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Source: First Coast News Posted on 10.06.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A Duval County Jail policy that requires inmates’ hair to be cut has sparked outrage among Sikhs, who say the policy violates their freedom to practice religion.Protesting outside the Duval County Jail Sunday, men and women carried signs alleging discrimination and violations of religious freedom.The group protests on behalf of Jagmohan Ahuja, an inmate in the jail who is a practicing Sikh.Prosecutors say Ahuja is behind bars for a reason.Convicted of domestic violence against two women in his family, Ahuja is three months into serving a three year jail sentence.But Ahuja’s supporters say it’s his rights as an inmate that have been violated. Link: http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=120441 Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: BBC News Posted on 10.06.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Police in Thailand have fired tear gas to disperse a demonstration by thousands of anti-government protesters in Bangkok.Dozens of people were injured as police intervened in the dawn protest in front of parliament. …. Dozens of people were reportedly injured in the protest.Petpong Kumtonkitjakarn, from the Erawan Medical Centre, told Associated Press two were seriously hurt. “One of them lost his leg, another was hit with shrapnel in the chest.” …. Maj Gen Anan Srihiran told Reuters: “It was absolutely necessary for police to use tear gas to break up the crowd.” (10/07/08) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7656073.stm Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Independent [UK] Posted on 10.06.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A new attempt to ban smacking will be launched tomorrow by a cross-party group of MPs, as more than 100 Labour backbenchers demand a free vote on the issue.MPs, led by Kevin Barron, the Labour chairman of the all-party Commons Health Committee, are attempting to stop parents from smacking their children as a “reasonable punishment”. They will table amendments to the Children and Young Persons Bill, due to be debated by the Commons tomorrow, to give children the same protection against assault as adults.” (10/07/08) Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mps-demand-free-vote-on-child-smacking-ban-953501.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Santa Rosa Gazette Posted on 10.06.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The ACLU filed the case on April 18, 2006, on behalf of Karen J. Kilpatrick, who claimed that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) violated her Free Speech rights.Kilpatrick was driving her blue van in Pensacola on April 19, 2004, with the slogans ‘Remember the Children of Waco’ and ‘Boo ATF’ written on some of the windows when she was pulled over by police for questioning by the ATF.The ACLU argues in the lawsuit that her First Amendment Rights to Free Speech and her Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure were violated when officers detained her for an hour, searched her car without consent, and ordered her to remove the writing on the side of her van.” (10/03/08) Link: http://www.srpressgazette.com/news/aclu_5047___article.html/atf_judge.html Filed under: 2AM News and LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: FIRE Posted on 10.06.08 by R. Lee Wrights “FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for October 2008: the University of Northern Iowa. We have written in the recent past about the explosion of overbroad ‘bias incident’ policies on college campuses nationwide. Many schools maintain policies that define so-called ‘bias incidents’ to include a great deal of constitutionally protected expression. But perhaps none does so as dramatically as the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), a public university, which defines a bias incident as ‘any inappropriate word or action directed toward an individual or group based upon actual or perceived identity characteristics or background of a group or person and that is contrary to law or policy.’” (10/02/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3mt5dh Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Posted on 10.06.08 by Thomas L. Knapp
Update, 10/06/08 – Thanks to subscribing contributors MA, GB and ND! Their combined payments of $22.50 over the weekend bring our running total to $2684.63 against our goal of $5,000. $2315.37 to go. Remember, all contributors during this fundraiser get a free subscription to my new publication, KN@PPSTER: The Newsletter. Normal price, $17.73 per year. Your price, nada. Check out the first issue — it’s a free download - TLK —– Dear readers, Earlier this year, I told you that RRND/FND would be moving to a “twice-a-year” fundraising schedule — and we’re keeping our word. We’ve even waited almost a month past mid-year to start our first 2008 drive. But now it’s time. The goal is $5,000, and we’ll keep plugging until we reach it (even if that means extending into our year-end fundraiser, which we’d certainly prefer not to do!). You can support “the freedom movement’s daily newspaper” (and our offshoot publications — 2nd Amendment News Digest, Liberty Action News Digest and Progressive News Digest) in any of several ways: One-Time Payments Online
Become a Subscribing Contributor! [Note: All subscription payments received during the fundraiser will be credited toward its total]
Other Options If you prefer to support RRND/FND through the International Society for Individual Liberty, to target your contribution to this project. Please drop me a line so that I can thank you and add your contribution to our total (ISIL doesn’t send us a daily report). If you’d like to send a check, money order, cash or other valuable thing via US Snail, again, write me so I can send you the address and instructions.
And Now For Something Completely Different Would you like to see NO MORE RRND/FND fundraisers for nearly a year? So would we … so here’s a “side bet.” Up-front disclaimer: This mid-year fundraiser WILL continue until the goal is met, even if that’s some time next year (hopefully it will be some time next month!). But, we’re running a simultaneous “contingent pledge drive” through Fundable.Com to raise ANOTHER $5k … and if we make it, our next fundraiser won’t be until at least mid-2009. It’s a simple concept: You pledge the amount of money you’re willing to contribute to that second $5k. If we raise $5k in pledges like yours, you pay. If we don’t, you don’t. That simple. Click here to make your pledge. We didn’t make the Fundable.Com goal … but we’ll set a new project of this type up Real Soon Now. Yours in liberty, Filed under: 2AM News and Feature Articles and LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Independent [UK] Posted on 10.05.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Prostitutes in the Dutch city of Eindhoven are to be awarded ‘credits’ in return for good behaviour under a new scheme to encourage them to abandon the oldest profession. The prostitutes will receive so-called ’street miles’ that they can use to acquire free designer clothes or furniture, provided they take up an offer by the city council to take steps leading to a career change and a safer lifestyle. ‘We needed to come up with incentives that these women might latch on to,’ said Veronique Beurskens of Eindhoven council, who is leading a drive to rid the city of street prostitution. Eindhoven’s designated sex work zone is due to close by 2011. Amsterdam and other Dutch cities are slowly shutting down their red light districts.” (10/05/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4q4eds Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Liberty Action News Digest Posted on 10.05.08 by Mary Lou Seymour Commentaries this week on Time for a second American revolution, A license to be offended, Three cheers for the “lunatic fringe”, The power of no, Fueling the fire of real change, We are the neutered bourgeoise and more! In activist news, San Francisco activist shot in New Orleans, Mauritanian Military junta bans all protests, Bill introduced to would ban suspicionless laptop searches, FIRE sends warning to public universities violating the First Amendment, and Tories “to help have-a-go heroes”. In police state news, UK MS sufferer seeks legal clarity on aided suicide, Washington state supreme court rules Police don’t have to pay for damage during raids, UK residents told “There’s a thief about, don’t lock your shed”, California Police warrant blunders jeopardize drug cases, UK Police confiscate walking stick from retired teacher, 78 … Til next week For freedom Mary Lou Link: http://rationalreview.com/land Filed under: LAND News | |
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Source: Independent [UK] Posted on 10.02.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A 45-year-old woman with a progressively debilitating disease appealed to the High Court yesterday to clarify the law on assisted suicide to enable her to plan her own death. Debbie Purdy, from Bradford, has multiple sclerosis, cannot walk and is losing strength in her upper body. She is seeking a landmark ruling on whether she can be helped to attend a clinic in Switzerland or Belgium, where assisted suicide is legal, if her illness becomes too much to bear. She is worried that her husband could be prosecuted by the British authorities if he accompanies her. That would leave her with no option but to go earlier, before she was ready, but while she could still make the journey alone. Assisted suicide is illegal in the UK and carries a maximum 14-year prison sentence. But the details of what constitutes ‘assisting a suicide’ have not been made clear.” (10/03/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4mmf8z Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: San Francisco Chronicle Posted on 10.02.08 by Steve Trinward “To Kirsten Brydum, a passionate 25-year-old community activist from San Francisco, one person’s junk was another’s treasure. Brydum, who wanted to change the world, certainly changed Dolores Park. Because of her, there is something called the Really, Really Free Market. People bring their rummage to the park on the last Saturday of the month and give it away. Nobody gets any money and everyone walks away a little richer. That was how she liked it. She loved the freedom of far-flung travel and of cycling. On Saturday, while cycling after midnight in New Orleans after spending Friday evening in a dance club, she was shot in the head and killed in an apparent robbery, police said. Her killer remains at large.” (10/02/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3q9cat Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Posted on 10.02.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “In a split decision Thursday, the state Supreme Court rejected a plea by a Kent property owner seeking compensation for damage done during a drug raid. Affirming lower court decisions, five of the court’s nine justices found the city of Kent was not required to pay $5,000 for damage to buildings owned by Leo Brutsche during a failed 2004 anti-methamphetamine operation. During the raid, narcotics officers used battering rams to knock down doors in buildings owned by Brutsche while searching for a meth lab they believed Brutsche’s son to be operating on the property, according to court records. No drugs were found, and Brutsche contends he offered officers keys to the doors before they began knocking them down.” (10/02/08) Link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/381576_search03.html Filed under: 2AM News and LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 10.01.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Infant pupils in Scotland are to get free school meals, the Scottish Government is expected to announce. The move follows a year-long £5m pilot scheme in primary schools in Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire, East Ayrshire, Fife and the Borders. The government will later announce the results of the initial scheme, which involved 35,000 pupils. It was set up to see if providing a nutritious lunch for all children could improve their diets.” (10/01/08) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7646898.stm Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Ananova [UK] Posted on 10.01.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A council is urging gardeners not to lock their sheds — so thieves don’t damage them when they break in. Allotment holders in Bristol have been warned padlocks can lead to thieves forcing their way through doors and windows of the council-owned sheds. Bristol City Council claims its ‘Don’t Use a Padlock’ initiative will save taxpayers’ money because fewer sheds will have to be repaired or replaced, reports the Daily Telegraph. Its guide reads: ‘Don’t padlock your shed; it can save the shed being damaged if someone does try to get into it. If there is a break-in, always inform the police.’” (10/01/08) Link: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3028997.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Agence France-Presse Posted on 09.30.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The prime minister appointed by Mauritania’s military junta which seized power in August announced Tuesday that the government is to ban all protests in the country. In an interview with French RFI radio station the prime minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Leghdaf was asked about a planned anti-coup demonstration next Sunday. ‘I think that since May we have done nothing else than protest in this country, we are going to limit that, actually we’re going to ban all demonstrations from all sides,’ he said.” (09/30/08) Link: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3gpIfAFUZad2BMYPkwyaHiZ7JDg Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: San Francisco Chronicle Posted on 09.30.08 by Steve Trinward “Oakland police officials said today that they have retrained officers on how to apply for search warrants after a number of officers were found to have committed ‘procedural errors’ in drug cases, potentially jeopardizing prosecutions of some suspects. An undisclosed number of officers have been reassigned pending the results of an internal investigation that began a month ago, Assistant Police Chief Howard Jordan said. He declined to name the officers or say how many had been reassigned.” [editor’s note” “Blunders?” … or just illegal acts taken, hoping nobody’d notice … or care? - SAT] (09/30/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4bo3kr Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 09.30.08 by Steve Trinward “Any customs agent who wants to go poking around your laptop’s hard drive is going to need a legitimate reason to do so, if legislation proposed Monday is adopted. As it stands, the Department of Homeland Security has virtually unfettered authority to search, copy and archive the contents of laptops, cell phones and digital cameras travelers carry into the US. Sen. Russ Feingold wants to change that. Feingold (D-WI), who has criticized DHS’s policy, introduced the Travelers Privacy Protection Act along with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA).” (09/30/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4q7qsu Filed under: CANDi News and LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Posted on 09.30.08 by R. Lee Wrights “Today, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) sent letters to administrators at twenty public colleges and universities in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania warning them to abandon their speech codes in light of the recent Third Circuit decision overturning Temple University’s unconstitutional code. All of the colleges FIRE contacted are rated as ‘red light’ schools in FIRE’s Spotlight speech codes database, meaning that they retain policies that unconstitutionally restrict student speech. ‘For decades, college and university speech codes have been overturned by court after court, and for nearly ten years FIRE has railed against those schools that brazenly continue to maintain them. In light of the DeJohn v. Temple University opinion and now FIRE’s letter, no public university in the Third Circuit can credibly argue that it did not know that campus speech codes are forbidden by the Constitution,’ said FIRE President Greg Lukianoff.” (09/30/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3k5pme Filed under: LAND News | |
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Source: Daily Mail [UK] Posted on 09.29.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “They must have known he was a troublemaker the moment they saw him. With his white hair, wax jacket and glasses, 78-year-old Philip Clarkson Webb clearly ticked all the boxes any eagle-eyed policemen would mark as ‘danger.’ And as he shuffled along the pavement towards them there was one thing above all they deemed to pose a threat — his walking stick. The officers surrounded the retired classics teacher and informed him the 3ft wooden cane was an ‘offensive weapon’ and had to be confiscated.” (09/29/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4botqb Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 09.29.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Measures to help the public and police tackle criminals and end the ‘walk on by society’ are to be outlined by shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve. He will tell the Conservative Party conference that too many people making ‘genuine attempts to prevent crime’ have been arrested or prosecuted. ‘It’s our duty to help not hinder active citizens,’ he will say. A Tory government would reform health and safety laws which hinder officers in making arrests, he will also add. The Conservatives want to make it easier for the public to stop anti-social behaviour and crime by reducing the risk that ‘have-a-go heroes’ will find themselves being prosecuted.” (09/29/08) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7643200.stm Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Liberty Action News Digest Posted on 09.28.08 by Mary Lou Seymour Commentaries on The Democrat v. Republican sham, The whistleblower who tried to stop the Iraq War, not voting (Sign, sign, everywhere a sign) The 50-state secession, Nonviolence in Iraq, Open Source thinking and more! In activist news Arizona Libertarians submit Jay, Hess as prez write-in ticket, New Zealand Campaign goes to the dogs, Bailout outrage races across the Web and into the streets, Encrypting against Homeland Security’s new laptop search policy, Victory for middle-class tribe’s “secret” eco-village in Wales, DC Firefighter battles to keep his beard, Italian Comic escapes prosecution for insulting pope as Immigrant attacks spark riots, Spanish Robin Hood borrows from the rich, and Judge OKs “Hitler Youth” buttons in school uniform protest. In police state news Foreign national ID card unveiled in the UK, Homeland Security using anxiety detection machines, Colorado Fifth-grader suspended for wearing anti-Obama shirt, Colorado Construction workers complain about nude skater and police make her dress and in nanny state news, UK Primary pupils could get free meals in anti-obesity campaign, and ChildLine to expand in Scotland. Til next week For freedom Mary Lou Link: http://rationalreview.com/land Filed under: LAND News | |
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Source: Freedom\'s Phoenix Posted on 09.26.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “Libertarian Congressional candidate Powell Gammill submitted forms to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office today to qualify Boston Tea Party candidate Charles Jay as a write-in candidate for President of the United States. ‘The fact that we were able to pull this effort off in two days speaks volumes of how people are disgusted with the Republican, Democrat and even Libertarian candidates for President and it is obvious people want more choices as to whom to cast votes for President on November 4th,’ Gammill said. ‘I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make this possible.’ After attending the U.S. Libertarian Party convention in Denver in May, Gammill decided on Tuesday, September 23rd to conduct a campaign to assist Boston Tea Party candidate Charles Jay to be a write-in option for President of the United States. Gammill was able to enlist the support of former Arizona Libertarian Gubernatorial candidate (favorite son) Barry Hess whom will appear as Charles Jay’s running mate for the Vice Presidency.” (09/25/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4f84fr Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Yahoo! News Posted on 09.25.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A pet food company has come up with a novel way of gauging the public mood ahead of the New Zealand’s general election — which political leader would you like to see fed to the dogs? Masterpet has made rubber chew toys for dogs with likenesses to the two politicians vying to run the country after the November 8 election.” (09/23/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4mejvf Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Business Week Posted on 09.25.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Arun Gupta was enraged as he learned the details of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s plan to fix the U.S. banking system with $700 billion in taxpayer funds. The 43-year-old copy editor and freelance journalist, who publishes his own alternative newspaper, The Indypendent, needed to channel his angst but couldn’t find a live protest to attend. So on Sept. 22, he sent an e-mail to some politically active friends in New York. Within days, they’d planned a protest against the bailout in New York and at 80 other locations in the U.S. on Sept. 25. ‘I couldn’t sit back while this plan gets rammed through Congress,’ says Gupta. ‘We live in a digital world, but change has to happen in an analog world. We married the two — the Internet helped us organize like wildfire.’ Gupta, now working with the online organization truemajority.org, says he expects hundreds and possibly a thousand protesters to converge at the protest near Wall Street. Protesters plan to build a pile of ‘citizen junk’ that the government should also purchase in front of the iconic bull sculpture. … The Internet is now swirling with petitions, debates bordering on rants, and biting satire about Paulson’s plan and its potential consequences. The calls to arms come from across the political spectrum-from right-wing enemies of taxes to libertarians and left-wing progressives.” (09/25/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4p39yv Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 09.24.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The first identity cards from the government’s controversial national scheme are due to be revealed.The biometric card will be issued from November, initially to non-EU students and marriage visa holders. The design — containing a picture and digitally-stored fingerprints — is a pre-cursor to the proposed national identity card scheme. Critics say the roll-out to some immigrants is a ’softening up’ exercise to win over a sceptical general public.” (09/25/08) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7634111.stm Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Independent [UK] Posted on 09.24.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Every primary school pupil in England could receive free school meals under a scheme set to form a central plank of Labour’s election manifesto. If introduced across the country, the £1bn programme would include almost four million children and save families more than £300 per child per year. In a speech to the Labour Party conference, Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, announced a £40m two-year pilot programme, which will test whether the scheme should be introduced at all schools. ‘We want a healthy lunch at school not just for some, but for every child,’ said Mr Balls.” (09/24/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3txbuw Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Market Watch Posted on 09.23.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The Department of Homeland Security will now be allowed to confiscate laptops coming into the U.S. for an indefinite amount of time. Customs and Border Patrol will be able to search laptops or any other electronic device, download entire contents and keep the device for several days. … Some experts suggest simply leaving electronics, such as laptops and PDAs, at home. While this strategy is easy enough for someone heading off on vacation, business travelers need more practical options to protect sensitive information. According to Brenzel, encryption is key to data protection.” (09/15/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3k4t5c Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Daily Mail [UK] Posted on 09.23.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “For five happy years they enjoyed simple lives in their straw and mud huts. Generating their own power and growing their own food, they strived for self-sufficiency and thrived in homes that looked more suited to the hobbits from The Lord of the Rings. Then a survey plane chanced upon the ‘lost tribe’ … and they were plunged into a decade-long battle with officialdom. … Yesterday that fight, backed by more modern support for green issues, ended in victory. … The eco-community endured a decade of inquiries, court cases and planning hearings. The 22 villagers fought planners even when they were within hours of the bulldozers moving in to demolish their eight homes. Now, however, they can celebrate, thanks to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority’s ’sustainability’ policy.” (09/17/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/55u342 Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: All Headline News Posted on 09.23.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The five-year project, in its second year, is the department’s latest effort to thwart terrorism by spotting suspicious people. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has trained more than 2,000 screeners to observe passengers as they walk through airports, questioning those who seem oddly agitated or nervous.” (09/19/08) Link: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7012355008 Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 09.23.08 by Steve Trinward “An 11-year-old boy in Colorado was suspended from school after he refused to take off a shirt that read, ‘Obama is a terrorist’s best friend.’ His father says that the school is violating his son’s First Amendment rights. Daxx Dalton, a fifth grader at Aurora Frontier K-8 School in Aurora, Colo., wore the homemade shirt on a day when students were asked to show their patriotism by wearing red, white and blue, according to MyFOXColorado.com. When he was given the choice of turning the shirt inside out or being suspended, Dalton chose suspension.” [editor’s note: This almost qualifies as “child abuse” by the parent; no fifth-grader should be THIS totally brainwashed, to ANY point of view! - SAT] (09/23/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4oxbcm Filed under: CANDi News and LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 09.22.08 by Steve Trinward “Steven Chasin, a Jewish paramedic in D.C., was forced to shave his beard when the department passed a mandatory shaving order. A veteran Jewish firefighter in Washington, D.C., is heading to court — with the backing of Muslim and Christian groups — to fight for his right to grow facial hair, an expression of what he says are his religious beliefs. Steven Chasin, a paramedic with 18 years in the department, is fighting to keep his beard in defiance of an order passed two years ago that all fire department members be clean-shaven. Chasin, 40, is one of a group of fire department employees — the others are Muslims and Nazarene Christians — who are challenging the department’s ban on facial hair, said Chasin’s attorney, Art Spitzer.” (09/22/08) Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426152,00.html Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 09.22.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A new base for ChildLine is to be opened in Edinburgh. The NSPCC charity decided to establish the centre as part of plans to expand its service. … The NSPCC has set itself the goal of doubling the capacity of ChildLine in Scotland by 2011. … Minister for Children Adam Ingram will perform the official opening in Edinburgh, which is to be attended by ChildLine president, Esther Rantzen. Mr Ingram said: ‘All children deserve care and support as they grow up and it’s vital we listen to their fears and concerns. That’s why the Scottish Government is proud to provide ChildLine with funding to help it expand services, open this new Edinburgh centre and support even more of our young people.’” (09/22/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3gpjdt Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Yahoo!News Posted on 09.22.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Portland Police took a waterfront Lady Godiva down a notch this week. Barely. They were getting calls about a nude skater whizzing past tourists and rush-hour commuters.But you can do that in Oregon, where occasional nude bike rides draw police only for crowd control and shows featuring live sex acts are protected as free speech.The skater, Gennifer Moss, aka Earth Friend Gen, asked organizers for permission this summer to skate naked in the city of Ashland’s Fourth of July parade. She didn’t get it.Police told her to tone it down after construction workers complained.Moss donned a string bikini bottom for the nonce and skated on.” (09/22/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4r32s9 Filed under: LAND News | |
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Source: Yahoo! News Posted on 09.22.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “An Italian comic who said Pope Benedict would be punished in hell for the church’s treatment of homosexuals was spared possible prosecution on Thursday when the government blocked an investigation against her. Sabina Guzzanti, one of Italy’s most biting political satirists, made the remarks before a cheering crowd of thousands gathered at Rome’s Piazza Navona in July. A Rome prosecutor suspected the comments broke a law protecting the honor and dignity of the leader of 1.1 billion Roman Catholics under a 1929 Italian treaty with the Vatican. But the treaty, signed by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, required government approval before the investigation could go forward. Justice Minister Angelino Alfano decided to block it.” (09/19/08) Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080919/od_nm/comic_pope_dc Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Independent [UK] Posted on 09.21.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Italy is confronting a rising tide of immigrant anger this week after demonstrations erupted at opposite ends of the country against violent attacks directed at African immigrants. At Caserta, a decaying seaside resort north of Naples, which has become both the stronghold of the most aggressive clan of the Camorra, the Naples mafia, and home to thousands of illegal immigrants, African demonstrators overturned cars and rubbish bins and tore down street signs in a spontaneous protest against the gangland killing of six Africans in and outside a boutique and tailoring workshop. Then on Saturday in Milan, thousands of demonstrators marched through the city to condemn the beating to death of a youth from Burkina Faso by the owners of a local bar who caught him stealing biscuits.” (09/22/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4oasql Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Ananova [UK] Posted on 09.21.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A man claiming to be a Spanish Robin Hood says he has tricked banks into lending him nearly half a million euros. Enric Duran, 32, says he has given much of the money to social activists opposed to the financial system, reports the Daily Telegraph. He also used it to circulate 200,000 copies of a single-issue free newspaper called Crisis showing how he had spent the past two years fooling the banks into lending him the money, which he is refusing to pay back.” (09/19/08) Link: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3013751.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: FOX News Posted on 09.21.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Two students in northern New Jersey can wear buttons featuring a picture of Hitler youth to protest a school uniform policy, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. sided with the parents of the students, who had been threatened with suspension by the Bayonne school district last fall for wearing the buttons. However, the judge added in his ruling that the boys will not be allowed to distribute the buttons at school. ‘I’m very pleased,’ said Laura DePinto, mother of one of the students. ‘I think it upholds the most basic of our American rights, which is to protest peacefully.’” (09/20/08) Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297514,00.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Liberty Action News Digest Posted on 09.21.08 by Mary Lou Seymour Commentaries on Breaking the Siege of Gaza, ‘Asia’s pickle with people’s power’, Protect Internet freedom and privacy!, Big Brother is watching as he’s never watched before, State-sanctioned radicalism, Ten conservative myths about national security, Cynicism “can damage democracy’s health”, Small protests can beat the big guys and more! In activist news, Victory for free speech at Valdosta State University, Man carries out upside down protest in London, Arizona Protesters hope to force anti immigration Sheriff Arpaio out of office, Google climbdown on abortion ads, Netherlands High Court acquits sick man with homegrown cannabis, California Officers face discipline in last year’s May Day police riot, Nationwide protests call on war resisters to stay in Canada, and Pennsylvania smoking ban brings college kids out in protest. In police state news, National lab, Homeland Security team up in surveillance project, TSA testing X-ray portal for vehicles, Mass surveillance plan fast tracked in New York, UN agency eyes curbs on Internet anonymity, UK Woman, 82, “broke Asbo 10 times”, UK police expand surveillance project …. in nanny state news, UK Junk food ad rules “not working”, UK gov’t acknowledges Social class “determines child’s success”, towns really safer without traffic lights, and France considers a “picnic tax” on disposables, . Til next week For freedom Mary lou Link: http://rationalreview.com/land Filed under: LAND News | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 09.18.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Adverts for unhealthy foods are still appearing during TV programmes seen by children, despite curbs introduced in January, a consumer watchdog has said. Which? said the five programmes with the most child viewers and only four of the top 20 most popular children’s shows were covered by Ofcom’s rules. These state that ads for ‘less healthy’ foods are not allowed in or around programmes which ‘appeal’ to under-16s.But advertisers said Which’s list included shows ‘not aimed’ at children.” (09/18/08) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7623971.stm Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Ananova [UK] Posted on 09.18.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A man protesting against rising living costs has suspended himself upside down in central London. Security worker Herbert Crossman, from Harrow, north-west London, hung from a crane for two hours in Trafalgar Square. He was attached by the ankles to the crane with a bungee rope, reports the BBC. Money fell from his pockets into buckets below. He said the money signified how British people are ‘haemorrhaging money.’” (09/18/08) Link: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3011997.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Tri City Herald Posted on 09.18.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Can high-tech infrared cameras and millimeter-wave cameras ’see’ terrorist threats coming from as far as 130 yards away? Kennewick police and Hanford Patrol officers will test the effectiveness of the high-tech gear in a six-week tryout at the Toyota Center. The experiment, which goes live Sept. 26 for six home games of the Tri-City Americans, will help the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate determine if the technologies are effective in the hands of local law enforcement. The equipment, which consists of remote camera sensors that can track crowd movements, uses infrared and millimeter-wave radar to analyze images for potential explosive threats, said Jim Tuttle, explosives division director for Homeland Security.” (09/18/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3l2ab2 Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Arizona Republic Posted on 09.17.08 by Steve Trinward “A new X-ray technology is being tested that could stop potential terrorists from blowing up a car bomb at one of the nation’s airports, homeland-security officials say. The Transportation Security Administration is running a test at a North Carolina ferry terminal of a 21-foot-high archlike machine that shoots low-intensity X-rays at cars as they pass through. The photos show whether explosives or drugs might be in the car. … Privacy advocates have denounced scanning people as invasive because the X-rays can see through clothes. Melissa Ngo, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who focuses on privacy issues, says using the technology for cars could pave the way for Big Brother government spying. ‘If this technology ends up being deployed widely, it seems to be another step toward a society where you need to accept surveillance in every part of your life,’ Ngo says.” (09/17/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4bvjwg Filed under: CANDi News and LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Arizona Republic Posted on 09.17.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “More than 50 chanting protesters, playing music and carrying signs disparaging Sheriff Joe Arpaio, clogged the sidewalk outside the Wells Fargo Building in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday in an ongoing effort to draw attention to Arpaio’s immigration-enforcement tactics and pressure the bank to not renew the county’s lease for Arpaio’s office space on the building’s 18th and 19th floors. Members of the group have gathered on the sidewalks near First Avenue and Washington Street for the last three weeks, but the protests have spread to other Wells Fargo locations around the country, and have started to draw in protesters from outside the Valley who are upset with Arpaio’s methods. ‘We’re here to let him know we’re not criminals,’ said Jose Morales, a Washington D.C. resident who flew to Phoenix to join the protests. ‘I think what he’s doing is not right. That’s what made me fly here from Washington. It’s racial profiling, and we’re not going to stand for it.’” (09/17/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3mqezu Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Independent [UK] Posted on 09.17.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Children’s social class is still the most significant factor in determining their exam success in state schools, the Government’s head of teacher training acknowledges today. In an interview with The Independent, Graham Holley, the chief executive of the Training and Development Agency, said: ‘The performance of a school and a child in it is highly linked to social class. If you turn the clock back on pupils in school today 15 years and predict their outcomes from where they were born, you can do it. We need to change that. It’s not something this government has done. It’s not something the last government has done. It’s something that has been there since the Second World War and probably even before that.’” (09/17/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4e2um9 Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 09.17.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Google is to change its policy on adverts about abortion following a legal challenge from a Christian pressure group. It had refused a Christian Institute advert, saying it did not allow the advertising of websites with ‘abortion and religion-related content.’ The institute threatened to use British equality laws to contest the decision. But after an out-of-court settlement, Google will now allow religious groups to advertise about abortion.” (09/17/08) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7621751.stm Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Los Angeles Times Posted on 09.17.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton announced Tuesday his plans to discipline 11 officers and called for the termination of four others for their roles in a May Day melee last year in which police were accused of using excessive force to clear immigration rights demonstrators and journalists from MacArthur Park. The penalties mark a significant step in the Los Angeles Police Department’s effort to recover from an incident that Bratton called ‘a phenomenal black eye.’ LAPD officers were videotaped wielding batons and shooting rubber bullets in an attempt to disperse a largely peaceful crowd. A scathing internal investigation into the incident blamed poor leadership and overly aggressive tactics by officers in the field.” (09/17/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6ogt7v Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Yahoo! News Posted on 09.16.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The Dutch high court on Tuesday acquitted a man charged with illegally growing marijuana who said the drug helped ease pain from his multiple sclerosis. Growing marijuana is illegal in the Netherlands but sales of it and other cannabis-related soft drugs in coffee shops have been tolerated for decades, making them a major tourist attraction. Pharmacies are allowed to sell limited quantities of cannabis only if the buyer can provide a doctor’s prescription. The man suffered some negative side-effects after taking pharmacy cannabis, and then decided to grow his own marijuana, the Dutch high court said in a statement. Citing the unusual circumstances, the court said it was acceptable for the man to grow the drug without a licence.” (09/16/08) Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080916/od_nm/cannabis_dc Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Dissident Voice Posted on 09.16.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The Lower Manhattan Security Initiative (LMSI) and a related program, Operation Sentinel, are modeled after London’s so-called ‘Ring of Steel.’ In London, roads entering the city are narrowed and have tight serpentine curves that force drivers to slow down and be recorded by CCTV cameras.” (09/15/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6corln Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: CNet Posted on 09.16.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The U.S. National Security Agency is also participating in the ‘IP Traceback’ drafting group, named Q6/17, which is meeting next week in Geneva to work on the traceback proposal. Members of Q6/17 have declined to release key documents, and meetings are closed to the public.” (09/12/08) Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10040152-38.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 09.15.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “In recent years, initiatives that aim at rescuing streets from the hegemony of cars, giving more space for pedestrians and cyclists and combating increased speed, traffic, and trouble have popped up in cities across Europe. In a new experiment, ‘Paris respire,’ the banks of the Seine are closed to traffic on sunny days. Switzerland has set up ‘zones of encounter’ where playgrounds or landscaped areas force cars to slow down and pedestrians have priority. Hundreds of Dutch neighborhoods have successfully done away with traffic signs. But Bohmte broke new ground. In Germany, a country fond of rules, Bohmte did what politicians had hitherto not dared to do. ‘What’s revolutionary about Bohmte is that it took off its signs on a state highway with a lot of traffic,’ says Heiner Monheim, a traffic management expert at the University of Trier, speaking at a recent European conference on sign-free towns convened here. Beyond that, Monheim says, the model’s real legacy is to have brought people closer to ‘rediscovering and appreciating cities not only as traffic places but also as human, social places.’” (09/12/08) Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0912/p07s03-woeu.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 09.15.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “An 82-year-old grandmother broke an Asbo 10 times by abusing her neighbours and putting a curse on a family, Cardiff Crown Court has heard. Dorothy Evans is accused of breaching her anti-social behaviour order 10 times in nine months. The trial heard the pensioner has been in a long-running feud with neighbours in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. She denies charges of breaching her Asbo by causing harassment, alarm or distress to her neighbours. … ‘She has called Mrs Casa a stupid cow and an idiot. She called her a slut and said she was out all hours of the night with different men.’ Mr Morris told the jury: ‘She called Mrs Casa’s son a lazy bastard and opened the passenger door of their car to call their daughter a bitch. She called Mrs Casa a bitch and said that tickets for an amateur dramatic show in the town had not sold because she was in it.’” [editor’s note: “Sticks and stones may break my bones …” - MLS] (09/15/08) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7616619.stm Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: MSNBC Posted on 09.15.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Plastic forks, disposable diapers, drafty houses — if it hurts the environment, make it cost more. That’s the message France’s government wants to send with a raft of proposed new taxes.France’s ecology minister said Sunday the government is considering a ‘picnic tax’ on disposable dishes to encourage people to use reusable plates and cups instead.” (09/14/08) Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26706242 Filed under: LAND News | |
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Source: Guardian [UK] Posted on 09.15.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The police are to expand a car surveillance operation that will allow them to record and store details of millions of daily journeys for up to five years …. A national network of roadside cameras will be able to ‘read’ 50m licence plates a day, enabling officers to reconstruct the journeys of motorists. Police have been encouraged to ‘fully and strategically exploit’ the database, which is already recording the whereabouts of 10 million drivers a day, during investigations ranging from counter-terrorism to low-level crime. But it has raised concerns from civil rights campaigners, who question whether the details should be kept for so long, and want clearer guidance on who might have access to the material.” (09/15/08) Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/sep/15/civilliberties.police Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Canadian Press [Canada] Posted on 09.14.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A series of cross-country protests staged in support of American war resisters Saturday turned highly partisan in tone as hundreds called for a change in government. Anti-Harper sentiment coursed through those attending the rallies, which were initially scheduled to coincide with the 10-day countdown to Iraq war resister Jeremy Hinzman’s deportation. As electioneering ramps up, the anti-war demonstrations became as much about knocking the Conservatives out of power as about allowing resisters to stay permanently in Canada.” (09/13/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6627rh Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |