RandySF
RandySF's JournalLarge wedge tornado headed towards Downtown Wichita.
KSN: LARGE WEDGE #TORNADO 3mi north of Peck. This is heading for downtown Wichita! #KSwx [via Twitter]
http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/april-tornado-outbreak-coverage_2012-04-13
Announcer on The Weather Channel: Your tax dollars at work.
Someone on The Weather Channel made a point to mention that our tax dollars went into the forecasting and pinpointing severe wether in the Midwest. What do Kansas and Oklahoma Republicans think right now about government spending?
Emptywheel: Zimmerman affidavit is shit.
In short, it is shit. To be honest, this affidavit, within its “four corners” arguably does not even meet the necessary burden of probable cause for Manslaughter under Florida section 782.07, much less the “depraved mind” necessary under Florida’s Second Degree Murder charge under section 782.04(2) as charged in the information. George Zimmerman may have committed a crime, but it is not demonstrated in this affidavit, and certainly is not as to the crime charged, Second Degree Murder. Charles Blow can praise this thing until the cows come home in the august pages of the New York Times, but it is still a pile of junk.
But the above discussion is all about what is in the affidavit, let’s talk about what is not in the affidavit as well. The affidavit goes out of its way to spin innocuous and perfectly legal activity into some nebulous vignette of implied criminality, yet self servingly there is not a single fleeting reference to Zimmerman’s claim of having acted in self defense. To be sure, in charging a case, a prosecutor is going to frame the facts to support her charge. But that does not mean she can blithely ignore patently exculpatory facts known to her and germane to the interests of justice. Angela Corey’s affidavit is thusly not just deficient, but dishonest in a very slimy, even if not unethical way. It is patently offensive in that regard.
The case is also patently overcharged. As stated above, I think it is more than arguable that the probable cause affidavit does not even support manslaughter, but it is not remotely close to supporting second degree murder. This is an embarrassment not only for Angela Corey, but the magistrate who signed off on this bunk. It makes the criminal justice system look horrible.
None of this is to say I think George Zimmerman is innocent of any crime for the incident that led to Trayvon Martin’s death, nor is it to say that the state may not possess sufficient evidence to convict Zimmerman of some crime at a trial. In fact, I am highly disturbed by Zimmerman’s behavior and Martin’s death. All I am saying is, is that while there may be probable cause to charge Zimmerman, it has in no way, shape or form demonstrated by the State of Florida’s official legal statement that is supposed to be the foundation for charging Zimmerman. Zimmerman should not be charged, nor sitting in a county detention, based on this document; yet there he is.
http://www.emptywheel.net/2012/04/14/zimmerman-anatomy-of-an-deficient-probable-cause-affidavit/#more-26370
5 US military personnel involved in misconduct in Colombia
MIAMI - United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) announces April 14 that five U.S. service members assigned to Joint Task Force Summit of the Americas in support of the United States Secret Service violated the curfew established by the United States Senior Defense Official in Colombia and may have been involved in inappropriate conduct. The conduct is alleged to have occurred in the same hotel where the recalled United States Secret Service agents were staying.
The personnel are currently in Colombia but confined to quarters and under orders not to have contact with other individuals. They will return to the United States with the rest of the support contingency at the conclusion of the mission.
Gen. Douglas Fraser, Commander of USSOUTHCOM, said that he is "disappointed by the entire incident and that this behavior is not in keeping with the professional standards expected of members of the United States military." He went on to say that after a thorough investigation, punishment, if appropriate, will take place in accordance with established policies and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
http://www.dvidshub.net/news/86763/5-us-military-personnel-involved-misconduct-colombia#.T4njXn32CPQ#ixzz1s3B5WQJ7
[/IMG]U.S. Secret Service agents recalled from Colombia for seeking hookers.
Adler said the entire unit was recalled for purposes of the investigation. The Secret Service “responded appropriately” and is “looking at a very serious allegation,” he said, adding that the agency “needs to properly investigate and fairly ascertain the merits of the allegations.”
The Washington Post was alerted to the investigation by Ronald Kessler, a former Post reporter and author of several nonfiction books, including the book “In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect.”
Kessler said he was told that a dozen agents had been removed from the trip. He added that soliciting prostitution is considered inappropriate by the Secret Service, even though it is legal in Colombia when conducted in designated “tolerance zones.” However, Kessler added, several of the agents involved are married.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-secret-service-agents-recalled-from-colombia/2012/04/13/gIQAEdW9FT_story.html
Does American Idol voting reflect American racism?
In the bottom three were Jessica Sanchez, Elise Testone and Joshua Ledet. (WTF, America?) Jessica was the contestant with the lowest number of votes, and though she was entitled to sing for the judges' save, she only managed to get a few bars into the song before the judges took the stage, with Jennifer Lopez demanding that she hand over the mic. "This is crazy! Go sit down -- yes, we're using the save," she insisted.
After a brief huddle, Randy Jackson spoke for his fellow judges, and admonished America for their lack of votes for Jessica. "We are saving Jessica without any doubt," he reiterated, before adding, "Let me just say this ... This girl is one of the best singers in America, ever, are you kidding me? Please, everybody, please, vote for the best, it's about finding the best. C'mon!" You tell 'em, Randy.
I hate to say "I told you so" about the systemic racist and sexist voting patterns in relation to this show, but the results certainly proved that, without the judges' intervention, Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet probably had no chance of winning this season, while Colton and Phillip are likely to remain our final two.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-prudom/american-idol-elimination_b_1422449.html
Foster Friess: I Hope Obama's 'Teleprompters Are Bulletproof'
Wealthy GOP super PAC donor Foster Friess, fresh off announcing a conversion from Rick Santorum's corner to Mitt Romney's, drew a little unwanted attention Wednesday when he used gun imagery to weigh in on the shifting state of the 2012 race.
"There are a lot of things that haven't been hammered at because Rick and Mitt have been going at each other," Friess said during an interview on Fox Business News. "Now that they have trained their barrels on President Obama, I hope his teleprompters are bulletproof."
He quickly went on to admit that he "probably shouldn't have said that."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/12/foster-friess-obama-teleprompters-bulletproof_n_1420318.html
To Ann Romney: Where was the respect for your husband's church member's choice?
Ann Romney said on Fox news that 'We need to respect choices that women make'. I couldn't agree more. But where was the respect for a member of Bishop Romney's church when a pregnancy threatened her life?\
Judith Dushku is a professor of history at Suffolk University, an outspoken Mormon feminist, and the mother of Dollhouse and Buffy star Eliza Dushku. She's also the founder of Exponent II, a Mormon feminist publication. In 1990, Ms. Dushku's magazine published the story of an anonymous 41 year old woman who experienced a life-threatening blood clot while she was pregnant for the sixth time. The woman was told by doctors that treatment of the clot would threaten the pregnancy, and so an abortion was necessary. The Mormon faith officially opposes abortion except in extreme cases, and women who are members of the church and seek an abortion are required to petition church elders for permission. She and her husband petitioned the Church to authorize them to receive the procedure, and a church elder told her and her husband that the procedure looked like unfortunate but unavoidable.
On the day of the abortion, the couple showed up at the hospital only to be greeted by their bishop, who had shown up, unannounced, to try to prevent her from going through with it, regardless of the fact that a church official with a higher rank than his had already given the okay. The bishop was determined to make his case against the life-saving surgery, and he was a total dick about it. According to a 2007 interview with Dushku, the following exchange occurred,
He said – What do you think you're doing?
She said – Well, we have to abort the baby because I have these blood clots.
And he said something to the effect of – Well, why do you get off easy when other women have their babies?
And she said – What are you talking about? This is a life threatening situation.
And he said – Well what about the life of the baby?
And she said – I have four other children and I think it would be really irresponsible to continue the pregnancy.
The bishop who tried to block that selfish, selfish clotted up woman from saving her own life with a legal medical procedure was one Mitt Romney. The woman he attempted to block did go through with her abortion and lived to see her four teenage children grow up. Her family later left the church.
http://jezebel.com/5851050/the-curious-case-of-mitt-romney-an-abortion-and-eliza-dushkus-mom
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
Home country: USA
Current location: San Francisco, CA
Member since: Wed Oct 29, 2008, 02:53 PM
Number of posts: 58,805
