Homeless LA Vets Sue VA over Brentwood Campus

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 07:28:55 AM MST

One of the problems with having a Imperial War Machine brining democracy to the world is that you wind up with a lot of veterans. They all deserve and require some kind of care, especially the ones who come home with the hidden war wounds of mental illness. No matter how we feel about wars of choice, there is a very real social contract with the men and women who take the orders to go and fight for whatever their country says they should fight for.

This brings us to the class action law suit that was filed in the Central District Court of California yesterday. The suit on behalf of homeless mentally ill veterans is aimed at force the Department of Veterans Affairs to use a piece of land that was deeded to it in 1888 for the care of these homeless vets.

The area is 387 acres in Brentwood. Not exactly low rent property. Prior to the 1960's it was used as it was intended as a home for wounded veterans. As the city grew and became prosperous the was allowed to deteriorate , and about 1/3 of it was leased to commercial interests like a golf course and a car rental agency.

From the New York Times article:

By any measure, the lawsuit - the first of its kind, lawyers said - is a significant escalation in a battle that has simmered here for years, as homeless advocates contended that the Department of Veterans Affairs was bowing to residents of the property's prosperous Brentwood neighborhood and commercial interests by refusing to rehabilitate abandoned buildings and use them to help veterans.

Bigoted Ex-Bush Official Sues HRC And Karl Rove Under RICO

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Wed May 11, 2011 at 06:31:05 AM MST

What do you do when you have been caught breaking civil service rules left and right as a Presidential Appointee and consequently been forced out of that job? Why of course you sue everyone in sight under the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) Act. Which is exactly what the former href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/former-special-counsel-bloch-sues-rove-davis-and-others-for-202-million/2011/05/10/AFuKHtkG_story.html">Office of Special Counsel chief, Scott "I got no clue" Block is doing.

Let's back up a little bit so everyone can remember the facts about Mr. Block. The Office of Special Counsel is charged with protecting federal whistleblowers. That is actually the mandate of this office, to make sure that when someone notices illegal or improper acts happening in the federal government and comes forward, this office looks into the it and they make sure that the person reporting the misdeeds is not retaliated against. Or at least that is what they are supposed to do. This is also the office that is supposed to enforce the Hatch act, which prohibits using government resources for electioneering purposes.

Now you have to remember that this was the criminal Bush administration, so they were not really keen on having any kind of actual enforcement neither of the Hatch Act nor, for that matter having whistleblowers come forward. This was the Administration filled with John Yoo and Monica Goodling after all. It was a place where Karl Rove went to Executive branch departments and gave Power Point presentations on helping Republicans win new seats and defend old ones.

So, there is good ol' Scotty at the helm of the office that would get any complaints. He was, until recently that is, a "good Bushie" and did what you might expect. He started out purging his office of anyone who disagreed with him on summary dismissal of whistleblower claims. He is also started to retaliate against people in his own office for disagreeing or complaining about his actions. Real nice from the guy who was supposed to protect whistleblowers.  

The Prison Unit Where You Can't Even Hug Your Child

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Wed Mar 31, 2010 at 06:49:38 AM MST

In to Federal prisons, one in Terra Haute, Indiana and other in Marion Illinois an experimental program was started in 2006. This program is called the Communications Management Units (CMU) . These special units are pretty damned Orwellian. Unlike other prisoners, people in the CMU's have all their calls and mail monitored (with the exception of contact with their attorneys) . That might be acceptable if it were all that went on, the CMU's also require that all face to face conversations be conducted in English, so they can also be monitored. To add insult to injury there is no touching of visitors, even spouses and minor children.  

AG's HCR Lawsuits Try For Case Law Nullification

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Wed Mar 24, 2010 at 06:56:36 AM MST

The actions of the current conservatives and the Republican Party where they make their home seems to be far more about turning back the clock then slowing the pace of change. The best example of this is their legal thinking. Any time there is a new law that they do not like, they run all the way back to the Constitution and say that it is not in that venerable 223 year old document.