Officer Commendation

I am critical of abuses of power and often those abuses are perpetrated by law enforcement officials.  I write today to compliment a police officer from Albany, Oregon: Officer Jim Estes, a gentleman who represents law enforcement well. His actions and attitude speak to his training and his composure in today's environment of presumed guilt and aggressive interactions.  It also speaks to who he is as a man.

My desire is that all officers interact with the public with as much respect for the individual and the constitution as officer Estes, whether or not they are carrying guns or cameras.  

There is the fact he was being filmed and that he was approaching someone with an AR-15...maybe his composure was in response to both occurring simultaneously as he recognized their activism and that he would be tested and/or made an example of.   I like to think that he is just an intelligent, ethical officer with a protect and serve mindset and intent.  No matter what the situation was, he passed with flying colors and should be commended.

He did his job by verifying that the young men were adhering to state laws regarding chambering and clips while respecting the 1st, 2nd and 4th amendment rights of the individuals he was questioning. 

I think it's important to point out that he also respected them as people as he spoke to them, not just adhering to the letter of the Constitution.  He didn't overreact or get defensive.  He made multiple requests for information, but at no time intimated that they were obligated to comply.

Thank you for fulfilling your role as an honorable, knowledgeable and respectful public servant.

Chris Dodd Gets Gold Stars

Five Gold Stars for Chris Dodd

I did not get to put this up before the vote. However, it is important to post. Chris Dodd spoke eloquently and angrily regarding the push to exempt communications companies from any liability regarding trouncing Americans' rights.

The EFF has been at the forefront of this fight.



P.S. He won this round! But the fight is not over, rest assured.

Spying Prior to 9/11 and Forcible Injections

Keith Olbermann addresses allegations made by Quest's former CEO that illegal domestic spying was going on prior to 9/11 and an immigration official's testimony to congress that at least 48 immigrant detainees have been forcibly injected with dangerous drugs.

(Reported in the Washington Post via C&L):

Former chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio, convicted in April of 19 counts of insider trading, said the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to court documents unsealed in Denver this week. Read more…

A former Qwest Communications International executive, appealing a conviction for insider trading, has alleged that the government withdrew opportunities for contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars after Qwest refused to participate in an unidentified National Security Agency program that the company thought might be illegal.

Peter King - Too Many Mosques!

New York Rep. Peter King, a prominent House Republican, said "we have too many mosques in this country" and "we should find out how we can infiltrate, we should be more aggressive" to use the NYPD as an example, I think we should give the NYPD a medal for the job they did at the Republican convention" in a recent interview with Politico.



Deserve a medal? What do you think?

James Comey Testifies - Bad News for Alberto Gonzales

The following video is the testimony of James B. Comey, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States on May 15th regarding his version of the events regarding the Whitehouse pressuring the Department of Justice to say a secret program was legal when they could not and would not.

Senator Chuck Schumer is the voice you hear posing the questions to former Deputy Attorney General of the United States.



According to Wikipedia:

In early January 2006, the New York Times, as part of their investigation into alleged domestic surveillance by the National Security Agency, reported that Comey, who was Acting Attorney General during the March 2004 surgical hospitalization of John Ashcroft, refused to “certify” central aspects of the NSA program at that time. The certification was required under existing White House procedures to continue the program. After Comey’s refusal, the newspaper reported, Andrew H. Card Jr., White House Chief of Staff, and Alberto R. Gonzales, then White House counsel and now Attorney General, made an emergency visit to the George Washington University Hospital, to attempt to win approval directly from Ashcroft for the program.

Wow. Someone actually gave some information while testifying. He also named a few more names and gave his version that can be checked with those named. Things are not looking good for Alberto Gonzales.

Boston Legal-Gitmo Closing

James Spader in Boston Legal giving his closing statements regarding a Guantanamo Bay detainee. Sound like anyone you know? I know it sounds like people I know. Actually it sounds like every logical American when they slow down enough to think about it and respond.

(courtesy of Crooks & Liars)

Chat with your friends. See what they think. If you all feel like this, see what can you come up with to help put the country back on track.

Police Brutality Update

Update to the LA Police Brutality post:

(click image or on link below to view)

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/03/1357234

The link includes some footage from the protests. I saw much more the night of the attack. It is unfortunate that this is the only outlet I have been able to find that is providing footage, so far. Please send in any other footage you locate. Are those who are being trained to protect us train in reason, logic and negotiation or just small arms, tazer and hand-to-hand combat?

Text from the link:

The Los Angeles Police Department is coming under increasing criticism for violently crushing a largely peaceful immigrants rights march on Tuesday. Police with riot guns fired 240 rounds, shot tear gas and clubbed protesters and journalists gathered in MacArthur Park. At least ten people were injured including seven journalists.

Pedro Sevcec was broadcasting live for the Spanish-language television network Telemundo when police knocked over his monitors and lights and hit his staff with batons. Sevcec told the Los Angeles Times a police officer grabbed one of his cameras and threw it more than fifteen feet to the ground. He said police pointed a riot gun at his face, hit him with a baton and forced him out of the park.

Patricia Nazario of the public radio station KPCC was also injured. On Wednesday Nazario described to listeners what had happened to her.

• Patricia Nazario, reporter for KPCC.

Others assaulted include four employees of KVEA-TV Channel 52 and a reporter for the public radio station KPCC hit by a police baton. Christina Gonzalez, a reporter for the Fox affiliate KTTV-TV Channel 11, suffered a bruised shoulder after she was shoved to the ground. Her camera operator suffered a broken wrist. The incident was caught on tape.

• Report by Fox affiliate KTTV-TV Channel 11.

The LAPD says it gave orders to disperse but several journalists and protesters have disputed the account. The order was made only in English and not even near the main crowd. LA Police Chief William Bratton admitted the actions taken by the police were inappropriate. He said "I was disturbed at what I saw." The LAPD has launched a pair of investigations. Several news groups say they're considering legal action.

Spin, the movie.

"SPIN"

Definitely worth a watch. Brian pieced together bits of satellite feeds to give a behind-the scenes look at TV politics and spin

"Using the 1992 presidential election as his springboard, documentary filmmaker Brian Springer captures the behind-the-scenes maneuverings of politicians and newscasters in the early 1990s. Pat Robertson banters about "homos," Al Gore learns how to avoid abortion questions, George Bush talks to Larry King about halcyon -- all presuming they're off camera. Composed of 100% unauthorized satellite footage, Spin is a surreal expose of media-constructed reality."

(~quote from Google poster of this video)

THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

As promised: THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED DIRECTED AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY KIM BARTLEY AND DONNACHA O'BRIAIN IRELAND, 2003 74 MINUTES

Remotely Controlled Boeing Passenger Bombs

Will a new technology promoted to prevent another 9/11 put flyers at greater risk of being used in terrorist attacks?

The article starts out by saying, "New autopilot will make another 9/11 impossible". Of course, if someone hacks into the system, it would make 9/11 possible on a far grander scale. The system is called 'Uninterruptible Autopilot System' and was patented by Boeing without fanfare within the last couple of weeks.

(Click to enlarge)

"The mechanism is designed to make it impossible to crash the aircraft into air or land targets - and enable the plane to be flown by remote control from the ground in the event of an emergency."

"Once triggered, no one on board will be able to deactivate the system."

"After it has been activated, the aircraft will be capable of remote digital control from the ground, enabling operators to fly it like a sophisticated model plane, maneuvring it vertically and laterally." (View the article here.)

Of course, this assumes no one will be able to hack the system. If some 13 year old hacker gets in, the safety of passengers and any target on the ground are jeopardized. We all know that only teenagers can hack the most secure government computers and terrorists in caves are just too stupid to accomplish such a feat.

Silent Guardian

Well...they've decided the tests on dissenters resulted positively...

In a BBC article today:

"The US military has given a first public demonstration what it says is a revolutionary heat-ray weapon to repel enemies or disperse hostile crowds."

Hostile crowds...people who disagree with fascism and the burgeoning police state. Personally, I believe that if we had more hostile crowds, we could curb the creation of such Draconian devices. Our government is not here for us to serve, but to serve us. Where is the outcry? Why do we continue to accept this sort of behavior from those who are sworn to protect us?

Defense Industry Daily in a February 1, 2006 article described it as,

“a microwave transmitter whose focused beams create burning sensations that force targets to flee in order to escape.”

It allegedly does not cause any permanent damage, but in tests the volunteers were not allowed to wear contacts, glasses, or have any metal objects on their persons. (Everyone will be safe as long as they aren't near-sighted, have change in their pockets, or wear jewelry, right???)

“If we’re not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation.”

– Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, on testing non-lethal weapons on citizens

I let people know about the project and Michael Wynne's plans to use the weapon against dissenters in 2005. Back then...everyone I told about this said I was being paranoid. Below is the information provided by Defense Industry Daily in 2005:

$7.5M for Directed Energy ADS2 Riot-Breaker

Posted 04-May-2005 02:22

System 2 ADS Concept

"Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ is being awarded a $7.5 million cost-plus award-fee contract to design, fabricate, test rapidly field and support a fixed Active Denial System (ADS) referred to as System 2 and ADS2."

"Active Denial Technology exploits the body's natural defense mechanism that induces pain as a warning to help protect it from injury. It uses a transmitter producing energy at a frequency of 95Ghz and an antenna to direct a focused, invisible beam to a subject at the speed of light and penetrate the skin to a depth of less than 1/64 of an inch. This produces an escalating heating sensation that becomes intolerable in seconds, and forces the subject to flee. The sensation immediately ceases when the individual moves out of the beam or when the system operator turns it off."

What habeas corpus?

This short video will give you an amazing look into the mind of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and how the administration views the electorate. In the clip, Senator Patrick Leahy referring to the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that discards habeas corpus. Remember this act was passed by Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate.

Specter: Now wait a minute, wait a minute. The Constitution says you can't take it away except in the case of invasion or rebellion. Doesn't that mean you have the right of habeas corpus?

Gonzales: "I meant by that comment that the Constitution doesn't say that every individual in the United States or every citizen has or is assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn't say that. It simply says that the right of habeas corpus shall not be suspended."

Now, there's a quotable quote.

Gonzales: Federal Judges are Unqualified

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says, "...federal judges are unqualified to make rulings affecting national security policy". Read the entire article here.

"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says federal judges are unqualified to make rulings affecting national security policy, ramping up his criticism of how they handle terrorism cases."

"In remarks prepared for delivery Wednesday, Gonzales says judges generally should defer to the will of the president and Congress when deciding national security cases. He also raps jurists who "apply an activist philosophy that stretches the law to suit policy preferences.""

Automated License Plate Recognition

I awoke to find a comment of someone questioning this technology and it's existence in the States. Here's a You Tube video of one in use in Florida:

Big Brother's Eyes

It's called a number of things:

Automatic Plate Recognition, Automatic Vehicle Identification , Car Plate Recognition, Automatic Number Plate Recognition, Car Plate Reader, and Optical Character Reader.

The video was sent to me by Stan and is from the Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team (IMPACT) in British Columbia. There are numerous police agencies in the United States that have begun using and training on this technology.

Automatic number plate recognition is an optical character recognition technology that reads auto license plates at speeds up to 100 mph and about 60 reads per minute. It links into a system that networks numerous law enforcement agencies that cross-references the databases searching for offenses. In most interviews I have heard, the officers interviewed say it's only used to locate criminals with felony warrants.

Companies selling this technology advertise claim:

"The imaging function of the software identifies license plates and compares them to the database and can grant access for permitted vehicles, identify stolen vehicles or track vehicles to confirm their route."

You be the judge. Don't believe me. Look this stuff up.



In Texas, we are to be double taxed through the new toll road system. To apply that tax, the Texas Department of Transportation is utilizing this technology to auto-toll people as they drive. Take a look at one of the TXDOT documents here.
Here's another interesting site: http://www.licenseplaterecognition.com/

I encourage you to pursue finding out more about how it is being applied in your community.

CIA and Military Expand Domestic Intelligence Gathering

"The Pentagon has been using a little-known power to obtain banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage inside the United States, part of an aggressive expansion by the military into domestic intelligence gathering. "

Check out the full article from the New York times here.
Or...the CNN article here.

"Banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions receiving the letters usually have turned over documents voluntarily, allowing investigators to examine the financial assets and transactions of American military personnel and civilians, officials say."