If you don’t see how this action by this brave little woman puts the underline on the sexual abuse committed by the TSA every day, then you only have two IQ digits to rub together.
Woman Gropes TSA Agent’s Breast at Security Checkpoint: MyFoxNY.com
Schadenfraught in Austin: Hoisted by His Own Petard
February 11, 2011 5 Comments
It’s a truism that almost all government-mandated licensing and regulation is codified not for the “protection of the public.” Almost to a rule, the regulations are pushed by players in an industry to create barriers to entry and to quash competition. This is true whether you’re talking about licensing of hair stylists, interior decorators, medical professionals or whatever.
Almost every function, inspection and quality assurance could be carried out by independent, third-party inspectors — think Underwriter’s Lab. Restaurant inspections, certifications and so on — all could be carried out without the force of law and with greater efficiency. The very image of a city restaurant inspector is a fat guy on the take. Competition would keep those giving out seals of approval honest.
That’s why this case out of Austin is so Schadenfraught.
I Believe the Germans Have a Word for This
Radley Balko | February 11, 2011
Incumbent food truck magnate in Austin develops totally-civic-minded-and-not-at-all-protectionist “health, safety and environmental concerns” over a massive increase in the number trucks that have sprung up to compete with him . . .
. . . demands city council pass stricter regulations of his own industry . . .
. . . now faces a bureaucratic nightmare as his own fleet of trucks can’t pass the regulations he insisted were necessary to protect the public.
North Texas Fusion Center: It’s As Bad As You Suspect
February 2, 2011 1 Comment
Everyone’s a terrorist now.
—————-
Cato’s David Rittgers rounds up cases of terrorist “fusion centers” erring on the side of labeling, well, pretty much everyone, a potential terrorist.
The North Texas Fusion System labeled Muslim lobbyists as a potential threat; a DHS analyst in Wisconsin thought both pro- and anti-abortion activists were worrisome; a Pennsylvania homeland security contractor watched environmental activists, Tea Party groups, and a Second Amendment rally; the Maryland State Police put anti-death penalty and anti-war activists in a federal terrorism database; a fusion center in Missouri thought that all third-party voters and Ron Paul supporters were a threat; and the Department of Homeland Security described half of the American political spectrum as “right wing extremists.â€
The ACLU fusion center report and update lay out some good background on these issues, and the Spyfiles report describes how monitoring lawful dissent has become routine for police departments around the nation.
I believe this is the part where right wingers justify including anti-war and environmental groups on these lists, and left wingers justify including Tea Partiers, anti-abortion activists, and Second Amendment advocates.
But I Don’t Want to Be A Pirate ‘Patriotic’
January 27, 2011 2 Comments
(Headline hint: Seinfeld, puffy shirt)
There Are No Sensible Gun Control Laws Or Restrictions. None.
January 20, 2011 1 Comment
Let’s say I have this cake. It is a very nice cake, with “GUN RIGHTS†written across the top in lovely floral icing. Along you come and say, “Give me that cake.â€
I say, “No, it’s my cake.â€
You say, “Let’s compromise. Give me half.†I respond by asking what I get out of this compromise, and you reply that I get to keep half of my cake.
Okay, we compromise. Let us call this compromise The National Firearms Act of 1934.
There I am with my half of the cake, and you walk back up and say, “Give me that cake.â€
I say, “No, it’s my cake.â€
You say, “Let’s compromise.†What do I get out of this compromise? Why, I get to keep half of what’s left of the cake I already own.
So, we have your compromise — let us call this one the Gun Control Act of 1968 — and I’m left holding what is now just a quarter of my cake.
And I’m sitting in the corner with my quarter piece of cake, and here you come again. You want my cake. Again.
This time you take several bites — we’ll call this compromise the Clinton Executive Orders — and I’m left with about a tenth of what has always been MY DAMN CAKE and you’ve got nine-tenths of it.
Then we compromised with the Lautenberg Act (nibble, nibble), the HUD/Smith and Wesson agreement (nibble, nibble), the Brady Law (NOM NOM NOM), the School Safety and Law Enforcement Improvement Act (sweet tap-dancing Freyja, my finger!)
I’m left holding crumbs of what was once a large and satisfying cake, and you’re standing there with most of MY CAKE, making anime eyes and whining about being “reasonableâ€, and wondering “why we won’t compromiseâ€.
I’m done with being reasonable, and I’m done with compromise. Nothing about gun control in this country has ever been “reasonable†nor a genuine “compromise.”
Schutze: A Man Crush
January 12, 2011 1 Comment
He and I will never see eye to eye on so much, but this is why I can’t quit him:
Two things. First, I would like for people to quit bitching about my photo. One guy wrote in that he found it “disturbing.” Well, WTF, Einstein. It’s not meant to be a sympathy card.
Second: Another guy wrote in with a really good idea yesterday. I had written about how the city is persecuting Robert Groden, the Kennedy assassination guy, because he’s selling his books and magazines in Dealey Plaza without a Dealey Plaza Literature Sales Permit or DPLSP, which, I should mention, is a term I made up. And here is why I made up such a term:
The city has taken Groden to court on a charge of selling literature in Dealey Plaza without a permit allowing him to sell literature in Dealey Plaza. But there is no such thing as a permit to allow anybody to sell literature in Dealey Plaza.
I was pointing out that this is the kind of Kafkaesque/Soviet bullshit that Dallas City Hall thinks is clever. Fine the guy for not having a permit. But then when he tries to go get one, tell him that no such permits exist.
I had written before about City Hall security and the requirement that members of the press present credentials at certain types of events. But in Dallas there is no such thing as an official press credential. So I said I just make mine on the copying machine with some cheap laminating sheets you can buy by the box.
Former Dallas Cop Goes Down Again
January 6, 2011 5 Comments
Got word of this last night from a great Dallas police officer, and now it’s up at FrontBurner.
As boss man Tim puts it:
If you’ve been following along at home, you know that four Dallas cops sued D Magazine for libel in 2008. For those who need to catch up, you can read about how the whole deal started right here. Needless to say, we and our fine lawyers and Haynes and Boone believe the suit is without merit. Nonetheless, it drags on. We won a judgment against them. They’ve appealed. It’ll be another six months probably before we get a ruling from the appellate court.
One of the plaintiffs in the suit against us is Jeffrey Nelson, who is now known to the fine folks of Seven Points, Texas, as Police Chief Jack Nelson. Or he was until recently. Seven points is east of Ennis, out by Gun Barrel City. After a political shakeup in Seven Points, Nelson was installed as the top cop there in July 2010. But just five months later, in November, Nelson had to resign “amidst allegations that he had made a sexual and racial slur to a female officer in the department.â€
Here’s my 2007 investigative story that got Nelson, et al, up in D’s grill.
I give Tim the last word since he put it so perfectly:
Our magazine has spent quite a lot of time and money dealing with the groundless lawsuit that Nelson filed against us. Reading that story from the Athens Review about the allegations against Nelson, the word “schadenfreude†comes to mind.
The Line Must Be Drawn Here
October 21, 2010 2 Comments
It’s too much to hope this is the start of an “I am Spartacus” movement, but this ExpressJet pilot shows us how we should all deal with the pickpockets and gorilla gropers who constitute the TSA, which now wants nudie pictures of you before you can board.
He. Said. No.
CNN) — A pilot who refused to submit to a full-body scan or the alternative pat down going through airport security said the procedures violate his
rights.
Michael Roberts, a pilot for ExpressJet Airlines, refused a full-body scan last week at a Transportation Security Administration check point at Memphis International Airport in Memphis, Tennessee.
Opting out of scanning is permitted, but those who opt out must receive an enhanced pat down from a TSA employee.
“Pat down is misleading,” Roberts said. “They concentrate on the area between … the upper thighs and torso, and they’re not just patting people’s arms and legs, they’re grabbing and groping and prodding pretty aggressively.”
Roberts said TSA security measures are ineffective, and cited concerns for his rights and privacy in refusing the procedures.
“I was trying to avoid this assault on my person, and I’m not willing to have images of my nude body produced for some stranger in another room to look at either,” Roberts told CNN.
Here’s the best part, TSA’s rationale.
The TSA said in a statement that “security is not optional” and any person who refuses security screening is not allowed to fly.
“TSA’s responsibility is to keep the traveling public safe and we use an unpredictable variety of security techniques to carry out this mission,” the statement said.
“Crew members have access to sensitive areas of both airports and airplanes, making it necessary for all crew members to be subject to multiple layers of security.”
The pilot doesn’t need to smuggle on nail clippers or a Glock. He sits behind the wheel of a multi-ton, turbine powered, 400 mph guided missile.
Captain Michael Roberts, badass of the week, shows us how we can all take back our dignity.
Because What Does Freedom Have to Do With Voting, Amirite?
October 20, 2010 5 Comments
Via DailyCaller
A Dallas-area woman was denied the right to vote on Monday because she was wearing a button bearing a Gadsden flag — the rattlesnake under the words “Don’t Tread on Me†that has become the unofficial image of the Tea Party.
Katrina Pierson, who sits on the steering committee of the Dallas Tea Party and is also involved with the Garland Tea Party, told The Daily Caller that “around 11 o’clock yesterday,†a Garland Tea Party member, reported that she was told by an election official that she could not vote unless she removed her button. A second election official, Pierson said, did not recognize the button and did not understand why the other official was not permitting the woman to vote.
According to Pierson, the woman refused to remove her button, saying it was a violation of her first amendment rights, and called the sheriff’s office. The sheriff
passed the matter on to the Dallas County Election Department, which failed to act.
The woman opted not to vote until she had done more research and figured out whether or not the election official was allowed to do that. The Garland Tea Party is currently conducting that investigation on her behalf.
“If we have to file suit against the county, we will,†says Pierson.
Pierson said that she had heard of a similar incident in Waco, Texas, where a voter was not permitted to vote while wearing a Waco Tea Party T-shirt.
Election officials, apparently, were concerned that sporting such symbols constituted electioneering, which the Texas election code specifically prohibits within “within one hundred feet†of the polls.
But Pierson says, “It’s not electioneering, it’s not a candidate, it’s not a party affiliation.â€
The Dallas Tea Party does not consider itself a political party. The code of conduct listed on its website defines the group as such: “The Dallas Tea Party is, and will continue to be, an expressly non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to citizen education, empowerment and engagement.†The code says the group will not “issue … endorsements of candidates†nor will it campaign for any candidate in any way. This is a significant difference from Tea Party groups such as the Tea Party Express, which endorses and campaigns for candidates.
The Dallas Tea Party has sent an e-mail to various Tea Party groups around the state notifying them of what happened, and is calling for people to not back down:
“We encourage you to wear a Gadsden Flag T-shirt or ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ button when you go to cast your vote,†the e-mail says. “If you are denied your right to vote because of your open public support of the tea party movement, we encourage you to DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.â€
Asked why, as this seems counterproductive if members will not be permitted to vote, Pierson explained:
“They’re Tea Party members, and we stand for constitutional rights, and the first amendment being a very important one. If being an American citizen disqualifies you from voting, then we have a bigger problem than we thought.â€
Yeah, see, the Gadsden flag is not a symbol of any party. It’s one of the banners flown in the American Revolution.
All this shows is they didn’t tar and feather near enough people back then. Or now.