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Re: Which policy failure will Barrack Obama be most remembered for(please be specific), and is there any fixing his legacy this late in the game?

@ Cat - The single payer plan that President Obama wanted in the first place but took off the table in an effort to compromise with the Republicans, is not only inevitable but it is the best possible system.  It has already been successfully implemented in most of the developed nations of the world, it saves the most money, it saves the most lives, and it thoroughly simplifies the entire process.  It does not involve rationing of health care, and it still doesn't have any "death panels".  And, you don't have to worry that your doctor is or is not in a particular "plan".

Re: Suggestion for Site

Agreed.  No more of the old "It's been 'featured' so we won't let you delete it" crap.

Cleveland Judge Finds Probable Cause to Charge Officers in Tamir Rice Death

Is it POSSIBLE that a court will actually find that killing yet ANOTHER innocent unarmed black American is a crime?

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Cleveland Judge Finds Probable Cause to Charge Officers in Tamir Rice Death
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA and MITCH SMITH
JUNE 11, 2015

A judge in Cleveland ruled Thursday that probable cause existed to charge two Cleveland police officers in the death of a 12-year-old boy, Tamir Rice, but also said he did not have the power to order the arrests without a complaint being filed by a prosecutor.

This week, a group of activists and community leaders asked the Municipal Court to have the officers, Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback, arrested under a little-used Ohio law that allows "a private citizen having knowledge of the facts" to start the process by filing an affidavit with a court. They argued that the widely seen video of an officer killing Tamir had given nearly everyone "knowledge of the facts."

On Thursday, Judge Ronald B. Adrine issued an order saying that probable cause existed to charge the officers, and "this court determines that complaints should be filed by the prosecutor of the City of Cleveland and/or the Cuyahoga County prosecutor." What weight the order carries with the prosecutors is unclear.

The ruling puts prosecutors in a difficult position, deciding whether to bring charges in a high-profile case when a judge has already said that probable cause exists to do so.

In a statement, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor, Timothy J. McGinty, said the case, "as with all other fatal use of deadly force cases involving law enforcement officers, will go to the grand jury."

Ultimately, Mr. McGinty said, any decision to file charges will rest with the members of a grand jury.

The petitioners argued that the statute allowed ordinary citizens to bypass the police and prosecutors, and force arrests; if they showed probable cause that a crime had been committed, they said, then the court had no choice but to order the officers arrested.

But the judge said there was a conflict between the law and the rules laid down by the State Supreme Court, so he could not issue warrants without a prosecutor's complaint.

After a public petition asking a judge to order the arrest of the two Cleveland police officers involved in the killing of Tamir Rice, a Cleveland judge ruled Thursday that probable cause existed to charge Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback in the death of the 12-year-old boy.

In his ruling, the judge found that probable cause existed to charge Officer Loehmann, who fired the shots that killed Tamir, with murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide or dereliction of duty. The judge also ruled that probable cause existed to charge Office Garmback, who drove the police car, with negligent homicide or dereliction of duty.

Tamir was fatally shot in November while he played in a park. A 911 caller had reported that the boy was waving a gun that was "probably fake." When officers arrived, they pulled their car into the park, next to the boy. Within two seconds, Officer Loehmann had shot Tamir in the abdomen. The gun, it turned out, was a lifelike, airsoft-style gun, which fired plastic pellets.

The Rev. Jawanza K. Colvin, a Cleveland pastor who filed affidavits in the case, said that the findings of probable cause showed that residents could have their concerns taken seriously by the courts.

"It is a step, and it is a step that tells those who have continued to work for justice in the criminal justice system that all lives do matter," Mr. Colvin said.

A lawyer for the Rice family, Walter Madison, said Tamir's relatives were "overwhelmed" by the findings and "cannot believe that the system has actually worked in their favor."

"Albeit a small step toward justice, it is a step nonetheless," Mr. Madison said.

"The order said that warrants should be filed, and I think that puts the onus on another set of public servants to listen to the people," Mr. Madison said. "I think anything but an indictment at this particular time calls into serious question the county prosecutor and the appearance of impropriety."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/us/judge-finds-probable-cause-to-charge-officers-in-tamir-rice-death.html?_r=0

Too Good To Be True Or Too Much To Be Good?

http://www.today.com/food/pizza-hut-confirms-hot-dog-stuffed-crust-pizza-coming-america-t25591

Re: Black Reverend Threatens Police With Terrorist Attacks Over Texas ‘Pool Party’

Children in skimpy bathing suits don't exactly have anywhere to conceal a weapon, now do they.  And if a police officer is afraid of a crying child in a bathing suit then he clearly needs to find another job.

Re: Why is Rand Paul being ignored by the media?

Perhaps he's not getting much coverage where you are, but around here (NY) he's covered on a daily basis.  Huckabee is getting a lot of coverage because (a) he has had a longstanding relationship with Fox "news", and (b) he's too funny to ignore (like the - I want to be a transsexual so I can shower with the girls - remark), but that won't last.

Re: Black Reverend Threatens Police With Terrorist Attacks Over Texas ‘Pool Party’

They weren't harassing the residents.  This entire thing began when Mrs. Toon decided to involve herself in someone else's party.  Not to mention that these were kids in bathing suits who obviously weren't armed, so why did the cop draw his gun?  A trained law enforcement officer can't deal with a child crying without threatening to kill her???

Why do conservatives always do this?  Trayvon Martin was walking home from the store when he was attacked.  Michael Brown was murdered for crossing a street.  Tamir Rice was murdered for playing with a toy.  Willie Gray was murdered for being homeless.  Yet in EVERY one of these tragic events the Right Wing media has tried to turn the victims into the criminals.  These were kids playing in a pool. They weren't harassing anyone, they weren't threatening anyone, they weren't breaking any laws, and were simply minding their business and having fun.

By the way, could you post a link to the "rules" of the community that specify how many guests someone's allowed to invite to a party?  I haven't seen that in any of the reports on this yet.

Re: Black Reverend Threatens Police With Terrorist Attacks Over Texas ‘Pool Party’

Kat, they DID belong there.  They LIVED there.  They were INVITED to a party.  These were children having a pool party, and a redneck couple didn't like having black people swimming in a public pool.  They did NOTHING wrong.  (Notice that NO ONE was arrested or charged with any offense.  Not to mention that if you watch the original video you will see OTHER cops who DO respect the law trying to stop Casebolt before he could kill someone.)

And no matter how hard this is spun, no rational person could interpret this Reverend's justifiable outrage as a threat to anyone.

Re: Black Reverend Threatens Police With Terrorist Attacks Over Texas ‘Pool Party’

They weren't trespassing.  They lived in the community and were invited to a party.  Some idiot, a convicted felon by the name of Sean Toon (I kid you not), decided that there were too many black people in the same place and called the cops.  There was no conflict and no problem until Toon's wife started insulting and going after these children, pulling their hair and pushing them around.

They DID belong there.  They had every right to be there, did nothing wrong, and broke no laws.  As is always the case when this sort of incident occurs, some idiot right wing white dude decided that being black is a crime and took action.

The only saving grace here was that the other cops had enough sense to stop Casebolt before he killed anyone.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/06/10/megyn-kelly-big-credibility-problem-objective-witness-pool-party.html

Can we adjust the clock?

I notice that the clock on this site seems to be set for GMT.  Right now it is around 9 am in New York, where I am, but when I post this it will say it's about 3pm.  I've been on other sites where each user can set their own time zone, so I'm wondering whether it's possible to do this on this site.

It's not that big a deal, but it would be a nice improvement if it could be arranged.