Latino woman beaten: Police “our bad”

Dora Marquez

In a recent video several members of the Arizona police were filmed assaulting a young Latino woman while she was laying face down on the ground attempting to protect herself from the vicious attack.

When the video first surfaced Det. Bubba Rednecker of the Arizona police came forward and admitted his culpability in the assault. He has since publicly apologized and has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending further investigating of the case.

The video first surfaced on Youtube on May 9 and depicts what appears to be a routine traffic stop. However, several minuets into the video A young woman, later identified as Dora Marquez, is shown being forcefully removed from her vehicle and pushed to the ground where she is repeatedly kicked and beaten. It is during this period when Det. Bubba Rednecker can be heard saying “I’ll beat the f—ing Mexican piss out of you, homey. You feel me?”

Mrs. Marquez was not under arrest and was not resisting the police officers in any way. Eventually the police, who were looking for a suspected drug dealer, realized they had stopped the wrong person and let the young woman leave on her own.

So far no other officers have been identified as being involved in the attack.

Copyright 2010 just a joke. All rights reserved.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

By Francis P. Church

first published in The New York Sun in 1897

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor:

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Lax parents ‘fuel binge drinking’

By Martin Hutchinson
BBC News

Parents who allow their children alcohol at home may be increasing the chances of future drinking problems, says England’s chief medical officer.

Sir Liam Donaldson accused some parents of a “laissez-faire” approach and said letting children taste alcohol to ready them for adulthood was “misguided”.

Evidence showed that this could lead to binge drinking in later life, he said.

New official guidance says under-15s should drink no alcohol, with under-17s drinking only under supervision.

Legally, parents and carers can give their children alcohol at home from the age of five onwards.

‘Middle-class obsession’

However, Sir Liam described the idea of a glass of watered-down wine for a child as a “middle-class obsession”, and criticised the approach among some parents towards their children getting drunk.

He said: “Across England, 500,000 children between the ages of 11 to 15 years will have been drunk in the past four weeks.

“The science is clear – drinking, particularly at a young age, a lack of parental supervision, exposing children to drink-fuelled events and failing to engage with them as they grow up are the root causes from which our country’s serious alcohol problem has developed.”

He added: “The more [children] get a taste for it, the more likely they are to be heavy drinking adults or binge drinkers later in childhood.”

He announced a major publicity campaign on the subject in England, which will get under way in January 2010.

Similar advice is expected in Scotland at around the same time. In Wales, a health spokesman said work was already under way to tackle drinking among young people.

The advice was welcomed by alcohol campaign groups, although Alcohol Concern said that the availability of alcohol at “pocket money prices” was a key factor in abuse and should be addressed by ministers.

Sir Liam said that he wanted to address the “ready availability” of cheap alcohol and called on supermarkets and corner shops to “take a stand”.

He said that he would be able to “shout louder” about his suggestion for a 50p minimum price for alcohol – rejected by Prime Minister Gordon Brown – after he steps down next year.

Jeremy Todd, chief executive of the parenting charity Parentline Plus, praised the guidelines.

He said: “Parents can have a huge influence on their child’s drinking choices.

Parental influence

“Rates of teenage drunkenness are higher amongst both the children of parents who drink to excess and the children of parents who abstain completely.

“Whilst parents have a greater influence on their children’s drinking patterns early on, as they grow older their friends have a greater influence.

“It is therefore crucial for parents to talk to their children about alcohol and its effects.”

Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians and chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: “We know that adults who drink sensibly tend to pass these habits on and that some families choose to introduce alcohol to their children younger than 15 in a supportive environment.”

He stressed that not drinking alcohol at all remained the “healthiest option” for children.

Alison Rogers, chief executive of the British Liver Trust, said: “While Sir Liam’s statement is very strong and gives clear clinical guidance, the issues of pocket-money pricing and easy availability of alcohol need to be addressed if it is to have any impact on the life-style choices we are making.”

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8413559.stm

Published: 2009/12/17 00:01:19 GMT

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