Under Connecticut statute the state is allowed to adopt rules whereby it charges inmates the cost of their incarceration.
On first read I would guess that Connecticut will avoid any first amendment problems here because it is not going after the proceeds of the book as having been created as a profit from a crime, but instead it is pursuing the inmates income to recoup the costs of incarceration.
... school officials cited written policy, made available to parents, that specifically prohibits students from bringing to school vitamins and even look-alike candies. The concern is that another student, possibly allergic to the substance, could have taken it.I wonder if all potentially allergy aggravating substances are prohibited in the written policy?
Captain Mark Aguirre is due to find out any minute now whether or not he is going to be fired for his actions last August. Captain Aguirre also faces five counts of official oppression arising from his alleged behavior in the mass arrest of innocent people.
UPDATE: Mark Aguirre was fired for his role in the MACFU.
The Houston police captain who ordered the arrests of 303 people at westside raids was fired Wednesday, ending a five-month investigation that tarnished the careers of 32 officers and cost the department [so far]$123,000.There's quite a bit more of Aguirre's pissy whining and moaning at the linked article.Acting Police Chief Tim Oettmeier announced Mark Aguirre's firing during his report to City Council on the August raids targeting drag racing. He said 31 other officers were disciplined.
"The intentional bad acts of a certain few were exacerbated by an ignorance of the law, ineffective management, lackadaisical supervision and just plain sloppy police work," Oettmeier said.
In Aguirre's first public comment since late August, he lambasted Oettmeier and the Houston Police Department, saying they made him a scapegoat for a dysfunctional department.
"They treated me like a department piñata," Aguirre said. "This department is hopelessly corrupt, and this is a grotesque charade posing as justice."
Aguirre, indicted on five counts of official oppression in connection with the raids at the Kmart and James Coney Island parking lots, had been suspended since August.
It looks like he has a few technical kinks to work out, for my browser anyway, but his posts are just as interesting and entertaining as ever.
"We mean footballs and basketballs. Farmers may also need to change the balls so the pigs don't get tired with the same one. Different colour ones will do. These rules are based on good welfare.""We don't want to come across as the nanny state... ." Too late.The official added, "We don't want to come across as the nanny state, but the important thing is to see pigs happy in their environment and they like to forage with their noses."
He added that hanging chains were also good, since pigs could brush their noses against them. The Government is not ready to recommend specific toys, however, because they know of no firm manufacturing playthings for pigs.
As playthings for the pigs might I suggest the decapitated heads of EU nanny state do-gooders?
Europe is doomed. They are regulating children's playgrounds out of existence but they are requiring pigs be given toys to play with. I guess we've finally passed 1984 on the Orwell time line as we now square find ourselves smack dab in the middle of an Animal Farm pig sty.
Two legs bad, four legs good.
UPDATE: A reader suggests I should tag the EU with the slogan, "Toys for pigs, none for kids."
People always asking Karl Malone, "Do Jimmy Kimmel's bit about you bother Karl Malone?"
Karl Malone say he never seen that Man Show, but he heard it was all jus' good clean fun.
Karl Malone say that Jimmy Kimmel's new show is painfully slow, lacks production value, and should be off the air within two months. Too bad for those folk in the audience that ABC done gone and dried up the bar that serve audience members drinks. The only way anyone could make it through that show would be if they was drunk. Now they got to get drunk on their own nickel. That make Karl Malone sad, thinking about a bunch of sober people watching that show.
Hell, Karl Malone has eaten sammiches that are more interesting than Jimmy Kimmel's new talkshow show.
Karl Malone say he gonna stick with the Daily Show, then Letterman, then going to sleep rather than watching Jimmy Kimmel burn through Disney money faster than that rat Mickey Mouse burn though Angel Dust. Hehe, that make Karl Malone laugh, thinking about that crazy mouse on the dust, but kids, don't do drugs. Drugs'll make you turn out like Jimmy Kimmel.
Happy Valentines Day, and until next time, this here Karl Malone.
"There's nothing sorrier than a nickel whore."
$20 per soul, what a bargain.
I pity anyone who would debase themself by participating in this legally sanctioned looting, conducted by after-the-fact whiny consumers and their sue-happy litigators. By seeking damages in the form of a refund for price-fixed CD's, litigators and their clients are stealing back from record companies moneys that changed hands in voluntary, uncoerced transactions.
If buyers didn't like the prices they were being charged they should not have completed their purchases.
Further, since the list of class participants will likely be made public, their shame will not be a private one.
Participants of this "class action" should have been held back a grade.
I am, however, heartened that the group running this game is having trouble scaring up class(-less) members. Perhaps today's consumers understand that this is a crappy settlement for a non-problem and that participating in this sham would only leave them feeling unclean.
The glum face of 5-year-old Luke Whitmarsh speaks volumes.Are you happy now Europe? What's next, taking his candy away?
With eyebrows furrowed, his eyes convey a mixture of hurt, anger and fear – emotions resulting from a crackdown by the European Union on his playground in the British village of Great Somerford, Wilts.
Whitmarsh's photograph accompanies The Sun report of European Standard BS EN 11 76. This new EU edict sets a maximum height for children’s swings at three meters (9 ft. 10 ins.).
The three swings Luke played on are two feet over the limit, so they have been removed 25 years after they were erected.
"It's very sad. The park's not exciting anymore," Luke told the Sun.
The British newspaper reports the European directive also includes other rules regulating the distance from the seats to the frame and to the ground.
In other watch-technology news, it was not a good moment for my Timex Internet Messenger when it elegized Richard Crenna with this 100-character maximum length message:
Richard Crenna - Actor who played Rambo's Colonel - Dies.
Now they are back in the news due to their inability to tell a fake owl from a real owl. Twice.
The second official, too dumb to be embarassed over his own gross incompetence, had the gall to suggest that the owl's owner "not put it back in the front yard, because bird-lovers could think it's inappropriate."
In fantastic American-Hero fashion, she not only put her owl back in her front yard, she posted a sign near it that reads, "This is not a real owl."
Well, some sucker would, did, and left their receipt behind.
I just love the fact that Lieberman is described simply as "OFFICIAL" in the headline.Rabbi and Mrs. Samuel Freilich of Riverdale, the Bronx, have announced the engagement of their daughter, Hadassah Freilich Tucker, to Joseph I. Lieberman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lieberman, of Stamford, Conn.
HADASSAH TUCKER TO MARRY OFFICIAL The wedding is planned for March 20.
The future bride is director of policy planning and communications with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, a division of Pfizer Inc. in New York. She graduated from Boston University and received a master's degree in American government and international relations form Northeastern University. Her marriage ended in divorce. Her father, who is retired was with Congregation Ohave Shalom in Gardner, Mass.
Mr. Lieberman is Attorney General of the State of Connecticut. From 1970 to 1980 he served in the Connecticut State Senate, the last six years as Senate Majority Leader. An alumnus of Yale College and the Yale Law School, he is the author of "The Power Brokers" and "The Scorpion and the Tarantula," published by the Houghton Mifflin Company in 1966 and 1970, respectively, and "The Legacy," published in 1981 by the Spoonwood Press. His marriage ended in divorce. His father, a partner in the Framer Realty Company in Stamford, was formerly president of Hamilton Liquors in Stamford.
"If the law says that if you are in a public location and intoxicated, you are subject to arrest," said Lt. Tor Bennett of the Reston District of the Fairfax County Police Department.I note a preponderence of "if's". Perhaps the good lieutenant isn't very secure in his grasp of this topic.
"Probably".[Lt. Tor Bennett] said that in practice, people who are a little intoxicated but minding their own business are probably not going to be bothered by police.
How's that for predictability in the promulgation of a knowable criminal law.
One of the first things I learned in criminal law was that criminal conduct must be knowable, that is, it should be defined by a bright line test. A code or statute that leaves determinations of criminality unclear is void of enfocability for vagueness.
And it doesn't ever get much more vague than "probably", with the possible exception of "probably not".
The person "must be drawing attention to themselves," said Bennett, who supervised the operation.Remember, when in Fairfax County DO NOT DRAW ATTENTION TO YOURSELF..
"What drew their attention to Mike [Heidig] in this particular evening was not a fight or disruption out in the parking lot," Bennett said. "Mike happened to be wearing a Santa Claus suit and was seen with a karoke machine at the bar and that's how he got arrested."Strange how Lieutenant Bennett keeps referring to Mr. Heidig by his first name, like they are old pals. Weird.Wear a Santa Suit, sing a Christmas carol, GO TO JAIL -- That's the law.
At least in Fairfax county, anyway.
Footballers and fans who make the sign of the cross at matches could face jail if new proposals to fight sectarianism in Scotland become law.It is the latest suggestion by an all-party group of MSPs set up by First Minister Jack McConnell to investigate religious bigotry. Their report says the gesture could provoke fans and should be regarded as a breach of the peace.
...
Under the proposals, players who make the sign of the cross, often at the start of a match or when they have scored a goal, would also be at risk of breaking the law.This week, a Scottish club director who is not a Catholic and does not want his name to be disclosed, told The Universe: 'If such a stupid suggestion became law in Scotland we could see an Italian or Spanish club playing Rangers at Ibrox in a European tie having their team arrested as they run onto the park before even a ball is kicked. It is quite bizarre.'
Government Acquisitions, a Charlotte, North Carolina company, has come up with a plan to provide police departments free cruisers in exchange for having the cars sport advertising reminiscent of blurbs seen on NASCAR race cars.No word yet as to whether or not advertisements for bail-bondsman and/or attorneys will be placed in view of the back seat.
I just passed Al Sharpton on the way into work. He was walking all alone, and it looked like he was going to breakfast at the hotel on the NE corner of Park Ave and 61st. I was thinking of something to say to him and came up with “Hello.” But the upper east side looking lady in front of me ran up to him and said something along the lines of “I saw you speak at something with some with friends, and I loved you. They kept saying how great they thought you were.”
Sharpton stood there and laughed with a big smile on his face. I wonder what he was thinking...
So my guess is that the U.S. military could disable large parts of the Internet, at least for a while, if they wanted. But I doubt that they would do so; it's far too useful an asset, and far too large a part of our economy. More interesting is whether they would try to disable pieces of it. If we went to war with country X, would we want to disable their portion of the Internet, or remove connections between their Internet and our Internet? Depending on the country, a low-tech solution might be the easiest: disable whatever undersea cables they're using as access. Could the U.S. military turn the Internet into a U.S.-only network if they wanted? That seems less likely, although again a low-tech solution involving the acquiescence of companies like Cable & Wireless might be the easiest.There's a lot more there, but only for hardcore crypto/sec geeks.One important thing to remember here is that you only want to shut an enemy's network down if you aren't getting useful information from it. The best thing to do is to infiltrate the enemy's computers and networks, spy on them, and surreptitiously disrupt select pieces of their communications when appropriate. The next best thing is to passively eavesdrop. After that, the next best is to perform traffic analysis. Only if you can't do any of that do you consider shutting the thing down.
When a military discovers a vulnerability in a common product, they can either alert the manufacturer and fix the vulnerability, or not tell anyone. In U.S. military circles, this is called the equities issue. It's not an easy decision. Fixing the vulnerability gives both the good guys and the bad guys a more secure system. Keeping the vulnerability secret means that the good guys can exploit the vulnerability to attack the bad guys, but it also means that the good guys are vulnerable.
His political career started at the former Burdick Junior High School, where he was the ninth-grade class president. By the time he graduated from Stamford High in 1960, Lieberman had been a member of the school's student council, jazz club, math club, a capella choir and was crowned prom king. The future senator was voted "Most Popular" and "Most Likely to Succeed" in the school's 1960 yearbook.I am reminded of Artie Ziff's attempt to woo Marge Simpson by recreating their high school prom.
...
Limone also said Lieberman's staff wanted an intimate setting where the senator could take questions from students and mingle with former classmates he has invited. [!?]
The Washington Post has finally seen fit to write about this action. Here are some choice quotes from the WaPo's article about swat-garbed officers arresting bar patrons:
"We're not talking about someone who was enjoying a cocktail or two and enjoying a nice evening out," Bennett said, noting that the nine men arrested had blood-alcohol levels ranging from 0.14 to 0.22. "They drew attention to themselves by their actions."I note that the officer mentions only that the patrons' actions drew attention to them, not "The patrons actions were illegal on sight." Well, the hammered-nail sticks out, gets popped, and then most assuredly is no longer having a "nice evening out."
Funny that the police officer relies on quoting blood alcohol levels of bar patrons when
Kent Willis of the Virginia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union said the law does not specify what level of blood alcohol constitutes public drunkenness.I wonder under what right/statute these folks were compelled to provide breath/blood samples? Was consent asked for and received? Many states compel BAC testing under their vehicle and traffic codes, but without any driving involved I wonder if the use of testing equipment and resources is proper?[It might be possible that the BAC numbers quoted were based merely upon the officers' observations, but I doubt that a spokesman would give a quote without test results to back up any statement of BAC.]
Are your recreation plans FCPD approved?
Police consider the operation a success and said they would consider doing it again. Lt. Tor Bennett, assistant commander of the Reston District station, described it as a "low-key" operation designed to stop drunks before they got behind the wheel."Low-key" does not properly describe an operation that gets written up in both major local papers, offend civil-libertarians and tavern patrons and owners alike.
"It does smack of a pending police state if law enforcement is going into establishments to monitor behavior," said Lynne Breaux, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Association.It more than smacks of it. It is.
One man who was arrested during one of the police raids acknowledged having several drinks during the course of the afternoon, but said he was not driving or acting unruly as he sat at a table with several work colleagues. He had just finished singing "Jingle Bell Rock" on the karaoke machine when an officer asked him to step outside. He failed a breath test and was taken in a van to jail."I've lived my life with tremendous respect for the rule of law," said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is contesting the charges.
Now his respect is tarnished.
"You could be anybody, anywhere, and they can take you out and throw you in jail," he said. ". . .I didn't do anything other than to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Note still the mention of a breath test, yet the lack of any statutory standard for BAC for non-drivers. By what right did the police compel a breath test? Also, note the lack of any mentioned complainaint other than the police.
Though the anonymous patron said it well, I still think Ayn Rand said it best.
Via 
[BTW - Here's the cited case, in case you need to look it up.]
A Canadian man killed when his truck rolled on an Iraqi highway had gone to the country to act as a human shield in the event of war against Saddam Hussein, the peace group that sent him there said yesterday.
I used to lean towards Ender's Game.
Now I'm thinking Hard Boiled.
"This helps everybody," said Cindy Jimenez, spokeswoman for Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who backed the program. "The reason (Pelosi) did this was it would help her constituents access services there, including our office."Constituents?
Constituents!?
So now illegal aliens are to be counted as constituents. Funny, I thought that they were simply criminal trespassers in the United States. California is lost.
Tell me when the PRC starts to fly the Aztlan flag
John Seth was not happy when he returned to his car after making an early afternoon delivery in downtown Seattle last month and found that he'd left his lights on.At some point there will simply be so many laws that anyone out in public, and maybe even some simply defined as being in a public place, can be fined/ticketed/arrested for simply being.He was even less pleased when a city parking-enforcement officer handed him a $28 parking ticket. Not for being in a space illegally or for having an expired meter — it was for those headlights.
...
Seth, a driver for the film company Film Stop, had no idea he could get a parking ticket merely for forgetting to turn off his lights — and he's not alone. The handful of police, city and court officials who could be reached yesterday said they'd never heard of anyone being penalized for such a thing."Even I am not aware of a law" that makes leaving lights on a citable offense, said Leo Poort, legal counsel to the Seattle Police Department. "It'd be news to me."
...
If there's any silver lining for Seth, it might be that if he had gotten the ticket today, it would be $38 instead of $28 because of the city's efforts to balance the 2003 budget.
"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." - Ayn Rand
