From http://nysd.uscourts.gov/rules/rules.pdf on 2012/03/17.

Thanks to Ronald Ramo for giving me the heads up.

Local Civil Rule 1.8. Photographs, Radio, Recordings, Television

Unless authorized to do so by an administrative order of each respective Court, no one other than Court officials engaged in the conduct of Court business shall bring any camera, transmitter, receiver, recording device, cellular telephone, computer or other electronic device into any courthouse.

COMMITTEE NOTE

The recommended revised language of Local Civil Rule 1.8, which the Committee understands has been worked out by the respective Courts, recognizes that both Courts have adopted administrative orders dealing with the extent to which cameras, recording devices, and other electronic devices will be permitted to be brought into their respective courthouses. The environs of the courthouses are excluded from the proposed local rule in accordance with the spirit of the settlement agreement so ordered by the Court in Antonio Musumeci v. United States Department of Homeland Security, 10 Civ. 3370 (RJH).

Dear bile:

<bile’s bank> has always been a strong supporter of consumer protection laws. You may have heard about new federal laws that affect the banking industry. One Recently approved law contains a provision that significantly reduces the revenue banks receive from merchants when consumers pay with a debit card. <bile’s bank> has always returned the majority of this revenue to the members in the form of benefits such as free checking accounts, ATM fee refunds and reward programs.

Members helped <bile’s bank> make a touch choice
With the significant reduction in revenue, <bile’s bank> had to reevaluate our debit card and checking account benefits. As we carefully considered all options and the financial impact of the provision, we reached out to members for feedback. The large majority of members surveyed valued free checking accounts and ATM fee refunds over debit rewards programs; therefore, we decided to cease debit rewards to maintain the other benefits.

It then goes on to explain what it means in practice.

So thanks. My not for profit bank/insurance company can no longer give me the service it’s customers have come to expect because the government wants to keep me “safe” from the fee’s I voluntarily accept to use the service.

Who will watch the watchers? In a world of ubiquitous, hand-held digital cameras, that’s not an abstract philosophical question. Police everywhere are cracking down on citizens using cameras to capture breaking news and law enforcement in action.

In 2009, police arrested blogger and freelance photographer Antonio Musumeci on the steps of a New York federal courthouse. His alleged crime? Unauthorized photography on federal property.

Police cuffed and arrested Musumeci, ultimately issuing him a citation. With the help of the New York Civil Liberties Union, he forced a settlement in which the federal government agreed to issue a memo acknowledging that it is totally legal to film or photograph on federal property.

Although the legal right to film on federal property now seems to be firmly established, many other questions about public photography still remain and place journalists and citizens in harm’s way. Can you record a police encounter? Can you film on city or state property? What are a photographer’s rights in so-called public spaces?

These questions will remain unanswered until a case reaches the Supreme Court, says UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh, founder of the popular law blog The Volokh Conspiracy. Until then, it’s up to people to know their rights and test the limits of free speech, even at the risk of harassment and arrest.

Who will watch the watchers? All of us, it turns out, but only if we’re willing to fight for our rights.

Produced by Hawk Jensen and Zach Weissmueller. Camera by Jim Epstein and Jensen. About 7.30 minutes.

Read Reason magazine’s January 2011 cover story, “The War on Cameras” and the companion piece “How to Record the Cops.” For Reason.com coverage of the war on cameras, go here.

I better go check to make sure I didn’t miss anything else :-)

November 9th, 2010:

Dear Taxpayer:

We previously sent you a letter concerning your inquiry received July 09, 2010. Although we try to respond quickly, extensive research is often required. At this time we are unable to provide a complete response because:

Due to heavy workload, we have not yet completed our research to resolve your inquiry.

While waiting to hear from us, you can still make payments to reduce your tax liability and interest charges. …

Please allow an additional 45 days for us to obtain this information we need and to let you know what action we are taking.

November 10th, 2010:

Dear Taxpayer:

Thank you for your correspondence received July 09, 2010.

We have completed the transaction request package for your refund request and sent it forward for management approval. When that is done it will be sent to our Accounting center for input and generation of the refund check. We cannot reimburse you for the postage claim you submitted. Persons writing the IRS are responsible for their own postage expenses.

…

We apologize for any inconvenience, and thank your for your cooperation.

Sincerely yours,

Frank Jugo
Area Director, FA, Area 4

So… they tell me they are willing to return some of my money but because it’s less than $1 I have to ask for it explicitly otherwise they keep it. Instead of just cutting me the check in the first place.

I ask for postage and handling because combined they cost more than my refund and not only does it take 5ish months and a couple letters telling me they are still researching the request… but they then deny the request to cover the postage AND have to get the $0.60ish refund approved by management!

I’d love to know how much they spent on this above salary since the pencil pushers would be paid regardless of whether they got my letter or not. Four or five letters (each two pages), two envelops, plus the paperwork to make this all happen internally, plus the cutting of the check and it’s envelop. It’s got to be over 10x the refund.

I’ll post an update when the check or any other letters arrive.

My new project. Been working on it off and on for a year. Finally and the motivation to really finish it up once I came across the Ushahidi project. The idea is to document abuses perpetrated by agents of the State. To provide a database, a means to document incidents, to visualize them.

Please check the site out. Contribute. Give me some feedback. Subscribe to the RSS feed, sign up for an alert, and if you know anyone who would like to help theme the site send them my way. Also, ‘Like’ the FB page.