[VIDEO] Baltimore calls in federal agents to help homicide cops deal with spike in violence

Baltimore's police and civic leaders launched a two-month partnership Monday that will see ten federal agents embed with the city's homicide detectives in the latest bid to curb a surge in violent crime that has not been seen in decades.

Under the program, two special agents from each of the federal government's five crime-fighting agencies (the FBI, DEA, Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service and the ATF) will help investigate cases for the next 60 days. The city's acting police commissioner, Kevin Davis, told reporters that the agents met with officers Monday to discuss cases where officers have identified suspects, but need additional evidence to file charges.

The homicide rate in Baltimore began to skyrocket in May, when the city saw 42 homicides in a single month. There was a brief dip in June, with 29 killings, however the number shot up to 45 in July, breaking a record set in 1972. The uptick comes after rioting in the spring over the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who was critically injured while in police custody.

In total, the city has recorded 192 homicides so far this year, according to The Baltimore Sun. By contrast, 208 murders were committed in all of 2014. The three-month total of 116 homicides for May, June, and July is the highest since at least 1970.

Adding to the urgency of Baltimore's violence is the relatively low "clearance rate" of closed homicide cases. Last week, Davis said the city police department's "clearance rate" was at 36.6 percent, down from the department's mid-40s average.

For several years "American cities have not seen an uptick in homicides we're seeing in 2015," Davis said Monday. "Now we're back at the table, and our cities are looking at Baltimore. They want to know what Baltimore's going to do about it."

Davis had said Sunday that more people are arming themselves on the streets, and that the department has seized 20 percent more guns than it had by this time last year. Davis also said the influx of prescription pills — 32 pharmacies were looted during the April 27 riot and nearly 300,000 doses of prescription medication stolen — has contributed to Baltimore's spiking violence.

Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby attributed to the spiking violence to violent repeat offenders, whom she called "a small number of individuals responsible for the majority of the crimes." Mosby warned those inclined to reach for a weapon that "we are going to go after you with everything that we have. Collaboratively, we will get the job done and convict you."

ATF spokesman Special Agent David Cheplak told the Sun that his agents were assisting Baltimore police with controlled drug buys and surveillance. Officials from the DEA and FBI told the paper that their agents would provide a supporting role for officers.

"We've got to take a different look at things," DEA spokesman Todd Edwards said, "whether it's fresh eyes or just looking at it in a different way."

At Monday's press conference announcing the program, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. made a plea to the residents of his home city.

"The only people making good now are the morticians," Cummings said. "And I say our city is better than that. It's not just the murders and the shootings. I'm begging you, put your guns down."

Referencing the riots after Gray's death, Cummings said, "I hear over and over and over again, 'Black Lives Matter'. And they do matter. But black lives also have to matter to black people."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Via: Fox News

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Teachers union members want Hillary endorsement withdrawn

WASHINGTON — Furious American Federation of Teachers members are demanding the union withdraw its endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton, calling it premature and undemocratic.

“There was no internal discussion. Zero. Zip,” said Steve Conn, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers. “This is wrong and something needs to be done.”

The 45-member AFT executive board voted Saturday to back Clinton despite an AFL-CIO request to wait until July when the presidential field is more set.

Critics say union head and longtime Clinton supporter Randi Weingarten secured the early nod to hamper a surge by Clinton rival Bernie Sanders.

Via: New York Post

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‘No freaking way!’ Teachers revolt over union’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton

WASHINGTON, D.C. – For a union built on democracy, activist teachers are wondering how the American Federation of Teachers could have possibly endorsed Hillary Clinton for president without them knowing about it.

Candi Peterson, Washington (D.C.) Teachers’ Union, pennedan article at Common Dreams in which several die-hard union activists appeared to be utterly befuddled by the national union’s sudden announcement.

Chicago activist Katie Osgood says, “I know many AFT members too and have not heard one person polled either.” The union claimed it polled members on their opinions.

According to the calculation of “Mr. Stevens,” only .04 percent of members were surveyed.

New York City teacher Arthur Goldstein tells the news site, “…AFT Link says they used telephone town halls and a web-based survey, I didn’t even know existed.”

Mary Ahern calls the endorsement “B.S.”

Phil Soreneson tweeted to AFT president Rhonda “Randi” Weingarten, “glad I’m NEA, u don’t speak for me, u just made teachers’ look politically inept. Thanks for nothing,” according to Common Dreams.

Others were equally incensed.

The union’s move comes as Sanders is surging in the polls in key states and drawing huge crowds.

The AFT’s national endorsement is also likely a plan to negate any local teachers union endorsements.

The union of Sanders’ home state — an affiliate of the larger National Education Association — has already endorsed the Vermont senator.

“We are not used to getting involved in presidential primaries particularly early,” Vermont-NEA spokesman Darren Allen tells the Burlington Free Press.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise that this union is heartily behind Bernie’s message.”

“We’ve never had Bernie running for president,” adds Martha Allen, state union president.

Via: EAG

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CALIFORNIA: SCOTUS’ Decision To Hear Friedrichs Case Has Unions In A Tizzy

On June 30^th, the Supreme Court decided to hear Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association et al, a case that could seriously change the way the public employee unions (PEUs) do business. If the plaintiffs are victorious, teachers, nurses, sanitation workers, etc. would be able to work without the financial burden of paying union dues. The responses to the Court’s decision from the teachers unions and their friends have ranged from silly to contradictory to blatantly dishonest.

In a rare event, leaders of the NEA, AFT, CTA, AFSCME and SEIU released a joint statement explaining that worker freedom would be a catastrophe for the Republic. Clutching their hankies, they told us that, “big corporations and the wealthy few are rewriting the rules in their favor, knocking American families and our entire economy off-balance.” And then, with an obvious attempt at eliciting a gasp, “…the Supreme Court has chosen to take a case that threatens the fundamental promise of America.” (Perhaps the labor bosses misunderstood the wording of the preamble to the Constitution, “In order to form a more perfect union….” No, this was not an attempt to organize workers.) While the U.S. is not without its problems, removing forced unionism will hardly dent the “fundamental promise of America.”

The California Federation of Teachers, which typically is at the forefront of any class warfare sorties, didn’t disappoint. The union claims on its website that the activity of union foes “has resulted in a sharp decline in median wages for working people and the decline of the middle class alongside the increasing concentration of income and wealth in the hands of the one per cent.” But wait a minute – the unions are the most potent political force in the country today and have been for a while. According to Open Secrets, between 1989-2014, the much maligned one-percenter Koch Brothers ranked 59^th in political donations behind 18 different unions. The National Education Association was #4 at $53,594,488 and the American Federation of Teachers was 12^that $36,713,325, while the Kochs spent a measly $18,083,948 during that time period. Also, as Mike Antonucci reports, the two national teachers unions, NEA and AFT, spend more on politics than AT&T, Goldman Sachs, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, General Electric, Chevron, Pfizer, Morgan Stanley, Lockheed Martin, FedEx, Boeing, Merrill Lynch, Exxon Mobil, Lehman Brothers, and the Walt Disney Corporation, combined.”

Via: California Political Review

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Don't Use the Budget to Set Bad Gun Policies | Commentary

In its first vote on guns since the mass shooting in Charleston, S.C., the House Appropriations Committee retained a long-standing ban on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding for research on gun violence.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time the House used the budget process to do the National Rifle Association’s bidding. Twice this month, the House tried to handcuff the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as the agency works to prevent criminals from getting guns.

First, the House blocked an ATF proposal to close a loophole that allows criminals to buy or possess machine guns.

That’s right — machine guns. The loophole allows people to get them after they’ve formed a business entity such as a trust, through which they can avoid both the standard gun-sale background check and the required certification from local law enforcement. With “gun trust” applications skyrocketing — from fewer than 1,000 in 2000 to more than 40,000 in 2012 — the ATF is logically seeking to make the rules for buying and possessing machine guns the same for trusts as they are for individuals.

The House used a budget bill to block the ATF’s gun trust proposal — and it didn’t stop there. The House also moved to shut down an existing, effective ATF security program — one that’s helping break up gun-trafficking rings and better police the U.S.-Mexico border.

It’s called the “long-gun reporting program.” It’s modeled on a common-sense requirement, in place for 20 years, which requires licensed gun dealers to notify the ATF when someone buys multiple handguns within five business days. Such high-volume sales are typically associated with gun trafficking — not with self-protection, hunting, collecting or any other form of law-abiding gun ownership.

For two decades, the multiple-sales reporting requirement has produced “timely, actionable investigative leads” and helped the ATF identify and prosecute gun traffickers. Shotguns and rifles (or, “long guns”) were not subject to the reporting requirement until recently, when the ATF began requiring reports for certain powerful long guns bought from dealers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas.

Why might the ATF want to continue requiring long-gun reports from dealers in the four states that border Mexico?

Because law enforcement and the border communities they protect are under attack.

Via: Roll Call

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Teachers union ad contains one of the worst English errors --- literally!

The second-largest teachers union in the country committed an embarrassing language mistake in an early 2016 presidential primary ad airing in New Hampshire.

"I love when I teach something and they get it...and they literally light up," a teacher says in the American Federation of Teachers commercial. It was unclear what subject or grade the teacher is supposed to be teaching.

It's also unclear whether the teacher is using the new, second meaning of the word, which makes "literally" a synonym for "virtually" or "figuratively," or the traditional — or literal — definition of the word. If it's the latter, then I have to ask: When the teacher's students learn something new, do they light up a cigarette? Do they start glowing as if a lightbulb inside them has just starting shining? Either would be cause for concern.

It seems likely that AFT meant "literally" in the slang sense of the term. If so, it would be taking a bold stance in favor of the new meaning. So many people find that use of the word annoying that Time Magazine included it on its list of words that should be banned in 2015.

It remains to be seen how many English teachers, if any, will literally decide to give up their union membership over this issue. If we can't trust the AFT to use the correct definition of "literally," how can we trust it to shape our nation's education policy?

Merriam-Webster added the informal definition of "literally" to its pages in 2013.

The American Federation of Teachers represents 1.6 million members across the country.

(Hat tip to Alexander Russo at Washington Monthly for catching the mistake.)

Via: Washington Examiner

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California: Brown’s “School Reform” Morphs into Union Payoff

In 2013, maybe more than ever, the key to figuring out how California works is understanding that by far the most powerful forces in state politics are the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers and the 500,000 people they represent and collect dues from.

So when a Los Angeles Unified teacher feeds semen to his students and has to be bribed to quit, instead of enacting rules to make it easier to fire classroom sexual predators, the Legislature passes a fake reform that would have actually increased protections for pervert teachers.

So when a judge says districts must follow a state law requiring student performance be part of teacher evaluations, instead of compliance, we see the state cancel the standardized tests whose results could have been used against bad teachers.

And now here is the latest example of teacher unions’ hegemony in California: A much-trumpeted education reform enacted earlier this year is being hijacked in brazen fashion, further propping up the teacher-favoring education status quo.

The reform I refer to is Gov. Jerry Brown’s seemingly successful push this summer to divert school funding specifically to English-language learners, foster children and disadvantaged children because of his concern that they will lead difficult lives unless they get more out of school, with grim implications for the state’s future workforce. Brown didn’t say it, but these students are the biggest victims of the CTA/CFT chokehold on public education. Instead of having a school system devoted to getting the best teachers to where they’re most needed, we have a system devoted above all to protecting veteran teachers’ compensation. If minority kids suffer, the establishment ultimately doesn’t care.

Via: California Political Review

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California: Getting Criminals Out of Schools

A new bill would keep pedophiles and violent criminals out of our schools; teachers unions balk. California law firm decides to try an end run.

A couple of weeks ago in Washington, D.C., the House of Representatives passed a bill by a simple voice vote, which stipulated that public schools would be barred from employing teachers and other school employees who have been convicted of sexual offenses or violent crimes against children.

“Keeping children safe is not a partisan issue,” said the chief sponsor, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. “It’s a moral obligation.”

“Every school employee, from the cafeteria workers to the administrators, to janitors to the teachers, principals and librarians, that everyone” is subject to background checks including the FBI fingerprint identification system to the national sex offender registry, said Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind.

Now just whom do you suspect might take issue with such a law?  

Go to the head of the class if you responded “teachers unions.” Both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers sent letters to Congress complaining about the proposed legislation. The NEA missive starts off with,

On behalf of the more than three million members of the National Education Association and the students they serve, we would like to offer the following views on H.R. 2083 to require criminal background checks for school employees, which will be voted on tomorrow. (Emphasis added.)

On behalf of students? Did I miss something here? Has NEA forced students – as they do teachers in 26 states – to become beholden to the union? The rest of the letter is no better, and includes one truly bizarre comment. “…criminal background checks often have a huge, racially disparate impact.”

They do? Which race should get a pass? Would NEA be more in favor of the bill if it had a racially proportionate number of pedophiles? (Note to teachers: ya think maybe it’s time to stop supporting the loopy antics of NEA?)

Via: California Political Review

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Teachers' unions fight bill that would bar sex offenders from schools

A bipartisan bill that would stop convicted sex offenders from working in schools has been passed by the House but is running into a foe as it heads to the Senate: major teachers' unions like the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.

Kyle Olson, with the Education Action Group Foundation told Megyn Kelly Wednesday night on “The Kelly File” that the unions’ objection to the bill proves “unions are out to protect the adults…they are not out for the interests of the children.”

“We should have zero tolerance for issues like this,” Olson said. “We have zero tolerance policies for weapons, a kid who bites a Pop Tart into a gun or has a Hello Kitty bubble-maker will be suspended or expelled if they have those sorts of things…”

The measure would require school systems to check state and federal criminal records for employees with unsupervised access to elementary and secondary school students, and for people seeking those jobs. Workers refusing to submit to the checks would not be allowed to have school positions.

In letters to lawmakers, the unions have claimed the measure might jeopardize workers' protections under union contracts.

Via: Fox News

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Labor Stains

A new American Federation of Teachers financial report shows that the union has not modified its anti-child and anti-conservative stance.

Courtesy of education writer RiShawn Biddle, we get to peek at the latest edition of the American Federation of Teachers LM-2, a yearly financial report detailing union income and spending.

No surprises. Just the same old same old blatant hypocrisy, anti-education reform agenda and leftist political bent.

We’ll start with AFT president Rhonda (please call me Randi) Weingarten who pulled in a cool $543,150 in total compensation over the last year, all the while railing against the rich because she claims they don’t pay their fair share of taxes. Of course this is the same Randi Weingarten who moved out of New York City in 2012 so that she could escape paying an additional $30,000 in city income taxes.

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t begrudge anyone using any legal tactics to avoid paying abusive taxes, but when a person who regularly whines that the rich “should pay their fair share” does it, the hypocrisy meter goes well into the red zone. It’s also hypocritical because her one-percenter salary is paid by teachers who are forced to join her union in just about every school district that AFT represents. Throughout ancient times, this kind of coerced fealty was required by powerful states and empires. “Tribute” was forced on people around the world, who had to pay up as a way of submitting – or showing allegiance – to the government. Tribute was picked up in essence in the last century by the Mafia as a means of establishing and maintaining turf. The teachers unions are just the latest bunch to adapt this repulsive practice as a way to line the pockets of the dons – I mean union leaders.

When it comes to political spending, AFT doesn’t skimp. Their anti-education reform spending and other political outlay is reported to be about $32 million. I say “reported to be” because unions have been known to – how you say – lie about their spending. For example, according to teacher union watchdog Mike Antonucci, in the 2008 election cycle, the National Education Association

dropped $260,000 on one of the many front groups operated by Craig Varoga and George Rakis, two men Fox News identifies as “Democratic Party strategists.”  

Readers of this blog will not find such news surprising, but if you delve through the pertinent EIA list of NEA donations to advocacy groups, you won’t find this money. That’s because the expenditures are listed in NEA’s financial disclosure report as expenses for “media,” going to Independent Strategies, one of Rakis and Varoga’s groups, for “generalized message, program expenses,” or “membership communication development,” or “legislative policy development.” Without further information, it was difficult to justify classifying Independent Strategies as an advocacy group. This news, however, suggests NEA’s advocacy spending extends well beyond the easily identifiable groups.

Via: California Political Review

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