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That's all you really need to know about the American justice system.

Apparently imprisonment isn't enough anymore. I'm hearing a rumor that the man who wrote this has been arrested today. I was going to rant about it but all I ended up writing was the word FUCK a bunch of times.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-mcgowan/communication-management-units_b_2944580.html

Only now -- three years after I filed a federal lawsuit to get to the truth -- have I learned why the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) sent me to the CMU: they simply did not like what I had to say in my published writing and personal letters.  In short, based on its disagreement with my political views, the government sent me to a prison unit from which it would be harder for me to be heard, serving as a punishment for my beliefs.

I posted the OP article on facebook and now I'm arguing with someone who thinks its a fine idea because they can jump through hoops to avoid losing the aid. If it's the irresponsible parents fault their child is failing what makes you think they'll be responsible enough to attend parent teacher conferences and set up tutoring!

On the plus side the argument made me think about how little I know about how welfare works. I realize posting this here is like pointing out that water is wet, but an interesting article pointing out welfare myths: http://dailynewsfinder.com/2012/11/21/facts-and-myths-about-welfare/

[A 2010 internal assessment by the department discovered, for instance, that four of its claimed 72 fusion centers did not exist, even as department officials kept using the 72 figure publicly with Congress]

So, like, a huge number of Americans?

No, they're not Americans.  They're anti-American subversive citizens, who happen to be American.

Big difference.

Aaah, right.

To be fair, it's our own fault. I distinctly remember being told the following many times in the last decade or so:



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/us/inquiry-cites-flaws-in-regional-counterterrorism-offices.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
More hilarity here.

The investigators also discovered that federal officials cannot account for as much as $1.4 billion in taxpayer money earmarked for fusion centers and that some of the centers listed on paper by the Homeland Security Department do not even exist.

The Department of Homeland Security provided only one week of training to officials assigned to sift through tips and uncorroborated information about American citizens that came into their offices.

Top officials of the Homeland Security Department have known about the problems for years, but hid an internal department report on the program's flaws from Congress while continuing to tell lawmakers and the public that the fusion centers were highly valuable and that they formed the centerpiece of Homeland Security's counter-terrorism efforts. A 2010 internal assessment by the department discovered, for instance, that four of its claimed 72 fusion centers did not exist, even as department officials kept using the 72 figure publicly with Congress.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130404/03230222574/new-evidence-homeland-security-spied-peaceful-protestors-worried-about-protests-getting-news-coverage.shtml

Also apparently making sure that peaceful protests didn't get media attention was a priority for these centers.

The documents show a Department of Homeland Security that appears obsessed with the question of whether any and all protests that are being surveilled receive media attention and coverage. Reporting within the DHS on media coverage of First Amendment protected activities, even in the smallest places, appears to be a routine part of DHS intelligence reports. None of the documents explain why media coverage of peaceful demonstrations is of interest to law enforcement or concerns "homeland security" in any way.

I feel safer already.

http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/10-2-12FUSIONCENTERS.pdf 
That should be a pdf version of the report. I admit I have not read it all although the jist seems to be that fusion centers cost a lot, learned almost nothing, and probably violated some civil rights.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/homeland-security-fusion-centers_n_1933998.html

http://nwahomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=415892

I think that's the local news site where they first interviewed the guy. He does seem to be heavily implying that antigovernment folks aren't real citizens. You would think that they would have taught their PR folks to lie a little more about what they're doing. Here's another link to a similar story.
http://reason.com/24-7/2013/04/01/fusion-centers-spy-on-anti-government-am

I'll try to find a link to that congress report later this afternoon but I have a patient here. Lousy hospital patients, you'd think they were sick or something....oh wait. I should probably see what they want. 

The perfectly loyal and good citizens with nothing to hide have nothing to fear!

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130402/02150622543/homeland-security-fusion-center-director-were-not-spying-americans-just-anti-government-americans.shtml

and a link to an article about the congressional report on fusion centers:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121002/22020120576/congressional-investigation-slams-dhs-anti-terror-centers-wasted-taxpayer-funds-created-no-useful-intelligence-violated-civil.shtml

Also apparently they misplaced 1.4 billion dollars and bought way more flat screen tvs and SUVs than even congress thinks was appropriate.

Okay, it's going to look like I'm going to go over to the corner of the room and curl up in a fetal postition but........well I'm not sure how to finish that sentence.

The worst part is that even though you called it, most of the masses still won't acknowledge it.

It's like people running around Pompei after Vesuvius blew its top saying "No, definitely not a volcano happening now. What are you, some kind of tin foil hat conspiracy nut?

   True that. I think this would be more accurate (both to muppets and politics) if both were saying Yip yip yip yip.

Boston cops going undercover posing as punks to break up DIY punk/indie shows.
http://gawker.com/5992924/lamestain-boston-cops-google-punk-rocker-use-results-to-crack-down-on-diy-house-shows
Please let this happen to old timey jug bands. Please let this happen to old timey jug bands.

"As Slate explains, Joe Sly and his friends—like, say, Donna Giordano, who really likes "the Pit"—come in the wake of a recently passed nuisance control ordinance that's had cops go from mostly shutting down house shows after neighbors' complaints to targeting house shows proactively, through Facebook and other social media outlets."

Wasn't Cain just saying in the drug thread that the solution is obviously to outlaw all things people find pleasurable? 

  The cops are doing a great service. Those kids could become psychologically addicted to original music.

Boston cops going undercover posing as punks to break up DIY punk/indie shows.
http://gawker.com/5992924/lamestain-boston-cops-google-punk-rocker-use-results-to-crack-down-on-diy-house-shows
Please let this happen to old timey jug bands. Please let this happen to old timey jug bands.

What in the hell does this sentence even mean?

The law was originally intended to remove the need for a firefighter or a paramedic who would have to get the necessary court order to get a victim's blood for infectious diseases if they had become exposed to it.

I think the idea here is that if a paramedic arrives at the scene of an accident and gets blood all over them they can test the patient's blood for diseases without their consent (in the case that the patient is unconcious and cannot consent)

At the lab I work at doctor's sometimes accidentally poke themselves with their emg needles during a patient study. The standard procedure then is to ask the patient if we can test their blood. The patient can opt out or sign a whole bunch of forms and both doctor and patient go up and get a blooddraw so they can see if either have any infectious diseases to worry about. Then patient services makes me fill out forms. Lots and lots of forms.

I'm thinking that the intent was to give paramedics and first responders a way to find out if they had been infected without a court order or waiting for the patient to regain consiousness for consent. Of course that's giving Kansas lawmakers a huge benefit of the doubt.

The worst part is that this should have been settled in about 5 minutes.

"Hey you realize this could lead to quarantining HIV positive people, right?"

"Oh, I'm sorry we copied part of this bill from a different bill involving blood draws and first responders. It didn't occur to us"

"That's ok. Lets just change that part and remove the HIV AIDS bit and then sign the bill."

"No problem, there. Now we can move on to other important government issues."

......Also in my fantasy I own a yacht and a mansion. And I fight crime with Batman on the weekends.

Heh, right on. Sometimes I overthink overthinking.

Actually I wasn't even thinking about a gay pride parade. I imagined a shriner that somehow got separated from his group and then thought that the riot was a another parade that he found scary.

I'm embarrassed it took me that long to see that it could be taken another way and I apologize. I can be slow on the uptake sometimes. Also I need to get better at mspaint.