Josh Welch is a seven-year-old-boy who attends Park Elementary School in Brooklyn Park. The Maryland school has a breakfast “snack time” and provided pastries on Friday. Josh was trying to turn his pastry into a shape. Josh chewed his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun and was suspended for two days.
Josh had his parents called into the school after the teacher took away his half-eaten breakfast pastry. Josh told Fox Baltimore he was trying to shape the pastry into a mountain, but it looked more like a gun. Regardless of the shape the child was trying to make, the pastry was still simply food and could not actually harm anyone.
For most families, especially ones with small children, a trip to Disney World is a positive experience. The children get to see the characters they’ve enjoyed watching in cartoons and movies, and there are areas made specifically for the parents too. That’s most likely what Nathan Forck and his wife Annie had in mind when they planned a vacation for their family. The family, Nathan, Annie, and their three children, were heading to Disney World on Feb. 9, 2013 out of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The problems started withTransportation Security Administration, TSA, after the family had already made it through theTSA checkpoint.
Nathan and Annie’s three-year-old daughter, Lucy, is confined to a wheelchair and has Spina bifida. After making it through the TSA checkpoint without any issues, the Forck family prepared to walk to their gate. Lucy was pulled aside for “additional screening measures”. “They specifically told me that they were singling her out for this special treatment because she’s in a wheelchair,” Nathan told Fox News. “They are specifically singling out disabled people for this special scrutiny. It’s rather offensive to me as a father of a disabled child.” The TSA agent stated they needed to pat Lucy down and swab her wheelchair.
Did you know the Department of Homeland Security is building a $4 billion, 170-acre complex for 17,000 employees? It was news to me…
“The US Department of Homeland Security, despite budget cuts and construction delays, is planning to add 17,000 employees into its consolidated headquarters in southeast Washington. The department broke ground at their new headquarters in 2009 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2016. The new complex is now scheduled for completion in 2022.”
Colorado – According to documents obtained by The Gazette under the Colorado Open Records Act, license plate reader devices are watching more than just law breakers.
Colorado Springs police reports show that use of license-plate readers has allowed the city’s police department to construct a searchable databank containing hundreds of thousands of license plates belonging to ordinary drivers, with each entry disclosing when, and where, police last spied a certain vehicle.
The information — which potentially gives investigators a view into where people travel and how they spend their time — is characterized in internal police documents as a “massive intelligence database.”
Privacy advocates complain the databanks fail to exclude law-abiding drivers, who they say are likely unaware of the scope of monitoring.
“You’re talking about a record of movements over time of hundreds of thousands of innocent persons,” said Mark Silverstein, legal director of Colorado’s branch of the ACLU, which is mounting a nationwide effort to learn more about how license plate data is used. “It certainly is extremely powerful technology.”
Colorado Springs police defend their use of the devices as a lawful and effective crime-fighting tool.
Police received three license plate readers as part of a 2009 state grant that supplied eight devices to five local agencies.
The city’s Police Department serves as a central repository for data collected by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office and police in Monument, Fountain, Manitou Springs and Woodland Park.
In the past year, the database has grown to include more than 1.1 million vehicles, according to a Colorado Springs police tally for the 2011-2012 fiscal year ending in June.
And police, who haven’t publicly announced the database, may be looking to expand their data-sharing capabilities.
In April, police sent a representative to the Littleton Police Department, where “multiple agencies” discussed the possibility of pooling their information, or “hosting all of our data in one place,” as Lt. Jane Anderson wrote in an annual report that disclosed few details about the meeting.
Local and regional law enforcement groups say the device does little more than snap pictures on public roads, where drivers have diminished expectations of privacy.
“It’s similar to you writing down the license plates that you see on the roadway,” said Capt. Dave Santos of the Colorado State Highway Patrol, who added that the department’s license-plate readers are dedicated to the purpose of recovering stolen vehicles and nabbing auto thieves.
“I don’t see the violation of privacy. I just don’t.”
Santos added that in Colorado, driving is a privilege rather than a right, and he drew a legal distinction between tracking license plates and individuals.
Privacy advocates counter that widespread license-plate tracking could have a chilling effect on private business conducted in public — such as parking outside counseling meetings, doctors’ offices or political protests.
“Our movements — especially if they’re tracked with the precision of GPS locations — could reveal things that some people want to keep private,” Silverstein said.
UK police admit surveillance cameras are patchy and sometimes ineffective.
Surveillance cameras, capable of recording 3,600 images of vehicle plate numbers per hour, are nevertheless marked by large gaps in coverage and are sometimes useless as a tool for apprehending people who break the law, UK police agencies have admitted.
Automatic Number-Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras are positioned inside police cars and along main thoroughfares across the UK. They automatically record images, plate numbers, location, and time and date information for each and every vehicle passing through. In some cases, this information is stored for up to two years.
Police chiefs have admitted there are flaws in a “big brother” surveillance system that enables them to track and store the daily journeys of millions of motorists.
The police chief who co-ordinates the growing network of more than 5,000 roadside cameras, which records the whereabouts of 16m vehicles, said the network was patchy and left”large gaps in coverage in various parts of the country”.
Police made the admissions as they won a freedom of information tribunal to keep secret the locations of the the cameras, arguing that disclosure would allow criminals to evade detection.
The comments were made as part of law enforcement’s argument that they should not be required to disclose the locations of the ANPR cameras in response to a Freedom of Information request submitted by The Guardian.
The Guardian also quoted security official Neil Winterbourne, who runs the ANPR camera program for Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, as saying criminals could thwart ANPR cameras by driving a certain way. “A properly trained driver can adopt a particular driving style that will greatly reduce the chance of the vehicle being detected by ANPR,” he said, declining to elaborate any further.
The home secretary, Theresa May, has ordered that regulation of the Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras should be tightened up, amid civil liberties concerns. No other democratic country routinely tracks innocent motorists in this way. (I can think of another one the United States)
DS Neil Winterbourne, in charge of the ANPR cameras for Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command said: “There are numerous ways in which the appearance of a number plate can be modified to reduce the chances of detection by ANPR, but these are mostly apparent when the vehicle is inspected and run the risk of attracting the attention of police, which may be counter-productive from the terrorist standpoint”.
The upshot? UK citizens are being made to sacrifice their privacy for the sake of security—but anyone engaging in illegal activity who is seriously intent on averting detection could find a way to slip out of the surveillance trap. Meanwhile, law-abiding motorists have no choice but to regularly yield private information about their whereabouts, plate numbers, travel patterns, automobiles, and other identifying data to law enforcement. With ubiquitous ANPR cameras, members of the general public are effectively stripped of their right to privacy, without any assurance that the cameras make them any safer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/aug/27/police-number-plate-cameras-network-patchy https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/09/privacy-news-roundup-face-recognition-data-retention-and-patchy-cctv
After the arrest, the people gathering were told that they were no longer allowed to use amplified sound or sing, so Dave Cahill started singing and playing his guitar to call their bluff – that was pretty awesome to watch, especially after he put on his alien mask.
Steven Ettinger has a hearing to decided whether charges will be pressed. The hearing is July 27th, 2012, at 10 am at the Asbury Park Court. Steve has created a chipin asking for donations as he has a 9 hour trip (round trip) to get to the court. He may need even more if he is charged as he may be looking at a $1,000 fine.
The “war on obesity” moves forward to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Based upon the recent proposal by New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, to limit the size of sodas and other sweetened beverages, the Mayor of Cambridge has her own proposition. Proposed Monday night, Policy Order Resolution O-4 would ban the sale of all soda and sugar-sweetened beverage in restaurants.
It seems size doesn’t matter in this proposed ban:
That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to refer the matter of a ban on soda and sugar-sweetened beverages in restaurants to the Cambridge Public Health Department for a recommendation.
Based upon a risk of obesity and diabetes, Cambridge City Mayor Henrietta Davis proposed the idea at the Cambridge council’s meeting. “In addition to being an obesity threat, soda is one of the contributing factors to an increasing rate in diabetes and heart disease amongst younger people,” Davis said.
The ban Davis has in mind is similar to the recently proposedBloomberg proposition, one that led to anger and outrage from the citizens of New York City. The council voted to refer the proposal to its health subcommittee. It may be interesting to see how business owners in the city which houses Harvard and MIT react to this proposed ban.
ALBANY — The New York Police Department, the mayor and the city’s top prosecutors on Monday endorsed a proposal to decriminalize the open possession of small amounts of marijuana, giving an unexpected lift to an effort by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to cut down on the number of people arrested as a result of police stops.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose Police Department made about 50,000 arrests last year for low-level marijuana possession, said the governor’s proposal “strikes the right balance” in part because it would still allow the police to arrest people who smoke marijuana in public.
The marijuana arrests are a byproduct of the Police Department’s increasingly controversial stop-and-friskpractice. Mr. Bloomberg and police officials say the practice has made the city safer, but, because most of those stopped are black or Hispanic, the practice has been criticized as racially biased by advocates for minority communities.
The support expressed by Mr. Bloomberg, prosecutors and police officials is likely to carry significant weight in the Republican-led State Senate, which is the key obstacle to passage of the bill in Albany during this year’s legislative session. Mr. Cuomo has amassed a strong track record of winning passage of legislation he embraces, and the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, joined him at his news conference Monday, indicating that the Democrat-controlled Assembly would back the measure. The Republican Senate leadership has traditionally opposed legislation it views as soft on criminals.
Business Insider shares about this full-page ad taken out in the New York Times on Sunday telling Bloomberg to back off sodas.
Thursday may have been a definitive day in the fight against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). ACTA is a multi-national treaty meant to enforce intellectual property rights. Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, the United States, and 22 countries of the European Union signed in ACTA. Opponents of ACTA say that the treaty adversely affects privacy, freedom of expression, and other fundamental rights.
On Thursday, a number of committees spoke out against ACTA to the European Parliament (which is ACTA will ultimately be allowed to stay in or be written out of the books forever). Five committees will give their recommendation to the European Parliament as to whether ACTA should stay. One of those committees, the International Trade (INTA) committee “owns” ACTA, therefore will most likely recommend keeping the controversial treaty in place. Three of the remaining four committees gave their recommendation to the European Parliament Thursday. The Industry, Research, Energy (ITRE), the Legal Affairs (JURI), and the Civil Liberties (LIBE) committees all voted Thursday to reject ACTA.
New York City and the Bloomberg administration plan to enact a ban on the sale large sodas and other sugary drinks at movie theaters, restaurants, and even street vendors in an effort to fight obesity. The proposed ban, announced Wednesday in the Governor’s Room at City Hall, would affect the menu of almost every popular sugary drink in delis, fast-food restaurants, and even sports arenas. In fact, the sale of any cup or bottle of the beverage larger than 16 fluid ounces would be prohibited.
As soon as next March, New York City may be banning any sugary beverages larger than a medium coffee. From energy drinks to sweetened iced tea, large sugary drinks may soon be off the menu. The ban would not include diet sodas, fruit juices, milkshakes, or alcoholic beverages. The ban would also not extend to sugary beverages sold in grocery stores or convenience stores.
Sometimes, in an effort to make a person’s life better, people will give away money, food, or property. In many cases, this is through a non-profit organization but not always. There are many out there in need every day. In every major city in the country one may find people living on the street, most asking (through a sign) for the assistance of those passing.
The homeless in many areas rely upon the kindness of strangers. Some are physically challenged and in wheelchairs or on crutches. Some are traumatized war veterans who witnessed atrocities and were never able to forget them. Some are just down on their luck.
When you hand money or food over to a person asking for assistance on the street, there are no executives paid. No limousines or planes are rented to take company executives to events or openings. No lobbyists have been hired and greased the palms of politicians. No staffers or interns are hired to create spread sheets about the most effective way to use your donation. The government does not get any say in the distribution of the money. It’s just you and the person you decided should have some of your money or food.
This may be part of why John Davis, of Cleveland, Ohio, has now been ticketed.
John saw a man on the street while he was driving in Cleveland Fox 8 reported Tuesday. The man was pale, in a wheelchair, and had a sign asking for help. John has a brother who is paralyzed and tries to help the physically challenged when he is able.
John reached into his wallet and grabbed a couple of bucks to give to the man. As he approached the light at the exit, he rolled the money up vertically and stretched his arm out of his window. He says, the man touched the cash and one of the dollars fell to the ground.
The man then bent over and picked it up.
A few moments later, John is pulled over by a Cleveland police officer and ticketed for littering. The ticket cited Cleveland’s Municipal Code, Section No: 613.06, littering from a motor vehicle. His offense was written as “Throw paper out window” with “money to panhandler” in parenthesis.
John said he was confused because money is paper but it’s not trash.
Instead of discussing the economic implications of a city officer considering the country’s paper fiat currency trash, and ticketing someone for dropping it, we will finish John’s tale.
Section No: 471.06 states in part that “No person shall stand on a highway for the purpose of soliciting…contributions…”
It also reads that “No driver” is to “transfer currency….to any person standing on a street or highway.”
But John says that’s not what he was ticketed for. He was cited for littering from a motor vehicle, and the officer advised him to “take it up with the courts.”
John does plan to challenge the ticket in court, mainly because it carries a hefty fine. It could cost him $500 once you add the fine plus court costs.
The experience has left him disheartened, and has already destroyed his joy and willingness to give money to those in need.
“I’d like to do it again but I’m petrified I’m going to get a ticket.”
It’s interesting that the city of Cleveland does not want people to donate to those in need unless those in need are able to afford, well, what exactly? Those on the street cannot afford homes, cars, permits, or any other permission from the city. Maybe the city wants to make sure they control who is worthy of donations.
