More about Bush-lies? Did you want further documentation of Mr. Bush false statements about Iran’s nuclear program? The Council for a Livable World has put together the story as text and video . Remember to help Moveon move our Congress Members to oppose more war.

A Friend of The Library? The annual party for Friends of the New York Public Library was this Sunday past. Food, drink, dancing, West Point Cadets caroling, crowds, costumed elves and banjo bands. Consider becoming a library friend(give them $). On the 3rd Floor of the 42nd Street Library, is a do-not-miss exhibit of prints including the much noticed photo-shopped mug-shots of our fearless misleaders. See Bush, Cheney and their friends as you wish they were. Although some of the prints are on-line here, this is a case in which the online world is a sorry copy of the real one. Go there, look and see for yourself (Bring your ice skates and visit the Pond at Bryant Park, or leave them home and make more room for me).

Sometimes worrisome to me is the ability of Police Officers to misuse the Criminal Justice system. Four incidents, some of them recently reported come to mind:

Perjury An experienced NYPD detective lied repeatedly under oath about his interrogation of a murder suspect . Only the fact that the suspect recorded (on an MP3 player) the interrogation brought the blatant and vastly illegal perjury to light. Of course, the Bronx DA says has no reason to think that this has ever happened before (I bet no interrogation ever takes place again while a suspect has an MP3 player in hand). False testimony and illegal interrogation might be reduced if the DA insisted that every interview be recorded – a suggestion of, among others, The Innocence Project .

Creating Crime Using a novel (and in my view, fatally flawed) legal theory Police have planted wallets and other valuables around NYC. If people find the valuables and then walk past a uniformed officer, NYPD arrests them based on its claim that the finders intended to be keepers. While listing the legal flaws in such a sting might keep first-year law students busy, it’s no way to run a police department.

Standing on The Corner…. New York’s Court of Appeals, the state’s highest, has reversed a conviction of a guy arrested for disorderly conduct by standing on the street creating a “public inconvenience". NYS Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman has an excellent review of the facts and law at Gotham Gazette. She seems to think that this decision will change NYPD behavior when they’re sassed on the street (as the appellant in this case apparently did) or at least when they write up their arrest reports. Do you?

Hit & Run victim gets ticket After a hit and run incident with a motor vehicle, a cyclist flagged a police car. The responding officer issued the cyclist a ticket for not having a bike bell. That’ll teach cyclists to call the police.

My conclusion, effective supervision of the NYPD is yet to be achieved by Mr. Bloomberg and his Police Commissioner.