Day: January 20, 2015

THE ABCs OF GETTING FIRED, PART 2

Days ago we wrote about Sheila Kearns, the teacher on trial for showing a horror movie to her students..

This story has developed in full.. a decision was made by a Franklin County Ohio jury.. they have convicted her of FOUR FELONIES and she will now face substantial prison time..

All for showing 14-18 year olds (who probably always saw it!) the cult horror film THE ABCS OF DEATH..

John Futty of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH reports it for the official record in a story filed for the paper.. Futty writes,

But the jurors were certain that she committed a crime by showing it to four more classes that same day.

The jury convicted Sheila Kearns yesterday of four counts of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles and acquitted her of one count.

Common Pleas Judge Charles Schneider scheduled sentencing for March 4. The maximum penalty for each felony count is one year in prison and a $2,500 fine, but probation is the presumed penalty for the low-level felony.

A crime..
Think about this one more time..
A CRIME for showing a horror movie to students. Again, students who most likely already streamed the film a number of times on NETFLIX without parental guides stopping them or knowing of it..

Futty writes more,

Kearns spoke just three words outside the courtroom when asked for a reaction to the verdict.

“God is good,” she said.

Her attorney, Geoffrey Oglesby, said she will appeal.

Kearns, 58, of Miller Avenue on the South Side, had told investigators that she didn’t watch the movie in advance or while showing it during five Spanish classes at the high school on April 11, 2013.

But one student testified during Kearns’ trial that the teacher did watch portions of the movie. The student, who was 17 at the time, called the movie “disturbing” and said students “were going crazy” while watching it.

“Going crazy.” Most of us reading this have been in high school or still are. It’s not difficult to get a pack of hormone-laden teenagers to ‘go crazy’… it happens with merely anything during a long and boring day of supposed learning and education.

While I would agree that by the 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th time she saw the scenes she was showing to the classes, she would have realized by that point just what kind of a movie it was..

But as I wrote previously on this matter, I am alarmed that this is considered a crime and not just a disciplinary issue. First off.. the movie has been released, and has it has been watched countless times by all age groups on Netflix.. There are websites, Tumblrs, and Facebook pages dedicated to talking about it–many times children perhaps too young are doing it. I would be surprised if most of the children that day in school weren’t watching the movie for their second time or more..

Futty wrote this as well,

Tim League, one of the producers of The ABCs of Death, talked about the movie last night from his home in Austin, Texas. He said that when he first heard about the trial, he thought it was a “joke story” because he couldn’t believe the movie would be shown to a high-school class.

“I agree with the prevailing sentiment that this is absolutely inappropriate for a substitute teacher to show anyone under the age of 17,” League said. “It’s not a movie for children.”

A joke it is not.
A teacher has lost her freedom.. will face jail time and substantially high fines.
But she will appeal.

The ABCs of getting fired.
And the ABCs of making something ‘off limits’ even more pervasive.. the kids who didn’t get the chance to ‘go crazy’ that day by watching the film have undoubtedly seen it be now..

January 20, 2015
ISIS PLANS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: 20TH CENTURY DEATH, TIMES A FEW HUNDRED MILLION

A German reporter is making global waves with reports of information that mass genocide is being planned by the group..

The reporter’s name is Jurgen Todenhofer.. Al Jazeera interviewed him about his experiences doing embed reporting with ISIS..

Among the points that amazed me: How it all began. Todenhofer wrote to all of the Jihadists that he could find on Facebook..eventually his social networking prowling worked. He told Al Jazeera during the interview that he got a response from someone who told him that someone from the ‘media department’ of ISIL would be in touch with him.. Todenhofer said, “Maybe this was their way to open a door to the West, or to show that they took the first step, because killing journalists is not a very intelligent strategy.”

Todenhofer was made aware that they knew he had met with Syria’s Assad.. they even said they were not concerned with his opinions, but wanted to showcase their story to the West..

Todenhofer said,

Everything was uncomfortable. Sometimes there was no food or water, like on the last day when we had nothing to eat. It was very simple because they chose houses where nobody thinks they are or may be. They have to hide because there are American bombs out there.

One of the most difficult situations was in Mosul when a drone identified some who were with us, and the bomb came down.

The thorny issues of meeting and greeting ISIS only grew from that point..

A few days before we were to cross, there was some shooting and at the end, close to the border, you have to run about 1,000m to cross the border with all your bags and equipment in order to get to safety. Running 1,000m is very far when you’re running for your life and there are gun towers with armed men inside.

And more:

These were very difficult discussions, especially when they were talking about the number of people who they are willing to kill. They were talking about hundreds of millions. They were enthusiastic about it, and I just cannot understand that

And that may be the highlight for the West–and world–to see.
The perplexing thoughts of wondering why a group of human beings wanted to murder hundreds of millions of other human beings–so long after the 20th century of brutality is over, and we are still talking about the same types of issues. Mass rapings.. mass killings.. mass beheadings.. mass murders..

Todenhofer offered food for thought during his Al Jazeera interview.. when probed about what information he could pass on to the rest of the world after his encounter with ISIS, he responded with a chilling series of thoughts:

I had three strong impressions of ISIL. The first one was that ISIL is much stronger than we think. They have conquered an area which is bigger than Great Britain. Every day, hundreds of new enthusiastic fighters are arriving. There is an incredible enthusiasm that I have never seen in any other war zones that I have been to.

Secondly, the brutality of their intended religious cleansing is on another level. And thirdly, I think the strategy of the western countries regarding the Muslim world is completely wrong. With our bombardment, we have never been successful. We have not been successful in Afghanistan; we have not been successful in Iraq. The bombardments are a terror-breeding program. We had much fewer terrorists before 2001 and these bombardments, which killed hundreds of thousands of people have created terrorists and increased terrorism.

He is correct. The amount of territory that the group has conquered is large, even after President Obama had tried to downplay their early successes, achievements obviously from ISIS could not by undone by the bombardment of air strikes led by the United States. ISIS has set up a governmental system.. they run roadways and sewer systems. As mentioned early, they have a media department.. They are beginning to phase in their brand of Sharia law in each and ever crevice of the Middle East they take over..

And with that takeover comes global implications.. With each and every airstrike from the West, another potential band of terrorists is created.

The 9/11 generation has matured. They are now ages 18 through 25 and they are joining ISIS–sometimes, perhaps, for their own safety..

The world is changing by the moment–and hundreds of fighters are adding to that change, joining with ISIS for a new rebellion against the West. If they win, it will be filled with the bodies of lifeless corpses along the way, millions of them..

And with their race to hundreds of millions of deaths, they are also busy using technology to their highest caliber.. The UK INDEPENDENT is among the media outlets reporting this today: ISIS is going to launch its own 24 hours news network.. Author Adam Withnall writes,

The Isis militant group is reportedly launching its own online TV channel, featuring a series from the British hostage John Cantlie and a weekly programme called “Time to Recruit”.

Social media accounts linked to the group have begun sharing a so-called “teaser” video, which claimed the channel would broadcast 24 hours a day and be named “The Islamic Caliphate Broadcast”.

There are photographs being seen as well on Ben Swann’s website .. those photos show the brutal nature of the law being imposed by ISIS. One image taken for the record of time: An accused homosexual man being thrown to his death from a tall balcony. He is blindfolded and alive. Before death, he is falling towards a ground already littered with corpses. A large group of people seem to be gathered to watch the murder take place.

This is the world we now live in.

January 20, 2015
The mad hat man’s hatting

Last night, paranormal author Heidi Hollis appeared as a guest on Coast to Coast AM, hosted by George Knapp.

Hollis has written a number of books concerning shadow people and other supposed paranormal entities, but lately it seems her attention has been focused on the ‘Hat Man,’ a rumored supernatural being known for his hat and often times dark red eyes starting at people through windows..

Hollis used her guest appearance to relate a number of stories she has acquired from people about the hat man, often littering her stories with giggles and a light hearted spirit.. but she does not want her laughter to be mistaken for disrespect of the creature who pervades the night, according to eyewitness accounts.

Hollis says that the ‘hat man’ is showing up throughout the world–according to Hollis, she even had a letter about the hat man dating back far in history ..

According to Hollis, people who sense a presence of the hat man also have an overwhelming feeling of dread during their encounters..

This website wrote about the ‘hat man’ previously. My own family member has told me about a series of encounters with a strange man with a hat in the back seat of her car. It happens when she is alone, and the entity seems to look at her with a knowing stare. I have no reason to think my family member is a loon or crazed, and there’s no reason to assume that the story is untrue..

On another occasion several years ago, another family member was watching my son while I was at work. During her time, she said she saw a ‘hat man’ type being in a mirror looking back out at her.. She said he vanished once she took a longer look at him.. she is a professional person, and again there is no reason to discount her story..

A few years ago, I detailed a co-worker’s story about a creature her daughter saw outside of her bedroom window, what appeared to be a hag-like woman quietly tapping and whispering “1, 2, 3.” I called it the 1-2-3 Lady at that time.. I am beginning to wonder if this could also have been a hat man story, perhaps a 5-year-old’s perception of it as a woman was simply incorrect..

I received a comment on Facebook from a reader concerning the hat man and last night’s COAST TO COAST AM:

I thought the show was good, but it gave me the creeps at times – only because I have seen the “Hat Man” myself. Even though it was a few years ago, I still can’t talk about it without getting spooked. In fact, my daughter and I saw him at the same time. It’s one of those things you just don’t forget.

There are a number of people of reputable position in life, complete sanity of the mind, and critical and doubtful of paranormal encounters.. And what convinces me, more than anything, is when those people are the ones who come forward to speak of the ‘hat man,’ or the black eyed children and the men in black. It has become a cliched statement, but I will regurgitate it nonetheless: The paranormal is fake and fraudulent.. until it happens to you. When an explained moment takes place, or premonition comes true.. or dream becomes real.. or Hat Man appears in your rearview mirror.. that is the moment when the paranormal becomes real. And that may be the scariest thing in life..

January 20, 2015