Why are members of the Oakland police not in jail right now?

@stuartmillar159: @guardian reporter at #occupyoakland says police planning to move in and clear square at 10pm local time.
 

Update on Twitter:  @northoaklandnow: #OccupyOakland events heating up: protesters are trying to take down the Broadway and 14th Street barricade!

Update on Twitter: RT @occupyoakland: The plaza is open now, people are starting gather. The grass is fenced off. Everyone com… (cont) http://deck.ly/~wAZQ4

I got word of the Oakland tragedy via Greg Laden, and then found this clip below which I had to watch several times to believe. It clearly shows a police officer throwing a concussion grenade into a small group which gathered to help get a critically injured man slumped on the pavement to the emergency room. How is this motherfucker still free on the street, let alone allowed to wear a police uniform and carry a loaded weapon? [Read more…]

The lesson of my medical bills: Why I’m a progressive

Last month I got hurt bad enough to spend several days in the hospital, during which time I got a bunch of expensive treatment and tests. The bills have started rolling in now and one of the larger ones had two numbers on it: the $13,000 and change I would have owed vs the roughly $5,000 the hospital accepted as payment in full. The latter represents what my insurance company had pre-negotiated with medical venders. There’s a lesson here, a big one, because it involves saving individual people thousands of dollars, and saving taxpayers billions and billions. [Read more…]