Innocent bystander tased, suffers injuries
Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 02:35:51 PM PDT
This story is really unbelievable. A 19 year old kid is minding his own business in the shopping plaza where he works, listening to his iPod. Some cops show up in response to a robbery alarm at a restaurant in the same shopping plaza. The cops tell the kid to stop, but he doesn't hear their commands due to the iPod. So the cops tase him.
The first time, [Officer Andrew] Mitchell zapped [high school senior Chris] Bauer for seven seconds. The Taser delivers a shock of 50,000 volts.
Because Bauer's hands were in his pockets when he was first shocked, he fell face-first, landing with his hands under his torso.
Mitchell zapped Bauer again for five seconds when he didn't respond to commands to show his hands.
These cops apparently were too lazy to even get out of their car before they resorted to tasering this kid. Oh, and here's the topper:
Police later learned the initial report of a holdup at the restaurant was a false alarm.
ACTION ALERT: GOP group's Spanish radio ads target Dems
Sat Apr 15, 2006 at 03:04:03 PM PDT
You might have heard about the
Republican plan to blame Democrats for preventing immigration reform:
Republicans on Thursday disclosed a Spanish-language radio advertising campaign that blames Democrats for thwarting progress on immigration reform.
The 60-second spots will play early next week, a Republican official said, on Univision's KOMR-FM (106.3) and KKMR-FM (106.5), KQMR-FM (100.3) in Phoenix, and Arizona Lotus Corp.'s KCMT-FM (102.1) in Tucson.
They also are scheduled to air in the heavily Hispanic states of New Mexico and Nevada.
We need to counter this. I have one simple suggestion (and it only takes a few minutes of your time) on the flip...
Writer jailed for defaming Kurdish leader in Iraq
Sun Mar 26, 2006 at 03:47:53 PM PDT
Last week, we had the story about the Afghan Christian who was
facing a potential death sentence for rejecting Islam. Which doesn't exactly support Bush's assertion that "freedom is on the march" in the Middle East.
Now today, we get this story about an Iraqi journalist being jailed for defamation, demonstrating that freedom of the press doesn't exist in Iraq.
ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - A Kurdish writer was sentenced to 1-1/2 years in prison on Sunday for defaming Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, in a case that has raised questions about the freedom of the press in postwar Iraq.
What are our troops dying for over there anyway?
Remember Jean Schmidt?
Sat Sep 03, 2005 at 08:54:29 AM PDT
She narrowly defeated Paul Hackett last month for a seat in Congress. Well, here's the latest on her, from today's
Cincinnati Post:
To show her appreciation for the support she received during the campaign, Schmidt has chartered two buses to bring friends and supporters to Washington for the ceremony.
...The buses will depart at 8:45 a.m. Monday for the 10-hour trip and return to Cincinnati at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
It seems to me that those buses could be put to better use in New Orleans, but I guess Jean is in the mood to party.
The case for Supreme Court term limits (with a poll)
Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 08:51:22 AM PDT
Posted on today's
Wall Street Journal editorial page. They're calling for a constitutional amendment regarding Supreme Court term limits.
With justices now staying 10 years longer than they have historically, vacancies are opening up a lot less often. Between 1789 and 1970 there was a vacancy on the Court once every 1.91 years. In the 34 years since the two appointments in 1971, there has been a vacancy on average only once every 3.75 years. The typical one-term president now gets to appoint only one instead of two justices, and with the recent 11-year drought of vacancies a two-term presidency could in theory go by without being able to make even a single Supreme Court appointment.
We think this is unacceptable. No powerful government institution in a modern democracy should go for 11 years without any democratic check on its membership. Nor should powerful officials hold office for an average of 25.6 years with some of them serving for 35 years or more. The rules allowing Supreme Court justices to do this are a relic of the 18th century and of pre-democratic times.
More on the flip...
Tax cuts for the wealthy
Wed Mar 23, 2005 at 06:39:37 PM PDT
A great story in today's
Cincinnati Post. The Post historically endorses Republican candidates, but I have to give them credit for addressing Jim Bunning's irresponsibility.
Government watchdog groups are blasting U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning over a budget amendment that critics say would increase the national deficit, give billions of dollars in tax cuts to well-to-do seniors and cause Medicare to run out of money four years earlier than projected.
...A survey conducted seven years ago by the Federal Reserve Board concluded that the average income of those who would get a tax cut under the Bunning plan was $96,300.
Those same beneficiaries had average financial assets of $607,000 and an average net worth of nearly $1.1 million.
Furthermore, some analysts say that, with the passage of the Bunning amendment, the Senate's final budget plan would increase the federal deficit by $217 billion over five years.
(emphasis added)
More below the fold...
Homeland Security on the Cheap
Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 07:39:38 PM PDT
Here's a classic example of Bush's priorities. He found all sorts of money in the budget to give tax breaks to the wealthy, but when it comes to homeland security, he's trying to cut as many corners as he can.
Some background: there are chemical weapons storage sites in Richmond KY and Pueblo CO that need to be dismantled for two reasons: (1) as a matter of safety, as the Cold War-era weapons are deteriorating; and (2) because the United States is obligated to destroy them by 2012, due to the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty.
(More below the fold...)
