Author: Joe from MassPrivateI

The Advocate – by John Simerman

A campaign of violence meted out by a squad of Iberia Parish drug deputies landed many of them in the federal pen and left the fate of Sheriff Louis Ackal in the hands of a jury, which acquitted him on civil rights charges.

Now, two years later, the scandal has resulted in convictions being dissolved for 18 people who were arrested, charged and in some cases imprisoned based on evidence drummed up by the disgraced deputies, legal advocates say.   Continue reading “The cost of bad policing: Review of Iberia Parish cases leads to 18 tossed convictions”

PIX 11

ALBANY, N.Y. — Two of the nation’s largest retailers and a third company are named in a New York lawsuit claiming the companies imported and sold children’s toys with lead levels up to 10 times higher than federal limits.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said in the lawsuit filed in an Albany court Thursday that Walmart, Target and Randolph, New Jersey-based LaRose Industries, importer of the “Cra-Z-Jewelz” jewelry-making kits, “committed thousands of violations” of state laws regulating the safety of children’s toys sold in New York.   Continue reading “NY sues 3 companies over lead levels in kids’ jewelry kits”

Plan Philly – by Ryan Briggs

Maleny Vazquez remembers when the police came and took the house across the street. Vazquez has only lived on this block of Waterloo Street for a few years, but in this chaotic section of Kensington, riven by the drug trade, she has gotten used to seeing police empty homes.

“There were lot of guns and a lot of drugs in there,” she recalls. “They took 30 guns out of there.”   Continue reading “Inside the Philadelphia DA’s side hustle — selling seized homes to speculators and cops”

The Mises Institute – by José Niño

James Bovard notes the threat to private gun ownership posed by the “deep state,” the “officials who secretly wield power permanently in Washington, often in federal agencies with vast sway and little accountability.” Continue reading “The Deep State Wants Your Guns”

WTAE

WILKINSBURG, Pa. — A man identified as an elected constable faces a citation and potential fine of up to $600 for allegedly trying to buy guns from people on the street as they were entering the Wilkinsburg Police Department for its annual gun buyback program.

Wilkinsburg police say Michael Cornell, of Harmony Township, Butler County, is being sent the citation by mail for allegedly violating Wilkinsburg’s peddling ordinance. Police say they will notify and consult with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine whether any other charges should be pursued. Police will also review surveillance video to see if it appears Cornell was successful in purchasing any guns on the street.   Continue reading “Street corner competition for Wilkinsburg police gun buyback program; constable from Harmony Township cited”

Washington Post – by Max Boot

Israel has always prided itself on being, as the Book of Isaiah says, “a light unto the nations” — an exemplar of “righteousness” to inspire Jews and gentiles alike and bring salvation to mankind. That is why the menorah is the symbol not only of Hanukkah, which Jews are now celebrating, but also of the state of Israel. But Israel’s light is dimmed when veterans of its famed armed forces, whose mission is to defend the Jewish state’s freedom, misuse their expertise to aid oppression in other countries.   Continue reading “An Israeli tech firm is selling spy software to dictators, betraying the country’s ideals”

Eric Peter’s Autos – by Eric

In Orwell’s other book – Animal Farm – we read about a mutiny against the farmer by the livestock, who draw up a kind of Declaration of Rights premised on the idea that all animals are equal. This is painted on the side of the barn for all to admire.

Over time (and in the dead of night) caveats and exemptions are inserted – by the pigs – culminating in the new idea that some animals are more equal than others. The pigs begin wearing clothes, sleep inside the farmhouse – while the other animals sleep outside or in the unheated barn.   Continue reading “The Speeding Exemption”

LA Times

Continue reading “It used to be illegal to throw snowballs in this Colorado town. Not anymore”

AP

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Dozens of police offices rushed to a South Carolina elementary school Tuesday after 911 dispatchers heard gunshots and someone pulled an alarm reporting a shooting on campus. But it turns out the gunfire was actually blanks being fired as part of a historical re-enactment, deputies and officials at Delmae Heights Elementary School in Florence said.

“No one in that school told us they were doing any type of re-enactment,” Florence County Chief Deputy Glen Kirby said over his cellphone with an edge to his voice about an hour after the initial reports of gunfire.  Continue reading “School’s historical re-enactment causes shooting scare”

MLive

BUENA VISTA TWP, MI — Debris consisting of the home’s interior littered the lawn of the house on the 1000 block of South 27^th Street. The inside looks like a hurricane blew through it.

Crystal Thomas and her children were left homeless after police came to her home last Friday looking for her 16-year-old son.   Continue reading “Mother, children left homeless after police damage house looking for son”

Reason – by Joe Setyon

New revelations have come to light regarding the Thanksgiving Day police shooting of Emantic Bradford, Jr., in Alabama. According to an independent autopsy ordered by Bradford’s family, the results of which were released Monday, Bradford was shot three times from the back.   Continue reading “Alabama Police Shot Innocent Man Three Times From the Back, Independent Autopsy Says”

Washington Post – by Martin Weil

It’s widely accepted that apes are relatives of ours, so a little reflection might suggest that now’s the time for the National Zoo’s infant gorilla to get his flu shot.

And in fact, the zoo’s seven-month-old western lowland gorilla did got his first flu shot last month, according to the zoo.   Continue reading “Gorilla, susceptible like us, to flu, gets his shot at National Zoo”