AnotherMcIntosh
AnotherMcIntosh's JournalFifth-Most Crime Ridden City in America Dismisses a Fourth of its Police Force. 911 Still in Service
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-20/oakland-pays-17-million-for-nfl-raiders-as-cops-get-cut.html
What's the law relating to self-defense?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller
Aren't proposals to disarm law-abiding home owners as sensible as the reaction to invade Iraq for the 9/11 attack by persons other than Iraqis? Are all reactions good reactions?
Is crime down in Oakland? Can it be that none of the law-abiding home owners will ever need to own firearms to discourage home invasions? After all, aren't their local police just a phone call away? Isn't that true all over?
If the law-abiding firearm owners in Oakland are called "gun nuts," and if there are proposals by those claiming to Democrats to take away or greatly restrict firearms, will that have no effect upon Oakland voters in the 2014 election? By what right do any posters claim to believe that there is a left v right divide over gun ownership and that liberals and progressives oppose gun ownership and that right-wingers are the only ones favoring that? Is such an alleged belief based upon a hoax?
If a hoax has been created to exploit a real tragedy so that the Republicans can repeat their 1994 election victories after the first gun ban, isn't that something that would be appreciated by Donald Segretti, Karl Rove, and those who admire their skill with dirty tricks?
If anyone in Oakland wants a cop, just call 911.
Rahm Emanuel Seeks to Set Aside Verdict Involving Brutal Beating by Chicago Cop of Female Bartender
After a jury decided that Chicago has a Blue Wall of Silence which the City used to protect a Chicago cop who brutally attacked a much lighter female bartender, Rahm Emanuel has decided to make an effort to set aside the verdict.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/crime/16970378-418/professors-urge-judge-to-reject-setting-aside-judgment-in-bar-beating.html
Is the Constitution "just a piece of paper"?
Bradley Manning is back in the news. Or sort of. Only the British Guardian provided coverage of his testimony with the type of detail that the American press ignored. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33224.htm
His trial - or extended lack of it until now - raises some Constitutional questions. And his trial raises related questions.
How does the reported military holding of Manning incommunicado for more than 900 days, without a trial, compare with the number of days that it has held any other prisoner incommunicado? And under the conditions which Manning was held?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33224.htm
Is anyone besides the military responsible for this? The military didn't act alone. The military didn't act in a vacuum. The military didn't do this without oversight.
How does the Obama Administration's act of holding Manning incommunicado for more than 900 days, without a trial, compare with the number of days that it has held any other prisoner incommunicado? And under the conditions which Manning was held?
Even if we assume that Manning released the video showing the helicopter gunship gunning down civilians including children (and I assume that it is true), and even if we assume that Manning released copies of diplomatic cables showing the perfidy of the those involved in the military-industrial complex (and I also assume that this is true), are we supposed to overlook this type of cruel and unusual pre-trial punishment of Manning because President Obama has a big "D" after his name? Are we supposed to cheer "Hooray for our team"?
In April 2001, almost 300 law professors and other scholars (including Laurence Tribe, a widely recognized as a leading liberal scholar of Constitutional law) signed a letter to the Obama Administration. In it, they pointed out something that should be obvious to any law professor or former law professor: The detention conditions violates the Constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments.
The names of those who initiated the letter (Professors Ackerman and Benkler) and the others signing the letter be found here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20110409205745/http://balkin.blogspot.com/2011/03/statement-on-private-mannings-detention.html
Are all those law professors wrong?
Does the Constitution still prohibit cruel and unusual punishment? Or has the view that the Constitution is "just a piece of paper" replaced it?
Is it true that Republicans oppose gun control while all or most Democrats favor gun control?
In 1994, when the Assault Weapons Ban was passed as a key part of H.R. 3355, the author of The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, to which it was attached, was a Democrat from Texas. (Earlier before editing this post, because of my own ignorance, I misidentified Jack Brooks as a Republican. Mea culpa.)
Because 95.7% of the Republican Senators voted in favor the AWB when the vote was taken, although there is no record of the House votes where only a voice vote was taken in the House of Representatives, no one can seriously claim that all or most of the Republican Representatives were opposed to the passage of the AWB.
The 95.7% of the Republican Senators who voted in favor of the AWB include Richard Shelby (AL), Frank Murkowski, Ted Stevens (AK), JOHN MCCAIN (AZ), Christopher Bond (MO), Conrad Burns (MT), Judd Gregg, Bob Smith (NH), Pete Domenici (NM), Alfonse D'Amato (NY), Duncan Faircloth, Jesse Helms (NC), Don Nickles (OK), Robert Packwood (OR), Arlen Specter (PA), John Chafee (RI), J. Thurmond (SC), Larry Pressler (SD), Kay Hutchison (TX), George Brown, Ben Campbell (CO), William Roth (DE), Connie MAck (FL), Paul Coverdell (GA), Larry Craig, Dirk Kempthorne (ID), Daniel Coats, Richard Lugar (IN), Charles Grassley (IA), Bob Dole, Nancy Kassebaum (KS), Mitch McConnell (KY), William Cohen (ME), Thad Cochran, Trent Lott (MS), Robert Bennett, Orrin Hatch (UT), James Jeffords (VT), John Warner (VA), T. Gorton (WA), Alan Simpson, Malcolm Wallop (WY).
Their 1994 position was consistent with Nixon's 1969 position, who told the journalist William Safire at that time that "he favored making handguns illegal and requiring licenses for hunting rifles."
http://bsalert.com/artsearch.php?fn=2&as=2471&dt=1
Their 1994 position was consistent with Bush-41's 1989 position:
http://bsalert.com/artsearch.php?fn=2&as=2471&dt=1
Their 1994 position was also consistent with Reagan's 1991 position:
http://bsalert.com/artsearch.php?fn=2&as=2471&dt=1
In 2008, when three Republican Representatives sponsored a Bill to extend the AWB, and acted alone with no Democratic Sponsor, the following Democrats signed a letter to AG Holder to express their strong opposition to extending the AWB:
Mike Ross (D-AR), Tim Holden (D-PA), Jerry Costello (D-IL), Jim Matheson (D-UT), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), John Dingell (D-MI), Marion Berry (D-AR), Nick Rahall (D-WV), Gene Green (D-TX), Chet Edwards (D-TX), Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX), Gene Taylor (D-MS), Bart Stupak (D-MI), Collin Peterson (D-MN), John Tanner (D-TN), Allen Boyd (D-FL), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), Eric Massa (D-NY), Steve Kagen, MD (D-WI), Betsy Markey (D-CO), Paul Hodes (D-NH), Ron Kind (D-WI), Peter Welch (D-VT), Leonard Boswell (D-IA), Tim Ryan (D-OH), Walt Minnick (D-ID), John Boccieri (D-OH), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Tom Perriello (D-VA), Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), Ben Chandler (D-KY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Debbie Halvorson (D-IL), Travis Childers (D-MS), Tim Walz (D-MN), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), Paul Kanjorski (D-PA), Rick Boucher (D-VA), Mike McIntyre (D-NC), John Murtha (D-PA), Bart Gordon (D-TN), Zach Space (D-OH), Alan Mollohan (D-WV), Lincoln Davis (D-TN), Artur Davis (D-AL), Charlie Melancon (D-LA), John Barrow (D-GA), Christopher Carney (D-PA), Dan Boren (D-OK), Parker Griffith (D-AL), Charlie Wilson (D-OH), Heath Shuler (D-NC), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), Jim Marshall (D-GA), Jason Altmire (D-PA), Larry Kissell (D-NC), John Salazar (D-CO), Brad Ellsworth (D-IN),
Frank Kratovil (D-MD), Glenn Nye (D-VA), Bobby Bright (D-AL), Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), Joe Baca (D-CA).
http://bsalert.com/artsearch.php?fn=2&as=2471&dt=1
So for the anti-gunners, what is wrong with Bill Clinton's analysis?
In his book "My Life," in which he analyzed the loss of Congress to the Republicans in 1994, he wrote:
"On November 8, we got the living daylights beat out of us, losing eight Senate races and fifty-four House seats, the largest defeat for our party since 1946....The NRA had a great night. They beat both Speaker Tom Foley and Jack Brooks, two of the ablest members of Congress, who had warned me this would happen. Foley was the first Speaker to be defeated in more than a century. Jack Brooks had supported the NRA for years and had led the fight against the assault weapons ban in the House, but as chairman of the Judiciary Committee he had voted for the overall crime bill even after the ban was put into it. The NRA was an unforgiving master: one strike and you're out. The gun lobby claimed to have defeated nineteen of the twenty-four members on its hit list. They did at least that much damage...." (Pages 629-630)
http://www.gunshopfinder.com/legislativenews/clinton8_1_04.html
Why, exactly, are you crusading for a revival of the 1993 issue?
ACLU files another lawsuit against LA County sheriff who faces mounting legal problems
...
Bad news in the past week has come from his own brass, his chief critics and a photo that surfaced in an unrelated federal investigation - all serving to sully the reputation of the popular four-term sheriff, who enjoys the limelight and is flown around the world at the invitation of others to talk about policing tactics.
...
Last year the civil rights group released a report that documented more than 70 cases of alleged abuse and other misconduct by deputies, many of which occurred at Men's Central Jail. The FBI has launched its own investigation and asked for internal department records dealing with inmate abuse.
On July 6, Capt. Michael Bornman testified before a county commission looking into deputy abuse in the jails that the former head of the jail, Capt. Daniel Cruz, resisted efforts to investigate employees who were accused of excessive force. Bornman described a culture of brutality where Cruz allegedly joked about not hitting inmates in their face so marks wouldn't be visible. Cruz has denied the accusations.
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/LA-County-sheriff-faces-mounting-legal-problems-3707561.php
Group-think and profits allowed Sandusky's pedophilia at Penn State to continue for 14 years.
In June, a US jury convicted former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky Friday on 45 of 48 counts in a child sex abuse case.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/us-coach-guilty-most-counts-pedophilia-case-media-031026792--nfl.html
A report just issued by a team led by former federal judge and FBI director Louis Freeh has been released showing how other Penn State officials were influenced by group-think and profits to not take action in response to Sandusky's sex activities with children.
The report is a lengthy one. Freeh's firm interviewed hundreds of people to learn how the university responded to warning signs that its once-revered former defensive coordinator -- a man who helped Hall of Fame football coach Joe Paterno win two national titles while touting "success with honor" -- was a serial child molester.
http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/2012/REPORT_FINAL_071212.pdf
Fresno police drowned father by Tasering him, hogtying him, then sticking a garden hose
"onto (his) face and mouth" when he pleaded for water.
When the police responding to a domestic disturbance call, as witness by the man's children who they say was not armed and had committed no crime, the police pepper-sprayed their father and then Tasered him a “countless number of times.” The children also observed that while their father was hogtied, handcuffed, and faced down in their backyard, one of the cops kept his knee on their father's back.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/04/10/45478.htm
Then, according to the information from the federal complaint:
“After turning the water off, the Doe Officer(s) continued to press his knee against decedent’s back and continued to put pressure on it. Witnesses repeatedly asked officers to let decedent get up because he couldn’t breathe, but their cries for help were ignored. “By now there were in excess of 15 deputies and officers on the scene.
...
“Officers, after much pleading from witnesses, checked decedent’s pulse and discovered he had stopped breathing after not feeling anything when they touched decedent’s neck. “Decedent had his handcuffs taken off and was untied and placed on his back on the ground. After some time had passed, an officer started doing chest compressions but none of the officers administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to the decedent. Ultimately a witness at the scene administered CPR to decedent. “Some time later, an ambulance arrived and took over trying to revive decedent.”
http://theduckshoot.com/blog/californian-cops-pepper-sprayed-tasered-drowned-innocent-father/
It's Not Power That Corrupts, It's Excessive Deference
Conor Friedersdorf :
...
What cannot be squared ... is the insight that leader worship makes it harder for people in power to behave honorably, and the simultaneous argument that we need to be more admiring of our leaders. I do not mean that we should be disrespectful or them, nor of any other human being.
But we ought to be skeptical of their intentions, knowing that power corrupts; and we ought to challenge them, for if having worshipful sycophants inflates one's self-importance, what better corrective than dissenters confident enough to convey that the leader has erred in his or her judgment?
...
the best leaders are at once willing to act decisively and prone to humility and introspection. They are attuned to the possibility that they too are fallible. Sycophants destroy that perspective.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/06/excessive-deference-to-leaders-corrupts-them/259164/?google_editors_picks=true#
Presence of Multi-nationals in Greece may be Affected by Arson Assault of Microsoft's HQ in Athens.
A coordinated arson assault by armed gunmen against Microsoft's HQ in Athens earlier this morning is another headache for big multi-nationals in Athens. Reportedly, multi-national corporations have already been considered leaving the debt-ridden country because of unpaid bills, falling revenues and the prospect that Greece might be forced to leave the euro.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-greecebre85q0ze-20120627,0,5686655.story
This morning's attack is the latest one against a multi-national corporation. Protesting Greeks had already set fire to branches of Macdonald's, Citi and Starbucks in Athens.
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