"I don't want you to get shooted." Heartbreaking video of Philando Castile's girlfriend and her daughter minutes after he was fatally shot by police.

Courtesy of Law Newz: 

In the aftermath of Officer Jeronimo Yanez‘s acquittal after fatally shooting Philando Castile, new material related to the case continues to be released. 

Just this morning, Tony Webster, an independent journalist and researcher from Minnesota, provided video obtained via a FOIA request of Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, in the back of a squad car with her four-year-old daughter in the immediate moments after Castile was gunned down. 

The video is harrowing, hard to watch, and contains strong language. Reynolds can be heard screaming, at whichh point her four-year-old daughter Dae’Anne then rises to the occasion to console her grieving mother, saying, “Please don’t scream because I don’t want you to get shooted … I can keep you safe … I wish this town was safer.”

That is hard to watch I don't care who you are.

Children should never be terrified of the police, but clearly in this case this little girl has every reason to fear them, and to fear for the safety of her mother.

She just watched the man who she probably thought of as her father shot to death right in front of her eyes.

Why? Because he was exercising his 2nd Amendment rights while black. 

And perhaps the worst part is that the man who murdered him, walked away scott free.

As Trevor Noah pointed out the other night, if this were a white man the NRA would be so far up that police department's ass they could watch their breakfast digest.

But not for a black man, for a black man legally carrying a firearm is a potential death sentence.  

Trial over North Charleston police shooting ends in mistrial.

To be clear the trial for THAT shooting ended in mistrial.

Here is more courtesy of the New York Times:  

The trial of Michael T. Slager, the North Charleston police officer whose videotaped killing of an unarmed black man staggered the nation as it was embroiled in debate about police misconduct and racial biases in law enforcement, ended in a mistrial on Monday. 

Judge Clifton B. Newman’s decision to halt the proceedings came three days after jurors signaled that they were within one vote of returning a guilty verdict against Mr. Slager, who could have been convicted of either murder or voluntary manslaughter for the killing of Walter L. Scott. But jurors also sent conflicting messages on Friday about whether they could break their impasse, setting off a confused legal frenzy. 

On Monday, though, the panel of 11 white people and a black man again sent word that it would not be able to reach a unanimous verdict about Mr. Slager’s conduct, prompting the mistrial ruling.

So hard for a jury to know the right decision in a case like this.

If only there were some video tape that clearly showed the suspect running away when he was shot.

Oh wait......

And as NYT points out there is nothing new about this outcome:

The outcome in the Slager case is similar to the resolutions in other recent trials involving claims of police misconduct. This fall, a jury in Cincinnati deadlocked in the case of a university police officer who fatally shot a motorist who was black and unarmed. Here in South Carolina, juries twice deadlocked when considering charges against a rural police chief who fatally shot an unarmed black man. And in December 2015, the trial of a Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray ended in a mistrial. (After a judge, ruling in bench trials, cleared other Baltimore officers, the prosecutor there dropped all of the criminal cases in the matter of Mr. Gray’s death.)

And people wonder why groups like BLM exist, and why they spend their time protesting in the streets. 

So Track Palin's case for beating the mother of his future baby boy is over.

As some of you pointed out yesterday it appears that Track's case has been disposed.

After having he hearing continued over and over again apparently Track did whatever the minimum requirement was for having the case disappear.

According to the Anchorage DA that was supposed to involve going through some therapeutic program at the VA.

Did he do that? Beats me, but since he is a Palin you can bet he only did the very least he needed to do to get this behind him.

For those who may have forgotten Track Palin was arrested on January 18th, of this year:Track Palin, 26, was charged yesterday with assault, interfering with a report of domestic violence, and possession of a weapon while intoxicated. All three charges are misdemeanors. Spokespersons with both the Wasilla Police Department and the district attorney’s office confirmed their existence.

Later we got a bit more of the story: 

According to the three-page affidavit, both Palin and his girlfriend called 911 that night. Police Officer Andrew Kappler wrote that he arrived at the Wasilla home and found Track Palin walking outside and talking on a phone. The officer said Palin had an injury to his right eye and surrounding area, smelled strongly of alcohol and acted with escalating hostility, prompting Kappler to put him in handcuffs. 

Police say a breath sample provided by Palin showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.189. 

The affidavit says other officers found the girlfriend hiding under a bed inside the home and crying. 

The argument continued at the home, according to the affidavit, which says Palin struck the woman with his fist on the left side of her head near her eye. She curled up in the fetal position because she didn't know what else he would do, the woman told police. She said he then kicked her in the knee and threw her phone across the driveway, according to the court document. The woman said she went inside after getting her phone. 

Inside, Palin held the rifle, with the barrel just away from his face pointed to the side, the affidavit states. The affidavit adds that the woman told police Palin was yelling "Do you think I won't do it?" 

(We also learned from Gino that Track kept asking Jordan if she thought he was a "pussy," but that did not make it into the police report.)

The case seemed to move slowly for a time and then on July 13th, we thought we heard some good news:

"Defendant remanded to custody." It says it right there in black and white.

And yet by July 15th it had been expunged and replaced with "Hearing Continued."

And that was followed up by this sudden explanation of how the case was going from Track's very expensive attorney: 

Sarah Palin’s son is heading into treatment instead of jail after his January domestic violence arrest — and his own lawyer told RadarOnline.com he needs help for his alcohol problem! 

Track “has been assessed” by the VA, his attorney, Kevin T. Fitzgerald told Radar, and at a hearing later this month, he will receive his proposed treatment plan. 

 “I would expect it has some alcohol component,” Fitzgerald said. “In all candor, Track could be well-served by treatment.”

Getting the domestic violence assault charge dropped was “not an insignificant dismissal,” he said, insisting that the possession of a weapon while intoxicated charge “really more accurately tracks what went down” when Track was accused of drunkenly attacking his girlfriend in January. 

 Still, Fitzgerald said they weren’t altogether pleased with the final charge that stuck. “I believe it’s got constitutional infirmities because it precludes people form possessing firearms, even unloaded firearms, in their own homes if they’re under the influence,” he insisted. “We weren’t going to make a big constitutional issue of it, but that’s what the situation was.” 

Fitzgerald went on to claim that if Track finished his "therapeutic treatment" those final charges would be dropped.

So according to what Court View is saying today that means that Track finished his therapy despite not leaving his parent's home in Wasilla.

Gosh it's good to have powerful friends in the state, don't you think?

But have no fear justice seekers, after all this IS Track Palin we're talking about, so how long can it really be until his next brush with the law?

Bernie Sanders tells it like it is.

We need to reform a very broken criminal justice system. pic.twitter.com/kUMYQIv8rn

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 22, 2015

This is a response to this news about Bland's case:

A grand jury decided that neither sheriff's officials nor jailers committed a crime in the treatment of a black woman who died in a Texas county jail last summer, but it has not yet determined whether the state trooper who arrested her should face charges, a prosecutor said. 

Bernie's right. This would NEVER have happened to a white woman. 

George Zimmerman takes to Twitter to mock his "haters."

Courtesy of Zimmerman's Twitter account.

In my opinion this is what injustice looks like in this country.

Zimmerman has been tempting the fates quite a lot lately by mocking the Virginia shooter, attacking President Obama, and insulting just about anyone who visits his Twitter page.

We all know how it ended for the last moron that hit me. Give it a whirl cupcake. https://t.co/F0IlHiHLX6

— George Zimmerman (@TherealGeorgeZ) August 27, 2015

Just the very fact that this waste of oxygen is still out walking freely among us is an indictment of our justice system.

Department of Justice will not be filing charges against George Zimmerman. Another sad day for justice.

Courtesy of ABC News:

 ABC News has learned Martin’s family will soon be notified that the Justice Department will not be filing charges against George Zimmerman, who shot the 17-year-old after a confrontation in 2012. Thursday marks three years to the day since Martin was killed. 

Federal prosecutors concluded there is not sufficient evidence to prove Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman in Sanford, Fla., intentionally violated Martin’s civil rights, sources told ABC News.

I have to admit that I am somewhat surprised at this. 

He stalked that unarmed young man for no reason, and then shot him to death.

I just don't understand how it is possible to walk away scott free from something like that.

And it pisses me the fuck off.

To date there is only one CIA agent who has been jailed over the agency's torture program. And that is the man who blew the whistle on it in the first place.

Courtesy of the Washingtonian:  

In 2007, 15-year CIA veteran John Kiriakou told an ABC News reporter that his agency had waterboarded an Al Qaeda detainee, Abu Zubaydah, whom Kiriakou was involved in capturing in 2002. His revelation confirmed to the American public the CIA’s torture program and helped spur a years-long Senate investigation and a damning, 6,000-page report, the abstract of which was released this week. 

Kiriakou pleaded guilty in 2012 to disclosing classified information, including the name of a fellow CIA operative, to a New York Times reporter. In early 2013, he reported to the a federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania, to begin serving a 30-month sentence. Kiriakou, along with supporters that include his congressman, Virginia Democrat Jim Moran, says the real point of his prosecution was to silence him and others from talking about torture. 

To be clear, torturing detainees, many of who had no intelligence to share, is not an offense requiring imprisonment,

Ordering that practice, even though America is morally and legally against such practices, is not an offense requiring imprisonment.

However blowing the whistle on these illegal and immoral activities IS an offense requiring imprisonment.

Just so we are clear.

Just what exactly have we become?

I don't really think this needs a headline.

For the most tone deaf response to the Grand Jury decision on the choking death of Eric Garner where else would you go except Fox News?

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

Moments after the decision was announced, Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson expressed her deep concern about the outcome. Not concern that the police killed Garner, who was allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes, without facing legal repercussions. But concern that anger over the decision could impact a “the tree lighting ceremony” scheduled for that evening at Rockefeller Center.

Sadly for Carlson her worst fears were realized.

The mayor’s appearance tonight at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting has been canceled.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) December 3, 2014

Yeah it really sucks when the unnecessary death of a black man, and a miscarriage of justice, screws up people's holiday plans.

And coming in a close second in tone deafness is potential 2016 presidential candidate Rand Paul, who blamed the whole thing on taxes. That's right taxes: 

Well you know I think it’s hard not to watch that video of him saying ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe’ and not be horrified by it. But I think there’s something bigger than the individual circumstances. Obviously, the individual circumstances are important. But I think it is also important to know that some politician put a tax of $5.85 on a pack of cigarettes so that driven cigarettes underground by making them so expensive. But then some politician also had to direct the police to say, ‘hey we want you arresting people for selling a loose cigarette.’ And for someone to die over breaking that law, there really is no excuse for it. But I do blame the politicians. We put our police in a difficult situation with bad laws.

Well so much for Rand Paul's attempt to court the African American vote.

NYPD cop who choked 400 pound African American man to death does not get indicted by Grand Jury. Anybody else noticing a pattern?

Courtesy of New York Daily News:

Eric Garner’s widow reacted with shock and dismay Wednesday after a Staten Island grand jury chose not to indict the NYPD officer who killed her husband with a chokehold. 

“Oh my God, are you serious?” Esaw Garner, her voice rising in shock and anger, told The Daily News. “I’m very disappointed. You can see in the video that he (the cop) was dead wrong!” 

Garner was referring to the shocking cellphone video first published on NYDailyNews.com that showed Officer Daniel Pantaleo placing Garner in a chokehold — a move banned by the NYPD — and wrestling him to the ground. 

“The grand jury kept interviewing witnesses but you didn't need witnesses,” the anguished widow said. “You can be a witness for yourself. Oh my God, this s--- is crazy.” 

Esaw Garner said she is now placing her hopes for justice with the U.S. Department of Justice. (A few minutes ago Attorney General Eric Holder said that there would definitely be an investigation.)


That man did nothing to put those police officers in danger and yet they felt it necessary to swarm him and take him down to the ground. Everybody knows that a man that size is going to have trouble breathing while on his stomach, ESPECIALLY with a bunch of cops on his back.

And this man was not robbing anybody or pushing around some convenience store owner, according to witnesses he was breaking up a fight. (Though police also say he was selling illegal cigarettes.)

Please somebody tell me again how we have to accept that the Grand Jury decision must be trusted and that we have no right to second guess them.

Darren Wilson did NOT know about the convenience store robbery when he confronted Michael Brown on the streets of Ferguson. Update!

Courtesy of the Daily Mail:  

In Wilson's now very public account of his encounter with Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson on August 9 he has claimed that he asked Brown and Wilson to move to the sidewalk rather than walk in the street. 

When they walked on, Wilson has repeatedly stated, he realized they matched the description of two suspects wanted in connection with the robbery of nearby Ferguson Market. A youth matching Brown's description had stolen a box of Swishers cigarillos. 

It was this realization, he stated, that caused him to reverse his vehicle and sparked the car-side confrontation that left Brown dead on the street with six bullets in his body. 

But the sworn testimony of Wilson's squad supervisor directly contradicts this account. 

Wilson's supervisor was the first officer to speak with the 28-year-old cop following the shooting. The men spoke before St Louis County Police had even been notified of the incident and before the medical examiner or investigating officers had arrived on the scene. 

At that time, the supervisor said:'He [Wilson] did not know anything about the stealing call.' 

When pressed by the attorney questioning him, the officer reiterated that Wilson, 'did not know anything'. 

Asked, 'He told you he didn't know about there being a stealing at Ferguson Market?' 

The officer responded, 'Correct.' 

Now this is a key fact because, number one it proves that Wilson was not responding to a person that he knew to be violent, and number two it proves that Wilson lied to the Grand Jury. 

And the part that I found particularly enlightening was that in fact Wilson could NOT have known about the robbery because the call came in AFTER the shooting had already taken place.

(Update: Okay somebody asked me how I know that the robbery call came in after the shooting. In point of fact I described that poorly. What I meant to say was that it was unlikely that other officers would be looking out for Brown as the responding officer only received the call after 11:54, which is immediately after the robbery took place. He then had to drive to the convenience, conduct his interview (At which time he received a more detailed description.) Brown was shot dead at 12:01 which means that quite literally this officer was probably in the process of conducting his investigation.  And as this was a low priority, unarmed, snatch and grab it is very unlikely that he called for assistance or put out an APB.)

And remember 15 witnesses said that Michael Brown was running away when Wilson started firing at him, and 16 said he had his hands up before the last bullets were fired.

I think at this point the Justice Department has no choice but to launch their own investigation.

This whole thing stinks like crazy.

Thanks to Stand Your Ground law Florida man who shot and killed a one time friend who was unarmed and walking away will not be charged.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

In early July, 20-year-old Colt Thriemer shot dead a one-time friend in a Wal-Mart parking lot, saying he feared for his life. Witnesses gathered for a truck meet that night say victim Thomas James Brown, 21, was walking away toward his car when Thriemer fired ten shots. Some say Brown had threatened to kill Thriemer over the course of several weeks. The story as told by prosecutors in a detailed legal memo suggests drug transactions, addiction, and monetary debts all played a role in the scenario leading up to Brown’s death. 

But these facts will never play out in a trial, because prosecutors have decided not to charge Thriemer citing Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. 

“The Stand Your Ground statute makes no exception from the immunity because Brown may have been walking away from Thriemer at the time the deadly force was used,” the memo from the State Attorney’s office states. “The Stand Your Ground law does not require Thriemer to wait until Brown in fact retrieved a gun before he fired. Under the current state of the law and the facts of this case, Thriemer was legally allowed to use deadly force based on a reasonable belief that his life was in danger and that he was about to become the victim of an armed robbery.”

I cannot get over how this law simply allows you to murder somebody simply because you "thought" they might come after you at some point. 

Isn't this the same kind of thinking that got us into the Iraq War?

Look this guy who was shot, Thomas James Brown, sounds like a real POS. And there is a part of me who wants to say that he got what he deserved.

Except that he didn't deserve it.  At least not yet.

IF he were reaching for a gun in his pocket, then maybe.

IF he were actively beating on the defendant with a lead pipe, then maybe.

But he was walking away.

Seriously do you have any idea how many dead bodies I would have sent to the morgue if I killed every person who threatened to kill me or beat my ass? It would be dozens.

People say things in the heat of anger, but unless they are actively attempted to take your life you have NO right to end theirs.

"Only use as much force as absolutely necessary." I learned that as a boy of ten, yet these so-called adults cannot seem to figure it out.

Man gets six months in jail for being too good of a father. This is some bullshit!

Courtesy of Sott.net:  

A father will spend half of 2014 behind bars for doing too much for his son. After overpaying child support and seeing his son too often - breaking terms that were secretly modified without his knowledge - a judge sentenced him to a lengthy jail sentence. 

Clifford Hall has been doing his best to give care to his 11-year-old son, who lives with his ex-wife. He pays his child support and visits regularly. "I'm his father it's my responsibility to take care of him," Hall said. 

Last November, his child support payments were paid in full. Sometime between then and now, the child support agreement between Hall and his wife was modified without his knowledge. 

Hall wound up overpaying by $3,000, a fact that Harris County District Court Judge Lisa Millard found contemptible. 

Another term that was modified without his knowledge was his visitation schedule. Subsequently, Hall was found to have over-visited his son. 

Judge Millard ended up finding Hall in contempt of court. 

When she said I remand you to the Harris County Jail for 180 days my mouth just dropped," Hall told FOX 26 Houston. 

 In addition to the six month jail sentence, Judge Millard is forcing Hall to pay his ex-wife's attorney fees. "I can't be there for my son in jail," Hall said. 

"I can't pay child support in jail. This is not in the best interest of the child." 

I don't address this very often on the blog but the treatment of fathers by the courts is one of my pet peeves. Things like this happen WAY too often, and the end result is fathers running from their responsibilities rather than risk being mistreated by the courts. 

I had some problems with child support enforcement up here in Alaska, and I was absolutely doing everything I could to meet my obligations.

In fact my brother ended up paying over a hundred thousand dollars in child support for a child that DNA tests proved was not even his.

There are plenty of loving fathers out there trying to do the very best for their kids, but when this kind of thing happens......

Shooting of Trayvon Martin becomes shocking piece of art.

Courtesy of Click Orlando:

An eye-grabbing mural showing a picture of a man shooting a likeness of Trayvon Martin was unveiled Friday at the state Capitol. 

The message of the 100-foot mural, created by Miami artist Huong, is "We are all Trayvon Martin." 

The mural shows a man who looks similar to George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch leader who shot and killed Martin in February 2012 and was later acquitted in the teen's death, shooting a person wearing a hoodie. There's a mirror in the mural where Martin's face would be so visitors can see themselves as the teen. 

The mural also contains blank spaces where the public can share their thoughts, and it also shows a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. with blood flowing down his head.

I think my opinion of the George Zimmerman's acquittal has been well documented, but I am not sure how I feel about this. 

What do you all think?

Sarah Palin's political prisoner, David Kernell, is free!

"They let him out?"

Courtesy of WMCTV: 

Five years have passed since a Tennessee college student attempted to hack into former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's e-mail. 

U. T. Student David Kernell got a different kind of education: months in a federal prison camp, a halfway house, and supervised probation. All that has now ended. This comes to a close after his attorney filed a motion saying Kernell had paid enough for what the attorney described as a prank. 

"I think he learned his lesson," stated Kernell. Kernell's father, Mike Kernell, has been in the Tennessee legislature for 38 years. 

He described it as a "relief" that his son is now released from probation several months early and thanks the federal judge in Knoxville who made it possible.

Yeah that's bullshit!  What this kid did was NOT hacking, he was outwitting Sarah Palin, an entertaining exercise that has been been undertaken numerous times by television commentators, comedians,  Canadian radio hosts, me, and various others over the last five years.

What he did was a prank. It may have been an invasive one, and a poorly considered one, but it was still JUST a prank. NOT an incident of hacking.

The ONLY reason that this involved jail time for young Mr. Kernell is because he had dared to poke the Grizzled Mama and she felt the need to roar her terrible roar, gnash her terrible teeth, roll her terrible eyes, and show her terrible teeth. But in the end ALL it did was to temporarily imprison one young man and show the world what a vindictive bitch she is, and that he daughter will gladly lie on her behalf.  ("Living in he middle of nowhere" my ass!)

Both of which, by the way, are things we had already figured out BEFORE this case went to trial. 

So yes I think that David Kernell was a political prisoner, and I hope that now that he is out he can pursue the promising law career that was so rudely, and unnecessarily, interrupted, and someday sue the shit out of Sarah Palin and her family!

Though to be honest, by that time the whole tribe will probably be living in a van down by the river.

Gun rights group raises money to buy George Zimmerman a new gun.

Courtesy of CBS News:  

A non-profit gun rights group is collecting donations to buy George Zimmerman a new firearm. 

The Buckeye Firearms Foundation created the “Zimmerman Second Amendment Fund” to raise money to buy him a new gun after the Justice Department placed a hold on all evidence related to the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. 

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said during an NAACP convention in Orlando last week that the Justice Department has an open investigation into the case. The department is looking into whether Zimmerman violated Martin’s civil rights. Zimmerman was legally entitled to reclaim his gun he used to shoot Martin before the Justice Department placed a hold on evidence. 

“George Zimmerman has every right to get his property back,” the foundation wrote on its website. “And if Eric Holder chooses to deny Mr. Zimmerman that right, Buckeye Firearms Foundation will remedy the matter by purchasing a NEW FIREARM for him, including a holster, flashlight, and any other gear he wants.” 

The foundation calls Holder’s actions an “abuse of power.” 

“This is about more than mere principle. Zimmerman and his family now face daily threats on their lives. More than ever, he has a right to defend himself against those who would seek to do him harm,” the foundation states.

Yeah, after all how can Zimmerman be man and show his machismo by shooting young black boys if he does not have a gun?

I don't understand this thinking at all. If I were Zimmerman, a possibility that makes me physically ill, I would NEVER walk around armed again and make damn sure to avoid even the possibility of having to use a gun to defend myself.

Only somebody who enjoyed the killing and was looking forward to the next opportunity would take to the streets while packing heat after what he just went through.

Good news, Norwegian Marte Dalelv will NOT serve jail time in Dubai for the crime of being raped and then reporting it to the police.

Courtesy of Nyheter: 

Dalelv was sentenced to prison after reporting a colleague for rape. Norways foreign minister confirms that she has been pardoned. 

Dalelv reported her colleague for rape while on a business trip in Dubai in March. She ended up being thrown in jail and charged herself. 

Last week Dalelv was sentenced to 16 months in prison after being convicted for having extramarital sex, drinking alcohol without permission and giving false statement to the police. 

Dalelv appealed the case and has been anxiously waiting for the next round of court hearings. She received a summon to meet Dubais chief prosecutor on monday. 

She got the news about the hearing around 11 a.m. local time. A few minutes later the norwegian minister of foreign affairs, Espen Barth Eide, held a press conference in Oslo.

 - She is free and can go home when she want to, he said. 

- The Emir got her pardoned himself, Bart Eide elaborated to VG. 

- Its historic that this matter had such a quick solution, and that the highest circles in Dubai intervened. 

After the alleged rape Dalelv was first suspended and then fired bye her employer, Al Mana Interiors. The given reason was «unacceptable and improper behavior». The company's managing director, Mr. Wissam Al Mana, signed the letter personally. Al Mana is married to pop star Janet Jackson.

16 months for being raped? You know that is what happens when you find yourself in a male dominated culture that worships a religion which devalues women and blames them for all the sins of society.

You know, like the one that WE have been struggling against for the last two hundred plus years.

And if certain conservatives get their way our women can expect similar treatment from our law enforcement in the very near future. Though as many of us well know in some places in the US there is no need to wait, this type of always "blame the woman" attitude is still alive and well.

By the way you KNOW the Emir would never had said boo about this if it had not attracted such attention, and condemnation, from around the world.  And this is just a taste of what the woman in Saudi Arabia have to put up with every day of their lives.

Pro-Life: Stripping away a doctor's license for not making a ten year old girl give birth to her rapist's child.

Courtesy of Reality Check:

 In a continuing effort to both curb access to abortion and reiterate their own opinion that there is never any situation where abortion could be necessary for a patient's well-being, the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts has decided in favor of revoking Dr. Ann Neuhaus's medical license. Neuhaus, a colleague of Dr. George Tiller, assisted him by providing second opinions for mental health exceptions for late abortions. 

According to the Associated Press, Neuhaus was hoping to have her full medical license restored after spending years only allowed to provide limited medical care for charity work. Instead, an ongoing investigation into 11 patient cases obtained by Operation Rescue became the center of a movement to have her license stripped all together. 

The cases all involved girls who sought abortions due to mental health issues from depression to suicide, with an age range from 17 years old to as young as 10. The board alleged that Neuhaus's exams were not thorough enough based on the available records provided, and that her follow up care was inadequate, as she did not recommend counseling or hospitalization afterwards. 

Neuhaus called the accusations ridiculous. She said she refused to put too much identifying information in the records because she knew that they could eventually end up in the hands of outsiders and violate the patients' privacy. As for abortions not being necessary, Neuhaus found that laughable as well. 

"To even claim that isn't medically necessary qualifies as gross incompetence," said Neuhaus. "Someone's 10 years old, and they were raped by their uncle and they understand that they've got a baby growing in their stomach and they don't want that. You're going to send this girl for a brain scan and some blood work and put her in a hospital?"

I don't care what your argument is, forcing a child to spend nine months with a constant reminder of her rape growing inside of her body, and then forcing her to go though the pain of childbirth is simply to add layers of trauma onto an already devastating incident in her life.

This insanity has to stop!

The government paid $2500 to fly Todd Palin to Knoxville, Tennessee to sit on his ass during a trial that sent David Kernell to prison for guessing his wife's Yahoo account password. Your tax dollars at work.

"Look, she says jump, I say how high."

Courtesy of the AP:

The government paid nearly $2,500 for Sarah Palin's husband to come to the trial of a Tennessee college student who hacked into her email — even though Todd Palin never testified, court records show. 

In all, the government paid more than $29,000 to fly members of the Palin family and other witnesses to Knoxville, send a prosecutor to Alaska for research and pay other travel expenses, according to the Department of Justice records obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request. Air travel totaled about $18,600, and hotel bills amounted to nearly $3,300. 

The thousands of dollars spent by prosecutors helped them win a conviction on one felony and one misdemeanor charge against David Kernell, who finishes his 10-month sentence on Wednesday. Prosecutors have said that Kernell's punishment for the hacking during Palin's failed 2008 vice presidential bid should deter any hackers who considered targeting candidates in next fall's presidential election. 

The former Alaska governor, her daughter Bristol and an aide were among the witnesses called to the stand, but the chief prosecutor said he decided Todd Palin's testimony wasn't needed. Sarah and Bristol Palin told jurors that they felt harassed and their lives were disrupted after Kernell hacked into Sarah Palin's Yahoo! email account and made screenshots public that included personal email addresses and cell phone numbers. 

Records show Todd Palin received $2,244.30 as reimbursement for airfare from Alaska to Tennessee, along with $122 for meals and incidentals and an attendance fee of $120. He was listed as a fact witness. 

"We subpoena a lot of witnesses that we think we might need," Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Weddle said, adding that about a dozen witnesses in all were subpoenaed. "We decided his testimony was no longer necessary for purposes of trial."

So let me get this straight.

The Us Attorney thought he MIGHT want to put Toad on the witness stand, but then later on decided he did not need his testimony? You know usually I would buy that, but THIS is a family that is famous for milking the government for all kinds of travel and hotel expenses, even going so far as to charge the state of Alaska to have Sarah Palin sleep in her own bed.

Something smells fishy here, and it is NOT just the Grizzled Mama's unwashed "ambiance."

So is it normal to fly family members to a trial at government expense and not have them testify? 

J. Tom Morgan of Decatur, Ga., a former district attorney, said that when former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis made a comment about sunshine as the best disinfectant "he wasn't talking about the federal court system." 

"It sounds like a lot of money on a hacking case, but once you go to trial you've got to be prepared for anything and everything," he said. Morgan said prosecutors have discretion in spending and typically if they have a family member tag along they will also have them testify to justify it. 

Though Morgan couldn't speak to the circumstances of the Palin case, he said sometimes family members do get a "free ride."

A "free ride" boy doesn't THAT sound familiar?

I'm sorry, perhaps I am just overly jaded from dealing with this family of unconscionable grifters, but this feels to me as yet ANOTHER incident where Sarah Palin, and her band of Wasillabillies, fucked our government out of more of our hard earned tax dollars.

And they did it while lying on the witness stand about the impact Kernell's guesswork had on their family which cost this young man a year of his life.

In my mind at least our tax dollars were NOT used to pursue the cause of justice.

Palin e-mail "hacker" transferred to halfway house, will finish his sentence on November 23rd.

Courtesy of PC World:

David Kernell left a fenceless minimum-security federal prison in Ashland, Kentucky, where inmates are put to work on landscaping and building maintenance for between 12 and 40 cents per hour for the halfway house, according to a Tennessee television station. 

Kernell was convicted last year of breaking into to Palin's Yahoo e-mail account during the 2008 presidential election. He outsmarted Yahoo's password reset system by correctly answering questions using information about Palin that was easily available on the Internet -- a technique that criminals continue to use to break into those accounts. 

Apparently it took Kernell minutes to look up her birth date, ZIP code, and where she met her husband Todd (Wasilla High School). When they don't make any money from the crime, it's unusual for first-time hackers with no criminal records to get a prison sentence, but Kernell's case wasn't exactly typical. Palin and her eldest daughter Bristol testified during the trial, and prosecutors argued that a stiff sentence would deter further hacking during presidential elections.

This is, of course, a complete travesty of justice. And just another example of how the Palins leave a path of destruction wherever they go.

The ONLY reason that this kid, who by the way did not "hack" anything, was given such a stiff sentence was because Sarah and Bristol perjured themselves when asked what kind of impact the guessing of the password to the Yahoo account had on their lives.

The simple truth would have been that Sarah was freaked out that the world had discovered what an imbecile she was to use private Yahoo accounts to conduct state business, but THAT was glossed over in the testimony.

As I said back in April of 2010, Palin was extremely lucky that the person who guessed her password information was just some harmless college kid pulling a prank and NOT some political operative or foreign spy looking to find some damaging information on Palin that they could have used to REALLY hurt her, and potentially the people of Alaska.

Personally I hope that once David Kernell finishes his sentence that he gives a couple of interviews and tells people his side of the story, and how aggressively Sarah Palin worked to destroy his life in retribution for daring to reveal her ignorance.