Thank you, Slog tipper Dave.

It almost makes Danny Westneat's unhinged Valentine to Palin in the local section ("electric"! "masterful"! "the right choice"!) look, well, sane.

A Minneapolis-based attorney has asked Hennepin County district judge Mark Wenick to sign an emergency injunction to stop police from seizing video cameras and other recording equipment from journalists during the Republican National Convention.

Attorney Gena Berglund, of the National Lawyers Guild, says Judge Wernick claims to be "too busy with probable-cause hearings" to sign the injunction.

Police have been seizing video cameras and other recording equipment from video bloggers throughout the summer—seven affidavits of different instances—and in the past few days.

Just yesterday, say Bergland and a lefty organizer named Michelle Gross, police conducted a raid on a house and seized video equipment from a Eyewitness News, a New York-based video group. (Their footage from the RNC in New York in 2000 helped acquit 400 people who were arrested during protests.)

Berglund adds that right now, a team of videographers, who were on their way to this very press conference, are being detained by police on a streetcar just a few blocks from Minneapolis City Hall, where the conference is still underway.

(Sgt. William Palmer, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis police, says he hasn't heard anything about this.)

"The police just stopped the car on its tracks and have them trapped in there," Berglund says, her voice shaking. "I'm very angry and my clients are very angry," she said. "This has to stop."

(Maybe those photos I posted a couple of minutes ago could've landed me in more trouble than I'd thought.)

The delayed Anointment of McCain is becoming less interesting by the second.

What the hell's going on between the police and everybody else? Is this just saber-rattling in advance of the protests? Does the GOP not want to be filmed?

Are they not feeling pretty this week?

Defamer unearths a disturbing old gem.

"It makes my taco pop."

Beat that, bro.

Also, in answer to the ad-opening query, "What do champion gymnasts Paul Hamm, Morgan Hamm, and Shawn Johnson have in common?": the exact same voice.

Primp the hair, pimp the right-wing talking points—it's why FOX News' host Megyn Kelly gets the big bucks.

...no matter what the Bloomberg financial newswire accidentally reported yesterday.

As Gawker reports:

The Bloomberg financial newswire decided to update its 17-page Steve Jobs obituary... — and inadvertently published it in the process. Some investors were undoubtedly rattled to see, as our tipster did late this afternoon, the Apple CEO's obit cross the wire and then suddenly disappear. Jobs's battle with pancreatic cancer, and speculation over his health, jarred Wall Street earlier this year and continues to be the subject of speculation.

The Bloomberg financial news wire isn't the first media source to prematurely publish an obituary, but their accidentally published 17-page item offers an interesting glimpse of what the media calls "preparedness reports."

Gawker's got the full accidental obit, along with Bloomberg's bland retraction, here.

Image from Flickr funnyman Donatreides.

A cigar-smoking Denver police sergeant, accompanied by a team of five other officers, first put his hands on Eslocker's neck, then twisted the producers arm behind him to put on handcuffs.

A police official later told lawyers for ABC News that Eslocker is being charged with trespass, interference, and failure to follow a lawful order. He also said the arrest followed a signed complaint from the Brown Palace Hotel.

Eslocker was put in handcuffs and loaded in the back of a police van which headed for a nearby police station. During the arrest, one of the officers can be heard saying to Eslocker, "You're lucky I didn't knock the f..k out of you."

More on the story here, with video.

So, Slog:

My money's on Annie.

Not to lose focus of what this e-mail is about, but he's also rarely allowed to run stories about gay rights issues. My boyfriend said that anytime he has included such a story in his newscast, the station receives "record numbers" of angry phone calls.

"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked. "Doesn't that mean you're provoking discussion?"

My boyfriend agrees. His news director does not.

So, unfortunately, real journalism ain't easy, especially in a conservative city. After a lot of prodding from me every time I read one of your "stupid fucking credulous hack" posts, my boyfriend finally agreed to pitch a story about the (lack of) effectiveness of the drug war to run during sweeps; apparently sweeps months are the only time that it may be okay to be controversial. Who knows? Maybe it'll get on the air.

Oh, and by the way: more than half of the people working in the newsroom regularly smoke pot. At the station, even.

Thanks for the thought-provoking blogging, Dan. Have a great weekend.

Lordy! "Stupid Fucking Credulous Hack" is the top hit for the PI's Vanessa Ho. Her appearance in SFCH ranks higher on Google than her own archives! (I'm not sure who that other Vanessa Ho is, the one whose photo sites come in first and third on the search.)

Journalists! Don't let this happen to you! Staying out of "Stupid Fucking Credulous Hack of the Day" is easy! Just make sure your next piece about a grow-op bust includes a quote from someone other than a DEA agent, a federal prosecutor, or a local law enforcement official. Bury at least one brief quote from a critic of the war on pot, someone who can comment on the efficacy of drug interdiction efforts—rarely is the question asked, is our grow-op busts working?—and you won't be named "Stupid Fucking Credulous Hack of the Day" on Slog! It's that easy!

Vineyards are, as of today, the most shocking place to find pot growing. But it doesn’t matter where pot is found next—even if it's an expanse of tilled irrigated soil made for growing plants—the next place pot is found growing is always the most shocking place it's ever been found growing. The lengths pot growers will go to in order to grow pot! It's amazing! So the Seattle Times breathlessly reports that pot has been found in such unlikely places as a house, a neighborhood, a suburb, King County, Lewis County, British Columbia, inside, online, and underground. The Times is in a tizzy about marijuana in the mountains, the woods, the wood shavings, the reservation, and a plantation.

Where will pot growers grow pot NEXT? Let's help the Seattle Times out, Sloggers, so that the next big discovery—or the next news release from the federal government's press desks—doesn't catch the Seattle Times by surprise again.

Where will the presence of pot plants scandalize us next?

An Oregon drug task force director says 2008 is shaping up to be a “banner year” for busting outdoor marijuana farms. In Washington State, marijuana plant seizures are running “way ahead” of last year. Lt. Rich Wiley heads the Washington State Patrol narcotics section. He credits the help of low-flying helicopters on loan from the National Guard and federal DEA.

See the full, sad gallery here. (And don't neglect to appreciate the hee-lariously unfortunate ad on the left.)

(Also, as Slog Tipper Jubilation T. Cornball noted, the majority of these men look like Mr. Poe's dream dates. Get thee to Alabammy, Poe!)

Pray tell, Gary, where have we heard this before? The White House Drug Czar John Walters.

“And these aren't your peaceful, old school growers,” writes Chittim to express his completely original idea. Really, how does he know?

"This is not the old hippy growing a few pot plants for personal use. These guys are in the business to make a lot of money," says Mike Cenci, deputy chief of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Well, case closed--law enforcement says the criminals are dangerous. Does Chittim talk to someone who doesn't represent the government?

No. But Chittim does continue with his independently minded report…

Millions of dollars worth of pot are produced in single operations and the growers are willing to protect it from the unsuspecting hiker or fisherman who stumbles upon it.

Did he get any type of confirmation from locals that there is some danger in them hills? Any botanists to confirm the “dangers to the environment” or someone who might explain why this is happening, respond to what the law-enforcement mouthpiece is saying, or if the busts are having any effect? Nope, because Gary Chittim is a stupid fucking credulous hack.

HUSTLER Magazine November 2008

The Winter Soldiers Speak Out

In arguably the most shocking piece of the year, HUSTLER Magazine reports on the truth about what’s going on in Iraq. The “Winter Soldier” veterans, as they are called, speak out about the war and the thousands of innocent Iraqi civilian casualties. One of the brave soldiers brought back a video of his sergeant declaring, “The difference between an insurgent and an Iraqi civilian is whether they are dead or alive.” The soldier explains: “If you kill a civilian, he becomes an insurgent because you retroactively make him a threat.” Gruesome photos accompany the article.

(More from the release after the jump.)

I didn't know Hustler had words.

A vaguely related anecdote: I once interviewed for a job in editorial at Penthouse in New York. The offices were quite posh, with spreads of Penthouses on the coffee table in the lobby. I perused one while waiting, which was the first time I'd ever looked at the magazine. Everyone was extremely nice, and the editorial staff was approximately 80% women (of average appearance). They offered me the job. They weren't paying particularly well, especially for New York. I declined.