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July 26, 2013
At first the police denied it but after an internal investigation, they put out this press release:
Do you remember reports from various Occupy movements around the country that the police were dropping off drunks, druggies and messed-up vagrants at the camps to cause problems for them? This puts those reports in a whole new light.
Not that clear lol! Here's a documentary about it and a press release suspending the program
I'm swiping this from Bennyboy's post last night: 6 Occupy Minneapolis protesters have filed suit against the state for using them as guinea pigs.
At first the police denied it but after an internal investigation, they put out this press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 09, 2012
Drug Recognition Training Program Suspended
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Internal Affairs Investigations Announced
ST. PAUL — Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Mona Dohman today announced that the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has launched a criminal investigation into allegations that a Hutchinson police officer provided marijuana to a potential subject in Minnesota’s drug evaluation and classification (DEC) training program last week.
An officer from another law enforcement agency allegedly witnessed the activity. The officer, who was also participating in DEC training, reported the incident to the Minnesota State Patrol.
Commissioner Dohman has also directed the Department of Public Safety Internal Affairs Division to investigate the DEC program to determine if any agency policies or procedures were violated.
“Training law enforcement officers to detect drug impairment helps to keep our roads safe, but we need to ensure that all participants follow guidelines and operate within the law,” Commissioner Dohman said. “I have suspended the drug recognition evaluator training pending the outcome of these investigations and until we revisit and review the curriculum for the program.”
The DEC program trains law enforcement officers to detect and remove drug impaired drivers from the road. An officer who receives this training is certified as a drug recognition evaluator (DRE). Currently 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada participate in the DEC program.
Minnesota’s DEC program has been managed by the State Patrol since its inception in 1991. There are 197 DRE officers in Minnesota representing 92 agencies.
DRE training consists of nine days of classroom work where officers learn about specific drug categories, physiology, and work to enhance their Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST) skills.
Following the classroom training, and to complete certification, DRE candidates must perform 12 evaluations on drug-impaired subjects monitored and verified by DRE instructors. Volunteer subjects who appear to be impaired are typically recruited from the community.
The DEC program was developed in Los Angeles in the 1970s when police officers noticed that many individuals arrested for DWI had very low, or no, alcohol concentrations. The officers suspected that their suspects were under the influence of drugs, but lacked the knowledge and skills to support their suspicions.
In response, two LAPD sergeants collaborated with various medical doctors, research psychologists and other medical professionals to develop a simple, standardized procedure for recognizing drug influence and impairment. Their efforts culminated in the development of a multi-step protocol and the first DRE program. The LAPD formally recognized the program in 1979.
The national DEC program is managed and coordinated by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) with support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
###
https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ooc/news-releases/Pages/Drug-Recognition-Training-Program-Suspended.aspx
May 09, 2012
Drug Recognition Training Program Suspended
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Internal Affairs Investigations Announced
ST. PAUL — Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Mona Dohman today announced that the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has launched a criminal investigation into allegations that a Hutchinson police officer provided marijuana to a potential subject in Minnesota’s drug evaluation and classification (DEC) training program last week.
An officer from another law enforcement agency allegedly witnessed the activity. The officer, who was also participating in DEC training, reported the incident to the Minnesota State Patrol.
Commissioner Dohman has also directed the Department of Public Safety Internal Affairs Division to investigate the DEC program to determine if any agency policies or procedures were violated.
“Training law enforcement officers to detect drug impairment helps to keep our roads safe, but we need to ensure that all participants follow guidelines and operate within the law,” Commissioner Dohman said. “I have suspended the drug recognition evaluator training pending the outcome of these investigations and until we revisit and review the curriculum for the program.”
The DEC program trains law enforcement officers to detect and remove drug impaired drivers from the road. An officer who receives this training is certified as a drug recognition evaluator (DRE). Currently 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada participate in the DEC program.
Minnesota’s DEC program has been managed by the State Patrol since its inception in 1991. There are 197 DRE officers in Minnesota representing 92 agencies.
DRE training consists of nine days of classroom work where officers learn about specific drug categories, physiology, and work to enhance their Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST) skills.
Following the classroom training, and to complete certification, DRE candidates must perform 12 evaluations on drug-impaired subjects monitored and verified by DRE instructors. Volunteer subjects who appear to be impaired are typically recruited from the community.
The DEC program was developed in Los Angeles in the 1970s when police officers noticed that many individuals arrested for DWI had very low, or no, alcohol concentrations. The officers suspected that their suspects were under the influence of drugs, but lacked the knowledge and skills to support their suspicions.
In response, two LAPD sergeants collaborated with various medical doctors, research psychologists and other medical professionals to develop a simple, standardized procedure for recognizing drug influence and impairment. Their efforts culminated in the development of a multi-step protocol and the first DRE program. The LAPD formally recognized the program in 1979.
The national DEC program is managed and coordinated by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) with support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
###
https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ooc/news-releases/Pages/Drug-Recognition-Training-Program-Suspended.aspx
Do you remember reports from various Occupy movements around the country that the police were dropping off drunks, druggies and messed-up vagrants at the camps to cause problems for them? This puts those reports in a whole new light.
July 26, 2013
The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. In fact, the history of the recent financial crisis, which doubles as a history of the rapid decline and fall of the suddenly swindled dry American empire, reads like a Who's Who of Goldman Sachs graduates.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405
The world's richest banker thinks Australia's fretting about its economic circumstances is funny
Poor you, Australia, says Goldman CEO
26 Jul 2013, 11:37 am
Goldman Sachs boss Lloyd Blankfein says he is puzzled by the hand-wringing that goes on in Australia over the state of the economy. (AAP)
The world's richest banker, Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, thinks Australia's fretting about its economic circumstances is a bit of a laugh.
"I've been coming here for a long, long time and during the last two decades of growth, growth, growth, people are always distraught, overwrought, wringing their hands about how horrible things are and to my observation, they don't look that bad," Mr Blankfein told businesspeople in Sydney on Friday.
Mr Blankfein, boss of the bank Rolling Stone magazine famously called "a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity" following the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, spoke at a packed business breakfast about the state of the world as he saw it.
...
One questioner asked how Mr Blankfein saw Australia, given it was "in a phase where our economy is slowing" and "there's a malaise between business and government".
"No, it's awful - you've now sunk to a level that we're trying to get up to. So, my heart goes out to you," Mr Blankfein replied, demonstrating that humour and investment banking can share a stage.
...
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1792948/Poor-you-Australia-says-Goldman-CEO
26 Jul 2013, 11:37 am
Goldman Sachs boss Lloyd Blankfein says he is puzzled by the hand-wringing that goes on in Australia over the state of the economy. (AAP)
The world's richest banker, Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, thinks Australia's fretting about its economic circumstances is a bit of a laugh.
"I've been coming here for a long, long time and during the last two decades of growth, growth, growth, people are always distraught, overwrought, wringing their hands about how horrible things are and to my observation, they don't look that bad," Mr Blankfein told businesspeople in Sydney on Friday.
Mr Blankfein, boss of the bank Rolling Stone magazine famously called "a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity" following the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, spoke at a packed business breakfast about the state of the world as he saw it.
...
One questioner asked how Mr Blankfein saw Australia, given it was "in a phase where our economy is slowing" and "there's a malaise between business and government".
"No, it's awful - you've now sunk to a level that we're trying to get up to. So, my heart goes out to you," Mr Blankfein replied, demonstrating that humour and investment banking can share a stage.
...
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1792948/Poor-you-Australia-says-Goldman-CEO
The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. In fact, the history of the recent financial crisis, which doubles as a history of the rapid decline and fall of the suddenly swindled dry American empire, reads like a Who's Who of Goldman Sachs graduates.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405
July 25, 2013
Detroit: Orr's deal - Banks to receive 75c per $1. Retired workers to get 10c per $1
During a month of negotiations, Orr has reached a settlement with only two creditors: Bank of America Corp. and UBS AG. They have agreed to accept 75 cents on the dollar for approximately $340 million in swaps liabilities, according to a source familiar with the deal.
...
Orr chronicled the city’s economic collapse in a detailed plan presented to creditors June 14 — a proposal that drew criticism from some who said the cuts were too deep and did not include the sale of city assets, including Belle Isle and a Detroit Institute of Arts collection. He proposed paying most of the money owed to secured creditors while pension funds, unions and unsecured bondholders would receive, in some cases, as little as 10 cents on the dollar.
...
Orr said he wants to stabilize the city, woo new residents, provide essential city services, lower property taxes and transfer costly departments, including the water and sewerage, to an outside group.
The bankruptcy filing gives Orr unusual power to break promises made by past city officials that left Detroit on a path to spending almost 65 percent of every tax dollar on retiree pensions and health care.
...
The filing serves as a grim reminder of the bankruptcies in the auto industry four years ago. Unlike the cases of General Motors and Chrysler in 2009, the White House offered no financial help.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130718/METRO01/307180103
...
Orr chronicled the city’s economic collapse in a detailed plan presented to creditors June 14 — a proposal that drew criticism from some who said the cuts were too deep and did not include the sale of city assets, including Belle Isle and a Detroit Institute of Arts collection. He proposed paying most of the money owed to secured creditors while pension funds, unions and unsecured bondholders would receive, in some cases, as little as 10 cents on the dollar.
...
Orr said he wants to stabilize the city, woo new residents, provide essential city services, lower property taxes and transfer costly departments, including the water and sewerage, to an outside group.
The bankruptcy filing gives Orr unusual power to break promises made by past city officials that left Detroit on a path to spending almost 65 percent of every tax dollar on retiree pensions and health care.
...
The filing serves as a grim reminder of the bankruptcies in the auto industry four years ago. Unlike the cases of General Motors and Chrysler in 2009, the White House offered no financial help.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130718/METRO01/307180103
July 25, 2013
Their immediate demand: Listen to us. Their rallying cry: 'Whose Schools? Our Schools!' And their revolutionary threat: Abandon the corporate-fueled model of education reform in Chicago or face a student-led and community-powered revolt.
Led by twenty members of Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools, a student-led educational activism organization, each speaker offered prepared remarks that covered the gamut of student and community concerns regarding the policies set forth by the CPS board and Mayor Emanuel in recent years, including the impact of school closings, teacher layoffs, privatization, and the rise of for-profit charter schools.
But the students at the board meeting focused on the impact the cuts, closures and other policies were having on them and their fellow classmates.
As Asean Johnson, a nine-year-old from Marcus Garvey Elementary, so eloquently and powerfully stated to the board, "You are slashing our education. You are pulling it down. You are taking our education and our potential away."
"You are saying this is all about the kids," Johnson continued, "But I'm a student myself and I'm pleading and begging that you help these parents who are low-income. Give them what the need. Give them these schools."
He blasted the board for giving he and other students only two minutes to speak while letting "corporate businesses" have more than an hour at similar hearings. "Let the community talk," Johnson demanded with a stern voice though he barely reached the podium microphone. "Let the students talk! Let the parents talk! Let the teachers talk!"
"Let them control this board, don't let the banks control this board," he said as the room erupted with applause. "You need to go tell the mayor to just quit his job."
Watch:
“Students are speaking out because our voices are not being heard,” says Jamie Leann Adams, a rising sophomore at Roosevelt High School, who was among those who addressed the board. “We're the experts on Chicago Public Schools, and we know best how closings will affect us. The Board of Education says they want to put students first. To do that, they need to listen to us.”
In one pointed statement, Israel Munoz, a CSOSOS organizer and recent graduate of Kelly High School, went even further as he read from a 'Declaration of Education' that ultimately called for the "overthrow" of the powerful, but unelected, board of education.
Munoz declared:
Many of the students referenced their student ID number, administered to them by the public school system in Chicago.
"You know me as 40675744," said one student who stood to address the board, "but today I am more than an I.D. Number. I am the state of education. I am the future. I am a student and I need you to listen to me."
The student continued:
After all twenty students had spoken they formed a human chain in the meeting room and were chanting "Whose schools? Our schools!" as they were led away by city security officials.
Earlier on Wednesday, members of the Chicago Teachers Union had also picketed the school board following last week's firing by the CPS of more than 2,000 teachers, which union leader Karen Lewis called a "blood bath" for educators.
(Excellent video report from NBS News at the link)
______________________________________________
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/07/25-0
In Chicago, Students Rise Up Against Corporate Assault on Public Education
In Chicago, Students Rise Up Against Corporate Assault on Public Education
'Declaration of Education': Students vow 'to reject and overthrow' public school board that operates against communities
- Jon Queally, staff writer
Asean Johnson, a nine-year-old from Marcus Garvey Elementary in Chicago, calls for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to quit his job as he sternly lectures city's Board of Education on the destructive nature of their corporate-friendly policies. (Image via YouTube)
Student after student on Wednesday took to the podium at a public board meeting of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to deliver a unified message against efforts by Mayor Rahm Emanuel which they say are systematically dismantling the public education in the city.
"Our voice has been silenced by this unjust board. And it is now our duty to reject and overthrow this government. The duty of a government is to serve the interests of people not corporations. This board has failed." –Israel Munoz, student
Their immediate demand: Listen to us. Their rallying cry: 'Whose Schools? Our Schools!' And their revolutionary threat: Abandon the corporate-fueled model of education reform in Chicago or face a student-led and community-powered revolt.
Led by twenty members of Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools, a student-led educational activism organization, each speaker offered prepared remarks that covered the gamut of student and community concerns regarding the policies set forth by the CPS board and Mayor Emanuel in recent years, including the impact of school closings, teacher layoffs, privatization, and the rise of for-profit charter schools.
But the students at the board meeting focused on the impact the cuts, closures and other policies were having on them and their fellow classmates.
As Asean Johnson, a nine-year-old from Marcus Garvey Elementary, so eloquently and powerfully stated to the board, "You are slashing our education. You are pulling it down. You are taking our education and our potential away."
"You are saying this is all about the kids," Johnson continued, "But I'm a student myself and I'm pleading and begging that you help these parents who are low-income. Give them what the need. Give them these schools."
He blasted the board for giving he and other students only two minutes to speak while letting "corporate businesses" have more than an hour at similar hearings. "Let the community talk," Johnson demanded with a stern voice though he barely reached the podium microphone. "Let the students talk! Let the parents talk! Let the teachers talk!"
"Let them control this board, don't let the banks control this board," he said as the room erupted with applause. "You need to go tell the mayor to just quit his job."
Watch:
“Students are speaking out because our voices are not being heard,” says Jamie Leann Adams, a rising sophomore at Roosevelt High School, who was among those who addressed the board. “We're the experts on Chicago Public Schools, and we know best how closings will affect us. The Board of Education says they want to put students first. To do that, they need to listen to us.”
In one pointed statement, Israel Munoz, a CSOSOS organizer and recent graduate of Kelly High School, went even further as he read from a 'Declaration of Education' that ultimately called for the "overthrow" of the powerful, but unelected, board of education.
Munoz declared:
In order to secure students rights, those most affected by education policy must be the ones making educational policy. This board of education must be run by the students, parents, teachers, and community members not by corporate CEO’s, bankers, and other political puppets.
When a long train of abuses is created by the same board of education enforcing austerity and despotism it is the students' and the peoples' right to throw off such Government, and to create new systems for their future security. (...)
Our voice has been silenced by this unjust board. And it is now our duty to reject and overthrow this government. The duty of a government is to serve the interests of people not corporations. This board has failed.
Many of the students referenced their student ID number, administered to them by the public school system in Chicago.
"You know me as 40675744," said one student who stood to address the board, "but today I am more than an I.D. Number. I am the state of education. I am the future. I am a student and I need you to listen to me."
The student continued:
You, the unelected school board, claim you want better greater literacy, higher graduation rates, and an all around better education for us students—your board meeting stickers even say "Children First"—but your actions truly say otherwise.
Do you expect us students to gain a better education when your $90 million budget cuts take away our books, our classes, our resources, 1,077 of our support staff, and 1,036 of our teachers, I mean even our toilet paper? Do you expect us students to believe you care about us when you close 48 of our elementary schools and force 5-14 year old children to cross gang lines just to learn. Or do you expect us students to be hopeful when you privatize our schools and reject all responsibility for our futures? CPS, do you expect us to climb to success, when you are cutting us off at the knees?
After all twenty students had spoken they formed a human chain in the meeting room and were chanting "Whose schools? Our schools!" as they were led away by city security officials.
Earlier on Wednesday, members of the Chicago Teachers Union had also picketed the school board following last week's firing by the CPS of more than 2,000 teachers, which union leader Karen Lewis called a "blood bath" for educators.
(Excellent video report from NBS News at the link)
______________________________________________
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/07/25-0
July 25, 2013
All obvious jokes aside, imagine if this was your kid, and instead of handing your kid pot, they handed something stronger, and then dumped your kid wherever. Or your kid was arrested under the influence by another cop on the way home. Or any number of things.
State Accused of Using Occupy Protesters as 'Guinea Pigs'
July 24, 2013, 5:26 PM
State Accused of Using ‘Occupy’ Protesters as ‘Guinea Pigs’
By Jacob Gershman
Imagine you’re 18 years old and a police officer offers you a chunk of weed, asks you to smoke it in front of him and promises not to arrest you for doing so.
...
“Occupy” protesters in Minneapolis were used as “guinea pigs” in a government drug research program, their lawyer told a federal magistrate judge this week.
The hearing follows a February lawsuit filed by a half-dozen protesters in their late teens and early 20s who allege that police officers approached them at an Occupy Minneapolis demonstration, gave them large amounts of “powerful marijuana,” and then drove them to a government warehouse near an airport for observation.
The plaintiffs, who are suing state and local law enforcement agencies in Minnesota, say they later realized they had been subjects of the state’s “Drug Recognition Evaluator Training Program.” One of the participants was given at least 10 pipe bowls worth of marijuana, according to the lawsuit, which claims that police violated their privacy and First Amendment rights.
State and local police departments have asked a federal judge in Minnesota to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the plaintiffs voluntarily participated in the program.
...
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/07/24/state-accused-of-using-occupy-protesters-as-guinea-pigs/
State Accused of Using ‘Occupy’ Protesters as ‘Guinea Pigs’
By Jacob Gershman
Imagine you’re 18 years old and a police officer offers you a chunk of weed, asks you to smoke it in front of him and promises not to arrest you for doing so.
...
“Occupy” protesters in Minneapolis were used as “guinea pigs” in a government drug research program, their lawyer told a federal magistrate judge this week.
The hearing follows a February lawsuit filed by a half-dozen protesters in their late teens and early 20s who allege that police officers approached them at an Occupy Minneapolis demonstration, gave them large amounts of “powerful marijuana,” and then drove them to a government warehouse near an airport for observation.
The plaintiffs, who are suing state and local law enforcement agencies in Minnesota, say they later realized they had been subjects of the state’s “Drug Recognition Evaluator Training Program.” One of the participants was given at least 10 pipe bowls worth of marijuana, according to the lawsuit, which claims that police violated their privacy and First Amendment rights.
State and local police departments have asked a federal judge in Minnesota to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the plaintiffs voluntarily participated in the program.
...
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/07/24/state-accused-of-using-occupy-protesters-as-guinea-pigs/
...
The lawsuit stems from the now-suspended DRE program that the Minnesota State Patrol managed. The state originally was a defendant in the suit, but both sides agreed in May to drop the state as a defendant after agreeing the state had immunity in the matter.
Drug-evaluation programs are not uncommon in law enforcement. Usually, they involve officers finding a person they suspect is under the influence of narcotics, and having other junior officers observe the person's behavior.
...
Also, they contend, when people were brought back under the influence of narcotics, they often became troublemakers and bothered other protesters.
"When they videotaped this, the people who came back were in a pretty serious state. You don't want to be around that," said Dave Bicking of Minneapolis, who was among 13 Occupy participants who sat through the hearing.
...
He said that under legal precedent, the mere targeting of the protesters amounted to a violation of their First Amendment rights. He asked why the police chose people from the Occupy Minneapolis encampment, instead of "the lobby of this courthouse" or a college campus or "a Vikings game or a Twins game."
...
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_23709639/state-patrols-drug-training-used-protesters-guinea-pigs
The lawsuit stems from the now-suspended DRE program that the Minnesota State Patrol managed. The state originally was a defendant in the suit, but both sides agreed in May to drop the state as a defendant after agreeing the state had immunity in the matter.
Drug-evaluation programs are not uncommon in law enforcement. Usually, they involve officers finding a person they suspect is under the influence of narcotics, and having other junior officers observe the person's behavior.
...
Also, they contend, when people were brought back under the influence of narcotics, they often became troublemakers and bothered other protesters.
"When they videotaped this, the people who came back were in a pretty serious state. You don't want to be around that," said Dave Bicking of Minneapolis, who was among 13 Occupy participants who sat through the hearing.
...
He said that under legal precedent, the mere targeting of the protesters amounted to a violation of their First Amendment rights. He asked why the police chose people from the Occupy Minneapolis encampment, instead of "the lobby of this courthouse" or a college campus or "a Vikings game or a Twins game."
...
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_23709639/state-patrols-drug-training-used-protesters-guinea-pigs
All obvious jokes aside, imagine if this was your kid, and instead of handing your kid pot, they handed something stronger, and then dumped your kid wherever. Or your kid was arrested under the influence by another cop on the way home. Or any number of things.
July 25, 2013
Portions of an airport in Miami, Florida have been evacuated after depleted uranium was discovered early Thursday.
Firefighters have cleared a 150-foot area of the Opa-locka Executive Airport in south Florida after a 55 gallon drum located either on or near part of a dismantled aircraft was discovered to be containing exposed, depleted uranium, NBC 6 South Florida reported.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Public Information Officer Arnold Piedrahita Jr tweeted that a haz-mat scene is on the scene attempting to assess the severity.
Opa-locka is a reliever airport which serves as a secondary landing field for aircraft normally going in and out of the larger Miami International Airport. It also is a hub used by the United States Coast Guard for air and sea rescue stations.
...
http://rt.com/usa/uranium-depleted-miami-airport-595/
Officials still don't know how container with depleted uranium became unsealed. No injuries reported
Depleted uranium found in Florida airport, evacuation ordered in parts of airport
Portions of an airport in Miami, Florida have been evacuated after depleted uranium was discovered early Thursday.
Firefighters have cleared a 150-foot area of the Opa-locka Executive Airport in south Florida after a 55 gallon drum located either on or near part of a dismantled aircraft was discovered to be containing exposed, depleted uranium, NBC 6 South Florida reported.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Public Information Officer Arnold Piedrahita Jr tweeted that a haz-mat scene is on the scene attempting to assess the severity.
Arnold Piedrahita Jr ?@mdfrpio
#BREAKING @MiamiDadeFire hazmat crew preparing to enter hot zone to assess severity of uranium hazard #opalockahazmat
https://twitter.com/mdfrpio/statuses/360433348016996353
#BREAKING @MiamiDadeFire hazmat crew preparing to enter hot zone to assess severity of uranium hazard #opalockahazmat
https://twitter.com/mdfrpio/statuses/360433348016996353
Opa-locka is a reliever airport which serves as a secondary landing field for aircraft normally going in and out of the larger Miami International Airport. It also is a hub used by the United States Coast Guard for air and sea rescue stations.
...
http://rt.com/usa/uranium-depleted-miami-airport-595/
Officials still don't know how container with depleted uranium became unsealed. No injuries reported
RT ?@RT_com 7m
MORE DETAILS: Firefighters forced people to evacuate 150-foot area around uranium at Opa-locka Executive Airport
MORE DETAILS: Firefighters forced people to evacuate 150-foot area around uranium at Opa-locka Executive Airport
July 25, 2013
The Amash Amendment, Legislative History And The Surveillance State. Remember these names
The Amash Amendment, Legislative History And The Surveillance State
Posted on July 25, 2013 by pgeddington
... a little vote comparing:
PATRIOT Act expiring provision reauthorization vote, 2011: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll036.xml
Amash amendment to FY14 DoD Approps bill vote, 2013: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll412.xml
These Members voted against extending the expiring PATRIOT Act provision reauthorization bill in 2011 but also against the Amash amendment (a much less ambitious amendment/proposition) in 2013 (i.e., contradictory votes):
Pelosi
Hinojosa
Higgins
Engel
Schakowsky
Wasserman Schultz
Thompson (CA)
Andrews
Israel
Quigley
Al Green
Guitierrez
Hanabusa
Larsen
Jackson Lee
E.B. Johnson
Kaptur
... the 17 who are still House members and who voted against the PATRIOT Act reauthorization in 2011 and against the Amash amendment today provided the margin of victory for the White House and the supporters of NSA’s current surveillance programs. By comparison, in 2011 only 27 Republicans voted against reauthorizing expiring PATRIOT Act provisions, while today 93 voted with Amash, a radical swing clearly fueled by Edward Snowden’s sensational revelations about PATRIOT Act and FISA Amendment Act abuses.
http://longstrangejourney.com/2013/07/25/the-amash-amendment-legislative-history-and-the-surveillance-state/
July 25, 2013
The extraordinary events that took place in the House of Representatives yesterday are perhaps the most vivid illustration yet of this dynamic, and it independently reveals several other important trends. The House voted on an amendment sponsored by Justin Amash, the young Michigan lawyer elected in 2010 as a Tea Party candidate, and co-sponsored by John Conyers, the 24-term senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. The amendment was simple. It would de-fund one single NSA program: the agency's bulk collection of the telephone records of all Americans that we first revealed in this space, back on June 6. It accomplished this "by requiring the FISA court under Sec. 215 [of the Patriot Act] to order the production of records that pertain only to a person under investigation".
...
That's why the only defenders of the NSA at this point are the decaying establishment leadership of both political parties whose allegiance is to the sprawling permanent power faction in Washington and the private industry that owns and controls it. They're aligned against long-time liberals, the new breed of small government conservatives, the ACLU and other civil liberties groups, many of their own members, and increasingly the American people, who have grown tired of, and immune to, the relentless fear-mongering.
...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/25/democratic-establishment-nsa
Democratic establishment unmasked: prime defenders of NSA bulk spying
Democratic establishment unmasked: prime defenders of NSA bulk spying
NYT: "The Obama administration made common cause with the House Republican leadership"
Glenn Greenwald
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 25 July 2013 10.09 BST
One of the most vocal supporters of the Obama White House's position on yesterday's NSA debate: GOP Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images
One of the worst myths Democratic partisans love to tell themselves - and everyone else - is that the GOP refuses to support President Obama no matter what he does. Like its close cousin - the massively deceitful inside-DC grievance that the two parties refuse to cooperate on anything - it's hard to overstate how false this Democratic myth is. When it comes to foreign policy, war, assassinations, drones, surveillance, secrecy, and civil liberties, President Obama's most stalwart, enthusiastic defenders are often found among the most radical precincts of the Republican Party.
The rabidly pro-war and anti-Muslim GOP former Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Peter King, has repeatedly lavished Obama with all sorts of praise and support for his policies in those areas. The Obama White House frequently needs, and receives, large amounts of GOP Congressional support to have its measures enacted or bills its dislikes defeated. The Obama DOJ often prevails before the US Supreme Court solely because the Roberts/Scalia/Thomas faction adopts its view while the Ginsburg/Sotomayor/Breyer faction rejects it (as happened in February when the Court, by a 5-4 ruling, dismissed a lawsuit brought by Amnesty and the ACLU which argued that the NSA's domestic warrantless eavesdropping activities violate the Fourth Amendment; the Roberts/Scalia wing accepted the Obama DOJ's argument that the plaintiffs lack standing to sue because the NSA successfully conceals the identity of which Americans are subjected to the surveillance). As Wired put it at the time about that NSA ruling:
"The 5-4 decision by Justice Samuel Alito was a clear victory for the President Barack Obama administration, which like its predecessor, argued that government wiretapping laws cannot be challenged in court."
The extraordinary events that took place in the House of Representatives yesterday are perhaps the most vivid illustration yet of this dynamic, and it independently reveals several other important trends. The House voted on an amendment sponsored by Justin Amash, the young Michigan lawyer elected in 2010 as a Tea Party candidate, and co-sponsored by John Conyers, the 24-term senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. The amendment was simple. It would de-fund one single NSA program: the agency's bulk collection of the telephone records of all Americans that we first revealed in this space, back on June 6. It accomplished this "by requiring the FISA court under Sec. 215 [of the Patriot Act] to order the production of records that pertain only to a person under investigation".
...
That's why the only defenders of the NSA at this point are the decaying establishment leadership of both political parties whose allegiance is to the sprawling permanent power faction in Washington and the private industry that owns and controls it. They're aligned against long-time liberals, the new breed of small government conservatives, the ACLU and other civil liberties groups, many of their own members, and increasingly the American people, who have grown tired of, and immune to, the relentless fear-mongering.
...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/25/democratic-establishment-nsa
July 25, 2013
and Feinstein and Hoyer, heck all the usual suspects
That and there was a Top Secret NSA briefing before the vote to put the fear of God
This should have passed. And it will. The White House is trying to play this down as just another of those "phony scandals" but people have news for them
The National Security Agency has invited certain members of Congress to a top secret, invitation only meeting to discuss a proposed amendment that could end the NSA’s ability to conduct dragnet surveillance on millions of Americans.
A letter circulated only to select lawmakers early Tuesday announced that NSA Director General Keith B. Alexander would host a question and answer session with members of Congress in preparation of a Thursday vote on Capitol Hill expected to involve an amendment introduced last month by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Michigan).
...
Amash’s suggestion isn’t unheard of in the wake of a massive public backlash caused by Mr. Snowden’s disclosures, but it certainly isn’t sitting pretty with the NSA. According to Huffington Post, a letter circulated on Tuesday only hours after the Amash amendment was confirmed to be in order and expected to go up for vote this Thursday.
"In advance of anticipated action on amendments to the DoD Appropriations bill, Ranking Member C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of the House Intelligence Committee invites your Member to attend a question and answer session with General Keith B. Alexander of the National Security Agency," HuffPo quoted from the invitation.
The meeting, added journalist Ryan Grim, was scheduled to be held at a security level of top secret/SCI and was only open to certain lawmakers, echoing the secrecy involved in the very programs Amash aims to shut down.
http://rt.com/usa/nsa-surveillance-amendment-amash-485/
A letter circulated only to select lawmakers early Tuesday announced that NSA Director General Keith B. Alexander would host a question and answer session with members of Congress in preparation of a Thursday vote on Capitol Hill expected to involve an amendment introduced last month by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Michigan).
...
Amash’s suggestion isn’t unheard of in the wake of a massive public backlash caused by Mr. Snowden’s disclosures, but it certainly isn’t sitting pretty with the NSA. According to Huffington Post, a letter circulated on Tuesday only hours after the Amash amendment was confirmed to be in order and expected to go up for vote this Thursday.
"In advance of anticipated action on amendments to the DoD Appropriations bill, Ranking Member C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of the House Intelligence Committee invites your Member to attend a question and answer session with General Keith B. Alexander of the National Security Agency," HuffPo quoted from the invitation.
The meeting, added journalist Ryan Grim, was scheduled to be held at a security level of top secret/SCI and was only open to certain lawmakers, echoing the secrecy involved in the very programs Amash aims to shut down.
http://rt.com/usa/nsa-surveillance-amendment-amash-485/
NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander lobbied the House yesterday in an effort to dial back congressional opposition to NSA spying and the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee oppose the measures, as does the White House.
“[W]e oppose the current effort in the House to hastily dismantle one of our Intelligence Community’s counterterrorism tools,” a statement from White House press secretary Jay Carney says. “This blunt approach is not the product of an informed, open, or deliberative process. We urge the House to reject the Amash Amendment, and instead move forward with an approach that appropriately takes into account the need for a reasoned review of what tools can best secure the nation.”
Amash told the New York Times that Alexander’s lobbying didn’t change any minds and that his measure will most likely pass. “I think the American people are overwhelmingly in support of reining in the blanket surveillance of the NSA,” he said.
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/07/24/2347191/house-nsa/
“[W]e oppose the current effort in the House to hastily dismantle one of our Intelligence Community’s counterterrorism tools,” a statement from White House press secretary Jay Carney says. “This blunt approach is not the product of an informed, open, or deliberative process. We urge the House to reject the Amash Amendment, and instead move forward with an approach that appropriately takes into account the need for a reasoned review of what tools can best secure the nation.”
Amash told the New York Times that Alexander’s lobbying didn’t change any minds and that his measure will most likely pass. “I think the American people are overwhelmingly in support of reining in the blanket surveillance of the NSA,” he said.
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/07/24/2347191/house-nsa/
and Feinstein and Hoyer, heck all the usual suspects
The heads of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday criticized a House amendment targeting funding for the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and ranking member Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) issued a joint statement Tuesday that called the amendment from Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) “unwise.”
“We believe this debate in the Congressional Intelligence and Judiciary committees should continue and that any amendments to defund the program on appropriations bills would be unwise,” the senators said.
“Since the public disclosure of the business records program, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has explored how the program can be modified to add extra privacy protections without sacrificing its effectiveness,” they added.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/312815-senate-intel-leaders-slam-houses-nsa-amendment#ixzz2ZszT9kJE
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and ranking member Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) issued a joint statement Tuesday that called the amendment from Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) “unwise.”
“We believe this debate in the Congressional Intelligence and Judiciary committees should continue and that any amendments to defund the program on appropriations bills would be unwise,” the senators said.
“Since the public disclosure of the business records program, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has explored how the program can be modified to add extra privacy protections without sacrificing its effectiveness,” they added.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/312815-senate-intel-leaders-slam-houses-nsa-amendment#ixzz2ZszT9kJE
July 25, 2013
and putting up statements like this one on Facebook and their websites
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Fitzpatrick (PA-8) released the following statement Wednesday regarding his vote in support of the Amash-Conyers Amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill:
“Tonight, I stood on the side of personal liberty and voted in favor of the Amash-Conyers Amendment which would have curtailed the blanket collection of phone records by the NSA.
While I am disappointed the amendment was not passed and attached to the bill, its strong bipartisan support should put the president on notice about the very serious concerns many members, and Americans, have about the expanse of government agencies like the NSA.
My vote- along with that of others- was based on continuing concerns about the overreach of parts of the PATRIOT Act. While I fully acknowledge law enforcement needs information to combat terror tactics, it's important that the personal privacy and liberty of my law-abiding constituents be honored.”
http://fitzpatrick.house.gov/press-release/fitzpatrick-nsa-overreach-must-be-stopped
Diane Black
I just voted for Representative Justin Amash’s amendment to protect our Fourth Amendment rights and END the NSA’s mass surveillance of Americans. This amendment would have limited the ability of the NSA to ONLY collect data on an American citizen if he or she is the subject of an authorized investigation. I’m disappointed that this amendment was narrowly defeated, because the Obama administration has proven time and time again that it cannot be trusted with our personal information and to date, has not provided a credible explanation as to why the telephone records of every single American are necessary to ensure our national security. SHARE if you agree—It’s time to end the surveillance state and make NSA focus on those who actually pose a terrorist threat.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=656441081052496&set=a.187001981329744.48130.186436274719648&type=1&theater
I almost started a thread to keep track of them all but they were flying past so fast.
I dunno, the ones who voted for it are all proudly responding to their constituents
with tweets like this
Bill Johnson ?@RepBillJohnson 1h
Tonight, I voted FOR the Amash Amendment. The federal gov't is getting too big and too intrusive. #NSA #amash
Tonight, I voted FOR the Amash Amendment. The federal gov't is getting too big and too intrusive. #NSA #amash
Matt Salmon ?@RepMattSalmon 2h
Voted in support of Amash-Conyers #NSA amd't. It protects privacy by limiting the scope of NSA’s collection of surveillance records
#Liberty
Voted in support of Amash-Conyers #NSA amd't. It protects privacy by limiting the scope of NSA’s collection of surveillance records
and putting up statements like this one on Facebook and their websites
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Fitzpatrick (PA-8) released the following statement Wednesday regarding his vote in support of the Amash-Conyers Amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill:
“Tonight, I stood on the side of personal liberty and voted in favor of the Amash-Conyers Amendment which would have curtailed the blanket collection of phone records by the NSA.
While I am disappointed the amendment was not passed and attached to the bill, its strong bipartisan support should put the president on notice about the very serious concerns many members, and Americans, have about the expanse of government agencies like the NSA.
My vote- along with that of others- was based on continuing concerns about the overreach of parts of the PATRIOT Act. While I fully acknowledge law enforcement needs information to combat terror tactics, it's important that the personal privacy and liberty of my law-abiding constituents be honored.”
http://fitzpatrick.house.gov/press-release/fitzpatrick-nsa-overreach-must-be-stopped
Congressman Kevin Yoder · 3,705 like this
2 hours ago ·
We have spent most of the week debating and discussing the Defense appropriations bill this week, including several amendments. Like most Americans, I was shocked by reports of the broad nature that the National Security Agency was collecting the telephone records of all Americans. While I believe strongly in my Constitutional duty to ensure our nation is safe, I also have an obligation to uphold the privacy protections granted by the Constitution to all Americans. That is why I voted for an amendment offered by Congressman Justin Amash (MI) to the Defense appropriations bill today, which would have ended the indiscriminate collection of Americans' telephone records. The amendment would allow law enforcement and national security officials the ability to investigate specific threats to our national security without breaching the privacy rights of Americans.
https://www.facebook.com/CongressmanKevinYoder/posts/581284298591154
2 hours ago ·
We have spent most of the week debating and discussing the Defense appropriations bill this week, including several amendments. Like most Americans, I was shocked by reports of the broad nature that the National Security Agency was collecting the telephone records of all Americans. While I believe strongly in my Constitutional duty to ensure our nation is safe, I also have an obligation to uphold the privacy protections granted by the Constitution to all Americans. That is why I voted for an amendment offered by Congressman Justin Amash (MI) to the Defense appropriations bill today, which would have ended the indiscriminate collection of Americans' telephone records. The amendment would allow law enforcement and national security officials the ability to investigate specific threats to our national security without breaching the privacy rights of Americans.
https://www.facebook.com/CongressmanKevinYoder/posts/581284298591154
Diane Black
I just voted for Representative Justin Amash’s amendment to protect our Fourth Amendment rights and END the NSA’s mass surveillance of Americans. This amendment would have limited the ability of the NSA to ONLY collect data on an American citizen if he or she is the subject of an authorized investigation. I’m disappointed that this amendment was narrowly defeated, because the Obama administration has proven time and time again that it cannot be trusted with our personal information and to date, has not provided a credible explanation as to why the telephone records of every single American are necessary to ensure our national security. SHARE if you agree—It’s time to end the surveillance state and make NSA focus on those who actually pose a terrorist threat.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=656441081052496&set=a.187001981329744.48130.186436274719648&type=1&theater
For Immediate Release
July 24, 2013
Contact: Orlando Watson
[email protected]
Rep. Gosar Votes To Restore Civil Liberties and Uphold The Constitution
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) voted in favor of an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2014 (H.R. 2397) that would restore civil liberties and uphold the Constitution. The amendment, introduced by Reps. Justin Amash (MI-03) and John Conyers (MI-13), would limit the collection of U.S. citizens’ metadata by the National Security Agency (NSA).
Following the vote, Rep. Gosar issued this statement:
“While some in Congress desperately want to continue the NSA’s domestic spying, I vigorously defended the Fourth Amendment by voting to limit the NSA’s ability to use taxpayer money to spy on its own citizens. Not only is it important Congress empower the federal government to fulfill one of its primary responsibilities – providing for the national defense – but we must do so with respect for the Constitution. We must also remain eternally vigilant in our defense of liberty and I intend to continue doing so.”
http://gosar.house.gov/press-release/rep-gosar-votes-restore-civil-liberties-and-uphold-constitution
July 24, 2013
Contact: Orlando Watson
[email protected]
Rep. Gosar Votes To Restore Civil Liberties and Uphold The Constitution
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) voted in favor of an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2014 (H.R. 2397) that would restore civil liberties and uphold the Constitution. The amendment, introduced by Reps. Justin Amash (MI-03) and John Conyers (MI-13), would limit the collection of U.S. citizens’ metadata by the National Security Agency (NSA).
Following the vote, Rep. Gosar issued this statement:
“While some in Congress desperately want to continue the NSA’s domestic spying, I vigorously defended the Fourth Amendment by voting to limit the NSA’s ability to use taxpayer money to spy on its own citizens. Not only is it important Congress empower the federal government to fulfill one of its primary responsibilities – providing for the national defense – but we must do so with respect for the Constitution. We must also remain eternally vigilant in our defense of liberty and I intend to continue doing so.”
http://gosar.house.gov/press-release/rep-gosar-votes-restore-civil-liberties-and-uphold-constitution
I almost started a thread to keep track of them all but they were flying past so fast.
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