"Real Talk" about what to do if you're stopped by the police in black and white

The Talk for Black Americans

Artist Michael D’ Antuono created a powerful painting portraying what many African-American parents experience when trying to explain to their sons the gross injustice surrounding the killings of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice or the many other young black men killed by the hands of law enforcement.

The Talk for White Americans

 

• Don’t get into an argument with the police.
• Never bad-mouth a police officer.
• Remember, anything you say or do can be used against you.
• Keep your hands where the police can see them.
• Don’t run.
• Don’t touch any police officer.
• Don’t resist even if you believe you are innocent.
• If you complain at the scene, or tell the police they’re wrong, do so in a non-confrontational way that will not intensify the scene.
• Do not make any statements regarding the incident.
• If you are arrested, ask for a lawyer immediately.
• Remember officers’ badge numbers, patrol car numbers and physical descriptions.
• Write down everything you remember ASAP.
• Try to find witnesses and their names and phone numbers.
• If you are injured, take photos of the injuries as soon as possible, but make sure you get medical attention first. Ask for copies of your medical treatment files.

Must Reads:

When White Parents Have to Have  "The Talk" with their black sons

Police Brutality in black and white

Real-time photo evidence of a cop planting evidence on a victim
What NOT to do if you are black and stopped by the police.

Eye will close with some misinformation and faulty logic from the designated African American black attacker on Fox.

COOPER: In the black community, we need to have a conversation that’s unemcumbered by the radical left and progressives’ agenda that tries to use government coercion to address some problems. Here’s the reality: black Americans, like myself, we have an elevated risk of death that will come – not from law enforcement but that will come from other black Americans.
…According to the CDC, the second most likely contributor to that disparity is homicide. There is no other ethnic group that homicide ranks as high and the statistics actually show it’s black people killing other black people. …If no other ethnic group faces this risk, it is a sign that there’s a disparate amount of criminality happening in this one group.

Sound familiar?  Faux News.  All spin, all the time, unfair and unbalanced, distorting what you decide.  Just say NO to Faux News.

RedEye

"Protestors, Rioters, and Looters" code for Black folks exercising their 1st Amendment Rights in "My Country Tis of Thee"

It's dangerous and wrong to treat Ferguson MO as a warzone

As the world braces for the secret grand jury decision in #Ferguson, area police, homeland security, and the National Guard stand ready to rock and roll out their government issued, taxpayer funded, Weapons of Mass Destruction, on protestors  if  the grand jury decides not to indict  officer Darren Wilson , for the execution of #MikeBrown, in the middle of the street, for the crime of jaywalking/ talking back while black.

For some reason African Americans are supposed to accept the decision of the secret grand jury without question.

 Even as verdict after verdict continues to excuse White authority figures of their wrongdoing, the Black community is expected to understand that police officers have a very hard job. The Black community is expected to understand that approximately 150 police officers are killed in the line of duty each year, the Black community is expected to understand that police officers are human too, the Black community is expected to understand that police officers are just doing their job and the Black community is expected to understand that even if a police officer is in the wrong, you are supposed to remain submissive and never talk back.

For some reason when African Americans peacefully assemble to voice their outrage, or, to plead for justice, it's called a riot.

  During questioning, she referred multiple times to "riots" in Sanford after Trayvon Martin was killed. "I knew there was rioting, but I guess [the authorities] had it pretty well organized," she says at one point. In fact, despite a great deal of salivating anticipation by the media both before and after the trial, there were no riots in Sanford, Florida.

I believe the reason is rooted in what is known as Slave Codes ,  laws in each U.S. state, which defined the status of slaves and the rights of masters. These codes gave slave-owners absolute power over the enslaved.  For example, the Alabama Slavery Code of 1833 made it illegal for more than five male slaves, with or without passes, to assemble at any place off the proper plantation to which they belong, and if any slaves do assemble together, the same shall be deemed unlawful assembly.

Protestors are being warned by the Governor, a United States Senator, the local District Attorney,  and ironically,  the Klu Klux Klan, violence will not be tolerated (excuse me while I laugh out loud).

Terrified whites are arming themselves, prepared to protect their lives and property from the looters and rioters masquerading as peaceful protestors.   There's just one problem with this scenario, how are they going to differentiate the peaceful protestors from the looters and rioters when they all look alike?  It seems like they are preparing to put down a slave rebellion to me.

I HOPE and pray our government isn't allowed to treat peaceful protestors like "rioters and looters" again.

I HOPE and pray America lives up to it's promise of liberty and justice for ALL.

I HOPE and pray for justice, peace, and reconciliation in the Sweet land of liberty.

#BlackLivesMatter

Why did Huntsville City Schools pay a former FBI agent to spy on black students? Because they could?

  #hsvboe members Elisa Ferrell and Walker McGinnis, Laurie McCaulley, Superintendent Casey Wardynksi

Alabama media group state enterprise reporter Challen Stephens investigative reporting of the Huntsville City Schools SAFe program garnered national attention.  Although they were tardy to the party, the story was eventually picked up by mainstream blogs,  print media, and television. Oh the shame of it all!

So how does Huntsville City Schools respond?  The newly installed President of the board, who didn't know nothing before she knew something, announces they cutting the security consultant services from the budget and will operate the program internally with the district's security team headed by Al Lankford, the system's chief security officer.   Nod Nod Wink Wink

Uh, how do you cut services from the budget that were never in the budget?  And is this the same district security team whose budget was just slashed and work force reduced?  Is this the same chief security officer who thought he was talking to the NSA (National Security Agency)?  Oh, OK

Now, let's separate fact from spin.

HCS is NOT ending the program.

They have NOT answered any questions about the origins of the program.

We still do not know who authorized the expenditure $157,190 for Mr. McRae.

We still do not know exactly how the $2,295,608.00 that we've paid T&W Operations since 2013 has been spent since only about half of that was approved by the board.

They are attempting to sweep this under the rug in the hopes that the public will forget.

 A better question, perhaps, is whether Alabama — land of the fiscal conservatives — should be spending $110 an hour looking for kids bragging about their pot-smoking exploits online. At the very least, they should've funneled a little more cash into designing that logo.

We must laugh to keep from crying.

#hsvboe gives north Huntsville students, principals, teachers, elected officials, clergy, community leaders, and taxpayers the middle finger...again

The educational quality of Huntsville City Schools has not improved over the past two years. All that has improved is Wardynski’s ability to pretend that it has.~geekpavaler

OK, so I think I've calmed down enough to blog about the latest developments in the ongoing saga of the Huntsville City School system, and the desire of the Board of Education, City of Huntsville, the Chamber of Commerce, the PTSA, the board of Realtors, the media, and the business community to gain unitary status in name only, so they can self segregate without impunity.  Ironically this is a school system that used to have a reputation for diversity and academic excellence.  Being employed by Huntsville City Schools used to be a sought after privilege.

When I say the status quo wants a unitary school district in name only, it's because they think it's perfectly natural for schools to be identifiably white/black/brown/poor.  It's not their fault parents live in districts with failing schools.  If they want their child to attend a good school they should move into a district with good schools.  It's them there housing patterns (they created) in the name in urban renewal that are the cause of the self segregation.

The schools in north Huntsville are failing because of crime, and that's what the black clergy, elected officials and community leaders need to concentrate on instead of demanding equity and worrying about names of buildings, and rock quarries.  Typed with much sarcasm.

The children in north Huntsville don't want to learn, they are all aspiring gang members and thugs, whose parents want free stuff from the government so they use their money to  buy beer, guns, get their hair and nails done, and make babies out of wedlock.  It's makes no sense to throw good money after bad trying to educate them.  Snark

This is who they are and what they do.

The ACLU and a State Senator request information regarding the school districts monitoring of some students social media accounts and expulsions, they tell them to shove it.

The community organizes a march and a petition to keep the name and legacy of J.O.Johnson High School, they violate their own naming policy and rename the school, despite the fact they let other new schools keep their names after protests.

Black elected officials write a letter to the federal desegregation judge complaining about not being heard, they accused them of stealing money and trying to hurt the children.

Black ministers organize a mass community meeting in support of the  of the justice department, they stage a stand in the school house door, and a coup d'etat of the J.O.Johnson PTSA.

Parents and citizens try to address the board with their concerns, or generate a petition calling for the resignation of the superintendent,  they deny parents that right (pun intended) unless they live in Huntsville proper because it interferes with board business, and citizens have to write down their questions on index cards and have them read (if they are lucky) by the Director of Community Engagement, whose job it is to not only read the questions, but to write speeches for Board members, and send out mass emails ordering teachers and principals to attend a rally on the school house steps


North Huntsville Clergy and Community Leaders demand the resignation of Dr. Casey WARdynski and demand equity for north Huntsville schools, they extend his contract, make it ever green , without public comment.

Who the heck do north Huntsville elected officials, clergy, community leaders, and citizens think they are?  Taxpayers?  What gives them the right to demand anything?  Don't they know they need to government to take care of them?

About that Director of Community Spying.....
In a previous post, The Composer made a  tongue in cheek referral to David Driscoll as the Director of Community Spying, but when you look a little closer you find the characterization has a ring of truth.

Let's recap:

Who is David Driscoll?  According to his LinkedIn profile he is a former radio personality/sales director and President of the The Driscoll Group  consulting/business services. According to AL.com his firm does consulting work for Huntsville City Schools.

McGinnis, Wilder and Ferrell on Thursday issued a statement through the Driscoll Group, which does consulting work for Huntsville City Schools, in support of extending Wardynski's contract. 
"We believe extending Dr. Wardynski's contract an extra year is the right thing to do for the school system," the statement read. "With the ongoing court case, the construction of multiple schools and rapid changes being made to better educate our children, we feel that keeping the same team together is critical.

The Driscoll Group Facebook invites readers to check out the website they designed for soon to be former school board member/President, and failed State Senate candidate, David Blair. 

The counter protest in support of Casey Wardynski was organized and led by James Lomax,  whose LinkedIn profile says he was previously employed by the Driscoll Group.

Lomax, a young politically-active Huntsville resident who, until August, worked for the Driscoll Group, said he organized the rally because he worries that all of the negativity toward the superintendent will "scare him away."
"Casey Wardynski coming here has really changed the landscape of the school system," Lomax said. He said Wardynski has done an excellent job since becoming superintendent. 
"You don't fire someone doing a good job," Lomax said.

Back to the Director of Community Spying....remember when Casey Wardynski was invited to attend a town hall meeting in north Huntsville organized by Councilman Richard Showers, which he refused to attend, but said he knew everything that was said because he said "he had people there"?  Don't know about people, but I know one person that was there, and at all other community meetings.....
David Driscoll.

Enter the New South Slave Catchers, I mean, Coalition

In order to justify giving her constituents the middle finger again, District 1 school board member Laurie McCaulley claimed she received 3 emails against, and 30 emails in favor of extending Warydnski's contract.  None of which she produced.  What she did produce was an email she claims she received from the Huntsville Madison County Chapter of the Alabama New South Coalition the night before the vote, but AL.com reports the press release is dated the day of the vote.  Oh what a tangled web we weave....

Fellow blogger Field Negro awards Field Negro and House Negro status for behavior that merits the special designation.  Eye (pun intended) am going to start calling out Slave Catcher behavior.  What is a slave catcher you ask?  I turn the floor over to Field Negro:

You see a house Negro simply stayed in the house with massa, and he liked the house and everything in it. He would do everything to stay in the house, and would protect the house at all cost because he had a stake in it. It was where he lived, and it was where he found comfort. He would never speak against massa like the field Negroes, because he didn't want to risk losing all of that. But, even worse than the house Negro, was the slave catcher. This was the Negro who searched hardest to find us when we ran away. It was the slave catcher who the master would give the whip to tear into us when we stepped out of line. It was the slave catcher who ran right behind the blood hounds and in front of the master, when he thought one of us was hiding in the woods. It was the slave catcher who always did the master's most barbarous and sadistic deeds that even the master would not do. The slave catcher hated us even more than the master did. Who knows why? Maybe some sick demented sh#t in his past, maybe some psychological sickness that prevented him from wanting to be a part of something he has no control over. Or, a sick desire to be accepted by only those who didn't look like he does. Only the slave catcher and his shrink knows for sure.

The behavior of district 1 Board Representative Laurie McCaulley, and Wilbert Brownlow, incoming President of the Huntsville Madison County Chapter of the New South Coalition, have earned them the title of  Slave Catchers of the Week.  Just because you like being in bondage doesn't mean the rest of us want to remain in bondage.

#HCSBOE "This is a public meeting but not a meeting of the public" & "Interfering with with board business" one sad vote at a time *Sigh*

HSC superintendent Casey Wardynski's contract, a progress report on the combined Jemison/McNair campus, and changes to its bylaws and standing rules that would allow only Huntsville residents to speak during citizen comments, were on the agenda at last nights HCS work session.   I am going to refer you to the Geek Pavaler for in depth analysis and reporting, but here is what happened in a nutshell:

1. Make it harder for anyone, including board members, to see how he’s spending the district’s money;
2. Make his contract “auto-renewing” because they want “to simplify the work of the board; and
3. Silence the public from speaking out against Wardynski even more.

As one commenter said: It’s amazing how devious and underhanded the HCS board has acted. I hate to say it, but I thought they were just incompetent. I guess I would have preferred that, to them being obvious low down dirty rotten scoundrels. 

I would also like to refer readers to this post by Geek Pavaler from the first time Dr. Wardynski's contract was up for renewal when he asked the board to please provide the community with some reasonable justification for extending the superintendent’s contract.

A disgusted parent predicted the future:  If his contract is extended, he will have 5 more years to sit comfortably and dictate policy as he sees fit, with no fear of losing his job or having to cave to the wrath of the community. I emailed every Board member and not surprisingly, received zero responses, even though I requested one. These Board members need to be reminded as well that they represent a constituency, NOT themselves. Contracts are renewed or extended based on merit and accomplishment, not just because they were requested. Mr. Wardynski’s resume and expertise lies in economics, finance and policy making. I see no reference whatsoever to engineering or education. So why are we rewarding someone who sits up there on his throne pontificating about his engineering background and his imagined expertise in the process of education?

Why are we rewarding Wardynski you ask?  Because he is doing the job he was hired to do.

 Casey you have to break the mold and prove you're not afraid of minorities, democrats, liberals, aclu types and the entire entitlement crowd! Do that, and you'll be doing the job you were hired to do! Oh yeah, not to mention striking down all racial transfers. And that includes allowing not allowing whites to racially transfer either. If you don't like where your child goes to school, move to where they can be zoned into a school of your preference, that's what I had to do!

What, no mention of the super secret spy program?  I wonder why?  Snark

I want to talk about the update on the combined Jemison/McNair campus.

6:18 p.m.: An architect from Chapman Sisson Architects presented a slide show of artist renderings of what the new McNair Junior High and Jemison High School will look like when the schools open their doors in 2016. The schools, which will be separate facilities on a single campus, mirror one another in design, though each has its own touches.
AL.com will share images of the new schools when available.
Board member Jennie Robinson said that she sees elements similar to the designs of other Huntsville schools like Blossomwood and Goldsmith-Schiffman elementaries in the McNair-Jemison design.  
"We're starting to tie together the design of our schools," Robinson said. "I like that."

So, the update was a slide show of what the new schools will look like when they are completed, and Al.com will share images of the new schools when they are available?  I guess it depends on what the definition of update IS.

Allow me to give you a real update on the Jemison/McNair campus via the Keep Johnson High Schools Name Facebook Page:

JAGUAR ON THE PROWL NEWS:
Personal check up on the digging of Jemison from one contractor's perspective.
Xxxx: "What have you heard or seen with the new development at the Jemison High development so far?"

Local Contractor: "The land is not draining properly and it's a pure swamp. It's actually a marshland. The land has to be built up and mold WILL be the culprit along with the Rock Quarry issue. This is a bad area."
Xxxx: "What role does the rock quarry play with this new
development?"
Local Contractor: "Everything... The land need to be built up to an extent that when the explosions from the quarry rattles, the soft land of this new school will have a solid ground. This land has serious draining challenges from what I am hearing and what I saw when I was viewing the digging process. We need to remember that nothing has been built on this property ever and it's wetland which will have mold problems."
Xxxx: "Do you think they (the contractors for the new development) should build the soil properly?"
Local Contractor: "Yes. This doesn't make any sense right now."
Xxxx: "Thank you.
Local Contractor: "More than welcome."
In conclusion to this new story, I was attached to the Civil Engineers while I was stationed in Germany. It's very crucial at this time that this conversation from a local contractor be taken seriously. We need a thorough sure and solid soil recheck that reaches beyond a Quality Control Site Supervisor at this time.
The Quarry issue now this? We need to hear from all Jaguars and the Huntsville community at large from this "Jungle Eyed View".
Presently; the city and HCS is following the builders code by placing a full length gated fence around Jemison. This is a safety precaution and must be adhered to in the building process.

Eye update, You decide.

NOTICE: Due to Huntsville City School Superintendent Casey Warydynski's  Executive Orders, the school district may have read your social media accounts without warning, warrant, or notice. You have no recourse nor protection but to call for the resignation of the Superintendent and the Board of Education who enabled him.

As the #SpyGate Story Changes with Media Enabled All Spin, All the Time, Unfair, and Unbalanced

 

So, Huntsville City Schools has gone from... Huntsville City Schools say a call from NSA led to monitoring students online  to... We don't monitor Facebook. We do very selective targeted reviews and they're based on tips that come in"  because  (get this)  the media botched the story.  RedEye Roll

SAFE has run into controversy after recent media reports characterizing it as a Big Brother-esque initiative sifting through student social media activity.
"The stories are wrong,” McRae said. “They've been mischaracterized. There's partial truths and partial accuracies in some of the stories. And then there are some blatant errors in other parts of the story. We are reacting to specific tips, specific link analysis."

If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with BullPoop.  First it was NSA, now it's specific tips from students, parents and specific link analysis. Oh, OK.

Formerly with the FBI and now with the school system's SAFE (Students Against Fear) initiative, McRae said he has discovered a variety of online threats, weapons and violence in the course of investigating Huntsville students who may bring violence into school grounds or to school activities like football games

Key words: students who may bring violence into school grounds or to school activities like football games.  So this is a preemptive strike, you know kind of like the preemptive war in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I digress

Via Wardynski's main mouth piece:

The original story on AL.com should have included these paragraphs:Wardynski said Huntsville schools have seen sporadic gang recruitment and what he called “wannabe” gangs. “We don’t want them to get into the major league,” he said.Acting on tips from students or teachers or others, schools security staff scour numerous social media sites, including Facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, and more. They look for evidence of imminent threats to the schools or of gang activity. Wardysnki said the program has led to about a dozen expulsions each year so far and that security is actively monitoring social media at all times.Those paragraphs change the entire tone of the story, the omission makes it appear there is a massive dragnet and not a targeted program.

Who said anything about a massive dragnet?  Everybody knew this was a "targeted program",  including the ACLU.

Internal documents explaining Huntsville Superintendent Casey Wardynski's supper secret spying without a warrant program, obtained by AL.com, show examples of four different students posing on Facebook with handguns. None are on school grounds. Three are listed as expelled. One was referred for counseling (I wonder where?).  All the students are black/brown.

But, but  Newtown Conn.   My personal opinion is the school board made up the NSA part to try and cover their tracks in regards to racially profiling some students they do not like having in the school system.

To believe that the answer to the problems facing our schools will be as easy as monitoring social media belittles teenage students and treats the symptoms of our problems rather than the cause. We as Americans need to get the guts to fix our problems, not expel them or throw them in jail.

These are the questions I would like to see the media ask, and school district answer, regarding #SpyGate:

1.  Where did the budget, man hours, and equipment for this come from, and on whose authority?

2.   When did holding a gun or throwing a gang sign become illegal, and where does a school district get the legal authority to investigate, prosecute, and punish students for non-school activities?

3.  How/where are minors obtaining sub machine guns and fists full of $100.00 bills?

4. If students are entering schools with guns wouldn't it be more economical to install metal detectors like the ones citizens have to go through when they come to the Merts Center to attend school board meetings?
Say, have you seen my democracy?  I want it back.

#SpyGate Shhh! I listened to WVNN AM NewsTalk so you won't have too

What is the first thing you do if you are HCS Superintendent Casey Wardynski, and HCS Board President David Blair,  and you are facing a PR nightmare over Operation #SpyGate, and you can't hold a staged protest on the steps of the Annie Merts Center?

Run as fast as your short, little, legs will carry you over to  The Attack Machine to save the day!  (Cue in Mighty Mouse theme song)

That's right (pun intended),  the best way to make your case is to take it to Radio Boy, aka Dale Jackson.  I mean, who better to make your case for spying on some students social media accounts than the person who used the official state seal on a memo telling Democrats to vote the day after the election, and called State Representative Laura Hall a racist coward? 

Anyhoo, here is what I learned on WVNN News Talk today and other places around the web regarding  #hsvboe Operation #SpyGate:

1.  Racial Profiling is OK.

2.  No amount of money is too much if it results in putting black/brown students out of school.

3.  The students should have called their social media post a parody and called it a day.

4.  Real Gang members don't post on Facebook.

5.  The NSA is in Maryland.....not Washington D.C.

Welcome Back Merts Center Monitor!

 If you are here, I expect you already know about the latest crock of lies, evasions, deceits, illegalities, and violations of civil rights on the part of Wardynski and his henchmen: the May 2012 NSA tip-off (which the NSA denies) about a so-called immediate threat of danger (aka juvenile last day of school humor) with a foreign connection: one of the 100s of people following then junior Auseel Yousefi’s Twitter feed was a Yemeni (and thus, it seems, presumed to be a Muslim Jihadist terrorist) and how this tip-off led to the never-spent-a-day-on-the-battlefield retired colonel forming a surveillance project that the Board of Education maybe did or maybe didn’t know about (damn! who was responsible for delivering the scripts last week?) two months before the Yemeni non-event occurred.

You were missed.

Stay tuned.

RedEye's Weekly Rundown: What we know about #hsvboe SpyGate so far

Fist Dap Crowblog

What we know.

We know Huntsville City Schools, under the control and command of military colonel, turned superintendent, Casey WARdynski, has been secretly spying on students, and probably yours truly and who knows who else, since at least January 2014 and possibly since as early as May 2013

We know Wardynski said a call from the NSA, via a call to Al Lankford, tipped the school district to a student making violent threats on Facebook.

We know Wardynski said, "There was a foreign connection,"  explaining why the NSA would take time out of their busy day to warn HCS, Wardysnki said the student in Huntsville had made the online threats while chatting online with a group that included an individual in Yemen.

We know as a result of this "call" a student was expelled after HCS security searched their car and found a large knife, not a gun and a knife as originally reported, and it was not the student who was making violent threats while chatting online with a group that included an individual in Yeman.

We know  the student wasn't chatting on Facebook with a group that included an individual in Yemen, it was a student from Yemen,  and said student sent tweets (not to be confused with Facebook)  HCS say led to the warning from the NSA, which led Huntsville to begin monitoring student Facebook pages.

We know the Al.com editorial board tends to believe Wardynki over the NSA, and wants Congressman Mo Brooks to get to the bottom of this. 

We know some school board members said they didn't know about the spying program before they said they did know about the spying program.

We know this issue didn't come to light until after the school board election, and the District 3 board candidates facing each other in a runoff  have somewhat different takes on the Huntsville school district's secret surveillance of students' social media accounts.

We know candidate Elise Ferrell said the information she gathered indicated that a second call came to the district about that threat, from a company called GEOCOP, a cyber security software company, among other things.

We know this covert spying program, that may have cost taxpayers as much as $1,050,768.67, has not been overseen by anyone.

We know Casey Wardynski is doing the job he was hired which is to stand up to the aclu (sic) types, and, the ACLU  submitted an open records request to Huntsville City Schools in June seeking information about how the system monitors its students on social media, concerned blacks were being disproportionately punished. We also know Huntsville City Schools spokesman Keith Ward (not to be confused with the Director of Community Engagement) is "working on a response.

We know in a presentation about the monitoring system obtained by AL.com, photos show three black males and one black female. We also know all of the students that have been nabbed by the program are black and brown.

We know all of these dangerous gang members were either expelled or sent to the Pinnacle program.

We know taxpayers have been censored and silenced.

We know Big Brother isn't coming, he's already here.

Are we safe yet?

I was asked an important question yesterday by a good friend: “Do you ever worry that your activism will result in retribution against your kids?”
The short answer to that question is, simply, yes.

Next:   What we don't know about #hsvboe Spygate

#hsvboe...Anything "some students" say on Social Media can, and will be, used against them

Seal of the National Security Agency

I have a ritual to help me decide the topic of my daily blog post.  First, I log on to my blog and scroll down the blog roll.  Then I log on to Facebook, followed by Twitter,  and lastly,  Al.com.

What I saw posted in the Alabama Today section about HCS Superintendent Casey WARdynski   made my Eyes get bigger,  the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and had me pacing the floor muttering expletives. 

A secret program to monitor students' online activities began quietly in Huntsville schools, following a phone call from the NSA, school officials say.
Huntsville schools Superintendent Casey Wardynski says the system began monitoring social media sites 18 months ago, after the National Security Agency tipped the school district to a student making violent threats on Facebook.

There are so many things wrong here I don't know where to start, so I guess I will start by saying Freedom isn't Free.

Since the inception of the Patriot Act and the revelations of warrant less surveillance, I've long held Big Brother  is watching every move we make, but like a good citizen I adopted the if you aren't doing anything wrong you don't have anything to worry about meme.  To my knowledge, expressing opinions via social media, blogs or forums is not against the law.  I falsely assumed we had this little thingy called freedom of speech in the United States of America, and anything we said in these forums couldn't/wouldn't be used against us.   Wrong.

Regardless of how the program started, Huntsville City Schools began scanning Facebook and other sites for signs of gang activity, watching for photos of guns, photos of gang signs and threats of violence.

This superintendent is consumed with the idea of gangs and considers himself an expert.

The four students from Lee High School who filmed a fight in a school bathroom and posted the video to YouTube did so as a gang initiation, Huntsville's superintendent said.
Dr. Casey Wardynski said the fight, which came to light Jan. 20 after the video went viral, wasn't an ordinary skirmish between students. 

"It was a gang initiation; these students went to lunch together afterward," Wardynski said.

 The superintendent said there is zero tolerance in the district for gang activity.

"There will be no gangs in our schools," Wardynski said.

Gang is the new Black 
When asked at a community meeting why students in north Huntsville are required to wear school uniforms,  in a rare moment of candor the superintendent said that was the only way school administrators could tell the gang members from students.

Here's the school district's explanation of how the program got started:
About a year and half ago, Wardynski said, the NSA called Huntsville and reported a high school student had threatened on Facebook to injure a teacher.
Al Lankford, the city's longtime school security officer, told AL.com that he took the NSA phone call. He said security officers went to the high school and eventually searched the boy's car.

Huntsville City Schools

"We found a very good size knife and the student was expelled," said Wardynski, a former U.S. Army colonel appointed as superintendent in Huntsville in 2011.

Big Brother isn't coming, he's already here.
Why was the NSA watching what this student posted on facebook?  The above article says the knife was found in his car but that's not what the initial news reports said.

 A Huntsville City Schools spokesperson said security workers found a knife and gun in a student’s possession Monday at Butler High School.
Additional search procedures were implemented, and no other prohibited items were found.  The male student was charged with two Class III violations of the Huntsville City Schools Student Code of Conduct.

So which one is it, was the knife found in his car (perfectly legal), or in his possession?

The NSA is focused on foreign intelligence. Vines said any information about a domestic safety issue would be sent to another federal agency, like the FBI. "Moreover, NSA does not make recommendations regarding school safety programs," said Vines via email.

"There was a foreign connection," said Wardynski, explaining why the NSA would contact Huntsville schools. He said the student in Huntsville had made the online threats while chatting online with a group that included an individual in Yemen.

There is just one little problem with this scenario...the NSA denies they contacted Huntsville City Schools .

NSA did not acknowledge placing such a call. "The National Security Agency has no record that it passed any information to the Huntsville school district, and the description of what supposedly occurred is inconsistent with NSA's practices," said Vanee Vines, public affairs specialist with the NSA, on Monday.
The NSA is focused on foreign intelligence. Vines said any information about a domestic safety issue would be sent to another federal agency, like the FBI. "Moreover, NSA does not make recommendations regarding school safety programs," said Vines via email.

So who are you going to believe Casey Wardynski, or the NSA?  I'll take the NSA for 100 Alex.

 Board members Topper Birney and Laurie McCaulley, contacted for this story last week, said they were unaware of the monitoring program and the board was not briefed. The city system web site contains no operational information on SAFe, but displays a logo and lists three staff members. Those include two security officers and consultant Chris McRae.

What did BOE members know and when did they know it?
I can understand the weakest links Birney and McCaulley) not having a clue about this program, but what about David Blair, Dr. Jeannie Robinson, and Mike Culbreath?  Did they know?  Did they authorize the hiring of a full time staff to do nothing but investigate what students and other private citizens do online ?

There is disagreement on the Huntsville school board about whether or not Superintendent Casey Wardynski informed board members that the district had begun secretly monitoring student activity on social media.

Psst! The key word here is SECRETLY.  If you tell people what's going on it's not a secret.

Both Blair and McCaulley voiced concerns about the information provided to AL.com and the subsequent media attention the program is receiving.
Blair said students intending to do harm at school might be less likely to put information about their intentions online if they know the district is watching.
"This kind of stuff puts kids in danger," Blair said.
McCaulley said that whoever leaked the security presentation to the media may have broken Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) laws because the presentation included pictures of students.
She said, however, that the program itself has worked by letting the district know about students who may have been planning something dangerous on campus. The documents obtained by AL.com showed pictures of four different students posing on Facebook with handguns.
Three of those students were subsequently expelled and the fourth was referred for counseling.  
"This is a program that works to save kids," McCaulley said

Preemptive Strike!
Are they out of their cotton picking minds?  Do they honestly believe this program has saved kids?  Saved them from whom?  Saved them from what?  Expelling students who may (or may not) have been planning something dangerous and referring the counseling isn't helping them, or anybody else.   And why weren't parents notified of any potential threats of violence?

Although this information is just hitting the fan, it's not new.  CaseyWardynski is doing the job he was hired to do. 

Casey you have to break the mold and prove you're not afraid of minorities, democrats, liberals, aclu (sic) types and the entire entitlement crowd! Do that, and you'll be doing the job you were hired to do! Oh yeah, not to mention striking down all racial transfers. And that includes allowing not allowing whites to racially transfer either. If you don't like where your child goes to school, move to where they can be zoned into a school of your preference, that's what I had to do!

The Alabama ACLU asked Huntsville City Schools about their social media policy  three months ago.

The American Civil Liberties Union wants to know if Huntsville City Schools is snooping on students.
The group published an open letter (PDF) to Superintendent Dr. Casey Wardynski Tuesday, which includes a public records request for information on any disciplinary actions taken against students based on their social media activities.
The ACLU said other schools around the country are punishing students for comments made on social media critical of schools, even if the comments are made after school hours on private property.
There is no indication of any specific complaints against Huntsville City Schools at the present time.
Tuesday afternoon, WAFF also mailed a public records request for the same information. We will keep you updated on how the district responds.

The letter said the program can constitute a students right to privacy and freedom of expression online.  It also said suspensions and expulsions are often meted out in a disproportionate manner that negatively impacts student of color.  Look at the pictures presented in the article and you will see this to be true.

It ought to be against the law to lie to taxpayers

Someone is lying about the origins of a secret student social media monitoring program started by the Huntsville City Schools and "needs to lose his job," a national First Amendment expert said today.
"Lying to the public should be a firing offense," according to Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Washington.

Lying to the public is par for the course in Huntsville City Schools, and if that doesn't work, blame it on the black guy.

There's a third possibility, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) said today. "The school system is telling the truth as they understand it," but the call "could have been anybody, misrepresenting their status."
"If there is proof that the NSA actually made the phone call," Brooks said, "it would behoove the Congress to ascertain whether the NSA has a program consistent with that phone call."
To start an inquiry, Brooks said he'd need the name of the person who called and that person's phone number, "If he's keeping good records, he should have that phone number and that name," Brooks said of schools' security officer Al Lankford.

 Why the Pinnacle Hypocrisy matters:

Wardynski said the city used the SAFe program to break up a gang called the Wolfpack, with six or seven members -- all related to each other through family -- in various schools. The students were expelled and placed in alternative school and boot camp programs.
"People are very good about 'If you see something, say something,'" said Wardynski.
Wardysnki said the monitoring program is limited to threats against schools, and students are expelled from neighborhood schools and placed into alternative programs. Asked if school officials are also searching online for photos of alcohol, drugs and sex, Wardynski said: "None of that."

One of the many, many, things wrong with the Pinnacle Policy is the denial of students right to equal protection under the  law and due process.  I turn the floor over to The Mertz Center Monitor.

To be continued.....

"He was shot like an animal" #MikeBrown

"When Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son,"

President Obama finally issued a statement regarding the death of Michael Brown, asking people to remember Micheal Brown  with reflections and understanding.


Oh, OK.

Reflect on THIS:

 By all accounts, [Michael] Brown was One Of The Good Ones. But laying all this out, explaining all the ways in which he didn't deserve to die like a dog in the street, is in itself disgraceful. Arguing whether Brown was a good kid or not is functionally arguing over whether he specifically deserved to die, a way of acknowledging that some black men ought to be executed.

 Understand THIS

Officers have tanks now. They have drones. They have automatic rifles, and planes, and helicopters, and they go through military-style boot camp training. It's a constant complaint from what remains of this country's civil liberties caucus. Just this last June, the ACLU issued a report on how police departments now possess arsenals in need of a use. Few paid attention, as usually happens.

The worst part of outfitting our police officers as soldiers has been psychological. Give a man access to drones, tanks, and body armor, and he'll reasonably think that his job isn't simply to maintain peace, but to eradicate danger. Instead of protecting and serving, police are searching and destroying.

If officers are soldiers, it follows that the neighborhoods they patrol are battlefields. And if they're working battlefields, it follows that the population is the enemy. And because of correlations, rooted in historical injustice, between crime and income and income and race, the enemy population will consist largely of people of color, and especially of black men. Throughout the country, police officers are capturing, imprisoning, and killing black males at a ridiculous clip, waging a very literal war on people like Michael Brown.

THIS is why we're mad about the shooting of Mike Brown.

As a black person in America, it's getting exhausting to still have to explain, in the year 2014, your right to exist in this country. To explain that you are a human being whose value sits no lower than anyone else's. To explain our basic humanity. And perhaps worst of all, to explain exactly why we are outraged.

Hey America!  Can you please stop killing our (usually) innocent black male children now? 

#MikeBrown

#Trayvon Martin

#Ferguson

 #I'mGonnaVote

Blast from the Past

I am sharing this comment from Mack Lyons I found in this post while doing research for my in depth analysis of the rezoning hearing.   

Al.com commenter Drambui said this on August 19, 2011

"Casey you have to break the mold and prove you're not afraid of minorities, democrats, liberals, aclu types and the entire entitlement crowd! Do that, and you'll be doing the job you were hired to do! Oh yeah, not to mention striking down all racial transfers. And that includes allowing not allowing whites to racially transfer either. If you don't like where your child goes to school, move to where they can be zoned into a school of your preference, that's what I had to do!"

 Mack Lyons said this in response on August 21, 2011

Casey, if you're reading this, don't do this. You'll only end up with the Department of Justice's foot up your ass behind this, which, when it comes down to it, is effectively promoting the re-segregation of the school system. If you think you're worried about doing the job you were hired to do, imagine how it'll be with those DOJ wingtips traveling up your intestines.

Those guys at AL.com should be glad they have a little Topix-lite they can vent on. It warns everyone else about the attitudes that still linger around the Deep South.

Un Huh.  Very prophetic, only the wingtips traveling up Casey's intestines were high heel pumps worn on the feet of  two 30 year old lawyers working in Washington D.C. At the Justice Department .

In the documents, the DOJ says Huntsville's plan emphasizes racial lines already in the city. It also says that even with major changes in 32 of the 40 schools, it would leave most students in segregated schools.
The court document also claims that under the district's plan, identified African-American schools would lack access to advanced educational material that is easily available to identifiable "white schools."
The most significant change in the district's plan, according to the DOJ's filing, is the closure of Butler High School, a school with a majority of African-American students. However, court documents say that under the district's plan, those students would go to a school with a less diverse population.
"The district's plan falls short of its desegregation obligations," the DOJ said in the documents. The state said they are open to continued discussion with the district.

 To be continued.....