Saturday, December 10, 2011

Security and law enforcement idiocy tonight

First, on the molesters at TSA,
After ProPublica published an investigation, reported in conjunction with PBS NewsHour, showing that the X-ray scanners had evaded rigorous safety evaluations, the head of the TSA told Senator Susan Collins that his agency would conduct a new independent safety study. He subsequently backed off that promise, prompting the senator to write the TSA pressing the agency to go ahead with the study and asking it to post larger signs alerting pregnant women that they have the option to have a physical pat-down instead of going through the X-ray scanners.

The TSA has repeatedly touted a series of polls showing strong public support for the scanners. But those polls and surveys – conducted by Gallup, The Wall Street Journal and various travel sites – largely dealt with the privacy issue.

Only one of those polls – by CBS News – asked specifically about X-ray body scanners, finding that 81 percent of Americans thought that such X-ray scanners should be used in airports. But that poll – like all the others – did not mention the risk of cancer.

When confronted with the cancer-terrorism trade-off, however, Americans took a much more negative view of the scanners
.
Gee, ya THINK?

and in a move that, unless the Feebs alter the definition to give federal minions some kind of pass,
A recent meeting of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Justice Advisory Policy Board led to the FBI changing their definition of rape following a series of complaints from activists who said the earlier wording wasn’t broad enough to cover many sexual assaults. When the Bureau officially adopts the new definition in 2012, rape will be considered “penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim."

You know those “enhanced pat-downs” that Transportation Security Administration agents are always offering, often with unfavorable backlashes from airport patrons who feel humiliated, violated and disgusted with what the government thinks is an appropriate way to counter terror? Well, that’s soon going to be rape. And the TSA? Serial rapists.
The screaming by the molesters and abusers must've been deafening when they heard about this.


And now to the LE idiocy, in Minneapolis:
Flash grenades are intended to distract and intimidate, not to injure people, but during the raid the device rolled under the legs of Russell, who was seated on a sofa, and exploded. The police were looking that day for a drug dealer, narcotics and a firearm, but found nothing.

Russell, now 31, suffered third- and fourth-degree burns that caused a deep indentation on the back of one leg, requiring skin grafts from her scalp. She is still undergoing physical therapy.
And why did the Minneapolis Popo do this?
On the night of Feb. 16, 2010, 18 officers were executing a search warrant on the apartment at 5753 Sander Drive based on a tip that narcotics were being sold at the address by someone named David Conley.
'based on a tip'. Obvious question: did they actually take the trouble to INVESTIGATE this tip? Or were they too busy putting on their ninja suits and pulling out the ram?

And, in what- after the other disciplinary action that won't happen- ought to result in prosecutions and firings, we have this disregard of law, and of giving a damn:
In what Bennett called "a cascading series of errors," a Minneapolis police SWAT team smashed down the door with a battering ram without warning, when the search warrant police had obtained required officers to announce themselves before entering.

Police had applied for a "no-knock" warrant but did not get it, Bennett said.
Got that? "Fuck the rules, fuck the law, let's take the door!" I guess they're lucky there wasn't a dog around to be shot.

Oh, and let's add 'lying while under oath' to the bullshit:
Police insist they shouted "search warrant" before knocking down the door, according to police reports, and say the grenade was dropped on the door threshold and not rolled toward Russell. Officer Cliff Taylor wrote in after-action reports that he was the one who dropped the flash-bang grenade.
Yeah, he 'dropped' it and it rolled across the room and under her leg. Right.

And in the 'trying to cover our ass' end,
Russell was arrested on a misdemeanor for having a "disorderly house" but never charged. She sued the city in federal court last year.
And, the expected
No discipline was imposed on the officers, Minneapolis spokesman Matt Laible said.
Because violating the law and ethics and acting like a bunch of idiot thugs instead of peace officers isn't a problem, I guess.

I'm going to stop writing now; I'm so fucking pissed and disgusted I'm about to degenerate into really bad language.

Added: found this at FI, and it fits real well:
Yeah, it's from a tv show; it still speaks to exactly the problems we're running into

1 comment:

Mattexian said...

Just because the quote at the end came from a TV show doesn't mean it's worthless. A lot of good writers use that medium for exploring out these political and philosophical issues. I grew up a fan of the original BG show, couldn't get into this one. Since I enjoyed the "A-Team" movie (especially the cameos at the end), I suppose I should sit down and give the newer BG series another try.

(I'm not touching the other issues, I have enough problems with my blood pressure, and those make me think fixing the system thru the ballot box, the jury box, and the soap box aren't working anymore, and that we'd be better off going ahead to the cartridge box. I don't have the eloquence of ol' Kim du Toit to vent my spleen on these issues several times a day.)