1,100 Green Berets set record straight on guns
Text smaller Text bigger Politicians, pundits and private citizens have been sounding off on Barack Obama’s new push for gun bans, but what do the professionals whose job it is to use guns in the protection of their nation, their fellow countrymen and themselves say? Watch out. An open letter has been posted on the Professional Soldiers blog that has been signed as of this writing by more than 1,100 current and former U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers, the Green Berets. The soldiers say first it’s important to define the issue and set the record straight. “The terms ‘assault weapon’ and ‘assault rifle’ are often confused,” they say. The Green Berets, who use the weapons, point out the M4A1 carbine is a U.S. military service rifle – it is an assault rifle.” Keep your gun rights: Sign new petition “The AR-15 is not an assault rifle. Likewise, they say, a ban on “high-capacity” magazines would be irrelevant, pointing to the shooting by Eric Harris at Columbine High School as proof.
40 Years in Solitary Confinement: US 'Pushing Boundaries of Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Treatment'
Today marks the dark anniversary of 40 years of solitary confinement of Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace at Angola Prison in Louisiana. Herman Wallace, left, and Albert Woodfox in Angola prison in Louisiana. Amnesty International will hand over a 65,000-signature petition to Louisiana Governor Jindal today demanding an end to Woodfox and Wallace's solitary confinement. The 40-year isolated incarceration of Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace "pushes the boundaries of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and flies in the face of international standards to which the US is a party,” stated Everette Harvey Thompson, Southern Office Regional Director of Amnesty International USA. Describing the cell he's lived in for 40 years, Herman Wallace says, "I can make about four steps forward before I touch the door." The Guardian: Forty years in solitary: two men mark sombre anniversary in Louisiana prison Democracy Now!
David M. Kennedy’s Don’t Shoot Reviewed: If the Police Don’t Protect Citizens From Criminals, Who Should?
Photograph by Sibylle von Ulmenstein. Last year, residents in Chicago’s Washington Park neighborhood asked for my advice about a local gang problem. Their leader and block club president, Marla McCoy—a teacher’s aide, homeowner, and mother of three—noticed that drug dealing in the local park was starting up after a yearlong hiatus. Her opponent, an18-year-old upstart named Filly, had orchestrated a successful and violent coup d’etat. When Marla called to ask, “When do I call the police?” For most Americans, a dangerous gang boss would produce an instantaneous 911 call rather than a series of reflective dialogues and creative regulatory schemes. I had known Marla’s mother, the late Shauna McCoy, herself a powerful neighborhood leader. Marla might have done better to call David Kennedy, the author of a memoir about fighting crime and violence in America’s inner cities. For many reasons, this outreach wasn’t easy. But communities need to address violence right way.
Trayvon Martin and America’s Gun Laws
Just after seven-thirty on the morning of February 27th, a seventeen-year-old boy named T. J. Lane walked into the cafeteria at Chardon High School, about thirty miles outside Cleveland. Russell King, a seventeen-year-old junior, was sitting at a table with another junior, Nate Mueller. Ever since the shootings at Columbine High School, in a Denver suburb, in 1999, American schools have been preparing for gunmen. At Chardon High School, kids ran through the halls screaming “Lockdown!” From the cafeteria, Frank Hall, the assistant football coach, chased Lane out of the building, and he ran off into the woods. Moments later, four ambulances arrived. At a quarter to nine, police officers with dogs captured Lane, about a mile from the school. “I hate to say it, but we trained for exactly this type of thing, a school emergency of this type,” Dan McClelland, the county sheriff, said. Danny Parmertor died that afternoon. Russell King had been too badly wounded. The day before T. The U.S.
The 5 Creepiest Unsolved Crimes Nobody Can Explain
Dear Internet: We have to admit something -- we've been getting kinda cocky, recently. Whether we're explaining the phenomenon of alien abduction, debunking every textbook ever or doing some third thing, we've been spending a lot of time acting like we have all the answers. And it's started to go to our heads. But that all changes now. There are unsolved crimes, and then there are the kind of creepy, "What the hell could possibly be going on here" capers that keep the cops, and anyone who hears about them, up at night. Here are the real cases that almost fall into X-Files territory: The victim was found dead at 6:30 am, December 1, 1948, under a street lamp at Somerton Beach in Australia. But more on that in a moment. Would have saved them a ton of time, and been exactly as helpful. So the cops must have been half expecting it when the coroner returned with the cause of death: "Sudden, acute onset of damned if I know." Every breakthrough seemed to increase the mystery. It Gets Weirder:
Kamer voor vastleggen kentekens
dinsdag 19 mrt 2013, 20:54 (Update: 20-03-13, 09:45) De Kamer wil kentekens gebruiken om criminelen te vervolgen ANP De Tweede Kamer wil het systeem uitbreiden waarbij camera's kentekens van auto's in het verkeer vastleggen en opslaan. VVD, PvdA, PVV en CDA steunen plannen hiervoor van minister Opstelten van Justitie. De nummerborden die camera's in het verkeer voor controles scannen, mogen straks vier weken worden opgeslagen. De foto's worden nu niet opgeslagen als er geen verkeersovertreding is begaan. Privacy SP en D66 zijn tegen, ze vinden dat de maatregel te ver gaat. Maar volgens PvdA-Kamerlid Recourt wegen de voordelen zeker op tegen de nadelen. Getuigen VVD-Kamerlid van der Steur benadrukt dat je op die manier niet alleen criminelen kan opsporen, maar dat je ook met getuigen in contact kan komen die misschien iets verdachts gezien hebben. De Raad van State en de Stichting Privacy First spraken zich eerder uit tegen de plannen van Opstelten. Deel deze pagina
NYPD Raids Activists' Homes Before Tomorrow's Occupy Wall Street Protests
"If one of these nuts blows up something people would cry, "where are the cops."" Yeah, so? Oh wait, you're one of those nuts who uses false hypocrisy, artificial arguments instead of logic and actual argument, to justify people doing illegal searches/interrogations? ***IF SO***, you'e scum of a high caliber. Good for cops that punch people in the face, using 'focused strikes' to do their job. Ever heard of innocent until PROVEN guilty? I take it you are a communist, cipher6?
Nieuw kabinet moet verder denken dan vergelding
Niets wat de fantasie zo stimuleert als een nieuw kabinet aan de horizon. Tabula rasa! Een nieuw begin, oké, vermoedelijk pas over een maandje of wat. Veiligheid beloven als gevolg van repressie is een totale illusie De Raad voor de Rechtspraak stuurde voor de zomer nog een open brief aan de Tweede Kamer met het opvallende verzoek om rondom de verkiezingen „de verwachtingen te temperen over de effectiviteit van het strafrecht”. Zo heb ik wel meer illusies. Maar de registratie en het afdrukken gaan intussen wel vrolijk door. Er zijn talloze kansen voor een nieuw kabinet om klare wijn te schenken. Het hele vreemdelingenbeleid moet opnieuw doordacht worden.
