Cop who shot dog after the owner was arrested has a prior history cited in a lawsuit:

The Hawthorne Police Department paid One Million Dollars to a Settle Lawsuit in which it was alleged a man was kicked in the face while handcuffed and then falsely prosecuted along with his wife to cover up the brutality. Evidence the plaintiffs were prepared to present at trial included a photograph of an officer appearing to kick the handcuffed plaintiff in the face and a surveillance video allegedly depicting officers high-fiving each other as the injured plaintiff suffered from a broken jaw.

After approval by the City Council, Hawthorne paid $1,000,000, (one million dollars) to settle Goodrow v. Hawthorne Police Department, Case No. CV- 07-5253 (VBV), on the eve of trial in United States District Court, Central District of California, the Honorable Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank presiding.

Officers Ian Elliot, Thomas Heffner, Melanie Newenham, Renee Descant, Jeffrey Salmon, David Gregor and Jailer Darnell Wallace were among defendants named in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs Anthony Goodrow and Karla Henriquez Goodrow sued the Hawthorne Police Officers for alleged deprivation of their civil rights resulting from excessive force, denial of medical treatment and malicious prosecution, stemming from an incident that occurred at a party on July 21, 2006.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/02/prweb1946004.htm

?????

Whoa! Somebody in Egypt is cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood:

@RichardEngel:
Airport sources say 48 member of muslim brotherhood banned from travel. Private jets banned from takeoff. #egypt

Morsi better step down!

Woman, 62, Jailed On Felony Battery Charge After Kissing Cop On The Nose

A Florida woman is jailed on a felony battery on a law enforcement officer charge after she allegedly kissed a cop on the nose. Peggy Hill, 62, was arrested late Saturday evening outside her Bradenton residence by Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies who had arrived at the home in response to a call about a dispute between Hill and a neighbor about a fence between their properties.

As Hill was conversing with Sergeant Randy Lamb, “she approached him and kissed him on his nose against his will.” Lamb, an 18-year veteran, stepped away from Hill and “wiped off the saliva from his nose,” according to an arrest report. With the help of another deputy, Lamb “gently” took Hill to the ground and handcuffed her.

In a post-arrest interview, Hill said that Lamb “was being aggressive towards her,” and that “the thought just popped in her head to kiss him on his nose, so she kissed him on his nose.” Hill told deputies that she had consumed “about 3 glasses of wine” before deputies arrived at her home.

The retired Hill was booked into the county jail early Sunday for felony battery. She is being held in lieu of $5000 bond and is scheduled for a July 19 court appearance.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/cop-kiss-results-in-felony-battery-charge-786543

She shouldn't have done that but 'felony battery'?
If it was an attractive young woman, I wonder if he would have charged her?

If I was called a "cracker, I would be highly offended!

I am NOT a Saltine! Have you no shame!

Cracker wouldn't even register as an insult.
Call me a Republican or Teabagger and I will throw down on you.

51 Animal Pics You Need To See Before You Die(at link):

Chris Kluwe has had a book published: "Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies"

The overall theme of NFL punter Chris Kluwe's Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies can be summed up in a sentence from his piece called "Graduation." He advises his audience, "Our world is only as good as we're willing to make it, and that means treating others how we want to be treated, letting others live in freedom so they'll let us do the same." In the letters, essays and stories that make up this debut, Kluwe emphasizes empathy with humor, passion and even philosophy.

The collection includes some content previously posted to Kluwe's former blog on the Pioneer Press website, as well as his famous open letter in defense of same-sex marriage (with a revised version for those who took issue with the profanities in the original). He employs side-splittingly funny analogies, like a comparison of toilet paper to short-term/long-term gains. When he talks to or about his family, there's genuine warmth under his clever wit. But he's also vehemently frank when he addresses topics such as societal values or gun control, challenging readers to "never be afraid to stand your ground for something worth fighting for."

These pieces are short, but Kluwe's unpredictability will keep readers curiously turning the pages all the way to his self-composed eulogy that includes a funeral drinking game and mandates cake and ice cream. Intelligent and thought-provoking, Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies is relentlessly honest; Kluwe pulls no punches, spares no language and writes a rip-roaring debut.
Interview with Kluwe:
"Chris Kluwe grew up in Southern California among a colony of wild chinchillas and didn't learn how to communicate outside of barking and howling until he was 14 years old. He has played football in the NFL, once wrestled a bear for a pot of gold and lies occasionally. He is also the eternal disappointment of his mother, who just can't understand why he hasn't cured cancer yet. Do you know why these bio things are in third person? I have no idea. Please tell me if you figure it out."

Kluwe's first book, the essay collection Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies: On Myths, Morons, Free Speech, Football, and Assorted Absurdities, will be published by Little, Brown on June 25, 2013.

On your nightstand now:
A lamp.
<snip>
Your top five authors:
Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Iain Banks, Brandon Sanderson, L.E. Modesitt Jr.

Book you've faked reading:
None. I wish I faked reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

Book you're an evangelist for:
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

Book you've bought for the cover:
All of them. The pages get very damaged if the book lacks a cover. Plus, if you swat a fly, you're going to want to protect the words from fly juices.

Favorite line from a book:
"Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn!" --"The Call of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft.

Why do you like sci-fi/fantasy so much?
Because sci-fi/fantasy allows us to take scenarios from what was/is, and imagine what could be. Without that imagination, the sun is just a flaming ball of gas around which boring chunks of rock orbit on a regular basis, and death comes far too quickly.
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html?issue=208

Gonna have to read this!

NSA walks into a bar....

@NeinQuarterly:
The #NSA walks into a bar, orders a beer. Bartender: "Domestic or imported?" NSA: "What's the difference?"

Ha!

Hilarious Airline Complaint Letter:

'Hilarious' Airline Complaint Letter Catches Eye of CEO
<snip>
The LIAT letter appeared in the weekly British Virgin Islands newspaper, the BVI Beacon, earlier this year.
The letter was penned by Londoner Arthur Hicks and titled "An Open Letter to LIAT."

Dear LIAT,

May I say how considerate it is of you to enable your passengers such an in-depth and thorough tour of the Caribbean.

Most other airlines I have travelled on would simply wish to take me from point A to B in rather a hurry. I was intrigued that we were allowed to stop at not a lowly one or two but a magnificent six airports yesterday. And who wants to fly on the same airplane the entire time? We got to change and refuel every step of the way!

I particularly enjoyed sampling the security scanners at each and every airport. I find it preposterous that people imagine them all to be the same. And as for being patted down by a variety of islanders, well, I feel as if I've been hugged by most of the Caribbean already. I also found it unique that this was all done on "island time," because I do like to have time to absorb the atmosphere of the various departure lounges. As for our arrival, well, who wants to have to take a ferry at the end of all that flying anyway? I'm glad the boat was long gone by the time we arrived into Tortola last night -- and that all those noisy bars and restaurants were closed.

So thank you, LIAT. I now truly understand why you are "The Caribbean Airline."

P.S. Keep the bag. I never liked it anyway.
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/hilarious-airline-complaint-letter-making-internet-rounds/t/story?id=19541948&ref=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FWoFGuGP8bH

***Snort***

Info on helping families of the Granite Mountain Hotshots & helping all those affected by the fire:

Read post #1 for better info.
Sigh.....

Firefighters rescuing kittehs: