War on Terror: Watch List Grows to One Million Names

Big Brother is watching--all one million of you.

The watch list of terrorism suspects recently passed 1 million names--which translates into about 400,000 people, according to NewsMax.

Are there really nearly a half-million terrorists among us?

The number of times we've agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union can be counted on one hand, but this appears to be one of those rare occasions: the list is too big to be effective.

The list is one of the "most effective tools" implemented after 9-11. The Bush administration disagreed. The Department of Homeland Security is like any other government bureaucracy: more interested in job security than effectiveness.

Prior to September 11, the no-fly list had just 16 people on it.

Either the DHS is so effective and have discovered 1 million (minus 16) new terrorist names in the last 7 years. Or, more likely, the list has a lot of people on it "just to be on the safe side".

Which is fine--unless your name is on the list by mistake. Which happens more frequently than is publicized.

Otherwise, how to go about checking out the 1 million? Are terrorists sprouting like weeds? Is the DHS lazy about checking out these thousands of potential terrorists? Does anyone care?

"America's new million-record watch list is a perfect symbol for what's wrong with this administration's approach to security: it's unfair, out-of-control, a waste of resources (and) treats the rights of the innocent as an afterthought," ACLU technology director Barry Steinhardt said in a release.

President George W. Bush ordered in the current list in September 2003 as a way to wrap several growing terrorism watchlists into a single government database compiled and overseen by the FBI, through a Terrorist Screening Center.

Suspected terrorists or people believed to have links to terrorism are included on the list, which can be used by a wide range of government agencies in security screening. About 50,000 individuals are included on the Transportation Security Administration "no-fly" or "selectee" lists that subject them to travel bans, arrest or additional screening.

Ted Kennedy, civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis and Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) have all had their troubles with their names being on watch lists. One can understand Senator Kennedy having problems if the watch list contained names of members of Congress spouting nonsense--but Senator Kennedy a terrorist?

He's not that ambitious.

[Terrorism Screening Center spokeman, Chad Kolton], cited a report last year by the Government Accountability Office that said there was general agreement within the federal government that the watch list had helped to combat terrorism.

"The list is very effective. In fact it's one of the most effective counterterrorism tools that our country has," he said.

About 400,000 individuals are included on the list, about 95 percent of whom are not U.S. citizens or residents, Kolton said. The watch list also includes separate entries with aliases, fake passports and fake birth dates, bringing the total number of records to more than 1 million, he said.

TSA spokeman Christopher White said Kennedy and Lewis were never on the list, and that problems they reported were due to their misidentification with names properly on it.

One of the least effective ways of identifying ineffective government programs would be to survey government bureaucrats; yet, "general agreement within the federal government" that the list is effective seems to indicate the use of that benchmark.

When new government agencies or programs or regulations or laws are proposed, critics rightly point out the bad things that can happen with nearly all things government. Proponents pooh-pooh the critics' claims, many times calling them preposterous.

It's not that poorly-constructed government programs, agencies, regulations or laws start out as being malicious--it's that they become that way due to the very inefficiencies of large government.

The watch list is a perfect example of this.

The watch list is "very effective"--unless your name mistakenly winds up on it.

1 million names on the watch list and the refusal to profile targeted groups of air travelers--while there are thousands of unknown persons passing through a still-unsecured southern border--makes no sense.

Except to those running government bureaucracies.

by Mondoreb
image: propaganda posters
Source:
* Terror Watch List: Over 1 Million Names and Growing
* U.S. Terrorism Watch List Tops 1 Million

Sen. Larry Craig: ACLU Files Brief - Sex Okay in MN Public Stalls

''I am not gay. I never have been gay.''
Senator Larry Craig at a news conference, August 27, 2007

The American Civil Liberties Union may become Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig's best friend and worst nightmare, if the ACLU brief filed Tuesday with the Minnesota Court of Appeals, in support of the attempt to appeal Craig's August 8 conviction of Disorderly Conduct, is successful.

The appeal, if accepted by the court, shoots down Craig's attempts to deny he was in an airport bathroom stall playing footsies with an undercover cop to signal he was looking for sex. This would also further undercut Craig's denials that he is not homosexual. Charges that have been rampant since it was announced in August that he had been caught in an undercover bathroom sting and subsequently plead guilty to Disorderly Conduct without any advice from counsel.





According to the Associated Press, Craig was arrested on June 11 and originally charged with interference with privacy, which dovetails with the brief the ACLU filed with the court. The ACLU is citing a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling made 38 years ago that found "people who have sex in closed stalls in public restrooms "have a reasonable expectation of privacy.""

The ACLU argued that the original charge of "interference of privacy" proves Craig's intent was indeed sex when he was arrested June 11. He had a "right to privacy" which included sex and should never have been charged, referring to the 38-year-old decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court.

"The government cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Senator Craig was inviting the undercover officer to engage in anything other than sexual intimacy that would not have called attention to itself in a closed stall in the public restroom," the ACLU wrote in its brief.

Craig plead guilty to Misdemeanor Disorderly Conduct on August 8 in Hennepin County Municipal Court, in Bloomington, Minnesota. According to CNN, Craig plead guilty to Disorderly Conduct, paid a $500 fine, and received a sentence of 10 days in jail that was stayed.

Minnesota law defines disorderly conduct as brawling, disturbing a meeting or engaging in "offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous or noisy conduct."

According to Roll Call, the arresting officer alleged that Craig lingered outside a rest room stall where the officer was sitting, then entered the stall next door and blocked the door with his luggage.

According to the arrest report cited by Roll Call, Craig tapped his right foot, which the officer said he recognized "as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct."

The report alleges Craig then touched the officer's foot with his foot and the senator "proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times," according to Roll Call.

At that point, the officer said he put his police identification down by the floor so Craig could see it and informed the senator that he was under arrest, before any sexual contact took place.

When the news broke in August of Craig's arrest back in June, Craig denied any inappropriate behavior:

"At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions. I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct," he said. "I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."

Craig argued that he plead guilty because he wanted to handle the matter himself, "quickly and expeditiously." The fact of the matter was that Craig was arrested on June 11 and didn't go to court until two months later on August 8, where he plead guilty. Therefore Craig had two whole months to consider obtaining the advise of an attorney and/or changing his plea.

NN) -- Sen. Larry Craig on Thursday said he was not resigning from the Senate despite a Minnesota judge denying his request to withdraw his guilty plea stemming from his arrest in a sex sting at an airport men's room.

"I am extremely disappointed with the ruling issued today," Craig said in a statement. "I am innocent of the charges against me. I continue to work with my legal team to explore my additional legal options."

"I will continue to serve Idaho in the United States Senate, and there are several reasons for that," the Republican said. Source - CNN

In an effort to appeal his guilty plea Craig's own attorneys filed an appeal, Jan. 8:

From Fox News:
An appeals brief filed Tuesday contends that Minnesota's disorderly conduct law "requires that the conduct at issue have a tendency to alarm or anger 'others"' — underscoring the plural nature of the term.

Craig's brief goes on to cite other convictions that were overturned because the multiple-victim test wasn't met. His lawyers apply the same logic to his case.

This was after Minnesota Judge Charles Porter ruled Craig's original guilty plea would stand:

Hennepin County District Judge Charles Porter found that Craig had entered the guilty plea to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge "accurately, voluntarily and intelligently," and that it was too late to withdraw his admission.

In a sharply worded 27-page order, the judge found that Craig had freely given his plea after extensive discussions with prosecutors and after waiving his right to an attorney.

"The defendant, a career politician with a college education, is of at least above-average intelligence," Porter wrote. "He knew what he was saying, reading, and signing.

If the ACLU appeal is successful in getting Craig's guilty plea reversed, it will be a mixed bag of blessings for Craig. Since it relates to the older Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that said people had a right to privacy in public bathrooms "including sex," it may mean Craig's month's long crusade to have his guilty plea overturned will finally be over. But with the addendum, he'll still be stuck in a moral quagmire, that Craig was there for "gay" sex, the charge he continues to deny.

By LBG
Image - My Own Private Idaho
Image - Senator Swish - Gay.com
Source - DBKP - Senator Craig Digs Deeper Hole: Files "Multiple Victims" Appeal



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Canadian Justice? Police Shoot Family's Dogs in Front of Them

Police break in the door and shoot a family's dogs as they watch. A story of Canadian justice north of the border, from the Ottawa Citizen:

Joanne Charlebois said she was spending the evening packing for a move with the help of friends, and her daughters, aged 16 and 19, were studying with a pal, when men in helmets broke down the door of her McArthur Ave apartment.

Charlebois claims officers gave no warning before shooting the dogs, whom she says were gentle mutts who were running away in fear. They left bullet holes in the floor and a casing under the sofa.

"I heard bangs at the front door, they knocked the door in," a weeping Charlebois said. "I thought it was a joke for Halloween.

What happened next is the fear of every person who ponies up money on the American side of the border for the ACLU.

"Then click, boom, boom. My dog (Daisy) was in the air, her legs shaking. Then my dog Maxine came running to me and they blew her head off right next to me.

"They came in and terrorized my household. They killed our dogs ... I'm traumatized, my daughters are traumatized."

The officers kept asking where the cocaine and guns were hidden and tore the place apart.

Maybe it's the libertarian streak, but sometimes, you agree that maybe the ACLU is needed--even if this story did take place in Canada. Even if the ACLU's actions sometimes make you flinch.




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Castillo Execution Stopped: ACLU's Last Minute Stays of Execution are Cruel and Unusal, Not Lethal Injection

[photo:CNN]Death Penalty Opposition Gives ACLU It's Only Chance to Speak Up For Life

by Mondoreb
The ACLU stopped a killer's execution, 90 minutes before he was set to die amid arguments from death penalty opponents that the state should wait until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews the constitutionality of lethal injections. Was it lethal injection or the last minute stay that was cruel and unusal?

The ACLU won't speak up for the unborn nor the comatose. But if you've beaten an old lady to death with a tire tool, their voice is deafening. "All-Death, All-the-time", ceases to be their slogan when it comes to the capital punishment of convicted killers.

From CNN:

CARSON CITY, Nevada (AP) -- A killer's execution was halted 90 minutes before he was set to die amid arguments from death penalty opponents that the state should wait until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews the constitutionality of lethal injections.
The Nevada Supreme Court issued the last-minute stay Monday for William Castillo, who beat an elderly woman to death with a tire iron.

Castillo, 34, had declined to file appeals of his own and prison officials have said he was ready to die. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada appealed to halt any executions in the state.

The same organization works relentlesly to keep America free of any symbols of higher moral authority other than the ACLU. Killers are not the threat but killing the killers is.

Lee Rowland, one of the ACLU lawyers who argued the case Monday before the Supreme Court, welcomed the decision, which was signed by all seven justices.

"Clearly, this was the right thing to do, legally and morally," she said. "We are heartened that this decision will bring Nevada in line with the rest of the country, which has decided to await guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court."

Whether the ACLU admits it or not, lethal injection is not cruel and unusual; stays of execution 90 minutes before a convicted killer is ready to die are.



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THE SILENCE OF THE LIBS

by Little Baby Ginn

Four Years In The Pen For Flushing A Book?

Scooby Dooby Do, where are you, ACLU?

In case you missed it a former student at Pace University was arrested and charged with a Hate Crime for allegedly dunking a Koran in the toilet at the school, not once, but twice.

For this crime, Stanlislav Schmulevich could get up to 4 years in the pen. Four years for throwing a book in a toilet. Would we see the detectives of NYC’s finest throwing their investigative powers behind a Bible dunker?

This smacks of China, Cuba, or Iran, the government charging and convicting someone with a "Hate Crime" and then locking him or her up in prison all over a book.
But not just any book, this was a Koran. Like I said before, if it were a Bible or the Torah, forgetaboutit, the cops would laugh the complainers out of the station.

Does the crime justify the time? Hell no. Has the ACLU come to his defense for exercising his Free Speech? Hell no. Are we headed down the slippery slope of Thought Police? Hell yes.
In the old days we might be talking a fine but these are the New Days where offending Muslims by throwing a Koran in a toilet will get you a four stretch in the Big House.

This bastard would have been better off sticking a statute of Jesus on a bucket of piss. I mean it worked for the guy who actually did do this and then called it "art."

If not the ACLU, then who defends the 1st Amendment? We need a champion: someone who will speak up for free speech.

All I hear is the silence of the Libs.

Read Complete story here:
Student Flushed over Koran Toilet Dunk

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