Freedom Lawyers of America

Pennsylvania: Demonstrators face tasers, dogsPittsburgh IndyMedia"Today in Oakland in front of the Army Recruiting Center on Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh Police and University of Pittsburgh Police fought with protestors on the sidewalk. At least six people were arrested; police fired tasers and other weapons at the crowd, including restrained arrestees and bystanders. Several people have confirmed that they were hit with tasers and chemical weapons. Video cameras captured tasers being fired at people who had already been subdued and restrained by police officers. Later, police dogs were used to chase away protestors on the sidewalk, and one woman was bitten from behind by a police dog." (08/21/05)http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/

Report: Taliban pulling recruits out of schoolsHouston Chronicle"Taliban rebels are emptying Islamic boarding schools of students in a desperate drive to recruit fighters, including teenage boys, before next month's legislative elections, the U.S. military's operational commander in Afghanistan told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview today. But Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya said that despite the rebel threat and a spike in U.S. casualties in a spate of attacks, the 20,000 American forces in Afghanistan are enough to safeguard the polls, the next key step toward democracy." (08/23/05)http://tinyurl.com/dczn8-----

DC: Radio host fired for anti-Islam remarksMSNBC"Conservative radio host Michael Graham was fired Monday by a Washington station after he refused to apologize for calling Islam 'a terrorist organization.' WMAL-AM had suspended Graham after his July 25 broadcast drew protests from the Council on American-Islam Relations. Graham, who had a daily three-hour talk on WMAL, had said, 'We are at war with a terrorist organization named Islam,' according to CAIR. On his Web site Monday, Graham said WMAL had asked him to retract his comments about Islam and deliver an on-air apology. 'I refused,' he said. 'And for that refusal, I was fired.'" [editor's note: If this fellow is on the air, and won't distinguish between the actions of a few, and the teachings of a (generally peace-based) spiritual tradition, he should be fired! - SAT] (08/23/05)http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9049943/-----

Virginia: ATF, police accused of "persecuting" gun showsCNS News"The federal agency that regulates U.S. gun dealers stands accused, along with at least three Virginia law enforcement agencies, of trying to shut down legal gun shows through alleged intimidation of gun buyers and sellers. The law enforcement organizations also allegedly broke the law by sharing gun buyers' information with members of the public. Annette Gelles, owner of gun show sponsor Showmasters.us, told Cybercast News Service that at least 30 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) along with nearly 500 Virginia State Police, Henrico County Police and Richmond City Police officers were assigned to the ATF operation targeting her gun show on Aug. 13 and 14 at the Richmond International Raceway and Fairground Complex, outside Richmond, Va." (08/23/05)http://tinyurl.com/7f9cv