anaptdemise

> All the individual police agencies that are members of nemlec would still fall under whatever open records laws apply in that state.

You do realize that the article highlights the fact that regardless of the employment of the officers involved, the argument is being made that "an operation" was conducted as NEMLEC, a private corporation not beholden to open information requests.

Off duty officers shoot people. Some times they are just acting as private citizens. Sometimes they are uniformed private security. Other times they are just plain old moon-lighted security. The legal protection carried by the civil police force to the officer varies under each of these scenarios. The actual police force that the officer is on the payroll of is "usually" not obligated to defend the officer under any of these considering the scenario of a lawsuit, wrongful death, civil liberties, or misconduct. Further, there is usually some Union (non-government entity) involved with similar obligations/exceptions for defending the officer.

So just to start, I hope you watch the SyFy series Continuum[1]. The basic synopsis is that in the future, governments and economies collapse and the "Corporations" bail everyone out. I mean, you trust your personal information to FB way faster than you do with the GVT.

Anyways...

So, my very limited understanding of civil/city/state governments is that they are already special forms of "Non-Profit Corporate Entities" in most states, "Municipal Corporations"[2]. All other "private law enforcement entities" derive from some variation/bastardization of these laws depending on the state. So yes, most private citizens/corporations, what ever definition of the term[3], can obtain any of the weapons described in the article, with limits/exceptions. For instance, the SWAT team of Dallas, TX is part of the Dallas Police Department (Dallas being a Municipal Corporation). I chose this as an example because, when you google Dallas SWAT, you either get a reality TV show or a Facebook Page. In most smaller counties, it is part of the county Sherifs Department. In most states, the only person that can arrest a Sherif is the Governor or Agent of The Federal Government. Stay with me. This is all an argument of semantics from the beginning.

US entities operating outside the US borders obtain literally what ever equipment they, or their clients, can afford. Further, they are either bound by US Military rules of conduct (rules of engagement), beholden to local law, or either/neither seemingly as the parties see fit [see current US military advisor rules in Iraq vs. Blackwater authorization in Op. Iraqi Freedom].

My reading of this article is the scenario last referenced on US soil. A claim that a local SWAT team is both and neither. The power of a government law enforcement agency with the "loosely defined rights" of a private corporation (individual.) It is "risk management" in the corporate sense. You structure yourself for greatest legal/financial protection/benefit.

Grey area -- rant. Expand this to the Federal Government... The FBI is the only organization that is authorized to investigate wrong doing within itself[4]. In addition, the federal government can chose whether or not you are aloud to sue them in federal court (all courts by proxy.)[5]

[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1954347/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_corporation [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Elec... [4] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/us/in-150-shootings-the-fb... [5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity_in_the_Unite...

"Big Agro" is probably more inve$ted in this than "Big Chem". For those skeptical conspiracy theorists...

"A survey of honey bee colonies revealed no consistent pattern in pesticide levels between healthy and CCD-affected colonies when pollen, bees, and beeswax were tested for the presence of 170 pesticides. The most commonly found pesticide in that study was coumaphos, which is used to treat honey bees for Varroa mites.

The pesticide class neonicotinoids (clothianidin, thiamethoxam, and imidacloprid) has been accused of being the cause of CCD. The neonicotinoids were developed in the mid-1990s in large part because they showed reduced toxicity to honey bees, compared with previously used organophosphate and carbamate insecticides."

[1]http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572

Yeah. Why not banking or finance. Shows where our regulatory priorities are. Kind of undertones of "I don't like this. Figure out why it is illegal."

Ignoring your shameless self promotion, how do you know that the post you reference wasn't "reasonable suspicion" for law enforcement to gain access to the internet searches? Your assumption does not discount or disprove the assumption in the story. How is your conjecture any more accurate? Why not as a reporter for a news outlet, follow up instead of adding to the disinformation?

"Asked how many terrorism cases were cracked using U.S. phone records, John “Chris” Inglis, NSA’s deputy director, answered that a dozen domestic terrorism investigations had made use of the records. But Inglis could cite only one in which the records were instrumental: a group of men from San Diego who sent $8,500 to Al Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia. One of the defendants in that case was discovered when a known terrorist phone number in Somalia was compared against the database, Inglis said."[1]

[1]http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-secret-nsa-survei...

"the president has said that he welcomes a debate about how best to simultaneously safeguard both our national security and the privacy of our citizens."

Yeah, as long as that debate takes place on news casts and meetings and not, you know, the legislature or the courts or anywhere that can possibly do anything about it.

The problem is that we have seen this all before. It is freaking scary to pick up a history book after reading the news.

"The Algerian War of Independence does provide such similarities in terms of geography and topography, social makeup, as well as military and insurgent forces at play. The French, however, lost Algeria after eight years of bitter fighting and the subject is further obscured by the emotions surrounding the atrocities by both sides, thus making the collation of objective testimonies difficult. Most confusing, though, are the circumstances specific to a troubled France at the time, such as the profound tensions that existed between citizens in the métropole and French immigrants in Algeria proper, the continued effort to resume its former place as a major power in the world, the collapse of the Fourth Republic in 1958,..."[1]

The technology might improve and the tactics might go through a revision or two but what is the possibility of similar outcomes? Is unilateral, and sometimes excessive, force the only possibility?

[1]http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/french-counterinsurgenc...

[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_War#French_counter-ins...

There is the Abbottabad Commission Report the Pakistanis did on the Bin Laden raid that goes into depth of the politics involved[1]. There is a history of political infighting over US relations between the civilian government, military and intelligence community of Pakistan. This report was compiled by the Pakistani government. It is shortsighted to think they are any more transparent than the US. There are other reports, one by the UN, that estimate wildly the numbers[2]. The actual article[3] with the document looks like a photo caption in the Salon article. Totally glanced over it the first time. It is hard to have a discussion when the truth is obscured by time and distance, the government claims state secrets, and the only people raising concerns use terms like "indiscriminate civilian killings." We aren't fire bombing cities here. There is an immediate need for transparency and greater oversight and discretion with the drone program. I fear a future where warfare is cheap and with out risk.

[1]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/07/20137813412615531... [2]http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/15/world/asia/u-n-drone-objection... [3]http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2013/07/22/get-the-data...

EDIT:

There is also a more detailed article on the "leaked" report on the originating news site. It is a more thorough discussion than the salon article.

http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2013/07/22/exclusive-le...

Errr: I think I missed half the article...

>put aside their differences and support this pro-gun, anti-abortion, religious Tea Party republican in his efforts

Isn't this tone part of the problem? It is possible that there exists a topic that you agree with someone on even if you find them or their unrelated views repugnant. Refusal to identify where the overlap in views does exist is what has gotten us to the state we are in.

Torture Porn - A splatter film or gore film is a sub-genre of horror film that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence[1]

Some are even torture porn with explicitly detailed and violent rape scenes[2]. These are also planned to be banned if I am not mistaken.[3]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splatter_film [2] http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/03/15/a-serbian-film-sho... [3.a] http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/11/torture-porn-atti... [3.b] http://www.theweek.co.uk/film/50537/uk-film-censor-get-tough...

>It's not exclusive to the Internet, but it's the diversity and complete freedom on the Internet which permits these echo chambers to form.

> the danger is when an echo chamber is formed and no dissenting voice exists.

Looking at the last two decades, I am willing to bet the freedom and diversity of the Internet is responsible for crushing far more dangerous "echo chambers." I am not sure how making a system less diverse or less free (as in speech) is a good thing. It is through diverse, open and free speech that echo chambers are canceled out. People searching out an "echo chamber" on the internet is no different than finding a church group or political group that exclusively prescribes to your views. History is filled with the negative effects of those social structures as well. The real "echo chamber" is a society that feels they know what is normal, appropriate and decent for everyone. It wasn't long ago that women were diagnosed with "female hysteria" and a bit longer since it was thought that whites and blacks couldn't interbreed.

"We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still." - John Stuart Mill

>The danger is not to 'previously ordinary people'. The danger is that people with predispositions can be convinced that they are right in their beliefs or feelings.

This goes both ways. Someone predisposed to enjoy sex can be convinced that it is disgusting and wrong and there is something wrong with them. Someone with a predisposition to be open and trusting can be convinced that the whole of humanity is out to rape and murder them.

Did you ever hear anyone say, "That work had better be banned because I might read it and it might be very damaging to me?" - Joseph Henry Jackson

>Not at all, if there existed such a place where people with rape fantasies could go to discuss them together I would support its closure and perhaps even the monitoring of its participants.

You mean a couple's bedroom?

>my vote is on a maximum of one

Depends on who has it. Might need two.

> Circular dependencies ARE a problem with your architecture

This whole thread reminds me of the PHP days before namespaces. If you have circular dependencies within your own codebase, you have an architecture problem. If they are introduced by third-party libraries, maybe the usage of the library should be questioned.

> Appeal to a higher authority?

Some would say they have you there as well. Romans 13, specifically 3-5[1]. Maybe too many of our politicians are bible students.

[1]http://biblehub.com/romans/13.htm

> what can a US citizen do about this

Recall your elected officials or not vote for incumbents. Especially those who sit on intelligence, judicial or defense committees.

I have a problem with an Executive and paramilitary bureaucracies (CIA) that feel no civilian visible court has jurisdiction over them and no one should hold them accountable for their actions or mistakes.

It can be appalling and trivial at the same time. It was a highly local event that the media picked up as a national story under the guise of racism. The actual trial hinged on the law as it should, as apposed to emotionally charged outrage. It is appropriate now to examine the law, but it is a Florida law. Maybe worth a passing mention in national news.

The fact that the Attorney General of the United States gives speeches about a closed court case in which he has no authority to interject (Florida's Stand Your Ground Law) instead of addressing the slew of national and international hot topics, speaks to the damage control attitude of our officials at the moment. The fact that not a single mainstream reporter is pressuring officials to focus on these other topics highlights their complacency and populist pandering. Better not ask the wrong questions or go off topic, least you be removed from the White House press corp.

Well, the US had a "prohibition on assassination" until 9/11[1]. The Clinton administration felt it was prudent to indict Bin Laden of a crime before taking any action on him[2]. We have come a long way. The tone of the article is a little off to me. Truthful portrayal of the grandfathers emotion, but...

[1]http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/11/04/us.assassination.poli...

[2]https://www.fas.org/irp/news/1998/11/98110602_nlt.html

The reason I did not link to a specific article is that there are so many on both sides of the debate. However, my experience and the experience of my female friends that underwent similar education are all positive on both sides. Also, I am willing to bet that the top US schools are mostly private and mostly single-sex or segregated. They are in my area.

More of an insensitive libertine than a sexist. I cannot control what other people say, think or do. I can only control how I react to those situations. This makes it crucial to self sensor being offended more than being offensive. I agree with a lot of what this thread is about, but also am aware that overcompensation is also present. Being offended to a point as to intend to change someones behavior is a form of exerting moral authority. It is rare that this is not itself a form of discrimination. "I have zero tolerance for intolerant people."

I agree there is a place and time for everything. However, true friends are rarely made in polite company. I prefer to work with friends.

> allow women (and men) to get through it without having to constantly bite their tongues or else be seen as the problem

Right. Bite my tongue and put on the kid gloves. Wouldn't want to discuss last nights episode of Game of Thrones in the break room, less be seen as a sexist jerk. People do have friends at work, and normal human interactions do take place there.

> Schools have almost gone through this stage and fully gone over to mixed classrooms.

To their detriment. As a product of both coed and all boys private schools, there is a stark difference in teaching and disceplin in single sex schools that research shows improves outcomes. Hit http://scholar.google.com/ with "single sex education." There is a huge discrepancy in male performance especially that most teachers admit a preference to teaching girls as they "behave" better.

Bigotry and sexism exists, but the "problem" is an effect of the US obsession with political correctness and an overly sensitive and litigious society. There are cases of systematic discrimination in organizations, but they are not as pervasive as a few decades ago, so there has been progress, especially in corporate environments. An example is a female cousin with a law degree. Being a women of breading age, she was specifically asked if she intended to have children in the next 5 years which was a non-starter. These were small firms that couldn't afford to have a junior partner off for maternity leave. She had no problem with that at a large corporation.

On equality, if you start giving men maternity leave in the same way as women, and effectively change societies views on gender roles in the home, you might start seeing that form of discrimination disappear as in the scandinavian countries.

There is much to be said about differences in men and women's personalities. Normal banter between men about women kept on the "acceptable in a sitcom" when not directed at any specific women, in my view is not sexual harassment, but clearly some people disagree with that. So as long as the kid gloves are on...

It isn't on their front page...

Who else is paying them to promote themselves? It isn't the immigrants. So yes, that makes the tax payer the benefactor of their operations. So how does the State Department benefit tax payers by having friends on FB?

Why does anyone care about fans/friends on facebook. Such a waste of our societies capitol.

So voter turn out in 2012 was around 57% or so and Obama had 50%-51% of the popular vote. So, basically 25% of America decides the election ignoring the electoral collage which reduces it to 270 people, not all of which are required to vote with their districts popular vote. This pretty much marginalizes the middle ground voter.

So yeah... what can you do.

The only way I see any change coming is if you can get around 10% of congress recalled in their given states. Unless people are upset enough to do that, you wont see any change. Even if incumbents are thrown out during normal election cycles, congress doesn't seem to get the point. As a whole their approval rating is <15% which is terrible. But their individual approval rating amongst their own constituents is much much higher... There is something wrong with that logic. How do you convince voters that they are part of the problem.

If they are so under utilized that they can be lent out, why even have them? Just from in terms of budget, this disappoints me. It makes sense if it is cheaper to fly them than a cessna, which is up for debate. It is all over when they arm them in any way.

Except...

"Law enforcement officials need warrants to open the mail, although President George W. Bush asserted in a signing statement in 2007 that the federal government had the authority to open mail without warrants in emergencies or foreign intelligence cases."

The scanning of the envelope is rather benign and critical to efficient operation of the mail sorting/routing system. However, the long term storage of correspondence and association in light of recent NSA disclosures is more concerning. The possibility of abuse is enormous. All you would have to do is find someone that is being tracked and start placing letters addressed to any of your political enemies in their mailbox for pick up.

There is also the redefinition of "weapon of mass distruction" that took place. If the the Boston bombing was the use of a WMD,surely Saddam had something that qualified...

At what point does any sovereign nation that we disagree with become a threat because they have traditional munitions that we consider a WMD? At what point does having a 5gal gas can and a road flare in the back of a truck become a WMD... When ever enough of the public can be convinced of the new definition.

But the tone and context are not a convincing threat as the comment was made as a joking example how "insane" he was instead of a credible threat targeting anyone specifically.

There is a serious question on proportionality here. Kids do and say stupid things. You cannot bar them from their rights while forcing them to attend school to "protect" them, meanwhile throwing the book at them for every minor stupidity or bad division they might undertake.

Lately I hear more cases of ruining lives by charging minors with ridiculous crimes than school violence... Protecting the youth...

Doesn't even have to be violent. Just as easy to roll an informant to claim drugs dealings at a residence. Drugs seem to be easiest way to get a no-knock raid, even if your mayor.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwyn_Heights,_Maryland_mayo...