DarkStar Spouts Off

The Supreme Court Supports Nifong

Remember state's prosecutor Nifong and his ignoring facts in the
so-called "Duke rape case" when he proceeded to charge the Duke
lacrosse players although the woman who alleged she was raped, had a,
shall we say, suspect story?

Well, based on today's ruling, the Supreme Court would have backed
Nifong's unethical behavior.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/29/scotus.exonerated.killer/

A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled against a former
death row inmate who sought damages from the state after prosecutors
hid crucial blood tests that would have earlier proven his innocence.
The 5-4 decision Tuesday involved John Thompson, who came within weeks
of execution and had spent 18 years behind bars before being set free
after the new forensic evidence came to light.

At issue was whether a district attorney's office should be held
liable, under a "failure to train" standard, when one of its
prosecutors unconstitutionally withholds exculpatory evidence from a
criminal defendant.

Then-New Orleans area District Attorney Harry Connick Sr. claimed his
office should not be held fully responsible after one of his staff
attorneys violated long-standing, accepted procedures on handling
evidence in criminal trials.

Thompson's lawyers said the DA's office as a whole should be held
liable for the poor training of prosecutors working under Connick.

"A district attorney is entitled to rely on prosecutors' professional
training and ethical obligations in the absence of specific reason,
such as a pattern of violations, to believe that those tools are
insufficient," Justice Clarence Thomas said. He was supported by his
conservative colleagues Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices
Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito.

Ain't that something? We are a police state. And it's conservatives
leading the charge.

This "Woman" Has Two KidsThis

This woman has two kids. She was concerned about them AFTER getting arrested.

She sure gains mother of the year nominations from me!

I trust you read that with the sarcasm that was intended.

Yo, Chris Brown

Losing your mind about being asked "that question," after you gave
prior permission to ask "that question," doesn't seem to help you in
my mind, but it appears your CD sales are doing well. So, I guess
busting windows is working for you. Either that, or women are really
impressed with you, as I hear. *Ahem*

President Obama Is Wrong

President Obama is flat out wrong to be in another country while
initiating a military action in Libya, plain and simple. If it was
something where we had to act immediately, then that is one thing, but
even then, his butt should be on Air Force One and flying home when he
did it.

If you have time, you don't start an action, which can result in the
end of men and women in the military, on foreign soil.

Education Is Big Business

I read the following this morning. Unfortunately, I'm not surprised.

When the leaders at the Baltimore International Academy read a property listing for St. Anthony's of Padua — a vacant Catholic school building that is nearly three times the academy's current size and five miles from its location — the $2.5 million price tag was an afterthought.

The advertisement posted by the Archdiocese of Baltimore boasted "big, bright and uplifting" classrooms that could alleviate the public charter school's cramped learning spaces. The building's "auditorium that converts easily into a cafeteria" could give kindergarteners who lunch at their desks a place to eat.

But the description for preferred applicants was not as promising: "This school building cannot be leased or sold to public charter schools," the listing said.

St. Anthony's is one of 13 vacant Catholic school buildings listed for sale or lease that the archdiocese decided should not be acquired by charter schools because they are considered a threat to its troubled Catholic school program.

The Catholic Church is a business as is their school system. Charters are having an effect on Catholic schools, and that's a shame. Sending one child to a Catholic school from pre-K to 8th grade is not that bad. But the price just about doubles for high school. Free vs. cost? Free is going to win many times.

NFL Lockout and Economics

The NFL owners have locked out the NFL players, so right now, it looks like there will be no NFL football for awhile.

If this lasts an extended period of time, this will be an object lesson on having "a lot" of money, some would say being rich, and being wealthy. Let's see how many football players with multi-million dollar per year contracts will face financial problems and even bankruptcy as compared to the NFL owners.

 

Policies

Let me list a few political policies that I find "interesting" at
the current time.

• The Obama administration has said that GITMO will remain open and will not be closed.
• The Obama administration has voices within it that are pushing for the establishment of a no fly zone over Libya.
• The Obama administration is holding firm to not allowing off shore drilling even in the face of the current spike in oil prices.
• The Obama administration is considering using some of the strategic oil reserves to attempt to "bring down oil prices." Here's my comment on that: It won't work because the amount of oil entering the market would be limited, not a continuous supply of oil out of the ground. It's just scam to pacify the masses.

[ UPDATED ]

Why are these interesting? Because if you substituted Bush for Obama, how many of these policies would line up with the Bush administration?

DMV Awards and Chris Rock

Chris Rock did that famous bit about "African-Americans vs. Niggers".
Some people at the time were mad about what Chris Rock
said while others defended him. I was a defender.

[ UPDATED ]

Well, the DMV Awards proved Chris Rock was right.

SMH.

The Honor Code

I went to, and graduated from, the University of Virginia which has an honor code. I promised not to cheat on tests as a requirement to attend the school. If I did cheat, and was reported and I was found guilty in honor court, I would be kicked out of the school.

BYU has an honor code as well, which among other things, states students are to remain chaste. In other words, no boinking. :-) The star basketball player admitted to having sex with his girlfriend. (How did they find out?) He has been suspended from the team.

Some people are saying that's too harsh. To me, it's a punishment for breaking a rule which he knew about. BYU did the right thing and Brandon Davies has manned up by accepting it.

Baltimore Public School Teacher's Union Don't Give A Damn

This is why I don't like teacher's unions.

But the rare educational opportunities Sonya and other low-income students receive at the Northwest Baltimore school could come to an end this summer. The school says it will close June 30 if it cannot reach a long-term deal with the Baltimore Teachers Union over pay or garner enough support for legislation in Annapolis that would allow teachers to set their own working conditions.

KIPP's model requires a longer-than-typical 9 1/2-hour school day, which has caused tensions with the union, in order to achieve its results: some of the highest test scores in the state and a 100 percent college-acceptance rate.

"I feel like they came along to help me with my girl, and now she's not lost anymore," Jefferson said. "She just can't go backward. And if this happens, she will just be lost."

KIPP is part of a nationwide network of highly successful charter schools whose mission is to provide a stringent and structured urban education. KIPP, which opened the first of its two schools in Baltimore in 2002, says it has been hampered by sharing a building with various schools and recently operating on a one-year agreement with the union about how to pay its teachers.

Unlike many of its counterparts around the nation, Baltimore's KIPP schools are bound by the teachers union contract regarding pay, which has earned the state criticism for having a restrictive charter school law. Therefore, KIPP has had to compensate teachers for the extended days — a demand that the school says is costing an additional $400,000 to $500,000 a year.

KIPP is also negotiating with the school system in hopes of getting a long-term lease for the building Ujima now occupies. It is willing to take on debt to fix up the building, which is in poor condition, but only if it can get a long-term agreement.

Without a commitment from the school district, each year will remain as uncertain as the last, said Jason Botel, executive director of KIPP Baltimore.

"To be in this position every year, and to have to say to parents and students that we might not be here is hard," Botel said. "We cannot finance and fundraise if we have a one-year lease on life — if every year, we're at the risk of shutting down."

They don't give a damn that KIPP works in Baltimore. They find charter schools, which are public schools, a threat and want to do anything to shut it down. And