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Category Archives: Freedom and liberty
Police hypocrisy
The Nashua Telegraph reports that Michael Gannon of Nashua, New Hamshire was arrested because the video security system he installed in his home recorded an incident in which the police confronted him. They’ve charged him with two felony violations of … Continue reading
The War on Terror is not cost-effective
The Guardian reports that Nobel-prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard budget expert Linda Bilmes estimate the cost to the US of the “war on terror” will be between one and two trillion dollars. Although there is almost no indication … Continue reading
FOIA request to the NSA regarding telephone call detail records
On May 11 I submitted a FOIA (5 U.S.C. 552) request to the NSA which requested information on their arrangements with telecommunications carriers to obtain telephone call detail records without warrants or court orders. I haven’t gotten a reply yet; … Continue reading
Posted in Freedom and liberty, Privacy
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Judge disallows defense witness who might confuse the jury
Seen in the “California news in brief” column of the San Jose Mercury News on Monday, 3-Apr-2006: SACRAMENTO Ruling hurts defense in Lodi terrorism trial A judge dealt a blow to the defense team of a father and son facing … Continue reading
The Eleventh Commandment
I just happened across the official web site of one of my favorite science fiction authors, John Varley, and found a great essay about the “War on Drugs”.
Extending the PATRIOT Act
Looks like it’s almost a done deal, unfortunately. “Our support for the Patriot Act does not mean a blank check for the president,” said Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who voted to pass the bill package. What an incredibly … Continue reading
Your papers are not in order!
It’s a sad day for personal liberty here in the USA. News.com reports that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against John Gilmore, who was fighting the secret government regulation that the airlines claim requires US citizens to … Continue reading
The US is not in a state of war
A Slashdot story points to a News.com story which states: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday told students at Georgetown University that a wartime president has the lawful authority to eavesdrop on Americans’ telephone calls and e-mail messages without court … Continue reading
Zero tolerance
From an article article in the St. Petersburg Times, about a girl being charged with a third-degree felony for having a butter knife in her backpack at school: And a butter knife, Black said, according to the criminal definition of … Continue reading
fMRI being used on suspected terrorists?
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) provides real-time images of brain activity, and has the potential to be a “super lie detector”, but is at a very early stage of development and it is quite premature to use it for that … Continue reading →