Erie Illinois School Board Extends Cone of Hazing Silence

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The saga of hazing charges being committed by athletes from Erie, Illinois High School continued in the news. The accuser went before the Erie School Board and stated his claims of hazing. According to the QCOnline story, the victim stated:

“as a freshman and sophomore, he experienced many hazing incidents, as did others in those classes. He told the board the incidents included being urinated on in the showers and having bare body parts “slapped against my head and into my face.”

At which point, as was suggested they would do in a previous post, the board lowered the “Cone of Silence” and closed the rest of the session to outside eyes and ears. After the closed session – no action was taken by the board. Any real surprise there? I doubt it.  I guess it was just a case of boys will be boys – that is until some less tolerant future or past victim decides to channel Columbine and take their pain and suffering out on the school body.

Another thought – is it possible that one of the reasons a shroud of silence has been implemented on the complaint,  is that one or more board members might have a personal interest in silencing the story? I don’t know, but it sure has that fishy smell of cover-up. One thing is for sure, the Boards shroud of silence has been used to create a blinding darkness – thus hiding the complainant’s story and any knowledge that could be gained from that story,  from the public.

The short story is that the Peyton Place err., Erie Board had no wish to have its dirty laundry exposed to the world. Thus the board, the media and the public can then embrace the manmade darkness and pretend that none of the nastiness ever really happened. It was all just a bad dream. Such is the fairytale world of the Erie School Board.

Related articles

• Dirty Little Secrets Revisited (thescoundrel.wordpress.com)
• Hazing and Harassment – Often Dirty Little Secrets of High School (thescoundrel.wordpress.com)
• The Brutal Side of Hazing (nytimes.com)

theScoundrels Election Slogans for Team Obama 2012

I read in the media where Team Obama is looking for new election slogans for 2012. He sure screwed up the 2008 hope and change mantras, unless you consider baby steps towards a Fascist form of Socialism-  a positive hope and change.

With that in mind, hot off  theScoundrels press,  here are my 2012 Obama bumper sticker suggestions  –>

(For readers, like me, who tend to need larger images – Click on each image to enlarge. )

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Illinois Treasure Hunt – Legislator Wants a Vice Tax on Strip Clubs

Illinois legislation just doesn’t learn from its mistakes. They have spent decades making the State of Illinois unfriendly to high-paying manufacturing  jobs to the point - that companies still considering US locations, like Caterpillar Inc, for building industrial plants turn and run the other direction. So the State has had to begin to rely on tourist and entertainment venues to replace the lost income.  Traditionally those industries do not offer workers as lucrative salaries as the manufacturing jobs they are replacing. That means less money for the workers  and less income tax revenues for the State. So you would think the State would be seeking to avoid over taxation of those industries, especially the few that pay their workers on a scale similar to those industries that the State has run off. Nope, My Bad,  this is Illinois where our State legislators looks to milk every nickle and penny possible from any industry fool enough to locate inside the State.

In a a legislative treasure hunt -hidden inside a worthy cause- Illinois State Senator Toi Hutchinson seeks to add a $5 per customer pole (vice) tax to strip clubs around the state, to help fund rape crisis centers and other sexual assault assistance organizations. She stated that her reasoning for singling out strip clubs was: “If you’re going to sell sex and alcohol, then bad things sometimes happen, I’m hopeful they’ll work with me to take some of the stink off their name.” Bad things happen. Why yes they do. However strip clubs are just one of many entertainment sources that promote sex and/or alcohol. But that is hardly a reason to identify Strip Clubs as the source to dam a river of human evils created by numerous tributaries. Perhaps she should start adding a $5  per person vice tax to stores that sell Playboy, Hustler, Penthouse and a host of other adult oriented magazines. Those tend to get heavily sexually graphic and suggestive. Most, also  contain stories intended to stir-up the human libido. Since I mentioned stories -why is she neglecting bookstores and libraries across the State from this tax. Many of he books in both institutions contain sexually graphic material, some also contain sexually violent content.  And don’t forget lets hit all stores that sell or rent mainstream movie videos rated above a “G” rating with that vice tax. Movies and their ratings have evolved to the point – where sexually charged material can even be seen in movies suggested for kids under 17. And many “R” rated movies have reached the point where in past years they would have been slapped with an “X” rating, now changed to a more PC title of “NC17″. Two easily come to mind. One, the highly touted Tom Cruise movie -Eyes Wide Shut- which was filled with Bondage/Sadomasochism references as well as hints of Snuff material. A more recent sexually charged movie release was the acclaimed Natalie Portman/Mila Kunis movie, named Black Swan. The psychological thriller was filled with a battle for a dancers soul between repressed sexual behavior versus hedonistic behavior. The movie contains a very explicit lesbian scene between Portman amd Kunis. Yet I have yet to hear Hutchinson call for a vice taxon theaters and stores that offer up the movie to the public.

Hutchinson went on to lament, well this is all about protecting women. Okay. But protecting women from what? There is nothing anymore sexually charging that happens in a strip club that you will not find with similar intent in any of the venues I mentioned. The what is the vice tax really about? It is about what all taxes are about – the government getting their hands on more money. It is about a possible 44 million dollars that state could get their hands on by taxing the industry. An industry that already makes big bucks for the State treasury through taxes and an industry where the workers actually make a better than average living wage. And if the tax were to be applied evenly it might even be salable as do-gooder intended. But the tax is explicitly aimed at one adult  industry; an industry that is easy to attack because of the sex stigmas that surround it. A stigma that is also a part of every other venue I mentioned. And though Hutchinson hints it is really all about providing services for abused women; knowing past Illinois history, we all know that is a pile of Bullcrap! Just like with the profits from the Illinois Lottery -which was sold as a way to rebuild Illinois Schools- the revenue from any vice tax would be placed into the general funds where legislator thugs would spend-spend-spend on their pet pork projects while the organizations needing the money would still be begging for the funds that were diverted away from their intended sources. Sadly, spin-spin-spin, next take-take-take then spend-spend-spend  is the Illinois way. 

Related articles

• Illinois Plans $5 Skin Tax For Strip Clubs, Owners In An Uproar (inquisitr.com)
• Lawmaker Calls For $5 Tax On All Strip Club Admissions (chicago.cbslocal.com)
• House Republicans Seek To Bar Use Of Welfare Money At Strip Clubs (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Strip Club Owner To Nuns: Don’t Judge Us (chicago.cbslocal.com)
• House Votes On ‘Strip Club Loophole’ (huffingtonpost.com)
• The Pole Tax and Mandate Politics (hotair.com)

Wind Power Gasping for Air – Erie asking Where’s the beef

I see where subsiding for wind power my be on its last leg, under a new budget. I guess that makes it put up or shut up time for those hawking the benefits and savings from wind power. I personally hope that wind power “will” have a future, if we are to ever free ourselves from spending money with countries like Venezuela and Middle Eastern countries that will take much of that money and use it on anti-American propaganda and in some cases fund terrorist groups that will use violence on the US and/or allies. But as much as I hope it has a future, I am not sold it will.  The industry faces performance expectation obstacles that includes cost of maintenance financial difficulties,  plus NIMBY issues, even from Big National Supporters  – like the late Ted “and when I returned – Mary Jo and the car was gone” Kennedy.  

It was around four years ago when the little town of Erie, Illinois – about a ½ hour drive Northeast from the Quad Cities – eagerly jumped both feet into wind power, hoping to reap savings for their school system. They also ran into a NIMBY hurdle from a local big shot, whose farm the windmill encroached.  The problems were settled and the windmill built. But evidently the expected windfalls for the school system has not happened. Last year, the press reported that Erie was considering selling off its windmill operation as it has underperformed for the town. The last reports I read sounded as if the town was still asking – Where’s the beef? There was supposed to be a board discussion in late September of 2011, but I have yet to see any reports that give a final answer on the subject of staying the course versus selling off the windmill. That new technology underperforms is no big surprise. But if wind power is going to be a part of freeing the world from funding evil empires like Hugo Chavez and Iranian Mullahs,  it must learn to stand on its own two legs and operate at nominal expectations. The Erie School experiment has not been very promising. At the very best, it seems that the project is gasping for air. 

Related articles

• Wind power: debunking geographic smoothing (seekerblog.com)
• Panic in the Wind Power lobby? (hotair.com)
• The Dark Side of Wind Power (bigthink.com)
• Wind power plug pulled in Illinois (wattsupwiththat.com)

17th District Democrat Primary – Silence is Golden

In an article posted on QCOnline, Democrat candidates for Congressman of the 17th District of Illinois,  George Gualrapp and Greg Aguilar made statements that fellow Democrat candidate – the Rock Island Democratic Politburo anointed one, Cheri “Phil Hare in a Dress” Bustos has been avoiding debating the other challengers. Hmm, suspicious? As I stated in an earlier post, the media silence surrounding the candidates has been deafening since  Bustos’ last political rhetoric back in December, which got her bitchslapped in the media for partisanship, by former Democrat candidate, now turned Independent, Eric Reyes. Considering that head of the local RI Politburo, Steve Ballard (whom might want to bitchslap the photographer), has always struck me as both intelligent and savvy – I have long suspected that since December, they have placed a muzzle on Cheribluster Bustos, except when she is in politburo safe zones. Considering that her December outburst resembled the political bluster that crippled her predecessor’s – Philobluster Hare- reelection campaign,  I assume even then, she is on a short lease. Bustos claimed that she was not avoiding debates despite refusing to take part in two suggested debates – including one that would have been on local QC KWQC channel, in Davenport Iowa. Granted the station is on the Iowa side, but the odds are KWQC would probably have offered all the candidates the best exposure  available to reach their constituents of the Illinois 17th District. I think what went unsaid by the Bustos retort, is that Bustos will no be allowed by the RI Politburo to be exposed to media events, where they feel they lack control of the debate platforms. After all Bustos has been knighted by Illinois Democratic Politburo Capo Dickey Durbin, who told Gualrapp he did so – since Bustos babysat for his family, so the Statewide Politburo would frown heavily on the local division should the Hare clone, Bustos, play open mouth/insert foot, as did Philobluster during his reelection bid. Since the Bustos, Phil Hare-like December outburst, the local politburo has probably taken to heart the old adage that before the primary –> Silence is Golden. If I were Gualrapp and Aguliar, I would pressure for debates held outside the Politburo safe zones; Since some outlets, like WQPT have long held connections to Ballard and the politburo puppet masters.  The real questions for Gualrapp and Aguilar to pursue, might be – why are the media outlets,  not  closely associated to the local politburo, continuing the silence about Durbins interference and attempted knee-capping of Bustos challengers,  in the election process as well, as the controlled muzzling of Bustos by the Politburo puppet-masters!

Related articles

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Xi Jinping – Just Passing Through the Quad Cities

Current Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, predicted to be the next President of Communist China, is currently goodwill traveling in the US.  He was greeted in Washington DC by unusually extravagant pomp that included a nineteen gun salute and a 350 troop honor guard. A first for foreign dignitary visiting the US. Xi spent Valentines Day in political discourse supposedly working US/China ties, with Obama and his security advisors. To the best of my knowledge, there is absolutely no veracity to any vicious rumor -that instead of doing his normal subservient bow, kneel and kiss of the foreign diplomats signet ring- President Obama, VP Joe Biden and other staff members performed a Valentines Day rim job on the future Chinese President, to finalize any future US/China business and political relations they discussed.  According to a National Press service, which will remain unnamed by this author,  Mr. Xi’s is then to visit some farm in Iowa.  ROFLMAO.

I am constantly haranguing the local press on their lack of effort that they put into modern journalism. The story by a major press service of Xi’s visit to some farm in Iowa is another example of the lack of effort put into contemporary journalistic efforts. If they had actually bothered to use journalistic curiosity in order look into the reasons a future President of China would visit some farm in Iowa – they would have found out, as the Quad City media enlightened their readers, that Mr. Xi had visited the same region outside Muscatine Iowa in a previous visit touring the US. As can be expected when foreign dignitaries visit rural America, there is an ever increasing buzz among the residents. Some of the more giddy, disclosed stories of interaction with the Chinese official during his previous visit. One person was digging out a can of tea that VP Xi had presented to the individual during his previous visit. Hmm – Makes you wonder when the  last time the reporter, who educated his or her readers about Xi’s visit to some farm in Iowa, received any type of gift from a Vice President of a Super Power Nation. Not that the local press didn’t have boo-boos in their story.

The local Quad City media was eager to mention that VP Xi would be arriving at the Quad City airport on Wednesday afternoon on his way to the farm outside of Muscatine Iowa. The story on QCOnline – listed on 02/14/12 – talked about how:

Several Muscatine residents talked warmly Tuesday afternoon about a planned meeting with an old friend today.

Of course the article also mentions that VP Xi is not actually arriving in the QC until Wednesday afternoon, 02-15-12, on his way to Muscatine. Nice proofreading editors. Meanwhile back at the ranch….
Another thing the QCOnline piece mentioned was that there would be a welcoming committee of Illinois Politicians for the Chinese VP, when he landed at the Quad City Airport in Moline, Illinois. I don’t imagine that he will get quite the pomp he received during his arrival in Washington DC . In fact if I were Xi’s security, I would be very worried if anyone mentioned a possible 19 gun salute at the Moline airport – considering that both John McCain and Barack Obama were confronted by assassination plots during their 2008 campaigning in the Quad City region. Though that happened on the Iowa side of the QC.  If I were Xi’s security I would “Just Say, NO!” to any possible welcoming involving projectile weapons.

Even more interesting the Quad City article was the mention that the welcoming committee at the Quad City airport would be headed by Illinois Lt. Governor Sheila Simon and Secretary of State, Jesse White.  Unlike in  Muscatine, where Iowa Governor Branstadt will be welcoming XI, there was no mention of Illinois Governor Three-County Quinn being involved with the Illinois ceremony. I suppose Quinn has better things to do, as he helplessly flounders around trying to right the sinking ship that best describes the Illinois economic outlook. According to the QCOnline article, China imported around 3.9 billion dollars of Illinois products in 2011. Yeah, , I would send my second-in-command to head a welcoming committee for the VP of the third largest importer of Illinois’ goods. Perhaps Three-County Quinn has some more important bootyious maximus kissing scheduled for Chicago “We’re Number 1!!!” Politicos, whose “Tombstone Voting” practices were probably integral in electing Three-County,  that overrides any common courtesy for major trading partners: it is probably some genius plan by Quinn to keep from ending up on a Mad Dog Rahm Emanuel enemy list.

Related articles

• ‘Touching story’ brings Chinese leader to Iowa (thegazette.com)
• Iowa Welcomes Back China’s Next President – TIME (time.com)
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• China’s heir apparent to meet with congressional leaders (edition.cnn.com)
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A Sign of the Times to Come?

Caution the following post deals with adult subject of a sexual nature.

An article on Time’s News Feed makes you wonder if the US is behind the times when it comes to protecting the USAmerican human gene pool from accidental incestuous breeding? According to the article tiny Iceland has created an  ancestry and genetic website that its citizenry is also using to weed out possible incestuous relationships. The old jokes about hillbilly marriage with their cousins immediately springs to mind. But in the more modern times of US sexual practices the chance for accidental incest is a very real danger. Perhaps one of the biggest dangers comes from the often used modern practice of artificial insemination for biological clock-ticking single professionals, straight and lesbian couples. It is estimated that as many as 60,000 children are born in the US yearly by sperm donors. And though the mothers are asked to report such births to the sperm banks – it evidently only happens 20% to 40% of the time. In one instance noted in an article, one man had fathered 150 children through artificial insemination. A study I read also suggested that of women with two or more children there was a 28% chance the children had multiple fathers. There is also the issue of mothers who refuse to register the name of their baby’s father for personal reasons. That does not take into account children fathered by sexual partners other than the husband, where the husband is automatically registered as the father on birth certificates. There are also cases where members of the male population think it is their duty in life to randomly repopulate the world with Mini-Mes, with as many different women as possible. There is even a growing sexual fetish that includes couples taking part in random partner breeding. While this all may seem incongruous , it certainly increases the likelihood of inadvertent and accidental incestuous relationships. I know this used to be a small concern for adults that were adopted as children, but with the increasing usage  of modern reproductive technology and the loosening of sexual mores – how do we balance the rights of personal privacy versus the risks of accidental inbreeding by offspring? Just roll the dice and gamble? It is the way it has been to date. Is the Icelandic model a sign of the times to come? I hope not. Perhaps what worries me even more, is that I can envision Nanny Statists in the Republican and Democrat Parties eventually using this issue as a reason to force a national DNA registry to track genetics of all USAmericans. A perfect foothold for Nanny Statists involved in the philosophy of eugenics. 

Other Links:

• Man impregnates 30 women
• Moral Insanity at the Sperm Bank

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Digging for Gold in an Iron Deposit

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I have a love/hate relationship with polls and surveys. They are both often used tools. They may be informative, they may be useless or they may simply be fools gold. My personal opinion is that most fall in the fools gold category find – of a lustrous mine luring prospectors with false promises of immeasurable treasure. Don’t get me wrong, polls and surveys offer up a great deal of valuable resources for the miners – assuming they don’t become obsessed with a quick-riches strike, by the vein of pyrite – while ignoring the more valuable nuggets embedded in the less obvious areas of the dig.

I was reading on QCOnline a story talking about a recent survey performed by Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau (QCCVB) of local Quad City businesses.  I was reading what was basically a press release stating the summary of the study by the QCCVB – with comments from Quad City area leaders about how they would use the study to assist them in directing their future business decisions. As I read the article, I asked myself just how much of the material mined was going to be useful resources and how much would actually be a fools gold strike leading the Quad City Developers and Political leaders choking and sweating as they hastily dug shiny valueless nuggets while overlooking the actual valuable minerals of the excavation.

One of the most glaring issues I read in the study was that out of a thousand local businesses that were sent  the survey – 10.5 % actually returned the survey.  Only 105 businesses out of a 1000 even bothered to answer and return the survey. OUCH!!! Disenchantment or Apathy? Aversion for a request to share the requested business information? Distrust of what they felt was an intrusive survey? Unwillingness to  sacrifice the valuable time needed to complete the survey? Animosity for the QCCVB or its members? Whatever the reason, it is hard to make valuable property assessments, from a minority of responses to any information designed to enlighten and direct long-term operations for  political leadership and manufacturing corporations.  I don’t see much visible gold to be obtained from a ten percent survey of the plotted region.  In fact, I would be worried that my mining claim I just bought into, might have been salted by unscrupulous operatives to spur interest in mineral barren pits. Hopefully the surveyors of this parcel will be able to find some actual valuable minerals from this small sampling.

Team Obama Started a Joke

The Obama Big Government continues to prove it is inept at business and creating jobs with taxpayer money. Media sources are reporting that another Green Jobs project -Fisker Karma- that has been much  ballyhooed by Team Obama – Joe Biden assured the country 2000 jobs from this investment- is struggling to survive. According to the story Team Obama has committed $528,000,000, of which $193,000,000 has already been spent,to a Finish Companyto make “2″ models of electric vehicles. The luxury  version was to being built in Finland is available but the more standard version that was to be built in the US has been put on hold and workers laid off. They are already seeking more private funding just to get their cars to a subsidized purchasing market. They are stacking the deck with taxpayer donations and taxpayer paid purchase incentives for electric vehicles and Team Obama is still unable to get these fledgling companies to fly.  Team Obama has started another  expensive green joke – at the expense of the USAmerican Taxpayers, but nobodies laughing.

Related articles

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• Fisker fumbles, forced to lay off workers at Delaware plant, seek further government aid (digitaltrends.com)
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Dirty Little Secrets Revisited

Back on 01/21/12 I blogged about a media story involving claims of hazing by participants of the dual community wrestling program of Erie and Prophetstown Illinois. The original report hinted that the school board figured it would be settled quickly. Well it was and it wasn’t. The accuser, team members and coaches did a very quick and public kiss-and-make session for the media. The board stated that an independent investigation would quickly follow. Well that kinda-sorta happened. The study lasted a little longer than the story hinted it would take. No big deal, it is important to get it right when looking over legal allegations.  The media reported that the study exonerated the school and wrestling squad of hazing charges that included claims that athletes participated in vulgar acts, including genitalia to the face, sexual grinding and urinating on teammates in the locker room shower. That the events may or may not have happened is still in question.

Whatever did happen was determined to not be any hazing that the school, could be held responsible for.  There seemed to be some disconcert in some of the posts I read about the objectivity of the investigation team. I don’t pretend to know how much fact there was in those assertions. I do know that I read at least one board-member name – assuming it is the same person I used to know, from the time I spent in Peyton Place, err. I mean Erie – were I the lawyer of the accuser – I would ask to excuse himself from any discussions of any case involving sexual improprieties.  Of course as I predicted in my previous post – don’t hope to find out too much information about the incident. A media piece by writer, Rebecca Smith,  over on WQAD seemed dissatisfied with the information – not being released by the school. She stated that her conversation with the investigation attorney left her with more questions than answers. And the information released by the school was that it would discuss the Independent study behind closed doors – weeks from now. Oops, No big surprise there either, at least to this blogger. Let the dust settle the hide the board discussion behind locked doors. Smith did report that the school is taking action to increase monitoring of the locker rooms. I suppose the only question there is will it be just the wrestling locker rooms be the recipient of increased observation or will the system up its watchdog status of all physical education and sports activity locker rooms.

As I stated in my previous post, unless things have changed greatly over the last several years, the dirty little secrets of potential for actual, or perceived hazing or sexual harassment activity is very likely still ongoing.  Smith also seemed to target just high school wrestling squads as far as potential hazing events. They may be the only ones brave enough to report the possible incidents, but my guess is that similar situations in all phys-ed events are more common than most schools will admit publicly, privately or even to themselves. While the media eagerly awaits the Erie Board’s response to the study, I fully expect that the silence from the Erie Board, will continue to be deafening.

Related articles

• Inside a culture of hazing in athletics (thegazette.com)
• Community backs Kennedy High coach suspended over hazing (abclocal.go.com)