Cop Punches Woman - Not A Repeat. Sigh.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police have launched an internal investigation after a video was posted online that shows an officer striking a woman twice in the face at a neighborhood party associated with Philadelphia's annual Puerto Rican Day parade. The 36-second video uploaded to YouTube and titled "Philadelphia Police Brutality" shows the woman crumpling to the ground after being struck Sunday in north Philadelphia. The woman appears to be bleeding from the mouth as she is led away in handcuffs.

Moments before the woman was hit, the video shows someone else throwing a liquid toward the officers. The woman was also seen spraying something from a can.

The woman, whose name was not released, was cited for disorderly conduct, said Officer Tanya Little, a police spokeswoman.

The officer in the video, identified as highway patrol supervisor Lt. Jonathan Josey, is eager to tell his side of the story to internal investigators because there is more to what happened than the video shows, said John McNesby, president of the Fraternal Order of Police.

"We're hoping that it's neither a whitewash nor a witch hunt," McNesby said at a news conference Monday. "At the end of the day, his actions will be questioned, but I believe they can be defended."

While I understand there may be things not captured on the video, and that perhaps the woman was guilty of some level of disorderly conduct, in what way is that grounds for punching a woman in the face?  Watch the video.  At the 40 second mark you can see him focus on her, step up behind her and swing around to hit her in the face while she walks away, watching him over her shoulder.

He wasn't defending himself.  From what I see, he engaged her.  She came in from an angle, he says something and she veers away, and he steps into her space and hits her.  I watched it over and over, noting my original response and what I saw as I studied what happened.  I am curious if our readers see it differently.

As people become more frustrated with government and conditions, there will be more marching and protesting than ever.  The Occupy movement will be one of many that will encourage people to speak out.  This must be tolerated, and police must learn how to manage crowds and do so within the boundaries of the law.  If she was guilty of a misdemeanor, it still doesn't give this cop the right to punch her while she is walking away from him.

This jackass had a choice.  He could have taken her arm, or even done a police tackle if one had been required.  Instead he hits her in the face in a sucker punch with way more force than necessary, and in a speech pretending to be neutral, we're told this sucker punch can be defended if we only knew the facts.  The facts I can watch with my own eyes says this is an act of avoidable aggression by a bully with power.

Police Shoots Double Amputee Who Wielded A Pen

HOUSTON — A Houston police officer has fatally shot a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair after police say the double amputee waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva says man cornered the officer early Saturday inside a group home after police were called about a disturbance there.

Silva says the man was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. She says the officer did not know what the metal object was at the time.

Silva says the man came "within inches to a foot" of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.

For such a short clip, there's a lot of disturbing stuff here.

First, and I mean this with no disrespect towards the handicapped, if the officer was cornered by a man with one arm and one leg maneuvering a wheelchair, he's not very smart.  Or could it be that he was in the victim's personal space, getting in a little too close to intimidate?  While the thought makes me sick, it's the only way I can make that work out.

The victim threatened him with a pen.  If he couldn't tell it was a pen, how could he tell it was a threatening object?  No matter what, it did not deserve a fatal response from the officer.  This guy was at such a clear physical disadvantage, the officer could have removed himself from danger.  He could have walked away but he shot the man instead.

But finally, the thing that maybe sticks in my craw the most, is the phrase "did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still."  This man had a history of being difficult, according to employees.  You know what, I think I would be too if I were in his circumstances.  I've worked in group homes, and I can tell you that the idea of these people as American citizens with the rights and values like everyone else just disappears.  In the flurry of meals, medicine and job duties, these people are herded like cattle with little to no regard for them as people.  I worked in dozens of locations, the utter lack of humanity was the one thing every place had in common.  It is why I work in a different field.

To fail to follow instructions to calm down and remain still, for a person who is agitated by nature and condition, is expected.  Cops are trained (supposedly) to lower tensions.  Perhaps by giving this man some personal space the cop could have done a better job.

Either way, a man is dead and a cop is an asshole.  Surprise, surprise.

University of California Will Pay Damages To Students Pepper Sprayed

SAN FRANCISCO — The University of California will pay damages to the UC Davis students and alumni who were pepper sprayed by campus police during an otherwise peaceful protest 10 months ago, officials said Thursday.

The UC regents, in a closed-door meeting, approved the proposed settlement payment to 21 UC Davis students and alumni who sued the university and contended their civil rights were violated in the widely criticized pepper spray incident.

However, both UC officials and the ACLU of Northern California, which is representing the students in the lawsuit, refused to divulge settlement details, saying the rules of the agreement talks require a federal judge to review the matter before it can be made public. That may happen within a few days, they said.

Jonathan Stein, the UC student regent, said the settlement was warranted. "We did an injustice to our students that day at Davis, and some amount of recompense is appropriate. More importantly, it's time for us as an institution to publicly acknowledge that's not the way we should treat our students; we were wrong, and we are moving forward," he said.

We covered this when it happened.  This was an absolutely disgusting abuse of power during a peaceful protest.  The public was surprised and angry about how kids are treated when obeying the law.

We teach our children that they should stand up for what is right.  That's a good thing.  What is unfortunate is when they stand up against bullies that are meant to help our young find their way in this world.

They deserve every penny.

Oregon Cops Used Unnecessary Force On Mentally Ill

(CNN) -- Federal civil rights investigators have found "reasonable cause" to believe that police in Portland, Oregon, use "unnecessary or unreasonable force" with persons who have mental illness, the U.S. Justice Department said.

The department's civil rights division and U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon issued a letter to Portland Mayor Sam Adams stating that local and federal authorities will "continue our collaborative relationship to craft sustainable remedies."

In the 42-page letter, federal officials outline remedies that include training and new policies to investigate alleged police misconduct.

Investigators found cause to believe that the Portland Police Bureau engages in "a pattern or practice of using excessive force in encounters involving people with actual or perceived mental illness."

"We found instances that support a pattern of dangerous uses of force against persons who posed little or no threat and who could not, as a result of their mental illness, comply with officers' commands," said the letter, which was signed by Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez and U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall.

"We also found that PPB employs practices that escalate the use of force where there were clear earlier junctures when the force could have been avoided or minimized."

One incident in December 2010 involved several officers who used "repeated closed-fist punches and repeated shocking of a subject who was to be placed on a mental health hold," the letter said.

Adams, in a posting on his web page, vowed that the city and its Police Bureau would improve quickly, and listed a series of changes.

Changes? Great.  But are we supposed to believe that because of improper training, bullying and abusing people with "real or perceived" mental illness was ever considered okay?  Does being an ass to a person, setting them off so you can use the power you want to use a valid strategy for dealing with anyone?

Promise of change is better than nothing.  However, I refuse to believe that training or policy did not allow officers to use common sense.  We've covered this month an old woman pulled from her car, a petite nurse body slammed into the ground, and learned that police set up the Occupy movement and enticed them to turn criminal so they could be busted.

We need cops to be the good guys.  It's not easy, but if it was easy everyone would do it.

Cops Slam Nurse On The Ground

Two L.A. cops pull a woman from her car, handcuff her, and slam her into the ground again.  The five foot four inch woman is helpless to protect her face or body.  It looks more like an amateur wrestling move.  She's so much smaller than them it's disgusting.  And the best I can tell, besides some reflexes going off, she never resists arrest.

Watch the video to hear the outcome.  Spoiler alert: you'll be pissed.

Honey, I Forgot To Pay The Protection Money

David Kelleran, 51, claimed in his lawsuit that the police's Prohibition-style tactics violated state law and trampled on his rights. And, in any case, the police got the wrong address.

Kelleran, who owns the restaurant called 68, is seeking an unspecified amount of damages for the loss of alcohol worth "thousands of thousands" of dollars, his attorney Craig Trainor said on Thursday.

According to the lawsuit, Kelleran was notified in July 2011 by the New York State Liquor Authority that his $4,382 check to renew 68's liquor license bounced and he had ten days to make the payment.

Before the ten days were up, Kelleran said police came to his apartment over the restaurant in Brooklyn and arrested him for selling alcoholic drinks without a license. He spent the night in jail, the lawsuit said.

While he was in jail, police went into Coco66, a bar Kelleran owned next door to 68, and poured all his wine, beer and liquor down a drain, the lawsuit said.

Seems a bit off there somewhere.  The best the article lays out the facts, it appears either Kelleran's protection money check also bounced, or we have some seriously overzealous cops with an extreme interest in overdue license fees.

Unless a major fact is missing, this guy has a pretty good case.  To destroy so much property under these circumstances is at the very least a major ethical lapse.  

Tennessee Judge Suspected Of Pre-Signing Warrants

ATLANTA (AP) - A prosecutor says a judicial watchdog agency is investigating a north Georgia judge for allegedly pre-signing warrants for law enforcement officials.

District Attorney Bert Poston said the Judicial Qualification Commission is investigating Chief Magistrate Bryant Cochran of Murray County over the accusations. Public defender Mike McCarthy said he was aware of the investigation.

This is what happens with safeguards supposedly in place.  Imagine what is being done under the protection of the Patriot Act.  Imagine what happens without judicial oversight or checks and balances to prevent abuse.

A judge knows the full consequences of this, as well as the reasons why his actions were so despicable.  If he is truly guilty, I hope the citizens he has deprived of due process get their day.  The sad thing is, if the police do their job right, they should be able to justify a warrant.  This can't be for any reason other than laziness or cutting corners. Neither are acceptable when people's lives and reputations are at stake.

Cop Uses Taser On 12-Year-Old girl

South St. Louis County (KSDK) - A police officer tased a 12-year-old girl inside a Victoria's Secret Wednesday afternoon at South County Center. 

Police say the officer came into the Victoria's Secret looking for the teenager's mom, who had warrants for her arrest. But it was the teen who got tased. 

"This one goes in my chest. It was stuck in there so she had to keep on pulling trying to pull it out," said Dejamon Baker, as she pointed to a small wound on her chest. 

Baker has a matching wound on her stomach. 

"I had fell on the floor and I couldn't control myself I just kept on shaking and stuff," said the girl. 

Baker said, "I was just crying. I guess he got mad because I was crying or something, then he just took it out and just tased me." 

A police spokesman says the officer stated the girl was physically getting involved and would not back away, but Dejamon and her mother deny that.  

Sorry, but if you can't gain control of a 12-year-old child, perhaps law enforcement isn't your thing.  Using that on a child is beyond insane.  I've never suffered from it personally, but I have seen tough people crumble and weep like... well, like little girls.

This guy should lose his badge and never be allowed to have authority again.  Jesus.

50% Accuracy Not Enough To Warrant Searches

The nose of a drug-sniffing police dog is not so sharp, but it's good enough to support cocaine charges against Herbert Green.

That was the opinion of federal Judge Glen Conrad, who denied a motion this week to suppress the drugs found in Green's sport utility vehicle with the help of a police dog named Bono.

Green's lawyer had argued that Bono's track record — drugs were found just 22 times out of 85 "alerts" by the dog — was so poor that police lacked probable cause to search Green's SUV.

They found a large amount of cocaine in the suspect's car.  But if you use a dog that turns out 63 false positives for every 22 successes, it seems that is unfairly stacking the odds against unreasonable search. It would make sense that dogs would have to perform to a certain percent of accuracy to be considered reason to trump our rights.

When explaining their reasons, the judge did himself no favors.

In some cases where nothing was found after an alert by Bono, police later determined that drugs had been in the vehicle earlier, likely leaving an odor the dog was trained to detect, Neese said.

Taking those cases into account, Conrad found that Bono's accuracy rate was at least 50 percent.

In determining whether police had probable cause, the judge wrote that he had to consider other factors beyond the dog's track record.

As a federal appeals court once put it, "the reliability of a drug-detection dog does not rise or fall on the basis of one sniff."

Just about every car has had trace amounts of drugs in it at some point, whether the owners knew it or not.  I'm not liking the lack of numbers that suddenly bring the dog up to at least 50%, but half is still not good enough.  If I did my job right only half the time, it wouldn't be my job much longer.

Meanwhile, police are letting this go unchecked, giving them access to people they may not normally.  And they wonder why people are naturally suspicious of law enforcement.

Octogenarian Shocked By Police Treatment

St. George Police Chief Anthony L. Britt said that an officer who tased a nude 80-year-old woman was justified  because the woman could have hurt police officers and EMS crews with her metal walking cane which she was swinging at officers.

"We just felt that was the best way to apprehend her and not let her hurt anybody or herself," Britt said on Friday. "There was no other way to get her to come down from where she was at that point."

On May 21, a lieutenant with the St. George Police Department contacted emergency dispatch regarding noises he heard near his home. A police officer responded and said he found a nude elderly woman in front of a home on Gavin Street banging her walking cane on the rail of the steps.

"Officers made contact with her. She was non responsive and quoting scriptures from the Bible," Britt said.

Britt says he and another officer arrived shortly after and attempted to talk to the woman. Some time later, a lieutenant with the police department and EMS crews arrived.

According to Britt, police and EMS personnel attempted to talk to the woman with negative results. Police say they attempted to get the cane away from the woman which almost got officers injured.

"She swung the cane several times at different officers as they were trying to approach her," Britt said. "One of the officers that came from behind almost got hit in the head with the cane. At that point, I just told the officers,'She's in a safe position, just go ahead and tase her so we can prevent anybody from getting hurt.'"

"Almost" getting injured by an old woman who feels threatened is not an excuse to use a taser on an elderly person.  She was clearly confused and unable to make decisions.  However, she deserved compassion and kindness instead of the treatment she received.  I have to say, maybe her assessment of the officers was spot on.

Cop Kicks Pregnant Woman, Forcing C-Section

A Georgia police officer is under criminal investigation for allegedly kicking a woman who was nearly nine months pregnant in the stomach, WSB-TV reports. Raven Dozier told the station that DeKalb County Officer Jerad Wheeler kicked her in the stomach while she was trying to help calm down her brother who was arguing with police.

"I was upset because I couldn't believe an officer would kick me, with my child in my stomach," Raven Dozier told the station.

Dozier later filed a complaint with the DeKalb police department's internal affairs unit, but it was never investigated. At the time, four supervisors and an internal affairs detective signed off that Wheeler's use of force met police policy, according to WSB-TV.

Dozier was charged with obstruction of an officer. Police later dropped the charge. Two weeks after the kick, she had an emergency C-section. Baby Levi is doing well.

It's going to be hard to defend this one.  It's hard to imagine his excuse of not being able to tell she was pregnant will hold up.  The fact that they did not investigate her complaint and yet it was ruled legitimate is another major problem.  Charging her with obstruction seems like a hedge bet, something to negotiate with if they need a "you scratch my back" solution.

It's really hard to imagine any action on her part that would warrant such violence.  At this point, we must allow the possibility that a reason could exist, but it would have to be legendary.

When The Guys In Charge Are Idiots, This Sort Of Thing Will Happen

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A college student who was forgotten by federal drug agents and left in a holding cell for five days without food, water or access to a toilet says that he drank his own urine to survive.

Daniel Chong also said that he bit into his glasses to break them and tried to use a shard to scratch "Sorry Mom" into his arm, according to a story published Tuesday in U-T San Diego (http://bit.ly/JRlSr8 ).

The 24-year-old engineering student at University of California, San Diego, was swept up as one of nine suspects in an April 21 drug raid that netted 18,000 ecstasy pills, other drugs and weapons.

Chong said federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents told him he would be released. One agent even promised to drive him home from the DEA field office in Kearny Mesa, he said. Instead, he was returned to a holding cell to await release. DEA spokeswoman Amy Roderick said he was accidentally left there.

"I had to recycle my own urine," he said. "I had to do what I had to do to survive."

He scratched a message to his mom because he thought he was going to die from dehydration.  He also claims that the lights were left off for days, and he could hear agents outside but no matter how loudly he shouted, they never heard him.  That seems strange, but since he has the element of being right so far on his side, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

He also says that when they opened the door, a snide comment was made about the water he'd been asking for.  It sure sounds like this was on purpose and approved over the course of several days.

Move along, citizen.  There is nothing to see here.

Blind Doctor Beaten By Cop

CBC News has obtained video that shows a Windsor, Ont., police officer beating a doctor who is legally blind.

Det. David Van Buskirk, who attacked Dr. Tyceer Abouhassan on April 22, 2010, pleaded guilty Thursday to assault causing bodily harm.

Video cameras at the Jackson Park Health Centre captured the beating, although much of the physical altercation is slightly out of frame. Afterwards, Van Buskirk wrote in his report that the doctor ""immediately reached out and grabbed my throat and pushed me backward."

Of course he did, you jackhole.  You walked up to him and attacked him, with maybe five seconds of "discussion" beforehand.

In pleading guilty, Van Buskirk admitted that Abouhassan "did not strike him at all." He also confirmed that all of the doctor's reaction "was in lawful resistance to being assaulted by the accused."

And yet at first, the doctor was facing charges.  After they watched this video.  After the cop lied, saying he pushed him by the throat, and now says he didn't strike him at all.  I guess when an officer lies it's no big deal.  I wonder if his comments were revised when he learned about the video, and that it wasn't just a word of one man against another.

The man suffered a broken nose, torn eyelid, detached retina, and a bruised rib.  You know why his face took such a beating?  Because he's blind, dammit, and he couldn't see to defend his face, the most basic human reflex.

Both Bridgeman and Keane were charged with discreditable conduct for trying to prevent Abouhassan from filing criminal charges against Van Buskirk. Both were later exonerated.

Of course they were.

So help me God, if "he wasn't using that retina anyway" becomes part of the defense I will freaking lose it.  Considering how this case has gone so far, I wouldn't say anything is impossible here.

Even More Fine Police Work There, Lou

So, they handcuffed a six-year-old girl and took her to jail.  She fought the adults, trying to get out of the office. She threw "a small shelf" and when it hit the principal on the leg, the assault charge compounded the problem.  She was complaining the cuffs were too tight when her mother came to pick her up, and had been left alone in a holding cell, which to some would imply she was left unsupervised and deprived of the safety of an adult being present during a traumatic time.

There is no mention of the family going after money or publicity.  They asked how their child could be handcuffed and taken, and the official answer was:

"Our policy states that any detainee transported to our station in a patrol vehicle is to be handcuffed in the back. There is no age discrimination on that rule," Milledgeville Police Chief Dray Swicord told WMAZ-TV.

The family on Tuesday demanded that the city change its policy, the Associated Press reported, and claimed the girl was shaken up while at the police station.

Very well, said the parents.  Please change your policy.

That is when the asshattery begins.  There is no age discrimination on that rule?  How about common sense.  The girl may have a behavioral issue that needs to be taken care of, but this is not how you teach kids about trust and boundaries.  It sounds to me like this child was afraid, and acted out of fear and anger.  Based on how the adults reacted here, I'm saying she may have had some legitimate reasons to feel defensive and scared.  The bottom line is, if you can't curb, redirect and communicate with a six-year-old, elementary education may  not be for you.

Shocking Police Brutality

MOUNT STERLING, Ohio — A village police officer shocked a 9-year-old boy with a Taser this week, prompting a shutdown of the entire force.

Long-embattled Police Chief Mike McCoy has been suspended, and officers who were being used on a part-time basis are no longer working, Council President Lowell Anderson said.

McCoy didn’t tell village officials after the Tuesday incident, and that prompted the suspension, Anderson said.

Village Administrator Joe Johnson, in violation of state open-records laws, refused to release the report on what the village is calling “an incident involving use of force.” Mayor Charlie Neff said in a statement only that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has been asked to investigate.

A nine-year-old boy wouldn't go to school. Somehow, this escalated to the point that he was shocked with a Taser. Nine years old. No freaking way can any facts presented possibly excuse using that amount of force on a little boy. Stating he is large for his size changes nothing. I'm not even sure why that was brought up, it doesn't change the fact that he is only nine years old.

I'm glad they were shut down, mismanaged is a polite term used in the article to mean these guys are incompetent.

"An Overzealous Attempt To Make Sure That Accurate Information Is Put Out"

Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan has come under fire after sending an armed sergeant to Oakland Tribune reporter Doug Oakley's home in the middle of the night to push for changes to a story.

According to the Oakland Tribune, Meehan claimed that Oakley misquoted him in a story. Minutes after reading the article, Meehan ordered Sgt. Mary Kusmiss to visit the reporter's home and request that he correct the article -- at 12:45 a.m.

"At first I thought something really bad was happening or they were coming for me, like I was going to be arrested," said Oakley to Berkeleyside. "It was really intimidating."

It would have been out of line to place a call at 12:45 a.m. It would have been too much to send an officer over before contacting Oakley, even in broad daylight. Though Chief Meehan tries to shrug it off, the reality is that this goes beyond "bad judgment" and zoomed right past inappropriate. The misunderstanding came down to a small correction, an apology issued for one thing and attributed to another. This was not over a scandalous accusation, or a lie told on behalf of the police. That's the part that bothers me most. If it was a career killing spin or insane accusation that could damage public relations, I could see trying to get a quick revision or audience, even though that is still wildly inappropriate and should have been approached delicately if at all.  This was over nothing, which makes me wonder how close the journalist was to something important.

No real harm came from the events, of course. It's still something they will be trying to live down for quite some time.

Girl Handcuffed For Being Rude

ADAMS COUNTY - Children who cop an attitude at school might want to think twice. Eleven-year-old Yajira Quezada, a sixth-grader at Shaw Heights Middle School, was handcuffed and taken to a holding facility for disobeying the orders of an assistant principal during lunch and being "argumentative and extremely rude," 9Wants to Know has learned.

An Adams County Sheriff's Office incident report says the assistant principal found Yajira walking in the hallway during lunch because the girl claimed she was cold and needed to get a sweater from her locker.

The report says the assistant principal was in mid-sentence when Yajira, "turned and walked away saying, 'I don't have time for this.'"

That was enough to handcuff the girl and send her out like a prisoner. Are you freaking kidding me? She had marks on her wrist.  I wouldn't even classify this as extremely rude, like the article does.

We have to teach our kids to know their rights and stand for them. We want to teach them not to be bullies, but then put them in an environment where they are bullied by those they are supposed to trust. So she was a smartass, welcome to working with kids.  She isn't even a teenager yet, for crying out loud!  Have a talk with her or her mother. I find it hard to believe she was the sole reason this escalated into a police matter. Over a freaking sweater.

Gaytan doesn't condone her daughter's behavior but questions the severity of the punishment and the handcuff marks left on Yajira's hands.

Steve Saunders, director of communications and community relations for Adams County School District 50, says anytime an incident rises to this level, officials take a close look at what happened.

"You hate to see something escalate to where it becomes a police matter. Once they step in and take over a case, it is really in their hands. The conclusion was, as far as the district was concerned, everything was handled appropriately," Saunders said.

The mom sounds reasonable. I'd like clarification on what they mean by "escalated to this level" because it sounds like she was trying to hurry to get back to class and took a boatload of stupidity instead. The school district doubled down and said they believe this was appropriate.  I hope that comes back to bite them in the ass.

What a load of crap.  I hope they pay dearly for it. Our kids are going to have an uphill battle with their liberty, and not being treated like disobedient cattle. She was flippant, but if I was cuffed every time I disagreed with school staff I'd have permanent callouses on my wrists. It sounds like this little girl learned the value of manners, but I also hope she learned the value of knowing when the other party is out of line, no matter what job title or power they hold.

Kansas Takes Abortion Stupidity To New Levels

Kansas lawmakers have six days to decide if it's okay for doctors to lie to women who may consider abortion if they knew the truth.

Yeah, roll that around and digest it for a minute, I know I had to. The proposed changes would prevent women from suing doctors for malpractice if they withhold information that they feel might make the woman consider abortion as a viable procedure. A woman would have no rights to claim malpractice if her doctor didn't mention birth defects that the doctor feels may cause her to consider abortion. A woman would have no say in court if she suffered damage to her body from a condition her doctor neglected to mention because in their opinion it might cause her to consider abortion.

The bill includes several other cheap shots and punitive measures aimed at women considering abortion, including hearing the heartbeat and removing tax deductions for "abortion related" health insurance coverage. Those are another topic for another post, a rant about how laws can punish people for taking advantage of a protected medical procedure. My main concern here is the idea that it could ever be right to hold back the truth between doctor and patient.

In a constant erosion of women's rights, the GOP is now trying to intrude on the relationship between a patient and her doctor. They've resorted to telling outright lies, as well.

War On Privacy: Where We Stand

Don't get me wrong  the CNN piece you can find here does a great job of covering privacy concerns.  It's well written and square on all counts.

But not to toot our own horn or anything, we've covered 99% of it right here already on Zandar VTS.

We are losing our rights to electronic privacy.  Ambiguous laws and fear tactics have cost us many levels of privacy.  There is a pressure on some services to comply, such as phone companies and Internet providers.  Well, there was right up until they were absolved of all repercussions for complying with a government order.  Now they have no fear of customer reaction, if those customers are even notified.  Right now, we are in danger from our own government thanks to the Patriot Act.  We can be snooped without a warrant, and our correspondence is monitored without or knowledge.

Most of what we do know is thanks to whistle-blowers, activists, academics and a few committed journalists. In 2004, Mark Klein, a technician who had just retired from AT&T, disclosed that in 2003 the National Security Agency built a secret room at the San Francisco facility where he worked, routing all e-mail and phone traffic through it.

Another whistle-blower, Justice Department attorney Thomas Tamm, confirmed that similar interception points were set up around the country to gather and analyze the e-mails and phone calls of Americans who were not suspected of any crime.

While the federal government is required by law to document publicly its wiretapping of phone lines, it is not required to do so with Internet communications. Over 50,000 National Security Letters, a kind of administrative demand letter requiring no probable cause or judicial oversight, are issued each year. Yet we know few details. Companies complying with these secret letters were barred from even informing customers about them until 2009 when Nick Merrill, an entrepreneur who ran a small New York-based Internet service company, successfully enlisted the help of the ACLU in challenging a blanket gag provision of the Patriot Act.

Please read the rest of this article. There is so much information here that we can't afford to forget. My prayer is that Obama made a good choice to put off some battles until his second term, when he can right some serious wrongs (like the Patriot Act).

One final portrait of why Google users should be concerned.  Google can't be held accountable if the government decided to snoop your email.  But it doesn't stop there.  Now they can see your text messages and call logs if you use Google Voice.  Your work can be checked if you use Google Docs. Your pictures through Google+ and Picasa.  Your GPS location if you use Google Maps or Latitude.  Your website information and hidden content can be viewed, including past versions, if you use Google Sites.  Your shopping habits, books you're reading, searches you are running, blogs you are writing, instant messaging and social activities can all be monitored through common Google services.  You can't opt out of this, and once that precedent is set it will fall rapidly across other service providers.  You still don't have to be alerted to the fact, and you can't even be pissed about it until you can prove you were snooped, which you can't.

Well, played, old chap.  Well played.

Epic Fail: Taco, Anyone?

After a federal indictment regarding treatment of Latino abuse, the police chief has decided to make things even worse.  After having an opportunity to say anything, even the usual recycled crap (we are investigating, we take this very seriously, blah blah) he instead lets the people know how they really feel, and why the feds were most likely on the right track.

Chief Gallo was not charged, but was referred to in the indictment as “Co-Conspirator No. 1,” who, it said, tried to thwart investigations of his officers and tried to have a priest who protested their behavior removed from his parish.

But on Wednesday it was Mr. Maturo facing the most immediate criticism, as he quickly backpedaled from comments he made to a WPIX (Channel 11) reporter Tuesday.

Asked what he was doing for the Latino community in light of the indictments and accusation of harassment, illegal searches and seizures and assaults on Latinos, Mr. Maturo responded on camera: “I might have tacos when I go home. I’m not sure yet.”

Facing a blizzard of criticism — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy called his comments “repugnant” and said they represented “either a horrible lack of judgment or worse” — Mr. Maturo apologized, at first grudgingly and then with a long statement offering his “sincerest apologies” for what he called an “insensitive and off-collar comment.”

His apology is lame, and too late.  He didn't accidentally say this, he flew off the handle and exposed the ugliness that lies beneath.  Since this story broke, several things have come forth.  As is the nature of breaking news, some are accurate and some are not.  However, among all the rumors some surely must be true, and others contain a kernel of truth.  That's enough for us to call for change.  Crime is crime, and police have a difficult job.  Skin color, material wealth and intelligence are not measures of criminal nature.  Our law enforcement must know this, acknowledge it and demonstrate it.  Epic fail on all counts.