Patch

From the LA Times

Fresno, Ca.

An 11-year-old Fresno girl charged with assault for throwing a rock at a boy during a water balloon fight was placed on six months informal probation this morning. If she complies, all charges will be dropped against her in six months, court officials said. The deal ends a prosecution that had drawn criticism. Under the charges filed, Maribel Cuevas faced a maximum of four years in custody. Fresno's mayor and police chief said Maribel's case was handled appropriately, and that assault with a deadly weapon was the proper charge for an act that might have had fatal consequences. If she had hit the kid on the temple, she could have killed him," said Fresno Police Sgt. Anthony Martinez. "Then the story would read, 'Little boy throws water balloon, little girl throws rock and kills him.' "

(Plea bargaining must stop, dangerous people should go to jail.)


DUH

No Charges Filed in Brawl Near Ballpark

By Andrew Blankstein, Times Staff Writer

Prosecutors declined to press charges Tuesday against three men arrested in connection with a violent altercation, in which four people were stabbed, between men police said were unlicensed merchandise vendors and private security guards outside Dodger Stadium last Sunday.

Good thing they weren’t throwing rocks.





That Paul Hackett came within 4 points of winning in a heavily Republican 2nd district is huge- and should be a major warning to the GOP that the people in the center have had just about enough of their B.S. Ohio’s 2nd district is 70% Republican and Jean Schmidt was a popular politician on the state level.
Carl Forti, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, acknowledged that the outcome fell far short of the party's desire, as expressed by Forti over the weekend, to bury Hackett in retaliation for attacking Bush. "We did not" bury Hackett, he said. "But it was a victory nonetheless."

Cincinnati’s Channel 12 latest pole (11PM 08/03/05) on the Iraqi War, (Is the war worth it?) 21% yes, 79% no; 3500 responded. The latest now is 4 local marines (Cincinnati area) were killed in Iraq today; all of Ohio paid a huge price today.

A GOVERNMENT GONE WILD!!!!!!!!

Having skirted budget restraints and approved nearly $300 billion in new spending and tax breaks before leaving town, Republican lawmakers are now determined to claim full credit for the congressional spending. Far from shying away from their accomplishments, lawmakers are embracing the pork, from graffiti eradication in the Bronx to bridges to nowhere in Alaska, from $277 million in road projects for Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to a $200,000 deer-avoidance system in New York.
At 1,752 pages, the highway bill is the most expensive public works legislation in U.S. history, complete with 6,376 earmarked projects
When the year started, President Bush made spending restraint a mantra, laying out an austere budget that would freeze non-security discretionary spending for five years and setting firm cost limits on transportation and energy bills.
"If you look at fiscal conservativism (Conservatism period) these days, it's in a sorry state," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), one of only eight House members to vote against the $286.5 billion transportation bill that was passed the day before the recess. "Republicans don't even pretend anymore."
"You have to be courageous to not spend money," said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), "and we don't have many people who have that courage."

Can you see all the Democrats sneaking out the back door laughing their collective asses off?

Who would have thought that conservatives would have made liberals look like pikers?

In the defense of the conservatives, they promise that as soon as they can cut more taxes for the rich, everything will be OK!


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/03/AR2005080301987.html

Exemptions From Ethics Rules Allow Lawmakers to Accept Almost Anything

Bill Allison, editor-at-large for the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity. "Some of the most outrageous things that happen in Washington are perfectly within the rules."

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) has asked the ethics committee to determine whether he wrongly took trips abroad paid for by registered lobbyists (This is like the fox asking all the other foxes if it is ok for a fox to be in charge of the hen house.)