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November 17, 2007

Extra, Extra: 9th Circuit Upholds Spying

Take that!

  • The courts once again sided with the Bush administration in its warrantless spy tapping program. This time, the liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to rule against the government in its handling of the war on terror. Somewhere, Abbie Hoffman is crying.
  • Following an incident at Cal State Fullerton, in which nooses appeared on a clothesline at an anti-hate rally, civil rights leaders are calling for a federal investigation. College officials quickly took them down, but Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, said "that's not enough."
  • City workers might have gotten paid to "volunteer" when President Jimmy Carter came through southern California for his Habitat for Humanity program in October. The Daily News reports that 31 city workers were encouraged to offer their time during work hours and, the paper said, might have gotten paid at taxpayer's expense.
  • Tae Kim, a 28-year-old believed to be a member of the Korean Gangsters gang, is behind bars today after police nabbed the bandit who they think stole 1.8 million Social Security numbers. Police had been looking for Kim since August and Marlon Wayans is amongst the people whose numbers were lifted by the SS gangster. Maybe Kim was just pissed at Norbit.
  • Ham and Honey? Marscapone and Pumpkin? Bacon and Caramel? No, they're not delectable dishes for a delicious Thanksgiving feast, but the newest Scoops flavors. On second thought, maybe they are the newest additions to Thanksgiving 2008.
  • The writers strike can sure be festive, what with free concerts, visits from a presidential candidate and celebrities. But, Losanjealous aptly asks, what about other high profile strikes in the city whose causes are just as (or more) important that don't get all that fun coverage?
  • A Los Angeles jury rendered a $2.5 million decision in finding Dole Foods liable for poisoning five Nicaraguan plantation workers with pesticide in the 1970s and not telling them about it. Dole plans to appeal the decision. "Our people are our greatest asset and their safety and well being our highest priority,” of their lawyers said. I guess that doesn't apply to those five workers.
  • An historic work of art will be on view at the Getty starting Tuesday. The Rembrandt painting has not been shown in two decades and was once stolen at gunpoint from a Boston museum. Fortunately, guns won't be a problem here, because the only thieves at the Getty are the ones in charge of the museum.

Photo by Lush.i.ous via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

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Comments (3) [rss]

Since theliberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in bush's favor, and you don't agree, would that make you extreme-left and out of touch with mainstream America?

 

Rainlilie: What's chilling is not that the 9th Circuit failed to strike down a law national security experts have said is the "first time a president has authorized government agencies to violate a specific criminal prohibition and eavesdrop on Americans," nor that most in this country still believe that Bush's actions are constitutionally legal.

What's chilling is that you ask if my opposition to this program puts me out of touch with mainstream America. Though Los Angeles has never been confused for Kansas (or any other part of this country you think is mainstream), your question is something that many people ask to deflect attention from the main issue. Why consider Pres. Bush's flaunting of the Constitution when you can name call and play politics?

The basis of your question does a disservice to those whose lives have been destroyed from being tortured because their name was the same as a suspected terrorist, to those organizations that have had to worry about the government spying on them because they are Muslim, to those who go to the airport and are singled out because they look like Osama bin Laden, which is to say, they have dark skin and have a beard.

I am not out for political gain and do not consider myself a member of the far-left. Though my opinions may put me out of touch with what you might consider to be mainstream America, I consider myself more patriotic than those who profess to love this country. Our most sacred text, the Constitution, has been trampled on by an administration willing to do whatever it takes to win, while ignoring some of the basic tenets upon which this country was founded: that no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

If we can so easily ignore what George Washington, John Adams and the like fought for, then what the hell, is the point of this effort to bring Democracy to the Middle East?

 

only the neocons believe that defending the constitution is a lefty ideal.

those of us who favor limited government, privacy, and personal freedoms to go about our business without the executive branch poking their nose where it doesnt belong think this is bs too.

 
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