What the hell? These 'law n order' fascists in DC are trying to turn us into a full blown police state. Why not just give cops a license to kill and badges that say GOD while they're at it?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2017/05/24/a-new-gop-bill-would-make-it-virtually-impossible-to-sue-the-police/?utm_term=.895ae8243959#comments
ut perhaps the most disturbing part of the bill is the new restrictions it puts on suing police officers for constitutional violations. As we’ve discussed here several times before, it’s already extremely difficult to even get in front of a jury with a claim against law enforcement, much less win an award. Police officers are protected by qualified immunity, which requires you to show that not only were your rights violated but also a reasonable police officer should have known that the actions in question were a violation of the Constitution. Under this bill, even if you can show all of that, if the police can show that the violation and resulting injuries were “incurred in the course of, or as a result of, or . . . related to, conduct by the injured party that, more likely than not, constituted a felony or a crime of violence . . . (including any deprivation in the course of arrest or apprehension for, or the investigation, prosecution, or adjudication of, such an offense),” then the officers are liable only for out-of-pocket expenses. What’s more, the bill would bar plaintiffs from recovering attorneys fees in such cases.

This means that if the police raid your home with a search warrant for pot and shoot you dead, even if your family can show that the shooting was unlawful, the police would be liable only for something like funeral expenses if they could show that “more likely than not,” you had sold some pot, or at some point possessed a large enough quantity of the drug to merit a felony charge. In some jurisdictions, merely resisting arrest is a felony. In theory, this could mean that under a scenario in which the police falsely arrest you, you resist, and they then severely beat you, if they could show that the beating was the result of your resisting, not the false arrest, you could be barred from suing for anything other than the cost of treating your injuries. If the resisting charge could be filed as an assault, that’s already a felony in most jurisdictions, and even where it isn’t, under this bill it would become a federal felony.

If this bill passes, it would become nearly impossible to sue the police in all but the most egregious instances of abuse, and even then, only in cases where the victim is basically beyond reproach. These sorts of lawsuit are incredibly expensive. The relatively rare large award is the incentive for civil rights attorneys to take on these cases in the first place and can often be what funds their ability to take on cases less likely to pay out large damages. Removing the ability to collect compensatory or punitive damages, or even recover attorneys fees, basically means it would become even more difficult for victims of police abuse to find representation. If there’s even the slightest chance that the police could convince a jury that the plaintiff engaged in conduct that was even “related” to a felony or violent crime, there’s no incentive for them to take the case.

Of course he's a god damned Repuke. I swear, it's like the Repukes make a sport of trying to screw the people of this country over as much as possible. The legislators and people of Vermont approved of this law, and the shithead governor took it upon himself to be a dictator I guess.
What good are Repukes anyway?
You want healthcare? Nah...Pay up or die.

You want good public education? Nah...We love stupid people. Without them we'd never be elected.

You want fair wages that people can live on? Nah...Get a skill losers

You want help with tuition so you can learn a trade or get skills? Nah. Stupid commies need to get a damn job.

You want to stop locking people up over a plant which is less harmful than alcohol, and which actually has many known benefits? Nah... we only do what big pharma/LE/prison/alcohol want us to do. They pay better. Also we can use drug laws to lock up them minorities and take away their voting rights.

You want to take action on climate change so we don't leave our kids a hellish world? Nah...Takes too much money.

You address poverty and income/wealth inequality? Nah...The rich are our gods, and poor people deserve to have life suck because of their own poor choices.

You want to give gay people equal marriage rights? Nah...The bible says that's bad (Except for the parts of the bible we ignore, like those mentioning wealth and helping the poor/sick).

The repukes are truly vile loathsome creatures, and the ignorant people of this country keep voting them in because "Muh family values", "Gotta stop dem terrorizers", "Build dat wall" and stupid slogans like "bringing jobs back and making Murica great again DUR!" The saddest part is how they call themselves "Christians" while their actual actions grounded in greed, bigotry, corruption and general ignorance.

http://blog.norml.org/2017/05/24/vermont-governor-phil-scott-vetoes-marijuana-legalization/
Republican Gov. Phil Scott today rejected legislation, Senate Bill 22, that sought to eliminate criminal and civil penalties for the adult use and possession of marijuana. The Governor said that he did not support the legislation as written, but remains open to working with lawmakers over the summer on ways to amend the state’s cannabis policies.

Representatives from the Vermont Association of Police Chiefs, the Vermont Medical Society, and the Vermont American Academy of Pediatrics were among those groups opposing S. 22.

“It is disappointing that Gov. Scott would not only defy the will of state legislators, but also the will of the majority of Vermont voters who support ending criminal penalties for those adults who consume cannabis responsibly,” NORML Political Director Justin Strekal said. “Minor marijuana possession offenders should not be saddled with a criminal record and the lifelong penalties and stigma associated with it. Rather than looking to the future, Gov. Scott seems intent on repeating the failures of the past.”

Let's say that we successfully get rid of the trumpster fire. Is evangelical true believer Pence really any better? My best case scenario is that Trump simply becomes a total lame duck for the next 3 3/4 years and nothing whatsoever gets done.

So awful and senseless. A textbook example of why we need to keep and use the death penalty.
http://www.wapt.com/article/boy-inside-car-kidnapped-during-auto-theft/9871713

JACKSON, Miss. —

The Hinds County Sheriff's Department has taken a second person of interest in custody in connection with the death of a 6-year-old boy.

Maj. Pet Luke, with the Hinds County Sheriff's Department, said Kingston Frazier, 6, was found in the 1200 block of Gluckstadt Road in Madison County at about 9:30 a.m.

The body was in the back of a Toyota Camry that was reported stolen with Kingston inside, Jackson police said. The boy had been shot, police said.
"This is the worst day of my career -- of my 17-year career," said Jackson police Cmdr. Tyree Jones. "Anytime you have that kind of hurt or harm to a child, a defenseless, harmless child, it's bad."
Dwan Dion do Wakefield, 18, of Ridgeland was taken into custody about 11 a.m. Thursday, Luke said. DeAllen Washington, 18, was apprehended later in the day, Luke said.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation issued an Amber Alert for Kingston at about 4:30 a.m.
The boy was inside the silver 2000 Toyota Camry about 2 a.m. Thursday in the parking lot of Kroger on Interstate 55, when someone stole the car, police said. The boy's mother left the car running while she went inside the store, authorities said.

The Hinds County Sheriff’s Department handles security at the store.

The car thief got out of what appears to be a silver Honda Civic with a dent on the rear passenger's side, investigators said.

“These individuals must be held accountable. We’re going to conduct a multi-jurisdictional investigation. We’re going to follow up on all leads. We’re going to ask the public, anyone with any information, to call us,” Jones said. “We want to bring someone, or some people, to justice.”

Kingston attended North Jackson Elementary School.

Perps and victim
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This is simply not a sustainable model. We have the bottom 50% of healthcare users who hardly take up any spending, while the top 1% of costly patients are taking up 22%. The top 5% account for HALF of all spending. The top 20% take a combined 81% of all the healthcare spending. It's entirely understandable to me why so many people want to do away with universal coverage. It relies on the healthy bottom 50%(including me) to subsidize everybody else. Over the past 10 years I haven't needed to go to a hospital for anything other than a few eye exams. I take care of myself, eat well and work out frequently. Why should I need to pay huge amounts to subsidize those who smoke cigs, drink excessively, eat unhealthy and live unhealthy lifestyles? It's perfectly understandable to me why people would look at this graph and think "Hmmm, seems like I'm getting screwed here". Right now I have no health insurance, and it's because I've worked the numbers out and realized that statistically I'll win by not having it. No use in paying THOUSANDS per year for something that gave me zero benefit year after year.

I swear, it seems like society is coming apart sometimes. Shooting and killing two gas company workers and then yourself because you were angry over a power bill? Just doesn't make any damn sense. And the killer was a felon, so he was already banned from owning guns.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/laclede-gas-shooting-victims-were-outdoorsman-family-man-killer-had/article_b56eac4d-cbc6-5a7f-9214-e63d5ab6c337.html
ST. LOUIS • How much of a role outrage over an electric bill played in a lone gunman’s decision to take the lives of two utility workers and his own may never be known, but a day later it was the only clue as to what set Clinton Willis off on Thursday.

The victims were identified Friday as Alex Boschert, 27, of St. Charles County and William Froelich, 52, of Jefferson County. Boschert was remembered as an outdoorsman and Froelich as a family man. Both men were white and their killer black, but police said they ruled out race as a motive based on a background investigation and interviews with Willis’ family and friends.

Willis, 51, did not have a history of mental issues but did have a criminal history dating to the 1990s.

Just looking at her, there's no way she makes it through Trump's full term. Then we're gonna get an ultra-stacked right wing SCOTUS as Trump appoints another conservative justice. Why oh WHY didn't she just retire and let Obama replace her?

It's all just a ratings game for the media. Scarier headlines=more clicks=more revenue. NOTHING is actually gonna happen with NK. We've been down this road before and it's basically just a stupid game of chicken where nothing ever happens in the end. Ultimately it's all just a big distraction, and Trump loves it because it keeps away the speculation about Russian involvement in the election.

Nothing is gonna happen, nothing ever happens, and we're not gonna have a nuclear war. Stop letting the fear mongering media distract you from real issues.

Serious question. NK in particular has got me thinking about this issue. You can't say yes to the above question, while also seeking a totally passive approach to foreign policy. Nicely asking the brutal dictators of the world to respect the human rights of their citizens will only go so far. At what point does the civilized world have an obligation to step in and put a stop to the abuses? Is it a matter of scale? NK are guilty of human rights abuses on par with the Nazis and Imperial Japanese. The only difference is in the scale. Should there be some arbitrary scale guidelines on when international intervention is appropriate?

Personally I think it would be doing the citizens of NK a great favor to save them from the brutal and delusional Kim family. Some might die in a war, but their current existence is really no way to live life. I'd personally rather fight and die than live in similar conditions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_North_Korea
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/north-korea
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/north-korea

Per msnbc. Looks like the "Let's go kick some ass!" foreign policy stuff is working out for him. I wonder if this is gonna be temporary or sustained though. I think people are liking this "Blow up some ISIS scumbags" stuff, but I doubt they'll like it if we get involved in an actual war.