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Online nowStumbleKKSS: Kyeann is a woman from Montana, USA.; Likes 1,270 pages, 10 videos, 12 photos • 147 fans • Received 34 reviews; Member since Nov 10, 2007

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Back Among "Good Americans" in the Garden City - Six Hours A Week: Adventure…: May 19, 11:51pm 2 reviews government, law, politics, liberties-rights, democracy
http://www.sixhoursaweek.com/2008/05/back-among-good-americans-in-t.html; From the page: "Rather, I have faced America's 21st century, banal evil. Those who live in opposition to the Bush administration and its policies, who decry Chevron's genocidal ruin of the rain forest, would take money from either to help ruin an innocent person's life -- so that they can have the shiny things they've always wanted or grasp the life they believe they deserve."

frontline: drug wars: special reports: reining in forfeiture | PBS: May 16, 6:08pm 1 review government, law, liberties-rights
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/special/forfeiture.html; From the page: "Last year, almost a billion dollars worth of cash, cars, boats, real estate, and other property was forfeited to the federal government--most of it labeled as drug-related. And while much of this property was taken from bona fide criminals, critics of the nation's forfeiture laws say that too many innocent people have fallen through the cracks in a system that, until recently, has been far too heavily slanted in the government's favor...

According to a report prepared for the Senate Judiciary Committee, at least 90 percent of the property that the federal government seeks to forfeit is pursued through civil asset forfeiture. And although forfeiture is intended as punishment for illegal activity, over 80% of the people whose property is seized under civil law are never even charged with a crime according to one study of over 500 federal cases by the Pittsburgh Press. For this reason, critics say, the system can run roughshod over the rights of innocent property owners--and fail to distinguish them from the guilty.

This potential for abuse is compounded by the strong financial incentive that law enforcement has to make seizures--since they benefit directly from forfeited property. It was the passage of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, part of the Reagan-era ramp-up in the war on drugs, that first made this possible. At a federal level, the law established two new forfeiture funds: one at the U.S. Department of Justice, which gets revenue from forfeitures done by agencies like the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and another now run by the U.S. Treasury, which gets revenue from agencies like Customs and the Coast Guard. These funds could now be used for forfeiture-related expenses, payments to informants, prison building, equipment purchase, and other general law enforcement purposes."

ISIL -- Civil Asset Forfeiture: The Looting of America: May 16, 5:56pm 1 review activism, government, law, politics, liberties-rights
http://www.isil.org/resources/lit/looting-of-america.html; It is beginning to look as though I've narrowly missed finding out what this is like...

"Ethel Hylton is just one of a large and growing list of Americans - now numbering in the hundreds of thousands - who have been victimized by civil asset forfeiture. Under civil asset forfeiture, everything you own can be legally taken away even if you are never convicted of a crime.

Suspicion of offenses which, if proven in court, might result in a $200 fine or probation, are being used to justify seizure of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property. Totally innocent Americans are losing their cars, homes and businesses, based on the claims of anonymous informants that illegal transactions took place on their property. Once property is seized, it is virtually impossible to get it back."

Help Wanted: Lefty College Seeks Right-Wing Prof - WSJ.com: May 13, 1:58am 1 review education, politics
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121062988605186401.html?mod=googlenews_wsj; From the page: "A college that champions diversity, he believes, must think beyond courses in gay literature, Chicano studies and feminist theory. "We should also talk about intellectual diversity," he says. So over the next year, Mr. Peterson plans to raise $9 million to create an endowed chair for what is thought to be the nation's first Professor of Conservative Thought and Policy."

T-Shirt Collections: May 13, 1:54am 173 reviews graphic-design, nature, design
http://www.uneetee.com/category/collections.asp

Press TV - MDC slams Mugabe over observers: May 13, 12:41am 1 review government, news, democracy
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=55437§ionid=351020506; From the page: "Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa on Monday announced Zimbabwe would not bow to pressure to invite election monitors from Western countries and the United Nations. "

Chip Berlet: Lieberman Gift To McCain: Senate Islamist Terrorism Report - Off T…: May 13, 12:34am 3 reviews government, law, politics, news, liberties-rights
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chip-berlet/its-time-again-to-push-th_b_100905....; Scholar William W. Keller argues that in times of wide-spread social unrest and tensions, some liberals retreat from their oversight function as protectors of civil liberties and allow authoritarian methods to be implemented in order to restore order and defend the state. Right now in Washington, DC, civil liberties activists have built a coalition that spans the political spectrum from left to right. This coalition recently managed to block legislation titled the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act." It was, as detailed here, lousy legislation and deserved to be squashed.

ACLU Skeptical of Senate Report on &Homegrown& Terrorism: May 13, 12:32am 2 reviews government, law, news, liberties-rights
http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0508-18.htm; The ACLU is concerned that identifying the Internet as a tool for terrorists will lead to censorship and regulated speech - especially since the Internet has become an essential communications and research tool for everyone. Indeed, some policy makers have advocated shutting down objectionable websites in violation of the First Amendment. It is an unworkable solution.

"Unfortunately, terror comes in all shapes and sizes, and from all colors and religious backgrounds," said Timothy Sparapani, ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel. "Focusing on people with specific religious beliefs or backgrounds will not protect against the Timothy McVeigh's of the world. This narrow focus could cost us dearly in the future."

Veterans Should be Revered - Six Hours A Week: Adventures of a Sudden Patrio…: May 11, 2:53am 1 review government, iraq, news, liberties-rights, veterans
http://www.sixhoursaweek.com/2008/05/veterans-should-be-revered.html; From the page: "I was never cold or hungry or exposed to depleted uranium, or dodging sniper fire. I didn't have to see friends and civilians killed, or hear agonized screams and cries. I wasn't required to kill.

Imagine recovering from combat. How do people come home to their families after facing such unending stress and horrors? How do they ever find "normal" again? Deal with becoming disabled and struggling to pay the bills, or being stuck at Walter Reed? We have over 300,000 troops suffering from PTSD and a veteran suicide epidemic.

Veterans should never have to want for anything again. They should finish their days in absolute comfort, have the best medical and psychological care, housing credits, and scholarships for their children. Veterans should not be homeless. That it took domestic, government-sanctioned repression for me to "get" to some small degree what it would be like to recover from military work is one of many unexpected gifts and ironies."