Little Brother is Watching: English Police Show Elementary Students a Video on Reporting Extreme Views

imageslogoElementary students in England are being shown a Lancashire Police film where a lion and a cat tell them to turn in people who espouse dangerous thoughts. It is the latest work of the Preventing Violent Extremism office, which seeks to uncover extremists in the country like Guy Fawkes.
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Professor Settles Lawsuit With City Over Arrest For Taking Pictures of Power Lines

pearlpUniversity of Washington Professor Shirley Scheier has settled the lawsuit over her arrest by the City of Snohomish for taking pictures of power lines. The American Civil Liberties Union represented her and settled for $8000. The settlement is disappointing and disturbing given the small damages and lack of deterrent effect for the city.
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Palin Proletariat: Alaskan Governor Acclaims the Common Resources in Her State and Then Warns That We Are Embracing Socialism

180px-Palin_waving-RNC-20080903_croppedimagesAlaskans Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chainsaws. Now, for our latest manifesto from Comrade Palin. See video clip below with Sean Hannity.

While this does not compete with the Palin Turkey Grind video, this one is a gem. In an interview with Fox, Palin explains how Alaska is a citizen paradise where resources are collectively owned by the people. She then launched into a warning that Obama was pushing us toward socialism.

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Burn Baby (Be-Bop) Burn: Christian Group Files to Seek Right to Burn Book

n26785The Christian Civil Liberties Union (CCLU) has selected a curious place to put together an old-fashioned book burning: a court. In West Bend, Wisconsin, Christians are upset over a book called Baby Be-Bop and other books contained in the “Young Adult” material that they say are sexually explicit and inappropriate. In a 9-0 vote, the library trustees refused their demands to remove or restrict the material at the West Bend Community Memorial Library.
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Conservative Blogger Publishes Alleged Anonymous Identity of Law Professor John F. Blevins

blevinsThere is an interesting fight brewing over a column written by conservative blogger Ed Whelan who has published the allegedly true identity of one of his critics. Whelan says that a critic calling himself “Publius” is really South Texas law professor John Blevins (shown left).

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Supreme Court Rules Against West Virginia Justice in Landmark Ethics Case

225px-Anthony_Kennedy_Official225px-official_roberts_cjWe have been following the West Virginia case involving A.T. Massey Coal Co., involving a fundamental question of judicial ethics. A divided court voted 5-4 in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal, et al. (08-22) that West Virginia Justice Brent D. Benjmain violated the constitution by sitting on a case involving the major donor in his campaign, A.T. Massey’s chief executive, Don Blankenship.

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The Criminalization of HIV Transmission

thumb_scales_of_justiceIn both Canada and the United States, courts are imposing heavy criminal sentences for individuals for the transmission of HIV through consensual sex without disclosure to their partners. It is a trend that has alarmed some AIDS activists who fear that the scope of the prosecutions will put many HIV-positive individuals at risk of prosecution for negligence. I discussed the trend on this segment of NPR’s Talk of the Nation.

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Patient Dies After Paramedic Diverts Ambulance From Hospital to Return to Office Because His Shift Was Over

180px-Rx_ambulanceA 69-year-old man died in Stockton, England after a paramedic drove his ambulance back to the lot rather than a hospital because his shift was over. The North East Ambulance Service Trust
has suspended both the paramedic and a technician.

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Who Will Rid Me Of These Meddlesome Victims?: Brooklyn Bishop DiMarzio Warns Legislators That Allowing Child-Abuse Victims to Sue Would Virtually Bankrupt Diocese

defaultBishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of Brooklyn is reportedly threatening dire consequences for both legislators and the Church if New York lifts the statute of limitations to allow victims of child sex-abuse to sue. The one-year suspension will, according to the Bishop, bankrupt the Church and lead to social and political backlash for legislators.
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