Category: Legal

Woman Robbed While Urinating in Public; Witness Also a Urinator

Posted on by TL

I would love to talk to the officer who wrote this one up.

From ENEWSPF:

A woman reported two bags stolen from a bench at the bus stop at the corner of Victory Drive and Main Street shortly after 10 p.m. on October 23. According to the complainant, she stated that after getting off the bus, she set her bags down on the bench at the bus stop, and went into the bushes to urinate, leaving her bags unattended. When she came out of the bushes, she noticed that her bags had been taken from the bus stop bench, and observed a black female dressed in a dark hooded sweatshirt walking away from the bench with her bags. Another passenger on the bus reported that he also got off the bus, went into the bushes to urinate, and saw a woman dressed in dark clothing take the two bags from the bench.

First, I cannot imagine myself ever witnessing a crime and having to tell the officer taking the report that I was in the bushes taking care of urinating — at least not since my college days.

The victim and the witness were not ticketed for “pubic elimination of bodily waste,” as the charge would stand (and even that sounds funny), most likely because of the theft.

Still, I think I’ll to avoid that bus stop.

President Obama Remembers Ryan White: Ends HIV Entry Ban

Posted on by TL

Do you remember Ryan White? Do you remember this young man who died, publicly, of HIV-AIDS?

I think of him from time to time, this brilliant young man who was "done too soon," who endured years of hatred, years of insults — because he got sick.

I remember, years ago, picking my son up from school on a spring afternoon. I was listening to WLS in Chicago (never a good idea these days), and I heard a caller condemn Ryan White to the depths of Hell. The caller was convinced, and argued, that this young man got what he deserved, that if he himself hadn’t sinned in his lifetime, then God must have killed him because one of his ancestors must have sinned horribly.

Yes, that was the argument.

Today, President Obama remembered Ryan White in a big way.

From White House blog:

Today, President Obama signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009. It represents our ongoing commitment to ensuring access to needed HIV/AIDS care and treatment. The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) worked very closely with Congress on this bipartisan legislation, and the consensus document developed by the HIV/AIDS advocacy community was an important part of the process. We were so pleased that Jeanne White-Ginder, Ryan White’s mother, was here at the bill signing.

The Ryan White Program is the largest federal program specifically dedicated to providing HIV care and treatment. It funds heavily impacted metropolitan areas, states, and local community-based organizations to provide life-saving medical care, medications, and support services to more than half a million people each year: the uninsured and underinsured, racial and ethnic minorities, people of all ages.

The President also announced today the elimination of the HIV entry ban. Since 1987, HIV-positive travelers and immigrants have been banned from entering or traveling through the United States without a special waiver. In July 2008, Congress removed all legislative barriers to repealing the ban and paved the way for HHS to repeal the ban. A final rule will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, November 2nd and will take effect in early January 2010. That means that people who have HIV and are not U.S. citizens will be able to enter the U.S. starting in January next year. This is a major step in ending the stigma associated with HIV.

And the sad thing is, would Ryan White have died in 1990 — theoretically — if the Reagan Administration had given medical science the funding to find the cause of and fight AIDS instead of segregating it as a gay disease? Would an anonymous thug have come along and kicked over Ryan’s headstone if Reagan had been slightly more enlightened?

Yes, we still have to ask those questions. It could all happen again. We still have plenty of people in our society who are seemingly at war with science.

I’m starting to like this Obama as President of the United States.

However, this isn’t about President Obama.

This is about a young man who was gone too soon.

Peace, Ryan. We remember you still.

Ryan White

Pelosi Outlines 14 Health Care Provisions to Take Place Immediately

Posted on by TL

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi Thursday outlined fourteen health care reform provisions that would take place immediately, upon passage of the health insurance reform legislation currently making its way through Congress:

  1. BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE — Reduces the donut hole by $500 and institutes a 50% discount on brand-name drugs, effective January 1, 2010.
  2. IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED UNTIL EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE (INTERIM HIGH-RISK POOL) — Creates a temporary insurance program until the Exchange is available for individuals who have been uninsured for several months or have been denied a policy because of pre-existing conditions.
  3. BANS LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Prohibits health insurance companies from placing lifetime caps on coverage.
  4. ENDS RESCISSIONS—Prohibits insurers from nullifying or rescinding a patient’s policy when they file a claim for benefits, except in the case of fraud.
  5. EXTENDS COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 27TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE— Requires health plans to allow young people through age 26 to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice.
  6. ELIMINATES COST-SHARING FOR PREVENTIVE SERVICES IN MEDICARE—Eliminates co-payments for preventive services and exempts preventive services from deductibles under the Medicare program.
  7. IMPROVES HELP FOR LOW-INCOME MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES—Improves the low-income protection programs in Medicare to assure more individuals are able to access this vital help.
  8. PROVIDES NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS IN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE— Prohibits Medicare Advantage plans from charging enrollees higher cost-sharing for services in their private plan than what is charged in traditional Medicare.
  9. IMMEDIATE SUNSHINE ON PRICE GOUGING—Discourages excessive price increases by insurance companies through review and disclosure of insurance rate increases.
  10. CONTINUITY FOR DISPLACED WORKERS—Allows Americans to keep their COBRA coverage until the Exchange is in place and they can access affordable coverage.
  11. CREATES NEW, VOLUNTARY, PUBLIC LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM—Creates a long-term care insurance program to be financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide benefits to adults who become functionally disabled.
  12. HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES—Creates a $10 billon fund to finance a temporary reinsurance program to help offset the costs of expensive health claims for employers that provide health benefits for retirees age 55-64.
  13. COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS—Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for a doubling of the number of patients seen by the centers over the next 5 years.
  14. INCREASING NUMBER OF PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS — Provides new investment in training programs to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals.

Source: Committee on Education and Labor

Schwarzenegger Hidden Veto Message to Assemblyman Ammiano: ‘F*** You’

Posted on by TL

We write, "LOL" online when we get a chuckle. Sometimes we turn up the heat and write, "LMAO." And then theres, " LMFAO."

This one falls into the latter category.

From CBS Chicago:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger typically attaches a message to bills he signs or vetoes telling lawmakers why he took the action.

A Democratic assemblyman who heckled the governor during a recent event in San Francisco actually received two messages: the veto letter itself and a not-so-subtle rebuke creatively hidden within it.

Like a find-the-word puzzle, the second message was visible by stringing together the first letter of each line down the left-hand margin. It consisted of a common four-letter vulgarity followed by the letters "y-o-u."

"My goodness. What a coincidence," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear. "I suppose when you do so many vetoes, something like this is bound to happen."

Here’s the note, emphasis added:

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 1176 without my signature.

For some time now I have lamented the fact that major issues are overlooked while many
unnecessary bills come to me for consideration. Water reform, prison reform, and health
care are major issues my Administration has brought to the table, but the Legislature just
kicks the can down the alley.

Yet another legislative year has come and gone without the major reforms Californians
overwhelmingly deserve. In light of this, and after careful consideration, I believe it is
unnecessary to sign this measure at this time.

Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger

My goodness. What a coincidence.

See the original document here.

First-Ever Federal Equality Measure Protecting LGBT Rights Signed Into Law

Posted on by TL

The following is from Joe Solmonese at the Human Rights Campaign:

Today, something extraordinary happened. Love conquered hate. After more than a decade, the inclusive hate crimes bill we’ve fought so hard for has been signed by the president and sealed in law.

I cannot overstate the importance of this moment. This is the first time ANY federal equality measure protecting LGBT rights has become law. The very first time. And it is the first federal law to explicitly protect transgender people. It is a touchstone in our movement, a triumph of what is right. And I truly feel things will never be the same.

You made this day possible, along with thousands like you who called, wrote to Congress, met with lawmakers, and never gave up. I am inspired and humbled, and I thank you for all you’ve done.

As I left the White House, my thoughts turned to two crucial tasks immediately ahead – the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." Tomorrow, we will wake up emboldened to fight those battles. So will our enemies. This victory gives us momentum, and we cannot slow down.

Will you make a donation today to help HRC make sure this isn’t the last time we see this image?

With your help, this moment will be a beginning, not a culmination.

President Obama
Help us put more pro-equality legislation under that pen!

Hate crimes legislation was the first piece of creating a safe environment for LGBT people – prohibiting workplace and military discrimination are the next. When LGBT people live in fear of violence or discrimination, we cannot be who we are. And when we must hide our true selves, we cannot change hearts and minds.

It took twelve years, over one million emails, faxes and phone calls to Congress, and 14 separate votes on the floors of the House and the Senate to turn the hate crimes bill into law. Right-wing groups opposed us ferociously until the very end; they knew having a pro-LGBT law on the books would be a game-changer, and it is.

We’ve learned invaluable lessons. Now we know the next victory will take at least that much effort. But it must not take that much time. That means we need your help now.

Today, I am more determined than ever to put more pro-equality legislation on the president’s desk – let us galvanize ourselves in the fire of this moment.

Your support right now will give our nationwide network of staff and volunteers the power to fight for equality across the country.

Thank you again for standing with us to make this historic victory possible. Your hard work has made this country a safer place for millions of LGBT people.

Warmly,

Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese
President

Donate Today

To Keith Olbermann: Let’s All Take Credit for “Medicare Part E” and Get It Done Already

Posted on by TL

I was listening to Countdown this evening listening to Keith Olbermann pat himself on the back for calling for a "rebranding" of the term "public option." Olbermann suggested calling the alternative to for-profit health insurance "Medicare Part E — ‘E’ for ‘Everyone.’ "

That’s a great idea, but Keith is hardly the first to name the new plan. For that, I credit Thom Hartmann, who wrote on September 9, 2009:

The President this morning admitted on national television that he lost control of the message with health care. It’s time to reboot – and use a very, very, very simple message so all Americans can understand it.

Let’s use Medicare, which nearly every American understands. Just create “Medicare Part E” where the “E” represents “everybody.” Just let any citizen in the US buy into Medicare.

It would be so easy. No need to reinvent the wheel with this so-called “public option” that’s a whole new program from the ground up. Medicare already exists. It works. Some people will like it, others won’t – just like the Post Office versus FedEx analogy the President is so comfortable with.

Just pass a simple bill – it could probably be just a few lines, like when Medicare was expanded to include disabled people – that says that any American citizen can buy into the program at a rate to be set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which reflects the actual cost for us to buy into it.

Thus, Medicare Part E would be revenue neutral!

To make it available to people of low income, Congress could raise the rates slightly for all currently non-eligible people (like me – under 65) to cover the cost of below-200%-of-poverty people. Revenue neutral again.

This blows up all the rumors about death panels and grandma and everything else: everybody knows what Medicare is. Those who scorn it can go with United Healthcare and it’s $100 million/year CEO. Those who like Medicare can buy into Part E. Simplicity itself.

And there’s more. Hartmann’s analysis also appeared in CommonDreams.org.

I don’t want to detract from Mr. Olbermann. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn thanked Keith publicly this evening on Countdown, saying he heard the term first from Mr. Olbermann, and at least one Blue Dog Democrat has thrown his support behind Medicare Part E. Medicare Part E would not be single payer. Since everyone is taking credit, I’ll pat myself on the back also for writing this on August 7, 2009. However, I only wrote that after I heard the term "Medicare Part E" first on Thom Hartmann’s radio program, at least a month before he wrote his analysis. And, to be honest, my call was for a single-payer system. “Medicare Part E” would be an opt-in insurance program, entirely optional. Do you like your for-profit health insurance company? Well, you’ll be allowed to keep it.

Olbermann’s commentary is from his special commentary on October 7, nearly a month after Thom Hartmann:

Once you said "Medicare For Everybody," there would be just as much to explain. If you were under 65 you’d be paying for it. You wouldn’t have to buy it. You wouldn’t have to change from whatever you have now. There are just as many caveats.

Still, the intent of all this would be clearer. Much of the criticism of health care reform is coming from those who have or are about to get Medicare and, in confusion, in fear, in the kind of indescribable realization that we are far closer to the end than to the beginning, they are suddenly mortally afraid that health care reform will take it away from them. "Medicare For Everybody," might not be literally true, but instead of terrifying, it would be reassuring. And the explanations and the caveats would be listened to, and not shouted down, as anger and fear — fear, remember, of death – swell up inside.

Thom Hartmann has been on Countdown before. Keith, invite him back and give him credit as well. After all, the best ideas always happen when no one cares who gets the credit.

I’m cautiously optimistic that this will actually happen.

Keith deserves credit for his incredible commentary. Thom Hartmann deserves credit as well. Let’s all take credit for the concept, the name, and make "Medicare Part E for Everyone" finally happen.

Mr. Monk Pleads Guilty, Agrees to Testify Against Blagojevich

Posted on by TL

As former Governor Rod Blagojevich continues to work on tying the knot with Donald Trump, one of his closest friends and advisors pleaded guilty today and agreed to testify for the prosecution when Blago’s case comes to trial.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Another domino has fallen in the corruption case against former Gov. Rod Blagoejvich.

Alonzo "Lon" Monk, one of the governor’s closest friends and advisers, pleaded guilty today and agreed to aid prosecutors in their attempt to convict the former governor. In exchange, he faces a recommended sentence of 2 years in prison.

If his plea agreement is any indication, Monk — a former chief of staff to the governor and his two-time campaign manager — could be a valuable witness.

His 31-page plea agreement provides the most damning detail yet about meetings between Blagojevich and his three closest confidants — Monk, Antoin "Tony" Rezko and the late Christopher Kelly.

The indictment against Blagojevich last spring alleged that, even before Blagojevich was first elected governor in 2002, the four had discussed ways to profit from public corruption.

Monk’s plea agreement states that Rezko typically led the discussions, and most of the ideas were intended to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Video from WGN:

Sympathy for the Devil: James Degorski Spared the Death Penalty

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Tribune:

A Cook County jury today spared James Degorski of the death penalty three weeks after he was convicted in the murders of seven workers at the Brown’s Chicken restaurant in Palatine in 1993. 

He will be sentenced to life in prison.

The jury began deliberations at about 12:20 p.m. after hearing closing arguments from lawyers on both sides.

Degorski, 37, is charged with killing seven workers in the suburban restaurant 16 years ago in an attempt "to do something big." His co-defendant and high school friend, Juan Luna, was sentenced to life in prison two years ago for the murders.

"He slaughtered them that night," Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Tom Biesty said in his closing. "He wanted to do something big and he wanted to be famous. Well, he did do something big and he is famous…and now it’s his judgment day."

In rebuttal, Mark Levitt, a senior Cook County assistant public defender, encouraged jurors to look deep into their hearts and give Degorski a life sentence instead of death.

"Finding mercy where it shouldn’t exist is exactly what mercy is," said Levitt, who spoke in a soft tone during closing arguments and referred to Degorski as "Jim."

Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Tom Biesty pulled out all the stops, mixing crime scene pictures with photographs of the victims smiling, according to the report. Family members wept as images of loved ones flashed on the screen.

But the Public Defender Mark Levitt won the day, especially after recounting Degorski’s childhood:

In his closing arguments, public defender Levitt recounted the convicted murderer’s abusive childhood abd showed school-age photos of Degorski and his four siblings while recalling the sexual and physical abuse they suffered at their father’s hand. Levitt portrayed Degorski as a young child willing to take extra blows in the hopes of protecting his siblings, a role that left him with deep psychological wounds.

At moments, a typically stone-faced Degorski swallowed hard and looked away as Levitt described a tyrannical and sexually-perverse father.  Levitt said his client suffers from neurological problems, was in special education classes from an early age and wet his bed until the age of 14.

Another violent chapter in the Brown’s Chicken murders comes to a close.

I can’t help thinking how violence begets violence, considering Degorski’s childhood. From that violent past, seven more lives lost.

From WGN as the jurors heard closing arguments:

Read more here.

Glenn Beck: Obama’s Call for Volunteerism = Mao’s China

Posted on by TL

Yes, Glenn Beck dredges up a blast from the past. Enter Mao Tse Tung.

From the Huffington Post:

The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a Hollywood charitable organization, has helped to organize a push in the television industry to encourage volunteerism among the citizenry. The support for volunteerism will be spread across 60 shows, and in some cases woven into the plot lines.

Enter Glenn Beck, who reads in this yet another conspiracy theory that President Obama is using Hollywood in an attempt to turn American in a communist nation: "Well, this is fantastic. It’s almost like we’re living in Mao’s China right now."

Yup. And I suppose the Catholic Church is no better than the Emperoro Mao, encouraging volunteerism and all that.

So, if you work at a soup kitchen, you must be a Communist.

Oy.

Jon Stewart Takes on GOP Senators Who Voted for Halliburton Over Rape Victims

Posted on by TL

Jon Stewart takes on the 30 Republican Senators who voted against rape victims in favor of Halliburton.

Yes, this was a vote against rape victims.

Here are the senators who voted "NO" to this bill:

Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

Yes, you read that list correctly: "McCain (R-AZ)" is that McCain.

So much for America First!