Trial postponed for Pa. man who flipped off cop

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — A federal judge today postponed a civil trial on claims by a Regent Square man that Pittsburgh does a poor job of training its police officers on civil rights. The lawsuit stems from an April 2006 incident in which David Hackbart, 34, displayed his middle finger at a motorist and a Pittsburgh [...]

ODNI Releases 2009 National Intelligence Strategy

The Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair today released the 2009 National Intelligence Strategy (NIS), which outlines the priorities for the sixteen agencies of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) for the next four years. This document describes the strategic environment, sets priorities and objects, and guides budgeting, acquisition, and operations decisions. The Office [...]

How Weed Won the West – Official Trailer #1

A look inside a medical cannabis dispensary

Michael Moore Says U.S. Newspapers ‘Slit Their Own Throats’

Arraignment set for ex-SB County DA investigator facing 15 felony counts

A former investigator for the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, suspected of illegally using a law enforcement database to access criminal rap sheets, is scheduled for arraignment Sept. 22 in San Bernardino Superior Court.On Aug. 31, the state Attorney General’s Office filed one felony count of grand theft and 14 felony counts of unlawfully [...]

Point man in Mexico’s war on drug cartels resigns

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Felipe Calderon has accepted the resignation of the attorney general who was leading the battle against drug cartels, making the biggest shake-up yet in his offensive against organized crime. Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza‘s image was tarnished by charges that his top confidant was on the take and there had [...]

Corpsman pleads guilty to role in deadly game

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — A Navy corpsman pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges he pointed a loaded gun at a Marine in his unit while playing a dangerous game called “Trust.” Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Spencer Hamer, 23, was sitting in the back of a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle in Iraq in November 2008 when [...]

Campbell soldier charged in fatal car crash

COVINGTON, Ky. — A Fort Campbell soldier who was behind the wheel of a car when it crashed and killed his friend is facing criminal charges. The Kentucky Enquirer reports that Erlanger police charged 26-year-old Riley Ealy with driving under the influence, second-degree manslaughter and wanton endangerment. Police say Ealy was on leave from Iraq [...]

Ellsworth airman charged with attempted murder

RAPID CITY, S.D. — Authorities have released details in the criminal case of a man stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base charged with shooting another airman now in the hospital. Rapid City investigators say Vinicius Santana, 21, shot David Piland, 21, over the weekend after the two were involved in a disturbance with each other. [...]

New ABA opinion on prosecutorial duty to disclose information

The American Bar Association just released an important new opinion regarding the prosecutorial ethical duty to disclose evidence and information favorable to the defense. The rule itself requires prosecutors to “make timely disclosure to the defense of all evidence or information known to the prosecutor that tends to negate the guilt of the accused or [...]

If Voting could Change the System… the libertarian case for direct democracy

One of the defining tenets setting libertarian socialism apart from authoritarian political traditions of both left and right, is an unshirking commitment to the principles of direct democracy. This is the means advocated by anarchists for exercising and enabling genuinely participative decision making in all domains of human life. Rejecting hierarchical organisation, we argue that [...]

Let’s set the record straight about Amsterdam

(New Scientist) Better world: Legalise drugs

Far from protecting us and our children, the war on drugs is making the world a much more dangerous place. SO FAR this year, about 4000 people have died in Mexico’s drugs war – a horrifying toll. If only a good fairy could wave a magic wand and make all illegal drugs disappear, the world [...]

Boeing contract extended for border spy tower mess

TUCSON — Boeing’s contract has been extended for spy towers at the border, with $6.7 billion pouring into the non-functioning equipment to spy on people along the US/Mexico border. Earlier, Boeing subcontracted the Israeli Apartheid contractor Elbit Systems to install some of the spy mess. The good folks at Arivaca, Ariz., protested the spy cameras [...]

Medical Marijuana Patient

The Justice Department wages war on pain relief

No good deed goes unpunished when a private citizen is up against the federal drug warriors–those members of the Department of Justice who have been seeking, with increasing success in recent decades, to effectively control the practice of pain relief medicine. But a current drama being played out in federal court in Kansas portends an [...]

The rise of low-IQ in the US military

Maybe the constant media abuse about his meager intellect made George W. Bush soft in the heart as well as the head. During the ‘war on terror’ the U.S. military have opened their hearts to high-school dropouts and the intellectually challenged. From the mid-1980s, the military has barred anyone without a high school diploma. They [...]

Colombia’s High Court Says Drug Consumption Not a Crime

BOGOTA – Colombia’s Supreme Court ruled that possession of illegal drugs for personal use is not a criminal offense, citing a 1994 decision by the country’s Constitutional Court, Caracol Radio said Wednesday. Drug consumption “generates in a person problems of addiction and slavery that turn one into a sick, compulsive individual deserving of therapeutic medical [...]

Police use of Tasers faulted

Three people have died after being shocked with Tasers since deputies throughout the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department began using the so-called less-lethal weapons a year and a half ago. Authorities said all three men behaved as if they had a mental problem or were under the influence of drugs. Jonathan Nelson, of Rancho Cucamonga, was [...]

Former Corrupt San Bernardino County DA says he may run against Ramos

Former San Bernardino County District Attorney Dennis Stout announced Wednesday that he is considering running for his old job in 2010 — challenging District Attorney Mike Ramos, who defeated him in 2002. Stout, who served as the county’s top prosecutor for eight years, said he believes political corruption is worse than when he left office [...]

Failure to disclose property ownership results in Penrod getting warning letter from FPPC

Former San Bernardino County Sheriff Gary Penrod failed to disclose, over a period of several years, ownership of several properties, a violation of the Political Reform Act, according to the Fair Political Practices Commission.Penrod, who retired in January after serving 14 years as the county’s top cop, received a letter from the FPPC dated Aug. [...]

Kabul U.S. Embassy Guard: Sexual Deviancy Required for Promotion

Private security guards at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul were pressured to participate in naked pool parties and perform sex acts to gain promotions or assignment to preferable shifts, according to one of 12 guards who have gone public with their complaints. In an interview with ABC News for broadcast tonight on the “World News [...]

Lawyer: Woman Denied Transplant Due to Pot Use

Kimberly Reyes Dies After Hawaii Medical Service Association Declines to Cover Liver Transplant Taking a hit off a marijuana cigarette may cost your life — literally. Waimea resident Kimberly Reyes, who was diagnosed with hepatitis – in March 2008, had been told in July that she had less than 30 days to live.  Her family [...]

DHS Directives on Border Searches of Electronic Media

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano recently announced two new directives aimed at improving oversight for searches of computers and electronic decides at U.S. entry ports. This is viewed as an important move to support DHS efforts to “combat transnational crime and terrorism while protecting privacy and civil liberties.” “The new directives [...]

Fake news from Gulf War

ACLU demands records of border searches of laptops

The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol‘s controversial practice of randomly searching laptops upon U.S. entry quietly began last year but has quickly drawn attention, including a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed this week by the American Civil Liberties Union for records related to the practice. With regard to the searches, which don’t require “individualized suspicion” to [...]