Archive for February, 2010

The Bird's Nest Game

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Dear Friend of Justice,

Our friend David Foley yesterday sent me this essay, which he had written over seven years ago,  about Bernard Baran. On my request, David gave me permission to share it with you.

-Bob Chatelle

Farewell, Firefox!

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Dear Friend of Justice,

I am creating this post using Internet Explorer, a browser I had hoped I’d never have to fall back on. But I just can’t live with Firefox anymore. Maybe I will give it another try on its next release.

My problem started when I tried to install a Firefox add-on called Firebug. I could not get it to install. I googled around for advice. I was told to create a “clean” profile. I did. Finally, I uninstalled completely and reinstalled.

I then discovered that all of my add-ons were gone and that nothing I did would bring them back.

So I tried Firefox support and discovered that it basically doesn’t exist. You are allowed to ask a question in their forum. But your question quickly gets lost, because it turns out hundreds of other people are also having terrible problems with Firefox.

I have no more time to waste on it. I don’t like Internet Explorer, but at least add-ons work with it.

I will leave Firefox on my computer because I still need it to test changes in web pages. I also have Opera, Chrome, and Safari installed for this purpose.

I’ve been using Firefox for many years. I feel I’ve been let down by an old friend.

-Bob

Bizarre Berkshire County

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Dear Friend of Justice,

I began learning about corrupt Berkshire County back in 1998, when Jim and I became involved in the Bernard Baran case. We soon learned that Baran’s was far from the only case of an almost certainly innocent person behind bars for non-existent sexual abuse of a child out there.

As we got to know more and more friends and relatives of the wrongfully convicted, we also began hearing rumors about the sexual misconduct of members of the Berkshire establishment, including several directly involved in the wrongful-conviction cases. I did not pass these rumors on for two reasons. One, I didn’t consider them directly relevant to the cases. And two, I felt nothing should be done while the alleged victims were refusing to go public with their charges.

I did, however, suspect that at least some of these charges were true. When political power is concentrated in a few hands, members of the ruling elite eventually come to consider themselves outside of the reaches of the law. Indeed, they may in fact be the law. In such a corrupt community, challenging the authorities can have very nasty consequences.

One name frequently came up in these conversations:  Berkshire County Sheriff Carmen Massimiano. I will not repeat these allegations because they are, thus far, unsubstantiated. My attitude then, as now, was that if these things happened then the accusers should muster the courage to go public.

Now one accuser has gone public. Today, this story was published in the Berkshire Eagle.

Massimiano has the right, so frequently denied to others in Berkshire County, to the presumption of innocence. If the charges against him are true, others may come forward. If he is eventually found guilty in a court of law, a powerful blow will have been dealt to the ruling cadre of Berkshire County.

And if he is innocent, someone in power out there will experience first hand the horror of living with a false accusation.

It will be interesting to see what will happen next.

-Bob

Bob Halsey's Birthday

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Dear Friend of Justice,

I hope you might find a few minutes to send a birthday card to Bob Halsey. His birthday is February 18th. I’ve lost track of his age, but I’m quite sure he’s over 80 now. And he has been in poor health for a long time.

Bob, like Bernard Baran, is a victim of Judge Daniel Ford and his corrupt cronies out in Berkshire County. You can refresh your memory of his case by reading this article.

Bob’s address is:

Robert C. Halsey
W-55045
Bridgewater State Hospital
20 Administration Road
Bridgewater MA 02324

Should you want to send Bob a little something towards his canteen expenses, use a postal money order.

Thanks,
Bob

Judith Levine on Martha Coakley

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Dear Friend of Justice,

Here’s an article about Coakley by my friend, Judith Levine.

-Bob