I read the news today, oh boy

What's a Pentecost? If you have to ask you can't afford it:

'Noah's Ark' found atop Mount Ararat in Turkey, evangelical group claims

Oh, so now carbon dating is acceptable science!?
********************
What's an 'illegal immigrant' cost? FactCheck does the math:

Cost of Illegal Immigrants

******************
Do you know anything about Iran?

Can You Pass The Iran Quiz

**********************

Laura Bush blames car and ’small’ stop sign for alleged ex-boyfriend’s death

I bet Tell Laura I Love Her were the last words on his lips ... not!

Just Farking Around

A cop wrecked 'em:

Hollywood officer has history of crashes
An officer involved in an alleged cover-up of a wreck has had several accidents on duty, his file shows.

The Hollywood police officer involved in a rear-end crash that allegedly was covered up by fellow officers is no stranger to road accidents. His personnel file, obtained by the Sun Sentinel, shows he was involved in eight other crashes while driving his patrol car.

Joel Francisco, 36, an 11-year veteran of the force, was ordered to attend Driving Training School three times. Early in his career, he was suspended for being in three crashes within a year's time that were deemed preventable, the file says.

9 crashes and 3 mandated driving schools in 11 years. Mr Magoo has a better driving record.

Death Rules!

A Texas Judge on Trial: Closed to a Death-Row Appeal?

Soft-spoken and a devout Christian, Judge Sharon Keller presides as chief justice of Texas' highest criminal court. She's also known as "Sharon Killer" by her opponents, who are going to see her in court next week on charges of judicial misconduct.
[...]
Keller finds herself at this pass because of a four-word sentence she uttered on Sept. 25, 2007: "We close at 5."
[...]
Keller was reportedly at her home dealing with a repairman that afternoon when she got the request — and made her reply. Richard's lawyers failed to meet the deadline, and at 8:23 p.m. Richard was declared dead following a lethal injection.
[...]
After confessing, Richard claimed he was innocent, but his appeal centered on a history of alleged family abuse and his supposed IQ of 64.

A devout christain once again condemns a retarded man to death because she couldn't be bothered.

I hope when she gets to those pearly gates she believes in it goes something like this: "Hey, Saint Peter, this woman arrived late and her excuse is she got caught in traffic."
"Sorry, we close at five."

Pay for Play:

Supporters: Sex shop limits not dead

Opponents of sexually oriented businesses in Kansas aren't giving up on trying to limit their operations, even though the state attorney general says he won't enforce a law restricting their signs along highways.
[...]
The bill drafted by Kinzer's committee would prohibit adult stores within 1,000 feet of schools, libraries, public parks, private homes, day care centers, houses of worship or even another adult store.
[...]
"The adult entertainment businesses make the most money by far where there's legislative and social repression," he said. "Why do you think adult entertainment places come to Kansas?"

And as a corollary, why do you think conservatives buy the most porn online? Because they're too stupid to find it for free.

Mr.Peabody, set the Way, Way Back machine:

Charter school to teach creationism theories

A new public charter school under scrutiny because of plans to use the Bible as a primary source of teaching material says students will also explore several different theories of creationism.
[...]
School headmaster Val Bush says students will also explore several versions of creationism as part of their studies.

This is a public charter school, using taxpayer funds and teaching the bible. Their excuse that's it's just teaching about religion or history is patently false since they incorporate no other religious texts. Good luck with getting into college.

Irony alert!!!

Angry area man becomes face of health care debate

Has the angry man who confronted U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter at Tuesday's town hall meeting in Lebanon become the "Joe the Plumber" of health care?
[...]
Miller, 59, a blue-collar worker now living on disability, rushed toward Specter and yelled, "You're trampling on the Constitution! ... You and your cronies do this all the time" before leaving the hall.

Where the f**k is it written in the Constitution that we should pay his non-working a$$ for being disabled?

I'm not sure why I was reminded of this song, but here's some brain bleach:






Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

I read the news today ... oh, boy

In the 'non-apology apology' department we bring you balls of Steele:

GOP chairman says era of apologizing is over

[...]
"It is done. The time for trying to fix or focus on the past has ended. The era of Republican navel-gazing is over. We have turned the corner on regret, recrimination, self-pity and self-doubt. Now is the hour to focus all of our energies on winning the future."

Wow, I must have missed the whole part about republicants' apologizing. Maybe I missed it when I LOL when he said the future was teabagging and Reagan.
*************************
In the "Look ever there, something shiny!" department. Nancy Pelosi must really be in trouble because both Democrats and republicants agree with her! The CIA lies. Gosh, who knew!?

The CIA’s Comedy of Briefing List Errors

Of course the whole ginned up Pelosi faux controversy is just a distraction from the folks who instigated, directed and performed the torture.

I'm not a fan of Pelosi's, but she's the one calling to investigate everyone involved. Seems like a good idea to me.
*************************
From the 'You're not doing it right' department comes this:

DA: Girl Whose Parents Prayed to Defeat Illness Suffered 'Needless' Death

A Weston woman, accused of praying instead of seeking medical attention for her dying daughter, suffered a medical emergency as her homicide trial got under way but appeared OK about 30 minutes later.
[...]
Moments later her attorneys expressed concern, asking for a recess so they could get her some air. She appeared visibly weak as her husband and others escorted her from the courtroom to a downstairs office.

Judge Vincent Howard ordered court security to call 911 and have Neumann medically evaluated.

Gosh, wasn't she praying hard enough!? If only her daughter had been medically evaluated.

In a related note:

After the Rapture: Orlando man will deliver messages to those left behind

There are those who believe in the Rapture prophesied in the Bible. And there is Joshua Witter, avowed atheist.
[...]
As sure as the True Believers are they will escape this earth when the Rapture arrives, Witter is just as certain he will be left behind to deliver their mail. He has committed blasphemy to make sure.

Now for some brain bleach:






Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Juxtaposition: Episode II

Cheney: Interrogations Torture [ed: there, fixed it] saved lives

Former vice president Dick Cheney insisted that intelligence extracted from tough interrogations of suspected Al-Qaeda militants had saved "perhaps hundreds of thousands" of US lives.

"No regrets. I think it was absolutely the right thing to do," he said on CBS television, arguing that techniques decried by critics as torture were essential to break the resistance of captured extremists.

In reality:

Why Bush’s ‘Enhanced Interrogation’ Program Failed

*************

US report blames Taliban for civilian deaths

[...]
The U.S. said the findings came from a joint U.S.-Afghan investigation. But the country's Interior Ministry and Farah's police chief both said that their delegations were continuing to investigate and that they did not endorse the U.S. report.
[...]
American officials have indicated they may never put out a number because those killed in the battle had been buried by the time investigators arrived.

By 'buried' I guess they mean

Truckloads of dead civilians after Afghan battle

Villagers brought truckloads of bodies to the capital of a province in Western Afghanistan on Tuesday to prove that scores of civilians had been killed by U.S. air strikes in a battle with the Taliban.

Yeees, it's all the Taliban's fault that the US invaders used air strikes on an Afghan village.

Don't misunderstand me, the Taliban are religious extremists who have regained control of most of Afghanistan, not thru their military prowess, (after all, it's not like they have planes or SAMs), but by the fact that the US kills more civilians than they do. Indiscriminate bombing will have that affect.

Even the elected President of Afghanistan agrees with me:

In response to recent suggestions by U.S. military officials that the civilian deaths in Farah province might have been staged by the Taliban, Karzai said that an Afghan government team was investigating the incident and that "there was no doubt that the casualties were caused by bombings... and the use of air power."
[...]
"We demand an end to these operations... an end to air strikes," Mr Karzai told CNN.

Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Just a Position or Juxtaposition?

Today I'm instituting a new feature on this blog. It's labeled 'juxtaposition.'

Example 1: (which I've slightly rearranged for clarity):

when asked what he would tell family members contemplating a trip to Mexico during the flu outbreak [...] “I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden said [...] “You’re in a confined aircraft when one person sneezes; it goes all the way through the aircraft.”
[...]
“If you’re out in the middle of a field and someone sneezes, that’s one thing,” Biden said. “If you’re in a closed aircraft, or closed container, or closed car or closed classroom, it’s a different thing.”

Umm, seems reasonable to me. The CDC says “When it is absolutely necessary to enter a crowded setting or to have close contact with persons who might be ill, the time spent in that setting should be as short as possible.”

Who could object to that? Ohhhh, these folks:

Hotel executives said their business began to suffer after Obama warned at a Feb. 9 town-hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, that companies receiving bailout money “can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime.”

Wow! Ending all those CEO parties on the taxpayer's dime was the reason their business is suffering!? Hmmph.

Example 2:

Napolitano Facing Republican Calls for Her Ouster

Obama's Security Chief Ignites Firestorm by Warning of 'Right-Wing' Extremism in U.S.

Umm, what 'firestorm?' Oh, the one by rightwing extremists:

Oklahoma Man Arrested for Twittering Tea Party Death Threats

An Oklahoma City man who announced on Twitter that he would turn an April 15 tax protest into a bloodbath was hit with a federal charge of making interstate threats last week

But wait, there's more!

Sweep targets gang

Seven arrested in two-county skinhead bust

A sweep of skinhead lairs throughout the Inland Empire on Monday twice took sheriff's deputies to maternity wards where pregnant women were trying to bear babies on Adolf Hitler's birthday.
[...]
The white racist street gang has been responsible for murders in the High Desert, drug trafficking, home invasion robberies and countless assaults, officials said.

Abortion clinic bombers, skin heads, Tim McVeigh, militia groups are the republican base, or at least they must be because republicans are up in arms about labeling them terrorists.

BTW, my friends from across the aisle are right to be worried. President Obama wants to take your guns and put you in reeducation camps and as a bonus feature, he's gonna f*#k all the white women too! Morans.

Example 3:

Opponents of Climate Change Bill Launch Ad Campaign

Opponents of federal limits on greenhouse gases are launching ad campaigns in the districts of moderate Democrats negotiating a bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The radio ads, sponsored by the American Energy Alliance, are running in the districts of nine committee Democrats and one Republican, Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania. The ads contend that the bill would hurt the economy and cost jobs.

The lobbying and advocacy group, which was formed last year, is headed by Thomas J. Pyle, a former energy policy aide to onetime Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas (1985-2006). It is affiliated with the Institute for Energy Research, a public policy center advocating what it terms “freely functioning energy markets.”

Hmm, OPEC is a “freely functioning energy market?”
But if you call now you'll receive:

Industry Ignored Its Scientists on Climate

For more than a decade the Global Climate Coalition, a group representing industries with profits tied to fossil fuels, led an aggressive lobbying and public relations campaign against the idea that emissions of heat-trapping gases could lead to global warming.

"The role of greenhouse gases in climate change is not well understood," the coalition said in a scientific "backgrounder" provided to lawmakers and journalists through the early 1990s, adding that "scientists differ" on the issue.

But a document filed in a federal lawsuit demonstrates that even as the coalition worked to sway opinion, its own scientific and technical experts were advising that the science backing the role of greenhouse gases in global warming could not be refuted.

"The scientific basis for the Greenhouse Effect and the potential impact of human emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2 on climate is well established and cannot be denied," the experts wrote in an internal report compiled for the coalition in 1995.

Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Hits & Runs

CIA fires contractors guarding secret prisons

WASHINGTON (AP) — CIA Director Leon Panetta has told Congress the spy agency has taken no new prisoners since he became director in February.

He also says the CIA has terminated contracts with private companies that provided security at secret overseas CIA prisons.

Well that's good ne ... wait, what!? Private contractors were doing the guarding!?

Marine acquitted of murder in Iraq slaying

A military jury on Thursday acquitted a Marine sergeant on charges of murdering an unarmed detainee during battle in Fallujah, Iraq. The jury also acquitted Sgt. Ryan Weemer of dereliction of duty in the November 2004 death.
[...]
In closing arguments Wednesday, a defense attorney said the 26-year-old Weemer acted in self-defense.
[...]
"I grabbed a gun and took him to the back of the house," Weemer, 26, said on the tape. "I shot him twice in the chest."

Weemer said he argued with his squad leader, former Sgt. Jose Luis Nazario, before complying with the order to kill the man, who was taken prisoner when Marines stormed a house on the first day of the assault on Fallujah.

"I definitely wasn't the type to disobey an order," he said.

So he was acting in self defe ... wait, what!? He admitted to murdering his unarmed prisoner and was acquitted!? And where have I heard the 'just following orders line before?

General Ray Odierno: we may miss Iraq deadline to halt al-Qaeda terror

The activities of al-Qaeda in two of Iraq’s most troubled cities could keep US combat troops engaged beyond the June 30 deadline for their withdrawal, the top US commander in the country has warned.
[...]
General Odierno, 54, said that he was also concerned about the risk of renewed conflict between Arabs and Kurds in northern Iraq, where tensions are rising over the ownership of territory. He also cited the “very dangerous” threat posed by Iranian-funded militants, who appear to be styling themselves on Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Well if it's al-Qaeda, the Kurds and Iranian funder mili ... wait, what!? This is just SSDD, Obama should fire this guy and find someone who understands the chain of command. The Iraqis want us out, America wants us out and Gen. Odierno needs to fade away.

Obama won’t receive ASU honorary degree

ASU will not award President Barack Obama an honorary degree when he speaks at the commencement ceremony on May 13.

University spokeswoman Sharon Keeler said Tuesday that the University awards honorary degrees to recognize individuals for their work and accomplishments spanning their lifetime.

“Because President Obama’s body of work is yet to come, it’s inappropriate to recognize him at this time,” Keeler said.

Well then, I guess that's OK, I mean it's not like Obama ha ... wait, what!? He's President of the United States! He's the 1st Black President of the US!

Wow, ASU must have some pretty high standards ... NOT!

But maybe I'm being too harsh, so let's look at some previous ASU Honorary Degree recipients:
Barry Goldwater 1961 (In 1961 AuH2O was at the time a 1 1/2 term Senator)
Hugh Downs 1974 (Hugh freakin Downs!?)
Kim Campbell 2005 (1st woman Prime Minister of Canada)
Blake Edwards 2005 (He's a good film director, but give me a break!)

I understand that honorary degrees are worth as much as the paper they're printed on, but jeez louise, WTF is wrong with AZ!



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Fark'in Around

Photo credit: Lindsay Moller

This is just sad:

Sailors hit by 50,000 tonne cargo 'rescue' ship after hours at sea

ONE of two men who survived a fatal boat capsize off the New South Wales north coast has told a Sydney court how the ship sent to rescue them "creamed" them by going straight over their heads.

On its way from Queensland's Whitsundays to Sydney in September 2002, Excalibur hit rough seas off Seal Rocks. The crew tried to change the sails and head back towards Port Stephens, but the keel split and the vessel overturned, tossing all six crew members into chilly waters.

I don't blame the cargo ship trying to rescue them, I sure don't blame the sailors, and I don't even fault the boat builders. Racing boats like this are always on the bleeding edge of technology.
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Posting the 1st Amendment on your business is now illegal in Clearwater Florida:

ACLU sues Clearwater in tackle shop's fish mural dispute

[...]
The federal lawsuit alleges that Clearwater is trampling on the shop’s First Amendment rights. City officials say the fish painting amounts to an unauthorized sign under Clearwater’s laws. They have fined the store nearly $700 and ordered it to paint over the mural.

But Herb Quintero, owner of The Complete Angler at 705 N Fort Harrison Ave., insists the mural is art, not a sign. Last month, in response to a city deadline to remove the mural, he covered it with a banner displaying the text of the First Amendment.

City officials said the mural violated an ordinance that bars businesses from depicting what they sell.

The city recently cited the store again for the mural and the banner.

Not only is Clearwater Farked, they actually have an ordinance that bars businesses from depicting what they sell? WTF!

The most amusing thing to me was the comments of all the folks saying they don't like the ACLU, but in this case the ACLU is doing the right thing. Gee, the ACLU fights for free speech. Jus' som' folks don't like it when it ain't their speech.
*********************
And speaking of Florida:

City official: Destin police will have to inspect for nude dancing before making a bust

Although the Oasis on Mountain Drive has admitted to nude dancing on the premises -- something that breaks Destin rules -- the city must catch them in the act before taking action, City Manager Greg Kisela says.

"It sounds strange to say we have to observe it ourselves, but that's our plan," Kisela said. "We're going to go in and do some inspections; if we observe that, that may be one of the steps" we take.

I don't know whether the headline was unintentional or snarky, but either way; it's nice work if you can get it.

(All entries via Fark)



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Hits & Runs

What, 4 weeks and he hasn't turned the country around after 8 years of Bush Rules!?

The White House's missing documents

In his first weeks in office, President Barack Obama shut down his predecessor’s system for reviewing regulations, realigned and expanded two key White House policymaking bodies and extended economic sanctions against parties to the conflict in the African nation of Cote D’Ivoire.

Despite the intense scrutiny a president gets just after the inauguration, Obama managed to take all these actions with nary a mention from the White House press corps.

Wow, President Obama shut down Bush's "system for reviewing regulations". That's a good thing! We may actually have professionals in charge of reviewing regulations instead of incompetent politicians. (e.g. 'Heckuva job, Brownie')

And the "Despite the intense scrutiny a president gets just after the inauguration" is just plain stupid. Republicans get a honeymoon, Democrats just get f*%ked.

Oh, and the "nary a mention" quote, well if you actually read this diatribe, (it's not a news article,) you find out they DID mention all of the changes. It's called the Federal Register. Freakin' morons!

BTW, this POS article penned by JOSH GERSTEIN of Politico is just another example of Politico's mission statement:

THE MISSION: Politico journalism drives conversation in official Washington, making us ESSENTIAL READING for anyone who is or wants to be a player, and a KEY OUTLET for anyone who is trying to shape a political or government debate.

They even admit they have no interest in reporting, um, ya know, actual news.
***********************
Now this is actual news:

Bill proposes ISPs, Wi-Fi keep logs for police

Republican politicians on Thursday called for a sweeping new federal law that would require all Internet providers and operators of millions of Wi-Fi access points, even hotels, local coffee shops, and home users, to keep records about users for two years to aid police investigations.

What morons these Republicans are. In the first place, even with my humble servers, I can't afford the disk space to keep 2 years of logs! Are the rethugs going to pay for additional personnel, ($30k minimum, per year, per server, for IT professionals to perform this service), or do they think magical ponies will work for free to harvest this $hit!

In the 2nd place, it's a huge invasion of privacy! Why don't they just require the United States Post Office to open and copy every letter that is sent via snailmail?
*************************
Submitted without comment:

The World Veterans Advocates Riled by Report on Army charity

Veterans advocates are venting anger and frustration toward the biggest charity within the U.S. military after revelations that it has been packing more money into reserves than it has spent on aid during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
[...]
From 2003 to 2007, the charity, also known as AER, packed $117 million into its own reserves while spending just $64 million on direct aid, records show. By contrast, smaller Navy and Air Force charities both put far more of their resources into aid than reserves. Also, more than 90 percent of AER's aid was given as no-interest loans, not outright grants.
[...]
Though tax-exempt and legally separate, AER operates largely under Army control, the AP found. Soldiers are squeezed for contributions, often rewarded for them in violation of regulations, and sometimes delayed in transfers or promotions when loans aren't repaid.

************************
And finally a bit of good news:

In copyright lawsuit, McCain claims he wasn't aware RNC ad 'existed'

"My friends, I didn't do it. I didn't even know it was going on."

That's the line former Republican presidential nominee and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is taking in a federal lawsuit that claims he violated the copyright of Jackson Browne's 1977 hit song, "Running on Empty," when it aired in one of his presidential campaign commercials.
[...]
McCain claims the Republican Party is solely responsible for his campaign ad, not him, and has asked that he be stripped from the case.

The federal judge handling the case disagreed. Judge Gary Klausner said McCain and the GOP have an "agency relationship," meaning that "once an agency relationship is established, the principal is liable for the acts of her agent, even if the principal does not expressly authorize or instruct her agent to take any action." He also questioned how using 20 seconds of the song in a TV ad constituted fair use, as the RNC claims.

Hmm, I wonder if the RIAA will weigh in on this?



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Hits & Runs

Just walk away Renee

University Alert Status:
UCONN Police Reporting a Suspicious Occurrence and Safety Alert:

On 2/7/09 at approximately 6:35 PM a suspicious incident occurred at Hilltop Apartments, in the parking lot between the Beard and French buildings. A male approached a female from the opposite direction and came up within several feet of her personal space. The female turned around and left the area. The male walked away in the opposite direction. The male did not say anything or make physical contact with the female. The intention of the male is unknown.

I know we should err on the side of caution, but WTF does "came up within several feet of her personal space" mean!?
*****************************
Religidiculous!

AF colonel accused of imposing religion

An Air Force colonel is being criticized for improperly referring airmen under her command to a far-right religious Web site.
[...]
In the Feb. 2 letter to Toney, Thompson contended in his letter that the e-mail violated Air Force regulations regarding religious proselytizing. He also said the Web site 4marks.com "explicitly promotes an atmosphere that is hostile to our commander-in-chief, which is potentially detrimental to the good order and discipline of our unit."

One posting on the Web site features President Barack Obama in a Nazi uniform with a Hitler-style moustache, while other content claims Obama "wants to murder babies that have survived abortion."

Gosh, it's a good thing she lives in a democracy where calling your CIC a baby killer is protected by Freedom of Speech.
*************************

AP Impact: Pentagon boosts spending on PR

As it fights two wars, the Pentagon is steadily and dramatically increasing money spent on winning what it calls "the human terrain" of world public opinion. In the process, concerns have been raised that this is spreading propaganda at home in violation of federal law.

An Associated Press investigation found that over the past five years, the money the military spends on winning hearts and minds at home and abroad has grown by 63 percent, to at least $4.7 billion this year, according to Department of Defense budgets and other documents. That's almost as much as it spent on body armor for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2004 and 2006.

This year, the Pentagon will employ 27,000 people just for recruitment, advertising and public relations — almost as many as the total 30,000-person work force in the State Department.

4.7 BILLION DOLLARS and they still can't give Pat Tillman's family a straight answer!?

I have a humble suggestion for the Pentagon: Stop raping, torturing and murdering innocent civilians and you won't need 4.7 BILLION DOLLARS to convince folks here and abroad that you aren't raping, torturing and murdering innocent civilians! And then you can spend the money on body armour & MRAPS to protect the troops who have no choice in playing your game of RISK.

Of course the 1st option would be bring our troops home. 4.7 BILLION DOLLARS buys a lot of 1st class seats on aircraft heading away from an illegal, immoral, war founded on lies.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Hits & Runs

Bill lets child-abuse victims sue until 50

ANNAPOLIS — Saying child-abuse victims are often not ready to confront their attackers until middle age, a senator on Thursday urged her fellow lawmakers to raise from 25 to 50 the age by which a person may sue his or her abuser.

“Ideally, there shouldn’t be a statute of limitations for a crime such as this,” Sen. Delores G. Kelley told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. But Kelley said 50 was an appropriate age limit because victims of abuse, until they themselves are well into adulthood, cannot “muster the courage, the emotional ability” to confront their attackers, let alone take them to court.
[...]
The proposed 25-year increase to the limitations period has drawn opposition from Catholic groups
[...]
The Catholic Church has acknowledged that sexual abuse by priests has occurred and that the church has settled many of those cases, even when the alleged offenses occurred decades earlier, the conference’s statement said.

It told the committee that the fight against child abuse would be better waged the way the church is fighting it: by requiring all employees and volunteers to undergo criminal background checks and training, and by paying for and providing counseling for victims. Conference members include the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Archdiocese of Washington and the Diocese of Wilmington.

Yeees, the Catholic Church has done such a wonderful job policing themselves.
******************************

Bill Calls for More Scrutiny Of SWAT Teams by Police

Upset about the shooting death of two dogs during a botched police raid at the home of a Prince George's County mayor, some Maryland lawmakers have proposed a bill to require state police departments to better monitor their use of special tactical SWAT teams.

Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo visited Annapolis yesterday to urge passage of the measure, which would require every police department that operates a SWAT team to submit a monthly public report on its activities, including where and when it was deployed and whether an operation resulted in arrests, evidence seizures or injuries.

Calvo said he thinks police forces are using SWAT teams, tactical units usually equipped with heavy-duty weapons, more often for ordinary police work.

From the comments on that article it appears cops insist on the same self policing that Catholic priests want. And for the same reason.
****************************

HPD considering changes for red-light cameras

The Houston Police Department is considering changes — possibly even expansion — to its red-light camera program after a city-commissioned study showed that crashes went up at intersections where the devices have been installed.

Because it's worked so well in the past!
***************************

Army official: Suicides in January 'terrifying'

One week after the U.S. Army announced record suicide rates among its soldiers last year, the service is worried about a spike in possible suicides in the new year.

The Army said 24 soldiers are believed to have committed suicide in January alone -- six times as many as killed themselves in January 2008, according to statistics released Thursday.

The Army said it already has confirmed seven suicides, with 17 additional cases pending that it believes investigators will confirm as suicides for January.

If those prove true, more soldiers will have killed themselves than died in combat last month. According to Pentagon statistics, there were 16 U.S. combat deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq in January.

No comment, it's just too sad.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak