Mira
Mira's JournalFoxx aide's court case merits close look - DUI - examining verdict & aftermath
Foxx aide's court case merits close lookScott Sexton
Winston-Salem Journal, Sunday Dec. 18
If not for an evening of apparent heavy drinking and one poor decision, hardly anybody in these parts save a handful of hard-core political animals would know the name Todd Poole.
Yet because he decided to get behind the wheel that night, thousands of people across Northwest North Carolina now know that Poole serves as the chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th.
The chain of events that started with his arrest Aug. 9 for DWI and resisting a public officer and the handling of his case in Watauga County has progressed to a point where even casual observers can legitimately question whether an influential person was afforded special treatment.
How else to explain the fact that unlike most other schlubs charged with DWI, Poole's blood-alcohol level was ruled out of bounds by judicial order?
By the book
To get a handle on whether Rep. Foxx's right-hand man got the kid-glove treatment, it is first necessary to go over the facts as recorded in a court file.
On Aug. 9, Poole was stopped by the N.C. Highway Patrol at 10:25 p.m. for failure to yield to oncoming traffic on N.C. 105. He was described as having red, glassy eyes and slurred speech. Troopers also noted the strong odor of alcohol and reported Poole as being combative and unsteady on his feet.
Sgt. Brent Morgan said Poole had to be forcibly removed from his car and had to be restrained twice in the Watauga County Jail. Hence, the resisting a public-officer charge.
Nothing unusual about that. Lots of drunks can be mean, and every cop you've ever seen knows how to subdue one. It happens every Friday and Saturday night in every county in this state.
Poole hired a lawyer, a good one, named Tom Speed. Nothing odd about that, either. Money Poole makes more than $131,000 a year can buy a lot of legal advice.
for all of it go to:
http://www2.journalnow.com/search/?source=all&query=foxx+aide
Libya's Civilian Toll From Strikes, Denied by NATO - New York Times reports
When NATO bombs hit an apartment building in Surt, Libya, on Sept. 16, Mahmoud Zarog Massoud's wife was killed.
TRIPOLI, Libya NATOs seven-month air campaign in Libya, hailed by the alliance and many Libyans for blunting a lethal crackdown by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and helping to push him from power, came with an unrecognized toll: scores of civilian casualties the alliance has long refused to acknowledge or investigate.
By NATOs telling during the war, and in statements since sorties ended on Oct. 31, the alliance-led operation was nearly flawless a model air war that used high technology, meticulous planning and restraint to protect civilians from Colonel Qaddafis troops, which was the alliances mandate.
We have carried out this operation very carefully, without confirmed civilian casualties, the secretary general of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said in November.
But an on-the-ground examination by The New York Times of airstrike sites across Libya including interviews with survivors, doctors and witnesses, and the collection of munitions remnants, medical reports, death certificates and photographs found credible accounts of dozens of civilians killed by NATO in many distinct attacks. The victims, including at least 29 women or children, often had been asleep in homes when the ordnance hit.
In all, at least 40 civilians, and perhaps more than 70, were killed by NATO at these sites, available evidence suggests. While that total is not high compared with other conflicts in which Western powers have relied heavily on air power, and less than the exaggerated accounts circulated by the Qaddafi government, it is also not a complete accounting. Survivors and doctors working for the anti-Qaddafi interim authorities point to dozens more civilians wounded in these and other strikes, and they referred reporters to other sites where civilian casualties were suspected.
source, more photos and more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/world/africa/scores-of-unintended-casualties-in-nato-war-in-libya.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
Michael Moore: A Man in Tunesia, a Movement on Wall Street and a Soldier Who Ignited the Fuse
A Man in Tunisia, a Movement on Wall Street, and the Soldier Who Ignited the Fuse ...a letter from Michael Moore
Saturday, December 17th, 2011
Friends,
It's Saturday night and I didn't want the day to end before I sent out this note to you.
One year ago today (December 17th), Mohamed Bouazizi, a man who had a simple produce stand in Tunisia, set himself on fire to protest his government's repression. His singular sacrifice ignited a revolution that toppled Tunisia's dictator and launched revolts in regimes across the Middle East.
Three months ago today, Occupy Wall Street began with a takeover of New York's Zuccotti Park. This movement against the greed of corporate America and its banks -- and the money that now controls most of our democratic institutions -- has quickly spread to hundreds of towns and cities across America. The majority of Americans now agree that a nation where 400 billionaires have more wealth than 160 million Americans combined is not the country they want America to be. The 99% are rising up against the 1% -- and now there is no turning back.
Twenty-four years ago today, U.S. Army Spc. Bradley Manning was born. He has now spent 570 days in a military prison without a trial -- simply because he allegedly blew the whistle on the illegal and immoral war in Iraq. He exposed what the Pentagon and the Bush administration did in creating this evil and he did so by allegedly leaking documents and footage to Wikileaks. Many of these documents dealt not only with Iraq but with how we prop up dictators around the world and how our corporations exploit the poor on this planet. (There were even cables with crazy stuff on them, like one detailing Bush's State Department trying to stop a government minister in another country from holding a screening of 'Fahrenheit 9/11.')
The Wikileaks trove was a fascinating look into how the United States conducts its business -- and clearly those who don't want the world to know how we do things in places like, say, Tunisia, were not happy with Bradley Manning.
Mohamed Bouazizi was being treated poorly by government officials because all he wanted to do was set up a cart and sell fruit and vegetables on the street. But local police kept harassing him and trying to stop him. He, like most Tunisians, knew how corrupt their government was. But when Wikileaks published cables from the U.S. ambassador in Tunis confirming the corruption -- cables that were published just a week or so before Mohamed set himself on fire -- well, that was it for the Tunisian people, and all hell broke loose.
People across the world devoured the information Bradley Manning revealed, and it was used by movements in Egypt, Spain, and eventually Occupy Wall Street to bolster what we already thought was true. Except here were the goods -- the evidence that was needed to prove it all true. And then a democracy movement spread around the globe so fast and so deep -- and in just a year's time! When anyone asks me, "Who started Occupy Wall Street?" sometimes I say "Goldman Sachs" or "Chase" but mostly I just say, "Bradley Manning." It was his courageous action that was the tipping point -- and it was not surprising when the dictator of Tunisia censored all news of the Wikileaks documents Manning had allegedly supplied. But the internet took Manning's gift and spread it throughout Tunisia, a young man set himself on fire and the Arab Spring that led eventually to Zuccotti Park has a young, gay soldier in the United States Army to thank.
And that is why I want to honor Bradley Manning on this, his 24th birthday, and ask the millions of you reading this to join with me in demanding his immediate release. He does not deserve the un-American treatment, including cruel solitary confinement, he's received in over eighteen months of imprisonment. If anything, this young man deserves a friggin' medal. He did what great Americans have always done -- he took a bold stand against injustice and he did it without stopping for a minute to consider the consequences for himself.
The Pentagon and the national security apparatus are hell-bent on setting an example with Bradley Manning. But we as Americans have a right to know what is being done in our name and with our tax dollars. If the government tries to cover up its malfeasance, then it is the duty of each and every one of us, should the situation arise, to drag the truth, kicking and screaming if necessary, into the light of day.
The American flag was lowered in Iraq this past Thursday as our war on them officially came to an end. If anyone should be on trial or in the brig right now, it should be those men who lied to the nation in order to start this war -- and in doing so sent nearly 4,500 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to their deaths.
But it is not Bush or Rumsfeld or Cheney or Wolfowitz who sit in prison tonight. It is the hero who exposed them. It is Bradley Manning who has lost his freedom and that, in turn, becomes just one more crime being committed in our name.
I know, I know, c'mon Mike -- it's the holiday season, there's presents to buy and parties to go to! And yes, this really is one of my favorite weeks of the year. But in the spirit of the man whose birth will be celebrated next Sunday, please do something, anything, to help this young man who spends his birthday tonight behind bars. I say, enough. Let him go home and spend Christmas with his family. We've done enough violence to the world this decade while claiming to be a country that admires the Prince of Peace. The war is over. And a whole new movement has a lot to thank Bradley Manning for.
Yours,
Michael Moore
[email protected]
@MMFlint
MichaelMoore.com
One thing I am very proud of when it comes to posters in DU3
I know I know there are low howls for getting spell check back and functioning.
Yet, isn't it gratifying to see how well we all spell without it?
That's all.
President Obama & Secretary Clinton Called as Witnesses for Bradley Manning by Matt Gratz
President Obama & Secretary Clinton Called as Witnesses for Bradley Manning
by Matt Gratz
After President Obama told members of the "Fresh Juice Party" that Bradley Manning "broke the law" earlier this year at one of his high priced fundraiser events in San Francisco, the imprisoned soldier is now demanding that the President as well as the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testify as witnesses at his preliminary hearing set to begin next week.
Manning's defense lawyer, David E. Coombs listed the Commander-in-chief and Secretary of State, among many other officials, as witnesses on Friday in a 20-page witness list posted online for the public to view. The names have since been censored. The preliminary hearing termed Article 32 is scheduled to begin on Dec. 16th at Fort Meade, MD and is to determine whether or not Manning's case should be considered for a full-scale court martial.
The defense request states that the comments the President made to protesters at his SF political fundraiser earlier this year, that Manning broke the law, amounts to "unlawful command influence" because the President acts as the commander-in-chief of the United States armed forces. Apparently the President forgot that in America, suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around.
for all of it plus videos go to
[b ]http://www.opednews.com/articles/Obama--Clinton-Called-as-by-Matt-Gratz-111216-309.html
Christmas idea for parents with young children - Telemarketers beware!
An Open Letter To Newt Gingrich From A Black Kid Who Grew Up In A Poor Neighborhood
An Open Letter To Newt Gingrich From A Black Kid Who Grew Up In A
Poor Neighborhood
Dear Newt Gingrich,
I recently saw you stand up in front of a group of people and allow some of the most 
idiotic, unfounded, racist, and ignorant words pass your lips that Ive ever heard
from a member of a group of the most unqualified presidential candidates America
has ever seen.
To have the audacity to say that poor kids, and lets be clear thats republican speak
 for black and brown kids, have no habits of working and nobody around them who
works is not only an insult to me as black man who grew up in one of those really
poor neighborhoods you spoke of, but its an insult to my mother. And its an insult to
many other black, brown and white children, adults, and hard working parents(often single 
parents) who get up every single day to try to provide a better life for their children in 
poor neighborhoods.
As a child who grew up in Compton in the early 90′s, one of the most dangerous 
neighborhoods in America at that time, I watched my mother work tirelessly, sometimes juggling multiple jobs to provide for myself and my sister. Day in and day out like many other parents in poor neighborhoods, she did what she had to do in order to provide for us. You know what that turned into Mr. Gingrich?
snip
PS. You look like someone poured mashed potatoes into a suit
for all of it plus a video go to:
http://travonfree.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/an-open-letter-to-newt-gingrich-from-a-black-kid-who-grew-up-in-a-poor-neighborhood/
Conspiracy Theorists Believe Republican Candidates Are Tied Up somewhere-Borowitz suspects Obama
Conspiracy Theorists Believe Actual Republican Candidates Are Tied Up Somewhere
Obama a Prime Suspect
DES MOINES (The Borowitz Report) A growing number of conspiracy theorists believe that the Republican candidates who keep showing up for televised debates are impostors and that the actual GOP candidates are tied up in a warehouse somewhere.
Theres no way that these people are the actual candidates, said Tracy Klugian, a leading conspiracy theorist who subscribes to the warehouse theory. The American people need to stand up and demand the return of the real ones.
Mr. Klugian, who started the website WhereAreTheRealOnes.com, said he started suspecting something was up months ago when the supposed Republican candidates started debating, but last nights debate in Iowa left little doubt in his mind that the actual Republican candidates have been detained elsewhere.
When the most sensible person onstage is Ron Paul, he said, you know that what youre witnessing is an elaborate hoax.
Conspiracy theorists like Mr. Klugian leave little doubt who might be behind the conspiracy to tie up the actual candidates at some remote location: President Barack Obama.
If you could ensure that youd be running against Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney, wouldnt you? he said. When the truth about this conspiracy comes out, its going to make what happened with the aliens at Roswell look like a game of duck-duck-goose.
Meanwhile, Mr. Klugian said he remains baffled by people who insist on believing that the seven people who debated last night in Iowa are the actual Republican candidates.
Theres no way you can believe that if you actually watched the debate, he said. It was like a sitcom with no main characters and just wacky neighbors.
www.borowitzreport.com
Let's do a little comparing of "Liberal Rude" versus "Republican Rude"
Letter to the Editor: Winston-Salem, NC Journal, todayConsider
So the writer of the letter "Rude liberals" (Dec. 10) thinks that liberals are rude. After all, that rude columnist, Paul Krugman, pointed out that Newt Gingrich isn't as smart as he thinks he is. What a slap-down!
So consider:
Willie Horton ads, Swiftboating, GOP convention-goers waving purple band-aids to mock a veteran's war wounds, birtherism, Ann Coulter claiming that 9/11 widows were "enjoying their husbands' deaths," Rush Limbaugh mocking Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease, ads falsely claiming Sen. Kay Hagan was "godless," Rep. Michele Bachmann calling for an investigation of "un-American views" among some members of Congress, Joyce Kaufman at a tea-party rally: "If ballots don't work, bullets will," Glenn Beck: "Obama hates white people," Rep. Joe Wilson: "You lie!" wingnuts at the FreeRepublic website calling 11-year-old Sasha Obama a "street whore," outright lies from Sarah Palin and others about "death panels," Sharron Angle's "Second Amendment remedies," booing soldiers in war zones for being gay, South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer comparing poor people to stray animals you shouldn't feed, South Carolina state Sen. Jake Knotts: "We've got one raghead in the White House, we don't need one in the governor's mansion," conservative "Christians" suggesting that people pray for the president's death using Psalm 109:8 as a text, Limbaugh calling the First Lady "uppity," and on and on and on
Sure, liberals can be rude. But we have yet to master rudeness as a political philosophy the way conservatives have.
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