Steven D. notes:

"The FBI has a Terror Watch List of 400,000 names on it. Does that seem extreme to you? Because it seems absolutely insane to me."

If only there was someone in charge of this FBI thingy, someone who had the legal authority to do something about it? Perhaps someone who had taken an oath something like this one:

Via Daily Mail:

Spies may soon be bugging conversations using actual insects, thanks to research funded by the US military.

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has spent years developing a whole host of cyborg critters, in the hopes of creating the ultimate 'fly on the wall'.

Now a team of researchers led by Hirotaka Sato have created cyborg beetles which are guided wirelessly via a laptop.

Researchers at UC Berkeley have implanted surveillance equipment into beetles that allows them to control where they fly

 Read more…

Montana Maven explains what the Democratic central committees in her state did. As a result Max Baucus was forced to admit in public that co-ops and trusting insurance companies to regulate themselves won't get the job done.

Calling themselves the Coalition of the United Montana Democratic Central
Committees, the group's statement announces it has "established a position in support
of a strong public option as an essential element in health care reform." In specifying the
necessary components needed for such a public option, they list:

• National Coverage
• Availability to all Americans

 Read more…

From the invaluable McClatchy:

WASHINGTON — A federal district judge ruled Monday that the CIA repeatedly misled him in asserting that state secrets were involved in a 15-year-old lawsuit involving allegedly illegal wiretapping.

He's the Chief Magistrate for the District of Columbia. He's a Texan. He's a former JAG lawyer and presided over the FISA court for seven years. He's apparently no fan of the government's penchants for sluffery.
The judge doesn't seem to think the Obama administration arguments for keeping the filings in the case a secret have any more merit than those of the Bush administration. He's ordered the filings declassified.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth also ordered former CIA director George Tenet and five other CIA officials to explain their actions or face potential sanctions.

Lamberth also questioned the credibility of current CIA Director Leon Panetta, saying that Panetta's testimony in the case contained significant discrepancies, and rejected an Obama administration request that the case continue to be kept secret. He released hundreds of previously secret filings.

"The court does not give the government a high degree of deference because of its prior misrepresentations regarding the stated secrets privilege in this case," Lamberth wrote. "Although this case has been sealed since its inception to protect sensitive information, it is clear . . . that many of the issues are unclassified."

 Read more…

and who is now in deep doodoo. Per Wired article posted at Truthout.

An NSA intelligence analyst was apparently investigated after accessing Clinton's personal correspondence in the database, the paper [NYTimes] reports, though it didn't say how many of Clinton's e-mails were captured or when the interception occurred.

[Warning: Virus detected when I clicked through to the NYTimes article; has happened other times going to the Times site.]

The database, codenamed Pinwale, allows NSA analysts to search through and read large volumes of e-mail messages, including correspondence to and from Americans. Pinwale is likely the end point for data sucked from internet backbones into NSA-run surveillance rooms at AT&T facilities around the country.

Smart cooks will notice how long the various parts of the meal take, and start by making the brownies first. (Yes, it is worthwhile, especially when cooking for a crowd, to read labels and avoid MSG. I get migraines from it, and I learned I'm not the only one this week.)

This fed a dozen hungry kids and about a fourth of their parents Wednesday night, with enough leftovers for two adults' lunches

It appears the Obama administration is looking to rollback the rights of defendants. Why? Well, basically, because they can:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is asking the Supreme Court to overrule longstanding law that stops police from initiating questions unless a defendant’s lawyer is present, another stark example of the White House seeking to limit rather than expand rights.

...

 Read more…

To all those Americans who wish they had the benefits or protection of Canadian citizenship, well, the value of the above has dropped like a stone in recent history, and none so obviously as with the current absurd Abousfian Abdelrazik episode. The poor man has a family in Canada, is a Canadian citizen by refugee asylum, and has been stuck in a Kafkaesque multiyear nightmare starting with imprisonment and torture by the Sudanese government, and ending with his residence at the Canadian embassy in Khartoum, which will not offer him a passport to return to Canada.

Because, damn, but they taste good. Not only that, they're gorgeous to look at.

And that's BEFORE you do stuff with 'em like bringiton's improved recipe for chicken, potatoes, and blood oranges.
I live in zone 7a.

The NOX team has perfected dozens of methods of tagging people without their knowledge.

What country would you live in if you didn't move? (H/T to Bob Morris of Politics in the Zero's, http://polizeros.com/2008/12/30/the-unit...)

Experian buys Maple Grove health data provider

Experian is spending $90 million to acquire Maple Grove-based SearchAmerica Inc., which provides data services to health providers.

One of SearchAmerica’s top businesses involves using credit bureau and other financial data to help health care providers gauge whether patients will be able to pay. Experian, an Irish company with U.S. headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif., is one of the largest credit reporting companies in the United States.

Do you think medical decisions should be based on your credit history?

As an Air Force vet who's proud of my service, I find this story absolutely appalling.

I also think that if the economy weren't in the toilet the new supervisor at this courthouse wouldn't be so quick to force an experienced and well-liked employee to take down his flag.

Photo Credit: Jessica Griffin, philly.com

But then again, politics is all about one-upsmanship, isn't it? Especially when you get to show off just how big a butthat you can be in your new supervisory position.

Do not be fooled, amidst all of the election hoopla the fact has remained that the right (wrong) is still totally bat-shit crazy. Conservative columnist Cal Thomas penned in his December 1st column that:

a new way of tracking people. Oh, gotta love those cell phones.

Just found this article over at The Agonist, posted by Tina from Raw Story, on how the government can track cell phones without assistance from the telcos -- by tricking the phones into thinking they're communicating with a cell phone tower.

Apparently, irony isn't dead after all.
It's just gone stealth.

Didn't vote the straight ticket after all.

So it's been bothering me for a long time now: what is it going to take? This country has tolerated the travesty that is the "Drug War" for decades; ok, I grok that as it's "only" brown and black and poor people who suffer AIDS and rape and death as a result of imprisonment. This country has also come to sleep in and miss the fact that we're bombing/shooting/raping/killing brown non-xtians in a war of choice; again, I sort of understand as that war is far away and not often on teevee, from which most people construct their 'reality.' Obama, unlike MLK, felt the need to surround himself with 000s of "security" folk in a mass grouping of fellow democracts; I guess that's a statement on how far we've (not) come since the glory days of the Civil Rights movement. But St. Paul? MN? Some of you do/have lived there; you must know how gentle and "neighborly" most of MN really is, and how infrequently it's upset by security theatre. Amy Goodman got arrested. I guess that's not surprising or worthy news to most people. But gosh, I really do wonder what it will take. Armed camps? Mass arrest of suburbanites? Shooting xtian babies and their moms?

Wake up America. Or rather, how do we wake up America? That whole logic of "I was not a [x], so I didn't speak up when they came for [x]" is starting to seem like so much more than distant memory. Is it just me? Video (one of many from the links)

All I can say is that while I'm sorry she missed her flight, bully for her! Way to go, grrl. When Bras attack:

When Berkeley resident Nancy Kates arrived at Oakland International Airport to board JetBlue flight 472, she thought she was heading off on a routine journey to visit her mother in Boston. Instead she ended up in a standoff with Transportation Safety Administration officials over her bra.
For Kates, on Sunday, though, the security check got too invasive. A big-busted woman wearing a large underwire bra, she set off the metal detector. She was pulled aside and checked by a female TSA agent with a metal-sensitive wand.

"The woman touched my breast. I said, 'You can't do that,' " Kates said. "She said, 'We have to pat you down.' I said, 'You can't treat me as a criminal for wearing a bra.' "

 Read more…

Data From Checkpoints To Be Kept for 15 Years

The federal government has been using its system of border checkpoints to greatly expand a database on travelers entering the country by collecting information on all U.S. citizens crossing by land, compiling data that will be stored for 15 years and may be used in criminal and intelligence investigations.

Why do I get the feeling that the Republicans are preparing to close the border? Get the feeling the emigration numbers are beginning to worry them?

A 45273 [at] kcnc [dot] dayport [dot] com">sneak peek at where arrested convention protesters will be warehoused.

(via the Make Them Accountable e-mail newsletter)

Cross-posted from The Global Sociology Blog.

Scott Jaschik was at the ASA meeting (I had breakfast next to him on Saturday morning) and he has an interesting article in Inside Higher Ed regarding the relationship between sociology, criminology and criminal justice. These disciplines are usually considered to be "cousins". Sociology broadly provides most of the background that goes into criminology, understood as the study of the ins and out of the criminal justice system with a theoretical background. Criminal Justice often includes the more vocational aspects of the field, something often nicknamed the "cop shop" aspect of teaching. So what are the issues here?  Read more…

Cross-posted from The Global Sociology Blog.

In addition to the plenary session which I'll talk about below, I attended a couple of teaching workshops sessions that are probably of interest only to me, but they provide me with materials for

Things that suck and make me run out of the room within the first 20 minutes of a session   Read more…

Another day, another guy coincidentally dies after being Tased repeatedly.

Via digby:

A Statesville man died after being shocked multiple times by Tasers at the Iredell County jail over the weekend, sources say.

Anthony Davidson, 29, was unresponsive when he was taken to Iredell Memorial Hospital Saturday afternoon. He was put on life support and died late Sunday night, police said.

His death is the second Taser-related death this year in the Charlotte area. In March, 17-year-old Darryl Wayne Turner, died after Charlotte-Mecklenburg police used a Taser on him at a Food Lion store in Charlotte.

[...]

The incident began about 3 p.m. Saturday at a Statesville grocery store. Employees at the Food Lion on N.C. 115 told police they tried unsuccessfully to stop Davidson from leaving the store with a full cart of groceries after his debit card was declined. He left the parking lot without the groceries, police said.

When officers caught up with Davidson a short time later, he was carrying an Applebee's gift card from the store that hadn't been paid for, Anderson said.

Officers took Davidson to the Iredell County Jail where he appeared before a magistrate on a larceny charge. Davidson was behaving abnormally from the time officers first encountered him, Anderson said.

While being booked, Davidson became “physically aggressive and was communicating loudly,” Anderson said. That's when officers used one or more Tasers to get him “back under control,” police said.

A nurse who screened Davidson afterward told officers he needed further medical screening because he appeared to be “under the influence of some type of impairing substance.”

Paramedics took Davidson to the hospital Saturday. His condition continued to decline and he was unresponsive when he arrived, Anderson said. He was admitted to intensive care and was taken off life support about 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

[...]

Davidson's family said they weren't aware of him using or having a problem with drugs or alcohol... They said police told them Davidson fell while being subdued and may have hit his head.

An autopsy is scheduled later this week, Moore said.

Last month, the officer involved in the Charlotte Taser incident was cleared of criminal charges [So much for the Milgram Dodge, eh?] but was suspended for five days [wow!] for violating the department's policy when he continuously shocked Darryl Turner for 37 seconds, a factor that contributed to his death.

They tased him to "get him back under control". Everything I've been told by Taser defenders leads me to believe - and I have no reason to doubt them - that they think Tasers are necessary to prevent the use of lethal force.

There is no discernible reason why lethal force should have been used to "control" an unarmed suspect who is "physically aggressive" (can we see the video?) and "communicating loudly". I'm pretty sure everyone can agree on that. So why the hell did they Tase him? I am sympathetic to the argument that a Taser is less harmful than a billy club to the head, but the guy was in handcuffs, for christ's sake.

As Atticus Finch said to Jem, "Never point a gun at a man unless you intend to shoot him, and never shoot a man unless you intend to kill him," or something to that effect. A Taser may be less likely to kill than a gun but certain people will die from it and that fact seems to be ignored an awful lot in these discussions. Shooting someone with a Taser should be a direct, 1:1 substitute for shooting them with a bullet, without exception.

The naked guy standing in the shower with a towel did not require a bullet. Baron Pikes didn't require a bullet. The guy who wouldn't sign his speeding ticket didn't require a bullet. The Polish guy in the Vancouver airport didn't require a bullet. The kid with a broken back did not require a bullet. This guy did not require a bullet. I'm not convinced anyone who has died after being Tased has required a bullet. I'm sure that it makes the cops' jobs easier and safer for themselves if they Tase more people instead of wrestling them to the ground; I don't care. I'd like my job to be easier and safer, but I don't get to make the rules. The police do not have a right to a completely submissive citizenry and they should be prevented from trying to create one.

And if you don't think that's an accurate description of this cavalier attitude:

Taser-related deaths across North Carolina prompted a coalition to study Taser use. The N.C. Taser Safety Project surveyed the state's 100 sheriff's offices and found that 70 issued Tasers to some or all of its deputies, but many agencies lack clear policies about when and how they should be used.

...then what is? Replace "Tasers" with "guns" and it sounds like a story from Baghdad, doesn't it?

[Bonjour, mon general! --lambert]

An imminent threat

So, yesterday morning, a 16-year-old boy in Ozark, Missouri fell off a 30-foot I-65 overpass for unknown reasons. When the police arrived on the scene, they promptly administered first aid Tased him 19 times because he wouldn't "comply" with their orders to stand up. (Thank god for Tasers, otherwise they'd have had to put him down like a broken racehorse, eh?)

Mace ended up in intensive care at a hospital. His parents believe the actions of Ozark police officers contributed to his injuries and slowed doctors’ abilities to speed his recovery.

The official explanation:

“He refused to comply with the officers and so the officers had to deploy their Tasers in order to subdue him. He is making incoherent statements; he's also making statements such as, ‘Shoot cops, kill cops,’ things like that. So there was cause for concern to the officers,” said Ozark Police Capt. Thomas Rousset.

Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what he said after falling off a fucking bridge. They must have felt very threatened indeed by a possibly-paraplegic child. No word on whether he announced to the world that he was high on crack and PCP yet.

I don't even know what to say anymore. It really is a gaslight scenario. I wish I could at least attribute this to racism or something, but it appears these cops are bona fide sociopaths. _{Subliminal Stanley Milgram: No, they're not! Subliminal me: Harumph...}

I can't say I'll be surprised with they start Tasing motorcycle crash victims. We Are All Violently High On Crack And PCP Now.