Cop Anthony Abbate Gets Probation, No Jail, For Beating Female Bartender (WATCH SURVEILLANCE VIDEO)

I hate to say it but as a life-long Chicagoan, somethings in this city just do not change.



There are of course the old cliches about gangsters and vote rigging that have for the most part fallen by the wayside. But one thing that has not changed is crooked cops. There are many, many really good, hard working cops in the city. But there are also some really bad ones. This huge guy beat the crap out of a small woman, who was on the floor, trying as best she could to defend herself. This guy deserved to go to jail with the regular population and see what it feels like to become someones bitch.



There have been quite a number of recent stories about corrupt Chicago cops shaking down motorists, stealing drugs or cash from dealers, and even of other fights. But this was particularly bad and justice was NOT served by him getting probation. It's a disgrace and makes all hard working honest cops look bad.
About Video
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

The New York Times Finally Corrects Botched Front-Pager on Gitmo Prisoners Returning to Jihad

Keith Olbermann of Countdown on MSNBC interviewed a professor several times who had done an in-depth study of every single figure the Pentagon had released over the years for supposed recidivist terrorists who had left Gitmo and allegedly returned to the battlefield. It was almost ridiculous how many different numbers they gave and the wild, almost non-sensical swings they supposedly showed. For instance, the Pentagon would list the number as 3 one month, 18 the next month, 33 the next month, and then 5 the following month. There never seemed to be any pattern or logic to the numbers given. The only logical conclusion that one could reach was that they were either lying or they just didn't know. Why is this important? Because Dick Cheney and others STILL try to use these numbers as evidence to justify their illegal torture.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Richard Clarke refutes Cheney's assertions

Dear Dr. Clarke.
Thank you for your insiders view of the White House during the 9/11 crisis. Since you were present in the WH then, your opinion is extremely important as Dick Cheney and Condi Rice continue to try to rewrite history and shed any blame for what was obviously their mistake on 9/11. It’s always been my strong belief that Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz and other Neo Cons in the Bush administration came into power locked in to the idea of invading Iraq. Sept. 11, 2001 gave them the unfortunate “justification” to do just that. And in the process they let USB go in Tora Bora because they couldn’t or wouldn’t allow the ground troops necessary to do the job properly. Meanwhile, over 7 years and more than 4000 soldiers lives later we’re still locked into an indefinite future in Iraq. And for what? Nothing in my opinion.

I hope that you will continue to counter Dick Cheney’s absurd assertions that HE made America safer by torturing, spying illegally, and basically wiping his feet on the Constitution. He has no idea how much damage he has done to our standing in the world. And it’s up to all of us — you and me — to continue to speak out and tell the truth so that history will know.

Thanks again.

Best regards,
Brian Blank