Archive for 2011

RADLEY BALKO: Jose Guerena’s Family Sues Pima County Over SWAT Raid Killing.

Jose Guerena, a 26-year-old Marine and Iraq war veteran, was killed May 5 when a SWAT team broke into his home a little after 9:30 a.m. According to Guerena’s wife, Vanessa (who was home at he time, along with their 4-year-old son), Guerena thought the police were home invaders. He ushered his family into a closet, then grabbed a rifle. When the police battered down the door, they saw Guerena and his rifle, and opened fire. The SWAT team released 70 rounds. Guerena didn’t fire a shot; the safety of his rifle was still on.

Last week, Arizona attorney Chris Scileppi filed notice of a $20 million lawsuit against Pima County, Ariz., on behalf of Guerena’s family. The lawsuit provides a good opportunity to look back at what has happened since since the morning of May 5.

Sheriff Dupnik performing to his usual high standard.

IS THE NEXT DOMINO TO FALL . . . Canada?

THEY TOLD ME IF I SUPPORTED THE TEA PARTY WE’D BE BACK TO GEORGE-WALLACE POLITICS: And they were right!

NOT-SO-MAGIC BUS: “The bad news for President Obama is, he’s lost his mojo: The rock star of 2008 has become just another workaday politician. The worse news is, this is all he’s got.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Not-for-Profit College Board Gets Rich on Fees. “Caperton is planning to retire amid concern that the College Board’s improved revenue has come at the expense of students and their families, who pay hundreds of dollars in fees even before they apply to college, parents, admissions officials and high school counselors said.”

DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT history. “1-word response not understood by left-wing blog. And they even see the historical reference. They just can’t put it together.”

Plus, from the comments, the real news: “An economy of words from a sitting member of Congress? Wow.”

There seems to be a lot of political pithiness going around lately.

ONLINE EDUCATION: Stanford Artificial Intelligence Course Draws Avalanche Of AI Startups: “A whopping 58,000, [the number keeps climbing; this is a conservative total] people have signed up for a single free online course at Stanford. People from around the world—of high school age, adults, and elderly—want to do this one course. The freebie is on Artificial Intelligence. The two professors teaching the course have exceptional calling cards as AI experts. They are Peter Norvig and Sebastian Thrun.”

LIFE-CYCLE CAREER ADVICE FOR WOMEN from Penelope Trunk.