June 2010 Archives

As many of you know, sometimes I deviate from the herd and go my own direction. Sometimes I do this purposely and others in search for comments. This time is a little bit of both. Yesterday, Astrogirlkel told us about the recent SCOTUS changes to the Miranda rules. The general consensus (with two dissenting opines) was that this was a not so subtle erosion of our civil liberties. I disagreed some, but not go into...

A few odds and ends from around the intertoobs: Never underestimate the stupidity of the American public. Only 1% of those polled could name all nine Supreme Court justices. Let's see, Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Mary Wilson I've got, but who are the other 6? I'll have to get back to ya'. I guess once you've done PR for one lying scumbag it's no sweat to do it for another. Dick Cheney's former press...

Tonight, when I was on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, BP cut the bent riser about 20 feet from the wellhead to reduce the stress on the BOP caused by the full weight of the wrecked riser.  Using a shearing machine, the cut was completed about 8:15 pm EDT.  They immediately began the precision cut with the diamond wire saw that we talked about yesterday.   Here's the live feed so you can see it (be...

In a stunning decision, the Supreme Court today made major changes to Miranda rights:  You have to request the right to remain silent.  It will no longer be afforded to you.   Any confessions you make in the midst of an arrest are now admissable until the moment you say "I wish to remain silent." From the Associated Press: A right to remain silent and a right to a lawyer are the first of the Miranda...

I realize it was a rerun, but I saw The Colbert Report last night where Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, came on and argued for the legalization of marijuana. This is an issue I haven't tackled yet and since I know nothing about plugging any holes, I thought I would try my hand at this. Instead of going the usual route, I thought I would go with a couple of personal stories and the...