 9

By JIM ADAMS / StarTribune
startribune.com

A Hastings man who raped his ex-girlfriend’s daughter after gaining custody of the 9-year-old got some justice Friday: a 27-year prison sentence.
Justin P. Farnsworth, 34, who had a prior conviction for raping a Carver County teenager, received more than twice the 12-year sentence that state guidelines recommend for first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Dakota County District Judge Robert King found Farnsworth was a predatory offender and declared the crime deplorable and egregious.

Farnsworth apologized in court, his voice cracking at the end, said Monica Jensen, spokeswoman for the county attorney’s office. The victim, who is now 13, was not in court but her mother was.

Farnsworth said he didn’t understand why he had raped the girl and hoped she got the counseling she needed. He also apologized to his family, Jensen said.
Farnsworth’s first victim, assaulted in 1994 and now 27, also was in court for the sentencing, Jensen said.

Farnsworth was charged in November 2004 with raping the girl in his Hastings apartment. He pleaded guilty in April 2005. Later that year, he tried to withdraw his plea, arguing it was coerced. His appeal went to the state Supreme Court, which upheld the guilty plea last September.

During a hearing in January, a prosecutor played a social worker’s videotaped interview with the 9-year-old girl. She told the social worker that Farnsworth had sex with her on many occasions. She said he showed her sex movies and “whooped her” or threatened her when she didn’t comply. Farnsworth said he would kill her if she told, the girl said.

The girl has had extensive counseling but she still finds it difficult to trust men, except her grandfather, her mother testified earlier. She said her daughter still has nightmares.

With credit for time served during his appeal and good behavior in prison, Farnsworth would be eligible for supervised release when he is 49 in November 2022, said County Attorney James Backstrom. But before release, the county attorney’s office will review the case for possible indefinite commitment of Farnsworth as a sexually dangerous person, “which I consider him to be,” Backstrom said.

The 9-year-old had been living with Farnsworth and his two younger daughters for about a year after he broke up with the girls’ mother. The mother, who was living with a friend in western Minnesota, agreed to let her daughters live with Farnsworth, officials said.

Dakota County Judge Joseph Carter granted Farnsworth custody of the 9-year-old girl in October 2004. He knew of Farnsworth’s prior rape conviction but noted that it was 10 years old and that probation officials described him as a “success story.” The judge also relied on a court-appointed custody evaluator who records said recommended that the girl live with Farnsworth, who had a stable home and job, unlike her mother.

Less than a month after Farnsworth won custody, the girl told a neighbor woman that he was molesting her. Police said there was no indication that Farnsworth had molested his own younger daughters.

If you ever see a sign that says “Yard Sale,” just keep on driving. They usually only have one yard for sale, and even then, it’s covered with a bunch of junk.

– Anonymous

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She was picked up 2 years ago in 2006 for driving without a license. Naturally no one contacted ICE or otherwise bothered to check her immigration status because that would be “racist” instead of “MN Nice.”

So instead of properly deporting her 2 years ago, 4 kids have to die and 14 more were injured because she ran a stop sign and hit the school bus so hard it tipped over.

– Smitty, 2-28-08

Source: http://michellemalkin.com/2008/02/21/illegal-alien-bus-driver-arrested-in-minnesota-school-tragedy/

Illegal alien van driver arrested in Minnesota schoolbus tragedy

By Michelle Malkin • February 21, 2008 06:25 PM

The local Fox affiliate in the Twin Cities finally confirms what the local papers didn’t seem to want to mention about the horrible school bus accident that killed four children. It didn’t have to happen:

Authorities have confirmed that the the driver of the van that struck the school bus that killed 4 students on Tuesday is an illegal alien.

Officials at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement are checking to see where she came from and how long she’s been in Minnesota. FOX 9 has also learned that the name she gave to police, Alainiss Morales, is an alias.

23-year-old Alainiss N. Morales was taken into custody on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation. She was arrested by the State Patrol Thursday afternoon and is being held in Lyon County Jail. County Attorney Rick Maes told the Marshall Independent charges could come later Thursday or Friday…The van was driven by Alianiss N. Morales, 23, of Minneota. The Fox 9 Investigator found Morales pleaded guilty in Chippewa County in 2006 to driving without a valid license.

State Patrol officials said Thursday they were not immediately able to confirm if Morales was unlicensed, nor could they confirm whether Morales ran a stop sign. Lt. Mark Peterson said that was still under investigation, but that the investigation was “moving forward very quickly.”

The school bus was carrying 28 students. Cottonwood Fire Chief Dale Louluagie confirmed that 3 fatalities of the crash died immediately upon impact and the fourth victim died around 8 p.m. Tuesday night.

Minneapolis is a sanctuary city. In 2003, the city voted to bar police from asking about immigration status or enforcing immigration laws. The mayor, R.T. Rybak, even asked federal agents to stop wearing vests labeled “police.” St. Paul and Worthington are also sanctuary cities.

Open borders, deadly consequences. When will they learn?

More questions:

What did “Morales’s” employer know about her illegal status and when did the employer know it?

Has she evaded deportation orders? How many?

What didn’t local police ask about her immigration status when she pleaded guilty to driving without a valid license two years ago–and will the parents of the schoolchildren hold officials accountable?

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Read about the four children who died in the crash here.

They were:

* Hunter Javens, 9, Cottonwood.
* Jesse Javens, 13, Cottonwood (Hunter & Jesse were brothers)
* Emilee Olson, 9, Cottonwood
* Reed Stevens, 12, Marshall.

A memorial fund has been set up:

Memorial Fund for Families of Bus Crash Victims
United Southwest Bank
P.O. Box 288
Cottonwood, MN 56229

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Source: http://www.ktlkfm.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=138402&article=3313036

Authorities: Driver In Bus Crash is Illegal Alien Without Drivers License

COTTONWOOD, Minn. — Authorities have confirmed that the the driver of the van that struck the school bus that killed 4 students on Tuesday is an illegal alien.

Officials at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement are checking to see where she came from and how long she’s been in Minnesota. FOX 9 has also learned that the name she gave to police, Alainiss Morales, is an alias.

23-year-old Alainiss N. Morales was taken into custody on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation. She was arrested by the State Patrol Thursday afternoon and is being held in Lyon County Jail. County Attorney Rick Maes told the Marshall Independent charges could come later Thursday or Friday.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Minnesota State Patrol are investigating Tuesday’s bus crash near Cottonwood, Minnesota that killed four children and injured 14 people. More recently, details have emerged about the van involved in the accident and its driver.

The van was heading east on County Road 24, which has a stop sign as it ends in a T intersection with state Highway 23, the road the bus was traveling. The van struck the bus, which rolled over onto a truck.

The driver of the truck told the Minneapolis Star Tribune he saw the van run the stop sign.

“I saw the maroon van run a stop sign, it blew over the railroad tracks and hit the bus, sending it sliding into me,” James M. Hancock, 45, of Marshall, told the newspaper from his hospital bed in Sioux Falls, S.D. “The next thing I knew, they were hauling kids out and it was chaos.”

The van was driven by Alianiss N. Morales, 23, of Minneota. The Fox 9 Investigator found Morales pleaded guilty in Chippewa County in 2006 to driving without a valid license.

State Patrol officials said Thursday they were not immediately able to confirm if Morales was unlicensed, nor could they confirm whether Morales ran a stop sign. Lt. Mark Peterson said that was still under investigation, but that the investigation was “moving forward very quickly.”

The school bus was carrying 28 students. Cottonwood Fire Chief Dale Louluagie confirmed that 3 fatalities of the crash died immediately upon impact and the fourth victim died around 8 p.m. Tuesday night.

“The present system may be flawed, but that’s not to say that we in Congress can’t make it worse.”

- Representative E. Clay Shaw (R-Florida) in 1994 during the debate on health-care reform.

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Boy, I sure feel safe knowing that Congress is busy “passing laws” to protect the rights of terrorists !!!!

Somehow I’m pretty sure that the Army Field Manual was written with lawful combatants (who follow the rules of war) in mind. I tend to doubt that it was written to protect the “rights” of unlawful combatant savages who intentionally target civilians.

If Congress insists on “passing laws” (primarily to appease the lunatic left at the expense of the safety of the American people), perhaps they should “pass a law” that forbids Islamic Fascists from incinerating any US cities. How about that ??

– Smitty, 2-14-08

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Source: http://www.twincities.com//ci_8255888

Senate bans harsh interrogation
Bush has threatened to veto restrictions on CIA

BY DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
New York Times
Article Last Updated: 02/13/2008 11:00:49 PM CST

WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday voted to ban waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods that have been used by the CIA against high-level terrorism suspects, setting up a confrontation with President Bush, who has threatened to veto the bill.

The prohibition of coercive interrogation methods, part of a broader intelligence authorization bill, would limit all American interrogators to techniques permitted in the Army Field Manual, which bars the use of physical force. The Senate voted 51-45, with five Republicans joining 45 Democrats and one independent in favor of the ban.

The Senate action is the latest chapter in a long-running battle between congressional Democrats and the Bush administration over the treatment of terrorist detainees and the boundaries of executive privilege, two issues that are also certain to be hotly debated in the presidential election.

Sen. John McCain, the leading Republican presidential candidate and former prisoner of war who opposes harsh interrogation tactics, voted against the bill. McCain said the ban would limit the CIA’s ability to gather intelligence but that his vote was consistent with his firm stance against torture.

“We always supported allowing the CIA to use extra measures,” McCain said. “I believe waterboarding is illegal and should be banned.”

Democratic supporters of the ban hailed its passage and immediately challenged Bush to veto it, saying that to do so would effectively endorse torture.

“If the president vetoes intelligence authorization, he will be voting in favor of waterboarding,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., declared at a news conference.

The majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, said: “We are taking an important step toward restoring our moral leadership in the world. It is now up to the president to show his own moral leadership and sign this bill into law.”

Two Democratic presidential candidates, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, did not vote because they were campaigning Wednesday.

Republicans opposing the ban were joined by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent, and Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. They insisted the bill would restrict the CIA and potentially jeopardize the nation’s security.

Sen. Christopher Bond of Missouri, the ranking Republican on the Select Committee on Intelligence, said Democrats were irresponsibly and baselessly accusing the CIA of torture and that limiting the interrogators to techniques in the Army Field Manual would seriously undermine American intelligence-gathering efforts.

“Unless the measure is stripped out, or the bill is vetoed, which I expect it will be, if it’s included it would shut down the most prolific source of information, useful actual information that the CIA receives,” Bond said.

Bond said Senate Republicans, in their handling of the bill, had been mindful of the Democrats’ political intentions to accuse Republicans “of saying they favor torture.” He said Republican leaders decided that letting Bush veto the measure was the best course of action.

Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman voted against the bill. Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Wisconsin Democrats Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl voted in favor of it.

“Women don’t understand how much fun we’re having.”

– Dick Armey to his son David, after 13 hours sitting in a boat during a cold downpour on a lake in northern Minnesota

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJUFTm6cJXM&eurl=http://www.google.com/reader/view/

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– Smitty, 2-13-08

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Minnesota on notice for 83 bridge collapse lawsuits

I suppose victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse have some sort of the right of redress ……….. but far too many people seem to consider the state an entity just like a business with it’s own huge pile of $$$ all ready to grab. In reality, these 83 lawsuits are against the MN taxpayer. Today’s MN Taxpayers are not at fault. Innocent people are being sued. The “guilty” taxpayers of a generation ago are getting off scot-free.

It sure seems like a very nice little arrangement that government bureaucrats having working for them ……… being protected from personal lawsuits. So if a mistake is made, the taxpayer is taken to the cleaners instead of them.

I don’t have all the answers but it would be nice if people at least understood that they’re suing the taxpayer (an innocent party). The fact of the matter is that the MN taxpayer has already been taken to the cleaners at both the state and federal level on infrastructure funding ………. there was and still is plenty of $$$$$$ to fix bridges and roads …….. IF the $$$$ isn’t diverted to fund earmarks and pork.

But it continues to be diverted so I guess the MN taxpayer has to be taken to the cleaners for a 3rd time.

Have a nice day.

– Smitty, 1-27-08

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Source: http://www.twincities.com/newsletter-morning/ci_8039045

Minnesota on notice for 83 bridge collapse lawsuits
Victims, survivors, companies meet first deadline, offer details

BY MARTIGA LOHN
Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 01/21/2008 11:39:01 PM CST

Scores of victims of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse - from surviving spouses to the parents of children riding on a yellow school bus - have filed preliminary paperwork to sue the state.

The documents, obtained through a public records request, provide a glimpse into a brewing legal battle over the Aug. 1 Minneapolis disaster, which killed 13 and injured 145. They also offer the most detailed look yet into the financial burdens on the victims and their families.

The first legal deadline - requiring those injured to notify the state within 180 days - is Sunday. Lawyers said the notices are a formality that may not be necessary in order to sue, but the number indicates that many victims are contemplating their options in court.

“This is the predecessor to the lawsuits,” said Chris Messerly, an attorney for a pro bono coalition of law firms representing more than 60 bridge victims.

Private companies that worked on the bridge are also likely legal targets because they have deeper pockets, but there’s no requirement to notify them.

Bridge victims don’t stand to get much from the state because of a law limiting the government’s total liability to $1 million or $300,000 per person. But lawmakers are considering a compensation fund that would offer more to those who give up the right to sue the state. A joint House-Senate panel takes up the proposal today.

The state set up a separate $1 million emergency relief fund in November, but so far only 11 bridge victims have claimed a total of $57,862 in lost wages, according to the Minnesota Department of Administration.

Once that fund is drained, bridge victims won’t have any legal claims left against the state, attorney James Schwebel said. Many haven’t asked for the aid because they fear it might close off other legal avenues, said Rep. Ryan Winkler, who’s pushing legislation for a victims’ compensation fund.

As of Friday, Attorney General Lori Swanson’s office had received notice of potential legal claims from 73 injured bridge victims and their family members. Families of six of those killed also had outlined plans to sue the state. So had three insurance companies and the owner of the school bus.

Many notices used standard legal terminology, but a few provide more details.

One letter outlines the ordeal of Tina Hickman, who was eight months pregnant and on her way to a book club meeting when the bridge fell. She was found unconscious, and doctors delivered a boy by Caesarean section. The infant was apparently not hurt in the collapse, but Hickman was put into a medically induced coma for a month. Her lawyer, James R. Fink, estimated her medical expenses at more than $250,000.

Fink also outlined a plan to seek $250,000 for Hickman’s “pain, disability, disfigurement, embarrassment and emotional distress” in a claim totaling $535,085, plus another $30,000 claim from her husband.

Another notice discusses the injuries of Julie Graves, one of the adults on the school bus, including “several fractures to her spine, the effects of which will be permanent, severe cuts that required over 150 stitches to close with consequent scarring and medical bills exceeding $94,500.”

The wife of Patrick Holmes, who was killed in the collapse, notified the state she plans to seek “well over $1 million” in a wrongful death claim.

Notices also came from the family of Sadiya Sahal, a nursing student who was pregnant when she died with her 22-month-old daughter, Hana Sahal; and the families of Julia Blackhawk, Paul Eickstadt and Artemio Trinidad-Mena.

Families of those killed in the bridge collapse have up to a year to notify the state of potential legal action.

The Hartford, an insurance company that provided workers compensation for injured bridge victim Garrett Ebling’s employer, Great Clips, filed paperwork to recoup the $329,549 it has already paid. American Family Insurance Co. and State Farm Insurance also said they intend to sue the state and the city of Minneapolis for their losses on insurance policies.

First Student Inc., the owner of the school bus, is asking for $30,336 to cover its loss, including a $399 bill for towing.

At least 22 of the notices were on behalf of children, many of them passengers on the bus. Many are still traumatized, according to attorney Wil Fluegel, who represents 10 passengers.

“Many of the children, their parents tell me, still insist on sleeping with mom or dad at night,” Fluegel said Monday. “One of the little girls routinely still wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, ‘I don’t want to die.’ ”

Lawyers for the victims are frustrated by their lack of access to the investigation, which is holding up lawsuits. Final findings from the National Transportation Safety Board are expected this fall. Most claims outlined in the notices accuse the state of negligence in its maintenance of the bridge. Others point to the potential liability of URS Corp., a private consultant that inspected the bridge, and Progressive Contractors Inc., the private contractor that was resurfacing the span when it fell.

Associated Press writer Brian Bakst contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=59627780

Just Say ‘No’ to N.O.
Building in disaster areas is simply a horrible idea

By Beaumont Vance

What is one to do with someone who builds his house on the train tracks? Let’s assume that this individual knows that trains roll down these tracks once every 11 years. When one inevitably does and the owner of the home leaps to safety shortly before it is shattered to bits, how should one react? Should one help him to rebuild a new house in the path of yet another train? Or should he be labeled a fool and left to rebuild without assistance?

The citizens of New Orleans have been engaging in building practices similar to this since 1718 when the city was first founded. A flood destroyed the village in 1719. Not to be deterred, the citizens rebuilt, only to be wiped off the face of the map by a hurricane again in 1722. A year later, whatever progress they had made in recovering was again obliterated by yet another hurricane.

In the 289 years since New Orleans was founded, it has been flooded 27 times. On average, the residents rebuild every 11 years.

The current projections put the completion of repairs at 2011. If a flood hits every 11 years, and repairs take six years, it doesn’t leave much time to enjoy living in the city before it is destroyed again.

It must be the single most optimistic city on the planet.

New Orleans lies mostly below sea level, near the Mississippi river, south of Lake Pontchartrain and just off the Gulf Coast. Being below sea level is fine, provided that the sea is nowhere nearby to come paying visits from time to time like some unwanted relative.

Unfortunately, New Orleans is surrounded by huge bodies of water seeking a low point to congregate … points where the residents also choose to live. Even after 27 disastrous floods, the most recent deluge was treated as a shock.

Few, if any, news reporters or politicians dared mention this fact. Pointing out such things would have seemed mean-spirited and drawn the ire of the populous. Writing this article now, I am well aware that many readers may find this article to be in poor taste or coldhearted. But similar problems exist in many other areas of the world.

Off of the coast of the Carolinas on the East Coast of the United States, there are a bunch of very large sandbars known as the Outer Banks. Many people choose to build expensive homes on these shifting sands. When the ground erodes from under them, or when a hurricane blows them down, the residents, taken completely by surprise, immediately look for government assistance.

Lest anyone think that I have simply become an unsympathetic curmudgeon, I offer that the editors of The Economist agree. On page 14 of the July 28th issue, they published an article with the headline “Britain Under Water: Building on Sand.” The authors note, “No one in his right mind would build London today.”

Like New Orleans, London is surrounded by bodies of water that have a tendency to inundate certain parts of the metropolis. This does not deter Londoners from building on the low spots. The Economist places the blame squarely on the way by which insurance is written and subsidized.

It seems that citizens choosing to build on the flood plains are not charged any excess premium. There is no financial risk to building in a location that is likely to be found covered in several meters of water, because insurance will cover the loss. The premium is the same as nonflood zones due to government subsidies.

This governmental intervention is the root cause of the problem. People can be very optimistic about catastrophes. Just ask someone living on top of a fault in California–they find it absurd to worry that a large quake might shake their abode to the ground even though the leading experts agree that this is inevitable.

By continuing to offer government and insurance schemes that promise to cover future losses, this natural optimism is bolstered. Someone living in a catastrophe-prone location can reason that, even if disaster should strike, Uncle Sam or the insurance companies will remedy any loss.

The answer to the opening question, if we are to take our cue from popular opinion and government action, is that we should jump right in and help our friend build a new house on the train tracks. One can also surmise that we should show astonishment and heartfelt sympathy every time a locomotive smashes through it, leaving him homeless.

But I wonder if it is not time for a bit of common sense to enter into the dialogue. Choosing to build in the path of certain and inevitable destruction is a horrendous idea. New Orleans will be destroyed again. Why are so few willing to state the obvious? Because it sounds mean-spirited and would be political suicide (boy, am I ever glad I will never run for office!).

Perhaps refusing to help those in need would be callous. But we can at least give them encouragement to stay out of harm’s way by refusing to reward the behavior.

BEAUMONT VANCE manages risk for Sun Microsystems Inc. This column was a complimentary excerpt from one of his latest “Risk Management Reports” newsletters, which he edits and publishes. For more information on how to subscribe to the full version of the newsletter, please visit www.riskreports.com/

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– Smitty, 1-13-08

Starting the New Year off on a lighter note, here’s I am with 2 of my 3 grandkids (taken 12-26-07):

– Smitty, 1-1-08

“You don’t appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get older. Little things like being spanked every day by a middle aged woman: Stuff you pay good money for in later life.”

– Emo Philips

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“Sex-segregation in a public educational institution” ?? Hello ?? National Organization of Women ???

“Every sink and toilet stall had someone washing his feet” ?? Hello ?? MN Dept of Health ???

“No evidence of any faith but Islam. No Bible, no crucifix, no Torah.” ?? Hello ?? ACLU ???

Hello ????? This is a publicly funded college where I spent 2 years.

Someone in charge needs to grow a pair, man-up and take a high-pressure fire hose into this “meditation room” and flush away these brownshirts and their religious fascism.

And remember, according to MN politicians, YOUR taxes are too low ……… YOU need to open your wallet to help support religious fascism.

– Smitty, 12-19-07
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Source: http://www.startribune.com/featuredColumns/12551256.html

Normandale’s ‘meditation room’ is home to a single faith

By Katherine Kersten, Star Tribune
Last update: December 16, 2007 - 8:53 PM

Last week, I visited a Muslim place of worship. A schedule for Islam’s five daily prayers was posted at the entrance, near a sign requesting that shoes be removed. Inside, a barrier divided men’s and women’s prayer space, an arrow informed worshippers of the direction of Mecca, and literature urged women to cover their faces.

Sound like a mosque?

The place I’m describing is the “meditation room” at Normandale Community College, a 9,200-student public institution in Bloomington.

Until recently, the room was the school’s only usable racquetball court. College administrators converted the court into a meditation room when construction forced closure of the previous meditation room.

A row of chest-high barriers splits the room into sex-segregated sections. In the smaller, enclosed area for women sits a pile of shawls and head-coverings. Literature titled “Hijaab [covering] and Modesty” was prominently placed there, instructing women on proper Islamic behavior.

They should cover their faces and stay at home, it said, and their speech should not “be such that it is heard.”

“Enter into Islaam completely and accept all the rulings of Islaam,” the tract read in part. “It should not be that you accept what entertains your desires and leave what opposes your desires; this is from the manners of the Jews.”

“[T]he Jews and the Christians” are described as “the enemies of Allaah’s religion.” The document adds: “Remember that you will never succeed while you follow these people.”

A poster on the room’s door advertised a local lecture on “marriage from an Islamic perspective,” with “useful tips for marital harmony from the Prophet’s … life.” Other fliers invited students to join the Normandale Islamic Forum, or participate in Ramadan celebrations.

One thing was missing from the meditation room: evidence of any faith but Islam. No Bible, no crucifix, no Torah.

Normandale’s administration is facilitating the room’s Islamization. The college’s building crew erected the barrier separating men’s and women’s sections, according to Ralph Anderson, dean of student affairs. College officials also posted signs at the room’s entrance asking students to remove shoes — a Muslim custom before prayers. This was “basically a courtesy to Muslim students,” Anderson said.

Despite the room’s Islamic atmosphere, Anderson says it “is open to everyone.”

Why is the meditation room segregated by sex? “Muslim students prefer that areas be divided into male and female,” he said. “Other students don’t care.”

Doesn’t sex-segregation present a constitutional problem in a public educational institution? “I don’t want to comment on that,” he said.

And the literature regarding Jews and Christians? “I would probably take it out if I knew it was in there,” said Anderson.

Normandale’s zealous effort to accommodate Muslim students is not new. Chad Lunaas, a former student who works at the college part time, cites examples.

Last year on Fridays, he says, he often entered the bathroom to find that “every sink and toilet stall had someone washing his feet.” Other students couldn’t use the bathroom at these times, and those who tried felt awkward.

Lunaas finally expressed his concerns to a Muslim student who “seemed to be in charge.”

“His attitude was, ‘We don’t have to listen to you, we can do whatever we want,’ ” he said.

Confrontations also erupted in the sex-segregated meditation room, according to Lunaas. “Muslim students just took it over. They made people who were not of the Muslim religion feel very uncomfortable, especially if they were female.”

One female student tried to use the room when Muslim students were in it, said Lunaas. “She believed she should be treated equally. They were telling her to leave, to take off her shoes, to go to the other side of the divider.”

Anderson says he met several times with concerned students. But “the whole thing was just basically swept aside,” according to Lunaas.

Anderson said that in the incident involving the young woman, “both sides were probably out of line.”

Howard Odor, who advises the college’s Somali Student Association, said he has not been aware of “any issues” since the meditation room has been in the racquetball court. “I can guarantee that college policy is that anyone who wants to go in there and pray or meditate can do so.”

But many at the college see a bigger issue.

“For all practical purposes, this meditation room is essentially a Muslim prayer room,” said Chuck Chalberg of Normandale’s history faculty. “Something this unprecedented goes beyond religious toleration.”

Katherine Kersten • kkersten@startribune.com Join the conversation at my blog, Think Again, which can be found at www.startribune.com/thinkagain