14 year old tazered by cop

A New Mexico cop tazered a 14 year old girl in a park! I just received this YouTube video. Why? The girl walked away from him as he was trying to talk to her, then ran when he pulled out the tazer. She's an epileptic. Maybe the officer needed a vacation; he's been "placed on administrative leave" while the incident is under investigation, but the video didn't say if that was with or without pay? 

Thanks Scott H.! I'll eventually place it in my favorites. It's been a while since my last post; I promise I'll blog more later this week.

Murky, lousy - Murkowski

I heard it on C-Span this morning and just couldn't believe it. The Murkowski resolution would overturn findings by the EPA that CO2 and other gases which trap heat are a danger to public health! Yes, you read it right, overturn scientific findings! Like, let's pretend that polution doesn't exist and maybe it will go away. The bill is not expected to pass, but will be a very close vote apparently. Partisan, most Republicans are supporting it! Here's the story. And quoting from it:

"Other environmental groups have called it "Big Oil's resolution," and have seized on it as an example of the close ties Murkowski and many others in Congress have to oil companies."

When you lose a democracy...

"This is the beginning of what happens when you lose a democracy..." says Attorney Richard Fine in this 4 minute video. He believes that the only thing we can do is "Vote the bums out." 

Maine Governmental Ethics - John Richardson

A story broke in May regarding Maine Clean Elections; certain signature-gatherers working for gubernatorial candidate John Richardson apparently forged signatures. Here's the story which led to Richardson withdrawing from the race; but now that I've summed it up, you can skip the bull and just get to the good stuff-the reader comments after the piece. 

And by the way, the Ethics Commission has denied a Freedom of Information request made by the St. John Valley Times and other Maine newspapers for the names of the campaign workers. It's the public's right to know! Open government my eye.  

Well, what else would one expect from an Ethics Commission which openly violates the First Amendment right of free speech? This cover page of the Commission's complaint form for filing a complaint against a legislator contains a confidentiality agreement; the agreement is basically a threat on your freedom. If you exercise your right of free speech, you could be charged with a Class D crime. Ridiculous, it's not like the safety of the country would be jeopardized if details about a complaint against a Maine legislature were leaked... clowns, or should I say crooks?    

Los Angeles bicyclists attacked by cops!

I called Ron Branson last night to see what he was up to. Since he has no driver's license - the state won't give him one because he has no Social Security number - he does alot of bicycling. He says alot of people in California have resorted to this means of travel as the conditions of the roads are poor, and people are poor too. He would have been with this group of bicyclists, but his bicycle was run over in a parking lot just hours before the mass ride took place. 

I found this video about the confrontation. Ron tells me some of the cyclists have been told they must have lights on their bikes... can you imagine this group meeting traffic, each with a beaming light? It would blind motorists.