Rest assured that not everyone gets off in this country. Here are two examples are two examples of American citizens who broke the law and are being punished for their “crimes”–just in case you’re feeling less than confident in our justice system in the wake of repeat gun offender Continue Reading »
Posted in Canada, crime, Florida, Ohio, Orlando, United States | Tagged Brian Poe, Ian Jackson MacDonald, Kelly Williams-Bolar | Leave a Comment »
For the second year in a row, the United States barely cracked the top twenty in press freedom.
Reporters Without Borders compiles the World Press Freedom Index annually. According to the organization’s website,
the index measures the state of press freedom in the world. It reflects the degree of freedom that journalists and news organisations enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the authorities to respect and ensure respect for this freedom. Continue Reading »
Posted in Canada, Eritrea, Finland, free press, freedom of the press, Iceland, journalism, media, Namibia, North Korea, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, world | Tagged freedom of the press, journalism, WikiLeaks, world, World Press Freedom | Leave a Comment »
When officers of the law are suspected of police brutality it is routine procedure to place them on leave while an investigation is conducted. But two Chicago cops are suing their police chief for following that procedure last month.
From the National Police Misconduct NewsFeed at Injustice Everywhere:
In what seems like it might be a new variation of a SLAPP suit, two Chicago Illinois police officers have filed a lawsuit against their police chief for slander for being suspended along with five other officers who were the subject of an investigation regarding a videotaped excessive force incident… If successful (the lawsuit) would make it even more difficult to get police misconduct reports from that state which is already one of the worst in regards to transparency. Continue Reading »
Posted in Chicago, George W. Pring, Gregory Jeffries, Illinois, Jason Vanna, Lynn Meuris, Penelope Canan | Tagged Chicago, Gregory Jeffries, Jason Vanna, Jody Weis, Lynn Meuris, police brutality, SLAPP, SLAPPs | Leave a Comment »
The reason state attorney Lawson Lamar had to file criminal charges against Christopher Comins for the infamous 2008 Orlando dog shootings was because the state Florida has laws requiring that such grotesque acts of animal cruelty are to be treated as felonies.
But not every state has such laws.
Hopefully you don’t live in Mississippi, Idaho, or either of the Dakotas. Had Comins shot your pets there, the most the prosecutor could do would be to fine him and give him community service and request politely that Continue Reading »
Posted in Alaska, Arkansas, California, cruelty to animals, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, law, Lawson Lamar, Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Dakota, Utah | Tagged animal cruelty, Florida, law, Orlando | Leave a Comment »
The other night, as Christine O’Donnell was arguing for the scientific/educational merits of creationism, she suggested that “the separation of church and state” is not anywhere in the United States Constitution.
Below are two very different media reactions to the incident. Continue Reading »
Posted in 2010 elections, Chris Coons, Christine O'Donnell, First Amendment, MSNBC, Politics, Rachel Maddow, Rachel Maddow Show, religion, Rush Limbaugh, U.S. Constitution | Tagged First Amendment, media, Politics, religion | 1 Comment »
Please check it out.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Florida, Florida Citizen Participation Tour | Leave a Comment »
Thomas Jefferson’s pledge of unending hostility against all restrictions on the freethinking minds of the people is among my favorite historical quotations, but I can never remember it verbatim. (Usually I use Kevin Daneher’s powerful paraphrasing from Hijacking Catastrophe, in which Daneher).
“On the altar of God, I pledge undying hostility to any government restriction on the free minds of the people.”
As it turns out, about the only part of the above that’s word-for-word accurate is “altar of God.” So I did a search for “ ‘altar of God’ AND ‘Jefferson Memorial’ ” and found the original quote:
“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against all forms of tyranny over the mind of man.” Continue Reading »
Posted in Battle of Gettysburg, Christians, George Washington, Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King, religion, Robert F. Kennedy, Thomas Jefferson | Tagged history, patriotism, religion | 4 Comments »
Our high school civics teachers got it half-right. They convinced us that it was our responsibility as citizens to vote.
But the blind dictum that everyone must vote (no matter how ignorant or out-of-touch they are), somewhat misses the point. Many of us never got that voting is as much a privilege as it is a responsibility.
If we partake in that privilege without giving it the respect it requires, then we haven’t fulfilled our responsibilities at all. Continue Reading »
Posted in 2010 elections, Alvin Greene, citizenship, Florida, South Carolina, voting | Tagged civic engagement, Politics | Leave a Comment »
The Citizen Participation Act of 2009 (H.R. 4364) now has the official support of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
About a month ago, I reported that H.R. 4364 got it’s fourth sponsor. Soon I will unveil a new website dedicated to my guest lecture series this. This bill has special meaning to me, because it attempts to prevent illegal SLAPP suits like the one filed against me by a powerful Orlando bully named Christopher Comins. That’s why I’ve decided to spend this fall traveling to various universities across the state of Florida, to raise awareness about SLAPP lawsuits and encourage support for H.R. 4364. Continue Reading »
Posted in Citizen Participation Act, Citizen Participation Act of 2009, First Amendment, free speech, freedom of speech, H.R. 4364, HR 4364, NAACP, SLAPP, Steve Cohen, Tennessee | Tagged First Amendment, free speech, NAACP, Steve Cohen | Leave a Comment »
“Rounds of golf: 100 plus. Golf expenses: $83,000. Membership at all male club: $75,000. Special interest travel including golf junkets: $159,000. Raising the retirement age to 70 and voting to end unemployment benefits: priceless. For those who want an out-of-touch pro golfer for a Congressman, there’s John Boehner. For everyone else, there’s Justin Coussoule.”
Posted in John Boehner, Justin Coussoule | Tagged Politics | Leave a Comment »
