Church defrocks homosexual minister

Eyewitness News 5 from Minneapolis reports, via Associated Press, that the highest court within the United Methodist church has defrocked a homosexual minister for violation of church teachings.

A church panel decided in December that the Rev. Irene "Beth" Stroud, 35, by being in a lesbian partnership, engaged in practices that the church has declared incompatible with Christian teachings. The panel's decision was overturned by the Northeast Jurisdiction Committee on Appeals, but the Judicial Council backed the original ruling. The Judicial Council ruled Monday that the appeals committee "erred in reversing and setting aside the verdict and penalty from Rev. Stroud's trial."

Encouraged by exclusively favorable coverage in the MSM, the homosexual lobby is pushing hard for general acceptance of the lifestyle. Because of increased societal acceptance of homosexual behavior, the activists are attempting to make inroads in many of our cultural institutions, but in many cases, like with the church, they are overreaching.

Homosexual priests have created havoc throughout the Catholic Church, which was tolerated for years by John Paul the Great. Pope Benedict understands the consequences of turning a blind eye to the problem, and is taking affirmative steps to expose those who live contrary to hundreds of years worth of church doctrine.

Frequently the more "liberal" churches, such as ECLA, the Methodists, and the Anglican church have allowed open homosexuals into their clergy. This has created turmoil and schisms, particularly within the Anglican church, which threatens to split.

These are contentious issues, and it's important to recognize that the issues are not about the person, but instead the behavior and lifestyle.

Hennepin County rotating door "justice"

Mitch Berg of Shot in the Dark takes note of the sorry criminal "justice" system in Hennepin County, MN. This county includes Minnesota's largest city, Minneapolis. Here's Mitch's post. In his post he comments on a case of egregious judicial handling regarding alleged murderer Jeffrey Skelton. Rambix posted on this same case on July 17, 2005 with "Judical watch".

This is but one example, but an incredible one. The judge allowed Mr. Skelton to be released from custody despite being charged with murder in the 2nd degree and terroristic threats.

As any regular reader of Rambix and the Red Star or Shot in the Dark knows, Hennepin County, and Minneapolis in particular, experience violent crime out of proportion to the size of the area and demographics. Current mayor R.T. Ryback understands this now that he is the incumbent trying to hold his office in the upcoming elections. He's struggling with the crime issue, and he'll argue the that he's in a weak-mayor system, but he is nevertheless the figurehead.

This blog, in particular, is loaded with stories on weak judges and a forgiving judicial system, along with the resulting consequences. And the consequences are substantial.

Mitch writes:

Hennepin County's drive-through criminal justice system - put on display last summer in an incident in which a man accused of shooting a man five times in the arm, face, chest and groin was released on bail several times from Hennepin County custody - and proceeded to violate his bail several times (thankfully not hurting anyone in the process) - is a disgrace, the very definition of "catch and release" justice.

Judges in Minnesota are soon to be accountable to the voters; maybe that is the only way they will learn that we take this issue seriously.

Sgt. Christensen of the Minneapolis police department has something to say about this, as Rambix documents in this post: "Justice, Minnesota style".

Everyone seems to "get it" except the people who really matter - the judges.

Peace through inferior firepower

Eyewitness News Channel 5 in Minneapolis reports that the Community of Peace charter school in St. Paul failed to inform parents that a student had been caught with a gun on school grounds.

The 16 year old Peace student apparently had possession of a sawed-off .22 caliber rifle (a heretofore unknown technique with a weapon of that size).

The incident occurred on Thursday at the Community of Peace charter school. Two students were arguing when one of them talked about having a gun and that ‘someone’s going to get shot.’

Despite the convergence of an actual threat and an actual weapon, the Community of Peace staff felt no need to inform parents of the other students.

Dr. Karen Rusthoven, the school’s principal, defended the fact the school did not inform parents or other students. “There wasn’t an imminent danger, and I certainly didn’t want to alarm them,” said Rusthoven.

Dr. Rusthoven had more evidence of imminent danger than did the administration of Columbine High School, yet she felt the need to remain silent.

Community of Peace, indeed.

Crime update, gun shops, societal flotsam

Apparently there are people out there who not only rob gun shops, but are oftentimes successful at it. In what could only be described as a massive haul, thieves stole 76 guns from Metro Pawn and Gun Shop in Richfield, MN in January of 2005. The fallout continues: "Guns stolen from store still used in crimes".

This large theft has created what you might call a problem. It seems the guns are being used in crimes, and 51 of them remain unrecovered.

The stolen guns have been recovered in the Twin Cities and the suburbs, but also in other areas of the state. Minneapolis police have picked up 13, Richfield police 7, St. Paul police 3 and Bloomington police 1. One gun was recovered in Tennessee last May.

Although 51 of the guns still remain unaccounted for, some of the 25 recovered guns are powerful weapons. Police have found a 12-gauge shotgun a Glock 9mm and a .45 caliber hand gun.

The armed robbery was perpetrated by a group of teenage boys who belong to Minneapolis gangs. The boys then gave the guns away to their friends.

While this crime is extremely serious, one can't help but wonder if the gun shop owner is a little embarrassed.

Meanwhile, a one man crime wave has been caught, per this Minneapolis Police press release of 10/28/05:

Today, Thomas Arnell Williams was charged by the Hennepin County Attorney's office with Robbery for his participation in the following business robberies:

Seward Foods at 2431 Franklin Ave. on September 6, 2005. Williams entered the neighborhood store and took cash after announcing a robbery. No gun was seen, but implied.

Tobacco Warehouse at 4727 Hiawatha Ave. S. on October 20, 2005. Williams entered the business and announced a robbery. Williams left with cash and cigarettes after implying that he had a gun.

Williams has also been identified as the suspect in a business robbery at the BP Gas Station at 3551 Lyndale Ave. S. on October 20, 2005.

Williams is also the suspect in at least ten other business robberies in the Second, Third and Fifth Precincts of Minneapolis over the past several months.

Williams was arrested on October 21, 2005 after the Subway sandwich shop, 3425 E. Lake St. was robbed. Two alert citizens chased Williams through the neighborhood on foot and were able to get a license number of a vehicle which aided in his escape. Officers located this vehicle a short distance away and arrested Williams, who was identified by the two alert citizens. Money from the robbery was also recovered.

At the time of his arrest, Williams was on probation for six business robberies in Minneapolis in 2004. Williams had served a total of 111 days in jail for these robberies.

For additional information, please contact Lt. Mike Fossum, Minneapolis Police Department Robbery Unit, at (612) 673-3645.

No photo of this fine citizen is available at press time. Apparently, the loser never brandished a weapon during his crimes, although he implied that he had one. Chances are he never had a gun, or he would have pulled it out. It's striking how many crimes he was able to commit essentially unarmed.

Do you think his attorney is already filing a motion to get the same judge(s) who put him away for a total of 111 days for 6 previous robberies? That's a walk in the park - maybe crime does pay!

The religion of Wellstone (peace be upon him)

Many of our blogger friends have speculated on the cult of personality and/or Religion of Wellstone (peace be upon him) practiced by tens of hundreds of liberals in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area.

As you may recall, Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash 10 days before the 2002 election while in the midst of a battle for his job against now Senator Norm Coleman. Sen. Wellstone was a transcendent figure to the socialist crowd in Minnesota (and likely other liberal enclaves nationwide) before his passing, but after his death he has become somewhat god-like in their eyes.

You may also be aware that liberals love bumper stickers and signs of all sorts. The Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area is festooned with Wellstone! stickers, yard signs (to this day), buildings, buttons, and on and on. The proliferation of these relics is increasing as time passes.

Some of our blogger friends have reflected on the cult of personality known as Wellstone! Powerline, The American Enterprise Online, and Shot in the Dark weigh in.

Now the MSM have put the late Senator Wellstone! in a deified position. Behold a notice of yet another Paul Wellstone artifact presentation in the Religion section of the Minneapolis suburban Sun Newspaper:



Peace be upon him.

The anti-war, the anti-American, and government schools

Consider this story if you think our children are not being indoctrinated in leftist beliefs in the nation's government schools: "As students consider antiwar walkout, parents are key, districts say".

Twin Cities-area high school students are being threatened with failing grades if they walk out next week to protest the Iraq war and military recruitment in schools, says a group known as Youth Against War and Racism. But school officials say that the students are OK if they get parental permission.

Can you imagine this level of complicity? The schools have lowered the bar to the extent that even students who didn't previously believe in the "cause" will likely skip school that day.

And this would be truly disturbing if it wasn't so predictable:

The group held a news conference Tuesday intended to put pressure on Minneapolis and suburban districts, where they say students have been threatened with failing grades. Students and organizers were joined by Minneapolis City Council Members Dean Zimmermann and Natalie Johnson Lee and write-in mayoral candidate Farheen Hakeem.

The freaks who "run" Minneapolis are as irresponsible a group of people as you'd ever come across. And how does Zimmerman (Zimmer"person")have time to participate in this misguided activity when he should be preparing for his corruption defense.

Rambix really tries to avoid personal attacks, but it's been documented previously in this blog that Natalie Johnson Lee is a low watt bulb. In other words, if she's for it, it's wrong.

What would happen if the following day normal students staged a walkout to promote the liberation of Iraq? Would the school administration be so accomodating? Or is that when they'd "put their foot down"? I think we know the answer.

In Minneapolis and a sampling of other districts where organizers say they've had a strong student response, district officials say all a student needs is a note from a parent to be excused. An excused absence generally means the student is entitled to make up the work, according to Minneapolis spokesman Josh Collins. Officials in Bloomington, Robbinsdale and Roseville, where organizers say substantial numbers of students have pledged to walk out, report similar policies.

Students will use any excuse to get out of school. They would probably have similar numbers for the aforementioned hypothetical Iraq Freedom rally.

Youth Against War and Racism is asking students to walk out at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 2. A noon protest is scheduled at the University of Minnesota's Coffman Memorial Union plaza, followed by a march to a nearby military recruiting station and a teach-in.

If Rambix were in charge, these filthy rats would be cuffed and sent off to reform school. You can practice freedom of speech when you're an 18 year old loser, but until then get to your seats, get a haircut, sit up straight, and crack a book for a change.

Credit where credit is due

Rambix gives credit to the Red Star today for placing the story of Iraq's new constitution on the front page, above the fold. The story is actually written by Edward Wong of the New York Times. While the headline in the paper is grudgingly unenthusiastic ("A constitution, now conciliation?"), and the story is just-the-facts, it's relatively fairly written.

Credit where credit is due.

It's likely the appeasers of dictators and terrorists, i.e. Cindy Sheehan and her ilk, would have wanted the "grim milestone" of 2000 military deaths to be front and center. We're convinced they'll be celebrating in any case tonight.

The bad NRA influence must reach to Brazil

Like Minnesotans and residents of 35 states (and growing) across America, Brazilians have rejected gun control. In a big way. The Clinton News Network (CNN) has the story: "Brazilians reject ban on gun sales".

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- Brazilians struck down a proposal to ban the sale of guns in a national referendum, rejecting a bid to stem one of the world's highest firearm murder rates in a debate that mirrored the gun control battle in the United States.

Oh indeed it did mirror the gun control debate here in the US, and it also was soundly thrashed.

Brazil has 100 million fewer citizens than the United States, but a staggering 25 percent more gun deaths at nearly 40,000 a year.

Brazil has a very violent society, but this is not because there are guns. They have myriad social problems, extreme poverty, corruption, and a legal system that is substandard relative to the USA. Personal firearms in such a society may be essential for survival.

While supporters argued gun control was the best way to stop the violence, opponents played on Brazilians' fears that the police can't protect them in the campaign leading up to Sunday's vote.

"I don't like people walking around armed on the street. But since all the bandits have guns, you need to have a gun at home," said taxi driver Mohammed Osei, who voted against the ban.

Brazilians, like residents of New Orleans, understand that when the rubber meets the road, each of us is on our own. It would be great if the government could help us, but don't count on it. There is a thin line between a civilized and ordered society and anarchy. Therefore, having a firearm for self-defense is like having stocked food, water, medicine, etc. It's a tool.

You may never need a firearm, but when you need it, you really need it. This, the Brazilians know.

Justice, Minnesota style

Who can dispute that some, if not many, criminals are attracted to Minnesota by our generous welfare system, and particularly our lenient criminal justice system? They come from crime factories such as Chicago, Gary, Detroit, and other jewels of America.

In a powerful opinion piece today in the Red Star, Minneapolis Police Sgt. Erica Christensen writes about the latest injuctice heaped upon crime victims, this time by the Minnesota Supreme Court, "Where is justice for the Hillmans?".

In March of 2003, Charden Gomez was convicted by a jury on two counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to two life terms in prison.

This should have been the last society should ever have heard of Gomez. It was the proper, just and righteous conclusion to a brutal, grisly event.

It was not to be.

This past Oct. 13, the Minnesota State Supreme Court overturned Gomez's conviction.

This action, by the way, is nothing new for our state's highest court. They have frequently come down on the side of the criminal.

This level of unnecessary intervention by the Minnesota Supreme Court on behalf of this convicted murderer is overwhelming.

The scary part is ... it is not the first time this year that our state's highest court has done this.

The pattern of decisions being handed down by the justices, overturning a high number of first-degree murder convictions, denotes a bench sorely out of touch with reality in the streets and the courtrooms of our state.

Well, you're right, Sgt. Christensen, and thank you for pointing this out. Let's not forget this now that judges are going to be accountable to the people.

Minutemen: vigilantes or sentinals of security?

A story that has been percolating in the background is that of the volunteers who call themselves "Minutemen", patrolling the US southern border with Mexico on an ad hoc basis. The White House has called them "vigilantes", but they have many supporters, including a good part of the US Border Patrol.

The Washington Times has an updated story On the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, "Minuteman volunteers vow to keep border secure". Here are quotes from some of the volunteers:

"In the post-September 11 world, we have to have a secure border," Mr. Murphy said. "That's why I'm here. That's why we all are here. That's the message we want to send to Washington."

Mr. Hendricks, a software consultant, said the Minuteman effort here -- part of a massive border vigil all along the U.S.-Mexico border and in seven states along the Canadian border -- is aimed at persuading the government to provide adequate border security. "The White House and Congress must be accountable to the American people and a secure border is imperative in this time of international terrorism, drugs and rising illegal immigration," he said.

Robert Wright, the Hobbs, N.M., businessman who organized the New Mexico effort, said the goal of the Minuteman vigil is to "keep pressure on Washington to come up with an effective border enforcement program to secure the nation's borders."

Software consultants volunteering their time to protect our borders? Doesn't sound like vigilantism. Here is a sample from the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps "About us" page:

You are here because you are willing to challenge our government to fulfill their constitutionally mandated responsibility, not because you want to fight them, but because you want to challenge them by fulfilling their obligation in their absence. You are willing to become force-multipliers in the absence of Congressional and Presidential will.

Composing letters, e-mails and faxes did not make an impression on our public servants. Now we will assert ourselves as citizen representatives of the government. We are citizens who set the example, of the people for the people and by the people.

We will succeed. If we are to send the message loud and clear to President Bush and Congress, it is imperative that we stay within the law. If one single individual steps over the line for their personal gratification, we are all stained with that irresponsible behavior, and labeled forever as a fringe element that embarrasses all who are counting on us to make this historic statement.

Sure doesn't sound like a radical group. Or is the notion of taking it upon ourselves to protect our country radical? Minnesota has an international border. Are we not concerned about who is crossing into our state? In fact, the Minutemen are expanding to the northern border, "Minuteman Project Expands to Northern Border":

(CNSNews.com) - The Minuteman Project, which a group of citizens launched last April in Arizona to protect the border against the infiltration of illegal aliens from Mexico, is expanding on Oct. 1.

Minuteman volunteers will add the rest of the Mexican border and eight states along the Canadian border to their patrolling responsibilities. The group not only hopes to spot and report illegal immigrants trying to sneak into the U.S. It will ratchet up the pressure on politicians to take action against illegal immigration and picket/advertise against businesses who hire illegal immigrants.

Leaders of the Minuteman Project reportedly want to patrol the Canadian border in order to guard against terrorists, drug smugglers, and other criminal elements that they fear might try to slip across.

It's tempting to label the Minutemen as radicals, scofflaws, or troublemakers. The reality is that the initial effort, known as the Minuteman Project, was very successful and trouble-free. The section of the southern border they patrolled experienced a sharp decline in illegal border crossers. They had the support of the rank-and-file Border Patrol agents, if not the brass.

If the federal government won't secure our borders, and willing, law-abiding citizens take up the cause, who are we to complain?

Forcing agenda with a hammer

Local Red Star columnist Doug Grow, an apologist for radical and counter-culture elements in our society, writes a typical one-sided article on 10/21/05 titled "One armed force meets another force -- for equality". The story is about the radical homosexual movement versus America's traditional, longstanding cultural institutions. Guess which side Grow is on?

The nation can breathe a sigh of relief. The U.S. Naval Academy didn't crumble Friday when it was invaded -- by about 40 gays and lesbians and their supporters. The mission of the invaders was to try to enlighten an institution that discriminates against gays and lesbians.

Whether you agree with it or not, you can't avoid seeing the pervasive influence of these activist groups in all areas of our society. We've seen it with the Rainbow Sashers invading the Catholic church, with prime time television celebrating the homosexual lifestyle, and even in our children's schools with shaping of the curriculum to include positive references to alternative lifestyles while eschewing harm that comes from them.

"We left an impression," said Jacob Reitan, organizer of the demonstration against the military's policy regarding homosexuals. "In a real way, for one day, 'don't ask, don't tell' did not exist."

Reitan, 23, came out of the closet in his senior year -- 1999 -- at Mankato West High School. He's refused to go back in.

What impression did you leave? And why is Clinton's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy discriminatory? The institutions the homosexual "rights" groups are invading are acting within the parameters of federal and state law. What they want in reality is acceptance of their lifestyle.

Working for an organization called Soulforce, which is dedicated to ending homophobia among religious leaders, Reitan has created Equality Ride. Over the coming months, Equality Ride plans to show up at many of the 200 colleges in the country where discrimination is practiced.

Homophobia, of course, means fear of homosexuals. Rest assured that no one at the US Naval Academy is afraid of homosexuals. What they may be instead is practitioners of traditional lifestyles.

The champions of the Navy were threatening right up to the moment Friday when the Equality Riders stepped through the gate.

For example, there was this missive from Capt. Helen Dunn, the academy's deputy superintendent: "Be advised that accessing the academy grounds for the purpose of protesting or engaging midshipmen, faculty and staff, may subject you to arrest and prosecution."

How were they threatening, Mr. Grow? And why weren't these radicals arrested, despite the TV cameras? This is how they've bullied their way into the mainstream - by threats to sue and ruin the institution. They have no less rights than anyone else, but they want more, and the MSM is glad to help.

As a matter of fact, Reitan said, many of the midshipmen were very cordial during the group's three-hour stay.

"They came up to us and were shaking our hands," said Reitan.

This last quote is suspect. We'll never know if its true or not, because Grow did not present the other side of the story.

By the way, Mr. Reitan's mother is one of the most prolific writers of letters to the editor at the Red Star, always in support of the homosexual lifestyle. She has the right to do that, of course, but we have the right to know who we're dealing with.

Evil personified?

Rambix has written extensively on Joseph Edward Duncan III, the (alleged) murderer, (confirmed) child molester, (confirmed) pervert. See here, and especially here: "Duncan's reign of terror mounts" [with sub-links]. As previously posted, the judge is being sued for negligence for failing to secure the public from this monster: "Judge to answer for low bail?".

Here's an update from the St. Paul Pioneer Press web site: "Judge rules prosecutor must share videos". The authorities found a video in Duncan's vehicle upon his arrest. Apparently it's very sick and disturbing, so much so that the prosecutor resisted getting it copied.

Prosecutor Bill Douglas had resisted copying the materials,arguing they were too disturbing. District Judge Fred Gibler said he could find no reason to deny the defense copies. He also set strict guidelines to prevent the release of two video clips, which were 10 to 15 minutes each, to anyone else.

The materials were found in the Jeep after the capture of Joseph Edward Duncan III, who is charged with killing three members of an Idaho family — Mark Edward McKenzie; his girlfriend Brenda Kay Groene; and her 13-year-old son Slade Vincent Groene — in May so he could abduct Shasta Groene, 8, and her brother, Dylan Groene, 9, for sex. Duncan at the time had jumped bail on a Minnesota molestation case, authorities have said.

Can you imagine having to watch that video, even for the purposes of prosecution? Duncan may be the closest thing to pure evil we'll see in a long time.

Duncan, 42, who remains jailed without bail, he refused to attend Wednesday's hearing. He had been living in Fargo, N.D.

Duncan, a registered sex offender who was on the run from a molestation charge in Detroit Lakes, Minn., when he was arrested, faces the death penalty if convicted of the three counts of first-degree murder he faces in Idaho.

We're not biased, really

In an article about recent successful legislation to shield the firearms industry from frivolous lawsuits, Red Star editors managed to slip in a shot at Rep. Tom DeLay. Of all the congressmen involved in the legislation available for quotes, they likely chose Rep. Delay so they could sneak in some additional "relevant" information:

"Rep. Tom DeLay, who was forced to step aside recently as House majority leader after he was charged with money laundering and conspiracy in Texas, issued a statement calling the bill an important step toward revamping the tort law system."

What does that information have to do with the firearms legislation? Well, nothing. It's simply a shot at their ideological opponent. Who says the MSM is not biased?

All crime, all the time

As you know, Rambix focuses like a laser beam on the dysfunctional liberal city known as "Minneapolis". It's the natural habitat of leftists, liberals, Wellstone-worshipers, communists, socialists, and other assorted riff-raff. Anytime one focuses on a city such as Minneapolis, one can't help but be overwhelmed by the crime news. You can even narrow it down to violent crimes only and still have your hands full. So be sure to have your Glock close at hand when you read the updates that follow:

From the Minneapolis police SAFE unit [This is an email alert and press release]:

Date: October 20, 2005

The Minneapolis Police Department is seeking the assistance from the public in apprehending an armed and dangerous criminal.

On October 18, 2005 at 5:45 a.m., a 62-year-old woman was walking to a bus stop when she was forced into a white, 4-door vehicle by (2) black males, one of whom was armed with a handgun. The victim was driven to a nearby garage, where she was sexually assaulted. She was then forced to lead the suspects to her apartment, where they removed several items. The suspects then fled.

Later that morning in the area of 25th/ Clinton Av. S., a woman was robbed and fondled by a black male armed with a handgun. This party fled into an awaiting white, 4-door vehicle with a license that came back as a stolen auto from the city of Richfield.

Officers located the suspect vehicle, but lost it during a short pursuit. Officers found the vehicle unoccupied behind an address in the 2500-block of Clinton Av. S. Officers learned from the public that the suspects had fled into a nearby apartment.
Entry was made and three suspects were arrested, but a fourth had escaped out a window. This party was identified as LAMONT TARRANCE MCGEE, 6/15/71. McGee is a black male, 5-feet, 11-inches tall, 220#, dark complexion with a goatee.

On October 19, 2005, McGee was seen by Minneapolis and Richfield police outside an address in Richfield. McGee led officers on a high-speed pursuit which resulted in his escape.

McGee is also linked to another robbery/sexual assault which occurred on October 16, 2005 in the area of 31st/ Pleasant Av. S.

McGee has a previous conviction for attempted murder and has spent time in prison in the state of Illinois. McGee is considered armed and dangerous and is a threat to the public.

Please call Sgt. Jim Spencer or Sgt. Jeff Harvey at 612-673-2748

Let's keep an eye out for this bad man.

And here's another almost unbelievable story from the Red Star: "Four charged in deadly Minneapolis crime spree".

The youths, driving in two cars, allegedly spotted Bernard B. Brown, 46, of Brooklyn Park, near Broadway and Emerson avenues and drove up to him. Complaints state that A.J.F. got out of the car and demanded money from Brown, then shot him, killing him.

Brewer and A.J.F. then allegedly stole Brown's wallet and cell phone. One youth apparently used the phone to call a friend of Brown's and left a mocking message about the shooting, the complaints said.

The youths split up, and Brewer, Graves and A.J.F. went to meet with a man in a stolen car, according to the complaints. The four, armed with a baseball bat and a rifle, approached Caylie Dean and her boyfriend near the couple's apartment in the 1800 block of 2nd Avenue S. about 3 a.m., according to court documents.

They locked the couple in a car trunk and used Dean's ATM card to withdraw $200. They then burglarized the couple's apartment and stuffed the goods in Dean's car, documents show.

While in the apartment they found a friend of the couple's asleep. According to the complaints, they covered her head with a blanket, tied her hands behind her back and told her they had shot her friend.

After the others left the apartment, A.J.F. raped the woman, documents say. She later fled to a nearby business and called 911.

The four drove around with the couple locked in the trunk, shooting into the trunk and hitting Dean twice, according to court documents and an interview with Dean. A.J.F. and Graves have accused each other of shooting into the trunk, the complaints show.

The couple, who had been ordered to strip to their socks, were later dropped off on Interstate Hwy. 35W near Portland Avenue. Graves admitted to later setting their car on fire, according to court documents.

Are people still debating the 2nd Amendment?

Red Star audits self, finds no discrepancies

Rambix has previously written about the alleged Red Star doctored circulation numbers here.

We can rest assured now that the Red Star has completed a self-audit, finding no problems whatsoever: "Star Tribune parent says circulation figures accurate".

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. said Tuesday it reported accurate circulation figures for the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis, the company's largest, according to a recently completed investigation launched in response to a lawsuit. McClatchy and the Star Tribune are being sued by four advertisers who claim that Minnesota's largest newspaper inflated its circulation numbers so it could charge more for ads.

"We were vindicated in our numbers that show a daily circulation of 5,069,327 and a Sunday circulation of 6,142,970," Keith Moyer, publisher and president of the Star Tribune, said in a statement, "we actually discovered our circulation has grown, and we may need to raise ad rates a bit."

Mr. Moyers was silent on how the circulation numbers could exceed the state's population.

Incredible drug bust in...Edina?!

For those of you not familiar with the area, the first-ring Minneapolis suburb of Edina, MN is known to be pretty wealthy, with upscale stores, upscale homes, etc. It's generally very quiet, which makes this story all the more disturbing:

Edina home raided in large drug ring bust

Minneapolis police broke up a major drug ring Friday, seizing approximately $1 million of methamphetamines and heroin.

The investigation began two months ago, and spread from Minneapolis to Edina and Coon Rapids.

Large quantities of drugs were found at the Edina home of the drug ring’s girlfriend. Police say Inti Saavedra-Ibarra stored 10 pounds of meth and one pound of heroin at the home located a block from Edina’s Cornelia Elementary School.

Neighborhood residents say occupants of the home were friendly. “They were always real friendly with our kids, and had a dog that the kids just loved,” said neighbor John Carlson.

Do you ever really know who your neighbors are, and are you truly safe anywhere? Edina is an area where people go to escape thugs and lowlifes and to have a reasonable expectation of safety.

We know that violence and drugs go together, so this drug house, moving major weight, was an accident waiting to happen. Kudos to local law enforcement.

Isn't this interesting?

Rambix has previously published posts showing beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Red Star has scrubbed articles of any racial references, particularly when blacks are involved and the subject matter is negative.

What they don't count on is Rambix to offer side-by-side comparisons with articles from responsible news organizations, thus exposing their censorship.

Here is a very interesting case. First read the Eyewitness 5 News story of a Minneapolis charter school teacher who has pled guilty to criminal sexual conduct with minors. The story on the Channel 5 news website is titled "Alexander pleads guilty to sex with minors".

Twenty-seven-year-old Leonard Tyrone Alexander of Minneapolis was sentenced to more than nine years in prison, followed by five years of conditional release. County Attorney Amy Klobuchar said he must also register as a sex offender.

He taught hip-hop in an after-school program at the school, and officials said he would sometimes have girls come to his apartment to practice.

Now read the Red Star story about Mr. Alexander. The Red Star titles the story "Former teacher pleads guilty to sex with 2 girls".

Leonard T. Alexander, 27, was sentenced by Hennepin County District Judge Heidi Schellhas to nine years and two months in prison for first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Alexander taught dance and was a detention monitor at ChironSchool, which is now closed.

Rambix will try to be sensitive to the racial aspect of this example, but the racial component lies at the heart of the matter.

Here's the story within the story. When you read the Channel 5 story, you get a pretty full idea of who the criminal is. In fact, they include a photo, which appears to be the mug shot (see below). Even without the mug shot, the Channel 5 story contains two specific clues to Mr. Alexander's race: A name most typically associated with the black community: Tyrone, and the fact that he was a "hip-hop" teacher, an activity mostly associated with the black community.

The Red Star stripped the identifying racial information. They shortened "Tyrone" to "T". They took out "hip-hop" and used only the word "dance".

The Red Star appears to be conducting social engineering and misleading readers. By deleting certain identifying characteristics of predatory criminals, they place the public at risk. The public has the right to know who these people are, and yes, race is one component of identification. Did the Red Star do this on purpose? You can decide, but the evidence of willful alteration seems overwhelming.

University of ideology

Some of you may have seen professor Steven Miles' name in the news off and on over the years. He could fairly be described as a leftist agitator, despite his rather impressive position as a professor of medicine and faculty member in the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota. Today's Minnesota Daily [campus newspaper] has a profile titled: "Professor leads forum discussing military abuse".

“This forum is designed to be a place where conscience and calling embrace the world’s needs,” said Dan Garnaas, a pastor at Grace University Lutheran Church, where the forum was. Miles said he has been researching 35,000 pages of once-classified documents from witnesses’ testimonies of military torture and abuse. He said his interest was sparked last May after seeing photographs of torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib on “60 Minutes.”

Doctor Miles is receiving a taxpayer funded salary to do what exactly? To teach medicine, or to comb 32,000 pages of documents looking for abuses by our people? If he's going to spend his time looking for abuse, why doesn't he start with North Korea instead of America? The odds are slightly better he'll find more problems with the regime of Kim Jong Il.

Miles discussed the ignored military abuse reports and labeled them as a series of "missed opportunities".

He described one photograph of seven prisoners naked and bruised with sacks on their heads, surrounded by prison guards with their thumbs up.

“When you add the fact there were nurses around that were not reporting these instances, it turns into a very different picture,” he said.

Let us know when you get to the abuse, won't you?

Other forms of abuse that are not physical also exist, he said.

“Abu Ghraib was built on a landfill, the food provided for the unclothed prisoners had rat feces and the families of prisoners were not notified when serious injury or death occurred.

“Neglecting any of the four basic needs including shelter, clothing, food and medical assistance is abuse,” he said.

It's incomprehensible how this well-educated man could spend his vital medicine teaching time scouring reports for nonsense such as the above, and at the same time ignore the abuses Sadaam heaped upon his people, or the abuses of his likely mentor, Fidel Castro of Cuba, or those of Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

“The media needs to explain why the abuses are important in terms of violations of international law and the consequences of those violations for impairing our ability to credibly advocate for human rights,” he said.

After his presentation, Miles fielded questions, attendees flocked to information tables and a violinist played the theme song from “Schindler’s List.”

For professor Miles to focus his energies on alleged American abuses, instead of those of Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia or other enemies of the US, exposes his unconscionable hypocrisy.

Minneapolis - the Fallujah of the west

We know that crime occurs all the time on the north side and the Phillips neighborhood in general. What people should be aware of is that the previously insulated folks in southwest Minneapolis (where the middle to upper middle class, mostly white live) are being targeted with personal violence at an alarming rate. Yes, murders are down citywide, but robberies, rapes, and other violent crimes are up. And they are shifting toward previously safe areas.

Following are some recent cases in point (and by the way, you won't read these in the Red Star).

"Sonny of Sonny's Crema Café mugged, incidents worry Lyndale" from the Southwest Journal.

Seventy-nine-year-old Sonny Siron, the patriarch of Sonny's Crema Café, 3403 Lyndale Ave. S., was robbed during his morning walk on Monday, Sept. 5. Two black males asked him for directions downtown and then begged for money. When Siron indicated that he didn't have any cash on him, they appeared to walk away. An instant later, they delved into his pockets - wrapping their hands around his neck and stealing his wallet that contained cash, credit cards and keys. Siron wasn't injured, but he was shaken, according to Crema Café's Carrie Gustafson.

This is a highly trafficked area, frequented by normal people.

Said Gustafson, ”We haven't seen it this bad since we opened the café almost 12 years ago.“ She said her concern isn't about how many police officers patrol the area, but added, ”It's the fact that, once people get caught, they're back on the street and they just do it again. We have to get tough on crime.“

God bless her. Let's get these animals.

There's more.

"Shots fired in Tangletown, arrests made" also form the Southest Journal.

On Sept. 26 at 11:15 p.m., approximately seven gunshots were fired in the Tangletown neighborhood near West 47th Street & Wentworth Avenue. Two suspects were arrested shortly after the incident. In an alert sent to residents via e-mail, Minneapolis Police Crime-Prevention Specialist Jennifer Neale stated, ”No one was hurt in this incident, and all involved parties were immediately located and arrested. None of the arrested parties lives in the neighborhood or precinct.

“According to Neale, an officer found no weapons, guns, drugs or anything wrong, she said. Neale added that one juvenile male was arrested for a curfew violation and another suspect was taken to jail for an outstanding gross misdemeanor warrant.

There's even more.

"Elderly woman robbed in Windom, police urge crime prevention", also in the Southwest Journal (and not the Red Star).

On Sept. 23 at 1:30 p.m. on the 6100 block of Dupont Avenue South someone robbed an elderly woman of her purse and then fled.

Minneapolis Police Crime-Prevention Specialist Jennifer Neale said in an e-mail crime alert that the elderly woman was in the garage with her husband, getting out of the car, when a suspect crept up from behind and snatched her purse.

Neale describes the suspect as a white male, 18 years old, with brown hair and a medium build.

And if that weren't enough, a triple shooting on the north side, one dead:

"One dead after Minneapolis triple shooting", per the Channel 5 News site.

As three woman lay bleeding in a North Minneapolis neighborhood, Charmaine Cross waited for a text message reply that would never come. One of her friends,18-year old Nicole Harris, was shot and was struggling to live. "It's scary because I just talked to her. I was the last person to talk to her," Cross told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. Police say the shooter also wounded La Crecha Hollie and killed her mother, 43 year-old Sheila Hollie.

Let's get all these dirtbags and lock them up, shan't we?

And in other news, boy-Mayor Ryback is running for re-election. Here's hoping his potential voters read Rambix and the Red Star on their way to the polls.

MSM manipulation, Red Star style

The minimization, softening of facts, and just plain oddity in this Toledo Blade article is something to behold: "Violence in North Toledo after Nazi march canceled; mayor declares curfew". The reporters and editors must have attended the same Newspeak conference as the staff of the Red Star. The byline is simply "Blade staff".

As best we can decipher, the article is about a race riot. But the "Blade staff" take great pains to minmize that fact, starting with the title. If one were to read the title alone, as many people do, you would be left with no indication that anyone besides the Nazis were causing problems. In fact, there is no indication the Nazis caused any problems. Not that we're defending Nazis, but if they didn't cause problems, they didn't cause problems.

The riots allegedly occurred because of the cancellation of the Nazi march (It all seems very Alice in Wonderland, doesn't it?).

Mr. Ford [the Mayor] said those protesting were mainly male gang members in their 20s. He said the protests were not triggered by race relations but by gang members with grievances.

So...what does that have to do with Nazis?

A mob of at least 500 people threw bricks and rocks at police and vehicles, looted a bar at Central and Mulberry and started it on fire, and overturned a car at a North Toledo gas station and burned it.There were reports of minor injuries to police and numerous arrests.

There's that looting thing again. Sounds familiar. Then we find out that the riots didn't even occur near the planned Nazi march site:

Because of the violence - which broke out along Stickney Avenue away from the Nazis gathered in the park - police cancelled the march and told the Nazis to leave, which they did.

Again, we're not defending the Nazis, but at least they left when asked. The mob, on the other hand:

Mayor Ford and Toledo Fire Department chief Mike Bell approached the mob and attempted to negotiate a compromise. But as they talked, and as the crowd yelled and screamed at them, looters broke into the bar at Central and Mulberry and began taking merchandise.

Mr. Bell eventually began walking back toward a large group of police shaking his head.

"No more negotiating," he said. "We’re done. They just set a building on fire."

"Taking" merchandise? Isn't it stealing? More hard evidence of minimization of behavior.

And by the way, nowhere in the article is the race of the rioters mentioned. Only the photo tells the story, but would a reader who didn't have access to the photo be informed? Isn't the race of the rioters in a race riot relevant information?


Well, this article certainly ranks high in the Pantheon of MSM social manipulation and Newspeak. It's but one example of what Rambix has no trouble finding in MSM rags like the Red Star and others of its ilk. What we are witnessing is the changing of language and information flow to advance an agenda, mainly by the socialist elite, which has been detailed in prior entries throughout this blog.

Information is power. Our mission is to inform.

More Gettin' medieval

Hat tip to reader Michael, who points out a lesser edited version of the Samurai store owners robbery defense. Here's the Minnesota Daily (Univ. of MN) story, "Armed robbers hit market near U". The differences between this version and the KSTP version show just how much the news is manipulated by the various levels of people who review it before it goes into print, i.e., the reporter, editors, etc. They make decision on how the story is written and compiled, how much of the story gets chopped, and how it's titled in the paper, and so on.

In this particular story, the large amount of cash is new information in the Daily, as opposed to KSTP. It's a big score in this case: over $8000. Interestingly, neither story printed good descriptions of the robbers.

Here's some particularly relevant information left out of the KSTP story:

“It’s getting worse here every day,” Hassuneh [victim] said about safety in the area. As he spoke, he soldered part of a gate that will now surround his business. “Now we are gating up and arming ourselves,” he said.

Gettin' medieval

A little street justice for the good guys: "Store owners scare thieves with sword", as reported on the Minneapolis Channel 5 Eyewitness News website.

Two brothers who live above their Minneapolis store watched it being robbed and trapped one suspect inside.

Abed Hassuneh and his brother Jamal watched two men with masks on rough up the store attendant and pocket cartons of cigarettes and thousands of dollars in cash.

The brothers ran downstairs, and one of them grabbed the first thing he saw – a sword.

One thief escaped while the brothers trapped another inside, screaming while he tried to get away.

Abed Hassuneh hit the trapped suspect in the arm with the sword while he escaped out the door.

The brothers now wonder if the thieves will be brave enough to return.

It would have been more interesting if both thieves were run through with the sword, but we'll settle for the superficial beating.

Caribou Coffee and Islamic Sharia law

Question: What do Caribou Coffee and the Taliban have in common? They both operate under Islamic Sharia law.

Rambix has written about Caribou previously here: "Which of the following does not fit with the others: Coffee, stocks, or Islamic Sharia law?"

Caribou's stock has had trouble since the public offering, per this Red Star story:

Originally priced at $14 a share, Caribou stock opened at $15.51 a share on Sept. 29 and then sank to $11.35 by the end of its second day of trading. By Thursday, Caribou was at $9.96 a share, 35 percent off of its high and 29 percent off of its original price.

What could the reaon be?

CEO Michael Coles, who is limited in what he can say about Caribou's prospects because of regulations related to the IPO, attributes the decrease to the vagaries of the market.

"Considering we haven't put out any information, it has less to do with Caribou and more to do with the market."

Or could it be this:

Besides improving operations, Coles has his hands full addressing the public relations problems related to the 60 percent stake in Caribou owned by Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank, which was formerly known as First Islamic Investment Bank.

Arcapita -- which also owns major stakes in Cirrus Industries, the Minnesota-based aircraft manufacturer; Church's Chicken stores, and Loehmann's, a specialty retailer -- operates the business in accordance with a body of Islamic principles known as Shariah.

Is it unreasonable to believe that in these days of Islamic terror, the Taliban, and with the US at war in a Muslim region that a company that operates in accordance with the philosophy espoused by our enemies, might have some problems?

Miscellany - Illegal aliens, Islamic terrorists, and the MSM

Michelle Malkin writes about the MSM manipulation of the news when it comes to protecting their favorite subgroups, such as Islamic terrorists:

ISLAMIST TERRORISM IN RUSSIA
By Michelle Malkin · October 13, 2005 04:06 PM
Yesterday, I wrote about the MSM whitewashing Islam out of news reports. Today's coverage of the violent Muslim terrorist outbreak in Russia underscores my point:

60 killed as Chechen gunmen attack city
Chechen rebel attack fuels growing unrest
Chechens attack Caucasus town
Police battle militants in Russia

Look how far down you have to read those stories before you are told that it is Islamic radical terrorists wreaking havoc and murdering innocent people, not just plain-vanilla "gunmen" and nondescript "militants" run amok.

Any Minneapolis area newspapers come to mind that do the same thing?

In other news, Texas governor Rick Perry is angry over the Swiss cheese border:

Texas governor hot over border security

Another Southwest governor is lashing out in frustration over the inability or unwillingness of Washington to handle border-security issues and a flood of illegal immigrants entering the country from Mexico.

He's got every right to be mad, as we all should be:

"This isn't just Texas' problem," Perry said. "This is about a terrorist slipping across the U.S. border with Mexico who has ill will in his heart in Oklahoma, or Pennsylvania, or Washington, D.C."

We shouldn't forget about our friends to the south.

"It is important for the federal government to understand that we have a major problem along the border with Mexico, and it is not going to go away," added Perry.

Perry joins two other governors in the Southwest who have decried inaction by the federal government in response to the crisis on the border.

In August, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano – both Democrats – declared states of emergency because of increasing violence along the border.

Sometimes things that aren't on our immediate radar, like the Texas border for Minnesotans, are too easy to overlook. The similarity is that we have a border to our north here in Minnesota; we ought to pay attention.

The Viking and the Id

Before we talk about the Minnesota Viking player's hedonistic cruise, it might be instructive to review some basic psychology.

AllPsych Online defines the Id as "the part of the personality which contains our primitive impulses such as sex, anger, and hunger". We are born with the Id, and it represents our basic primitive needs.

According to Freud, normal human development follows a pattern from the Id, to the Ego, to the Superego.

The Superego is the moral part of us and develops due to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us by our caregivers. Many equate the superego with the conscience as it dictates our belief of right and wrong ... In a healthy person, according to Freud, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation. Not an easy job by any means, but if the id gets too strong, impulses and self gratification take over the person's life.

All Psych.com also provides definitions of psychiatric disorders, which might be helpful to review:

Antisocial Personality Disorder:

The symptoms of antisocial personality disorder include a longstanding pattern (after the age of 15) of disregard for the rights of others. There is a failure to conform to society's norms and expectations that often results in numerous arrests or legal involvement as well as a history of deceitfulness where the individual attempts to con people or use trickery for personal profit. Impulsiveness if often present, including angry outbursts, failure to consider consequences of behaviors, irritability, and/or physical assaults ... Finally, irresponsible behavior often accompanies this disorder as well as a lack of remorse for wrongdoings.

Prognosis:

Prognosis is not very good because of two contributing factors. First, because the disorder is characterized by a failure to conform to society's norms, people with this disorder are often incarcerated because of criminal behavior. Secondly, a lack of insight into the disorder is very common. People with antisocial personality disorder typically see the world as having the problems, not him or herself, and therefore rarely seek treatment. If progress is made, it is typically over an extended period of time.

Now, with that information in mind, let's look at the behavior of some of our Viking football heros last week on their boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka. All of the "activity" happened within the first 45 minutes of the cruise.

Minnesota Vikings players are being investigated in connection with a lake cruise that turned into a wild sex party last week on Lake Minnetonka. The party became so out of control that crew members on the two yachts were offered money for sex and feared for their safety, law enforcement authorities and an attorney for the cruise company said Tuesday.

And:

At least 90 people were on the two yachts. The boats were ordered to return to shore just 40 minutes into what had been planned as a 3½-hour cruise after supervisors learned of the alleged behavior.

And:

Doyle [The cruise company's attorney] said behavior on the cruise included oral sex, masturbation and playing with sex toys.

And:

"Players were approaching the wait staff telling them they would be tipped if they danced," Doyle said.

The players started to become more aggressive, wanting to pour their own drinks and screaming at the bartenders, he said. Naked woman walked around without hesitation. They performed oral sex in the open, he said. Sex toys were strewn about, he said.

And:

A woman working as a hostess on one of the boats called Mound police about 7:30 that night to report possible prostitution, drugs and sex acts, according to police.

And finally:

Prior to boarding, at least one group in a limo urinated on Cathy Hough's lawn in Mound, according to Hough and police. She said she confronted the men. "I said, 'Excuse me, do you mind?' And they looked at me as if I was crazy," Hough said Tuesday. "One of them said, "It's only water, ma'am,' and he continued peeing. I said no, it's not."

The players have not yet been identified, but they can be diagnosed by Dr. Rambix. They clearly have not progressed beyond their Ids, and appear to suffer from Antisocial Personality Disorders. Their behavior is animal-like, although even animals have a purpose for what they do.

We sometimes forget that many pro football players are criminals straight from the ghetto; we shouldn't be too surprised when they behave in this manner. As the saying goes, you can take the criminal out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the criminal.

Since the prognosis for recovery is grim, they should be released from the team and placed in jail or a mental hospital.

And let's give them a stadium, shall we?

Red Star reads Rambix

Someone at the Red Star has been reading Rambix. They've now switched the Hastings murder suspect photos to the booking photos.

Hastings (alleged) murderers & newspaper photos

Details are emerging on the horrific double murders in Hastings, MN of Patricia and Peter Niedere, struck down in broad daylight at their family business. As if that weren't bad enough, we learn that one of the (alleged) killers is their son, Matthew.

The son of a Hastings couple conspired with two other teenagers to kill his parents because of recent arguments and to cash in on their estate, prosecutors said today in Hastings. Matthew Niedere, 17, of Hastings; Clayton Keister, 17, of Blaine; and Jamie Patton, 18, of East Bethel are charged in the deaths of Niedere's parents, Patricia and Peter Niedere, both 52.

These young men were overcome with evil:

Matthew Niedere killed his father with a .22-caliber handgun, prosecutors said. Patricia Niedere was shot several times with a handgun, but died of a single shotgun blast to the head fired by Keister, prosecutors said.

The killings appear to have been premeditated, and the motive was money.

Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom said in court today that Matthew Niedere organized the killings, which had been in the planning for about two weeks. Matthew Niedere recruited Keister and Patton with promises of thousands of dollars from his parents' estate, Backstrom said. The three met four or five times to discuss how to stage the killings and apparently tried unsuccessfully to kill the Niederes during a staged burglary the night before their deaths, he said.

This privileged young man certainly had every reason to be angry:

According to a criminal complaint, he told investigators he and his parents had argued over many things in recent years: his desire to change churches, missing a church service because he overslept, and his flirting with younger girls while at church.

Who wouldn't kill after those traumas?

Well certainly this innocent looking young man wouldn't:

Or would your impression change if you saw the booking photo that the MSM, including the Red Star, has not used:


Or how about the accomplices? This is the photo published by the MSM:


Versus the booking photo:


The small details, such as which pictures are used, go mostly unnoticed by the casual MSM reader. It's Rambix' role to point out how impressions can be manipulated to sensationalize or promote an agenda. Were the photo choices an attempt to manipulate, or editorial laziness? Always consider the story within the story.

Macalester and the slippery slope

The Red Star reports that Macalester College (St. Paul, MN) now offers coed suites for their students. This is probably no longer real news, except for the fact that it is some news as evidenced by the Red Star article here.

Two years after drawing fire over a proposal to allow men and women to share residence hall rooms, Macalester College is allowing older students who live in apartment-style housing to choose their suite mates regardless of gender.

That's "gender", mind you, not "sex". Gender can encompass male, female, or other. Remember when we used to fill out a form and check the "sex" box - male or female? Now it's "gender". Here's a little definitional comparison:

Sex refers to biological differences; chromosomes, hormonal profiles, internal and external sex organs.
Gender describes the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine.

So the leftists have adopted the usage of "gender" instead "sex", ostensibly because gender allows wiggle room for what might have been called the "other" category. It's pliable, depending on the circumstances. They posit that "male" and "female" are constructs of a patriarchal society, and thus discriminate against those alleged to exist to one side of the scale or the other, but not within mainstream society's idea of the roles.

Why should we care about this? Because of the escalation of social changes sought by the left and other radical special interest groups. It starts with installing speech codes on campus and in the public square, for example, making it a crime to denounce or preach against deviant lifestyles. This is already happening in Canada, and we're not too far away from that in the USA.

The changes are incremental. Twenty years ago or so, many college dormitories became coed despite the objection of many parents and alumni. It came to be accepted and apparently worked ok on the micro level. What we don't know is how it has affected our society on the macro level. Combine that change cumulatively with other changes, and the overall effect has been, Rambix would argue, a shift away from the moral and virtuous, to a coarsened, soulless, and immoral culture.

Now the folks at Macalester have taken it a step further by allowing coed suites:

The change puts Macalester on a growing list of liberal arts colleges offering such options. It was pushed by gay, lesbian and transgendered students who wanted more flexible living arrangements that they said would make them feel more accepted on campus.

If there is anyone who doubts the influence of the GBLT (gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgendered)movement, you haven't been paying attention. They are not interested in equality, they are interested in acceptance. They are interested in changing our culture as we know it. This is obvious from reading newspapers like the Red Star, or watching primetime television. They are making the rules and the definitions, and they don't have your best interests at heart.

God created Man and Woman, not 60-40 or 80-20. Don't let them take that away.

Oklahoma suicide bombing & MSM coverage

Have you heard about the Oklahoma suicide bombing? If your main news source is the Red Star or other MSM, probably not. (Michelle Malkin, as usual, has unparalleled coverage and links here and here.)

This is another story where bloggers take the lead and dig deep as the MSM writes about more important things, like those nasty SUVs. In fact, with papers like the Red Star gearing up to become USA Today light, there's every reason to tune in the blogs each day for your unvarnished news. The MSM still hasn't figured out they are losing readership because of their biased "coverage", not because of how cartoonish their front page looks.

Lileks weighs in, and how.

Minneapolis rape suspect bagged

Good news tonight: the brutal Minneapolis rape suspect (which Rambix previously wrote about here) is in the can. As usual, the Red Star is behind on the story, "Police arrest sex offender in Minneapolis rape case". They provide only a very general account of the suspect and arrest.

KSTP, on the other hand, is quick with the facts, "Minneapolis arrests rape suspect", including the naming of the suspect. Image courtesy of KSTP news web site:


He is a registered sex offender, and naturally he was loose on the streets of Minneapolis. When will the judges learn?

Douglas Jourdain was apprehended in north Minneapolis because of public response to a sketch of his appearance.

He is a suspect in several crimes, including a September 30 the incident in which a woman was attacked and raped in a south Minneapolis garage.

Investigators took several evidence bags out of his home.

Jourdain has a lengthy criminal record, arrests for assault, domestic assault and criminal sexual conduct. “He is a registered sex offender with the city of Minneapolis,” said Captain Rich Stanek.

Here's the Minnesota Department of Correctons picture (the unblurred version of above):



OID Number: 215271
Name: DOUGLAS JAMES JOURDAIN
Birth Date: 6/8/1983
Current Status: Release Apprehend
Location: Hennepin County
Admit Date: 9/10/2004
Anticipated Release Date **: 4/14/2005
Expiration Date: 11/5/2005
Case Worker:
Supervising Agent: Blaine Muyres
Controlling Offense Information *:
Offense Description: ASLT-DOMESTIC-FE-INFLT BODLY HRM-HNDS-ADLT-ACQ
Offense Modifier: NOT/APPL
Minnesota Statute(s): 609 2242 4

County of Conviction: HENNEPIN
Court File Number: 03070996

Judge to answer for low bail?

Rambix has written fairly extensively on pedophile murderer Joseph E. Duncan III here, here, here, and especially here: "Tough judge? One predator, 4 dead".

Now the brother of one of the victims wants revenge - on the judge who let this animal out on $15,000 bail. Here's the Red Star story, "Claim filed against judge, prosecutor in release of sex-offense suspect".

The brother of a man who was killed with his girlfriend and her son has filed a $500,000 tort claim accusing a Minnesota judge and prosecutor of negligence in the earlier release of Joseph E. Duncan III.

Steve McKenzie, the brother of Mark Edward McKenzie, also accused Becker County, Minn., officials who dealt with Duncan after he was arrested and accused of molesting two boys in March of negligently failing to supervise Duncan after his release on $15,000 bail.

This is a tough issue. Clearly the judge was negligent. Duncan should never have seen the light of day. On the other hand, there is plenty of blame to go around, and one might argue that no one can predict the future. That's the weak defense. The truth is, the best predicter of future behavior is past behavior. Duncan's past was a was what the FBI would call a "clue".

This is a particularly egregious case, and highlights the failings of our justice system. Too many authorities never seem to understand that you err on the side of the victim, not the criminal.

We'll be watching this one close.

Minneapolis crime update - rape suspect

A brutal rape suspect is on the loose in Minneapolis. Although it shouldn't make a difference, he's been hitting some pretty rough parts of town. Here's the latest alert from the Minneapolis police:

Suspect information needed in regard to a violent sexual assault which occurred on Sept 29th-30, 2005 in the area of 13th Ave 24th St. Suspect forced victim into a garage, beat her and sexually assaulted her. This same suspect may be connected to an assault which occurred on Sept. 19th at 29th and 11th Ave.

Native American or Hispanic male, (no accent), 5’11, medium build, 20-25 yrs old. No facial hair, medium- short black hair, combed or gelled back. Noticeable acne on face. Possible name of D.J. and or Brian. Wearing all black clothing. Very baggy pants, Windbreaker type jacket. Suspect may have noticeable Scratches on face. Suspect is known to street people in the area of 25th and Bloomington. May have assaulted/robbed women in the area.

Contact Sgt. Nancy Dunlap, Sex Crimes Unit, with information:612-673-3782, 612-963-3300 or email at Nancy.dunlap@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Individuals my also contact the “Tip Line”: 612-682-TIPS or 612-628-8477

Let's be careful out there.

News of interest

More of the dark underbelly of society in the news today, unfortunately. Yes, Rambix focuses on crime reporting and nasty things like killer priests, but plans are in the works to balance the bad by reporting something good the Red Star does. As soon as that happens.

Here's a story that is so sad that there really isn't any pleasure in the fact that the assailants were caught: "Two charged in baseball bat beating". If you see a picture of the victim, a skinny young kid, it breaks your heart. In Texas these gangsters might be on death row. In Minnesota, they will probably be on the streets before they turn 30. Reading this might make you sick:

Michael Duong was having a seizure, shaking on the ground, the victim of many baseball-bat blows to his head. But at least two suspects who mistook the 13-year-old for a Bloods gang member didn't stop there, according to charges filed Tuesday.

They say that after Julio C. Robles, 17, beat the boy, Jose M. Ramirez, also 17, then kicked him at least twice, yelling, "South Side," referring to the suspects' allegiance to the South Side Sureno 13 street gang.

Only a liberal could love these animals. There's nothing more to say.

And here's more on the killer priest (The Red Star still hasn't reported all the facts): "Transcript of police interview with Rev. Ryan Erickson on Nov. 11"

A study in contrasts - killer priest

Those of you from places other than Minnesota and western Wisconsin may not have heard about the truly shocking case of - hold on to your chair - the double-murdering homosexual pedophile Catholic priest from Hudson, WI. It's hard to even type the words, but it's true.

I'll link to the stories so you can read them, but this post isn't about the story per se. It's about how the story is reported. Specifically, it's about how the story is reported in the Red Star (Minneapolis Star Tribune) vs. the St. Paul Pioneer Press, our two major papers in Minnesota.

Here's the Red Star: "Priest likely was killer, judge finds".
Here's the Pioneer Press: "Judge: Priest was funeral home killer".

The difference in the reporting is actually quite stunning, and is fairly obvious when you read one and then the other. Rambix first read the Red Star report this morning. That report fleshed out some surprising details that were suppressed by the court until now.

Later this afternoon Rambix read the Pioneer Press story. It was like reading about a different event. The Pioneer Press revealed truly shocking details that the Red Star omitted.

The Red Star report was very general. There is vague information on the pedophile angle:

Also Monday, a man who appeared to be about 20 testified haltingly that on about 10 occasions when he was 17 he was "touched sexually" by Erickson, who invited him to the rectory at St. Patrick's. He said that Erickson gave him liquor. Authorities said after the hearing that they found no evidence that O'Connell knew about the youth. Police learned about the teenager when he was at college in Bismarck, N.D., in 2003 and told police there that the priest had given him alcohol. He later disclosed the sexual touching. [Red Star]

Sounds bad, right? Well, here's some test from the Pioneer Press account:

HUDSON, Wis. — There is overwhelming evidence that the Rev. Ryan Erickson killed two men in a Hudson funeral home in 2002, a St. Croix County judge said Monday after a day of testimony revealed the priest to be a man consumed by guns, alcohol and gay pornography. [Pioneer Press]

Holy cow! How about this:

Erickson professed a love of God, but witnesses described a man who downloaded hardcore pornography — much of it involving boys. One file, which included 40 pornographic photos, was in a computer file labeled "Holy Mass/Prayers." [Pioneer Press]

Or this:

More recently, Erickson apparently "groomed" one teenage boy for sex during drinking binges and sleepovers at St. Patrick's rectory and was trying to do so with another, but that boy became uncomfortable. [Pioneer Press]

Or this:

From 2000 to 2002, the victim testified, he spent many of his weekends at the rectory with Erickson, watching horror movies and playing drinking games. He estimated that Erickson had supplied him more than 1,200 cans of beer and the same amount of liquor shots. The victim said he had seen at least two handguns owned by the priest.

Once the boy was drunk, he testified, Erickson would invite him to his bed, where he molested him on about 10 occasions. [Pioneer Press]

It takes your breath away.

In previous Red Star accounts prior to, and after, the "John Doe Trial", the Red Star mentioned the pornography angle, but suppressed the reference to homosexual pornography.

Why would the Red Star delete the homosexual reference? The reason goes to a very contentious place in the homosexual lifestyle debate. For years, "homosexual rights" groups have taken great pains to separate homosexuality from pedophilia. Then the public became ever more aware of the "lavender" priests infiltrating the seminaries. The priests molested young boys, and soon the sordid tales made the front pages. The possible connection in many cases between homosexuality and pedophilia became clearer, and the homosexual activists were not happy. This was a shock to their efforts to "normalize" the homosexual lifestyle.

And now court has released graphic details of the Hudson priest's lifestyle. He favored "gay" porn and was a child molester. The Red Star can't accept the facts, so they suppress the details.

If you're casual news reader you may not have known the truth until Rambix turned on the light in the dark hallways of the Red Star.

Red Star Bash?

For those wondering: Rambix does not bash the Red Star. Rambix merely exposes the Red Star, then they wish they were bashed.

The naive liberal - a case study

The Red Star's Mike Kaszuba does a profile today on "Sandy Vargas, the top administrator of Hennepin County and its $1.8 billion budget". Nobody has really heard of Ms. Vargas, but she is apparently paid the stunning sum of $173,614 per year. The story contains abundent clues that Ms. Vargas suffers from liberalism. The first clue is that she has "two white Maltese puppies, Diego and Frida". The second clue is her naivete:

As she encounters the troubled people she meets on the streets or sees sleeping in a park near her home, she said, she occasionally gives them money. On another early Sunday morning, she said she gave $20 to a man she met on the streets who told her he was from Los Angeles and had his car towed.

Are you freaking kidding? Some bum told you he came from LA and now his car is towed, and you give him $20? Your case of liberalism is much worse than originally thought.

As she spoke, her heels crushed the broken glass on the sidewalk along 7th Avenue S. and two sinister-looking men walked by. "I don't want you to think that I'm [standing here] passing out dollar bills, or whatever," she said as she struggled with her two dogs.

Isn't that interesting? I wonder why the two men looked sinister? Were they black? Isn't that "judging"? Isn't that racist? If this article were about a conservative, it would contain derogatory language to that effect. But we know that such an article would not appear in the Red Star if the subject was a conservative. They're not biased, really!

The article goes on to talk about the budget process Ms. Vargas is involved in:

Mary Ann Blade, who heads the Minnesota Visiting Nurse Agency, told county officials there would be no money next year to help undocumented Hispanic mothers who are pregnant. Thirty-one percent of the 8,000 mothers and children that the agency served last year were Hispanic, Blade said, and just 7 percent of those were documented.

The mother's status is not "undocumented". The correct description is "illegal alien". One has to go all the way back to, well, this blog's most recent prior post, where the subject of language modification to suit an agenda is discussed. This is yet another example.

More societal transformation flowing from the office of Ms. Vargas:

Sitting recently in her office overlooking downtown Minneapolis, Vargas talked about a handful of new county projects -- like the American Indian Families Project -- that she hopes will help address generational poverty. In her county budget address two weeks ago, Vargas said "we have much work to do when it comes to understanding the root causes of generational poverty and then finding solutions."

Rambix will help you with that one. It's perpetual laziness. There are so many government programs out there that no one should ever have to work if they play their hand right. Because liberalism has not yet been cured or eradicated, the government giveaways remain legion.

Sandy Vargas is a patsy of the left. She exemplifies the mindset of the disease known as liberalism. Here's a suggestion for Ms. Vargas: Take your fat salary and distribute it to every bum you see, until you have achieved "equality". Only then will you be credible.

Red Star hits the trifecta yet again

Rambix does not want readers to feel that certain postings in this blog in any way denigrate homosexual people. The various postings concerning the homosexual lifestyle as reported in the news are meant to highlight the agenda of the MSM to promote and condone said lifestyle, and exposing those institutions for their hypocrisy.

That said, the Red Star is at it again. In fact, this time they hit the liberal trifecta: homosexuals, minorities, and victims of the hurricane caused by George Bush. The story is titled: "Montevideo family opens home to Katrina victims".

The article in the Metro section of the 10/2/05 Sunday edition chronicals the story of a lesbian couple who opened their home to a family who were victims of the George Bush Hurricane. The family happens to be black.

...a household of five in rural Minnesota headed by a lesbian couple readied itself to become home to a black family that includes eight people spanning three generations.

The interview with the families takes place after the hurricane family arrived in Montevideo, MN. In facts, they had only been there approximately 3 weeks. The hurricane family was showered with a lot of donated goods, including the use of an RV for their transport to Minnesota.

In the days after they first talked, a steady stream of generosity paved the Singletons' way to their new home. A New York woman who heard about the Singletons' plight paid for Nicole, 33, to fly to Minnesota to check things out.

A Twin Cities couple donated a spacious RV for Tracey Thornbury to use as she picked up Dot and five of the kids and drove them to Montevideo. The oldest child, a 16-year-old girl, stayed in Louisiana with friends, but is joining her family in Montevideo later this week.

Another woman from New York sent money for gas, food and lodging for the trip to Minnesota. In Montevideo, donated furniture, clothes and toys filled the Thornburys' olive two-story house.

The Red Star reporter is Jill Burcum, and it's clear where her sympathies lie with regard to the "alternative lifestyle" issues. She quotes a daughter from the hurricane family telling her mother that they were moving in with a "same-sex" couple.

Nicole also pulled her mother aside and told her that they'd be sharing a home with a same-sex couple. "I said, 'What's that got to do it?' They were offering us their home. I was just glad they were saying we were welcome," Dot Singleton said.

In past posts Rambix has talked about the use of language modification by people and media and other social institutions to bring about change in pursuit of an agenda. In this case, the reporter implies the young girl used the words "same-sex couple". What are the odds are the young girl used that phrase? Rambix says slim to none, and Slim just left town. The reporter in this instance is subjectively reporting, using a "progressive" label for homosexuals to deflect the stigma attached to the word "homosexual", or "lesbian", etc.

The written story is an interesting contrast to the newspaper photos. If you can get a copy of the paper version, look at the photos as you read the story. Here's some of the text:

From a kid's perspective, the blended household is "awesome," said Ryan Thornbury, 12. He and Esaw Singleton, 11, share a room.

"It's like having your best friend spending the night with you all the time," Ryan Thornbury said.

Helen so loves Montevideo that she constantly asks Tracey and Tanya if she and her family will ever have to leave. The Thornburys do their best to reassure her that they consider her part of their family.

"The kids are really lovable. Dot and Nicole are really lovable people," Tracey Thornbury said . "When you see destruction like this on such a massive scale, you feel like it's your duty as a human being and to your faith in God to do something."

Now review the photos, of which there are several. None of the kids are smiling. In fact, the picture at the bus stop speaks volumes. The lesbian couple's children are distanced from the hurricane children. All of the children have looks of contempt; at the very least they have no smiles. It's quite striking, and in contrast to the story being told.

Although it is truly heroic for the lesbian couple to bring needy strangers into their home, Rambix believes the Red Star is trying to manufacture a heartwarming story using their favorite props. At the time of the writing, however, it is clear there is substantial friction among the families only several weeks into the stay.

If the Red Star has any integrity, they'll follow up with the families 6 months down the road. Rambix predicts they won't.

Which of the following does not fit with the others: Coffee, stocks, or Islamic Sharia law?

What do you get when you cross an IPO (Initial Public Offering of stock) with a company that operates according to Sharia law, the same Islamic law which the Taliban observes? You get: "Caribou shares keep falling on 2nd day of trading".

Caribou stock closed Friday at $11.35 a share, down $1.65, or 12.7 percent. The stock started trading at $14 on Thursday, and finished its first day off $1, or 7 percent.

What might be the cause of the decline?

The prospectus said that Caribou's majority shareholder is an affiliate of Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank, an investment group formerly known as First Islamic Investment Bank. The prospectus also said the company conducts its business in accordance with Sharia, or Islamic law. An analyst quoted by Reuters said investors did not understand what Caribou meant by saying it ran its business in accordance with Islamic law.

I wonder why the investors didn't understand that they were being asked to contribute money to a company that operates by the same philosophy as Al-Qaida and the Taliban? It's a real brain-twister.

Rambix has written about this previously: "Caribou coffee and Islamic Sharia law"