Daily Archive: February 7, 2011

Rufus F.

/// February 7, 2011

Faster, Rufus! Eulogize! Eulogize!

Over at Bust Magazine’s blog, I paid tribute to the voluptuous Tura Satana (recently departed) star of the cult classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (Hey, I can’t write about dead Greeks all the time!)

Jason Kuznicki

/// February 7, 2011

Categorical Imperatives

“If everyone in the world were homosexual, the human race would die out.” Or as Kenneth Minogue — not ordinarily a lazy thinker — recently put it: If one’s notion of responsibility includes a...

Will

/// February 7, 2011

“A History Seminar: Obamacare Has Nothing to Do with Seamen Mandate of 1798”

A few liberal writers have suggested that the Seamen Mandate of 1798 provides some sort of constitutional precedent for the Affordable Care Act. Avik Roy helpfully demolishes that myth here.

Erik Kain

/// February 7, 2011

Ordinary Blogs (re-posted)

[reposted from Sunday] If I could draw your attention to the top of the page for a moment you will see a number of pages listed in our navigation bar. Beginning with “Home” you...

248

Erik Kain

/// February 7, 2011

The Ghost in the Square

This is an excellent speech by British writer Phillip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass (via): The greedy ghost understands profit all right. But that’s all he understands. What he doesn’t understand is enterprises that...

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Aaron Dean Charged with Murder in Killing of Atatiana Jefferson

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Aaron Dean Charged with Murder in Killing of Atatiana Jefferson

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[caption id="attachment_321197" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Body camera footage of Aaron Dean moments before the shooting of Atatiana Jefferson[/caption]

The former police officer involved in the killing of Atatiana Jefferson was arrested and charged with murder on the same day he resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department.

Police declined to say whether Dean was arrested by a Fort Worth officer or if he turned himself in. The department's major case and internal affairs units were "working diligently to conclude the criminal administrative investigation" into the shooting, said Sgt. Chris Daniels.
"We value the trust that we've had in our community, we will continue to build that trust," Daniels said. "To the citizens and residents of our city, we feel and understand your anger and disappointment."
Dean was served a written administrative complaint Sunday, placed on detached duty and stripped of his badge and firearm, interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said. He resigned Monday.
"My intent was to meet with him today to terminate his employment with the Fort Worth Police Department. However, the officer tendered his resignation this morning before we met," Kraus said.
If Dean had not resigned, he would have been fired for several policy violations, including the department's use of force and de-escalation policies, and unprofessional conduct, Kraus said.
The department has presented a preliminary case to the FBI to review the officer's actions for possible civil rights violations, Kraus said.
"None of this information can ease the pain of Atatiana's family but I hope it shows the community that we take these incidents seriously," he said.
Dean was hired in August 2017 and commissioned as a licensed officer in April 2018, Kraus said.

Numerous reports state Dean made bail and is awaiting his next court appearance.

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Beto O’Rourke Doubles Down on Revoking Tax-Exempt Status of Churches Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage

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Beto O’Rourke Doubles Down on Revoking Tax-Exempt Status of Churches Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage

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After making controversial statements about gun confiscation, Beto once again grabbed the spotlight at the CNN Equality Town Hall by saying that Churches opposed to Same-Sex Marriage should have their tax-exempt status yanked.

He was asked if he meant this and said that this should also apply to Mosques and Conservative Black Churches as well.

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Two Rudy Giuliani Associates Arrested

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Two Rudy Giuliani Associates Arrested

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[caption id="attachment_319944" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Amazinggena via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]

The plot thickens...

Two Soviet-born donors to a pro-Trump fundraising committee who helped Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to investigate Democrat Joe Biden were arrested late Wednesday on criminal charges stemming from their alleged efforts to funnel foreign money into U.S. elections and influence U.S. politics on behalf of at least one Ukrainian politician.
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two Florida businessmen, made a brief appearance in federal court in Virginia Thursday, dressed in T-shirts. Both men are U.S. citizens born in former Soviet republics. They were arrested at Dulles Airport on Wednesday while awaiting an international flight with one-way tickets, according to people familiar with the matter, a day before one of them was scheduled to testify before House committees.
Mr. Giuliani said in an interview Thursday that Messrs. Parnas and Fruman were headed to Vienna on Wednesday evening for reasons related to their business. He declined to elaborate on those reasons. He said the two men had also left the country about two weeks ago and had traveled to Vienna between three and six times in the last two months. He said he had been scheduled to meet with the two when they returned to Washington within days.
A federal prosecutor told a judge the government remains concerned that the men will flee. Attorneys on both sides said they would reach an agreement about the conditions of their bail and would return to the judge later Thursday or Friday.
In a 21-page indictment unsealed Thursday, federal prosecutors in Manhattan alleged Messrs. Parnas and Fruman were engaged in political activities in the U.S. on behalf of one or more Ukrainian government officials—including a lobbying campaign, targeted at a Republican congressman, to remove the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv. President Trump ordered the ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, removed from her post in May, the Journal has reported.

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Trump sends letter to Congress: There Is No Try

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Trump sends letter to Congress: There Is No Try

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[caption id="attachment_184907" align="aligncenter" width="599"] Public Domain
White-house-1941[/caption]

CNN reports:

In the White House's letter to congressional Democrats, President Donald Trump's lawyers say the President and his administration won't cooperate in an ongoing impeachment inquiry, arguing the proceedings amount to an illegitimate effort to overturn the 2016 election results.

You can read the letter at the link.

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Jury Finds Amber Guyger Guilty

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Jury Finds Amber Guyger Guilty

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A jury has found Amber Guyger guilty of the murder of Botham Jean. Last year, Guyger had entered Jean's apartment after allegedly confusing it for her own. She then shot Jean to death after believing him to be an intruder. This would have been an open-and-shut case in almost every imaginable scenario with one very notable exception: Guyger was an officer with the Dallas Police Department.

At every turn, she enjoyed a measure of extended decency rarely if ever offered to other murder suspects. This included initial police concern for Guyger's well-being, a subsequent footdrag to arrest Guyger for Jean's killing, an investigation that seemed more focused on scapegoating Jean than it did proving Guyger's guilt, and police testimony that Guyger was justified in having killed Jean.

Despite this, as well as a pitched defense that claimed Jean's murder was nothing more than a "series of horrible mistakes," the jury convicted Guyger of the most serious charge levied against her. Guyger faces 5 to 99 years in prison.

It is exceedingly rare that police officers are punished for their conduct, no matter how egregious. This is a very good start.

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