A summary of events from last month:
- Some issues from the lacrosse affair appeared in other high-profile cases;
- The Nifong conspiracy theorists emerged, amusing themselves by mocking the experiences of the lacrosse players' parents;
- Kristin Butler is back--and with a typically incisive post, examining the erratic nature of President Brodhead's financial stewardship;
- John in Carolina had a strong post on the Chronicle's editorials on Duke's fundraising woes;
- miriam cooke has now positioned herself as a "moderate" on Israel: at least in comparison with her fellow Group of 88'er, Grant Farred, who is now onto his latest extremist cause--supporting a U.S. "academic and cultural boycott of Israel";
- "Old friends" Selena Roberts, Wendy Murphy, Karla Holloway, and Rev. William Barber re-emerged;
- I posted a copy of my Law & Contemporary Problems article, which looked at the role of the blogosphere in the case.
A reminder that previous monthly summaries are available by clicking on the "monthly summary" tag below.
33 comments:
Wendy Murphy was hit with her performance on the Duke Lacrosse case this week on the radio show that she is on once a week in the Boston area. She defended herself by saying that we don't know what really happened because we didn't see the lab reports (DNA tests). I guess that it wasn't made publicly available. That's pretty weak but I guess that's her standard line.
Maybe you (KC) should give her a call on the radio and challenge her on this one. I can get you the station and time that it's on if you want to give it a shot.
Today marks the one year anniversary of the armed robbery and senseless slaying of Eve Carson, Student Body President of the University of North Carolina.
The two defendants accused of breaking into her home, kidnapping, robbing at gun point and then shooting this unarmed woman in cold blood were already longtime customers of the Durham County Justice System and on probation when they committed these acts.
It is good to know that the same people in charge of the Durham County justice apparatus when these two thugs committed their second murder while on probation were re-elected by the voters this past November.
The definition of insanity, indeed.
Thoughts and prayers to the Carson family on this difficult day.
KC - thanks for the monthly summaries (complete with links to the articles/posts) on your blog. It is a great way to check what articles/posts I may have missed reading the previous month.
Keep up the good work.
I wish you would regularly remind your readers of the many millions of dollars of expenses(both direct and indirect) Duke University has accumulated and paid out, and continues to accumulate, attempting to defend Robert Steel's, Richard Brodhead's and the Board of Trustees' poor decisions and harmful behaviors in this case. While Brodhead tells us that the downturn in the economy , and the $3 billion loss in endowment funds, will cause Duke University to shrink("become smaller")and tuition to increase, the current "tab" for Duke's for in and out-house lawyers and associated paper gatherers is way north of $50 million and climbing rapidly. And Duke's Insurer is not jogging, but racing in the opposite direction.
How many real educators could be employed for these wasted dollars?
From the FIRE website:(www.thefire.org)
FIRE is proud to announce the second annual Campus Freedom Network Student Conference, which will be held June 18–20 at the Doubletree Hotel in Philadelphia. The conference will begin with a reception and dinner on Thursday evening, followed by a day and a half of lectures and panels. Students will hear from some of the leading experts on First Amendment rights in the country and will have the opportunity to learn how to defend liberty on their own campuses.
......KC Johnson, professor at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York Graduate School and author with Stuart Taylor of Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case, will give the opening remarks on Thursday evening. Professor Johnson gave the keynote address at last year's CFN conference.
Feburary? -5 for spelling.
Yeah, well, I used to be a professor too.
Corrected :)
I'm used to spellcheck to correct typos, but with blogger there's no spellcheck on the title page . . .
Spellcheck on the blogger page would eb a huge help to those of us whose fingers seem to have a proclivity to hit the wrong keys.
Thank you for the February wrap-up. (As well as the other month summaries). One forgets just what can and does occur in a month. Soon, I hope, we will be hearing from the judges presiding over the various motions - and that the outcome will be positive for RCD and the lacrosse players.
cks
Wendy Murphy is a damned liar and a damned disgrace. "We don't know what happened." What a crock.
Does she really think that had there been positive DNA tests, that the charges would have been dropped? This woman is nothing but a liar, and to think that she was prosecuting individuals makes me wonder if there is any honesty or decency in Massachusetts at all. Just think, in that state, they honor this POS.
I applaud the Durham In Wonderland blog site for mentioning the fact that the "Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong" gifted him with a brand new Fender deluxe Nashville Telecaster electric guitar, and guitar case, on Saturday, February 28, 2009. This is the kind of warm, positive story that the biased media (in its successful venture to turn easily compliant minds against Mr. Nifong) refuses to print or broadcast. Now the media has no problem with extensive coverage when the courts threaten to take Mr. Nifong's guitars away, or when the auction house puts Mr. Nifong's property on the auction block. I salute you for doing a much better job of informing the public than the media.
Regarding the comic strip, "The MisAdventures of Super-Duper Cooper," I will agree with you that I do find myself chuckling at the strip every time I take a look at it. Be sure and check the web site Sunday afternoon, March 8, 2009, for the conclusion of Episode II. (The script on Episode III is nearly complete, but unfortunately it will be a month or so before it will be ready to post. Producing the strips is very labor intensive.. even with a computer. That episode is titled, "Roy Cooper's Rogues Gallery" and I think that you will find it to be as hilarious as the previous two.)
Michael posted at 3/5/09 7:26 AM:
Wendy Murphy has really changed her tune. During the rape hoax, she was aware of the DNA testing results. One claim she made was that the DNA security finding, DNA from multiple unidentified males on cgm's person was constitutionally protected information. On another occasion, a telephone interview with John Gibson, she claimed the DNA had been found on her underwear, not on her person.
I comment again, Wendy was such a rabid supporter of Nifong and cgm. Now she is avoiding her involvement in the case. It says something about Nifong's "innocence"(for want of a better term).
I think we have to understand something. Mr. Harr favors the prosecution and imprisonment of innocent people. Let me repeat: He wanted Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans convicted and imprisoned and killed (because that is what would have happened to them in prison), even though none of them even touched Crystal Gail Mangum.
He is a sick and dishonest person, and is the perfect person to be standing up for that psychopath, Mike Nifong. I repeat, Harr is pure, unadulterated evil.
TO (4:31 PM)--
You really need to man up and put some real pizzazz into your little chicken-fried Kabuki show.
Why not add this excitable chubby cherub to your motley cast?
He would make an excellent Junior for your "Hee-Haw" remake.
Don't forget to let him show you all his barrels of coins and bills.
Mikey needs some coins and bills.
Mikey's friend from that website has some pearls for everyone in the H-S.
"Institutionalized oppression" is the cause of everything.
Perhaps he thinks Mikey's pathology is caused by "institutional oppression"?
Column off point: Pathology has causes
Ron Landfried's March 1 column titled "Creating one community in Durham" paints a picture of good folks doing their best in difficult circumstances. As gang violence becomes "the new normal," we are overwhelmed with pain. We befriend the less fortunate, then salve our grief with religion and companionship.
By not naming the causes of social pathology (racism, oppression, discrimination, underfunded schools, police profiling, redlining), Landfried perpetuates the myth that violence in the "black community" is some sort of natural phenomenon, the way of the world, or "God's will".
To focus on an individual and personal response to violence alone is to abdicate one's responsibility to fight institutionalized oppression. An article like this, far from bringing us closer to "the beloved community" simply serves to burden us all with the mantle of victimhood.
STEVEN MATHERLY
Durham
March 5, 2009
Is there any legal reason that the bankruptcy court cannot (or should not, even must not) immediately seize Nifong's new guitar?
As far as I know, his debt has not been discharged in bankruptcy -- to the contrary, every Motion to claim this privilege has been, quite properly, denied due to the deliberate and malicious nature of his misconduct which created his financial exposure. And if these anti-Justice morons give him another guitar, take that one away too, ASAP. If he really needs to pick and strum something, Mikey can pick his nose and his wart, and go strum himself.
Thanks Debrah,
I had not seen that piece from our Chubby Cherub, Duke Professor Timothy T. Tyson and I believe this piece can be quite helpful for any of us who are trying to anticipate or 'head-off' a joint faculty/staff effort to harm students.
Tyson actually uses seven (7) major concepts from the entire 'narrative' from Women's Studies, African and African American Studies and The Office of Student Affairs.
If any of the follow seven (7) phrases begin to show up in student publications; on bulletin boards or in student judicial hearings...we will know the extremists are out in force trying to create work for themselves and revise history. And, as we know now, they WILL sacrifice students to get what they want.
1. Ugly past echoes...
2. These crimes (Rape and Racism) are intertwined deeply in our history.
3. Young white men of privilege deployed their unearned affluence to ...
4. The spirit of the lynch mob lived in that...
5. But the dynamics of race, power and violence that have marred our history remain with us.
6. When the men of one group have most of the power and privilege...
7. Now we can only reach out in a spirit of healing to the communities that have been hurt..
I think I will send a copy of these seven phrases to friends who are parents of college students. Copy also to several attorneys I know who work with universities.
::
GP
I saw a similar question on Liestoppers but did not have a chance to respond. The simplified (the Bankruptcy Code is as complex as the IRS Code)legal reason that he gets to keep the guitar, for now, is that his bankruptcy estate is frozen at the time he filed his petition. Every asset he owned in at the time of filing is eligible for liquidation to satisfy creditors. However, the income he earns and property he acquires after the filing is his to keep -- the proverbial fresh start.
However, the guitar and other post-petition property he may acquire can be seized and sold to satisfy any monetary judgment that is entered aginst him in the civil cases. And if he reacquires it by gift or otherwise, then it can be seized and resold indefinitely.
ACC Esq
bill anderson: 'makes me wonder if there is any honesty or decency in Massachusetts at all.'
No need to wonder, bill. In addition to Wendy Murphy, there is Barney Frank.
So the answer is, no, there is no honesty or decency in Massachusetts.
About the story concerning Mr. Nifong being gifted with a new guitar by his fan club ... I've been a member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church (Mr. Nifong's church of choice) since 1986 and have never had the pleasure of being spiritualy uplifted by his guitar playing or voice (he does sing with the choir sometimes). Where did the author of the "One Down, Two to Go!" article get the idea that our congregation had been treated to the talents of Mr. Nifong. I can recall NO occasion when he played and/or sang for our enjoyment. This piece is TOO funny, and sad!
I've been a member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church (Mr. Nifong's church of choice) since 1986 and have never had the pleasure of being spiritualy uplifted by his guitar playing or voice (he does sing with the choir sometimes)
Maybe its because you don't know or understand being spiritually uplifted?
Is Holloway a Communist?
Anonymous @ 6:02 -- You were being spiritually uplifted because you didn't have to hear the Mike "Strumming Cowboy" Nifong play!
A H-S letter in response to the recent "teach-in" held at Duke:
Mideast mindset
A "teach-in" about Israeli-Palestinian relations was recently held at Duke. The selective group of liberal minds only lambasted Israel.
Strange as it may sound, whenever you hear liberal minds wanting to discuss or debate, it's always one-sided. The speakers were, of course, pro-Palestine. There was no open discussion and what might be perceived as intimidation to any who tried to discuss the elimination of violence in the Middle-East.
It wasn't long before one would realize that the Palestinians do not want peace, but want the land Israel inherited and has for centuries fought and bled for. A desert land that no one wanted and was barren until Israel made it bloom.
The real problem is that the Arab Palestinians like their neighbors had never recognized Israel's right to exist. Perhaps instead of pursuing a "roadmap" to peace, we should first denote that no peace can ever be accomplished without these so called vanquished groups signing a paper assuring Israel's right to exist, and to do so now.
Any other so-called peace is unacceptable.
MARGARET S. HOOD
Durham
Yes, "GP". You only have to revisit one of Tyson's offerings on the pages of the N&O to see how the paper used him---and he, them---to put forth the story they wanted the public to believe.
The editorials on the left side of the page which are supposed to be the official word of the paper were measured and careful not to show their hand.
However, behind it all, the people who run the place allowed Tyson and the Gang of 88, along with "plantation expert" Allan Gurganus to use their own agenda for public consumption.
We can pretend; however, after having read that deluge of tendentious hysteria, there's really no complete recovery from it.
Much of the readership has that picture of the Lacrosse Hoax embedded in their minds.
It was a daily onslaught as soon as the story broke. People remember that the most---(first impressions and all.....)
For those reasons I think it's a shame that newspapers will not be sued for their omnipotent role.
Same thing with Mukasey being allowed to give the commencement address at this law school.
The hardline taken by the Left stronghold at universities is amazing to view.
It's also hilarious that the UNC-CH law school is the home of Gene Nichol who was run out of William&Mary for denying freedom of expression from those with whom he disagreed on that campus.
He's crawled back to take the taxpayer-supported salary for the "make-work" position he set up earlier for John Edwards when he was running for office.
And such people protest someone like Mukasey speaking at a commencement.
Amazing.
On the Bill Maher show on HBO on Feb 27th, Peter O'Rourke (I think that is his name) said something about the Duke Lacrosse case, I was only half listening so I don't know what was said. However, it goes to show that you never know when and for how long it is going to turn up.
TO (2:19 PM)--
It was P.J. O'Rourke.
The Lacrosse Hoax-sters and their enablers will experience a special brand of discomfort for infinity.
This case will always be referenced.
I think giving Nifong a guitar as a gift becomes relatively thoughtful compared to the following...
Regardless on who you voted for, this is pretty damn funny, (sad, even pathetic, but funny)...
What's in a gift?
"British prime minister Gordon Brown thought long and hard about what gift to bring on his visit to the White House last week. Barack Obama is the first African-American president, so the prime minister gave him an ornamental desk-pen holder hewn from the timbers of one of the Royal Navy’s anti-slaving ships of the 19th century, HMS Gannet. Even more appropriate, in 1909 the Gannet was renamed HMS President.
The president’s guest also presented him with the framed commission for HMS Resolute, the lost British ship retrieved from the Arctic and returned by America to London, and whose timbers were used for a thank-you gift Queen Victoria sent to Rutherford Hayes: the handsome desk that now sits in the Oval Office.
And, just to round things out, as a little stocking stuffer, Gordon Brown gave President Obama a first edition of Sir Martin Gilbert’s seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill.
In return, America’s head of state gave the prime minister 25 DVDs of “classic American movies.”
...I’ll be interested to know if Mr. Brown has anything to play the films on back home, since U.S.-format DVDs don’t work in United Kingdom DVD players...." - Mark Steyn
Here's a book that Holloway wrote a decade before she helped concoct the Lacrosse Hoax.
It's easy to see how such a monster of deceit and obfuscation could have been created in Holloway at Duke with the aid of Nan Keohane.
Most everything that Holloway writes about are Hoaxes. It would be helpful if she and the NC NAACP Barber could find a real "victim" to use in their race-obsessed meanderings.
Check out the reviews.
Then you may heave if you read these fantastic lies.
All points--lies.
"Her uniquely insightful and intelligent analysis guides us in a fresh way through Anita Hill's interrogation, the assault of Tawana Brawley, the mass murders of Atlanta's children, the schisms between the personal and the public domain of her life as a black professor, and---in a moving epilogue---the story of her son's difficulties growing up as a young black male in contemporary society."
Holloway's son grew up in a nice upper-middle-class existence.
He chose to rob, stab, mutilate, maim, rape, and kill white women.
Wonder how such a comfortable life could have spawned such a mindset?
Notice how everything is blamed on society.
Even as they live a somewhat affluent lifestyle.
The Lacrosse Hoax must have been like a gift from G/d to Holloway.
A way to transfer her demons and the guilt onto some innocent strangers....who just happen to be white.
Other than Gang of 88 mascot Timothy Tyson, I find Holloway particularly disgusting among that grotesque group at Duke.
That Holloway would declare that Brawley was telling the truth really explains why she insisted that Nifong and Crystal were truthful as well. She is a racist, period, and is a perfect fit at Duke University.
On another note, I went to the Bryant-Mount St. Mary's LAX game today in Emmitsburg, Maryland (Bryant won on a late goal). It was the first time I had met Mike Pressler, and unlike Karla Holloway, he actually has some class, and has accomplished good things in his life.
Hey, Karla. Mike and Sue Pressler and their family are living well. Guess that really tears you up, doesn't it? You tried your best to ruin their lives, but they refused to be beaten.
Thanks, Debrah, for the link to the thing that Holloway wrote.
Holloway calls herself a "linguist", but as she shows on page 83 of the above-referenced, er, text, she does not know even the difference between an accent and a dialect.
The more we learn about modern American academia, the less we wonder why scholars such as KC -- or, as was mentioned recently, John Silber -- are so hated and feared.
But Bill, is there anything anyone can do about the fact that the N&O has given someone like Tyson a platform?
Even as we know the role he played in the Hoax?
It's not just charlatans like Holloway and Tyson. They have lots of help.
Is printing Tyson's columns an endorsement by the McClatchy power structure who registered $00.68 on the Stock Exchange today?
Are they working overtime toward their own demise?
A response to Bill Anderson's post of 3/5/09 10:11 PM
I would not lose a lot of sleep worrying about Sidney Harr de Harr Harr. The delusional Mr. Harr believes he is exposing Attorney General Cooper, the Lacrosse players, their parents to scorn and ridicule. He is actually demonstrating to the world what an anus he is.
KC: Did youe xamine how they define sexual harassment?
"Definition of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination that includes verbal, written, or physical behavior of a sexual nature, directed at someone, or against a particular group, because of that person's or group's sex, or based on gender stereotypes, when that behavior is unwelcome and meets either of the following criteria:
(1) Submission or consent to the behavior is believed to carry consequences for the student's education, employment, on-campus living environment, or participation in a University activity. Examples of this type of sexual harassment include:
(a) pressuring a student to engage in sexual behavior for some educational or employment benefit, or
(b) making a real or perceived threat that rejecting sexual behavior will carry a negative consequence for the student.
(2) The behavior has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with the student's work or educational performance by creating an intimidating, hostile, or demeaning environment for employment, education, on-campus living, or participation in a University activity. Examples of this type of sexual harassment can include:
(a) persistent unwelcomed efforts to develop a sexual relationship
(b) unwelcome commentary about an individual's body or sexual activities
(c) unwanted sexual attention
(d) repeated and unwelcome sexually-oriented teasing, joking, or flirting
(e) verbal abuse of a sexual nature.
Comments or communications could be verbal, written, or electronic. Behavior does not need to be directed at or to a specific student, but rather may be generalized unwelcomed and unnecessary comments based on sex or gender stereotypes."
Note the term "can include". What else is included? Why does this not include a "specific student" (group-think 101)? What does the term "generalized" mean? What does "unwanted sexual attention" mean?
The problem with any law or regulation is when it is written in such a broad manner as to effectively provide no guidelines to follow. Such is the case here.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
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