Nebraska ACLU warns authority to stop drug testing

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska chapter of the American Civil Liberty Union is warning North Platte‘s housing authority to stop testing its employees for drugs, or it faces a lawsuit.

Nebraska ACLU director Amy Miller sent a letter Monday to the housing authority after reading news reports that the group has enacted a drug-testing policy.

Miller says court precedent allows drug testing of government employees only if there are reasonable grounds to suspect drug use or when employees occupy safety-sensitive positions, such as those who carry guns.

Housing authority president Ed Rieker (REEK-er) declined to answer questions about the letter or the authority’s drug-testing policy until he could speak to the group’s lawyer. He declined to give the lawyer’s name.

Jerry Eaves case backfires on top prosecutor

Disgraced former District Attorney Dennis Stout

While local and federal authorities were investigating Supervisor Jerry Eaves in 2000, the District Attorney’s Office came under fire for top officials’ interactions with a political opponent of the embattled county supervisor.San Bernardino County District Attorney Dennis Stout and two of his top lieutenants discussed their investigation into Eaves with Rialto City Councilman Ed Scott, who ran unsuccessfully against Eaves in that year’s supervisorial election.

Scott told other members of the corruption task force that he was concerned he was receiving confidential investigative information and agreed to wear a wire.

Scott recorded phone conversations between himself and Stout, Chief District Attorney Investigator Barry Bruins and Assistant District Attorney Dan Lough in which the investigation was discussed.

Transcripts of the conversations were later made public, and while no charges were ever filed against Stout or his aides, Stout apologized and demoted Lough and Bruins.

Laid-off Victorville workers paid to remain silent

VICTORVILLE • The 47 city employees who’ve been laid off over the past week were offered 10 days’ severance pay in exchange for signing away rights to ever sue the city or say anything negative about it.

Employees — both past and present — are calling the seven-page waiver a “gag order.”

Spokeswoman Yvonne Hester said the city’s labor attorney simply pulled a standard Separation Agreement and Release letter and adapted it for Victorville.

DHS accused of abusing “no-fly” list for political purposes

Arizona’s state treasurer is not-so-subtly accusing President Obama’s Homeland Security chief of abusing America’s “no-fly” list to satisfy a personal vendetta against him.

State Treasurer Dean Martin told Arizona CBS affiliate KPHO that his name suddenly appeared on the government’s list of those banned from US commercial flights after former Arizona governor Dean Martin became head of the DHS.

Martin claims the airline blacklisting may be related to his past political rivalry with Napolitano.

Vatican launches inquiry into ‘abusive’ religious order

The Vatican has launched an investigation into the Legionaries of Christ, a religious order whose secretive founder stands accused of sexually abusing numerous children over decades.

While the Vatican has been rocked by numerous sex-abuse scandals in recent decades, through it all one religious order seemed immune to scrutiny: The Legionaries of Christ, also known as the Legion of Christ, a conservative group with some 800 priests, 2,500 seminarians, and a following of 70,000 across 21 countries, including the United States.

The Pope has convened an “apostolic visitation,” or council of bishops, to investigate the group’s nearly 70-year-long history, its controversial founder Maciel Degollado, and the accusations of sexual assault and financial mismanagement now swirling around the recently deceased religious leader.

And the investigation may have to grapple with an uncomfortable question: If the entire religious order was based on lies and deception, should it be disbanded?

Truth & consequences

Investigators bold enough to take on corruption in San Bernardino County have themselves seldom escaped controversy.Some have been criticized by the same leaders who hired them. For others, the stakes have been even higher.

Former District Attorney Dennis Stout, 61, says his political career was upended in large part because he lost support from power brokers when he went after corrupt county officials.

He sees a distinct pattern of county officials bashing the people they commission to clean up corruption.

“It’s not just the way these investigators are attacked, it’s the politics of this county,” Stout said. “It’s a bloody knife fight.”

Stout prosecuted former Supervisor Jerry Eaves on bribery charges before the case was handed over to the state Attorney General’s Office when it was discovered that Stout and two of his top aides discussed their investigation into Eaves with one of his political foes.

The District Attorney’s Office was cleared of acting illegally, but Stout bowed out of a 2002 re-election bid when he fell behind his opponent, then-Deputy District Attorney Michael Ramos.

The scandal surrounding the Eaves investigation and a wrongful termination lawsuit filed against Stout were big contributors to his downfall, he said.

Web of corruption

The county’s most extensively documented scandal, and the one that many consider to be one of the most egregious abuses of power in the county’s history, began in the 1990s and became public in 1998, when County Administrative Officer James Hlawek resigned and the Board of Supervisors announced the FBI was investigating him.Gary Ovitt, current chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said the Hlawek scandal was a watershed event for the county in that it served as the impetus for a complete overhaul of the county’s leadership team and the creation of a long list of reforms. It also prompted the county to greatly increase its transparency to the public.

“The scandal also branded the county as a place with deep-seated ethical problems, and every misstep that has occurred since has been viewed by the news media and the public through the prism of the Hlawek scandal,” Ovitt said. “Newspaper editorials habitually refer to the county as a place with a `history of scandal,’ based largely on the legacy of the Hlawek scandal. This has served to make the county all the more vigilant to prevent ethical lapses and corruption whenever possible and quickly address issues as they arise.”

Senate Bill Would Disclose Intel Budget Request

The Senate version of the FY2010 intelligence authorization bill (pdf) would require the President to disclose the aggregate amount requested for intelligence each year when the coming year’s budget request is submitted to Congress.  Currently, only the total appropriation for the National Intelligence Program is disclosed — not the request — and not before the end of the fiscal year in question.

Disclosure of the budget request would enable Congress to appropriate a stand-alone intelligence budget that would no longer need to be concealed misleadingly in other non-intelligence budget accounts.

Ex-captain pleads guilty to $39 million fuel theft plot

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Federal prosecutors say a former U.S. Army captain has pleaded guilty to taking part in a plot to steal $39 million worth of fuel from the Army in Iraq.

Robert Young, 46, a U.S. citizen who lived in the Philippines, pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy and theft of government property. He will be sentenced Oct. 30.

In his plea, Young admitted that between October 2007 and May 2008, he and his conspirators, claiming to represent Defense Department contractors in Iraq, used fraudulent documents to steal aviation and diesel fuel from Camp Liberty in Iraq.

Prosecutors say as a result of the scheme, Young received about $1 million in personal profits.

Sunday school teacher gets one year for molesting female student

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – A former Sunday school teacher from Ontario will serve a year in jail after pleading no contest to committing a lewd act on a 12-year-old girl in his class.John Calvin Savage, 45, struck a plea bargain with prosecutors on Thursday morning in West Valley Superior Court, Deputy District Attorney Jason Anderson said.

In addition to his jail term, Savage, a married father of six, will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, Anderson said.

The girl who accused Savage of touching her in 2003 was a student in his Sunday school class at Grace Baptist Church in Corona.

The girl told police that she would visit Savage’s home in Ontario to perform chores. Savage would touch her inappropriately as she rode in his car on the way to his house, and he would continue touching her at his house, prosecutors said.

Report Finds ICE Home Raids Violate the Constitution

Constitution on ICE: A Report on Immigration Home Raid Operations

The Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic has just released this report which cites widespread constitutional violations from immigration home raids conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in recent years. “This report is the first public effort to compile and analyze the available evidence regarding the prevalence of constitutional violations occurring during ICE home raids. Through two Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, the authors of this report obtained significant samples of ICE arrest records from home raid operations in New York and New Jersey. Analysis of these records, together with other publicly available documents, reveals an established pattern of misconduct by ICE agents in the New York and New Jersey Field Offices. Further, the evidence suggests that such pattern may be a widespread national phenomenon reaching beyond these local offices.”

“During the last two years of the Bush Administration, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) vastly expanded its use of home raid operations as a method to locate and apprehend individuals suspected of civil immigration law violations. These home raids generally involve teams of heavily armed ICE agents making predawn tactical entries into homes, purportedly to apprehend some high priority target believed to be residing therein. ICE has admitted that these are warrantless raids and, therefore, that any entries into homes require the informed consent of residents. However, frequent accounts in the media and in legal filings have told a similar story of constitutional violations occurring during ICE home raids-a story that includes ICE agents breaking into homes and seizing all occupants without legal basis.”

Racist Web Posts Traced to Homeland Security

After federal border agents detained several Mexican immigrants in western New York in June, an article about the incident in a local newspaper drew an onslaught of vitriolic postings on its Web site. Some were racist. Others attacked farmers in the region, an apple-growing area east of Rochester, accusing them of harboring illegal workers. Still others made personal attacks about the reporter who wrote the article.

Most of the posts were made anonymously. But in reviewing the logs of its Internet server, the paper, The Wayne County Star in Wolcott, traced three of them to Internet protocol addresses at the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees border protection.

Report: U.S. Funded Religious Programs in Africa, Iraq

WASHINGTON (RNS) The federal government used taxpayer dollars to rebuild mosques in Iraq and teach Bible-based abstinence in Africa, violating a prohibition on funding “inherently religious activities,” according to a recent audit of the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID).

The report by the agency’s inspector general, released Wednesday (July 22), said “some USAID funds were used for religious activities”
during 2006 and 2007.

USAID disputed those claims, and a spokesperson said the results are “not supported by the facts and is an unsupported legal conclusion regarding the constitutional requirement of separation of church and state.”

According to the report, USAID funded an abstinence-promoting HIV/AIDS prevention program for youth in Africa with curriculum that included Psalm 119:9 as a Bible “memory verse” and a take-away thought that said, “God has a plan for sex and this plan will help you and protect you from harm.” USAID later told the grant recipient that their funds could not be used in conjunction with the program.

A second instance concerned the rebuilding of four mosques damaged by the U.S. military in Fallujah, Iraq, at a price tag of $325,000; after the audit, the agency reportedly refused to pay $44,531 of that money to a contractor.

Majority in US oppose both wars

July 24, 2009 — (AP)   -A majority of Americans oppose both the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq, though the war in Afghanistan is a little more popular. Here are details:

OVERALL RESULTS: 34 percent favor the war in Iraq and 63 percent are opposed; 44 percent favor the war in Afghanistan and 53 percent are opposed.

PARTISAN DIFFERENCES: 64 percent of Republicans are in favor of the war in Iraq and just 10 percent of Democrats are; 66 percent of Republicans favor the war in Afghanistan, as do 26 percent of Democrats.

PRESIDENT’S RATING: 56 percent of Americans approve of President Barack Obama’s handling of the situation in Iraq, and 55 percent approve of his handling of Afghanistan. Both numbers are down just slightly since April.

THE FUTURE: 68 percent think it is likely that Obama will be able to pull most troops out of Iraq in the next four years, but that’s down from 83 percent before his inauguration.

METHODOLOGY: The AP-GfK Poll was conducted July 16-20 and involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,006 adults nationwide. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

County supervisor says rumors about DA should be investigated

PDF: Read San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry’s statement

Special Section: San Bernardino Co. Probe

San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry on Thursday called for an independent investigation of allegations that District Attorney Mike Ramos has engaged in improper behavior.

Derry said he is troubled by rumors that have been swirling in recent months that Ramos may have been involved in improper relationships with subordinates and colleagues, including Public Defender Doreen Boxer.

Derry said he is not suggesting the rumors are true but believes they merit investigation.

“As long as they’re circulating, they create an issue where there’s a lack of public trust,” Derry said.

A statement issued in response by district attorney’s spokeswoman Susan Mickey said: “This office is astounded.”

Ramos denied the allegations as baseless.

Court Rebukes Government Over “Secret Law”

“Government must operate through public laws and regulations” and not through “secret law,” a federal appellate court declared in a decision last month.  When our government attempts to do otherwise, the court said, it is emulating “totalitarian regimes.”

The new ruling (pdf) overturned the conviction of a defendant who had been found guilty of exporting rifle scopes in violation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).  The court said that the government had failed to properly identify which items are subject to export control regulations, or to justify the criteria for controlling them.  It said the defendant could not be held responsible for violating such vague regulations.

US to expand anti-drug missions in Colombia

Washington is closing a deal with Bogota to lead its anti-drug mission from bases in Colombia after losing its Manta regional base in Ecuador.

The agreement, which both parties seek to seal soon, would let Americans lead Air Force drug interdiction missions from bases in a central valley in Colombia.

The Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez described the deal as a means of making the war on drugs more “efficient and stronger.”

“We are deepening cooperation agreements that already exist in our common struggle against narco-trafficking and terrorism,” Bermudez said on Wednesday.

Critics maintain that such an agreement will increase the US military presence in Colombia and will make Bogota more dependent on the White House.

US dismantling military base in Ecuador

The US military has begun to dismantle its anti-drug-and-terrorism operation base in Manta, Ecuador, as US aircraft flew their last missions.

The equipment and planes appear headed to Colombia, which is negotiating with the US to take them in after Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa refused to extend a contract that allowed the US to use the Ecuadorian base.

The US has maintained the base since 1999 as a central observation point to battle drug trafficking.

The Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Thursday defended negotiations that would allow the US to use three military bases in Colombia in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism.

The proposed deal has sparked controversy in Colombia, although the government stressed this week that it did not imply the installation of US military bases on its soil or that Colombia would be used by Washington as a platform for potential attacks in the region.

The opposition views the deal as a violation of Colombian sovereignty and criticizes the government for not running the plan past the Colombian law makers.

Switzerland & Internet

July 17, 2009
Summary

These confidential documents detail information on an official program for centralized, real-time, interception of Internet traffic in Switzerland. The interception will start on August 1, 2009.

The documents are those referenced yesterday by the Swiss-German weekly newspaper WOZ

DOWNLOAD/VIEW FULL FILE

The spray from the spray enforcement

Whenever you use someone to catch someone else in a crime, there’s always the accusation of entrapment that can be floated. When the person you are using is a minor, things are potentially more troubling. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was sensitive to the latter item in this recent press release:

As a result of numerous and ongoing complaints regarding graffiti, deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Jurupa Valley Station in conjunction with County Code Enforcement Officers conducted directed enforcement targeting locations that sell spray paint.

A minor under the age of 18 years old was sent into various locations throughout the Jurupa Valley area, under constant supervision…

Note the “under constant supervision” part. Let’s continue.

Medical marijuana plans in motion

Next month, San Bernardino County will begin accepting applications from residents seeking medical marijuana cards.

On Tuesday, county supervisors formally adopted an ordinance to distribute cards, which is expected to begin Aug. 14. The county plans to charge patients a $166 annual fee to cover the costs of running the program. Medi-Cal patients will pay $83.

About 250 to 300 patients are expected to apply for cards, according to county estimates.

In May, The U.S. Supreme Court upheld California’s medical marijuana law, forcing San Bernardino County to comply with it by issuing cards.

Walter Cronkite Knew a Failed War When He Saw One: Vietnam and the War on Drugs

Everyone knows Walter Cronkite was “the most trusted man in America” and someone whose rare expressions of personal opinion — such as on the Vietnam War — could powerfully influence the views of Middle America. But fewer are aware of a passion of his that he came to relatively late in life — ending the nation’s disastrous war on drugs.

I first learned of Cronkite’s interest in the drug war back in 1995, when a producer for The Cronkite Report — an occasional series on the Discovery Channel — called to ask for my help on a documentary that he and Cronkite were doing on the drug war. The one-hour report that resulted provided a devastating critique of the nation’s drug policies.

Focusing on the lives of three women who had been sentenced to many years in Bedford Hills prison in New York, the program revealed the utter waste of human lives and taxpayer dollars that define the drug war.

Al-Jazeera reporter to sue Bush

An Al-Jazeera reporter who spent six years in illegal US custody is to bring legal action against the former American administration.

On Friday, The Guardian quoted the former detainee Sami al-Hajj as saying that he was to sue former US president George W. Bush and other former US officials.

The action is expected to be taken through a Geneva center al-Haj is co-founding as a platform for the victims who had endured similar ordeals at the US Cuba-based detention facility, Guantanamo.

Suspecting him of being a ‘potential terrorist’, American operatives detained the Sudanese in 2001 in Pakistan. The capture took place as al-Haj was on his way to Afghanistan where he was to contribute to reports for the Qatar-based TV channel.

He was subsequently labeled an ‘enemy combatant’ — a term which signified a person in armed conflict against the United States.

Israel, US war games due off California

Israel plans military exercises at a US naval facility using its Arrow interceptor missiles in a series of drills that also deploys American missile systems.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) will ship the required hardware for the exercise to a Pacific Ocean range off the California coast later this summer, according to Reuters, quoting the head of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, Lieutenant General Patrick O’Reilly.

“They are having a flight test soon this summer,” O’Reilly said Tuesday, referring to Joint US-Israeli effort.

Palin Signs Alaska Sovereignty Resolution

On Friday, July 10th, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin signed House Joint Resolution 27 (HJR27), sponsored by State Rep. Mike Kelly.  The resolution “claims sovereignty for the state under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.”

The House passed the resolution by a vote of 37-0 (3 not voting) and the Senate passed it by a vote of 40-0.

Six other states have had both houses of their legislature pass similar resolutions – Tennessee, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Louisiana – Alaska joins Tennessee as the second to have such a resolution signed by the Governor.

Medical marijuana celebrated

DEVORE – Ron Downey says that because he has cysts in his back and knees that are “bone on bone,” he was on so many pills he would never have gotten out of bed.

“That’s why I became a medical marijuana advocate 10 years ago,” says the Riverside resident, a 60-year-old disabled Vietnam veteran.

It helps the pain, said Downey, adding if it weren’t for medical marijuana, he wouldn’t be able to do half the things he can do.

“All we’re asking,” he said, “is that people obey the law.”

Downey was passing out literature as medical marijuana users gathered Saturday to celebrate music and legalized pain relief.

The daylong Purple Haze 2009 Music Fest, the first of its kind in Southern California, featured speakers, vendors and music headlined by Reggae superstars Eek A Mouse – in brutal 105-degree heat.

By day’s end, organizers anticipated as many as 2,000 would crowd the stage and vending area in the open field behind the Screaming Chicken biker bar in Devore.

Anti-drug groups push for county ban on pot dispensaries

Anti-drug advocacy groups have launched a campaign admonishing San Bernardino County supervisors for considering permitting medical marijuana dispensaries.

San Bernardino County, which will begin issuing medical marijuana cards in mid-August, has issued a temporary moratorium on marijuana dispensaries while a county committee studies approaches for regulating and zoning the facilities.

“The focus is on trying to come up with some guidelines that will help dispensaries coexist with local communities,” said David Wert, spokesman for San Bernardino County.

In their push to prohibit the marijuana centers, the Inland Valley Drug-free Community Coalition and Save Our Society From Drugs cite a report by the California Police Chiefs Association released in April, suggesting that dispensaries often lead to higher crime rates and more traffic, noise and blight in the surrounding communities.

DJ Ross, executive manager of the Yucca Valley-based California Alternative Medicinal Solutions — the only marijuana dispensary in San Bernardino County — argues there isn’t enough “non-biased” research to confirm dispensaries are dangerous to the community.

Oakland finds peace with its pot clubs

It is a warm weekday afternoon in uptown Oakland, and all’s quiet on 17th Street, save for the steady revolution of customers in and out of the Coffeeshop Blue Sky.

“Just imagine,” said Richard Lee, nodding at the familiar scene, “if you had four liquor outlets in all of Oakland. It’s ridiculous.”

Blue Sky is one of four medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. Lee is owner of the coffee shop and president of the 2-year-old Oaksterdam University, two blocks away, where 3,000 students have gone through courses on everything from hydroponics to staying within the boundaries of the ever-shifting law on medical marijuana.

Marijuana customers are ushered into the Blue Sky’s back room, past the racks of tiny plants for sale ($12 each), only after showing their medical-marijuana card to a security guard, who records the number. Customers choose from a menu of marijuana, which sells for $30 for an eighth-ounce of medium grade, $40 for high grade.

San Bernardino supervisors are skeptical of Grand Jury reform recommendations

Members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors weighed in Thursday on the Grand Jury’s recommendations for limits on campaign contributions and establishment of an ethics commission to help thwart corruption and the perception of it.

The Grand Jury’s 2008-2009 report released Wednesday included for the first time a special section on proposed governmental reform.

After learning that the Board of Supervisors raised more than $2.3 million, collectively, over a five-year period from special interest groups, land developers and others, the panel recommended the county put a cap on campaign contributions.

California police officer admits forcing woman into oral sex

A California police officer pleaded guilty on Friday to sexual assault during a traffic stop, according to published reports.

Feliciano Sanchez, 34, formerly with the Bell Police Department in southern California, admitted that after pulling over a woman in May, 2007, he drove her to a parking lot, put his hand on his firearm and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

The woman reportedly did not have her driver’s license, so Sanchez said her vehicle would be towed. He then offered to drive her to her workplace, but instead took his victim to an unseen location.

“Sanchez faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000,” noted a press release from the attorney general’s office. “A sentencing hearing has been set for November 18, 2009.”

NY man forcibly sedated for cavity search gets $125k settlement

A man who was forcibly injected with sedative drugs by police so a doctor could search for other drugs in his rectum will receive a handsome settlement from Albany County, New York and Albany Medical Center, a local publication reported Saturday.

“The settlement stems from a federal lawsuit filed two years ago by Tunde Clement, an ex-convict arrested by sheriff’s investigators on March 13, 2006, at the Albany bus terminal,” reported The Times Union.

Following Clement’s forced drugging, a doctor put a camera in his rectum, discovering no drugs. “[The] final indignity came when the hospital sent Clement a bill for $6,792,” noted the Associated Press.

Navy recruiter admits role in sex sting

A 32-year-old Navy recruiter from Kansas has pleaded guilty to attempted human trafficking for trying to arrange a sexual encounter with what he thought was an 11-year-old girl.

Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class (SW/AW) Shane Allan Childers of Olathe entered the plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo. He faces 15 years to life in prison.

The arrest stemmed from a sting operation by several law enforcement agencies in the Kansas City area that produced seven indictments.

Sanders admitted using government equipment at the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Lenexa, Kan., to respond in March to a Craigslist ad offering “little girls.” Childers was wearing his uniform, but had taken off his uniform shirt and was wearing a white undershirt when he showed up at the residence, according to federal officials. He was arrested when he paid an undercover officer $60 to have sex with the child. He paid an extra $20 to have intercourse without using a condom.

Childers enlisted in 1997.

Miramar Marine accused of stabbing wife

Police in Fresno, Calif., arrested a Marine on Thursday. Authorities said he stabbed his estranged wife and attacked two members of her family.

Investigators told KFSN-TV that Sgt. Dejon Baskin, 26, drove from Miramar to Reedley that morning and stabbed his wife, Rachel Baskin, 24, in the neck. He then shot her brother and stabbed her mother in the neck, investigators told the TV station. All three were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Dejon Baskin is a heavy equipment operator with Marine Wing Support Squadron 373 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, said 1st Lt. Gregory Wolf, a Miramar spokesman. Baskin enlisted in the Corps seven years ago and at the time of the incident was on terminal leave until July 31, his end of active service, Wolf said.

Rachel Baskin filed for divorce in February, and she sought support and custody of the couple’s daughter, according to court records.

Lejeune Marine charged with murder

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina-based Marine has been charged in the early morning shooting deaths of two civilians.

Authorities arrested Lance Cpl. Jarrell Damont Wilson, 22, of Wayne, Mich., on Friday and charged him with two counts of murder. He also faces prior charges of carrying a concealed gun and possession of a stolen firearm, according to court records. He is scheduled to appear in court on those charges Sept. 15.

A police officer patrolling the area of Onslow Drive, where the shootings occurred, heard gunfire about 2:20 a.m., said Jacksonville Police Chief Michael Yaniero. When police responded to the parking lot behind the popular nightclub Hooligan’s, they found Gabriel Ape, 24, and Christopher Watts, 23, with “apparent gunshot wounds,” Yaniero said. Both men died at the scene.

Feds Declare Tennessee Gun Law Invalid

It is yet another example of the federal government running roughshod over the states.

Last month, the state of Tennessee’s General Assembly passed House Bill 1796, the “Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act,” which states that any firearms or ammunition manufactured within the state and legally owned and kept within the state by citizens are “not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration” due to provisions in the Second, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

But according to Assistant Director Carson W. Carroll of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the U.S. Constitution is little more than a g.d. piece of paper, as George W. Bush so infamously deemed it during his reign as the decider-in-chief.

On July 16, Carroll dispatched his agency’s official response to the law passed in Tennessee — the BATFE asserts that “Federal law supersedes the Act, and all provisions of the Gun Control Act and the National Firearms Act, and their corresponding regulations, continue to apply.”

It will be interesting to see how Tennessee reacts to this official proclamation.

NAACP Sets Up Site for Cell Videos of Police Misconduct

An innovative national program to help fight crime in American cities and towns will be unveiled Monday, July 13th at the NAACP Centennial Convention in New York City.

The initiative includes a bold new online effort, the NAACP Rapid Report System (RRS), a quick, effective way for citizens to report instances of police misconduct, and to help public safety officials move beyond the “tough on crime” policies that have lost their effectiveness.

The Rapid Report System will be available starting July 6, through the NAACP website (www.naacp.org). The user-friendly online RRS form will allow residents to send instant texts, emails, or video reports of police abuse to the association via cell phone.

Soldier suspected of sodomizing dog

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska — Army officials are investigating a claim that a Fort Wainwright soldier sodomized a dachshund that needed treatment at an animal hospital.

A Fort Wainwright spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday because the investigation remains active. The soldier’s name hasn’t been released because he hasn’t been charged.

The alleged incident happened during the Fourth of July weekend. Jeanne Olson, a North Pole veterinarian, told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner that the dog was treated at Mt. McKinley Animal Hospital and is doing well.

Alaska is one of about a dozen states that does not outlaw bestiality, though a bill proposed last year would make it a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $10,000 fine. The soldier could face a court-martial for violating the military code of conduct.

Feds will help battle cartels

LOS ANGELES – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday the Obama administration can help area officials fight street gangs in the San Gabriel Valley and Whittier.

Speaking at a downtown news conference where he announced the distribution of $30 million in federal stimulus money, Holder said the federal government will continue to strengthen its fight against Mexican drug cartels supplying contraband to street gangs through the Mexican Mafia, also known as La Eme.

“The guns, drugs and bulk cash that are the backbone of the cartels’ business contribute to addiction and drug-related violence in our communities,” Holder said.

But he stressed the feds need help from local agencies to combat the problem.

“All the best ideas don’t come from Washington, D.C.,” Holder said. “The first thing we need to do is listen to the law enforcement officers who are out on the street.”

While no money was specifically given to the Los Angeles region, officials believe positive effects will be felt locally.

San Bernardino County broadens inmate screening for deportation

Two flat-screen televisions loom large in a small booking office at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Federally trained San Bernardino County sheriff‘s employees use the screens to patch into other jails, some nearly 100 miles away, to identify inmates eligible for deportation.

For the past seven months, the Sheriff’s Department has used the $100,000 video-conferencing system to expand its collaborative program with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, established three years ago at West Valley.

Instead of only using eight ICE-trained sheriff’s custody specialists to interview potential criminal illegal immigrants booked into the Rancho Cucamonga jail, the video setup allows the same work to be done at jails in San Bernardino, Barstow, Joshua Tree and Victorville.

“We had the capabilities to go out there before, but we were losing time,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Sarkis Ohannessian, who oversees the 287(g) program, named for a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows local agencies to enforce immigration laws under federal supervision.

“The entire interview is conducted from the screen,” Ohannessian said.

Atheists put own stamp on summer camp in Sierra foothills

NEVADA CITY – At Camp Quest, campers may not believe in God, but they do have faith in their community.

On Sunday evening, 49 children from across the western United States arrived at the camp nestled in the hills outside Nevada City. It is one of five summer camps in the country for the children of atheists and other nonbelievers.

In a campground in Malakoff Diggins State Historical Park, the campers have many of the traditional summer experiences. They practice archery in the meadow, participate in team competitions and gather around the campfire at night to sing.

Their activities, however, have a decidedly secular twist.

Campers play games that encourage critical thinking such as one called Evolution and another where they are asked to prove something invisible doesn’t exist.

School superintendent accused of raping girl, 5

Bruce Lynn Shelley, who became superintendent of Pocola Schools, in Pocola, Oklahoma on July 1st has reportedly been arrested on allegations of rape by instrumentation of a five-year-old female family member.

Shelley is charged with rape by instrumentation.

It is alleged that Shelley molested the girl, who was a family member, around bath time with the sexual abuse occurring between August 1, 2008 and May 11, 2009.

Reportedly, the girl’s mother started to suspect abuse, when she discovered the 5-year-old in an inappropriate act with her own younger brother. Allegedly the girl told her parents that Shelley had done the same thing to her.

Shelley turned himself in to authorities on Monday and was subsequently released on $25,000 bond.

Reportedly, Shelley has been placed on paid administrative leave by the school board.

Ethan Nadelmann Speaks at the NAACP Conference: Human Rights, Racial Justice and the Drug War

Judge: State law barring underage drinking is unconstitutional

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – If you’re younger than 21 in South Carolina, you cannot buy alcohol. But what about having it in your possession or drinking it?

A court ruling today suggests state law contains nothing that would make it illegal for many young people to own or use alcoholic beverages.

“This magistrate in Richland County has concluded that the statute that criminalizes possession and consumption is unconstitutional,” says attorney Joe McCulloch.

In a ruling issued Monday morning, Richland Co. Magistrate Mel Maurer sided with McCulloch, acting on behalf of a 20-year-old client ticketed March 9th for possession.

McCulloch argues Article 17, Section 14 of the state constitution conditionally gives those 18 and over the “full legal rights and responsibilities” of all other adults, with one exception — the General Assembly can restrict the sale of alcohol.

But that section of the constitution does not specifically address consumption or possession.

Students, parents sue school district over drug testing

A coalition of about 50 Goshen County students and parents have filed a 34-page lawsuit against the Goshen County School District regarding the district’s new random drug and alcohol testing policy.

The suit was filed with the Goshen County District Court after the coalition claimed the policy unconstitutional. They claim that the policy, passed in April, violates the Fourth and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution.

“The entire drug testing policy is unconstitutional,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Harriet Hageman, told the Associated Press. “I don’t believe that random, suspicionless drug testing is appropriate or allowed by either the Wyoming Constitution or the federal Constitution.”

The plaintiffs say participating in extracurricular activities help students avoid illegal drugs and alcohol by providing them with positive outlets, exposing them to positive role models and providing them with the type of supervision and structure critical to their emotional development.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF AMERICAS AND THEIR ROLE IN THE MILITARY COUP IN HONDURAS

You can learn more about the military coup at Democracy Now!   Join the School of Americas Watch as they encourage the State Department to take action to support democracy in Honduras.

Anchorage officer accused of on-duty rape

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A decorated Anchorage Police Department officer has been accused of sexually assaulting multiple women while he was on duty.

Anthony Rollins, a 13-year veteran and former department spokesman, was indicted by a grand jury and arrested Wednesday. He’s being held on a $100,000 bond.

“Let me stress that Rollins’s alleged actions are aberrant and detestable,” Police Chief Rob Heun said at a press conference. “Officers are compelled to function independently within the confines of the laws they are sworn to uphold and have the authority to enforce. They are and should be trusted to protect life, to protect property and maintain order.”

Rollins, 41, is charged with four counts of first-degree sexual assault, six counts of second-degree sexual assault, four counts of criminal use of a computer and six counts of official misconduct.

A local group that supports victims of sexual assault – Standing Together Against Rape – brought one woman’s allegations to the police department’s attention in April.

House Cuts Anti-Drug Media Campaign

Last Friday, the House Appropriations Committee reduced the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign‘s yearly funding by 71% from $70 million to $20 million. The report states the remaining $20 million in funding is specifically intended for ads targeting parents, which means they recommend no more ads targeting teenagers.

Since 1998, the federal government has spent more than $1 billion on an offensive and misleading anti-drug advertising campaign run by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. But scientific studies have repeatedly shown that the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign is not only ineffective at reducing drug abuse, but that the ads may actually increase pro-drug attitudes in teens.

Here’s an excerpt of the House committee report:

Grand Terrace city councilman arrested

PDF: Read prosecutors’ news release on the arrest of Grand Terrace Councilman Jim Miller

PDF: Read the criminal complaint against Grand Terrace Councilman Jim Miller

PDF: Read a city letter to Councilman Jim Miller about alleged conflict of interest

PDF: Read court documents in the case against Grand Terrace Councilman Jim Miller

Grand Terrace City Councilman Jim Miller was arrested Wednesday and charged with felony conflict of interest stemming from his votes to place the city’s legal advertisements in his wife’s community newspaper.

His wife, Grand Terrace City News publisher Margie Miller, posted his $25,000 bail and he was released from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Central Detention Center shortly after 2 p.m.

Jim Miller did not acknowledge reporters’ questions as he left the jail, and his wife declined to comment. Jim Miller did not return a phone message left on his cell phone.

The Army denies that combat stress causes homicide

July 16, 2009 | FORT CARSON, Colo. — The harsh combat in Iraq, including potential war crimes that were witnessed by soldiers, contributed to a series of brutal murders by soldiers based at this Army post near Colorado Springs after they returned home, according to a hard-hitting Army study released Wednesday. Many of the findings in the study, which was announced by senior Army brass at a press conference on the post, mirror those in Salon’s Coming Home series, which identified a pattern of preventable homicides and suicides at Fort Carson among soldiers who served in Iraq with combat stress and failed to receive proper medical treatment.

According to the report, “Survey data from this investigation suggest a possible association between increasing levels of combat exposure and risk for negative behavioral outcomes.” The study also says that “combat intensity/exposure . . . may have increased the risk for violent behaviors” and that its “findings are consistent with recent research on combat exposure and subsequent behavior outcomes among Soldiers.”

Five Decades of US Behavioral Scientists Implicated in Torture

(The Intelligence Daily) — A couple of recent articles have highlighted the unseemly fact that some past presidents of the American Psychological Association (APA), the foremost professional organization for psychologists in the United States, if not the world, had links to the use of torture, or at least to military research into coercive interrogations.