Stewart, a Republican, is best known for groundbreaking illegal immigration reform in Prince William County and his statewide Virginia Rule of Law proposal.

You heard it first on The Schilling Show!

Charlottesville, Virginia, a political stronghold of Marxist-leaning Democrat elected officials, has a serious white-on-black racial discrimination problem.

Charlottesville, Virginia, home to a concentration of socially evolved progressives (e.g. pro “marriage rights” and abortion on-demand), has a serious white-on-black racial discrimination problem.

Charlottesville, Virginia, a politically enlightened community, which voted 80% Democrat in the most recent State and Federal elections, has a serious white-on-black racial discrimination problem.

Charlottesville, Virginia is a community apparently populated with liberal white racists. Or so implies University of Virginia Professor Walt Heinecke’s recent proposal to Charlottesville City Council: Charlottesville Commission on Human Rights, Diversity, and Race Relations

According to Heinecke’s report, Charlottesville, Virginia’s serious white-on-black racial discrimination problem is manifested in racially prejudicial hiring practices in private employment—practices that cannot effectively be addressed by existing State and Federal equal-employment laws.

According to Heinecke’s report, Charlottesville, Virginia’s serious white-on-black racial discrimination problem is manifested in racially prejudicial rental practices in private housing—practices that cannot effectively be addressed by existing State and Federal fair-housing laws.

And, most surprisingly (to some), community conversations suggest that Charlottesville, Virginia’s serious white-on-black racial discrimination problem is manifested in racially prejudicial employment practices inside Charlottesville City Hall—an institution run by Democrats and for Democrats essentially since its inception.

Professor Heinecke envisions the proposed Human Rights Commission as a government-appointed body endowed with investigative, prosecutorial, and judicial powers—a body empowered to impose fines and condemn with public consternation “convicted” transgressors deemed “guilty” by Commission appointees.

While Charlottesville City Hall was the only named violator of existing equal-opportunity statutes during a recent City Council discussion on racism, that avowedly racist institution apparently is exempt from prosecution under Heinecke’s plan:

To engage in anti-discrimination enforcement activities including the investigation and resolution of claims of discrimination in private employment and housing as defined by a new City Ordinance. The Commission would have the power to hold hearings, conduct investigations, issue reports, impose fines and remedies. We recommend that the Commission should be structured to be eligible for designation as a Fair Employment Practices Agency (FEPA) in a contract with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). That means it would receive and process complaints of discrimination in private employment from residents of Charlottesville. [emphasis added]

How could Charlottesville City Hall, arguably the City’s most egregious and prodigious racial offender—an organization that allegedly has institutionalized racist employment practices—be exempt from the Commission’s mandate?

According to Mayor Satyendra Huja, it will not. In January 23 interview on WINA’s The Schilling Show, Huja categorically stated that he would not support Heinecke’s proposal if the Commission exempted government from its purview:

SCHILLING: Why would we exempt the government [from Charlottesville Human Rights Commission oversight] when they are acknowledged as a problem by at least several councilors? Or do you disagree with that?

HUJA: I don’t think, uh, I was unaware that the government was exempt from any consternation…

SCHILLING: Oh, they were. Go read, uh, go read Mr. Heinecke’s proposal. It exempts the government; it is only…

HUJA: I see no reason…

SCHILLING: It is only for private landlords and private businesses

HUJA: I see no reason if you’re going to have commission, uh, the government should be exempt. Uh, no reason for it.

SCHILLING: So you wouldn’t support it under any circumstances if the government was exempt?

HUJA: Well, uh, shouldn’t be exempt.

SCHILLING: So you wouldn’t support it under any circumstances if the government was exempt? In this final proposal, if it came before you, you wouldn’t do that.

HUJA: I, I don’t understand why government is exempt; I don’t see any reason.

SCHILLING: Okay, so you wouldn’t support it.

HUJA: No.

Hear the Huja/Schilling exchange on the proposed exclusion of government from Human Rights Commission purview:

Given Mayor Huja’s additional stated concerns about the $200,000-$300,000 annual cost of the Commission on Human Rights and the lack of data to support its necessity, Heinecke’s current proposal may be DOA before Charlottesville City Council without significant modification.

Regardless of Council’s ultimate action on Heinecke’s remedial proposition, the question remains: Why would Professor Heinecke and his Community Dialogue on Race “working group” champion a proposal that exempts Charlottesville City Hall, purportedly the city’s most notorious racial malefactor?

(Satyendra Huja photo courtesy of Charlottesville Tomorrow.)

It was with great fanfare that Charlottesville’s $95,000+ per year spokesman, Ric Barrick, announced the selection of Chris J. Engel as city’s new Director of Economic Development (DED) in a January 12 news release:

The City of Charlottesville is proud to announce the appointment of Chris J. Engel as the next Economic Development Director for the City…Engel is currently the Assistant Economic Development Director for Charlottesville and has been employed by the City since 2005.  His first day in the new position will be February 1st.

Next, Engel’s stellar qualifications were trumpeted by Charlottesville’s educationally under-qualified City Manager, Maurice Jones (himself the beneficiary of a $170,000+ public salary):

“During his time with the City, Chris has proven himself to be an effective leader in our organization and in the community,” said Charlottesville City Manager Maurice Jones.  “He has the credentials, the skills and the vision to build off of the great success we have had in economic development during the last decade.”

But what of Charlottesville’s long-time Director of Economic Development, Aubrey Watts (recipient of a $160,000+ public salary)?

The release explains that he has chosen to relinquish his official Economic Development title in order to lighten his workload:

The announcement follows the decision by the current director, Aubrey Watts, to concentrate on his duties as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer as well as to manage the transition of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing. [sic]

Conspicuously absent from Barrick’s missive was any reference to compensation. Watts, in assuming temporary responsibility for shepherding a leadership transition in the city’s Housing Authority, has shed what was a permanent responsibility as the city’s Director of Economic Development.

Therefore, a downward salary adjustment is anticipated, right?

Wrong.

A January 12 request to Barrick for information on the adjusted salaries of both Engel and Watts was only partially answered on January 19:

From: “Barrick, Ric” <BARRICK@charlottesville.org>
Date: January 19, 2012 05:42:39 PM EST
To: ‘Schilling Show’
Cc: “Brown, Craig” <Brownc@charlottesville.org>
Subject: RE: Director of Economic Development Chosen for Charlottesville

Rob

The paperwork for that promotion has not been received into Human Resources as of yet.  As soon as it is gets in I will send you a note as to the results.  As for the second question, Mr. Watts’ current salary is $160,929.60 but that did not change with this reassignment of responsibilities.

Ric

Omitted from Barrick’s initial response was requested information on Mr. Engel, currently employed as Charlottesville’s Assistant Director of Economic Development. The threat of a FOIA request prompted the city spokesman finally to answer eight days after the information was requisitioned:

From: “Barrick, Ric” <BARRICK@charlottesville.org>
Date: January 20, 2012 04:20:04 PM EST
To: ‘Schilling Show’
Cc: “Brown, Craig” <Brownc@charlottesville.org>
Subject: RE: FOIA Request Chris Engle’s New Salary Re: Director of Economic Development Chosen for Charlottesville

Rob

Chris’ base salary in his new position beginning February 1st will be $115,000 but that will change a bit once it is entered into the payroll system by HR and his hourly is figured out and applied in the system.  That has not been done yet as they just today received his paperwork.  His current salary is $86,028.80.

Ric

Let’s do the math:

Current DED Aubrey Watts has seen his duties decrease by a value $115,000 per year (the amount soon being paid to Engel in order for him to assume Watts’ position), and yet, Watts will continue to receive $160,929.60 annually.

Assistant DED Chris Engel will see his already inflated yearly paycheck of $86,028.80 balloon by $28,971.20 (or 34 percent) to $115,000.

The average Charlottesville household, according to the 2010 United States Census, is earning just $39,030 per year (2009 figure).

How does that household income compare to the base salaries (excluding benefits) of select, highly compensated Charlottesville government “fat cats”?

C-ville "Fat Cat" Salaries vs. Median C-ville Household Income ($39,030)

Yet, life is easy for Charlottesville’s elite ruling class. With seemingly no oversight, these self-perpetuating white-collar government employees continue to feather their own nests while enriching themselves beyond measure—all at the expense of chronically overburdened and hopelessly unrepresented Charlottesville taxpayers.

At the ACSB January 12 organizational meeting, politically left-leaning member Eric Strucko—recently a champion of process and corruption reform—nominated Buyaki for chair. Establishment darling, Diantha McKeel, then nominated current board leader, Steve Koleszar, for another term.

The vote for Buyaki was 2-5, with only Buyaki and Strucko voting “yes.” “Republican” chameleons Pam Moynihan and Barbara Mouly sided with progressives Koleszar, McKeel and Ned Gallaway to seal Buyaki’s fate. The vote for Koleszar’s renewed chairmanship was a 5-2 mirror of the previous tally.

Listen to the shocking ACSB roll call votes on board leadership nominations:

For vice chair, Strucko again nominated Buyaki, while immediately thereafter Gallaway put forward McKeel. Buyaki received his own vote along with those of Mouly and Strucko. When asked for her vote on Buyaki, Moynihan paused for nearly six seconds before saying “no.” She was joined in dissent by McKeel, Koleszar, and Gallaway. The same 5-2 majority that supported Koleszar for chair subsequently elected McKeel as the ACSB vice chair.

Under Koleszar’s leadership, the Albemarle County School Board and Administration have been criticized for several high-profile bumblings: Kid Pan Alley’s student indoctrination; 111 missing laptop computers;  a controversial $2 million computer software system; a “block scheduling” debacle; and a wayward athletic director, amongst other recent scandals. None of these has been satisfactorily resolved, and the public largely seems to have lost faith in the board’s ability to capably manage the Division.

Koleszar, McKeel and Gallaway’s support for institutional status quo is not surprising, as they are closely aligned with Albemarle County’s liberal education and political establishments.

Strucko, to his credit and through his votes, has shown himself to be fiercely independent—more interested in competence and transparency than in politics.

Mouly and Moynihan, however, sought Republican support in recent elections. Their unexplained votes for continuing liberal ACSB (mis)management may leave previously supportive Albemarle County Republicans scratching their heads; and the turn-votes certainly will ensure that the board’s only reliable reformers continue to play defense rather than offense in the year ahead.

Crozetians and Western Albemarleans awoke to welcomed news on December 8, 2011, as the Crozet Gazette and Charlottesville Daily Newspaper reported that the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors had voted to direct county staff to send out an RFP, or request for proposal, to build the new Crozet Library.

A part of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library (JMRL)—which is the public regional library that serves the City of Charlottesville, and the counties of Albemarle, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson—the Crozet Library has been in need of expansion for quite some time: the building, which is a former train station in downtown Crozet, is so small that when the library takes inventory of newly released books, staff has to remove an older book from the stacks to make space.  Additionally, in late 2011 the fire marshal determined that no more than 50 people should safely occupy the Crozet Library at any given time.  Library programs, such as lectures, routinely draw crowds of over 50 patrons, so some events have had to be held at the neighboring Crozet Elementary School on Crozet Avenue.

The creation of a new home for the Crozet Library has been on the backburner for years, as the newly designated Library Avenue just south of downtown Crozet has lay vacant for the past two years.  Conservatives, libertarians, and constitutionalists who are upset with the performance of our area public schools and the graduates they are producing should consider lending their support to the JMRL and become library advocates for the following reasons.

First, libraries are overall cost effective and spend far less of taxpayers’ money than the government schools.  For example, depending on what number you look at, the total operating budget for the JMRL is around 6 million dollars per year.  Contrast this to the annual operating budget of the Charlottesville City Schools alone at 69 million dollars, and it is easy to see that libraries are feeding much, much less from the public trough and display greater efficiency for it: in Charlottesville, the average core per-pupil spending is 16,141 dollars per pupil, per year.  This ranks among the highest in the state, yet math and reading scores are serially lagging.  The cost per person who patronizes the library is far less than that, and considering the population it serves, the JMRL is actually among the most heavily used public libraries in America.  Circulation data support this claim.

Also, librarianship as a profession is very rewarding, but is not known for being extremely well-paying, and instances of librarians and library workers milking the system are few and far between.  Contrast this with some public school administrators in central offices who routinely draw six-figure salaries and have little to show for it.

Second, there are far fewer opportunities for socialist indoctrination of area youth in the public libraries.  This community has in recent years unearthed controversies in the public schools, such as the recent Kid Pan Alley episode, and when a high school teacher was caught on camera saying that America should “convert” to socialism!

Here is a more general example: it is a common belief that Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal pulled America out of the Great Depression.  This is what students in high school American History courses by and large “learn” through their reading and instruction.  In reality, this enlargement of the public sector prolonged the misery of the Depression; had the federal government followed a free market direction, the economy would have returned to pre-1929 output in a few to several years.  Due to FDR’s expansionist policies, the Depression did not end until the Second World War.  Teachers may mean well, but they and the history textbooks their school districts adopt do not tell the truth about the New Deal.

I graduated from a public high school in Virginia seven years ago, and it was only afterward when I, as an adult, was able to read up on the Great Depression and American History on my own, using books of my own choosing, rather than the choosing of a group of teachers.  The availability of choice and competition in the free market is far better than a one-size-fits-all textbook.  The Jefferson-Madison Regional Library is a great place to learn about American history by considering a variety of books, not the one book that is given the stamp of approval by public schools.  The library is probably the only place in town where you are guaranteed to find copies of the left-leaning A People’s History of the United States, by Howard Zinn, and its conservative counterpart, A Patriot’s History of the United States, by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen.  It is through our public libraries that some citizens are replacing their indoctrination with an education.

Third, the JMRL boasts a voluminous selection of items that circulate to patrons.  The selection and diversity of items greatly outnumbers even the largest bookstores.  I am aware of libertarian arguments that government should not be competing with the private sector, and frankly, I am sympathetic to libertarian concerns and am willing to listen.  I enjoy patronizing large bookstores such as Barnes & Noble as well as small mom and pop used bookshops. However, I also know that there is more or less a free market in this country – it’s not perfect, but free enterprise is the most productive supplier of human needs and economic justice.  Private booksellers do not seem to have the same selection as public libraries, either because the free market will not allow it, or because private booksellers are unwilling to stock their shelves with the same ferocity.  Public libraries are more likely to possess rare, out of print books that private bookstores do not carry.  This makes visiting the public or university library nearly mandatory for those conducting serious research.

Liberals and progressives praise libraries because they see them as institutions that support democracy, and because libraries are cultural “equalizers.” It is because of public libraries, they argue, that even the poorest among us can have access to books.  Frankly, I am happy that they are happy; however, I have no interest in “spreading the wealth around.”  I have always felt that President Obama has not spent enough time in libraries, and has spent too much time “community organizing.”  I am advocating for public libraries for a different reason, because they are a better and cheaper tool for learning than are public schools.  Thomas Jefferson said that he could not live without books, and a society that is going to march toward freedom and liberty needs to be knowledgeable and well-educated.  I recommend that conservatives and libertarians “grow. learn. connect.” at their library, and I hope you will join me in a library near you!

Note: The author is a Charlottesville resident who works as a library support specialist with the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library.  He has taught math at a public school and has ran for School Board.  Opinions expressed here are his own, and do not necessarily reflect an official position of the JMRL.

Schilling Show Exclusive: Click to play Part of the 99 as sung by Ms. Murray’s 3^rd grade class

Initially, after becoming embroiled in a national school-indoctrination scandal, KPA along with Albemarle County School Administration insisted that the children in Ms. Murray’s third-grade classroom at Woodbrook Elementary wrote all of the lyrics to the controversial song themselves.

Phrases like, “Then the bubble burst” and “Though I lost my yacht and plane” raised suspicions that such lines likely were beyond the intellectual purview of contemporary eight-year-olds enrolled in a government school.

Still, in a January 3 Daily Progress story on the controversy, the group’s Executive Director, Pat Rogers said that KPA’s “sole mission has been and continues to be to inspire and empower children to work together to become creators of their own music.” [emphasis added]

Rogers also denied any political influence of children by KPA facilitators:

“Kid Pan Alley does not promote nor condone any personal or political agenda.”

In the same article, Albemarle County Schools’ spokesman Phil Giaramita stood by the apolitical claims of KPA:

“There’s no question in my mind that [Kid Pan Alley is] firmly committed to teaching kids, and they are not interested in a political agenda.”

The paper’s story continues with supportive remarks from Albemarle County School Board chair, Steve Koleszar, who confirmed his belief that the lyrics in dispute were, in fact, the sole composition of Woodbrook third graders:

“Sometimes, when kids are writing things, they say things that are controversial. I don’t think we need to be censoring what the kids are writing.”

And, in a January 3 Schilling Show debate with J. Christian Adams, Koleszar doubled down on his authorship claims:

“You have underestimate the breadth and knowledge of experience that children have these days when they have cable TV, uh, when they listen to the news, they are up on current events, you underestimate what our kids can do.” [sic]

Today’s KPA press release tells a different story.

In the dispatch, KPA’s Founder and Artistic Director, Paul Reisler, “takes full responsibility for the songwriting process that resulted in the song titled ‘Part of the 99.’”

The release confirms Reisler’s political and lyrical contributions to the song:

“Reisler acknowledges that he should have avoided the introduction of these phrases into the songwriting process.” [emphasis added]

And, KPA’s claim to be a politically unbiased organization has been debunked by newsbusters.org, who detail the left leaning politics of several “Alley” board members and leaders.

Aside from Koleszar, the majority of the board has been strangely silent on the Kid Pan Alley controversy, with the exception of newly elected Jason Buyaki, who during the Schilling Show debate called in to express his concern over the situation.

It remains to be seen when or if Albemarle County Schools’ administration will issue a statement acknowledging the falsehoods promulgated in previous communications regarding Kid Pan Alley vis a vis the charges of student indoctrination and songwriting process manipulation.

Read full transcription of lyrics from Kid Pan Alley’s “Part of the 99”

Some people have it all,
but they still don’t think that they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They’re not content
Never satisfied
Yes-  they are the 1 percent

I used to be one of the 1 percent
I worked all the time
Never saw my family
Couldn’t make life rhyme
Then the bubble burst
It really, really hurt
I lost my money
I Lost my pride
I Lost my home
Now I’m part of the 99

Some people have it all,
but they still don’t think that they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They’re not content
Never satisfied
Yes-  they are the 1 percentI used to be sad now I’m satisfied
Cause I really have enough
Though I lost my yacht and plane
Didn’t need that extra stuff
Could have been much worse
You don’t need to be first
I’ve got my friends
Here by my side
I don’t need it all
I’m happy to be part of the 99.

Some people have it all,
but they still don’t think that they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They’re not content
Never satisfied
Yes-  they are the 1 percent
They’re the 1 percent
They’re the 1 percent

Also participating in the discussion was Albemarle County School Board member Jason Buyaki who called in to take issue with the song’s lyrics, which he says promote “a sense of mediocrity,”  violate “Albemarle County [Schools] core mission statement,” and do not further “excellence in our schools….”

Listen to the explosive interview (original air date January 3, 2012):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcY_skp8Bjg

Lyrics to Part of the 99:

Some people have it all,
but they don’t think that they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They’re not content
Never satisfied

Yes-  they are the 1 percent
I used to be one of the 1 percent
I worked all the time
Never saw my family
Couldn’t make life rhyme
Then the bubble burst
It really, really hurt
I lost my money
Lost my pride
Lost my home
Now I’m part of the 99
I used to be sad now I’m satisfied
Cause I really have enough
Though I lost my yacht and plane
Didn’t need that extra stuff
Could have been much worse
You don’t need to be first
Cause I’ve got my friends
Here by my side
Don’t need it all
I’m happy to be part of the 99.

How many thousands saw this sign and drew negative inferences about incompetent government-hired workers?

How many thousands saw this sign and did not notice a problem?

HT to Terrible Tim Griffith for taking notice.

The 2011 Pat Napoleon Community Service Award was presented to co-recipients at City Hall at last night’s City Council meeting.

Honorees Rob Schilling (host of 1070-AM WINA’s “The Schilling Show”) and Carole Thorpe (chairwoman of the Jefferson Area Tea Party) were commended for their accurate yet unheeded warnings to City Council against their allowance of the Occupy Charlottesville encampment. With media present, Mrs. Napoleon awarded the pair with certificates of merit and hardbound printings of the U.S. Constitution.

Occupy activists were evicted from Lee Park by city police on November 30 following over 40 days of encampment. The action resulted in 18 arrests and the unnecessary subjection of Charlottesville’s Finest to despicable shouts of obscenities that police officers calmly and professionally endured in the line of duty.

From the outset of the occupation to its end, Mr. Schilling and Mrs. Thorpe exposed multiple abuses of power and unequal protection under the law by City Council and its agents which included unprecedented waivers of numerous city codes, the issuance of a verbal directive by City Manager Maurice Jones to restrain police from enforcing park curfew prior to the grant of a legal permit, and an effort by Mayor Dave Norris to unfairly burden city taxpayers with the cost of over 40 days of electrical expense incurred in Lee Park.

Both recipients expressed gratitude for their prestigious recognition.

Mr. Schilling stated, “It is my great honor to receive this award from one of Charlottesville’s finest citizens, Pat Napoleon. Pat has been fearless in confronting corrupt government officials with difficult issues that would not otherwise have been discussed. Carole Thorpe, my co-recipient, although not a city resident, has done more to benefit Charlottesville citizens in the past few months than has the present City Council during their combined elected tenures.”

“I am humbled to receive this honor from Pat Napoleon, a great lady and patriot whose opinion matters more to me than the whole of Charlottesville city government”, Mrs. Thorpe said. “The sharing of this award does not diminish the honor by half, but its value is doubled when the co-recipient is the inestimable Rob Schilling. This award validates my efforts through the Jefferson Area Tea Party to serve our community with honesty, integrity, fairness, and respect for the law – objectives that I wish were practiced by Charlottesville City Council.”

A celebratory dinner with entertainment at another location followed the presentation.

ROB SCHILLING
With an all-Democrat city council that’s likely to stay that way, and a city populace that typically votes 80 percent Democratic, conservative radio show host and former City Councilor Rob Schilling may be in the minority, but his is a loud and persistent voice of opposition to the leaders of what he calls “The People’s Republic of Charlottesville.” The most recent target of his wrath: Occupy Charlottesville, and the city officials who approved the tent city that sprung up in mid-October and remained until November 30. Calling the Occupiers a “lawless group” and criticizing the condition of Lee Park after the group vacated, Schilling has also pointed out that the Tea Party hasn’t been met with the same level of favors by the city.

The Schilling Show thanks The Hook for this recognition, and congratulates POTY winner, Albemarle County Supervisor Ken Boyd, as well as the other runners up.

It appears that the United States Department of Justice (DoJ), Criminal Division, is working with United Kingdom police to pursue the leaker of the 2009 and 2011 “Climategate” emails.

I have learned that last week DoJ sent a search-and-seizure letter to the host of three “skeptic” blogs. Last night, UK police raided a blogger’s home and removed computers and equipment.

The leaked records derailed domestic “cap-and-trade” legislation in the U.S. and, internationally, talks for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. The emails and computer code were produced with taxpayer funds and held on taxpayer-owned computers both in the US and the UK, and all were subject to the UK Freedom of Information Act, the US FOIA, and state FOI laws.

They also were being unlawfully withheld in both the UK (by the University of East Anglia) and the US (Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including stonewalling me for two years, and three others for longer).

The hunt involving US and UK law enforcement is now escalating.

Wednesday night, UK time, six detectives with the UK police (Norfolk Police Department) raided the home of at least one blogger, removing his equipment to look for clues to the identity of leaker “FOIA 2011”.

On December 9, DoJ sent a preservation letter under 18 U.S.C 2703(f) to the publication platform (website host) WordPress. This authority authorizes the government to request an ISP to preserve all of the records of a specific account for 90 days while the feds work on a warrant.

Norfolk PD affirmed to the subject of at least one of their raids that this international law enforcement hunt is for the leaker, meaning not for those whose acts the leaker exposed, releasing admissions in their own words.

In the U.S., the academic and other political Left have had fits about the Virginia Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, exercising even more specific, anti-fraud authority to seek further records from University of Virginia, following up on indications from the first Climategate release of possible fraud against the taxpayer.

Apparently, that represented an abuse of the police power. No word yet if they are outraged by DoJ’s current foray or the UK raiding team.

The DoJ attorney sending the preservation letters, as it hapens in this small world, a graduate of the University of Virginia (UVa). UVa is also the subject of litigation a group I am associated with, the American Tradition Institute (ATI), has filed on behalf of Virginia taxpayers seeking Climategate-related emails it holds.

This is a case which, I have it on reliable authority, has the Virginia faculty and establishment beside themselves and demanding an all-out effort to oppose production wear us down (and also Attorney General Cuccinelli).

So far UVa has spent upwards of a million dollars in privately donated money just to fight the AG’s request. They continue to fight us in court every step of the way. Clearly, this is no small matter in the quarters insisting that this taxpayer-financed information ever see the light of day.

Even the criminal legal apparatus of the US and UK must be invoked against this threat, apparently.

So, to review, the UK police and the US Department of Justice, Criminal Division, are pursuing a leaker of public records subject to one ore more freedom of information laws, unlawfully withheld under those laws, which leaks indicate, e.g., apparent civil violations (tortious interference by seeking dismissial of certain “skeptics”), and raising reasonable questions of fraud against taxpayers.

And they are pursuing the leaker.

The content of what your Department of Justice has sent follows:

Pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 2703(f), this letter is a formal request for the preservation of all stored communications, records, and other evidence in your possession regarding the following domain name(s) pending further legal process: [DELETED] (“the Accounts”) from 00:01 GMT Monday 21 November 2011 to 23:59 GMT Wednesday 23 November 2011.

I request that you not disclose the existence of this request to the subscriber or any other person, other than as necessary to comply with this request. If compliance with this request might result in a permanent or temporary termination of service to the Accounts, or otherwise alert any user of the Accounts as to your actions to preserve the information described below, please contact me as soon as possible and before taking action.

I request that you preserve, for a period of 90 days, the information described below currently in your possession in a form that includes the complete record. This request applies only retrospectively. It does not in any way obligate you to capture and preserve new information that arises after the date of this request. This request applies to the following items, whether in electronic or other form, including information stored on backup media, if available:

1. The contents of any communication or file stored by or for the Accounts and any associated accounts, and any information associated with those communications or files, such as the source and destination email addresses or IP addresses.
2. All records and other information relating to the Accounts and any associated accounts including the following:

a. Names (including subscriber names, user names, and screen names);

b. Addresses (including mailing addresses, residential addresses, business addresses, and e-mail addresses);

c. Local and long distance telephone connection records;

d. Records of session times and durations, and the temporarily assigned network addresses (such as Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses) associated with those sessions, including any log history of when username “FOIA” uploaded posts to the Accounts;

e. Length of service (including start date) and types of service utilized;

f. Telephone or instrument numbers (including MAC addresses);

g. Other subscriber numbers or identities (including the registration Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses); and

h. Means and source of payment for such service (including any credit card or bank account number) and billing records.

If you have questions regarding this request, please call me at 202-XXX-XXXX.

Sincerely,

XXXXXX

Trial Attorney

 

Christopher C. Horner serves as a Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute

Recent discussion threads on OC’s Facebook page (see below) show only limited tolerance for “offensive” free speech, especially when it involves criticism of President Obama or “name calling.” In this instance, not only was a member silenced for contrarian expression, but also all vestiges of her posts were eradicated from the digital discourse without notice or warning.

When challenged on the muzzling by a concerned Occupier, several of the group’s Facebook participants defended the censorship citing violation of OC’s “core values” and the poster’s promulgation of “personal attacks” on “active” group members.

Suppression of speech? From the same group that portrayed the First Amendment as the cornerstone of its existence?

A distaste for invective? From the same group whose members dubbed Dave Norris, the Mayor of Charlottesville, “Dave F*cking Norris,” both online and in public?

Violation of “core values”? From the same group whose members gleefully screamed at a female Charlottesville Police Officer: “I heard pigs has 30-minute orgasms; is that true?” and “Show me your t*ts, pig”?

Confronted with a relatively mild free speech paradox, Occupy Charlottesville has failed miserably. Primarily because this group was never truly about “free speech”— although, many members deluded themselves into believing theirs was a First Amendment fight. The “Seinfeld” of protest movements, Occupy Charlottesville was and is all about nothing—or perhaps, more accurately, all about doing nothing. Witness able-bodied Occupiers bemoaning lack of financial opportunity while simultaneously forgoing local employment solicitations in order to lounge in Lee Park for nearly two months.

Signs in the group’s former encampment warned Occupiers that if approached by the media, no one speaks for the group and that everyone speaks only for himself. Under this systemic non-accountability, no individual could be held responsible for an action or statement of any associate. Where order, doctrine, structure, and responsibility are absent, anarchy reigns. Such was, and is the case with Occupy Charlottesville—a movement born of and continuing in lawlessness.

Occupiers, enamored with Kristin Szakos’ pro-Occupy maxim that “Free Speech doesn’t end at 11:00,” have mired themselves in a self-created First Amendment quagmire by squelching rights the group claimed to champion. And in doing so, Occupy Charlottesville has exposed itself as a hypocritical and fraudulent crusade—like all Marxist movements before it—preoccupied not with precepts of freedom, but with the imposition of veiled autocracy and the suppression of free expression.

It’s 11 PM Occupy Charlottesville: do you know where your principles are?

Read Occupy Charlottesville’s Facebook “free speech” exchange:

Senna August Beall
last week, I posted something that got a response by a girl named Meganne. Some found it argumentative, called her a “troll”, and suggested she be “blocked” for simply stating her opinions about Occupy and why she thought we should concentrate on dismantling the Fed and impeaching Obama. Later, her comments disappeared and I said “I hope no one blocked her”. I got an email from her that she was indeed blocked from Occupy Charlottesville facebook page and could no longer see, post or comment. So much for free speech? Admin of this page, why block somebody who doesn’t agree?