The following are the original replies when this was first posted on Open Salon.

I would do the same for my child if I had to.

maryway February 07, 2011 10:12 AM

I would do the same.. If she had been white would this have happened.
IT makes me so ill.

rated with hugs

Linda Seccaspina February 07, 2011 10:24 AM

jail!?!?!

an excellent and useful post.

Greg Correll February 07, 2011 10:30 AM

This is beyond stupidity. What an indictment of the courts. See Bonnie Russell's post today on Lindsay Lohan for further proof that the system stinks right out loud. (If any is needed.)

Boanerges1 February 07, 2011 10:31 AM

It is a terrible sentence. Mom's all over the world can relate to her and the kids probably spend lots of time at her Dad's house so what is the big deal. sigh.

zanelle February 07, 2011 10:35 AM

The funny thing is Scanner, before I saw where she was from, I was thinking to myself 'Only in North Carolina.' I'm from Ohio, and there's only one for this: retarded. Someone should give her an award instead of penalizing her.

Margaret Feike February 07, 2011 10:35 AM

When did Ohio turn barbaric? A disgrace to mankind.

Leon Freilich February 07, 2011 10:44 AM

In California, property taxes fund public schools so rich districts are in wealthy suburbs. So Rancho Santa Fe is like the best private schools and Oakland is a complete mess. Basic unfairness and segregation.

Janice Wood February 07, 2011 10:58 AM

If the system was fair and democratic it would provide a better education for all not just those in the privileged areas. If they throw people in jail for educating the poor then democracy will effectively be outlawed.

zacherydtaylor February 07, 2011 10:59 AM

Why is it that I get the impression that if this lady's child could slam dunk or rush for 100 yards a game that there would likely be no issue here whatsoever.
I agree--this is selective justice unless the judge is practicing "pour l'ecouragment d'autre".

Walter Blevins February 07, 2011 11:07 AM

I can only imagine this prosecution is to let the other blacks know that they will be next.
We have public education in this country but there is nothing equal about it.
Her only problem was getting caught in what many do not consider a crime of any concern.

Mission February 07, 2011 11:14 AM

Oh this is a disgrace. Thank you Scanner, for writing about this. It's beyond disgrace.

I've done this for my kids, my parents did it for me. There was a time when a parent could send their child to any school. I guess too many poor people were burdening the "better schools" with tattered and obviously poor children to allow that to continue.

I want to scream. Someone better step in for this woman AND her kids!

Foolish Monkey February 07, 2011 11:17 AM

I can barely believe this story, so sad that it is true. I hope the Governor has some common sense.

rated

A Life of Healing February 07, 2011 11:23 AM

They're trying to do the same with me and I'm certain color has nothing to do with why I'm facing the possibility of doing time in jail.

It's about color alright! The color of money...prosecutors don't discriminate. They will milk the system any way they can. Regardless of facts. Including her personal history.

Belinda T. February 07, 2011 11:30 AM

The problem is, D.A. s are ranked by the number of convictions they get. Instead of throwing so many people in jail -- which costs states millions -- they should simply raise fines for revenue. Makes no sense.

Thanks for sharing this, scanner.

john blumenthal February 07, 2011 11:31 AM

This is just ridiculous. I have done this for my son.. And I'd do it again too!!!!

white and black February 07, 2011 11:36 AM

Belinda, I think the racism comes in being forced to do this to start with. I also had to do this, but I live out in the country. Not the suburbs where mostly white families live and their kids go to school. The judge was heard to have said he was going to make an example of her. To who? While you may be an exception, the fact is that most African Americans do make less money and do live in poorer parts of the city. Ride through the richer parts of town and then the poorer parts of towns. The difference is astounding. Then check the rosters. Most of the kids are kids of color, it's just a fact. Prosecutors discriminate everyday. Sit in a courtroom all and watch how they operate. Then check the prison system and see how many blacks are in prison in comparison to whites. It's unfair and racist!

scanner February 07, 2011 11:47 AM

It's a travesty.

Cap'n Parrotdead February 07, 2011 11:53 AM

It is way past the time for correcting prosecutor to PERsecutor.

There are way way way too many instances where LE, cops & judges do these things to human beings. Unfortunately, THEY almost never have to answer for their crimes against the public.

XJS AND ME February 07, 2011 11:56 AM

They're making an example of her for the very same reason they're making an example out of me, scanner. I'm not black, but I do understand the politics that're played in courtrooms. That's why I'm risking the possibility of jailtime. I refuse to keep my mouth shut while the State has a team of lawyers, experts, and witnesses ready to slaughter me, I simply won't tolerate their portrayal of me as a violent person. Throw my ass in jail. I won't accept a plea because I'm not guilty of any crime. Period. If they want to waste time and money, I'll reveal every single detail of the case, including the narrative records inundated with erroneous info and outright lies.

What's really appalling, to me, is the underlying message is that we're treated like criminals and we have no rights from the get-go we're guilty until proven innocent.

Belinda T. February 07, 2011 12:10 PM

Absolutely not. I know a bunch of folks who have done this. But they were white and never got caught.

Sheba Marx February 07, 2011 12:17 PM

I called the Governors’ office to ask him to pardon her to clear her record and when I said she was sentenced to 2 years they told me it was only (1 week) completely oblivious to the fact that her record will show two years. Please call his office at 614 466 3555 and ask him to pardon her to clear her record!

PS did somebody say her name was Rosa Parks?

rockne1865 February 07, 2011 12:29 PM

I agree. I think she should get a medal rather than a trial.

rated with love

RomanticPoetess February 07, 2011 12:32 PM

I have no children but I would have done the same. This is just stupid. I know someone will pipe up and say that by putting her two kids in a different school it will keep two kids out who are in the district, but this isn't worthy of jail time. Unbelievable.

Geraint Isitt February 07, 2011 12:37 PM

Shame and outrageous ! Killing a fly with a cannon ball. The warped 'sense of justics' befuddles me to no end, Scanner. Thanks for putting up this. Shame! Shame! Shame!

♥

FusunA February 07, 2011 12:41 PM

As if this country doesn't have REAL problems. And we wonder why the courts are so busy...this is disgusting.

BuffyW February 07, 2011 01:12 PM

Rated

Leepin Larry February 07, 2011 01:33 PM

"My wife or I carried him to a school in another district because the one that was in our area was over-crowed... "

Yeah, too many crows in my kid's school, too.

codger07 February 07, 2011 02:00 PM

codger07, you got me cuz! I bet you were the kid in school that told the teacher every time you saw kids talking. Did you clap the blackboard erasers too?

scanner February 07, 2011 02:04 PM

It's a sad day when we go after the good citizens .......people who just want better education for their children, a better chance in life.....And I agree with you, it reeks of racism.......Thank you for this post. Rated.

Lynn Lyra February 07, 2011 02:10 PM

I caught this story on the news and, I agree, their motives are suspect in criminalizing this woman's actions.

Sarah Cavanaugh February 07, 2011 02:58 PM

So what about the myth that only us sothroners (sic) are racists?

Matt Paust February 07, 2011 03:37 PM

I agree with you completely and thanks for the school system/poverty/race stats. People need to read that stuff. I hear too many people say that not only do they think that racism is dead, they think the pendulum has swung too far the other way.

By the way, do you know that Tim Wise is opening a conference in Elon (keynote speaker) at the beginning of April?

koshersalaami February 07, 2011 04:09 PM

So-called "stowaways" are a common occurrence where two school districts of widely varying quality are contiguous. In Boston, parents who can afford it rent apartments in next-door Brookline, where the schools are better, using them as mail drops but never occupy them.

The answer is portability of state educational funds, as many districts have empty seats some years and are full the next.

Con Chapman February 07, 2011 04:48 PM

Scanner how many black kids were you in public schools with? I hate to say something here that may come off racist but if I do not write facts then I am wasting my time writing and your time reading it. Many black children have severe behavioral problems and are extremely disruptive in the classroom as a result of being raised only by their mother and in many instances their Grand parents. Why do you think upwardly mobile blacks want so desperately to live in white neighborhoods and have their children attend white schools?

Having tossed that little bucket of cold water on the noble intentions of this post I feel that it is also imperative to add that when black children are raised and educated with white children there are no discernable differences in intelligence. The problems arise with the board of education itself who inundate black schools with the worst available teachers, fairy tales they euphemistically call black history, and then release upon the country hoards of almost full grown illiterate semi primates who shuffle about with their pants around their knees and an air of entitlement that used to only be reserved for the aristocracy. Many of them feel they are entitled to be considered artists because they are able to rhyme words with the proficiency of an average 4 year old and the animals of our poisonous capitalistic system are only to happy to capitalize on their delusions by recording the ranting's of these chimpanzees and marketing it as art. The target audience of this “art” just happens to be those black children that are still in school thus creating a self perpetuating system that keeps Americas prison economy flourishing.

Jack Heart February 07, 2011 06:18 PM

This case infuriates me beyond belief. Parents do this ALL THE TIME to get their kids into better schools because the system is so fucked up we can't provide EVERY CHILD with a great education. And districts turn a blind eye. I am certain it is racially motivated. And to find out that she is a special needs teacher who may lose her job...I am speechless. And really, really pissed off.

sweetfeet February 07, 2011 09:45 PM

And Jack Heart, I know plenty of kids with severe behavioral problems who are extremely disruptive. They come from a variety of racial and family backgrounds. No race, family, or economic situation has a claim on problems in school. I could be more more poetic, but now I'm really, really, really mad.

sweetfeet February 07, 2011 09:53 PM

I'm glad you publicized this, scanner. It is a shame, and does indeed smell of racism. One of my son's best friends used our address for awhile to continue attending the same high school when her family was in the midst of a move. No one ever challenged it!

And in the case you cite, the kids' address was their grandpa's? I fail to see what the problem was. Let 'em live with Gramps for the record--who are they hurting? Grandpa pays taxes!

SnippytheGrammarDog February 07, 2011 10:04 PM

Wow, Jack Heart. The baggage you carry is heavy indeed.

SnippytheGrammarDog February 07, 2011 10:07 PM

The public school I attended was 80% black. One of my daughters has a boyfriend for the last 4 years who is also black. The leader of the long island chapter of the Cribs is a regular visitor at my house and is more like a son to me than my daughters soft ass college boyfriend. I spent 2 years in state prison where 90% of the inmates were black. I was their dorm rep and they called me “Pharaoh”. I watched as they systematically rapped and robed the same type of pandering fools like sweetfeet and snippy the dog perhaps when you are less “angry” sweetfeet you can give us another example of how to write bad poetry if you would like give me your address I shall send some cribs over to run a train on you perhaps this will provide you with enough inspiration to write beyond the second grade level you usually write at. And as for snippy the dog yes the truth makes for very heavy baggage.The American Black Man will never follow any of you he sees your pandering for just what it is weakness .When you pander to him you become Tom Willis of The Jefferson's. The average white liberals penchant for condescending apologist whimpering towards the black man is the exact weakness that gave life to the strategy that Soros and his fellow elitists used to install the Obamanation and lose us the entire south. All party's concerned must be made to understand that if the black man wants a piece of this pie he will have to earn his stripes just like every other ethnic group that entered America. A 90% vote for a relative of Dick Cheney and George Bush who happens to be black is a rather inauspicious start to say the least.

Jack Heart February 07, 2011 10:49 PM

If every parent who did this same thing for their children were thrown in jail, there'd be no room left for the murderers, for God's sake! That judge needs to be removed from the bench. Idiot.

Lezlie

L in the Southeast February 07, 2011 11:58 PM

The following are the original replies when this was first posted on Open Salon.

The taxpayers bailed out AIG--and others. And the taxpayers support and feed prisoners. With more and more taxpayers out of jobs, not paying taxes..not paying debts..not bailing anyone out..it all goes to a circle heading quickly down the drain

Satori1 March 28, 2011 09:28 AM

Doesn;t make sense does it?

If you are in how are you going to make money so they will let you out?

rated with hugs

Linda Seccaspina March 28, 2011 09:49 AM

Scanner, you and I could be sharing a cell soon. I want the top bunk!

David McClain March 28, 2011 10:02 AM

The guy in the video is talking nonsense. Bankruptcy has never been a taint for any business large or small. It's always been an "exit" strategy, that's precisely what it was designed for, it's smart business. Businesses get to write off bad debts when people don't pay and that reduces their profits and tax burden. They should be grateful to get the tax breaks instead of whining when they get what they asked for.

Putting people in jail means they can't continue to buy stuff from businesses and that will only increase their tax burden. These people are simply not intelligent and they'll succumb to Darwin eventually. CCA was behind the anti-immigration furor and they're just adding another group which is more smart business. Cannibalism among corporations is part of their nature.

Speaking from a moral standpoint, which they aren't capable of understanding, it's just plain wrong. Either way, it's not sustainable, we may have to get into another war to distract everyone. The inmates are drunk in the asylum. Thanks for a great post, I had no idea debtors prison was revived.

l'Heure Bleue March 28, 2011 10:05 AM

Satori1, AIG> Just saying that makes me want to puke. Yet they are locking people up.

Linda, I had to go to Wikipedia to even find out there were debtors prisons at one time. I guess it's now time for the big comeback!

Tor, you can have the top bunk, I'm afraid of heights. (and big guys named Bruno)

Bleue, if the Justis Department doesn't take this on and nip it in the bud, then Obama and his crew need to be shown the door!

scanner March 28, 2011 10:18 AM

I'd go to jail tomorrow if I'm afforded the same inprisonment as Uncle Madoff. ;)

Kidding aside.

When white collar crimes are prosecuted with the same vigor as those are re blue collar crimes, there will be more criminals than there are noncriminals.

Belinda T. March 28, 2011 10:22 AM

Dickensian, alright. Pure Evil. r.

Jonathan Wolfman March 28, 2011 10:23 AM

They're training for The Great Roundup.

Matt Paust March 28, 2011 10:23 AM

next they'll be putting the mentally ill in cellars and pay you one dollar a day...we have returned to the 17th century

Lyn LeJeune March 28, 2011 10:26 AM

It is being done to create fear.

Leepin Larry March 28, 2011 10:45 AM

I had no idea this was happening! Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

rated~

Susie Lindau March 28, 2011 10:48 AM

They are brewing the conditions that foment rebellions. Do they really think that popular uprisings can't happen here? No, we haven't reached that point yet...but we are going in that direction. Personally, no, I don't believe that lenders deserve their pounds of flesh...not when they are charging usurious rates and foreclosing on needy families. With 13% of the housing units in the United States VACANT we need to ask the question:

Where did all those people go?

sagemerlin March 28, 2011 11:06 AM

Belinda, are you kidding, the tennis courts there are in terrible shape.

Jon, it's just more proof that we are now run by corporations. Maybe we always have, but at least it wasn't so obvious.

Matt, 1/3 of the states and counting!

Elijah, isn't this the reason we had a revolution to start with?

Fett, the old dudes with the powered wigs now have $100 haircuts and think they are Gods!

Larry, exactly. But you can't fear any money out of my wallet. It's been crying the blues for a long time!

Susie, I didn't either. This to me is just so wrong.

Sage, we are now renters. We drive old clunkers and pay cash for everything. I wish I had always done this. It's freeing in a strange sort of way.

scanner March 28, 2011 11:16 AM Free room and board!!

Seriously it didn’t work before and it won’t work again; the only question is how much damage will they insist on doing before they learn the same lesson all over again? They will only make the deficit higher paying for the people in prison.

The last time I tried to beat blood out of a rock I thought I was succeeding until I realized it was my blood; the rock apparently didn’t have any.

zacherydtaylor March 28, 2011 11:22 AM

This is a lot of investigative research?, Scanner- and very informative for me. You know, I've come to tune off anyone who starts by saying "The fact of the matter is.." They are just not trustworthy to me. Good work, my friend.

♥R

FusunA March 28, 2011 11:27 AM

Well, if they want me, I ain't hard to find. Funny, over 2,000 bankers did time over the S & L debacle in the eighties. As far as I know, not a single Wall Street creep has even been arrested in what is a far worse drain on the people and the country. The too big to fail are now bigger than ever, while the little guy gets left holding the bag of s#*t. Our government is a calamity of errors with no end in sight.

Michael Rodgers March 28, 2011 11:33 AM

Where else could a system based on greed and self-interest, alone, end up? I suspect nobody is really surprised by this.

Rick Lucke March 28, 2011 11:44 AM

Yikes! I remember someone going to jail because they had a pile of unpaid parking tickets. Jail as big business. The power is scary.

zanelle March 28, 2011 11:56 AM

Jesus, I had no idea this is happening. So are all the execs from the banks who were bailed out going to jail? No, because they stole enough money to get away with it. Default on some loans or credit cards for a few thousand bucks, go to jail. Rob the nation of billions, retire early! Up is down and down is up.

This is why it's so important to pay attention and vote for decent candidates. This is why it's important to keep posting!

Maureen Andrade March 28, 2011 11:57 AM

I commented here once but it didn't show - anyway. I think you hit it on the head with the CCA - there is a lot of easy money to be made with government contracts - and with crime at an all time low criminals to house in these new facilities have to be found somewhere - why not the already down and out, right? Great topic to be shedding light on. Thanks. R

LammChops March 28, 2011 12:26 PM

I feel like I went to bed one night a woke up in the 18th century!

Lezlie

L in the Southeast March 28, 2011 12:33 PM

This sort of thing doesn't surprise me. It scares me, as it should everyone, but I'm definitely not surprised.

Duane Gundrum March 28, 2011 12:34 PM

That's the Catch-22 for normal people. If the ones that caused this mess were to be arrested you would also have to arrest the entire political system which would include elected judges. Banks own payday loan companies that screw the poor even more. Our system is so corrupt it is almost in disarray over anything. They in charge like it that way. We in turn by voting and paying taxes perpetuate our own misery. Great post Scanner........o/e r}++++++

older/exasperated March 28, 2011 12:50 PM

like others, I had no idea either. Man. thank you for bringing this out. Rated.

Michelle Coulter March 28, 2011 12:55 PM

Wonderful, isn't it?

~PFFFFFT~ People wonder why I want to become a terrorist.

Sheesh........try working in the system, and they'll eat ya up and spit it out!!!!!

Tinkerertink69 March 28, 2011 01:04 PM

Thank you for the heads up. I do find that there has been a shift into the land of Draconian implementation of law and punitive damage to working people with no prosecution of the wealthy who use this as a money generating opportunity. There is no economic justice until we change this skewed system. I'm so angry over this article I could spit. We bail out the rich banks, give tax cuts to those who truly don't need them and then send to prison those workers who aren't trying to scam the system, the system has scammed them. Ach this is such a mess.

GiWimpthinker March 28, 2011 01:07 PM

An outrage, isn't it? The Saturday New York Times featured another example--Countrywide suing and succeeding in having a debtor jailed for a year for following its advice and lying on a loan form.

Leon Freilich March 28, 2011 01:09 PM

This is really f*** scary.

...and you make a great point about sweat equity invested when they take a house, where's that calculation entered??? I understand debt needing re-paying, but as you say, debtor's prison is NOT the answer, there's a reason it was outlawed so long ago...

Just Thinking... March 28, 2011 01:11 PM

I think a lot of it gets down to the individual debt collectors crossing the line, similar with problems with IRS agents in the past.

So many issues here, including the right to sign a contract you cannot understand and the right to borrow money you cannot pay. None of the predatory lenders have been punished. There used to be a cap on interest, then it was called usury, at something like 18%, and that has been deregulated for a while. To our utter horror.

The best way to stay out of trouble is to want as little as possible, purchase only things you can pay for in cash, and not sign contracts for things you cannot guarantee to pay. Unemployment a whole other issue. As to debt reform, there are a lot of gamblers and stinkers out there who ruined it for the lot of us less than wealthy. I have known one or two. I still pay my debts even when I am told I may not have to.

Oryoki Bowl March 28, 2011 01:23 PM

Outrageous. Perpetrated by many who cling to the cloaks of religiosity but clearly have no use for their fellow man. Evil, yes...Lezlie is right...but I would go even further back in history. Great post, Scanner. R

A Persistent Muse March 28, 2011 01:57 PM

Everything I have seen about this over the last week or so has been tertiary sources; someone writes someone wrote someone wrote something happened.

The WSJ always shows up in the chian. Hard to accept the WSJ is a Murdoch rag.

I haven't dug very deep into this either. Probably would want to find primary source evidence before taking to an underground existance.

another steve s March 28, 2011 02:08 PM

My uncle went to debtors prison. My aunt was pregnant. Her child was born with Downs. She fed her two other kids over herself. Sad, sad. R

Sheba Marx March 28, 2011 02:22 PM

As Charles Dickens railed, via Ebenezer Scrooge, "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?". And the answer is still, sadly, "Yes, lots."

Jeanette DeMain March 28, 2011 02:26 PM

This is sickening...xox

Robin Sneed March 28, 2011 02:34 PM

I don't call Republicans conservatives anymore. I call them regressives. Great post, Scanner.

Sarah Cavanaugh March 28, 2011 03:45 PM

WTF indeed!

We bail out those lamprey parasites and they have the gall to arrest a man in front of his KIDS when he was obviously not aware of their action!?!?!? Where's the knock on the door and the friendly "let's work this out" convo?

Linda Treiber March 28, 2011 03:55 PM

"How does a person pay a debt back while they are in jail;. How do they get a job when they get out with a prison record."

Here in Florida you don't! There are thousands of people in Florida jails who will never get out of jail. Why? Because they don't have the money to pay for their incarceration. Yes, in Florida you pay for each day you spend in jail. Can't come up with the money, you stay in jail. How do you think they keep the roads clean and the ditches dug? It's all done with prison labor, paying off this debt! And now the rethuglican legislature just passed a law that allows people to pay them off, to get laws passed. This was in yesterdays St Pete Times. Evidently they are using the cockamamie story, that it allows them to be more " transparent". Only in fucking Florida!

Kenny1948 March 28, 2011 04:04 PM

stop whining. people who vote for politicians must learn to live with the consequences.

tbf, americans were enslaved in 1787, in perpetuity, by the constitution. great grand dad did it to you, and lincoln didn't fix it.

democracy is possible, the swiss seem to have stumbled into it, but america hasn't got it. looks like they're too dumb to even want it. look around you, it's not just debtor's prison, there's star chambers too, and war at the king's direction.

anyway, find yourself a local grandee and kiss his ass daily. the only job that's in demand is 'lackey.'

al loomis March 28, 2011 05:11 PM

Wow, I remember when they only threw you in jail for not paying your child support.

noah tawls March 28, 2011 06:30 PM

Excellent and disturbing point and I think besides your good post, Belinda's comment says it all.

marytkelly March 28, 2011 07:30 PM

They think the jails are crowded now, just wait! Where in the hell is this kind of thinking coming from?

SheilaTGTG55 March 28, 2011 07:38 PM

Debtor's prisons are archaic. I cannot believe they are going to start these again. But, what to do they control the media. We are locked into a two party presidential election that does not make much sense because it does not represent all of the people of America. Plus, there is not way for the average American to run for most elections with the amount of money it takes to run a campaign. This is truly a sad moment in the times of the United States of America. They send their jobs over seas. They take their houses and cars. Then they put them in prison and take them away from their family. It is just horrible.

Kimberly Rooney March 28, 2011 10:12 PM

I hadn't heard of this Scanner. Unreal. This is beyond words.

Kathy Knechtges March 28, 2011 11:19 PM

I predict
riots in the streets
if not
why?
Thanks for your
excellent reporting and analysis
rated with love

RomanticPoetess March 29, 2011 12:56 AM

Yep, this is where we are heading my dear friend; What a country. R

Thoth March 29, 2011 12:57 AM

When did this country start moving backward? When'll it stop?
Keep after the hard right bastards, Scanner.

Leon Freilich March 29, 2011 12:21 PM

A collective WTF is definitely in order here! These guys crash the economy, take away jobs for people to be able to pay their bills, and then get to go after those who can't find means to pay their bills? Well, business for the prisons will be significant because I know many who can't do that right now. Sparking March 29, 2011 09:38 PM

Oh my God is this really happening? and now that Colombia is copying everything U.S. does that means soon here they are going to put us in jail for not being able to pay our debts.. which means... I´m going to jail... Sweet Lord.. I just hope I don´t get to share the cell with a crazy sexmaniac or what is worst with a crazy trasnvesty with a pair of scissors... I´m doomed... Im going to be a crazy´s bitch... I can´t be someone´s bitch... this is so wrong.. sooo fucking wrong.. I am a good person and I do not deserve to be sent to the wolfs to be torn to pieces.... oh but one thing I know for sure.. if they send me to jail just wait until I get out I will hunt them down and kill them with my own hands... you just watch and see me do it...

Mauricio Betancourt March 30, 2011 12:11 AM

This is really scary. Thank you for telling us about it.

I asked my lawyer recently if the IRS could jail me, he said no way, debtors prisons were outlawed.

But, after 18 years as an independant contractor, followed by 3 as an employee, I was then laid off. Now, I've been audited for the two years I was on unemployment.

The IRS determined I owe them $12,600 since my debt was reduced by a mortgage modification. WTF?

I bought a house said by the bank to be worth far more than I paid in 2007. I never had a credit card or even a car loan before that, because I did not like paying interest or having debt. So I paid for the house partly in cash. Four months later it was worth half of what I paid, so there went my $100,000. Today, it is worth less than I owe on my mortgage.

Unemployment was about 1/4 of my pay. I went to court to get a modification so I didn't lose the house and thus my life savings. The bank reduced my debt by about $90,00 over the life of my loan (instead of paying back quadruple, I pay back triple), and increased my mortgage from 30 years to 40 years.

Now, I got a certified letter from the IRS saying they audited me, and because my debt was reduced, I owe them $12,600 for 2008 & 2009.

My unemployment ran out last summer, and I am borrowing money each month to stay in my house. I owe friends about $10,000 and they can't keep floating me. I have no retirement, no savings, no equity, no nothing. I was much better off as a renter, which I did for 25 years before I bought. My accountant talked me into buying, he said I'd save on taxes. (My taxes were near 40% because I had no debt, no mortgage, no kids, no spouse...yet somehow everything I made was spent on the cost of living. I have not even had a vacation in 20 years, and my car is 17 years old!)

I was worried I'd lose everything, but after reading this I don't know where it will all end.

Indra Sena April 01, 2011 04:15 PM

Sarati Smith, I wouldn't give your troubles to a monkey on a rock. But, it will get better. I lost my house and car two years ago. I fought a law firm for 6 months by myself. I couldn't afford a lawyer. Finally, after another continuance for them to find some paperwork they lied about, I let it go. I got off the grid. I am in debt and will stay in debt for seven years, but I could care less. I sleep now because I let it go. I rented me a house in the country. bought me a decent ride off of craigslist for $800.00 and I don't have a worry. Just remember my friend, they can't eat you!!

scanner April 01, 2011 04:34 PM

Hey Scanner, thanks! Your story made me smile because I often think: well, if they take everything I'll be free, claim bankruptcy, and live in an RV, maybe on a beach (I live up in the mountains now).

I'll write all day, and read all night. I'll be free from obligations. I can do seven years debt, as long as I'm outdoors in nature.

I have been reading Song of the Open Road, for inspiration...

Indra Sena April 01, 2011 09:28 PM

I got an email about this- did you sign the petition?

Hayley Rose April 02, 2011 02:56 PM

Hayley Rose, no, but I would love to. If you have the link, it would be mush appreciated. Thanks!

scanner April 02, 2011 04:22 PM

Hi Scanner! I found it! I wanted to post it w my origninal comment but couldn't find it anywhere, pass it on :)

http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/debtors_prisons/?rd=1&t=1&referring_akid=411.139276.BTIrPt

Hayley Rose April 02, 2011 07:55 PM

Man gets 25 years in prison on Nevada Walmart theft less than $100 in 2014 03/02/2015

A man was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was found guilty of attempting to steal less than $100 worth of items last year from a local Walmart in Reno, officials with the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office said.

Marc Schachter, 47, was sent to 25 years in prison with parole eligibility after five years, after a jury found him guilty of attempted robbery at a local Walmart in September. He must also serve an additional concurrent term of one to four years in prison for his conviction, officials said in a news release.

“Schachter‘a sentence as a career criminal will keep him out of our community for an extensive period of time,” officials said in a statement Monday morning. Complete article

Springfield Missouri Police: Walmarts are home of the five-finger discount 03/02/2015

Walmart markets itself as the home of low prices but Springfield police say the company's five Supercenter locations also are popular targets for those seeking a five-finger discount.

Shoplifting incidents reported at the five Walmart Supercenters in city limits accounted for more than half of the shoplifting calls police recorded in 2014. Department crime statistics also link a significant number of stealing and robbery calls to the five locations.

"They are havens for thefts," Police Chief Paul Williams said. "Bad guys know those are good places to go steal stuff."

Williams said the department has approached Walmart representatives a few times in recent years with ideas for curbing the thefts, which can take officers away from more serious work. So far, he said, "it's kind of fallen on deaf ears." Complete article

Springfield Missouri Police chief "optimistic" about curbing Walmart crime 03/27/2015

Albany-area couple stole chicken and soda from NY Walmart, ate them while shopping, police say 03/03/2015

BRUNSWICK, N.Y. -- A Troy couple ate a rotisserie chicken and drank soda they didn't pay for while shopping at Walmart, state police said.

The pair, 23-year-old Melissa Crandall and 22-year-old Tommy Crandall, took the chicken and soda from Walmart and began eating it inside the store Monday afternoon. They then tried to hide the empty packaging, state police said in a news release.

Police caught up with the pair at a Dunkin' Donuts across the street on Hoosick Road and charged them with petit larceny. Complete article

Fight over handicapped spot at Wisc. Walmart sends 71-year-old woman to the hospital 03/04/2015

GREENFIELD, WI (WITI) — A fight over a handicapped parking spot sent an elderly woman to the hospital! It happened at the Walmart store on W. Layton Avenue in Greenfield. The suspect is accused of using her chest to knock a 71-year-old woman to the ground in a fight over a handicapped parking spot.

John Rawlings of West Allis says growing up, he was taught a valuable lesson.

“It doesn`t matter who is in the right and who is in the wrong. You should treat everybody as you want to be treated,” Rawlings said.

That lesson is the first thing he thought of when he saw the fight during a recent trip to Walmart. Complete article

Wal-Mart says it doesn’t have video of July 2011 Dez Bryant Tx. incident 03/05/2015

In the early-morning hours of July 11, 2011, someone called the Lancaster, Texas police to explain that a man pulled a woman from a Mercedes registered to Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant and dragged her to another car. A woman later returned with Bryant to the scene to tell the police that she wasn’t assaulted “in any way.”

Despite this conflict in the evidence, the Lancaster, Texas police officer didn’t enter the Wal-Mart store and request an immediate opportunity to review the available surveillance video. Which means that Wal-Mart didn’t officially preserve the video evidence that would have been captured by its cameras.

Not surprisingly, that’s exactly what Wal-Mart told Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal on Thursday. Complete article

Dallas County D.A. has Wal-Mart police report 03/04/2015

Knife-Toting Man Taken Into Custody After Hourslong Standoff Outside Santa Ana Ca. Wal-Mart 03/06/2015

A man was taken into custody in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Santa Ana early Friday morning, hours after a security guard spotted him in a vehicle with a large knife, authorities said.

The security guard was driving through the parking lot Thursday night when he saw the man, who was sitting alone in the car, said Sgt. Matt Hermans of the Santa Ana Police Department. The employee called police about 9:15 after noticing the knife.

Officers responded to the location at 3600 West McFadden Avenue (map) and a standoff ensued with the unidentified man, who appeared “dazed,” Hermans said. Complete article

Utah Walmart employee helps catch accused criminals 03/10/2015

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah (ABC 4 Utah) - With the help of a persistent store clerk and fast-acting officers, law-enforcement authorities caught four accused criminals, Tuesday.

It all started at the Kimball Junction Walmart in Park City.

"One individual took some kind of a knife from the store, and another individual took some kind of electronic device," said Sgt. Ron Bridge, with the Summit County Sheriff's Office.

The alleged thieves did not know at the time, but an observant store clerk watched everything unfold. Complete article

Walmart tries to rein in Dadaist cartoonist behind Walmart.horse 03/11/2015

Cartoonist Jeph Jacques says he doesn’t understand all the long faces at retail giant Walmart over his use of an image of a horse outside one of the chain’s stores.

Jacques said his walmart.horse domain is an example of “postmodern Dadaism” but Walmart lawyers call it trademark infringement and have ordered him to cease and desist.

“I would argue that Walmart.horse is an obvious parody and therefore falls under fair use,” the Massachusetts-based creator of the Questionable Content comic strip told the Star in an email. “Publicly available images of a horse, a Walmart store, and comical music make it clear that the site is meant to be a joke.

“I would be happy to provide a disclaimer on the website explicitly stating this. If you have any requests for other animals you would like to see added to the image on the website, I would happily comply!” Jacques said, feeling his oats. Complete article

Argument over Fla. Walmart parking leads to assault 03/12/2015

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. -- An argument over a parking spot last month at a Middleburg Walmart turned ugly when weapons were pulled. Now, detectives with the Clay County Sheriff's Office are asking for the public's help in identifying two people involved in the incident.

According to a CCSO incident report, a woman and her three children parked at the Walmart on Branan Field Road shortly before 7 p.m. on Feb. 18. The woman's 10-year-old daughter grabbed a shopping cart wheeled it next to the car. That's when a white Lincoln sedan tried to pull into the adjacent parking spot that was blocked by the shopping cart.

A woman in the Lincoln jumped out and started yelling at the alleged adult victim in the parking spot, the victim told CCSO.

The victim said she felt threatened so she reached into her car and grabbed her stun gun. The woman from the Lincoln continued to argue with her, the victim said, so she held up the stun gun in a threatening manner, but didn't engage it.

The male driver of the Lincoln, who had been watching the incident unfold, then got out of the car, pulled up his jacket, showed the alleged victim a holstered hand gun and said, "I'll shoot you," the incident report states. Complete article

Meth lab found inside backpack in Muncie Ind. Walmart restroom 03/12/2015

MUNCIE, Ind. - The Pendleton District Meth Suppression Team were contacted by employees of the Muncie Walmart located at 1501 E. 29th St. around 11:30 p.m. Thursday because of a suspicious backpack in the men's rest room.

When troopers entered the rest room, they found a backpack with an active meth lab inside.

Members of the team donned their protective respirators and suits and dismantled the lab, removing the chemicals from the premises.

The health department was called in for an inspection, required by law. They deemed that both the men's and women's rest rooms would have to remain closed until they could be professionally decontaminated by a company specializing in meth decontamination. Complete article

Arrest made in Ind. Wal-Mart meth lab investigation 03/17/2015

Settlement Reached In Ft. Scott Black Friday Kansas Walmart Suit 03/13/2015

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW)- A settlement has been reached between Walmart and a woman who alleges she was trampled at their store during a Black Friday sale.

Amanda DuVall filed suit against Walmart saying she was trampled and injured at a Fort Scott Walmart during a Black Friday sale in 2013. She claims that the company failed to take reasonable measures to protect her. DuVall was asking for $75,000 in damages for injuries and medical expenses.

The US District Court shows that a settlement was reached between the Bentonville, Ark. retail giant and DuVall on March 6. Complete article

Employee gives birth in Ripley Tenn. Walmart 03/14/2015

RIPLEY, Tenn. — It’s a headline ripped right out of a movie script.

A mother gave birth to a baby in a Walmart.

Walmart Super Centers have a lot of things inside, but a delivery room isn’t one of them.

But one of the employees here gave birth to a baby Thursday night. Complete article

Dead man found in Tx. Walmart parking lot may have been there a week 03/16/2015

DEER PARK, Texas – A man was found dead Sunday evening inside an SUV in a Walmart parking lot.

The body of Harry Lee Curly was discovered in the driver's seat of the silver Dodge Durango.

Curly is from Corpus Christi.

Deer Park P.D. investigators on scene said there didn't appear to be any foul play, but they're treating the SUV as a crime scene. Complete article

Collinsville Ill. Walmart shoplifters spray deodorant and fire shots in bizarre escape 03/16/2015

COLLINSVILLE, IL (KTVI) – Police are looking for several shoplifting suspects who fired shots at someone they may have thought had followed them out of the store.

The trouble began after midnight at the Collinsville crossing Walmart on 157. Five suspects, one man, four women and a young child were spotted trying to walk out of the Walmart without paying for three carts full of merchandise.

One of the suspects sprayed deodorant in the face of one of the employees after being confronted. They told another employee they had a gun. But, they never showed it. Then they fled with one of the carts, put the stuff in their car and took off.

At about the same time, two other people who had been shopping at Walmart, pulled out of the lot behind the suspect`s car. This may have caused the suspects to think someone from the store was following them. That is when one of suspects got out of the car and fired several shots at the pick up truck and sped off. One of the bullets hit the truck, but he two people inside were not hurt. Complete article

Suspects charged in shoplifting and attempted murder at Collinsville Ill. Walmart, shooting that followed 03/17/2015

Teen charged with stealing from NC Walmart three days in a row 03/16/2015

A Salisbury teen has been charged with stealing three days in a row from Walmart.

Rashad Anthony Wright, 16, of the 1600 block of Old Wilkesboro Road, is charged with two counts misdemeanor larceny, misdemeanor first-degree trespassing, second-degree trespassing, misdemeanor assault on a law enforcement official and misdemeanor resist, obstruct, delay an officer.

He remained in the Rowan County jail Monday under a $15,000 secured bond. Complete article

San Antonio Tx. Police Department's bomb squad detonates device at Southwest Side Walmart 03/16/2015

SAN ANTONIO -- Members of the San Antonio Police Department's bomb squad detonated a small device suspected of being a pipe bomb at a Southwest Side Walmart Monday morning.

Police responding to the Walmart off Loop 410 and Ray Ellison Drive shortly after 11 a.m. were flagged down by someone who noticed a small section of PVC pipe under a car in the parking lot.

Investigators detonated the pipe as a precaution. Complete article

Video of Crowded Fla. Walmart Parking Lot Goes Viral 03/16/2015

PANAMA CITY BEACH--- Amateur video of the Walmart on Front Beach Road shows heavy traffic and congestion in this area. Spring breakers call the Walmart "the place to be." But who's responsible for the parking lot parties?

Garrett Smith owns the Kwiker Liquor across the street from the Walmart, and says the viral video is an accurate depiction of a standard weekend night.

A Panama City Beach ordinance prohibits alcoholic beverages in right of ways, parking lots, and other public facilities, but as Chief Drew Whitman points out, that parking lot is technically Walmart's private property.

NewsChannel 7 reached out to Walmart's corporate offices and was told Walmart is aware of the increased traffic in that area during Spring Break. The representative, however, hadn't heard of any plans to strengthen security there.

The store contracts with the Bay County Sheriff's Office to provide more security during those months. A spokesman for the Bay County Sheriff's Office says one deputy is stationed inside the main store, and another is stationed in the liquor store. Complete article

Tuscaloosa Alabama Police remove KKK recruitment flyers found distributed throughout area Wal-Mart 03/16/2015

investigating flyers recruiting members to the Ku Klux Klan found spread throughout the store this weekend.

Erin Hofmann, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart, confirmed reports on social media that flyers were found in the Wal-Mart on Skyland Boulevard in Tuscaloosa Monday.

Hofmann said after they became aware of the flyers, the store's management went through the store and collected them, then notified both Wal-Mart corporate and area police of the incident.

Hofmann said it is against store policy to distribute literature of any kind inside a Wal-Mart without management permission. Complete article

Shoppers sickened at Gurnee Ill. Walmart 03/17/2015

GURNEE, Ill. (WLS) -- Medical teams checked out several people after they started coughing and having breathing problems while shopping at the Walmart in north suburban Gurnee.

Fire department officials said someone sprayed an unknown chemical inside the store on Monday night.

Medics treated the customers at the scene. Complete article

Witnesses Detain Suspect In Deadly Colorado Walmart Hit-And-Run 03/17/2015

At first, witnesses to a deadly crash could only watch helplessly as the driver peeled out of the parking lot and sped away.

Those at the scene say the suspect had just run over a 67-year-old woman in the Fountain Walmart parking lot. The crash happened just after 11:20 a.m. Monday.

"I was mad. ... I was very upset. Anybody that hits anybody and then takes off and runs--that's just wrong. She didn't bother to see if the woman was okay...she just took off," Steven Wozinak said.

But the suspect didn't get far. After crossing Camden Boulevard, the suspect crashed into a parked car in another lot across the street. Wozinak told 11 News he wasn't going to let her get away again.

"I was able to hold her in there [in the car], then we had probably six or eight other people with me that blocked the other side of the two doors and the back doors." Complete article

Mystery coughing fit prompts Flint Mich. Walmart evacuation 03/18/2015

GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, MI -- Weird popping noises and a sudden outburst of coughing have forced authorities to evacuate a Grand Blanc Township Walmart as they investigate a "very unusual" situation.

Grand Blanc Fire Chief David Servetter said his department was dispatched around 11:30 a.m. to Walmart, 6170 S. Saginaw Road, after popping noises were heard near the store's customer service desk.

Servetter said people near the desk reported having a coughing fit after hearing the noise. Emergency responders investigated the situation and discovered coughing outbursts were being reported in other locations inside the store and were not limited to where the sounds were being heard. Complete article

'House of Cards' falls on Walmart 03/18/2015

Warning: The following includes potential spoilers for Season 3 of 'House of Cards'.

Bashing Walmart has now officially gone mainstream. In the current season of House of Cards on Netflix, a presidential candidate takes aim at the retail giant.

Here's a sample:

"The starting salary for an employee at Walmart is below the poverty line....The American government subsidizes Walmart to the tune of $7.8 billion a year by issuing food stamps to over one in 10 of its workers. But here's the scary part. Fifteen percent of all food stamps are actually used at Walmart. Meaning Walmart gets to double dip into the federal government's coffers.

"Walmart's top executives have reaped almost $300 million in tax-deductible performance pay over the last six years." Complete article

Is crime causing Albuquerque NM Walmarts to change their hours? 03/20/2015

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – Most Walmarts are open 24 hours, but those hours have changed at some stores here in Albuquerque.

Walmart at Coors and I-40, San Mateo near Zuni and Eubank near I-40—they are three locations that Albuquerque Police say keep them busy.

KRQE News 13 has covered everything from shootings to shoplifting and drug busts to deaths at the three stores over the years. Two years ago, police found a body in the trunk of a burned up car behind the Walmart at Coors and I-40.

At Eubank and I-40, police released pictures after armed robbers wheeled a safe with nearly $23,000 in cash from the store. It happened last October around midnight. Complete article

Crime appears a factor as Albuquerque NM Walmarts cut overnight hours 03/20/2015

Shoplifting suspect marvels with ‘Spider-Man’-esque escape from Alabama Wal-Mart: ‘This is awesome’ 03/20/2015

A suspected shoplifter at a Wal-Mart in Mobile, Alabama, was deemed “Spider-Man” by employees after a stunning escape that involved climbing into the building’s ceiling.

The incident happened Thursday and was caught on cellphone cameras by customers watching it unfold.

Video of the man’s attempted apprehension shows him struggling with employees before being led back inside the building. As the he is ushered into a McDonald’s within the store, he manages to scale the wall and get into the duct work. Complete article

Alabama Walmart shopper speaks about crazy shoplifting incident 03/19/2015

Suspect shot by Denver Colorado officer near Walmart ID'd 03/20/2015

DENVER - The man shot by Denver Police Friday morning has been identified as 42-year-old Thomas Clark.

Clark was wanted for failure to appear for sentencing on a sex assault on a child charge, DPD said.

The incident happened at 7800 Smith Road, near a Walmart. Police say Clark became confrontational. Officers initially used pepper spray, and shots were fired. Complete article

Murder victims found behind Oklahoma Walmart identified 03/20/2015

SEMINOLE,Okla. — Two people were found dead on a rural road behind a Wal-Mart.

The bodies were found this morning in Seminole, inside an SUV.

The discovery has rocked this small town of about seven thousand.

“I seen a few police cars, driving this way and that way. I was wondering what was going on and then I seen the helicopter,” Mark Florie said.

Florie was fishing in his grandfather’s pond, just feet away from where the bodies were found. Complete article

Two bodies found behind Seminole Okla. Walmart, homicide suspected 03/20/2015

One dead, two shot, including one Officer, in 17-person battle in Ariz. Walmart parking lot 03/22/2015

COTTONWOOD, Ariz. — One of the nine suspects was killed. Another was shot in the stomach. All eight responding officers were injured, including one 10-year veteran who required surgery.

It’s the aftermath of an all-out melee in a Walmart parking lot in Cottonwood, Arizona, a town of 11,000 people about an hour’s drive south of Flagstaff.

But details are murky outside of the injury and arrest reports. Complete article

6 arrested after deadly brawl at Arizona Walmart 03/23/2015 The scene "looked like a riot in the middle of the parking lot," Louie Solano told CBS News affiliate KPHO.

Police: Family in Ariz. Walmart melee were Idaho religious street performers 03/25/2015

PHOENIX — Before the Gaver family was arrested for its reported involvement in a fatal melee and officer-involved shooting at a Walmart in Arizona, the family performed on the streets of Boise, Idaho, as a religious band, authorities said.

The band's name, Matthew 24 Now, apparently refers to the second coming of Christ. A Facebook page identifies the members as Peter Gaver and his sons, Jeremiah and Nathan. It chronicles the band's "busking," or performing in public for tips, and relates some of its experiences.

The trio were among seven Gavers arrested on suspicion of assault and/or resisting arrest Saturday night after a Cottonwood police officer was disarmed during a parking-lot brawl, triggering a series of shootings that ended in the death of 21-year-old Enoch Gaver and the wounding of an officer, according to police. ....

The Matthew 24 Now page includes an Aug. 9, 2014, entry that quotes the Bible and reads as:

"For those who are mind controlled: who don't own their mind/soul any longer, there is only one hope. Trust Yahweh with all your heart and don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straights. Proverbs 3, 5, 6." Complete article

Documents detail deadly Cottonwood Walmart brawl 03/25/2015

Yavapai County released new details regarding the Walmart parking lot fight that left one suspect dead and an officer shot over the weekend.

The county documents detail multiple fights and gunfire.

At one point, an officer tells one of seven other colleagues on the scene "they got my gun."

Descriptions of the big fight played out in the documents with phrases like "deployed his TASER twice,""choked,""kicked him in the head," and "struck in the back of the neck with an object he described as an expandable baton."

Sgt. Jeremy Daniels was eventually shot in the left leg. He's since been released from the hospital.

The report also gives insight into what was said during these chaotic moments. It states that one of three people who were shot said "I've been shot" and "I think I'm going to die." Complete article

Entrance to Ohio Sam's, Wal-Mart being studied 03/22/2015

BURLINGTON, Ohio - A new entrance to Sam's and Wal-Mart via County Road 410 are three projects currently being reviewed for possible state funding, according to Lawrence County Engineer Doug Cade. Complete article

Police: Rock Hill SC Walmart customer confronts shoplifters 03/23/2015

Tony Presley went to Walmart in Rock Hill Friday night to get a guest registry book for the funeral of his grandmother, who died a few days ago. He ended up thwarting a crime and helping catch two men who police say tried to dash off with a stolen computer.

Presley was threatened by one of the suspects, he said, before officers caught up with the pair and arrested both, thanks to Presley’s having written down the license plate number of the getaway car.

“I just did what I thought I had to do – help,” said Presley, 33, of his “buttin’ my nose in.” Complete article

Baby left alone in NY Walmart leads to resisting arrest charge 03/24/2015

LAKEWOOD, N.Y. (WIVB) – A concerned group of citizens took action Sunday in a local Walmart when they found a child left unattended in the shoe department.

Police responded to the scene of the Lakewood Walmart Sunday around 9:15 p.m., when they say a group of citizens called in a baby with no guardian. The group, made up of concerned shoppers and employees, attempted to find the parents but weren’t successful. They found the one-year-old outside of a stroller asleep.

When police arrived at the scene, they say they investigated the situation, and learned the baby was left unsupervised for a “significant” amount of time, although they could not give out a more definite timeline. Officers moved to find the parents of the baby, and they say they found success after searching through the store. Complete article

Police: Two suspects get into shootout outside Oklahoma Walmart, one in custody 03/24/2015

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City police are investigating a shootout between two men in a metro Walmart’s parking lot.

“It’s definitely pretty wild,” said Tristan Harrington.

Harrington likes to go grocery shopping early in the morning.

However, he had no idea his early morning trip to Walmart on Tuesday would put him in danger.

Officers say shots were fired around 4:30 a.m. in the Walmart parking lot near I-240 and Santa Fe. ...

“People are selfish to get into a violent altercation around little kids and families, it’s unfair,” said Harrington.

When police arrived at the scene, one of the drivers hit the gas and led officers on a high-speed chase. Complete article

Wal-Mart in no hurry to pay workers after Pennsylvania court loss 03/26/2015

If you worked at a Pennsylvania Wal-Mart in the late 1990s or early 2000s, the company owes you money, according to state courts.

But don’t expect a check just yet.

In December, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed a jury verdict and lower court rulings that Wal-Mart owed $151 million in unpaid wages and damages to employees who worked at the retail giant between 1998 and early 2006. Including attorneys’ fees and expenses, the total was $187 million.

Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove said Thursday the company disagreed with the state Supreme Court’s findings and that the retail giant requested a review of the decision. Complete article

Wal-Mart wants U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Pa's. wage case 03/24/2015

Police: 8 go to hospital after odor at Muncie Ind. Walmart 03/26/2015

MUNCIE, Ind. - Police say several people were treated at a hospital after complaining of breathing difficulties at a Muncie Walmart store.

Muncie Police Department detective Kyle Monroe says he believes eight people including store employees had been examined at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital following the incident that was reported about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Monroe tells The Star Press that all of the patients were released following treatment. He says they complained of a burning sensation in their throats after an odor was detected, first in the customer service area and then near the checkout lanes. Complete article

Dried crab found sealed in plastic Easter Egg at Birmingham Alabama area Walmart 03/27/2015

These particular plastic eggs were made in China and distributed from Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart representatives say they have launched a product safety investigation. They are using the barcode information and surveillance video to track the eggs.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) – It was more than Jelly Beans and Chenille Chicks inside a green plastic egg for one Birmingham mother. While she and her husband were stuffing plastic Easter Eggs for her child’s party, Mary Claire Brislin discovered a dried crab inside one of the eggs.

Brislin said at first she recoiled thinking the crustacean’s legs belonged to a tarantula. She remembers saying to her husband, “Oh my gosh! There is a crab in this egg. There is a dried out crab corpse in the egg!”

She says she is thankful her children were not with her when she discovered the crab remains.

“My original plan was to have the three-year-old help me. I’m glad that we ran out of time before bedtime to do that,” Brislin said. Complete article

Georgia Woman says security at Wal-mart is subpar 03/27/2015

By: Paris Holmes - Columbus, GA. - A Smiths Station woman has security concerns about a local retail giant. Penny Clark says she doesn't feel safe shopping there anymore.

"If you're open 24 hours, we should be safe 24 hours," says Penny Clark, a Smiths Station resident and Walmart shopper.

Penny Clark had just gotten off work around 11pm when she went to Walmart, as she was pulling in her daughter was pulling out.

"I called her and told her I just missed you so she said stay there I'm gonna turn around and come back," says Clark. Clark says she parked her car close to the store entrance and when she got out she saw some young men.

"I could hear these guys yelling obscenities, the F-word, and other stuff," says Clark.

Clark says before she knew it, she was attacked.

"I saw one of the guys walk toward the store and then out of my eye I saw something move and I turned and he was running dead at me. Right before he got to me he jumped up in the air and came down with his fist and just hit me. Complete article

Wal-Mart to Nix Request for Injured Tx. Toddler 03/28/2015

Two days after Wal-Mart Stores filed a motion asking a federal court to order an injured toddler be present at jury selection in a gross negligience case, the retail giant plans to withdraw the request, according to a company spokesman.

The boy's parents claim that Cayden Hinson suffered a partially paralyzing spinal cord injury because of Wal-Mart's gross negligence.

In the motion that it now intends to withdraw, Wal-Mart asked a federal court in Marshall to order that the toddler be present during voir dire, if the parents intended to have him attend any other portion of the trial. The company lawyers wanted to evaluate jurors' responses.

The company said that the boy's "injuries are devastating and cannot help but elicit a sympathetic response." Complete article

Topeka Kansas police roundup: Bananas, Yu-Gi-Oh! cards stolen from Walmart 03/2/2015

Bananas, with a value of 78 cents, were stolen from a Topeka Walmart earlier this month.

A Topeka Police Department offense report shows bananas were taken from the North Topeka Walmart on March 15. The incident happened at 1:53 p.m. The bananas were recovered the same day, the report shows.

Premium Gold Yu-Gi-Oh cards valued at $44.94 were taken from another Walmart store. The incident happened at 12:20 p.m. Tuesday at 1301 S.W. 37th.

As with the bananas, the stolen Yu-Gi-Oh cards were recovered the same day. Complete article

Walmart is quietly going on a massive building spree 03/23/2015

In January of last year, residents in Slidell, La., a suburb of New Orleans on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, were shocked to discover that a wooded stretch of land tucked into the middle of their neighborhood was slated to be cleared for a Walmart Neighborhood Market. It not only seemed an unlikely place to put such a store, but just weeks earlier Walmart had announced plans to build a Neighborhood Market less than four miles south on Pontchartrain Drive. Furthermore, Slidell already had two Walmart Supercenters. Developing the wooded lot on Roberts Drive would be the fourth Walmart in a town of fewer than 30,000 people.

“We are beside ourselves,” said Caroline Poupart, who lived directly behind the site of the proposed Walmart. “That green space has been here since the inception of time,” she told The Times-Picayune.

Yet there was little residents could do to stop Walmart. Like most U.S. cities, Slidell has permissive zoning when it comes to commercial development. This particular wooded lot is zoned for “neighborhood commercial,” under which Walmart’s Neighborhood Market store, which is essentially a large supermarket fronted by a few acres of parking, qualified as an acceptable use. Complete article

Walmart Plans on Driving Out Even More Businesses 03/25/2015

Man dead after standoff, lockdown at Peterborough Canada Walmart 03/29/2015

A 58-year-old man is dead and the province's Special Investigations Unit is investigating after a standoff Saturday at the city's largest department store.

A gunshot was heard the man's SUV at around 8 p.m. Saturday, according to a news release issued Sunday afternoon by the SIU.

More than 300 shoppers and staff were evacuated from the Chemong Rd. Walmart around the same time after the four-hour long armed standoff.

City police were called at about 4 p.m. about a man who had a firearm, the SIU said.

Officers the located the man and his SUV at the parking lot of the Walmart at 1054 Chemong Rd. Complete article

Sentenced: Former Racine police officer to serve time in prison for Wisc. Walmart armed robbery 03/31/2015

RACINE COUNTY (WITI) — A former Racine police officer charged in an armed robbery that occurred at a Walmart store in Mount Pleasant has been sentenced in the case against him.

42-year-old Paul Garchek is charged in two separate cases.

The first charges him with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and resisting or obstructing an officer. The second charges him with retail theft – removing an anti-theft device and armed robbery.

In court on Monday, March 30th, Garchek was sentenced to a total of four years in prison and four years extended supervision. Complete article

Walmart produces active shooter response video for employees 03/31/2015

SAN MARCOS, Texas — A new video from the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University teaches civilians how to respond if faced with an active-shooter incident.

The video is a collaboration between ALERRT and Walmart and will be used to train 1.5 million Walmart employees, reported KXAN.

The video, which is part of a Walmart Active Shooter Awareness Campaign, is intended to train employees and civilians. According to ALERRT research, about half of active-shooter incidents are over before law enforcement arrives. Complete article

Germanwings crash in the Alps: sick pilot a symptom of a sick industry by Martin Swayne 04/02/2015

The news of the German pilot Andreas Lubitz flying the Germanwings Airbus 320 into a mountain in the French Alps came as a shock to the world. Although the official accident investigation is still in progress and will take months to complete, French authorities quickly made this into a criminal investigation and released certain information pointing the finger to the First Officer on board. ....

Nevertheless, it is not the first time pilot murder-suicide has occurred. In fact, less than two years ago almost exactly the same thing happened on Mozambique Airlines Flight 470, when an Embraer 190 began to lose altitude rapidly on a flight to Angola from Mozambique. The aircraft crashed in Bwabwata National Park in Namibia, with all 27 passengers and 6 crew members killed. According to the investigation report, Captain Herminio dos Santos Fernandes had a "clear intention" to crash the jet and changed its autopilot settings after the First Officer had been locked out of the cockpit.

Before that, in 1997 there was the case of SilkAir Flight 185, where the Captain nose-dived his aircraft into the Musi River in southern Sumatra, Indonesia. In 1999 all 217 passengers on board EgyptAir Flight 990 also died after a similar crash. Not all the causes of these events have been determined conclusively, but the primary theory is that they were murder-suicide, committed by one of the pilots. ....

The present author is a commercial pilot and takes great pride in flying his passengers safely to their destination. We are trained very thoroughly to deal with all kinds of emergencies and are well aware of the great responsibility on our shoulders. ....

The truth is, a cancer has been eating away for quite some time at the aviation industry as a whole. Low cost airlines have initiated a race to the bottom and through sheer market forces legacy carriers have been forced to follow suit. In order to understand how it came to this we have to go back a few decades.

In most of Western Europe most flying jobs were with national government-owned unionised flag carriers. They were the standard bearers, worldwide ambassadors and advertisers for their countries. Great pride was taken in them, by them and by their employees. It was a coveted position and very well paid.

Later came the charter/holiday carriers, some of whom survived, while many others went bankrupt or were taken over. In all aspects it was still a respected and well remunerated profession, with standards in services and terms and conditions that were well understood by all.

Then came privatisation and the governments sold their investments to public shareholders. Now profit was the only parameter. Lo and behold, it was discovered that this was a vocational industry; people would sell their grandmothers for a step on the ladder, and pay to do it. The accountants couldn't believe their luck and the cancer started to spread. This was at a time when the market was deregulated and anyone could start up an airline flying from anywhere in EU to anywhere in the EU. Cut price was the answer. Dog eat dog became the mentality. Pilots became commodities. Complete article

Wounded officer commanded respect in Iraq 03/28/2015

As a platoon leader in a volatile region of Iraq known as the “Triangle of Death,” Army Ranger Lieutenant John Moynihan used to say there were two ways to be a leader: pull rank and force soldiers to follow, or earn their respect. He knew — and his men knew — which kind he was.

“He lived by that respect,” said Joshua Bartlett, who served under Moynihan as a sergeant and team leader in 2007. Whether Moynihan’s men were taking heavy fire or laying concertina wire, Moynihan was right there in the middle of the action, working shoulder to shoulder. “He respected us, we respected him.”

On Saturday, Moynihan, who left the military and became a Boston police gang unit officer, lay in a medically induced coma at Boston Medical Center, a bullet lodged behind his right ear. Moynihan, who was honored for his bravery in the Watertown shootout with the Boston Marathon bombers in April 2013, had been shot point blank in the face, allegedly by a convicted felon with a history of shooting at police.

“It is clear that Officer Moynihan is a hero for our city, and the entire nation, and today we are thankful for all of those who put their lives on the line every day to protect us,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh said in a statement Saturday. Complete article

Everything The Police Said About Walter Scott’s Death Before A Video Showed What Really Happened 04/07/2015

On Tuesday, South Carolina police officer Michael Thomas Slager was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death of Walter Scott. Charges against South Carolina police officers for shooting someone are extremely rare. But what was particularly remarkable in this case was, for at least two days, Slager was apparently unaware that video of the entire incident existed.

This provides a unique opportunity to observe how one police officer sought to avoid accountability for his actions.

Between the time when he shot and killed Scott early Saturday morning and when charges were filed, Slager — using the both the police department and his attorney — was able to provide his “version” of the events. He appeared well on his way to avoiding charges and pinning the blame on Scott.

Then a video, shot by an anonymous bystander, revealed exactly what happened.

On Saturday the police released a statement alleging that Scott had attempted to gain control of a Taser from Slager and that he was shot in a struggle over the weapon. The Post And Courier reported the initial story:

Police in a matter of hours declared the occurrence at the corner of Remount and Craig roads a traffic stop gone wrong, alleging the dead man fought with an officer over his Taser before deadly force was employed.

…

A statement released by North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor said a man ran on foot from the traffic stop and an officer deployed his department-issued Taser in an attempt to stop him.

That did not work, police said, and an altercation ensued as the men struggled over the device. Police allege that during the struggle the man gained control of the Taser and attempted to use it against the officer.

The officer then resorted to his service weapon and shot him, police alleged. ..... Complete article

Judge in Atlanta teacher cheating case says he showed mercy when sentencing 04/15/2015

ATLANTA -- True to his word, a judge showed mercy to former Atlanta public school educators who accepted responsibility for their role in a widespread conspiracy to inflate student scores on standardized tests. Those who refused to admit guilt and agree to other conditions set by prosecutors, he treated much more harshly.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter had delayed sentencing by a day and encouraged the former educators to negotiate deals with prosecutors. He made it clear Monday they would face prison time if they took a chance and let him sentence them. But only two of them took deals.

On Tuesday, Baxter sentenced the eight who rejected deals to between one and seven years in jail, despite their lawyers' pleas for probation and community service. They are expected to appeal and will be free on bond while the appeals are pending.

"All I want from any of these people is just to take some responsibility, and they refuse," Baxter said, his frustration clear in clashes with defense attorneys. .....

During sentencing, Baxter called the cheating "pervasive."

"It's like the sickest thing that's ever happened in this town," he said. Complete article

Atlanta principal to teachers: If you can’t hack it, Walmart’s hiring 01/05/2015

If teachers couldn’t meet high standards for student performance, “Walmart’s always hiring,” former Dobbs Elementary School principal Dana Evans told her teachers, according to testimony in the Atlanta schools test-cheating trial today.

The suggestion made her feel “disposable,” former Dobbs teacher Shayla Smith testified.

Evans’s attorney, Bob Rubin, disputed that account and said Evans never suggested that teachers who didn’t measure up should apply at Walmart. Complete article

Did Atlanta Educators Get Equal Justice Before the Law? 04/06/2015

Michael Klonsky posted on his blog these photographs of some of the Atlanta educators who were investigated for cheating; 11 were convicted and sent directly to jail to await sentencing (excepting a pregnant woman.) Superintendent Beverly Hall died weeks before the verdict was handed down. He said they were “taking the fall” for “Duncan’s Testing Madness.”



In an earlier post, I said that the lesson of Atlanta is “never never never cheat.” Don’t do it, don’t tolerate it.

But as I saw educators led away in shackles, as I saw speculation that they were facing 20 years in prison, I began to think again. Yes, cheating is wrong and should never be tolerated, but this punishment does not fit the crime. It is way too disproportionate to the charges. Some criminals get lesser jail sentences for murder and armed robbery. Since when did cheating in school become racketeering?

My thinking was nudged along by three important articles about this affair.

One was by Richard Rothstein. In this brilliant article, Rothstein argued that the 11 convicted educators were “taking the fall” for a thoroughly corrupt testing regime that set impossible goals and punished those who can’t meet them:

Rothstein writes:

Eleven Atlanta educators, convicted and imprisoned, have taken the fall for systematic cheating on standardized tests in American education. Such cheating is widespread, as is similar corruption in any institution—whether health care, criminal justice, the Veterans Administration, or others—where top policymakers try to manage their institutions with simple quantitative measures that distort the institution’s goals. This corruption is especially inevitable when out-of-touch policymakers set impossible-to-achieve goals and expect that success will nonetheless follow if only underlings are held accountable for measurable results. Complete article

Read the Letter Gyrocopter Pilot Doug Hughes Attempted to Deliver to Congress 04/16/2015

.... As a member of Congress, you have three options.

1. You may pretend corruption does not exist.

2. You may pretend to oppose corruption while you sabotage reform.

3. You may actively participate in real reform. Complete article

Rhythms of Washington return after Illinois man’s suicide outside Capitol 04/12/2015

The sightseers were back at the U.S. Capitol on Sunday, roaming in the brilliant sun in the place where a man had ended his young life in a tragic and spectacular fashion just the day before.

Explanations remained elusive Sunday for what may have helped drive the man, identified in police documents as Leo P. Thornton, 22, to commit suicide — and to do so in one of the nation’s iconic places.

A man who answered the phone at the address police listed for Thornton in Lincolnwood, Ill., declined to comment. An incident report from D.C. police recounted that shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday, “witnesses reported that a lone male subject pulled out a gun, then shot himself in the head.”

Thornton had a brown carry-on bag full of clothes and a sign that Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine said touched on “social justice.” A witness said people who saw the sign told him it read “Tax the one percent.”

Whatever political component may seem to have been at play, said Christine Moutier, chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and a former psychiatry professor at the University of California at San Diego, suicide is primarily a mental health problem. Research shows that in more than 90 percent of the 40,000 American suicides each year, an active mental health issue is at play, Moutier said. Complete article

Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Secretary Hillary Clinton Campaign Announcement April 13, 2015

Secretary Clinton has a long and distinguished career in public service, and has been an inspiration for tens of millions of women in America and around the globe.

We hope her candidacy will contribute to the critical debate in our country over how to raise wages.

We applaud Secretary Clinton’s decision to begin her campaign by going directly to voters and listening to them first. We urge all presidential candidates, in both parties, to follow her lead. We believe she, and they, will hear an urgent need to raise wages in America, and an equally urgent need to reject corporate-driven agendas that produce everything from tax breaks for the wealthy to destructive trade agreements.

Working people want to hear Secretary Clinton's ideas on how to create a Raising Wages America. We look forward to a long and vibrant national discussion with all presidential candidates, about how to solve the problems of income inequality and improve the lives of every working person in our great country. Complete article

Disney employee accused of touching himself in Kissimmee Fla. Walmart 04/01/2015

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - A Disney employee has been arrested after being accused of touching himself and damaging retail products with bodily fluids in a Walmart store.

The incident happened before 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Walmart store at 3250 Vineland Road in Kissimmee.

Osceola County deputies spoke with a store employee who said a man in the store inappropriately touched himself and possibly followed a female shopper. Complete article

Man allegedly tried to run down San Leandro officer in Ca. Walmart parking lot 04/03/2015

SAN LEANDRO -- A suspected thief on a motorcycle tried to run down a San Leandro police officer in a Walmart parking lot this week after allegedly stealing 40 cases of energy drinks, authorities said Thursday.

The incident started at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday as the uniformed officer was eating lunch outside Westgate Center on Davis Street, Lt. Bob McManus said.

The officer overheard a loud argument coming from the parking lot and saw a man on his cellphone, yelling profanities. The officer began to walk toward the man, who was carrying a motorcycle helmet and wearing a black, leather jacket. He intended to ask the man to calm down and stop cursing, as it appeared he was scaring patrons, McManus said. But the suspect walked away, ended his phonecall and put on his motorcycle helmet. ....

When the officer tried to stop the man, the motorcyclist quickly accelerated toward the officer and swerved around him, narrowly missing the officer, McManus said. Complete article

Witnesses: Racial slurs led to Oak Cliff Dallas Tx. Wal-Mart brawl 04/04/2015

DALLAS – We're learning more about a video thousands of people saw on Facebook. Employees say racial slurs are at the root of a fight inside a Cockrell Hill Wal-Mart.

You can hear customers screaming in the cellphone video as they watch a brawl breakout inside the store late Thursday night.

The video posted on the Oak Cliff, Dallas Texas Latino Facebook page got more than 45,000 clicks in a matter of hours.

"It's bad," said Sir Jonathan Finely. "It's real bad."

Wal-Mart associates told News 8 that a man and woman were throwing racial slurs at another customer when fists started flying. Complete article

Ghettoness - Oak Cliff, Dallas Texas Latino Wal-Mart brawl 04/03/2015

Woman scared of HIV after being pricked by needle at Wash. Walmart 04/06/2015

EVERETT, Wash. — Walmart is investigating after a woman says she was pricked by a needle, and now fears she's been infected with diseases.

Last week, Kenzie Erickson says she was shopping for make-up when she reached into a shopping basket and felt a prick at a Walmart in Everett.

"I was bleeding really bad, I was upset, crying,” said Erickson.

“It went all the way in my thumb."

She filed a complaint with Walmart, but then came the doctor’s visits.

"The doctors told me that this could be really serious,” said Erickson. Complete article

Sam's Club, Walmart pull all Blue Bell Ice Cream products 04/07/2015

DALLAS —Some of the largest retailers in the country have decided to pull from their shelves Blue Bell Ice Cream made at an Oklahoma production plant that the company has temporarily closed.

Wal-Mart spokesman Brian Nick said Monday that the giant retailer along with Sam's Club have pulled products made at the plant in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Wal-Mart and Sam's Club continue to sell Blue Bell products made at other plants. ...

The dairy company based in Brenham, Texas, last month issued a recall after ice cream contaminated with listeriosis was linked to three deaths at a Kansas hospital. Complete article

Chalmette man fatally crushed by forklift at Elmwood La. Wal-Mart, JPSO says 04/07/2015

A Chalmette man died after being crushed by a forklift he was repairing at a Wal-Mart in Elmwood, authorities said. Christopher Brandt, 29, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Col. John Fortunato, spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.

The accident occurred about 9:25 a.m. at the Wal-Mart located at 5110 Jefferson Highway. Brandt, who was employed by a local forklift repair company, was there in a rear parking lot doing some work on the store's vehicle, Fortunato said. Complete article

On Your Side: Va. Walmart denies negligence after cart damages customer's car 04/07/2015

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - You're in a store parking lot when a grocery cart crashes into your car and makes a dent. Who's responsible and who should pay: you or the store?

That runaway shopping cart scenario played out at the Walmart on Forest Hill as Sherman Price says he was sitting in his car waiting for his nephew to finish shopping for him. He says he saw it coming.

"But there was nothing I could do. I'm in a chair. I couldn't get out to stop it," he said.

Price says an employee removed the windblown basket off his car parked in front of the store in a handicap spot. He didn't get out to inspect his car when it happened.

"The wind was so high that evening, when it hit it made a bang noise," Price said. "But I didn't think that it had done enough damage to jam the door. But when I got home, I couldn't get out of the car. Someone had to take a screwdriver and pry it and open the door so I could get out."

Store surveillance cameras caught everything. Price filed a claim, which was denied a week or so later. Complete article

Actual WALMART Crimes (So Creepy You'll Never Want to Go There Again...)

... In Lawrenceville, Georgia, this Se>< offender ejactulated on a Walmart employee. He purposely knocked over several clothes in order to get her into a position where he could do this thing (for whatever sick reason). ...

Another man (unidentified) ejaculated onto at least two different women on 2 separate occasions at a Walmart in Farmington, N.M. in 2013. Although he was caught on camera, he was never identified. ...

Verdon Taylor got himself arrested for allegedly (like how we use that word? Wink!) stripping down to his birthday suit in the middle of a Walmart parking lot. Then he walked inside, put some socks on and got on with his shopping. He was tased eventually, EVEN THOUGH he was probably just shopping for a new birthday suit. You can't win with these cops! Complete article

Fight at Portage Ind. Wal-Mart self checkout line leads to arrest 04/0/2015

PORTAGE | A woman was arrested after a fight broke out Wednesday at the self checkout register at Wal-Mart.

Alicia Contreras, 32, of Portage, was charged with battery after witnesses told police said she cut in line and fought with customers who objected.

Police were called to Wal-Mart about 8 p.m. and spoke with several witnesses who said Contreras cut in front of a couple and their infant child in a stroller. Complete article

Marijuana bags found in Easter gift from Oregon Walmart 04/06/2015

NEWPORT, Ore., April 6 (UPI) -- An Oregon woman said the Easter bunny made a mistake when he stashed three bags of marijuana in a packaged toy she purchased from Walmart.

Christina Marie Hannahs of Otis said she bought the Vtech Smart Shots Sports Center from the Walmart store more than a week ago as an Easter gift for her young daughter. Her family opened the toy Easter morning to discover some pieces were missing from the box and had been replaced with three bags of marijuana.

"I was shocked. At first I was like, I kind of laughed and was like oh my gosh, I cannot believe this even came out of there," Hannahs told KATU-TV.

Hannahs said she put the box up to keep it away from her daughter after discovering the first bag.

"She ended up going for the box. And once she grabbed the box, the box rolled over and two more small bags fell out of it," Hannahs said. Complete article

Mice Problem in SC Walmart Store, Says Former Employee 04/07/2015

North Augusta, SC - One worker says he couldn't take it anymore clocking in with a lot of critters!

The former employee says a Walmart store in North Augusta has a rodent problem.

This is a picture a former Walmart employee took over the weekend showing a dead mouse he says is covered up with oatmeal.

It's one of several pictures taken in the grocery back room at the Walmart on Knox Avenue in North Augusta.

The former employee asked to remain anonymous because he fears retaliation.

"I was told that not to worry about it, we've had a rodent problem as long as they can remember," said the former worker. Complete article

Woman dead after being hit by car at Ashland City Tenn. Walmart 04/09/2015

ASHLAND CITY, TN (WSMV) - A woman was killed after a driver backed over her with a car at a Walmart in Ashland City on Thursday.

The Ashland City Police Department said the incident happened at the store at 1626 Highway 12 South around 10 a.m.

"This is something so isolated," said Monte Allen, a witness. "I've never heard of something like this in Ashland City." Complete article

Ariz. Walmart employee fired after trying to stop shoplifters 04/09/2015

SAHUARITA, Ariz. — A former Wal-Mart employee whose job it was to stop shoplifters says he was fired for doing his job.

Three weeks ago James Young stopped two shoplifters from leaving the garden center at the Wal-Mart in Sahuarita, Arizona.

“I risked my life and it cost me my job,” Young said. ....

“I found out after I got terminated that it came down to there’s absolutely no hands on,” he said. Complete article

ND Walmart $13 shoe theft spirals into fight with officers 04/09/2015

WILLISTON, N.D. – Mayhem at the Williston Walmart that began with the alleged theft of a $13 pair of shoes landed a man in jail facing a dozen charges, including the assaults of three police officers.

Williston police received a report last Friday morning of an unruly male after Walmart employees saw a man ripping the tags from a pair of shoes and walk past the cashiers without paying for them.

The man, later identified as William Dean Jessop of Williston, is accused in court records of striking a female Walmart employee in the face with the shoes after she approached him about the theft. Complete article

Robber Wields Machete to Steal Computers From Fla. Wal-Mart 04/10/2015

A robber in Cape Coral threatened a Wal-Mart manager and worker with a machete before fleeing with computer equipment.

Lee County sheriff's officials say they arrested 39-year-old Giovanni Cortes shortly after the robbery early Friday morning.

The News-Press reports that a store manager told deputies she approached Cortes to ask for a receipt as he tried to leave without paying.

She says he pulled a machete from his pants and told her he didn't need one. When another employee tried to stop him, deputies say Cortes threatened to kill him. Complete article

Video Shows Deadly Brawl Between Gaver Family and Cops at Arizona Walmart 04/11/2015

Police released video Friday showing a parking lot brawl at an Arizona Walmart that left one suspect dead, and another suspect and officer shot.

The brawl broke out when eight officers from the Cottonwood Police Department responded to a call on Saturday, March 21 that a female Walmart employee had been physically assaulted when trying to enter a store restroom, according to a statement from police. When officers arrived, the suspects — identified by police as members of the Gaver family — were in the parking lot attacking a second store employee, and immediately began attacking officers who tried to break up the melee, Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves said.

The newly released video appears to show officers and suspects punching and kicking one another, and officers using Tasers, batons and pepper spray on several members of the Gaver family. An officer identified as Sgt. Jeremy Daniels appears to be on the ground in a struggle with a suspect over the officer's weapon. An officer identified as Officer Rick Hicks appears to shoot one man in the stomach before fatally shooting a man on top of Daniels. Complete article

Local First Arizona, Walmart say Arizona wage study not full picture 04/13/2015

Kimber Lanning believes a new report on low-wage jobs costing Arizona taxpayers millions is another reason consumers should shop locally.

The founder and executive director of Local First Arizona was reacting to the report from the University of California-Berkeley Labor Center that said low-wage jobs in Arizona cost taxpayers $686 million a year. The authors said Arizona taxpayers are subsidizing those businesses, as nearly three-quarters of those families qualify for some form of public assistance despite drawing a paycheck. Complete article

Some Walmart Employees Question Whether Pico Rivera Store Closure Was Over Plumbing 04/15/2015

PICO RIVERA (CBSLA.com) — Some Walmart employees are wondering whether this week’s abrupt closure of a Pico Rivera store was the result of a costly plumbing problem as the company continues to cite.

Venanzi Luna was one of 530 employees told Monday that the store is closing for six months to fix plumbing issues.

Luna has worked as a deli manager at the store for seven years getting paid $14 an hour. She explains that she was slated to get a raise in June. Complete article

Valrico Fla. Walmart to close for 6 months 04/13/2015

Admiral and Memorial Tulsa, Okla. Walmart closing due to plumbing issues, according to company spokeswoman 04/13/2015

530 Pico Rivera Ca. Walmart employees laid off after sudden closure of supercenter 04/14/2015

400 Employees concerned about Tx. Walmart closure 04/14/2015

Walmart Staff Will Have to Reapply for Jobs 04/14/2015

Homeland Security taps new partner in terror fight: Wal-Mart 12/07/2010

Walmart Directly Tied To DHS? Inside Info May Have Prompted Store Closures 04/16/2015

Random Walmart closures spark detention center theories as run-up to Jade Helm 2015 continues 04/15/2015

Mysterious Deaths Surround Jade Helm State Wal-Mart's 'Hotel California' Tunnel System Project - If They Check You In, Can You Ever Leave? 04/15/2015

Signs That The Elite Are Feverishly Preparing For Something BIG 04/16/2015

Fla. Commissioner questions Walmart's plumbing problems 04/17/2015

Former NYPD officer dubbed 'Robocop' disarms man with gun and ammo stolen from Walmart by ramming him with police cruiser, ending Arizona crime spree (VIDEO) 04/15/2015

A former NYPD officer who calls himself Robocop used his police cruiser to ram a rifle-toting suspect on a one-man crime spree, dramatic Arizona police video released Tuesday shows.

Marana Police officer Michael Rapiejko was hailed a hero by his chief after the department released the dramatic footage Tuesday highlighting the Feb. 19 incident.

"That's not an easy decision right there," Chief Terry Rozema told Tucson News Now. "That's a tough, tough, tough decision. But he made it."

Rozema said the suspect, Mario Valencia, was headed toward locked-down businesses and deadly force may have been necessary to prevent a hostage crisis — or something far worse. Complete article

Michael Rapiejko: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know 04/1/2015

Body In Walmart Parking Lot For Over A Month, Tulsa Okla. Police Say 04/16/2015

TULSA, Oklahoma - A decomposed body was found inside a car at a Walmart parking lot Thursday afternoon. Police believe it may have been there for more than a month.

Tulsa Police responded to the Walmart in the 6600 block of South Memorial after they received a call of a body inside a car. When officers arrived they said they found a decomposed body inside a white SUV.

Police said they have been to the scene several times to check on the car but didn't know someone was inside. They said they ran the license plate, but nothing was out of the ordinary.

Thursday, police said someone walking by the car noticed a foul odor, found the body and called police.

Surveillance video goes back to mid-March and shows the car in the parking lot, but police believe it's been there since February. Complete article

Veterans making sure man found dead in south Tulsa Okla. Walmart parking lot receives a proper funeral 04/30/2015

Tulsa Walmart Employees Say They Called Police About Suspicious SUV 04/17/2015

Authorities identify man found dead inside SUV in parking lot of S. Tulsa Walmart 04/27/2015

Lufkin Tx. police arrest man accused of robbing Walmart with steak knife 04/16/2015

LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - Lufkin police have arrested a man identified through a Crime Stoppers tip and accused of using a steak knife to rob an employee at Walmart.

Quinton Lorenz Yarbrough, 19, is charged with first-degree robbery.

According to the arrest affidavit, an officer responded to Walmart on March 22 in reference to a theft.

A store clerk said a man came in and tried to make a purchase but had forgotten his wallet. The clerk said she went on break and when she came back, he had returned. She said he again tried to buy the items, but his card would not work. She said he then stepped back and said he had a knife. She said he then showed a steak knife and she said, "And?"

The clerk said Yarbrough then asked if she wanted to get fired and came around the counter. The clerk said she then took the items and threw them across the counter and he ran and picked the items up and ran off. Complete article

Lufkin man admits using stolen steak knife to rob Walmart 04/16/2015 Police on Wednesday arrested a Lufkin man who admitted pulling a stolen steak knife on a Walmart clerk to steal a PlayStation and game in March.

Walmart Shaking in Their Boots, About the Fight for Fifteen, Spread the Word 04/16/2015

This thing is spreading all over the world!

Low-wage workers all across America are walking off the job today to protest for a $15-per-hour minimum wage and a union.

“What?” You might be saying to yourself. “Why does the 16-year-old grimacing at me from behind the counter at Wendy’s while she texts her boyfriend selfies of her new temporary tattoo deserve to make that much money?”

Because contrary to popular belief, most minimum- and low-wage workers aren’t teenagers working a first job. And most aren’t fast-food workers either. Complete article

UPDATE: Body of Missing Tampa Fla. General Hospital employee Lucy Moore found dead in car 04/18/2015

Tampa, Fla. - UPDATE: Hillsborough County detectives believe they have found Lucy Moore, a 31-year-old Tampa General Hospital employee who had gone missing, dead in a car at Walmart.

Law enforcement officials are conducting a death investigation in the parking lot of the Dale Mabry Walmart near Waters Avenue.

The sheriff's office received a 911 call around noon Saturday reporting a woman who appeared dead sitting in a car in the Walmart parking lot located at 8220 N. Dale Mabry Hwy in Tampa.

When deputies arrived on scene, they determined the woman was indeed dead and appeared to have been in the car for several days. Complete article

Woman pushes cart of stolen items through Pa. Walmart, rides it outside, police say 04/20/2015

EAST HUNTINGDON TOWNSHIP, Pa. —A woman walked through the aisles at Walmart with a list of items, crossing each one off along the way, then rode like a kid through the parking lot on her shopping cart full of stolen goods.

State police released surveillance video Monday of the incident at the store in East Huntingdon Township, in the Mount Pleasant area of Westmoreland County. .....

Surveillance video from the parking lot shows the woman pushing her shopping cart and running behind it to gain speed, then hopping on the cart and riding it as a child might do. Complete article

Boyd gets 30 years for Neenah Wisc. Walmart shooting 04/24/2015

OSHKOSH – A Winnebago County judge said Justine Boyd's attempt to kill a Neenah Walmart co-worker in 2013 was only thwarted by talented doctors and the victim's own fighting spirit.

Judge John Jorgensen sentenced Boyd of Neenah to 30 years in prison on Thursday for the attempted first-degree intentional homicide of Sharon Goffard. Complete article

Medical examiner: Teen killed in Va. Walmart parking lot was shot in face, chest by police officer 04/24/2015

Portsmouth, Va. – William Chapman was shot in the face and in the chest and that is how he died according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

They say his death has been ruled a homicide – but that doesn`t mean murder.

Right now, State Police are investigating the case. They will provide the Commonwealth’s Attorney with their findings, then it will be decided if the officer was justified in the shooting. Complete article

‘Charge with murder’ posters in Portsmouth Va. feature officer’s face 04/30/2015

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A campaign involving posters and t-shirts is demanding a Portsmouth police officer be charged with murder.

The posters, which were hung in various spots across Portsmouth, feature the face of Officer Stephen Rankin and read, “Charge Stephen Rankin with murder!!!” The t-shirts feature the same image.

Community activist Michael Muhammad, who has organized Don’t Shoot rallies and meetings at his location on East 26th Street in Norfolk, posted an image of himself wearing one of the t-shirts on Instagram. He said he did not have direct involvement with starting the campaign.

“It was groups of young people, some in high school, some college, from Portsmouth,” Muhammad said. “They called on me to help them get their message out.”

Four years ago, Rankin was involved in a fatal shooting when he responded to a burglary 911 call near the Olde Towne section of Portsmouth. Rankin was cleared of any wrongdoing. He is currently on administrative duty, after a police officer shot and killed William Chapman last week outside a Portsmouth Wal-Mart. Rankin has not officially been identified as the officer who was involved.

‘Charge with murder’ posters featuring officer’s face spotted in Portsmouth Va. 04/30/2015

Springfield Missouri police Department, Walmart Working to Reduce Supercenter Crime 04/24/2015

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Walmart and the city of Springfield's police force are working together on a plan to reduce shoplifting and crime overall at its stores across the city.

Police Chief Paul Williams announced the collaboration on social media late last month and Walmart representatives tell KOLR 10 they've been working on possible solutions to reduce and prevent crime since then. They say working with local law enforcement is not uncommon.

"We'll continue to collaborate with the local police to focus on crime prevention," Walmart spokesman Aaron Mullins said.

The reason for the effort, at least in part, is a 2014 crime density heat map that shows heavy concentration at all of the city's Walmart Supercenters. Springfield's downtown district and the major retail area occupied by Battlefield Mall also show similar statistics.

"Criminals are predators," former policeman and security expert Matt Canovi said.

Canovi said it's not surprising that high-traffic areas, like Walmart Supercenters, show up as popular places for thieves -- especially since they're open all-hours.

It's not Walmart's fault, it's not the local law enforcement's fault and it's not the citizens' fault. Bad guys are predators and they pick targets of opportunity," Canovi said. Complete article

For an expert, Canovi seems to be poorly informed about many of the contributing causes that precede crime. He may be right that "criminals are predators;" however taht is only part of the problem. Many other contributing causes make some people more likely to commit crime, including abuse at an early age and even some of the practices carried out by Walmart as indicated by some of these Wal-Mart crime reports and the studies listed in the intro above along with some more research that I ahve done in a series of previous blogs including, Politicians increase crime; Grass roots efforts reduce crime; Politicians steal the credit and others listed in it.

“Very dangerous:” Woman beaten in attempted carjacking at Wisc. Walmart that preceded high-speed chase 04/21/2015

FRANKLIN (WITI) — Early Tuesday morning, April 21st, in the parking lot of the Walmart store on S. 27th Street in Franklin, a woman screamed for help as she was beaten by a group of men and teens in an attempted carjacking. Then, the group led police on a high-speed chase on I-94.

Police say nine suspects were part of this group. Six have been taken into custody.

Franklin police, the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Racine County Sheriff’s Office all took part in this incident that began as an attempted carjacking in Franklin and ended in Racine following a pursuit. Complete article

2 charged with assaulting police officer in NC Walmart disturbance 04/24/2015

ROCKINGHAM — A Richmond County pair is accused of assaulting a police officer and causing a disturbance at Walmart.

Police say Eric Scott Dent, 27, of 122 Blacksmoke Drive outside Hamlet, concealed a crowbar on his person at the 720 U.S. 74 West store on Friday. Officer D.R. Morton of the Rockingham Police Department was called to Walmart to investigate.

Arrest warrants state Dent pushed Morton and ran away from him when Morton tried to place him under arrest. Police say they also found a glass crack pipe on Dent. Complete article

Police: Men played drunken 'bumper cars' at Pa. Walmart 04/25/2015

ELIZABETHVILLE, Pa. -- On Thursday, State Police at Lykens responded to a call about three men riding on motorized handicap carts at the Walmart store on Kocher Lane.

Upon arriving at the store, officers found the men were using the carts to play "bumper cars." Complete article

Fla. Wal-Mart security guard has rough day, pushed and struck by shoplifting suspects 04/27/2015

A Wal-Mart security officer had a rough Sunday afternoon as he was reportedly pushed and struck during separate incidents by people accused of shoplifting from the store.

The first incident happened just after 2 p.m. at the store at 2600 SW 19th Ave. Road, Ocala. Three teenagers were suspected of shoplifting and security guards confronted the trio. One of the guards, a 21-year-old man, grabbed one of the 16-year-old suspects by the arm and tried to lead him back into the store. The 16-year-old reportedly pushed and hit the guard in the chest to break free, according to an Ocala Police Department report.

All three teens ran and were later found at the food court at Paddock Mall. Officers recovered stolen cellphone cases and covers, personal hygiene items and gummy vitamins, the report states. Complete article

Fernandina Beach police shoot syringe-wielding Wal-Mart robbery suspect after high-speed pursuit 04/27/2015

Fernandina Beach | A city police officer shot a man in the head after he stole a television from the local Wal-Mart on Monday morning and led officers on a high-speed pursuit which ended when he crashed his pickup truck in a ditch.

It remains unclear what prompted the officer to shoot the unidentified suspect, who had threatened a Wal-Mart loss-prevention officer with a syringe before fleeing. Police are still trying to determine if the man, who is in critical condition, had any other weapons.

The suspect was apparently shot inside his car, which he was trying to drive out of the ditch on Bonnieview Road after ramming a police car during the pursuit, Fernandina Beach Police Chief James Hurley said. Complete article

Policeman who shot Wal-Mart robbery suspect was 2-time Fernandina Fla. Officer of the Year 04/30/2015

Off-duty Houston Community College officer working security stabbed at SW Houston Walmart 04/27/2015

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A man stabbed an off duty police officer at a southwest Houston Walmart overnight.

It happened at around 2am at the store on South Post Oak and the South Loop. Police are still trying to figure out why the suspect went after the officer in the first place.

According to Houston police, the female officer, who normally works for the Houston Community College Police Department, was working an extra job inside the Walmart as security.

All of a sudden, a man in his late 20s or early 30s approached her and, without saying a word, stabbed her multiple times with a hunting knife. Complete article

Walmart Stock – Don’t Expect Growth From WMT This Year

WMT sales are nearly flat and earnings are shrinking

Shares in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) started the year by hitting an all-time high, and investors probably figured the worst was behind WMT. How wrong they were.

WMT stock topped $90 a share in the first trading week of January. WMT stock’s holiday-selling season rally looked like it would extend well into 2015 after lagging the broader market for more than three years, but the rally didn’t last.

WMT stock has been in steady decline since setting that record high and is now off 9% for the year-to-date. Even the quiet S&P 500 has managed a price gain of almost 2% this year (See below a 52-week chart of WMT versus the S&P 500, Courtesy of S&P Capital IQ).

Whatever optimism fueled WMT stock through the holidays is now long gone. Indeed, Walmart shares are back to levels last seen in early November. No surprise there. Stocks follow profits, and Walmart profits are expected to be in decline for some time. Complete article

Moulton Police Officer arrested on theft from Walmart, on duty, in uniform, ethics charges

Moulton Police Chief Lyndon McWhorter tells WAAY 31 that one of his officers has been arrested by the State Bureau of Investigation.

Officer Jeremy Wakefield, 39, was arrested on charges of theft of property in the second degree and an ethics violation.

Wakefield is accused of stealing items from a Walmart while on duty.

McWhorter said the Walmart in Moulton notified them of surveillance video they had of Wakefield taking electronics to the store's garden center and placing them outside the fence. McWhorter said the video then shows Wakefield putting the items in his patrol car.

McWhorter said Wakefield was in his uniform and on-duty at the time. Investigators believe this happened more than once. Complete article

Police officer arrested after stealing from Wal-Mart 05/01/2015

Invoking Warren can work wonders 03/30/2015 (This was headlined "Elizabeth Warren working magic on the web" in the print version.)

Last spring political supporters and opponents took notice when Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation to reduce student debt. So did a company that makes money by connecting students with free government programs.

The for-profit firm is the type Warren abhors, but it happily used her image to hawk its services: “New Student Debt Forgiveness Programs. Call Today Before They Expire!” printed over an image of Warren, who stands behind a podium with palms gesturing to the sky.

Welcome to the world of Senator Clickbait, a.k.a. Elizabeth Warren.

The Massachusetts Democrat’s online marketing power is so strong that even her foes want her as a pitch woman. Put her image on Facebook and it can generate hundreds of thousands of shares. A simple e-mail from her with the subject line “I’m sorry” once yielded more than $430,000.

In the parlance of online marketing, Warren generates clicks. She doesn’t just boost e-commerce, she creates it.

“Every time we test a message about her, the needle breaks the gauge,” said Ben Wikler, the Washington director for MoveOn.org, a liberal group pressing Warren to run for president. “It’s an effect we see with no one else in politics today.”

Warren has long been able to generate tens of thousands of small donations for her own political operation through Internet fund-raising, which helped her overcome Republican Scott Brown’s advantage among Wall Street firms and take away his Massachusetts Senate seat in 2012. In 2014, Warren stumped across the country for fellow Democrats and lent her name to highly effective fund-raising e-mails.

Now, as the political world prepares for the 2016 elections and Democrats attempt to regain control of the Senate, her image has become even more ubiquitous. Even though she is just a freshman in the tradition-bound chamber, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is plastering news websites with fund-raising ads using her face.

Political news sites like Politico and the Huffington Post frequently prominently feature headlines about Warren, no matter how minor or incremental her statements. Stoking the flames is persistent buzz about a possible presidential candidacy — which Warren consistently denies, but without quite tamping down unequivocally. Complete article

Invest in Activism, Not Bernie Sanders 04/30/2015

Yes, Bernie Sanders would be a far superior president to Hillary Clinton.

That requires a bit of elaboration. Something I just scraped off my shoe would be a far superior president to Hillary Clinton, but Sanders would actually be good in a whole lot of ways. He has numerous imperfections, but the contrast with Clinton is like day to night.

I’d rather have him running than not.

But please do not give him or Hillary or the wonderful Jill Stein or any other candidate a dime or a moment of your life. Instead, join the movement that’s in the streets of Baltimore opposing police murder, that’s in the halls of the United Nations pushing to abolish nukes, that’s blocking mountaintop removal, divesting from Israel, advancing renewable energy, and struggling to create fair elections through steps like automatic registration in Oregon, and pushing legislation to provide free media, match small donors, give each voter a tax credit to contribute, or take the power to establish plutocracy away from the Supreme Court. Complete article

Emails Show American Psychological Association Secretly Worked with Bush Admin to Enable Torture

New details have emerged on how the American Psychological Association, the world’s largest group of psychologists, aided government-sanctioned torture under President George W. Bush. A group of dissident psychologists have just published a 60-page report alleging the APA secretly coordinated with officials from the CIA, White House and the Pentagon to change the APA ethics policy to align it with the operational needs of the CIA’s torture program. Much of the report, "All the President’s Psychologists: The American Psychological Association’s Secret Complicity with the White House and US Intelligence Community in Support of the CIA’s 'Enhanced' Interrogation Program," is based on hundreds of newly released internal APA emails from 2003 to 2006 that show top officials were in direct communication with the CIA. The report also reveals Susan Brandon, a behavioral science researcher working for President Bush, secretly drafted language that the APA inserted into its ethics policy on interrogations. We are joined by two of the report’s co-authors: Dr. Steven Reisner, a founding member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology and member of the APA Council of Representatives, and Nathaniel Raymond, director of the Signal Program on Human Security and Technology at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

Much of the report is based on hundreds of newly released internal APA emails from 2003 to 2006 that show top officials were in direct communication with the CIA. In 2004, for example, the APA secretly took part in a meeting with officials from the CIA and other intelligence agencies to discuss ethics and national security. In one email, the APA stated that the aim of the meeting was, quote, "to take a forward looking, positive approach, in which we convey a sensitivity to and appreciation of the important work mental health professionals are doing in the national security arena, and in a supportive way offer our assistance in helping them navigate through thorny ethical dilemmas," unquote.

One attendee was Kirk Hubbard, then the chief of operations for the CIA Operational Assessment Division. He would later leave the CIA to work for the private firm set up by James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, the psychologists who were hired as private contractors to set up the CIA interrogation program including the waterboarding of prisoners. In one 2003 email, Hubbard wrote to a top APA official, quote, "You won’t get any feedback from [Dr. James] Mitchell or Jessen. They are doing special things to special people in special places, and generally are not available," unquote. While the APA has attempted to distance itself from Mitchell and Jessen, the newly disclosed emails show the men attended a 2003 invite-only conference called "The Science of Deception," sponsored by the APA, the CIA and RAND Corporation, to discuss so-called enhanced interrogations. Complete article

Who’s Crazy Now? American Psychological Association Supported Torture “At Every Critical Juncture”

Like Nazi and Soviet Psychologists, American Psychologists Aided Abuse

While most psychologists are good people, tyrannies have always deployed corrupt psychologists to punish dissenters, and label them “crazy”.

The Nazi government substantially supported psychologists … many of whom, in turn, espoused extermination of the people they considered to be “racially and cognitively compromised”.

Soviet psychiatrists famously aided Stalin in applying fake insanity diagnoses to political dissenters. The official explanation was that no sane person would declaim the Soviet government and Communism.

And authoritarian American psychologists are eager to label anyone “taking a cynical stance toward politics, mistrusting authority, endorsing democratic practices, … and displaying an inquisitive, imaginative outlook” as worthy of a trip to the insane asylum. (Those traits may also get one labeled as a potential terrorist.) Indeed, Americans are literally being thrown in the loony bin after they question those in power.

As prominent forensic psychiatrist James Knoll – psychiatry professor at SUNY-Syracuse and director of a forensic fellowship program – writes in the Psychiatric Times:

When psychiatric science becomes co-opted by a political agenda, an unhealthy alliance may be created. It is science that will always be the host organism, to be taken over by political viruses…. Psychiatry may come to resemble a new organism entirely — one that serves the ends of the criminal justice system.

Indeed, American psychologists created the American program of torture which was specially-crafted to produce false confessions to justify U.S. military policy. Complete article

All the President’s Psychologists: The American Psychological Association’s Secret Complicity with the White House and US Intelligence Community in Support of the CIA’s 'Enhanced' Interrogation Program.

The APA secretly coordinated with officials from the CIA, White House, and the Department of Defense to create an APA ethics policy on national security interrogations that comported with then­-classified legal guidance authorizing the CIA torture program. .....

The complicity between APA and government entities appears to have directly influenced the APA ethics policy changes, codified into the June 2005 report of the APA’s Presidential Task Force on Psychological Ethics and National Security (PENS). The PENS report, in combination with associated, past APA ethics code changes, permitted psychologists to take on the roles of monitoring and evaluating the safety and efficacy of the “enhanced” interrogation program. ...

The Gerwehr emails, together with independent documents in the public record, demonstrate that APA’s secret coordination with the Bush administration both generated and critically shaped APA’s 2005 ethics policy on interrogations. .... Presenting misleading information to APA membership, the public, and the press that obscured or falsified the history of complicity with Mitchell and Jessen, the CIA and/or the Bush White House. .....

(memo sent in 2004)

In his memo, addressed to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Tenet made clear just how high the stakes were during this period and how much conflict appears to have arisen among the leadership prior to his resignation. Tenet reminded the key players of the Administration that they had all approved the program: “From the outset, the policy to employ these techniques against terrorist HVD has been reviewed and endorsed by senior Administration policymakers; in August 2002, the Vice President, the Council to the President, the Attorney General and you were briefed and approved CIA going forward with the Program...” he wrote: “Given all this increased scrutiny now upon us in the wake of treatment of prisoners in Iraq and all the questions the administration is being asked, I strongly believe that the Administration needs to review its previous legal and policy positions with respect to detainees to assure that we all speak in a united and unambiguous voice about the continued wisdom and efficacy of those positions in light of the current controversy.” 15

Soon after Mumford’s “save­the date” was sent, APA’s Ethics Director, Stephen Behnke sent an official invitation to potential participants. Behnke framed the purpose of the meeting as a response to the Abu Ghraib scandal:

Dear Invitee,

Events in our recent history, most notably the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the Abu Ghraib prison situation, have stimulated a great deal of interest in the ethics of using psychology and psychological techniques as tools in national security investigations. (Email 3)

Behnke reassured invitees that the APA Ethics Office would “neither assess nor investigate the behavior of any specific individual or group.” Instead, Behnke conveyed the APA’s deference to the needs of psychologists in the intelligence community:

The Ethics Office and Science Directorate would like to take a forward looking, positive approach, in which we convey a sensitivity to and appreciation of the important work mental health professionals are doing in the national security arena, and in a supportive way offer our assistance in helping them navigate through thorny ethical dilemmas, if they feel that need (informal conversations with people in the field suggest the need is there).

Behnke further guaranteed that APA would keep the meeting, its participants, and their contributions confidential:

I would like to emphasize that we will not advertise the meeting other than this letter to the individual invitees, that we will not publish or otherwise make public the names of attendees or the substance of our discussions...

Indeed, the substance of the discussions and the names of the attendees at the July 20, 2004 meeting have never been disclosed. 16 Similarly, it is unknown whether follow­up meetings took place between APA and CIA personnel, although the invitation and subsequent emails refer to the possibility of such meetings.

What is known is that the same day APA leadership was meeting with top national security psychologists from the CIA, the officials at the highest levels of the Bush administration were meeting to address the legality of the enhanced interrogation program: “In a meeting on July 20, 2004, National Security Council principals, including the vice president, provided their authorization for the CIA to use its enhanced interrogation techniques... They also directed the Department of Justice to prepare a legal opinion on whether the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques were consistent with the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.” 17 The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution were central to the U.S. interpretation of what constituted CIDT. 18 ....

n addition, the weekend meeting was attended by numerous unacknowledged observers, whose presence, according to Task Force Chair Moorehead­Slaughter, had been vetted by herself and the two Board liaisons who later became APA Presidents, Koocher and Anton. 23 Secret observers included Brandon, recently of the White House, Dr. Mel Gravitz, a psychologist formerly at the National Security Agency, and APA staff members Newman, Mumford, Farberman, Breckler and Dr. Heather Kelly. 24 It is unknown, aside from Brandon (see below), whether these observers contributed to the report, which Task Force ”rapporteur” Stephen Behnke wrote during meeting breaks and in the evenings. As the public record reflects, Behnke finalized the Report and distributed it to the Task Force members six hours after the Task Force meeting ended. ....

Additional pressure on the “enhanced” interrogation program and the use of medical personnel came through the CIA Office of the Inspector General (OIG). At the time, the program faced increasing calls for review and oversight following damaging revelations about the treatment of “ghost detainees.” 34

In May 2004, the OIG recommended that the CIA conduct a study of the effectiveness of the interrogation techniques. In response to OMS concerns that studying the results of these interrogations “would amount to human experimentation,” the OIG issued a clarification in January 2005: I fear there was a misunderstanding. OIG did not have in mind doing additional, guinea pig research on human beings. What we are recommending is that the Agency undertake a careful review of its experience to date in using the various techniques and that it draw conclusions about their safety, effectiveness, etc., that can guide CIA officers as we move ahead. 35 .....

2002: Previous Changes to APA Ethics Code

It is important to note that previous changes to the APA Ethics Code appear to have helped set the stage for psychologists to conduct research on a vulnerable population (e.g. detainees) without their consent. While such conduct has been deemed unethical for health professionals since Nuremberg, the APA ethics code had been revised in 2002 in ways that weakened key research protections established by the Nuremberg Code 42 under customary international law and the Common Rule under US Federal Law. One such change, apparently drafted into the code after 9/11, determined that the requirement to obtain informed consent could be dispensed with when “permitted by law or federal or institutional regulations” (Ethical Standard 8.05: American Psychological Association, 2002b). 4

Other changes, already being considered prior to 9/11 but made APA policy in August 2002, included permitting psychologists to more readily employ deception, restricting only “research that is reasonably expected to cause physical pain or severe emotional distress” (Ethical Standard 8.07), and most strikingly, to fore-go their ethical obligations altogether, if these “conflict with law, regulations, or other governing legal authority” (Ethical Standard 1.02). 44 ....

Email 3: Mumford, July 14, 2004 ..... I would like to emphasize that we will not advertise the meeting other than this letter to the individual invitees, that we will not publish or otherwise make public the names of attendees or the substance of our discussions, and that in the meeting we will neither assess nor investigate the behavior of any specific individual or group. ..... Sincerely, Stephen Behnke Director, APA Ethics Office .....

Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2006 11:16 AM To: Mumford, Geoff ..... 3. In July 2003, the APA and the RAND corp. co­hosted a workshop entitled, “Science of Deception: Integration of Practice and Theory,” which was funded by the CIA. Can you tell me who initiated the workshop and provide a little more description of the event? Topics included the use of pharmaceutical truth­telling agents. Can you tell me who led that workshop and what conclusion they arrived at? Katherine Eban

From: Mumford, Geoffrey
Subject: RE: Dinner on the 17th
Date: June 27, 2003 5:44:31 PM EDT
To: kirk hubbard
Cc: Scott Gerwehr (RAND), Susan Brandon (NIH/NIMH)

Kirk,
I concur and only just now saw Scott's reference...glad he's on our side;) Sorry to hear your getting grief about the room but have I got a deal for you...as a special promotion for APA members, who also work in CIA Ops AND are willing to share their last names, I will pull that pawltry (poultry?) room fee out of my policy budget and put you up for the night. This is the very least APA can do given the remarkable generosity your agency has shown in supporting the wrkshop.

Enjoy the weekend!
­geoff

Email 12: Hubbard, June 13, 2003 .... If you are looking for another scientist/researcher, a colleague here suggested Richard Rogers, Ph.D. He wrote a book titled "Clinical Assessment of Malingering and Deception" and apparently continues to conduct research in the area of deception. Last we know, he is a Professor of Psychology at the Univ of North Texas. My colleague was impressed by his work, for what it's worth.

Email 15. Hubbard, April 2, 2003
kirk hubbard
To: sbrandon, gmumford, gerwehr
Date: April 2, 2003 2:24 PM RE: Workshop on Science of Deception
Susan, Your reply sounds fine to me.
Pretty slick­­-you should be handling agents for us!

Another approach in addition to your note might be to find someone like Sternberg, Zimbardo, etc. who knows Ekman and could cajole him. Joe Matarazzo knows him and has called on my behalf before, but I don't know if they have any personal relationship. Joe loves to strong arm people, but I don't know what effect that might have on Ekman. We don't want him to be disruptive at the forum!

Kirk Complete article

Understanding How Good People Turn Evil: Renowned Psychologist Philip Zimbardo on His Landmark Stanford Prison Experiment, Abu Ghraib and More 03/30/2007

..... AMY GOODMAN: Professor Zimbardo, we have held several debates on the American Psychological Association’s position on psychologists participating in military interrogations, quite different from the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association. Can you comment on the organization you were formerly the president of?

PHILIP ZIMBARDO: Well, I have to begin by saying that psychologists really want to make their research relevant to society, that we want to give back. We get—our research gets funded. Our students get—students’ education gets funded. And so, we are eager to do things—and certainly I, all my life, have tried to make our research relevant to the needs of society. And so, many psychologists are military psychologists. Many psychologists work for the government in various capacities, doing really important good things. Psychologists were critical in the Second World War. And so, some psychologists work to give advice to interrogators about how to be more effective, the same way some psychologists give advice to police detectives on how to be more effective. The problem comes when you’re giving—

AMY GOODMAN: We have 10 seconds.

PHILIP ZIMBARDO: —specific advice about a particular individual being interrogated. And at that point, you step across the line, that you cannot—you cannot abuse your role as psychologist to help an interrogator break a prisoner psychologically. And that, I am strongly against.

AMY GOODMAN: Professor Zimbardo, we’re going to have to leave it there. I want to thank you very much for being with us. The book is called The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. Complete article

May 16 @PhilZimbardo Hi wondering why you accepted money from ONR while opposing war and if you were involved in ethical changes decided Aug. 2002

@PhilZimbardo for more info see http://zacherydtaylor.blogspot.com/2015/03/philip-zimbardo-lucifer-effect-stanford.html … sent you an E-Mail years ago but got no reply thanks

May 19 @PhilZimbardo Why would Kirk Hubbard think you might help him "cajole" Ekman in new torture disclosure? http://zacherydtaylor.blogspot.com/2015/05/american-psychological-association.html … Thanks

The enduring power of families in business and politics should trouble believers in meritocracy Apr 18th 2015

“AS A democracy the United States ought presumably to be able to dispense with dynastic families,” wrote Arthur Schlesinger junior, one of America’s best-known historians, in 1947. Yet almost 70 years on, next year’s presidential election could well become a family affair. A Clinton or a Bush has been on the ticket in seven of the past nine races. Hillary v Jeb may offend against equal opportunity, but not the laws of statistics.

How, people wonder, can this happen in a country that went to war to rid itself of a king’s hereditary authority? That is the wrong question. Around the world, in politics and business, power is still concentrated in the family. Power families and dynasties are here to stay. The question is how to ensure that they are a force for good.

Double helix, double standards

In politics the Clintons and the Bushes hardly count as exceptions. The leaders of Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Bangladesh are all related to former political chiefs. The “Stans” of Central Asia are family fiefs. The Gandhis are struggling in India, as are the Bhuttos in Pakistan, but the Kenyattas are kings in Kenya, a Fujimori is once again leading the polls in Peru and a Trudeau has a fighting chance in Canada. Meanwhile the lengthy catalogue of China’s “princelings”, the children of Communist Party grandees, starts right at the top with the president, Xi Jinping.

In Europe family power is one reason why politics seems like a closed shop. Fifty-seven of the 650 members of the recently dissolved British Parliament are related to current or former MPs. François Hollande, France’s president, has four children with Ségolène Royal, who ran for the presidency in 2007. Three generations of Le Pens are squabbling over their insurgent party, the Front National (see article). Belgium’s prime minister is the son of a former foreign minister and European commissioner. The names Papandreou and Karamanlis still count for something in Greece. Complete article

Conway Ark. woman suing Walmart after shooting 05/01/2015

CONWAY, Ark. (KTHV) - A Conway woman is suing Walmart after an employee shot her last year.

Lori Martin is suing the company for negligence after she was shot six times at the store in February 2014.

19-year old Myron Terrell shot Martin in the checkout line and ran away. Terrell worked at Walmart and told police he felt threatened by Martin. Complete article

Deputies: Woman in BMW runs over Wal-Mart shopper, drives off 05/11/2015

A 27-year-old Orlando woman was arrested Monday after deputies say she ran over a man's leg with her BMW because he didn't move out of her way in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

Noelia Mendez faces charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Investigators say the incident happened at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Vineland Road near Kissimmee.

The victim, whose name was not released, said he and a friend were walking in a lane in the Wal-Mart parking lot when he heard a car horn honking behind him.

He turned just in time to see Mendez's luxury car nearly hit his friend, deputies say. Complete article

Motley Fool: Walmart Is Falling Apart Before Our Eyes 05/17/2015

For most of the past five decades, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT ) has been the retailer competitors feared most and as a result it made for a phenomenal investment for its shareholders. But Wal-Mart has begun to lose its cache with consumers and major holes are starting to form in its business.

Interestingly, Wal-Mart has hidden its financial problems from the headlines because challenges are different around the world, masking themselves in the overall picture. But when you dig between the headlines you can see a company in serious trouble and could be the latest in a long line of leading retailers to go from boom to bust in the blink of an eye.

U.S. shoppers are abandoning Wal-Mart

The most alarming statistic at home in the U.S. comes from falling same-store sales. This measures how sales are growing location by location and any healthy retailer is looking to grow same-store sales at or faster than consumer spending grows because that shows increased market share locally. Overall sales can be increased by increasing store count, but if same-store sales are falling then the return on each store will drop, something well see in a minute. Complete article

Wal-Mart same-store sales miss estimates as shoppers cut spending 05/19/2015

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) reported lower-than-expected quarterly U.S. same-store sales growth, saying its customers were using their tax refunds and savings at the pump to pay down debt rather than spend on discretionary items.

Shares of the world's largest retailer were down 2.2 percent at $78.15 in premarket trading on Tuesday. ....

The company reported a 1.1 percent rise in same-store sales in the United States in the first quarter ended April 30, missing the consensus of an increase of 1.5 percent, according to analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix.

Net profit attributable to Wal-Mart fell to $3.34 billion, or $1.03 per share, in the first quarter, from $3.59 billion, or $1.11 per share, a year earlier.

Total revenue fell slightly to $114.83 billion from $114.96 billion. Complete article

Video: What every new Wal-Mart employee hears about why unions are terrible

Associate orientations include more than just instructions on stocking shelves.

The fact that Wal-Mart opposes unions isn't news. The company has a long history of fighting them, to the point of closing stores after employees organize. Training documents that surfaced last year showed how managers are instructed to talk to their teams about why unions are so undesirable.

But it's fascinating to see exactly how the company communicates the message to its employees, which is why this video posted by Gawker is worth a watch (the original video has been removed by the user, but here's another version).

Wal-Mart confirms that the video was a part of its new associate orientation in 2009, and that it still uses similar videos today. "Essentially, we know third party groups reach out to our associates and can sometimes provide inaccurate information so we think it’s important to provide our associates accurate information about their rights and opportunities," says spokesman Brian Nick.

The video contains fairly standard union-deterrence messages: Unions are really just declining businesses that want part of your paycheck to stay alive; that it's better for employees to speak for themselves rather than have a union rep speak for them; that Wal-Mart rewards individuals for their merits, rather than because they're a union favorite. And really, the video says, a union just can't make everything better.

"Let’s face it," says the friendly lady making the pitch. "All jobs have their ups and downs, and unions can’t change that." Complete article

Two dirty, hungry children found running through Walmart parking lot on their own 05/19/2015

FEDERAL WAY — Two kids were found dirty and alone, running around a local Walmart parking lot. The mother and daughter who found them say they called police when they got the feeling something wasn’t right.

Maybe it was mother’s intuition. But Linda Duncan-Delgado knew there was a problem when she and her daughter pulled into the Federal Way Walmart on Mother’s Day.

“I said this doesn’t look right, something is amiss here.”

They saw a toddler covered in dirt, running through the parking lot. Duncan-Delgado worried he might head toward a busy street. Complete article

Walmart: device in Ashland store dressing room not a camera 05/21/2015

ASHLAND, VA (WWBT) - A viewer calls 12 On Your Side concerned about a possible invasion of privacy at a local Walmart. She found peculiar electronic devices with blinking red lights in the dressing rooms at the Ashland Walmart along Hill Carter Parkway.

"I asked the worker what it was," said Jacqui. "She said that it was a camera. Her response was 'you all are being filmed because we have too many shoplifters here.'"

Cell phone video captured police stopping by to ask questions of their own.

"What the customer saw in the fitting room was a motion sensor," said Walmart representative Betsy Harden. "To be clear, there is no camera in our fitting room. We will look into this further, as it appears there was a miscommunication."

You might be surprised to know, here in Virginia, there are some circumstances where it is not against the law to record you in a place where you might expect a little privacy. Complete article

Ex-Ohio Walmart worker gets 3 years for fire 05/21/2015

TIFFIN — A former employee of a Walmart Supercenter was sentenced to three years in prison for setting fire to the store last year.

Jarrod Pfeiffer, 22, of Tiffin was sentenced Wednesday by Seneca County Common Pleas Judge Michael Kelbley. He had been convicted in March of two counts of aggravated arson.

Pfeiffer started a fire Sept. 5 in the store on State Rt. 18. The store was closed for several days. Complete article

Swansboro NC board member resigns over Walmart discussions 05/22/2015

SWANSBORO | A Swansboro planning board member has resigned over concerns about what he says is a lack of openness by town officials during discussions of plans for a newly approved Walmart store in town.

“I can no longer continue to volunteer my time and talent to a Board of Commissioners that values secrecy over transparency and places so little value on the advice of its planning board,” Frank Tursi wrote in his May 14 letter of resignation. Complete article

Wal-Mart urging supplies to improve treatment of animals, but not requiring it 05/22/2015

Wal-Mart, the largest food retailer in the US, is asking its thousands of suppliers to improve the treatment of farm animals and asking them to stop using antibiotics, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Experts say Wal-Mart is the first major retail company to take the step to reduce antibiotic use in animals. But the retailer has not put a timetable in place for suppliers and is not requiring that they follow these guidelines. ....

The company reported that its own research showed that 77 per cent of shoppers said this step would increase their trust and 66 per cent said it would increase their likelihood of shopping at a retailer that improves treatment of animals. Complete article

Palm Beach Fla. Sheriffs Office: Suspects pretending to be WalMart workers arrested in armed robbery 05/24/2015

Two men pretending to be WalMart employees robbed two people in the WalMart Supercenter parking lot in West Palm Beach early Sunday, police report.

The two victims were having car trouble in the parking lot at around 2 a.m. when two males in a Suzuki SUV parked next to them, pretending to be associates gathering shopping carts, according to police. Calvin McDonald, 48, exited the passenger seat and approached the victims with a gun, police say.

The driver, later identified by police as Kenneth Ford, 49, waited as McDonald robbed the victims of $30 and returned to the car. They then fled the scene, according to police. Complete article

Video Captures Purse Theft In Portsmouth NH Walmart Parking Lot; Teen Arrested 05/25/2015

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (CBS) — Surveillance video captured a brazen theft in a Walmart parking lot in New Hampshire on Friday afternoon, and a 16-year-old has been arrested in the incident.

The thief in a baseball cap and sunglasses can be seen waiting outside the entrance to the Portsmouth store when he spots an elderly woman leaving with her shopping cart.

He follows her to her car and can be seen swiping her purse from her carriage while she’s loading items into her trunk.

Police say he then returned to the store and used items from her purse to make a purchase. The thief later threw the woman’s purse away on the side of the road, where a passerby found it and turned it into police. Complete article

Police identify airman as suspect in fatal ND Wal-Mart shooting, motive unkown 05/26/2015

Police have identified a 21-year-old airman as the gunman in a deadly shooting Tuesday at the Wal-Mart in south Grand Forks, but are still unsure what prompted his actions.

Marcell Travon Willis, originally from Springfield, Tenn., fatally shot one Wal-Mart employee and injured another before turning the gun on himself early Tuesday.

He was on active duty at Grand Forks Air Force Base. Base officials declined to release any information on Willis -- including his rank and how long he had been stationed at the base -- saying a news release will be available Wednesday. Complete article

2 dead, including shooter, after gunshots at Grand Forks ND Walmart 05/26/2015

Police in Grand Forks Search for Motive in Deadly ND Wal-Mart Shooting 05/27/2015

Police: 2 people in gunman's car before fatal ND Wal-Mart shooting 05/27/2015

Family of Willis shocked by ND Wal-Mart shooting 05/28/2015

Police aren't confident about finding motive for Grand Forks ND Wal-Mart shooting 05/29/2015

2 people who rode with ND Wal-Mart gunman unaware of plan, police say 05/27/2015 Zimmel did not reveal what ties the passengers had to Willis. He said authorities were treating them as witnesses, not suspects.

Kingsville man charged with armed robbery of Fallston Md. Walmart's Subway 05/26/2015

A Kingsville man was charged Tuesday morning with allegedly robbing the Subway store inside Walmart in Fallston, police said.

Harford County Sheriff's Office deputies were called around 8:50 a.m. Tuesday to the 300 block of Fallston Boulevard for a report of an armed robbery, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office.

As the store was opening for the day, the deputies were told, a man later identified as Daniel Vincent Jackson, 21, entered the eatery in front of Walmart and allegedly forced an employee to the back of the store.Jackson allegedly displayed a small handgun and demanded access to the safe, according to the release.

The victim complied and Jackson allegedly took an undisclosed amount of money and then ran out of the store toward the Fallston Commons neighborhood, according to the release. Complete article

Walmart Assistant Manager Arrested, Accused of Snapping Photos of Children in Store Bathroom Stalls at Malvern Arkansas Walmart 05/26/2015

MALVERN, AR - The assistant manager at Walmart's Malvern location has been arrested for video voyeurism and child pornography after a boy alleges the man took images of him on a cell phone while in the bathroom of the store.

Tabitha Parker visits the Malvern Walmart perhaps a few times a month, often with her daughter's in tow.

"I'm appalled, actually appalled someone would do that," Parker said. "We've experienced something similar with people shooting video of my daughter on a cell phone without her permission."

An even scarier scenario unfolded on Sunday, according to police. A 9-year-old boy's mother said her son and a friend left the toy aisle to use the bathroom. One of the boys noticed a man slipping a cell phone under the stall to take photos of the boy inside. Complete article

Man shot, wounded in fight in Nevada Wal-Mart parking lot 05/28/2015

An argument outside an east valley Wal-Mart led to a shooting in the wee hours Thursday, according to Las Vegas police.

At 12:56 a.m., Metro was called to the 5100 block of Boulder Highway, spokesman Larry Hadfield said. Two men were arguing in the Wal-Mart parking lot when one of them walked away and got in a white SUV.

Figuring the argument was over, police said, the second man turned around and started walking away.

But a third man exited the SUV from the passenger’s side, Hadfield said, ran at the man walking away and shot him in the back. Complete article

Shopper captures Walmart takedown on camera 05/29/2015

SALEM, Ore. - Kristel Washington lwalked to the Walmart across the street from her house when she needed some arts and crafts supplies early Thursday morning.

Once inside, she said a man pulled out a knife and started threatening customers. Police arrived and arrested the man, later identified as Montrez Bellfield, before anyone was hurt.

"You don't think, going to Walmart, you're going to run into anything like that," Washington said. Complete article

Police identify airman as suspect in fatal ND Wal-Mart shooting, motive unknown 05/26/2015

Police have identified a 21-year-old airman as the gunman in a deadly shooting Tuesday at the Wal-Mart in south Grand Forks, but are still unsure what prompted his actions.

Marcell Travon Willis, originally from Springfield, Tenn., fatally shot one Wal-Mart employee and injured another before turning the gun on himself early Tuesday.

He was on active duty at Grand Forks Air Force Base. Base officials declined to release any information on Willis -- including his rank and how long he had been stationed at the base -- saying a news release will be available Wednesday. Complete article

2 dead, including shooter, after gunshots at Grand Forks ND Walmart 05/26/2015

Police in Grand Forks Search for Motive in Deadly ND Wal-Mart Shooting 05/27/2015

Police: 2 people in gunman's car before fatal ND Wal-Mart shooting 05/27/2015

Family of Willis shocked by ND Wal-Mart shooting 05/28/2015

Police aren't confident about finding motive for Grand Forks ND Wal-Mart shooting 05/29/2015

2 people who rode with ND Wal-Mart gunman unaware of plan, police say 05/27/2015 Zimmel did not reveal what ties the passengers had to Willis. He said authorities were treating them as witnesses, not suspects.

Wal-Mart adds extra private security and public at both Grand Forks stores 06/02/2015

Wal-Mart shooter legally drunk when he killed store cashier 06/03/2015

Police digging into details behind ND Wal-Mart shooting 06/04/2015 "Here you have a 21-year-old who is apparently, according to friends and family, a generally happy individual," Zimmel said. "He's starting off military life, recent promotion. He's proud of that; his family's proud of him; he's just been home, and one night this happens. The challenge is how do you make this make sense."

Decorated Iraq veteran and aspiring politician arrested in triple-homicide in Washington State 06/01/2015

An Iraq War veteran and failed political candidate was arrested on three counts of first degree murder on Saturday in Washington state.

Roy Murry, 30, was seriously wounded in Iraq and subsequently won the bronze star for valour. He now stands accused of shooting three people to death and torching their home to destroy the evidence.

The victims were Murry's father-in-law Terry Canfield, 59, his wife Lisa Canfield, 52, and Lisa's son John Constable, 23. Terry Canfield was a long-serving lieutenant in the local fire department. ....

After returning from Iraq, Murry turned to politics. He secured the Republican nomination in a state senate race in 2011, but ultimately lost the election.

He has since had multiple run-ins with law enforcement, according to Mr Knezovich, who commended Murry for his military service in the same press conference where he announced the charges against him.

"Mr Murry, by all accounts of people we've talked with, is a hero," he said. "He served with great valour in Iraq and was severely wounded".

Murry was awarded the bronze star after a firefight in which he continued to continued to return fire on the enemy despite being seriously wounded in an ambush. Complete article

Records: Wife suspected war vet husband of killing relatives 06/01/2015

The following are the original replies when this was first posted on Open Salon.

I hope this helps.

Dave Cullen September 21, 2010 05:16 PM

It does. Thanks.

Jeanette DeMain September 21, 2010 05:22 PM

Thanks, Jeanette. I've been mulling it since last Thursday or Friday when I saw the acid-face story and shuddered.

Dave Cullen September 21, 2010 05:27 PM

I guess that, in terms of human behavior, there isn't much new under the sun. The various pathologies just get played out in slightly different ways.

BTW, I do want to let you know that I read Columbine awhile ago, and it was really an extraordinary work. Disturbing, but extraordinary. I can only imagine how hard it was to immerse yourself in all that for so long.

Jeanette DeMain September 21, 2010 05:33 PM

The Bethany Storro saga is a hometown piece of news. I told my wife within a day or so that I bet it would go this way. The reports didn't jibe. First time in her life she wore big sunglasses and that's the day a stranger throws acid on her? Nah
We've all heard too many times about these lost souls drifting through a depressed life feeding their own depression.
Now she is being threatened with prosecution for spending some of the rescue money on dinner for her parents. That should help her get better.Sheesh.

alsoknownas September 21, 2010 05:43 PM

Thanks very much for that, Jeanette. Let's say I'm feeling much healthier now that I'm not immersed in that anymore.

Alsoknown, apparently the cops sniffed the same rat. They said it didn't add up from the start, for lots of reasons.

It still unnerves me that a girl would do that to herself, though: especially THE WAY she did it. Splashing it up at yourself would be one thing--you hurtle your arm and there's no turning back. But to systematically apply it while you felt your own face burning?

And they said it took several applications.

That takes some deep self-loathing.

Dave Cullen September 21, 2010 05:53 PM

I’m not up to date on either of these two so I won’t comment on them especially since I’m still skeptical about the way the media is presenting them. They have apparently already changed the story on Storro which isn’t too surprising since it is a news story and they are still in the process of investigating although they aren’t doing what I would consider a good job investigating this or anything else for that matter. I suspect that if they investigated into their early childhood they would find more important information and without this investigation they won’t know for certain why they did what they did.

You have rightfully been described as doing a good job debunking many of the false myths about Columbine. As far as I have read this is much better investigating reporting on this subject than the traditional Mass Media has done on any one subject. This requires more work than the Mass Media seems to be willing to put into doing their job, as I’m sure you know. However there is one exception which I think should receive more attention even from you and this is a big one. It is about how child abuse and bullying contribute to an escalation of violence that often leads to much more serious violence including Columbine. A couple good researchers that have done some work on this and provided some of their work on line are Alice Miller and Olivier Maurel. This might help understand better how violence generally starts young and escalates from there. I haven’t read Olivier Maurel yet but it is recommended by Alice Miller and one of her books includes a letter to the Pope from him indicating he knows something about the subject.

I have also written a little about this based on the work of Alice Miller, Philip Greven and several other researchers about the subject. This includes a review of your book which as I indicated is good investigative reporting but it unfortunately doesn’t address the root causes of violence at an early age. It is right here asking “Does child abuse and bullying lead to more violence?” As you can see I have no doubt that it does and this is very important when it comes to stopping it. Aside from that one issue I thought your book was very good.

zacherydtaylor September 22, 2010 01:28 PM

The following are the original replies when this was first posted on Open Salon.

As a parent, I can say it's incredibly difficult to determine which behaviors are normal teenage angst and which behaviors need immediate intervention. I know my parents struggled with those questions, with a son who eventually committed suicide. As my children grew up, I watched for signs, missed signs, thought I saw signs...Thankfully, all the signs stopped flashing. For now.

I read your Columbine book this week (I sheepishly admit I checked it out of the library...but I did hold it up and say to my husband, "He's an OS writer!"). It's an extraordinary book and you should be very proud.

Bellwether Vance September 28, 2010 07:58 PM

As nice as it is to see you back around the 'hood, I hope that one day, you won't have to write about these tragedies again. I think you do, too. Hugs....

cartouche September 28, 2010 08:18 PM

Thank you Dave, for sharing your insight on this most tragic event...xox

Robin Sneed September 28, 2010 08:27 PM

Dave, we don't yet know enough about this young man to conclude he was depressed. However, that said, I take your comments to be valuable and true--there is much we need to learn and to do with our kids in order to prevent numerous types of tragedies--the public and the private.

mypsyche September 29, 2010 12:05 AM

Thanks for posting this. Whenever I get asked to talk about guns, because of my book/expertise, I try to re-focus the reactive rhetoric away from "More gun laws!" to the more subtle, difficult and challenging issues of the mental health of those who own guns.

It seems almost impossible to grasp the idea that, with 30 percent of American homes containing a firearm and 25 percent of Americans clinically depressed at some point in life there is a likely crossover between these two potentially deadly categories.

Caitlin Kelly September 29, 2010 10:37 AM

mypsyche: exactly. we don't know about this kid, but we know about the totality of shooters. depression is the easiest, most obvious solution to make the greatest impact.

and we should be doing it anyway. shootings are merely a glaring symptom of a desperate problem.

Dave Cullen September 29, 2010 11:24 AM

I’m somewhat perplexed by the way many people are covering the Columbine incident even over ten years after the fact. This includes you in both your recent blog entries and in your book. As I stated before, in your blog entry about van der Sloot and Storro, you have rightfully been described as one of the best sources to debunk myths about Columbine. In many ways you have done a much better job on this subject than the rest of the Mass Media partly because you seem to have put more time into this subject. You’re comments about depression are also important and I’m sure that this is a major contributing factor. However what I find hard to understand is why you have down played the implications of bullying in your book and why you have failed to address the potential impact that possible child abuse from an earlier age which as far as I can tell hasn’t been investigated as good as it could or should have been. If this did take place then it could be a major contributing factor.

In your book you said "There's no evidence that bullying led to murder, but considerable evidence it was a problem at Columbine High." (p.158) You also cite Dr. Robert Hare who said that that abusive upbringing doesn't create psychopaths but it does make it worse. Dr. Hare also indicated that Psychopaths never develop empathy in the first place. (p.241-2) this leaves open the possibility that Dr. Hare does allow for abuse or bullying being a contributing factor; although I haven’t gone directly to his work or consulted with him as you may have. Even if Dr. Hare doesn’t believe this is a contributing factor there are many other psychologists that do and this seems to be widely accepted among the academic community nowadays; although they haven’t gotten this point across to most of the public. I haven’t checked this recently but I have read several other books about the subject clearly indicating that not only is bullying a major contributing cause to Columbine but potential child abuse probably is too. As indicated before I can’t say for certain about the child abuse since I’m not aware of adequate research being done into this incident but there is an enormous amount of research into many other incidents indicating that it is almost always there when investigators look deep enough. The interview from Oprah may have been helpful but it was from a biased source and the interviewer didn’t attempt to inquire about potential abuse from Dylan’s parents or Eric’s for that matter. She may have been in denial for all I know. Some of the researchers that have come to this conclusion, and provided a significant amount of work to back it up, include James Garbarino, Ellen deLara, Alice Miller, Olivier Maurel, Joanne Scaglione and Dorothy Otnow Lewis. None of them have investigated Columbine as well as you, in fact in one book, published about two years after Columbine, James Garbarino repeated some of the misinformation you corrected; he clearly didn’t spend much time investigating this incident but since the book was about bullying at that time he could hardly ignore it. He presumably didn’t make such mistakes when he was relying on his own work instead of the information given to him by the Mass Media.

The point is that after ten years you have had more than enough time to address these issues and if you were being peer reviewed, as I suspect you must have been, someone surely should have brought this up before now. Yet for some reason you don’t seem to be addressing these issues properly and on some of the most important aspects instead of correcting misinformation, as you did in most cases, you’re contributing to it.

Alice Miller and Olivier Maurel have both made books available free on line about this subject. Also I have included a bibliography of other sources, including James Garbarino and Ellen deLara: "And Words Can Hurt Forever,” Joanne Scaglione, Arrica Rose Scaglione: "Bully-Proofing Children" and Dorothy Otnow Lewis “Guilty by Reason of Insanity” in my “Violence can be Prevented” page listed on my links. Most of these have extensive excerpts from Google or Amazon so you can read some of them before buying or looking for them at your library. Or for more of my own comments on your book see my own blog entry asking "Does child abuse and bullying lead to more violence?"

I don’t say this to be argumentative but by failing to address these important issues I actually believe that rather than contributing to the solution you may be contributing to the denial; and since you have done such a good job debunking the false myths this makes you seem more credible, as it should to a point; however that is all the more reasons why I believe these misconceptions need to be corrected.

zacherydtaylor September 29, 2010 12:14 PM

Yep, we can take care of each other.

sweetfeet September 29, 2010 10:18 PM

zach, they explained their actions ad nauseum and didn't bother to mention bullying. there is no credible evidence that they were bullied to any significant degree (ie, more than an average kid). nor is there any evidence from them that that was a motive.

we can hypothesize all we want about things that MIGHT have happened, but if there's no evidence it happened, it would be irresponsible for me to bring that stuff in.

Dave Cullen September 29, 2010 11:14 PM

Dave, thanks for posting on this. You have done so much to further understanding of how these tradgedies occur.
So many depressed kids in the schools are treated without compassion. I've worked for years in schools and have seen teachers humiliate kids in class and mistake them for being manipulative for crying at school. They are not trained for any students but the "good" ones. Thanks, Dave.

o'stephanie September 29, 2010 11:26 PM

nice to see you, too, cartouche. how u been?

Dave Cullen September 30, 2010 11:32 AM

Well then a lot of other people including me and some academics are being “irresponsible.” The following is a quote from Joanne Scaglione a PhD. who researches this subject and wrote a book about it:

‘The violence committed in 1999 by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold at Columbine High school in Littleton, Colorado, shows how horrific the results of bullying can be. Twelve children and a teacher were killed, and eighteen other students were injured. The two teenage boys then killed themselves. Most observers believed this violence resulted from bullying endured by these two students over a long period of time. Apparently teased, ridiculed, and tormented, they could take no more and snapped. Here is an account of one incident they faced: “People surrounded them [Eric and Dylan] in the commons and squirted ketchup packets all over them laughing at them, calling them faggots. That happened while teachers watched. They couldn’t fight back. They wore the ketchup all day and went home covered with it.” Source Joanne Scaglione PhD. “Bully-proofing Children”

As stated before there are many other researchers who have also come to similar conclusions including James Garbarino and Ellen deLara who wrote "And Words Can Hurt Forever: how to protect adolescents from bullying, harassment, and emotional violence". The following is how they address a similar claim to the one you made:

‘However, at columbine High school some of the athletes took it upon themselves almost as a holy mission to ridicule Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. School principle Frank DeAngelis, who himself had spent many years as a football and baseball coach, made the following telling remark: “this harassment by athletes on Eric and Dylan that has been printed time and time again-I never received a call indicating that these people were harassing them. At no time did Eric and Dylan walk into my office and say, ‘Mr DeAngelis, I’m concerned.’ “

This is a peculiar and alarming statement for a high school principle to make. Do all high school principles expect that adolescents will walk into their offices and complain if they are being bullied at school, especially by the athletes? Do secondary school administrators really have such little understanding of adolescents? The sad answer, all too often, is yes.’ Source James Garbarino and Ellen deLara "And Words Can Hurt Forever: how to protect adolescents from bullying, harassment, and emotional violence"

As I said before I don’t say this to be argumentative but there is an enormous amount of research that you don’t seem to be acknowledging including some from some very credible psychologists and teachers who have looked carefully into this subject. They have attempted to address what many people have a hard time dealing with and often respond with denial. I hope you’ll consider reading some of this material or finding other material on your own and reconsider. People with credentials who are in denial make it easier for many others to stay in denial and provide unnecessary obstacles to solutions.

Even if people don’t believe that child abuse and bullying escalate to more extensive violence it should still be considered a problem that needs to be addressed and it shouldn’t be downplayed; in fact down playing it, if as the research indicates, is part of the problem could be just as irresponsible.

zacherydtaylor October 02, 2010 12:31 PM

"Most observers believed this violence resulted from bullying endured by these two students over a long period of time."

That statement is true if by "observers" you/she mean the general public, including noted sociologists, who assumed the original reporting was accurate.

Unfortunately, it was based on enormous hearsay, speculation, and the testimony and opinions of a few kids.

I doubt very much that people like James Garbarino actually did his own primary research on the subject. It's very understandable that he based his conclusions on what was reported. But garbage in, garbage out.

That's how myths are self-perpetuating. Then people quote them on the web (and in papers, etc.) and the cycle continues.

Of course I've looked into it. I spent years on it. I've interviewed hundreds of students there, read all the killers' writings and repeated in-depth interviews with investigators and nationally-recognized psychologists who did study the case first-hand.

Almost zero investigators on the case, or experts of any stripe who have studied it closely, and first-hand have see any significant evidence of bullying.

Dave Cullen October 02, 2010 01:30 PM

Ditto what cartouche said, Dave.

In (admittedly) skimming the comments, I've seen nothing about access to guns. Are we to concentrate on treating psychological issues (sociopathy, depression, alienation, etc) but not discuss guns because access to weapons is a foregone conclusion? I realize that adolescents determined to inflict harm can do other things (poison school lunches or release fatal chemicals into the air) but the fact that kids go to school armed requires more than the "usual" push/pull about supposed Second Amendment rights.

Nikki Stern October 02, 2010 01:36 PM

Actually James Garbarino did an enormous amount of original research into the subject although not specifically into Columbine. As I said before he made a mistake by accepting some of the misinformation about Columbine specifically about the Trench Coat Mafia myth which you and Brookes Brown both corrected. However he has done much more research into the psychology than most people and written many books to back it up. He is well regarded in the academic community and cited by many other psychologists. If you’re right then Brookes Brown must also be wrong; in my opinion he did a very good job writing his book considering his lack of academic education.

He has also done a lot of research into denial and shown the work behind that as well; which seems to be the problem with many people. If that is the case you and others will have to decide on your own whether or not you’ll read up some of this material or reconsider you’re views. Most of your investigation seems very good but on this one issue and the lack of research into possible child abuse I have to disagree.

zacherydtaylor October 02, 2010 01:48 PM

"Actually James Garbarino did an enormous amount of original research into the subject although not specifically into Columbine."

Yes, that's exactly my point. I have no doubt that James understands bullying and its consequences, but if he's basing his conclusions about Columbine on faulty data about it, then those conclusions are meaningless.

Yes, Brooks is wrong. He's one kid, who was 17 or 18 at the time, living through an unbelievably traumatic situation, and with a very bleak view of the world to begin with. I've been incredulous at the weight some people have placed on the perceptions of one kid.

I don't know why you refer to my lack of research on it. I researched it heavily, and just found no data to support it, so I said so in the book briefly and moved on. The last thing I wanted to do was to perpetuate more myths.

As for child abuse, again, there is no evidence of any. Of course we can construct all sorts of scenarios of what MIGHT have happened to the two kids, but I believe that would fall under the category of "making stuff up."

Also, when a kid is abused for years, there are always signs. Most people may brush them off at the time, and/or remain silent. But in retrospect, they are much more clear.

Well, we've had 11 years of retrospect with two of the most famous mass murderers in recent history, and not a single neighbor, friend, classmate, teacher, family doctor, etc. has come forward and mentioned anything. I find it unlikely that all this went on and everyone continues to remain silent.

But regardless, if no evidence has come to light, I can't invent possibilities and identify them as causes.

Dave Cullen October 02, 2010 02:10 PM

When I refer to your lack of research I actually mean into a specific subject which is what the psychologists I have cited have looked into. As I have stated you have clearly done better research into the other myths than the mass media. As for Brooks being wrong it seems to be about only this one subject. He also debunked most if not all of the myths that you focused on if I remember correctly. And he isn’t the only one that has made these reports although he is the one I’m most familiar with. He also cited a report from a qualified expert in his book about bullying that specifically addressed Columbine although I don’t have it in front of me now but this individual did have more academic background. One of the things he did is talk about the intimidation he put up with after the fact to keep quit about it; which is presumably why many other kids didn’t want to come forward. Nor does he seem very bleak as you put it; in fact if he was so bleak he probably wouldn’t have come out with what he felt was the truth when so many people were putting pressure on him. This is probably one of the toughest aspects of the subject to research and I suspect if you had consulted with someone like Garbarino, or another one that could tell about how hard it is to find this evidence, is Dorothy Otnow Lewis who has also looked into this about Mass murderers. They have both learned how to find corroborating evidence as well.

Garbarino was able to easily see the red flag raised by Mr DeAngelis comment which many children also surely recognize. In fact I find it hard to believe that many people don’t see a problem with it. There have been other reports about the sports culture that is at Columbine as well that fits in with the bullying scenario and many other sources that have raised this issue; in fact there are several incidents about it on the news right now including one that apparently you commented on. It is a simple principle that violence begets violence and it has a tendency to escalate.

Another thing to consider is that in the absence of this assessment I can’t imagine what the real explanation could be. If you consider the escalating violence starting with child abuse and escalating with bullying then it makes sense otherwise there is just a total mystery. Furthermore there seems to be evidence just not that many people are willing to acknowledge and as I said you and others will have to deal with that yourself.

zacherydtaylor October 02, 2010 03:12 PM

The following are the original replies when this was first posted on Open Salon.

lets see, we have a 9yr war going in roughly 3 different countries. and people wonder why there's bullying in our country. blind spot? obviously the US is the worlds biggest bully-- to say the least. bullying is obviously an understatement.

vzn October 27, 2010 08:43 PM

vzn is right, it's kind of simple we just like things to be complicated so as individuals we don't have to be responsible. When I got to OS in '09 everyone here probably thought what people I personally know thought, but they were kind. I was just a whiny loser with sour grapes complaining about bullies when I was little and as an adult.

I was bullied as a small child and now that I live in a Red State I find because all laws protect business owners it's common here.

It's very simple, the number one attribute a bully looks for in a victim is integrity. If the bully is dumber, the victim doesn't feel like it's "okay" to retaliate, a pretty girl with integrity will not retaliate against a homely girl, etc... So people who have been raised to have integrity are the number one target.

Then you have what I think of as the "guilty bystanders" those who don't want to get involved because they will lose something. For kids they will be picked on, for employees they will be the bosses target, for people who do business they don't want to lose money with bully companies they deal with.

In all the sites I've studied (my focus being bully managers) there is no known way to make the bully change as they benefit. Usually they are able to steal wages, or ideas, or keep an outstanding employee from "making them look bad." Only people with more power can stop them or being ostracized by the "group".

If you have a bully boss you simply lower your production and personal standards and they will target someone else. Never be a whistle blower, if you know there is salmonella in the eggs you just have to let it go. You can only be laid off from so many jobs before you learn.

Now other people have to take crap low wage jobs and cars are built with junk parts and all the food is tainted and the CEO bullies have robbed us all.

It's very simple, either the group stands together or falls together. I arrived realizing not enough people were homeless and not enough victims had killed themselves. I think that's probably still pretty true. As far as the kids at Columbine, or the person who goes to their old company and shoots a bunch of people; they're just killing the guilty bystanders.

It's really nice that there was tons of research available. I think instead of research we should just stop the bullies. Not sure when that point will come, I have no more whistles left to blow for the deaf. The US is the biggest bully in the world. It was fine as long as it benefited us all.

l'Heure Bleue October 27, 2010 09:46 PM

I'm a recently retired principal. (Jeffco) A few days ago I wrote a post, Bullying - A School Principal's Perspective, about the influence of the political discourse on this problem, especially during an election. It would be a great dissertation topic. I'm off to read the study you cited. Your book, Columbine, was powerful and difficult for me. It's an important book - thanks.

Trish Rainbow October 28, 2010 02:33 AM

Trish, thanks. Which school.

I can only imagine that it was tough for you being that close.

I'd love to hear a principal's take on bullying.

Dave Cullen October 28, 2010 09:01 AM

There are plenty of researchers that are investigating this subject; unfortunately, as far as I can tell, the ones that are doing the best job are receiving little if any attention from the Mass Media and what is being presented to the public. As indicated before one of the leading causes of bullying is child abuse which escalates in school and leads to bullying which if goes unchecked will get worse as it goes along. This is often mild in elementary school but can escalate to something worse in high school.

However as far as I can tell most if not all of the researchers that have addressed the issue since Columbine seem to disagree with your conclusion that there is no evidence that it was a contributing factor to the disaster at Columbine. In addition to James Garbarino, Ellen deLara and Joanne Scaglione whom I cited in our previous conversation Barbara Coloroso also cited some testimony which she considered evidence to imply that bullying may have been a contributing factor she wrote:

‘After the video tapes shot by Dylan and Eric were made public well over a year after the shootings, there was still a sense of entitlement and superiority expressed by at least one member of the Columbine football team. In his mind, he had a right to taunt and torment anyone who was “different,” anyone for whom he had contempt: “Columbine is a good, clean place except for those rejects. Most kids don’t want them here. They were into witchcraft. They were into voodoo. Sure we teased them. But what do you expect with kids who come to school with weird hairdos and horns on their hats? It’s not just jocks; the whole schools disgusted with them. They’re a bunch of homos…If you want to get rid of someone, usually you tease ‘em. So the whole school would call them homos….” ‘ Source and additional information: “The Bullied, the Bully and the Bystander” by Barbara Coloroso.

Also there is apparently at least one quote from the tapes they left behind to indicate they were angry about the way they were treated. Klebold said “Being shy didn't help. I'm going to kill you all. You've been giving us shit for years.” This clearly indicates they’re angry at someone that has been “giving us shit for years.”

Additional researchers that I know of in addition to ones I already mentioned include Philip Greven, Murray Straus, Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson; however it may be necessary to consider the point of view of those that disagree with you because although they don’t all directly address Columbine as well as you when it comes to the escalation of violence these experts that I’m aware of seem to agree that violence tends to escalate and bullying is a major part of it. Most of the most effective solution are those that involve educating people at the early stages before violence has a chance to escalate.

Also I’m almost inclined to agree with vzn with one slight variation; the 9 year war does set a bad example but the bigger thing is that they’re both caused by earlier violence which escalated rather than bullying being directly caused by the war. In other words both extreme examples of violence have a common cause not that one caused the other; this common cause is violence earlier in life.

zacherydtaylor October 28, 2010 01:13 PM

for those just tuning in, one flaw in zach's logic: he's citing researchers who DID NOT research columbine, but relied on conclusions about the data they read in the media.

that's correct, right, zach? i'm frankly puzzled that you think conclusions based on faulty info mean anything, no matter how brilliant the person struggling with the bad data.

in fact, nearly every psychological expert who studied the case does not see evidence of bullying. these include Dr. Frank Ochberg, Dr. Robert Hare, Dr. Dwayne Fuselier.

Dave Cullen October 28, 2010 02:39 PM

Dave, I know this is just research and average little people (a phrase from my last boss) like me are of no real interest in such matters but here's a post you may find informative.

He is an award winning teacher who has post traumatic stress syndrome which is common in children (and adults) who are bullied, abused or in any way threatened. It's similar to what rape victims and victims of pedophilia or child abuse suffer. It's not exactly the same as the type service members get in the war but the manifestations are similar. I chose to drop out of school at 15 and run away from home.

A brilliant mind is a terrible thing to waste and blah blah blah, I don't trouble myself with such weighty issues. I'm content that none of my suicide attempts were successful and I managed to escape. In retrospect there may have been some loss to society as was pointed out by my therapist but like society I don't really mind waste. There is plenty of everything and that includes people.

One of the areas I'm trained in is medical coding so of course I had to study anatomy and took particular interest in the areas of neurology and psychiatry because I prefer more challenging areas. Unfortunately this is not a good trait for the average little person like me so I have found more suitable interests.

Here is the link to the story, it does seem a bit of a shame that this is happening to teachers and students but I like to remember that stuff happens and we just have to be positive and hope things get better. I'm certain if we all just keep researching and studying it will finally fix itself. I'm also sure the elections and positive thinking will fix everything and the kids and adults will finally be alright.

http://open.salon.com/blog/daniel_geery/2010/10/29/why_teachers_are_wasting_money_on_nea_dues

l'Heure Bleue

October 29, 2010 05:31 PM Hi Dave,
I can see you have to fend off many divergent viewpoints. I've worked with Barbara Coloroso and, while I think she has lots to offer schools, I always felt she was very quick to reach the conclusions that she did about Columbine. We all want answers and we want them quick because we simple can't bear it again. And Zach - research into bullying is important and very much needed but maybe it also lets everybody off the hook just a little. I wrote a recent post about this and hope you take a look. I was a principal at a school not far from Columbine. While we wait for the research, we can do something about bullying. Every one of us.
Dave, I sent you an email and now I want to let you know how much I appreciated Mr. D.
Don't forget to vote everyone.

Trish Rainbow October 30, 2010 01:48 AM

You’re correct I have cited researchers who didn’t investigate first hand into Columbine but they did cite the information they used to come to their conclusions and I repeated it here or in the previous blog entry on the subject. Also I did an internet search to find some of this information and it turns out that it is backed up by additional sources; the information they relied on does not appear to be faulty. Barbara Colorosa omitted the name of the student who made that quote but it is in another report housed by the state of Colorado. (PDF) Apparently you’re not the only one who looked at that statement and concluded it doesn’t constitute evidence; however some investigators into the subject including Barbara Colorosa and others I cited clearly do.

One of the sources you cited, Robert Hare, has also relied on information from media sources to come to his conclusions and he has also indicated that he believes child abuse is a potential contributing factor to psychopathy; however his specialty doesn’t seem to be dealing with teens or child psychology as is the sources I cited. He said “For many of these individuals, negative social factors- poverty, family violence, child abuse, to name but a few- were contributors to, or even the cause of, their criminality. Indeed, had these factors not been present, many of these criminals would not have turned to crime.” P. 84 It is reasonable to consider the possibility that bullying is one of the other factors that could be a contributor and those that do focus more on child Psychology like James Garbarino and Barbara Coloroso and many others have clearly indicated that this is the case.

A report by Regina Huerter clearly goes into greater detail and cites a much more serious problem with bullying at Columbine. The following is part of the description provided in Brook’s book which goes on for just over three pages:

Brook’s experiences were not unique. A year after the Columbine tragedy, research into the school’s atmosphere was conducted by Regina Huerter director of Juvenile diversion for the Denver District Attorney’s Office. Huerter’s findings paint a disturbing picture of cruelty and indifference in columbines halls….

As for students like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Huerter wrote that everyone she interviewed described the pair as "loners" and "often the brunt of ridicule and bullying. Although no one had specifics about when and the degree of bullying they received, most often it was about shoving, pushing and name-calling."

Even those associated with Eric and Dylan were punished. A female student told Huerter that she was talking to Dylan Klebold in the school hallway during her freshman year. "After their conversation was over, one of the notorious bullies slammed her against the lockers and called her a 'fag lover,'" Huerter wrote. "Many students were in the area, but no adults. She did not report this to the administration. When I asked her why, she said everyone told her 'it wouldn't do any good because they wouldn't do anything about it.'"source and additional information Brooks Brown “No easy answers: the truth behind death at Columbine” 2002 p. 52-3 I know you didn’t believe Brooks but this is based on the report of Regina Huerter who is an investigator for the state of Colorado.

The issue here seems to be whether or not these reports of bullying constitutes evidence of a contributing cause and the researchers that specialize in this subject clearly think it is. You obviously disagree however in all fairness you admitted you “not an expert on bullying. I have not studied anti-bullying campaigns, to ascertain which ones really work.” These people did.

I don’t mean to be argumentative and I do agree that bullying should be addressed whether or not it was an issue at Columbine; but denying it is an issue at what may be the biggest high school incident in recent history isn’t helping. This is part of a pattern of school shootings and the effect of bullying has been present in many of these incidents. There are already too many people denying the cause and effect of this and it is slowing down a lot of progress towards the solution.

BTW Trish I glanced at your post quickly and intend to get back to it soon.

zacherydtaylor October 30, 2010 12:29 PM

Thanks, Trish.

Dave Cullen October 30, 2010 12:53 PM

I would say that bullying is unfortunately a part of school life. I don't think it's unfair to say that in almost all schools some form of abuse, teasing or physical intimidation goes on. It is however a myth that in all schools bullying is the same. Bullying becomes a serious problem in a school when it is widespread and never confronted or dealt with by authorities. I grew up in a rough school in a poor area of East London where bullying and beatings went on, those actions though were never condoned or excused by the school itself. Certain American schools (Columbine being one of them) are different in two ways: Firstly the social structure is so rigid, and secondly the school administration did little to stop the problem. Columbine also seemed to have a core of notorious bullies who were never punished, and in turn caused great fear and resentment. Research into columbine proved that bullying was a severe problem (peaking between 1997-1998, after which the notorious bullies graduated). I don't think it was your average school. Eric Harris may have been a psychopath (though it can't be proven). However it's not disputed that he was branded a 'faggot' at columbine, teased because of his chest deformity, shoved into lockers and thrown food at in the cafeteria. All of this during his short time there. Is this sufficient to be any sort of casual factor? Or is it just a coincidence? This issue has always fascinated me because it seems hard to find out the whole truth.

Bill Patrice Jones November 06, 2010 12:15 PM