Judge Rules: "It's OK To Give Police The Finger"

By Torsten Ove, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Memo to cops everywhere: You can't cite someone for giving you the finger.

That's essentially what a federal judge ruled yesterday when he said a city police sergeant was wrong to cite a Regent Square man for flipping him off in traffic three years ago.

U.S. District Judge David Cercone granted summary judgment to David Hackbart, who said in a federal suit that Sgt. Brian Elledge violated his constitutional rights by issuing him a citation in 2006.

"Elledge's response to Hackbart's exercise of his First Amendment right was to initiate a traffic stop and issue a citation for disorderly conduct," the judge wrote. "Clearly, Elledge's conduct was an adverse action in response to Hackbart flipping him off."

The case will now proceed to trial in U.S. District Court on the underlying claim that the city doesn't adequately train its officers to know when they're violating someone's rights.

The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that giving someone the finger, even a police officer, is protected free speech.

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What is your state's Freedom Index?

By Paul ValoneCharlotte Gun Rights Examiner

Some say we live in a “free society.” Others say we are marching toward communism. How free are you really? In a study from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, political science professors William P. Ruger and Jason Sorens decided to find out.

“Freedom In The 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom” measures a number of variables beyond the usual economic measures, including, “measures of social and personal freedoms such as peaceable citizens’ rights to educate their own children, own and carry firearms, and be free from unreasonable search and seizure.” And why did the authors decide to study personal freedom?

“In our view, individuals should be allowed to dispose of their lives, liberties, and property as they see fit, so long as they do not infringe on the rights of others.”

Ruger and Sorens do acknowledge that different people see freedom differently, and publish raw data with an invitation for readers to construct their own personal freedom rankings by going to: http://www.statepolicyindex.com/

“We would also argue that freedom … can be threatened as much by the weakness of the state as by overbearing state intervention. Individuals are less free the more they have reason to fear private assaults and depredations, and a useful government punishes private aggression vigorously. However, we focus on threats to individual liberty originating in the state. Therefore, we do not code the effectiveness of state governments in punishing rights violations. For instance, we do not include measures of the efficacy of state police and courts or of violent and property crime rates. Thus, our “freedom index” does not capture all aspects of freedom.”

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Texas Teacher Suspended for being a "Liberal" and an Atheist

Mr. Richard Mullens WAS a school teacher in Brookeland Tx - an incredibly "Conservative" area of Texas, and only 16 miles up the road from Jasper Tx. the scene of several incidents of racial violence and murder. Mr. Mullens was suspended as a teacher after a witch hunt based solely on his religious and political beliefs.

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Israeli FM Questioned by Press Club - Microphones Were cut

Physical Properties of White Phosphorous (9) - 22.92 KB

Security guards stood tensely in front of the press podium while Livni answered strident questions from reporters from Al-Jazeera and other Middle East news organizations, CNN and NBC.

One reporter was physically removed from the microphone when he charged Livni was a terrorist.

A moderator from the National Press Club, where the event was held, tried to cut off another reporter who read at length from a Human Rights Watch report detailing the killing and ‘murder’ of Palestinian children.

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The list of the Governments that have persecuted journalists

by Glenn Greenwald - The Washington Post hails those reporters who face grave danger from the Taliban and the Governments of Cuba, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and the U.S.
The Washington Post Editorial Page today hails the courage of six journalists who have faced down persecution and grave danger in their line of work and who, consequently, are this week receiving the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists:

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Wanda Sykes Rallies Against H8: 'I'm Proud to Be Gay'

From the Las Vegas Prop 8 protest.



"I am very proud. I am proud to be a woman, I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay. And I love you all. Now let's go get our damn equal rights!"—Wanda Sykes, coming out at the Las Vegas Prop 8 protest and announcing she and her wife were married in California in October.

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Free Speech: The Great India Debate

**a must read post on freedom of speech, censorship, and fanatical reactions...

"Free speech, censorship, and the fanatical reactions - during last few years, these co-related issues have been spread by the interested junta quite aggressively over the entire country and even the whole word, in general. There have been three parties involved, to be precise, which have shown a great deal of enthusiasm."

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