ghostsinthemachine
ghostsinthemachine's JournalCalifornia senators approve ban on grand jury investigations into police deaths
akoseff@sacbee.com
Grand juries would be prohibited from investigating police shootings and cases where an individual dies from excessive force during an arrest under a bill passed Thursday by the California state Senate.
Protests sprouted up nationwide last fall after grand juries in Missouri and New York declined to indict white police officers who had killed unarmed black men during confrontations. The system, in which a jury of citizens weighs the evidence to decide whether to bring charges, came under fire for its secrecy.
Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, who introduced Senate Bill 227, argued that the lack of transparency and oversight in grand jury deliberations, which do not involve judges, defense attorneys or cross-examination of witnesses, did not serve the public.
“The use of the criminal grand jury has fostered an atmosphere of suspicion that threatens to compromise the nature of our justice system,” she said.
Not sure how I feel about this. seems to me the DA's are in bed with the cops and would make decisions based on that.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article20444133.html#storylink=cpy
Punched, Groped, Beer Thrown in My Face: Being a Woman at a Concert Can Be Terrifying
A few weeks ago, as I stood in line to buy beer at a Josh Abbott Band concert in Thackerville, Oklahoma, I noticed that a group of drunk frat boys had decided to cut in front of me. The beer line was exceedingly long, and there was no way that I was waiting even longer for this group of bros to slur their order at the bartender. As soon as a space opened, I quietly stepped back in front of them and waited to order my beer. As soon as I did, one of the guys in the group yelled, “Back of the line, you fat cunt!” before physically charging at me and threatening violence until a security guard broke up the kerfuffle and sent the offending bro back into the massive (and rowdy) crowd to calm down.
In the nearly 10 years that I have been attending and reviewing live music, I have been punched, groped and had beer thrown in my face. I have snuck out of shows early to escape the aggressive advances of a man who just wouldn’t take no for an answer. I have watched and intervened as men tried to take advantage of falling-down-drunk women who could barely keep their eyes open. I have seen artists make sexually inappropriate remarks about me and other women from the stage. Unfortunately, my experience as a woman in music is not unique.
To be female and a fan is to be in a pretty precarious position pretty much all of the time. Depending on the genre you enjoy, male fans who share your interests might call you a “poser,” or insinuate that you’re not as punk or metal or hip-hop (or aswhatever) as you claim to be. They will mansplain your favorite genre to you, even if you’re a scholar. Most important, though, the dangerous and unpredictable nature of concert culture means that it is often entirely unsafe to be a woman in a dark, crowded music venue.
Hmmm,not all concerts are this way however.
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The industry leader in cannabis testing is having an IPO right now. Once cannabis becomes legal in more and more states, this company will be huge. Now they are but we haven't seen anything yet.
http://steephill.com
Baltimore Cops Break into Home Without Warrant, to Arrest Those Inside… For Curfew violation
Baltimore, MD– As the media was corralled into a degrading staging area “for their own safety” (they must have meant from the police, who were threatening arrest and used chemical weapons on us days before), the show put on by riot police on North and Pennsylvania was not all that was happening in the city of Baltimore.
On Saturday evening, as the disgraced media was put in a pen on the corner of an intersection, the police decided to break into a home and arrest five gang members for breaking curfew. The problem is, the young men were already inside their home. The officers reportedly did not have a warrant when they entered the residence, violating the Fourth amendment...
Read more:
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/police-baltimore-break-home-without-warrant-arrest-inside-curfew-violation/#51P1IVUbESMwOU6S.01
Teen Girl Suspended For Hilariously Realistic Answers On Sex-Ed Quiz
AUTHOR: SHANNON BARBER MAY 5, 2015 11:01 AM
For decades, conservatives have done everything in their power to keep our children as ignorant as possible about safe sex. The results? The rampant spread of sexually transmitted diseases and an explosion of teen pregnancies. Fortunately, not every teen has been left in the dark and one 14-year-old girl was brave enough to let her sex education instructor know that she REALLY knew what she was talking about in the form of some rather salty answers on a multiple choice quiz.
She got suspended for it but if you’re going to get suspended, you might as well do it in style.
As you can see in the image below, the quiz was a multiple choice matching type set up on the answers one could give when a potential sexual partner tries to refuse to have safer sex. Apparently, this teenager did not feel that the quiz conveyed the possible consequences in blunt enough terms, so she wrote in her own answers. Some of the best are as follows:
Question: “Don’t worry, I’m on the pill.” Answer: “I don’t want AIDS.”
Question: “Condoms are grossy; they’re messy, I hate them.” Answer: “So are babies!”
Question: “I don’t have a condom with me.” Answer: “I don’t have my vagina with me.”
The girl’s older sister uploaded a picture of the quiz and all of its brilliant answers to the photo-sharing site Imgur, and from there, it made the rounds on Reddit and other social media. Here is the image:
Now, as funny, and completely truthful, as this girl’s answers are, they got her suspended from school when she handed in the quiz. Some people might argue that she got suspended because she used profanity on a school assignment. I’d argue that the naive, puritanical, unrealistic ideas that many parents and teachers in conservative leaning towns and states have about teenagers and sex are more than likely what caused the suspension.
Read more:http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/05/05/teen-girl-suspended-for-hilariously-realistic-answers-on-sex-ed-quiz-nsfw-image/
HOW THE GRATEFUL DEAD’S COOL NEVER DIED
The magazine editor who called that afternoon long ago had a simple, blunt question for me: “How do you feel about the Grateful Dead?”
Having bought Workingman’s Dead when I was 13, I didn’t have to think too long about it. “Well, I love that band, and I grew up with those records,” I replied. “Uh, why do you ask?”
Well,” he said, “they have a new record coming out.” And in a phrase I recall as clearly as he first time I heard “Casey Jones” on an FM clock-radio, he added, “And I’m trying to find someone to write about it who doesn’t hate the mere fact that they exist.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/05/how-the-grateful-dead-s-cool-never-died.html
May Day Mayhem: 3 SPD officers hurt as rioters march through Seattle
SEATTLE -- Police say black-clad May Day marchers hurled wrenches and rocks at officers and hit police with sticks as a Friday evening march through Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood turned violent, injuring three officers -- two seriously.
Police responded with pepper spray, pepper balls and flash bang grenades. Officers said several dozen vehicles were damaged. Windows were broken in neighborhood businesses.
Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O'Toole said one officer had a dislocated shoulder, a second had a broken wrist, and a third had a burn injury to his leg and ankle. They're recovering at Harborview Medical Center.
"Thankfully, they’re all conscious," O'Toole said. "We talked to them. They’re in good spirits. Just happy the situation didn’t become more serious."
More, with Video: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Police-shadow-black-clad-protestors-as-they-march-through-Seattle-streets-302270231.html
BB King: Daughter claims elder abuse, police called
http://www.tmz.com/2015/05/01/bb-king-abused-hospitalized-elder-abuse-daughter/Child Finds A Loaded Gun In John Boehner's Capitol Bathroom
A 7- or 8-year-old boy found a loaded gun in House Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) Capitol suite bathroom a little more than a month ago, Roll Call reported on Friday.
The gun, which Roll Call only referred to as a Glock, was reportedly left there on March 24 by a dignitary protection officer.
The incident, however, was not isolated, according to Roll Call. The publication reported that Capitol police have a tendency to leave their guns in the building's restrooms.
On Jan. 29, according to Roll Call, one of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) security guards left a Glock and its magazine jammed into a toilet seat cover holder in a restroom stall at the Capitol's visitor center, where it was found by an employee.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-boehner-gun-bathroom-capitol
HUH?
HAPPENING NOW: Thousands of protesters in Baltimore are taking the streets
From US Uncut FB page: HAPPENING NOW: Thousands of protesters in Baltimore are taking the streets to demand convictions for the 6 officers charged with beating and murdering #FreddieGray. The last two weeks and today's indictments prove that direct action gets the goods.
Share if you demand justice for killer cops!
https://www.facebook.com/usauncut?fref=photo
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