Saturday, November 30, 2013

Rihanna's statement about African hair


Rihanna, at the 41st American Music Awards, November 24, 2013
(Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)


Rihanna's style should please the administrators at Vanessa VanDyke's school.


Vanessa VanDyke, another young African-American woman, prefers natural African hair: See Christian school orders girl to "style" her African hair.

See all posts re African hair.

The politics of Rihanna’s hair: Her AMA do was a powerful form of resistance
In an award show celebrating the co-optation of black musical forms, a star's hairstyle was an important statement
Brittney Cooper
Salon
Nov 26, 2013

Two nights ago, my mouth fell open, when I looked up to see Rihanna rocking a doobie at the American Music Awards.

What’s a doobie? In the South, we just call it a wrap. It is a particular way that black women with straightened hair style their hair by combing and brushing it around the base and crown of the head before bed in order to maintain the style for the next day.

During the 10 years that I wore a relaxer, wrapping my hair and securing the wrap (or doobie) with a scarf or bobby pins or a combination of the two was a nightly ritual. But what you never did — with any level of propriety anyway — was wear your wrap out in public.

I mean, sure, you could get away with it on a quick run to the corner store. But in general, once the hair is wrapped, you are in for the night and the style is not for public consumption.

So when Rihanna showed up at the AMAs rocking just such a style, but adorned with fancy bejeweled bobby pins, I registered it immediately as ratchetness.

Ratchet, because it wreaks of impropriety, and rejects the unstated rules of black women’s hair. There are certain things that black women don’t do out in public regarding hair: We don’t wear rollers outside (that is the ultimate act of ratchet-ghetto behavior), we don’t wear doobies outside, and we don’t wear ratty headscarves outside. If you do don a headscarf, you better tie it up in an intricate way and make it look Afrocentric – “cultural,” you know.

Rihanna took no such pains with her appearance, defying all the rules at this year’s awards. I promptly wondered what it meant. She very well knows that black girls know that a doobie ain’t a style – it’s a pre-style, no matter how pretty the bobby pins are that you put in it.

If you don’t unwrap your hair, then basically you have made very little effort to get all donned up for the show. Exposing people to your doobie either means you know them very well, or know them so little that you couldn’t care less what they think.

The scholar in me is tempted to read this homage to ratchetry as a kind of subtle resistance to the pomp and circumstance of these awards. I feel emboldened in that reading by the blatant whitewashing of black culture that went on at the AMAs.

The AMAs haven’t been particularly good on this point in a long time, which is why it is not one of the major shows that I watch. But last night, Justin Timberlake won for best soul/R&B album in a category that featured him, Robin Thicke and Rihanna, and Macklemore won for best hip-hop album, just as he did at the VMAs.

When Sarah Silverman made a quip about the category being dominated by two white guys and a Caribbean artist, Justin, upon winning, remarked that Silverman’s remarks constituted the first time that he had ever felt “racially profiled.”

Race analysis #FAIL, JT. Please don’t make it hard for me to like your music. It’s already hard to admit I like it, since your musical career has relied on the appropriation of a black sound and the requisite awarding of cookies because you are a white boy who does it well...

Read more HERE.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Christian school orders girl to "style" her natural hair to appease bullies


Nov. 30, 2013: Is Rihanna's style what administrators really want?



See all posts re African hair.

When bullies at a Christian school acted up, the administrators decided to order the target to get rid of her naturally puffy African hair. After all, if students see African hair growing naturally, it's to be expected that they would be inspired to bad behavior, right? The administrators decided that the problem God created needed to be fixed by concealing God's handiwork. These geniuses figured this would be more reasonable than giving students a lesson on Christian virtues, civil rights, or the simple common sense of accepting the reality of biological differences among human beings.

My advice to Vanessa: don't fix it because it ain't broke. And learn from the experience you're living. Perhaps there's another Christian school nearby that has administrators whom God gifted with functioning frontal lobes.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to figure out how Vanessa is supposed to "style" her hair, since administrators claim they aren't requiring that she cut her hair or use chemical products. I think that's exactly what they intended, but they're backtracking now.

How can she limit the volume of her hair without chemicals or scissors? Even if she braided her hair, the shorter hairs, and the hair on the top of her head, would escape and puff out. Cornrows would be a solution, but I doubt that's what the school has in mind, especially since they would have to require all students to wear cornrows in order not to specifically target African hair.

I'm getting a kick out of picturing all the classrooms, with every child wearing cornrows. Blond cornrows, brown cornrows, red cornrows, black cornrows. It's actually kind of a beautiful picture, isn't it?



Is this the solution this school needs?


Also, see my plan for voluntary separation of pedophiles.


UPDATE: ADMINISTRATORS CHANGE THEIR MINDS

Girl Who Faced Expulsion Over Natural Hair Gets To Stay At Private School
Nov 27, 2013
By Ruth Manuel-Logan
News One

On Monday, 12-year-old Vanessa VanDyke (pictured), who attends Faith Christian Academy in Central Florida, was faced with quite a dilemma.

School officials allegedly mandated that she restyle her natural hair or be expelled for a week. But, just one day after the bizarre request got national media attention, the edict was suddenly rescinded and Vanessa now gets to remain in school with her crowning glory as is, according to WKMG Local 6.

Vanessa has attended the private school for three years and had never experienced any bullying over her hairstyle until now. When Vanessa’s mom, Sabrina Kent, approached school officials over her daughter being taunted by classmates because her hair was not straight, they thought it would be in her best interest to straighten it.

The tween, who loves the texture of her hair, talked to Local 6 about her choice of hairstyle. “It says that I’m unique,” Vanessa said. “First of all, it’s puffy and I like it that way. I know people will tease me about it because it’s not straight. I don’t fit in.”

Kent told the news outlet that the school’s threat of expulsion over her daughter’s hair was not a solution to her daughter being bullied. “There have been people teasing her about her hair, and it seems to me that they’re blaming her,” Kent laments. According to the miffed mom, school officials allegedly informed her that Vanessa’s hair was a “distraction.”

The academy does have a dress code in place which also loops in how students can wear their hair. “Hair must be a natural color and must not be a distraction,” and the stipulations include, but are not limited to, mohawks, shaved designs and rat tails.

Despite the school’s strict dress codes, Kent is standing firm that her daughter’s hairstyle will not change. “I’m going to fight for my daughter,” Kent said. “If she wants her hair like that, she will keep her hair like that. There are people out there who may think that natural hair is not appropriate. She is beautiful the way she is.”

Faith Christian Academy officials released a statement on Tuesday regarding the hair-raising issue:

“We’re not asking her to put products in her hair or cut her hair. We’re asking her to style her hair within the guidelines according to the school handbook.”

[Maura Larkins' comment: I'm trying to figure this out. It seems they're saying that she needs to wear braids. But shouldn't all students be required to wear braids if that's what the school wants?]

Meanwhile, Vanessa and her mom will be lining up strategies over the Thanksgiving holiday just in case.

[Read more HERE.]


ORIGINAL POST:

African-American girl faces expulsion over 'natural hair'
by Ole Texan
Daily Kos member
Nov 27, 2013

An African-American teen says she faces expulsion because administrators at her private school want her to cut and shape her hair.

Vanessa VanDyke said she was given one week to decide to whether cut her hair or leave Faith Christian Academy in Orlando, a school she's been going to since the third grade.

Whoa!! This was my first reaction after reading this article. And don`t ask me why. I have trouble remembering when it was a time that I saw such beautiful hair on a teenager. Being the state of Florida giving this lovely girl one week to decide to whether cut her hair or leave Faith Christian Academy in Orlando, a school she's been going to since the third grade is not surprising to me.

But for now, she and her mother do not plan to change her hair because it is part of the 12-year-old's identity. But her natural hair style comes with a cost.

"It says that I'm unique," said VanDyke. "First of all, it's puffy and I like it that way. I know people will tease me about it because it's not straight. I don't fit in."

VanDyke said that first the teasing from other students, but now, school leaders seem to be singling her out for her appearance.

Faith Christian Academy has a dress code and rules against how students can wear their hair. The student handbook reads:

"Hair must be a natural color and must not be a distraction," and goes on to state examples that include, but are not limited to, mohawks, shaved designs and rat tails.

"A distraction to one person is not a distraction to another," said VanDyke's mother, Sabrina Kent. "You can have a kid come in with pimples on his face. Are you going to call that a distraction?"


Interestinly enough, Vanessa had her large, natural hair all year long, but it only became an issue after the family complained about students teasing her about her hair. Teasings escalated from obvious taunts into bullying from those whom I think were more envious of such beauty and not on account of distraction.

"I'm depressed about leaving my friends and people that I've known for a while, but I'd rather have that than the principals and administrators picking on me and saying that I should change my hair," said VanDyke.

It is sad, but highly commended that this teenager take a stand and fight for her principles, her right to be, and self determination to keep her hair. It is undisputable that Vanessa`s hair is her natural hair and is not tainted with hair dyes. Or at least it is not alleged by the Academy.

"I'm going to fight for my daughter," Kent said. "If she wants her hair like that, she will keep her hair like that. There are people out there who may think that natural hair is not appropriate. She is beautiful the way she is."

School administrators responded to an email asking about the issue, but did not provide any answers to questions. And I have to wonder why.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Michigan about to require women to buy "rape insurance" based on petition signed by 4.2% of voters


Graphic by Anne C. Savage. Cross-posted from Eclectablog.


Michigan about to require women to buy "rape insurance" based on petition signed by 4.2% of voters

by Eclectablog
Daily Kos member
Nov 27, 2013

The War on Women continues...

Thanks to a petition drive that resulted in 4.2% of Michiganders voicing their minority opinion, Michigan is about to become a place where women have to plan ahead for their abortions. If you become pregnant accidentally or if you are raped and become pregnant and haven't purchased a separate abortion coverage rider on your health insurance, you won't be covered. This isn't just for state government insurance plans or those purchased on the health insurance exchange. It's for EVERY insurance plan available in the state.

Apparently no government is too small to get between you, your doctor, and your health insurer.

A controversial initiative that would require women to buy an additional rider on their health insurance if they wanted abortion coverage is one short step away from going to the Legislature, where it is likely to easily become law.

Because no one filed a challenge by Monday’s deadline to the more than 315,000 signatures turned in to the Secretary of State, an initiative that would prohibit abortion coverage from being included in standard insurance policies will go forward.

And the Secretary of State certified Monday that Michigan Right to Life, which spearheaded the petition drive, has more than enough valid signatures to start the ball rolling on the new state law. A minimum of 258,088 valid signatures were needed. The anti-abortion activists turned in 315,477 signatures. And the Secretary of State’s elections division estimated that 299,941 of the signatures are valid.

The state Board of Canvassers will meet at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 2 to certify the signatures and then the petition moves to the state Legislature, which has 40 days to approve, reject or do nothing with the legislative ballot initiative.

If Republicans vote it down or fail to act on it, it will be a ballot iniatitive in the next general election. Neither of these is likely given their ideologically extreme views. If they pass it, it becomes law. The other 95.8% of us won’t have a say and neither will Governor Snyder.

Oh and, by the way, most Michigan voters actually oppose the law.

Don't tell me there isn't a War on Women in Michigan being waged by religious conservatives in our state. The evidence is right before you.

If you want chime in, Planned Parenthood has a petition going asking legislators to allow ALL Michigan voters to have a say in this. You can sign the petition HERE.

UPDATE: For those who are asking how this is possible/legal, the process is called an "indirect initiated state statute". I've described how it works HERE. Challenging the legality of the law itself can't happen until it actually becomes a law so that may yet happen.

7 Reasons Why It's Easier for Humans to Believe in God Than Evolution


The ascent of man? José-manuel Benitos/Wikimedia Commons. Photoillustration by Matt Connolly.

7 Reasons Why It's Easier for Humans to Believe in God Than Evolution
What science can tell us about our not-so-scientific minds.
By Chris Mooney
Mother Jones
Nov. 26, 2013

Late last week, the Texas Board of Education failed to approve a leading high school biology textbook—whose authors include the Roman Catholic biologist Kenneth Miller of Brown University—because of its treatment of evolution. According to The New York Times, critiques from a textbook reviewer identified as a "Darwin Skeptic" were a principal cause.

Yet even as creationists keep trying to undermine modern science, modern science is beginning to explain creationism scientifically. And it looks like evolution—the scientifically uncontested explanation for the diversity and interrelatedness of life on Earth, emphatically including human life—will be a major part of the story. Our brains are a stunning product of evolution; and yet ironically, they may naturally pre-dispose us against its acceptance.

"I don't think there's any question that a variety of our mental dispositions are ones that discourage us from taking evolutionary theory as seriously as it should be taken," explains Robert N. McCauley, director of the Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture at Emory University and author of the book Why Religion is Natural and Science is Not.

So what can science tell us about our not-so-scientific minds? Here's a list of cognitive traits, thinking styles, and psychological factors identified in recent research that seem to thwart evolution acceptance:

Biological Essentialism. First, we seem to have a deep tendency to think about biology in a way that is "essentialist"—in other words, assuming that each separate kind of animal species has a fundamental, unique nature that unites all members of that species, and that is inviolate. Fish have gills, birds have wings, fish make more fish, birds make more birds, and that's how it all works. Essentialist thinking has been demonstrated in young children. "Little kids as young as my 2 and a half year old granddaughter are quite clear that puppies don't have ponies for mommies and daddies," explains McCauley.

If essentialism is a default style of thinking, as much research suggests, then that puts evolution at a major disadvantage. Charles Darwin and his many scientific disciples have shown that essentialism is just plain wrong: Given enough time, biological kinds are not fixed but actually change. Species are connected through intermediate types to other species—and all are ultimately related to one another.

Teleological Thinking. Essentialism is just one basic cognitive trait, observed in young children, that seems to hinder evolutionary thinking. Another is "teleology," or the tendency to ascribe purposes to things and objects so as to assume they exist to serve some goal.

Recent research suggests that 4 and 5 year old children are highly teleological in their thinking, tending to opine, for instance, that clouds are "for raining" and that the purpose of lions is "to go in the zoo." The same tendency has been observed in 7 and 8 year olds who, when asked why "prehistoric rocks are pointy," offered answers like "so that animals could scratch on them when they got itchy" and "so that animals wouldn't sit on them and smash them."

Why do children think like this? One study speculates that this teleological disposition may be a "side [effect] of a socially intelligent mind that is naturally inclined to privilege intentional explanation." In other words, our brains developed for thinking about what people are thinking, and people have intentions and goals. If that's right, the playing field may be naturally tilted toward anti-evolutionist doctrines like "intelligent design," which postulates an intelligent agent (God) as the cause of the diversity of life on Earth, and seeks to uncover evidence of purposeful design in biological organisms.

Overactive Agency Detection. But how do you know the designer is "God"? That too may be the result of a default brain setting.

Another trait, closely related to teleological thinking, is our tendency to treat any number of inanimate objects as if they have minds and intentions. Examples of faulty agency detection, explains University of British Columbia origins of religion scholar Ara Norenzayan, range from seeing "faces in the clouds" to "getting really angry at your computer when it starts to malfunction." People engage in such "anthropomorphizing" all the time; it seems to come naturally. And it's a short step to religion: "When people anthropomorphize gods, they are inferring mental states," says Norenzayan.

There has been much speculation about the evolutionary origin of our anthropomorphizing tendency. One idea is that our brains developed to rapidly assume that objects in the world are alive and may pose a threat, simply because while wrongly mistaking a rustle of leaves for a bear won't get you killed, failing to detect a bear early (when the leaves rustle) most certainly will. "Supernatural agents are readily conjured up because natural selection has trip-wired cognitive schema for agency detection in the face of uncertainty," write Norenzayan and fellow origin of religion scholar Scott Atran.

Dualism. Yet another apparent feature of our cognitive architecture is the tendency to think that minds (or the "self" and the "soul") are somehow separate from brains. Once again, this inclination has been found in young children, suggesting that it emerges early in human development. "Preschool children will claim that the brain is responsible for some aspects of mental life, typically those involving deliberative mental work, such as solving math problems," write Yale psychologists Paul Bloom and Deena Skolnick Weisberg. "But preschoolers will also claim that the brain is not involved in a host of other activities, such as pretending to be a kangaroo, loving one's brother, or brushing one's teeth."

Dualistic thinking is closely related to belief in phenomena like spirits and ghosts. But in a recent study, it was also the cognitive factor most strongly associated with believing in God. As for evolutionary science? Dualism is pretty clearly implicated in resistance to the idea that human beings could have developed from purely natural processes—for if they did, how could there ever be a soul or self beyond the body, to say nothing of an afterlife?

Inability to Comprehend Vast Time Scales. According to Norenzayan, there's one more basic cognitive factor that prevents us from easily understanding evolution. Evolution occurred due to the accumulation of many small changes over vast time periods—which means that it is unlike anything we've experienced. So even thinking about it isn't very easy. "The only way you can appreciate the process of evolution is in an abstract way," says Norenzayan. "Over millions of years, small changes accumulate, but it's not intuitive. There's nothing in our brain that says that's true. We have to override our incredulity."

Group Morality and Tribalism. All of these cognitive factors seem to make evolution hard to grasp, even as they render religion (or creationist ideas) simpler and more natural to us. But beyond these cognitive factors, there are also emotional reasons why a lot of people don't want to believe in evolution. When we see resistance to its teaching, after all, it is usually because a religious community fears that this body of science will undermine a belief system—in the US, usually fundamentalist Christianity—deemed to serve as the foundation for shared values and understanding. In other words, evolution is resisted because it is perceived as a threat to the group.

So how appropriate that one current scientific theory about religion is that it exists (and, maybe, that it evolved) to bind groups together and keep them cohesive. In his recent book The Righteous Mind, moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that religions provide a shared set of beliefs and practices that, in effect, serve as social glue. "Gods and religions," writes Haidt, "are group-level adaptations for producing cohesiveness and trust." The upside is unity; the downside, Haidt continues, is "groupishness, tribalism, and nationalism." Ideas and beliefs that threaten the group or the beliefs that hold it together—ideas like evolution—are bound to fare badly in this context.

Fear and the Need for Certainty. Finally, there appears to be something about fear and doubt that impels religiosity and dispels acceptance of evolution. "People seem to take more comfort from a stance that says, someone designed the world with good intentions, instead of that the world is just an intention-less, random place," says Norenzayan. "This is especially true when we feel a sense of threat, or a feeling of not being in control."

Indeed, in one amazing study, New Zealanders who had just suffered through a severe earthquake showed stronger religiosity, but only if they had been directly affected by the quake. Other research suggests that making people think about death increases their religiosity and also decreases evolution acceptance. It's not just death: It's also randomness, disorder. In one telling study, research participants who were asked to think of a situation in which they had lacked control and then to "provide three reasons supporting the notion that the future is (un-) controllable," showed a marked decline in their acceptance of evolution, opting instead for an intelligent design-style explanation. (Another study found that anti-evolutionists displayed higher fear sensitivity and a trait called the "need for cognitive closure," which describes a psychological need to find an answer that can resolve uncertainty and dispel doubt.)

Such is the research, and it's important to point out a few caveats. First, this doesn't mean science and religion are fundamentally incompatible. The conflict may run very deep indeed, but nevertheless, some individuals can and do find a way to retain their religious beliefs and also accept evolution—including the aforementioned biology textbook author Kenneth Miller of Brown University, a Catholic.

Second, while there are many reasons to think that the traits above comprise a core part of who we are, it doesn't automatically follow that religion is the direct result of evolution by natural selection. It is also possible that religion arises as a byproduct of more basic traits that were, in turn, selected for because they conferred greater fitness (such as agency detection). This "byproduct" view is defended by Steven Pinker here.

In any event, the evidence is clear that both our cognitive architecture, and also our emotional dispositions, make it difficult or unnatural for many people to accept evolution. "Natural selection is like quantum physics...we might intellectually grasp it, with considerable effort, but it will never feel right to us," writes the Yale psychologist Paul Bloom. Often, people express surprise that in an age so suffused with science, science causes so much angst and resistance.

Perhaps more surprising would be if it didn't.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

My plan: a separate community that prevents child molestations and doesn't cost taxpayers a cent


California State Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez (top left) watches as Maria Keever (left) and Milena Sellers Phillips (right) speak out against the proposed plan to release Douglas Badger from a state hospital. Badger, a repeat sex offender, has been accused of assaulting several young men and one 16-year-old girl. Christian Rodas for SDUT

I have an idea about where pedophiles should live. It would work for Douglas Badger (whose release is a hot issue here in San Diego), and it would work for those who have not offended, but who are sexually attracted to children.

It wouldn't just apply to child molesters who have served their prison terms. It would also prevent sexual assaults in the future by pedophiles who have not offended yet.

And it would be entirely voluntary on the part of the pedophiles. They'd rather live in my proposed development than in a trailer outside Donovan State Prison on Otay Mesa, the only viable location that has been proposed so far for Douglas Badger. And even sociopaths might be smart enough to choose a life for themselves that wouldn't involve prison--at least not for sexual assaults on children.

I call upon real estate developers, particularly those who have benefited from the generosity of San Diego taxpayers--like Corky McMillan's company, for starters--to design a development where pedophiles would live. (Perhaps those with other illegal urges would also want to move in.)

No children would be allowed into this development, and no residents would be allowed to leave except in extreme circumstances, and they would be supervised by a guard while on the outside. Anyone who leaves without a guard would not be allowed back. This would not be a place from which predators could leave to commit crimes and then come back and hide. If they leave, my guess is that they'll probably end up in prison.

How would the problem of child pornography be handled? Perhaps residents would have to agree to have their computers regularly searched, and mail would be examined. This town would allow much greater freedom and opportunity than prison, or a trailer outside the gates of a prison, but residents would have to agree to give up some of their rights in order to make sure the community could not become a haven for criminals.

I am thinking of starting a petition to this effect.

The residents could own and run their own grocery stores, restaurants, and all manner of businesses, generating taxes to pay for guards and administrators of the development. The residents wouldn't be paying any taxes if we waited for them to offend and then put them in prison.

Maura Larkins


Housing For Sexual Predator Douglas Badger To Be Determined By Judge
By Dwane Brown
KPBS
November 12, 2013

GUESTS
Lorena Gonzalez, San Diego Assemblywoman
John Rice, Deputy District Attorney, San Diego County

County and state officials, along with concerned parents, voiced opposition Tuesday to the release of convicted sexual predator Douglas Badger. A court hearing to locate housing for 70-year-old Badger will be held Friday.

Douglas Badger, who has been diagnosed with a schizophrenic disorder and sexual sadism, has a history of sexual assaults dating back to 1974.

Badger, who has been diagnosed with a schizophrenic disorder and sexual sadism, has a history of sexual assaults dating back to 1974. His victims were primarily 18- to 29-year-old male hitchhikers, although in one case he assaulted a 16-year-old girl.

He was convicted in 1981 and served 10 years in prison. Shortly after his release in 1991, he re-offended and was again convicted of sexual assault.

In 1997, Badger was committed to a state hospital as a sexually violent predator. In August, a judge ruled that Badger could be safely released into the community with continued treatment and supervision.

Milena Phillips' is the creator of the Jonathan Sellers and Charlie Keever Foundation. Sellers, Phillips' son, and his friend, Keever, were killed by a sexual predator in 1993. Phillips strongly opposes releasing Badger back into the community.

"A repeat offender, a repeat sexual sadist — to let him in an area where he could be in walking distance of children is just unthinkable," Phillips said.

San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox and state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez also made remarks voicing their opposition.

The Department of State Hospitals originally proposed placing Badger in Campo, in the East County, but that was withdrawn by the owner. Officials will update a judge Friday on efforts to find suitable housing for Badger.

County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who represents East County, said in September that she wanted Badger released to a trailer near Donovan State Prison in the southern part of San Diego.

Friday's hearing will be open for public comment.

City News Service contributed to this report.


South County officials oppose sex predator's release
By Dana Littlefield
SDUT
Nov. 12, 2013

SAN DIEGO — In a pre-emptive move, two South County officials spoke out Tuesday against the pending release of a sexually violent predator, saying they do not want him placed in any of the communities they represent.

It remains unclear where Douglas Badger, a 70-year-old repeat sex offender, might be allowed to live after his release from a state mental hospital now that a proposal to place him in rural East County has been rescinded.

But state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and county Supervisor Greg Cox aren’t waiting to find out. They said at a news conference that Badger should not be released at all, given his history of attacking young men and a 16-year-old girl.

Only a handful of sexually violent predators have been released in San Diego County since legal changes went into effect that allowed those considered the worst offenders to be committed civilly to state hospitals after they served their time in prison. One offender remains under supervision in the community.

Gonzalez and Cox said that other sexually violent predators — including Badger — had been allowed to live in South County, specifically in a trailer outside Donovan state prison in Otay Mesa. Badger lived in the trailer from June 2006 to October 2007.

Authorities at the time said he was sent back to the hospital for medical reasons.

“It’s not OK to dump people into these communities,” Gonzalez told reporters Tuesday outside the Hall of Justice in downtown San Diego.

Cox said Badger should remain at state-controlled facility, because he has shown previously that he cannot be trusted.

“If he had reoffended once before, what guarantees do we have that he won’t reoffend again?” the supervisor asked in a letter to San Diego Superior Court Judge David Gill.

A hearing has been scheduled for Friday in Gill’s courtroom, when state officials are expected to discuss ongoing efforts to find appropriate housing for Badger in San Diego County.

Badger was one of the first people classified as a sexually violent predator to be released in San Diego County after state legislators enacted laws in 1996 that extended custody for the worst offenders.

Originally, offenders who fit the criteria were sent to Atascadero State Hospital in San Luis Obispo County, where they had the option of participating in a specialized sex offender treatment program with the goal of someday being deemed safe for release.

The program was moved later to Coalinga State Hospital in Fresno County.

At first the law required the offenders to be committed to the hospital for terms of two years, but Jessica’s Law — passed by voters in 2006 — changed existing statutes to allow predators to be committed to the hospital indefinitely.

After one year, however, they have the right to petition for a new hearing to determine whether they still fit the predator criteria.

On Aug. 21, Gill ruled that Badger could be released into the community safely with continued outpatient treatment and supervision, such as GPS monitoring.

Authorities from the state Department of Hospitals announced a month later that Badger could be allowed to live in a semi-permanent mobile home placed on nearly three-acres on Hartfell Road in Campo.

Warning to racists: don't take a DNA test unless you're ready for the truth; white supremacist Craig Cobb wasn't ready


Craig Cobb

If your family has lived in this country for a long time, especially in the South, there's a real chance that you have some African or Native American ancestors, no matter how white your skin is. At the same time, African-Americans are frequently surprised to learn how much white ancestry they have.

Craig Cobb deluded himself about the reality of racial mixing, and now he's a fish out of water in the supremacist community he himself created. I guess no one ever taught him how to deal with the ambiguities and uncertainties of this world. If he had any sense at all, he would have known it was time to change his tune, not turn up the volume.

In contrast, the descendants of Thomas Jefferson who had believed for generations that they were entirely white, then a few years ago found out that they were descended from Sally Hemmings, readily embraced their black ancestor.


Feud tied to DNA test of supremacist's black blood
Doug Stanglin
USA TODAY
November 21, 2013

The recent arrest of neo-Nazi Craig Cobb, who wants to turn a small North Dakota town all-white, was apparently sparked by a feud with a fellow supremacist who turned on him when DNA tests showed Cobb to be part black, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Cobb, 62, was arrested Saturday along with a fellow neo-Nazi for allegedly threatening citizens while going on "patrol" with weapons in Leith, N.D. (population:16).

Cobb and Kynan Dutton, 29, are each charged with seven counts of terrorizing residents, five of the counts involving guns. The pair could face 10 to 35 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

The latest twist in the story comes as Tom Metzger, founder of the White Aryan Resistance, tells the Associated Press he disagrees with Cobb's high-profile antics and is returning property in Leith that Cobb had deeded to him.

Cobb, a hate crimes fugitive from Canada with a long history of association with hate groups and white separatist believers, quietly began buying up local property months ago in a bid to take control of the town council and make Leith an all-white community.

Grant County records show that Cobb, who has purchased 13 lots, has since transferred ownership of two lots: one to Metzger, who is also a former grand dragon of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in California, and another to Alex Linder, originator of the Vanguard News Network, a white supremacist website, according to the civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center.

Leith, with a population of 16, is located 51 miles southwest of Bismarck.

"The way he does business is not the way I do business," said Metzger, who tells the AP that he still considers Cobb a friend. "I think people should move into communities as regular people and become part of the community, and not necessarily declare their racist views."

"His view was to come into town like a brass band. I disagreed with that," he said.

In a text message to the Tribune before he was taken into custody on Saturday afternoon, Cobb said, "Because of the many violences (sic) and harassments against we (sic) and the children, we have commenced armed patrols of Leith." In a follow up text, Cobb said he has new plans to name some of his property the "Adolph Hitler Pvt. Park of Leith."

The violence, however, apparently was traced back to another white supremacist who had a falling out with Cobb, the Times reports.

Grant County Assistant State's Atty. Todd Schwarz tells the newspaper that a fellow supremacist apparently targeted Cobb with racial graffiti after he'd found out that Cobb's DNA results showed he was part black.

"The individual in question was interviewed, and when his interview answers weren't matching up, he essentially admitted it," Schwarz, who declined to name the persons, told the Times. "The one that tipped it off -- he painted on the house, 'BACK IN BLACK,' and he's not an AC/DC fan."

Cobb gained national attention recently when he appeared on the Trisha Goddard Show's "Race in America" series and agreed to undergo DNA testing. The results showed he is 14% sub-Saharan African and 86% European. Cobb rejected the results as "short science" and "statistical noise".

Schwarz said the pair "had a falling out" on the day the DNA results became public. Schwarz said the unidentified man was "not real mentally stable" and left town the same day.

One of the two targets in Saturday's incident was Leith City Councilman Lee Cook, who alleged that the pair came to the end of his property with a gun and that Dutton had his finger on the rifle trigger, the Bismarck Tribune reports.

Both Cook and Bruce, who has been posting updates about the neo-Nazi activities in the town on Leithnd.com website, called 911, the Tribune reports.

Contributing: Associated Press

Plan: Create a voluntary, closed, controlled community for pedophiles supported by their own tax dollars


California State Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez (top left) watches as Maria Keever (left) and Milena Sellers Phillips (right) speak out against the proposed plan to release Douglas Badger from a state hospital. Badger, a repeat sex offender, has been accused of assaulting several young men and one 16-year-old girl. Christian Rodas for SDUT

I have an idea about where pedophiles should live. It would work for Douglas Badger (whose release is a hot issue here in San Diego), and it would work for those who have not offended, but who are sexually attracted to children.

It wouldn't just apply to child molesters who have served their prison terms. It would also prevent sexual assaults in the future by pedophiles who have not offended yet.

And it would be entirely voluntary on the part of the pedophiles. They'd rather live in my proposed development than in a trailer outside Donovan State Prison on Otay Mesa, the only viable location that has been proposed so far for Douglas Badger. And even sociopaths might be smart enough to choose a life for themselves that wouldn't involve prison--at least not for sexual assaults on children.

I call upon real estate developers, particularly those who have benefited from the generosity of San Diego taxpayers--like Corky McMillan's company, for starters--to design a development where pedophiles would live. (Perhaps those with other illegal urges would also want to move in.)

No children would be allowed into this development, and no residents would be allowed to leave except in extreme circumstances, and they would be supervised by a guard while on the outside. Anyone who leaves without a guard would not be allowed back. This would not be a place from which predators could leave to commit crimes and then come back and hide. If they leave, my guess is that they'll probably end up in prison.

How would the problem of child pornography be handled? Perhaps residents would have to agree to have their computers regularly searched, and mail would be examined. This town would allow much greater freedom and opportunity than prison, or a trailer outside the gates of a prison, but residents would have to agree to give up some of their rights in order to make sure the community could not become a haven for criminals.

I am thinking of starting a petition to this effect.

The residents could own and run their own grocery stores, restaurants, and all manner of businesses, generating taxes to pay for guards and administrators of the development. The residents wouldn't be paying any taxes if we waited for them to offend and then put them in prison.

Maura Larkins


Housing For Sexual Predator Douglas Badger To Be Determined By Judge
By Dwane Brown
KPBS
November 12, 2013

GUESTS
Lorena Gonzalez, San Diego Assemblywoman
John Rice, Deputy District Attorney, San Diego County

County and state officials, along with concerned parents, voiced opposition Tuesday to the release of convicted sexual predator Douglas Badger. A court hearing to locate housing for 70-year-old Badger will be held Friday.

Douglas Badger, who has been diagnosed with a schizophrenic disorder and sexual sadism, has a history of sexual assaults dating back to 1974.

Badger, who has been diagnosed with a schizophrenic disorder and sexual sadism, has a history of sexual assaults dating back to 1974. His victims were primarily 18- to 29-year-old male hitchhikers, although in one case he assaulted a 16-year-old girl.

He was convicted in 1981 and served 10 years in prison. Shortly after his release in 1991, he re-offended and was again convicted of sexual assault.

In 1997, Badger was committed to a state hospital as a sexually violent predator. In August, a judge ruled that Badger could be safely released into the community with continued treatment and supervision.

Milena Phillips' is the creator of the Jonathan Sellers and Charlie Keever Foundation. Sellers, Phillips' son, and his friend, Keever, were killed by a sexual predator in 1993. Phillips strongly opposes releasing Badger back into the community.

"A repeat offender, a repeat sexual sadist — to let him in an area where he could be in walking distance of children is just unthinkable," Phillips said.

San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox and state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez also made remarks voicing their opposition.

The Department of State Hospitals originally proposed placing Badger in Campo, in the East County, but that was withdrawn by the owner. Officials will update a judge Friday on efforts to find suitable housing for Badger.

County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who represents East County, said in September that she wanted Badger released to a trailer near Donovan State Prison in the southern part of San Diego.

Friday's hearing will be open for public comment.

City News Service contributed to this report.


South County officials oppose sex predator's release
By Dana Littlefield
SDUT
Nov. 12, 2013

SAN DIEGO — In a pre-emptive move, two South County officials spoke out Tuesday against the pending release of a sexually violent predator, saying they do not want him placed in any of the communities they represent.

It remains unclear where Douglas Badger, a 70-year-old repeat sex offender, might be allowed to live after his release from a state mental hospital now that a proposal to place him in rural East County has been rescinded.

But state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and county Supervisor Greg Cox aren’t waiting to find out. They said at a news conference that Badger should not be released at all, given his history of attacking young men and a 16-year-old girl.

Only a handful of sexually violent predators have been released in San Diego County since legal changes went into effect that allowed those considered the worst offenders to be committed civilly to state hospitals after they served their time in prison. One offender remains under supervision in the community.

Gonzalez and Cox said that other sexually violent predators — including Badger — had been allowed to live in South County, specifically in a trailer outside Donovan state prison in Otay Mesa. Badger lived in the trailer from June 2006 to October 2007.

Authorities at the time said he was sent back to the hospital for medical reasons.

“It’s not OK to dump people into these communities,” Gonzalez told reporters Tuesday outside the Hall of Justice in downtown San Diego.

Cox said Badger should remain at state-controlled facility, because he has shown previously that he cannot be trusted.

“If he had reoffended once before, what guarantees do we have that he won’t reoffend again?” the supervisor asked in a letter to San Diego Superior Court Judge David Gill.

A hearing has been scheduled for Friday in Gill’s courtroom, when state officials are expected to discuss ongoing efforts to find appropriate housing for Badger in San Diego County.

Badger was one of the first people classified as a sexually violent predator to be released in San Diego County after state legislators enacted laws in 1996 that extended custody for the worst offenders.

Originally, offenders who fit the criteria were sent to Atascadero State Hospital in San Luis Obispo County, where they had the option of participating in a specialized sex offender treatment program with the goal of someday being deemed safe for release.

The program was moved later to Coalinga State Hospital in Fresno County.

At first the law required the offenders to be committed to the hospital for terms of two years, but Jessica’s Law — passed by voters in 2006 — changed existing statutes to allow predators to be committed to the hospital indefinitely.

After one year, however, they have the right to petition for a new hearing to determine whether they still fit the predator criteria.

On Aug. 21, Gill ruled that Badger could be released into the community safely with continued outpatient treatment and supervision, such as GPS monitoring.

Authorities from the state Department of Hospitals announced a month later that Badger could be allowed to live in a semi-permanent mobile home placed on nearly three-acres on Hartfell Road in Campo.