how to make friends.......
An estimated 150 people were arrested Thursday evening after a splinter group broke away from a large protest in Oakland and took to I-880 and I-980, a police spokesman said.
The group took to the streets of Oakland just after 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon, marching away from a downtown rally protesting massive cuts to education as Oakland police followed
Just before 5 p.m. at the intersection of 11th and Castro, the group made its move and bolted, swarming onto Interstate 980.
“It’s pretty clear that once they got to the freeway that there were intentions to disrupt traffic throughout the Bay Area,” said Thomason.
The group started running at the 880-980 interchange behind them, police in riot gear pursuing on foot. The crowd then jumped from northbound 880 to southbound 880
One witness says a protestor trying to avoid arrest made a move and leaped off the interstate.
“[He] tried to jump onto a tree and then hit the ground and wasn’t moving,” said Mike Lewis, one of the protesters involved in the freeway demonstration..............
......and influence people......
( * )
I wonder if the ambulance had a hard time getting through traffic to the hospital…
SondraK, Lympian Slayer 
At least 200 inmates received early releases from the L.A. County jail system this week because officials couldn’t find beds for them as the Sheriff’s Department attempted to downsize the population of a detention facility in Castaic.
The action occurred as the Sheriff’s Department is trying to cuts its budget by about 9% by reducing deputy overtime and slashing the inmate population at the north facility of the Pitchess Detention Center.
Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said the inmates were released beginning Tuesday. Sheriff’s Department policy requires that most male inmates serve at least 80% of their sentence. Whitmore said these inmates were released after serving only about 50% of their sentence because there was nowhere else to place them.
Hmmmm… what to do.
What.to.do.
The Ugly American The City of Los Angeles is facing its worst budget crisis in generations, one that has the City Council considering laying off 1,500 people, eliminating entire city departments and cutting police and fire budgets and personnel. Tough decisions. Bad times.
At least one councilman has his priorities straight. During council negotiations this week to try to trim $208 million from city spending, the Westside’s Bill Rosendahl stood up for calligraphy, notes LAist. That’s right, he made a stand for the $1 million the city spends on handing out honorary certificates that commend, for example, Matthew Broderick, Queen Latifah and George Lopez. Because what rich, famous celebrities really need is a piece of paper that says the city recognizes them.
“ ... Whatever we need to do to preserve it, I want to do,” Rosendahl reportedly said.
And of course, the citizens of District 11 overwhelmingly voted to reelect this city clowncilman last year with 75% of the vote over conservative Harry Wilson.
I wonder how many are having buyer’s remorse.
**** Disguisable weapons wanted ****
Wanted: hidden blades, belt buckle knives, cane swords, etc.....
Offering: cash, items for barter
hog!!!!!!!!!!!!
brought to you by Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes…
Sarah Palin aligns her public image with the heartland, but it appears the former Alaska Governor has gone Hollywood. And when she leaves, she may be taking some of it with her.
On top of an appearance on the Tonight Show and rumors that she’s shopping around a TV show with reality producer Mark Burnett, Palin and her entourage were seen partaking in one of celebrity’s lushest rituals—the Oscar gifting suite.
While the group was loading up on freebies, the Los Angeles Times reported that, “Palin’s middle child, Willow, got her hair styled, receiving a blowout from Erick Orellana of the Chris McMillan Salon (Jennifer Aniston’s longtime hairstylist).”
The Times also indicated that Palin was supposed to donate $1,700 along with all of her gift items to the Red Cross, which is currently helping with relief efforts in Haiti and Chile.
But E! Online insists, “we can assure you she did not give up any of her swag.” They quote an unnamed vendor who claims that upwards of 20 people from the Palin camp swarmed the event. “They were like locusts,” he told the entertainment news outlet...........
Link goes to Huffington Post. Here’s a tissue.
smarty pantz edition
NO CHEATING!
if
2 + 3 = 10
7 + 2 = 63
6 + 5 = 66
8 + 4 = 96
Then:
9 + 7 = ___
October 2008:
THE presidential campaign has taken a detour into a dispute over the constitutional status of the vice presidency. It all started when Sarah Palin asserted in her debate with Joe Biden that the vice president should play an important role in the legislative branch.
… oodib-eew-oodib-eew-oodib-eew...
March 2010:
Should passing health care reform come down to the use of reconciliation—and all signs point that way—Vice President Joseph Biden could play a hugely influential role in determining not only what’s in the bill but whether or not it passes.
Two experts in the arcane rules of the Senate said on Monday that, as president of the Senate, Biden has the capacity not just to overrule any ruling that the parliamentarian may make but also to cut off efforts by Republicans to offer unlimited amendments.
“Ultimately it’s the Vice President of the United States [who has the power over the reconciliation process],” Robert Dove, who served as Senate parliamentarian on and off from 1981-2001, told MSNBC this morning. ”It is the decision of the Vice President whether or not to play a role here…
JR
Federal agents seized computers and records Friday from three Somali businesses that provide money wire transfers.
Under warrants obtained through the U.S. Attorney’s Office, agents searched the Al-Amin Halaal Market on St. John Street, the Dahabshil Inc. money transfer business on Congress Street and Amal Express on Anderson Street, said the owners of those businesses.
Mahdi Ahmed, owner of Al-Amin, and Habib Munye, owner of Dahabshil, provided copies of the warrants, authorized by U.S. Magistrate Judge John Rich III. The owners at all three businesses said no one was arrested or charged in connection with the seizures.
U.S. Attorney Paula Silsby declined to comment Friday.
The focus of the investigation was unclear. The warrant for Al-Amin referred to any information relating to the wire transfer business, or to food stamp [ food stamps?????????????? ] fraud. Documents for Dahabshil didn’t indicate a reason for the search.Ahmed said agents broke two safes at his store and took cash, checks and records unrelated to the wire transfer business.
“Basically, they took everything,” he said. “I have no idea what they’re looking for; they have no respect.”.........
~ * ~
Mohamud Barre, president of the Somali Culture and Development Association of Maine, said the immigrant community is confused and worried about its ability to get money to family members in Africa..................
A local business owner is flabbergasted after a shipment of 30 toy guns for his store was confiscated by ATF agents in Tacoma.
Brad Martin and his son, Ben, sell the Airsoft BB guns from their store in Cornelius where they’ve been in business for seven years.
The Martins said they buy their stock from Taiwan because the merchandise is less expensive. But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized a shipment of 30 in October. That shipment is worth around $12,000 and the ATF is promising to destroy the entire shipment.Special Agent Kelvin Crenshaw said the toys can be easily retro-fitted into dangerous weapons.
“With minimal work it could be converted to a machine gun,” Crenshaw said.....................
Three Los Angeles elementary school teachers accused of giving children portraits of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul to carry in a Black History Month parade have been removed from their classrooms, a school district spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Children from other classes at the school displayed photos of more appropriate black role models, such as Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman and President Barack Obama, Los Angeles Unified School District spokeswoman Gayle Pollard-Terry said.
The incident occurred Friday at Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles, where the student body is more than 90 percent Latino.
District Superintendent Ramon Cortines placed the teachers — all white men who teach first, second and fourth grades — on administrative leave on Tuesday while an investigation is conducted, Pollard-Terry said.
“The superintendent will not let anyone make a mockery out of Black History Month,” she said................
Claire, Ideologically Stubborn Heatist Ruralite 03/03 at 07:13 PM •
(10) Extra Credit • Pass it on...
sticking clinging to their guns
Coffee chain Starbucks Corp. is sticking to its policy of letting customers carry guns where it’s legal and said it does not want to be put in the middle of a larger gun-control debate.
The company’s statement, issued Wednesday, stems from recent campaign by some gun owners, who have walked into Starbucks and other businesses to test state laws that allow gun owners to carry weapons openly in public places. Gun control advocates have protested.
The fight began heating up in January in Northern California and has since spread to other states and other companies, bolstered by the pro-gun group OpenCarry.org.
Some of the events were spontaneous, with just one or two gun owners walking into a store. Others were organized parades of dozens of gun owners walking into restaurants with their firearms proudly at their sides.
Now, gun control advocates are protesting the policy. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, launched a petition drive demanding that the company “offer espresso shots, not gunshots” and declare its coffeehouses “gun-free zones.” And Wednesday, that group planned to deliver 28,000 signatures to the coffee giant’s headquarters in Seattle.
The group also held a press conference near Seattle’s Pike Place Market, just a few yards away from the where the first Starbucks cafe opened. Gun rights advocates showed up as well, some carrying handguns in holsters around their waists.
Brian Mantel of the Brady Campaign said the carrying guns intimidates and frightens people, and said the group thinks Starbucks will “do the right thing” and change its policy....
Notice who’s buying coffee..........and all the guns at the ANTI-GUN rally LOL!!!!!!
Claire, Ideologically Stubborn Heatist Ruralite 03/03 at 01:28 PM •
(10) Extra Credit • Pass it on...
