Mostly Harmless

Mostly about my amusement

Category: Just Stupid (page 6 of 12)

August 21, 2008

Michael Chertoff doesn’t just look like a ghoul

You know I hate to see any detainee die in prison. And I always believe if there is negligence or misconduct that ought to be punished. I also recognize that the population of any detention facility, whether it’s a state prison, federal prison, you’re going to get a certain number of deaths.

Aftermath of an Immigrants Death in Detention – City Room – Metro – New York Times Blog.

That must be comforting to the family of Hiu Lui Ng.  I wonder what is the percentage of deaths at a facility has to be before it’s considered a “problem”?

August 9, 2008

And now my car got broken into

Today was an odd day. Not bad exactly, but definitely odd.

I went to work for a scheduled systems upgrade.  Lily and the kids went to Central Park and after work we met in Chinatown.  When we returned to Long Island we found my front passenger window was broken and my GPS unit stolen.

Now I didn’t exactly leave the unit out, it was in the center console.  But the window mount was sealed to the window so I left it there.  The round rubber from the suction cup is still there, just not the rest of it.

According to the police there has been a rash of break-ins with people looking for GPS units.  They smash the window and look into the console for the unit.  If you don’t have a GPS then you’re just pissed.  If you do have one put away then you’re also out a GPS unit.

I’m not really angry about it since these things happen.  I’ll take the car to the dealer and hope that my insurance covers most of it.  Other than this, today was pretty good.

August 2, 2008

No joke, take no laptops or ipods out of the country

Things sure are weird in this country.  People will just accept the oddest things.

I wonder how long it will be before DHS can copy all photos and papers you take on a trip?  They can seize and copy your entire laptop every time you cross the border.  Next time you come back into the U.S. you lose all privacy regarding any electronic device you have.  A misinformed TSA monkeys will decide if you are a criminal or not.  Or they can take their time, since they can copy all your data to examine at a later date.

Remember kids: in the United States if you are not guilty and have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to be afraid of.  No need to count on suspicion of actually breaking the law or protection of your rights against unreasonable search and seizures.

The 4th amendment does not apply because the government says it doesn’t. the important thing is not that we are developing a police state run by brown shirts, the important thing is Security Theater.

This is insane.  This sort of thing is supposed to happen in other countries; we’re supposed to have a history of protecting our citizens rights.  It makes me wonder if the conspiracy nuts are actually on to something. Papers please.

July 9, 2008

The Senate rolls over and plays dead

President Nixon Bush got what he wanted: Senate bows to Bush, approves surveillance bill.

The news article mentions that the old FISA rules were a problem, and that Congress did not want to deal with this in an election year.  Even Senator Obama folded on this one.

I guess his ambition is greater than his morals.  “Vote for change”, what nonsense.

King George must be pleased to have such tame pets.  It was never demonstrated that there was any issue with using the old FISA rules.  It was only an issue because the Bush Cheney administration wanted more power.

The current administration does not want this law passed because they need it.  They don’t torture people because they need to.  They don’t disregard the Constitution because they need to.  They don’t eliminate habeas corpus* because they need to.

They do all these things because they can.

I’m pissed again, I really can’t wait till January 20th to welcome our new king.

*Some people may think that habeas corpus was something denied only to non-American citizen away from our shores.  The fact is, this administration grabbed an American in an airport in Chicago and then John Ashcroft bragged about it from Moscow.  That American, who may have been the most vile scum, was held for years and subjected to abuse before the administration moved him where the law says he should have been.  If they can do this to the worst, they can do this to anyone.

July 9, 2008

Good read re warrantless wiretapping

Salon has a good write up on Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation Inc. v. Bush from one of the lawyers involved.  If you are a “Get them before they get us” type, don’t bother reading.

If you think everyone has to obey the law (meaning me, you, you, and especially YOU), then it’s a long read but covers the lawyers point of view nicely. This is the best part:

The situation grew darkly comic. They didn’t have a hammer, so they started debating how to smash the hard drive. I suggested they smack it against the corner of the table that was in the room. That didn’t do much.

I found myself thinking of the Samsonite Gorilla, the TV commercial from the 1970s in which a gorilla stomps on a piece of luggage that just won’t break. I thought: “These people are entrusted with our national security?”

Once again, since it is an election year, I am sure that our elected officials will get involved and mess this up.

July 8, 2008

Hans Reiser comes clean

If anyone had any doubts about Hans Reiser’s guilt, this is from Threat Level: Hans Reiser Leads Police to Nina’s Body.

It’s unfortunate that he chose to lead the police to his victim’s body only after bargaining for a reduced sentence.  But at least now her family and children will have some closure and be able to bury the body properly.

During the trial, reading Threat Level’s coverage was surreal.  I know that programmers like Reiser can be eccentric and erratic, but his behavior was way out there.

Hopefully he will remain in jail long enough for his children to grow up and keep their murderous father out of their lives.

June 19, 2008

Same old political pandering

Telcom immunity: I’ll wait to see if the Democrats sold out the constitution again, but I’m willing to bet they did.  No politician has any principles during an election year.

Update: Crooks and Liars has more, but it looks like it’s a done deal.  These Democrats are not Blue Dogs, they are Blue Cowards.  All it takes is the President to say something is legal and game over, you have no rights.

Anything from detaining American citizens, torturing people, to spying on our own population is allowed.  All it takes is for a brown shirt government employee to say “War on Terror” and for the President to say “this is legal”.  No one is held accountable, no one has to deal with the consequences of their actions.

When the Democrats opposed blanket immunity I was thinking that maybe these dark days are closing.  It was all a scam; the Democrats are up for election too.

I’m upset and I can’t wait for January 20th, 2009.  Even if it’s McCain at least we’ll get a new king.

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Jan Dembowski

Jan Dembowski

I am a software enthusiast who is easily amused and definitely mostly harmless.

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