Usa Thread

[unit731]

So what kind of idiots created North Carolina Congressional District 12?

[unit731]

Civil Forfeiture - a new (old) tactic.

 

Those out there that look "suspicious" are warned.

 

"The officers found the couple’s cash and a marbled-glass pipe that Boatright said was a gift for her sister-in-law, and escorted them across town to the police station. In a corner there, two tables were heaped with jewelry, DVD players, cell phones, and the like. According to the police report, Boatright and Henderson fit the profile of drug couriers: they were driving from Houston, “a known point for distribution of illegal narcotics,†to Linden, “a known place to receive illegal narcotics.†The report describes their children as possible decoys, meant to distract police as the couple breezed down the road, smoking marijuana. (None was found in the car, although Washington claimed to have smelled it.)

The county’s district attorney, a fifty-seven-year-old woman with feathered Charlie’s Angels hair named Lynda K. Russell, arrived an hour later. Russell, who moonlighted locally as a country singer, told Henderson and Boatright that they had two options. They could face felony charges for “money laundering†and “child endangerment,†in which case they would go to jail and their children would be handed over to foster care. Or they could sign over their cash to the city of Tenaha, and get back on the road. “No criminal charges shall be filed,†a waiver she drafted read, “and our children shall not be turned over to CPS,†or Child Protective Services.

“Where are we?†Boatright remembers thinking. “Is this some kind of foreign country, where they’re selling people’s kids off?†Holding her sixteen-month-old on her hip, she broke down in tears."

 

LINK

[Flashermac]

Michael Yon nails it:

 

 

Remember Bradley Manning? Manning radiated signs of instability that many people pointed out in advance. He struck a female officer and personally warned people about his mental health.

 

That we put a mentally unstable soldier into a position to harm us is our fault.

 

After Manning severely harmed the United States, we tantamount tortured him with prolonged solitary confinement and a long delayed trial. The kid is not all there. That we put him into a position where failure should have been expected, then he failed, and we locked him into a veritable hole, is a disgrace. Manning’s chain of command should be on trial with him.

 

The Manning debacle is like recruiting a monkey as a helicopter pilot, then punishing the monkey for stealing and crashing the helicopter. Who put a monkey into the cockpit? Only a Monkey Commander would do that. Who put the Monkey Commander there? It had to be yet another Monkey Commander.

 

Manning is hardly to blame. He is mentally astray and weaker than noodles. These issues were not discovered post facto. They were known before the crime. We hired a weakling, he was bullied, and he got his revenge in a massive way, and so we beat him, all while suffering national-level damage.

 

Today, many people see Manning as a hero.

 

Manning's mental infirmities were no secret.

 

Before Manning’s crime, the Army removed the bolt from his weapon. This is a common practice in a war zone with soldiers who are deemed homicidal or suicidal. On some bases troops are never allowed to be without a weapon. The commander removes the bolt so that potential enemies do not see the troop is unarmed, yet this disables the weapon.

 

 

http://www.michaelyo...broken-army.htm

 

 

p.s. The whole article is a shocker.

[Steve]

So what kind of idiots created North Carolina Congressional District 12?

If Congress was fair, they would draft legislation to have an independent panel draw ALL congressional districts and let the chips fall where they may as long as they were drawn fairly.

[Steve]

Civil Forfeiture - a new (old) tactic.

 

Those out there that look "suspicious" are warned.

 

"The officers found the couple’s cash and a marbled-glass pipe that Boatright said was a gift for her sister-in-law, and escorted them across town to the police station. In a corner there, two tables were heaped with jewelry, DVD players, cell phones, and the like. According to the police report, Boatright and Henderson fit the profile of drug couriers: they were driving from Houston, “a known point for distribution of illegal narcotics,†to Linden, “a known place to receive illegal narcotics.†The report describes their children as possible decoys, meant to distract police as the couple breezed down the road, smoking marijuana. (None was found in the car, although Washington claimed to have smelled it.)

The county’s district attorney, a fifty-seven-year-old woman with feathered Charlie’s Angels hair named Lynda K. Russell, arrived an hour later. Russell, who moonlighted locally as a country singer, told Henderson and Boatright that they had two options. They could face felony charges for “money laundering†and “child endangerment,†in which case they would go to jail and their children would be handed over to foster care. Or they could sign over their cash to the city of Tenaha, and get back on the road. “No criminal charges shall be filed,†a waiver she drafted read, “and our children shall not be turned over to CPS,†or Child Protective Services.

“Where are we?†Boatright remembers thinking. “Is this some kind of foreign country, where they’re selling people’s kids off?†Holding her sixteen-month-old on her hip, she broke down in tears."

 

LINK

This is more common than we think. State highway cops have been extorting for a while. You either pay on the spot or go to jail. As far as back when I was in school some states like S. Carolina had a credit card scanner and a western union IN THE JAIL HOUSE. Back then it was an argument, albeit weak one it was difficult to collect fines (I never paid a Georgia speeding ticket on Califonria license from 15 years ago wonder if its still outstanding?) but in this electronic age its no longer an argument. You can get the money anywhere. The licenses are linked. If you are suspended in another state they know. So, getting money is not an issue anymore. Common thing for cops in the inner city to do is seize your personal items if they search your house and similar to the story, you either just give it to them or you have to spend so much money on lawyers the legal fees are either more than the worth or makes getting it back not worth it. You spend 5 to 10k to get back your flatscreen and jewelry. Its robbery. Pure and simple. I have said this years ago. The police function is no longer to serve and protect. their function is revenue generation first and foremost.

[Flashermac]

Liz Cheney posts bond in Wyoming's ongoing Fishgate scandal

 

 

Republican Wyoming Senate candidate Liz Cheney paid a $220 bond Wednesday for making a false statement on an application for a fishing license last year, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reported.

 

Cheney, ersatz foreign policy shouter and officially recognized Daughter of the Apocalypse, had applied and gotten a state fishing license two-plus months after moving to Wyoming in preparation for running for something; the difficulty is that those licenses are only available to residents who have lived in the state a year, as you have to attest to on the nice application form, and Cheney had not.

 

That's apparently where we're going to be drawing the line now, with the Cheney clan; you can drum up support for a badly premised war, you can violate international prohibitions on the torture of prisoners, and you can shoot a guy in the face because confused him with a six-inch bird, but you do not lie on a fishing application. You monster.

 

Frankly, I consider Cheney a flight risk. I'm not sure Wyoming should have released her on bond, given that she already seems to spend as little time in Wyoming as possible, but I suppose if they really wanted to find her they could just set up a TV camera somewhere in Jackson Hole and she'd turn up lickety-split. In any event, this newfound discovery that American laws even apply to the Cheney family does not bode well for her primary bid against Mike Enzi, who is a nice rancid fellow in his own right but who catches fish the proper Republican way: with a rowboat, a cooler of beer, and dynamite.

 

 

http://www.dailykos....detail=facebook

[cavanami]

Fishgate? slow news day...

[Flashermac]

Not a lot happens in Wyoming.

[Flashermac]

So here's some of the top news in Australia's press. Making the US look like shit again. At least they got the perps.

 

 

 

Chilling 911 call details final moments of Melbourne baseballer Chris Lane's life

 

 

THE teenagers charged over the murder of Melbourne man Chris will be isolated from one another and other inmates in an Oklahoma jail as long as they are there.

 

Stephens Country Sheriff Wayne McKinney said they would be held individually at the Stephens County Jail for their own protection, and as part of standard protocol for anyone under 18.

 

"And we don't want them collaborating with each other," McKinney told the local paper, the Duncan Banner.

 

District Attorney Jason Hicks said yesterday that it could be months or longer before the three - James Edwards, 15, Chancey Luna, 16, and Michael Jones, 17 - would face trial. It was too early to say whether they would be tried separately or together.

 

Their next hearings are in October.

 

It comes as Edwards, who has been charged with first-degree murder, posted racist tweets saying he hated white people in the months before the shooting.

 

Edwards posted statements on his Twitter feed including a comment on April 29 where he tweeted "90% of white ppl are nasty. #HATE THEM".

 

Edwards also weighed when George Zimmerman was acquitted over the death of Trayvon Martin.

 

"Ayeee I knocced out 5 woods since Zimmerman court! lol sh*t ima keep sleepin sh*t! #ayeeee."

 

"Woods" is derogatory slang for white people. The feed also contains tweets glorifying violence, guns and gangs.

 

The harrowing last moments of Lane's life have been revealed on a 911 emergency call.

 

The seven-minute call, released by the District Attorney's office in Duncan, Oklahoma, begins with local Joyce Smith telling the operator she was driving her Toyota Corolla and spotted a bloodied man at the side of the road.

 

"There's a young man," Ms Smith tells the operator.

 

"He's just fell over in a ditch and he's got blood on him."

 

It was 2.57pm on Friday.

 

Authorities allege Lane, a 22-year-old baseball player who had a scholarship with an Oklahoma college and was visiting his US girlfriend Sarah Harper in Duncan, was jogging along Country Club Road when he was shot in the back in a random drive-by shooting.

 

Ms Smith, unaware Lane has been shot, has no idea what had happened to him.

 

"I'm afraid to go over to him," Ms Smith told the operator.

 

"I don't know him."

 

Ms Smith told the operator Lane was standing at the side of the road, but then fell over in a ditch.

 

"I'm kind of scared to go over by myself," Ms Smith said.

 

At 1:42 into the call, Richard Rhodes, a building contractor who was working on a house in front of where Lane was shot on the corner of Country Club Rd and Twilight Beach Rd, came out to investigate.

 

"The man that has come around the corner off Twilight Beach said, 'He has been shot. Tell them to hurry'," Ms Smith, panic in her voice, relayed to the operator.

 

"He said, 'He heard the shot and he knows what the car looks like'."

 

Mr Rhodes will now become key to the case against the teenagers.

 

Luna, the alleged shooter of a .22 calibre revolver, and Edwards, an alleged passenger in the Focus, were both charged with first-degree murder and face life in prison without parole if convicted. They were both refused bail.

 

[Lots more ...]

 

 

http://www.heraldsun...v-1226700172461

[Steve]

http://news.yahoo.com/18-athletes-refused-visit-white-house-155100421.html

If the president wants to see me, he knows where to find me"

President Obama honored the 1972 Miami Dolphins this week, the only NFL team to complete an undefeated season (sorry, Patriots fans). However, three members of that team — Hall of Fame center Jim Langer, guard Bob Kuechenberg, and defensive tackle Manny Fernandez — declined the invite, citing political differences.

Kuechenberg: "I just don't believe in this administration at all."

Fernandez: "[M]y views are diametrically opposed to the president's."

Langer: "I don't want to be in a room with those people and pretend I'm having a good time. I can't do that."

Yet those three are hardly the first athletes to snub a sitting president's White House invite. And not everyone who has in the past spurned the commander-in-chief has done so for overtly political reasons.

Here, 15 other athletes who were White House no-shows:

Matt Birk

The former Baltimore Ravens center won the Super Bowl earlier this year, but refused to meet President Obama because of the president's support for Planned Parenthood.

"I am Catholic, I am active in the pro-life movement, and I just felt like I couldn't deal with that," Birk said. "I couldn't endorse that in any way."

Tim Thomas

In 2012, Thomas, a noted Tea Partier, posted a screed against the entire government on his Facebook page to explain his refusal to visit Washington with the rest of the 2011 Stanley Cup-winning Bruins.

"I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People," he wrote.

"This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country."

James Harrison

Harrison twice declined White House invites after winning the Super Bowl, spurning both Obama and former President George W. Bush — not because of their politics, but because he felt the whole idea of inviting championship teams was hollow.

"This is how I feel — if you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don't win the Super Bowl," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, he [Obama] would've invited Arizona if they had won."

Manny Ramirez

Manny, being Manny, didn't show up to meet George W. Bush for no apparent reason other than that he just didn't feel like it.

"I'm sorry [David Ortiz's] running mate, Manny Ramirez, isn't here,'' Bush said. "I guess his grandmother died again. Just kidding. Tell Manny I didn't mean it."

Mark Chmura

A member of the 1996 Super Bowl-winning Packers, Chmura skipped a trip to meet President Clinton, citing a previously scheduled golf tournament. After the Lewinsky scandal broke, however, he said, "I knew it all along" adding, "It doesn't really say much for society and the morals [Clinton] sets forth for our children."

Tom Lehman

An American golfer known to proudly flaunt his Christian faith, Lehman declined to meet President Clinton, instead referring to him as a "draft-dodging baby killer."

Michael Jordan

Yes, even Air Jordan has had a presidential no-show controversy. When Jordan opted not to meet President George H. W. Bush in 1991, a fuming Chicago Tribune story blared, "Snub By Jordan Undermines Team."

Jordan later defended his decision, saying he wanted to spend time relaxing with his family back in North Carolina.

"As you know, my schedules have been very hectic," he said. "You guys have seen me, I've been every which way, and because I choose to take my private three days somewhere no one can call me, it's my prerogative."

Larry Bird

Bird and others from the 1984 Celtics turned down the chance to visit President Reagan for unspecified reasons, with Bird later quipping, "If the president wants to see me, he knows where to find me."

Albert Pujols, Tony LaRussa

Pujols and LaRussa, who both took part in Glenn Beck's big Tea Party rally back in 2010, did not travel with the rest of the Cardinals to be congratulated by Obama in 2012. Neither cited politics to explain their no-shows, and both were already on their way out of St. Louis by then; LaRussa retired, and Pujols signed a mega-deal with the Los Angeles Angels.

Pujols also missed a meeting with President Bush in 2005 while on a humanitarian mission in his native Dominican Republic.

Ozzie Guillen

The oddball (former) manager and friend of the late-Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez skipped a team meeting with President Bush after the White Sox won the 2005 World Series. He did, however, appear on Chavez's radio show after winning that title.

Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, and Tony Stewart

The handful of NASCAR standouts all turned down an invite from President Obama, citing "scheduling conflicts."