“Do you want to continue to spend an average of $125 million a year on a system that's resulted in 13 executions since 1978, or would you rather change the maximum criminal sentence to life without parole and spend that excess money to hire teachers or put cops on the street?”
Fortunately there were enough Republican assembly committee members to block Berkeley Democrat state senator Loni Hancock’s loaded question from going before the California voters for at least another year. It figures that longtime death penalty opponent Gov. Moonbeam would pipe in on the side of the Berkeley Democrat’s attempt to kill the death penalty.
CALIFORNIA DEATH PENALTY BILL STALLS UNTIL NEXT YEAR
By Don Thompson
Associated Press
August 25, 2011
SACRAMENTO -- A legislative committee on Thursday shelved a bill that would have asked voters to close California's death row and replace capital punishment with life prison terms.
State Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, said she agreed to turn her SB490 into a two-year bill when she realized she didn't have the nine votes she needed to get her bill out of the 17-member Assembly Appropriations Committee to a vote by the full Assembly.
"This is going to be a process. This is a tough vote for a lot of people," Hancock said in a telephone interview. "The issue is not going away. There have been people across the state who are rallying to support it."
She said she and other proponents will keep lobbying lawmakers to approve the bill when it comes up again next year.
Hancock based her legislation in part on a recent study that found California has spent $184 million a year on death penalty cases and incarceration, yet puts to death relatively few condemned inmates.
The 714 prisoners on the nation's most populous death row are more likely to die of old age.
Thursday's delay came as Gov. Jerry Brown voiced support for putting "deep, troublesome issues" like capital punishment to a vote of the people, as Hancock's bill proposes.
Brown declined to comment directly on her bill.
"In general, I've said as a principle, that when we have deep, troublesome issues that create gridlock in the Legislature, going back to the people could be a way to break the gridlock," Brown said at a news conference he called to discuss a jobs creation proposal.
Brown, a Democrat, vetoed a death penalty bill in 1977 during his first stint as governor, though lawmakers overrode his veto. He enforced the state's death penalty law while he was state attorney general before he was elected to a third term as governor in November.
___
Associated Press writer Judy Lin contributed to this story.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
$100 TRAFFIC TICKET COULD CONCEIVABLY COST FLORIDA $157.5 MILLION
It never pays for a cop to get pissed off on the job!
CLASS ACTION SUIT SAYS FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL ILLEGALLY TICKETS MOTORISTS WHO WARN OTHERS ABOUT SPEED TRAPS
By Mike Deeson
WTSP.com
August 26, 2011
Tampa, Florida -- When the Florida Highway Patrol pulls someone over on the highway, it's usually because they were speeding.
But Eric Campbell was pulled over and ticketed while he was driving the speed limit.
Campbell says, "I was coming up the Veterans Expressway and I notice two Florida Highway Patrol Cars sitting on the side of the road in the median, with lights off."
Campbell says he did what he always does: flashed his lights on and off to warn drivers coming from the other direction that there was speed trap ahead.
According to Campbell, 60 seconds after passing the trooper, "They were on my tail and they pulled me over."
Campbell says the FHP trooper wrote him a ticket for improper flashing of high beams. Campbell says the trooper told him what he had done was illegal.
But later Campbell learned that is not the case. He filed a class action suit which says "Florida Statue 316.2397" -- under which Campbell was cited -- "does not prohibit the flashing of headlights as a means of communications, nor does it in any way reference flashing headlights or the use of high beams."
However, the FHP trooper who wrote the ticket either didn't know or didn't care. "You could tell in his voice he was upset," Campbell says. "He was professional, he wasn't rude... but you could tell he was irritated."
However, the lawsuit says the FHP is well aware they are wrongfully applying the state law and they are doing it as a means of generating revenue. In 2005, a court order was even issued saying the state law doesn't prohibit the flashing of vehicle headlights.
Campbell isn't the only one. Since 2005, FHP records show more than 10,429 drivers have been cited under the statute.
In addition to seeking the refund of the $100 ticket, the lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $15,000.
WHAT’S THAT COSTING YOU?
If each person illegally cited was awarded $15,000 that would be $156,435,000 in damages if the suit is successful. Then you would throw in at least another $1,042,900 in ticket refunds, all because it appears troopers don't like motorists warning others about speed traps.
Campbell says he felt as if the trooper thought it was a personal affront. According to Campbell, the trooper did not like the fact somebody was ratting him out.
The Florida Highway Patrol says it can't comment because of the pending lawsuit.
Campbell says FHP had no right to ticket him or anyone under the current law and he adds the agency is not being honest when it says it doesn't write tickets to increase revenue or punish people, but rather to get the motorist to slow down on the highway. If that were true, Campbell says the FHP should be delighted with him, because drivers did slow down before troopers could give them a ticket.
The suit evolved out the fact that Campbell says "I don't like what the government is dong especially now when most people have a hard time affording gas and now they have to defend themselves against a made up charge that doesn't exist."
The state will have to come up with the money for damages if the suit is successful, and guess where the money is coming from: your taxes.
CLASS ACTION SUIT SAYS FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL ILLEGALLY TICKETS MOTORISTS WHO WARN OTHERS ABOUT SPEED TRAPS
By Mike Deeson
WTSP.com
August 26, 2011
Tampa, Florida -- When the Florida Highway Patrol pulls someone over on the highway, it's usually because they were speeding.
But Eric Campbell was pulled over and ticketed while he was driving the speed limit.
Campbell says, "I was coming up the Veterans Expressway and I notice two Florida Highway Patrol Cars sitting on the side of the road in the median, with lights off."
Campbell says he did what he always does: flashed his lights on and off to warn drivers coming from the other direction that there was speed trap ahead.
According to Campbell, 60 seconds after passing the trooper, "They were on my tail and they pulled me over."
Campbell says the FHP trooper wrote him a ticket for improper flashing of high beams. Campbell says the trooper told him what he had done was illegal.
But later Campbell learned that is not the case. He filed a class action suit which says "Florida Statue 316.2397" -- under which Campbell was cited -- "does not prohibit the flashing of headlights as a means of communications, nor does it in any way reference flashing headlights or the use of high beams."
However, the FHP trooper who wrote the ticket either didn't know or didn't care. "You could tell in his voice he was upset," Campbell says. "He was professional, he wasn't rude... but you could tell he was irritated."
However, the lawsuit says the FHP is well aware they are wrongfully applying the state law and they are doing it as a means of generating revenue. In 2005, a court order was even issued saying the state law doesn't prohibit the flashing of vehicle headlights.
Campbell isn't the only one. Since 2005, FHP records show more than 10,429 drivers have been cited under the statute.
In addition to seeking the refund of the $100 ticket, the lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $15,000.
WHAT’S THAT COSTING YOU?
If each person illegally cited was awarded $15,000 that would be $156,435,000 in damages if the suit is successful. Then you would throw in at least another $1,042,900 in ticket refunds, all because it appears troopers don't like motorists warning others about speed traps.
Campbell says he felt as if the trooper thought it was a personal affront. According to Campbell, the trooper did not like the fact somebody was ratting him out.
The Florida Highway Patrol says it can't comment because of the pending lawsuit.
Campbell says FHP had no right to ticket him or anyone under the current law and he adds the agency is not being honest when it says it doesn't write tickets to increase revenue or punish people, but rather to get the motorist to slow down on the highway. If that were true, Campbell says the FHP should be delighted with him, because drivers did slow down before troopers could give them a ticket.
The suit evolved out the fact that Campbell says "I don't like what the government is dong especially now when most people have a hard time affording gas and now they have to defend themselves against a made up charge that doesn't exist."
The state will have to come up with the money for damages if the suit is successful, and guess where the money is coming from: your taxes.
OBITUARY
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and Maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
Common Sense is survived by 4 stepbrothers:
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and Maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
Common Sense is survived by 4 stepbrothers:
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim
Friday, August 26, 2011
PAY AT THE PUMP FOR MINIMUM AUTO LIABILITY COVERAGE
I often, but not always, disagree with Grits’ views. This is one of the exceptions. His 'pay at the pump' insurance is an excellent idea.
With respect to Obamacare, I doubt if the president ever gave a thought as to whether or not all the people required to buy health insurance would be able to afford the premiums.
MANDATING INSURANCE DOESN’T MEAN BROKE CONSUMERS CAN AFFORD IT
Grits For Breakfast
August 25, 2011
Critics of Obamacare need only look at the failure of the state of Texas' mandate that drivers buy auto coverage to see what a wrong-headed approach it is to require individuals to purchase insurance by law. Reports the Dallas News:
__More than one in five Texas motorists lack the insurance that state law requires and the ratio is virtually unchanged from a year ago, a blow to the state’s 3-year-old program to sharply reduce the number of uninsured drivers on the road.
__In addition, Dallas County continues to have the largest percentage of uninsured drivers among the state’s six largest counties, with 24.1 percent of cars and trucks lacking insurance coverage. That figure is down slightly from a year ago, state figures show.
__Although the TexasSure vehicle insurance verification program showed good results the first two years after it began in 2008, reducing the number of uninsured vehicles from 24.3 percent to 21.6 percent in 2010, new statistics compiled in July show that progress has stagnated.
__That means about 4.2 million drivers have no insurance, and law-abiding motorists shell out nearly $1 billion a year to protect themselves from damage done by drivers without insurance, state officials say.
It's no shock at all that no-insurance rates are going back up at the same time unemployment in Texas is rising. “I’m afraid insurance is down the list on necessities for many people,” Mark Hanna of the Insurance Council of Texas told the News. “A lot of people continue to drive around without insurance even though they know it’s against the law. But they’re willing to take their chances they won’t get caught.”
You can only mandate that people buy insurance in the private market if they have the money in their pocket to do so. If and when they don't, requiring insurance coverage - whether health insurance at the national level or auto insurance at the state level - is inevitably a doomed strategy, which is why this blog has long advocated a pay-at-the-pump approach to minimum liability coverage.
With respect to Obamacare, I doubt if the president ever gave a thought as to whether or not all the people required to buy health insurance would be able to afford the premiums.
MANDATING INSURANCE DOESN’T MEAN BROKE CONSUMERS CAN AFFORD IT
Grits For Breakfast
August 25, 2011
Critics of Obamacare need only look at the failure of the state of Texas' mandate that drivers buy auto coverage to see what a wrong-headed approach it is to require individuals to purchase insurance by law. Reports the Dallas News:
__More than one in five Texas motorists lack the insurance that state law requires and the ratio is virtually unchanged from a year ago, a blow to the state’s 3-year-old program to sharply reduce the number of uninsured drivers on the road.
__In addition, Dallas County continues to have the largest percentage of uninsured drivers among the state’s six largest counties, with 24.1 percent of cars and trucks lacking insurance coverage. That figure is down slightly from a year ago, state figures show.
__Although the TexasSure vehicle insurance verification program showed good results the first two years after it began in 2008, reducing the number of uninsured vehicles from 24.3 percent to 21.6 percent in 2010, new statistics compiled in July show that progress has stagnated.
__That means about 4.2 million drivers have no insurance, and law-abiding motorists shell out nearly $1 billion a year to protect themselves from damage done by drivers without insurance, state officials say.
It's no shock at all that no-insurance rates are going back up at the same time unemployment in Texas is rising. “I’m afraid insurance is down the list on necessities for many people,” Mark Hanna of the Insurance Council of Texas told the News. “A lot of people continue to drive around without insurance even though they know it’s against the law. But they’re willing to take their chances they won’t get caught.”
You can only mandate that people buy insurance in the private market if they have the money in their pocket to do so. If and when they don't, requiring insurance coverage - whether health insurance at the national level or auto insurance at the state level - is inevitably a doomed strategy, which is why this blog has long advocated a pay-at-the-pump approach to minimum liability coverage.
DEADLLY DESERT HEAT
Even some of the people living near the desert do not know how deadly it can be.
I remember when the heat killed two Riverside Sheriff’s deputies. They had driven down a remote desert canyon road in the Palm Springs area when their patrol car got stuck in the sand. The location inside the canyon prevented police radio dispatchers from receiving any calls for help they may have made. Instead of waiting by their car, they decided to hike out of the canyon. One made it only a short distance before he collapsed and the other officer only made it a little further before he died. They might have survived had they stayed by the patrol car because an aircraft search would have been started when dispatchers could no longer contact the two.
The two tourists would have been doomed even if they had remained by their car. It they did not tell anyone of the specific route they were taken, and they probably didn’t, no one would have started a search for them.
TWO TOURISTS KILLED BY HEAT STROKE AFTER GETTING OUT OF CAR TO GO FOR HELP IN CALIFORNIA DESERT
By Wil Longbottom
Mail Online
August 25, 2011
A Dutch music promoter and his German girlfriend died from heat stroke after apparently getting out of their car in the California desert to go for help.
Augustinus Van Hove, 44, and Helena Nuellet, 38, drove into Joshua Tree National Park before noon on Monday and took a remote, dirt road to head towards Arizona, according to police.
Nearly seven hours later, a couple visiting the park found Mr Van Hove's body on the edge of Black Eagle Mine Road.
Sheriff's deputies later found Ms Neullet's body around a mile away from her boyfriend, who was the director of 013 - a popular concert venue in the Netherlands.
The black Dodge Charger they were renting was found stranded around five miles away on the same road.
Temperatures during the day in the park topped 41 Celsius.
The road had signs warning drivers that it should only be for four-wheel-drive vehicles because they may run into soft sand, park spokesman Joe Zarki said.
He said it was possible the couple was trying to walk for help.
While an autopsy hasn't been completed, Riverside County Sheriff's Captain Raymond Gregory said evidence indicated the couple 'both succumbed due to exposure to the elements'.
Mr Zarki said: 'It doesn't take long to go from being in trouble to being in a life-threatening situation.
'Heat exhaustion or heat stroke could happen very quickly, you brain and body malfunctions seriously.'
Joshua Tree National Park sprawls over more than 1,200 square miles of the rugged Colorado and Mojave deserts. It attracts around 1.4million visitors a year.
Mr Zarki said many Europeans come to the park during the summer months, usually as part of a tour of U.S. national parks.
'You can anticipate that many of these folks don't have experience travelling in desert environments, it's possible they weren't fully prepared for the kind of conditions that you can get out here,' he said.
The park has brochures in several languages providing safety tips on travelling in the desert. Mr Zarki said heat-related emergencies rarely occured in the park.
I remember when the heat killed two Riverside Sheriff’s deputies. They had driven down a remote desert canyon road in the Palm Springs area when their patrol car got stuck in the sand. The location inside the canyon prevented police radio dispatchers from receiving any calls for help they may have made. Instead of waiting by their car, they decided to hike out of the canyon. One made it only a short distance before he collapsed and the other officer only made it a little further before he died. They might have survived had they stayed by the patrol car because an aircraft search would have been started when dispatchers could no longer contact the two.
The two tourists would have been doomed even if they had remained by their car. It they did not tell anyone of the specific route they were taken, and they probably didn’t, no one would have started a search for them.
TWO TOURISTS KILLED BY HEAT STROKE AFTER GETTING OUT OF CAR TO GO FOR HELP IN CALIFORNIA DESERT
By Wil Longbottom
Mail Online
August 25, 2011
A Dutch music promoter and his German girlfriend died from heat stroke after apparently getting out of their car in the California desert to go for help.
Augustinus Van Hove, 44, and Helena Nuellet, 38, drove into Joshua Tree National Park before noon on Monday and took a remote, dirt road to head towards Arizona, according to police.
Nearly seven hours later, a couple visiting the park found Mr Van Hove's body on the edge of Black Eagle Mine Road.
Sheriff's deputies later found Ms Neullet's body around a mile away from her boyfriend, who was the director of 013 - a popular concert venue in the Netherlands.
The black Dodge Charger they were renting was found stranded around five miles away on the same road.
Temperatures during the day in the park topped 41 Celsius.
The road had signs warning drivers that it should only be for four-wheel-drive vehicles because they may run into soft sand, park spokesman Joe Zarki said.
He said it was possible the couple was trying to walk for help.
While an autopsy hasn't been completed, Riverside County Sheriff's Captain Raymond Gregory said evidence indicated the couple 'both succumbed due to exposure to the elements'.
Mr Zarki said: 'It doesn't take long to go from being in trouble to being in a life-threatening situation.
'Heat exhaustion or heat stroke could happen very quickly, you brain and body malfunctions seriously.'
Joshua Tree National Park sprawls over more than 1,200 square miles of the rugged Colorado and Mojave deserts. It attracts around 1.4million visitors a year.
Mr Zarki said many Europeans come to the park during the summer months, usually as part of a tour of U.S. national parks.
'You can anticipate that many of these folks don't have experience travelling in desert environments, it's possible they weren't fully prepared for the kind of conditions that you can get out here,' he said.
The park has brochures in several languages providing safety tips on travelling in the desert. Mr Zarki said heat-related emergencies rarely occured in the park.
MICHIGAN APPELLATE COURT TURNS BACK 'INVASION OF POT SHOPS'
Finally a court seems to have acknowledged that medical marijuana is nothing more than a subterfuge for those wanting to cash in on the legalization of pot. I hope that Michigan’s local and state police forces will now crack down on the businesses that are selling pot and shut them down for the good of public safety.
The purveyors of pot are trying to make themselves look respectable by referring to medical marijuana as ‘meds.’ And the Michigan pot shop owners affected by the court ruling want the state to license pot pharmacies like the State of Colorado has done. Well folks, in Colorado, like in California, those licensed shops are dispensing pot to just about anyone who wants to smoke a joint because many doctors will prescribe marijuana to any ‘patient’ who complains they are not feeling well. And those Colorado and California businesses are making millions of dollars dispensing those ‘meds.’
MICHIGAN COURT BARS SALE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA
By Ed White, Jeff Karoub, and John Flesher
Associated Press
August 25, 2011
DETROIT — Medical marijuana cannot be sold through private shops, the Michigan appeals court said Wednesday in a major decision that strikes at businesses trying to cash in on pot and cuts off a source for people with chronic ailments.
A three-judge panel said the 2008 medical marijuana law, as well as the state's public health code, does not allow people to sell pot to each other, even if they're among the 99,500 who have state-issued marijuana cards.
The court said Compassionate Apothecary in Mount Pleasant, Mich., can be immediately shut down as a "public nuisance." The 3-0 decision means local authorities can pursue similar businesses, estimated at 200 to 300, in their communities.
It was not immediately clear whether they would, but state Attorney General Bill Schuette said he's notifying all 83 county prosecutors.
"This ruling is a huge victory for public safety and Michigan communities struggling with an invasion of pot shops near their schools, homes and churches," Schuette said in a statement. "The court echoed the concerns of law enforcement, clarifying that this law is narrowly focused to help the seriously ill, not the creation of a marijuana free-for-all."
Of course, not everyone shares that view. Chuck Ream, president of an Ann Arbor shop, called the ruling an "assault on democracy" nearly three years after voters approved marijuana as a way to relieve pain or other medical problems. He estimates that one-third of people with marijuana cards get pot through dispensaries, with others growing their own or getting it through a registered caregiver.
"If they want wheelchairs chained to every door at the Capitol, if they want to fight about this – oh, boy, they'll have a fight," said Ream of A2 Compassionate Healthcare. "There are a lot of people who don't want to be drooling idiots on Oxycontin. They've found a medicine that relieves their pain and makes them happy."
There is no dispute that the marijuana law makes no mention of dispensaries; it doesn't even indicate how people should get their dope. It says people can possess up to 2.5 ounces of "usable" pot and keep up to 12 plants in a locked place. A caregiver also can provide marijuana.
Compassionate Apothecary, and owners of the mid-Michigan company, claimed they weren't doing anything illegal because the law allows the "delivery" and "transfer" of marijuana. The business allows its 345 members to sell marijuana to each other, with the owners taking as much as a 20 percent cut. In less than three months, Compassionate Apothecary earned $21,000 before expenses after opening in May 2010.
"The `medical use' of marijuana does not include patient-to-patient `sales' of marijuana. Defendants, therefore, have no authority under the (law) to operate a marijuana dispensary that actively engages in and carries out patient-to-patient sales," said appeals court judges Joel Hoekstra, Christopher Murray and Cynthia Diane Stephens.
Compassionate Apothecary attorney John Lewis said the shop was still in business Wednesday but likely not for long.
"It's unfortunate for patients who benefit from medical marijuana. It's going to affect their access to an uninterrupted supply," Lewis said.
Ricky Lewis, 53, of Southgate said he's relied on a Detroit-area dispensary to ease symptoms of glaucoma. He said he can't afford to grow marijuana because lights add $300 to $400 to his monthly electricity bill.
When people are compelled to buy marijuana on the street, "you may not get what you need; you may get robbed," said Lewis, no relation to the attorney.
Corrina Neff, a board member with the nonprofit Weidman Compassion Club in Isabella County, said the phone was ringing nonstop Wednesday from people "freaking out, panicking, wondering where they're supposed to get their meds from."
"We're going to do everything we can to comply with the law, but I just can't say no to people who are really suffering," Neff said. "So I'm probably just going to give it to them for free and I'll have to offset my costs somewhere else."
Just this week, an ordinance took effect in Ann Arbor, a liberal college town, to license dispensaries. Many already operate there.
"How this works will have to be reviewed" because of the court ruling, city attorney Stephen Postema said.
Nick Tennant, who advises marijuana users at a Detroit-area trade school called Med Grow Cannabis College, said he wasn't surprised by the decision. Opening a shop, he said, was "extremely risky."
"Our law gives no specific guidelines to the operation of dispensaries – nothing. Other states do. Look at Colorado," Tennant said.
Indeed, medical marijuana is more than 10 years old in Colorado. On July 1, dozens of rules took effect there allowing and regulating the sale of pot at commercial businesses. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia allow the medical use of marijuana.
It was the first time the Michigan appeals court has ruled in a case involving medical pot sales. The state Supreme Court, meanwhile, has agreed to hear appeals on other aspects of the medical marijuana law.
"This law was poorly crafted, poorly written, and there have been some unintended consequences," Schuette, the attorney general, told The Associated Press.
The purveyors of pot are trying to make themselves look respectable by referring to medical marijuana as ‘meds.’ And the Michigan pot shop owners affected by the court ruling want the state to license pot pharmacies like the State of Colorado has done. Well folks, in Colorado, like in California, those licensed shops are dispensing pot to just about anyone who wants to smoke a joint because many doctors will prescribe marijuana to any ‘patient’ who complains they are not feeling well. And those Colorado and California businesses are making millions of dollars dispensing those ‘meds.’
MICHIGAN COURT BARS SALE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA
By Ed White, Jeff Karoub, and John Flesher
Associated Press
August 25, 2011
DETROIT — Medical marijuana cannot be sold through private shops, the Michigan appeals court said Wednesday in a major decision that strikes at businesses trying to cash in on pot and cuts off a source for people with chronic ailments.
A three-judge panel said the 2008 medical marijuana law, as well as the state's public health code, does not allow people to sell pot to each other, even if they're among the 99,500 who have state-issued marijuana cards.
The court said Compassionate Apothecary in Mount Pleasant, Mich., can be immediately shut down as a "public nuisance." The 3-0 decision means local authorities can pursue similar businesses, estimated at 200 to 300, in their communities.
It was not immediately clear whether they would, but state Attorney General Bill Schuette said he's notifying all 83 county prosecutors.
"This ruling is a huge victory for public safety and Michigan communities struggling with an invasion of pot shops near their schools, homes and churches," Schuette said in a statement. "The court echoed the concerns of law enforcement, clarifying that this law is narrowly focused to help the seriously ill, not the creation of a marijuana free-for-all."
Of course, not everyone shares that view. Chuck Ream, president of an Ann Arbor shop, called the ruling an "assault on democracy" nearly three years after voters approved marijuana as a way to relieve pain or other medical problems. He estimates that one-third of people with marijuana cards get pot through dispensaries, with others growing their own or getting it through a registered caregiver.
"If they want wheelchairs chained to every door at the Capitol, if they want to fight about this – oh, boy, they'll have a fight," said Ream of A2 Compassionate Healthcare. "There are a lot of people who don't want to be drooling idiots on Oxycontin. They've found a medicine that relieves their pain and makes them happy."
There is no dispute that the marijuana law makes no mention of dispensaries; it doesn't even indicate how people should get their dope. It says people can possess up to 2.5 ounces of "usable" pot and keep up to 12 plants in a locked place. A caregiver also can provide marijuana.
Compassionate Apothecary, and owners of the mid-Michigan company, claimed they weren't doing anything illegal because the law allows the "delivery" and "transfer" of marijuana. The business allows its 345 members to sell marijuana to each other, with the owners taking as much as a 20 percent cut. In less than three months, Compassionate Apothecary earned $21,000 before expenses after opening in May 2010.
"The `medical use' of marijuana does not include patient-to-patient `sales' of marijuana. Defendants, therefore, have no authority under the (law) to operate a marijuana dispensary that actively engages in and carries out patient-to-patient sales," said appeals court judges Joel Hoekstra, Christopher Murray and Cynthia Diane Stephens.
Compassionate Apothecary attorney John Lewis said the shop was still in business Wednesday but likely not for long.
"It's unfortunate for patients who benefit from medical marijuana. It's going to affect their access to an uninterrupted supply," Lewis said.
Ricky Lewis, 53, of Southgate said he's relied on a Detroit-area dispensary to ease symptoms of glaucoma. He said he can't afford to grow marijuana because lights add $300 to $400 to his monthly electricity bill.
When people are compelled to buy marijuana on the street, "you may not get what you need; you may get robbed," said Lewis, no relation to the attorney.
Corrina Neff, a board member with the nonprofit Weidman Compassion Club in Isabella County, said the phone was ringing nonstop Wednesday from people "freaking out, panicking, wondering where they're supposed to get their meds from."
"We're going to do everything we can to comply with the law, but I just can't say no to people who are really suffering," Neff said. "So I'm probably just going to give it to them for free and I'll have to offset my costs somewhere else."
Just this week, an ordinance took effect in Ann Arbor, a liberal college town, to license dispensaries. Many already operate there.
"How this works will have to be reviewed" because of the court ruling, city attorney Stephen Postema said.
Nick Tennant, who advises marijuana users at a Detroit-area trade school called Med Grow Cannabis College, said he wasn't surprised by the decision. Opening a shop, he said, was "extremely risky."
"Our law gives no specific guidelines to the operation of dispensaries – nothing. Other states do. Look at Colorado," Tennant said.
Indeed, medical marijuana is more than 10 years old in Colorado. On July 1, dozens of rules took effect there allowing and regulating the sale of pot at commercial businesses. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia allow the medical use of marijuana.
It was the first time the Michigan appeals court has ruled in a case involving medical pot sales. The state Supreme Court, meanwhile, has agreed to hear appeals on other aspects of the medical marijuana law.
"This law was poorly crafted, poorly written, and there have been some unintended consequences," Schuette, the attorney general, told The Associated Press.
IN ISRAEL "THERE IS MORE COURAGE IN ONE SMALL SQUARE MILE THAN IN ALL OF EUROPE"
It is really sad to see that most of America’s liberal Jews will not do what Glenn Beck and his fellow conservative Christians are doing: DEFENDING ISRAEL
GLENN BECK VOWS TO CONTINUE DEFENDING ISRAEL
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
August 25, 2011
American commentator Glenn Beck vowed at his "Restoring Courage" rally in Jerusalem on Wednesday to create a new global movement aimed at defending Israel against the hypocrisy of the UN and human rights groups.
Some 1,000 people - mostly American Christians - heard Beck live at the Southern Wall excavation site at the southern end of Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Many more watched his speech on large screens at Jerusalem's City Hall. There were also reportedly viewing parties around the world.
Hoping to inspire Israelis to resist the international community's cynical and dangerous agenda, Beck declared that in the Jewish state "there is more courage in one small square mile than in all of Europe."
Beck highlighted some of the horrible tragedies Israel has faced of late, like the massacre of the Fogel family in northern Samaria, and noted that despite it all, most Israelis do not lose hope.
In light of the incredible hatred Israel faces and the restraint of its responses, Beck said the UN and various human rights groups "are nearly comical in their double standards" toward Israel.
"These organizations have become bullies and grotesque parodies of what they claim to represent," said Beck. "The cause of human rights has been taken over by individuals who share little with those who originally led those movements."
Beck announced that Jerusalem was only the first stop on a new speaking tour and a new movement that will "take back the phrase 'human rights' and put it back where it belongs."
His next stop is South Africa, from where Beck will broadcast his television program and remind people of the horrors of true apartheid, simultaneously exposing the lie that Israel is imposing apartheid on the Palestinians.
From there, Beck will travel through South America before returning to Texas next week for another large-scale rally in defense of Israel.
Beck said he is going through all this effort because he noticed that too many Israelis were starting to believe the lies of the international community, and to believe that they must meet the demands of others in order to be accepted.
"Do not lose hope. Do not lose confidence in yourself. You must have courage. You must have knowledge that God led you to this land and that God is not a stranger to the children of Abraham," Beck said in closing.
GLENN BECK VOWS TO CONTINUE DEFENDING ISRAEL
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
August 25, 2011
American commentator Glenn Beck vowed at his "Restoring Courage" rally in Jerusalem on Wednesday to create a new global movement aimed at defending Israel against the hypocrisy of the UN and human rights groups.
Some 1,000 people - mostly American Christians - heard Beck live at the Southern Wall excavation site at the southern end of Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Many more watched his speech on large screens at Jerusalem's City Hall. There were also reportedly viewing parties around the world.
Hoping to inspire Israelis to resist the international community's cynical and dangerous agenda, Beck declared that in the Jewish state "there is more courage in one small square mile than in all of Europe."
Beck highlighted some of the horrible tragedies Israel has faced of late, like the massacre of the Fogel family in northern Samaria, and noted that despite it all, most Israelis do not lose hope.
In light of the incredible hatred Israel faces and the restraint of its responses, Beck said the UN and various human rights groups "are nearly comical in their double standards" toward Israel.
"These organizations have become bullies and grotesque parodies of what they claim to represent," said Beck. "The cause of human rights has been taken over by individuals who share little with those who originally led those movements."
Beck announced that Jerusalem was only the first stop on a new speaking tour and a new movement that will "take back the phrase 'human rights' and put it back where it belongs."
His next stop is South Africa, from where Beck will broadcast his television program and remind people of the horrors of true apartheid, simultaneously exposing the lie that Israel is imposing apartheid on the Palestinians.
From there, Beck will travel through South America before returning to Texas next week for another large-scale rally in defense of Israel.
Beck said he is going through all this effort because he noticed that too many Israelis were starting to believe the lies of the international community, and to believe that they must meet the demands of others in order to be accepted.
"Do not lose hope. Do not lose confidence in yourself. You must have courage. You must have knowledge that God led you to this land and that God is not a stranger to the children of Abraham," Beck said in closing.
RETIRED COPS
There is a high rate of suicides among cops after they retire. They just can’t let go. I’ve seen retired cops hang around police stations and their former units almost on a daily basis. At first the working cops welcome them, but after a time the welcome mat wears pretty thin. His former buddies would just as soon he’d stay home. It is then that the retiree is most at risk for suicide. That is why some retired cops badly need the availability of support groups.
A law enforcement buddy sent me a great description of retired cops. He wrote: “A friend of mine retired today. At the bottom of his email he attached this...”
Once the badge goes on, it never comes off, whether they can see it, or not. It fuses to the soul through adversity, fear and adrenaline and no one who has ever worn it with pride, integrity and guts, can ever sleep through the 'call of the wild' that wafts through bedroom windows in the deep of the night.
When a good cop leaves the 'job' and retires to a better life, many are jealous, some are pleased and yet others, who may have already retired, wonder. We wonder if he knows what he is leaving behind, because we already know. We know, for example, that after a lifetime of camaraderie that few experience, it will remain as a longing for those past times. We know in the law enforcement life there is a fellowship which lasts long after the gun belt is hung up in the back of the closet. We know even if he throws it away, it will be on him with every step and breath that remains in his life. We also know how the very bearing of the man speaks of what he was and in his heart still is.
These are the burdens of the job. You will still look at people suspiciously, still see what others do not see or choose to ignore and always will look at the rest of the law enforcement world with a respect for what they do; only grown in a lifetime of knowing. Never think for one moment you are escaping from that life. You are only escaping the 'job' and merely being allowed to leave 'active' duty.
So what I wish for you is that as you ease into retirement, in your heart you never forget for one moment that 'Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called children of God,' and you are still a member of the greatest fraternity the world has ever known.
A law enforcement buddy sent me a great description of retired cops. He wrote: “A friend of mine retired today. At the bottom of his email he attached this...”
Once the badge goes on, it never comes off, whether they can see it, or not. It fuses to the soul through adversity, fear and adrenaline and no one who has ever worn it with pride, integrity and guts, can ever sleep through the 'call of the wild' that wafts through bedroom windows in the deep of the night.
When a good cop leaves the 'job' and retires to a better life, many are jealous, some are pleased and yet others, who may have already retired, wonder. We wonder if he knows what he is leaving behind, because we already know. We know, for example, that after a lifetime of camaraderie that few experience, it will remain as a longing for those past times. We know in the law enforcement life there is a fellowship which lasts long after the gun belt is hung up in the back of the closet. We know even if he throws it away, it will be on him with every step and breath that remains in his life. We also know how the very bearing of the man speaks of what he was and in his heart still is.
These are the burdens of the job. You will still look at people suspiciously, still see what others do not see or choose to ignore and always will look at the rest of the law enforcement world with a respect for what they do; only grown in a lifetime of knowing. Never think for one moment you are escaping from that life. You are only escaping the 'job' and merely being allowed to leave 'active' duty.
So what I wish for you is that as you ease into retirement, in your heart you never forget for one moment that 'Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called children of God,' and you are still a member of the greatest fraternity the world has ever known.
LOW-RISK, NON-VIOLENT, NON-REVOKABLE PAROLEE
It’s not the parolee’s fault. The alcohol made him do it. And I’ll bet the pre-release computer analysis showed him to be a Boy Scout.
DRUNKEN PAROLEE STEALS, GROUNDS BOAT
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
August 25, 2011
A drunken parolee stole a nice 32-foot boat and ran it up onto the beach last night at Seal Beach.
John Maxedone, 51, who was on parole for vehicle theft, was arrested shortly after the incident. Maxedone is currently a guest at the Orange County Hospitality Center in lieu of $50,000 bail. I noticed the Orange County Register story does not mention a parole hold, so I guess that stealing and damaging a boat while drunk is a non-serious non-violent technical offense and no big deal. I wonder if the boat owner’s insurance carrier will agree?
DRUNKEN PAROLEE STEALS, GROUNDS BOAT
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
August 25, 2011
A drunken parolee stole a nice 32-foot boat and ran it up onto the beach last night at Seal Beach.
John Maxedone, 51, who was on parole for vehicle theft, was arrested shortly after the incident. Maxedone is currently a guest at the Orange County Hospitality Center in lieu of $50,000 bail. I noticed the Orange County Register story does not mention a parole hold, so I guess that stealing and damaging a boat while drunk is a non-serious non-violent technical offense and no big deal. I wonder if the boat owner’s insurance carrier will agree?
Thursday, August 25, 2011
PASADENA, TEXAS WOMEN COPS VS. PASADENA, CALIFORNIA WOMEN COPS
Bob Walsh and I were discussing a video we both saw of a young woman’s awful shooting techniques on a firing range.
Bob said, “For what it may be worth, years ago I was talking to a range master from Pasadena [California] and he related an interesting firing range accident with a female cop. A hot ejected shell case flipped down into her shirt front and it got caught in her bra. She started jumping around with a live weapon in her hand, fired two rounds in the process and leg-shot another shooter on the line.”
I told Bob that we have a City of Pasadena just a few miles from where I live and that our tough Texas women cops, unlike that sissy California cop, would have just shrugged off that hot shell case in their bras, that is if they were even wearing a bra.
Bob said, “For what it may be worth, years ago I was talking to a range master from Pasadena [California] and he related an interesting firing range accident with a female cop. A hot ejected shell case flipped down into her shirt front and it got caught in her bra. She started jumping around with a live weapon in her hand, fired two rounds in the process and leg-shot another shooter on the line.”
I told Bob that we have a City of Pasadena just a few miles from where I live and that our tough Texas women cops, unlike that sissy California cop, would have just shrugged off that hot shell case in their bras, that is if they were even wearing a bra.
BREAKING NEWS
President Obama has just confirmed that the earthquake that struck Virginia and DC occurred on a rare and obscure fault-line, apparently known as "Bush's Fault."
Obama also announced that the Secret Service, the FBI and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano are conducting an investigation of the quake's suspicious ties to the Tea Party.
Conservative researchers, however, have just proven that the quake was caused by the founding fathers rolling over in their graves.
__Disassociated Press
Obama also announced that the Secret Service, the FBI and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano are conducting an investigation of the quake's suspicious ties to the Tea Party.
Conservative researchers, however, have just proven that the quake was caused by the founding fathers rolling over in their graves.
__Disassociated Press
A LOADED QUESTION DESIGNED TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY
“Do you want to continue to spend an average of $125 million a year on a system that's resulted in 13 executions since 1978, or would you rather change the maximum criminal sentence to life without parole and spend that excess money to hire teachers or put cops on the street?”
That’s what state senator Loni Hancock, a Democrat from Berkeley, wants to put before California voters. What person in his right mind wouldn’t vote to abolish the death penalty when the ballot measure is worded like that. I sure do hope the California senate will have the good sense to reject this Berkeley Democrat's bill.
Even the authors of the study that led to Hancock’s apoplectic reaction do not call for the abolition of the death penalty. They want to reform the system that leads to endless appeals and years and years on death row. When a murderer is sentenced to death under the current system in California there will be no end in sight for the final disposition.
THE COSTLIEST EXECUTIONS IN AMERICA
By Timm Herdt
Ventura County Star
August 23, 2011
Judge Arthur Alarcon, 86, has arguably had more experience dealing with the death penalty than anyone in California. He was a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County for a decade, advised Gov. Pat Brown on clemency appeals, chaired the state parole board, spent 15 years as a Superior Court judge and, since 1979, has been a federal appeals court judge.
So he speaks with some authority when he renders his verdict on it. He calls it a "multibillion-dollar debacle."
In June, Alarcon and law professor Paula Mitchell published the first comprehensive study to detail the total costs of prosecuting and litigating death-penalty cases in California and of incarcerating those sentenced to Death Row.
Their conclusion: Since capital punishment was reinstated in California in 1978, it has cost taxpayers $4 billion over and above what it would have cost had the maximum punishment been life in prison without possibility of parole.
Further, the state is poised to spend nearly $1 billion on a new Death Row that is designed to house 1,000 condemned inmates and is likely to be filled to capacity by 2014.
The study's conclusion and its timing hit Senate Public Safety Committee Chairwoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, like a lightning bolt. She'd just been through another round of massive budget cuts, having voted to slash state support for public universities, cut holes in the public safety net and reduce funding for the day-to-day operations of the courts.
She quickly put together a bill that, if approved, would ask California voters this question: Do you want to continue to spend an average of $125 million a year on a system that's resulted in 13 executions since 1978, or would you rather change the maximum criminal sentence to life without parole and spend that excess money to hire teachers or put cops on the street?
The bill has the potential to become the brightest flash point of the final two and a half weeks of this year's legislative session, which will end Sept. 9. Whether it becomes that will be decided Thursday, when the Assembly Appropriations Committee will decide whether to allow Hancock's SB 490 and 110 other bills to pass through its legislative bottleneck.
On Tuesday, Hancock invited Alarcon and Mitchell to the Capitol to make the first public presentation on their findings before her committee.
If she was expecting an over-the-top endorsement of her bill, she didn't get it.
Alarcon did, in fact, recite all the particulars of his indictment of a dysfunctional system.
Because the state does not spend enough on lawyers to handle death penalty appeals, he noted, the backlog in California is three times the national average. Because the state requires direct appeal to the Supreme Court, death penalty cases make up 20 percent of the court's workload. It takes four or five years just to appoint a defense attorney to handle the initial appeal, and another three years or more to appoint counsel for habeas corpus proceedings.
"The cost of maintaining the death penalty has become an onerous financial burden on California taxpayers," he testified.
But Alarcon offered some ideas other than abolishing capital punishment: amend the Constitution to allow appellate courts to handle capital appeals; change the evidentiary standards so that prosecutors could seek the death penalty only when they have extraordinarily strong evidence such as DNA samples; put an extra $85 million a year into hiring attorneys at the state's Habeas Corpus Research Center.
The bottom line of Alarcon's and Mitchell's findings is that the system is horribly broken and has become a bottomless money pit. It has become, they write, "the most expensive and least effective death penalty law in the nation."
Because voters established it, only voters can fix it. And voters can't be expected to make sound decisions unless they know all the facts — and until now, no one has ever told them how much it costs.
Mitchell testified that every time Californians have been presented with a ballot initiative to expand the circumstances under which the death penalty can be sought, the fiscal analysis in the official voter pamphlet has told them the costs would be insignificant. Each time, she said, they were misinformed.
The point of the study, Alarcon said, is to initiate a fact-based discussion so that Californians can do their own cost-benefit analysis of the death penalty. "It's so voters know the truth," he said, "so they can make an informed decision whether they want to continue a dysfunctional system or replace it with something else."
That’s what state senator Loni Hancock, a Democrat from Berkeley, wants to put before California voters. What person in his right mind wouldn’t vote to abolish the death penalty when the ballot measure is worded like that. I sure do hope the California senate will have the good sense to reject this Berkeley Democrat's bill.
Even the authors of the study that led to Hancock’s apoplectic reaction do not call for the abolition of the death penalty. They want to reform the system that leads to endless appeals and years and years on death row. When a murderer is sentenced to death under the current system in California there will be no end in sight for the final disposition.
THE COSTLIEST EXECUTIONS IN AMERICA
By Timm Herdt
Ventura County Star
August 23, 2011
Judge Arthur Alarcon, 86, has arguably had more experience dealing with the death penalty than anyone in California. He was a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County for a decade, advised Gov. Pat Brown on clemency appeals, chaired the state parole board, spent 15 years as a Superior Court judge and, since 1979, has been a federal appeals court judge.
So he speaks with some authority when he renders his verdict on it. He calls it a "multibillion-dollar debacle."
In June, Alarcon and law professor Paula Mitchell published the first comprehensive study to detail the total costs of prosecuting and litigating death-penalty cases in California and of incarcerating those sentenced to Death Row.
Their conclusion: Since capital punishment was reinstated in California in 1978, it has cost taxpayers $4 billion over and above what it would have cost had the maximum punishment been life in prison without possibility of parole.
Further, the state is poised to spend nearly $1 billion on a new Death Row that is designed to house 1,000 condemned inmates and is likely to be filled to capacity by 2014.
The study's conclusion and its timing hit Senate Public Safety Committee Chairwoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, like a lightning bolt. She'd just been through another round of massive budget cuts, having voted to slash state support for public universities, cut holes in the public safety net and reduce funding for the day-to-day operations of the courts.
She quickly put together a bill that, if approved, would ask California voters this question: Do you want to continue to spend an average of $125 million a year on a system that's resulted in 13 executions since 1978, or would you rather change the maximum criminal sentence to life without parole and spend that excess money to hire teachers or put cops on the street?
The bill has the potential to become the brightest flash point of the final two and a half weeks of this year's legislative session, which will end Sept. 9. Whether it becomes that will be decided Thursday, when the Assembly Appropriations Committee will decide whether to allow Hancock's SB 490 and 110 other bills to pass through its legislative bottleneck.
On Tuesday, Hancock invited Alarcon and Mitchell to the Capitol to make the first public presentation on their findings before her committee.
If she was expecting an over-the-top endorsement of her bill, she didn't get it.
Alarcon did, in fact, recite all the particulars of his indictment of a dysfunctional system.
Because the state does not spend enough on lawyers to handle death penalty appeals, he noted, the backlog in California is three times the national average. Because the state requires direct appeal to the Supreme Court, death penalty cases make up 20 percent of the court's workload. It takes four or five years just to appoint a defense attorney to handle the initial appeal, and another three years or more to appoint counsel for habeas corpus proceedings.
"The cost of maintaining the death penalty has become an onerous financial burden on California taxpayers," he testified.
But Alarcon offered some ideas other than abolishing capital punishment: amend the Constitution to allow appellate courts to handle capital appeals; change the evidentiary standards so that prosecutors could seek the death penalty only when they have extraordinarily strong evidence such as DNA samples; put an extra $85 million a year into hiring attorneys at the state's Habeas Corpus Research Center.
The bottom line of Alarcon's and Mitchell's findings is that the system is horribly broken and has become a bottomless money pit. It has become, they write, "the most expensive and least effective death penalty law in the nation."
Because voters established it, only voters can fix it. And voters can't be expected to make sound decisions unless they know all the facts — and until now, no one has ever told them how much it costs.
Mitchell testified that every time Californians have been presented with a ballot initiative to expand the circumstances under which the death penalty can be sought, the fiscal analysis in the official voter pamphlet has told them the costs would be insignificant. Each time, she said, they were misinformed.
The point of the study, Alarcon said, is to initiate a fact-based discussion so that Californians can do their own cost-benefit analysis of the death penalty. "It's so voters know the truth," he said, "so they can make an informed decision whether they want to continue a dysfunctional system or replace it with something else."
THANK GOD HE WASN'T HUNTING WABBITS ON THE FWEEWAY
Them soles must have smoked big time.
THTHTHTHAT’S ALL FOLKS
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen
politicalmavens.com
August 24, 2011
Whoever said the media has no impact on people’s behavior, hasn’t read about the Michigan man who just this week tried to stop his vehicle with his feet – Flintstone style.
Evidently a police video camera captured images of the 24-year-old Detroit-area man who tried “using his feet to stop a runaway pickup truck with faulty brakes,” causing several crashes, Associated Press reported.
A.P. reports that after the man’s vehicle’s brakes failed on a busy street near Detroit, he “continued driving and stuck his feet outside the car to stop it.”
Isn’t it clear the kid has watched too much TV?
Witnesses reportedly said the man reached speeds of about 40 mph and eventually struck four vehicles, the story notes.
“This guy’s no rocket scientist,” the police chief there said. “Citizens were calling in saying this guy is all over the road, using his feet.”
He struck two vehicles after being unable to stop at a red light, and continued on, the story says. An officer who pulled next to him suggested he shift into “park,” but that didn’t work and he hit two more vehicles before the car stopped.
“He said he was going to fix the brakes when he got home,” the chief said.
The man was arrested for driving on a suspended license and reckless driving and is now scheduled “to explain his moronic decision making” during a court hearing next month.
All I can say is thank heaven the guy wasn’t hunting wabbits on the freeway or something.
THTHTHTHAT’S ALL FOLKS
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen
politicalmavens.com
August 24, 2011
Whoever said the media has no impact on people’s behavior, hasn’t read about the Michigan man who just this week tried to stop his vehicle with his feet – Flintstone style.
Evidently a police video camera captured images of the 24-year-old Detroit-area man who tried “using his feet to stop a runaway pickup truck with faulty brakes,” causing several crashes, Associated Press reported.
A.P. reports that after the man’s vehicle’s brakes failed on a busy street near Detroit, he “continued driving and stuck his feet outside the car to stop it.”
Isn’t it clear the kid has watched too much TV?
Witnesses reportedly said the man reached speeds of about 40 mph and eventually struck four vehicles, the story notes.
“This guy’s no rocket scientist,” the police chief there said. “Citizens were calling in saying this guy is all over the road, using his feet.”
He struck two vehicles after being unable to stop at a red light, and continued on, the story says. An officer who pulled next to him suggested he shift into “park,” but that didn’t work and he hit two more vehicles before the car stopped.
“He said he was going to fix the brakes when he got home,” the chief said.
The man was arrested for driving on a suspended license and reckless driving and is now scheduled “to explain his moronic decision making” during a court hearing next month.
All I can say is thank heaven the guy wasn’t hunting wabbits on the freeway or something.
ADIOS BOSS, WE'RE OUT OF HERE
Did you see the TV news showing Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance holding a press conference when the earthquake struck? He was standing behind a podium on a stage with six or seven of his staff standing behind him. The moment they felt the quake, they scattered from the stage like rabbits, leaving their boss standing there by himself, with the startled gaze of a deer caught in a car’s headlights.
I guess you can forgive New Yorkers and others on the East Coast for going into panic mode when they felt that earthquake. After all, unlike California, the eastern seaboard is not used to those movers and shakers. When I lived in Riverside, hardly a month went by when we didn’t have a rock and roll experience. Most of those were so minor that we never bothered to pay any attention to them. A few were around the 5.8 magnitude experienced by them Yankees, but after catching your breath, you just shrugged them off.
There’s no running out in the streets like scared rabbits when some slight movers and shakers hit in California.
I guess you can forgive New Yorkers and others on the East Coast for going into panic mode when they felt that earthquake. After all, unlike California, the eastern seaboard is not used to those movers and shakers. When I lived in Riverside, hardly a month went by when we didn’t have a rock and roll experience. Most of those were so minor that we never bothered to pay any attention to them. A few were around the 5.8 magnitude experienced by them Yankees, but after catching your breath, you just shrugged them off.
There’s no running out in the streets like scared rabbits when some slight movers and shakers hit in California.
HMMM, WHAT KIND OF DOPE HAD HE BEEN SMOKING?
Could this urban nudist have been smoking a little too much pot or PCP? Or was it just a bad LSD trip? Then again, in San Francisco, running around naked would have been perfectly normal.
NAKED MAN ‘WENT FROM DOOR TO DOOR STABBING WHOEVER ANSWERED’ AFTER GOING BERSERK IN NEW YORK
By Leon Watson
Mail Online
August 24, 2011
A naked madman brandishing a six-inch kitchen knife went on the rampage in a New York apartment block today killing one person and injuring four others.
Victims of the maniac - who is believed to have knocked on doors and attacked whoever answered - included three women aged 60 to 85.
A 22-year-old woman was also punched and 81-year-old Ignacio Reyes-Collazo was killed.
The attacker then turned the blade on himself, police said.
It happened in the Washington Heights neighbourhood of upper Manhattan at around 4.30pm local time.
The suspect has been identified by police as 23-year-old Christian Fallero.
He was arrested at around 5.15pm and has been charged with second-degree murder and robbery.
Witness Adolfo Benitez, who works in a building nearby, said: 'I saw some naked guy running down the street with a knife, it was five or six inches long, a kitchen knife.'
Another bystander said one of the victims was a grandmother who lived in the same building as the suspect.
NAKED MAN ‘WENT FROM DOOR TO DOOR STABBING WHOEVER ANSWERED’ AFTER GOING BERSERK IN NEW YORK
By Leon Watson
Mail Online
August 24, 2011
A naked madman brandishing a six-inch kitchen knife went on the rampage in a New York apartment block today killing one person and injuring four others.
Victims of the maniac - who is believed to have knocked on doors and attacked whoever answered - included three women aged 60 to 85.
A 22-year-old woman was also punched and 81-year-old Ignacio Reyes-Collazo was killed.
The attacker then turned the blade on himself, police said.
It happened in the Washington Heights neighbourhood of upper Manhattan at around 4.30pm local time.
The suspect has been identified by police as 23-year-old Christian Fallero.
He was arrested at around 5.15pm and has been charged with second-degree murder and robbery.
Witness Adolfo Benitez, who works in a building nearby, said: 'I saw some naked guy running down the street with a knife, it was five or six inches long, a kitchen knife.'
Another bystander said one of the victims was a grandmother who lived in the same building as the suspect.
SEPTEMBER 11 TO BE RACIAL PROFILING DAY
A 9/11 anniversary news scoop that only The Onion was able to get.
DHS ANNOUNCES RACIAL PROFILING FREE-FOR-ALL THIS SEPT. 11
The Onion
August 22, 2011
WASHINGTON—Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Thursday that the Transportation Security Administration, the Border Patrol, and all levels of U.S. law enforcement would be engaging in an all-out nationwide racial profiling binge on Sunday, Sept. 11.
"If you have curly hair, a beard of any kind, or so much as a hint of a foreign accent, get ready, because you will definitely be interrogated," said Napolitano, cautioning those with surnames longer than five syllables or containing Z's not to even look at a plane that day unless they wanted to spend an extra five hours held up at security. "My advice to anyone with even the slightest amount of melanin in their skin is just to stay inside and wait it out, because we're going to be handing out pat-downs and full-on detentions like there's no tomorrow."
Saying the success of the racial profiling spree would rely largely on public vigilance, Napolitano called on Americans to take note of anyone who looked different from themselves and either report such persons to authorities or "just take them down yourself."
DHS ANNOUNCES RACIAL PROFILING FREE-FOR-ALL THIS SEPT. 11
The Onion
August 22, 2011
WASHINGTON—Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Thursday that the Transportation Security Administration, the Border Patrol, and all levels of U.S. law enforcement would be engaging in an all-out nationwide racial profiling binge on Sunday, Sept. 11.
"If you have curly hair, a beard of any kind, or so much as a hint of a foreign accent, get ready, because you will definitely be interrogated," said Napolitano, cautioning those with surnames longer than five syllables or containing Z's not to even look at a plane that day unless they wanted to spend an extra five hours held up at security. "My advice to anyone with even the slightest amount of melanin in their skin is just to stay inside and wait it out, because we're going to be handing out pat-downs and full-on detentions like there's no tomorrow."
Saying the success of the racial profiling spree would rely largely on public vigilance, Napolitano called on Americans to take note of anyone who looked different from themselves and either report such persons to authorities or "just take them down yourself."
HONESTY LEADS TO MAN'S DEATH ON GOLF COURSE
A foursome is waiting at the men's tee while a foursome of women is hitting from the ladies' tee. The ladies are taking their time.
When the final lady is ready to hit her ball, she hacks it 10 feet. Then she goes over and whiffs it completely. Then she hacks it another ten feet and finally hacks it another five feet. She looks up at the waiting men and says apologetically, "I guess all those fucking lessons I took over the winter didn't help."
One of the men immediately responds, "Well, there you have it. You should have taken golf lessons instead!"
Whack! Crack! Squish! He never even had a chance to duck. He was only 43.
When the final lady is ready to hit her ball, she hacks it 10 feet. Then she goes over and whiffs it completely. Then she hacks it another ten feet and finally hacks it another five feet. She looks up at the waiting men and says apologetically, "I guess all those fucking lessons I took over the winter didn't help."
One of the men immediately responds, "Well, there you have it. You should have taken golf lessons instead!"
Whack! Crack! Squish! He never even had a chance to duck. He was only 43.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
PHONY PRO-POT TAX BONANZA CLAIMS
Besides the usual ‘marijuana is less harmful than alcohol’ crap, the most consistent argument by the pro-pot crowd for legalizing marijuana is that if pot were legal it can be taxed and fill America’s local, state and federal coffers with billions of dollars. If you believe that malarkey, take a look at this from the Summer, 2011 issue of The California Narcotic Officer:
According to the National Institute of Health, if marijuana is legalized we can we can expect an increase in the current 16.7 million Americans age 12 and older using marijuana. They estimate these figures to be around 24 million if and when marijuana becomes legal. According to the American Council For Drug Education, there were approximately 47 million tobacco users in America. If we took the early report which indicated that tobacco use costs the American public $72.7 billion yearly, it would not be difficult to assume that marijuana use would increase that to over $100 billion in health care related costs. In California that would be an increase on the taxpayer by approximately 10 percent; conservatively, about $4 billion annually. This brings the cost of legalizing marijuana to the California taxpayer of $2.3 billion annually in health care costs, after we subtract the $1.7 billion in tax generated revenue. Beyond the monetary issues, though, are those of the health and safety of society.
[Legalization] will encourage our students, teachers, business men and women, heavy machine operators and emergency services [fire and police] to possess and use marijuana. We will see a rise in marijuana use and subsequent addiction. Since drug addiction is a major factor in the rise of crime and blight in many communities, we will see an increase in criminal activity. The resulting increase in our prison population with marijuana addiction will affect counseling, rehabilitation, psychiatric care and medical costs.
According to Allan Zaremberg, the President of the California Chamber of Commerce, California’s medical marijuana laws and future marijuana legalization laws will drastically affect the state’s workmen’s compensation for the public, private, law enforcement and other public safety entities. A majority of these laws currently have what they call “zero tolerance” policies of drug use in the workplace. However, when marijuana legalization is passed, these laws will have to change. The medical marijuana laws have clouded what used to be a clear cut issue for workers and employers.
According to the National Institute of Health, if marijuana is legalized we can we can expect an increase in the current 16.7 million Americans age 12 and older using marijuana. They estimate these figures to be around 24 million if and when marijuana becomes legal. According to the American Council For Drug Education, there were approximately 47 million tobacco users in America. If we took the early report which indicated that tobacco use costs the American public $72.7 billion yearly, it would not be difficult to assume that marijuana use would increase that to over $100 billion in health care related costs. In California that would be an increase on the taxpayer by approximately 10 percent; conservatively, about $4 billion annually. This brings the cost of legalizing marijuana to the California taxpayer of $2.3 billion annually in health care costs, after we subtract the $1.7 billion in tax generated revenue. Beyond the monetary issues, though, are those of the health and safety of society.
[Legalization] will encourage our students, teachers, business men and women, heavy machine operators and emergency services [fire and police] to possess and use marijuana. We will see a rise in marijuana use and subsequent addiction. Since drug addiction is a major factor in the rise of crime and blight in many communities, we will see an increase in criminal activity. The resulting increase in our prison population with marijuana addiction will affect counseling, rehabilitation, psychiatric care and medical costs.
According to Allan Zaremberg, the President of the California Chamber of Commerce, California’s medical marijuana laws and future marijuana legalization laws will drastically affect the state’s workmen’s compensation for the public, private, law enforcement and other public safety entities. A majority of these laws currently have what they call “zero tolerance” policies of drug use in the workplace. However, when marijuana legalization is passed, these laws will have to change. The medical marijuana laws have clouded what used to be a clear cut issue for workers and employers.
LIBYA YES, SYRIA NO
When the Soviet Union disintegrated, Gadhafi’s army lost its chief benefactor. No longer supplied with the latest weapons, today’s Libyan army was weak by modern standards. The Libyan rebels have now captured Tripoli and the Gadhafi regime is history.
When the Libyan revolution started, the U.S. and some of its NATO allies, primarily France and Britain, were quick to intervene on behalf of the rebels, ostensibly to prevent Gadhafi’s forces from slaughtering the civilian population of Benghazi.
The ‘protection’ of Benghazi civilians lasted more than five months. During that time U.S. and NATO airstrikes devastated the Libyan army. U.S warplanes flew more than 1,200 strike sorties, dropping bombs in 262 of them. U.S. Predator drones provided minute by minute intelligence and made 84 precision strikes against Gadhafi’s defenses. NATO warplanes, refueled by the U.S. Air Force, flew 20,000 sorties and made 7,500 strike attacks. The combined U.S. and NATO attacks pounded Gadhafi’s forces into oblivion and enabled the rebels to overthrow his regime.
Without those U.S. and NATO airstrikes, the Libyan rebels would have been toast.
During the more than five months the U.S. and NATO ‘protected’ the civilian population of Benghazi, Bashar al-Assad’s army has been slaughtering thousands of unarmed civilian anti-government protesters in several Syrian cities. Are the Syrian civilians less deserving of U.S. and NATO protection than the civilians of Benghazi? Of course not!
Then why Libya yes and Syria no? The answer is quite simple – the Syrian military is not the weak Libyan army that we have crushed. Syria has been armed to the teeth by Russia. While we could defeat the Syrians, that defeat would come at a heavy cost to us. Their Russian missiles have the capability to shoot down U.S. and NATO warplanes and our Predator drones. And we are scared shitless that if we attacked the Syrians, Iran would enter the fray on the side of Assad.
The American public will not stand for us to become engaged in another deadly military conflict and NATO doesn’t have the stomach for a full-scale war either. That leaves President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, together with their European partners, huffing and puffing at Assad while the Syrian dictator goes merrily on his way as he continues to slaughter his civilian opposition.
When the Libyan revolution started, the U.S. and some of its NATO allies, primarily France and Britain, were quick to intervene on behalf of the rebels, ostensibly to prevent Gadhafi’s forces from slaughtering the civilian population of Benghazi.
The ‘protection’ of Benghazi civilians lasted more than five months. During that time U.S. and NATO airstrikes devastated the Libyan army. U.S warplanes flew more than 1,200 strike sorties, dropping bombs in 262 of them. U.S. Predator drones provided minute by minute intelligence and made 84 precision strikes against Gadhafi’s defenses. NATO warplanes, refueled by the U.S. Air Force, flew 20,000 sorties and made 7,500 strike attacks. The combined U.S. and NATO attacks pounded Gadhafi’s forces into oblivion and enabled the rebels to overthrow his regime.
Without those U.S. and NATO airstrikes, the Libyan rebels would have been toast.
During the more than five months the U.S. and NATO ‘protected’ the civilian population of Benghazi, Bashar al-Assad’s army has been slaughtering thousands of unarmed civilian anti-government protesters in several Syrian cities. Are the Syrian civilians less deserving of U.S. and NATO protection than the civilians of Benghazi? Of course not!
Then why Libya yes and Syria no? The answer is quite simple – the Syrian military is not the weak Libyan army that we have crushed. Syria has been armed to the teeth by Russia. While we could defeat the Syrians, that defeat would come at a heavy cost to us. Their Russian missiles have the capability to shoot down U.S. and NATO warplanes and our Predator drones. And we are scared shitless that if we attacked the Syrians, Iran would enter the fray on the side of Assad.
The American public will not stand for us to become engaged in another deadly military conflict and NATO doesn’t have the stomach for a full-scale war either. That leaves President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, together with their European partners, huffing and puffing at Assad while the Syrian dictator goes merrily on his way as he continues to slaughter his civilian opposition.
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD CLERIC DECLARES ORDINARY EGYPTIANS SHOULD KILL JEWS THEY MEET
When the Arabs use the term ‘Zionists’ they really mean Jews. And Obama, a president whose hostility toward Israel knows no bounds, has been cozying up to the Muslim Brotherhood now that the Mubarak regime is no longer in power.
ISLAMIST CLERIC: MEET AN ISRAELI? KILL HIM
by Gil Ronen
IsraelNationalNews.com
August 23, 2011
A senior cleric in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has declared that ordinary Egyptians are obligated to kill 'Zionists' whom they encounter. According to Arutz Sheva Arab affairs expert Dalit Halevy, the pronouncement is part of a general wave of incitement that directly endangers Israelis who are currently in Egypt.
This follows Muslim Brotherhood calls to end the peace treaty with Egypt and threats to kill Israel's ambassador if he does not leave the country. Although there are many benefits for Egypt if it continues its relations with Israel, not the least of which is continued American aid, that is not always what counts in the MIddle East where hatred is often stronger than logic.
Dr. Salah Sultan, a lecturer on Islamic law in Cairo University and head of the Al Quds Committee in the World Federation of Islamic Scholars, declared Friday that an Egyptian citizen who encounters a "Zionist" should kill him. This should be done because Israel "killed" the Camp David Accord, he explained. Sultan said that Israel provokes Egypt by pointing its jet fighters at Egyptian soldiers.
Sultan spoke at a protest outside Israel's Cairo embassy, before about 200 members of the Freedom and Justice Party (a front for the Islamic Brotherhood), the Islamic Brotherhood movement, and other extreme groups.
In an April interview Sultan said that "the liberation of Palestine will come from Tahrir Square."
When the Crusaders invaded Jerusalem, the liberation began from Egypt, he said. Similarly, when Mongols reached Syria in the 13th century CE, Egyptians were the ones who organized and blocked them. "The next campaign [against Israel] will be launched from Egypt," he said.
ISLAMIST CLERIC: MEET AN ISRAELI? KILL HIM
by Gil Ronen
IsraelNationalNews.com
August 23, 2011
A senior cleric in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has declared that ordinary Egyptians are obligated to kill 'Zionists' whom they encounter. According to Arutz Sheva Arab affairs expert Dalit Halevy, the pronouncement is part of a general wave of incitement that directly endangers Israelis who are currently in Egypt.
This follows Muslim Brotherhood calls to end the peace treaty with Egypt and threats to kill Israel's ambassador if he does not leave the country. Although there are many benefits for Egypt if it continues its relations with Israel, not the least of which is continued American aid, that is not always what counts in the MIddle East where hatred is often stronger than logic.
Dr. Salah Sultan, a lecturer on Islamic law in Cairo University and head of the Al Quds Committee in the World Federation of Islamic Scholars, declared Friday that an Egyptian citizen who encounters a "Zionist" should kill him. This should be done because Israel "killed" the Camp David Accord, he explained. Sultan said that Israel provokes Egypt by pointing its jet fighters at Egyptian soldiers.
Sultan spoke at a protest outside Israel's Cairo embassy, before about 200 members of the Freedom and Justice Party (a front for the Islamic Brotherhood), the Islamic Brotherhood movement, and other extreme groups.
In an April interview Sultan said that "the liberation of Palestine will come from Tahrir Square."
When the Crusaders invaded Jerusalem, the liberation began from Egypt, he said. Similarly, when Mongols reached Syria in the 13th century CE, Egyptians were the ones who organized and blocked them. "The next campaign [against Israel] will be launched from Egypt," he said.
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