The Wild, Wild West Remake - Video

Making Congress READ the Laws They Pass

Everyone is wrong about the AIG bonuses.

By counterspinyc- Democratic Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut inserted language into the scam-stimulus bill permitting the AIG bonuses that everyone is now bloviating about. He did so at the request of the Treasury Department. A Congressional majority then voted for the Dodd proposal, and President Obama signed it into law. Those upset about the AIG bonuses should focus on the fact that Congress authorized them.

All the Congressional grand-standing about how bad the bonuses are is rank hypocrisy. One of two things is true . . . Either those who voted for the scam-stimulus bill knew about the bonus provision, in which case they ought to be "falling on their own swords," instead of castigating the government-appointed CEO of AIG, or . . .

They didn't know about the bonus provision, in which case they ought to introduce DownsizeDC.org's "Read the Bills Act," so they'll know what they're passing before they cast their votes.

But, the politicians aren't the only guilty parties in this stupid controversy. The American people are also at fault. Here's why:

We're constantly told that Congress doesn't respond to public pressure and that,
therefore, what DownsizeDC.org is trying to do won't work. And yet, we see
Congress respond to public pressure repeatedly. The only problem is that it's
always pressure about the wrong things! The way to prevent problems like the
bonus-authorization provision is to pass the "Read the Bills Act" (RTBA).

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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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Hearing Reveals Out-of-Whack Enforcement Policies

by Ali Noorani, National Immigration Forum
Look no further than Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as the prime example of enforcement priorities that are terribly misguided.

Recent reports, including a Government Accountability Office report released today, have called attention to the program's lack of federal oversight and how the program is being implemented at the local level. The following is a statement by Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, a nonpartisan pro-immigrant advocacy organization in Washington.

The facts are piling up that 287g agreements are expensive to implement, both in
terms of dollars, and in community trust. As newly released independent and government reports expose, implementation of the 287g agreement by 67 local and state law enforcement agencies has been devoid of appropriate federal oversight, resulting in excessive use of force, civil rights abuses and costly lawsuits.

Look no further than Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as the prime example of enforcement priorities out of whack.

With a stack of 40,000 felony warrants, more than 2,700 civil rights complaints and residents afraid of calling the police to report a crime, he has shamelessly compromised community safety in his search for headlines. In this case, nobody wins -- county law enforcement can't do its job, and there is a lack of trust and communication between immigrants and the police.

A thorough review of the program is urgently needed, and decisions must be made regarding how to limit or end this program. Without a true commitment from Congress and the new administration to reform our immigration system, patchwork enforcement schemes will continue -- and continue to miss the mark. President Barack Obama needs to lead the country forward to a better, safer, more humane immigration system rather than continuing to rely upon the failed policies of the past administration to shore up our broken system.

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**Must See** Marijuana Documentary - The Union

Through pot growers, police officers, criminologists, economists, doctors, politicians and pop culture icons, The Union examines the cause and effect nature of the cannabis business - an industry that may be profiting more by being illegal.

Watch this trailer and if you think it looks good watch the full movie online at
http://blip.tv/file/1356143/



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Lady Justice by Anne Telnaes

By Ann Telnaes, Women's eNews
© Cartoonist Group, 2006

Lady Justice

Technorati tags: Anne Telnaes, political cartoons, political satire, justice, government

Ohio Woman Taser Several Times By Cop

Initially, I saw part of this video on the news and thought it was a prank aimed at the Andrew Meyer taser incident.

But, NOOOOOOOOOOO this is very real and also very brutal and excessive. As I understand it, she was tasered seven times and the cop is on paid administrative leave?