TSA now seizing and copying journalist laptops, cameras, and cell phones without probable cause. (CORRECTION: It’s customs agents seizing the equipment, not TSA.)
Weird headline of the week: Sheriff Joe Arpaio strips Shaq of his badge for spontaneous rap about Kobe.
Canadian police agree to draw back the use of tasers.
Retired general who investigated Abu Ghraib says the Bush administration is guilty of war crimes.
Okay, okay. So this might be the shittiest monument to date.
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on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 8:47 am by Radley Balko
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TheAgitator.com
“an Francisco is to hold a vote on whether to rename one of its largest sewage treatment facilities after George W. Bush, in what supporters describe as “a fitting monument to the President’s work”.
Priceless.
Radley, I think that’s more ICE doing the laptop shenanigans than the TSA.
And if I were Shaq, I would have turned in any badges to that scumbag Arpaio a long time ago. I like the idea that it’s ok to use the power of your office to baldly harass, threaten, and intimidate people, but making an ordinary rap song goes beyond the pale!
” TSA now seizing and copying journalist laptops, cameras, and cell phones without probable cause.”
First of all, January called and they want their news back. And second of all you fail at summarizing: The TSA is doing nothing of the sort, this is ONLY happening in U.S. Customs. That doesn’t make it much less of an affront to privacy but the law is different for customs; 4th amendment rules generally have been found not to apply when you are entering the country.
In the comments of the George W. Bush sewage works article:
“If the sewage treatment system works then why name it after W?”
Friggin’ classic.
Regarding the latest TSA seizures, I always love it when Congress decides to have hearings to investigate some new outrage as if they’re surprised and completely unaware that something untoward could be happening in government, especially the executive branch.
It’s as if government is happening all around them and not only are they clueless about what’s going on, they’re probably powerless to fix it.
I’m no fan of Bush, but my gut reaction is that what San Francisco is doing is class-less. Very funny, but class-less. If I were a tax-paying citizen of the Bay Area, I’d be very upset about having to pay for re-lettering just to give a metaphorical middle-finger, no matter how much I dislike a person.
And second of all you fail at summarizing
Hey, Alfred, quit being such a dick.
How is it Kobe Byant’s fault that Shaq’s wife is divorcing him? Did Kobe force Shaq to fuck all those hookers?
As far as Tasers are concerned…
No, it doesn’t seem that they are as “harmless” as advertised. (I never thought they were, quite frankly.)
However, I’d rather take my chances with a Taser, than face the alternative.
Everyone here does know what that is, right?
Firm, polite negotiation?
……but I thought San Franciscans’ shit didn’t stink?!?
Let’s look back at this scenario in about 20 years and compare legacies of one Spreakress of the House, and one two-term President. I suspect history will have a different opinion of who’s reputation will have been flushed down the shitter…….
“Firm, polite negotiation?”
No, a bullet in the back of your head. At least they haven’t caught on to the Chinese system of charging the family for the bullet.
Two senators have called for CPB to back off of laptop searches.
Because they’re hard left-wingers, they will be ignored.
http://www.macworld.com/article/134162/2008/06/laptop_searches.html
Regarding U.S. Customs: I’m not sure how exactly they justify impounding laptops and copying hard drives. Either the device is under some sort of import restriction or it is not. It seems like copying hard drives is just a way to start fishing expeditions later on. They aren’t going to stop terrorism by randomly searching laptops of otherwise unsuspicious citizens. They are more likely to just embarrass someone who had looked at some naughty pictures and forget to run Eraser on his cache.
Regarding SF Waste Treatment: I grew up in the Bay Area and have no love for W Bush (or his predecessor, or the Dems he ran against in 2000 and 2004, or either of his likely replacements,…) and I do like San Francisco.
That said, this is just the sort of thing that leaves so much of the country thinking that SF houses a bunch of self-indulgent, petulant children. How is this anything other than people who don’t like him throwing a figurative spitball at Bush? Should people in Houston rename a woman’s sexual abuse and crisis center after Clinton? This is lowbrow comedy masquerading as political protest.
Tom…
Did you get this off MSN?…