February 17, 2015

ACLU prohibited from joining gang rap case

Cross post from GD.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026237144

This case is absolutely mind boggling and mind blowing. And yet, not at all surprising

February 17, 2015

ACLU prohibited from joining gang rap case

Rap artist, Tiny Doo already spent 8 months in prison for a crime he had zero to do with. But that isn't stopping San Diego prosecutors from trying to put him and some others away for life.

The prosecution is using a conspiracy law, that is yet untested, to put Brandon Duncan, aka Tiny Doo, in prison for a crime he didn't commit, had no prior knowledge, has no ties to and didn't even write about in his music. The song they are using, to show he is part of a "conspiracy" in a 2013 gang related shooting, and his "benefiting from the crime" is from his album "No Safety." The album was released years prior to the shooting.

Tiny Doo has never been in a gang. He has never been convicted of a crime and he doesn't rap about going out and shooting this guy or that guy.

Because this is very much a First Amendment case, the San Diego branch of the ACLU filed an amicus brief. Unbelievably, they were blocked. Or maybe believably.

http://m.utsandiego.com/news/2015/feb/10/aclu-prohibited-gang-rap-duncan-amicus/

The wave of unfair prosecutions, illegal arrests and outright murders by law enforcement in this country is very telling in where we are headed. The SCOTUS has already done away with Affirmative Action, Voter Rights and separation of church and state. The jailing of journalists and whistle blowers is becoming more and more prevalent. Our Fourth Amendment rights are close to gone. How far behind is the complete dismantling of the First Amendment?

It is usually during the appellate stage that amicus briefs are filed and people and entities, like the ACLU, are allowed to be part of the process. But the fact that Mr. Duncan has been charged and already spent 8 months in prison, for a crime he didn't commit, is just another step in taking our rights away. Certainly Mr. Duncan’s rights.

This is a very important case. If the prosecution is able to charge someone, someone this far removed from the crime they're supposedly part of, we're in trouble.

More at links

The law:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=182-185

ACLU San Diego blog (prior to decision)
https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech-racial-justice/man-faces-life-prison-forrapping

The Guardian article (great information)
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/dec/03/tiny-doo-rapper-facing-life-for-making-album

Interview with Tiny Doo
http://m.noisey.vice.com/blog/tiny-doo-interview-jail-no-safety-faces-life-in-prison-for-recording-album

February 17, 2015

"I know the one thing we did right, was the day we started to fight! Keep your eyes on the prize!"

If you have never seen the documentary, "Eye On The Prize" you should. It is a 6 part series about the civil rights movement in the US. It is powerful, heartbreaking, heartwarming and accurate.

What is so very sad, besides the obvious, is how so much is still true today. In watching we see how far backward we have gone after making some strides forward.

Our country is pushing us all into a type of slavery. They are starting with the same groups they pushed down before. People of color, women and the poor.

This is episode 1

http://freedocumentaries.org/int.php?filmID=370


This is actually a repost of mine but it should be seen by everyone in the US.

February 16, 2015

10 days left for your message to be heard about net neutrality

Battle for the net

It ain't over until it's over.

https://www.battleforthenet.com/

February 16, 2015

separate group for gossip "news"

Just a suggestion. It is disheartening to see that posts about Kanye has over 400 replies but posts about the a man stabbing his transgender daughter, a woman dying in police custody or "Juan Cole: Iraq: ISIL Advances to Within 9 Miles of 300 US Troops at Al-Ain Base" get almost nothing.

Maybe if the gossip kind of stuff was in a separate group or forum, more important issues would receive more attention.

Just a thought.

February 16, 2015

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

Wendell Berry

February 16, 2015

Inequity For All

Robert Reich, Jake Kornbluth and moveon.org on the TPP

Robert Reich: Inequality for All (11/20/13):

February 16, 2015

ya gotta love Shameless

Frank going on about the gentrification of his hood, "you cannot sell to the lesbians. When the good looking gays start buying up our homes the whole neighborhood is doomed. They're cashing in on their own good taste. "

He actually says something else between those two sentences but I have a 20 year old, 19" TV with horrible sound. Can't make out what he says.

Still, cracking me up.

February 15, 2015

It has been 3 1/2 months since the death of Sheneque Proctor

And still we have only the police version of events. There has been no video released to the family. There are still more questions than answers. And no one seems to care

This case is obvious neglect by the police, at the least in my eyes. This 18 year old mother of an infant son was left to die in police custody. Sheneque was, according to a call to her mother, "slammed" against the police car before being cuffed and "thrown" into the car. We know she was pepper sprayed at least twice, supposedly because her cuffs slipped off. We know she had asthma and complained to police about problems breathing.

Sheneque was doing drugs but it seems that she was not so high as to cause any concern to the cops. She was "snoring loudly" but that didn't cause them concern even knowing she suffered from asthma.

Though we don't know at what point she took the drugs, with her death, fewer than 12 hours after her being booked, she would have shown symptoms of overdosing at some point before they locked her in a cell and left her to die.

There's absolutely no excuse for the just turned 18 year old, in custody for just a short time, about 12 hours, to be found dead in the cell. Even if nothing overt happened to cause her death, there is neglect on the part of the police. The fact she had asthma, was pepper sprayed and what should have been obvious intoxication if she actually did OD, medical attention should have been sought prior to her death.

I have been checking on this every week or so for updates to see if the family has ever been given the video promised. Though there are a few articles in online publications like the Guardian, Daily Kos and a few others, if you Google her name under "news" and go back just a day, a week or even a month, there is absolutely nothing. Nothing about the young, black, mother of an infant son, who died in police custody fewer than 13 hours after being arrested.

Sheneque's death has been ruled a drug overdose. But we have nothing except the word of the police as to when they checked on her, why no medical attention was given when she complained of problems breathing and informed them she had asthma, whether or not she was sufficiently decontaminated of pepper spray, if at all, and the video tape, promised to her parents has yet to be released.

It is possible that the police are actually telling the truth in this. However, the fact that the video hasn't been released after 3 1/2 months makes me doubt it.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/09/black-alabama-teenager-died-police-cell-sheneque-proctor

http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/01/police-refuse-to-explain-how-young-african-american-woman-died-in-police-custody/

February 12, 2015

We have 14 days left to stop cable companies from controlling the Internet

Battle For The Net has an easy way for you to tell your representatives and the FCC we don't want Comcast, Time Warner and AT&T telling us what we can access.

https://www.battleforthenet.com/

The site has a letter you can sign and it sends to your representatives, a script to use to call your representatives. It will even dial the phone for you to each one. Can't possibly be easier.

Just over 13 days left. Take action.