L.A. Liberty

Terry Pratchett quotes.

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:48:34 -0700

"Police sexual misconduct is common, and anyone who maintains it isn’t doesn’t get it."

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:10:00 -0700

““Police sexual misconduct is common, and anyone who maintains it isn’t doesn’t get it.””

- Retired Seattle police chief Norm Stamper

When Cops Rape … and Nothing Happens - Police officers who sexually assault women rarely face the consequences of their actions

Since no one is investing resources in learning how many victims are out there, we’re left with estimates and news accounts. As part of a 2008 study, former police officer Tim Maher, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, asked 20 police chiefs whether police sexual misconduct was a problem; 18 responded in the affirmative. The 13 chiefs willing to offer estimates thought an average of 19 percent of cops were involved—if correct, that translates to more than 150,000 police officers nationwide. An informal effort by the Cato Institute in 2010 to track the number of police sexual-misconduct cases just in news stories counted 618 complaints nationwide that year, 354 of which involved forcible nonconsensual sexual activity like sexual assault or sexual battery.

California Senate Votes 28-8 to Exempt Itself from California Gun Laws

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:50:58 -0700

California Senate Votes 28-8 to Exempt Itself from California Gun Laws:

self-ownership:

satans-advocate:

oughttobecommonsense:

California Senate Votes 28-8 to Exempt Itself from California Gun Laws

One law for the serfs and one law for the nobles.

what the fuck california

And to think there are still people out there who trust politicians.

Per usual, the politics of Animal Farm:

shortformblog: motherjones: If you were wondering why the new...

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:45:55 -0700

shortformblog:

motherjones:

If you were wondering why the new House bill on bank bailouts seemed like it was written by Citigroup, it’s because it was literally written by Citigroup.

“Citigroup’s recommendations were reflected in more than 70 lines of the House committee’s 85-line bill.”

"When I argue for markets I am rejecting one-size-fits-all solutions to perceived problems. I am..."

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:30:26 -0700

“When I argue for markets I am rejecting one-size-fits-all solutions to perceived problems. I am rejecting centralized, expert rule because experts never have the information, knowledge, ability, or incentives to know what ought to be done. Rejecting experts means accepting the amazingly complex systems of human interaction.”

- Randy Simmons, Beyond Politics (via satans-advocate)

Photo

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:48:11 -0700

CNN Reporter: "You were quite rude to the President"

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:48:48 -0700

CNN Reporter: "You were quite rude to the President"
Medea Benjamin: "I think killing innocent people with drones is rude."

Obama's Empty Rhetoric

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:24:18 -0700

Obama's Empty Rhetoric:

Like the “War on Drugs,” a rhetorical phrase that the Obama administration has rejected even while continuing to wage the policy it describes, many ongoing activities of the government he presides over came under verbal attack from President Barack Obama this afternoon.

So the president says “journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs,” even though journalists are at legal risk—from his administration—for doing their jobs. “History will cast a harsh judgment” on the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, the president warned, even though (in the words of Human Rights Watch’s Laura Pitter) “there are still a number of steps the Obama administration could have taken — and can still take now — to begin closing the facility and ending indefinite detention without trial.”

Obama worries, rightly, that “in the absence of a strategy that reduces the well-spring of extremism, a perpetual war – through drones or Special Forces or troop deployments – will prove self-defeating, and alter our country in troubling ways.” And yet at perpetual war we remain, altering our way of life by the day. “The very precision of drones strikes, and the necessary secrecy involved in such actions can end up shielding our government from the public scrutiny that a troop deployment invites.” And yet we drone on, boats against the current of international opinion, borne ceaselessly back to the awesome responsibility of wielding lethal power.

There was much to like in Obama’s speech today if you like words, and share the broad worries he outlined above. And it is surely true that changing policy becomes easier after you make public arguments about changing policy. But the fact is Barack Obama is the president of the United States, and according to both the Constitution and especially the way executive power has accrued over the past century, Obama actually has quite a bit of latitude to impose his values on the waging of American war. After 52 months in office, it’s long since past time to stop judging the man by his words alone.

Will liberals hold Obama accountable for civil liberties violations?

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:11:32 -0700

Will liberals hold Obama accountable for civil liberties violations?:

President Obama is dealing with revelations about the Justice Department’s spying on journalists and other scandals by changing the subject.

In a major national security address Thursday, he announced the phaseout of the Guantanamo prison facility and the CIA’s oversight of the drone program. But these are cosmetic changes that can’t conceal his record on the war on terrorism, which is arguably even more Draconian than President George W. Bush’s.

The question is whether liberals will protect their principles or their man.

The administration finally admitted this week that it has been using its weapon of choice — drone strikes — not just to kill foreign terrorists on the president’s kill list, but Americans as well. As atonement, the president pledged to transfer oversight of the drone program from the CIA to the Pentagon.

But the problem with the program is not who runs it but what it does. …

[This administration] has escalated drone strikes against alleged militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. According to the liberal AlterNet, the Bush administration conducted 52 drone strikes in this region, killing 438 people, including 182 civilians.

This administration ordered 300 strikes in just its first term, killing 2,152 people, including 260 civilians. The constant buzzing in the sky traumatizes the local population and violates Pakistani sovereignty, which has caused America’s popularity in Pakistan to plummet from 36 percent under Bush to 24 percent under Nobel Peace Prize-winner Obama.

But the administration hasn’t just expanded the number of drone strikes but also their geographical footprint. Its battlefield now extends to Somalia and Yemen. In Yemen, the president has used what are called “signature strikes” against anyone who “signs up” for al Qaeda — and not because they threaten America but its ally, the Yemeni government.

In other words, Obama’s drones have become a tool for protecting a corrupt monarchy against those trying to topple it. Talk about mission creep! The president is promising to end such strikes but what are such promises worth when no one is holding him accountable?

Equally meaningless is Obama’s belated move to close the Guantanamo facility. Bush needed a place to warehouse “enemy combatants” captured in the battlefield. But Obama can close it because drone strikes take no prisoners. Strikes under Obama have killed four times more people than Bush imprisoned in Guantanamo. …

If former Vice President Dick Cheney had authored the drone program, liberals would demand his indictment as a war criminal. But Obama has made it the defining feature of his war on terrorism and they remain silent.

When Bush departed from bedrock conservative principles and started spending like a drunken sailor, he triggered a revolt that ultimately culminated in the Tea Party movement. It remains to be seen if liberals will hold Obama similarly accountable.

"Uh, I don’t have anybody to send out there,” the 911 dispatcher told the woman. “You know,..."

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:34:38 -0700

““Uh, I don’t have anybody to send out there,” the 911 dispatcher told the woman. “You know, obviously, if he comes inside the residence and assaults you, can you ask him to go away? Do you know if he’s intoxicated or anything?””

- 911 Dispatcher Tells Woman About To Be Sexually Assaulted There Are No Cops To Help Her Due To Budget Cuts « CBS Seattle (via paleolibertarian)

Related: Make It Hurt

"[Obama’s] words will be little consolation for 8-year-old Nabila, who, on Oct. 24, had just returned..."

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:31:18 -0700

“[Obama’s] words will be little consolation for 8-year-old Nabila, who, on Oct. 24, had just returned from school and was playing in a field outside her house with her siblings and cousins while her grandmother picked flowers. At 2:30 p.m., a Hellfire missile came out of the sky and struck right in front of Nabila. Her grandmother was badly burned and succumbed to her injuries; Nabila survived with severe burns and shrapnel wounds in her shoulder. Nabila doesn’t know who Mr. Obama is, or where the Hellfire missile that killed her grandmother came from.”

- The Forgotten Victims of Obama’s Drone War (via theamericanbear)

I just did, you bastards.

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:00:27 -0700

I just did, you bastards.

Injustice For Cameron D'Ambrosio

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:42:52 -0700

letterstomycountry:

Every time I look at this young man’s photo, my heart breaks apart for him and his family:

Cameron D’Ambrosio should not be in handcuffs. He should not be in a court room. He should not have been arrested, and he damn well sure should not have been accused of Communicating a Terrorist Threat, or threatened with 20 years in prison for making what amounts to poor word choices.

This entire case is shot through with injustice:

Before charges were even formally filed, local newspapers were already posting pictures from Cam’s facebook and pointing to “disturbing” posts like “Fuck politics. Fuck Obama. Fuck the government!” and “satanic” imagery (like some image from a metal band’s poster.) All of this is free speech that is 100% protected by the 1st Amendment.

And then there’s this:

Fox News went so far as to say that Cam’s facebook profile had images that they “couldn’t show on TV.” They and other media outlets frequently and intentionally printed only a small section of the lyrics that Cam was arrested for allegedly writing, and took them out of context to make rap metaphors sound like a real threat.

The media printed:

“(Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, I’ma be famous”

The actual line is:

“(Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, I’ma be famous rapping”

Notice something? The context completely changes the meaning of the line. Suddenly something that sounds like a threat of violence is clearly just bragging about how good Cammy Dee is going to be in the rap game. Last we checked, teenage dreams of grandeur were not a crime.

Such omissions are scandalous. You can see one example here (they also incorrectly stated that Cameron pleaded “guilty.” He pled “not guilty.”). The source above also reported that Cameron was arrested on a previous assault and battery charge, but neglected to mention that those charges were later dismissed.

This case involves a number of horrifying breaches of journalistic ethics, paired with a complete, utter failure to exercise prosecutorial discretion. A young 18-year old man with his whole life ahead of him may spend the next 20 years of his life in prison for doing nothing more than posting uncouth status updates on his Facebook page. As Rob D’Ovidio, a criminal justice professor at Drexel University, said recently:

When I was young, calling a bomb threat to your high school because you didn’t want to go to school that day was treated with a slap on the wrist. Try that nowadays and you’re going to prison, no question about it. They are taking it more seriously now[.]

And then there’s this gem from the local police chief:

“There are no more threats that are high school pranks,” said Joseph Solomon, police chief, during a press conference Thursday afternoon. “If they’re thinking that way, they need to get their heads into 2013.”

This is the incarceration nation in motion. The fear of legitimate threats is used to extend the scope of punitive executive scrutiny to cases that otherwise would’ve been dealt with outside the criminal justice system. Stupid mistakes and ill-timed remarks become serious felonies with decades in prison as the penalty.

Cases like this highlight the need for people to push back against the overcriminalization of America. We need to stop sending our kids to prison for dumb mistakes. We need to stop traumatizing 18-year olds by making them do the perp walk, and then telling them they’re facing 20 years in prison for being oafish online. None of this is necessary. All of it is unjust, improper, and counterproductive.

Los Angeles Voters Choose to Cap Number of Pot Dispensaries

Wed, 22 May 2013 15:06:00 -0700

Los Angeles Voters Choose to Cap Number of Pot Dispensaries:

I’m surrounded by ignorant, moralistic, state-worshipping bullies.

A Virtual Weimar: Hyperinflation in a Video Game World

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:30:10 -0700

A Virtual Weimar: Hyperinflation in a Video Game World:

Fascinating.

"“I think it is critical for us to understand that Guantanamo is not necessary to keep America safe...."

Tue, 21 May 2013 22:05:00 -0700

“

“I think it is critical for us to understand that Guantanamo is not necessary to keep America safe. It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. …

The fundamental concept in any legal system is that one is innocent until proven guilty. In this case you have people who have not even been charged. …

I’ve seen several cases where the evidence did not support the accusation. When those cases were moved forward to trial level, federal judges ruled in favour of the prisoners in over 75 percent of the cases.

I am not saying that there aren’t any criminals at Guantanamo. If they are suspected criminals, they should be charged in a court of law that recognises the basic principles of fair process: presumption of innocence, no secret evidence, reliable evidence not extracted under torture. …

The U.S. government is reluctant [to bring Guantanamo detainees to court] because if you have torture, the case does not fly in court. All the prisoners of Guantanamo have been tortured one way or another.

”

- Ramzi Kassem, lawyer who represents seven detainees of various nationalities at Guantanamo and one at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.

With Government Abuses, The Problem is the Power, Not the Person

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 -0700

With Government Abuses, The Problem is the Power, Not the Person:

The magic phrase “national security” is often invoked to justify these transgressions — often in transparently convenient ways (Attorney General Holder claimed the AP had put “lives at risk” with the story that sparked the scrutiny, even though John Brennan had said there was no such risk.) But intrusive surveillance is increasingly wielded in routine criminal investigations with no appeal to a supposedly higher purpose that trumps constitutional protections.

It’s a joy watching government officials dodge questions, insist on blissful ignorance of the world’s evils and invoke their right against self-incrimination. Such great theater. But, at the end of the day, disposing of those officials without doing anything else just clears the way for a new crop of power-abusers and useful drones effectively identical to the last batch, though with a slightly different list of targets for mistreatment.

We should get rid of the abusers sure, if only to remind the next batch that there can be consequences. But it’s much more important to get rid of the agencies and powers that are inevitably abused, year after year, so that we don’t have to act surprised, yet again, that we can’t trust government officials to use power with restraint.

"…already Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., says he will insist that any federal disaster aid be paid for..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:30:00 -0700

“…already Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., says he will insist that any federal disaster aid be paid for with cuts elsewhere.”

- Roll Call (via brooklynmutt)

The alternative, of course, is “that any federal disaster aid be paid for through additional coercion by threatening individuals with violence (taxes or debt to be paid later with taxes).”

Which sounds more merciless and inhumane?

Ask any taxpayer, and I’m sure most would find disaster relief for Oklahoma to be a much higher order use of their ~~stolen wealth~~ taxes than drones or bureaucrats or prohibition enforcement or bailouts or subsidies or any of the thousands of wasteful and unaccountable and ultimately unnecessary federal agencies and departments.

Disaster Relief | American Red Cross The tornado devastation in...

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:02:00 -0700

Disaster Relief | American Red Cross

The tornado devastation in Oklahoma and surrounding areas is a horrific tragedy beyond words. At least 145 people reported injured with the death toll at 51, including 20 children (Updated reports this morning now say as many as 91 dead including approximately 30 children, though USA Today is reporting that the official death toll has been lowered to 24.)

Please give what you can to help those who need it.

Also consider Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief, Salvation Army, and United Way of Central Oklahoma.

Disaster Relief | American Red Cross The tornado devastation in...

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:58:00 -0700

Disaster Relief | American Red Cross

Please give what you can to help those who need it.

Also consider Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief, Salvation Army, and United Way of Central Oklahoma.