A SEAT ON THE U.S. SUPREME COURT COSTS $1 BILLION

Below is a letter-to-the-editor written by a friend:

Now we know:  A seat on the U. S. Supreme Court will cost you $1 billion.

In the late 1980's Donald Trump was broke.  Because of his long history of bankruptcies and stiffing creditors, every major Wall Street bank cut him off.  Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are just a few of the banks who told Trump in 1988 they would no longer work with him.  A Goldman Sachs official told reporters "bankers know better than to pitch” a Trump-related deal.

Trump spent most of the 1990's searching for money.  He found it in Russia where Russian mobsters and wealthy Russian businessmen -- all with close personal and financial ties to Putin -- were looking for places to park their millions. 

After the Russian economy collapsed in 1998, wealthy Russians sought to stash their money in international real estate. The Trump Organization offered an appealing haven, mainly because of Trump's reputation for lax reporting (Trump has paid multiple record-breaking fines for ignoring anti-money-laundering laws).  As a result, several Trump-branded projects from 1998 onward received significant financing from sources with ties to Russia, most notably the shadowy Bayrock Group and Deutsche Bank, which is one of the few major financial institutions to still lend to Trump.  

Much of the Russian money that flowed to Trump was channeled through the Special Client Division of Deutsche Bank. 

To date, Trump has obtained around $1 BILLION in loans from Russia through Deutsche Bank.  For the past ten years, one Deutsche Bank official, Justin Kennedy, has served as Trump's personal banker.  Justin Kennedy's father is -- retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Justice Kennedy's retirement enables Trump to control the Supreme Court for the next fifty years.

The price of a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court:  $1 billion in laundered Russian money.

SHOOTINGS: WHAT WILL IT TAKE?

What will it take stop the increase in gun violence on school grounds and begin to reverse the numbers of shooting incidents?

Quite simply it begins with good people speaking out against extreme gun-rights advocates.  Specifically, actions such as the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) excursion into paranoid lunacy—a world of complete unfettered access to all guns.

The NRA’s latest excursion into mind control and violation of the constitutional right of freedom of speech centers on their efforts to get states to adopt laws that make it illegal for doctors to ask patients if they have a gun at home. According to USA Today, three states are considering laws that would penalize doctors and other health care providers for asking patients or their parents whether they have a gun at home.

 “The National Rifle Association and other pro-gun interest groups argue that doctors violate patients; second amendment right to keep and bear arms by inquiring about gun ownership. Doctors say they ask only because of safety concerns. Prohibiting them from asking about guns violates the first amendment, at least one constitutional law expert says.”

What about the right of any doctor to ask any patient any question pertaining to the patient’s wellbeing? Apparently the NRA believes there is only one amendment in the Bill of Rights and that is the Second Amendment. If you are going to apply order of importance to the amendments, then it is not unreasonable to think that the most important consideration on the founding fathers’ minds was freedom of speech. The last time I counted “one” came before “two.”

What a shame if the power of the gun lobby, coupled with the cowardice of the politicians, rewrites history and interprets the Constitution to the benefit of the paranoid few and the profits of gun manufacturers and the NRA.

What will it take to stop the blood baths on our school grounds? As a beginning, it will take people such as you demanding action along the lines outlined in this poar. (To Be Continued)

REMINDER: OPEN MIC--KILMARNOCK, VA

Poets, playwrights, and writers of all kinds are urged to participate in the an Open Mic afternoon from 1 to 3 p.m. on June 16 at the Lancaster Community Library, 16 Town Centre Drive, Kilmarnock, Virginia.

Bring a piece of original work to share or come by to listen and enjoy the creative genius of friends and neighbors. Sponsored by the Writers Guild of Virginia, the Open Mic is free and open to all

SCHOOL SHOOTINGS: THE FLAW IS THE HUMAN FACTOR

The state of Virginia points to the millions of dollars it has spent on security systems as proof Virginia schools are safe. Yes, Richmond has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on electronic security systems; yes, it has developed new security procedures. What Virginia officials don’t say is that everything was in place on April 16, 2007 to prevent the slaughter of 30 people and wounding of 17 others in Norris Hall. No new electronic security system was needed.

What Virginia state officials fail to mention is that no one was ever held accountable for incompetence—specifically for failing to initiate the warning and lockdown.

No matter how much is spent on security, it always boils down to the human factor, and until someone is held accountable for his or her actions or inactions leading to mass murder, the state’s schools will not be measurably safer. The flaw is always the human factor.

So, what should be done in Virginia to prevent another Appalachian School of Law slaughter or a repeat of the April 16, 2007 tragedy at Blacksburg? A great deal, and here are three places to start:

First, the Virginia legislature should adopt a law stating that if a faculty or staff member identifies a student as mentally unbalanced and potentially violent, the student must be referred to mental health authorities for evaluation. At the same time an alert should be issued to all gun stores banning the sale of weapons and ammunition to that individual. Any person selling a gun to someone for whom a warning has been issued should serve a mandatory, long jail sentence.

Second—and by law—all educational facilities in Virginia, both public and private, should have in place a mandatory emergency plan. All presidents of the state’s colleges and universities should be required to annually read and understand their school’s security plans, and to sign that they have done so

Third, in the event of any shooting on or near school grounds, the school should immediately lockdown. Police should be called and posted around the facility until it is clear that the shooter has been captured. (To be continued)

YOUR LEGACY: MEMOIR WRITING

FREE WRITING WORKSHOP

YOUR LEGACY: MEMOIR WRITING

Lancaster Community Library

Saturday, June 9, 2018

1:00-3:00 p.m.

Everyone has a story, something to tell their children and their descendants. How many times have you said, “I wish I would have asked mom and dad about their experiences growing up.” Well, don’t repeat that mistake. Learn about memoir writing at a free workshop conducted by two authors experienced in the craft of writing memoirs. Gwen Keane, an accomplished author raised in the Northern Neck, has written about life here and growing up in and around Kilmarnock in the 1950s and 1960s. David Cariens recently published memoir-writing textbook. His own memoir is due out later this year. Join them on Saturday, June 9^th for a two-hour introduction to memoir writing.

SCHOOL SECURITY: GETTING IT RIGHT

As part of my research on school shootings, several years ago I spent nearly an hour discussing campus security with the Chief of University Police, State University of New York—Oneonta (SUNY—Oneonta). What I learned was impressive. If every school in this country had a well thought out and run security plan like the one at Oneonta, our school grounds would be far, far safer places.

The campus security at SUNY-Oneonta is a police department; therefore its officers carry weapons. The Regional Police Academy is tied to the campus police department. The academy runs a wide variety of specialized law enforcement courses, trains new officers, and trains officers to be instructors.

SUNY-Oneonta campus has had an emergency plan in place since 1994, but since the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the school has tightened and improved campus security. The chief began by telling me that it is against the law to bring a weapon of any kind on a school campus in New York. That law covers both state and private schools. Indeed, every state university in New York is required to have an emergency plan in place, and the Oneonta and Binghamton campuses are the first to meet the state’s standard for security. Highlights of the SUNY—Oneonta plan include:

ü  The ability to lockdown every building on campus (with the exception of the gym) with four strokes on the computer keyboard. There is a radio system in all buildings for emergency use.

ü  Blue prints of all campus buildings are on hand in police headquarters in case of an emergency.

ü  A Behavioral Assessment Team that meets every week to discuss student problems and activities. The group is made up of the campus Chief of Police, the Director of Counseling, the Director of Residence Life, the Associate Vice President for Judicial Affairs, the Vice President of Student Development, and the Health Center Director.

ü  The Chief of Police has the power to act immediately and to take whatever action he deems necessary if an individual is thought to be a danger to himself or herself or others.

ü  A campus-wide siren for notification that there is an emergency on campus.

ü  The school has the ability to notify all students, staff, and faculty of an emergency through NY ALERT—a cell phone/email/text messaging system. All New York State University campuses will have this system within the near future.

ü  SUNY—Oneonta will soon have in place a video and card access system for all campus buildings.

ü  SUNY—Oneonta has bought and installed a sophisticated key system for all buildings. The keys cannot be duplicated.

ü  The school gives its officers extensive training through a variety of courses including Active Shooter Course and Patrol Officers Course.

ü  SUNY—Oneonta has hired a full-time Emergency Management Coordinator.

ü  The school is linked to major criminal data bases in Albany.

ü  The school regularly reviews its crime prevention security analysis for all campus buildings.

ü  The University Police Department has an ambulance on hand, on campus.

ü  It is a state law that university police departments on state affiliated schools must have a Memorandum of Understanding with the state police on immediate emergency response responsibilities and actions. SUNY-Oneonta has such a memorandum and maintains close ties with the New York State Police and the city of Oneonta Police Department.

ü  Students are given a full security briefing as part of their campus orientation.

Each staff and faculty member has at her or his desk a bright orange Crisis Management folder for immediate and easy reference. The folder contains phone numbers and contacts. The subjects covered are:

a)    Emergency Responses—Shelter in Place, Notification, and Building Evacuation.

b)   Reporting an Emergency on Campus—Bomb Threat, Fire, Accident or Medical Emergency.

c)    Threats of Physical Harm from a Person or Persons—Threats by Email, Text Message, Phone, or Note—Threatening or Aggressive Behavior, and Policies and Procedures.

d)   Student Emergencies—Disturbed or Disturbing Emotional Behavior, Serious Illness or Injury, Threatening or Irrational Behavior, Crime in Progress or has been Committed, and Sexual Assault.

(To be continued)