NYC Trying to Regulate Photon Detection and Recording

New York Times: "Some tourists, amateur photographers, even would-be filmmakers hoping to make it big on YouTube could soon be forced to obtain a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance before taking pictures or filming on city property, including sidewalks."



..meanwhile installing their own surveillance cameras on every corner.

Terrorism stats database - moving beyond hype

LiveScience: "The majority of terrorist attacks result in no fatalities, with just 1 percent of such attacks causing the deaths of 25 or more people.

And terror incidents began rising some in 1998, and that level remained relatively constant through 2004.

These and other myth-busting facts about global terrorism are now available on a new online database open to the public.

The database identifies more than 30,000 bombings, 13,400 assassinations and 3,200 kidnappings. Also, it details more than 1,200 terrorist attacks within the United States.

The unclassified Global Terrorism Database (GTD) will give anyone interested the opportunity to peruse through the actual details of global terror attacks. The online terror rap sheet is expected to be a critical tool for researchers and policy-makers who can use it to improve responses to terrorism."


Objective reality should get more airtime... Link to the database web-front-end...

Justice Dept.: FBI Misused Patriot Act

AP: "The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday.

And for three years the FBI has underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.

FBI agents sometimes demanded the data without proper authorization, according to the 126-page audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine. At other times, the audit found, the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances."


No big surprise here. Law enforcement has a job to do, and will use whatever tools are available to them to do so. The problem is a policy level issue, and is a good example of the need for checks and balances between branches of government -- back to the framer's intent to prevent abuses of individual rights. This is likely just the tip of the iceberg.

Gonzales dislikes freedom, America

SF Chronicle: "One of the Bush administration's most far-reaching assertions of government power was revealed quietly last week when Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified that habeas corpus -- the right to go to federal court and challenge one's imprisonment -- is not protected by the Constitution."

"Gonzales acknowledged that the Constitution declares "habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless ... in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.'' But he insisted that "there is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution.''

Specter was incredulous, asking how the Constitution could bar the suspension of a right that didn't exist -- a right, he noted, that was first recognized in medieval England as a shield against the king's power to dispatch troublesome subjects to royal dungeons."


This isn't about technical accuracy; it's about intent. And Gonzales' intent is painfully clear.

Democrats carefully aim gun at foot, prepare to pull trigger...

CNN.com: "Americans would have to sign up for a new military draft after turning 18 if the incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has his way.

New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel said Sunday he sees his idea as a way to deter politicians from launching wars. He believes a draft would bolster U.S. troop levels that are currently insufficient to cover potential future action in Iran, North Korea and Iraq."

"In 2003, he proposed a draft covering people age 18 to 26. This year, he offered a plan to mandate military service for men and women between age 18 and 42."


...so... days after winning elections, and they're already busy engineering a resounding loss in 2008. And we were hoping for more than 2 years of gridlock. (sigh).

Senate Committee approves pervasive NSA surveillance of US Citizens without warrants

Wired News:: "A bill radically redefining and expanding the government's ability to eavesdrop and search the houses of American citizens without court approval passed a key Senate committee Wednesday, and may be voted on by the full Senate as early as next week.

By a 10-8 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved S.2453, the 'National Security Surveillance Act,' which was co-written by the committee's chairman Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn) in concert with the White House."


Lovely. Any chance this will be killed?

File under "WTF?"

Chron.com: "WASHINGTON - Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before they are used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.

Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions in the international community over any possible safety concerns, said Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne.

'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,' said Wynne."


There's so much wrong with this one, I'm not even sure where to begin...

Bush seeks to eliminate need for pesky 'courts', 'due process' and 'constitution'...

Washington Post: "A draft Bush administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the reach and authority of such 'commissions' to include trials, for the first time, of people who are not members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban and are not directly involved in acts of international terrorism, according to officials familiar with the proposal.

The plan, which would replace a military trial system ruled illegal by the Supreme Court in June, would also allow the secretary of defense to add crimes at will to those under the military court's jurisdiction. The two provisions would be likely to put more individuals than previously expected before military juries, officials and independent experts said.

The draft proposed legislation, set to be discussed at two Senate hearings today, is controversial inside and outside the administration because defendants would be denied many protections guaranteed by the civilian and traditional military criminal justice systems.

Under the proposed procedures, defendants would lack rights to confront accusers, exclude hearsay accusations, or bar evidence obtained through rough or coercive interrogations. They would not be guaranteed a public or speedy trial and would lack the right to choose their military counsel, who in turn would not be guaranteed equal access to evidence held by prosecutors."


The implications and potential for abuse here are monstrous.

Subverting the courts, the constitution, and allowing government to pick anyone at random (or anyone who disagrees) off the street, sequester them, charge them with secret crimes using secret evidence, secret witnesses, without counsel, appeal, the right to face their accuser, see evidence or defend themselves in any meaningful way... Carried out by military courts on a civilian population.

Without hyperbole, this is the "justice" system of every evil and repressive regime throughout the world and throughout history - and exactly the kind of thing the founders of this country sought to protect the People from when they signed the Declaration of Independence and framed the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.

As regular readers know, we're not for or against any particular political party -- but we are 100% behind the principals of freedom, capitalism, individualism, personal accountability and the rights, guarantees and laws that safeguard them.

By the evidence of their actions and abuses, the body of their writings, opinions and policies presented before us, we have to conclude that the current administration and high-level advisors are against freedom, against justice, and against the founding principals of the United States of America.

Quick refresher course for those who have forgotten: these are worth reading or rereading...

The text of the Declaration of Independence
The text of the US Constitution
The text of the Bill of Rights

Are our elected officials, regardless of party, living up to their responsibilities?

Are we?

Senate Prepping Bill to Sue Bush

Associated Press: "A powerful Republican committee chairman who has led the fight against President Bush's signing statements said Monday he would have a bill ready by the end of the week allowing Congress to sue him in federal court.

'We will submit legislation to the United States Senate which will...authorize the Congress to undertake judicial review of those signing statements with the view to having the president's acts declared unconstitutional,' Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said on the Senate floor.

Specter's announcement came the same day that an American Bar Association task force concluded that by attaching conditions to legislation, the president has sidestepped his constitutional duty to either sign a bill, veto it, or take no action.

Bush has issued at least 750 signing statements during his presidency, reserving the right to revise, interpret or disregard laws on national security and constitutional grounds."


Wow. Who saw that one coming? It's about time Congress started checking and balancing.. Oh wait.. election year. Makes perfect sense now...