Yearly Archives: 2013

Colorado town considers licensing bounty hunters to shoot down drones

"A six-page petition circulated by a resident says that the threat of surveillance from drones — regardless of who is piloting them — is a threat to 'traditional American ideas of Liberty and Freedom'. According to the proposed ordinance, which will be considered by the town council at its next meeting on Aug. 6, prospective bounty hunters can get a one-year drone-hunting license for $25. Proposed bounties will be $25 for those turning in the wings or fuselage of downed aircraft and $100 for mostly intact vehicles. To collect the bounty, the wreckage must have 'markings, and configuration … consistent with those used by the United States federal government.'" Continue reading →

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Second Drone Crash In One Week On Highway In Florida, Carrying Self-Destruct Charge

"The latest crash came Wednesday morning around 8:25 when the drone crashed alongside US 98 in the Silver Flag area on the east side of the base. Eye witnesses say the QF 4 drone crashed while taking off, exploded and sent up a large black cloud. Base and local police and safety officials have closed Highway 98 and are anticipating that it will remain closed for up to 24 hours. According to WJHG, the closure is being done because of a small self-destruct charge carried on board the drone. The status of this device is unknown. It is powered by a short-life battery which will be fully depleted in 24 hours." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecond Drone Crash In One Week On Highway In Florida, Carrying Self-Destruct Charge

Aide to man with Down syndrome killed by police in theater had warned police, report says

"Moments before off-duty Frederick County sheriff’s deputies tried to force a young man with Down syndrome out of a movie theater — a move that eventually led to his death —Robert Ethan Saylor’s 18-year-old aide warned them that he would 'freak out' if they touched him. 'Next thing I know, there are I think three or four cops holding Ethan, trying to put him in handcuffs,' the aide told authorities, according to documents from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Department obtained Monday by the Associated Press. 'I heard Ethan screaming, saying ‘ouch,’ ‘don’t touch me,’ ‘get off’ and crying. Next thing I hear is nothing.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAide to man with Down syndrome killed by police in theater had warned police, report says

Arizona cop arrested for pointing gun at store clerk while drunk

"Pima County Sheriff’s deputies say a 23-year-old off-duty police officer was drunk when he pointed his gun at a convenience store clerk for no apparent reason on Tuesday. According to KVOA, surveillance video showed Kyle James McCartin and a companion entering Giant gas station in Tucson on Tuesday at around 3 a.m. Both men appeared to be wearing bullet-proof vests, but no other clothing on their upper bodies. In the video, McCartin was seen smiling and pointing his handgun at the clerk at least two times. Tucson Police said on Tuesday that McCartin had been fired after a brief investigation." Continue reading →

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Grasping for Dignity in the Era of the American Police State

"In a judicial and bureaucratic environment in which human dignity has been given short shrift and largely discounted, the courts have increasingly erred on the side of giving government officials vast discretion in carrying out strip searches for a broad range of violations, no matter how minor the offense and no matter how degrading, demeaning or offensive to one’s human dignity the search is. Making matters worse, government agencies are increasingly exploiting cutting-edge technologies that allow probing and examination of the intimate aspects of persons that is for all intents and purposes equivalent to the excessive intrusion inflicted by a strip search." Continue reading →

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The War on Terror Is a War on American Freedom

"Our Democratic law professor president, a self-described progressive, has created a perfect storm. Ten years ago, liberals screamed because the Republican administration took note of what patrons checked out at the library. Today, they seem much more complacent in the face of more intimate forms of mass surveillance. Democrats once talked about prosecuting executive officials for wrongdoing. Today they muse about whether the government should jail journalists like Glenn Greenwald, U.S. columnist for the British newspaper, the Guardian, merely for providing a soapbox for whistleblowers." Continue reading →

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Stop Ray Kelly from leading Homeland Security Department

"If you thought Big Brother couldn’t possibly get bigger, and if you thought this Dr. Strangelove era couldn’t possibly get any Strangelovier, welcome to the debate over the next head of Homeland Security. Lost in the noise is the fact that in the midst of disclosures about the Obama administration’s sprawling — and potentially illegal — national security state, a Kelly nomination would put a national surveillance apparatus fit for a sci-fi satire in the hands of a comic-book-worthy thug. Five parts of the police commissioner’s record paint a picture of Kelly that seems almost too cartoonish to be accurate. But, alas, it is Kelly’s undisputed record." Continue reading →

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Kentucky Banning Advice Columnists in the Name of Occupational Licensing

"Kentucky claims that writing an advice column that appears in a newspaper in the state—in the specific case of their complaint, the Lexington Herald-Leader, though it appears in others as well—is not an act of freedom of the press, but rather practicing psychology without the required license. Rosemond has written an advice column since 1976, which is currently syndicated by McClatchy-Tribune (and by Rosemond himself to a different set of publications). It appears in around 200 papers. He’s also the author of many books of parenting and family advice, including five best-sellers." Continue reading →

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NDAA: It Still Makes a Mockery Of American Values

"While most of the country has been consumed with the George Zimmerman trial and other political distractions pushed on us by the mainstream media, the U.S. government’s consistent and aggressive violations of civil liberties continue with minimal protest. The PRISM surveillance program, the phony 'due process' of the FISA courts, and the militarization of law enforcement are the most pervasive examples, but the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is perhaps the most authoritarian of them all and makes a mockery of American values." Continue reading →

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Obama’s ‘green’ procurement plan creating ‘de facto ban’ on ammunition

"At the same time federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security are buying up ammunition stockpiles around the country, the Obama administration is now pushing states to mandate 'green ammunition' that is free of lead. Sources say health-care advocates are arguing that lead bullet fragments, especially in game such as venison, are neurotoxins that can harm children and developing fetuses. The federal government and some states are looking at alternative metals that include copper and tungsten materials, but they are so hard that technically they could violate federal regulations barring armor-piercing ammunition.'" Continue reading →

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