Ken's Weblog

People should not fear their governments; governments should fear their people.

Month: December 2008

  • Gestapo stupidity

    Gunpowder Is Okay to Bring on an Airplane.

    Putting it in a clear plastic baggie magically makes it safe:

    Mind you, I had packed the stuff safely. It was in three separate jars: one of charcoal, one of sulphur, and one of saltpetre (potassium nitrate). Each jar was labeled: Charcoal, Sulphur, Saltpetre. I had also thoroughly wet down each powder with tap water. No ignition was possible. As a good citizen, I had packed the resulting pastes into a quart-sized “3-1-1” plastic bag, along with my shampoo and hand cream. This bag I took out of my messenger bag and put on top of my bin of belongings, turned so that the labels were easy for the TSA inspector to read.

    [Schneier on Security]

    Of course this worked not because the Checkpoint Charlies thought it was safe, but because they were so abysmally ignorant that they didn’t know what you get by mixing those ingredients.

  • Watching a really bad Sci-Fi C…

    Watching a really bad Sci-Fi Channel movie about Aztecs armed with cricket bats.

  • A cop tells the truth

    Dead Dog Tales.

    Two dogs killed this week in Gwinnet County, Georgia. Two very different reactions from local authorities.

    Here’s the first:

    Gwinnett police are asking for the public’s help in tracking down the person who stabbed and dismembered a dog before discarding the carcass behind a Duluth store.

    […]

    A stab wound led to the dog’s death, said Gwinnett police spokeswoman Cpl. Illana Spellman.

    Spellman said investigators are especially anxious to get leads that could point them to the culprit in the “gruesome” crime, adding that “anybody that is capable of doing that is capable of doing anything,” Spellman said.

    Whoever killed the dog is subject to be charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, which carries a penalty of one to five years in prison and fines of up to $15,000, police said.

    Here’s the other story:

    A family in Gwinnett County was outraged Wednesday night after they say police officers shot their beloved dog.  The homeowners said the incident happened because police went to the wrong house.

    […]

    The homeowner said when police went into the garage she heard three shots.  The homeowner said an officer told her they shot the dog and the dog ran off.

    […]

    Officer said they were looking for a material witness in a gang member’s trial, but they entered the wrong home.  Police entered 1468B, instead of 1468A.

    Officers said the dog charged and the officer felt he was in imminent danger and shot the dog.

    The vicious beast was a 2-year-old Dalmatian.

    It’s the second time in 10 days that cops in Gwinnett County have forced their way into the wrong home.

    [The Agitator]

    I don’t often see a Gestapo spokesman (or woman) tell the truth, but when this thug said that “anybody that is capable of [brutally killing a dog] is capable of doing anything,” she was clearly not speculating, but speaking from personal experience.

  • Cops being cops

    Another Isolated Incident.

    But not a drug raid.  A prostitution raid.

    It was a little before 8 at night when the breaker went out at Emily Milburn’s home in Galveston. She was busy preparing her children for school the next day, so she asked her 12-year-old daughter, Dymond, to pop outside and turn the switch back on.
     
    As Dymond headed toward the breaker, a blue van drove up and three men jumped out rushing toward her. One of them grabbed her saying, "You’re a prostitute. You’re coming with me."

    Dymond grabbed onto a tree and started screaming, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." One of the men covered her mouth. Two of the men beat her about the face and throat.

    As it turned out, the three men were plain-clothed Galveston police officers who had been called to the area regarding three white prostitutes soliciting a white man and a black drug dealer.

    All this is according to a lawsuit filed in Galveston federal court by Milburn against the officers. The lawsuit alleges that the officers thought Dymond, an African-American, was a hooker due to the "tight shorts" she was wearing, despite not fitting the racial description of any of the female suspects. The police went to the wrong house, two blocks away from the area of the reported illegal activity…

    So you’d think that after the police figured out they had the wrong house, they’d apologize, and possibly even compensate the girl and her family. According to the lawsuit, you’d be wrong:

    After the incident, Dymond was hospitalized and suffered black eyes as well as throat and ear drum injuries.

    Three weeks later, according to the lawsuit, police went to Dymond’s school, where she was an honor student, and arrested her for assaulting a public servant. Griffin says the allegations stem from when Dymond fought back against the three men who were trying to take her from her home. The case went to trial, but the judge declared it a mistrial on the first day, says Griffin. The new trial is set for February.

    I have a call into the Galveston district attorney and with Dymond Milburn’s lawyer. We’re going on a press account of one side of a lawsuit, here.  So it’s possible—and I would hope—that there are some important details missing.

    Otherwise, a police mistake leads to an innocent 12-year-old getting violently snatched up and roughed up by a group of plainclothes cops jumping out of a van . . . and they charge her for resisting?

    [Hit and Run]

    A comment on this post linked to a court document that identifies the kidnapping scumbags as Sergeant Gilbert Gomez (badge #987), Officers David Roark (badge #332), Justin Popovich (badge #336), and Sean Stewart (badge #392). Naturally there have been, and will be, no official action taken against these copscum, because what they did is the epitome of good police work in the Evil Empire. However, since their identities are known, I hold out hope that all four of them will mysteriously get shot in the head at some point.

  • Quote of the Day

    [Muntadhar al-Zeidi] threw that shoe for the whole world.

    Unknown origin–a Google search turned up the same sentiment from multiple sources.

  • @NinaStorey Congratulations on…

    @NinaStorey Congratulations on surviving the triathlon!

  • Quote of the Day

    Those who live by the sword tend to get shot by those who don’t.

    Unknown Origin

  • An Iraqi hero

    Free Bush shoe-thrower, Iraqis urge. Protesters demand release of journalist held after hurling footwear at US president. [AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)]

    In Arab culture, throwing a shoe at someone is a severe insult. Personally, I think what al-Zeidi did was a heroic act comparable to the man who stood in front of the tanks in Tiananmen Square. Unfortunately, I think it’s likely that he’ll come to just as unpleasant an end. He’s probably already disappeared into one of the Evil Empire’s secret prisons.

  • @terranaomi That’s what they c…

    @terranaomi That’s what they call “social security” when someone other than the government runs it

  • Grammy nominations

    This year’s Grammy nominations have been announced, and there are three people I’ve photographed on the list: Sara Bareilles, Katy Perry, and Rufus Wainwright. Sara got two nominations, including Song of the Year for “Love Song.” Apparently the music industry has very long years, as she wrote that (and first performed it) in 2005…