http://www.foxnews.com/

BATON ROUGE, La.  —  Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster reminded women Thursday that they can pack a gun to protect themselves from a serial killer who has slain three women in the capital in the past 10 months.

“You have the right to get a gun permit,” Foster said. “Learn to use it.”

Foster said during his weekly radio show that he has asked state police to ensure they are helping with the investigation to find the man who slashed Pam Kinamore’s throat, strangled Gina Green and stabbed Charlotte Pace.

Kinamore’s mother, Lynne Marino, called the “Live Mike” radio show to ask the governor to intervene.

“I’m asking you to call in all the agencies throughout the state to assist us in this search for evidence and for the serial killer,” she said. “Not many towns know how to deal with a serial killer.”

The families of the victims have refused to rely solely on the police, sharing information among themselves to see if there’s some small connection between the victims.

Foster touted self-protection until the killer was found.

“Most people don’t ever want to use a gun to protect themselves — that’s the last thing they want to do — but if you know how and you have a situation with some fruitcake running around, like they’ve got right now, it sure can save you a lot of grief,” he said.

Pace, 22, lived three doors down from Green when the 41-year-old nurse was found strangled in her home on Sept. 24. Pace was stabbed to death on May 31, two days after she moved to a townhouse in another neighborhood. It doesn’t appear that the two women knew each other.

Kinamore, 44, was abducted from her home on July 12. The killer slit her throat and dumped her body along a highway 30 miles outside Baton Rouge.

During the G20 protest a man collapsed and later died after being corned by police. Police say they were unable to assist him because bottles or possibly other projectiles were being thrown at them. The man was a member of a group caught up in a “kettle” established by the police. The process as well as the outcome is described in this quote:

They used familiar tactics to trap 4,000 people into streets outside the Bank of England in a practice known as “kettling”, tightening the cordon when violence flared in one part of Threadneedle Street and a group of protesters, whose faces were covered, broke into the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Commander Bob Broadhurst, in charge of the operation, said his aim was to facilitate peaceful protest. But those peaceful demonstrators caught inside the cordon with no toilet facilities, and little water, questioned the idea that they were being allowed to exercise their right to march.

It seems some were contained in this “kettle” for up to 7 hours. Someone who was detained by the police is also quoted in the article:

“I was kept for two hours. Lines of police lined up with their batons and they were completely pumped up and looking to have a go. My feeling was everyone in there was peaceful but they wanted to clear them out.” Responding to the police use of the kettling technique she said that although the courts had ruled that it was legal, there had to be a good reason. “I asked one officer could I go and he said no – I might to and cause trouble. I giggled and said that wasn’t very likely and he said, ‘you can never tell with these people’.”

It is unfortunate that the police use this violent tactic to limit an individual’s movement. While the water may be muddied by acts of violence taken by individual protesters, a communal punishment is certainly not the answer. It is also worth noting that riot police have an established history of wanting to “crack skulls” and teach protesters a lesson. The lesson being that you are not free to assemble and say whatever you want to say. I believe these tactics will lead to an increase in violence, much like beating a cornered dog who’s already pissed off at you and trying his hardest not to bite.

UPDATE: Here is a really good article with pictures and some personal accounts.

UPDATE 2: MRZine has picked up the story with an article of their own. It includes a reporters commentary in spanish.

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/623439.html

A South Buffalo family wants answers after police shot and killed two of their dogs during a raid Saturday, leaving blood puddled on a living-room carpet and speckled on the wall.

Police, who were looking for a drug suspect and narcotics, left the Indian Church Road home without finding any evidence or arresting anyone, according to residents of the house.

The incident has left the family distraught and angry over the loss of the dogs, Essy and Moosey.

“It was just the most traumatizing, horrible thing,” said Rita M. Patterson, 27, who lives in the house with her 68-year-old father, Daniel J. Patterson.

Rita Patterson’s boyfriend, William F. Hanavan, 32, paroled last year after serving eight months in prison on a drug charge, was home but was not taken into custody Saturday.

However, Hanavan was arrested on a felony assault charge Sunday afternoon, Buffalo police reported.

When police stormed the house on Indian Church Road, near Seneca Street, at about 5:30 p. m. Saturday, Daniel Patterson was on the couch, watching the news.

“They shot the dogs for no reason at all,” he told The Buffalo News on Sunday.

Rita Patterson said she was cooking dinner in the kitchen when she heard loud noises at the side door. Hanavan was upstairs taking a nap, and at first she thought he may have fallen out of bed.

Before she knew what was happening, police wearing masks and helmets and carrying automatic weapons had broken through the door. They tied her hands with a zip tie and put her on the floor.

Her father pleaded with police not to shoot the dogs, but they wouldn’t allow him to grab the dogs and put them in another room, Patterson said.

One of the officers started firing a shotgun at the two dogs, one a pit bull and the other a pit bull-boxer mix.

One of the dogs was shot three times: once in the throat, once in the back and the last time in the leg while trying to run away, Rita Patterson said.

The other dog was cowering behind a table. Neither was a threat to the police, the residents said.

The police had a warrant for the home, but it named no suspects. It said only that investigators were looking for a white male and Hydrocodone. Information that led to the warrant, according to the warrant itself, came partly from an informant, Rita Patterson said.

I hope the assulted man was the informant. He probably gets paid to rat people out. A guy on parol for drug posession/selling is an easy target to rat out without any real evidence.

From NHCompassion.org on March 18th:

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The New Hampshire House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee voted 13-7 to recommend passage of a bill today that would allow seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana if their doctor recommends it. The vote by the full committee came after a three-member subcommittee voted 2-1 in favor of the bill.

Today’s vote means the bill, HB 648, will now go to the House floor for a full vote by the chamber with the committee’s “ought to pass” recommendation. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Evalyn Merrick (D-Lancaster).

Full press release here.  Congratulations New Hampshire.  Keep up the good work NH Common Sense.

The topic of violent video games came up in a PA house of representatives committee hearing last Friday.  The subject of a 5% tax on violent video games came up as state reps discussed it.  The person they asked stated that it would be legally problematic.

Original speech