Misdiagnosis and Death

The focus was on Lakeland Hospital Saturday at a Benton Harbor NAACP meeting called by Rev. Pinkney. About 100 people attended, including 2 doctors and 5 city commissioners. Complaints and concerns were overwhelming. Racism, mistreatment, and misdiagnosis are what BH residents experience at the St. Joseph hospital. It is believed that BH residents have the highest infant mortality rate in the state of Michigan at Lakeland Hospital.

--One woman was told by a doctor that her family must leave the waiting room because white people were uncomfortable. Mary Rayner

--Another reported that a nurse told her colleague in front of the patient that she couldn't wait to scrub herself since she'd touched the patient; they both talked about how disgusting she was. Gloria

--A woman said that after her miscarraige, nurses place the stillborn baby between her legs for over 30 minutes; a doctor entered and, in anger, said he's never seen anything like it in his years of practice. Name withheld

--In another stillborn case, nurses repeatedly called the baby "it", laughing about it in front of woman who just went through labor. Sandra Bynum

--A woman's 70 year old mother died after being sent home right away after a difficult and serious surgery. Helen McKenzie (daughter)

--One woman with blood in her mouth was told by Dr. Stephens to go home, there were no rooms for her. Ambulance brought her back in an hour in worsened condition. She was put on life support - doctor told family to pull the plug. Mary Rayner

--Another woman's sister could barely breathe; a tube was shoved way too far down her throat, then put on life support. Again, doctor asked family to pull the plug. Dr. Hilpell was especially rude. Jackie R. (sister)

--A woman's mother waited to be treated for 12 hours in the ER and then died in the hospital. Joyce M. (daughter)

And this is only a sampling from Saturday's meeting.

The few African-American employees are mistreated. One with claustrophobia was forced to take the elevator, then fired. Sheila Duncan

*Please contact hospital VP Norma Tirado with your concerns. Contact info:

ntirado@lakelandregional.org
269-983-8549
269-982-4855 fax

Whirlpool Corp. and Rep. Fred Upton control Berrien County. The hospital has the same agenda as the court: Eliminate BH African Americans by any means necessary for redevelopment of the land.

Call Rev. Pinkney anytime 269-925-0001

Victory in court!

and

Another Benton Harbor Man Convicted by ALL WHITE Jury

When people come together to work for justice, success IS possible!
A group of people from around Michigan fought with Rev. Edward Pinkney to free innocent Patrick Thomas from another in the endless illegal convictions imposed by Berrien County. Miraculously, a prosecutor announced on February 3 that she was dropping charges against him! Mr. Thomas IS FREE in the county where a "slavery mentality" still exists. This is no exaggeration.

All of our very best wishes go out to Thomas and his family.

HOWEVER, the fight continues. Below is the story of Loren Robinson, Josh Karamalegos, his father, and several others. It's a bizarre and convoluted tale, stinking of lies and framing by the court. Josh K. made up a story and the court decided to use it, building more lies into it. Whirlpool's media arm, The Herald Palladium, has published a total fabrication of the true story.

Read the actual events below, reported on bhbanco.org, Oct. 29 and Jan. 28. Then read what follows - the recent Herald Palladium "report."

Another Berrien County travesty: Benton Harbor man, Loren Robinson, gets 40 years. He was not even involved in the incident.

Black people continue to be removed from Benton Harbor (for the purpose of redevelopment of the land) to the brutal confines of Michigan prisons.

---------------------

Prosecutor, judge, and public defender used story invented by young white man from Niles, Josh Karamalegos, to remove Loren Robinson from Benton Harbor

Berrien County "Trial" this week turned out as expected: Benton Harbor man Loren Robinson, 26, convicted on four charges gets 40 years in prison. He was not involved in this incident.

Josh Karamalegos partied and did drugs with several BH African-American men on multiple occasions. On a recent visit to Benton Harbor, he concocted a story so his father would pay for the drugs. Prosecutor Jennifer Smith, judge Dennis Wiley, and public defender Jim Miller used this made-up story, along with an all-white jury, to convict Loren Robinson. Josh K., who was found in possession of a large quantity of crack-cocaine, IS FREE.

He smoked over two thousand dollars worth, but didn't have money to pay. He made up a plan to fake a kidnapping with the threat of murder so his father would come with the money. After his father and mother brought the money, father and son fought and the mother called police. They searched Josh and found a large quantity of crack cocaine.

****************

Benton Harbor man prison bound for extortion

[Such transparent sensational HP headlines - keep the lie going that BH residents are born criminals and deserve imprisonment]

By Scott Aiken [How do you live with yourself?], Herald Palladium, Thurs., Feb. 3, 2011

ST. JOSEPH - A Benton Harbor man faces up to 40 years in prison after being convicted of providing another man with crack cocaine and then holding him prisoner to extort money from the victim's father.
A Berrien County Trial Court jury last week found 21-year-old Loren Robinson guilty of four charges stemming from the March 6-7 incident. He is being held in the Berrien County jail pending sentencing on Feb. 18. [ALL WHITE JURY]
A co-defendant, Vincent Wiggins, 38, of Benton Harbor, was convicted of several charges last year and sentenced to 10-40 years in prison. [ANOTHER ALL WHITE JURY]
Robinson and Wiggins were arrested after Josh Karamalegus, 22, of Niles was held against his will and beaten in Benton Harbor, city police said. [Not held against his will-he asked to be hit so it would look serious to his father.]
Karamalegus met one of the assailants in jail, and after being released, he was picked up in Niles by the man so they could party together in Benton Harbor, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said evidence showed that Karamalegus brought along $200 and spent time smoking crack cocaine that one of the men provided in a house in Benton Harbor, but Karamalegus got more drugs on credit and the assailants demanded payment for it.
Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Smith said testimony showed that Karamalegus was held hostage, threatened and beaten [oh please] before his father, Tim Karamalegus, agreed to drive to Benton Harbor with $1,000 to pay his son's captors.
The assailants released Karamalegus after collecting the money in a parking lot off Napier Avenue in Benton Township. [Great word, "assailants."]
During his trial, Robinson raised an alibi defense, claiming he was with other people at the time of the offense, Smith said. [You can say he "raised an alibi defense," but Robinson speaks the truth.]
The jury found him guilty of extortion, cocaine delivery and unlawful imprisonment. He was also tried on a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, but the jury returned a guilty verdict on a lesser charge of aggravated assault.
Wiggins is serving three concurrent sentences of 10-40 years in prison for unlawful imprisonment, extortion and assault with intent to do great bodily harm. [Berrien County has separate trials for the same incident for more drama, to instill more fear, and to spread more propaganda that BH is full of druggies and criminals.]

saiken@TheH-P.com

Police Brutality in the USA: Americans, Too Are Oppressed

by Paul Craig Roberts, Global Research, February 4, 2011

Police in the US now rival criminals, and exceed terrorists, as the greatest threat to the American public...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23076

Prosecutor, judge, public defender used story invented by young white man to remove Loren Robinson from Benton Harbor forever

Berrien County "Trial" this week turns out as expected:
Benton Harbor man Loren Robinson, 26, convicted on four charges - Likely to get life in prison

Josh Karamalegos, white, partied and did drugs with several BH young African-American men and concocted a story so his father would pay for the drugs. Prosecutor Jennifer Smith, judge Dennis Wiley, and public defender Jim Miller used this made-up story, along with an all-white jury, to convict Loren Robinson. Josh K., who was found in possession of a large quantity of crack-cocaine, is free.

Adding to the kangaroo nature of the court, prosecutor Smith called a 5 minute sidebar to discuss her accusation that court watcher, Rev. Edward Pinkney, snorted.

ANOTHER LIFE DESTROYED BY BERRIEN COUNTY DEATH COURT

The report on this blog, Oct. 29, 2010:

...Loren Robinson...about to get a life sentence along with three friends. Det. Smigielski wants to save a young white man (name unknown at present) who's father is wealthy. The story starts with this white man coming to BH from Niles, Michigan for the pupose of doing drugs. He smoked over two thousand dollars worth, but didn't have money to pay the four BH men he was partying with.

He had a plan to fake a kidnapping with the threat of murder so his father would pay off his drug debt. After his father brought the money, father and son fought and police were called. They searched the man and found a large amount of crack cocaine.

Smigielski liked the story concocted by the young man from Niles and told him to tell it in court. So, four more Black men will be removed from Benton Harbor (for the purpose of redevelopment of the land) to the brutal confines of Michigan prisons.

WHEN are we going to FIRE this born-on-third-base-thinks-he-hit-a-homer, privileged rich-kid, this servant of money and plutocrats...?

Our congressman, Fred Upton, has enjoyed the reputation of a "moderate" his entire career. This reputation largely stems from his repeatedly stated positions on the environment. His true colors are flying below for all to see - if only we LOOK at them.

Now in his 12th term (believe in term limits? or does that only apply for the 'other' guy?) Upton is now Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Laid out below are Fred's personal plans for handing crowns to Big Money/Big Oil - and defecating all over America.

When, just WHEN are we going to FIRE this born-on-third-base-thinks-he-hit-a-homer, privileged rich-kid, this servant of money and plutocrats, this DESTROYER (via repeated 'aye' votes on the Patriot Act and Military Commissions Act) of the Bill of Rights and PURVEYOR of invasion, occupation and industrial scale murder? Ask yourself: if Fred Upton REALLY represents MY District, then WHERE are the federal earmarks for SW Michigan, earmarks befitting the District of a 12-term congressman?

I submit Fred Upton has repeatedly failed our District on the most important issues of our time. He is anathema to the entire world through his full time support of military empire. Upton has utterly failed freedom and the US Constitution via his unwavering support for police state empowerment. Now we UNMISTAKEABLY see his TRUE environmental stripes and who he is REALLY serving.

People, this nation is dying because LAW simply does not apply in Washington or multinational (read WHIRLPOOL) corporate offices. 'Law' is for you and me - NOT THEM. Our freedoms and economy have seriously eroded, possibly to the point of no return without a revolt. Fred Upton has been one of Tyranny's handmaidens in Congress, supposedly representing us, while the very worst of this destruction has transpired with his hearty approval.

He simply MUST go. I just wish we could muster enough awareness and outrage to RECALL HIM IMMEDIATELY. He's a disgrace, albeit a disgrace whose IMAGE has been perfumed, face-lifted, coiffed, buffed and polished beyond recognition of his genuine state of being. Put down the Gazette or maybe the Herald-Palladium, if that applies. Turn off the TV and simply open your eyes to what's truly transpiring around you. Use your own God given gifts of perception and reason, instead of some TV talking head who works for the LAWLESS.

Fred Upton, in his heart of hearts, may not be ashamed of himself - however much he should be. Regardless, I am ashamed of him, shamed that he remains OUR representative in OUR House, constantly disgracing OUR District, ever parsing the truth.

Thank God I don't have to live inside Fred Upton's skin. That would be unbearable - too much innocent blood on my hands to be borne.

John Mann


Check out this information on the new chair of energy and commerce committee. It is online at: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ddoniger/uptons_upside_down_agenda.html

Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI), the new chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is making no secret of his plans for “an all-out push to block federal and state climate rules.” Yesterday, Upton’s released his committee agenda for the new Congress, which includes detailed plans for blocking the Environmental Protection Agency’s long-overdue steps to curb the full range of life-threatening air pollutants – from soot and smog to mercury and carbon – that come from power plants and other big industrial sources. Also yesterday, according to POLITICO, Upton’s staff met behind closed doors with lobbyists for America’s biggest polluters “seeking unwavering support” for their plans.

The well-heeled crowd at yesterday’s meeting (held jointly with staff for Sen. James Inhofe) reportedly included lobbyists for the American Petroleum Institute, the National Mining Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and others.
“The feedback we got was ‘hey, great, go for it guys,’” one Republican aide told POLITICO. “And we pretty strongly told them we do need your help to get this done. And when we walked away from the meeting the feeling was we got that.”
Nice.

In a delicate turn of phrase, the committee agenda decries the “EPA regulatory chokehold” that supposedly “will severely impede the domestic manufacturing and industrial growth necessary for this nation to create jobs and emerge strongly from a devastating recession.”

This is the same hyperventilating about economic Armageddon we’ve seen over and over during the 40-year life of the Clean Air Act. Yet over that period we’ve cut many pollutants by 60 percent or more and saved hundreds of thousands of lives, while the economy has tripled in size.

Congressmen and lobbyists can make sweeping claims in press releases and other broadsides. It’s when they have to prove those gloom-and-doom claims that things sort of crumble. The same industries that are now pledging Upton and Inhofe their “unwavering” support took their best shot at proving their claims in court – and came up empty. They failed to convince the Courts of Appeals in Washington that EPA’s carbon curbs would hurt their member companies or grind the economic recovery to a halt. As the D.C. Circuit pointedly put it: “with regard to each of the challenged rules, petitioners have not shown that the harms they allege are certain, rather than speculative, or that the alleged harms will directly result from the actions which the movants seek to enjoin.” Their stalwart ally Texas struck out twice more in the Courts of Appeals in New Orleans and Washington.

For too many of the House’s new leaders, however, facts don’t seem to matter. For example, Energy and Commerce Committee member and former chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) bloviates that the court rulings will “crush our economy” and promises legislative repeal. This is entirely false, as the history of the Clean Air Act demonstrates.

Congressman Upton’s committee agenda is a little coy about what specific legislation he plans, promising oversight hearings and other process. But it rather looks like they have their minds made up. As the Red Queen said: "Sentence first- verdict afterwards."

Last month, Upton offered another coy proposal in an op-ed co-signed with the head of the Americans for Prosperity – the astroturf group behind the Tea Party funded by the billionaire Koch brothers and other big polluters – calling for legislation to automatically block EPA’s safeguards while the courts further consider the polluters’ legal arguments. (He seemed unaware that this would really hurt the auto industry, a big time Michigan constituent, by interfering with the Obama administration’s money-saving clean air and fuel economy standards that the automakers support and need for their economic recovery.)
Casting all coyness aside, Congressman John Shimkus (R-IL), one of Upton’s subcommittee chairman, told E&E News (subscription required) that he and his colleagues favor permanently stripping EPA of all Clean Air Act authority to curb greenhouse gases. “’That’s where we’re all at,’ he said.”

The POLITICO story says “Upton is looking to introduce a bill as soon as next week blocking EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, with hearings in his panel next month and a bill brought to the House floor by late February or in March.”

The Clean Air Act is a remarkably successful public health law which – up until now – has always enjoyed broad bipartisan support. It has saved hundreds of thousands of lives while our economy has continued to grow. The further safeguards for soot, smog, mercury, and carbon pollution that EPA is planning to issue will save tens of thousands more lives each year and help us move towards cleaner energy and a stronger economy.

When the polluters and their allies have attacked the Clean Air Act and the Environmental Protection Agency in the past, the public has responded with even stronger support for the clean air safeguards that protect them from life-threatening pollution. Does Congressman Upton really want to replay this movie one more time?