Police open fire as protesters hurl rocks

Use of force was authorized against G20 protesters in Pittsburgh this afternoon.

“If you do not disperse you may be subject to arrest or other police action. Other police action may include actual physical removal, the use of riot control agents and or less-lethal munitions which could cause injuries.”

The main message the mass march wanted to convey to the world leaders at the G20 was that human rights and dignity were more important than capitalism and profit margins, several of the demonstrators told AFP.

And for this heresy, the cops trap them in an alley and gas ‘em.

Again, we must quote Joe Strummer:

You have the right to free
Speech as long as youre not
Dumb enough to actually try it.

Manson follower Susan Atkins dies

LOS ANGELES — Charles Manson follower Susan Atkins, who admitted killing actress Sharon Tate 40 years ago, has died. She was 61.

Early this month, she lost her final bid for parole. She was brought to the parole board on a gurney and slept through most of her parole hearing, rousing toward the end to recite the 23rd Psalm with her husband. Survivors of victims in the notorious Tate-LaBianca murders argued against her release.

Al Franken Reads the 4th Amendment to Justice Department Official

Just in case he wasn’t familiar with it, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) decided to read the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution to David Kris, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, who was testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee today to urge reauthorization of expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act.

Kris looked flustered and mumbled that “this is surreal,” apparently referring to having to respond to Franken’s question. “I would defer to the other branch of government,” he said, referring to the courts, prompting Franken to interject: “I know what that is.”

Kudos Mr. Franken.

Is Chuck Norris advocating desecration of the American flag?

For years, right-wingers burned under the collar as they watched protesters set fire to the American flag. Now, with conservatives on the outside of political power in Washington, it looks like it may be their turn to use the flag to score political points.

“Can you imagine if some liberal deliberately stained a flag to make a political statement?” Brayton wrote. “They would be condemned as heathens, traitors and, at the very least, probably French.”

Indeed. Imagine if someone during the Bush or Saint Ronnie administration had dared suggest flying a different flag? Norris, Hannity and the rest of knuckle dragging crew would have peed themselves in hysterical rage about those “blame America first” traitors.

Here’s a news flash Chuck…the majority of the country elected a moderate Democrat- oh yeah, he’s black, btw- to be President. You don’t like it? Then pack your Walmart luggage and leave, you stain on America. I’m sure there’s a military dictatorship somewhere who needs a has-been action hero, right?

Felony charges for Cracker Barrel assault suspect

A man charged with attacking an Army reservist outside a Clayton County Cracker Barrel is back in jail and facing felony charges.

The FBI is also investigating the attack as a possible hate crime.

Do they get Glen Beck in prison?

FDA bans cigarettes with fruit, candy or clove flavors

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday banned cigarettes with fruit, candy or clove flavors.

The FDA said studies have shown that 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over age 25.

Of course! It’s “for the children”!

Exactly what f’n business is it of the feds what the f I smoke?

GOP senators declare war on Net neutrality

Six Republican senators have introduced an amendment that would block the Federal Communications Commission from implementing its recently announced Net neutrality policy.

The move appears to be an attempt to pre-empt the FCC’s expected new policy to ensure that Internet service providers don’t discriminate between different types of information on their networks.

Hmm, who could have guessed this? The GOP sucking up to business interests over the rights of citizens? No surprise there.

Rep. Steve King: The ‘best vote’ I ever cast in Congress was opposing Katrina relief

Rep. Steve King In a new interview with The Hill, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) reveals his proudest moment as a lawmaker:

King was one of just 11 members of Congress to vote against the $52 billion aid package. (It passed unanimously in the Senate.) Media Matters Action Network’s Matt Finkelstein writes, “Katrina killed 1,464 in Louisiana alone and uprooted the lives of countless others all over the gulf region. Yet, King says this was his ‘best’ moment in Congress. Not fighting for ‘conservative principles’ like smaller government, lower taxes, or a strong national defense — no, he’s most proud of opposing relief for victims of a catastrophe.”

Ever get the feeling when reading the heartless nonsense spewed in DC that these people no longer realize- or care- that they are talking about people? King has no problem allocating billions to kill Iraqis…but won’t spend the money to save Americans.

The word is…ghoul.

GOP Rep. Still Doing Penance for War Vote

Walter B. Jones has sent more than 8,000 letters of sympathy to the survivors of U.S. service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Republican Congressman from North Carolina keeps writing them – in part as penance, he says, for the vote for war he cast on Oct. 10, 2002.

To say it is extraordinary to hear a United States congressman say he has begged forgiveness from God for a vote he considers a mistake is an understatement. In an era when politicians back-flip, flip-flop, scurry, and scramble to retract statements and explain away votes, Rep. Jones seems to have much in common with Jimmy Stewart’s Sen. Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, except instead of a political row over graft and a dam the local bigwig wants to build, Jones’ story is of a man who remains haunted by his own failure to initially resist intelligence manipulated by the White House to sell a war it wanted to wage.

Kudos Sir. If only your fellow congress creeps had your integrity.

Chronically Displaced in NOLA

On July 26, about 50 people lined up to testify before a United Nations advisory committee in the cafeteria of McDonogh 42, a New Orleans elementary school. Though there had been only a small notice in the New Orleans Times-Picayune calling for public input, about 300 Hurricane Katrina survivors turned up to tell the UN-HABITAT advisors about the difficulties they still face returning to their ancestral homes even four years after the disaster.

The many obstacles to resettlement have routed the poor and middle class from the city’s land, while more than 65,000 residences in Orleans Parish remain uninhabited, according to the GNOCDC. Blighted properties and those with unpaid taxes are now being taken over by the city, creating a no-win situation for the government and the average neighborhood citizen. Like Harlem before gentrification, the downtown communities with abandoned properties and empty lots will soon be ripe for developers—if they take an interest. Without a buyer, the properties may lie fallow for years.