Saturday, 21 January 2012

Undercover police had children with activists | UK news | The Guardian

Undercover police had children with activists

Disclosure likely to intensify controversy over long-running police operation to infiltrate and sabotage protest groups

Bob Lambert, believed to be holding the son he fathered while working as an undercover policeman
Bob Lambert (far left), with his child. The undercover police officer had a relationship with a woman who is now taking action against the police

Two undercover police officers secretly fathered children with political campaigners they had been sent to spy on and later disappeared completely from the lives of their offspring, the Guardian can reveal.

In both cases, the children have grown up not knowing that their biological fathers – whom they have not seen in decades – were police officers who had adopted fake identities to infiltrate activist groups. Both men have concealed their true identities from the children's mothers for many years.

One of the spies was Bob Lambert, who has already admitted that he tricked a second woman into having a long-term relationship with him, as part of an intricate attempt to bolster his credibility as a committed campaigner.

The second police spy followed the progress of his child and the child's mother by reading confidential police reports which tracked the mother's political activities and life.

The disclosures are likely to intensify the controversy over the long-running police operation to infiltrate and sabotage protest groups.

Police chiefs claim that undercover officers are strictly forbidden from having sexual relationships with the activists they are spying on, describing the situations as "grossly unprofessional" and "morally wrong".

But that claim has been undermined as many of the officers who have been unmasked have admitted to, or have been accused of, having sex with the targets of their surveillance.

Last month eight women who say they were duped into forming long-term intimate relationships of up to nine years with five undercover policemen started unprecedented legal action. They say they have suffered immense emotional trauma and pain over the relationships, which spanned the period from 1987 to 2010.

Until now it was not known that police had secretly fathered children while living undercover. One of them is Lambert, who adopted a fake persona to infiltrate animal rights and environmental groups in the 1980s.

After he was unmasked in October, he admitted that as "Bob Robinson" he had conned an innocent woman into having an 18-month relationship with him, apparently so that he could convince activists he was a real person. She is one of the women taking the legal action against police chiefs.

Now the Guardian can reveal that in the mid-1980s, just a year into his deployment, Lambert fathered a boy with another woman, who was one of the activists he had been sent to spy on.

The son lived with his mother during the early years of his life as his parents' relationship did not last long. During that time, Lambert was in regular contact with the infant, fitting visits to him around his clandestine duties.

After two years, the mother married another man and both of them took responsibility for raising the child. Lambert says the woman was keen that he give up his legal right to maintaining contact with his son and cut him out of her new life. He says the agreement was reached amicably and he has not seen or heard of the mother or their son since then.

Lambert did not tell her or the child that he was a police spy as he needed to conceal his real identity from the political activists he was spying on. The Guardian is not naming the woman or the child to protect their privacy.

Lambert was married during his secret mission, which continued until 1988.

The highly secretive operation to monitor and disrupt political activists, which has been running for four decades, has come under mounting scrutiny since last year following revelations over the activities of Mark Kennedy, the undercover police officer who went rogue after burying himself deep in the environmental movement for seven years.

Police chiefs and prosecutors have set up 12 inquiries over the past year to examine allegations of misconduct involving police spies, but all of them have been held behind closed doors. There have been continuing calls, including from the former director of public prosecutions Ken Macdonald, for a proper public inquiry.

The second case involves an undercover policeman who was sent to spy on activists some years ago. He had a short-lived relationship with a political activist which produced a child.

He concealed his real identity from the activist and child as he was under strict orders to keep secret his undercover work from her and the other activists in the group he infiltrated. He then disappeared, apparently after his superiors ended his deployment. Afterwards, she remained under surveillance as she continued to be politically active, while he carried on with his police career.

The Guardian understands that as he had access to the official monitoring reports, he regularly read details of her life with a close interest. He watched as she grew older and brought up their child as a single parent, according to an individual who is aware of the details of the case.

The policeman has been "haunted" by the experience of having no contact with the child, whom he thought about regularly, according to the individual.

• If you have information please contact paul.lewis@guardian.co.uk

via guardian.co.uk

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Friday, 20 January 2012

Food stamp families to critics: Walk in our shoes | NewsOK.com

Food stamp families to critics: Walk in our shoes

JESSE WASHINGTON    Comment on this article 28
Published: January 19, 2012

Some have advanced degrees and remember middle-class lives. Some work selling lingerie or building websites. They are white, black and Hispanic, young and old, homeowners and homeless. What they have in common: They're all on food stamps.

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Article Gallery: Food stamp families to critics: Walk in our shoes

As the food stamp program has become an issue in the Republican presidential primary, with candidates seeking to tie President Barack Obama to the program's record numbers, The Associated Press interviewed recipients across the country and found many who wished that critics would spend some time in their shoes.

Most said they never expected to need food stamps, but the Great Recession, which wiped out millions of jobs, left them no choice. Some struggled with the idea of taking a handout; others saw it as their due, earned through years of working steady jobs. They yearn to get back to receiving a paycheck that will make food stamps unnecessary.

"I could never have comprehended being on food stamps," said Christopher Jenks, who became homeless in his hometown of Minneapolis-St. Paul after a successful career in sales and marketing.

He refused to apply for several years, even panhandling on a freeway exit ramp before finally giving in. A few months ago, while living in his car, he began receiving $200 per month.

"It's either that or I die," said Jenks, who grew up in a white, middle-class family and lost his job in the recession. "I want a job. So do a lot of other Americans that have been caught up in this tragedy."

In 2011, more than 45 million people — about one in seven Americans — received benefits from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the most ever. Fewer than 31 million people collected the benefits about three years earlier.

Forty-nine percent of recipients are white, 26 percent are black and 20 percent are Hispanic, according to Census data.

Food assistance emerged as a campaign issue after statements by GOP candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum about African-Americans, the poor and Obama, whom Gingrich labeled the "best food stamp president in American history."

Critics accused Gingrich of seeking votes by invoking racial stereotypes about black welfare recipients with comments like "the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps." Challenged at a GOP debate this week on whether the rhetoric was insulting, Gingrich insisted it was not and received a standing ovation from the South Carolina audience.

Linda Miles is grateful to have food stamps, although she's not happy about why she needs them. An Army veteran with a master's degree, Miles, who is black, was laid off as a substitute teacher in Philadelphia amid deep budget cuts. After facing an empty refrigerator for too long, she recently started receiving $200 per month in food aid.

"Food stamps are essential, especially with the economy in the shape it's in," she said. "I pay taxes. I don't steal anything from the government. I paid my dues to society; I'm a veteran. You took something from me by taking away my job. I wouldn't need food stamps if you hadn't taken my job."

Miles started an unpaid internship this week, and also was certified to work in early childhood care while she looks for a permanent job.

"I'm not one of these people who sit on their butt and just collect a check," Miles said. "I've got a resume three pages long."

Ronnie McHugh was watching the GOP debate from home in Spring City, Pa. When Gingrich received the standing ovation, McHugh got so angry that she turned off the TV.

"I'd give a million dollars if I could find a job. I'm 64 years old, and no one wants to hire me," said McHugh, who is white, divorced, has no savings and lives off $810 per month in Social Security.

"I would like them to sit in my shoes," she said of the debate audience. "I would tell them I had a husband who made $150,000 a year, I had a good salary. We were both laid off at the same time by the same company, and I've never been able to rally from that."

"If they had a chance to sit in my shoes, they would be happy to have a program to help people who did work all their life."

Some critics say the Obama administration's policies have pushed people into dependency on food stamps. Eligibility rules were broadened in 2002 and 2008 before Obama took office; his 2009 stimulus package relaxed some work requirements and temporarily increased payouts.

For others, the recession, which pushed the unemployment rate as high as 10 percent and increased poverty, is the primary culprit.

The Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger has seen a doubling of enrollments in suburban counties, with a smaller increase in the city itself. "These are much higher-income areas," said Julie Zaebst, the coalition's policy center manager. "This is part of the evidence showing that the most important reason for the growth in the program was the recession."

It was an injury that pushed Russell Johnson of Morgantown, W.Va., over the edge. He held down a steady refrigeration job until he fell off a roof six years ago. On Wednesday, he and his wife, Carolyn, used their food stamp card to buy $64.71 worth of groceries. That was more than half of their $102 monthly benefit.

"It's not enough, but it helps," Carolyn said. "I think it's a great program for the people who need it."

The Johnsons, who are white, maintain a big garden, hunt, fish and buy in bulk, like the 50-pound sack of potatoes in their cart. Carolyn also is disabled; they receive $763 per month in total disability payments.

They are furious with Gingrich. "I'd rather work than be on food stamps, but, I mean, my body says no. So what am I gonna do?" Russell said. "If I sit for too long, my back starts hurting and my leg goes numb. If I stand too long, the same old thing. And if I walk too much, my legs give out like they ain't even there."

He said the people criticizing food assistance eat at fancy restaurants and pay $25 for a sack of potatoes.

"Me, I'm dang lucky to get to go to McDonald's," Russell said.

About half of those receiving food aid are children. In Fresno, Calif., Josephine Gonzales has received assistance since becoming pregnant with her first child last fall. She is trained as a medical assistant and previously worked at an elementary school, but hasn't found a new job since giving birth.

"I use food stamps because I'm a single mom and I don't work, so I need a way to survive," said Gonzales, who is Hispanic. "Instead of spending the little cash I have on food, I can spend it on diapers and other things for my baby. It's just a small help. It's not making our lives luxurious."

Twanda Graham of Montgomery, Ala., started receiving food stamps when she graduated from high school 22 years ago. She has worked all that time, currently in a clothing store. She is unmarried with four children, and said she does not earn enough to feed her family.

Graham, who is black, believes she is paying for her assistance with taxes withheld from her paycheck: "They are not giving me anything for free."

Victoria Busby of Oklahoma City is a white single mom with two children. She has received food assistance intermittently since her first child was born two years ago. A high school graduate, she works part-time building websites for a manufacturing company, and aspires to become a nurse.

She is not ashamed about receiving aid. "I don't feel bad about it because my children need to eat. It's helped quite a bit."

Sophia Clark is a film school graduate in New York City who works part time at Victoria's Secret while she freelances on movie productions. In December she began receiving $130 per month because she couldn't afford to buy food after paying for rent, college loans and her cell phone.

"It was never, ever my intention to rely on public assistance in any way," said Clark, who is black and unmarried with no children.

Clark was recently entertaining a guest in the Bronx apartment she shares with her uncle when the dinner conversation turned to food stamps. The guest emphatically stated that his tax dollars should not feed people who prefer welfare over work.

She asked the guest if he had enjoyed the pasta with homemade pesto sauce. He had. "Do you find me a lazy person?" Clark asked. Not at all, the guest replied.

"Well," Clark said, "you just ate a dinner that was purchased with food stamps."

___

Online:

Chris Jenks: http://twincitieslife.wordpress.com/about/

Hunger Coalition: http://www.hungercoalition.org/

___

Jesse Washington covers race and ethnicity for The Associated Press. He is reachable at www.twitter.com/jessewashington or jwashington(at)ap.org.

___

Associated Press writers Jeff Amy in Jackson, Miss., Bob Johnson in Montgomery, Ala., Carrie Schedler in Indianapolis, Vicki Smith in Morgantown, W.Va., Tim Talley in Oklahoma City and Gosia Wozniacka in Fresno, Calif., contributed to this report.

via newsok.com

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Dietitians Are Buying Coke’s Line: Sugar, Fluoride, Artificial Colors are SAFE for Children! | Welcome to the Alliance for Natural Health - USA

Dietitians Are Buying Coke’s Line: Sugar, Fluoride, Artificial Colors are SAFE for Children!

June 14, 2011

coke ADAWe wish we could say we are surprised. Registered dietitians are now being given formal education by the Coca-Cola Company on how safe its ingredients are.

The credentialing arm of the American Dietetic Association, the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), has approved a program created by the The Coca-Cola Company Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness.This covers what it calls “urban myths” about the safety of food ingredients. Participating in this program will earn registered dietitians Continuing Professional Education unit credits.

“Children’s Dietary Recommendations: When Urban Myths, Opinions, Parental Perceptions & Evidence Collide,” tells dietitians that fluoride, sugar, artificial colors and nonnutritive sweeteners have been “carefully examined for their effects on children’s health, growth, and development.” The presenter, Dr. Ronald Kleinman, “explores prevalent misconceptions about these food ingredients” and suggests ways the dietitian can help quell unnecessary “concern among parents about their children’s health.”

At first glance, Dr. Kleinman should know what he is talking about. He is physician-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, chief of the Pediatric Gastrointestinal and Nutrition Unit, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Couldn’t sound better, could it? But he has also received a great deal of money from industry sources—like artificial infant formula manufacturers Mead Johnson and Nestle Ltd. His study on optimal duration of breastfeeding was funded by Gerber Products. He also served as a paid expert witness for Gerber when they were sued for deceptive advertising. And he contributed to a brochure intended for children entitled “Variety’s Mountain” produced by the Sugar Association.

Now he’s being sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company and telling dietitians that the ingredients in Coke which everyone is alarmed about are safe. The dietitians, in turn, will be telling parents that their fears are unfounded, and Coke can sell more Coke to kids.

Program materials include gems like “[a] majority of studies so far have not found a link between sugar and behavior in children generally or children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.” This is certainly news to us, since we have seen many studies that say the opposite. Apparently the dietitians are to teach us that any connection between artificial colors and neurotoxicity, or fears of the dangers of fluoride, are imaginary and come from hysterical (or at least unduly concerned) parents.

As we reported recently, sugar and artificial sweeteners are anything but safe. Fluoride poses a significant risk to the kidneys. And commonly used food dyes pose risks which include hyperactivity in children, cancer (in animal studies), and allergic reactions. Even the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an organization that supports nuking food, agrees with this. And the British government and European Union have taken actions that are virtually ending the use of dyes throughout Europe.

The ADA is sponsored by the soda and junk food industries—which we feel greatly tarnishes the organization’s credibility. And you may recall that the ADA has mounted a state-by-state campaign to make sure that its Commission is the only one which will be accepted as a credentialing body for both registered dietitians and nutritionists.

There are, of course, significant philosophical differences between nutritionists and dietitians—they represent two different fields of study and practice. By accepting only a single credentialing agency—one run by the dietitians, not nutritionists—state boards are establishing a “one-size-fits-all” standard which removes all competition, essentially handing the ADA a government mandated monopoly over nutritional therapy.

Unfortunately, the Nevada bill we told you about last month passed both the Assembly and the Senate and was signed by the governor on June 5th. While some amendments were made, the most troubling parts of the bill still remain: only registered dietitians can practice “dietetics,” which is defined by the law to include nutrition assessment, evaluation, diagnosis, counseling, intervention, monitoring and treatment—everything that a good nutritionist does and should do.

We also told you about an ADA bill in New York, S.3556. The state’s Senate Finance Committee met on June 13 and decided to pass the bill to the Rules Committee so that it could be considered on the Senate floor. They are trying to rush these bills through, because next week the Assembly is scheduled to finish its work for the year, unless the chair calls a special session in the fall. Please click on our New York Action Alert here.

The ADA’s power grab is a complete travesty. We will keep fighting it state by state until we restore competition in nutritional counseling and stop gagging PhD-trained nutritionists who don’t become dietitians.

via anh-usa.org

FFS!

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Torture killing at Kerobokan Penitentiary, same prison as Australian Schapelle Corby | Adelaide Now

Torture killing at Kerobokan Penitentiary, same prison as Australian Schapelle Corby

 0
Bali

Bali's Kerobokan prison. Picture: File Source: Supplied

BALI Police are investigating a brutal murder at Kerobokan Penitentiary - the same prison that Australian Schapelle Corby is in.

The Jakarta Globe reports that a group of 13 inmates allegedly tortured and killed a 28-year-old prisoner, who had only been in the prison for one day.

The paper quoted Adj. Sr. Comr. Benny Arjanto, the Badung district police chief, who said the police had seized a bamboo pole, cane, four lighters and a plank of wood as evidence.

"The victim was sadistically tortured during this period, in which the perpetrators stubbed out lit cigarettes on his genitals among other things," he said.

He said police believed the death was a revenge killing.

Read the full story at The Jakarta Globe

via adelaidenow.com.au

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Prisoner Died After Hours of Torture by Cellmates: Bali Police | The Jakarta Globe

Prisoner Died After Hours of Torture by Cellmates: Bali Police
Made Arya Kencana | January 17, 2012

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491983
spammer
12:17pm Jan 19, 2012

What the heck.. happens world wide.. wherever wild animals roam regardless of 'religion' (how that entered the equation is beyond me) more so no doubt in 'lower economic environments' I'm no anthropologist or statition... I'd say the only place that is the exception, is perhaps one of Russia's maximum prisons where fraternization is completely impossible.. Can't remember the name. Fairly dehumanising, not much for rehabilitation.. but then that's probably the point. But then again no one gets hurt. Doesn't take a genius though to be aware American prisons are notorious for messed up crap on a daily basis. That said, I'd personally pay a life long mortgage sum so as never to be sent to an Asian prison, gods forbid.. Although if you gave me a spoon I may actually be set.


jusdogin
11:28pm Jan 18, 2012

happens in all jails to some degree i expect...???


Valkyrie
8:35pm Jan 18, 2012

RTumenggung....

I think you need to retract that statement about Christian prisons in America. The only one I read about was to be in Oklahoma, a few years ago. Whether this proposal materialized or not...I don't know.

Like Kesiangan stated, this can happen in any part of the world, and I agree with him.

I am familiar with the Sermon on the Mount. Are you?


nonredneck
8:33pm Jan 18, 2012

Well, at least this matter is reported here. In the US they just reported it under "gangland violence": nothing to see, nothing to hear. The torture by cellmates is part of the punishment in the existing prison system all throughout the world. The dog pack aggresive behavious is enhanced with the prison environment. This is only one of the reported cases out of uncountable in the world, punishment doesn't work! Violence never works! What prison is trying to do is to suck-out the youth energy out of inmates, that bad energy is unleashed amongst inmates in prison. The fire & energy of the youth is best directed toward contribution to the society, all these criminals need is inspiration & the right direction, they don't know any better for the ones they're listening & model themselves after are those FPI - FUI thugs, police & village chiefs & gang heads. Human see Human do. Even with cctv no prison system can prevent violence, unless inmates are caged like animals, that won't work either.


padt
7:32pm Jan 18, 2012

RTumenggung, you seem to be under the illusion that the west is Christian. It isn't. It is secular.

And what happens in western prisons happens because people are not living out the christian ethic.

"christian prisons"? I am not aware the christian church runs prisons or that prisons oin the west are specifically understood as affiliated with christianity.

I stand by what I said - whether or not people live it in the West or elsewhere - there are ideals in the Seromon on the Mount - google it and read it - that are unknown to many people in this country.

I find it intersting too when I google 'love' and find that the Koran urges people to be 'kind' - but not 'agape' - loving - self- giving; self-forgetful, self-sacrificing love - even to laying down your life for a friend and loving your enemies.

Love your enemies? I dont think the men in that cell would have understood that. And in this they are not alone. Such a logic is unknown to many here.


Denpasar. Bali Police are investigating a group of 13 inmates at the notorious Kerobokan Penitentiary over the brutal murder of another inmate there.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Benny Arjanto, the Badung district police chief, said on Tuesday that the 13 men were believed to have assaulted the victim, Edi Suwito, 28, over a 12-hour period on Jan. 11-12.

“The victim was sadistically tortured during this period, in which the perpetrators stubbed out lit cigarettes on his genitals among other things,” Benny said, adding that the perpetrators and the victims all shared the same cramped cell at Kerobokan.

He said Edi had only been at the prison for a day. He had been transferred there from the at-capacity Kuta Police jail. He had been arrested for alleged cellphone theft.

He was placed in the cell at 3 p.m. on Jan. 11 and immediately assaulted by the others, Benny said. Edi was found dead at 4 a.m. the next day.

“Among the items that we’ve seized as evidence include a bamboo pole, a cane, four lighters and a plank of wood,” Benny said.

He said the motive for the vicious attack appeared to be a long-running grudge between the victim and Ahmad Yusuf, one of the 13 other inmates.

“It appears the victim once conned the suspect’s family out of a sum of money, and the suspect had been holding a grudge since then,” he said.

Benny added that to try and cover up their attack, the inmates lied to prison officials and said that Edi had committed suicide by repeatedly banging his head into the wall.

“We didn’t buy that, especially because the autopsy showed all kinds of wounds that could not have been self-inflicted,” he said.

Police are also looking into why the assault was allowed to take place over a 12-hour period without prison officials noticing anything.

“We want to know where the prison guards were that whole time,” Benny said.

Bowo Nariwono, the Kerobokan warden, said his officers had not heard any noises coming from the cell that indicated someone inside was being killed.

“Maybe it was raining at the time so the guards didn’t hear any screams,” he said.

“Besides, that cell was in a block that was far away.”

He did not elaborate what it was far from or why no guards had patrolled the area.

via thejakartaglobe.com

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