text:
"Coach Mattison told me what the Ravens were about, what he thought," Beyer said. "He definitely encouraged me. I hold his opinion in high regard."
Thursday Recruitin' Gets Comfortable
The Best Players In Michigan Visit Michigan
While much of the early recruiting focus from the new staff has been on elite prospects in California, Texas, and SEC country, Jim Harbaugh has also made a concerted effort to lock down his home territory. This week, that continues with some of the top in-state prospects making their way through Ann Arbor.
Four-star Plymouth OT Michael Jordan stopped by for Tuesday's practice, and his father told 247's Steve Wiltfong that he's developing a rapport with the new staff ($):
The Wolverines are strongly in the mix for the No. 3 prospect in the state according to the 247Sports Composite, as are schools like Michigan State, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
"It's getting more and more comfortable with them," the elder Jordan said. "He's still trying to get to know everyone at this point. They're definitely one of his top choices of schools to go to."
Four-star Detroit King WR Donnie Corley also visited practice Tuesday and connected with recent staff addition Soup Campbell, per Wiltfong ($):
"Great visit today," Corley's father told 247Sports. "Learned a lot from the staff and the legend (Erik) Campbell."
Asked if the visit helped Michigan in his son's eyes, Corley's father responded, "Yes."
Steve Lorenz reports that four-star Cass Tech OG/DT Michael Onwenu will visit on Saturday ($). Onwenu's been a consistent presence on campus of late to the extent that Michigan has passed Ohio State as the favorite on his Crystal Ball; Onwenu has also mentioned that the Mike Weber situation affected his view of OSU. Three-star Canton OLB Jalen Cochran, who holds an Iowa offer, is also expected to be on campus Saturday.
Three-star Saline dual-threat QB Josh Jackson, son of Fred, was among last weekend's visitors. He told Scout's Allen Trieu that the coaches informed him he's "in the mix" for a potential offer, and they're planning to watch him throw this spring ($). With Harbaugh's preference for taking two quarterbacks per class, Jackson could be one to watch.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
Practice Bits: Defense
3-4, 4-3, etc etc
I've said this before and I'll probably say it again several times before the season starts: Michigan is not likely to be moving to a traditional 3-4 system. Nor will they spend a lot of time implementing a traditional 3-4 to mix in with a 4-3. The time commitment to do so is prohibitive at the college level, and the kind of personnel who can effectively do both are too rare.
So what's with all the discussion about moving to a 3-4? It comes from the top, as this Sam Webb interview with Marcus Ray indicates:
Sam Webb: Michigan is telling kids that they are going to be basically 50/50 as far as 3-4, 4-3. As best you can without having a visual aid or a grease board, explain to people, how that will come to pass and why Michigan is saying that, why that makes sense.
Ray describes the 4-3 under as something that could be looked at as a 5-2…
Brennen Beyer, the stand-up SAM in this picture, bounced between SAM and DE for his career
…and says that a 3-4 can look a lot like the under. Both accurate, and as I've mentioned before you can look at the under as a defense halfway between the traditional Miami-style 4-3 even/over and a 3-4.
But I think the distinction here is a bit of a red herring. I asked Spencer Hall what Florida ran last year and he replied it was a 4-3 with a standup end (Dante Fowler); my observations of the Florida defense rarely encounter a nose tackle lined up directly over the center. He's almost always in a gap.
Could it shade to a 3-4? Sure, I guess. Why would they do that? There are two reasons:
- To run a 3-4! Obviously.
- To disguise their 4-3. Gap-sound unpredictability is a major goal of all defenses. Putting a nose tackle over the center gives him an advantage if he's going to slant one way or the other, but the idea is still the same: get in a gap.
Ray explains:
"If you line up in that A gap or that center believes that they know you have this gap then it is easier for them to block you because you're more of a standing target, they know what gap you're responsible for, but in that 30 front, you can slant and angle in either way. They don't know which gap you are responsible for and they have to guess and try to figure it out once the ball is snapped, but it gives the D-lineman the flexibility to go either way. And then let the truth be told, in that same 30 front, if you have a noseguard that is lined up right over the center and he slants to the strong side, then that is technically going back to under. If that noseguard slants to the weak side, in the weak side A gap, then that technically puts you in an over front, because the entire front has to shift along with him, so now that gives you some 4-3 flexibility from a 30 front if you just slant and angle, it puts you right into a 4-3 defense."
If you believe that Ryan Glasgow will hold the nose tackle job, a 30 front featuring him is an undeclared 4-3. Michigan doesn't have a Nix or a Gabe Watson to hold down the middle of that defense and two-gap the center unless Ondre Pipkins goes from afterthought to superstar in his final year or Bryan Mone is terrific as a sophomore.
Michigan may run a bunch of different fronts but at its heart the defense is probably a 4-3. And judging from Florida last year it's not going to seem that much different than Mattison's fronts.
Defensive Line
Lawrence Marshall is a name to watch. [Bryan Fuller]
Anyway this is all a lead-in to an assertion that for now I'm still assuming Michigan has a traditional 4-3 look this fall and I won't be changing up the nomenclature yet.
If and when we get enough data to do so it looks like the first change will be at WDE, which Florida folks sometimes call "drop end." Reports hold that Mario Ojemudia and Lawrence Marshall are frequently in a two point stance—something Marshall had never done and was taking some time adjusting to—this fall. Again, this gives the impression of a 3-4. In my mind it's taking the Mattison 4-3 under a half-step towards a 3-4 but whatever.
Marshall is doing well. His athleticism stands out and he's already about as big as Ojemudia. Ojemudia had to put on a bunch of weight and topped out around 250; unfortunately he hasn't displayed the explosiveness he had in high school at the bulkier number. A platoon is certain… unless Marshall wrests the job away and Ojemudia is again called upon to be a guy who plays spot downs to rest the starter. Michigan is trying out the occasional linebacker there as well, with Royce Jenkins-Stone the most prominent.
The other three spots have seen a ton of rotation, some of it involuntary. Injuries have held out big chunks of the line for a practice or three. When present, Willie Henry has been impressive. Chris Wormley is playing SDE again($), which makes sense given the depth chart (especially with Henry Poggi trying his hand at TE, and double especially if Michigan is moving back to more of an under). 4-3 under SDE is a better fit for him, as he can be that RVB type with a bit more pass rush.
There's as of yet no movement away from the presumed lineup of senior starters: Ross, Morgan, Bolden. With Greg Mattison still around I'm not surprised. 247 does mention a competitor to the presumed starters($):
[Ben] Gedeon has popped out early as a potential contributor in this year's defense. He has potentially the best combination of size, athleticism and intelligence at the position and it might turn into a situation where it's difficult to keep him off the field. For the second straight season, linebacker may be Michigan's deepest position, so if he stays on the field consistently, it will be because he's turned into a good to great player.
Scout also mentioned Gedeon as a potential breakout performer.
True junior Gedeon is a prime member of Team Why U No Redshirt who needs to start making an impact now. Michigan has rotated extensively in the past—not so much last year—and I expect he'll get playing time almost in line with the starters.
That is about all the chatter, with Ross/Bolden/Morgan the presumed starters. They look good when the DL isn't having them catch blocks all day, which has been something of an issue since a lot of guys have been out.
There have been plenty of reports on Jabrill Peppers, who is looking like the Jabrill Peppers everyone dreamed about when he committed. Peppers bounces from safety to nickelback and looks like Jabrill Peppers should. He is taking ownership of his unit even as a sophomore:
"He's a high energy, high motor guy and he's going to talk trash," Countess said last week. "And he's going to get everybody going. He's been one of those guys you want on the field.
"Even if he has a bad play, he's going to let you know. And if he has a good play, he's definitely going to let you know."
Countess loves the energy and the intent. But when asked if there is ever a time when he'd like to have the ability to quiet his younger teammate, he's quick with an answer.
No way.
"I love it," he says with a smile. "He says the stuff that I don't say, but everybody's thinking."
As Michigan State demonstrated last year, one of the most important positions on the field as an aggressive defense going up against spread offenses is the slot-side safety. He often gets tested deep in cover four.
It'll be interesting to see how Michigan aligns. I'm guessing Peppers just gets the field side as they rely on the restricted space to help Jarrod Wilson out. An observer from the coaching clinic did note that Peppers is usually "aligning to pass strength," so that is encouraging in terms of keeping Wilson in a FS-ish role he's comfortable with and maximally utilizing Peppers's skills.
Jourdan Lewis is also drawing consistent praise. He was Michigan's #1 corner by midseason last year, passing both Countess and Taylor; it sounds like he has picked up where he left off plus a little bit of tackling strength. With Blake Countess set to be a four-year starter the top four guys in the secondary are pretty set. The main question is: can Countess bounce back from some rough times last year and play man to man? 247 has heard he is in "lockdown" mode, so there's that. I'm reserving judgment.
Freddy Canteen is getting a few reps at CB, so… that's odd. Harbaugh loves flipping guys around to see what they can do, and Canteen is a guy who could theoretically be a good corner. Doubt it sticks, but whatever.
This Week's Obsession: Basketball Postmortem
In defense of 2015 [Fuller]
The Question
Ace: There's no question this basketball season was a strange one. Michigan headed in with many question marks but high expectations, started off the season with a couple quality wins and a very competitive game against one-seed Villanova, went on to lose head-scratchers against NJIT and EMU before getting run off the court by Arizona, lost their two best players to injury, and then saw flashes of great promise from several players that didn't necessarily show up in the team's final record.
Let's try to make some sense of this. What about this season would you consider a success, what was a failure, and how did it affect your expectations for the program moving forward?
Adam Schnepp: I've placed my hands on the keyboard and taken them off three times before I typed this, but not making the NCAA tournament is a failure. I'm hesitant because of the stark negative connotation of the word "failure."
|Anything that leads to more Dakich isn't so much "failure" as "awesomesauce with an oh darn." [Fuller]
This is a failure that happened because of course it did. As the hockey guy I'm used to watching the type of failure where you have a team loaded with talent that underperforms and shoots itself in the foot until there's nothing left. Nothing. Not even, like, a bloody remnant that doctors could reconstruct. Just, poof, gone. This is a completely different kind of failure, a failure in which there are explanations (NBA attrition, injuries that led to a lineup Tom Izzo would find weird) that make sense and extend beyond "this is just what we do now."
Dave Nasternak: Michigan Basketball isn't in the same place that it was seven years ago (one huge mess, but with John Beilein). Its not even in the same place that it was 3 years ago (bummed about a tournament upset but only a round or two away from its ceiling). After seeing the faces of the players and coaches in that hotel in Atlanta two Aprils ago, this program expects to succeed at the highest level. National Championships, Final Fours, Sweet Sixteens, NCAA Tournament games, Big Ten Championships (regular season and tournament) are all accomplishments that this program expects to be competing for every year.
And that's the right answer. As Michigan players/staff/alumni/fans/constituents... that's why we are connected with this University. Now, we don't consistently get the freshmen that Kentucky and Duke get every year, so some of these goals will be a little too lofty from time to time. But I am willing to bet that if you asked people in and around the program if they were supremely disappointed with not obtaining some (most, all) of these goals, they would not only verbally say that they were, but that you would also be able to see it on their faces. That's just what the Michigan Basketball program has achieved.
[after the jump: no more dancing. Around the question I mean. Lots of the other dancing (not That dancing)]
NCAA To End Transfer Waivers
Isaac tried to avoid the no-pads thing last year without success. Future Isaacs won't wonder about immediate eligibility, because the answer will be "nope." [Bryan Fuller]
I must be the only person on earth paying attention to @umichcompliance. This is normally evidence that the rest of you are sane and hearty individuals, but yesterday they posted what looks like relatively big news nobody else has mentioned yet:
Beginning fall 2015, 4-4 undergrad transfers may no longer use a NCAA waiver to be immediately eligible http://t.co/yPrPY4OmzQ
— Michigan Compliance (@umichcompliance) March 17, 2015
You may remember transfer waivers being a big thing during the Ty Isaac transfer saga. It was thought that Michigan might lose out on him since they were not within the 200-mile radius of Isaac's house the NCAA required for a hardship transfer. He decided on Michigan anyway, applied for his waiver, and was denied.
Why make the change? In recent years more and more players had been trying to get transfer waivers for increasingly dubious reasons. It was getting ridiculous, and threatened to create more of an open market for transfers than there was before. (You may think that's a good idea; the NCAA does not.)
Instead the NCAA will offer a one-year extension of the five year clock* in circumstances that warrant it. IE: if you've already redshirted you can make a hardship transfer without losing a year of competition. This wouldn't have affected Isaac but would remove a barrier to other athletes without the incentive of immediate eligibility.
Dispatch From the Chrysalis
Patrick Barron / MGoBlog
These will be my general thoughts from the Big Ten Tournament. I'll delve into the season at-large some other time.
It was apparent for some time that Michigan would be locked into the 8 / 9 game in the Big Ten Tournament, meaning that we knew for weeks that any theoretical BTT run would have to go through a rested Wisconsin team in the Friday noon slot. Unfortunately, the most suboptimal path to the conference semifinal came to fruition: beat Illinois and then beat Wisconsin. Ken Pomeroy's numbers gave us about a 2% chance of doing that.
For that reason, the Big Ten Tournament was not a disappointment – not by any means. Michigan destroyed Illinois and its feeble NCAA Tournament hopes before acquitting themselves well in a loss against Bo Ryan's Big Bad Badgers. 1-1 wasn't enough to get Michigan into the NIT – which was a mild disappointment, if only because we want to see more of this Michigan team. Seriously: after Beilein's last underachieving squad – the mightily frustrating 2009-2010 Manny / Deshawn team – didn't get an invite to the NIT, it felt like a mercy kill of sorts. Now, we just wish we could continue to see this team develop and gel.
The Illinois game was a huge reason for this. Exactly a month after squandering a late seven point lead in Champaign to get blown out in overtime, Michigan was awarded a rematch with the Illini and, well, the Wolverines beat their asses. Illinois erased a 14-2 run from Michigan to open the game and eventually took a 19-17 lead, but Michigan went on an extended 27-4 run into the second half to run the Illini right out of the United Center. To be fair, Illinois played a ghastly game, replete with bonehead turnovers and impressively errant shooting, but Michigan played objectively its best game of the season Thursday in Chicago.
Some player bullets from that game:
Aubrey Dawkins tallied an efficient 18 points and was Kenpom's player of the game; over the Northwestern, Rutgers, and Illinois games near the end of the season, Dawkins combined for 70 points. 70! Even though his shot wasn't as lethal as it had been against the Illini, he shot 6-7 from inside the arc, including this Glenn Robinsonesque alley-oop from
Zak Irvin, who is truly not-just-a-shooter anymore. He wasn't all that effective from the field against Illinois, but he tallied a career-high six assists and was an excellent distributor throughout. It wasn't just a great game passing the ball from a former offensive black hole, it was just a great game passing the ball, period. His shot's still not right but Zak's emergence in the pick-and-roll as a complete player was one of Michigan's biggest storylines moving forward down the stretch.
Spike "Nash" Albrecht, who now is and should be considered legitimately good, hit two big threes and had this wonderful assist to a cutting Dawkins. It was probably Michigan's best highlight of the year, an artifact of Michigan's beautiful, high-flying offense from the past few seasons.
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman was awesome as well – it was the first game where he and Dawkins combined to play well. Mo put up a line of 15-8-2 and that doesn't seem like it tells the whole story; he drove the ball with reckless abandon and finished pretty well. It's not often you see a freshman guard routinely barreling into the chest of a long senior shot-blocker (Nnanna Egwu) with such confidence and scoring tough layups.
Max Bielfeldt threw ten points up on the board. Thanks, Max.
Every time Dawkins made a nice basket cut, or Irvin threw a pin-point pass, or Rahkman challenged Illinois at the rim, I had this little tune ringing through my head:
Michigan was finally evolving and showing its true potential after all that time. Dawkins and Rahkman showed what they were capable of in combining for 33 points (which, when you really think about that, speaks volumes to Beilein's ability to identify talent in the wake of unexpected NBA departures); Irvin was showing off the type of individual brilliance that will work excellently in a complementary role next season; Ricky Doyle didn't play much against Illinois but looked great at times against Wisconsin; Kam Chatman even did a few nice things; and Spike Albrecht showed – as he did ever since Walton's injury – that he's a very useful college player and not just a quirky little stat from a national title game a few years ago.
After the game, I posted something that gained a ton of traction on Twitter: the scholarship offers of Michigan's starting five in that Illinois game (which combined for 65 points and routed a pretty solid team)
- Albrecht: Appalachian State
- Abdur-Rahkman: George Mason, Bucknell, Harvard
- Zak Irvin: [was a highly-touted recruit, had plenty of good offers]
- Aubrey Dawkins: Dayton, Northeastern, College of Charleston
- Max Bielfeldt: Illinois*, Western Michigan, Ball State
*Should be noted that Bielfeldt's family donates a crapton of money to Illinois's AD.
Michigan would have these guys, if not for variably expected early entry or injury: Trey Burke, Nik Stauskas, Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson, Caris LeVert, Derrick Walton. Beilein was left with the lineup above and did as reasonably well as anybody could have expected with it.
The Wisconsin game was a seemingly preordained loss, but Michigan made a very good game of it. From neutral observer Kevin Trahan afterwards:
Friday night Michigan lost to Wisconsin 71-60 in Chicago, in a basketball game that will likely never be noted for its historical relevance. Wisconsin is one of the best teams in the country, while Michigan might be able to sneak into the NIT, so this outcome was to be expected.
But this was no cakewalk for Wisconsin like it should have been. Michigan had the lead for much of the first half, and the Wolverines tied the game with five minutes left. Eventually, the Badgers' talent won out, but this game was brought up a situation that I've found myself noticing a lot this year: There was no way in hell Michigan should have been in that game.
Spike led the charge with 10 early points (but finished with just ten); Rahkman and Dawkins took a big step back and only combined for 13 points. Still, Zak Irvin played a phenomenal game and carried the Wolverines – 21 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals against a one-seed is the Zak Irvin we could have only hoped for, even at the beginning of the season before the well-documented sophomore slump. Trahan wrote that Ricky Doyle "out-played Frank Kaminsky for a spell" which seems unfathomable – but correct.
Michigan played Wisconsin even for 35 minutes in Chicago, and though the Badgers' impressive work on the offensive glass eventually ended the Wolverines' season, it was still an indicator of positive things to come. This, to me, is the biggest story: over the two games in the Big Ten Tournament, Zak Irvin combined for 35 points, 17 rebounds, 9 assists (to just 4 turnovers) and 4 steals. The light finally came on for him and I'm miffed at the lack of NIT invite, maybe if only because I want to see how much more Zak can do. He faced a ton of criticism this year and, with his performances in Chicago, answered the questions about his game and quieted those asking them.
In addition, Aubrey Dawkins and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman showed positive signs of being program cornerstones – a wing and a guard, both capable of becoming solidly above-average Big Ten contributors for multiple seasons. If Dawkins learns to play defense, the sky's the limit; Rahkman might be forever underrated because of his style – not as many threes, more tough, workmanlike defense. Ricky Doyle was sick for most of the end of the season, but he showed good things against Wisconsin – Michigan's questions at the center position won't carry over to next year, I'm thinking.
In the end, this was somewhat of a lost season, but only the true pessimists can't see some silver linings from the last several games of the season. Michigan's evolving, slowly but surely, and after some time in the chrysalis, the Wolverines will be back to being Big Ten contenders.
Spring Practice Presser 3-17-15: John Baxter
News bullets and other items:
- This is not a drill: the spring game won't be a punting competition. In Baxter's words, "We won't kick at all in the spring game [except] maybe field goals or something."
- Kickers and punters are kicking into nets; kickers haven't kicked at uprights yet. Baxter is breaking down their mechanics and rebuilding and doesn't want them worried about results yet.
- If the list he showed us is any indication then anyone who wants to compete at kick or punt returner should get a chance. Baxter had 14 guys try returning kicks yesterday.
- Baxter didn't go on any recruiting trips. Harbaugh instead opted for him to stay in Ann Arbor and start installing his Academic Gameplan.
What's the good news?
"There's a lot of good news. We get paid to coach a kids' game. We wear the clothes to work that you'd wear to cut the lawn, and we get paid really good to have a lot of fun so good every day."
MGoQuestion: Maurice Hurst tweeted yesterday that he's taking 18 credits and that you're helping him with that. What can you do to help someone who's taking that many credits plus has the time demands of football?
"Well, one of the things that's been kind of the subject and topic of my life's work is helping young people be effective students, so I'm not only helping him I'm helping all these guys. But that's been Coach Harbaugh's mantra since we got here is we have student athletes, okay? And it's one thing to say you have student-athletes and it's another thing to live it, so when we got off the airplane he had me install the Academic Gameplan.
"We got off the plane on- I believe it was whatever day January 8 was, but we started that Monday at 6:15 and we met every night, and he left me home all the way through recruiting. I never went out. I was here every night with our players and we installed our Academic Gameplan system, of what we call the Champions Program, and we begin laying the foundations of being effective students.
"One of the things that I've learned over time is never sell yourself short as a teacher. If we can get guys to know all the complexities of our defense and our offense and our pass protections and all those kinds of things, if I can get a guy to run 60 yards full speed into another guy [then] we can teach them how to take notes. We can teach them strategic planning. Generally that's what's happening."
How much of your day is spent doing that versus Xs and Os and on the field type of work?
"It just kind of depends. I won't speak specifically about any player, but I'm going to meet one of them tomorrow morning at 7:30 and we'll eat breakfast together and we'll look over his strategic plan and that kind of stuff, but for the most part I'd say 90% of my day is spent on Xs and Os. When it comes to the Academic Gameplan stuff, I mean, I copyrighted the program in 1999 and I've been teaching it in one form or another since I was a graduate assistant in '86 so I don't need to spend any time on it. We can get it up and running at a moment's notice."
What are some of the things that constitute the foundation or is it tailor-made to each individual?
"The foundation for academics? Okay, simple. It's really simple. They all have a planner and that planner's called a GPS, which stands for guidance, performance, and strategy and in a nutshell we don't take notes, we take answers, just like all of you are doing. You're not taking notes, you're taking answers, And it's strategic planning, prioritized daily task lists, and essentially we show them- because in college you deal with a syllabus, and basically it's how to take this chaotic world and go chaos to concept and process to product.
"It's just – it's a way to process the information that's coming in because really when – I know when I went to college I was probably not just the last generation but the last year, I graduated high school in '81 in college and '85, and never touched a computer. Never touched it one time. So I would equate it to- when I was in college we were still using encyclopedias, looking stuff up in the card catalog, and kind of drinking out of a garden hose. Now they are drinking out of a fire hydrant and you have to help them sort through that chaos if they're going to be effective students."
[After THE JUMP: A "radically different" approach to special teams]


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subset: commoncrawl


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Bruce Dixon
Bruce Dixon is based in Atlanta GA and is managing editor at Black Agenda Report. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Articles by this author
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Archive for the 'Crime' Category
Part I of this series highlighted a timeline of events that led to the termination of Todd Hoffner, the head football coach at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Part II highlighted some of President Davenport's rationalizations for terminating Coach Hoffner. This post will highlight the substantive complaints from Coach Hoffner's attorneys. This paragraph is particularly noteworthy:
Second, in that same section, the OLA report devotes an entire paragraph to President Davenport's justification for his reaction to the charges against Coach Hoffner and, specifically, the description of the Pennsylvania State University sex scandal. No comparable explanation from Coach Hoffner is included, nor is the fundamental distinguishing fact that the alleged conduct that MSU Mankato investigated had nothing to do with sexual abuse or similar conduct with respect to MSU Mankato students.
Comparing the Hoffner situation with what happened at Penn State is foolish. According to a footnote in the OLA's report, Penn State's high-level administrators, including Penn State's president at the time, "were indicted for endangering the welfare of children, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury. They are awaiting trial." In Coach Hoffner's case, he didn't exercise good judgment. Still, the Blue Earth County judge that dismissed the charges said that "the children acted silly, playful and age appropriate."
There's a little bit of hyperbole in this paragraph:
To omit from the OLA's report even the most basic of facts in this regard is misleading and profoundly unfair. The notion that a person could equate Coach Hoffner with Jerry Sandusky is absurd, and that a person could draw such a comparison exemplifies why that person should not have the authority to make life-changing employment decisions affecting others.
First, Hoffner's attorneys went a little overboard in saying that President Davenport shouldn't "have the authority to make life-changing employment decisions affecting others." That being said, Hoffner's attorneys are right in saying that comparing Coach Hoffner's actions with Sandusky's is absurd. They aren't close to being similar, much less close to being the same thing.
Jerry Sandusky is serving a minimum of 30 years in prison. According to Wikipedia, which I realize isn't always the most accurate website, "Specifically, Sandusky was convicted of the following charges and counts: eight counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, seven counts of indecent assault, one count of criminal intent to commit indecent assault, nine counts of unlawful contact with minors, 10 counts of corruption of minors and 10 counts of endangering the welfare of children. Cleland immediately revoked Sandusky's bail and remanded him to the Centre County Correctional Facility to await sentencing."
It shouldn't be difficult for university presidents to differentiate between a man who was investigated and had charges dropped and a man convicted of "eight counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, seven counts of indecent assault, one count of criminal intent to commit indecent assault [and] nine counts of unlawful contact with minors…" I'm betting that most high school students could differentiate between the two.
Simply put, this would be a disaster for President Davenport if the MnSCU Chancellor, aka Davenport's boss, were a principled man or if the DFL-chaired Higher Ed committees took their oversight responsibilities seriously. Since neither is the case, it isn't likely that this will hurt President Davenport.
That's the biggest of disasters in this entire situation.
Technorati: OLA Report, Richard Davenport, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Steven Rosenstone, MnSCU, Jerry Sandusky, Pedophile, Penn State
This post about Richard Davenport's termination of Coach Todd Hoffner highlights the timeline of Mankato State University, Mankato's investigation that ultimately led to Coach Hoffner's termination. This post will highlight the OLA's report of what happened that triggered the investigation:
On August 10, 2012, Coach Hoffner asked a MSU, Mankato information technology staff person to examine his cell phone because it was not working properly. The staff person found a video recording of naked children on the phone and brought it to the attention of MSU, Mankato officials, who turned the cell phone over to the Mankato police. Coach Hoffner was arrested at his home on August 21, 2012. The following day, the Blue Earth County Attorney filed charges against Todd Hoffner alleging that the images of the children were pornographic and criminal.
After reviewing the images, other evidence, and considering the applicable laws, on November 30, 2012, a Blue Earth County District Court Judge dismissed the criminal charges for lack of "probable cause." In her order, the judge noted that the children in the video were Todd Hoffner's children, who asked their father to record a "performance" after they emerged from a bath. The judge went on to say
that the context of the video showed that the "children's performance was not intended to be erotic or pornographic in nature." She also noted that the children acted silly, playful, and age appropriate.
Despite the fact that charges were dismissed by a Blue Earth County district court judge, President Davenport proceeded with his investigation.
It's worth highlighting that the judge ruled that "the children acted silly, playful and age appropriate."
Here's another situation that might put President Davenport into a delicate situation:
President Davenport also told us that he responded to the allegations against Coach Hoffner with the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) football sex scandal in mind. In that case, a former Penn State assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky, was accused of sexually abusing children for more than a decade. In addition, university officials were accused of failing to respond adequately when concerns about the coach were brought to their attention.
The Penn State situation was dramatically different from what happened in Mankato. Here's one of the report's footnotes:
In June 2012, former Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was found guilty of 45 counts of child sexual abuse and, in October 2012, he was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) imposed severe sanctions against the Penn State football program, including: a $60 million fine to create an endowment to prevent child sexual abuse and help child abuse victims; barring Penn State's football program from post-season play for four years; and vacating the team's wins from 1998-2011. In addition, former Penn State officials, President Graham Spanier, Senior VP for Finance and Business Gary Schultz, and Athletic Director Tim Curley were indicted for endangering the welfare of children, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. They are awaiting trial.
In the Penn State case, senior members of the administration, including Penn State's president were accused of lying to investigators and for trying to hide Jerry Sandusky's actions. Further, they "were indicted "for endangering the welfare of children…"
The underlying allegations included this:
Victims also commonly reported that Sandusky would place his hand on their thighs or inside the waistband of their underpants. Two recounted oral sex with Sandusky, sometimes culminating in his ejaculation.
That's totally different than the situation at Mankato. First, President Davenport didn't attempt to cover anything up. Second, he wasn't accused of lying to investigators. Those things alone differentiate this situation from the Penn State scandal.
I understand that administrators nationwide worried about being accused of covering up a pervert's lengthy history of child sex abuse. That's appropriate and justified. What isn't appropriate or justified is conflating everything into another Penn State.
Technorati: Richard Davenport, Todd Hoffner, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Penn State, Jerry Sandusky, Child Sexual Abuse, Graham Spanier, Obstruction of Justice
The Baltimore Ravens have terminated Ray Rice's contract:
DEVELOPING: The Baltimore Ravens fired running back Ray Rice after new video emerged showing the vicious punch he used to drop his then-fiancée in the elevator of an Atlantic City hotel.
The team confirmed the move in a tweet that came hours after video obtained by TMZ showed the 5-foot, 8-inch, 220-pound athlete delivering a left-handed blow to the face of Janay Palmer, appearing to knock her unconscious. The video was shot from inside the Revel Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, and is the footage shot before the previously circulated video that showed Rice dragging his unconscious wife-to-be out of the elevator on Feb. 15.
I just saw the unedited video of Rice punching his then-fiance. Saying that it's a disturbing, emotion-jarring video is understatement.
This afternoon on ESPN, the entire crew of analysts (Louis Riddick, Adam Schefter and Chris Mortenson) expressed outrage at everyone involved in this disaster. Schefter said that law enforcement messed up by not getting the video to the NFL. He said that the prosecutors screwed up by not charging Rice with a felony, instead letting him off the hook with a slap on the wrist. He criticized the Ravens for letting Rice use their facilities to hold a press conference after the incident.
That press conference included testimonial after testimonial about Rice being "a good man." It included Janay Palmer, now Rice's wife, apologizing for the part she played in Rice's violence. (That, by the way, is still the most bizarre part of this horrific incident.)
Riddick said that the league needs to do a better job of doing what's right rather than doing what it needs to do to promote the sport.
Finally, Mortenson got after Goodell, hinting that it isn't good enough to say that he "got it wrong." He said that, while the NFL didn't have the video, they certainly had the report of what Rice did.
Goodell should be suspended for getting this horrific incident woefully wrong. He should lose a hefty chunk of his alleged $50,000,000 a year salary, too. It looks like he isn't the impartial arbiter that his job requires him to be. Honestly, I wouldn't feel bad if he lost his job over this.
Technorati: Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens, Roger Goodell, Player Suspensions, Spousal Abuse, Law Enforcement, Prosecutors, NFL
Chuck Todd, NBC's Chief White House Correspondent, apparently hasn't figured it out that the initial IRS scandal isn't the only IRS scandal. Here's what he said on the matter:
On Monday, the IRS Commissioner testified before Congress. A week after the IRS told Senate investigators that two years of e-mails disappeared in a computer crash back in 2011. While this certainly doesn't make the Obama administration nor the IRS look very good, it's important to remember what this actual story is about because it's gotten lost.
The question at hand is whether explicitly political organizations should be filing as tax exempt social welfare groups under the tax code and both political parties are pointing blame. Republicans say that just conservative-sounding groups were targeted by the IRS.
The thing is that the IRS targeting of TEA Party organizations is just part of the scandal. Another facet of the scandal is Lois Lerner's illegal activities, starting with her sending confidential donor information of the National Organization of Marriage to the Human Rights Campaign.
Another facet of the scandal is how her emails were suspiciously 'lost'. That's actually a big deal because the only plausible explanation for 2 years of Ms. Lerner' emails disappearing is that they were intentionally destroyed to hide incriminating facts about how she was using the IRS to terrorize President Obama's political opponents.
In fact, it was learned Wednesday that Ms. Lerner used her position within the IRS to get a sitting US senator audited.
People that think this scandal is about whether 501(c)(3) organizations "should be filing as tax exempt social welfare" organizations have their head in the sand. This scandal is mostly about whether the Obama administration is using the IRS to terrorize its political enemies. Whether the tax code should be fixed is trivial in comparison.
When the IRS targets the president's political opponents, it's frightening because the IRS has the ability to destroy people's lives. When the IRS attempts to limit organizations' ability to participate in the political process, that's trampling on those organizations' constitutional rights. When a high-ranking official attempts to have a sitting US senator audited, That's about as corrupt as it gets.
In fact, I'd argue that that's more corrupt than Watergate. Here's part of what Article 2 in the Articles of Impeachment brought against President Nixon said:
He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, endeavoured to obtain from the Internal Revenue Service, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, confidential information contained in income tax returns for purposed not authorized by law, and to cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be intitiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.
It clearly states that Nixon tried to obtain "confidential information" from the IRS. Lois Lerner didn't resist HRC's request for confidential information from NOM's filing with the IRS. Ms. Lerner handed them over without hesitation.
If Chuck Todd thinks that Lois Lerner's allegedly illegal actions aren't the focus of this scandal, then he isn't qualified to be a journalist. That doesn't mean, though, that he isn't the closest thing MSNBC has to a journalist. In all seriousness, though, I suspect Todd would like to take that statement back.
Finally, I wish Lois Lerner was never a government employee. She's done tons of damage to average citizens over the past 5 years. If we had a real attorney general, she'd already have been indicted for her treachery.
Technorati: Chuck Todd, MSNBC, IRS, Lois Lerner, Confidential Records,Richard Nixon, Watergate Scandal, Archived Emails, Targeting Conservatives, IRS Audits, Democrats, Chuck Grassley, TEA Party Activists, Republicans
This morning, I wrote this article about Rep. Rick Nolan's cancelled fundraiser with convicted pedophile Peter Yarrow. Yarrow was convicted in 1970 of "making 'immoral and improper' actions with an underage girl."
That's a little too politically correct for me. The unabridged, politically incorrect version of the story is that Yarrow is a convicted pedophile who did unspeakable things to a 14-year-old girl and her 17-year-old sister. While Nolan insists that Yarrow has "done a lot of good for a lot of people," the truth is that those children are scarred for life. They'll never be whole again.
Unfortunately, this is just the most recent incident involving the DFL and a pedophile. In 2012, State Rep. Kelly Gauthier was caught in an almost equally disgusting act of pedophilia:
State Patrol will confirm that one witness approached a trooper around 11 at night on July 22nd to report an incident.
The State Patrol turned the investigation over to the Duluth Police Department. Well placed sources today told the Northland's NewsCenter, the incident involved a 17 year old boy with whom Gauthier was reportedly engaged in a sexual act.
Because the age of consent in Minnesota is 16, it is not illegal to have sex with someone who is 17. However it can be a misdemeanor to engage in sex acts in a public place.
Our sources say Representative Gauthier met the young man on Craig's List and that police are investigating the potential that money changed hands which could make it a criminal matter.
I suspect that most Minnesotans wouldn't be satisfied with 16 being able to consent. I suspect that most Minnesotans would be disgusted with a forty-something-year-old having sex with a 17-year-old. I'm betting most Minnesotans would define that as pedophilia even if the courts wouldn't.
What's worse is that DFL Chairman Ken Martin and DFL House Speaker Paul Thissen knew about Rep. Gauthier's actions in July, 2012, which is more than a month before this news broke. Martin and Thissen protected that disgusting person for more than a month before word got out.
The sad truth is that, whether we're talking about Peter Yarrow hosting a fundraiser for Rick Nolan or Paul Thissen hiding Rep. Gauthier's public sexual conduct with a 17-year-old, the DFL isn't outraged by the actions of creeps like Peter Yarrow and Kelly Gauthier.
That's a history I'd want suppressed if I were a Democrat. That's a history I'd be disgusted with if I was just an average citizen.
It's time that the DFL stopped making excuses for disgusting excuses of a human being. It's time they actually stood against pedophiles.
Technorati: Rick Nolan, Paul Thissen, Ken Martin, Cover-up, Kelly Gauthier, Peter Yarrow, Pedophilia, DFL, Election 2014
Friday night, Mike Hatch enlisted himself as Gov. Dayton's defense attorney. First, here's a little background on the conversation. The first subject discussed during the Almanac Roundtable was medical marijuana.
When Cathy Wurzer brought up the subject of Gov. Dayton's alleged statement to a parent to buy marijuana from a street dealer, Brian McClung jumped all over that, saying that it's disgraceful that Gov. Dayton would tell someone to break the law. Then McClung said that it wasn't just the mother who is making that accusation, that others attending that impromptu meeting had verified the fact that Gov. Dayton had said that.
That's when Mr. Hatch came to Gov. Dayton's defense, saying that "nobody knows what was said. Nobody here was in that meeting." Then he said that since nobody on the panel was there, they shouldn't state their opinion on what happened.
First, that's exceptionally rich coming from someone who made a career as Minnesota's Attorney General by avoiding trials by trying the cases in the court of public opinion. Hatch's habit was to hold splashy press conferences where he'd say that another evil corporation had shafted John Q. Public. Most of Hatch's lawsuits didn't make it to trial because the defendant settled before trial.
But I digress.
Hatch's argument is flimsy at best. Crime aren't committed in front of a room full of upstanding citizens as witnesses. Despite that, juries frequently deliver guilty verdicts without eyewitness testimony to a shooting or robbery.
In this instance, however, there were a bunch of parents/activists who stepped forward and said that they'd heard Gov. Dayton make this statement. If they're telling the truth, then Gov. Dayton told a distraught mother to commit a crime. This video shows at least 2 women, including Jessica Hauser, making the statement that Gov. Dayton told Ms. Hauser to buy marijuana from a street dealer:
If Mr. Hatch wants to argue that these women aren't telling the truth, then he'd better bring a lunch because he's in for a long day. There were at least a half dozen people standing with Ms. Hauser at Ms. Hauser's press conference. If that's the case, then Mr. Hatch's job as Gov. Dayton's defense attorney is to discredit each of these eyewitnesses' testimony. I won't say that's impossible but I'd say accomplishing that is as likely as me hitting the Powerball jackpot…twice.
If I were Gov. Dayton, I'd either hire a better attorney or I'd throw myself on the mercy of the court because, right now, he doesn't have a chance of winning this fight.
Technorati: Mark Dayton, Mike Hatch, Medical Marijuana, Drug Dealers, Eyewitness Testimony, DFL
This video shows some ecoterrorists trespassing on Mark Maki's private property:
This is the unhinged, despicable left terrorizing a private citizen on his private property. That didn't matter to them. This article fills in the details from that act of terrorism:
Masked protesters carrying torches and threatening organized violence protested outside the home of an executive at a major oil pipeline company last week. Eight environmental activists gathered on the lawn of Mark Maki, a member of the Enbridge Energy Company's board of directors and president of Enbridge Energy Management, to protest the arrests of three anti-pipeline activists last year.
The protesters, who brandished torches for a photo posted online, held a sign warning, "solidarity means attack" and "we will shut you down."
Maki stepped out of his Houston, Texas, home to talk with the protesters, though he said he was not familiar with their grievances. "It's 10 o' clock at night, I'm happy to discuss it, [but] not here, not in my neighborhood, not with my neighbors around," Maki told them.
As protesters stood on Maki's lawn, they told him that Enbridge is "criminalizing protest" by testifying against three anti-pipeline activists who were recently convicted of criminal trespassing for chaining themselves to Enbridge construction equipment in July.
There's no denying the fact that these terrorists are criminals. What's stunning is that their actions are accepted by supposedly mainstream environmental organizations:
Anti-pipeline activism has recently spurred even nominally mainstream environmental groups to endorse criminal activity.
The Sierra Club, one of the most prominent environmentalist groups in the country, gave its official endorsement last year to acts of civil disobedience as a means to stop the popular Keystone pipeline.
Anti-pipeline activism has become a pillar of the post-Al Gore environmentalist movement, which has found it to be an effective issue around which to rally its supporters.
It isn't just environmentalists that terrorize people at their homes:
Last Sunday, on a peaceful, sun-crisp afternoon, our toddler finally napping upstairs, my front yard exploded with 500 screaming, placard-waving strangers on a mission to intimidate my neighbor, Greg Baer. Baer is deputy general counsel for corporate law at Bank of America, a senior executive based in Washington, D.C. And that, in the minds of the organizers at the politically influential Service Employees International Union and a Chicago outfit called National Political Action, makes his family fair game.
Waving signs denouncing bank "greed," hordes of invaders poured out of 14 school buses, up Baer's steps, and onto his front porch. As bullhorns rattled with stories of debtor calls and foreclosed homes, Baer's teenage son Jack, alone in the house, locked himself in the bathroom. "When are they going to leave?" Jack pleaded when I called to check on him.
President Obama, when he was still candidate Obama, stated proudly that he'd marched with SEIU. SEIU is considered a central part of today's Democratic Party, as is the Sierra Club.
Altogether too often, the Democratic Party has turned a blind eye towards the Sierra Club or SEIU when they've condoned terrorizing private citizens. Altogether too often, they've essentially said that the ends justify the means. In the Democrats' minds, evil is acceptable when it's used to terrorize one of the Democrats' boogeymen.
Terrorism, whether it's used against Mark Maki or Greg Baer, isn't acceptable. If the Democratic Party doesn't want to be known as the party that condones terrorism, needs to start standing up to these terrorists. If they don't, the Democratic Party should be known as the party that appeases terrorists.
Technorati: Mark Maki, Enbridge Energy Company, The People, Environmental Terrorists, Sierra Club, SEIU, President Obama, Lawlessness, Democrats
One of the biggest whoppers in Bill O'Reilly's confrontation with President Obama came when the president said that there wasn't "even a smidgen of corruption" within the IRS. Jay Sekulow, the attorney representing a couple dozen clients who were hurt by the IRS's corruption, wrote this op-ed in opposition to President Obama's whopper-telling:
While the easy and immediate response is to ask the president whether senior IRS officials typically assert their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination when there's not even a "smidgen of corruption," his statement actually has deeper problems.
First, it is not remotely appropriate for a sitting president to make such a declaration in the midst of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Given that the FBI hasn't even interviewed the victims of IRS targeting, it's safe to say the president hasn't seen all the evidence.
How can we trust the results of an investigation when Barbara Bosserman, one of the lead attorneys, is not only a large donor to Obama's campaigns, but the president himself has publicly issued to that attorney his opinion about the outcome?
President Obama's whopper that there isn't "even a smidgen of corruption" within the IRS is insulting. It's also disturbing on multiple levels. It's bad enough that a presidential administration has effectively weaponized the IRS. It's worse that President Obama can't tell the truth.
He started by sounding scandalized by the IRS's conduct. It didn't take long for that schtick to end. When the IRS scandal was supposedly just in the Cincinnati office, President Obama condemned the IRS. When the allegedly rogue agents from the Cincinnati office testified that Washington was calling the shots, President Obama and Elijah Cummings changed their tone instantly. It wasn't long after that that President Obama started talking about phony scandals.
Mr. President, it isn't a phony scandal when Lois Lerner pleads the Fifth rather than testify what criminal activities she was involved in. Her guilt is obvious. The documentation is overwhelming. As an attorney, you'd know that. As a corrupt politician, however, you can't admit that.
Third, he downplays the extent of the wrongdoing. In addition to the initial targeting scandal, we know the IRS leaked confidential information to friendly leftist media outlets.
The fact that the Justice Department hasn't started a grand jury investigation into this shows how corrupt DOJ is. The information leaked was confidential information contained in a conservative organization's filings to the IRS. It's disgusting that President Obama would attempt to spin this criminal activity as anything but criminal activity.
Saying that there isn't a smidgen of corruption within the IRS when this much corruption is part of people's sworn testimony is awful.
Considering the overwhelming proof of massive, systemic corruption and President Obama's insistence that corruption doesn't exist, there's just a single conclusion that thoughtful people can make. That conclusion is that President Obama didn't hesitate in lying about the IRS corruption.
If this article is accurate, and I think it is, then HHS Secretary Sebelius is latest in a growing list of high-ranking Obama administration officials who don't think this nation's laws apply to them:
Ever wonder what Kathleen Sebelius does when she isn't sentencing children to death, shaking down health care providers, or violating campaign finance laws? Well, it seems she spends her spare time, and a lot of taxpayer money, dabbling in illegal lobbying. The Anti-Lobbying Act forbids federal bureaucrats from using money appropriated by Congress to influence "an official of any government, to favor, adopt, or oppose… any legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation." Sebelius evidently didn't get the memo.
Specifically, it looks like Madam Commissar and her HHS minions have been using federal money to lobby state and local officials to "favor, adopt or oppose" countless initiatives involving everything from local zoning rules to ordinances concerning tobacco use to the imposition of new taxes on soft drinks. The cash they are thus spreading around comes from an obscure Obamacare trove called the "Prevention and Public Health Fund," which provides Sebelius with what amounts to $12.5 billion in pin money.
It's pretty clear that Sebelius is spending money in a way that violates the Anti-Lobbying Act. Even if spending money this way wasn't illegal, which it is, there's no question that cabinet officials shouldn't be spending the taxpayers' money to lobby Congress, legislatures, city councils and county commissioners to make laws the administration favors.
Democrats have consistently whined about how Big Business has too much influence in the political process. Why aren't these same Democrats complaining that Big Government has too much political influence? After all, Congress, legislatures, city councils and county commissioners represent the people. Actually, US senators represent their state whereas representatives represent the people of their district.
Therefore, Secretary Sebelius' acts are how she's using the taxpayers' money to drown out the taxpayers' influence. Think about this a bit:
For any reader too young to recognize the term "pin money," this refers to a regular allowance your grandfather might have given to your grandmother for various incidental household purchases that she wasn't expected to report to him or account for later. And this, despite the truly gigantic amounts of money involved, is pretty much how the "Prevention and Public Health Fund" works. As Stuart Taylor reports in Forbes, "[HHS] can spend the money as it sees fit and without going through the congressional appropriations process."
And if you have become so jaded by the government's fiscal profligacy that you're not impressed by the $12.5 billion figure, consider that this is only for the first decade. After that money is gone, this fund will be replenished to the tune of $2 billion per year — forever. Yes, forever. The statute doesn't actually say "as long as the wind blows and the grass grows," but it does clearly stipulate that the fund never expires. Yet, as the law is written, HHS doesn't have to account for its outlays in any meaningful way.
Think of all the different ways this money might be used. It might be used to lobby Minnesota cities to enact soft drink size limits. It might be used to lobby for laws that enable cities to harass fast food restaurants. That fund might be used to enact, at a city level, all kinds of statutes that the Obama administration can't get through Congress.
The Anti-Lobbying Act probably didn't ponder the possibility of an administration using the taxpayers' money to get around Congress. Still, it's pretty clear the Anti-Lobbying Act might be a valuable tool to prevent this administration's attempt to ignore Congress.
If we had a real attorney general, Secretary Sebelius might join a lengthy list of potential criminals. Jim Geraghty identified some others in his morning newsletter:
LIE ONE: White House press secretary Jay Carney's November 28 explanation about changes made to talking points about the Benghazi attack:
The White House and the State Department have made clear that the single adjustment that was made to those talking points by either of those two — of these two institutions were changing the word "consulate" to "diplomatic facility," because "consulate" was inaccurate. Those talking points originated from the intelligence community. They reflect the IC's best assessments of what they thought had happened.
You can see the twelve rounds of revisions here, well more than a single adjustment, and mostly in response to State Department objections.
After it became clear that Carney had put forth false information, he dug in deeper. Carney paid for his lie with two days of hostile questions from the White House Press Corps . . . and then the storm seemed to have blown over.
LIE TWO: Attorney General Eric Holder, testifying under oath before the House Judiciary Committee, May 15:
Well, I would say this. With regard to the potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material, that is not something that I've ever been involved in, heard of or would think would be a wise policy.
Michael Isikoff later reported the precise opposite:
The Justice Department pledged Friday to review its policies relating to the seizure of information from journalists after acknowledging that a controversial search warrant for a Fox News reporter's private emails was approved "at the highest levels" of the Justice Department, including "discussions" with Attorney General Eric Holder.
There is a claim from the usual, Media Matters, that Holder is in the clear because he was asked about prosecutions for publishing classified information, not solicitation for classified information; they assert that the two actions are totally different. A pretty thin reed for a perjury defense, and one that utterly fails the standard of the chief law-enforcement officer of the United States informing the public of his department's operations.
For us to believe that, it would mean that during the entire Justice Department discussion of prosecuting Fox News' James Rosen for soliciting the information, no one suggested or mentioned prosecuting Rosen for publishing it. Remember, Holder didn't just say he didn't agree with that idea; he said he never heard of the idea.
LIE THREE: Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, testifying under oath before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on March 12, responding to questions from Wyden:
Wyden: "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?"
Clapper: "No, sir."
Wyden: "It does not?"
Clapper: "Not wittingly. There are cases where they could, inadvertently perhaps, collect—but not wittingly."
The subsequent explanation from Clapper, to National Journal: "What I said was, the NSA does not voyeuristically pore through U.S. citizens' e-mails. I stand by that."
Lying to Congress is a crime. This isn't just a scandal. It's a criminal act. When Eric Holder told Congress that he'd never even heard of digging into a reporter's private emails, that was a criminal act. That's why we shouldn't trust Secretary Sebelius when she says this:
HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson raised concerns a year ago about some grants, warning Sebelius that they may violate anti-lobbying statutes. The response was a general assurance that her department was taking care to remain in compliance with all such laws.
When an administration is involved in multiple criminal acts, which were committed in plain sight, they forfeit the right to be trusted.
During the last 24 hours, the Democrats' spin has changed. No longer are they beating up on Holder. Instead, a new response has started popping up. The first I heard of it was on Megyn Kelly's show when Richard Socarides repeatedly said that "mistakes were made" with regard to the Rosen scandal.
That isn't what happened. That's smooth-sounding spin but it isn't the truth. When Eric Holder signed the warrant application that said James Rosen might be a flight risk and that Rosen might be a criminal co-conspirator, Holder willfully told some whoppers. Holder also ignored long-standing DOJ guidelines on warrant applications for journalists.
Let's remember that Holder isn't a wet-behind-the-ears underling working in the DOJ. He's been the AG for almost 5 years. He was Janet Reno's top assistant for most of the Clinton administration. Let's also remember that the journalist warrant guidelines were put together during the Nixon administration almost 40 years ago.
Here's what we know. We know that Holder ignored those DOJ guidelines. We know that he understood that reading James Rosen's private emails was a fishing expedition. Holder knew that this fishing expedition would have a chilling effect on whistleblowers. We've known that this administration loves the thought of whistleblowers not talking to reporters.
Thanks to the reporting of the IRS scandal, especially through Catherine Engelbrecht's story, we know that this administration won't hesitate in using the federal government as a weapon against their political opponents. We know that thanks to Peggy Noonan's article about Catherine Engelbrecht's nightmare. Here's what Catherine Engelbrecht suffered through:
In July 2010 she sent applications to the IRS for tax-exempt status. What followed was not the harassment, intrusiveness and delay we're now used to hearing of. The U.S. government came down on her with full force.
In December 2010 the FBI came to ask about a person who'd attended a King Street Patriots function. In January 2011 the FBI had more questions. The same month the IRS audited her business tax returns. In May 2011 the FBI called again for a general inquiry about King Street Patriots. In June 2011 Engelbrecht's personal tax returns were audited and the FBI called again. In October 2011 a round of questions on True the Vote. In November 2011 another call from the FBI. The next month, more questions from the FBI. In February 2012 a third round of IRS questions on True the Vote. In February 2012 a first round of questions on King Street Patriots. The same month the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms did an unscheduled audit of her business. (It had a license to make firearms but didn't make them.) In July 2012 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration did an unscheduled audit. In November 2012 more IRS questions on True the Vote. In March 2013, more questions. In April 2013 a second ATF audit.
That's how other parts of the government tormented Engelbrecht. Why shouldn't we think that Holder's DOJ would use its power to intimidate whistleblowers?
Socarides' repeated statements that "mistakes were made" were intended to make it sound like Eric Holder made an innocent mistake. It was also Socarides' goal to paint the picture that this is Holder's first brush with controversy. Considering Holder's instigating Marc Rich's pardon on tax evasion charges and Holder's dropping the voter intimidation case against the National Black Panther Party, Holder isn't exactly a stranger to being on the wrong side of controversy.
Talk show hosts should reject this latest spin on Holder's blatant disregard for the Constitution and for whistleblowers to come forward to tell of this administration's wrongdoing. Holder is a bad guy who's done some nasty things throughout his career.


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There are so so many reasons to bring cooking into the schoolday and afterschool classroom, and to bring kids into the kitchen. Cooking and sharing food brings people together fostering the development of healthy relationships. The process of cooking is hands-on and immediately engaging. No matter your ability, experience, or learning style- there's always something to do in the kitchen. When we practice cooking and learn skills, we gain more ownership and control over our diet. When you prepare your own meals they will no doubt be tastier, healthier, and more affordable that the alternative.
Developing our cooking skills and comfort in the kitchen is an important component of the Rebel Gardeners. We experiment with the variety of produce we grow to create new healthy recipes to share with our community. We also hunt down heirloom recipes from different community members to preserve food traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. No matter what the inspiration, all our recipes follow a simple motto: think AHEAD (affordable, healthy, easy, accessible, delicious).
The opportunities to integrate cooking into academic disciplines are endless. Writing recipes and calculating nutrition information requires math. Researching recipes and learning about cuisine involves, reading, writing, and social social studies. Just about any cooking process- whether it's steaming a potato, boiling and egg, or pickling a cucumber can be studied scientifically through biology and chemistry. And this is just scratching the surface of the opportunities for discovery by coooking in school.


text: If you want to visit islands it would be better to book the tickets just few hours before or one day before as cancellations happen sometimes for any reasons. There are some night ferries to Santorini for certain seasons not always, so check it beforehand. Normally there are three ferries to Santorini every day. From Santorini to Milos, there are one ferry early in the morning once in three days but it might change.


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|Property type
|Minimum Stay
|2 - 7 nights
Reserve now for 2 night minimum stays in spring and by the week for summer.
Summer Stays of 4 or more nights also considered.
Summer by the week $1400. Spring weekend $400
Rates are all inclusive
Spacious one room cottage on a private 7 acre estate with swimming pond, lily pond, streams, gardens and views. Only the owner shares this peaceful natural retreat, minutes from everything exciting in the Berkshires and Columbia County.
Originally built by artist caretakers to a Manhattan horticulturist, the cottage has it's own driveway and is a spacious, 550 sq. feet with a large bedroom/sitting room, separate full kitchen and a sky-lit bathroom. There is a queen size bed, reading and dining areas, Cable TV, DVD, a CD player, WiFi, air conditioning and heat. It is comfortable, has charm and is well equipped.
From a picture window where a table is placed, you can look over the gardens to the lake, a glorious view all year round.
In summer you can hear the stream trickling from the small front deck. Or step out the back to a private shade garden with cushioned lounges for reading, a propane grill, table and chairs for outdoor dining.
A gazebo cantilevered over the water is for your use alone. Perfect for reading, relaxing, a glass of wine before dinner.
In winter, the cottage becomes a cozy cabin.Bring books, hiking boots, snow shoes, even skis. Catamount is less than a half hour away, Butternut a few minutes more.
The cottage is heaven sent for an individual or couple who want to relax in a natural retreat yet still have access to all this popular tourist area offers.
Enjoy the best of the Berkshires and Columbia County. Once part of Massachusetts, Austerlitz is on the NY/Mass. border Only 18 minutes to
Tanglewood and Kripalu. Less than half and hour to the towns of Great Barrington, Stockbridge and Lenox, Mass., as well as Hudson, Hillsdale and Chatham, NY. There are ski slopes nearby, golf and tennis, hiking, biking, fine restaurants, theaters, films, concerts. Museums, historic homes, antiques, festivals, farmers' markets, wineries, distilleries, celebrity sightings ...and so much more.
OCCUPANCY: two adults unless special arrangements are made in advance for a guest.
RATES quoted are for 2 people. They are all
inclusive. There are no extra charges or fees.
PAYMENT OPTIONS; For fees of $1000 or more, you may have the option of paying a deposit of half to secure the reservation. For shorter stays, reservation is secured by
payment in full. (read cancellation info.)
MINIMUM STAY: Stays of two nights minimum apply most of the year. Summer and Holidays may require longer stays and special rates may apply. In general, rates are
lowest for the longest stays.
CANCELLATION POLICY: A full refund of the deposit minus a cancellation fee* will be granted if cancellation is made 31 or more days before the date of scheduled arrival. A 50% refund of the deposit will be granted if cancellation is made 15 to 30 days prior to arrival. There are no refunds for no shows or abbreviated stays.
*Cancellation fee for stays of 4 nights or more:
$200. Fee for shorter stays:$75
An exception will be made in winter to this policy with cancellations that are due to expected storms. A full refund will be granted for cancellation prior to entry but none for abbreviated stays.
that the property was once woods and although beautiful and almost always quiet, neither the cottage not the main house is immune to bad weather, critters, power outages and other such country things. We certainly do our best to prepare for contingencies that are beyond our control.
Also be aware that the property is between cell phone towers so it is rare for a cell phone to work until you reach the main road. There is internet and a phone with answering machine so you can make and receive calls. Many guests have expressed delight at the positive effect on their vacation; and of course, cell phone service is available at most shopping centers along the road.
CHECK IN:2PM . Check out 11AM. Check out times may be flexible. Inquire.
Smoking is not permitted. Sorry no pets.
Keywords: Cottage, retreat, romantic getaway, cabin, upstate getaway, Hudson Valley, Austerlitz, NY, Berkshires, 7 acre estate, swim, canoe, gardens, views,Tanglewood, Hudson,NY Great Barrington, Mass. Chatham, NY.,Kripalu
Am an expat of Manhattan but grew up outside of Boston.
Beth Rinzler purchased this cottage in 1994
For years my family rented a tiny cottage in the area so as to escape the city in the summer. We began loving it more and more and making our weekends longer and longer. When we made the leap to move up full time, we chose this location
because it is on border of Berkshire and Columbia Counties, near all the bright lights, yet very peaceful and tranquil. We were hoping to find a property with one distinguishing feature; we never expected to find one with so many bells and whistles.
Swimming , canoeing, walking around
the lake, enjoying the gardens, lazing about the property ,watching the hummingbirds skim past the flowers. Reading under a 100 year old tree. Listening to the trickle of the stream.
Fresh air. sipping that first cup of coffee outside, exercizing on the gazebo. Yoga.
Slowing down.
We loved being at your cottage. It was just what we wanted - quiet, beautiful,peaceful.
Deb enjoyed the swimming in the pond and we enjoyed sitting in various parts of your property and just reading.....
My wife and I needed a weekend getaway and we decided on this property. It's absolutely gorgeous set in the woods on the owners property but a safe private distance away. We actually never saw the owner and have the full use of the entire property which includes a beautiful garden and a nice pond walk as well as outdoor seating and lounge chairs a table and a Pergola that overlooks the pond and has stunning views of the woods and the foliage.
The owner was very nice on the phone and very prompt whether it was phone or email.
The house itself is small but surprisingly large on the inside that has a separated small kitchen and opens up into a studio with a large bed that is looks more like a large boutique hotel suite. It was beautifully appointed and very clean.
We plan on going again as it's conveniently located about 20 to 25 minutes to Lenox, Stockbridge, Lee and about 35-40 minutes to Great Barrington and the drives are absolutely magnificent
Owner was very responsive and friendly in emails and over the phone. Upon arriving to the cottage, the first thing you notice is how peaceful it is. You feel at home from the moment you walk in the door. The cottage was extremely clean and contained necessary appliances and utensils for cooking. The owner thought of every contingency and included instructions and/or suggestions in a thoughtful binder. The cottage was private but we felt welcome to call the owner with any questions or concerns. Overall, our anniversary stay was perfect, and a large part of the reason was our stay at this cozy cottage! We will be recommending this cottage to friends and family, and hope to return someday as well.
The cottage was great and is perfectly located for day trips and hiking. There is complete privacy and it is quite charming. We had a good stay and enjoyed the area so very much. The hostess left a binder with lots of suggestions and that was very helpful!!
I loved staying at Beth's romantic and beautiful cottage. The cottage has everything you need, including a very clean and cute bathroom with lots of natural light, and even a kitchen and fridge. The cottage is very spacious, with very good mood lighting. The garden and pond are all as seen in the pictures, beautiful and quiet. Beth is a very kind and friendly host and also extremely considerate. We very much enjoyed our stay there and hope to be back soon. The surrounding area is also very beautiful, and you can do some good hikes if you like.
Beth: Once again we were thrilled and delighted with the cottage. It is utterly charming and so very well equipped. And the grounds, of course, are lovely. (I even featured the cottage in my recent novel, "Brainways.") This was visit number three, and we will be back next year. It's like coming home. Best regards, Hank and Karen.
My wife and I have rented this cozy cottage three times and look forward to staying here again. We vacation in the Berkshires but enjoy the peacefull surroundings here and Beth is always most helpfull when we need recomendations. Very quiet location yet literally 5 mins from downtown Lenox or Stockbrige.
Tanglewood, Jacob's Pillow,Kripalu,theater, concerts and Blue Grass Festivals, Country Fairs, Farmers' Markets, Antiques, Fine Dining, Historic Homes, Botanical Gardens, six great New England Towns to visit, and new to the area, even a nightclub or two, live music and dancing. Located on the cusp of Mass/NY.
Enjoy the best of the Berkshires and the Hudson Valley!
|Rate Period
|Weekend Night
|Monthly *
Apr 2 2015 - Jun 25 2015
2 night minimum stay
Jun 26 2015 - Sep 8 2015
7 night minimum stay
Sep 9 2015 - Jan 12 2016
2 night minimum stay
Rates are all inclusive and are subject to change.Mid week specials may apply for stays of 3 nights or more. Inquire. Sorry no pets and sadly no children. Infant welcome free of charge.
For reservations made at least 31 days in advance, guests have option of paying a deposit of half of fee to secure reservation. The other half is due 21 days prior to date of reservation. Take personal checks, money orders or paypal. Reservations made less than a month in advance of date of arrival are due in full. Paypal or priority mail are required.
* Approximate monthly rate. Actual rate will depend on the days of the month you stay.
Payment is usually accepted in the quoted currency (USD) unless the currency and the amount is specifically agreed in advance with the owner / advertiser.


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Speakers Corner
It's free to register, to post a question or to start / join a discussion
Empty Olympic Seats
Likes # 0
Posted July 29, 2012 at 9:17AM
That was one of the main things that Seb Coe promised to address after the same empty Olympic seats were seen at Bejing and Greece (Australia don't do empty sports seats).
But I can see plenty of them in London as well. The reason being given is that they are the sponsors corporate gift seats that aren't taken up by those that aren't interested in the games or have more interest in mingling at the event champagne reception.
I would hope that they would start to start and give them away to those that pay a fiver for basic entry to the Olympic park if the freebee set don't fill them within half an hour of the event starting.
This is not just an Olympic problem, up to 10% of other major event seats remain empty for the same reason.
Likes # 0
Posted July 29, 2012 at 9:26AM
You are on the right lines QB.
Those seats are likely to be corporate blocks.
They should be 'released ' if not free 30 minutes before event if not claimed.
Likes # 0
Posted July 29, 2012 at 9:47AM
Very interesting article in the Times today about widespread corruption in regards to seats. It seems like at least 54 counties were involved.But as has been pointed out large blocks of seats were handed to the corporate sponsors who once they had got their ads in place and attended the champagne events prior to,during and after the opening ceremony they will have little interest until of course the closing ceremony.
On a separate issue on tickets, only 6.5000 tickets were sold for the USA vs France women's football match at Hampden Park (Glasgow) were sold and another 34,000 were given away, but the organisers left it so late with the giveaways that schools etc found it difficult to organise staff cover. So a pretty empty Scottish national stadium was the result.
Likes # 0
Posted July 29, 2012 at 10:23AM
I like your suggestion SparkyJack, 'They should be 'released ' if not free 30 minutes before event if not claimed'.
Instead of issuing corporate seat tickets, issue corporate seat vouchers. If the seating voucher isn't swapped for an event seating ticket within half an hour of the event start (that forces the voucher holder to do something positive to gain entry), release the event seating ticket at event minimum seat price, leaving the voucher holders locked out of the event arena to watch on the TV while quaffing their champagne and canapé in the corporate receptions!
Some people will get an unexpected treat, and the event seating will be full. Major events always have people trying to get in when they're sold out, so there should be no shortage of takers, especially for the track and field finals days when we'll see empty seats too.
Likes # 0
Posted July 29, 2012 at 10:33AM
watched gymnastics on tv huge amount of empty seats same with swimming i would have thought these would have popular
Likes # 0
Posted July 29, 2012 at 10:59AM
Umpteen million squillions tuned in to the Games on TV around the World - how do 'they' know? I would like to see a breakdown by Country, of numbers of Games viewers.
Likes # 0
Posted July 29, 2012 at 11:20AM
* I would like to see a breakdown by Country, of numbers of Games viewers.*
I want to see their names.LOL
Likes # 0
Posted July 29, 2012 at 11:31AM
Given the lottery process of seat allocations, it's certainly frustrating that there are so many left empty now, even for some of the high demand events - watching some of the opening ceremony on Friday night, there were a fair number of seats unattended.
I'm not sure that releasing the seats to the public 30 minutes before an event start would work though. If you have tickets for the mens 5000m, you will also see a lot of other sports too making it practically impossible to ticket by event, at least for track and field. Even if you could open up the tickets 30 min before the start of an event, it would only benefit people within 30 minutes of the event location, and that in turn would cause problems. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of tickets being made available, especially if it's for reduced cost.
Likes # 0
Posted July 29, 2012 at 11:44AM
For event, read it as the arena entry, not the individual event of many within the arena.
Not 30 minutes? The day before then, you should have to confirm your intention to attend by swapping your attendance voucher for a seat ticket in person. Only the dedicated will bother to do that, and we don't really want the non to bothereds there do we?
Let it become the norm to see it as selfish to hold a seat ticket to a major event and not sit in it, not just Olympic seats, all major event tickets, it happens at Ashes and 6 Nations matches all the time.
Likes # 0
Posted July 29, 2012 at 12:57PM
Seeing that there have already been some prosecutions at Westminster Magistrates Court regarding selling of tickets at 10 times face value,then there's bound to be some empty seats, if the public cannot afford or have access to these tickets at market value?.
Who in their right mind would consider paying £21.120 for a pair of tickets for the opening ceremony, beggars believe the amount people are prepared or wants to pay?.
In the above court case, it would appear that 52 tickets were sold for £205.062 which were actually totally valued at £22.920. The court case is based on an 'authorised' seller, using 'sister' company's selling on the tickets.
Likes # 0
Posted July 29, 2012 at 3:39PM
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Paul Noronha
Greenpeace activists protesting outside Bombay House, the Tata headquarters in Mumbai on Tuesday, against the steel plant coming up near Damra port in Orissa.
The six-million-tonne per annum steel project will export and import steel products through Damra hurting the movement of Olive Ridley turtles. Environmental groups such as the Bombay Natural History Society have taken up the matter with the Tata management.
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Friday, these young anglers were fishing for trout at Cloe Lake in Bell Township and even caught one.
Today, they are now permitted to catch bass, as that particular season started at midnight.
Pictured (from left) are Harper Cameron (in front), Dylan Bender, Joey DiPietro and Aiden Cameron.
Read more about bass season in today's edition of The Spirit


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Taylor Lautner is Abducted... In His New Movie
Much to the dismay of Twilight fans everywhere, the final chapter of Twilight is upon us, with the first Breaking Dawn film releasing in November.
Taylor Lautner, for one, is wasting no time, joining fellow Twilight costars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart by jumping on the "starring-in-my-own-movie-that-isn't-Twilight" bandwagon.
Last night MTV released the first trailer for Tay-Tay's upcoming flick Abduction, where he plays Nathan, a young man who tries to find out the truth about his life after finding his baby picture on a missing persons website.
Taylor told MTV News,"It's crazy for me to actually watch the trailer, because I've been envisioning this movie put together for so long — ever since I read the script. Just to see it all together now is really exciting."
The action thriller hits theaters September 23rd.
Do you think Taylor can carry a film by himself?
Will you see Abduction?
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Gov. Buddy Roemer (R) @BuddyRoemer
Politwoops no longer follows this account.@guerillacharity How is that?
An archive of the public statements deleted by U.S. politicians. Explore the tweets they would prefer you couldn't see.
To meet the Twitter API Terms of Service, all deleted tweets shown here since June 22, 2012 have been reviewed and approved by the Sunlight Foundation.


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This is so sick.. I am appalled that my image is being used by these cowards - ACTOR TONY SCANNELL; ACTOR'S FURY AS NEO-NAZIS TAKE HIS NAME & FACE.
IRISH TV star Tony Scannell was outraged last night after his identity was hijacked by a NAZI activist.
A white supremacist is posing as Ted Roach - the well-loved copper 51-year-old Scannell played in hit TV series The Bill - to spread his hate-filled bile in Ireland.
Cork-born Tony starred as the hard hitting Detective Sergeant Ted Roach in The Bill for nine years.
But a neo-Nazi thug is calling himself Ted Roach AND using a photo of the star on Irish white-power websites in a bid to recruit racists to take part in a controversial UCD student debate on immigration.
Last night the angry actor told the Irish Sunday Mirror: "I am appalled my image is being used by these people. I would like to make it clear I have absolutely no connection with these websites."
The neo-Nazi using Tony's picture on the sick website Stormfront claims he is recruiting a hate-filled debating team for a student event at UCD, one of Ireland's biggest universities.
A debate on immigration organised by UCD's Literary and Historical Society is due to take place on November 9, 2005.
It is the same date as Kristallnacht - the infamous night when Nazis first attacked Jewish homes and synagogues 67 years ago.
The Irish actor is disgusted his character is being abused by a neo-Nazi to shield his real his real identity.
Scannell, from Kinsale, Co. Cork, who starred as the hard-drinking cop from 1984 to 1993, added:
"I don't support or endorse any of the sick opinions expressed by these people.
"This person is obviously too cowardly to use their own name and I would like them to stop hiding behind my identity."
And the L&H Society denies it has given an open invitation to neo-Nazi debaters.
But the elite debating society admits to inviting Aine Ni Chonaill leader of the Immigration Control Platform to a debate.
Ni Chonaill has spoken about Ireland being "invaded" by Africans.
Student Louisa Ni Eideain head of the debating society said: "In trying to put together a debate on immigration, we invited people on both sides of the issue to address the society.
"One of the groups we tried to contact was the Immigration Control Platform, where we left messages for Aine Ni Chonaill."
But she denies inviting any extreme Irish Nazis to debate in UCD.
She said: "How 'Ted Roach' got the notion that he or any of his friends had been invited, we have no idea whatsoever.
"No-one behind, to the side, or on the scenes of the L&H has anything to do with this man."
But Ni Eideain refused to deny the invitations said the event would be held on the Kristallnacht anniversary.
She added: "There were no final confirmations of a date with anyone."
The neo-Nazi is using Mr Scannell's photograph on websites where he spreads hate-filled messages about immigrants in Ireland.
He describes himself as a "white-winger" and he is the main contributor to a white supremacist website called Stormfront.
On this site, he says Ireland is being "infected" by non-white immigrants.
Incredibly, the neo-Nazi claims all black men are bisexual.
But his ultra-racist views about black people are just too disgusting to repeat in public.
He also defends Nazi Germany saying they had a better economic policy than modern Ireland.
He said: "Was there a huge gap between rich and poor in the Third Reich like there is now."
The crazed racist claims he was invited by the elite student club in University College Dublin to put together a neo-Nazi debating team.
"Roach" claimed on the Stormfront website: "I just received information that the Literary and Historical Society (L&H) in UCD will be having an immigration debate on the ninth of November, and are looking for racists to go and speak.
"If anyone here thinks they can do a good job representing the majority of Irish people who are anti-immigration contact me."
Racist 'Roach" also claimed Ireland's neo-Nazis have a number of supporters operating behind the scenes in the high-flying student club.
He said: "We have a number of pro-white people in the L&H as well as the Student Union who are operating behind the scenes."
The fascist says his student supporters are not crazed extremists.
He said: "Any of the pro-white people I met from UCD were not Nazis or Hitler worshipers they just didn't want to be a minority in their own country."
This is not the first time the society has been involved in controversy about immigration.
Last year trouble broke out during a debate about immigration held by the society.
The debaters invited anti- immigration activist Justin Barrett to speak at the debate.
But the debate ended in violence as Barrett was attacked by five students.
Students have accused the debating club of deliberately putting on racially-charged debates.
The date November 9, 1938, is seen as the start of the Holocaust, that claimed the lives of six million Jews.
On that night rampaging mobs destroyed nearly 2,000 synagogues.
A Labour Party spokesman said: "We would regard it as offensive if a debating society invited neo-Nazis to a debate on the anniversary of one of the most horrific nights of Nazi Germany.
"People should be sensitive about discussing race on this day."
Tony Scannell is best known for his starring role in The Bill but also had guest parts in other TV shows including 70s action drama The Professionals.
He father Tommy was a goalkeeper for Ireland in a 1-0 defeat of Luxembourg in a World Cup qualifier in 1954.
He spent his playing career with Southen United in Britain and died in 1994.
The aftermath of Kristalnacht when the Nazis attacked Jewish homes and businesses
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