Demand CBS Reverse Decision Declaring Pro-Marijuana Ad “Too Political” Criminal Justice Change.org
Targeting: Leslie Moonves (CBS CEO), Dana McClintock (CBS Senior VP for Corporate Communications) and Jeremy Murphy (CBS Outdoor VP Communications)
Started by: Change.org
CBS, which recently ran a superbowl ad sponsored by the extreme right-wing group Focus on the Family, has just rejected an ad by NORML calling for the legalization of marijuana.
The ad was supposed to run on Times Square billboards owned by CBS in New York City. The slogan at the end of the ad was simply “Legalize Marijuana – Billions in Taxes.”
CBS previously rejected ads from a variety of progressive organizations including MoveOn and the United Church of Christ by saying that it didn’t accept “advocacy” ads at all. In response to the controversy surrounding the Focus on the Family ad, however, the company claimed it changed its policy and would now accept “responsibly produced” advocacy ads.
An email from the ad buying company NORML used told the organization “that If CBS changes their morals we will let you know.”
CBS is clearly acting in bad faith as it accepts conservative political ads but not progressive ones. The company is not only banning NORML’s message, it is implicitly endorsing Focus on the Family at the same time.
Send an email to CBS and tell them to accept the NORML ad now! Sign the Petition by clicking here.
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, April 13, 2009
We Tried A War Like This Once Before...
By Mike Gray
Sunday, April 12, 2009
In 1932, Alphonse Capone, an influential businessman then living in Chicago, used to drive through the city in a caravan of armor-plated limos built to his specifications by General Motors. Submachine-gun-toting associates led the motorcade and brought up the rear. It is a measure of how thoroughly the mob mentality had permeated everyday life that this was considered normal.
Capone and his boys were agents of misguided policy. Ninety years ago, the United States tried to cure the national thirst for alcohol, and it led to an explosion of violence unlike anything we'd ever seen. Today, it's hard to ignore the echoes of Prohibition in the drug-related mayhem along our southern border. Over the past 15 months, there have been 7,200 drug-war deaths in Mexico alone, as the government there battles an army of killers that would scare the pants off Al Capone.
Now U.S. officials are warning that the vandals may be headed in this direction. Too late: They're already here. And they're in a good position to take over organized crime in this country as well.
After decades of trying to stem the influx of illegal narcotics into the United States, it's clear that the drug war, like Prohibition, has led us into a gruesome blind alley. Drugs are cheaper than ever before and you can buy them anywhere. As Mexico's cash-starved government struggles to keep up the good fight, the drug barons rake in more than enough to buy political protection and military power while still maintaining profit margins beyond imagining. And what's driving this desperate struggle may be the ubiquitous weed: Southwestern lawmen say that marijuana accounts for two-thirds of the cartels' income.
At last, the spectacular violence in Mexico has captured everybody's attention, and in an eerie replay of the end of alcohol prohibition, we may at last be witnessing the final act in the war on drugs.
One hint of a shifting wind came in February, when a state legislator from San Francisco introduced a bill to tax, regulate and legalize adult use of cannabis. This sort of grandstanding is always met with derision, and this was no exception. But then something strange happened: California's chief tax collector said that the measure would bring in $1.3 billion a year and save another $1 billion on enforcement and incarceration. In a state facing an $18 billion deficit, suddenly nobody was laughing.
Four days later Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, who's no legalizer, said that he, too, thinks we should take another look at marijuana prohibition. "The most effective way to establish a virtual barrier against the criminal activities is to take the profit out of it," he told a U.S. Senate subcommittee.
The next day, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced a minor policy shift with enormous implications: The federal government would no longer go after groups that supply medical marijuana in the 13 states where it is legal. The Drug Enforcement Administration had been raiding dispensaries routinely, and dozens of patients and growers are behind bars today despite their legal status in California's eyes. Now that threat has vanished for those who comply with state law. For California, this amounts to de facto legalization.
At his recent cyberspace town hall meeting, President Obama fielded a question about whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy. "No," he replied as the audience giggled. But that answer sheds no light on his actual thinking. Obama has already called the drug war an "utter failure." And since he himself is an admitted ex-toker, it's hard to believe that he'd cancel some kid's college education over a crime he got away with.
Of course, resistance to marijuana legalization remains rock solid in Washington among those who can't face the failure of prohibition. But that has more to do with politics than science. The Department of Health and Human Services says that there are 32 million drug abusers in the country, but that includes 25 million marijuana smokers. If you strike them from the list, how do you justify spending $60 billion a year in this economy trying to stop 2 percent of the population from being self-destructive? It would be dramatically cheaper to follow the Swiss example: Provide treatment for all who want it, and supply the rest with pure drugs under medical supervision.
When we erected an artificial barrier between alcohol producers and consumers in 1920, we created a bonanza more lucrative than the Gold Rush. The staggering profits from illegal booze gave mobsters the financial power to take over legitimate businesses and expand into casinos, loan sharking, labor racketeering and extortion. Thus we created the major crime syndicates -- and the U.S. murder rate jumped tenfold.
Fortunately, the Roaring '20s were interrupted by the Crash of '29, and when the money ran out, the battle against booze was a luxury we could no longer afford. Prohibition was repealed in 1933, and over the next decade the U.S. murder rate was cut in half.
Today it's back up where it was at the peak of Prohibition -- 10 per 100,000 -- a jump clearly connected to the war on drugs. And anyone who's watching what's going on south of the border can see that we're headed for an era of mayhem that would make Meyer Lansky and Frank Costello weak in the knees.
Profits from the Mexican drug trade are estimated at about $35 billion a year. And since the cartels spend half to two-thirds of their income on bribery, that would be around $20 billion going into the pockets of police officers, army generals, judges, prosecutors and politicians. Last fall, Mexico's attorney general announced that his former top drug enforcer, chief prosecutor Noe Ramirez Mandujano, was getting $450,000 a month under the table from the Sinaloa cartel. The cartel can of course afford to be generous -- Sinaloa chief Joaquin Guzmán recently made the Forbes List of Billionaires.
The depth of Guzmán's penetration into the United States was revealed a few weeks ago, when the DEA proudly announced hundreds of arrests all over the country in a major operation against the "dangerously powerful" Sinaloa cartel. One jarring detail was the admission that Mexican cartels are now operating in 230 cities inside the United States.
This disaster has been slowly unfolding since the early 1980s, when Vice President George H.W. Bush shut down the Caribbean cocaine pipeline between Colombia and Miami. The Colombians switched to the land route and began hiring Mexicans to deliver the goods across the U.S. border. But when the Mexicans got a glimpse of the truckloads of cash headed south, they decided that they didn't need the Colombians at all. Today the Mexican cartels are full-service commercial organizations with their own suppliers, refineries and a distribution network that covers all of North America.
As we awaken to the threat spilling over our southern border, the reactions are predictable. In addition to walling off the border, Congress wants to send helicopters, military hardware and unmanned reconnaissance drones into the fray -- and it wants the Pentagon to train Mexican troops in counterinsurgency tactics.
Our anti-drug warriors have apparently learned nothing from the past two decades. A few years ago we trained several units of the Mexican army in counterinsurgency warfare. They studied their lessons, then promptly deserted to form the Zetas, a thoroughly professional narco hit squad for the Gulf cartel, which offered considerably better pay. Over the past eight years, the Mexican army has had more than 100,000 deserters.
The president of Mexico rightly points out that U.S. policy is at the root of this nightmare. Not only did we invent the war on drugs, but we are the primary consumers.
The obvious solution is cutting the demand for drugs in the United States. Clearly, it would be the death of the cartels if we could simply dry up the market. Unfortunately, every effort to do this has met with resounding failure. But now that the Roaring '00s have hit the Crash of '09, the money has vanished once again, and we can no longer ignore the collateral damage of Prohibition II.
Writing last month in the Wall Street Journal, three former Latin American presidents -- Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, César Gaviria of Colombia and Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico -- declared the war on drugs a failure. Responding to a situation they say is "urgent in light of the rising levels of violence and corruption," they are demanding a reexamination of U.S.-inspired drug policies.
Two weeks ago, a conservative former superior court judge in Orange County told the Los Angeles Times that legalization was the only answer, and of 4,400 readers who responded immediately, the Times reported that "a staggering 94 percent" agreed with him.
This is another pivotal moment in U.S. history, strangely resonant with 1933. The war on drugs has been a riveting drama: It has given us great television, filled our prisons and employed hundreds of thousands as guards, police, prosecutors and probation officers. But the party's over.
read more digg story
Sunday, April 12, 2009
In 1932, Alphonse Capone, an influential businessman then living in Chicago, used to drive through the city in a caravan of armor-plated limos built to his specifications by General Motors. Submachine-gun-toting associates led the motorcade and brought up the rear. It is a measure of how thoroughly the mob mentality had permeated everyday life that this was considered normal.
Capone and his boys were agents of misguided policy. Ninety years ago, the United States tried to cure the national thirst for alcohol, and it led to an explosion of violence unlike anything we'd ever seen. Today, it's hard to ignore the echoes of Prohibition in the drug-related mayhem along our southern border. Over the past 15 months, there have been 7,200 drug-war deaths in Mexico alone, as the government there battles an army of killers that would scare the pants off Al Capone.
Now U.S. officials are warning that the vandals may be headed in this direction. Too late: They're already here. And they're in a good position to take over organized crime in this country as well.
After decades of trying to stem the influx of illegal narcotics into the United States, it's clear that the drug war, like Prohibition, has led us into a gruesome blind alley. Drugs are cheaper than ever before and you can buy them anywhere. As Mexico's cash-starved government struggles to keep up the good fight, the drug barons rake in more than enough to buy political protection and military power while still maintaining profit margins beyond imagining. And what's driving this desperate struggle may be the ubiquitous weed: Southwestern lawmen say that marijuana accounts for two-thirds of the cartels' income.
At last, the spectacular violence in Mexico has captured everybody's attention, and in an eerie replay of the end of alcohol prohibition, we may at last be witnessing the final act in the war on drugs.
One hint of a shifting wind came in February, when a state legislator from San Francisco introduced a bill to tax, regulate and legalize adult use of cannabis. This sort of grandstanding is always met with derision, and this was no exception. But then something strange happened: California's chief tax collector said that the measure would bring in $1.3 billion a year and save another $1 billion on enforcement and incarceration. In a state facing an $18 billion deficit, suddenly nobody was laughing.
Four days later Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, who's no legalizer, said that he, too, thinks we should take another look at marijuana prohibition. "The most effective way to establish a virtual barrier against the criminal activities is to take the profit out of it," he told a U.S. Senate subcommittee.
The next day, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced a minor policy shift with enormous implications: The federal government would no longer go after groups that supply medical marijuana in the 13 states where it is legal. The Drug Enforcement Administration had been raiding dispensaries routinely, and dozens of patients and growers are behind bars today despite their legal status in California's eyes. Now that threat has vanished for those who comply with state law. For California, this amounts to de facto legalization.
At his recent cyberspace town hall meeting, President Obama fielded a question about whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy. "No," he replied as the audience giggled. But that answer sheds no light on his actual thinking. Obama has already called the drug war an "utter failure." And since he himself is an admitted ex-toker, it's hard to believe that he'd cancel some kid's college education over a crime he got away with.
Of course, resistance to marijuana legalization remains rock solid in Washington among those who can't face the failure of prohibition. But that has more to do with politics than science. The Department of Health and Human Services says that there are 32 million drug abusers in the country, but that includes 25 million marijuana smokers. If you strike them from the list, how do you justify spending $60 billion a year in this economy trying to stop 2 percent of the population from being self-destructive? It would be dramatically cheaper to follow the Swiss example: Provide treatment for all who want it, and supply the rest with pure drugs under medical supervision.
When we erected an artificial barrier between alcohol producers and consumers in 1920, we created a bonanza more lucrative than the Gold Rush. The staggering profits from illegal booze gave mobsters the financial power to take over legitimate businesses and expand into casinos, loan sharking, labor racketeering and extortion. Thus we created the major crime syndicates -- and the U.S. murder rate jumped tenfold.
Fortunately, the Roaring '20s were interrupted by the Crash of '29, and when the money ran out, the battle against booze was a luxury we could no longer afford. Prohibition was repealed in 1933, and over the next decade the U.S. murder rate was cut in half.
Today it's back up where it was at the peak of Prohibition -- 10 per 100,000 -- a jump clearly connected to the war on drugs. And anyone who's watching what's going on south of the border can see that we're headed for an era of mayhem that would make Meyer Lansky and Frank Costello weak in the knees.
Profits from the Mexican drug trade are estimated at about $35 billion a year. And since the cartels spend half to two-thirds of their income on bribery, that would be around $20 billion going into the pockets of police officers, army generals, judges, prosecutors and politicians. Last fall, Mexico's attorney general announced that his former top drug enforcer, chief prosecutor Noe Ramirez Mandujano, was getting $450,000 a month under the table from the Sinaloa cartel. The cartel can of course afford to be generous -- Sinaloa chief Joaquin Guzmán recently made the Forbes List of Billionaires.
The depth of Guzmán's penetration into the United States was revealed a few weeks ago, when the DEA proudly announced hundreds of arrests all over the country in a major operation against the "dangerously powerful" Sinaloa cartel. One jarring detail was the admission that Mexican cartels are now operating in 230 cities inside the United States.
This disaster has been slowly unfolding since the early 1980s, when Vice President George H.W. Bush shut down the Caribbean cocaine pipeline between Colombia and Miami. The Colombians switched to the land route and began hiring Mexicans to deliver the goods across the U.S. border. But when the Mexicans got a glimpse of the truckloads of cash headed south, they decided that they didn't need the Colombians at all. Today the Mexican cartels are full-service commercial organizations with their own suppliers, refineries and a distribution network that covers all of North America.
As we awaken to the threat spilling over our southern border, the reactions are predictable. In addition to walling off the border, Congress wants to send helicopters, military hardware and unmanned reconnaissance drones into the fray -- and it wants the Pentagon to train Mexican troops in counterinsurgency tactics.
Our anti-drug warriors have apparently learned nothing from the past two decades. A few years ago we trained several units of the Mexican army in counterinsurgency warfare. They studied their lessons, then promptly deserted to form the Zetas, a thoroughly professional narco hit squad for the Gulf cartel, which offered considerably better pay. Over the past eight years, the Mexican army has had more than 100,000 deserters.
The president of Mexico rightly points out that U.S. policy is at the root of this nightmare. Not only did we invent the war on drugs, but we are the primary consumers.
The obvious solution is cutting the demand for drugs in the United States. Clearly, it would be the death of the cartels if we could simply dry up the market. Unfortunately, every effort to do this has met with resounding failure. But now that the Roaring '00s have hit the Crash of '09, the money has vanished once again, and we can no longer ignore the collateral damage of Prohibition II.
Writing last month in the Wall Street Journal, three former Latin American presidents -- Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, César Gaviria of Colombia and Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico -- declared the war on drugs a failure. Responding to a situation they say is "urgent in light of the rising levels of violence and corruption," they are demanding a reexamination of U.S.-inspired drug policies.
Two weeks ago, a conservative former superior court judge in Orange County told the Los Angeles Times that legalization was the only answer, and of 4,400 readers who responded immediately, the Times reported that "a staggering 94 percent" agreed with him.
This is another pivotal moment in U.S. history, strangely resonant with 1933. The war on drugs has been a riveting drama: It has given us great television, filled our prisons and employed hundreds of thousands as guards, police, prosecutors and probation officers. But the party's over.
read more digg story
Monday, March 16, 2009
Iraq Update - 384 Dead, 665 Wounded in Iraq in February 2009
Data compiled from the US Military, the Iraqi Military, the Iraqi Government, morgues, & hospitals.
Saturday: 1 Marine, 3 Iraqis Killed; 19 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 4 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 21 Wounded
Wednesday: 2 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 15 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 3 US Soldiers, 11 Iraqis Killed; 23 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 17 Wounded
Saturday: 2 U.S. Soldiers, 4 Iraqis Killed; 9 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 3 Wounded
Thursday: 20 Iraqis Killed, 31 Wounded
Wednesday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 2 Wounded
Tuesday: 6 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded
Monday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 41 Wounded
Sunday: 2 US Soldiers, 25 Iraqis Killed; 35 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 5 Wounded; 40 Bodies in Mass Grave
Friday: 1 UK Soldier, 45 Iraqis; 91 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 1 US Soldier, 22 Iraqis Killed; 53 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 31 Iraqis Killed, 94 Wounded
Tuesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 15 Wounded
Monday: 4 US Soldiers, 9 Iraqis Killed; 29 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier, 8 Iraqis Killed; 25 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 13 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 5 Wounded
Thursday: 21 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded
Wednesday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 31 Wounded
Tuesday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 15 Wounded
Monday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 14 Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier Killed, 3 Iraqis Wounded February 1, 2009
read more digg story
Saturday: 1 Marine, 3 Iraqis Killed; 19 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 4 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 21 Wounded
Wednesday: 2 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 15 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 3 US Soldiers, 11 Iraqis Killed; 23 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 17 Wounded
Saturday: 2 U.S. Soldiers, 4 Iraqis Killed; 9 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 3 Wounded
Thursday: 20 Iraqis Killed, 31 Wounded
Wednesday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 2 Wounded
Tuesday: 6 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded
Monday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 41 Wounded
Sunday: 2 US Soldiers, 25 Iraqis Killed; 35 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 5 Wounded; 40 Bodies in Mass Grave
Friday: 1 UK Soldier, 45 Iraqis; 91 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 1 US Soldier, 22 Iraqis Killed; 53 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 31 Iraqis Killed, 94 Wounded
Tuesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 15 Wounded
Monday: 4 US Soldiers, 9 Iraqis Killed; 29 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier, 8 Iraqis Killed; 25 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 13 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 5 Wounded
Thursday: 21 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded
Wednesday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 31 Wounded
Tuesday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 15 Wounded
Monday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 14 Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier Killed, 3 Iraqis Wounded February 1, 2009
read more digg story
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Video: Cops Repeatedly Punch Restained Homeless Man in Face
This is so fucked up!!!
Two Fresno police officers are under an internal investigation following the release of a video tape obtained by KSEE 24 News showing the officers beating a homeless man.
read more digg story
Two Fresno police officers are under an internal investigation following the release of a video tape obtained by KSEE 24 News showing the officers beating a homeless man.
read more digg story
Friday, January 16, 2009
Al Jazeera Signs Deal to Air Throughout U.S.
NEW YORK - The Al Jazeera Network plans to announce on Thursday that it has signed a deal to run its news on Worldfocus, a syndicated nightly news program produced in New York and distributed throughout the United States.
The deal would help the international news network, one of the top services in the Arabic-speaking world, broaden its reach in the United States, where it so far has been available to only a limited audience.
Worldfocus, hosted by former NBC News correspondent Martin Savidge, is produced by New York City public broadcaster WLIW and syndicated to a number of Public Broadcasting Service affiliates, as well as other stations in 60 U.S. markets, including 27 of the top 30.
Al Jazeera declined to disclose terms of the deal.
read more digg story
The deal would help the international news network, one of the top services in the Arabic-speaking world, broaden its reach in the United States, where it so far has been available to only a limited audience.
Worldfocus, hosted by former NBC News correspondent Martin Savidge, is produced by New York City public broadcaster WLIW and syndicated to a number of Public Broadcasting Service affiliates, as well as other stations in 60 U.S. markets, including 27 of the top 30.
Al Jazeera declined to disclose terms of the deal.
read more digg story
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Congrats to Wasilla's newest teen mom! - 236.com - News
It's a boy! 18-year-old Bristol Palin gave birth to "Tripp," making mom Sarah a 44-year-old grandmother. Menstruating grannies are a phenomenon most commonly found in Appalachia or the ghetto. It was a busy month for the Palins. Last week, the baby's other grandmother, Sherry Johnston, was arrested on six felony counts involving Rush Limbaugh's weakness, oxycontin.
read more digg story
read more digg story
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Bush pardons 19, commutes 1 prison term
WASHINGTON (AP) — Before leaving for the holidays, President Bush on Tuesday commuted the prison sentence of a drug offender and granted 19 pardons, including one to a man who helped the Jewish resistance in the 1940s.
With this latest batch, which includes forgiveness for convictions ranging from gun and drug violations to bank and mail fraud, Bush has granted a total of 191 pardons and nine commutations. That's fewer than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their two terms.
Included in the latest list is Charles Winters, who is considered a hero in Israel.
In addition to Winters, others granted pardons were:
— William Alvis III, of Flushing, Ohio.
— John Allen Aregood of Riviera, Texas.
— Eric Charles Blanke of Parker, Colo.
— Steve Doyle Cavender of The Villages, Fla.
— Marie Elena Eppens of Lynden, Wash.
— Lydia Lee Ferguson of Sun City, Ariz.
— Eduviges Duvi Gonzalez-Matsumura of Clovis, Calif.
— George Clarence Greene Jr. of Gray, Ga.
— James Won Hee Kang of South Barrington, Ill.
— Alan Stephen Maiss of Reno
— Richard Harold Miller of Tallahassee, Fla.
— Delano Abraham Nixon of Neosho Rapids, Kan.
— John H. Overholt of Black Hawk, S.D.
— Morris Keith Parker of Georgetown, S.C.
— Robert Truman Reece of Redondo Beach, Calif.
— Donald Edward Roessler of Harrison, Ohio.
— Issac Robert Toussie of Brooklyn, N.Y.
— David Lane Woolsey of St. George, Utah.
Bush also commuted the prison sentence of Reed Raymond Prior of Des Moines.
read more digg story
With this latest batch, which includes forgiveness for convictions ranging from gun and drug violations to bank and mail fraud, Bush has granted a total of 191 pardons and nine commutations. That's fewer than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their two terms.
Included in the latest list is Charles Winters, who is considered a hero in Israel.
In addition to Winters, others granted pardons were:
— William Alvis III, of Flushing, Ohio.
— John Allen Aregood of Riviera, Texas.
— Eric Charles Blanke of Parker, Colo.
— Steve Doyle Cavender of The Villages, Fla.
— Marie Elena Eppens of Lynden, Wash.
— Lydia Lee Ferguson of Sun City, Ariz.
— Eduviges Duvi Gonzalez-Matsumura of Clovis, Calif.
— George Clarence Greene Jr. of Gray, Ga.
— James Won Hee Kang of South Barrington, Ill.
— Alan Stephen Maiss of Reno
— Richard Harold Miller of Tallahassee, Fla.
— Delano Abraham Nixon of Neosho Rapids, Kan.
— John H. Overholt of Black Hawk, S.D.
— Morris Keith Parker of Georgetown, S.C.
— Robert Truman Reece of Redondo Beach, Calif.
— Donald Edward Roessler of Harrison, Ohio.
— Issac Robert Toussie of Brooklyn, N.Y.
— David Lane Woolsey of St. George, Utah.
Bush also commuted the prison sentence of Reed Raymond Prior of Des Moines.
read more digg story
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Search Resumes for Missing Kid in SoCal Jet Crash
Investigators on Tuesday resumed the search for a child missing in the wreckage of a residential area where a military fighter jet crashed and burned, killing three people.
The F/A-18D Hornet crashed into a street Monday about two miles from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar as the pilot was returning from a training flight.
Three people; a mother, her baby and a grandmother; were killed in one house and officials said a fourth person, believed to be a small child, was in the house and had not been found. The search the child had been suspended during the night.
The pilot ejected before the crash and ended up suspended by his parachute in a tree. He was being treated at a hospital.
One other home was destroyed and three were damaged in the neighborhood of half-million-dollar houses.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner said it had tentatively identified each of the victims and was in contact with family members for confirmation. No names were released
read more digg story
The F/A-18D Hornet crashed into a street Monday about two miles from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar as the pilot was returning from a training flight.
Three people; a mother, her baby and a grandmother; were killed in one house and officials said a fourth person, believed to be a small child, was in the house and had not been found. The search the child had been suspended during the night.
The pilot ejected before the crash and ended up suspended by his parachute in a tree. He was being treated at a hospital.
One other home was destroyed and three were damaged in the neighborhood of half-million-dollar houses.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner said it had tentatively identified each of the victims and was in contact with family members for confirmation. No names were released
read more digg story
Monday, December 8, 2008
Military jet crashes in San Diego neighborhood
SAN DIEGO (AP) — An F-18 military jet crashed in a San Diego neighborhood on Monday, sparking at least one house fire.
It wasn't immediately clear whether anyone was injured, said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. Television news footage showed one house and two cars on fire.
read more digg story
It wasn't immediately clear whether anyone was injured, said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. Television news footage showed one house and two cars on fire.
read more digg story
Friday, December 5, 2008
Obama 1961 birth announcement from Honolulu Advertiser
This Honolulu Advertiser announcment of Barack Obama's Aug 4, 1961 birth was published August 13, 1961 on page B-6. It is available only on microfilm in Hawaii libraries. It has never been posted online in spite of the extensive controversy over Obama's birth certificate. The announcement is 4th from the bottom of the left hand column (pdf)
read more digg story
read more digg story
O.J. Simpson to get minimum 6 years in prison for Las Vegas Robbery
It seems OJ Simpson is finally getting justice served to him. Today the judge sentenced him to a min. 6 years in jail with a chance at parole, with a maximum sentencing of 18 years in prison.
read more digg story
read more digg story
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Pardons: Will he or won't he?
From the ACLU...
There’s a real risk that President Bush may issue pardons to a number of high-ranking Administration officials for any activities related to torture, extraordinary rendition and other abuses.
That’s right. Even before they’re charged with a crime, Bush has the power to prevent any criminal investigation into the activities of Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Gonzales and others whose behavior raises serious questions.
Send a message to President Bush telling him you oppose preemptive pardons for torture.
We must make it clear that preemptive pardons aimed at letting high-ranking officials escape accountability for undermining the Constitution and violating the law go against American values of justice and due process.
Today, the ACLU is urging concerned people all across the country to speak out against these pardons. Americans -- and the world -- have a right to know the truth about torture and other abuses carried out in our name.
Tell President Bush: you oppose preemptive pardons for torture.
This weekend, both The New York Times and The Washington Post issued powerful editorials calling on President Bush to resist taking this inflammatory action. We need you to do the same.
As the Post put it, "no country should be in the business of concealing its history." We should be getting at the truth, not excusing those involved in shameless acts.
So, in a preemptive campaign of our own, the ACLU is urging people all across the country to tell President Bush that you won’t stand for preemptive pardons for people who were involved in torture, illegal detention, and other abuses.
Take action: Tell President Bush you oppose preemptive pardons for torture.
In its editorial, The New York Times made the case clearly:
"The Bush administration distorted statutes and case law to legally justify interrogation techniques that had long been considered torture under domestic and international law. It relied on sloppy or aggressive legal analysis as a basis for evading judicial review of a warrantless wiretapping program. It has at every turn chosen the most expansive interpretation of the law to rationalize indefinite detentions and deny federal court review to those in custody. It has, in short, determined its preferred course of action first and then stitched together absurd readings of the law to defend those choices."
The last thing America needs as we set out to restore the rule of law and repair America’s reputation in the world is a last-ditch Bush effort to pardon those who guided our country so far off course.
Please act now. Help the ACLU raise a powerful wave of protest expressing outrage that pardons by President Bush are even under consideration.
Sincerely, 
Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director
ACLU
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Michael Moore on Larry King Live Tonight
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
In addition to his appearance tonight on Countdown with Keith Olbermann (8pm/10pm/midnight ET), Michael Moore will be on Larry King Live tonight after Brad Pitt.
Tune in to CNN at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT (replay at midnight ET/9:00 PM PT and 3:00 AM ET/midnight PT).
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Caglepost: Wal-Mart Trampling Christmas
I hate shopping! I do most of it online. I don't like most people either. Especially, when they form a crowd of any kind. The herd mentality takes over and makes everyone do something awful because everyone else does it.
Obviously, the people who were at Wal-Mart that day are obsessed with material things so much so that they would kill a man by trampling him into the Wal-Mart concrete like the herd of cattle they are.
Sorry, a littler rant there. This cartoon by Pat Bagley sums up how life is in America.
Cartoon by Pat Bagley Comment on the cartoon
Obviously, the people who were at Wal-Mart that day are obsessed with material things so much so that they would kill a man by trampling him into the Wal-Mart concrete like the herd of cattle they are.
Sorry, a littler rant there. This cartoon by Pat Bagley sums up how life is in America.
Cartoon by Pat Bagley Comment on the cartoon
Tuesday goes 'smoothly' for PHS - Berkshire Eagle Online
Tuesday goes 'smoothly' for PHS - Berkshire Eagle Online:
"Wednesday, December 03
PITTSFIELD — Pittsfield High School opened Tuesday morning two hours late, but without incident following a bomb threat discovered late Monday afternoon.
'Everything went smoothly,' said Superintendent of Schools Howard 'Jake' Eberwein III. 'The police did a sweep of the building with the help of the staff, who did a great job, and found nothing.'
Eberwein said the thorough search for a possible explosive was necessary after the word 'bomb' followed by Tuesday's date '12/2/08' was found written on a mural in the school.
Despite the threat, Eberwein said student attendance was strong and the teenagers seemed to settle in quickly once classes began at 9:20 a.m.
'The kids were great, as was the staff,' said Eberwein, who spent the day at Pittsfield High."
"Wednesday, December 03
PITTSFIELD — Pittsfield High School opened Tuesday morning two hours late, but without incident following a bomb threat discovered late Monday afternoon.
'Everything went smoothly,' said Superintendent of Schools Howard 'Jake' Eberwein III. 'The police did a sweep of the building with the help of the staff, who did a great job, and found nothing.'
Eberwein said the thorough search for a possible explosive was necessary after the word 'bomb' followed by Tuesday's date '12/2/08' was found written on a mural in the school.
Despite the threat, Eberwein said student attendance was strong and the teenagers seemed to settle in quickly once classes began at 9:20 a.m.
'The kids were great, as was the staff,' said Eberwein, who spent the day at Pittsfield High."
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
FBI Corruption Sting Catches Massachusetts Politicians
The meeting appeared routine - a businessman and politician stopped at a sandwich shop to chat about plans to develop a nearby parcel of land. But this get-together had an unusual twist: The state senator allegedly got $10,000 in bribe money and authorities left with more evidence in the most elaborately orchestrated public corruption sting.
read more digg story
read more digg story
Pirates chase, open fire on U.S. cruise ship
NAIROBI, Kenya - Pirates chased and shot at a U.S. cruise liner with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel as it sailed along a corridor patrolled by international warships, a maritime official said Tuesday. The liner, carrying 656 international passengers and 399 crew members, was sailing through the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden on Sunday when it encountered six bandits in two speedboats, said Noel Choong who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia.
The pirates fired at the passenger liner but the larger boat was faster than the pirates' vessels, Choong said.
read more digg story
The pirates fired at the passenger liner but the larger boat was faster than the pirates' vessels, Choong said.
read more digg story
Monday, December 1, 2008
Reuters:NPR Journalists Narrowly Escape Iraq Car Bomb
BAGHDAD, Dec 1 (Reuters) - A team of journalists working for U.S. media company National Public Radio narrowly escaped a car bombing in Baghdad after Iraqi soldiers warned them a device had been attached to the bottom of their armoured car, NPR...
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Friday, November 14, 2008
If There Was A CNN.com In Hell (PIC)
CNN.com is the leading source of news for people on the earthly realm. But what most people don't know is that it's also the #1 source for news in hell, too.
read more digg story
read more digg story
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Eight arrested in Klan-related killing, police say
The woman that was killed was trying to join the KKK! I can't understand why anyone would want to hate so much as to join a group like this. Ignorance always brings the worst out in people....
Eight people were arrested Tuesday, one on a charge of murder, in connection with the fatal shooting of a woman at a remote Louisiana campsite during what police say was an initiation ceremony for the Ku Klux Klan.
read more digg story
Eight people were arrested Tuesday, one on a charge of murder, in connection with the fatal shooting of a woman at a remote Louisiana campsite during what police say was an initiation ceremony for the Ku Klux Klan.
read more digg story
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