EOMMD

Time for the End of the Month Meme Dump.

Memes shallow and deep. 

Brevity, please!

latest memes & toons

About.com has had a whole lot of good stuff over the last several years. You should bookmark them.

Currently, they have two good ones up: Funny Memes Reacting to Hillary's Email Saga, like this one

and this: Political Cartoons of the Week, like this one:

Enjoy! The election will be over soon, but the persecution of Donald Trump has just begun.

Trump=SCUM

How could we not see this coming? Donald Trump is the King of Projection.

Since Trump has been harping on Hillary's destruction of emails after a subpoena, we should have realized that Trump was himself guilty of it, and guilty of it on a much broader and malicious scale than Hillary could dream of.

Every day we learn something new about this total fucking scumbag otherwise known as Donald Trump. There is NO WAY IN HELL THAT THIS ... MAN .... SHOULD BE ALLOWED ANYWHERE NEAR THE WHITE HOUSE.

If there is any justice left in this world, after Hillary wins the election, Trump needs to be brought up on multiple charges. Please, Hillary, do NOT pull a Barack Obama when he said, "We will look FORWARD" and not backward at the crimes of the Bush administration. Letting past crimes go like we did with Bush just emboldens these GOPigs to push the envelope further and further.

Bush should be in jail. Cheney should be in jail. Trump should be in jail.

Donald Trump's Companies Destroyed Emails in Defiance of Court Orders

from Newsweek

Over the course of decades, Donald Trump’s companies have systematically destroyed or hidden thousands of emails, digital records and paper documents demanded in official proceedings, often in defiance of court orders. These tactics—exposed by a Newsweek review of thousands of pages of court filings, judicial orders and affidavits from an array of court cases—have enraged judges, prosecutors, opposing lawyers and the many ordinary citizens entangled in litigation with Trump. In each instance, Trump and entities he controlled also erected numerous hurdles that made lawsuits drag on for years, forcing courtroom opponents to spend huge sums of money in legal fees as they struggled—sometimes in vain—to obtain records.

This behavior is of particular import given Trump’s frequent condemnations of Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, for having deleted more than 30,000 emails from a server she used during her time as secretary of state. While Clinton and her lawyers have said all of those emails were personal, Trump has suggested repeatedly on the campaign trail that they were government documents Clinton was trying to hide and that destroying them constituted a crime. The allegation—which the FBI concluded was not supported by any evidence—is a crowd-pleaser at Trump rallies, often greeted by supporters chanting, “Lock her up!”

Trump’s use of deception and untruthful affidavits, as well as the hiding or improper destruction of documents, dates back to at least 1973, when the Republican nominee, his father and their real estate company battled the federal government over civil charges that they refused to rent apartments to African-Americans. The Trump strategy was simple: deny, impede and delay, while destroying documents the court had ordered them to hand over.

Shortly after the government filed its case in October, Trump attacked: He falsely declared to reporters that the feds had no evidence he and his father discriminated against minorities, but instead were attempting to force them to lease to welfare recipients who couldn’t pay their rent.

The family’s attempts to slow down the federal case were at times nonsensical. Trump submitted an affidavit contending that the government had engaged in some unspecified wrongdoing by releasing statements to the press on the day it brought the case without first having any “formal communications” with him; he contended that he’d learned of the complaint only while listening to his car radio that morning. But Trump’s sworn statement was a lie. Court records show that the government had filed its complaint at 10 a.m. and phoned him almost immediately afterward. The government later notified the media with a press release.

Prosecutors responded to Trump’s affidavit by showing he had fudged his claim by using the term “formal communication”—an acknowledgment, they said, that he had received what only he would characterize as an informal notification—which they described as an intentional effort to mislead the court and the public. But the allegation slowed the case; it required government lawyers to appear in court to shoot down Trump’s false charge.

The Trumps had more delaying tactics. Trump announced in a press conference that his family and their company were bringing a $100 million countersuit against the government for libel; anonymous tenants and community leaders, he said, had been calling and writing letters expressing shock at the government’s “outrageous lies.” Once again, motions, replies and hearings followed. Once again, the court threw out the Trump allegations.

For months, the Trumps ignored the government’s discovery demands, even though court procedure in a civil or criminal case requires each side to produce relevant documents in a timely manner. This allows for the plaintiffs or prosecutors to develop more evidence in support of their claims, as well as for the defense to gather proof to fight the case against them. When litigation is filed or even contemplated, scrupulous lawyers and corporations immediately impose document-retention programs or require that any shredding or disposing of records be halted. Courts have handed down severe sanctions or even criminal charges of obstruction of justice against executives and companies that destroyed records because they knew they were going to be sued.

Yet when the government filed its standard discovery requests, the Trumps reacted as though seeking that information was outrageous. They argued in court that prosecutors had no case and wanted to riffle through corporate files on a fishing expedition. Once again, this led to more delays, more replies, more hearings...and another specious argument thrown out of court.

Six months after the original filing, the case was nowhere because the Trumps had repeatedly ignored the deadlines to produce records and answers to questions, known as interrogatories. When a government attorney finally telephoned a Trump lawyer to find out why, he was told the Trumps had not even begun preparing their answers and had no plans to do so. The Trumps also postponed and blocked depositions, refused to provide a description of their records, as required, and would not turn over any documents.

Finally, under subpoena, Trump appeared for a short deposition. When asked about the missing documents, he made a shocking admission: The Trumps had been destroying their corporate records for the previous six months and had no document-retention program. They had conducted no inspections to determine which files might have been sought in the discovery requests or might otherwise be related to the case. Instead, in order to “save space,” Trump testified, officials with his company had been tossing documents into the shredder and garbage.

snip (and there is a whole lot more at the link below)

This review of Trump’s many decades of abusing the judicial system, ignoring judges, disregarding rules, destroying documents and lying about it is not simply a sordid history lesson. Rather, it helps explain his behavior since he declared his candidacy. He promised to turn over his tax returns and his health records—just as he promised to comply with document discovery requirements in so many lawsuits—then reneged. As a result, he has left a sparse evidentiary trail that can be used to assess his wealth, his qualifications for the presidency or even his fitness. Should voters choose him to be the next U.S. president, he will enter the Oval Office as a mystery, a man who has repeatedly flouted the rules. He has solemnly told the country to trust him while refusing to produce any records to prove whether he speaks the truth or has utter contempt for it.

Original.

good TV

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department produces a really good TV show that usually airs on PBS stations. Here's one that airs in late October. 

You can find a lot of great stuff in the outdoors and at TPWD.Texas.gov.

Paul Ryan

If Eddie Munster, I mean, Paul Ryan (R-WI) is the best that the GOP has got, the Republicans could be in a world of hurt for a long time to come.

The King of False Equivalence

by Paul Krugman

So, now we’re supposed to feel sorry for Paul Ryan?

For years, Ryan has cultivated a reputation on both sides of the aisle as a paragon of decency, earnestness, and principle; that rare creature of D.C. who seems genuinely guided by good faith. To many in Washington — including no small number of reporters — Ryan’s support for Trump is not merely a political miscalculation, but a craven betrayal.

Ugh. Ryan is not, repeat not, a serious, honest man of principle who has tainted his brand by supporting Donald Trump. He has been an obvious fraud all along, at least to anyone who can do budget arithmetic. His budget proposals invariably contain three elements:

1. Huge tax cuts for the wealthy.
2. Savage cuts in aid to the poor.
3. Mystery meat – claims that he will raise trillions by closing unspecified tax loopholes and save trillions cutting unspecified discretionary spending.

Taking (1) and (2) together — that is, looking at the policies he actually specifies — his proposals have always increased the deficit, while transferring income from the have-nots to the haves. Only by invoking (3), which involves nothing but unsupported and implausible assertion, does he get to claim to reduce the deficit.

Yet he poses as an icon of fiscal probity. That is, he is, in his own way, every bit as much a fraud as The Donald.

So how has he been able to get away with this? The main answer is that he has been a huge beneficiary of false balance. The media narrative requires that there be serious, principled policy wonks on both sides of the aisle; Ryan has become the designated symbol of that supposed equivalence, even though actual budget experts have torn his proposals to shreds on repeated occasions.

And my guess is that the media will quickly forgive him for the Trump episode too. They need him for their bothsidesism. After all, it’s not as if there are any genuine honest policy wonks left in the party that nominated Donald Trump.

Original.

relax

Are you stressed out by this absurd election season? Some neuroscientists claim that this "song" can reduce overall anxiety by 65%. And remember: everything is going to be alright.

The Verdict

It's only two minutes.

Sunset Meetings

I might be doing a lot of this.

Sunset Meetings

by Dina Arevalo, Editor

Earlier this week I had a late afternoon meeting on South Padre Island. As the meeting began to draw to a close, I couldn’t help but notice the increasingly golden tones of sunlight that pierced through the cracks in the blinds at the back of the room. The sky had been topped with heaping fluffy clouds earlier in the day which did much to accent the azure behind them, but little to stave off the heat which continues to linger this autumn. 

I was hopeful that the day’s clouds would stick around long enough for a colorful sunset, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes, the grandest looking cumulous clouds are tamed first into wisps and then into nothingness as the warmth from day ebbs with the lowering sun. This wasn’t to be one of those days, though.

As soon as the meeting was over, I stepped outside to see what those golden rays were all about. The clouds still hung near the horizon, and sure enough, their shape was evolving - becoming long flat ribbons as the sun sunk in the sky — but they weren’t going away. High up in the atmosphere, willowy contrails from passing jetliners crisscrossed each other, providing sharp geometric contrasts to the softer organic shapes of the regular clouds. This was going to be one of those sunsets Texas is famous for. 

I decided to try to find a spot to take photographs, but I knew time was short. I thought maybe I’d try for the flats or the outdoor viewing area behind the Convention Centre. I started to head that way and was only partway there when I realized I wouldn’t make it in time. I decided to stop at one of the bayside street ends instead. Unfortunately, the end of the road I chose was occupied by someone with a less-than-sunny disposition. Encountering that person at the tail end of a day which had been filled with minor annoyances was disappointing and a bit defeating, so I returned to my car with thoughts of calling it a day and just going home. 

But as I continued down Laguna Boulevard, the sun’s golden light continued to beckon. I decided to take another chance at another street end. As I pulled up close, I saw a bicycle propped up against one of the large planters at the end of the road, along with the tiniest little dog, who I would later learn was named Ginger. Sitting behind the planter with his feet dipped in the water was a man staring out at the sunset himself. I asked him if I could join him and he was gracious enough to say yes.

He and Ginger regularly make time to enjoy the Island’s spectacular sunsets, he said. We ended up talking for about 20 minutes as the glowing clouds shifted from shades of orange molten lava to bright fuchsias and magentas, and finally to dusky purples and deep blues. We watched flocks of gulls scuttle low across the water and a barge trudging slowly along. We talked about our favorite spots to watch the sunset, and we sat in silence while we took in the mute spectacle. It was peaceful and serene. With the light continuing to fade, I reached out for a handshake, belatedly introducing myself in the process. The man, Chuck, amiably returned the gesture. Bad day saved. Thanks, Chuck! 

don't freak out

Is this the Republicans last chance to salvage some voters before the debacle on November 8? 

Look! Look! Healthcare premiums for the Affordable Care Act, er, excuse me, OBAMACARE, are skyrocketing! Why, this must mean that Hillary Clinton is evil!!

(sigh) The Republicans are so eerily, uncannily pathetic these days.

4 facts about Obamacare premiums you should know before you start freaking out

Just in time for the impending 2016 presidential election, a fresh round of dire headlines about rising Obamacare premiums is giving Republican lawmakers a new opportunity to attack the health care law.

But — as with most news about Obamacare, which has been a prime target for GOP politicians for the better part of the past eight years — the full context is more complicated than the law’s opponents would have you believe.

The latest headlines are in response to an announcement from the Obama administration on Monday that the cost of a plan under President Obama’s signature heath law is expected to rise an average of 22 percent in 2017.

GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump was quick to seize on the projected double-digit increase to emphatically declare that Obamacare is “over.” During an appearance on Fox News, Trump added that the law “is so bad for the people and they can’t afford it.”

To be sure, some of the concern is valid. Hefty price increases are a problem for Americans struggling to afford their monthly premiums, and there’s some evidence that certain aspects of the health law aren’t working perfectly.

Nonetheless, there are a few key pieces of context that help put the news about Obamacare’s price hikes into perspective.

1. Yes, premiums are going up — but so are subsidies.

Critically, Americans won’t need to shoulder Obamacare’s premium increases on their own. Most people who are insured through Obamacare’s state-level marketplaces don’t pay for the full price of their premiums because they get an assist from the government in the form of subsidies. These federal subsidies to help offset the cost of buying insurance are also going to rise. According to the Obama administration, even with the projected increases, more than 70 percent of people buying insurance on the marketplaces will be able to get a plan for less than $75 a month next year — provided they take advantage of the subsidies available to them and select a low-cost plan with more limited benefits than other options.

2. The government expected Obamacare premiums to rise.

Price increases for Obamacare plans aren’t entirely unexpected. The law’s state-level marketplaces are still very new, and were expected to take a few years to find their footing as insurance companies attempt to accurately predict premium costs among a new pool of beneficiaries. In fact, the estimated rates for 2017 rates are about the same level that the Congressional Budget Office predicted they would be when the law was first proposed. Essentially, insurance companies set initial prices for their plans that turned out to be too low, and they’re now course-correcting.

3. The majority of Americans don’t get their insurance through Obamacare plans.

Although some news outlets are characterizing the news about rising premiums as a “November surprise” that could have a big impact on how Americans feel about the upcoming election, the reality is that these price hikes won’t affect the majority of the country. Most Americans get their insurance either through their employer or through a safety net program like Medicaid. A much smaller portion of the population — about 6 percent — buys private insurance plans on Obamacare’s marketplaces.

4. Obamacare needs to be improved, but its opponents keep standing in the way.

The health reform law — essentially, a messy compromise forged between our government and powerful insurance corporations — is certainly not perfect. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are worried about premium price increases squeezing Americans, and there’s broad consensus that the Affordable Care Act needs some improvements to help it function better.

But the loudest critics of the law are also the same people standing in the way of meaningful reform. Republicans have consistently pushed to scrap Obamacare altogether — a path forward that would create many more issues than the current premium hikes, seeing as it would leave millions of Americans with no access to affordable health care whatsoever. GOP lawmakers across the country have also blocked Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion provision, preventing the law from insuring additional low-income Americans, and have so far resisted the policy tweaks that Democrats have proposed as avenues to build upon the existing law.

Original.

PISPI police blotter

PISPI stands for Port Isabel/South Padre Island. It's refreshing to see the very light level of crime in the community into which we will be moving.

Just a quick dip

Early on Sept 21 an officer was dispatched to the city Pool in reference to an open door . After checking that all the windows and doors were secure the officer resumed patrol.

Bumper cars 

Just before noon on Sept 21 an officer was dispatched to assist a motorist with a stalled vehicle on the 1500 block of Highway 100. The officer used his patrol vehicle to push the driver’s car into the Walmart parking lot to await a tow truck.

Time to requisition a paperweight

In the afternoon of Sept 21 an officer was dispatched to the eastbound lanes of the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway because of some loose papers on the roadway The officer scooped up most of the paperwork and returned them to a driver at the Causeway Cafe.

Also known as? 

An officer responded to a call on E. Adams Street where he made contact with two men who claimed to have been threatened by another man. However , the two men only knew the third by an alias. The subject of the threat chose not to press charges .

Guess what day it is 

At approximately 11:30 pm on Wednesday Sept 21 an officer stationed at the 500 block of Highway 100 observed a man who appeared to have trouble walking . After making contact with the man, the officer noticed the smell of alcohol , that the man had trouble keeping his balance and spoke with slurred speech. The man was placed under arrest on a charge of public intoxication.

While the man was being placed into the patrol car a woman who was yelling obscenities approached another officer. She too emitted "a strong odor of alcoholic beverage from her breath and person" and was also placed under arrest for public intoxication.

Once at the city jail officers discovered a small baggy containing a white powder that later tested positive for cocaine. The man was subsequently charged with possession of a controlled substance . The woman was also found to have five outstanding municipal warrants.

Honor your father and mother 

Sometime near bedtime on Sept 22 an officer was flagged down by a boy on the 200 block of E. Railroad. The boy told the officer he "got into a heated argument with his father." The officer then learned from the boy’s mother and father that they had been trying to tell him to take a shower, but he didn’t want to. The officer then spoke with the boy and his younger brother advising them to listen to their parents "and not to be disrespecting them ."

Pretty exciting stuff, huh?

Presidential bloopers

Ah, the miracle of recorded images!

black collar crime

Time again for the Black Collar Crime Blotter. Did you think that preachers sexually assaulting children was a thing of the past?  You can see by the date stamp at the end of each entry that all of these cases are pretty damn recent. And keep in mind, this is just a one-month snapshot of the reverends, pastors, preachers and priests that are acting up globally. And you have to know that not every crime goes reported. I mean, you're a six-year-old child already brainwashed into the faith and the holy father sticks his hands down your pants. You going to run to the New York Times? I don't think so.

I acknowledge that there are other crimes committed by non-church members every month too. But aren't these people in positions of power in the local churches supposed to have even higher morals than us great unwashed? 

Black Collar Crime Blotter

Arrested / Charged 

Torace D. Weaver, 37, Dayton, OH: Murder, involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, reckless homicide, obstructing official business and 2 counts of endangering children. Weaver, pastor of King of Glory Church, is charged with the November 2015 death of 2-year-old Stanley Thomas, who was his foster child. The death was ruled a homicide in March due to blunt force trauma. 

First responders were called to the church on a report of a toddler not breathing. Weaver allegedly said he had fallen from a table. Injuries included bruises, scars and a large burn, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office. 

Yvonne Letne, who lives across the street from the church, said she knows the family well. “I knew there was more to what they were telling us.” Source: Daily News, 8-27-16 

Kenneth Adkins, 56, St. Simons Island, GA: Child molestation and aggravated child molestation. Adkins, pastor of Greater Dimensions Christian Fellowship, which has 3 campuses, is charged with alleged incidents in 2010. On his Twitter account, he calls himself an author, pastor and business coach who “has become one of the most Respected Black Conservative Voices in America.” 

Adkins controversially tweeted after the Pulse nightclub shootings in June that gays got “what they deserve” in Orlando, FL. Source: Brunswick News, 8-26-16 

Steven Jesmer, 37, Manchester, NH: Witness tampering and 3 counts of felonious sexual assault. Jesmer, pastor of The Dialogue Church, is accused of assaults on a 13-year-old girl in June in his church office. Dawn Jesmer, his wife, told police he admitted skin-to-skin contact with the girl, an affidavit said. They have 2 daughters in grade school. Source: Union Leader, 8-24-16 

Derrick R. Trump, 28, Nokesville, VA: Indecent liberties by a custodian. Trump, director of youth ministries at Greenwich Presbyterian Church, is accused of inappropriate contact with a 16-year-old girl at his home and at the church. He faces similar charges in another county. The church fired him in June. Source: WRC News, 8-19-16 

Jordan D. Baird, 25, Warrenton, VA: 2 counts of indecent liberties by a custodian. Baird, youth pastor at Life Church in Manassas, is charged with sexually touching “on numerous occasions” a 16-year-old girl at the church between January and September 2015. His father is senior pastor. Source: WUSA, 8-19-16 

Kari Khalid, Saharanpur, India: Assault against decency. Khalid, imam at a local mosque, is accused of inappropriate touching of a 7-year-old girl at the mosque and biting her on the face when she resisted. He fled after the girl’s family filed a complaint. Source: Times of India, 8-9-16 

Christopher Santos, 31, Buckeye, AZ: Voyeurism and surreptitious recording. Santos, a youth pastor at Grace Fellowship Church, is accused of putting his cellphone camera under the door of a Bealls Outlet’s changing room and recording a 15-year-old girl who was only wearing underwear. The girl’s mother allegedly saw Santos bending over with his phone. She confronted him and her daughter grabbed the phone. Source: KPNX, 8-9-16 

Olawale Olabinwonu, 35, Igbogbo, Nigeria: Attempting to sell a stolen vehicle. Olabinwonu, an administrative officer at Cherubim and Seraphim Church, was arrested while allegedly trying to sell a 2015 Nissan Sentra, which had been stolen at gunpoint at a hotel. The car was advertised for sale online, which led police to the suspect. Source: Punch, 8-8-16 

James C. Parkhurst, 56, Beaverton, OR: Production of child pornography, stemming from a federal warrant in Denver. Parkhurst, a Kentucky native, is executive director of camp and retreat ministry programs for the Oregon-Idaho Conference of the United Methodist Church. When he was hired in April 2015, the conference said in a statement that “He enjoys spoiling his twin nephews on annual trips to our national parks in the West.” Source: Portland Patch, 8-5-16 

James B. Briley, 54, Greenville, SC: Criminal sexual conduct. Briley, campus pastor at Summit Church, allegedly fondled a 12-year-old girl’s breasts and buttocks July 31 at his home.

Shauna Galloway-Williams, executive director of the Julie Valentine Center, which advocates for sexual assault victims, told a reporter Briley called the center’s hotline to detail his alleged crime. She said he indicated during the call that others had urged him to report it. In her 20-year career, no one had ever called to report their own crime, she said. Source: WYFF, 8-5-16 

Colin Skeele, 30, Florham Park, NJ: Enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, distribution of child pornography and 2 counts of production of child pornography. He also faces state charges for allegedly having sex with an underage ambulance corps volunteer and viewing child pornography. Skeele taught at Catholic schools in 2009-10 and 2012. 

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Paterson verified he worked at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Boonton and St. Vincent DePaul School in Stirling. It’s alleged Skeele became Facebook friends in 2011 with a boy he met while working at a summer camp for boys in Hardwick and offered him money for sexually explicit photos. 

Prosecutors also alleged that in 2012, he communicated with people in the Philippines to produce live sex shows. Skeele allegedly requested specific sexual acts by girls and boys as young as 3. Source: CBS New York, 8-5-16 

David W. Farren, 41, Texarkana, TX: 2nd-degree sexual assault, violation of mandatory reporting requirements and 3 counts of 1st-degree sexual assault. Farren’s alleged misconduct with a girl who belonged to Anchor Church, where he is youth pastor, occurred at a residence when she was 16 and 17 years old. Prosecutor Connie Mitchell said Farren has also headed youth groups at 3 Baptist churches. Source: txktoday.com, 8-3-16 

Jose Figueroa Irizarry, 55, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico: 39 counts of fraud and illegal appropriation of public funds. Irizarry, pastor of City of Refuge Inc., also works at Banco Santander, where he allegedly conducted a scheme from 2012-15 in which he transferred $97,868 to personal accounts. Source: El Nuevo Día, 8-3-16 

Dillon J. Russell, 33, Russellville, AR: Robbery and theft of property. Russell, senior pastor at Free Will Baptist Church, is accused of robbing a Walmart Neighborhood Market at 2:30 a.m. An employee told police that a white male bought a pack of gum, grabbed the money as the cash register opened and fled, damaging the automatic doors. Video showed him leaving in a vehicle. Source: River Valley Leader, 8-2-16

Eliezer Berland, 79, chief rabbi of the Breslov Hasidic community in Israel, was charged in Jerusalem with aggravated assault, indecent acts and indecent acts against a minor while abusing a position of trust. He allegedly carried out sexual acts against several women and a 15-year-old girl. 

According to the indictment, he enlisted 2 followers in 2012 to attack a person making allegations and then fled. He was arrested in Amsterdam last year but escaped. He was extradited from S. Africa in July and has been denied bail. Source: Haaretz, 8-2-16 

Gerald Heard, 64, Carencro, LA: Molestation of a juvenile. Heard, pastor at Temple Baptist Church since 1997, is charged with inappropriate touching of 2 family members “when they were very young” in 1995-96, according to Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office records. The arrest came a week after a complaint was lodged. It’s unclear where the incidents allegedly happened. Heard was World Missionary Support Services president from 2009-12. Temple Baptist also operated a home-school program. Source: KATC, 7-28-16 

Felix D. Broussard, 50, Breaux Bridge, LA: 500 counts of possessing child pornography. Broussard is pastor at St. Bernard Catholic Church and oversees St. Bernard School. A repair shop reportedly discovered porn images when Broussard brought his personal computer in for service. 

Former Bishop Michael Jarrell, who retired in February, acknowledged in 2004 that the Diocese of Lafayette and its insurers had paid out $26 million in settlements to victims of 15 priests. He refused requests in 2014 by a victims group to release the names of the abusers. Source: Acadiana Advocate, 7-27-16 

Luckner Lorient, 78, Brooklyn, NY: 2nd-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, 2nd-degree reckless endangerment, 3rd-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Lorient, pastor of Eglise Baptist Church, was arrested in Miami, FL, after being on the run for a year. Charges stem from a 2014 fire in which a man died and 14 others were injured in an apartment building Lorient owns. The church is on the ground floor. 

Two months before the fire, Lorient was cited by the city with 3 violations for subdividing the basement and 2 upper floors. One tenant had 21 people living in a subdivided apartment. Luckner, a native Haitian, lied about rectifying the violations, prosecutors said. Source: WPIX/NY Daily News, 7-27-16

Pleaded / Convicted 

Philip Temple, 66, London: Pleaded guilty to 7 counts of sexual abuse committed in the 1970s after pleading guilty to 20 similar charges in April. Victims were 12 boys and a girl who lived at homes for children where he was a social worker. After he was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1987, he served at Christ the King Monastery in Cockfosters. He also admitted lying under oath in April during trials in 1998 and 1999, when he was acquitted of charges of child sex abuse involving a boy from the church. Source: BBC, 8-10-16 

Hien Minh Nguyen, 56, San Jose, CA: Pleaded guilty to 4 counts of tax evasion. Nguyen, a Catholic priest, has been on leave since 2013 and still faces trial on bank fraud charges. The indictment alleges he had parishioners write checks to the Vietnamese Catholic Center but instead diverted donations to his personal bank account. Source: Mercury News, 8-9-16 

Jonas J. Moses Jr., 62, Brimley, MI: Guilty by jury of 7 counts of criminal sexual conduct involving teens as young as 13 from Anishinabe Baptist Church in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where Moses was pastor. His first trial in June ended in a hung jury. 

Another prominent church member, Steven E. Alexander, 52, Sault Ste. Marie, was sentenced to 45 to 70 years in prison in January after pleading guilty to 3 counts of criminal sexual conduct involving a 14-year old girl. The victim’s mother said Alexander played the role of a good Christian family man to fool everyone but characterized him as “straight from Satan.” During the investigation, authorities pursued leads which led to Moses’ arrest. Source: Evening News, 8-8-16 

Granville Gibson, 80, Darlington, England: Guilty by jury of 2 counts of indecent assault and acquitted of 5 other charges. He was accused of “sinister and deliberate” abuse in the 1970s and 1980s of 2 men ages 18 and 26 while he was vicar at St. Claire’s Anglican Church in Newton Aycliffe. The Church of England issued an “unreserved apology” to the victims. Source: BBC, 8-4-16

Sentenced Dell I. Godkin, 48, Willis, TX: Life in prison with no parole possible until 2046 after being found guilty by jury of aggravated sexual assault of a child. Godkin, a volunteer youth pastor at an unidentified church, still faces sexual assault charges involving an alleged victim in another county. 

The girl, who is related to Godkin, testified abuse started when she was 13 and continued until just before her 17th birthday, when they “made a deal” that he would stop if she would not tell anyone. “He would say lots of things about God being OK with it,” said prosecutor Monica Cooper, adding he used bible verses about men’s and women’s roles to justify it. Source: Morning News, 8-17-16 

Allen D. Miles, 58, Little Rock, AR: 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Miles, an evangelical pastor formerly living in Ohio, was part of a scam which netted $4.8 million in federal tax refunds. Miles personally netted more than $240,000 since the scheme was launched in 2010, investigators said. 

Miles’ role was to get other pastors to collect personal information from low-income church members, which was used to file phony tax returns. Prosecutor Carole Rendon said Miles “took advantage of their religious faith and their faith in the government to enrich himself.” Source: Canton Repository, 8-15-16 

John Farrell, 73, and Paul Kelly, 64, former teachers at St. Ninian’s School in Falkland, Scotland, were sentenced to 5 and 10 years in prison, respectively, for indecent assaults on students in the 1970s and 1980s at the school, which was run by the Catholic Congregation of Christian Brothers. Source: Plymouth Herald, 8-12-16 

Roy D. Pruett, 63, Gadsden, AL: 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to 3 counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old and 2 counts of 1st-degree sodomy. Pruett was arrested for incidents in 2011-14 with 4 boys while he was activities director at Eagle Rock Boys Ranch, a faith-based facility for “at risk” youth. Eagle Rock touts “Respect For God’s Creation” on its website and says, “We will go the extra mile with our children even when they may not deserve it. We will seek to issue mercy in the same measure as Christ gives mercy to us.” Pruett was accused of taking boys from the ranch overnight to the house he shared with his elderly mother. Source: WAAY, 8-12-16 

Christopher Williams, 22, Sellersburg, IN: 180 days’ home incarceration after pleading guilty to 3 counts of criminal recklessness. Williams, a staff member at Well of Grace Boarding School, operated by Crossroads Baptist Church, and pastor Jerry Harris, 48, both negotiated plea deals in which charges of battery and neglect were dropped. Harris pleaded guilty in May to criminal recklessness and received a similar sentence. 

Prosecutor Jeremy Mull said the men didn’t mean to hurt the children they had punished for things like wetting the bed. “Our investigation simply revealed that these were troubled youths, that [Williams] was trying to help them the best way that he knew how but ultimately he went too far and paddled them too hard.” The school is closed. Source: Jeffersonville News & Tribune, 8-9-16

Jonathan Bailey, 35, New Orleans: 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice, 5 counts of molestation of a juvenile and 6 counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile. Bailey, a youth pastor at First Baptist Church, wept while the 15-year-old victim’s father spoke in support of a plea agreement so she wouldn’t have to testify. Judge Robin Pittman called the plea deal “a hard pill for me to swallow” but said he accepted the family’s wishes. Source: The Advocate, 8-8-16 

Chad Calhoun, 33, Longview, TX: 11 years and 3 months in prison and 10 years’ probation after jury convictions of receiving and possessing child pornography. Testimony showed that pornography was available on a peer-to-peer computer network from Calhoun’s home and from Lake Highlands Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs, where he was senior pastor. A laptop had hundreds of explicit videos of minors. Source: Houston Chronicle, 8-4-16 

Earl Simone, 75, Huber Heights, OH: 5 years in prison with no early release for stealing $1.92 million from St. Peter Catholic Church, where he was pastor for 23 years. Full restitution was also ordered after he pleaded guilty to 1st-degree aggravated theft. Steve Angi, Archdiocese of Cincinnati chancellor, read a statement in court calling Simone’s theft a “betrayal” and said he not only stole parish funds but also money “from special collections for the nuns’ retirement, earthquake relief and other special causes.” 

Simone also faces a civil suit filed by the archdiocese, which alleges he actually stole $4.1 million, but because bank records are retained for just 7 years, the level of proof was less than for the $1.92 million he was charged with taking. Source: Dayton Daily News, 8-3-16 

Donnie Ray Schultz, 45, Del City, OK: 27 years, 3 months in prison and $4,266 in restitution to the victim’s father after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of a child. Schultz admitted he started a sexual relationship with the girl when she was 14 through a bible class he taught at Calvary Christian Church. He was also in a relationship with the girl’s mother at the time, in 2014-15. 

Schultz, a self-employed handyman, took about 180 photos of his sex acts with the girl, prosecutors said. They had sex at homes where he would do repairs, in their own homes, at the church and in a storage unit. Schultz was convicted of rape in 1995 and was a registered sex offender until 2013. Source: The Oklahoman, 8-3-16 

Civil Lawsuits Filed 

Lawrence McGovern, Stockton, CA, pastor of Presentation Catholic Parish, is accused in a suit of sending photos of his genitalia to a man who maintained the parish’s swimming pool. The plaintiff, a parishioner and married father of 2, alleges he was fired after filing a police report. After getting the photos, the man told McGovern he thought he was celibate and asked why he sent them. McGovern allegedly responded that “celibate means not married.” The Diocese of Stockton has placed him on leave. Source: New-Sentinel, 8-12-16 

Verity Baptist Church, Sacramento, CA, its pastor Roger Jimenez, Johnny Cervantes III and about 100 unidentified parishioners are being sued by Spenser Fritz, who alleges he was assaulted outside a church service. Fritz, who is gay, has been protesting at the strip-mall church since June because of Jimenez’s comments about the 49 murders at Pulse nightclub in Florida. 

In a sermon posted online, Jimenez said he wished the shooter had killed more gay people. “There’s no tragedy. I wish the government would round them all up, put them up against a firing wall, put a firing squad in front of them, and blow their brains out.” Source: Sacramento Bee, 8-12-16 

Taj Patterson, 25, is suing the city of Brooklyn and the New York Police Department and individual officers for giving “favorable and preferential treatment” to a Hasidic neighborhood watch group (Shomrin) and for negligently investigating his 2013 beating by group members. 

Patterson, a gay African-American, alleges influential Shomrim members placed calls to the 90th Precinct and that one of the men eventually charged was even given a tour of the 19th Precinct after the attack. The precinct was run at the time by ex-NYPD Deputy Chief James Grant, since indicted for conspiracy, bribery and fraud for allegedly accepting payola from Jewish businessmen. Source: NY Post, 8-9-16 

Sik Chi-ding, 48, Honk Kong, a Buddhist nun accused in 2015 of embezzling $1.3 million from Ting Wai Monastery, is being sued by monastery director Mary Jean Reimer. The suit seeks an accounting of income and expenditures since Sik became head nun in 2005 and alleges she broke her vows by being married twice, in 2006 and in 2012, to monks from mainland China so they could legally immigrate to Hong Kong. Source: EJI Insight, 8-8-16 

The Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe, NM, is being sued by “John Doe 63,” a former parishioner at Our Lady of Assumption Parish in Albuquerque who alleges he was molested in 1975-77 by the priest, Arthur Perrault, now thought to be living in Morocco. Perrault also taught ethics at St. Pius X High School. The suit contends church officials knew Perrault was abusing boys and had been transferred from Connecticut in 1965 due to misconduct allegations. He later went to Canada and disappeared in 1992. Source: New Mexican, 8-5-16 

Civil Lawsuits Settled 

The Catholic Diocese of Portland, ME, settled a suit filed by 6 sexual abuse victims for $1.2 million. They were molested from 1958-77 by James Vallely, a Bangor-area priest who died at age 75 in 1997. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian said he knows of 8 Vallely victims (7 men and 1 woman) who have come forward. Documents show then-Bishop Daniel Feeney was made aware of initial allegations in the late 1950s, but instead of investigating, Feeney transferred Vallely. Source: Press Herald, 8-15-16 

St. George’s School, Middletown, RI, agreed to an undisclosed but “very significant” financial settlement with as many as 40 former students who say they were victims of sexual abuse during the 1970s and 1980s, with about a dozen staff and student perpetrators involved. The Episcopal prep school, founded in 1896, first admitted girls in 1972. 

“Our spirits are renewed on our forward healing journey,” survivor representative Anne Scott said in a statement. A field hockey player during her sophomore year in 1977, Scott alleges she was raped by athletic trainer Alphonse Gibbs in the locker room and told by school officials not to report it. Scott alleges the rapes continued for 2 years, starting when she was 14 and he was 67. “I’ll never forget the sound of the lock clicking.” 

At least 20 other students allege abuse by Gibbs, who was fired but allowed to move on with no reports made to authorities or other educational institutions. In fact, he was given a pension and a letter of recommendation. 

Choirmaster and music teacher Franklin Coleman was also accused of predatory interest in male students. He was forced out in 1988 but his departure was announced as a voluntary resignation for health reasons. No reports were made to police and Coleman received $10,000 and extended health insurance coverage. He went on to become choirmaster at Tampa Prep in Florida. Attorney Carmen Durso alleged male and female students were victimized and that girls were routinely belittled and harassed by staff members. One told Durso there was a school event at which staff asked girls to dress like Playboy bunnies. Source: Providence Journal/ Vanity Fair, 8-5-16 

The Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford, CT, will get $945,000 plus interest from Interstate Fire & Casualty Insurance as reimbursement for payments made to 4 victims of sexual abuse by priests. U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton found that Interstate breached its 1978 contract by refusing to make the payments. 

The company argued it wasn’t liable because the archdiocese knew that 3 accused priests were predators but did nothing to stop them, which the archdiocese denied. 

David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said churches bought policies to protect them from paying large sums to settle abuse cases. “I don’t think they bought these policies because they anticipated a lot of heavy snowfall and a lot of people slipping on the church steps and suing. Bishops knew about predator priests more than 50 years ago. Even back in the ’70s, they knew they had a big problem on their hands.” 

In 2005 the Archdiocese of Hartford paid $22 million to 43 victims, about half of which was covered by Interstate. “Insurance companies are appalled at what they’ve seen by way of the deliberate deception by bishops, and it simply makes financial sense for them to fight,” Clohessy said. Source: WNPR, 8-4-16

Diane Ryszewski, Marian High School and the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston are being sued by a 55-year-old woman who alleges Ryszewski “engaged in continuous acts of sex abuse and rape” in 1975-77 when the plaintiff was a student at the Catholic high school in Framingham, MA. Staff members were aware that Ryszewski lived with the student but “took no action to protect [her] or to end the relationship,” the suit claims. 

Ryszewski, who know lives in N. Carolina, was about 28 when the woman attended Marian High. She taught physical and health education and coached several girls sports teams. The woman said her relationship with Ryszewski started “probably 10 minutes into freshman year.” She soon moved into Ryszewski’s home due to family issues. “It’s not very hard to impress a 14-year-old,” she said. “I felt very special, but it was also kind of awkward.” She dropped out of school after her sophomore year in an effort to end the relationship. Source: Boston Globe, 8-3-16 

Legal Developments 

A suit against the Catholic Diocese of Peoria may proceed, an Illinois appeals court ruled. The male plaintiff alleges he was molested by now-deceased priest Norman Goodman of Holy Family Catholic Church in Lincoln between 1991-94. A lower court had barred the suit due to the statute of limitations, a ruling which was overturned due to an exception in the law for repressed memories. Source: WHOI, 8-26-16 

Timothy Bariteau, 39, Brookings, SD, lost his appeal of an 8-year prison sentence on a 3-2 vote by the South Dakota Supreme Court. Bariteau, worship pastor at Morningside Abundant Life Church, started grooming his victim when she was in 6th grade in 2012, testimony showed. He was convicted of a 2014 incident in the music sound booth at the church when he “pressed his groin and erect penis against her buttocks” while both were clothed. A month later, he sent her photos of him holding his erection through his shorts. 

His appeal was based on a phrase in the law which defines sexual contact as “any touching, not amounting to rape, whether or not through clothing or other covering, of the breasts of a female or the genitalia or anus of any person with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of either party.” 

Bariteau argued he didn’t touch those body parts, but prosecutors argued that the statute’s language also includes the pastor’s penis. The court majority agreed. The dissenting opinion by Justice Steven Zinter said the statute is faulty. “[T]he majority has rewritten the statutory definition of sexual contact. These quoted words prohibit a defendant’s ‘touching of’ — not a defendant’s ‘touching with’ — the specified body parts.” Bariteau will be eligible for parole after serving 4 years. When convicted he was married with children. Source: Capital Journal, 8-10-16 

“British citizen Andrew Charles Kingston Soper should not be extradited because offenses he has been charged with exceeded the statute of limitations,” a court ruled in Pec, Kosovo. It’s the second time a court there has refused to extradite Soper, 73, who jumped bail in 2011 after he was accused of molesting 5 Catholic school students in London in the 1970s and 1980s. Soper was abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Ealing Abbey. Source: b92.net, 8-9-16 

Niranjan Bhat, 25, Nitte, India, a Hindu priest accused of helping dispose of the body of allegedly murdered businessman Bhaskar Shetty, attempted suicide the day before he was arrested by swallowing a pair of earrings and a diamond-studded ring. Hospital X-rays showed the items in his intestine. “It has to come out naturally. We will have to wait till then. He is under observation,” said a doctor who didn’t wish to be named. Police have charged Shetty’s wife and son with his murder. The body hasn’t been found and may have been burned. Source: The Hindu, 8-9-16 

Camerius “Minister” Mills, 30, Edison, GA, former pastor at St. Paul Baptist Church, is no longer competent to stand trial on multiple counts of molesting a teen girl, his attorney Cada Carter asserts. Mill wants to change his not guilty plea to not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. “He was a pastor and he had befriended this young lady in his congregation,” said sheriff’s investigator Keith Cauthen. “He picked her up under the pretenses of teaching her the piano.” 

Carter said a mental evaluation showed Mills has a long history of marginal social adjustment and experiences high levels of self-doubt and social anxiety. The evaluation also showed Mills suffers from depression with psychotic features and schizoaffective disorder, Carter said. “The defendant at times has no comprehension of his whereabouts.” Court records allege Mills traveled from Georgia to Henry County, AL, to have sex with the girl between March 1 and August 2015. Source: Dothan Eagle, 8-5-16 

Yoshiyahu Pinto, 42, an Israeli Orthodox rabbi, will not be pardoned, said Reuven Rivlin, the president of Israel who rejected Pinto’s request. Pinto has served 2 months of a 1-year sentence for attempted bribery and obstruction of justice. In a plea bargain, he admitted offering a $100,000 bribe to police Brig. Gen. Efraim Bracha in return for information Pinto wanted about an investigation involving a nonprofit organization he heads. Bracha committed suicide in July 2015. Source: Haaretz, 8-4-16 

Mohammed Madad, 52, Noventa Vicentina, Italy, imam at the Islamic Center, was deported to his native Morocco on national security grounds and banned from reentering Italy for 15 years for allegedly giving anti-Western sermons calling for violence. Madad is a father of 4, including a daughter named Jihad. Source: NDTV, 7-29-16 

Fred J. Neulander, 74, Cherry Hill, NJ, former senior rabbi at Congregation M’kor Shalom now serving a life sentence for plotting the 1994 murder of his wife, has lost another legal appeal. He won’t be eligible for parole until he’s 89. Carol Neulander was bludgeoned to death at home by 2 hit men, who much later implicated her husband, who was allegedly having an affair with a local radio personality. He didn’t go on trial until 2002. An appeals panel rejected each of Neulander’s 7 arguments that he was denied a fair trial and errors were made in post-conviction proceedings. Source: philly.com, 7-29-16 

William J. Lynn, 65, Philadelphia, the first senior Catholic Church official convicted in the U.S. for failure to adequately supervise priests accused of molesting children, must get a new trial, ruled the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, upholding a 2015 lower court ruling. An hour after the ruling, after posting 10% of his $250,000 bail, Lynn walked out of Waymart State Correctional Institution. 

District Attorney Seth Williams then announced he will retry Lynn on the same charge of child endangerment. A tentative trial date of May 1 was set. 

To establish that Lynn was part of a long-standing cover-up, prosecutors introduced about 2 dozen of examples of clergy sex abuse, some dating to the 1940s. But in ordering a new trial, the Superior Court ruled that the “prior bad acts” evidence tainted the jury. Source: Morning Call, 7-29-16 

Allegations 

Howard W. “Howdy” White Jr., Bedford, PA, a retired Episcopal pastor, is accused by a former student at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH, of molesting him. White served as a chaplain and teacher in 1967-71 at the school. He’s also been implicated in sexual abuse claims by students at St. George’s School in Middletown, RI, where he later worked. 

St. Paul’s rector Michael Hirschfeld said the school has notified police about the allegation. White has now been accused of sexual abuse in at least 5 U.S. states and Nova Scotia over 4 decades but has never been criminally charged, partially due to statutes of limitation. Source: Providence Journal, 8-10-16 

The godson of Australian Anglican priest Peter Rushton, who was exposed by the church as a pedophile in 2010 after dying in 2007, broke down on the witness stand before the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse. Paul Gray, now in his 60s, testified he was repeatedly raped at a boys home in New South Wales. Gray also told how he was first raped by Rushton when he was 10. In the mid-1960s, Rushton began taking him to St. Alban’s Home for Boys, where he and other boys were anally and orally raped by groups of men. 

Rushton and his lover, Brother Jim Brown, had infiltrated St. Alban’s, becoming board members and taking boys home for weekends. They also fostered orphans. Brown was imprisoned in 2012. Gray recalled another time Rushton took him to a church camp, where there were about 5 men and another boy. He said he knew what was going to happen so he ran. Two men caught him, and while he was being raped he heard the other boy screaming. Source: The Guardian, 8-2-16 

Removed / Resigned 

Peter Zuni, 54, Kakuri, Nigeria, was removed as pastor of Queen of Apostles Catholic Church for affairs with women. One of the women’s allegations spurred an investigation, said Ndagoso Manoso, archbishop of Kaduna. “It is true that he had affairs with 2 women and they both had children by him,” Manoso said. Source: Daily Post, 8-15-16 

Email: blackcollar@ffrf.org