Domestic Terrorism

Of Mice and Failed Missions

This entry was posted in bush Domestic Terrorism Election 2004 US Foreign Policy War on Terrorism on by

Folks riding Washington’s ferry system will be subjected to an increasing number of vehicle searches. Here is one reaction:

In the interest of national security, I understand the Washington State Patrol is instituting random car searches at our ferry terminals (“Feds order new level of security for ferries,” Times page one, Sept. 29).
And so while they are busy trampling our rights by digging through our possessions, I hope they regret ever encountering my car.
I have a family and I have not seen the floor mats of my car since 2002. A single road trip requires at least six stuffed animals, 10 pounds of books, a box of crayons and a note pad for my child. My husband takes at least three coats, a hat and an extra seat cushion.
Added to that pile, which is now threatening to swamp the aforementioned kid in the back seat, are my backpack, clothing, a first-aid kit and occasionally a wetsuit. I have not mentioned the trunk.
That is because a mouse has taken up residence in it � we’ll call him “Kenny.”
…

If the US government had been doing its job for the last 4 years, had accomplished it mission, we wouldn’t be reading this today!
Do go read the rest of the story.

Government Failure…

This entry was posted in Capitalism Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Economics Law Enforcement Libertarianism on by

Radley Balko summarizes a set of statistics about the government’s efforts to suppress the market for recreational drugs:

By nearly every metric — drug use, spending, availability, purity, price — the drug war has failed. Throughly. And that’s before considering the trespasses on our civil liberties our government has undertaken to achieve that failure.
Read the rest. The magnitude of the failure is really quite astounding.
So, who is benefitting from the $60 billion being spent annually by local, state and federal governments?

Questions

This entry was posted in bush Domestic Terrorism Election 2004 War on Terrorism on by

PZ Myers asks a couple reasonable questions.
First, concerning dangerous weapons and airport security:

So now we let the underpaid, unqualified, uneducated people who get hired to man security checkpoints have the discretion to throw people in jail because they carry some unspecified item they think might be dangerous?
While these folks should be extra cautious this incident is just stupid.
Second, on fact checking for those who want heads to roll at CBS:
What�s their position on the responsibilities and obligations of a commander-in-chief who freely peddles bogus tales of mobile biowarfare facilities, nuclear weapons programs, imported radioactive materials from Africa, flying drones filled with nerve gas, and horrific stories of widespread Weapons of Mass Destruction that are going to be used to Blow America Up?
Yep, perhaps heads should roll at CBS and, since the media, congress and much of the blogosphere won’t hold the executive branch to a similar level of scrutiny, come November the US voters should, perhaps, jsut fire the current executive branch office holders.

A Stitch of Protection

This entry was posted in Capitalism Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Economics Law Enforcement Libertarianism on by

Adrian doesn’t tell us where he found this:

“Many Chechens have sewn their pockets up in order to prevent anything being planted on them if stopped by police. One young Chechen exclaimed: “This is how we live, thanks to the Department on Fighting Organized Crime. First we were bandits, then became terrorists, and now we are becoming seamstresses.”
This would be good advice for many victems of the drug thugs (many, many more examples available).
Via Pharyngula and Bitch. PH.D.