Justice Department: Alamance sheriff's office discriminates against Latinos

RALEIGH (AP) — A two-year investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice has found that a North Carolina sheriff and his deputies routinely discriminated against Latinos by making unwarranted arrests with the intent of maximizing deportations.

In an 11-page report issued Tuesday, the federal agency said Alamance County Sheriff Terry S. Johnson and his deputies violated the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens and legal residents by illegally targeting, stopping, detaining and arresting Latinos without probable cause.

The agency also said that Johnson obstructed the federal investigation launched in 2010 by withholding requested documents and falsifying records. Federal investigators say members of the department also feared retaliation if they cooperated.

Justice Department Releases Investigative Findings on the Alamance County, N.C., Sheriff’s Office

* * * * * * * * * * *

ACLU takes CIA to court over drone strikes

The American Civil Liberties Union will go to court on Thursday in an attempt to get the CIA to hand over documents related to President Barack Obama‘s controversial “targeted killing” programme that uses unmanned drones to strike suspected Islamic militants.

The programme has been repeatedly referenced in public by numerous senior officials, including by Obama himself and defence secretary Leon Panetta, but the spy agency has refused to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request from the civil liberties group because it says it will not confirm the secretive use of drones.

As a result the ACLU has gone to court to argue that the CIA cannot deny the existence of a programme that has been so widely reported, including in great detail in off-the-record briefings by administration and agency officials. Jameel Jaffer, the deputy legal director of the ACLU, said: “It is preposterous. The assertion that this programme is a secret is nothing short of absurd.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Will the 2012 Presidential Election Be Stolen?

By davidswanson - Posted on 18 September 2012

Why would I even ask that question? I've been trying (with virtually no success) to get everyone to drop the election obsession and focus on activism designed around policy changes, not personality changes. I want those policy changes to include stripping presidents of imperial powers. I don't see as much difference between the two available choices as most people; I see each as a different shade of disaster. I don't get distressed by the thought of people "spoiling" an election by voting for a legitimately good candidate like Jill Stein. Besides, won't Romney lose by a landslide if he doesn't tape his mouth shut during the coming weeks? And yet . . .

(My bolding above)

* * * * * * * * * * *

Warrantless Wiretapping Was Far More Involved Than Previously Known, New Book Says

The warrantless wiretapping conducted on American citizens by the U.S. government post-9/11 was far more involved and more troubling than previously known, according to a new book.

Kurt Eichenwald's "500 Days," which chronicles the decisions lawmakers and other leaders made in the 500 days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, lays out in startling detail how the National Security Agency's wiretapping plan was first proposed, quickly adopted and then used—all in a matter of days.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Governor Chris Christie started this idiotic #WhatYouCanBuyFor$775 campaign on Twitter and elsewhere to try and get his "tax relief" proposal passed, which the NJ Democrats are not buying.

458 medium cups of coffee from Dunkin' Donuts

223 gallons of milk

209 gallons of regular gas

7 months of electric bills (ha and ha)

31 seasonal beach tags to one Jersey shore

[....]

Taxpayer money spent for his legislative campaign, pdf

One question should be: Why are they paying to go to the beach?

* * * * * * * * * * *

From Aigeanta's article yesterday:

There was an article today in SFGate (The San Francisco Chronicle) which detailed the research behind the discovery that a compound found in marijuana, cannabidiol, aka CBD, inhibits the growth of ID-1 "triple negative" metastatizing cancer cells, which comprise 15% of cancers.

Reminder: Rally at your local Obama for America office on September 20th!

What: A coordinated protest across the country in solidarity for medical cannabis. The action will take place at local Obama for America offices around the nation, where activists and patients will remind Obama of his broken campaign promises regarding medical marijuana in places where it is legal at the state level.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Political Cartoons 9-20-12