Hillsborough: Freed man still in limbo

Hillsborough: Freed man still in limbo: "TAMPA - Mark O'Hara left jail without handcuffs Wednesday, two years after he went to prison and one week since an appeals court ordered him a new trial.

He was serving a 25-year sentence for having 58 Vicodin pills in his bread truck. Jurors weren't told that it is legal to possess the drug with a prescription, which he had.

The Hillsborough State Attorney's Office has not decided whether it will seek a retrial in the Dunedin man's drug trafficking case."

And you thought you were safe with your fate being decided by a group of your peers? Not if the government leaves out little details, like the fact that you had a prescription for the pills you possessed. The sentence is also a prime example of why the war on drugs is simply wrong. He received 25 years for prescription pills. I was recently on Vicodin for the cracked rib that the gestapo Schenectady police gave me. It is a mixture of Tylenol and a tiny bit of an opiate. It is not a very strong drug at all, just barely enough to dull the pain a bit. Honestly, it is not much better than the ibuprofen I am now taking. Is that sentence justifiable? What would have happened if I had been stopped by the cops while I was walking home from the drug store? Especially seeing as I have already accused them of abuse...

Also, why is the State attorney still undecided about a retrial? It is quite obvious that this man was railroaded to begin with...

"He sold two condos, his car and his bread business to pay for the appeal. But the state took the proceeds, according to family friend Eric Mastro, to pay toward the $500,000 fine that came with his conviction."

I think this is lovely too. The state tried to sabotage his appeal. Drop this war on drugs. It just fills the prison system with non-violent offenders, pushing out the violent ones. Drop the bogus war on terror while we are at it.

The Raw Story | Michael Moore says he's been served with subpoena

The Raw Story | Michael Moore says he's been served with subpoena: "Filmmaker Michael Moore revealed on Thursday's 'The Tonight Show' with Jay Leno that the Bush Administration had served him with a subpoena regarding his recent trip to Cuba made as part of his new film, Sicko."

We must protect the rights of mega-corporate health care companies and big Pharma...

WorldNetDaily: IRS loses challenge to prove tax liability

WorldNetDaily: IRS loses challenge to prove tax liability: "The jury in U.S. District Court in Louisiana voted 12-0 to find Cryer, of Shreveport, not guilty of failure to file income taxes for two years. He had been indicted in 2006 on charges of failing to pay $73,000 to the IRS in 2000 and 2001. The next step in his personal case will be up to the IRS and prosecutors, if they choose to continue the issue, he said."

This is a great win for all of us who believe the government has been fraudulently taxing us for years. Unfortunately, I bet the IRS will be appealing this decision.

AlterNet: War on Iraq: U.S. Officials Have Absolutely No Clue about Iraq's Oil Law

AlterNet: War on Iraq: U.S. Officials Have Absolutely No Clue about Iraq's Oil Law: "In Washington, lawmakers and military officials say that Iraq's new oil law is vital for the country's future. But, as one reporter learned, most have no idea what they're talking about."

Well, most of our congress members do not read the bills they pass for America, why would they even fathom reading a bill they are talking up for a country half way around the world?

ABC News: Pentagon Funds Gay Bombs, Armed Sharks

ABC News: Pentagon Funds Gay Bombs, Armed Sharks: "Just three years ago, the military funded a specious study of psychic teleportation, according to the Federation of American Scientists. An 88-page report prepared by the Air Force Research Lab contended that moving through mind powers is 'quite real and can be controlled.'"

Mental teleportation, ok, I will believe that when I see it. The article goes on to say that the spending on these crazy ideas amounts to about 50,000 dollars a second. I wish I had a piece of that pie...

The threat to al-Jazeera

The threat to al-Jazeera: "But the station has had to pay a high price for its independence and professionalism. Its offices in Kabul and Baghdad were bombed by the US; its Baghdad correspondent Tariq Ayyub was killed; its Kabul correspondent Taysir Alluni was arrested in Spain and charged with terrorism; and its cameraman Sami Alhajj was kidnapped in Kabul and continues to be held in Guantánamo Bay. Most notoriously of all, George Bush even suggested to Tony Blair that they bomb al-Jazeera's Doha headquarters.

Now the US, which maintains a large military base in Qatar, has adopted a more subtle approach to breaking the Arabs' voice of independence and diversity. And the signs are that some elements in the Qatari government have yielded to the relentless US pressure. As one source close to al-Jazeera has put it: 'You don't need to bomb a TV station to change its direction.' A recent reshuffle has brought outspokenly pro-US directors on to the board, including a former Qatari ambassador to Washington. Another has boasted publicly that the tone and content of al-Jazeera's coverage is going to be changed. But these moves have already backfired and caused huge controversy not only in Qatar but throughout the Middle East, and there is every chance that what is in effect an attempted coup at the station will be reversed. It would be a huge loss for independence and freedom in the Arab world if it succeeded."

We cannot have media in the Middle East that is not completely for America. After all, we make the media in Iraq and Afghanistan, filling it with pro-government and pro-US propaganda. Al-Jazeera is one of the few free voices in the Middle East.

WorldNetDaily: U.S. contemplating more weapons to Palestinians

WorldNetDaily: U.S. contemplating more weapons to Palestinians: "According to the diplomatic sources, U.S. and European Union officials are making plans to transfer emergency aid to Abbas' Fatah party to secure its grasp on the West Bank after Hamas this week took complete control of the Gaza Strip, including all Fatah security compounds, many of which contained American weapons. The proposed aid to Fatah in the West Bank entails providing both funds and heavy weaponry, the diplomatic sources said."

Yes, let's keep providing weapons to people who just may decide to use them against us or our allies in the future. Why can't we just stay out of other's affairs? Oh, yes, there is the huge amount of profit we make in weapons deals...

China's changing nuclear posture | Spero News

China's changing nuclear posture | Spero News: "But as the latest report from the US Army War College reveals, the Chinese political and military leadership is gradually revising its nuclear posture and even preparing for the possibility of using nuclear weapons in a pre-emptive counter attack should the need arise."

This is quite troubling, seeing as we are on increasingly shaky ground with Red China.

More Firings Fallout As Justice Aide Quits, Deputy Attorney General's Chief Of Staff Resigns, Was Accused Of Threatening Attorneys If They Spoke Out -

More Firings Fallout As Justice Aide Quits, Deputy Attorney General's Chief Of Staff Resigns, Was Accused Of Threatening Attorneys If They Spoke Out - CBS News: "A senior Justice Department official who helped carry out the dismissals of federal prosecutors said Friday he is resigning.

Mike Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, is the fifth Justice official to leave after being linked to the dismissals of the prosecutors."

And another one bites the dust...

Duke prosecutor says he will resign - Yahoo! News

Duke prosecutor says he will resign - Yahoo! News: "RALEIGH, N.C. - A tearful Mike Nifong said Friday he will resign as district attorney after admitting that he made improper statements about three Duke University lacrosse players who were once charged with raping a stripper."

It is about time. What a horrible thing to do to those 3 innocent people, he should get jail time himself.

Bush appoints top industry lobbyist as counselor | Press Esc

Bush appoints top industry lobbyist as counselor | Press Esc: "President Bush today appointed a top industry lobbyist who lobbied on behalf of America's biggest businesses and interest groups as his counselor, replacing Dan Bartlett who left the White House recently.

DaimlerChrysler, Microsoft, PricewaterhouseCoopers, SBC Communications, TysonFoods, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Viacom are just some of the clients of Ed Gillespie, who served as the chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) between 2003 and 2005."

Politics/business as usual... All of the politicians in Washington are simply corporate slaves... We should rename our country to the United Corporations of America.

French Find Hidden American Satellites in Orbit : TruthEra.com - Uncover the Truth

French Find Hidden American Satellites in Orbit : TruthEra.com - Uncover the Truth: "A French space-surveillance radar has detected 20-30 satellites in low Earth orbit that do not figure in the U.S. Defense Department’s published catalogue, a discovery that French officials say they will use to pressure U.S. authorities to stop publishing the whereabouts of French reconnaissance and military communications satellites."

You have to wonder what these satellites do. God only knows when it comes to satellites that "do not exist."

China using 'child labour' to produce Olympics merchandise | Press Esc

China using 'child labour' to produce Olympics merchandise | Press Esc: "12 year-old children are forced to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week in unsafe and unhealthy conditions making Olympic merchandise, according to a report released by labour rights group ahead of the International Olympic Committee meeting in London today."

Is displacing more than a million people and adding to China's child labor problem really worth it for an athletic competition? Perhaps the decision makers of the Olympic committee should reconsider allowing China to host the games in the future.

China forcibly evicts 1.5 million people for Olympics | Press Esc

China forcibly evicts 1.5 million people for Olympics | Press Esc: "The Chinese authorities are forcibly evicting 1.5 million people from their homes in Beijing without compensating them to make way for the Olympics leaving many displaced former residents homeless, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions revealed this week.

According to the Geneva based rights group's field research, based on Chinese government statements and documents, by April 2007, at least 1.25 million people have already been displaced as a result of urban development linked to the Olympic Games, and unknown numbers of these people were forcibly evicted."

The darker side of the Olympic games...

Digg - Blog: Rules 'hiding' trillions in debt. Liability $516,348 per U.S. household

Digg - Blog: Rules 'hiding' trillions in debt. Liability $516,348 per U.S. household

They are using the Enron rules for accounting, apparently. When China and all of the other owners of our debt decide to pull out of US dollars, be prepared to go shopping with a shotgun, because a collapsed economy will result chaos here in the states.

Of course, by the time that happens, the right to bear arms may have gone the way of the protection against illegal search and seizure: into the void of forgotten constitutional protections.