Portland's Finest--possibly the finest in the world

So, Sunday at around 4:30 pm my 15 year old step-son Brendan comes strolling in the house. I say "hi". He didn't reply. He'd been down at his girlfriend's house and I figured they got in an argument and I was getting the angst-riddled radioactive residue from the fallout. I was wrong.

"...just got mugged." he said in a mumble.
"Who just got mugged?"
"I..."
"What the f..."

I jumped out of my chair when I saw the gaping gash above his eye and the bloody rag he was using to dab out little pieces of dirt and rock.

Come to find out, he had gone down to the mall at Lloyd Center with his friend to drop off an application. I can't tell you how many times I've told them (all the kids, my kids, your kids, everyone's kids) to STAY AWAY FROM LLOYD CENTER and especially STAY AWAY FROM THE MAX STATIONS!!! Some young hip-hop hoodlums, gangbangers or just random punks beat him up for his cell phone and iPod. *Angry.* He had taken the bus all the way back from Lloyd Center to our house because he was debating whether he was going to tell us about the whole affair. Apparently, he was afraid of being grounded for being somewhere he wasn't supposed to be... Kids...logic...does not compute...

I don't get this world. Now's when grandma comes in and says "And this used to be such a nice city..."

But get this:

I, of course, immediately called the police, and after the usual wrangling around for a body that actually cared that a measure 11 crime had just been committed against my son, got a very competent officer on the case. Within a matter of FOUR HOURS, the police had not only detained the specific individual who had physically assaulted my son, they had a full confession. What the f... Nah. Really? Yep.

Apparently these kids had got on a bus or the MAX and did this to yet another victim and this time they got caught, possibly in the act, I'm not sure on all the details as of yet. The last I heard, the police had 2 of the possibly 5 assailants in custody.

I thought I would share this for a couple reasons. One being that we are always hearing about crimes being commited and nothing being done about it/cops being apathetic, unresponsive, etc. Maybe I thought a success story would help our societal morale...I hope it does. Secondly, I have to hand it to the detectives who interviewed the bad guys, the officer who came to the hospital to talk to Brendan, the dispatch officer (big cheer for this fellow), the bus driver who helped Brendan get home, the Transit cops, and everyone else involved. (I won't use their names until they say I can, but they deserve medals, commendations and raises--I'm not kidding)

We won't know how far this will go until later on. I'll try to update this as it all comes together.

By the way, Brendan is just fine. Three stitches, a bruised ego and yeah, of course, he's grounded. Heh.

Liber Review's Interview with Barrack Obama 10-29-09

During president Obama's recent trip out here to help promote the campaigns of certain incumbents, Liber Review was fortunate enough to get this short interview with the 44th president of the United States. We cannot possibly thank the adminstration, the president's staff and our new friends at the press corp for allowing us this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

We were only allowed two questions as we had to share the forty minute interview session with other fledgling outlets. We, of course, cheated and got an extra question or two in under the radar.

I have to admit, that I was very, very nervous doing this interview. Apologies for my obvious rookie mistakes and general amature composure...

One word of warning: we do not possess the editing capacity required to cut, edit or sample these tapes as of yet (we will soon, God willing), so beware the "R" rated word at the end of the tape. Sorry about that. Still, I think the interview went quite well.

Wrecked.

Song of the Month--October 2009--The Fool's Dog

The Fool's dog.

A yip and champ. The strident fool.

We'll wish him well.

We'll shove him off.

The frayed and snapping string of ancient lyre.

A pounding paw for past regrets. That's him prancing, yelping, admonishing.

What you once knew.

Long time hero, John Stossel, Joins Fox News

One of our favorite investigative reporters has left the sad and sullied trenches of ABC for FOX news this last week. We figured the best way to celebrate yet another great libertarian among the ranks of FOX news personalities was to put together a little "best of" collection. Enjoy! And be sure to check listings for Mr. Stossel on FOX.













Of course, this is just a sample of John's great work over the years. Most of his 20/20 contributions can be found on Youtube. Check him out.

Net Neutrality Regulation...Why we aint no better than China

Our good buddy Adam de Angeli over at Campaign for Liberty has written a great article on HR 3458--the so-called Net Neutrality bill.

Give him a read please. I'm just happy he did it, because now I don't hafta. He pretty much said everything I was going to say and a lot more.


PLEASE READ THIS

Obama administration supports Patriot Act in Congressional hearing

The House Judiciary, Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee held hearings yesterday to discuss the three parts of the U.S.A. Patriot Act that are set to expire under their sunset clauses. The three parts were renewed upon review in 2005.


I'll post the video (although it is sort of boring) when I can get access to it. C-SPAN is currently having some technical difficulties. In case I don't get it. Here is the link to the hearing. You can try to load it at your own leisure.

Anyway, Click here to read the article!

ACORN rank and file under assault?

A lot of speculation is going around on the web about these women found in the recently released undercover tapes of ACORN. Some say they are victims of an elaborate, scheming entity—the conservative right. Some say they were acting defensively. Terms like “morally bankrupt” are being bandied about to describe these ACORN workers. Some pundits have gone so far as to call them “stupid”.
I don't think they are, and I think it is, to some extent, disingenuous to place them in generically dispossessed categories of the poor and/or stupid. Maybe there are a couple questions we should be asking before we leap on the bandwagon of labeling everyone as a victim, as a rube.

Read the full article here.