From Amnesty International News, Amnesty International Urges Stricter Limits on Police Taser Use As U.S. Death Toll Reaches 500
Money quote:
On Monday, Johnnie Kamahi Warren was the latest to die after a police officer in Dothan, Al. deployed a Taser on him at least twice. The 43-year-old, who was unarmed and allegedly intoxicated, reportedly stopped breathing shortly after being shocked and was pronounced dead in a hospital less than two hours later. “Of the hundreds who have died following police use of Tasers in the United States, dozens and possibly scores of deaths can be traced to unnecessary force being used,” said Susan Lee, Americas program director at Amnesty International. “This is unacceptable, and stricter guidelines for their use are now imperative.” Strict national guidelines on police use of Tasers and similar stun weapons – also known as Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs) – would effectively replace thousands of individual policies now followed by state and local agencies.
From Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance, International Sex Worker Rights Day
Money quote:
Saturday, March 3rd, is International Sex Worker Rights Day, which is being celebrated around the world by groups and individuals who seek to recognize and defend the rights of sex workers.
According to Woodhull’s Executive Director, Ricci Levy:“Research has demonstrated that the criminalization of sex work is associated with violence against sex workers, decreased access to health care, barriers to reporting human rights abuses, and disempowerment in condom negotiation (whether a sex worker’s wishes regarding condom use are respected). Governments should recognize and address the relationship between laws criminalizing sex work and the human rights violations that result from these laws.
We see the affirmation and defense of the rights of sex workers as an integral part of our work to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. International Sex Workers Rights Day isn’t just about securing the rights of sex workers; it’s about securing human rights.”
From Dr. X’s Free Associations, Jim Hoft is shocked! Stunned!
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Always slow to process the world around him, Hoft also seems to believe that some sort of trick was played on him because Fluke is a law student and reproductive rights advocate rather than a ‘coed.’ It was just assumed in the conservative blog world that “Georgetown student” means “coed,” which is, by the way, an anachronistic term that hasn’t been used in decades except by conservative values voters, porn producers and horny frat boy types.Of course, there was never any deception involved. From the beginning, Fluke was identified in the mainstream media as “a third-year student at Georgetown Law and past president of the school’s Students for Reproductive Justice group.” That was reported 15 days before Hoft was stunned by the news that Ms. Fluke wasn’t a character from a movie entitled D.C. Coed Sluts.
From Dispatches From the Culture Wars, Politician Stands Up for Church/State Separation
Money quote:
We in the United States, above all, must remember that lesson, for we were founded as a nation of openness to people of all beliefs. And so we must remain. Our very unity has been strengthened by our pluralism. We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, and those who believe are free, and should be free, to speak of and act on their belief.
At the same time that our Constitution prohibits state establishment of religion, it protects the free exercise of all religions. And walking this fine line requires government to be strictly neutral.
Who said that? Known communist Ronald Reagan.