Capitol Grilling: NEWS - Are we a Police State Yet?

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#113938 - 05-31-04 06:45 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
zeroflux zeroflux Administrator Registered: 03-11-01 Posts: 6175 Loc: Arlington, Virginia	Thread Consolidation - Originally posted by The Unsomnambulist A few recent threads have discussed students confront with larger issues - such as whether or not they're able to leave "under God" out of the Pledge when they're leading the recitation. This thread is to discuss student rights in more general terms, to post articles that perhaps don't quite fit anywhere else nor warrant their own thread. To start, here's an article that I think even the police acknowledge was less an issue of student rights than an abuse of their own power... but, you be the judge... Va. Student Journalists Say Police Erased Their Photos Two student journalists at Annandale High School said their digital camera was taken away and the pictures erased by Fairfax County police after they photographed officers searching a car near the school. "With the exception of retrieving items with the purpose of entering them into evidence, there's nothing in any of our rules that calls for cameras to be confiscated," police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings said. "We have no problem with the pictures and that's what we're going to try and get back, if we can." Seniors Paul Gleason, the newspaper's editor, and Kyle Smeallie, its news editor, said they want an apology. They said one of the officers threatened to call the principal and have them kicked off the staff of the newspaper, the A-Blast. "I just think it's not fair that they saw us not as journalists, but as kids," said Smeallie, 17. Gleason and Smeallie said they were driving a friend to his car Tuesday afternoon when they saw eight police officers searching a car on Erie Street near the school in Annandale. Police patrols have been stepped up around several county high schools after a 16-year-old was severely wounded Monday in a gang-related machete attack. The two said they went back to the newspaper office, grabbed a digital camera and returned to Erie Street, driving by slowly while Smeallie snapped several shots from the car, then turning around and driving back for more shots. At that point, they said, police stopped them. They identified themselves as reporters for the student newspaper, they said, and an officer asked for their camera. They said another officer took it back to the group of cars, out of sight, for five minutes before giving it back. "They told us, 'We don't think you should be taking pictures of your friends like that,' " Smeallie said. As Gleason and Smeallie drove away, they checked the camera's memory card and found it blank, they said. Erasing shots takes several steps, they said... The officer told them that "come tomorrow, you won't be on the newspaper staff," Smeallie said... Police spokewoman Mary Jennings: "I'm not going to say it didn't happen, but . . . that's part of the investigation." © 2004 The Washington Post Company >>> full article <<<
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#113939 - 06-01-04 07:09 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Anonymous Anonymous Unregistered	Not to rain on your parade: A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll suggests that most Americans back the idea behind the Patriot Act, which gives federal agents more latitude to spy on U.S. citizens and non-citizens while hunting terrorists. But confusion about what the law says and does is complicating the debate over whether the White House and Congress, in a panic over the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, went too far by passing a law that may threaten civil liberties http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-02-25-patriot-main_x.htm I also have been made to understand that the worry over library books and such is covered by the 1st ammendment and the Patriot act stipulates that it can't infringe on the 1st ammendment.
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#113940 - 06-01-04 08:32 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
eyesright eyesright Junior Member Registered: 06-01-04 Posts: 1	I also have been made to understand that the worry over library books and such is covered by the 1st ammendment and the Patriot act stipulates that it can't infringe on the 1st ammendment. That is not accurate. From SF Gate : Section 215 gave the FBI authority to obtain library and bookstore records and a wide range of other documents during investigations of international terrorism or secret intelligence activities. Unlike other search warrants, the FBI need not show that evidence of wrongdoing is likely to be found or that the target of its investigation is actually involved is terrorism or spying. Targets can include U.S. citizens. Nearly everything about the procedure is secret. The court that authorizes the searches meets in secret; the search warrants carried by the agents cannot mention the underlying investigation; and librarians and booksellers are prohibited, under threat of prosecution, from revealing an FBI visit to anyone, including the patron whose records were seized. Librarians and booksellers' first amendment rights are suspended, at least when it comes to telling anyone (including their own bosses, attorneys, and boards of directors) that the FBI's been sniffing around. eyesright
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#113941 - 06-13-04 01:17 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
TarteDeLune TarteDeLune Grilla Grrrl Registered: 06-18-03 Posts: 3294	Art Show Impound Terror inquiry snares art exhibit FBI seizes material intended for Mass MoCA display on genetically modified food; four artists subpoenaed By TIMOTHY CAHILL, Staff writer First published: Sunday, June 13, 2004 NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Visitors to "The Interventionists" exhibit at MASS MoCA are greeted by a sight unusual even for the cutting-edge art museum. One of the galleries in the show devoted to contemporary political art is oddly vacant, dominated by empty tables and a sign explaining that the materials intended for the display have been impounded by the FBI.
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#113944 - 06-14-04 12:26 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
tlbshow tlbshow Member Registered: 09-20-04 Posts: 245	Bush\'s Police State Kicks Into Gear The jackbooted thugs can arrest you without bothering to accuse you of a crime. They can deprive you of the right to make a phone call, to receive a visit from your family, or even to see a lawyer. It doesn't matter if you're innocent or not; our state-sanctioned terrorists can keep you locked up in prison for the rest of your life without ever granting you your day in court. But you're an American citizen, you protest. It makes no difference whatsoever – you have no rights. After cynically using the Sept. 11 attacks as a pretext to eradicate one civil liberty after another, the Bush Administration has finally taken away the single most essential freedom of an American citizen: the right to due process before a jury of his peers. Classifying 31-year-old Chicagoan Jose Padilla as an al-Qaeda associate and enemy combatant, Attorney General John Ashcroft authorized his transfer from a federal courthouse in New York City – where he had been held as a "material witness" on a customs violation since May 8 – to indefinite military detention at the Charleston Naval Weapons Station in South Carolina.
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#113945 - 06-17-04 05:38 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
TarteDeLune TarteDeLune Grilla Grrrl Registered: 06-18-03 Posts: 3294	Reports of a new weapon for crowd control Sweeping stun guns to target crowds 19:00 16 June 04 Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition. Weapons that can incapacitate crowds of people by sweeping a lightning-like beam of electricity across them are being readied for sale to military and police forces in the US and Europe. At present, commercial stun guns target one person at a time, and work only at close quarters. The new breed of non-lethal weapons can be used on many people at once and operate over far greater distances. But human rights groups are appalled by the fact that no independent safety tests have been carried out, and by their potential for indiscriminate use. Taser success rates by distance The weapons are designed to address the perceived shortcomings of the Taser, the electric-shock gun already used by 4000 police departments in the US and undergoing trials with some police forces in the UK. It hits the victim with two darts that trail current-carrying wires, which limit its range to a maximum of seven metres (see graphic). As a single shot, short-range weapon, the Taser is of little use in crowd control. And Tasers have no effect on vehicles. Ionised gas These limitations are beginning to be overcome. Engineers working for the US Department of Defense's research division, DARPA, and defence companies in Europe have been working out how to create an electrically conductive path between a gun and a target without using wires. A weapon under development by Rheinmetall, based in Dorf, Germany, creates a conducting channel by using a small explosive charge to squirt a stream of tiny conductive fibres through the air at the victim (New Scientist print edition, 24 May 2003). Meanwhile, Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems (XADS), based in Anderson, Indiana, will be one of the first companies to market another type of wireless weapon. Instead of using fibres, the $9000 Close Quarters Shock Rifle projects an ionised gas, or plasma, towards the target, producing a conducting channel. It will also interfere with electronic ignition systems and stop vehicles. "We will be able to fire a stream of electricity like water out of a hose at one or many targets in a single sweep," claims XADS president Peter Bitar. Solid-state lasers The gun has been designed for the US Marine Corps to use for crowd control and security purposes and is due out in 2005. It is based on early, unwieldy technology and has a range of only three metres, but an operator can debilitate multiple targets by sweeping it across them for "as long as there is an input power source," says Bitar. XADS is also planning a more advanced weapon which it hopes will have a range of 100 metres or more. Instead of firing ionised gas, it will probably use a powerful laser to ionise the air itself. The idea has been around for decades, says LaVerne Schlie, a laser expert at the US Air Force Research Lab in Kirtland, New Mexico. It has only become practical with advances in high-power solid-state lasers. "Before, it took a laser about the size of two trucks," says Schlie. "Now we can do it with something that fits on a tabletop." The laser pulse must be very intense, but can be brief. So the makers of the weapons plan to use a UV laser to fire a 5-joule pulse lasting just 0.4 picoseconds - equating to a momentary power of more than 10 million megawatts. This intense pulse - which is said not to harm the eyes - ionises the air, producing long, thread-like filaments of glowing plasma that can be sustained by repeating the pulse every few milliseconds. This plasma channel is then used to deliver a shock to the victims similar to a Taser's 50,000-volt, 26-watt shock. Instrument of torture Subscribe to New Scientist for more news and features Related Stories Electric shock weapons could go wireless 21 May 2003 Non-lethal landmine zaps intruders with 50,000 volts 23 April 2003 United Airlines installs stun guns 16 November 2001 For more related stories search the print edition Archive Weblinks Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems HSV Technologies DARPA US Air force Research Lab Taser International HSV Technologies of San Diego, California is also working on stun and vehicle-stopping shock weapons with ranges of over 100 metres. And another company, Ionatron of Tuscon, Arizona, is due to supply a prototype wireless vehicle-mounted weapon to the US Department of Defense by the end of 2004. But the advent of wireless stun weapons has horrified human rights groups. Robin Coupland of the Red Cross says they risk becoming a new instrument of torture. And Brian Wood of Amnesty International says the long-range stun guns could "inflict pain and other suffering on innocent bystanders". And there are safety concerns. Of the 30,000 times US police officers have fired Tasers, in 40 instances people stunned by them later died. The deaths have been attributed to factors such as overdoses of drugs and alcohol, or fighting with officers, rather than the electric shock. In a statement, Taser International chief Rick Smith said: "In every single case the medical examiner has attributed the direct cause of death to causes other than the Taser." Amnesty is not convinced, however, and wants an independent study of the effects of all existing and emerging electric-shock weapons. David Hambling
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#113946 - 06-19-04 01:49 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Anonymous Anonymous Unregistered	Marshmallow error lands woman in shackles Friday, June 18, 2004 Posted: 9:58 PM EDT (0158 GMT) MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- A teacher's aide who forgot to put away her marshmallows and hot chocolate at Yellowstone National Park last year was taken from her cruise ship cabin in handcuffs and hauled before a judge, accused of failing to pay the year-old fine. Hope Clarke, 32, crying and in leg shackles, told the judge Friday she was rousted at 6:30 a.m. by federal agents after the ship returned to Miami from Mexico. She insisted that she had paid the $50 fine before she left Yellowstone, which has strict rules about food storage to prevent wildlife from eating human food. snip Zach Mann, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, called the arrest "an unfortunate set of circumstances." He added, "We were acting on what we believed was accurate information." web page Americans who are rounded up from cruise ships and put into leg shackles over year-old fines which have been paid. Shocking. These 'unfortunate set(s) of circumstances' are getting really old.
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#113947 - 06-21-04 04:28 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
American Patriot American Patriot Member Registered: 08-25-02 Posts: 10128	The Supreme Court now says the government can punish you for not telling them your name (right to remain silent notwithstanding)... Supreme Court Rules Police Must Be Told Names Monday, June 21, 2004 WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that people do not have a constitutional right to refuse to tell police their names. The 5-4 decision frees the government to arrest and punish people who won't cooperate by revealing their identity. The decision was a defeat for privacy rights advocates who argued that the government could use this power to force people who have done nothing wrong, other than catch the attention of police, to divulge information that may be used for broad data base searches. Police, meanwhile, had argued that identification requests are a routine part of detective work, including efforts to get information about terrorists. The justices upheld a Nevada cattle rancher's misdemeanor conviction. He was arrested after he told a deputy that he didn't have to reveal his name or show an ID during an encounter on a rural road in 2000. Larry "Dudley" Hiibel was prosecuted, based on his silence and fined $250. The Nevada Supreme Court sided with police on a 4-3 vote. More at site... _________________________ GOP 2010: FEAR, IGNORANCE & DIVISIVENESS
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#113948 - 06-21-04 04:51 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
TarteDeLune TarteDeLune Grilla Grrrl Registered: 06-18-03 Posts: 3294	Bush to Propose Mental Health Screening for Entire US population Bush plans to screen whole US population for mental illness Monday, June 21, 2004 Jeanne Lenzer New York - A sweeping mental health initiative will be unveiled by President George W Bush in July. The plan promises to integrate mentally ill patients fully into the community by providing "services in the community, rather than institutions," according to a March 2004 progress report entitled New Freedom Initiative (www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom/toc-2004.html). While some praise the plan's goals, others say it protects the profits of drug companies at the expense of the public. Bush established the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in April 2002 to conduct a "comprehensive study of the United States mental health service delivery system." The commission issued its recommendations in July 2003. Bush instructed more than 25 federal agencies to develop an implementation plan based on those recommendations. The president's commission found that "despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go undiagnosed" and recommended comprehensive mental health screening for "consumers of all ages," including preschool children. According to the commission, "Each year, young children are expelled from preschools and childcare facilities for severely disruptive behaviours and emotional disorders." Schools, wrote the commission, are in a "key position" to screen the 52 million students and 6 million adults who work at the schools. The commission also recommended "Linkage [of screening] with treatment and supports" including "state-of-the-art treatments" using "specific medications for specific conditions." The commission commended the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP) as a "model" medication treatment plan that "illustrates an evidence-based practice that results in better consumer outcomes." Dr Darrel Regier, director of research at the American Psychiatric Association (APA), lauded the president's initiative and the Texas project model saying, "What's nice about TMAP is that this is a logical plan based on efficacy data from clinical trials." He said the association has called for increased funding for implementation of the overall plan. But the Texas project, which promotes the use of newer, more expensive antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs, sparked off controversy when Allen Jones, an employee of the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General, revealed that key officials with influence over the medication plan in his state received money and perks from drug companies with a stake in the medication algorithm (15 May, p1153). He was sacked this week for speaking to the BMJ and the New York Times. The Texas project started in 1995 as an alliance of individuals from the pharmaceutical industry, the University of Texas, and the mental health and corrections systems of Texas. The project was funded by a Robert Wood Johnson grant—and by several drug companies. Mr Jones told the BMJ that the same "political/pharmaceutical alliance" that generated the Texas project was behind the recommendations of the New Freedom Commission, which, according to his whistleblower report, were "poised to consolidate the TMAP effort into a comprehensive national policy to treat mental illness with expensive, patented medications of questionable benefit and deadly side effects, and to force private insurers to pick up more of the tab" (http://psychrights.org/Drugs/AllenJonesTMAPJanuary20.pdf). Larry D Sasich, research associate with Public Citizen in Washington, DC, told the BMJ that studies in both the United States and Great Britain suggest that "using the older drugs first makes sense. There's nothing in the labeling of the newer atypical antipsychotic drugs that suggests they are superior in efficacy to haloperidol [an older "typical" antipsychotic]. There has to be an enormous amount of unnecessary expenditures for the newer drugs." Drug companies have contributed three times more to the campaign of George Bush, seen here campaigning in Florida, than to that of his rival John Kerry Credit: GERALD HERBERT/AP Olanzapine (trade name Zyprexa), one of the atypical antipsychotic drugs recommended as a first line drug in the Texas algorithm, grossed $4.28bn (£2.35bn; 3.56bn) worldwide in 2003 and is Eli Lilly's top selling drug. A 2003 New York Times article by Gardiner Harris reported that 70% of olanzapine sales are paid for by government agencies, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Eli Lilly, manufacturer of olanzapine, has multiple ties to the Bush administration. George Bush Sr was a member of Lilly's board of directors and Bush Jr appointed Lilly's chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, to a seat on the Homeland Security Council. Lilly made $1.6m in political contributions in 2000—82% of which went to Bush and the Republican Party. Jones points out that the companies that helped to start up the Texas project have been, and still are, big contributors to the election funds of George W Bush. In addition, some members of the New Freedom Commission have served on advisory boards for these same companies, while others have direct ties to the Texas Medication Algorithm Project. Bush was the governor of Texas during the development of the Texas project, and, during his 2000 presidential campaign, he boasted of his support for the project and the fact that the legislation he passed expanded Medicaid coverage of psychotropic drugs. Bush is the clear front runner when it comes to drug company contributions. According to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), manufacturers of drugs and health products have contributed $764 274 to the 2004 Bush campaign through their political action committees and employees—far outstripping the $149 400 given to his chief rival, John Kerry, by 26 April. Drug companies have fared exceedingly well under the Bush administration, according to the centre's spokesperson, Steven Weiss. The commission's recommendation for increased screening has also been questioned. Robert Whitaker, journalist and author of Mad in America, says that while increased screening "may seem defensible," it could also be seen as "fishing for customers," and that exorbitant spending on new drugs "robs from other forms of care such as job training and shelter programmes." But Dr Graham Emslie, who helped develop the Texas project, defends screening: "There are good data showing that if you identify kids at an earlier age who are aggressive, you can intervene... and change their trajectory." All Rights Reserved © 2004 EducationNews.org
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#113949 - 06-21-04 10:40 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
TarteDeLune TarteDeLune Grilla Grrrl Registered: 06-18-03 Posts: 3294	Oh yes, screen kids for "mental problems", and medicate them. More money for the drug companies and the children, even unto pre-schoolers, get fucked. And if parents refuse to medicate their kids, CPS will come and take them away. All bad, but pay special attention to Item 3 under Abuses like:
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#113950 - 06-23-04 11:42 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
TarteDeLune TarteDeLune Grilla Grrrl Registered: 06-18-03 Posts: 3294	Are we facists yet? FEC to vote on Farenheit 9/11 TV ads Fahrenheit 9/11’ ban? Ads for Moore’s movie could be stopped on July 30 By Alexander Bolton Michael Moore may be prevented from advertising his controversial new movie, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” on television or radio after July 30 if the Federal Election Commission (FEC) today accepts the legal advice of its general counsel. At the same time, a Republican-allied 527 soft-money group is preparing to file a complaint against Moore’s film with the FEC for violating campaign-finance law. In a draft advisory opinion placed on the FEC’s agenda for today’s meeting, the agency’s general counsel states that political documentary filmmakers may not air television or radio ads referring to federal candidates within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election. steve finn/Getty images Michael Moore -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The opinion is generated under the new McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law, which prohibits corporate-funded ads that identify a federal candidate before a primary or general election. The proscription is broadly defined. Section 100.29 of the federal election regulations defines restricted corporate-funded ads as those that identify a candidate by his “name, nickname, photograph or drawing” or make it “otherwise apparent through an unambiguous reference.” Should the six members of the FEC vote to approve the counsel’s opinion, it could put a serious crimp on Moore’s promotion efforts. The flavor of the movie was encapsulated by a recent review in The Boston Globe as “the case against George W. Bush, a fat compendium of previously reported crimes, errors, sins, and grievances delivered in the director’s patented tone of vaudevillian social outrage.” The FEC ruling may also affect promotion of a slew of other upcoming political documentaries and films, such as “Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War,” which opens in August, “The Corporation,” about democratic institutions being subsumed by the corporate agenda, or “Silver City,” a recently finished film by John Sayles that criticizes the Bush administration. Another film, “The Hunting of the President,” which investigates whether Bill Clinton was the victim of a vast conspiracy, could be subject to regulations if it mentions Bush or members of Congress in its ads. Since the FEC considers the Republican presidential convention scheduled to begin Aug. 30 a national political primary in which Bush is a candidate, Moore and other politically oriented filmmakers could not air any ad mentioning Bush after July 30. That could make advertising for the film after July difficult since it is all about the Bush administration and what Moore regards as its mishandling of the war on terrorism and the decision to invade Iraq. After the convention, ads for political films that mention Bush or any other federal candidate would be subject to the restrictions on all corporate communications within 60 days of the Nov. 2 general election. “Fahrenheit 9/11” opens nationally tomorrow. The film’s distributor, Lions Gate Films, an incorporated organization, would almost certainly pay for its broadcast promotions. David Bossie, the president of Citizens United, plans to allege that “Fahrenheit 9/11” violates federal election law, arguing that “Moore has publicly indicated his goal is to impact this election season.” Bossie had planned to file a complaint with the FEC yesterday but postponed action because his lawyers want to review it at the last minute, said Summer Stitz, a spokeswoman for Bossie’s group. “I don’t think much of Michael Moore or his two-hour political advertisement — that’s all it is,” Bossie said. “He uses all of these words to make it look like he makes documentaries, but it’s the furthest thing from the truth. Documentaries tend to be fact-based.” Sarah Greenberg, a spokeswoman for Lions Gate Films who is serving as Moore’s spokeswoman, did not return a call for comment. The FEC counsel’s draft advisory opinion responded to a request for guidance from David Hardy, a documentary film producer with the Bill of Rights Educational Foundation. Hardy asked whether he could air broadcast ads that refer to congressional officeholders who appear in his documentary. At issue in the FEC’s opinion is whether documentary films qualify for a “media exemption,” which allows members of the press to discuss political candidates freely in the days before an election. In its opinion, the general counsel wrote, “In McConnell vs. FEC … (2003) the [Supreme] Court described the media exemption as ‘narrow’ and drew a distinction between ‘corporations that are part of the media industry’ as opposed to ‘other corporations that are not involved in the regular business of imparting news to the public.’” “The radio and television commercials that you describe in your request would be electioneering communications,” the counsel concluded. “The proposed commercials would refer to at least one presidential candidate. … They would also be publicly distributed because you intend to pay a radio station and perhaps a television station to air or broadcast your commercials. … Finally, they would reach 50,000 people within 30 days of a national nominating convention and or the general election.” However, one commissioner, Michael Toner, has a different view of what restrictions may be placed on political films. “I think there’s evidence that when Congress created the press exemption they intended for it to cover media in all its forms,” said Toner. “If a documentary produced by an independent company would be subject to restriction or, equally important, if efforts to promote the documentary would be subject to restriction, I think that is very problematic.”
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#113951 - 06-24-04 09:16 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
zeroflux zeroflux Administrator Registered: 03-11-01 Posts: 6175 Loc: Arlington, Virginia	Please do not post commentary in this thread!!! New Items only.
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#113952 - 06-26-04 12:44 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Danmack2 Danmack2 Junior Member Registered: 05-29-05 Posts: 33 Loc: Dallas, TX	Chimpy at it again.... Scientists Now Need OK to Consult WHO WASHINGTON - Government scientists must now be cleared by a Bush political appointee before they can lend their expertise to the World Health Organization, a change that a Democratic lawmaker said fits a pattern of politicizing science. Instead, Steiger's Office of Global Health Affairs now will choose "an appropriate expert who can best serve both of our organizations," he said. HHS experts made available also must advocate U.S. government policies, Steiger said. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040625/ap_on_sc/government_scientists_2 Hitler could have taken lessons from this crew. Only let one set of opinions out is the American way don't you know :rolleyes: Of course the RW talibornagains won't see a thing wrong with this as we will see shortly. And lets not mention the subtle message to Gov funded scientist-You better tow the line or we are going to silence you. Oh, have I said it yet. Go Fuck yourself Steiger/Bush. Man that just makes me feel better
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#113953 - 06-28-04 11:39 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
toxteth o'grady toxteth o'grady Uncivil Engineer Registered: 10-24-01 Posts: 64784 Loc: At the airport	Yes, very clever manipulation, similar to the Frank Luntz memo saying "never talk about Saddam Hussein unless you mention 9-11. People will link the two in their minds". This Republican ad is explained as linking the MoveOn.org use of Hitler with the rantings of Gore and Dean, but what they really want is to create a linkage in voters minds that Gore and Dean ARE like Hitler. But on to good news - the descent of this country into a police state has been partially arrested (heh-heh) by the Supremes in a couple of court rulings. The first gives the detainees their day in court, which is a defeat for Bush, who considers giving the detainees access to the court system provides way too much knowledge to the terrorists. Look for a bunch of Gitmo residents to get released quietly... Supreme Court Backs Civil Liberties in Terror Cases In two crucial decisions today on the scope of presidential wartime powers, the Supreme Court rejected the Bush administration's claim that it can hold suspected terrorists or "enemy combatants" on American soil without giving them a day in court. The court said detainees, whether American citizens or not, retain their rights, at least to a legal hearing, even if they are held at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Guantanamo Bay is under U.S. control and thus appropriately within the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, the high court ruled. The president's constitutional powers, even when supported by Congress in wartime, do not include the authority to close the doors to an independent review of the legality of locking people up, the justices said. "We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote in Hamdi et al v. Rumsfeld. The rulings were the court's most significant statement in decades on the scope of presidential war powers to deal with "enemy combatants," such as someone seized on a battlefield in Afghanistan. Those powers, under the constitution, are insufficient to close the doors of the federal courts, the high court said.... _________________________ "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" --Abe Lincoln
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#113954 - 06-28-04 11:41 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
toxteth o'grady toxteth o'grady Uncivil Engineer Registered: 10-24-01 Posts: 64784 Loc: At the airport	The Supremes also delivered a smackdown to cops who beat confessions out of suspects, then read them their rights... Police Tactic to Sidestep Miranda Rights Rejected The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that police officers may not deliberately avoid warning suspects of their right to remain silent before beginning questioning, asserting that a law enforcement tactic of interrogating suspects twice -- before reading them their rights and then after -- undermines the familiar Miranda right.... _________________________ "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" --Abe Lincoln
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#113955 - 06-29-04 04:00 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Daro0 Daro0 Member Registered: 07-30-03 Posts: 182	If links are the only proof of Police State: http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts54.html No wonder conservatives are flushing Bush!
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#113956 - 06-30-04 07:43 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Anonymous Anonymous Unregistered	Anyone who doubts that the BA has created a police state should read this article and weep: In F.B.I., Innocent Detainee Found Unlikely Ally By NINA BERNSTEIN Published: June 30, 2004 t took no more than a week for James P. Wynne, a veteran F.B.I. investigator, to confirm the harmless truth that only now, more than two years later, he is ready to talk about. The small foreign man he helped arrest for videotaping outside an office building in Queens on Oct. 25, 2001, was no terrorist. He was a Buddhist from Nepal planning to return there after five years of odd jobs at places like a Queens pizzeria and a Manhattan flower shop. He was taping New York street scenes to take back to his wife and sons in Katmandu. And he had no clue that the tall building that had drifted into his viewfinder happened to include an office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Yet by the time Mr. Wynne filed his F.B.I. report a few days later, the Nepalese man, who spoke almost no English, had been placed in solitary confinement at a federal detention center in Brooklyn just because of his videotaping. He was swallowed up in the government's new maximum security system of secret detention and secret hearings, and his only friend was the same F.B.I. agent who had helped decide to put him there. Except for the videotape — "a tourist kind of thing," in Mr. Wynne's estimation — no shred of suspicion attached to the man, Purna Raj Bajracharya, 47, who came from Nepal in 1996. His one offense — staying to work on a long-expired tourist visa — was an immigration violation punishable by deportation, not jail. But he wound up spending three months in solitary confinement before he was sent back to Katmandu in January 2002, and to release him from his shackles, even Mr. Wynne needed help. The clearance process had become so byzantine that the officer who had set the procedure in motion could not hasten it. Unable to procure a release that officially required signatures from top antiterrorism officials in Washington, Mr. Wynne took an uncommon step for an F.B.I. agent: he called the Legal Aid Society for a lawyer to help the jailed man. Now, for the first time, the F.B.I. agent and the Legal Aid lawyer, Olivia Cassin, have agreed to talk about the case and their unlikely alliance. Their documented accounts offer a rare, first-hand window into the workings of a secret world. Within 10 days of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Justice Department instructed immigration judges that all cases designated as "special interest" were to be handled in separate closed courtrooms, without visitors, family or reporters, and without confirming whether a case was on the docket. The secrecy left detainees with little access to lawyers. Visa violators would be held indefinitely, until the F.B.I. was sure the person was not involved in terrorism. As a visa violator under suspicion, Mr. Bajracharya was among hundreds placed in the special interest category, and his case was wiped from the public record. The rest of the story
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#113957 - 06-30-04 09:35 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
toxteth o'grady toxteth o'grady Uncivil Engineer Registered: 10-24-01 Posts: 64784 Loc: At the airport	Well, once again the Child Online Pornogrpahy Act has been sent back down after the Supreme Court found a reasonable probability that it was unconstitutional. Justices Leave Online Porn Case Unresolved The Supreme Court today said that a law aimed at protecting children from Internet pornography probably violates free-speech rights, but for the second time the justices sent the case back to a lower court for a new trial. The court ruled 5 to 4 that a lower court was correct to block the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). But today's ruling said the lower court should consider whether technological advances have made it possible to keep children from looking at "harmful" material online without compromising the free-speech rights of adults. The court specifically recommended increased use of "filtering" software that, once installed on computers, can block certain kinds of content. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, conceded that filters are not perfect, but said that "content-based prohibitions" like COPA "have the constant potential to be a repressive force in the lives and thoughts of a free people."... _________________________ "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" --Abe Lincoln
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#113958 - 06-30-04 09:41 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
toxteth o'grady toxteth o'grady Uncivil Engineer Registered: 10-24-01 Posts: 64784 Loc: At the airport	Here's how badly the Bush assertion of a right of preventive detention got squashed... Executive Branch Reined In ...They represent a nearly unanimous repudiation of the Bush administration's sweeping claims to power over those captives. Liberal or conservative mattered little in the ultimate outcome. The court roundly rejected the president's assertion that, in time of war, he can order the "potentially indefinite detention of individuals who claim to be wholly innocent of wrongdoing," to quote the court's opinion in the case of foreign prisoners held at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In fact, the administration's claim to such power over U.S. citizens produced an opinion signed by perhaps the court's most conservative justice, Antonin Scalia, and possibly its most liberal, John Paul Stevens. "The very core of liberty secured by our Anglo-Saxon system of separated powers has been freedom from indefinite imprisonment at the will of the Executive," Scalia wrote, with Stevens's support. In this way, the court's rejection of the executive-power arguments in the cases might be seen as part of a reemergence of the other branches of government from the shadow of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. As the justices suggested several times in their opinions, emergency measures that might have been within the president's power in the days and weeks just after 9/11 now must be reconciled withAmerican norms of due process. In that sense, the cases struck a chord with congressional hearings into the rules for prisoner interrogations at U.S. prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan.... _________________________ "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" --Abe Lincoln
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#113959 - 06-30-04 11:24 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
TarteDeLune TarteDeLune Grilla Grrrl Registered: 06-18-03 Posts: 3294	Voting Official Seeks Terrorism Guidelines Voting Official Seeks Terrorism Guidelines By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The government needs to establish guidelines for canceling or rescheduling elections if terrorists strike the United States again, says the chairman of a new federal voting commission. Such guidelines do not currently exist, said DeForest B. Soaries, head of the voting panel. Soaries was appointed to the federal Election Assistance Commission last year by President Bush (news - web sites). Soaries said he wrote to National Security (news - web sites) Adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in April to raise the concerns. "I am still awaiting their response," he said. "Thus far we have not begun any meaningful discussion." Spokesmen for Rice and Ridge did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Soaries noted that Sept. 11, 2001, fell on Election Day in New York City — and he said officials there had no rules to follow in making the decision to cancel the election and hold it later. Events in Spain, where a terrorist attack shortly before the March election possibly influenced its outcome, show the need for a process to deal with terrorists threatening or interrupting the Nov. 2 presidential election in America, he said. "Look at the possibilities. If the federal government were to cancel an election or suspend an election, it has tremendous political implications. If the federal government chose not to suspend an election it has political implications," said Soaries, a Republican and former secretary of state of New Jersey. "Who makes the call, under what circumstances is the call made, what are the constitutional implications?" he said. "I think we have to err on the side of transparency to protect the voting rights of the country." Soaries said his bipartisan, four-member commission might make a recommendation to Congress about setting up guidelies. "I'm hopeful that there are some proposals already being floated. If there are, we're not aware of them. If there are not, we will probably try to put one on the table," he said. Soaries also said he's met with a former New York state elections director to discuss how officials there handled the Sept. 11 attacks from the perspective of election administration. He said the commission is getting information from New York documenting the process used there. "The states control elections, but on the national scale where every state has its own election laws and its own election chief, who's in charge?" he said. Soaries also said he wants to know what federal officials are doing to increase security on Election Day. He said security officials must take care not to allow heightened security measures to intimidate minority voters, but that local and state election officials he's talked to have not been told what measures to expect. "There's got to be communication," he said, "between law enforcement and election officials in preparation for November."
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#113960 - 07-02-04 12:59 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
TarteDeLune TarteDeLune Grilla Grrrl Registered: 06-18-03 Posts: 3294	Homeland Security has a new program called "Highway Watch" Eyes And Ears Of The Nation Thousands of truckers, bus drivers and rest-stop workers are being enlisted to spot terrorists. Is this comforting news? By AMANDA RIPLEY/LITTLE ROCK STEVE JONES FOR TIME I SPY: “From trucks to taxis, school buses to NASCAR.” That’s the exuberant motto of a program to train drivers like Larry Lawson, of the Central Arkansas Transit Authority, to identify terrorists Sunday, Jun. 27, 2004 On a blazing hot morning last week, 75 men and women of the highway — bus drivers, truckers and van operators — convened at a nondescript office building in Little Rock, Ark., to be trained as terrorist hunters. The Department of Homeland Security this year gave $19.3 million to the American Trucking Associations, which is based in Alexandria, Va., to recruit a volunteer "army" called Highway Watch. So far, 10,000 truckers have signed on to become amateur sleuths. Over the next year, the goal is to add tollbooth workers, rest-stop employees and construction crews, creating a corps of 400,000 people drawn from every state. Waiting for the training to begin, Jo Anna Cartwright, who manages the rural public bus system in northern Arkansas, said she had not yet encountered any terrorists in her job, as far as she knew. "We got a terroristic phone call the other day," she said, "but it turned out it was just the boyfriend of an employee." Her bus drivers pay special attention to a gentleman from Afghanistan who recently married a regular rider, she said. Cartwright had come to the training to learn what else she could do. Complete article at web site
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#113961 - 07-04-04 06:17 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
toxteth o'grady toxteth o'grady Uncivil Engineer Registered: 10-24-01 Posts: 64784 Loc: At the airport	The Madonna Inn it is, and it has had that name since long before Miss Esther was the Material Girl. Anyway, the town of Bartlett, Texas, is no longer a police state, so they have a few surplus items to dispose of... Guns \'n\' Ammo Collect Dust After Police Force Disbands The central Texas town of Bartlett owns more than a dozen high-powered, high-priced weapons, including a machine gun "like you would see on 'The Sopranos,' "said Mayor Bobby Hill. But now there's no one to shoot them. The police department has just been canned. Last month's demise of the police force was prompted by complaints from minority residents in the 1,500-person town about police harassment, racial profiling of drivers, and drug-sniffing dogs being sent into bars frequented by Hispanics and African Americans... _________________________ "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" --Abe Lincoln
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#113962 - 07-05-04 03:47 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Anonymous Anonymous Unregistered	Chimpy protected from t-shirted terrist tresspassers: Bush in West Virginia for Fourth CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A couple from Texas was taken out of a speech given by President Bush in West Virginia Sunday. Police placed Nicole and Jeffery Rank of Corpus Christi in restraints after they entered the event with a ticket and then removed their clothes to reveal anti-Bush T-shirts, according to the acting director of the Capitol police in Charleston. He said the two were asked to go out to the designated protest area, but refused. snip] As police rushed her out, Nicole Rank shouted that they were told they couldn't be there because they were wearing anti-Bush shirts. Police say the two were issued citations for trespassing and released. http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=111986
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#113963 - 07-09-04 01:49 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Danmack2 Danmack2 Junior Member Registered: 05-29-05 Posts: 33 Loc: Dallas, TX	I think its reasonable to put this here. Pentagon Says Bush Records of Service Were Destroyed http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/09/politics/campaign/09records.html How cheneying convenient is that. Screw the FOIA. If we don't want you to have them we will just shred them. I'm sure they would have done the same with cheneys energy papers if it went against them. These cheneyers have got to go On another note House Refuses to Curb Patriot Act http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4290533,00.html "The effort to defy Bush and bridle the law's powers lost by 210-210, with a majority needed to prevail. The amendment appeared on its way to victory as the roll call's normal 15-minute time limit expired, but GOP leaders kept the vote open for about 20 more minutes as they persuaded about 10 Republicans who initially supported the provision to change their votes" Why even vote at all if the cheneying party with the majority can keep a vote open long after the time limit for the party leaders to bribe, beat or bully members to change their vote so they will win. Of course Tom "cheneying" DeLay doesn't give a rats ass about the law as long as he wins.
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#113964 - 07-11-04 05:58 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
american woman american woman Moderator Magnifique Registered: 11-10-01 Posts: 4484 Loc: San Diego	I write badly, therefore I am a would-be terrorist July 2, 2004, 10:08PM By CHARLES C. GREEN I don't think of myself as a dangerous character. Neither, I think, do the lively old ladies who routinely trample me on the escalators at Neiman Marcus. Nor the other software salesmen who race past me into early retirement. Nor, above all, the publishers and agents who seem to take unabashed pleasure in routinely shredding my dream of hanging up my salesman's shoes and becoming an author. But it turns out we're all wrong about me. Just ask John Ashcroft. Frankly, I didn't think I had the stuff — neither compelling dialogue for my probably-never-to-be-published novel-in-progress, nor the aura of a cold-blooded killer — until a few weeks ago, when my flight from New Orleans landed at Dallas' Love Field. "How are you?" asked the airport security person who popped up beside me on my way to baggage claim. "Uh, fine — thanks," I replied, wondering, why are you asking? As if she'd read my thoughts, she told me there had been complaints about me on the airplane. Then she asked to see the crossword puzzle I'd been working on during the flight. Huh? I thought. Talk about being puzzled! Still, my grin was smug as I handed it over. I'd just completed the Friday New York Times puzzle, for the first time ever. But the agent ignored the crossword, turning the paper sideways to read a line I'd scribbled in the margin: "I know this is kind of a bomb." She pointed to the sentence, her finger resting on the word "bomb." "What does this mean?" she demanded. continued ...
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#113965 - 07-18-04 07:24 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Ferry Fey Ferry Fey Member Registered: 08-21-01 Posts: 2062	This disturbing story is the other side of the argument. It seems that terrorists may be practicing bringing individual bomb components onto a plane, with assembly done during the flight. We don't seem to be getting it right on either side of the issue. Annie Jacobsen: Terror in the Skies Again
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#113966 - 07-19-04 02:41 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Anonymous Anonymous Unregistered	Terror in the Skies Claim: Article details reporter's encounter with terrorists on U.S. airline flight. Status: Undetermined. Example: [Jacobsen, 2004] Snopes
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#113967 - 07-20-04 04:01 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Anonymous Anonymous Unregistered	The rwn thought police get more help from "liburul media" citizen volunteers who are bravely censoring "Doonesberry": Anniston Star protests "Doonesbury" censorship From CHRIS WADDLE, VP/News, Consolidated Publishing Co., publishers of The Anniston Star: Continental Features, a publishers consortium that prints Sunday comics for 38 clients, has killed the cartoon strip Doonesbury. The publisher and editors of The Anniston Star, one of the newspapers, object to the action they interpret as censorship. What follows are copies of email messages from Van Wilkerson of Contiental, from H. Brandt Ayers, Chairman of Consolidated Publishing Co., publishers of The Anniston Star, and Star Editorial Page Editor Bob Davis, writing to members of the National Conference of Editorial Writers. ......... From: Van Wilkerson To: [several names] Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 2:08 PM Subject: Doonesbury Replacement Second Request To All Continental Features Sunday comics clients: Last month, I contacted you about your preference on whether Doonesbury should remain a part of our Sunday comic package. Of our 38 newspaper clients, 21 favored dropping Doonesbury from the lineup. 15 voted to keep it as part of the package. Two people had no opinion or preference. As a result of this survey, I feel that is time to act to seek a replacement strip for Doonesbury. snip] Mr. Wilkerson: All of my editors met with me this morning and to a man, and woman, we objected to a newspaper organization censoring opinion by plebiscite. I am in thorough agreement with my editors, and strongly object to an obviously political effort to silence a minority point of view. For years, my New Deal father bore the opposition views of Orphan Annie and Daddy Warbucks, and I believe he would have fought an effort to silence them by a simple majority vote. This is wrong, offensive to First Amendment freedoms. H. Brandt Ayers Publisher The Anniston Star http://poynter.org/forum/?id=misc
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#113968 - 07-21-04 01:38 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
dangerous rogue dangerous rogue Member Registered: 07-17-04 Posts: 6229 Loc: Rocky Mountains or Half Moon B...	Of course we're in a police state. That's why my electronic signatures lead, well, nowhere. Sorry CIFA boys. July 20, 2004 Monitoring Dissent My blog, Jesus' General, and at least one other liberal-oriented blog, Call of Cthulhu, are being monitored by the Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), a domestic intelligence organization formed following the Sept. 11 attacks. This monitoring appears to be ongoing, because Cthulhu alerted me to it last spring when his logs recorded a visitor from CIFA who had been referred from a link at Jesus' General. Today, I noticed another entry for CIFA.MIL in my log (see the screen cap at right)--I use a free logging service which only captures the last 100 viewers, so I've had a hard time documenting it until now. Here's how Dow Jones describes CIFA: Another little-known Pentagon group, the Counterintelligence Field Activity, was set up two years ago. With 400 service members and civilians stationed around the globe, the CIFA was originally charged with protecting the military and critical infrastructure from spying by terrorists and foreign intelligence services. But in August, Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary, issued a directive ordering the unit to maintain a "domestic law-enforcement database that includes information related to potential terrorist threats directed against the Department of Defense." The CIFA also works closely with the FBI and is conducting some duties for civilian agencies. For example, according to Department of Agriculture documents, the CIFA is in charge of doing background checks on foreign workers and scientists employed by the department's agricultural-research service. The group also provides information to the Information and Security Command, or Inscom, the Army's main intelligence organization, based at Fort Belvoir, Md. Military.com adds a little more to the description: Quietly created post-September 11, CIFA has a broad charter to provide counterintelligence and security support to the Defense Department around the world and within the United States. "Worldwide, more than 400 civilian and military employees work for CIFA with the ultimate goal of detecting and neutralizing the many different forms of espionage regularly conducted against the United States by terrorists, foreign intelligence services and other covert and clandestine groups," according to the Defense Security Service. "The threats posed by these adversaries include actions to kill or harm U.S. citizens; to steal critical information or assets (military or civilian); or destroy critical infrastructures." Are Cthulhu and I suspected of being "terrorists" or members of "foreign intelligence services and other covert and clandestine groups?" If not, why are we being monitored by CIFA? Is it because we are opposed to the Bush regime? The funny thing about this is that CIFA could hide their IP address if they chose to do so, but they don't. Are they just too stupid to do it, or are they brazenly attempting to intimidate us? If it's the latter, they've failed in my case. In any event, it's beginning to look like COINTELPRO may be making a comeback. Are you being monitored as well? You may want to check your own logs. *** Of course, The General is grateful that he's being monitored. Update: Cthulhu points out that a whois query for CIFA.MIL leads us to a nameserver belonging to nipr.mil. What is nipr.mil: Nipr.mil is not a single domain a but a hush-hush web proxy that acts as a gateway for hundreds of U.S. military domains in order to hide their identities. It was established by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) in response to a memorandum (CM-5 1099, INFOCOM) issued in March 1999 by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, calling for "actions to be taken to increase the readiness posture for Information Warfare." "Uncontrolled Internet connections," the document says, "pose a significant and unacceptable threat to all Department of Defense information systems and operations." It doesn't look like they're hiding their identities very well to me.
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#113969 - 07-21-04 06:39 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Anonymous Anonymous Unregistered	S.F. Chronicle Editor Suspended Over Kerry Donation SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A San Francisco Chronicle editor who gave Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) $400 has been placed on leave for possibly violating the newspaper's rules, an official said on Wednesday. The liberal newspaper's letters editor, William Pates, reached at home by telephone, confirmed that he had contributed about $400 to the Kerry campaign but declined to comment on his paper's response. Pates said he had worked for the Chronicle for the past 35 years. "He's on paid leave while we are investigating; we have not made any judgment at this point as to whether the policy was violated," said editorial page editor John Diaz. "It would be a concern to have somebody who is involved in selecting letters make what amounts to a public demonstration of support for a particular candidate." Now. Let\'s go after Fox News.
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#113970 - 07-23-04 04:05 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Anonymous Anonymous Unregistered	For those who can't tell the difference between hysterical hyperbole and a real threat (which turns out to be.......... Annie Jacobsen and her hubby): AIR MARSHALS SAY PASSENGER OVERREACTED[/b Undercover federal air marshals on board a June 29 Northwest airlines flight from Detroit to LAX identified themselves after a passenger, “overreacted,” to a group of middle-eastern men on board, federal officials and sources have told KFI NEWS. [b]The passenger, later identified as Annie Jacobsen, was in danger of panicking other passengers and creating a larger problem on the plane, according to a source close to the secretive federal protective service Jacobsen, a self-described freelance writer, has published two stories about her experience at womenswallstreet.com, a business advice web site designed for women. “The lady was overreacting,” said the source. “A flight attendant was told to tell the passenger to calm down; that there were air marshals on the plane.” snip] “Initially it was brought to [the air marshals] attention by a passenger,” Adams said, adding the agents had been watching the men and chose to stay undercover. Jacobsen and her husband had a number of conversations with the flight attendants and gestured towards the men several times, the source said. “In concert with the flight crew, the decision was made to keep [the men] under surveillance since no terrorist or criminal acts were being perpetrated aboard the aircraft; they didn’t interfere with the flight crew,” Adams said. snip] “The complaint did not stem from the flight crew.” Several people were questioned, she said, but no one was detained. Jacobsen’s husband Kevin told KFI NEWS he approached a man he thought was an air marshal after the flight had landed. “You made me nervous,” Kevin said the air marshal told him. “I was freaking out,” Kevin replied. “We don’t freak out in situations like this,” the air marshal responded. Federal agents later verified the musicians’ story. “We followed up with the casino,” Adams said. A supervisor verified they were playing a concert. A second federal law enforcement source said the concert itself was monitored by an agent. “We also went to the hotel, determined they had checked into the hotel,” Adams said. Each of the men were checked through a series of databases and watch-lists with negative results, he said. The source said the air marshals on the flight were partially concerned Jacobsen’s actions could have been an effort by terrorists or attackers to create a disturbance on the plane to force the agents to identify themselves. Air marshals’ only tactical advantage on a flight is their anonymity, the source said, and Jacobsen could have put the entire flight in danger. “They have to be very cognizant of their surroundings,” spokesman Adams confirmed, “to make sure it isn’t a ruse to try and pull them out of their cover.” http://www.kfi640.com/ericleonard.html Are the Jacobsen's 15 minutes up yet? Dangerous idiots......
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#113971 - 07-25-04 12:33 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Anonymous Anonymous Unregistered	I can't start a new topic, and didn't know where to put this. I can't believe this piece comes from a military journal, but I'm glad that it does. I don't think I'll visit Virginia. No need to check guns in Virginia by Dennis Ryan Pentagram staff writer "Virginia is for Lovers" the old tourist ads for the state used to read. The Old Dominion, The Mother of Presidents and the Mother of States are all well-known monikers for the 36th largest state in the nation. There is soon to be a new appellation for this old and historic place, "Guns are Us." The Washington Post reported yesterday some gun owners in Virginia were beginning to exercise a legal right in public. The right is to openly wear a firearm in public, and is guaranteed by a new law which went into effect July 1. Virginia prohibits any locality from enacting their own laws regulating the ownership, carrying, storage or purchase of guns, except in the workplace. Ssiiiiggghhhhhhhhh. That's bosses exhaling across the commonwealth. Dangerous venues such as local restaurants and coffee shops are now the scene of gun enthusiasts quietly sipping their low fat latte with a fully loaded pistol. Now, certainly people's rights to keep and bear arms are rightfully guaranteed by the constitution and now it is legal in the "Quick Draw McGraw State." The birthplace of Jefferson, Washington, Monroe, Madison, Lee and Jackson is now a place which encourages one to pack a piece in public. It may be legal, but it is insane. Is it really wise for people to tote a firearm around? It is necessary to have a permit to carry a concealed firearm in Virginia and most other states. This law obviates the need for a permit as long as one straps the weapon on and wears it openly. If a person works in a convenience store late at night in a dangerous area, perhaps the sight of a holstered weapon might deter malefactors. Do we want people openly carrying guns just because they can and want to stick their noses at people who believe otherwise? If workplaces are the only locales where holstered guns are limited, does it mean one can wear a gun to church? --snip-- How about completing an ensemble with a Colt 45 for a trip to the bank? Tellers would love to have customers walking in armed to the teeth. Bar rooms would be excellent places to display one's right to carry and to be carried out on a stretcher. Guns are perfectly fine tools for assigned purposes. They have a long and valued history in this country. But they are also responsible for thousands of deaths every year. The NRA and other sportsmen's groups stress responsible gun ownership. It is completely irresponsible to wear a gun simply because one can. In fact, never was there a more perfect advertisement for gun control than the sight of a group of nattering Neanderthals with small members, infinitesimal IQs and large bore hand guns walking into a quiet suburban restaurant. Let's not allow Virginia to be known as the land of the quick draw, the slow wit and the dead. Guns are for self-defense, hunting, the disposal of rodents and other practical uses. They should not be used by showoffs to make an ill-considered political point. http://www.dcmilitary.com/army/pentagram/9_29/commentary/30198-1.html
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#113972 - 07-25-04 03:11 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
dangerous rogue dangerous rogue Member Registered: 07-17-04 Posts: 6229 Loc: Rocky Mountains or Half Moon B...	for those interested, here is a link to a radio program that discusses this topic rather thoroughly. radio show produced on the topic of "police state ?"
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#113973 - 07-25-04 03:18 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
dangerous rogue dangerous rogue Member Registered: 07-17-04 Posts: 6229 Loc: Rocky Mountains or Half Moon B...	Thoughtful article, again, on topic. Incredibly, not too many people appear concerned. Bombarded by media images and a mind-numbing entertainment culture, people seem to be so distracted that they do not even realize that our civil liberties are slowly and stealthily eroding away. we get what we(masses) deserve, 28Jun,04 constitutional attorney\'s article however, this book covers the topic quite well and exhaustively >>>>>>>>>> Don't bother with this review—just go read this book and decide for yourself. Yes, that gives away my feelings on The State Vs. the People, but it isn't often that I think as highly of a book as I do this one. Written by Claire Wolfe and Aaron Zelman, TSVTP documents the rise of the American police state in very clear, detailed fashion, moving swiftly through eleven chapters (and six appendices). Wolfe and Zelman begin with a specific definition of "police state", then apply it to the current situation in the United States. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of potential state tyranny, including obedience, thought control, the justice system, and gun control. Comparisons to known police states—mostly Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union—are plentiful, and impeccably documented. Each chapter closes with a concise list summarizing the most important points from the chapter, usually organized around two or three themes. As an example, the chapter "Thought Control: Lies and Language" closes with two statements summarizing why and how the state engages in thought control, then expands on them under the subheadings of "Lies", "Manipulation of Language", and "Consequences". If one were really pressed for time, one could simply read these information-dense distillations. However, to do so would be akin to taking a bite of chocolate and getting an intense, brief hit rather than savoring its full, rich flavor in a delicious cake. TSVTP is well worth a careful, thorough reading. Lest you get the wrong idea, the contents of the book are disturbing for anyone who cherishes freedom. TSVTP meticulously documents the existing and encroaching tyranny we must try to deal with to live. It's depressing to think about, yet the book itself is not depressing to read. Despite the numerous footnotes (most of which are worth reading) and citations, TSVTP is not an academic tome. Nor is it a libertarian screed or rant. To be sure, it is uncompromisingly, passionately pro-freedom, but in such a way that all but the most rabid statist can read it and find value in it. Chapter Two, "Learning to Obey", is an example of how well-researched TSVTP is. Rather than relying on a typical psychology textbook summary of the Milgram experiments on obedience to authority, the authors apparently read the original research. They understand the studies he (and others) did on the topic, and accurately summarize the conditions under which blind obedience is most likely. In doing so, Wolfe and Zelman provide readers with a deeper understanding of the concepts involved, as well as tools to help resist authority figures. This depth of coverage permeates the book, yet does not weigh it down. The references also make it easy for the interested individual or skeptic to learn more.
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#113974 - 07-28-04 02:58 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Daro0 Daro0 Member Registered: 07-30-03 Posts: 182	Bush didn't make this a police state, as the lefties would imply: http://www.cato.org/dailys/07-27-04.html "... 1990 case Michigan v. Sitz, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the magnitude of the drunken driving problem outweighed the "slight" intrusion into motorists' protections against unreasonable search effected by roadblock sobriety checkpoints. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Rehnquist ruled that the 25,000 roadway deaths due to alcohol were reason enough to set aside the Fourth Amendment." set aside the Fourth Amendment?????? betcha can't say it 5 times.....
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#113975 - 07-29-04 03:28 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Gore1FL Gore1FL Member Registered: 02-22-02 Posts: 28739	Rehnquist setting aside the 4th amendment is your justification as to why W is good? He thinks the Suprmeme and Federal courts should be full of Rehnquists. Your very argument sort of torpedos support for the GOP. Here is another oldie but goodie: US chief justice signals support for White House assault on constitutional rights Rehnquist told a national judicial conference in Virginia, “One is reminded of the latin maxim, inter arma silent leges. In times of war, the laws are silent.” Laws do not matter if you are GOP. Thanks for supporting the argument Daro0 _________________________ The Democratic Party Is The Starship Enterprise
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#113976 - 07-30-04 12:34 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
zeroflux zeroflux Administrator Registered: 03-11-01 Posts: 6175 Loc: Arlington, Virginia	Commentary in this thread, and the Iraq News Update is not permitted. PDC this is your final warning. Dangerous Rogue this is your first warning. Users who post off-topic articles or commentary in either of these threads will be banned.
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#113977 - 08-02-04 03:04 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
dangerous rogue dangerous rogue Member Registered: 07-17-04 Posts: 6229 Loc: Rocky Mountains or Half Moon B...	Trickle down effect of the Police State Last Updated: Monday, 2 August, 2004, 05:39 GMT 06: Pair Grounded over lewd T-shirt The American Airlines said its staff acted properly A US couple have been removed from a New York-bound flight at Miami airport because crew members considered a T-shirt one of them was wearing obscene. Oscar Arela and his girlfriend were kicked off the American Airlines flight 952 after he refused to change his T-shirt depicting a bare breast. The couple said the move violated their constitutional right to free speech. American Airline spokesman Tim Wagner said the crew acted properly and that the couple had their fare refunded. "It's a picture of a man and woman, and the woman's breast is showing," Mr Arela's girlfriend, Tala Tow, told the Miami Herald newspaper. "The flight attendant basically walked up to us and yelled, 'You have to take off that shirt right now'." The couple said the move violated their constitutional right to free speech.
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#113978 - 08-05-04 06:46 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
dangerous rogue dangerous rogue Member Registered: 07-17-04 Posts: 6229 Loc: Rocky Mountains or Half Moon B...	California, 2004. State Narcotics police officer kills innocent man that was pleading for his life. Michael Walker was arraigned today for voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Rudy Cardenas. Michael Walker was arraigned today for voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Rudy Cardenas. We understand that he is represented by the law firm that represented the Oakland Police Officer dubbed the Oakland Riders. They aggressively defended those cases of Police misconduct so we should expect the same type of effort in the Cardenas case. I could hear Walker's attorney calling the Cardenas Grand Jury a "travesty of justice" We will try to keep people updated with developments in the Cardenas case. California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement agent Michael Walker indicted
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#113979 - 08-08-04 02:08 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Anonymous Anonymous Unregistered	May 25, 2004 FBI ABDUCTS ARTIST, SEIZES ART Feds Unable to Distinguish Art from Bioterrorism Grieving Artist Denied Access to Deceased Wife's Body DEFENSE FUND ESTABLISHED - HELP URGENTLY NEEDED Steve Kurtz was already suffering from one tragedy when he called 911 early in the morning to tell them his wife had suffered a cardiac arrest and died in her sleep. The police arrived and, cranked up on the rhetoric of the "War on Terror," decided Kurtz's art supplies were actually bioterrorism weapons. Thus began an Orwellian stream of events in which FBI agents abducted Kurtz without charges, sealed off his entire block, and confiscated his computers, manuscripts, art supplies... and even his wife's body. Like the case of Brandon Mayfield, the Muslim lawyer from Portland imprisoned for two weeks on the flimsiest of false evidence, Kurtz's case amply demonstrates the dangers posed by the USA PATRIOT Act coupled with government-nurtured terrorism hysteria. Kurtz's case is ongoing, and, on top of everything else, Kurtz is facing a mountain of legal fees. Donations to his legal defense can be made at http://www.caedefensefund.org/ FEAR RUN AMOK Steve Kurtz is Associate Professor in the Department of Art at the State University of New York's University at Buffalo, and a member of the internationally-acclaimed Critical Art Ensemble. Kurtz's wife, Hope Kurtz, died in her sleep of cardiac arrest in the early morning hours of May 11. Police arrived, became suspicious of Kurtz's art supplies and called the FBI. Within hours, FBI agents had "detained" Kurtz as a suspected bioterrorist and cordoned off the entire block around his house. (Kurtz walked away the next day on the advice of a lawyer, his "detention" having proved to be illegal.) Over the next few days, dozens of agents in hazmat suits, from a number of law enforcement agencies, sifted through Kurtz's work, analyzing it on-site and impounding computers, manuscripts, books, equipment, and even his wife's body for further analysis. Meanwhile, the Buffalo Health Department condemned his house as a health risk. Kurtz, a member of the Critical Art Ensemble, makes art which addresses the politics of biotechnology. "Free Range Grains," CAE's latest project, included a mobile DNA extraction laboratory for testing food products for possible transgenic contamination. It was this equipment which triggered the Kafkaesque chain of events. FBI field and laboratory tests have shown that Kurtz's equipment was not used for any illegal purpose. In fact, it is not even _possible_ to use this equipment for the production or weaponization of dangerous germs. Furthermore, any person in the US may legally obtain and possess such equipment. "Today, there is no legal way to stop huge corporations from putting genetically altered material in our food," said Defense Fund spokeswoman Carla Mendes. "Yet owning the equipment required to test for the presence of 'Frankenfood' will get you accused of 'terrorism.' You can be illegally detained by shadowy government agents, lose access to your home, work, and belongings, and find that your recently deceased spouse's body has been taken away for 'analysis.'" Though Kurtz has finally been able to return to his home and recover his wife's body, the FBI has still not returned any of his equipment, computers or manuscripts, nor given any indication of when they will. The case remains open. ARTISTS SUBPOENAED IN USA PATRIOT ACT CASE Feds STILL unable to distinguish art from bioterrorism Grand jury to convene June 15 TEN SUBPOENAS ISSUED IN FBI CASE AGAINST ARTIST - June 8th, 2004 Nine colleagues of Steve Kurtz have been subpoenaed to appear before a Federal Grand Jury on June 15th. Thus far subpoenas have been issued to: Adele Henderson, Chair of the Art Department at UB; Andrew Johnson, Professor of Art at UB; Paul Vanouse, Professor of Art at UB; Beatriz da Costa, Professor of Art at UCI; Steven Barnes, FSU; Dorian Burr, Beverly Schlee, Claire Pentecost, Julie Perini, and the publisher Autonomedia. "BIOTERROR" CHARGES AGAINST ART PROFESSOR DOWNGRADED TO "MAIL FRAUD" IN STEALTH INDICTMENT \$256 technicality may be face-saving move by FBI - June 29th, 2004 FBI HARASSMENT CONTINUES--ARTIST FACES 20-YEAR CHARGES July 8, 2004 Press Release: July 8th, 2004 FBI HARASSMENT CONTINUES--ARTIST FACES 20-YEAR CHARGES Read this release in German here. Press Release: June 29th, 2004 "BIOTERROR" CHARGES AGAINST ART PROFESSOR DOWNGRADED TO "MAIL FRAUD" IN STEALTH INDICTMENT Read this release in German here. Update: June 8th, 2004 SEVEN SUBPOENAS ISSUED IN FBI CASE AGAINST ARTIST Press Release: June 2nd, 2004 ARTISTS SUBPOENAED IN USA PATRIOT ACT CASE Press Release: May 25th, 2004 (Français \| Deutsch) FBI ABDUCTS ARTIST, SEIZES ART web page
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#113980 - 08-17-04 03:26 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
american woman american woman Moderator Magnifique Registered: 11-10-01 Posts: 4484 Loc: San Diego	F.B.I. Goes Knocking for Political Troublemakers By ERIC LICHTBLAU Published: August 16, 2004 WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 - The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been questioning political demonstrators across the country, and in rare cases even subpoenaing them, in an aggressive effort to forestall what officials say could be violent and disruptive protests at the Republican National Convention in New York. F.B.I. officials are urging agents to canvass their communities for information about planned disruptions aimed at the convention and other coming political events, and they say they have developed a list of people who they think may have information about possible violence. They say the inquiries, which began last month before the Democratic convention in Boston, are focused solely on possible crimes, not on dissent, at major political events. But some people contacted by the F.B.I. say they are mystified by the bureau's interest and felt harassed by questions about their political plans. "The message I took from it," said Sarah Bardwell, 21, an intern at a Denver antiwar group who was visited by six investigators a few weeks ago, "was that they were trying to intimidate us into not going to any protests and to let us know that, 'hey, we're watching you.' '' MORE...
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#113981 - 08-22-04 04:14 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Gore1FL Gore1FL Member Registered: 02-22-02 Posts: 28739	It'd be my honor to help out these fine posters (acutally I wanted to read the full articles myself and therefore found the links) Graphic Designer Fired After Heckling Bush Police officer tases honking grandma _________________________ The Democratic Party Is The Starship Enterprise
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#113982 - 08-26-04 11:23 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
dangerous rogue dangerous rogue Member Registered: 07-17-04 Posts: 6229 Loc: Rocky Mountains or Half Moon B...	High School Tells Student to Remove Antiwar Shirt by Tamar Lewin Bretton Barber, a high school junior in Dearborn Heights, Mich., who is deeply interested in civil liberties, knew what to do when he was sent home from school on Feb. 17 for wearing a T-shirt with a picture of President Bush and the words "International Terrorist." First, he called the American Civil Liberties Union. But it being Washington's Birthday, no one answered. Bretton Barber with the T-shirt his high school told him to remove. He contacted the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. (Photo/Jeffrey Sauger-NY Times) Next he went on the Internet to re-read a Supreme Court case from 1969, Tinker v. Des Moines, that supported students' freedom of expression. Then he called the Dearborn High School principal to talk about his constitutional rights. And then he called the news media. "I wore the T-shirt to express my antiwar sentiment," said Mr. Barber, a budding political advocate who joined the A.C.L.U. last year and has been to three antiwar demonstrations in the last month. "In the morning, I got a lot of compliments and no negative feedback. But at lunch, the vice principal came and said I had to turn it inside out or go home. When I asked why, he said I couldn't wear a shirt that promotes terrorism." Mr. Barber is steeped in civil liberties law, so his talk with the principal, Judith Coebly, revolved around the Tinker case, which dealt with students who wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. In that case, the court found that students did "not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate," although educators may stop expression that substantially interferes with the functioning of a school. "She immediately asked if I was familiar with the Supreme Court case, Tinker v. Des Moines," Mr. Barber said. "I said I was very familiar with it. She said it happened in 1969. And I said no, it happened in 1965, but it got decided in 1969. Then she quoted directly from the dissenting opinion, to say that the school has the right to control speech. I knew that wasn't how the case came out, but I didn't argue with her." High school officials were in meetings yesterday, and Ms. Coebly's office referred inquiries to a spokesman for the district, who did not return phone calls. Superintendent John G. Artis had previously said the schools had an obligation to maintain an environment "conducive to learning." With the nation gearing up for war, Mr. Barber's T-shirt prompted reports in newspapers in many countries and rekindled the debate over students' rights to political expression. Although the Tinker case resolved the legal issue, as a practical matter, many school officials are quick to act when students express unpopular positions. At Franklin D. Roosevelt High School on 20th Avenue in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Yusra Awadeh, 17, was taken from class in November, searched and told that she could not wear a T-shirt and pin that showed the Palestinian flag or display pro-Palestinian stickers. The school later reversed its decision. Education lawyers said it was not always clear what action an administrator might constitutionally take if a student wore clothing that expressed volatile views. The answer, the lawyers said, depends on factors like the history of the school and the composition of the student body. A spokeswoman for the Michigan chapter of the civil liberties union, Wendy Wagenheim, said, "Probably within the next week either the school will recognize that he has the right to express himself or we will seriously consider litigating." high school junior sent home for t-shirt violation
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#113983 - 08-26-04 11:40 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
American Patriot American Patriot Member Registered: 08-25-02 Posts: 10128	This one, you have to see for yourself. It's everything that's wrong with Ashcroft's Justice Department: http://www.thememoryhole.com/feds/justice_redaction.htm _________________________ GOP 2010: FEAR, IGNORANCE & DIVISIVENESS
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#113984 - 08-29-04 01:41 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
dangerous rogue dangerous rogue Member Registered: 07-17-04 Posts: 6229 Loc: Rocky Mountains or Half Moon B...	TAMPA, Fla. - A police officer who mouthed off while picking up his uniform at the cleaners has been indicted on a charge of threatening President Bush (news - web sites) for allegedly saying he would shoot him and his father if someone gave him the bullets. Joseph Mazagwu, 35, surrendered Friday on charges of threatening the president and lying to investigators. The rookie officer has been suspended from the force and could lose his job. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison. He had no comment after his first court appearance and was released on $25,000 bail. The prosecutor said there was no evidence Mazagwu pursued the threat. His lawyer, Deeann Athan, said the charge stemmed from "a huge misunderstanding." On July 15, a day before Bush visited Tampa, Mazagwu was picking up his dry cleaning when the owner asked if he would be part of the president's security detail. The 11-year U.S. Army veteran and Nigerian native answered that he would not work it under any circumstances and criticized the war in Iraq (news - web sites) and U.S. policies in Africa. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill alleged that Mazagwu said words to the effect: "The president needs to be shot. His father needs to be shot. If someone gave me bullets, I would do that." The cleaner reported the remarks to another Tampa officer on the day of Bush's visit, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. link
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#113985 - 09-06-04 09:01 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
toxteth o'grady toxteth o'grady Uncivil Engineer Registered: 10-24-01 Posts: 64784 Loc: At the airport	The Electronic Frontier Foundation is challenging a secret law. Now the Feds want to file a secret brief in a secret hearing over the legality of the law... DOJ Asks Court for Secrecy In Suit SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 5 -- The Justice Department has asked an appellate court to keep its arguments secret for a case in which privacy advocate John Gilmore is challenging federal requirements to show identification before boarding an airplane. A federal statute and other regulations "prohibit the disclosure of sensitive security information, and that is precisely what is alleged to be at issue here," the government said in court papers filed Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Disclosing the restricted information "would be detrimental to the security of transportation," the government wrote. Attorneys for Gilmore, a San Franciscan who co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the civil liberties group does not accept the government's argument and that its latest request raises more questions. "We're dealing with the government's review of a secret law that now they want a secret judicial review for," one of Gilmore's attorneys, James Harrison, said in a telephone interview Sunday. "This administration's use of a secret law is more dangerous to the security of the nation than any external threat."... _________________________ "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" --Abe Lincoln
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#113986 - 09-07-04 08:44 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
toxteth o'grady toxteth o'grady Uncivil Engineer Registered: 10-24-01 Posts: 64784 Loc: At the airport	Notre Dame would like to bring pre-eminent scholar Tariq Ramadan to South Bend to teach Islamic Studies. The State Department, though, has held up his visa. It's caught the attention of the WPost... A Visa Revoked IN ITS ESSENCE, the State Department's recent decision to revoke the visa of Tariq Ramadan, a prominent Muslim scholar who was to begin teaching this fall at the University of Notre Dame, resembles visa decisions that the State Department hands out every day. Many of these seem capricious. Those who are refused visas are often not told why or are given explanations so brief as to be meaningless. Not surprisingly, U.S. visa policy evokes resentment around the world. In Mr. Ramadan's case, however, there are a few important differences. For one, his work visa was revoked under a section of immigration law that refers specifically to terrorist activities. Spokesmen from the State and Homeland Security departments point out that this section refers to people who are a "public safety risk or a national security threat." According to the State Department, the decision to revoke the visa was made abruptly because "new information" came to light about Mr. Ramadan in the past few weeks. DHS, while confirming that Homeland Security officials were the source of at least some information, refuses to say what it was, referring callers to the State Department, which also refuses to "comment on the specifics of this or any other case." The case is also different because of who Mr. Ramadan is: a Muslim scholar who has consistently argued for an Islamic "reformation" and a reconciliation of Muslim and Western cultures. Mr. Ramadan, a citizen of Switzerland, has lectured many times in the United States, including at the State Department and, he says, at events organized by former president Bill Clinton. Far from having an extremist or fanatical reputation, he is usually described as a leading moderate -- exactly the sort of person, in other words, with whom dialogue should be encouraged.... _________________________ "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" --Abe Lincoln
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#113987 - 09-14-04 09:23 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
toxteth o'grady toxteth o'grady Uncivil Engineer Registered: 10-24-01 Posts: 64784 Loc: At the airport	Justice is about to be served on the FBI, in the form of a Justice Department investigation into how an American-born lawyer and convert to Islam managed to get fingered (literally) for the Madrid bombings. Justice to Probe FBI Role in Lawyer\'s Arrest The Justice Department has launched two internal investigations into the arrest of Oregon lawyer Brandon Mayfield, who was detained by the FBI earlier this year because of a faulty fingerprint analysis that wrongly linked him to the deadly terrorist bombings in Madrid, according to a report released yesterday. Inspector General Glenn A. Fine is investigating the FBI's conduct in the case, including whether Mayfield was targeted in part because of his Muslim beliefs, according to a report to Congress released by Fine's office. Separately, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility is examining the role of federal prosecutors in the case, the report said. The FBI publicly apologized to Mayfield in May after admitting it had erroneously matched his fingerprint to a latent print found on a bag of bomb detonators linked to the Madrid train bombings, which killed 191 people on March 11. Spanish authorities first raised doubts about the FBI's judgment and ultimately identified the print as belonging to an Algerian man. Mayfield, a convert to Islam, spent two weeks in jail. Fine's office is investigating his complaint that "the FBI inappropriately conducted a surreptitious search of his home based on the faulty fingerprint analysis and potentially motivated by his Muslim faith and ties to the Muslim community," the report said.... _________________________ "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" --Abe Lincoln
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#113988 - 09-15-04 12:29 PM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Anonymous Anonymous Unregistered	This is an article that American Patriot posted on another thread that I thought also belonged here. Even your car isn't safe in AMERICA. Talk about voter intimidation. Kerry Hires Ala. Woman Fired for Sticker Wed Sep 15, 8:53 AM ET DETROIT - Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) has a new campaign worker helping him drum up support in Alabama after hiring a woman who was fired for displaying the presidential candidate's bumper sticker on her car. Kerry called Lynne Gobbell on Tuesday after reading a newspaper story describing how she had been fired last Thursday from her job packing cellulose insulation at a Moulton, Ala., plant. Gobbell said her former employer had told her she could either work for him or Kerry. She said Kerry told her, "Let him know that as of today, you're working for John Kerry." "He was proud of me for standing up for what I believe in," the newly employed, 41-year-old said of her quick phone call with the candidate. Gobbell said Kerry didn't offer too many details about her new position. She will be helping the campaign and may be traveling a little as it gets closer to the election. Source
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#113989 - 09-18-04 12:51 AM Re: Are we a Police State Yet?
Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman Member Registered: 07-05-01 Posts: 5293 Loc: Western Penna.	Teacher Arrested After Bookmark Called Concealed Weapon POSTED: 10:17 am EDT September 17, 2004 TAMPA, Fla. -- A weight may soon be lifted off a Maryland woman charged with carrying a concealed weapon in an airport. It wasn't a gun or a knife. It was a weighted bookmark. Kathryn Harrington was flying home from vacation last month when screeners at the Tampa, Fla., airport found her bookmark. It's an 8.5-inch leather strip with small lead weights at each end. Airport police said it resembled a weighted weapon that could be used to knock people unconscious. So the 52-year-old special education teacher was handcuffed, put into a police car, and charged with carrying a concealed weapon. She faced a possible criminal trial and a $10,000 fine. But the state declined to prosecute, and the Transportation Security Administration said it probably won't impose a fine. Harrington said she'll never again carry her bookmark into an airport. Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. _________________________ "... my grandmother... she is a TYPICAL WHITE PERSON" - Barry Hussein Obama
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