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Amsterdam. Polizia al Gay Pride contro l'omofobia
Negli ultimi mesi, nella tollerante Amsterdam, giovani marocchini, si sono resi colpevoli di aggressioni, anche gravi verso persone omosessuali. La frustrazione e l'insofferenza verso una società considerata da loro alquanto permissiva è la probabile causa delle violenze.
Così, la polizia cittadina ha pensato di dare un chiaro segnale agli aggressori: al Gay Pride cittadino che attraverserà i canali il prossimo 2 agosto, parteciperà anche una rappresentanza della polizia in uniforme. Saranno una decina e sono tutti membri di un circolo gay della polizia chiamato Rosa in blu. Negli ultimi mesi, nella tollerante Amsterdam, giovani marocchini, si sono resi colpevoli di aggressioni, anche gravi verso persone om... more -
Police post crank calls on youtube!
In an effort to cut down on the ridiculous 8400+ crank 999 calls, police in Avon and Somerset have decided to post the recordings on youtube.
Will this have an effect or will it simply become a viral hit and prompt a series of copycat stunts? In an effort to cut down on the ridiculous 8400+ crank 999 calls, police in Avon and Somerset have decided to post the recordings on y... more -
Chinese police in religious training ahead of Olympics
"SHENYANG, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Police in the Olympic football co-host city of Shenyang, northeast China, have been boning up on religions in a bid to understand foreigners and avoid insulting their feelings during the Games.
More than 5,000 police officers have learnt the origins, forms, taboos, and classic works of Christianity, Islam and Buddhism in class since the municipal public security bureau launched the campaign in March.
Besides theories and China's religious laws and policies, they also practiced etiquette and ways to solve emergency situations concerning religion affairs, said Yang Tao, training teacher.
"They enjoy the arrangement, saying the content was interesting and helpful," said Yang, professor with China Criminal Police University based in Shenyang.
"Such training could help them to better understand foreigners, make them feel confident in communications and effectively deal with emergencies while showing respect to foreigner's religious customs," he explained.
Religion was just a part of a comprehensive Olympic training scheme the bureau initiated since January.
More than 120 short-term courses on 19 subjects such as security check, foreign affairs management, oral English, media, anti-terror, and psychology, have attracted 7,000 participants over the past half year, according to Liu Xiujuan with the bureau's education and training department.
Experts, experienced police officers from Shenyang and Beijing were invited to give lectures.
"More than 10,000 policemen have received media training on English and techniques to communicate with reporters, and emotion control," said Liu Kejun, chief of the bureau's publicity department.
"China has pledged to aid the foreign media's coverage of the Olympics, and we must work better to create a favorable environment for reporters," said Liu. "
Interesting... "SHENYANG, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Police in the Olympic football co-host city of Shenyang, northeast China, have been boning up on religi... more -
State troopers battle big gas bills - Life- msnbc.com
HELENA, Mont. - In big, wide-open Montana, a state trooper might have to drive more than 100 miles to answer an emergency call and routinely puts several hundred miles on the odometer in a day.
With gasoline at $4 a gallon, all that driving is tearing up the Highway Patrol's budget.
It is the same story elsewhere around the country, especially in big, sparsely populated Western states with vast stretches of highway. State police agencies nationwide are scrambling to reduce gasoline use and find the money to cover their costs. Some are beginning to worry that they will have to cut back on hiring officers.
For the Highway Patrol in Montana — the fourth-largest state in area, at 147,000 square miles — the options are limited.
The Highway Patrol considered buying more V6 Chevrolet Impala cruisers to save gasoline, but initial tests showed the Impalas get about the same mileage as the department's V8 Ford Crown Victorias, or a little above 15 miles per gallon.
Switching to hybrid vehicles is out of the question, since there is no hope of chasing down bad guys in one, police say.
"They're gutless," said the head of the Highway Patrol, Col. Paul Grimstad, who oversees some 200 state troopers and happens to own a hybrid. "The one I have gets awesome gas mileage and runs good. But if you floor the thing, it doesn't have the performance. Not even close."
That has left him looking at the possibility of buying motorcycles. But Montana's harsh winter would prevent year-round use. HELENA, Mont. - In big, wide-open Montana, a state trooper might have to drive more than 100 miles to answer an emergency call and rou... more -
Mushrooms lead to arrests
I posted a couple of these stories.
There have been hundreds of these stories recently so I felt the need to post a few. Chock one up for the local police departments for taking advantage of unjust laws and ruining the lives of countless free and law abiding Americans for the political purpose of making a headline. These do good police departments take photos of the loot they've pillaged from young and old alike. They pose smiling next to the Ziploc baggies of "contraband." We as a public at large praise them for their deeds, not thinking of the many years those people the police have just robbed will spend in jail, or the ruined lives they'll lead once they get out of jail, forever tattooed as a felon. We cheer when the local DA goes on the evening news to show us how they've just arrested someone's grand parents in a supposed marijuana ring. When it's time to allocate funds we pay millions upon millions of dollars to help organized criminals like the DEA and the local and state authorities to investigate, rob, and then put in jail our family, friends, neighbors, doctors, lawyers, priests, mailmen, professors and so on. These people they arrest are people like you and I. They are users and entrepreneurs alike. All fallen victim to the American Drug War and Narcotics Prohibition at large.
BIXBY, Okla. (AP) - Felony complaints have been filed against six people accused of possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms.
Bixby Police Officer Erik Smoot says the psilocybin mushrooms, nicknamed "shrooms," are hallucinogens that create the same effect as LSD but on a lesser scale.
Officials say 19-year-old Ryan Patrick Jackson of Broken Arrow and 22-year-old Christopher Kyle Brown of Bixby were arrested on July 16. Police reportedly found the two bagging up about 8 pounds of the illegal mushrooms behind a business.
Eighteen-year-old Jimmy Grammer of Bixby and three juveniles were taken into custody on Friday in rural Bixby with a small amount of the mushrooms and a small amount of marijuana.
The six were booked with possession of a controlled dangerous substance. No charges have been filed. I posted a couple of these stories. ... more -
Busted:14,000 hits of LSD
Man busted for large amout of LSD
SCHENECTADY - An Oregon man is sitting in a Schenectady County jail cell after being arrested over the weekend at the Camp Bisco Music Festival.
There were thousands of music lovers on hand for the three-day festival in Mariahville and police say Jonathan Taylor had more than enough LSD to go around -- about 14,000 hits of acid. The Portland man is charged with three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, two of which are felonies.
"We're not sure how he got it over the check points, but he did. That's why security is here to ride around and the attendees too. They come here to have a good time. They don't need that kind of stuff," Bill Potter said.
Potter's family runs Indian Lookout Country Club. This is the second year they've hosted the Camp Bisco Music Festival. He says on Saturday night, the last night, some alert concert goers and some quick action by his security staff helped nab Taylor.
"We went down. When we found him he had these little things, what looked like papers, looked like art work. Come to find out they were acid," Potter said.
Potter says security escorted Taylor off the grounds and handed him over to state police.
After checking his car, police say they found 14,000 hits of LSD along with $17,000 in cash.
The allegations of trying to get others tripping on acid earned this Oregon man a trip to the county jail.
"Don't like it, that's what we try to stop it. Someday my kids might be up here and that guy could be trying to sell that stuff to my kids," Potter said.
Taylor is being held at the Schenectady County Jail without bail.
There have been hundreds of these stories recently so I felt the need to post a few. Chock one up for the local police departments for taking advantage of unjust laws and ruining the lives of countless free and law abiding Americans for the political purpose of making a headline. These do good police departments take photos of the loot they've pillaged from young and old alike. They pose smiling next to the Ziploc baggies of "contraband." We as a public at large praise them for their deeds, not thinking of the many years those people the police have just robbed will spend in jail, or the ruined lives they'll lead once they get out of jail, forever tattooed as a felon. We cheer when the local DA goes on the evening news to show us how they've just arrested someone's grand parents in a supposed marijuana ring. When it's time to allocate funds we pay millions upon millions of dollars to help organized criminals like the DEA and the local and state authorities to investigate, rob, and then put in jail our family, friends, neighbors, doctors, lawyers, priests, mailmen, professors and so on. These people they arrest are people like you and I. They are users and entrepreneurs alike. All fallen victim to the American Drug War and Narcotics Prohibition at large.
Have an opinion? Please join the conversation by commenting below. Man busted for large amout of LSD ... more -
Teen charged in naked LSD Tasering
This is an update to a story I posted earlier where in a man was tasered 3 times by police. The mans was allegedly on lsd and naked. Many readers found this story to be outrageous and excessive use of force. Here is the update. Teen arrested:
A 16-year-old boy accused of taking LSD, rolling around naked in a public street and resisting officers until being shocked several times with a Taser has been charged and had his case “resolved,” according to the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office.
Police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said Christopher Dornfield was not initially arrested following the incident Wednesday, but she confirmed Monday that he has since been cited in the bizarre series of events that began when the teen allegedly split a hit of LSD with his 22-year-old friend.
Carolyn French, spokeswoman for the district attorney, on Tuesday said Dornfield was charged with at least one crime and that his case “has been resolved.”
“He has completed the court process,” French said.
She said she could not discuss details of the case because Dornfield is younger than 18 and was prosecuted as a juvenile.
Police administrative assistant Laurie Chestnut said Tuesday that officers previously had discussed with prosecutors the possibility of filing third-degree assault and criminal mischief charges against Dornfield.
Chief Mark Beckner said he could not discuss the case because of Dornfield’s juvenile status.
Police officials acknowledged they erred last week in releasing Dornfield’s name and not identifying him as a juvenile. Despite the Camera’s request for Dornfield’s age last week, police did not reveal he was a teenager until Monday.
According to police records, Dornfield allegedly split a hit of LSD with his friend, Brian Skutch, and was then taken for a drive by his other friends when he went out of control.
The group kicked Dornfield out of the car after he kicked his roommate in the eye while wearing a sock with thorns stuck to it, according to a police report.
Dornfield, naked and crawling on a patch of grass, was contacted by police at about 10:30 p.m. near the intersection of 28th Street and Iris Avenue, according to the report.
When Dornfield refused to comply with officers’ orders to hold still, he was shot with a Taser stun gun, according to police. He was shocked twice more after he tried to get back on his feet and advanced toward officers, police said.
Dornfield was treated and released from Boulder Community Hospital.
Police and paramedics later went to a nearby apartment to check on Dornfield’s friend. They found him sitting with his eyes open — but otherwise unresponsive — and took him to the hospital. This is an update to a story I posted earlier where in a man was tasered 3 times by police. The mans was allegedly on lsd and naked. M... more -
How Scores of Black Men Were Tortured Into Giving False Confessions by Chicago Pol...
More than 20 years after being tortured into giving confessions by Chicago police officers, dozens of black men remain behind bars.
Michael Tillman was 20, with a 3-year-old daughter and an infant son, when he was brought into the Area 2 police station on Chicago's South Side for questioning. His mother, Jean Tillman, says that although he had gotten into some trouble with the law as a youngster, he had been on the straight-and-narrow, working as a janitor and paying his bills, since he and his girlfriend had their first child. That was July 22, 1986.
He hasn't been home since.
Tillman is one of at least 24 African-American men that the People's Law Office in Chicago claims are still serving sentences for crimes they say they confessed to only after enduring hours of torture at the hands of Chicago police officers under Commander Jon Burge between 1972 and 1992. Although 10 of Burge's victims have been pardoned or given new trials after their illegally obtained confessions were exposed, the vast majority of the 100-plus cases have yet to be reviewed by the state of Illinois. Those men have either served out their sentences, died in custody or, like Tillman, continue to live their lives behind bars, hoping that one day they will have a fair trial.
According to Tillman's 1986 trial testimony, when he arrived at the Area 2 police station in the predawn hours of July 21, 1986, Detectives Ronald Boffo and Peter Dignan took him to a second-floor interrogation room and pressed him for information about the murder of 42-year-old Betty Howard, whose body was found the day prior in the apartment building Tillman oversaw. When he told the detectives that he knew nothing about the murder, he says that Boffo and Dignan, along with three other officers, became abusive. Without ever reading him his Miranda rights, he says they handcuffed him to the wall, hit him in the face and punched him in the stomach until he vomited blood. During the course of what appeared to be three days, rotating pairs of officers brought him to the railroad tracks behind the station and held a gun to his head, suffocated him repeatedly with thick plastic bags, poured soda up his nose and forced him into Dumpsters outside of the apartment building, ordering him to search through the rubbish for a murder weapon until, according to Detective John Yucaitis, Tillman confessed to the crime.
According to Tillman's mother, she, her husband and an attorney they called for counsel were all denied access to her son during his three days of interrogation.
***Continues, click link to read*** More than 20 years after being tortured into giving confessions by Chicago police officers, dozens of black men remain behind bars. ... more -
China builds 'protest pens' for Olympic demonstrators
Beijing is to set up three "protest pens" in parks around the city to cater for anyone brave enough to want to stage a demonstration during the Olympic Games.
Plans for the protest areas were announced even as the government made clear that dissent by Chinese citizens would not be tolerated in the next month.
Among the victims was Du Daobin, a prominent internet writer who was detained and then given a suspended sentence in 2004 for subversion. He was arrested this week accused of posting articles to foreign websites and meeting guests in violation of his probation, according to a number of activist groups abroad including Reporters without Borders.
His case comes on top of the jailing in March of Hu Jia, who was among the best known activists among the international community, and the detention last month of Huang Qi, another internet writer who criticised the government about building safety after the earthquake in his home province of Sichuan.
Other dissidents and human rights activists and lawyers have been warned to leave the city during the Games.
The three designated parks are Ritan Park in the east of the city, Shijie or World Park in Fengtai district to the south-west, and Zizhuyuan or Purple Bamboo Park in Haidian district to the north-west.
Ritan, or the Temple of the Sun Park is close to the British and other embassies, and is popular with both tourists and the many expatriates who live in the area.
The authorities have implemented strict security in advance of the Games, citing the dangers of terrorism and social disturbance, but have said this is in line with previous Olympics. This raised the pressure on them to allow a venue for demonstrations, which are strictly banned by the International Olympic Committee at all sporting venues but have customarily been allowed elsewhere.
Liu Shaowu, director of security for the Games, said that Chinese law allowed protests "as long as applications were made and approved in advance", a condition almost never met in the country.
"How to get approval for protests and what requirements are needed for people to participate in the protests will be explained to every applicant in the process of application," he said. "Normally we will ask people to go to the approved places for their demonstrations."
Mr Liu did not answer when asked whether both Chinese and foreign protesters could use the protest venues.
Numerous overseas groups have waged active campaigns around the Games, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters without Borders, and a variety of Tibet support groups.
But a tightening of visa restrictions, with some activists even turned back from the supposedly freer Hong Kong during the Olympic Torch relay, has made it more difficult to arrange protests during the Games themselves. Beijing is to set up three "protest pens" in parks around the city to cater for anyone brave enough to want to stage a demonstration d... more -
Warlords gang-rape 12-year-old girl, family threatens to commit mass suicide if j...
Uncle of the victim accuses the police chief to have links with the gunmen responsible for such crimes.
A 12-year old schoolgirl was gang-raped by five gunmen in Sarpul province in Northern Afghanistan.
The girl and her family asked Hamid Karzai to prosecute the rapists and take their case seriously. They threatened that if they are not provided justice, the whole family will commit mass suicide to get rid of such life. They say, the local authorities keep silence on such cases and did not act to arrest those responsible.
While crying, the rape victim told journalists that she was raped in a village called Baghabi in Sarpul province. She says five gunmen poured into their house in mid-night and after beating and abusing the family members, gang-raped her.
Ali Khan, uncle of the girl told Ariana TV that he has reported the case to the police and visited the police chief a number of times to ask for justice, but they do not pay attention to the issue and even abused and threatened him to be silent otherwise he will be jailed. He accuses the police chief to have links with the gunmen responsible for such crimes. But General Abdul Khaliq Samimi, police chief says they have arrested three people connected to the issue.
On February 18, 2008 a fourteen-year old girl named Bashira was gang-raped by three men in the same province. One of the rapists is Najibullah, the son of Haji Payinda, a member of parliament from Sar-e-Pul.
Sayed Noorullah, father of Bashira told Tolo TV on July 19, 2008 that the case against the rapist has not been followed property by the court, because the rapist is son of a member of parliament and they bribed the Forensic Medical Investigation department to show the 22-year-old rapist as being less than 18 to escape the charges based on law.
Sayed Noorullah threatened that if the rapists are not punished, he will become “a dangerous suicide bomber” and take revenge himself.
Gang-rape of young girls in the Northern provinces of Afghanistan by local warlords is very common but only few cases are reported by media, because it is usually risky for the journalists who report such issues. Uncle of the victim accuses the police chief to have links with the gunmen responsible for such crimes. ... more -
NY law to restrict violent video games
ALBANY, N.Y. - Gov. David Paterson signed a law Tuesday that he said will lead to restrictions on video game violence and help families better monitor grisly games.
The law will create an advisory council to study the effects of violent games on the children. It will also require parental controls on game consoles by 2010 and prominent displays of age ratings on game packages.
But critics say the bill is too vague and too watered down to accomplish its goal. And critics including the group Americans for Tax Reform contend that curbing video violence wasn't really the point in New York or nearly a dozen other states that enacted similar laws, only to see them struck down by courts as unconstitutional.
"It's moral preening," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. "The bill is unconstitutional and has been found that way in other states. And when the inevitable lawsuit comes, the state pays for everybody's legal expenses."
"The reason it is politically popular," he said, "Is the average citizen will read a headline that says, `State Legislature is against violence in children's video games.' They are unlikely to read a headline that says, `Legislature will waste $70,000 of your tax dollars.'"
"It also unfairly singles out the video game industry over all other forms of media," said Richard Taylor of the Entertainment Software Association. "If New York lawmakers feel it is the role of government to convene a government commission on game content, they could next turn to other content such as books, theater and film."
Violations of new labeling and parental control provisions in New York could result in $100 civil penalties. However, the parental controls and the voluntary ratings are already common in the industry.
Language making a felony of selling video games that are sexually explicit or contain depraved violence was lost during furious lobbying that derailed the bill in May 2007. That provision would have made the law among the strictest in the nation.
Then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer made a high priority of the issue in 2007 and it was the subject of several press conferences. The effort continued in the Legislature after Spitzer resigned in March after being disgraced in a prostitution investigation.
The new law was strongly supported in the Senate and Assembly this legislative election year.
The question was never whether to do something about video games that star automatic weapons and gore — that's been politically attractive for years, resulting in legislation in the other states besides New York. The question has always been how to do it without losing a constitutional challenge in the courts.
A prime sponsor, Republican Sen. Andrew Lanza of Staten Island, said the felony provision wouldn't have held up in court, but the remaining elements should stand and help limit access to the games. When the bill was passed this spring, Lanza said the criminal sanction sought by some is already addressed at least in part under pornography and other laws.
Most of the cities and states that have seen their regulations invalidated by courts tried to equate video violence with pornography and restricted the sale of the games to children. The courts have ruled the restrictions violated the U.S. Constitution's freedom of speech protections.
"New Yorkers do not need the state judging which video games are appropriate and which aren't," said New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman. "Parents, not government committees, should be responsible for making those judgments." ALBANY, N.Y. - Gov. David Paterson signed a law Tuesday that he said will lead to restrictions on video game violence and help familie... more -
Man overboard on gay cruise rescued, then shot, by police
A man who fell overboard from a gay cruise yacht was shot dead when he fought the police officers who had rescued him, according to news reports.
Steven Paul Hirschfield, 37, of Los Angeles had been at a yacht party, part of last weekend’s San Diego Pride celebrations, when he fell off the 222-ft vessel into San Diego Bay, reports the San Diego Union Tribune.
The Harbour Police were called and a police boat found Hirschfield about 500 ft south of the US Coast Guard Air Station.
Hirschfield boarded the boat and began fighting the two officers on board, knocking one to the deck. He then grabbed the officer’s taser gun and began striking him in the face with it. According to the Harbour Police report, Hirschfield then tried to take the officer’s firearm. As the two struggled over the gun, the second officer shot Hirschfield in the upper body, killing him.
The injured officer was taken to hospital with face and leg injuries.
San Diego Police are investigating the incident.
A man who fell overboard from a gay cruise yacht was shot dead when he fought the police officers who had rescued him, according to ne... more -
'Batman' accused of assaulting mom and sister
LONDON - Batman star Christian Bale was arrested Tuesday over allegations of assaulting his mother and sister, police and British media said.
British media had reported that Bale's mother and sister complained they were assaulted by the 34-year-old actor at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Sunday night, a day before the European premiere of his latest film, "The Dark Knight."
The women made the allegation at a local police station in southern England on Monday, Britain's Press Association news agency said.
Asked whether Bale had been arrested, a police spokesman did not refer to him by name but said: "A 34-year-old man attended a central London police station this morning by appointment and was arrested in connection with an allegation of assault." He said the man was still in custody but gave no further details.
The spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity because force policy did not authorize him to be identified. British police do not name suspects before they are formally charged.
U.S.-based representatives for Bale didn't immediately return messages seeking comment. Repeated phone calls to Bale's London representative went unanswered.
The Sun newspaper said police didn't question the actor Monday because they didn't want to interfere with the premiere of the movie.
Wales-born Bale first made a splash as the child star of Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" in 1987. His screen credits also include "American Psycho," "The Machinist" and "Batman Begins."
In "The Dark Knight," Bale reprises the role of wealthy playboy Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego Batman, a brooding vigilante superhero still scarred by the murder of his parents.
The film, which stars the late Heath Ledger as Batman's nemesis The Joker, took in a record $158.4 million at the box office in its opening weekend in the U.S. last week.
LONDON - Batman star Christian Bale was arrested Tuesday over allegations of assaulting his mother and sister, police and British medi... more -
McCanns may sue Portugese police
The parents of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from a holiday villa in Portugal last year, have suggested that they may take legal action against the police who handled their daughter's case.
Their lawyers will spend the next few weeks going over case files for unexplored leads in the case, to make a decision whether there is a case against them. The parents of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from a holiday villa in Portugal last year, have suggested that they may take legal a... more -
Fla. officer fired for demanding free coffee
An internal affairs report says a Daytona Beach police officer demanded free coffee and tea from a Starbucks and threatened employees with slower emergency response times if they refused.
Lt. Major Garvin, a 15-year veteran, was fired July 8. According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Chief Mike Chitwood says Garvin recently failed a polygraph test that he insisted on taking.
The coffeehouse's employees claim that since June 2007, Garvin had visited the store as many as six times a night while on duty. Besides demanding free drinks, workers complained that Garvin also cut in front of paying customers.
A telephone listing for Garvin could not be found. An internal affairs report says a Daytona Beach police officer demanded free coffee and tea from a Starbucks and threatened employees ... more -
26th Parallel: Video: Miami in the Early 80s
I received this interesting and very disturbing video below via e-mail several days. The 6+ minute video looks back at the crime wave which hit Miami in the late 70s and early 80s, right around the time of the infamous Time Magazine article "Paradise Lost". A central theme of the video is the supposed role played by Colombian drug traffickers and people who came to Miami via the Mariel boatlift of 1980 in the sharp increase in homicides during that era.
A little context: the video was posted by a group called Immigration Control Florida (ICF), whose opening paragraph on their website states:
ImmigrationControlFlorida.com / ICF requests that Americans join our group to support our stated goals to save America. Our group worked to stop the 125,000 Mariel Cuban refugees that illegally invaded Miami-Dade County that destroyed Miami with 50,000 murderers, psychopaths, criminals, criminally insane, hitmen, drug pushers, and enforcers making "Miami the murder capital of the world" with 615 murders in only 1 year with so many bodies that the Miami Medical Examiner had to rent a refrigerated truck to store the excess bodies at a cost of $150 million in 1 year making "Miami a 3rd World Country" ! (U.S.News & World Report -Jan.16, 1984 - page 29).
Let me make something totally clear: I am against illegal immigration, but ICF doesn't even try to conceal their disdain for any immigrant group, in particular Cubans from Mariel. Yes, there were criminals mixed in with regular folks who came over via Mariel. Yes, there was a strain on the services the Miami community could provide, but I don't know where and how ICF got the "50,000" number they use to slime an entire community. As we know, the collective group from Mariel has turned out to be yet another in the long tradition of Cuban-American success stories, despite the initial shock of Miami having to absorb 125,000 new arrivals in Miami in only a few short months.
In short, ICF sounds like nothing more than a bunch of bigots and racists who give reasonable folks' objections to illegal immigration a bad name (as well as provide unnecessary fodder to those who feel naturally inclined to bash anything resembling securing borders).
Some of the quotes in the video are quite over-the-top and no doubt representative of the ethnic conflict which gripped Miami during that time. Riots in Liberty City in 1980, Mariel a few months later, passing of "English Only" ordinances in Miami, huge law enforcement scandals. It was a pretty turbulent time. For those of you who weren't here during that time, it's worth your time to view the video below. For those of you who feel that Miami and South Florida are currently living through bad times never seen before, the video offers some much needed perspective.
H/T Rubio for the video.
(Note: make sure to identify the journalists in the video. It's a who's-who of local and national personalities). I received this interesting and very disturbing video below via e-mail several days. The 6+ minute video looks back at the crime wave ... more -
Missouri Man Ambushes Authorities; Kills Paramedic
Ryan Hummert, 22, was shot as he got out of a fire truck on Zephyr near Big Bend Blvd. According to officials, Hummert and his fellow firefighters were responding to a vehicle fire. When they arrived on scene, someone began firing shots at them. Hummert was hit.
Firefighters were pinned behind their fire truck for several hours. The gunman also shot two police officers who responded to the scene. One of those officers was treated and released. Hummert was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
(Taken from Fox 2 News- Saint Louis)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.kmov.com/video/topvideo-index.html?nvid=2651...
Check the video in the link for more details. I can say as a resident that this is one of the largest shows of police force in a long time. Possibly ever. The gunman has been presumed dead, reportedly inside the burning house while it was on fire.
When you live in a small town, you never expect something like this to happen. More often than not, however, it seems more and more violence has spilled over to the suburbs of America. I would like to know your opinions on this situation, as well as your opinions on violence in America. Ryan Hummert, 22, was shot as he got out of a fire truck on Zephyr near Big Bend Blvd. According to officials, Hummert and his fellow... more -
Victims of Maryland's police infiltration speak out
In classified reports compiled by the Maryland State Police and the Department of Homeland Security, I am "Dave Z." This nickname was given by an undercover agent known to us as "Lucy." She sat in our meetings of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, smiling and engaged, taking copious notes about actions deemed threatening by the Governor of Maryland, Robert Ehrlich. Our seditious crimes, as Lucy reported, involved such acts as planning to set up a table at the local farmer's market and writing up a petition. Adding a dash of farce to this outrage, she was monitoring us in the liberal enclave of Takoma Park, Maryland, a place known more for vegans than violence, more for tie-dying than terrorism..
Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act and the ACLU, we now know that "Lucy" was only one part of a vast, insidious project. The Maryland State Police's Department of Homeland Security devoted near 300 hours and thousands of taxpayer dollars from 2005 and 2006 to harassing people whose only crime was dissenting on the question of the war in Iraq and Maryland's use of death row.
My dear friend Mike Stark, a board member of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty is at times referred to in "Lucy's" report as a "socialist" and an "anarchist." One can only assume this is the pathetic time-honored tradition of reducing people to simple caricatures, all the better to garner Homeland Security grant money.
Veteran peace activist in Baltimore, Max Obuszewski, who initiated the suit, was as well consistently shadowed as he walked down the streets. His "primary crime" (their lingo) was entered into the homeland security database as "terrorism - anti govern(ment)." His "secondary crime" was listed as "terrorism - anti-war protestors." The database is known as the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA. Yes, a respected peace organizer of many decades standing is checked as a terrorist, his actions listed as criminal, for doing nothing more than exercising his rights. It boggles the mind.
Former police superintendent Tim Hutchins defended these totalitarian practices by saying, "You do what you think is best to protect the general populace of the state." (The article mentioned that Hutchins is now a federal defense contractor. I guess The Global War on Terror is just the gift that keeps on giving for the Hutchins family.)
But "protect the general populace" from what? The surveillance continued even after it was determined that we were planning nothing more dangerous that carrying clipboards in a public place. Hutchins and the Ehrlich administration have undertaken an ugly violation of our civil rights, manipulating fears of terrorism to stamp out dissent. In classified reports compiled by the Maryland State Police and the Department of Homeland Security, I am "Dave Z." This nickname was ... more -
Kate and Gerry McCann cleared over Madeleine disappearance
Gerry and Kate McCann were today cleared of involvement in the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine, due to a lack of evidence against them.
The Portuguese authorities announced that they have now lifted the status of arguidos - official suspects - from the couple.
Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman, says that the couple were “not surprised” by the news.
“There is a degree of relief but no air of celebration whatsoever,” he said. “They should never have been arguidos. The fact that they have emerged from this without being charged proves that." Gerry and Kate McCann were today cleared of involvement in the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine, due to a lack of evidence a... more -
Taser death ignites racial tensions
WINNFIELD, La. - At 1:28 p.m. last Jan. 17, Baron "Scooter" Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old man. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead.
What happened in the 39 minutes in between--during which Pikes was handcuffed by local police and shocked nine times with a Taser device, while reportedly pleading for mercy--is now spawning fears of a political cover-up in this backwoods Louisiana lumber town infamous for backroom dealings.
Even more ominously, because Pikes was black and the officer who repeatedly Tasered him is white, racial tensions over the case are mounting in a place that's just 40 miles from Jena, La. Jena is the site of the racially explosive prosecution of six black teenagers charged with beating a white youth that last year triggered one of the largest American civil rights demonstrations in decades. And in a bizarre coincidence, Pikes turns out to have been a first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena 6 case.
No novelist could have invented Winnfield, a place so steeped in corruption that they built a local museum to try to sanitize it all. WINNFIELD, La. - At 1:28 p.m. last Jan. 17, Baron "Scooter" Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old man. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead. ... more
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